Jack Darby - Tumblr Posts
so some(two) people said they want a continuation/fanfic for this post
so i'm gonna try using my terrible writing skills to try and make it into a paragraph.
so uh
enjoy
//
Smokescreen. Maybe a little too eager for his own good. This point was proved to be very accurate today, when Smokescreen had decided to barge into a Decepticon energon mine ALONE to try to blow it up. He did succeed, but he hadn't made it out in time to be fully unscathed(and this is a very big understatement). And that, was how he'd ended up in Ratchet's Medbay. Ratchet already had to use about three energon transfusions just to get Smokescreen to wake up. Smokescreen shifted, and said: "I love sleepovers.". Whatever Optimus thought Smokescreen was going to say, it wasn't that. Optimus decided to explain to Smokescreen what had happened. It didn't seem to be going very well.
"This is not a 'sleepover', you're in the medbay, Smokescreen."
"But, we got special drinks!"
"That's a transfusion, Smokescreen. You got very heavily damaged."
"Truth or Dare?"
Optimus decided that trying to get Smokescreen to understand was a lost cause. So he just decided to play along.
"Dare."
And with that, whatever wellspring of patience Ratchet had managed to uncover ran out.
"OPTIMUS! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYING GAMES WITH HIM! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN HERE FOR???"
As Ratchet continued his tirade, Jack and a very amused Arcee were watching the scene like it was a show. The only thing missing now was a laugh track.
"Seems like Primes do party sometimes, huh?"
These damn kids
wow haha guys guess what i got into haha
slight redesigns for the tfp kids <3
I couldn't left Cliffjumper behind. He suffered enough. And him and Arcee were very funny, wish we'd see them more.
Super decepticon practice dump.
And humans. Not fond of how adults came out.
1/2
what if optimus was a human teacher?
Well here is an interesting concept I am 100% going to go crazy with. This is a long one though so I'm going to break this up with a read more and a warning that this isn't going to go the way you might think.
Not So Normal Teacher
The Archivist in Optimus was bored.
Megatron had been quiet for over a year and not a spark had a thing to do until the Decepticons made a move. He had already reorganized the Autobot database three times and he couldn't exactly go wandering off with how much energon he used. He was stuck at base handling communications and mission assignment, and Primus, even the Matrix was antsy. He wanted something to do, anything really. And so after months of sitting around being driven half mad by lack of stimuli, he came up with an idea.
The Archivist in him wanted to teach, to preserve history, and to collect data. What better way to do all of that than by taking up a position as an educator? It was rather outlandish considering he was a Prime and from another world, but there was a school in the nearby human settlement hiring. He had no need for human currency nor was it particularly wise to go sign up as a teacher when the Decepticons could resurge at any moment. However he reasoned that if nothing else he would gain greater insight into human capability through his endeavors.
Ratchet was against his idea from the get-go but allowed Optimus to go through with it after he gave his reasoning and pointed out that he would actually use less energon if he kept his frame at base and worked elsewhere. Thus with Ratchet's begrudging assent, Optimus made himself a whole forged identity for his human holoform, plopped his real frame down in his berth, and got to work.
Orion Pax turned up to the interview looking his best, but despite his efforts there were still a few little things that set him apart. He was indeed professional in wearing a simple turtleneck sweater and jeans with a belt. However that was not what made the interviewer a little concerned, no it was fact that Optimus's hair looked like the American flag with the mixed red white and blue alongside the little markings on his face just under his eyes along with scars that had also transferred over. There was also the fact that his eyes were a little too bright, his movements a tad too stiff, and the way his voice seemed nearly melodic in nature.
However since Orion Pax managed to answer the interview questions perfectly, had a clean record, and was the embodiment of politeness and patience, he was accepted in short order. Thus Optimus got himself a job at Jasper Nevada Memorial High School as history teacher.
Orion Pax befriended the entirety of the teaching staff by the end of week one with his kind disposition, patience, and wisdom beyond his years. He assisted the math teacher in grading papers and even taught him a thing or two with all the patience in the world when the teacher began to struggle. He aided the English teacher by bringing her a cup of coffee and pointing out a small error in her class prep work. He helped the gym teacher get the court set up for the lesson that day and helped him organize the various equipment in record time. He stopped the science teacher from accidentally creating a deadly gas when the teacher passed out from exhaustion halfway through an experiment, leaving Pax to carefully clean up and then grade the teacher's papers for him. Then to top it all off, he assisted the music and arts teacher in her efforts to decorate her classroom for the school year.
The staff loved him, especially the school cleaners since Pax would always stay up late to help them clean despite their protests. He was the perfect co-worker, and quickly found himself as the most loved teacher once the school year started. His students were skeptical of the teacher who looked like he crawled out some sort of cosplaying event and had an American flag for hair, but they swiftly warmed up to him due to his manner of teaching.
Optimus hadn't actually done any real research on human methods of teaching, instead relying on his own experience. In a school as out of the way as Jasper Nevada High School, the regulations were not as strict and so long as students passed their exams, he was allowed to teach as he wished. He did have to adapt a few of his methods to account for human biological limits, but he quickly garnered the students interest with how he went about his teaching.
Using a holoprojector he adjusted to look more like a human one, Optimus, or rather Pax gave the children a more interactive experience. He was passionate as he showed them history in simulations and introduced them to old battles in complicated holographic maps. His classroom was covered in star charts and old documents, studies, and artwork. Every student was urged to find something historical that interested them and dive into it with all their passion and enthusiasm. No students were left unheeded and all their issues were accounted for. The social students were grouped together and given specific historical figures to study in a manner similar to what the archivists of Cybertron did. The less social were given special homework, being required to study a specific event and bring in all they had gathered.
Students with disabilities such as dyslexia and other reading or information processing impediments were personally tutored and grouped. Those who had issues reading were given a partner who would do the reading while they took notes and sectioned out data. Those who had trouble paying attention to certain subjects were given work in areas that had their interest. A child who found warfare to be of interest would be given to mission to look into the Art of War and compile an alternate battle plan for the assault on Rome. A child who preferred the more domestic texts was to come up with a whole biography that was time period accurate for a fictional character living in their chosen era.
Every student had their education specialized to suit them best alongside the general education Orion had them listen to.
Orion was not harsh, he didn't give homework in the manner of other teachers and instead gave the students one big project to complete over the year and smaller personal research projects to complete once a month. A good archivist doesn't rush his research, no, instead time and dedication is given to ensure everything is correct and proper. He did everything in his power to instill this into his students, never putting stern deadlines on anything and instead focusing on fostering interest and a desire for truth.
He wanted his students to love history, not despise it. He wanted them to learn from the mistakes of their ancestors and move forward. And most importantly he made sure to remind them to not be angry at the past and instead see it as an example of another time. For his efforts his students loved him.
It certainly helped that he tended to tell his students altered stories of Cybertron's history, changing bits and pieces to make it seem like a legitimate but long dead human civilization. His students were enraptured with his tales and the battles he made come to life with his projector. Even other teachers would come to listen if they had free time. However to keep his students on task, he only told them stories when the completed their other class's homework before his, thus leading to other teachers finding more success in their lessons too.
After particularly good performances from his students, he would quietly teach them pieces of his culture. He told himself it was just because it was something for them to do, but deep down he knew the real reason why he did this. He didn't want everything of his people to be lost if he were to lose the war. He didn't want everything his people did to be forgotten and washed away by the tests of time. If he was to fail... he wanted something to remain with his students.
Thus he taught them everything he could. He told the other teachers that it was from an ancient culture long forgotten that he was personally studying and come up with some forged documents to prove it. Then his students were introduced to the Ancient Cybertronian language and received extra credit for every work they submitted written in it. He altered the manner in which the glyphs could be processed and spoken while still keeping it as true as possible so that his students could speak it and read it. Then he offered them even more extra credit if they spoke the language in class.
It brought him no end of joy when one Rafael Esquivel made it his mission in life to learn and speak Ancient Cybertronian. If he wasn't long used to having to remain on task even while under increadible stress he would have devoted a great deal of his time to ensuring the boy understood everything perfectly. However he abstained and kept his focus, teaching all his students equally and making sure they were still learning their own history. If Rafael came to him after school to learn more, Optimus never rejected him and taught him happily, more than a little pleased when the boy's glyphs came out as perfectly as they could considering his biology when he spoke.
He also showed his students old dances from all across Cybertron. He altered them as much as he could and gave students different dances based on personality. Students got extra credit if they could perform a dance perfectly by the end of the school year. He never really expected any of them to do it, but by Primus he was surprised when Miko Nakadai turned up guns blazing and performed three different dances from different castes as perfectly as she could considering her biological restraints. She was a terrible study, but evidently her interest in dancing was increadible. Optimus may or may not have taught her a few more dances a little later just to see if she could do it, only to be shocked beyond words when she could indeed do it.
Lastly he introduced his students to Cybertronian art which had a heavy reliance on story telling. It was an end of the year project since his students managed to burn through the curriculum in less than six months and get mostly through the next year's work before the Principle asked Pax to slow down and teach them something else for a while. Optimus thought slowing his student's growth was ridiculous, but he complied and taught them how to engrave and paint in the manner of Cybertronians. It was shortly after he began teaching this that he was yet again surprised to find Jack Darby of all his students to be the one to perform best.
The boy was an excellent engraver, to the point where if Optimus were the kind of mech he might have even let Jack engrave his outer plating. He could get the glyphs nearly perfect every time and had a gift for painting that surpassed more than a few artists from Cybertron during the golden age. It shocked and awed Optimus more than he cared to admit, and much like with his two other exemplary students, he may have slid Jack over a printed copy of some other examples of Cybertronian art from the Autobot database.
He was a proud teacher, and a fragging good one too by any standard. But that was not all, he also cared deeply for his students and got to know all of them. Bonds were a serious thing on Cybertron, especially the ones found between mentor and student. Optimus took the time to understand every student he taught, to learn their likes, their dislikes, and what their situations were. By the end of his first year teaching he already saw his students as his little archivists. He stayed out of their personal lives as much as he could considering his place, but when needed he would answer a call for help.
A student who came in hurt would find their cast covered in loving little glyphs that spoke of wishes and prayers from Cybertron. A student who had a mental illness would be given plenty of small gifts and attention to help them look on the bright side. Students with body image problems were welcomed with love, always receiving a compliment when they entered. Every student was seen to and cared for, especially in the odd case where they came to him for help.
He said he wouldn't get involved, but he was a Prime, he couldn't leave anyone in need of aid. During the singular instance where a student called him in tears at the end of the school day weeping because of their abusive parent, Optimus didn't even hesitate. His holoform was reabsorbed and his real frame moved out. He transformed and drove as fast as he could until he reached the student's residence, at which point he remade his holoform, called authorities, and may or may not have busted down the door to get his student out of there before they could be hurt further.
Not a spark touched one of his little archivists. And while he did get a fine for trespassing and property damage, Optimus had no regrets. It certainly made him feel like his actions were justified when he found a small bundle of flowers on his desk a few days later from the student he saved.
The team slowly began to get a little worried for him when he began gushing about his students around base and keeping their little gifts. When questioned he had nothing but praise for his students and in the end the team just let him be. Optimus still did the work that was needed of him around base, so why argue with him when he was far happier than any of the team had seen him in centuries. Ratchet did warn Optimus not to get attached, but by that point it was far too late if the small pile of thank you gifts and other assorted thing piled on Optimus's workstation was any indicator.
His students didn't know, but he adored their gifts. Gifts were special on Cybertron, and so for every gift he received, he returned. His little archivists were in his own mind, the best. As such when Megatron made his reappearance two years later just as his first batch of students were graduating, Optimus was actually angry.
How dare the fragger turn up and put his little archivists in danger!? It was unforgivable, especially when because of Megatron's actions, three of his students turned up at base and Optimus had to try not to sputter. Jack, Miko, and Rafael, his three most invested students when it came to Cybertronian culture. What started as a harmless little subject quickly had the children connecting the dots when it came to the team.
They thought what Mr. Pax was teaching them was rooted from Cybertronian influence, perhaps from him unearthing something from Cybertron long ago. They didn't know that Optimus was the one teaching them and still turning up to classes part time every other day after Megatron returned. How was he supposed to not get attached even more when he lived two lives, one as Mr. Pax the history teacher and one as Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, both of which interacted with the children?
Optimus: Jack, have you turned in your school work for the week yet?
Jack: No... I've been having some trouble with glyphs.
Optimus: Oh? What are you learning?
Jack: My history teacher Mr. Pax has been teaching up about a long dead civilization that seems to have been influenced by you bots. He's been teaching us the language they used.
Ratchet: *glaring at Optimus* Oh really? I would love to hear more about it.
Miko: Yeah! The glyphs are boring, but Mr. Pax also taught us dances! See, look! *proceeds to perform a dance from central Iacon*
Bulkhead: Wait, isn't that a dance used by the-
Optimus: *holding a servo over Bulkhead's mouth* The ancient civilization I assume?
Miko: Yep! Its super fun!
Rafael: Mr. Pax also taught us how to speak the old language. I think I am fairly proficient. *proceeds to speak fluent ancient cybertronian*
Arcee: What the frag!?
Ratchet: I do believe we need to have a talk Optimus.
Optimus playing chess though.
And playing against Raf, because hyper-genius 12-year-old. (Jack volunteers to move the pieces for Optimus.)
Even Miko thinks the game is exciting and intense because they both keep outsmarting each other and then ending up in draws, and no one wins for several games. Optimus gets so swept up in it, his battle mask clicks over his face without him really thinking about it.
Decepticon action was detected one move before one of them was able to call a checkmate on the last game.
Papa Prime Headcanons
Jack once nearly fell of Arcee after a ko burger shifts and a long school day, since then Optimus picks Jack up. Optimus doesn't show it but it makes him happy that he gets to spend time with Jack. So when he picks him up, Jack often falls asleep. Optimus knows that and purposefully drives a longer way to the base.
Once Miko fell sick and Bulkhead was on a space mission with Wheeljack. Miko didn't want to rest so Optimus offered to carry her around, which she accepted. He didn't put her down even after she fell asleep and did all of his work with one servo.
When it gets to loud in the base or Miko gets to wild, Optimus let's Raf study and read in his personal hab suite.
Jack sees Optimus as his father figure and unintentionally calles him dad whenever he falls asleep in Optimuses cab.
Miko came up with the nickname Papa Prime which ended with her once accidentally calling Optimus "Papa" instead of "Prime".
Raf made a father's day present together with Bumblebee and gifted it to Optimus. It was a photo album of the autobots and humans with a handwritten letter.
look at this. look at it!!
this is not mine but uuuuh go read it
yes
More Jack Darby Concept Art (Botmomverse)
He's definitely gonna have a graphic t shirt I just don't know what it'll be yet.
OH MY GOD FINALLY
I NEED MORE MEGATRON AND HUMAN CHILDREN FROM TFP
i really like thinking about their relationship. let's just admit that if megatron had discovered HOW useful these kids were to the autobots, he wouldn't have hesitated to have his own humans (No Silas, go away) or kidnap ours. Just imagine the face of this bucket if he found out that Jack(!) destroyed Arachnid's(!) ship and almost killed(!) her(!). Or how easily Raf copes with Cybertron technology and I'm not even talking about Miko.
And if their relationship with Miko is quite simple, but no less funny, then with Jack it would be more difficult. Especially from Megatron's side.
I can't shake the thought that in one of the episodes they said that Jack similar to Orion Pax. And Megatron sees it too, maybe even more than everyone else and he doesn't know what to do about it, so he just chooses not to interact with Jack as much as the other two, but that doesn't mean he doesn't watch Jack. Sometimes Jack starts talking like Orion Pax and Megatron is a hard trigger. This relationship is very difficult to describe, the past already haunts Megatron very often, and now a second Orion Pax has appeared on the horizon. Sometimes, watching the children interact, he sees the past in them. Miko is Megatronus. Raph is Soundwave. Jack is Orion.
Jack is simply afraid of him and doesn’t trust Megs. But he really tries. Sometimes when he and Megatron are alone they can talk about something philosophical, though then they may not talk for months, because each such conversation is an emotional destruction for both.
With Raf, they have something in between. It's definitely not as easy as with Miko, but not as hard as with Jack. As I said, Raph has some of Soundwave's traits. He's just as quiet and also good with technology. Megatron doesn't admit it, but he enjoys Raph's company. Raph asks a lot of questions, and Megatron seems reluctant to answer. Megatron finds Raph's curiosity very amusing. (I'll just close my eyes that Megs almost killed Raph with dark energon, in my world that didn't happen)
But seriously, if we talk about the events after the series where everything ended peacefully and Optimus did not die, and they all remained on Earth, then Raph would at first simply be afraid of Megatron and would avoid meeting him. But over time, he would overcome this and they would begin to get closer, sometimes talking about science and history.
In June Darby, Megatron sees a kind of mix between Ratchet and Alpha Trion, but a little more cheerful.
Agent Fowler just irritates him.
And Silas...well...nobody likes Silas....
Anyway, I want more fanfics about them, among all the platforms I found only a pitiful couple of works...
I love the idea of Megatron and Miko being frenemies!
To my knowledge she's the only human to have killed a transformer in this series. (Megatron's horrified but impressed look was amazing lmao) From what I have seen she's also done some other pretty impressive things.
I read those fics where Megatron and Miko got stuck in a cave-in together and I love them so much! I need more stuff written about them getting along.
Made another crossover
Story in the nutshell : Akaza trying to complete his redemption mission by helping alien robots protecting Earth and has his patience being tested.
You can find the fic in Ao3 : Redemption || KNY X TFP ||
June is me. (I gave up on colouring the last two panels) (the chokehold this ship had on me when I was younger as well as June and Ratchet)
Been watching Trollhunters and I gotta say, Jim reminds me of Jack Darby from TFP. Mainly because of their (relatable) moms.
Also love Jim and Draal friendship development 🥹🥹 I am so glad I was rooting for Draal in the beginning because ya know, his anger was understandable (but him being a jerk wasn't an excuse tho)
Finally, our boy Jack. Only son of a hardworking single mother, he’s a teenager with teenager problems. On the one hand, he has to deal with the classic high school drama of bullies and crushes, and on the other he has to contend with his mother’s protectiveness and occasional nagging. But now, alien warfare has somehow wormed it’s way into his life and he struggles with balancing the mundane of his life with the abnormalities of being an alien ambassador.
Floating in a similar boat is Arcee, who’s slowly learning to relax despite losses and her life threatening day to day. Being able to open up was hard before Jack showed up in her life, having only just lost Cliffjumper some time after the loss of Tailgate making it hard for her to say goodbye. Jack’s normality and clear headedness balances Arcee’s harsh and pragmatic nature fairly easily, the two getting along surprisingly well. Being so severely wounded emotionally, Jack’s prosaic routine was a good fit for her that gave her some relaxation for a change. These two made for excellent partners, and even better friends.
However, his relationship with Optimus Prime was different. The two have a ton more in common than they might have previously thought. Both were thrust into a new understanding of the world around them, and both were given a responsibility they did not feel at all prepared for. One became a divinely ordained Prime, the other a leader and keeper of the world’s most dangerous secrets (the identity of the Cybertronian race, Vector Sigma, the location of the Autobot base, etc.). Jack doesn’t think highly enough of himself to believe he’d be able to do anything on his own and quickly learns to fall back on the relationships he cultivated in such a short period of time. Even when facing down Megatron in what looked like the greatest opportunity to end the war, he followed Optimus’ example to not act rashly. I think that’s why Ratchet equated the kid to Optimus - both started out as nothing and nobody, only to become mighty in time with help from their teachers.
Arcee became his partner and Prime his mentor, all while being just a kid from Nowhere, Nevada. I think that’s what makes him a cool character, in my opinion. He’s essentially a challenge to the Chosen One archetype.
TFP HC: Family Ties
Was just listening to the Robots soundtrack and was reminded of the train station scene. Immediately thought of Ratchet, for some reason, particularly his attachment to Rafael in TFP.
Ratchet’s connection to Raf was built on the kid’s ability to exceed all of his expectations. Ratchet had well founded pride in his species for their accomplishments and strength, but very little of the same pride in humans. In fact, he downright hated them in the beginning. But Rafael’s talent and meekness cut right through his rough exterior. While the old bot is quick to a temper and preferred to be alone, he still looked to Rafael when he needed help and would even keep him around a lot to assist him. Eventually, Raf became like a son to him, with whom he passed on some of his knowledge to make him smarter and wiser.
And speaking of family, I have to bring up Bumblebee. Rafael is the youngest in his family and has constant pressure to ace school to the point where he doesn’t have many friends aside from Jack and Miko. He gets talked over and most likely doesn’t get the chance to express himself much, if at all. Then he met Bumblebee who, like him, is the youngest on his squad and has pressure to be a good scout/warrior while standing in the shadow of someone like Optimus Prime. But also like him, he has a limited voice, figuratively and very literally. Despite being so physically different, they became kindred spirits to one another, finally being heard for once.
Aligned kids: Most likely to
(If you want me to explain something, ask in comments)
(Yes, they are friends and I am adding Lisa.)
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WHOS MOST LIKELY TO‼️ *FRIENDS EDITION*😱 #shorts #trending | Dixon Sisters - YouTube
-To do something dangerous for fun: Miko
-Go to collage: Frankie, Raf, Jack and Cody
-Own a business: Priscilla
-Get into a car accident: Russel and Cody
-Win the lottery: Cody and Lisa
-Get revenge on their bully: Miko and Frankie
(Poor Nancy, none of these apply to her)
Random TFP headcanons Part 1 (mostly humans)
Raf is deaf in one ear and has a cochlear implant
Jack is transmasc
Miko is ADHD
Raf is Autistic
Miko at one point tried to cut her own hair
Needless to say, it did not turn out well
Jack has a genetic mutation that causes naturally sharper canines
Yes, several vampire jokes were made about this
Raf has dirt on EVERYBODY at school, and is not afraid to use it
Along with the guitar, Miko is pretty good on a drum set
Jack is frequently called emo
Miko used to bite kids in kindergarten
Raf has skipped several grades and is currently a sophomore in duel enrollment
Jack's parents had split custody until Jack's dad just didn't come to pick him up and stopped paying child support
June tried to track down her ex-husband, but to no evail
The kids see Optimus as a father figure, and he is not going to tell them otherwise
Bumblebee is Ratchet and Optimus's unofficially adopted son
Raf will behave like a creature from the pits of the underworld if he feels safe
Chibi versions of Jack, Miko, and Raf from Transformers Prime.
The Ink Demonth Day 24 : Crossover! (Ft. TFP)
(skip this too part of text if want to just go ahead and see pictures)
It's the day I have been waiting for! I decided to use one of my frist fandoms for this day, Tfp/Transformers Prime! I know, strange mix, but whatever. I been wanting to try and do holoforms for the Cybertronians for awhile (since I can't draw normal ones) and this gave me an excuse. I went all out on these pictures so some may look a bit strange, but I'm happy. Anyway, gonna stop rambling and let you see them.
You all were expecting another Silas Boris Picture for the last the one weren't you?
Alright. I hope you enjoy
