#Fighting Pax

[theforbiddentower]

"Much like myself in skintight leather, Martin, it was impossible to resist."

- Austerly Fellows, Fighting Pax (Robin Jarvis)

[slashingdisneypasta]

The Jockey stepped forward. "And what of me, my Lord?" he asked humbly.

The Ismus smiled indulgently. "Of course. Take yourself away to the Great Hall and enter the furtherance with the rest of the Court there. You have behaved yourself well this night, my caramel-coloure jackanapes. I thank you for that. Go and find your deserved reward- and take Posy here with you. I'm sure she is also anxious to read Fighting Pax."

~ Forty-Eight pages Later ~

"No trick, no game," The Jockey promised, holding up his hands. "Not against you, not this time."

"You'd say that anyway! Stay still! I mean it, I'll use this if you take another step. Why aren't you off reading Fighting Pax? Or have you finished it already?"

The Jockey gazed beyond Martin, towards the glorious spectacle of the Dawn Prince. He ached to go and worship Him. But first of all...

"One last naughtiness, Martin," he explained. "The Jockey must ride everyone of the Court, including the Ismus. That is why I am here, that is why I sent Nosy Posy to the Great Hall alone. I must pay one final trick on the Holy Enchanter before I leave this dreary place for good."

Martin didn't understand.

"'Tis the way I am," the Jockey said simply. "'Tis the part I play. I can be no otherwise. I am tasked to hinder and needle, thwart, upset and confound and now, at the very brink of the Ismus's triumph, I am compelled to meddle."

- Fighting Pax, Robin Jarvis

[bloominglegumes]

to think that we could stay the same,,,

(my megop playlist.pls pls talk about songs with me)

[orion-archives]

NO, STOP, I'M ALREADY CRYING AND SCREAMING 😭

[keferon]

I’m so fucking insane about them you have no idea.

Listen. L i s t e n. My headcanon is. If only Optimus was there when Prowl got mind controlled by the Decepticons. If he was there he would be able to tell the difference. Every other bot just looked at Prowl and went …oh well I guess this asshole is evil I’m not surprised and never liked him anyway. But Optimus would see it. He fucking would

The comics I took these screenshots from are “Optimus Prime” and “Combiner wars”

[jaybirdscoffee]

see everybody loves to talk about orion unnecessarily putting the megatronus decal on d-16’s shoulder, which is entirely valid. HOWEVER i see absolutely nobody talking about d-16 brushing dust and debris off of orion when he climbs out of the cart at the start of the movie. and i have been thinking about it nonstop.

[coffee-and-cake]

I love the contrast between Tf One Optimus meeting other version of Megatron vs Tf one Megatron meeting other versions of Optimus

TF One Optimus meeting other Megatrons: Oh there’s some obvious distrust between them but these Megatrons find this young and naive Optimus to be endearing and can’t help but crave his affection because he reminds them of what cybertron used to be cause he hasn’t been destroyed by the war yet.

Tf one Optimus thinks that he can fix any Megatron he comes across cause he was never able to save his own.

TF One Megatron meeting other Optimus’s: Try’s to fight every single one and gets his ass handed to him every time.

Gen 1 Optimus: “this old man is a big goof what’s he gonna do-“ *watches in horror at the whole ass Oil rig that’s been thrown his way*

Bayverse Optimus: “He said he was gonna steal my face so I’m just gonna hide for a bit.”

Earthspark Optimus: didn’t even fight just saw a version of him and Optimus being together and happy that he just left to cry in a corner.

Tf Prime Optimus: “…Your waist is insane-“ *gets punched so hard he thinks was instantly sent to the well of sparks*

Tf animated Optimus: “Lol this Optimus is so tiny what can he possibly do to me?”

Tfa Optimus:

[ondeemand]

Transformers One Review

For the sake of convenience, I’ll be referring to the characters as their new names (Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee) instead of their old ones (Orion Pax, D-16, B-127).

Also, I didn’t grow up with Transformers, so this will be mostly from an outsider’s perspective. I can’t tell what possibly was or wasn’t a retcon or how accurate to the source material it was, but I think the background info on their world held up very well and they were able to explain it clearly to new viewers like me. It definitely would have hit harder if I grew up with Transformers and knew more than just facts from cultural osmosis, but I still enjoyed the movie a lot.

Notes/Things I’m Neutral On

Very weird to hear my name (Dee) being said throughout most of the movie by Chris Hemsworth’s bad American accent.

Also, I forgot that Megatron has transformed into ground vehicles before. I only ever knew him to turn into a jet, so I was kind of confused that he was a tank in this movie. I hope we get to see him get upgraded to a jet in the next one, but the tank is still cool.

Pros/Things I Liked

Simple but effective color theory with their eye colors. Main good guys have blue while Megatron has yellow, sitting between good and bad. Still a friendly color at first, but slowly turns closer to orange and then fully red as his anger and hatred consume him (and after he met the red-eyed Starscream, a cowardly man who ends up enabling Megatron‘s more violent/aggressive tendencies)

○ Also I don’t know if I was just seeing things, but it looked like Megatron’s eyes got more yellow whenever he looked at Optimus which is so sad and so gay.

I really thought they were gonna push a romance between Elita and either Bumblebee (goofy manchild x competent woman trope) or Optimus (male lead x female lead, blue x pink), but I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t. Sadly, there’s still time for it in future installments, but I can dream.

Not to be gay, but spider woman sexy. Airachnid was so obviously evil that it was funny, but I can’t fault Sentinel for having her around because I, too, would want a deadly goth woman to be my right-hand lady. They felt like the evil, less developed versions of Mustang and Hawkeye. I am in love.

The animation is gorgeousssss. The environments, the character designs, the fight choreography, the transformations, the lighting, the texture, mwah mwah MWAH STUNNING!!!

○ Sorry, I’m never gonna stop talking about this. The way they were able to make square/blocky figures move so fluidly was fantastic (and proof of concept that a fully animated Minecraft movie would have worked). ○ The camera angles were also great for framing both the dramatic, intense, and/or high-action moments like fights or chase scenes, while also adding a lot to the comedic moments. Like when the camera stays tracking Optimus’ face when running through the forest, only for him to suddenly fall down a cliff neither he nor us saw coming, only to then zoom out to the perspective of the guards below, showing them stumbling and falling. ○ The contrast between the mechanical and organic elements on the surface were really cool, and the way it was introduced was able to convey this idea that organic life was this strange, alien thing. ○ The way the surface just rebuilds itself into these jagged, blocky terrains was really unique and interesting! It felt like a glitched computer model because of its rougher shapes which really added to the fear and hostility of the surface.

90% of their jokes landed and they landed hard. The bit where Optimus looks like he’s about to transform and then just fucking books it is incredible. The audio and camera work help add to these as well, like the music building as Optimus pretends to transform, the camera zooming in close to different parts of him, only for all background noise to cut out as it shows Optimus running away. I won’t name every joke and quip I found funny or we’d be here all day, but they’re certainly a highlight of the movie.

I love Keegan-Michael Key, but I wasn’t a fan of him as the comic relief character of Toad in the Mario movie. When Bumblebee showed up I got a little nervous, but I really loved his performance of the character.

I really liked the midpoint pep talk about hope. That’s a really nice reason that Optimus is the leader despite not being as skilled as other people. He has the hope for a better future and it was a core part of his character from the beginning, and I really like the idea that a leader is someone who can envision a brighter future no matter what.

Alpha Trion transforming was SICK AS FUCK!!! I love that he was more animalistic when the rest of the cast become vehicles. His final fight was so cool, and it actually made me kind of emotional to see him at the end with the rest of the Prime ghosts.

The stabbings? The beheadings?? The branding??? The way Megatron tore Sentinel in half and then ripped his heart out on-screen holy shit???? This movie was incredibly brutal and I loved it. It’s such an interesting phenomenon that children’s media is allowed to be about as graphic as they want as long as it’s against robots, even incredibly sentient ones like in the Transformers series.

○ I watched the 1986 Transformers movie for a class earlier this year, and while it also had a lot of brutality in it’s fights, the new movie felt more intense. Part of this could be attributed to me watching the 2024 movie on a big screen vs the 1986 movie in my living room, but there are other reasons as well. The 1986 movie had more upbeat songs playing over the fights, specifically songs like The Touch and Dare, which helped keep the tone lighter and more exciting. The 2024 movie didn’t have anything like that, allowing the action, while still cool and exciting, to take on a more serious tone. This is also emphasized by the graphics of the movie being 3D instead of 2D. While the 2D 1986 movie is a stunning masterpiece, people still view it with the idea in mind that, since it’s a cartoon, the stakes and story will be less intense. The 2024 movie being 3D with very detailed graphics and lighting already has more visual intensity. The characters are still these bright, poppy colors, but they can come across more moody and dark due to the environments, lighting, and textures that the 3D medium more easily allows. And while the painted backgrounds and cell shading of the old movie are great, the CGI backgrounds are a lot closer to realism, so the harsher elements like metal and rock, which make up a vast majority of the environment and characters, look real too.

The way Megatron’s hate consumed him to the point where he started acting more villainous and, while not entirely similar to Sentinel, still ended up hurting innocent people was tragic. Trying to push away and deny everything about a person only to wind up being just like them. This was perfectly shown in the end credit scene where Megatron is branding himself and the new Decepticons with Megatronus Prime’s face. To him, it may be him reclaiming the traumatic experience and literally using it like a badge of honor, as well as thinking he’s honoring Megatronus Prime. But in reality, he’s just inflicting the same trauma done to him onto others, just like Sentinel. Such a cool way to show how every villain is the hero of their own story.

The doomed yaoiiiiii I’m never gonna get over them. The only other Transformers media I’ve consumed is the 1986 movie, which kills off Optimus Prime in the first 25 minutes and Megatron becomes Galvatron, so I never knew the depths of their homoerotic relationship.

I’m a sucker for “the hero and villain used the be friends (and maybe even lovers?)” trope, so Optimus and Megatron’s relationship and the general premise of the movie was already a slam dunk for me.

I’m also a fan of legacy stories like Avatar and She-Ra. While this movie didn’t get as in-depth with the concept, I enjoyed that they played with the idea of legacy and taking up the mantle of the former Primes.

I absolutely loved the end message that Optimus gives us. Hope, freedom, and autonomy are incredibly important things to learn, and as a trans person who very much wants to keep control over what I do with my body, I really resonated with that last one. I think it’s really cool that they included a message like that in this children’s movie about robots that turn into cars.

Regarding the message of autonomy, I love that it gives the term Autobots a new meaning. Auto meaning “automobile”, since they transform into cars, and Auto meaning “self”, as they are now fully their own bots with control over themselves.

Cons/Things I Disliked

Mid vocal performances from everyone except Brian Tyree Henry and Keegan-Michael Key. And as I mentioned before, it was hard not to focus on Chris’ attempts at an American accent, not to mention how recognizable his, as well as Scarlett Johansson’s, voices are.

The plot felt a little disjointed in the first 1/3-ish.

○ Good setup with the main characters being an oppressed working class with one dreaming of better things and the other hesitant to fall out of line or take risks. But then suddenly there’s a race, and then they’re in it, and then they lose, and then their leader wants to promote them. At first it feels like there are hints that he’s a scummy celebrity-type and that meeting their hero is what will spur on the disillusionment with their society. But then some random douchebag that doesn’t like them reassigns them which goes against their leader’s command, and that’s how the plot kicks off? ○ Also, Elita’s involvement felt kind of rushed/hand-waved. They all get stuck on the surface, but instead of trying to make her way back to report them like she was saying she would for the past few minutes, she makes a complete 180 and heads the expedition herself. ○ It all just felt a little strange, but once it got going the rest of the plot felt fine.

Megatron’s descent into “evil” felt kind of rushed. I understand that he feels betrayed and I really love where the character ends up by the end, but it felt like a real 180 without a lot of build up.

Some jokes fell flat or felt annoying and kinda cringe. That’s the territory of children’s movies though, so par for the course.

TLDR

Overall, this movie was a really fun watch and I’d love to go see it again. While some parts fall a little flat, the movie is lifted from mediocrity by its many Pros. From the stunning visuals, to the quick humor, to the tragic origins of two friends driven apart by their ideals, I’d recommend this movie to anyone interested in animation or the Transformers brand.

8.82/10

[hercarisntyours]

i choose to live in pain apparently

[thetoonstation]

Alone…

During a battle with the autobots and the decepticons for the matrix, starlight get caught in between it and ends up getting lost from the autobots with the matrix’s of leadership. Now she’s alone and uses the matrix to comfort herself as she wonders on the surface of cybertron.

[loganslowdown4]

I mostly wanted to point out that Patton does this ✌️a lot but the video got away from me fhhdhdgd

Yes I misspelled ‘years’ It should be ‘2 years later’ The fight in the mind vid came out in 2021 And the anime intro in 2023 The more you knowwwww 😁

[theforbiddentower]

The Jockey stepped forward. "And what of me, my Lord?" he asked humbly.

The Ismus smiled indulgently. "Of course. Take yourself away to the Great Hall and enter the furtherance with the rest of the Court there. You have behaved yourself well this night, my caramel-coloured jackanapes. I thank you for that. Go and find your deserved reward- and take Posy here with you. I'm sure she is also anxious to read Fighting Pax."

~ Forty-Eight pages Later ~

"No trick, no game," The Jockey promised, holding up his hands. "Not against you, not this time."

"You'd say that anyway! Stay still! I mean it, I'll use this if you take another step. Why aren't you off reading Fighting Pax? Or have you finished it already?"

The Jockey gazed beyond Martin, towards the glorious spectacle of the Dawn Prince. He ached to go and worship Him. But first of all...

"One last naughtiness, Martin," he explained. "The Jockey must ride everyone of the Court, including the Ismus. That is why I am here, that is why I sent Nosy Posy to the Great Hall alone. I must pay one final trick on the Holy Enchanter before I leave this dreary place for good."

Martin didn't understand.

"'Tis the way I am," the Jockey said simply. "'Tis the part I play. I can be no otherwise. I am tasked to hinder and needle, thwart, upset and confound and now, at the very brink of the Ismus's triumph, I am compelled to meddle."

- Fighting Pax, Robin Jarvis

[slashingdisneypasta]

"Much like myself in skintight leather, Martin, it was impossible to resist."

- Austerly Fellows

[teatitty]

Thanks to TF1 I am now forever obsessed with Optimus being a huge fucking history nerd with the impulse control firmly in the negatives. I need an Optimus who still does absolutely insane crazy maneuvers and plans ala when he was Orion and anyone who doesn't know him is like "wow this guy is an incredible battle tactician truly one of our greats!" and everyone on his actual team is like "90% of his decisions are made on the fly but my god if he tells me to jump into wormhole I'm gonna do it my trust in him is simply that high"

[quibbs126]

So I was reminded of a brainwave today as I was taking way too long to try and get hangars and food

So I had this thought once of TF One Optimus and Megatron crashing on Earth, but they have amnesia and don’t remember anything up to the events of the movie; they still think they’re Orion Pax and D-16

And because of this, they’re kind of having the time of their lives, with them actually having T-Cogs, Orion somehow having the Matrix of Leadership (and maybe being a Prime now?), D having a sweet Megatronus tattoo, and being on a quite beautiful planet and not having to be in the mines, especially when they get back to Cybertron with the Matrix. I mean, they have no clue how they got there, or how to leave or contact anyone to pick them up, or if this planet has fuel they can actually use and what they do when they run out of Energon, but that’s a problem for another time

I’m also thinking that while on Earth, they encounter a family of humans that live on a farm or something. Maybe they crashed close to or in their property. And so now they got human friends to talk to and give them shelter, and in return they help out around the farm (probably made easier when they realize they can turn into Earth vehicles)

So just good vibes for these two. Meanwhile the other Cybertronians have no clue where their leaders are and they’re in a crisis about it. But they don’t know that

[doshi-sukiru]

More tfone art because they're fighting for hyperfixation rights in my mind, and I'm losing terribly.