#Corporate Stupidity

[transformers0]

From previous asks where you mention being annoyed at Hasbro for mandating the modern Optimus voices be like Peter Cullen, I'm guessing you weren't a fan of Transformers Prime having Peter Cullen himself come back to do Optimus?

Gonna pull from a couple of my debate posts on TFW2005 for this.

For the record, Cullen's best takes on Optimus were in G1 and the 2007 movie up to DOTM (and arguably AOE, if you really want to include that).

With that said, I am tired of Peter Cullen's portrayal of Optimus being put on a pedestal and shoved in our faces, to the point where modern incarnations, even when not voiced by Cullen, have actors who are mandated most of the time to try and sound like him.

Also, if fans are obsessed with Peter Cullen's portrayal to the point where they will rate poorly written or mediocre Optimus Prime portrayals (TFP, Bay Films) over objectively better written Optimus portrayals out there, then there's a bias problem.

I also think Cullen's portrayal is growing stale inevitably due to age.

He was the right age to play a father figure in G1.

In the Bay Movies, and to a lesser extent the High Moon Games, he was more of a military leader first, so whatever effects age had on his performance as Optimus were acceptable.

But honestly, with other parts of Aligned trying to make Optimus a father figure again (when they're not trying to stupidly make him a god), their attempts fall flat because Cullen is just too old to sound like a father. He sounds increasingly more and more like a grandfather figure, which isn't his fault, but is inevitable due to the passage of time.

It is grating and frankly cheesy (and not in a good way) when, particularly in TFP, Optimus refers to those of his senior troops as "old friends" — yet said troops still sound young enough to be the equivalent of his children.

Going back in the Aligned timeline to the WFC and FOC games, I'd have Optimus NOT be voiced by Peter Cullen. He was supposedly young when he got promoted to the rank of Prime, so have his voice reflect that, ya know?

Also, there was a time on TFW2005 that a number of G1 / Cullen fans were clamouring for Optimus to be voiced by an AI that could replicate Peter Cullen once Cullen is actually gone.

Which is, frankly, farcical.

If a franchise is timeless because one of the things it does is reinvent itself for future generations, then locking one of the main characters to a literal portrayal of their first incarnation — done by AI, just to remind you — is a disservice to the character, the actor, the story, the franchise, and filmmaking, acting, and audiences as a whole.

Focusing again on Transformers Prime, the show's writing issues seem to get a lot of free passes just because Optimus and Megatron are portrayed by Peter Cullen and Frank Welker yet again.

That's honestly why I personally push the need for new voice actors for all the characters (as long as they're professional) in each incarnation as possible, rather than more role reprisals. Because 1) let's be fair to other great voice actors and give them a chance, and 2) people are gonna get complacent with acting and writing standards if the same acclaimed voice keeps coming back to multiple incarnations over and over again.

[shitistolefromyoutube]

[el-ffej]

From prior experience (with other trendy business objects of lust, not ai), all it takes is an upper middle-management mba who's insecure about their job (and in general, they should be), and are looking for a piece of flotsam that they can clutch on to. (Particularly if said flotsam is trending.)

A somewhat different version is when middle-management mba sees something trending that they can ride to promotion, knowing that (if they are successful) they will have been promoted elsewhere, and will not have to clean up the mess that they caused.

Only difference is motive: first is fear, second is greed.

[hellpuppetswithfleshymembers]

[these-violet-delights-fic]

The whole article is kind of great, I recommend the read.

it's easy to forget that other ceos are just as out of touch as tech guys but thankfully we have "rather than a flavor or a product, [olive oil] is really a platform" from starbucks to remind us of this

[problemnyatic]

Yeah yeah linux having problems is a big joke but honestly have you considered that linux wouldn't run like shit if it didn't have to reverse engineer byzantine proprietary drivers and hardware architecture and deliberately hostile BIOS firmware and one thousand other things that exist solely to force everything that isn't a corporate OS to suffer miserably on every computer ever

[arkangelo-7]

I bet that Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake, as the Batfamily’s resident corporate America breadwinners, have to occasionally go play a round of golf to keep up appearances with WE shareholders. The only problem is that they’re both fucking terrible at golf.

And when I say they’re bad, like, holy shit, they are really bad. For two people who often have to save the universe with their intelligence, concentration, and ability to effectuate incredibly complex, precision-reliant plans, they are both somehow really, really fucking awful at golf of all things.

Bruce, at least, has the Brucie Wayne disguise to hide how absolutely awful he is at golf. Which totally works for him, because he hates the reminder that he is inherently terrible at something. So, whenever he’s dragged out for a round with Lucius and the WE board members, he just pretends to get super drunk, act a little more clumsy then normal, and hits on the caddy until everyone just writes him off as too much of an ditz to put any effort into his golf swing. It drives Lucius nuts, because he actually likes golf and he thinks Bruce is just pretending to be bad as part of his cover for Batman—there is at least one occasion where he asks Bruce to show a little more decorum on the course and actually try to play, and Bruce just… blue screens. Because in reality he is actually horrible at golf and he needs the excuse of “dumbass Brucie Wayne” or his ego will implode.

Tim, however. Poor Tim.

Tim, unfortunately does not get to play the idiot to cover up his absolute shit golf game. (There is only so much room in the family for idiots and he has to keep up appearances as Jack and Janet Drake’s son.) As such, he avoids any and all golf courses as much as possible—but everyone once in a while there’s a potential merger or business deal he needs to discuss with someone important, and the best way to get the deal done is on a golf course. So Tim has to spend the next three and a half hours of his life torturing himself through a round of golf. (He ends up losing twelve balls, taking seven swings on a Par 3, somehow broke his putter, and tripped into a bunker.) The only upside is that his pure determination to actually finish the round, despite how godawful he is, is usually what actually convinces the investors/partner/board members agree to work out a deal with him.

But it’s best (or worse) when Bruce and Tim play golf together. It isn’t often—stories of their infamously terrible golf games means that most people will only invite one of them at a time—but inevitably they do end up on a course together at one point, and holy fuck, it is a miracle they don’t burn the place down.

[artsy-1diot]

idk what compelled me to make this i think i might just be gay

[the-alpha-doodle-dome]

flimnt arson hours <3

[videntefernandez]

I just don't understand why Mattel would release a movie promoting their product and then NOT RELEASE PRODUCTS FROM THAT MOVIE. Everyone is trying to cash in on the success of the movie, even our local coffee shop had a Barbie latte. And from Mattel we get maybe one standard issue ken and margot robbie barbie. That's it?? Where's jumpsuit barbie? Where's the merman? Where's trash collector barbie? WHERE THE FUCK IS ALLAN

[c4n1d43cup1d]

why did i draw this

[556ch0cl8]

Hey guys, I made a random generator to make a nugget for fun

The results change each time you input your name/a word

[strawglicks]

yay plushies :] + happy pride month!

bonus: rainbow capitalism HELP

[alphavivi26]

I Go La La La Arh Arh Arh

[hollowtones]

read up on some of the history of Obsidian Entertainment today & learned about the cancelled "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" action game & felt my eyes bugging out of my head

[theheightofdishonor]

chapter 298: guide with that image of yamaguchi behind tsukki paired with "he's always been one step ahead of me after all" will always be famous/insane etc because of the way it retroactively reframes their entire relationship, especially in the context of "what more is there than pride?". Because that moment during the training arc is mostly from yamaguchi's pov and as far as yamaguchi's concerned (tbh, as far as the audience is concerned too) yamaguchi's always been following tsukki and his speaking out is like challenging the status quo. And here, for tsukki to be like, "no, wrong, he's always been in front, he's been the one leading me along" and honestly, the frankness in which he says it too ahhhhh i LOVE this chapter