#rereading!

[kryptonitecore]

Reread: Transformers: Hearts of Steel

Hearts of Steel had some interesting places to go and an attention-grabbing concept - Transformers in the age of steam. However, I don’t think the art always used that concept to its advantage and a lot of the designs ended up being quite generic. This was not helped by the fact that a number of the characters were made monotone, with grey being a very prevalent colour. Overall, the art, though not bad, seemed something of an afterthought, which was odd for a miniseries like this. The initial concept art for the series came from Ted McKeever, but three out of four issues were by Guido Guidi, and one of the issues was done by Antonio Vasquez and Luis Czerniawski - so perhaps this was a product of the concept being passed around a fair bit, for example some characters’ designs and colours change substantially between issues.

As for the time period, it’s not meant to be a realistic take and that might be for the best - Mark Twain and Jules Verne are palling around, John Henry shows up, etc. I’m not very knowledgeable about this period of American history, but I think this is going for more of a lighthearted, folkloric tone. I quite liked the book initially, as it seemed simple, but as if it was heading somewhere quickly. That impression soon started to wear off - the characters were flat and one-note and dialogue was blunt. A lot of the characters didn’t have much to do, including both Transformer characters and human characters, Bonaventure and Vanflet being good examples of this.

The pacing also seemed odd to me, as it made the whole mini-series seem like a non-event. I was reading a digital copy and hadn’t realised the comic was ending until I clicked onto the next page and there were the closing panels. There was very little build-up,and therefore I think the climax of the story slipped past me without my even realising that it was supposed to be the highpoint. 

As intriguing as the central concept is, I can’t honestly recommend this one. Alright, back to the Spotlights!

[chessb0r3d]

Analysis so bad you don't even know what it's talking about anymore.

[septemberkisses]

the fact that i'm no longer the same age as the protagonists of novels and films i once connected to is so heartbreaking. there was a time when I looked forward to turning their age. i did. and i also outgrew them. i continue to age, but they don't; never will. the immortality of fiction is beautiful, but cruel.

[thatbuddie]

people telling you they reread your fic is the biggest compliment you could ever receive. there are thousands of stories out there begging to be found, to be explored, but your story meant so much to someone that they came back to it eagerly, they went over every word again. to love is to return and loving a fic is rereading it. thank you to all readers and rereaders <3333

[theodysseyofhomer]

odysseus absolutely does present a threat to penelope if he perceives her as at all unfaithful, and i feel the unfairness of this, and i think people tend to undersell how much tension at least potentially exists between odysseus and penelope. but i'm also like. his reaction, all speculation aside, his actual reaction in the odyssey to her flirting with the suitors is delight, because he immediately ascertains that she is running a con. sorry that they're so in-sync in spite of the forces that try to drive a wedge between them, including their own misgiving hearts. sorry that they invented homophrosyne ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[lowkeydivine]

Underrated panel

[stemmmm]

more people gotta try this shit where bill has not improved and will not change but he's just chilling so its fine probably. its great

[laikabu]

save me mother and child imagery save me thistle’s innate desire for a family save me (peep the mother and child painting on the first pic)

[gojosbf]

[gerrykeay]

did you know there's a day-by-day timeline of the plot in the dungeon meshi adventurer's bible and TODAY is when it all kicks off

happy falin gets eaten and the gang starts eatin' day :)

[shining-just-4-u]

u ever read a fanfic so good that you want. fanfic of the fanfic

[kryptonitecore]

Reread: ROM vs. Transformers: Shining Armor

I was unsure what to expect going in. On the one hand, I’ve seen lots of interesting panels from this comic floating around, but on the other hand I don’t have the highest opinion of a lot of the IDW1 crossover things and I didn’t have any prior knowledge of ROM. I’m happy to say I didn’t need a lot of prior knowledge and there were some very concise notes at the front laying down the basics. Honestly, I think perhaps ROM was an easier combination with the Transformers canon, given that it seems to have its own space opera and SFF aspects.

I immediately latched on to Stardrive like a gosling onto its mother. I may also be about to go down a rabbit hole of over-interpreting minor details, but here I go. Stardrive raises some interesting ideas about Cybertronian ageing. The IDW1 continuity doesn’t really account for a subadult period of life. There are ‘newer’ characters and periods of training and education, but not really a fundamental and distinct phase of life that would be equivalent to childhood or adolescence. Stardrive, surrounded by mostly organic species, is shown experiencing a childhood and is interpreted as young by multiple characters from multiple different species: she went to school, someone must have found her that purple cuddly toy, and characters like Rom, who tries to soften criticism directed her way, and the Dire Wraith, who claims she screams ‘like a child’, do not interpret her as a full adult. Admittedly, there’s multiple ways to interpret this in the story itself. It could all be down to socialisation, or, alternatively, it could suggest that there is a period of Cybertronian life (even if it’s relatively short…) that is subadult or somewhat ‘childlike’ and they just don’t mark it? That or the writers just wanted to make Stardrive seem cuter or more innocent, which… goal achieved, I suppose. It’s a shame we didn’t see more of this character, especially with that ending and the question of how, should she survive, these experiences might alter Stardrive given that she seems quite young and soft - not a pushover, but quite a soft person.

I still know nothing about ROM, but I have to say I was not expecting the Solstar Order to be as planet-destruction-happy as they turned out to be. I have to wonder how no one in the Order is questioning Livia a bit more considering… well, everything she says and does? I mean, she can barely hold back her contempt for her peers, let alone everyone else. I enjoyed the multi-sided conflict and it gave the story a nice sense of scale, though I am starting to wonder about the Galactic Council and their hatred of Cybertronians, which seems to be their only defining feature - I don’t know whether I find that a bit wearing or quite funny.

A lot of the images I’ve seen from this comic have been of Starscream and for good reason. If you like IDW1 Starscream, especially if you are interested in a more upbeat take on the character, this is well worth a look. There’s also an interesting sense of camaraderie among the Decepticon characters - some of their interactions are informal, there are nicknames, there are jokes, Astrotrain and Blitzwing are grudging friends, Starscream gets a bit territorial, etc. Also bringing villainous energy, there is ROM’s contribution in the form of Vekktral, who is just delightfully enthusiastic about his combination of magic and technology.

This book mostly escapes continuity traps, but the one thing that does come up is Ultra Magnus - specifically, this is NOT Minimus but someone called Convoy, despite being seemingly close to the modern era. Ultra Magnus’ characterisation is very, very deliberate - it’s even a joke at one point, where Bumblebee talks about how ‘Magnus reacted with a level head, as always’, immediately followed by a scream of ‘Annihilate them!’. Similarly, ‘They’re organics! They barely count as life, anyway’ is certainly a sentiment. It was actually quite entertaining to see evidence of such a wildly different version and a further exploration of the concept of Magnus-as-role rather than individual, however it does have the side effect of suggesting Minimus was not in the job for that long.

I honestly had a lot of fun with these issues. They’re relatively self-contained and might be a bit tonally dissonant compared with what was probably going on in the mainline comics at the time, but it had a lot of life to it, with great art, fun character moments, and it went well above what I expected from a crossover. It got a little cluttered towards the end, but otherwise I was pleasantly surprised by this!

[wormspoodle]

i think they are so silly

[jessepinwheel]

love rereading some of my writing like damn this person really knows how to write that appeals to all the things I personally love

[valtsv]

are we still doing this because i have a late submission

[lokorum]

jon needs a door and i need a fucking break from this weather uhhh

music from the..floor?? ♪┏(・o･)┛♪