#there’s not enough love for the Henry!!!!!

[blade-liger-4ever]

I just need to let this out

The new film, Transformers One, from what I've seen of spoilers taken straight from the theaters and what I've read up on Wikipedia, is a good show. It's got plot threads and characterizations taken across practically every medium of the franchise, and even utilizes the Transformers: Prime theme music twice in the film. It's honestly, all things considered, the best TF film since Age of Extinction in 2014.

But....The only one whose acting I actually enjoy is Brian Tyree Henry, the guy playing a young Megatron.

And that's great; he's a fan, and his love for the Transformers comes through crystal clear in his performance. I fully admit he doesn't tonally sound like Frank Welker's Megatron, but he sounds like Megatron: his vocal range hits every emotional beat you'd expect/are familiar with Megatron having in the various cartoons and comics, and he practically swallowed the source material and became Megatron, all while making use of verbal tics Frank Welker has employed for the character and making it his own while still being Megatron in his own right without stepping on what Frank Welker has done with Megatron.

And I love that. Heck, I 100% expected him to walk away from this production with all the awards, and he'd have earned them all in my eyes.

But....listening to Chris Hemsworth as Orion/Optimus....there's, there's a kind of lacking and restraint there.

Don't get me wrong, he's admitted to going to Peter Cullen himself for advice/guidance in playing Orion/Optimus and to make sure he doesn't goof up his portrayal of the character. But, there's not nearly as much range in his emotions as there is with Brian Tyree Henry. Maybe he's leaning into Orion/Optimus being the more controlled of the two, maybe he's leaning into the immaturity too much, or maybe he just feels like a bull in a china shop with all the pressure on him.

But...he could've done more. He could've - could've tried harder to be emotionally present, like Brian.

And I just - I just can't feel anything from his performance, save one line - and even then, that one line is, essentially, Orion's last words before dying and being reborn as Optimus Prime. I will give him this, he made me believe Orion was seconds away from death.

But everything else....there's not quite as much effort in it, most likely for fear of losing a balance between honoring Mr. Cullen's work and staying in his own lane. And when he speaks, it's....not that impactful.

There's not...how do I explain this....He just, he just doesn't have a vocal presence. He doesn't stand on his own in this movie; if anything, he sounds like a walking anomaly and just hearing him talk makes my suspension of disbelief for the movie shatter.

Scarlett Johanssen, I'm just gonna be blunt: she was a mistake to cast as Elita One.

Elita is one of my favorite females in Transformers of all time, and Johanssen - every time she speaks in this movie, my brain just registers the moody, teenage porcupine she voiced in Sing and Sing 2. She doesn't fit as Elita. There's too much youth in her voice (says something that she has the voice of a teenager), too much strictness/harshness, and not enough warmth and feminine strength in her voice like there was in G1. That's the whole point of Elita: she's the feminine counterpart that complements Optimus' masculinity.

And they took it from her. They took it, from me.

Yes, Elita doesn't have as much memory/love held to her as Optimus does, and I understand that people are gonna mischaracterize her. But that doesn't make it okay; it doesn't make it okay that she's modernized while having attempts at making her nice/still partially given feminine qualities to - this version of her.

And I hate how she fights in this movie. She moves like Black Widow - all slip 'n slide, using confusion and up-close-tactics with kick/leg-grappling-thing techniques.

Elita, in the original, from what we saw, was both a distance fighter (read: she shot a space gun), and capable of close quarters combat that was both feminine and practical. Heck, she was even more bad-aft than the movie portrays her: she literally caught a missile in her debut and threw it back at the Decepticons.

Why is a fighting style like THAT so hard to emulate?

Bumblebee, I don't care. His appeal has become lost on me for almost two, maybe years now. But dear Lord in Heaven, he is so annoying in TF One. No joke, Megatron would be in the rights for ripping his voice box out in this continuity.

That said....the guy doing him, somehow, manages to convey the seemingly eternal sugar rush this version is on. And he gets a small nod of approval from me for being physically active behind the mic in order to sell his performance.

(Despite that, something about the actor rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's that both he and Bee never shut up, I don't know. I do know that I never wanna be in the same room as him.)

Shockwave....is too emotive, but it gets a pass from me because so far as I can see, all his emoting in this film is a direct result from hearing Bee yap non-stop, including in an unconscious state. That's passable for me. A tic, yes, but passable.

Soundwave still sounds monotonous, but the ones in charge get an 'X' in my eyes for not getting Frank Welker back for the character.

Starscream is done interestingly, and although I don't yet know how to rank Steve Buscemi's delivery of the character's lines, I'll let Buscemi slide because he's had experience in voice acting - little bits, but the experience counts. I'll also let him slide because he returned to volunteer firefighter duty when 9/11 happened, and he stayed there all three days of search and rescue. So, while I can't rate his performance fully, he has my respect and I will not take on his portrayal negatively because of that.

Sentinel....I'll give the VA this, he pulls off the airy, self-aggrandising theatrics well. Beyond that, to be decided.

Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion....I'm not sold. His voice is too deep, and while I have many issues with George Takei, he did, indeed, nail Alpha Trion's performance post G1. Takei's experience, plus his voice, allows him to sell Trion as an old, yet still physically capable, former Prime whose wisdom is sound and collected from eons of experience.

All I get from Fishburne's portrayal is "old but still tough", and that's not enough for this character, in my book.

That's...more or less it. I'm just, really tired of consistently getting new Transformers media that has potential, but without Peter Cullen and Frank Welker even being approached for the projects. Yes, there's a possibility that they both tell/told these people to pound sand, but they've said repeatedly that they're getting pushed aside by the higher ups. And they've been so vocal about wanting to play the characters, but are constantly being given the boot by Hasbro.

They deserve better than that. The fans deserve better than that, and even I deserve better than that.

Peter Cullen and Frank Welker are the reason I and so many others had such golden childhoods. It's painful to see them getting disrespected like this, and I hate that more new TF media is being made without them, especially since they aren't getting any younger.

I'm not scared, exactly, about them dying.

I'm just scared they won't be able to have any more rodeos in Transformers media together before their time comes.

And that is why, ultimately, I can't bring myself to enjoy or watch Transformers: One. Why I don't care that it's failing like this.

Because Hasbro had their chance many times, and they've failed me. They keep failing me, Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, and all of us.

I'm just done caring for new shows from Transformers unless it's got our childhood heroes voicing our favorite characters with the good writing they had up until Transformers: Robots in Disguise 2015. And given this commercial blowout, I won't be getting satisfied anytime soon.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. I hope you don't mind the release of my pain, but I've held it in for a month, more or less. I just needed to make it public.

[chloesimaginationthings]

The FNAF Mikes talk about their extended family..

[stratocumulusperlucidus]

« The scene between Taylor and Nick in Alex's bedroom after their first hook up, with the key, where they're sort of declaring themselves to each other, that's peak chemistry for me between the two of them. That was one of the last scenes we shot. They were so comfortable with each other by then, they knew each other's rhythm so well and it comes across. It's a crucial scene for them to have such great chemistry. »

- Matthew López about what scene (other than the cake scene) he takes the most joy or the most pride in

Shadan Larki for Awards Buzz

[kayatoastkkat]

he can shoot me actually I'd thank him

Lanyon with a gun was something I never knew I so desperately needed yet everyone's sleeping on him 😔

bonus doodle (that are also volume 2 bonus story spoilers) under the cut!

imagine you break out of your mind control momentarily because of how hot your boyfriend looked with a gun 😋😋

[plutoarttv]

im sorry im just actually unwell about this panel

[jaedoesart]

Dave finally snapped-

[albino-parakeet]

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

Henry Wu made a hybrid abomination? No, bro just made The ULTIMATE Asexual Wingman. (Just ask Yaz and Sammy lol)

Two scientists making abominations together and suffering the consequences, isn't that what life is all about?

Timelapse undercut and version w/o overlay

(Sorry the quality isn’t great.)

Song(s) used: Rachel by kimfitz and Test & Recognize by Seekae

[sidetongue]

HAPPY HOWLOWEEN FRIENDS

[gatogotica]

psych is actually so fucked up for the mommy issues they gave shawn. like idolizing her for so so long simply based on the fact she’s not henry (which is a whole other can of worms). she’s never in a single childhood flashback. she’s never mentioned even off-handedly. nobody calls her when shawn got shot, or really any of the other countless times shawn was hurt or in danger. like she sincerely in every sense of the word was a deadbeat and shawn refused to allow himself to see it because he had to hold on to the belief he had his mom to cling to because, again, she wasn’t his dad

[nickorite]

Now that Reginald and RHM are out there, here’s the rest of my designs for some stickmin fan favorites!!

[sidewalk-cracks]

Things that could go wrong in the fnaf movie (all of which I'm terrified will happen)

Henry Emily is not mentioned, shown, or referenced in any way

Evan/The Crying Child & the Bite of 83 is not mentioned, shown, or referenced in any way

The fact that the animatronics are haunted and trying to kill their murder (William) is not discussed, revealed, or explored

Vanessa is in this movie solely to be a love interest for Michael

(Assuming this is the events of fnaf 1) the movie doesn't take place in the 1990s/possibly early 2000s

Michael isn't miserable/depressed enough

William isn't the co-owner of the entire company of Fazbear Entertainment, and is instead some lower position, following orders from higher up

Phone Guy's night 1 message isn't heard at least partially, if not fully

[mel-ixa]

Sometimes I get scared by how much I love RWRB because what do you mean there’s someone who can love someone SO much??!? Yes it’s fictional but the love is so palpable!!! It makes me want to love so much too - and not just romantically but friends!! Family!! Myself for once!!

Love is real because I saw it with my own two eyes and it was in the form of RWRB

[suddenly-stickmin]

JOHNNY STEP ON IT!!!!!! WE'RE BEING CHASED BY TOPPATS HERE!!

Another screenshot edit!! This one was definitely a little trickier to put together [I had to keep tinkering with the characters' heads and fixing-up the lines of the car augughuhg] but it was a lot of fun! Definitely gained some new editing experience today!

[elipheleh]

Learning about things referenced in Red, White & Royal Blue

as we are celebrating a year since the release, i wanted to reshare this series i wrote last year.

in the leadup to the release of the movie version, i wrote a series of posts that primarily involved things that had been talked about or referenced in the book. these were things that i didn't know much about, or things that i thought were interesting & worthwhile to research.

i also shared spotify playlists for music both in the film & the book, as well as casey's character playlists they made (again both for film & book characters) - including transcripts of their instagram stories talking about specific lyrics that resonate etc. these are all grouped under the "Music (main post)" link as it became quite complex.

———

Waterloo Vase

Alex engaging with queer history (main post) & individual links - Stonewall, SCOTUS decision 2015, Walt Whitman, Laws of Illinois 1961, The White Night Riots, Paris is Burning, David Wojnarowicz photo

Music (main post)

Thisbe & Pyramus

The V&A Visit (main post) - individual links: Statues, James I & George Villiers, Santa Chiara (incl proverb & David and Jonathan)

Section 28 & Henry

———

It would be great if you could reblog this to share it more widely! I am really pleased with the feedback i’ve received from it & so happy that it’s helping others learn about things just as it helped me. This was always an attempt to learn together, and it warms my heart to see people’s tags that prove we have been doing so. if you're interested in seeing gifs that date back to the start of the rwrbedit tag, i'm reblogging them from the start of my blog - along with the new posts in the tag. i'm currently on hiatus but will be getting back to in hopefully in the next couple weeks!

[tiredandoptimistic]

One of my favorite details about Trapper that I don't think I've seen anyone else comment on is the fact that he's the only lead character whose person back home is his kid. They've all got somebody who's the focal point of their "I wanna go home" scenes, the one they write letters to (other than Frank, who doesn't give a shit about anybody). Potter, BJ, and Henry have their wives, Mulcahy and Charles have their sisters, Margaret and Hawkeye have their dads, Radar has his mom, Klinger has his uncles, and Trapper's got his daughters.

Now, I know that BJ, Potter, and Henry all have kids they love too—hell, Erin and Peg are about equally prominent in BJ's stateside dreams—but the thing that sets Trapper apart is that he doesn't seem to care much for his wife. He talks fondly of her, sure, but he's also cheating on her constantly. Henry cheats too, but there are whole episodes dedicated to how he could never actually love anyone but Lorraine. With Trapper, he's just kinda...distant from his wife. Doesn't really talk about her much. If anything, his behavior is closer to Frank's; the serial adulterer who doesn't spare many thoughts for the woman back home. HOWEVER Trapper is leagues better than Frank in literally every way! Not being wholly in love with his wife doesn't make him a bad guy or a negligent father, it's Frank's many personal failings that are to blame for that. I think that's my point here, that I just think it's neat how Trapper is able to be a relatively more complicated figure because in him the symbols of domesticity (wife and kids) are divided. He doesn't need to be an adoring husband to be a devoted father, he can write home to Cathy and Becky because they're the ones he's really waiting to get back for.

The main cast of MASH has five married characters; Henry, Trapper, Potter, BJ, and Frank. Of that list, Trapper's the only one whose wife I can't name. Conversely, he and BJ are the only ones whose kids I can name. Henry and Potter both have children given names sometimes, but they're not consistent at all because they're not actually important in comparison to Lorraine and Mildred. Nobody gives a fuck about Frank's kids, least of all him. What I'm getting at is that, in general, the wives are the point of consistency, the anchor point representing "home." Not for Trapper though, for him it's his daughters, and I just think that's neat.

So yeah, Trapper McIntyre is dad of the year, even if his marriage might not be the best. This post was brought to you by the scene where he writes a letter home to his daughters and all the times he's cute with local kids in the show.

[ellavei]

I once wrote a (cheesy) fanfic to which Bourbon France said he would like to see a portrait of Bourbon Spain holding a portrait miniature of him.

Because this kind of act show people that they are married and they are a powerful couple. It also looks magnificent to hang it on their walls.

So… I commissioned this painting to make his (and mine) dream come true.

Commissioned from Tree by me (please do not re-upload without my permission).