I actually have the impression the passionate fanbase for MTMTE has actually cooled off somewhat, although it's still regarded as good. However, the things I see people complain about are more writing-side than art-side, and a lot of it is stylistic. So...
To be more specific, I've seen people frustrated with JRO's tendency to fake-out deaths, although my opinion is there's a lot of deaths that stick, and in at least one of the 'fake-out' cases the death is very real and has a real and lasting impact. Spoiler I mean, it's acknowledged multiple times that the Rewinds from the split Lost Lights are not interchangible. So basically, what I interpret as 'cybertronians are hard to permakill' other people are seeing as cheap fakeouts, and what I see as 'the crew is in mortal danger, they will obviously not all die but I can't tell who will' some people interpret as 'they're obviously not all going to die, so the emphasis on the danger people are in feels like a shallow attempt to build suspense'. Whereas to me the suspense is not 'oh no, will they all die!!' but 'is someone going to die, who is going to die, and how will they escape'. Basically, I don't think there's anything actually wrong with the writing, but I think the style seemed fresh to some people at first but later ended up not being their thing, and that's fine. That's got nothing to do with the art, though.
[high pitched petty screeching] Spoiler: whinewhineWHINEWHINE So as I was leaving the doctor's office today from a surprisingly painful medical whatsit, I was checking the notes for my meta post, because I stalk the notes for everything I do, and I always forget that meta is way more likely to get pushback than other stuff, but every line of this reblog pisses me the fuck off So. BIG CORRECTION HERE. Considering the quality of the content to follow, you are appallingly incorrect. But also, are you trying to be rude? Rodimus. Doodles. Wow, you're right, that was a big correction!!!! Hey folks, doodling little nothing whatevers in the margins of your notebook right on your desk with a laser finger and/or knife is exactly comparable to writing and performing poetry, or any of the other examples discussed in my meta post or up above. PLUS, oh my godddddd, it was an important plot point that he was subconsciously doodling a map to cyberutopia or wherever, he wasn't even doodling pictures of his own free will, he was being subconsciously nudged into drawing a map. Wow, that sure is fucking fantastic, it's too bad that this canon isn't actually canon! You must know better than the writers, because yes, every character who appears in this comic is perfectly identical to every past incarnation of that character. I guess I really limited myself by focusing on things that happened on the actual page, that must have been where I made my mistake. I should have realized that I am officially obligated to account for every character detail that has ever appeared for any character in any continuity whatsoever. Really not sure how TFA and Bayverse are going to fold into things, it's almost like......... different continuities are different goddamn continuities. Like, I didn't mention Sunstreaker was an artist because it didn't happen in IDW. I guess I should have know I was supposed to be writing a fusion meta that bridged all the many canons, there's only like twenty of those, I'm sure it won't be hard and the end result will be perfectly coherent. I don't even know what they're trying to say, but I sure know it pisses me off :) This was a one sentence aside I didn't even bother diving into, I don't know what about my post merits this incoherent response. I care about comparing and contrasting these cultures that share a common root and branched and had extremely different experiences leading up to the present time in the story. It's almost like one mtmte character explicitly grieves for the loss of art in Cybertronian society and another mtmte character explicitly discusses the central role that art plays in Camien society. And it's almost like I never mentioned........ ostracizing? What??? (psst if you share a distant history, share a language, share societal concepts like your relationship models, you share parts of your fucking culture) Just. AUGHHHHHHHHHHHH. I am all fighted out and tired and I don't like to put drama on my tumblr, and this isn't as upsetting as that one comment chain on my Prowl meta, but it was perfectly timed and perfectly misbegotten and AUGH. I was all 'gosh I still am shaky from that SURPRISE SUSTAINED PAIN experience, I'll check my tumblr notes, those always cheer me up.' HA. And I don't mind constructive critical comments! The post upthread here about my meta was interesting and brought up a few characters I'd forgotten and oops I accidentally an essay, and that was a lot of fun to think through and write. This??? This was not that thing. On the other hand, my meta post did get this really fascinating set of tags from one reblogger:
I mean I know I headcanon hard that Rodimus/Hot Rod is a closet artist that never got to develop his talent before or during the war (and I headcanon that he did graffti but) -- but we've got nothing in canon but the doodles....
Plus his doodles aren't something that he's putting out for others to see, the way Megatron and Crosscut and Thundercracker and Ten were, which I gathered was kind of an important point in your post, about how they have the roughest part of the creative process.
Wait, what? TL;DR - apparently some people think JRO is really bad at writing mental illness and disability because he 'implies Grimlock might be faking'. Do... they know how TBIs and communication issues work? Grimlock suffers from clear and severe communication disabilities as well as a host of other issues, but his communication problems are a spectrum that get worse and better, and seem to have been getting overall better. Grimlock saying one word that isn't 'me Grimlock' isn't implying he's been faking having a TBI!!!!
..."really bad at writing mental illness " gee that's surprising considering how the ptsd the war left everyone with is a major plot point that's been dealt with many many many times... where's that good image of one of the scavengers talking about distancing? From the two part arc with fort max?
..........wow. Especially since the issue that happened in had a broader plot thing of 'we thought these mechs had irreversible brain damage but it looks like we can fix it'. After all of that, it would have been pretty upsetting/depressing to not see Grimlock improving, at least a little. Plus, even before that brief improvement, we also see his dips. We see the incontinence thing, and we see the short violent rampage, which is common enough that the rest of the crew pretty much knows how things will go. One sentence's worth of clarity doesn't mean that Grimlock is faking, or that he's ~magically cured~
That's the one! It comes up in issue 46 specifically, then in issue 47 you have getaway talking about his traumatic birthday experiences, and then in 48-49, you poke right at the trauma Skids has been through, plus what's eating at Rung in the background of his own life. I could keep listing examples, but I know I'm preaching to the choir here. So... haha, yeah, mental health and trauma is one of the most major running themes in the whole series
So I read back in OP's blog, and It didn't snatch the progress away from him. He was still able to use fine motor skills to write, and him being unable to regulate his own bladder (?) functions doesn't negate that. Also, he's not being portrayed as mentally disabled, you dingbat! He's got a TBI! That's a very physical thing, you dingbat. It's not just a matter of brain chemistry or stunted development, it's a neurological injury.
Like, fuck you, I will dispute that, because of the way you're framing it, and I don't care how neurodivergent you are, perhaps the ableism call is coming from inside the house here!!!
Spoiler: petty Spoiler Spoiler oh wow i can't imagine ever seeing someone with traumatic brain damage losing motor skills, emotional regulation, and comprehension ability. wowie zowie. i wonder what could possibly do that to someone, which i have a great deal of experience with, which would leave other people shaking their heads about the poor mentally disabled person who was just so much better before their accident. gee. i wonder. what could possibly. mimic those symptoms.
New issue! Spoiler: Livebloggering ...this probably won't end well but if we get an actual decent depiction of supportive friendships springing up online I'll be delighted. Hi Grimlock, how are you doing? oh my god. beaufiul. if i had the money I would cosplay Misfire there. who designed the hot pink holoform sentai, by the way. I need to know who on the team picked that. ....I feel like I should know this robit? But I do not. Unless that's non-dino grimlock, in which case, HOW did he get out. ............. ok then. also i don't know who this guy is but i still feel bad that it didn't go well. oh my god. guys mp3 might be actually dead if you buried him and he can't breathe... 'crossover' 'brand loyalty' uh. this is getting meta. and yet, i can totally believe this is an adventure the scavengers would have. .......oh, no.... i mean. wow. also poor mp3. i hope he gets his arm back and also finds some other group of weirdos? It's probably for the best, i don't think the Scavengers understand things like Human Food and Human Sleep.
Spoiler: mtmte: revolution "well no, not now you're saying it out loud so much..." god I love these dweebs and this setup GOD "wow uncanny" FULCRUM YOU SARCASTIC SHIT I MISSED YOU (also fuckign. spinister and misfire are playing with grimlock and being nice. right. THEY ARE WREAKING HAVOC YOU BEAUTIFUL DISASTERS.) WAIT GRUMPYBOX i'm crying "ohhhh jro isn't takign this crossover seriously" LISTEN BUDDY THERE'S NO WAY TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY AND FRANKLY I'M VERY HAPPY HE ISN'T WOW IT'S LIKE DIFFERENT PEOPLE LIKE DIFFERENT THINGS "ultimate expression of brand loyalty" i'm fucking losing it this isn't.... grimlock faking.......... what the fuck was that guy on about FULCRUM'S IRRATIONAL HATRED FOR HUMANS GIVES ME LIFE okay but realtalk, I wonder if the people complaining about this not taking the GI Joe crossover "seriously" also whine about the Deadpool franchise not taking SUPER GRIMDARK EDGY XMEN seriously too
Spoiler The guy that the shapeshifter was pretending to be is Thunderwing. Thunderwing was crazy and powerful and the Autobots and Decepticons even teamed up to try to take him down and failed. And because of Thunderwing Cybertron died. Not everyone on Cybertron, the planet Cybertron itself. Died. So yeah, he's pretty bad news for everybody. Also on a more personal note he stepped on Crankcase at some point while killing the planet Nebulos, leading to Crankcase's headwound, which is better than what most of his team got.
I don't see writing complaints much, but tumblr has always got to complain about something. Honestly, the fanbase for MTMTE on tumblr was much bigger around this time last year. I'm guessing that's when tumblr fandom 'discovered' the comic, so interest has cooled in the last year (because it is no longer the new shiny thing) The comic was still successful, it might be the way IDW operates? They don't seem to keep artists on the same series for very long, at least they didn't in the past. Their could be some inside drama that we don't know about. I can't see how anyone is going to do a better job with those characters then Alex.
