YES IT WAS LIN MANUEL MIRANDA LOVES CAMELOT HE ONCE TURNED ON A RECORD OF GUINEVERE FROM THE CAST RECORDING DURING A TELEVISION INTERVIEW AND CALLED IT 'THE DOPEST BEAT YOU'll EVER HEAR IN YOUR LIFE'
Very possible!! (edit: and it is apparently so!) Camelot is a very classic musical, but I've never seen it, and I only just learned that this song was from it :V My dad just used to play it when I was little, back when Napster was a legal thing. .....to be honest, the big thing I noticed in the Hamilton lyrics was the 'oui oui mon ami' and I was like BARBARA MANATEEEEE, YOU ARE THE ONE FOR MEEEE~ Spoiler: gif
Yeah. Also I've been listening to camelot a lot for a project and: Who on the lost light sings 'The Lusty Month of May.' ...also, do consider the DJD or someone singing FIE ON GOODNESS, FIE, FIE ON MERCY!!
Y'know, if they managed to sneak Knockout into the movie somehow, I'd be happy even if he was terrible.
...I just realized gets a bit funnier when you remember that in G1 and TFA, Starscream actually has been dead and then returned. So. From a certain point of view!
So... Spoiler: Transformers Revolution: MTMTE #1 That was...kind of underwhelming? The whole 'wink wink nudge nudge' feel of the issue made it seem completely non-canon to the comic continuity (which it might be?). I'm guessing that Crankcase's crush is a crossover character from another comic? So we'll never see him again... I guess they got a sword out of it? Grimy said two more words and that's about it. The best part was when The crew was helping Crankcase get ready for his date, I hope Grumpybox finds love eventually.
T-T-T-TRIPLE FAKE EDIT COMBOB: I made a tumblr post. It is marginally more edited than this and has pretty pictures. I almost went to bed at a reasonable hour, but then I caught myself. PHEW. I had an interesting thought! I'm not sure where it goes, if anywhere, but it was extremely interesting to me. One of the things we see Cyclonus mourning about his Cybertron is the loss of all the art and culture than went along with Cybertron's golden age. Some of that going away was maybe due to the war, which would be reasonable. Four million years of total war is enough to stomp the culture out of anyone. Buuuuut do you really think the functionists would have encouraged/tolerated something as frivolous as art on their perfect, functional planet? So, it's interesting that the only two people we see engaged in creative pursuits on pre-war Cybertron are Megatron, with his poetry, and Whirl, with his clocks. This didn't work out great for either of them. Whirl got his empurata and was conscripted as a government thug, Megatron was eventually driven away from peaceful protest and philosophizing into full-time demagoguery. But these two were the critical players during Megatron's arrest and beating, which is when Megatron decided that peaceful reform was no good and headed down the path to violent revolution. And Whirl was already on his own violent path, but that's when Optimus arrested him and dragged him to the council and got him sent to prison, plus Megatron told folks exactly who beat him up, and things got double extra worse for Whirl than they already were. And of the characters we see decline from their Youthful Peak through to the end of the war, I mean... it's hard to get more tragic than these two. You have the contrast between the Megatron who writes poetry in between his mining shifts and philosophical treatises, and the Megatron who tells Optimus that he kills because he enjoys killing, and realizes he means it. You have the Whirl who tried to work through the bureaucracy of the functionist government to get approval for his watch shop, and the Whirl who pins Sweep corpses to the wall just so someone can be there to witness as he kills himself. Plus, you have their later interactions once Megatron joins the ship. Whirl picks a fight trying to get himself killed, just so Megatron can be taken out. Just. Buddy. Are you okay? And then it continues to be vicious. Megatron tells Whirl that he made absolutely sure that nobody else would kill Whirl during the war, because Megatron was going to do it himself, and so Whirl didn't have a single real fight over those entire four million years. Being in the wreckers was the entire core of Whirl's identity. Being a fighter. I don't think Megatron could have said anything crueler to him right then. And in the holiday special, we learn that Whirl blames himself for the war as it is, so that new revelation on top of those existing emotions? That's pretty brutal. But interestingly, we do see both of them going back to their old, old creative pursuits right around the same time. Both shortly after the time travel arc, where Whirl uses his own skills with handcrafting and delicate mechanics to save Megatron's life when he's a helpless, not-even-awake baby. Even if it's mainly out of spite for the functionists, I think they both must have been feeling some really, really interesting emotions over that. And after that, what happens? Swerve gets Megatron to agree to read his poetry, he isn't just privately writing it, but he agrees to read it in issue 40. And in issue 47, we see Whirl's room, and the way he's gone back to working on clocks, even without his hands. So I don't know what the conclusion is, but I think it's fascinating. It's an aspect of their character arcs I hadn't really connected before. PS, Thundercracker is the only Cybertronian shown picking up new creative pursuits after peace breaks out. I don't know what it says about the importance of intercultural exchange or about his future development or about current not-hiding-out-on-earth Cybertronian society, but I think it's very interesting. Fake edit: forgot Ultra Magnus and Ten, though Ten doesn't have that functionist and/or war history holding him back. Which still is a very, very few bots out of an extremely large cast. Double fake edit: Ten, and Ultra Magnus (though Ten is one of the few characters without a functionist/war history to hold him back). And along with Megatron and Whirl, some of the painful, difficult parts of the creative process comes up with each of these. I didn't even realize. Megatron's poetry reading literally drives customers away from "Visages". Whirl says he has all these near-identical clocks because he keeps making mistakes. Thundercracker's sincerely-written screenplay gets (gently) mocked by Marissa. Ten's present to Ultra Magnus is taken as a cruel joke. And Ultra Magnus is anxious that he can't find the datapad with his poetry and is secretive about its contents, which reads to me like he's worried about people seeing the emotions and feelings he put down on the page.
Didn't the intellectual class also include artists? The big problem with Whirl and Megatron making 'art', was that they weren't of the caste that specialized in it. Whirl also technically wasn't an artist, he was an artisan or a craftsman As an aside, we've seen several musicians (including Cyclonus ) and one playwrite. One of the musicians (the shark-bard) probably practiced his art in functionalist Cybertron, but he left when the war broke out.
Spoiler: Ivy and me being silly regarding adopting robots [4:12 PM] IvyLB: also I'm rewatching some parts of TFA rn and I am still so in love with Jazz the cool dude ninja guy [4:12 PM] IvyLB: my son [4:12 PM] winterykite: eheh [4:12 PM] IvyLB: (all giant space robots are gettign adopted) [4:12 PM] winterykite: ivy. you dont have space for them [4:12 PM] IvyLB: no no shhhh the TFA ones are smaller [4:12 PM] winterykite: STILL [4:12 PM] IvyLB: at least the autobots [4:13 PM] winterykite: you dont even HAVE a garage [4:13 PM] IvyLB: the decepticons are more massive because this show wants me to suffer uncomfortable shipping fels [4:13 PM] IvyLB: *feels [4:13 PM] IvyLB: I cna rent one for Jazz [4:13 PM] IvyLB: a cool garage with a great party dance music set up [4:13 PM] winterykite: ivy transformers are not pet rocks [4:14 PM] IvyLB: sdfghjk [4:14 PM] winterykite: you need to care for them [4:14 PM] winterykite: they need a garage and regular food and washings and pettings [4:14 PM] IvyLB: I am totally prepared to care for Jazz by playing sick beats and taking him on camping trips and feeding him nibbles [4:14 PM] IvyLB: and washing him [4:14 PM] IvyLB: wink wonk [4:14 PM] IvyLB: [insert ridiculous car wash parody here] [4:14 PM] IvyLB: ... [4:14 PM] IvyLB: ........ [4:15 PM] IvyLB: that's gonna get read as xeno kink flicks by Transformers trawling the human internet isn't it [4:15 PM] winterykite: and they probably need a lot of physical exercise. theyre not meant to be kept in their enclosure 24/7 [4:17 PM] IvyLB: I can learn how to drive [4:17 PM] IvyLB: :P [4:17 PM] winterykite: you should probably have the appropriate license before you get a transformer [4:18 PM] winterykite: would a simple car not be a better entry pet? [4:18 PM] winterykite: less chance of running away, too [4:18 PM] IvyLB: a simple car doesn't ahve opinions on music and talks like a fusion of a skater dude and a mysterious ninja [4:19 PM] winterykite: transformers are nomadic pack animals, you cant just take one from their pride and expect them to stay with you [4:19 PM] IvyLB: hahahahaha [4:20 PM] winterykite: proper transformers husbandry probably includes travelling with them [4:20 PM] winterykite: and they need to get used to you first [4:20 PM] winterykite: (and then there is the whole pack vs pack issue between the two largest american transformers packs) [4:21 PM] winterykite: (dont mind me im randomly switching between pack, pride, and herd for this) (convoy?) [4:21 PM] IvyLB: now I'm just imagining the whole feral cat saga of Luka except with a hot little sports car [4:21 PM] winterykite: ASDFGH [4:21 PM] IvyLB: I'd use convoy :P [4:21 PM] IvyLB: listen jazz thinks traffic lights are totally groovy he's clearly very well socialized and would get used to humans quickly [4:22 PM] winterykite: but is jazz willing to leave his convoy behind for you? and is the other convoy willing to believe it? [4:23 PM] winterykite: and dont get me started on the ethicality of a lone transformer without a convoy. can they deal with the loneliness? [4:23 PM] winterykite: or are they like birds and you need at least two? [4:24 PM] winterykite: and at some point you'll be old and grey and known as the crazy transformers enby with 15 of them in their little house [4:25 PM] IvyLB: hahhaah [4:25 PM] IvyLB: I can adopt Prowl too! Then Jazz will have a ninja buddy to hang out with [4:25 PM] IvyLB: and they both love nature so [4:25 PM] IvyLB: Maybe see if I can get TFA!Hot Rod as well [4:26 PM] winterykite: ivy, are you able to wrangle 3 transformers? [4:26 PM] winterykite: you might want to look into a group with multiple people caring for a few transformers, it's probably easier [4:27 PM] IvyLB: ... I mean given that I have chosen the three hottest vehicles in the entire franchise discounting the jets (who have different care needs and social structures, clearly) I bet that can be arranged :P [4:28 PM] winterykite: .... get tailgate as well and you can sign me up [4:29 PM] IvyLB: yes [4:30 PM] IvyLB: and Bumblebee he doesn't deserve anything [4:30 PM] IvyLB: that happens to hm [4:30 PM] IvyLB: *him
I don't think I remember ever seeing that the intellectual class had artists. It was alt-mode exempt, but from the bits and pieces we see in the comic, it seemed like that was given more for extraordinary service, like with the janitor who figured out what Rung's alt mode was for. fake edit: yeah, the... three total lines of wiki don't mention artists. Since the alternate timeline functionists outlawed the intellectual class for being counter to the functionist philosophy, it seems like even in the less-awful past, they probably wouldn't have wanted many people in this part of society. I know Cyclonus was musical, but he left before the functionist days, back in Cybertron's golden age, where we hear about the art and culture he misses in the present. I remembered Crosscut's play as I was falling asleep last night, but I was too lazy to edit it in :P I thought about editing in a mention of him, but he doesn't talk about the play writing as though it's something completely new the way the creative stuff seems to be for Thundercracker, Ten, and Ultra Magnus, so I don't think it would be productive of me to try to say anything definitively either way. Jazz and Sky-Byte counted as creative types too, but Sky-Byte is hella background and doesn't give us much good content, past telling us about how he deserted from the Decepticons after seeing those undescribed Constructicon atrocities. But Jazz has the outright theme of loving music, but war crushing it out of his life. I can't look up citations right now, but I think he mentions how long it's been since he was able to pull out his instrument and enjoy himself, and later you get that same instrument being destroyed when hostilities break out again, and since then, he's just been pulled into more military things and we haven't seen him doing anything musical, which says even more to me about a purposeful theme of the arts thriving in peacetime and the way the war takes over their lives. I think the contrast to the Camiens, who have had peaceful lives filled with artistic pursuits, is really deliberate. But I really wanted to focus in on Megatron and Whirl because they're the only ones to be creative on the page in pre-war days, and even if a few characters get mentioned idly doing creative things, those two are the only ones who get this level of detail, and they're the only ones explicitly discussed doing their creative things under functionist rule. Considering what a shadow the functionists still cast over the plot, I think that was a purposeful writing choice, and that it's also purposeful that their particular creative pursuits are things that would undermine functionists ideals (same goes for Thundercracker, Ultra Magnus, and Ten, now that I think of it). Governments like... Mao's China or Stalin's Russia didn't stamp out art entirely (because I don't think that's possible), but they did heavily censor and restrict what creative products artists in those countries were allowed to make, which sounds right in line with the functionists to me. Even if Crosscut was writing at the time, he was high up in the government, so he probably had a few more freedoms and a good idea of what was safe to work with. Instrumental music from Jazz wouldn't be a threat, and Sky-Byte seems more... passive, less like to push against things he disagrees with (he runs away from the decepticons after seeing what the constructicons did, and tags right along for needlenose's earth adventure, even after it goes majorly south), so as long as he was being good and doing his functionism-approved job, I'd believe the government didn't care much about silencing him. (actually, you know what, even if sky-byte has a humanoid root mode, he has an animal alt mode, and I'm pretty sure that places him on the lower end of functionist society. I think I'm officially headcanoning that he discovered poetry after deserting and getting away from functionism and the war both. It makes sense thematically, and it makes me d'awwww over him, which is what I am always after in my giant robot experiences) So Megatron's philosophical treatises are one thing, and plenty bad enough on their own, but @coldstars has also said some fascinating things about what a powerful, undermining force poetry can be, and poems are much more accessible to readers than a dry political document. Megatron didn't need any concessions from the government to do his creative work, but his final product hurt the functionists. And in contrast, Whirl was just making pretty watches, but by seeking permission to go make pretty watches instead of fighting in the air force, he was undermining functionist ideals. The functionists effectively set out to destroy them both for those "crimes," and their personal declines over the war and the way they've slowly pulled themselves back together enough to create is what my post is all about. Though I do think it's interesting that Thundercracker, Ultra Magnus, and Ten seem to create things that run counter to functionism too. Thundercracker writes his stuff because he fell in love with an alien culture, even though the functionists were more occupied with fighting aliens than befriending them. Ultra Magnus is writing about his conflicted feelings about his own body/bodies, when religious functionism is all about how Primus created you in the exact way you were meant to be. And Ten's creative pursuits are the impossible-to-ignore sign that even if he failed the Ambus test, he's definitely a person. Yeah, the more I write about this, the more happy I am with all these thematic ties. I might have to write an addition to my post after I get back on a real computer.
TFP liveblog resumes! Time for season 2! Spoiler: s2e1 Ooooh Ratchet narrator now! Nice nice ...if Bee, Arcee, and Bulkhead don't know about pre-war OP, how old are they? D8 My war babies all this battle damage, and Knockout is welding a badge on instead. I mean, it's so beautifully Knockout, but. dude. Priorities. ...kids. kids. VecSig isn't on Earth. I do like that they've still got information on Autobot command structure, like. Yes. Thank you for recognizing Ratchet is the SIC even though he's hardly ever in the field. "why would optimus willfully endanger a human?" [stares at entirety of "post-war" OP's actions on Earth] obligatory MTMTE snark Maaaaan I love Magnificent Villain Megs, he's so great at thinking on his feet when he's not being poisoned by Unicron. Almost as impactful as the IDW line, and without the (in-universe) benefit of revision that the political treatise would have had! (Lines respectively, for reference: "If you believe form dictates function, you are being deceived" vs "If speaking the truth is 'deception,' then we are gladly guilty.") "at any parties or the mall" who's writing this and when were they a teenager. Parties I'd give 'em but the mall? That hasn't been a Designated Teenage Hangout for decades. "You mom looks good in leather!" wOW SIERRA okay Is that an HMA? Do they have those now? Mmmmhhh. I realise they need to Exposition but did it have to be Knockout playing the Dumb Grunt here? It feels Wrong. ...I realize "he died" is a pretty decent cover-up in a war but. This feels like a setup for him to come screaming in to kick ass. This is such skeevy dead dove-fic-bait like. Wowch. THERE IS NO WAY THE WRITERS DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING THERE OH MY GOD KNOCKOUT PLEASE KEEP MAKING SEX PUNS OUT OF PEOPLE'S NAMES Arcee is beautiful and so is the detailing on the floor Thanks, Plot Miracle, for ensuring Arcee just happens to go down the right hallway on a ship she doesn't have the layout for "Lord Megatron's Orders" what about, say "intruders aboard, this sector is unsecured and you're a noncombatant, stay the fuck down" Elaboration would go a long way towards actually fulfilling those orders Soooooundyyyyyy doing amazing science things <3 This is kind of hilarious and also a really good setup for the continuity novels dealing with the Thirteen, where Optimus 1.0 is... essentially a Morale McGuffin, there to keep everyone from falling to infighting. Bulk is right, like... "destroy" is a lot easier than "hold," especially with a target you can approach from literally any direction. Ooooooooooooh fliers in tandem :D :D :D look at the happy flock! ...is that starscream chasing them. I will be so happy if he really does get to be the obligatory Evil Guy Turned Grumpy Teammate WELCOME BACK STARSCREAM GO KICK SOME ASS (Actual physical happy noises and flailing happened. A+) Bluff roll failed. (This is setup for OP ~unravelling the lies~, isn't it. He hears the commotion, comes out to check again, sees Screamer Miraculously Alive... come on, where's the 200k-word months-long captivity fic?) ...soundy I know you probably need a lot of fuel by this point, but carrying so much you can't see past it seriously hampers your ability to defend yourself. Okay, yeah, called it. Half of it, anyway.
On an entirely different topic, this antique movie poster (showbill? What is "movie listing for a drive-in" called?) I saw today promotes something called Battle Taxi and I feel like yall should know my first thought was of Bee
C&P from my tumblr liveblog Spoiler: mtmte Revolution Celebrating the last time my liveblogging tag will be correct! I've seen the preview but I'm still laughing at how hardcore this crossover is being dragged. I'm extremely lost here, though, and know nothing about the franchises or the crossover event. I'm just here for grimlock fucking shit up. "the color of a bruised spark" I'm fucking dying. Also Crankcase and what looks like a megatron helmet omg. I missed scavengers banter. Now we have a picture of energon goodies but more importantly Fulcrum (I think) made them and that is precious. Oh my god misfire and spinister are the mask people? Aaaaaaaah that's cute and funny. Misfire defending grimlock omg Fulcrum throwing his energon goodies aww. Also I'll have to track down the storm bringer comic later. What the fuck. Guy turns into an alien and wants to talk about the crossover? What the shit. Oh my god what the fuck they understand burial but not unconsciousness? How dare you hurt me like this. This is meta as fuck but also yes tell me more about the capitalist religion Hahahaha dinosaur shaped hole and teamup "howling feeling of inadequacy and self-disgust" it's been two months I forgot about the mood whiplash FULCRUM OMG RUDE Overall cute! Wasn't expecting epic storytelling, but I was entertained.
Is Alex Milne going to do some of the art on the Lost Light? I keep hearing contradictory things on tumblr. I thought he was going to alternate arcs with the other guy, but a twitter conversation that someone posted sounded like he wasn't going to be on the project at all.... http://mizushimo.tumblr.com/post/154179475408/alex-thinks-we-wont-be-missing-him-and-thats According to his Twitter, he's not on the project anymore because higher ups thought people wanted a change
