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New Saezuru Illustration poster from PASH anime magazine September issue!

Transformers: The Last Bay Movie

(This is my rough draft, correct me please if you see mistake. College essay here).

  On June, 20, 2017, Michael Bay had the privilege of directing and releasing to the world the fifth installment of the Transformers’ live-action franchise films, or what fans refer to as the “Bay-Verse”. Much to the Transformers-community’s, the viewers’, Hasbro’s, and all the companies associated with Transformers: The Last Knight disappointment, the movie was an utter catastrophe that should have stayed a thought with only its fantastic execution of visual detail and sound saving it, receiving a 15% from Rotten Tomatoes instead of a well-deserved 0%. Although there are (few) people that may argue that the film was enjoyable, there are many aspects of the film that led to its failure and dislike, particularly two aspects: the lack of a plot and the lack of accuracy of the Transformers’ (or better referred to as Cybertronians’) Universe.

  To summarize the plot, Quintessa (a Cybertronian deity and queen) who is attempting to save a dying Cybertron (which was supposedly lifeless by the first movie and is the reason why cybertronians are trying to find sanctuary on earth) by sucking the life out of the earth. A great portion of the film dumbfounded viewers because it jumped from character to character with constant plot and scene changes that were meaningless, and one moment in particular bothers fans the most. It is very unclear if Megatron simply damaged Bumblebee’s voice box or ripped it out entirely in the Bayverse, but the latter is implied. In the previous films, Bumblebee seems to be able to choke a few words once in a while. However, right when Nemesis Prime (evil Optimus Prime) is about to strike the final blow during their fight, Bumblebee speaks in his normal voice out of the blue, saying “I-I’m Bumblebee! You’re oldest friend”. Suddenly Optimus Prime breaks free of his seemingly unbreakable spell. Earlier, Bumblebee had been attempting to find a replacement part for his missing organ, so how did he get his voice back? Did Optimus punch his throat so hard that it began to function? Again, one of many parts of the film that made no sense. One very common comment I received of the film was, “I didn’t understand it at all because I didn’t know what was going on.” There are plenty more essential characters involved in this movie, and even though there is much more left to say in summary, the point is clear: there is no plot, and if there was supposed to be, it did not work.

The sole purpose of the creation of these films began, not only to modernize old ideas for profit, but to bring to life a childhood fantasy to feed the inner fan. In the Transformers’ universe, many continuities create unique backstories for Optimus Prime, the AllSpark, Megatron, and the war to name a few. However, the most memorable series and films have great plots as well as a general accuracy of the Transformers’ history, characters, vocabulary, and biology founded by past series and films. TLK as well as the other Bayverse films were intentionally created to reflect the first generation series, The Transformers, the father of the entire Transformers-Universe, as their base. Yet Hound, a robot, has a dad? Humans are the main protagonists of Transformers? The film even implies the Dinobots procreating offspring, which many ask, how? Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, is now a knight? With the exception of Transformers: Animated and other continuities, a Prime is the highest rank distinction and can be used as an identification for Autobot leaders; a Prime is a combination of a military, political, and even partially a “religious” leader (with some American WW2 leanings), earning great respect from society since only certain are chosen to become a Prime by the higher ranking, wiser characters (usually Primus, the Cybertronian god of goodness and creator of Cybertronians). Optimus Prime universally symbolizes a leader, a father, and a friend in times great distress. By revealing his origins as the human equivalent to a knight, TLK completely transforms Optimus Prime’s identity. Optimus Prime takes on an entire new design featuring metallic abs, tassets, a medieval sword, and gauntlets. The humble Autobot is portrayed (in a sound state) as a bloodthirsty killing machine, horrifically ripping, stabbing, and threatening all creatures in his way. Yes, Optimus Prime is mind controlled throughout most of the movie, but when I watch Optimus Prime as a sane Autobot, I shiver. He is a completely different person; Optimus Prime is not a knight in shining armor.

  There are many aspects that could be discussed further such as the film’s general inappropriateness, lack of character development, the less than two-minute fight scene between Optimus and Bumblebee, the length, the lack of balance between humans and Cybertronians, the money lost in the making of the film, and the horrific legacy it left for future Transformers continuities which will most likely end in the death of the universe as a whole. On the bright side, there were wonderful voice actors, including Optimus Prime’s original voice actor Peter Cullen, the 4K quality of the film, and the soundtrack was beautiful and exemplary, aspects of the film that were especially outstanding. However, not even Peter Cullen’s great voice acting could keep the film from Michael Bay ruining the sanctity of many people’s childhood. Transformers: The Last Knight deserves to be known as number six of the 2017’s worst films according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Save The Blogs!

Okay, folks. So. Tumblr’s jumped the shark in a big way, and I’m not even just talking about indiscriminately blocking all “adult” content on a platform that IS, in fact, primarily 18+.

Many blogs, like the wonderful @blackkatmagic , that are not especially NSFW have vanished.

(And I for one LIKE being able to go to curated porn blogs run by actual people and have a chance of finding stuff to my taste, it was one of the things that kept me on this hellsite, but that’s another issue entirely.)

I know lots of people are talking about migrating, but none of us are sure to where yet. Pillowfort seems to be an option, some people are talking about Twitter. But for now, it’s a mess, and even if we knew where we were going, it’s often a huge process, and a lot of us have stuff on tumblr that ONLY exists there. One possible quick solution to save your blogs, both NSFW and personal, is to import it to WordPress. I found this solution through from frantic googling on how to save an entire blog, text posts an all. There are several apps for downloading all the pictures from a tumblr, (Plently for Windows, but only a few paid ones for mac, of which Tumbelog Picture Downloader is working for me so far) but this is the only solution I’ve seen so far that allows you to save EVERYTHING. I downloaded my NSFW blog in like 10 min. My regular blog, which is significantly larger, is in the process of importing, but I don’t anticipate any problems. I will, of course, update you if I have any.  

This tutorial I found worked really easily. http://quickguide (.) tumblr (.) com/post/39780378703/backing-up-your-tumblr-blog-to-wordpress

I put parenthesis around the .’s like we’re back in FF-Hell, just in case tumblr’s new thing about outgoing links kicks in. You know what to do.  To break it down, just in case:

 Sign up for a WordPress.com account at wordpress (.) com/start You’ll have to create an account, with your email, a username, and a password. They should send you a confirmation email immediately, check it, activate it, and you’re good to go. On the site, it will ask you for a site name. That page asks you a bunch of other information too, but you only have to fill out the site name.

Then you have to give your site a URL. If you’re lucky, your tumblr URL is still available, if not you’ll have to come up with another one, sorry.

It will tell you if that option is still available for free.

Then it will ask you to pick a plan. Free is really good enough, I swear.

Now you’re set up! You can import your tumblr! The only differences from the linked tutorial are that the Import button is now on the first level menu, not in tools.

Hit Import, then you have to follow the link for “other importers”  at the bottom, to find the option for Tumblr.

Then you’ll have to sign in with tumblr, using your normal tumblr credentials. You’ll be redirected there automatically. You’ll have to allow Wordpress permissions on your blog.

Then your blogs, including all your sideblogs, will show up in wordpress.

Hit import, wait a WHILE depending on the size of your blog, and you’re done!

ALSO!!

I made my NSFW blog private for now, since I don’t know WP’s policy on NSFW.

This means that to access it, someone has to have an account and request access. But hey, part of our problem on this hellsite has been people going places they aren’t wanted, so I don’t personally see this as a bad thing. They can send a request from the landing site on your blog, you get an email, click a link in the email, and PRESTO, they have access. To make it private, go to Settings > Reading > Site Visibility. Go back and check, it took me changing the setting twice for it to actually stick. tl;dr, you can import your entire blog to wordpress in just a few steps.  I’m going to tag the hell out of this, in no particular order. PLEASE reblog this and spread the word so people know it’s an option. If you’re having trouble, PM me, and I’m happy to help.

@gallusrostromegalus @kaciart @lena221bee @deadcatwithaflamethrower

@norcumi @deandraws @morn-art, @thebisexualmandalorian @kristsune @marloviandevil @punsbulletsandpointythings @protagonistically @cris-art @elfda @fish-ghost @godtierwonder @heartslogos @haekass @iesika @incogneat-oh @itispossibleihaveissues @jaegervega @jhaernyl @the-last-hair-bender @kleine-aster @latenightcornerstore @lectorel @medievalpoc @mgnemesi @me-ya-ri @myurbandream @peskylilcritter @cywscross ,@cheshiresense @varevare @victoriousscarf @whatsmeantobe @swpromptsandasks @gabriel4sam @stonefreeak @brighteyedbadwolf @pumpkin-lith @puzzleshipper @suzukiblu @myurbandream @lacefedora @jademerien

There are a whole bunch more, but that’s a start. Please reblog the hell out of this, so people are aware of this one simple option.

The Artist's Way quote is so interesting! And true! How did you unblock your creativity?

The Artist’s Way always works wonders on me. It puts me back in touch with what I actually feel and what I actually want ❤️ Can’t recommend it enough.

This particular time, these things have shifted the block.

1. Turning the news off. Not just down. Off. Turning it off for good. Covering my eyes, screaming and fleeing the room if anyone turns it back on. Blocking the sites, deleting the apps. This one is non-negotiable for me. I have to centre my life in the quiet and comfortable world that actually exists around me, not the burning global battleground that the media needs us to stay trapped in. (”Things are terrifying! More terrifying by the day! Come read about the latest dangers!… and drive our web traffic figures and advertising profits ever upwards.”)

2. Accepting that procrastination isn’t laziness. It’s fear.

3. Sitting down and asking myself, ready to listen, “What’s frightening you, my small friend? What can I chase away from you? Point at all the scary things and I’ll get them out of here.” Then doing it.

4. Buying myself a set of nice pens shaped like tiny sharks.

5. Getting angry about the things that hurt. All the things, even the tiny throwaway things, even the things from ages ago, even the things my loved ones told me just to forget about. Getting angry at the people who did the hurtful things, then writing a lot of very sweary letters with my shark pens.

6. “My anger deserves my respect,” whenever I remember to say it. Writing it out with my shark pens. “Anger is my friend. Anger points the way.”

7. “I receive your good willingly, universe.” When happiness shows up, get it a sandwich and a comfy seat. 

8. Restocking the pond. Creative minds need raw materials they can turn into creative work: images, sounds, sensations, feelings. Mine’s no different. It takes a while to let myself believe (not just nod like yeah yeah sure, but believe) that pursuing heartfelt interests isn’t selfish. It’s vital to maintaining a healthy flow of passion. I wouldn’t expect someone to bake a cake without using any ingredients.

9. Listening for the sad little inner voice that mumbles, “I want a biscuit.” Getting it a biscuit. (I’m serious about this. We spend live our lives telling ourselves in a hundred different tiny ways each day that we don’t deserve the biscuit, don’t deserve the shark pens, don’t deserve the friends we have, don’t deserve the good things that come our way, don’t deserve to try writing the things we actually really want to write. It builds up and it cripples us. You reverse the spiral by starting with the biscuit.)

10. Piece of paper, pen. (Shark-shaped or otherwise.) “Honestly, I think I…” Twenty times daily. Write fast and don’t think. You’re not writing in blood, it’s ink and you’re allowed to say it, no matter what it is. Good thoughts, bad thoughts. Write them down. Fill in all twenty every single day. You’ll watch yourself writing the same handful over and over, everyday, stronger and stronger, until you let yourself write this one: “Honestly, I think I might do something about that.”

I always like a good subtitles (because I didn’t hear anything in the previous clips haha)

YOU’RE TELLING ME THERE WAS MORE????

I always loved his voice. It’s so sweet

Jenson: Who was that anyway? Was that an F3 driver or something?

Be positive like Nico

nico: “i love lego. my daughter can play with it too!”

his inability to wink properly continues to endear me

Superman or: How I Stopped Being Apathetic And Learned To Love The Big Blue Boy Scout:

Last year when I finally watched Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, I was blown away. Not just because it was an incredible movie (in my opinion), but because Zack had done something which I thought unlikely to happen. He made me care for the character of Superman. For as long as I can remember, I was always apathetic to Superman. No strong opinions one way or another. I’d seen the Reeves’ movies when I was younger an, aside from that; I cared very little for the character. I suppose it may have had something to do with the idea in pop culture that he is just this nearly indestructible God who can’t be killed (bar Kryptonite) and is just a boy scout. Even when I first got into superheroes when I was twelve, I immediately fell in love with Batman.I thought it was awesome how a guy, who has no superpowers and who witnessed a horrifying ordeal, became the hero he is. Hence the reason why I only saw Man of Steel last year instead of when it first came out in 2013. Now I love the character, thanks to Zack and co. Yet his Superman is polarizing to say the least; just look at its Rotten Tomatoes score of 55%. Many people will say it’s “grimdark” (To slightly misquote Charlie Brooker “Anyone who combines words like grim and dark to make grimdark is just a funt.”) and isn’t the real Superman because he’s not smiling. Which I assure you, he does. People don’t like this take on Superman as it’s nothing like the Superman of yesteryear. The Superman of their childhood. And hear in lies the crux of the problem with the character of Superman. He’s not been allowed to evolve in the media and within popular culture as much as a certain other DC character. Batman. Just think about it.Since 1966, Batman has appeared in nine films including this years Justice League; it’s sequel and Matt Reeve’s Batman movie in 2019. Not to mention the eight or so animated shows and their subsequent movies. Superman, on the other hand has appeared in seven movies including this years Justice League, it’s sequel and Man of Steel 2. Plus an animated series.Between 1966 and last years Batman v Superman:Dawn of Justice, Batman has gone from: campy to dark back to campy to gritty realism and then back to dark. Apart from the gap between the ‘66 movie and the ‘89 movie, the longest gap between Batman movies was between 1997 and 2005. Eight years, Compare that to Superman IV:The Quest for Peace and Superman Returns which had a twenty-year gap between the two. My point is that the gaps between Batman movies are so small that it allows the audience to familiarize themselves with a new iteration of the character with each reboot.Hence, the reason Bale’s Batman is so popular. Batman has evolved in the public eye.The twenty-year gap between Superman IV and Superman Returns meant that a lot of people grew up with one iteration of Superman meaning Reeves became the de-facto Superman, anything other than this was not the real Superman, and that was bolstered by Superman Returns which was a continuation of the Reeves movies (but with a new cast). Then along comes Zack Snyder who gives us a slightly different take on the character which most people are not used to. He portrays Superman as a character who has flaws and who isn’t perfect. A person who’s trying to find his place in our world.Yet unlike Batman, whenever there’s a new take on the character most are well like and few aren’t *cough* Clooney *cough*, Snyder’s version is disliked and as stated before, not the true Superman. I feel the twenty-year gap between Superman IV and Superman Returns has actually harmed the image of Superman within popular culture. Now maybe this was down to WB who think that Superman isn’t as much of a bankable character as Batman, who knows. But at the end of the day,to quote BvS, “The fact is, maybe he’s not some sort of devil or Jesus character. Maybe he’s just a guy trying to do the right thing.“Superman is a more interesting character than most people would believe. Just because Snyder’s Superman isn’t like Reeves or doesn’t smile 24/7, it doesn’t make him any less Superman. 

An Open Letter to Tumblr about the Adult Content Ban and How it is Hurting Your Users:

Recently, Tumblr was removed from the Apple app store due to an incident involving child pornography. This incident is incredibly unfortunate, but it doesn’t stand alone. Tumblr was also removed from the app store due to the large influx of porn bots and pornographic spam, users claiming to be proud to be pedophiles, blatant Nazism, racists who are not deleted for sending hate and harassing users, and more. I myself reported someone for harassing me, but because I had blocked the person and couldn’t access the messages where they harassed me, they were still able to send me anonymous asks. Your support staff, with back doors to the website (presumably), claimed they could not access the messages, and I was left SOL. Many features on this website do nothing to actually protect your users from harassment, racism, homophobia, transphobia, Nazis, pedophiles, predators, porn bots, and more. 

You claim in your statement to us that you “have been working on these problems for a long time”. This is blatantly untrue. Please do not lie to us and patronize us. We’ve been here. We’ve seen you do nothing over, and over, and over again. 

We complained to you for months and months about the rampant porn bots, and you did nothing except add a report button on mobile which only reported sensitive content or spam at best. You could have addressed this problem with an effective algorithm, but you did not. We complained to you about being harassed and sent hate speech for being LGBT+, and you did nothing. We complained to you about blogs being randomly deleted, and sometimes you’ve restored them, other times you have not. We complained to you that there were people proudly claiming to be “Minor Attracted Persons”, or pedophiles, and you did nothing. We complained to you about people proudly claiming to be white supremacists, and you did nothing. All of these things are “against the community guidelines”, and yet over and over, you have not found effective ways to handle these problems or suppress the feeling of welcome that these users claim to get here. You have had a long time to work on these problems, but you haven’t addressed them. To say you have is untrue. 

 Multiple other social networking websites, such as Wordpress, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and others have effectively dealt with rampant pornography, racism, pedophilia, and other problems without causing massive issues for their users who are not misusing the platform. They are continuing to find new, effective ways to deal with these issues without causing problems for their userbase as a whole.  There is no reason that you are unable to do this effectively other than that you wanted to do it quickly. You have once again chosen your stock holders over your users. And we have had enough. 

You have already started to ban “Adult” content with a new algorithm. Here are screenshots of just a fraction of the posts you have flagged as containing adult content:

Your new system of simply tackling everything at once is not working. At all. And each of these screenshots is proof of your utter incompetence. None of these posts contain pornographic acts, “female nipples”, or any community violation of any kind. 

We, the users, have been asking you for months to deal with these problems - particularly, the porn bots and bots that spam. In order to block a bot from a side blog, I have to do it manually, even though they are in my side blog’s feed. This is a huge issue for mobile - only users. They keep cropping up in droves, taking over our posts and tricking google into making it look like a legitimate blog linked to a pornographic website. We have complained to you for months and months now, and your solution to simply “ban all adult content” is ineffective. I agree that children should not be able to access pornography - but this is not how you tackle a porn bot problem. Your system is utterly useless, allows for racists, pedophiles, porn bots, and Nazis to remain untouched. It also harms sex workers and real people who may use this website for some forms of adult content responsibly. Moreover, as seen above, it harms plenty of users who have in no way violated your terms of service.

 If you keep this up, you threaten your website and company as a whole. Many of us are backing up our blogs and planning places to go to. 

You already have a content filter for “sensitive” content (content inappropriate for younger viewers). You could have improved this, instead of attacking your entire user base. It seems to be a very lazy “solution”, if you could call it one at all, and one that harms your entire userbase.

If you are going to keep this filter in place and make Tumblr, a website that has never been known for being family friendly and has never claimed to be, you are going to lose millions of your users. We are already planning our exodus. It isn’t hard to follow. Censor us, and we will go somewhere else. That is not a threat. It is a promise. 

Sincerely, 

The users of your website. 

@staff @support