~Mentacle

Tohjosakana was a hugely popular tf artist who suddenly took down all her pics. From the comments on her page:
"a lot of TF people have been getting reported and such, and many are taking their galleries down. i think we have a little problem on the loose; this is a really intense reaction. something is wrong. i think someone just keeps reporting everyone like a crazy person. either way, your work was some of my favorite, even if some of it was a little intense. there's nothing wrong with it. it's your art, all artists meet critisicm and negativity--i know i have."
--Jessie44

"I don't know if anybody reported Tohjo's work on devart or not - she kept her harder stuff on her own website. But another (Chinese) TF artist was perma-banned because she posted her hard-core stuff here. But I have definitely noticed that Asian artists *seem* to be more sensitive to flaming - Tohjo's stopped drawing TFs completely, and Kkal took her site private (she's the one who did the cute Lucky Star decepticons video on youtube - ripped off by lots of others )."
--Japan magpie

And I know Darkenlite (moderator of the deviantart TransFormSlash club, was also made to remove some of her stuff.

As regards to Transformers slash fan art, has anyone noticed if there've been large scale reports/flames of artists? I mean, more than usual. I know there was recently that "article" on Tf slash by i09, but is there something more organized happening here? (yeah I'm a conspiracyfag). What places are friendly to the harder edge of Tf slash art?

Bad news: I caught the flu.

Good news: It's allowing me to catch up with Transformers Animated, and I'm finally warming up to it. I love Optimus's design! So far my favorites are him, Blitzwing, and Slag-- Oh so cuuuuuuuute dino!

Bad news (or good news, depending on your inclination): Watching Animated has shorted out my slash circuits. Yes, hell has frozen over: I CANNOT SLASH THESE CHARACTERS! Why? Dunno! Everything is just so...cute! And worse, it's infected everything else: I just can't create or indulge in slash. Maybe it's Slash-Flu.

Good news: The TEMPORARY slash moratorium is allowing me to think about some alternate projects.

Bad news: What alternate projects!?! Tokyopop still hasn't gotten back to me about my $%@&*-in job!!!

Finally finished my first fanvid *grins* Now I can get on with my life, except I have an idea for several more. No! Must...work! This vid is a mashup of Autobop, Make Tracks, and Countdown to Extinction.

I uploaded it to Youtube over here:
[link]

if that doesn't work, look for the "Prettybop Remix" (include the " ").

Just in case you wanna watch...^^

Thanks!

(Warning: All RANTification post! Also, SPOILERS!)
Devastation! Ugh!


If you're still interested, read on...

I forgot that we'd preordered the Transformers: Devastation single issues in Jakarta and I just finally picked them up yesterday. I'm sO glad I didn't pay $25 for the trade paperback. Whereas Infiltration and Escalation where relatively restrained, tightly-written thrillers with limited but decently-exposed casts, Devastation is like Transformers soup. The writer seems to want to toss every single plot element from the last three years of IDW continuity into an inadequate six issues. You've got our main characters, then the pesky human villains, the pesky human allies, Sixshot, Sunstreaker clones, Headmasters, the Reavers (robot alien animals, wtf? Do they want Crypto the Superhound in there too?), Skorponok, and then cameos for Soundwave and two of his cassettes, Headmasters, Galvatron, and finally some other dudes from some other universe, and the Dinobots. I know most of these characters appeared in the Spotlights, but for the most part they appeared seemingly without explanation or relevance to the plot.

This overcrowding leaves the true stars as bystanders in their own comic. Megatron spends most of this story arc going "D-uhh?" You know how he eviscerates Starscream in Inflitration? Naw, it's all forgiven without even a blow to the head. They're friends again just like that. Tru wub! Megatron keeps threatening people (Skywarp, Astrotrain, Blitzwing) and not following up. He's becoming forgetful and nice in his old age, poor guy.

Plus I think the whole inclusion of Reavers just lessens the sense of wonder/impact of these huge-ass alien robots. Infiltration and Escalation did a great job contrasting the Transformers' size and lives to the humans'. The Transformers seemed truly alien, despite the fact that they're essentially talking cartoon robots. Much of this had to do with EJ Su's highly technical art, which makes the Transformer anatomy seem plausible. Unfortunately, Su has to take a break for three issues, and I'm not a big fan of the replacements because they had a generally more cartoonish, rubber-faced style. Toss a flying yellow-and-red alien robot eagle/centipede/rhino/troll into the mix, and it's all over(why, hello, 1980)!

I can forgive the silliness (hell, that's why I'm a fan!). What I can't forget is that after twelve bloody issues and two years, none of the plot elements from Infiltration and Escalation are resolved. Ironhide's still missing. Sunstreaker is now...a Headmaster? What? what are those pesky human Men in Black up to, anyway, besides the whole annoying clone thing? Are the Decepticons going to conquer Earth, or will the Autobots beat them? Will Jimmy and Verrity survive their encounter with the Transformers?

None of these questions is adequately addressed, and really, NOTHING HAPPENS in this whole story. I guess that's the whole point. I don't feel that our story has moved forward in any meaningful way, and the only devastation occurred with the plot. Like the Furmanism goes, "It never ends!"

To sum up: Infiltration and Escalation distilled the Transformers mythos into its core elements: Decepticons want to pillage the Earth, the Autobots want to stop them, and certain humans are either caught in the crossifre or take advantage of the situation. The question we want to answer is: who will succeed? Adding like 10 thousand new characters is akin to the horror of those 'Rebirth' episodes- best left forgotten.

Current fics in progress:

Silverbolt x Thundercracker
-TC rescues an injured Silverbolt from Starscream. A halting friendship (or more?) begins. MAS, torture, some noncon.

Tracks x Sideswipe
-A few months after Tracks arrives on earth, he goes rogue. One Autobot is sent to retrieve him. Unfortunately for Sideswipe, it wasn't his brother they sent.

Megatron x Thundercracker/ Skywarp/ Starscream (comedy)
-Abuse of authority, anyone?

Also, that Mosaic (prolly wont be a mosaic) featuring alternate version Tracks in IDW-verse.

Been trying to revive my fanfics lately My TF devotion alternates between interest and obsession. Right now I'm in the obsession part. I was thinking of doing the 28 character memes, but probably wouldn't finish, so here's an alternate. Give me a kink/ drabble or pairings below,and we'll see what happens! If any of the ideas grab my attention, I'll try to write a fic for it.

Much love for these guys:
Silverbolt, Tracks, the three main Seekers, Bumblebeee, Motormaster, Bluestreak. I'm toying with a Prowl/ Chip Chase bunny....also maybe a necrophilia thing in the Autobot/ Decepticon crypts.