#Also the thing all these four franchises have in common is that either they *are* right up my alley or they are what many people over

[wanderingandfound]

I don't know if people pay attention to the trend on my blog but if people think I've made a downturn because I've been posting negatively about

The new Scooby-Doo show

The new Addams Family show

Dragons ^ Dungeons

I would just like to remind them that the first tumblr blog that I was checking daily (long before I had an account) was reasoningwithvampires, a blog ripping apart Twilight mainly on the basis of grammar and continuity, and that I've always been a bit of a petty hater when it comes to bad representation in ""unimportant"" popular fiction.

[s10127470]

The Evolution of the Ninja Turtles' Designs

As I'm sure many of you know by now, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

What initially started off as an intended one-off parody of the dark and gritty comics of the early to the mid 1980s (particularly the works of Frank Miller like Ronin and especially Daredevil) would grow to become one of the most successful media franchises in history.

The one-off quickly became a full-on series, running for a total of 30 years from 1984 to 2014.

It also led to the creators of the Turtles, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, to start their own comic publishing company, Mirage.

And apart from that, this franchise has seen multiple of other comic runs from the likes of Image, Archie and IDW.

Four animated series (with a fifth one coming out this summer).

Ten feature-length films (7 being released in theaters, while 3 were released direct-to-DVD).

A live-action TV show that nobody likes to talk about....

And a boatload of video games, toys, food products, and just about any other kind of merchandising you can think of!

And it's honestly impressive just how consistently popular the TMNT brand has reminded over the four decades they've existed in pop culture.

Even more so is how much of a spotless track record they've had when it comes to the quality of their products.

Okay a mostly spotless track record....

But today I'm here to talk about one of the coolest things to notice when looking at this franchise. And that's the visual evolution of the Turtles.

I'm gonna be looking at the designs of the Turtles from the original Mirage comics and the animated outputs of the franchise to see just how much the Turtles have visually changed.

Starting this off we have the Turtles from the Mirage comics, the 1987 cartoon, the 2003 cartoon and the 2007 film.

The reason I decided to lump these four iterations together is because they all share something in common....

What that's you may ask?

Well, a while back, I watched a video by YouTuber Just Stop called "Death by Nicktoon", where he looked at the many Nicktoons that were unfairly snubbed and sent to the Nicktoons channel to die a slow and painful death.

And one of those Nicktoons was one of the next TMNT series I'll be talking about pretty shortly.

When talking about that series, Just Stop mentioned the Silhouette Test.

As I'm sure many of know by now, the Silhouette Test is major component when it comes to character designing.

Essentially the saying goes that you know a character has a good design if their silhouette is easily recognizable.

And Turtles do pass this test.....but only as a group.

Because individually, these versions would all fail that in an instant.

And that's the thing they all have in common.

Within the pieces of media each of these groups come from, all they look exactly the same.

Out of all of them, the Mirage Turtles have this issue the worst.

During the early years of the comics, the Turtles basically acted damn-near identical to each other.

And if you were trying to find another way to differentiate them from each other, I don't know what to tell you.

As I mentioned earlier, these Turtles look exactly the same and the fact that they were in black and white for a good chunk of the comics didn't help matters either.

But when they were in color, the Turtles were all depicted wearing red masks.

Really, the only way you could actually tell which Turtles is which is by their respective weapons.

Leonardo wields the dual katanas.

Raphael wields the twin sais.

Donatello wields the bō staff.

And Michelangelo wields the dual nunchucks.

But when the 87 cartoon rolled around, the crew behind that show knew the Turtles needed some retooling in order for a wider audience to get into the brand.

Thus, they did two things that have become staples in the Turtles franchise since then.

They gave each of the Turtles their own distant personalities. Leonardo was the calm, brave and strategic leader, Donatello was the tinkering, inventing genius, Raphael was the cynical and wisecracking smartass with a slightly bad attitude, and Michelangelo was the fun-loving, Cowbunga-shouting goofball.

They gave each of the Turtles different colored masks. With the expectation of Raphael (who was still rocking the red look), Leonardo got a blue mask, Donatello got a purple mask, and Michelangelo got a orange mask.

And although their visually more distinct when compared to the Mirage Turtles, they still suffer from the same problem where physically, they look exactly the same.

Plus the fact that a lot of promotion and merchandising for this show often depict the Turtles as having the same expressions didn’t help either.

However, there was another visual element added to the Turtles' designs.

They gave each of the turtles belts with buckles that had the initials of their respective names.

But if you had put these Turtles in black and white and took away their weapons and belts, you most likely wouldn't be able to tell who was who.

The same can be applied to the 2007 Turtles as well....minus the belts since they don't have those.

But in the case of the 2003 Turtles, this is where things get interesting....

These Turtles do share the same issues as the three other iterations listed above, being that they look exactly the same to each other, minus the colored bandanas and trademark weapons (which I'm still surprised they carried over from the 1987 cartoon given that Turtles co-creator Peter Laird, who was heavily involved in the 2003 cartoon, is kind of infamous for having a bit of a hate-boner towards that series).

However, there is another visual element to these Turtles that would help differentiate them from each other.

This would mark the very first time in the franchise's history where the Turtles were given different skin colors....or more appropriately, shades, as each of Turtles' skins were a different shade of green.

Leonardo was forest green.

Michelangelo was blue green.

Donatello was olive green.

And Raphael was emerald green.

But with that being said, if you put these Turtles in black and white just like the others iterations above and took away their respective weapons, it would be the same output as before.....

Or maybe not....

You see, for the last two seasons of the show: Fast Forward and Back to the Sewers, the entire cast received major redesigns, and this led to two notable changes with the Turtles.

Their eyes. In the first five seasons, the Turtles' eyes were depicted as being fully white when they had their masks on. And when they were off, their eyes were just simple black. But in these last two seasons, the Turtles' eyes were now colored and were made visible through the masks. The Turtles all had green eyes....except for Donatello, whose eyes were brown for some reason.

Their heights. In the first five seasons, the Turtles all stood at about the same height, that being 5'2. But in the last two seasons, they were each given different heights. Michelangelo was the shortest at 5'4, Leonardo was the second shortest at 5'5, Donatello was the second tallest at 5'6, and Raphael was the tallest at 5'7.

Next we come to the Turtles from the 2012 series, and this is where everything changed....

For the very first time in the franchise's history, the Turtles were each given unique and distinct looks from each other.

No longer did they look like the same character copy-pasted three times, each of Turtles actually looked different!

If you saw these guys in black and white and took away their weapons, you could definitely tell who was who!

Some of the visual elements of the previous cartoons were carried over such as the colored masks (which have becomes staples of the franchise since the 1987 cartoon), having their skin colors being a different shade of green, having colored eyes and standing at different heights.

But what really sets these versions apart from the others is the fact that each Turtle has a different physical build!

Leonardo is the most well-rounded when it comes to physical builds, he has fern green skin, cobalt blue eyes, and is the second tallest of the Turtles at 5'1.

Raphael is slightly more bulkier and has more defined muscles than the rest of his brothers, has dark green skin, emerald green eyes, a crack on the right side of his shell, and is the second shortest of the Turtles at 5'0.

Donatello has a lean and gangly-like build, brownish green skin, reddish brown eyes, has a gap in the middle of his teeth, and is the tallest of the Turtles at 5'6.

And Michaelangelo has a more stout and pudgy build, light green skin, baby blue eyes, freckles on his face, and is the shortest of the Turtles at 4'10.

Now come to the Turtles from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles....

Out of all the iterations of the Turtles before and since, these guys are by far the most visually distinct of them all!

It honestly feels like the crew looked at the designs of the 2012 Turtles and said, "Hey! Let's do what they did.....but even better!"

Marking yet another first for this franchise, this would mark the first time the Turtles were all different specific species of Turtles rather than being the same unspecified species for the umpteenth time.

And them being different species are greatly reflected in their designs.

Also, according to several artists on the show, each of the Turtles were designed around a shape, and the use of the shapes also reflected their respective personalities.

Raphael is an alligator snapping turtle, which is why is he's an absolute unit in this series, with a hulking and muscular build to match! This Raphael is the second biggest and tallest he's been in this franchise, standing at a whooping 6'0! And since he's an alligator snapping turtle, Raphael also has jagged and fractured points on his elbow, knees and shell. His choice of species reflect three major aspects of his character.....

His status as the brawler/muscle of the team.

In this iteration, HE'S the leader of the team.

He's the oldest of the Turtles. Oh yeah, marking yet another first for this franchise, this would mark the first time that the Turtles were all made different ages rather than being quadruplets like every other iteration. As previously mentioned, Raphael is eldest of his brothers at 15.

Raphael was designed around squares, to reflect his offensive and defensive fighting style.

His mask, in contrast to half of his brothers, is depicted as more of a bandana (or a possibly a durag). Plus it has the longest tails out of the group, reflecting his status as the oldest brother.

He also wears red bands on his elbows and his thighs, a red belt with his Turtle Emblem off to the right side, and his bandages on a few parts of his body and specifically around his ankles and hands, reflecting his prowess as a fighter and that he's the Turtle most dedicated to training.

Raphael also has bright green skin and a sharp tooth sticking out of the right side of his mouth.

Leonardo is a red-eared slider, which is why he has those markings all over his body and shell and the red markings over his eyes. His choice of species would also reflect his future status as the leader of the Turtles, since red-eared sliders are the most well-known species of turtles. He also has a lean and athletic build, reflecting his status as the team's resident speed fighter.

Leonardo was designed around triangles, to reflect his witty and sharp nature.

The marks on his body are also triangular as well.

Leonardo also has lime green skin and wears blueish grey fingerless gloves and toeless footwear, a blue belt with a strap that overs his right shoulder, a set of pouches, and he has his Turtle Emblem on the left, and is the second tallest turtle at 5'5 (the same height as his 2003 iteration).

Donatello is a Asian softshell, which plays a big part in his personality. Out of all the iterations of Donatello, this one is far more aggressive than most of his prior iterations, even the Mirage version! I mean bro, this Donatello is practically a psychopathic scientist. This is because Asian softshells are known for being incredibly aggressive and one of the few species of turtles that are carnivorous.

As for his physical build, it's quite similar to Leonardo, which is possibly because of the fact they're twins, both being 14 years old.

Though Donatello's is even more leaner and thinner than Leonardo's, giving him a build akin to a swimmer. That's because Asian softshells are known for being some of the couple of turtles that live on land that are semi-aquatic.

Another similarity Leonardo and Donatello share are their mask tail lengths.....well, sort of....

The length of Leonardo's mask tails is squarely in the middle, reflecting his status as the middle child.

Donatello's however are little harder to tell.....

At first glance they appear to be quite short. However, when looking closely, you can see that the tails look folded. So there's a strong chance that his mask tails are both as long as Leonardo's, since they're twins.

(Also, it's fashioned in a similar way to Raphael.)

Donatello was designed around rectangles, to reflect his more practical and blunt nature and his technological prowess.

He also has purple, rectangular markings on his body as well.

Donatello wears purple fingerless gloves and toeless footwear, a silver tech-gauntlet on his left wrist with a blue touchscreen, purple knee and elbow pads, a purple belt with matching pouches, and the Turtle emblem placed on the center. He also has jade green skin and stands at 5'3.

But the most notable aspect of Donatello's design is his mechanical shell.

This not only reflects his technological prowess, but also reflects an aspect of his species and his character.

Asian softshells are known for their shells being on the weaker side when compared to other turtles species. It's in the name. So Donatello wears one for obvious reasons.

It reflects his inferiority complex. Throughout this series, it's shown that he heavily relies on technology due to him feeling inferior to his brothers. That was sort of already from the beginning given that he majorly lacks the same natural protection they do, but thanks to them getting mystical powers, that was made even worse.

Michelangelo is a ornate box turtle, which is why he's the smallest and shortest of the Turtles, standing at 4'7 (being the shortest any of the Turtle iterations have ever been). Him being a box turtle also reflects a major part of his personality, that being his friendly and kind personality, as box turtles are known for being one of the friendliest and gentle species of turtles.

Michelangelo was designed around circles, to reflect his bouncy and kinetic nature.

He also has orange spots on his body and orange markings on his shell, which also serve as an another nod to his species.

Michelangelo also has blue green skin and wears orange wristbands and toeless footwear, and orange knee pads with red faces on them (a dead face on the right and a smiley face on the left), and a dark orange chest harness over his left shoulder with the Turtle emblem placed over his heart.

He also wears a pair of magenta and cyan stickers on his plastron (a triangle and a lightning bolt), to reflect his artistic nature.

Michelangelo also has the shortest mask tails of his brothers, to reflect his status as the youngest.

Finally we come to latest incarnation of the Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem....

Although they're not nearly as visually unique as their previous iteration, they still do a good job at making each of the other visual distinct from each other.

One thing to note is that the just like the 1987 Turtles, they all have initialed buckles again.

Leonardo has a well-rounded build like his 2012 iteration with French lime green skin, has shurikens on his belt, and is the second tallest of his brothers at 5'5

Donatello has a leaner build similar to his 2012 iteration with bitter lime green skin, wears glasses, headphones, and a fanny pack, carries a phone on his belt, and is the second shortest at 5'4.

Raphael is the biggest and bulkiest of his brothers with bright green skin, has his mask fashioned in a bandana-like style akin to Rise Raphael, has a pouch on his belt, and is the tallest at 5'7.

Michelangelo is the skinniest with sea green skin, wears braces and is the shortest at 5'1.

Well that's all for now folks!

The reason I wanted to do this (apart from wanting to do something for the Heroes in a Half-Shell's Big 40), was because although I've seen people talk about the looks of the various iterations of the Turtles before, but only in the sense of that specific iteration.

So I thought I would be interesting to instead do a timeline of their visual appearances to show just how much they've changed over the decades.

Anyway, I'm gonna go to bed.....

Peace.

[tea-earl-grey]

For the character ask game: What about Tuvok and Michael Burnham?

from this ask game

Tuvok:

how i feel about this character.

i love Tuvok so dearly. i think he's the strongest Vulcan character of the whole franchise and Tim Russ does such a masterful job portraying him. i really can't think of a single scene where i don't enjoy Tuvok's presence in some way.

all the people i romantically ship with this character.

just his wife t'pel. i can't think of any other tuvok ships i've seen that i hate but there aren't any that really interest me either.

my non-romantic otp for this character.

Tuvok & Janeway without a doubt. they make such a good best friend pairing. all of their scenes alone together make my heart melt a little with how much they care for each other

unpopular opinion on this character.

hm... the only thing i can think of that might be controversial is the fact that Tuvok and his morality is flawed. i think so often he (and other Vulcan characters) are seen in the fandom as the paragon of reason and sense and i think that flattens characters somewhat and also doesn't reflect what we see in canon. there are episodes like Meld where Tuvok advocates for the death penalty or Learning Curve where he's shown to hold his crew, especially his Maquis crew, to unrealistic standards or Resolutions where the crew has to basically mutiny before Tuvok considers going back for Janeway and Chakotay. yes Tuvok does have a strong sense of justice and yes he almost always follows logic but he's also very much a utilitarian and sometimes his morality is at odds with the audience and the rest of the crew which i like and i think should be considered more often.

one thing i wish would happen/had happened in canon.

that he got more stories... i mean it's not a secret that we only really get three-ish stories stories in the last four seasons that truly focus on Tuvok as a character and not just on him as a supporting character for others. i think he gets some strong supporting roles as a mentor and friend but i wish we got more stories actually centered on him.

Michael:

how i feel about this character.

MICHAELLLLL! Michael has by far one of the strongest arcs and characters in all of Trek. while early disco is a bit hit or miss for me, Michael is such a strong & compelling character that it makes up more it.

all the people i romantically ship with this character.

i love Michael/Book and am very happy with how they ended up in s5. i also do like Michael/Laira too because even just a few scenes i think their chemistry really jumped off the page.

my non-romantic otp for this character.

i do really love Michael & Saru. the few times they hug in s4 and s5 really took me out and i love the mutual respect & trust they've managed to cultivate despite their rough beginning in s1.

unpopular opinion on this character.

i mean i think it was a common (non tumblr) fandom opinion that Michael cries or emotes too much and that's obviously just some racist and misogynistic bullshit. Michael's whole journey is about throwing off the repression she was forced into as a child by growing up on Vulcan and live her life on her own terms and part of that is embracing her emotions. like probably one of the best scenes in the whole show is the sheer joy after she makes the time jump to the future at the beginning of s3.

one thing i wish would happen/had happened in canon.

i would have really liked Michael to have explored her relationship with Vulcan culture/society more, especially in s3 and beyond. like she obviously had a difficult time growing up but Vulcan culture is still her culture and i would have loved to see her more with post-Burn Vulcans and Romulans. even just her and T'Rina bonding over a Vulcan holiday or something would have been so good.

thanks for the ask!!! <3

[aromancy]

On Gendered Storytelling

Okay, so.

For the purposes of this discussion, I'll be basing my arguments on the two most prevalent genders; those being cis men and cis women. There are other genders, and any time anybody tells me there aren't, we'll add another, but this is going to be a broad-strokes analysis which such nuances won't really assist in dissecting, so I'm going to gloss over that stuff. Know that when I say "men" and "women" for the purposes of this mini-essay, I'm referring to the "average" man and the "average" woman. I'll be making plenty of generalizations in the proceeding text, but every rule has exceptions aplenty, especially when discussing gender, and nothing I say is going to be universally applicable.

Okay? Okay.

My household consisted of four men (myself, my two brothers, and my father) and one woman (my mother) for the majority of the 2000s-2010s. During that time, our family got very much into the Marvel Cinematic Universe; or at least, most of us did. Despite repeated attempts to engage our mother in the universe, my brothers and I failed to capture her interest. More than once during trips to the theater to view installments of the films, she fell asleep halfway through. This made sense during Thor: the Dark World, but less so during our viewing of Ant-Man, which, despite several notable plotholes, was overall an engaging experience for 15-year-old Aro.

More recently, mom has been trying to connect with us through communal viewing of reality TV based on our interests; LEGO Masters is commonly playing, due to my brother's interest in legos, and ever since I got more into cooking, we've also added Chopped and Master Chef to our repertoire.

And it's all boring as sin.

Oh, we watch it. It's nice to see mom happy, and to spend time with her; she spends so much time at church nowadays, and given how the rest of the family has stopped attending mass since the youngest turned 18, that means that the reality shows are about the only social time we get with her. And I do like spending time with her, but I frankly couldn't give a 15-minute ice cream sundae who wins this episode of Chopped.

So I got to thinking why that is. I voiced some of this to my parents, wondering if it had something to do with the culture in which we are raised; men are typically seen as active participants in society, expected to be breadwinners for their families and more involved with social progress; while women are typically put in a more passive role, as the caretakers and raisers of the next generation.

My father pointed out that you can't knock the biological component; men, generally having higher levels of testosterone than women, are typically more aggressive and competitive than the fairer sex. As such, they'd be more receptive to action-heavy films that otherwise lack substance, a la the Transformers franchise. I don't love to reduce things to biological essentialism, but I do think he's got a point; we know that testosterone, like all hormones, has a significant impact on mood and behavior.

That said, I don't think it's purely a matter of people with more testosterone finding action more engaging; the shows I mentioned above are all competitions, after all, which you would expect to resonate well with competitive people (generally men). I also know for a fact that many action films, made poorly, fail to resonate with audiences of either gender. Green Lantern comes to mind as an example of a superhero show that nobody liked, and I already mentioned Thor: the Dark World above, just to solidify my point.

I think the main difference is in the stakes. In a lot of action movies, the stakes are extremely high; the stability of nations, the power of an organized crime syndicate, the world at large are all common stakes in such films. Meanwhile, a lot of reality shows have much more personal stakes; the relationship between family and friends, the love between two strangers, the bereavement of a widow. Both stakes have their place; I want to get along well with my family, but I also want the planet to not explode. But for some reason, media targeted towards men seems to focus mainly on the former, while media targeted towards women often focuses on the latter.

And I don't think it has to be this way. There are action movies, for instance, which focus a lot on lower, interpersonal stakes. I seem to recall that Venom was a lot more popular among female audiences than expected, and conversely a lot less popular among male audiences than expected, for basically telling the story of a man and his symbiote like it was a romantic comedy. John Wick has a dark order of assassins operating in the background, but the debut film is just a story about a man getting revenge for the death of his dog. Women love John Wick! (Here I'll remind you of the notes about generalization back in paragraph one.)

Meanwhile, there are stories with very high stakes and not a whole lot of action. Interstellar threatens the extinction of the human race, but only due to a global famine, with nary a punch thrown throughout the entire film. Yet it seems to resonate with men just as well as with women, perhaps even moreso.

I would assert, therefore, that it is the difference in stakes which resonate more with one gender or the other, and that men typically prefer situations with grander stakes, while women typically prefer situations with more personal stakes. I'm still not sure precisely why that is, but I'd love to get the input of others, if anyone wants to contribute their two cents! Or maybe you think I'm wrong! I'd love to hear about that, too! Leave a reply and let me know why I have no idea what I'm talking about! Thanks!

[c0rrupted-mov]

CHIAKI KOMAEDA . and maybe chihiros if u feel inclined :3

I answered Chiaki's in the previous ask sooo it's Komaeda and Chihiro time!

KOMAEDA

favorite thing about them

Everything. love him a lot. Has been obsessed with him since my first watch of the playthrough almost four years ago. There's nothing you can do about liking him you just have to accept it. But I think I can say that I especially like the way he's written

least favorite thing about them

the way fandom treats him. It's super rare to see someone interpret him normally, without falling into either "uwu soft baby who did nothing wrong" or "insane freak without a sense of morality who loves to commit arson for the fun of it". I think his behavior in the prologue of sdr2 is the most accurate version of him

favorite line

His "huh?" in the 4th trial... I just find it pretty funny. The "Am I allowed to speak now?" also deserves mentioning. All his other memorable lines are SO memed in the fandom that I kinda even find them annoying lol xD

brOTP

I can't decide T^T I love the Soda, Fuyhiko and Nagito friendship but also recently I've been thinking of Sonia, Gundham and Nagito... I just think they have a lot in common,,, Or just Sonia. Also with Ibuki, he deserves some optimism and silliness in his life. I just want him to have friends man T^T

OTP

KOMANAMI but def not in cishet way. There's no way either of them is straight. Ngl, I first started liking them in a little seff shipping way because I relate to Nanami a lot xD I grew to love them outside of that pretty soon tho I just think they have a nice cute dynamic and will be very healthy and helpful to each other :)

nOTP

I'm not sure I have one?.. I used to hate komahina before because of the fandom but now I kinda like them. Maybe I could say komamiki but not in the "I hate it so much don't you dare talk to me about it". I used to ship it but then grew to like their dynamic as haters/very bitter friends at first who might become closer and kinder to each other later

random headcanon

Autistic! Like that makes so much sense for him (komanami autistic4autistic swag). Also he/they pronouns

unpopular opinion

sexuality discourse sucks and also often uses biphobic and/or stupid rhetoric. The fact that he didn't react inappropriately when he fell between Mikan's legs doesn't mean that headcanoning him as mspec isn't allowed! That's just a normal human behavior and you're weird!

song i associate with them

This is super predictable and basic but,,, hope by Jack Stauber. Ik the song is about addiction but it also fits Komaeda's relationship with hope. I mean, it is the thing that "keeps him going everyday" right? Also maaaaybe "pretty cvnt" (hate the name) but only because I feel like the lyrics could kinda be similar to Komaeda's self hatred lol. I would love to say more but I very rarely associate songs with fictional characters,,, maybe with my OCs at best but yeah sorry :(

favorite picture of them

THERE'RE SO MANY IT'S SO DIFFICULT but maybe this I KNOW THAT THIS ARTIST IS FAMOUS FOR SUPER BAD STUFF OKAY but he looks like a smiling samoyed here T^T

CHIHIRO! This one is going to be a bit difficult because honestly, I never really thought much about her T^T I'm sorry I'm that person in the fandom that knows everything about two characters and almost nothing about the rest fglhk

favorite thing about them

I think her talent! I just find it very interesting and it makes me wonder how it would work with other characters and in different fields

least favorite thing about them

Once again, the way fandom treats her. The way how people can't see that the fact that dr is a very problematic franchise that has transphobic writing doesn't mean that it's okay and fine to take all of this at face value and accept it without processing

favorite line

I don't remember any lines from thh lol xD

brOTP

Chiaki and/or Naegi! I like to see Chihiro and Chiaki as siblings but either way they would get a long. I also feel like Naegi would be a good friend to her too

OTP

I don't really ship her with anyone I think? Tho I've seen some cute celeshiro art recently ( tho sadly the artist sees her as cis lol). I feel like they both can relate to the feelings of pretending to be someone you're not, esp if you hc Celestia as trans

nOTP

Don't think I have one?..

random headcanon

Loves hairclips. Has a big collection of very different ones for every occasion

unpopular opinion

Does trans Chihiro count as unpopular? Idk

song i associate with them

Sorry, I don't have one :(

favorite picture of them

I just find it funny xD

[passionpluto]

Premiere Nebula Lore Dump: Equinoxes!

It's been a while since I've done one of these, hasn't it? Well, lately I've been thinking a lot about Actress types, and while they're mostly elemental-based like many magical girl franchises have, there are some rarer exceptions. For instance, the four traditional elements are considered to be your "basic" or "common" Actress types, more unique elements like rock types or electric types tend to be slightly less common, and the rarest "regular" Actress type is Dual, which is when an Actress possesses enough magical potential to cast two different magic types or to blend them together. Dual Actresses were mostly discontinued years before the events of Premiere Nebula, so most Actresses are pretty straight elementals. This excludes your Mythic types such as Valkaine (a one-of-a-kind light/dark magic-wielding Actress type that was so glitchy Star Corporations literally never made another) and, more importantly for this discussion, Equinox Actresses.

Equinoxes are basically the magical girl equivalent of vampires in the Premiere Nebula universe. They start off with a base element, but then are granted a special spell that allows them to drain magic from others to boost their own energy. Slowly, Equinox Actress can level up using this power and control multiple elements depending on what types of Actresses they drain from, even more than a Dual can! The problem is that these Actresses skew way towards the vampire side than the Avatar side and as a result are dependent on obtaining magic from outside sources.

Equinoxes cannot regenerate lost magic naturally and if an Equinox goes long enough without consuming magic, she will receive a nasty mix of starvation and withdrawal symptoms until she either gets more or dies. Also, did I mention that getting your magic sucked out by one can result in anywhere from a bout of dizziness, unconsciousness, or even death if enough is taken from you? Basically, the act of integrating Equinoxes into Actress society is a nearly impossible task that would hurt at least one of the parties involved, so it's a good thing Star Corporations only made two before shutting the program down for good...right?

To make an incredibly long story short, the whole thing turned into a Jurassic Park-level shitshow where the scientists forgot to make it so Equinoxes couldn't transfer their unique magic to other Actresses, which ended about as well as you might think. One of the original Equinoxes died, but the other, Alarice, went on to form an Actress extremist group called the Firebrands and pretty much became the vampire progenitor of this story. The second she found out she could effectively make thralls out of her most promising members, she did, and brainwashed most of them for extra measure. No one knows for sure how many thralls (officially called Chars) are out there, but all anyone can say for sure is there are way more than two now.

A bit more about Equinoxes:

* The hypnosis spell most Chars find themselves under is nearly impenetrable, and has only recently been cracked in PN lore. The Premiere Nebula Actress group is closely monitoring the only known case of a Char being cured of her condition (Stelle the requisite magical girl reformed villain) for information on how to break the others out.

* Stelle met Alarice on a mission and quickly became a dissident against her. However, Alarice actually ended up taking a liking to the girl because she resembled her deceased Equinox partner, and ended up cursing her and transplanting a fake personality into her (which she calls Nuage). Alarice acts like she cares about Stelle, and in some twisted way, I think she does, but it's kinda in the way Belos cares about Hunter in The Owl House, I guess? Stelle and Hunter are basically proxies for who Alarice and Belos really love and are trying to bring back and those two could really care less for who they really are.

* (Side note: Alarice's whole crazy powerset was originally based off G4 Tirek from MLP with an added hypnosis-type angle. I say "originally" because I realized as I was watching Owl House that said hypnosis angle made her more of a Tirek/Belos hybrid type than a straight Tirek. Still a bad mofo, tho.)

* Continuing the theme of Actress creation never going right the first time goddammit, Nuage hit a snag in that since she was experiencing fading romantic feelings for Alarice when she was brainwashed, said feelings transferred into the brainwashing. Alarice has no romantic interest in Nuage since she's twice her age, but she doesn't really discourage them either. Basically the vampire/thrall thing already always kinda had groomer subtext to me, and I felt that sort of concept explored sensitively in a fantasy magical girl series setting would reflect what a lot of girls Stelle's age experience.

* Nuage/Stelle is considered a "partial Equinox" because her body can still create her original magic type and she can mostly only cast from her original spell type. This will change as she ages, though, and Stelle personally dreads the day she'll go from still technically being a wind Actress to being a full Equinox.

* Alarice's original element was metal before she reached her full form, and since she has access to so many magic types now, she rarely if ever uses metal-type spells. This possible future scares the shit out of Stelle, who by contrast ties a lot of her identity to wind magic.

* When a full-fledged Equinox consumes magic, she takes on the eye color of the last person she drained from. Partial Equinoxes' eyes, on the other hand, change to a set alternate color for about an hour or so before changing back. For instance, Stelle's natural eye color is green, but hers always turn gray for a little while after draining.

* One more purely for fun: since Nuage is driven by love and Stelle is driven by revenge against Alarice, that would mean that if she lived in the Oshi no Ko universe, her villainous form would have the white star eyes of love and her heroic form would the black star eyes of hatred.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Mario, Mickey, and Legacy Character Movies

A legitimate movie based on SUPER MARIO BROS., many years after getting tons of sequels and spin-offs and installments, was arguably a long-time coming. Being the most recognizable video game character, that even your grandma knows, a movie made sense going back at least two decades.

We all know about the 1993 live-action SUPER MARIO BROS. movie, and the once hard-to-find anime film from 1986… But by 2006 or so, I think the time was right for an animated Mario movie. It had been over 10 years since TOY STORY came out, CGI was at a state that was quite a step up from older plasticky movies… But Nintendo protected Mario, and its other properties, under lock and key… And it was largely because of that 1993 movie.

And now look what’s happening… As of April 19th, the roughly 90-minute all-animated THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE - made at Illumination, and directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic - has cleared $350 million domestically and $700 million worldwide. Barely two weeks or so into release… A number most animated movies have to fight for in their entire run, or even a fraction of that! And especially in post-outbreak times, where families have narrowed down their options on what they see in a cinema every year. This thing’s locked to make a billion, possibly challenge the highest-grossing animated movie record held by the 2019 LION KING remake ($1.6 billion), it’s a Mario monster…

It’s very simple. It’s Mario… And lots of people around the world have either waited for a Mario movie, or really wanted to see a Mario movie happen, or would see a Mario movie if it did happen…

In 1993, things were different. Back then, we were at - console-wise - around 4 SUPER MARIO games. The latest one was SUPER MARIO WORLD, released in 1990. You had the handheld games, SUPER MARIO LAND and its sequel 6 GOLDEN COINS, SUPER MARIO KART as well, and a plethora of spin-offs and such. Yes, Mario was very popular back then, but you could argue some thirty years later… He’s of absolute legendary status. And also, it doesn’t help that the Mario movie deviated heavily from what general audiences think of or expect of the material. A common criticism of the 2023 movie is that it’s too much of a Mario movie, that it’s exactly what it says on the tin. To the point where it tries nothing interesting with the characters/world, while the 1993 movie seemed to go way too far the other direction. I haven’t seen THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE yet, so I cannot say, I’m just observing…

Anyways, this was a case of the planets aligning: Mario has been around since 1981, there’s been gazillions of games and merchandise and appearances, and the movie is very much a “Mario movie”… Beaucoup bucks at the box office!

And another box office win for Universal in the post-outbreak era, too… Meanwhile, the usual big dogs at Disney have been having it rough at the box office… And whenever their movies - made at either Disney Animation or Pixar - don’t break even at the box office (RAYA, ENCANTO, LIGHTYEAR, STRANGE WORLD) or they get shafted to streaming because the former CEO really wanted people to subscribe to Disney+ (TURNING RED), well… Expect lots of sequels, remakes, and franchise entry announcements. We’re only four months into this year, and Disney has announced TOY STORY 5, ZOOTOPIA 2, FROZEN III, and a live-action remake of the very recent MOANA… Projects without release dates, which are still quite far off... we know about these... But yet nothing about the movie Disney Animation is releasing in fall 2024, after WISH comes out this year... Just you watch, you’ll hear ENCANTWO after a thousand more employees are laid off. Even their ever-reliable Marvel is showing signs of slowing down, note QUANTUMANIA’s abysmal legs at the box office and subsequent failure to break even. I keep hoping ELEMENTAL and WISH turn the tides, and so on.

I think… Given that Mario is a legacy character… And Disney has plenty of legacy characters, too… Ones they tend to be overprotective of…

Who is to say Disney can’t finally let the mouse out of the cage… And give us a full-blown, theatrical, animated Mickey Mouse movie?

I mean hey, that cartoon rodent’s 100th year of existence is coming up, in 2028…

Mickey Mouse, interestingly, has had more than a few unrealized movies. You know the MICKEY AND THE BEANSTALK segment of the 1947 anthology film FUN & FANCY FREE? That half hour segment was actually planned as a feature around 1940, but World War II’s impact on the studio’s features and revenue put a dent in that plan. Other features were proposed over time, including a take on THE EMPEROR’S NIGHTINGALE in the early 1960s and a THREE MUSKETEERS adaptation in the early 1980s (funnily enough, a direct-to-video THREE MUSKETEERS movie with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy would be made and released in 2004, but it bares no resemblance to the project pitched in the ‘80s)…

Disney sometimes were very strict about Mickey Mouse. Even going back to the 1940s, there were limits imposed on him following his ascension to company mascot; hence a lot of his short films circa 1948-1953 feature him as a very easy-going “aw shucks!” suburbanite, who often plays second fiddle to Pluto getting bothered by an animal. It’s like he was the fine china, only taken out during the special occasions. And sometimes, on those special occasions… People weren’t pleased!

In 1983, Mickey made his big screen return in MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL, a Dickens adaptation that ran about a half hour and was attached to a re-release of THE RESCUERS. Really more of a training vehicle for Disney’s then-new animators, the featurette had gotten some criticism for being too safe. Then in 1990, THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER came out, which was attached to THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER. A good number of critics felt it was “too ROGER RABBIT”, too mean, too violent, had too much of a modern attitude, etc.

Then, flash forward to 1995, RUNAWAY BRAIN! Goddamn, I love that short! While it was well-received, Disney hid this one in the depths after its quiet rollout… They even attached it to a movie that no one ever heard of… John Lasseter, upon taking over Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2006, reportedly had the thing buried. Disney were often skittish about this short because of its few moments of dark humor and some scary visuals (as if THE MAD DOCTOR and PLUTO’S JUDGMENT DAY don’t exist), but some people there really, really, really found it be sacrilege. For the reasons many of us absolutely love it!

You had those MICKEY MOUSE WORKS shorts in the late 1990s, some of those were pretty fun. They’d of course later be integrated into the equally fun HOUSE OF MOUSE, still not on Disney+ even though lots of us clamor for it to be on there… But it’s like, whenever there was stuff that got made that adults and Disney animation fans really enjoyed, then there’d be a period of dormancy. Disney pulling back, being strict about Mickey. You know how on the show BONKERS, he barely even appeared in his own episode? That was a period where they were very strict about where he’d appear, what he’d do onscreen, etc.

Then for a long while, it seemed like Mickey was but a character on merchandise and some various games and a preschool show; MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE…

That was, until, in 2013… The character really came back in a big way. First, there was the premiere of the wild and outlandishly fun Paul Rudish MICKEY MOUSE series on Disney’s TV channels… And then the 2D/3D hybrid short GET A HORSE!, which played before FROZEN in theaters and was nominated for an Oscar… Nowadays, there’s a Mickey Mouse for everyone: The preschool CG stuff (that roadster race show, the “Bow Toons”, etc.), the Rudish cartoons, and the occasional other project (like those Goofy COVID cartoons animated by Eric Goldberg)…

And, no surprise… Both Rudish Mickey and GET A HORSE! attracted criticism when they first came out. To this day, there are people who really do not like the Rudish Mickey cartoons, and GET A HORSE! got some criticism for being… Again, too mean, too violent, too this, too that… I guess that’s what happens when you sanitize a character like that for so long, that some tend to not know or even forget that there was once upon a time when Mickey Mouse was a genuine cartoon character. Late ‘20s/early ‘30s Mickey was a rascal, sometimes a real jerk! There’s also comics Mickey, Floyd Gottfredson’s works, Carl Barks’ duck stories, etc. etc. Mickey pulls a gun on Donald Duck in the 1942 short SYMPHONY HOUR!

Anyways… Where am I going with this?

Look at what happens in, say, Japan… There are over 20 Pokemon theatrical anime films… Ditto Doraemon, DETECTIVE CONAN, etc. Legacy manga/anime/game characters in Japan? Tons of movies… Over here? Only ICE AGE made it to five theatrical mainline movie not counting spin-offs. SHREK would be the winner there, but even then… Five SHREK movies and two PUSS IN BOOTS movies, that’s only seven. In Europe, it’s sometimes kind of the same deal, but across different mediums. There are plenty of ADVENTURES OF TINTIN movies, for example, some live-action, some animated, and there’s also Steven Spielberg’s movie adaptation that sadly didn’t lead to a sequel.

But yeah… In another context, there’d be a Mickey Mouse movie every couple of years and they’d dutifully make good money at the box office… But Disney hasn’t made a single theatrical full-length Mickey Mouse movie, and the character is going to be 100 in 2028… That’s kind of weird, don’t you think? Some other American legacy cartoon characters have gotten theatrical movies, and also plenty of direct-to-video movies, too. Doesn’t Scooby-Doo currently have the most? Tom and Jerry have plenty as well, including two theatrical movies. The Looney Tunes were in three live-action hybrid pictures, and there are also those compilation features Warner Bros. threw together circa 1979-1983. COYOTE VS. ACME is also coming, so, the Looney Tunes have been around when it comes to theatrical movies.

Of course, there’s the worry of “cheapening” the character, the image, the brand, etc. I get that… But part of me feels, much like how Nintendo was with Mario, Disney kind of his Mickey Mouse on a leash… I think THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE shows what kind of big money a legacy character can attract in movie form, and not some random DVD movie to throw on for the kids at home… And we see how many droves of people turn out for the live-action/CG remakes of the classic animated movies. Those always make me wonder what would’ve happened if THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER didn’t lose money in 1990/91, and Disney made a few theatrical sequels to their megabits in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s - NOT direct-to-video sequels. Like, how big would an in-house LION KING II have been in theaters circa 1998/99? Or an ALADDIN sequel? Well, that ship had long sailed, so we get the remakes of those movies now… But as far as Disney legacy characters go… Mickey, Donald, and Goofy have yet to star in a feature-length animated movie…

[ophionswill]

I think my absolute favorite kind of game has to be class-based co-op horde shooters. Games where you, preferably in a party of friends, mow down waves of enemies, but specifically where you've picked a particular class, so you have abilities or gadgets that others do not.

A great example of this is Deep Rock Galactic, or DRG, where the gadgets of each class compliment and work with others. For example, the Engineer has a platform gun, which can be placed on cave walls, so that the Scout, with the grappling hook, can get those previously unaccessible resources.

Another example is the Borderlands franchise, though the classes less "work together" and more "have different ways of slaughtering as many enemies as possible." In Borderlands 3, one character has helpful pets that draw attention away from the player, with skills that focus on critical hits, survivability, or upgrading your pet. Meanwhile, another character has a large, tanky mech suit, with skills that focus on high damage output, explosion damage/radius, or becoming a glass cannon.

However, as much as I love these types of games, to a certain degree, you are locked in. You choose the class which you enjoy playing the most, and are locked into that in your party for the extent of either the full story or that particular round/mission, only helping in the ways your class can.

So I have an idea. I want a fantasy, class-based, co-op, PvE game that allows you to have multiple classes.

Let's say you the maximum party size is the four, as is common in these kinds of games. Before you jump in, you each get to pick three specialties or proficiencies out of a long list, perhaps 20-30 or so. Each "class" is simple, having a few small perks, but you're free to build your character however you want. Progression works by playing with that class equipped, and your abilities in that class slowly grow stronger as you play with it and they level up.

Some classes would also naturally compliment one another, but you could mix it up for variety in case you want to do multiple things. For example, you could dedicate yourself fully to support, picking three classes which specialize in 1. party-wide healing, 2. single-target healing, and 3. offensive buffs. OR, you could mix it up, picking 1. single-target healing but also 2. bulkiness (for health and armor) and 3. self-buffing defense, to become a benevolent healing tank.

Parties could customize the skills they want to take in a particular session, working together to make something overpowered with every person playing what they want to play, without being limited by whatever the class' intended limits are, instead deciding for themselves what pros and cons they want to live with. The classes would be locked in, but there would be opportunities to swap them out at regular intervals so you weren't fully stuck. Customize, make the fantasy character of your dreams with all the features you want!

(Side note: this could also apply to a sci-fi setting as well, but I personally like the idea of a fantasy setting more).

[the-red-thread-that-strangles]

Fandom Dive #1: Assassin's Creed

(I was going to call this 'Fandom Report' or 'Fandom Deep Dive' but really, that would be more effort than I am willing to put into things)

A short note to begin with as that could be relevant going forward: turns out Assassin's Creed is a difficult franchise for this sort of thing, as it is a franchise consisting of way too many games - we might look to go for concise series or installments in the future.

With that out of the way, let's do a quick roundup of some stats:

At time of writing, AO3 has 13042 works (although this seems like an older fandom, so one should probably look at platforms like FF.net for a better picture)

AO3 has roughly a four-way split between Gen, Teen, Mature and Explicit, with a slight uptick in T

As usual, the most popular shipping category is M/M, but there's a substantial amount of F/M and Gen as well

For most-tagged characters we've got are Ezio, Altair, Desmond and Connor (which I take to be the protagonists)

The 5 most popular ships appear to be:

Malik/Altair

Enzio/Leonardo Da Vinci

Haytham/Connor

Shaun/Desmond

Jacob Frye/Reader

Following up we've got the most common Crossover franchises:

We've got all the common story tags (Fluff, Angst, H/C, Romance), plus several NSFW tags (nothing weird, but people seem to be diligent about tagging that stuff) as well as a canon (canon for the fandom, as per the Rule of Threes that I only learned about recently) Modern AU tag

Sorting by Kudos, the top fics are either crossovers (which makes sense, more kudos from other fandoms) or rated E (also not surprising)

Filtering by bookmarks gets you mostly the same

I was somehow hoping for more cool heist and assassination fics. Granted, I only read through like the first three pages for every query, but still :(

So, let me do the thing we're actually here for: summarize the story so far:

- Ezio is the first protagonist I think, he fights the Borgia family for an apple (The Apple of Eden?) and gets to suffer quite a bit

- Desmond might be second? He fights for an eye. Used to be a bartender, be friends with a dude named Clay (Subject 16) and in the end he gets the eye in a temple and dies to stop a solar flare? People are unhappy about this. It's possibly the fault of the organisation they were working for before

- Altair I think is some sort of their ancestor but he seems pretty popular, I presume he gets to do stuff too. He apparently has a key moment in his life in a library, but other than the fact he has a friend called Malik I don't really know stuff about him

- There's a dude named Connor whose other name is inpronouncable and intypeable. No idea what he's up to

- There's several people named after Roman gods, and I refuse to believe that's a coincidencd. They are evil, but seem to have gotten along with the protagonists for a while. They have some sort of Isu Influence, or Isu Technology (possibly tying into how time travel works here). They seem connected to Abstergo, possibly the name of the organisation? They also appear connected to a place called 'The Gray'. One of their evil schemes seems to include the solar flare Desmond dies to stop

- There's an Apple, an Eye, and a Prophet - no clue at which point the prophet comes in

- There's Templar knights that seem to oppose the assassins. I presume they want the relics for religious reasons (I vaguely recall seeing a video about how they came to be because time travel pregnancies, and the girl's dad looking for the perpetrator demon, but I could be misremembering)

- Somebody might run a surveillance state in the present?

- Of course the assassins are time-travelling

- (People ship the time travellers - is that incest? I can't quite tell wether they are related or not)

- There's a Bleeding Effect people seem to really love, I'm not sure what that does exactly, but it seems to be some sort of you know what your ancestors know kinda deal. Sometimes you might literally see them. Unclear.

- I have no idea who this Jacob Frye is or why he's so popular for a Y/N ship

I'm not sure if that's good enough, or absolutely wrong? Also looking forward to formatting suggestions. Do let me know @sanguen.

Sincerely

@yami-musume

[dailycharacteroption]

Conversion Corner: Various Gaming Races part 3

Koopa

 When it comes to game plots and lore, few franchises are more allergic to complex overarching narratives and consistent lore than the Mario franchise. From every Mario RPG franchise being sucked dry of creativity after the third game, to entire scrapped plots like how Galaxy 2 was actually supposed to have narrative connection to the first game instead of pretending it never happened, it’s enough to make longtime fans long for something the franchise is missing.

The reason why things are this way is because, as a mascot character, Mario emulate a certain cartoon mouse most of the time by having the personality of a soggy but nevertheless generically goodhearted and heroic cardboard standee, the reason being that it allows such mascot characters to be in pretty much any sort of scenario without any baggage weighing them down. Miyamoto himself has said many times that he thinks of the ensemble of the franchise as stage characters acting out any story they come up with, rather than more narrative-rich characters, to the point where Mario 3 literally had a theater stage aesthetic throughout the whole game. (Leading to certain insufferable game theorists trying to milk a narrative out of that by saying that Mario and company are ACTUALLY actors, but I digress)

The point is, Super Mario simply cannot have a complex narrative as it is now. The lore only matters in the games it shows up in, the map is even more inconsistent than in the Legend of Zelda, and there straight up just isn’t a history to any of the locations in the non-RPG titles.

So why the devil did I decide converting one of the most common recurring enemy types into a playable race would be a good idea?

Simply put, I wanted to simultaneously challenge myself, while also partaking in the Sisyphean task of applying headcanons to this beloved franchise.

In any case, Koopas are humanoid turtles that come in a large variety of subspecies, many of which barely resemble terrapins at all anymore due to their specialized bodies, such as Chargin’ Chucks, Boom Boom and their kin, Lakitus, and the like, as well as the semi-draconic Royal koopa lineage of which Bowser, his son, and the Koopalings belong.

However, today we will be focusing on the standard Koopa Troopa, which have plenty of variety among them, including permanent or magically induced temporary feathered wings, mastery of magic, specialized brotherhoods that master a particular weapon or attack such as the Hammer Bros., and so on.

Physiologically, many koopas have a forward-leaning posture, and some even move about on all fours, particularly in places where footing is treacherous (i.e., the early platformers of the series and the planetoids of the Galaxy series). This says to me that their evolution to become bipedal happened much later than humans and other bipedal species in the same franchise, though still far enough in the distant past as to not matter.

The most iconic physical trait of the species, however, is their armored shells, which not only offer protection, but also have a slick, low-friction exterior which means that when retracted into their shell, they can build up tremendous speed and momentum when sliding, making them deadly weapons, though this can often be used against them when they are in large groups of allies.

Culturally, koopas seem to be both loyal and obedient, but also either having a love of mayhem, a need to raid for resources when living in blasted lands, or perhaps a chip on their shoulders about how they are treated by other species, though of course we have nothing really concrete on that. However, they are not all villains, and indeed many koopas live peaceful lives, including forming communities well within the Mushroom Kingdom, living in harmony with their toad neighbors.

 Koopa Troopa Racial Traits

Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Dex. Koopa Troopas are tough and clever, but can be somewhat clumsy.

Size: Koopa Troopas are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on combat maneuver checks and to their Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.

Type: Koopa Troopas are humanoids of the koopa subtype

Slow Speed: Koopa Troopas have a base speed of 20 feet

Shell: Koopa Troopas have a hard, dense shell that grants them a +2 natural armor bonus to AC. By retracting their limbs as a standard action, this natural armor bonus increases to +4. However, the koopa troopa cannot take any actions in this state other than to end it as a standard action.

Sliding Shell: A Koopa Troopa that is currently inside their shell that is subjected to a melee attack that deals bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage, or otherwise subjects them to physical force, (including being thrown or bull-rushed) may choose to begin sliding away at the end of the round, travelling 30 ft. in the opposite direction of the source of the attack. If they hit a wall or creature before that 30 ft. is expended, the koopa troopa picks a direction and expends the rest of the movement sliding in this new direction. If the koopa troopa hits a creature this way, they make a melee attack against that creature that deals 1d6 points of damage. A creature that is struck repeatedly by the sliding shell may receive multiple attacks against it this way. During their turn, the koopa troopa may end their retracted state to stop sliding as normal, otherwise they continue sliding at the end of the round in either the same direction or in a new direction opposite of the last source of damage that struck them.

Stable Stance: A koopa troopa can shift to all fours or back as a free action once per turn, granting them a +4 to CMD and Reflex saves to avoid being tripped or falling prone. However, they cannot effectively wield or use two-handed objects, or wield two one-handed objects while in this state. For example, if a koopa is equipped with a shield and a one-handed weapon, they could either gain the benefits of the shield, or be able to use the weapon, but not both at once while in this stance.

 If I expanded on this race, I think I’d include some racial feats for improving the power of the sliding shell ability.

[milk-addicc]

I really liked that post you made about how Capcom feels about Narumitsu. And I'm wondering how do you think they feel about Narumayo? Personally to me it feels like they throw more hints at Narumitsu since with the other one if Takami wanted it to be canon he would of done it at the end of T&T. I also think the team could of made it more obvious in SoJ with Maya's big return but I never really saw the hints but I know I'm biased lol.

oh i’m glad you like my rambles haha;;

ahh... that ship, 

well first, about the whole Takumi “wanting narumitsu to be canon” thing, its not exactly making them canon but have more fanservice leaning heavy towards narumitsu (which was declined by the director(?) who claimed, i sorta agree with, that the game did well even without the narumitsu hinting since in the first game they didn’t have that intention and it was pure coincidence that their relationship was just THAT deep and meaningful which is incredible lmao, Takumi and co managed to slip his warning and still put at least some of the hints in TT tho hhh-). so even then, i doubt the crew actually want the endgame to come so soon hh.

okay, back on topic. what i think about naru//mayo? yea, i’m not keen on that ship personally at all, actually i despise it. like, they first met in the office, in front of their dead loved one, Mia. Maya was 17, Phoenix was 24. you have Maya, who’s supposedly still in HIGH SCHOOL and Phoenix, who has GRADUATED COLLEGE, has a JOB, and most likely has PAID HIS OWN BILLS. from that point alone, it should already feel weird. 

Maya’s an adolescence, a teenager, she just lost her sister and barely grew up, in a way she’s still innocent, notice how she tend to ask random questions and or say things that she thinks makes sense or amusing, she tends to be naive too. its kinda like.. a child.

and Phoenix on the other hand, is a grown man. heck even Maya says he’s an “old fart”, they’re legit aware of their own age gap in game and outright say it. if anything, they both act like self-aware best friends/brother-sister than romantically. even Maya said it herself, she wants to be a good big sister for Pearl and Nick.

now how about we ignore this obvious fact just for a little while and try to see it from only their interactions in-franchise. heres the kicker, you may not see it in game since they only lightly nudges about this ship (usually with Pearl, and was dismissed by Maya right after.), but in some of AA spin off mangas (and from what i heard, one of the stage shows), for some reason, this ship has their own hints despite being completely aware that Maya is a teenager.

but its okay now don’t hold your breaths, 

their “hints” are more of a one-off ish thing, most of the time a gag and not taken seriously, and unlike other ship per say narumitsu, where it actually affects their lives and changed it forever IN-GAME. “i care about Maya and understands her” and “i became an attorney because of you, Edgeworth and i don’t have any regrets” are both literally incomparable, especially given Phoenix and Edgeworth’s history together in-game canon.

anyway, here’s some common arguments i’ve encountered about this particular ship :

“but Phoenix cares about Maya a lot! he literally went through a trial against a hitman and run through a burning bridge for her!”

“Phoenix blushed and goes red when Pearl says he’s Maya’s special someone and he stutters!”

“Well my parents had a huge age gap!"

“well, Maya is 18 in AA2″

“considering Maya is a christmas cake now, Nick better tap that” 

“she’s an adult in AA6 tho”

now lets dissect each of these,

yes, Phoenix cares about Maya a lot he literally did cross a burning bridge for her but people seem to forget that this is the same man who turned his life around, abandon his dreams, study law for four years, and became an attorney to meet one man and willing to defend a girl who looks like his psychotic ex that nearly poisoned him in court. he literally would believe in his clients’s innocence no matter what, he’s by nature would sacrifice anything and even his life for someone. so its normal that he cares about Maya, but is it romantic? i doubt it, he cares about her safety and well being but does it have to be a romantic hint? no, of course not, he’s just very selfless for the people he cares about and Maya has no one to help her but Nick when she’s in trouble, he’s one of few adults she can trust and will help her out.

oh so blushing and stuttering due to embarrassment means having feelings now? and about the stuttering, he literally stutters around Edgeworth a lot lol. i’m starting to feel like people ships naru//mayo not because of their depth but because Pearl said so. Pearl finds them should be together and keep shoving the audience with Nick being “Mystic Maya’s special someone”, well if thats the case, they also explained why this happened, in-game. Pearl grew up very sheltered and among unhealthy marriages she just assumes a girl and a boy together means they’re dating and being “special someones”. she most likely just wants her cousin to be in a happy relationship unlike her parents where her father left both her and her mother but didn’t know any better because she was eight years old.

https://youtu.be/FGAqQkMEKNs?start=674&end=776

now about the parent thing and taking it personal, well my parents too had a huge age-gap of 7 years. but how come is it okay? its because they met when my mum was already a career woman at 26. she’s already an adult when my dad met her. what does this mean? it means my parents were both adults when they’re together, this is why i still like GumMaggey despite their age gap so wide, they first met when Maggey has already had a career, supposedly in her 20′s, she’s a young adult, she can buy alcohol by herself, already knows whats right and wrong and has live life independently, not a still hormonal teenager who depends on one adult figure. did your parents date when your mum is in highschool while your dad is like in his mid 20′s? sorry to hear that.

as for the last three arguments, i don’t even want to touch any of them with a five-foot pole. are you listening to yourself? do you not feel like you’re a creep typing that?

let me give you a benefit of the doubt. yes she’s older and legally an adult, but are you really discrediting the fact they met when Maya was still in highschool? they met and became friends when she’s 17 and he’s 24. sure they barely met during disbarment era, but should that change anything? why should it? how should it? like this?

“Oh this is Maya, i haven’t met her in years but boy she sure has grown up can’t wait to date her since she’s legal now.”

because thats what that argument sounds like, YIKES. 

you know? if they met under a different circumstance and Maya was like 19, i’d let it go. but they didn’t, they met because of a horrible loss, Maya, still in training, 17 lost her big sister and Phoenix, a rookie, at 24 lost his mentor. 

in conclusion, i don’t like naru//mayo at all

pairing them feels like pairing Edgeworth with Kay or Phoenix with Ema, just because they partnered in investigations, make playful jabs at each other, and saved each others’s lives before, people just think they like each other romantically despite their age-gap in first meetings (not to mention Kay sees Edgeworth as somewhat of a father figure, and she’s nearly 18 while Edgeworth is the same age as Phoenix). especially with how Maya, being a zoomer, calls Phoenix an “old fart” and just makes jokes about how so out-of-touch Phoenix is with the modern entertainment.

from observations, i have a huge hunch that almost all of them pair these two because :

1. Maya’s a girl protagonist so its a male protagonist x female protagonist type of deal and despise narumitsu because “yaoi”

2. AA6 she’s an adult so she’s legal which is damn creepy on its own, or last

3. because of Pearl shipping them in game despite being an eight year old and was so sheltered she thought a man and a woman being next to each other means they’re special someones.

either way, i only see them as best friends, sibling-like relationship with self awareness here and there since they tease the audience a lot with their gag “hints” in spin-off mangas and game. 

not only that, it kinda showcase how all male/female bond don’t have to be romantic, they can be just friends or familial and still hang together. another plus for the franchise right after encouraging moving on from ex partners. *glancing at Phoenix//Iris*

and as to the people who pairs this for some odd reasons, sometimes i just want to ask these questions,

“how would you feel if you’re in Phoenix’s shoes? met your mentor’s little sister at age 17 while you’re 24, would you feel romantically interested in this high schooler?” because i don’t, to me anyone 3 years younger than me is like a baby, how would Phoenix feel when Maya’s 7 years younger?

“also... why even? narumitsu and other less questionable pairings are RIGHT THERE in the open!”

but oh well people can like and pair whatever hhh, 

and there you have it, my even longer rambling hahaha sorry;;

Edit : To add the final nail to the coffin, Phoenix outright has said that Maya’s like his kid, like a niece.

Edit 2 : remember that this is simply my personal take, you can somewhat use this to make yourself feel better about your pair nor simply just to hate on the ship itself but do not use this to dictate actual people what to ship and not to ship. 

please don’t be destructive towards others.

[kchasm]

Counting the miscellaneous Links as discrete characters when warranted, and keeping to canon Zelda games (i.e. the games that take place in the canon Zelda timeline, so no Hyrule Warriors), you can finagle a Ryu Number for most Links (though some connections are iffier than others).

Ghirahim appears as an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (unsurprisingly, this will be the game in common with all the routes). As he was only a baddie in Skyward Sword and in no other canon Zelda game, that takes care of Skyward Sword Link.

The Toon Link of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate uses the Wind Waker in one of his victory screens, confirming that he's Wind Waker Link. (Note that this is also the Link from Phantom Hourglass.)

Surprisingly, you can go directly from him to Four Swords Adventures—the Japanese version of Four Swords Adventures includes a "Navi Trackers" minigame that features Wind Waker characters. That takes care of Four Swords Adventures Link.

The main villain of Four Swords Adventures is Vaati (Gufū in Japan)...

And here we become iffy. Vaati is a villain in three games: Minish Cap, Four Swords, and Four Swords Adventures (yes, Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures are two different games). The chronology goes something like this: Vaati is first cut down at the end of Minish Cap. Later, between games, he shows up alive (somehow) and causes a ruckus, after which he is defeated and sealed within the titular Four Sword of Four Swords. At the end of Four Swords he's once again sealed away in the Four Sword, until Four Swords Adventures, where he once again escapes from the Four Sword. In short, the Vaati of Four Swords is the same Vaati as the one in Four Swords Adventures (which takes care of Four Swords Link).

But: Is he also the same Vaati of Minish Cap? (This is a franchise in which reincarnation runs rampant, so the question is cromulent.) Language in Hyrule Historia implies so ("Vaati, presumed dead, suddenly reappeared ..." "Vaati, who has no memory of his life as a Picori ..."), but it's difficult to be one hundred percent certain. Nevertheless, if you do consider the Vaati of Minish Cap and Vaati of Four Swords/Four Swords Adventures one and the same, then this provides a route to Minish Cap Link.

Young Link's use of the Deku Shield in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate marks him as Ocarina of Time Link (and of course the Link from Majora's Mask).

The Ganondorf of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate also seems to be the one from Ocarina of Time, which is important because of what happens to Ganondorf/Ganon in the "Decline Timeline." A lot of stuff happens, but a basic summary is this: The Ganondorf of Ocarina of Time actually defeats Link, and uses the power of the completed Triforce to transform into the more porcine-looking Ganon. Before he can thoroughly ruin everything for everyone, however, Zelda and the seven sages seal Ganon away in the Sacred Realm—which, under the influence of Ganon's evil, becomes the Dark World. Between games, Ganon is unsealed by consequence of various folks taking one-way trips into the Sacred Realm/Dark World to get their own hands on the Triforce, but after a battle Ganon is once again sealed up. This leads to the events of Link to the Past: Agahnim is an offshoot of Ganon sent from the Dark World to do all sorts of not-so-great stuff, and of course Link to the Past Link eventually defeats this Ganon, recovering the Triforce and cleansing the Sacred Realm. (Note that this is the same Link as in Link's Awakening).

Some time after these events, the twin witches known of Twinrova sought to perform a ceremony to resurrect Ganon—"resurrect," specifically, meaning that this Ganon must be the same Ganon. This covers the events of Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. Depending on which game you play first, you can have Ganon appear in either, which takes care of Oracle Link.

Link Between Worlds seems to follow a similar resurrection plot, though things are starting to get iffy here. If this connection is acceptable, though, that takes care of Link Between Worlds Link

The next game in this timeline is The Legend of Zelda (the original), and here things once again become iffy. While previous games in this timeline at were kind enough to make Ganon's resurrection explicit, in this one Ganon is just sort of already there. Hyrule Historia provides minimal clarity to the issue, stating only that Ganon "is thought to have been resurrected after many years" and that he "no longer [bears] any trace of the man known as the Great Thief," which is a lot of careful language that leaves me leery on definitely calling this Ganon the "same" Ganon as the Ganon of previous games (as opposed to a reincarnation, etc.). If you can still stomach considering this the same Ganon—and that may not be an if you're comfortable with—then this nets you Legend of Zelda Link (who is of course the same Link as in Adventure of Link).

Finally, in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Midna appears as an assist trophy, which gets you to Twilight Princess and Twilight Princess Link, the titular Spirit Train of the Spirit Train stage is being driven by Spirit Tracks Link, and Link's Remote Bombs clearly mark him as Breath of the Wild Link. Whew!

(EDIT: I have been informed that the incarnation of Link that appears in Super Smash Bros. 4 is Twilight Princess Link, so you can use that shorter route instead.)

... That just leaves Tri Force Heroes Link, and I'll be straight with you: I have no idea how to get to that guy.

Do all Links count as the same character for Ryu number purposes? If you don't count all Links as the same character, which Link has the highest Ryu number?

I try not to, but there is overlap largely determined by how "minimal" the visual differences are. I'm not inclined to assert, for example, that Link's Crossbow Training Link as the same as Spirit Tracks Link, but I have done that with Faces of Evil Link and P2 Smash Ultimate Link, so you can try to extrapolate from there.

I've little interest in actually enumerating all the Links and determining which would have the highest Ryu Number, mostly because I prefer to limit the number of marginal calls I have to make, but I will speculate that if you're being really stingy, Cadence of Hyrule's Link has a Ryu Number of 3 through Cadence's cameo in Toto Temple Deluxe, and that might be as high as it gets, since most of Link's crossovers are among characters that have been around the block, so to speak. (EDIT: Or maybe not, see this response courtesy of @skapokon).

[thenightling]

I love Gaslight fantasy

I love Gaslight fantasy.  Gaslight fantasy is also known as Gaslamp fantasy.  And before I go any further, no I am not “Confusing” the terms.   Gaslighting as a term comes from a 1940s film called “Gaslight” where a man tricks a woman into doubting her perceptions of reality.   The concept of “gaslighting” as a verb to mean this didn’t exist until that film.   The title of the film was named for the object, “gaslights” which were common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

This has nothing to do with “gaslighting.”   I should not have had to explain this but... Tumblr...  

There is a new genre of fantasy / Gothic horror fiction called Gaslight fantasy.   This genre can be compared to High Fantasy, Gothic Horror, and Steampunk in many aspects and yet it is wholly it’s own entity.   

Gaslight Fantasy is a genre where a fantasy world resembles our world’s Victorian era but the supernatural such as monsters and magick are known to be real.  It bears a lot of elements of Gothic Horror and many examples of Gaslight Fantasy also fit the genre of Gothic Horror but unlike the term “Gothic Fantasy” which feels like an attempt to circumvent acknowledging that Gothic Horror is a form of Horror, Gaslight Fantasy can exist in tandem with Gothic Horror as descriptors for the same property.  As a result it is a new sub-genre I welcome as opposed to “Gothic Fantasy” which feels like a term invented by those embarrassed of liking horror.  

Example: Barnes and Noble slapping “Gothic Fantasy” across the cover of their leather bound versions of The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft, as well as Dracula, and Frankenstein.  Those are all Gothic Horror and the use of “Gothic Fantasy” feels like a term for those ashamed of the horror aspect or don’t realize horror can be more than just gore and jump scares. 

Further note: Frankenstein is often considered the first science fiction novel but Victor found the secret of life while reading the works of Agrippa and Paracelsus, a self-proclaimed alchemist and sorcerer.  Also Victor was studying metaphysics, not biology.  The Frankenstein monster is often considered (in fantasy-loving circles) to be a “Flesh golem with a soul.”  Psuedo-intellectualists seem to chafe at the idea that Frankenstein is a horror story and prefer to call it science fiction because there is still this incorrect ant antiquated notion that horror is low brow and cannot contain romanticism or emotional, spiritual, and moral explorations. 

Even The Shape of Water, which can easily be mistaken as a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon and Revenge of The Creature (But with a happy ending for The Creature) is often called “Supernatural romance” instead of Horror even though there are scary moments, atmosphere, violence, death, supernatural elements, and other things usually associated with the horror genre. 

The same thing happened with Silence of the Lambs, which was branded “Thriller” when it got its Oscar nomination.   It seems the Oscar nomination might be why The Shape of Water isn’t classified as horror either.

Director Guillermo del Toro (though a clear lover of Gothic Horror) seems reluctant to classify his own films as Gothic Horror even though Crimson Peak is clearly paying homage to Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath and Hammer Horror films.       

It’s the cultural resentment of Gothic Horror that makes me dislike the term “Gothic Fantasy” but I am willing to embrace the new idea of Gaslight Fantasy that can exist within Gothic Horror or side by side with it, in the same story. 

Though it’s still a relatively new genre I do love the refreshingly new concept of Gaslight Fantasy as a reimagined Victorian era that isn’t just full of zeppelins, steam engines and gears (like the typical superficial Steampunk tropes) but also supernatural creatures and or magick being common place.   Not to mention so many fantasy stories are set in a pseudo-Middle ages Europe-esque land like in Game of Thrones and The Witcher, that it’s clever and different that the fantasy world doesn’t look like the late dark ages but instead the late nineteenth century, just to give it a different aesthetic and atmosphere while retaining a sense of wonder and historical nostalgia, though blatantly and deliberately inaccurate.    

  Examples of Gaslight Fantasy include: Amazon Prime’s Carnival Row - Set in a nineteenth century style city where humans, faeries, werewolves, Franeknstein-style monsters, trolls, fauns, and centaurs co-exist.   This is probably the first true, mainstream, gaslight fantasy and the best example of the genre.  It deals with Jack the Ripper style murders in a slum inhabited by magical creatures.  It’s a lot like Penny Dreadful but Penny Dreadful pretends to be set in our world where most people do not know the supernatural exists whereas Carnival Row is not quite our world and people know about most of the supernatural creatures who reside there.  

Dolls of New Albion - Dolls of New Albion is described as a steampunk musical, is set in a world where human souls can be summoned from Elysium (Greek Heaven) and inserted into semi-mechanical dolls.  The fact that the afterlife is treated as a common knowledge fact in a world that just resembles ours in the Victorian era, and human souls can be inserted into doll-like bodies indicates to me that this actually drifts into Gaslight fantasy.     

The movie Van Helsing- Though this film is what I would call Goth Action (Gothic Horror merged with action) the film Van Helsing is very much what I would consider Gaslight fantasy. Set in what looks like our world’s Victorian era and even using real-world place names there are distinct differences, such as The Vatican behaving as a secret monster hunting organization instead of just the Capital of the Catholic Church.  Similar can be said about the setting of Castlevania that is distinctly another world even though it resembles ours and has our European place names though that one is set in the fifteenth century.

Howl’s moving Castle - Though bearing Steampunk elements, the common knowledge of magick, in a setting that is not quite our world, and reminiscent of the Victorian era of our world, or even the Edwardian era, makes Howl’s Moving Castle very much a Gaslight fantasy.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Though easily considered Steampunk or Gothic Horror, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen bears some fantasy elements mixed with the horror and the resemblance to our world is dubious at best. 

Stardust - The film and novel by Neil Gaiman deal with a wall that separates the human world from the realm of Faerie and a young man’s journey where he meets a fallen star in humanoid form, and his own long lost mother.  In this world the barrier between the human world and the realm of magick is a known and tangible fact.

Discworld - The Discworld books by Terry Pratchett are set in a fantasy world known as.. the Disworld, supported by four elephants riding on the back of a giant turtle, the Discworld pays homage to and parodies fantasy tropes in a pseudo-Victorian / Edwardian setting.  The setting includes witches, wizards, Death incarnate, ghosts, golems, faeries, and so on.

His Dark Materials - His Dark Materials (i.e. The Golden Compass) is set in a fantasy version of the Edwardian and provides a stark commentary about religion and society.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - A very odd British mini-series and novel about two competing men who work with magick in what looks like late eighteenth century or early nineteenth century England but it’s really its own fantasy setting.  The subplot deals with a dark faery known as The Gentleman and his schemes.

A study in Emerald - Another one by Neil Gaiman, this is an alternate universe version of Sherlock Holmes’ story A Study in Scarlet, but a version of late Victorian England where Lovecraftian Old Ones have taken over and nothing is quite what it seems.  Anno Dracula - Anno Dracula is an alternate universe version of Victorian England set after the events of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker but if Dracula had won and married Queen Victoria.

Beauty and the Beast - The 1740 novel by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Though nearly a century before the Victorian era this does fit much of the criteria of the Gaslight Fantasy.  There’s political intrigue with faeries, and unlike the Disney film, the novel is not set in France. It’s a fictional land that just resembles eighteenth century France.  And there are other fictional kingdoms such as “The Summer Isle.”  

Pinocchio -  The original novel by Carlo Collodi was set in a surreal, fictionalized version of early 1880s Europe and featured anthropomorphic animals, faeries, self-aware tree bark, and heavy handed human to animal transformations to represent the metaphor of becoming a jackass.   

Ravenloft - The Gothic Horror portion of Dungeons and dragons.  Where Dungeons and dragons already featured elves, dwarves, and wizards Ravenloft contains vampires, Flesh Golems (Frankenstein-style monsters) and werewolves.

Castlevania - Not so much the Netflix Castlevania series... yet but parts of the Castlevania video games franchise count as Gaslight fantasy.  Castlevania begins in a fantastical version of fifteenth century Wallachia (Romania) where vampires, demons and various other monsters are known to be real.   Later installments in the game are set in that world’s version of the nineteenth century.  Though place names match our own it is very clearly not our world as teleporting castles, vampire warlords, and entire towns being wiped out by vampire armies never made it into our own history books.   There are also some steampunk-esque historical inaccuracies in technology and science.  Castlevania is most assuredly a horror themed franchise but it also fits the criteria of Gaslight fantasy.

[mst3kproject]

Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks

This movie has a real all-star cast as far as us MSTies are concerned.  There’s Rossano Brazzi, who was Phineas Prune in The Christmas that Almost Wasn’t; Edmund Purdom, whom we know as Griba from Ator, the Fighting Eagle; and Salvatore Baccaro, the leader of the cavemen in Starcrash.  The film itself is absolute, irredeemable trash and I love it like my own garbage child.

We begin out of nowhere with a bunch of peasants beating a caveman to death.  What?  Where are we?  When are we?  Who are these people?  Why is one of them a cavemen wearing a fur loincloth and the rest are just normal people in pants?  Why are they beating him?  Did he do something that pissed them off, or do they just hate him because they’re, like, anti-Neanderthal racists?  What the fuck is going on?  We will never really find out.  We just cut straight to Dr. Frankenstein hauling the troglocorpse into his lab.

That’s how this movie rolls.  Don’t bother asking questions, just try to keep up.

Count Frankenstein’s daughter Maria has returned to her childhood home, bringing along her fiancé Eric and her friend Krista, who has an unhealthy relationship with polka-dots.  Krista is immediately fascinated by the Count and his work, and he with her in turn.  It doesn’t take long for Krista to find out that Frankenstein is carrying on reanimation experiments in his basement, but that’s actually the least of the bullshit going on around here.  There are more cavemen out there, but there’re also rivalries and love triangles among the inevitable gaggle of deformed assistants, and the local villagers are angry about a spate of grave robbing and determined to run the Frankensteins out of town.  The ‘monster’ (I’m not sure it quite counts) is kind of an afterthought.

See, Hans the Butler hates Genz the Dwarf (even though it’s actually Kregan the hunchback who is fucking Hans’ wife) so he gets him fired, and Genz swears revenge on the whole Frankenstein household. Wandering in the woods, Genz meets and befriends a second caveman, naming him ‘Ook’ and teaching him how to rape women in the hopes that he will do violence to Maria Frankenstein.  Ook, however, kidnaps Krista instead.  At about the same time, Genz sneaks back into Castle Frankenstein to free the first caveman, Goliath, whom the Count has been keeping strapped to a table after bringing him back to life, and who has also fallen in love with Krista as the latter assists the Count with his work.  Goliath goes on a murderous rampage, then follows Genz back to the cave where Ook is keeping Krista.  Sure enough, this leads to a caveman-vs-caveman battle for the girl!

Man, I would love to see earlier drafts of this script, mostly because I’m dying to know whether some prior incarnation of it actually had anything to do with Mary Shelley’s book or even with previous Frankenstein movies.  I mean, it starts with the servants digging up a corpse, and ends with a torch-and-pitchfork mob destroying the Count’s creation… the beginning and end of a Frankenstein movie are present.  In between those, however, it wanders off on this bizarre tangent about the local cryptids. As it reached the screen, the only thing Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks seems to have in common with its source material is the threat to the Count’s girlfriend, which was issued by the Creature in the original story.  Technically, even the grave robbing and re-animating have nothing to do with Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus – the book never actually says how the Creature’s body was created. The idea of piecing it together from corpses originates with the Boris Karloff movie.

Let me describe some more of the stuff that goes on here, in order to give you the flavour of the experience.  For starters, Salvatore Baccaro, playing Ook the caveman, is credited as ‘Boris Lugosi’ in the opening credits.  The first time I saw this movie I snorted water up my nose when that popped on screen.

Later in the movie there’s a flashback to that first peasants-vs-caveman scene, and it answers none of the questions I listed above. Why are there cavemen in these woods? I dunno, there just are.  What did the cavemen do to piss off the locals?  I don’t know that, either… they may have been stealing livestock, I guess, but they don’t seem to have been a threat to the people until Genz taught them about rape.  Kind of makes one wonder what happened to the cavewomen, since we never meet one and these guys don’t seem to know what women are, as illustrated by Ook initially thinking their nubile young captive is going to be dinner. Also, although there are two cavemen, they don’t know each other.  Genz has to introduce them!

There’s a bit where Genz is hiding behind a clock to watch Maria and Eric have sex.  The butler comes along and chews him out for it, sends him to his room, and then he stands there and watches them for a while.

In another scene, Maria and Krista go skinny-dipping in a mineral spring, and the longer it goes on the more the dialogue sounds like it’s going to break into lesbian porn.  I am particularly fond of the exchange where Maria says, “don’t worry, this dress is designed to be easy to get out of,” and Krista, impressed, replies, “I’ll say it is!”

The subplot in which the butler’s wife is having an affair with the hunchback has no effect on the plot whatsoever.  The butler never even finds out about it.  There’s a scene in which they run off to the barn to slap each other and smooch, and then the movie forgets about it.  Astonishingly, the same is true of the corpse the servants dig up early on.  They exhume the body of a recently dead woman, Genz cops a feel and leaves some footprints at the scene so that the villagers can figure out who was responsible, and… that’s it.  She doesn’t even hang around as a gratuitous zombie like the grave-robbed girl in The Atomic Brain.

According to Wikipedia, nobody will admit to directing this movie.  Like many Italian films, the director used a pseudonym, and the cast apparently disagree on even such basics as his nationality.  Some of them think he was Spanish, but Simonetta Vitelli, who played Maria Frankenstein, insists he was an American.

At the end of the movie, Ook is the first of the cavemen to be killed, and we get to see Genz weeping over his friend’s dead body.  Then he and Krista hold each other as the mob closes in on Goliath.  This is supposed to be a tender moment but it looks a lot like Genz (who is, you must remember, around four feet tall) is enjoying his faceful of boobs.  Since all alternative love interests for Krista are now dead, maybe we’re supposed to think she ended up marrying Genz.

Finally, as Goliath’s body burns, Edmund Perdom intones, “there’s a bit of the monster in all of us, especially where there’s fear.”  I’ll drink to that, my dude.  ‘Twas beauty killed the beast.  He tampered in God’s domain.

That probably is supposed to be the movie’s point. The villagers are depicted as suspicious, fearful, and quick to violence, while the cavemen seem to have been relatively peaceful types until Genz taught them how to rape.  It’s very much the Homo sapiens who are the monsters there. Frankenstein’s servants are all assorted shades of horrible, from Genz the necrophile to the nasty cackling butler to the adulterous hunchback and cook.  Count Frankenstein himself isn’t quite so overtly evil but it’s clear that he’s not very interested in the moral dimension of his work.

Even if that’s an intentional theme rather than just a pithy closing line, I don’t think anybody thought about it very hard. The rest of Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks is too much of a mess.  There’s no real plot, no identifiable protagonist, it’s sleazy and incoherent and at times it’s horrifyingly abelist… and yet, for reasons I cannot explain, it’s weirdly entertaining.

Maybe it’s just that everything in the film is so damn ridiculous.  So much of what happens comes out of nothing and goes right back into it… a series of mind-boggling what the fuck moments that surprise the viewer over and over.  The impression is that the writers are throwing horror concepts at the screen to see what sticks, but nothing does.

Maybe it’s that this is another villain-centric piece.  You know I like those.  I guess maybe Krista is the heroine?  She seems to do the fewest horrible things over the course of the story, but she’s not a good person, either.  She’s totally into the Count’s creepy reanimation experiments, and makes only a token protest about the idea of informed consent.  Edmund Perdom’s Inspector character is one you’d expect to try and do something about these goings on, but he never does.  Maria and Eric are only in the movie so it can have a sex scene.

Whatever the reason, the result is inexplicably charming. Between the easily distracted plot, the gratuitous breasts, the bad dubbing, the complete failure to either frighten or titillate, and the fact that it tries to tie itself to a lucrative franchise it really has nothing to do with, Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks is almost the perfect example of a bad Italian horror flick from the 70’s.

[mrjoelgarcia9]

Let’s (Briefly) Talk #StarTrekLowerDecks

Despite the show’s unusual tone, it is a surprisingly good addition to the Star Trek franchise.

For my brief thoughts on Paramount+’s Star Trek: Lower Decks, feel free to keep reading. There will be (light) spoilers.

Lower Decks takes place on the USS Cerritos, but instead of centering around the main crew focuses on four ensigns who follow their orders. They are Beckett Mariner, Bradward Boimler, D’Vana Tendi, and Sam Rutherford. In addition, one of the show’s major conflicts involve Mariner and her mother who also happens to be the ship’s captain Carol Freeman.

The show’s title originates from a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode of the same name. It expanded upon the Enterprise’s lower ranked officers who would normally be portrayed as expendable redshirts, something which has been prevalent throughout the franchise.

Lower Decks stands out from the franchise’s other shows. Instead of focusing on either the senior officers or someone connected to the bridge crew, it centers around the ensigns who work below them. 

The show’s main character, Beckett, might be considered by some as yet another Michael Burnham (from sister show Discovery). Both rebel against authority and tend to find a way to survive despite risking their lives. That is where the similarities end. Whereas Burnham does it for a wide range of factors, Beckett mostly does it to piss off her mom.

With that noted, longtime Trek fans may be turned off by the show’s comedic tone. While the show is still about going around the galaxy and interacting with a wide range of aliens, the characters are far more raunchier than usual. They also occasionally swear, which is intentionally censored for comedic effect.

Some might see the show as the Star Trek version of Rick and Morty, which is understandable due to the involvement of Mike McMahan. He previously worked on Rick & Morty, winning an Emmy for his work on the famous “Pickle Rick” episode, and also created Hulu’s Solar Opposites.

Where they differ are in references. In those two shows, the characters regularly bring up pop culture, such as Rick ordering his coat to “rip off Doctor Strange”. Lower Decks similarly refers to the franchise’s past, either to mock it, as a callback, or both. Most of the references work, such as an image of Kirk and Spock lifted directly from The Animated Series. Others feel a bit forced, like a character referring to the events of the original Star Trek series as TOS.

Continuity-wise, the show is set between Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek: Picard. It is mostly not brought up until the finale, when a couple of certain characters from both productions make an appearance. 

It also continues a controversial trend from Discovery, where officers from different ships wear different uniforms. While the grey uniforms from the Next Generation films make an appearance, the Cerritos crew primarily wear a slightly altered version of said TV show’s uniforms. 

This might have been done intentionally to give this show its own distinct look, since almost every other show has featured a different version of the uniforms. With three exceptions.

Due to airing alongside most of the Next Generation films, Deep Space Nine went from wearing a mixture of that show’s uniforms and a flipped variation (also seen in Generations) to the aforementioned grey. Voyager, on the other hand, solely used the variation due to its premise. The Animated Series wore the original show’s uniforms as it was a direct continuation.

The show’s animation is bright, colorful, and fluid. Like the aforementioned 70s series, it has the freedom to feature nonhumanoid characters such as Chief Medical Officer T’Ana and Ensign D’Vana. The former is a Caitian (a literal talking cat alien only previously seen in said 70s show), while the latter is an Orion (a green-skinned alien from the original series). Either would be too cost-prohibited to appear in live action but not in animation. Hopefully, the show’s second season will feature more nonhumanoid characters.

Despite all of this, the show does have a few flaws.

The characters might be seen by some to be too obnoxious. 

While the other shows have had eccentric characters, such as Wesley, Neelix, and Quark, they tended to limit it to only one character per show. In Lower Decks, however, everyone is obnoxious in some form or another. They range from being militaristic with their duty to goofing off while at work. It helps the show stand out, but some might see it as the franchise dumbing itself down to the lowest common denominator.

Unlike the majestic theme songs of Discovery and Picard, this show’s theme is incredibly awful. At first it tries to resemble that of Next Generation, only to abruptly sound like a mashup of it, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, almost as if someone played all the themes simultaneously. By contrast, the intro’s visuals quickly set the tone by showing the Cerritos screwing things up and running away from bigger problems.

Star Trek: Lower Decks may not be as dramatic as the original Star Trek or Next Generation, or as gritty as Discovery or Picard, but it does fill in a comedic niche the franchise has frankly lacked. It stands out with its unique perspective, obnoxious but likable characters, and bright and colorful animation.

If you like animated science fiction, or want to watch as much of Star Trek as possible, this show is worth checking out at least once.

Star Trek: Lower Decks can be streamed, depending on your region, exclusively on Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access), Prime Video, or Crave. The show’s second season will premiere later this year.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

[letterboxd]

Third Language.

With her debut film Farewell Amor out now following a successful journey on the festival circuit, Tanzanian-American writer and director Ekwa Msangi tells Selome Hailu about the third language of music, growing up on knockoffs of the Rambo franchise, and her favorite African filmmakers.

There’s a subtle musicality central to the way Ekwa Msangi carries herself. She finds melodies in her words: “You hum the ‘m’,” she says when asked how to pronounce her last name. “Mmm-sangi.” And perhaps to a more subconscious degree, she speaks with rhythm, too: “I do think, and I know, and I can see…” she trails off, ruminating on how much hope she feels for the future of Black filmmaking. Naturally, this musical quality meanders into her work.

Farewell Amor is a quiet film, except for when it isn’t. Three Angolan immigrants revolve around each other in an awkward orbit, each trying to make sense of their dynamic now that they’ve left their home behind. Kept apart for seventeen years by the bureaucratic intricacies of war and paperwork, Walter (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) is finally joined by his wife Esther (Zainab Jah) and daughter Sylvia (Jayme Lawson—soon to be seen as Bella Reál in The Batman) in New York City. But they don’t know each other anymore and spend much of their time in silence, until music and dance burst forward as a chance at common ground.

Msangi’s screenplay never dwells on the technicalities of the family’s struggle against the American immigration system. Instead, it plunges into softer, more personal after-effects of dreams deferred. Walter’s walls bear a faded calendar with Barack Obama’s face on it, even though his empty apartment complicates the “hope” the president promised people like him. When his family arrives at long last, Esther wears a silver cross pendant, having made sense of these years as a married-yet-single mother by drawing closer—almost too close—to religion. Sylvia barely speaks at all, caught between a faith that isn’t hers and a home that isn’t either.

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine and Nana Mensah in ‘Farewell Amor’. / Photo courtesy IFC Films

The film’s triptych structure emerged after Msangi spent months grappling with how to create a feature-length screenplay out of her original short film. “Having just come off of the short, I was focusing on Walter’s story. But [I] didn’t think that was the most original story I could tell,” she says. “And then, out of indecision between whether I should make it Walter’s or Sylvia’s story, I decided to just do both. Initially it was two perspectives that I was looking at. But I realized that Esther’s story was really the linchpin for both of their stories, and it wouldn’t make sense not to have hers.”

Giving Walter, Esther and Sylvia their own chapters makes Farewell Amor a stronger film than if it had followed a singular, traditional protagonist. Extreme conservatism in one chapter is revealed as a desire to avoid pain in another; one character’s cramped living room is another’s space to dance freely. Writing on Letterboxd, Tabby points out how the three-part narrative structure grants meaningful subjectivity to characters who deserve it: “It’s so easy for Westernized perspectives to steamroll over films that deal in cultural disparities and thematics, but Farewell Amor takes important steps in showing all sides of the story,” she writes. “It was refreshing to see [the characters] each given the space to exist.”

This layering of voices happens in the camerawork, too. Each section of the narrative is marked with a visual language of its own, complete with specific color palettes and cinematographic techniques. Msangi thinks fondly about the work she put in with cinematographer Bruce Francis Cole to make the chapters distinct. “For Walter’s, it’s sort of a slow cinema, where there’s a lot of still framing. It’s almost like he’s stuck, you know? Stuck in the frame between two surfaces, two hard surfaces, a window frame, a door frame. And in Sylvia’s, we wanted to have it reflect her livelihood, her restlessness. All handheld cameras, all movement. And then for Esther, she’s very observant. She’s been taking everything in, almost in an investigative style, but also a little bit romantic. She’s romanticized this setup, so a lot of close shots, a lot of soft lighting.”

Jayme Lawson as Sylvia in ‘Farewell Amor’. / Photo courtesy IFC Films

Music gives Farewell Amor a cohesion across the different storylines. “Music is, for these characters in particular, and for me, kind of a third language,” Msangi says. “It gives you a glimpse under the covers, what’s under the sheets.” The soundtrack underscores strong performances from Mwine, Jah and Lawson, lending depth to their quietude and vibrance to their movement. Msangi also notes how sound became a cornerstone of her collaboration with the actors: “As I was writing from different perspectives, in order to help me get into each character’s skin, I would listen to the music that they would be interested in.” She later shared these playlists with the actors, using the songs to communicate what words couldn’t.

Msangi has a good laugh as she tries to think about the major films that inspired her to become a filmmaker. “You know, I don’t have that. Well, I do have that, but not for the reasons that most of my film peers have,” she says. Growing up in East Africa in the ’80s and ’90s, little to none of the programming on television was local. What did kids watch instead? “We watched Rambo for probably ten years straight, and then Rambo knockoffs for another ten years after that. I decided to become a filmmaker because of horrible Rambo knockoff films.”

“I grew up surrounded by such colorful and delightful and interesting and funny people,” Msangi says. “And none of that was reflected anywhere in the media.” As she grew older, she sought out African films she couldn’t access in her youth. Now, they’re some of her highest recommendations. Ousmane Sembène is the first African director whose filmography she ever got the chance to dive into. Sembène’s 50-year career has garnered him the affectionate title of ‘Father of African film’ among many critics and scholars, who laud him for his dramas, including Black Girl and Camp de Thiaroye. Msangi, however, finds herself taken with his unique sense of humor. She has also been inspired by Safi Faye, another Senegalese director, who became the first sub-Saharan African woman to attain commercial distribution in 1975—and whose film Mossane portrays sexual intimacy with an openness Msangi hadn’t seen elsewhere.

Writer-director Ekwa Msangi. / Photo courtesy IFC Films

In Farewell Amor, Sylvia’s chapter reads like a compacted coming-of-age film. Msangi points to South African director Darrell James Roodt’s Sarafina! as an influence in that regard. “It was showing for two weeks in Nairobi, and I lined up for four hours to watch,” she says about the film, a drama about youth involvement in the 1976 Soweto uprising. “Even though it’s from a different part of the continent, I’d never seen young African teenagers on a screen before.” More recently, she has loved 2011 TIFF breakout and Oscar contender Death for Sale by Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, and Radha Blank’s The Forty-Year-Old Version is her favorite film of 2020. She’s hopeful about the future of Black American cinema: Ava DuVernay and Ryan Coogler are two of her favorite working directors.

Msangi’s selections are wide in range, but there’s still one thing holding them together: themes of vulnerability, community and celebration of identity, across different decades and genres. In fact, her approach to watching movies isn’t far off from the way she made her own—Farewell Amor maps concurrent experiences of disparate people, and Msangi’s tastes seem driven by the same balance of vastness and specificity.

“I’m a filmmaker who really abhors working on the same kind of story over and over again, the same genre, the same kinds of characters,” she says. “So I’m not going to make my career just telling stories about immigrants or about, you know, their wretched troubles,” she laughs. “I don’t want to do that.”

Msangi’s next project will be an African-American period piece; beyond that, she hopes to make films in several locations: the Caribbean, Europe and all over the African continent. “I really would like to just have a lot of fun with my career. You know? Because it’s a fun and magical industry that we work in! The work that we do in creating these stories and hopes and dreams—we create magic, so it should be fun.”

Related content

Adam Davie’s Black Life on Film list

Shachar’s 20 Films by Black Directors 2021 Challenge

Screenpaige’s list of Black Women in Film

Follow Selome on Letterboxd

‘Farewell Amor’ is out now in select theaters and on demand through IFC.