#Quintus Arce

[celadons-penultimate]

Open-hair superhero cowl appreciation post!

-Cyclops / Scott Summers

-Phoenix / Marvel Girl / Jean Grey

-Gambit / Remy LeBeau

-Havok / Alex Summers

-Angel / Archangel / Warren Worthington III

-Captain America / Falcon / Sam Wilson

-The Flash / Kid Flash / Wally West

-Kid Flash / Ace West / Wallace West

-Booster Gold / Michael Carter

-Animal Man / Buddy Baker

-Bloodwynd / Quintus Arce

-Bloodwynd / Raphael Arce

[silversoulwithlove]

Bloodwynd redesign

[transingthoseformers]

So got the guidebook and have been reading through it, here's some stuff I've noticed that no one else seems to have talked about:

Schloder has a taser built to take on Transformers

Shockwave's alt mode is a Cybertronian tank, making him probably the only known Transformer with an original Cybertronian alt mode

Dr. Meridian used to work in Philadelphia before he was sent to San Fransisco

Tarantulas is over 4 million years old. He doesn't seem to have joined the Decepticons out of agreeing with their fight, and also seems to resent his fellow Decepticons because they "failed to appreciate his inventions." He's also pretty inventive, as he's making inventions using junk and Cybertronian technology.

So colony worlds are apparently canon in Earthspark, as it's discussed that spacebridges were used to connect colony worlds across the universe, in order to find more energon. But from what the text seems to indicate, this was far into the past, as it's something Ancient Cybertronians did.

The last thing actually makes me wonder if we're getting colony worlds in a future season of ES, as "Ancient Cybertronian" might reference the 13 Primes, which also might mean the 13 Primes made those colonies, like it was in IDW.

OOO THATD BE COOL!

Because I too think we're going to get that, and I very super hope we get Caminus, Windblade, and Cityspeaking! How fucking cool would it be if one of the kids could Cityspeak

Makes sense that Shockwave is a Cybertronian tank, considering he out of everyone is often a Cybertronian tank?

A lot of this makes sense, and Tarantulas's part is what I've been running with too (though I feel like his past within the decepticons is. Interesting, given what Bumblebee had to say about him.)

[katzske]

Watched “season 3” of TFE. If you’ve read my little reviews you already know that I’m a huge fan of the series, and that I think it’s on par with classics like tfp and Tfa.

Once again, the animations is great, especially as they reach the climax they integrate those really amazing cinematography.

Starscream fans will be delighted. I think they captured him nicely, and while he’s a traumatized and still finds joy in beating up Megs, he has a character arc and seems to have a chance for redemption and healing (which I had craved for tfp star but never got).

We also get some Swindle and even Soundwave goofiness. Soundwave can turn into a damn stealth jet but would rather sit on the back of another cons car mode. What would the TF franchise be without some silly goobers.

A thing that tfe shares with tfp is it doesn’t shy away from using horror elements to show the viewer how messed up a situation is. I already mentioned this in the second season.

Some negatives I found were that there is some noticeable “plot convenience” for example forgetting that shockwave is a raging xenophobe and suddenly is ok with waking up in their base and getting straight to work to kick GHOSTs butt.

Then there is some general goofiness that is to be expected in a kids show. Suddenly a tower of Sauron appears to show you “yup here is where they gonna fight the boss” and other things like the stone of quintus spawning between the malto kids’ hands and doing the TFA-allspark by scattering for some reason?? Idk if that was symbolic and if I’m just dumb.

Shockwave gets licked by fluffyears btw

[now-you-sound-like-a-jedi]

Star Wars x Classical Mythology

2: Bo-Katan Kryze as Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons

"Dressed in this fashion in her intricate armor, she seemed like a bolt of lightning sent earthwards by the might of resistless Zeus to show men that a mighty thunderstorm is coming, or ceaseless blasts of whistling wind.

[...] No spear she directed went astray: she would hit either the back of a fugitive or the chest of an attacker. Drenched all over in warm blood, her limbs active and vigorous, her fearless heart unwearied, strong as steel."

- Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica

Bo-Katan and Penthesilea were both the daughters of warriors (indeed, Penthesilea's father was Ares, god of war) and, as ruler of Mandalore and queen of the Amazons, respectively, both eventually became the leaders of a warrior society.

Furthermore, both of them took the throne following the tragic and untimely death of their elder sister. Interestingly, Penthesilea's degree of responsibility for her sister Hippolyta's death varies between sources: some say she had nothing to do with it, that Hippolyta was murdered by an outsider but, according to Smyrnaeus, Penthesilea accidentally killed her.

Either way, Penthesilea was devastated by her sister's death, and sources cannot agree whether her reckless actions on the battlefield during the seige of Troy were due to a desire to atone for her sins by saving the Trojans or simply because her grief and guilt were so great that she wished only to die honourably in battle and then join her sister in the afterlife.

This part came into my mind when I was watching the Siege of Mandalore arc of The Clone Wars, specifically the part where Bo-Katan tries to attack Maul, because it reminded me of Penthesilea fighting Achilles and the ambiguity of her motivation for it. Did she try to fight because she was arrogant enough to believe she would win, or had she simply lost so much that she no longer cared?

The Amazons were ultimately decimated by the Greeks just as the Mandalorians were by the Empire. The difference is that, unlike Penthesilea, Bo-Katan survived to rebuild.

Satine

[sonicasura]

Let's be honest with ourselves that Transformers Earthspark has its issues. It isn't uncommon for the series to have a few messy iterations throughout the years. However those at least have something going for them.

Bayverse is a junk pile yet there's a lot of material you can build off on and some pretty interesting concepts. RiD15 is an awful sequel to Prime but does decently well as a standalone although there are much needed changes to be had. Earthspark... Well, it's just there.

I can be lenient with the plot holes and poor pacing as Nickelodeon is notorious for interfering with any show that isn't SpongeBob to the point of cancellation. The issues truly land on the characters themselves. I'm gonna try to simplify it without devolving into a rant like the previous draft.

Edit: Gonna add some further edits as I wrote this in the middle of the night. Plus my simplified version skipped some key details.

Robby. Somehow they made a human character I actually dislike instead of be neutral about. In the official Transformers wiki, he's labeled as a big brother who cares for his siblings but his actions so far say otherwise. Robby literally ran away in the first episode because they moved then decided to try and hide the Terrans from his parents.

Yet he rarely gets enough consequences for his actions. I think we don't just need less Emberstone saves not just because of plot armor but force actual character growth on him. Like a life changing to one of his siblings as consequences for his actions and strained relationship until he gets his head outta his ass.

Edit: Yes, I know Robby is a teenager but that isn't a decent enough excuse for his behavior. Seen the trope about big brothers who do act closed off or at some points rude but they haven't done shit that put their family in serious danger. No, I didn't try to purposely forget the times he was injured badly.

There honestly needs to be less of those and his consequences be adjusted to it affects someone else badly. *

Next issue is lacking confrontation with Optimus choices alongside the obvious misplaced trust in the 13 Primes. Quintus Prime literally emotionally manipulated and scarred Mo through a fake bad ending reality because she doubted herself. No good person would do that, much less an actual ally. Even moreso on a child.

I seen this shit in Trollhunters but at least Jim, the main character, was a teenager. (It still was wrong though.) We also got remember that Liege Maximo and Megatronus/The Fallen are Primes. Yet somehow it is best to trust them.

Don't get me started with some of Optimus' choices when it comes to GHOST. He probably did it to protect his Autobots but what about the Decepticons who are locked away? Why are there so little of his companions with him especially since Bumblebee had fucking went into hiding before the show began.

There needs to be tension between Optimus with his Autobots. Someone is bound to snap and Bumblebee would have the biggest impact. The man clearly isn't okay as he's doing things that even Megatron admits ain't like him.

Mandroid needs to be written differently. He has the making of a sympathetic villain but oh boy. First off it is clear that his depiction is ableist aligned since the reason he doesn't like Cybertronians is because he lost his arm. Major thing to change right there.

Give him a narrative where his interest been genuine but slowly declines as the Autobot/Decepticon war increases the number of destroyed lives. Let him become a victim to this than just 'I lost my arm so death alongside experimentation to all Cybertronians'. Also don't make Mandroid ignore the obvious fact that the Transformers parts he puts into his body is slowly poisoning and instead come up with ways to fight the infection. Kinda like in Ironman 2 where Tony's arc reactor began to do the same thing.

Edit: Mandroid's negative views on Cybertronians are about the war and he's aware of the Energon poisoning. It is just that it is poorly portrayed to the point you rarely see it over his Arachnamechs/his ruined life.

Have the man present various evidence of destruction the war caused by both sides at the Malto children or anonymously spread such info around town to sew discontent with the townsfolk. 'These are the people who you consider heroes. Who you see as family and friends. Or should these tragedies be forgotten?'

Do a Baxter Stockman where you frequently see him try to fix the Energon poisoning than just simple dialogue. Even have testing on organic subjects to see how they react and find ways to counter it. Don't keep these key points as simple dialogue. *

I don't think Karen needs much changes either. 'But her taking over Cybertron doesn't make sense!' It actually does for one reason: hubris. Have you ever seen what happens when you give a control freak power? Their behavior becomes more erratic as they begin to think they deserve more. She is xenophobic in nature so imprisoning Decepticons and ordering around the Autobots is a drug to her.

Karen wants to treat them like slaves so the next step in her mind is Cybertron. Her death is well deserved and well played. Just like Icarus, the bitch flew too close to the sun.

I think the last major issue, other than out of character racist Shockwave, is the Terrans. No offense but they need a bit less screentime so the rest of the cast can shine. We barely see Alex and there's unclarified issues involving Bumblebee with Arcee if he's uncomfortable around her.

I also want their flaws to be at the forefront. Thrash is the only one who gotten such character development from his encounter with Swindle. We need more of that! Like Hashtag's overreliance on the Internet biting her back as she is forced to use real world skills.

Edit: I accidentally put in Terrans when I really meant Twitch. The screentime for everyone needs to be balanced mainly for the Malto family. Alex alongside the three younger Terrans rarely get involved or their characters further build upon. Twitch needs to get benched more.

Also the Dad Number 2 should really be addressed. Wheeljack was clearly uncomfortable when it been brought up. Plus it is way too fast to even consider such ideas unless you plan to have it addressed properly. Like 'Kid. We barely know each other yet somehow I became a father figure in an instant? It's best not to do that until you truly certain "Dad Number 2" doesn't mean harm or feels comfortable with it.' *

Earthspark clearly has potential but these problems need to be handled better. Addong the deleted scenes help add some clarification but canon needs to present it. We are supposed to get a second season so hopefully some of these are addressed.

[everybodyknows-everybodydies]

Molly Cadoret, known brawler,

the brawler: lack of empathy, confrontation

Her hand hurts. It has, for days, though differently; they insisted on a healer to fix her hands, grow back the nails she broke off, but they couldn’t insist that she let them. Three and a half hours of holding her down to pull her nails out to a normal length, clean the scabby mess she’d made of her hands on the stone. Healing hurts less if you don’t fight it, Molly has learned. Hurts like hell if you do.

Her hands have hurt like hell for days.

She thinks with vicious satisfaction that she’s wrecked her knuckles on his face, now, as the high chancellor staggers backwards with a hand covering his freshly-crooked nose, blood spurting bright over his elaborate robes. He does not swear—though the way his eyes are screwed up she thinks he must want to—but he does wave his other hand to return the half-moon of swords drawn to point at her to their sheaths. “It’s fine. Fetch a healer. Miss Cadoret,” the high chancellor says, through his own blood, “this is the greatest honor that we can bestow. There have only, in history, been six—”

“I’ll hit you again,” she says, quite calmly. He won’t make the same mistake of leaning within reach, if he’s smart; but he doesn’t look so sturdy that he can’t be knocked down.

“Martin Septim—”

“Brother Martin.”

“—the Emperor,” continues the high chancellor, with a delicacy not meant for her, “would have wanted some recognition of your—”

She laughs. The sound is ugly, scratchy; she’s made of dry straw and sparking and they, still, won’t just light her. “Because you know that, do you, you know what he wanted, and what he would want now—or you could just go ask him. It’s not like he’s going anywhere now, is it?”

One of the shiny suits of armor beside him, wearing a bland blank face instead of a helm, twitches for the sword again. The high chancellor dabs his handkerchief at his bloody nose and murmurs, “Leave it.” Aloud, he tells her, “We would prefer your cooperation, you understand. The political situation, as it stands, is… precarious.”

“I bet.” Breathe. One-two-three-four— “But I said no.”

“It would be a service to your Empire.”

Service to whose godsforsaken— She says nothing, snips her mouth shut, her teeth sore from grinding them, and flexes the hand she hasn’t hit him with yet at her side. She barely registers the stinging in her palms from a series of bleeding crescents, the fresh nails they made her grow back sharper than she’s used to.

The high chancellor regards her for a moment. “We’ll need to schedule a fitting,” he says, now, to another of his shining bland-faced array, “for the new armor.”

So: she doesn’t even see him, really. Just white. (And light, and light, and light—)

The arc is in progress before she’s aware of it, because she did decide it, and she did warn him. She doesn’t reach him this second time: someone sends her crashing to the cold tile, rattles her skull, sears her vision. She hears some awful howling and it was supposed to be over, it was supposed to be over, but they won’t even leave her anywhere alone and they want to take her name and the wolf and the stone-grit embedded in her fingertips—

“Where is the boy,” the high chancellor is saying as his healer with the dour eyes arrives to set his nose at last, and the suit of armor pinning her to the floor makes no move to get off her. Someone else goes out the door to chase his question.

She runs out of energy before there’s even tears. Finds herself, instead, staring at the ceiling as her pinched face goes slack again, everything too heavy, everything a waste. Her breath rushes out in a limp wet puff.

He stays silent as the healer finishes straightening his nose. Molly can hear her blood in her ears. “Let her up, Quintus.” The suit of armor obliges. She makes no move to get off the floor, anyway. “The remaining Blades insist you are an asset of a sort we are running low on.” The high chancellor sounds cautious—always looking for the stable footing. There isn’t any, obviously, but it won’t be taken the right way if she points it out.

He's the closest one, she thinks, to agreeing with her aloud. “And do you think I’m an asset to anyone,” she says to the patterns on the high ceilings, her voice unsanded.

There is a long, long pause. “Without an emperor,” he says, “there is no Empire. The world is no more secure than it was two weeks ago; we only face a different threat, now. We are yet fighting to preserve the people—their homes, their futures. Miss Cadoret. Can we count you among our number?”

Her body doesn’t even fit right. Too substantial. Too small. Everything useful has already been wrung out.

But this is not the answer he wants, so she gives him nothing, instead.

[magic-glasses]

I’m gonna be real guys, the first half of season 2 was a little disappointing 😭 nightshade and some of the autobots barely got any screentime, Starscreams evil arc was just so sudden??, and maybe I’m making it up but the quality of the animation decreased a little.

We still got two more parts of the season left so I’m not gonna shit on it entirely. I did like aftermath and spitfire (I really hope they’re not dead forealsies), the little cosmos cameo, and the quintus prime lore.

Let’s just be thankful starscream didn’t kick the bucket because I thought they were gonna go the transformers cyberverse direction for a moment 😭

[waitingongravity]

Alright, so. So there's PLENTY of unfinished business in the Abyssal Hunter storylines.

Let's look at what we know of already and what that could mean:

First off, the stuff that has already been established in previous events: There were three big leaders in the Church of the Deep: Quintus, Amaia, and some other dude who has only been referred to as Him. This Him is acquainted with Specter during her time as an experiment subject. We can pretty safely assume that much like Quintus and Amaia, He will be the one orchestrating the events of next uhhh... event. Besides that, we have Ulpianus and the Last Knight. Those two swam off into the sunset at the end of Stultifera Navis, and we can only assume that they are still hunting seaborn to this point. The curious thing with the Last Knight is that we got to see him plenty in IS3. We know he's a powerful piece of work, and that in true Don Quixote fashion he is unreasonable with. The real question for me is what the hell he's going to do in a world where Ishra-Mla hasn't taken over yet. Will he be more helpful? Proooobably not. Speaking of: ISHRA-MLA. I've seen a lot of speculation over whether Skalter is fully non-canon to the main timeline, or if she is merely an eventuality. Skadi's condition is not looking good, and we haven't really been presented with any possible solutions. Specter is fighting off infection and insanity through her seaborn blood, but Skadi's issue is seaborn in nature. That being said, I'd like to stay optimistic. Skadi's arc has been an upwards one, even if it's only slightly. I'd like to believe that the difference between IS3's timelines and the Canon is that Skadi had more time to grow stronger mentally and emotionally to resist the pull of Ishra-Mla. Or at least stall long enough to find a solution. Of course, this transformation is also affecting Specter and Gladiia. Much like oripathy, they may be doomed, but maybe there's hope for a comfortable life.

AEgir is a nation we know next to nothing about since they're all the way in the Water. An unknown settlement of AEgir was spotted right under the Stultifera, and we know Ulpianus preventing the Hunters' return to AEgir is one of the reasons why the fish apocalypse didn't happen. Whether that is just proximity to the ocean or something in AEgir itself, I think we'll be diving out of Iberia and into that AEgir colony. I doubt we'll go into AEgir proper, but that doesn't mean AEgir won't send its own people out. Okay, now for the operators relevant to all this: The obvious one is Andreana, our lonely cuttlefish. She is essentially a cheap walmart knock-off Abyssal Hunter, so many think that she'd be getting an Alter or some story focus as she goes full fledged (full scaled? Whatever.) While I see that as a possibility, a lot of Andreana's character is just NOT CARING about any of that. She outright rejects the opportunity from Kal'tsit to learn more, and wants to leave her mysterious past behind her. Honestly, I can respect it. My guess is that Andreana might get involved but stay out of it, unless someone (like her employer Incandescence who we've yet to see in-game) gives her a reason to care.

So who else do we have involved in this? Well, Deepcolor is pretty sus, and the only other AEgir operator besides Skalter. I'll be honest, I always thought she was up to no good. Do NOT trust her >:I. There's also the chance she's some loose AEgir agent or something that lost contact after the Great Silence. But I still don't trust. Here's the sleeper pick: Blue Poison! The curious thing about Anura, besides how cute they are, is that they were enslaved by AEgir and brought to Iberia in hopes that their toxins could be a new weapon against the seaborn. This puts Bloopy in an interesting position as both someone with a vested interest. Hell, she could truly be the secret weapon in the event.

With all this in mind, here's my idea for what the event could/should be. Ulpianus can be the new 6 star, whatever he's a loser I don't care about him. More importantly, BLOOPY ALTER as a limited unit. That's right, Andreana can keep her gun, we all know she loves that thing more than anything. Let Bloopy be the first 6 star Arts Defender or something! Or a new Fighter since we know she boxes. I dunno, just make her busted so I can feel vindicated in my love for her. and finally, 5 star... I dunno, some AEgir girl from the settlement under the Stultifera. Give me a manta ray girl! Flat friend. Or angler fish? Hmmmm. As far as the plot, I think it'll be a two-pronged threat. On one end, He and the rest of the Church of the Deep implement a final plan, either relying on the super advanced tech AEgir have, or simply being the culmination of the evolution which has been a running theme for these events. Under Tides saw the seaborn evolve to talk, Stultifera Navis saw them evolve to be incredibly powerful and adaptive. Who knows what we'll see next? As for the AEgir settlement's conflict, I think we could see a next step in the other relevant issue in Iberia: the persecution of the AEgir peoples and the role of the Inquisition in the fight against the sea. I doubt the settlement will be safe for long, so perhaps over the course of the story we will see them integrated into Iberia, and offer their own tech/abilities in exchange for a stronger frontline. Of course, all this is assuming that the settlement isn't just an long-abandoned ruin. I'd also like it if the Doctor actually got involved in this event. Kal'tsit is a given of course, but I think the Doctor's presence might be appropriate for the conclusion of this trilogy. Much how like Lone Trail concluded the story started by Mansfield and Dorothy's Vision, there might be big story turning points at the end of this. And given the forces involved? This wouldn't be surprising. Anyways this was a super disorganized ramble I typed mid-ttrpg session so I'm sure I missed a lot or messed stuff up. I'd love to hear any more speculations, this stuff is very fun to think about.

[megatron-is-a-mattereel-gurl]

Okay, I watched S2 of Earthspark

Warning Spoilers Ahead

Okay,1, Loved that Breakdown was like a Dad to Aftermath

Liked seeing more of the bots, though the humans felt less themselves

At certain times the animation felt kinda choppy

Loved Cosmos he should have shown up more(also I theorized from the start of the episode that Cosmos was the cosmic Rollercoaster AND I WAS RIGHT)

weird al is unironically perfect for Cosmos

I honestly thought Spitfire was gonna be a good person and have a long redemption arc*sigh* we can wish..

Hasbro is really Testing my Patience (I want an Earthspark Thunderhowl P L E A S E)

Terratronus..is really pretty.

Noticed a lot of Cyberverse similarities like Starscream playing god for the 14th millionth time and then him Controlling Terratronus is similar to him Controlling croaton

The Quintessons holding a grudge against quintus A U G H (I love to hate the Quintessons but even I know that's just wrong by Quintus,PAy YOUR CHILD SUPORJT)

Spitfire was..Interesting. I would say I like Aftermath more than her though.

The episode about Op's trailer is my favorite, just a fun filler.

The Emberstone becoming dust was a twist I did not expect.

Sad that Prowl didn't show up, I was really curious on what he'd be like, maybe in the next batch If there is one.

I want to know what happened to Starscream.

THE ENIGMA OF COMBINATION REFERENCE HAD ME SQUEALING IT DOES EXIST IN THIS UNIVERSE

the syncing should be less Steven universe Fusion esque tbh

[aotopmha]

I'm around level 82 Endwalker MSQ and I know that some really hate the Garlean section of the story, but I really like it.

Above all I really like the nuance in it all.

Firstly, I think they spell out the intentions of the expedition really well – the goal is to help the regular people who are suffering, but not excuse the system they live under.

Secondly, they spell out the really important detail that a bunch of the characters do not support the Ilsebard contingent.

As an example, not all of your job mentors might show up, as was my case with the RDM mentor because of his history with Garlemald, adding important nuance in terms of varying perspectives regards to helping Garlemald.

Reading some takes you'd think everyone agrees that Garlemald is all okay and cool now, but this is not the nuance/subtext I see in the text itself myself.

This was also not the sole objective of the expedition. The towers needed to go for the world to not end.

So it isn't just randomly barging in there to self-righteously "help" another nation. Everyone needed to be on the same page at least somewhat to survive.

Thirdly, I think they gave Gaius and his group enough nuance back in ARR (and Regula in HW) and we had enough decent and more complex good/less villainous Garlean characters across the game (Cid, Nero, Lucia, Maxima) for me to not feel like asking to see them as people was rushed or too late.

The key to me is that even the Garleans who were villains had defined, substantial perspectives and sometimes had non-villainous aspects to them.

The humanity itself was always there.

Fourthly, I see people say it is a thematic mess, but I don't see any of that, either.

The entire zone is full of nuanced perspectives on how fascism can hurt people and not once are we told to push everything the empire did under the rug – if nothing else the horrors of the system are only emphasised.

I agree with the system itself being the central enemy, which to me has been the entire thematic point of Garlemald from the start.

Licinia and her sister, the ceruleum workers from other provinces, Jullus and Quintus all represent very important aspects of how the empire's principles and its own self-made "faith" affected the people of Garlemald and to see it reduced to "oh some of them are just sad now", I think really misses the point considering the foundation of some of their stories.

Genuinely believing you're right, making nationalism almost a core of your identity and being distrusting of your enemy due to far-reaching propaganda are very real struggles under systems like this.

Finally, I've seen people say we are done with Garlemald now and it's so rushed because of this and I'm just not sure about that because to me that has never been the identity of this game.

It's really rare something is dropped and never brought up again, so I always disagree with almost any claims like this.

This is why I think Sky Pirates and Four Lords will also eventually have larger significance.

(And so will the 6.x series.)

I still feel the framing is very much "there is a long way to go here."

Doma and Ala Mhigo both had restoration arcs in various content and are still in progress, really, as the 6.0 role quests, literal "restoration" content and also patch content itself (4.1-4.3, 5.4-5.5 in particular for Ala Mhigo and Doma) attest.

I think we will still see more of the aftermath of Garlemald's collapse in the yet occupied provinces as I still think we will have to open up the huge cloud in the middle of the map in some form, I even think there still would be room for a Garlemald expansion, it just wouldn't be "as" urgent anymore and mixed with other stuff because the empire is an husk now.

As much as Bozja might seem like it was dropped suddenly because of the field notes, I do not think it is like this story to not address important aspects like this until we are unquestionably, completely done.

I know there are some reveals in the role quests and material in 6.x quests that people are also iffy about, but to me most of that seems pretty okay, too.

Garlemald has to reestablish proper trade connections, they have to fight the remainder of their old guard and they can never be complete victims. They also need an entirely new governmental system.

It's the old guard that holds them back, but also crumbles when threatened.

So I think where we are now narratively, we still need more time with Garlemald and I think we are not quite done with them yet and if there is something I personally would dislike from here on out, it *would* be getting no follow-up at all.

I think we need to actually visit Dalmasca, Corvos and Nagxia in some form and put a final end to all of those regimes.

Now, do I think more could've been done here?

Absolutely. As I said, we have whole occupied provinces we have still not seen and a whole massive cloud right in the middle of the map still uncovered.

(And I think revisiting Ala Mhigo's and Doma's struggles against specifically Garlemald in some form also needs to happen.)

So as much as I really liked the zone, it is still clear to me there might have been more done there (in fact it was confirmed because we know about a potential Garlemald expansion).

So I actually do share a criticism I see around, I just think what we got still turned out to be really good and really important nuance to go into regarding Garlemald.

Something about asking to somewhat empathise with an enemy faction just destroys any nuanced discussion on the internet, be it the heroes doing something bad (for good or bad reasons) or villains doing something good (despite having really awful views otherwise).

You see an enemy faction just even dip toes into nuance and the story automatically must be excusing them.

You see the heroes not be completely, unconditionally respectful and thoughtful and the story must be disrespectful itself.

It's such a boring way to discuss art (which is also made by people, who are flawed like anyone else) in my eyes.

[celadons-penultimate]

Given how rarely the character shows up, many fans are still confused about the Black '90s Justice League superhero Bloodwynd.

Martian Manhunter imitated Bloodwynd for a time, but he was not merely a Martian Manhunter persona. In fact, soon after the disguise reveal, Bloodwynd got a backstory as a distinct character (JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA vol 1 #76-77). Sadly, it only amounts to 4ish issues total of agency (including a decent story in SHOWCASE '94 #5).

DC Comics only recently even gave him a name (Quintus Arce), decades later, now that his nephew Raphael Arce has taken up his mantle as the new Bloodwynd.

[4th-make-quail]

For the favorite character thing, 3 and 5 for Quintus and/or Gaius (depending on who you feel like doing or like more or w/e :3)

OOOHHHH THANK YOUUU :DDDD I WILL DO BOTH!! and use the excuse to spam y'all with my Garlean old man faces 🥰

Quintus

3. What first drew you to this character? ngl...... he's old, he's Garlean, he's tragic, he has A Big Snoot, he was basically made for me 🥰🥰 there was a lot of like, mystery leading up to his reveal where we were convinced he was gonna be Nerva (and i have to say i had a FIRM tinhat he might be Noah van Gabranth cos i'm nothing if not hopeful apparently!!!) but in the end, i'm glad it was Quintus.

also, clearly cos he's my fave, he's also very disliked in the xiv fandom, which made it depressing as FUCK to navigate after Endwalker without coming across suicide jokes constantly

5. If this character were a woman, would you honestly still like them? Or in reverse, what if they were a man? i would, tbh!! i am obviously VERY biased towards old men, but i would have fallen for Quintus in any form I think... god this makes me wanna make fem!Quintus to go with fem!Gaius..... MUCH TO THINK ABOUT

Gaius

3. What first drew you to this character? oh, his VOICE 🥰🥰🥰 i always liked him in ARR (the sexy armour.... the dramatics..... LAHABREA!!!!!) but the Shadowhunter reveal just cemented it, holy fucking shit. he's so HOT. also again, old? check. Garlean? check! good nose? YEA. tragic? TO ME.

i just love him so much!!! i love how complex he is, and his story arc, and his relationship with Estinien ofc >:3

5. If this character were a woman, would you honestly still like them? Or in reverse, what if they were a man? ohhh my god would i ever!!! ofc knowing ffxiv if he'd been a woman he prolly wouldn't still be alive (ANGRYCRY EMOTE), BUT!!!! after making my fem!Gaius the other month i'm feral for this idea now...... stern old lady Black Wolf.... HRRGHHH, CASSIE I THINK I MIGHT HAVE DIED???

anyway, in summary:

[honest favourite character asks]

[transingthoseformers]

Noooo

I'm imagining a whole fucking alternate earthspark season that includes:

Oh fuck Unicron is coming

Dark energon (optional) (zombie shenanigans?)

Mysterious bots appearing claiming to be from the future / an alternate timeline— most notably Galvatron and Rodimus. Galvatron and his crew are working to hussle Unicron along, while Rodimus is trying to help prevent him from arriving

When they eventually learn Galvatron = Megatron from the future / another timeline, Megatron angst ensues

Optimus only nearly dies this time, or he dies but comes back

Unicron has one goal: consume earth

Quintus prime powers are definitely needed here

There's an episode about the thirteen Primes in general here

Starscream does die at some point as a self sacrifice thing (he'll be back and his progress won't be wiped, but fuck it'd be such a scene) (Starscream is an outlier truther)

Because that long awaited Starscream redemption arc (it begins before his temporary death, but it does not end with his temporary death)

Our Megatron actually does not turn into Galvatron, proving he's actively chosen a different path than his continuity predecessors have

left over Quintesson technology is involved at some point

There's two arcees (optional)

Breakbee (optional)

Megoplita (optional)

I'm torn on whether it's automatically presented as then being from an alternative timeline from a timeline where Megatron never defected, or it being presented as then being from the future up until a pivotal moment where the future is changed.

I want to see more of Megatron actively choosing to be a better person, rather than just saying "oh he's changed now" (NOT OPTIONAL, I NEED TO SEE THIS IN CANON TOO)

Nemesis prime plot (optional)

Rodimus accidentally calling Optimus "dad" in a serious conversation (optional)

I'm incredibly torn on what's to happen with Cybertron, but I 100% vote the Allspark is recovered at some point in time and, maybe, just maybe, they regain access to Cybertron (optional)

Or... Cybertron was destroyed while they were gone by Unicron, and they recover the Allspark through different means (optional)

I just need "Megatron meets Galvatron, who claims to be his future self & 'better' self" angst in Earthspark— and I need Megatron to argue that no, HE is his better self, not in matter of firepower or conquest or physical strength or anything, but because he's choosing to be kinder. Not just slapping a Good Guy™️ sticker on and saying he's one of the Good Guys™️ now, but choosing again and again to be good. I need for him to mean it.

[gayemeralds]

ok earthspark season 2 episodes 1-10: 5/10

man this is a bummer. characterizations are at worst just strange or outright assassination. personally not caring much about the quintus/quintesson lore although i am hoping the quintessons come back as the season’s main villain. wiwitcky being settled on top of a city Titan is fucking cool though. aftermath & spitfire we’re kinda lackluster characters & im also disappointed breakdown didnt get to be some fucked up father figure to aftermath tbh- like that could have been a cool bumblebee vs breakdown foil where they both mentor some Terrans. im so utterly confused on the way they stopped the Titan from rampaging; they just fucking….. trapped her in a bubble? also i didn’t like this in season one and i still don’t like it- the emberstone does not give consistent powers. really hate that the kids got power ups off screen bc that could have been a really good character arc for them.

they are VERY much going against the theme of “not all decepticons are Evil” which was heavily established in season one. did they do a good job with that theme in the first place? not particularly but they made it clear that was the core show thesis. and then this season comes and just erases everything previously said and lumps every decepticon together as Pure Evil and fighting for the sake of a fight. plus they keep insisting the chaos Terrans are just born evil which is also pretty antithetical to season one.

funnily enough this was a really good starscream characterization, but based on the character they wrote in season one, who was clearly meant to be a victim to megatron and be seen a bit more nuanced than Pure Evil…. it was an insane character assassination

[deadlysoupy]

in light of recent shocking amount of hate towards earthspark, i, as not a fan of transformers pre-earthsparkage (= watching it gave me the interest to search more transformers), want to list all the amazing qualities this show has besides Nightshade being non-binary

1. despite being for kids, this show has subplots that can be explored with an adult vision. the main villain, for instance, is a scientist who went crazy and became the very "monster" he sought to destroy. infusing himself with energon, cutting off (!!!) one of his own arms to stick a cybertonian one with a gun. how bananas is that?? and not something you would see in a cartoon for seven-year-olds

2. the overarching theme of second chances. people being more complex than their labels (and it's not just about gender, you simpletons). the Decepticons not viewed as a purely violent fraction, but as a fight for freedom and will to be different

3. where else are you going to have Bumblebee, a stereotypically light and kid-appeal character, have a "midlife crisis" (quoted directly from earthspark!!). he has so much history already when first introduced, imagine what is left behind the curtains, where the audience can't reach (yet, and won't, if the series gets canceled for such a minor nitpick)

4. Megatron on the side of Autobots? whaaat?? Earthspark is a predecessor of idw's ideas, all the way from the designs of some bots (Tarantulas), to character arcs. didn't a lot of people want an adaptation of idw or mtmte, hm? the Decepticon Leader gets an amazing arc, highlighting how he wants peace for his people, above all else, how he learns from cooperation with Optimus (and *koffs* a fruity relationship *koffs*) and where specifically his loyalties lie

5. new kid characters, who are a rarity in transformer media, with a new view of the famous war of Autobots vs Decepticons. new lore connected to them, somehow intermingled with Quintus Prime, one of the thirteen original Primes (Gods??) like really guys there's a lot here we don'tknow yet!!

to sum it up, i think this is all a thing not to even be focused on. yes, earthspark has it's flaws. the whole pronouns thing is loud in the show, which is what led to this whole conflict. had it been one subtle mention i think it wouldn't make such an uproar. it's very sad.