#also I should really clear up the rest of the IDW series since I think they do fight some proper gods in that at some point

[longestarms]

Y'know, Jimbo...

Any ‘gods’ that Erin would come across would likely fit into the same general scientific purview as the ghosts that she regularly handles. Death or Aides would get a reaction from their sensor equipment, obviously, but that would also go for any other belief-based entity that’s out there.

If we say gods are, at their core, the physical embodiment of shared thoughts and beliefs, then they’ll give out a specific PKE reading. Standard containment methods such as the proton packs and ghost traps wouldn’t have the standard effect, since the target wouldn’t have the incorporeal form that the traps actually contain. Although, having said that, being hit by the big nuclear laser... would probably hurt a little anyway.

[rosiegeee]

Best Equestria Girls/Unconfirmed Couples in MLP

This is once again going to be a heavily biased list. I literally like all these ships the same except #10 but it would be a weird list to have a nine way tie. these couples were either only hinted at in the final season of My little pony, were in the comics, or were from Equestria Girls. They will be ranked on how much of a romance they seem to have.

#10:  Applejack and Rainbow Dash

There is nothing wrong with these two being a couple, as they are implied to be in the final episode of MLP, I just never shipped them and never found there was any romantic tension between the two, just friendship. The only romantic thing I can think of is from the scene the picture shows where they are friendly bickering about how Rainbow should be allowed to help Applejack with her farm chores.

#9:  King sombra and Radiant Hope

I love these two so much. Through flashbacks we see how these two met, were the best of friends growing up, and than Sombra falling in love with Hope. Even in his monsterous shadow pony form Sombra wants Hope to be his queen, and Hope still loves him, and when he is turned into a full pony they run off together side by side to explore Equestria finding Amore shards to restore her. Hope risked her safety and her freedom to save Sombra and there love oozes from the pages. However, the reason they are number 9 and not number 1 is because of Sombra’s treatment of her as a shadow pony. He emotionally manipulated her to stay by his side, screamed and yelled at her, threatened her, and kept her basically prisoner in the castle, he changes in the end but that doesn’t change what he did to her.

#8: Flash Sentry and Twilight Sparkle

They used to be my favourite ship when I was young, they were so cute and I found it funny seeing a blushing embarrassed Twilight, something the normal show didn’t have. However I was like 13 at the time when I watched this and Rainbow rocks for the first time, and have since seen some flaws here. There relationship is sweet in the first film and and you can tell how good of a guy Flash is, and Twilight returns these feeling, and the quick showing of them being at the dance together was adorable, but than Rainbow rocks happens. It is made clear to use that the entire time Twilight has been gone Flash has missed her(so cute) but from the show we know Twilight hasn’t thought or mentioned human Flash or pony Flash since, and continues not to think about him until she literally runs into him, and awkwardly the cuteness fades as Twilight no longer seems to know how to interact with him, which upsets Flash. Than as the sirens work there magic they become increasingly hostile towards each other and don’t really get a lot of screen time together for the rest of the movie, and than they literally never see each other again, but Flash still waits for her to return. In Everfree Forest he starts to move on.

#7: Curly Winds and Wiz Kid

I don’t know enough about these two to give them a true ranking so they get this neutral spot, but from the images above I’d say they are a pretty sweet couple. And Being LGBT, I always love representation in tv shows.

#6:  Timber Spruce and Sci-Twi

Sci-Twi was never meant for Flash Sentry, and I’m glad they did not get together, but Timber and Sci-Twi is a different story. He was so sweet to her, and there chemistry seemed natural, and he actually asked her out, something Flash never did, that and the almost kiss. This Twilights reaction to having a crush is different from Princess Twilights, and I love how well she gets along with him. The only reason they are not higher is because he was covering for his sister who planned on doing dangerous and illegal things. That and she’s in high school and he is an unmentioned amount years older who seems to have done this camp at least once before so it could be anywhere from a year difference to six.

#5: Yona and Sandbar

Oh my god, they are so cute. The episode that first shows hints of a romance between these two is also one of my favourites because Yona is worried that the Pony’s attending the dance (aka Sand Bar who is the one who invited her) will judge her because she does not look, act, or dance like a pony(because she’s a Yak) and she tries to make herself more pony only to make a fool of herself and mess up the dance. However when she runs off Sandbar finds her and comforts her and tells her that he liked her for being herself and that he doesn’t care that she is a yak. He than asks her back to the dance where they spend the rest of the night together. Also they are seen holding hoofs in the big fight at the end, and are seeming living together at  Carousel Boutique.

#4: Hoofbeard and Jewel 

If you didn’t read the IDW comics you would never know these two, but the mane six go on an adventure with Captain Hoofbeard and try and find his treasured Jewel, but the X on the map keeps moving, in the end its revealed that Jewel isn’t a gem, but a seapony and an old girlfriend of Hoofbeard. He confesses that he still loves her and wishes they could be together but knows that she breaths water and he breaths air, but Twilight uses a spell that gives him gills and some fins. He traveled the ocean, like how Cranky Donkey traveled the land, to find his love again, and faced many dangers to do so.

#3:  Fluttershy and Discord

I always thought these two should stay friends, especially considering he’s immortal ad she isn’t, but in the later seasons it was impossible to deny the romance forming between the two. Discord loves Fluttershy and gets giddy anytime he thinks about her and has pictures of her, and they have tea parties(dates) every week. For Fluttershy she knows Discord like the back of her hoof and is deeply hurt when he sort of betrays the group in the finally, but before that Angel(her bunny who knows everything about her) while in Fluttershy’s body stated how it was Fluttershy’s wish to MARRY DISCORD. In the finally Discord drops Fluttershy at Twilights and gives her a lunch, implying that they live together and during Fluttershy’s part of the song The Magic Of Friendship Grows, as she sings the line, “And because the love that I feel, For every single living creature is something that is real , Friendship happens so naturally ” Discord comes out of a portal and they stare at each other and se extends her wing out to him as he flies just off screen. The writers say there relationship is up to the viewers interpretation, but they are obviously in love and married by the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImsTS1Kb9ww

#2:  Flash sentry and Sunset Shimmer

Here’s where the bias comes in. In the first film its said how these two used to be a couple but that they broke up not long before the series because of how bad she used to be, and than its never mentioned again until Everfree where Flash and Sunset have a momment where they confide in each other because they still know each other in ways the other main characters don’t know her. Flash even asks her if she’d like to start over, than awkwardly adds the friends part but its obvious hw they look at each other that there is still a spark there and it will most likely be rekindled soon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI5lTaUahfU

#1:  King Sombra and Princess Celestia

This was the Romeo and Juliet is Romeo and Juliet where literally from other worlds and actually loved each other. This comic pulled at my heartstrings so much that I could never look at Sombra in the TV show the same way again. In this four part series its revealed that before Luna even became Nightmare moon Celestia had been visiting this other Equestria where its ruled by a kind Sombra and the two fell in love and have secretly been visiting each other on and off since. But there travels is ripping the barrier between the two world apart so they can’t see each other as often. In the end Sombra restores the barrier, saving both there worlds, by sacrificing himself by absorbing the evil of the alternate versions of Luna and Celestia, becoming just like Sombra in Celestia’s world. His final act is telling Celestia to leave him(So he won’t do anything he’d regret to her) than on the final page Celestia alone says how much she still loves him, and in his own dimension, despite being evil, admits how he still loves her as well. In the end they are never allowed to see each other again, but there love still transcends dimensional boarders. 

[shikai-the-storyteller]

I changed my mind, and decided I want to share some thoughts and initial impressions while I still have this show fresh on my mind, so here we go:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Transformers War for Cybertron - Siege

The Good:

The transformation sequences, particularly the first ones we see, are so reminiscent of the stop-motion videos people do of their Transformer toys transforming, and I think that’s rather charming! I wonder if that was intentional or a coincidental side-effect of the animation style they went for.

Character traits aren’t set in stone. Although we, as a fandom, prefer certain portrayals (Starscream being a terrible gremlin, Skyfire/Jetfire being sweet, Bumblebee being a charming young lad, etc.) sometimes it’s nice to see something new! Both Cyberverse and WFC: Siege took a different direction with Jetfire’s character. Although it’s disappointing that we don’t get to see the Jetfire / Starscream friendship most of us expected, I think Jetfire’s growth throughout the season was interesting.

I also like that the colonies (Velocitron and Caminus, anyways) were confirmed to exist in this continuity. It was nice to see Chromia, Moonracer, Elita, and Arcee together in the same show too. That being said, Moonracer’s model looked exactly like Chromia’s so I was a little confused at first. The narrative also didn’t really endear her to me, so despite loving her in the comics, my thoughts were “Oh. That sucks but whatever I guess” when she died, which leads me to my next point:

The Bad:

The writing. 

This is particularly evident in the first three episodes; in fact, I almost stopped watching after Episode One. Siege lacks the soul and personality I’ve come to expect from the Transformers series as a whole. 

The script, particularly in the first few episodes, felt like it was written by people who aren’t familiar with these characters, so they’re writing Optimus, Elita, and everyone else how they EXPECT them to sound, not writing them as they actually are.

I don’t like to judge fellow writers too harshly because I know that often times, they don’t get a final say in a lot of things, but there were unfortunately a lot of things that could’ve been done better. 

As a Transformers fan, I’m already inclined to like the characters, but the show didn’t do much to make me really care about them or their problems* (with one exception, which I’ll circle back to). As much as I’d like to blame the 6 episode time-crunch, there was a lot of wasted dialogue time that could’ve been used to charm the audience. 

TLDR: There’s a lot of talking in the show but the dialogue doesn’t actually say a lot. It doesn’t reveal much about the characters, or tell me who they are, or why I should care about them.

* The one area where Siege actually did put in the footwork to make me care was in regards to Impactor and Ratchet (one of the few characters whose personality we really get a sense for despite not having too much screen-time). Immediately, we’re shown how Ratchet earned Impactor’s trust, and we see why Impactor is loyal to him. They built up that relationship, so when Impactor dies protecting Ratchet, we get to feel that payoff and actually feel bad about his death! (Unlike some of the other deaths in the show, which I just shrugged at.). Because of that scene, I’m hopeful that Siege will start focusing on building relationships between their characters more. The series got better as time went on, so I’m inclined to keep giving it the benefit of the doubt despite my initial misgivings.

I try not to compare different series too much because there are a lot of outside forces that determine what a show winds up being, but re: writing with a time crunch, I think it’s important to talk about a show that did use their time well: Transformers Cyberverse.

Cyberverse got me invested in its characters within the first episode. They only had 10 minutes to tell a story, yet they made good use of their time and wove a tight narrative while also giving their characters the opportunity to charm the audience. 

Although we can argue Cyberverse had more time to do this since they had more seasons, even one-off characters, such as Media Fire or Wild Wheel, had more of a personality by the end of the episode than some Siege characters did by the end of the season.

The stakes aren’t really clear. Why should we care about one side losing or winning? We’re given some reasons why it would be “bad” if the Autobots lose since Shockwave convinced Megatron to use something that will change their base programming (or whatever, even that was a little bit vague) but ultimately we don’t have clear motivation for Megatron OR Optimus, the two faction leaders! Although they imply that Megatron / the Decepticon’s roots were based in a civil rights revolution (a-la IDW1) even that is inconsistent. As a friend put it, “Megatron and Optimus are both huge idiots, why root for either of them?”

This is a minor thing, but as a writer it really bugged me so I’m making a note of it anyways: it was really annoying when characters kept pausing while talking. (Ex:  “I………*long pause* [the rest of their sentence]”). Characters also kept saying things, only to let their sentences trail off. The cadence of their voices felt unnaturally slow and scripted, so it was a little difficult not to zone out while they were speaking. Perhaps this wasn’t a problem for other people, but it really took me out of the moment. That being said, this wasn’t as much of an issue in later episodes, which I greatly appreciated.

Another minor detail: this show felt like a barren wasteland of comedy. There were one or two moments I chuckled at (and one I really laughed at---Shockwave and Soundwave’s reaction to Megatron telling Starscream “You’ve proven your worth to the Decepticon cause”) but for the most part, I would’ve appreciated a little bit more humor. I mean, I know this series is aimed at an older audience, but it’s a show about robots that can transform into cars. The entire premise is goofy if you think too hard about it, so a joke here or there isn’t going to ruin your vibe.

The Ugly

Decepticons and Autobots are two different races.

Even within the first few episodes, we know the foundation of the war started because of issues of oppression and slavery. This isn’t subtle---Megatron clearly spells this out for us on several occasions. This topic isn’t new, we’ve seen most other Transformers continuities parrot the same thing. So why is it different here? It’s a bit of a complex issue, but as a gal of color, it really rubbed me the wrong way, and I feel like it’s important to talk about.

The show implies many times that Autobots and Decepticons are inherently different. It’s not a matter of your allegiance or your beliefs---it’s what you’re born as. (Functionism, anyone?) 

Functionism itself was a very interesting Transformers-specific way to discuss prejudice and oppression, but to suddenly make it race-based feels a little...Hmm. More than a little uncomfortable.

It felt a little bit like they were saying: "Yes, we're tackling the topic of oppression! Yes, we're saying these two groups are inherently different, and therefore that excuses prejudice and supremacy arguments both the good guys AND the bad guys are making!" 

Big Yikes

The subject of genocide and eugenics-adjacent arguments came up several times, and while we saw aspects of that in IDW’s run, making it race-based puts it in a different light. An ugly light.

One final thing on that note: the entire thing with Prowl. "Prisoners outnumbered law enforcement so the council created core override implants as a deterrent. [...] It means we can remotely trigger brain detonation."

I’m sorry, what?

The entire concept of “Core override” was INCREDIBLE fricked up. Yes, they had the decency to make Prowl sound ashamed of it, and the rest of the Autobots sounded appalled, but the fact that they proceed to install it on Jetfire despite their initial repulsion was frankly disturbing, especially because Optimus (Optimus PRIME) agreed to it. It felt incredibly out of character for him, and it went against the Autobot code as a whole. Everything about that, and the race-division, made me really uncomfortable, and I’m not sure how well Siege is going to handle this moving forward.

As a whole, I feel like War for Cybertron: Siege has a lot of work to do. Although the last few episodes were definitely an improvement, there’s still significant room to grow and they need to work harder to create a compelling narrative with lovable characters.

In the meantime, what were your thoughts on the series? I’d love to know how other people reacted, particularly regarding the last bit.

[afterspark-podcast]

My Little Pony/Transformers: Friendship in Disguise, Part 2 Transcript

[This can also be found on AO3!]

[Stinger]

O: [laughing]

S: Like, I told you about this before.  You- you know my reasoning, you know where it comes from.

[Intro Music]

O: Welcome back to our April Fools’ Special!

S: For the My Little Pony/Transformers crossover.

O: Today we will go through issues 3 and 4, which will finish this little series and now on to part 1 of issue 3- Fluttershy makes friends, or [clears throat] um, ‘Pet Sounds’.

S: Fluttershy and Discord are in Fluttershy's house having a tea party, when they hear a very loud noise outside.

O: Discord, for reference, is a reformed villain in the series.  He's basically just Q from Star Trek if Q were an amalgam of a bunch of different critters all smooshed together.  (Including being played by the same actor.)  Ah, but he's good friends with Fluttershy at tha- this point in the series, presumably.

S: Outside in a crater, Soundwave emerges concluding that this world is ‘illogical’.

O: Fluttershy asks Discord if he's trying to play a trick on her, but he says even he can't think of something this bizarre.

S: Soundwave scares several of Fluttershy's animal friends, who flee into her house for safety.

O: Fluttershy attempts to calm them by saying, “No one's all bad!”  Before she catches sight of Ravage, Ratbat, Rumble, and Laserbeak.

S: Her first instinct is, “I can bond with this person!  He has PETS!!!”

O: Pretty much.  Fluttershy gathers up a few of her animal friends and flies directly over to Soundwave to introduce herself.

S: Said animal friends do not appear to be happy about this turn of events.

O: I don’t blame them!

S: Soundwave does not detect a threat from Fluttershy, but correctly detects a threat from Discord.

O: Meaning Soundwave can scan for chaos magic.

S: Well, considering Starscream, I'm pretty sure he can just scan for chaos in general.

O: [laughs] That's not a bad way of looking at it!  Soundwave begins attacking Discord, while the cassettes make a beeline for Fluttershy

S: Rumble, being the only one who can presumably speak in this group, starts badgering Fluttershy for information about this world's defenses.

O: And also, “Why does everything smell like lavender!?”

S: The Decepticons… I guess, know what lavender smells like.

O: I think the question is, do the Decepticons like what lavender smells like?

S: Very good question.  Discord proceeds to make a nu- a nuisance of himself to Soundwave, transforming into a metallic version of himself.  With puns even!

O: [snorts] Fluttershy, being Fluttershy, spots a scratch on Ravage's nose.

S: Or a booboo, as she calls it.

O: And pulls out some ‘booboo cream’ to tend the wound.

S: Ravage looks rather disarmed by all of this attention.

O: The rest of the animal cassettes all gather around Fluttershy, while Rumble is in the background getting more annoyed as he protests that it's not a ‘booboo’ it's ‘battle damage’.

S: Rumble backhands the cream out of Fluttershy's... hand?  Hoof?

O: Hoof, probably. [laughs]

S: To the shock and chagrin of the rest of the cassettes, Discord, and all of the animals in the vicinity.

O: Fluttershy gets upset because she was, “Trying to be nice!”

S: The other three cassettes turn on Rumble, as Discord transforms Fluttershy's animal friends into little robot versions of themselves.  Surprisingly menacing ones!  And they all attack Soundwave.  Soundwave gets to learn what being attacked by a dozen rabid little bunnies feels like.

O: Rumble attempts to dissuade his fellow cassettes from murder, invoking the ‘f word’.  The ‘f word’ being ‘friendship’ here.

S: Fluttershy immediately changes her tune and asks if friendship is what they really care about.

O: Soundwave responds with, “Unquestionably: Friendship superior.”

S: While being covered in a bunch of tiny, rabid, metal animals.

O: Yes.  The fighting stops, as Fluttershy says they can start over and be friends.

S: Discord points out that he could just turn them all into little pretty ponies, but doesn't.

O: The animal friends are returned to normal, and Rumble apologizes to Fluttershy.

S: Megatron coms Soundwave at this point, and tells him to meet up with the rest of the Decepticons.

O: Soundwave responds in the affirmative, but with the caveat of, “Eventually.”

S: And the final panel has Soundwave sitting down and looking on at- as his cassettes and Fluttershy frolic.

O: It is a stupidly cute panel.

S: Mm-hmm, Rumble has a bunch of bunnies in his arms.

O: Ravage is playing with a birb.

S: Laserbeak and Ratbat are both giving tiny animals rides.

O: And Discord is giving Soundwave a thumbs up.

S: It's happy communication all around.

O: Right!? Like, this is what Soundwave deserves, okay!? This is my humble opinion- Soundwave should just stay here and be happy.  I actually would pay good money for a crossover- like, a crossover fic of them.  Just Soundwave helping with like, Fluttershy's animal hospital thing.  That sounds so cute! [laughs]

S: It would be a relaxing vacation for him.

O: He deserves a relaxing vacation.  My boy deserves a relaxing vacation!  Also, just going to pause- if you guys hear creaking, I am super sorry.  But we- my neighbor is moving around a lot for some reason, and there's a lot of cranking going on here.  So, sorry you can hear that.

S: Issue 3 part 2, “The Flying Fox Trot,” begins with Rainbow Dash reclining on a cloud and chomping on an apple, content with life.

O: At least until Windblade zooms by, dissipating Rainbow's perch.

S: The two introduce themselves to each other and rainbow proclaims herself as, “The fastest in Equestria!”

O: To which, Windblade, seasoned warrior, plane with literal jet engines, asks, “Until I showed up?”  Of course, the only way to settle this is with a race, apparently.

S: Considering Rainbow Dash's personality, yeah.

O: Yeah.

S: At the starting line we get cameos from some horse-based Transformers, Mach Kick and Battle Unicorn.

O: Which, honestly, since one’s a horse and one's a unicorn, I'm just amused that these exist at all- in a toy line for boys.  And also, I kind of want them on principle.

S: They're-

O: They look amazing. [laughs]

S: With very convoluted transformations.

O: Apparently.  Because apparently, you can't, you- you- you- can take the horse out of the organic but you cannot take the horse out of a horse.

S: [laughs]

O: I know that wasn’t right.

S: You can take the organic out of the horse, but not the horse out of the robot.

O: Yes.  So it's, uh, anatomy is just about as bad as a real horse is what I'm getting at here. [laughs]  Windblade and Rainbow Dash take off and are neck and neck, figuratively speaking, since Windblade doesn't have a neck right now, but whatever.  Until they run into a gaggle of Decepticons.

S: Misfire and the Rainmakers not- well, to be specific.  And honestly that just sounds like a band name?

O: Jem and the Holograms’ new rival! [laughs] I like- great- okay, okay, I know- I know- I know that we were talking about this in our warm-up, not in the actual episode but if you want to get into weird things you can that like, fit into the Transformers-verse, arguably Jem and the Holograms takes place in the fit into the same continuity.  And in fact, there was a G.I. Joe character whose entire backstory is that he was a roadie for Jem and the Holograms, and G.I. Joe definitely takes place in the same universe as Transformers.

[Okay, so like, I’m not wrong per say, but arguably Transformers, Inhumanoids, G.I. Joe, and Jem and the Holograms all take place in the same universe due to the presence of Hector Ramirez in all four series. ~O]

S: And considering the comics, which definitely have had multiple G.I. Joe crossovers.

O: Yeah, but not Jem and the Holograms.  Like, I think the last IDW Jem and the Holograms was kind of weird because it didn't- it didn't tie in with the rest of like, the Hasbroverse.

S: Mm.

O: Anyway, I'm sorry, tangent!  It just cracks me up that's all.

S: [laughs] The Rainmakers popped up in a season one episode, in G1, when the Autobots had to visit Cybertron.

O: Misfire doesn't show up in G1 till like, very late season four, and by late I mean, season four only has like, what?  Three episodes?

S: Mm.

O: But, you know what I mean!  And he's more widely known from his IDW appearance with the Scavengers, who are ‘sirs not appearing in this comic’.

S: And also for his incredibly bad name-

B: [laugh]

S: And also for his imp- incredibly bad aim, for which, poor Misfire gets his name.

O: Rainbow Dash suggests doing the ‘Flying Foxtrot.’

S: Which Windblade, understandably, is not familiar with.

O: And I'm half convinced that Rainbow Dash made it up, but whatever!  This entire thing seems to be baiting the Cons into shooting heat seeking missiles at the two of them, and then nyrooming behind them so that the missiles hit the Cons instead.

S: The comic ends with Rainbow Dash and Windblade agreeing to a tie and sitting atop a pile of Rainmakers and Misfire.  Who all look like they are regretting their life choices.

O: They were defeated by a pony, [speaks while laughing] I would hope they were regretting their life choices! [returns to speaking normally] Issue 4, part 1, is, “Strength in Numbers,” featuring Applejack and the Insecticons.

S: It opens with Applejack being very upset that there are some giant ass bugs in her orchard, eating everything.  And, I mean, she unfortunately has a super big pest problem here.

O: Which is a bad thing when her entire income is dependent upon farming.

S: Yep.  The Insecticon horde is very happy, and surprisingly cute as they munch on delicious apples and trees.

O: Applejack attempts to chase them off in multiple ways… none of which work.

S: Spraying them with the hose, hitting them with rakes, spraying them with the hose again, and then trying to push them off the apple trees.

O: Back inside her house, she brainstorms more things to try when Discord appears out of nowhere and she too is like, “Are you playin’ a prank, Discord!?”

S: Well, if i lived in ponyverse or-

O: Equestria.

S: Equestria, I think that might have been my first thought too.

O: I mean, fair.  Giant insects are eating her apples.  Like, who else could do that but Discord on a normal day? [laughs]

S: Mm-hmm.  However, Discord says that this stuff is too mundane to be one of his pranks.

O: Applejack asks for his help.  He declines, as he'd much prefer to watch this madness, but he does summon all of the Apple Family to aid Applejack.

S: The Apple Clan is here!

O: No, really, like, ALL of them are here.  And I am not listing them off, because it's pretty much every single Apple character that appeared in the show at some point.

S: So all of the Apple Clan charge in, and I'm kind of wondering now if he like, showed up and briefed them all- just-

O: [laughs] I think they all saw through the portal, and saw bugs eating apples and were like, “My people are calling me!” [laughs]

S: My- my home needs me!

O: My home needs me, exactly.

S: Babs Seed, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom take out an insecticon by themselves by kicking it,

O: Which are Applejack's cousin, older brother, and little sister, respectively.

S: Several other Apples take out other Insecticons with ropes.

O: And an elderly Apple accidentally kicks one of Bombshell's Cerebral Shells back onto him and then orders him to go away while she's sort of flailing.

S: Accidental mind control, here we are!

O: And the day is saved thanks to the Apples, and we move on to the final chapter of the crossover fittingly called, “Finale.”

S: We open in the Crystal Empire with one of the other princesses of Equestria, Princess Cadence, as several of Twilight’s students report back to her that the Decepticons are nowhere to be found, but are likely planning an attack according to the Autobots.

O: Speaking of attack!

S: [sighs] The wall is smashed in as Megatron, Queen Chrysalis, and their allies arrive and demand that they hand over all the magical artifacts.

O: Twilight Sparkle and Optimus arrive just in time.

S: Optimus attempts to get Megatron to leave with politeness.

O: Surprising no one who's dealt with Megatron for more than 10 seconds, he declines. [laughs]

S: And with a combined call of, “Transform and trot out!” and, “Till everypony are one!”  …Oh, so grammatically incorrect.

O: [laughs]

S: The Autobots and their allies go on the offensive.

O: And I get secondhand embarrassment from those lines existing in a printed form.

S: Pinkie Pie throws a pie in poor Soundwave's face.

O: And we get a pretty great two-page spread where a variety of things are happening...

S: Rarity is riding in Arcee's vehicle mode as they launch themselves at Shrapnel.

O: Optimus is punching the crap out of Starscream.

S: Megatron orders Shockwave to just get some magical shit already!

O: Bumblebee goes on a tangent about Equestria's tasteful decor.

S: More bickering back and forth, and went- then Twilight summons the orange cap of shame onto Megatron's Fusion Cannon.

O: For reference, this is referring to the fact that Megatron with his original alt can't normally be sold without said orange cap identifying that he's not a real gun.  Which was a thing that was put into place after- or like you know, late 80’s, early 90’s.  Um, at least, you know, he can't be sold without this in the states and personally I think it's fucking hilarious.

S: And through the powers of friendship and Spike's awesome skills, the Space Bridge opens and Spike and Grimlock come through and assist.  And this is dragon Spike.

O: Yes.

S: Not human Spike.

O: Oh- to which, dragon Spike is wearing adult human Spike’s exo suit though.

S: Mm-hm.

O: To make this more confusing, how many Spikes would you like to go around?  That sounds really dirty within the fandom- and I'm gonna move right along!

B: [laugh]

S: Twilight and Optimus use alicorn magic and the Matrix in tandem to send the Decepticons home.

O: One delightful tea and Energon party later… the Autobots arrive back home themselves.

S: Optimus then explodes the space bridge behind them to protect Equestria from the Decepticons.

O: Much to the sadness of the Autobots, who enjoyed their time with their new friends.

S: Unfortunately for the ponies, Shockwave might have figured out a way to bring them to Cybertron instead.

O: And on that sequel bait, the crossover ends.  And yes, there is actually a sequel that's been announced.  In fact, I think the first issue or two might be out, and we're definitely looking forward to reading it at some point.

S: I feel like I've definitely seen a cover…

O: Other than that, what were your thoughts and feelings about this crossover?

S: The colors and such were really nice, but the cartoony style that the My Little Pony artist used for the robots didn't really work for us.

O: And we want to add, we're not saying they're a bad artist!  It was merely a stylistic option that didn't mesh well for us, specifically for the robot characters.

S: Mm-hm.

O: Um, this was further compounded by the fact that normal- like, Transformers artists that we are more used to doing comics, were also involved in other issues.  And so, they were drawing the robots better, and then the ponies also didn't look like terribly off model or something.  So it was just less distracting when they were doing it.

S: Mm.

O: Overall the special was good, and we recommend it to you if you like Transformers and My Little Pony.

S: Not that you should, you know, wait for our recommendation or anything.

O: [laughs] Uh, the Fluttershy/Soundwave chapter was a standout for both of us.

S: It was very cute, and I really enjoyed how emotive the non-speaking cassettes were.

O: I loved seeing the poor man have to deal with Discord's nonsense.

S: I feel like... we could have done with something longer having him deal with Discord’s nonsense.

O: I- yeah, it was constrained in the way that they did this, where each- there were only four issues, and each issue was- was split into two parts.

S: Yeah, and it's only 24 pages an issue or something.  So it's very- they're very minimal and very constrained.

O: Right.

S: It's just an issue with the medium.  I also really enjoyed the Spike/Grimlock chapter, because it was nice to see them both admiring each other's qualities, and supporting each other, and just being so uplifting.

O: And cute!

S: Mm-hm.

O: My second favorite was probably the Pinkie Pie chapter though, because it was just completely batshit insane.  Uh, just- again, Shockwave had a whisk and a spatula, because he was planning on eating the ponies.  I- where do I go with that?  How do I make that better!?  I can't, that's the answer! [laughs]

S: Shockwave just really wants to- to practice his, um…

O: Culinary arts? [laughs]

S: Yeah. I don't know, the implication that Cybertronians have culinary arts is- it just kind of weirds me out.

O: [continues laughing] Yeah, but- but Gauge was like, “I have a recipe!”

S: I know!  Well, that's the entire implication, it's just like, oh.  Mm.

O: I love that we probably got more actual like, culinary cannon from a fucking My Little Pony crossover than any of the other Transformers comics combined!

S: Yeah.

O: That's weird! [laughs]

S: I mean, the fact that it does come from effectively a pre-war era does mean that we'd potentially get more culture.

O: Eh, yeah.  I mean, but I don't think this was pre-war.  It seemed like it was mid-war?

S: I know, but just the fact that the uh, IDW2 is mostly pre-war.

O: Ah, that's true, that's true.

S: The characters all felt in character, the relationships were entertaining and sweet, and barring the one artist everyone was very expressive.

O: And with that, thanks for joining us for our April Fools’ special.  We hope ya’ll enjoyed, join us next time as we go back to business with episode 43, The Golden Lagoon.

S: Yay.  And that just about wraps it up for us today.  Remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort as Afterspark-Podcast, for any additional information, show notes, or links you may have mentioned.  You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter at AftersparkPod (all one word), and various other locations by searching for ‘Afterspark Podcast’ such as AO3, iTunes, Spotify and Youtube, just to name a few.  And feel free to send us questions on Tumblr, Youtube or AO3.  Till next time, I'm Specs!

O: And I’m Owls!

S: Toodles.

[Outro Music]

[aimandmain]

Sentient robot series I’ve watched and will watch

As the title says! Sentient robot series is a guilty pleasure of mine and I’ve watched a few here and there, so I figured I would give my two cents on the matter.

This list will be updated as I watch more series (and remember what I’ve watched) because I have quite a list I need to go through xD That being said please don’t reblog this since it will be updated as I go on!

Titles written in bold are series I’ve watched

Titles written in italic are series I plan on watching

Iron Leaguer: SUCH A GOOD SERIES!!! Like I seriously love Iron Leaguer so much, it’s cute and filled with action and so tense and goofy all at the same time!! This series is a wild ride and I will definitely recommend it to anyone!!

Don’t watch the OVA, it’s trash. Or well, watch it for the nice screenshots but ignore how they butcher the characters and story and my happy ending.

Appleseed Ex Machina: Not a series but a movie, it’s actually the sequel to Appleseed but it can be watched on its own and you should most definitely watch it. At least just to appreciate Briareos (now that is one HOT mech <3).

Okay but seriously it’s a great movie and very compelling and I really, really liked it, the story is great and the visuals are stunning!

Brave Series: (the entire brave series is on my list and I’m such a fan of this franchise)

Brave Police J-Deckard: Watch this, like seriously, just watch it! I can’t tell you how much I love this series, IT’S JUST SO GOOD!! The characters are all important, accounted for and adorable, the story is great and major twists actually have consequences. Brave Police is AWESOME and you should watch it.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfS8VQ7SmkM&list=PLD42AF03E7468DE0B

The Brave of Gold Goldran:  I finished Goldran just recently and honestly it was pretty damn good, a slow start and you can really feel how it’s sometimes targeted a younger audience but it was still super entertaining and had such lovable characters. So far I’m very impressed with the brave series!!

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhzsrqj62mE&index=1&list=PL5gHOin8W87ewdmNfWVQKpIqRBiGFw8bR

Brave Exkaiser - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-M1nz1mQ1A&list=PLVU94nd5HuqesT2JWNmzH80zLbOqI1nW_

The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp5TrI3UHHc&list=PL5gHOin8W87dYjyI-ueVsFojmqMRwLX31 (Only to ep 13/48)

The Brave Fighter of Legend Da-Garn - https://kissanime.cool/watch/densetsu-no-yuusha-da-garn.o434/y549lj (fairly certain it’s the entire show with subtitles)

The Brave Express Might Gaine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaCX_Py2aK8&list=PL5gHOin8W87d_MJq-L5JgDRFJY1X_QJC8 (Only to ep 35/47)

Brave Command Dagwon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3iA8KwLm0Y&list=PL5gHOin8W87d1PLRL74JNwwxUxHygo2DP 

The King of Braves GaoGaiGar + The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4zVQABDBrM&list=PLVU94nd5HuqfSqbURxOTdQP0U0SOIcRTF 

The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Final Grand Glorious Gathering

Transformers:

IDW Comic: I just started reading the comic and I’m reading the IDW collection edition (I’m doing this in the name of the Combaticons and Lambo twinsI will not lie) and there are some of the stories that I like a lot (I’m still screaming over Megatron’s origin story). But then it’s pretty clear that there are some things about the timeline and continuity that are pretty fucked.

In any case, I’m enjoying it and will recommend it so far!

G1: I watched a healthy bit of G1 and this is basically the root of all mecha anime so I do think everyone should watch a little of it. That being said, we sure have come a looooong way in both visuals and story-telling xD I have a not so secret love for the Combaticons and yes I did continue watching just so I could watch my babies come about. Never watched the end and I don’t need it in my life tbh

Unicron Trilogy: I don’t remember if I gave up on watching Cybertron, because I have a feeling that it was painful but I cannot remember anything from it. Armada was alright, nothing to go wild over but I did like Alexa, it’s not the best Transformers series out there that’s for sure. That being said, Energon, the second installment of the series is actually pretty good and I enjoyed it quite a lot, mostly because I was happy to see the token human having a special function and not just “being” there. It was pretty cool.

Animated: I’m not gonna lie I LOVED THIS SERIES!! Like I was super hooked and I could not let it go. If I had the same knowledge of the series back then as I do today i might have been more upset over all the liberties but honestly, Animated was freaking cool and I loved Sari and all the characters!!

Robots in Disguise 2001: I remember watching this as a kid and I’m definitely going to watch it again, if I don’t enjoy it at least I can roast child-me for having bad taste xD

*Prime: Started but never finished so I’mstartingg up again soon

*Rescue Bots: I’m not gonna lie I watched a lil of this and it’s honestly so carefree and fun and the characters are adorable!

*Transformers Go!: I don’t even know what’s up here but hey it’s like 10 ep I might survive

*Robots in Disguise: I will never forgive hasbro for continously cutting out Sunstreaker but i might give it a go

* These four are in the same continoum and should be watched in this order.

Prime Wars Trilogy: I have no idea what to expect

Cyberverse: Looks fun

Bayverse: the first movie was good and i still like it, the third one was also pretty interesting but had a lot of flaws since it’s Michael Bay. I’m not a fan of Michael Bay. The rest of the movies are trash in my opinion... I like Crosshairs tho.

Knightverse/Bumblebee: THIS MOVIE IS NOTHING SHORT OF AMAZING AND EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH IT SO KNIGHT CAN GET THE FUNDING FOR THE NEXT ONE ALRIGHT?!?!? LIKE SERIOUSLY I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!! and fyi this is not realted to Bayverse AT ALL (which is only a good thing yikes.) ((I know it’s official that this is a prequel to bayverse but that would honestly not make a lot of sense and this is transformers live-action done right, Michael Bay take notes.))

Someone, please fix the Transformers univers continuums, it’s giving me a headache QwQ

Others:

Gad Guard Idol master xenoglassia Machine Robo Daigunder Chou soku henkei gyrozetter Blue Meteor SPT Layzner Dai-guard Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula Metabots

Please feel free to suggest other series and movies, as I said it’s a guilty pleasure and I sometimes find it difficult to find a series that fits my taste! Please be aware that there at least needs to be English subtitles!!

[taiblogcomics]

Star-Crossed

Hey there, applewood-smoked bacon jerky. Oh boy, we're getting into the really cool Pony comics now. Let's do this one first, mostly because it's so big. Last week was issue 74, and this week would logically be issue 75. Wow, can you imagine 75 whole issues? That's a milestone for sure, and the comic agrees. That's why the issue is an absolutely huge prestige format book. And being IDW's 20th anniversary, too, that makes it really a milestone to celebrate~

Here's the cover. Well, part of it:

Yeah, this is only the front cover. It's actually a wrap-around cover, with the other characters on the back cover. I chose to put only the front half for a couple reasons. One, because putting the back cover on the left while the logo is on the right just didn't look right. Two, you're still not going to see the back cover when it's on the shelf or in a collection. The front cover is the selling point, so that's what we'll look at. And it's a very nice stained-glass look. Rather than betray the story, the cover opts to just celebrate the main characters for its milestone, and that's respectable~

The comic opens with a long-ago battle with Discord. Princesses Celestia and Luna are in resplendant armour, and joined by Queen Novo of the hippogriffs, the cat queen of the Abyssinians, and even that deer king of the Everfree that I don't remember the name of. Everything's going nuts, and the wonderful combination of Andy Price's art and Discord's magic is a treat to look at. However, when confronted, Discord bleats out that "It's not me this time!", and indeed some other being appears on the horizon. Discord and the five monarchs team up and combine their magic (in a display vaguely reminiscent of the Elements of Harmony) to banish this mysterious intruder. The magic and the creature dissipate. When Celestia then demands an explanation from Discord, he puts them all to sleep, saying he can't let anyone remember what happened here. He leaves them an apology cake as well, which is nice.

Cut over to the present day, where the mane six are out at a bazaar or rummage sale of some kind. Rarity's found some sort of necklace, with a stone that not even she nor Twilight can identify. Rarity offers it to Twilight, since the purple matches with her colour scheme, and that's when things get weird. No sooner is it around Twilight's neck does a mysterious voice boom out "FIND THE REST". A voice only she can hear, no less. After a quick reconvening back at the castle, it seems only Twilight can hear the voice, no matter who wears it. Fluttershy is the voice of reason here, suggesting that maybe wearing jewelry that talks to you in a voice nopony else can hear is a bad idea. But that's when the necklace suddenly starts projecting a map. Not just any map, though: it's a star map.

The star map interacts with the Cutie Map in Twilight's castle, showing a projection of the sky and then several objects falling from said sky and impacting with the map of Equestria. There are also a bunch of space-related shout-outs in the star map, and if you recognise them all, you're a bigger nerd than I. Also, the display of the celestial objects impacting Equestria is one of those two-page spreads you have to turn on its side, which is especially difficult with the stiffer prestige-format cover. Anyway, all that aside, Twilight identifies the celestial objects not making Star Trek references as the Andalusian Constellation, a lost constellation that appeared from the sky centuries ago (gonna go out on a limb and guess probably "a thousand years ago"), and then disappeared just as quickly. The origins of both its appearance and disappearance are one of the greatest mysteries in Equestrian astronomy, so Twilight is eager to solve it.

Now, I should note that every time the necklace starts whispering to Twilight, her eyes go a bit... weird. Wobbly and bright pink. So I'm sorry to tell you that everypony's hopes that this will just be a nice, safe adventure about astronomical research are probably going to be dashed rather spectacularly. And indeed, after the rest of her friends depart to make travel plans, Twilight ends up snapping at Spike for daring too close to the necklace, unleashing one of Andy Price's legendary Scary Character Faces, a fan favourite of this blog that we haven't talked about in some time. Once Spike clears out, it is indeed revealed that something's not quite right here. Twilight is being possessed through the necklace by some sort of malevolent entity, one sharing a silhouette and name with the creature banished in the prologue...

Speaking of said prologue, we get another brief scene of probably a thousand years ago, with the same spooky silhouette rampaging. It seems that Discord could even have been in a relationship with this mysterious Cosmos, and now he's looking to break up with her the only way he can think of: by bringing it before Celestia and making it her problem. Real mature, Discord. Anyway, back in the present, the teams and travel plans have all been... planned. Since it's such a big undertaking (both the quest and the milestone comic), there's gonna be some cameo teamups. Pinkie Pie and Big Macintosh will go to Klugetown. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike are off to the Crystal Empire. Zecora and the Crusaders are headed to Griffonstone, while Fluttershy and Angel Bunny are going to scour the Everfree Forest. And finally Twilight herself will take Applejack with her to Canterlot. And when they each recover the fallen stars, bring them back to Twilight. She literally demands it.

We follow that latter team first. Twilight and Applejack ride the train to Canterlot, and Twilight begins to report that her necklace is detecting where the next nearest star fragment is. Despite AJ's concerns, Twilight leads her to the castle. Without even telling the princesses they're there, they head into a secret basement. This is apparently where Celestia stores all the dangerous things she doesn't want lying around the castle, and there's a few more cameos littered in the backgrounds here. The nature of some of this stuff starts to make Applejack even more suspicious, and when she reaches for the necklace, Cosmos drops the facade of being Twilight and attacks AJ. After a short (but really cool) fight, AJ ends up locked in a cage while Cosmos claims her prize.

Since the Everfree Forest is not too far from Fluttershy's place, she has time to stop at home and prepare there, unlike the rest of the teams. Discord's already visiting, and he tries to tempt Fluttershy off to some fantastical adventure. When she explains she's already on one, to find a fallen star, he suddenly begins to panic--especially when he finds out Twilight's already found one of the others. Rather than the Everfree, he warps the both of them to his realm. To Discord's credit, he then tells her exactly what's going on: Cosmos was a magical being like himself, but much more actively malicious. She was imprisoned in the stars, which fell to Equestria to keep them apart. He found the one in the Everfree and hid it himself, to keep it away from anyone else. Fluttershy is understanding, but reasons with him that perhaps they'd better bring the matter to Celestia.

Discord agrees, and the pair retrieve the star from the Everfree, just to further ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of some villain later on. They then warp to Canterlot--Discord's powers really cut down on travel time--where Celestia is waiting for them. Failing their spot check, Twilight grabs the star from them and tosses it to Luna. Now there's three stars, each possessing one of the princesses with a piece of Cosmos' consciousness. Yes, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna are all speaking in unison and getting flirty with Discord. Half of Cosmos being reunited has begun to bring back enough power to start warping the area around them, and Cosmos begins discussing her new takeover with Discord. Discord, however, declines, having reformed since they were last together. Cosmos is deeply displeased to hear he plans to oppose her. So, to distract him, she zaps Fluttershy with some sort of spell to give him something else to worry about, while Cosmos waits for her remaining fragments to return to her...

First of all, congratulations to My Little Pony for reaching 75 issues! It’s very rare to see a comic book reach such a high number nowadays, especially one based on a licensed property. Everyone who’s worked on this series to get it here should be very proud! I’m pretty sure I said the same sort of sentiment fir the 50th issue, and now it’s even more true~

Now then: here’s yet another villain of ages past come to wreak havoc on modern day Equestria, as they so often do. If it was anyone other than Discord, I’m not sure I’d buy the whole memory spell that he used to make them forget the incident, but Discord’s powers can suspend any disbelief. Either way, Cosmos is scary. I know Nightmare Knights just introduced Eris as another sort of “malevolent counterpart to Discord”, but Cosmos sells it way better in her flashback scenes. Additionally, when you finally get to see her in full glory at the end of the issue, she’s way scarier than a big pink anthro bird. And her being able to take over the princesses so easily is highly chilling. Of course, this is also all helped by Andy Price’s art, which continues to knock it out of the park as always~

Whatever she’s up to, we’ll just have to see if the heroes can handle it next issue. I know I’m looking forward to it, and hopefully another 75 more~

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: April 2018

Not a lot of TV this month so lots of time to read and see movies and play games. Here’s how I spent the month of April! 

……….FILM……….

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) This is a movie that captures everything I love and don’t love about mainstream comics: it’s really only enjoyable if you’re caught up on the individual films and if you’re caught up on everything else then you’re gonna find something to enjoy. With that said, I’m also really impressed with the consequentiality that’s explored here. There are legit stakes and I appreciated that level of surprise and suspense from a movie like this.

Green Room (2015) I’m not sure I’ve ever been more stressed during a film. The pacing is great, the characters are charismatic, and holy heck is this a...violent film. Not in a Saw sort of way, but in a way that makes me think this is what real violence with knives and guns looks like. If you can stomach it, it’s worth the watch.

A Quiet Place (2018) Another really tense, engaging film, and a brisk 1.5 hours long! The creature design really grew on me and while the final shot was...a departure from the rest of the film, it was a really great execution of a solid premise.

Ready Player One (2018) Now I understand why people either love or hate the book. It was the cinematic equivalent of how I felt walking into a comic book store as a child: lots of cool stuff to look at and a clear vibe that if I didn’t already know what everything was then I had no right being there. It wasn’t a great feeling then and it isn’t a great feeling now.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Good Place (Episode 2.01 to 2.13) To share a lot of why I like this show may be to reveal a lot of the plot and I think that’s a disservice. What I want to say is that it’s been a while since I’ve watched a show that was briskly paced and was built on a premise that had me genuinely wondering where the show would go next. Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for some fantasy, or maybe it’s because this is a tight cast and an engaging plot. If you haven’t tried the show out, don’t do any research and go check out season 1.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Episode 5.12 to 5.18) Oh it’s good to be back. Still a beautiful cast and now I realize 2/3 of my current tv is made by Michael Schur. And Pimento!

Terrace House: Opening New Doors (Episode 1.01 to 1.04) It’s good to be back! I like the vibe of this as it more closely captures the spirit of the first season i watched (Boys & Girls in the City). The northern environment also adds a nice touch. Very excited for what’s to develop and Mizuki is obviously the coolest.

……….READING……….

The Fall of the House of Cabal by Jonathan L. Howard (Complete) Ugh what a fitting conclusion to the series. I suppose it could keep going, but it really wraps up in a way that if there were no more stories, I still feel satisfied. I can’t recommend it enough and if you haven’t gotten into the world of Johannes Cabal yet, start with the first novel, Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe by Ryan North & Erica Henderson (Complete) This is a perfect graphic novel. It told a standalone story yet made me immediately want to pick up the ongoing series! It’s all ages and is super super funny and Squirrel Girl is the sort of well-rounded individual who SHOULD be a superhero. Also if anyone knows how I can get the gig to do one of Deadpool's Guide to Super Villains Cards Trading Cards, lemme know.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection Vol. 5 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Mateus Santolouco, Cory Smith, Dan Schoening, and Sophie Campbell (Complete) This volume made me realize that the story of the ninja turtles is one of family and gangs/factions. The turtles, the Foot, Krang and the Utroms, and now the Mutanimals all have their own agendas and schemes. This volume dipped into more of the side stories of the series (Turtles in Time!) and I still can’t recommend the series enough to any Turtle fan.

Ultimate Spider-Man Ultimate Collection 3 by Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley (Complete) I found the first conflict in this volume (a burglar dressing up as Spider-Man) to be a little underwhelming. Then I realized it was setting up Peter to be ready to change costumes (the black suit that becomes Venom) and it was a brilliant stroke of writing. The ultimate version of Venom (and the version in the Spectacular Spider-Man series) has always been strong for giving him a greater history/connection with Peter and the book is stronger for it.

……….AUDIO……….

Eternal Champ II by Sweet Valley (2018) I’ve been so ready for this album! Eternal Champ is fantastic and the sequel doesn’t let you down. There are classic video game samples and a few unexpected ones, but the whole album is solid.

Deadly Manners (Podcast) Ten episodes of pure murder-mystery fun! The characters and plot are a lot of fun and the whole thing has a nice radio drama vibe. Kristen Bell plays the host of a dinner party and RuPaul is a lot of fun as a fortune teller. The rest really needs to be heard for itself. Go listen.

……….GAMING……….

Dungeons & Dragons Hexcrawl Campaign (Wizards of the Coast) The party has finally set out on an adventure again! They’re waltzing right past some of their easier tasks because they found out about an ancient temple to a dragon god and now they wanna check that out. We’ll see what happens!

Dungeons & Dragons Homebrew Campaign (Wizards of the Coast) This adventure is back underway! When last we left off, the party was surrounded by a traitorous duke in a sneaky forest and the threat was actually the druid’s sister! Now the group has healed said sister, thwarted the duke (via axe and octopi and firebolts) and are now on their way back to homebase to recover and plan next steps.

And that’s it! As always, I’m up for any recommendos you may have so send them my way and happy Monday!

[renaramblesaboutcomics]

Wednesday Roundup 29.11.18

Another week another grab bag of comics in what might be one of the highest rated weeks of the Roundup since I started over a year ago! But how does everyone hold up? How do they all compare? I’m asking for dramatizing’s sake but genuinely there’s nothing in this week that isn’t immensely enjoyable if they even remotely pique your interests. GREAT week for comics, everyone. GG.

Tesladyne’s Atomic Robo, Image’s Black Magick, DC’s Super Sons, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters II, IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light

Tesladyne’s Atomic Robo and the Spectre of Tomorrow #2 Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener, Anthony Clark, Jeff Powell

There is a certain amount of dry wit and scientific community knowledge that is instrumental to getting the full experience out of the clever writing and deceptively simplistic design of Atomic Robo, and for the past few months I’ve been making a solid attempt to evaluate these comics and Robo himself based on the entertainment received without much of that. And, in all honesty, the more I’ve looked into this the more I wonder if that’s the wrong approach for “unbiased” evaluation to begin with. 

For example, I’ve been very firm on my description of Usagi Yojimbo as being one of those great comics that only gets more and more enriching as you grow a personal interest in history, Japanese culture, and mythologizing -- it’s far enough removed from our actual realities and accessible enough that I recommend it to people who don’t have those interests, but I find that those interests add so much more to the experience. The simple designs, the consistency, the way the narrative is built in episodic spurts more than long form narrative -- those are all reasons I can in good faith recommend these comics to people outside of niche interests, but those niche interests add so much to any reading that it’s difficult to really express why anyone would want to read without so much as acknowledging it. 

That all said, this particular issue continues that same level of quality and intrigue, but also rewards the emotional investment you may have in the characters involved. PersonallyI relate a lot more to Robo’s sense of self-exile and reclusive depression which only causes more and more problems to pile up far more than I’d have ever thought I would, and I don’t think I’d be alone in that. There’s also the long time readers’ reward in seeing consequences to that stollen crystal from Doctor Dinosaur’s island ages ago. All great stuff which is only more greatly emphasized by the creative use of familiar real world scientific organizations and entities wrapped up in this bizarre and surreal reality of Atomic Robo.

Image’s Black Magick (2015-present) #9 Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott

Sometimes the real value of storytelling lies less in identifying the complete package and more in being able to identify the way it weaves multiple elements and even genres at once to provide a new kind of satisfying narrative. And it’s in that way that I think Black Magick has so quickly become not only one of my favorite Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott comics, but one of my favorite recent publications in general. 

Black Magick follows a noir-style crime drama in structure, but its embrace of the supernatural and, especially, in witching stories provide the sort of edge that makes the tiredness of the former genre feel fresh even in the heavily saturated market for procedurals we have currently, while the latter feels completely reborn from that small but influential boom we felt in the 90s. I have never been closer to re-marathoning The Craft, Practical Magic and Charmed outside of the Halloween season. But each new issue of Black Magick brings me that step closer.

This issue also happens to follow the very specific to this week trend of leaning heavily on emotional stakes to really pull itself and its characters above even the thickest of genre settings however, and Black Magick specifically manages that while maintaining an incredibly tight hold on Rowan’s perspective. Which is fascinating because on reread you really realize how much the POV shifts away from Rowan and onto the other characters and their subplots but in reflection it all feels like it’s only in service to Rowan’s main story more than anything else. 

Nicola Scott continues to prove she is perhaps the most gifted and, really, the most prolific of comic book artists in the modern era and I maintain that seeing the true extent of her talents is best assessed by reading this comic and just allowing yourself to be blown away by it all.

This issue also gets major props for introducing a familiar. Good, comic. Perhaps not as action filled or breathtaking as the last issue which was a nail biter from start to finish, but most certainly deserving of those 4/5 stars. 

DC’s Super Sons (2017-present) Annual #1 Peter J. Tomasi, Paul Pelletier, Cam Smith, HI-FI

If you’re one of those people -- and let me absolutely clear that it is more than understandable to be one of these people -- who find super pets and the absolute general ridiculousness of a storyline that involves super animals in any capacity with a timeline that makes no sense and the only real dialogue that matters being literal growls barks and yips, this is not an issue worth your $4.99, you’ll hate it and be annoyed with people like me screaming from the rooftops that you should buy it and read it and love it. And that is completely and utterly fine and reasonable.

I am not fine or reasonable, however, and this is literally the most rewarding $4.99 I’ve spent on a comic in ages. Because no joke there were several times while I was liveblogging this issue both on my main blog and to my friends in PMs that I was literally in tears crying with laughter because

because

Holy shit guys.

In recent years a continued criticism I have carried for superhero comics is that there is a huge tone problem, in that there is a genre’s worth of tones and atmospheres that could be played off of to give at least each individual book if not each individual issue its own feeling and its own intrigue that would set it apart from the rest of the line that given week. DC, especially, has contributed greatly to this tone problem because as I’ve said many times, there was about five years there where even the color palettes for their comics had no variation between them. And it was maddening. 

So to have something goofy, to have something different, and to have it be fun, enjoyable, full of twists and turns, and not so damn determined to take itself beyond seriously, it makes this comic throwback feel like a breath of fresh air in the most necessary of ways. 

And I should be clear, I don’t mean that this comic is for everyone, or that Super Sons as a comic in general doesn’t manage to strike that cord a lot since it really is one of the most enjoyable comics DC has put out in years, but this really felt like a treat, an additional, ridiculous, hilarious story set so far apart from what’s come before. It’s greatly enjoyable. Genuinely deserve of my coveted 5/5 stars. 

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters II (2017) #5 (of 5) Erik Burnham, Tom Waltz, Dan Shoening, Charles Paul Wilson III, Luis Antonio Delgado

We finally come to an end of this second giant mashup of Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, truly the sort of framework and pairing that is as old as time, and I get to reward everyone’s patience with me reviewing these for a month an a half straight with some final thoughts of sorts. 

I compliment both of these writers quite a bit for their respective contributions and the absolute mastery they both have shown for the voices of their respective franchises, but as this week is pretty well summed up with Rena Waxes Philosophically And Is Old, I think both of our times are better spent here by pointing out something a bit different that really came together with this issue. And that’s that for how pitch perfect these writers are for capturing the long expected voices of these beloved characters, the real remarkable compliment I can give them is how they have uniquely captured and redefined these voices to really make them their own.

Despite how much my childhood might have desired these team ups (and believe me, it so did) the fact is that these interactions and these relationships are utterly a modern invention, and what could easily fail outside of the concept states instead flourishes with us here specifically because they are sticking to their guns and not always angling for the obvious route with these interactions. That’s what makes all of this so fascinating and so rewarding as a fan.

In comparison to the predecessor, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters II does not have as tight of a storyline with a steady but consistent pacing and understanding of where it’s going. But I think because that set up was taking care of in the original these five issues allowed for more experimentation and more concentration on character development and fun scenarios. So if you’re far more invested in character interactions and in comics taking full advantage of the outrageous and unique tone of its medium, there’s probably all the more for you to enjoy with this compared to the first. But at the same time, it would be lying to say that the main driving plot and stakes, with Darius Dun’s ghost and the Fast Forward Evil Turtles-lite trying to harvest souls in a complicated and underused concept didn’t come off as overall a bit weaker than the original.

All that said, ultimately this comic is a joy for fans and it seems to be aimed quite specifically at that audience either way. And in that case I have to give it my highest regards.

IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light (2016-present) #11 James Roberts, Jack Lawrence, Joana Lafuente

Ever since the last arc of James Robert’s parent series, More Than Meets the eye, there’s been a few gaps in the concept of what happened on the Lost Light during and after the mutiny, whether or not the crew saw the Rod Squad’s las message, and especially curious to people like me who can’t help themselves but love our affable and entirely flawed co-Captain Rodimus, what was his final request for his burial and what not since we saw the rest of the crew’s.

And in the second part of this “Mutineer Trilogy” that we have for Lost Light, we are at long last getting our answers to many of those questions. And for a reveal that was a year coming, the Lost Light manages to pack all the twists, turns, and punches that we could hope to expect! 

It’s fascinating to see Getaway’s sense of grandeur when it comes to himself, his plans, and really the whole driving force with the mutiny, but I really find that where Roberts’ writing and where we as readers get the most out of is the interesting and very layered sense that Roberts has for the lore of the Transformers. It feels like every subtle piece of dialogue, whether it concerns lore and mythology of the universe or not, is really weaved throughout with a submersion in this fictional culture. And that, especially, is really revealing here. It’s a very rewarding way to handle lore and I greatly appreciate it. 

One that does make me apprehensive with the turns Lost Light has taken most recently, however, is that moral grayness sometimes feels really blurred with a light take or even somewhat forgiving light given to what are undeniably and outright stated as fascist and genocidal elements of the Transformers’ past, especially Megatron. Having this issue completely dedicated to Getaway’s perspective while tackling these themes doesn’t really help because he is most egregiously one of the most villainous and traitorous characters the series has tackled, but while it feels like he’s only using the aghast feelings of the crew toward Megatron, ultimately he’s the only one who gives a speech against Megatron’s past of genocide and fascism while also taking over in the most truly reprehensible and fascist ways possible himself. This is further blurred by having some very topical buzz words like “fake news” uttered by Getaway in a... lbr pretty nonsensical way in-universe, but then have him going around imprisoning or hideously killing all of the crew which doesn’t agree with him.

I’m basically waiting for Roberts to fully address all of this in the story but right now it feels very much like “both sides are extreme and bad” mentality that, given Roberts’ politics and statements irl, I don’t think is what he ultimately wants this story to be coming away as, but I’m nervous and would like for things to tread lightly considering the current environment. 

ALL of my apprehensions and concerns out of the way, this is still a fascinating and ultimately fantastic comic that I really truly enjoy and would love to see more of because if Roberts’ Transformers is guilty of anything it’s definitely guilty of raising my expectations and setting that bar so high because of how good and how complicated and interesting all of it ca be in the right hands.

Hey there! We finish up another pretty fun, if not quick, week in comics with lots of stories and characters, and another pretty great time from yours truly. And if you enjoy these write-ups or anything else I do whether it be the Roundups, my Rambles, my personal creative projects, or you’re interested in my upcoming podcast, you can help contribute through donations to my Ko-Fi, Patreon, or PayPal. For as little as $1 per project, you make all of this possible.

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