#because of that splinter is a lot more involved in the plot of season one

[tizeline]

Idk if you already answered an ask like this already but does Splinter and Donnie have a good father and son relationship? 🤔

For the most part, yeah it's good. Splinter still has his flaws of course, as much as he loves Donnie he isn't always very good at showing it, and he's still dealing with some pretty intense depression.

That being said, taking care of one mutant turtle child, while still hard, is significantly easier than care of four. Because of that, Splinter in this AU is able to dedicate a lot more time to Donnie. On the flipside, because Donnie doesn't have any siblings to entertain him, he seeks out Splinter for company a lot more, and Splinter isn't always able to give all of the attention that he needs. But overall, I'd say they are closer in the AU than they are in canon, considering they've mostly only been able to rely on each other for so long.

[ilk-insolence]

Raph Is A Great Strategist

Numerous times in the show Raph has shown to have a preference for straightforwardly punching his problems away rather than think up a more complex solution. Like how his immediate fix to getting Mayhem out of the mirror in Mystic Library was to punch everything in the bathroom but the mirror. However, when Raph understands the situation requires more in depth strategy, he’s shown to be an incredibly capable tactician.

(long post ahead!)

In nearly all the plot heavy episodes like Shadow of Evil, Many Unhappy Returns, and the season finales, Raph gets moments where he’s highlighted for his strategic thinking. In Insane in the Mama Train, he’s the one who figures out which eyeball-button goes to the front car with the dark armor, because “‘it was the only button [the Foot Clan] didn’t want me to press!’” [21:05]. He’s also the one who came up with the scheme to defeat all the (known) combatants in the train, with Leo specifically attributing Raph as the deviser during their mind meld [19:46]. In Many Unhappy Returns, after spending a single night waylaying the Shredder, Raph formulated a plan using all the tricks the team learned, seamlessly transitioning the mystic collar Leo acquired into it [19:53], to defeating the Shredder. Additionally, he’s repeatedly called for a retreat during fights, like in Shadow of Evil, Shreddy or Not (Finale pt 2), and the movie, when he can tactically recognize that a battle couldn’t be won. Each time, the show/movie implied that that was the right call, for the family to lose the fight but win the war.

And it’s not just that Raph is good at strategy when he’s pushed to be more serious; the show characterizes him as passionate about creating plans, he enjoys doing it. Literally in the first episode, Mystic Mayhem, after the turtles’ initial plan failed of getting Splinter out of the living room to touch his Do-Not-Touch Cabinet, Raph immediately started devising a new plan that involved “ten chickens [and] a gallon of rubber cement” [9:35]. It was convoluted, sure, and they didn’t end up using it, but it was inventive and the opposite of reluctant. This is also shown in Bug Busters, where Raph planned out dousing Mikey in honey to attract the oozequitoes [2:52]; Snow Day, with the idea to freeze Ghost Bear like in Jupiter Jim Pluto Vacation 4; and Raph’s Ride-Along (and also Bad Hair Day), where Mind Raph created multiple schemes to get the criminals arrested. The show wouldn’t have made Raph be so creative with his plans if they were trying to characterize him as someone who didn’t like strategizing.

So does why Raph do stupid shit sometimes where he doesn’t think things through at all? Well, even though Raph is good at strategy and enjoys doing it, it’s clear his immediate impulse is still “punch the problem in the face”. In fact, all the turtle boys contain the fascinating dichotomy of being incredibly smart in some areas, and the dumbest teenagers alive in others. Just look at Donnie. It’s also how Raph is a loving protective older brother, and the guy who shoved Leo into a wall so hard he disappeared in one frame for shits and giggles (The Mutant Menace x). None of this means that Raph is bad at strategy though.

tldr: Yeah, Raph has a lot of dumb and, frankly, insane moments in the show, but he’s still an incredible tactician who’s plans consistently saved his family and sometimes the world. He's a great strategist.

[our-happygirl500-fan]

So when the Rise first started airing the Rise team was working under the assumption that they would be getting three seasons for the series but then season two got cut in half & we are still hoping that Rise will come back to get its season three.

We know what some of the scrapped episodes for season two would have been like because a lot of the episodes had already reached story board phase before they had to be scrapped as the Rise team rushed to wrap up season two but we only know the vague outline for season 3.

Around the time season two of Rise finished up Andy Suriano discussed on discord the plans that the team had for season three saying it would have been revealed that the Turtles had two more siblings 

The extra mutation chambers can be seen in Evil League of Mutants & members of the Rise team have implied that Big Mama’s assistant was one of the missing turtle siblings.

The reveal was supposed to happen towards the end of season two with the family then each splitting up to go look for them, two turtles going with Draxum & two turtles going with Splinter to look for their missing siblings.

Given that the plot of season three involved the turtles traveling (most likely out of New York), it’s highly likely that season three would have been the season to give us an Usagi episode.

Rise is the only TMNT series not to have their own version of Usagi & I don’t believe that the Rise team would have overlooked that & probably would have introduced their own version of Usagi eventually if given the chance & the plot for season three seems like the perfect opportunity to do that.

With the Turtles traveling in search of their missing siblings there would easily be a chance for Leo’s half of the team to end up in the Yojimbo world for an episode OR with the existence of Hidden Cities & Yokai, Rise has the unique opportunity to make Usagi & the Turtles exist in the same world and Usagi & Leo could have ended up meeting in a hidden city.

Either way the ‘search for the missing siblings’ plot that season 3 was supposed to have would have been the perfect opportunity for the Rise version of Usagi to be introduced.

[cmrosens]

Creating fantasy religions: something I'm doing now so thought I would post about my process.

The mistake a lot of writers make is developing a religion from a singular event, and piling a ton of stuff on top of it that makes logical sense. Whereas, in reality, religions are self propelling systems that travel under their own steam and if there is an event that catalyses them, it is never in a socio-cultural or political and economic vacuum.

You also end up with an apparently totally random set of things attached to one figure which does make sense if you know the origins, but otherwise is just accepted even if the meaning is lost.

It is the difference between "the god of Midwinter and festivals around this originated because a cult of necromancers were banished into the frozen wastes and this <event> became the Origin Story for how we got to a midwinter festival with creepy bone puppets in my fantasy world" and a religion that feels ... Real.

Ok so firstly, this is a bit too neat. (This was my original reasoning for a midwinter god called Yarash and I changed it because it wasn't very realistic or interesting for my world.)

Why, let's say, is the god whose feast is at midwinter also the patron of puppet makers and osteopaths?

Well, we could say that this makes a lot of sense because the god's festival was originally to do with remembering the dead, and puppets were used in the festival to represent the dead, as necromancy should have been part of it but people didn't actually know how to raise the dead properly. Then as magic evolved people could actually raise the dead for short periods to deliver messages in these festivals, but this drew internal debate from the conservative priests who thought puppets were the original form and so should be maintained, and necromancy was an aberration, vs the progressives who saw necromancy as the original INTENTION and so the natural and correct progression from the puppets. The debate might rage on for years creating splinters, sects, differing traditions that sit uneasily together but find middle ground in other less controversial topics and practices, and even cults.

At some point, the secular authorities get involved for their own reasons. Maybe some rulers are pro-"The Old Bones" or anti-, or they want to outlaw necromancy or benefit from it for various political reasons, socio-cultural reasons, economic reasons, military intelligence reasons, etc. Whatever happens, happens. Times change. Official attitudes swing back and forth, while internally the religious debates continue, now informed by and perhaps as counters to, this secular intervention.

Then we end up in modern times, the times of the story. Nobody really believes in gods anymore. They do remember the old gods of the seasons and at the secular festival in winter, there are a lot of traditional puppet shows that have a whole history and life of their own. The puppets are called "the old bones" and nobody really remembers why. Osteopaths have the puppets and symbols relating to the midwinter festival on their certificates and college heraldry and nobody really remembers why, but the information is there to look up and is a fun thing to know for trivia nights.

And necromancy... is a controversial branch of science, divorced from its original religious significance for many but not for all, and more integrated as an art or practice in the public consciousness (positively or negatively depending on perspective and propaganda and actual usage).

And now, you have a ton of depth and meat to it without having to flesh out the arguments and debates themselves unless that is plot relevant.

There is a lot you can do with this society now, and by tweaking one thing you can create completely different societies and ideologies. The depth is now there to set your story at any point during this history and to develop numerous ideas. So much stuff can happen.

With the singular event version, and a static fact of a necromancy cult in the frozen wastes, things are much more limited and linear, with less depth to play with.

Also remember that your characters will not be expected to know everything about your world unless they are experts in religion and/or history, and also the 2 subjects are not mutually inclusive so a historian is not an expert theologian and vice versa. How much the average person on the street knows depends on levels of formal education, accessible knowledge beyond formal education, which may include religious instruction and folklore, and propaganda. But it means you can build in some subtle things - like the puppet symbols on the door of an osteopath or bone doctor - that never need to be explained, but have a logical in-world explanation below the surface.

Try taking a static idea and work it into a system and see where it leads!

EDIT: I'm doing a workshop on Build A Hellscape at the Devils and Justified Sinners online conference, Saturday 24th Aug 2024, 9AM UK Time. Sign up below:

[stra-tek]

Kzinti and Star Trek

You don't see many Kzinti in Star Trek, and there's a very good reason for that: They're not actually Star Trek aliens, but a borrow from Larry Niven's Known Space series of books. And so Paramount don't actually own them. "The Slaver Weapon" episode of The Animated Series is an adaptation of Larry's "The Soft Weapon"

TAS' "Slaver Weapon" brought lots of Known Space lore into Trek. 4 Man-Kzin Wars were fought prior to the invention of faster-than-light travel, which really doesn't work in Trek where First Contact established, well, first contact and it was between humans and Vulcans after the first warp flight.

We also saw a Slaver, which have a rich backstory in Known Space where they're known as the Thrint and once ruled over the galaxy with their telepathy.

Some of Niven's backstory fits into Trek but other parts don't.

The Man-Kzin Wars don't. That being said, there have been attempts to bring Kzin back into Trek and several references to them. The Next Gen novel "The Captain's Honor" features the M'dok in the B-plot, a feline species who fought 2 wars with humanity one before the founding of the Federation and one after... sound vaguely familiar? They were originally the Kzin, and had name and details changed to avoid potential legal issues.

The Kzin exist in the Star Fleet Battles tabletop gaming universe (which is like a Trek splinter universe, licensed from TOS, TAS and the Star Fleet Technical Manual but nothing else), but they lack the distinctive bat ears.

Starfleet Command, the videogame adaptation of Star Fleet Battles swaps the Kzinti for the Mirak, again to avoid copyright issues.

But then came Star Trek Picard, where in season one Riker talks about an issue with the Kzinti (apparently permission was sought from Larry Niven and given for the mention) and then Lower Decks gave us Taylor, who is clearly Kzinti but likely will just never have anyone say it out loud just to be on the safe side

Oh, and the 1980 Star Trek Maps were cheeky and called them the K'zinti and hoped the apostrophe would make everything okay.

There have been attempts to bring the Kzinti back to Trek, like a planned Enterprise season 5 episode called "Kilkenny Cats" which was almost resurrected as a New Voyages fan film project. Here's the poster, where they'd replaced the Kzinti with the Kytharri (another Kzin-expy from the DS9 "Prophecy and Change" anthology

The "Kilkenny Cats" story read somewhat like a retread of DS9's "Armageddon Game". There were also attempts to get an animated Star Trek movie made called Lions of the Night, involving Sulu and the Enterprise-B dealing with a Kzinti invasion.

Oh oh, and read Ringworld. It's fantastic. And makes one wonder what the Kzin world is like in the Trek world... because they're unable to stop themselves launching violent wars on neighbours which they have no hope of winning, their world is essentially occupied by humans and that's very un-Trek (which of course makes it 10x more fascinating) indeed. How would Starfleet and the Federation deal with such a threat?

[sun-undone]

I just watched the season 4 teaser and I neeed your thoughts

AHHH HELLO FRIEND it's been a fucking minute hasn't it???? obx is back after what feels like a billion years and for the first time in about that long i'm feeling the buzz for it again!!!

SO the teaser let's ramble about it for way too long

before getting into any of the specific content, i just wanna say that this teaser felt SO different from the s3 teaser. and that might sound like a bad thing at first cause imo the s3 teaser is the best piece of promo the obx team has ever put out, BUTTTT i think this teaser needed to have a different feel.

the writers and some of the actors (i think chase mainly) have repeatedly stated that this season goes back to basics a bit and refocuses on the characters and the bonds between them, and it truly feels like this teaser was doing exactly that. it wasn't really showing us many hints about the plot or massive action set pieces, it seemed much more interested in showing us our pogues. THAT is where the hype comes from with this teaser.

it might seem a bit lackluster and small compared to other teasers we've gotten, but i'm very happy with how they're already choosing to promo this season so far BECAUSE it feels more intimate reminiscent of s1 in that way.

i could absolutely eat my words about their intentions with this as promo continues, and i do think they'll still end up doing their usual bigger, action heavy plot heavy trailer, but as a first real teaser??? it's really making me trust their statements about refocusing the show.

MOVING ON

i mean. I MEAN

if this ISNT how the season starts i am going to be absolutely floored. i'm hoping so badly that it's an even more direct parallel to the opening scene of 1x01, with pope, kie, and jj down below ragging on john b to come help them build the dock or whatever. bonus points if john b drops the gold he's holding and almost breaks jj's foot or something. like i want as dead on of a parallel as humanly possible pates if you're gonna go for it, fucking GO FOR IT

i'm very curious as to how much of the time jump is gonna be exposited via montage and john b narration. i assume a lot of the building of the bunkhouse and dock and fixing up jj's house (which is kind of a shame cause how emotional must that have been for him????? but it's fine it's just RIPE for fanfic that way). but according to bts there's at least one scene that was filmed from the in between that might be an actual scene rather than montage (i won't say in case people don't want spoilers but it involves jiara). or maybe that's part of the montage too, we truly have no clue at this point. i'm just so stoked to see these new sets!!!! i'll forever miss the chateau like my heart actually splinters every time i think about it but the pogues having a new home base on jj's land is something really special too.

core 4 scuba mission as yet another parallel to s1 like are we in heaven??? and jiara are the ones that actually dive???????? jj reassuring her beforehand????????????? john b and pope teasing them???? potential jiara cheek kiss?????? it doesn't get better than this

oh actually no it does

LOOK AT HER SMILE AND YOU CAN TELL JJ IS CHEESING JUST AS HARD TOO LIKE HELLO

also jarah b watching from the dock house like proud parents I KNOW THATS RIGHT

we have a fair amount of bts about this so i'm not gonna say too much but john b looks PISSED. and i'm right there with him but hey at least we'll get hot jj bike stuff?? rivalry with rafe (and maybe topper too cause we just can't have nice things) and worried kie having to watch from the sidelines??? it might not all be bad!!!! i'm already pretty sure i'm gonna hate this plot point so i'm trying to get the anger out now so i'll be all out of it by october

IS THIS A POGUE SURFING SCENE MAYHAPS

i swear to god if this ends up being a random extra i will lose my shit

there is no screenshot of this that doesn't look absolutely horrid but that doesn't matter WHAT MATTERS IS THAT JJ FINALLY GETS TO PUNCH RAFE. they fucking heard our prayers i cannot believe it. i REALLY hope this is juicy as hell and leads into a full on fight that the pogues have to try to break up (i would've liked it even better if they had a truly one on one fight with no one else around so we could see how evenly matched they undoubtedly are but whatever whatever this could be super dramatic and fun in different ways too).

also double points if he's defending sarah and/or kie in some way. double double points if this tension has been building for the entire season up until this point cause i've been saying for YEARS that jj and rafe could have such an interesting dynamic but they barely have ANY scenes together. i am desperate and begging and this gives me so much hope oh my GOD also if you saw me edit this into this post cause i forgot to include it the first time no you didn't

aaaaand with that, that's pretty much all i feel like i wanted to talk about, there's a few other interesting things to speculate about but like i said before, this teaser really gives nothing away. or at least it doesn't if you've been following bts

ALSO the song is water on mars by the nude party and it's absolutely perfect which is no surprise whatsoever

[los-ninos-tortugas]

Congratulations on surviving another trip around the Sun!!! Favourite to least favourite Splinter? Why? Also, if all of them had to fight each other, which one do you think would win?

Thanks!! So favorite to least favorite huh? I think my ranking goes:

03 Splinter

Rise Splinter

2012 Splinter

Bayverse Splinter

03 Splinter is the funniest in my opinion and think his relationship with the turtles is very sweet. He’s a self admitted overprotective father but he also wants to give his boys the chance to grow into themselves on their own.

I also think Rise Splinter is very funny. I have some conflicted feelings about his parenting style however I don’t think it was nearly as bad or neglectful as a lot of people make him out to be. The boys clearly love their dad a whole lot and that doesn’t come from being ignored every second of every day for 13 years.

Another Splinter that I think gets a way worse rap than he really deserves (although I’ve only watched season one, I don’t know how he changes over the seasons) he’s definitely a bit more reserved with his boys but it’s still clear that he is very much a father to them and not just a sensei. He does lose points for never going on missions with his kids though, like cmon they’re out there risking their lives yeah they’re trained ninjas but they’re also 15, get out there and help your boys fight the good fight.

Bayverse Splinter has the same problem that I have with most of the Bayverse characters outside of the turtles themselves which is that he’s such a non-character. He’s there to provide exposition to April and then get critically injured so that he doesn’t have to be involved in the plot of the movie anymore. He and Shredder don’t even really have a personal grudge against each other (at least none that I can remember and if they do then it’s kinda bad that the reason is so unmemorable that it just doesn’t register as part of the plot at all). In the second movie he’s just there to say something vaguely wise and then disappear from the action yet again. He very much feels like he’s just there because every turtle adaptation is required to have a Master Splinter and then they did nothing to actually make him a character. He’s master Splinter in name alone and that’s kinda it.

As for who among them would win in a fight? Well we got two Battle Nexus champs, a Ninjitsu master, and cannon fodder. I am very biased but I think I would give it to Rise Splinter. I think it would be a very close fight but in the end I think Rise Splinter would be victorious, cuz not for nothing his sons are bioengineered super soldiers and yet they still never defeat their father in a fair fight on screen. Safe to say Lou Jitsu is still serving hot soup (oh my goodness that was so corny lmao)

[evaglass]

Final part on Karai's arc

So what happens next? Well, there's no cool arc where Karai learns how to control her abilities.

After she says goodbye to the main characters, she's captured by the Shredder, and her lack of control is solved off-screen! We never really truly got to explore her learning to use her new abilities such as venomous spit, enhanced flexibility, enhanced strength, night vision, the ability to control snakes (that one is really cool)

She is then put under mind-control and used as a plot device to fuel more emotional pain for Splinter and Leo. While under mind-control, idk if it just erases the memories of her finding out the truth or changes her personality as well because she came off way more sadist than she used to be.

We don't see Karai free from the brainworm until season 4, when she comes to reclaim the Foot Clan on her own with Shinigami (btw super cute together, love them). At this point, Karai feels really feel kind of flanderized as she is mostly just thinking about revenge 24/7. There's no insight on how everything has affected, she's just peachy.

I mean, I know Karai is a strong girl, but it would have been interesting to see her more emotional vulnerability that does not involve Leo after everything she's been through.

Leo still simping for his sister is still weird.

Also, I find it weird how Karai would be okay with him helping her takedown the Shredder. I know she knows Leo is very capable of himself, but the same character who told him along the lines in season 2, "No Leo, I can't in good conscience let you help me take down the Shredder"

As for Leo, I know he's a teen, and he makes mistakes, but it's season 4. Him doing that with Karai was so stupid and made him look really incompetent as a leader.

Also, Karai seemed to get captured a lot in seasons 4 and 5. It made sense in Wrath of Tiger and Vengeance is Mine, but season 4 and 5 it was almost every episode. She didn't even get to help takedown the Shredder, she was hospitalized.

Anyway, her arc could've been so much better. She should've had more interactions with Splinter, built trust overtime with the other turtles and eventually a sibling relationship, explored her childhood with the Shredder and how she met Shinigami.

I was disappointed, but I still love this character 😄

Well, lmk what you guys think.

1, 2, 3

[rockmilkshake]

what is rottmnt about i kind of want to watch it but dont know much of the plot

WELLLLLLLL, I CAN CERTAINLY INFODUMP ABOUT THAT! I KNOW LOTS OF THINGS!

The essential plot goes like this:

The turtle brothers are aspiring heroes/crime-fighters, frequently fighting mutated villains albeit with not a lot of training or expertise, often times their victories coming from them just winging it and going wild. But as the series goes on, they start finding out things about how they came to be, what their family history/lineage is about, and how to harness their talents and skills more effectively. And most importantly, becoming the heroes they are destined to be!

Overall, the series is very comedy adventure-focused, (ESPECIALLY in the first half) with most episodes being in 10-minute segments covering the various shenanigans the turtles get themselves into/get dragged into by other mutant villains (or one brother being stupid or arrogant *cough cough* Leo *cough cough*).

A couple of the first ones include odd stuff such as:

getting in fights with people in mascot costumes

surviving Splinter being an utter (feral) menace while having the flu

ignoring an indignant worm man for 10 minutes

falling (literally) into the world of competitive wrestling!

All that being said, it does have an overarching story that comes in pretty quickly, with the more main plot-focused episodes being full-length/20-minute segments; that of which include/introduce the more dangerous/plot-relevant villains (Baron Draxum, Big Mama, etc), establish more of the lore in the show (The family history and the Foot clan's plan) and secrets about the main characters (such as Splinter and the turtles themselves!)

After a BIG lore/plot reveal (Episode 16: Shadow of Evil), stuff stays in comedic shenanigans as usual but a little plot stuff is still here and there, always present. And once you get to the Season Finale episodes...HOO, they go hard on animation and plot progression.

It's the sort of show that'll start off somewhat slow on the serious stuff (emphasis on somewhat, because, my goodness, the pacing on this show is SO DANG FAST), staying mostly to wacky escapades for the first couple of episodes before hitting on the villain's true schemes and getting to the more important bits of lore.

TL;DR: The show starts with fun shenanigans for a short while before getting to the main story involving the turtle's family lineage/history and kicking off into action.

Hope this gets the general idea across! It's available on Netflix and Paramount+ if you're interested! And I really hope you enjoy it!

[turtleboyz]

Character Analysis: 2012 Season 5: Donnie

Going to be honest, I don’t like this version of Donnie. Don’t get me wrong, I love that’s he’s the tech guys. But that’s his ONLY personality here. No, seriously, besides stalking/being creepy toward Apirl and being his tech/chemist/metallurgy. What exactly IS Donnie’s personality? What does he do? He didn’t actually have any solo episodes that don’t revolve around April or his attempted murdering for the Italian mafia guy.

Donnie is shoved into the background and is basically forgotten unless it revolves the “live triangle” or is plot related. What are his hobbies? Does he like to read, can he play a instrument? What are his interests? I know he like to watch tv with his brothers, like to play DnD, and he and Casey work on making a car together….But that’s it.

Personality wise, Donnie is very smart, a genius actually. He can build thing from scrap or stole materials, he can build cars, do chemist, and have a vast knowledge of different technology and science stuff. But because of his smarts, he forced to help the team with his knowledge. More than once he and Leo fight over using technology vs tradition training. And like with Raph and Mikey, Leo puts his stress and emotions onto Donnie. Personally to me, I think it’s because Donnie is the second oldest and the second in command so Leo look at Donnie for help/inform. A couple times in the series it’s shown that Donnie is insecure, he feels he’s not smart enough compared to Fugitoid, he feel stress out from working a chemical to help Karai and Kirby. Hell, a part of Donnie infatuation with Apirl is bass of him wanting to be normal and is afraid of losing his first human friend, seen in episode 10 season 2.

I wish we actually the serie took the time and wrote more ablit Donnie’s insecurities. How did Donnie get this way? How does Donnie get the tools for his tech? His chemicals? How did he get into chemistry or technology in the first place?

Donnie, in this series, falls into the arch of Forgotten Child. Both by the characters and by the writers. Donnie is in the backyard, by himself. He doesn’t interact with many people. The “lost child” is the family member who retreats from family dysfunction due to feeling overwhelmed. They can spend a lot of time alone, pursue singular interests, and/or struggle to establish or maintain relationships with others.

I actually believe that Donnie has some emotional detachment issues. Emotional detachment describes when you or others disengage or disconnect from other people’s emotions. It may stem from an unwillingness or an inability to connect with others.

Symptoms are;

difficulty creating or maintaining personal relationships

a lack of attention, or appearing preoccupied when around others

difficulty being loving or affectionate with a family member

avoiding people, activities, or places because they’re associated with past trauma

reduced ability to express emotion

difficulty empathizing with another person’s feelings

not easily sharing emotions or feelings

difficulty committing to another person or a relationship

People who have emotional detachment also have signs of

inability to feel emotions or feeling empty

losing interest in enjoyable activities

becoming less involved in relationships

showing little or no empathy toward others

being harsh or unkind to others

While Donnie doesn’t have all these sign or symptoms (he’s does get very angry and does show empathy or guilt when others are hurt, those bing april, Kirby and Timothy). I do believe he does have a form of emotional detachment. I think he becomes like this because of Splinter.

With Splinter, the only time the two seem to interact was when Splinter try to teach Donnie not to keep going after Apirl in season 2, when she stated she wanted to be left alone. And in season 1 when splinter try to teach Donnie not to relay so much on his teach and to have better intuition. As for his brothers? He and Leo are fighting one another or just getting into disagreements. With Mikey, while Donnie gets annoyed and even yelling or verbally abusive to him, he does seem to interact with Mikey and the two even seem to bounce ideas off one another. With Raph? I don’t think these two even interact that much. But they both have a dry sarcasm.

Mentally and physically? Donnie was murder by April (even if she was possessed). While Donnie doesn’t have any hallucinations like his brothers, he does have implied anxiety and angry issues and will as implied OCD (According to J.R. Ventimilia, executive producer)

As for the “love triangle”? I 100% belive that Donnie was in the wrong. Form the beginning of season 1, Donnie had a crush on April that developed into a obsession. He makes charts to see how to interact with her, has a photo of her as his screensaver, followed her and knows her home address. Called her nicknames and use “my” and “his” terms. Yes I know he’s a teenager that doesn’t have any human connection or social awareness, be it’s creepy. Personally I’ve believe that the reason April didn’t call out Donnie sooner/only showed uncomfortableness around the nickname was because she was kind of afraid to. If you meet a mutant turtle that was a trained assassin that was calling you creepy names, you would probably be at least a bit scared of what would happen if you said no. Remember this was happening before April found out about her powers and that before she was training to be a ninja.

But after season 3, the love triangle seem to fizz out and die. While Donnie and Casey did keep fighting in the later season, there wasn’t anymore attempts on being with April. Donnie even calls her nicknames less and less. I think it’s because the love triangle side plot wasn’t going anywhere and the writers wanted to focus on action. That still doesn’t make up the fact April murder Donnie. I really with the story would add a scene or two of the aftermath of that. It seem like the group became afraid of April, and Donnie seems more tired, more, less intact with Apirl, hell in season 5 he try to murder someone. Who the fact he was murder and came back to life, it may have some negative effects on him.

Do I like this version of donnie? No. Sorry. I don’t hate him or anything he’s just not my favorite turtle. He’s creepy, and he doesn’t have any character arch or moments to make him a full character. If the writers have him more moments, had him apologize and stop being obsessed with April, he could have been so cool!

[davids-cartoon-corkboard]

Here’s the final part of the “Raph is a system” theory compilation post! It’s the last of what I can scrape up from canon; while I still have ideas on how it might loop back into character interactions and plot and so on, they’re much more speculative in nature. (Part 1 is here) (Part 2 is here) (You’re reading Part 3)

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"Red” is the alter with the least screen time, so it took a while for me to connect the dots on when and why he formed.

His shadowed face, the dramatic background music when he speaks, and his seriousness are reminiscent of the “brooding on rooftops in the rain while gloomily staring off into the distance” thing that Raphs throughout the franchise will do sometimes. That’s easy to poke fun at on a superficial level because most of us look back on our edgy phases with self-deprecation, but it’s a lot less funny in the context of the life he lives. Being a normal human teenager in normal human society is a fucking nightmare; being a mutant teenager who has no idea what to expect in terms of development or lifespan, only five people he can safely interact with ever, and a very limited future hiding from everyone else for as long as he lives has got to be just awful.

RR’s few lines in “Pizza Puffs” tell us a lot. “It’s the only way they’ll learn” and “this is for their own good” suggest that he formed when the turtles started exploring more of the sewers and going aboveground, and Being The Leader became more of a responsibility. A thousand new ways for them to get in trouble meant a thousand new ways Raph would have to bail them out, and that got old fast- especially since they didn’t have April’s knowledge to help them in the beginning. I doubt they met her the very first time they left the sewers. The wiki says April knew the boys for five years as of “Mystic Mayhem”, so they would have been nearly eight at the time, perhaps the mental equivalent of a ten- or eleven-year-old human.

A while back I sifted through all the eps with Raph in them in the vague hopes that “Pizza Puffs” wasn’t the only episode featuring RR... and lo and behold, I found something! The shadowed face and dramatic background music are also present in “Minotaur Maze���!

“I can’t do it. I got no mystic mojo. I’m useless.”

“Hey, that’s not true, brother. You just gotta believe in yourself, and know this: If I die in this maze, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

(I know that’s only two data points, but y’all canonically cannot scoff at me.) RR shows up when HR is no longer able to tolerate the bullshit at hand. “I’m not going to baby you Leo, get your shit together before your ego kills us all” was a reasonable response to nearly being shish-kebab’d.

“Pizza Puffs”, on the other hand... LDM pulled through in the end, but that RR got HR to stay behind added an unnecessary level of risk. Getting his brothers to learn a lesson should have waited until after the giant mutant cannibal had been dealt with and they were no longer poisoned.

This hands-off “figure it out on your own” approach probably came from Splinter. I swear to Pizza Supreme In The Sky I’m not trying to shit-talk him, but his lack of involvement with his sons was a major flaw. Before all that character development he was terrible at things like “emotional support” and “life lessons”, leaving Raph without the blueprints to deal with a lot of problems. HR would respond by rushing in and figuring things out as he went, but sometimes RR would have to say “No, we’re maxed out and can’t deal with this, we’ve gotta step back”. As we’ve seen in other iterations, when Raph is maxed out and doesn’t step back...

...he goes too far. Plenty of folks have commented on how rarely the Rise turtles smack each other around compared to other versions; it’s telling that RR spoke up just a moment after HR smacked Mikey in “Pizza Puffs”.

Raph is much bigger and stronger than his brothers this time around, meaning such an outburst would have a much higher risk of Genuine Grievous Injury. And while his size and strength also mean a measure of gentleness has been baked into him since day one, there would still be times HR would feel himself boiling over and RR would head off somewhere quiet for fear of the above situation; which was potentially alluded to in “Hot Soup: The Game”.

“You went out on your own when you were his age.”

The context of “Man vs. Sewer” suggests Raph isn’t going to go off on his own without very good reason- such as cooling down before he does something he regrets. That this detail shows up in Casey’s debut episode suggests it is how they will properly meet and bond, since befriending Casey and doing vigilante shit with him is what usually gives Raph a way to blow off steam while having someone nearby to keep him in check. But that probably won’t happen until partway through season 3, since I doubt we can cram the rest of Casey’s redemption arc into the movie alongside the invasion and time travel trauma shenanigans and leader drama. So in the meantime RR will continue to brood on rooftops in bad weather and listen to Ephemerality songs and monologue to himself because he knows nobody’s going to hear him over the incessant background noise that makes up the cities above and below.

I was a bit stumped about how that meeting would take place- the events of the finale (and possibly also the movie) would no doubt have both the human and yokai populations on high alert, making it dangerous for RR to slip away for some peace and quiet. But the events of the finale also gave us some insight on Raph’s powers; he has a way to leave without actually leaving!

Hardlight Clone Jutsu, baby!

So whenever HR finds himself in a particularly sour mood, a wisp of power winds its way up through the open-air portion of the lair and forms into a clone aboveground. HR doesn’t have to leave for a while to cool down before coming back and dealing with the situation calmly, because RR is already on a rooftop somewhere dissipating those bad feelings by listening to the rain and/or yeeting trash cans.

But mutants can’t freely walk the streets of New York, and the Hidden City Police probably still have it out for Raph. And someone, hero or villain, will eventually realize that Raph has a gloomy stray clone running around and ask questions that can’t be answered without cracking open the can of worms that is This Whole Situation. RR needs to get creative. That we’ve seen clones have both full color and the basic red/white palette suggests their color could be altered in other ways; and that the holo-form grew extra arms in the lair fight vs. the Shredder suggests their shape could also be changed further.

So what will he choose to look like, if not his body?

Obviously he’ll use a red and black color palette because it slaps, leaning more towards black since I compared him to Batman back in Part 1. A low-detail design makes it hard to identify him, giving onlookers the impression that they just couldn't see him well in the dark. Mentally filing down his spikes and decreasing the curve of his shell are easy enough, but it takes him a while to figure out five fingers instead of three, and there’s not much he can do about his voice other than lowering the pitch so he just opts to not talk much within earshot of others. A cape further disguises his silhouette and again, it slaps. The impression of a mask means he doesn’t need a face and it lets peoples’ assumptions work for him. Humans are more likely to think he’s human than a Very Human-Shaped Mutant, and yokai come in so many shapes as is that he could be anything from a witch to a dehydrated googlyschmootz.

(You know how it is with franchises. Old patterns repeating in new ways.)

New York City never sleeps, and I doubt the Hidden City does either. He’ll run into Casey eventually, but in the interim he stumbles across and intervenes in some attempted purse-snatchings and kidnappings and the like. Most of the would-be victims use his arrival as their chance to escape, but one of them is too frozen with fear to move until their attackers are chased off into the dark. He escorts them home, and it’s only once they’re at their doorstep that they work up the courage to ask him who he is.

It’s... a difficult question, in more ways than one. “Raph” is out of the question. “Red” isn’t quite right, and neither is “Angel”- they’re a tad too identifying still, and the R.A.P.H. thing was HR’s idea anyway. So he shrugs, and melts away into the shadows.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m Nobody.”

[squidproquoclarice]

For the Sunrise AMA, What was it like writing the chapter where they find Susie? I remember reading that and being like whoa, it was very good.

So this developed gradually.  It was another thing where I wanted to respin some of the in-game Epilogue and do my own homage to it rather than just write a totally different 1907.  But I also desperately wanted to fix its huge problem of being almost entirely plot device/deus ex machina based writing rather than organic plot and character evolution like the first six Chapters. What we have in-game is nobody having any clue for the longest time Micah’s anywhere nearby so Sadie doesn’t feel obligated to go after him.  Then suddenly Sadie knows Micah’s around, he’s a threat with a whole gang of his own, and gosh, conveniently, one of his men is right there in Strawberry to interrogate!  And then Cleet spins some yarn about arguing with Micah about killing a little girl and that causing them to go separate ways. So: it’s fairly nonsensical that Micah could be operating a large, violent criminal gang and even be mentioned by name in the papers without Sadie as a very seasoned multi-state bounty hunter having any Goddamn clue he’s around.  It’s also fairly nonsensical that a vicious sadist like Micah would just let Cleet walk away from the gang after crossing him and proving he’s “weak” in Micah’s eyes. I tried to patch some of that as best I could.  Micah not being seen or identified by anyone got explained as his level of violence deliberately leaving no survivors--which is fitting with his in-game actions.  I also ended up revealing he has practical reason to do so given his distinctively identifiable eye patch.  I did take that one aspect from the High Honor “go for the money” ending and transport it to the fight up on the ridge, and explained it as Arthur breaking Micah’s eye socket and the bone splinters in the eye needing its removal.  It felt like a selfless Arthur who rescued John deserved to leave that mark on Micah for the next eight years for Micah to think about, and not just a selfish Arthur who weirdly decided he cared most about money he didn’t expect to survive to spend.  (I’m still kind of “What the fuck?” about the non-logic of the money ending.) As for Cleet, I was leaning towards that issue of killing small children being genuine for him.  It could have been Cleet lying, but it did feel like it could be a genuine fracture point.  You can be a monster who still has some limits.  So I figured they might run across Cleet at a homestead, where that argument about killing a small girl meant Micah shot him and left him to die slowly, because that felt like Micah’s style of indiscriminate “so there, that’ll show you” violence.  And Cleet could still be the one to tell Arthur and Sadie that this dangerous “Big Valley Phantom” is Micah, and where to find him.  The Hagens were originally one-shot NPCs for Arthur and Sadie helping guide them to their homestead in 1901 on their way up to Adler Ranch for Sadie to say goodbye to Jake before marrying Arthur.  I went for Shepherd’s Rest because it would be there on the map in 1907, and it being there in 1901 seemed possible. Then I was reminded of them being there in 1907.  I think I dropped a casual mention or two of the Griffiths dropping in on the Hagens while trying to pick up the trail of “Jim Milton” since they would be in the area as an “Oh yeah, someone they knew, they’d probably say hi since they were right there, and the Hagens did say to drop by if that ever happened.”  I didn’t do much with it right then given the Hagens didn’t figure into my plans yet (and therefore ended hastily patching some mention of it in later about renewing the friendship that spring when they stopped by...yeah, it’s this kind of thing I’ll probably try to smooth out a bit on the edit) Then at some point I realized it could work for the Hagens to be the ones involved.  They were newlyweds in 1901, so they could have a small child.  There’s unfortunately always going to be more narrative punch when events involve someone you know rather than Random Citizen #2.  I’d also been having the thought that Sadie and Arthur would end up adopting kids in the future, but the survival of a little girl from a violent attack, especially the daughter of friends, would be a reason to make her part of their family.  So it all seemed to work together. But a lot of the weight of it hit me only in the moment when I was writing the chapter.  I like to let things largely play out as I write them, and this was no exception.  So you get both of them riding up and sensing that something’s wrong that the Hagens didn’t meet them as planned, and the stillness of the homestead, and then being reminded of past traumas.  Arthur’s reminder of riding up to Eliza and Isaac’s cabin and seeing the silence along with those fresh graves with two crosses.  Sadie’s reminder of her own home being broken into, and Jake’s murder and her own ordeal.  They’ve got their kids there too, which makes it even harder. And then Sadie deliberately saying she’ll go see about Susannah, and Arthur saying he’ll go check Nils and Margit’s bedroom, is each of them agreeing to shield the other from more direct triggers.  Arthur can’t see a murdered small child, and Sadie can’t see a married couple presumably surprised while asleep in bed and then murdered, especially the husband. Finding Susie alive and hiding, and seeing Cleet’s still alive and able to tell them what they need to know sets off two different and disparate missions: taking care of this orphaned and traumatized little girl and their own kids, and hunting down Micah.  And the conflict and tension between those does inform a lot of the next few chapters in trying to figure out where their responsibility lies, the nature of duty vs vengeance, etc. It was a really rough chapter to write between the emotions and the aftermath of violence, but I think it’s probably one of my better ones for all that.  I knew a lot hung on this one, given the payoff of finding Micah was something that had been left pending and gathering tension for readers who knew it had to happen at some point. 

[hamatoclan76]

My favourite TMNT 2012 episodes (part 1)

I have been thinking writing about my favourite episodes for quite while now.Keep in mind this is not supposed to be a list of ¨ top best episodes¨ from tmnt 2012. There are many episodes that i think that are amazing but they don´t enter in my favourite list episodes for different reasons.

Most of the episodes i included in this list are the ones i often find myself rewatching and are the first that pop up in my mind when thinking about the series. 

I'm going to write two parts about this because i don't want to make the post so long.

Let´s start!:

Slash and Destroy 

When tmnt 2012 fans and non- fans talk about the best episodes of the series, most of the time they mention Slash and Destroy and it´s easy to see why:

The episode itself plays like a psychological horror movie, with Slash as a physical manifestation of Raphael´s darkest desires. He represents everything that Raph could become if he let the most toxic parts of his personality take control him.

Slash himself it´s very good antagonist, he isn´t just some random mutant that appears to destroy Raph´s brothers. He´s Raphael´s best friend and he knows many things that the rest of the Hamato family doesn´t. His uses this at his advantage to make Raph join his side and leave his brothers.

Raph in this episode is fantastic as well. We get to see a lot of his character, from his bad temper and how he thinks the team is ¨holding him back¨ to how far he willing to go to protect his family, even if that means fighting his friend.

Despite it´s tone Slash and Destroy has some of the funniest moments in the season: The subplot about Leo trying to get the mutantgen canister from other humans it´s hilarious. It doesn´t feel forced and doesn´t interrupt the drama, it´s nicely connected to the rest of the story.

I could write a lot about what makes this episode work so well, but i would like to keep that for other post.

New Girl In Town

This episode serves as introduction for Karai´s character and it´s one of my favourite for many reasons:

1)  It´s excellent for Raphael´s and Leonardo´s character arcs. Leonardo tired of how his brother doesn´t respect him as leader, decides to leave the role to Raph since he thinks it would be better if he was the one in charge.

Later, Raph finds out that being the leader isn´t as easy as it seems, when he's forced to give an order that would put the life of his brothers at risk he completely freezes up. He learns he can´t handle the burden of making difficult decisions as he cares for his family so much he´s afraid of accidentatly hurting them.

As for Leonardo, he tries doing things his own way for once, he decides to take a break from the team and ¨have fun¨.  In this episode he acts more like a "rebel" than his typical "good boy", which is quite refreshing to see.

He also learns that he shouldn't expect getting praise for being the leader. Splinter explains to him that the important part of being the one giving the orders is choosing to carry the burden. That's why Leo is the leader because he knows he has to be responsible in making decisions.

2) Karai is very interesting character that completely changes the dynamic of the main protagonists. She usually likes playing Leo and tries pursuing to join the bad side in this episode.

Her exchanges between Leo are very entertaing as well. They acts as friendly rivals and we get to see that she's actually not that bad in the end since she helps the turtles fighting Snakeweed.

"New girl in the town" it's a wonderful introduction for her, as it shows her as someone who it's morally gray instead of just evil.

3) The fight at the end is awesome. I really like how Leo and Raph work together to defeat Snakeweed. Raph decides to trust Leo's orders and follow his commands.

I think it's good way of showing they both have learned their lessons and how their relationships is changing.

Metalhead rewired

One thing i really like of tmnt 2012 it when two character fight, there isn't always one side who it's "right" and other who is "wrong". Sometimes they both make good points and "Metalhead rewired" is a good example of that.

This one is great for Donnie since he really wants to help the team with his inventions but.. as Leo tells him, they can be a bit dangerous and Donnie can lose control of them.

Here we get to see how Donnie's passion for science and technology can put his brothers at risk and how Leonardo also can be stubborn at times and struggles with being open to new ideas.

It's one of those rare instances in the series in which we see Leo and Donnie fight. They usually get on well since Donnie has no problem with following orders. He sometimes sarcastic with Leo but he rarely tries to an argument the same way that Raph does.

The thing it's that Donnie's and Leo's arguments are usually more about strategy than personal problems. While Raph's and Leo's fight are related to their slibing rivaliry and how their personalities clash with each other.

This episode deals with loss as well: Metalhead sacrifices himself to help the turtles escaping from the Kraang prision. While it's true that he can be rebuild it, i think it's still a pretty sad moment that it shows that Metalhead was a robot with good intentions in the end.

Vengeance is Mine

This another very memorable episode that tons of fans remember. The plot and the dialogue it's very well written and much like "Slash and Destroy" has tons of metaphors that worth of analyzing.

This episode it's mainly about Karai and her relationship with Shredder. It how revenge often being doing more harm than good and end up hurting everyone involved.

It starts with great action scene about the turtles helping Karai escape from Shredder's prision. Overall it's very intense scene due to being surronded by very dangerous enemies and they in Shredder's lair.

The scene in which Karai reunites with Splinter is really heartwarning. She doesn't say any word, she just.. hugs him, happy that she finally able to be with her real father. It's a very memorable scene.

And i really love how she later hangs out with the turtles during their training. It's such a cute scene.

The problem is that Karai really wants to make Shredder pay for what he had done to her family. Splinter tells her it's not really worth of her time, that all that matters is that they are now finally able to be together.

Karai sneaks out anyways and she gets captured by Shredder.

This forces the turtles and Splinter to go rescue her. While they are fighting, Oroku Saki accidentantly cuts the chain that holds Karai, making her fall into the mutagen and transforming her into giant snake.

I think i really like how the episode ends in a tragedy, showing how blinded Saki has become for getting his revenge that he even hurt someone he considered her daughter in the process. The scene is acts as a parallel to death, who died exactly in the same way.

Buried Secrets

I really enjoyed April the first time watching the series. It's was very interesting to me to see this girl that used to have a normal life have it completely changed because of the Kraang and "Buried Secrets" was not the exeption.

I really like the amount of psychological horror this episode has: April just wants to be with her lost mother who really turns out a defective monsters that shares her mother's memories and devours each one of the turtles.

On one hand April is finally able to learn more about her backstory and why she has Kraang powers. It was something that wasn't completely necessary for the series to explore but i really like the writers took the time to explain how O' Neil family was being experimented on.

On the other hand it's a really sad since her "mother" wasn't real in first place. It's has to be desvasting to find out your mother/father is really just a monster who is hurting your friends.

And like i said, this is one of the scariest enemies in tmnt 2012. It's very creepy how she just goes hunting each turtles one by one and no one know what's happening.

Mikey was great here too. He was the one that first suspected that April's mother wasn't what she appeared to be. It shows that while he sometimes he's a bit naive, he knows when something is seems off and take things more seriously.

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Okay, i leave the list here for know. I would probably be posting the other half during the weekend.

I hope you enjoyed my post! Feel free to talk about your favourite episodes in the comments (or by reblog). I would like to see which ones you like.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #469

Top Ten Crazy WandaVision Theories

So all the while I was watching The Mandalorian I kept thinking, blimey, they’ve nailed this. There’s an oft-repeated problem with modern serial dramas, which is that they tend to tread water a little bit; despite being shorn of the network requirement of episodes being a certain length, or having a certain number of episodes in a season, there’s this in-built compulsion to make about a dozen 45-minute episodes. This is what scuppered the Marvel Netflix series in particular; there simply wasn’t enough story to cover the seasons, and as a result there was a lot of treading of water. This has also affected the recent Star Trek shows, although Discovery does show signs of pulling out of this “twelve-hour movie” mindset. Mando totally transcends this in a superlative way: each episode is basically an “adventure of the week” type thing (Mando versus spiders, Mando goes to the fish planet, Mando meets a Jedi, etc). But each episode also builds on the arc; he’s always on the same quest, and everything he does week by week furthers this quest. As much as I was looking forward to WandaVision, I kept reminding myself, there’s no way they can do this; no way these two shows – my most-anticipated shows from two of my most-beloved franchises – can hit the bar so successfully, back-to-back.

Well.

I’m not sure if WandaVision is quite the overall triumph The Mandalorian is, but they’re both pretty tremendous achievements in slightly different ways. Wanda manages to tell a rather unsettling story in the MCU whilst also doing a terrific job of parodying sitcom tropes; it works on a meta level as well as a practical one. Also, as far as puzzle-box type programmes go, this one has been doing an excellent job; week by week, you’re further intrigued by what’s going on in Westview; what’s real? Who’s behind it? is Vision still dead? Will Darcy get her own show? It’s a fantastic exercise in drip-feeding information, maintaining a degree of unease and suspense, and offering a compelling mystery. Will they keep it up until the end? I’ve no idea; the reveal at the end of episode seven wasn’t quite a jaw-on-the-floor moment but it was exquisitely done, with a theme song and everything. Even if the most obvious predictions end up being true and the finale becomes a relatively straightforward goodies-versus-baddies barney, I’ve got faith in everyone involved to at least give us something utterly compelling and thoroughly entertaining.

But what if there really is at least one huge surprise left up the show’s vibranium sleeve? Certainly, the reveal of Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff – being, visually if not in character at least, the Fox/X-Men universe version of Wanda’s brother, rather than the Adam Taylor-Johnson version we knew from Age of Ultron – was a hell of a moment, seemingly bridging the gap between the MCU as we knew it and the previously Fox-controlled properties. Since then, there’s been this bubbling rumour (which I’ve tried not to read too much into by literally not reading too much; this is something I’ve divined from headlines or stray tweets, because I want to keep forging my way through WandaVision without a map) that there is another epic cameo approaching, on the level of Luke Skywalker popping up in the finale of The Mandalorian. That moment was something of a surprise, even though I had it rather spoiled by Twitter; despite muting as many words as possible to do with the show, “Luke Skywalker” still popped up in trending topics. I’ve learned my lesson, and I essentially forgo any social media (and a lot of other sites too) until I’ve seen the most recent episode. Anyway, what if this is true; what if there’s another character or moment that will rock the Marvel world to an even greater extent than The Other Pietro? If we’d be as surprised and delighted by something as much as we were by Luke making short work of those Dark Troopers? With this in mind, and being aware of the encroaching WandaVision finale, here are some predictions. What could happen? Who could we see? Which long-dormant plot thread will get resurrected? Read on to find out! And – spoiler warning – this has been revisited following the most recent episode; we are officially in the endgame now.

And I’m sure all of these are realistic and serious suggestions.

I Am Your Father: We have actually met Wanda’s parents at last; ordinary decent Sarkovian folk, it seems. But from where did her nascent witchy powers appear? What if, in a shocking last-minute twist, we discover her real father, and he’s played by… Ian McKellen! It was Eric all along!

SWORD versus Skrulls: a post-credit sting will reveal that – shock! – Tyler Hayward is, in fact, a SKRULL! Yes, finally, the shape-shifting buggers will get to be the baddies from the comics, as an up-to-no-good splinter faction of the beleaguered race makes its presence felt on the MCU, having successfully infiltrated world governments over the past thirty years. This will set up Samuel L. Jackson’s Secret Invasion series.

The Ultron of it All: there have been more mentions of Ultron in WandaVision than in any MCU property since, well, Age of Ultron. And now we have a custom-built all-white model of Vision, big as life and twice as creepy. What if – what if – shorn of his own psyche (his own soul?) and without an Infinity Stone to keep him upright, there remains in the hardware some remnant of everyone’s favourite sarky, genocidal mechanoid? Ultron returns! Screw you, planet Earth!

The Sorcerer Supreme is Not Happy: we know magic exists in the MCU because of Doctor Strange, so seeing Agatha and her family get their Hocus Pocus on in old Salem wasn’t too much of a surprise. But isn’t the Sorcerer Supreme supposed to keep an eye on magic use in the multiverse? I was half expecting Tilda Swinton to pop up in the flashback and bind Agatha with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. But now, with all the chaos magic Wanda is using in Westview, coupled with Agatha’s own spelling bee? Surely this has drawn the attention of somebody? Anybody? I mean, New York isn’t that far from Jersey, especially if you’ve got a sling ring, y’know?

No More Avengers: so Benedict Cumberbatch popping up wouldn’t be that much of a surprise (especially as Wanda is in the next Doctor Strange movie) but even if he’s not on Magic Police duty, wouldn’t an enhanced situation of this size draw the attention of one of the Avengers? Except – shock horror! – there are no Avengers! In a revelation that will set up the status quo of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, since the events of Endgame the Avengers literally don’t exist. So who will unite to save the world, not just from Wanda or Agatha, but also from the likes of SWORD? Well, right now, no one; but maybe that’ll change when the real villains appear…

No More Mutants: in the “House of M” storyline, Wanda very famously said “no more mutants” and it was so (more or less). Mutants don’t (seem to) exist in the MCU. But what if, at one point, they did? I don’t think this could have been Wanda’s doing, but what if in the past someone else had used magic to de-power/de-mutify the existing mutant population of Earth, and – basically – made everyone forget about it? And in the climax of WandaVision, well, “no more” is undone and – boom! – X-genes abound. This could even maybe set up some events in The Eternals, who I believe have some history with mutants in the comics (I’m really not very well-versed in Eternals lore)

Soul Stealer: so Wanda’s the Scarlet Witch, and a chaos magician, and super-enhanced courtesy of an Infinity Stone, but still: how did she create not one but three super-powered lifeforms? Where did they come from? Did she steal their souls? Is she leeching her own life-force to maintain them? I think we’ll discover a bit more about her powers and reveal that she’s drawing energy mutliversally, maybe from the Dark Dimension – maybe from Mephisto? I’d actually put money on Mephisto not showing up at all, despite his comic book connections to Agatha and Wanda.

Multiversal Madness: why that Pietro? He’s just a fake, just an automaton – right? But he’s still out and about spooking Monica whilst Agatha’s dealing with Wanda… yeah? And he looks like another Pietro from another universe (even if he doesn’t act like that). So… why? And who? I really, really think there’s some kind of multiversal craziness going on here, some force beyond Wanda (and Agatha!). Maybe it’s to do with Wanda pulling power from across the multiverse, maybe it’s… something else. Maybe we’ll get cameos from Lou Ferringo, Bruce Campbell, Spider-Ham and ROM the Space Knight. Hey, don’t forget: Transformers was a Marvel comic once! And they do have a Chaos-Bringer…

Wanda Did It: one of the prevailing theories/queries about WandaVision has been who’s behind it all. Wanda’s not powerful enough (or villainous enough), so who exactly did create TV Westview? Who brought Vision back, gave Wanda her sons? Well, the latest ep sure seemed to show that it really was Wanda All Along. The explanation being that she’s “the Scarlet Witch”, a presumably hella-powerful sorcerer and also (let’s not forget) imbued with Infinity Stoniness. But is she on her own really that strong, and would she – even in her despair – alter so many minds? What if there’s another Wanda, a Wanda prepared to go all-out, a Wanda who – after losing everything on her Earth is trying to recreate it by pooling her powers will another Wanda? An alternate universe, more damaged, more villainous Wanda – a Wanda who’s already said “no more mutants”, maybe; maybe even the Wanda from the Fox X-Men films (who AFAIK we’ve only seen as a little girl in her brother’s arms). That’s why Pietro looks like that, because she’s trying to rebuild her own life using the powers of this other Wanda. Two Wandas; two Witches. Dukin’ it out. And who can come to save the day, but the X-Men?

We’re All Doomed: giving credit to my brother for pointing me in this direction when he said “if there’s a big bad in WandaVision it either has to be someone very good at magic or very good at science”. Or… both? Think about it. Which character, if they cameoed in an MCU property, could possibly generate as much excitement as Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian? No actor from the MCU; not even Downey. From another Marvel property? We’ve had a Fox actor already and with the rumours about Spider-Man: No Way Home, whether we saw Hugh Jackman or Tobey Maguire, I think that would be exciting but not as exciting. So I think it’s a character, not an actor. A character big and exciting enough to make us all squee. And which character from Marvel has never been seen in the MCU, is not necessarily expected any time soon, is very good at magic and very good at science? One. I’d say only one. Bring it on.

This actually became a lot more sensible than I’d intended! I was gonna go all-out, rolling in Muppet Babies, MODOK, HERBIE, the Phoenix Force, and basically the entire Patton Oswalt speech from Parks and Recreation. And whilst I think virtually none of these will (or should?!) happen, just imagine… man, I can’t believe we have to wait a week!

[nightmarenoise]

Just comparing two cartoons I love

I understand that nobody asked in any capacity, but here I go anyway:

It feels fair to compare Ducktales 2017 to Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018), not only because they're only about a year apart and truly, what is a year, but also because they

1. Both use this style that looks like it jumped straight out of a comic book. Okay, it's mostly the solidly inked shadows, but it gives me, personally, comic-y vibes.

2. They have taken what's arguably the main characters (the triplets for DT, the Turtles for TMNT) and shaken the formula up a good bit. Were the triplets formerly indistinguishable and all had the exact same personality, interests and voice actor, they are now three entirely separate entities with different traits and appearances. And while the turtles had about one defining personality trait and looked basically the same, save for the color of their masks, Rise made them different species of turtle to justify giving them radically different designs and three-dimensional personalities. Both shows faced criticism for this decision from people who cannot deal with change. Despite this, in both cases, it just works and does so incredibly well.

3. The oldest bros wear red.

4. We have two middle bros associated with the color blue who are both voiced by Ben Schwartz.

5. Both shows have a focus on family, with Ducktales especially focusing on found family and Rise on brotherhood.

6. Anime references!

Ducktales has a larger cast overall, with a lot of different characters all interacting with each other and they all have the most pleasant voices I've ever heard in my entire life. It's all solidly animated, the style is consistent and the animation is fluid, the characters are diverse and they're all lovely in their own right, except for those who aren't. The writing is top notch. Everyone feels consistent despite the large cast and it's delightful to watch all those interesting people interact with each other in their own way. The show also handles its mystery elements and occasional action scenes incredibly well, building suspense and delivering laughs and gut punches without hesitation. They juggle different tones like a professional clown, except the true clown was us, the audience, all along, for ever having doubted them.

The overarching plot of Ducktales, for its first two seasons, was mostly to uncover the mystery of what had happened to the mother of the triplets and all that would entail. Mystery and mythical elements will likely continue to be afoot for season 3.

Rise works with less focal characters, we have the Turtles, Splinter and April as well as various bad guys, but more than makes up for it with a lot of animation. A lot a lot of animation and it's all high quality. There's usually so much going on on-screen that a watching it once isn't enough to catch it all. Despite that, it doesn't feel crowded or rushed. Lots of dynamic shots and incredibly-choreographed action scenes, but nothing the thoroughly solid writing has to hide behind. Even when the baddies aren't the main concern, they're still well-rounded, interesting characters with unique abilities and motivations. Although, most of the mutants are just really feral. Still a delightfully diverse cast.

The turtles on the other hand spent their first season trying to foil their various foes, from a yokai trying to mutate all of humanity, to his mutants, to dealing with random mythical stuff, to the nefarious Foot Clan trying to reassemble the Dark Armor in the shadows. It's generally a more action-driven show, but they still find the time for some heartfelt moments.

The triplets 2.0

Despite their conventiently color-coded caps, they were really mostly the same character possessing three different bodies at a time. Well, the times of eerie The Shining like-twins, except extended to triplets, are over!

We have Huey, the oldest brother, voiced by Danny Pudi. He's a gentle, intellectual soul who values red hats, science, scout badges and checklists. Huey is arguably the closest in characterization to the original triplets, with some additional neat freak sprinkled in for flavor. He tries to be the responsible older sibling and keep his brothers under control and out of trouble. He also seems to have the most fiery temper of the bunch and should clearly not be pressed to the breaking point. He's my personal favorite and I heard season 3 will bring more focus to him, which makes me elated to hear. 888/10.

Middle child Dewey, the blue one, voiced by Ben Schwartz, who will inevitably come for all the iconic blue characters. He's very clearly the middle one, because he craves attention and validation and occasionally dreams of being an only child. Dewey is the one who started the investigation into their mom's disappearance and kept it from his brothers, partially to save them from hurt, but also because he wanted to feel special. He's the most interested in going on adventures with their uncle, but can get reckless when doing so. He's a bit of a spotlight hog, who has his own talk show that nobody watches and sings his own theme song when he needs to get hyped up, or just to fill this silence. This may sound kind of negative, but rest assured, he's a good, sweet boy. The focal triplet for the first season. 500/10.

Louie, the evil triplet, a schemer and a conman. Voiced by Bobby Moynihan.  The youngest of the bunch. While they call him evil, he's really far too lazy to cause serious harm, except for when it's his laziness that's causing him to take dangerous shortcuts, oops. He dreams of making a fortune, but without having to work for it and preferably without any responsibility either, thank you. He also occasionally dreams of being a spoiled fat cat. Despite his chill demeanor, he can be a bit of a crybaby and those tears are only fake 50% of the time. I feel like he likes getting babied, but mainly because that means there's less work for him to do. Season 2, which focuses more on him, reveals that he's actually quite brilliant, capable of seeing all the angles and giving him some chessmaster-like qualities. He needs to learn to use those abilities for good. 665/10.

Hi, she's Webbie! The honorary triplet, who also got a massive makeover, from annoying token girl tagalong to socially awkward, adorkable action girl. Be careful who you call ugly in middle school, indeed. Like a more ferocious  Mabel Pines, she has a grappling hook and years of martial arts training under her belt. Webbie can absolutely decimate you, but won't, because she's a sweet girl. Voiced by Kate Micucci. She continues to like unicorns and the color pink, but assuredly in the most badass of ways. She helped Dewey with his quest to uncover the mystery of his missing mom, but works well with all of the triplets, with Huey taking her under his wing a bit and Louie trying to get her to chill out more. Webbie is a sweetheart and I would die for her, were it not completely unnecessary, since she's more than capable of taking care of herself. ∞/10.

A lot of the supporting cast also saw updates and changes, for instance Gyro being a genius without social skills and Fenton being an adorkable scientist, but again, they work really well. They're interesting new takes on beloved characters. Even the new additions to the cast are great. In short, I love me some birds and am excited for season 3, Disney, get your scheduling together.

The Turtles 2.14.2 - I upgraded my upgrade in the middle of the upgrade

Also, these guys have seen so many different iterations in their, what, 30+ years of existence. As someone with no prior attachment to the turtle brand, I don't have a lot to say here. Leo's not the leader in this one and Raph has more personality than being angry at Leo for being the leader. Donnie is not just a random nerd spouting technobabble and Mikey has more depth than yelling the catchphrase every now and again. Apparently, this made people upset. I don't know how to help you with that.  The middle brothers exude some high chaotic energy and should not be left unsupervised, but the oldest and youngest seem fairly stable.

Raphael, the red-bandana'd alligator snapping turtle is an imposing figure. He's the oldest and therefore team leader by default. Raph has no reason to be upset at Leo, so he isn't. Despite his ferocious appearance, he's a soft guy, who likes teddies and doting on his brothers, but fears puppets. He's a bit of a knucklehead, most of his plans involve smashing things with his tonfa and he may refer to himself in the third person in the heat of the moment, but he possesses emotional intelligence, is open about his feelings and looks after his brothers. He is big and and strong, but his heart is bigger and stronger. He especially loves small animals animals, who don't usually return his feelings. RIP in F. This responsible guy is voiced by Omar Benson Miller. 300/10, very soft. Somehow both the heart and the big guy of the group.

Donatello has been upgraded from second-to-youngest to second-to-oldest, not that it makes much of a difference. His color of choice is purple and he continues in the character's tradition of being a nerd, although this time, with self-confidence. Donnie is very sure of himself and his abilities. As a spiny soft-shell turtle, he's less sure of his shell, but that's okay, he's made robotic battle shells to make up for it and his bō is the mother of all multitools. This guy can build you a tank out of a buggie and upgrade your animatronic into something to give the FNAF franchise a run for its money. He's the smartest of the four and when not focused on his phone, very focused on the mission. Due to having to deal with his bros, he can be exasperated a lot. Thinks of himself as an emotionally unavailable bad boy, even though he's just really sensitive and wants his dad or someone parent-aged to tell him they're proud of him. Theater kid. 999/10, give the middle child a hug and some coffee, you can't tell me he has a healthy sleep cycle. This sarcastic nerd is brought to you by Josh Brener.

Leonardo, Ben Schwartz's second blue character (Sonic (2020) being the third under his belt) and also his second ninja after Randy Cunningham. He's not the leader. He's still a good character. Leo has approximately 800 charisma and unwavering faith in both, his family and himself. Mostly himself though. Like Louie, season 2 revealed that he is a master of prediction and playing people like the cheap kazoo you can't tell me he doesn't have to play Darude's Sandstorm on. He dabs, he boards, he will pun you to death and back and he has an Odachi that can cut through space. Leo likes hogging the spotlight when given the chance and wants to be showered with attention and praise. Having four kids really only means twice the middle child nonsense. Leo is a red-eared slider, the original species of the TMNT, as I've been told. He's also the best at being a ninja, but usually too lazy to really apply himself. He's younger than Donnie, but tumblr suggested to read the two as twins, since they're approximately the same age, which sheds a whole new light on their dynamic and frankly, makes way too much sense. 420/10, for our memelord Leonardo.

Michelangelo, the eternally youngest of the bunch. An artiste, who puts stickers on himself, tags the lair, has a spiritual connection to his skateboard and the color orange. Mikey loves all things arts and craft, but he also tries his hands at cooking. He idolizes famous TV chefs and can do pretty much anything out of and into pizza. He's funny, without being annoying, like I feel a lot of other iterations of this character are. It's an easy pitfall for comic relief guys, but this one is more than that. If that's an issue, feel free to leave my house. Mikey is genuinely sweet and happy, optimistic and soft, but also the one brother who knows when it's time to take off the gloves and just get straight to the point. He's open about and in touch with his feelings. He's just baby. Don't treat him as one though. A lot of promo stuff says Leo has taken him under his wing, but he's had more episodes together with Donnie. Not that I'm complaining, they work very well together. Mikey and Raph are both the emotional centers of the group. Does not mind being yeeted after retracting into his shell, as box turtles may do. (Disclaimer, do not yeet actual box turtles!) His weapon of choice is a Kusari-Fundo that can turn into a fire-demon and is about as unpredictable as he is. Likes to jump and bounce around. Probably does parkour. Voiced by Brandon Mychal Smith who is audibly having a blast. 500/10, just an all around Kusari-fun guy.

For last, but certainly not least, April O'Neil, my girl, who saw an upgrade from flip-flopping love interest who was vaguely ninja-ing, but mostly damsel in distress-ing, to all-around spunky powerhouse and by God, she is glowing. Rise has her more as a big sister figure to the turtles, and I will not be told otherwise. She is independent and don't need no man, mutant or no. She has her teleporting pet, her faith in herself, her pinpoint baseball hitting skills and the a complete and utter lack of fear. Despite being a weirdness magnet, April is perfectly comfortable. She would like to be able to keep a job, maybe, but she has loving friends who respect and love her. Surprisingly good a ninja, fearless and fun. Occasionally thinks about being popular at school, but it's really not a big concern, she's not gonna throw a tantrum over it or anything. April is very chill. Not likely to be damseled. More likely to run after the turtles and clean up their messes or save them and everyone involved is fine with that.

The late 10's are really coming in to show us how dynamic and well-written female characters that aren't just "strong", but three-dimensional and relatable are done, huh?

An iconic performance by Kat Graham and ∞/10 for being the honorary better ninja non-mutant non-turtle and best big sister.

Here we have it, two older properties, having new life breathed into them to make them fresh and enjoyable. Have a new spin put on them, to better fit in with our current world. You can feel the love oozing out of every frame. At the end of the day, of course, it all boils down to taste and whether or not you like something. I gave Ducktales 2017 a go because a lot of the staff from Gravity Falls went to work on it and if you don't know me, I love me some Gravity Falls. It's a good show and I enjoy it. I recently got into Rise and while I don't know much about the people working on it, it is also a greatly enjoyable show, easily on the same level as Ducktales, if not above, yet with far less people speaking about it. Which is frankly saddening. I can only recommend the two of them wholeheartedly. If you love animation, yourself and occasionally feeling things, these are for you!

[velkynkarma]

Hey, I've been re-watching VLD S1, and now I'm wondering something! As much as I enjoyed the first few episodes, conflict with Sendak in 4 & 5 are what really buckled me in for the ride, and then "Crystal Venom" built more on that... So what I'm wondering is, what did you think of Sendak as a character in those first two seasons? Did you ever have any plot hopes - or ideas of your own - involving him?

Oooh, interesting question!

I always figured Sendak couldn’t have been dead in S1. The “Crystal Venom” eject by Shiro was just too good a setup for the return. 

I always found him fascinating in S1, because he breaks a lot of the traditional trope norms you usually get in a series like this. Sendak is physically enormous and gifted in combat. ‘Trope’ laws usually dictate a character like this introduced as early as the first episode needs to be dumber than a sack of bricks to compensate, because Zarkon has to be the REAL villain, right? 

But Sendak was terrifying not just because he was big and skilled physically, but because he was also really fucking smart. Look at how early he captured the Castle of Lions and Voltron. The fourth episode of the FIRST season! He has only one other living soldier and a handful of broken sentries and he still manages to circumvent an entire team of paladins, Allura and Coran, seriously injure at least one of their number, capture another, and he almost manages to leave with the Castle and all of the Lions. The only reason they even beat him in the first episode is because he wasn’t expecting them to be able to form Voltron, and as soon as he knew it was possible, he immediately created a strategy that prevented them from using the Lions at all and forced them to fight him on even terms. He’s not afraid to fight ruthlessly and to fight dirty, but he’s also not all talk, and isn’t afraid to deal with the situation himself. Sendak is an end-game style opponent, the type you normally see that’s like...the boss before the final boss in a video game. I remember thinking in S1, ‘holy shit, I can’t believe they’re opening with a plot line like this!’  

In short, I loved Sendak as a villain in S1. He was great. He flipped trope norms on their head, made an interesting challenge for the team that was just starting to figure out how to be a team, and was genuinely scary because he was a threat you weren’t sure they could beat.

I guess my read of his character wasn’t technically wrong, since he is, in fact, the boss before the final boss in the series. But I found his canonical return to be a bit disappointing in the long run. There were some interesting hints that he might have been a prototype for the clone project, what with Haggar continually insisting he was the ‘purest of the Galra,’ and Sendak talking about ‘spending time with the druids...they do love their experiments.’ He talks so much about he and Shiro being alike when he torments Shiro (assuming that was, in fact, Sendak, and not a product of Shiro’s own PTSD), that there are definitely parallels between the two. But he just ended up as a maniacal villain killing time until Honerva set up her weird final plans and that kind of fell flat. 

Back in S1, I never really had any plot hopes for Sendak beyond ‘man, they gotta bring him back, it would be a waste not to.’ But since they did, and I hated how they did it...looking back, I’d shake up a few things. 

I’d love to dig further into that ‘clone prototype’ or ‘purest Galra’ story more, maybe even to continue the Kuron story and explain why that had even happened. I’d love to learn about the origin of his (first) mechanical arm and what the druids had been doing, what their goals were. I’d love to see why he’s so incredibly loyal to Zarkon, why Zarkon would have trusted him to hold on to the Red Lion, why Zarkon would fully trust him to capture all of the Lions and bring them back to him without a thought of betrayal. I’d love to see a Sendak so fiercely loyal to his Emperor that he doesn’t form his own splinter faction, but instead protects his Emperor when he’s down, who strives to revive him or find (or force) a way to heal him, and who is ruthless about killing traitors and those who caused Zarkon to fall. I’d love to use all of those things as parallels for a story for Shiro, who is very afraid of becoming that sort of person, and using those plot elements to learn he has control over himself and chooses to be whatever he wants. 

But most of all, I’d want Sendak to be a real challenge villain. None of that ‘apocalyptic times, trying to keep Earth from being blown up’ story. Sendak is scary because he’s clever and knows how to use his brute force to his advantage; he doesn’t need a mustache-twirling blowing-up-the-earth evil villain plot-line to accomplish this. I’d want a story where the paladins figure out his clever plot and finally prove that, unlike their S1 versions, they can defeat it. I’d want a plot where they have to do that without the Lions, to parallel their first encounter with him and prove that they really have matured on their own, and not through having to rely on giant robot cats. And I’d want a climactic final showdown between Shiro and Sendak that Shiro wins on his own, that culminates in Shiro proving once and for all that he’s not and never will be another Sendak. That he can fight just as brutally and as hard as Sendak can, but his values and his love and loyalty to his friends and family are what set him apart and make him stronger than Sendak ever could be.

I want Sendak to be the second-to-endgame villain that’s difficult as hell, but a clear measuring stick of just how far the paladins have come to get to the point when they can beat him.