#im fully an amateur so this probably does not make sense

[pigswithwings]

Hi pigs "whale yuri Wednesday" with wings!!! I think the colors in your art are very cute nd i was wondering if you have a method with picking them? I struggle a lot with color picking when i dont have smth to work off of!

Also not an ask but you should post more about your original art/reblog it!! ocs too!! :]

well!! i don't have a specific method most of the time I'm eyeballing all of that!! but i can give some general tips on how i personally pick colours...

also: thank you 🫶🫶 ... i do not make art very often so most of the time i feel like there is nothing to post about!! but i will try to reblog my own art more often!! i have been working a lot on one oc of mine so perhaps you will see more of it :]

- i tend to first put all the colours side by side to get a sense of how they'll all look together!!

- usually i start with a very light or very dark colour that i like, and build off of that.

- after i choose a color to work off of, i tend to pick another colour that's similar to the first colour. (black and white can go well with basically every colour if you're stuck!)

i personally try to keep the colours distinct enough that you can tell it's another colour. this isn't totally necessary, it's mostly because i use a lineless style and my shapes won't be distinguishable if i don't make it clear which colour is which. for example with fhese two images - it's easier to tell between the colours on the right than the colours on the left.

specific processes here:

in the top left corner here, i chose the black, then the dark blue/dark purple, then the purple, then the light purple. they're all in the same area of the colour wheel but each one gradually progresses in brightness and moves into another area of the colour wheel.

same with the top right corner - i started with the white and chose a shade of orange that was easy to see against it. then a similar shade of yellow to pair with the orange, and then i wanted a highlight colour to stand out. since the general pattern of this colour set is bright/warm colours, we can choose another bright or warm colour that's different in brightness or shade - in this case i chose a bright green, but a bright red would have also gone nicely with this.

the bottom left and right is mostly the same as above, but finding a colour palette like the bottom right can be trickier. i started with a combination of white, cyan, and purple but thought that it looked a bit boring. so i picked a colour that wasn't blue or purple but a bright(er) red so that it stood out. could have also used bright orange/yellow/pink instead, but i think the red gives it an interesting contrast. i like to think that it's all about contrast

i tend to make colour palettes at random just for fun, so i think that practice or just putting colours together to see what looks good can also help!! some more examples below of just. colour palettes or colours that work well together

and yeah! to be honest i don't really know what i am doing but i like messing around with groups of colours. do what you want, lay down some colours that you like and most importantly have fun 👍👍👍

[the-heart-of-a-monster]

PUTTING THE NEW PAGE INTO THIS ASK AS WELL FOR GHE FIRST TIME BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT TO TALK ABOUT WITH THIS PAGE SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME HERE

Ima start with the first panel because there’s already so much in that one single panel and it is gonna drive me nuts!

So first up, we have “Secret” Chaotix meeting room. Yes, this place is apparently being kept a secret from the public eye. This could be due to the Chaotix having to handle a bunch of super deep and disturbing cases that, if allowed to spill out into the public, would be catastrophic! Not in the sense that it would destroy the world or anything like that, but it’d certainly ruin their reputation as detectives! Don’t detectives irl have these kinds of cases too…? Or maybe I’m thinking too hard on this and it’s just the place they meet with their friends whenever Eggman does something stupid? Who knows.

I do know though that it looks beautiful and it looks like they’re actually in a room which, as an amateur artist myself, can only dream of achieving!! It looks so cool! I just… I adore your backgrounds and I can tell you put a lot of love and effort into making them, so please give yourself a pat on the back!

And maybe I’m reading too much into a single panel.

But that’s not all that we get to see!!! (No I’m not talking about the Chaotix even though I REALLY wanna talk about the Chaotix cuz they deserve more love and I’m so glad they’re here THANK YOUUUUUUUU) YEAH THAT’S RIGHT, SONIC IS FULLY CONVERTED TO DARK GAIA SONIC LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Well not fully converted, but we can clearly see that it’s taking a huge toll on his body! Not only are the markings now visible on him during the day, but it also seems to be siphoning his energy…? Kind of…? I mean, Sonic has been out cold since “Killing” Omega, and usually he wouldn’t be so out of it otherwise. And I can see a little tiny X over his Gaia eye, so… I’m not too sure, but what I am sure of is that this is BAD for Sonic. The poor guy is gonna have to deal with not only being corrupted during the day, but also at night, and that cannot be good for his psyche. It was bad enough when he had to be in a completely new body for just the nighttime, but now it’s for both day and night in its own way, and… Gosh, this is gonna be torture for Sonic once he wakes up.

Okay now onto the actually lore panels because there is so much to uncover but BEFORE WE GET INTO THE LORE PARTS OF ALL THAT LEMME JUST POINT OUT HOW PISSED SHADOW LOOKS IN THE SECOND PANEL BRO LOOKS LIKE HE WANTS TO PUNT CHIP INTO THE SUN FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER AND HE IS JUST SO OVERPROTECTIVE OF SONIC IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY I LOVE THIS ANGSTY EDGY BOY SO MUCH BUT I WANNA KNOW WHAT IS GOING THROUGH HIS HEAD RIGHT NOW WHY IS HE GLARING DAGGERS AT CHIP WHAT DID THIS LITTLE CREECHUR EVEN DO TO YOU SHADZ

Okay back to the lore-

So, im still gonna call Light Gaia as Chip because I still see a cute adorable fluffy fairy in those big brown eyes and I think he deserves a real name. Anyhow, Chip now is aware of him being a literal god. He says he regulates the day and Dark Gaia regulates the night. This kind of makes sense. Chip handles the sun and DG handles the moon. Think Luna and Celestia from MLP. And similar to those two as well, Dark Gaia got out of control like Luna did and created an eternal night. But this doesn’t really explain the planet splitting into a million giant pieces. (Not literally a million) Nor does it explain Chip losing his memory. Chip claims that whenever one of them falls out of line, the other will be there to pull them back together. Does this mean Chip or Dark Gaia have lost their memory before? Have the events of Unleashed happened before? How do they reign the other in?

These questions are probably gonna get answered in the next page lmao what am I doing-

Everything else is kinda sorta spelled out to us which I think is a good thing, since Chip is, in the story, explaining all of this to a group of people who had no idea about any of this for their entire lives. The poor Chaotix just got roped into this, they just want their pay. So with that in mind I don’t know what else to really cover…? Maybe I’ll notice something later on and just start spamming you with questions, who knows. For now I’m SUPER DUPER EXCITED FOR THE NEXT PAGE LET’S GO THIS IS GONNA BE SO FUN CANNOT WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK

hell yeah do look out for the new page on monday :3 i love ur little big analysis its always the highlight of my week to see one

btw this goes out to evecryone but the whole scene has a lot of moments for everyone else than sonic and shadow so we are winning

[ettuleo]

I lied. I don’t like sex. Put your clothes back on. I’m gonna explain how releasing multiple seasons a year ruined voltron: legendary defenders

this was originally a twitter thread but it is truly how i feel about the entire series as a whole. all this to say these are my own thoughts and opinions.

--------

typically a show takes at least a year or so in production; making sure story lines make sense, characters are able to be developed instead of being flat (which happened to a lot of voltron characters ;-; but the characters are amazing) and to smooth out any wrinkle or hiccups. 

In doing 8 seasons in two years the writers were not given the ample amount of time to smooth out the wrinkles and to give us a fully fleshed out piece of work. Take for example Bojack Horseman. The show ran from 2014 to 2020 and it only had six seasons. in these six seasons tho the writers were able to tell an amply dark story but also giving us in depth backgrounds of the characters and we watched the characters grow and change (for better or for worse). the writers were given time to be able to tell that story and is why Bojack is highly praised. 

the voltron writers were not given the same treatment, instead they were rushed to give us 8 seasons in such a short time (this isnt taking account the poor animation team which was probably being worked to the bone bc its no joke animating tbh). 

Instead of characters that we see grow and change over the seasons, there was only like one person to have a charcter arc (pidge) and the character was hated on because of it. 

Like Lance got barely ANY character arc, he stayed the same throughout the entire show and we really never saw him grow and realize his own potential and no longer be insecure and feel like the seventh wheel of voltron. 

this can also explain why adam was introduced and killed off so quickly, there was just not enough time to even give shiro a proper backstory episode to show him making the decision to go to kerberos. 

Each of the seasons were also short and have little episodes because of the rush. I mean we saw lotor get a redemption arc and then it suddenly is thrown away so that haggar can be redeemed which made zero sense for her character.

if the writers and animators and the rest of the team were given rest time in between the seasons we would of seen an entirely different show (now that can also be false but im sticking to it could of been better) we could of seen each character grow and change and even get backstories for everyone.

i would of loved to see more garrison days of everyone and to see allura's life before Altea was destroyed (plus we could of gotten more fun filler episodes like monsters and mana where we see the characters personalities better).

people hated season eight and rightfully so, i cannot blame them. For lance to go back to farming with his family in cuba which has extremely racist undertones and for allura (the only black character) to be killed off does not also look good either.

allura didnt even have to die and for her to sacrifice herself just doesnt feel right. i understand fully that the show was EXTREMELY popular and the demand to get more episodes was at an all time high, but it was absolutely foolish and borderline amateur hour to rush production.

which is crazy because some of these show runners worked on amazing shows like avatar and korra. i know a lot of people who loved voltron feel betrayed by the eighth season and stopped participating in the fandom overall because of the betrayal they felt.

i feel like now a lot of times we as a fandom forget about this bc its been a few years since the finale and a lot of us rather use our own headcanons and fanon rather than the actual canon because it gave us nothing at all except for amazing characters.

okay to end this rant, the show feels half baked due to the way the production was rushed to get out these eight seasons in two years. if the writers were given the time (which honestly the show would probs still be going on now as we speak in the year of our gods 2022), the show could have lived up to its actual potential instead of being a dumpster fire (i use that lovingly but also not) we would of seen growth and change in characters and a lot of things we hated would of never of happened potentially. 

so yeah, thats my rant on the destruction of voltron. thanks for coming to my ted talk

[vegacoyote]

#so yeah we DO typically pronounce it arse but most of us will actually still spell it ass regardless#which i THINK is the opposite of what you explained but I might also just be agreeing with you#idk im generally very confused#other brits are welcome to correct me here tho i have actually not asked every brit how they pronounce ass before posting#still dk why this even came up tho#why did I get insulted when I said i liked a feature of the american accent smh there’s truly no winning 😔😔

Ah, I think it’s the rhotic Rs tripping me up- Midwesterners tend to hit em so hard at the end of a syllable that in comparison it can be hard to tell that other dialects haven’t actually just chopped the R off altogether. Like, I could probably hear the difference, but just converting the words in my imagination from one accent to another changes “ass” and “arse” to something that feels different, but sounds almost the same. If that makes any sense. (I’m not sure it does.)

… Actually, now I think of it, it’s not just the R that’s screwing me up, it’s the A too. Converting from my accent to even a lot of American accents means softening the Midwestern flat A to something a lot less nasal, coming from lower and rounder in the mouth. So what I think happens is I overcorrect on both, and end up with something where I can feel the difference more than hear it.

Like, OK, correct me if I’m way off, because I’m going to start talking about the mouth-feel of sounds in a dialect I don’t actually speak. So the flat A in “ass” or “back” in my accent would be pronounced with almost like an “ayuh” sound. Smoothing that out to convert to a British or Southern accent makes it more of an “aaaah.” Then in “ar” as in “arse” or “bark,” the A starts out pre-smoothed, because the R modifies the vowel. Then to modify the R, it’s almost like… instead of just modifying the vowel, it almost becomes part of the vowel? Like, it’s a little growlier and comes from lower in the throat than the straight-up “aaah” you’d get from just clipping off the rhotic R, and there’s a little bit of a curl of the tongue at the end, but not the same fully-vocalized hard curl I’d use if I wasn’t at least half-clipping my Rs. But the dialect I grew up with doesn’t necessarily recognize those as different sounds. Hence, something I can feel more than hear, unless I’m listening really hard for it.

… All that to say is, I think we’re actually mostly agreeing, except the part where the translation software my brain’s running was coded by an amateur only fluent in only one of the involved dialects. And “arse” isn’t just a minced oath for “ass,” it’s a separate swear that means the same thing.

As for why “arse” even came into the conversation… I think accents are just one of those pufferfish topics? The ones where people get super defensive if it even sounds like you’re talking down, and they start talking down back, and next thing you know everyone’s gone *FLOOMPH* and they’re too spiky and full of water to have a normal conversation. And I really wish people wouldn’t do that, because the topics in question are almost always fucking fascinating if you get people actually talking about them.

Like, in this case, I think the part that Lizardlicks was reacting to was “I think we collectively agree that swearing doesn’t hit as hard in an American accent,” but I’m not gonna say “So censor yourself because people are sensitive,” no, no, no! I’m gonna say, “Actually, I disagree with that premise, but I think there’s a reason why it seems that way and here it is.”

Firstly, I think swearing hits hardest when it’s in your dialect. You know what that person means, you can judge exactly how severe each of those words is, and you know they mean it, because they’re talking from not just the heart but the gut, and it sounds like home.

Swearing hits the next hardest when you can tell that someone’s speaking from the gut, and that’s what home sounds like to them. Someone who’s code-switching will drop their cover, and start talking like they mean it, and you just know.

So, here’s the thing with the accent you’re most likely to hear in American media:

That is the accent that Americans are most likely to be code-switching to.

I’ve heard Brits call it the “Good” American accent; I’ve called it the National Public Radio accent myself.

Let me be clear- that is the accent that I actually have, and it’s not by accident. My family growing up was upper-middle class, but new enough to it to know that downward mobility was always a possibility, and the wrong accent can have consequences. As such, they were absolutely the sort who constantly corrected us on grammar and pronunciation; no dropping the “g” off words with “ing,” no swapping “were” for “was,” and definitely don’t say “ain’t.” (My dad grew up with this accent; my mother grew up with gentle Kansas Southern that she slips into like an old, comfortable pair of shoes when we go back to visit her family. And also uses when she swears.)

In my opinion, as someone raised to the NPR Midwestern accent, it’s not actually a very good dialect for swearing in. Or if it is, it’s best suited to the sort of quietly-spoken precision F-bomb that lets all in range know that everything’s just been blown all to hell.

Now, it’s entirely possible that this impression is the result of a slightly freakish upbringing- my father’s mother was a kindergarten teacher, and not only did she always correct grammar and pronunciation, not only did she never use slang, she never raised her voice at all. Not even to be heard in class. She could get a whole classroom of rowdy kindergartners to settle down and look at her just by going silent herself. She was strongly of the opinion that any situation bad enough to swear over was better served by acting instead of shouting.

My mom’s side of the family was much more solidly working-class, but they were also capital-R Respectable, which in small-town Kansas means religious. We Do Not Take the Lord’s Name in Vain, Hell is Real and Not For Cursing People With, and swear-words for scatological or anatomical functions are straight-up unthinkable.

Minced oaths were fine, though. My mom’s favorite is “Dad-gummit!” spoken with full sincerity and zero acknowledgement of how silly it actually sounds.

My dad, when seriously stressed, was partial to an almost-under-his-voice “Cripes.”

And I’m not gonna say there’s no one out there born-and-raised with an NPR Midwestern that knows how to deploy a cluster-F-Bomb fit to peel paint off the walls- like I said, both sides of my family might have an element of Not-Swearing Georg in there.

But I am saying that a good portion of the people you see using that accent on TV? That’s not the accent they’re going to be swearing in. Make sense?

i know we all collectively agreed that swearing just doesn't hit as hard with an american accent but you have to admit the way they say 'shut the fuck up' is kinda funny. like it fucks a bit idk

[2k18leo]

TMNT 2007 talk

Okie dokie since we’ve been on hiatus for a long long time, but I still want to talk turtles, I figured I’d talk about the TMNT 2007 film again. If you’ve been with my account for a while you may know what a huge fan I am of this particular movie (of course I love the other films and may talk about them at a later date, but this one just hits differently for me mainly because it’s what got me into the Ninja Turtles in the first place) 

So, I have already briefly covered my take on the 2007 film as a whole.  Aaaand, @my-sai-and-i _and_i wrote a post that goes in depth about the emotional scarring that the fight had on Leo and Raph. It’s a wonderful post and you should def check it out 👌🏼

I am currently watching the 2007 film (yet again (HA what is my count up to now? Can’t keep track. Lol moving on—)) and once again I am breathless at the climactic fight BATTLE that Leo and Raph have. Every single time I watch it, my love for the franchise grows even more. I think this may be because I’m actually such a fan of the TMNT trope that is the constant butting heads of the two oldest brothers (oof sorry not sorry 🤭). I’m also going to talk mainly about this fight scene because it’s literally the EXACT scene that I started watching when I was first introduced to tmnt. That is already talked about in another post, however 😂

Okaaay, let’s get into this thing. First off, the score for this chase scene is already making you very anxious for some sort of confrontation between the two boys. It gives you chills right off the back. Whenever Nightwatcher accidentally cornered himself I got to thinking what it would have been like if we had seen Leo and his trip out into the city instead of the diner scene with the 12th monster. Like, was he just out looking for Raph and heard police scanners saying there was an issue with the diner? Then he headed over to possibly help, but ran into the vigilante Nightwatcher. I can only assume he was already looking for Raph since Splinter right beforehand advised Leo that he needed to get off his high horse and work things out with Raph. Since April and Casey were in the lair, I’m sure Leo didn’t expect Raph to go back to their apartment. He probably went around to their old hangout places in the city (before Leo was sent to South America) but since he had been gone so long, maybe he figured his brothers didn’t hang out anymore since it wasn’t all four of them. Sure, Casey’s a great friend, but never a replacement for one of the turtles. Leo could have also gone back to the construction site that they had partly demolished with that first monster a couple nights prior. Raph did make a point in saying that they needed to find out who was responsible for the sudden burst of creatures in New York. Don’t get me wrong, learning where the 12th monster was when Raph fought it was important I guess? I mean, it made the stone generals stationed in the area, but still not THAT close to where Raph and Leo ended up (they ran quite a ways. A mile at least.)

Okay, back to the rooftop scene. The setting was beautiful and I just— *chef’s kiss* love it. The rain. The red glow of the Red Eye Club sign. Which, I’m just now thinking about this but if an English teacher was asking you what the red sign symbolized I do believe that that could be some sort of symbol/foreshadow that Raph will be the one who comes out victorious in the upcoming brawl. In case I’m not completely giving that a whole-ass stretch, I looked up the Red Eye Club to see if it was a real place but all I got were a bunch of pictures of marijuana so I’m gonna assume NOPE. It could be a minor detail or it could just be a coincidence 🤷🏽‍♀️ I mean the neon sign did not have to be red specifically. Lol don’t @ me 😂

Anyway, I love the way the rain falls on the metal of Raph’s armor. I can only imagine how much of a BITCH that rain was to animate. 

Leo starting off with the good cop persona is very in touch with his character and I like. He’s still the “talk first, shoot later” wise character we LOVE, while Raph is so much the opposite (which we LOVE JUST AS MUCH (ugh sorry im gushing again)). I like how Raph stayed silent. He didn’t give his identity up. He didn’t try to stop Leo from starting a fight. He WANTED to fight Leo. And this was the perfect opportunity without Leo holding back by being aware of his own brother under the suit. It’s sort of like a Red Hood/Batman type scene. And, it’s hardly audible but, Leo then continues to try and calm down the vigilante by saying “The road you’re on is a dead-end. Believe me, I’ve tried it.” He has no idea who is behind the mask. For all he knows, he’s talking to a complete stranger, yet he is still trying to be the voice of reason. The Nightwatcher could be a deranged murderer for all he knows. He is only aware of what the News has been recently saying. You can tell he doesn’t know everything about this vigilante (which, side note but, this all seems a bit hypocritical if I’m honest. Up until Donnie and Mikey got jobs, all the turtles/Casey/possibly April did was vigilantism. I mean, does Leo think that the Nightwatcher is correlated with the monster sightings? Is that his main reason for being a vigilante to stop a vigilante??) ALSO when Leo said “…believe me, I’ve tried it” is that referencing his time in South America? I know he “got caught up in his own world” and “forgot about everyone else” but does that necessarily correlate with what he’s talking about? Did something really bad happen in South America that we didn’t see? Did he become like Hawkeye (cough* Ronin) in Endgame? 

This also makes me wonder what would have happened if Donnie and Mikey had gone out to help Leo search for Raph. It could have been like a Teen Titans scene where Robin was posing as Red X and the rest of the titans unknowingly fought their ally because he was seemingly just another villain. If things played out that way, I’m not even sure that Raph would have put up much of a fight. He didn’t have any major beef with his younger brothers. The scene would have probably been way less emotional as well. Plus, Leo probs wouldn’t have been captured. 

Whenever Raph first wields his weapons, signifying he’s ready to fight, Leo gives a very small smirk. He wants to fight as much as Raph does. But for different reasons. Raph knows his opponent and is angry with him— furious even. Leo… I think deep down he loves to fight. He knows he’s good at it. He knows he’s going to win. But it’s probably been a long time since he’s actually felt that great adrenaline rush of a fight (yes, I’m aware he was in the fight with the first monster but that’s not a one-on-one duel) Which is why when he says “Trust me when I tell you. You don’t want to do this” he says it in a way that he’s still trying to be the voice of reason… BUT it’s also very much a threat. He’s been wanting a proper fight for a while. There’s a certain thrill I’m sure he gets when he’s faced with someone who is probably an even match for him. Even with the threat he gives, he’s fully aware that his opponent will strike. 

COCKY LEO. 

I’m not going to even try to get into the subject as to why on earth Leo cannot recognize his own brother under the suit because @my-sai-and-i already explained that WAY better. 

I mean, Leo is chuckling as the Nightwatcher does his second swing. It’s funny to him because he still knows he’s going to win this fight. There is no doubt in his mind that he will defeat this amateur clown in a costume. But this is the way, I’m absolutely positive, Leo acted as a teenager to common criminals on the streets.  He’s always known how good he was at fighting, so I can bet money he was cocky growing up. And yeah, it’s way different than how he was fighting the raiders in the beginning of the film. Back in South America he acted all dark and silent, more than likely trying to keep up the persona of the Ghost of the Jungle. If he acted all cocky and obnoxious to the raiders, I’m sure word would get out, which might frighten the villagers even more. Being his sneaky stealthy self, he was less likely to scare the villagers, and probably able to keep up the thought that he was just a peaceful legend (kind of like Katara as the Painted Lady in Avatar (I’m referencing soooo many other things, but it makes sense to me 😂)) So, now that Leo’s back in the place where he grew up, of course, his old cocky tendencies would come back. It’s almost nostalgic for him. 

Another thing. Leo is completely defensive for the majority of this fight. He hardly ever throws an actual blow. He jumps back out of the way when the Nightwatcher swings his chain at him again. Which is a completely smart move. Another reason to note that he KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING. He’s fought for about 20 years (we don’t actually know their ages in this movie (or do we ?) but I would guess around 18-20 ??) so he’s fully aware of the fact that one of the best fighting techniques is letting your opponent tire themselves out so you can then finish them off and become victorious. But Raph’s temper has always led him to go guns blazing. Shoot first, questions later. 

Leo continues to mock the Nightwatcher because he knows he’s going to get a rouse out of him. He spent a good enough time sparring with Raph to figure out how to egg on that temper. A temper that would then make Raph angry and thoughtless, thus becoming rash with his fighting technique. Ultimately becoming careless and in total defeat. Again, don’t get me started on how Leo has NOT recognized his brother yet. Even after Leo has eluded yet another strike from the chains and the Nightwatcher turns around, Leo still gives a CHUCKLE to his face. He’s begging for that temper to be released. He’s ready for a real fight. And Raph’s more than ready to finally kick his big brother’s ass. 

Raph absolutely takes on the offense with a full charge to Leo as he does three heavy swings. Leo eludes all three until coming back with a counter-attack on the third. Leo does a fair job of holding his defense until Raph throws a huge right hook to the side of Leo’s head. I mean, it’s enough to knock him back a few paces and shake it off. This is when his face really goes completely serious. He’s just been caught off guard. There’s something in him that’s telling him to quit the wise-guy act. I mean, it was a simple punch, something I’m sure he is mentally beating himself up for misreading. Yet, he doesn’t charge back. He stands his ground while Raph is still the offender. 

Then Leo tries to continue to coach this dude by telling him how anger is destructive. This is probably something Splinter did as they were growing up. Also, Leo never once unsheathes his weapons on the Nightwatcher (yes, he ultimately does with Raph, but that’s later on. Hold tight, my dude). Even when the Nightwatcher drew out his chains, Leo didn’t react by drawing his own blades. I feel like being able to hold your own during hand-to-hand shows power/strength, while fighting with weapons shows skill. Which is another reason why I think Leo teased him at the beginning of the fight; he didn’t really expect this vigilante to have had any actual training with these weapons. He’s probably just some punk who thinks it’s cool. Another Casey Jones or Purple Dragon that could probably be knocked on his ass in 3 hits max. 

Leo’s uppercut is powerful as hell. He shot Raph like 6 feet in the air. And that can’t be easy. I can’t imagine how much these boys weigh. They’ve got the mass of a typical bodybuilder + the weight of their shell + the weight of their weapons PLUS Raph’s entire armor. That’s heavy as hell. 

Okay. The “Goodnight, Dark Prince” line. I don’t like it. It doesn’t seem to fit. When has this character ever been referred to as the Dark Prince? The only other thing Leo has referred to this vigilante is Nightwatchmen. Though, I get that it would be kinda redundant to say “Goodnight, Nightwatcher.” 

That’s another thing. Leo never meant to kill this dude. Just knock him out to drop him off at the police station later. Leo doesn’t kill. I mean, the very beginning of the film where he had his one-on-one with the raider leader almost implied that he killed him. Because the shot changed as soon as Leo made contact with the guy and all you hear is a loud scream making a flock of birds fly away in fright. If he was dark enough to kill these types of men (because IF he killed him, that probably wasn’t the first guy he had killed) in South America, that’s most likely the “dark path” / “dead-end” that he was referring to earlier. But I guess being back in the city does make him revert back to his old tendencies (but it shouldn’t completely disregard whatever messed up shit he had done in South America. That stuff should still be carried with him). Not even Raph is low enough to kill criminals. In his first scene in the film all Raph does is knock out some burglars and chain them up for the cops to find later on. It makes me wonder what would it have been like if Raph had gone to South America instead of Leo, while Leo stayed in the city. Would Leo have taken on his role of his own Nightwatcher? In the 2012 series, we see him become some sort of vigilante but he’s got Karai and Shinigami with him. It doesn’t seem very in character for Leo to go solo like Raph did. Of course, Leo would still miss the fight, but I’m sure he’d wise up and get a job just like his younger brothers. 

Okay, here we go. Here’s that brother angst we’ve been waiting for. When Leo first realizes who’s actually behind the mask, he’s not angry. He’s not mad. Not even disappointed. He’s really just shocked out of his mind. Complete disbelief. He just walks closer to Raph in hopes to talk to him. Perhaps apologize for fighting him just moments before, that he truly had no idea. But Raph doesn’t even turn to face his brother before doing a powerful back kick to Leo’s chest. Which, of course, takes Leo by surprise. Sure they had had a couple arguments since he’s been back but honestly that’s how Leo remembered things being with Raph. He remembered small quarrels. Nothing serious. They had always butted heads. Even though Splinter warned Leo that Raph had taken Leo’s absence pretty hard, he didn’t really know what that meant until now. He didn’t understand why his brother had so much pent up rage toward him. 

And Raph is throwing all these words at Leo. Calling him out by saying that he believes the world revolves around him. That they couldn’t possibly survive without him. I’m sure these words sting a bit to Leo but that’s not what he’s focused on. He’s starting to register everything. THIS is why Raph has always had an issue with him. THIS is the reason for his younger brother’s constant attitude. And when Raph says that they got along just fine without Leo, for a split second, you can totally see the pain that causes Leo. Like, that shit hurted. But he raises his voice and retaliates by calling him out on his bullshit. He’s telling Raph how immature it is that he’s taken up this new persona (*cough* still a tad hypocritical since he did basically the same thing as Ghost of the Jungle) because it’s causing danger to their family. I mean, at least the villagers were never truly afraid of Ghost, but the citizens of New York are terrified at what the Nightwatcher is and his motives. It’s all they’re talking about on the News lately. Raph has been causing a panic without even realizing it because he’s been too blinded by his own good intentions. 

But Raph doesn’t want to hear it. Leo hasn’t been around. He left. He wasn’t there when the turtles were just sitting by without a leader while criminals still ran amok. I mean, Raph has been angry at the thought “why does Leo get to go?” “What are we supposed to do now?” And with Donnie and Mikey being too passive to stop Raph, there really isn’t anyone around to keep Raph from straying from this road. How can Leo honestly expect things to go back to normal?? How can this big shot waltz back into our lives after he’s missed the last year and a half? And how the hell does he think he’s still the boss of me? 

And now Leo is trying to explain to him that the reason for being gone so long was to better himself for Raph and the boys. It wasn’t up to him to go to South America and be gone for so long. He didn’t ask for it. Just like Raph never asked to be second best. He didn’t want someone to lead him. This is just how things turned out. Neither of them can help what they went through in the past. It’s just a recipe for disaster when one party is trying to be the best they can be for the other party and positively beats themselves up if they let the second party down. Aaand when the second party is completely resentful of the first party because they were chosen for the role the second party wanted. Leo can’t get over the fact that no matter what he does to better himself for Raph, Raph will still disregard it. And Raph can’t get over the thought of the living embodiment of perfection that is his older brother, so he’s angry with himself for not being as perfect and takes it out on Leo. 

And Raph has become his own leader. He’s become a lone-wolf that doesn’t need a leader anymore. He has good intentions (even though they are not being followed through quite right) and Leo is just coming back and messing everything up. Things have changed and Leo needs to realize this. But Raph also needs to take into consideration that Leo is trying to realize this. He’s been trying to reconnect with his brother. But Raph has put up such a strong wall around everyone that he thinks talking isn’t going to help.

Leo telling Raph that he isn’t ready to become his own leader is a tiny bit selfish in my opinion? I mean, I agree, but still. Like Leo sees that Raph never went on a hardcore training period off in some jungle halfway across the world. So, he thinks, how CAN Raph be ready if he hasn’t done that? But that’s the thing. Leo and Raph have their own way of doing things. Leo, in multiple iterations, tries so hard to have his brothers be exactly like him. If he achieves something a certain way, he expects his brothers to reach their achievements by doing it the exact same way. But Raph is fully capable of reaching his achievements his own way (same with Donnie and Mikey). That’s something that Leo has had a difficult time wrapping his head around. 

I also don’t feel like Leo outwardly staying that he’s better than Raph is true to his character. There’s no doubt in my mind that Leo believes that and has thought it on SEVERAL occasions. But with his “gotta be the bigger man” personality, it’s hard to believe he would stoop so low as to actually say it to Raph’s face. 

Now Raph laughs at this. And I feel like most of it is a fake laugh, but there’s still a part of it that’s real because he’s finally ready to show Leo that he’s better than him. This is the real fight that RAPH has been waiting for. The perfect match. The leader and the lone wolf. The Ghost of the Jungle and the Nightwatcher. Leo and Raph. 

Leo still tries to have him call off this fight. He’s confident in himself that he will win. Both parties are, in fact. They’ve both developed such different fighting styles since the time they’ve sparred together, that they’re basically strangers to each other now. They both know this isn’t going to end well. That things will be different after the dust (rain?) settles. Leo has a negative outlook on it. He doesn’t think that Raph will ever be happy towards him again. If anything, Raph will probably shun him. This defeat could push Raph over the edge. This could make Raph leave for real. He doesn’t want that. It pains him that he has to fight his little brother. But Raph? Raph has a positive outlook. He believes that after he defeats Leo, Leo will then see Raph’s true potential. He’ll be recognized as the best, no longer second-best. He finally gets to prove to Leo that things are different. 

Leo visibly sighs and shakes his head knowing there’s no getting out of this fight. His stubborn little brother won’t back down. It wouldn’t be honorable for Leo to stand down and admit defeat. It also wouldn’t be honorable to disgrace Raph by completely disregarding that he’s his brother and just going for the kill. He’s at a complete crossroads here. So, ultimately, he draws his swords. 

The shot of the two boys staring at each other from across the roof — I want that as a poster !! It’s so gorgeous. I’m just noticing this now but it’s split JUST down the middle in terms of color. It gives a very yin and yang type picture. Leo is on the side where the red neon sign is glowing bright, thus making him glow a faint red color. Raph, on the opposite end, is on the side where the shine of the moon is hitting down, making his armor almost glow a pale blue. Ugh so much symbolism I may cry.  Right off the bat you can tell the differences in the two boys. Raph has been in his ready-stance for a while. He’s been waiting for this. Leo stands tall with blades in hand but not in an attack stance. There’s still that sliver of hope that Raph will back down. It’s still early enough to put this behind them, but that window is fading fast. As the rain beats down around them, Leo realizes that the window is closed. Nothing will stop this fight. It’s happening. There is no going back. 

Per the theme this rainy evening, Raph is the first one to charge. He runs like the brute he has become, fists clenched around his sai so he’s ready to stab or punch. Leo charges in a very graceful samurai run. Also the music. The thundering drums that beat so deep and so fast. It’s such a powerful scene. 

The shot of the tip of Leo’s blade grazing the water on the roof is STUNNING. Honestly, who thinks of these details because I hope they got a RAISE back in 2007 😂 it’s beautiful 

I also love how they both jumped toward each other as their first move. This shows that they are now both on the offense. Something snapped inside Leo to make him change up his tactics a bit. Almost to throw off Raph, who has never been the best at a defensive position. His strong suit is in the offense. 

Still the differences between their fighting styles after the jump. Leo did a beautiful forward shoulder roll, which is a proper technique of coming out of a forward jump. It keeps your momentum going into your next attack. Raph landed on his feet which, may not be ideal, but gave him a split-second advantage to be on the offense for the next attack. Leo then had to block with his sword. This fight goes FAST. I’m watching it so carefully and I’m sure there are things that I’m missing. I love how Leo does a roll over Raph’s shell, and up until now I figured he had made contact with his shell, but he actually didn’t because just as Leo started his roll, Raph ducked forward out of the way. Then Raph does a couple kicks towards Leo’s head, which cause water to sprinkle EVERYWHERE and it’s gorgeous. Raph is just going ham and not letting up on Leo as he’s still going for those strikes. (Lol I took a stage combat course over the summer so I know a little bit of the lingo (but good god I am no expert so please call me out if you know I’m using improper terms)) Watching this scene makes me want to do a move chart with a list of moves they are doing and in the order they’re doing it haha. Finally, Leo is able to squeeze in two strikes towards Raph, both of which he ducks and then blocks. 

The camera angles are wonderful. Have I talked about that yet? I mean the shot of the two of them squaring off. The little shot of the two of them fighting between the E and the D in the neon sign. And even the upcoming shot from below when they’ve got their weapons locked together. So beautiful. 

This scene also really shows the details of the Nightwatcher suit. 

And when Leo is able to do an X cross block with his swords at the downward blow Raph is throwing with his sai, and the camera angles are just moving with the characters. UGH. Here you can see that Leo really is mad. The fury of the fight is showing through his eyes as he watches his brother with a predator-like stare. *frantically looks up synonyms for furious* and boy oh boy, Raph is just seething as he twirls his blades. This small segment of them circling each other (sort of like a Spaghetti western style) is a fighting trope that I really dig. Sais are actually a lot larger than I gave them credit for. Those sharp boys are HUGE. 

The way they have their teeth bared as they circle each other reminds me so much of two very dominate male animals fighting. Like two lions fighting for the pride. When Leo finally comes to a stop his eyebrows furrow just a tad bit more, almost impatiently waiting for Raph to make another offending move. Or possibly giving thought as if the fight was coming to its end. And Raph’s pupils are crazy dilated as he charges yet again. It’s like a sickness that has infested his mind, this constant need to one-up his older brother. It’s making him crazy. And the heaviness of that armor is making Raph charge like a rhino or something. And the shot of Leo tightening his grip on his blade gives the implication that there may have been a split second where he believed Raph was ready to be done with the fight. 

Their eye contact hardly ever breaks during this scene. Raph is wanting to see that split second of worry in his brother’s eyes. He’s wanting to see that hesitation. 

Now Leo charges and he has taken full offense. He strikes at Raph many times, closing him into the wall under one of the two signs. He throws seven blows before doing a jumping spin kick to Raph’s abdomen. You can tell that blow sent Raph back a ways, maybe even farther if that wall wasn’t there to stop him. He probably has some form of whiplash. And even as he’s starting to lock eyes with his opponent again, Leo’s sword comes RIGHT BY HIS NECK. Leo literally got so close to making a fatal would for Raph. And no, Leo had no intention of killing Raph. He was probably aiming to give Raph a nasty slash on his cheek. Just a warning. Something that would remind Raph to stay in his place. 

Now here it is. The locking of their weapons. The climax of the fight. Raph is enraged and is gritting his teeth so hard that he’s shaking. In the shot from below, you can see the absolute force that they are using to one-up the strength of the other as their muscles are just quivering. And Raph tries to make himself become larger to push Leo back. Leo gives a quick glance down to his weapon in fear that the thin blade will give out. Swords aren’t meant to withstand this kind of pressure. 

And when they do break. b o i. The shock and pain that sweeps through Leo is heartbreaking. He just lost. Even before Raph throws the final blow. Leo’s swords are finished, just as he is. His swords. The weapons he’s most likely had since he became leader all those years ago. A literal extension of his body. Taken away from him in an unforgivable instant. And right as Leo is taking a glance back up to Raph, Raph is already coming up to powerfully kick him straight through the jaw. Through his kick, Raph is still in his jump twirling around to deliver the fatal blow to his brother’s head. The spear of his sai is centimeters away from Leo’s head as he falls back and hits the concrete behind him. As soon as his eyes open after being knocked back, he registers how close that blade was to piercing his skull. He’s been around long enough to recognize a deadly shot. You can tell his mind is racing in that fraction of a second as he sees the blade and looks back up to Raph to question why on earth he would throw such a potentially devastating blow. And just like that, Raph standing above with Leo pinned to the ground, he has won. He has defeated Leo. Even still, you can see their expressions change numerous times as they process what has just happened. Raph still bares his teeth in anger/triumph. He’s finally showing Leo what he thinks of his “place”. Finally showing him that he is a worthy opponent to Leo. 

Again, Leo is in shock. All he’s thinking is “why” and “what” and many other synonyms for said terms. You can see his eyes flit between Raph’s own as he continuously tries to read what his brother is thinking. Then his brows furrow once more as it finally sinks in. Raph hated Leo for so long. Up until the point where he came close enough to kill him. It didn’t matter how much Leo trained to be better for Raph. Raph still hated him. Every fiber of his being. He’s confused and frightened still as to why. Just because they fought doesn’t mean there was any resolution. Leo is still left in the dark as to WHY his brother actually despises him. 

Raph, still seething, is beginning to shake all the way up to his face. Then it hits him. What he’s done. His pupils widen as his eyebrows slowly shift up. That’s Leo. That’s his older brother. That’s his family. That’s who he’s got pinned down. Who he nearly sent a sharp blade through the skull. Who he nearly murdered. Leo is still staring up at him, I’m sure wondering how someone could be filled with so much hate. Maybe for a split second, if the Ghost of the Jungle actually did kill those raiders in South America, Leo saw himself in Raph. Perhaps that scared him. This could have been the path Leo was headed down if it wasn’t for April coming and pleading for Leo to return home. No one was able to help Raph. No one tried to stop him from going too far down this path. Was it because he had been absent? Was this all because he left? This is what Raph really thinks of Leo, huh? 

I love how no words are spoken here, yet again. It’s brilliant what can be said without any actual words. There’s so much emotion between the boys after what just happened. 

And here’s Raph again. Still processing. He tries to shake it away as if it’s just a bad thought or a nightmare. He’s in disbelief of his own actions. He then starts to shy away from Leo as if in apology but honestly what’s to be said after that that will make everything better? He also looks a little to the right of Leo, but we don’t get to see what he’s looking at. Up until this point, I’ve always just figured he was just looking away in thought, not on anything in particular. But now, I feel like he could possibly be looking at the rain falling on the concrete roof as if to help him figure out that this is reality. That he’s actually here in this moment. And so is Leo. OR, he could be looking at Leo’s broken swords, which is also bringing him back to reality. He destroyed a part of his brother. He could have done so much more destruction. He gets up ever so gently as if Leo is a paper doll that will break under his weight or a sudden shift of movement. 

Leo still clutching onto his sword handles is probably subconscious instinct, like when something suddenly scares you and your muscles clench up and you hold tighter onto whatever. And here you can see that he’s actually showing that he’s in pain. His adrenaline is wearing off so the blows from just moments before are actually beginning to enflame his body. I’m sure there’s a part of him that’s scared of Raph now. Like there’s no more teasing or mocking. If he were to try it again, I’m sure he believes things could spiral out of control again. Something neither of them wanted anytime soon. His face is a little hard to read when he stands up, but mostly because he’s in pain and is showing that in his gestures and expression. Knowing Leo, he’s probably mentally asking so many questions. I’m sure he wants to talk. I’m sure he wants Raph to talk. But what on earth are either of them to say? 

They’re exhausted from the fight. Leo is visibly heaving his body. Raph is still stunned as ever as his eyes are fixed on his brother who is SOMEHOW ALIVE ?? He shakes his head slightly as the thought creeps through his mind again. As the more devastating idea enters. He doesn’t even want to consider what the aftermath would have been like. What if it actually happened. What if Leo wasn’t standing right in front of him? What if he was still on the concrete ground, covered in rain pellets, immovable. Just… still. With a single sai protruding from his head. No. He messed up. How could things ever be the same again? How could he move on from this? How could he go home and face his family? His brothers? Splinter? He feels like such a little kid. A scared child who’s worried about the consequences of his actions. He would be disowned. He would be shunned. He would be hated. What was he to do? He glances down at his weapons, still in hand, and gives a tiny gasp. These were almost murder weapons. Of his own brother’s death. So, he runs. Any specific destination, probably not. He just needed to be away from Leo. He has no idea if he’ll ever see him again. Or his family. He just messed up way too horribly. How would anyone be able to forgive him? How could Leo even be facing him?

As he turns away to disappear into the night, Leo inaudibly tries to call him back. Even after all that, Leo’s still trying to reach out to him. He doesn’t want Raph to leave. This is something they NEED to discuss. He’s not mad or angry at his brother. He’s confused. He could see it in Raph’s eyes that Raph was guilty about what he almost did. I’m sure he doesn’t audibly call out to Raph because he’s partially too exhausted to do so. Plus, I’m sure there’s still a bit of fear right on the surface. 

As Raph runs, he is most definitely ugly crying. But we can’t see that because of the pouring rain :’D so. And then Leo gets captured and yadayada. Wow. I think I may be FINALLY done talking about this 😂 I’m exhausted. If you read this much I’m honestly super proud of you and I appreciate you haha you’re amazing. If you have anything you want to talk about concerning the ninja turtles (preferably the 2007 film because it’s fresh on my mind, but I’m also down to talk about the other movies or the tv shows) don’t even hesitate to ask. I love talking about the turtles. We can debate certain topics, gush about OTPs, talk about issues we had with certain things. I love all that. 

[fitnessexpert00-blog]

The Ultimate Fitness Tracker Showdown

New Post has been published on https://fitnessqia.com/trending/the-ultimate-fitness-tracker-showdown/

The Ultimate Fitness Tracker Showdown

Video Transcript

Cody: Pear is a shape and therefore I’ve nailed it. Yes. All right, yeah. Let’s talk about all this new tech and stuff to get you healthy and fit.

Ryan: So in my house, we measure love by the kinds of gadgets your significant other gets you, and I still don’t have an Apple Watch. So, there you go everybody.

Cody: Clearly love.

Ryan: Not a lot of love. So the cool part about the new Apple Watch Series 4 is you get GPS and cellular, so you can leave your phone behind as you go run off on a trail, which is pretty cool. Bad news, 500 bucks. You can get the Samsung LTE version, 350 bucks. Also not awesome, right, but you get to leave your phone…but whatever. So when I run, I don’t want my phone slapping my leg, I want to be able to track my stuff when I’m cruising around, so we have an alternative to that. This is called the FitBit Ionic. It’s right here. This is pretty cool. You can have Pandora download all your stations from Pandora right onto the thing, you can track all of your fitness, check your weather. Do just about anything that you want to do.

Cody: It’s got a nice sized face on it.

Ryan: Yeah, it’s got a real nice face, a real adaptive touch screen, pretty awesome. This is only 250 bucks. And it has built-in GPS, so if you’re using Runkeeper or some other thing to track your thing, it’ll sync with that. And boom, 250 bucks, no phone.

Cody: I like that.

Ryan: That’s pretty cool, right? Plus you get access to this sweet FitBit app which works so amazing. It’s one of my favorite things. And we have a scale at home that also syncs with the FitBit. And it’s just all in one place. I just love that.

Okay, so let’s say you want to go a little bit less expensive. This one is called the FitBit Charge 3. This one’s 130 bucks. And this one’s right here. I put my wife’s band on, so it’s a little small for me, right? But it tracks the exact same kind of things, check your steps. It also recognizes what exercises you’re doing. So if you’re running or if you’re weightlifting it’ll kind of go, “Oh, you must be weightlifting so I’m going to track your cardio that way.” That’s pretty cool, right?

Cody: Yeah, I like that.

Ryan: So the next is the Amaze FitBip. Now this is only $80. It’s this one right here. You can kind of turn it sideways here. And this is a 30-day battery life. How crazy, 30 days? And this is made by…the watchmaker is 17% of the global market in FitBit-type watches and gadgets and stuff. 17%, it’s mostly international, so it’s not huge here in the states, but pretty cool. And then they also have this one here. This is it’s just a little token that goes on this band here. This is only 50 bucks.

Cody: And then what does that do?

Ryan: This little band here, it’s like a little washer, and that has GPS in it, tracks all of your steps. The same as the other gadgets, but it’s just this little thing right here. And you can see it through the app on your phone. That’s 50 bucks.

Cody: That’s kind of cool. I like that.

Ryan: That’s pretty awesome. So, last but not least. This is called the Motive, this is a ring, so if you’re not into putting a bunch of stuff on your wrist, the Motive ring, it’s 200 bucks, but look at it. It’s just this tiny little ring.

Cody: And that will keep up with stats and everything?

Ryan: I pulled up my stats from yesterday, so I can show off a little bit. So you can see that I checked how much sleep I got, it tracks…

Cody: Almost seven hours. Nice.

Ryan: Yeah almost seven full hours. It tracked when I did a pre-workout run, when I did my workout, and then when I did cardio afterwards, and it shows you your heart rate monitor, everything.

Cody: On a ring.

Ryan: So if you don’t want to wear a bunch of junk on your arms and stuff, there you go, 200 bucks, the Motive ring. I love it.

Cody: That’s pretty cool. I didn’t realize it could do all that. That’s pretty cool. It’s like Green Lantern’s ring.

Ryan: With sleep tracking, and cardio, and everything else, it’s just perfect. And…

Cody: Thanks, Ryan.

Ryan: We just dropped something.

Cody: Guess we just lost that. We just have to have fancy washer through.

Ryan: I’ll pick up 50 bucks on my way out the door.

Cody: Okay then.

Ryan: That’s fine.

Cody: Ryan’s good for it. Oh yeah it’s brand new. Just take it back. All right, thank you very much. Appreciate it. All right, back to you.

Once upon a time, fitness for the average home athlete involved a fair bit of guesswork. Sure, you could use a stopwatch to measure your speed — or a pedometer to measure your steps — but you’d probably need professional athletic expertise and equipment to access more meaningful metrics on your health and athletic performance.

How far we’ve come! These days even a rank amateur athlete can have a small biometric super-computer strapped to their wrist, measuring everything from basic activity level to potential heart arrhythmia.

Now before we go any further, it’s probably good if we name the large, chrome plated techno-elephant in the room. Fitness trackers are not for everyone. Some people dig fitness metrics, readouts, and statistics. The more data they can have about their inner workings, the better. Slap it in a graph and it’s golden! Others find the whole idea … well… a tad “squicky.” If fitness trackers just aren’t your bag, we totally get it.

If you like your tech less on your wrist and more in your pocket, we got you fam. Kindly.

Still reading? OK let’s do this thing! Let’s talk fitness trackers. Right now there are some amazing products out there and the competition is fierce. Here are a few hot contenders for the coveted title of “ultimate fitness tracker.”

Apple Watch 4 ($500) or Galaxy Watch LTE ($350+)

To make this comparison remotely fair, the Apple Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch LTE really need to be tucked away in their own fancy-pants category — for want of a better term, let’s call them uber-watches.

Both these watches are the Swiss army knives of our technological age. They are fitness tracking watches, to be sure. They’ll measure your vitals, help you track your calories, give you reminders to keep moving. They even come with integrated guided exercises for fitness and relaxation.

They also perform an impressive array of productivity functions, essentially offering their lucky wearers the luxury of being completely up to speed on their work and social life, all from the display of one gleamingly obvious status symbol conveniently situated on their wrist.

These watches are also the only wearables on the market thus far which feature fully-integrated cellular data. They can, therefore, act as standalone smartphone replacements.

And of course, all this whizzbangery comes with a price tag to match. Prices start at $350 and rapidly go north from there. Still, if your wallet can handle it, the Apple Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch LTE are amazing pieces of tech, the sheer breadth of their expansive feature-set eclipsing anything else on the market.

Fitbit Ionic ($250)

But let’s set our sights on dedicated fitness trackers, starting with the already iconic.

As you probably know, Fitbit has been around for a long time. The company was among the first to conceive of the idea of wearable sports tech, and their sleek, dependable products remain at the forefront of premium quality tracker technology today.

Beyond tracking your heart rate and physical activity, the Ionic offers a very slick, full-screen display, on-screen workouts and auto-exercise recognition. It also comes with GPS and on-device music storage, making it pretty much perfect for any kind of outdoor exercise like jogging or hiking.

Is it the Apple Watch 4 killer it was made to be?

Well, that remains debatable. It definitely wins for price and multi-platform compatibility (a feature you’ll never find in an Apple product, for obvious reasons!) but it lacks the Apple Watch’s integrated native cellular and vast ecosystem of supporting apps.

Brass tacks: the Fitbit Ionic offers exceptional value. It comes bristling with great tech and functionality but with a significantly reduced price tag compared to its luxuriously appointed rivals.

Fitbit Charge 3 ($130)

Sticking with the Fitbit ecosystem, for the time being, let’s wander toward the budget end of the tech aisle to look at the.

Now full disclosure here. If we were reviewing the Fitbit Charge two years ago, it’d be a no-brainer for the perfect balance of affordability versus solid, usable fitness tracking features. And don’t get us wrong. It’s still a great tracker.

Sure it has a smaller screen, but it can still hook you up with an invaluable stream of health data, and of course, it’s a budget gateway to the truly awesome Fitbit app.

But you won’t get on screen workouts. It’s completely tethered to your phone. And music or other cool apps? Forget it. The Fitbit Charge 3 will be perfect for some home athletes, but as you’ll soon discover, it faces some pretty tough competition.

Amazfit BIP ($80)

Which brings us to the Amazfit BIP. First up, that $80 price tag you see up there? That’s not a typo.

An important thing to mention about the Amazfit as a fitness tracker is its battery life. This thing is a little powerhouse and can give you 30 days of average use on a single charge. To give you a sense of how crazily efficient that is, the Fitbit Charge 3 gives you about 7 days.

The thing is, you’re not even sacrificing a feature set for battery life!

This watch comes with a color touch display, GPS and a barometer, along with all the usual suspects of heart rate tracking, activity monitoring and sleep tracking. In fact, if you held this watch alongside the Apple Watch to do a feature comparison, the Amazfit BIP would undoubtedly have more ticks than blanks.

As of early 2019, 50 million units have sold and the Amazfit brand now has over 15% global market share. This little number is definitely the best value out there, and we reckon it will be for some time.

A Quick Nod to Some Minimalist Trackers

To round out this list, we wanted to give a quick nod to more minimalist trackers. These display and interface-free devices are built around a different design principle — less is more — so comparing them to the above devices is apples and oranges. Let’s take a quick look at two interesting options.

Motiv Ring ($200)

The is … well … just that. A ring. Shocking, right?

This device literally looks like a piece of stylish yet nondescript jewelry. Within its gleaming carapace, it has just enough technology to measure your sleep, track your steps and monitor your heart rate. All up, it gives you a good, general overview (via an app) of how your health is doing.

It’s probably too blunt an instrument for anyone seriously into health metrics, but if you’re looking for a stylish alternative and are content with a bit less data, it’s worth looking at.

Amazfit Equator ($50)

The has a similar feature set to the Motiv Ring, but as you can see comes in at a quarter of the cost.

Housed within a stylish looking bracelet, its fitness techno juju also provides just enough data to keep an eye on your health — steps taken, calories burned and your sleep patterns. You can even hook it up to your phone, configuring it to send you silent vibration alerts when notifications and alarms come in.

Again, for stylish minimalism on a budget, no other brand is really approaching Amazfit right now. The Equator is a great option if you want a little bit of health data in a subtle, stylish package.

If there’s one conclusion we can draw from this impressive lineup of metric manufacturing marvels, it’s that the war for fitness tracker supremacy will rage on for the foreseeable future. If graphs and data are your thing, there are some pretty spiffy options out there whatever your budget.

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The Ultimate Fitness Tracker Showdown