#its so amazing and the reason why splinter is one of my favorite characters

[mako-mahko]

THIS, THIS, ALL OF THIS!!

Especially when they took the Asian immigrant storyline and imbued his character with genuine depth and outlook from that perspective- it richens his entire arc and fundamentals and you simply do not get that with other versions of TMNT. It also brings up an entire discussion of how culture fades through the lineage of those who have immigrated when we see it presented with the boys. It's a wonderful narrative and character outlook that an awful lot of people gloss over.

Hi just thinking about Splinter who went from a dashing internationally loved superstar to a hideous mutant who has to raise four rowdy boys alone in hiding while struggling with latent trauma from his mom abandoning him, cutting himself off from his family, and getting betrayed by the love of his life. Thinking about how him “letting himself go” wasn’t just written for jokes but from a place of unspoken depression. Thinking about how he never shared any of this with his boys and never projected his trauma onto them but his distance led to them being starved for affection. Thinking about how much they ADORE him even when he’s blatantly neglectful, insinuating that he does pay attention when it matters. And don’t get me started on his movies dubbing his accent over or how separated he became from his own culture, leading to parallels to the Asian immigrant experience.  He’s a flawed parent. He’s an okay sensei. He’s a loving father. He’s a badass family man. ROTTMNT really looked at the boring one dimensional mentor with culturally insensitive stereotypes in past iterations and went nah we can do better. 

And then they made us all cry. 

[lazyvase]

TMNT (2012) TO ME: Season 1

TMNT to me is a series where I recall my initial memories with the 2012 series and surrounding media. (Or try to at least.)

I remember watching watching the premiere, Rise of the Turtles, at my grandparent's (whom I called Abuelo and Abuela). The two main memories from the episode were disgust at Donnie's reaction to seeing April, and enrapture during the fight against Snakeweed. needless to say, I was hooked.

I have clear memories of Turtle Temper, however i just thought it was merely a good episode. Love Spider Bytez’s design.

I'm a big fan of robots and mechs, so I Think His Name Is Baxter Stockman was very enjoyable for me. However, as a personal gripe, I much preferred the Stockman-Pod Mark 2 (the large mech suit) over the Stockman-Pod Mark 3 (that giant mouser-esque suit). The Stockman-Pod Mark 3 looked to be kinda clunky and lame, especially with Stockman's face in the "nose hole". Still, fun episode that I thoroughly enjoyed, making Baxter Stockman one of my favorite villains.

Donnie was always my favorite turtle, so when his first focus episode, Metalhead, rolled around (involving a robot) i was overjoyed. It was a good episode to, having a nice arc for Donnie, and a cool new threat in Metalhead. I loved it.

I could not say the same about Monkey Brains. I was not a fan of this episode. It was way too Donnie x April focused for me. Donnie is often at his worst when swooning over April, though I do admit the graph of all social interactions was a pretty good joke. The big reason why I wasn't a fan of this episode was because Dr. Rockwell scared. His appearance was unnerving, he was loud, and his erratic movements put me on the edge. I was not a fan of him. I made sure to avoid this episode when it was on.

The Gauntlet is an amazing episode. Now, before we get to the obvious reason why, let's go over some other good points. Pigeon Pete is a fun character. I'm not a fan of his design, but his jokes always land. Mr. O'Neil's sacrifice moment, although expected, was still pretty cool. The fight with Bradford and Xever at the mutagen bomb was epic, and a great sendoff to these versions of the characters. And now, the obvious reason: The Shredder. So far, Shredder had only been talk. It was good talk in all fairness, young me perfectly understood why he was in charge. But, The Gauntlet solidified him not only as a truly dangerous and invincible foe, but also as a worthy candidate as the turtle's greatest enemy. I was on the edge of my seat during the whole "fight". I truly believed Splinter when he said that it was a victory surviving a fight with The Shredder.

Panic in the Sewers was kinda a let down. While Splinter's motivations were sympathetic, I quickly got tired of him.

M.O.U.S.E.R.S. Attack is another one of my favorite episodes. I am a huge fan of the MOUSERS (I'm not going to write out the periods everytime). There was nothing more I wanted as a kid than to have a MOUSER toy. If you ask me, they were criminally underused in the series. Love their screeches. Good to see Mikey and Donnie get some focus.

It Came From the Depths: I'm a big fan of Leatherhead. His design is top tier. He's a very interesting and tragic character. Love his roar. Also the powercell is rather cool looking too.

I, Monster is a great example of how TMNT 2012 can make some truly menacing villains. At first Victor Falco was a lame looking human villain from an episode I hated. But after this episode, he proved himself to be one of the turtles' most dangerous enemies. The ability to control Splinter is used to its full horrifying effect. Not to mention his rather disturbing appearance. The glowing red eyes are still unnerving.

Now, I don’t remember if it was New Girl in Town or The Alien Agenda but when Karai calls Shredder father, I instantly knew he had taken Splinter’s daughter. It fact I was so certain that this was the case, that I didn’t realize Shredder revealing this in the finale was so supposed to shock us as much as it did Splinter. The evidence was pretty well laid out beforehand: Shredder’s jealousy, Splinter’s line: “he though that what was mine was his”, and the fact that in every flashback it looked like Shredder was carrying something away from the burning building. However, the biggest factor to my correct assumption was that no one would ever have kid with Shredder. I was 10000% certain no one had ever been with the Shredder.

Also in The Alien Agenda I liked the design of Justin. Donnie’s line of not knowing Karai but still hating her is stuck in my head. I was so hyped seeing the teases for Fishface's robotic legs. I was waiting for them, because they look really cool. I knew about the robotic legs in advance because I saw him with them in the opening theme.

I'm gonna get some flack for this, but I didn't like The Pulverizer. The character, not the episode. I just had to get the title drop in somehow. I'm on the turtles' side with this one, Timothy is annoying. All he does is get in the way. He makes things so much harder for my poor Donatello, which was the biggest reason for hating him. As a result, Timothy kinda brings down the whole episode, as it is named after him. Fortunately, not even The Pulverizer can squash the highpoint of this episode, Fishface in action. Fishface is one of my favorite mutants (maybe even my most favorite). There's just something so distinct about him, and his robot legs are so cool. His first episode proper as Fishface does wonders for the character, portraying him as a proper threat, and showing off what he can do with his legs.

TCRI felt so big to me that it could've been a season finale. Leatherhead's reintroduction was already a good sign. Sneaking into Kraang HQ was a difficult gauntlet for the turtles that never let up. The fight with Traag was beyond epic. Lava monsters are cool to me, and the turtles' fight with him was tense. It was some real video game type stuff. Traag would make an amazing bossfight. Leatherhead's sacrifice got to me.

I love Cockroach Terminator. Both the episode and the character. The Spyroach's design is just so cool, big fan of cyborgs and bugs. Raph also had a nice little arc about facing his fears, and in general he was amazing in this episode. They really knew how to make this 4 foot tall bug menacing and an absolute threat. The post molt form is not as cool as the first mutated form, but the Spyroach still remains an active and cool threat. Love the final battle with the giant laser. Also, I always thought this episode came much earlier in the series.

Baxter's Gambit is also an amazing episode. Baxter Stockman is at his most entertaining and camp. The Maze of Doom is a very distinct, unique, and fun setting. But, the standout of the episode was Fishface. Fishface, like many characters on this show, has an amazing design, however, this episode provided him with character work. We learned his backstory, and it's a rather good one too. A simple backstory about being such a good thief that he was hired to be one. Xever just likes hurting people. This is his life. It's all he ever known. This episode also cements him as Raph's arch-rival, which is one of the best dynamics in the show. I really like the (albeit obvious) parallels between him and Raph. Furthermore, I have and will always find it cool when the heroes and villains have to team up temporarily. The banter between the turtles and the goons is great. However, this episode began to illuminate a fact that I would not recognize until much later: Dogpound is kinda lame. Or more accurately, Bradford/Rahzar is lame. There's a reason why I didn't go over New Friend, Old Enemy. Dogpound is only an interesting character because of his design. He has little personality and barely explored character. I'll go more into this on later episodes, but just know that when he becomes Rahzar he fell off for me completely. In this episode he barely does anything. And anything he does do could've been easily done by either Fishface on his own, or the turtles. The only thing I can think of being Dogpound exclusive is ripping that turret out of the ground, but I imagine the turtles could have still found out a way to do that. Regardless, amazing episode. Love the gag of them all being too tired to fight at the end.

Enemy of my Enemy is good. I love the Stealth Ship. Love the lazer. Love the eye. Love the tentacles. The only thing I didn't like about it was how it was invisible most of the episode, so i couldn't appreciate it's design. Loved Karai's line about the ice cream cone in the Shellraiser. Now let's dicuss symbolism. We the audience are so acclimated to the turtles only being out at night, that when something happens during the daytime, it is off-putting, and causes unease. In I, Monster, the Rat King's attack is made all the more eerie as it occurs during the day. Both Showdown and Invasion occur during the day, showcasing the power the Kraang have, as they do not have to hide their actions. The day symbolizes events or actions that cannot be ignored, that cannot be cloaked by darkness or hidden in the night. So when the turtles attempt to assassinate the Shredder, it really does help make the audience, and me, feel uneasy, which helps make Karai more sympathetic. When the turtles decided to betray Karai and assassinate the Shredder, i was thrown for a loop. This is the sort of thing the Foot would do. I could see the turtles asking Dogpound: "Did you bring the rocket launcher?" "Of course not, we're going to kill you." And then he pulls out a denator and blows up the floor beneath them. Even though Shredder completely deserves to be betrayed and assassinated, i still felt uneasy about it. Anyways, Anton Zeck was right. The weird eye makes Steranko cool and interesting. He was to me, at least until he got hit with enough electricity to kill a person. Then I thought he was dead and we would never see him again.

Karai's Vendetta: Absolutely love the turtle sub. Criminally underused. Though i may be biased as I own the lego set of the sub. I also liked the sea monster they face, both in the (not that kind of) sub and in the facility. The April and Karai plotline is really good. Very tense. We get to see both sides of Karai. Her playfulness and her fury. So weird seeing her in causal wear. I also liked how April really got to stand up for herself and her own victory.

The Pulverizer Returns!: I really hated Timothy in this episode. He was told multiple times to not be mutated, completely ignoring them. Then when he lets himself be mutated he's surprised that it's an awful experience. He had it coming. I didn't feel bad for him in the slightest. He serves better as a wall decoration. I hoped that Donnie would take his time with curing him. The turtles' lesson was rather pointless as they just used items around them that were similar to their weapons. Also seeing Fishface ride a motorcycle was funny and goofy.

Parasitica is nice. It's unnerving in all the ways it should be. My stomach squirmed with every scene featuring Leo. It's also nice to see Mikey win.

Operation Breakout: Newtralizer is a very cool and threatening villain. Very cool to be up close and personal with Mr. O'Neil. Love the joke of Raph mistaking his infodumping for Donnie's and telling him to shut up. I felt genuine dread seeing that Mr. O'Neil is under mind control.

Showdown: Season 1 came full circle for me. I watched the season finale at my Abuelo & Abuela's house. I had to watch it in their bedroom, with the tv that was was way up high and far away. But nothing would stop me from missing this episode. I remember the tagline for the episode like it was yesterday: "Green versus Mean" The first half was good. Good mood setter. The infiltration of TCRI didn't feel like a rehash, it all felt cool. April was understandably a bit of a jerk. The arrival of the Technodrome was a great raise the stakes and really get through how dangerous the Kraang were. Now the second part is where things get amazing. All the stuff relating to the Technodrome was fine. Kraang Prime was cool for two seconds before becoming lame. They went out by Raph's weakest kick. Their robot suit looks stupid. And even back then I knew they weren't gonna kill off Leo. Still, the other's reaction to it did get to me a bit. Now for what we all came to the episode for. The real meat of this finale. Splinter vs. Shredder. This was what I was hype for. And it did not disappoint. Splinter easily taking out Foot soldiers while Fishface and Dogpound discuss him is a great way to set the tone and prepare us. And it's always interesting to see how the villains see their enemies. Splinter easily beats Fishface and Dogpound like its nothing, as he should. And then he faces the Shredder. The fight perfectly conveys that these are two masters, who are throwing EVERYTHING they have at eachother. You can feel the rage and hatred in each strike and blow. Each weapon is used to the fullest. No part of the terrain is unused, we learn that Shredder's Palace has fire geysers in those weird glass boxes off to the side. Splinter uses even his mutant abilities in order to get an upper hand of the Shredder, which got me so hype as a kid, and still does to this day. Once Splinter wins, we get the reveal. Karai is Miwa. Now, i had know this ever since she called Shredder father, but that doesn't mean the scene was meaningless to me. Splinter was devastated when the twist was revealed, and I felt his pain. I felt so sorry for him, learning that this monster took his daughter in a far worse way than any could imagine. i watched as he was forced to flee as his own daughter attacked him. Splinter's plotline in the episode was a masterpiece. Now, i want to go over some more symbolism. Fire sort of becomes a symbol for Shredder and his unspeakable actions. Splinter's flashback features Shredder walking away from a burning building where Tang Shen is dead and Splinter is about to die in. In Vengeance Is Mine, Stockman's lab is burned down. Shredder himself has a burned face. Shredder has fire symbolism. So when the fire blazes throughout his palace, and the room is orange. It hearkens back to the flashback, where the Shredder took Miwa away while Splinter was trapped in that burning building. But now, Splinter must walk away while Shredder keeps Karai in the building full of fire. The Shredder has taken away Splinter's daughter twice. The dance party victory was nice.

This concludes my TMNT TO ME for season one. Now, logic dictates that I should do season 2 next. However, I need to provide a bit of context before we start season 2. So, look out for my next TMNT TO ME post, which will go over an overlooked and forgotten part of nick.com: the official fan boards.

See you then, don't be slow! (turtle joke)

Next: Official Nickelodeon Fan Boards

Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5

[aegori]

MY OPINIONS ON MUTANT MAYHEM (spoilers)

remember this is all just MY OPINION. whether you loved the movie or hated it, great, just as long as you give it a chance then whatever you feel about the movie is valid.

(yes i do have a rottmnt pfp but rottmnt is not my first or favorite tmnt, and even tho i am salty that rottmnt is paused ik that mutant mayhem is not the reason why rottmnt got paused in 2020. anything negative i have to say abt mutant mayhem has nothing to do with rottmnt. also this is not the only tmnt i have negative opinions on so please dont think im trying to single this movie out)

the good

the soundtrack, animation, action and character design was amazing.

 i loved the dynamic between the turtles and splinter, they really felt like a family. 

there were moments that were funny. i tally marked the moments i thought were funny and got 12 tallies.

 i enjoy superfly as a villain. the voice acting for superfly was great, the movie really started to improve for me when he was introduced. 

the bad

pop culture references. too many of them. i couldnt help but roll my eyes by the 5th celebrity name drop. i actually tally marked how many pop culture references there were, i mightve missed a few, but there were at least 7 celebrities mentioned and at least 8 pop culture references. it was a bit ridiculous. 

a lot of uncomfortable jokes. things like them speculating what splinters rectum might smell like, talking about being milked and having nipples, the puking, when splinter kissed the roach woman.... yea moments like that that made me wince in the movie theater and while watching at home. i also tally marked this, i was made uncomfortable about 17 times watching this movie. 

the bayverse movies get criticized for having a shitty method of them learning ninjutsu, but i thought mutant mayhem was worse. they learned ninjutsu through youtube videos? i mean maybe its not impossible but it seems a little more silly to me than learning through a book.

the turtles, while yes they do have different personalities, i felt like they were the most similar in this movie, personality wise. it often felt like they were merging into one character, with them constantly talking at the same time, and none of them having much time alone on screen. i had a hard time deciding which turtle i liked the best in the movie, because well they just seemed so similar to each other. 

i have mixed feelings on april. i actually really liked her design. i guess my problem comes from her seeming distant, as ive seen another say. also i hated the puke jokes.

im not sure why, but i felt bored for the majority of the movie. it wasnt until superfly was introduced 45 minutes into the movie where things started to pick up. but i think im in the minority here, as ive only seen one other person say they were bored by the movie. 

the mutants besides superfly were very forgettable. i dont remember any of the new mutants names even after watching for a second time. ofc i do remember bebop and rocksteady, leatherhead, mondo gecko.... but they arent new characters. i also dont like how all the mutants besides superfly are now allies with the turtles. 

i dont like how they are not secret and they start going to high school. i guess theres nothing wrong with it, i just prefer when the turtles are secret. 

ik this seems quite negative, its just easier for me to talk about things i dont like vs the things i do like. 

i thought the movie was decent, i give it a 6/10

i get that a lot of people are protective of this movie, and i understand why. i think that as long as you give it a chance, any opinion you have of it is valid

[eternalglitch]

Hello Glitch! I just wanted to let you know that I love LFLS! Reading this fic actually got me back into reading fanfics! I love your writing and this is by far my favorite fic. Your writing style and how you kept characters in feeling so realistic. I had the hardest time reading fics in the past because of characters being written.. well out of character.

I do have a question about a situation in the fic. I was rereading the fic (for like the 3rd time) and in chapter 18 when Mikey and April tell Donnie and Raph that while they were chasing Leo, they say he got shocked. I know that they don't know the rules of the collar so they wouldn't have known what caused the shock but I was just curious what he was shocked for? I know it wasn't for Mikey touching him and they didn't seem to know if he said anything. I think its really interesting how you wrote that where the reader doesn't know because Mikey and April don't know. I understand if you don't want to share because of how it was written but I was curious (Also sorry if someone asked this before, I couldn't find any asks about it but maybe I'm blind lol).

Again I want to thank you for giving me such a great fic! I finished it in less than a day because of how amazing it was. Have a great day and make sure to take any breaks you need while writing! I will gladly wait for however long you need to take!

Mikey swallowed and then shook his head. “Actually,” he said, sneaking a glance at Donnie. “Are you sure Draxum is using a button? Because Leo–” Team Retrieval exchanged a solemn look. “–he still got shocked. While he was running from us, there was a moment– we didn’t see any obvious reason, but…”

Donnie started, looking up. “What?” He covered his mouth with one hand, thinking. “Did the gargoyle with him do anything?”

“Was he okay?” Splinter cut in, his voice quiet. 

April shrugged. “I don’t know if any of that is okay, Splints. But he seemed… I don’t know, he didn’t collapse like Dee did after last time. He just rolled back up and swept Mikey’s feet out from under him before making another run for it. The gargoyle had just taken flight to try and get out of the way.” 

Technically Leo had come into contact when Mikey engaged him on the roof. By attempting to avoid doing any actual attacks, he broke "other than attacking, absolutely no contact with any other turtles." That included dodging with no attempts to fight back, which is why he swept Mikey's legs out from under him a moment later– to gain enough time to get back to Draxum without being forced by the collar into a sticky situation.

He would have gotten shocked again momentarily since he kept avoiding any Mikey-related injuries, but Draxum basically released him from that situation when he said he would finish the job himself.

And thank you!! I try very hard to make sure all of the characters feel believable and like themselves in my work :)!!

[unidentified-flying-sparrow]

I still love Harry Potter - but not JKR

Warning: This gets wordy. I really just rambled and let my thoughts take me where they will. And these are only my personal rambles - they aren’t meant to be a deep political statement or super eloquent or anything. They’ll be messy and meandering and mainly for my own benefit.  I just...needed to think. And remember. And feel.  You have been warned.

JKR has been in the news a lot lately. And not in a good way. To put it bluntly, she’s basically revealed herself as a TERF and is rightly being called out.  It hurts, because Harry Potter made a large impact on my life. But the author has shown herself to be flawed and I had put her on a pedestal for years of my life. I admired her “rags-to-riches” (sorta) story. Her success. Her talent with writing. I wanted to be her in some ways. She was living my life’s dream!

And now she is making hurtful remarks about a marginalized group of people who have done nothing except demand equality and recognition.

I first heard about the books through my mom. She was a substitute teacher at the time, and in the class she was covering, the teacher had just started reading The Sorceror’s Stone. Mom went out and got a copy, read it, and loaned it to me. She also griped about how no one knew how to pronounce the name “Hermione” - the kids she was reading to kept ‘correcting’ her with ‘Hermy-own-knee” as the pronunciation. It drove her nuts. I remember bragging to my friends when I figured out what the Mirror of Erised actually said. I was in junior high - eighth grade. I was reading a kids’ book that wasn’t hugely popular yet, and trying to lure people in.  I remember seeing more and more people I knew picking up the books. In high school, when we had free days in band (aka the teacher was sick and the sub didn’t know music), my friends and I would talk Harry Potter.  I was giddy when I got my own copies - hardback copies - of the first three books by saving my money and shopping the second-hand bookstores. It’s not that my parents wouldn’t have gotten them for me, but I wanted to buy them for myself. My original, paperback copy of Sorceror’s Stone was battered and tattered and well-loved.  Mom kept loaning out our copies to people. Sometimes, they didn’t come back. In that, it was like when she would loan out copies of The Lord of The Rings when I was a kid (which is why there are probably 4 or 5 copies of that in my parents’ house today). She knew the books were special. I put up Harry Potter posters. I glommed onto Hermione as a favorite character - a bookish girl who could still stand up for herself and have great friends? It was everything I had wanted for myself when I was eleven and struggled hard to have. So I adored her. And I shipped Harry/Hermione. Still do, but now days, I prefer just having an OT3 of the Golden Trio and an OT3 of the Silver Trio (or Sub Trio or whatever name the fandom uses now).  I sometimes had trouble sleeping and would pop the audiobook of Sorceror’s Stone into my cassette player on those nights. It helped me relax. When the first film came out, my parents and I were there to see it. I was amazed. I remember griping about minor tweaks, like Harry’s eyes (until I read about the contacts issues). Oh, what little I knew of how the books and films would splinter more. But still be fun. Goblet of Fire the book was released 4 days before my 15th birthday. I made the mistake of telling my parents I could hold off on reading my copy until then. After I saw my mom sobbing -for reasons she couldn’t tell me - at the end of the book...I never made that particular error again. When Order of the Phoenix came out, we went to the Barnes and Noble midnight release to get our pre-ordered copies. During the long wait, a guy wandered up and down selling Little Caesar's pizzas. Another guy had visited Wal-Mart, purchased every copy of the book they had, and was selling them for only a couple of bucks over what he’d paid to anyone in line who was desperate for an extra copy. My parents bought one and I spent the rest of the waiting period crouched under a parking lot light, reading, until my parents got the copies we’d actually come for.  I lost sleep reading all of the books as they came out. I was always done within a few days, at most. I just couldn’t put them down. I got T-shirts. Bought dolls/pillows/bedding. Got myself a T-shirt, a poster, and Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them when I visited the UK in high school. I saw the latter films at midnight releases with my friends. Half-Blood Prince the book came out during my first summer as a camp counselor. Almost all of us - camper and staff alike - were reading it or talking about it. Spoilers were forbidden but there would still be hushed conversations during bedtime hours or “me-time” after lunch (rest period).  Deathly Hallows - both book and film - came out after my mother passed. I got my copy of the book, quietly, at a Kroger at midnight. 

Harry Potter got me heavily into fandom. I was there for The Draco Trilogy and Pawn to Queen. My Immortal and The Shoebox Project. Squickfics that made it onto GodAwfulFanfiction and its successor, Why God Why. LiveJournal communities. Fandom wank. And so much more. Reading updates on MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron and watching fanvids. Listening to music uploaded from Draco and the Malfoy and other fanbands. Roleplaying communities that were being hosted on Proboards message boards. Countless Sorting quizzes.  I made sure to visit Universal Studios on my honeymoon with @lechevaliermalfet​ and want to go back one day, as only Hogsmeade existed when we went. I also remember how grumpy I was that @lechevaliermalfet​ had resisted my urging to read the books - he read them after they were recommended by an unlikely source. In hindsight, it makes sense. I was a solid fan. The person who recommended the books was not. I celebrated the release of Cursed Child with my family at a day-long celebration in Naperville, IL. I have a T-shirt to commemorate it, and a wand that I made with the help of my niece.  Just this year, @lechevaliermalfet​ and I did a date night - dinner and the first Potter movie on the big screen.

I’m rambling, I know, but the point is, Harry Potter got me involved. I made online friends and honed writing skills by writing fanfiction. I learned to have a thicker skin because of some of the feedback I got. I made at least one fanvid (I’m reasonably certain it’s been lost to the ether and good riddance). Sure, I participated in other fandoms (especially Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew and Witch Hunter Robin). But this was a fandom I shared with more of my family and friends than any other. And I could even - and did - read it to kids I babysat. Now, I know Harry Potter isn’t perfect. Lord knows, Cursed Child reads like a bad fanfiction, and I have seen those ideas executed in ways that fired up my imagination and emotions more effectively. Repeatedly. Then there’s the issue of worldbuilding. The not-so-great aspects/implications of much of what has come out of Pottermore aside, Harry Potter’s wizarding world has always been a shaky society. Others have touched on this far more eloquently, so I’ll just say that it was interesting that we only had a few token “good” Slytherins - who were still shown to have ambition that overruled their better judgement at times.

I always saw the films as a different interpretation of the same story, so I wouldn’t go nuts over the stuff that was altered, so that stays. They have flaws of their own. Sometimes they exacerbate what is in the books - sometimes not.

I can’t speak to the more recent Fantastic Beasts stuff as I haven’t gotten involved. Maybe eventually. But I never realized that the poor representation in JKR’s world might reflect her worldview more wholly. I honestly figured it was a more innocent ignorance or reluctance to risk upsetting the market at the time. But the more she tweets and posts...the more obvious it is that no, she just really is that biased.  I guess, at this point, I’m going to have to follow the Death of the Author route. I used to live for the engagement Rowling had with fans, and the tidbits she’d dole out. Now, I cringe every time I see one.   For the books themselves, I think I’m going to have to take the Death of the Author approach from now on. Because JKR cannot take away the positive things Harry Potter gave me and other fans. I won’t let her. And I am grateful that there are Potter cast members stepping up to denounce her. I love Harry Potter. JKR can go jump in a lake. 

[ladyfl4me]

what other writing inspires you? like other fics or stories?

Hmmmm. I haven’t been doing much new reading lately, outside of stuff I do for my coursework. That being said, there are a lot of works I like to return to. (Sorry about this long, long infodump on my favorite works, but boy howdy do I love these. I’m probably forgetting about five million other things, but those are the ones that come to mind right away.)

As far as fic goes, I used to read a lot of MCU stuff; I even wrote a few in my day, before mainstream fandom got too exhausting/the franchise went to shit and I was swept up by TAZ. I always cite @miamaroo​‘s Northern Migration as the fic that inspired me to take the leap into long-form intricate TAZ AUs. I also adore Seven Raptors by DragonWrites. If I hadn’t discovered these two stories while on a Balance fic binge last year, I definitely wouldn’t have written The Moth who Came In from the Cold. @morganeashton​‘s fic Running Home is also a stunning work that I regret not reading sooner. The chapters are short, but each one blew me away. Morgie paid incredibly close attention to even the most minor characters, fleshing them out in quick brushstrokes of dialogue and action that made me fall in love with the characters in brand new ways. I highly recommend reading it.

Outside of fic, there are three books that I always keep on my desk when I’m looking for inspiration, or just trying to find something to model/use as a guide:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This is a big one. I keep a copy of it on my desk to page through when I have trouble with dialogue, and balancing inner character monologues with external events. It’s also a good book for me to read while trying to work out The Children of Sylvain; I have a lot of moving parts in it, much like American Gods does.

Salamander by Thomas Wharton. I read this one and was like, you can do that?? With words???? Damn, son. It’s about a 18th century book printer who makes novelty books; he gets hired by a duke who’s obsessed with puzzles, to the point that he rigged his entire castle to rearrange its own fucking floor plan like an architectural Rubik’s cube. I’m talking beds leaving their rooms to zip around the castle on rails, in the middle of the night; moving walls; entire bookshelves leaving the library to make loops around the building. Some serious steampunk shit. This duke hires the printer to make a book that never ends, and this quest leads him on a journey across the world to gather the materials to print and bind his book. It is not as boring as it sounds, I promise. I mostly remember it for the lesbian pirate who liberates slave ships, but also for the really good prose, which is one of the reasons why I keep it on the desk for reference.

Sabriel by Garth Nix. Amazing worldbuilding, excellent prose, great characters and relationships, an incredibly compelling narrative and a protagonist on the front cover (of my edition) that I’m very gay for. 

[ID: the cover of the book Sabriel, by Garth Nix. The cover art shows a young white woman, from about the knees up. Her eyes are hooded and pensive. She wears a flowing blue overcoat with white trim, patterned with silver keys. Twelve small bells in protective leather pouches hang from a bandolier across her chest. A scabbard hangs from a belt around her waist; across the bottom of the picture, just barely visible, she holds an unsheathed sword with arcane symbols carved into it. She holds one small bell in her hand. A blurred, formless black shadow with glowing orange slits for eyes reaches towards her shoulder with a gnarled hand. The woman looks slightly over her shoulder, eyes hooded and pensive. End ID.]

The titular protagonist is part of a divine line of necromancers sworn to make sure the dead stay dead. She’s forced to journey from her current residence - a country like WWII-era Europe, except everyone can do magic and has a sword - across the border into the Old Kingdom, when her father goes missing and dead things everywhere start rising. I keep this one around for help with basically everything.

Other passive sources of inspiration for me include:

Lord of the Rings. My first fandom and one I’ll always return to. It informs so, so much of how I structure arcs and characters. It’s a good thing that most of the friends I bounce things off of/write for aren’t super familiar with it, because they’d be able to guess the plot of TCOS in like 5 minutes if they did.

TAZ, of course

the MCU, before the franchise went to shit and I developed critical thinking skills

the Pendragon series by D.J. MacHale (more of an elementary-middle school inspiration for me, which convinced me to take a leap into novel writing. I still have 3 or 4 of the books from this 10-book monolith)

video games:

999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

Beyond Good and Evil

Myst, games 1-3

I’m also subscribed to the Poetry Foundation’s poem of the day newsletter, which often sends me something that fucking Gets Me. At the moment, I’ve been really taken with the poems of Catherine Pierce; she came to do a reading at my college recently, and we read her collection The Tornado is the World for my poetry workshop course. I can’t recommend her enough. She’s got a gift for saying a lot in a frank, arresting way. Here’s an excerpt from “The Mother Warns the Tornado,” which is from that book (time to see if tumblr fucks up the formatting):

I will heed the warning

protocol, I will cover him with my body, I will

wait with mattress and flashlight,

but know this: If you come down here—if you splinter your way through our pines,

if you suck the roof off this red-doored ranch,

if you reach out a smoky arm for my child—

I will turn hacksaw. I will turn grenade.

I will invent for you a throat and choke you.

I will find your stupid wicked whirling

head and cut it off. Do not test me.

If you come down here, I will teach you about

greed and hunger. I will slice you into palm-

sized gusts. Then I will feed you to yourself.

Good shit. Reminds me a lot of Mama. I highly recommend giving The Tornado is the World a read! Not every poem in the book is quite as visceral as “The Mother Warns the Tornado;” some are melancholy, some are brash and cocky, some are sad, some are sinister, some are overcome with joy. It’s a beautiful anthology, and I found it very easy to read and relate to. I annotated my copy to hell and back and I’m definitely keeping it for years to come.

I’m going to regret this later, probably, but! If anyone has any recommendations for books, TV shows, podcasts, whatever, send me an ask! I’ll make a list. Or, knowing me, a spreadsheet. Have at thee!

[inawickedlittletown]

Thoughts on Avengers: Endgame

Note: This is almost 6k words and full of SPOILERS so beware. 

After seeing Endgame twice, I think I can finally write out my thoughts.

First off: I loved the movie. Loved it enough to cry -- which I don’t do easily -- and enough to see it twice -- and I never go to the theater twice to see anything. But this one was different. It was an experience, an emotional roller coaster, and everything I wanted in a marvel movie 10 years in the making, the closure of 22 movies. Nothing like this has existed.

I know there are arguments that this is not the biggest movie event with talk of Star Wars or Harry Potter or The Matrix or Lord of The Rings. And yes, I get it -- those were big things. Big premieres, big franchises, but it wasn’t a cinematic universe spanning 22 films across multiple genres, featuring different characters and storylines and arcs that somehow were managed to be weaved so expertly -- a franchise where very few plot holes exist and very few inconsistencies exist that can’t be explained away. This is huge. I don’t think we’ll ever see anything like it again -- well, not until this next phase of Marvel movies takes us to another similar arc conclusion.

Every journey has an end. And this was an end.

I remember going to see Iron Man when I was 15. I hadn’t even seen a preview for it. I didn’t know who Iron Man was. Or Tony Stark. But somehow, I ended up at a theater with my family because my dad wanted to see it. And I loved it. But none of us knew then that it would become this massive thing and that 11 years later we would all be filling up theaters on weekday nights to see Avengers: Endgame. A movie that in its first weekend has broken records for biggest opening movie ever. This is insane.

Iron Man has always been my favorite. Snarky. Brilliant. The beginning and the end.

I went into this movie knowing that someone was going to die. My money was on Cap. Or if not death, then I had my suspicions that he would end up in the past with Peggy. But I did expect for this to be the end for Steve Rogers in one way or another. But I was so absolutely set on Tony surviving and retiring and living his life with Pepper somewhere and them having a kid. But I knew this was also likely the end of Tony Stark and Iron Man. So, I guess I wasn’t completely wrong.

I think much has been said about the character arcs and why they’re disappointing. I don’t think they are. I think they’ve very very fitting. Let’s start with Tony:

Tony starts off in this movie out in space and he’s lost so much weight, he’s recovering from being stabbed, and he is sure that all the recordings he’s made for 22 days will only be heard after he’s gone. He makes the best of things with Nebula and yet he is resigned to his death. And I think it is major foreshadowing that Tony is recording himself and leaving a goodbye message for Pepper and that he probably does the same later because he didn’t do that before everything in Infinity War went down. He’s Tony Stark -- he wants to have the last word.

For Tony getting rescued is a surprise. But when he makes it back and Steve rushes to him there is a moment where he doesn’t push Steve away and instead they both tell each other they lost -- and Tony admits to losing “The Kid” even if really Peter got dusted so Tony didn’t get him killed. This moment speaks to me so much in the sense that none of the past matters for Tony in that moment and he is relieved to see Steve and yet his next question is clearly going to be about Pepper. It has to be...but then Pepper is there and at least Tony has her -- he hasn’t lost the love of his life and that eases some of his pain.

I loved all of this. His return -- how broken Tony is by all of it. How absolutely defeated every single character is. They all blame themselves and each of them carries that burden in their own way. Tony is absolutely justified in his feelings about the matter. Him yelling at Steve and the rest of the team is something that as a Tony fan I’ve wanted for years. I never thought we would get it and having it happen was satisfying and simply amazing. And it doesn’t come down to being just about what happened in Civil War and Steve’s lie about Tony’s parents and Bucky -- it comes down to being about everything.

Tony’s belief that there was a greater threat and none of them believing him or taking him seriously or accepting that Tony’s actions when it came to building Ultron and to siding with The Accords were all for the greater good and so that they could face the greater threat together and have a chance at winning. But instead of accepting his reasoning it always became a fight with the team because none of them understood Tony’s fear and Steve in particular never saw Tony’s side of things. So for Tony to finally get that off his chest and have a moment of “I told you so” was well justified and necessary.

Now, I don’t believe that Tony for a minute gave up. I think after he got better that he would have found a way to help the team and see what came next. But since they go and kill Thanos and the stones are gone, they all realize that there is no reversing it and there is nothing to be done and so they go their own way.

Tony -- and really everyone -- keep living in some way or another even if it means not being able to move on. For Tony that means getting married and having Morgan. It means having his family and just moving on and living and yet despite that, he doesn’t give up. A lot of people mentioned how unrealistic and unlikely Tony figuring out time travel in one night is and yeah that is unrealistic and also untrue. Tony must have been working on that for five years with no success. Or maybe less than five years -- but certainly some time before Scott appeared. And why? Because Tony is a genius and Tony would have known that the only way to resolve everything was time travel because the stones are in the past. Not that Tony likely wanted to figure it out especially the more time passed.  

For Tony, his death is signed the moment he decides to proceed with the time travel. His hesitation and everything he says to Pepper about wanting to just lock it in a box and throw it into the sea are so valid. Tony Stark has finally gotten some happiness in Pepper and in his daughter and in his life without the team and without the suit -- even if he has apparently built one for Pepper so clearly he hasn’t stepped back completely and clearly Pepper is not only okay with that but capable of using the Rescue suit without much trouble. And Pepper seems to know that Tony’s decision here might cost them greatly and Tony won’t be able to not help or do anything. She accepts that. She doesn’t demand he stop. It really highlights how much growth has happened with their relationship because we all remember how much Pepper wanted him to stop being Iron Man - how much the danger of it all worried her. Pepper has realized that Tony won’t and can’t stop.

This has been Tony’s problem from the start. Tony can’t stop. Tony has never been able to stop. Any reasonable person would have built the suit in the cave - rescued themselves and not built another. They would have moved on with their lives lucky to be alive. And when poisoned by the palladium would have certainly stopped using the suit seeing as it was making things worse. After the trauma that was the Battle of New York and almost dying, anyone else would have given up. The PTSD and the fear instead pushes him to build suit after suit after suit with no end in sight. And then he destroys them, takes out the reactor, and it seems like Tony is going to move on...finally.

Except that he can’t.

He can’t because he knows that there is a bigger threat out there. So, he builds the Iron legion. Then, he experiments with the Mind Sone to find a way to put armor around the world. No one seems to understand why. Steve tells him that sounds like a cold world. No one gets it.

Tony can’t quit because of his fear and because he knows that a bigger threat is coming. And he’s right. But despite how much he doesn’t want to quit, he also longs to be able to at some point when he personally does not need to be the shield around the world.

By the time we get to Civil War, Tony has stepped back as an active member of The Avengers. He’s non-combatant. Until he has to be. And then once all of that unfolds he’s left with Rhodey and Vision. The team completely split up and splintered...and with the very real belief that there is still a threat out there. Let’s not even discuss how distraught Civil War and the truths that came out must have made him.

Quitting for Tony is not an option. He goes through with the time travel and with gathering the stones. He does everything while making it clear to Steve that his priorities mean not losing what he has found...and hopefully not dying. But he knows it’s a possibility. He records a goodbye message.

Tony’s last words -- when he knows he’s going to die -- are: “I. Am. Iron Man.”

Because he is. That’s all he’s ever been and he can’t stop being Iron Man. The only way he can stop is by dying...and if his death means that everyone else lives and that everyone gets to survive then it’s an easy sacrifice to make. He can rest. They’ll be okay. He has made sure that they’ll all be okay. Pepper’s words to him are everything.

I don’t think that it could have ended differently for Tony. I don’t think that any other end was fitting for him in the sense that Tony would never be able to stop no matter what and so to have Tony Stark/Iron Man be the one to end Thanos and be the one to wield the stones -- it’s everything. He goes out a hero -- the greatest hero. And while I understand that having Tony not get to live out his life with his wife and daughter is horrible and tragic, I think Tony’s end is so fitting for his character and fitting for his arc and exactly how it needed to be.

So let’s now get to the other major player: Steve Rogers.

I love Steve. I really truly do. I think there’s this sort of odd divide within the fandom among Steve fans and Tony fans partly fed by Civil War and by preference for character and preference for story arcs and perhaps even misunderstanding of the characters. The point is, I’m one of those people that loves both. But when it came to Steve’s ending, I don’t know that I was a fan of it.

Steve’s entire arc in Endgame is quite interesting. He like Tony feels defeated and destroyed by losing to Thanos and allowing the snap to happen. Steve is also trying to find any possible way to change that and make things better. He is another person that can’t stop and that won’t give up. Except that Steve can give up and he can stop. After all, we’ve already seen Steve drop the shield entirely to hold up his morals and his beliefs and to help Bucky.

Unlike Tony, Steve in this movie cannot and will not move on. As much as he tries to push others to do so, he can’t. What’s interesting to me about this is that Steve’s whole arc has been about moving on. From the moment that he woke up from the ice, he’s been trying to move forward. He lost what he perceived to be his future -- settling down with Peggy -- for something entirely new and different.

Steve does try to move on, though. Winter Soldier begins with him catching up with pop culture and making new friends in the form of Sam Wilson and Sharon Carter. Steve is trying to move forward after spending a lot of the first Avengers movie a bit lost, it seems like he’s finally getting somewhere. Natasha is even trying to set him up on dates.

What completely throws this off is Bucky reappearing. I mean, in some ways, Steve loses his interest in moving on for trying to find and help Bucky. Which is fine. I mean, Civil War is entirely justified in my eyes because none of the characters get to have the time to think things through. Tony is jumping the gun with The Accords due to his fear, and Steve is unwilling to even consider it not just due to a lack of time but because of what it might mean for Bucky. It’s all really a giant mess. Including that kiss he shares with Sharon. Not only was it an entirely awkward kiss, but it accomplished nothing.

I don’t think that Steve loses that need to move on. I think that he has learned to live in the future and that having Bucky around doesn’t hurt at all. And with the kiss with Sharon, it is sort of implied that Steve is finally allowing the past to be in the past.

Steve even throws down the shield and the mantle of Captain America in Civil War and it felt to me like such a poignant moment for the character because Steve Rogers is finally coming through flaws and all. And all of this makes me feel like Steve is done a disservice in Endgame.

Look, I get it. Steve goes to 1970 with Tony and he sees Peggy and he is so so tempted to stay. I don’t think his duty and his morality allow him to plan for it or to believe he can do it, but the temptation is there. But I think this was cheap storytelling. They set the viewer up into remembering Peggy and remembering how Steve felt about her. They set the viewer up to thinking what if? And then, citing that Tony telling him to get a life makes him do it, Steve goes back in time and stays with Peggy. But the thing is that Steve shouldn’t still be pining for Peggy. He shouldn’t still be living in the past.

I get the idea to give Steve a happy ending this way and yet I think it cheapens everything that Steve has ever done and felt and his entire arc over numerous movies to get him to fit into the present day and live there. It also cheapens his entire relationship with Bucky and I don’t mean this at all as a Stucky shipper (I ship Stony) but as someone that has seen the relationship Steve and Bucky have as the one at the forefront of every Cap movie. And maybe I would feel differently if we got to see Steve and Bucky have more than a few words with each other -- words that aren’t entirely a callback to a different conversation. A fitting goodbye between friends for sure, but not nearly enough.

Steve Rogers is not that selfish.

There has been a lot of talk about time travel and how it doesn’t work and how it leaves a lot of plot holes and I think it takes a second viewing to accept it for what it is and see how it does actually work. And Steve staying in the past doesn’t break the time travel rules established in Endgame.

The thing about it for me is this: Steve goes back to 1970 to be with the woman he loves -- a woman that he didn’t know for very long or spend a lot of time with because he knew her while he was at war. But Steve in 1970 also has prior knowledge of what is to come and I do not doubt that in this different timeline that he creates that Steve does his best to prevent things from happening. I bet Tony would absolutely love knowing that Steve is doing exactly what he said doesn’t go well -- preventing wars. So Steve would find Bucky in that timeline and rescue him earlier. He would probably stop Hydra much earlier on and with Peggy’s help. Hell, this might mean that Tony doesn’t lose his parents in 1991. And that’s great -- it’s great if he creates something entirely new. And Steve gets to have everyone. Maybe not in the same way, but he gets to see them alive. He gets to see Tony grow up and he gets to see Natasha again. He gets to see Bucky. He probably ends up meeting Sam Wilson. But he gets to do that while having Peggy at his side and growing old with her. And that’s all well and good for Steve, but he’s abandoned Bucky and Sam and the other Avengers in the original timeline right after they lost Nat and Tony and right after fighting so that the world could be set right. Except that apparently, that world -- that reality just wasn’t enough for Steve.  

And after he’s lived this long life and clearly it’s a happy one, he somehow goes back to the original timeline to see Sam and give him the shield. One whose origin must be the other timeline which is questionable because that timeline would of course have another Cap that was frozen and eventually woken up, so what happened to that guy? And again, we are not given a Steve and Bucky moment.

I get it, I really do get why it ends this way. I understand bringing it full circle for Steve and giving him Peggy. I understand writing him off this way and leaving a huge door open to giving us more of a story when it comes to Steve, but I don’t like what it does to his character and how it diminishes everything he’s gone through.

While Tony’s ending highlights his character and makes him the hero we all knew him to be, Steve’s shows us that despite everything, and all he’s been through and the lengths to which he’s gone to save the world -- the universe -- it is still far more important for him to live in the past.

I don’t really want to dwell as deeply into the other characters. Steve and Tony are the big ones and the ones that we will likely not see again...or at least not see for a very long while but I will say this about Clint, Natasha, Thor, and Bruce.

Clint: I really thought he was going to die. I loved that they gave him a full circle arc in this movie with the loss of his family - how that destroys him - and then him getting them back. I dislike that Clint having a family is essentially why they save him (when that didn’t seem to matter in Tony’s case) and I think his arc was poignant and sad.

Natasha: She has been the number one person shouting “this is a family” over and over again since Civil War. It is so clear that out of everyone, she values the team as family more than any of the others. Perhaps because she has no one else, but I think certainly because she loves all of them. This is why Nat can’t move on from the snap and why she is grasping at straws to be able to do something. Anything. Her conviction in doing “whatever it takes” and then giving up her life for the cause...it was touching.

Thor: I’ve seen a lot of people say that what they did to Thor in how he let himself go is offensive as a portrayal of PTSD played as a joke and yes, I definitely see that side of it. I also think that they really let Thor fall apart and just not be okay in an entirely different way. I appreciated that Thor didn’t have it together -- because we’ve seen Thor go through quite a lot and not lose it. But this makes him lose it and in a horrible way. It’s played for laughs and it is funny and sad and I think it was an element that worked within the scope of the movie. His talk with his mom in the past was fantastic and it carries him to the end where he leaves New Asgard to Valkyrie and he goes off with the guardians - and I am entirely hopeful in seeing him in the next guardians movie.

Bruce: It’s so clear now that the writers gave us no Hulk in Infinity War to give us all the Hulk in Endgame. Big disparity. I think it was a shock to see Bruce and Hulk united into an entirely new entity and I don’t know that it worked for me (especially on a second viewing). But in addition to that, Bruce didn’t end up having much to do. He has some great moments like when we first see him and when he goes to get the Time Stone. Overall, I just don’t think he impacted me emotionally in any real way.

So onwards to the movie as a whole.

Like I said, I loved this movie. I think it’s possible that this is my favorite Marvel movie to date.

I think it began very very strongly and with a big shocker. Having them go against Thanos immediately and having them kill him immediately felt absolutely shocking and wonderful. I loved it. I loved the gasps that erupted from everyone around me and how much that moment sets up the movie because literally anything could happen after that.

One of the other big things I guessed about this movie was the time travel. I -- and a lot of people -- expected it. I guessed they would go back for the stones.

I think that whole Time Heist sequence may very well be my favorite part of the whole movie. I love time travel. I love what they did with it. It was humorous, it was heartfelt, and it was ripe for them making mistakes and screwing something up.

The time travel in the movie works like this:

Everyone’s personal timeline can only move forward so that no matter what time in the past they go back to it is not their personal past but their personal future as time can only move forward. Hence, they could never alter a time in the past that could affect their direct future because that future would have been in the past.

So by these rules, everything done while they are in the past cannot in any way alter the present/future that they came from. It can however create alternative timelines. So the moment that they change something in the past that creates a new branch with an entirely new future that no one knows anything about because it hasn’t yet happened.

When they take the stones, they are altering time in those instances so that if the stones are not returned, alternate timelines will begin. This is why it is so important that the stones are returned to the exact moment they were taken.

Of course, we see a couple of instances where they screw up. One is obviously Thanos. What’s interesting about this one is that everything future Thanos did has already come to pass so none of that remains unchanged. But because a Thanos from the past comes to the future, then that Thanos is living out an entirely new timeline to his original one -- one that intersects with the original timeline and that ends in his demise. This also brings Gamora into the future and kills the Nebula from the past. And none of this has any effect on the events of the past as we know them from previous movies.

The other instance is Loki. In the original timeline Loki went back to Asgard with Thor, but by them going to the past, a new timeline is created in which Loki, who manages to take the Space Stone, disappears. I suppose that because the Space Stone remains in the branched timeline and hasn’t been moved through time that this does not impact the stability of the main timeline.

Steve’s jaunt to the past and his staying with Peggy also creates another branch in the timeline and somehow he manages to make it intersect with the main timeline and return to where he left from which to me suggests that he has found a way to travel through alternative timelines...I bet this comes back up at another point in a future movie.

While it is a hard concept to understand in some ways and it took seeing the movie twice to truly get a grasp on it, I think they did an amazing job with this aspect of the story. I think it gave us time with the characters in a different way and let us go back in time and revisit moments that we love and see them from a different perspective. But not only that, but the way that time travel works within the MCU means that absolutely nothing that has already happened had been affected. It is all still canon and it all still happened and the possibilities are endless for alternate realities and timelines and that blows my mind a little. It really is genius.

Time travel also gave us the major twist of Nebula’s interface connecting with 2014 Nebula’s interface. Such an amazing twist. Involving a Thanos from 2014 -- one that is wholly different from the one killed in 2018 was everything and more. I did not see that coming from a mile away and it made so much sense.

The only thing I don’t understand is how 2014 Nebula managed to get to 2023 and then also leave Pym Particles for Thanos to use to get to 2023. This may be the one major plot hole - because remember everyone only had one round trip of Pym Particles and Nebula came back with everyone else and then opened the quantum tunnel so that Thanos could come through except that he shouldn’t have been able to if she already used the Pym Particles -- except that we see her give him some.

The last big thing that this movie gives us is the battle. Oh boy was that a battle. It was everything and more. From the moment that Thanos arrives and destroys the Avengers Compound, I was on the edge of my seat. All of it is just glorious.

We begin with just Steve, Tony, and Thor. As it should be. The Big Three. They truly were the start of everything and to see them together ready to face off against Thanos -- it gave me chills.

One of the best parts about that was seeing each of them giving it their all and managing to go toe to toe and yet Thanos still managing to get the upper hand. The biggest moment by far is Steve managing to wield Mjolnir. It is such a powerful jaw dropping moment. It is unexpected and perfect. The energy in the theater changes. I have seen it twice and both times that moment garnered the biggest reaction. I think it’s as similar to Thor’s entrance in Infinity War - if not better. And let me just say that Steve really got to not only wield Mjolnir. He also got to say “Avengers Assemble”. Again: chills.

The next moment is the return of everyone. And it’s an interesting kind of thing because you’re obviously aware that everyone is back but the timing of Thanos and the timing of the destruction and the timing of everything puts it somewhere in the back of your head and you’re not thinking about everybody else. At least for me, it was a bit of a shocking moment -- at least hearing Sam’s voice saying “on your left” was. But then, everyone is there and they just keep coming and Wong asks Strange “you wanted more?” and I don’t think I will ever see anything quite as amazing as that.

But then, the other thing is that everyone gets to shine. Every single character has a moment to shine in one way or another. The moment may be small, but they get to show off and do their thing at the peak of their power and it is perfection.

Having Clint hand the gauntlet to T’Challa and then having it go to Peter until ultimately it landed in the capable hands of Carol was such a highlight of the three characters in the MCU that will continue the MCU and that everyone already loves.

Having all the female characters back up Carol as she took the gauntlet because even though Natasha is gone, we still have women in the MCU and they are tough and strong and they will have each other’s backs. That moment was powerful.

But also, Carol Danvers. She really didn’t do much in this movie. I don’t know if I expected her to or not because so much of the focus has to be on the original six and I do think that she would have distracted from that. They did manage to write in the perfect excuse for her not being around, and not only did they allow her to rescue Tony and Nebula, but they allowed her to have an amazing entrance into the battle.

It was easy to forget about Carol and that was done so well that when Friday tells Tony that something has entered the atmosphere, you don’t expect it to be her. And then, she’s there. And she’s a badass.

Carol holds her own against Thanos -- but I think she could have done more. I do like that the only thing that actually gets her off Thanos is his use of the Power Stone at her. It does make me wonder how she would do if she put the gauntlet on considering her powers sort of come from the Space Stone. Maybe she should have been the one to put it on and snap her fingers.

The hardest moment, is the moment when Tony figures out what happens next. Dr. Strange lifts one finger and Tony’s life is over. Tony knows it too. He makes the sacrifice play anyway.

But to backtrack it, I have to mention Peter Parker. Without Peter Parker none of this would have been possible. Peter is a fan favorite -- Spider-Man will probably always be the most popular superhero. Having Spider-Man as a part of the MCU is a huge deal. The other big deal is the relationship that Peter and Tony have. It spans multiple movies and it is this emotional tether. Tony and Peter are as close as father and son. The hardest loss in Infinity War was Peter.

People in both of my viewings cheered when Peter came back. Everyone loves him. Tony Stark loved him.

Their reunion was everything. Knowing what was the come on the second watching, I teared up as Peter rambled and Tony stared at him with disbelief. Tony is so so shocked to have him in front of him and Peter is Peter and he just keeps talking on and on. Their hug was everything and more...and then, Peter gets to see Tony go. And my heart broke. So did Peter’s, I bet. So did everyone’s, let’s be honest.

There is not a part of this movie that I didn’t enjoy. It isn’t perfect and nothing ever is but for me this comes very close. I’ve seen a lot people say they are disappointed and that it didn’t close things up how they wanted and that the characters weren’t treated correctly or how they wanted them to be and all of that is valid. Everyone has their own opinion. I just think that we have to take a step back from the fandom and fanon world and look at solely the movies and see how much this works and how much this movie is love letter to everything that came before managing to make us feel everything from nostalgia to grief to excitement to pain to sadness and bringing us to tears.

I’m still bothered by how Thanos makes it to 2023 and how Nebula manages to do the same before him. I’m bothered by the MCU now being in 2023 and that Peter returns to school and finds Ned who hasn’t aged (are we to assume that he was dusted then? I thought we had confirmation that he wasn’t?) if we go by him being in high school and looking exactly the same. It also makes me wonder about Far From Home and consistency (although maybe Sony/Spider-Man will just always be inconsistent with MCU timelines...we all remember how Homecoming screwed up). I’m not entirely satisfied with Steve’s end. I’m not happy with a dead Tony Stark, but I am fine with what this means for the greater story. And of course, there is always fanfiction and headcanons and rewatching the 21 movies that came before this one.

[tmntfandom2018]

Bug Busters!

Man! That was a good episode. This show can definately be a 30 minute kinda show, which I hope its like Steven Universe where it becomes that. But then again, not sure. What are your thoughts? Send me yours in my ask box, I’d love to hear!

Anyways, back to the episode.

let me cover my favorite moments, theres a lot of them.

-Leo

-Donnie

-Mikey being a cute little shit, and teaming with Donnie, being that baby brother, and Donnie actually enjoying his company

-Raph and Leo’s fighting

-Leo acting like the paranoid leader we all know and love. Seriously, his character is amazing. Im so glad they’re respecting the hell out of him.

-Raph trying to be positive and TEAMWORK LOVE

-Donnie being happy for being acknowledged. Splinter, pay more attention to the funny one! He’s a genius. Poor baby boy.

-Donnie rubbing Mikey’s head. ((seriously can one of you just submit a gif of that, i need it in my life.))

-Raph saving Leo

-Finding out more about the turtles.

-Big Mama

-Donnie’s reason why he hates spiders being explained ((My theory I guess))

Conclusion, this was a pretty good episodes, one of my favorites. Im gonna keep on talking about it as time goes on so if I become annoying, then please fan with me, cause that will help me through this. Lol.

Send me your thoughts, submit gifs if you want! I finally got Internet and Cable back so, Ill be here more!

Feel free to add more onto this if you dont wanna do the ask or submit thing :)

Ask Box Here

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[brendancorris]

Rise of the TMNT initial review

I gave my first thoughts on the visuals, creative choices, and general backlash from the community for Rise of the TMNT, the latest cartoon for the Heroes in a Half Shell back when they were first unveiled. As some may remember, I generally was positive and supportive of the new direction. There were some changes I was a bit unsure about, but generally I was fine with it. 

Now, five episodes have been released to the public, and I’ve watched a bit. So, I feel, since I’ve been a hardcore TMNT fan for about 29 years, it only makes sense that I share my thoughts for any who may care.

Before I get to my overall opinion of the show, though, I would like to go over each aspect individually. Let’s start with one of the most controversial topics - the art style and animation. I feel the need to once again highlight that they’re different things, as people always seem to forget this when talking about these topics. Animation is the movement exclusively. So, as for the art style, I like it. It’s very sharp, loud, and energetic. There is so much expression in the faces and bodies of every character. The action poses are wonderful. I especially love the expressions of Don. His eyebrows really add to his look, and his cocky, judgmental expressions add a lot of comedy to the character.

The designs are certainly different. Raph is ginormous, Leo has a fannypack, and so on. Honestly, I got over the designs very quickly. Again, the designs of the four turtles are extremely expressive, and it is nice to see so much variety between them for a change. As for other returning characters, Splinter will take some getting used to. Maybe if he didn’t look so much like a hamster I’d be fine with his design. I don’t really have a problem with his build, I just think that Splinter’s identifying long snout should have been in the design. But April, holy crap, I love this April design. She is so adorable. I was on the fence about her design originally, but once I saw her in action, it quickly became my favorite Rise design, only tied with Don’s.

As for the new characters, I have mixed feelings. A handful of the mutants have really cool designs, like Repo Mantis (my favorite), Hypnopotomus, and Meat Sweats. But then there’s other new characters like the lead villain, voiced by John Cena, who I just feel has a very generic modern cartoon villain design. He looks like a throw away villain in a comedy sketch parodying Saturday morning cartoons. I’m also not a fan of that catdog thingy April has. It looks like a Pokemon. Doesn’t belong in TMNT in my opinion.

But the animation is pretty gorgeous. It does get very choppy sometimes, which I honestly do find a bit disorienting since at other times, the animation is beautifully fluent and alive. I do wish the animation almost always stayed that fluent, but I understand how extremely time consuming animation can be, especially when working with such highly detailed characters, and considering that when the animation is fluent, it’s REALLY good, so I cut them a break. The action scenes are truly amazing to watch. The backgrounds are also very stylish, colorful, and just nice to look at.

While I do think the 2012 show was an amazing TMNT series, I did always find it a bit visually lacking. So I’m glad to see this one do the visuals so well.

Now, I guess I’ll talk about the writing, plot, and characters. As all of you likely know by now, we do not see the origin of the turtles or how they met April. While I can definitely understand why they would leave this out from a marketing standpoint (no reason to make a new TMNT show with limited episodes for preview and just go through the same story we’ve seen 100 times and give us nothing new to look forward to) I do hope we see it eventually. It is a pivotal part of the TMNT world, and is especially necessary now that this is a brand new TMNT for a whole new generation, and is reinventing the lore in many ways.

The show, obviously, is geared more towards smaller children, which I’m totally cool with. Not only did TMNT bring me a lot of happiness at that age, but I also like to see more franchises for kids. There seems to be a big push for cartoons to be more “adult” these days, but I still feel lots of them should be for kids. We live in an age where toys and cartoons are being primarily made for adults. Kids need media too, and TMNT has proved extremely popular with little kids for 30 years. The show still manages to be legitimately funny more than I expected, and, honestly, has a lot of wit and sarcasm that will likely only tickle the older audiences.

The story-telling is a bit all over the place and ultra-fast-paced, but it’s pretty good, again, with the child’s perspective in mind. It has a lot more action than I think most of us thought, and that is done really well. The characters, however, seem to be another huge point of controversy among the fans. My personal favorites so far are Don and April (yes, same two favorites as physical designs). Don’s such a smug brainiac and April’s so feisty and spunky, it’s adorable. But many things like Raph being the leader, Leo being the cool hot shot, and Splinter being seemingly a lazy couch potato, have a lot of fans in a frenzy. I will admit, Leo being a hot shot smart ass is still taking me time to warm up to, and Raph does feel odd as a leader. There doesn’t really seem to be any reason for the Turtles to have him as the leader other than the fact that he’s the biggest. 

However, it does seem obvious that they are working up to something. The turtles, quite amusingly, are terrible ninja at the start of the show. They’re clumsy, inexperienced, and just horrible at making plans. There does seem to be a running theme of Raph’s plans being awful and Leo’s working. It does in fact seem like they are starting off more fresh, then evolving towards a more familiar setup. Even the presence of Foot soldiers implies the coming of Shredder possibly. And that brings me to my only real concern.

While I know this show is not being made for 87 shellheads like myself, I do kind of wish there was more TMNT material in the show. It seems to be trying as hard as it can to stray from traditional TMNT series that it could end up straying too far to the point of it being irrelevant to the franchise. I’m all for changes, all for new art direction, all for new characters, all for character re-imaginings, and so on, but it would be nice to see some returning aspects, like Shredder, Baxter Stockman, Rat King, Casey Jones, the Technodrome or some of the Turtles’ famous vehicles. I would absolutely love to see how Rocksteady and Bebop would look in this style too.

I’m a bit iffy about the episodes. I don’t think they’re bad, but the pacing in some is a bit all over the place, and one episode in particular seemed like a tired premise. The episode I’m referring to has the Turtles in a Chuck E. Cheese’s type locale with an evil animatronic bear coming to life and battling them. If this sounds familiar, you’ve either played Five Nights at Freddy’s, or, more specifically for my argument here, have seen the episode of Gravity Falls, “Soos and the Real Girl”. It was one of the most popular and funny episodes of the Disney XD cartoon, but it seems to be a premise that is continually done in modern cartoons. Just last year, the 2017 Duck Tales (which, although pretty good, I feel pulls a little too much inspiration from Gravity Falls) did a story involving a Chuck E. Cheese setting, and now Rise is doing it as well, with pretty much the same twist Gravity Falls did. While it is a funny premise, I do wish cartoonists would avoid doing it so often as it’s already been done successfully before.

So let’s get to the bottom of this. How do I feel all around? I think it’s pretty good. Like I said, it’s not my turtles, but my turtles had the entire late 80s and early to mid 90s already. It had its time, made me and thousands of other kids happy beyond reason, and made the franchise as big as it is today. It did everything it needed to do. I’m happy to see new generations get their own new forms of TMNT. I’m just glad that my favorite franchise ever is not only still relevant, but still a quality product, too. Simply put - I support Rise of the TMNT.

Still hoping we see some more classic characters and tech show up, though.

And pretty soon, yes, I’ll address a certain Netflix reboot of a series near and dear to me that has been making A LOT of noise on the internet lately. Until then, check out the available episodes of Rise if you haven’t already and decide how you feel about it.

[diamond-song42]

The Nonsense Thing in Diamond’s Head Today 4: My Favorite Pokemon

*Lusamine header for no reason whatsoever*

Diamond here with another weird thing. To further expand into Pokemon-related topics, I thought I’d teach you a bit about me and direct your attention to my header photo. That is a grid of my favorite Pokemon of each type. Why did I choose those? What significance do they have? You’re about to find out! I will list these in order by type - I have no real order for which ones I like more than others. Let’s get started!

GRASS: SERPERIOR. Serperior is the final form of Snivy, the Gen 5 Grass starter. I pick Serperior for two reasons. First, its Hidden Ability. Contrary is one of the best abilities in the game. Serperior uses it masterfully. It has access to Leaf Storm, a move that usually lowers the user’s Special Attack. But with a Contrary Pokemon, that Special Attack is going straight up. Yes, each turn a Contrary Serperior uses Leaf Storm, it will only get stronger. If that’s not fabulous I don’t know what is. Reason 2: It just looks so cool. It’s a 10'10 snake. It could literally kill and eat you. So regal and snaky.

FIRE: INFERNAPE. Infernape, the final form of Gen 4 Fire starter Chimchar. Infernape holds special significance to me. I started my Pokemon journey with Pokemon Diamond, knowing nothing about the game or creatures within. Chimchar was my first. Yes, Chimchar is my equivalent to Ash’s Pikachu, Brock’s Steelix, May’s Blaziken, Dawn’s Piplup, Serena’s Braixen, and Lillie’s Vulpix, Snowy. Infernape and I went through a great journey together and I couldn’t ask for a better partner.

WATER: SHARPEDO/MEGA SHARPEDO. Though Infernape might be my first, Water is in fact my favorite type. Sharpedo, Archie’s partner, wasn’t a Pokemon I gave much thought to until Gen 6. Gen 6 gave it a pretty great boost with a Mega Evolution. There’s a combination I like to use with my Sharpedo. First, I protect it for a turn (or two if I’m lucky) and let its Hidden Ability Speed Boost bulk it up a bit. Then I Mega Evolve it and let Jaws tear up the field. It’s a Pokemon that can use Strong Jaw to its advantage! Not to mention the Mega Evolution is sick. It’s super big and has spikes protruding from its nose. You are not safe. I’m still waiting for a Pokemon parody of Sharknado with Sharpedo. It is my first and favorite choice of Mega.

NORMAL: SILVALLY. Here’s another one falling into the “Cool Looks and Ability” category! It’s Gladion’s best buddy and discount Arceus. The discount Arceus factor is part of my reasoning for choosing it. The other is its utter versatility. All its stats are equal, meaning it has ground as a Physical Attacker, Special Attacker, or maybe both. Its signature move, Multi-Attack, will always be STAB, Memory or not. And have you seen Gladion’s Silvally? So cool.

ELECTRIC: LUXRAY. The electric lion of the Sinnoh region takes this slot. I’ve always liked Luxray’s appearance. That jet black fur with the gleaming eyes is really intimidating. Speaking of Intimidate, it has the ability going for it (even if its stats are trash). Not sold on why you should like Luxray? Look at Clemont’s. He’s so cool. He’s Clemont’s war beast that lights up the field with Electric Terrain and jumps on Ash. “A Campus Reunion” is one of my favorite episodes of X and Y, and Luxray is a big part of that.

PSYCHIC: MEOWSTIC. Oh yes, I am choosing the advanced version of demon spawn cat Espurr for this one. Meowstic has a unique concept in that both genders have different appearances, movesets, and abilities. Females go on the offensive (which is awesome in itself), while males stick to defense. The male sticks out here for me because he has access to Prankster, a great ability that gives priority to status moves such as Swagger, Taunt, and Torment. The female has access to Competitive, which is okay but not as great as Prankster. The male also just looks cooler. The vivid blue with white stripes just feels better to me than vice versa.

FIGHTING: LUCARIO. The Pokemon that helped decode the mystery of Mew! I love Lucario. It has reached the iconic state shared by Pokemon such as Pikachu, Charizard, and Mewtwo. While it may not be the best stat-wise, its character makes up for that. It’s a loyal puppo that can throw Aura Spheres and make bones in its hands. I mained it for a while during Smash. And can I add how cool it is in the anime? Maylene’s Lucario takes no shit from her because it knows she can do better. Cameron may be a pathetic rival, but his Lucario is really tough and relatable (seriously… have you seen it eating ice cream?). Korrina’s Lucario is loyal and truly wants to improve when it can’t control its Mega Evolution. Lucario’s Mega is cool, but underwhelming compared to others. I will always stick with my original Fighting-Steel puppo.

ROCK: LYCANROC MIDNIGHT FORME. In case you didn’t get the hint from my Lucario analysis, I love dogs. Lycanroc is an awesome dog. Three forms, all with different strengths and cool links to the elements. None of them are the most superior in competitive play, but they’ve already become infamous among Pokemon fans. I choose the Midnight Form as my favorite because it’s an awesome rock werewolf. It just looks so cool! It also executes its special Z-Move, Splintered Stormshards, the snazziest. Midday Lycanroc is a standard loyal Poke-doggo, but it doesn’t have the same charm as Midnight Lycanroc for me. Dusk Lycanroc is a fusion between the two, but my OCD will not ignore that blue and red do NOT make green. I’ll battle with my loyal, badass lycanthrope any day!

GROUND: MUDSDALE. THE GORGEOUS HORSIE OF THE ALOLA REGION! The minute I laid my eyes on Mudsdale, I knew it would be awesome. I doubt you’re surprised if you read my content. I love how it’s based on the Clydesdale horse, which can get HUMONGOUS. (Google them!) I’m 5'9 and I could ride this if it was real (unlike Charizard)! Its Stamina ability is superb and has helped kick my ass many times. Plus it has cool dreadlocks! Not to mention its connection to Hapu, a perfect cupcake of a Pokemon character. I fully expect that Pokemon theme park that’s opening in 2020 to have a Mudsdale merry-go-round. I NEED TO RIDE MY PONY.

FLYING: DRIFBLIM. Gen Z, a long time ago when we played with Wiis, we had a game called My Pokemon Ranch. The game allowed you to watch Pokemon up to Gen 4 and transfer your own Pokemon from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. You can also visit other people’s ranches, and when you do, a Pokemon close to you follows you. That Pokemon for me was Drifblim. The dopey-looking balloon thing from Gen 4 was glued to my side when I visited my friends. I’m amused that it’s gaining some viability in tournament play now with Tapu Lele and Unburden. My choice is less about the tournament play and more about how a balloon was my best friend in a cheesy Pokemon spin-off.

BUG: SCOLIPEDE. The largest Bug-type in the Pokeverse. I was still a little naive when I got Pokemon Black. Scolipede was one of my first captures in the game and became a staple of my team. I love its design. Most Bug-types are pretty small and don’t intimidate the opponent too much. Scolipede does this. It’s even larger than Buzzwole and Pheromosa! The stats and abilities got a mild boost in Gen 6, with the Attack gaining an additional 10 points and its Hidden Ability becoming Speed Boost. I do believe my wonderful horror movie beast is underrated and should get more appreciation instead of being delegated to an antagonistic role in the anime.

POISON: MAREANIE. James’s latest crush also has a spot in my heart. Mareanie has a wonderful design. A blue and purple color palette that can poison a person with less effort than Nililego. Mareanie and her evolution, Toxapex, have access to two boss abilities, Merciless and Regenerator. Toxapex is cool, but it’s a theory I have with Mareanie that causes the pre-evolution to win me over. If Mareanie can fully wrap herself around James’s giant head, it could wrap around my torso and carry my necessities in its tentacles. It’s a companion and a backpack! Thank God for Mareanie.

DARK: WEAVILE. Another Pokemon I have fond memories of from my Diamond and Pearl days, Weavile is the long-awaited evolution of Sneasel from Gen 4. I caught a Sneasel and played around with her for a while… AND THEN MY NAIVE BUTT LEARNED HOW YOU EVOLVE IT. I patiently waited until it became dark outside and I leveled Sneasel up and BAM WEAVILE. Weavile became one of my most used Pokemon in that game. For tournament play, its stats are actually pretty good, and both its abilities (Pressure and Pickpocket) do damage in different ways. And it just looks so menacing! That’s what a Dark-type should be.

GHOST: MIMIKYU. I mean… what’s not to love about a Pikachu clone? Okay, it’s not a clone in the essence of Pachirisu or Togedemaru. The concept around it is so heartbreaking and creepy and lovable. Unlike most Ghost-types, Mimikyu just wants to be your friend! It’s super powerful, too. Its Disguise ability is amazing and can change the dynamic of a battle in seconds. Its typing also gives it few weaknesses and THREE immunities. And need I mention the Z-Move? It’s the best Z-Move I’ve ever seen. Splintered Stormshards is cool, but you really need to look out for the dreaded Let’s Snuggle Forever. Mimikyu just wants to do its best for you and you should love it.

ICE: ALOLAN VULPIX. Yes, Snowy is in on this! I’ve always loved the Fire-type Vulpix. But when it gained the Ice-type, it became 10 times fluffier! It’s a walking cotton ball! I’m disappointed Build-a-Bear only has the Fire variant because I want to get the Ice variant and hug it and love it and pet it and squeeze it. And y'all know by now how I feel about Lillie and her family. Snowy is so supportive of her! Even though she’s the youngest Pokemon of the main characters, she clearly understands Lillie’s past and trouble with touching Pokemon. She gives Lillie a nice distance while staying close. One of the most supportive Pokemon I’ve ever seen. And I want one as a pet. (Oh yeah and it and its evolution have access to Snow Warning which is also pretty fab.)

STEEL: EXCADRILL. I have a special relationship with the Subterrene Pokemon. The minute I saw Iris’s Excadrill, I wanted to train one. It looks awesome! A badass drill mole with a ‘tude. And it can hold its own in tournament play! Defensively, its typing is awesome. The Steel-type can resist so much and switch into Toxic without fear. It can learn not one, but TWO OHKO moves (Fissure and Horn Drill). And the three abilities it has access to are all great. You could go for pure power with Sand Force, get the upper hand on speed with Sand Rush, or negate abilities like Levitate and Fur Coat with Mold Breaker! Its small size doesn’t do it justice considering how big of a threat it is.

DRAGON: DRAMPA. FALKOR. At least that’s what I thought when I saw Turtonator’s Moon counterpart for the first time. Believe it or not, Falkor actually has some things going for it! Two out of its three possible abilities are amazing. Cloud Nine removes the effects of weather, while Berserk shoots that Special Attack up after HP is halved. Plus, it’s so fluffy! Lana and Mallow playing with this guy gives me all the feels. You do you, Falkor.

FAIRY: PRIMARINA. I end this list by fawning over the final form of our beloved Popplio. I was hesitant as to what the clown seal would evolve into. But this thing just straight-up Neville Longbottomed. It is beautiful! It looks like it came out of a Disney movie. Its battling skills aren’t too shabby, either. Sparkling Aria hits everyone on the field and heals burns for some reason. But it could help heal a partner with Water Absorb or Dry Skin. The Z-Move this can turn into, Oceanic Operetta, just blows my mind with the animation. If you want a reason to use Sparkling Aria, the Z-Move is a good reason. But let’s get to the best part: Its Hidden Ability, Liquid Voice. HYPER VOICE IS WATER NOW. 'Nuff said.

And now you know my favorite Pokemon. My team and I would love a battle sometime. Diamond out!

[clown-bait]

29 Neibolt ST (Monster Roommate AU) CH17

Happy New Year clownfuckers! Hope you all have a great end of 2017 and see you all in the new year! So this chapter Uncle Penny gets an explanation. We learn how this AU came to be and the rest of the gang find someone to help with their little problem. Also incase anyone wonders the new character is from the film The Witch which is an amazing movie and if you have not seen it I highly recommend it! I love the idea of Penny love growling when he gets dramatic or overly affectionate. I picture it being like a leopard purring, terrifying but also kinda cute. ((Also Pennywise in a nightgown is my new favorite thing))

Chapter 17

Next Time Just Ask the Goat.

———-

“Explain why you're in a women’s night gown?”

“I-its comfortable.”

“Peeeennn? Why is this older clown also named Penny? And why is he saying he's your uncle???”

“U-um he’s….he’s not supposed to be here.”

“You're right kid, I'm not. I'm supposed to be asleep but some asshole lesser demons woke me up. You know theres more of them down there now right? They kicked me out of my part of the sewer! What the hell is going on kiddo?”

Pennywise sighed in defeat. “Leech this is….my “uncle” as he calls himself.”

“YOU WANNA RUN THAT BY ME AGAIN?” the vampire yelled.

“Can you refrain from shouting in my ear?!”

“Can you refrain from forgetting to tell me you have family members?!!”

“Can both of you refrain from shouting at each other?”

“That’s literally all they do.” Drac said from downstairs.

“Hey were nice to each other sometimes!”

“Look I could make her crawl back to her room but you know how much of a pain in the ass she’ll be if she hurts herself again?” The younger clown grumbled.

“Yeah I’d annoy him so much!”

“Plus look what she did to my floors!”

“Penn your house is literally falling apart.”

“I’m taking this out in your rent.”

“You do and I’ll have to come live with you in the sewer and annoy you all day” she tugged on the clowns ear affectionately causing him to scrunch up his face and growl.

“So you found yourself a girlfriend eh junior? No wonder you've been slacking so much.”

“I’m not slacking”

“Pen you've been slacking.”

“You do realize you're the cause of this? Why are you on my case”

“I like to push your buttons.” she boop-ed his nose much to Pennywise’s un-amusement.

“I’ll say.”

He pushed pass his uncle and set Leech down on the couch downstairs. The rest of the house followed and they caught Uncle Penny up on the whole story. The elder clown remained silent looking back and forth between Penny and Leech glaring at the younger vampire who's legs were draped over his adopted nephew’s lap.

“So what you're saying is my cave is infested all because of these two chucklekfucks.”

“Basically yeah.”

“Well isn't that just fantastic.” the elder clown growled. “What have I warned you about earth women junior?”

“Th-they cause trouble?” the younger clown stuttered. It was completely bizarre to see Penny in a submissive state like this.

“That’s right. Yet you pick one up anyway. She will make you weak kid, you’re already malnourished!”

The younger clown put his claws around Leech’s legs protectively. He was snarling at his elder baring his fangs. The vampires and Jim both debated weather or not to say something but with the way the clowns were growling at each other they decided it was probably safest to stay out of it.  

“Kitchen kid, right now” The elder clown pointed.

The remaining two monsters and the human listened to horrible roars and growls, sounds of ripping and splintering echoed in the empty decaying house. Shortly after the younger clown stomped back into the room picked up a very confused Leech onto his lap and wrapped her tight in his arms. The clown began to make a weird quiet growling noise that was somewhere between a leopards purr and dogs whine. It was a bizarre love growl Leech had only heard it a few times and only in times of intimacy. He was still in a very feral like state his eyes were red and gold glaring at the older clown as if challenging him to try taking her from him.

“Stop your whining junior you big drama queen I said I’d accept her. I'm just not gonna be happy about it. Sheesh.” the elder clown rolled his eyes. “Now tell me how you're going to fix this little mess you've all caused before I decide to eat your pet human over there for dinner.” Jim yelped and hid behind the elder vampire.

“well,….we uh -Pen the drool stop- we do have the rest of the group out looking for the book of the dead so thats something. THE DROOL PENNY STOP!” Leech spoke up pushing the affectionate feral clown off her. Pennywise made a weird moo-growl noise in protest.

“And the odds of that succeeding?”

“Knowing my roommate and our friends? It will be miraculous if they manage to remember the way home.” the elder vampire spoke up.

“Well aint that just peachy.” the older clown grumbled and sank into Chucky’s lazy boy sofa while lighting a cigar.

————-

“Ok, this is going nowhere.” Chucky sighed coming to a stop on the path

“What are our options?” Tiffany asked looking at the rest of the group

“I'm a dream demon, we've got two dolls who read voodoo for dummies once, and you two idiots with chainsaws.”  Freddy’s patience for all of this was running very thin.

“Why didn't we take the supernatural clown and the vampires wouldn't they be more useful?” Ash asked

“One is hurt and the other two… well more like all three are……difficult. We’d be less further along than we are.” Chucky answered

“Ok cabbage patch kids you know a bit of magic? Try that.” the demon slayer sat on a nearby rock.

“We’re not witches you know, we cant just make magic happen, we need offerings and amulets”  tiff huffed.

“Wait! we may be onto something here, dolls cant you do something to change our luck? Make the guy run into us or something?” Freddy turned to his two plastic companions

“I mean it’d be a low success rate. And well need a real good offering.” Chucky began to think.

“Well what are you waiting for lets try it!” Ash stood up and the team came up with a plan.

————

Freddy, Ash and Leatherface approached a pumpkin patch just at the edge of town. The plan was simple: steal a goat and sacrifice it to the voodoo gods.

“Ok Fred you and the big guy grab the goat and I’ll make a distraction.”

“How will you manage that?”

“See the chick working the front of the petting zoo I’ll just work my good looks and roguish charm while you grab the biggest one you can find”

“She’s like 10 years younger than you.”

“Age aint nothing but a number Freddy boy.”

“You're going to get us arrested.”

“Since when are you jack-offs worried about being arrested? Are there even cops in this town?”

“I mean…. wow….huh, the clown’s illusions are stronger than I thought…..”

“You got any better ideas then Fred?”

“Fine lets go Bubba.”

Leatherface grunted and followed the dream demon. As they approached the pen Leatherface reached out to pet some of the animals giggling happily Freddy slapped the giants hand away. “Focus big guy! Go for the big black one in the middle there” the goat snorted tossing its head. Leatherface gave Freddy a look “Go on you grab him!” the giant looked back at the goat. Leatherface cautiously reached for the large intimidating looking animal and reached his arms out. Ash ran past them as the giant finally was able to grab the ram that was flailing and kicking in his arms. Freddy took a brutal kick to the face sending him flat on his ass. “TIME TO GO KIDS” Ash shouted looking behind him “the fuck did you do Williams?”

“She called the cops!”

“OF COURSE SHE DID YOU CREEP”

They ran dragging the large ram with them. “Holy shit that things huge!” Chucky shouted as Leatherface held the struggling animal. “Alright we gotta do this quick Tiff get something sharp”  the ram screamed and tried to break free with unnatural strength. A hiss filled the air “Release me!”

“Um did.. Fred was that you?”

“Why would that be me?”

“Release me you idiots!”

The gang turned to the goat who was completely still. “Wait wait I know that voice…..Phil? Phil you crazy bastard is that you?”

“Fred you were quite foolish to not recognize me!”

“Holy shit Phil why didn't you say something! Bubba let him go we got someone way better than voodoo!”

“You seek something Fred what is it that you search for.” said the goat who's name was apparently Phil.

“Wait you know this goat Kruger?” Tiffany asked shocked and confused

“Oh yeah Phil and I go way back. Why are you a goat right now by the way?”

“The bitches Fred, the bitches”

“Huh goats are what gets the ladies to turn to Satan these days?”

“Have you seen goat yoga Fred? Its all the rage! So many tight leggings and limber bodies all begging to live…deliciously.”

“Oh man wait so you're the guy doing those flying witch orgies in the woods aren't you? Phil you dirty old bastard!”

“Wait this is….the devil?” Chucky raised a plastic eyebrow.

“Phillip is my current name child”

“Well great now that we got the head honcho why don't you tell us were your lackey has my book.” Ash stepped forward.

“The Necronomicon is lost?”

“Yeah Ashy here left it somewhere and now some asshole is after all of us who know the clown.”

“This explains many things.” the goat looked off to the side. “The Kandarians have been a thorn in my side for quite some time. They are famously disobedient and quite honestly annoying. I will tell you where the book is if you send them home to be punished.”

“That’s the goal Phil.”

“Then I will help you look.”

—————————————

“So you're the reason all these monsters live here?” Leech asked the elder clown sipping from her mug.

“That’s right kid” Uncle Penny replied. “I got kicked out of my dimension and came here thats when I found junior here squatting by a well eating a baby. Shoulda seen him fangs, he was basically homeless and couldn't commit to a single form Haa!”

“UGH really?!” Pennywise buried his face in his hands.

“Took the little squirt under my wing and showed him the ropes, he took over the town blahblahblah you get the idea. So anyway couple years ago I decided to open it up to other monsters for better cover. Kids these days are way more violent than I remember, so here we are the perfect sanctuary. Which by the way need to get you registered I like keeping track of who I let in on my turf.”

“Our turf” Penny spoke up flashing golden eyes at his elder self.

“Yeah, yeah kid. Our turf.”

Leech eyed the elder clown with suspicion he felt like he was leaving quite a bit unsaid. She wasn't able to give it much thought when she heard a loud gruff voice and hooves at the door.

“HEY GUYS WE FOUND SATAN” Freddy burst into the house with the rest of the gang in tow.

“Um I'm very happy for you Fred?” Leech looked up from her spot on the couch confused.

“No we found the actual devil he's a goat right now. This is Phil.”

“Oh um…. Hey Phil.” Leech waved nervously.

“Sir? Why are you in the form of a goat?” Dracula questioned.

“Bitches Vlad. the bitches.” the goat whispered.

“So like is Satan going to help? Or are we just adding more random people to this group.” Jim asked.

“My child I will assist you on finding the location of the Necronimicon nothing more.”

“Alright Phillip work your magic then!” Ash patted the goat on the back who bleated and glared at him.

“I sense….peking duck….and hair gel…revenge…extreme narcissism.. and noodles.”

“Well thats a random combination.” Leech frowned.

“That is all I can give you. Deliver the Kandarians back to my gate or I shall find you all to take their place.” the goat vanished in a plume of fire.

“Oh great now theres pressure to succeed wonderful!” Chucky grumbled

“So where can we find duck” Leech asked searching places on yelp

“Well there is that Chinese place we got take out from last week” Tiffany remembered

“The one with the delivery boy that Penny ate?” Leech turned to the doll.

“UGH he was way too salty” the younger clown grumbled.

“Then well start there.” Dracula said as Freddy began dialing the take out number.

[spectrumscribe]

whats wrong w 2012 mikey?

This is a complicated question and thus requires a relatively longanswer. (Long post, apologies.)

2012 Mikey is actually my favorite Mikey out of them all,even if that post I made might mislead people on that fact. While I adore someof the other iterations, he’s just so much more complex than them in hisoverall characterizations; even though the writers didn’t actually mean tomake him that way.

He’s thoughtless, detached, and really quite uncaring attimes. His personal goals are very rarely other peoples’, and he’s neverterribly interested in problems beyond his own. He doesn’t mourn for losseslonger than a day, maybe less; he takes and steals from others with littleforethought or afterthought of how it might affect them; he’s all around quitedestructive to individuals that come into contact with him, and when he isn’t,he doesn’t pay much mind to someone else hurting them unless they’re hisfavorite person of the night.

2012 Mikey seems bubbly and sweet to most people I’m sure,but he’s actually very sociopathic in moments.

Now, if you follow my blog and writing, which you, anon,likely do, you’ll know my personal views of the Hamato family situation. Which is,in a word, shitty.

In Mikey’s corner of the family dynamic he is 1) used as apunching bag pretty often, 2) ignored or brushed off constantly, 3) called anidiot, moron, etc. etc. and demeaned by literally his whole family, 4) very,very rarely taken seriously in any manner, and when he is, its quicklyforgotten afterwards. Over all he’s a joke, an annoyance to his family, morethan he’s a brother or son. What few victories he’s really gotten are quicklymoved on from, and he’s just… never had a moment that lasted more than thatsingle second of recognition. (Even the writers, in the final fight scene withthe Shredder, couldn’t give him more than three seconds of Badass Ninja Time,jeeze.)

And following that, he’s also gone through a staggering amountof loss throughout canon. His friends, his family, his entire world? At onepoint or another, he lost all of those things, and had to accept the idea thatthere was always a chance he wouldn’t get them back. Ever. That does a numberon a kid, even when they’ve got a good safety net to catch them in the fallout.

Circling back to my first paragraph, I think everything I justlisted is why he’s grown into such an indifferent individual. Why get attachedto things or people if he’s so likely to lose them anyways, or be demeaned forbeing attached to them in the first place? Why take anything seriously if noone takes him seriously? Why try tobe anything more than the youngest/most immature when no one expects anythingelse of him?

(I had that mentality on and off throughout my high schoolyears. It’s a rough mentality to have, but sometimes necessary.)

2012 Mikey is a caring individual only when he feels likeit, a dependable friend only when he chooses to be, a respectful and kindperson only on the rarest occasion. He can and has been those things multipletimes in canon, but he has also willfully or uncaringly been a destructivepresence. Messing around in Donnie’s lab, even though he’s been specificallytold to never do so; making adisaster mess in the farmhouse and then refusing to take responsibility for itor even clean it up; forgetting/ignoring the mission task at hand becausesomething or someone who’s shiny and new catches his attention. Multiple otherscenes similar to those, but I can’t recall off the top of my head.

And added onto all those things, he’s actually really quitescary. Sure, from our perspective, him cracking jokes and laughing and smilingall through fight scenes and big showdowns is entertaining, but from the enemy’sperspective it’s gotta be flat out viscerally unsettling. Like, who are you gonna be scared of more? The monsterthat’s taking the fight and you seriously or the one that’s laughing at you as he tries to cave inyour skull and probably succeeds in doingso.

He is the lastperson I’d want to face in a fight, given he is the most morally grey brotherof the bunch, and probably won’t care if that concussion he’s given you willcause internal bleeding or not.

(Adding onto how he behaves in a fight- sometimes it’s justeasier to treat a really scary situation as a joke. Sometimes it’s just easierto smile and laugh instead of take in the gravity of things. Sometimes cheerand a smile is more so armor than genuine happiness. Maybe it’s a littlecontradictive to my argument of him being sociopathic, but maybe it’s also not.Smile and laugh so the reality of things doesn’t settle in; smile and laughbecause you just don’t care. Take your pick.)

Mikey cares for a very small handful of people, and thathandful of people can change nightly depending on who he likes or not; AKA who’sthe most fun or willing to have funwith him. He’s loyal to the bone to family, sure, but he also gives zero shitsabout their problems or little issues. Or big issues and problems, given howmany times huge clusterfucks have passed over his awareness and he’s barelyblinked.

A lot of this rounds back to how he’s been raised. He’snever been the favorite son given all the inheritance, the son that’s most liketheir father for all the wrong reasons and paid the most (negative) attentionto, or the genius son that everyone can depend on. He’s the youngest. He’s thejoke. The goofball people never take seriously. He’s been told over and overhis opinion is stupid, or wrong, or just plain useless. He’s been told that he’s stupid, wrong, and plain useless. Howmany times has he been singled out as the unwanted brother? The kid picked lastfor everything? His emotional value in the family is a starkly small one, evento Donnie, who is frequently also socially/emotionally devalued. Mikey is verymuch the things he portrays and accepts in his role as the team joke, but he isalso a kid that’s probably never felt truly respected or wanted in anysituation, ever.

Even the scant compliments he got, all the way back inseason 1 and even more scantly onwards- were backhanded ones. The one thatstands out best is his own father’s comment about him ‘not thinking’, and thusbeing a better fighter than Donnie in that auto-reflexes sense. (I can’t recallanother time Splinter compliments Mikey at all, actually. Wow.)

I love Mikey, I really do, and I defend him often because I know that with a better mentor, moresupportive and loving social environment, and just more respect and correctionin general, he’d be an amazing person. He’s got all the raw characteristics tobe a caring individual, he just needs someone to point out where he’s crossingthe line, and where he needs to step up.

But.

I also recognize that for all the reasons I’ve listed sofar, he’s a person who just does not care about other people, not really. My commentabout him being ‘sociopathic garbage’ is based on the fact that he doesn’temotionally attach himself to situations, and tends to just give no fucks aboutanyone besides himself and whoever his favorite people of the day are.

2012 Mikey seems really sweet and innocent to a lot ofpeople, disturbingly large amounts of people, honestly, but I see him as a muchmore complicated character than that. Combined with all the traumas he’s gonethrough, the steadily devolving situation at home, and his social isolation- he’sgrown up to be someone who doesn’t think about the impact of his actions, onlygives a fuck when he actually feels like it, and generally has very littleempathy for anyone at all. (I repeat myself: willful destruction of things hisbrothers and friends are invested in; smiling and joking as he beats you topaste; repeated losses teaching him that holding onto things is relativelypointless; never valued or respected in his own home.)

2012 Mikey is my favorite Mikey because of all this. He’sdarling, he’s garbage, he’s loving and he’s awful. He’s a shitty person, anamazing person, and an incredibly intricate character. I don’t think he’s a bad person, but he’s certainly not a good one. But people are rarely solelyone thing like that anyways, so who cares. Whether the writers meant to or not,they created a complex and interesting character that has multiple levels tohim. More folks would get that if they’d look deeper than the surface facets tohis presented personality.

A lot is wrong with him, and god knows he has reason forthat wrongness, but I’ve always tended to drift towards characters like thatanyways. After all, like attracts like, and I see more than a couplepersonality traits I share with him.

[glapplebloom]

Power Rangers VS VoltronPart 6 of 7 for this final week of the year!

My original plan for Part 6 was to highlight other shows that were inspired by Death Battle. But many of them were taken offline for some reason. That lead the list to be stack with questionable choices that I feel would be unfair to compare them to the ones on top. So I decided to scrap the idea. Sorry. I got something else planned though

Anyway, that means this one gets moved up and I have to say it is one of my favorite seasons. Lots of fun matches and researching opportunities.

#10 - Sephiroth Vs Vergil

This was an awesome way to end the season. Final Fantasy finally gets a win, showing how much would change if you didn’t control the character, showing off just how much potential Sephiroth really has, all the research that went into this fight and the swordsmanship and techniques displayed was all amazing to see. The only reason this fight is as low as it is ultimately because I didn’t get into Vergil as much as the others were. 

#9 -  Power Rangers VS Voltron

If Godzilla Vs Gamera was the Superman/Goku of Giant Monster Battles, this was that for Giant Robots. Grew up watching both, wishing to have said Giant robots to battle each other against. So to help with the research for this is like living my childhood dream. This is also their most expensive Death Battle to date (I believe) and I say it is worth the price. Its through this match I found out Justice League crossed over with the Power Rangers. So overall, this was a fun match to do and see.

#8 - Natsu VS Ace

I figured this was going to be similar to Zoro Vs Lucy. I was going to skip it because they both had a lot of stuff to get through. But one thing got me into researching this match over others: “Ace scales”. I’m not a fan of scaling but I know when it should be used. But while looking at how other topics debated on the subject, it seems less like scaling and more like seven degrees of bacon. So I decided to throw in my researching hat into this and look into their Manga.

I was shocked by how little Ace has. Thinking he was Luffy’s brother (which he wasn’t really), I thought he would have a lot of stuff like the rest of Luffy’s crew. Heck, he did joined up with them in the anime for a while. But to my surprise, only a handful of pages. In comparison, Natsu had a LOT of screen time to the point I wonder what all this “Fairy Tail is overflowing with Fan Service” coming from. Is it overflowing with violent fan service?

But in the end, Natsu was decided the winner. This is high up for how tough it was to decide who’ll win as well as how well it all came together. Especially with the animation feeling like a sequel to Zoro Vs Lucy. Seems like its in the same location. If a third One Piece Vs Fairy Tail happens, I expect both fighters to be chased out of the town.

#7 - Metal Sonic VS Zero

There is a reason why there are multiple researchers. Not to research multiple things at once (even though we could) but to also have multiple viewpoints in one fight. When I researched it, Zero didn’t seem like he was able to win. Another thought otherwise. When we presented our arguments, mine held very little water in comparison and the winner was decided. I personally blame it on Sega for not using Metal often or well.

But despite that, the episode was great. The research portion was fun and I loved the animation. The speed it was going to points where I wonder if there was 3D Animation in it, to all the custom sprite work into this fight. Thanks to Jerky, I got my hands on that Metal Madness sprite at the end. It is massive.

#6 - Shredder VS Silver Samurai

Talk about a mind blower. I came into this match thinking Silver Samurai got this. So I researched the comics, found his bizarre original costume, and more evidence against his faster than light particles being a real thing. But then I looked into the Nick TMNT cartoon. I was shocked. While I did watch it, I eventually stopped when they went to space and forgot details like his faster than eyesight slashes. 

And then seeing his Super Shredder. Whoa! And he killed Splinter... Twice! It might as well has been just the Nick Shredder Vs Silver Samurai. But the others looked into those and found more stuff from the comics and the original cartoon. You know what’s scarier than finding out about all this? Finding out not only did he survive the Joker Gas, but he overcame it through sheer hatred.

And the fight, wow! Using DCat’s Shredder was a great choice. And all the other custom spriting work used was amazing. And that ending was brutal!

#5 - Lara Croft VS Nathan Drake

This is as high as it is for me because of the research. Between the two of them, I only played one game demo. But after researching, I totally get why these two are popular. Nathan is a great character and was fun to follow from beginning to end. I hope his movie does him justice. But with Lara, wow! I think she can give Batman a run for his money.

Classic Lara and her cutting the wire of an elevator to ride it up, one handed, to reach the roof. Legends Lara and wielding the Hammer of Thor. Survivor Lara and the, no other words to describe it, Hell she went through. She fought demons, aliens, dinosaurs and deities. And the only negative I can find of her is that she was in Angel of Darkness, which that studio deserved to be shut down after making it.

The episode was great. It explained both characters the best it did and the fight was fun. But like I said, this is as high as it is mostly because of the researching I did for this. I believe this is the most fun I had doing research.

#4- Naruto VS Ichigo

Personally, I only looked into the Manga for Ichigo. But even after that with my limited knowledge of Naruto I saw it as a win for the #1 Knuckle Headed Ninja. Ichigo doesn’t grow as well as Naruto does. He constantly loses his powers and his biggest wins aren’t just his own doing. It was all conclusive to me that Ninjas beat Samurais in this fight.

But the episode did a great job explaining everything between the two and why Naruto was a shoe in to win. Not to mention the fantastic animation to go with it. And the long explanation was the icing on the cake, as this specific Death Battle needed that extra time dedicated to explain the results.

#3 - Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight

I looked into... EVERY! SINGLE! ENGLISH RELEASED! SCROOGE COMIC! And also everything with Shovel Knight. And Scrooge would have won even without those guns or the Omnisolve. He has a laser gun that can pierce titanium. He has a time travel watch so he can go into the future or the past. He frikkin tore down those steam pipes with his bare hands. Scrooge is a scary old man.

And the fight was a glorious tribute to 8-Bit. The music selection, the custom sprite work involved, the action and that ending. It had to have been against Shovel Knight to get this level of tribute.

#2 - Smokey Bear VS McGruff the Crime Dog

I live for fights like these. Obscure characters to most, a wacky premise, and all animated like a cartoon. The moment I heard this match was going to be done this was my most anticipated Death Battle to wait for. And it lived up to it all. It would have been my #1 if it wasn’t for one fight...

#1 - Balrog VS TJ Combo

To me, this is the perfect Death Battle. From the Analysis portion including custom images and video to the fight itself. The theme of it being a boxing match, the choreography to make it seem like a boxing movie, and especially the music choice for this fight. I saw a preview of the fight and was immediately hooked to this song. And seeing the full version, it blew what I was imagining. This is a Death Battle I would recommend anyone to see first.

And that’s my top 10 of the seasons. Tomorrow, let’s talk about the other fights not mentioned.

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #26

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

I’m gonna try to get back to doing these on Friday nights. Warning: Lots of hurt!Lance this time. There was plenty to choose from in the gen category, so of course my biases got heavy play. I had a good time, but this list will be even more unbalanced than usual.

Also, it has now been officially half a year of weekly rec lists, though I’ve actually been doing it longer than that, since it keeps being more than a week between each one. The title is a lie. But I am still pretty proud of myself. I thought I would get bored and quit doing these a long time ago, but I haven’t.

As Color Fades Away by IcyPanther Words:  7,615 (WIP 2/?) Author’s Summary:  "They either surrender the Black Lion to us, or we will kill the Paladin we've captured in the most painful way possible. They will hear his screams and they will come. They would not so easily abandon one of their own. And then the Black Lion will be yours. Should the ploy fail... well, then there will be one less Paladin in existence." No pairings, major whumpage, Langst My Comments: Starting the list right off with my biases. I don’t quite agree with the Keith characterization in this one, and the woobie is pretty strong, but it’s very well-written and there is the promise of LOTS of delicious hurt/comfort down the road, so I’m in it to win it.

Lance Makes a Space Sandwich by ArcaneAdagio Words: 3,999 Author's Summary: Lance goes through an galaxy space quest to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, dragging along an unwilling Hunk and Pidge. Will they be able to make their sandwich? Can they survive? Will Lance stop making terrible guns and finger gunning at the same time? Will they learn about the power of friendship? (Spoilers: the answer to the last two questions are 'no.') My Comments: Garrison Trio! How I love them! Very fun and cute action fic. (Also PB&J is divine, how dare you question it.)

you were never on your own by derheck Words: 1,763 Author's Summary: Lance knew how to throw damn good parties. And that’s what they all needed. A damn good party. And what better reason to throw a damn good party than to celebrate everyone’s favorite green paladin growing one year older? Better yet- it wasn’t just going to be a party. He was going all out. He was going to throw Pidge a fucking space quinceañera. My Comments: So cuuuute. Love Lance being supportive of his teammates, and especially doing something nice for Pidge, daww. She deserves a big ol’ party, for sure.

Pieces of Cake by Cardigan_Quincy Words: 2,990 Author's Summary: It's Pidge's birthday, and the team is determined to make it a great day. Meanwhile on Earth and in a Galra prison camp, two other characters hold their own private birthday celebrations for her.(Just a one-shot. Pre-S2. Feminine pronouns for Pidge. ~Quincy) My Comments: Much sadder than the last fic, but also feels very true to the characters. Pidge’s family is definitely the most splintered of the paladins’ and it’s sad to think about the people who aren’t there for her birthday because they can’t be. But they remember each other, in the sweetest and most poignant way.

A Song of Storm and Ice by BreakTheDawn Words: 20,565 (WIP 3/?) Author's Summary: Quintessence.It's the basis of everything right? Integral to the very nature of Voltron. They all have it, it means something for all of them, regardless of whether or not they realize it. So would it not follow that they should learn how to use it?AkaThe Voltron team goes to undertake an ancient training program to learn more about their Lions and themselves, and of course shit happens. My Comments: Actually a sequel to a previously recced fic, so you might want to read that one first, but this one is super good, too. Much more of an ensemble feel, though still a bit of a focus on Lance. And the worldbuilding in this one slays. So many cool ideas. Can’t wait to see what happens, and it’s updating a LOT, with very long chapters. My idea of a good time.

The Garden of Heaven by Genesister (papirini) Words: 75,271 (WIP 16/?) Author's Summary: From the void of space to the heart of a deeply-buried secret of the Galra Empire, the search for Shiro leads Keith on a voyage that he never expected, wanted - or realized he needed. Its just a question of whether he can escape, when its all over - or whether he will even want to. Tags will be added as the work proceeds. My Comments: I haven’t finished reading what’s available on this one yet, but this fic is AMAZING. Absolutely incredible worldbuilding for the Galra. Mind the tags, but don’t let them intimidate you. Keith gets thrown into a very horrifying and terrifying situation against his will, but as the story goes on you find that it’s about just another group of unique misfits learning to get along and find family in each other. The twist I just read left me utterly breathless, and as soon I finish this list I’m gonna get back to reading the story. AWESOME fic. This kind of stuff is why I just don’t bother with published fiction anymore. I can find far more satisfying and interesting stuff for free on the internet.

Just Remember by BleuSarcelle Words: 1,646 Author's Summary: Lance screams and shouts and curses. He lets it all out. He lets his words and shouts echo around as he falls to his knees in the middle of the training room. He hiccups as sobs shake his body. He doesn't bother to wipe away his tears, he lets them fall to the ground and stain the mat below him.He curses loudly and lividly for every part of him that makes him feel unworthy. He weakly punches the mat as he whimpers and his shoulders lose their strength. My Comments: Short but sweet fic about Lance fighting bad self-talk with the truth. I’ve been there.

Capsaicin by phoenixyfriend Words: 6,235 Author's Summary: Lance was captured by the Galra. He was more useful alive than dead, but was notorious for being difficult to interrogate, so the Galra turned to poison. It was... less than successful. My Comments: This is really funny, and really fun. Very mild Lance whump, but I mean, they tried. They tried very hard.

Lance by RandomShmoe Words: 1,482 Author's Summary: First and Second Day working on Camp NaNoWriMo stuff. It is focused on Lance...hence the title. My Comments: Another nice little fic about Lance coping healthily with his problems. The Shiro and Lance interaction was so cute it gave me a toothache.

the purest expression of grief by ohmygodwhy Words: 15,874 Author's Summary: By the time he walks through the Garrison doors, he is bone from going hungry and muscle from fighting and stone from surviving. He keeps his guard up and his teeth bared and sleeps with his knife under his pillow and tears through their exams and their simulations with the ferocity of the need to know more, to do more, to fly. or: keith fights, because that's what he does, and has always watched the stars My Comments: Can be read as Sheith or gen. Absolutely fantastic character study of Keith and how much Shiro means to him, and I loved how Keith made friends with everyone in the second chapter. Very much how I see it working for him: slow, halting, but utterly sincere.

Shifting Sands by Cardigan_Quincy Words: 11,399 (WIP 4/?) Author's Summary: Lance picked himself up from the floor gingerly, testing his muscles before putting too much weight on them. Nothing seemed injured, aside from a few aches that would likely become a nice collection of bruises by tomorrow morning. But considering how hard Blue had fallen, Lance felt lucky. Blue was less lucky. --- Lance is stranded on a desert planet, injured and captured by someone who will go to any lengths to get their hands on the Black Lion. Fortunately or otherwise, he's not alone. (Updated weekly ~Quincy) My Comments: MMM, boy, this is some GOOD hurt/comfort! Starts with Lance alone, but doesn’t stay that way. I’m really glad he has someone there to support him, less glad that they are going through some awful stuff. Okay, I lied, I like it when Lance (and the others) go through awful stuff. But I am still hoping for rescue soon, please.

It's Getting Darker But I'll Carry On by CamsthiSky Words: 4,285 (WIP 3/?) Author's Summary: "This could not be happening. Of course he’d be with the one idiot who didn't know that once a zombie found you, there weren’t many ways to get it off your trail—and hiding in an abandoned house wasn't one of them. How was this guy even still alive right now?" My Comments: Zombie AU that starts off with sniper!Lance rescuing Keith? Yes, please. Fantastic start, and I love the roles everyone is falling into in this AU. Looking forward to more. They need to find Shiro. (Isn’t THAT just the constant refrain of this fandom, though.)

the stars watch over you by psyraah for rednight16 Words: 1,239 Author's Summary: Shiro is bone weary, worn down, and battered, yet sleep evades him. But a gentle moment amongst new friends eases the constant disquiet in his heart, at least for now. My Comments: This is so soft and lovely and nice. Thace and Ulaz should have stuck around longer in the show, for real.

Trust Fall by kyanve Words: 2,330 Author's Summary: Lance decides to try to prove that he's just as capable of getting Blue to come get him as Keith has been at playing Space Fetch with Red. Blue may be less temperamental than Red, but Blue can also be a troll enough to make up for it. My Comments: Lance is an idiot, but Blue loves him anyway. This feels very, very canon.

After Me Comes the Flood by Qpenguin98 Words: 25,111 Author's Summary: The interior of this ship is cold and boring. The Galran soldiers that try to bond with you are cold and boring. Zarkon is cold and boring. You are sick of being cold and bored. A story following the Red Lion. My Comments: Endgame Klance, established Red/Blue. Really interesting and lovely view of Keith and the rest of the team through a personified Red. I love the sense of history with the lions, and the trauma and turmoil that everyone has to work through.

Taking One For The Team by ShiningRegalia Words: 18,284 (WIP 6/?) Author's Summary: A mission gone wrong lands Lance and Pidge in a dangerous situation. When communication with the rest of the team is compromised, they have to take drastic measures to escape. Pidge can only hope that they get out before things get worse and one of them breaks. Especially Lance. My Comments: Holy fudge, this is some great hurt/comfort, too, this time with Lance and Pidge. Protective!Lance turns on all the lights in my house, and Pidge gets protective right back. The situation gets really bad, really fast, but they both do everything they can to take care of each other and get them out. They’ll be okay as long as they have each other.

Do You Wanna Build a Voltron? by phoenixyfriend Words: 10,558 Author's Summary: Lance woke up to a room full of frost, and proceeded to panic. Just a little. Just a smidgen. Just enough to refuse to leave his room until Hunk promised to go get Coran so there was a competent adult helping them figure out this mess.According to Blue, humans were very fragile, and needed all the help they could get. Blue could provide a lot of help, and this was a perfect solution, in her eyes. My Comments: Really cute and fun exploration of Lance getting full-on Elsa powers. An enjoyable read from start to finish.

We'll Just Have to Wing It by peasantlysurprised Words: 2,798 Author's Summary: or alternatively titled "The Space Power Rangers Try to Figure Out If Shiro Has a Natural Winged Eyeliner Look Going On Because He's Fly Like That or Not and End Up Failing" My Comments: I think I missed reccing this fic back when I first read it because I wasn’t making weekly lists at the time, but someone reminded me of it and I’m super glad they did. Very fun team fic with the younger paladins trying to stay up all night to catch Shiro and find out the truth.

what's needed by eugyne (AreteNike) Words: 2,704 Author's Summary: The one time Shiro gives everything to his team... and the five six times they give it back. My Comments: Absolutely FANTASTIC Post-S2 story with Shiro actually getting the support he needs, omg, I love it so much.

Gate Keeper by MoonlitPaladin (MoonlitStardust) for cupcakelevi Words: 30,297 (WIP 7/?) Author's Summary: Lance is an author, known for his fantasies driven by dynamic and imaginative heroes, and yet no matter how much popularity and success he gains, it's not enough. He doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere and he pours himself into his work, pausing only when he gets a strange postcard in the mail with no return address and a portrait of Scotland."Light filters o’er the pass as the Keeper returns."On an adventure the likes of which only he could have written, Lance learns the true meaning of family and that there's a thin line between fantasy and reality. My Comments: Tagged Klance, but so far it’s about the plot and the worldbuilding. Really interesting Fantasy AU, and I’m totally hooked. Everything feels really deep and well thought-out. Again, this is why I don’t need published fiction.

Nails by BlueRoboKitty Words: 3,435 Author's Summary: Barely weeks after the events of S2, Lance decides to break Keith out of a bad habit and ends up creating a confrontation he's not sure he's prepared to deal with. My Comments: I love fics where Lance just can’t HELP being a caregiver and he HAS to save Keith from himself because can you believe him, can you believe his terrible habits. And if it helps them find some understanding and get to know each other better, well, I’m ALL FOR IT.

The Tide by Zurela Words: 4,116 Author's Summary: Lance doesn't know whether or not he can trust Keith to have his back. But now that he's stuck under a tree, with broken bones, and on the verge of drowning, it seems he might not have a choice. My Comments: Yet another flavor of hurt!Lance, this time with Keith along for the ride. This one hit the spot.

Piecing the World Back Together by Zurela Words: 7,929 Author's Summary: The Galra have taken control of the ship again. Only this time, they've brought a druid. And Lance is the only one in the castle. And he's not doing so good. Oh boy, this is bad. My Comments: Mild Klance, but mostly about Lance dealing with things alone until his team can come. I love love love Lance’s breakdown in this one, because it was awful and heartbreaking but it wasn’t over the top, and everyone was able to respond right away and tell him that his bad thoughts about himself weren’t true. And he was heroic too, my dear blue boy. Great fic.

familiar by achieving elysium (Ogygia) Words: 40,874 (13/?) Author's Summary: Altean!Lance AU.The only one who remembers the fall of Altea, Lance struggles to find a place in a band of misfits he will never fully trust. Secrets aren't the only thing on the rise; on the other side of the battlefield is Zarkon, someone Lance once saw as a brother and now his greatest enemy. But Voltron has always protected the universe, and the Blue Paladin won't stop now. My Comments: Finally, an Altean!Lance AU I can rec with no reservations. This is a really interesting and different take on Lance, with him being a veteran, technically much, much older than everyone else on the crew, and dealing with a whole ton of trauma and trust issues. Some secrets came out in the recent chapter that really have me salivating for more.

Home by Zurela Words: 7,385 Author's Summary: The members of Voltron have noticed that Lance has been behaving suspiciously lately, and make some assumptions. Well, all except one. My Comments: Lance is such a DARLING in this one. Gah, I love him.

He is the Heart by aurumdalseni (kyo_chan) Words: 2,479 Author's Summary: Hunk is the paladin that helps hold them all up, but sometimes he needs to be reminded just how much he's cared about in return. [A "Five Times Kissed" ficlet (gen/non romantic)] My Comments: Hunk appreciation! YESSS. I love everyone’s different ways of showing how much they love Hunk.

Blue and Blood by kimuracarter Words: 2,773 Author's Summary: The team rescues Lance from the clutches of the Galra. My Comments: Heartbreaking, but very well-written. This is one of those fics that I read more than once. Maybe more than twice. Very id fic for me.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

Blue and Bruised by DizzyBunnies Masks by TiedyedTrickster Handbook of Demonology by squirenonny for Pechat (absolutely BALLER chapter) Truce by kyanve Love and Other Questions by squirenonny Little Lions by MidnightCreator A Dream Away by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Out of Phase by LittleWhiteTie Lost in the Stars by WingedChickadee I'm not the Lance You think I am by KairaKara101 Stardust, Silk and Steel by CalicoTomcat

[cantquitu]

sorry about the rude niall anon u got, but actually I think - nail's lyrics are very sexual but it all puts power in the woman's hand. One theory about On the Loose is that its a Selena song and knowing how empowered she felt once she was single- take a glance at the lyrics. same for Slow Hands- the idea that a woman is in charge and maybe even plays games feels a lot different to harry's lyrics which make a girl feel less in charge

Yeah I totally got that from Slow Hands and On The Loose (and Temporary Fix too actually). They definitely give me the sense of a sort of awed fascination with the woman; observing the woman in action, a kind of resignation and acceptance that the power is in the woman’s hands. They definitely evoke that feeling.

But personally I don’t get the sense from Harry’s lyrics that the girl is less in charge at all. It’s not as overt as in Niall’s songs, but I never get the sense from Harry’s songs that he (or his ‘character’ or whatever) is the one in charge. 

“broke a finger knocking on your bedroom door/got splinters in my knuckles from crawling cross the floor”, “There’s nothing I can do about it”,  “Just let me know/I’ll be at the door/hoping you come round”, “You left me in the hallway”“I’m having your baby/ It’s none of your business”,,  etc etc  - there’s definitely a push and pull in those lyrics, I don’t get a ‘the guy is in power’ feeling from them.

Anon 2: The writing of on the loose is one of my favorites any of them have put it out. It’s very good in a technical way. That being said, do you really think the same conversations can be had about Harry and Niall’s treatment of women in their songs? It’s very different

I just saw this ask as I was about to post the one above, so I’ve included it because yeah I think the same conversations can be had. Or at least, I’m having them ;) :) 

Having said that, Niall and Harry’s lyrics are quite different, of course. And the main reason that springs to mind when I think about why, is that Niall’s are more detached and observational. Like, Niall’s lyrics are, “Look at this girl, she’s amazing, I’d probably do anything she wanted, I can’t figure her out, she’s intriguing”.

And Harry’s lyrics are more like, “Look at this girl, holy shit she’s kind of amazing, oh ok she’s sitting in my lap now, this feels good. Oh wait she’s gone. No! I’m gonna crawl after her, oh shit, she’s gonna fuck me up, ok we’re definitely gonna have sex now…”

 LOL that’s a very crude comparison but the point I’m trying to make is that in Harry’s songs he (the first person) is very present in the songs. In Niall’s, he’s at more of a remove.

[fountainpenguin]

Hey, you said a bit ago that you actually prefer "ChalkZone" to "Danny Phantom". Reasons?

It’s completely a matter of personal preference. I really like both shows, but the former squeaks past the latter. “Danny Phantom” is plot-oriented, “ChalkZone” is more world-building oriented (You can see right from the titles where the focus of the show is placed). 

So yeah, I was a bit disappointed that DP didn’t explain the Ghost Zone as much as I felt it could have. We just don’t know a lot about the flora and fauna there, or the nature of ghosts (especially the ones with less shape and character) or energy or how different ghost powers work… 

“ChalkZone” is HUGE on world-building, which is exactly what I would expect and want from a show about an alternate universe. In fact, I wrote a strangely popular post about some highlights of “ChalkZone” world-building that you can find here. I’d struggle to do the same thing with “Danny Phantom”. 

And no fantasy plant will ever beat ChalkZone’s eyeball plants that record what they see on film strip roots and that crawl into the host’s eye sockets and manipulate the way said host views the world until they reach the place where they want to deposit their seeds. Remember Sam’s comment in “Memory Blank” of “Who wishes for evil plants?!?” Yep, that’s “ChalkZone”. All the time.

You may notice on KissCartoon that the “ChalkZone” episodes air in sets of four. Each link contains two main episodes that cover Rudy and the main plot, and then the third one is always a slice-of-life episode about Snap’s life in ChalkZone when Rudy isn’t around. It’s pure world-building. He even has his own television show, “Snap Shots”, which doesn’t come up a lot but always covers world-building when it does, like taking the viewer on a tour to describe ChalkZone plants, animals, and even the life of Skrawl and the Beanie Boys at their training camp. It’s exactly the kind of thing I adore. The fourth “episode” is always a one-minute song, which is a little weird, but okay.

Character-wise, “ChalkZone” is very great too. They were never shy about portraying the main characters as jerks. Regularly. Heck, one of the reoccurring plot points is that Rudy views himself as the One True Defender of ChalkZone, despite the fact that the Zoners never asked him to be their guardian and many wish he would just go away and leave them alone.

I like how in “Danny Phantom”, Sam and Tucker are good friends who love and hang out with one another even when Danny isn’t around. But “ChalkZone” is as opposite as you can get without splintering the trio up. Snap and Penny got on one another’s nerves from the beginning, and although they can put their differences aside and work together, they never learned to love (or even like) each other as much as Sam and Tucker do. It’s a very interesting portrayal.

Not to say that DP isn’t heavy on characters too, because it is and I appreciate it. Some of the characters (super-judgmental Sam) just weren’t my favorites. And DP is too heavy on romance for my personal tastes.

Compare with “ChalkZone”, where platonic friendships are the major focus. Despite meeting for the first time in an episode named “Rudy’s First Date”, Rudy and Penny show little romantic attraction to one another until Season 3, when they were watching their doofus duplicates (the “doofi”) flirt with one another, and Penny reminded Rudy that “They’re nothing like us”, and Rudy’s reply was, “Yeah, [unlike Doofus Penny], you really are a genius”, and she came back with, “And you have genuine artistic talent”, and they just scuffed the ground and smiled while Snap sat there being grossed out.

It was very sweet, and the show moved on without bringing it up again for that episode, or in the high majority of the remaining episodes (even when they go dancing together, it’s mostly platonic and they never become canon- that’s even a Snap-centric episode, so we don’t even see the two dance!). And I mean, when Penny tries to kiss Rudy in “The Smooch”, he bolts, and only returns out of necessity to lift the “smooch curse” off her. It’s great. 

Though to be fair, “Danny Phantom” involves high schoolers and “ChalkZone” is about ten-year-olds. It would be more surprising if DP brushed completely past all romance. But I just really appreciated the way it was handled in the latter show- I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a less romantic kiss between two cartoon leads than Penny tackling Rudy into a giant peanut butter and jelly sandwich and having it snap shut on them. 

The show just didn’t make a big deal out of romance - no dangling ship-bait, no love triangles, basically none of what “Star vs. The Forces of Evil” is doing right now that makes me cringe - so that’s something that means a lot to me.

These two shows are similar in that they both involve heroes, portals, alternate universes, and a main trio. In both shows, the real world starts off not knowing about the existence of this alternate universe, but slowly becomes aware of it- the people in the real world don’t lampshade their encounters with entities from the other one at all!

But put side by side, I’ll pick “ChalkZone” every time. Not only is it easier for me to buy into the idea of magic chalk that can easily fall into the wrong hands than a boy whose molecules got rearranged after contact with radioactive electricity, but I just can’t resist the absolute world-building focus. My love.

I just haven’t come up with any good ‘fic or drawing ideas, that’s all. With TD, FOP, and DP, I get bothered that after all these years, there are so few ‘fics related to some really cool characters despite the size and activity of their fandoms. I like to fix that. “ChalkZone” is just a super small fandom as it is, so it’s never surprising if characters I like get glossed over. Doesn’t bother me.

I guess what I’m saying is, it’s sad watching my favorite characters get dragged through the dirt so many times (with “Total Drama” especially). But with “ChalkZone”? Does anyone even hate any character in “ChalkZone”? They’re all so adorable! Did you see “Poison Pen Letter”? That’s such an amazing episode that portrays Rudy’s Wrath and recklessness, and renders Michelle Norwegiano perhaps the best “popular girl” cartoon character ever.

I need to draw Rudy’s parents. His dad is a butcher and his mom is an opera singer, and they are amazing. Ooh, and I need to draw Penny and Chloe. They both come from veterinary families, so they’d probably get along great! And I just remembered that “Mother Tongue” was the episode where Penny has a breakdown because of all the pressure her mom puts her under, and they talk it out. I think I might be uncovering the reasons I liked Chloe from the start.

“ChalkZone” is weird in that it was so perfect, no one writes fanfics about it because most AUs can easily be treated as something that could actually happen, and there weren’t plot holes for people to point out and/or correct. One of the only plot holes I can think of is why Rudy never drew another magic chalk mine, but that in itself is countered by the ideas that you don’t want the chalk falling into the wrong hands, and the hints that magic chalk is different from other chalk and only grows there. 

That, and due to the whole “no love triangle” thing, which unfortunately “sells”, I guess, combined with the fact that it was competing with literally every show that sent a character to Nicktoons Unite, rather sealed its fate. The Internet and fandoms were different back then. Bet people would love it if it aired now.

(By the way, some of the episodes on KissCartoon are missing and/or cut off early. You can usually find them if you Google ‘em. The early episodes are out of order because of “Oh Yeah! Cartoons”, but I can help you out. The only episode I’ve never found is “Knight Plight”. If anyone has that, I’d love to see.)