#mumm ra’s pet

[acmeoop]

Originally Ravage

Ma-Mutt - Thundercats (LJN)

[f0xysthings]

Yandere Kaynar x reader

Language: English

Kaynar is a crazy man, just insane, he is the classic Yandere "love me or I will kill everyone you love". You met in prison, let's face it it's a horrible place to meet someone, you had been arrested unfairly, your ex best friend had committed a horrible crime, and somehow he managed to blame it on you and get you caught and taken to prison, you tried to prove your innocence but it was too late, you were already behind the saddle, hungry and thirsty.

At the beginning everything was very difficult, you were made fun of by the other prisoners, after all you were weak and fragile, even though you were angry at the insults you preferred not to retaliate for fear that something much worse would happen. On any given day at lunch time, you noticed a jackal sitting on a bench far from the others, this jackal as far as you could remember was next to his saddle, he was a mysterious man, always talking to himself, laughing to himself, to talk the truth was quite unbearable being his saddle neighbor, but as you are a curious person you decided to sit next to him to try to start a conversation. "Hi what is your name?" You asked nervously. "Tell me your name first, sweetie." Kaynar said. "My name is Y/N, what about yours?" You asked, trying not to sound nervous. "Kaynar." After that, you started sitting next to Kaynar every lunch, starting a strange friendship, he defended you from the other prisoners and you defended him. It didn't take long for Kaynar to realize that he developed more feelings than friendship for you, he didn't want to accept that he loved you but it was inevitable, he had already fallen into the claws of love and there was no escape. He spent nights dreaming and imagining what it would be like to touch your skin, your soft skin, what your blood would taste like? How does your flesh taste, with each passing day he became more crazy about you, so much so that there was a time when the prisoner flirted with you and Kaynar simply went crazy, and Kaynar just lose his mind and advanced on the prisoner. Other prisoners tried to stop Kaynar but they didn't do very well. That day Kaynar killed 11 prisoners and with that the guards took him to a special room, but unfortunately for the guards, a small army of lizards appeared to free the bloodthirsty dog. After finally being free he runs to you saddle, to save you from this shitty place. Upon arriving in you saddle a manic smile appears on his face, seeing your scared form made him feel sooo good.

"Kaynar, what's going on?" You said looking at the huge man in front of you, the sight was terrifying his red eyes stared at you with hunger. "I came to save you, sweetheart." Well after saving you, he started keeping you in a cave with the excuse of "you're mine, you don't need anyone else but me."

After a few weeks, you started living with Kaynar, he had managed to find a small cave and prepared it for you to live. Obviously he doesn't spend much time with you, even if he wanted to he can't because sometimes he has to go to Mumm-ra's base, to serve his master and be able to satisfy his thirst for blood. He hasn't told anyone about you because he believes that if he tells you they'll want to take you away from him, even though it doesn't seem like he's very insecure, he's very afraid of you abandoning him for someone else, and to avoid that he locks you up so that you don't run away and close the entrance to the cave with a stone just in case, leaving you completely trapped and yearning for his return.

Even though he keeps you captive, he is a very affectionate man, always smelling you and kissing you and sometimes telling you how adorable you are. But if he wakes up in a bad mood, don't expect him to be super affectionate, because he won't, don't irritate him, he won't hesitate to hit you. In the cold, he always sleeps close to you to keep you warm, he stinks a lot so it's quite unpleasant, but at least you're warm. He loves when you pet him, especially his chin and ears.

He is a jealous man, so in addition to preventing you from having contact with other people, he will kill everyone you know, be it an ex-boyfriend or even a best friend. Well speaking of that he killed your ex best friend, the one who got you arrested, he somehow found out where he was and killed him in the most brutal way possible, before killing him Kaynar ripped out his tongue, fingernails and of his feet, one by one and in the end he killed him by cutting off his head, and to make matters worse he took his head to you, glorying in having killed someone who made him suffer. He is a romantic man, he always brings you little gifts, including dead animals, parts of people and sometimes pretty flowers.

[firefaerie81]

(liveblog tag in chronological order)

Mumm-Ra is the kind of guy who'll talk up how great it is that he's letting the people he treats like pets watch him commit unfathomable amounts of destruction.

Panthera tries in desperation to affect some kind of positive change with the position she has, but even being in a position to speak directly to the omnicidal tyrant doesn't mean you can make a difference by speaking to them.

In the face of such ludicrous atrocity, Panthera finally snaps. But all it gets her is physical punishment. She alone can't stop him.

Leo knows she's right, deep down. But his approach is to try and couch it in a way that won't offend his boss's evil sensibilities. But that's not effective either.

Mumm-Ra is too evil to reason with.

[fly-pow-bye]

What’s Airing On Cartoon Network? (April 2020)

I didn’t make an article because they didn’t even list them until they started airing. They did list them for this month though, but some of them don’t even have descriptions. This is all according to The Futon Critic. All of this is listed after the break.

Apple & Onion

Show is so big, it managed to get a guest star.

April 4th:

Petri - Apple and Onion must get back to their apartment to put the lid on their petri dish. (9:30 AM) (Not a half hour episode.)

April 11th:

Floored - Apple and Onion get lost beneath their floorboards and must find a way out. (9:30 AM)

Election Day - Apple runs for Mayor. Episode guest stars Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Clay Davis on HBO's "The Wire") as Mayor Naise. (9:45 AM)

Ben 10 (2016)

April 5th:

Digital Quality (10:00 AM)

Tim Buk-TV (10:15 AM)

April 12th:

Growing Up is Hard to Do (10:00 AM)

The Hex Factor (10:15 AM)

Craig of the Creek

April 18th:

Creek Daycare - Craig and his sister, Jessica, try their hand at running the daycare at the creek. (9:00 AM)

Sugar Smugglers - Craig, Kelsey and JP become smugglers to sneak candy to kids in need. (9:15 AM)

April 25th:

Tea Timer's Ball - The Tea Timers throw a dance and invite everyone in the creek. Craig believes it's solely to prank him, while Kelsey deals with an unwanted admirer. (9:00 AM)

Sleepover at JP's - JP invites his friends over for a sleepover, but it happens to be on the night of a huge game of Flashlight Tag in the creek! (9:15 AM)

DC Super Hero Girls

No descriptions for this one, either.

April 5th:

#AllAboutZee (4:00 PM)

April 12th:

#TweenTitans (4:00 PM)

April 19th:

#EmperorPenguin (4:00 PM)

April 26th:

#BreakingNews (4:00 PM)

Power Players

No descriptions, but all of them are on the app and have been released as See It Firsts, so just look at that article.

April 5th:

Freeze! (10:30 AM)

King Axel (10:45 AM)

April 12th:

The Trojan Bear (10:30 AM)

Thirst for Power (10:45 AM)

April 19th:

Party On (10:30 AM)

Bringing Up Baby (10:45 AM)

April 26th:

Stretched Too Thin (10:30 AM)

From Below (10:45 AM)

Teen Titans Go!

Only one episode, and it's that one.

April 4th:

Teen Titans Roar! - The Titans are outraged when their favorite cartoon is rebooted so they come up with a plan to get this new show off the air. (10:00 AM)

ThunderCats Roar:

Speaking of Roars...

April 4th:

Mandora - The Evil Chaser - Lion-O "accidentally" releases a whole space prison-full of criminals and winds up on the wrong side of the law. (10:30 AM)

Dr. Dometome - Lion-O is tasked with mapping the beaches of Third Earth, which leads to him somehow draining the oceans of all their water entirely. (10:45 AM)

April 11th:

Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living - Every time Mumm-Ra gets ahold of a magic artifact to restore his powers, the ThunderCats just smash it and turn him into a dinky skeleton again. Until today that is, because Mumm-Ra just remembered he's got the Ancient Spirits of Evil. (10:30 AM)

Study Time - Lion-O never pays attention during Tygra's training sessions so when he's asked to do a pop quiz on "sword magic" he accidentally opens a portal to the Astral Plane and releases the Nether Witch. (10:45 AM)

April 18th:

Berserkers - The Cats' Lair is attacked by gold-loving robot pirates - the Berserkers! This is a good thing, really, since it means Lion-O and the ThunderKittens can ditch their chores and fight robo-pirates instead. Just don't tell Tygra! (10:30 AM)

Jaga History - Freed from the Astral Plane, Jaga - ghost of the ThunderCats mentor - is now free to visit the Cats' Lair. Which means he can finally tell them why Thundera, their home world, exploded. (10:45 AM)

April 25th:

Barbastella - While flying with his new invention, Panthro hits it off with a new friend - Barbastella, the Queen of the Bats.

Adopt a Jackal - After a battle with the Mutants, Jackalman gets confused and accidentally returns to the Cats' Lair with the Thundercats.

Total DramaRama

April 18th:

Pudding the Planet First - After Chef says opposing viewpoints make the world more interesting and fun Izzy applies it in the worst way possible. (10:00 AM)

Supply Mom - When Chef's mom becomes the supply teacher for a day Duncan replaces Chef's to-do list with one of his own. (10:15 AM)

April 25th:

Mooshy Phon Phons - After eating Chef's extremely rare and expensive chocolates Courtney drags Owen, Izzy and Beth all the way to the Norberian Alps of Fruffenberg to replace them. (10:00 AM)

Student Becomes the Teacher - Chef is knocked unconscious right before a School Board Evaluator shows up for a big review. Now Owen has to fill in so Chef doesn't lose his Teaching License and to ensure the kids earn the pony ride Chef promised for good behavior. (10:15 AM)

Transformers Cyberverse

No descriptions for this one, either. That last one, though.

April 5th:

The Trial (7:00 AM)

The Prisoner (7:15 AM)

April 12th:

The Scientist (7:00 AM)

The Alliance (7:15 AM)

April 19th:

The Judge (7:00 AM)

April 26th:

The End of the Universe (7:00 AM)

Unikitty

No descriptions for this one.

April 5th:

Sunken Treasure (4:30 PM)

April 12th:

Dawn of the Donut (4:30 PM)

April 19th:

P.L.O.T. Device 2: Beyond the Bored Dome (4:30 PM)

April 26th:

The New Nemesis (4:30 PM)

Victor and Valentino

This show's back!

April 18th:

The Guest - Vic and Val blame each other for eating all the food in the kitchen and making a huge mess. However, they soon discover that a ghost is actually to blame. They enlist the help of Achi to unlock the world of spirits among them and kick the ghost out of their house! (9:30 AM)

Ener-G-Shoes - When Vic uses trickery to buy a pair of super cool sneakers from Maria Teresa's yard sale, the shoes try to walk him to his demise as punishment. (9:45 AM)

April 25th:

La Cucarachita - When Vic's beloved pet cockroach dies, Vic turns to Charlene's dark magic to bring her back to life. (9:30 AM)

Lords of Ghost Town - When Victor and Valentino recruit a ghost to scare away a bully, they end up messing with the realm of the dead, which has disastrous consequences. (9:45 AM)

[thundercatscenarios2011]

To Mumm-Ra: Your 80s incarnation had a dog, do you have one too? If not, wouldn't you like a pet?

Mumm-ra: In fact … I have Ma-Mutt, but he prefers more sleep. I plan on using it in future plans for my plans.

(( The bulldog dog heard everything from his master and just went back to sleep. He was better resting in his corner for a while ))

[jakey-beefed-it]

Cake, my crazy little baby kitty girl who never wants to cuddle, wanted to cuddle with me so I pretty much prioritized that over everything else.

Unfortunately I fell asleep petting her and only woke up a couple hours later when she jumped down and now I feel like Mumm-Ra on a particularly hard morning.

[omniversalobservations]

Santa's Toy Monster Attacks (2011)

Merry Christmas, DA!

For my 2011 Christmas Card, I decided to go with a design involving Santa Claus sicking his toy monster on a naughty kid.

This piece was by far this most ambitious piece I've ever done. I looked back and saw that I posted my first draft of this piece in my DeviantArt scrapbook on June 29th, and I've just completed it finally on November 12th... Dang.

I am really proud of this piece, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

You can also view a progress video to see how this piece came together over on you tube: [link]

Thanks To: -- A Blanket of Snow by ~midnightstouchSTOCK (reference) -- frecklebrush by ~Dojang (PS freckle paintbrush) -- SNOW PS7 Brushes and IMG Pack by ~KeepWaiting (PS snow flake paintbrush) -- THe Valley of Childhood Toys by ~MGrigsbyArt (toy ideas... check this out. similar idea and AWESOME execution)

On the subject of the toys, after hours and HOURS of googling, wracking my brain, and soliciting ideas from friends and family I've incorporated the following 200 toys to make up Stanta's toy monster... Enjoy!

1. Adam Bomb (Garbage Pail Kid) 2. Aladdin (Disney) 3. Alf (Alf) 4. All-Star Snork (The Snorks) 5. Ang (Avatar) 6. Animal (Muppets) 7. Ariel (The Little Mermaid) 8. Atari Joystick (Atari) 9. Barbie (Mattel) 10. Barbie Dream Car (Mattel) 11. Bart Simsons (The Simpsons) 12. Baseball 13. Basketball 14. Batman (Batman: Animated Series) 15. Batmobile (Super Power Collection) 16. Battlecat (He-Man) 17. Beach Ball 18. Bebop (Ninja Turtles) 19. Bernie Kosar (Starting Line-Up) 20. Bert (Sesame Street) 21. Big Wheel Bike 22. Biker Scout (Return of the Jedi) 23. Brak (Space Ghost) 24. Bucky O'Haire (Bucky O'Haire) 25. Bumblelion (Wuzzles) 26. ButterCup (Powerpuff Girls) 27. Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story) 28. Cabage Patch Kid 29. Captain Planet (Captain Planet) 30. Castle Greyskull (He-Man) 31. Catwoman (Batman: Animated Series) 32. Cera (The Land Before Time) 33. Chatter Phone (Fisher Price) 34. Cheer Bear (The Care Bears) 35. Chip (Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers) 36. Cobra Commander (G.I. Joe) 37. Cookie Monster (Sesame Street) 38. Cooties (Milton Bradley Game) 39. Copper Kid (Silver Hawks) 40. Cowboy Boot 41. Cozy Coupe (Little Tikes) 42. Dale (Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers) 43. Donatello (Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles) 44. Doozer (Fraggle Rock) 45. Dr Zaius Bank (The Planet Of the Apes) 46. Dr. Zoidberg (Futurama) 47. Droll, the Bogglin (Bogglins) 48. Dump Truck (Tonka) 49. Edith (My dog) 50. Ernie (Sesame Street) 51. ET (ET: The Extra-Terrestrial) 52. Etch-A-Sketch (Ohio Art Company) 53. Figment (Disney's Epcot) 54. Foot Soldier (Ninja Turtles) 55. Gak (Nickelodean Toys) 56. Game Boy (Nintendo) 57. Gamorian Guard (Return of the Jedi) 58. Gargamel (Smurfs) 59. Genie (Aladdin) 60. Gizmo (Gremlins) 61. Glo Worm (Glo Worms) 62. Godzilla (Godzilla) 63. Great Garloo (Marx Toys) 64. Green 'Erin' Bear (Beanie Baby) 65. Gumbie (Gumbie) 66. Harry Potter Book (J.K Rowling) 67. He-Man (He-Man) 68 He-Man's Power Sword (He-Man) 69. Hello Kitty (Sanrio) 70. Huey, Dewey, & Louie (Duck Tales) 71. Hulk Hogan (WWF Wrestling Buddies) 72. Hypnotaod (Futurama) 73. Iron Giant (The Iron Giant) 74. Jabba the Hutt (Return of the Jedi) 75. Jack Skelington (Nightmare Before X-mas) 76. Jack-In-A-Box 77. Jem (Jem & the Holograms) 78. Kermit (Muppets) 79. Kermit With Stocking Ornament (Muppets) 80. Krang (Ninja Turtles) 81. Lady Lovely Locks (Lady Lovely Locks) 82. Laser Tag Gun & Chest Sensor 83. Leg Lamp (Christmas Story) 84. Lite Brite (Hasbro) 85. Little Foot (The Land Before Time) 86. Little Miss Sunshine (Roger Hargreaves) 87. Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear (Toy Story 3) 88. Magic 8-Ball (Alabe Crafts Company) 89. Max (Where the Wild Things Are) 90. Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 91. Micky Mouse (Disney) 92. Milton (Milton Bradley's Electronic Game) 93. Mojo Jojo (Powerpuff Girls) 94. Mr. Bill (SNL) 95. Mr. Bucket (Hasbro Game) 96. Mr. Potato Head (Hasbro) 97. Mr. T (The A Team) 98. Mumm-Ra (ThunderCats) 99. My Buddy Doll (Hasbro) 100. My Little Pony (My Little Pony Tails) 101. My Pet Monster (American Greetings) 102. Nerf Turbo Football (Nerf) 103. Nerf Vortex Football (Nerf) 104. Niddler (Pirates of Dark Waters) 105. NES (Nintendo) 106. Operation (Milton Bradley Game) 107. Optimus Prime (Transformers) 108. Orange 'Puzzle' Popple (The Popples) 109. Orcko (He-Man) 110. Paddington Bear Doll (Michael Bond) 111. Panthro (ThunderCats) 112. PeeWee Herman (PeeWee's Play House) 113. Peter Rabbit Doll (Beatrix Potter) 114. Pikachu (Pokémon) 115. Pink 'Pinky' Flamingo (Beanie Baby) 116. Pizza Planet Alien (Toy Story) 117. Play-Doh (Hasbro) 118. Poké Ball (Pokémon) 119. Polka-Dot Elephant (Rudolph Claymation) 120. Pound Puppy (The Pound Puppy) 121. Pull-a-Tune Xylophone (Fisher Price) 122. R2-D2 (Star Wars) 123. Rafiki (Lion King) 124. Raggedy Ann Doll (Johnny Gruelle) 125. Rainbow Brite (Hallmark Card Company) 126. Rancore (Return of the Jedi) 127. Raphael (Ninja Turtles) 128. Red (Fraggle Rock) 129. Red Ranger (The Power Rangers) 130. Red Rider BB Gun (Christmas Story) 131. Red Wagon (Fisher Price) 132. Ren (Pirates of Dark Water) 133. RoboCop Action Figure (RoboCop) 134. Robot 2000 (Millennium) 135. Rocking Horse 136. Rollar Blade 137. Rollar Skate 138. Rub-a-Dub Doggie (Ideal Toy Company) 139. Rubber Ducky (Sesame Street) 140. Rubber Shark (Safari) 141. Rubix Cube (Ideal Toy Company) 142. Sally (Nightmare Before X-mas) 143. ScrappyDoo (ScoobyDoo) 144. Sega Genesis Controller (Sega) 145. Seven Mystic Dragonballs (Dragonball Z) 146. She-Ra (She-Ra: Princess of Power) 147. Shredder (Ninja Turtles) 148. Simon (Milton Bradley) 149. Sister Bear (The Berenstain Bears) 150. Skeletor (He-Man) 151. Skip-It (Tiger Electronics) 152. Slimmer (The Real Ghostbusters) 153. Slobulus (Madballs) 154. Smurf (The Smurfs) 155. Snake Mountain (He-Man) 156. Snarf (ThunderCats) 157. Snoopy (Peanuts) 158. Snuggle-Soft Bear (Snuggle) 159. Soccor Ball 160. Sock Monkey 161. Sprite (Rainbow Brite) 162. Stacking Rings (Fisher Price) 163. Stay-Puft MarshmallowMan (Ghostbusters) 164. Stimpy (Ren & Stimpy) 165. Strawberry Shortcake (Hasbro) 166. Stretch Armstrong (Kenner) 167. Stuffed Wizard Doll (Delta Force) 168. Super Mario Bros. (NES) 169. Super Soaker 50 (Hasbro) 170. Superman (Superman: Animated Series) 171. T-Rex (Jurassic Park) 172. Talkboy (Home Alone 2: Lost In New York) 173. Tazmanian Devil (Looney Tunes) 174. Teddy Ruxpin (Worlds of Wonder) 175. The Giving Tree (Shel Silverstein) 176. The Great Gonzo (Muppets) 177. Tickle Me Elmo (Sesame Street) 178. Toy Train (Hasbro) 179. Tricycle (Radio Flyer) 180. Troll Doll (Russ Toys) 181. Trunks (Dragonball Z) 182. Turtle Van (Ninja Turtles) 183. Twister Game-Spinner (Hasbro) 184. Two Alphabet Blocks 185. Ursula (The Little Mermaid) 186. Vampire Teddy (Nightmare Before X-mas) 187. Vegeta (Dragonball Z) 188. View Master 3D (Ideal Toy Company) 189. WALL.E (WALL.E) 190. Where the Sidewalk Ends (Shel Silverstein) 191. Wicket the Ewok (Return of the Jedi) 192. Wild Thing (Where the Wild Things Are) 193. Winnie-the-Pooh Doll (A. A. Milne) 194. Wolverine (X-men) 195. Woody (Toy Story) 196. Wooly Willy (Smethport Specialty Co.) 197. Yoda (Empire Strikes Back) 198. Zapper (Nintendo Gun) 199. Zero (Nightmare Before X-mas) 200. Zibbe Owl (Zibbes)

(Waldo is not included... Don't look for him)

Source: DeviantArt

#unofficial #Santa Claus #Star Wars #Stretch Armstrong #The Land Before Time #Popples #Sesame Street #Superman #Ren and Stimpy #Snuggle #Taz #Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer #Catwoman #Barbie #Muppets #Masters of the Universe #Bucky O'Hare #Last Airbender #Toy Story #Where the Wild Things Are #Strawberry Shortcake #Wall-E #Figment the Dragon #Futurama #Nightmare Before Christmas #Ghostbusters #ThunderCats #Hello Kitty #E.T. #Jem #Planet of the Apes #Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #Transformers #Peanuts #Chip 'n Dale #Raggedy Ann and Andy #Dragon Ball #Pokemon #My Buddy #Power Rangers #ALF #Peter Rabbit #Boglins #Batman #Space Ghost #WWF #Mickey Mouse #Huey, Dewey and Louie #Fraggle Rock #Iron Giant #Cabbage Patch Kids #A Christmas Story #Jurassic Park #Gremlins #Rainbow Brite #Mr. Potato Head #My Pet Monster #Winnie the Pooh #Madballs #PowerPuff Girls #Simpsons #Godzilla #Lady Lovely Locks #The Lion King #GI Joe #Scooby Doo #Captain Planet #Pound Puppies #Paddington Bear #Care Bears #Robocop #Wolverine #The Berenstain Bears #Snorks #Teddy Ruxpin #Troll Dolls #My Little Pony #Mr. Men and Little Miss #Glo Worm #Gumby #Mr. Bill #SilverHawks #Pee-wee's Playhouse #Aladdin #The Wuzzles #Little Mermaid #The A-Team #Mr. Bucket #The Pirates of Dark Water #The Great Garloo

[reginaldbelchhuggins-blog]

The Short and Miserable Romance of Victor Criss

Chapter 6: Last Meeting

Pairings: Henry x Victor, with some side Butch x Mrs Criss Rating: M Warnings: Domestic abuse, noncon elements, major character death, canon-standard content, bullying, racist slurs, violence, strong language Chapters: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], 6, [7]

Ao3: [x] Summary: The end...

July 1989

“Get the fuck up and talk to Burp!” Victor didn’t open his eyes, moaning in protest when he felt the warm, cozy blanket disappear. Ice cold air conditioning stung against his skin, and forced him to curl up, his legs breaking out in gooseflesh. “I am tired of him calling!”

Not content with just stealing his comforter, his Mama grabbed the corners of his pillow, and pulled hard. His head struck against the lumpy mattress, jolting him wide awake. He rolled to try and grab it, but it was already too far out of reach.

Mama’s face was an emotionless mask – her eyes permanently fixed in a droopy, tired gaze. But Victor knew it was hiding a sadness that had been wrapped up inside bitterness and buried so deep, it was practically Mumm-Ra. He knew it had been his actions that had summoned the Ancient Spirits of Evil to create those feelings, and he was sorry, but his one attempt to apologize had been thwarted by Butch. Butch stood in the hallway with his back turned, telling Mama that some boys needed stronger discipline.

“Andy always was too soft,” Butch said, ominously. “Spare the rod, spoil the lamb, as the good Lord commanded.”

Victor hadn’t quite drawn up the strength to try again.

His Mama walked out the door, bedding in her arms, and Victor was glad to see her go. He glanced around the room. It was empty, but he still felt his skin crawling – leftover feelings from his nightmare. He wished he could pull his blanket in tight, and roll his face into his pillow. But it was time to wake up, apparently. Then again, maybe, if he turned just right, he could sleep without them.

After a few moments of mental debate, Victor rolled out of bed. The walk down the hall was slow, due in part to the swollen knee that Bill Denbrough left him with. In his ninja turtle boxers, he could very clearly see the yellow and purple decorating the skin around it. It was like someone had dipped his knee in watercolor, like an Easter egg. At least it wasn’t black anymore, or bleeding.

The other part was due to the headache throbbing away on the right side of his face. That, too, was because of a well-aimed rock. But while the swelling around the gash had lessened, the pain beneath it grew, and shifted, until every flash of light made him want to vomit.

When he turned the corner into the kitchen, he winced as the sunlight struck him dead on from the window. His Mama turned to look at him, and then gestured to the counter, where she had set the phone down. Without a word to him, she went back to making herself, and only herself, lunch.

Vic wasn’t hungry anyway.

“Hey Belch,” Victor said as soon as the phone was to his ear. He pressed his fingers into his head and turned away from the window. It soothed it a little, but the headache was persistent.

Henry’s voice came through the line on the other side, aggravating it even more, “Hey asshole, why are you avoiding me?”

“Megatron,” Victor said, pinching the bridge of his nose.  He was not in the mood to deal with this.

“That doesn’t work on conversations,” Henry stated, sounding more than a little annoyed. “Now, answer the question. Why. Are you. Avoiding me?”

“Fuck off, Henry. I’m not feeling well,” Victor lied. Well, only half lied. “I have a concussion, remember? Doctor says take it easy.”

“It’s been a week—”

“You know more than my doctor, do you?” Victor asked. He tried to keep the bitterness from his voice, but it crept out all the same.

“No, but I know you were feeling good enough to go to the movies with Peter Gordon last night,” Henry said. “He was getting awful chummy from what I saw.”

Victor’s nose flared as he took a deep breath, and suffocated that anger before it could break out and get him in trouble.

“What, you wanna say something about that?” Victor paused for a moment, wanting to say more, but his Mama was still within five feet. So instead, he said, “Marcia accused him of cheating, which is a bitch thing to do because Peter’s head over heels for her skanky ass. So we went out to get his mind off it.”

Victor paused again as his Mama passed. She carried a small thing of soup and a diet coke into the living room, where she was watching her Dallas VHS tapes. Lowering his voice, Victor added: “You know his girl, right? Marcia Fadden? She had a pregnancy scare last Christmas? Didn’t know whether it would be you or Peter was going to stand at the end of her daddy’s shotgun on her wedding day. Funny thing is, weren’t you seeing someone else around that time?”

“I didn’t…” Henry sighed. It was deep, and weighted. Victor could almost see Henry on the other end of the line, clutching the phone as he curled over it. It was the same way Henrietta had stood when talking on the phone. “Vic, I never had sex with her, or any of them.”

That was genuinely surprising. The tables flipped for a moment, Victor wasn’t sure if he believed Henry. Instead of looking at that deeper, he shook it off.

“Look, whatever, alright. I don’t care,” Victor said. “I’m just taking a breather. The last two times we hung out, we got hurt. So unless we’re talking Dairy Queen and a new Nintendo game, I’m out.”

Victor didn’t need to mention that Henry had promised they’d talk last time. It had been the selling point of his pitch, even.

“I’ll explain everything,” Henry had said, his tongue dripping silver and honey. But if it wasn’t Belch hovering around like he was the mother hen making sure his idiot chicks didn’t hurt themselves, it was Henry shutting down whenever Victor even started talking about it. His eyes would fall to the ground, his hands between his knees, and his mouth stubbornly silent until a distraction came along.

Trying to spell out his fear, and his needs, without accusing Henry of anything directly was trickier than anything Victor had ever done. But it was impossible when Henry refused to listen. So Victor resorted to the age old tradition amongst Criss men, which was avoiding the problem. He was a little young to drop a paycheck on some whiskey – and maybe he would’ve never done that anyway – so instead, it was kitten-napping.

That’s what Mrs Huggins called it when someone had a series of proper hour to two-hour long naps sandwiching a large snack – kitten-napping.

They couldn’t carry on as they were. Victor’s heart couldn’t take it. He loved Henry – loved him. But he also hated Henry so much more than he ever hated anyone in his life. Because Henry knew him better than anyone else on the planet, and still had the audacity to peg him for something he would never do.

“You weren’t exactly complaining,” Henry said, with a dangerous tone. “I mean, ain’t you the one that crushed that little Pickaninny’s fingers with your boot?”

That was true, and Victor regretted it. He regretted it long before Bill Denbrough and five other kids showed up armed to the teeth with large, jagged rocks. Victor regretted it the minute he got out of the car. By the time he actually put hands on the Hanlon boy, his mind had detached itself, and his emotions had become a void.

But once he was in it, he was in it. It was as always – every kick, every thrown rock, each one represented something he wanted to scream.

The rock that smacked Trashmouth between the eyes was Andy Criss leaving for Bangor after dragging his family to live some poor ass hick life on a farm. The one that hit Tits on the chest was stupid Henry, and stupid Henry’s stupid paranoia. The one that got Eddie was Butch Bowers playing with his hair, like a fucking creepazoid pervert.

Victor was almost feeling better when Bill Denbrough locked eyes with him. He knew it was over then, but he went down swinging. He got Bill so many times before that final blow took out his knee and Vic was out of the game. Even worse than the pain, though, was watching the kid let blow after blow fall off him, like he didn’t even feel it.

If you had told Vic a week ago that he’d be frightened of Stuttering Bill, he would’ve laughed. But that kid was the terminator, and Victor neverwanted to fuck with him again.

“That was him,” Victor finally said. “I said we got hurt. I got a concussion, man. Patrick’s dead. You couldn’t even stand up for like an hour. So how about I stay home today, okay?”

There was silence as both boys waited for the other to say something. Almost too quietly, Henry started filling it with what took Victor a moment to realize was song lyrics.

“Maybe I didn’t love you quite as often as I could,” he said, his voice tender. “And maybe I didn’t treat you quite as good as I should. If I made you feel second best, Vic I’m sorry I was blind. But you are always on my mind.”

Victor had to cover his face, physically trying to keep the smile from breaking out. It was such a stupid little thing, but it was everything. To hear him say things like that, even borrowed from someone else, it created that glow beneath Victor’s skin, warming his cheeks into a red splotchy blush. He didn’t want to let go of his anger, but it was slipping.

“Pretty ballsy using Elvis to try and apologize,” Victor commented. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure his Mama still wasn’t listening. She wasn’t. She couldn’t care less. “Wasn’t he the one who said ‘we can’t go on together with suspicious minds?’”

“Shut up. And I wasn’t quoting Elvis, that’s the Pet Shop Boys… isn’t it?” Henry asked. The smile on Victor’s face couldn’t have gotten any larger. He bit into his bottom lip to keep a laugh from escaping. Henry chuckled a little himself; it was low and throaty, and tickled Victor’s ear pleasantly. He felt himself leaning towards Henry’s charm, the trap closing in around him. He could almost feel the teeth of it digging right into his heart.

It was the same as last time, and Victor was aware of this. He still couldn’t stop it happening.

“It was Elvis first,” Victor said, the smile creeping into his voice. He twirled the phone cord around his finger, listening as Henry took several deep breaths, preparing for some kind of speech. Vic expected something cheesy, maybe something trashy. He didn’t expect anything close to what came next.

“Look, I don’t have a�� suspicious mind,” Henry started, his words chosen carefully. “I know you aren’t like that. But Patrick…” Henry was speaking slowly, as he did when he didn’t want to say what he was about to. It immediately drew all of Victor’s attention. “He’s smarter than me. He dresses better. He has better hair, and all his teeth… and he wouldn’t ask you do weird shit during… you know…”

The silence was thick. The phone cord uncurled and fell free of Vic’s hands. He heard Henry sniffling, like he’d been crying. “Henry—”

“And I was afraid that you were getting tired of my shit,” Henry said, his voice cracking. “I know now it was a stupid thing to say. I wasn’t thinking when I said it. I was just scared because I’ve got nothing to give you.”

Victor knew he should’ve been angry still. After all, Henry wasn’t really saying anything different. The accusation was still there, only the narrative around it changed. But at the same time, hearing it in those words, Victor found some feelings of guilt surfacing.

Sure, he’d spent years soothing away all the shit Butch put in Henry, things like feeling stupid, or weak, or cruel. But who put it in his head that he was a bad boyfriend? Or that he, Henry fucking Bowers, whose hair was soft hay and skin was the sun itself, whose eyes were painted by the Gods, was anything less than desirable?

Victor would trade owning the world with anyone else for one private moment with Henry, and the idea that he had failed to somehow make that clear was both horrifying and heart-wrenching.

“I’m pretty sure Patrick was into weirder shit than hair pulling, first of all,” Victor said. Henry laughed, but the sound of it made Victor certain that Henry had been crying. “Second, I don’t want anything from you but you, and that’s something nobody else can ever give me.”

Mama was still not paying attention. Victor did a quick check when he realized what he said. On Henry’s line, he could hear noise in the background as someone moved around. Henry’s voice changed immediately, becoming louder, colder, “Anyway, my dad left his gun with me and he won’t be back until late. It’s just me, Belch, and some cold beers. Come on and let’s destroy some shit.”

Victor rubbed at his dull headache, knowing that loud noises were only going to make it worse. But the siren song of unsupervised target practice was hard to ignore by itself, let alone in the shadow of what Henry said. It dulled the warning bells telling Vic not to fall for it again.

Before he could say anything, Henry already knew his decision. He heard Henry’s hand close over the mouthpiece as he whispered very clearly to Belch, “he’s gonna say yes. Go! Now!”

“Tell him not to wait outside,” Belch said. He sounded far too excited, and Vic’s resolve was gone. He could practically see Belch’s face, all bright and happy, like a puppy waiting for his master to come home. It was that final thing needed to seal his fate. The trap closed completely, and Victor was a dead man walking.

“Alright,” Victor said, knowing he’d regret it later. “I’ll be there shortly.”

“Cool,” Henry said. “Belch will come get you.” Then, taking Vic completely by surprise: “I love you.”

The line went dead. Once the phone was back on the cradle, Victor walked back to his room to get dressed. He had to take a moment to lean against the door, his heart coming alive.

You’re such a fucking idiot, his brain supplied. Victor didn’t disagree. Still, he threw on that sleeveless shirt Henry liked, and fixed his hair.

His emotions were a roller coaster – soaring high when he remembered how it sounded to hear Henry say he loved him – and falling low when he thought of how many times he had overlooked some important clue to Henry’s insecurities.

When he heard Amy, Vic decided not to think about it, but just to continue forward with a better understanding of things.

He tried to say goodbye as he walked by his Mama for the last time, but she barely even looked up at him. She would remember it later – his little wave and quiet bye, mama. The way his face was young, and full of hope. It would be about the only thing she remembered, for as soon as the door was closed, she pulled out the vodka and rum Vic had brought her nearly a year ago.

She would still be sitting there, drunk and crying, when she got the call later from Officer Conley.

~~~

There was a power in holding a gun that just couldn’t be matched with anything else in the world. Not fucking someone so hard they forgot how to be human; not getting off a good comeback and shattering someone’s ego; not diving off a cliff or screaming at tornadoes. Being on the right side of a firearm felt like what Victor imagined He-Man felt like as he thrust the Power Sword to the sky.

For those few seconds before you pulled that trigger, you were immortal.

He couldn’t imagine being on the wrong side of one. Staring into an endless dark barrel, knowing that death was one quick burst away, could make a man crumble – not a man made of paper, as Butch so eloquently put it, but even the ones made of stone and steel and leather. It made men who hated life remember what was worth living for, and it could make men who lived it to the fullest realize that they just want it all to end.

But Butch wasn’t God, and he wasn’t Superman. He might’ve felt like it when he held up that gun, the same as Victor had. But he was the paper man, not Henry. He was a paper man with a powerful toy, and he needed to prove something to someone, though Victor didn’t know who. Maybe it was himself.

Regardless, he casually aimed that gun, and then he pulled the trigger.

Don’t show him you’re afraid…

As Vic leaned back and tried to block the light with his bangs, his headache having taken over the back side of his head completely, he glanced over to where Henry had been sitting. The older boy was no longer there, but was coming down the driveway. Victor hadn’t seen him move, but judging by the stiff way he was walking, he still hadn’t quite recovered.

They’d all been sure Butch was going to actually hit Henry – none more than the target himself. But instead of Henry’s chest, it was the ground at his feet that exploded. Three shots, each one getting closer and closer to Henry’s boot, until one left a scuff mark, and a dark, dampness spread across Henry’s lap.

Victor watched Henry shuffle past them, heading towards his house. Victor started to walk towards him, but Henry just gave him a look, silently commanding Victor to stay put. He stood outside on his porch for a few moments, and then disappeared behind the front door. Victor did not follow, but he didn’t like it.

“Maybe he’s just getting some clean pants,” Belch said, his voice dropping into a whisper. “Look, when he comes back, let’s just go straight to ma’s house. My mom can take in my old clothes to fit him, and we can figure out the sleeping arrangements later, but the basement ain’t that cold right now. It ain’t the best solution, but there won’t be no fuckin’ crazies tryin’ to put holes in him neither.”

“Butch knows that trick now,” Vic said, crossing his arms. He rolled a rock around with the toe of his boot, thinking. “What if we just… kept driving? How long you think before we reach Canada?”

“I can’t leave my mom. I’m the only one she’s got,” he said. Vic turned around, closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead against Amy’s roof. All he needed was one good idea— “What the fuck?”

Victor looked up at his friend. Belch was slowly leaning away from Amy, his fists clenching. Vic spun around to see whatever it was, preparing to punch someone.

Henry was back on the porch, the screen door slamming shut behind him. He turned to face them, slow, stiff, like he was thinking. Vic’s eyes fixated on the red spots on Henry’s face, watching as they slowly ran down his face, becoming red streaks. As soon as Vic realized that it was blood decorating his boyfriend, the panic was immediate.

“Vic, no…”

He forgot Belch was even there as he moved towards Henry, a singular train of thought taking over the whole station: Henry’s hurt.

He was going to cup Henry’s face, push back his hair, and find out where the wounds were – find out how to fix them. Vic didn’t see the knife in Henry’s hand, at first. Belch did, but he might as well have been shouting at a wall, because Vic didn’t hear him over the sound of his own anger rising. Just as soon as he realized what Henry’s intentions were, it was already done. The blade moved left to right, leaving a red smile in its wake.

Victor felt nothing worse than the prick of a mosquito bite. It was the heat in his throat as he desperately tried to pull another breath through it that told him something was wrong.

Belch was screaming, but it was far away. Blood crept between Vic’s fingers as he tried to push it back in. He felt it moving through his throat, rushing to the newly created opening, trying to escape. It flew out of his mouth as he choked on it, speckling Henry’s face even worse than before.

Victor stepped away from Henry, landing on his hurt leg wrong. His knee buckled, and his ankle twisted. His headache was screaming when his skull collided with firm soil, but then numbed itself to nothing. Lying there face down in the warm grass, it occurred to Victor that he was dying, and it had been Henry that killed him.

It just didn’t feel real. His body was working a wonderful magic, trying to lull him to sleep. Everything felt dull, and dreamlike. Even Butch looked like some child’s nightmarish take on himself. His skin sallow and eyes sunken, looking more Frankenstein than police officer, with orange pom poms instead of buttons on his uniform. If Victor could’ve felt anything, he might’ve felt fear. But even that was lost.

“That Hank. Always did like putting his little sword in the throats of pretty boys. Just like his old man,” Butch said, his voice sounding off with its playful tone. He crept closer, moving in large, slow jerks. “I know what you think about me, you disgusting, dirty little thing. You tease and taunt, but you always run away. Now you can’t run, can you?”

He smiled a hideous grin, teeth as sharp as a shark’s beneath the layers of rot. Victor’s scream was as much blood as it was air. The Butchenstein would’ve lunged for him if Belch hadn’t hit the ground between them, Henry following after. Vic realized that he had to have tripped over Victor’s body, but he didn’t feel anything at all.

Henry threw a punch, and Belch caught it, and then twisted Henry’s wrist. Henry let out a feral cry, and brought his other hand down. There was an odd squelch – the same sound a cantaloupe made when being cut open. When his hand came back up, it was covered in blood, the glint of the knife barely visible beneath it. Henry was bringing his knife down again, and again, and again, but Victor could only hear it.

His eyes were fixed on Butch, who was leaning over him, pulling his hands away from his neck.

“Now it’s my turn to eat you, pretty boy.”

But the world had already turned a bright white for a few seconds, and then, it went black.

[zook-x]

I imagine Glitch messing with the thundertank the first chance he gets. Also I could see Gwen trying to pet everyone at first. Vilgax could become like mumm-ra's second in command and might even get a power boost from mumm-ra. Also imagine having to deal with Ben, Glitch, wilykit, and wilykat's curiosity all at once. Poor lion-o. Oh and Glitch would probably be very interested in the book of omens. Tygra would be worried, cheetara would probably just be incourging. And panthro is going to be annoyed.

What does you think it would be like if Reboot Ben, Gwen, Glitch (in his Glitch Ben form), and vilgax got stuck in the thundercats universe (Reboot vilgax ending up in mumm-ra's base), I think the kids would all become friends and I could see wilykit and wilykat getting in trouble with Ben, and Glitch would probably be interested in the tech. Not to mention the sword of omens.

I don’t know. I think Ben would really get along with the kids while Gwen might get along better with the older characters. It´s rather an interesting combination. However i think that both series are different, so it´s difficult for me to imagine them in that scenario.

Vilgax would team up with Mumm-ra without doubt. They both would work as a team. I think Munn-ra would mock Vilgax for getting defeated by a kid while Vilgax would make fun of him for doing the exact same thing.

[tyrantisterror]

Baron Skeleton

I’ve had this idea gestating in my mind for a few years now but I’ve never been able to solidify it beyond a few character ideas, so I’m just going to make a post about it now and see if that helps it coalesce into something more solid.

I really love 80′s cartoon villains - Megatron, Cobra Commander, Skeletor, Mumm-Ra, and all their henchmen.  There’s something so delightful about how they were designed to be menacing and theatrical and yet restrained by the standards of the time from ever being a real threat.  The idea of a skull faced wizard acting like a rebellious and rowdy eight year old is just inherently endearing.

They’ve kind of gone extinct though.  Villains in kids’ shows nowadays tend to be actual threats - even lovable goofs like Adventure Time’s Ice King have some disturbing sides to them.  But I pine for those completely toothless villains of yore, whose day ended a few years before I was born and who I knew from reruns and youtube poops.  Where have all the Skeletors gone?

So I’ve had this pitch in my head for a sort of throwback to those kinds of villains, and I call it Baron Skeleton after the lead bad guy.  Like He-Man and Thundercats, it would be a sort of sci-fi/fantasy mashup without a real identifiable theme, and ideally it would also be designed to be as toyetic as possible - I’d want characters to be intentionally designed to share different body molds ala He-Man figures and Transformers, so that way the theoretical toy company could get as much use out of their toy toolings as possible.  I’d also want to keep to story-telling standards of the time - a character whose toy just came out would have one episode where they’re introduced as SUPER important only to become just another character in the show a few episodes later, stuff like that.  Ideally the show would be just a little aware of this without being too meta.

The big “twist” of Baron Skeleton would be that we’re focusing on the bad guys rather than the heroes.  It’d play on my pet interpretation of 80′s cartoons: that the bad guys are basically theeatrical freaks and geeks, while the good guys are popular kids.  I mean, think about it - 80′s cartoons always stress following rules, obeying authority, being super healthy, and just generally conforming to societal expectations.  80′s heroes want you to fit in rather than stand out - and they’re always attractive, straight laced people.  80′s villains, on the other hand, are surly, pouty, antisocial weirdos who come in all sorts of different shapes.  They have weird obsessions and weirder fashion sense.  It’s basically Goths vs. Preps, and so that would be the overall conflict of Baron Skeleton - antisocial misfits vs. popular comformists.

Our protagonist would be the titular Baron Skeleton, who’s mainly a hybrid of Cobra Commander and Skeletor - i.e. a lanky skeleton man in a vaguely military-ish outfit.  Theatrical and prone to wild mood swings, Baron Skeleton leads the (currently unnamed) bad guy faction, although “leads” might be too strong a term.  He’s less an iron-fisted dictator and more of a short tempered Kermit the Frog, desperately trying to reign in his volatile henchmen while futilely trying to get his own schemes to work.  Like a good villain, he’s too clever by half - i.e. just smart enough to make a truly clever and complex plan, but not smart enough to keep it from falling apart.  He’s also somewhat aware of the flaws of his operation, but not enough to actually fix them.

His number 2 would be Snakeman, a large, muscular henchman with a big snake head on an even bigger, beefier humanoid body.  Snakeman isn’t particularly invested in the “bad guy” thing, and basically uses Baron Skeleton’s schemes as an excuse to stir shit up and have fun.  He often “forgets” (i.e. purposely didn’t listen to) his orders and just makes shit up as he goes along with the hopes of causing as much mischief as possible.  Despite his lax attitude, he deeply cares about Baron Skeleton, and genuinely wants his boss to be happy.  Though Snakeman is one of the reasons the group’s schemes fail more often than not, he’s also often the person who keeps Baron Skeleton and the others from facing serious consequences, and Baron Skeleton considers him his closest friend.

The rest of the cast is still nebulous in my mind.  I’d want there to be one new bad guy (as of the first episode at least) who wants to be an actual villain – i.e. genuinely evil and threatening. This character – let’s call them “Newbie” for now – would be used for exposition in the first season, being the fish out of water who has to be taught how things are run.  Baron Skeleton and Snakeman would always shoot down his suggestions of legitimately evil actions, telling him early on that real villains get killed: “You don’t want things to escalate.  Once you get serious, the Good Guys get serious too, and that’s when the bodies start piling up.  Gotta keep the stakes low if you want to stay in the game long term.”  In the first season finale, Newbie would betray Baron Skeleton by finally pulling off a truly evil scheme and framing Baron Skeleton’s group for it, forcing the Bad Guys to prove they’re actually not that bad.

There would have to be a host of other wacky henchmen too.  I’d want one Starscream-style perpetual traitor who’s always trying to steal Baron Skeleton’s position only to be forgiven and welcomed back into the fold.  There would likewise have to be one slavish loyalist who praises Baron Skeleton’s every action, no matter how stupid or mundane it is. You’d need a mad scientist and/or sorcerer to help make plot devices for the schemes of the week, and maybe a spy-master who’s far too competent to be in Baron Skeleton’s employ but sticks around because they like the low-pressure environment.  It’d also be fun to play with Monsters of the Week and legions of faceless henchmen.

Finally, the show would need a hero team to oppose, which is an essential part of this pitch but one I can’t for the life of me figure out.  80’s heroes are nowhere near as interesting to me as 80’s villains, and while I could probably design a hundred different henchmen for Baron Skeleton’s faction, figuring out even a small core team of heroes is agony for me.  The closest I’ve come to thinking of a coherent theme for them would be a sports-themed team of heroes – it’s Goths vs. Preps after all.

I also think it might be funny to have the setting be vaguely high school themed, with episodes that take basic high school sitcom tropes – the big dance, career aptitude tests, that sort of shit – and blow them out of proportion so they’re completely fantastical in scale.I had some design sketches for a few of these guys ages ago, but god knows where they went.  Maybe I’ll make some more later on – but for now, this is Baron Skeleton.

[jonathanraychapman]

ThunderCats 2011 - Thoughts and Review (3/5)

I'm going to discuss some spoilers here so if you haven't seen the show, you should probably not read this.

I've really got mixed feelings about the 2011 ThunderCats anime/cartoon (there are parts I absolutely love and parts that I scratch my head at).  First thing worth noting, the show was cancelled after one seasons - leaving things basically on a cliff-hanger.  And usually the first season is a rough one for any show - so the fact that this show is as good as it is, is a testament to the potential it had.

So.. mixed feelings.. One the one hand I really thought the new show was clever in how it dealt with some of the themes from the original show (themes that really didn't make much sense).  You have to remember that this and He-Man were toy-based shows (they'd make the toys first and then fit it into a story).  That's why the original show had all these cool designs and concepts with a weak thread of a one-shot story tying them all together.  I never really minded that mentality because - to be honest - it led to some great visual creativity.  And with every episode basically being monster-of-the-week, it also fit with the audience (presumably young children with not the longest attention pans) and worked as a way to market toys (new toys invented/story-lined every week).

But the reimagining has some real pacing issues and some of the backstory elements seem a little too forced to be honest.  I did enjoy how each character got a treatment (even though some of them were a bit weak), but the show never could make up its mind if the Thundercats were in a hury to recover the gems (the McGuffin - to use one of Alfred Hitchcock's terms) that Mumm-Ra is after or are just out doing a meet-and-greet with all the different races on the planet. And the lack of tension really sort of kills the momentum of the story's start.  In the original series, the Thundercats were stranded and were just biding their time and setting up a new home for their race (so it didn't matter how much time storylines took).  In the new series, they're supposed to be on a race to recover the lost gems and rid the planet of Mumm-Ra.  It's set up to be a high-energy slog to the finish-line.  But, instead, the Thundercats take their sweet time getting places (even with a super-fast tank).  Even with the Book of Omens acting as a literal compass, they just bumble their way around.

The 2011 version of the show went for more of an anime look/feel and completely re-did the origin story (which I think was an improvement over the original).  Instead of the ThunderCats being stranded on Third Earth after a cataclysm on their home planet (ala Superman), they're now on the planet as the decedents of space-faring races that Mumm-Ra had in captivity (set loose as they crash-landed after a revolt).  Mumm-Ra has been trapped in his sarcophagus all these years and has just been set free to regain his power and control the galaxy.  I really liked this setup.  I just feel that the pacing went against it - what with season one being 20-something episodes (only half dedicated to the story-line).  There’s much more of an emphasis on technology (albeit ancient) instead of mysticism.  An example of this is the callout “Thunder-Thunder-ThunderCats-Ho”.  In the original show, this would almost magically empower the cats to come together and win a battle.  In this show, it’s really just a battle-cry.  And Mumm-Ra and the Ancient Spirits of Evil obviously uses magic, but it’s downplayed as much as possible (like the Sword of Plun-Dar being more of the result of collapsing a star over it being the magical result of sacrificing a solar system).  The Book of Omens is technology-based and the gems (what with the plot being a rip-off of Marvel’s Infinity Gauntlet) are more forces of nature than magical items.

More than a little of the story time involves Lion-O being all dopey-eyed over the female felines around him.  I guess he is an anime-trope hormone-driven teenager until there's an emergency, but I think this is just weak writing.  Yeah the writers build up a relationship between him and his female friends, but they do it way too quickly (it's kind of ridiculous actually).  Cheetara (who is amazing in this series) has the hots for Lion-O's brother Tygra leaving him to try and hook up with Pumyra (who ends up betraying everyone and being an agent of Mumm-Ra).  The most painful point of all this is that she's seemingly retconned into being Mumm-Ra’s servant (seemingly against the previous episodes).  I mean if she was originally a double-agent, she's the most incompetent one I've ever watched (since she makes every romantic encounter with Lion-O awkward).  At least with Cheetara, her actions made sense (she wanted to inspire Lion-O and was leading him on to help motivate him - trapped into continuing the ruse to not disappoint him).

The other characters have their quirks but they're all right (especially since the series had just started).  I won't go over all of them, but I wanted to point out the highlights of a few.  Mumm-Ra doesn't seem to have all the quirks the original had (like not being able to see his reflection).  The story of the Sword of Omens changed and it's now just the left-over pieces of Mumm-Ra's sword instead of a holy relic.  The gems have a big part of the mythology here whereas they weren't even in the original.  The mutants are in the story, but they're different (which sort of fits the story this time around).  Kaynar (replacement for Jackalman) is legitimately creepy and I loved his representation here.  WilyKit/WilyKat have a decent backstory and serve as the team rogues (which is a good fit).  Snarf is also now a pet that cannot talk (I guess this was a good change compared to the original - who gave way too much comic-relief to be honest).  Tygra is significantly different and a lot of the time the conflict between him and Lion-O is filling the story with unnecessary drama.  Panthro is kind of the same except that they replace his arms early on with mechanical ones and he's much older than the rest of the team.  And obviously there’s Pumyra - who is now a double-agent villain instead of a friend to the team.

So do I recommend the show to die-hard fans?  Yeah.. I do.  If you really like the ThunderCats, you probably like the style of the original.  That means you can appreciate the new one (even with the differences).  I also don't think fans are going to get too upset with the story-changes here since the original was somewhat superficial.  The show does stand on its own for the most part.  The anime quality is great and the voice-acting is on-point.  While I do complain about the pacing of the season, the episodes we got were fun to watch and I think they're rewatchable for the most part.  I think it's a real shame that we didn't get at least one more season of the show - especially to wrap up the cliff-hanger with Pumyra and Mumm-Ra.

[actionfigureinsider]

Thundercats Ho! Super7, makers of pop culture collectibles, is proud to announce Wave 2 of Thundercats ULTIMATES! Each super-articulated deluxe action figure comes straight from Third Earth to you, intricately painted and featuring a huge variety of interchangeable parts and accessories.

  The ultimate collectible for any vintage animation aficionado, the toys are now available exclusively on Super7.com for a limited time: Now through January 31!

  “I am super excited to continue this line of amazing Thundercats ULTIMATES! Figures, especially the massive Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living as the coolest version of this figure ever made,” said Super7 Founder Brian Flynn.

  The Thundercats Wave 2 ULTIMATES! Pre-Order will include Tygra, Grune and Pymyra featured as 7’’ figures plus accessories, along with the massive 9’’ Mumm-Ra figure with Ma-Matt by his side.

  Each ULTIMATES! Thundercats figure will be packaged in a deluxe slip-case window box with accessories included. Relive the excitement of the classic Thundercats cartoon like never before and collect all your favorite Thundercats characters!

  Mumm-Ra Figure & Ma-Mutt Special ULTIMATES! Pack $60

Tygra, Grune & Pumyra ULTIMATES! $45 each

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  Mumm-Ra

“Ancient spirits of evil, transform this decayed form to MUMM-RA, THE EVER-LIVING!” Mumm-Ra’s presence is overwhelming and huge and the Mumm-Ra ULTIMATES! Figure is the same!

Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living stands at 9-inches tall, a full two-inches taller than the other Thundercats ULTIMATES! Figures! Mumm-Ra is accompanied by his ferociously loyal pet Ma-Mutt who is fully articulated and 2-inches in scale. Mumm-Ra will also come with these accessories:

Key of Thundera

Mighty Gyroscope Regulator

Extended sword of Plun-Darr

Soft Cloth Cape

Alternate Head

Alternate Hands

Tygra

“Good is not that easily defeated by evil.” The scientist warrior Tygra stands 7-inches tall and will come with these accessories:

Solid Whip

String Whip

Retracted whip

Alternate Head

Alternate Hands

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Grune

“Come meet your fate, Thundercats! Grune the Destroyer has come for his revenge!” The treacherous Grune the Destroyer stands 7-inches tall and will come with these accessories:

Club

Brass Knuckles

Seal of Grune Broken

Seal of Grune

Broken Sword of Omens

Alternate Armor with Thundercats Logo

Alternate Head

Alternate Hands

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  Pumyra

“Justice. Truth. Honor. Loyalty.” The healer Pumyra stands 7-inches tall and will come with these accessories:

New Legs

Sling with Bombs

Belt

Totem of Dara

Glave

Alternate Head

Alternate Hands

  @Super7 Announces Thundercats Wave 2 ULTIMATES! Pre Order Thundercats Ho! Super7, makers of pop culture collectibles, is proud to announce Wave 2 of Thundercats ULTIMATES!

[fly-pow-bye]

ThunderCats Roar - “The Horror of Hook Mountain”

Co-Executive Producer: Victor Courtright

Supervising Producer: Nate Cash

Producer: Marly Halpern-Graser

Story by: Joan Ford

Teleplay by: Eric Knobel

Directed by: Jeremy Polgar

There is a horror in this one...but is it the episode itself?

Our journey begins with Tygra taking Lion-O on a hike for him to learn one of the many, many lessons he needs to learn to become a good Lord of the ThunderCats. One of them happens to be climbing the titular Hook Mountain, which is both terrifying and super cool according to Lion-O. Tygra had to admit that he is right with the latter, though not with the same definition of "cool".

Lion-O: Good thing we got our booties!

Don't worry, he means boots. Really really tiny boots that would not protect him from absolute zero, but boots nonetheless. Cold temperatures aren't the only danger, either, as this mountain has super avalanches, trick snow floors, and lethal stabby ice canyons! Yes, that is exactly how Tygra puts that last one; I could imagine he has to lower his vocabulary to a level Lion-O could understand, but it could be more for the sake of having a running gag where he constantly calls stalagmites "stab canyons."

Treading this mountain would require a leader that can trust his teammates, and, for Lion-O's lesson, Tygra decides to have him do the classic trust exercise. Even before Tygra could even explain what a trust exercise even is, Lion-O reveals that he does know and decides to fall so Tygra can catch him.

Unfortunately, he takes it too far by falling from a very high part of the mountain right on top of a bunch of hungry pterodactyls who just say "yum, yum, yum, yum", which he managed to climb off-screen with the power of cartoon logic. This episode definitely establishes which one of these guys is the straight man. We get to see Lion-O seemingly falling to his death, while Tygra rushes around, tiring himself out.

All of that just for this rather poorly drawn reaction with maybe a little too much attention on the booty. Here, I really do mean posterior! In the name of trust, he decides to trust Tygra's training on this leader stuff, and he starts climbing the mountain with a sentence that shows his confidence as a trusting leader.

In the middle of that sentence, we see Lion-O and Tygra struggling to get up the mountain, as even Lion-O realizes his little booties and cape aren't enough for him to survive the cold atmosphere. They do find a cabin, and Tygra, being the more down-to-Earth fellow, decides to ponder about whether they should trust. Of course, Lion-O decides to take out his Claw and shoot a grappling hook towards the door. Why didn't he just use the Claw Line to climb the mountain? They actually have Tygra ask that question, and Lion-O just shrugs. See kids, we know we're being stupid!

Lion-O sleeps on the snugly bear rug, kind of like, well, a cat. Tygra, without much hesitation, decides to sleep in the bed. It's almost as if Tygra knows he's being forced to do something that would most likely lead to him getting eaten by whatever creature owns this house by the script. He is tired, but still.

The next morning, we get a reason to use that classic "dun dun dun dun" cue, and surprisingly, they didn't even use it until now. They did not even use it for the minute long trust exercise gag! Okay, maybe it wasn't a minute long, but it felt that long. That "dun dun dun dun" was for the reveal that a yeti owns this cabin, and in what horrifying way is this yeti going to greet his unwanted guests?

Yeti: (singing) 1, 2, good morning to you!

It turns out that this yeti seems to be a nice guy, and actually likes having visitors around. He introduces himself as Snowman and also introduces his pet sabretoothed cat, Snowmeow! They also really like to people-watch any people that come to their home to sleep, which gives Tygra more of a reason to not trust them. There's a few more things here and there that could raise his suspicion, namely that aforementioned bear rug suggesting he may hunt, but that's the big one.

Speaking of that rug, Tygra tries to alert Lion-O about that suspicious guy who likes to stare at people, who is still resting on it. They decided to have the all important detail of Lion-O farting as soon as he gets up, complete with a fart cloud coming out of him, because...I have no idea.

Of course, as a good leader who is following Tygra's lessons, he decides to blindly trust this man and his wild cat. Lion-O does get horrified by the snow cat, but only because this cat is nude. This is an obvious joke on how this bipedal cat is reacting to a regular cat. One interesting reference that pops up from this is that he pulls out a spare outfit, and it happens to be an outfit with an abdominal opening like the original Lion-O's.

Tygra is none too happy about this blind trusting, and tries to literally carry Lion-O out of the house.

Namely, as soon as he reaches for the door, a bunch of steel bars pop out of nowhere.

Snowman: You're not going a-ny-where!

It's here where one might expect the obvious twist: that this guy is probably Mumm-Ra in another one of his many disguises. But no, he has a different reason to trap them. As a spider crawls out of his fur just to make him seem more gross, another way to get people to believe Tygra's side of the story, he tells them that it isn't safe out there, because of...

Snowman: The Sparkle-Maw!

I'm certainly sparing the readers all of the wacky close-ups this episode has, because there's a ton of them. In this episode, they outnumber the "dun dun dun duns", which is kind of an accomplishment. He then talks a little history about this Sparkle-Maw, including how it is able to camouflage itself, and that it ate all of his friends. He slowly looks at the one photo of his blizzard buds with tears in his eyes, only to be interrupted by a smoke alarm.

Snowman: Oopsy-poopsy! Bacon's burning! (throws possibly only picture of his friends out of frame, presumably breaking it)

Wow, everyone just doesn't really respect their fallen friends in this series, do they? Whether it be Jaga just shrugging off the destruction of his planet with a "oh, everything splodes someday!", or Snowman just throwing away what is probably a sentimental photo. I get that they're trying to subvert our expectations, but it does take a bit of weight from this.

Tygra doesn't believe him, because, even in this weird world where pterodactyls still exist, there seems to be a man for every type of animal, and the unicorns roam free, he just knows the Sparkle-Maw isn't a real creature. Knowing Lion-O must see through this as well, he tells him to use the Sword of Omens, but Lion-O doesn't want his friends eaten by that Sparkle-Maw, and decides, as a good leader, that he will trust everything this man says. Tygra tries to clarify he didn't mean blindly trust, but the smell of pterodactyl bacon just can't be resisted.

A long time seemingly passes, with Tygra writing in his journal about how unbearable it is that he still hasn't figured out Snowman's horrible plan as he stares at him passing along a ball of yarn with the two other cats in the room, Lion-O included in that. There's a lot of jokes about how they're cats, and they're not particularly cringe-worthy.

That long time turns out to be 375...unbearable...minutes, and I could just imagine Tygra actually counting the seconds in his second, scratching a number with his claws on the wall, as Snowman, his pet, and his other guest remains blissfully unaware. Either Tygra is gradually going nuts, or he's reacting like anyone should when almost everything else seems to add up to a Hansel and Gretel situation. Then again, he did climb into a stranger's bed, he can't be that sensible.

Tygra does get an idea based on Snowman's love of playing games: a game of Thunderian Picture Guess. It's like Pictionary, minus any royalties to Mattel. Since Snowmeow can't talk, and Snowman seems to only see everything as the Sparkle-Maw, Tygra draws something he really wanted Lion-O to say: "lightning purr shovel." At least, that was one of Lion-O's guesses.

Lion-O eventually gets the right answer, "thunder thunder thunder thundercats hoe", which ends up causing the sword to shine through the cabin and right into the Cat's Lair's disco ball. We got to see what they were doing throughout the episode: watching an apparently boring cooking show that only Panthro was interested in. I was kind of worried this would lead nowhere, as if a ThunderCats Roar could fail if they're merely bored. However, they do decide to go after it anyway, though it's suggested that WilyKit is just going with it because the show was just so boring. It's a little more justified than a similar scene in one of the earlier episodes.

Lion-O and Tygra look out the window, and Tygra uses this as proof that there's no Sparkle-Maw out there, as he just sees the ThunderCats in their Thunder Tank, and a bunch of spiders that came out of nowhere.

These must be those Sparkle-Maws Snowman was talking about. He tells Snowman that he should trust him and his teammates, and he eventually decides to let him free, telling him that he's going to miss him. Lion-O valiantly runs forward...far away from the Sparkle-Maws, leaving everyone else to do all the dirty work. From what I've seen in the original, this isn't too far off so far.

We get our higher-budget fight scene here, and I'd put it somewhere in the middle. The animation is above-average, and while there's not as many clever uses of weapons as, say, Boggy Ben, it's doesn't feel like an afterthought either. It's also not one-sided, as the Sparkle-Maws manage to trap them with their big claws.

Thankfully, Lion-O seemingly running away turns out to be a strategy that ties in with one of the first jokes in the episode. Here's a hint: it's almost as long, and it's kind of silly. Also, the Snowman eventually joins the fight, too, getting over his fears and trapping one of the Sparkle-Maws with his net gun. That seems like a good bit of progression with his character, though there might be more to it than that.

In the end, Lion-O reveals that Tygra messing up big time has led him to learn the importance of trust, and Tygra just kind of accepts it. Honestly, the real lesson should have been that Tygra shouldn't have been so prejudiced against yetis, but maybe leaving that unstated is a good thing.

Most importantly, Lion-O gets to celebrate that they defeated the Sparkle-Maws. Sure, he was talking about THE Sparkle-Maw rather than a bunch of them, those spiders didn't really have any camouflage abilities, and those spiders didn't really have anything sparkling on them nor did they have particularly big mouths, but maybe that was just him embellishing the monster...right?

Pretty much every episode of ThunderCats Roar ended in a way where everything went back to normal, and this episode is an outlier. It's strange because there's no other episode that ends like this yet. One will see what I mean.

How does it stack up?

I didn't really have too much to say about this episode, but not much to complain about, either. Well, except for maybe the overuse of exaggerated, but that's kind of the norm for the series.

I'm going to put this whole episode in the middle. Not great, not terrible. Three cats.

Next, this show with messy animation gets literally messy!

← Lost Sword 🐈 ThunderSlobs →

[actionfigureinsider]

@Super7 Thundercats ULTIMATES! Figures - Wave 2 Now Open for Pre-Order!

@Super7 Thundercats ULTIMATES! Figures – Wave 2 Now Open for Pre-Order!

“Thunder… Thunder… Thunder…” Super7 is proud to announce Wave 2 of the ULTIMATES! Thundercats!

Joining the Super7 ULTIMATES! World are: The healer Pumyra, the treacherous Grune The Destroyer, the scientist warrior Tygra, AND the evil Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living with his ferociously loyal pet Ma-Mutt! Each 7-inch super-articulated deluxe action figure comes straight from Third Earth to you… and the…