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jacquelinemerritt · 10 years

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The Prince of Egypt vs. The Disney Renaissance

Originally posted September 13th, 2014

The Prince of Egypt is a criminally underrated film. It performed decently at the box office, but Mulan still beat it out by $20 million. It was only nominated for Best Musical or Comedy Score, and Best Original Song. I consider this just as phenomenally idiotic a decision as the Academy’s decision in that same year to award Shakespeare in Love with Best Picture instead of Saving Private Ryan. Oh, and The Prince of Egypt didn’t even win best original music. Shakespeare in Love won that one too.

But the failings of the Academy in the 1990s are a subject for another day. Instead of talking about that, I’m going to talk about how The Prince of Egypt is a better film than any of the films released by Disney during the Renaissance. To do that, I will go through each film released and analyze their strengths, weaknesses, and why they ultimately fail compared to The Prince of Egypt. I’m going to start with the film I feel is the strongest film of the Renaissance (The Lion King) and work my way down from there (ending with Hercules and Beauty and the Beast). So, let’s get down to business.

The Lion King

And now it’s time to cause some controversy. First off, The Lion King was the best film Disney released during the Renaissance. While I understand that that is not a particularly controversial opinion, I do understand that some people view Aladdin as a superior film, and I understand and respect your opinion. It doesn’t matter though, because The Prince of Egypt is better than The Lion King in most every way. So, let’s divide this argument up into the four parts of a film that determine its greatness: Characters and Characterization, Theme, Cinematography (or in this case, animation), and Music.

Characters and Characterization

Simba and Moses are both well characterized, and provide interesting looks at surprisingly similar situations. Both run away from home after their father dies, or finding out their father is evil, respectively. They both abandon all responsibility for their people, and after a supernatural experience, they both return to set their oppressed people free. Both are well acted too; Val Kilmer sells Moses as the trickster younger brother perfectly, while Matthew Broderick delivers a perfect rendering of Simba as a king who comes back to reclaim responsibility for his people. So the protagonists are just about even here.

Where The Prince of Egypt succeeds over The Lion King is in its characterization of both antagonists. Scar is a worthy villain, to be sure, and Jeremy Irons delivers a phenomenal performance as well, but Scar is ultimately a much simpler villain than Seti and Rameses. Scar’s crimes are wanting a throne he has no right to take, killing his own brother for that throne, and traumatizing Simba (and, by him, the audience) by falsely blaming him for his father’s death. None of these acts are anything less than evil, to be sure, but they are a kind of evil that stems from simply being an egotistical power hungry maniac.

Seti and Rameses, on the other hand, have completely different motivations. Seti, who is played by the wonderful Patrick Stewart, is a man motivated by a desire to build and maintain a great dynasty. To that end, he is perfectly willing to enslave an entire race of people and use them as the workforce for building the monuments he wishes to be remembered by. But the reason he is willing to do this is not because he is evil. No, Seti is willing to enslave the Israelites because he doesn’t believe them to be people.

As wrong as Seti’s beliefs about the Israelites are, it clearly comes from the fact that his entire kingdom has been built on the back of slave labor since before he came into power. His culture’s acceptance of slavery is given as his reason for enslaving the Israelites, and yet it is not used as an excuse in any way. In fact, his apathy toward slaves and slavery is the indirect cause of Moses leaving Egypt, since it spurs him to kill a man who was abusing a slave, and flee the country afterwards. Seti is a great, complex and multilayered villain, and he isn’t even given over to any of the villainous tropes you’d expect from the antagonist from an animated film. And guess what. He’s only present in the first act!

The second and third acts shift the duties of antagonist over to Rameses, Moses’ brother and Seti’s son. Rameses’ motivations are every bit as complex as Seti’s. After the fantastic chariot race scene, Rameses and Moses are both being lectured by Seti for their shenanigans, and Seti utters a line that perfectly defines Rameses motivation for the rest of the film: “One weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty.” Rameses does everything that he does because above all else, he does not want to be remembered as the Pharoah who killed his dynasty.

And Rameses isn’t demonized either. When he holds firm to his decision to not free the Israelites, having already had all but the final plague sent on him, there is a scene where we get to see Rameses and Moses talk fondly about their childhood. He is making an incredibly evil decision, and just generally being a jackass, but he is still the brother that Moses loves and grew up with, and the film makes sure to remind us of that fact. Then he loses his firstborn son, and this happens:

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Yeah, that’s right, you just witnessed the most human moment an antagonist has ever been given in a (Western) animated film. You can maybe argue that Scar had “complex motivations” because he brought the hyenas into the Pride Lands, but the problem with that is that it’s nothing more than a headcanon. This moment, where Rameses concedes that he has fully lost his fight against Moses and Jehovah, is more real, more tragic, and more moving than any of the cliched villainous cheese that we are given by Scar. And I fucking love Scar as a villain, but in comparison to Rameses, he just doesn’t stand up. So thanks to its respectful and complex treatment of its antagonists, The Prince of Egypt beats The Lion King in characters and characterization.

Themes

The Prince of Egypt and The Lion King both share themes common to the Hero’s Journey. They both have a strong theme of taking responsibility, and of bringing people out of darkness, as well as themes of the importance of leadership and believing in one’s self.

The overarching theme of The Lion King is quite to The Prince of Egypt’s as well. The Lion King is ultimately about Simba taking on the responsibility that was placed on him at birth, and learning to accept his unavoidable destiny as the King of Pride Rock. This theme is also complimented incredibly by the inclusion of Timon and Pumbaa, who both try to get Simba to ignore his destiny and live a life of peace, solitude, and “no worries.” When Simba and Nala meet again however, he is thrown out of his unworried state and forced to confront both Rafiki and his father, who urge him to “Remember who you are.” Simba then returns to Pride Rock, confronts Scar, and proves himself to not only being the rightful king now, but having always been the rightful king of Pride Rock.

The Prince of Egypt’s overarching theme is also ultimately about Moses accepting the responsibility thrust on him at his birth. However, unlike Simba, Moses’ time away from Egypt is not seen as wasted time. God makes it clear to Moses that his fleeing Egypt was just as much a part of His plan as Moses being found by the Pharoah’s wife. On the other hand, Simba living with Timon and Pumbaa is treated as a mistake by both Mufasa and Rafiki, and it is made fairly clear that he never should have left Pride Rock. You can even gather this by comparing the songs for these two sections. “Hakuna Matata” is a song about wasting time and having fun, whereas “Through Heaven’s Eyes” is a song about accepting your place in the world by looking at your life through the lens of a higher power. Essentially, in The Prince of Egypt, God and his plan are both in complete control at all times, whereas in The Lion King, people have the freedom to go off the track of their destiny, but inevitably they will end up where they’re supposed to.

The idea put forth by The Prince of Egypt is simply a better idea, especially in storytelling. Themes of destiny only really ever work when they incorporate personal choices into destiny itself. Where The Prince of Egypt goes out of its way to make it clear that even Moses’ weakest moments were still part of his destiny, The Lion King makes it clear that Simba’s attempt to avoid destiny was futile, and ultimately wrong, and what that ultimately means is that the film goes out of its way to waste our time with Simba’s experience outside of the Pride Lands. Now, don’t get me wrong, Simba grows during this time, and ultimately becomes the type of person he would need to be in order to return, but the film still makes it clear that not only was Simba’s time with Timon and Pumbaa a waste for him, but for us as well. And that sucks, because I really like Timon and Pumbaa.

Animation

Point made? Point made.

And to any of you naysayers out there who want to bring up the fact that this animation was only possible because The Prince of Egypt incorporated CGI in with traditional animation, whereas most of the Disney Renaissance films (including The Lion King) relied solely on traditional animation, I ask you, how the hell does that change anything? It’s not like Disney refused to use CGI to enhance later projects (like Tarzan and Treasure Planet), and honestly, it doesn’t change the fact that The Prince of Egypt has the best animation of any Western animated film.

Music

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You’re gonna have a really hard time convincing me that Circle of Life is better than that opening.

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Or that Hakuna Matata is better than Through Heaven’s Eyes.

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Or that Be Prepared is better than Playing With the Big Boys.

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Or that any song from The Lion King is better in any way than When You Believe. This is admittedly the most subjective category, but I do believe that the music in The Prince of Egypt is much stronger than the music in The Lion King. If you disagree, that’s fine, but I’m still marking it as a win for The Prince of Egypt in this category.

The Verdict

The Prince of Egypt won in each category. So, it has to win, right?

Of course it does. And you should watch it, in case you haven’t already. It’s a great film that really exemplifies Western animation at its best, and even if you disagree with me about it being superior to The Lion King, it is a phenomenal film that will forever remain one of my favorite movies of all time.

If you liked this, consider supporting me on Patreon, or donating to my Ko-Fi.

#disney #disney renaissance #film criticism #the prince of egypt #the lion king #sep 13 2014 #you know this one isn't half bad #i don't care much for the way i frame it as Prince of Egypt versus Lion King #but as a love letter to the prince of egypt #a film i still adore #i think this is pretty good #and i do some cogent character analysis of moses and rameses #reading this honestly makes me want to revisit this film in my writing #there's a lot of its themes of faith that i really appreciate #and as someone jewish but separated from that heritage #it's a film that makes me feel much closer to that culture i often feel distant from

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shallowseeker · 2 years

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Sam & Jack + SPN parenting moments

I've been thinking about Jack & Sam and their parenting dynamic. Are there some great moments you like? Here are some of mine! These are some notes for me to come back to:

(below cut)

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Molding Jack

It's like a seesaw. Throughout Sam's parenting arc, he will struggle between allowing too much independence and guiding/molding. Sometimes, he pulls away when he shouldn't. Sometimes, he cloaks his control in a mission or training. Sam professes to Donatello to want to mold Jack the right way (13x02). Donatello seems a little dubious of the phrasing:

SAM: He seems to have a real attachment to his mom, but only kinda a fuzzy idea about his dad. And his mom, Kelly, was a really good person, so that makes me think Jack can be molded the right way. DONATELLO: Mm, molded. I hope you’re right.

Jack as lion + the unfortunate reality of his super strength (angels are LION-coded)

Jack as lion in terms of cosmic hierarchy. The significance of the lion in the Bible - tremendous significance - has to do with its stature as the king of beasts. Here, these are, symbolically, angels. God, Cas, and Jack are all grouped as lions here (13x02):

DONATELLO: Oh. Speaking not as a prophet but as a scientist, I don’t think teaching him is in the cards. It’s like asking a lion not to be a lion. SAM: (angrily) But this is not a lion! This is a human! DONATELLO: With a strong dose of God juice. DEAN: Okay, that’s it. I’m done, all right? ‘Cause he’s not God, he’s not Cas, he’s not Simba. He’s the friggin’ Devil! [When Dean turns to address JACK, he’s gone.]

Jack & Sam + training

A first, Sam does not outright reveal to Jack why they're working so hard at training.

The pencil could be viewed as metaphor for John's necessary training; it's also a motif of Sam as keeper of the books/Man of Letters.

In true Sam fashion, he is overanalyzing the situation , reading The Drama of the Gifted Child.

Even thought Dean is terrifying to Jack, murderously bearing down on him and threatening to kill him, Jack immediately responds well to his honesty. Because he can sense Sam's half-truths.

In fact, Sam doesn't reveal his actual motivation for training Jack until Dean accidentally reveals it during an argument.

Sam vs Lucifer: the custody showdown

The power struggle between Sam and Lucifer in Apocalypse!World is great

It's very frustrating when Lucifer communicates with and gets through to Jack easier than Sam can with regards to fighting Michael

Sam loves him more unconditionally, and Jack is tragically unaware of this at first

Yet, there's something dishonest in Sam solving the problem by leaving Lucifer behind in Apocalypse World and not telling Jack why; In the script, it shows Sam feeling unsettled by Jack's lost and sad expression

Sam is completely at sea when Jack goes off the deep end and misuses his powers. HOWEVER, Cas and Dean aren't caught as off-guard by this...

When Jack is choking and nearly straight up murdering a gas station worker and Sam just standing there like o_o while Cas and Dean actively try to subdue him

Cas immediately moves to discipline him

Dean immediately moves to discipline him

Both Dean & Cas have instincts to discipline and create firm boundaries (this includes how they mutually handle Claire)

Which makes them *feel* different as parents

Sam vs Lucifer: the custody showdown, part 2

According to Nick, Jack breaks Lucifer's heart by choosing humans

There's implication that Lucifer liked killing Maggie, but there's also some terminal implications that hunters also like hunting; implications for cosmic hierarchy & moral relativism are high, even revisited with Dumah

Lucifer concludes that Jack is closer to HIS position in the cosmic hierarchy, and in some ways, he is right about that

THEN we get this great showdown where Sam protects Jack from Lucifer and urges Jack to kill him instead; themes of altruism; martyrdom

It's a great Sam moment!

Sam & Jack + loss of Jack's powers

Sam accidentally ignores Jack a little bit after he loses his powers and Dean goes missing

He's also a workaholic (Cas, too), but Cas actively apologizes once he realizes

This probably feels like whiplash to Jack, who was heavily relied-upon by Sam when Mary was missing in AU Earth

Sam does not trust himself to wield Hell power as boy-king; "there will be no new king of Hell!"

BUT he later yields and accepts that power in a morally dubious Queen (Rowena). Interesting!

He also trusts raw, godly power and the fate of the universe to Jack himself; to the heir of Lucifer, better molded

Sam again ignores Jack ("dumps him on Cas") and turning into a workaholic when the AU hunters are killed, even though Jack had burned off his soul and suffered a grave injury, Sam is too wrapped up in his own grief to notice!

Cas & Dean are forced to work in tandem, juggling Sam and Jack's plight between the two of them, and ignoring Dean's own Michael trauma

Again, Sam wants to "check out" by disappearing into Charming Acres; references to margaritas

Terminal seasons Sam & Jack

Clearly, no one warned Mary about Jack's soul issue. It may not have mattered, because she fought a war with Jack and trusts him; as she says DO IT in game night with a steely devil-may-care attitude; it's called out in the script that "even if she knew, she'd still have chosen the mission"

Jack is lion-(angel)-coded again when he's proud at the way he killed Nick

And yet Mary is not wrong...overkill is a psychological sign to look out for in battle conditions / soldier families

Tragically, Jack blames Mary for her own death

Sam dissociates and is paralyzed by these tragedies, and just spends a lot of time standing around and watching things unfold until it reaches a fever-pitch level of bad

When Jack ascends to Heaven and takes on missions with Dumah, Jack remarks that being and angel is nice because "purifying is kinda like hunting" on a higher level

This again affirms Jack's natural place in the cosmic hierarchy; the tensions and implications for for humans-are-to-angels as monsters-are-to-humans

They're ALL willing to put Jack in a kind of box, as delaying tactic or devastating defeat; Sam being willing to put Jack in the Ma'lak box (as was Dean), and as was Cas wants to study the cage in the back half of Moriah

Sam dissociates from Mary's death

The weird "I killed Mary, too, by being born" echo

Jack deciding to readily accept death as payment for his crimes

Sam dissociating from Belphagor

Sam killing Rowena, being unwilling to process and "can't even breathe" about it all

Sam + distracting himself from Jack's death and trials

Arguably, Dean is having a much bigger outward reaction to Jack's death and Cas's leaving

Because Sam distracts himself

In Golden Time; Sam starts throwing himself into the Eileen stuff, again references to margaritas and hazy goldenness; not "checking out" exactly because he and Eileen certainly have a moment where it crashes into something more real and difficult; but it STARTS that way

It starts as another of Sam's "checking out of life" tendencies

In the Trap, the horror at seeing Eileen so easily puppeted

Despite misgivings, Sam is still going along with Death's plan and getting behind Jack's apparent cannibalism

- Sam: "You're the only one who can (save the world)" sometime in season 15

- Jack alternatingly referring to Winchesters as fathers but post-soul bomb as friends, showing he's distancing from them

- Sam: "Sacrificing yourself is brave but I don't like it." This is Sam being faced with grayness; that being a parent can't be all about independence! It's also an echo of Sam throwing himself into Hell, the Hell trials, and how strangely acquiescent everyone was about Dean's Amara soul bomb

- Sam starting to cotton on to "we don't have a choice" issues in the narrative as bad things

- Sam giving up hope in The Trap; Sam giving up hope again in Inherit the Earth (and Dean and Jack try to keep him going)

- Sam ultimately choosing sacrificing Jack to Destiny, Power, and Duty in 15x19 (sons get sacrificed to war, for glory in besting the enemy, and they don't come home)

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Bonus! Sam's struggles with Claire in terms of allowing independence but needing boundaries to keep her safe

Bonus! Magda's shame and purifying herself through pain and punishment

#spn parenting

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blxckdragonfly · 2 years

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About My Blog!

“She wore the night, gentlefriends. And all the night came with her.”

- Jay Kristoff, Darkdawn.

Greetings! My name is Tiger or BlxckDragonfly and welcome to my blog, those who have followed me for a while or have just followed because we have something in common.

Here's a little bit about my blog and myself in general:

🔎 True Crime

👻 Paranormal

🎮 Gaming (Skyrim. Tomb Raider. Assassin's Creed. Spyro. Resident Evil. Fallout. Far Cry. The Witcher. Silent Hill. Mortal Kombat. Halo. Etc)

📖 Reading (Nevernight/Empire of The Vampire. Gideon The Ninth. Serpent and Dove. Six of Crows/King of Scars. Vicious by VE Schwab, Mercy Thompson. Stalking Jack The Ripper. Hollow Kingdom. The Shadow of The Gods. The Song of Achilles. The Covenant of Steel. Etc)

📺 TV Shows (Supernatural. Vikings. The Walking Dead. Doctor Who. Sherlock. Dexter. Sons of Anarchy. Mr. Robot. American Horror Story. Friends. Peaky Blinders. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The Vampire Diaries. Ghost Adventures. Red Vs Blue, RuPaul's Drag Race. House of The Dragon, Wednesday. Killing Eve. Etc)

🎥 Movies (The Crow. V for Vendetta. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Bohemian Rhapsody. The Dark Knight. The Power of The Dog. Black Swan. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. Spirit: Stallion of The Cimarron. The Twilight Saga. Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts. Underworld. Resident Evil. Marvel: Avengers. Venom. Deadpool. Guardians of The Galaxy. Black Widow. Spider-Man. Etc. DC: Birds of Prey. Joker. The Batman. Etc. Disney: The Lion King. The Jungle Book. The Nightmare Before Christmas. Etc)

Anime (Black Butler. Tokyo Ghoul. Death Note. Attack on Titan. Soul Eater. Demon Slayer. The Promised Neverland. Yu-Gi-Oh. Pokemon. Dragon Ball Z. Spy x Family. Twin Star Exorcists. Chainsaw Man. Naruto: Kakashi. Rock Lee. Gaara. Orochimaru. Neji Hyuga, Itachi & Madara Uchiha.)

🎃 Halloween all year round

🩸🔪 Horror Movies & Manga (Friday The 13th. Nightmare on Elm Street. The Ring. Halloween. Saw. Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Scream. The Conjuring. Hereditary. Midsommar. Candyman. Hellraiser. Longlegs. Barbarian. Junji Ito: Tomie. Uzumaki. Gyo. Shiver. Lovesickness. Smashed. Sensor. Deserter. Fragments of Horror. Black Paradox. Tombs. The Liminal Zone. Kazuo Umezu. Naoki Urasawa. Shuzo Oshimi. Etc.)

🎶 Music (Black Veil Brides (Andy Black). System of A Down. Slipknot. Arch Enemy. Cradle of Filth. Ghost. Motionless In White. Ice Nine Kills. HIM (Ville Valo). The 69 Eyes. Evanescence. MCR. Within Temptation. Nightwish. Epica. Delain. Amaranthe. Lana Del Rey. Ellie Goulding. Halsey. Lady Gaga. Megan Thee Stallion. Demi Lovato. Taylor Swift. Panic! At The Disco. Olivia Rodrigo. Ariana Grande. Adele. Billie Eilish. Post Malone. Diamante. Dorothy. Mothica. Florence + The Machine. Okkultist. Spiritbox. Alpha Wolf. Architects. Wage War. Northlane. Lorna Shore. Paleface Swiss. Sleep Token. Swallow The Sun. Twin Temple. Princess Goes. Corpse. Melanie Martinez. Sabrina Carpenter. Chappell Roan.)

Pro Wrestling (Malakai Black- who I met on 8.29.21 and is a total sweetheart. Brody King. Buddy Matthews. Julia Hart. Zelina Vega. Rhea Ripley. Becky Lynch. Lyra Valkyria. Tiffany Stratton. Roman Reigns. Finn Balor. Jey Uso. Damian Priest. Jon Moxley. Britt Baker. The Bunny. Bianca Belair. Darby Allin. Jade Cargill. Jay White. Hangman Adam Page.)

YouTubers: Markiplier. Jacksepticeye. Crankgameplays. Shane Dawson and so forth. And the occasional Unus Annus reblog (RIP).

Musicals/Broadway: Sweeney Todd. The Little Shop of Horrors. The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Wicked

I also have a tendency to write pieces from my own stories here (Darkness Finds You-- MB & Lyra/Chris & Lycia, Medicine Man/Shadows Rise aka Katstrange) and I also reblog stuff that interests me:

🖌️ Art- Dark. Gothic. Occult. Horror. Fantasy. Halloween. Skulls. etc

History. Mythology. Urban Legends. Space. Etc

Animals: 🐅🐆🦁🐊🐍🦇🐦🐎 🦊

I hope you enjoy the stay here and it’s a delight to meet you. And remember:

... I’ll always love you in every universe and the house always wins. 😉🖤

x BlxckDragonfly

HMU on Socials 👇

https://twitter.com/blxckdragonfly

https://www.instagram.com/motionlessvisual/

https://www.instagram.com/zelinasgold/

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neoyi · 3 years

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Back again with another Kingdoms Heart II talky time. What is this, the fourth? Fifth installment? Any who, I’m covering Sora’s revisits to Beast’s Castle, Chin- er, sorry, Land of Dragons, Olympus, Agrabah, Halloween/Christmas Town, and Pride Rock.

*I love that Kingdom Hearts Belle is only so restraint with her annoyance over Organization XIII’s bullshit. She’s already pissed when Xaldin interrupts her big ballroom dance out with the Beast (”not tonight!”), then when Xaldin kidnaps her and threatens the Beast, she elbows the man in response (the music even stops just to emphasize the impact of what she’s done), sporting an absolute shit-eating grin in the process.

Belle is Queen Shit.

*I see The Beast has mastered the Team Rocket School of Quick Changing Clothing. He’s somehow able to switch from his dance outfit to his standard tattered cape and pants between Heartless surrounding them and just before they do battle. What talent.

*Having Marluxia’s - that pretentious rose-spewing jackass - insignia inside Beast’s Castle is apropos.

*I get keeping the Organization XIII members in their hoods is to preserve their mysteries and build anticipation (it’s less about Who They Could Beeee as it is wondering what they look like and what personality/skills are associated with them), but as someone who sometimes has trouble distinguishing things, having to parse out who is speaking to who when they all look identical is kind of hard....They really could have killed for more women in the Org, I’m just saying.

*Oh shit, I forgot how hot Xigbar was. In terms of sexiness, it’s a toss-up between him and Luxurd.

*Oh yes, that eye patch does do things to me. <3

*It is super cute that Mulan asked the Emperor if Shang could have a vacation.

*I think it fits that at some point in Hercules’ life, he’s going to feel burnt out from being a hero without any rest. It’s kind of nice to see this game explore that a bit.

*I haven’t played FFX in a long time, but I think some of the dialogue Auron spouts when Sora picks up his Heart Doll doohickey are from or carry shades from his time during. It’s obviously just meant to pay lip service to his canon role, but I kind of like the Don’t-Take-It-Seriously-Theory that the Auron in Kingdom Hearts ended up in Hades’ realm (maybe he took a wrong turn in Albuquerque on his way to Spira’s whatever-the-fuck-metaphysical-afterlife-is.) I guess if there’s one game series where multibverse traverse is logical, it’d be Kingdom Hearts.

I’ve looked at this artwork of Sora many times over the years and this part of his outfit still baffles me. What are those baggy red things attached to his hips? Are they cushioned to protect a part of his body in case he gets tossed by an enemy? Is it the same with his shoulder guards or are those even shoulder guards and not just clothing that happen to look like shoulder guards? Like, are the red bags bags? Does Sora pack his essentials in them? Toothbrush? Snack bar? Keys to the Gummi Ship????

*If Hercules’ doubt is part and parcel of being a hero to many, Sora’s obsession to be defined as one in Olymupus Coliseum feel redundant and backwards. Didn’t the first Kingdom Hearts established that bearing the moniker of a hero is not reflective of your character, but through your actions? Sora’s a goofball, but apparently that lesson didn’t seem to stick, causing him to obsess over labels he only cares about for this world and this world only.

*Revisiting Port Royal and I’m only just realizing Sora can kill pirates in this game. They’re undead, but they’re that way because of a curse, otherwise they were living and have the capability to live again. I don’t know if I can process this kid having murdered like hundreds of Actual, By Technicality, Living Humans.

*I like how Jack describes the audacity of Organization XIII’s motives that it makes pirates look kind and spoke with a tone as if he’s offended. Pirates have a nasty reputation to live for and those jackasses in black hoods are taking all their creds.

*Luxurd is the other Hot Organization XIII member, and he may be my personal favorite. He’s got that sauve, roguish quality I like in a character. In another universe, he might have been a risky, gambling-his-life Lovable Rouge Pirate and damn if I wouldn’t eat that story up.

*Whenever Donald and Goofy is out of your party, they sometimes circle around to each other and chat and I think that’s adorable. Nice attention to detail.

*Tragically, unlike Belle who got a bit more to do in her world, Jasmine’s expanded role in KHII doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. She gets to be voiced by her original actress, but that’s about the extent of it.

*I don’t know if this was an intended foreshadowing or just the product of Cool Boss Fight, but Sora constantly dodging and reflecting crumbles of building away from Genie Jafar does end up coming back in the final boss fight. Arguably cooler than this one, but you can see it as Sora applying what he’s learned since then.

*If Genie is capable of fixing Agrabah and improving on it, then man, I think Aladdin should let him. Like don’t drastically alter it to alienate the townsfolk, but consult with the Sultan and Jasmine and improve the homes of thousands of impoverished people. Come on, Aladdin, you’re gonna rule these people, and you were once a street rat. Use your position for good!

*I’m a tad worried about Sora’s stick arms. Kid, you eating alright? Is Donald and Goofy giving you proper nourishment?

*At the second half of the game, Kingdom Hearts II really ramps up the Sora/Kairi and how you feel about it likely depends upon your preference for the pairing or not. I actually think they’re adorable as heck and I think a lot of why is that Sora, unlike a lot of other shonen protagonist that his archetype resembles, is far from clueless about his affection for her or even dismissive of her. No, he thinks of her all the goddamn time. He’s ridiculously in love with her that an average teenager can give and that’s such a wholesome thing that almost any scenario where he’s thinking of her really shines a spot on his character. This despite the fact that, well, there really isn’t a whole lot of on the Why they like each other, they just do because they’re the main male and female protagonist (which is why I get people rolling their eyes at the pairing, it is a bog-standard heteronormative relationship.)

*I think it's a good and logical point that Simba still carries doubt shortly after the events of The Lion King. Scar's ghost looming over him filling him with manipulative thoughts and his people especially doubting his kingly moniker because he's not the Great Mufasa is something Simba would likely be compared to. However could Simba compete with Mufasa, a beloved and competent King?

*I think this is the first time the game has ever shown a canon Disney character getting the Heartless treatment and man, this is a cool concept I kind of wished they did more of. I mean, maybe they did? I haven’t played any KH game after this. I hear Hans turns into one in KH3.

*There's a mild subplot between Cid and Merlin where they both clash over Technology vs. Magic. I know Disney Merlin did complain about the future (read: 1960s contemporary when the movie first came out) once he finished his brief sabbatical there, but as someone who's aged backwards, you'd think he'd have a better appreciation for tech.

...Then again, maybe he saw how invasive smart devices have gotten in the 21st century in which case, okay, fair, you are right to complain.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts II #neoyi talks

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howaboutalittlehelpneos · 4 years

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YGO! Questionnaire

Tagged by @cipher-wise

Pleasantly surprised to be in one of these, so let’s go

Favorite series: *Gestures to icon* Is it any surprise I’ll be picking GX? I love GX with all my heart and soul. The story’s pacing is very good and never feels like it’s dragging its feet to get to where it’s going, most duels are over in less than a full episode with the longest one being three, there are so many good characters to get invested in, and this boy right here is your protagonist.

Look at him blow kisses to the audience after beating Crowler, how could anyone not love Jaden Yuki? I care him so much. Even the filler episodes in GX are pretty fun to watch most of the time, and it’s the good kind of filler that may not advance the plot much or at all, but it’ll give you plenty of good memories to take with you. Who could possibly forget the eggwich thief? Not to mention the soundtrack fucking slaps.

Favorite protagonist: I mean...

Yeah it’s Jaden. GX hooked me immediately when I started watching it because of how much I loved this boy. He’s that perfect mix of cocky and sweet when it comes to dueling because he’s confident in his own abilities, but he never stops having fun and being amazed at what his opponent can do, he cares about all of his friends and does his best to help them with their problems, he’s kind to strangers, and he has exactly half a brain cell.

I feel the gif speaks for itself, but Jaden’s dialogue when he turns around here is “I’m such a sucker for things like this! I’ll help you, ma’am!” Dorothy says “No, you’ll be late... Don’t you have a test today?” And Jaden replies with “Who cares if I’m late? I couldn’t leave a lady in trouble!” Jaden Yuki is my absolute favorite protagonist.

Favorite rival: Oh man is that a tough one. Am I allowed to pick two? It’s a hard call to make between this dumb edgy bitch-

And this dumb gay bitch

Honestly they’re tied for favorite rival in my book. I absolutely loved Chazz when I watched GX, and I thought his arc about breaking through his inferiority/superiority complex and learning to accept loss as a part of life without letting it define him was wonderfully written, and seeing him grow as a person throughout the show just made me feel happy for him. Shark... I really thought I wasn’t going to end up liking Shark at first, but god he just gets so much better as Zexal goes on, starting out as this mean spirited middle school bully in episode one, and slowly ending up as Yuma’s boyfriend closest friend. It’s incredible to look back at how Shark acts when he’s first introduced and compare it to... season 3, I think it was, where just hearing the words “Yuma’s in danger” is enough to send him running to his rival’s side. Chazz and Shark. They are my favorites.

Favorite BFF: Him

Crow Hogan is an absolute treasure and he was my favorite part about watching 5Ds. This little bird man first gets introduced by stealing cards for his kids and clowning on Sector Security, and he’s a source of so much good throughout the show. Excellent best friend (technically brother but I’m counting him), wonderful father, 10/10 person all around. Plus the fact that the only thing stopping him from berating his bitchass brother even more was Yusei having to literally pick him up and pull him away is definitely extra points in my book. What a powerful little bird. His only weakness is people that are taller than him, which is unfortunately most people.

Favorite GFF:

Yuzu. Have I actually watched Arc V yet? No, but I’m still picking Yuzu for my number one here. Tea and Tori are just awful characters, I’m neutral towards Alexis, and Akiza... Did have potential to be something interesting on her own, despite how uncomfortable she made me in seasons 1-2 of 5Ds, but her relevance is alllll downhill from there. I’ve seen one clip of Yuzu yelling at a man eating pie and calling him a 100th rate duelist, and that was all I needed to know she would be my favorite. (Clip here)

Favorite villain: Oh boy

The fuckin carrot is my favorite villain, and I say this as someone who fully believes he didn’t deserve to be in the last episode. Vector did some fucked up shit in his day, and he only continued to do fucked up shit in Yuma’s day, but I have to say he was pretty effective when it came down to his goals. He got things done and went right for what he wanted by taking direct action to seize Don Thousand’s power, and he manipulated Yuma perfectly by preying on his kind nature and love for Astral to use him to further his goals.

...Plus I mean just look at his subbed dialogue God he’s such a slut. Evil slutty alien.

Tl;dr Vector was a horrible horrible person, but he was a good villain, and he was so entertaining whenever he was on screen that it was impossible not to like him. Still kinda wish he got what he deserved though, and what he deserved definitely wasn’t another chance.

Speaking of Don Thousand though, can we talk about how unfairly pretty he is? If I had to pick a runner up villain in terms of looks alone, it would definitely be him.

God it was not fair how pretty the big bad of Zexal was. He’s fucking gorgeous, and in my opinion, the best looking villain at the very least.

Favorite card: *Sweats in Duel Links* Favorite? There’s so many cards out there to pick from, but since I’ve already broken the rules with my two favorite rivals, I’ll be picking two of each card type: Spells, traps, and monsters. One for the aesthetic, and one for how often I make use of it.

First up, the Aesthetics group

What can I say, Vampiric Koala is such a cutie, Dwimmered Path has some really pretty card art, and Rainbow Life is an eternal flex on any heteros I may encounter while playing Duel Links. Nothing better than a gay trap card.

Now for usability

Dragon Knight of Creation is suuuper helpful in any dragon themed deck and has a permanent slot in my decks for Mokuba and Kaiba, PoG is always a fun way to boost up weak monsters to ridiculous heights, and Dark Bribe just lets you block your opponent like “Okay I know you wanna hurt me but I will let you draw another card if you do not do that thing”, and they can’t refuse you.

Favorite episode: I’ll be copying cipher’s format here and picking one for each series, but this will still only total out to five for me since I’ve yet to watch past Zexal ^^; Soon I’ll get to Arc V! One day...

Season 0: Episode 16: Turnabout by a Hair's Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis I’m a sucker for my son Joey, and this was a good Joey episode about him and his sister, plus it was nice seeing that doctor get what he deserved :) Duel Monsters: Season 5, episode 12-14: The Deciding Match for Duel King - Yugi vs. Leon/Golden Castle of Stromberg/KC Grand Prix Ends Probably a weird batch of episodes to pick, I know, but a lot of DM was kinda forgettable to me, and these are some of the few episodes I do recall. I just... really felt for Leon’s situation, and I wanted good things for that boy. I care him. GX: Season 3, episode 34: Dark Fusion! Inferno Wing!! Jim. Jim Jim Jimmmmm. This was the episode that finally made me understand why saviorshipping was a thing because it hits you with all these memories Jim has of Jaden and shows how they bonded before all this Dark World shit happened, and the whole thing was very emotional. 5Ds: Season 4, episode 2-3: Recollections, Entrusted with a Friend's Dying Wish God Crow, my precious bird son. I really liked the backstory they gave him, despite how much it hurt. It was probably the best character development he got in the whole of 5Ds, and let you see a side to him you probably wouldn’t expect. I loved watching him get his justice. Zexal II: Season 2, episode 5-6: Alito the Silent Fighter - Reunion of the Passionate Duelists!/ Be Revived! The Duelist Soul That Transcends Life!! I picked these episodes for Nistro and Nistro alone. He was one of my absolute favorites in Zexal, and seeing how well he and Dextra were doing was good for the soul. Just look at this good lion man right here.

Look at him!!!

Favorite decks to use: Elemental Heroes, Aromages, Red Eyes, Six Samurai, and Crystal Beasts.

Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, or Link: I’m a simple girl, I love fusion/tributes for how easy they are, but synchro can be pretty fun, too

Years in fandom: ??? Even I don’t know the answer to this one, friends. I used to be in the fandom when I was in middle school, wrote/read a few fanfics here and there, but then I fell out of it for... Well I’m 22 now and only got back into things 6 months ago? I started rewatching the abridged series of Duel Monsters in March, and from there I just wanted to consume actual Yugioh content and never went back.

Who am I tagging: @finding-fallen-petals @dizziedaikonn @chazzaroo Go wild y’all

#ygo tag meme #ygo dm #ygo gx #ygo 5ds #ygo zexal #jaden yuki #judai yuki #chazz princeton #jun manjoume #shark kastle #ryoga kamishiro #crow hogan #yuzu hiiragi #ygo zexal vector #ygo zexal nistro #gauche #probably the longest post ive ever made on this blog jesus christ

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andrewmoocow · 3 years

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Steven Universe: The Fantastic Mutants chapter 6: Frightful Finale (originally posted on April 7, 2021)

AN: It's been far too long since I entered the world of Marvel Gems. What with Steven Universe: Alternate Future, the holiday season and my return to college, I've just kinda got distracted from my big crossover universe. But no longer! I will resolve Fantastic Mutants and maybe get to work on the next stories in this trilogy, no matter the cost.

Also, one disclaimer before we start. My deepest concerns go out to the family of Tom Kane, who I imagined voicing Magneto in here in a reprisal of his role from Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Wolverine & the X-Men. Keep in mind that I came up with the cast long before he had that possibly career-ending stroke. Anyways, let's get a move on at last.

The moment that the Blackbird landed in Doomstadt, the Ultimate Alliance immediately charged to Castle Doom, ready to rescue Steven and stop Doctor Doom & Magneto.

"Hang on Steven, we're coming!" Connie yelled while riding atop Lion. Deadpool was behind her on the big cat, hoisting a boombox over his head that blasted 'I Need A Hero' as the heroes drew closer to the castle.

However, armies of Doombots dropped from the tops of the castle walls to defend their master from the invaders. The robots began firing lasers while setting up protective shields around the entrance to their namesake's palace, to keep them from breaking in.

"Oh great, Doombots." The Thing groaned, but then began getting himself pumped up. "But then again, I've been waiting this whole adventure to say this! Y'all know what time it is?"

"It's only 2:50 pm, Ben. Why?" Pearl answered quizzically.

"Dumbass, he's gonna say the thing!" Deadpool yelled excitedly.

"You got it!" Ben grinned as he turned to the Doombots. "IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!" Right off the bat, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed beast began tearing Doombots apart, which excited Amethyst greatly.

"Now this is more my style!" Amethyst cheered, and she joined Ben in tearing the robots apart.

"Good, you two keep them distracted while we break down the doors!" Wolverine commanded as the rest went to beat down the entrance. However, with every Doombot taken down, more began popping up.

"They don't seem to be stopping!" Amethyst said. "Can this get any worse?"

"As a matter of fact, it possibly can." Garnet predicted with her future vision, just as the castle entrance went down and the Frightful Four emerged from behind it.

"The doctor has ordered us to keep you from getting in his way." The Wizard announced. "But it seems we might have our work cut out for us with this many intruders."

"Just as long as he still does whatever he wants to do with that dumb kid he had captured." Mole-Man responded.

"We'd rather die than let you harm Steven!" Peridot yelled, taking up arms with the remains of some Doombots nearby to form a massive sword.

"Ah, who cares?" Trapster shrugged. "He's got more where they came from anyway."

Even more Doombots emerged to fight the Ultimate Alliance, and they seemed stronger than those before them.

"Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and I will take care of these villains!" Connie began planning. "The rest of you take on the rest of the Doombots!"

"You got it!" Lapis obliged. "Hey, where's the Professor?"

"I am staying behind in the Blackbird, but I shall assist in any form I can from here." Xavier announced from the plane using his telepathy.

With a nod to each other, Connie and the primary Crystal Gems prepared for battle against the Frightful Four.

All around the operating room that Steven was forced into by Doctor Doom, various medical devices surrounded the boy as Victor experimented on his hybrid nature. Doom had taken blood samples, X-rays, extractions of saliva, but it was nothing short of a breakthrough.

"There has to be something I could use." Doom muttered to himself as he examined his gathered data. "I've been working tirelessly, yet still nothing is working!"

"You'll never win Doom." Steven said weakly. "No matter how hard you try, my powers will never be used for your evil deeds."

"Famous last words Steven." Doctor Doom scoffed scornfully at the boy, but then he began gazing upon his gem. "Wait, that's it! I'll just have to take out your gemstone! I have yet to decide on what to do after that, but I believe I just made a breakthrough!"

A dull thud sound was then heard throughout the operating room.

"What was that?" Doom asked quietly.

The thudding got even louder and louder until finally, Juggernaut's fist broke through the wall and allowed Kitty Pryde & Mystique to leap through the hole.

"Kitty!" Steven cried happily. "And Mystique?"

"No time for questions." Mystique said to Steven. "Creed, now!"

On Raven's command, Sabretooth leaped into action and used his adamantium claws to break Steven free from the operating table he was restrained to.

"Wait, why are you helping me?" Steven asked the Brotherhood members as he lifted himself off the table.

"It's because of you, squirt." Sabretooth answered. "Magneto was all like, 'Ooh, we can't let him harm a fellow mutant even if he promised to help us with our cause', all thanks to you. But then again, he did basically have the same endgame as your X-Men friends anyhow, just with more violent extra steps."

Back outside the castle, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl & Connie were all pitted against the Frightful Four, one of them fighting one member each.

"So what's your origin Wiz?" Amethyst asked the Wizard. "Were you laughed at because of your poor fashion sense?!"

"Oh haha, very funny." Bentley Wittman scoffed. "I'm merely jealous of the Four's fame, especially that infernal Human Torch!"

"Oh, so classic jealousy then?" Amethyst replied before using her whips to tie up the Wizard and spin him around. "Geez, grow some dang humility!"

Meanwhile, Pearl was pitted against the Puppet Master, who had decided to defend himself with animated statues of his current boss.

"My puppets are unstoppable!" the Puppet Master boasted, but Pearl proved him wrong by cutting them down with her spear. "What?!"

"You should consider thinking before you speak." Pearl snidely replied before the statues simply put themselves back together. "Wait, how?!"

"It's puppetry, I don't have to explain it!" Phillip Masters shrugged.

"Kinda like how no one can explain your girlish features!" Deadpool jeered the puppeteer's appearance, which caused a puppet to punch him in the face.

"So your gimmick is that you have this gun you use to trap people with?" Connie asked the Trapster while expertly dodging his special glue.

"Yeah, I mean, it's in my name." Petruski replied and aimed his paste gun at her.

"Didn't you go by a different name in the past?" Connie remarked, making the Trapster frightened and then furious. "I think it was Paste Pot Pete, right?"

"SHADDUP!" the villain formerly known as Paste Pot Pete yelled angrily, and he wildly fired his paste gun everywhere he could point it at, covering random spots with his glue. "DON'T CALL ME PASTE POT!"

Connie thought quickly and just as Pete was about to fire his paste at her, she cut the gun in two, disarming him.

Finally, Garnet was pitted against Harvey Elder, aka the Mole-Man, who despite his abnormal height and poor vision, he was able to keep up with her with a fighting style resembling bojutsu that he used his staff for.

"We won't let you keep us from Steven!" Garnet yelled while the leader of the Moloids ran circles around her. "Why are you throwing your lot in with Doom, anyways?"

"He promised us things in exchange for our services!" the Mole Man declared. "Very special things, riches, glory, our own castles!"

"Well, my future vision tells me he won't actually give you those things." Garnet informed Harvey. "Instead he'll just run and hide once defeated while you're left to be arrested."

"WHAT?!" Harvey exclaimed in shock, leaving him open to get punched in the face.

"I thought I could trust you Erik!" Doom exclaimed as he stared down the master of magnetism. "Now you dare turn on Doom for that boy?!"

"He is essentially a mutant, just like I." Magneto boldly declared as he defended Steven and Kitty. "And I refuse to allow you to do him any harm."

"This is my land you mutated ingrate!" the doctor roared. "I can do whatever I please here, and you are powerless to stop me, lest you incur the people's wrath for endangering political immunity!"

"When has political immunity ever stopped the Brotherhood?!" Magneto boomed, floating up as a show of power. "Men call me Magneto, master of magnets! And I welcome you to die!"

Using his mutant abilities, Erik made everything in the operating room float in the air with a raise of his arm, and threw that arm down to launch them all at Doom. "Go children, find your friends! I shall handle things from here."

"Right." Steven obliged before he and Kitty fled the battle, leaving the leader of the Brotherhood to combat the king of Latveria.

Doctor Doom burst from the pile that Magneto had trapped him in, and retaliated with a powerful electric shock and that sent Magneto flying into a wall.

"Damn you!" Lehnsherr growled, creating a barrier around him to defend from further damage and unleash electromagnetic shocks from the barrier.

"Come here!" Doom roared, lunging at the mutant terrorist.

"The Gems have got to be outside the castle!" Steven exclaimed as he and Kitty ran from a slowly growing army of Doombots chasing them down.

"How would you know that?" Kitty asked.

"I remember when the Doombot said that the castle had intruders, that must be them!" Steven reminded his mutant pal while a Doombot tried to grab him. Suddenly, that same Doombot was stabbed through the neck by Lady Deathstrike's claws.

"Can't believe we're resorting to this." Deathstrike muttered before turning to the children. "I suppose you are looking for those Gems, correct? Go, we'll handle things from here."

As the pair continued running, Avalanche and Pyro appeared beside Yuriko to fight. With a confident nod, Avalanche stomped his foot and caused the castle to cave in on the robots, crushing them to bits.

As for Pyro, he was busy melting more Doombots into liquid metal, which gave the Blob an opening to run them all over with his immense girth.

"Oy, wait up ya squirts!" Juggernaut yelled as he bolted through the wall, covered in Doombot remains. Behind him, Toad and Mystique joined the massive mutate as Steven & Kitty finally reached the front of the castle, where the Crystal Gems, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the X-Force, Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver were waiting.

"Steven!" Pearl yelled excitedly as she wrapped her arms around Steven, and Garnet, Amethyst & Connie followed suit. "We were so worried sick, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Steven answered. "He just took some samples of my blood and saliva, that's all."

"Steven, long time no see!" Spider-Man cried, giving the half-Gem a high five.

"Peter, Wanda, Pietro!" Steven replied, seeing the web-slinger along with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

"Ah, so you brought my children along?" Magneto asked as he suddenly appeared behind Steven with the Brotherhood behind him. "How quaint."

"Magneto!" Wolverine yelled, and he and the X-Men got ready for a fight, but then Xavier strolled in on his wheelchair. "Uh, Chuck?"

"Erik." Charles politely greeted his archrival.

"Charles." Erik replied in kind. "It seems we are once again at a point where we must align our interests for a common good."

"Indeed it is." The Professor examined thoughtfully.

"Uh, I guess this is pretty common, right?" Amethyst asked the pair of elderly mutants.

"Quite so Amethyst." Xavier declared. "Now then, what brought you to turn on Doom?"

"It was that boy there." Magneto revealed while pointing at Steven. "He convinced me that I could never allow a fellow mutant to be harmed, and I allowed him and Ms. Pryde to flee while I contended with Doom."

On that topic, the Frightful Four rose up to strike back against the Gems. "Et tu Magneto?!" the Mole Man yelled. "Well, we'll see who has the last laugh when the doctor comes for you all!"

Just then, loud mechanical wheezes and groans came from deeper within the castle. Everybody gathered turned back to the front gates and decided to go inside, hoping to see what was up.

"That helmeted fool shall rue the day he ever crossed me!" Doctor Doom muttered hatefully to himself as he tended to a massive machine until a security screen brought up the Ultimate Alliance making their way through his castle, now joined by the Brotherhood of Mutants. "Excellent." Doom purred before he pressed a few buttons on one of his metal gauntlets, causing the machines to turn on. "If Steven won't let me have that gem, I'll rip it from his corpse!"

Four gigantic purple and blue robots slowly stood up straight as their eyes began glowing four different colors, blue, red, green and white. The Sentinels Victor had been waiting to complete were finally ready, and he couldn't be happier to unleash them on his foes.

Phew, so glad I finally finished this! This took ages to write, since I intended to finish this chapter in February but then Alternate Future and college got in the way, plus I'm starting to get a little burned out since I have to balance two massive Steven Universe fanfictions. Hopefully I can at least get the next story started in the summer. But I'm getting ahead of myself, sorry to keep you waiting!

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goldstonegolem64 · 5 years

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Book 1 Hope returns Chapter 46 Vanguard By goldstonegolem64

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9HJV1Ben6k

Galra central command

It had been about eight teen hours since Root rot was sent to conquer and Zarkon was starting to get frustrated with how long it was taking.

“ Any word from the weed or any of the ship captains that were sent with him?” Zarkon asked

After a few second of wait one of the transition officers spoke” No my lord We are getting nothing but static . But before he did go dark we did receive a message from Root Rot group saying that they had run in with the Valkyrie. “ .

‘ I know that but it was seventeen vs one how could one man take on so many at once or maybe Voltron and or that titan was there as well “ Zarkon said as he got up from his throne

“ Should we send the twin or Skyver to assisted Root Rot in his mission?”

“ No he either succeed or he dies. I would rather not send those three to their deaths. We will deal with at in do time “ Zarkon said as he was leaving the room “ Recall any Sub-commanders and commander that nearest to us, call back the nearest mobile repair bay and tell every refinery to double their work load we are going to need as many mans on deck just in case we are attacked In the coming days” Zarkon left the control room and walked towards Haggar’s lab. As he moved he walked passed dozens of soldiers each one moved out of his way as they could see he was visibly angered by the failure of his commanders for not capturing voltron, for not stomping out the rebel cells that had been cropping up recently after voltron showed back up.

But then again he had grown complacent over the centuries believing that no foe could stand up to him and the empires might . But that all came back to bite him for not handling this problem himself. But that what project Titan was for .Zarkon stopped in front of the door way to Haggar’s lad then entered the room. As he entered the room he found Haggar looking out of a window .

“So how is the constructs of the Titan project going “ Zarkon said as he walked over to look out the same window

‘ We are putting on the finishing touches from the data we’ve collected from ever battle that both the Valkyrie and Voltron had been in the past two months and have made the proper adjustments to face both of them at once but there is a draw back to this upgrade.”

“ And what is that my dear “

“ You will need a full on neural link for it to control so if titan is destroyed it will most likely kill you.”

“Well we have the Lazarus protocol . Now on the statue of Root Rot and his men ?”

“All but two are alive and counted for. K-38 and K-2″

“So Root Rot Is dead then”

“ No he is most likely still alive,recovering and adapting from this defeat. Now should we send a recover team to collect him along with an invasion force to the planet ?” Haggar asked

“ No We have lost already to many men and recourses on one world and if Voltron and The Valkyrie are there we will lose so many more and with the twins and Skyver mechs being rebuild and upgrade and the new batch of Kurons being grown and trained we would most likely lost . Speaking of which how is batch two training coming along?”

“ Worst then the first . We tried to lean more into the silver paladins altean d.n.a But this as caused those to come out mindless.” Haggar walked over to her desk and showed a video of a Kuron in its test tube it looked liked an Altean with tan skin, red cheek marks and pink hair in their mid teens . They were just floating there in it’s pod doing nothing but growing then the monitor at the front of the pod started to glow red. Then the scientists in the lab moved toward the pod and tried to figure out what was going on. Then the Kuron inside started to violently morphing from a normal body and into a gray scaled beast. It then Burst through the pod’s glass and attacked the scientist and ripped then apart. It then let out a roar that caused the surrounding kuronsin there pods to start to change as well. They then burst out and started to rampage through out the lad ripping into each other.

“ It seems like they have reverted to a more primitive Mind set if you remove the human D.n.a and try to fill in the gapes with Altean or Galran D.n.a.” Haggar said as she stopped the video

“ So the silver Paladin is human and Altean so there are other Alteans still alive on the planet Earth then “ Zarkon said as a smile came across his face

“ Yes and no. The Silver paladin dose share some D.n.a with the black paladin but there seems to be small changes to their d.n.a . Like how the Silver paladin heart pumps blood slower then the Black paladins that tends to happen a kid is born in zero or artificial gravity.”

“So he was born on another world then. But there was no other planets in that solar system that could host life.”

“ Well the first humans we had captured were on the ninth planet of their system. So there ma be colonies on other worlds or moons.”

“ Alright then we’ll send a scouting ship to find this colony. Now have you found the traitor in are midst yet

“No I haven’t. “

“But we have “ Another voice said

Both Zarkon and Haggar turned to look at the voice and were supriesd by who they saw.

Else where in the universe

Jay was sitting in the Med bay playing a game of chess against Pidge

“ Are you sure your ok jay “Pidge asked as she moved one of her pawns

“ I’m fine my suit took most of damage and I’ve been through worse “ Jay replied as he moved his knight

“Jay your skin is bright ready and your smoking still are you sure your fine” pidge said as she moved another pawn .

“ It’s fine I’ll just shed of the dead skin of next time I shower next “

“ Wait you shed like a lizard “ Pidge had a strange image in her head of Jay shedding like a snake

Jay looked up from the chess board and looked perplexed by pidge’s statement “ Yes like a lizard would. “ Then he remembered pidge was not from mars “Sometimes I forget we come from different planets. So something normal to me is weird to you and Vic-versa”

“ That is true but still are you going to be alright after all that happened yesterday “

“Pigeon I’ve been sitting in this room four hours . I think I’m good at this point. Also Checkmate “

“What. “ Pidge looked at the board and saw that jay had moved his rook right in front of her king then notice that the queen was behind it and had the bishop that move on black spaces was also aimed toward the rook” Uh didn’t see that coming.Good game jay “

“Finally after six game I won once and now I retire on top” Jay said as he shot both his hands up in joy.

“ Alright then so what do we do now “

“ We will jst a bit more before the others show “

“And what do when they ask about the big one sitting just out side of the city’s limits “

“Will let the others deal with at when they get here “ Jay replied

‘[Captain The castle of lions as entered the planet’s orbit and Allura wishes for both of you to meet them at the as soon as possible}

“ Speak of the devil i guess we should head out then” jay said as he got up from his seat . “Hey Val did you leave the speeder here or is it still in your chest “ his said in his minded

“ I left it just out the Prometheus’s cargo by door.” Val said

“ Thank you” Jay said as he and pidge walked out of the med bay

“ Your welcome ‘ Val replied

“ So were taking the not the green lion. “ Pidge asked

“ Pidge it’s “ looked at his phone” 5 in the morning and people are sleeping so the bikes will do for now” Jay said as he walked down the ramp and saw his silver speeder which he called quick Silver. As he sat down and wait for pidge he saw the castle of lions slowly starting to descend from the clouds on the other side of the city. As he watched the castle. Pidge riding her speeder” Alright lets go” Jay said as he and pidge drive towards where the castle was landing.

As the castle landed both Jay and Pidge arrived

“ So how do you think the others are going to react to see the big one ‘ Jay asked still sitting as the castle landed a few feet away

“Don’t know but it’s going to be fun when they learn what happened here. Also do you wonder what happened on their missions “ pidge said as the door they were in front of started to open

“ Why don’t we ask them are selves “ Jay replied as he walked into the castle of lions followed by Pidge the two walked onto the kitchen first and Found most of the crew which was Matt, Hunk , Nyma, Rolo , Keith and Shiro sitting at the table eating the food goo” Sup Guys how did your missions

Adam spoke first “ We had some trouble but it was a” Adam was cut off by a blueish green furred ferreteped as Jay called them suddenly appeared in front of him and grabbed him by the face which kind hurt do to the electrical burns he suffered from the fight

“ Oh no we truly are in the worst possible reality to be in . Unless it the reality . . What is your name boy “ Slav asked

Jay with his cheeks being stretched out spoke “ Jay Sorin and I’m guesting your Slav ” he replied

“ Yes .Also if our here now then this realty still has a chance “ Slav said then he was grabbed by the back of the collar by Shiro and was pulled away

“ Sorry Jay He’ s been raving about of end of the world ending conspiracy theory the moment We said anything about the Valkyrie.” Shiro said as he put Slav down

“ It’s not a Conspiracy it’s a strong possibility” Slav Counters

Shiro and Slav started to argue about this while Jay and Adam watch and laughed a bit

“So Hunk Keith Rolo, Nyma how did your mission go?” Pidge asked

“ Keith made a friend with a GAlra pilot “Hunk said

“ They were no my friend I just helped them out see as the five of us were inside of a giant space worm.” Keith replied

“ but they liked you the most “ Nyma said jokingly

“ Maybe Galra just know when their in the presents of one any other “ Hunk said

“ That is true but only for pure bloods seeing as they are all fucking purple “ Jay yelled

“ Thank Jay for the info “ Keith said

“ So they just were being polite because Keith saved them ok if it comes back to bite us in the butt that’ s on Keith then agreed ” Hunk said

“ Agreed” Everyone said

“ That’s fair .Now Pidge What did you and Jay do while we were away ?” Pidge asked

“ Fought some robeasts and the guy who took my leg nothing to big “Pidge said like it was no big deal

Everyone was quite for a few seconds before Matt speaking up “ Are you alright did you have a panic attack . Jay where were you during all this” Matt asked as he looked towards jay

“ I was being electrocuted for info you shmuck. Also I to was having a panic attack but no one asked if I was ok “ Jay said and that was followed by everyone asking what happened, Why the empire was here did they find out about the plan. As Jay and Pidge were bombard with questions

“ Ok well answer all this questions but first we need everyone here to fully explained what happened here “ Pidge said

In the bridge of the castle of lions Allura and coran were talking

“Princess I have sent a message to the blade and Asmo telling them about are success on all three of are mission. Is there anything else you would like me to do” Coran asked

“ I would like to Have Pidge, Jay, Beau, La-sai ,N-7 and Ace here to get me their mission nreport Also I would like to Talk with Ryner and Isara seeing as she and the Queens Sayers are hear. But besides that I’m good” Allura said

Coran could tell something was up with her.” Allura what is wrong you seem off’

Allura bite her lower lip then spoke “ I’m just a little bit worried about the Mission coming up . Maybe we should wait a little bit longer and train more so we can truly be ready for it”

Coran knew that wasn’t the full truth ” I feel the same they have only been paladins for a few months now and they lack the train or at time maturity, Hundreds of years of experience of fighting massive battles. But I have watched them be on the same level of the original Paladins and I believe that they could be better then them and lead the universe in to a better tomorrow “ Coran smiles thinking about it”

“ You know just what to say to put me at ease Coran.”She smiled and looked up to coran “ But I’m still worried about the others their so young and I kind of fell like I forced them into this roles with out truly thinking this through. Each one of them nearly at less once on this journey and I’m sending them into a Fight that decide the fate of the universe. “

“I may not know much about humans but from what I’ve seen they have sir pasted all of my expectation and beat ever challenge that came to face them. An I will bet on my life that they will beat this next challenge with flying colors “ Coran said as he pulled Allura into a huge

“ I hope your right Coran I hope your right.” Allura said

As the two hugged The door to the bridge opened to revel the rest of the crew with Pidge and Jay at the front

“ Hi boss sorry to interrupted but we have something important to tell you.” Jay said

“ What is it “Allura asked

The team wait for the rest of the crew to join and when they did Jay and Pidge explained what had happened from when they arrived to the fight with Robeast and the squad of copy Valkyrie then the fight with the Thunder Bird and Dread wing. Then the Battle with Root Rot. Everyone stood there in shook as they listened to how Jay was for the second time was nearly killed by the plant man again.

“ So This IronWood guy Called you Dad ?” Lance said just a little weirded out

“Yeah an the other guy black thorn said like me when I was a teenager witch confused me as well . If they were still alive we could have asked them about that but we still have one of those pilot’s still alive hows that memory collecting going anyway ?” Jay asked Coran

“ It’s been going fine and we will fine out soon what that pilot knows in about two more days .” Coran replied ]

‘Ok Is there any thing else you too want to tell Us “Allura asked as she looked at the both of them .

“ Oh that Jay call Val “Pidge said

“ On it “ Jay said before talking in his mind “Val It’s time”

“ We are on are way” Val said This was followed by Music started to play over the comm and the world started to shake

“ What is that “ Shiro asked

“ That would be are Ace in the hole “Pidge said as she walked up to the terminal punched in a location and a scan appeared showing the Vanguard walking from a massive crated that had something in it covered in Ice and Vines.” Ladies and Gentlemen we give you the colossus Vanguard the unbreakable and Allura she would like to speak to you and Voltron I don’ t know what that means but I think Shiro might know”

“ I Do Pidge. Paladin to your lion “ shiro said as he and the rest of the paladins left the bridge

Back a Galra central command

Thace had decide to move the chip he place in the control room .As he walked to the control room he felt for just a moment that someone was watching him again. HE looked behind him to see no one behind him. This sent a chill down his spine but he continued to walk towards the control room as he entered the control room. Some one tried to stab him. He quickly grabbed the wrist of his assailant and was about to punch them only to have his free hand grabbed by someone else in the room followed by a knife stabbing into his leg. He fell to his knee and then was punched in the face. He looked to his right to see Harley smiling at him Then he looked to his left to see Quinn. Both were standing over him. Then they started to whale on him . Each punch cracked against his face and he could fell his skull crack and his jaw being dislocated. after a few minutes of being beaten on. With his jaw busted he could only say one word “ Why?”

Quinn moved in closer and whispered in Thace’s ear “Sorry about this Thace but it’s the only way to make whatever your planning work in are favor “

Then Harley leaned in “ Look around the room “

He looked up again to see serval things about the room. The first thing was that the cameras were destroyed and there was a body of a control room officer knocked out. Then he noticed that the console in the room had a familiar looking blade in it. Then something clicked in his mind he remembered that there was two blade members that started a family they had kids twins. Both parents dead on a mission leaving the twin. The blade wanted to take the twins in but sadly they had disappeared before and could be found. “ You”

“ Yes we are but we aren’t going to join your little group we just want out of the empires control “Quinn whispered as she and her brother picked up and dragged him out of the room towards Lady Haggar’s lab

Back with the Paladin

Voltron flow towards the Vanguard with the Valkyrie in toe

Allura stood in the cockpit of the black lion and started at the colossal purple Knight as it stopped and looked up towards the two mechs

“Shiro before we talk to the Vanguard my I ask when pidge said that the vanguard wanted to talk to Voltron and you knew what she meant. I just wonder how”

“ I though you knew about me seeing as you are bonded lion” Shiro replied

“ No I don’ t maybe your bond with the black lion is deeper then my own.”

“ Yes and no. You know how Val is Different from the Valkyrie.”

“ Yes “ Allura replied as she started to see where this was going

“ Well besides the lions that live in each part of Voltron I’m guessing he is the “

“ I am the Lions young Shiro “ Leonidas said out loud in all the lions

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before Hunk spoke up

“ Who the heck was that?” Hunk asked

“ I am Leonidas the prideful or as you all call me Voltron “

“ So You final decide to reveal yourself good I was tired of waiting “Val said

“ So this guy is the same as Val right . So dose that mean he can fight on his own when were not around to pilot the lions?” Lance asked

“No I was not build that way. Where The Valkyrie can pilot herself do to the fact that she doesn't have to split herself into five different pieces. But I make up for that by being more flexible with my pilots and each pilot will unlock different abilities. “

“ But I can manipulate time and I can scan anything and turn it into a weapon. “

“ I can rip a hole in the fabric of reality “

Everyone could felt tension between the two that only sibling would have. It was a little awkward until the Vanguard spoke over the comms

“ And I can open portals to any where I’ve been to which is all of what you called the know universe. Make barriers around me and I can came gravity balls that can pull in and destroy it. “ The vanguard sounded happy to be able to take to other of their kind and completely missed the tension between the Valkyrie and Voltron. “ Sorry if I interrupted what you were doing I’ m just happy to finally meet more of my own kind after being alone for so long a can’t wait to hear everything you’ve seem the past billion years “

“ Before we do that Lady Allura must ask you something” Val said

“ Yes this is of most important that we know your awnser “ Leonidas said

“ Oh ok” Vanguard replied

“ Your up Princess” Shiro said as he turned on the Black lions Outer p.a System

Allura then spoke “ Hello Vangaurd I am princess Allura of Altea and I request your in are battle against the Galra Empire You do now about the empire right?” Allura asked

“ Thank you for asking. They are current in control of 80 percent of the knew universe and have been draining world of their quintessence to furl their war machines and to keep their Leader and his wife alive for the passed ten thousand years. And I would like to join you in stopping them. But I will save this I don’ t like fighting all that much. I only fight in self defends and to protect the animals that live inside of me . But what I can do is open wormhole that allow you and the rebels you work with to any place you want to go and any planet or place you want protected I can do that. But I will not put the creatures I care for in harms way but if yo are in dyer need of my help I will fight but only as a last resort ” Vanguard said

“Well at least they know their boundaries . “ Lance said

“ And where their loyalty lay “ Keith replied

“ Ok as long as we can count on you when we need you must. That is fine by me “ Allura said

“ Ok with that out of the way can I ask Both Val and Leonidas a few things ?” Vangaurd asked

“ I see no problem with That” Val said

“ Neither do I” Leonidas add

“ Alright time to wait a the next few hours while this three talk “ Pidge said

As The Vanguard , Val And Leonidas started Talk they switched to a Language that the universal translator couldn’t understand. But that didn’t really matter to the paladins at the moment they were just happy to have the Vangaurd now truly on there side. But Allura still felt nervous about the battle to come.

Else where in the Crate the cyclone covered in ice and Vines lay there motionless but near the head there was the sounds slamming and sizzling as Root Rot started to break free of his frozen prison . As he burst free from the finally layer of ice. he let out a roar of anger and as his body had turn from green to brown do to how cold it was. He started to pull himself out of the exit hole he made and As he did his legs broke of as he continued to pull himself out and crawled to the edge of what remained of the Cyclones head and rolled himself of and ihit the ground hard shattering most of his body leaving only his left arm and head in tacked

“Cold I H-h-hate the cold” He tried to regrow his missing limbs only for nothing to happen. His body was dying and he need to reset.So he unraveled himself and started digging into the soft earth that the rain and the melting ice had made for him .It would take a few years for him to heal completely from this fight but it would be all worth it as while he rested he would adapted to the cold an along with that he would start to grow a new colony for his clan with the only thing fueling them is Revenge Bloodlust and a need for fresh meat

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fly-pow-bye · 4 years

Text

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

Yeah, sorry I forgot about all of this. All of the new episodes this month after the break.

Bakugan Battle Planet

May 3rd:

Haunted House/Two of a Kind - Haunted House: Rumor has it that there's a haunted building in Los Volmos, and the Awesome Brawlers are on the case! Who doesn't like a good ghost hunt, plus capturing a ghost on camera should make Awesome Brawlers' next video a huge success!/Two of a Kind: Veronica Venegas is doing a special report on the Awesome brawlers own: Lightening! The special report takes a back seat when Lightening is challenged to a brawl. Lightening uses this brawl the perfect opportunity to rollout his new Bakugan partner: Tretorous. (6:30 AM)

May 17th:

Magnus P.I., Parts 1 & 2 - There's a been a string of thefts and each one has involved a Bakugan. The AAAnimus security force have decided the only brawler who could be responsible is: Magnus. The shock of this accusation sets Magnus off to takes justice in his own hands and go after the thief himself./Magnus foils the latest burglary attempt by the phantom thief, and in doing so, discovers the brawler partners with a golden Bakugan. Magnus is now more interested in a brawl, than stopping any crime. (6:30 AM)

May 24th:

Awesome Brawlers Training Camp, Parts 1 & 2 - The Awesome Brawlers head to a training facility owned by Kasami International to prepare for the Bakugan Battle League - Los Volmos. But once the gang figures out they will all be competing against each other for the same title, the "team building" retreat doesn't quite go as planned./Agit turns up at the Kasami training facility and fits right in with the Awesome brawlers. This is a lifestyle that he can get used to, but it becomes apparent Agit is torn between a life as a phantom thief and life as a brawler. (6:30 AM)

May 31st:

The Bakugan Battle League Begins/Riot vs. Ajit - The Bakugan Battle League Begins: The qualifying rounds for the Bakugan Battle league are taking place all around Los Volmos. The Awesome Brawlers all make it through into the tournament without a hitch, that is all but Dan. Dan faces an old rival in Trey, who's back with a few tricks up his sleeve./Riot vs. Ajit: The Bakugan battle league is finally here and 16 brawlers have qualified to enter including all the Awesome Brawlers. The first round will feature a brawl between China Riot and the golden Bakugan brawler, Agit! (6:30 AM)

Craig of the Creek

May 2nd:

The Cardboard Identity - Craig and his friends stumble upon a mysterious bunker made of cardboard beneath the Creek. (9:00 AM)

Ancients of the Creek - Craig, Kelsey and JP discover an ancient fort that belonged to the first kids in the Creek. (9:15 AM)

May 9th:

Mortimor to the Rescue - When Craig, Kelsey and JP get stranded in murky water, it's up to Mortimor to save the day! (9:00 AM)

Secret in a Bottle - Craig needs to get a secret off his chest, so he pays a visit to the Keeper of Secrets in the Creek. (9:15 AM)

May 16th:

Trading Day - After Craig accidentally destroys a shipment of rare Chocorolls at the Trading Tree, Kit makes him work off his debt by running her trades throughout the Creek! (9:00 AM)

Crisis at Elder Rock - Tragedy strikes the Creek when the Elders get trapped under Elder Rock, and it's up to Craig, Kelsey and JP to rescue them. (9:15 AM)

May 23rd:

Kelsey the Worthy - When Kelsey demolishes a wall at Craig's house, her father takes away her sword. So she enlists Craig and JP to help prove to her father that she's still worthy. (9:00 AM)

The End Was Here - Craig tries to figure out how an ancient war that decimated the Creek began in hopes of stopping history from repeating itself. (9:15 AM)

DC Super Hero Girls

May 3rd:

#CrashCourse - When a high-speed chase breaks out during her driver's test, Diana Prince's desire to fight evil clashes with her desire to undergo a World of Man teenage rite of passage, getting her license. (4:00 PM)

Power Players

May 3rd:

Winner Takes All - After months of training for Luchador Day, Axel needs Masko to coach him against a pair of uninvited competitors - Madcap and Dynamo! (7:30 AM)

Prepare for the Worst - Axel and Bobbie Blobby skip out on Sarge's disaster-prep drills, leaving enough of a gap in the team's defenses for a crow to swoop in and snatch Sarge! Feeling responsible, Axel leads the team on a search-and-rescue mission. (7:45 AM)

May 17th:

Stuck on You - Tired of Axel and the team taking him for granted, Masko tries to get kidnapped and ends up stuck to Dynamo, who's less than enthused with his rubbery new sidekick. (7:30 AM)

Opposites Attract - Claiming he's good at heart, Dynamo convinces Axel and the team to help him find a battery that can power his centrifuge and free him from Madtrap's control - but Bobbie Blobby isn't buying the baddie's story. (7:45 AM)

May 24th:

The Thing in the Wall - When Axel and the team accuse Galileo of stealing their possessions, the lizard must hunt down the true culprit - a mysterious creature behind the wall - to prove his innocence. (7:30 AM)

Madtrap - Madcap and Princess SugarSalt trap Axel and the team inside a Minergy-powered labyrinth that attacks them with their greatest fears, forcing them to work together and escape as a unit. (7:45 AM)

May 31st:

To Tame the Perilous Skies! - With Axel's drone-wing broken, the team must find another way to stop Madcap and his minions as they take to the skies in toy airplanes for an aerial assault on the city park. (7:30 AM)

Four Color Fallout - Axel, Galileo, and Sarge get Minergy-transported by Madcap into the pages of Axel's favorite comic book, the hero of which turns out not to be so cool after all. (7:45 AM)

Teen Titans Go!

May 25th:

Justice League's Next Top Talent Idol Star: Justice League Edition - The Justice League holds yet another talent competition, only this time they're facing off against the Titans. In order to be the most talented superhero team in the DC universe, Robin and Beast Boy must work together on a jazz performance. (6:00 PM)

ThunderCats Roar

Sorry, no descriptions for the last two episodes yet. In fact, the only reason why there’s descriptions at all is because most of these were See It Firsts, as is tradition for ThunderCats Roar.

May 2nd:

Summer Fun Day - The Thundercats are exhausted from fighting bad guys all the time so Lion-O suggests they spend a relaxing summer fun day at the beach, with no fighting! Unfortunately the beach is home to the Crabmen, giant, clawed humanoids that fight anyone who steps on their sand! Looks like summer fun day might involve some fighting! (10:30 AM)

Safari Joe - While minding her own business, Cheetara is caught in a trap set by Safari Joe, the famously annoying hunter! After escaping, she rallies the other ThunderCats to help her stop Joe once and for all, by turning the tables and capturing him! (10:45 AM)

May 9th:

Ratar-O - The ThunderCats have gotten so good at defeating the Mutants of Plun-Darr that it's basically become routine. That all changes with the arrival of the Mutants' old leader: Ratar-O, wielder of the Sword of Plun-Darr! Uh-oh! (10:30 AM)

Prince Starling's Quest - Lion-O is happily playing with Snarf in their "Frolicking Field" and doesn't have a care in the world, unfortunately he's accidentally stomping all over the miniature village of the Micrits! The tiny people want to defeat the "giant orange monster" but such a quest would require a brave hero. Luckily, the Micrits have such a hero: Prince Starling! Now, let us the tell you the epic tale of Prince Starling as he journeys to find the fountain of growth and defeat the wicked Lion-O, who has no idea any of this is going on! (10:45 AM)

May 16th:

Lion-S - Lion-O and the other ThunderCats are thrilled to meet a brand new Thunderian: Lion-S! She's cool, good at fighting robots and, most importantly, thinks Lion-O and his Sword of Omens are really neat and interesting! Looks like the ThunderCats have a new best friend! Maybe even, a new ThunderCat????? (10:30 AM)

Snarf's Day Off (10:45 AM)

May 23rd:

Mumm-Ra of Plun-darr (10:30 AM, half hour special!)

Total Dramarama

Ditto for this show.

May 2nd:

Beth and the Beanstalk - After having a chocolate bar confiscated by Chef, Beth finds herself in a parallel giant world and aims to get back her now giant chocolate bar. (10:00 AM)

Pinata Regatta - Izzy can't bring herself to smash a Pinata during the class' Cinco De Mayo celebrations. But when that unsmashed Pinata comes to life and spawns an evil Pinata Army, it's batter up. (10:15 AM)

May 9th:

A Dame-gerous Game - After Leshawna, Bridgette, Owen and Cody win a Hide & Seek competition, they're trapped on a private island by a jealous former champion and forced to play for their freedom. (10:00 AM)

Royal Flush - When the other kids fear Harold has accidentally flushed himself down Chef's fancy new toilet, they travel into the sewer on a rescue mission. But will they find Harold before the mythical Alligator King traps them underground forever? (10:15 AM)

May 16th:

Total Eclipse of the Fart (10:00 AM)

May 23rd:

Dissing Cousins (10:00 AM, half hour special!)

Transformers Cyberverse

...and ditto here, too!

May 3rd:

Enemy Line - While Optimus struggles to be a leader in peace-time, Bumblebee undertakes a daring mission into Decepticon territory. (7:00 AM)

May 17th:

Thunderhowl - Bumblebee and Chromia travel to Crystal City to recover one of Windblade's psychic shards and encounter a long-lost bot. (7:00 AM)

Wild Wild Wheel - A dangerous lone gunslinger named WildWheel returns to Cybertron looking for Optimus Prime. (7:15 AM)

May 24th:

Alien Hunt! With Meteorfire and Cosmos - Bumblebee enlists washed-up TV show host Meteorfire to help him find another of Windblade's psychic shards on Luna-3. (7:00 AM)

Journey to the Valley of Repugnus - Bumblebee and Grimlock are separated as they search the depths of Cybertron for another of Windblade's psychic shards, encountering the Monsterbots and the Energon Masters. (7:15 AM)

May 31st:

Rack N' Ruin N' Ratchet (7:00 AM)

Dweller in the Depths (7:15 AM)

Victor and Valentino

May 2nd:

My Fair Achi - V&V enter Achi in a dog show competition to win a golden trophy, but their overbearing ways drive Achi to the edge. (9:30 AM)

Oddities - When a mysterious carnival barker fuses V&V together, they must find a way to come unstuck. (9:45 AM)

May 9th:

I.....am Vampier - When Vic enters the Monte Macabre film festival, he gets insecure about his artistic vision and decides to copy the work of others, but ultimately learns that staying true to yourself is what's most important. (9:30 AM)

Victor the Predictor - When Victor becomes convinced he has a special talent as a psychic, he decides to use his new mental abilities to counsel those around him - until one piece of advice goes too far. (9:45 AM)

May 16th:

Kindred Spirits - When Val becomes friends with the ghost of a silent film star, their friendship turns out to have dire consequences. (9:30 AM)

Decoding Valentino - When Val goes on an adventure with Isabella to decode an ancient language, he has to come to terms with the fact that Isabella is smarter in order to save himself. (9:45 AM)

May 23rd:

Journey to Maíz Mountain - When Victor and Valentino destroy Monte Macabre's corn supply, they journey to Maíz Mountain with Sal to replace it. But in order to get the corn, they must shrink down to the size of ants and embark on a mythical adventure that they'll never forget! (9:30 AM, half hour special!)

#bakugan #bakugan battle planet #craig of the creek #dc super hero girls #power players #teen titans go #thundercats roar #total dramarama #transformers #transformers cyberverse #victor and valentino #fpb news #cartoon network

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tpen29 · 4 years

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BIRDS OF THE SAME FEATHER (DAMIRAE)

FAN FIC DAMIRAE EVENTS DURING THE 1 YR BETWEEN JUSTICE LEAGUE VS TEEN TITANS AND JUDAS CONTRACT **AFTER PARTY/TRAINING**

During the pizza party held by Cyborg, Dick aka Nightwing stopped by since Kori asked him if he wanted some pizza also.

After the party Damian walked towards to Raven

“Are you in top condition Raven?” Damian asked

“A bit full, thanks to the pizza” with a faint smile

“Then I suppose there’s nothing to worry about since Trigon’s attack”

Damian left and went to his room.

Garfield asked Jaime “Dude, am I dreaming or did Damian just asked if Raven is okay?”

Nightwing butted in “Give him some time. He’s not really the most sociable person I know due to his childhood.”

Cyborg replied “Just like the Bat himself.

”“Indeed” Nightwing chuckled.

A few moments later, Cyborg and Nightwing bid farewell towards the Titans. Cyborg is needed in the Justice League. While Nightwing has something to do on Batman’s request but they promised he will stop by again in the tower to have some pizza with them.

The next day, each of the Titans has their own agenda until the afternoon training. Raven is meditating in her room, Damian with his solo patrol and training while Garfield and Jaime are playing video games As for Dick and Kori they’re out shopping for the necessities in the tower.

The afternoon training started. Kori wanted to try the new training style that Damian suggested. 2v1 combat since there’s only five of them and they reflected that they got “smacked in the booty” by the Justice League during Trigon’s attack as would Garfield would say.

The first match up was Robin vs Garfield and Kori. As they were warming up Garfield tried to do some trashtalking to Damian for him to lose composure.

“Are you ready to take this big fat L Boy Wonder?” Garfield laughingly shouted

Damian smirked “Just like what I did to you in the carnival Beast Boy”

Jaime shouted “DAAAAAAAAAMN. You just got burned BB”

“Enough! It is time for training”

Instead of being in the defensive side Damian went into offense right off the bat. He dashed towards to Beast Boy but Kori stopped him in his tracks with her startbolt. Damian threw three batarangs to keep her distracted but in the corner of his eye he saw Garfield rushing in as a lion. Damian jumped into the air and tried to do a karate chop towards Gar but he instantly transformed into a mosquito. Damian let out a flurry of slashes towards Garfield until he morphed into an elephant. Damian dodged and kicked Gar with all his might.

As Garfield morphs back into human form

Damian blurted out “Sloppy”

“Yeah you too” as he was shot by Kori’s starbolt

Jaime and Raven went to Garfield

Jaime jokingly says “2-0”

“Not cool man” Garfield grumbled

Raven had a faint smile and went to Damian to check if he was okay

“I’ve had worse injuries than this” as Damian shrugs off the pain from Starfire’s bolt

After a 5 minute break Round 2 of the training started

Damian angrily says “I can still keep on going”

Kori worried, decided to team him up with Raven versus Jaime and his Bug

Just as Round 2 starts Damian swiftly threw batarangs to Blue Beetle and lunged towards him. His pride and anger towards losing made him fight based on instinct.

Raven noticed that Damian is starting to get out of control. She formulated a plan on how to win in the training and also keeping Damian from rampaging further.

Raven kept Blue Beetle distracted by her blasts

Then Damian threw series of fighting combos that he learned from his grandfather and Batman. Blue Beetle got caught off guard with a kick. The beetle let out loud noises signifying that they’re in danger.

“Oh no” Raven muttered

Raven remembered the incident when Damian first came into the Titans, she casted a shield towards Damian.

The shield protected him and waked him up into his senses

Raven collapsed due to being tired

“Dios Mio! I am sorry again Kori…. I”

“Training is enough for today. Everybody take rest, come Damian we must tend to her” as she carries Raven towards her room

Later that night

Raven woke up

“Is this my room?” she asked

“Correct deduction” Damian replied

“Kori stepped out for a moment to bring you dinner and some medication” he added

“It’s nothing. I’m fine just tired”

“You are not fine. Lie down and rest” Damian insisted

Kori entered the room with some porridge and medicine

“Eat this Raven, to regain some strength. I’ll check on Gar and Jaime’s condition”

“Thanks Kori”

As Kori gets out of the room, Damian mumbled

“You’re a great teammate. You possess good qualities in backing up. I hope to see more of that in action”

Then he left towards his room.

Raven smiled, and then began to eat her porridge.

Damian lied down in his bed and whispered “Why can’t I say Thank you” and went to sleep.

#damirae #damian wayne #damian x raven #teen titans #fanfic #dc #birdsofthesamefeather #robrae #love

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halidomhappenings · 5 years

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CLAWS: SELKIE VS CASPAR

ANNA: “Welcome to the Clash of Claws! ... Well, I suppose its not much of a clash of claws just yet; One of our first competitors is a human! Win or lose, whoever moves on will be facing off against great, mighty dragons... Can they do it? We’ll just have to find out. Please welcome Selkie of the Kitsune tribe and Caspar von Bergliez of the Adrestian Empire and the Black Eagles house to the arena!”

EMM: “Wait, Chrom, isn’t that boy down there in a bit of danger? He isn’t a beast race, he can’t transform. He’ll be at a disadvantage for attacking, won’t he?”

CHROM: “Selkie is said to play with her opponents, but given Caspar’s petite and (hopefully) nimble stature, he should be able to dodge to an extent. The smallest targets are always the most difficult to hit.”

Selkie First Strike: 6

Caspar Defense: 9

Selkie transforms in a puff of smoke! She wastes no time in crossing that distance and pouncing at Caspar, though it’s seems she’s taken that warning about Caspar being unable to transform to heart. Her first swipe tests the waters, tagging Caspar on the shoulder with a giggled sound effect of ‘bap!’ and earning herself the first point of the match.

Caspar First Strike: 4 / 17

Selkie Defense: 5 Unfortunately for Caspar, a kitsune’s strength, speed, and endurance is far greater than a human’s. While he’s very quick to counter with a punch aimed for Selkie’s side, the kitsune practically bounces away.

Selkie: 1 Caspar: 0

Chrom: "Caspar seems... Flustered. Was that conceded point my fault?”

Selkie Second Strike: 10

Caspar Defense: 2

Lion’s Paw Bonus: 15

Selkie wiggles her tail in the air as she sizes Caspar up and prepares to pounce once more. Caspar, however, has accounted for her incredible speed this time and throws himself to the side to avoid her, rolling on the ground and getting back to his feet. Selkie reorients, chasing after him as though he’s a very interesting squirrel to catch.

Caspar Second Strike: 14 / 9

Selkie Defense: 13

When Selkie catches up, Caspar is once again prepared for her. He swings a punch, though the kitsune leaps into the air to dodge with a backflip. The height gained from the jump causing her to miss the chance to smack the youth with her tail. When she lands, one might swear the fox is grinning-- Is she just showing off for the crowd now?

Selkie: 1 Caspar: 0

EMM: “Well, Caspar at least seems to be defending himself well out there.”

Selkie Third Strike: 12

Lion’s Paw Bonus: 19

Caspar Defense: 12

Feeling confident from the way the sun is glinting off her beautiful fur, Selkie runs a circle around Caspar in hopes of throwing him off. Caspar does his best to follow, but the kitsune is just too quick for him and she knocks him to the ground and bops his face with her snout, earning her another point.

Caspar Third Strike: 17 / 12

Selkie Defense: 5

Unfortunately for Selkie, tacking Caspar was a very bad idea. Now that she’s on top of him he grabs at her side and rolls, pinning her down and sharply jabbing at her flank to get in a point before she breaks free from his grasp.

Selkie: 2 Caspar: 1

CHROM “Oh - Caspar did score a point! His lack of beast form means he’s at a huge disadvantage on his offense, but then I have heard you can specalise in brawling techniques at Garreg Mach. This must be the result of his studies.”

Selkie Fourth Strike: 13

Caspar Defense: 17

Feeling confident now that he’s successfully scored a point, Caspar is ready to step up his game. Selkie has escaped his grasp by now, but the strike to her flank has slowed her down some. When she rounds on him again, Caspar easily sidesteps.

Caspar Fourth Strike: 9 / 18

Selkie Defense: 5

Finally ready to go on the offensive, Caspar is quick to counter and swing back with his fists, one, two-- The first punch misses Selkie, while the second smacks her side and earns Caspar his second point.

Selkie: 2 Caspar: 2

CHROM “Selkie finally relents! Perhaps treating this as a game uses too much energy?”

Selkie Fifth Strike: 8

FAVOR BONUS: 13

Caspar Defense: 12

Determined not to lose her game now that Chrom has commented on it, Selkie once again pounces at Caspar. She bares her teeth, hoping to catch his arm and take the point-- And succeeds.

Caspar Fifth Strike: 4 / 6

FAVOR BONUS: 18

Selkie Defense: 6

Once again unfortunately for Selkie, her all-out offense leaves her very open to Caspar countering her, and with a very loud cry of “EAT THIS!” the young noble punches her in the snout.

Selkie CORAL Bonus Strike: 5

Caspar Defense: 17 With just seconds left on the clock Selkie tries to tip the odds in her favour with one more hit, but Caspar has wrenched his arm free of her grip and dodges the swipe of her tail easily. The score is tied as the bell tolls!

Selkie: 3 Caspar: 3

TIE BREAKER Selkie: 18 ; Caspar: 19

EMM: “Oh my goodness! Against all odds, that young man did it! Congratulations!”

CHROM: “Perhaps I should introduce him to Vaike? On second thought, maybe not. I doubt Maribelle will agree to patch them up after a week’s straight brawling.”

CASPAR WINS!

#halidomhappenings ;; summer tourney #summer tourney ;; round 1 #summer tourney ;; claws #tourney of shells ;; claws #sireneia #reztactics

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courtneysmovieblog · 2 years

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Trailers: “Avatar 2″ finally is coming

We got a bunch of trailers to talk about:

Father of the Bride: Remake starring Andy Garcia, and the new twist is he’s trying to hide his impending divorce while planning his daughter’s wedding. This might be good, I hope they’ll expand the release beyond HBO Max, or at least put it on HBO so I can watch it next time there’s a free weekend.

Spiderhead: Chris Hemsworth tests emotion-altering substances on prisoners. Pass.

Cha Cha Real Smooth: Bat mitzvah party host (Cooper Raiff) befriends the mother (Dakota Johnson) of an autistic girl. It’s AppleTV and I’m interested enough to watch.

The Gray Man: Spy (Ryan Gosling) vs Psycho Spy (Chris Evans). I hate the fact that I may watch yet another film from the Russos despite how much I detest them, but Chris Evans and his trash stache is just too tempting.

Three Thousand Years of Longing: Tilda Swinton finds a genie (Idris Elba). Okay, George Miller, you have my curiosity.

Beast: Idris Elba vs a monster lion. This is why I would never, ever go on a safari.

Prey: Prequel to Predator. So apparently this thing has been around since the colonial ages. Wow.

Rise: Disney+ Giannis biopic. Not much of an NBA fan, but it does look good.

Luck: Animated movie about a world of luck. Again, AppleTV, so I’ll watch. I mean, it does look cute...

Vengeance: Dark comedy about a podcaster (BJ Novak) investigated the death of his girlfriend, and a bunch of nutty conspiracy theorists. Who might actually be right about some things.

Bros: Billy Eichner writes and stars in a raunchy LGTBQ romcom that will smash stereotypes. And it does look pretty funny.

Catherine Called Birdy: Oh my God, I loved this book when I was a kid! I had no idea it was going to be a movie! Will have to keep Amazon Prime til fall just to watch it!

Avatar: The Way of Water: Wow, and it only took a decade. Yeah, I’m sorry, I was never into Avatar, and I don’t care.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1: Oh COME ON! Now THIS franchise is splitting its movies in half?! Ugh.

#trailers #remakes #sequels #disney+#biopics #romantic comedies #prequels

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metalandmagi · 6 years

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October Media Madness!

It’s the last day of the month, so you know what that means! What-no not Halloween! It’s time to see how one person wasted their time this month by keeping track of all the media they consumed! And if you thought October would mean a lot of horror movies and books and TV shows...you are going to be very disappointed because I’m a fucking wimp who hates horror.

September media

Movies!

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Scott Pilgrim, aka the most intentionally unlikable protagonist ever, has to defeat the seven evil ex-boy...uh I mean exes of the cool girl he’s dating. Yeah, I’m super late to the Edgar Wright party, but since this movie was finally available on Netflix I figured it was time. And it’s pretty good aside from the fact that Scott is the worst. But at least he owns up to it in the end. It’s crazy over the top ridiculous, has tons of little details that film theorists love to salivate over, and Scott’s roommate Wallace is hilarious. I just wish I could hear what Michael Cera says half the time. Oh well, there’s nothing good or bad I can say about this movie that hasn’t been said before. 8/10

Coraline: Coraline Jones, an imaginative young girl with inattentive parents who has just moved into a new apartment, discovers a secret door that leads to a world where everything is better, and everyone has buttons for eyes. However, under the perfect exterior, things are more sinister than they seem. I got the urge to re-watch this because it’s freaking October, and although I don’t watch horror movies, I felt obligated to watch something at least kind of Halloween-ish. And I stand by my long held opinion that this is the all time creepiest movie marketed for children ever made. Literally everything about this movie is creepy. There’s creepy music, creepy dolls being made and following people around, creepy cats, creepy people with buttons for eyes, creepy ghosts of children, creepy children with their mouths shown shut...the list is endless. And Laika never fails to make beautifully animated stop motion. 9/10

Sierra Burgess is a Loser: The latest film in Netflix’s attempt to dominate the rom-com genre, in which an unpopular high school girl ends up texting a handsome jock while leading him to believe he is texting a gorgeous cheerleader named Veronica who also goes to her school.

Okay, this isn’t a bad movie, so let me start with the good. I appreciate the message of how you need to make yourself stand out to colleges and how high school in general is becoming a toxic competitive environment. There’s a lot of good material about living up to expectations and stereotypes, both from Sierra’s side and her partner in crime Veronica’s. And speaking of Veronica, I was completely blindsided by how much of a great character she was and how much she grew throughout the film. I also liked Sierra’s best friend and the love interest, even if they were a little generic.

That being said...I didn’t like Sierra. When main characters intentionally lead people on for no good reason (and thinking some guy you’ve just met isn’t going to text you back because you’re not “conventionally attractive” is not a good reason) it annoys the hell out of me. Not only does she lie through texting him, but she and Veronica lie to his face multiple times. She also does something really horrible to Veronica because of a misunderstanding that could have been avoided if she taken five seconds to use some common sense. She also thinks she’s above doing a simple homework assignment for her poetry class because she wants to be different. I realize she needs to stand out in order to get recommendations for college, but come on. And finally, when she’s upset about how she looks, she blames her parents because her mom is attractive??? Yes it is frustrating to have these brilliant “conventionally attractive” parents, but they always try to build her up, as opposed to Veronica’s mother who only tears her down. I DID NOT HATE HER CHARACTER, but I think she could have been portrayed better. The other major thing that bothered me is that there is the complete lack of proper conflict resolution. All the problems and hurt feelings just magically go away in order to have a happy ending. Overall, the movie’s just okay. 7/10

Howl’s Moving Castle: Sophie, an ordinary girl who gets cursed by a witch, turns into an old woman and ends up working for a wizard who steals hearts. It feels like Studio Ghibli’s version of beauty and the beast, except Howl is the beauty with a questionable personality, and Sophie is the “beast” who whips him into shape...until the second half of the movie anyway. I’d prefer to watch an entire movie of old woman Sophie interacting with the other characters rather than deal with the war aspect of the plot. Anyway, the animation is awesome, and I appreciate the English voice cast...except for the fact that no one had the good sense to use Crispin Freeman as Howl instead of just having him as Turnip-Head! I know lots of people have talked about the differences between the book and the movie, but I like how the movie portrays that even though being old is physically painful, it can also be emotionally freeing. Either way I think Sophie is a great character with a fun sense of humor! 8/10

First Man: The story of Neil Armstrong and the years leading up to the moon landing...which apparently a lot of people didn’t like? Some people are butthurt about there not being a shot of planting the flag (which if they actually saw the movie they would know the focus of the scenes on the moon were to show Armstrong dealing with wonder and grief, NOT rallying together as Americans). Some people are unhappy that an American hero can be portrayed so negatively, and some people just thought it was boring and dragged a lot…

Okay, yes, the movie is a drama that does not portray Armstrong in a glowing light, and yes there are certain scenes that go on too long. BUT I really liked this movie...and this is coming from someone who doesn’t like Ryan Gosling. It is a family drama that captures how different people respond to grief and stress set in the backdrop of the space race. I also liked learning about this period in history and the controversy around the space program in general. It was beautifully shot and had very creative music choices, which was the main reason I saw it in theaters. I came away from it awed and terrified that we basically sent these people to the moon in freaking tin cans, and that in the sixties men shunned their emotions so much that they wouldn’t hug their children before going to space! Overall, it was good in a solid way, but it did drag a bit. 7.5/10

Mama Mia: Another protagonist named Sophie is getting married and invites the three men who could each possibly be her father to the wedding. But who cares about the plot, the main purpose of the film is to show women having fun with their friends! This movie...isn’t exactly good, but it 100% knows what it wants to be and accomplishes that. It’s a wacky, ridiculous, musical romp that people only watch with their friends when they’re plastered because they want to hear ABBA songs. It’s the very definition of a guilty pleasure movie, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I will say that it’s harder for me to relate to because I don’t have friends that I act this ridiculous with, and sometimes it gets to be a bit much. Although, I have seen the Broadway musical and remember absolutely loving every minute of it...so maybe it’s just the movie overplaying it. Oh well, it’s just something fun to have on in the background or watch when you need cheering up! It’s a 9/10 for being accomplishing what it wants and a 6/10 as an actual movie.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: In this Marvel filler episode between Infinity War and Captain Marvel, Scott is under house arrest and Hope tries to get her mother out of the quantum realm. Okay, this was a fun movie with some great moments, but it definitely had its issues. For a movie called Ant-Man and the Wasp, the two did not do much fighting together...or at all until the end. It felt more like an origin to their partnership than a team up movie (and I’d rather have a Wasp and Black Widow team up movie...or all the Marvel women team up movie). It also couldn’t figure out who the villain should be. It’s like they realized half way through writing it that Ghost was way too sympathetic and cool and had to come up with a bunch of more forgettable villains. And because this was more of a hot potato rather than a heist, I didn’t think it was as fun as the first movie overall. HOWEVER I still really enjoyed the inventive action and the characters. I will always watch 2 hours of Evangeline Lilly kicking ass, and Paul Rudd being himself. And I am convinced that Marvel is using The Adventure Zone route of needing competent women to solve everyone’s problems. But the heart of the movie is really family. Hank and Hope, Scott and his daughter, and even Ghost all had very compelling stories that drew me in every time. And that post credits scene...I knew it was coming, but come on! Marvel is the only current studio who can basically do a horror movie “The End…?” in their credits now. 7.5/10

The Chronicles of Narnia-The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Disney version of the classic C.S. Lewis book; come on we all know the story. Okay, I watched this for the first time in several years because I also read the book this month. And holy cow, when you see what material the movie had to work with, this is a freaking masterpiece. It takes a very simple children’s book and turns it into an epic fantasy! The score, the little details, and the setting are all perfect. All the characters are so real and fleshed out AND ACCURATELY PORTRAYED FOR THEIR AGES! All four siblings are struggling with something, and the actors do a great job considering they were actual children while making this! I am so angry that Disney let this property’s potential slip through their fingers because I truly believe that if they kept making movies like this, it could have been their Harry Potter by now. Prince Caspian was also excellent, though I don’t remember much of Dawn Treader, but I think if they put the money and effort into continuing this franchise it could have been great.

One thing I don’t appreciate about the movie is how they reduce Edmund’s mental journey. I have always especially loved Edmund as a character, and something the movie fails to mention is the fact that APPARENTLY in the book the Turkish Delight is enchanted to make whoever eats it think only of eating more and more until THEY EAT SO MUCH THAT THEY DIE?! He’s not just a greedy kid. And there’s a lot more to his time with the Witch that makes his actions easier to understand. Anyway it definitely goes down as one of the best book to movie adaptations I’ve ever seen, and it is on my very short list of movies that are better than the books. 10/10

Books!

The Chronicles of Narnia- The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis: It’s the first Narnia book; we all know the plot. I am one of the many people who had this series read to them as a kid, but it’s been like...eleven years since I actually read these books for myself. Even then I only got to The Horse and His Boy before stopping because it was boring as hell. I’ve been wanting to re-read the series all year, and with only the Disney movies in recent memory, imagine my surprise when I found out that Lewis’s writing style is absolutely bananas! I think he’s acting as some omniscient narrator, but his style is so stream of consciousness it’s hilarious! He constantly addresses the audience in these 2007 fanfiction author-esque asides. The Pevensies are the most posh, old-timey sounding British kids ever, and it’s amazing to visualize children that actually speak like this. Everything happens so quickly because it is 100% meant to be a children’s story, not this epic adventure we all associate with the movies. So...if you’ve never read it before definitely check it out just to discover how utterly wild everything is. My only real complaint is that it’s kinda sexist, and no one except for Edmund gets a character arc. Even though Susan gets a bow and Lucy gets a dagger, they’re treated like they shouldn’t be fighting because they’re girls and not...oh I don’t know...because they’re children! 7/10

The Ladies Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzie Lee: The second installment of...idk...the “Guide” series? I talked about the first book, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue in my May Media Madness, and this book is just as good! This series takes place in the 1700s, and while the first book follows arrogant bisexual disaster Monty, his (boy)friend Percy, and his sister Felicity through a romp across Europe, this book follows Felicity and her friends on a...let’s just say “scientific expedition” involving pirates. The less you know about the plot going in the better. And did I mention her friends include a badass Muslim pirate princess and an Elle Woods-esque dog loving naturalist? And also did I mention Felicity is CANONICALLY revealed as ARO/ACE?! It’s strongly hinted at in the first book, and in this book Mackenzi Lee basically shoves any doubt about it out the window. It’s fun, hilarious, and also heartbreaking at the same because of all the challenges each character faces because they’re ambitious women in this time period. Sometimes it feels a little heavy handed in its feminist messages, but you can’t deny it’s not accurate. I’m really only saying that because I am a woman, and the struggles are nothing I haven’t seen or read before. Anyway, this is a fantastic series that I highly recommend to anyone looking for a fun read, and it gets bonus points for including Monty and Percy being disgustingly in love together! 1000/10

Dear Evan Hansen the Novel by Val Emmich (and also Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul):

Buckle up.

I really love the Dear Evan Hansen musical (which I talked about in my August Media Madness.) The novel is almost a word for word adaptation of the musical, in which Evan, a teenager with anxiety, writes a letter to himself that is stolen by a boy who commits suicide, leading everyone to believe Evan and the boy, Connor, were best friends because they assume Connor wrote the letter to Evan. There is a lot I could say about this adaptation, but the number one thing is: I really don’t know if people who haven’t seen the musical or heard the soundtrack will like it as much. The strength of Dear Evan Hansen is mainly in its performances and its music, and while they tried to work the music in as best they could, I enjoyed the story more because I can link it back to the actors’ performances. Yes, the story is interesting and the message is important, but I honestly don’t know how much people going in blind will like the writing and how the characters are portrayed. Overall, it seemed like a well written fanfic- in a good way, not a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child way. That being said, I did really enjoy a lot of things about this book. They expanded on a lot about Evan’s relationship with his absent father and the aftermath of the big lie. They also expanded on a lot about Connor…

I honestly don’t know how I feel about Ghost Connor. Yes, I’m glad Connor shows up as a ghost in the book. What he doesn’t do is ACTUALLY INTERACT WITH EVAN...LIKE AT ALL! The best parts of the show are when Connor, as a figment of Evan’s imagination acts as a comedic buffer and his “moral center.” However, here ghost Connor exists to give snippets of Connor’s life. He barely comments on what Evan is doing at all even though he sees everything. All of Connor’s sections made me feel like the author was going through the DEH tag on AO3 and picking things to throw in. I liked his sections, but the writers really missed the more entertaining story of having Connor actually commenting about the shit Evan is doing.

So overall, I’d say watch the musical if you can find a bootleg, or at least listen to the soundtrack and then read the book. It was very enjoyable, although I think the ending dragged a bit in its quest to give more closure than the musical. 8.5/10

Bonus Manga

Shimanami Tasogare: Tasuku Kaname, a closeted boy starting his first year of high school meets a mysterious woman named Anonymous who helps him finds solace in a lounge run by other members of the LGBT+ community. This is the kind of manga that really hits and misses for me. It does a great job at portraying the struggles of a community with different sexualities and gender identities, and it has some really great characters and beautiful moments that I really think would be even better animated. But there are some character arcs that I feel are really...incomplete. It feels like the author was rushed into finishing the manga and did the best they could, but certain characters come off as major hypocrites or suddenly act like their arcs never happened. I also appreciate having an asexual character play such a big role, but the chapter where she talks about her identity as a person is just kind of...bizarre. Not to mention I barely understood what was happening for the first couple chapters because everything Anonymous says is so vague. There’s a lot I could say about this manga, but really I think it’s something everyone should read for themselves (and you’ll definitely need your tissue boxes). 8/10

TV Shows!

Arrested Development: “The story of a wealthy family who lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.” Aka Ron Howard narrates the shenanigans of the worst people you’ll ever see. Yes, I finally got around to watching this, and yes the first three seasons are hilarious. It’s got the same beats as a soap opera (twins, adoption, losing limbs in seal attacks), but in a sitcom format it’s genius. The fourth and fifth (or at least what there is of the fifth) are just nothing special in my opinion. I thought the fourth season was structured terribly, and once the family starts getting into politics the show tries to be a form of satire that just doesn’t work for it. Plus I live with a family of Trump supporters; so it’s not as funny when you have to live with the racist people the show is making fun of who take all the “wall” stuff seriously. 8/10

Documental: A Japanese...social experiment/documentary/game show type thing on Amazon Prime wherein 10 comedians all get locked in a room together and attempt to make each other laugh without laughing themselves. The twist is each of them contribute 1 million yen to play, and the winner gets the pot of 10 million yen. In the first season, the show is more interesting as a social experiment than it is funny. You’ll like it if you like Japanese comedy. But the thing about Japanese comedy is...well, just picture an episode of Osomatsu-san, with all the disgusting and bizarre shit they do, and then picture real people. Though I do love seeing the faces everyone makes when they’re trying not to laugh! HOWEVER, the second season is so much better. I was laughing so much every episode that it hardly felt like the same show. They also changed the format a little so there would definitely be a winner at the end of the time. There’s still gross weird shit, but it’s a much better season. I give season 1 a 6/10 and season 2 an 8.5/10

Over the Garden Wall: In case you’ve been skipping the entire season of autumn since 2014, OTGW is a 10 episode miniseries that aired on Cartoon Network detailing the journey of two brothers Wirt and Greg who are lost in a mysterious wood called “The Unknown.” But really the whole thing is like a stuck in Purgatory story. It’s one of those shows that goes from adorable and funny to dark as fuck real quick. I think it’s impossible to go through the fall season without watching this at least once. This is another one of those things where there’s nothing I can say about it that hasn’t already been said. The atmosphere is perfect for Halloween, the characters are great (Elijah Wood voices Wirt, and it’s the best), and there are so many hidden clues that after it aired we all demanded a Gravity Falls crossover…

I could go on. This show is perfect except for the unnecessarily silly school teacher episode...and fact that it goes by too fast...and also the fact that now I know Elijah Wood has an adorable singing voice, and I’m salty that he didn’t really sing in Lord of the Rings. This is the atmospheric “watch it once a year” type of show that we desperately need more of...it doesn’t have to be the same characters or even have the same messages, but dang it Cartoon Network you can’t just give us this masterpiece and walk away!!! 10/10

Yuri On Ice: Yes, the figure skating anime. This is Tumblr so I doubt I need to post the summary of the show, but I do talk about it in my Hufflepuff Anime recommendations post. Since I couldn’t watch the Yuri On Ice marathon (which was coincidentally held on my birthday!) I decided to have my own dang marathon. There’s just so much to love about this anime: the music, the animation, the characters, the diversity, the humor, and the accuracy to the sport. But I think the main reason I love this show so much is because, as someone who watches a lot of sports anime, I really appreciate this show doing something different and focusing on ADULTS WHO ACTUALLY RELY ON THE SPORT AS A CAREER and using drama that way instead of the main source of angst being “we have to win the match for our senpai!” This is one of those shows you can watch a million times and still find new things to love! 10/10

Podcasts!

I don’t know why I made a separate section for this, since I only listened to one.

Hey Riddle Riddle: A podcast with three hosts that go talk about riddles and puzzles (aka puzzies and riddies) and role play various ridiculous answers to them. I started listening to it because Justin McElroy was on an episode, and it was pretty funny. The podcast is interesting and entertaining, except for the fact that sometimes their role playing and improve can go on for too long, and they don’t know when to let a joke die. Also one of the co-hosts is really annoying, but the other two make up for it. 8/10

Honorable Mentions

Camp Camp released a Halloween episode called Arrival of the Torso Takers and I watched it...probably four times...I don’t have a problem.

Some shows I watch on actual television came back this fall! Bob’s Burgers, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Fresh Off the Boat, Speechless, Modern Family (yes I still watch that), and The Good Place!

I don’t know if this was a leak or what, but there’s a new My Little Pony christmas Hearthswarming special, and guys...I thought it was pretty great. Say what you want about this show, but it knows how to do holiday episodes. Anyone who has been a fan for a long time or even fans who have fallen off the show will probably love it. It’s very sweet and never went in the direction I thought it would.

And last but not least, shout out to all the anime coming out this fall...there’s just...so much to watch...please help...

#media madness #long post #hey riddle riddle #yuri on ice #otgw #documental #arrested development #shimanami tasogare #dear evan hansen #the ladies guide to petticoats and piracy #the chronicles of narnia #the lion the witch and the wardrobe #ant man and the wasp #first man #mama mia #sierra burgess is a loser #scott pilgrim vs the world #howls moving castle #coraline

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