#she ra episode 17

[a-suspicious-number-of-ducks]

Hermit-a-Day May, Day 15: FalseSymmetry. Today's style/medium is She-Ra and the Princesses of Power! My thought process for this matchup wasn't particularly profound--I knew I wanted to do someone in She-Ra style, because I adore the show, and the queen of hearts, heads, and body parts seemed fitting for a series about a bunch of strong, terrifying women, one of whom wields a frick-off giant magic sword. Details and references under the read more!

So... I don't really have specific references I can point to, because I just turned on season 1 of She-Ra and watched almost to the end of season 3 by the time I was done with the drawing. Any time I needed to check a style thing, I would just...let the current episode play until I saw an example of the way the animators drew that specific thing. That being said, False's face was primarily referenced from Adora, her knees from Glimmer, and her hands from Entrapta because Entrapta was the first person to have a good shot of their hands while I was looking. Here's a couple pictures of the general style, if you want to judge for yourself how I did at emulating it:

Additional references include False's Minecraft skin (of course) and several pictures of myself doing the pose, complete with sword.

She-Ra's style is very smooth and relatively simple, with broad stretches of plain colors. Shading is rare and usually only for temporary lighting effects, so I left my drawing unshaded. Everything is just so clean, because...it's an animated show and animating fiddly details sucks. I really enjoy She-Ra's character design and art style, so it was a ton of fun to get to try it out for myself.

I had to pay extra attention to the eyes and ears, two of the most distinctive She-Ra style hallmarks in my opinion--as well as the iconic solid shaded blush across the cheeks and nose, but that part was easy. I also had to use a smoother inking brush than my normal toothy ink pen, which meant that inking/lining took forever. That is why this is nearly two hours late. Don't look at me.

Fun fact if you read this far: Catra is around 72% of the reason I finally realized/admitted I was bi at the tender age of like.... 17. She was just too pretty for me to stay in denial.

I feel like I'm forgetting something but it's 3am so I'm just gonna hit post. Cheers!

[tapwater118]

The Post-Split Rant, Part 1

a.k.a.: Grown Adult whines about Baby Cartoon for waaayyyyy too long

BFB Post-Split is my least favorite season of BFDI, this I make no secret. I’m gonna go episode by episode and explain why.

BFB 17

I’ll just get this out of the way now, BFB 17’s animation is the worst part about it. The animation varies wildly both in quality and in style, which is extremely jarring, especially compared to the episodes before and after. BFB 18 also has some of these problems, but it’s pretty much cleared up by BFB 19, so I won’t dwell on it much longer.

I’ll talk more about this later, but this is the start of Taco’s character getting ruined. She starts to become more of an accessory to the other contestants rather than her own person. It starts here with her babying Woody, and in later episodes transitions into chastising Blocky for whatever.

Overall, this is a pretty nothing burger episode (the challenge is boring, one team literally does nothing the whole time), so I’ll talk about Balloony because he’s about to get eliminated.

Balloony should not have been in Post-Split. Literally every character he played off of was put in TPOT, he should have been there too, where he could have stood at least a fighting chance. But in Post-Split? He is up against 13 other characters who are all past season veterans and/or fan favorites, he stood literally no chance. Maybe if they did more with him, he could have survived a couple eliminations, but they don’t. They give him this thing with Lollipop, but do nothing with it apart from Lollipop just saying “Oh we’re friends now I guess”. I was actually shocked to learn that the Post-Split cast was made based on the creator’s picks, solely because of Balloony. I want to know who at JnJ chose Balloony to be in Post-Split, and ask them why they let the writers drop the ball with him so hard.

(Also, side tangent, but did you know that one of the original ideas for the other contestants who didn’t go to Post-Split, rather than give them their own season, was to KILL THEM OFF PERMANENTLY??? Thank crust they didn’t go through with that. There’d be a Pin-shaped hole in my Pin-shaped heart.)

I don’t know how to end this section except FlowerTaco

rotting flesh yuri real

BFB 18

Beginning here is Post-Split continuously shitting on Bubble for no real reason. Here Gelatin bullies Bubble for her accent with no actual punchline other than “oh Bubble died again”. Maybe if there was an actual joke here this’d be better, but the lack of punchline makes that scene just come off as mean-spirited for the sake of it. We’ll see more like this later.

Actually, this episode has a perfect example of Post-Split’s overall writing quality: At one point, Taco mistakes Flower for Dora (continuing a bit from earlier in the episode), and pushes her off the tower, stating that TPOT contestants don’t belong there. TACO SHOULD NOT BE THE ONE SAYING THIS! She was literally there when Dora was eliminated! SHE SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN ANYONE THAT DORA IS NOT ON TPOT!!!!Having any other Have Notter make this joke would have worked so much better, but Post-Split can’t be bothered with keeping up shop like that.

BFB 19

I guess the writers realized they made Taco too much of a pity sponge near then end of Pre-Split, so here they have her just being a dick to Spongy for no real reason. She was there when Loser cut off the friendship bracelet! Holy hell did she get amnesia or something cause what??

It’s pretty obvious here that BFB 19 and 20 were meant to be one episode that got split (heh) due to time constraints, and it shows a lot more here than in 20. In 20, the points gimmick actually has a payoff, whereas it seems like it’s kinda forgotten near the end of 19. Really this episode is kinda just whatever.

There is one positive thing I will say about this episode, and that this episode actually has a great example of how Taco and Blocky’s dynamic should work, wherein Taco actually encourages Blocky to cause mischief rather than heckle him for it. Let them be a dynamic duo, Post-Split! Blocky doing dumb shit and Taco the one behind the (metaphorical) camera egging him on! (Spoiler: this does not happen)

BFB 20

No straw needed. No other comment.

Anyway here’s Ruby on the Sun when she’s supposed to be in the BRB.

Nothing really to complain about here (aside from the fandom fallout of any straw-related comments). This is genuinely one of the best Post-Split episodes (maybe THE best??), and probably one of my favorites throughout the whole series (definitely top 20 I think). The part where everyone gives up on the challenge and just starts doing dumb shit is peak BFDI.

BFB 21

One of the most nothing burger of nothing burger episodes. After coming off of BFB 20 this episode feels so so bland in comparison. Literally most of the challenge is just characters standing around talking to each other, a classic recipe for a disaster challenge. I can’t even think of any actual complaints because of how much nothing happens this episode. Uhh, I guess Taco seems extra whiny about Blocky this episode. A Post-Split classic.

The Loser song is pretty catchy tbh.

Ok, the elephant has been in the room long enough. Let’s talk about one of the three main reasons I’m making this rant. Let’s talk Taco.

Post-Split and the Complete Derailment of Taco’s Character

Taco is my favorite BFDI character, let’s just get that out of the gate. It is no coincidence that a large chunk of this rant so far has been centered around her.

In Pre-Split, Taco is a much, MUCH different character than in Post-Split. She’d do all these daring things for her team, like leading the charge for the basket even through lava which could and did kill her in BFB 1, to dropping down from an in flight rocket in space to try and save her team from the twinkle in BFB 6. She is “bold and courageous”, by Lollipop’s own words.

How she handles these tangible trials is in stark contrast to how she handles trials of emotion, in that she doesn’t. She bottles up her true feelings and emotions, and sidesteps any emotional issue she may have in hopes that it’ll resolve itself. You can see this clearly during her conversation with Bell in BFB 10, and with Barf Bag in BFB 13. Taco tries to just say sorry to Bell and get the twinkle incident done and done with (much to Bell’s chagrin). When Barf Bag brings up Taco’s teammates, Taco tries to deflect, and when Barf Bag keeps pushing the issue, Taco just ditches the conversation entirely.

BFB 15 cements this for me, when Four gives her her happy thought, and she says she doesn’t know how to feel about it. Taco is completely out of touch with her emotions, and this is why she lets her situation with Book get as bad as it does, because she just can’t cope with her feelings and would rather just wait and have everything blow over (like it evidently does during the split).

This contrast of a bold, courageous, honestly leader-type character who cannot for the life of her come to face not only her own emotions but the ones of those around her is just so, so compelling to me. This is why Taco is my favorite character.

And then Post-Split throws all of this away.

Post-Split does absolutely nothing with Taco’s character. She is constantly whining whenever one of her teammates (usually Blocky) so much as blinks the wrong way, and the most she ever does challenge-wise is moving some clouds around as part of a gag. And it’s not like anything precedented this change; she never really resolved her and Book’s issues, there was no moment for this kind of character progression. The writers just forgot how to write Taco. And that makes me sad.

I’m honestly thankful she was eliminated relatively early. Means less time to butcher her character.

Speaking of BFB 22, that’s where I’ll start the next part of the rant. I have some choice words for that episode in particular. I’ll also get to the second main reason I’m making this rant: Firey and Leafy.

Part 2

[spopsalt]

The ones I sent earlier I more or leas grouped by a theme of why I hate them. But I can’t really categorize them anymore. So I bring you…

More miscellaneous She-Ra pins I found while sorting through Pinterest that made me want to die and my commentary on them. Pt. 1

Idk if this is a joke about Catra hurting Adora, or a joke about Adora ‘letting’ Catra hurt her. Either way, I don’t like it. I really feel like this is another ‘Adora=Dumb’ jokes.

Congratulations, you found the only four frames of Adora smiling in this scene, amongst a sea of shots of her being visibly uncomfortable. Personally, I don’t see it as a smile, more of her trying to put on a brave or determined face. But you could also easily chalk these frames up to an animation error. Not that a C//A Stan would listen. You get the idea.

A lot of people say Catra is trying to make Adora jealous here. Nevermind the fact that both her and Catra are teens here, and Entrapta is in her late 20s/early 30s. Also, I find it odd how touchy Catra is and how much she manipulates Entrapta. If the ages were reversed, Catra would look like some sort of ephebophile or groomer. But Entrapta is the adult, and autistic. I’m not sure what that’s to imply. All I know is to me, it reads like a weird situation where the teen is being a predator to the adult, because the adult is autistic and therefore ‘younger’ than the teen. I’m not sure who wrote Catra and Entrapta’s interactions or if they realize how fucked up it is, least of all a show for kids. But suffice to say, I don’t like it.

This one is a fun little exception. I don’t hate the meme itself. But I do hate the fact that it’s right. 2018 Sea Hawk on his own is fine, but I’ll now and forever be slightly pissed off knowing that OG Sea Hawk was a badass, and now we have an arsonist who can’t take anything seriously and who’s only motivation for anything is Mermista. I’m not saying the new SH is bad, but I am saying the OG one is a million times better for numerous reasons.

Another case of sexualizing a minor. And would you look at that, it specifically says ‘small Adora’. Good God, they’re getting younger. I honestly can’t think of a better way they could indirectly say they’re doing this on purpose. It reminds me of that one episode of Helluva Boss at the summer camp, and how ‘Milard’ was being sent nudes despite people thinking it’s a tween they’re sending them to. The fact ‘Milard’ made the same meme face doesn’t help.

Wow. thay's a lot. For number 1: Adora literally looks terrified and uncomfortabe when Catra is attacking her??? She isn't thinking it's cute???

For number 2: She was smiling because she was playing along with Catra's act? You can tell that the smile is very forced, but noooo she secretly loved the dance despite the fact that she was visably uncomfortable.

For number 3: Again, like what you said this was in season 1, soooo Catra would been 17 while Entrapta was in her 30s...yikes. Also yeah Catra is wayyyy too touchy with Entrapta, like touching her hair and like leaning up against her and stuff like that...if the ages were reveresed, people wouldn't be thinking it's some cute thing

For number 4: I think this was a joke, but it still literally made me feel sick <3

[midnightechoes]

Okay, so My Adventures With Superman was everything I hoped it would be and more! Clark is a fun, charming, earnest himbo. Lois is a driven, confident reporter with a knack for finding a story and not really thinking of the trouble it'll get her into. And Jimmie is an eager conspiracy theorist who's ready to uncover the truth with his friends.

I honestly love this version of the main trio. They're funny, energetic, and lively and they go together well. And most of the background characters are fun so far. Perry is fantastic as their perpetually tired and fed up with their bs boss. This Ma Kent is FANTASTIC. And this version of Livewire is an interesting (and hot) take on the character.

And I love how immediately into each other Lois and Clark are. Their obvious crushes on each other is refreshing and done really well, leading to a lot of cute moments just in the first two episodes.

So okay, when I watched this, my first thought, after just "holy shit this is great!" was that WOW, for a completely straight show, it just kind of feels gay. Like, it has a very queer vibe to it. Somehow, despite Lois and Clark being a het relationship it kind of feels sapphic as hell in the way it's done. And I'm sorry, but this version of Livewire was designed for lesbians:

So I looked at the credits, and yep, it made sense.

The show was developed by Jake Wyatt, who worked in the animation department for the Duck Tales reboot and Steven Universe. Josie Campbell is the co-producer, who was a writer and story editor on She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. The first episode was directed by Jen Bennett, who directed 17 SPOP episodes, including Princess Prom, Promise, and Save the Cat. And the second episode was directed by Diana Huh, who was a co-director and storyboard artist on SPOP, and a storyboard artist on the Duck Tales Reboot, Infinity Train, and DC Superhero Girls.

My point is that there are a number of SPOP alum working on this show and it shows because somehow, someway, this silly little (so far) completely het show about one of the oldest superheroes and America's boy scout, feels fresh and gay as hell.

And who knows, maybe there'll actually be some queer content down the line. I mean, Kara is supposed to show up at some point. 😏 A girl can dream, can't she?*

My Adventures With Superman feel fun, fresh, and very anime-inspired and I 100% recommend checking it out. It airs on Adult Swim and HBO Max, and the first episode is free to watch on Adult Swim's Youtube page.

Also, I want you all to know that I worked really hard to make this a decently coherent post and not just a lot of squealing about how great this show is and how adorable fucking Clark and Lois are.

*For real, if, against all odds, this show was somehow the show that pulled off Supercorp, I would LOSE. MY. MIND. I know, there is a 0.0002% chance of that happening, but again, a girl can DrEaM!

[alastair-1205]

Episode 19 reactions

Why is every version I find of this ep specifically noticeably shitty. Oh well

Aye its that one temple we see all the fucking time

ANOTHER FLASHBACK OK

Oh that’s fucking creepyyyyyy

Oh its the furry masks 

NO

WHAAAATTT

HOW OLD IS RAS????

Also that’s fucking sadistic 

Also also would explain the control chip thingy more 

Unless it’s like an ancestor? It sounds like a different guy 

Ok so it was ancestors 

Kinda weird that Ras doesn’t like dragons then…

Yea I’m not surprised they have their own agenda here lol. Ras probably suspects it too knowing him. Or maybee this was the one thing he overlooked

Old bitch

She swapped the books 100%

Called it

Waddup Wu

Oh Arin is so gonna interrogate that ghost 

Were there always monasteries in each realm or??? 

And why is this one the hub for them I wonder

COLE AND WU 

They are special to me <3

Oh that’s kinda morbid- 

Cole why are you that shocked man this is like the 5th time smth has been his fault lmao

They are not having a good time rn

So you can inhale the smoke-

The most vague advice ever lol

Poor Sora is talking at a wall rn 

OH YO THIS GUY! ZERT!

I like his voice :)

SO IT IS RACISM-

OH WIT THATS WUS VA ISNT IT

Since when does the stick have buttons??

Hey she kinda did it tho!

AYO SORA THAT LINE GOES HARD

I fucking love Robie man

That’s a lot of information being thrown around

Is it really that hard to believe Lloyd? 

At least he didn’t outright deny it

I hope he’s not distracted from helping Sora now 

OH NO

OH SORA YOU MAY HAVE JUST FUCKED US ALL

Even Robie knows it’s bullshit 

Is she fucking alive???

KAI AND BONZEL

Damnit Kai 

They are very stuck now. Congrats 

LLOYD BEING A GOOD MENTOR

Are they just gonna have to not have powers for a while then?? 

OBJECTION LMAO

Fuck yea wyfy get his ass 

SEE I KNEW THE EXTRA BOT WAS TO THROW OFF SUSPICION Im so smart 

HES FUCKING SHAKING LMAO

Aw now that’s just mean :(

This kids like 16/17 MAX bro 

Robie rn: Bitch are you fr-

That should not have worked but ok 

Oh this seasons ending on a cliffhanger isn’t it 

OH DAMN 

Ah so that’s why Ras is red now 

A WAY TO BRING BACK KAI 

Oh they’re gonna have to work with Ras aren’t they 

Poor fucking Jordana she didn’t sign up for all this 

WTF IS THAT

Cinder probably enjoys this tbh

[tokuvivor]

Hello, my duck-loving friends. In lieu of @violetganache42 providing highlights from last night’s Movie Night (Duckburg Adventures edition), I’ll actually be taking a crack at it.

Chef Donald

Ass shot opening

@shewhowantsmouseears: “This is one of those ‘Donald is trying to live his life and god said fuck you’ shorts, I can tell already”

Trans Donald talk (egg laying)

Waffle misadventures ensue when Donald pours rubber cement into the batter

He’s gonna get his waffles or die trying

Donald’s angry squawk

Taking his anger out on Old Mother Mallard

Seriously, what did she do?

Send in the Clones

@writebackatya comparing the ‘87 theme to Hall and Oates

Breaking the rules of strictly Duckburgian adventures

Poe

Beagle Boys sounding like Meowth

Magica’s voice sounding more Slavic than Italian

Mel and I making references to Natasha from Rocky and Bullwinkle

Dewey’s voice changing?

The Beagle Boys (as the triplets) not wanting to wear their suit jackets

OG Webby!

NO NOT THE DOLL

Webra Walters with the Baba Wawa voice (shoutout early SNL)

Everyone is confused by the clones

“I haven’t eaten in minutes.”

Cracker-snatched

Theme song moment!

Scrooge racism moment

Huey as Chicken Little

Splatter Phoenix is art lesbian Jesus

Another theme song moment!

“Banned!” “That’s my joke!”

Daytrip of Doom!

Missy wanting to smash Scrooge

Webby is scary (and adorable)

Beakley being mad about Scrooge reconnecting with his family

“Ow, my tailbone!”

“Uh…ocupado.” “House meeting. NOW.”

@alex31624 singing the Spanish DuckTales theme

Louie sitting away from the other kids

Dana Terrace!

Beakley’s rules

“Wait, are they gonna kiss?”

Funso’s Fun Zone (“Where fun is in the zone!”)

Dewey definitely taught his brothers to harmonize

Webby autism moments (there are many in this episode, believe me)

Will talking about the parallels between Daytrip of Doom! and Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!

“Unrealistic for children to act like that.” Bitch what

Webby’s first time on a bus

Beagle Boys!

Fuckin’ Timmy Jenkins

Louie showing Webby the ropes

Jane! (Will, you’ve convinced me on just how great she is)

Not water

Jane tries to help Webby

Fruity water

Jane and Gandra are definitely friends

Uke or Puke!

WEBBY KILL

Beakley basically watching a Donald Duck cartoon

HDLW siblings real

Ma Beagle in the house!

Margo Martindale is a legend

Comparison to Mama Fratelli from The Goonies

Episode with ‘87 vibes (this and The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!)

Webby wants to be normal

“Normal’s overrated.” “We need you to be Webby normal.”

Discussing autistic episodes

DONALD KILL

Webby getting the best of Ma

Donald hug

“I’m on Webby’s team!” -HDL

How did Donald not know Beakley was a spy?

Dough Ray Me

White Fenton jumpscare

@godfrey-the-chaos-duck and Will: “You know what else has an arcade?” “My mom!” “…the server.”

Fenton taller than Scrooge

Ghostbusters reference!

Fenton being voiced by a guy named Hamilton and Hamilton himself

OG Gyro

Lin-Manuel Miranda being a legend for saying this

Godfrey putting the do-re-mi pun together

Gyro being an ass to Fenton in ‘17 is karma for ‘87

Fenton’s vampire look

Minor Fenro discourse

Economics lesson!

HSM reference (status quo)

Nice jail cell

German inflation after WWI

Club Penguin reference (there were a few mentions of Club Penguin last night)

Gosalyn would take advantage of fraudulent allowance

Scrooge is pissed

To the moon (like Della)

Going full Peter Griffin

Beakley needs booze (also, Lady Olivia reference)

Reference to a fic about Scrooge having a mental breakdown regarding his riches (Cape Town, 1913)

Swimmin’ Hole

Summer!

Pete Hate Club is back

He took the swimming hole!

Electric fence

“We killed Holey!”

@violetganache42 and I referencing the Suite Life PRNDL scene

Bambi reference

Mickey is too nice

Who is Gizmoduck?!

Spam’s love for Mark Beaks

Huey helping Donald at the bank

Everyone is threatening Huey tonight

Fenton!

Huey’s big eyes when Roxanne Featherly interviews him

Goldie O’Gilt as a Christ figure

Incompetently dangerous or dangerously incompetent?

M’ma!

Mark and his ship names

The Gearloose Hay Wire

Huey climbing up Gizmoduck

Mark is Jasmine from Aladdin

Fenton’s destiny

“You will be mine.”

Gyro firing Fenton

Waddleduck

Huey being extra

“In the recycling, you monster!”

Mark being racist

That’s not Gizmoduck!

“I am not your amigo.”

More Huey climbing

Fenton sacrifices himself…but he’s alive!

He still can’t get his damn respect from Gyro, though

Waddleduck song in the ending credits!

The Good Muddahs

Webby episode!

No one wants to play with her

Someone please give this child a hug

Beagle Babes!

Why do they have globes on their chests?

Pink gun

They got Webby!

Beakley said “hussies” holy shit

Thugs and kisses…

The cops in this episode are immensely fucking stupid and useless

HIS WEE WEBBIGAIL

Beagle Babes with Webby

They’re trying, and so far, they’re failing

That’s not Cinderella

Okay they’re bonding with her good

Shoplifting list!

Pulling a gun on your sister

@hueberryshortcake: “She has two ladylike charms. Sorry.”

Beakley is pissed

Bubba nose

They found Webby! She doesn’t want to leave, though. But what if…

THEY RUINED HER

Webby with a gun help

Bagel Beebs

The boys driving the car

Beagle Babes reformed…wait, they want to go back to jail

Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!

Team Magic!

Tempest in a teapot

Missy’s love for Della

Legends of Legendquest!

Goldie!

“Scariest bunny in the pet shop”

Scheme Team ready to go

Huey farming

Della’s snatched waist

Beagle Boys sweep!

Guhmeemama

“Hellowyn, Llewellyn.”

Honey Bin

Percival P. Peppington (knockoff Willy Wonka)

The child! (Boyd)

Glomgold and Sharkbomb!

“Grandma…OW!…super young aunt”

“Hi, I’m BOYD!”

Lester’s Possum Park

The Duke

A wild Launchpad appears!

Goldie’s legs

Glomgold-Sharkbomb fight!

“Don’t tell me what to DOOOOO!”

#You’reAllWet

Boyd and Gumball sharing a VA

Not the farm!

Goku Huey!

Beaks Optimistic Youth Droid

Boyd goes berserk!

“I swore after last year no one’s eyes would melt out of their heads!”

Goldie betraying Louie

Fucked-up Boyd moment, continued

Goldiemama

“It’s over 9,000!”

HUEY KILL

“This is worse.”

Boyd is Doofus’ new brother

Mr. and Mrs. Drake growing spines and punishing Doofus

Accidental Timephoon! reference?

Huey’s in too deep

Louie’s picture in Goldie’s wallet!

And there you go! Better late than never, I guess. I tried to get in as much as I could. If I missed anything, feel free to add.

[thenotebookwizard]

She-Ra | Defiance CH 17: Politics & Perfidy

Catra confronts the Royal Council, taking on the mantle of Princess politically for the first time - and discovers Halfmoon's politics are just as convoluted as the Horde's. As Princess, she has political power and thus, politicians have plans for her.

These two scenes are almost unrecognizable from their very first drafts. They have evolved so very much, and I am very proud of that. Oddly, most of Catra's dialogue hasn't changed much. But a lot of Catra's dialogue in the Council meeting is inspired by J. Michael Straczynski's writing on his series Babylon 5.

J. Michael Straczynski also wrote the original She-Ra episode "Magicats" and may have, in fact, created magicats and Halfmoon itself. It felt fitting.

For those interested in the story behind Catra's piercings, check out my side-story Arguments & Apple Candy.

There's no escaping how much of an impact Babylon 5 has had on me as writer, a reader, and a person. Star Trek was my first fandom, and Star Wars has burrowed into my heart and psyche, but I re-watch Babylon 5 once a year. The dialogue, the story, the themes Straczynski explores speak to me.

I also think Babylon 5 is a fantastic example of how to tell a story, how to use an ensemble cast, and how to deal with a growth of scope and breadth in story. In a lot of ways, as both the creator of magicats and Halfmoon and as the creator of Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski has created much of inspiration for Defiance - and my other writing.

Catra's words to the Council echo the beginnings of the political and philosophical journey of a Babylon 5 character and she is facing her own version of that character's nemesis - though Catra's nemesis hasn't quite been revealed yet!

A lot of the themes I touch on in this chapter, and a lot of the plot elements raised in it, won't get fully explored until the second half of my second arc. After Catra and Adora are standing side by side once again.

But they will play out and they will be important. There are hints in this chapter of important things to come, but those hints my not be apparent until much, much later. A lot of the stage is being set for arc two now, at least as far as Halfmoon goes.

We have a couple of Adora chapters coming up, including the revelation of what effect Catra reaching out through the Spirit Ember has on Adora, and what Adora's life in the Horde is like. I'll warn those of you have mentioned things; Adora's story is much darker, much bleaker than Catra's, at least for now.

But I am, in the end, not a darkfic writer. While there is darkness in my fics, and there is darkness in the world they live in, I am far more of a noblebright writer than I am a grimdark writer. While the term originates from tabletop RPGs (so much of my writing vocabulary is tabletop RPGs or fandom lingo, let's face it), it has broken containment and entered into the world of fantasy literature.

J. Michael Straczynski - and JRR Tolkien - were both noblebright writers, I think.

Of course, the genre is just a genre, but it's the best word I (currently) have to explore the concepts I'm writing about. Whether or not its wholly accurate remains to be seen. As per usual.

None the less!

The genre doesn't mean there isn't great darkness or dark paths characters walk. It does mean there are ways out and through the darkness, to be a better future. A better path.

Adora is walking the darker path - this time. Our show certainly had it the opposite. But Adora, as a character, has always known certain truths about the world. Her path was a hero's path from the beginning, because she wanted to save Etheria. Either from the Princesses or the Horde - she always wanted to save the world.

She never gives up wanting to save the world. Save her friends. It didn't matter who stood atop the mountain and said 'you cannot; the world is mine and I bring darkness with me'

Adora stood up and said: "No. You don't."

To Shadow Weaver. To Hordak. To Horde Prime.

Even when Etheria was invaded, beset by clones and chipped, enslaved people, Adora stood up. Again and again.

And at the end, she was willing to die to save the world. We can talk about her martyr complex (she has one!) and we can talk about her not knowing what she wanted. (Though, I think she always knew what she wanted - she just never believed she could have it.)

At the end, she was willing to lay down her life for others, in the dark - where no one would know. No one would sing her praises. Just because it was the right thing to do. And she knew, even if she failed, another you stand up in her place. And another. And another.

As dark as Adora's path is going to be, and as hard as it will be read (and write!) - Adora never learned the preeminent truth of her age: that hope died with the first Princess Alliance.

[the-rewritten-railway-au]

Rhys

🩷 Autumn 1899; December 1968

CW/TW: Pre-transition period (Edward), hostile work environment, gaslighting, mentioned character death, mentioned workplace violence

Buckled Tracks and Bumpy Trucks - Season 20 Episode 17 (edited)

Word Count: 1,823

Someone else was his first love interest.

A/N: "Rhys" is pronounced "reese." I didn't come up with that, btw. His crew did.

~

In the chilly autumn weather, passengers walked about Barrow-in-Furness Station. The leaves cluttering the ground crunched as folks stepped on them, awaiting the next passenger train.

A sharp whistle, reminiscent of the squawks of seagulls flying by coast line, went off in the distance, pulling in the passengers’ attention to the Indian-red tender engine approaching. She steamed into the station with a range of blue coaches with white trim, easing to a stop.

She was a Class 21, a class of engines dedicated to express passenger services. The sunlight reflected against the brass trim of her splashers and brass dome, giving it a gleaming shine. The oldest of the Class 21s greeted the awaiting passengers with a warm smile, as steam gently spewed from her chassis.

The weather was nice that day. There was no wind. Just the gentle breeze against her frames. It was like a soothing touch, which she appreciated.

Coming in the opposite direction, a small four-driver tender engine came by, hauling a goods train for someone else to take care of. Once he blew his whistle, the eldest Larger Seagull groaned. She would be foolish to not recognize it.

“Guid day, Coppernob,” she greeted through clenched teeth, trying to sound as nice as possible. Her crew reminding her to be nice to the elderly engine had become a daily routine, despite how arrogant and bossy he was. She didn’t need to turn the scolding into a daily thing.

Coppernob wasn't taking her forced greeting. “Don't treat me like a fool, young engine!” he hissed. “Such disrespect. You're better than that.”

“I wid if ye'd just go awa’,” she grumbled, “and didnae go around, gossipin’ aboot me.”

“It’s for the well-being of others, Alice,” he reminded her as her crew hushed whispers, telling her to knock it off. “We can't have your reckless behavior ruin the reputation and workflow of the Furness.”

Alice scoffed. “It’s always aboot thaim wit’ ye.”

“Bunny!” hissed her driver.

Before Coppernob reprimanded her, a Furness Railway 7 class steamed up to the platform adjacent to Alice’s. Unlike Coppernob, he had splashers, designed in a style similar to hers.

“Good day, you two,” he greeted. “Anything new I missed?”

“Nah! Nah!” Alice squawked out, immediately blushing out of embarrassment from the slip-up. She ignored the piercing glare from FR No. 3. “Nawthing new, Rhys.”

Rhys hummed, not convinced. A Furness engine would have to be a fool to not notice the conversation from kilometers away. And not to notice how furious the glare directed towards him was. However, he chose not to poke any further. Yet.

Alice’s guard blew his whistle, interrupting the thoughts going through the engines’ minds.

“Och!” she perked up. “Thon’s me. Guid-bye, Rhys!” With a quick whistle that resounded throughout the station, Alice departed from Barrow-in-Furness, heading north on her railway line, the Cumbrian Coast Line.

Once she was gone, Rhys sighed before glancing at Coppernob. “What is it you have against me?”

Coppernob didn't respond. Instead, he stormed off, leaving the other confused.

…

About a week later, Alice and Rhys met again but at Roose Station. The latter had finished telling a story that left Alice squawking.

There was just something about spending time with Rhys that comforted Alice, making her feel warm and appreciated. It was different to the way her sisters would comfort or check up on her every evening, especially if she’d had to defend one of them from one of the other Furness engines.

It was different, yet she couldn’t figure it out.

As she calmed down, a saddle tank engine pulled in, hauling a small freight train of steel rails, coming from the Barrow Haematite Steelworks.

“Diane!” exclaimed Rhys, noticing the black tank engine. “How’s the Steelworks going for you?”

Diane gave a quick smile to Alice, who smiled nervously, before replying. “Exhausting!” she exclaimed. “But it's good work!”

“Good to hear, dear! Good to hear!”

“You know, I’m surprised the old horse hasn't tried physically separating you both,” Diane noted. “He complains about you two whenever he runs out of things to whine about.”

Alice hummed, her freckled face crunching at the mention of Coppernob. “I din’ get why he diz’nae want me near Rhys. He diz’nae make sense aboot it.”

“Remember, dear,” Rhys assured. “He just… wants the best for you.”

The Larger Seagull frowned.“Well, he huz a funny way o’ showin’ it.”

Just then, her guard blew his whistle. With a heavy sigh, she bid farewell to the other two engines and promptly left.

Once she was gone, Diane shot a glare at Rhys. “Have you told her?”

The 7 class winced.

“Rhys!” she scolded.

“I know! I just-” He took a deep breath. “It’s too soon. We don't know when.”

“But it’ll be soon, Rhys!”

“I’ll tell her tomorrow, I promise!”

“You better!” she exclaimed before steaming off to Ravenglass, leaving her friend to go his way with the daunting thoughts in his head. His crew tried to soothe him, but it only made him feel more guilty.

…

“Alice! Stay away from that engine!”

Her safety valve was ready to burst. Earlier that morning, she fended off one of the Seagulls, her predecessors, up at Foxfield after seeing them pester one of her baby sisters. The utter annoyance those older engines could be.

And then they wonder why they could’nae get me and ma sisters tae ‘behave’ being the thought to go rampant in her mind after every confrontation.

“Bug’ aff! I'm no’ dealin’ wit’ ye today!” yelled Alice before storming off.

Coppernob chased her down. “Listen to me, young lass-!”

“Shut it!” she screamed. “Yer raps ma knittin’!”

“Watch your tongue-!”

“Or whit?” she taunted. “Whit'r ye goin’ tae dae? I'm no’ afraid o’ ye!”

“I want you to get away from that engine…” hissed Number 3, the words seething like painfully hot steam. “And you will do it as soon as you see him.”

“Ye cannae control me!” Alice argued. “Why is it thon when I’m finally doin’ better, it’s all wrong?”

“It wouldn't be wrong if you weren’t acting like that with him!”

Still furious, she looked at him confused. “Like whit? Whit’re ye implying?” she questioned.

Coppernob stared at her in horror, eyes going wide.

The look brought tension to Alice’s frame. “Copper-?”

“You can't even see it, can you?”

“See whit-?”

“You’re too far gone,” he mourned.

“Excuse me-?”

“Stay away from Rhys,” he hissed. “I don't want to find out that he’s broken the same way you are.” With that, he steamed away, returning to his work leaving a stunned Bunny behind.

“Broken…?”

…

That evening, Alice returned to her shed, only to find Rhys, resting in a siding. His crew were smoking cigarettes, unaware of the larger engine. Coppernob’s words had stung her to the core. She spaced out momentarily when Rhys called out for her.

“Alice! There you are,” he hollered, alerting his crew. They quickly climbed aboard into his cab. “Listen. I-”

“Am I broken?”

“...Pardon?”

“Am I broken, Rhys?” she asked again, looking Rhys straight into his eyes. “Coppernob said I’m broken.”

“What-?” He was dumbfounded as he approached the young Victorian engine. “No, of course not, Alice! Don't listen to Coppernob. His age is getting to him,” he reassured her.

“Okay…” was all she said before letting the silence overtake.

Her mood upset Rhys, making him rethink his choice. Should he? He didn't want to upset the young engine even further, but she needed to know.

It would be worse if she went about her life, not knowing what happened to her dear friend.

“Did… ye want tae say somethin’?” asked Alice after a while of silence. “Sorry if I-”

“I'm being withdrawn.”

Bronze pupils shrunk as her eyes went wide. “Ye're what-?”

“I'm being withdrawn, Alice. I don't know exactly when… but it might be soon,” he stated, carefully wording his sentences.

“Soon? How long have you known?”

“Alice-”

“How. Long?” she asked sternly. Her eyes burned in frustration and despair.

Rhys sighed with guilt. “A month.”

“And you didn't tell me?”

“I don't want to break you.”

“Break me?” she scoffed, offended as tears brewed up and her voice began to crack. “I'm not fragile, Rhys!”

“But you're still growing out of your old behavior!” he exasperated as both crews held onto the brakes of their respective engines. Alice’s crew held extra tight, making sure they didn’t let go as their engine tended to be hostile, especially out of emotion. “Alice, please promise me you won't go back to your old self.”

“Rhys-!”

“Alice, please,” he begged. “Please, do it for your sisters. For Diane. For me. The board isn't going to tolerate it any further, and you know that.”

At the mention of her little sisters, Alice agreed. “I promise, Rhys,” she sobbed. “I promise.”

…

“I hope ye're happy,” Alice sneered. It was the following morning and she’d come across Coppernob at Barrow-in-Furness once again.

“What?” scoffed Coppernob.

“Rhys is bein’ withdrawn.”

Shock went through the older engine's frames. “Whatever for?”

“I dinnae ken. Go ask him yerself,” she sneered.

“Alice!”

“Dae me a favor and boil yer smokebox,” she hissed before storming off, jerking the coaches by accident. The sentient ones yelped and her passengers were startled as her crew scolded her severely, and Coppernob called out for her.

She blocked out the sounds of the world around her as her four driving wheels pushed her north towards Foxfield.

.

.

.

Later that week, Rhys was withdrawn. He was able to bid farewell to Diane but not Alice. Diane was the one to break the news to Alice.

Alice broke her promise.

And Edward made a realization.

Rhys, I’m so-

“Edward?”

Said engine jerked, accidentally jostling his trucks.

A few days had passed since he left the Steamworks with his pistons fully repaired. He’d spent a week waiting for the parts to arrive.

“Did you even hear what I was saying?” James asked again, concerned as the extra Troublesome Trucks Edward hauled yelped and complained.

“Guidness, naw,” Edward replied, guilt building on his panic. His freckled cheeks burned. “Och, dear. I’m sae sorry-!”

“Are you okay?” James interrupted. “You spaced out for a bit.”

“Er, somewhit?”

“We can stop-”

“Naw, naw!” he exclaimed. “No need to! It's just- You reminded me of something.”

“Something you'll tell me?” James asked with a glimmer of curiosity in his heterochromatic eyes.

“N-No’ today…” He looked down. “Sorry.”

“Oh…”

“B-But-!” Edward stammered, “what about your adventures on the Mainland, hm?”

“You're gonna have to be more specific, Ed,” chuckled James.

The smaller engine pieced together what he could recall from the conversation that had taken place. “That incident with the twins! Up in Whitehaven?”

James winced playfully. “Oh, what a mess that one was-”

As James continued to ramble on, Edward's mind focused in. But not after he processed what he'd realized.

I wis in love wit’ Rhys, and I didnae even ken…

~

AND then his twin baby sisters were built the following year and things are all good again, right...?

...right? :)

Well damn, i guess I did end up writing a story before the 1910s ovo ANYWAYS, first EoSR story of 2024 and it ended up being a ship-verse story but its angst-

very normal muxse behaviour

i got to actually sit down and work on Edward's backstory a little more. It was EXTREMELY vague before so hopefully this starts adding up, especially for "You've Got Mail." (i'm a bit all over the place with my fics)

Being the oldest of a new generation is already a lot of pressure but how would it feel when its tradition for them to try to shape you in a way that is deemed appropriate in your railway. This usually works but Edward was different.

Notes:

Rhys had zero romantic interest in Edward.

Rhys' basis: 16 - FR Class A3 0-4-0 - built 1858 by W. Fairbairn & Co., Manchester - 1899 withdrawn

Introduced Diane (FR 17 "A5" class) and Old Coppernob (FR 3 "A2" class) sooner than I thought ovo Oh well.

The family relations on the Furness are a bit odd because the A2, A3, and A5 don't have a specific designer, just like the K2s. Just know that Edward isn't related to them. To my understanding, the Furness Railway 21s were designed by Sharp, Stewart & Co. Neither Pettigrew or Mason designed them. Same goes for said classes. Only the A5s were built by Sharp, Stewart & Co. but in the original Manchester location.

^ that being said, Diane and Edward are probably distant cousins for that reason, but Old Coppernob and Rhys aren't related to them. :p

Rhys translates to "ardor" in Welsh. Ardor means a strong intense feeling, which i think perfectly describes what engines feel when they're in love. :)

there was a lot of back and forth on previous love interests for these two. at one point, i considered Goldilocks to be James' first love interest but went against because i just thought it was weird and it would imply that Edward is a replacement for Goldilocks. I did not want that so i scrapped it.

Edward and Old Coppernob are basically the failed unintentional attempt of a healthy father-son relationship. They're both at fault for this. (yes, Edward has daddy issues. it just kinda happened but it also feels like it makes sense considering his role as the oldest and the issues he has)

guys i dont JUST write angst, i swear- :((((

evidence:

ps if i made you sad, read "He Squawks!" (one of my favorites /bias) it has pre-2x5 fluff + silliness (not the main focus but the silliness is :p the screenshot is unrelated :p)

[keef-a-corn]

I came across your blog while surfing the tfe bumblebee tag, and read some of your tfe posts. I would love to hear your rant if your still interested in sharing :) .

SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER TO ANSWER!

*insert the ‘you want to hear about my theories?!’ Audio from She-Ra*

This is the worst mistake you’ve ever made, thank you.

Now *cracks knuckles* Let’s talk about TFE Bumblebee. (all screenshots are unrelated, just wanted to spice up the post)

First and foremost- BEST VA CHOICE FOR BUMBLEBEE EVER. (With the exclusion of the beeping voice) I usually don’t like Bumblebee voice actors because somehow they’re always wrong. Like there’s always slightly off. But this time I think it was perfect.

Then you have his design- which is sinfully beautiful. He took ‘cute and hot’ put it into a blender and made it a new definition. That definition being ‘TFE Bumblebee’.

He’s a ten but he has cheese knees.

Now I cannot have a good thing without complaining about it, that’s just how I roll..

His relationships and decisions..

Him and Arcee? I love their siblings vibe, silly af.

Bee and Alex? 10/10

Bee and Breakdown? Gay. Gay af. So gay they don’t even know.

Like Bee and the other human Maltos usually just coexist. The Terrans see him as a teacher- that’s about it.

I WANNA KNOW BEE’S DYNAMIC WITH ELITA-ONE AND MEGATRON SCREEEEEE

Because I don’t fraggin know! We hardly see them interact.

ESPECIALLY Megatron and Bumblebee. We got one episode where they properly interacted and it was disappointing.

I want more Wheeljack and Bumblebee. I need them to have a dynamic too..

Now finally.. finally my least favourite dynamic.

What. The. Fuck. Is. Up. With. Optimus?.

Really?.

R e a l l y ?

I hate the running gag that Optimus never picks up Bee’s calls. Optimus is his mentor..

I hate to do it again-

Like during… episode 9? When Bee and Optimus were along they were making small talk. SMALL. TALK!

WHY THE FRAG WERE THEY MAKING SMALL TALK?! OPTIMUS STOP LEAVING YOUR CHILD ALONE FOR SO LONG YOU HAVE TO MAKE SMALL TALK!

(I strongly believe Bee could've fit)

Okay- as for the decisions..

Can we leave the ‘not gonna get stronger characters/characters in charge to help’ prompt in the past? PLEASE?!

If you’ve read my TFP ep notes, you’ll know I find it annoying when they don’t involve Optimus in situations that he needs to be involved with by excusing it as ‘him being busy’.

I hate how often in happens in TFE- especially so when related to Bumblebee.

Like why did he choose not to call Optimus, Megatron, or Elita-One during Family Matters?! Or during episode 17 & 18?! Why did he claim he didn’t have time to caLL FOR HELP AND INSTEAD RECRUITED THE CHILDREN?!

Because no one would help.

Because he’s called Optimus in times of need and he wouldn’t help because he wouldn’t pick up.

That better be it.

I want little Bee boi taking on too much because he doesn’t trust the older bots anymore. Not because of GHOST, but because he doesn’t believe they’ll actually commit.

Also as another person mentioned to me once- It's annoying how when he's absent literally no one cares. Like come on! BE SAD! ACKNOWLEDGE HIS ABSENCE!

I sincerely hope that in the future of this show they give Bee a proper recovery arc and give him a bit of a rescuer complex (Or saviour complex- either way the idea that Bumblebee feels the a desire to help others, that he's responsible for their safety yadda yadda yadda.) Final point, and this is just a general- I hope they give the other bots survivors guilt. I just think that should be thought about. Sorry this took forever to share, I started writing then I never got back to it-

[mislamicpearl]

Thoughts on DR S2 episodes 16-17:

These two episodes were SO good!

Spoilers below

Aww, Zane patting Lloyd's shoulder as he breathes a sigh of relief.

Dang, I really wanna see Zeatrix get revenge on Ras honestly.

Wait a minute wait a minute, the forbidden five member that's with Ras has an elemental power? What is it?? He never uses it in the games, he just uses shatterspin!

Yo, Arin was finally able to do proper spinjitzu just from one short session of second-hand teaching from Frack. I can't wait for him to throw that in Lloyd's face!

But also his tornado had some shatterspin lines in it?? Was I seeing that right?

I literally said out loud "if Lloyd loses to this guy (invisible man) that would be REALLY pathetic!" But no, he's protected by his protagonist status. Sora and Nya were protected by their girlboss status. Cole and Zane unfortunately had neither so they had to be cannon fodder.

Wow I was certain they were going to pit Cole up against Geo. Still sucks he lost though (but still not as embarrassing as Zane, who literally just had to fight a dude *still grumbling*)

OMG Cole falling a long distance AGAIN ahahaha!

BUT this time he finally learned and used earth bending to catch himself up! Nice.

"I can't control metal!" You should attend Toph's metal bending school Cole. I'm sure if Nya could make ice that ONE season, you can use your power to master metal.

Aww, despite Frack (still a dumb name, that's what I use to swear when I don't want to swear) working with Ras, I think the rapport he has with Cole is very sweet. If Cole's not careful he's going to end up adopting another child lol.

Yoooo the Arin and Sora friction is so good, I'm loving this drama!

Ohoho, Ras wants control of all the elemental powers, what a surprise.

"Your anger isn't helping Wyldfyre." "It's helping me stay angry!" Love Wyldfyre ahahaha and Cole's face!

The fact that I was actually outraged when the crystal disappeared right as Nya was going to grab it!

WU SPRITE CAME TO COLE AGAIN! Are you going to tell us where it took you last time Cole??

Omg yes, Nya's going straight after Jay, thank you!

And awwww the goodbye hug between her and Lloyd, ugh the sibling energy of these two.

Nya and Kai communicating literally through the power of their sibling bond.😍

It's so hilarious and perfect that as soon as Kai hears about Jay his first reaction is to insult him hahaha.

Ohhhh the forbidden five member that's sleeping in the Nether space is the one possessing Jordana!

Glad to see Arin didn't let his anger with Sora overtake his job, he's actually doing pretty good with his suspect board!

"My social encounter algorithm registered high levels of cringe" OMG I HAD TO PAUSE THIS I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD, THIS IS JUST BEGGING TO BECOME A MEME! INTERNET GET ON IT!

My sister: Brent Miller must have been dying laughing trying to read that line.

Me: Brent Miller probably WROTE that line. XD

Geo has apparently been rendered mute since he and Cole met up lmao, is this Lego's attempt at damage control..?

It's going to turn out Wyldfyre was right and Blekt (dumbest of the dumb names) actually is the one behind all this isn't he?

"He probably got distracted by all the temple city conce...ssions..." *both Cole and Sora stare off into the distance* lmao what was that??

When Frack said he had a question about Cole's power I totally expected him to ask why the earth was screaming - are we ever getting back to that?

NEURO!!! OMG THANK GOD HE STILL EXISTS, HE'S HERE! Probably they didn't want to get his VA back and that's why he wasn't put in a position to talk to the ninja?

Oh and that purple haired girl was probably Chamille.

Man, all of the fights with everyone using multiple powers was so cool!

Ahahaha Zeatrix's face at the bubble power was hilarious! Same girl, what a dumb power.

Except that she used it like a freaking queen??? That elemental bomb was so cool and smart, she pulled a Kuma! (@ One Piece fans again.)

Okayyy we finally get to hear the name of Lloyd's power, he's master of life! Like in the movie right? Neat.

Bro really said the word "YEET" hahaha

Holy frack, Zeatrix killed Lloyd!

[echologname]

April is Autistic Pride Month!

30 days of yippee characters!

For each day of Autistic Pride Month, I will draw a fictional character who is canonically or head canonically autistic or the 'sona of an IRL individual. Yet other neurotypes often overlap with auties and as a whole, neurodiversity is too immense to be exclusive, so, I will include characters of other neurotypes such as ADHD, OCD, PTSD, dyslexia processing disorders...etc.

I will update this post as the month progresses.

Day 1: Serial Designation N - autistic (head canon)

From the show Murder Drones by Glitch Productions on YouTube.

Day 2: Fantoccio - autistic (canon)

From the musical 3D platformer for PC, Billie Bust Up by Blueprint Games.

Day 3: Julia - autistic (canon)

From the PBS Kids show Sesame Street (debuted in episode 5715) by Sesame Workshop.

Day 4: Penny Polendina - Autistic (head canon)

From the show RWBY by Rooster Teeth on Crunchyroll.

Day 5: Marcy Wu - autistic (head canon)

From the show Amphibia created by Matt Braly on Disney Channel.

Day 6: Rocky Rickaby - head trauma (canon) + ADHD (head canon)

From the webcomic, Lackadaisy by Tracy J. butler.

He LOVES pancakes!

Day 7: Donatello - autistic (canon)

From Nickelodeon's Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Day 8: Norma Khan - autistic (canon)

Particularly from Dead End: Paranormal Park on Netflix, based off of the comics, Dead Endia.

Day 9: Billie - ADHD (canon)

From the musical 3D platformer for PC, Billie Bust Up by Blueprint Games.

Day 10: Jack - ADHD (canon)

From Bluey by the Australian studio, Ludo.

Day 11: Twyla - autistic + misophonia (canon)

From Nickelodeon's Monster High show (G3).

Day 12: Padparadscha - processing disorder (head canon)

From Cartoon Network's Steven Universe created by Rebecca Sugar.

Day 13: Arcus - dyscalculia (canon)

From the Webtoon Acception by Colourbee (Coco Ouwerkerk).

Day 14: K.2 - autistic (canon)

From the Webtoon Piece of Mind by lunar_neo

Day 15: Dory - anterograde amnesia (canon)

AKA, "short term memory loss."

From Disney Pixar's Finding Nemo.

Day 16: Entrapta - autistic (canon)

From She-Ra And The Princess of Power on Netflix

Day 17: Pema - autistic (canon)

From the Autistic Aliens comic by Kyah Comic

She likes creatures, so I drew her with a Luna moth.

Day 18: Aristotle - autistic (canon)

From the musical 3D platformer for PC, Billie Bust Up by Blueprint Games.

Day 19: Wednesday Addams - autistic (head canon)

Day 20: Aaron Mitchell - autistic (head canon)

From The Mitchell's vs. The Machines by Sony Animation on Netflix.

Day 21: Hunter - autistic (head canon)

From the show The Owl House created by Dana Terrace.

Day 22: Goh - autistic (head canon)

From the anime Pokémon Journeys.

Day 23: Libby - autistic (head canon)

From Disney Channel's The Ghost And Molly McGee

Day 24: Wasabi - OCD (canon)

From Disney Pixar's Big Hero 6.

Day 25: Bebe - autistic (canon)

From The Proud Family: Louder And Prouder

Day 26: Renee - autistic (canon)

From the Pixar Spark Short Loop

Day: 27: Maud Pie - autistic (head canon)

From My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Day 28: Dendy - autistic (head canon)

From Ian Jones-Quartey's OK KO: Let's Be Heroes on Cartoon Network

Day 29: Kawaii~Chan - autistic (head canon)

From Aphmau's My Street Minecraft roleplay on YouTube.

Day 30: Angel - autistic (canon)

My furry OC. She's a sheltie covered in rainbow sprinkles 🥰.

[kujo1597]

I’ve been watching my friend liveblog her rewatch of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (great show) and it looked really fun to do. And she’s also doing this to get into writing SPOP fanfics and as some of you may remember, I have a Jem fanfic called Unbreakable that I really do need to finish. So I figured I would blog my rewatch of Jem. I wanted to watch the show again to get my creative juices flowing and figured why not.

Because I know the show backwards and forwards due to watching it five or six times my posts will probably largely focus on the characters and traits they have that I incorporate into the writing. I’ll talk about Jerrica’s relationship with Rio and why it’s so dysfunctional and concerning.

I’m also going to be a fucking weirdo and keep track of the crying because a character trait of Kimber’s I find really interesting is how private she is with her tears compared to the others. But this will be kept in a folder of its own and I won’t dwell on it.

I won't be putting all of these into the fandom tag because I worry that I'll be deemed "too active" by Tumblr and my posts will stop showing up in the tag. So I guess if you're interested in keeping up with these keep track of the "Kujo Watches Jem" tag.

Man I love this show’s first intro song and the animation. It’s largely rotoscoped and looks really nice.

The show starts off with a look at Jem and The Holograms at a premiere and it’s a cool way of introducing the characters. They make it very clear who’s who.

Aja

Shana

I love how they just fukkin’ throw Kimber out of the car. This is a good time to mention that the animation in the first five episodes is pretty janky. They’re stitched together seven minutes shorts that were part of the Super Sunday block on whichever channel this aired on. So we’re kind of watching a proof of concept right now.

And of course they show Jem as this cool and mysterious woman as she shrugs off her sheer veil in front of a cheering crowd. Reporters ask Jem a bunch of questions.

Then we hear our protagonist, Jerrica, start narrating.

She tells us that her story begins after her father's unexpected death. And they establish later in the show that this funeral is on or around Jerrica's birthday. Which is really awful. I feel bad for her.

I remember Eric being kind of creepy at the funeral but always forget just how creepy he is. Especially because I’m fairly confident that at this point in production Jerrica is meant to be an older teen. Like, 17 or 18. I don’t blame Rio for dragging her off.

But oh man, let’s just add this to the “Jerrica apologizes for Rio count.” It’s a recurring thing.

Now we cut to a shot of Starlight House and the characters working to fix it up. This also has cool details like a design table, Shana is into fashion design as we’ll learn later.

Uh, I need to point out this bird cage. You’ll see why later. But I need to point it out.

I wonder how long Ashley’s been living here for. Because she comments on the house being a dump as if she’s just moved in. Also she broke that chair. She tried to flop onto it but it broke.

Now we meet Mrs. Bailey who helps take care of the kids. Nice lady. She informs Jerrica that her dad, Emmett, would get money to fund the Starlight House’s upkeep from his music company. So Jerrica goes over to the office. She sees a new receptionist, walks past her and enters her dad's old office.

Eric continues to call Jerrica “darling” and talks about how he’s hired a new band called The Misfits. And they ride in on these extremely toyetic motorcycles. I don’t think they ever did get released though. But man, this screams “toy commercial show.” Jem is way more than just that though.

We get the first song of the series and it’s great. Fun imagery. And it’s funny seeing them play their instruments because Stormer is playing this weird boomerang guitar. I seriously do wonder when they finalized what instruments the characters play. Aja was messing around with drumsticks earlier in the episode and spoiler alert, she’s not a drummer, like, at all.

Jerrica calls The Misfits trash and insults Pizzazz. Then they talk about Eric holding a rigged battle of the bands competition. Which obviously Jerrica doesn’t approve of.

We then cut to Jerrica in her bedroom on a stormy night. Jerrica’s mad about Eric ruining the good image of her dad’s company. Then Kimber points out the jewellery box addressed to Jerrica. It contains earrings, very familiar earrings. Everybody wonders who they came from. Aja figures it was Rio.

Then thunder and lighting, and a mysterious woman who looks like she walked out of an exercise tape addresses Jerrica in a slightly ghostly voice.

And then Jerrica very rudely puts her hands in this woman’s belly. Jerrica! Personal space!

Understandably the mysterious woman leaves. In a flash of light.

Everybody follows the directions left in the earring box and meet up with the woman in Starlight Drive-In. She walks through a wall and they follow her in their van, the Starlight Express.

A quick aside, I was talking to my friend who’s only seen two or three episodes of Jem because of me kind of going, “Well, these episodes are very silly. I think it’d be fun to watch them with you.” Anyway, I was talking about the show and because of the fact that everything has the word Starlight in the name he asked if Starlight was Jerrica’s last name. And yeah, I get why he would think that.

Anyway, the woman introduces herself as Synergy and explains that she’s a highly advanced entertainment system made by Emmett Benton. We get shots where the characters split off and look at their interests, Shana at clothes, Kimber at the musical instruments, and Aja at the car, the Rockin' Roadster.

Seeing Synergy’s ability to make realistic holograms along with all the instruments gave Jerrica an idea.

Oh neat, we’re seeing a performance by a band that sounds… not great. I guess the rigging is going well.

And then we hear some more music, this time a song building up.

And that song the first one performed by Jem in the series. It’s a very solid one! A good note to start the band on.

Obviously everybody loved this band, they sound great! Eric gets all worked up and demands to know what they’re doing here because the contest is invite only. Jem points to Jerrica and announces that she was sent there by Jerrica.

And then Jem totally inconspicuously runs off of the stage and behind a tree. Then turns into Jerrica. She meets up with Eric on the stage and they’re caught arguing on the mics. I actually forgot that Eric was the one who put control of Starlight Music up as a stake in a new competition. One just between The Misfits and Jem and The Holograms.

A film producer named Howard Sands happened to be in the crowd and he promises a movie, and a mansion to the winner of the new battle of the bands competition. Six months from now.

Jerrica accepts the challenge having full confidence in herself and her sisters.

The Misfits are rowdy trouble makers so they steal Jem’s equipment and drives off with it in their van. The rival band gives chase because that’s their stuff and they need it. Musical equipment is not cheap. We get this thrilling chase where Roxy and Stormer throws things at the car Aja’s driving to try to get them to crash I guess. And uh

That’s a cliff. They’re heading right off a cliff. And Aja hit the gas judging by the sound effect.

Good work.

You can kind of tell this was the end of the short, especially when they come back from commercial and replay the chase scene.

Jerrica’s not dumb. She sends a hologram of Jem out to get help. The hologram meets up with Rio and tells him where the car is. Rio saves them.

The paper reports on this and gives Jem and The Holograms a bunch of publicity.

The Misfits don’t see much of a problem with this because they can still win the competition and of course

winning is everything.

I just, look at this GIF.

Okay I needed you to see that. The music video is a wonderful flavour of silly.

Now back to Starlight House. We see the girls putting money into the Honor Jar. It's a communal fund that the girls contribute to in order to afford things for Starlight House. They’re trying to buy a new fridge. Before adding the funds to the jar they have to announce how they made the money.

Ashley questions the jar which really adds to the feeling that she’s new here.

Also, it’s weird hearing Deirdre being voiced by Samantha Newark. She’s voiced by Patricia Alice Albrecht in her later appearances. The same VA as Pizzazz, Samantha Newark is Jerrica’s by the way.

Meanwhile Eric phones a thug and tells him to make Jerrica uncomfortable.

I need to know where this place is located. It’s in the middle of a forest or something. And I swear that’s a river behind it. Is that safe when you have twelve kids? The youngest is eight so maybe we don't have too much to worry about.

Anyway, Ashley steals money from the Honor Jar and Jerrica catches her. And then says something that never sat super right with me.

“There’s no room in Starlight House for girls who steal and lie.”

Like, hm, I dunno, I can’t articulate exactly why it bothers me. I feel like it would kind of breed dishonesty. Like how controlling parents often end up with kids who are really good at sneaking around them.

But Jerrica is a teen herself and taking care of twelve kids so I can’t be too hard on her. Especially because her dad did recently die so there is going to be some adjusting to the new role as foster mother.

Jerrica tells Ashley that the other girls are going to decide on her punishment because they’re the ones running the Honor Jar. The punishment is to raise $30 which is ten times the amount Ba Nee raised by the way.

I get a kick out of Samantha Newark trying to sound like a tough girl, possibly from Jersey. What do I know? I’m Canadian. Now I’m kind of wishing they kept her as Deirdre’s voice actor. We do get more "tough girl Newark" later in the series though. In an excellent episode.

Later on during the night Rio’s explaining that the power’s still out and offers to stay over. But Jerrica turns him down. They lean in for a kiss.

And hear a bunch of giggling which is cute.

Jerrica turns to them and says, “Jealous?” before kissing Rio.

I like this dynamic between Jerrica and her girls.

Later that night the thug Eric talked to, Zipper, awkwardly breaks into the house. It takes him a couple tries to break the window. Still better than what I could do.

One of the Starlight Girls, Marianne, never named in the show, alerts Jerrica to there being a noise coming from downstairs. So Jerrica takes her sisters with her to check out the noise while the kids stay upstairs and safe.

Because there’s no power and it’s the middle of the night Kimber’s holding a lantern with the biggest damn flame I have ever seen.

Zipper having been caught pushes past Kimber and knocks the lantern out of her hands. And sets the house on fire.

Like, crazily on fire.

And this is where the episode ends.

I would love to do more but this took even longer than I expected and I haven’t been getting enough sleep so I’m quite tired and dizzy. So bedtime for me. I’ll pick this up later, possibly tomorrow.

[disneytva]

February 2023 Programming Highlights 

Friday, Feb. 3 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior SuperKitties “Blueberry Bonanza/Snow Day” (10:30-11:00 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. EST p.m. on Disney Junior) “Blueberry Bonanza” – Zsa-Zsa steals all the blueberries from the blueberry festival.

“Snow Day” – It’s Bitsy’s first snow day, and the team must stop Lab Rat from zapping away all the snow. TV-Y

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior Firebuds “Puppy Pursuit/The Ice Cream Truck Bandits” (11:00-11:30 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/1:25-1:45 p.m. EST p.m. on Disney Junior) “Puppy Pursuit” – Bo forgets to feed his puppy, which causes the hungry pup to travel to the local dog bone factory, where he gets caught.

“The Ice Cream Truck Bandits” – Wayne and Wiley go on an ice cream truck robbing spree. *Aimee Carrero (“Elena of Avalor” She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power”) guest stars as newscaster Marina Ramirez. Atticus Shaffer (“The Middle”) recurs as art thief Wayne Riley. TV-Y

Saturday, Feb. 4 

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Hamster & Gretel “Hamnesia/Romancing the Scone” (9:30-10:00 a.m. EST) “Hamnesia” – Hamster gets amnesia after a supervillain fight.

“Romancing the Scone” – Gretel and Nordle encounter a strange and powerful scone. TV-Y7

Friday, Feb. 10 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior Mickey Mouse Funhouse “Tooth or Consequences!/The Heroic Games” (7:00-7:30 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/12:00-12:30 p.m. EST on Disney Junior) “Tooth or Consequences!” – The Tooth Fairy needs help collecting the large and heavy tooth of Woodsman Willie. *Lois Chimimba (“Doctor Who”) guest stars as the Tooth Fairy.

“The Heroic Game” – Pete the Mighty competes in the Heroic Games and underestimates Saiya, a short Mayan hero. TV-Y

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends “Clean Power/Doc Ock & The Rocktobots” (8:30-9:00 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/12:30-1:00 p.m. EST on Disney Junior) “Clean Power” – Electro and her electric gauntlet have drained the power from the city’s new wind turbine.

“Doc Ock & The Rocktobots” – Team Spidey runs up against villains who are trying to stop them from performing at a concert. TV-Y

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior SuperKitties “Have a Ball/Zsa-Zsa Zoom” (10:30-11:00 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. EST p.m. on Disney Junior) “Have a Ball” – When Ginny gets a boo-boo, Sparks, Buddy and Bitsy have to learn to work as a team without her.

“Zsa-Zsa Zoom” – The SuperKitties help Peanut get Nadia’s stolen toy car back from Zsa-Zsa. TV-Y

Original Series – Series Premiere on Disney Channel Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Moon Girl Landing” (8:00-8:30 p.m. EST) When brilliant, altruistic Lunella Lafayette accidentally brings a dinosaur to the Lower East Side, she finally has the brawn to match her brains and protect her community. *Alison Brie (“GLOW”) guest stars as Aftershock, Utkarsh Ambudkar (“Ghosts”) guest stars as Anand, and Michael Cimino (“Love, Victor”) guest stars as Eduardo. TV-Y7 FV

Saturday, Feb. 11 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Hamster & Gretel “For Whom the Bell Trolls/An Arthouse Divided” (9:30-10:00 a.m. EST) “For Whom the Bell Trolls” – A social media influencer threatens to destroy Hamster and Gretel’s reputation.

“An Arthouse Divided” – Things go terribly wrong at a movie premiere. TV-Y7

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “The Borough Bully” (10:00-10:30 a.m. EST) When Lunella finds a nasty comment on her Moon Girl social media page, her fixation on the troll threatens to take over her life. *Josh Keaton (“Voltron: Legendary Defender”) guest stars as Angelo. TV-Y7 FV

Friday, Feb. 17 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior SuperKitties “Missing Mr. Greenie/Piano Problem” (10:30-11:00 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. EST p.m. on Disney Junior) “Missing Mr. Greenie” – Mr. Puppypaws steals Bitsy’s favorite toy, Mr. Greenie.

“Piano Problem” – The SuperKitties must return a grand piano to Petcini after Cat Burglar steals it. TV-Y

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Junior Alice’s Wonderland Bakery “Queen Alice/A Kuku Surprise” (2:15-2:45 p.m. EST) “Queen Alice” – The Queen’s out for the day, so Alice takes her place.

“A Kuku Surprise” – When Saeed moves into the mushroom forest, Alice and friends help welcome him to his new home. *Kausar Mohammed (“The Flash”) guest stars as Mrs. Parvaneh. TV-Y

Saturday, Feb. 18 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Hamster & Gretel “The Litigator vs. The Luchador/Strawberry Fest Forever” (9:30-10:00 a.m. EST) “The Litigator vs. The Luchador” – Carolina’s sister comes to visit, and Kevin and Gretel infiltrate a wrestling match.

“Strawberry Fest Forever” – Carolina and Gretel attend a festival that takes Carolina by surprise. TV-Y7

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Run the Rink” (10:00-10:30 a.m. EST) When Lunella runs the rink for a night, she agrees to Casey’s get-rich-quick scheme, which threatens Moon Girl’s reputation and her family’s beloved business. TV-Y7 FV

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Check Yourself” (10:30-11:00 a.m. EST) When Lunella loses a game of chess against a supercomputer, her obsession with winning drives the frustrated computer to program every device in the school to attack her. *Asia Kate Dillon (“Billions”) guest stars as LOS-307, and Craig Robinson (“Hot Tub Time Machine”) guest stars as Principal Nelson. TV-Y7 FV

Friday, Feb. 24 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior Mickey Mouse Funhouse “Birds of a Feather/Salty vs. Pepper” (7:00-7:30 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/12:00-12:30 p.m. EST on Disney Junior) “Birds of a Feather” – Mickey, Minnie and friends help Buccaneer Belle, and first mate Cuckoo Loca brings pirate sidekick parrots to their pirates on Pirate Beach.

“Salty vs. Pepper” – Captain Salty Bones needs the gang’s help to find a treasure before his pirate rival, Pepper Lemon. *John Stamos (“Big Shot”) recurs as Captain Salty Bones, and Yvette Nicole Brown (also from “Big Shot”) guest stars as pirate Pepper Lemon. TV-Y

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends “Pirate Plunder Blunder/Bad Bot” (8:30-9:00 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/12:30-1:00 p.m. EST on Disney Junior) “Pirate Plunder Blunder” – Team Spidey must save Aunt May when Green Goblin’s device makes people think they’re pirates.

“Bad Bot” – Doc Ock creates a bad bot version of TRACE-E to trick Team Spidey. TV-Y

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior SuperKitties “Treat Truck Trouble/Leapin’ Laser” (10:30-11:00 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. EST p.m. on Disney Junior) “Treat Truck Trouble” – The SuperKitties have to stop Mr. Puppypaws from turning all the animal treats into only doggy treats.

“Leapin’ Laser” – Buddy accidentally breaks Sparks’ SuperKitty Kit and doesn’t tell him.

TV-Y

Saturday, Feb. 25 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Hamster & Gretel “Micromanager/The Bottle Episode” (9:30-10:00 a.m. EST) “Micromanager” – Kevin gets his first job at a burger joint.

“The Bottle Episode” – Fred is put to the test when she encounters a sinister shopkeeper. TV-Y7

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow” (10:00-10:30 a.m. EST) When Lunella creates a chemical to change her hair, she accidentally turns her mane into a vengeful villain that vows to ruin her. *Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”) guest stars as Mane. TV-Y7 FV

Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “The Beyonder” (10:30-11:00 a.m. EST) The Beyonder gloms onto Lunella to learn about humanity, just as she’s struggling to win a big science competition. *Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix” trilogy) guest stars as The Beyonder. TV-Y7 FV

[blackwell-academys-airdrop]

For the ask game 6,8 and 25

6. which ship fans are the most annoying? uh. No offense intended whatsoever, but I simply do not vibe with Grahamscott (the gay one). I mean, I guess I see the appeal? But it just kinda rubs me the wrong way a little. I think it's cuz it's a very popular (I might even call it overrated) mlm ship in a very wlw-oriented game and fandom. It's like, there's 5 times more mlm on AO3 as opposed to wlw last I checked. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with mlm; it's just not for me, and it's something that gets hyped up a LOT in fandom spaces, often to the detriment of wlw, het, and other ships.

Anyway. Very popular ship for what I would go so far as to call a crack pairing. (The inherent homoeroticism of, uh... beating a guy up so hard he has to go to the hospital?) Want proof? Here are the most popular relationships (platonic inclusive) in the Life Is Strange fandom on AO3 as of the time of writing:

There are more Grahamscott fics than there are Marshfield fics (admittedly not by a lot), and that's a travesty.

FANDOM-WIDE CHALLENGE: Write >17 Marshfield fics so we can knock Grahamscott out of 4th place!

I reiterate: I do not hate Grahamscott, nor do I hate those who ship them. It's got a lot of (non-uwu softboy, mind you) potential. It simply isn't for me.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about Bae or Bay Before the Storm is not a bad game. Actually no wait I'll save that one for 25.

Hm.

How bout this: William was NOT a perfect dad. He was a good one, for sure, but remember: our idea of his character is rose-tinted with Chloe's and Max's overwhelmingly positive memories of him. "That's one thing he left us: wonderful memories." (I paraphrase) I'd like to see his flaws explored a bit more.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing I've said it already and I'll say it again: Before the Storm is not a bad game. It's not a great game, and it definitely doesn't live up to the original, but it's a good game.

High points of the game (keep in mind I haven't watched/played the game in about 4 years):

Steph

Interesting take on a young Nathan

CUNSn

The SMASH scene (brought me close to tears. The controllable helplessness of it all, God)

Steph and Mikey

Skip

EN FUEGO UTERO

I LOVE what they did with Samuel actually

The take on Rachel was really interesting, especially the whole backstory thing and the actress mindset

FIRE POWERS FIRE POWERS

I'm intrigued by the drawing of an older Max hanging from a noose in a tree in Chloe's journal. WHAT does that IMPLY, WHAT does that MEAN

Steph

Barb the Barbarian (I named one of my DnD characters that and made her a She-Ra expy)

Chloe's dream sequences and general sleepiness (reminiscent of depression)

PUTTING AN ENTIRE CAR BATTERY INTO HER PANTS POCKET

The snitch straight-up admitting to Damon that he snitched was not at all realistic but it was very funny

The play scene, especially if you get all the lines right

Victoria drinking the drugged tea

Farewell, especially the little choose-your-own squirrel story ^w^

Low points:

"tHe StArS aRe DeAd" THAT IS NOT ASTRONOMICALLY CORRECT (I have ranted about this before)

Damon. Everything about Damon. His character, his impact on the plot, everything.

The whole James and Sera backstory was really hackneyed

I am ambivalent about the Backtalk mechanic

The whole third episode was just such a letdown. So much wasted potential

Much like LIS, there are a lot of different subplots, but LIS wove them together well while BTS didn't.

I've reblogged a rant about this before, but Chloe has so very little agency while Max has loads of it! Admittedly, the game is a prequel so some things have to happen no matter what, and Chloe's lack of agency (and unwillingness to acquire it) is a big point of her character, but it does not make for a fun video game protagonist. There are way too many But Thou Must! moments in the story.

The friggin' end scene with Frank fighting off Damon

do NOT retcon that Pompidou was a gift from Damon. do NOT

I'm also ambivalent on the whole Max and Chloe text exchanges retcon. Like, I think Chloe miiiight have reached out to her, but Max would not have responded. The anxiety is simply Too Great.

I am also ambivalent about the Sam & Nathan thing. I wish she'd gotten more characterization than just "sweet kind girl who loves books".

Megan Weaver didn't show up. I wish she had, cuz she was evidently important to Chloe for at least a little while, and we know so little about her

I know there was a strike going on or something but I am sad we didn't have the original VAs :( (but they came back for Farewell, so rejoice!)

Chloe's VA's performance was kinda lackluster

Okay THAT got longer than I anticipated. Sorry. Anyway. There are a lot of good points to BTS. There are a lot of bad ones, too. But hey. Canon is a construct.

[pokeblader3]

We really shouldn't have let corporations start splitting up seasons and calling batches of episodes seasons. 10 or 13-episode seasons of half-hour episodes are alright when they're blatantly marked as half-seasons, but nothing less. You expect me to call a third or a quarter of a season a whole season? Sorry She-Ra, The Dragon Prince, and Voltron, not buying it.

And it's why so many shows have bombed! It's why Voltron was like that: the final two planned seasons were ordered to be written and produced in the second season order instead of just season 2's 26 episodes, note this required them writing 52 episodes in one year, which is why Voltron only ran for 2 years and seemed to explode after the first year.

It's why She-Ra only ran for 2 years, Kipo and Infinity Train for 1 year each. It's why Steven Universe's release schedule was so bungled (seasons 2-3 and 4-5 are each 1 production-season split in two, they aired 2-3 in the same year but tried to space 4 and 5 out to each be their own years despite being half-seasons which is why s4 felt like nothing happened for an entire year of the show, Future was also a half-season which is why it felt so rushed).

If a show reaches 3 seasons, WGA law mandates companies have to pay crews more and give it a higher budget (including paying lead crewmembers residuals), so it's a bottleneck in the industry for a show to get to 3 seasons, but crews naturally improve through working with a show -- of course we don't have equivalents to Better Call Saul or whatever, BCS is 2x the runtime of the longest story cartoons, ATLA. It's also why the closest equivalent to Avatar is FMA:B, which was allowed to run to 64 episodes.

I think people would be a little closer to realizing the reason we haven't had a masterpiece show like Avatar in 17 years is plain just because no show has reached 3 seasons and had a planned ending without getting canceled at season 2 due to corporate greed, not been allowed to end properly due to homophobia (TOH/SU), or were small in budget/scope (Amphibia, Bojack), if we didn't cede that ground to corporations.

[alastair-1205]

Episode 17 reactions

KAI AND BONZEL YAY

This feels like A Trap 

“Don’t Ninja sleep in?” See Lloyd didn’t answer that cuz he would have had to lie lmao

Oh Nya’s just dipping ok 

THEYRE FAMILYYYYY

OH YO THEY BROUGHT THAT BACK 

SIBLINGS!!!!! THEYRE TALKING YAYA

I- you know what yea that actually tracks lol

LMAO KAI I think he’d implode if he didn’t bully Jay at least a bit

Zane out here asking the real questions 

Bro got out the red string and whiteboard damn 

The drawings are kinda hilarious tho

LMAO WYLDFYRE it’s a fair assumption 

This is kinda fucking fascinating watching Arin talk through this 

This just sounds like racism- 

Ras totally did it tho right? Like he’s just smart enough to make a bot attack himself but it looked like Imperium tech right? That’s the type of shit he’d know to make 

This is what season 4 needed man I’m liking the mystery 

THEIR DATE IS HELPING THE MISSION LMAO

LOOK HOW HAPPY HE IS WHEN HE TALK ABOUT HIS HUSBAND <3

PFFFFFT ZANE-

Our guy is starting to honest to god see the future damn 

Like that’s as blatant as they’ve been so far I think 

Also does he not recall how one of them was Arin decking him in the face?

Geo and Robie!

Lmao Geo just got an art commission instead of fighting good for him 

Robie’s an iPad kid confirmed

Im gonna stab this kid-

So like, who are the Devonians?? 

Is Frank gonna become more relevant? That’d be cool. Cuz Ras seems pissed that he’s actually trying to, you know, learn

I REALLY LIKE FRACK WHY DID RAS HAVE TO FIND HIM FIRST 

It’s kinda cool seeing this mini game in ninjago

Girl I thought you were in prison not exile? 

Bro leave him alone he’s hearing voices give him a minute 

Cole just wants to help man and Frack just wants to learn

I like Arin having that book with him all the time it’s cool

Wyld is fucking struggling lol

Why does it seem like zeatrix also knows they’re gonna fight? 

Cuz Now I’m thinking it’s her 

GEO

OH DAMN SO HES JUST BEEN WINNING 

YO THAT GUYS BACK TOO. MASTER OF THE MIND. I forgot his name

Geo tried lol

CHAMILE!!

Elemental master of Life. Alright then good to know.

Yeet

Oh. He’s scared of his visions again maybe? 

Oh smart play

Hes gonna be so fixated on it that he looses 

Wtf is the power of surface tension-

“SHES MAKING AN ELEMENTAL BOMB” I fucking love Robie

Who is he streaming to??

LMAO SORA. The others tried

That is the shittiest platform of all time-

Bro really said fuck destiny. Good for him 

WHY IS HE ALWAYS GETTING HORRIFICALLY INJURED LMAO. 

Im treating this was like a slash wound to the chest becasue of the sword becasue by that logic Zeatrix’s fall should have killed her too 

Arin is not gonna be happy.