#that's why they are my absolute favourite iteration

[pageofheartdj]

A lil' reminder, the bros are active jerks to each other too!xD

[originalwinnerfanfish]

Well, I did it

Megatron - I love his tfp design. Probably one of the best iteration of Megs. He is huge, heavy armoured, his face covered with scars… He doesn’t looks like an ordinary military leader who is only capable of giving orders, but like real warrior who can destroy any enemy with his bare hands.

So, in the WOF version, he definitely shares some features with Princess Burn, not only because of his might, but also because of his horns shape and dirty-dark scales (that absorbed blood of his enemies)

Starscream - Boy, I hate him so much 🤣… but in the good way, trust me! In my opinion, when the show's creators make you feel such strong negative emotions towards a villain, it means they've done a great job. Also, I think that his animation in the show was absolutely incredible, because even though he's a 3D model, he still manages to move like a 2D character, which is amazing!

I feel that in my design he still looks more like a skywing, than an icewing (which is kinda logical)

Soundwave - This one was tricky. I couldn't figure out what his mask would look like, so I just made his face a really dark color. I think Soundwave has both gifts of the nightwings, and he’s equally great at telepathy and a future vision. So he doesn't really need equipment to predict enemy movements, which makes him an ideal communicator in the WOF setting. His Laserbeak is part of the armor enchanted by Shockwave, and it might also allow him to open portals (but I'm not sure with this one)

Shockwave - My favourite evil genius. He would definitely have animus magic and mind reading. I think Shockwave is the only one who has advanced the study of magic so far, precisely because he combined it with scientific knowledge and created safer methods of using it, that don't damage the mind. It's like if a Mastermind got animus magic in books.

I also like to think that he didn't heal the damaged part of his face just so that his enemies would fear him more)

Dreadwing - This man deserved better! It's really a shame that he was removed from the show so quickly due to financial problems. It would be great if his arc got a proper conclusion in season 3.

Considering that I didn't want to make him a hybrid, it was difficult to choose a suitable color palette. So let’s just say, that I tried my best😅

I don’t think that he would have any nightwing powers, but honestly it doesn’t even matter - this guy can make a bombs, what else does he need to be cool

Arachnid - Did anyone even doubt that she would be a hivewing? Damn, she even got her own “Othermind” virus. Her design was the easiest to work with - just a little poisonous ass (suspiciously similar to Maleficent).

Just like Starscream, I hate her, but in a good way. She's one of the creepiest characters in the entire series, who’s acting like a fucking heartless monster, especially with Arcee, but even so, there's always was something mesmerizing about her. I just really like strong female villains

Knockout - Wery bright and charismatic guy, definitely one of my fav cons!

I tried to draw him as handsome as possible. Worked a lot on the face shape and coloring, and as for me it turned out pretty nice (finally).

Most decepticons think Knockout is as stupid and lazy as all the other rainwings. And it's not like he completely disagrees with that. Of course he’s not stupid and lazy, but if it’s means less dirty work on the battlefield, well, he’ll continue act like a tipical rainwing

(I also believe that Megatron keeps him as an “art”)

Breakdown - Fun fact: "Operation Breakdown" was the very first thing I saw in this series. And it was an interesting experience for 8 year old me. Maybe that's why I'm so scared of eye gouging scenes in movies now…

I think that he didn't have any siblings initially due to his parents nature, and even after meeting Bulkhead, he felt uncomfortable among the other mudwings. And this is why he later chose the side of the decepticons. And maaaaybe because of one cute rainwing influence)

P.s.

I think that, being mostly nightwings and icewings, the decepticons are much more concerned about purity of their blood and rarely accept half-breeds into their ranks.

During the war, there were many animus dragons among decepticons, which is why they have so many artifacts that allowed teleportation and communication at a distance. But, honestly, I still can't imagine what Nemesis would look like in this AU

[deadlysoupy]

if tf one did anything for me, it 1) made me really passionate about optimus and megatron's relationship and made me re-think the entirety of just how tragic the transformers civil war is

and 2) that i adore optimus and bumblebee's relationship even more now

the first one is pretty self-explanatory and i feel like everyone came out of that movie (who is a tf fan i mean) feeling absolutely baddy and insane

but the second one. my favourite iteration is earthspark, so my constant thought is now, compared to "oh my gosh orion and bee are adorable together i can totally see their dynamic" of tf one, is "holy shit tfe optimus and bumblebee are so dysfunctional why are they like this" and i'm just having so many thoughts about them right now

i would make a separate post but i kinda don't want to so here are my general thoughts (not very coherent i just need them out of me)

it feels very disjointed to be honest. it really seems like they wanted to give them a mentor/mentee dynamic but didn't go through with it

optimus keeps sort of kind of worrying about bumblebee without explicitly stating it, they have a lot of awkward moments (especially in early season 1 i noticed), but i can't tell if it's writers not wanting to commit or it's intentional

there are two episodes bothering me. one: episode 23, right in the beginning, when optimus sends bee to find the hidden ghost facility. they have this interesting almost silent communication, optimus only has to say "bumblebee, what's in that room?" and bee immediately knows what to do. the most important bit here, though, is where bee, after optimus warns him about potentially getting caught or killed, says very methodically "i must disavow any knowledge of your actions". and then he drives away, with optimus looking almost solemnly at him

a similar conversation already probably happened, since bee knew what to say to sort of calm optimus down, but at the same time... was optimus worried there? would he have said this had he NOT been worried?

and then there's season 3 (season 2b?). the hate plague. i'm not going to focus much on bee's perspective (that earns another post), but on optimus' instead. he tries to calm bee down, tries to reach him, tries to reason with him, and what gets me here is that he actually cares. remember, this is probably only a few days or so after the whole breakdown fiasco, and bumblebee is obviously still thinking about it. so optimus doesn't get him to track down the cybertronian ship - he's afraid bee might hurt even more. he says "i knew you would be emotionally compromised going into decepticon territory". which only leads me to the same thought: if you untangle all his diplomatic wording, he says he cares. he cares that bumblebee got hurt and that he didn't want him to relive that betrayal again

they are so awful at communicating with each other they can't even tell if they care about one another. which is odd, right? we can tell optimus can tell megatron his feelings, but he can't do that with bee

and i'm just. what happened between them? is optimus emotionally distant from bee or is bumblebee reluctant to include him? why are they like this??? they drive me crazy istg

[saintsenara]

a duo i'd love to hear your thoughts on: bellatrix & harry (or even bellatrix/harry)

thank you very much for the ask, pal! an extremely interesting duo to think about.

and, obviously, the thing we have to immediately acknowledge is that harry thinks bellatrix is hot. he's always going on about her heaving breasts and shiny hair [and shiny hair is something he does seem to have a thing for throughout canon - hence why he spends one of his owl exams staring at parvati's], and she's definitely his "hear me out" candidate...

[i think if he's forced by ron to play fuck, marry, kill about the black sisters... he's fucking bella. he's depressed for weeks when he realises.]

more seriously, though, the thing which really stands out in harry and bellatrix's canonical relationship is that he sees her primarily as a catalyst - and, above all, primarily as a catalyst for loss - but in a way which feels strangely impersonal given the profundity of this loss to him.

she kills sirius - but harry can't summon up the rage to use the cruciatus curse against her [even though he can against amycus carrow, whom he has never met and whose crime is the considerably more minor spitting at mcgonagall]. she almost kills ginny - and harry "changes course at once" to try and protect her - but the person who gets there first and who finishes bellatrix off is molly.

and while i don't think this is strange because i think molly wouldn't have the skills to duel bellatrix, i do think it's fairly strange narratively. bellatrix's death mirrors sirius' to such an extent - right down to the fact that she dies laughing - that it would have been an interesting conceit to have harry avenging his godfather by standing in as sirius' surrogate for a repeat of the duel before the veil, which then allows sirius to be avenged when the outcome is reversed...

[although what i do like about the molly-bellatrix duel in canon is that voldemort ends up in the position his narrative mirror, harry, is in during the sirius-bellatrix duel - watching the one person he thought would never abandon him die.]

and so harry sees bellatrix as an agent of chaos - and he utterly loathes her - but he also sees the chaos she causes as, fundamentally, voldemort's fault. he views her as a puppet, a tool, a pawn - as so totally enamoured by the dark lord that she lacks any capacity for critical thinking - rather than ever seeming to understand her as her own person.

[him taunting her in order of the phoenix by pointing out voldemort's a half-blood always stands out to me when thinking about this - lucius malfoy isn't shocked at all by the revelation, but bellatrix is. it underlines the point made by her behaviour at her trial, which harry witnesses in goblet of fire - that her loyalty to voldemort is so absolute that it makes her deluded, and that she exists for him rather than for herself.]

equally, bellatrix clearly sees him as just a thing - an annoyance which voldemort just needs to eradicate - rather than a person.

and so i think that one of the very interesting "harry and bellatrix actually having to get to know each other" questions is what journey they would go on in order to understand the other as a real person. my favourite iteration of this - as i've said here - is to write bellatrix's non-battlefield personality as surprisingly similar to tonks', and to have harry having to face the fact that a woman he hates could be so much like a woman he adores. you can also obviously do the same with him having to realise she's very like sirius.

and her having to realise that harry is very like voldemort.

because the other thing which i think is fascinating about thinking about harry and bellatrix is that the best parallel for hinny in the text isn't ron and hermione, and nor is it james and lily...

it's bellamort.

i believe that harry's canonical love for ginny is completely genuine - and i accept that by the epilogue they will have settled into a relationship with a more equal dynamic - but it's very striking in the pre-epilogue canon that the power dynamic between the two is very much unequal.

harry's narrative purpose means that he has to be set apart from all others - even ron and hermione - in order for him to properly function as the encapsulation of all that is good [and as the series' allegory for christ]. as a result, he tends to interact with other characters either as people he needs to protect, or as people he needs to protect others from.

and we see this in his relationship with ginny at the end of half-blood prince, when he breaks up with her for - what he sees as - her own protection, in the belief that being associated with him will put her at risk from voldemort.

harry believes that separating himself from her is sufficient to bring ginny this protection, he never considers her to have the talent to fight voldemort herself - even though he acknowledges her as a skilled fighter elsewhere in the text - and he spends much of deathly hallows believing that he has guaranteed ginny's safety. he thinks of hogwarts as a safe-haven throughout his time on the horcrux hunt - and he is genuinely shocked to discover how bad the carrows' regime has been when he arrives at the castle immediately prior to the battle - and he treats ginny's role as a resistance leader in her own right [such as her attempt to steal the sword of gryffindor] as, essentially, a bit of a laugh.

for her part, ginny is set up in the text as ferociously loyal to harry - "i never gave up on you" - and as someone whose company he desires and values in a distinct way, but whose relationship with him is unbalanced by the paternalistic vibe of their power dynamic. harry is more honest with her than with many other people, for example, but he still doesn't tell her anything about the horcruxes, the prophecy, or the fact that he has to walk into the forest to die.

and this is exactly the same as bellatrix and voldemort.

bellatrix is clearly justified in saying that voldemort considers her his "favourite" - and he does behave towards her in ways which are meaningfully different from his treatment of his other death eaters. but their dynamic is still hugely unbalanced by the fact that voldemort is also required by the narrative to be singular - the literal embodiment of evil - and that this drives his secrecy about his true self. bellatrix is also treated by voldemort as someone whose role in his mission against harry is his to dictate, safe in the knowledge that she would never give up on him either, and who can be similarly kept in the dark about the horcruxes or the prophecy [although he clearly views this as for his, rather than her, protection].

deathly hallows, in particular, is full of explicit comparisons between the two couples. ginny trying to steal the sword leads to bellatrix giving away that there's a horcrux in her vault. ginny living while bellatrix dies [because of motherly love!] is the opener to harry living while voldemort dies [because of motherly love!]. and - of course - there's this in the forest...

Everything was waiting. Hagrid was struggling, and Bellatrix was panting, and Harry thought inexplicably of Ginny, and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips on his. 

as i've said elsewhere, i think it's entirely possible to write voldemort as quite fond of ginny on the basis of her canonical similarity to bellatrix. and so the reverse must apply - harry can be written as fond of bellatrix on the basis of her similarity to ginny.

which means i also think - if you're so inclined - that the toxic wife-swap would genuinely work.

[that-ari-blogger]

Something... new? (Moment of Truth)

Here is a question. In a story about repetition, where the central threat is the cycle happening again, where the very concept of the narrative is that trauma and abuse echo in on themselves… how do you tell an interesting story?

Like, on a general level, stories are about change, so something that is, by its nature, formulaic, would probably be inconducive to storytelling. Right?

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power disagrees with this premise in a weird way. The third season of the series has been questioning the formula in increasingly outlandish way. The first episode gave the same story but with a twist at the end, the second dissected the formula itself by examining the foundation it is built on, and the third flipped the direction of the spiral for a time.

Moment Of Truth features, overwhelmingly, some of the most skill on display that the series will have at all. This isn’t a fan favourite episode, but it is genuinely incredible craft.

However, it is important to understand that this episode doesn’t do anything new. Every moment in this episode, bar the last two minutes, has happened before in the series.

All Moment Of Truth does to iterate on the formula, is take events of consequence, and place them immediately after one another. This episode messes with internal context, and it causes the tipping point of the series.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

One thing that I thought was interesting, upon rewatching this episode, is how few and far between the jokes are.

The series has a very distinct sense of humour and uses it in an extremely specific way. This is essentially a story about abuse, trauma, and war, which are objectively pretty heavy things. But it is also aimed at younger audiences, so it cushions each of its heavy blows with a joke.

This is why the character of Madam Razz is the most important character in the series. Her kookiness combined with her wisdom allows her to discuss some truly confronting and uncomfortable topics with grace and good nature. The humour is what makes this show approachable.

This is also why Aabria Iyengar’s style of game mastering for TTRPGs is so fascinating to watch. And, though I can’t verify that she is fun to play with since I have never played at her table (@quiddie please), her fellow cast members in Dimension 20 and Critical Role seem like they are having a good time. Essentially, she balances out heaviness with entertainment, effectively artificially shifting up the Garfunkel threshold of the players she is GMing for.

For context to the absolute mess that was that last paragraph. The phrase “Garfunkel threshold” is used by an English teacher that I had a few years ago and literally nobody else. It refers to the area of emotion where a person is out of their comfort zone, but not truly uncomfortable. Fun scary, essentially.

Back to She-Ra. Moment of Truth doesn’t waste time with jokes unless it really needs it. This episode runs at a breakneck pace, and only stops to give you breath at the last moment.

As a result, the jokes that this episode tells are really funny. Although, if they were told in a vacuum, they probably wouldn’t be. For example:

“You won't try to escape if I just pop out for a quick sec, will you?” “Uh... No?” “Okay, great, really appreciate it.”

This is iconic in the fandom, and for good reason. This is one of my two favourite jokes in the series. The other is also in this episode, weirdly enough.

But… it’s not that funny of a moment.

If you heard this conversation in any other episode of this show, maybe if Adora had been captured for a one-off episode like Catra was halfway through season two, this joke would maybe get a smirk, but not much more.

So why does it work?

One word: Context. This episode stresses you out like few other episodes of television can do, and a few seconds before this joke, it successfully makes you think that Entrapta will try to hurt Adora.

Instead, you get a moment to hold in the tension, then a piece of humour that is utterly incongruous with the tone of the episode so far, and you have to laugh.

This is the same premise behind the humour in Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O’Bannon. That film has some incredible one liners that allow the audience to breathe and excise some catharsis in what a pretty gritty plot would otherwise be.

The perfect example of what I’m talking about here isn’t actually that much of a joke. It’s literally half a second that abrasively interposes itself into the break in and forces it to stumble. But the build up gives it so much levity.

The scene is off the back of Glimmer’s teleportation and the tension of Angella trying to stop it, followed by the constant stress of how easily Shadow Weaver is playing Glimmer like a chess piece. Mermista makes a quiet comment on the décor, a moment of levity that Shadow Weaver deliberately undercuts. Then we loose Perfuma to a fight we can’t see, the uncertainty of which is more stressful than knowing definitively that she has been killed.

Then the gang runs into Lonnie and Rogelio, two formidable foes, but two foes they have outnumbered. Stress rises, then the music cuts out for barely a moment as Lonnie flicks the alarm lever that is right next to her

It’s not a joke, it’s a character making an eminently sensible decision in contrast to the entirety of the rest of the cast. But the musical cue pauses the tension of the scene for just enough time for you to give a brief laugh, then the scene resumes in earnest, and continues at its previous pace. It isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to keep the story fun.

Basically, the show is made up of seriousness and humour, and those are held together by a single piece of Velcro, and that is working overtime to a truly extraordinary degree.

Except, that isn’t true. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power doesn’t treat humour and earnestness as separate at all, they run together and punctuate each other.

The other main thing that this episode does is a perspective twist. Moment Of Truth is all about context, and so the events play through the views of unusual characters.

Case and point, Glimmer and co. have gone rogue to do their own thing countless times in this series, and every time they get back, Angella chastises them.

However, this is the first time we have witnessed Angella’s reaction to Glimmer’s disappearance, and we get a sense of desperation from her.

Angella doesn’t have to speak her thoughts out loud to let the audience know what is happening. She sees Glimmer has gone and immediately realises that she has gone rogue again, so she checks Shadow Weaver’s quarters, because she knows what her daughter will do in this situation.

Meanwhile, the shots of Glimmer are from Shadow Weaver’s perspective. Almost as if Shadow Weaver is positioning herself as a replacement mother figure for Angella.

I could comment on the animation of this scene, but my analysis there is very much limited to “oooh pretty”. Which is fine, but nothing anybody hasn’t said before.

So, instead, spoilers for the season three finale (skip to the next paragraph if you’re avoiding those), this is the last time Angella sees Glimmer, and she is powerless to stop her. Angella is a character riddled with guilt, and this will come up later when I discuss the finale.

Back to the episode at hand, a significant chunk of this episode is as told by Shadow Weaver, so we get the full breakdown of how terrifyingly competent she is at her designated skillset. Shadow Weaver is a manipulative character, and so she is playing chess with the plot of the entire series in a way that only one other character comes close to matching, and I’m going to start my discussion of that by discussing her powers.

Magic is a facet of narrative literalism, where a metaphor within a story becomes tangible. For example, Glimmer is impulsive, so she teleports around, jumping to conclusions without taking the time to walk. She is also stubborn, so her powers make her uncontainable.

Shadow Weaver, meanwhile, is a parasite. She has magical talent of her own, but in this episode, all she does is leach off Glimmer’s power to further her own ends.

In a series about freedom of autonomy, Shadow Weaver exists in contrast to Hordack. Where these characters focus on the freedom aspect to contain and confine their enemies, Shadow Weaver twists her victim’s autonomy and takes control of them in a way that is insidious and very realistic. She is like Light Hope, which is interesting.

That parasitic nature actually reflects into Shadow Weaver’s manipulative technique, as she never targets someone who is, for lack of a better term, strong. This is difficult to explain: Glimmer needs something, and Shadow Weaver positions herself as the answer. She finds someone who is at their lowest point, and makes them dependant on herself.

This is, fun fact, why Perfuma, Mermista, and Frosta are seemingly immune to her influence. I’m grasping at straws here for Frosta’s characterisation because she gets about two lines in the entire episode, but I’m onto something with Perfuma and Mermista.

Perfuma is a paragon hero who does not compromise in her beliefs. This causes trouble in the series, as is the nature of this story, but it means that in the several instances Shadow Weaver tries to get under her skin, Perfuma brushes it off. Perfuma considers what Shadow Weaver has to say, but keeps in mind at all times that she is an abuser and therefore not to be trusted.

Mermista, meanwhile, is the best character in the series and you cannot change my mind. In seriousness, Mermista is detached and cold, a strength which, like Perfuma’s ethics, causes conflict at other points in the series. However here, it means that we have a character who does not take Shadow Weaver seriously at all, meaning that her grandiose pontificating is meaningless. Mermista sees Shadow Weaver for what she is, a prisoner scabbling for scraps of power from someone else, and she sees an easy rout to stopping that.

Anyway, the interrogation scene.

There is a spotlight on Glimmer and Bow here. They are on a stage, and Shadow Weaver sits on a couch, watching them. They are performing for her. She is in control.

“You are smart, you want to stop the Horde, and you know I'm the only one who can help you do that. I must admit, I thought it would take you longer to speak with me.”

Shadow Weaver is easing Glimmer into thinking she has control. She compliments her, casually offering her own services as help to the princess. But she also positions herself as lower than Glimmer. The last line implies that she is surprised and that Glimmer has the upper hand, letting her into a false sense of security.

“His machine is complete? And they have Adora? We must hurry. If Hordak has the opportunity to open a portal, he will do so immediately. The Alliance will never get there in time – but perhaps...”

She is surprised again, apparently. Shadow Weaver has taken care to position herself as omnipotent, that’s why the compliment to Glimmer being unexpected is there.

Effectively, if the smart guy is outsmarted, they are on the back foot. If the smart guy is surprised, they are in danger.

So, Shadow Weaver emphasises the danger of the situation, stressing that the alliance’s inability to help. But wait… it just happened to occur to her, just now, that Glimmer might be able to fix this. She wasn’t planning this at all, it was spontaneous, and a piece of knowledge she doesn’t think would work.

Needless to say, I think Shadow Weaver is talking utter bollocks about this. For my evidence, I propose the following questions: If Shadow Weaver didn’t know about Adora’s capture, how does she know about the rebellion’s plans? Is it possible she is pulling facts out of her backside to further her own ends?

“I can make you stronger. I'm still the only sorceress who has ever been able to tap into a runestone. If you allow me to access your connection to the Moonstone, I can enhance your powers. You could teleport us all the way there.”

Here is Shadow Weaver’s gambit. She can solve the problem for Glimmer, she can give Glimmer the assistance she needs. It’s a Faustian bargain, and she doesn’t mention at all what she gains from this deal, that’s just something that slips her mind.

Of course, she could be doing this out of the goodness of her heart, kindness isn’t transactional, but this is Shadow Weaver we are talking about. Shadow Weaver exists on conditional affection and saw fit to make demands as a prisoner of war. I don’t think Shadow Weaver is the type of person to offer aid for nothing.

“I want to destroy Hordak.”

This is Shadow Weaver’s stated motivation, she says it again later on in the episode, and it is mainly used to distract Glimmer and give her a “an enemy of my enemy is my friend” type of bargain. But I’d like to examine this motivation a little bit, because I think she is lying about this as well.

In the end fight of the episode, Shadow Weaver casts two spells, both of which could have been aimed at Hordack, but neither are. Instead, she destroys the room, and she targets Catra. Shadow Weaver is a parasite, and a liar.

Which leads into Catra’s descent into madness, something that is told entirely from everyone else’s perspective. Until the end, but we will get there.

Shadow Weaver physically abuses a child in this scene. That is objectively what this is. The fact that this is magical is the only thing that let the writers get this through censorship. But I want to be clear here, this is not simply punishing misbehaviour, this is not tough love, this is not building strength. Shadow Weaver physically abuses a child in this scene.

This is a mirror of the scene in Promise, to the point where the spell is the same, and it is notable that it would have been easier to just zap Catra and leave her there, but Shadow Weaver decides to torture her.

And this scene is viewed from Glimmer’s perspective, showing her the true monster that she is aligned with, but also the power that Shadow Weaver exhibits. This is the deal Glimmer made, summed up, agency for complacency. Glimmer has to make herself ok, at least partially, with this side of Shadow Weaver, which makes her complicit in what is, again, the physical abuse of a child.

We have seen this scene before, but here it is through a different lens, and that changes how we read it, and keeps it interesting.

It is also notable that Bow is the one who stops Shadow Weaver and pulls Glimmer back. Which is interesting.

Bow is Shadow Weaver’s antithesis. Angella is too, but Bow is her main equal opposite. Bow is kind, uncomplicatedly so, and he is the final character who remains immune to Shadow Weaver’s tricks.

Although Bow stays above Shadow Weaver by playing the same game as her, just more fairly. Bow is a tactician, and a damn good one at that. He isn’t as good as Shadow Weaver, nobody is, but he is easily the second best in the series by a long shot.

But Bow plays fair, at all times. He lets people know what their roles are, he communicates, and he relies on other people as much as they rely on him. His relationships are mutual, where Shadow Weavers are parasitic.

Bow exists on trust.

Speaking of which, when Catra betrays Entrapta, the scene is shot from Scorpia’s point of view, and we again see her utter powerlessness to stop the situation. This is the cycle of abuse in full effect. Catra was denied her own agency, and so the way she tries to reclaim it is by removing others of theirs. Scorpia can’t do anything as her friend is carried away to a death sentence.

The final scene, however, is from Adora’s perspective. We see Catra’s world fall apart around her, quite literally, and we see Adora watch her oldest friend descend into madness. Once again, the watcher is powerless, as Catra continues the cycle of abuse.

You understand that Catra has nothing left to lose, and while you don’t agree with her decision, you can see why she did it, which is important. Reason and justification are not the same, but they do both make analysis easier, which I am grateful for.

This sets up the next episodes and Catra’s characterisation there. Catra doesn’t care about her own safety or the continued existence of the world itself, she just wants to feel better by exhibiting some kind of control over the people she perceives to have hurt her.

Which also sets up my diagnoses of Catra, and I’m not sure how the fandom will react to this, but I think Catra is the villain here.

Catra, in this episode, and in the next few episodes, is abusive, manipulative, and controlling. Essentially, she fits all three of the parameters for evil that the series has established.

Yes, she has a reason for her actions, but she isn’t morally grey anymore, she is choosing to burn the world down out of spite. Cool motive, still murder. Catra is the villain.

But is she irredeemable? I would argue “no”.

Spoilers for the rest of the series, but I can’t really explain why Catra’s redemption is possible to me other than the fact that she was redeemed, and it worked for me.

I don’t believe in good and bad people; I believe in actions. Sure, there are people who do unconditionally horrible things, a lot, but I would argue that the best way to redeem oneself is to stop doing those things and get better.

It’s as if morality is a quality you have to work at, with enough practice, you can improve.

And I think Catra’s redemption is so well executed, specifically because of the fact she is villainous here. If she hadn’t hit rock bottom and then sunk even further, her climb wouldn’t be nearly as compelling, at least to me.

Micah's memory casts a shadow over Angella as she makes her decisions, colouring her argument with her daughter. I wonder if there is some symbolism there.

Final Thoughts

The reason that Moment of Truth isn’t as popular as Promise or Save The Cat, is that it isn’t spectacular, it’s just impressive. By which I mean, the shot composition of this episode is stellar, but I can’t exactly point out every Dutch angle or perspective warp, or how many emotions Entrapta goes through in a single close up.

Also, the pacing of this episode actually slows down, rather than gaining momentum. It increases in tension, but the scenes get longer and more drawn out. We are reaching the event horizon, essentially, and time is getting wibbly wobbly. But that isn’t exactly something that wows an audience.

So if I was to recommend this episode, I would point to the teleportation scene, or the fight between Catra and Shadow Weaver. Both of which look cool, but don’t hold up by themselves when contrasted with other episodes in this series.

Basically, Moment Of Truth is competent, but in a way, its playing things safe on a majour scale, which is unfortunate. This episode deserves more love.

Anyway, next week, I will be looking at Remember, and taking narrative literalism to its extreme. So stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

[auspicioustidings]

I can just see the 141 brining Maze and Alex into to convince bad girl that they were coming for her all along and it just going horribly wrong.

Using them as evidence that they were helping her but it backfires and she thinks that the 141 were trying to make her into an attack dog and once that was proven (with her breakout) they want her back.

I want a version of a happy ending for bad girl but I just keep thinking of all these horrible things! Someone get her therapy and lots of cuddles!

God they are so stupid 😩

This absolutely sounds like something they would do. Like look! Mace helped you! (oh he was your pet once? So he helped you, nothing to do with me). Alex was undercover the whole time! (ah, so when it was just me there that wasn't a good enough reason to break cover, but he broke it for good boy). No, you don't understand, even Nikto wanted you out and he's a complete headcase! (you know Nikto. You know him so that's what this was, sending me to him for training.)

It's so frustrating because I know in my heart they are also doing things that bring you around without realising.

Soap spends weeks learning to make the perfect iteration of your favourite meal. When he first met you, he loved the healthy layers of fat he got to sink his fingers into. Now you are so much smaller and it makes him so sad because he knows if they had never taken you then you wouldn't be. He first off spent a lot of time coaxing good boy into telling him. Good boy has retreated back into pet mode, he's miserable but unlike you he is openly desperate for love and adoration from them all and they give it in spades. It means getting a human answer from him was tricky, but Soap did it. Then he went travelling all over the place to get only the best ingredients, did a ton of research on it. Nearly burned the kitchen down twice. Every person in that house is sick of this meal because they have all had to taste test every iteration of it until it was actually good. Except for good boy of course.

That's why the gesture maybe got to you a bit. Good boy is allergic to things in this meal. At first when Soap brought it to you, you tackled him and tried to go for his throat because is he crazy? Good boy is allergic! But he tells you not to worry, he knows that. It's difficult for you to wrap your head around. This was not for good boy. Good boy could get no enjoyment out of this. This was just for you. He tried so hard just for you.

Ghost keeps bringing you books even though you destroy them. He never yells at you for it, never even acknowledges it. It isn't like him and it puts you on edge. It terrifies you the day you crawl into a corner and actual start reading one because he doesn't react to that either, doesn't try to praise you or encourage it, just brings you some tea and a little plate of snacks and sets them by your side. It's Lady Grey tea. The only people that know it's your favourite are Mace and Roze because anytime you were in recovery they gave you different teas to see which you liked best.

Price and Ale persevere. You don't want them close. You bite at them and scratch at them and scream at them. You try and push them to hit you. You want them to punish you, to call you bad girl. But they don't, they just hold you and refuse to let go no matter how much you struggle. It's the only time you sleep well, when you are safe between them, settled into their arms.

Gaz and Rudy don't trust themselves. They've both fucked up already, made things so much worse for you when they thought they were making them better. So this time they consider actually asking for help from someone who will always put you first. It's terrifying. Kate is not like them. If you went to her and said you never wanted to wear a collar or be a pet or see them ever again, she would make that happen. They talk to Alex about it. How did he feel when Kate took Farah? Is he bitter because he doesn't see her anymore?

But he does. They never knew that. It took years, but one day he answered his phone to Kate and it was Farah on the other end. His Farah, the one who he fucked up with beyond believe. The one who wound up in the pound because of his mistakes. He does see her now and he smiles when he talks about her because she's bold and brilliant again. He says he met her for coffee and she laughed at him because he immediately burst into tears seeing her so vibrant and healthy. They're working on it because there is still so much pain in their past, but he's so willing to take whatever he gives her because he loves her. And despite his reservations, he actually loves that Kate loves her because she deserves the world from whoever can give it to her.

It's a tense discussion. They are selfish men. The 141 let you go once and it is difficult to face the idea of doing it again. So what it comes down to is do they throw their all into training you again? Do they break you back down to a pet, force you to be brainless and happy with them if it's the last thing they do? Or do they sacrifice their ownership of you for the slim chance that one day you come back to them on your own? Knowing that you probably won't. Knowing that losing you means losing the version of good boy that is happy. Maybe losing the version of them that is happy too.

[diviningrodtv]

Oh yeah, NSH Time.

I've been holding this post back for like a week😅

I absolutely love how NSH came out and I think he's currently my favourite rain world model that I've done! (Sorry Pebbles, I'm going to upgrade you later anyway :]

I also made his scarf easily removable so you can see how the stripes aren't just on his head! The stripes and his irises also glow, but a bit brighter than the areas on Five Rotten Pebbles.

His antennae are pretty similar to how I did Sliver's, especially considering I did his first! XD They're separated from his head a bit.

Also if you've noticed in my art that his eyes are the exact same as in the model here, that's because they are! I tried finding a way to draw them how I usually might, but I just couldn't get the same vibe! So I said, "Fuck it!" and I've been drawing over his model ever since XD

NSH is also who I used to make the "umbilical arm" model! So if you saw those posts, that's why the textures are all messed up!

And here it is in all it's glory!

It's mostly made of ball joints with a flexible joint attached to the back. The last segment also twists just like your forearm bones!

Also..... lore shit below cause I have, plans™ so-

If you don't want to know why NSH is acting strange on my blog yet, read no further!

(there's also some downpour spoilers, and some other disturbing things)

*slaps top of can* This bad boy can fit so much fucking insanity in him. (cw: self-harm yeah you heard me)

If you haven't figured it out already (I did drop hints :) NSH's structure is damaged! His legs are giving out because a group of scavengers thought it would be funny to transport all of their explosives at once.

So he's in a bit of a pickle!

This is when Looks to the Moon and Five Pebbles' communication tower is repaired! During their first conversation in a very long time, NSH finds out about good ol' Hunter long legs, and is rightfully distraught! He feels like a total failure, that he wasn't experienced enough to properly create his messenger.

That's what this whole post was about!

But, experience is something that can be gained.

NSH figured if Five Pebbles was able to leave his can, then he should be able to as well, but that requires solving the three problems I mentioned in the Five Rotten Pebbles post:

The self-genome modification barrier,

A general lack of puppet central brain matter, and

No material processing within the puppet.

I'll talk about my umbilical lore for this AU here since it's relevant.

Either the "cord" or the "arm" can be disconnected, but not both. This is for ease of repair by administrators. Disconnecting them both would leave the unfortunate Iterator fully functional. Although, they would be blind in the visible spectrum (apart from overseers), unable to speak directly to someone in their chamber, and would otherwise have their workflow be severely impaired. They would effectively be trapped in their own head.

NSH realised that even if the barriers existed, they could still have the intentions, to break them. So what would happen, if he broke one? Not by writing it out of his system, Five Pebbles already proved how risky that method was, but instead by setting his actions in motion faster than any barrier could stop them? This was something to test, and wasn't that what Iterators were built to do anyway?

Umbilicals can only be disconnected by administrators, but what if he were to do it anyway? He needed to leave his can after all, it wouldn't be much of a loss if he was stuck on the floor of his chamber or floating aimlessly in zero gravity for a while.....

So what if he just ran fast enough to rip himself off?

What if he moved his arm back at the last second, could he gain enough inertia to pull it out of his back? Even if it took a few tries?

What other choices does he have? Perfect Five Pebbles' method until he collapses and continue even then? He had time, but not enough for that, and The Hunter certainly did not have any time for waiting around. NSH had to fix his mistake, he had to.

So this bastard goes and does exactly that, and short-circuits his entire system.

Not just breaking the umbilical maintenance barrier, but every other one in the process.

And it all hurts like hell.

But that's the first problem solved, and now he can help keep himself afloat longer. So that now, he can figure out how to solve the other two problems with precision.

Of course, the others won't like any of these plans, but, after what Five Pebbles did, they wouldn't dare disturb him if he stopped responding, right?

And maybe, he could even hijack their communications array, to look for help.

>:]

yeah so NSH is not sane

[dysfunctional-doodle]

now i WOULD go rest after the whole ypi business HOWEVER. is there any way to convince you to watch it because OH MY GODDDDDDDD THIS IS MY FAVOURITE SERIES EVER!!!!!!!!!!! it’s certainly not the best written tmnt series out there (ESPECIALLY with the romance…. shudders)

HOWEVERRRRRRR there are a lot of awesome things about it i really like….. i think one thing i like the most about this iteration (besides the very obvious obsession about sunset duo) is THE VOICEACTING. in a tmnt voiceacting teirlist i would put almost every rise character in s tier and yet STILL, despite the fact i put donnie in b, 2012 IS MY FAVOURITE VOICE ACTED SERIES. the original ask includes the giant navy battleship line and. yeah. sean astin’s delivery makes it a kajillion times funnier to me. IDK MAN THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT SPLINTER’S VOICE THAT IS SO SATISFYING TO ME. AND THE WAY SHINIGAMI LAUGHS???????????????? HRGHHHHH

also a big fan of the dynamics between the turtles…… the absolute brothers of all time. sobs (again it’s very obvious which duo is my favourite hfhdbsjbsdj)

also this might be a slightlyyyy controversial take but mikey’s adhd is written really really REALLY well in my opinion. like ok donnie said he hasn’t matured since age six and infantilisation is a big problem with neurodivergent people HOWEVER. a big part of mikey’s character is that he doesn’t like being underestimated and wants to prove he is capable but also. as a person with adhd. YEAH I TOO FEEL LIKE THE PERSON IN MY BRAIN IS A SMALL CHILD. the reason i peaked in primary school is because, back then, i was only slightly less mature than my peers. now as i’m in secondary school i realise i am like a TWO YEAR OLD compared to these people. when i was in s1 i would call myself the twelve year old toddler because that was essentially how mature i felt i was. SO THE STRUGGLE IS REAL. maybe there are times he feels slightly stereotypical but hey, everyone has their stereotype moments, right??? (as cliche as it is i feel like everyone has had a “hey, look, squirrel!” moment in their life). yeah i just relate to 2012 mikey on a spiritual level. like every time he’s on screen he does something and i think WOW. that is LITERALLY me (which is why i’m surprised that one poll i have more people think i’m like sonic than mikey?? but i’m not complaining, sonic is super cool)

the 3d animation is cool (the increase in skill is very obvious as you progress further through the series) and the fight scenes are just. MWAH. SO satisfying.

also SOME of the romance is pretty ok! raph and mona lisa are great. also arguably raph and casey (but we’re not ready for that conversation i think).

i have a full disc set of all five seasons that included a list of all the episodes and whenever i finished an episode i REALLYYYY REALLY enjoyed i would highlight the name in pink sharpie… here are all the episodes i marked :3 (i might need to rewatch some of these)

the pulveriser

cockroach terminator

parasitica

the good, the bad, and casey jones

plan 10

a foot too big (i’m actually not too sure about this one right now, might need to rewatch it)

journey to the center of mikey’s mind

revenge of the triceratons (this one is only half highlighted for some reason)

bat in the belfry

tokka vs the world

requiem (sobs. sobs so so hard.)

end times

when worlds collide: part 2 (i think this one is where the giant navy battleship line comes from)

it’s ok if you don’t want to watch it or you’re not able to watch it but if you can and you don’t end up liking it THAT’S OK I TOTALLY GET IT THERE ARE A LOT OF PARTS THAT SUCK

erm anyways that was my strange ramble. sorry for invading your ask box 👍🏼

(oh yeah, the comics are pretty cool too)

(guess who michalina’s favourite character + duo is challenge (impossible))

Ok I will say oddly enough I’ve read the comics for 2012. Weird, but I pirated found them and enjoyed reading them, they were fun.

I have watched a few episodes - I did like the speed demon episode (I love the dynamic of 2012 donnie and Casey mirroring the 90s movies even down the name insulting scene where they are going through the alphabet) and I like parasitica a lot. I have watched others like journey to centre of Mikey’s mind, Buried Secrets, and the usagi episodes, and also the final episodes of the Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (? I cannot remember the name, but the one with the insect guy as the villain who’s name I can’t spell and can’t be bothered to Google lol), that one where Donnie becomes dumb, the vampire ones, but that’s it.

What puts me off is the romance and the (in my opinion) partial butchered character Donnie has due to it. He’s genuinely creepy and it makes watching it uncomfortable and wildly out of character compared to what I’m used to. I’ve never been a fan of romance, and I expect ally despise the whole “main character has a crush on someone else but is so nerdy they don’t know how to approach them” trope. The whole love triangle and the poorly written “love at first sight” which most the romances in the show are just put me off completely. I genuinely have tried other episodes but I cringe every time the Donnie/April romance happens. It’s a shame because when they let Donnie move on from April or not be simping after her I really like his slightly sarcastic, blunt yet sensitive nature.

I’ve heard they kind of throw away the romance at season 3 but it’s having to watch this until then tbh. Maybe one day I will give it a go if people really say it’s worth the suffering of my least favourite trope. You seem to like it a lot so maybe :)

[dragonsandphoenix]

The Scene from the My Stand In Novel That Should Have Stayed

I'll be honest My Stand In is increasingly losing me as a viewer, and so I went back to the novel and the audio drama to find out why. After revisiting some scenes I've come to the tentative conclusion that MSI feels like a surface level interpretation of the novel, speaking as a novel fan.

MSI spoilers in all its iterations (drama, novel & audio drama):

What confuses me about MSI is that in terms of plot and broad character arcs, it's pretty faithful to the novel itself. And while Professional Body Double isn't my favourite Shui Qian Cheng novel I liked it for what it was and even thought the audio drama adaptation elevated its source material. And to be fair, I liked the first 6 episodes of MSI a lot, like scrolling through the tag in tumblr everyday a lot. To me, MSI shines when it feels like watching a 188 novel come to life.

But for the past few weeks, that investment has waned. Something's missing. Maybe it's the way that characters being shallower versions of themselves have caught up to me, maybe it's the way the show gets bogged down in plot mechanics when the characters' inner thoughts and feelings are meant to be what drives the narrative, and I just don't feel as invested in these characters.

This scene from the audio drama is what led me to read the novel in the first place. Its absence from the drama is emblematic of my issues with MSI. It happens right after Joe (Zhou Xiang) meets Ming's (Yan Mingxiu) brother. Instead of leaving the house he goes upstairs and goes to sleep. Then Ming stumbles into the room drunk and we get this melancholic moment.

My absolute favourite thing about this scene is the complexity of it. We get to the heart of MingJoe's relationship, and its fundamental issue: in spite of their passionate and (imo) genuine feelings for one another, they can never be on the same page. They love each other, but they're so deeply broken to the point of being destructive to themselves and each other.

The point is this is a character and emotionally-driven story.

It is especially Joe's story, he's our main POV character and he is so clearheaded about his feelings actually. He does acknowledge that if Ming showed him an ounce of care in his past life he'd accept him. But now they're way past that. He's disillusioned, and that feeling of lost love is captured so well here that isn't often captured in BL.

I honestly feel the story becomes incoherent if we don't have a good handle on his and to a lesser extent Ming and some important side characters' inner worlds.

One my main issues with MSI is that it seems to be constantly missing the Point. Part of that is due to the differing characterizations but it also stems from the scriptwriters losing sight of the heart of the story and the need to present the plot as clearly as possible with little ambiguity. Most recently, Ming spends a significant chunk of episode 8 trying to figure out if Joe 2.0 is Joe 1.0 and then concocting different ways to test if they're the same person. In a way it's pretty faithful to the novel, these are things that happen in there too. The drama adapts these plot elements, adds obvious visual cues (the egg, the sneeze), adds additional scenes of Ming consulting the blind shaman on finding Joe and place dramatic weight to them in a way that we as the audience should be really invested on whether Ming will solve this Great Mystery.

But it doesn't matter. It matters very little to Joe, he's just trying to move on with his life and it doesn't even matter to Ming, this obsession of his is just another form of his grief and denial ("I found someone else but it isn't you", "I feel so ridiculous now"). This emphasis on what ultimately doesn't matter comes at the cost of character depth. Scenes jump from one to the next with no room for characters to reflect or even react to what just happened to them. Relationships and characters get stripped down to their bare bones (the brotherhood between Joe and Wut will always be something I cherish) and I just think this is all a shame.

I'll ultimately be happy if My Stand In succeeds and does well, as it might open up doors for more challenging BL projects. I just hope that comes with more nuanced and complex narratives as well.

[creepercraftguy]

My Thoughts on OMNI-MAN VS BARDOCK

Death Battle made its triumphant return today, and I've decided I'm gonna start posting short reviews of each new episode that comes out.

This isn't gonna be a long-winded review, just me sharing my basic thoughts.

And I'll be putting all of my stuff under the cut so that I don't spoil it for anybody. Please, make sure, if you're interested, that you watch the episode first, and don't read on so that you don't get spoiled.

To start off with, the matchup itself did really interest me. I remember around the time that Omni-Man vs Homelander came out that people were trying to come up with ideas for who would be a better opponent for Nolan, because frankly, Homelander was an absolute piece of piss for him.

And everyone, including the companies that own both Invincible and The Boys, knew that going in. So it wasn't really a hyped episode for who would win or not, but more so what was actually going to happen during the fight itself. Creating a spectacle was more important than creating a fight.

Not that Omni-Man Vs Homelander was bad. It is actually one of my favourite DB's from its execution, but the fact was it was not a difficult fight for Omni-Man AT ALL.

So when people started to think of who would be a much fairer fight for him, and one that had a lot of connections, Bardock was a big one, and it wasn't hard to see why:

Both are powerful alien warriors who are known for...kind of being dicks. Nolan is a Viltrumite, a race of highly advanced, powerful beings who conquer and dominate other planets. His mission on Earth is initially hidden but later revealed to be part of this expansionist agenda. Bardock is a Saiyan warrior, a race known for their battle prowess and ability to get stronger after every fight. The Saiyans, under Frieza's rule, conquer planets, wiping out their inhabitants for Frieza’s empire.

Both are the blood-related fathers of their series protagonists, Mark, AKA Invincible, and Kakarot, AKA Son Goku, respectively.

Both characters suffered conflict with their own people. Omni-Man's conflict comes from the fact that he is torn between his Viltrumite duties and the love he develops for his family and Earth, and eventually, he decides to defy the Viltrumite empire to some extent after being confronted by Mark’s humanity. Bardock becomes disillusioned with Frieza and attempts to fight back after learning about Frieza's plan to annihilate the Saiyan race. While his resistance is ultimately futile, he still stands against his ruler in an effort to protect his people.

Both characters are initially presented as being ruthless, unforgiving, and bloodthirsty, but this changes over time (across multiple iterations in Bardock's case) Initially, Omni-Man is ruthless in his mission, killing thousands to assert Viltrumite dominance, showing little regard for human life. However, as he develops a bond with his family, especially Mark, he begins to reconsider his values.And while Bardock begins as a battle-hardened warrior who cares little for the planets he conquers, he undergoes a transformation when he learns of Frieza’s betrayal and seeks to protect his home and his son.

And a few more on top of that, but I'm not sure I need to go through all the connections myself.

So, I start this off with the analysis portions of the episode, and I immediately noticed something when I went through Nolan's analysis.

I know this probably has to do with Death Battle trying to preserve their budget and keep their independence up, but unfortunately, it seems that we no longer have any cutaway scenes showing Wiz and Boomstick. They host the show as always, but we don't actually physically see them at all, not even during the post-analysis.

This is kind of a shame because, while yeah, the cutaways are normally hit or miss, the jokes they try to make land a lot better with them.

But on the other hand, it does make retaining the information a lot better. And to the credit, the analysis really made it clear where each characters strengths lay.

Going into this, I was under the impression that Bardock held an advantage, because I know the Dragon Ball scaling goes way above the scaling of Invincible. However, when I actually saw some of the feats Nolan achieves in the comics, compared to Bardock's...honestly kind of messy timeline, I started to change my tune.

I still held out for hope for Bardock, but when the fight ended and Omni-Man took the win...I understood why.

So yeah, the analysis and post-analysis were good because it really made me understand how the fight went the way it did.

With that being said, this was, to no one's surprise, a much harder fight for Nolan than Homelander was. Saiyan's just ARE stupid powerful aliens, and Omni-Man would actually have to put in the work for a win as opposed to completely stunting on the guy.

Okay, so now for the fight. If I had to rank it on a scale of 1 to 10, I think I'd give it a solid 7.

That's no fault of DevilArtimis, or Death Battle themselves though. Unfortunately, with the respective abilities these guys are known for, there's a severe limit to what you can have them do in the span of a 5 or so minute fight.

Besides Bardock's ki blasts, neither really have any powers of their own that don't just involve beating the shit out of people, tearing them apart, and just sheer brutality, so ultimately, what you are left with is a battle that just shows these two evil daddies pounding each other.

And no, I'm not taking back my phrasing there.

However, while that does limit my enjoyment of the fight, it doesn't do so severely. There's still a lot to love about the clash.

I always like to talk about my thoughts on the voice acting, and in this case, Omni-Man was reprised by Tom Schalk (also previously voicing Kool-Aid Man, Dio, Spongebob, and Megatron) and Bardock was voiced by Kamran Nikhad (previously having voiced Sephiroth, Mario, Boba Fett, Black Adam, and Martian Manhunter)

Schalk is one of the best voice actors that Death Battle have in their cast. He killed it as a sinister, condescending, and stern Omni-Man in Omni-Man Vs Homelander, and though he doesn't speak nearly as much in this one, he does equally well as a despaired, enraged, protective Omni-Man too. He killed it once again. As for Nikhad, he was fine, but definitely not the same sort of inflections that Sonny Strait gives Bardock that make his voice so iconic. Just a minor complaint.

Another minor complaint I have is Bardock's model looks a little weird, at least the mouth movements do, especially when shown from the side, and Nolan's model is kind of uncanny because it's weird seeing Omni-Man in 3D. Sure, he's 3D in Mortal Kombat, but that's also a realistic art style that would have clashed with Bardock, so I'm glad they didn't go that route. Still cool though.

And props to DevilArtemis for doing what he could to keep you engaged with this fight, and capturing both characters behavior, transformations, attacks, and inflections really well with the movements.

Considering, as I already mentioned, this fight would not go as easily as the fight with Homelander did, Omni-Man's attacks feel a lot more damaging, and ferocious than they did in his previous episode. My favourite part of the fight is when he grabs Bardock's tail, brutally tears it off, and then just whip slaps him with it. Definitely in line with the Viltrumites knack for tearing people to bloody chunks.

And for Bardock, considering he's an early Dragon Ball guy, it's really good to see some more recent recontextualization and coverage for classic feats. Also, for some reason, this is the first time we're ever seeing an Oozaru in Death Battle.

If I have any complaints for the fight, Bardock's Death was...kind of flat. It was brutal, but I didn't expect it, nor want it, to be so graceful. But that's all I really have to say about it. The sequence itself was really solid.

And in case I didn't make it clear, while I DO like Bardock more than Nolan as a character, the result did not dissatisfy me because, like I said, it was explained very thoroughly, and very well, in a way that made me understand.

Also, two little side notes, I want to address my take on a few arguments that I kept on seeing in the build up to this episode, and when the episode dropped. The first being whether or not Bardock should have been allowed Super Saiyan, and how it was kind of unfair for Bardock to be given a composite version of his character. To that, I say this.

First of all, if Bardock wasn't given all of his abilities across his iterations, this fight wouldn't have been nearly as cool. If you have the choice between seeing Bardock go Super Saiyan, or not seeing Bardock power up and go gold, why would you ever choose the latter? Death Battle tried to justify their decision, but for me at least, they didn't really need to.

What I wanted to know, in regards to Super Saiyan's conclusion, is this: Would Bardock having Super Saiyan be the edge he needs to win the fight? And would he lose if he didn't have it?

If the answer is yes, then I take issue. Because I don't like it when characters in this series win all because of one minor feat they have, especially if that feat is only semi-canon, like Super Saiyan Bardock is. However, in this case, the answer is no.

Super Saiyan definitely gave Bardock a boost that put Nolan on the ropes, but it wasn't enough to net him a win. So there's no real issue because having Super Saiyan ultimately didn't affect the results, so I'm fine with it.

The second argument I keep seeing is that Omni-Man wouldn't have been able to take down that giant planet without the 2 other characters that were with him. In the comics, he needed the assistance of those two, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to do it.

However, I want to note that the point that DB were trying to make was that Nolan, even if he was a third of the power required to take down that planet, is still VERY CAPABLE of wiping out entire planets on his own, and far more efficiently than Bardock would be. Bardock's own planet-busting feats weren't even his; he was scaled off of King Vegeta, so that's honestly more of a loose connection than Nolan smashing the planet.

And it's not as if that feat alone is what gave Nolan the edge in the fight. He still had all the other stuff like smart atoms on his side.

I will quickly remind everyone that this was not a stomp for Omni-Man. Death Battles usually aren't stomps, and they show off what both characters are capable of by pushing them to the brink. The aforementioned Omni-Man Vs Homelander is only one of few examples of unfair stomp fights.

And the last thing I want to talk about is the music track, though I don't have much to say on it. I know that Brandon kind of struggled with this track, but he did a great job, as he always does. With that being said, I still like Diabolical Invincible Me more than Solid State Invincible, not because SSI is a bad track, but because DIM is just...SOOO good, by a large margin. In fact, SSI even takes lyrics and beats from DIM.

So that's about it...A REALLY solid comeback for Death Battle. Not one of my top fights, but definitely a super strong opener.

...

...Although I feel like I'm forgetting something...There was one other thing that I really liked but I can't quite remember-

...

...

...

...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

[lordoftheringsmusical]

Hi. I need your opinions on the lotr musical cause I feel just a little crazy about this musicals iteration of Sam (in a good way I promise)

Ooo please tell me more about Sam! He's my favourite!!

Okay. My LotR Musical opinions:

(Please remember that this blog is not connected to the show and not sponsored by the creators haha)

"Now and For Always (Reprise)" should have been included in the final West End version or at least brought back for the Watermill production. It's so beautiful and heartbreaking.

Laura Michelle Kelly changed Galadriel's lines in the Lothlórien scene, and these changes provide much needed context and improve the flow of the dialogue massively.

Actually, lots of lines are extremely clunky. I'm surprised that the script and the Elvish bits weren't updated for the revival. Kudos to the Watermill actors for making the book work surprisingly well, good job!!

Making Pippin a girl was a wonderful idea - there aren't that many female Tolkien characters, so why not simply change that? It's a lovely continuation of this show's tendency to create more roles for women: Gildor > Elránien, and Glorfindel being played by a woman. And also: "The Road Goes On" sounds absolutely gorgeous with Amelia as Pippin!

It's extremely annoying that the original productions are remembered first and foremost as financial flops. The show ran for 20 months in total and was nominated for five Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical. It was expensive, yes, but also incredibly innovative. The sheer scale of it, the massive ensemble, the rotating stage with more than a dozen lifts, the circus skills involved (silks, stilts, etc), there has never been anything like it on a theatre stage. It's unfair that this show is reduced to its lack of financial and critical success while other flops that had shorter runs are treated with respect. LotR has always been special.

I'll keep this very short, but most people have no idea how adaptations work. A stage adaptation needs to change and exclude plot points, it can never put a book on stage. The LotR Musical draws in audiences who aren't too familiar with theatre, and the worst takes on this show come from those who've never spared a thought on stage adaptations before.

Happy to talk more about these ✨️

[immeasurablesaladagere]

i absolutely LOVE your house agere fics/headcannons but have yet to see any lockwood and co ones even though it is in your pinned post and would love your headcannons when you get a chance! though i know you have a lot of requests in queue so no pressure!

AHHH Lockwood and Co! Hcs are my break between longer stuff lol, so coming right up!

Littles Lucy and Lockwood for sure. George is CG (but perhaps flip? I could see it)

Both Lucy and Lockwood call George "Mum", he just goes with it. He has never, not once, been any iteration of dad or older brother.

Both Lucy and Lockwood regress to similar ranges, like 5-9.

Lucy regresses almost entirely voluntarily as a way to get her childhood back. She didn't recognize it as anything special until she moved in with Lockwood and George, all she knew was that having a stuffy or reading a children's book made her feel really calm and a bit blurry. She thought it was like nostalgia but like x10.

Lockwood's regression is pretty much always involuntary, and something he doesn't like but has learned to live with. A bad nightmare, a migraine, a flashback, a panic attack, are all things that can nudge his brain over the edge and boom, he's a kid again. One of his worst nightmares would be regressing on a job and putting his team at risk because of it. He's worked very hard to prevent it at all costs.

While he's little, Lockwood's regression is all over the place. Sometimes he's content, sometimes (rarely) he's bubbly and happy, and sometimes he's completely inconsolable. It's a roll of the dice depending on what caused the slip, but even then there's some variation.

He doesn't always remember what happened to his family, he just knows they aren't there.

I have a very vivid scene in my head on how Lucy found out that Lockwood regresses, and it goes like this: It's Lockwood and George's routine that if Lockwood is feeling small late at night (the kid never sleeps anyway), he can come find George and he'll read him a bedtime story. Lockwood's feeling small not long after Lucy's moved in, so he sneaks very quietly downstairs to the library and asks George to read to him. Lucy, in search of water or something, sees that someone's still up and goes to chat, and walks in on Lockwood basically cuddled on top of George while he's reading to him, and Lockwood freezes for a second, then gets up and basically sprints to his room and locks himself in there. George half-explains, but says it would be better if Lockwood had the choice to tell her.

The discovery of Lucy's was far less dramatic. Lockwood eventually explained everything to her and she was just like "Oh, so that's what that is... Me too then, I guess".

Soft and squishy little!Lockwood, energetic and happy little!Lucy.

Tired mother George.

They play ghost-hunters with their toys sometimes, and the heroes always win very, very easily. Nothing ever goes wrong, and George kinda has an idea as to why that is, so he's never mentioned it.

If Lucy and Lockwood are both regressed together, Lockwood tends to drift younger than Lucy is no matter where they started. If they were both feeling 8, a few hours later Lockwood might be down to 5 or 6.

Lucy loves fruit, dude. It's her favourite thing. George will offer her a biscuit and she's like "But I want an apple :("

[cadybear420]

The Crandall's are possibly one of the best written horrible families I have seen in Choices, in my own opinion.

(small rant incoming)

Mr & Mrs Crandall are one of the best reps of horrible parents (alongside Guy from MOTY), as I can see my own mother and family members in them.

Mrs Crandall being an affectionate and kind mother and talking over her kids at the corporate night, and seeing how horribly she treats both her kids if they mess up anything for them in private hits home hard. It helps make sense with Brian and Skye and how they became who they are.

I can't remember much of Mr Crandall, but I do remember how he'd do anything for deals and gain business partners that he would put his kids below this person they're gaining a business offer from, because his kids aren't exactly important unless they're "perfect" accessories who make them look good.

These parents who probably peaked in Highschool want their legacy to lead with children who follow in their footsteps of probably being perfect popular kids, and don't care how they treat people as long as they're good dolls who make them look great to other families and kids.

They don't even care if Brian's disruptive, only when he's at a corporate dinner. They probably hired a nanny to take care of him and Skye since they were too busy going to corp meetings and didn't even want to drop their work load so they could spend time with them. Hell, they probably only spent time with toddler Brian if he coloured in the lines and got praise from it at kindy and showed him off young which caused his ego-inflated young.

The fact that they exude "I am a horrible parent, but I have money!" Just on their sprites alone is phenomenal.

They yell at their kids, they make their favourites known pretty clearly, and they definitely only had kids to make their image of being the ideal "wife & husband home life" even more prominent. No wonder Brian is horrible to girls and has absolutely no redeeming qualities, no wonder Skye wants to run away with a band, they were never given good parents and they were never taught how to be a good human being. Only a heir to a company. They were given a mother & father, not a mum & dad.

Okay rant over, holy shit.

Send me unpopular or popular opinions about anything Choices and/or HSS related, and I will rate them on the aforementioned scale and elaborate if possible

My Rating of this opinion:

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

My Elaboration below:

Honestly, all of this is correct and I don't have much else to add. They're just good examples of verbally-emotionally abusive conditional-love parents.

Brian's parents are probably the only well-written antagonists in HSS:CA. And are one of the very few connections to the previous iterations that HSS:CA handled well. Although Brian was kind of a prop character in CA, it was still good to meet his parents and get a sort of background for why he's behaved the way he did in the OG trilogy.

[clyde-and-co]

VOTE DONATELLO HOMATO 2023 + my own experience with autism

@autismswagreblogs

Donatello has been confirmed to be canonically autistic and here’s a bunch of videos about how amazing the neurodivergent representation is, along with my own experience with autism and how important good autistic representation is.

===================================

I have been diagnosed with both autism and adhd but I’m going to be putting my adhd aside for this post but I am happy to answer any questions and/or make a seperate post about my adhd if people are interested, as well as a more in-depth post about my autism (I tried to condense it a bit plus my brain is extremely tired so I do not want to think about myself for too long)

My mother - while she does support me and is aware of my autism - still sees it as a bit of an ‘excuse’ (which is a very harmful thing to say, and it is absolutely false). And that led into a sort of self-loathing - I hated being autistic, and I was punishing myself for it.

But!!! A very close friend of mine was super into TMNT. And she showed me Rise and I thought the art style and animation was very pretty so I watched a few compilation videos on YouTube and I was like ‘why do I connect so much to the purple one????’

Then I found out he was autistic, and my entire view on my own autism changed.

Donatello is my favourite TMNT character through all iterations, and finding out he was canonically autistic honestly boosted my mental health. To know that my favourite character of all time was autistic just like me? It made me realise that autism and neurodiversity in general isn’t a curse.

We both stim, we both have sensory issues, we both have low empathy - diversity is important because not all people are straight, white, cis, neurotypical men.

Diversity is important because it stops self-loathing.

Diversity is important because it makes people feel understood and seen.

Diversity is important because it can give support when nobody else will.

====================================

(none of these videos are made by me, all credit goes to their respectful creators)

[damianbugs]

saki i'm sorry i don't know much about DC comics, but i have been confused about something recently when seeing fan comics — are Bruce and Two-Face (Harvey?) still friends post-whatever happened to him? I think they were friends before, maybe, but some fanon has been suggesting to me they might still be, so I was wondering about that. Opinions on him, too, maybe? I know fuck all about him but he's so quirky

i wouldn't say they're... still friends exactly. let's do some background real quick.

i think the really sweet and close friendship bruce wayne and harvey dent had prior to his acid attack, that inspires a lot of fancontent — is from Batman: The Animated Show. in this iteration of their history, they're close friends who obviously mean a lot to each other, which is why the guilt batman feels for two-face is only more painful.

(of course in much earlier comics and harvey's original introduction (detective comics #66) bruce and harvey are friends too. though, it's not often referenced as his origin much anymore.)

in the comics however, the friendship starts and unfortunately ends with batman. batman, (captain) jim gordon, (DA) harvey all work together to try and solve the case in Batman: The Long Halloween.

they grow close and personally, i think bruce was really starting to form a close bond and trust with harvey throughout their partnership. this really shines through when after harvey becomes two-face (which is a long and sad story), bruce still has somewhat of a belief that harvey can still be good.

though, we know now that two-face ends up having a permanent spot in gothams rouge gallery, but i suppose it's because of this history of trust that batman continues to encourage harvey to turn his life around (a sentiment he has with a lot of his rouges, but something that is especially prominent in his relationship with two-face).

as for what their origins are in the new 52? i have no idea! moving on.

for what their relationship is like currently;

the most recent interactions i think they've had is in ram v's current Detective Comics run (which is FANTASTIC) and out of all the harvey and bruce comics i have read, it is probably my favourite. they're not even the main focused relationship, but it is such an important one for the theme of this arc.

in this run harvey is at war with himself, struggling between being 'good' and being 'bad' — but also struggling to simply have a choice at doing either. bruce is also facing a similar turmoil. so we see this really wonderful parallel in the midst of a battle where harvey is debating whether or not he wants to save bruce or leave him to die, and bruce is battling whether he wants to give in or keep going.

two-face does end up saving bruce. this is something very important to both of their characters.

it shows bruce that the man he befriended is not lost and it gives harvey a sense of autonomy that he's been stripped of for a long time. it's a short but very moving subplot about hope.

that being said, harvey isn't doing this because he wants to be friends with bruce again. or well, two-face isn't. it's complicated.

i don't think i could do the writing justice (there is also like, an insane overarching plot going on). once he drags bruces half dead body to safety, he threatens him, leaves bruce there and is currently, on the run.

so friends? not really. enemies? also not exactly. really tragic story about missing someone you once knew, wondering if you ever really knew them in the first place? ABSOLUTELY.

there is also some insanely obvious queercoding taking place in their story, but i focused on their friendship side of things.

it's one of bruce's more complicated rouge relationships, and probably the best one thematically. harvey is such an interesting character and if dc wouldn't use the same green headed dumbass as the villain in all their batman stories, two-face would definitely be the most compelling rouge for bruce.

i don't know if this actually made any sense, and also apologies for taking so long to answer this! here is probably one of the best detective comics covers ever made as an apology (it is bruce standing in the middle of a split two-face carved golden door with a batman shadow in the back. this shit is marvelous).

[not-poignant]

Hi, Pia.....Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Thanks if you want to answer...

Hi anon!

So... they change and tbh I'm going to forget a ton of characters I love and then scream in my head later like 'oh no but THAT character and THAT character and THAT character' but I'll do my best!

Kiriyama Rei from March Comes in Like a Lion - Probably my favourite character possibly of all time. Introverted, kind of ace-coded right up until the end of the manga when it changes (and since the anime never ended he stays ace-coded throughout that lmao), very human, extremely depressed, and I just think he's a very good depiction of like...what it's like to live with extremely repressive depression and post-trauma while not necessarily knowing you have those things.

Dazai Osamu from Bungou Stray Dogs - He's a brilliant intellect genius with too much ability to know so much about the world that he kind of ends up suicidal all the time due to his upbringing / some of the things he's done and also what he's experienced. I just enjoy him. (Notable runner up here is Nakahara Chuuya but dslkajf)

Felix Harrowgate from the Doctrine of Labyrinths trilogy - Angsty, PTSD, waspish, 'I'm going to hurt you because I was hurt and then hate myself and do very self-destructive things about it but keep that part a secret so I just look like a constant dickhead,' brilliant, very good at magic. Love this dude. Would walk hundreds of miles for this dude, like the song. Would definitely write a long-ass fanfic about him.

Daeshik from Love So Pure - I love this guy SO much. He's a side-story / secondary pairing in the manhwa but I LOVE him because he's so against type. He's dorky but not in a very cute way, he's overbearing, he's SO neurodivergent coded it's painful and sometimes hilarious, he's determined and ambitious, he's not 'hot' in any typical kind of twink way, and I know he's split the fandom between 'god he's so annoying' and 'Daeshik is the BEST.' The whole webtoon is fucking amazing anyway, but Daeshik has my whole heart in his journey from 'dorky annoying overbearing friend' to 'oh I just realised I'm gay and now everything is Pride Pride Pride and I'm definitely crying next to a dildo I bought that was too big for me.'

Presenting Daeshik:

You'll never guess what he's sitting on sdlkjfas (he fails abjectly and then cries about it in a way that's kind of hilarious honestly).

Dana Scully from The X-Files - I didn't know it at the time, but this was very much my bisexual awakening. I mean I'm pretty heavily ace now, but I'm mostly not into cishet dudes, and I had pictures of Scully up on my wall like how did I not fucking know. Anyway, scientist, smart, 'so done with your shit' and just wry and witty and *clenches fist* so short and tiny and powerful. I love her. (And Gillian Anderson).

Loki from the MCU - Not necessarily every iteration, but I do love how Tom Hiddleston plays him, and I appreciate the queerer representation. Adore this guy. Look at him, what an absolute dickhead of a god. 10/10 would read him in hurt/comfort fics and PWPs again.

Hyunsoo Seo and Youngchan Baek from Perfect Buddy / XXX Buddy - Possibly my favourite manhwa of all time and I really hope that stays true because it's not finished yet. Idk how to describe these characters because they're both very complex as you get to know them better, but basically 'angry wet cat man with past trauma that he hides exceptionally well vs. Gwyn-dimensioned blond puppy dog who is just pretending to be a puppy dog because he knows exactly how threatening he is and is willing to be to protect the people he loves.'

Murderbot in the Murderbot novella series - I think all of us - or most of us - find Murderbot incredibly relatable and that's refreshing as fuck in any novel series tbh. (ART as runner-up though, love that fucker).

Sebastian Michaelis from Kuroshitsuji / Black Butler - Honestly there were a lot of kind of 'extremely powerful but kind of shitty fuckboys' I wanted to put in this category including Gojou Satoru from JJK, Reigen from MP100, and even Louis from Beastars, but Sebastian's gonna win out because I still don't know if he's going to eat Ciel at the end of that series and I very much love not knowing because he's such a devious fuckhead. Love that not-actually-a-man.

Yuurakutei Yakumo (Kikuhiku) from Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu - I just... *flails* Almost no one has seen this anime series and it kind of kills me because firstly the books were written by someone practiced in writing BL and even though this isn't BL you can still tell the vibes are there. Secondly, one of the most ace-coded characters ever. Gender-fuckery abounds, which is fun. Thirdly just, honestly, more folks should watch this?

There were a lot of characters I know I missed but I'm pretty satisfied with this list.

I've just given myself a bunch of stuff to rewatch and reread because of this anon! :D