#there is that scene in the 101 dalmatians cartoon that i keep thinking about

[invinciblerodent]

you know how in many couples, ideal thermal equilibrium is achieved by one party acting as a source, and the other as a sink

.... so a red draconic sorcerer with primarily (force- and) fire-related powers probably runs hotter in general than someone who is quite literally undead huh

(i'm just thinking a lot about how nice Iona being always perfectly toasty warm must feel to Astarion after two centuries of -in my hc at least- always being just slightly cold. at least once they fall into being comfortable with physical affection)

(she'll hold and rub the icy tips of his ears with her warm lil mitts until they turn pink)

(breathe a warm lil kiss on the tip of his cold nose)

(and she never much enjoyed cuddling or prolonged physical contact because with warm-blooded creatures, she overheated quickly, but having an icepack-lizard for a boyfriend actually makes it pretty much perfect)

(he's the little spoon)

(and the one with his head on her chest)

(it's the Boobsnuggle: great for optimal heat distribution, tangling legs comfortably, AND sneakily listening to her heartbeat)

(plus it's. it's a faceful of excellent tits that's a win-win-win)

(her touch feels like sunlight okay let me have this)

[cempasuchilpodridos]

💔📌 :3

I'm gonna start with least favorite:

I want to say Alma as a joke, but I really don't dislike any of the family members. However, there is a character that I am not horribly fond of and.have ranted about several times (It's more me being frustrated with her dw)

Pezmuerto. I just can't with her. this lady keeps a goldfish, a hecking GOLDFISH in a small bowl and then has the nerve to get mad at Bruno for it. I know that you could argue lack of filtration since the movie takes place in 1950's rural Colombia, but that aside, it's still a bad setup. Golfish need 20+ gallons to live a happy life and having a small area will keep them small, but it also hurts them and shortens their lifespan. Golfish can live for a similar time to cats and dogs, people! not to mention, that in a container that small, it would be difficult to keep the tank clean from it's droppings so that fish could very well have died from ammonia poisoning.

(a while ago I was talking to my ex about Encanto and they were like "dang, you're still thinking about the fish?" YES. )

Also I know WDTAB takes artistic liberyy and isn't supposed to be all literal, but I can see this lady making the same mistake and not learning from it.

How did I find Encanto

*deep breath*

Okay, so depending on how much detail I let myself get into this, it can be a long one!

In general I am very much a fan of Disney content and animation as a whole. My parents met at a Disney Park and generally incorporated it into my life a decent amount. Lilo & Stitch was one of the first things I was outright obsessive over (Think how I am about Encanto but a child who draws fanart of the characters, plays the games on the site, watches the movie, has a plush of stitch as a comfort item, and ritualistically comes home from school and rushes to the tv to watch the TV series). I also had many 6hour periods in the car to visit family so a lot of that was spent watching Disney movies and even as a kid being fascinated by all the deleted scenes and how there were like, real people making the cartoons. I also very much liked 101 dalmatians, 3 caballeros, Cinderella (ngl it was mostly bc Jaq the mouse was my fave), and Dumbo, nome of which I loved like I loved Lilo&Stitch though I did like dumbo to the point where when I went to disneyland as a child I would insist on riding the yellow elephant, which is like a little inskde joke/ref

So anyways, with that background out of the way, I tend to see Disney animated films not too long after their initial release. Though the movie in general I saw in a physical theater I saw was Onward, I did go to a Drive in to see Raya and had plans to do the same for Encanto, but was kinda underwhelmed with Raya and didn't push to go see Encanto as a result (though it has since closed the theater was like 45 minutes away with very limited showings so not very convinient). I ended up seeing it on Noche Buena when it dropped to D+, and loved it. I regret not seeing it theatrically though and honestly would have exploded inside if I could have seen it at the El Capitan theater.

I love getting these asks! ^-^

[natolesims]

Same anon here, thank you!!! Do you have any specific worlbuilding in your story? Are you only playing with the disney princesses or do you have other disney characters mixed up? And I loved how you made this HUUUUGE plot twist with Cinderella! Are you doing the same with the next princesses? And about the side stories!! Are there more to come? I'm sorry if I'm being annoying, but I'm so loving all you do!!

My, these are important questions xD This is way too long to answer normally, so I'm writing all you want to know under the cut! I'm sorry, It is really long. I apologize in advance :')

If you have some spare time and are curious about this stuff of my legacy story, check this out. It my explain some things, hehe.

1. WORLDBUILDING

There is a "complex and connected" universe in this, yes, but I do not limit a story to the same sim world. I imagine certain game worlds as specific areas with their own social problems, forms of government and characteristic population. Still, I jump from world to world using specific lots or scenery places thay might complement the current chapters or, if I happen to need it, I'll rebuild the whole world again for upcoming generations if I'm already done with the previous ones.

For example:

In Snow White (the H.E.A. founder) the story developed in Windenburg and Windenburg only. Not even the whole world was used for the story, only three lots (The White Manor, Eis' cottage and the flower shop).

Cinderella and The Princess and The Frog develop in Willow Creek, but it's not the same Willow Creek. The only permanent lots are the royal palace and a couple of residential lots (the Tremaine and Bonfamille manors), but I redesigned the whole world for each arc. Ella's story took place in a more high-class victorian part of the kingdom, and Tiana's will be in a New Orlean-ish, humble zone with some vip spots. The townies are different and the social situation changes as well. I'll be also using specific locations from Windenburg, implying those scenes are still having place in some other unknown part of Willow Creek.

In some upcoming generations, I'm merging worlds into a whole area. In Rapunzel and The Beauty and The Beast, Glimmerbrook, Granite Falls and Henford-On-Bagley, as well as specific Windenburg areas, share the same territory.

This is a bit confusing, but it works for me :'D So far, this is how I've organized the story world in the save (mild spoilers):

Willow Creek + Magnolia Promenade: Kingdom ruled by a strong monarchy. Population: Humans and Hybrids** Connections with: Britechester, Newcrest.

Oasis Springs + Strangerville: Emirate and local mayoralties. Population: Humans, spellcasters, undercover aliens. No near connections.

Brindleton Bay: Mayoralty. Population: Humans and Hybrids. Connections with: Henford-On-Bagley, San Myshuno (not that close, but reachable).

Mt. Komorebi: Parlamentarism. Isolated area of the mountains. Population: Humans. Connections with: Granite Falls (veeeery lightly).

San Myshuno + Del Sol Valley: Presidency and Mayoralty. Population: Humans and undercover occults (Gods**, Spellcasters, Hybrids). Connections: Newcrest.

Windenburg: Parlamentarism. Population: Humans, Hybrids, Vampires. Connections with: Henford-On-Bagley, Glimmerbrook, Granite Falls.

Sulani: Principality and local chiefdoms. Population: Humans, Mermaids, Gods. No near connections.

Forgotten Hollow: Mayoralty. Population: Vampires and Spellcasters. No near connections.

Selvadorada: Republic. Population: Humans, Hybrids and Spellcasters. No near connections.

Evergreen Harbor: Mayoralty. Population: Humans, undercover aliens, cyborgs. Connections with: San Myshuno. If there is ever a future-like pack, it will be related to this area.

Britechester: Grand Duchy. Population: Humans. Connections with: Willow Creek, Windenburg.

2. CHARACTERS

I will mainly play with the "princesses", yes! I'm following these Disney Legacy Challenge rules as a main guideline, so the heirs are related to that. Even so, they won't always have the same looks or gender like the cartoon ones, nor the spouses. Since I'm a nerd, I try to surround the heirs with familiar characters from their stories, but they might be ooc or don't have the same role as they do in the movies. I just want to create the vibes, but give them my own twist!

I thought it would be fun to create a Disney movie themed save for this challenge, and I'm stil adding recreations of a lot of characters thay may fit in the world. Since I really enjoy rotational gameplay, I thought it would be fun to create mini challenges for certain households and play them aside from the main legacy to have a little change and relax. Buuuuuuuuut every single time I play this game a story pops up in my head, and yes, so far there is one side story with some of the minor characters. I'm afraid my save has turned into a graphic feverdream disney fanfiction, but here we are :'D It is important to say I also play with the EA premade townies, so this is a weeeeirddd mashup :')

Since I have the characters roaming around freely, they also interact with the main legacy and, in some cases, they even gain some importance. In Cinderella's case, I never planned Mr. La Bouff to become Ella's friend. My original plan was to have Tia and Lottie meet at university. Also! I created two fake occults: the Hybrids (think of were!Sims. Like Werecats, Werefishes, Werewolves, Werebirds... you get the idea... it'll be properly explained in the future. No, they don't turn into animals.) and the Gods (squish vampires, mermaids and spellcasters together. Now make them OP and immortal).

So far, I've included characters from:

The Aristocats, Finding Nemo, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmatians, Tarzan, Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Coco, Pinocchio, Big Hero 6, Lilo & Stitch, Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Jungle Book, Toy Story, Cars, The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis.

I had the intention of presenting them all and giving them out for download. I've been slowly makeovering them, so I hope I can manage to do so in the near future.

3. STORYTELLING

The plot twist was kind of a happy accident xD It wasn't planed at all! It's just I find it not-that-exciting to retell the same old story again and again. Cinderella is poor and mistreated, but then marries the prince and she's happy. We all know that, right? I don't intend to follow the same path... I need chaos to keep me entertained in my own game xD that's why I went like "welll.... what IF the prince is a bit of an ass?" I didn't see the whole load of drama that would come.

In the upcoming chapters, things are being similar. I don't say everything is going to be bittersweet, but I'll take elements from the main story and shape them differently. I'm taking a lot of creative liberties here!

4. SIDE STORIES

Im so glad you like them!! I get attached to my characters as soon as I start playing with them and can't help myself from giving them a story, even a little one. It's like... they're in my save for a reason, right? Not only as townie fillers, even if that was the main purpose in the beginning. It's safe to say there is one WIP side story with the Tremaine descendants involving some of the characters I mentioned before. I have another one in mind, but since it is not related with the main legacy at all I'm still not sure how to include it... but I'm working on it.

You can bet I'll keep telling these silly little stories because I really can't help it, hehe.

Thank you so much for asking! I'm really sorry for writing a lot, I hope this is what you were looking for!! And I'm so glad to have you as a reader ^^

[devondraws]

Megastar shippers are mad again :o!! big shocker

TW ed // abu$e // Megastar clearly // a$sault  // $elf H@rm

So it���s been made clear to me I was ‘exposed’ on Twitter for hating Megastar here's the main thing. none of yall expose me, I'm open about hating this toxic abusive ship, I don’t hide it and I never once have. You don’t need to censor my name in fact, I prefer you don't. I never said or would ever to say to a victim, I have no regard or sympathy for what they went through especially not as one myself through multiple abusers. What I DONT have sympathy for is disregarding other victims for your arguably coping strategy. I would take away anyone's abuse if I could, but when you choose to ‘cope’ by promoting, fet!shizing, and romanticizing the awful terrible experience that is abuse, I will tell you to your face the damage you do to others. 

I’ll start with the big argument, it’s a coping mechanism, but coping doesn’t mean good and it is VERY dangerous to think so. One of the many I coped with the abuse from my longest abuser was starving myself and not taking my medication. It made me feel strong, and feel like I was in total control, but that did not make it good. Especially being chronically ill, I was quite literally abusing MYSELF. When it comes to a much less physical way, I coped by making fun of others when I was around 13-15 especially ‘SJWs’ I made fun of kids that are autistic (knowing I was myself but not wanting to admit to that mentally) I made fun of people really who just weren’t like me, furries, band kids, scene kids. It was a lot of self-hatred and it did in a way heal me and do what I wanted it to do a coping strategy but it wasn’t okay, it wasn’t good, and importantly it was intensely unhealthy and worsed what I went through in the long run. Heres where Megastar shippers may be shocked I did megastar. Not long, but I did, around the age of 11-12. I idolized it, and I listened to the fandom really, I said it made me feel good and it made me happy hell I even said I wanted a ‘Megatron’ in my life. Boy did I get one. and because of the ship at that. I met a much older girl and we would DM on Insta, she sent things I shouldn’t have seen and audios I shouldn’t have heard. She said outright I was her ‘Starscream’ and that Megatron did ‘he had to’ to keep Starscream as his own and that he did what he did out of pure love and I ate it up. If being abused love I wanted to be abused, I just wanted to belong. But looking back the fandom's idea and admiration for megastar was very bad on my 11-year-old mind. KEEP IN MIND the show is not for adult audiences, I was a targeted consumer and I listened and learned from the adults, from the fandom, as any child does. So when I saw both the fet!ishzation of MLM and of abuse. I learned that to be normal. And from that, I learned that to be how I should COPE when I’m sad, I should be just like them because everyone says they are happy. I'm not the only, though other people's stories aren't my to tell, I can say they mention a$sault, physical abuse, mental, etc. I shouldn’t have to explain to mostly 15-25-year-olds, why that's not true and why just because you cope with something doesn’t make it healthy.

A second big ‘argument’ I see is, ‘fiction doesn’t affect reality’ ‘it’s fictional’ ‘its a cartoon’. I don’t understand this ‘debate’ because we have seen SO. MANY. TIMES. OF. FICTION. AFFECTING. (guess what) R E A L I T Y. Take, for example, finding Nemo and both the mass flushing of pet fish and also the mass abuse of Clownfish because every child wanted a ‘Nemo’. We see this again when we look into dinosaurs actually! In mainstream media the idea of dinosaurs being scaly, reptile-like, etc. that's not true and we’ve known it's not true! Dinos are ‘speculated’ to be feathered and colorful hence why they came to be BIRDS. But that idea, because we saw in movies, stuck. And most people who don’t research (and that's most people) only saw the fictional version, that version is what stands out in their minds, to them that is a dinosaur. After 101 Dalmatians so many, I mean SO MANY, kids wanted a Dalmatian. They are amazing dogs but the thing is they need a little more training, well parents didn’t want a real dog they wanted a movie dog, a cartoon dog, and so they got puppies. When those puppies grew and became ornery and no effort was put in place to train them, they were given away in mass. We KNOW fiction affects reality, we know human brains can’t process some fictional characters (especially in anime) as cartoons. We cry over fiction, we laugh over it, we learn from it, we put morals in it for kids, I don’t get why some people still argue it doesn’t happen and I’m not going to argue with ignorance. 

Essentially here's the points. You CAN cope with Megastar, but you shouldn’t, it provides no actual help it can actually soften you to abusers, it warps the idea of abuse, it romanticizes it, (a big part of it is YOAI which is fet!shizaton of MLM) and it NORMALIZES it by being commonly consumed and a large part of the Transformers, and TFP’s specifically, fandom. Fiction DOES affect reality what you do online, say online, show online, especially to minors, is heavily altering to a mindset and to people in correlation with what's being shown. You can hate me all you want, censor my name all you want, but no one is arguing besides ‘I like it and I said so’ you can say so, I can’t silence you and I wouldn’t, but when you neglect and turn down what is blatant problems and obvious issues in front of you? That is no problem of mine :)

You ship abuse and if you are gonna keep doing it, at least own up <3

(also you guys can ship abuse without it affecting reality but I can’t make a joke hrm hmm)

edit: for context for the last part I made a joke about STARSCREAM killing megastar shippers. I said killing yes but how is that death wish did yall really think i was like. bout to summon the guy I’m confused by you guys make it make sense.

Edit 2: in the future i WILL clarify jokes better ill put that slash thing i think its /j. To me and my friends it was and still is obvious but i understand the concern. Ive gotten multiple ACTUAL threats of being doxed, assulted, etc. so clarifying wasnt a need in my head and ill be better at doing so next time i totally get how to some people specially those with truama it could have been seen as scary and im sorry i didnt clarfiy as i should!

[etherealellaelf]

Disney Remakes: they’re not all bad.

I submit that some of the disney live action remakes are, regrettably, a bit off. But not all of them. A lot of them are really good. Here’s why.

-Lion King did really put me off with the lack of expressions. I’m not sure if I have much to say about it, lol I’ll have to see it and let you know. Honestly though I don’t think I can because I love the original Lion King so flipping much, it’s a masterful movie and part of its mastery is the beautiful hand drawn animation and its expressive characters. I can’t think I can watch a bunch of real lions just talking. Who knows? I’ll keep you posted.

-Alice in Wonderland, one of the first of them, had some really good feminist moments. I love the Hatter and Alice’s love for each other, I guess he’s like the only human in Wonderland so it makes sense. But I get some weird ideas because the denizens of Wonderland are supposed to mirror the characters in Alice’s real life, and since the only redhead in Alice’s life is Hamish, that weirdo who asks her to marry him and he’s a total jerk.... and the Hatter is a redhead too.... idk it’s weird. Also it’s weird if he represents her dad because number one he’s dead and number two it’s incest, but the Hatter does say a few things that her dad said at the beginning....hmmm... fishy. However I feel like I can rest assured because this might just be the case of “Johnny Depp came to shoot today in a homemade cosplay and nobody can stop him because he’s just a mad genius”, in which case why do they keep letting him do that??? I don’t mind the hatter’s design, but can you imagine Just Plain Old Johnny Depp In All His Sexy Glory as a mad hatter? It would have been fine. They had to give him a gap between his teeth, CGI enlarged eyes, crazy red hair, white and pink makeup... oh well, whatever, it’s fine. I like how Underland looks a bit more like Narnia than like a Tim Burton land; I honestly don’t know if they gave him complete creative control when it came to the CGI set design. It might’ve been cool to see that.

-Cinderella was wonderful, I thought. I really love how Cinderella and the Prince interacted a lot more, falling in love over a long period of time. In fact, I feel like it was a spiritual remake of Ella Enchanted(which, in my opinion, Disney really botched up because the book was just so amazing), so they did really good in my book. My brother, however, hates that at the end she just twirls in her tower and doesn’t do anything to save herself, when in the original she tried to escape. He thinks it’s really unfeminist and he doesn’t want his daughter to act like that. I agree on that mark, but I’ll let everyone watch it. Also they threw a little bit of the Beauty and the Beast original fairy tale in there when her dad, a merchant, asks what she wants and Cinderella asks for the branch that brushes his arm or whatever; similar to a single rose, when her sisters ask for riches. I also liked the handling of Lady Tremaine; it really humanized her and I felt for her. The stepsisters were silly as per the usual. The King went from a bumbling psychopath(the cartoon) to a very melancholy, concerned father, and I cried at his death scene. Bravo, Kenneth Branagh, bravo.

-I really like all of Beauty and the Beast, although I do think that they made Lumiere & friends a little bit too important in this movie. I needed more moments between Belle and the Beast that were in the animation! Evermore was breathtaking though, let’s be honest. Although let’s be honest, I REALLY REALLY wanted to see a shirtless Dan Stevens emerge from a wall of rose petals because that sounds absolutely magical and super HOT. I’m so mad they had to redo it. Also I like the subtle crush Lefou has on Gaston; I’ve always wondered if he liked him. I do wish that Josh Gad had toned it down with his fabulousness though, because although I love fabulousness I wonder if it was slightly offensive. I really liked Gaston, and I feel like he could have gone a little bigger and with more bravado, could have been from slightly comedic to VERY comedic, but I think that’s alright. He did a great job. And as for everyone complaining about the villagers being really nasty and openly evil towards Belle, I actually liked it. It’s clear in the cartoon that the villagers whisper behind Belle’s back, but I feel like she just has a small smidgeon of an idea that they think she’s weird. In this, they freaking ATTACK her. They’re like ‘We can’t have smart bicc’s in our town! Get out me town!” It is a bit on the nose sometimes but I think it works because it helps Beast and her relate to feeling like outsiders. I do think the Beast knowing how to read kind of gave them something in common as well, but I disliked how he scoffed at her favorite book, Romeo and Juliet. I wish he had been more understanding like, “There’s this poor girl whose library is like, seven books, and amongst those seven books, one of which is probably the freaking bible because they belong to a pastor, her favorite is basically a romance. She’s not well read; I’m going to show her the classics.” Which back then was probably, like, idk, Voltaire? Too soon? Eh I’m not sure when it takes place. I do wish he’d gifted the library to her though, that was a nice gift for her in the previous movie. (Here’s the thing; the Beauty and the Beast cartoon is basically a perfect movie and I don’t think anything can live up to it, but this one was good too. It wasn’t better, but nothing can be better than that movie. Except maybe the Princess Bride or the first Pirates of the Caribbean or the stage production of Phantom of the Opera. No, not even then.)

-Dumbo? I haven’t seen it yet, I’ll have to and update this.

-Okay so Aladdin is really good. I entered the film with the meme cringe in my mind, totally expecting it to look weird and bad, but honestly Will Smith was such a great actor! And I actually freaking cried so many times because number one: the genie was aladdin’s father figure that he never had! He taught him how to date! Number two: the genie got his true love as well, and you see her and their kids at the beginning of the movie! SPOILERS btw. Sorry. Also Number three: they picked Will Smith to play the genie because he’s HITCH of course! The matchmaker extraordinaire! (I just love Will Smith. I wish he would run for president; it wouldn’t be the first time we had an actor in the white house. Just kidding, I don’t want to burden him that way, and there are really smart candidates this year to choose from. I just am urging everyone to go vote, and no more harambe crap!!!!) Also Jasmine had a nice new empowering role in this movie. I just sort of wish Jafar had been more menacing and villainous. But his actor was fine, just a bit soft-spoken.

-Lady and the Tramp- I started it on Disney+, I need to finish it. I’m halfway there. 

-Christopher Robin is a gift; it’s both simple and complex. It has a lot of nice metaphors and I could feel my heart hurting for much of the film. Seriously good aesthetics as well, Director of Photography!!! 

-The Jungle Book is a really good remake! So much excitement, and I could totally see Bill Murray in Baloo. (I think it’s equal in terms of story to the movie Mowgli, although Mowgli had that nasty little surprise at the end, I’m still hurt about it.)(also in comparing, the CGI is similarly good, but Mowgli wanted to do a really ambitious face capture thingy and I’m not sure if it worked,(uncanny) but it was interesting! It was also a lot darker. I think they’re both good.) Ben Kingsley was superb, of course, as Bagheera, as always, and he has a really fatherly voice(I thought Christian Bale did well as Bagheera as well, but he was more of an action figure in that movie, less of a father/teacher figure). And John Favreau, as always, went the extra mile to bring the action, the writing, and the moral through, and made it super good for children at the same time!(the same cannot be said about Mowgli, as there were some violence/action things that go beyond ‘peril’, hence it’s PG-13 rating) My one discrepancy was the voice of Kaa. Scarlet did fine, but I always thought of Kaa as a boy. I think they could have found a slithery voice actor for Kaa. Benedict Cumberbatch did really well as Smaug, hissing and growling, and he could have done well. I also think that Tom Hiddleston could have done a great job; he has a really gentle and pliant voice that can turn menacing in the matter of seconds, and if it’s about the snake being sexy as Scarlet Johanssen(haha what??), I think that Hiddles can bring it.(I’m not quite sure what I’m talking about at this point so I’ll shut up now.) I do feel like Mowgli started shooting way before The Jungle Book was even a glimmer in John Favreau’s eye, and that kind of makes me want to root for Mowgli because I’m sure that different movie houses have people working in both, probably swapping stories with their friends, and I’m sure it wasn’t an exact copy, but I can totally see Bill Murray in Baloo’s face and that can’t be by accident. Just saying. Not calling Disney out or anything, but I’m sure they can take it, they have like a trillion dollars. Anyway. Still a good one.

-Haven’t seen Pete’s Dragon.

-101 Dalmations, I know this shouldn’t count but it just does. I loved watching this as a child. I’m so happy they didn’t make the dogs talk? Haha it usually works when they do, but it gave a lot of room for Doctor House and Mister Weasley to interact. Also Glenn Close is great. I think this movie’s a good example of a career woman who decides to get domesticated and her sista is like, “Girl, you can’t do this! We have to be strong women! You have to come back to work!” But Anita is all, “Girl, respect my decisions! Feminism isn’t forcing your girl to be exactly like you, it’s giving me the respect to make my own decisions. If I want to have a baby with my husband, that’s fine. I want to be a mom!” I feel like the “new” 101 dalmatians remake they’re gonna make, will have a different opinion. Similar to wicked and maleficent, it’s going to humanize Cruella, but I just hope that they’re nice to Anita. She’s such a smol soft bird and if she wants 2 billion dogs and one baby, that’s fine... ugh, that’s gotta be like so much dog poop in her house... anita what are you doing...

-Maleficent. Obviously I love it. I love how those arguing fairies are super incompetent at raising Aurora because they’re too busy fighting, so Maleficent has to swoop in and rescue the princess. I like how Maleficent is a fae and it’s so sad how there’s like this rape metaphor when Stefan cuts off her wings, and that would be reason to curse his baby, especially because they were in love and he betrayed her! Stole her wings! Married someone else! T^T Maleficent, you poor misunderstood fairy! I love her motherly relationship with Aurora. I love that she’s the one who kisses her forehead to wake her up because Philip met her just that day. However, I don’t like how they just shove Philip out of the way, because Sleeping Beauty is honestly so romantic, and I love how they dance together and everything. I also like the raven boi. I ship him and Maleficent so hard and I hope he doesn’t die in the sequel, I haven’t seen it yet.

-So technically the Parent Trap is a remake. It’s awesome. It gave my childhood so much romance and prank ideas. It’s much better than its predecessor, especially because the mom in the old one is, like, urged to look prettier by her butler(wtf?!?! YOu’re FIrEd?!?). I’m so glad we’ve come so far.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Are the remakes better? In some cases they are. I think Cinderella is better than its predecessor. I think the original Alice is very good, as a nonsense movie, and I feel like the remake is equally good, but they’re different movies with different motives and plots. The original Beauty and the Beast is my favorite and it’s perfect, so the new one isn’t better, but it is really great and I love it, too. Anyway, that’s all.

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff’s Best of 2018

WARNING: I just want to say cheers to you for making it through another year. I send you best wishes for next year to be fruitful. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy.

Dedicated to Stan Lee, Stefán Karl and Stephen Hillenburg, the number ones of children entertainment

Bow Whacka Wow, playas and players. 2018 gave us quite a lot to consume while society continues to fumble like a Tumblr update. While hopefully the chaos has died down for the final weeks of the year, I’m counting down the best cartoons/animations I’ve seen and loved this year in no particular order. Only two rules, no sneak previews of future projects (sorry 101 Dalmatian Street and MP100) and no potential entries from last year’s list (sorry True). With that said, roll it....

10. UNIKITTY!

I love the Lego Movie. I’ll potentially like the sequel. I like Unikitty. She got a show, and it was a great show to start off the year. Upbeat, colorful, off the walls sometimes, perfectly capturing the spirit of the eponymous character. I’m glad the other characters are just as enjoyable, I never get tired of the theme song, every episode had me smilin’ one way or another, it’s just a quality bottle of positivity juice. Don’t know how else to explain it, Unikitty, the show and character, just makes and continues to make me smile.

9. POP TEA-- SIKE!

This anime ain’t nothing but unfunny randomness and skits with a forgetful arc in the first and final episode. I don’t get it, never gonna get it, so I don’t want to get it! MORE LIKE POOP TEAM EPIC, ‘nuff said. Which is why the actual number nine is....

9. BOB EPIC TEAM

Honestly, there is something endearing about the way Bob Epic Team presents itself. The simplicity and variety of its animation is remarkably good and makes it feel timeless sometimes. The comedy works in a way that gives you a clear grasp on the two characters while letting them do whatever they want. The surrealism of this is fun to think about, showcasing a hedonistic philosophy that rivals that of Epicurus. The duo’s chemistry is what especially got me, as they felt like the best of friends, potentially love birds *wink wink*. This anime was just creative in every sense of the word and, like Unikitty, it was a great anime to start of the year.

8. CRAIG OF THE CREEK

The ska is RAH. I honestly find this to be the loose spiritual successor to Hey Arnold and Recess. Like the playground, the creek is a well fleshed out setting with the many characters that hang there, from the TAZ trio to the loving witches of the creek. Though I will say the best episodes are when we get insight on the main three’s personal lives with their families and when the characters themselves go through a personal trial to understand themselves a little better. The shows thrives in the theme that the creek is a place where you can enjoy getting your hands dirty and work towards something you want, even if it doesn’t add to any concrete long term benefit beyond learning a thing or two about yourself and others. And I say for somebody that relates to Craig as a character, that’s a welcoming thought that the show has yet to perish. And the ska is a welcome choice of music, IMO.

7. THE EPIC TALES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS

It’s funny in how a little over a year of getting a movie, Captain Underpants gets an animated series with not only original stories in lieu of just animating the already printed stories, but puts it all in a format similar to reading a book with a sardonic narrator and separating the plot of the episode into chapters with subtitle cards; one of the first I’ve seen do this. But really, a “Captain Underpants cartoon” is something I can’t say would turn out bad, and I’m right as this is a show that revels in what made CU great in the first place. George, Harold, Melvin, and Mr. Krupp/Captain Underpants are all great characters with the additional supporting cast providing welcome life to the world. Every Incredible Violence Chapter is brilliant in their own right, and while I wasn’t a fan of the ending they had for the season, it’s great that almost every episode is self-contained, boosting its replay value. Honestly, any compliment I have for this was already said in my review of this and the movie, so I’ll just say this too was faithful to its source material and benefited heavily for it.

6. GARY AND HIS DEMONS

Rick and Morty done better. BOOM, send tweet! It is safe to say that this was quite the sleeper hit and I can’t help but say it’s lowkey one of the best adult cartoons this year next to Ballmastrz and Final Space. And while I certainly appreciate the other two *hint hint* this one got a step above on the grounds that it works as a comedy and a solemn tale of a chosen hero that stumbles through years in the office life. It’s improv humor feels natural and it can be as melancholic as Bojack Horseman without making it all too deep like so; has a great balance of both. Main man Gary, unlike Rick for the most part, is a guy that’s both reasonably reprehensible yet pretty relatable. Not to mention, while it was bittersweet, it had a very satisfying finale to where I feel like this was a complete series all together. With a rough art style that compliments it’s tone, this was a series that surprised me in its sharp quality.

5. APPLE & ONION

I’ll admit. Initially wasn’t a fan of it as it felt like a knock-off to Regular Show (may it rest). Just had a duo of bros living together, doing mundane labor while coming up with impromptu tunes along the way. Then again, I was gladly proven wrong because the charm of it generally being a simple show, even with every person being food, somehow more regular than Regular Show. Every song they make is upbeat and catchy, all of the characters are endearing, and with only 10 episodes, each one was well paced and had quality writing to the point where I teared up a couple times. It stinks that this and Summer Camp Island have generally been receiving the shaft this year after their premieres, but I'm just glad that they haven’t been truly forgotten by CN and are getting more episodes next year. Plus, I love food and this show is about food. Debate over.

4. LEGEND OF THE THREE CABALLEROS

I was familiar yet never saw The Three Caballeros, ironic since Donald is one of my favorite Disney characters. But then, out of the blue, I found this and I was stunned, amazed, confused, nonetheless invested. It has a bumpy start, but it’s a joyous adventure from that start to end. The look of it is something I’ve rarely seen in animation since... freakin’ Wakfu. I love Xandra and I was glad to see her be an active player on the team. The villains are such a hammy delight. And Jose and Panchito were very lively and entertaining foils to Donald’s cynic nature while all three work as well together like the 3 stooges. Donald himself gets a great arc of his own throughout the season. And the theme, HO MY GOD I LOVE THIS THEME! It’s a damn shame Disney hasn’t released this already (since it’s all online already) because this series is much better than it has any right to be.

3. GOLDEN WIND/VENTO AUREO

I say, the beauty of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is that regardless of what part you start from, you’re enthralled into its world and ya feel compelled to dig into it more. Parts 3 was what got me into Jojo, like most I bet, but it was part 5 that got me “Oh yeah, this series [just] works on more than level”. The characters are what keep me hooked, regardless of Crunchyroll refusing to give their stands proper English names [Zipper Man, CR?], Fighting Gold and Freak ‘n You will never get old, and David Productions putting great effort into the small details and giving life and style to the original manga. I’ll just say, as one who’s read and loved the manga, this anime has not ceased to keep me impressed and guessing for more.

2. INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

Funking superb, you afro having web-slinger. I hate to say it, but 2018 didn’t have the most impressive line-up of western animated features. Most were average, entertaining sure, but nothing felt like 110% was given. Until Spidah-Man came on the scene and I was like “WIG...

The only major problem I have with this film, besides a bit of slow pacing, is more of a missed opportunity where the stakes of getting the Spidermen back to their dimensions before dying felt like an afterthought. Then again, that’s ALL I have for problems. It looks fantastic. The action is smooth, coherent, and satisfying to see. The tiny details and comic book aesthetic of it was a blessed touch. I loved almost every character here. Nick Cage and John Mulaney. The fact that it has so much yet was able to juggle it all blew my mind. Even the post credits scene made this such a love letter to the wall-crawler. This film was refreshing to say the least and the central theme behind the idea of Spider-Man made this as great of a superhero movie as Infinity War and Lego Batman. Just saying, this better make its budget back and THEN SOME. It deserves it.

1. HILDA

Netflix, we’re not on good terms mind you, but ya done did it again. This is honestly one of the few shows that I genuinely took my time with as opposed to binging it, because binge watching is a devil in itself. Like the Spider-verse movie, it got the style of its source material down to cozy colored T with its autumn color palette and etched lining in the characters. Like the Captain Underpants series, while having a grounded arc of Hilda journeying through the city life and her colliding wildlife, each episode can be generally be enjoyed on their own. Like Gary and His Demons, it felt like a complete season and the fact it’s getting a season two made things all the better. But above all, it was a generally peaceful yet captivating fantasy cartoon to watch with incredible animation, an endearing main character, amazing looking folk creatures of all sizes and powers, and a cuddly deerfox for a pet. I say this is to the fall what Harvey Beaks was to the spring, and if I can compare a show to Harvey Beaks you know you’ve achieved greatness. Like True and the Rainbow Kingdom, gives you a moment of honest bliss and happiness that can influence your outlook on looking forward to better things because like Hilda herself, you push forward and have some fun exploring.

Just saying, I cannot stress this enough this is NOT my number one favorite show of the year, hell of all time. THAT goes to....

1. 👏TEEN 👏TITANS 👏GO, BABEEEEEEY!!

ONCE AGAIN, Teen Titans GO reigns supre-- Huh, what’s that? Oh my god, you’re serious?! The Number One is

TOTAL DRAMARAMA OUT OF NOWHERE! IT IS NOW CARTOON NETWORK’S ‘NEW FAVORITE SHOW’.

THE STREAK *DING DING DING* IS OVER

[afterspark-podcast]

G1 Episode 13: Transcript

Episode Show Notes

[This can also be found on AO3!]

[Stinger]

O: And uh, you're wearing my corpse which is you know, horrifying.

[Intro Music]

O: Hello, and welcome to the Afterspark Podcast, an episode by episode recap the generation 1 Transformers cartoon. I'm Owls!

S: And I’m Specs.

O: Today we're gonna be talking about episode number 13: The Ultimate Doom, part 3.  Let's talk about giant robots today, shall we?

S: Yup, yup, yup.

O: So, last time on the Transformers--evil Shaggy has amassed an army of evil mind controlled slaves, Megatron succeeded in bringing Cybertron into Earth's orbit and Sparkplug has betrayed his own son.

S: We open as we closed last time with a Spike, Bumblebee, and Brawn on Cybertron confronting a mind-controlled Sparkplug...who has alerted the Decepticons to their presence.

O: They attempt an escape.

S: Badly!  Super fucking badly!

O: [laughter] With Bumblebee running headfirst into Shockwave’s knees.

S: This poor boy does not look before he leaps!

O: No, no that's Cliffjumper’s job!

S: True.

O: Anyway, Brawn gets the brilliant idea to try to escape this using the oldest trick in the book.

S: Pretending to be peddlin’ some shit.

O: To Shockwave!

S: Yeah, magazines I think?  I don’t know.

O: Something like that.

S: Soundwave, Thundercracker, and Skywarp also enter the room.

O: Brawn further earns my ire by shooting Soundwave at point-blank range and calling him tall, dark, and gruesome.  How dare you insult my Big Blue Boy you bastard!?!

S: Sparkplug blocks the oddly tiny door to keep them from escaping.  I mean...okay?

O: But seriously--I'm pretty sure Shockwave would have to crawl to be able to use this exit!

S: I'm just gonna go with they're probably--they probably just fucked up perspective.

O: Probably, but that’s not what it looked like.  Like--it looked like it was about like um, Sparkplug’s height or something or not that much taller than him?

S: Yeah, well this show makes no sense sometimes so let's--let's ignore that for now.  Shockwave shoots Brawn.

O: YAY!

S: But then Skyfire, Trailbreaker and Wheeljack show up to save their sorry butts.

O: I mean also yay, but mostly just because Wheeljack and Skyfire are there now.

S: And they’re cool dudes.

O: I like them both.

S: The tiny door is apparently a bother to no one but Skyfire, so I'm going with yeah, probably stupid perspective stuff.  Uh, Shockwave unintentionally provides him with a hole big enough to escape through by shooting at him and then blowing up the wall instead because they all went to the goddamn stormtrooper school of shooting.

O: Well that the poor guy only has one optic.  I mean are we gonna pull a Futurama here and say he's got no depth perception and can't shoot worth shit?

S: Yes, but the thing is it's easier to--actually no, let’s just not get into that.

O: No, no let's not go into that.  The Autobots escape, exploding Thundercracker and Starscream in the process, apparently.  I'm pretty sure both of them are on Earth and that these are just random other seekers but whatever.

S: Probably random--random dudes, just reused color schemes, yeah.  They regroup at Wheeljack’s old lab, which the Decepticons--uh, the Decepticons miss this and like, drive right past.

O: So it turns out that Bumblebee picked up a giant ass CD while in the Decepticon headquarters that just so happens to show the chip behind Sparkplug’s ear.

S: And cut to more robots...surfing.

O: ROBOTS SURFING ON SURFBOARDS!

S: And Optimus is just bracketed on both sides by Ironhide and Ratchet.  Cuz, of course he's gotta have the two matching dudes like--

O: Of course!

S: --like, ugh, I forget the word...flanking him!

O: A giant tidal wave comes up from behind and Bluestreak (somehow) pulls ahead of the group while freaking out about its eminent arrival.

S: Of course he does.  I don't know, he's got super panic powers.

O: [laughs] The powers of panic!  So clearly what you're telling me is Bluestreak and Shaggy run on the same ability.

S: I guess, yeah.  Optimus says to maintain speed and if they stay out in front of the wave they'll get there faster?

O: I don't see thrusters on those surfboards. Optimus, this is not how surfboards work, thank you!

S: I mean maybe there's something underwater that we don't see, but who the hell knows.

O: I still don't think that's how this works.

S: I don't know!  Evil Shaggy has got his slaves working on a “sea funnel,” to route the tidal wave’s energy and create Energon.  He warns Starscream that the structure isn't strong enough and that the humans will die.  Do the robots care?

O: [laughs] Apparently not. Anyway, Megatron throws a generator at Starscream, like, after this conversation and orders him to install it.  And this thing definitely changes sizes between shots, uh, cuz when Megatron's holding it it looks huge and then it is much smaller when Starscream catches it.

S: They're just...they're--they’re dumb magic robots.

O: I--clearly sigh--like, I didn't know Megatron's mass shifting abilities, uh, affected the things he was holding but apparently they do!

S: Apparently.

O: Megatron looks really off in the scene?

S: It looks like there were smaller drawings that were enlarged and Xeroxed to shit, because yeah--the--the line quality is kind of terrible

O: Yeah, like think--you know, you--if you've seen a Disney movie you have seen Xerox, uh, a lot of the ones that did this were 101 Dalmatians and like, Sword in the Stone.  Um, they don't look terrible but there's definitely a noticeable quality drop and if you do it and you take a really small image and make it really big you get a lot of noise in the lines which is exactly what happened here.  Megatron tells Dr. Evil to stay away from Starscream.  He proceeds to ignore this.

S: Megatron actually gave you some good damn advice and you ignore it and still pursue the two-bit hussy another Starscream.

O: He is. [laughter]

S: He really is.

O: Apparently Rumble’s visor can freaking pop out and work like binoculars!?!

S: It's like Bender’s eyes--his--

O: Yeah.  Yeah.

S: His x-ray vision.

O: [laughter] “I'll use my robot x-ray vision look in this box!” [sound effect]

S: Yeah, [sighs] and the first time a wave hits and works as expected generating Energon.

O: Then the second tidal wave, the one the Autobots are actually in front of approaches.  Megatron seems nonplussed by this as he expects the Autobots will likely be crushed.  Uh, “This is bad!,” yeah, no shit Optimus!

S: Understatement of the century!

O: The Autobots however are perfectly fine despite being slammed in this of the sea tunnel.

S: Funnel.

O: Funnel, whoops! [laughter]

S: Most of the humans are also perfectly fine even though the sea funnel was destroyed on impact and it's like--

O: Everybody’s just sort of lying around I think the Autobots are like, gathering people up or something?

S: Maybe, like, there's a lot of wreckage.

O: I don't think they should be alive!

S: Yeah.  Uh, evil Shaggy was apparently also there when this happened, or here when it happened and is now holding on to a girder for dear life dangling over the water.

O: He is screaming for Megatron the entire time he's dangling by the way. [laughter]

S: Yeah...Starscream does his best Kraken impression as he arises from the depths and grabs Dr. Evil, sort of rescuing him but I don't really feel like it was much of a rescue.

O: It’s Starscream, are you really safe when you’re with Starscream?  The answer is no.  We see the other Decepticons escape and yet another spaceship.

S: When did they even have time to build this? Where do they get the resources?

O: Your guess is as good as mine.  So once on the ship they say they've gathered enough Energon to revitalize Cybertron according to Reflector, or one of the Reflectors.  A Reflector of some sort.

S: Yeah, back on Cybertron Wheeljack reports to Optimus about their progress.

O: We see Spike attempting to sneak into the Decepticon base again and then he's caught in Shockwave’s spotlight?

S: His monoboob spotlight.

O: It’s purple!

S: [sighs] The Decepticons just fucking love purple.

O: [snorts]

S: I mean it’s, yeah.  He’s also flanked by what appears to be two Skywarps.

O: One of them will mysteriously turn green and a later shot though.

S: Yaaaaay, for inconsistent coloring.  Spike is captured and Sparkplug yet again tells him to join the dark side.

O: “Spike, I am your father!” [laughter]

S: Shockwave orders Sparkplug to kill Spike but Sparkplug fights his mind control.

O: The Autobots show up and Wheeljack uses his new super secret special machine to break the control on Sparkplug.

S: And it's time for hugging and making up and then more escape attempts ensue in the firefight.

O: I would like to take the time to remind you that Spike is voiced by Corey Burton.  Shockwave is also voiced by Corey Burton.  So in this scene Corey Burton is yelling at Corey Burton--a recursive loop of Corey Burton, if you will.

S: Wheeljack calls for um, air support and then Skyfire drops the fuck in to pick the Autobots and their humans up to go back to Earth.

O: Sparkplug thanks all the Autobots for their help, now that you know, he's no longer evil.

S: Yay for not being evil.  We cut to Earth and oh no, it’s...Cliffjumper time.  Cliffjumper is here again.

O: However, apparently Optimus’s authority is enough to hold off the little idiot from doing something stupid immediately.

S: Which is kind of a refreshing change.

O: Yeah, right?  Normally it's--I'm gonna do something real stupid, I'm gonna punch Megatron in nads, I'm gonna--what else did he do?  Oh!  I'm gonna shoot Megatron over here from cover where I'm protected this is fine.

S: I'm going to shoot this rock formation that sort of looks like a Decepticon but it is definitely not actually a Decepticon and cause a rockslide.

O: Uh-huh, and almost kill Optimus or Ironhide or whoever was standing there.

S: Yeah, and then whatever the heck he and-- well no he's not the one that uh, rode Soundwave for a while that was Brawn.

O: That was Brawn.  Brawn's already on my shit list but for completely different reasons.

S: [laughter] Okay, um, let's get back to--to business.  Mirage uses his invisibility to sneak closer.  Elsewhere, Starscream is not even attempting to be subtle--complaining that he'll never be able to take over the Decepticons without his own Energon source to Dr. Evil.

O: Starscream, has absolutely no situational awareness.  Megatron is literally standing right behind him. [Questionable Megatron impression] “That's mutiny Starscream!”  Yeah, no shit my good dude.

S:Megatron was apparently going to blast Starscream but is called away by an emergency.  Starscream takes this moment to retreat.

O: Never retreat my ass Screamer, you retreated so many times--yet you keep saying that, in battle, that you never retreat.

S: Maybe he only considers it retreat if he's actually fighting the Decepticons, who know--

O: You mean Autobots?

S: Autobots, oh god, yes.

O: I mean…possibly?

S: Who the hell knows?  The writing’s inconsistent and no one does anything that makes sense.  Back with the ship Mirage reveals himself after doing exactly nothing, [suppressed laughter] by sneaking on board the ship as Optimus and the rest reveal themselves immediately after.

O: He couldn’t have, I don't know--shot Megatron at close range or something!?!  I am aware Megatron clearly has pretty thick armor but he didn't do anything!

S: The jets attack the Autobots, it's really not effective, at all.

O: The Autobots and Decepticons then return fire at each other with Prowl suggesting a retreat but--as they are outnumbered.

S: But, lo!  Skyfire descends from on high to deliver reinforcements.

O: And I swear Wheeljack does some sexy poses as he shoots his anti mind control beam from above.

S: We got--we got photo evidence.

O: Yes, yes we do.

S: Yeah.  The remaining humans flee as their control is broken.  There's some like, weird perspective stuff here again and it just looks really silly.

O: Megs is pissed about losing his prisoners with jobs.

S: Oh, those prisoners my jobs.

O: [laughter]

S: I feel like Megatron would get along well with that dude [the Grandmaster].

O: I don't know if he would, actually.

S: Actually, yeah you're right you probably wouldn't but he'd probably be really...I don't know.

O: I feel like you would be ok with him for precisely two seconds until Jeff Goldblum opened his mouth.

S: I could, I could see that.  Though Starscream and Loki would probably--

O: Oh, Starscream when Loki would get along like a house on fire!  Definitely!

S: Lots of screaming and flames and backstabbing.  Then he um, then transforms and fires at Skyfire.

O: You know what? I stand corrected.  I think this entire time I have been under the impression he could not fire himself.  Please insert your own joke--something, something, jerking off, something.

S: Skyfire lands and transforms to join the fray.

O: He says to, “Save Megatron for me!”

S: Why are you so damn gung-ho about this, you're a scientist!?!  You declared you're a scientist multiple times!

O: [laughter] I like fanfic where he’s a pacifist, cause that makes so much more sense in my head.  We cut to Rumble who is pulling his normal stunt of EARTHQUAKES!  In an attempt to attack Bee.

S: Bee takes one look at the crevice that appears and says, “Not again!”

O: Not unlike a pot full of petunias.

S: He then proceeds to grab a vine and Tarzan the shit out of Rumble into the ravine of his own creation.

O: Back with the sexual tension! I mean back with Megatron and Optimus.  They exchange words but Megs boards his ship and flees, leaving everyone else to die in the approaching tidal wave...another approaching tidal wave, apparently.

S: There are many of this--there are many in this show, everything's just super fucked up.  And Spike gives the bots a pep talk as he grabs yet another Cybertronian weapon.  So gung-ho to help--this kid grabs so many weapons.

O: He does.

S: He must have incredible upper-body strength cuz these are like, as big as he is.

O: I'm convinced that’s why Carly married him.  There is no other reason why she shoulda hit that.

S: The fact that she’s--we'll get into it--

O: We'll get into Carly later, Carly is lovely.

S: Yeah.  Carly is great.  Prowl reaches the conclusion that it would take an explosion equivalent to ten billion astro liters to knock Cybertron out of Earth’s orbit.

O: What the fuck is an astro liter!?!  I hate all of you.  Hate, I say!

S: The thing is astro liter doesn't even make sense as...like, a measurement for an explosion because people don't measure explosions in fucking liters.

O: I don’t know, man!  [laughter]

S: [sighs] God... the Autobots get a brilliant idea to blow up Megatron’s starship to cause said explosion because apparently that--okay?

O: They do this, and it does indeed knock Cybertron out of Earth's orbit.

S: It just fucking yeets it out of the orbit.

O: Pretty much.  This makes the huge incoming tidal wave disappear immediately.

S: That’s not how those work.  That’s not how those WORKKK!  [groans]

O:  None of the tidal waves in  this episode have worked properly.  I think we can safely say that.  So Specs, you remember that huge, huge explosion, the one that knocked Cybertron out of orbit?  Megatron lived through that!  You know what?  That's it, I yield, you clearly are invincible, sir!

S: Yep, he's just floating around in space a bit dinged up, but otherwise perfectly fine looking.

O: He flies home even!  [laughter] He’s perfectly fine!  Anyway--

S: He’s the goddamn Terminator.

O: He is the goddamn Terminator!  Join us next time for, “Countdown to Extinction!”  Starscream attempts to blow up Earth, destroy Megatron, and take over Cybertron--all in one day!

S: He's an ambitious little fucker I'll give him that.

O: Indeed! So Specs, what is our fanfic for today?

S: Okay, today we have two selections.  The first is, “And There Was Much to Learn,” by ilyena_sylph and Merfilly.  Continuity-wise, this one is G1 cartoon, it's rated G, uh, it is slash fiction.  Our pairings here are Skyfire and Starscream and our characters are Skyfire and Starscream.  It's very Skyfire and Starscream.

O: Yes.

S: I think you've noticed.

O: [laughter]

S: And so, in summary:  Five moments from Skyfire’s ever puzzling relationship with Starscream.  And basically the character theme rec for this episode--or this piece of fan fiction is, Starscream and science because science…

O: [laughter] Science!  Do you need another reason?  No, you don't--it's science!

S: Well, science is the I guess, the common thread between the two of them that I have for today, so science, lots of science.  And to move on to our second recommendation, uh, “Faith in Science.”  I said there was science!

O: There is indeed more science.

S: The author here for, “Faith in Science,” is Merfilly.  Continuity-wise this one is also G1 cartoon, it's rated G, it's gen.  Pairings--there aren't any.  Characters: Wheeljack, Ratchet, Megatron, Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Perceptor, Prowl, and Beachcomber--more or less in order of their appearance.

O: Fair.

S: And so in summary, “ Wheeljack began in a laboratory but the Autobots need him for his unique scientific bent.”

O: Which I’m assu--I'm assuming is explosions.

S: Yes.

O: The answer is yes.

S: At least from what I remember?  I read this a few weeks back and it's like, yes there's explosions involved and like, yeah, blowing shit up and making weapons.  Uh, so yeah, this one theme for it is again, science, lots of science!

O: But with Wheeljack!

S: Yes, and that's it for fanfiction recommendations.  Do we have fanart recommendations?

O: Yes, we do!  Alright, so today's fanart recommendation is--so they do not appear to have any other accounts than their Tumblr which is what I'm going to use, which is Se--

S:  sekitei88?

O: We’ll go with that.

S: Is at least how I would guess?

O: That's what I'm gonna go with, um, you can find them on tumblr I am not aware of other accounts, if I find them before we post this I will post that as well.  They tend to do a variety of things but I picked all of their Beast Wars stuff because I love Beast Wars and this one in fact, has a lot of Dinobot!  Yay!  So some of my--they actually have done some of my favorite Beast Wars fanart particularly fluffy feathered Megatron and Dinobot, yes!

Ah, so the three that I have picked as recommendations are quite literally fluffy Dinobot and Megatron, which is--it is, it's delightful. Uh, they also did--okay, so there’s an episode later in the series where Grimlock is in an apron and a bowtie serving drinks.  This hap--is a thing that will happen and it is literally adorable and they basically, the next two pieces of fan art they did that silly apron thing with uh, Megatron and Dinobot II for Beast Wars and then in the third piece they did it with a Grimlock from Robots in Disguise.  It is delightful, I recommend it, and I have a lot of fun with their art. [laughter]

S: Is it fluffy as in pairing fluffy or they are fluffy as in they are fluffy dinosaurs?

O: Oh, no, no, no, they actually have feathers like, they are--they're physically fluffy. not that they’re--it's not relationship-esque stuff, though you probably could read it that way.

S: Feathery Dinobot looks very nice.

O: it's just a really nice fanart of it honestly.

S: Like, I think you threw pictures--I think you threw the pictures at me.

O: I probably sent you the pictures--I actually have them.

S: Yes, yes, you tossed that at me!  You literally linked those to me.

O: I know I did because I was just like these are amazing! But that’s--

S: [laughter]

O: Oh, I’m sorry he's a dragon. I don't know if I said T-Rex or not um, in that?

S: Aw, I like it.

O: I like it too.  Eh, I like Grim--Grimsy’s probably my favorite character in Robots in Disguise even though it makes no sense because there's literally two Grimlocks running around in Aligned, but I’m not gonna get into that right now.

S: And that just about wraps it up for us today remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort as Afterspark[-]Podcast for any additional information, show notes or links we may have mentioned.  You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter at AftersparkPod (all one word) and various other locations by searching for Afterspark Podcast such as AO3, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and  Youtube just to name a few.  Till next time, I'm Specs!

O: And I’m Owls!

S: Toodles!

[Outro Music]