#I do like the image of her being all scary and intimidating meanwhile she's got a cute skirt on under her lab coat lol - it's cute ♪

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Been having a weird/off week. But you know what’s made it better?

Spending some more time in Midvale with Supergirl Ep. 6x06, “Prom Again!”

Spoilers!

So! Last week was the fun shenanigans/set-up, THIS WEEK we get the emotional pay-offs and oooooh. So good. So good.

Historically, Supergirl kinda struggles to stick its landing when it comes to paying off its set-ups, but I think this episode is really solid in that regard.  

And thus, we begin! With the forest showdown! And I love it. Love every part of it. Love Kara flying in and freeing Nia and Brainy with her heat vision, love that one of Kenny and Kara’s go-to plays is called ‘Speed Racer’, love Brainy’s whole, ‘my buddy’s gonna BLAST YA if you don’t cooperate’ and Kara just. Threatens the bad guys from the shrubbery.

She’s supposed to be scary and intimidating with the heat vision eyes but dagnabbit...it’s just kind of cute.

Last week I completely forgot to mention how much I love that Kenny and Kara have go-to plays WITH NAMES. (NERDY names at that!) And also that Alex is so exasperated by it.

JUST YOU WAIT, KIDDO. 

Fast forward to the Fortress and everyone’s happy! The day is saved! The timeline is restored! Alex apologizes for being a bit of a grouch!

*cough* understatement *cough*

And Brainy doesn’t get the fist bump, d’awwwww. XD

Nia has a lovely chat with Kara wherein SHE is the elder hero who inspires the youths. Nice. NICE.

And THEN, the first of some good Danvers Sisters scenes...we’ll call this one ‘the mini-van chat.’ 

Kara apologizing about the ‘Zookeeper fight-y thing’ and the GLASSES FIDGET.

Shout out to the writers, who were ON-POINT with the dialogue for both parts, and shout out to the young actresses as well. It’s...honestly uncanny, how well they nailed playing Kara and Alex. 

(I mean, we knew this already, of course, but GOSH. What a wonderful showcase. So, so glad, that we got such a large Midvale story in the final season.)

Right, so, another dialogue highlight from the mini-van chat (but like, not in a silly way. More in a, ‘oh wow that’s very sweet’ way) Alex, to Kara about her choice: ‘It’s the right one because you made it.’

THESE KIDS.

Then we go to Nia and Brainy on the Legion Cruiser!

Nia’s outfit? Outstanding. Brainy’s mask? Admittedly a little distracting because it didn’t look like it was fitting quite right.

But A+ song choice for their dance, show. 

(Really, A+ song choices across the board. You can tell they were absolutely LOVING getting in all those needle drops.) 

And then we discover--ALL IS NOT WELL! THE TIMELINE IS STILL BROKEN!

Cat Grant has released the aliens! And she has been captured! And yet she remains heckin’ fearless!

Love that she calls Mitch ‘Mr. Blue Sky.’

It took me a while to warm up to this ‘new’ version of Cat Grant but this episode really gave her some fun stuff to do and yep, I dig it. Great stuff. 

Meanwhile, back at the prom...

I'm taking this moment to applaud the Supergirl folks for their very nice workarounds for ‘crowded’ locations this season thus far. The episodes have never felt like, overtly obvious in terms of Covid protocol impacts (I mean there are a few scenes here and there where you’re like, ‘oh, yeah, this is set up in this specific way to probably account for some production changes) but I’ve never felt that the episodes are losing anything, you know?

Case in point! Two episodes, set in a crowded high school! But most of the stuff takes place before/between classes, or outside!

(Specifically enjoyed all the outdoor stuff and natural lighting. It’s not quite the same as that LA sunshine, but. Still nice.)  

Anyways, in “Prom Again!” the action/discussions are set in the hallways/classrooms outside of the actual Prom. Inobtrusive! Makes sense for the story! Doesn’t compromise!

Gold stars for everyone. 

Kara and Kenny are BOTH unrelentingly cheesy--Kara even says as much--and it’s wonderful.

‘Hey Stargazer.’ Kara, you smooth operator you.

Shout out to Kenny’s bowtie, it’s great.

...Shout out to Kenny in general.

(Like, Will is great, but he’s got a lot to live up to, now.)

So FURTHER PROOF THAT THE TIMELINE IS BUSTED: Kara is going to stay in Midvale!

:O

Me, knowing full well that Kara has to go to National City, but also being...just a liiiiittle bit team Kenny: 

And then...THE METEOR!

That Kara just. Body-slams.

It reminded me of another Danvers, who also body-slams some space stuff:

But UNLIKE Kara’s cross-company cousin, this particular move does not end well!

Because there’s KRYPTONITE! And also, a CLOAKED SPACESHIP, BLOCKING THE FALLING METEOR DEBRIS! And, you know, ALIEN HUNTERS THREATENING HIGH SCHOOLERS! And Kenny SACRIFICES HIMSELF FOR KARA!

(Well, okay. It’s tonight but you get the idea.)

Poor, sweet Kenny. Who feels WAY out of his depth as he’s imprisoned alongside Cat on the alien ship...but it does bring us one of her patented ‘tough love pep talks.’ Wherein she calls Kenny brilliant.

And also, Kendall.

Never change, Cat. Never change.

Also, “Go, go.”

Okay, some more rapid fire specifics that I enjoyed so that this list doesn’t get...too? Long? ...No promises.

Smol Kara squaring her shoulders in that classic Kara Super Pose! 

Alex being able to pick a lock!

Kara using the reflected sunlight from the moon to heal!

‘That’s an 80% failure rate’ ‘Oh yes it’s terrible.’

The scene where the police have Kara, and Alex comes rushing out all, ‘that’s my sister!’ and Kara’s gonna just RISK EVERYTHING to fix this?

100/10, excellent, love to see that Danvers Sisters angst in the Worst Timeline. Also? Alex’s desperate little headshake, silently pleading for Kara to NOT DO THE THING???? Devastating. In the best way.

‘The world will know that name...Keira.’ 

No Plutonian Landshark sightings!?!? Not even a graphic on a computer screen? FOR SHAME!

(Personally, I’m imaging that they look like Jeff, pictured below.)

Kara stowing away on the Cruiser, and her very cute, ‘Don’t be mad!’

Her entire speech about her future--She’s just seventeen! She doesn’t have her driver’s license yet! Eliza’s only let her do the laundry once! She’s not even sure she can make rice!

(Eliza, I love you, but for Pete’s sake, let your kid do her own laundry.) 

Brainy and Kara trying to play it cool upon being discovered by Kenny and Alex! 

Their story involving an excess of formal wear!

Nia inspiring Cat to start CatCo, and telling her she’s CAT FREAKIN’ GRANT!

“If you say Lois Lane I will expire.”

Wait, did I mention the lucid dreaming power yet? ...Nia’s lucid dreaming power!

The entirety of Kara and Kenny’s talk in the gym!

Kara in the Worst Timeline tell Alex, ‘you don’t have to shout’. And then in the Fixed Timeline: ‘inside voice please.’

And she quotes Monty Python that lil GOOBER.

THE WHOLE EPISODE(S) was a GOSHDARN DELIGHT, I TELL YA. (Did I say that last week? I might’ve said that last week, but I don’t care.)

And now, some slightly more in-depth, overall thoughts:

So, How ‘Bout Them Danvers: Not surprisingly, the girls end up in, if not the exact same place as the end of “Midvale”, then pretty darn close. I’m trying to avoid, like. All of fandom, these days, but unfortunately, the bad takes are numerous, and often untagged. So I did see a bunch of people insisting that Kenny living ‘ruined the Danvers’ relationship’ and that the show is ‘taking away everything that makes Kara Kara’

To which I say:

In the broadest terms, what needs to happen by episode’s end to match up with “Midvale”, and prep the kiddos for the stuff that happens in the Pilot - Kara needs to put the aspirations of super-ing on the backburner, and Alex needs to like. Not hate Kara, but also be committed to helping Kara keep her secret, you know...secret. 

All of these things are set up. I repeat: All. Of. Them.

And Kenny didn’t have to die!

(I will admit, I chuckled that they so blatantly teased an untimely demise for him...because I know it will annoy select corners of fandom.

Muhahahahaha.)

But anyways, back to those key ingredients for making a ‘Danvers Sisters in the same emotional place they were in @ Midvale’s end’ soup: Alex deals with that simmering resentment. Seeing Kara handle herself well in a super-ing context gives her that little, ‘hey, this isn’t so bad!’ outlook.

BUT INTERESTINGLY, in the Fixed Timeline, Alex and Kara don’t have that chat in the supply room, where Alex is like. ‘You CANNOT reveal your powers, BAD THINGS will happen if you do.’ 

That is saved for the Pilot!*

MEANWHILE. The Kara ingredients! She puts super-ing on hold. 

Her chat with Kenny functions as a replacement for her chat with J’onn-as-Not!Alura, in the sense that it’s here that she reveals that she didn’t choose to come to Midvale, she didn’t choose these powers. 

(...I can already sense fandom using those lines to prove their end-of-series theories and like. Ugh. Ugh.) 

But anyways. It’s also here that we get shades of Pilot!Kara, what with the season one conflict of being Super vs. being normal. 

It’s ALL THE SAME STUFF.

Fandom needs to like. Chill. 

And their (fake) concern for Kara’s characterization is entirely misplaced, because this was a really wonderful showcase for Kara in particular.

Like. The first episode was really Nia’s time to shine, and we still got solid Brainy and Nia action in this episode!

But man. That good Kara content.

THE CONTENT I CRAVE!

So speaking of good Kara content in particular, I LOVED Kara’s prom dress. It's got both a SKIRT. AND PANTS!

Amazing.

I know nothing of fashion, but it was very cute, very girly, and okay. Though I hate the comic, the one thing I actually liked about Future State is Kara’s costume. This was similar!

(Thank goodness it looked nothing like the prom dress from Rebirth. That...was a bit of a train wreck.)

(Look, not all comic artists are great clothes designers, it’s just how it is.)

We see the empowerment theme come up with Kara inspiring Kenny; he describes her as ‘an amazing light in a world of darkness’ and tells her that, ‘you changed me, Kara Zor-El.’

We love to see it. 

They also agree that stargazing and Monty Python make for the perfect prom these absolute NERDS I love them.

*Quick wibbly-wobbly, timey-whimey note WRT making this episode ‘fit’ with the Pilot: I’m not saying that it 100% does. There’s already the change with the Kryptonite, and the added info/awareness of the DEO. 

Those little changes, though, don’t really impact the overall arc of Kara and Alex, the way the emotional stuff might. 

Thus! The ‘Pilot’ of Earth Prime, and in fact, the ENTIRETY of the show’s run thus far most likely involved little differences throughout, but the emotional core is very close, if not the exact same.

BUT EITHER WAY, it doesn’t matter, because our Kara and Alex are still our Kara and Alex thanks to the multiple sets of memories! 

(So all of fandom’s freaking out is for naught. As it almost always is.) 

I bring this up because, again, as much as I talk about setting stuff up for where we find Kara six years from now--this Kara is a little different! She comes across as more confident, something Izabela Vidovic mentioned in an interview, when discussing her approach to playing Kara this time around. 

And now, Alex: Admittedly, she gets less focus as like, a solo-entity in these episodes--she really is there to serve the more Kara-centric plot. Personally, it didn’t bother me too much because outside of these flashback episodes, Alex has had some solid development and screen time, so. It balances out.

And the scenes we did get with those 2? Solid. Top tier. There was even a couch scene! Like, technically. Because there was a couch in the supply room. XD  

Spotlight on Kenny: fandom kinda loves to insist that all the men on Supergirl are trash, because, ya know. 'Feminism’ or whatever. It’s ships, it’s always ships. But, in fact! The dudes on Supergirl? Are actually wonderful! And Kenny is another example of a guy who isn’t afraid to be emotionally vulnerable, who 1000% supports Kara, but is also like. His own person. 

GOOD JOB, SHOW. GOOD JOB.

Brainy too, had some really nice stuff in terms of dealing with his emotions!

And it’s Brainy who gives us our closing line, as Nia asks him how he’s feeling now that they’ve accomplished their mission:

“Hopeful.”

NOICE.

In conclusion! “Prom Night” and “Prom Again!” were EXCELLENT! They had heart! They had stakes! They had the promised time-travel do-over alluded to in the titles! Outstanding performances from the entire cast! Tthe ‘young’ versions of characters in particular! And I WILL be watching these episodes on repeat throughout the three-month hiatus! XD

But before the Super Friends take their break: NEXT WEEK! The Quest for Kara Concludes!!!

#SG post #supergirl spoilers #supergirl season 6 spoilers #long post #gifs

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 188

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 39 - “Terror! Despariah Appears!” Date watched: 17 May 2020 Original air date: 11 November 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/5RTfmuM Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Shall we dance?

I’m not going to beat around the bush, the title and thumbnail tell the whole story. Despariah fights the Precures in this episode for the first time. It’s intense and really shows how strong both sides are.

The Plot

It’s a quiet day at Natts House. The store is closed, and therefore the girls aren’t helping at the shop, and there’s also no school. Milk comments that it’s on quiet days like this that major events happen, but Coco dismisses her as being too paranoid. Just then, Nozomi bursts into the shop, exclaiming that she found a Pinky, and wants Coco and Nuts to come with her to catch it, so they join her. However, the Pinky is nowhere to be found now. Since it’s a nice pre-winter day, Coco suggests they enjoy being outside and go wander around town. Nuts tries to leave them alone to make it a proper date but Coco is afraid of getting too close to Nozomi, so he drags Nuts along.

Over in Nightmare HQ, Bunbee is crunching some numbers on his own in the otherwise empty boardroom, as it is apparently Nightmare’s day off as well. Suddenly a very frazzled Kawarino appears and asks Bunbee if he’s seen Despariah, which he denies. Kawarino frets since Despariah almost never leaves her office. Meanwhile, on a street, a mysterious hooded figure is seen...

you do not get a prize for figuring out their identity

Karen, apparently having nothing better to do, decides to pop into Natts House to pay a visit. She’s surprised when everyone is gone except for Milk, who complains that she’s lonely, so Karen decides to stay and keep her friend company. Similarly, Urara pays a visit to Fleuriste Natsuki where she admits to RIn that she’s bored and goads her into suggesting they also drop by Natts House.

While all this is happening, Coco, Nozomi, and Nuts are palling around town, with Coco at one point defending Nozomi against a nosy photographer. They find a large tree and decide to climb it, while from far away the hooded figure sees the tree and decides to approach it as well. The view from the tree causes Coco and Nuts to reminisce about life in the Palmier Kingdom, when they got up to some mischief and landed in trouble. Coco thinks it was fun, while Nuts recalls it less fondly. The hooded figure approaches the tree, but at this point they’ve already left, and Nuts once again tries to leave the party against Coco’s protests. Coco admits his fear to Nuts: if he gets close to Nozomi, then both of them will hurt more once they have restored the Palmier Kingdom and have to return home. However, Nuts points out that Coco has always been the type to live by his own rules, and takes his leave. Nuts runs into Komachi on a park bench, working on her novel, and decides to leave her to her devices, but she’s happier being with him and decides to accompany him back to Natts House.

Nozomi and Coco’s not-a-date continues through the park where they admire the fall colors, but Coco still feels guilty about deepening their relationship and proposes they head back to Natts House. On the street, the hooded figure finally catches up with them and reveals herself to be.... Despariah! (nobody could have seen that coming.) Nuts picks up on her presence and dispatches all the other girls.

Nozomi transforms to fight Despariah, but rather than fight directly, Despariah summons an army of shadow figures while she targets Coco. She reads his mind and infers that he has conflicting desires to revive his kingdom and stay with Nozomi, and she tells him neither of these will happen as she tries to whittle away his hope and drive him to despair. However, Dream flies in between Coco and Despariah, beaming at her friend before turning her gaze on the enemy with eyes that have not lost hope.

now kiss

Nozomi’s friends show up and transform into Precure as well. Nuts is surprised to see Despariah in the flesh, and Milk is not happy that her premonition came so true. Rouge, Lemonade, and Mint battle the shadows but they just recover from any damage. Aqua realizes that separating them from the ground destroys them and shouts this advice to her teammates. They tackle the shadows while Dream faces Despariah, who is intent on bringing her to despair. Dream attacks with Crystal Shoot, but Despariah just absorbs it and continues trying to talk her opponent into depression. It’s futile, though, as Coco encourages Nozomi to keep pressing on because the good times they’ve had will stay in her heart forever, and she says that she’ll never regret her memories with him. Essentially they are each other’s hope. Despariah questions the point of fighting for the dream of another, and the other cures chime in that helping other people builds understanding and powerful bonds. The surge of encouragement causes Dream’s Pinky Catch to glow bright with the light of hope, and it badly burns Despariah. She tries again to beat them down with threats of the world ending and their dreams being crushed, but they won’t be deterred, saying that fighting their hardest is the best thing they can do, and with Milk’s help they perform Five Explosion against Despariah. However, she summons a huge shadow to take the attack, and she awes at the power of hope before disappearing back to Nightmare. As she sits in her office, she looks at her shriveled hand and realizes she can’t match their power of hope until she obtains the Dream Collet and becomes immortal, so she orders Kawarino to redouble his efforts.

Nozomi, Rin, Urara, Komachi, Karen, Coco, Nuts, and Milk all take a moment to reflect on what just happened, but the girls have a surprisingly positive outlook. They managed to hurt Despariah and drive her away, after all, she’s not so tough. As they head back to Natts House, Coco tells Nuts that he’s decided to live in the moment and treasure his time with Nozomi, rather than worrying about what may happen in the future, and the episode closes on a filtered still image of them all walking down the road.

The Analysis

I’m glad they’re exploring Coco’s hesitancy to bond with Nozomi, because it seemed like they weren’t giving it its due earlier in the show. They touched on it in the movie, and here it is again, Coco is afraid to take the next steps in their relationship because he knows that soon, he’ll have to go back to the Pamier Kingdom and never see her again. It’s a good dilemma, do you invest in a relationship and enjoy the time you have, or do you keep your distance and reduce the heartbreak once you have to leave? There’s no right answer..... but it is kind of undercut by the insinuation that Coco has never had a problem sneaking out before. I wish they had explored this idea sooner in the series, maybe around episode 26 when they were on the island would have been a good time to first bring this up, and then they could have explored it a little further in subsequent episodes, with each new pinky they catch making him worry about the reality that he’ll have to part from her. From Nozomi’s point of view, she just seems to enjoy the company and doesn’t really seem to realize yet that making his dream come true will mean saying goodbye, at least not until the Christmas episode. I wish I could say this disconnect creates an interesting dynamic between the two of them, but Nozomi doesn’t notice that he’s troubled, so there’s no conflict. On the other hand, Nozomi’s unambiguous support for Coco in contrast to his internal conflict of interests is what keeps him from giving into Despariah’s scheme, and that cannot be understated.

I love that Nozomi and Coco’s strong feelings of trust, confidence, and support for each other forms a bond of hope that Despariah can’t break. Nozomi is the Pretty Cure of hope after all, she’s the one who’s able to find room for positivity in any situation, a reason to stay motivated, and this is going to become more important as we approach the finale. Her confidence is boundless but she does need Coco’s support, which was well-demonstrated in episode 24. Nozomi can push forward because she wants to make Coco’s dream come true, and Coco keeps going because she’s the one who saved him when he was at his lowest point, and she continues to fight for his sake. No matter what Despariah says, Nozomi doesn’t despair because Coco is her light at the end of the tunnel, and she’ll also protect him from the same fate. It’s so good.

Despariah is wonderful as a villain. First of all, she’s physically imposing, towering over a normal person, and she has an unconventional body shape. She has exaggerated hourglass curves and extremely broad shoulders with long arms. Rather than looking sexy, she appears intimidating, and her expressionless mask and giant hair spikes make her more scary. Sure, it’s not the first time we’ve seen her, but it’s the first time that the Precures have seen her aside from a monitor when they were in Nightmare HQ. Seeing her in the flesh, squaring off against the heroines, it puts her in a new light. She is stronger than her subordinates, as one would expect, and true to her name, she is very good at getting into your head and causing you to despair. Every word out of her mouth is meant to crush your dreams and sap your hope away, and she’s also able to summon an army of resilient shadow monsters that will keep regenerating until separated from the ground, which is cool. She was able to block and absorb Cure Dream’s attacks, which is a feat none of the other villains have accomplished. Given that her attack strategy was to let her shadows do the grunt work while she tried to talk Dream and Coco into despair, there’s not a good metric of how physically strong she is, but clearly she can hold her own better than most of her subordinates. I thought it was clever how she was able to conjure a giant shadow monster to tank the Dream Attack for her, making her the first villain to survive the team finisher. Clearly though, she knows her limits, and it’s obvious that their power of hope is only going to grow, which is why she feels the need to obtain the Dream Collet and drag them into despair so they no longer bother her. All in all I’m just jazzed about a villain that relies on emotional manipulation rather than brute force or even tricks to achieve their goals.

I think the setup for the episode is pretty good. It’s the closest Nozomi and Coco ever get to a proper date, and there’s a couple really sweet moments during the day where you get to see small, simple gestures of affection. My favorite is when Nozomi, Coco, and Nuts are sitting at a cafe, and a magazine photographer asks to take a picture of the two hot men, but tells Nozomi to step aside for a moment. Coco gets indignant and walks away with Nozomi, upset that the woman said she was “in the way,” which is rude to Nozomi, and of course she’s super important to him. Nozomi wasn’t particularly bothered by it, but she smiles to herself when he explains how he was defending her.

Nuts gets a similar moment like this, as all the women in the park ogle him until he walks over to Komachi and they disperse. Beyond that, I appreciate his scene with Komachi, because it shows his soft side and gives her a tender moment of her own. When she explains she’s working on her novel, he says he’ll leave her alone, and she acts a little upset at him leaving so suddenly, before hastily covering her mouth out of embarrassment about her little outburst. I make it sound mean but it’s cute.

The way the four girls wind up together is a tad contrived but I only found it annoying because no sooner have they all congregated at Natts House before they have to run out and fight Despariah. Just one more shot of them all hanging out together in between Komachi’s arrival and Nuts detecting Despariah’s presence would have helped the episode. Aside from that, I appreciate that everyone’s idea of a good time is just hanging out at Natts House even on their day off.

The last thing I want to focus on is the art in this episode. There’s a lot of still frames with a soft focus filter over them.

Their main purpose is to conserve the animation budget for the fight with Despariah, but they are aesthetically nice on their own as well. They enhance the carefree mood and imply the passage of time, and for Nozomi and Coco’s closeups they give us a moment to pause and see how happy they are in each other’s company that wouldn’t hit the same if these shots had to be continuously animated, however limited. It’s a nice artistic touch.

There is a lot of middling to poor quality art in this episode, though. That’s not unusual, it’s late in the series and they’re saving their remaining budget for the finale run, so quality control isn’t the top priority. That doesn’t change the fact that there’s a lot of vacant faces and slightly off-model characters scattered throughout the episode. There’s very little shading on people’s faces and expressivism is limited to close-ups. I wish this episode, as a big episode, could have had a bit more care put into it. I would gladly sacrifice episodes 40 and 42 to this end, but it is what it is. Despite some dodgy art it’s a solid episode about hope and hard decisions.

Next time on Precure Daily: the girls finally get to the bottom of the principal’s true identity. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 kettei!

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Yes! Precure 5 #YPC539 #PCD188

[dgalerab]

in the superpowers au how do madwheelclair meet? also is this the kind of universe where the public knows about people with powers and if so, what do they think of the three of them? are their rumours/theories about them (individually or as a group)?

i’m picturing it as like a teen titans universe where there’s superheroes and everyone kind of knows about them. they’re like celebrities who also save the day all the time.

mike and lucas have been friends forever and have always dreamed of being superheroes, so they’ve been making all kinds of plans about how to do it and what their names and designing their costumes. they met max later when she was trying to go it alone and they clashed during a fight with a villain but ultimately got to know and like each other mostly because lucas wouldn’t stop trying to befriend her

mike’s definitely the most gossiped about bc they try to be secretive about his power and he has to cover up on missions to avoid accidentally touching whoever they’re fighting, so there’s rumors about his powers and also he’s been rumored to be basically everyone and be dating everyone too (he’s so upset about this)

i feel like max kind of has a bad boy image so everyone’s kind of intimidated by her? people assume she and mike are dating bc they both have a little bit of a scary vibe (max bc she actually is a little scary and mike bc he wears a mask and stuff)

meanwhile lucas is just sort of forgotten bc he’s charming and his powers are cool but...

#ainswers #superhero au #madwheelclair #manycoloureddays

[liquidstar]

Hey anon! I’m posting this as a textpost because Tumblr formatted the ask weird when I tried to insert a readmore, so I’m just going to copypaste what I said there :p

DON’T be sorry for all the questions I love answering oc questions!!! But for the sake of not rambling too long and also making each answer easier to find, I’m going to answer them one by one instead of in a big essay lol… But it’s still kind of long so I’m going to cut it!

Can you tell me about Buttercup and Heather?

Buttercup grew up as a little rich girl who pretty much was always affirmed that she is special and one of a kind and completely unique and she’s meant for greatness, so she’s kind of spoiled and has an inflated ego, but she never really acts out of malice (unlike Heather) she just sees herself as the protagonist of the world (ironic, she’s a side character in class 3). But she doesn’t necessarily think that everything comes easily either, Buttercup is a smart girl and has worked very hard to get where she is today, and she does have very high standards for herself that she always works to meet. She just needs to step out of her own spotlight a bit. Also, fittingly, buttercup flowers symbolize ritches.

When Heather was a kid, her mother was a big and famous hotshot wizard, she idolized her mom more than anything in the world, she wanted to be a wizard like her, but things turned sour after a very bad marriage that left her mother unable to continue her career, and Heather felt betrayed by her mother when the illusion of a perfect hero was shattered because her mom didn’t protect her, but Heather doesn’t really understand her own feelings, she just sees her mother as a coward, and she claims she hates her but part of that is also just projection. Heather watched her mother lose control of her situation, and Heather as a child had NO control, so Heather became a bitter control-freak who condescends to people and pushes them around and is generally kind of just… Mean. The heather flowers symbolize admiration and good luck, but beyond that it should be obvious what else her name is a reference to (I mean she’s got the shoulder pads).

What’s their friendship like?

Honestly? It’s pretty shallow at first, they mostly just become friends because they both see each other as someone that’s worthy of hanging out with them, due to their mutually high standards, and a lot of their actual dynamic is kind of built on either building up their own image (Buttercup) or tearing others down (Heather). But at the same time they’re also both the closest thing to actual friends that the other has and there IS grounds for a genuine friendship to be formed if they would both kind of just loosen up and actually drop their acts.

When they hang out with Delphi what’s that like?

Delphi isn’t particularly close to either of them, but she does think they’re fun to hang out with specifically because she’s completely off her shit and absolutely lives for any semblance of drama, and both of them can honestly vibe with that but Delphi can also be… A lot. She can be kind of violent and vicious without a second thought, not in the high-school-mean-girl way that the other two are, like actually scary… She’s a lot. She’s better in small doses, so they don’t hang out with her too much, and they partly just want her around because it gives their little girlgroup a bit more of a fear factor, and Delphi knows this and honestly doesn’t care, she just wants to fuck shit up.

What do other people in their class them of them?

Class 3 came around to see Buttercup’s huge ego schtick as kind of charming after a while, like “oh haha that’s just Buttercup she’s at it again” but classes 2 and 1 aren’t used to dealing with her like they are. She’s generally pretty well liked on her own but if she’s with Heather it’s a different story

Heather is kind of just seen as a domineering bully, but class 3 doesn’t actually take her as seriously as she would like them to, aside from Lisia and Lotus who are kind of just pushovers. In Lisia’s case, Heather kind of fakes friends with her for her own benifit, and in Lotus’ case she’s actually outright cruel.

Delphi is the only one actually taken seriously because they all know that she wouldn’t hesitate on literally anything, so it’s generally better to just kind of stay out of her way and let her do her, because she herself won’t actually bother people without prompting… So their feelings on here are kind of neutral because they don’t know her, but still a bit anxious around her.

What’s their dynamics with their partners?

Heather’s partner is Celosia, an heir, who is 100% someone who lives up to the high standards that Heather has set so she has her respect, but Celosia isn’t someone who would be impressed by her being a bossy attitude, but she also isn’t someone who cares too much about the affairs of other so she doesn’t hold any particular moral grudges, so she just lets her keep acting Like That. They’re both people that are capable of working together because of their own determination, but they aren’t really friends. Heather has a few things to learn about ACTUAL leadership from Celosia, and Celosia kind of has to learn when to intervene and not be fully conflict avoidant.

Buttercup’s partner is Nep, who’s entire schtick is being a copycat (She has copy magic lol) so you can see how that’s kind of annoying for Buttercup to deal with, because her whole thing is that she’s a one of a kind, a diamond in the rough, the brightest star in the sky, but then Nep wants to mimic her simply by proxy of being around her… Clearly this causes a lot of contention between the two but ultimately they both need to learn the opposite lessons that the other should be able to teach them. You’re your own person but you’re not above anyone else. (mp100 voice: if everyone is not special maybe you can be what you want to be)

Delphi’s partner is Lisia who as mentioned before is kind of a pushover, so she’s intimidated by Delphi, but Delphi has no interest in taking advantage of her in any way… She just kind of lets her be, and if anything she wants to help her with her magic simply because Lisia can’t control it well even though it’s super powerful and Delphi TOTALLY wants to fight side by side with a potential powerhouse like that. Meanwhile Lisia has some lessons about like, compassion to impart, it’s like Delphi is Lisia’s physical instructor but Lisia is Delphi’s life coach, it’s actually a pretty mutually beneficial relationship.

How do their different types of magic work well/clash with each other?

Heather’s perfume magic is basically fragrance-based potion magic, with more or less the same applications with the added benefit of just needing people to smell it to take effect (Note: She’s immune to all of it, could be a good or bad thing depending on the perfume). And Celosia has straight-up fire magic, pretty self explanatory. Their magic types don’t particularly have a lot of overlap but certain perfumes work well with fire or could be used like gas to set on fire.

Buttercup has summoning magic, it’s a type of magic that allows her to make tangible projections of types of monsters she’s defeated, but of course they follow her commands (You know, like Pokemon) and Nep has copy magic, it basically lets her make copies of any non-living object she touches, which can include Buttercup’s projections! However there’s a limit to the amount of Projections Buttercup can control, and a limit to the amount of the amount of time any given copy will exist before disappearing (They’re not actually real, like Buttercup’s monsters they’re just projections too and will only stay around for a while, so sadly she can’t make counterfeit bills)

Delphi has water transformation magic, her body is made of water and of course this also comes with the added ability of hydrokinesis as a whole. Lisia has transformation magic, she has different sorts of forms she can transform into that come with different powers and abilities, but it all depends on her mood. When she transforms she gets a different outfit and her little horns become different shapes each time, the transformation that works the best with Delphi’s magic is the one that’s (sadly) based on the emotion of sadness, because it’s the one that also has hydrokinesis powers, but if they’d want to be a tagteam, the one based on anger has fire powers. Lisia is kind of insecure about her magic because she’s only ever really able to use it when she’s feeling that emotion very strongly, she hasn’t learned to just tap into it naturally yet, but don’t worry she’ll get there.

#finn's ocs #hope it works this time i dont like spamming ppls dashes w a lot of text im so sorry guys #sorry anon!

[satireknight]

TMNT S01E02 - Enter the Shredder

Can someone explain to me why we get an image of Michelangelo posing with weapons he never uses?

So we open with the least safe bedding arrangement in history: the quadruple bunk bed!

Seriously, they should have fallen over so many times during the night. It’s also a little baffling as a nighttime arrangement, because we saw in the previous episode that they all have their own beds in their own little cubbies. So why would they sleep together?

And yes, Leonardo apparently sleeps with a practice weapon. Because of course he does. Why would you assume otherwise?

So after waking them up, April watches them practice with their weapons, which ends with a grappling match and Michelangelo denting the wall with his back. Then she accompanies them to breakfast, where they either eat sushi (Japanese people do eat other things, y’know. Quite a few) or pizzas topped with breakfast cereal.

She’s raring to go find the Technodrome, which was last seen under the security building that went kablooie at the end of the last episode. But when they get there, all they find is water and giant treadmarks. Of course, the Technodrome is actually a giant white ball-shaped fortress with an eye on top, sort of like a spherical tank the size of a small town. It’s also being driven by Shredder, who is flipping the fuck out.

He’s also got a new roommate: a tentacled brain-thing called Krang.

Krang is very unimpressed by Shredder, his title, his face, and generally everything about him. He apparently has a giant army in someplace called Dimension X, which is ready to conquer the world whenever the fuck it gets here. But in the meantime, he wants Shredder to get his butt in gear and build Krang a proper body. With you know, thumbs and everything. I can see why he wants that.

Shredder’s brilliant retort? Well, he doesn’t feel safe because Splinter and his Turtles... exist. So, that’s his reason for not making Krang’s body, even though leaving Krang bodiless arguably makes them LESS safe. The real reason? He doesn’t trust Krang, and he doesn’t like the idea of the little wad of snuffy-voiced gum possibly being able to take HIM down.

Oh, and Krang lets it slip that the whole reason they were mutated... was because Shredder tried to kill Yoshi with mutagen. I don’t know why he thought it would be fatal instead of... doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.

One thing that happens a lot in this series is that they almost never use the word “kill.” They use words like “destroy,” “obliterate,” “dispose of,” and other words that basically mean the same thing but without the actual K-word. Ah, censorship for children... you can talk about murder all you want as long as you don’t admit that’s what it is.

Oh, and Krang hints that Shredder should create some more mutants on his own side... and really, that’s an idea he should’ve had far in advance. We really see in these episodes that the Turtles are crazy strong, since they successfully pushed a brick wall over in the last episode, and Leonardo can apparently cut through concrete at a hundred feet.

Anyway, April heads up to the newsroom, while Splinter and the Turtles try to track down the Technodrome. For some reason Raphael thinks it’s gonna be hard to find, even though... well, it’s several stories high and even wider. It’s not like it can go anywhere covertly.

And at the zoo, some robots appear and drag down a rhino and a warthog. Goodbye, animals, you’re probably dead meat, given that drop. 

“Still no sign of the Technodrome!” Did you really expect it to be under a pile of old boxes?

They finally get around to a giant underground cavern with giant tank treads, but the trail is cut off by a cave-in. Splinter tells them to go around, while he’ll go through. Uh, why not burrow through, and have the Turtles just squeeze in behind him?

Meanwhile, Shredder goes to the gang of thugs who were chasing April in the last episode, and offers them power, strength, and revenge against the Turtles. For some reason, they only really care about that last part.... which is funny, considering that Shredder’s obsession with them later in the series could be classified as a mental illness.

So what’s he doing? Well, he takes two guys, straps ‘em down, brings in the rhino and warthog, and opens a can of sparkly pink stuff. Eek, unicorn spit!

The Turtles, meanwhile, manage to bumble out into an open street in the middle of the day, with no disguises. They are failing at ninjaing.

Also, April’s boss is kind of a douchebag, since he apparently wasn’t concerned that after doing a report on sword-wielding thieves... and after her camera crew openly abandoned her to a gang of murderous thugs... she went missing for days. Did nobody call the police? Nope, he’s just pissed at her for going missing.

The Turtles have somehow gotten new disguises that in no way disguise the fact that they’re bald green animal-people.

Yeah, he’s wearing a jacket and sunglasses. I’m suddenly blind to the obvious.

Also, weren’t they supposed to meet up with Splinter on the other side of that cave-in? Why are they relying on April to find the Technodrome for them? Especially since her main lead is, “Robots stole animals.”

Speaking of which, Splinter finds it... and is immediately abducted by a robot. I bet he wishes he had just told the Turtles to follow him.

“If this hole caves in, we can dig ourselves out. You can’t.” Erm, are you really experienced at digging?

They all drop a few hundred feet next to the Technodrome... and I’m suddenly wondering why nobody has just glanced down the hole and seen what’s down there. Or at least put up some safety barriers. Someone’s gonna fall down there and sue a LOT.

Oh, and to double on “April’s boss is a douchebag,” he refuses to send her a camera crew until she has a story to report.... even though she’s only at the zoo because he gave her a story to report.

Fun fact: if I had ever wanted a career in journalism as a child, this series would have killed it.

The Turtles go inside the Technodrome, where Shredder starts doing the crushy-closing-walls thing that Star Wars made famous. I love that apparently he set up this giant war machine to have booby traps just in case he wanted to do something like this.

So they almost get squished flat, but of course some quick rewiring of a control panel allows Donatello to turn it off. Then robots attack them... and then MORE robots attack them, this time in a manufacturing plant.

Sorry, i just can’t imagine what those things manufacture. What does the giant smiley-faced spider-drone do? Or the cube on tentacles? Or the bipedal claw machine? Or the thing that exists entirely to thump things flat?

“We were trained to fight people, not can openers.” Well, it’s all theory, Raphael. The fact is, the public is way more comfortable with people beating the shit out of can openers.

Seriously, what manufacturing function does that serve? It’s a multi-armed thingy with flying saw-blades. 

Also, Michelangelo’s nunchuks are apparently made out of the tree of life, because he can smash right through metal with them. Not just once, either. He does it several times in a row.

Indiana Jones laughs at your pain. Fortunately Donatello happened to pick up a bomb in the last fight, and they can blow the door open right before the thing has a chance to crush them. Again, Shredder apparently set up all these traps... without a particular goal in mind.

Fortunately for the running time, they bumbled right into the chamber where Splinter is hanging from the ceiling, looking oddly sheepish.

But before they can get him down, Shredder comes in and reveals that he’s in fact Oroku Saki, and he wants them to join the Foot Clan. Why should they? Because he was accidentally responsible for them being mutated because he tried to kill Splinter. Which is like saying, “I date-raped your mom and got her pregnant, so you owe me because you exist.” Shockingly, this brilliant logic doesn’t win them over to his side.

Shredder calls in his own mutants, Bebop and Rocksteady, who are strong and intimidating (for now) but are also dumb as a sack of hammers. The Turtles grab Splinter and leave, and head right back up to the surface. Bebop and Rocksteady follow them up, and the Turtles trick them into a zoo cage. April takes some footage of them, since she apparently can’t get any of the Technodrome, and they’re dragged back underground by more of those annoying robots.

Seriously, is someone gonna cordon off the holes in the ground?! This whole place could collapse.

Verdict

This episode was a slight improvement over the first, possibly because they didn’t have to cram in all the backstory. It’s a pretty simple search-and-fight story, with some diversions along the way. I’m still not sure how or why the Turtles bothered to get disguises that didn’t disguise them at all, for instance. And they kinda bumbled out of the sewer in front of dozens of people. But it had minimum silliness, and it kept on its plot pretty well.

The animation is still gorgeous, especially in the fight scenes; sometimes the turtles’ faces can be a bit blobby, but the bodies and motion are absolutely top-rate. 

It also introduces us to our secondary villain Krang, who doesn’t really do much in this episode besides nag Shredder and make croaking noises. That seems to be a pattern thus far; the villains don’t do much when first introduced, then the do stuff in the next episode. Shredder’s much more active here, and he’s still pretty intimidating, despite the suckiness of his “join me and we can rule the galaxy” speech.

Gotta mention that this is where I like Bebop and Rocksteady the most in this series. They’re still too easily defeated, but they aren’t the cartoonish buffoons just yet. Ain’t quite up to IDW standards, though, where they’re dumb as hell but also scary.

Overall, a good chapter two to this five-part arc.

Grade: A

#tmnt #tmnt 1987 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #satireknight #leonardo #michelangelo #raphael #donatello