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agentnico · 2 years

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The Bad Guys (2022) Review

What is it with Billie Eilish writing songs for future films? She released the No Time to Die title song only for the movie to get delayed, and now The Bad Guys is released 3 years after her famous ‘bad guy’ song. Look, the latter may have not been intended as a title song for The Bad Guys, but it should have! It’s literally the title!!

Plot: After a lifetime of legendary heists, notorious criminals Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Shark and Ms. Tarantula are finally caught. To avoid a prison sentence, the animal outlaws must pull off their most challenging con yet - becoming model citizens. Under the tutelage of their mentor, Professor Marmalade, the dubious gang sets out to fool the world that they're turning good.

Dreamworks has always been the more cheeky and reckless animation studio cousin to Disney and Pixar. The latter always relied more upon establishing an emotional bond between the viewer and its characters, all whilst surrounded by the feel of a magical otherworldly air. Dreamworks on the other hand lent more into the comedic chaotic side, by either having a panda learn kung fu, a group of zoo animals escaping New York to hang out with some lemurs in Madagascar, or a straight up ogre messing around with classic fairy-tale characters. There’s always an element of ludicrousness, as if Dreamworks is that naughty child whilst Disney is the sophisticated older one who plays by the rules. That being said, in the last few years Dreamworks had lost a bit of its trademark spark. Yeah, there were those Trolls films that offered some mindful colourful fun, but I wouldn’t call them particularly memorable. They’re no Kung Fu Panda ya know? Look, I’ve recently been rewatching those Kung Fu Panda films with my fiancée and gosh are they so enjoyable and hilarious! A Jack Black voiced panda named Po being bullied by a Dustin Hoffman voiced raccoon named Master Shifu? Oh and that turtle martial arts spiritual monk master Master Ooooooooogway who blatantly and conveniently dies when crap is about to hit the fan as if to say “well that’s no my problem suckazzz!!”. Or that peacock from the second one that spends the entire film holding that same perplexingly shocked facial expression?? Kung Fu Panda is great yo and I’ll hear nothing else about it! Anyway, back to The Bad Guys. What did I think? It was okay.

The best thing the movie has going for it is its animation. Taking a page from Into the Spider-Verse, the animators blend both 2D and 3D animation to make the movie look like its a motion comic book, which to be fair looks great, especially in the action sequences and car chases does this animation style really pop. But even in the character designs, the use of 2D really brings out some great colours and details. In a nutshell, The Bad Guys looks good! As for the story? Well that is where the movie loses its merit. That isn’t to say the plot is bad, its just that the narrative is quite the generic heist storyline, and the message about bad guys turning good isn’t exactly revolutionary, let alone them being played by animals. Zootopia anyone? Or is it Zootropolis? Or how about the German title: Zoomania?? My personal favourite is the Polish Zwierzogród! Has the nice ring to it! So easily pronounceable!! Regardless, The Bad Guys doesn’t particularly inspire with its story, however its animation is stellar, there’s enough solid jokes in there to keep audiences and younger viewers entertained, and the voice cast fit their characters well. I’d say Sam Rockwell, Richard Ayoade and Zazie Beets probably are the most memorable. Oh, and Anthony Ramos from In the Heights gets to stretch his vocal chords once more by blasting out a musical number which in turn results in one of the movie’s more stand out sequences. It’s all good natured fun which is why I think I enjoyed The Bad Guys for what it was. It’s not a particularly special movie, not one that will go down in history as peak family entertainment, but as one to pass the time its entertaining. It kind of helped that I was fresh off finishing an early shift (don’t get me started on waking up at 5am, holy frijoles!) so didn’t want to particularly challenge my brain, and as such The Bad Guys worked like a charm. The plot twists and turns were super predictable though, just saying. Sorry, just wanted to end the review on a negative. Seemed right.

Overall score: 6/10

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snakedevour · 3 years

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the post about the kkg kids actually going to class got me thinking... what would be yumeko's favorite class (if she even has one, giving the fact that she's so obsessed with gambling and if i remember correctly in the anime she even says that she couldn't pay attention in class because she was thinking about gambling) and how good she is academically speaking (i mean, she's very intelligent but i wonder if she only uses her brain when gambling lol). this is really random, i apologize -🐺

you don’t have to apologize! i like answering things like this -- the little things go towards solidification 🤙 yumeko and the shenanigans that go on in hyakkaou are really outlandish so it’s nice to remember it’s all still grounded in reality.

this is actually an interesting question because we’ve seen that yumeko is full of random factoids. in the tower of doors game we’re shown that she can navigate hexidecimal numbers and whatever it is she was saying about the doors representing angles or smth smth. man i am not smart enough for kkg.

anyway, what i’m getting at is that yumeko does seem to apply knowledge to her gambles that she would’ve had to learn in academia.

there’s also this very interesting tidbit from chapter 35 i think a lot of us didn’t think too much about:

“Started showing great talent in gambling soon after transferring into Hyakkaou Academy” -- this line from ibara actually suggests that yumeko wasn’t actively gambling prior to the plot. that being said, it doesn’t make any sense for yumeko to be completely oblivious to it, considering her family. i admit that in terms of cohesiveness this was written a bit sloppily but i do think it makes sense that the second daughter wasn’t as intricately involved in family matters. we can hypothetically further reinforce that notion when we remember that it’s yumeko’s older sister who is hospitalized. yumeko theoretically could have maintained comparative distance from things if it was her sister who was the head of house jabami up until she was incapacitated. so in my head, even though this is a bit muddy it still makes sense.

all that though was to say that yumeko wasn’t gambling wildly from the get-go, so i think when she transferred to hyakkaou she had to have gotten in on some sort of academic merit. i think, for the most part, if you asked her a question she would either answer correctly or just honestly respond that she doesn’t know, but not answer incorrectly. that being said though i don’t think she’s really a hard worker? yumeko is smart in the sense that she retains information exceptionally well -- probably thanks in part to her eidetic memory -- but i’m pretty dubious on the idea that she’s studious.

i can see her bouncing between 70s (B) and 90s (A) depending on the subject but suffering a little more in phys ed since she admits she’s not especially active. i imagine she does best in subjects that deal with the concrete and the factual like science, math, or ( more or less ) language. an example of this is the hexidecimal numbers and angles shtick from the tower of doors. these are easy subjects in the sense that they’re unchanging -- once they’re committed to memory That’s It.

in terms of what she enjoys though, i think it’d actually be certain aspects of the liberal arts. i.e. social science especially. yumeko has a weird relationship with her own humanity and her analytical way of viewing humanity in other people lines up with her having some sort of textbook-type understanding of things like social science, psych and sociology, anthroplogy etc etc.

makes you wonder what she’d major in 🤔

#🐺 anon #the kkg deep dive #this was actually pretty fun to think about 😳#*/ faustian facet !#*/ we've got mail !

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callmebliss · 5 years

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I’m sitting at the kitchen table

with two 12-year-old girls eating pizza and listening to them talk about anime and gaming and fanfic and art

I’m a little dubious about them declaring the manager of the local GameStop to be the “coolest guy ever” because he knows about anime stuff AND manages the game store

I introduced them to AO3. Tiny minds are blown.

Now they are discussing the merits of sub vs. dub I love this I love them I will die for them

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siarven · 5 years

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WIP Prep Tag Game

Thank you so much for tagging me @i-belong-in-space <3 Your wip sounds amazing, I’m glad you tagged me so I could learn about it :D

Rules: Answer the questions and then tag as many writers as there are questions answered (or as many as you can) to spread the positivity! Even if these questions are not explicitly brought up in the novel, they are still good to keep in mind when writing.

FIRST LOOK

I’ll be doing this for Like Dragons of Old because it needs development since I only started writing it for NaNoWriMo this year :D

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch)

The Observer (an immortal) and a phoenix chicken raise two girls among the towering stacks of an ancient, sentient library. Selandri is the first child born in the Library in millennia, and Timbre is the only survivor of a war that destroyed an entire continent and killed (or changed) everything else living on it.

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

Because I’m incapable of doing short things Like Dragons of Old is the first in a trilogy called Song of the Aunae.

Each book will span about 10 years, from when they’re children to ~18, 18 to around 30, and I guess 30-40? I’m very unsure about that last book. But there’ll be a lot of character development and growing up all in all.

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic?

see 5 ... sorry, I’m too lazy xD

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

A non-fiction talk held by Neil Gaiman about him basically raising himself in the library when he was young :P Also a ton of fantasy novels with creative worldbuilding and magic systems.

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel

the wip-intro-post moodboard :D it’s the aesthetic for the whole story though, not just the first book

MAIN CHARACTER

6. Who is your protagonist?

I have three POV characters/protagonists, but I’m currently thinking that I’ll give each of them their own book in the series.

One is Selandri, she’ll get the first book. She’s the first child born in millennia in the Library, to later fulfill a certain task ( which she knows nothing about, of course). Selandri is ESFP and chaotic neutral.

Next, Onii. Onii will be the POV character of the second book. She’s also immortal, but that’s mostly because she’s a phoenix. In form of a chicken, by choice (in that universe phoenix can choose their form when they are reborn). Onii is very chaotic neutral. Onii is isfp and very chaotic neutral.

Finally, Timbre. Timbre will be the POV character of the last book. She’s the only survivor (in the strict sense) of a war that destroyed her whole continent, killed her people and changed nature there forever (think of it as sth like a magical nuclear bomb). She survived for a few months with the help of dubious gods (the aunae) before the Observer found and saved her (despite having other orders). Timbre is INTJ and chaotic good.

They’re all very chaotic :P

7. Who is their closest ally?

All three are each other’s closest allies, and also the Observer. This will change throughout the series, however, as Selandri and Timbre will go seperate ways and finally see each other again, but on different sides.

8. Who is their enemy?

I prefer antagonist? In this book, at first it’s mostly the Aeqana/Librarians (Selandri’s parents etc) because they aren’t used to children, and especially not their pranks. Later on some people on a surviving continent from the world Timbre is from, originally.

9. What do they want more than anything?

On the surface, Timbre strives for knowledge, Selandri for adventure, and Onii for chaos.

Deep down, though, Timbre and Selandri just want each other, and Onii wants them both to be happy.

10. Why can’t they have it?

Because they only realize that when it’s too late...

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

Selandri thinks that she’ll always be second choice after Timbre, and Timbre thinks that she’s evil deep down and that everyone close to her gets hurt. Onii thinks she’s a horrible parent. Or something.

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

I will, one day, but today is not that day. I have a wip of Onii, though (sorry instagram crew, I still haven’t gotten further than this :’D but it’s more than what you saw?...), and moodboards (including face-claims) for both Selandri and Timbre.

(it’s far from finished and the bright feather will be somewhat less bright later on, I guess)

PLOT POINTS

13. What is the internal conflict?

Selandri struggles mostly with her self-worth, and Timbre struggles heavily with survivor’s guilt, and feeling as if she should’ve died with everyone else.

Also both of them feel like they don’t deserve the other.

Onii is generally carefree and loves pranking people (she’s very chaotic neutral) but she struggles with taking care of these two strange children, mostly because they love pranking others as much as she does but now she’s supposed to be the mature one?! After she’s spent the last millennia doing nothing else? Tsk!

14. What is the external conflict?

Librarians who haven’t been children for a long time not understanding that children need free time and having fun, especially not these children. Many raised eyebrows, and many punishments.

Later on, when they leave the Library for the first time, the people outside, and their strange customs... and what they might have had to do with the Broken Continent’s past.

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?

To lose each other (for all three)

What they think:

Selandri - to become a Librarian and spend the rest of her days inside, cataloguing and transcribing knowledge collected from outside by other people.

Timbre - to be forced into some kind of destiny she doesn’t want by the Aunae and/or the Observer.

Onii - to be responsible for something that hurt Timbre/..., or to be incapable of stopping something like that. Also to never be allowed to prank anyone again.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

Not telling you anything! Many. ;) Some only in later books.

17. Do you know how it ends?

Yesssssssssss but I won’t tell you

BITS AND BOBS

18. What is the theme?

Trees/plants, dragons, art/music, books/knowledge....

Freedom of choice, survivor’s guilt, the horrors of war, having hope even in the darkest of times (hopepunk), lgbt+, love, friendship, post-apocalyptic setting, the merits and woes of technology (as in, the continent that survived is very futuristic, combination of science and magic), racism, religion(s), nature, exclusionism; ...

....I’ll need to invest more time here :P

19. What is a recurring symbol?

See above.

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!)

There is one world called Ferreske. The Broken Continent exists there, as do the other continents that didn’t get struck during the War. One of those will be visited, and it’s a capitalistic, futuristic hellscape society driven by a mixture of magic and technology.

The Broken Continent is devoid of human life. The Aunae have taken it over, more or less (they’re sort of tree gods) and they’ve changed the wildlife physically to survive the new conditions. During the War the enemy triggered a sort of “nuclear bomb” that killed everything in a 300 mile radius instantly, and set loose something the Aunae call the Radiancy, which nowadays kills everything else within about eight hours, unless you’re a plant (or the Observer). Which is why the wildlife has changed into a sort of plant/animal hybrid. Timbre’s people (some of them) prayed to the Aunae to save them when they felt the change in the air, so they got turned into trees. All children under a certain age were "protected” by the Aunae, like Timbre...except she escaped while she was still more or less herself, in contrast to everyone else. Also, the radiancy leaches away colours, so the Broken Continent is called the Grey Continent by some people. And Timbre is colourblind because of it.

Then there’s the Library, which is its own world/realm, and also sentient. In the Library there are all kinds of knowledge. Timbre and Selandri grow up in the book part of it, but there is also an art section, music section, etc. It’s probably endless and holds a huge variety of knowledge, and peoples with different ways of life and clashing viewpoints. It’s a sort of sanctuary, I guess? The Observer is more or less the founder (but she’s lost control over it centuries ago).

Some people are very angry that not everyone can enter/find the Library. Exclusionism will also be discussed, I guess.. but later on, when the protagonists are older.

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

I’ve planned the first book during NaNo, for the most part. I’m currently at ~60K of usable words (which will still have to be cut drastically), and I haven’t even “really” started :’D But yup, I know a lot of what’s going to happen. Not in detail, but enough. Especially two really mean scenes >:D

22. What excited you about this story?

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT, IT HAS DRAGONS AND MAGIC AND MUSIC AND TREES AND I LOVE THE CHARACTERS AND THE WORLD(S) AND ALSDKJFSKDJFSLDJFSLDJFSD I can’t wait!!!!!! :’D It’s basically me mashing everything I like into one and then hoping to get a decent story out of it.

But first I need to finish Dreams and Shadows ;w;

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!

I spend one NaNoWriMo writing things without knowing anything about the story except for my tumblr into post. Then, halfway during NaNo, I start having some ideas for the rest of the project, I plan some things, change and rewrite some other things, and then NaNo is over when I know roughly what I want to do.

Then I procrastinate far too much, before getting back into it with more of a plan than before. Then I write the first draft/draft zero, which is mostly me trying to find out what works and what doesn’t (and what the characters want/don’t want to do o_O) -- which I then print out, and kill with a red pen. Also I’ll probably give it to some people who don’t mind the rambling and all that.

Then I rewrite it for the most part, so it’s (1) shorter and (2) better. That is usually the “actual” draft 1, which I’ll spend a lot of time revising and editing, but not rewriting on a large scale. I hope that this time I will finally write it all in one go, and not: write some chapters, rewrite what I’ve already written, add a few more chapters, rewrite everything again, rinse, repeat--

I’ve never gotten further than that, yet, but my other wip, Dreams and Shadows, is almost done with the second draft (the first half got revised quite a lot, while the second half didn’t. I’ve also already had people read the first half. Which was actually helpful for that thing as it’s a standalone... I HAVE THREE SCENES LEFT BEFORE THE SECOND DRAFT IS DONE).

I hope that I can write LDOO in one go, though :’D

I guess I’ll just tag the LDOO crew for this, and maybe some others?? wow, I’ve gotten so lazy :’D

@dramaticvoiceover @asttralhell @authordai @thereisnothingwrongwithbeingmad @importance-of-being-crazy @madmoonink @prismalicht @romenna @fynniana @sincerestaffect @writin-maaagic @random-stuff-thrown-into-a-pot @raiswanson @zekethegm @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword @stephrawlingwrites @kittensartsbooks @annelaurant-writing @lady-redshield-writes @wolfdancer333 @bmariewinter

@lynnafred @corishadowfang @writingwordsanddrawingpictures @amongwriters

I love learning more about wips but this does eat up a lot of time so I totally understand if you don’t want to :’D

#ldoo #siarvenart #tag game #tagging game #wip tag game #ok i like this tag game because it forced me to make up so much stuff on the go :P #i'd best copy this whole thing into scrivener asap XD #long post

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tyrantisterror · 6 years

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I find it a little odd how Jason is such a big horror character, when almost no one lists Friday the 13th as a landmark film. Compared to Freddy, Michael, and Leatherface, Jason is an iconic character stuck in a bunch of schlockfests. You may have gone over this, but what do you think put him among acclaimed titans like Elm Street and Halloween?

Well TT, it seems you’ve been called to defend the integrity of a character you’ve been vocally passionate about once again. I know, I know, you’re growing old. Your trigger finger ain’t as tight as it used to be, and every morning the old six shooter feels a bit heavier in its holster, but in these days of the wild Internet frontier, a man’s gotta stand for what he believes in, no matter how many bullets the gunfight brings. Perhaps someday you’ll live to see that blissful future you came out here to carve, just you and a little house on the prairie, livin’ off the fat of the land. But it’s high noon right now, and pilgrim, you’ve gotta take your big iron and face off with Texas Red.

I wrote a whole article on why Jason Voorhees is a compelling character, and it’s one of my longest ICHFs so I really don’t think there’s more to say about him specifically. Being an interesting and memorable character is enough - the Mummy’s never been in a particularly good film but everyone remembers that fucker, so it should be enough for Jason.

BUT, beyond that, I think the idea of a character being disqualified for coming from “schlock” is incredibly dubious. You do realize that literally every horror story ever written has been subsequently written off as “schlock,” right? Dracula, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, all of them were cosidered garbage for decades while at the same time they resonated with the “common” people. Even Horror’s precursors like Macbeth and The Divine Comedy weren’t considered high art in their time - The Divine Comedy was considered trash because of its appeal to common people!

There is still a huge stigma against the horror genre because of its supposed trashy nature. It’s the reason young directors have to transition away from it as soon as possible, lest they be written off as “just” a horror director, and why directors who do leave the genre can almost never go back to it without risking their careers. All horror has been considered schlock, so coming from a work without acclaimed literary merit can’t be a disqualifying factor for a horror character. If it was, then we would have to say that Count Dracula wasn’t deserving of iconic status during the height of his popularity!

Secondly, while the first Friday the 13th movie isn’t treated as a landmark on its own (and to be fair, it’s basically a formulaic anonymous killer slasher movie in the vein of countless predecessors from the 70′s, with a few bits cribbed from Psycho), the franchise as a whole is. Friday the 13th developed its particular voice over the course of the first three films, and part of what made it stand out was Jason’s transformation from backstory to formulaic anonymous killer to, well, the Jason I know and love. It was so distinct that it scared the filmmakers involved - part 5 infamously tried to go back to the anonymous killer formula, but by that point it was too late. Fans wanted Jason.

Jason Voorhees killed the popular conceit that the antagonists in horror films had to be completely mysterious, personality-deprived entities. He paved the way for more charismatic rogues like Freddy Krueger and Chucky. He allowed monsters to be characters again. That alone is worthy of respect and admiration.

Finally, while we can debate the “quality” of the Friday the 13th movies, the fact of the matter is that they’re immensely successful at what they try to do. They never once aimed to be high art - they are intentional schlock. They appeal to the audience’s most base, animal instincts. They allow us to indulge in a violent and hedonistic fantasy in a safe setting where no one really gets hurt, where the gore is too ridiculously over the top to take seriously, and where most of the characters are too shallow for us to feel sympathy, but just strident enough for us to feel catharsis when they die. You may not like it, but some people need that. Tom Savini, the special effects director for many of the films, needed that. He’s gone on the record to say that making these movies helped him deal with PTSD from working as a war photographer in Vietnam.

I’ve said this MANY times on this blog, but the catharsis of slasher movies can be beneficial. It can be healing. It can be taken for what it was meant to be - dark but ultimately harmless fun. That’s what it is for the vast majority of the fans of this movie series - and don’t just take my word for it, as there are literally two whole friggin’ multi-hour documentaries talking about the impact of this movie on the horror genre and the effect it has had on its fans. Go watch His Name Was Jason and Crystal Lake Memories if you actually want to know more, they’re good shit.

#unclejellyfish

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asrafarel · 7 years

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On Shiro’s and Sendak’s similarities (or maybe I’m just seeing double)

(art by me) ************this is S3 spoiler free************* I haven’t even watched the last trailer yet. warning: long post It always pains me to see how most of the fandom is depicting Sendak as a bossy motherfucker with a short temper acting like a brutal fighter and enjoying non-con relationships. Seriously, have we seen the same show? Ok, Sendak is a villain (with a high potential for a redemption arc, please Dreamworks don’t let me down on this), but that doesn’t automatically make him an horrid asshole.

Yes, Sendak is a nasty opponent but he still has a lot of common points with Shiro and both stand on an equal foot in terms of leadership and fighting abilities (though I think that if Sendak had a less heavy and bothersome prosthetic he’d move better and thus maybe the result wouldn’t be the same, but I have nothing to support this theory). Actually, they have so many similarities they are literally mirroring each other.

First, let’s make a list of things we know about their shared past :

Shiro was detained on Sendak’s ship (along with the Red Lion)

=> Sendak is Zarkon’s first Commander, the emperor trained him personally. Sendak is loyal to death to the Galras (not to Zarkon, let’s double check this*) and trusted. He was given the responsibility to watch over a lion and the should-have-been-their-greatest-weapon-dude (I guess his name was Shiro or something).

They both had the Druids experimenting on them (although Sendak was willing)

=> We know (from his official bio) that Sendak lost his eye and his arm during his time on the frontlines (meaning quite some time ago, since that was before he was promoted in the hierarchy - only low ranks soldiers fight on the frontlines -, it also means Sendak rose up from the very bottom and earned his title through merit just like Shiro who started out as a cadet in the garrison) and volunteered to get a bionic prosthetic. Shiro stated that the Druids took his hand (yeah, hand, makes you wonder how much is actually missing).

Shiro has hallucinations about Sendak

=> Crystal venom is probably my favorite episode so far and it drops so many bombs about them, it’s impossible to think they never talked to each other before. The way Shiro provokes Sendak and the fact he’s getting a reaction from it tends to hint they had this conversation once, but reversed.

So far nobody got under Shiro’s skin like Sendak did (not even Zarkon)

=> Seriously no one else did. This is (flashbacks aside) the only time Shiro panicked for real, like he completely lost his shit. Not Zarkon, not Haggar impersonating him or being stranded on a foreign planet wounded with angry animal on his tracks got him desperate like Sendak did. I know Shiro was hallucinating, but to him it was real and it was probably just a replay of past events (though I can’t prove this yet).

Now a list of their common points:

First in command of their respective boss (aka Zarkon and Allura)

Leadership skills (also charisma)

Lost an arm (opposite of each other)

Were Druids’ toys at some point **

Scar on face

Tacticians (have a good look at Sendak’s last sentries, they’re all half-broken and he managed to pull out a working plan with just 2 guys and 5 nearly out-of-order robots)

Composed demeanor (Sendak is more composed than Shiro tbh)

Matched in terms of fighting abilities, twice a draw (epic fist bump + last blow and in both situations they do have exactly the same stance, still the most epic fight to me)

Dedicated to their cause, never giving up even in desperate situations

Supportive and/or encouraging (Sendak praised Haxus easily)

“Climbing from the bottom to the top” career path (then falling into disgrace)

Both are the strongest around in their own group

(also they like to get lost in space)

(both names starts with an S *ba dum tss!*)

That makes 12 (14), but the core similarity is much more global. It encompasses all of this and is more like the general idea of their characters. Sendak is dark!Shiro in a way. They both have the same role and rank in their respective organisation, the same way of handling stuff coming their way with a seemingly cool and composed attitude, not letting their anger get the best of them.

Sendak broke loose only when Pidge cut his arm off, crushing all hopes of winning and despite this he kept on fighting until he was trapped. Ironically, Sendak was made prisoner and detained on the Castle of Lions just like Shiro had been on his own ship. Reversing position and situation again.

They both are doing the same kind of choices (avoiding a fight if necessary, prioritizing tactics over frontal assault, giving everybody a role and benefiting from other teammate's skills -Sendak is the Commander/fighter/tactician and Haxus is the com tech/hacker/mechanic and their skills don’t overlap- etc..) and handling things in a similar way (they don’t give up, face desperate situation with determination, fight mental battles, etc..). It’s pretty fascinating because they are very different but at the time they’re totally similar.

Another thing that I realized while doing this analysis is that they have exactly the same career path. They started small and proved their worth. Sendak was named first Commander and Shiro is recognized as the best pilot on Earth. Then shit happens (Sendak lose to the Paladins and Shiro is framed for pilot error) and they both fall into disgrace.

Also, I’d like to pinpoint something in order to annihilate brutal-bloodthirsty-fanon-Sendak. During ep.4 (The fall of the Castle of Lions), when Sendak and Haxus are marching on the castle with their damaged sentries and Shiro opposes them, Sendak actually asks Shiro to let them through.

*then fight starts*

(Kinda dubious dialog out of context… Dirty jokes aside, it could have been foreshadowing for Crystal Venom: Sendak actually got into Shiro’s mind.)

What’s important here is that Sendak had no intention to fight Shiro if it could be avoided. He’s no bloodrager on the loose. He fights when it’s needed, avoid unnecessary troubles and is dedicated to accomplish his mission. Just like, guess who? Yeah, Shiro.

The choice of words is also very interesting. Sendak didn’t ask Shiro to get out of his way or to get down or to go away, he asked him to “stand aside” as in to stay out of the matter, to not butt in, to let him do his work. Maybe I’m stretching this but that’s not exactly what you ask an enemy and when Shiro rejects the option, only then, Sendak goes for the kill. What’s funny is that he didn’t kill him when he had the opportunity later. He didn’t even knock him out, he just tied him (while Lance, who wasn’t considered a threat wasn’t even tied). To me it’s more like the way you treat a former ally (maybe ally is a bit too much).

I really really really hope Sendak is going to get some screen time in S3 and that the veil on their common past is going to be lifted. The character has so much potential and also the ability to drive Shiro insane (not the same insane as Slav tho).

I still might update this at some point with the upcoming seasons.

Hope you enjoyed it!

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Notes:

* Actually, the reason I think Sendak’s loyalty is to the Galras rather than to Zarkon comes from his first appearance. His very first quote is : "I fight for the empire. I conquer in the name of Galra. No foe has ever stood in my way and none ever will. Vrepit sa!" Maybe I'm stretching things too far, but to me it could be some sort of foreshadowing of Sendak turning against Zarkon (most likely Lotor) because he goes against the Galras as people. Remember, Ulaz said to the Paladins that Galras supported the empire because it would bring them stability, there was something genuinely desperate and hopeful there (incidentally hope is exactly what Shiro is to Ulaz). After all, their home planet had been destroyed, thus making them homeless too. Also, in S1e1 Zarkon refers to the Alteans as a foul race and that Voltron is rightfully theirs. We know nothing about the “dark history of the Paladins”. Galras probably have a very different opinion on who’s the bad guy. In S1e3, when Haggar asks Zarkon if Sendak can be trusted he doesn't say "yes, he just said he trained him and that only victory or death would stop him. So, I kinda fancy the idea of Sendak having certain aspirations for the empire and turning against whoever fails to reach said aspirations. Be it a Galra prince or whatnot.

And last thing but not least; Zarkon didn’t seem really forgiving regarding defeat/failure (that’s the fastest way to be demoted -cf. Morvok and the Kerberos commander- and in the Galra meritocracy that must means something huge), during S1e3 Sendak himself said: “Emperor Zarkon challenged us to rise from the mud”. That’s a cute way to say atone for failing him, but now that the emperor himself failed… what is Sendak going to do? How is he going to react?

** This is what Sendak is implying by saying: “I see you spent some time with the Druids, they do love to experiment.” Meaning they used the first Commander as a pet project and probably not too long before he set foot on Arus since it’s implied Shiro got his prosthetic just a few days before being released by Ulaz. In any case, it’s less than a year ago meaning that Shiro probably met Sendak equipped with a less advanced prosthetic (or maybe no prosthetic at all). Also, and that’s very interesting, Sendak seems to discover Shiro’s prosthetic during the battle, which means the last time Sendak saw Shiro he still had his organic arm. @ferretfam thank you soooooooooo much for your help @canadarama here you go! Pssst! Sendak’s fans, give me your thoughts on this if you’d like @vrepit-sa @deception-and-disgrace @candyfoxdraws @ograndsovereign

#voltron #analysis #galralogy #sendak #shiro #vld #shiro (voltron)#sendak (voltron)#i love them #i love this show #meta #metal too #i spent some time on this #glad i had a super nice beta to help me

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