#Goggles is protected by plot armor lol

[plaguedogs123]

Made a silly Coroika animatic~ Also on my YT

[cdmagic1408]

"Mighty Mom" Detail Scout! 2.0!!! 🔎 ✨ 2️⃣

~ Advent Calendar Edition ~

* Click here for the first edition post! *

On December 22nd, Onward's Mighty Mom was found in the 2022 Disney Advent Calendar. That same day, I released a YouTube video where I read the story aloud! 📖

From flipping through it the first time last month to putting that video together, I realized...this version of Mighty Mom has EVEN MORE details! ✨ 🔍

So now I present to you: the Mighty Mom detail scout...THE SEQUEL!!

~

First things first, there’s the FRONT COVER...

May I just say it’s EPIC! Very awesome looking! 🤩

We got all three Lightfoots together! Lookin badass and ready to handle anything that comes their way! Barley lighting the path with his torch, Laurel gripping her battle ax in her amazing protective armor, and Ian clutching his staff with the Danger Detection Spell in use!

And let's not forget the dreaded Giant Spider playing (as TV Tropes calls it...) the evil overlooker in the background!

Basically, it screams quest and adventure! I LOVE IT!! ✨✨✨

~

Oh! And a BACK COVER with a PLOT TEASER!

Yep, I'd say that sums it up pretty well 😎

~

Now onto the story itself...let us start at the very end to mix things up, shall we?

The thing about the ending is...it's slightly different! Compared to the first version, which ended on the more hopeful note of oh..."let's plan our next adventure!" this version ends a bit more comically!

It's definitely implied Ian and Barley are much more scared of spiders now after being trapped by a giant one, but Laurel on the other hand has conquered her fear! Which is good cause that was like her internal conflict and everything... 😄

But...yeah...don't think this is the only time you're gonna face a giant spider, boys... (*cough* *cough* IYTM chapter 29 😉)

~

I also couldn't help but notice that Barley's love for quests and the days of yore is expanded upon here... 😏

...and there...

Now I definitely get why Barley looks so hyped when he sees that minotaur security guard...and why Ian looks a little worried...

my point? the authenticity is GOLD ❤️‍🔥

~

We've even got an expanded illustration of the mall's play area!

and boy is there a detail or two to spot on this page...

I don't know if it's just me, but that loooooooong green slide on the left looks suspiciously like Blazey... 👀 other than being long and green, it's definitely the tongue slide and the happy wild-eyed expression that sells it 🤪

Oh! and at the top of the small ball pit next to that satyr kid riding the dragon...young Ian, is that you? 😂

And speaking of that satyr kid, it's the very same kid Barley plays with in the bigger ball pit on the next page! (yes, I'm putting that picture in too cause I know how much you love Barley with kids @itsme-star) and now that I'm really looking at it, I'm thinking he wanted to give that little kid another fun ride after swinging on that dragon and if that's the case...awwwwww that's so sweet 🥺

Lastly, I get the feeling that that spider jungle gym was meant to warn our favorite elves of the dangers below...but considering how modern and harmless it looks, I don't blame em for not taking that into consideration lol

~

This was the first illustration that gave me the impression that there was more to this story than what we saw back in April...

I'll say the debris falling definitely adds urgency to the situation of the tavern needs to fixed and put back to its former glory 😅

But also...

The three of them high-fiving is sooooooo adorable! I already thought they looked great in those construction hats and goggles, but this is serotonin if I ever saw it! 😍

~

And last but certainly not least...this book was in the advent calendar's day 22 slot!

I would like to give credit to our fellow QM, @aloftmelevar who has cleverly pointed out a couple times—this time being no exception—that Onward is the 22nd film in Pixar's movie library!

Whether putting this story in day 22 for that reason was done on purpose...who knows? 🤔 But I personally would like to believe that it was!

~

In the end, now all I can think about is this: both versions of the story have different adjustments to the scale of the illustrations that we see, so there has to be full scale artworks of all of them, right?! 😲

Where those would be...I have no clue...

Guess after finding this advent calendar, that's my next Onward treasure hunt! 😉 😉

So anyway, there you have it, Quest Masters! The second detail scout of Mighty Mom!

We'll have to see if a third detail scout comes to pass if there's a potential third version of the story out there somewhere, but as I said in my last Mighty Mom detail scout post, I hope we get lots more Onward short stories featuring our beloved elf bois for years to come! In advent calendars, short story collections, step-into-readings, whatever the case may be, I WILL READ IT!

But for right now, I can honestly say that I like the Mighty Mom story even more now than I did on the day we discovered it! It's like the more you read into the details and piece together the context clues, the more fascinating and enjoyable media ends up being as a whole! 💖 I've found that with Onward itself, and now that I see that in this story too, there's no doubt I'll find it in any Onward story 😊

[fullmetalirin]

Fullmetal Alchemist OG vs. Brotherhood: Return to Resembool (OG 17, BH 06)

Resembool breather episode.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 17: "House of the Waiting Family"

The Elrics and Armstrong all return to Resembool, meeting up with Pinako, who agrees to repair Ed in three days time. While the Elrics recuperate, Armstrong assists Winry and Pinako in work. The Elrics later reminisce about their childhood while at their mother's tombstone. Al seems to worry about having fading memories, but Armstrong breaks the tension. A few days later, receiving his replacement arm and leg, Ed uses his alchemy to rebuild Al's armored body from the shattered remains. Afterwards, the brothers and Armstrong head back to Central to find Marcoh's research.

We open with Pinako staring into the sky.

Ed says he hasn't been back to Resembool since he left. How'd he get new limbs, then? He's clearly grown since he was 12, and his automail leg is longer since the flashback. Did Winry keep hopping over to Central to make him new limbs?

Winry is not wearing goggles while she works.

Pinako calls Ed short, and we have the same insult-fu scene from BH 02. Way more appropriate here.

Armstrong is hilarious.

Winry throws a wrench at Ed, similarly to the scene where he transmutes his automail in BH 02.

Al gets cartoon face when being admonished by Winry.

There's a flashback to 03 when Ed visits the grave, but his line about bringing Trisha back is different. I hate when shows do that.

Trisha's epitaph is illegible.

Winry nerds out over Ed's watch. When he refuses to give it to her, she tries flirting with Armstrong, who immediately runs away. LOL.

Armstrong breaks the door when he barges in.

Ed calls Winry an automail nerd, and she calls him a transmutation nerd as payback.

Ed has to be sat down on a bed to ride out the pain of the reattachment.

Winry brings up the possibility of the automail stunting Ed's growth, and says she made the new ones lighter to help.

Armstrong's bishie sparkles fall down when Ed isn't impressed by him. LOL.

Al says it "feels great" when the armor is fixed. I thought he couldn't feel anything?

Ed and Al spar again once they're fixed. Winry realizes the Ed left his watch inside. Hohoho.

When Winry opens the watch, she sees the inscription. I think this is the first time we've seen it in OG.

FMA Brotherhood Episode 6: "Road of Hope"

While Armstrong escorts Edward and Alphonse back to Resembool by train, he spots a man named Tim Marcoh, the "Crystal Alchemist", at a nearby stop. He explains that Marcoh was a state alchemist and doctor during the Ishval civil war, and conducted research on biological alchemy before disappearing at the end of the war. They talk to Marcoh and learn that he was researching the philosopher's stone but only succeeded in creating an incomplete version. At first refusing to share his knowledge with Edward, Marcoh eventually provides a clue to the location of his research data. After they reach Resembool, Winry Rockbell and her grandmother Pinako Rockbell start working on Edward's automail. After receiving his replacement arm and leg, Edward uses his alchemy to rebuild Alphonse's suit of armor from the shattered remains. Afterwards, the Elric brothers, along with Armstrong, head back to Central to look for Marcoh's research.

We open with Hughes seeing them off on the train. We cover why Armstrong is escorting them as protection, but nothing else from OG 16 – no bit with Scar finding out where they're going, no mention that they think Scar was Nina's killer, no "excuse the left-hand salute" line; and while we get the same bit with Ed taking offense at being called a child, we don't get Al saying he appreciates it. Ed also behaves much more normally, with no indication that he's depressed or affected by what he learned last episode.

Armstrong shouts out Marcoh's name in a public train station for everyone to hear, because he's an idiot.

We learn more explicitly that Marcoh was studying healing alchemy. Boy, he sure must feel like an idiot in this continuity where their next-door neighbors already had that figured out for centuries.

Armstrong doesn't seem to know what happened to Marcoh after the war. So Mustang didn't tell him?

Ed only wants to find him because he thinks he could know a way to restore their bodies.

Oh my god Armstrong is showing sketches of Marcoh to everyone in the city. Because it's not like there's a terrifying military dictatorship after him or anything.

The scene where they meet Marcoh plays out similarly, but it's played for comedy, with Marcoh actually firing but Ed dodging out of the way with a cartoony expression. Wow. Wow. A traumatized enabler of war crimes is so terrified of the idea the fascist finally found him he's desperate enough to shoot children? What a barrel of laughs!

And Armstrong convinces him to stand down by crushing him with a suit of armor, which is of course framed for comedy. What is tone.

Maybe it's just a translation difference, but Marcoh doesn't mention wanting to take his own life, just that "I could give my whole life and still not atone". That's a lot weaker.

Armstrong doesn't know what Marcoh was researching? WTF?

Marcoh shows them the Stone instead of Ed having to find it.

Ed pokes it, and we see that it's gel-like.

Marcoh says it's awful that Ed's a State Alchemist knowing what they did in the Ishbalan war. Ed says he knows but he has to do it anyway. He makes a really fancy metaphor.

Marcoh is impressed Ed transmuted Al's soul. So I guess that's a thing in the manga as well.

Marcoh just gives them an ominous warning about the research and throws them out. We get a similar thing where Ed says he knows he could have taken it, but he wants to do the right thing and not deprive the town of Marcoh's help. I dunno, this just feels token to me here. I liked how Ed admitted his younger self definitely would have taken the Stone in OG, and the fact that we directly see Marcoh helping the people makes Ed's decision feel more real. Show, don't tell.

Marcoh gives them directions to his library outright, and says he hopes not only that they'll figure out the truth but that they'll get their bodies back. Uh, so he hopes they'll use his research to kill a ton of people. Why. I also don't see why he can't just tell Ed everything now, when he's not under duress. This is like the worst of all possible worlds for this – not only does he have no reason to fear his research will be either destroyed or exploited and therefore no reason to tell anyone, he also has no reason to not spill all the beans if that's what he really wants.

Lust is waiting for Marcoh when he comes back. So I guess the torture's going to happen to him here too. How did she find him, though? I guess she was spying on Ed? Not like they were making a secret of it, so it wouldn't be hard.

Pinako calls Ed a "regular customer", so Ed probably did visit in this continuity.

There's a funny bit where Pinako says Ed's grown smaller. It's actually pretty good, I'm sad we didn't get it in OG.

Same bit with Winry hitting him with the wrench.

They show Winry the smashed automail and she freaks out. Slapstick where she punches Ed for wrecking it. She kicks Al too.

They explicitly show him attaching the spare, and there's a bit where he initially has trouble finding his balance. Nice detail.

No scene where Al convinces Ed to visit the grave, we just cut to him doing it.

The townspeople don't talk to Ed, just wave.

Pinako explains more about her relationship to the Elrics. Hoenheim was her drinking buddy, apparently.

Pinako tells Armstrong about Winry's parents' deaths and they commiserate over the evils of war.

This is where we learn the Elrics burned down their house. Pinako explains their reasoning, which I think is weaker than hearing it from their own mouths.

We get more shots of Winry working on the automail. Ed keeps harassing her and asking when it will be done.

Reattachment is only momentarily painful, and played for laughs.

Similar bit where Winry explains the new automail is weaker, but it's cut off. She just says she added more chrome to prevent rusting, nothing about the growth-stunting and all that.

Al's repair is a lot choppier.

They reuse the animation of Pinako blowing smoke a lot.

The brothers don't spar with Armstrong.

Winry reflects on how awful it is someone as young as Ed will be a weapon in the military.

Nothing about the watch.

Conclusion

I actually like the second half of the Brotherhood episode! The pacing feels fine, for once. Spending a whole episode on the Rockbell interlude maybe was a bit too much. OG could have easily merged 16 and 17 and probably come out the better for it. We miss out on a few things, but we gain a few other things too, and Brotherhood's additional comedy and lightheartedness is, for once, totally at home with this breather sequence. I feel like they're both viable alternatives with their own strengths, rather than any one being definitively better.

But the Marcoh side of things is absolutely awful. OG actually engaged with the horror implied by Marcoh being so desperate not to return. Marcoh was fully integrated into the narrative, not just a convenient plot device to be stumbled across. It took its own premise seriously. Brotherhood did not.

What I take away from this is that Brotherhood is perfectly capable of making a good breather episode when it wants to, and is maybe even better at it than OG, but it doesn’t understand how to do serious plots at all. It's really a shame it doesn't seem to understand where its strengths lie, and keeps rushing through the breather sections to spend more time on action. It's honestly kind of sad, like it doesn't trust its audience to stick with it through slow bits. Although, given that's the most common complaint about OG, perhaps it's justified.

[jennawynn]

Agents of SHIELD 2x21&22 SOS

i seriously love the fact that Skye is pretty much as awesome as anyone else at hand to hand. well... anyone but may.

Bobbi ripping the things Ward used to torture her out of her own body to stab him with is my aesthetic.

srsly? they inject him with more shit? maybe they should have considered that... and they didn’t have anything to stop him in case? didn’t bother strapping him down? they didn’t see this coming? and why’d his physical body change from just a little adrenaline?

wait... why are they taking skye back to the carrier?

how’s the multiplying thing work? they’re apparently able to keep track of each other like they have the same mind, but they nod at each other all the time anyway? do they have to share a single consciousness? like do they share brain power where the more copies, the less able she is to control everything? input overload? or are they all individuals? so many questions. 

part 2

aww skye’s dads working things out. too bad it’s two white dudes plotting to kill a woc.

tremors lol

don’t do it! if you expand the beacon, they’ll dust everyone! how does she not see that? she’s smart.

how does all that armor and helmets not protect them from hand to hand combat? like... if anything that armor should protect from gut punches.

fuck you two psychopaths. 

gordon’s weird head bulge weirds me out. they couldn’t just put wraps or something? why’d they have to make it look like badly textured ski goggles?

phil. PHIL. you can’t lead heavily armored and armed soldiers with a tiny ass vest and pistol. let them go first.

protip: when trying to get your child to join you, don’t start sounding like darth vader and luke skywalker.

the door is still OPEN. can’t he just walk out?

mack would be a great guy to have in the zombie apocalypse. CHOP IT OFF

why does may even HAVE a little red bikini in her locker?

Aww Cal... “you’re better than I imagined... and I imagined you perfect. You’re way more interesting than that.”

‘she drowned when her lungs filled up with blood’ easy there emo-boy.

heh fish oil supplements that will change your life.

platonic fitzsimmons >>>> romantic fitzsimmons.

oh right... this is when... yeah that happens. may’s afk, jemma’s GONE. phil’s got one hand. bobbi’s quitting. it’s a fucked up situation.