#big-bad-ulf

[lagosbratzdoll]

Ryan did a bunch of interviews recently that I've been reading and I have some thoughts. You can find the interviews here and here.

There's a lot of terrible stuff in it but I don't have the time or inclination to bother with all that. I'm going to be focusing on two things he said in the interviews.

Starting with this from the House of the Dragon podcast which I've linked above.

In it, Ryan talks about why he decided to contrast the lives of Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White with the lives of the privileged Targaryens. It was fascinating to get a peek into his head.

Ryan reads a rapist and thinks "this is a person worth deepening. We need an in-depth exploration of what goes on in this rapists head. We need the audience to sympathise with them."

Which wouldn't be so bad on its face, there's always room to analyse a fictional rapist. The problem is that he then reads about a little Black girl who raised herself on a tiny island rising up to become a dragon rider on her own merit. A little girl whose Valyrian heritage is constantly debated and discounted. He reads that and decides that there's nothing worth exploring there. Her story isn't unique. She isn't unique. In fact, she's so common that while we adapt and humanise not one but two rapists, we're going to erase one Black girl and turn the other into everyone's punching bag.

Then I read his puff piece from Big Think.

This is a fascinating glimpse into his thought process. I read this and Ryan Condal's baffling decisions began to make a little more sense.

By his own admission, Ryan's ideal show is one where Black women are erased, flattened and ignored. He claims to write powerful women but we've not seen hide or hair of these women. In Ryan's show, nothing is ever deliberate and the women are largely passive participants in their own lives.

In Ryan's ideal show there's no room for a little black girl to claim a dragon with nothing but faith and her wits. In Ryan's ideal show we need all of the rapist men but the Black women are interchangeable AND replaceable.

In Ryan's ideal world, it is too much to ask that a Black girl be adored, have songs written about her and knights joust for her favour. In Ryan's ideal show, Black people aren't fully developed characters, they're props that he forgets about for episodes on end.

And that is why the show will continue to drop in ratings. When I saw the Nielsen numbers for the premiere, I laughed until I cried. The biggest streaming day ever for Max and they couldn't beat The Boys or Your Honour. The most recent numbers are even funnier.

But don't worry gang, House of the Dragon is doing great. It's now number three. It finally beat a four year old show! Everything is fine.

[kazz-brekker]

hotd episode 3 thoughts:

big fan of that smash cut from the blackwood vs. bracken blustering to the battlefield covered in corpses, just the kind of escalation i was hoping to see this season

rhaenys i love you but you have GOT to acknowledge that a peaceful path is not going to work as this point and you're making rhaenyra look bad by persuading her there might not be war

criston cole is so bad at being hand compared to otto tower, my god, the energy in that small council room was like a group project when the sole person holding it together isn't there anymore

i'm continuing to really like the dynamic between rhaenyra and mysaria, it just adds a lot of interesting depth to both of their characters

don't worry seasmoke your time is coming just be patient buddy

harrenhal is so goth! and desolate! and ruined! and damp! just as i hoped!!!

ser simon strong you're the only man i respect at harrenhal. really love his deadpan sense of humor and unwillingness to put up with daemon's dramatics, this is going to be a fun dynamic

why do i get the feeling that every hightower who sees alicent and criston standing next to each other immediately knows they're fucking lol

never thought i would feel bad for criston again but i would not want gwayne as my coworker on a military campaign, he does NOT seem cut out for this

criston is terrible but he had really nice hair so i can't believe he got a haircut :(

rhaenyra. girl. you have to made a decision about this war. i'm begging you know. a dragon ate your son! do something about it!!

rhaena having dialogue! rhaena having a character and something to do! rhaena and baela having a scene together where they both talk! i have dreamed of these days and now they're finally here!

i like how this season has carefully allotted 1 scene per episode of larys sneaking around and being like "sooooo i heard this thing you might want to know…" evil adviser representation!

ulf. my guy. if it's genuinely dangerous to be a dragonseed in king's landing you should maybe not be bragging about it to every random guy in a tavern you meet.

having a really hard time imagining aegon and aemond being united and killing people on their dragons together like the greens want them to after that last scene with them, i'm pretty sure i could see aemond trying to kill his brother via telepathy during it

baela chasing criston and gwayne on dragonback was soooo good honey i am so proud of you keep up the good work

begrudgingly awarding criston one "actually good at his job" point for noticing moondancer in the sky

audibly yelped "MILLY ALCOCK?!?!" when she turned up in daemon's dream sequence, i was NOT expecting to see her this season

alys rivers standing around creepily and saying ominous things to daemon…again, i have dreamed of this day for several years

i also REALLY was not expecting rhaenyra and alicent to share a scene together this season

by the end of the episode i was definitely getting sick of rhaenyra's waffling about her decisions but i'm glad that her conversation seems to have hardened her and she's about to commit to the war for real, it's about time

it could have been interesting if rhaenyra and alicent never communicated about the "aegon's dream" prophecy mishap but emma d'arcy's acting when rhaenyra thought viserys had truly discarded her in favor of aegon really got to me and i was on the edge of my seat hoping she would realize the truth

at this point i am really ready for some proper dragon carnage so i'm very happy that next week seems to be delivering on that :)

[littleandless]

MY THOUGHTS ON SEASON 2 EPISODE 6: “SMALLFOLK”

viserys being the focus of daemon’s visions this episode was sooooo delectable. say what you will about daemon being power-hungry and craving glory, but he has sought his big brother’s love & approval most of all. when rhaenyra said that she, with her father’s adoration, made daemon whole, boy was that so fucking true. daemon had some affection for and attraction to her of course, but she was mostly an extension of her father, same as all other females in a patriarchal system. at least until they come under the guardianship of a husband.

it’s sad that alicent was fired from the small council, but i was expecting it to happen a lot sooner tbh.

alicent had so many Mother moments this episode. caressing aemond’s face, pleading with him on an emotional level to give up this hardened persona that hides his childhood wounds. sitting vigil at aegon’s bedside. protecting helaena bodily. inquiring about daeron, the one she had to send away. openly questioning whether it was the environment or her own parenting that caused her eldest sons to go astray, and seeking some level of comfort or validation from her brother, the only relative she doesn’t have a complete wreck of a bond with.

ser steffon darklyn became a bit too confident and then BOOM dragonfire. rest in peace, king.

also…why are we pretending that no one else could possibly be persuaded to attempt claiming a dragon? so many people would jump at the opportunity, let’s be real. tell everyone you’re holding auditions for the role of dragonrider and they will be on your doorstep in 2 seconds.

“YOU TOAD” aemond i kind of love you. also i’m glad he’s not as susceptible to larys’ manipulation. and now that he’s called otto back as hand, maybe cole will get a dressing down as well.

we all knew, or at least suspected, that nettles was cut from the show. you may also have heard that rhaena would take on her storyline instead. and i guess it’s true! i mean, i’m happy for rhaena. she deserves something beyond familial duty to occupy her time. she’s tried and failed to claim a dragon, and now she will finally find success. i just wonder how it will affect the plot in regards to babies joffrey, aegon, and viserys.

also we got to see a baby dragon! i forget, have we seen any others in hotd? i can only recall drogon, viserion, and rhaegal in the main series.

QUEEN RHAENYRA SLAPPING OLD MEN AND KISSING WOMEN!!!! WE USED TO PRAY FOR TIMES LIKE THIS

ulf, regardless of whether he’s actually baelor’s bastard, was cast so well. i can totally see the resemblance…or maybe it’s just the stupid half up-half down hairdo that daemon & viserys love so damn much.

i appreciate the larys/aegon heart-to-heart, even if it was mostly for personal gain, because there’s a whole wad of truth behind his words. it’s a bond they now share.

disability in westeros is such a loaded topic, and one that comes up often in grrm’s work. i’m not expecting anything groundbreaking but it is cool to see it acknowledged.

seasmoke chasing down addam was lowkey funny. did he do that in fire & blood? i can’t remember. that damn dragon circled back like three times to terrorize some random hunk and i’m all for it.

also it never occurred to me that alyn was bald on purpose. i thought he was just middle-aged😭 but yeah the white hair makes sense.

the food boats were a great PR move. it’s too bad about hugh punching that guy though. i’d be so pissed if i ran through an entire mob for some carrots and lettuce and then got robbed.

so far we’ve got dyana & sylvie involved in team black’s schemes. gaemon palehair when???? and with ulf and hugh soon joining the fold, we’re getting set up for rhaenyra’s takeover woohoo

but we’re also getting closer to the end😔🫡

[tangledbea]

this question's been eating me up for a while but is Zhan Tiri aka the big bad of TTS kinda lame? I can't really put it into words but everything from the design to her motivations to her plans just feels flat to me. Not to mention the retcon making her disciples being a few millennia old which... do the writers not get how long that is and how that massively affects the human psyche (yes this is a gothel thing). Idk I feel like there could've been a better villain than this British ghost girl??

Zhan Tiri was far more interesting when she was a demon made up of sharp angles locked in another realm. She was so much more menacing, so much more threatening. Ancient eldritch beings looming in the shadows with a millennia-old grudge against our protagonist and their homeland just hits completely different.

Do you know what I theorized during seasons one and two before we met her (then, him)? I theorized that the blizzard he sent/transformed into and moved through Corona was meant to destroy the Sundrop flower. I theorized that the Sundrop was the only thing that could truly stop him for good. I theorized that, by hypnotizing the Sundrop itself into pledging her allegiance to him ("Painter's Block"), he would gain some measure of control over Rapunzel (and also Lance, Feldspar, Ulf and Friedeborg). I theorized that he wanted to drain her, specifically ("Rapunzeltopia"), because she could stop him when no one else could.

If I had to wager a guess, I'd say that they didn't really know what they wanted to do with ZT from the beginning, either (just like the Brotherhood), which is why it was so easy to change her design and designated gender into the little goth girl. For a joke, they could literally upturn the direction of the Big Bad, because it wasn't set in stone.

[isara-art]

The writers have a chance to fix at least one thing in the third season, by adding Nettles, she is canon black/brown character in the story!

She is brave, strong, smart, she is proof that non Targ can tame a dragon and she will play a big role in the dance.

I was waiting for her appearance, she is indeed an interesting character to me more than Ulf and Hugh.

By combining her with Rhaena it's stupidest thing to happen, it will strip the impact of the other characters and the events, they didn't want to make Rhaenyra nor Daemon bad and that's shows how biased they are.

Also how fast Rhaena is gonna tame Sheepstealer?? In the book Nettles took her time to tame it by bringing sheeps to the dragon, while at the finale Rhaena only found it! All this Dragonseeds taming the dragons was rush and stupid.

[halfmoth-halfman]

About the scene you just talked about:

I actually saw it (or interpretated it) as less problematic because Samara was part of Farahs group and therefore a freedom fighter, then she was forced to do you know what by Makarov. Makarov used not only the negative stereotypes that exist against middle eastern people, but also the fact that Farahs group is one of his main enemies in Urzikstan and this is where I think that COD actually did a good job i guess? Because stuff like this happens, especially in these times of the war in gaza, middle eastern (also mainly muslim people, but idk if Samara is explicitly muslim) people have it harder to fight against stereotypes and media are quick to blame them and use these stereotypes (which was also shown in mw3 with the news thing). Idk if it was their intention or if I just optimistically interpretated it like that, but I thought the scene was like a depiction of what happens in real life, short: middle eastern people being negatively used to push an agenda which is easy because of the existing stereotypes

I hope i was able to explain it well and not offend anyone. I would love to hear more opinions on this :)

(there are spoilers below)

i can understand that they may be trying to emulate real life, but personally i think regardless of samara's ties to farah and her being a former ulf soldier, they should've chosen a different way to go about the mission. yes, it could be understandable for makarov to want to frame farah and urzikstan, and that it could be playing off of real stereotypes and experiences that middle eastern people go through, but i don't think activision put that much thought into it and i don't think they care.

the original no russian mission involved makarov framing america despite the 141 (also his enemies) not being american, but activision chose to change that to specifically frame the middle eastern country for terrorism (mirroring a 9/11 style event) and kept that in during a time when there is actual genocide happening in palestine and islamophobia is growing back to a post-9/11 high in the us, the country they're based in.

and honestly, the change really cheapens makarov's character for me. he's supposed to be some big, menacing villain who is at the forefront of his movement and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goal, and in the og games we see that in the way he carries out the no russian mission himself. in this game, he does what? threatens samara then jumps out of a plane and that's it? the worst he does is give a speech explaining why he's doing it - it's his men that do most of the work forcing her to carry out the hijacking.

he's also supposed to be the 141's big bad, their mortal nemesis, but there's more emphasis on the way he and konni group terrorize and kill farah's friends and soldiers - dena and samara, in particular - than when he shot soap, a main character, and i think that's very telling.

if it were another gaming company that put more thought into their plot and considered the nuance of their storylines, maybe i could be convinced it was well intentioned, but activision makes military games. these game are meant to be military propaganda above all else, so i'm not willing to give them that kind of grace. i think it was a deliberate choice for an american company to not have their villain frame america like in the original game and instead fall back onto the same, tired "let's frame the middle eastern people as terrorists storyline" that's in every pro-military game and movie, during a time when there is a humanitarian crisis happening in palestine.

[wannabecatwriter]

Young Paparazzi: Hi, are you a friend of Renee? Can we get a picture?

Lexi: Sure thing.

Lexi: Hmm, I might not be famous yet, but I do have this guy's attention. And they do say there's no such thing as bad publicity, right?

Bouncer: I told you already, scram.

Lexi: Big talk for someone with a bowlcut.

Bouncer: Hey!

Yeah, friendship with Ulf is probably not the best influence on Lexi, but it's certainly getting her somewhere...

[themcomicsofficial]

Transformers BotBots Season 2

S2 EP 3

"Friends from Another place..."

Llandra, the Mini-Con carries an unconscious Kikmee with a stab wound on her right bottom torso and lays her down on the ground as she pulls a spray that will help her heal the wound.

"Starstrike, I need to help out these two out before their injures become fatal..." Llandra commanded to her partner.

"Got it..." Star Strike responded while taking care of Burgertron and Bonz-Eye's injuries.

Ulf and Clogstopper walk to the scene.

"W-who are you? What happened to our friends??? Why are they injured??"

"There's no time to explain..."Llandra stood up as she ran to their friend's aid.

Dimlit walks up to Star Strike taking care of Bonz-Eye's injures with top-tier Cybertronian pain medicine.

"Excuse me, sir I just want to tell you--are my friends are gonna be alright?" Dimlit nervously said to Star Strike.

"Well, your friends have possible some minor injuries many bruises and dents on their bodies I'm treating them to these medical equipment from the Rescue Bots--okay that's all I can to heal up these little guys."

"That's self-explanatory..." Clogstopper said

"Meaning?" Star Strike raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you're small but a little bit taller then us..." Clogstopper.

"Actually me and Llandra are actually Mini-Cons..."

"Mini-Cons?" Dimlit responded confusingly.

"Let me explain, we are a race of helpful robots or "small partners" in Cybertron we often help out with big bots in missions to fight off bad guys or intergalactic threats!" Llandra said explaining their appearance.

"Cyber-what now?" Dimlit titled his head in confusion.

"Cybertron? Our home planet?" Llandra explained

"Nope, never heard of it..." Clogstopper said

"How can you not heard of it? While you look like something from our planet??" Star Strike.

"I'm sorry, sir I just don't know what's this "Cybertron" I'm worried about my friends over there...Are they going to be alright?" Dimlit said with a scared and worried look.

Llandra looks at the injured three and back at Dimlit.

"Llandra..." Star Strike places an arm over her.

"You take care of them...I'll help out the others out." Star Strike said with sympathy in his voice.

Llandra nods as she walks over to them.

End of the Mall.

Mercenary walks by himself minding his own business in a careless manner--that's is what he heard a flipping sound, something from a bird.

"Ah, didn't expect you to be here..." Mercenary said as Laserbeak appears behind him.

"Laserbeak, been a while...So, how's life in Soundwave's chest?" Mercenary laughs at Laserbeak...

"You were always the sarcastic one--it's quite embarrassing even for yourself." Laserbeak walks toward him with a narrow look.

"C'mon now, I'm trying to have a laugh..." Mercenary said trying to be funny.

As he looks around the other minions.

"Ravage! How's it hanging? Need to find a yarn ball to play on?" Mercenary said to the panther as it growls in response.

"Ratbat, my pal! Rumble, Frenzy!" Mercenary said to his "old friends"

"So? What brings you here?"

"Megatron, sent us here after receiving a signal--the signal from here..." Laserbeak responded...

"OH! Funny! I received a signal too!! Including my pals! So, were not the only ones!" Mercenary said trying to be funny.

"Now tell me, Laserbeak how are we; a couple of bad news bots are gonna handle this human-infested place they call a "Mall"

"Well, Mercenary since you foolishly intended to goof around instead of focusing on your assigned mission as your duty as a Decepticon which will make our master disappointed--"

Mercenary interrupts him.

"Oh please, the old man has a temper hotter than the junkheap in the Junk Planet! *laughs* "Bah Weep Gra Na Ninny Bong!"

Ravange growls at him for his immature behavior.

"Alright, alright cool your crankcase, putty cat..." Mercenary said.

"Thank you, Ravage...Now, we're all here for reason since we heard that signal from here--I have plan to try to overrule this place...I know why..."

"Okay then, polly...Show me." Mercenary said trying to be funny again.

"We'll try to expand an army of Cybertron's most wanted criminals to hunt down these Earth-based species then...we'll get these bots onto being new recruitments for Megatron's new army." Lasberbeak explaining the plan.

"Hey, uh...sorry to interrupt but how are we going to get an army of small little freaks like me?" Mercenary said.

"You said you caught the signal, right?" Laserbeak responded

"Yeah?"

All over the mall a bunch of Micro-Masters pop out of corners, ceilings holding sharp weapons, destructive tools, and powerful looking ones appear making Mercenary laugh evilly.

"YEAH! NOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!!! WE GOT SOME SCRAPLETS TO EXTERMINATE!! HUNT THEM DOWN, MAKE SURE THERE'S NO DROP OF ENERGON LEFT!!"

Mercenary transforms to his jet form as the other run out to different places of the mall to hunt down each and every BotBot.

Lost & Found

Burgertron opens his eyes as he wakes up in his cubby.

"Huh? What?--ow..." Burgertron stood up, feeling pain his torso

"Kikmee, Bonz-Eye? W-where are you?"

"Down here..." Kikmee's dry voice said.

"Kikmee?"

"Hey there, Burgertron...Some fight we had, huh?"

"Kikmee? What's going on here? WHY DOES EVERYTHING HURT??" Burgertron freaked out

"Oh, ya know we had a big huge fight with some big bots...*nervous chuckle* and got our behinds kicked..." Kikmee dryly respond.

"There was a fight? I don't even--"

Burgertron flinched by a memory from last night who Mercenary beaten him up mercilessly as he throw him up from the basement

"Oh wait! I remember now! It was this Bot with spikes on his back that beated the scrap out of us! Oh man!! If I find that bot I am gonna--OH! ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Burgertron held on his torso in pain.

"Yeah...try not to stand up, alright?" Kikmee said to Burgertron

"I get that...thanks, where's Bonz-Eye?" Burgertron looked around for his planty, samurai friend.

Burgertron looks at Bonz-Eye sitting down from her cubby with bruises and dents on her back, leaves messed up.

"Oh! Hey there Bonz-Eye! You alright?"

Bonz-Eye says nothing...

"So--uh you wanna have fun sledding down on the ice cream parlor? There's some frozen sherbet adding to the menu--

"STOP" Bonz-Eye interrupted him

"We could've had him, we've could've stopped him..." Bonz-Eye says while clutching the side of her cubby in anger.

"Bonz-Eye, you trying to save me--"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT." Bonz-Eye interrupted in anger.

"He hurt you. It's my fault I didn't search for you on time! Now, look at us!! Damaged, crippled, and dented!! How did this happen? WHY it did to happen..." Bonz-Eye looks back with her bruised up face and split lip and black eye.

"Bonz-Eye..." Kikmee said calmly

"I'm sorry, I lost my temper there...It's just Burgertron and I are injured including you, Kikmee...I don't know where Lady Macaron went on that event...She could've helped us..." Bonz-Eye somberly said.

Burgertron started to think for himself before he started to speak.

"Bonz-Eye...Look I know we tried our best to save Kikmee but at least we survived...I mean yeah, we got our butts kicked...That's not the point! We save Kikmee! Look, she's right here! The point is we're still here!! We may broke the sacred rule of the mall a year ago! We tried our hardest to make up and look at where we are! We're an official squad now! So, it's no time to give up!" Burgertron encouraged her as she lifts her head up.

"Right...I may have no squad...but I still you guys!"

Burgertron, Kikmee respond with a hug.

"OW, OW HURTING, HURTING!!"

"ARRGH, WHY DID WE DO THAT??"

"OKAY, OKAY BIG MISTAKE..."

The three said in pain due to their injuries.

The Mall, South wing

Lolly Licks and Lady Macaron are walking around talking to each other.

"Like, where were you last night? Did you like disappear or something?" Lolly Licks said in her vally girl accent.

"Oh! I was just hanging out with--Bonz-Eye! For some girl-talk!" Lady Macaron sweated in response.

Lolly Lick raised in eyebrow from her one-eye.

"Okay...Bonz-Eye asked me to help find her friend, okay? This or that okay let's see Frosteratu's theatre act!" Lady Macaron said speedly

"Like, hold it! You're hiding somethin' aren't ya?" Lolly Licks said to a cautious Lady Macaron.

"Hiding something? I'm not hiding something? What makes you say that?" Lady Macaron talked back

"Look, I know you and Bonz-Eye are deepest friends and at that but like are you keeping me from something that you two don't want to show me?" Lolly Licks questioned Lady Macaron's odd behavior

"Well, me and Bonz-Eye are indeed friends and--um she is skilled fighter and um..." Lady Macaron goes red as she sweats.

Lolly Licks smirks at Lady Macaron.

"Are telling me you have a--"

"CRUSHED CANS!! Yes! I completed my crushed cans collection! *tastes it* Mmm...warm cherry soda!" Clogstopper said.

"Oh...it's the Lost Bots..." Lolly Licks said

"Yeah...don't worry about him anyway we were just--"

Dimlit's voice distorts as Lolly Licks sees Star Strike in her view as she flusters over him.

"Like, Dimlit who's is that robot hunk?" Lolly Licks swoons over his appearance.

"Star Strike, Mini-Con, special agent of Cybertron I'm here to take aid on this "Mall?"

"I don't don't care who are wanna come to our candy store?" Lolly Licks strokes his chin.

"Uh..."

"This is uncomfortable..." Dimlit said

"Same..." Lady Macaron responded

"Uh,sorry ma'am I-I gotta continue on my mission, come on boys." Dimlit and Clogstopper followed while Star Strike continues his mission.

"Make sure to call me!" Lolly Licks wiggled good-bye with her fingers.

As the three continue to walk around the Mall.

"So Mr. Star Strike, sir..." Dimlit said while Star Strike laughed

"Please call me Star Strike."

"Oh okay! Well my name is Dimlit and I am a flashlight and I am part of a group called the Lost Bots!"

"Lost--Bots?"

"Yeah!! It's a cool name!"

"How cool?"

Clogstopper starred into space

'What are we talking about?"

"Is there something wrong with him?" Star Strike asked Dimlit

"Oh--he's not that--bright..." Dimlit answered

"Really?"

"He taught Christmas Lights were candy..."

"HEY!! THEY LOOKED CHERRY FLAVORED!!" Clogstopper responded offended

"Okay..." Star Strike responded awkwardly.

As they walk on the mall they hear a jet engine roaring.

"What's that?" Dimlit questioned

As the jet engine sound grows louder a purple, dark jet comes out of a corner of the top right of the mall.

"It's that a toy plane? Cause I'm looking for more in my old toy collection!!" Clogstopper happily said

"How much collections do you have??" Dimlit questioned him

"Maybe thirty?"

Dimlit gives him a unimpressed look.

The jet swoops down to them as it unloads missiles from its bottom.

"Run..." Star Strike said

"What?" Dimlit said

The jet fire the missiles to them as Star Strike grabs Dimlit and Clogstopper out of the explosions as the jet swoops up and rotates back as it transforms to figure as he grabs Star Strike and slams him to a top bit of a pillar.

"FINALLY, YOU'RE MINE NOW!!" He said.

Star Strike kicks him with his two legs as he jumps on the ground as the jet Micro-Master changes his right hand to a sharp sword to fight Star Strike, trying to stab him.

Star Strike unleashes two swords as he spins one and another as he fights the bot.

"I like your schtick, name?"

"Air-Raid, top-tier assassin..."

"Assassin, eh? Not tonight pal!!"

Star Strike spins his swords around while clashing with Air-Raid with his axe and arm-sword in a classic, swordsmen style.

"Whoa! Look how fast he is!" Dimlit said with surprised look on his moves.

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho-hoa! He is a hunk!!! Stronger than Spud Muffin!" Clogstopper said while seeing his impressive moves.

As they continue with their fight. Air-Raid unleash a missile launcher from his top wrist as the missiles launch out of it. Star Strike luckily deflects them as they explode left and right.

"Impressive. TRY DODGING THIS!"

Air-Riad unloads missiles from his shoulders as they launch toward them. Star Strike breathes in as everything slow downs in his point of view he deflects the missiles, slicing them in half, deflecting one by one. As he swipes away the final one. A giant explosion appears behind him.

"Done yet?"

Air-Raid grunts in annoyance and anger as he eyes Dimlit and Clogstopper, he smiles sinisterly he flying over to one of them he grabs Dimlit by the neck tightly making him grunt in pain.

"NO!--"

"One move, I'll snap this scraplet with my bare hand!" Air-Raid threatening Star Strike as he stops at his place as he can't move a step without Air-Raid harming Dimlit.

"That's what I thought, now stay down!!" Air-Raid says while turning to Dimlit.

"YOU are going to have a meeting with Megatron!!"

"STAR STRIKE, STAR STRIKE PLEASE!! DO SOMETHING!!" Dimlit yelled in fear while Star Strike stood like a statue due to Air-Raid's warning...

"PLEASE, PLEASE, STAR STRIKE, PLEASE, HELP ME, HELP ME, HELP ME, HELP ME, IT HURTS, MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!! JUST MAKE IT STOP!!" Dimlit scurries in fear as something starts to happen...lightning starts to come out of Dimlit's body.

"W-what? WHAT THE FRAG??!!" Air Raid yells as she gets electrocuted from Dimlit's body.

Star Strike finds a perfect spot as he rushes toward him as he pulls back his two swords as he makes a perfect slash on Air-Raid, slicing off his head, chest off his torso as he falls on the ground, defeating him as Star Strike sees an unconscious Dimlit falling down and he catches him.

"How did he do that??"

TO BE CONTINUED

Transformers is owned by Hasbro and Takara Tomy.

[sweetscarlettangel]

HotD Season 2 Episode 2 Live Watch Thoughts

King’s Landing

Ok so Alicent blames herself

Arbon is distraught

And we're supposed to know who Ironrod is 

Well Otto's idea isn’t bad but it’s very cold hearted

Helaena holding her baby’s blanket 😭 

It’s sad how the first time she speaks coherently on the show it's after her son's death

Here comes Larys with his torture devices

He was a baby 😢 

Honestly Aegon should’ve waited a bit…to see if they got more info. BUT it’s Aegon and he’a not known for impulse control so what can we expect?

Poor Helaena, she's so obviously uncomfortable and having a panic attack

This would’ve been a good moment for Dreamfyre to appear and highlight how Helaena is also a dragon rider 

Dragonstone

Rhaenyra is so clueless sadly

Obviously it's Ser Alfred already antagonizing Rhaenyra…at least a bit of foreshadowing for the future 

And the start of the Daemyra breakdown

I think rn it's important to remmeber it’s only been a few days since the choking incident (and not two years)

And show!Daemon's thoughts on his brother are revealed

At least he’s clinging to the line of it being a mistake

Well, first of all, in the book Mondancer wasn’t big enough to ride at the beginning of the Dance. And, Rhaenyra is showing herself as a bad stepmother — she won’t allow Jace to patrol KL when he’s older and a more experienced dragon rider, but will allow Baela to do so when at this point she’s a more attractive hostage to take after B&C and the confession of Daemon having arranged it.

King’s Landing

The dysfunctionality of Helaegon's marriage. These are 2 people who grew up together, who were forced to marry and have children when they were children themselves. Two people so linked together but who can’t communicate. The tragedy of it all

Dragonstone

Little Aegon and Viserys! Joffrey should’ve been in this scene tho

King’s Landing

Well, Alicent and Criston will both blame themselves

So Erryk vs Arryk is on this episode? Thought it was on the next one

Criston’s delulu — even if the plan worked, Rhaenyra still has 4 sons (one old enough to marry!) and an unhinged husband who would avenge her

Dragonstone

Jace and Baela ❤️ 

"Sometimes I think I hate him" said by Baela, the child of Daemon who was most like him. Baela probably thinks on how they’re alike and how she will have to work to avoid being like him

Jace talking about both his fathers…broke my heart

King’s Landing

Ok, so Aemond in a pleasure house

Being regretful won’t bring Luke back to life or erase the fact that your actions were one of the catalysts of the war

Oh, so Hugh has a sick child — at least we're getting some character development. Hope we see Ulf soon and meet Addam (now that we met Alyn in Ep1). But I thought Hugh was a blacksmith working on DS

Driftmark

Say their names and they shall appear! Alyn and Addam!

I hope we also see Marilda (at least in a flashback if they killed her off). If not, she should be mentioned at least

Dragonstone

Seems like they’re starting to build up Mysaria’s arc

Rhaenyra, the throne wasn’t your birth right. It was something your father promised you, but he never worked to strengthen your position and you barely did so

I hope they won’t have the Rhaenyra/Mysaria interactions be all about Daemon

Honestly, they should have given Mysaria's actress a silver wig. It would’ve helped with Rhaenyra's paranoia later on — was she merely a replacement for Mysaria? Was Daemon still seeing her?

Driftmark

Guess that’s Seasmoke

Foreshadowing for the claiming, I guess

King’s Landing

Could that be Ulf?

Did they seriously hang all of the ratcatchers?

The poor doggo mourning his owner

At least it was Aegon’s decision and not the council’s

Well, Otto at least finally shows some emotion 

Otto must be missing Viserys

Oh, Aegon really believed Alicent’s lies

Tom’s acting = chef’s kiss

Dragonstone

From the silhouette, I thought Ser Harrold was standing with Rhaenyra (hope we’ll see him again)

Will Mysaria prove herself as an ally?

Honestly in both KL and DS, they should’ve found a way to distinguish the twins - a tattoo, a scar, a password, something!

This! This is how B&C should’ve been filmed. The tension! Not knowing what will happen, not being sure which twin is which

This in a Elinda Massey appreciation account…loyalty until the end

Instead of suicide, Erryk should’ve also died in the battle

King’s Landing

Daeron mention!

Ok, Otto can be added to the list of delusional characters

Aegon mourning Jaehaerys 😭 

Are we going to end every episode with an Alicole sex scene?

[thephantomcasebook]

I love the Daeron Dayne theory!

Re: And thus all of Team Green has to be bad guys in some way so that people can root for "Girl Bosses" and "People of Color" ... which as someone who is not white, I find that shit more racist than anything else.

I personally also can't wait for the optics of good bastards (the Hulls) played by black actors who stay true and loyal to team black, and evil bastards (The Two Betrayers) played by white actors who go comedic relief warlord, as well as, white girl (Jaehaera) gets murked for black 9yo beauty pageant LMFAO. Just a deeply unserious and disingenuous show. Will only be peeping the rest for the amazing performance of the team green actors tbh.

I also really like Steve Toussaint as Corlys but the show seems to not care for him beyond putting him in the role of Rhaenyra's wise wizard which comes with its own racist implications. He's a shrewd politician himself who was ready to pimp out his daughter but like everything else team black it's neither highlighted nor problematized as much as Otto/Alicent was. There's no way they're for real about that Seasnake show 😂

You joke, but I'm sure, at least before GRRM took over writing duty for Season 2, that was exactly what Spotchnik, Hess, and HBO Corporate had in mind for future seasons.

I mean it's now basically a well known fact that they tried to write Daeron out of the show, because, they didn't want Alicent or the Greens to have a heroic and moral son that is on par with Jon Snow and Robb Stark. GRRM had to fight (And fire a showrunner) to get him on the show, because, the people in Season 1 were so married to their political bullshit that they though Daeron's mere existence would spoil their racist algebra of "Team Black x Diversity + Pogressive Values = Good Guys! Team Green x White people + Catholic/Conservative Values = Bad Guys! Even in the parlance of GRRM's World that is not how things work.

Ugh, don't get me started on the Dragonseed Riders. I wish people would stop perpetuating that, somehow, they're all badasses. They fought like one battle - "The Battle of the Gullet" - in which both Aemond and Daeron were far from home. Then, they all pissed themselves when Rhaenyra tried to send them at Daeron. They literally threatened to quit, because, they were scared of Daeron and Tessarion. At Tumblestone, Hammer and Ulf shit their pants at the sight of Daeron in battle and switched sides so they wouldn't have to fight him. The only Dragonseed Rider who actually fought another Dragon was Adam Hull ... and he and Seasmoke got their asses kicked by Daeron and Tessarion - and yes, Daeron was piloting Tessarion in that battle, anyone who actually believes the maester about Tessarion doing all that shit on her own ... I got a bridge to sell you.

The only thing I looked forward too is Daeron and Hugh Hammer's rivalry. Cause Daeron really shows who he is by being Alpha as fuck going up against this jacked roid-rage rapist murderer on the biggest dragon in the world and sitting Hammer's dumb ass down every time they mix it up. I just love that the most powerful and dangerous Dragon Rider in the war is afraid of a 17 year old master swordsman who denies the Iron Throne twice and just wants his mommy back.

I mean if you polled any of the fans in 2018 everyone was saying that Daeron or Criston was their favorite character in "the Dance". It's revisionist history to say that Daemon or Corlys were popular when the book came out. I mean Daemon was GRRM's favorite and he became popular when Matt Smith took over the role - and he's damn good - but I'd argue that no one was that big a Daemon fan till Smith got cast. Daemon was a piece of shit who abandons his wife and young children to run off with an underage girl.

I do like Steve Toussaint a lot. I especially love that he and the actress who play Rhaenys are big fans of GOT and I love them together on the press tour. To be honest with you, I knew all the way back in 2018 that they were probably gonna race swap the Velaryons, because, even in the book House Velaryon stank of "Marketability" - You mean the House that is only ever mentioned in passing in ASoIaF and plays no bigger role except getting wiped out at the "Battle of Blackwater"? It had the stench of HBO on it from the beginning. So when they announced Toussaint as the Sea Snake, I wasn't mad nor surprised cause Corlys felt like a Corporate character from the inception.

I also agree with you that it bothers me a whole lot that somehow Corlys got a pass for doing the exact same thing to his own - much younger - daughter as Otto did and for the exact same reason. Except that I think it's much worse. On some level, I think Otto knew what he was doing was wrong and at least he never justified his bullshit with Alicent. Corlys not only did the same thing, but he was entitled when he did it. He didn't give a shit, not about Viserys or Laena. At least Otto eased Alicent and Viserys together and fostered a friendship. Corlys was just "You're gonna get Funky with Strawberry Shortcake and you're gonna like it!" like she wasn't even his daughter.

[mejcinta]

since Hugh Hammer and Ulf White are now confirmed, and both of them from KL, and around same age as Daemon and Viserys, one of them probably gonna end up as bastards of Baelon, Aemon or even Jaehaerys

I heard rumors that Hugh will be Daemon's bastard brother and that there will be some bad blood between them.

It could totally make sense seeing as he later defects to the Greens. I think the writers would be adding more dimension to his swaying loyalty then, not just "ooooh, I'm a big man scared of a baby riding a magnificent blue dragon".

But Hugh will always be a big bitch to me, regardless of the writers changing his motivations and what not.

[xmind-palacex]

Lier

Lier

Pants on fire

Hanging from a telephone wire

I can't trust a word you say

You lie through your teeth

Your narcissistic arrogance

Makes you sound immature

Lying

Lier

Ego to big

You're the fool in the room

Cause it's easy to see

The shit you spew out your mouth

I bet that after taste is real bad

When someone sees right through

When all those flimsy lies

And fake promises don't work

You're nothing but a lier

You dug your grave

You burned your bridges

Silly little lier

With their pants on fire

By Ulf (Me)

[jane-the-zombie]

@big-bad-ulf replied to your post “[pm] Something's happened I think you need to be aware of.”

[pm] You need to keep people away from the East End Docks. Something horrible washed up there, attacked me and my friend. There could be more of them.

[pm] Wow. So specific. Do you know what it was? 

Are you alright? And your friend?

[tasmyn-pearce]

big-bad-ulf replied to your post “What are your favorite things about White Crest?”

[pm] Thanks, though you must not have met many people in town yet if I still rank so highly.

[pm] I’ve met plenty of people so far. Nobody else has picked strawberries for me, especially not before ever meeting me. 

[ladytiaret]

@big-bad-ulf​ replied to your post “What do you like most about White Crest?”

Because of the smell? You get used to it, though I'd understand why someone wouldn't want to.

That’s one of the many reasons, yes. I don’t plan on getting used to it, however.

[divineluce]

@big-bad-ulf replied to your post “[pm] I thought it might make you happy to know I think I ate one of...”

[pm] I think so. It wasn't a human mime, even before it turned into a puddle of sauce and I wasn't exactly human either at the time, in case it wasn't clear. Convincing a mime to drink with you is impressive even for you.

[PM] I’m 99% certain none of the mimes in this goddamn town are human. Like, I’ve never met a normal fucking mime in my life. Oh Ulfric, oh you of little faith. I’m a lesbian Casanova, of course I convinced my mime to drink with me. Well, Casanova, minus the bit where he got arrested for being too good in bed.