#end of the episode. ras is talking to his master

[skrunklydoo]

extremely crack theory: ras’s master is just straight up wiggly

[malekthecat7]

(Spoilers!!)

so I watched Dr s2 p2 and....I'm NOT OKAY ANYONE.....A lot has really happened this season so I want to talk a little bit about what happened so I can feel better...

• I really liked Roby even though he was annoying sometimes but I really liked his relationship with Wyldfyre even though it was fast, I feel like they are Jaya 2 but I don't want anything bad to happen to them like what happened to Jay and Nya....

• The battle of Jaya was really great and sad, I feel sad for them, like imagine your husband/fiance(?) lost his memory and is now on your evil enemy's team....

• Sora and arin friendship ended....and I'm literally crying, all because of RAS...it's true he was a good villain during this series but WHY??? Their relationship was really unique and it was amazing and they really loved each other and then this TIGER comes and tells arin sora's secret....i feel bad for them

• Cole and Geo relationship is really beautiful

• I love the way Jordana was so sure Sora would save her, they really love each other

• I love how arin loves detective stories, my hc this arin and sora are detective Conan fans is canon!!! (not exactly)

• I really love Arin friend, I mean we haven't seen many friendships between humans and snakes in this series, and I love how he chose to fight honestly despite everything Ras said to him, and I love his conversation with Cole. so I love him

• Wyldfyre and arin moments are really cute

• I really like the idea of the tournament and it was better than season 4 (if only Skylor and Garmadon were there😔)

• Kai return was really amazing❤️‍🔥

• These lines: "And I will Always Love you" - "And I will Always hate you" | "How did you learn spinjitzu?" - "Not from you" I'm crying...

• The fights in episode 19-20 are really great

• The way Ras convinces Arin to join his team... I feel bad for him, everyone says Arin has become evil but they don't understand His reasons... he just wants his parents.

• I feel bad for Lloyd... he lost a lot in this tournament, his old friend, his powers, and his first student... the curse of the first student in the FSM family is real...he not really a good Master but he is a good dad for sora

That's all for today and my rating for the season is 9/10!

[taddymason]

You are THE ceo of Dragons Rising Jay. I'm interested in how you would have handled Jay in the Tournament of Sources. Like, how would you have liked it to go? Especially the (unfortunately) short fight with Nya.

(long rant with drs2 spoilers)

Ok, so, my biggest problem is that there is no buildup to go from "Agent Walker" to "Wolf Jay". If I weren't aware of the leaks and was watching the show solely with the information presented there I would be very confused about whatever is going on with Jay.

It's almost funny, all the exposition they do and then they jump right into the angst when there's barely any substance. There is no interaction from Jay with Ras, Jordana, or Cinder. We are not shown how he decides to escape the Administration, how Ras recruits or trains him, or how he kicks him off the team. And yes, there are people who will say that maybe they will make an episode focused on that in S3, but if the way to introduce him as an antagonist is to take him out after 3 minutes of screen time with pure exposition dialogues, it is quite messy and disappointing. There is nothing of this character that has been shown after his interaction with Bonzle, only the immediate jump to Jaya angst, they don't even show him regaining his powers or how the hell Ras found him.

So my two options to fix this are:

Introduce Jay defeating other elemental masters, even using shatterspin. Let that be the real shock for the ninjas. Show me at least how he interacts with his own team, how he fights dirty, his relationship and training with Ras, I don't need them to tell me his entire backstory, just let me see how these two talk so I can infer that Jay truly believes Ras was his teacher instead of throwing out that line carelessly. Make the ninjas worry because they know they will eventually have to fight Jay, maybe Nya tries to talk to him. AND THEN do the Jaya fight where Jay loses instead of having the fight be so early in the season. This way, I can at least take Jay seriously, and if I were a casual viewer, I can infer that he's a future threat, rather than a useless kicked puppy.

BUT

I recognize that this season has pacing problems due to handling so many plots and characters at the same time. Maybe there is no time to show all this and it is true.

But if there's no time to give Jay a proper introduction, then I'd rather he not participate in the tournament. It's that simple. I would have preferred that those 3 minutes of screen time be spent on him getting fed up with the Administration and deciding to escape. Maybe leave it there with him getting to meet Arin and Ras at the end of the season.

That would make me curious to know what his future is, it is a slower buildup, yes, but it makes more sense with everything they showed us with him as an agent.

In part 2, I didn't feel curiosity about him, just… pity. You have him talking shit, you have Ras showing him off as if it were his secret weapon, and then you have him like a kicked puppy who runs OFF SCREEN after only exposing how he went from the Administration to the tournament. Nothing else. They did him dirty.

Anyway, I don't want to flood my blog just complaining about the Evil Jay plotline in s2, so this will probably be the last post I make about this because I want to focus on others that I did LIKE about the season, like Arin's arc, which seems perfect to me.

So yeah, don't expect art or any content about DR Jay, the season took away all my interest in what they would do with his character, except- pity, I guess. At this point I've lost hope that they'll give Jay a good arc, so I'd rather accept it than continue complaining.

[theplatypusblue]

It’s dragons rising season 3 time teehee

Full spoilers for everything below

Definitely liked it!! Definitely looking forward to part 2 already lol that was a crazy way to end it off!!!!

Really really enjoyed Ras and Arin’s dynamic here!! Probably my favorite bit. They both really annoy each other it’s so fun haha. Also I feel like I’ve really gotten to know Ras more as a person this season, especially with the whole “the ninja didn’t save your family or mine” thing he said in that one episode. Man is clearly hurting and I feel for him 😔

And I wonder how Sora joining them will affect that dynamic….. hopefully more teasing Ras lmao. Even though he pushes back every now and then, there are points where you can tell Arin gets kinda pissed off but doesn’t really say anything, but Sora will definitely push back harder than Arin. She’s literally only there for her friend, she’s not onboard w/ Ras at all. It’ll be interesting to see for sure.

Was not expecting Frak and Sora to be a thing lmao though it definitely seems one sided on Frak’s part. I think the balance they did there was good; you can see why he might like her, but it’s not an overbearing part of his character or anything.

And of course a bunch of people who we thought were dead are not in fact dead lmao. Arins parents and Master Wu…. Although I’m a little skeptical in wu’s case. It could be that he has in fact died but just… didn’t go to the spectral lands for whatever reason. Y’know like, cuz he’s all weird and knowledgeable and wise and stuff and might know a way to avoid doing that. Maybe. Idk.

The smile on my face whenever they talked about oni and dragons and first realm lore…. Yesssss….. a lot of lore drops this season; I can see other ppl not being into it but I’m not gonna lie it’s totally my thing. Exposit to meeeeee pleaseee I like it thank you

So Thunderfang like… created the forbidden five? I think he might’ve said/implied something similar at the beginning of the season, but at the end there, when all the souls are being released, the fives’ souls just go back into his mouth or whatever. So like… their souls are his?? If he did make them, was that like, part of his plan to become a source dragon? Or something else???

Also I think it’s really funny that thunderfang just like. Eats ppls souls. Like nom nom.

On that note I can’t believe he just sucked up my boy Morro. At this point I can’t say for certain if he’s sucked up for good; given that this seems to be a set up for the next season part, I’m leaning towards no?? And like, in the next part the ninja will defeat thunderfang in the afterlife somehow(?) thereby releasing his soul once more??? Now that I’m thinking abt it how does this make any sense how is a soul eating other souls…… what………

Also that was the perfect direction to take Morro’s character like mwah. Awesome. I will admit seeing the leaked images of him had me a little worried cuz I thought he looked kinda weird (especially the glowy effect), but I think it looks better within the environment, and having everything actually moving onscreen. It’s fine. RIP hair streak tho you will be missed.

Also PIXALLLLL HIIIII she was so cool in every scene she was in it was great hiiiiii hey girl. Her redesign is also not that bad in my opinion; again, like, when you place her in an environment with lighting and stuff it’s way more flattering than the stiff render they use to sell toys. It is fine.

And I guess Jay is back too. Hooray or whatever idc (no no I liked what they did with him it was good. I’m joking. Mostly)

They didn’t introduce a lot of new, major characters in this one, and all the “new” characters we did get were at least characters we already knew about beforehand. Makes it feel like the writers have hit their stride a bit more with the world they’ve made, I guess? Even with all the stuff going on and jumping from scene to scene, we’re like, “solidly” in the world now. Like we’ve exited the “introducing all the new stuff” phase and entering “we’re here now” phase if that makes any sort of sense.

I think there might’ve been… slightly less attention given to the og ninja in this season part. Everyone on the main cast feels like they’re on more equal ground now, which might’ve contributed to that feeling I was just talking about as well.

But yeah that’s basically my thoughts for now!! Yayyy

[kadextra]

LETS GO rambling and analysis time now that I finished part one

MAJOR MAJOR spoilers under the cut

KAI

NOOOOO how is he gonna get out??? I will say him as the first to use rising dragon felt extremely deserved, I clapped and cheered during that fight scene. but now he’s stuck in the netherworld with the remaining forbidden five and that’s scary.

I teared up seeing Nya activate her rising dragon style in her grief for him. in the next part she’s gonna find out Jay forgot who she is too… so much heartache for Nya 😞

Really enjoyed Bonzle in these episodes as well, learning about her origin of being a spell, her journey of discovering herself as a person and finding a found family :’) at least she’s with Kai now….

and I’ve felt terrible for Lloyd every episode. him getting slammed by those visions constantly, unexpectedly, even in the middle of a fight which sends him spiraling, that’s so rough :((

It’s obvious they’re a representation of panic attacks/he has developed a canon panic disorder- like Lloyd literally says it at one point. they happen suddenly, give anxious fear about present and future events, he gets scared about having another one so he tries to cope by not sleeping (unhealthy coping method) and is taught later on to try accepting the feelings and ride it out which is a way irl therapists teach. good to see some more exploration of mental health in this show!! I’m glad the other characters are taking notice and trying to help too in the ways they can

…speaking of mental health, Arin has been interesting to watch. he’s reading to me more as an autistic-coded character lately (like that line about not understanding social cues???) and we’ve been seeing lots more negative self-esteem issues and insecurity from him in these episodes. him making mistakes during the training sessions, getting scolded, then closing himself off was hard to watch

How Sora decided to hide the truth about Arin’s “object spinjitzu” that saved the day at the very end so he would feel proud of himself for achieving something hurt my heart. she is such a sweet friend who wants her bestie to be happy and feel proud of himself but like- keeping secrets is gonna have consequences down the line. especially when we all know this is a touchy subject for Arin right now. it’s just painful to see how deeply Arin’s self-worth is tied to what he’s capable of doing, what he can and cannot do for the ninja team. he can’t use elemental power he can’t do spinjitzu properly, he’s already insecure so how would he feel to find out ppl are lying to his face so he can feel happier? he’s a string that’s gonna snap one day and judging from that beatdown moment with Lord Ras it’s not going to be pretty. I sense some sort of villain arc approaching for our son

(someone send these people to therapy they’re so traumatized)

In another news: Cole and Geo gay love! homosexuals! maybe a QPR! I don’t care whatever it is, it’s clear they love each other

And it certainly wouldn’t be a ninjago season without the destiny’s bounty crashing and burning <333 was also nice seeing Jay for 10 seconds again <3333

Now my current question is what’s the source dragon tournament thing Lord Ras’ master is talking about??? tournament?? 👀 it’s basically implied that master is a source dragon or a being that rivals their power

can’t wait for the next part to release agugugsjkhkdbqjdpgsiduggjneosgktnalfhdiqkwkfjfialwkg

[toptophat]

TopHat's thoughts on Dragons Rising

Now that I finally got a good look at Dragons Rising (seriously, I looked high and low for where I can access all episodes)

I have to say.....

IT WAS AMAZING!!!! I already liked it through the clips I watched and all of season 1, but season 2 was awesome!!!

The DR intro hit me like a freaking truck when I first heard it in season 1, but it definitely grew on me and now I love it!! (The iconic weekend whip will be missed tho)

I adore the new additions to the main cast!!! (I'll primarily talk about the main guys)

I love what they're doing with Arin!!! I love how his situation isn't simply a "never meet your heroes" thing (I guess it would be because of Wu) but I see it as "wrong place, wrong time", Arin started out as the ultimate fanboy of the ninja, you'd usually expect a character like that to be some sort of underdog, but Arin hasn't improved AT ALL under Lloyd's teaching while Sora and Wyldfyre did, the pressure from the blood moon and the forbidden 5 isn't helping, and with the manipulation from Ras (which actually benefits his spinjitzu) he loses more patience with Lloyd, strengthening the cycle of the master being rejected by their student. I don't think Arin is evil at all, he's just a child who wants to find his parents at the end of the day, the only person he thought could help him, his idol, let him down. If Morro really is returning (minus the wind powers) I definitely see them having an encounter!

Sora, is my favourite!! Unlike Arin, she has been improving a lot, while she isn't a master of spinjitzu, she's definitely close! I freaking love her design, it's so cute and her personality and style shines through her ninja outfit. In Imperium she never truly had someone who appreciated her, or encouraged her to go beyond and reach her potential in her own way, not even her family, the ninja gave her that freedom and kindness to help her evolve into someone who can win a freaking elemental tournament!! It's just incredibly satisfying to see her progress and be the ninja that she was born to be!! She, along with Wyldfyre, continue the chain of a second chance to teach and do better than the first.

Speaking of Wyldfyre, she's incredible!! She does her own thing and she's great at it! I love how she's basically Kai's daughter now too! She kinda reminds me of Sticks the Badger in some way and honestly I'm all for it. She's hilarious and once she learns spinjitzu and rising dragon, the merged realms better watch out! (Also that little thing with Roby was adorable)

Riyu was fun! It's nice that dragons qualify as ninja too (which makes sense for Lloyd to conclude because he's part dragon) and seeing him grow and mature was so sweet!!

We must protect Bonzle at all costs, she's precious, just trying to live her life as a person and not a spell. If anything happens to her, I'll lose my shit!!!

Now for the og ninja!!

Lloyd!!! Bro definitely needs therapy! I like how he officially became the main teacher this time and now he's leading the next generation, but that inevitable fight with an "improved but now with the enemy" Arin is gonna suck for him lol. But yeah, Lloyd was amazing here, definitely came a long and satisfying way from the bratty child in rise of the snakes

Speaking of things that are gonna suck for someone... Nya cannot catch a break! Though I'm glad that my queen has been getting the narrative respect she deserves since probably skybound (y'know the whole identity as the "girl ninja" or the "damsel") I still adore Nya though, she's one of my goats and the mentor role she has now definitely suits her nature as she's learned to embrace failure and use it to improve constantly. But as I was saying, she simultaneously went through almost losing her brother and basically losing her husband (or fiancé? Idk) let my girl be happy, she didn't come back from being a literal state of matter for this!! But yeah that encounter will definitely be a lot to handle!

Kai was fire, as usual!!! He's definitely a lot less hot-headed than he was before, perfectly suited for a mentor role as well! I also think that it's also a really cool development that, while he was the last of the four main ninja to unlock his true potential in the very first season of Ninjago, he was the very first of the ninja to master rising dragon here, It was so satisfying!!! And of course, Nya was also one of the first here when she was dead last in Possession.

Cole is obviously goated! The new voice grew on me (rip Kirby, you're a freaking legend) also leave it to Cole to basically get someone to switch sides through pure kindness even if they're working for the enemy, looks like someone is getting a disciple next season! Also, I can't forget the Goblin™. Geo's a sweetheart and he's exceptionally creative, he and Cole are amazing for each other (also a certain artist on Tumblr got me to love the poly ship between Cole, Geo and Vania!!)

Zane, what else is there to say? He's pure perfection! He had plenty of funny moments and lots of time to shine as usual. He's my favourite ninja, and if you know how I treat my favourite characters in any media, that's all I'd need to say

Jay... Oh boy shit's about to go down! Agent Walker was fun, Shatterspin Jay vs Nya was absolutely heartbreaking, but Rogue is gonna be freaking insane!!! I can't wait to see how they're gonna make Jay of all people intimidating, I feel like they're gonna pull it off, they basically did with the "and I will always hate you" line, like damn!! This is the same guy who Kai roasted daily?? The same guy that had that game show??? How did that guy make me almost shit myself?? Can't wait for Rogue!! And hopefully he gets his memory back, I miss him freaking out. And also it hurts to see Nya upset about the memory loss while Jay isn't able to remember what he means to her. And also I miss the iconic duo of Cole and Jay (pretty much every ninja pairing is iconic but yeah)

I said... Way more than I thought I was gonna say, but yeah, whatever they're cooking for this series next, I want that and a side of curly fries and dino nuggets!!!!

10 therapy sessions for everyone out of 10, this series is PURE HYPE!!! (It's definitely wayyy up there with SoG, Hunted, MotM and Seabound)

[gx-gameon]

So apparently in the subs, Yugi's deck at Duel Academy is actually a copy of it and the students in Jaden's class who scored the highest for their final duel exam get to choose cards from it if they so wish.

Even if the deck is just a copy of Yugi's deck, when Jaden duels Dimitri each of the Duel Spirits from the deck just make eye contact with Jaden and are like "Young Master, I apologize in advance/please help me" and Jaden fulfills that promise. He gets that Dimitri was desperate for a win to show why he was worthy of Ra Yellow and all, but Jaden decides to choose violence because NOBODY pretends to be his Dad or Uncle Atem and gets away with it.

I know that’s what happened when the Gx crew graduated at the end of season 4. I didn’t know the deck from season 1 was the same set up. I thought it was the real deck on tour and season 4 was the copy/duplicated deck.

But 100% Jaden was not letting this man get away with impersonating his dad/uncle Atem.

I talked about this a bit when I rewatched these episodes here

But I love the addition of all the spirits in Yugi/Atem’s deck being like “Young Master Jaden! :D we’re so sorry about this. Can you kick his butt for us.”

They all know Jaden will win. The heart of the cards is not with Dimitri because they are not his cards. The whole deck knows Jaden knows this deck well and while he’s never beat it before, there’s and amateur at the helm. It won’t take long.

It’s still an impressive win.

But both Jaden and the deck are upset about Jaden’s first victory against them not being against Yugi or Atem. It’s been a long awaited moment for Jaden to finally beat them. To finally have that victory against the deck but not the duelist is bittersweet. And it almost feels like a special moment has been taken from him.

[user-without-a-cool-acronym]

Dragons rising Season 2 episode 1 : the blood moon transcript

feel free to use this however you like, credit would be nice

also don‘t send this to tannerfishies in any way

@nyaskitten@cboffshore @jezynowachmura19 @geoxstxrs @frostsstuff @jalluzas-ferney

i just saw that the text is cut off kind of weird in the end post, so if there is a large blank space somewhere, just see it as a line break

The episode begins with the "Ras at shadow dojo" clip after the end of that clip, Ras and Jordana walk towards the dojo Ras to Jordana: give it to me now she hands him the vial with the source dragon energy. Ras opens it, causing a ray of yellow light to shoot upwards, before coming back down to the dojo, illuminating lines in the floor and door, causing the latter to open Ras: according to the ancient scholars of my land, these doors were sealed a long time ago so that they might never be opened - except one owns the power of a source dragon Jordana: is that why i was supposed to accompany you with the raw source dragon power? R: exactly! the clip "the blood moon" plays Intro after which the "social media ninja" short plays, with a short scene at the beginning of arin saving two bystanders from the mechanic Bearded blogger: So, the ninja are back - some of them. But where are the others? Master Wu? Cole? Jay? PIXAL? lost in the merge? Nobody asks these clever and brave questions - except for me! the clever george. Next: more activities of the mysterious "night-ghost". But first a shoutout to today´s sponsor - Borg´s nutrient rich waffles. lots of nutrients, no yucky taste! and no longer just for pet turtles the camera zooms out to show arin and Riyu, watching the video on the monastery´s big screen. the screen starts glitching before switching to party lights. as arin asks loudly whats going on, Sora walks up the stairs behind him her hand glowing Sora: I´m only training with my elemental tech powers. Now that i can use them without Riyu, that is a whole new world for me. Arin: Must be really nice S: come on Arin just because there´s no elemental powers in you, that doesn´t mean that- A:-I´m not also important for the team, i know, i know. LLoyd tells me that all the time S: You really shouldn´t watch that self proclaimed "clever george" Whatever he says, he made up A: you´re right, but sometimes he talks about people who got lost in the merge - like my parents. I need to find them, but there´s no information anywhere. And that´s why i´m sometimes desperate enough to watch the "clever george". A man who claims that the moon is made of donut dough S: we are going to find you parents someday, but you need a break! All this wondering isn´t good for your mental health. Do you wanna go train our ninja techniques on the training course? And Riyu does his flying exercises! Arin agrees and the three of them head out on Riyu´s back In the hallway, Mr Frohicky is hanging up a painting that fell from the wall as the entire building shakes from the three running around. Frohicky: Oh no! how many times have i told them that Riyu has gotten too big to run through the hallways.

The three run past him as he complains about the mess they make. They promise to clean up after themselves later, however Frohicky informs them that a woman had shown up earlier and left a letter for them. They take the letter and head out to the courtyard. A: Who is it from S: Kreel has written us. it says here that she needs ninja-help super urgently. the weirdest is that it´s signed with "your friend Kreel" Could it be meant for someone else? A:She probably just wants to sell us some old stuff from her junkyard again (he presses a tile in the floor, which raises the obstacle course, revealing Lloyd, sleeping on the ring) S:Lloyd? Lloyd, waking up: w-what? ugh... where am i? A: have you taken up sleeping on the obstacle course? L: Oh, right sure, of course. S: is seriously everything alright? L: Never been better(he walks off) Inside, Kai and Zane are playing a video game Kai: Haha, eat that, Nindroid! Zane: I am unfortunately unable to consume food K: It´s just an expression. You can say that when you are beating someone at a game Z: but eating is something good. Why is that an insult to me? Lloyd then walks in front of the tv, seemingly asleep until he walks against the side of the table L: Oh, tea. i could really use some of that right now (he pours the tea into a potted plant on the table, absentminded until kai speaks to him about it) Huh? Oh man, what am i doing here? Zane scans him: according to my analysis, your entire body appears to be exhausted. You are tired.Are you suffering from sleep disorders L: Me? noooooo, i´m sleeping like a baby K: but maybe you should go to bed now. L: yeah, you´re probably right (he goes and falls asleep before he gets to the door) He is then seen in a vision, standing on a dark plane as the blood moon rises behind him. Six wolf warriors rise out of the ground next to him. the scene then starts flashing between the warriors walking towards lloyd, the moon and a giant wolf mask pursuing him. he then sees empress beatrix, a mallet coming down towards him, zane surrounded by the wolf warriors, the symbol of the fire source dragon, Sora being hit by falling rubble and finally beatrix hitting a sword of some kind on the ground, breaking it apart. lastly there´s arin, running angrily towards him and a rugged looking dragon breathing blue fire at him. this causes him to wake up, spinjitzu out of bed and crash into the wall. He remarks that this was the worst one so far. He goes outside, to the painting of master Wu L: My nightmares are getting worse, uncle. As if i was being pursued. I don´t know if- (Arin walks out into the courtyard) Arin, why are you awake?

A: i was about to ask you the same thing. i can´t sleep. i´m worrying about my parents too much. Since i saw them in the mergequake battle, i keep thinking about them. then i heard a loud noise from your room. L: i had a pretty violent Nightmare. The two have a short conversation about everyone noticing lloyd´s weird behavior recently L: Ok, listen. My dreams are so incredibly lively, so creepy that i can´t sleep. i have never experienced something like this before. Maybe i have them because i am the source dragon´s chosen one, but i couldn´t find any info on the source dragons anywhere, Arin. A: You´ve been through a lot. You saved all the merged realms. That would explain why your dreams turn into stressful ones L: huh. Wasn´t i supposed to be the teacher he and you the student? Arin, imitating Wu: listen my young friend: dreams can never hurt you, because they aren´t real. L: if i didn´t know better, i´d say master wu was standing in front of me here. Let´s go rest. You are completely right, there is nothing for me to be afraid of On the roof of the monastery, the glowing ghost of master wu watches down on them, as the episode cuts back to Ras and Jordana in the dojo Jordana, looking at a scroll: i can´t read a single word of this. What language is this supposed to be in these scrolls. R: it is theroxian, an ancient language that was forbidden centuries ago because those who spoke it became too powerful. J: but then how are we supposed to learn the secrets they are supposed to hold? R: Patience. As my master has taught me, true power needs time. A cloud of smoke appears before them J: What is happening? is this a trap? R: No. It is simply another one of my recruits The silhouette of a person appears out of the smoke as the episode cuts to Kreel´s Junkyard Kreel to Arin and Sora: as you can see, my security bots are no help at all (two of the security bots turn on a gramophone and start dancing to it) And the dogs don´t even bark! I was told they were extremely aggressive(Arin and Sora remark on hoe peaceful the dogs are) Whoever broke in here found a way to do it without being noticed (upon Arin asking what was stolen) that´s the thing! nothing. Sora: could it be that, just thinking out loud, if the alert wasn´t triggered, the dogs don´t give you any sign and nothing is missing, it could be that nobody broke in here at all? K: of course someone was in here! When i get here in the morning, things aren´t just lying around randomly! (an old car crashes down behind her) Arin: isn´t this what it always looks like around here? K: *gasps* i have a very personal system of organizing which nobody understands but me. trust me, someone broke in here and went through all my stuff. A: who knows, maybe this place is haunted by the night-ghost. It visits shops because they don´t take back items he bought.

S: is that another one of "clever george"´s stories? that guy only talks about made up nonsense A: yeah, when i said it out loud, i realised how ridiculous it sounded K: these break ins are only happening because i am ascending to the upper class S: i´m sorry, upper class? K: i´ve upgraded my junkyard´s range of products. there´s more than just mech parts here now: i´m selling antique weapons, ancient weapons and rare treasures. i´m making a lot more money with this, i can tell you. Anyways, i´ve heard that my shop isn´t the only one that has to deal with this. So i hope you can find this intruder. What´s the point in being best friends with two ninja if you can´t count on them once in a while. A and S in unison: Best friends!? K: of course. Since you´ve joined the ninja, that we´re the best friends of all time and that we still know each other from the mech races back in the day. A: You were our opponent S: Yeah and cause our mech to explode K: this fun little anecdote imediatly reminds of before - SELFIE! Say "Kreel´s Junkyard"(she takes out her phone and takes a picture with the three of them) oh, my hat is looking good. that picture´s definitely getting more likes than that lobbo pun video i posted. The video cuts to another video by clever george George: The two new ninja were recently seen on Kreel´s junkyard - was it a visit out of friendship? or were they following the trail of the night-ghost? SUBSCRIBE! (the video zooms out again, showing Sora watching it on the big screen, while Arin and Riyu play catch in the background) Arin: Why are you watching that? you said yourself, that he makes all that up. Sora: his theory that a ghost visits shops because they don´t want to give him a refund is absurd. What is scaring me is the fact that Kreel was right: There really were more break ins. and the clever george is wrong: none of the break ins happened in shops - they were all places that sell antiquities. Like Kreel´s Junkyard. A: was nothing stolen there either? S: Not yet. My guess is that someone is looking for a very specific ancient artifact. But who? any why this mysteriously and cunning? A: should we tell the others? S: No. it might just be completely harmless. and it looks like Loyd needs rest anyway. But you, me and Riyu could go on a little trip. They go to the crossraods, where they talk to multiple vendors without success, always hearing the same story of an unidentified person breaking in without triggering any alerts and not stealing anything. However, Riyu leads them to a new lead: a newly opened store for ancient artifacts. The two of them take up position on a nearby roof, with Riyu hiding in a nearby trashcan. S: the last time you hid Riyu inside a garbage can, he was found, captured and brought to an evil, dragon-draining empress. A: yup, that`s what happened. What are the chances of something like that happening twice? (an old woman comes towards the store, dragging a garbage bag behind her.)

S: is she the night-ghost? A: if she is, she does not fit the standard villain criteria. (the woman opens the trashcan and spots Riyu eating trash inside it) Old Woman: people throw whole healthy dragons away nowadays. Truly shameful. (she closes the lid and walks off) S: what do we do, if the night-ghost actually shows up? Antique stores don´t sell any modern tech i could use my powers on. A: at least you have powers. S: Arin, you can do spinjitzu, i don´t. A: a very shaky form of it. but no matter how hard i train, i don´t get any better. And you know my object spinjitzu? i still don´t know how i do that. (on the ground, the mysterious person from before appears, once again in a cloud of smoke and runs towards the entrance of the store.) S: what did LLoyd tell us? no ninja´s journey is like another. So far, my missing ability to do spinjitzu hasn´t been a problem either. A: but i should be able to do it much better. When i find my parents, they should be proud of how i turned out. (the two spot the figure at the door of the store) hey, where did that guy come from? S: to get in there, he´ll definitely have to break open the door. (the person turns into smoke, slipping through the crack of the door into the store.) A: is he the elemental master of smoke? In the monastery, lloyd awakens from another nightmare. he meets mister frohicky, who tells him that Arin and Sora have gone to observe something in the crossroads and are planning on cleaning up tomorrow. Cut back to the crossroads, where the stranger materialises in the middle of the road, now holding a large mallet Cinder: Finally. A: don´t move! (the two ninja and Riyu block the road to both sides of him) C: Ah, the ninja. I was warned that you would be waiting for me - someday. S: you are outnumbered, surrender! C: did you think i came here alone? (two wolf mask warriors drop down behind him) S: No idea what you want with that thing, but you and your masked friends are probably not the drumming club. C: You don´t know me little one. maybe drumming is totally my thing. He attacks and the two sides fight for a while. during the battle, Cinder telly his subordinates to bring the mallet to lord ras, shocking arin and sora. Cinder is about to escape, when suddenly beams of green energy fly towards him. Lloyd drops in on a rooftop. Lloyd: you´re having a party and didn´t invite me? i am insulted. However, upon seeing the wolf masks, Lloyd is transprted into another vision, once again seeing the moon and warriors rise from the ground. However, he also sees a strange gong being struck by the mallet, currently held by Cinder. In the real world, the latter orders his warriors to get away, throwing a sort of smoke bomb at the ninja, which knocks them out.

L: it is no dream, it´s real. it´s all real. The blood moon is coming! the blood moon is coming! Back at the shadow dojo, Cinder carries the mallet to Ras, past an army of wolf warriors. C: i have finally found it, my lord. R: and now, our dark journey can begin. Are you ready? prepare to feel a power, like you have never experienced before. Ras then strikes the gong, which causes the runes on the rocks surrounding the dojo, as well at the masks of the wolf warriors to start glowing blue

And that was the episode. pretty sure you can find the video online by now. my original plan was to do both of the episodes that aired today today, however this has taken longer than anticipated, so the next one of these is coming tomorrow.

[icy-watch]

Wu's spirit or whatever that is (I'm still saying it's Wu bc it makes sense to me) leading Cole to another monastery feels like it should be bigger than it is. But it's not bc there's so many plots going on rn, and it's already been established that they used to be the connection between the 16 Realms.

So this 1 is obviously going to lead Cole to somewhere important. I just don't know where yet.

I don't think it'll be a way to get Kai and Bonzle back. There something going on with dragons needed for that.

Ras admitted to needing to collect all of the elements to capture the Source Dragons, but not everyone got an invite. Which seems like a big L for him. Unless he manages to capture the cup and get back to the rest of the world.

That is possible.

There's a lot of manipulation being done on the games to either help Ras or the Fab 5. Initially at the top of this part of the season, I thought it was going to be Bleckt behind it. It's feeling more and more like Roby with each episode. He was a little too eager to have more Elemental Masters competing.

By the end of this season, Arin is def going to be Ras's right hand man. And I hate it.

Nokt's taunt to Nya genuinely felt like he was expecting someone else to show up at the Tournament. It didn't feel like he was talking about Kai. It really doesn't. I'm wondering if they have another powerful Elemental Master in their family - like one of their parents had a sibling and their kid inherited their powers or something. I don't really know how to explain it beyond it feeling like Nokt was expecting another relative.

I just don't know if we've met them before or if they're going to be a new character - if my hypothesis is even correct.

And speaking about Nokt, he and his sister (apparently) are def using Ras. I mean, it's pretty obvious, but the way Nokt was eavesdropping on their conversation about Arin and the Source Dragons just solidified it.

Alright, 1 episode tomorrow. So, until then!

[agenericplaceholdername]

Dragons Rising S2 E1-5 Thoughts

Here’s some thoughts on the first episodes of Dragons Rising, Season 2:

The Blood Moon:

RAS AT SHADOW DOJO. Part of what makes the running joke about the scene so good is that the scene itself is really cool

Ras’ night vision is a cool detail but imagine a fight scene in the dark lit only by elemental powers where Ras fights the Ninja

New intro!

Intelligent George definitely uses clickbait thumbnails

Are Borg’s Sufficient Nutrient Wafers just using the Borg brand? Or actually made by Cyrus Borg

Goodbye cute baby Riyu, hello Teen Riyu

Poor Lloyd. Also a lot to analyze in that vision (but not here)

The way Arin talks about seeing his parents and Sora talks about unlocking her True Potential implies only a few weeks, maybe a month or two have passed since the end of S1. And outside of the reference to the Mech Master 5000 being an annual race in the Mech Shorts, it honestly could be that long (instead of over a year)

Kreel and I are the same: we both have “organization systems” only understood by ourselves

Kreel’s hat does look jaunty, and at least Arin smiled

So when did Cinder start searching for the mallet? Clearly before the season started, but the season also opened with Ras and Jordana finding the Shadow Dojo, and Jordana hadn’t met Cinder yet. Maybe Ras just gave him a call while walking in the Forest of Spirits to start looking

The Arin and Sora friendship is so sweet

“Maybe percussion is my thing”

Love the fight against Cinder

Cinder outmatches Arin and Sora and then immediately is forced on the defensive and flees when Lloyd arrives

“Our dark journey can begin” thank you for beating the villain allegations Ras

Shattered Dreams:

I would also like bagels

“We want you to work the same amount, just be funner about it.”

First the Cloud Kingdom, now Percival—we’re just revisiting S1 places

You can still see the bridge that was damaged in S1 connecting the Crossroads to Ninjago City

Where’s Mystake when you need her

Arin did you even do Spinjitzu to fight Cinder?

Would love to see Kreel’s robot dance

Sounds believable Fedulian, I’m with Arin here

“MAGIC ATTACK” “KILLER BUTTERFLY SWARM” “PSYCHIC ORB BLAST” I want a Hantro-Clutch Powers spin off

As weird as “shattering goodness” is, the music and atmosphere of the scene sells Hantro’s exposition

Love this flashback, and its location in the episode helps contribute to a constantly rising tension

I would like to learn an evil language

“You cursed the worms?” but when? And did he have this in mind when he did?

I love how the Five’s teachings and language have been banned but also the Cloud Kingdom is allowed to learn Theroxian (to translate it) and keep scrolls about the Five

Jordana is so mad lol. Tbf for Sora, she re-met Jordana for what, 10 minutes half a season ago?

Ras believes in strength above all else but also refuses to fight the Ninja on equal ground (he’s way above them and then sends out the Wolf Masks and Cinder to do what he can’t)

The Wolf Masks seem powerful once the Gong is struck (beating Arin, immune to fire, knocking Kai and Sora down) but then are easily dealt with in E10 so what gives?

Kai is so cool

Not gonna analyze the Cinder fight in detail. All I’ll say is that it’s well choreographed and directed, the music is great, and it’s kinda nuts that we get a fight this good in E2. Ofc Ras and the Ninja don’t interact until much later in S2P1, but this shows just how outmatched the Ninja are and demonstrates the need to learn a way to fight Shatterspin

Ouch Wyldfyre

Excellent episode

Beyond the Phantasm Cave:

Jordana demeaning Euphrasia to appease her own bruised ego

Sora and Arin - why is your dialogue to each other just saying what you feel? What happened to show don’t tell

Cool shot with Lloyd

We got names for the Source Dragons through the Netflix captions and credits lol

Kai and Wyldfyre why are you so well characterized? imagine if Wyldfyre had stayed at the Monastary and then everything else happened the same way — as in Kai was still sacrificed.

Yes, Wu would take you on a mission based on spirit smoke or actual dreams (see Hunted)

Cloud Kingdom sky base is so cool

Watching these episodes, even months later, after having seen the marketing clips so many times is funny. The clips were all great too — I love “Ninja Mission” 

Are flying ships commonplace in the 16 realms? Because how else would there be a bunch of destroyed ships 

I love the grappling scene for Arin’s character

Sora has the elemental power of LEGO sets

What is this random tentacle thing

Stop with the cute Arin Sora scenes they’re gonna be friends forever

“Are the Ninja your family now instead of us?” ouch

Sora how would that be Kai

“You will never be good enough” Lloyd you’ve saved the world countless times please seek therapy

What are the chances Jay has lost his memory and wouldn’t remember Nya, cmon not a very realistic fear

“What even are you” very good question Nya

I’m sure we’ll learn what Kai saw later, right?

“You should trust you, too” thank you Nya

Cliffhanger for the next episode

Force from the East:

This is a super cute scene, with a cool detail: Geo slightly misremembers things in favor of his and Cole’s relationship

Cole told Geo the cloud monks were nice? Only one was, while the Master Writer tried to get him and the other ninja eaten by whatever Nimbus is

Kai’s animation is very briefly messed up here

Dragon basketball is a key part of S2 and needed to be included

“I’ve always got you, Arin”

Hat-less, bald Egalt is so strange

Lloyd come on the ancient talking dragons are obviously the teachers

Lord Ras’ army meets its most dangerous foe yet: two orphan children

I know Geo can’t fuse living things, but couldn’t he fuse the clothes someone is wearing together and then to the ground?

COLE!

“Dragons can be Ninja?” the First Spinjitzu Master is crying in the grassland rn

Given that the Ninja have fought the embodiment of evil three times, I think they probably can imagine the evil of the Five

No fill us in on your mission now

Cole’s powers seem more… powerful, I guess

The name “Rising Dragon” is similar to if Sensei Yang called Airjitzu “Rising Human”

What are the consequences of using the gong too much?

“Oh [Ras is] evil. 100%. Even his breath smells evil.” Arin has very strong moral convictions

What is “last time”? Why did Egalt swear off training non-dragons?

The Forbidden Five exploit overconfidence, you say…

Even if the boundary spell was still in place, how would the fog prevent the Finders from using the portal gate?

“It doesn’t matter where they go. We will follow.” Ras then proceeded to do the opposite and wait for Bonzle to enter the Forest of Spirits

Another setup for the next episode

The Spell at the Waterfall:

I want a Frohicky plush

At least Fritz and Spitz like Mr. Frohicky’s cooking

Of all the things Bonzle could say… that was not something I would have predicted

I think Egalt would be more impressed with the Ninja if they mentioned they defeated the entire Oni invasion

How does Rontu know what Wyldfyre’s element is? Was it not an element created only after the Merge?

What does Wyldfyre’s element being Heat explain? Besides explaining how she and Kai seemingly have the same elements

Bonzle’s backstory is delivered beautifully

Rontu, I don’t think it’s possible to jump 3 times your height

“He’s just a dragon” Sora you’re talking to a dragon. “Dragons can’t do Spinjitzu” Sora seriously read the room

Love Egalt’s lesson and the surrounding scene. As the Ninja are going through the motions, Arin is consistently a half-second or so behind

The Wu and Bonzle scene is also really really good. I wonder where in the timeline it takes place — given that Wu and Garmadon are “no longer on the same side” but the Ninja are Wu’s family, it’s probably post-Pilots but before the end of S2 or between Hunted and March of the Oni. I don’t think the sideburns matter that much in determining time, since Wu could just shave them. (All this matters far less than the great conversation in the scene itself)

Nah Sora, that’s clearly a Mucoid

Okay yet another fun scene with great music

Lloyd and Egalt’s training styles are very different

Arin nooo :(

Bonzle of course they’d accept you for you are

“Strength is all that matters” hmm okay 

RAS WHAT who are you talking to AHHH

Sacrifices!?

Next up, the most recent episodes of Dragons Rising Season 2 to release (at the time they were supposed to) – the finale of Season 2 Part 1!

[honestmouse20]

I am Back from vacation! Thought on new ninjago season under the cut :)

First off, I just wanna say that I watched it at 6am in my hotel room with headphones while my friend slept next to me lol. So I watched it all again yesterday too. Turns out I'd missed a Lot.

I really loved the pacing in this! Each character to me felt like they all had something to do and it all went towards the plot. Wildfyre learned to slow down and let herself heal, Kai and Nya both learned the paitence and tecnique to do Rising Dragon. Lloyd OFC got a Lot to do with his visions and panic attacks! I really liked how they handled his mental health in this one. Cole being back didn't feel forced! he was there bc Bonzal was essential to Ras' plan. Sora got a ton of development and I do wonder if they'll have her learn spinjitzu in part 2. And of course, Arin. Boy is Going Through it. It's a nice parallel to Lloyd also having a rough time. While Lloyd is haunted by possible futures, Arin is terrified of not being Good Enough to contribute to the team Or to make his parents proud.

This post would be hella long if i rambled about everything i loved in this season But I wanna highlight Some of my favs!

Cole and Geo Constantly holding hands and leaning on eachother (and geo's flashback to s1 being changed so they're holidng hands More)

Bonzle's whole arc and how she's a person now! Hella trans implications and also just a really sweet story when they show that she Does have agency and her creator Does recongnize and care for her

Sora and Arin's dymanic continues to be Really Good! I like how the initial excitement for being a ninja has worn off and they're starting to struggle.

Speaking of Arin, I stg that scene of him and Ras fighitng in the last couple episodes makes me think we're gonna get a dark Arin arc. Maybe he won't Stay evil (I don't want him to be a villan but they Could go that way if they want) but seeing Lloyd's reaction to his student turning sides would be very angsty and Very good

Also Lloyd in this was So good! Even tho he's trying very hard to be a Master and the keeper of the monastary, he's struggling and these visions are only making it harder on him. I'm sure we havn't seen the end of these visions and I'm sorta hoping they'll come to some big breaking point for him in part 2. Where he'll have to drag himself back up and Never Quit despite everything falling apart just like the visions said it would

Once again this show made me like kai again lol. HIs relationship with Nya and Wildfyre is So good and you really can see the similarities in how he interacts with them!

lloyd's power confirmed to be life????

why is no one talking abobut that ? did i read it wrong???

Onto some things i didn't Quite like but definatly didn't hate!

Ras' master is like 90 percent gonna be the Overlord. I'm aprehensive on this bc he's not really my favorite villan. Plus like he was Just the villan in crystalized so i feel like it's too soon for him to come back. once again gonna give this show the benefit of the doubt bc they've done a lto of stuff Really Really well. I'm just sorta hoping it's Not the overlord. Plus the powers were golden and that's Not the overlord's colors

what is timeline?????

i thought the shorts were two years after s1 and that s2 was gonna be between the shorts and s1???? but now the shorts are at the Beginning of the season and ryu is a teenage dragon? how long has passed? If it's been a couple years since season 1, it's a little less believable that arin and sora havn't progressed much fruther in their training. also no one Acts like it's been years?? But if it's Not a couple of years and Ryu just Grew up like that it's still a bit iffy. Ik they probably won't tell us exact times but I hope it's implied or Something bc im hella confused

so, tldr: This half of the season was Fantastic! From the animation being Incredible and the relationships between the characters being super interesting and realistic, this season was a ride from start to finish! I'm excited, and a bit scared, to see what part 2 brings!

[parachutingkitten]

I think the main thing separating Lloyd’s need to be a good role model from Arin's is partially the mentor role. Lloyd is actively looked up to by the characters our audience is supposed to identify as their peers, so there's a higher weight put there in terms of authority. Additionally, as mentioned, Lloyd’s mistakes (if they are eventually revealed to be mistakes) are not framed as such when they happen. Whereas Arin’s leaving the ninja is very clearly framed as largely a manipulation by Ras, and a scary questionable thing to be doing, to run out with the bad guys like that. The fandom's discussion of Arin next season is framed largely as the potential of "evil arin" not as a moment where the ninja will finally have to face up to their underlying issues as a team. Everyone understands arin's actions aren't supposed to be replicated, because of the narrative's framing.

As for Lloyd's flaws and decisions and whether or not they... exist- I would argue they don't. The story tells us that Lloyd's actions are pushing Arin away, but we really don't ever see evidence of this that I can recall. The main point that sticks out in my mind as the story telegraphing Lloyd's decisions affecting arin is when arin vents his frustration at Lloyd's broken promises of getting to things later- his parents specifically. But like... correct me if I'm wrong, but that promise never happens? There's not a moment where Lloyd promises, or even assures Arin that they will find his parents eventually. I've tried my best to double check this, but I don't think it exists. That seems like a MAJOR oversight to me. There's just no tangible cause and effect that i can see as an audience member. Again, i see it much more as Arin being paranoid because of Ras's manipulation, nothing to do with Lloyd's actions. Every time Lloyd goes to comfort Arin, I don't see anything he's doing wrong. Like sure, he could maybe have gone out of his way to dissuade the very specific fears and enemy manipulation we know are troubling Arin, but he has no way of knowing that those trouble points exist, because Arin doesn't voice those concerns. Like, he's maybe operating at an 8/10 instead of a 10/10 in these moments, but i can't look at anything Lloyd is doing as a mentor and say he's doing anything wrong, or that he can reasonably do much better- as if there's a lesson he really needed to learn to fix his teaching in those moments.

I do like the idea that decisions you make in the moment feel right, but end up being wrong. But if you're talking about that as a tangible lesson for characters to learn from and not just crazy unseeable coincidences of fate, that implies that there was an underlying wrong action which can be corrected for in the future. That you've prioritized something too much or too little. That you underestimated someone or something. That you were overconfident or underconfident in your own abilities. And I don't see anything Lloyd has done in his duties as master as being identifiably wrong or correctable- you know outside of contained episode conflicts. Any version of a character arc has to involve some amount of wrong action to be corrected, and it just isn't there.

Same thing with the whole living up to Wu angle of things. If him wanting to be like his uncle is a bad thing, we need to be shown that his efforts to do this have some negative effects. The clearest way to do this would be to show that his attempts to be like him are getting in the way of his being an effective master, directly hindering the end result he thought he was working toward. Which would mean, again, seeing tangibly incorrect things Lloyd ends up doing as a master, which I just don't see.

My main problem with the green ninja thing isn't necessarily just with the title, the title comes with the lineage, and both made him next in line to take the master role, it's all one interconnected package- and his role as master is very present in DR, so I connect it all back to the green ninja, cuz that's why he's there in the first place. Sure, this decision for the character was not the fault of theses writers, but they do have the power to phase him out using an arc as described, or just retcon things all together if they think it was the wrong decision (not saying that they should have, but it is undeniably an option available to them). While a lot of Lloyd's lineage plots do center his father, the pressure to live up to the legacy of the green ninja at several points in the series directly falls in line with the DR pressure to be the best master possible- both being a striving toward something. Season 9 specifically has him doubting himself and his ability to be the symbol other people need him do be, even involves him training others, and I would argue does the concept better because it comes directly after a large catastrophic betrayal which logically would give him doubts in himself. None of that requires garmadon as the bad guy to be meaningful (but is enhanced by it).

I think the dream scenario would probably need to incorporate nuance into its conclusion, as the whole plot would need a lot of nuance. Lloyd doesn't have to retire all together per say, but certainly take a step back. There's certainly room for middle ground. Maybe he remains the leader, dispatching and guiding missions, but leaves the training to someone else. Maybe the ninja divvy up training by skill and each of them take turns with lessons. Or you divvy up students according to who they connect with best. Maybe they rotate who is actively teaching at any given time, so our characters can all get a mental health break every once in a while. Maybe you transition to a co-master approach like we had for wu and garm for a bit. There's lots of ways to end it, just so long as Lloyd allows himself to take a visible step back. But again, this would have to be alike a long series wide arc, and I would see Lloyd stepping away at the very end, presumably after our new generation have proved themselves and aren't in need of constant instruction, meaning Lloyd isn't abandoning students.

I probably am giving Kai a little extra credit- mostly because he's working with the problem child, but also because we do see considerable character growth in wyldfyre over the course of the series. With Arin and Sora, the difference between where they start and where they are feels less stark (or you know, actively backwards movement)

And again, the green ninja thing I think is more than just 'amount of focus'. It's that very distinctive main character energy which the green gi gifts him. The importance and weight of the focus matters too, you know? I'm not particularly bothered by focus that Lloyd gets in the 11 minute episodes. It's there, but it's not everywhere. In DR EVERYTHING lloyd is doing is VERY important and emphasized, even if his screen time is proportional to our other main characters. And even if the show has moved past calling him the green ninja, they have pivoted into making him like... the chosen champion of the source dragons, so. You know. Same difference. This is a personal problem- I recognize that. But it doesn't mean I'm gonna like it.

Maybe Lloyd just shouldn't be a master.

He's clearly not very good at it. He's been trying it since season 5, and his first real students both take FOREVER to make any progress. Sora takes a whole season to unlock her powers, but apparently isn't taught spinjitzu in any of that time- the literal first thing we see taught to any of our characters in the original show. Arin somehow makes backwards progress with Lloyd, and then after doing like three poses with his friend seems to get it instantly.

Like... seems like he's just not very good at teaching. Maybe he should hand the position over to Kai, he's got a natural knack for it, a lot more experience, and a much higher success rate as far as I'm concerned. Master Kai for the win.

[kadextra]

I ended up watching the ninjago dr s2p2 eps today bc I was scared of being spoiled (heck no I couldn’t last until october)

my thoughts below! warning lots of spoilers!

OVERALL? IT WAS GOOD. ENJOYABLE!

The final episode was the best I think, it was a great culmination of all the arcs and mysteries. seeing the elemental powers was cool as it usually is! personally I want to know more about that demon-y species (you know the one, I already forgot their name rip) they look so awesome

Jordana surprised me the most and I was super impressed with her character. Lloyd coming to terms with being a master felt good to see, I am proud of my boy. Ras is a great character as always, and Rox was interesting. WHAT is going on with Master Wu I need answers??? Roby and the relationship with him & Wyldfire was adorable too! it’s a funny contrast and they’re such dorks I laughed out loud at the “WyFi” nickname, of course the internet kid would think of that 😭

Now I’m gonna talk a bit more in depth about my least liked thing, and then my favorite thing

The Jay confrontation… decent. okay. felt a bit lacking to me. I wanted to see more of how he interacted with Ras’ crew :(( the lack of reaction showed from the ninja, who are seeing their friend after such a long time and On The Villain’s Side was kinda disappointing. especially when he pulled out the shatterspin. although Nya’s reaction and their interactions were the best!!! I loved her trying to get through to him, meanwhile he was being really cruel. her wanting to chase him down right afterwards too. and while I was sad Jay left as quick as he appeared and couldn’t cause more problems, I have to say I’m relieved the plot went like This instead of like… him instantly getting his memory back as soon as he saw them. that was my biggest fear ngl I would’ve been so upset 😭 happy with what we got in comparison! and I’m really glad Jay left while angrily holding a grudge!! hope he gets worse <3

As for my favorite- the Arin plotline. I’m glad our son got to do cool stuff even while not being a tournament participant, even better that it was cool detective stuff. I knew he’d get upset at Sora if he found out she lied to him, and yeah he did. more upset then I thought. watching him push her away hurt </3 I enjoyed the steady buildup of his realizations, reunion with his childhood friend Frack, his thoughts changing about Ras, (light in the dark & dark in the light) all of it leading to that major decision in the final episode. “I NEED HIM” had me jumping in my seat fr. I’m excited to see what will happen with them in the future

overall good. part one was stronger and better paced imo, but part two has left more interesting things open to develop. season 3 is looking to be really promising! the wait is going to be painful

I enjoyed this whole season and will be watching p2 again officially when october rolls around ofc, make sure you do too :3

[lonely-space-ace]

Ok time for some (mostly) coherent thoughts

Spoilers for the new episode below

First off things I didn’t like:

1. 13 regenerating into David Tennant. I have mixed feelings about this.

2. no nyssa/ tegan :( This one I’m not so mad about as i didn’t really expect them to mention it I was just really hoping. Plus on the bright side they didn’t make it Not canon :)

Now onto the things I liked:

1. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaa

2. I was so worried that with Everything happening in this episode it wouldn’t come together but Chibnall pulled it off. I felt like they managed to get the plot together while also having time for some character moments. (which is impressive with the amount of Things theatwere Happening)

3. Dan :( I love you and I’m sad to see you go but good on you for pulling out

4. ACE

5. ACE

6. ACE

7. I really loved seeing Ace if you can’t tell.

8. The moment where seven talked to Ace and called her his child... I can’t

9. Also five and tegan. It was just so good.

10. ALL. THE. DOCTORS. that was such a cool moment and it was especially amazing to see Paul Mcgann

11. Graham! And Ace! not a team up I expected to see but it was fun to watch

12. Ra Ra Rasputin playing with the Daleks and the Cybermen in the backgroud ended me. Peak Doctor Who.

13. Sacha Dhawn in general was amazing and I’ll be sad to see him go

14. Yaz. Yaz my beloved. It was so cool to see her continuing to step into the role of the Doctor

15. Tegan, Ace, and Kate. I love them.

16. I loved all the little moments that were put in to call back to classic who. Adric being mentioned. Tegan and Ace interacting with the master. Ace calling the master out on being part cat. nitro nine. THE BASEBALL BAT. Brave heart tegan. calling the doctor professor. just little things that fit in so well.

17. speaking of classic who THE COMPANIONS. love that the companion support group is now a canon thing and it was so cool to get to see them all onscreen. seeing Ian in particular was amazing

18. I also loved the callbacks to things in new who. The master dancing to music. Kate almost being converted like her father was. All the companions piloting the Tardis like in season 4

19. On that note this episode really did feel like a celebration of the show as a whole, while also giving enough attention to 13 and Yaz. I am a little disappointed that there was no kiss, but I like the way they ended things.

20. The regeneration scene. Aside from the very end, I loved it. Jodie did a great job.

Basically, I loved it. I was laughing, crying, and screaming in excitement the whole way through. Jodie Whittaker has been an incredible doctor, and this episode did a great job of thematically tying off her run, acknowledging the history of the show, and getting us excited for whatever is to come. I always felt that the Thirteenth Doctor’s run was about hope, and I feel like this episode captured that really well.

Now onto writing the twelve fanfic ideas that this episode gave me

[fancoloredglasses]

G.I.Joe (selling America to sell toys)

(Thanks to Hasbro)

[All images are owned by Hasbro. I’m too poor to sue]

If you watched cartoons when you got home from school in the 80s, there were four cartoons you absolutely. Could. Not. Get. Away. From.

Transformers

He-Man (and its sister series She-Ra)

Thundercats

and the subject of this review.

(Thanks to Day in Tech History)

G.I. Joe was originally the world’s first action figure back in the 60s, a 12-inch poseable toy with changeable costumes and weaponry. The brand would remain as such until 1983...

(Thanks to ebay)

...when Hasbro no doubt realized that kids were more interested in 6-inch action figures (thanks in no small part to Star Wars toys) The problem is, it’s harder for smaller-scale figures to have interchangeable outfits, so they molded the outfits on the toys and sold them as separate individuals.

Now they just needed a way to market the toys. You know what happened next.

G.I. Joe follows the adventures of a team of various military specialists from every branch of the US military (you know, just like the real military does, because everyone knows there’s absolutely no rivalry between the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines that would come to blows during their first three-day pass together) known as G.I. Joe. No actual names are ever given, but they all have code-names.

I’m not going to list every one of them (according to Google, there are 163 members (each sold separately) of G.I. Joe (or “Joes”)!), and certainly none of them appear in every episode, but some of the more prominent ones are...

General Hawk, the leader of the Joes.

Duke (his second in command and field commander)

Lady Jaye (Intelligence specialist)

Snake-Eyes (Covert Ops specialist and trained ninja. He is also mute due to an injury early in his career)

Shipwreck (comic relief Navy SEAL)

and Sgt. Slaughter

(Thanks to WWE)

(yes, that Sgt. Slaughter!)

But, even though the series started airing during the end of Cold War, Hasbro didn’t want the Joes squaring off against the Soviets (after all, there are international sales to consider!) Therefore, they created...

...Cobra, a terrorist organization that threatens the entire world (and yet only the Americans are dealing with them) Not to nitpick (actually, I do mean to, as that’s kinda my thing), but how is this “global terrorist organization” getting funding? I mean, there was an episode where Cobra had started a burger franchise and mounted missiles on the roofs of every restaurant. That ain’t cheap, even if you only supply sub-standard food and pay every worker (including the management) minimum wage! Plus there’s all the laser rifles, fighter planes, tanks, and a massive flying fortress to pay for!

Aside from the hundreds of expendable faceless mooks that they’ve somehow managed to recruit, there are a number of upper-tier operatives that for whatever reason are always leading the troops on whatever suicide mission they’re doing that week...

The leader of Cobra is simply known as Cobra Commander. He talks with a hissing voice. If he sounds familiar, you’ve obviously also watched Transformers in the 80s as it’s the same voice actor who voiced Starscream.

Destro is the primary arms supplier to Cobra. I’m not sure who else would work with him (either buying from or selling to him) since he associated with a global terrorist organization.

Zartan is a master of disguise, able to mold his appearance to suit the mission. He leads a cycle gang known as the Dreadknoks.

Storm Shadow is a ninja from the same clan that trained Snake Eyes. The two have a love/hate relationship, often adversaries but have been known to assist the other as long as it doesn’t betray their allegiances.

Finally, we came to Cobra Commander’s successor. It turns out that Destro and most of Cobra’s inner circle was getting tired of getting defeated constantly by G.I. Joe, blaming Cobra Commander for their failures. Therefore, they stole DNA from history’s greatest military minds (and, for some reason, Sgt. Slaughter) to create...

...Serpentor, the Emperor of Cobra!

Somehow, Cobra Commander managed to survive the transfer of power, eventually regaining control of Cobra.

The original series ran for 4 years through Sunbow Productions in the mid-80s. In the 90s, DIC Animation revived the series...

(Thanks to hewey1972)

...though 80s kids missed the old theme.

Like most weekday cartoons, each episode had a message, but unlike the Filmation cartoons it wasn’t embedded heavy-handed into the plot of the episode. Instead, after the Joes have sent Cobra packing one of their members would have a special message for kids like this one...

(Thanks to PSAGIJoe)

If you would like to see an episode reviewed, let me know!

YO JOE!!!!!

[weclassybouquetfun]

Season 3. Three episodes. One crazy.

There was a run Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal where Green Arrow’s former sidekick Roy Harper/Arsenal’s daughter Lian is killed and in his grief he hallucinates that a dead cat is his daughter. To combat his grief he goes off to an alley to do heroin and fights off some baddies by using the aforementioned dead cat.   After that issue, someone commented, “Roy Harper making Jason Todd look sane.” Well, I think TITANS is giving Jason back the title of craziest sidekick. 

Call me Stephanie Brown because here be Spoiler(s).

How prescient was “Battle for the Cowl”?

I was late on watching the episodes but I saw some people on Twitter mad at the depiction of Bruce. I thought it was more complaints about the age of Iain Glen.

Kevin Conroy is six years older than Glen and no one complained about him as Bruce in BATWOMAN

Then as I continued watching I thought people were mad because of how quickly Bruce was seeking to replace Jason (which some are upset about).

credit to @dccomicsjokerm1 on Twitter

As if Bruce didn’t pick up wards like Alfred picked up socks.

But to me, it falls in line with how I view Bruce: an emotionally constipated person who has decided to divorce himself from attachments.  There was an issue of Batman pre-New 52 were Bruce called up all of his wards for a meeting where he told them he would no longer be Bruce Wayne, only Batman because he couldn’t have the people in his circle continually being used against him. I wish I could find the panel because everyone’s face was like, “Oh, Bruce’s being cray again - must be a day that ends with “y”.

But when I got to the end of the first (second?) episode I realized what it is that set everyone off.  Bruce finally did it - after Barbara told him he was as crazy as The Joker, and Dick finally co-signing on that, Bruce killed The Joker which was shocking for two reasons. We all know Batman doesn’t kill *directly*. Letting Ra’s al Ghul fall to his death in a careening train in “Batman Begins” is acceptable. Also, how about blaming Gotham’s poor infrastructure for that. Secondly shocking is that we could all surmise Arkham Asylum’s security was lax because The Joker and other inmates were always escaping, but Bruce killed The Joker inside Arkham and was able to stroll home to tell Dick with the weapon in hand like a dog bringing in a dead bird.

Arkham Guards to Bruce happy to be free of The Joker. 

People have decried the act as character assassination but I’m sanguine about it. There is 82 years of Batman stories canon and AUs; all valid. There is a Batman depiction for everyone. But Bruce’s behaviour in TITANS tracks to the depiction I like of Bruce.  Above all else Bruce lives for being Batman and there are stories over the ages where that is in-play.  Like the Superman and Batman story where Silver Banshee zaps Batman and Superman resulting in Bruce having Superman’s abilities and because Bruce is just a non-powered individual, Clark was able to be a civilian....which pissed Bruce off because with Superman’s abilities he was now free to go across the globe kicking people’s a**es like a vengeful Santa and couldn’t understand how Clark could dare want to live a peaceful life as Clark Kent when he could stamp out crime and stomp on people’s heads.   That left the JLA worried about Bruce so Dick volunteered to talk some sense into Bruce.

Didn’t work out so well for Dick.

There is a reason why Tim said this to Ra’s al Ghul.

Jason- Jason is my favourite Robin and while Jason is a killer he’s not in league with villains so this depiction was a bit jarring, but unlike Bruce who is so emotionally repressed, Jason is all emotion. So angry. 

It’s what killed him in the comics and what killed him in the show but unlike in the comics when he returned from the dead and wanted to kill Bruce for not avenging him, he’s killing Bruce’s legacy - his mission - everything he has lived for.  Which is why Jason let Bruce live in the comics - he wanted to be an ever present reminder of Bruce failing: his ward is now a killer. 

-It could just be coincidence but there were many moments that felt like direct homages to the comics and films like:

- Bomb device in Hank’s chest like the one The Joker implanted in that guy in “The Dark Knight”.  Same with the switcheroo with Dawn at the end of episode 3. 

Jason is the master of misdirection. In the comics he kidnapped Speedy/Mia Dearden, leading Bruce and Oliver on a chase to rescue her not realizing that Jason needed them busy while he let two rival gangs kill each other. 

And “Streets Run Red” where Jason, now a red-head for reasons - lets himself get arrested and sent Arkham so that he could kill a bunch of people. 

-Dick who is now more or less Batman, rushing to the building and one of Jason’s lackey’s falling onto his roof reminded me of the story where Jason maybe/probably/almost certainly pushed a pimp off the roof of a building as Batman was trying to reach them.

- Barbara and Dick talking about how Bruce screwed them up, which is something Bruce realized with Jason.

-How much smarter is it that Bruce would have a holographic dinosaur and coin? So much smarter. 

- I see what you did there. 

- As much as I didn’t like Hawk in season one I hate that he had to die.

Jason, you will never get a statue now. I mean, you didn’t get one before, but now you’re *really* not getting one. 

But I can see why they didn’t want to recast the role. 

I’m assuming Hawk is a goner because Ritchson will be too busy with the Jack Reacher series. 

where he reunites with Kristin Kreuk of SMALLVILLE.

Ritchson even reunited with the other cast recently.