#liberty the cobra

[papysnek]

ducktales woohoo tried to emulate the Ducktales (2017) artstyle. i failed!! i'm joking, it's decent, it's alright. I watched the reboot in December and I absolutely loved it so while my first plan was to make good old fanart FOR ONCE, I eventually settled with my two sillies. that and i'm slow as hell so time is of the essence. also a late valentine's day post? I guess?? no day like any day to celebrate love, isn't it?

[i-eat-deodorant]

so about those scrapped characters, huh.

tw below: body horror, centipede legs

[toxictrannyfreak]

Oh my god no way Hawk’s hair actually looks like a semi-realistic mohawk in the s6 trailer. So proud of him

[newlacesleeves]

(my local restaurant had "cobra kai ribs" on their menu and @russolaw said "Ck au where daniel goes to a restaurant and sees this cause Johnny is the owner" and i went "omg wait that could be something" and wrote exactly that immediately after)

The place has an average rating of 2.5 stars which should have been the first red flag. Daniel would never consider himself a "foodie" out loud but he does go through the Yelp and Google reviews thoroughly before deciding whether or not to actually order from some place new. And the reviews for Johnny's BBQ (shortened just like that too, no time to spell out the full name, Daniel guesses) are a mixed bag: "the owner is a total asshole but the food's worth it" "make sure you go in on a night the owner is there!! he's sooooo funny (and really hot)! GET THE RIBS!!" "honestly it's a miracle the place is open and they can serve food to the public. no way this joint has passed a health inspection. ribs are 🔥 though."

There's no menu available and the website is just a giant crude drawing of an eagle with a chicken wing in its talons on a garishly red background with the open hours and address. No phone number, no link to DoorDash or UberEats. Just the address to a strip mall in Reseda that Daniel drives to with a sort of morbid curiosity and an empty stomach. Sam had told him about the place initially. One of her friends from school started working there and brought in these infamous ribs for everyone to try. Sam hasn't stopped talking about them since.

The restaurant is fairly nondescript from the outside. A true hole-in-the-wall that makes it indistinguishable from the other shop windows it's sandwiched between. The parking lot is half-full and Daniel wonders how many people are here for the barbecue joint.

Most people, it turns out.

There's a line that wraps around the counter and two tables, both of which are occupied. Everyone else is eating with their elbows on the counter, covered in sauce and smacking their lips delightfully with each bite. There's no menu board behind the counter but there is a giant poster of Iron Eagle.

The line moves quick, the skinny kid taking orders at the front looks like he's in way over his head as he shouts out orders to the cook behind him. Daniel can hear the sizzle of meat on a grill and it smells amazing in here. Like a backyard party in the summertime, all smoked meats and hot grills and sweet and tangy barbecue and his mouth is waterning thinking about it.

He gets up to the counter and the poor kid has beads of sweat coming off of his forehead that he wipes hastily with the back of his hand. He shoots Daniel a shaky smile.

"Hi welcome to Johnny's barbecue what can I get you," he gets out in a rush of a single breath.

"Never been here before," Daniel says. "Is there a menu I could look at."

The kid nods emphatically and pulls out a piece of paper that's smeared in sauce stained fingerprints. Daniel takes it gingerly (he now understands that one review about not passing a health inspection) and reads through it. It's your standard fare with some creative liberty taken on the names. Wings with "Thunderstruck" sauce. "White Snake" Drum Sticks.

And there at the bottom of the page, Daniel sees two words that make his eyes bulge and his heart begin to race.

Cobra Kai Ribs

The kid at the counter must see Daniel's face and mistake his terror for awe because he leans over and grins, pointing a saucey finger at the words.

"Oh yeah, you're gonna wanna try those," he says, beaming. "That's Sensei's specialty."

Sensei? Daniel thinks and before he can think to ask a single question he hears from the window -- "Miguel! Quit yapping and start slinging these orders before they get cold!"

Daniel's eyes travel to the source of the sound and there in the window behind an apron covered in barbecue sauce, is Johnny Lawrence. Same bright blue eyes, though there are added fine lines etched into the skin that borders them. Golden locks kept out of his face (and, hopefully, out of the food) by that familiar black karate headband.

He looks. Good. Really good. That review about his looks wasn't lying.

Johnny doesn't see him, eyes trained on Miguel who is mumbling "yes, Sensei, I'm on it" and running to the window to call out orders by their number as customers swarm the counter. Daniel keeps watching him, content to peer through the little window and watch his high school bully get to work on flipping a rack of ribs over with a pair of tongs. The way his white t-shirt, stained and dirtied even with the aporn over it, clings to his body. A body that time has been very, very good to it seems.

Miguel comes back to Daniel with that same exhausted smile and asks, "So? Any thoughts?"

And Daniel says, "Yeah. I'll get an order of the ribs to go."

"One order of Cobra Kai Ribs, coming right up!"

And god dammit, Daniel thinks when he takes his first bite. They are really fucking good.

At least now he has an excuse to come back.

[big-nerd-boi]

Kill the crown.

Idk how to label my posts but ayyyy I gotta brand this right y’all lmao. Anyways!

Since kill the crown is a sequel to Journey to the West, this means I get to use the pilgrimage for my own nefarious purposes HEHEHEHEH- cough.

That means creative liberties as well since I’m terrible at following canon! Especially when I’m honestly looking at everybody like they’re idiots ( Pigsy. Pigsy. PIGSY.) and I am a character development kinda guy.

So with my own version of Tripitaka, he gets a few extra experiences within this long, tedious, dangerous journey!

Along with a not so fancy holy monk design.

The cassock Guanyin had given him is said to be in the wraps carried along with the supplies, so I think he’d prefer something easier for travel.

Did you know he’s only 18/19 starting the journey? I bet he had near chronic puffy eyes from all his crying, which, me during exam week.

Finally, his leg.

Now I’m not sure when it takes place besides when the entire pilgrimage is together. But a cobra demon kidnaps Tang shocker surprise, he pleads to be let go- that he doesn’t wanna be dinner, that monkey is gonna rock their shit, etc.

But the demon just injects Tripitaka with their venom, and waits for it to kill him.

Before it can, he’s saved, demon killed, happy ending! All except, Tripitaka can’t move his left leg. Well he can move it at the hip, but below the knee? Nothing. He can vaguely feel it, put some weight on it, but he can’t move it beyond some bending of his knee.

So Bai-long-bai is immediately tasked to step up his game, and Tripitaka gets to realize that he’s had a far too close brush with death! Fun!

His priest staff is also now used as a cane for when he’s walking.

This can also give him the excuse of why he can’t just run away at times, because he can’t run.

I really really hope I can make his character more likable man,,, something beyond the jerk he is in the book. Okay that’s not just it. He’s complex, I’ll say that.

I just don’t root for him compared to Wukong yknow? He feels flat!

I wanna change that, even if he’s no longer the main character. Despite all my complaints, I still love journey to the west with all my heart and I want to do it justice with Kill the Crown!

I hope I can do that, and that you all can enjoy it as much as I do.

[catparent94]

For Reference Purposes for who is in which episode of ROTTMNT

Hello. I have been looking to see which characters are in which episode of ROTTMNT in a short-list. And I could not find it. So I decided to make this list to maybe help someone else who might benefit from it. And also I tried to put who the main focus is of an episode if it applies. So hopefully this can help someone. And if I missed anyone or the placement is incorrect, please leave a comment so it can be more accurate.

Episode List of Characters in them

A little Chart for how I named the main 6 so it is easier to know what it means

Donnie or D

Leo or L

Mikey or M

Raph or R

April or A

Splinter or S

Season 1

1. Mystic Mayhem

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S, Mayhem

Antagonist:

Draxum, Muninn, Huginn

Guardsmen: Freki and Garm

Random person: Stewart

2a. Origami Tsunami

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S

Minor Character of Main Cast: A, S

Neutral: Salami Ninja

Things mentioned: Spine Breaking Bandits, Island Mangler

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Origami Ninja, Large Origami Ninja

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Mobster #1, Mobster #2

2b. Donnie's Gifts

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R

Antagonist: Meat Sweats

Neutral: Mutant Silverfish, Oozesquito

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Kondescending Kitchen Cameraman, Kondescending Kitchen Contestant

3a. War and Pizza

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A

Antagonist: Albearto

President Pepperoni, Robotic Vole, Cheery Tomato

Neutral: April’s Manager

Neutral Characters that are minor characters: Birthday Boy, Claw Machine Kid, Helmet Kid, Nine Year-Old Girl, Party Kid

3b. Newsworthy

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R

Antagonist:

Introduction: Warren Stone, Hypno-Potamus or (Mezmer-ron)

Animal character mentioned and only in flashback: Doug the Hippo

Neutral: Carly Balmaceda, Clem

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Flashback only Villains: Bowling Pin Creatures, Robot

New York Police Department (debut)

Oozesquitoes

4a. Repo Mantis- Mainly Donni and Mikey Episode

Main Protagonists: D, M

Allie and Introduction: Todd Capybara

Antagonist and Introduction: Repo Mantis

Animal: Nubbins- Repo’s cat turned Mantis

Todd Puppies: Melvin, Miho, Willis

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Man Shopper (debut)

4b. Down with the Sickness

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Narrator

5a. The Fast and the Furriest- Donnie and Splinter episode but more everyone

Main Protagonists: D,  L, M, R, A, S, Mayhem

Antagonist: Meat Sweats

Mutant animals in Meat Sweats' possession

Mutant spitting cobra

Introduction and Nuetral: Señor Hueso

5b. Mascot Melee

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist of Cockroach Mutants in Costumes: Atomic Lass, Joey the Junkyard Dog, Sergeant Woodpecker, Robot Vampire

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Timmy (cameo), Tourist

6a. Shell in a Cell

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Neutral: Jessica Jaclyn, Annihilation

Neutral but group: The Liberty League

Antagonist: Ghostbear

6b. Minotaur Maze- Mainly Leo centric Episode

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Antagonist: Brick Oven Creature, Cheese Grater Creature, Minotaur, Rolling Pin Creature, Pizza Cutter Creature

Neutral:  Señor Hueso

7. Bug Busters

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Antagonist: Draxum, Big Mama, Muninn, Huginn

Background Character: Stanley (Bullhop)

Big Mama things

Battle Nexus arena clown

Battle Nexus competitors

Kelb tal-Fenek Yōkai gladiator, Lizard Yōkai gladiator, Boar Yōkai gladiator

Big Mama's hotel staff

Laundry Yōkai

Yōkai bellhops:

Bird bellhop, Fox bellhop, Frog bellhop, Indian rhinoceros bellhop, Lion bellhop, Lizard bellhop, Otter bellhop, Owl bellhop, Water buffalo bellhop

Yōkai custodians:

Ape custodian, Badger custodian, Cat custodian, Lobster custodian

Octopus elevator operator

Gus

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Oozesquitoes

Atomic Lass (image only), Clem (cameo; image only), Hypno-Potamus (image only), Meat Sweats (image only), Mutant silverfish (image only), Repo Mantis (image only), Stewart (cameo), Todd Capybara (image only)

8a. The Longest Fight

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Foot Antagonist: Foot Clan, Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Origami Ninja

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Announcer, Carly Balmaceda, Ice Cube Tray Advertiser (debut), Sydney Allen (debut)

8b. Hypno! Part Deux- April, Raph, and Leo Centric Episode

Main Protagonists: D, L, R, A, Mayhem

Antagonist: Hypno

Neutral: Taylor Martin, Dale, Noah Sheck, Siegel

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

 Boy #1, Carly Balmaceda, Girl #1 (debut)

9a. The Gumbus- Involves Mikey, Leo, and April Centric

Main Protagonists: L, M, A

Antagonist: Baxter Stockboy

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Mr. Stockboy (debut), Mrs. Stockboy

President Pepperoni (cameo; image only)

9b. Mrs. Cuddles- Raph Centric Episode with the brothers

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Mrs. Cuddles

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Astronaut (debut)

10a. Stuck on You- Raph Centric Episode and brothers

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute

Other Antagonists: Hypno, Warren Stone, Silverfish

Mentioned Doug the Hippo

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

First Witch (debut)

10b. Al Be Back

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Albearto

Al-Beardo the Pirate, Bayou 'Bearto, Chef Albéar, Otto von Bearto, Albearto Land Robots

Neutral for Episode: Baxter Stockboy

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Cheery Tomato (cameo), Manager, President Pepperoni, Tanya Melendez (debut)

11a. The Purple Jacket- Mainly Donnie Centric with April there

Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A

Antagonist: Purple Dragons

Jason, Jeremy, Kendra

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Carly Balmaceda, New York Police Department

11b. Pizza Pit

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Band: DIGG

Groundhog, Honey Badger, Prairie Dog

Pizza Owners: Pizza Lou, Pizza Mike, Pizza Toney, Pizza Tony

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Bigfoot (debut) (image only), Loch Ness Monster (debut) (image only), Pizzasaurus (debut)

12a. Smart Lair- Shelldon Introduction

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Introduction: Shelldon

12b. Hot Soup: The Game- Mikey and Raph Centric

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute

Introduction: Cassandra

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Boss Level Guy

Tang Shen (image only), Video Game Commercial Thugs, Voiceover Guy

13. The Evil League of Mutants

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Ally: Todd

Antagonist: Evil League of Mutants

Draxum, Meat Sweats, Hypno, Repo Mantis, Warren Stone, Carl and Ben (Sandro brothers), Muninn, Huginn

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Origami Ninja

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Big Mama's assistant (debut) (mutates in flashback)

Radisson Hotel Bellhop (debut)

JJG -Reporter

14a. Late Fee

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Mutant Silverfish, Ghostbear

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Conductor, Director, Ferry Captain, Trash Wizard

14b. Bullhop

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Big Mama

Big Mama Yōkai bellhops

Fox bellhop, Otter bellhop, Owl bellhop

Yōkai waiter

Minor Character Protagonist: Stanley (Bullhop)

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

DIGG (cameo)

Groundhog, Honey Badger, Prairie Dog

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Oozesquitoes (flashback only)

Partygoer (Dave Foley) (debut)

15a. Mind Meld- Donnie centric with brothers there

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Protagonist: Shelldon

Neutral: Silverfish

Antagonist even though does not show up: Kendra, Purple Dragons

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

April O'Neil (image only), Mayhem (image only), Warren Stone (image only) (flashback only)

15b. Nothing But Truffle- Meat Sweats, Mikey, and Todd Episode

Main Protagonists: M, Todd, Mind Raph

Antagonist: Meat Sweats, Were-Tree

Neutral: Silverfish

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Mrs. Cuddles (image only), Todd's puppies (cameo)

16. Shadow of Evil

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S

Foot Antagonist:

Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Foot Soldiers, Origami Ninja

More a little separated from Foot but with Foot at moment

Draxum, Huginn, Muninn

Antagonist Animals: Mutant magpie (Bird), Oozesquito

Possible future antagonist: The Shredder (flashback only)

Hamato Ancestors

Hamato Karai (Flashback only)

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Krystal Yistal (debut) (flashback only)

Teen Customer

17a. Portal Jacked!- Leo Centric with Hueso- Leo Centric with Hueso

Protagonists in Episode: L

Protagonists in episode but not main focus for episode: D, M, R

Neutral: Señor Hueso,

Antagonist: Capitán Piel, Kraken Pirate, Mermaid Pirate, Sea Serpent Pirate, Singing Pirates, Yōkai Pirate

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Hidden City Police (debut)

Hidden City Police #1, Hidden City Police #2

Hueso, Jr. (image only), Todd Capybara (image only), Yōkai Granny

17b. Warren & Hypno, Sitting in a Tree- April and Draxum centric Episode

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A

Antagonist: Draxum, Hypno, Warren Stone, Muninn, Huginn

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Carly Balamceda (cameo; image only)

JJG (cameo; image only), Tendril creature (debut)

18a. Operation: Normal- Donnie and Leo Centric and April is there 

Main Protagonists: D, L, M only mentioned, A, Mayhem

New Ally character: Sunita

Antagonist: Cassandra, Foot Brute

Meat Sweats only mentioned

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Biology Teacher

Cindy, Cindy's Father, Cindy’s Mother (debut)

Exploding Frankie (Eric Bauza) (debut)

Flashback: Huginn, Mayhem, Muninn

Pizza Creatures, Trash Wizard, Waiter

18b. Sparring Partner- Franken-Foot and Raph Centric

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R

New Ally: Franken-Foot 

Antagonist: Cassandra, Foot Lieutenant, Cassandra, Origami Ninja

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Lou Jitsu (cameo)

19a. You Got Served- Leo and Mikey Centric

Main Protagonists: L, M

Neutral: Señor Hueso

Antagonist:

Makers of Brutality

Boss Beverly, Ogre 1, Ogre 2

Masters of Barbarianism Boss

Bruce, Snake 1, Snake 2

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Tentacle-Eyeball Yōkai, Unicorns (debut)

19b. How to Make Enemies and Bend People to Your Will- Draxum Centric Episode

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Cassandra, Foot Initiate, Foot Initiator, Foot Soldiers

Antagonist that work with Foot but not necessarily Loyal to it: Draxum, Muninn, Huginn

Golem- Created by Draxum

Separate Villain: Stinkbomb (Harold)

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Customer 1, Customer 2

Female barista, Male barista

20a. Mystic Library

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, Mayhem

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Tiny Origami Ninja

Antagonist but not necessarily bad Person: Bat Librarian, Hush-Bats

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Yōkai Kids

20b. The Purple Game- Donnie Centric

Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, Mayhem

Main Protagonist: Shelldon

Antagonist:

Purple Dragons: Jason, Jeremy, Kendra

Giant Mech- Created by Purple Dragons

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Mrs. O'Neil (debut) (cameo)

Game voice of game (Eugene Byrd) (debut), New York Police Department, Plush dolls (Greg Cipes) (debut), Timmy (image only), YPS deliveryman (debut)

21a. Man VS. Sewer- Raph Centric Episode

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Sandro Brothers – Ben and Carl

21b. The Mutant Menace

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Antagonist:

Baxter Stockboy

Micro-Bots- Created by Baxter Stockboy

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Angry New Yorkers, Man Shopper, New York Police Department, Cop, Sunny Chipperton, Trash Wizard

22a. Turtle-Dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man- Splinter, Donnie and Mikey Centric

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Big Mama, Meat Sweats, Repo Mantis, Warren Stone, Hypno

Yōkai Bellhops

Fox bellhop, Otter bellhop, Owl Bellhop, Penguin bellhop,

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Cute Yōkai- Cat mutant

22b. The Ancient Art of Ninja Hide and Seek

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Big Mama, Gus

Yōkai hellphops

Fox bellhop, Otter bellhop, Owl bellhop

Battle Nexus Announcer (debut)

Big Mama (cameo)

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Kid Cthulhu (debut)

Lizard Yōkai, Server Yōkai, Tentacle Yōkai

23a. One Man's Junk- Raph Centric Episode but all brothers are involved

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R,

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute,

Regular Antagonist: Repo Mantis

Animals: Mrs. Nubbins (mutates in flashback)

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Green Yōkai

Image Only: Hypno, Warren Stone

Oozesquito (flashback only)

Short Yōkai

23b. Snow Day

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, Mayhem

Antagonist: Ghostbear, Oozesquito

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Splinter (cameo)

Background: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute

24a. Cloak and Swaggart- Sunita and April Episode

Main Protagonists for the Episode: Sunita and A

Main characters in episode but not central focus: D, L, M, R, S

Antagonist: Meat Sweats

Neutral but contribute-ish to the plot: Loose Lips Malinowski

Shelldon

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

BBQ Host 1, BBQ Host 2

Cooking Show Host

DIGG

Groundhog, Honey Badger, Prairie Dog

Director at Channel 6

Guy Flambé (debut)

Late Night Show Guest, Late Night Show Host, Painting Show Host, Security Guard, TV Station Employee

Mrs. Cuddles (cameo)

24b. Jupiter Jim Ahoy! 

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, S

Main Antagonist-ish: Marcus Moncrief who thought he was Jupiter Jim

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Images only: Ghostbear, Annihilation, Jessica Jaclyn

Goon 1, Red Fox Cosplayer

25. Insane in the Mama Train

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S

Hamato Ancestors: Hamato Clan Ancestors, Mystic Aura

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Cassandra, Foot Soldiers

Just working with the Foot but not necessarily completely loyal: Draxum, Muninn, Huginn

Antagonist: Big Mama

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Bandaged Yōkai, Screaming Yōkai, Tax Yōkai, Train announcer

Guardsmen

Freki, Garm

26. End Game

Main Protagonists: D, L, M, R, A, S, Mayhem

Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, The Shredder (resurrection), Origami Ninja

Just working with the Foot but not necessarily completely loyal: Draxum, Muninn, Huginn

Ally: Stanley (Bullhop), Shelldon, Franken-Foot, Todd

Hamato Ancestors: Hamato Clan Ancestors, Mystic Aura

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Baseball stadium announcer (debut)

Flashback only but Debut: Council of Heads

Councilor 1, Councilor 2, Councilor 3

Country singer (debut)

Season 2

1. Many Unhappy Returns

Main Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Foot Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, The Shredder, Cassandra

Not necessarily Loyal to the Foot but working with them: Draxum

Antagonist: Big Mama

Big Mama Staff

Big Mama's assistant, Big Mama's soldiers, Fox Bellhop

Big Mama Contestants

Evil Six, Kraken Tom (debut)

The Characters that are there but Don’t contribute to the plot in the episode

Cameo: Albearto, Cheery Tomato, President Pepperoni

New York Police Department

Serge (debut)

2a. Todd Scouts

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, S

Ally: Todd

Antagonists: Tooth Fairies

Dr. Alex Noe, Hunters

2b. Goyles, Goyles, Goyles

Center for this episode: Huginn, Muninn

Meat Sweats- Kind of background character even though he captured Huginn and Muninn

Flashback

Draxum hiring them

Big Mama in episode- Though I think she is only mentioned and there is a cameo

Splinter/Lou Jitsu in flashback

Pictures of Baby Turtles

D, L, M, R

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Gargoyles (debut) (flashback only)

Bro-goyle 1, Bro-goyle 2, Gargoyle, Sarge Goyle

3a. Flushed, but Never Forgotten

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, S

New Character and family?: Piebald

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Minor Character: Franken-Foot, Game Voice

Flashback Only: Trash Wizard

3b. Lair Games- Donnie and Leo Centric

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Minor Character: Shelldon

4a. Breaking Purple- Donnie Centric with Shelldon

Protagonist: D, M, but Splinter just mentioned

Also Shelldon

Characters that Donnie overhears people talking that is important to the plot

Loose Lips Malinowski, Repo Mantis

Antagonist:

Purple Dragons: Jason, Jeremy, Kendra

Neutral Character at Dome place for robots:

Billionaire Guy Eccentric

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Neutral Character for the Episode:  Bat Librarian, Mrs. Cuddles, Baxter Stockboy, Timmy

4b. Repairin' the Baron- Draxum, Raph, and Mikey Centric

Protagonists that are the main focus: M, R,

Protagonist in the episode but not main Focus: D, L, A, S

Antagonist turned Reform: Draxum

Antagonist for Episode:

Guardsmen: Freki, Garm

Councilor of Heads: Councilor 1, Councilor 2, Councilor 3

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

The Shredder (flashback only)

5a. Air Turtle- Leo Centric

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A

Antagonist:  Arch of Aquinnah, Tim Dunkman

Reformed?: Draxum

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Dave

The Daves (debut)- Basketball Team

Daves Player #1, Daves Player #2, Daves Player #3, Daves Player #4, Daves Player #5

Announcer (debut)

The Knights (debut)- Basketball Team

Knights Player #1, Knights Player #2, Knights Player #3, Knights Player #4, Knights Player #5

Player #1, Referee

5b. Pizza Puffs

Protagonist: D, L, M, R,

Antagonist: Big Mama- captured Meat Sweats, Meat Sweats

Tummytello is a thing

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Guy Flambé, Swedish Baker

6a. Sidekick Ahoy!

Protagonist: D, L, M, R,

Neutral: Jupiter Jim/ Marcus Moncrief, Red Fox

Antagonist: Scor-Pion

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Stagehand (debut)

6b. The Hidden City Job- Leo episode with Hueso and kind of Donnie at the very end

Protagonist: D, L,

Antagonist: Big Mama

Auctioneer (debut), Big Mama's soldiers, Shadow Fiend (cameo)

Ally and former villain now ally: Señor Hueso, Capitán Piel

Combine to make Don Suave

Animal Important: Wild simurgh

7a. Always Be Brownies- April and Casey/Foot Recruit Girl episode

Protagonist: A, S

Antagonist for Episode:

Cassandra

Brownie Clan: Julia, Brownie Girls, CJ Girl

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Timmy (cameo)

7b. Mystery Meat- Mikey, April, and Draxum episode

Protagonist: M, A

Protagonist briefly in episode, but not for that long: R

Reformed?: Draxum

Antagonist but I think Draxum sees it as his child: Sloppy Joseph

Neutral: Vivian Slopworth, Dale

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Lunch Ladies: Lunch Lady Edna, Lunch Lady Gladys, Lunchman Stan

Neutral animals: Mutant silverfish, Oozesquito

Student #1, Student #2

8a. Raph's Ride-Along- Raph Centric

Protagonist: R

Antagonist:

Big Mama

Big Mama's assistant

Mud Dogs

Dastardly Danny, Loathsome Leonard, Malicious Mickey

Separated from Mud Dogs: Heinous Green

Hidden City Police

Guardsman 1, Guardsman 2

Minor Characters that are made of the main cast: D, A, L, M,S

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Cameo’s: Cudley the Cowlick, The great Morgan

Villain that only shows up in Picture: Evil Emerald (debut) (image only)

 (cameo)

Yōkai Granny

8b. Donnie vs. Witch Town- April and Donnie Centric

Protagonist: D, A

Witch Town Characters: Gentry, The great Morgan, Mayor Mira, Black Cat Choir, Salem Witch

Minor Characters of Main Cast: L, M, R, S

9a. Hidden City’s Most Wanted- Draxum, Mikey, and Draxum Centric

Protagonist: M, S

Reformed?: Draxum

Minor Characters of the Main Cast: M, D, A, L

Antagonist: Police Officer, Heather, Officer 2

9b. Bad Hair Day- Leo Centric

Protagonist: L

Minor Characters of the Main cast: D, M, R, A, S, Baron Draxum

Antagonist: Yōkai Masseur, Mystic Hair Creature

Neutral: Resort Guard

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Neutral cameo that are there: Mermaid Pirate, Bat Librarian

Greeter (Oliver Vaquer) (debut)

Yōkai Pedicurist

Hidden City Police

Guardsman 1, Guardsman 2

Yōkai Resorter #1, Yōkai Resorter #2, Yōkai Resorter #3, Yōkai Resorter #4

10b. The Clothes Don't Make the Turtle

Protagonist: D, L, M, R,

Antagonist: Hypno

Magician: John (debut)- In it briefly

11. Battle Nexus: New York

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Big Mama

Big Mama Contestants only:

Amphisbaena, Cortex, Sprite, Troll

Foot Villains: Cassandra, The Shredder

Very Confused about how to classify these villains: Meat Sweats, Hypno, Carl Sando, Ghostbear

Reformed?: Draxum

Ally: Todd

Characters I do not know what to put in which Category

Sloppy Joseph (cameo)

12a. Finale Part 1: E- Turtle Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Big Mama

Foot Villains

Cassandra, Foot Brute, Foot Lieutenant, The Shredder

Reformed?: Draxum

Hamato Ancestors:

Flashback only: Hamato Atsuko, Hamato Sho

Hamato Karai (debut)

12b. Finale Part 2: Shreddy or Not

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, Cassandra, The Shredder

Reformed?: Draxum

Shelldon- Death

Hamato Ancestors: Hamato Karai, Hamato Clan Ancestors (cameo)

Ally: Todd

13a. Finale Part 3: Anatawa Hitorijanai

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Big Mama, Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, The Shredder, Cassandra

Reformed?: Draxum

Hamato Ancestors

Hamato Karai, Hamato Clan Ancestors

Cameo: Hamato Atsuko and Hamato Sho ghost, Mystic Aura

Ally: Todd, Golem

13b. Finale Part 4: Rise

Protagonist: D, L, M, R, A, S

Antagonist: Big Mama-but only helps for Lou Jitsu, Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, The Shredder

Reformed?: Draxum, Cassandra

Hamato Ancestors

Hamato Karai (ghost), Hamato Clan Ancestors, Hamato Atsuko (ghost)

[peterkothe]

🦅HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!🇺🇸

CAPTAIN AMERICA vs. SERPENTOR!

An epic throw-down between The Sentinel of Liberty and the genetically-engineered god-emperor of Cobra!

Wishing you all a epic Independence Day!

[evilpenguinrika]

How about 4 and 73?

Ask Game For Fanfic Writers

4. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

OHHHH BOYYYYYYYYYY. I actually have a few I believe. But I'll share a few since this would end up getting way too long lol (plus I would have to comb through my backlog to remember):

I have two plus one rewrite ideas for Ikarishipping. The rewrite is basically just a whole rewrite (for the second time in my life) of my biggest at-the-time on-going fic Bluebells and Lavenders/re: Bluebells and Lavenders that I posted way back on ffnet. The reason being that when I first wrote BbaL I was like, 13-15 and got a really nasty flame comment (I am showing my age with this lol) about my grammar and writing syntax, plot, etc and like, at the time despite English being my first language, I just could not understand grammar or the basics of the English language (look, words are hard okay 😥).

So I decided from that flame comment I was going to rewrite that fic and I did when I was 16-17. But since then my writing and style have changed and I would like to rewrite it and post it on ao3. I think I haven't gotten around to it is because it's just... A lot to do. And a lot to plan. When I rewrote BbaL and wrote re:BbaL I had meticulous notes that I have no idea where they are now.

The other two Ikari fics I want to write, one is insp by Marianas Trench song "Haven't Had Enough" which I also originally wanted to do a Cosplay Music Video back when I was 15-16 because why not lol. Plus CMVs were really popular back in my day (OH GOD I USED THAT PHRASE). I'm not sure if it's still popular now? It would be, also a Modern AU/College AU I think? I haven't really thought that ahead other than "slow burn rivals to friends to lovers" LOL

And the second idea is just inspired by the song "SUPERMODEL" by Maneskin. I'm not sure what the root idea would be other than maybe Paul and Dawn are both huge top models...? Yeah, I hadn't really gotten too far with this idea haha.

Another plot bunny I had on hold is a Hosie one actually! Actually I have a lot but I'll share two:

One is a Modern AU and it's actually inspired by my time working on student films. Except this idea is more Josie has a webseries and brought in friends from her film school days to help her out and Hope is the cinematographer. I started writing it actually, around the same time I was working on my own webseries. But since my webseries project went caput, I haven't found motivation to keep writing this fic.

The second is a Life is Strange 1 AU where Josie is Max Caulfield and Hope is Chloe Price. I wanted it to also be like a "choose your own adventure" type fic as well where at the end of certain chapters with BIG decisions, you would then pick your choice between 2 options and skip to whatever chapter your choice would be in. I think the reason I haven't done this is cuz it's also pretty hefty to write, and also doing a "choose your own adventure" is gonna require lots of meticulous planning that I don't have the spoons for.

73. how do you visualize scenes? do you see it like a movie in your head, or do the words just flow?

Definitely like a movie in my head!! It helps me more when I picture the scenes I want to write in my head and then I just figure out the words from there.

It's especially helpful when I write fight scenes! I watch a lot of anime and other action-based shows (recently binge watched Cobra Kai and watched some clips from The Magicians since I miss that show a lot), so when I write fight scenes in my stories (mainly You're The One Born To Save Hosie series), I just visualize the fights/actions like an anime. I mean, I already mucked up the magic lore in the TVDUniverse so I might as well keep going with the artistic liberties and flair with it haha. Plus, it's really fun writing these anime-esque action fight scenes :3

.

thanks for the ask!!

[ckhalloween]

We have successfully made it through round one with a series of wonderful entries, so take a look and give each week a vote -- and don't forget to take some inspiration about what you'd be interested in making for Halloween Month proper!

Couple of notes: I took the liberty of moving Candyman onto Ghosts rather than Serial Killers, as our boy Daniel is very dead.

I could not find the movie called "Need" unfortunately, as there didn't seem to be any mention of it online, so it has been removed from the poll.

IN ADDITION:

We'll be announcing this year's title soon, as well as unveiling the wonderful designs by @hunkydorkling and @gjdraws for the event

thank you to @cookietastic , @desolateice , @yallwildinrn , and @vveissesfleisch for helping out this year (everyone give them a clap and a cookie of their choice)

Ready?

Let's Begin!

🐍🥋🎃

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Winds of Destruction

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Here I am, dirty and faceless Waiting to heed your instruction On my own, invisible warrior I am a Wind of Destruction!

As many of you might now, I’m a huge fan of the Metal Gear series. What you probably don’t know is  that, despite the series having a penchant for squads of quirky bosses, I’m not really a huge fan of many of them. FOXHOUND? I mean I like Mantis and Ocelot. The Sons of Liberty? I guess Vamp is alright. B&B Corps? I barely remember any of them. I love the Cobra Unit, but that’s because all of them are batshit insane and weird. I’m not saying they’re bad boss fights or anything—far from it, they all offer fantastic boss fights—but as characters I’m not really big on many of these villains.

The Winds of Destruction, on the other hand? I fucking love these guys (and girl).

Metal Gear Rising is what happens when you turn the insane anime action of the main series up to 11, and so it should be no shock the squad of bosses is cranked up as well. Each and every one of these guys is nuttier than the last, and the whole lot of them are some of the most memorable and memetic characters in the franchise. Also Khamsin exists.

Motivation/Goals: So besides the obvious way they tie into the plot because they’re working for Armstrong, each of these villains has a theme song which pretty much details what makes them tick, what they’re about, and expands upon them once you get their health low enough during their boss battles.

Mistral’s theme, “A Stranger I Remain,” details how she has come to this land to sate her bloodlust, and how she truly feels most at home on the battlefield; Monsoon’s theme, “Stains of Time,” acts as a reinforcement of his nihilistic outlook; Sundowner’s theme, “Red Sun,” expounds on his nature as a card-carrying villain and how he revels in the violence and bloodshed he causes; Sam’s theme, “The Only Thing I Know for Real,” lays out his desire for a one-on-one duel with Raiden, his foil, to see who is truly worthy to stand up and continue fighting for their ideals; and Khamsin’s song, “The Hot Wind Blowing,” showcases his patriotic nature as well as just generally acting as a badass boast. Most of these songs  act more as thematic seasoning for the characters, adding on to what is already established in their cutscenes, but for some like Khamsin and to a lesser extent Mistral, it’s pretty much the extent of their development.

Performance: Every single one of these actors really brings their all to make these characters memorable.

Sundowner is the ham and cheese of the group, working alongside Armstrong to ensure that all the scenerey is well and truly chewed. And who better to bring on the ham than Crispin Freeman? Salli Saffioti is Mistral, and is it any shock she’s also played Black Widow before? And also Hilda from Fire Emblem, I guess? Then we have Monsoon, played by John “The Crypt Keeper” Kassir, who delivers everything with gusto as always. Phillip-Anthony Rodriguez makes Sam just as smarmy and charming as a rival should be, and Benito Martinez puts in his all to his brief role of Khamsin. Not a weak vocal performance here, I’d say.

Final Fate: Seeing as they are video game bosses, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Raiden slices each and every one of them into confetti. Special mention to the absolutely brutal death of Mistral, where she gets frozen in liquid nitrogen before you get to shatter her.

Best Scene: For most of them, they only get the one scene followed by their boss battle, with the exception of Sundowner and Sam. Mistral and Khamsin’s boss battles are obviously their finest hours, though Mistral’s takes the cake between the two seeing how explosive and exciting it is, living up to the promise of that first battle with Metal Gear RAY, while Khamsin’s is the finale of a DLC featuring the game’s ultimate jobber, Blade Wolf.

Monsoon has a lot more going for him, because before his boss fight he gives off one of the most amazing monologues ever put into a Metal Gear game, as he lectures Raiden on memes (“The DNA of the soul!”) and his nihilistic philosophy. Then you get to have a kickass boss fight where, if you do well enough, you will make this nihilistic bastard beg for his life as you hack him to pieces.

Best Quote: Monsoon has the honor of dropping the most iconic bit of dialogue in the entire game (outside of everything out of Armstrong’s mouth, of course):

"Free will is a myth. Religion is a joke. We are all pawns, controlled by something far greater: Memes. The DNA of the soul. They shape our will. They are the culture — they are everything — we pass on."

Sundowner, being the massive slab of ham that he is, is no slouch in the memetic lines himself. Two stand out, and that’s his battle cry of “I’M FUCKIN’ INVINCIBLE!” and his proclamation that he wants things to go back to the old ways of war, specifically “IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS AFTER 9/11!” This is hilarious because even with confirming that 9/11 happened in the Metal Gear universe, it still is probably only the second worst thing to happen to New York.

Sam doesn’t really have any great quotes that stand out, but this man is a master of reactions, from his shit-eating grin to his rousing applause. I figured I’d highlight that here.

Final Thoughts & Score: Let’s look at them from best to least best; I don’t think any of them are awful, though some are better than others obviously.

Monsoon

Outside of Armstrong and Sundowner, Monsoon is absolutely the best character in the game. I think part of it is because he so thoroughly represents everything the Metal Gear series is summed up in one character; he’s incredibly philosophical and legitimately fascinating while also being hilariously over-the-top and spouting off some of the most ridiculous and cheesy lines you will ever hear, all while being a bright red-and-black cyborg voiced by a guy famous for acting as the emcee of a horror show. Literally everything about him is the pure essence of the franchise, so even without Kojima’s direct involvement we still got a beautiful 10.5/10 character.

Sundowner

As far as the Winds of Destruction go, Sundowner is second only to Monsoon. He’s just over-the-top in ways I never could have even imagined for this series, and the only thing holding him back is he is almost immediately outdone by Armstrong two levels after you kill him. Still, this bloodthirsty butcher just revels so much in being a huge asshole and delivers all his lines with the Southern-fried charm that only an actor like Crispin Freeman could deliver, and you have a character I wish was around in the good old days after 9/11. He’s an easy 10/10.

Also he is literally just this image as a character, and that’s amazing:

Jetstream Sam

Sam is a really great character in the Cyborg Ninja tradition, easily following in the footsteps of characters like Gray Fox and Raiden himself. The sheer badassery of this man, a normal human whose only cyborg trait is a single arm and yet who is still capable of taking down a RAY by himself, cannot be overstated, and I think he gets a big boost from being playable. There’s an underlying tragedy to the character too, with how he’s something of a fallen hero whose sword was once a tool of justice but who became disillusioned due to his inability to make the world a better place all on his own  and losing to Armstrong in a fight. He’s easily the most complex character besides Armstrong, and his boss battle and theme song are both top notch. I really can’t justify anything less than a 10/10.

Mistral

As much as I love Mistral, it’s hard to deny she is really the epitome of a one-scene wonder. She does not get nearly as much characterization as her compatriots and is very vague and ambiguous even after the DLC… but that might be the point. Her image song is “A Stranger I Remain,” and though we know of her bloodthirsty nature from that song, Mistral still remains a mystery to us to the bitter end. But hey, it’s hard to deny that what we do see of her is pretty impressive (and I’m not just talking about her boobs, I promise). She’s not quite as good as her fellow Winds I’d say, but considering she’s a 9.5/10 that’s not really a knock against her.

Khamsin

Despite having one of the best songs in the game to his name, as well as an intriguing personality and motivations, Khamsin really is incredibly forgettable, to the point his comrades  don’t even bother to mention him in the main campaign. This is not something you should ever be saying about a dude who looks like Quaritch in his mech suit at the end of Avatar on steroids, and yet here we are. Of course, he’s certainly not awful by any means and he makes for a great boss fight, but he falls severely short of the main game’s enemies. Mistral managed to score as high as she did with only having one level to her, but Khamsin only manages a 5.5/10 with the same. Maybe it’s because he just feels so inconsequential… Eh, at least he looks cool.

[beckettj]

There’s No Harm in Repeating - a CS (feat. Captain Cobra) oneshot

Summary: Killian Jones has lived in apartment 204 for a year and has never exchanged more than ‘hellos’ with Emma Swan in apartment 205. That is until a run-in with her son, Henry, results in the boy doing some unintentional matchmaking. For how else do you find out what a woman thinks of you, if not through her four-year-old son? A Captain Swan as neighbors au featuring Captain Cobra moments.

A/N: This fic is inspired by all the wild and wonderful things said to me by various pre-school students over the last couple of years (though I did take a slight creative liberty in one section). And it does get wild. There's no such thing as secrets when it comes to three/four-year-olds.

Word Count: 4432

Also available on: AO3     FFN

There’s No Harm in Repeating

A flask of coffee in hand, Killian Jones stepped out of his crappy apartment, into the just as crappy hallway, to the oh-so-familiar sweet sound of arguing travelling up the stairwell from the entrance hall below.

“Who the hell do you think you are, Emma? You have no right to stop me from seeing my own son!”

“Look at yourself, Neal! You can barely stand! You’re hardly in any fit state to look after yourself, let alone a four-year-old boy!”

Emma Swan. The irritation was clear in her voice, as it travelled up the pungent staircase that Killian started to take down, yet it was her voice which reminded him of the single reason why he hadn’t moved the hell out of the crappy apartment building at any point in the last year. Even when shouting, screaming at her dickhead of an ex with all her might, her voice was as captivating as a siren’s song, drawing him in as the rest of the world fell away around him.

“Every fucking time, Emma! There’s always something with you, isn’t there? You can never just hand him over without causing a scene.”

“Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that you are never able to turn up sober. You need help, Neal.”

“Leave off! I’m perfectly fine.”

“I’d almost believe you, if it weren’t for the slurring.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I can’t believe this! No, in fact, I can! I can totally believe this! This is textbook you, Neal! You get his hopes up and then you let him down.”

“Let him down? I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Yes, and utterly shit-faced, you damn asshole.”

Killian chuckled to himself, having heard enough of their arguments through the building's thin walls to be invested enough to back Emma over her alcoholic ex. He’d also overheard enough to know that when Emma resorted to cursing, she was well and truly pissed. 

Commotions were a frequent occurrence in the apartment complex. Day or night, the residents just did not care. Killian had quickly learned that the best way to cope with it all, was to just treat the whole thing like a soap drama; it was almost more compelling than the ones on television. It wasn’t just Emma and Neal; there was enough drama in the building for him to develop his own soap drama television show if he wanted. If it wasn’t Emma, his lovely neighbor in apartment 205, arguing with her ex, it was the guy in apartment 101 making direct complaints over noise levels, someone accusing the pickpocket in 219 of theft, the guy in 117 finding a megaphone through which to broadcast his crazed ramblings that no one could make any sense of, or the young man in 301 hosting his midnight raves which attracted all the youth in the city like the bloody Pied Piper.

Yes, life in Enchanted View apartments was just charming. And extremely entertaining, in a guilty pleasure kind of way.

The arguing continued as Killian made his way down the stairs, obscenities and insults getting thrown back and forth as Emma went for it in giving Neal a piece of her mind. Killian had to hold back a cheer of satisfaction that she was finally doing such a thing; making himself realize just how invested he had gotten. 

He stayed quiet, not wanting to draw any attention to himself. He hoped to get by unnoticed, to slip out onto the street, and go about his day, leaving them to their dispute. It was only when he reached the bottom step that he determined such a feat to be impossible for Emma Swan stood in the building doorway, blocking his way. Or rather, preventing her tool of an ex-boyfriend from gaining entry to the building. Neal was bladdered; completely and utterly bladdered. Killian had known, from his slurred words, that he was drunk, but the man stood before Emma was well and truly hammered, incapable of standing still, staggering around the doorstep. His movements were slow and shaky, resulting in any attempt he made to get past Emma looking weak and pathetic. The only danger there was of Neal getting over the threshold were if he were to fall flat on his face. Killian chuckled lightly to himself, amused by such a scenario playing out in his head.

“I promised I’d take him bowling so I’m damn well going to take him bowling.”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you chose to go heavy on the booze for breakfast. It’s not happening, Neal.”

“I’m not leaving ‘til I see him. Where the hell is he? Henry! Henry!”

“Cut it out, Neal. You really don’t want him to see you like this.”

“Oh, lighten up, Emma.”

Killian moved off the bottom step, with the plan to slip out through the back door which led into the side alley. Yet, as he began said plan, his eyes fell on the very boy at the core of the adults’ argument. Henry. The four-year-old sat patiently on the bench, positioned opposite the out-of-order elevator, a book open in his hands. Peter Pan, Killian read from the cover. Henry’s head was buried in the book, avidly inspecting the colourful pictures within it but, every now and then, whenever his parents’ voices rose or his name came up, the boy’s head would shoot out of the book, sending an apprehensive glance towards the doorway in which his equally unrelenting parents stood.

Killian thought back to his own childhood, to all the times his mother argued with his drunk father. He recalled how much he hated it, how he always found a way to blame himself for their arguing, and how useless he had felt every time; the urge to help his mother conflicting with the fear of how his father may react if he did. Killian couldn’t help but see himself in Henry but with one key difference; Liam had been there for Killian, right by his side, throughout every argument. Henry had no one, an only child, sat alone on the bench, just a book for company.

Killian wondered over to the young boy, taking up the empty space on the bench beside him.

“What have you got there, lad?” Killian asked, nodding to the book in Henry’s hands.

“A book,” the four-year-old responded with the obvious.

Killian chuckled to himself; ask a stupid question.

“That a good book?” Killian tried again, determined to strike up conversation to distract the lad from the scene behind him.

The boy shrugged, lacking enthusiasm, “It’s okay.”

Henry’s head turned to the entrance again, just in time to see his father attempt to force Emma’s arm out of the way, only to stumble backwards and fall into a pillar.

“Do you want me to help you read it?” Killian offered, successfully drawing the boy’s attention back onto him.

“That’s okay, thank you,” Henry politely declined his offer. “I look at the pictures and make up my own story.”

“Do you now?” Killian replied. “Care to tell me one?”

Henry smiled at him and nodded enthusiastically. He pointed to the picture in his book, a crocodile circling the waters around the Jolly Roger.

“Once upon a time, Peter Pan took a girl called Wendy to a place called Neverland and they flied there but actually, properly flied, not on an aeroplane, with, like, magic and stuff, and it was an island but there were no animals on the island and Wendy was sad because she loves animals,” Henry began to tell his story.

“Oh, why were there no animals?” Killian asked.

“They went in the water with the crocodile,” Henry answered.

Killian wasn’t quite sure what the four-year-old was implying with that statement.

“So, they all went to live in the water with the croc?” Killian checked.

“No!” Henry protested, looking at him like he was stupid. “The crocodile ate them all up!”

“Well, that’s not very kind,” Killian responded.

“Duh, he’s the bad guy,” Henry said.

Killian laughed; that told him.

“Good point,” he conceded.

“Are you going to let me tell the rest of the story?” Henry asked pointedly.

“Sorry, lad, sure, go ahead,” Killian encouraged.

“There was also a very, very, very bad guy on the island and his name was Captain Hook! He was a pirate who got everyone’s treasure and didn’t like Peter Pan or Wendy,” Henry continued, putting a great level of emphasis on certain words. “Peter Pan and Wendy didn’t like Captain Hook because he was naughty and didn’t have kind hands or kind words so they went to fight him. With swords! And a tyrannosaurus rex! And a dragon! But Captain Hook was really stronger and a gooder fighter and he pushed the tyrannosaurus rex and the dragon and Peter Pan and Wendy into the water and the crocodile ate them all up!”

Henry grinned, looking really proud of himself for coming up with such an exciting story. Killian raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t the good guys supposed to win?” Killian asked.

“But that’s boring!” Henry defended his story.

“True,” Killian conceded with a chuckle. “And I must admit, it was a twist I didn’t see coming. You’re quite the storyteller, lad.”

Henry beamed at him, completely distracted from the argument raging on behind him.

“That’s what I want to do when I’m bigger!” Henry spoke enthusiastically, bouncing up and down on the bench. “I want to be a story maker!”

“I’m sure you’ll make a fine story maker,” Killian encouraged, smiling at the boy.

“I’m going to make stories about castles and princes and princesses and space and pirates and dragons and dinosaurs!” Henry told him eagerly, speaking at a hundred miles per hour.

“Wow, that’s a lot of stories,” Killian remarked.

“My favorite dinosaur is the tyrannosaurus rex,” Henry segued slightly, once again impressing Killian with his pronunciation.

“Good choice, lad. Those are the big ones,” Killian replied.

“But they’re all extinct now,” Henry spoke matter-of-factly.

“That’s a big word you’ve used there,” Killian commented as the four-year-old continued to impress him with his vocabulary. “Do you know what it means?”

“It means they’re all gone,” Henry answered confidently. “They died and turned into fossils which is good because if they weren’t died they would eat us all up!”

“You’re just full of knowledge, aren’t you?” Killian mused.

Henry grinned at him, seemingly appreciating the compliment. Killian was just happy to have lifted his spirits slightly, even if it was only temporary. The commotion in the doorway was bound to end eventually and he couldn’t pretend to know how things would proceed from there. In the meantime, Killian was more than happy to keep the lad company; it was far better than the boy sitting on his own, listening to every word his parents exchanged.

“My name’s Killian, by the way,” he introduced himself.

He had seen the boy around the apartment building on multiple occasions. They had even nearly bumped into each other several times; the energetic boy didn’t have the best spatial awareness. They had smiled at each other, waved on occasion, and Killian had exchanged the odd ‘hello’ with his mother, but no official introductions had ever been made. Killian suddenly realized that his conversation with the boy meant that he had had more interaction with young Henry than with the boy’s mother. As good company as the boy provided, something had gone seriously wrong with that one.

“I’m Henry,” the boy introduced himself in return.

Little did the four-year-old know that Killian already knew his name. The apartment walls weren’t exactly thick, and Henry wasn’t quite as well behaved behind closed doors as he was when out in public. There were a few times each week where Emma got forced into resorting to shouting her son’s name to get him to listen to her.

“Nice to meet you, Henry,” Killian smiled at him.

The boy smiled back in return and Killian took a pause from the conversation to take a swig of his coffee whilst thinking of the next question to ask to continue his distraction attempts.

Henry spoke up first, “My mommy says fucking hell.”

Killian spluttered and choked on his coffee as it went down the wrong hole. He promptly recovered and looked at the boy beside him who was looking up at him with such sweet, innocent hazel eyes. There was no way, Killian decided, that such a young boy had said what he thought he had just heard.

“Sorry, kid, I missed that one,” Killian told him.

Henry replied, assured and matter of fact in what he was saying, “My mommy says fucking hell.”

Bloody fucking hell. Killian was out of his depth the second he had struck up a conversation with the boy, let alone when he found himself having to deal with a four-year-old cursing.

“I don’t think you should be repea-”

“That’s what my mommy says to my daddy.”

Killian couldn’t help himself and let out a loud laugh. He glanced at Neal and took in the man’s inebriated state; the way he staggered as he tried, and failed, again, to force his way past Emma who stood strong in the doorway, continuing to refuse to relinquish her position. A series of slurred insults poured out of Neal’s mouth, all directed at Emma and none of them harbouring even a slither of truth.

Killian turned back to Henry, his own chain of choice words coming to mind when he thought of Neal.

“Honestly, lad, I don’t blame her,” Killian remarked.

Henry glanced down at his book and absent-mindedly flicked through a couple of pages, barely glancing at the pictures. Killian took the momentary pause in conversation as another chance to take a swig of his coffee.

“Killian?” Henry spoke up again.

“What’s up, lad?” Killian returned.

“Are you going to have a sleepover with mommy?” Henry shot a random question at him.

Killian frowned, wondering where the boy could have possibly gotten that question from, before answering, “Not that I know of.”

“Oh,” Henry’s shoulders slumped, radiating disappointment.

“What makes you ask?” Killian questioned curiously.

Henry sat up straighter and set his book down on the bench. He turned back to Killian, his eyes wide with excitement.

“Once upon a time, I had a scary nightmare at night-time and it was really, really, really late because it was really, really black out my window,” Henry delved into what Killian feared for a moment was going to be another story ending with everyone getting eaten up, rather than an answer to his question. “And because I was scared, I wanted my mommy and I found her in the living room and she was drinking wine!”

“Did she drink it all up?” Killian asked.

“She drank loads of it. Mommy says wine is really nice but I don’t know because she won’t let me try because I’m not big enough. She says it’s a grown-up drink,” Henry said, instantly making Killian regret asking, distracting the boy from the original point. “Mommy says too much wine make you silly like Daddy, and not in a good way like a clown, but she said she needs wine sometimes to deal with Daddy. She says Daddy drives her round the bend.”

Killian laughed and made a mental note to watch every single thing he said around the boy, picking up on his habit to repeat things he heard. He guided the lad back to the original point, “What were you saying about a sleepover?”

“Oh, yes!” Henry grinned at the reminder. “Mommy was drinking wine with her friend Mary Margaret and I heard Mommy say that she wanted the man next door in her bed. That’s you.”

Killian knew it was him before Henry had even pointed it out to him, given the resident in apartment 206 was a woman. He smiled to himself and looked knowingly across at Emma. She still had her back to him, too caught up in dealing with Neal and was probably totally oblivious to his presence there. She wasn’t, however, oblivious to his presence in the apartment next door; her kid had just made that much clear to him.

She may have been drunk at the time of Henry’s earwigging, but drunk meant free of inhibition which meant there had to be some level of truth to her words. It had been a year since he had moved in, and it was the first hint he had ever received that she was at all interested in him. With nothing but passing exchanges of ‘hellos’, Killian had assumed otherwise but, after talking to Henry, he put the pieces together, realizing that she was essentially a single mother, single-handedly bringing up a four-year-old with a pathetic excuse for a father, which undoubtedly left little room for dating. If he wanted to be more than neighbors exchanging the odd polite hello, he was going to have to make the first move and, armed with the knowledge Henry had given him, he was suddenly extremely eager to do so.

If only Neal would give up already. The man was still arguing his case to Emma.

“So?” Henry spoke up, forcing Killian to take his eyes off Emma and return them to her son. “Are you going to have a sleepover?”

“We’ll see,” Killian responded, trying to be as careful as he could with his choice of words.

‘Killian wants to have a sleepover with you’ coming out of Henry’s mouth was not the way he wanted to approach asking Emma out.

“Are you going to be my new daddy?”

Killian was so glad he wasn’t drinking his coffee in that moment for he would have choked on it again. He stared at the kid, unsure if he really wanted to find out where that question had come from and yet, he was curious.

He couldn’t help himself, “What makes you ask that?”

“When Mommy said that she wanted you in her bed, Mary Margaret said that you would make a better daddy for me than my daddy,” Henry recalled then sighed, dropping his head and inspecting his shoes. “My daddy’s rubbish. He never does anything he says he’s going to do.”

Killian made a mental note to thank Mary Margaret, if he ever met her, for dropping him in it with that one.

“Your daddy’s not rubbish, Henry,” Killian reluctantly forced the words out. “He just needs… a bit of help.”

A lot of help. And Neal needed to accept that fact too.

Henry frowned, looking slightly disappointed, “So… you’re not going to be my new daddy?”

“You’ve already got a daddy, Henry. And maybe, if he gets that little bit of help, he’ll be able to be a good daddy. And if not, maybe in the future Mummy will find you a better daddy,” Killian replied carefully, not at all sure he was saying the right thing; he was so far out of his depth. “For now, though, I can just be your friend.”

A small smile crept onto Henry’s face, “Friends?”

“Friends?” Killian returned the question.

“Yeah!” Henry nodded enthusiastically.

The boy’s smile broadened into a huge grin, one which Killian couldn’t help but return. As they fell into a comfortable silence, the heated exchange in the doorway was the only sound which filled the room.

“You want to see your son?” Emma snapped. “Sober the hell up and get some help. I’m done playing these games with you.”

“Fine!” an exasperated Neal shot back.

“Fine!”

Killian watched as Neal turned and staggered off down the steps back towards the street, amazed and slightly disappointed to see him do so without falling flat on his face. Emma slammed the door on him, the loud bang making little Henry jump. She let out a heavy sigh, and took a moment to compose herself, before turning around to find her son. Her eyes landed on Killian and she narrowed them, confused and surprised by his presence, watching him inquisitively as she walked over.

“Hey there,” she greeted.

“Hi,” he returned.

An exchange of hellos.

Henry jumped up from the bench, bouncing enthusiastically on his feet as he grabbed Emma’s hand.

“Mommy, Mommy, this is Killian, the man next door. He’s my new friend. He’s very nice. He sat with me whilst you and Daddy were arguing again,” Henry told her excitedly.

Emma glanced to the door and there was a harder look on her face when she looked back at Killian, “You heard all that?”

“I heard all the stories your boy was telling me,” Killian responded, choosing not to acknowledge the argument that she didn’t seem too thrilled about him overhearing. Something told him she hadn’t realized just how thin the walls were in the building, and just how many of her behind-closed-doors domestics he had also heard in the past. “He’s got quite the imagination.”

“Did they end with everyone getting eaten?” she asked, a hint of amusement in her tone.

“They did, indeed,” Killian confirmed with a nod. “Quite the thrilling twist.”

“Predictable if you listen to too many,” Emma warned.

“That, I look forward too,” he returned.

She smiled slightly then spoke, with some of the sincerest words he had ever heard, “Thank you, Killian.”

“It was my honor,” he returned, matching her tone. “That’s one fine boy you’ve got there. He’s a real credit to you.”

Even if he has been dropping you in it.

Emma looked down at Henry beside her, ruffling his hair. When she looked back up at Killian, their eyes locked, his blue ones meeting her green, captivating him, drawing him in just as her voice did. Henry’s words echoed in his mind; I heard Mommy say she wanted the man next door in her bed. That’s you. It was him. Emma wanted him and man, did he want her. Not necessarily in his bed (though he certainly wouldn’t protest) but even in general; he wanted her there, with him, beside him, around. He wanted to be hers and, lost in each other’s gaze, he had the chance to take a step in that direction, to ask her out.

“Where’s Daddy?” Henry spoke up first, beating him to it.

Damn it. Bloody Neal.

Emma’s eyes left his, dropping down to her kid once more and Killian followed her gaze. Henry was looking towards the closed door of the apartment building, no Neal in sight.

“He said we were going bowling,” a disappointed Henry sighed.

“I know, kid,” Emma crouched down to his level, pushing the hair away from his eyes before taking his hands in hers. “But Daddy had to be somewhere. He’s really sorry. Maybe in a few weeks-”

“Let’s do it,” Killian spoke up, cutting her off.

Emma looked up at him, frowning, “I’m sorry?”

“Let’s do it,” Killian repeated. “Let’s go bowling.”

Henry gasped, his eyes immediately lighting up as he started excitedly bouncing around again. “Really?”

“If your mum doesn’t mind…” Killian hesitantly trailed off, realizing he probably should have spoken to Emma about it first.

He looked at her. The sharp look he received back from Emma told him he most definitely should have spoken to her first.

Bloody hell.

Had he put his foot in it the very first chance he had gotten? Had he screwed things up before they had even begun?

Emma stood up. She encouraged Henry to take a look at his book whilst she discussed some plans, and then pulled Killian away from the bench and towards the door. Her touch was light and her skin smooth against his arm. He was hit by a pang of disappointment when her touch left him, desperate for more. She folded her arms, guarding herself.

“Look, Killian, I appreciate-”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, cutting her off before realizing he was developing a bad habit of doing so. “I should have spoken to you before saying anything to the lad. He just looked so disappointed.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Killian, but all you did is delay the disappointment, probably even increased it. I can’t take him bowling,” Emma told him with an exasperated sigh. “I’m living pay check-to-pay check as it is and we’re only just scraping by. I can’t afford to take him bowling.”

“It’s on me,” Killian told her.

Emma gaped at him, “Why would you do such a thing?”

The question had multiple answers, as far as Killian was concerned. He could spend all day answering that one. After all, why wouldn’t he do such a thing? He decided to keep his response as concise as possible in an effort not to appear all gushy.

“Because your son is quite the charmer, in his own little way,” he told her. “And it’s about time I asked you out on a date and I can’t wait a week and I don’t expect you to find a babysitter on such short notice. So, Emma Swan, would you and your little prince care to join me on a bowling and pizza adventure?”

“You know my surname?” she didn’t miss a trick.

“I may have peeked at your mail,” he confessed.

“That’s crafty, Killian Jones,” she smirked at him.

He raised an eyebrow at her own crafty confession, “Is that a yes?”

“Hey, kid!” Emma avoided answering, calling over to Henry instead, whose little head shot out of his book like lightning. “Wanna go bowling?”

“Yes!” Henry exclaimed.

The four-year-old tossed his book aside on the bench and jumped to his feet, racing across to Emma and Killian before once again returning to his excited bouncing.

“Killian’s treating us to bowling,” Emma told the boy. “What do you need to say?”

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Henry exclaimed.

Without warning, the boy charged at him, running straight into his legs, and wrapping his arms around them. The action knocked Killian off balance and he would have fallen were it not for Emma grabbing a hold of his hand and steadying him, saving him from that embarrassment. With his balance restored, Killian gratefully ran his thumb along hers as he let go.

“That’s quite alright, Henry,” Killian replied as he gently patted the boy on the shoulder.

“Come on then, kid, go fetch your book and we’ll set off,” Emma prompted.

Henry released Killian from his tight grasp and ran off back to the bench, doing as he was told. Killian’s eyes met Emma’s once more as she smiled at him, a gesture he automatically returned.

“You just made his day,” Emma told him.

“You just made my year,” Killian returned.

[papysnek]

felt like redrawing that one Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga artwork

[exeggcute]

finished playing mgs2 for the first time in like eight(?) years and I almost hate to say it but a lot of the dialogue/patter in this game is mid to bad. and I know it's hard coming off the heels of mgs1, which has the whole story about its english script localizer taking some liberties that weren't totally faithful to the original but added a lot of charm (at least in my opinion), whereas mgs2 allegedly took a more dialed-back approach.

but I don't think it's just a script problem because there are so many moments where the actual line reading is stilted or awkward! they'll be talking too fast, or in a kind of lifeless voice like they're reciting parts out of context, or conversations feel stitched together, and it's especially jarring when those awkward parts come from hayter or randolph or eiding, who all gave stellar performances in the previous game. (I guess you could argue that campbell is Supposed to sound weird for Plot Reasons but I doubt that's intentional since he's meant to be a normal unassuming guy for 90% of the game. plus the fact that it doesn't explain all the other lukewarm moments from other characters who don't have Plot Reasons for it.) although cam clarke was still right on the mark for all five of his lines.

AND THEN mgs3 comes along and everything sounds... fine. good, even. it's not hitting the exact same cadence as mgs1, but hayter is at his prime, there's an excellent supporting cast, general codec patter is lively, and even the history-lesson-with-a-twist infodumps are thoroughly listenable. maybe the cobras have a little less panache overall than dead cell but it's a tough race when the latter includes barry dennen and phil lamarr. I don't know why or how things took such a dip but I'm at least glad they leveled back out.

also I forgot how all the final levels in mgs2 are named after parts of the intestinal tract, which is funny when I have to google "stuck in ascending colon" or will inevitably be talking to my gastro in a week and when he mentions the ileum I'm gonna be like "ah yes... just like arsenal gear."

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Legend of the Dragon S1 Ep 1-13 Watch and Rewrite

I have gone down a rabbit hole by watching a random show from early 2000s (think Liberty's Kids, Sherlock Holmes 22nd Century kind of channel) that is clearly trying to jump on the Xiolin Showdown/Avatar the Lat Airbender and admittedly, it's mediocre but I'm just fascinated by its potential so my writer brain has a loooot of thoughts.

You can find the whole series on youtube if you want to watch before reading cuz this has spoilers.

Here's the plot: The show starts when the previous Golden Dragon has passed on to the afterlife and Ang and Ling Leung, seventeen-year-old fraternal twins, born in the year of the Dragon, are next in line for the Golden Dragon powerband and use of its mystical abilities to defend the mortal world from evil. Ang doesn’t believe he will become the Golden Dragon, as Ling is the best fighter at the Dragon Dojo.

Ling is positive that she will become the Golden Dragon. However, when Master Chin Ho calls upon the power of the Golden Dragon to choose who will be the next Golden Dragon, it chooses Ang. Humiliated and furious, Ling storms out of the temple and is tempted by the dark and evil power of the Shadow Dragon. From then on, Ang is forced to fight his twin sister.

First, the general

Alright, the animation style, let’s face it it’s not the best. But after seeing 80s shows, it’s not the worst. It’s just very dated. It’s a weird combination of some shots are really good, and some just look like bad flash animation yet you can also see the detail in the fight choreography. It’s weird. 

Speaking of fight choreography, the show is just in loooove with doing slow motion shots multiple times in each fight. Like it’s supposed to be epic but since it’s used all the time, I think they’re just padding the air time. And since the speeches are generic, I have fast forward through it unless a shot literally particular interesting or seems to be delivering meaningful conversation between Ang and Ling. 

That or it’s trying to mimic old Kung fu movies with the over the top yelling (gets grating after awhile tbh especially from Ling), people suddenly flying (just assume everyone has the power to fly) and the slow motion. 

As for the powers, each temple guardian has a magic armband that gives them powers related to their zodiac like turning into the animal plus extra like Bengali has super claw rips, the snake guardian turns into a shapeshifting, size changing cobra, the ram has power over avalanches etc. 

Which makes the powers of the dragons disappointing as they display generic fire blasts. I mean if it’s the top guardian, you should put a little something special into the power like flame breath and turning into a literal dragon! So I would give the dragons a power upgrade stat. 

Btw, besides the generic power blasts, each dragon has a voice upgrade. Ang gets a manly hero voice while gets sexy villainess voice. It’s kinda funny because it’s just so unexpected. No explanation for why these teenagers suddenly sound like adults or why that’s part of their transformations, it’s just there. 

As for the dialogue, the show has some spark when it allows the characters to show their personalities with humorous lines that make them distinct but it is also hampered by generic hero speech tropes (like in a fight it’s more about “Incoming” “I know the real you is in there” etc. if you’re going to do the tropes, at least make it specific to your character). Like the animation, it has good potential but also limited. 

Now to the real meat of the show the characters: Like the summary says, the two mains are Ang and Ling who are suddenly on opposite sides due to Ling’s insistence that she deserves to be the golden dragon. 

The first scene brilliantly sets up their personalities with them sparring. Ling dominates the fight with aggressive, offensive moves but Ang manages to outmaneuver her with observation and subtly. When Ang teases her about forgetting Master Chin’s lesson on using your opponents’ leverage, Ling nearly hits him again in anger over losing. 

Foreshadowing. . . Totally 

Ang is set up as the more laid back of the two. Into video games and movies, while Ling has been eagerly awaiting the day to be the temple guardian her entire life. 

As Master Chin invites to the temple, the show further demonstrates their differences and sets up Ang as the real candidate for Golden Dragon. Ling is consumed with getting the prestigious position, focusing on the power she will gain. Ang rightly points out, there’s a lot of responsibility to it too but that’s not interesting to Ling. She will rule, it’s a given, because she earned the spot. 

And so Ling’s pride goeth before fall. 

It’s only natural since Ling represents the yin which is feminine and dark and Ang is the yang, masculine and light (as if the name wasn’t enough of a clue). 

Ling may have memorized the teaching/learned all the moves, Ang is the one who has taken the education/teachings to heart and put them into practice. 

Ling tries to take the armband even when Master Chin tells her it’s not a mistake but it electrocutes her and when he assures her that her real destiny is to support the Golden Dragon and teach the next generation like he did, she blows up and directs all her anger at poor Ang who doesn’t even want the position. 

Anyway, I’ll go into my thoughts about what I thought about the split in the episode discussion but from therein, Ang maintains a typical protagonist personality when one is suddenly the chosen one. He is upbeat but sometimes he gets lazy, he doubts his capabilities, he delivers a few noble speeches.

Even though he’s a bit generic, he’s still relatable and a good protagonist to follow. It helps that his relationship with his twin brings out his flaws. Like his optimistic belief that she’ll regain her common sense and stop trying to take his position as Golden Dragon.

Despite her many actions on the contrary, he still believes she can be good again even though no one else does. In fact, he gets very defensive when others call her evil or psychotic (no matter how accurate a descriptor). He’s just a very loyal person and will do anything to protect his friends.

I still think that he needs a different name if only because Ang is too on the nose for symbolizing Yang. And the other famous Aang from A:TLA. If you’re gonna take the name, it’s gonna bring up unfair comparisons to that masterpiece. Do you really wanna be known as “the other Ang”?

Ling is arrogant, aggressive, entitled, not self aware at all. . . Pretty much a good villainess in the making. I feel like the show (so far) needs to work in more positive traits as to justify Ang’s intense belief in her ability to be good again. 

But she does make a good foil to Ang, easily countering him in battle and thinking ahead of him. Plus she makes a good snarky Shego to Zodiac Master’s Dr. Drakken, introducing such ideas as hacking Ang’s phone to track down other armbands and temples or to ambush him. 

I’ll discuss more about how to improve her characterization in the episodes below. 

Which brings me to the antagonist, the Zodiac Master. He’s a pretty generic villain, wanting to gain all the armbands so he overpower the Golden Dragon and achieve power all for himself. 

And. . That’s it. I know it’s a kid’s show but this was around the same time as Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego and Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, surely they can work in more backstory and motivation than just power for power’s sake. Like how did he even get power? Was he a former guardian, does he relate to Ling in not getting what he “earned” so he is taking it all by force? He needs more, which I’ll get to below. 

I’d also improve his powers which are generic power blasts (seriously why give the secondary guardians cooler powers than the protagonist and antagonists?). He does demonstrate life force draining in one episode which I think he should utilize more to make him a more dangerous threat. 

But between him and Ling, he’s the Dr. Drakken if Dr. Drakken was more evilly competent and took himself way too seriously. 

Master Chin, the teacher of the dojo and all the guardians is another generic (maybe even stereotypical?) wise master character delivering vague wisdom and a sometimes humorous old man line. I also wish he had more of a backstory and developed a more fatherly guardian ie. Uncle Iroh from A:TLA 

Bengali is the Tiger guardian and friend of the twins. It doesn’t say how long but one must assume they grew up together and she’s a little older since she’s been guardian for awhile (seriously this show needs to work on giving people backstories!). 

She’s kinda generic too. She’s a good friend, sometimes teases, sometimes is the voice of wisdom, will go along with the others hijinks, delivers quips during battle. She’s similar to Ang in that she focuses more on the spiritual side of being guardian rather than martial. She also has feelings for him (okay not yet but it’s obvious as the only non related, reoccurring female, she’s gonna be a love interest, let’s not kid ourselves). 

If I had to improve her, I would give more of a backstory on her feelings as being Tiger guardian. Since everyone seems to be an orphan in the show, maybe something about how being a guardian gives her a community, gives her a purpose in life, the spiritualism allows her to find acceptance in the face of so many unknowns of her origins, gave her confidence. 

According to wiki, Tiger personalities are passionate, stubborn, generous, and with a strong sense of justice. She can provide some contrast to Ang as believing things are black and white in Ling’s case and she needs to deliver the hand of justice to eliminate the threat Zodiac Master and his sister pose. If you have the whole Chinese zodiac, lean into it.

Xuan Chi is the Monkey guardian and is exactly what you would expect. At least with western depictions of monkeys, he’s a goofy jokester. Raised in the jungle, Xuan Chi isn’t quite used to civilization and is mainly there to serve comic relief. I think kids would like him even though his one note monkey jokes can get annoying after while. Luckily, he is more than one note as he provides common sense to Ang when the latter continues to ideally believe his sister can change or tries to take short cuts of his guardian training. I like their burgeoning friendship. 

Xuan Chi also has some mistakes in his past like the fact that he came to the dojo seeking help when thieves stole his armband. He doesn’t have powers like the others but his martial arts and tree swinging (and bananas) skills keep people off balance, providing dynamic fights. The loss of his armband provides some depth as he struggles with the humiliation and shame of failing his duty as guardian, revealing the insecure teen behind the happy face. 

Now the first half of the season:

Alright I described most of the first episode up to Ang getting the armband at which point, Ling blows up and the Zodiac Master appears with samurai goons to kidnap Master Chin. This gives the show an excuse to show Ang’s powered up Golden Dragon transformation and save the day. Ends with Ling swearing that no matter what, she’ll take that armband from Ang and become the golden dragon herself. 

First thing I would change is Ling’s reaction, vowing vengeance and all that. She acts more like a frenemy than a twin sister. She shows no care for her brother, and is so willing to hurt him for her supposedly “earned” position. There’s no connection between them and makes it hard to see why Ang would continue to root for her redemption and familial bond when Ling feels nothing on her end. 

So I would change her reaction to her, still being angry, but trying to calm down and say that she’ll try to support him and teach him better cuz he’s still the baby brother. 

Episode 2: Here, Ang goes with Master Chin to the dojo with Xuan Chi who came seeking help to retrieve his stolen armband. That will be saved for another episode as Ang is concerned with the sibling rift. Ling goes to the cliff side to calm down and the Zodiac Master appears to preposition her. Together, they can team up and steal the other armbands so they can eventually overpower the Golden Dragon. 

She hesitates for like 3 seconds because she knows he’s evil but damn her resentment makes her easily give in to his proposal. He gives her the shadow dragon armband (basically evil twin, I mean yin powers), she shows up at the dojo, transformed and drunk on the dark side. Ang eventually defeats her, and kicks off the whole series arc. 

The major change I would make here is to continue to make Ling less psychopathic. Have her totally refuse Zodiac Master’s offer because he’s everything she's been trained to fight against. She may not be the golden dragon but she has honor!

Zodiac Master would reveal his backstory-he used to be a teacher alongside Master Chin, training future guardians and warriors. But he grew weary over the years of watching guardians make foolish mistakes. He, with all his wisdom and experience should be the one with the power, he wouldn’t make those stupid mistakes. He knows better than all. So he struck out on his own and got the yin armbands (which corrupted him and so his original good albeit arrogant intentions have disappeared. Now he’s all about the power) 

Ling refuses and returns to the dojo. The Zodiac Master vs Ang/Xuan Chin/Ling fight would happen and after several bad mistakes, Ang would triumph. 

Ling wouldn't be able to appreciate Ang’s eventual victory through his out of the box smarts. All she would focus on is his mistakes and how, if she had been the Golden Dragon as she was supposed, she would have defeated the Zodiac Master with decisiveness. She would have defeated him once and for all, she wouldn’t have let him escape. She should be the Golden Dragon and if only she had the chance, had the armband, she could prove it. 

So she goes to Zodiac Master and accepts the offer, becoming the shadow dragon and the dark side seeps into her. 

Eye on the Tiger, Hero Worship, Terra Unfirma, Master of Sarcasm: All are good episodes, introducing other guardians, have Ang put his training and teachings into practice, some generic hijinks like “Don’t meet your heroes” “What being a hero/warrior really means” “Appearances are deceiving” etc. 

Although I must admit Hero Worship is really dumb in Zodiac Master believing a regular movie actor is an actual warrior even after Ling tells him Wang Lee is just a lame actor her brother worships, he still kidnaps the guy, convinced that Wang Lee is capable of teaching any martial arts to Ang when it’s the other way around. I do enjoy the Drakken/Shego vibes. 

Eye on the Tiger feels a lot like filler even as it shows Bengail’s Tiger guardian prowess. It was more focused on the fight scenes than character interactions or dialogue. Here, I would add more emphasis on Bengail’s friendship with the twins and the characters realizing “oh shit, Ling is serious about being a bad guy.” It does show Ling being not a total psychopath as she refuses to kill Bengali (just fight her and knock her out and steal from her but not kill) 

Terra Unfirma was fine though I wanted more ox guardian action. I liked Zodiac Master’s idea to combine the ram and dog armbands even if it put him over his head and Ang had to help him out in the end. 

Master of Sarcasm was the best. Not just because I liked sarcasm but because of the location change. Ang and Xuan Chi travel to Vietnam to learn discipline from Shoong (unbeknownst to them, he’s the pig guardian though his surroundings should provide a huuuge clue). He was a lot like a gruffer, tougher Master Piando. So enjoyable. 

Temple of Changes was disappointing. After failing in his training because he wants to hang out at the movies and do normal stuff, Master Chin tells Ang it’s time to go to the temple of changes as all the golden dragons before him have done. There he goes through some trippy sequences and fights a dark samurai before emerging victorious and more confident in his abilities. 

This was disappointing as Ang’s big test was fighting himself. Like literally fighting himself with very few psychologically painful taunts of his inadequacies. There was no reckoning with his destiny vs his wants. 

So I would change this with a poignant flashback to Ang’s past. A few months ago to be exact where Ang is playing a game on his phone while Ling spars with Bengali. In the present, he thinks about his new role and his past certainty with his future. He had thought that Ling was sure to be the golden dragon so he didn’t apply himself with the same intensity. He thought he would teach others like Master Chin. That he’d be able to travel, go to university, be able to hang out with his friends without responsibilities and new foes. Now he’ll be bound to the temple, always on alert for evil and he isn’t even as formidable of a warrior as his sister was. Why him?

So the temple would have him face these questions. Since Ling wants the armband so bad, why not give it to her? Why hang onto it? Because of destiny? Does he want this destiny? Is he capable of being a good guardian? Can he actually become better than he is? 

So the temple would force him to really think about why he chooses to stay in this role that he never asked for, ultimately deciding that he is doing it because he wants to. He wants to protect his community, his friends. He believes there needs to be a golden dragon in the world. He’s accomplished so much already, he can do more and he wants to improve, inserting some of the lessons Master Chin has taught him. 

Mindbender is another semi disappointing episode with a good premise that doesn’t go as far as it could. It’s Chinese New Years and everyone is celebrating new beginnings. Ang hopes that will include Ling coming back to her senses which everyone rolls their eyes and warn him that Ling won’t change, he needs to give up the idea. Zodiac Master attacks, setting up a distraction for Ling to sneak into the temple and ambush Ang when he goes to recharge his armband. In the midst of battle, Ang gets knocked out with amnesia and Ling sees the opportunity to trick him into giving her the armband. 

Predictably, it nearly works but Ang’s memories come back and he changes to the right side at the last minute. Also, in the episode, Ling should do a better job of convincing Ang she’s the real golden dragon if she doesn't get impatient and transform into the shadow dragon so they can escape the cave they’re trapped him. That was just so dumb. 

To make it more dramatic, the plot will go as shown up till the amnesia. Ling tricking Ang will have more weight as she references their past relationship (including a cute beach flashback), she is imbuing it with truth. She has always looked out for her brother, she protects him, she cares for him. She wants him on her side as always. And here, one can tell she means it even as she’s angling for him to give her the armband. Again, this will make her look like she has actual emotion instead of a manipulative psycho. 

Ang will regain his memories in time with the help of his friends, and defeat the Zodiac Master and Ling. Only their face off will end with Ang deciding to officially cut off all hope that Ling can be redeemed. He is too hurt that she was willing to manipulate their twinship, to corrupt their happy memories. She’s gone too far. 

Episode ends with Xuan Chi, Bengali, Master Chin and Ang having a fun New Years meal with Ang appreciating his new family. 

But there’s a flashback to his previous happy new year with Ling and Master Chin. Flashback ends to Ling sitting alone at the cliff side, staring at her locket with their baby picture. As fireworks bloom overhead, she decisively closes the locket and walks away, a tear running down one cheek. 

Chow Chow is yet another interesting episode that could do more with its ending. 

It all starts when the Zodiac Master is trying to resurrect the original dak Emperor of Yin, and tries to use Ling to do it by allowing the Emperor to drain her life force. Well, Ling isn't going out that way and realizing the danger she's in, tries to contact her brother for help. But the Zodiac Master intercepts the email and goes to ambush him, making it seem like it had been a trap all along. 

Now I like that idea, and the subsequent execution where Ang does the smart thing and hides his armband before getting subdued by the Zodiac Master in battle which enrages him when he realizes that Ang is useless. 

And Ling makes it much more difficult when Ang accuses her of setting him up and she gets all defensive that he doesn't believe her. I mean, girl, you have set up plenty of times before, you can't blame him. 

Nonetheless, when Zodiac Master threatens to suck her life force, Ang gives in and agrees to show where he hid the armband.

And while all this is happening, Ang's friends have teamed up with the dog guardian, Chow Chow to literally sniff out where he's been kidnapped. I just find these specific guardian traits/powers super fun. It also comes to an entertaining battle where Xuan Chi grabs ahold of the dragon armband and temporarily becomes the Golden Dragon. 

Cool but brings a few plot holes to why did it reject Ling if Xuan Chi can just take it? Does it only repel evil? Then why don't the other armbands repel Zodiac Master when he steals them?

In the end, there's a big fight and Ling returns to Zodiac master despite him trying to kill her just hours ago, proving how stubborn she is about holding a grudge against a brother who has only tried to help her. While Ang realizes she was telling the truth and admits that he wishes he could give up on her, he's sad to admit he just can't. 

So I would change the ending a bit. After Mindbender, Ang won't have any trust for Ling so when he gets her email, he just straight up assumes it's a trap. The plot will go on as expected only Ling will be taken aback by the fact that Ang was prepared for the betrayal and doesn't believe her. He just wants to learn what the Zodiac Master is planning. The life force draining will still take place as well as the battle. 

But the reason Ling stays with the Zodiac Master despite him trying to kill her will be because she sees that Ang doesn't trust her and she is totally alone. So she convinces herself that because this night turned out fine, she can handle it. She never needed Ang's help even if he had offered it. She'll show him and she will show that backstabbing Zodiac Master, furthering her evil descent.  

Monkey Mission was a very fun episode, giving Xuan Chi more depth than I ever thought he would get. For one thing, apparently he has PTSD-esque nightmares of losing his armband. You see, he didn’t just lost a fight to some temple robbers, they held him down and electrocuted him. No wonder he has nightmares! 

But now, he has a clue of where the thieves are going. They’re auctioning it and other temple items off like any good temple robber and Zodiac Master is on call to steal it back. 

Why doesn't he just buy the armband since his civilian disguise looks like he’s the head of a majorly rich corporation, I don’t know, but I guess he’s cheap. 

Anyway, it was a bit of Indiana Jones and a bit of a regular martial arts movie with three separate acts and gave Xuan Chi a chance to shine and prove to himself that he’s an honorable warrior even as it leaves off with a cliffhanger of the armband going missing again. 

The Emperor of Darkest Yin was an episode that felt like a filler with Ang and Xuan Chi disobeying Master Chin's warnings that teaming up with Zodiac Master's vengeful ex-partner. This ex partner calls himself the Master of Red Chi whose powerful blasts mostly make up for his incompetent combat skills. 

I liked the message, "When you  try to use the force of evil, it is evil that ends up using you," and it plays it straight with Master Red Chi double crossing them for another of Zodiac Master's traps as well as the twist ending. 

But it felt riddled with holes like why doesn't the Red Chi Master not have a name? Where did he learn red chi? Can anyone else learn or was he just born with it? His story was very vague and felt like it could have been expanded to add to the magical lore of the show.

The fight in the Hong Kong docks also felt silly with the Zodiac Master's entire samurai army in view. 

Like is this like Marvel New York? Are the people used to samurais and bombs in their harbor? Isn't this supposed to be a secret mystical battle? Just the concepts of what is secret and what is normal in this world is unclear? 

I would have kept the use your enemy concept but have Ang try to outwit his sister, the way she has been doing the previous episodes and throw in the Red Chi Master for the red herring (this was unintentional, I semi swear).

The Last Dragon- I actually have no complaints with this episode. It was solid story wise, revealing that the previous Golden Dragon was the twin’s father who had Master Chin erase their memories to protect him from their enemies. Of course, Ling is dumbly manipulated to turn her rightful anger toward Zodiac Master for murdering her father to being furious at her father for “abandoning” them. 

But the show actually pulls through and has her realize the truth thanks to Ang and of course, a cheesy flashback. 

And then they team up to fight the Zodiac Master! 

It’s a temporary truce but I enjoyed that it touched on my previous complaints that Ang was the only one acting like they had a familial bond. Also Ling was less hostile psychopath and demonstrated she may have some good after all. Also them as kids were cute. I would just change the animation of the last scene because it looked less like a hug in the moonlight between twins but the beginning of something else between not siblings. . . so ew.

Spy Hard was also a fun episode. As you might guess, it’s a James Bond parody! Well a parody if James Bond had mystical possession and martial arts powers. Okay, it doesn’t really follow any James Bond movie plot but the Rooster guardian,Lo Wang has a Sean Connery voice which is delightful to listen to. Ang learns a bit about thinking before acting which I’m pretty sure he learned before but I didn’t care since I was enjoying Sean- I mean Lo so much. 

Also, Ling continues to return to her roots by fighting against Zodiac Master again. While she was originally down for the whole possessing the dragon temple, she’s not in it for corrupting the Golden Dragon temple’s spirit with the darkest yin. If she’s going to steal the Golden Dragon, she’s going to do it honorably! 

So yay? She’s not quite on Ang’s side but she’s not the Zodiac Master’s idiotic puppet either. And Ang trying to do an awkward fist bump was surprisingly endearing even if Ling didn’t reciprocate. You could tell she kinda wanted. 

So yeah, as I write this down, I can see that it’s really starting to improve as the season goes on and I’m excited to see what the second half of the season does. 

[belphegor1982]

In 2019 @storyshark2005 made a timeline for the Cobra Kai series and the Karate Kid trilogy (on AO3 here!). It’s an invaluable resource in itself, but they also included a map of the San Fernando Valley with the main locations!! I took the liberty of making a similar one, only bigger, with a couple of addresses provided in the show (like the LaRussos living on Escalon Drive, Encino) and also Mr Miyagi’s house/the Miyagi-Do dojo, whose original filming location was on Gault Street in Canoga Park (it’s been destroyed since then but it’s such a perfect location - plus I think Mr Miyagi wrote the location’s address on the back of the letters to Yukie we see in season 3).

Have fun with it :o)

[pvtjxker]

So, I was thinking about what would be the fav pieces of media (movies, series, comics, music ect) of the Lusthogs if they were in modern times yk.

So I made a list. Of all of it. For each.

(Philosophy oral tests can be boring when you're the one not to be tested.)

Let's start lol

DISCLAMEEER

There will be some Italian pieces of media too because well I'm italian and some of them are so oddly specific (Google them or ask me if you want to know more)

Joker

Movies: Spaceballs (Mel Brooks), Deep Red (Dario Argento), Once Upon A Time In...Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino), Mississippi Burning (Alan Parker)

TV Series: Yellow Jackets, Narcos, Babylon Berlin, Ted Lasso, Boris

Comics: Garfield, Beetle Bailey

Songs: Christmas Kids (by Roar), Kevin Spacey (by Caparezza), Badge (by The Cream)

Other: Westerns, expecially with John Wayne (for obvious reasons). (He watches them with Cowboy).

Cowboy

Movies: The Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry), Dance With Wolves (Kevin Costner), The Hunt Of Red October (John McTiernan).

TV Series: 1883 and 1923, After Life, Gomorra.

Comics: Tex, Lucky Luke.

Songs: Southern Night (Glenn Campbell), Can't Find My Way Home (Blind Faith), It's Too Late (Carol King).

Other: Westerns (he watches them with Joker).

Animal

Movies: Predator (John McTiernan), Karate Kid (John G. Avildsen), Two Lane Blacktop (Monte Hellman).

TV Series: Cobra Kai, The Pacific, Magnum P.I.

Comics: Beetle Bailey, Sin City.

Songs: Bulls On Parade (by Rage Against The Machine), Rigurgito Antifascista (by 99 Posse), Satisfaction (by Rolling Stones)

Other: he's a fan of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. For obvious reasons.

Rafter Man

(yeah, I found out just now that his nickname is supposed to be to be written like this and my life was turned upside down in pure "Prince Of Bel-Air" style.)

Movies: To Kill A Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan), The Naked Gun (David Zucker), Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis)

TV Series: Stranger Things, Community

Comics: Beetle Bailey, Liberty Meadows

Songs: Revolt (by Muse), Where Did All The Time Go? (Dr. Dog), Snap Out Of It (by Arctic Monkeys)

Other: he loves photo albums (no need to say why).

(@rosemarynightmares I think you would like this)