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sirmattchap · 3 years

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The Dawning

“You h-have no idea how-w-w lucky you are, to not feel cold…” Tank bitterly spoke between chattering teeth. His blood was frozen, and his bone gripped by the icy tendrils of the encroaching blizzard. His decrepit armour provided no protection against the elements. The fireplace he crouched in front of weakly flickered with life, the ramshackle cottage he sat in was home to a constant battle between the fragile heat, and the oppressive cold from outside. An electronic snicker came from across the room from a dusty table. Atlas sat with crossed legs, scrolling through documents on his datapad, paying no mind to the chilly air blowing through the broken window next to him.

“And you have no idea how lucky you are, not having to defragment every month.” He brushed some snow that drifted in off of his robes. “Do you ever miss it while we’re on operations?” Atlas asked, not even looking up from his work.

“It?” Tank looked at him and moved his hands closer to the flame. “You mean The Dawning?” Tank shrugged and looked back, the small blaze reflecting off his sapphire eyes. “I guess… Not much is different, maybe some new snacks at the stores. I guess this year, there’s just more to think about you know?”

“Agreed. Too many changes for my liking. I prefer things to be boring and simple.” he reponded

Tank reached into a pouch on his side and pulled out a small ring and rubbed it gently in his palm. “I think I miss the people the most… it’s so isolated out here.”

Atlas looked up from his datapad and tilted his head. “What, are we not good enough company?” He snarked.

Tank laughed and admired the ring. “No offence but being around you guys kinda got stale after the first hundred years” He shot back with a sly grin.

“HURTFUL!” Hayes shouted, kicking in the door to the cottage, with him came a burst of snow and blisteringly cold winds, instantly snuffing out the fire. Tank’s head snapped to Hayes. A new inferno roared inside his eyes as he stared into Hayes’ very soul. Atlas almost burst out laughing seeing the fire go out. Hayes ignored it, willfully or accidentally, neither was sure; he just rested his rifle next to the door and walked to the fireplace

Tank clenched his jaw and hissed. “I will make sure your Ghost never finds your remains…” Hayes smiled and stopped next to him, tousling Tank’s short grey hair, which only heightened his rage. Tank fists clenched, surges of arc energy sparked off them.

“Calm down old man, no need to break your hip.” Hayes pulled out a flaming hand cannon from behind his back and held it beside Tank’s head, shooting into the fireplace. A blast of heat filled the cottage, burning a patch of hair off of Tank’s head. “There, happy?”

“Ahhh! Bastard!” Tank patted a small patch of cindering hair. “Why am I not even surprised at this point!?” Hayes shrugged and sat down across from Atlas, leaning back on the chair and propping his legs up on the table. Tank’s Ghost took shape next to his Guardian, healing the man before disappearing again. Tank immediately stood up, gliding his hand across the fresh area of hair, all while glaring at the blasé Hunter, idly smiling widely with his eyes closed.

“No need t’ thank me!”

Atlas looked away from his document, resting his head on his hand, watching the two intently. “Frankly, I’m amazed it only took a hundred years for this to get old.”

Hayes let out a small laugh, “C’mon, y’know you both love me, without me, it’d just be you two and no offence, but that’d be soooo boring.” He cracked open his eyes and stared down Atlas. “Well, more boring than usual.”

Tank sighed, “How’s it look?”

“Well Jim, it looks like it’s gonna be another sunny scorcher out here, make sure to pack your sunscreen.” Hayes sassed, relishing the stern unimpressed look on Tank’s face. Atlas never gave him disapproving looks, that’s the worst part about trying to annoy Exos as he’d say. “Well, if you must know, it’s the same as yesterday and the day before and so on. The remnant of these Devil’s are still keeping their head down and battling out the Winter. I can’t possibly imagine what that’s like.” He rolled his eyes.

Tank rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a seat between the two. “And the Tower?” Tank looked to Atlas, expecting a much better result.

“No new orders, but a bunch of new news. Rumours say The Guardian has found a way to use the Darkness? That can’t be right… can it?”

“Mercury and Mars are just... gone. At this point anything is possible,” Hayes noted.

“Anything else?”

“Hmm… Dawning wishes from Eva, Tess gives us gift cards for one free Bright Engram when we arrive at the Tower. Lynnette wishes you a happy Dawning too.” Atlas gestures to Tank, before continuing “a bunch of messages from the usual suspects asking for Hayes to come back and open the bar-”

“Ughhh I’m missing out on so much business…” He groans while dragging his hands down his face. “Especially with the Darkness being here? People need to drink away their fears.”

Tank shook his head, keeping quiet to let Atlas pick up where he left off. “Weird structures have been appearing on the Moon, in the Dreaming City and the Tangled Shore, and Osiris… Oh no…”

“What?” Tank and Hayes leaned forward, both of them trying to hide a string of fear that rang in their hearts.

“...Osiris lost his Ghost… He is safe in the Tower, but he is reclusive and quiet since he lost Sagira...” Tank and Hayes moved back shocked. A quiet note hung in the air, as the wind outside picked up and snow fell like hail. Atlas turned off his datapad and spoke hushedly. “How long did he spend in the Infinite Forest? Several decades? Spending so much time alone with the same Ghost, never saying a word to anyone else, isolated like that. Can you imagine that?”

Tank looked to Hayes, who gave him a knowing smile. “Yeah, I think I could.” Hayes chirped.

Atlas glared at Hayes, “Yeah, but you have not lost Chaplin, Tank has not lost Omar, and I have not lost Cassini. To lose them would be losing a part of your soul.”

A ghostly silence fell among them, stopping the conversation in its tracks. They all hated the silence, but no one could muster the ability to speak first. Their thoughts all consumed by the idea that the apocalypse is coming, and they could be next. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes dragged on for hours. Or at least it felt like they did. Then, Omar appeared next to Tank, speaking softly. “I think now would be a good time buddy, save the mood and all that.”

Tank nodded “I think that’s a good idea.” Omar turned to the Warlock and Hunter, and spun his shell, materializing two engram shaped gifts, wrapped crudely with paper depicting cartoon Ghosts, engrams, and glimmer. “I know we agreed on no gifts seeing as we were going into the field, but I thought these could break up the monotony if we were out here too long. Go ahead, open them!” Tank looked uncharacteristically happy, looking almost unnatural for having, as Hayes would say, ‘resting bitch face’.

Atlas began by delicately unwrapping the present, taking care not to damage the paper, revealing a cardboard engram underneath to hold the shape. Atlas tried carefully to open it but ended up tearing the thing in half. Onto the table fell a pristine new set of robes. He admired the craftsmanship that went into the stitching, making it seamless to all but the most attentive onlookers. Fine gold lines of threads snaked around the outfit creating beautiful patterns. The few metal parts that there are, were painted with Dawning imagery. Atlas looked to Tank confused. “This is from this year’s Guardian clothing line for the Dawning, is it not? But- how did you get it? We’ve been out here for three months.”

Tank smirked, proud of himself. “I just so happen to have been chosen last year as the model that the male Dawning Titan armour is based on; can’t exactly make a set of armour without measurements. So I called in a small favour with Tess to get an advanced copy of this year's set. I think it’ll look good on you.”

Hayes snarked “Ooo more options for dress-up time? I’m sure you’re happy about that ey’ Toaster?” he mocked. Atlas looked to him, but Hayes’ couldn’t get the angry look he was hoping for. “I ever mention how creepy it is that you tin-cans don’t really have facial expressions?”

“Dozens of times…” Atlas agonized.

“Good, it’s true.”

“Thank you Tank, I love it.” Atlas gratefully accepted the gift, clutching it close to his chest.

“Alright, sentimental time over, my turn!” Hayes eagerly tore apart the wrapping paper with little regard, shredding the cardboard in the process. He stopped dead in his tracks though when he saw what his gift was. He pulled out a square crystal bottle with a large crystal stopper at the neck of the bottle. Amber liquid swirled inside as he moved it around, examining it. His hands shook a little when setting it down on the table. He carefully removed the stopper and took a sniff before capping it. “You…”

“Found a bottle of centuries-old aged whiskey. I remember you talking about how older drinks always taste the best, so I kept my eyes open anytime we left the Tower. Remember that old Bunker we found on Mars? There was a bottle tucked away in a safe, who knows how old that stuff is, but I think it’s gotta taste pretty good.” Tank's pride was oppressive, smiling wide in the enjoyment on their faces. Well. Hayes’ face.

“Wow, that’s… Thank you.” Hayes’ words oozed with sincerity. He looked around, causing his Ghost to appear. Hayes held up three fingers, then knocked on the table. His Ghost nodded and produced three small glasses on the table in front of him. “What’s a gift if you can’t share it right?” Atlas nodded, turned on his datapad, and set up a small festive song to play in their merriment. Hayes poured a small amount into each glass, making sure not to give too much, then slid them across the table to each one of them. He raised his glass and looked at both of them. “To our survival!” Hayes cheered.

Atlas tilted his head and grabbed his glass. “To our friendship!” he continued.

Tank smirked and raised his own. “To another year!” He cheered.

Their glasses clinked as they toasted, and drank the liquor. Tank and Atlas immediately spat it out in disgust, as Hayes pleasantly finished his without a care in the world. Once he finished, the three of them burst out laughing, both sides complaining and defending the drink. A blizzard raged outside, but inside burned with unbridled jubilation.

#destiny 2 #destiny the game #destiny the dawning #the dawning #destiny #destiny fanfiction #destiny trio #atlas-7 #Hayes #Tank #fanfic #destiny fanfic #short story #destiny guardians #guardians

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elenathehun · 3 years

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Watching the Clone Wars, Part 5

Hey, I’m actually being prompt this time, and not letting this sit on my desk for the rest of the week. Good for me! In this viewing session, we watch one “good” arc, and one terrible one. Guess which is which ;)

“Storm Over Ryloth” (1x19)

Aw, the fourteen year old is going to engage in very dangerous dogfighting? For those of you old enough to remember X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, remember how leery Starfighter Command was of letting sixteen year old Gavin Darklighter join Rogue Squadron? More innocent times, for sure.

Anyway, Ahsoka just got eleven men summarily killed, all to set up a tedious episode on the nature of command. It’s so wild how Rex and the bridge officer clone actually defer to her. Maybe, just maybe, GAR would win if they gave a bit more power to the highly-trained war machines the Jedi purchased, eh? Instead of the barely-trained teenagers with no business in a war zone.

I’m not even going to talk about the actual tactics because they’re superfluous. It’s a shame the jedi don’t understand the purpose of consolidating their force and utilizing a joint attack. Maybe Anakin could have saved a ship or two if he, Mace, and Obi-Wan had attacked as a group.

No, you’re right. That’s too smart.

“Innocents of Ryloth” (1x20)

Obi-Wan’s low-impact strategy is a bit stupid. Like, the CIS is explicitly engaging in terrorist tactics on Ryloth, the Twi’leks most likely have no homes to return to. But, whatever, that’s not the point of the episode. The point of this episode is Waxer and Boil. I love them, but I also love the casual specie-ism/racism on Boil’s part. Dude grew up on Kamino, which is basically an isolated military boarding school, where would have learned a word like “tailhead”?

Oh, that’s right, the scum of the earth working as trainers. Never mind! I like to think that the clones, while generally very nice and polite young men, also have a very strange idea of appropriate language and conduct outside of their very isolated, insular upbringing. I do love ye olde culture clash plotline!

The CIS continues to devolve with internment camps, animal cruelty, and yes, weaponizing animals to kill clones in a suitably horrific way. Good job, guys, way to lower the bar! With that said, Numa is adorable, and it’s amazing that she managed to survive on her own in this ghost-town while her family and community have been rounded up into camps.

Obi-Wan may be a subpar general, but he is definitely a very capable psychic super-soldier. The fight scenes were incredibly enjoyable to watch, and although it’s a bit silly, I did really like the Twi’leks pulling the tactical droid who was their warden out of his tank with their bare hands - they definitely deserved that.

“Liberty on Ryloth” (1x21)

This is a Mace Windu episode, and I am here for it. What an icon, what a legend. I do think that he is portrayed as having exceptional control of the Force, and it’s always really interesting to see him use it in a fight. The episode is a fairly basic one: He’s trying to link up with Cham Syndulla to get rid of the rest of the CIS army; the senator for Ryloth, Orn Free Taa, is more concerned about the disposition of political power on Ryloth after the invasion is complete. I have...so many questions about how political power on Ryloth is distributed: is Orn Free Taa the ruler of the planet and the Senator, or is there a different kind of power-sharing agreement? Is Cham Syndulla just the sort or ordinary person thrust into extraordinary times, especially by the abandonment of their people by their leadership and the Republic? It strikes me as a setting rich with potential plots.

Of course, that’s only a small part of the episode, which is mostly Mace being a badass and basically being a one-man army. Again, the direction is remarkably good in this episode. As usual, air supremacy is not a factor in this war. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Even though AT-RTs really make no sense, I want one very badly. Lastly, based on the clone trying to pet the blurrg and Boil and Waxer’s treatment of Numa last episode, I believe the clones are going through that stage where they just want a pet of their very own. It is actually a little adorable.

Shout-out to the tactical droid obtaining full sentience and ditching his boss and lying to Dooku. Still wish that a subplot of Dooku’s droids turning against him had been a thing.

Season 1 Restrospective: It only took five weeks, but we are finally finished with this season, save for 1x22, which is actually set sometime in the third season. There were some high points, but man, this was an absolute slog mostly. There were way too many Jar Jar episodes, and the clones were not given nearly enough screen time. “Rookies” and “Lair of Grievous” were the outstanding stand-alone episodes imho, and the “Ryloth” and “Malevolence” arcs were generally ok, with two of their three episodes being rewatchable.

But in a series about the clone wars, there is very little character development of the actual clones - like, poor Rex is barely a presence in this season. And the CIS is just so cartoonishly awful that I can’t take it seriously at all. It actually does strain my belief that Palpatine could keep these plates spinning for more than a week. Anakin is just...blah. And although I know I’m supposed to like Ahsoka, I just can’t help but find her annoying, mostly because she’s a kid.

Well, we’re about one-sixth of the way through. She’s got another six seasons to grow on me - and hopefully she will, because otherwise this will be very tedious.

“Holocron Heist” (2x01)

No sooner do I say that than Ahsoka reverts to being a dumb fucking kid. However, is a full Council meeting to investigate the fact that she’s a dumb fucking kid actually a good use of the High Council’s time? Just curious. This arc is honestly really stupid, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this, only to say that Cad Bane’s aesthetic is very choice for an outlaw, and the Jedi have laughable security.

“Cargo of Doom” (2x02)

Another Anakin & Ahsoka episode where they and Yularen share one braincell, and Rex is the one who holds it most of the time. Also really love how the Jedi with the list of all the potential Jedi recruits apparently took his sole record with him to a warzone. That makes perfect sense. I’m not really going to get into this episode, except to point out that we saw a Jedi tortured to death on-screen, which leads me to my most pressing question: how much money, per episode, did Lucasfilm have to use to bribe the MPA?

As for the choice Cade Bane gave Anakin at the end? As @spiraling pointed out, people don’t die of decompression and vacuum exposure immediately. Anakin could easily take Bane out and rescue Asohka in that time. She’d need a dip in bacta, but she’d live.

“Children of the Force” (2x03)

This episode is actually the worst of all, because the Jedi (who, by the by, are an actual government entity with access to priority comms and lots and lots of computer space) don’t have backup lists of their recruits, nor do they, say, call ahead with the address and have the local government set a trap before they arrive. Poorly done, Obi-Wan, poorly done.

Anyway, the kids are rescued from the unspeakable horrors that later children will be exposed to, children like Mara Jade and Lumiya. Good for Anakin and Ahsoka! However, I’d like to present a more awful possibility: If it weren’t for the need for a holocron, Cad Bane (and by extension, Palpatine) would have gotten away with it. Like, Palpatine is a Sith Lord, trained by a Sith Lord, and his putative apprentice is a former Jedi who had access to the temple and the various Jedi stores until about a year ago. Do you really think he doesn’t already have a holocron ready to go?

So instead of stealing a holocron to start off with, Cad Bane just... targets and captures Bolla Ropal under the guise of a CIS attack. He steals the kyber crystal. The Jedi are very, very worried, of course, but it takes time for them to realize it’s gone missing. in the meantime, however, Cad Bane just takes it to Dooku, they pull and copy the list, and the harvesting of Force-sensitive children can continue.

This is, I think, one of the great disappointments of TCW. For a show that likes to use the model the Justice League cartoon of the early 2000s pioneered, they haven’t quite figured it out yet. This is the sort of plot that could fuel an entire season of investigation, but instead they have these little three-episode arcs that never connect to the rest. It’s a real shame.

Next week: We continue Season 2 with “Bounty Hunters”, “The Zillo Beast”, “The Zillo Beast Strikes Back”, “Senate Spy”, “Landing at Point Rain”, “Weapons Factory”, and (time permitting) “Legacy of Terror”.

#watching the clone wars #star wars tcw #television is hypnotoad

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

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Psycho Analysis: Halloween Special Villains

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Ah, Halloween, that magical, spooky time of year where ghosts and goblins come out to play and children dress up in the hopes of getting some delicious Halloween candy. But what about all of us who are trapped at home on the night of this pagan costume and candy festival? What do we have to keep us entertained?

Why, Halloween specials of course!

If there’s one thing Halloween delivers on almost as well as Christmas does, it’s spooky Halloween-themed episodes of cartoons, where the show is allowed to get darker and more disturbing than it usually does in some cases. And what is any special without a special one-shot villain? Gotta have someone stirring up some Halloween trouble on this spooky night. And since these characters are usually one and done with little in the way to go super in-depth about, I’d figure we’d look at five of them at once! They are:

Jack O’Lantern from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy

Pumpkinator from The Fairly OddParents

Bun-Bun from Underfist

Fright Night from Danny Phantom

Ron Tompkins from Toy Story of Terror!

I’m sure some of you feel there are some glaring omissions. Where’s the Flying Dutchman? Where’s Stickybeard? Well, I decided that this time around I’d go with characters whose major appearances and debuts are Halloween episodes; both those guys had major roles in non-Halloween episodes as well, so I’ll be saving them for full reviews at a later date. Also of note: I am aware the story of Toy Story of Terror! does not take place on Halloween, but it is aired as a Halloween special, so I’m counting it.

Actor: So if there’s one thing these guys aren’t lacking in, it’s the actor department, and this isn’t a huge shock since when you’ve got a holiday special you want to splurge a bit, you know?

Jack has one of my favorite actors ever, the always-awesome Wayne Knight. Knight just has that sort of voice that’s perfect for smug jerk characters like Mr. Blik or Dennis Nedry, so really it’s pretty fitting for a pranking trickster like Jack, though I will say that it’s hard to match Knight’s voice to the human version of Jack when you see him in a flashback.

Ron Tompkins isn’t too far behind in the impressive VA department, being voiced by none other than Stephen Tobolowsky, who you may remember as the overbearing Ned Ryerson from GroundHog Day (and how can you forget him? You see him repeating the same scene about thirty times). He does a great job at making Tompkins cartoonishly evil and mostly enjoyable, a tall order for a character who steals toys from children to sell online.

And if you thought the list of awesome actors was done, boy were you wrong! Star Trek’s very own Michael Dorn voices the Fright Knight, and Dorn’s voice is absolutely perfect for a cool, evil, undead knight.

Bun-Bun is voiced by Dave Wittenberg who is an insanely prolific VA, playing characters such as Henry Wong from Digimon Tamers (AKA the beast season of Digimon) to none other than Kakashi from Naruto. I think it goes without saying a VA this versatile manages to make the role work.

And finally, we have the Pumpkinator, who is played by Dee Bradley Baker, and if I sat here listing all the notable roles this man has played we’d be here all night. But here’s a small sample: Appa, Momo, Squilliam Fancyson and Bubble Bass, Klaus the goldfish, Cow and Chicken’s dad, Cinderblock and Plasmus, the Alien and Predator in Mortal Kombat, Lion and Frybo, Numbah 4 and the Toilenator, Remy Buxaplenty, most of the animals in The Legend of Korra… you get the picture. This guy’s a legend. He’ll do any sort of role, big or small, so even if he’s not playing the most complex character here, he’s at least giving it a unique spin with his voice because man, this guy has RANGE.

Motivation/Goals: Jack has a rather simple motivation: revenge. You see, ages ago he managed to steal Grim’s scythe when he was about to be reaped, and bartered for the scythe’s return, asking to be made immortal. Grim reluctantly gave him this, but, as Grim is not someone who likes being tricked, also cut his head off. As anything cut off with Grim’s scythe is permanently cut off, Jack had to replace his head with a pumpkin (of course). This lead to him being shunned as a freak, which just made jis desire for vengeance even stronger; I mean, wouldn’t you want revenge if you could only go to the ding-dong grocery store to get pudding once a year?

If you want to get even simpler, the Pumpkinator is your guy! He exists simply to blow up planets. Tat’s it. He’s very much just an obstacle Timmy needs to overcome so that he can undo his wish for every Halloween costume to be “real and scary” before the consequences end up destroying the world.

Bun-Bun is rather simple as well: he just seems to be a jerk. But they don’t just make him a simple jerk, no, this is a Billly & Mandy spinoff so things have to be taken to their ridiculous extreme. Bun-Bun turns out to be behind numerous extremely petty actions that affected the lives of the main heroes, having haunted Hoss as a child and made him afraid of monsters, made Billy afraid of spiders which estranged him from his son Jeff, and, uh, sawed off Fred Fredburger’s tusks. The fiend! As you might guess, there’s no real rhyme or reason to this, it’s just goofy absurdist over-the-top sort of thing you’d expect from Maxwell Atoms.

Ron has a relatively simple motivation, but frankly it might be the most evil out of all of these: the man steals toys from the children who stay at his motel to sell them for monetary gain. Yes, this is more evil than attempting to blow up the planet, you heard me. I have no idea how sick and twisted you have to be to think that stealing toys from children is acceptable. Funnily enough, this is the same sort of motivation Al (who was played by Wayne Knight, funnily enough) from Toy Story 2 had, though Ron takes it above and beyond.

And finally that brings us to Fright Knight, Much like most of the ghosts on the show, Fright Knight seems to just want to cause a ruckus after he’s released, attempting to take over Amity Park when Danny foolishly releases him. Later in the show he is freed to serve Pariah Dark, and after Dark is beaten he joins up with Vlad. In his final appearance of any consequence he is seen serving the Ultimate Enemy in the bad future. Basically the guy is just a really cool overhyped henchman.

Personality: So let’s get the easy one out of the way first: The Pumpkinator doesn’t exactly have a personality, because it is a big generic doomsday villain meant to act as an obstacle for Timmy to overcome. However, when it returned later in the episode where Timmy goes to Unwish Island, it did have one notable personality trait: an undying hatred for Timmy Turner, It’s a pretty relatable trait the more into the series you watch.

Bun-Bun is also rather evil and simple. He’s just a petty jerk, as can be seen by his crimes listed up under motivation. There’s not much else to him, same with Fright Knight who, again, is mostly just an overhyped henchman who acts as the hardcore badass serving whatever big bad of the week is out to get Danny (or he would have, but more on that later).

Out of all of these, Ron and Jack have the most personality. Jack is an unrepentant prankster who, at least when alive, was heavily implied to just not get he was taking it too far with his pranks (“too far” in this case being tricking people off of cliffs, at the least), and simply morphed into a bitter, jaded, vengeance-seeking supernatural entity after hundreds of years of rejection by society and isolation. Jack’s honestly pretty tragic in that regard, though it obviously doesn’t excuse his actions.

Ron is just a straight-up jerk, putting up a facade of being a charming, friendly motel owner while stealing toys from under his guest’s noses. As the truth comes out about him, he becomes more cartoonish and hammy, which really doesn’t help his case at all, and in his final scene he actually does something so cartoonish he almost feels like he doesn’t belong in the Toy Story universe.

Final Fate: Funnily enough, Pumpkinator actually gets the happiest ending out of anyone here: after being unwished by Timmy, he goes to Unwish Island and, after Timmy eventually journeys there, gets to have fun tormenting Timmy clones for the rest of time.

Ron probably has the second happiest ending, for a given definition of “happy.” Bonnie’s mother calls the cops on him for his theft, and when they show up, he somehow manages to trick them, run away, steal their car, crash it into a telephone pole when backing up, and then run off before they even move a muscle. It’s ridiculously cartoonish, and there’s no way this guy is gonna be getting off easy after that little display.

Onto Bun-Bun. Bun-Bun made one simple mistake: he put any trust at all int Skarr. For those not in the know, Skarr was the “Starscream” to Hector Con Carne, always hoping to overthrow him and take over his world domination schemes for himself before he ended up retiring from that life and becoming a reoccurring character on Billy & Mandy. So, when he joins up with the villain by betraying Underfist, what do you think he does? He betrays the villain, pushing Bun-Bun into hot cocoa and melting him, using his power of treachery and backstabbing to help his team save the world. It’s pretty amusing in that classic Billy & Mandy way.

Good ol’ Jack ends up getting sent to the underworld this time since Grim wasn’t putting up with his crap anymore, and it seems Jack still hasn’t learned his lesson about pranking. When last we see him, he’s now tormenting demons, who all start moving in on him while he laughs at his dumb pranks. The screen cuts to black and we hear a squishing noise. It’s safe to say he won’t have to worry about that pumpkin head causing him problems anymore.

Fright Night is easily the most tricky one to talk about because his entire intended purpose in the show got aborted. After he was brought back to serve Pariah, he ended up under Vlad’s control by episode’s end, but for some reason, nothing ever came of this and it was never mentioned again – well, except in the “Ultimate Enemy” special, in which the Fright Knight cameos at the beginning, acting as something of the hype man for Dan Phantom, softening up Amity Park for Dan’s attack. After that, though, he’s basically out of the series, save for a couple of brief cameos here and there.

Best Scene: Jack has the flashback to his origins, because not only is it perfectly dark for a show’s Halloween episode, you have to give props to anyone who managed to outwit Grim, even if he did end up paying a steep price for it.

Ron has his aforementioned escape from the police. I do think it’s a bit too cartoonish and silly for Toy Story, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t pretty hilarious either way.

The Fright Knight has the aforementioned scene where he mentions he’s serving The evil future Danny. Considering that’s his last real role in the series, at least he got to go out on a high note, though it still sucks nothing ever came of the plotlines set up for him.

Bun-Bun’s best scene is when he revealed that he was the architect of most of the protagonist’s woes. Again, it’s just classic over-the-top Billy & Mandy silliness, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

The Pumpkinator… just doesn’t have one. Sorry.

Best Quote: While most of these guys aren’t exactly a goldmine of quotes, Jack has one of my favorite quotes from anything, ever, and I even already referenced it above: “Three hundred and sixty-four days a year, I can't even go the the ding-dong grocery store to buy pudding! And do you know why?" The why, obviously, is the fact he has a pumpkin for a head.

Final Thoughts & Score: Frankly, this batch of Halloween hooligans is a very mixed bag. We didn’t fare quite as bad as Charlie Brown did on Halloween, but we only got one King Size candy bar out of this lot.

I guess let’s just start with the black licorice of the bunch: Fright Knight. God, I wish I could love Fright Knight, I really do, but considering the overwhelming quality of most of Danny’s rogues gallery and just the fact this guy was totally shafted and everything set up for him was ignored there’s just no excusing how lame this guy looks, Michael Dorn or no. He has a great design and a cool concept, and the ideas for interesting stories with him were there, but he ends up being a 3/10, saved only by his cool first outing, great voice work, and awesome design.

Worse still is the pile of weirdly flavored candy corn that is the Pumpkinator. He has a cool design, but he’s not much of an antagonist to be honest. He’s just a cool-looking robot who wants to blow up the planet. That’s about it. There’s really not much to say about this guy, and his only other appearance doesn’t really add much. I suppose he serves his purpose, but I have to wonder, why even bring him back if he wasn’t going to do anything remotely interesting? I don’t like generic doomsday villains at the best of times, but if you’re gonna bring one back, at least try and do something interesting with them to justify their existence, otherwise they’re just gonna end up getting a 2/10.

Finally, we get into the good candy! Let’s start off with the tasty marshmallow bunny we got, Bun-Bun (isn’t that more of an Easter candy? Weird). Bun—Bun is a funy, goofy, cartoonish villain, perfect for the first (and sadly, only) outing for Underfist. The fact they went above and beyond to cement him as this ludicrous mastermind who just screwed with everyone’s lives for no apparent reason other than the fact he’s a jerk is pretty funny. I don’t think he’s gonna win any Villain of the Year awards, but I think a 6/10 is good enough for this above average nuisance.

Oho, what’s this? A… candycane? Well, it’s a bit out of season, but it’s still tasty! And that’s kind of where Ron is. I do like just how unabashedly scummy he is, and there is precedent for people like him in the Toy Story universe, but I feel he takes things to a cartoonish extreme. For crying out loud, the guy has a trained iguana that acts like a dog! He feels like he belongs in a different series than this one, but again, I don’t really think that’s a bad thing, because at the very least he is funny. He gets a 7/10, a bit higher than usual just because I love how ridiculously nasty his whole scheme is. Stealing from kids, what the actual hell.

YES! A King Size candy bar! Just what I was looking for! It’s just a generic Hershey bar, but hey, that’s a lot of chocolate, so who’s complaining? And that’s Jack, he is simply put a perfect Halloween special antagonist. Most of this comes from his voice work, since Wayne Knight is a national treasure, but his backstory and concept are worth praising too. His origin story is something of a twist on the old legend of “Stingy Jack,” the origin story of the Jack-O’-Lantern appropriately enough. While obviously there are liberties, such as substituting Grim for the devil, it’s a mostly accurate retelling, something that would go over most people’s heads unless they’re really into classical folklore. Jack’s a lot of fun as a character, earning himself a nice big 8/10, only being held back from a higher score because despite being rightfully beloved by audiences, he never really had a major role again, getting a minor shout out in Big Boogey Adventure and… that’s it. I think Jack could have been a really entertaining reoccurring antagonist in the same vein as fwllow ensemble darkhorse Eris, but alas, it was not to be. Maybe if Underfist had been picked up he could have been brought back for that, but the fact is it just didn’t happen. Oh well, might as well appreciate what we got.

And that’s it for this batch of Halloween goodies. Halloween specials seem a lot less prevalent than Christmas specials, but they’re no less important or fun, and as you can see, they do produce at least mildly interesting villains, sometimes. If only they could produce a villain so devilishly Halloweenie that he could perfectly embody the spirit of the holiday…

Hey, what’s that at the bottom of the bag…

Wait… is that…

OH NO.

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mst3kproject · 7 years

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213: Godzilla vs the Sea Monster

If you've ever wondered, the giant mantis footage over the opening credits is from Son of Godzilla, which was the Godzilla movie after this one. Also, the reason this episode will never be released on DVD (and keeps getting taken down off YouTube) is because Film Ventures International never owned the rights to it – they released it and sold it to MST3K illegally. Even more bizarre, this movie has in common with Godzilla vs Megalon not only appearing on MST3K, but being a Godzilla movie that was not originally supposed to have Godzilla in it. Megalon was intended to be a stand-alone Jet Jaguar vehicle, while Sea Monster would have starred King Kong. The Fun Facts that surround this movie are more entertaining than the movie itself!

There always seems to be a lot going on in Godzilla movies and this one is no exception. We begin with Ryota, an idiot with idiot friends, who needs a boat to go searching for his lost brother. They steal one from a bank robber who stole it from an American businessman (this is a simplification, but what happens in the movie is dumber), only to be caught in a storm, menaced by a giant lobster, and wash up on an island somewhere. The island turns out to belong to... uh... I'm gonna assume it's the Organization Known as Q from Mighty Jack.

TOKaQ is importing slave labor in the form of extras dressed as cartoon Pacific Islanders, and putting them to work making monster repellent so its ships can get past the lobster. In trying to rescue the slaves and make their own escape, the gang of idiots happens across Godzilla hibernating underground – they set up a lightning rod to zap him, and he wakes up pissed. After fighting a giant vulture that exists for some reason, he makes crab cakes out of the lobster and then destroys tOKaQ's installation. Meanwhile, the extras on the next island over are doing an all-day song and dance routine hoping to wake Mothra, who may be everybody's only hope for escaping the island before the nuclear reactor goes critical.

Okay, so that's a secret terrorist group, a bank robbery, a missing person, and no less than four monsters, all jostling for position within the same plot. Before we go into any of that, though, let's talk about what is conspicuously not in this movie. If you've seen the film, or even if you just paid attention during my summary above, you will have noticed that most of the story takes place on a small island in the middle of the Pacific. This means that all the monster fights happen either in the water or else on rocky hillsides. What's missing?

The answer is urban carnage. Godzilla vs Megalon didn't have much of that but at least there was the dam-buster scene. In this film, there is absolutely zero city-crushing whatsoever! Why the hell did the writers think we go to see Godzilla movies, if not to watch guys in cumbersome costumes demolish lovingly crafted miniature buildings?

Even if you're not here for the sheer joy of destruction, scenes with buildings and trees in them would have provided a sense of scale that is totally missing here. When Megalon knocks down the dam and throws the truck containing our heroes across the countryside, it gives us an impression of just how enormous this roach is supposed to be. When Godzilla fights a giant lobster underwater with nothing in view but a bunch of rocks, there's no such reference. It's not only less fun, it fails at drawing you into the movie's world. My suspension of disbelief does not demand much of a kaiju eiga, but it still didn't get it out of Godzilla vs the Sea Monster.

There are also quite a few shots in which the texture and colour of the Godzilla costume are entirely too much like the rocks in the background. Godzilla's a forty-storey dinosaur – he doesn't need camouflage! The suit in this movie is the same one they'd used in the previous Godzilla vs Monster Zero. It's lumpy and ugly, and generally looks like it is in poor repair.

The lack of city destruction is only one of several reasons why Godzilla vs the Sea Monster just doesn't feel like a proper Godzilla movie. For another thing, there's the music: the movie is completely missing the distinctive Godzilla theme that had been a part of every previous film. Instead, quite a few scenes have no music at all, and for some reason part of the climactic fight between Godzilla and the lobster is set to what sounds like surf movie music.

Third, there's the way the monsters are handled. In a lot of the more entertaining Godzilla films, the monsters are characters – they have names and backstories, and are frequently more memorable in this respect than the humans. Godzilla's backstory has been retconned several times over the course of the series, but it's always there in some form and is usually important to what the monster does and why he does it. Mothra, too, has her own unique mythology (mothology?). The cult of Mothra plays some role in this film, barely, but Godzilla is seen doing things he's never done before, such as hibernating and taking an interest in an individual human.

The new monsters, meanwhile, have no background to them at all. Even the most absurd of Godzilla opponents usually come with a story: Megalon was the guardian of Seatopia. Hedorah was the product of pollution mutating sea life. Space Godzilla was created when a sample of Godzilla's genetic material was carried into space by a sentient rose bush and was hit by cosmic rays (I never said the backstories made sense). The lobster and bird monsters in Godzilla vs the sea Monster just appear out of nowhere. The fact that they don't have names is apparently a product of the dubbing – the Japanese version tells us that the bird is called Gai, while the lobster is Ebirah. The fact that they have no associated story, however, makes it clear that they are plot devices rather than characters.

Actually, even Godzilla and Mothra are plot devices in this movie. The former is only brought into play as a distraction so that our so-called heroes can free the island slaves, and the latter does nothing but provide a last-minute airlift. Because of the isolated setting, there is no hint of the apocalyptic danger so many other movies in the franchise try to present – none of these monsters are a threat to the world, or even to Japan. The potentially world-shattering bad guys of the story are tOKaQ, and as Tsubaraya Eiji discovered when the ratings came in for season one of Mighty Jack, they're not actually all that scary.

Even worse, the monster fights in this movie are awful. For starters there's the aforementioned lack of scale, and then there's the fight choreography, which sucks. There's a bit where Godzilla and Ebirah play volleyball, for crying out loud (incidentally, ebi is Japanese for shrimp, as in ebi nigiri... so maybe Ebirah isn't a lobster, but a really, really jumbo shrimp?). The fight between Godzilla and Gai is shot so that it's hard to tell what's going on. The fights in Godzilla vs Megalon were comical, but you knew what was happening and they fit with the overall cartoon aesthetic of the film. The ones in Godzilla vs the Sea Monster are just bad, and it's weird to see two monsters headbutting styrofoam boulders at each other in a movie that's otherwise supposed to be serious.

The human villains are not just a poor substitute for monster action, they're not even good villains in their own right. Much like their counterparts in Mighty Jack, tOKaQ here have no clear goal or plan that is ever elucidated beyond vague talk about 'nuclear weapons' and 'world domination'. There is a level on which this is somewhat realistic, I guess, since Ryota and his idiot buddies don't have a clear idea what's going on beyond Bad Stuff and the audience is supposed to be in their shoes. Their self-appointed sabotage mission fails to feel very urgent, however, when there's no clear idea what the consequences of failure will be.

I'm not comparing the villains of this movie to those of Mighty Jack just for the sake of a joke, either. The guy in charge of effects in this movie was none other than Tsubaraya Eiji himself, and director Fukuda Jun spent the early sixties churning out secret agent movies before giving us several of the worst entries in the Godzilla series, including Godzilla vs Megalon, Son of Godzilla, and Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla. It feels like Fukuda and Tsubaraya were determined to make this a spy shenanigan movie no matter how they had to twist the premise to do so. Seeing Tsubaraya's name in the credits also kind of makes me doubt my theory that the TV series version of Mighty Jack would have fleshed out tOKaQ a little. Apparently these guys really did think vague villains were something they could get away with.

When people talk about 'good' versus 'bad' in something like a Godzilla movie, there are two things that the word 'good' might mean. There's 'good' as in an entertaining and successful movie – and then there's 'good' as in an entertaining but unsuccessful movie. Godzilla, King of the Monsters is 'good' in the first sense. Godzilla vs Megalon is 'good' in the second. Godzilla vs the Sea Monster doesn't manage either. It sucks, but it just doesn't suck in that special way that makes it enjoyable. It comes across as dull and difficult to follow, which are two things a movie about giant rubber monsters should definitely never, ever be.

#mst3k #reviews #godzilla vs the sea monster #60s #giant arthropod hours

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coloringpagekidsblog-blog · 7 years

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Coloring Products For Kids

In a child's ages, parents do each possible attempt to create the child bloom in real method. Coloring pages is a commonly used practice by parents at home or teachers in school to impart understanding of the alphabets, animal, monuments, fruits, vegetables, amounts etc.. Kids love coloring activities and they can even learn a whole lot through fun activities & colour. Colors are fascinating and attract kids that's the reason the environment of preschool sessions or play schools includes colors to produce the toddlers or kids cherish and contented. Research shows that the kid in ancient age learns so the knowledge ought to be impeccable that needs to be imparted to children.

Which are the most popular coloring pages for kids?

Utilizing colors could be a superb way to inculcate the nature, trees, water bodies, along with other surroundings. By make use of nature you are able to introduce your own kids and colors, children learn through fun activities. It is also possible to organize a visit to the nearest zoo, to make your ones comprehend the creature. Earth coloring worksheets or pages or action books could be the alternative for preschool teachers and parents. Alphabets drawing worksheets drawing worksheets, Food drawing worksheets and many more are available online in printable coloring pages format.

Entertaining activity-how to draw action

Draw pictures of alphabets, animals, cartoons, numbers, leaves, etc. is one other way to impart understanding in a kid of various living or non living things in the world. It invokes the creativity within a child; make use of paper and vibrant colours to start such drawing activities with your children and make certain to occupy an outdoor location such as gardens, roofs, or patio etc..

Good Parenting at Coloring Book for Kids preschool point

A parenting that is good should think about the understanding about child's preschool period. Based on studies period of child's life span is very important to communicate consciousness. In every country, children often start school when they are just 3 years old and invest in their school's kindergarten or school section before they begin Year 1 - tier - in the age of five or six. When it comes to learning, parents can help with number awareness - as understanding the value and place of numbers, being able to recite from one to 10 is not the same. Talk to your kid about quantities, for example, five is larger than two. Focus on counting; board games and playing dominoes, like Snakes and Ladders, will instruct children how to count while making it fun.

While teaching them the Word of God at the exact same time, searching for a means to keep your child occupied? Christian coloring pages for children are a great tool you can use to do exactly that. As your children colour pictures of characters or Bible stories, it will help reinforce their knowledge of the Bible and of God.

The easiest way to get a good deal of pages for your children to color would be to print out them online. There are loads. Just look for "Christian coloring pages" or "Biblical coloring pages" on your favourite search engine, and you will come across a lot of results.

There are so many unique pictures available that you may have better success using particular terms like "Jesus healing the blind man coloring page" or "Tower of Babel coloring page," as illustrations. This is even a Sunday School lesson at church or a great idea if you're searching to compliment. In a picture that reflects the Bible story you're teaching them, you can let your children colour in these scenarios. After they are done coloring, their picture can be taped by them in their own bedroom, which will enable them remember that specific Bible story.

Alternatively, you could use coloring pages that you give to your child while he or she does something great, such as states thank you, gives a glow, or aids out before being requested. Does it benefit them by giving them an activity they'll enjoy doing, but it also demonstrates to them that it is great to do things that please the Lord.

Websites are not the only place you can get coloring pages. You can find activity books and coloring pages in your In or local bookstore some arts and crafts stores. Because it enables them to observe the arrangement of events, giving your kid a book of Bible stories is great.

Christian bookstores usually also have reproducible coloring books or individual pages from which you can create copies so that precisely the same story picture can be colored in by more than 1 child. This is particularly useful when you want to present to color while the lesson is being taught by you.

Coloring is such a great action that most children love. It gives them chance coordination of hands, as well as a host of other matters. Having coloring books for your kid could be one of the things that you could have. If you are going to get a coloring book for your child, here are some of the Things You Want to consider:

1. Theme - coloring books have types of themes. It might be based like those of even others, creatures, vehicles, or Disney characters. When you're selecting this kind of books for the child, keep in mind that it's a way they could express their imagination rather than by expressing their feelings. So, 1 way you may make him feel brand new, is by simply choosing the one which is appropriate for taste.

2. Complexity - only know your child's degree when it's all about coloring. Coloring books give coloring that is big spaces which make it easier for kids. Their degree of abilities for coloring will surely increase after the kid gets older and also the difficulty about the book. So, if you would like your child select. Don't frustrate them about getting books with one or small images with tons of written instructions.

Coloring books are all of the buzz of late. It's apparent that it revolves round crayons or pencils and coloring pages. But, it is simply coloring? How do something like staying inside the lines be a benefit to me personally?

I was raised during the time of doodle art - ? You have a bunch of markers and elaborate line drawings on numerous themes. I would spend hours coloring these in! Little did I know then that coloring pages were a benefit to my well-being.

Well they were and still are now for people of all ages.

People are creating the adult coloring books bestsellers on Amazon! At the time of this writing, eight of the top twenty books on the bestsellers list, are coloring books for adults. There has to be something behind this increase in interest.

Coloring books' topics are intricate and based more about images, not your childhood counterparts which comprised farm animals heroes, and bunnies. You'd expect to see psychedelic patterns reminiscent of art type pages patterns, dream images including mermaids, dragons, goddesses and angels, and ancient designs of spiritual and religious character.

The fascination, and how do they help you?

The action of applying colored media to complex line drawings is an advantage to comfort and anxiety reduction. You are in a position to place the world aside for the moment and focus on the craft of coloring.

Studies have demonstrates that stress levels dropped. They did note that doodling had no impact on stress. The focus on coloring and shifting the brain allows that blocking of anxiety at the present time. Coloring doesn't have a demand for thought processes and you are able to acquire within your self, isolated from commotion anxiety, and distractions such as listening to music.

The insistent, low-stress, and "no brainer" act of colour lends itself to comfort. The calming effects not only helps to reduce stress levels, but can help to bring you back.

The wonderful part is that anyone can get it done will no skill setup required! Grab a crayon and you are ready to go. You may make it even more enjoyable and have grandkids color or your children with you. Depending upon the age of the ones They could possibly be interested in the coloring books, others still needing to colour flower arrangement that is pretty, astronaut, or a cow.

This suddenly passed my thoughts: When did sport really begin while we were searching though the bookstore shelves looking for skateboarding books for children? From my readings, it began with boards made from timber as the very first of its type, in the 1950s. When browsing was at its peak skateboarding made its way from the market. Hence skateboarders were surfers. And the rest is history, so they say.

However, skateboarding is more than a game or Simply an activity, since it boasts of Advantages to adults and children alike, including the following:

1. It may be considered as an alternative exercise for children who find exercise boring. Truth is, your adrenaline is kicking up high and when you're on board, you won't even recognize the time spent performing the action. Just like a traditional exercise, this is a fantastic way to fight with obesity and diabetes which are now starting to hit on children due to absence of bodily exertion.

2. It can be a means to satisfy new friends and build relationships. Because a great deal of children nowadays are pretty much into it, it's more fun if you share the sport with other children on the block. You may share tips and tricks on how to improve your abilities.

3. It teaches your child the value of patience, discipline, attention, balance, and sportsmanship. You'll have to learn the fundamentals and exercise a whole lot since to learn the art of skateboarding instructs your kid important values that are essential in achievement against the challenges of life.

4. According to studies, it aids in balancing some states instead of simply taking medications for it. Skateboarding teaches kids to concentrate or focus as we have mentioned.

5. It's among the pleasures that are least expensive since all you have to do is purchase a skateboard. Skateboard isn't as costly as one thinks. Prices depend on caliber and size of the board. Your kid does not have to go far to enjoy the sport. Children can play around your neighborhood.

But what if your child isn't a sport? Easy. Publish the game to them by buying fun and friendly skateboarding books. Okay, I know what you are thinking: What if your kids are not book fanatics too? Fact is, your kid doesn't have to enjoy the book as well to be a bookworm. These book authors understand that kids have short attention span, so they have made it certain that the publication is for the young ones.

Coloring pages are a easy and simple way to keep kids entertained and content while they are learning. The internet is the best medium for locating and generating products . Coloring pages are now available in electronic form e.g. pdf documents. Just find order the solution and print the webpages out. It's the use of this internet - simple and affordable.

The option is to purchase books in a store or order the coloring book on the web. If you order the publication online, it may take ages to receive it. You have to wait for the product. It is received by you within minutes of purchase, if you purchase a coloring product in digital form. After your payment is made, an email is sent to you and contains your buy.

Digital coloring pages are much more affordable than coloring books that are expensive. Whereas conventional products only allow each page to be colored, you can print pages over and over again. You can decide what pages to print. There are pages children will like and pages that they will not wish to colour. Digital coloring books give you the choice of which pages to print and volume of webpages.

There is less wasted paper, and that means you are doing your bit for the environment if you are printing pages you want. You don't have to store coloring books. All of the books are saved on your computer or storage device such as a DVD. The internet has made things easier for us, which is one example of this.

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