One thing I think the internet troll brigade missed about Revelation Part I is that the first episode was the series finale and heroic send-off that He-Man and his fans never got, due to the cranked-out toy commercial nature of the original series.
He-Man's already blurred-together adventures just kind of tapered off without any kind of resolution for the character or for the dangling plot arc(s) like Marlena knowing her son's secret or Teela's true sorcerous heritage when the suits decided it was time to sell She-Ra toys.
The portion of MOTU: Revelation that happens before the time skip is the ending to a version of that show that could have been more serial and story-based than episodic and gimmick based.
So we get Skeletor making a bigger play than he's ever made before (and considering that most episodes had him going over 9000% for his goals, this requires a revelation... new information to act on, changing his target), worthy of a grand finale.
When He-Man interferes, Skeletor explicitly declares it to be their last battle, and Skeletor triumphs (in a way that is likely to be Pyrrhic, though he likely would think the slim chance of universal mastery is worth the great risk of universal destruction)...
...only to be stopped by He-Man, fully knowing the cost of his actions, making a heroic sacrifice, which brings about the end of the story the show would have been telling and creates a setup for another story to follow.
The series is not "more episodes of He-Man and the Maters of the Universe (1983)", which... that would have been painfully unwatchable as anything other than parody/pastiche, but a finale to the show that *could* have been and a sequel that takes on its biggest questions.
As a side note, my favorite formula for cartoon nostalgia updates is:
1. Take the old version. 2. Take its direct source material. 3. Blend them together with a mix of respect, affection, and tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of the weak spots. 4. Add a generational aspect.
Cartoons that fit this model include Voltron: Legendary Defender, Ducktales (2017), and all three of the recent Netflix MOTU-verse adaptations: SPOP, MOTU: Revelation, and He-Man & MOTU (2021).
And in a less literal sense, Venture Bros., which basically perfected the template.
I love Lyn's look of dawning realization and mounting horror as Skeletor re-emerges at the end of part 1. One of my favorite villain tropes is the character who really could go either way but chooses evil when they see another choice withering away.
(No part 2 spoilers, please.)
It's what I love about the confrontation between Han and Kylo Ren in episode seven. I firmly believe Kylo didn't know for sure what he was going to do until the light went out (signaling the Starkiller was ready to fire again) and he thought the Dark Side had won for sure.
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I am holding back a lot of specific squee related to Masters of the Universe: Revelation until part 2 has been out for a while, but... holy moly. I cannot recommend it more highly.
Even if you didn't watch He-Man growing up, I feel like part 1 does a decent job onboarding a new audience with the mythology as part of the recap/catch-up stuff that also helps the old audience. There's a lot of deep cut stuff that's there for the fans, but not necessities.
If you watch just ONE streaming show where @GriffLightning emotionally destroys you as an updated version of the comic-relief sidekick from a decades-old animated adaptation of the adventures of a nigh-indestructible muscle-bound hero... well, that's kind of a toss-up, honestly.
A year-long public and participatory writing experiment aimed at breaking down my inhibitions around writing and (re-)acquiring skills I missed out on due to the intersection of ADHD and gifted child baggage.
Don't let the currently outdated media preview card generated by Twitter fool you... the post is unlocked. And as it explains, all basic #NiNoBilMa materials will also be unlocked as I invite anybody else who wants to write along on their own to join in.
Very thoughtful interview not just on NFTs (I especially appreciate the point about non-profits legitimizing the scam by participating) but about the nature of crowdfunded artistry, the difference between being paid for clicks vs. paid by people who enjoy your work.
As a disabled creator with ADHD that has only recently been treated, I've had long periods where I've struggled with the question of, "Am I actually providing enough value for the money I bring in?"
But at the end of the day, that's up to the people putting the money in.
And the correlation between how people value what I do and how much money they spend is much more direct in crowdfunding than with other payment schemes in between us, like if I were employed for fixed wages by someone who sells my labor indirectly through products.
Working on nomenclature for abilities in my TTRPG project and after I found myself adding clarifying language to an opaque tier nomenclature that Tier III was specific things you can do, Tier II was stuff you can do, and Tier I was some bullshit...
...I dropped the references to numbered tiers and just called them Things, Stuff, and Broad Stuff.
An ability is a Thing if saying you're going to use it tells everybody what you're going to do.
"How are you dealing with this joker?"
"Roundhouse Kick." That's a thing.
It's Stuff if saying you're going to use it tells everybody what method you're using or outcome you're going for, but you still have to clarify what you're doing.
(Caution to bystanders: Do not @ me with RPG suggestions or "Have you tried...?", that's not what we're doing here.)
So, I enjoy D&D-style tactical combat and I've been trying to drill down what I like about it while moving away from what I see as the wargame fossils in it...
...which I think robs it of a lot of narrative richness and the actual dramatic potential of combat by basically reverting to the "all these characters are just *very small* units in a war game and they're fighting to the death" model as soon as combat is joined...
...and in between working on models of tactical combat that allow for more back and forth, more variety of win and loss conditions, more ways for the player side to lose and the game and story keep going... I keep thinking about things like the Kids on Conveyances system.