General Inspiration Thread

Here's a place for people to just post awesome shit.

I'm starting with a Protege training with her Mentor: https://digg.com/video/father-daughter-parkour

So this is pretty on the nose, but these still give me an awesome thrill whenever I see them (as ought to surprise nobody):

• The Jonny Quest intro and outro (1964-65)
• An amazing recreation of the same in stop-motion style
• That great Hoyt Curtin music without sound effects over it
• The mid-1990s Jonny Quest main titles, music by Gary Lionelli, after Curtin. 

(Non-awesome stuff: There was never an analog in the Jason Quill universe to that sketchy 90s show, decent main titles aside. There was a weird contract issue involved that let an analog to the awful mid-80s JQ cartoon exist, but without any editorial control by the Quill family or Foundation; fortunately, most people don't remember it.)

Here's someone who's either an unpopular superhero or a misunderstood supervillain.

https://plus.google.com/+SarahPerryShipp/posts/QJ82YzQjMha

*** Dave H. said:

Non-awesome stuff: There was never an analog in the Jason Quill universe to that sketchy 90s show, decent main titles aside. There was a weird contract issue involved that let an analog to the awful mid-80s JQ cartoon exist, but without any editorial control by the Quill family or Foundation; fortunately, most people don't remember it.)

For what it's worth, the 90s opening at least justifies why the show is called "Jonny Quest". In 1964, the opening credits are for "The Race Bannon Show Guest Starring a Badass Mummy and Oh Yeah The Boss's Kid". But I always loved that starkly astounding pulp art style.

The original show is very much (credits and story) the SUPER SCIENCE B-MOVE ADVENTURE HALF-HOUR! with a couple of kids along for the ride to get real kids to watch it in its original prime time run. Mummies, head-hunters, dinosaurs, Nazis, spies, sinister Chinese, Abominable Snow Men, femmes fatale, werewolves, Oriental mysticism, killer pygmies, giant robot spy spiders, underground bases, Monsters from the Id ... the show had it all. And, actually, a big part of its charm for me was a relative minimum of "kids stumble into the most crazy adventures while hapless adults aren't watching, but are saved by their preternaturally smart dog" stuff.

(Most people also forget that Bannon was assigned to the Quests explicitly to protect Jonny, not Benton. That's rarely how it worked, of course.)

The Alex Toth heavy-ink realistic style, overlying painted backgrounds, overcomes the very limited animation in amazing ways. Plus the amazing Hoyt Curtin music.

I imprinted on this stuff hard as a kid.

Aside from the usual suspects like Justice League or Teen Titans, I'd like to recommend a series called Miraculous Ladybug (available on Netflix as "Miraculous") as a show that touches on a lot of Masks themes.

The premise is that a villain named "Hawkmoth" can send evil butterflies to possess ordinary people who are experiencing negative emotions like anger. The people gain super-powers and fall under Hawkmoth's mental influence, and usually start by enacting some kind of bad-guy plan against the citizens of Paris. Opposing Hawkmoth are a pair of high school students: Marinette and Adrien. Thanks to talking-animal companions, they can transform into the heroes Ladybug and Cat Noir, but they have a timer on their powers before they transform back.

In their civilian identities, Marinette has a major crush on Adrien. In their hero identities, Cat Noir openly flirts with Ladybug, who isn't interested. Marinette is the everyday girl next door with a supportive best friend who encourages her crush, while Adrien is the son of an emotionally distant father and hangs out with the outspoken and loyal Nino. Aside from that dynamic, a haughty rich girl named Chloe acts very possessive around Adrien, while bullying her own long-suffering assistant and apparently only real friend Sabrina.

The show is a constant shuffle of motivations and what we'd recognize as Influence moves, Provokes, and Condition trades. The superhero fights are pretty good, but just watching these emotional pinballs bouncing off each other is the real joy. The pacing and plots are pitched at a younger audience than Young Justice, but I'd say it's right around where the lighter Teen Titans (not Go) episodes were at.

+1 to that. Miraculous is a big hit around our place.

Anthropomorphic planets: https://imgur.com/gallery/137rk

@Bill - Those are awesome.

Man I love them all. Earth and Jupiter are especially great, but all of them are wonderful.

I have a Pinterest board for Link but here is a more general one, favoring younger and OC supers. http://pin.it/H4WnTeS

Erma by Brandon Santiago  "Erma is like any other normal child. She goes to school, plays with friends, and even spends time with the family. It just so happens that she is the daughter of a ghostly spirit and tends to use her haunting abilities for everyday antics, whether for better or for worse."

https://tapas.io/episode/829371

Working on headcanon for the world's fastest family.



Like father, like son?

Okay, here's one: the new Inspector Gadget show on Netflix.

The relationship between Penny and Talon (Claw's nephew/lead henchmen/Scott Evil equivalent) is (once genderswapped) my headcanon for Jason and Alycia Chin's mid-adventure interactions. :)

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't present this genderswapped Star versus the Forces of Evil as an alternate-reality JAlycia.

"Well, she is pretty smart. And she's got a wicked sense of humor. And she kind of--

"On the other hand, I did punch her in the arm once.

"She decked me." 

Music. There's a ton of great music out there for fighting, general badassery, and angst.

MrEpicOSTs on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHACJmUimC9bVxR6_...

Grace Potter's "Look What We've Become", the anthem of the underestimated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lsUYIn-H_8

Lindsey Stirling's "We Are Giants" along the same lines, plus an amazing music video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yUYvyAY954

The Ghost in the Shell soundtrack is always excellent music, but for me there's a couple of standouts. Torukia (https://soundcloud.com/kennethcrow92/ghost-in-the-...) and Rise (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rFW2Df5iRs)

And for a change of pace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL9PTDI62Jk

For Jalycia in particular: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX2eEICejB0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_SlAzsXa7E

For the younger set:

Spider-man plays with his kid: https://imgur.com/gallery/eOmEg

JL8: http://jl8comic.tumblr.com/

Everyone should know JL8 by now, but if not, the premise is the Justice League characters in grade school, engaging in typical shenanigans for that age group. Notable moments include Gym Teacher Darkseid (http://jl8comic.tumblr.com/post/18407670815/jl8-19...) and literally everything including Wonder Woman, who at this tender age is taking NO sass from anyone, up to or including Power Girl (http://jl8comic.tumblr.com/post/29383953017/jl8-64...).

Well, if we're talking nemeses, then I have to fall back on Phineas & Ferb... (https://youtu.be/0yM3Zh9TwtE and https://youtu.be/1tWQdDKsPWg and https://youtu.be/TpNnYzY6wis) 

I've seen this trailer before, but it's especially relevant NOW.

Raising Dion.

Coming soon to netflix.

That looks amazing

Doyce T. said:

I've seen this trailer before, but it's especially relevant NOW.

Raising Dion.

Coming soon to netflix.

What Bill Said. Wow.

Wait, they made a Concord movie and no one told me?

Looking forward to watching this when it does come out.

I was reminded of this episode of Justice League Unlimited today and thought, "man, that's a Concord way of dealing with a villain."  Also reminds me of the Beacon's drive that phrased like "end a conflict without throwing a punch" or something like that.

Mike said:

I was reminded of this episode of Justice League Unlimited today and thought, "man, that's a Concord way of dealing with a villain."  Also reminds me of the Beacon's drive that phrased like "end a conflict without throwing a punch" or something like that.

I love that episode in general (look! this is why the Flash is a hero!) and this scene in particular.

It is probably one of my favorite episodes (and it has some strong competition with the Dark Heart, Wake the Dead, For the Man Who Has Everything, and Epilogue), but this one scene is so very well done that it is hands down my favorite out of the whole show.  The guys who did the Timm-era cartoons were very good with characterization and making everyone unique.  From this one scene, you have a good grasp of who everyone is and what their deal is, even if you never heard of Orion or the Flash before this.  Orion has a line after this scene where he tries to fit the Flash into his worldview, "you play the fool to hide a warrior's pain" but it is only that, Orion's view of the Flash.  Those shows were really under-rated for how much they packed into a "kid's show."

The first issue of the comic on which Raising Dion is based is available for free download from the creator. http://www.indyplanet.us/product/128905/

Those shows were really under-rated for how much they packed into a "kid's show."

There are a lot of grups that would absolutely agree with you, myself included.

Lucius' spiritual predecessors: http://atlantablackstar.com/2014/06/01/moors-saint... (warning: link autoplays a video with sound).

Following "planets as people", here's "gemstones as dragons". https://sewickedthread.tumblr.com/post/166331055614/leighanief-the-real-eye-to-see-dragons-look

People have been posting their music and playlists for Masks on the G+ community: https://plus.google.com/105950399700128610854/posts/Qpn3dP2isAz

Our Disney Magic bands make us look like the new undercover Power Rangers team.

Imaginary Gods, Immortals and other colossal entities! https://imgur.com/gallery/ctG1M

For Halloween, here's everyone's favorite adorable ghost child, Erma. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6QpFgxwzQE

For Doyce's supply of ogre-like strong, funny, interesting women: https://vanheist.deviantart.com/gallery/ particularly https://vanheist.deviantart.com/gallery/49468073/H...

For Mike, if you ever get a glimpse of the Concordance's activities elsewhere in the universe, here's a collection of space megastructures that Adam might briefly experience. https://imgur.com/gallery/VVWPK

Some freaky-deaky special forces uniforms, helmets, and face masks from around the world, hopefully inspiring for the Dread Queen's faceless stormtroopers. https://imgur.com/gallery/1gN6l

I like the Taiwan and (somewhat) the Canada ones for Vyortovian forces.

Doyce T. said:

I like the Taiwan and (somewhat) the Canada ones for Vyortovian forces.

More of the Taiwan soldiers: https://boingboing.net/2013/10/31/taiwanese-special-forces.html

A new Pinterest board for miscellaneous stuff, mainly Vyortovian tech, ghosts and other weird people, and a couple high tech shots. https://pin.it/HdmH27K

if you want to add to it, let me know.

High-speed high-Savior: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=greTJhHhiHk

Just this once, everybody lives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhklrve5xmw

"We must be the reason someone smiles today": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU3QfyqvHk8

Bill G. said:

High-speed high-Savior: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=greTJhHhiHk

I never got into Smallville except sporadically toward its very end. Not sure why, in restrospect. But a neat montage of rescues.
 

Just this once, everybody lives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhklrve5xmw

That seem makes me all verklempt every time I watch it, esp. in context of that Doctor.

"We must be the reason someone smiles today": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU3QfyqvHk8

That's very cool. Thanks.

The Smallville montage gave me a random visual as well. Imagine Superman falling from a great height, bound up in chains locked with kryptonite. You see Deadshot or some similar sniper aiming down at him as he falls... and hitting the kryptonite, deliberately. It shatters, chains come loose, Superman is free and strong again. I don't know if that's been done, or how/why this situation would come to pass, but it feels like a striking image regardless.

Bill G. said:

The Smallville montage gave me a random visual as well. Imagine Superman falling from a great height, bound up in chains locked with kryptonite. You see Deadshot or some similar sniper aiming down at him as he falls... and hitting the kryptonite, deliberately. It shatters, chains come loose, Superman is free and strong again. I don't know if that's been done, or how/why this situation would come to pass, but it feels like a striking image regardless.

Nice. And I can definitely see it happening (esp. in some Suicide Squad context, appropriate for Deadshot).

It occurs to me that my Justice League piece would probably have fit better in this meta-thread, esp. as I have another "Hey, here's a cool tale that fits in to the Masks framework so neatly" item to recommend.

Wayward is an Image comic by Jim Zub (w) and Steve Cummings (a), about teenagers on the forefront of a weather change in magical and myth in Japan, struggling to define themselves as people within a highly conformist society, while also dealing with supernatural threats -- and wondering if they are actually the good guys in the power struggle, or if their still-mysterious talents are blessings or curses.

(Oh, and to add an additional meta level, the traditional spirit world and their desire to destroy what they cannot control echoes the conventional world that doesn't understand these special teens, or teens in general, and would destroy what it cannot control.)

I've also seen a reference to it as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer in Japan," which captures a bit of it, but leaves a lot out as well.

Anyway, it's full of delightful manga-esque tropes, but with a PoV more approachable to Western storytelling. The characters could be fit into any number of playbooks (Transformed, Delinquent, Bull, Doomed, Nova), and the story works as both scary mythology, teen angst, magical kids ... There are places where I think the pacing is too fast, the character development too rapid, but that's partly me, too.



I highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't read it. I've been a fan since issue 1, but just got around to reading the deluxe h/c I got of the first ten issues (including some great text pieces on Japanese monster stories from a literary and historical perspective) and wanted to share*. It was fascinating going through stories I'd already read and suddenly having an additional Masks perspective to see them from.

---
* Available for borrowing by locals.

Submitted without comment. Just seems appropriate to at least some Masks storylines.

Even the Teen Titans don't like Teen Titans Go.

https://rabbitdadisw0rried.tumblr.com/post/163398410642/mangoshawty-johncribati