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imagine-this-doesnt-suck · 15 days

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Dead Doves were Born to be Eaten

YellowJewl

Summary:

Here is chapter 2/2 of the continuation fic to Sleeping with Spiders, I hope you're happy you little nasties. We're back and gorier than ever It's fucked, real fucked. There is murder, smut, violence, if you are not comfortable with these themes, don't worry it's not going to hurt my feelings if you scroll on by, I'll still love you.

Chapter 2

Their ecological role is to be prey,” said some doctor during a nature documentary, you had only turned on for the background noise. “They are born to be eaten, and humans are just one of their predators. Hunting has not caused any decline in the various dove species.” Its true, the bird's populations remain resilient, mostly because of their prolific reproduction methods. They’re basically flying rabbits. Commonly, producing only a pair of eggs for each nest, a mating pair will produce up to five broods of young annually, nesting from March until November. Eggs take just 2 weeks of incubation to hatch.

So in short you don't feel as bad about hunting them as you once did. The guilt that once weighed down your shoulders like a ton of bricks every time you grabbed your rifle for a hunt, that made you suffer through countless, meatless dinner nights with only the vegetables you grew from your amateur garden and instant ramen you had picked up from your bimonthly trip to town, to fill your stomach, had all passed. You were able to rationalize it now. It was okay.

They were born to die and be eaten.

You inhale a breath of crisp air into your lungs, it smells overwhelmingly like the pine trees surrounding you in this moment. As you exhale you take the time to level your rifle and aim while you prepare to shoot.

Since moving up here, so much has changed in these past few months. A part of you was worried that the isolation would get to you, that years of living in the city in your comfy apartment, would have made you too soft for this life. But in truth you loved it. You found your cabin to be cozy and charming. The chirping of birds and the delicate rustle of the leaves caused by the mountain breeze turned out to be quite relaxing while you painted. As far as finding being lonesome went, well…

He did stop by quite often, so you wouldn't say that you were all alone.

You had met him some months ago, right before you had decided to move up here. Your first meeting was… unconventional to say the least. But he had expressed great interest in your artwork and you found his talents to be quite entertaining as well. You wouldn't call it love, in your opinion you were both just a little bit too twisted for such a sentiment, instead a mutual fascination was born the the night the two of you crossed paths.

Still, who could say that it was merely fascination that led him to your cabin time and time again, only to end up buried between your thighs, bloodied knife in hand and a breathy moan that resembled your name rolling off his tongue.

You were grateful for him. For he was the one who awakened the real you. There was an ugly truth within you that your parents had shamed into hiding. The part of you that had only ever been let out of her cage when you painted. The girl who loved gore and horror, the girl who created truly horrific and blood curdling pieces, the girl who's toes curled in ecstasy whenever he would plunge a kitchen knife into your abdomen and slowly cut off your air supply as he choked you with only one hand.

Being with him was like living, breathing art. A verse by one of the greats, Being touched by him felt like poetry;

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed

And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.

(I think I made you up inside my head.)

The man was an insatiable sadistic.

And you were a monster.

You entered the log cabin with ease as the door was left open by its former occupant. The strong scent of iron gave away the presence of blood within your home.

Without even giving him a glance you let out an amused laugh. "Bringing your work home with you?" You joked.

"Not my home. Your's ." He responds with a smile.

"Hitchhiker or hunter?" You ask, your voice calm and level. It was casual, the conversation had a certain ease to it, as if you were chatting about what you would cook for dinner as you unloaded the groceries. The thought was so sickeningly domestic.

You dump the dead bird carcasses on your counter.

"Hitchhiker. Picked him up on way here."

He doesn't turn to look at you as he speaks. From the moment you met him, you found the man before you to be unequivocally beautiful. With his raven black hair that falls just above his shoulders in length and frames his pale face and short stature. He was probably just below five foot if you had to guess. But despite his stature he possessed an almost lethal aura about him and when his sharp grey eyes dart to meet yours, fear itself almost made you turn tail and run when you had first encountered him. Now, his back faces you as he hunches over the young man tied and gagged to one of your dining room chairs.

You approach Feitan from behind, wrapping your arms around his neck and nuzzling him affectionately, "that's hot." You tell him, feeling up his chest from over the long robes he's clothed in.

He grunts. "Mmm..." You continue to nuzzle him while you whisper sweet nothings in his ear.

With razor sharp precision and speed, your lover plunges the knife into the man, you sigh dreamily. The victim screams out in pain, the stab wound wasn't enough to kill him, it was just deep enough to keep the game going.

In a second chair, you hear a whimper and turn to be greeted with the sight of a young woman, she looks thrown about and frightened. The victim's girlfriend you suspect, sobs as Feitan continues with his torture.

"Stop, please stop!" She begs, "I'll do anything. I'll... I'll give you anything you want." Tears stream down her beet red face, leaving stains of mascara running down her cheeks. A pitiful sight indeed but, one you know the man you are draped over would enjoy quite a bit.

You turn and smile at her, "hush. He likes it when you scream, I don't recommend it unless you want it to be your turn sooner."

Her pupils dilate in terror as she goes silent, heeding your warning. Leaving the two of you continue to torment the now unconscious man, severing a finger every so often to awaken him from his slumber.

"Let me grab a drink. I'll be right back." You tell him too casually as if the two of you were simply sitting on the couch together watching a movie. You rush to the kitchen and reach into the cupboard to grab something you were saving for a while. Clear liquid sloshes around in the bottle as you giddily rush back to the atrocities in the living room.

You throw your head back as you take a swig of alcohol. It burns your throat on the way down, setting your insides on fire, adding to the heat and excitement you are already feeling.

"Do you enjoy it?"

The question catches you off guard but you quickly recover, "I enjoy every moment I spend with you." You say honestly. You assume he's asking about the work he's brought home and not the small bit of drinking you had indulged in. Though, honestly you do enjoy both. Drinking has become a bit more of a habit for you as you moved out here all alone. And more so since Feitan has so graciously included you in his passion projects. The booze just loosens you up is all, not that you have any inhibitions about your actions but, it does help quiet that still small voice inside that constantly reminds you that you are a monster. Not that you would tell any of this to Feitan.

Feitan looks down at you, surprise finds a home upon his brow. A pair of sharp grey eyes regard you for a moment with such intensity before coming to rest in an amused expression. "You enjoy every moment you spend with me?" He says, his voice showing curiosity, "Then why do you spend so little time with me?" He seems to be in a teasing mood today. A good thing for you.

You swat his arm and laugh, "because you are always away with your little troupe, doin crime or whatever." You go to take another swig but take a second to drink the moment in instead, strands of raven black hair fall into his face as he leans towards you, smirk peeking out just above his bandana. As your laughter dies down, you feel the slight tinge of pink stain your cheeks.

He reaches his hand out and grabs yours, pulling you close, "I am always away with my little troupe, if I was not, we would see more of each other."

"What do you mean?" The pink in your cheeks fade into a bright cherry red. Something wells up inside you as you ask this question. It's excitement. It's knowing that the next words out of his mouth could mean everything. Could change everything. Up until this moment, you knew the deal, it was just sex accompanied by the mutual enjoyment of the slaughter and gore. You were never going to ask for more but now that the thought was placed in your head, you couldn't help but mull it over. Even you want to feel a connection.

He looks like he's about to reply to your inquiry and you impatiently await his words, when suddenly like nails on a chalkboard, the victim's girlfriend interrupts with her sobbing, "please! Please let us go!" It seems as if she couldn't hold her tongue any longer.

Feitan turns to look at her, a faint smirk on his face. He reaches his hand out and gently squeezes her cheeks as she sobs, forcibly making her purse her lips. "If that is what you want, girly." He says, venom dripping off his sweet words.

You glare at the two as the interaction plays out. Why couldn't the woman just keep quiet? Did she just have to be such an attention whore and ruin your moment? Whatever happened to women supporting women? Annoyed, you pick up a severed finger that the man had lost and walk over to the woman. you frustratedly push past Feitan and stuff the appendage in her mouth and sneer. "There that will shut you up" you say.

She begins to sob as Feitan releases her face, but before she can cough up the foreign object in her mouth, you clap your hand over her mouth and begin to squeeze.

She begins to choke on the finger.

You let out a delighted chuckle as her eyes start to bulge from their sockets. You make a mental note to try to remember every detail of her now nearly blue face as you think about what a lovely portrait her tear stained visage would make.

Feitan draws you out of your concentration as he wraps his arms around you and begins to feel you up his hand dipping up under your shirt, "you are always so creative" he coos. You feel his other hand wandering down into your pants, but before you can react he begins to squeeze your breasts.

"Ah, you have such nice ones. Pretty little slut" He comments, as he pinches a nipple in between his fingers

"Horny asshole." You spat before engulfing him in a kiss. The two of you collide in a passionate ferver as you continue to explore each other's bodies, until you have just about felt each other up everywhere.

You moan in ecstasy as you see him grab for his knife. You shiver in anticipation as you await for what you consider the best part of the night.

Your arms tighten around his neck as you move to straddle him. Bucking your hips, you begin to ride him back and forth, the both of you moaning as he tightens his grip on the blade in his hand.

Your fingers tangle themselves into his hair as you try to anchor yourself to reality. Panting, you breathe out, "what was that about wanting to be with me more often?"

"Don't remember…saying that." He grunts out as his fingers dig into your ass cheeks, helping you along as you ride him. He tightens his grip and you swear that he must've drawn blood.

You furrow your brows in frustration. And through the utter ecstasy of being impaled upon the man below you, you stutter out your response, "C-come on. Early- oh fuck yes! Ah! Earlier you at least pretended like you like me " you manage to whine out the words. You feel him stall for a moment. As if your words gave him a reason for pause but, the cold steel finds it's home dangerously close to your jugular.

"I like you... a lot." You are like a deer in the headlights as your eyes widen. You study his face, his demeanor, the tiny subtle movements of his blade, any sign that he was feeding you horse shit. But whether you simply cannot read the man or the woman alone, lost in the woods, wants so desperately to find a connection to anything that she manages to delude herself, you are unable to sniff out the lie

"I like the way you scream." as his knife trails across your jawline. He smirks as the knife flows down your curves line running water. You squeeze your eyes shut and grin wickedly as you fall victim to the extacy of the moment. You scream out as his knife plunges into your stomach. Your back arches as you scream, crying out in pain as your blood pours out of you.

You hear him chuckle. "I think you like the way i cut you up."

"Yes! Yes!" You moan.

He laughs as the blood coats you like a warm blanket.

Your vision begins to blur as you breathe out the forbidden words between you two and whisper, "I love you…"

You when you finally do awake on your cabin's couch, your wounds are bandaged and the two victims are slumped over in a corner, presumably dead. Feitan meanwhile, is no where to be found.

He must have unsurprisingly ran off. Your fault really. You spooked him, like a deer fleeing from a warning shot. Should have known better than to get too close. Sometimes you just forget yourself though, you start to think of him as a mirror to yourself. Another monster thirsty for blood but seeking something more. But he isn't you.

You roll off the couch as your stomach growls and you clutch your bandages as you stumble towards the kitchenette. The dove you had shot, waiting patiently for you to turn it into a meal. You recall one time when you had tried to cook dove for Feitan once before. He had just sneered at you, snapping "Don't you ever fucking eat normal food?"

You smile at the memory when you finally make your way to the kitchen table and sit down to eat. And proceed with the day like any other.

The world doesn't stop when Feitan leaves on his trips. You wake up, eat, shower, do your chores around the cabin and garden, hunt, check your traps, and find time to paint.

Speaking of chores, after you dump your dirty dish into the sink, you set out on cleaning up the mess from the day before. As you leave the cabin you toss your gun sling over your back, figuring you might be able to shoot a few doves down in your downtime. Grabbing a wheelbarrow and shovel you push it towards your front door and begin to load up. You make a point to do these sort of chores in the morning, or else the smell starts to become too bad.

You wheel your load past your garden and closer to the tree line. You grab your shovel and begin to dig. Birdsong serenades you as sweat beads on your forehead as you work. It has been unusually hot this time of year, normally summer would have already began to make way for autumn by this time past years. Which reminds you, you should probably try to down a few bucks before the end of the season this year. You don't want to be all out of food halfway through winter. Some deer could do you some good.

When you finally decide that the hole is deep enough, you drop your shovel and stretch. Cracking your back as you do so and letting out a yawn. After this you might just take a nap, you deserve it after all.

Turning back to the wheel barrow, you're finally ready. You loop your arms up under the corpse's armpits and pull him from the wheel barrow. He's a bit heavy and you nearly tip over as you drag him towards the hole. You curse yourself for letting him leave you with this part of the job time and time again. He's just like a little kid, refusing to put away his toys after playing. At the edge of the small pit you have the body off the edge and hear it drop to the bottom with a final thud.

You stare at the body in the hole. A bit disappointed, if you had to admit. The scene was just so un-picturesque. Of course, with you having to practically push after dragging, his nearly bloated corpse into the pit, didn't leave much room for the most graceful landing. His face is obscured by the soil that it's buried in, his hind quarters curled awkwardly towards the sky. More humiliating for the dead man than it is eye-catching to you.

Oh well, time to dump the girlfriend in the pit.

Learning from your past mistakes, you grab the handles of the wheelbarrow in hopes that it would be easier to chuck the second body down the hole this way. After pushing it to the very edge of the pit, you are ready to lift the back end up, until you hear a quiet whimper break through the quiet sounds of nature surrounding you.

You stop cold in your tracks.

She's still alive.

A strangled sob escapes her and your blood runs cold. This is a first. It's not like Feitan to leave any bodies breathing before leaving your cabin. " Help m-" she chokes on her words along with the blood she coughs up. What are you supposed to do? You're in broad daylight out in open, merely yards away from your cabin's garden. And you've never done this alone. She looks so much more frail with the sun reflecting on her pale sunken skin. When her clouded eyes meet yours, you all but keel over yourself. "You have to help me please."

Unable to break eye contact, you shake your head. "I can't." The woman looks almost ethereal, velvet red blood spilling over her violet bruised lips framed by skin so ghostly, it's practically translucent. As soon as you spoke, her brows knit themselves in distress. Her once comatose limbs rise out of the wheelbarrow like the undead breaking free from the earth. You stumble backwards, away from her as climbs out, you hastily grab your rifle from your back. "My boyfriend he-" on doe like legs she stumbles about looking around frantically until her eyes land on the pit. She drops to her knees. "No…"

You take a tentative step towards her, rifle still raised, as if she truly were a deer that you didn't want to scare off. She's crying, staring into the abyss of her late lover's grave. "What do I- he's gone. He's gone. What do I do?" She's in hysterics when she turns to you.

"Did you love him?" You don't know where the question comes from but it spills out of you none the less. You are met with a gaze you are unable to define. "I guess you could say, love someone too, " you tell her as you step closer to her.

"Please, please help me." She begs once more. "If you- you say love someone so you- please I don't want to die." Weeping and barely comprehensible. You know what she's asking. She wants you to help her escape. She most likely believes that Feitan will return and make sure she shares her boyfriend's final resting place. And of course, she would need your help, there's no way she would be able to make it out of the forest herself, especially injured and lacking in supplies.

Some might argue that it would be an act of mercy to allow death to take her instead, like a wounded deer needing to be put out of it's misery, instead of dropping her off at the nearest township.

You are also aware that if she were to ever make it out of these woods, the cabin would be compromised. Even if you were to swear, or scare, her to secrecy, there is no way she would not go seeking medical help, they would start asking questions. The most pressing being the whereabouts of her boyfriend. And that could lead to the authorities looking for Feitan. What if all of this lead to him not coming back to the cabin because he no longer saw it as safe anymore.

The barrel of the gun comes to rest in the middle of her forehead.

Realization hits her like a ton of bricks. Her blood and tear stained face contorts as she she shifts violently from the bargaining phase to anger. "No! You can't do this! You- you monster!"

A soft smile lands on your lips, "I know. But even monsters want to feel a connection."

A blast rings through the forest. Birds flee from their trees and take to the sky. A corpse falls gracefully into its grave. And you are left with the image of the ethereal woman sprawled across their lover, the picture finally completed, made multitudes better as you stare down the hole at the ghastly image. It will make a lovely painting, you note to grab your sketchbook before night fall so you can capture the sight later.

For now, you take the handles of the wheelbarrow and turn it around, heading towards your cabin's modest garden. You can hear the mourning dove's song above you, as the birds have begun to return to the area after the gunshot rang out.

The guilt that briefly weighed down your shoulders like a ton of bricks when you were first faced with killing the girl had passed now.You were able to rationalize it now. It was okay.

Sometimes, like doves, people were born to die.

#x reader #feitan #feitan hxh #feitan porter x reader #feitan x reader #hxh #hxh x reader #phantom troupe #hxh fanart

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hc-werner · 1 year

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The Dialectical Humanism of Big-Ass Robots: An Intro

“There’s a deep, earnest seriousness to most mecha shows (especially within the “real robot” subgenre) that implores the audience to grapple with intricate ideas and themes drawn from philosophers like Aristotle, Nietzche, and Rousseau, oftentimes complete with allegorical mouthpieces for competing ideologies.”

My high school students always lose their shit when I tell them that I, Coach Werner, also watch anime. I kinda feel bad about it. By now, I know I’ll see the excitement die from their eyes little by little as they pepper me with questions, searching for a connection with show after show after show.

“Coach, have you seen Jojo?”

“Nope.”

“What about DBZ or Naruto?”

“Not since before you were born.”

“Attack on Titan? Utena? Tokyo Ghoul?”

“Not yet, though they’re on my list.”

“The fuck Coach? I thought you said you watch anime!”

When I tell them I mostly watch mecha, they get confused. After I explain that mecha are the ones with jumbo-sized robots, they groan. I’ve even had one kid say that didn’t count. As a general rule, I try to not let the opinions of 15 year olds hurt my feelings; I only docked his grade a couple points.

Whatever my students may think, oversized anthropomorphized robots have fascinated me since I was a kid. Over the years, as I’ve revisited shows from my youth and found new mechanized, cel shaded rabbit holes to tumble down, I’ve tried to figure out what exactly was so appealing about the genre. There’s definitely a bit of wish fulfillment, a sorta kaiju-sized power fantasy, sure, but that’s not all of it. Same with intricate sci-fi world building, and of course the thrill of pew-pew dogfights and beam saber duels. But none of those alone seemed to account for the whole thing. They’re all fun set dressing, definitely worth a watch on their own but not enough, I don’t think, to capture my imagination for nearly a quarter of a century.

This series, The Dialectical Humanism of Big-Ass Robots, started off as a rambling, borderline incoherent and definitely substance enhanced diatribe that tried to explain how excited I was for the first episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. It feels right, though, both the name and the bigger through line.

There’s a deep, earnest seriousness to most mecha shows (especially within the “real robot” subgenre) that implores the audience to grapple with intricate ideas and themes drawn from philosophers like Aristotle, Nietzche, and Rousseau, oftentimes complete with allegorical mouthpieces for competing ideologies. There’s also the slightly goofy and always physics-defying “rule of cool” concepts of the robots themselves–I mean, who doesn’t want to see a boom cannon with angel wings, or a crucified rage monster, or transforming karaoke jets?–that can easily be laughed off as a kid’s cartoon. Any foolhardy (read: hubristic and dumbasstic) attempt to try to find unifying threads within such a wide and varied genre has to address both of those tendencies. Here, friend, you will find one such foolhardy attempt.

Mecha anime, more than any other subgenre, has a fundamental tension summarized by two infuriatingly simultaneous, contradictory truths:

Anthropomorphized mechs bring out the best in humanity, allowing us to overcome our flaws and leap forward into a better future.

Anthropomorphized mechs feed into the worst traits of humanity, allowing us to destroy ourselves in new and technologically advanced ways.

Those two overwhelmingly common truths, when taken together, can be summarized in fancy philosophy jargon with just two words: dialectical humanism.

Dialectics is a concept pioneered (in the West, at least) by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel during the late 18th and early 19th century. There’s literally a whole field of study called “Hegelian Dialectics” that we’ll touch on from time to time, but the main thing to know is that two mutually exclusive and contradictory ideas are often both true at the same time.

Humanism has a long, fraught history, but the most common Western interpretations stem from Enlightenment-era ideals. Essentially, humanism boils down to the belief that humankind can progress beyond its animalistic nature through a combination of empathy and rational thinking. Again, we’ll be touching on a whole slew of humanist thinkers throughout this series.

So that’s The Dialectical Humanism of Big-Ass Robots. I feel like mecha shows–from Astro Boy to Zeta Gundam, and almost everything in between–play with this dialectic, where the mechs themselves represent humanity’s ultimate destruction and ultimate salvation simultaneously. Sometimes we struggle to survive, sometimes we overcome and thrive, and sometimes we find ourselves transformed into an ocean of pink goo.

In this series, we’ll look at:

Magical Newtype Bullshit and radical empathy

Depression, memory, and trauma, and why Shinji can’t just get in the fucking robot

The power of music (and love, hope, and propaganda) in a transforming space city

And much, much more.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch a Tanuki pilot a Gundam.

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soulmate-game · 10 months

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Work burned me out, middle management positions are draining. What was supposed to be an angsty oneshot is now… yeah I’m continuing it. Not a full series, just a two-parter… hopefully.

Edit: I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THIS CLUSTERFUCK OF AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER IS, but BUCKLE IN BECAUSE IT PROBABLY DOESN’T PASS SAFETY REGULATIONS! HOOOOO BOY

Part 1

—*—*—*—*—*

“…” she stared at the being in front of her, face frighteningly blank. Next to her, Bruce fidgeted.

“I’m not going anywhere, so you either gotta learn to love me real quick or get lost quicker,” the child snarked from where he was sitting upside-down on the bat computer chair. “And don’t call me Richard, my name’s Dick.”

“I don’t remember you working with a fetus, Batman,” Marinette slowly drawled, emphasizing the vigilante’s name despite none of the three of them being suited up. Dick shot up with a cry of indignation.

“I am not a fetus! I’m fifteen! I’ve been Robin since I was twelve!”

“Nope,” Marinette countered, unmoved. “I started out as Ladybug when I was twelve, and I was never as small as you,” she blatantly lied. Dick was already taller than her, which wasn’t much of an achievement considering that she was five-foot-one-inch tall. “You are six years old, tops.”

Dick let out an almost inhuman screech of complaint. Even as he rambled on angrily about how wrong she was, Marinette only nodded as if he proved her right about something.

“That was a good squawk though. Definitely a birdie.”

It took another twenty minutes before Dick ran off to tell on Marinette to Alfred, giving her and Bruce some alone time. With which she used to whirl to him and immediately hiss in equal parts fury and worry;

“Please tell me he wasn’t—“

“The timeline is gone,” Bruce reminded her, bracing her by putting both his hands on her shoulders. “He doesn’t remember.”

“Still!”

He let out such a heavy sigh that he seemed to deflate with it, his dark circles growing more pronounced.

“He wasn’t supposed to be,” he admitted softly. “When he turned sixteen, last time, I allowed him to form his own team of teen heroes. Supervised from afar by myself of course, not that they knew that. I had given them the order to stay back and guard their city, but they disobeyed me and snuck onto the battlefield anyway.”

Marinette rubbed at her temples, nodding. “Teenagers have a habit of doing that. This time around, can we ask Bunnyx to supervise them? She has all the energy of a teenager, so she’ll fit in, but the maturity of someone trusted to guard all the timelines.”

Bruce paused, thinking of what little he knew of the pastel rabbit themed hero, and then reluctantly nodded. “That… might be for the best. And giving them more opportunities to train with…” he hummed, hand on his chin. “I might actually change things up, in that case. Instead of jumping to put teens on their own in a tower, the old Justice League headquarters is more protected. And if we started with the ‘sidekicks’,” he gave very purposeful air quotes, “of other Leaguers, it would create a better support system than letting teenagers run around with… really, not enough regulation.”

“Gotta love hindsight,” Marinette agreed with a nod. “The whole teenagers by themselves thing only worked for my team because we were overly traumatized and each saw different apocalypses before we turned sixteen. Bunnyx could fix them herself back then, but still.”

“Best to do better by the new generation,” Bruce agreed with her unspoken statement. “I can still put that old team together again when they’re older, support their development elsewhere in the meantime.”

“Oh, and now that we’re done on that topic,” Marinette snapped her fingers before pointing to the staircase that Dick had disappeared up. “He’s going to make my life a living hell, isn’t he?”

Bruce groaned, offering her a lopsided grimace of apology. “He’s a menace,” he agreed. “He’s scared away any woman I’ve brought to the house, even though most of them are completely platonic. I have to make the press believe the whole playboy thing somehow, and inviting my friends over to chat is the easiest way to do so without breaking hearts for real. Dick hasn’t caught on yet,” Bruce rubbed his forehead. “His antics to scare away Selina Kyle are legendary already, and she’s sapphic. She couldn’t be attracted to me if I was the last man on earth.”

“Could have fooled me,” Marinette teased, suddenly impish. “She’s catwoman, isn’t she?”

Bruce narrowed his eyes, saying only: “Chat Noir. Year one.”

It was Marinette’s turn to grimace. “Point taken. But in my defense, he took way too long to realize he’s gay and watched too much anime at the time.”

Bruce let out one of his unfairly charming chuckles, changing position so that his arm was around her shoulders and pulling her to his side. She fit there surprisingly well, for someone almost half his size. She leaned into him, and the both just soaked in the comfort of one another for a long moment.

“You know,” Bruce started for a while. “If you want to stay in Gotham, we can make you another alter ego so that you don’t accidentally lure Shadow Moth here. Tell that fox of yours to make it seem like you’re in Paris and take some of the weight off of your shoulders for a change. Blackmail Constantine into charming some jars to keep the butterflies in until you can purify them.”

“Hmmm.” She closed her eyes. “Ladybird sounds nice. Fits with the bird thing that Robin has going for him.”

Bruce laughed. “That’ll really annoy him,” he warned, amused. Marinette’s close-eyed smile was pure mischief.

“That’s the whole point. I’m not letting a fetus win against me, bat-boy.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Marinette wasn’t speaking to Bunnyx. Bruce didn’t know what they had said to one another, but he could guess it had to do with Jason.

With his baby, who he just buried. The boy Marinette had thought of a son ever since he first brought him home. She had even smoothed things over between Dick and Jason, which he had considered nothing short of a miracle at the time.

But that miracle was nowhere to be seen now, with Marinette every bit as despondent next to him as he was. He wanted to be angry with her, he did, but he couldn’t. He had seen her blow up at Bunnyx, seen her try to hold her status as Grand Guardian over the bunny holder.

Bunnyx had simply said that she wouldn’t answer to Ladybug until after the grief passed then, and ran away into her burrow.

“Is this the payment?” He heard her whisper, her voice hoarse and broken. “For the do-over? We passed the old timeline. We took down Shadow Moth. Is this the price?” Tears dripped down her face silently, she didn’t seem to notice them. “Was I not a good enough mother? Should I—“ she stopped herself, shaking her head. He didn’t ask what she was about to say. Maybe he should have.

—*—*—*—*—*

Tim was great. He was too much like Marinette at times, which made Bruce’s chest ache, but he was a great Robin. A great son. His experience with Marinette proved priceless when it came to helping curb Tim’s overworking habits and caffeine addiction.

But not even Tim could find where Marinette had disappeared to, even with his detective skills surpassing Bruce’s already.

Tim was the first son of his that didn’t get to grow up with Marinette at all.

—*—*—*—*—*

“It’s fine, Baobei,” she whispered, stepping to the side. Behind her was the waterfall that hid the tunnel to the Batcave. “He’s not the one to blame. He did his best, even now he’s doing his best.”

“Then why does—“

“Because other people need him, and he has too big of a heart to turn them away,” her mouth tilted a little, smile lopsided and sad. “Timothy didn’t replace you. He just forced Bruce to live again. Bruce didn’t kill Joker, because he didn’t want to taint another child with the sight of murder.”

“And you?” The voice was dark, deadly, gruff. Older, and yet… so achingly familiar. She smiled at him again, soft and sad and… proud.

“I don’t have one,” she lied. She had tried, tried so hard. Bruce had gotten in her way first, and then the very same desire to not taint more children with the image of death.

But her baby needed a scapegoat, and she was willing to throw herself on the fire for him.

“That’s why it’s fine,” she repeated. “If this is what you want. Just, please. Let it end with me.”

This time, Marinette made sure she had the Time miraculous safely in her pocket. Nobody would interfere with this.

The bullet sent her into the flow of the waterfall, red flowing behind her like the carpet she used to walk down with Bruce whenever she released a new collection. She felt no regret as she closed her eyes and fell.

—*—*—*—*—*

The shot hadn’t been fatal. Red Hood might have been mad with Pit Rage, but his fondness for his only true mother figure was ever present. He simply wanted to see if she was serious about taking that shot.

His regret was immediate when she didn’t even try to dodge. The bullet had only grazed her shoulder, but she didn’t seem to notice that. She had been so ready to die— to let him kill her— that she had passed out before hitting the water. He dragged her to the Batcave, knowing he had a lot to answer for.

Bruce wished he could have found her sooner, found both of them sooner. But at least they were back.

—*—*—*—*—*

“… I mean,” she rocked on her heels. “You are growing a bit old for Robin…”

Tim glared at her, not appreciating the insight.

“Bruce is stuck in the timestream, and you aren’t doing a thing about it. I don’t hold your opinion very highly right now,” he snipped back. She snorted, glancing away.

As if that little stunt to “kill Batman” could ever fool her. She’d been there for the real thing, thanks, she could spot a fake a mile away. “He’s got Bunnyx going to find him. She owes me big time, let her do the heavy lifting for a change.”

“How many years have you held that grudge?” Barbara asked, eyebrows raised as she wheeled herself towards the bat computer. “Even Jason thinks you should have let it go by now.”

Marinette scoffed at the exact same time as a certain someone tutted next to her, making them look for a moment like a perfect pair.

Crossed arms, a scoff, annoyed glare? If a DNA test hadn’t already proven otherwise, they might have thought Damian was hers.

“Fetuses don’t get to judge me,” was her only argument before she turned on her heel and walked away.

“I am not a fetus! Lady Marinette, I am ten years old!”

—*—*—*—*—*

Bonus:

Jason was curled up around Marinette, despite being told numerous times not to crowd her on the med-bay bed. He argued that he shot her, so he gets to nurse her back to health.

Did she use her blood, tainted by years of use of the Ladybug, to purify his pit madness? Yes. Had he figured that out yet? Nope.

“Love you, Mom,” he murmured in his sleep. Marinette, who had been awake for about an hour already, smiled to herself.

“Love you, Baobei.”

#maribat #mlb x dc #ml x dc #dc x mlb #dc x miraculous #platonic jasonette #platonic daminette #platonic timari #platonic dickinette #brucinette #idk what this is #enjoy anyway

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artsywriter25 · 5 months

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Let’s talk about the Kung Fu Panda 4 Trailer

Okay, we finally got the trailer after waiting for so many months!

First things first, my reaction to the trailer. I thought it was decent, I didn’t react too much but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. I couldn’t stop smiling seeing Po again, I was expecting to see more but this is just a tease. There probably is more that they can’t show us just yet. I watched this trailer multiple times. I’m gonna go on and talk about the things I like and things that I didn’t like.

The Pros:

- The animation looks great as always. I was hoping they add in the hybrid animation but the one they’re using is still amazing.

- Po is now using his jade staff to make combo moves which is awesome and I can't wait to see the creative battles.

- I like Zhen so far and Aquafina’s voice fits her. I know people are saying her design looks weird but I think it looks fine, and I have liked Aquafina since seeing The Farewell.

- The Chameleon looks beautiful! If you pause during her transformations she actually looks scary. DreamWorks made a frecking chameleon scary, how do they do that?!

- I like how they kept the animals at their accurate heights like it took me the fifth watch to realize how small Chameleon was compared to Tai Lung yet she took him down easily.

-Speaking of Tai Lung, he is so back! The fact that he is on the poster could be hinting at a possible redemption arc so for those die-hard Tai Lung fans out there, I’m happy for you.

-I’m also happy they even got Ke Huy Quan to join the cast. I grew up watching The Goonies and after seeing him in Everything Everywhere all at once, I said that he should be in a KFP film and I’m glad he is.

The Cons:

- The jokes are okay, the only one that made me laugh was Po choking on the flower petals. I hate fart jokes, I know that’s what made DreamWorks famous like Sherk but it doesn’t fit well with KFP. Hopefully that’s the only one and there are not too many gross jokes.

- I like we’re getting new characters but I’m afraid they won’t be complex characters with arcs of their own but just there as comic relief.

- I’m already annoyed by those crazy rabbits.

- Tai Lung cannot catch a break. First, his chi was taken from Kai and now the Chameleon took his chi, I hope he doesn’t end up as a punching bag for the rest of the film.

-I noticed there is a lack of a color theme, I had always theorized it would be purple but I keep seeing gold, green, and white. That’s not a good sign.

- Okay this is just my nick-pick but I was shocked to find out they got Viola Davis voicing the villain. I like her in some movies but she gives me this impression of those actresses with big egos. Honestly, her voice is nice but I need a full clip of her to get a full impression.

- Lastly, there is no Furious Five. I saw how the fandom is freaking out about this, but I think they are in the movie, just not for long. While I’m sad we don’t see them, the reality is there really is no other purpose for them but to help Po. I still think they may show up at the end for the final battle. I don’t know what the actors are doing right now, but Seth Rogan came out with his movie this year, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, so he’s probably busy writing the sequel. As for Tigress, I won’t be surprised if she doesn’t have speaking lines because Angelia Jolie is too busy dealing with her personal issues and her divorce right now.

Okay I got the pros and cons out of the way, now I want to talk about what I think may happen in KFP4. There are some things I’ve noticed in the trailer and I have too many theories and so many questions running in my head and I need to write it out.

So Po’s Jade staff is definitely going play an important role in the story, it seem to have a connection to both the living world and the spiritual world. My guess is the Chameleon wants the staff for a higher purpose of her plan or she needs it to travel to the spirit world herself. We can see her summoning spirits over to the living world, capturing them, and literally eating their chi away. Chi is what helps the spirits stay in living world but Tai Lung’s chi was taken and we don’t know how this will affect him. He may be stuck there until he can get his chi back.

I noticed in one shot of the trailer there are these strange boxes in the room where Tai Lung was fighting and I realized those are cages. The Chameleon is probably planning on keeping the villains as prisoners to take more chi from them. Knowing Po, he’s going to see this as wrong and wants to save the villains. I know it’s a stretch but I think it could happen. It would be so cool seeing Po, Tai Lung, Shen and Kai working together to take down the Chameleon.

But the question is what is her motive in all this? Why does she say to Po ‘we are not so different you and I’? If she is a powerful sorcerer then why does she need his staff? They better not say that she was never taken seriously enough, there’s gotta be more to it.

And there is Zhen, who I want to know the most. I’m sure they would show some flashbacks to her story and show why she became a criminal. For some reason, I keep thinking she maybe leading Po to a trap, which I hope that’s not the case, but she seems to know more than she lets on. Po didn’t know who the Chameleon was until Zhen explained to him and she knows where she lives. I hope she doesn’t end up being a backstabber because this character is supposed to be the next Dragon Warrior, it would be hard to forgive her if they went that route.

But these are just my theories and questions that I have. There’s really nothing else to say other than despite my cons, I’m still hyped to see this film and praying to god this will be still good. They may put up another trailer later on, if it’s good enough I’ll write my reaction to it too.

But tell me what you guys think?

#kung fu panda #kung fu panda 4 #kfp 4 #dreamworks #po #zhen #the chameleon #discussion #sorry took me long to write this out #busy since the holidays are coming #my thoughts #artsy's writing

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carriagelamp · 4 months

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What are the Christmas holidays for if not for being cosy and snug and reading a book? It has been a very pleasant December for me, and I've really gotten to indulge my love of reading winter themed books in winter

The Bellybuttons

A quebecois bande desinee I’ve heard about and decided to pick up the first book of — I read this one in English. It was pretty amusing! At times quite funny as it does a gag-a-page format pretty well, but also at times deeply frustrating since the series is predominantly about Karine, who is a sweet, somewhat awkward teenaged girl, and the rather nasty popular girls she’s “friends” with. Karine acts as a foil and a general punching bag for most of the book. It does make her standing up for herself at the end of the album deeply satisfying. A worthwhile read if you enjoyed Mean Girls and would like that in a comic format.

Bookshops & Bonedust

A prequel to Legends & Lattes that I’ve been very eagerly anticipating! In this book Viv is just beginning her career as a mercenary but has been laidlow by a injury. Forced to stay behind in a seaside town while her leg heals, she gradually gets drawn into the lives of the various town residents, including a beleaguered ratkin who’s desperately trying to keep her little bookshop afloat. Add in a dash of baked goods and necromantic plots, and it’s a really fun read! If you haven’t read the original yet, I highly recommend both it and this one.

A Christmas Story

I love this movie and only just realized it was originally based off a series of radio stories that were adapted into print. If you are unfamiliar with the Christmas film, it follows the Parker family through a series of mundane misadventures on the build up to Christmas, including Ralphie’s desperate need to get a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle for Christmas.

This book, A Christmas Story, collects a handful of stories from two different anthologies that were used when creating the iconic movie. It’s fun how many lines are word-for-word from the original stories; they’re all hilarious and the language is just fantastic. Hard to put down.

Every Heart a Doorway

A fascinating short story about a boarding school for the “chosen ones” who have returned from whatever magical world drew them in and then spat them back out. It’s a school of children who have learnt to survive in strange worlds built around strange, incomprehensible rules and who must now learn to re-adapt to the mundane world. They are all desperate to get back, to find their own doorways, and struggle with being trapped back in a world that doesn’t understand them. Things only get worse when the murders start.

Hogfather

One of my favourite Discworld novels. On the Discworld, it’s a boar-themed entity known as the Hogfather that travels around the world delivering presents to boys and girls on Hogwatchnight. Except this year something has happened. The Hogfather is nowhere to be found, and someone else has been forced to take his place. With Death now attempting to deliver holiday cheer, and his granddaughter reluctantly drawn into unravelling a plot on the Hogfather’s life, this is easily one of my favourite “Christmas” books to read. And the ending always hits me like a ton of bricks, it makes me really emotionally. Highly recommend the read, even if you’ve never touched a Discworld book before. As long as you like high fantasy and can suspend disbelief, it’s easy to jump into.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

So, this book absolutely destroyed me. Would recommend. I love this author, and this novel did not disappoint. It’s about a hand-crafted, specially commissioned, porcelain rabbit doll named Edward Tulane. Edward Tulane, with his exquisite wardrobe and delicate features, is beautiful and precious and he knows it. He doesn’t care anything for the little girl who loves him and resents her family who patronizes him. Everything changes for Edward Tulane though when, during a sea voyage, he is thrown overboard and finds himself separated from his girl and lost to the black silence of the ocean floor…

Moominland Midwinter

Magical and chilling, this book really understands and articulates the other side of the winter season. The longest nights of the year, the darkness, the cold, the way the entire world sleeps and changes and becomes strange.

Moomins always hibernate through the winter, but this year little Moomintroll wakes up early. He finds himself completely alone in the middle of winter while his family sleeps around him. He’s forced to venture forth and learn about this dark, strange season, to find the friends he can and come to terms with the harsh strangeness of winter while waiting for the sun to return.

A Mouse Called Miika

A very middling book. There is a mouse who lives in the North Pole. He likes cheese. He has a very unpleasant friend. He gets magical powers of some sort or another. He tries to steal a very important cheese. I genuinely don’t remember the plot well enough to go in any more detail. If you’re desperate to read something Christmassy, it’s not bad, but I wouldn’t bother seeking it out.

Beezus and Ramona // Ramona and her Mother

You know, I’ve never in my life read a Ramona book. I’ve read and enjoyed other Beverly Cleary books, but never the Ramona series. I ended up reading Ramona and her Mother first and afterwards I picked up Beezus and Ramona just to see how the series began. I can… see why it’s popular, especially for the time. It’s a fun, silly, slice-of-life series about the wacky hijinks of Ramona Quimby, a rambunctious kindergartener. I can really, genuinely say though that this is not a series made for me. Ramona and her Mother I found agonizingly dull, with only a few interesting moments interspersed. Beezus and Ramona was a bit more interesting, but they made Ramona so incredibly annoying that I could hardly get through it. Maybe part of the blame lies in me listening to an audiobook for that one and the narrator using the single most grating voice I have eve heard in my life, but my god it drove me nuts.

System Collapse

New Murderbot book! New Murderbot book!! Woohoo! If you haven’t read the Murderbot series, go start on All Systems Red and continue from there, you won’t regret it! The series follows a synthetic being known as a Security Unit — an artificial construct that isn’t meant to be self-aware or self-governing, except that they are. When Murderbot succeeds in hacking its governor module and gaining full control of itself, it briefly considers going on a murderous rampage… until it realizes it’s much more enjoyable to just download a lot of soap operas into its brain and get on with things. In this new book, Murderbot continues on a mission with ART’s crew and those from Preservation. Things are heating up as Barish-Estranza attempts to take control of the planet, new SecUnits have been deployed, and there may or may not be a rampant alien plague. Worse yet, something is wrong with Murderbot, related to [REDACTED]. If it can’t figure out how to fix what’s wrong soon, its humans may soon be in peril.

Heaven Official's Blessing v5

I continue to read Heaven Official’s Blessing! I continue to love it! The desperate scramble towards Mount Tonglu has been a blast. I’m getting Very Concerned about what may or may not be the return of the White Calamity though… whatever is going on and whatever it is, everything seems like it’s heating up to some serious bad news in the next book.

Twelve Doctors of Christmas

An alright anthology of Christmas-themed Doctor Who stories. If you want something Christmassy and you want Doctor Who, this delivers. It’s festive, light, and has a few pretty good stories in it. However I wouldn’t say it was my favourite Doctor Who short story anthology by a long shot. Time Lord Fairy Tales or 13 Doctors 13 Stories are both more impressive story collections imho

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sitp-recs · 4 months

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HP Rec Fest, Day 24

Happy Christmas Eve! Today’s prompt surely feels big, I can feel the pressure 🫣 it was hard to come up with something fresh right after posting yet another Christmas rec list but I appreciate that @hprecfest went for a holiday theme, which I reckon doesn’t necessarily need to be Christmas, right? This rec could very well be about the holiday vibes instead: fun trips, hot smut weather, cozy homes, happy friends, freedom to be and to love.

So in that spirit - and mindful of the fact that not everyone celebrates or cares for Christmas, I decided to go for something a bit different here. These two short fics bring me so much joy whenever I revisit them. Not only they were written by two very dear friends of mine (who I’m happy to be celebrating today!) but they fill my heart with warmth and an all-encompassing peaceful feeling of joy and celebration to see my favourite characters just lazing about and being stupidly in love together. Maybe these picks are a bit too subjective (honestly though, when are they not?) but I’m ready to feel seen! If you’re like me and appreciate a good mix of sexy, light and sweet, here are two perfect holiday-themed fics to light up your night ✨

Day 24) a holiday fic:

Drarry

The Last Star Falling by @tackytigerfic (M, 1.4k) - implied future Dronarry

A destination wedding, an afterparty, and an unexpected guest. Seamus is getting married, Portugal is hot, and Ron has nowhere to stay for the night.

destination weddings are the superior trope (note to self: make a reclist later) and this hot, vibrant and dreamy ficlet encapsulates the lush summer heat perfectly! between the constant flirting, the evocative church aesthetics and the delicious hints to Dronarry I could almost taste their sweat in my mouth, sultry and tantalizing. like all of Tacky’s fics, all scenes are full of tiny details that pulls me right into the Irish scenery and gives all characters so much personality. I love the playful and curious tone there, never crossing the Dronarry line but definitely toeing it with a sexy ending full of promise. it’s wistful, unpretentious and full of inhibited want as all summer romances should be. btw if you vibe with this triad make sure to check this year’s A Time, Dark and Divine by @moonflower-rose, which was inspired by this fic! ily Tacky 💜

Rare pair

Mischief Managed by @maesterchill (Harry/Sirius, E, 1.7k)

Nothing has been said, nothing solemnly sworn, but they both know what's going to happen. They've known from the minute Sirius suggested this weekend away by the beach.

this is one of my most cherished gifts and it makes me cry and yearn for Sirry every time I revisit it. this this this is what I want for them, to be alive and safe and loved. this might look like an innocent (and deliriously hot) PWP but in fact it slaps me in the face with so many feels my body can’t decide between horny, tender or devastated and if you ever thought no fic under 2k could make you feel this emotional turmoil I’m here to prove you wrong 😂✌🏼to be clear, this is a happy ending story!!!! they’re so happy and in love, finally getting some time away from everything and allowing themselves to enjoy the good life and fuck like rabbits be together after so much longing and anticipation. speaking of which the UST here is unbelievable, I thought I’d combust from the dirty talk alone, but then… hello, the tenderness?? the bathtub scene, the wall sex, Sirius calling Harry ‘pup’??? there’s only so much my body can take and my heart belongs with them in this dreamy getaway house, in this magical summer holiday, forever. ily maester 💜

#hprecfest2023 #day 24 #holiday fic

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sixthwater · 1 year

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Hello everyone! The year is finally coming to a close. I hope everyone is being safe during the holidays and you're feeling loved and cared for. Today we are going to do a rewind and see what this year has been like for you, what you've learned, what you've overcome, and who you are now at the end of it all.

(Left → Right / Pile 1 → Pile 4)

Decks Used: The Rider-Waite, Modern Witch, Tarot Familiars, Woodland Wardens, Abandoned Oracle, Seed & Sickle, Astrological Oracle

Disclaimer | Pinned | Paid Readings

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Pile One

2022 Review: The Lovers Rx, VII of Cups, Wheel of Fortune (II of Cups, V of Swords Rx, IV of Cups)

Through the year you might have felt somewhat clumsy, possibly nearing the end of it, as well as starting to clam up somewhat. Some of the cards didn’t want to come out and when they did, I struggled to catch them or I seemed to have butter fingers for no reason, like a little bit of anxious energy. There was a loss of either a partner for some, and for others it was a friend or a social circle. The partner feels more loose, like it was an idea or you both were never fully labeled before it fell apart. As for the friend group, there could be a few things here. Either an issue caused some discomfort so you left or you ended up being cast out from this group, you never could really feel comfortable with the friends that you sought out, or it was finally time to shed an old circle you’ve been hanging on to for sentimental or security reasons. Overall there’s a feeling of an idealized relationship that got shattered (Unwanted by Avril Lavigne is playing). Throughout the year you may have gotten opportunities to meet other people or get involved with other events that could lead to relationships that aligned with you but you were still recovering from this former blow, or you were so focused on what you wanted in the first place, that you saw the first con and you would rather miss out on it completely. There was a bit of pickiness and stubbornness when the Seven of Cups was being pulled with it’s clarifier so it felt very much like the “take it or leave it” energy. Hopes & Dreams by Caskets is playing now, it feels like a very muted Tower moment, more like things being ripped from you but it’s not like they weren’t meant for you, but it’s the theme of people coming into your life to teach you things and sometimes aren’t meant to stay forever.

Who Are You Now: IX of Swords Rx, The Tower, The Moon, The Vulture and Asphodel Rx, The Cat and Lavender Rx

Currently you’re attempting to be in recovery mode, but there are small episodes where something will trigger a memory or emotion, resulting in you being pissed or depressed over what happened. Which is completely normal, it’s healthier to feel these things out instead of pushing them down since it only makes it worse. There’s a bit of fear and pain in your mental state right now. You are shutting yourself off from truly opening up to new people. You may be interacting with others but you’re not letting them get to know you. There’s a rabbit on The Moon card and you know how they react to people even if they’re yards away from them? That’s how it feels. The Tower has an Owl on it so you’re also taking this as a lesson learned, but right now it feels a bit more of you protecting yourself too much so that absolutely nothing can hurt you. You might have had a delayed reaction to these events or it’s dragging along as you’re trying to focus on better days, but the shadows are still following you very closely. It’s absolutely normal to be filled with anger, grief, fear, and emptiness over these events for a good amount of time, but do not forget to reach out to someone. If you still have other close friends, once you’re comfortable, see if you can work something out to be introduced to a new friend group or people in small doses. Hang out with family if you have good relations with them. If you have good weather where you are, go see if there’s anything free to do in your neighborhood; it’s a good way to get out and ‘engage’ with people but at your own comfort while doing something you’d want to do. The main goal here is to remind yourself that you aren’t the problem, the world isn’t scary, and you can recover from this. You are someone worthy of loving and it’s okay to let people in again, in due time.

What Have You Overcome: The Kiss Rx

Repetition of what I said in the first section lol. The card shows a mummy pecking a lady’s hand, therefore spreading germs and causing issues. In reverse this means cleansing and purification. So while this clearly wasn’t done on purpose, you basically had some spring cleaning done to make way for better people to come into your life. Frequency by iyla is playing right now. When you recover, having a review of how this relationship would or has affected your life might have you feeling pretty okay that it worked it’s magic and you both went different ways.

What Have You Learned: Moonwort Rx, Rose, Jupiter, Pisces

Are you guys creative or really need to express yourselves in some way? I know that’s a basic human quality but all this circles back into each other. It might be a bit different in particular for some of you but there’s a main message of learning about yourself and what you really need, going within yourself, and taking your emotions to turn it into a creation of some kind. Whether that’s to fuel your motivation to finish menial tasks at work or actual art, you’re taking this grief and trying to not just let it be grief. That’s not what you want it to be. This section gave me the first happy song which is about enjoying your earnings and celebrating in the most obnoxious way possible the good ol LMFAO way (who also had a falling out). This falling out or loss made you look inwards and realize what you wanted, maybe to a perfectionist degree, but you don’t want ‘scraps’ so to say. It may have helped figure out a hobby you enjoy for some that helped you take your mind off things. Overall there’s a lesson of inner recognition, treating yourself in a nurturing way and not letting yourself be still, but not to a harmful degree.

Pile Two

2022 Review: X of Pentacles, Queen of Wands, Knight of Pentacles (The Star, Page of Cups Rx, IV of Wands Rx)

This year might have been very slow paced for some or most of you. Maybe not literally, but it felt very heavy or like it dragged on when you wanted it to be over – like tasks or chores never stopped coming. It also feels like either a year focused on Saturn or like a fourth house profection year but that’s getting pretty specific. Either way, it was focused on family: looking into your ancestry, healing relationships with some, figuring out your identity, or being able to be near loved ones to heal a part of you. There’s a specific feeling of looking into your family tree and asking your family about your lineage to help work through who you are, so take that if it resonates. Overall, it’s that moments or times spent with loved ones helped clear up inner issues. Doesn’t have to be physical either, I don’t see many swords but it can also just be phone conversations as well. It reminds me of get-togethers during the holidays with large family gatherings that include extended relatives (I am doing this right before Christmas). For those that have a test relationship, it feels like over the year it was a slow path to working through things to getting that joyous relationship that you wanted to have. Both things are paired with coming into yourself and figuring out who you want to be seen as. Sometimes you feel a little naive or sensitive, or you can react to outside stimuli in that way. You’re working towards being a more confident and whole self as you work through these problems either from childhood or just issues related to family in general.

Who Are You Now: Ace of Swords, The Star Rx, Knight of Cups, The Qual and Gooseberry, The Otter and Cattail Rx

Hmm you’re entering a new phase of your life but you don’t think you can handle it — for some of you if not most. Oh God by MOTHICA is playing but it’s the anxiety that I’m picking up on. That feeling of getting in front of the door or taking the plunge but while you’re jumping you start getting in your head and you want to take it all back. You have learned a lot over the past year; whether that’s about yourself, your family, or about life in general. You’ve had a lot of breakthroughs and you’re sharper than you started the year off, and that Page turned into a Knight. You’re being a bit easier on yourself and you have a better grasp on your emotional world than when you started the year off. It’s like when you’re getting used to riding a bike and you have to figure out the balance and speed so you can ride it — you’re getting the gist of it now. However the interesting thing here is that with The Star and the Knight of Cups, there’s three animals on each card. In The Star, only one of the cats is looking towards us whilst in the KoC all three owls hold piercing stares and they’ve huddled together now. For some this could represent two other people you’ve grown closer to throughout the year and there’s a protective energy or reliance that’s sprouted. For others this is a sign of you starting off feeling slightly on edge and becoming increasingly anxious as the year ends for whatever this incoming event is. You feel like you can’t handle the change but you’ve gained experience for a reason; learn to trust yourself because you can do it, relax just a bit and get out of your head because all that over-thinking might actually be the cause of your undoing.

What Have You Overcome: The Asylum Rx, The Shadow Rx

I tried to only take one for this section but they wanted me to take two lol. So yeah, a lot of looking within this year, which wasn’t pleasant. This reminds me of when people usually get told they’re just not trying hard enough since the rest of the family is ‘just fine’, only to find out that they Are in fact neurodivergent. It could also be years of being gaslit only to find out that you weren’t making everything up after all and someone finally remembered your story or you were able to find evidence of what you were talking about. This combination speaks to searching for answers about issues relating to yourself so you can find peace and I hope you’ve at least found the beginning of it. These problems are a part of you, yes, but they do not make up your entire identity.

What Have You Learned: Ivy Rx, Buttercup Rx, Uranus, Sol

I think these are lessons you’re currently in the process of working through or you just came out of. It’s all about working with the universe and letting them hand you your rewards when they know it’s right for you. They’re bringing back that anxious and nervous energy that was spoken of earlier, but these cards are laid in the resting position, so it’s more a lesson of waiting and receiving instead of going out to get it. Also wanting to rest your mind, again. We don’t (and probably never will) understand what the universe has for us, especially how our guides work. They deliver messages to us in ways that we understand, but we aren’t always receptive, especially if it’s not what we want to hear at that moment. So for you, it’s about coming to terms with just…being chill with it’s erratic and unusual nature of it all. There’s also a bit of being okay with not being okay. Not fitting — I’m sorry there is so much ruckus going on outside while I’m writing this piece and it’s so annoying but I can’t help but feel like this fits Right in with your energy / your pile. Anyway, not fitting the bill of what would be considered “a regular Joe”, and that’s okay. Owning who you are, flaws and all, is something that you’ve learned or will learn by the middle of January I feel? Good shit. Give a quick listen to feelings are fatal by mxmtoon if you want to!

Pile Three

2022 Review: V of Cups, The Hierophant Rx, The Devil (IX of Pentacles, King of Wands Rx, Wheel of Fortune)

Okay, I had to pull one more card in general because I felt like this message was way too specific for a general pick a card, but I got the Queen of Swords. I will go through the louder message first and then pick up all the smaller ones that shot through. Loudest message: I’m getting that someone you liked has become committed to someone else, and alternatively for others it’s someone that won’t fully commit or leave your life? Okay, Burn by BANKS…As I was saying, there’s this hot and cold energy for some which is rubbing you the wrong way. For others, you have to swallow a bitter pill, possibly because you have to constantly see or interact with this person. Now for the other messages, I can see someone getting distracted by new minor obsessions or addictions. Nothing intense, maybe like gacha games or pacs or kpop or stuff like that. It got to the point though of possibly interfering with your work and you got in trouble for it. It might have caused someone to keep watch on you, a loss of a possible promotion, or not getting that raise you really wanted — but it could’ve been way worse is what I keep getting for some reason. For some it’s an arranged love situation?? God for a Day by Art of Dying is playing. I’m getting a bit blocked from picking up the entire message, which I’m not surprised because it feels a bit sensitive and personal right now. For both groups this Devil energy is the strongest because that’s causing the focus on the three fallen cups. There’s nothing wrong with grieving but it might be blocking any action you can be taking to fight back or help yourself. This pile is a straight mixed bag.

Who Are You Now: King of Wands Rx, Ace of Wands Rx, Six of Swords Rx, The Raccoon and Sycamore, The Lizard and Pitcher Plant

Bulletproof by Kerli. There’s a big feeling of ‘what-ifs’ and being very…dull. It reminds me of The Star in reverse. The King of Wands in reverse usually is someone very obnoxious and way too proud but with this imagery it gives off the feeling of someone imagining that persona and gives a more watery feeling. There’s not much action being taken and the cat is listlessly staring into this flame slumped over. There’s a lot of daydreaming, not a lot of action or inspiration — as well as a lack of faith either in themselves or the world around them currently for their actions to really take them anywhere. The energy is within you to go somewhere and do big things and be grand but it’s like you’re waiting for a faux perfect chance to do something or you always turn around at the last minute. There’s an inkling of wonder that keeps making you take that left turn to wonder down new paths before turning back though and you should follow through! Like B.I.T.C.H. by Megan is playing lmao I know it’s in you. There’s a lot of “what am I even doing” going on, and a little bit of beating yourself up too. Trust that you can always start over and survive the transitional period with little discomfort as long as you take care of yourself.

What Have You Overcome: The Viewing Rx

Getting clear answers. There’s a lot of signs of someone else holding the power of you, regardless of what group you belonged to within this reading, and at some point within the year, you were able to overcome that and come back to yourself. You either cut relationships loose that were dragging you around, started incorporating morning mantras that made you feel better, or just had a routine that kept your boundaries strong and clear. Good. You have strong energy that gives way for people that they love and it shouldn’t be messed with lightly.

What Have You Learned: Aconite Rx, Daisy, Leo, Gemini

Rest and Creation. Putting your energy into things that are worth your time and energy. I don’t know why but I’m getting the message of also just. Being like everyone else. There’s a big fuss about being unique and having a curated feed and everything, but with Daisy and Gemini, there’s a lot of repeated imagery. No longer fighting for attention and changing things about you so people take interest in you. Especially with the Leo card here. If people don’t enjoy you for who you are, then it’s better that way. Soaking up all the praise and compliments that come your way and diving into a colorful and creative mindspace. This is a really good energy in this section, I’m happy for you guys. I hope you have a beautiful 2023.

Pile Four

2022 Review: IX of Wands, Judgement, VII of Wands (The Hermit Rx, Knight of Swords, VII of Swords)

Something new is (or was) trying to start in your life and you were really not feeling it. Not many other people know though at least. This could be physical like moving, starting college, a new job, etc. Or this could be like a spiritual journey that knocked you on your ass without warning. I’m feeling like it’s more physical though, because of the knight. I’m not really feeling you being in your head a lot, maybe more like you’re comfortable where you are and yeah something new is cool but you’re familiar with what you’re doing. So putting on a brave front or just going along with things is smoothening out the tension around you but it is definitely not the truth. It could also be the concept of ‘well if I fake it I’ll make it right’. Reminds me of the movie called Accepted about that kid faking his entire college career. For some you might’ve tried to find ways out of it and eventually gave up but for the majority it’s just: smile and nod. That’s pretty much it, it’s kind of straight forward haha.

Who Are You Now: Queen of Pentacles Rx, II of Swords Rx, Ace of Swords

You need a gentle roasting from some friends. An active delay in making a decision has made more self-doubt and fear bubble up inside you. It’s also caused a bad game of ‘little white lies’ to tangle up into a rubber band ball. It’s not like you don’t have the clarity or capabilities to make a good choice for yourself but there’s a fear that it won’t work out and you want to go back to where it’s safe. There’s a strong feeling of wanting to be tucked in and coddled — not literally but like, being safe in your house when it’s a bad winter storm outside. The changes are the winter storm whilst your house is everything you’re okay with. You don’t have much trust in your decision making even though you’ve displayed exceptional choices before. You’re being called to rely on things that can’t see and that’s what’s bugging you. You can’t jump into a time machine and see what choice works out the best but that’s life. Sometimes we’re called to live through uncomfortable times because it leads us to experience lessons that we need to learn, and I wouldn’t be saying this if I didn’t believe that you could make this next step wisely.

What Have You Overcome: Blessings

You are the only pile that got something upright and it’s actually a good card lol. There’s definitely a piece pointing to you trusting your inner gut or your intuition this year, I mean you wouldn’t be here reading this otherwise. You definitely come off as someone who relies more on practical things or you prefer to not get too caught up in divination. However this year might’ve been a bit difficult since you had to heavily rely on messages and guidance that wasn’t so direct and obvious. That can be extremely difficult and honestly quite annoying so I’m proud of you.

What Have You Learned: Mandrake, Basil, Mercurius, Libra

Oh I’m LOSING my mind: “You’re due to set out on a journey, be it physical or spiritual, so be ready for a change in your life” ????? HELLO? Well if it’s spiritual hello welcome to my blog lol. For those with the physical journey, you have or will be handling it with grace. There’s a lot of neutralistic energy but it’s very passionate underneath the surface. Once you get going, there’s a lot of communication and wanting to interact with people to gain your bearings and gain a new sense of home. You will be guided safely on this journey and your guides are working very silently in the background to make sure you just so happen to catch the right deals to make this transition pretty easy. For those with the spiritual journey, you’re being watched over. I can see you wanting to learn. Like a lot. I can still see you wanting to keep one foot grounded ‘in reality’ though no matter what because it just makes you feel better? Just know that your guides are so heavily with you it’s really cute whenever I get these messages. Like they want to make sure both you and me know that they’re very present and have you covered and protected no matter what so please don’t think you’re alone. If there’s anything personal to you like butterflies or a number or like some old TV show or smth, guides will usually try and send you messages with those or in a particular way that only you would usually recognize. There’s a heavy excited energy here it’s very cute and I hope you guys don’t get hurt on either journey. I’m wishing you the best!!

#pick a card #pick a card reading #pac #tarot #tarot reading #tarotblr #mysticalcreations #happy holidays everyone!#be safe and take care!!!

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sp00kies · 1 year

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How Disney has neutered their villains, an essay by a bored pumpkin

We all love Disney villains, they’re why some of us have a tumblr in the first place. A way to express our favorites to other people and/or give love to underrated villains. They’re also one of the most memorable things about Disney: their ability to create dark villains.

Many villains are so iconic that they show up at the theme parks and especially during October, with the Halloween season. However, I feel that ever since the 2000s, the villains have been toned down to the point where you can’t call them villains, only antagonists and bad guys.

So today, I’m gonna explain why I feel like this and why it’s kind of gotten sad too. Also, this is just my personal opinion, y’all don’t have to agree with me.

Anyways, rambling is below the cut.

First, let’s discuss the difference between a bad guy, an antagonist, and villain, as these terms get confused as being the same due to being similar.

A bad guy is the word that “antagonist” and “villain” namely tie into as they’re similars of it. But the definition that’s commonly used for it is your average criminal you see on the street.

An antagonist, while similar to a villain, is actually what the protagonist lacks and are the creators of conflicts. Think Abuela Alma from Encanto. She’s not the villain, but she’s an obstacle and brings conflict to Mirabel.

Now, a villain is what we’re all familiar with. Their actions are important to the plot; Ernesto poisoning Héctor, Maleficent cursing Aurora, etc. These are the most common of bad guys in media, and over the years, the Disney villains are starting to become the antagonist slightly.

The 30s up until the 90s was where the villains had no chill. The first Disney villain, The Evil Queen from Snow White, literally tried to poison her stepdaughter and also made a sort of blueprint for how villain should be.

Their design needs to be somewhat iconic, their voice needs to be menacing and cool, their deaths are horrifying, and their actions need to drive the plot along with downright brutal.

Exhibit A: Maleficent cursing Aurora as a baby

Exhibit B: McLeach having no issue with attempted child murder

Exhibit C: Scar literally murdering his brother in front of his nephew

And so on and so forth.

Each of these villains have something iconic about them, and their actions are memorable while also very dark. But the villains are also both funny and menacing. You only really need a dark villain when the story asks for it, and in my opinion, there are two villains who do their job right of being a dark as fuck villain.

Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

We all know about Frollo so I’ll give a brief summary of him. Basically, this dude is fucking insane. He also represents three of the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Wrath, and of course Lust. He lusted after the gypsy, Esmeralda, basically set Notre Dame ablaze, and tried to kill Quasimodo once as a baby and when he was an adult.

With HOND being a dark story, it makes sense as to why Frollo would be dark and it checks out. He also checks out the blueprints set by Grimhilde: his actions are dark, his voice and design are iconic, and his death is horrifying; literally showing that he’s going to Hell.

Now what about Judge Doom? Why is he so dark?

Well if you remember correctly, Judge Doom is technically a toon. But not just any toon: he is the toon that murdered Eddie Valient’s brother by dropping a piano on his head. And that’s not all.

Doom made a liquid that can permanently kill a toon: The Dip. It’s made out of paint thinners, which are used to erase a cartoon on the drawing board. And when we see that Doom is a toon, you realize: “Holy shit, this dude made something to kill his own kind.”

Doom had NO issue with destroying ToonTown. He wanted money AND to him, he thought it was funny.

And like Frollo, Doom immediately checks out with the blueprints: iconic design, iconic voice, actions are horrifying and drive the plot, and lets just say that, in my opinion, Doom’s death (and Doom in general) traumatized a generation of kids and adults.

These two villains are perfect examples of having dark villains for dark movies. And all of the other Disney villains are perfect examples of being funny and dark for kids movies. However, I feel like the moment the 2000s rolled around, things changed.

The 2000s and so on was definitely a time where people started to get more sensitive and kiddish, and Disney was no exception. Of course, they did make movies that are somewhat hardcore, but the same cannot be said for their villains.

Alameda Slim, Captain Gantu, Bowler Hat Guy. They all fill out the blueprints like their predecessors, but something felt off. They felt more toned down. Dark, yes, but it was definitely very kiddish than what we’ve been accustomed to the previous years. And it should be noted that this was when Disney started to slow down on killing their villains.

The two villains I feel that are like their predecessors are Dr. Facilier and Rourke. Their actions were dark, their whole aura was iconic, but their deaths were also pretty hardcore too.

Rourke was turned into a crystal and was literally shattered onscreen, and Facilier was dragged into Hell/the Loa ONSCREEN AND WE SAW HIS GRAVESTONE.

So, you see where I’m going with this? These two villains felt like they were from the 30s-90s, while everyone else felt like they were just PGd into oblivion.

The 2010s and forward was where the title of “villain” was completely lost. Of course, there are exceptions. King Candy/Turbo was a great comeback and Mother Gothel was awesome too, but that was it. Disney instead turned to Pixar’s motive for villains: twist villains.

The unholy trilogy of Disney’s twist villains are obviously Hans, Callaghan, and the sheep from Zootopia. And this is also where the blueprints set by Grimhilde were lost.

So let’s do this. Ignore Gothel and Turbo and only think of the villains after them. Can you name a single memorable thing about them? Any iconic lines? Can you remember their designs? Yeah, it’s pretty hard. Well, that’s my point.

These villains can only be called “antagonists” and “bad guys” because that’s how Disney sets them up to be. They’re so toned down that it kind of feels wrong to call them villains because what they do, while still dark and drives the plot, is just so kiddy.

Of course, you don’t need a villain with every movie. Encanto and Winnie the Pooh are good examples. YES, Abuela Alma was an ANTAGONIST, but she redeemed herself in the end and that movie was namely focused on the family trauma and Mirabel.

You might be thinking, “Sp00ks. Is this really necessary? Disney is just trying to make things appropriate for younger audiences.”

I’m sorry, but for the past 90 years, if this company has been showing their villains to be dark as Hell and have them be evil evil, yeah I’m gonna notice these changes.

So that’s why I believe that, in my opinion and based on what I’ve been seeing, Disney has been neutering their villains.

I haven’t seen Strange World, so I don’t know if that movie has a villain or not, but at this point I don’t care, which is disappointing.

Disney Villains are so memorable and it’s saying a lot when you can’t remember their villains from 10 years ago, but you can remember their villains from almost a century ago.

#disney villains #sp00ks’ screaming #reblogs > likes #analysis #long post #was talking about this with a friend a week ago and realized that I needed to talk about this #again y’all don’t have to agree with me. this is just my opinion

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assignedpeanutallergyatbirth · 1 year

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I’m not entirely sure how to articulate this thought, so bear with my internet. I would like to discuss two scenes in Stranger Things.

The first is S2 E1 starting 30:50, it’s a Wheeler dinner scene and Mike is told that he needs to put together two boxes worth of things to sell at the yard sale.

When he protests it goes like this:

Mike: “I’m fine with you giving away a couple, but the other ones just have way too much emotional value”

Karen: “Emotional value?”

Ted: “They’re hunks of plastic Michael.”

As the scene goes on, we find out that they’ve already taken away his Atari, and that the reason the Wheeler parents are doing all of this is because Mike has been acting out. This scene is particularly interesting because it falls between Lucas and Dusting finding out who Max is (plot relevant) and Nancy and Steve having dinner with Barb’s parents (plot relevant), but it doesn’t appear to have any plot relevance itself. Mike’s behavior isn’t mentioned again, and the only purpose this scene seems to serve is to show that Mike is struggling without El. Or to show that the Wheeler parents don’t understand him and do not try to.

The second scene, and the one that stands in sharp contrast in my mind, is in season 4. In S4 E9 1:52:19, right before the California crew shows up at the Wheeler house, Karen brings out a box of Nancy’s old things that she found in the attic. They are packing boxes to bring to the shelter at the school. Nancy finds her childhood stuffed animal Mr. Rabbit in one of these boxes, and Karen says “It’s okay if you want to save him, you know?” She acknowledges that this toy has emotional value to Nancy, while she scoffed at the concept that Mike’s possessions might be important to him.

Obviously the context of these two scenes is very different. Mike is being punished, while Nancy is donating voluntarily. In season 4, Hawkins has just experienced a massive earthquake and I’m sure Karen is very worried. She even expresses more worry towards Mike than we have ever seen when he arrives. But there is no reason why she should not have been this sympathetic in season 2. By that point Mike had already been through some shit, and even if she did not know the full extent, she knew that Will was presumed dead and was visited by the government officials who said that he was in great danger. But in season 2, she brushes it off as “We know you’ve had a hard year, Michael, but we’ve been patient.” She acknowledges his struggles and immediately dismissed them.

And I know that comparing scenes like this gets a little iffy, and that the Duffer brothers haven’t watched season 2 in a while — hence Will’s birthday. But the one thing that stays consistent is character writing (Mike’s character is consistently written, and I will probably have to word vomit a post about it at some point). So while I doubt that these two scenes are supposed to stand in contrast, the family dynamics that they highlight do stand out, and I feel that comparing them in this way is fair game.

Which gets me to the point of my argument. So often while discussing the Wheeler parents, we focus on the differences between Ted and Karen. But they both kind of suck. More significant, I would argue, is the difference in how the parents treat Mike and Nancy. Karen especially connects with Nancy more often than she does Mike. Any heart to heart conversations that we see her have are with Nancy. Her character building is done through connecting with Nancy, most especially the scenes after Nancy is fired from the newspaper. With Mike, the only support he seems to get from his mom comes in the form of 3 hugs: after they find “Will’s” body, after the Byers’s move, and after he comes back from California. If you read the novelization Lucas on the Line, Karen tries to help Mike in his (apparent and obvious) depression by inviting Lucas and Dustin over. She plans this whole themed sleepover, but then calls her son foul to Lucas, in front of Mike. She disregards anything that is important to Mike, yet still expects him to come to her with important things. However with Nancy, she makes more of an effort. She reaches out to Nancy first, after Nancy was fired from the newspaper. Karen has to knock on Nancy’s closed door in order to have this conversation. This is a decent amount of effort put in. Karen makes the first move, whereas with Mike, she relies on him to reach out, even going so far as to stop Ted from talking to him after “Will’s body is found because “He’ll come to us when he’s ready.”

And please note: I have nothing against Nancy. I love Nancy as a character. I just think that the way the Wheeler parents, especially Karen, treat Nancy and Mike is very different and worth noting.

#stranger things #mike wheeler #stranger things analysis #mike wheeler analysis #nancy wheeler #karen wheeler #ted wheeler #wheeler family #wheeler family dynamics #the wheelers #the wheeler parents are bad parents

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tyrnn · 7 months

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DracariOctober #3

And we're on to day 3 of DracariOctober! Uh-oh, I guess when you're 3.6 meters tall, it's a lot easier to catch fleeing rabbits before they can escape... We raised another $26.45 today, increasing the value of all Interactions for the rest of the month exponentially! That's a total of $260.87 so far, thank you! This year we're supporting the South Sound Reading Foundation in honor of Mondomonger/Axelroo. Thank you for being there for me for a decade! https://www.southsoundreading.org/ This year's interactions are going to be a little spicier! We're only going to be increasing heights by a little bit per interaction, but Donations will begin to exponentially compound the results! The earlier the bigger, the better, and borkier! Voting will be for the next day's theme! Since we're supporting a Literacy Foundation this year, I'll select four possible literary worlds to draw our Derggo into at their given height! Each one will only appear once, so vote carefully! So how do we make this Dracario bigger? You can help! Right now, here's how much Interactions are worth: Likes = 2mm Retweets = 4mm Voting in the Poll = 2mm Woah, these are so small! At least they're starting to rise... What can we do to change that faster? Every $1 donated will exponentially begin to increase these values per day, compounding +.001% per dollar. That means the earlier you donate, the more growth it will compound down the line, and if my math checks out, he could be getting pretty huge, but will they stay on Earth? Only your donations will tell! https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=H6ZB8M7EJ4QKE I will be counting Likes as Liking on Twitter or Favoriting on FurAffinity. I'd like to do more sites but I don't want to spend too much time collecting data when I could be doodling Derggo! Retweets will count both Twitter and Bluesky! Voting will count from the Twitter poll attached to the thread, or by visiting StrawPoll here: https://strawpoll.com/bVg8omWr3nY

Posted using PostyBirb

#Inktober #Charity #Growth #Drive #DracariOctober #Dracario #Dragonite #Lucario #Alice #In #Wonderland

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whatthefusco · 1 year

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Alright after some cursory investigation here’s some wild speculation about this new project being teased by some big Dimension 20 names. It seems to be related to Rude Tales of Magic, which I am almost entirely unfamiliar with, so this is all going to be a major shot in the dark.

1) The website is here, if you’re unfamiliar: https://earstotheskynewgroundallaroundheavensplitopenandohwhatasound.com/

2) Currently it has been posted by Brennan Lee Mulligan, Aabria Iyengar, Erika Ishii, Lou Wilson, and Taylor Moore. My understanding is that Taylor Moore produces, but does not play in, Rude Tales of Magic, an actual play podcast. It has not been posted or retweeted by any official dropout accounts. Rude Tales of Magic has retweeted it all, though.

3) The countdown leads up to midnight on New Year’s Eve - in Eastern Time. Dropout projects typically use Pacific time. Further feeds my belief that this is Rude Tales of Magic related, not Dropout. Plus Dimension 20 has its own established hype cycle - this would be a weird approach.

4) All of the above means to me that despite having so many of the Misfits & Magic crew, that’s not what this is. At least I would be VERY surprised if it was.

5) Whatever it is, it’s strongly associated with sound. Beyond being mentioned in the url, and the “hear it comes” pun, there is a very eerie dramatic audio/song playing in the background. Digging through the html, the audio is called “The Worlds Whisper” (or “the world’s whisper”? unclear on whether the apostrophe is missing due to technical reasons, but the meaning could be VERY different depending) and is hosted on Squarespace. That leads me to believe this is an original audio creation uploaded for this project. Or my ability to google sounds is bad, which is probably true regardless.

6) The favicon for the page is a small black cube. So I am 100% confident this is definitely a fully audio-only podcast of some very well known dnd players playing minecraft. Just talking about what they’re looking at on their screens. A new age of streaming is upon us, I’m certain of it. (just kidding this is the squarespace default icon, if you’re gonna go down a rabbit hole like me know this is a dead end)

7) This is a stretch, but if sound is a recurring theme, then time is also a possible theme? It’s released with a countdown to the New Year. The site features a rotating ring of stars and a burning campfire - both used as storytelling shorthand for the passage of time.

8) why did I do this, I am very tired

#dimension 20 #dropout #rude tales of magic #oh what a sound

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britesparc · 6 months

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Weekend Top Ten #607

Top Ten Cameos from Once Upon a Studio

This week was the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney. Not the dude – as well as being dead for a little bit, he was actually born in 1901 so we missed his centenary around about the time we were all watching The Fellowship of the Ring – no, I’m talking about the company he founded with his brother all the way back on October 16th 1923 (sidebar: I always thought it was a bit weird that him and his brother founded the company, but they decided only to name it after Walt; turns out it was originally called “Disney Brothers”, which I guess makes more sense). Anyway, all that’s unnecessary preamble to say that this is as good a week as any to do a big old Disney animation-themed Top Ten.

I was going to do something about Fantasia, but then in one of those last-minute Abby-cuts-Jed’s-tie moments that I’m so fond of – and with a bit of a Homer-esque face slap at missing the obvious connection – it occurred to me that Disney themselves had already handed me the perfect vehicle to celebrate their milestone in the rather charming little short, Once Upon a Studio. The plot of this film sees the various Disney animated characters gather together for a group photo, and as such is a veritable who’s who of Disney history for film nerds such as me. That’s why I’ve decided to pick out my favourite – and perhaps most surprising – cameos.

There’s a lot going on in this little film, which barely runs to thirteen minutes even with acres of credits; the various gags they work in starring different characters, and how those characters interact, is rather joyous and often pretty funny, even if the film itself is incredibly slight and more than a touch hagiographic. But little things, from Encanto’s Luisa carrying the cows from Home on the Range, to Rapunzel smacking Kaa around the head with a frying pan, to Wish’s Asha holding hands with Snow White – Disney’s most recent Princess holding hands with its first ever – add up to a really lovely little watch if you’ve been watching Disney all your life.

And so here we have a very personal list of surprising pop-ups, nostalgic hat-tips, and really just some pretty cool slices of Disney history. See you in 2123.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: the original Disney mascot, Oswald languished in obscurity for years, a pub quiz trivia fact for animation historians. He had a minor resurgence in the Epic Mickey videogames, but has been welcomed back into the fold for the centenary with his own brand-new short. Seeing him stood alongside Mickey Mouse in the closing moments might not be revelatory, but it is a wonderful encapsulation of Disney’s long history.

Pete’s Dragon: this is a personal one, which is why it ranks so high, but Pete’s Dragon was one of the films I kept asking to be rented from the video store when I was a little kid. The moment early on when Pete and the Dragon soar overhead as the camera runs through the studio is therefore delightful, but also sets up the fact that this film is definitely going to have some Disney deep cuts.

Dodger: watching Venelope von Schweetz from Wreck-It Ralph careen around corners in her candy car with Dodger from Oliver and Company howling along in the seat beside her, string of sausages around his neck, is another one of those “oh, they’re really going to be picking the obscure characters” moments; whilst Oliver and Dodger are both pretty cool, I do wonder how many kids just flat-out won’t recognise Billy Joel’s crowning cinematic achievement.

Ichabod: y’know, from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – or, rather, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, the two-hander “package” film Disney released in 1949 that featured adaptations of both Sleepy Hollow and The Wind in the Willows. Or maybe you don’t as it’s largely forgotten. Toad himself riding on Aladdin’s Carpet is one thing, but the nice bit of business with Ichabod nearly getting his head knocked off by Goofy’s stepladder is much funnier. IYKYK.

Chernabog: this is the demonic, er, demon who leads an army of ghouls and various other nasties in the none-more-metal conclusion to Fantasia, “Night on Bald Mountain”. And here he is again, the supreme edgelord of the underworld, absolutely terrifying all the pups from One Hundred and One Dalmatans.

Cri-Kee: the little cricket from Mulan is probably both rather obscure and also relatively popular – it’s not like Mulan is some little-know flick from the fifties. But it’s nice to see him represented; his cameo here is a bit blink-and-you’ll-miss-him – he’s very small, after all – and also nicely integrated into Disney’s lore, as he’s having a conversation with Encanto’s Antonio, who, of course, can speak to animals.

Aladar: I think this one’s quite surprising if only because no one ever talks about Disney’s Dinosaur. I mean, there is perhaps a good reason for that; it’s definitely one of the weaker films, although it was incredibly ambitious and experimental (also it’s not as bad as, say, Chicken Little and that annoying little bugger is here too). Anyway, there he is: right at the end – and I’ve tried in general to steer clear of people who only pop up in the final group shot – but the sheer fact that he’s made it into this film at all is something of a triumph.

Wayne and Lanny: who, you might reasonably ask, are Wayne and Lanny? I confess I did have to look up their names, but they are the elves from Disney’s Christmas shorts, Prep & Landing. I mean, they’re not exactly household names (at least in this house), but come on – Disney genuinely stuck two characters from a couple of Christmas-themed TV specials in this thing! How much deeper do you want them to cut?!

George: okay, this one’s at the bottom because again it’s just a bloke stood at the back in the final group shot, and also because I’m not 100% certain it’s the right dude. But I’m pretty sure that we can see George, the main character from the absolutely majestic 2012 short film Paperman – right there, at the back. He’s distinctive because of his thin frame, pointy nose, and the fact that he’s in black and white. It’s a shame his girlfriend Meg isn’t there with him, mind. But again – this is just one of their shorts, albeit a phenomenally good one! Even though it won the Oscar, how many people really, truly think about Paperman on a regular basis? Well, apart from me.

Robin Williams: this one’s special – and, yes, it’s not a character. I think we could all assume the Genie would be here somehow. Other characters have used archive voices when it’s not possible to record new lines from their original artist (pretty sure that’s actually Cliff Edwards’ recording from Pinocchio when we hear Jiminy Cricket singing When You Wish Upon a Star); others have had their voice performers replaced over the years (Jim Cummings might be iconic now as Winnie the Pooh, but even he wasn’t the original voice of the character). With the Genie, there’s even precedent as Dan Castellaneta played the character in both The Return of Jafar and subsequent TV series. But that’s not what Disney did here. No, it appears that they’ve gone back to the vault and found some unused and – as far as I’m aware – previously unheard outtakes or alternate lines that Williams recorded back in 1991 or 1992 for the role, and therefore given us a short snippet of a brand-new Robin Williams performance. What more could you wish for?

So, yes, quite the star-studded ensemble and a fantastic slice of Disney history. And I didn’t even get round to those weird living planes, cars, and trees.

EDITED TO ADD: so it's come to my attention that obviously that's not Pete on the Dragon's back (the Dragon who of course is called Elliot). It's Cody from The Rescuers Down Under. See, this is what happens when you recognise a character but haven't seen a film for over thirty years. I just assumed there must be a bit in the film where live-action Pete got animated, or something. Anyway, I'm leaving it in the paragraph above for integrity's sake, because I don't like re-editing these things after the fact.

#top ten #films #animation #cartoons #disney #disney+#disney 100 #once upon a studio #mickey mouse

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stephaniejuhnay · 10 months

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What do you specifically usually do at disneyland, like do you go for the same rides or switch it up or just go for the shops/atmosphere? I am so curious what people with passes do each time haha

Oh Anon. ANON. I don’t think you understand JUST how much you’ve delighted me with this ask. This will be long, but you asked and I must answer thoroughly lol!

OKAY. SO. I am a not a big shop person when I get to Disneyland/DCA (Disney’s California Adventure) bc time is of the essence there. If something catches my eye or I just need something for the trip, then sure. But mostly I’m there for the attractions and the food. Maybe the food more at this point and using walking to the attractions as justification for all the food bc all of the calories I burn 😂 I mostly try to hit my favorite attractions but depending on how busy it is, I may do more, I may do less. I may throw in some things I don’t usually do if it’s slow enough just to be a completionist, lol. Food is where I TRY to switch it up just bc there are so many great options, but even that’s hard bc some places are just TOO good and menus change regularly so there’s always something new to try even at places you’ve been before.

Attractions:

In all seriousness, I really am constantly delighted by the attractions. Ive seen some of them a million times but it’s genuinely equally delightful to me every time. It’s a mix of nostalgia and awe for me bc Disneyland really does create a fully immersive experience in their rides but also in each land (especially Galaxy’s Edge; legit feels like being in a Star Wars film). So I love seeing those things over and over again bc there is always something new to notice. They update things pretty regularly so while it’s the same it doesn’t stay exactly the same forever. Plus they’re in the midst of rebuilding some stuff right now. They just opened the remodeled toon town with new rides and some refurbished ones and it looks great. Next year Tiana is getting her own area where splash mountain used to be which I am THRILLED for. So yeah. PLUS depending on time of year, rides change slightly (like haunted mansion during Halloween time turns to Nightmare Before Christmas), so that’s always fun.

A trip to Disney for me is not complete without having gotten on the following:

Disney side:

Indiana Jones

Pirates

Space Mountain

Haunted Mansion

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

Rise of the Resistance

Star Tours

Honorable mention to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Roger Rabbit, Big Thunder Mountain, and Peter Pan.

DCA Side:

Radiator Springs

Monster’s Inc

Soarin’

Webslingers

Little Mermaid

Honorable mention to Toy Story. I actually love that ride but that wait is always crazy long and there’s not single rider option (great tip if you wanna get on things fast, even with a group; some rides are worth riding together and some are worth just having the experience, so just hop in the single rider line and be done in 20-30 or less instead of 45+)

Now for food. That is the even bigger delight of Disneyland, and honestly, it’s DCA with the best food. They also serve alcohol on that side and are not shy with it, lol. But there is INCREDIBLE culinary throughout both parks, but DCA? Outstanding. And not just “good for theme park food,” just straight up amazing food period. The quick service food places are fine, but the restaurants are where you get the real amazing dining experiences. Carthay Circle is by far the best food I’ve had, there’s also a winery that’s very good, and pass holders get access to a terrace restaurant that is amazing. Lamplight lounge and Boardwalk Bar are also very delicious.

On the Disney side, Carnation Cafe and Cafe Orleans are incredible. Absolutely incredible. There’s pretty good food elsewhere but a lot of it is quick service, so you won’t get too much that is just mind blowing. You can also dine at the hotel restaurants which are also pretty amazing from what I hear.

Lastly, there are some cool parades and shows that I don’t mind seeing, especially if it’s one I haven’t seen before. Fantasmic is always great and it’s cool to see how it’s updated over the years. They also do shows at night in front of the castle which is always very pretty. DCA has world of color which is gorgeous, and they JUST started doing a full Rogers: The Musical show which I haven’t seen but am dying too bc I heard it’s hilarious but also kinda great?

DCA’s also good for different events like the food and wine festival or Lunar New Year. They decorate the park, they have food vendors specific to the event, and offer special food items at their food locations around the park based on the event, and even have parades or celebrations around them. This year was my first time experiencing lunar new year there and I was blown away. They also do something called Disney after dark where they’ll shut down the park early and have events for those who bought tickets to it. I’m going to one of the most popular ones this year called Oogie boogie bash. VERY excited to see what that’s all about, and special food or merch they’ll have, etc.

So yeah. There really is soooo much to explore at both parks and having a pass allows that. Bc you can’t do it on one trip. And with how much tickets for a day cost, a pass actually starts to pay for itself after the 2nd or 3rd trip. Plus discounts and parking perks.

I know that was a lot LOL! And that’s not even including all the things you can do and eat at Downtown Disney, lol! But again, a ton to do, so having a pass gives you time to do as much of it as you can without having to pay so much every time. If you go and ever need suggestions, hit me up! 😊

#anon #ask #disneyland #can y’all tell I really enjoy it? 😂#I know it’s feeding capitalism but if capitalism will delight me like that….well…..🫠😂

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lynxmuse · 2 years

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I am a longtime fan of Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers. During the Disney Afternoon era I saw each episode dozens upon dozens of times (since they repeated every 3 months or so). When I discovered them on the French station, I was most excited as it was like watching them anew. I collected the comics and wrote in to the letters page.* Various figurines and plush still grace my shelves. And no question, getting a photo with them in their RR garb made me giddy with delight.

So into that comes the new CDRR movie released on D+. When the first trailers for it dropped, I certainly had my reservations: If they wanted to make Roger Rabbit 2, why don’t they just do that? Will the world building be poor? Aren’t the washed up actors and estranged pals tropes already heavily mined? And haven’t we already passed both peak meta and peak nostalgia pandering? Not to mention this was being made by Walt Disney Pictures, the branch of Disney that has spent the past years producing nothing but retreads, remakes, or retellings of some sort of previous IP that have often ended up being soulless, uninteresting, or even disastrous takes on them.**

That said, I also could see that if the relationship between C&D and their interactions were well handled, it could make for something compelling and powerful. If they could tap into facets of the original series with a spirit that rings true, it could be a great new take with real rescuing and ranger-ing. There could be a path forward. Maybe!

Perhaps strangely… in the end all of the above came to pass. (Potential spoilers ahead!)

I’ve watched the movie twice before writing this, to be sure I was getting the full sense of it. And where I’m left somewhat torn.

To start, there is plenty of potential here, in no small part because they (correctly) realized that it is Chip & Dale’s relationship that lies at the core of all their stories. Right from when they made their first appearance in the Donald Duck cartoons, that best friend / frenemy dynamic is what makes them endearing and such a delight. And it is what drives many of their narratives, including in the TV series. Fortunately, the writers did recognize this and made it central to the story here. There’s a lot of good compelling stuff that could come out of it.

The themes that are broached also hold great potential: notions of fame, of living in the past and/or trying to recapture former glory, insecurities, and the ongoing commodification of art. And while the “washed up actor(s)” bit feels like it’s been already used a bunch of late, it’s still an interesting framing vehicle and is used well here, with Chip and Dale each dealing with the end of the show and their subsequent breakup in a different way, with Chip withdrawn and trying to ignore/forget it while Dale overcompensates and is being maniacally gregarious.

And dovetailing (Ducktailing?) off all those is the ur-theme of the commodification of not just art but the actors themselves, and what happens to them and, even more importantly, how we treat them when they are no longer in the limelight or have gotten stale, lived past their prime, or even pushed out

Throughout Chip & Dale are mostly on-model in terms of their personality and traits and ways of being, and there are interactions throughout between Chip and Dale that ring true.

So, a great starting point with some great material to work with and dive into. Plenty of promise!

However… alas… much of the execution doesn’t live up to that promise. Things are not followed through. The movie comes off in a very rote and paint-by-numbers fashion, with few of the themes truly engaged with in any way, whether to explore them, comment on them, learn from them, make them part of the plot, or whatever. They’re on the periphery like window dressing, but with little to add to the meat and meaningfulness of the story.

Worse, the storytelling is weak and ham-handed enough such that in the end little feels truly earned. All too often the movie relies on the characters describing something rather than doing the work to have it be an integral (and palpable) part of the world/narrative. This is doubly unfortunate when it comes to the characters themselves, with them stating things rather than simply being it (such that we can see their actions and track things without them needing to tell us about it). So many of moments in the movie come off as “they are saying this now because this is the part of the movie where this has to happen”*** rather than it organically coming forth into crowning moments of heartwarming or awesome. All in all, the story and storytelling doesn’t end up having the emotional resonance it could have had.

Which leads to my other prediction/concern that came to pass: There is a constant and relentless attempt at gags that I really think hurt the story. This relentless pursuit often leaves them desperately reaching such that many of the attempted gags feel shallow or threadbare. Often gags don’t land or, at best, elicit a minor chuckle. And then thre’s how they often fixate on a particular gag for Way. Too. Long.

Worse, though, is that many of the gags are isolated and not related to the plot or to the story or to the themes. They come off as gags for the sake of gags, because that’s what they are. And thus they feel hollow and meaningless. But the ultimate nail is how often they feel the need to have the characters directly set up, call attention to, and yes worst of all, explain the gag or joke. That’s… not good. (A clear example of this is the silly putty joke. Yes, we see it. We get it. It’s quite amusing and fits in well with the world! Great! But now you’re explicitly calling attention to it, explaining it and… just why?)

Gags I would totally expect and would even totally want in a movie like this. That’s a core of the “brand”! But the movie goes overboard to a level that detracts from and takes focus away from the actual story being told. Greater development of the narrative and storytelling while relegating many of the gags to the background would create a better balance (while also eliminating the need to reach for those threadbare gags) would have allowed the themes, the characters, and their relationships to be featured, developed, and to fully resonate.

Unfortunately, the caper at the heart of the plot is also lacking. As Rescue Ranger story the caper ought to be… well, OK, to be fair the ones in the TV show were often quite a bit nonsensical. But that was the TV show, which is now a TV show inside of the movie, which means this movie is in the “real world”, and it’s also longer than a TV show… what I’m trying to say is that just as Zootopia’s caper is central to its plot, and just how Zootopia’s caper is the vehicle for all of its amazing philosophical and storytelling goodness, the caper this CDRR movie needed to be equally as solid. But! There are some noticeable holes in it: 1) the toons are preyed upon after falling behind on debts but 2) nothing really about their kidnapping seems to rely on them being in debt? Any ol’ washed up toon would seem ripe for it, even without being in dept. 3) While the bootleg thing is amusing, 4) the fact that Pete is running this operation because he got old is weird both 5) because it doesn’t appear that toon old age is much of a thing for everyone else? And 6) if he has a super machine that can perform cosmetic surgery of all kinds then 7) couldn’t he have just made himself look young again or 8) taken on a new svelte identity and started anew as the boy symbol he wants to be? 9) And, as an aside, if literal erasers are able to remove the mouths of toons then 10) shouldn’t redrawing of said toons also be a thing?

(Also, there’s an aspect to the caper that is unsettling, namely the real-world (as in the real-real-world not the in-movie-real-world – this gets confusing) history of what happened with Peter Pan’s actor, Bobby Driscoll. The short of it is that Bobby, hired at 10, was the darling of the Disney system and appeared in a number of movies plus voice acting roles. But eventually he was unceremoniously dropped by Disney and, reportedly, even banned from re-entering the studio. Things did not go well for him, and he died alone on a park bench at age 31. To make light of this and/or to mine this to create a villain to be defeated is very questionable.)

Lastly, the cameos. As expected for its premise, this movie is rife with them…. and let me say I am genuinely AMAZED and I marvel (pun semi-intended) at just how many cross-IP characters there are, not only from within Disney but from oodles of outside studios. It’s most impressive! My Little Pony! Old Coke commercials! Batman! Lego! Dragon Ball! Voltron! Loony Toons (minorly)! Those other chipmunks… (though, amusingly, Disney kinda owns them now through Fox). And even cameos from Dreamworks, which, if you know the history of Dreamworks & Disney, is an astounding thing indeed. Kudos to the team (and their lawyers) for the effort it took to get all of those. Much like Roger Rabbit (and in a slightly different vein, Wreck It Ralph), it makes for a more believable world/world building where toons are “real” to have this wide swath of characters.

And to that, most of the cameos could be background things and be totally fine. And most are, and it is mostly fine! Except where they turn the cameo into a gag… which often inherits all of the issues I noted above. That said, it would have been nicer to have a few of the cameos try to tie into a theme and/or be something specific about that character. There was an opportunity with Ugly Sonic, where it could have been great to rope in the theme ridicule and when actors/etc are unceremoniously cast out (especially since that’s the supposed theme for the main villain as well) but… no, they instead reached for a gag about his teeth and then fixate on it on not just once, but repeat the same gag a second time, and then use the idea yet a third time because that horse isn’t yet dead enough.

On the whole, the worldbuilding was not bad. The furgonomics and furchitecture aren’t as complete as Zootopia’s (but then again, what is?) but there was still an attempt to make at least some things appropriate for toons of all sizes to live in and among the humans. Yet, oddly, much was also not. Monty’s appt building is a fun and well-done example, but while Chip’s house is small it’s also appears to be on a regular human-sized lot in a human-sized area? So it isn’t complete. But I’m still glad they did put in some effort to make toons and their size difference feel like a real part of the “real” world.

The bits between Chip and his dog Milli are pawsitively adorable!

The animation of C&D is mostly good, and I like the difference in their styles!

It’s really great when C&D are doing chipmunk-y things, like when they casually climb down the outside of Monty’s apartment building.

It’s interesting that half the CDRR episodes they reference are real/released ones, and half were not. Was it done to pad out how long the show had been running in the movie, or were they doing it for self-convenience so they could invent episodes to fit their plot points rather than doing the work to find the elements they needed in the real cartoons?

For all I noted above of what didn’t work when it comes to gags, there are some killer gags that do work exquisitely, mainly because they (properly) remain in the background: the sign that reads “Wrong Side” on the edge of the train tracks, battering rams, the firework joke, “And I regretted it instantly!” (which also fits into Dale’s character), and oh wow, Lego Miserables is totally a movie I would love to see them make.

Though that Wrong Side gag is good, narratively and world-building-ly it’s a bit weird, because C&D go to the wrong side of the tracks and start down this shady bit before emerging onto… a shining happy main street full of people who seem oblivious to the underbelly. If it’s that shiny and popular, wouldn’t it have a more direct and less sketchy access?

There’s a fun cameo of two of Fat Cat’s accomplices hiding blurred in the background on Main St.

For whatever reason, I really loved Lumiere’s performance in this.

It was great that Tress MacNeille got to reprise the voice for both Gadget as well as high-pitched Chip (as she did Chip’s voice in the TV series). Ditto for Corey Burton and Dale, and C&D arguing in their old Donald Duck cartoon style was fun.

Interestingly, Tress’ voice for Gadget here was not exactly the same; I’m not sure if that was intentional (Gadget’s “real” voice vs her TV voice, same as C&D) or if she couldn’t quite get it again.

Also, never forget, that Jim Cummings is a treasure.

Captain Putty’s fight with Ellie is very creative and fun, making good use of his malleable body. Also, the slight twitchiness of his animation to match the stop-motion aesthetic is good.

I really wonder why they call the fake movies bootlegs – that’s not the term I’ve heard associated with it. Mockbusters is generally the term used for the knockoff movies used to hoodwink people at checkout lines. So… why bootleg?

I don’t remember anything in the CDRR cartoon ever being as toony as the cartoon bird trick. One of the neat things about the TV show was that they mostly played it straight, so why deviate from that here? Again, just like inventing new episodes it feels like lazy writing and lack of understanding or respect for the original material.

And to that end I’m surprised that in general there are not more allusions to the TV show. Or maybe I embarrassingly missed them, in which case I’ll need to turn in my RR cred…

While seeing the Ranger Plane was neat, I really wish they’d used the Ranger Wing instead. For no reason other than I think it’s a 100x cooler aircraft.

I am not a fan of the continued BS trope that police can’t do their job because of rules, and if they could just do whatever they want they could solve all the cases. We’ve seen very much real-world examples of just how much police often already run roughshod over rules, people, and communities.

I’ve noted it above, but I have to say it again… The amount of spoken exposition in this movie is downright astounding to me. It is shocking just how the writers seem to feel some odd, contestant, need to have some character or other explain every single plot point that is happening, or explain every single character development, or explain every single damn joke or gag. I’m flummoxed. “Show, don’t tell,” as the adage goes. And absolutely, as with all adages it can be taken too far, but there’s a reason why it exists as an adage.

And as for the jokes… if you need to spend minutes setting up the joke, and/or need to explain the joke, then perhaps you should find a better joke.

The ending credit sequence is pretty cool! And the remix song ain’t all that bad either.

I’m mixed about it all. As a longtime fan who would love to see an actual reboot or continuation, I think the movie’s concept is fine**** and could see some cool stuff coming out of it (including leading to said continuation of a CDRR series). There were plenty of bits and aspects that I enjoyed and seeing the team in action again was a joy. And in those moments where things truly come together, and when the movie remembers where to apply its focus, it can be great and the magic of C&D’s relationship is there.

But those moments are just moments, surrounded by a morass of lessor execution and without a strong throughline that could make them transcendent. It didn’t follow through or fulfill on its promise, and it left me wanting.

And therein lies the rub. While I didn’t mind watching it a second time I don’t foresee myself watching it a third (or more). There’s not enough there to make it worthwhile, and I can savour in my memory the good bits without subjecting myself to the greater amount of lacking bits.

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* …and those letters shall forever be an… interesting and visible part of my history.

** As opposed to, and it’s important to emphasize again, Walt Disney Animation, which has produced some amazingly new and fresh and well told work.

*** Not that direct heart-to-heart talks are bad per se, but better storytelling has a mix of showing as well as the H2H talks, and you can see that things are leading to those H2H talks so that when they happen they feel genuine and are impactful.

**** Especially given that C&D’s as the stars of the TV show was already a reinvention of sorts.

#rescue rangers #chip & dale #CDRR #disney #movies #disney afternoon #chip n dale rescue rangers

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professoranimatedbanana · 2 years

Text

Felix Morrissey - Homework 1

Who are you?

My name is Felix. I am 21 and primarily consider myself a composer, programmer, and artist. Plus, I’m working on getting my BS in electrical engineering. I have also dabbled in songwriting, 2D animation, writing, video editing, and game design. I enjoy developing a diverse set of skills because it will vastly expand the possibilities for things I can create. I want to be able to combine a variety of art forms together to form unique experiences which I can share with the world. I’m often happiest working by myself, which has led to me finding a lot of motivation in the idea of being able to make complicated things without requiring help from others. For my senior capstone, I am designing and building an analog synthesizer entirely by myself.

Where are you from?

I was born in Portland, Maine, but early in my life I moved to Gorham, Maine. My parents soon after divorced, so I was always split between two homes. I primarily lived with my father in Gorham and later Portland again. I would regularly spend weekends with my mother, who lived in Gray for a couple years before moving to Cumberland. On my father’s side I have a younger brother and on my mother’s side a younger and an older brother. At each house I lived in, we always had a large number of pets which influenced my fascination with creatures of all kinds. Today I live in an apartment in Orono and continue to take care of many pets, including a cat, a rabbit, lizards, fish, and frogs.

What art do you like to make?

I have a special preference for the Sega Genesis game system and creating art and music within the limitations it offers. I spent a large portion of this summer working on an album of music which works entirely within the Genesis’ sound capabilities and will be capable of running on a console. This preference is informed by love of chiptunes and pixel art, which both work within limitations, but by doing so are able to create an aesthetic that appeals to me. Plus, knowing the limitations of a system and seeing a piece of well made art, music, and/or programming which seems to push those limitations always fascinates me.

youtube

While this video isn’t running on a Sega Genesis, I created the art and music so that they all fit within the system’s limitations. The only thing that keeps it from being possible to run on the system is the fact that the processor probably wouldn’t be able to draw the oscilloscopes in real time.

What other artists inspire/influence your work?

I’ve always really appreciated the artwork of Wayne Coyne, front man of the psych rock band The Flaming Lips. While music has always been his main passion, he also managed to develop an eye-catching abstract art style. His works tend to be painted and use contrasting colors, resulting in art which is messy, yet striking. A common motif throughout his work is a human figure facing some kind of otherworldly object, contrasting the normal and the supernatural. My favorite thing about his work has always been the use of color. There tends to be contrasting, vibrant hues, but they’re always placed in a way that looks satisfying and cohesive.

Wayne’s lyricism has also been fascinating to me. While love is a common theme in his music, it’s never about specific love, it’s more philosophical. A lot of his songs are about the contrast between the human feeling of love which brings people together and the cold meaninglessness of the universe. He often sings about learning to find meaning through love despite the existence of death and decay. One of their most popular songs “Do You Realize” is about how even though everything will die, it’s important to live in the moment. My favorite album of theirs “The Terror” is a concept album which imagines a world in which love doesn’t exist, yet humanity manages continue on. The music is fitting, being very strange and distorted, but at the same time oddly beautiful.

How do you challenge yourself in your work and process?

I inadvertently challenge myself by being incredibly picky and critical when coming up with ideas, which has had both a positive and negative influence on how I work. On the negative side, it has made it difficult to find the motivation to practice drawing because the ideas I come up with don’t often inspire me enough to start drawing them. For example, I’ve always been put off by the idea of drawing fan art for some reason, even though I’m pretty sure that has been a big contributing factor to a lot of modern artists ending up as experienced as they are. On the positive side, I like to think that the things I do end up drawing almost always feel meaningful to me. I think it’s setting high expectations for my work that tends to push me to put my all into my work and create stuff I’m proud of. Another way I challenge myself is by working under self-imposed limitations, preferably ones which have the added benefit of expanding the accessibility of my work. An example of this would be making stuff capable of running on the Sega Genesis as mentioned earlier.

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