#AND THE COMPLETE STEVEN UNIVERSE DVD SET

[ghostsinthecellar]

[mouwrites]

thought I should request something steven universe themed if you wanted to write it!!!!

how about a PLATONIC steven universe × human fem reader when she's sick!! I literally have the worst fever it's killing me anyways!! good luck !!!

HOW did this turn out so long…. anyway, sickness solidarity my friend 😞 I have also been struck ill

Word count: 1k

Steven Universe - Sick?! (Steven [platonic])

Steven perked up when the ringing tone of his phone suddenly cut off. Your voice came through, huskily rasping: “Hello?”

“Hiii Y/n!” He chirped, kicking his legs back and forth merrily as they dangled from the couch. He had been miserably bored for… twenty minutes now, if the clock was still working. He’d called hoping that you’d be available to help ease his boredom, but he couldn’t help the feeling that something was off. Usually you didn’t answer so quickly, but there was something else too, something he couldn’t quite pin.

“Wait a minute. You aren’t usually home at this time of day.”

“Yeah,” you sighed. “I’m not feeling too well, so I stayed home.”

Steven brought a hand to grip his hair dramatically. “You’re sick?!”

You tried to laugh; you didn’t need to see him to know what he was doing. But it just came out as a sad little wheeze, and you had to regain your wind before you could speak again.

“I’ll be fine. I took some medicine, just waiting for it to kick—”

“Hold on, Y/n!”

He hung up. You looked at your phone screen, frowning. Should I be afraid..?

You were trying to sleep a little, if only to escape your throbbing headache (and all the other aches too numerous to name), but you awoke to the sound of pounding at your door.

You groaned, tugging your blanket over your head. But you could no longer ignore the noise when it was suddenly accompanied by an all-too-familiar voice shouting: “Y/n! Y/nnnn! Are you dead?! I’m coming in!”

Now you were awake. You flew out of bed at the sound of your front door opening, ignoring your wailing muscles for the time and scuttling down the hall.

“Steven, you can’t just break into my house,” you tried to sound firm, but you just didn’t have the energy. You cursed yourself, dragging a hand down your feverish face ruefully.

Steven had set his burger backpack on your kitchen table and was rummaging through it, completely ignoring you.

“I brought soup—it’s canned, I hope that’s okay—and movies, and coloring books, and regular books, and…” he held the bag wide open, clearly looking for something else.

His eyes suddenly lit up, and he plunged his hand into the bag and triumphantly pulling out a little star-shaped plush with a cute nightcap. “This!”

As much as you wanted to hate him for bugging you (you were rather irritable, being in pain and all), you couldn’t stop the huge grin that came to your face when he handed you the plush.

“What are you going to name him?”

You blinked at Steven, then at the little fluffy star. You were about to shrug, but you decided against it when you suddenly became aware of the aches all over your body.

Somehow Steven seemed to sense this, and he took you by the elbow and started dragging you into your living room, taking his backpack in his free hand. “You’re probably tired! Oh geez, your skin is super warm. Do you feel cold?”

He didn’t wait for a response, finding a blanket on the edge of your sofa and wrapping it around your shoulders as you sat.

He plopped down next to you, your shoulders pressed together cozily.

Digging through his bag, he fished out a few DVDs, showing them to you one by one. When he was done, he looked at you with wide eyes, awaiting your response.

“Uh,” you huffed, your eyelids feeling heavy again now that you were all cozy, “I don’t think I want to watch anything. You can, though.”

“Oh. That’s fine! You can just sleep. I’ll be here,” he smiled comfortingly, scooting aside so you could lie flat on the couch. You gave him a grateful nod and reclined, already half asleep by the time you repositioned yourself.

“Can I play with your hair? That always makes me feel better when I’m sick.”

You hummed affirmingly. Steven’s hands were warm against your head as they smoothed your hair, combing it, twisting it, untwisting it; you thought you felt him trying to braid it at some point, but in your half-asleep daze you couldn’t tell.

When you woke up again it was just past noon, and though your sinuses felt funky you could smell something coming from the kitchen. You propped yourself up on your elbow, pressing your lips together at the pain of the motion.

“No! Don’t move!”

You had to smile as Steven stormed towards you with a bowl, his face shifting from anger to agony as he walked. “Hot! Hot! Hot!”

He plopped the bowl down on your lap, fanning his hands off. You could definitely feel the heat of the soup through the blanket, and it was actually pretty comforting.

“Thanks,” you chuckled, sitting up all the way.

“Eat up, you need your strength!” Steven winked. “Want me to put something on the TV?”

“Sure,” you said, blowing off a spoonful of soup and shoving it in your mouth. “You can pick.”

You spent the rest of the afternoon curled up on the couch with Steven, who fretted endlessly about you. He couldn’t seem to go five minutes without asking if you needed anything, and when you did he was off like a race horse to get it.

The sun was starting to set when you insisted that Steven go home. He looked like he wanted to protest, but looking at the darkening sky he knew he couldn’t.

“The gems will worry,” you reminded him.

“I know… are you sure you’ll be okay?”

You laughed, patting his shoulder reassuringly. “I’ll be fine.”

“Sure, but… call me if you need anything, okay?”

You smiled bemusedly. “I will.”

And then he was off. And not ten minutes passed before you felt your phone buzzing in your pocket, and you pulled it out to find a message from Steven:

Feel better soon! :)

You smiled once more, reclining easily against the soft cushions of your couch, much to your aching body’s relief.

Thank you so much for this request dear! And thanks for reading, take care duckies <33

(divider by saradika)

[this-is-where-i-hide-my-bullshit]

The full series dvd box sets I've collected over the years are some of my most prized possessions.

So far I have:

Avatar the last Airbender

Steven universe

Adventure time

She-ra

Danny phantom

Courage the cowardly dog

Invader zim

Gravity falls

And several other shows on dvd, but those aren't the complete series.

I usually rewatch them when I'm doing art and can't find anything good on YouTube.

[deadlockorignalfilms]

I have a decent amount of knowledge about CartoonNetwork physical media

With the HBOMax Purge

I think it's a good time to start a sharing everything I know.

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Codename Kids Next Door has never had an official season release, if you want one you're going to have to buy a bootleg

This is the one I bought and it's incredible

https://www.ecrater.com/p/36039992/codename-kids-next-door-complete?gps=1&id=81021520219&gclid=CjwKCAjw6fyXBhBgEiwAhhiZstV3ZIjIAKLJTHQUkHnUhpfnhcI_48OB6KqQQD6Jzg6tlZmBb2TZtxoCbvoQAvD_BwE

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.The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy did have one official DVD that is extremely rare, but could have some cool behind the scenes stuff.

Not being able to afford that, I bought this. Pretty great but Boogie Adventure is not very good quality footage

https://www.ecrater.com/.../the-grim-adventures-of-billy...

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Regular Show actually has had a full series release, in Australia, so any Seasons that aren't available in the US can be bought from Madman. Most of their DVDs work in US players for some reason, but some don't. I will attest to the ones that do

https://ebay.com/p/20010102949

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To the best of my knowledge OK KO Let's Be Heroes has only ever had one full season release, Once Again from Mad Men Australia. I purchased this DVD and it works flawlessly in an American player.

https://bullmoose.com/p/27325456?autoSort=False...

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Steven universe has had a complete series+movie DVD release in the US,and a a Blu-Ray release of 1-5 in Australia

The AU version came out years earlier than the US, so they don't have the same extra features.

All the Steven blu-rays region free except season 1

https://www.amazon.com/Steven-Universe-Seasons-1-5/dp/B09FYBDC7D/ref=asc_df_B09FYBDC7D/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=532971372890&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9792618915874385592&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=200563&hvtargid=pla-1432951104916&psc=1

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Ed Edd n' Eddy

Season 1-2:

Official US

Season 3-end:

Thailand, official, RARE, works in US Blu ray player but not US DVD, due to their being less regions in the BLU-RAY age than the DVD age

Blu ray bootleg (have not bought this one so I cannot attest to the quality)

https://ecrater.com/.../ed-edd-n-eddy-bluray-complete...

The specials might only be available on seasonal Cartoon Network DVDs

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Over the Garden Wall was released on DVD in the United States and on Blu-ray in australia,

blu ray set is region free, and has the exact same special features as the DVD, I highly recommend

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175232239728?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=z22eVayJSyS&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=D6v9qPkFTtu&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

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.On the subject of Adult Swim shows that are hard to find, Moral Orel only had one season release in the United States, but the complete series was released by Mad Man Australia. Even has cool archived interviews from The Adult Swim website.

NOT REGION FREE sadly 🙁

[magnhild]

list of cool lgbt+ media i like that maybe you guys should give a shot if you haven’t

i’m defining ‘lgbt+ media’ as ‘media that features an lgbt+ character/several lgbt+ characters in some prominence’. anyway here’s a list of stuff i like that you guys should definitely check out if you’re looking for new stuff to watch/read/play!

note: if you think a piece of media is ‘missing’ from the list, it’s either because i haven’t experienced it for myself, or have left it out intentionally for personal reasons. please don’t comment on this with ‘oh but you missed spop/supergirl/steven universe/ect.’. this is just my personal recommendation list and you’re free to make your own!

the legend of korra; fantasy, animated tv series

there’s a very small chance that you’ve yet to watch this, but i’m adding it just in case. the titular character and her eventual girlfriend are both bisexual, though, sadly, this relationship does not become canon until the very end, due to nickelodeon’s limitations at the time. still an enjoyable watch regardless, and the follow-up canon comics focus a lot more on the characters’ relationship. doesn’t seem to be available for streaming at the moment, but you can buy it through amazon or apple. also dvd. or just pirate it idk, up to you.

the rise of kyoshi and the shadow of kyoshi; fantasy, novel series

if the series itself has an overarching title, i’m not aware of it. we usually just call them ‘the kyoshi novels’. like lok, is set in the atla universe, but is set long before both animated series’. the main character is bisexual and ends up in a relationship with another woman about halfway through the first book, meaning we have plenty of time to enjoy their relationship. also a good read if you’ve ever wanted to see a more serious and brutally realistic take on the atla universe. the first book can be found in physical or ebook edition in most bookshops, though the second may be harder to find outside of the us due to covid complications.

ikenfell; fantasy, indie video game

a cute little indie rpg game with mystery elements. literally every named character is lgbt+ in some way, including lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and nonbinary characters, including a neopronoun-user. the game is also very disability friendly and has a ton of accessibility options. it is sadly over all-too-quickly- i finished it within a day. can be found through the nintendo eshop and steam, and i think there’s a physical copy out now too.

the owl house; fantasy, animated series

again, it’s unlikely that anyone reading this hasn’t watched at least some of it, but it’s definitely worth a mention. with two of the three main characters being bisexual- including the focal character- another significant character being a lesbian, a fourth being nonbinary, and probably more to come, it’s the most lgbt-focused work to come from disney. unfortunately, this also means that the show has been cut short of its full potential, with disney cancelling it and not even allowing a complete third season, because it wasn’t a good ‘fit’ for them. i wonder why :/ can be found on disney+.

wings of fire; novel series, fantasy

while the first and second arcs of the series have very little lgbt+ characters, the one that exist being limited to minor or background characters, the third steps up by introducing a lesbian main character and her girlfriend. even without the lgbt+ characters earlier on, the series is still a really enjoyable read for anyone who enjoys animal fantasy. it’s also far better-written than warrior cats, if you were curious. has an animated series in the works. can be found in physical, ebook, or audiobook form just about anywhere that sells books.

adventure time, fantasy, animated series

yet again another one i highly doubt people haven’t watched, but still worth a mention. two of the main characters are wlw, though hints of this don’t begin until around the 4th season. several episodes and arcs focus on their relationship and hint at the two being exes, and they are solidified as canon in the finale. a few spin-off comics also tease or outright feature the relationship, though the canonical status for said comics is dubious. their biggest focus came in the form of a 40-minute special, obsidian, that was released in 2020. i believe it can be found on hbo max.

camp half-blood chronicles; fantasy, novel series

consists of three separate series’, the first of which being the well-known percy jackson and the olympians. while the books’ first gay character is introduced in this arc, he does not come out until the next, heroes of olympus. the handling of this is questionable in some areas, but it was notably one of the first first examples of an lgbt+ character in mainstream childrens’ media, coming before even the legend of korra’s final season, and still meant a lot to people. the third series, the trials of apollo, steps things up significantly, with the main character being bisexual, more focus on the aforementioned gay character and his boyfriend, and a few more lgbt+ characters as well, including having a main character from the previous arc being revealed as lgbt+. probably helps that the author began taking criticism from lgbt+ readers into consideration, and hired sensitivity readers. an upcoming book seems to potentially be the most lgbt-focused book in the series, and is being co-written by an lgbt+ author. can be found in physical, ebook, or audiobook form just about anywhere that sells books.

magnus chase and the gods of asgard; fantasy, novel series

written by the same author and set in the same universe as the camp half-blood chronicles. while having less lgbt+ characters than the latter series (mostly due to only having three books compared to 15), the two featured are prominent. a main character introduced in the second book is genderfluid (potentially being the first in mainstream childrens’ literature), and winds up becoming the love interest of the titular character, whose attraction to her regardless of gender points to him being bi or pan. slightly soured by the fact that the series is not nearly long enough, and it doesn’t seem likely that we’ll be seeing these characters any time in the future. there are also two other main male characters who seem to be basically married but aren’t canon?? for some reason?? can be found in physical, ebook, or audiobook form just about anywhere that sells books.

rwby; fantasy, animated web series

another series by rooster teeth, though probably the tamest of their works (that said, it’s still for older audiences than your average cartoon). has the largest number of lgbt+ characters of any media on this list (a total of nine so far), in part due to a generally large cast size. two of the four main characters are wlw (one is bisexual, the other is not yet specified), and there are several other lgbt+ characters of varying importance, including a trans character played by trans actress @kdinjenzen​. some of these are confirmed in the main series, while a few others are confirmed through side novels after the fall and before the dawn, and it’s been confirmed that there are more to come. oh, and did i mention that you can watch the entire series so far for free on rooster teeth’s website?

and that concludes my list! again, if there’s a piece of media that isn’t on here, i’ve left it off for a reason. some i just haven’t consumed, some i have personal reasons for leaving off, some for both of those reasons. please feel free to make your own if you want to promote those ones!

anyway though you for reading and please considered checking some or all of these out!

[autumnhortsnort]

ok i have advice for how to learn to recognize story structures. bcs i don't think the underlying issue is world building. i think it might be story structure and where you want to go with it.

first off: world building is only as important as you need it to be. good world building doesn't actually matter as far as story enjoyment goes. look at game of thrones; people loved that show even tho the world building is atrocious.

Also world building is generally better of it is built in service to the themes and plot so having a good idea of where you want to go will help a ton with the world building later.

As an aside this advice may not work for people that have a different style of writing than me. im more of a architect style writer but garden writers are very common.

garden style is usually more episodic, the author may have a goal but usually will meander their way to it. its just messing around with stuff that you enjoy/feels right. generally its pretty character driven.

architect style is heavily planned out before hand there is a goal/endpoint that the writer knows and is working towards. usually needs a pretty thorough timeline/outline.

garden style lends itself well to exploring characters and character dynamics. a ton of sitcoms are likely garden style writing, as well as adventure time, steven universe, and the first season of gravity falls.(i strongly suspect neil gaiman tends to write garden style as well). architect style is generally good for people that tend to get lost or stuck in a spot. or if your story needs structure.

but this advice is more for architect writing, and doing this made my writing more strongly architect style.

It is also batshit crazy.

Basically you need to find a piece of media with multiple iterations and shotgun all of them. Take a ton of notes. Note story concepts, character interactions, tropes, writing techniques and compare these between each iteration. Beaze and i did this with as many of the on screen tmnt iterations as we could get our hands on. We watched nothing but tmnt for 2 and a half straight days. If it works you will not be able to go back to how you watched media before. I can't read or watch a story without seeing the narrative bones poke through.

breadsword watched the entire scooby doo movie collection and went through a ton of the same stuff. You could definitely do it with the transformers iterations.

What you could also do is read through the odyssey and watch and compare it to Oh brother where art thou. Basically taking iterations/adaptations and seeing how the writers translate it into there own story.

other stuff id recommend:

gravity falls dvd commentary goes over the basics of how these kind of shows are written episode to episode, useful for tv and episodic writing in general.

study politics for the era you plan to set your story, and what events caused said politics. i like to watch videos on the orgins of fashions and the aesthetics of an era bcs quite often the things people wear, the architecture, and how they decorated their houses with reflect a ton about culture and current politics.

try to figure out what sub genres make up your story, is it a: workplace comedy? roadtrip odyssey? springbreak rager? College grads trying to complete an experiment? ect. Highly recommend osp trope talks, and folding ideas for discussions of story elements.

ultimately nitty gritty world building is for after you've got a good idea of what you want to do. it will usually hurts more than it helps if you focus too much on it in the early stages of writing.

When it comes to character building I'd recommend making them with plot useful traits first, then add backstory that explains those traits, and flesh them out from there.

Additionally building characters in pairs or trios is a good idea. give them traits that inherently lead to character interactions (good or bad).

been strugglin to do art related things involving my own creations that arent fandom related. I want to do something with my art and characters, maybe make a comic or animation, but I don't feel my heart in some places where I do in others. like, the alien platoon i have, i want to do something with them but I'm not sure what , truth be told. I'm not much of a story writer and I guess not having a story has been pushing me away from wanting to do more with them as a whole, even tho I really want to.

[novantinuum]

So, uh- I don’t see anyone talking about this on my dash yet, but CN has finally decided to release a complete boxset of Steven Universe (on DVD only, as of now) that includes SU, the movie, SUF, the shorts, and commentary. 

Description on the the back of the boxset reads:

Every song, every fusion, everything Steven Universe- all in one complete collection for the first time! Join Steven and the Crystal Gems on all of their adventures, from Steven unlocking his new powers to discovering the secrets of his mother, Rose Quartz, and heading towards the future.

This ultimate collection includes every season of Steven Universe, Steven Universe The Movie and the Steven Universe Future epilogue series- along with bonus content like The Movie Sing-A-Long, Steven Universe mini-sides, animatics, commentary, behind the scenes footage, and much more!

Find out why fans across the universe believe in Steven!

You can see the pre-order here!

It’s set to ship 11/3. 

If you’re interested in a Blu-Ray copy, it’s probably a good idea to tweet @cartoonnetwork on twitter and let them know you’d love to have it available in that format as well. Can’t hurt to politely ask.  

[love-takes-work]

Notes on SU Commentary Tracks

I watched the commentary tracks on the Complete Steven Universe DVD Set and I took some nerd notes.

The episodes with commentary tracks are “Reunited,” “Change Your Mind,” and “The Future.”

I’ll bold stuff that was maybe bigger news or more surprising for easier reading. And yes, some of this was already known from podcasts, other Q&As, or interviews, but I listed it if they said it again here.

Read on after the jump to read these and other highlights:

Steven’s original wedding speech

Older ideas on dialogue for Lapis when she came back to the beach

Scrapped concepts for the scene that ultimately included Steven communicating with the others in a mindscape

Discussions of earlier concepts for White Diamond having a power to “freeze” Gems into statues to make them perfect and having a gallery of them on Homeworld

Pink Pearl’s original fate

The translation of the writing on Obsidian’s sword

The origin of Pink Steven’s design

What Rebecca did to pitch the “SHE’S GONE” scene

Earlier plans to include Shep in “Change Your Mind”

An unused concept of how Steven feels about Biggs

The inspiration for the Heaven and Earth Beetles’ healed design

How Volleyball/Pink Pearl was almost a mini-villain

Discussion of how they did not get to share the origin of the Diamonds

Jasper’s scrapped participation in the movie

“Reunited” - 

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

In 2015, an episode idea called “If You Love Yourself So Much” was discussed but rejected. It included some early ideas that ended up getting incorporated into “Reunited,” most notably Garnet marrying herself and putting rings on both hands.

The idea of the Cluster arm wrestling was planned for a long time. A scrapped idea of Steven banging his fist on a vending machine to get some Chaaaaps was supposed to visually parallel some of that scene, but it was axed.

When they got pushback on the wedding idea, they kept adding more and more “high entertainment value” items like a big musical number so the episode would be absolutely unmissable and appealing to everyone.

The song at the beginning of the episode was meant to check in with the entire cast and sort of remind you they exist and what their state of mind is going into the wedding.

Ian made a comment joking about “All 15 people in Beach City” being in the audience.

Just about everyone on the Crew touched this episode, despite that there are four main storyboarders credited for “Reunited.”

In 2016 Ian Jones-Quartey proposed marriage to Rebecca Sugar. They felt like the characters based on them (Sapphire and Ruby) HAD to get married in the show now because otherwise it wouldn’t be honest. But then their characters got married before they did.

They really love the idea of having characters get married who have known each other for a really long time, versus the fairy tale trope of movies ending with weddings between people who have met very recently.

Steven’s speech as officiator at the wedding used to be longer in its first draft--it was described as being weird and full of jokes, and there would have been a scene with Pearl getting weepy and pulling tissues out of her pearl.

Ian mentions loving a joke Jeff came up with having Greg play one chord to make Steven fall asleep--it’s sort of a “dream” chord you hear in cartoons a lot before a dream sequence.

The Crew discussed what it might be like if someone had never seen the show before and started with this episode.

Ian really wanted Steven’s psychic powers to figure into the episode.

Blue using a sadness wave to attack the Gems was a very old idea they’d planned for a long time. So was Lapis’s arrival.

There was a discussion of having Lisa Hannigan performing her lines as Blue VERY early in the morning.

Ian was happy the sword got broken because it was so momentous but it was just a sword. And later appeared on a shelf in the house as an artifact.

Miki had drawn a torn dress for Garnet at one point so she could be shown fighting and moving around more accurately, and this led to a long discussion of whether Gem clothing can even actually get torn the way human clothes can. They concluded that no, it shouldn’t be torn, so they backed up and gave Garnet an open-front dress from the beginning so the fighting version would make more sense.

Lapis originally might have had a longer speech upon arriving back on the beach. They eventually decided to just have her say “Hey.”

The barn falling on Blue Diamond was an intentional Wizard of Oz reference.

They point out that Steven even once said “drop the barn on the beach” (in a previous episode, “Can’t Go Back,” which was also a Miki episode).

Destroying the house was a big deal, and they always thought they’d end up doing it but backed away from it until “Reunited.” They almost even did it back in “Coach Steven”! But it just ended up with a little damage to the porch.

The Crew thinks Miki is really good at drawing ensemble shots.

Rebecca was always overwhelmed whenever she got to have Patti LuPone record for Yellow.

Originally the giant figures of everyone’s statue bodies in the mindscape were too dark and had to be revamped so they could be seen.

An earlier idea of Steven’s “psychic-ghost-situation” had him as a ghost actually trying to interact with the other characters during fighting action, but it was pulled back to this mindscape so there wouldn’t be as much confusing action to keep track of and more focus on what Steven was doing to encourage his teammates and contact the Diamonds.

Hilary was glad not to have to block out a fight.

Ian mentions loving having Bismuth back in the group.

They originally wanted the “Diamonds sensing Pink’s energy” plot to happen when Steven was in the palace somehow, but everything got moved to this scene--which the Crew all agrees turned out incredible, like how cool it was to have Steven essentially reminding each character why they fight and summing up their whole arc in a sentence.

“Change Your Mind”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

They like to refer to this episode as “The movie before the movie.”

They loved incorporating “princess tropes” into Steven’s time on Homeworld, which is why there were so many references to “mice” (well, Pebbles) making clothes, being locked in a tower, being reminded of his manners, loving animals and freeing imprisoned pets, etc. 

Deedee did the voice of the rainbow worm pet. She apparently didn’t find it memorable and was surprised when she was reminded she did the voice.

Rebecca was super excited for the confrontation with Blue.

There was some discussion of how Steven would have died of starvation if he didn’t have someone practical like Connie to remember to bring food.

They love working with the huge scale the Diamonds present.

The Crew always wanted to put someone in Blue’s hair loop. Originally they wanted Blue to tuck Greg in there when she kidnapped him, but they didn’t end up being able to do any hair-loop-carrying until this episode.

The Crew bantered back and forth about what the heck those Pebbles’ names were and how hard it was to track them.

They agreed that Paul draws the best Yellow Diamond, which makes sense since he also drew the first episode with Yellow (and her stink face). 

The scene where Yellow asks Blue to stop using her powers on her and then realizing she’s crying on her own was one of Rebecca’s favorite scenes to get to finally.

Steven Sugar thought Gems would spend a lot of time in their own chambers/rooms just not really doing much of anything unless they had to fulfill their purpose.

Some of the Homeworld ideas were based on a Soviet artist’s concepts, Boris Artzybasheff, and also many ideas were inspired by Busby Berkeley regarding how people were objects and furniture.

The mech was an old idea. Once they had the hand ship from “Jailbreak,” they knew there had to be bodies somewhere.

They focused a lot about what could be the coolest and funniest way for something to happen. The concept of the yellow and blue spaceship arms appearing out of the sky to smack the White Diamond mech around was one of those.

Rebecca really wanted things to look more and more cartoony and bizarre as you get deeper into Homeworld.

They spent a very long time trying to decide on characters’ new outfits.

The trash can lid is said to be a reference to “a flying bear cartoon” and they dance around speaking a direct reference because they’re not sure they’re allowed to say its name.

In discussing the powers of the Diamonds, there were debates on what White’s power would be; with Yellow being physicality-based and Blue being emotion-based, they thought White as identity-based made the most sense.

Different ways to express this were played with before settling on the idea that she thinks she’s perfect and others’ colors make them less like her and less perfect. But then she becomes a hostage to her own beliefs about herself because if she does anything that reflects on everyone else, so it’s best to do nothing.

They had some cool earlier ideas of White’s powers making statues out of other Gems and having a gallery full of frozen Gems, frozen by White to make them perfect.

They also weren’t sure what fate befell the original Pink Pearl and discussed whether she might have been destroyed. 

Rebecca discussed how creepy it was to have White Pearl speaking in Christine’s voice and not Deedee’s--that we should find it fundamentally disturbing at this point.

Tom Herpich came up with the crack on White Pearl’s face.

In real life, pink diamonds aren’t understood as well as yellows and blues. It’s more known what makes a diamond yellow or blue, and some of those facts Rebecca researched were originally woven into the speech White gave about their “impurities.” But it turned out to be too dry and most of it got cut.

Rebecca loves having Lapis with pants and sandals for easier cosplay.

Ian had to draw the scene where Steven is falling and fusing with inert characters--he wasn’t able to properly explain it to Rebecca so she had him draw it.

They really wanted Rainbow Quartz 2.0 to have a scarf, but they couldn’t figure out how to get that into Pearl’s design. They miss the scarf.

It was really important to have these Fusions display call-forwards of the Gems’ new outfits which we hadn’t yet seen.

Rebecca points out that Sunstone’s design breaks a design rule and she feels like Sunstone should have Garnet’s pant leg colors on their legs, but at the same time she understands the rule of cool and likes it like this.

It’s discussed how none of Steven’s fusion weapons are exclusively offensive weapons either.

Rebecca still really wants a suction cup Sunstone toy.

Sunstone’s ability to transcend reality and break the fourth wall was a joke that exploded in the discussion room among the Crew. As soon as the idea was pitched everyone kept coming up with ideas. Sardonyx’s fourth-wall-breaking is more snarky, but Sunstone’s is helpful.

Rebecca was disappointed that the rule about Steven’s clothes wasn’t always followed with having his clothes appear on Obsidian’s hand, but she was delighted that you could see them in one scene.

They spent a lot of discussion time on making sure Steven-Obsidian was different somehow from Rose-Obsidian. The hair is different.

Old versions of Obsidian were drawn with wrapped-together Twizzlers legs, which sort of is reflected in the present design.

The sword had been planned forever--and it first appeared in “Bubble Buddies.”

Miki worked on the Ninja Turtles show so Rebecca was really excited to see her depictions of Bismuth and Sunstone.

An early plan to have Obsidian draw the sword from their mouth was complicated because fusion weapons should be combinations, so they finally reached the solution of having them combine to make the hilt, then get the blade out of Obsidian’s mouth.

The blade of the sword is thought to say “We’ll always save the day,” but you’d have to ask Steven Sugar.

Another really old idea was climbing into the White Diamond mech eye.

Rebecca was disappointed that some of the merch made of White Diamond did not feature her cape sparkles.

There were many debates early on about where Rose might “actually” be. There were tons of references to this fundamental question throughout the show--introducing Lapis as a Gem trapped in an object, having Pearl ponder pulling Steven’s Gem out as a baby, straight-up wondering what would happen to him in “Bubbled” when Eyeball was trying to take his Gem, etc. They all decided Rose was definitely gone but that the idea of her possibly being inside him should be on his mind a lot, leading to disturbing images like dreaming about coughing up her hair.

Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond both challenged Steven about things he was very confident about, but White’s question of his identity got to him because he in fact is not confident about that.

The black and white eeriness of the fuzzy background and the other characters having their colors washed out helped make the scene in White Diamond’s head so disturbing and creepy.

The split screen showing Steven’s two perspectives was exciting to Rebecca, and was a pretty old idea. And she points out it sort of “breaks the show.”

The Gem Steven, Pink Steven, was represented by a slightly modified version of his model sheet. Everyone laughed when they saw what was getting used.

They decided that an earlier idea of Pink Steven looking angry should be replaced by an emotionless version of him. All the emotion should be with Organic Steven.

In the pitch meeting for this episode, Rebecca herself screamed “SHE’S GONE!!” and shocked the hell out of everyone. She pointed out how no one expected this of her because she’s pretty quiet, but she just wanted to shock everyone the way Steven would in the show.

They point out this is the first appearance of the geometric shield that got so much use in Future.

The fact that Steven is Steven is the ultimate reveal of the show. Usually in fantasy shows there’s some other kind of revelation, but Steven just being amazingly human and amazingly Gem and amazingly himself is wonderful here.

They like having the pilot reference with “What’s your excuse?”

If Rose had somehow still been alive in him, all of this would have been cheapened.

Ian loves that you can faintly hear Sadie’s concert from way out in space as the camera approaches Earth.

They got a lot more use out of the Beach-A-Palooza stage than they thought they would when it had to be designed for “Steven and the Stevens.” There was a joke about how at one of the conventions a real Beach-A-Palooza stage was constructed and they had a thought about how oh good, it’s getting reused.

Sadie having green hair in the finale was a late change but they liked showing her progression. 

They had originally kicked around the idea of Sadie already having her new partner Shep at this point, but decided to develop that in Future instead.

They compare White Diamond’s stepping gingerly into the fountain to skeptically getting into a public pool.

Some silliness they didn’t get to use was that Biggs would be “beloved by everyone” except Steven. They never got to cover it, but originally Steven was just going to not really understand why everyone loves her so much and doesn’t personally much care for her.

The Heaven and Earth Beetles are based on the Mothra Ladies.

The healed Gems’ horns are supposed to be side effects of the corruption that they continue to bear in the present.

Larimar and Orange Spodumene ended up different in the ending scene than they became in Future. Many of the designs were retroactively pulled into this scene after being designed for the movie.

Rebecca wrote “Change Your Mind” as a personal song to express her feelings surrounding her fight for the wedding.

“The Future”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Kat Morris, Alonso Ramirez Ramos, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, and Ian Jones-Quartey.

The animatic for this episode ran SO long--they’re supposed to be just over 11 minutes but this one was 17 minutes.

Steven’s calisthenics routine, a callback to “Future Vision,” was on the chopping block to make the episode shorter but Rebecca wouldn’t allow it to be cut because she wanted to show that Steven’s been taking care of himself.

They were very excited to get a chance to cover some of the things in Future that they couldn’t squeeze into the original show, like the unbubbled Rose Quartzes, Volleyball, etc.

The new writers on the show also helped bring forward the idea of Steven finally making some of his OWN mistakes to fix.

This also helped construct the idea of Steven essentially being the “final boss” of his own battle.

Usually stories that involve someone being in a fight and winning don’t explore the effect just being in a fight has on a person, regardless of whether you won. 

Rebecca really wanted to play Ocarina of Time after beating it so she could go back to all the places and see how people were doing. She wanted this epilogue series to explore that a little too.

Little Homeschool is sort of a Tiny Toons reference--older cartoons teach younger cartoons how to be cartoons, and this is Gems teaching other Gems how to be Gems on Earth. 

Lamar came up with the silly joke about receiving that art set with all the different media types in it--the one artists are always getting from a well-meaning relative at holiday time.

A scrapped plot idea involved Volleyball/Pink Pearl as a sort of “mini-villain,” with a focus on her activating the un-activated Pearls.

There’s discussion of how victimization turns people into villains sometimes. But since showing that happening with Volleyball wouldn’t have served the interests of Steven’s arc, they couldn’t fit it in.

There was also a “very specific” Gem origin and Diamond origin story that’s quasi-religious in nature--it’s very cool and complicated. But they do not tell us what it is.

Ian and Joe both really wanted to have Jasper living alone in the woods and stacking rocks. They’re glad they got this series to do that with her.

There was originally an idea for a B-plot involving Jasper in the movie. They don’t discuss the specifics.

There were many ideas they didn’t get to work on because they would have started new arcs and Future was not about kicking new plots into gear.

“Mr. Universe” was the last episode they wrote/finished.

Miki really wanted to include a kiss between Connie and Steven to show their relationship was okay. Among the Crew everyone knew their relationship was basically eternal but Miki wanted to make sure WE knew that.

Steven driving conveyed momentum for Future; in the original show, we always came back to the laundry hand, back to home, but in Future that’s changed and home isn’t what it was. 

They were really excited that a gourd family made it to the crowd scene in Future.

Thanks for reading!

Note: The movie had some commentary tracks too, but the one on this DVD set is the same as the one released on the original standalone movie DVD, so I did not outline it here. Here is my post about the DVD commentary from the movie.

[phantombandit-films]

Why ‘War of the Worlds’ (2005) is a underrated masterpiece.

‘War of the Worlds’ was released in 2005, it is directed by the film god that is Steven Spielberg (Jaws, E.T.) and written by Josh Friedman (Terminator: Dark Fate, Avatar 2) and David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible) 

Cast:  - Tom Cruise as Ray Farrier. - Justin Chatwin as Robbie Farrier. - Dakota Fanning as Rachel Farrier. - Miranda Otto as Mary Ann. -Tim Robbins as Harlan Ogilvy. - Ann Robinson as Grandmother.  - Gene Barry as Grandfather. 

First lets start with some history of ‘The War of the Worlds’ - The 2005 film is based off the novel of the same name which was written by H.G. Wells between 1895 and 1897, it then was then made into a series by Pearson’s Magazine in 1897 in the UK, Cosmopolitan in the US. Then becoming a hardback novel in 1898, it is one of the earliest written pieces to tell a story of conflict between Martians and man and so its one of the most commented on pieces of science fiction. 

It has been adapted and developed several times over many decades in many medias, the ones that come to mind are the famous 1938 dramatic radio reading that was directed and starred Orson Welles that actually caused public panic to those who listened in and didn’t know that the Martian invasion was fiction, its said that up to a million people ran out of their homes in terror.  (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(1938_radio_drama) )

The 1953 ‘The War of the Worlds’ film adaptation, which was produced by George Pal and directed by Byron Haskin. It also starred Gene Barry (who played Dr. Clayton Forrester) and Ann Robinson (who played Sylvia Van Buren) who can also been seen at the end of the 2005 film, they play the grandparents of Robbie and Rachel which I think is a sweet little cameo to see for those who loved the 1953 film.  Ann Robinson also revived her role as Sylvia Van Buren in two other films and three episodes of ‘The War of the Worlds’ tv series in 1988. 

In 1978 the most well known musical album by Jeff Wayne was produced and based off the story of ‘War of the Worlds’ this album included the voices of Richard Burton and David Essex.

This was then turned into a concert musical which tours annually through out the UK and Europe, the concert includes live performers such as Carrie Hope Fletcher but also a 3D hologram of Liam Neeson. It also includes a mix of computer animation, pyrotechnics and a big mechanical tripod that comes out on stage and lights up and can fire its heat-ray. 

(Source: Birmingham Mail.)

There have also been several Tv series, the two newest being the 2019 BBC version staring Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson and Full Monty’s Robert Carlyle, that has a Edwardian setting and follows closely to the novel. 

The other being the FOX 2019 adaptation that is set in present day Europe but I found this version didn’t really go off the novel, and was frustrated with the lack of the famous Tripods.  (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds) 

As a kid I would watch the 1953 film with my mum all the time as its one of her favourites and I do really like it, but then 2005 rolled around and in comes Steven Spielberg’s version. To be fair it was probably 2006 when I finally saw it, I was nine years old at the time and I remember my dad bringing home the DVD that someone at work had lent him. I don’t remember watching it but I do remember having nightmares for a month after, only for a month though.  Many years later when I was half way through high school and getting more and more into film my dad then bought the DVD from Woolworth's before it shut down, the DVD didn’t have a case only a see through CD case so I think it only cost him something like 50p. So I re-watched and again I don’t really remember this but all of a sudden I was hooked, and it climbed to the second spot on my favourite movies list where it still sits today. Honestly if you asked anyone I was friends with at that time they will tell you just how obsessed I was with it.  

I have many scenes that I love in this film the first being the rise of the first tripod, but there are two that I geek out over every time. 

The first scene being the one in the basement at Robbie and Rachel’s house, the scene starts off with Ray asleep in a chair. He starts to stir when when a blue flash of light on his face, but then jolts up right at a load whooshing noise followed by closely by Robbie shooting up from just below the camera. I love the way that Robbie appears sort of fits with the sound that’s heard, also the whole mood of the scene which is pitch black with this blue flashing light every now and then. The fact that you’re just as clueless as the characters as well, you find out what’s happening when they find out.  Also the way that Rachel appears behind the basement stairs, which will appear again near the end of the movie in a much more damaged basement which shows just how much their world has changed in just a short few days.  The sound design in this movie as well is something that I love, I love when the sound in a film alone can creep you out. The tripod sound is one of my favourite sounds to exist, like if I heard that from outside I would be so creeped out and scared.  At this moment in time Robbie and Rachel have no idea what is hunting them or what Ray has seen, Imagine running from something and seeing something completely destroy the whole of your neighbourhood yet not knowing what it looks like. This is what runs through my mind when I heart Rachel cry “Is it them, Is it them?!”  Then the next morning when Ray goes upstairs and see’s that the house is just completely destroyed by an aeroplane that has crashed down in the middle of the the housing estate. This Boeing 747 was a out of use plane and the production crew bought it for $60,000 which then cost them $200,000 to transport, it was then broken into pieces and houses were built around it. Which just shows how far some movie productions will go to make a film look more legit. (We love practical effects in this house.) This scene is still set up at Universal Studios Hollywood and can be seen on the Studio tour. 

(Basement and Plane crash scene.)

My second favourite scene, which is one of my all time top favourite scene ever with no surprise is the dock scene.  The speeding train that’s on fire is absolute stunning in every sense but for me the scene starts when the music starts.  ‘If I ruled the world, everyday would be the first day of spring.’ But i’m really glued to the screen when Rachel starts to follow the birds coming in from the river to in land, she follows them up to the hill where she notices the tree’s on the top are moving weirdly. “The tree’s are funny.” She then reaches out and grabs onto Rays hand who was talking to a friend.  Robbie turns to the hill as the camera slowly comes back and shows Robbie also turning to look at where Ray is looking. (Just remembering that this is the first time Robbie and Rachel ever see the tripods.) 

The camera then shows us what the family is looking at to reveal a tripod stood on the top of the hill, it then moves one of its legs which crushes a tree and makes everyone else look back. Obviously chaos ensues from this point on, everyone running trying to get onto the ferry to get away from the impending doom, unfortunately we learn that no where, not even on the water is safe. As a tripod comes up from out of the water and attacks the ferry, the family manage to escape and get to land on the other side of the ferry. They stop for a moment to catch their breath as people are being picked out of the water below them, they turn as a old air raid alarm is heard on the other side of the hill and we see tripods coming over another hill that was filled with people and using their head rays to wipe them all out, we also see in the distance a lighting storm indicating more Martions are still coming to earth. The scene is like a depiction of all the stages of the attack.  (Dock attack scene.)

I mean all the action scenes in this movie are just so beautiful and amazing, but did we expect any less from Spielberg? And the CGI and practical are all done extremely well and fitted together to make a scene look as real as possible. One of the art directors that worked on this film, Doug J. Meerdink who has also worked on Jurassic Park: III, Cloverfield and Jurassic World. 

I was looking up some trivia on IMDB for this movie and found that there was a deleted scene that is called the ‘Camelot’ scene. This scene is supposed to take place between the attack on the ferry and the battle on the hill, it involves Ray, Rachel and Robbie walking through an abandoned housing estate that’s named Camelot, when a pack of tripods start walking near by.  One of the tripods breaks off and the family has to take cover behind a SUV, they watch helplessly from behind as the tripod reaches into the house and grabs people from the houses. This scene has never been released but apparently it was fully finished, VFX and all but then taken out a few weeks before post production was wrapped up.  There is only one official video from this scene that was in the actual trailer for the film, and it’s only a shot of the family hiding behind the SUV. 

The only other shot from the scene is this landscape shot of a CGI tripod. 

There are also photos of the set designers setting up the miniature of the housing estate to shoot this scene, the rest are fan arts of how the scene maybe looked/ played out.  (Source)

I really hope that one day Steven releases this scene, or for some anniversary adds it into an extended version of the film like we’ve seen for other films. Because I would love that so much! It seems like such an incredible scene, and to see the tripods up this close again would be so cool! 

One of the trailers that was released for this film doesn’t have any of the film shots it in, It takes place in a normal neighbourhood where people are just going about their normal nightly routine when suddenly over the hill there are all these brilliant flashing lights, everyone's just coming out of their houses in their pj’s and standing in the street marvelling at this sight in front of them. Then we see explosions and suddenly heat rays are blowing up the tress on the street which then goes into the title.  I just love this, a trailer that doesn’t give anything away from the movie but creeps you out enough to be invested.  (Trailer.)

All in all it’s just an very visually pleasing film, it feels real enough to give you a sense of fear for the characters and for yourself. I also love that Steven stayed true to the source material,more truer than some of the other adaptations and also added in his own little Easter eggs.  The sounds, the aesthetic, the colours just everything comes together so beautifully. I think its a very underrated movie that deserves so much more love.

[timeless-hollywood-classics]

Julie Adams (born Betty May Adams; October 17, 1926 – February 3, 2019) was an American actress, billed as Julia Adams toward the beginning of her career, primarily known for her numerous television guest roles. She starred in a number of films in the 1950s, including Bend of the River (1952) opposite James Stewart and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). She was also known for her small screen role as Paula Denning on the 1980s soap opera Capitol and recurring role of Eve Simpson on Murder, She Wrote.

Julie Adams was born as Betty May Adams on October 17, 1926 in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Arkansas-born parents Esther Gertrude (Beckett) and Ralph Adams, who was a cotton buyer. Her family moved a great deal; the longest she lived in one town was eight years in Blytheville, Arkansas. In 1946, at the age of 19, she was crowned "Miss Little Rock" and then moved to Hollywood, California to pursue her acting career. Adams worked as a part-time secretary and began her film career in B movie westerns.

She used her real name until 1949, when she began working for Universal-International, the same studio where she met future stars such as James Best, Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis. She then became "Julia" and eventually "Julie". In 1954, she explained the latter change, "The studio picked Julia, but I never have felt comfortable with it. I just like the name Julie better, and the studio has given me permission to make the change."

Her first movie role was a minor part in Red, Hot and Blue (1949), followed by a leading role in the Lippert western The Dalton Gang (1949). Adams was featured as the bathing beauty Kay Lawrence in the science-fiction film Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).

Adams co-starred in 1950s films opposite some of Hollywood's top leading men, including with James Stewart in 1952's Bend of the River, with Rock Hudson in The Lawless Breed (1953) and One Desire (1955), with Tyrone Power in The Mississippi Gambler (1953), with Glenn Ford in The Man from the Alamo (1953), with Charlton Heston in The Private War of Major Benson (1955), with Dan Duryea in Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957) and with Joel McCrea in The Gunfight at Dodge City (1959).

Adams co-starred with Rory Calhoun, known for his role in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), in the film The Looters (1955), the story of a plane crash in the Rocky Mountains. Part of the picture was filmed about Tarryall Creek at what is now Eleven Mile State Park in Park County in central Colorado. The advertising poster reads: "Five desperate men ... and a girl who didn't care ... trapped on a mountain of gale-lashed rock!"

Adams also starred in 1957's Four Girls in Town, a romantic comedy about four young women competing for the leading role in a new movie, featuring an international cast. She appeared with Elvis Presley in the musical-comedy Tickle Me (1965). Adams thought highly of her co-star, noting: "Despite his status as a superstar singer and stage performer, Elvis took his acting very seriously. He was always prepared, and did a good job in the roles he was given. When he did his musical numbers in Tickle Me, sometimes walking from table to table in a nightclub set, he did them perfectly in one take."

On television, Adams appeared on The Andy Griffith Show portraying Mary Simpson, a county nurse and romantic interest of Sheriff Andy Taylor in a 1962 episode. She also made four guest appearances on Perry Mason, perhaps the most notable being the 1963 episode, "The Case of the Deadly Verdict," when she played Janice Barton, Mason's only convicted client during the show's nine-year run on CBS. In 1963, she starred in "The Case Of Lovers Leap.” In 1964, she played Janice Blake in "The Case of the Missing Button." In 1965, she played the role of defendant Pat Kean in "The Case of the Fatal Fortune." Adams appeared on The Rifleman as a dubious vixen and romantic interest of lead character Chuck Connors. She guest-starred in five episodes of 77 Sunset Strip, three ofAlfred Hitchcock Presents, and two ofMaverick.

More guest-star roles in popular television series followed, including One Step Beyond, McMillan & Wife, Police Woman, The Streets of San Francisco, The Incredible Hulk, Cannon, Quincy, M.E., and Cagney & Lacey. Adams co-starred with James Stewart in The Jimmy Stewart Show on NBC in 1971-1972. Stewart played a professor, and Adams played his wife. She was cast in the recurring role of real estate agent Eve Simpson for ten episodes of CBS's Murder, She Wrote.

Adams, along with her son, Mitchell, authored a book on her life and career, The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections From The Black Lagoon, which was published in 2011. A limited test print run of 100 copies with an interview DVD of the audio book version was completed. Her son served as producer.

Adams joined three other cast members from Creature from the Black Lagoon for a 50th anniversary celebration of the film at Creaturefest in November 2003. The festival was held at Wakulla Springs, just south of Tallahassee, Florida, where underwater scenes were filmed in 1953.

In August 2012, she was a guest of honor at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention held at the Shrine Auditorium. (She attended the same convention in May 2012.) She also appeared at the CineCon Classic Film Festival on August 31, 2012 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. She was a scheduled guest at The Hollywood Show in Chicago from September 7–9, 2012. An additional book signing was held at Century Books in Pasadena, California, on September 20, 2012. On October 13, 2012, she was back in Berwyn, Illinois for a book signing party.

In October 2012, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences selected Creature from the Black Lagoon as one of 13 classic horror films to screen to honor the 100th anniversary of Universal Pictures. The film was shown (in 3D format) on October 16 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California. After the screening, Adams appeared on stage for a Q&A session where she shared personal memories of her role in the film, as well as several other career projects on which she had worked.

Adams was married to screenwriter Leonard B. Stern from 1950/1951 to 1953. She was then married to actor-director Ray Danton from 1954 until their divorce in 1981. They had two sons: Steven Danton (b. 1956), an assistant director, and Mitchell Danton (b. 1962), an editor.

Adams died on February 3, 2019 in Los Angeles, California, aged 92. She is survived by her two sons. Her remains are buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Malvern, Arkansas.

In 1999, Adams received a Golden Boot award for her work in Westerns. She was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in 2000. At CineCon in 2011, Adams was honored with a Film Career Achievement Award. In 2012, she won the Rondo Award for the Monster Kid Hall of Fame at the annual Wonderfest in Louisville, Kentucky.

[popculturebuffet]

Pinky and the Brain: A Pinky And the Brain Christmas Review or I Just Think Schotzie’s Neat

Christmas Continues on this blog... and getting away from one set of Christmas commissions and into another, I offered my friend Blahdiddy three commissions as a present. The other two we’ll get to eventually, but with Animaniacs on the brain, heh, due to the reboot, he selected two Pinky and the Brains and one Animaniacs for me to cover. And while I intended to cover this one sometime this month anyway, my friend’s recent and sad covid diagnosis meant i’m bumping this one all the way up to the front of the line so he has some christmas cheer during this rough time. So with that in mind let’s talk about pinky, pinky and the brain brain brain brain brain shall we? Of course we can’t really talk about pinky and the brain without talking about Animaniacs. I absolutely love the series, I grew up with it as a kid and reconnected with it as an adult when it ended up on netflix. It was smart, well animated and most importantly really fucking funny. I highly recommend checking both the original and reboot of it out some time if you have Hulu. Speaking of the reboot while I might go on in full about it at some point it’s pretty good, with some creatvie jokes, some nice updates, with Rita Anita Anrita being a great new addition to the warner side of things. It’s only real flaw is it gets a bit reptitious as for the most part there’s only really the warners and pinky and the brain with a few exceptions one of which DAMN well deserved at least two segments and we all know which one that is. 

Bring.. this.. to series. The warners and pinky and the brain segments weren’t bad, but as is inevitible in a screwball comedy some just weren’t as good as others and those fell harder when you’ve already seen 2 or 3 better versions of this sort of skit in the season. They did really find their groove towards the end and if you like both Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, or even just one or the other, it’s worth checking out.  But enough about the reboot let’s talk about those labratory mice whose genes have been spliced. Thanks to wikipedia, I now know the duo were based on Eddie Fitzgerald and Tom Minton, who worked with Tom Rutgeter on Tiny Toon adventures, with menton being the one who came up with Narf, even saying it in one episode of Tiny Tunes. During the creation of animaniacs, Bruce Timm, yes THE Bruce Timm, sketched the two, and Ruetger added mouse ears and the rest was history. Maurice LaMarche was the one who added the Orson Welles to the character, as LaMarche saw the Orson Welles in Brain, ran with it and got the part and a long and storied career in voice acting as a result. In a nice and fitting bit of contrast, Rob Paulsen got the part.. because he was already on the show. Not to downplay Paulsen’s clear talent, I just find it hilarious. 

That’s about what I could dig up on the behind the scenes of the show. From what I can tell it was greenlit because Animaniacs was a massive it, and Pinky and the Brain was the most popular segment, so it just made sense. The show would likewise be a massive sucess with both adults and kids, and go on for three seasons and what should legally be considered a war crime. 

For those of you blissfully unaware yeah, that happened, no no one people actually LIKED from Tiny Toons was in it. And yeah if you want me to talk about it commission it otherwise not going near this one. While I do need to tackle more bad animation... I’ve successfully avoided watching an episode of this show for 22 years next wedsday, I’m not breaking the streak for free. 

But some.. things aside I remembered liking the series as a kid but just never got around to seeking it out as an adult. I had nothing against the animaniacs segments and I even still have a stuffed brain doll I got at a garage sale.. the pinky is sadly missing and persumed dead. I just wasn’t as bit into it as I was the slappy bits rewatching animaniacs and didin’t really see reason to watch the show. Watching this though made me realize I was wrong and I probably watch more of it in the future This special is damn good, i’m pleased ot review it and to revive and old childhood memory. So with all the exposition out of the way let’s talk Pinky, PInky and the brain brain brain brain christmas edition after the cut. 

This was indeed a special: while it was presumably produced with season one of the show and is packaged with it both on DVD and on Hulu, where I watched it, the special was aired in prime time and even put on it’s own VHS.. which I found out and of course, like with my review of the Darkwing Duck Pilot, had to use as the art for old VHS’ tapes for cartoons.. was really fucking beautiful and it’s a nice break from my traditional screencaps.   So we open with a clever Christmas rendition of the theme, frequently sprinkling in bits of other christmas stuff, utterly fantastic. The intro animation is less impressive as it’s literally just the regular intro but with a stock snow effect over everything. In case you thought Ducktales doing that was a new thing. I do not blame the team however, as apparently they only had a week to get the scripts out, so I highly doubt warner was forking out more cash for the animation than they had to. They still forked out enough to make it LOOK really good mind you, something I wish they’d do more often with their DTV Movies but do do with their animated shows still with certain exceptions so good on them, i’m just saying they clearly cared more about money than having a memorable christmas opening. Given a budget to actually make one, i’m sure the animators would’ve come up with something lovely, and i’m sure the same is true of Ducktales and other shows and like i’ve said, i’m highly in favor of shows actuallly doing unique openings for the holidays, especially since Holiday episodes tend to get reaired every year as long as the show is in circulation on the network. Sometimes even if it isn’t. So it’s fully worth the effort to fork out a little extra for this as while you’ll most likely only use it once, you’ll be using the special for years. You can afford to treat yourself networks come on. It’s...

Just like Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain. But onto the episode itself after 80 years. We find Pinky writing his Christmas list to santa, complete with Narf, a gag I like. As usual for a comedy show, I will try to gloss over as much of the gags as possible, to avoid repetttion but yeah this episode is really damn funny and reminded me just how good these characters are. Maurice and Rob just have perfect chemistry. It’s like Tom and Jerry: It’s a very simple premise, that one being “Cat chases mouse and Mouse beats shit out of mouse”, and pinky and the brain of course being “Super genuis mouse and dimwitted but loveable sidekick try and takeover the world eveyr night”. But a simple premise can be used just about anywhere and adapated for anything. To me a cartoon’s premise only has to be as complicated as it needs to be to work. Sometimes you have a vast complex tapestry behind the world like She Ra, Steven Universe or Avatar with lots of planning and ins and outs and deep character stuff.. and sometimes you just have two mice who get into shenanigans because one is a would be dictator who sounds like orson welles and the other’s a loveable british weirdo/moron. Sometimes simple just works. 

Anyways, Brain, noticing Pinky’s distracted and replaces himself with a horrifying poorly made doll of himself called Noodle Noggin, which is both an excellent name and not the only time they’d use the name either, as there was an animaniacs short about Brain making himself a fad to endear himself to the children of the future with the same name. It’s just an inherently funny set of words, but also shows Brain’s genius in a subtle and clever way as he never spells it out, but despite sounding kind of ridiculous for such a buttoned up intellectual like brain... he knows that’s the kind of name kids will eat up. His schemes may often fail, but he’s an objectively brilliant schemer and i’ts often either PInky’s incompetence or his own miscalculation of humanity, either over or underestimating them, that undoes Brain.  Back to the plot, so Brain’s plan is to distribute noodle noggins around the world, make it the hot new toy, and as always, take over the world. Problem is naturally two Mice simply don’t have the resources to make the billions of dolls. But PInky stumbles upon the solution in the paper: a want ad for elves! Everything about that sentence except “pinky stumbles upon the solution” has not aged paticuarlly well, but point is they have a plan and we have our christmas special.  This does bring me to my one problem with the special.. Brain’s weird inconsistency towards Santa. What I mean is he spends the portion doubting Santa can do anything he’s claimed to despite being proven frequently he can. That part is not all that annoying as it’s in character with him and while yes, he is a talking mouse, he’s also a man of science and reason and Santa is the opposite of that. That would be fine... IF it wasn’t for the fact that said magical bollocks weren’t constantly part of his plans. Despite Brain constantly throughought the special doubting Santa... his plans FREQUENTLY rely on everything we’ve heard about him being right. His initial plan here ENTIRELY runs on the fact Santa has a massive workforce to make the toys yet even if that’s true by Brain’s own logic, he wouldn’t be able to deliver them. Later when the boys need to escape, They hide with the Reindeer despite Brain just saying santa can’t be everywhere in one night.. which if he can’t then the odds are slim he’ll wind up at Acme Labs isn’t it? It would be fine if the special acknowledged any of this outside of one bit we’ll get to, but other than that one bit.. they don’t. IT’s just really frustrating and really sticks out since the rest of the special is perfection, so this one failing bit really grates. That being said, it dosen’t last long enough to really drag the episode down as a whole, just to annoy me a bit every so often. It speaks to the episodes quality that the bad part ONLY drags so much because everything else is so well put together.  So our boys head to the north pole with the help of a kooky pilot and a santa dummy, this pilot is voiced by Tress MacNeile and is easily one of the best parts of the special. And naturally given their luck, she asks them to take the wheel so the plane instead jerks and causes them to fall out. Luckily they end up near Santa’s workshop and soon apply for temp work with local head of things and gruff type Shotzie, played by Jeff Bennett. And yes that is his name.  I like Shotzie: he’s a goateed elf and Bennett just plays him well.. hard to explain honestly I may just like his name and Bennett’s voice for him, one he used before in animanaics for various bit parts and in shows after this, it’s just a voice i’ve always liked. 

They get put to work in the mail room, which is the bit I mentioned: Brain earlier scoffed at Santa answering all the letters with Pinky simply suggesting that Santa had his elves go through all of them. Turns out Pinky was right... while he may be a BIT stupid, one intresting thing i’ve found about Pinky after watching the reboot that ironically the friend who comissioned this and I discussed is that he’s not ENTIRELY stupid, it’s just , much like Dan from Dan Vs his knowledge is just random.. he can not know how a lot of things work, but sometimes like in this instance Pinky generally just GETS something. It’s part of why he and Brain are such a good team despite their failures: Brain is all about planning and thought and research, Pinky is about intuition and gut instinct. He just does things and it often works out. This also makes their recently added backstories all the more brilliant as they explain this well: Pinky started life just being told to find the diffrence in cheeses and thus was taught form childhood to trust in himself and his weird brain. Brain was cruelly torturued with an experiment on learned behaviors via electroshock, and was taught to never give up control again, to always know what’s going on and to always control it. It perfectly sums up who the two are and why they are that way.  Brain however quickly pivots, as the mail room ends up being the perfect location to start his plans. Since their job is to file away what each person wants Brain simply adds Noodle Noggin to it and plans to put his plans into the workshop. While Santa and Schotzie are suprised and baffled, Santa quickly adds it to the list. However things hit a snag when Schotzie gets supscious when the two try to sneak into the blueprint room to drop theirs off and he accidently yanks off their disguises leading to a REALLY fun chase scene, as the boys end up in a toy wherehouse and thus try out various toy cars: a barbie dream car that dosen’t have a working motor, a toy truck that dosen’t go very fast, and finally an rc car that while fast naturally just means Schotzie can grab it and capture them. It’s easily my faviorite scene of the episode just for how clever it is and as someone whow as a kid around the time this came out, I applaud the accuracy.. granted I didn’t have any of those personally but I had lots of friends so yeah. 

So our heroes are interrogated.. and again Brain brilliantly pivots. Schotzie assumes since they have the blueprints their spies for the easter bunny or the tooth fairy or Herschel, the Hanukah Goblin. Why Herschel never got his own Hannukah special trying to stop Pinky and the Brain from using it to take over the world, I genuinely do not know and that’s something the reboot really needs to adress in the future. Seriously Hannukah needs a mascot and it’s either Herschel or the Hannukah Zombie. Kwanza already has Kwanzabot. I want to see more of Herschel the Hannukah Goblin dammit!. I love goblins. Especially this one.

And this one

And most of all this one

I likes goblins. It’s a thing. So anyway, point is Schotize has the blueprints taken in while our boys slip out and sucessfully make their way outside, though they have to find a way home to turn on the mind control device. They see Santa and brain being a dick refuses to let pinky hand in his letter.. but does as mentioned earlier have them pose as reindeer.  So our heroes make their way home and in time to be able to activate the device once santa’s route’s finished!

And.. then land directly on the mind control device thing, meaning they now have to scramble to repair it. Oh and Pinky is inconsolable after realizing Santa didn’t get his letter and Brain is a HUGE dick about it. Easily the worst i’ve seen him just far more focused on his machine than his friend’s wel lbeing especially since ALL he needs from pinky is for him to throw one lousy switch. 

But we then get easily the best part of the entire special. As Brain scrambles to rebuild his device while abusing his best friend we get a really nice tense sequence as Brain rebuilds while kids all over the world warmly receive noodle noggin. I mean.. it’s not the creepiest doll I’ve seen a kid enjoy. 

Also Bill Clinton gets one because the series apparently really likes “Bill Clinton is stupid jokes” Oh you poor innocent dears who haven’t had to suffer through the president being revealed to be a sexual predator, the one after him being even dumber if not a predator, the one after that being easily one of the best people around, and the outgoing one being a waking nightmare whose both a preadator and dumb beyond all comprehension ina dangerous and soul crushing way. 

But yeah onto the good part, Brain, for whatever reason, reads the letter.. and finds Pinky asked for nothing. He just wanted to give Brain the world at long last, recognizing his friend really and genuinely means well for it and that he’s worked hard to conquer it. And with that goal in reach, with the very thing he’s always wanted his... Brain instead uses the device to wish a merry christmas. He sees through his friend’s kindess and selflessness that he himself.. has been selfish once again turning something into a world destroying plot and being cruel to his best friend... when all his best friend wanted was to selflessly make sure he finally got what he wanted. It’s then that Brain, for all his cold and cynical logic and superiority complex, realized the true meaning of christmas, which i’ve said before and i’ll say again: it’s about giving, about giving someone something with your heart and soul just to be nice with no expectation of something in return. It’s about being selfless for once instead of selfish. I’ts about love. And Brain loves his friend too much to destroy his faviorite holiday. For once the world can wait.. and for once they all join in saying merry christmas to one another and in love and camradire. And I know not everyone celebrates christmas, there are other winter holidays and not everyone in the world would willingly do this. I know all that.. but the special has such a well meaning message, I really can’t be mad at that or get into the weeds too much> This isn’t some jackass making an entire movie, of which there have been several, saying “There’s a war on christmas” which instead equates to them just bitching about not everyone celebrating HIS holiday. It’s about a mouse for one moment truly being selfless and putting ihs loyal and faithful friend over his greatest want to give him a nice christmas and to do something nice for the world instead of trying to take it. And that.. that’s really damn heartmelting.  So we end on the two exchanging presents, with it being a little extra heartwarming as Brain likely already got Pinky something meaning even before his big revelation, he really does care beneath all the dope slaps. Pinky got him a keychain of the world and rather than be frustrated like you’d think.. Brain just takes it in stride. It is christmas after all.. the world.. it can wait. For now it’s just the two of them having one moment in time, this merry christmas.  Final Thoughts: If it wasn’t obvious, I loved this freaking special. It’s funny, clever and has one hell of an ending. There isn’t much more to say other than go watch it if you have Hulu.. you will not regret it and a sepcial thanks to Blah for comissioning this. it was an amazing time and is now a competitor for a spot on my best christmas special list. For now though it’s just really good and I say go check it out. Merry christmas, happy holidays and later days. 

[angiestown]

hey does anybody have the SU complete collection box set and have a duplicate dvd in there??

I just opened mine to start watching it and I was flipping through the pages and I have a duplicate season 5 disc 1, but flipping through the other pages it doesn’t look like anything is missing? and the book closes flat so it doesn’t seem like there’s an extra disc either, but also one of the duplicate pages is ripped so maybe it was a manufacturing mistake?? idk

in mine I’ve got:

season 1 disc one

season 1 disc two

season 1 disc three

season 2 disc one

season 2 disc two

season 3 disc one

season 3 disc two

season 4 disc one

season 4 disc two

season 5 disc one

season 5 disc one again (this is the one that’s ripped)

season 5 disc two

steven universe the movie

steven universe future disc one

steven universe future disc two

bonus disc

if anybody else has the box set and can check for me to see if I’m missing anything I should’ve gotten, that’d be very appreciated !!!

[charleskenny]

Nickelodeon Kills the Golden Goose in Search of Avatar Gold

Avatar: The Last Airbender is the quintessentially perfect animated TV series. Its three seasons (or books) set the gold standard with meaty stories and lovable, complex characters. Recent news that Nickelodeon are establishing a special studio to expand the Avatar ‘universe’ is akin to killing the goose in search of perceived gold within.

Why is Avatar A Golden Goose?

The classic fable of the golden goose is an allegory for the destructive power of greed. As the man and his wife, not being satisfied with receiving golden eggs, decide to kill said goose and harvest the large amount of gold they believe lies within. After killing the bird, they discover that there is no gold and its innards are the same as every other; leaving the man and his wife destitute as the source of their livelihood is gone.

The original Avatar series is a kind of golden goose for Nickelodeon. Popular when broadcast and released on DVD, the series never really faded away and retained a core following while attracting late comers (including yours truly) and those who weren’t even born when the series was on the air.

The franchise also never completely ended. Follow-up graphic novels filled in details missing from the series and provided fans with further adventures of their favourite characters. The Legend of Korra was the first trip back to the Avatar world in animated form and lasted for five seasons. It was never as popular as the original series but it certainly didn’t help that Nicklodeon lost interest in the series to the point where there was a genuine chance the last episodes would never see the light of day. Much like the original series however, Korra lives on and remains popular among fans and newcomers.

Recent Developments

Six years after Korra ended, the original series arrived on Netflix; becoming the service’s top streamed animated show for 2020 beating out every other animated show in Netflix’s vast library in the process. Jolted into action by this news, Nickelodeon announced that there will not just a new series, but an entire studio dedicated to cranking out Avatar-related content; the first of which will be an animated film but with more films and TV series to come:

Creator-driven stories and characters have long been the hallmarks of Nickelodeon, and Avatar Studios is a way to give Mike and Bryan the resources and runway to open up their imaginations even more and dive deeper into the action and mythology of Avatar as we simultaneously expand upon that world and the world of content available on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon.

Following Disney’s Lead

If you’re reading carefully, you’ll find the reason for this announcement at the end of that quote. Netflix stole a march on all of Hollywood, and they’re straggling to catch up. OTT services are all the rage and companies from Disney to CBS are gambling that the public will pay a monthly fee to access their libraries of content.

Consumers however, are fickle and cost-conscious; only willing to pay for a service if it has a decent library to choose from. Disney+ didn’t have the largest library at launch, but the company got the ball rolling with The Mandalorian and demonstrated that exploiting existing franchises was a low-risk/high-reward way of attracting consumers to your fledgling service. Viacom aims to mimic the formula and its success with both Spongebob Squarepants (RIP Steven Hillenberg AND his principles) and Avatar.

Which is very much like killing the goose in search of the gold on the inside isn’t it? Not content to take the regular delivery of a small golden egg, Nickelodeon feels there’s more gold to be had by dispensing with the eggs and going for the whose goose. In contrast to the fowl in the fairytale though, Nickelodeon will likely find an awful lot of gold inside of Avatar in an almost identical manner to what Disney found within the Star Wars universe.

When Gold Ceases to be Special

A lot of fans are happy there’s more Star Wars content, but there’s a price to pay, and that is what made the original films special to begin with. They are rare, self-contained, and make for endless rewatching and interpretation. Is that still the case though?

There will be no nostalgia; the specialness of the characters, their tale, and the universe they inhabit will fade away as all three traits acquire different meanings, interpretations, and portrayals. Korra demonstrated the presence of the effect as the adult versions of the original series’ characters show them in a different light but whose portrayals can and are retconned to the original series for better or worse.

The original Star Wars trilogy holds a special place for those who saw it when it came out, but for those born long after that time, they are simply the films that came first. Avatar may suffer a similar fate. The original series is exceptionally special but with more and more coming after it, it’ll start to feel a little diminutive; a mere piece of a larger jigsaw puzzle. It will start to be viewed through the lens of the newer content too.

Lamenting the Death of the Avatar Legacy

At a time when original ideas are shockingly rare even by Hollywood’s low standards, its disappointing that one of the very brightest stars of original ideas is being pulled into the black hole of revenue targets. It follows a bad precedent and continues the trend of endlessly rebooting and rehashing old stuff.

The show’s legacy as a groundbreaking original series waves goodbye.

What do you think though? Does this opinion make me a cranky old curmudgeon, or do I have a valid point?

Originally published at https://animationanomaly.com/2021/03/05/avatar-golden-goose/

[brokehorrorfan]

Haunt will be released on Collector's Edition Blu-ray on October 22 via Ronin Flix, where it's available to pre-order for $54.99. The 2019 Halloween-set horror movie hit DVD last year from Universal Pictures.

The box set includes a CD featuring the soundtrack by tomandandy (The Strangers, Resident Evil: Afterlife), four 16x20 posters, a 16x20 map reproduction, six enamel pins of the masks from the film, and four 2x3.5 VHS-style magnets.

Produced by filmmaker Eli Roth (Hostel, Cabin Fever), the movie is written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who penned A Quiet Place. Katie Stevens, Will Brittain, Lauryn Alisa McClain, and Andrew Lewis Caldwell star.

Haunt is presented in high definition with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Over five hours of special features are included; a complete list is below.

Special features:

Audio commentary with actors Justin Marxen, Chaney Morrow, and Damian Maffei (new)

Audio commentary with writers/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods

To Escape the Haunt: The Making of Haunt - Interviews with writers/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, actors Katie Stevens, Will Brittain, Andrew Lewis Caldwell, Lauryn Alisa McClain, Schuyler Helford, Justin Marxen, and Chaney Morrow, special makeup effects artist Chris Bridges, and co-composer Andy Milburn (new)

Behind the Haunt featurette

The Sound of Haunt featurette

Deleted Scenes with introduction by writers/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods

Popcorn Frights Q&A with writers/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and cast members

Egyptian Theatre Premiere Q&A with writers/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, moderated by Eli Roth

Director’s Diary

The Sleepover – Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ first short film

Theatrical trailer

On Halloween, a group of friends encounter an "extreme" haunted house that promises to feed on their darkest fears. The night turns deadly as they come to the horrifying realization that some nightmares are very real.

[xenoredux]

How did you make the fake screencaps so authentic looking? It's one of the best recreations of vhs noise/saturation I've ever seen they're so delightfully crunchy

Hey hi! So I’m afraid I can’t give as thorough an answer to this as I’d like in the form of an ask, but other people have expressed interest in how I did it so I’ll likely make a tutorial describing my process this month. It’s not exactly hard, just has a buncha steps to it.

But to give a basic rundown, the best ways I’ve found to make VHS screencaps look realistic is:

1) Draw in a style reminiscent of the time period you’re emulating. There’s nothing wrong with having your own style be influenced by modern cartooning and animation, but to be frank Steven Universe and The Aristocats look completely different, and both are very much products of their times. Leaning into a 90s aesthetic will help you along greatly. Referencing backgrounds from 2D films of yesteryear also helps you literally set the stage (e.g. I referenced The Land Before Time, Spirit, Bambi, and more while painting my backgrounds.)

2) Don’t rely on cheap tricks like scanlines and noise to portray glitchiness or low quality. This is an idea we’ve internalized and cannibalized from each other in an effort to mimic Ye Olde Vee Atch Esses, but it’s not realistic. Most distortions on film, as you stated, are those that affect color. “Noise” itself is more about the loss of clarity then garbled blotches you add in Photoshop. For instance, here’s an actual screencap from a Lion King VHS tape vs a cap from the same film on DVD/Bluray:

The main distortion here isn’t wacky scanlines or big chunks of noise, it’s the loss of detail and the oversaturation/blowing out of colors. And it’s still very apparent that the VHS one came from ‘94 and the DVD one came from the 2000s. VHS tapes don’t become pixelly, and not all of them need scanlines to seal the deal. You can achieve just as much with simpler means.

3) This is the most important one, you CANNOT be afraid of losing detail. It’s inevitable. It WILL happen. Even the most perfectly preserved VHS tapes don’t display crisp 1080p imagery. So you gotta be willing to wreck your own shit. Blur liberally. Distort colors and edges. Use filters that sap detail away. Save exclusively as .jpeg. There are particular ways I do this that I’ll share later, but so long as you’re willing to sacrifice quality, you’re already halfway there and practice will help you find your own method. Remember, you can always upload the HD version later if you want to! Just be sure to save it while it’s still pretty lol.

And that’s it! I hope this has been ever so slightly enlightening.