#I MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE HIT A NEW PERSONAL RECORD ON HOW MANY CHARACTERS I DREW IN A SINGLE DAY LMAO

[larytello]

Some motivational reminders from some of my favorite cars!

Bonus under the cut XD

I mean, are you tired of being nice? Do you wanna go APESHIT??? KARR'S GOT YOUR BACK, GO APESHIT

[bts-trans]

230417 Big Hit's Tweet

[네이버 포스트] 박지민 소환! 외치면 방림이가 뿅!하고 사진을 가져오는 마법 ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ (@ https://m.post.naver.com/viewer/postView.naver?volumeNo=35795901&memberNo=51325039)

#BTS #방탄소년단 #지민 #Jimin #Jimin_FACE

[Naver Post] Summoning Park Jimin! If you shout this out loud, Bangbell will poof! in and bring pictures just like magic ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞

#BTS #Jimin #Jimin_FACE

Naver Post Translation

Keep reading for a plain text version of the blog post! Since Tumblr has a picture limit for posts, please check out our twitter post or the HD version on our website for a version with all photos included!

[BTS] Jimin ‘FACE’ 앨범 활동을 꽉꽉 담은 비하인드!

[BTS] A behind-the-scenes filled to the brim with activities for Jimin’s ‘FACE’

아-하!

Hi-A!*

(T/N: Stands for ‘Hi ARMY’, which is how Bangbell always starts these posts.)

✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و✧*｡

아미들! 안녕~ 안녕~ 안녕하세요?! 방림이가 돌아왔습니다,, 오랜만에 아미 여러분들의 월요병을 치유하기 위해서 월요병 치료사 방림이 힘차게 입! 짱! ㄴ 나가 ㄴ 들어와

ARMYs! Hello~ Hello~ Hello?! Bangbell has returned,, Bangbell, a therapist who treats the Mondays, is! here! after a long time to cure all your guys’ cases of the Mondays ㄴ Get out ㄴ Come on in

ꉂꉂ(ᵔᗜᵔ)

오늘 포스트 주인공은요,,?! 다들 알겠지만! 한. 번. 더 짚고 넘어가 줘야 하는 게 인지상정 ^-’* 너무나 다양하고 다양했던 지민의 ‘FACE’ 솔로 앨범 활동기 비하인드!

The main character of today’s post is,,?! You all probably already know! But it’s just human nature to point it out one. more. time ^-’* This is the behind-the-scenes of the activity period for Jimin’s solo album ‘FACE’ and the many different things he did

하,,~ 에라 모르겠다,, ㅋ (냅다 한숨) 걍 방림이가 아미들 줄라고 다 가져와버렸음,,~ ㅋ 난 몰라잉 ㅋ,, 아미들이 걍 따봉 날려주면 방림이는 그걸로 행복혀,,

Ha,,~ what the heck,, Ha (deep sigh) Bangbell just brought everything for ARMYs,,~ Ha I don’t knowww ha,, If ARMYs just send a thumbs up Bangbell will be happy with that,,

아. 아. (확성기) 지금부터 내려도 내려도 끝이 없는 스크롤의 향연이 시작될 예정입니다. 아미 여러분들은 심호흡을 하신 후에 스크롤을 내려주시기 바람미다. ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ (대충 모바일로 박지민 소환술 하는 중) ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞

Ah. Ah. (megaphone) From this point forward there will be a scroll feast that doesn’t end no matter how far down you go. ARMYs after you’ve taken a deep breath please scroll down.

◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ (Trying to summon Park Jimin on mobile) ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞ ◟ (ˊᗜ ˋ) ◞

시-작!

Go!

제일 처음 아미들에게 보여줄 모습은요! 앨범 준비하는 뿅아리 아니 콩알지민? 아니 그냥 귀여운 지민으로 하자 왜냐면 귀여우니까 (끄덕)

This is the very first thing I’ll show ARMYs! It’s chick, no bean Jimin? preparing for his album Nah let’s just go with cutie Jimin Because he’s cute (nods)

매일매일 춤 연습과 라이브 연습,,,? 박지민,,,, 닮고 싶다,,, (아무래도 방림이는 절대 그렇게 못하니까)

Dance practice and live performance practice every single day,,,? I want to,,,, be like Park Jimin,,, (Bangbell can’t do that no matter what)

“Photographed, taped/filmed or recorded at the NEW 42ND STREET Studios”

갑자기 지구 반��편에서 나타난 지민 baby였다가 멋있어지는 사람..? 본 적 있음? 저 방금 봤어요 저 위에 있는 사람임

Jimin has suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the world He was a baby and then he was so cool..? Have you ever seen something like that before? I just saw it That person above

괜히 갭사이신이라는 별명 붙여진 게 아니다 진짜 근데 팰런쇼 무대 하기 전에도 연습과.. 또 연습과.. 찐막의 연습과,,,, 연습지민 그냥 고유명사로 진행시켜

There’s a reason he’s nicknamed the god of duality But even before performing on the Fallon Show he practices.. and practices.. and practices one last time,,,, Let’s just make Practice Jimin a proper noun

ദി ᷇ ᵕ ᷆ ദി

팰런쇼 녹화 당일! 기다리면서 기타도 띵가띵가 쳐보구요 (귀.여.워.)

Recording day for the Fallon Show! While he waits he plays around on the guitar (c.u.t.e.)

하,,, 잠시만. 일단. 아미들 심장 아플까 봐 무대 사진은 한 장만 먼저,, 올릴게요,, 아직,, 많은 음악방송 사진들이 있으니까,,, (아미들 열 올려) (???) 벌써부터 눈물 콧물 기절하면 안된다구,,

Ha,,, wait a second. First of all. I’m worried that ARMYs’ hearts may hurt so I’m just going to post one photo,, first,, There are still,, lots of pictures from the music shows,,, (ARMYs are you feeling feverish) (???) You can’t be passing out with teary eyes and a runny nose already,,

박지민하면 아무래도 모니터링하는 모습 빼먹을 수 없거든요..

When you think of Park Jimin you can’t leave out him monitoring himself..

그리고 갑자기 단짠 모습의 자켓촬영 현장 보여주면서 아미들 정신없게 ��들기 (??)

Making ARMYs lose it by suddenly showing them his sweet and salty looks on the set of the jacket shooting (??)

그리고 갑자기 Set Me Free Pt.2 지민 보여주면서 아미들 혼절시키기 (???) 하지만 아직 아미들을 만족시키려면 멀었다구 방림 ㄴ 나도 알고 있으니까 얼른 스크롤을 내려보r..

And making ARMYs swoon while suddenly showing them Set Me Free Pt.2 Jimin (???) But Bangbell there’s still a long way to go before ARMYs are satisfied ㄴ I already know that so I’m going to scroll down right away..

뭐야? 또 이 사람이 먼저 꼬시는데요 물론 제가 그냥 먼저 넘어가기는 했는데요.. 방림이 시절,,, Latte는 치통샷이였는데 말여,, 지민이 하니깐 그냥 꽃받침 그 잡채네,,~ 스껄,,~

What is this? This person is being a flirt again Of course I was the first one to just move on.. The days of Bangbell,,, Back in my day, this was known as a toothache shot But since it’s Jimin this is definitely a flower, ~skrr,,~

하 ,, ,,,,, ,, ,,~~,,,,~,,,,,,,˃̵ࡇ˂̵ 이제부터 뭘 올려야 될지 지금 약간 이제 고민이 되는데요,,,, 왜냐면.. 지금부터 다 지민이 예쁘고 귀엽고 멋있을 테니까,,, (당연함) 방림이 마우스가 클릭하는 그것이… 손이 먼저 가는 그 사진이 먼저 공개다… (비장)

Ha ,, ,,,,, ,, ,,~~,,,,~,,,,,,,˃̵ࡇ˂̵ I’m currently thinking about what I should ah uh um post from this point forward Because.. From this point on, Jimin will be very pretty and cute and cool,,, (of course) Bangbell’s mouse clicks… The picture that caught my eye first will be the first one up… (determined)

ok. 음악방송 지민 먼저 Let’s go.

ok. First up music broadcast Jimin. Let’s go.

무대 아래에서 또 이렇게 하염없이 귀엽지,,, (+ 깨알 EOTD 그리는 뽀쨕 지민은 뽀너쓰)

This man is being relentlessly cute again below the stage,,, (+ Bonus: Cutie Jimin drawing a tiny EOTD*)

(T/N: Stands for ‘Emotion of the Day,’ which was a series of cute graphics and photos released during Jimin’s ‘FACE’ promotions.)

무대 위 박지민이 또 찢었다. (진지) 박지민 소환술 안 기다릴 수가 없음.. 당장 제 옆에라도 나타나주시면 안 될까요? (겠냐)

Park Jimin tore up the stage again. (serious) I can’t help but wait for the Park Jimin summoning magic.. Can’t he just appear next to me right now? (I don’t think so)

하지만 그는 아미밖에 모르는 바보입니다. 방림이는 지민밖에 모르는 바보입니다. ㄴ 엥 그냥 바보 같은데요. ㄴ 조용히 하세요.

But he’s a fool who only knows ARMY. Bangbell is a fool who only knows Jimin. ㄴ Hey, I think you’re just a fool. ㄴ Be quiet.

그러나,,, 늘 그렇듯,, 방탄 사랑,, 방탄에게 졌다고 한다,, (이길 수 없음을 잘 알고있음) 스윗한 형아들에게 사랑받는 뿅아리 단 두 장으로 사람을 울릴 수가 있나? 그럴 수도 있으니 각오해라 방림이 눈물샘은 이미 오픈된 지 오래임 ( ᵕ‧̯ᵕ̥̥ )

But,,, As always,, BTS’ love,, I’ve lost to BTS,, (I know very well that I can’t win) Our chick receives lots of love from his sweet hyungs Can I make people cry with just two photos? Probably so I’m going to try

Bangbell’s tear ducts have been open for a while now ( ᵕ‧̯ᵕ̥̥ )

스튜디오 춤에서도 멋있었던 지민 못 참아 나 진짜 못 참아요 (????)

I can’t hold back this cool Jimin from STUDIO CHOOM I seriously can’t hold back (????)

-예고 없이 귀여운 지민이 나타나 놀랄 수 있습니다 -

-You may be surprised by this unexpected cute Jimin -

플레이리스트 찍는데 누가 이렇게 귀엽지요? 정답은 박지민입니다.

Who’s being this cute while filming their playlist video? The correct answer is Park Jimin.

①월의 새로운 시작의 설렘 만큼 。 ②월의 봄을 기다리는 마지막 추위만큼 。 ③월의 처음 맞이하는 첫 비만큼 。 ④월의 화창한 날씨만큼 。 ⑤월의 푸르른 새싹들 만큼 。 ⑥월의 싱그러운 향기만큼 。 ⑦월의 길어지는 해 만큼 。 ⑧월의 강렬한 더위만큼。 ⑨월의 식어가는 마지막 더위만큼 。 ①ⓞ월의 첫 단풍의 화려함 만큼 。 ①①월의 아름다운 첫눈의 설렘만큼 。。 ①②월은 새롭게 시작할 ①년을 기다리는 마음만큼 。。 ☆∴‥★..∵∴‥☆∴‥★ ①년 ①②개월 ③⑥⑤일 귀여운 박지민 최고♡ ★‥∴☆‥∴∵..★‥∴☆

①As much as the excitement for the new start of January 。 ②As much as the final cold of February that waits for spring 。 ③As much as the fall of the first rain of March 。 ④As much as the sunny weather of April 。 ⑤As much as the green sprouts of May 。 ⑥As much as the fresh scent of June 。 ⑦As much as the lengthening days of July 。 ⑧As much as the intense heat of August 。 ⑨As much as the cooling of the final heat of September 。 ①ⓞAs much as the brilliant beginnings of the first fall foliage of October 。 ①①As much as the excitement over the beautiful first snowfall of November 。 ①②As much as the feeling of waiting for the ①year to start anew in December 。 ☆∴‥★..∵∴‥☆∴‥★ ①Year ①②Months ③⑥⑤Days of cute Park Jimin is the best♡ ★‥∴☆‥∴∵..★‥∴☆

5분도 안 돼서 걸려버린 머리를모아님..? 다음에 픽시드 또 나갈 일 있으면 방림이를 찾아오도록 해요? ❛˓◞˂̵ 잘 알려드릴게,, (여유)

It hasn’t even been 5 minutes and MOA Hair* was caught..? If you have to go on Pixid again will you come find Bangbell next time? ❛˓◞˂̵ I’ll help you out,, (relaxed)

(T/N: The nickname Jimin used when he went on the show ‘Pixid.’)

지민의 애청 프로그램 슈취타, 4월 1일 만우절에 거짓말처럼 리무진서비스에 뿅! 나타난 지민까지

From Jimin’s favorite program Suchwita to Jimin’s appearance on Leemujin Service that was like a trick on April 1st, April Fools’ Day

지민의 귀여움 치사량으로 모든 아미들을 힘들게 했던 "FACE" 앨범 발매 위버스 라이브! ฅˆ‧⩊‧ˆฅ

Through a fatal dose of Jimin’s cuteness, the “FACE” album release Weverse live gave all ARMYs a hard time! ฅˆ‧⩊‧ˆฅ

무대 천재가 예능도 잘할 때? 홍김동전 지민 보다가 하도 웃어서 -> 배 아파서 -> 배고파서 -> 야식 먹은 방림이 (엥)

And when the stage prodigy also does great on variety showsl? I laughed so hard when I saw Jimin on Beat Coin -> My stomach hurt -> I was hungry -> So Bangbell had a late-night snack (huh)

지민의 돌잔치 (아님)X 최화정의 파워타임에 오신 여러분들을 환영합니다아 ⁽⁽◝(•̀ ɞ •́ )◜⁾⁾ 보고만 있어도 행복해지는 마법? 나 그거 알아. 바로 지민 최파타를 보면 돼,,

Jimin’s first birthday party (not) X Welcome everyone to Choi Hwajung’s Power Time ⁽⁽◝(•̀ ɞ •́ )◜⁾⁾ Is there a kind of magic where you become happy just from looking at something? I know. I just need to go watch Jimin CPT* away,,

(T/N: Stands for ‘Choi Hwajung’s Power Time’)

ㄴ유느님 자리.. 내 자리였으면…

ㄴIf only God Yoo’s* spot.. was my spot… (T/N: A nickname given to comedian Yoo Jaesuk.)

•᷄ ɞ •᷄

후아,,, 후아,,,, 아미들 잘 따라오고 있어요?! 괜찮나요?! 안 힘든가요?! 아직 조금 더 남았는데 괜찮겠어?!

Huff,,, Huff,,,, ARMY, are you all following along okay? Are you okay?! It’s not too difficult?! There’s still a bit left so will you be okay?!

가보자고 =͟͟͞͞(๑•̀ㅁ•́ฅ✧

Let’s go =͟͟͞͞(๑•̀ㅁ•́ฅ✧

아미들과 오랜만에 영통 팬싸인회로 만난 지민! 아미들의 모습을 차근차근, 오랫동안 눈에 가득 담아보던 지민의 따뜻한 눈빛이 방림이 눈에 아직도 생생하네요 T_T (왈칵)

Jimin meeting ARMYs after a long time through a video call fansign! Jimin’s warm gaze that fully captured the sight of so many ARMYs one by one after such a long time Is still clear as day in Bangbell’s eyes T_T (tears welling up)

어라���,, 근데,, 영통팬싸 사진이,,? 왜,, 한 장만 있냐구요?

Oh,, but,, why is there only,,? One,, Photo from the video call fansign?

여러분. (갑자기 쓸데없이 비장)

Everyone. (sudden determination)

방림이가. 아미들을 위해서. 준비하였읍니다.. 마음에 들길 바라며.. (긴장)

Bangbell. Has prepared for ARMYs.. I hope you like it.. (nervous)

조그마하지만 선물 감상하러 가시져?!

It’s small but shall we go and enjoy this gift?!

아미들과 직접 만나지 못하는 아쉬움을 방림이가 대신하여 지민과 잘 어울리는 귀여움 폭-발- 아이템을 함께 장착하고 찍어보았읍니다.. 아미들 감동각,,? (기대) 방림이는… 아미들을 위해 살아…. rgrg…?

Bangbell will take the place of the sadness of not being able to meet with ARMYs in person Jimin took photos while wearing some items that suited him and were ex-ploding- with cuteness.. Are ARMYs touched,,? (excited) Bangbell… lives for ARMYs…. You know? You know*…?

(T/N: The letters R and G together sounds like the Korean phrase ‘알지/alji’ which means ‘You know?’)

그리고 포스트에 빠질 수 없는 방림이표 셀카 선물까지! (つ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)つ

And we can’t leave out the Bangbell selfie present from this post! (つ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)つ

이만하면 다양한 모습의 활동기 인정? 어 ㅇㅈ 아미들,,, 방림이 인정? 어 ㅇㅈ (방림이특 : 아미들한테 칭찬받고싶어함) 수줍..(っ* ॑˘ ॑*c)

Do you approve of this promotion period filled with so many different things? Yeah, I approve ARMYs,,, do you approve of Bangbell? Yeah, I approve (Bangbell’s unique trait : Wants to receive compliments from ARMYs) Shy..(っ* ॑˘ ॑*c)

지민의 선물 같은 'FACE' 앨범 활동기! 박지민 열일했다..! 최고다..! 완전 기절이야..! (งᐛ)ว (งᐖ )ว

The promotion period of Jimin’s ‘FACE’ album that was like a gift Park Jimin worked so hard..! He’s the best..! I’m totally going to pass out..! (งᐛ)ว (งᐖ )ว

아차차,, 그리고 요즘 다시 감기가 유행이래요 아미들! 미세먼지에 고통스러운 날들이 이어지는 ㅎr루ㅎr루,, (미세먼지 내가 다 패줌) 일교차가 너무너무 심하니까 겉옷 꼭꼭 챙겨 다니고, 아프지 말기예요!

Oh right,, And they say that colds are all the rage these days ARMYs! Every day is leading up to days where the fine dust gets particularly bad,, (The fine dust is seriously kicking me in the butt) The difference in temperature is really really severe so be sure to wear an outer layer, and don’t get sick!

방림이는 다음에 또 다른 콘텐츠로 찾아오도록 할게요! @)------ 장미꽃 한 송이 남겨두고 떠납니다..♡◟(●•ᴗ•●)◞♡

Bangbell will be back again next time with more content! @)------ I’ll leave you with a single rose..♡◟(●•ᴗ•●)◞♡

아-뿅!

A-Poof!

(T/N: Short for “Bye ARMY! Poof!”, which is how Bangbell always ends these posts.)

✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و✧｡

[Note]

본 포스트는 BIGHIT MUSIC에서 직접 운영하는 포스트입니다.

This Naver Post account is personally run by BIGHIT MUSIC.

[End Note]

Trans cr; Ali & Fiona Typeset cr; Chika @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

[kokiriofthevalley]

My silly little Link headcannons

hii again I'm very bored rn sooo

again for Zelda, it's only the major ones, sorry obscure link fans

also wtf is this gif I found 😭😭

Skyward Sword

✯has the biggest crush on his Zelda bc they're so close

✯like it's VERY obvious how they feel about eachother

✯His fav flavour of ice cream is Oreo ice cream but he also loves toffee and vanilla too

✯He can talk but he prefers sign language (dialect of sign language may vary on preference ((like ASL or BSL or LSE, ect)) ) and talks to save time in an emergency in case the other person may not know sign, but DOES sign if they do

For this one, I thought about the cutscenes where he's explaining something (like the current location or condition of Zelda) to another character and we can see his mouth moving.

✯no because if video games existed in skyloft, i just know that he's playing stardew valley and papas freezeria. I can feel it in my BONES

✯Definitely woke up under his bed once and hit his head on the bedframe

✯him and Groose have insult battles but then they get ice cream together after

Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask

✯somebody get this poor boy a therapist and a hug PLEASE

Twilight Princess

✯it felt natural to him when he transformed using the Zora mask in mm, because both the models for adult link and Zora link are the same size

✯mute

✯i think he played the ocarina like a recorder (aka with no experience at all) and did each note individually and the magic of the ocarina of time was probably like "there is NO WAY that I'm letting this kid tarnish my reputation goddamit" and made the songs sound nicer after he had played all the notes

✯forgot once that he was a kid again and walked to Romani ranch to get some chateau Romani and was genuinely surprised when Cremia said no

✯Had more of a genuine connection to Midna, but still had a friendship with princess Zelda

Wind Waker

✯felt a strange familial connection to the hero of shades when he met him and made link want to find out who the hero of shades was

✯does NOT like how short he is when he transforms into a wolf

✯Best poker face in history

Breath of the Wild

✯Gives Aryll piggybacks when she wants

✯would gladly eat his grandma's soup for the rest of his life

✯His grandma gave him the recipe to her soup when he left to discover the new Hyrule

✯Has the most major and unhidable (that's not a word but who cares) side eye in the history of time

✯If the events of WW didn't happen, I think he would have grown up to be a cartographer or he would REALLY like making his own maps

✯sorry to get all angsty but I don't think he wanted to kill Ganondorf. I just don't. I don't think either of them wanted to kill eachother. I feel like Link feels guilty about it because it's so obvious that it was only self defense after the triforce was touched by king Daphnes and it literally drove Ganondorf insane

Tbh I'd go crazy too if something I had wanted so badly got taken by another person even tho I literally got SEALED IN ANOTHER FUCKING REALM FOR A LONG AMOUNT OF TIME for it

Again sorry for no totk for this one pls no spoilers

✯Gets ambushed by Yiga so many times that he knows their names

*Yiga poofs into existence* "IM HERE TO KILL YOU LINK, IN REVENGE FOR MASTER KOHGA!!!!"

"oh hi jerry, nice weather eh?" -link

✯After he saved princess Zelda, he took a nap that lasted 4 ENTIRE days

✯not even the sound of kass' accordion could wake his ass up

✯very obvious but if he wasn't a knight, he would be a chef. Not sous chef. He would be head chef.

✯His hands are probably rough as hell from all that Hero Of Hyrule™-ing he has done

✯despite being able to lift heavy objects, his arms are still noodles

[manysketchbook]

Firffels: the Wuzzles Competitor That Disappeared

Recently, I found this toy at my local thrift store. I thought it was an oddly cute nativity toy, but upon closer inspection the tush tag read "FIRFFELS. I'm glad to be a SHAMEL." I did a quick search online and the first result was this page on Ghost of the Doll, a toy collector's site that archives information about 80s/90s toys and includes a forum where anyone can seek help with identifying toys. This lead me down a rabbit hole of figuring out just what Firffels were: a failed line of toys promised to be the next hot phenomenon, with minimal documentation online and a handful of toys floating around in thrift stores.

Other than Ghost of the Doll, I found info about Firffels in this 2010 blog post by Trish Babbles (written in an edgy, mean-to-be-funny style that I think is too uncharitable, but it was a different time to be online lol) and this blog post by AF Blog. My other info comes from Othello Bach's website dedicated to the book itself (her personal site is no longer functional) and from a handful of youtube videos I found of a Firffels commercial. Many thanks to these sources, without them there'd be like, nothing online about these creatures.

Firffels are based on the children's book Who ever Heard of a Fird? by Othello Bach, first edition published in 1984 by Caedmon Childrens Books (upon Googling, it appears that Caedmon is owned by HarperCollins now and focuses on audiobooks). The story follows Fird, a fish-bird hybrid, as he travels the world to find other firds. Along the way he encounters a goofy, lovable cast of other hybrid animals who have all never heard of a fird. The story ends with fird learning to love his uniqueness and find peace with being who he is. As is apparent in the Amazon link above (not sponsored, just showing my work), a used copy is $86 dollars right now. An audiobook narrated by Joel Grey (an actor that I'm unfamiliar with who is apparently known for his role in Cabaret) was also released on cassette, listed on Ebay for $75+. Luckily, there is a youtube video of someone doing a complete read through of the book, but the camera angle is poor. This is the only visual record I could find online of the interior illustrations by Michelle Dorman, other than a brief look at a few in a low quality VHS promo rip I'll get to in a minute, and the image below from an Ebay listing. There may be a few more photos in some Etsy listings that I missed.

In Trish's blog post they complain that Shamel is an ugly monstrosity and there were a few comments on Ghost of the Doll's forum of the same nature about Shamel, but I think Shamel is the cutest one! It just looks like a new breed of camel, meanwhile Fird in the background here is...he's so cartoonishly goofy. Idk how else to describe him. He's so fuckin' goofy. He'd make squeaky Spongebob-esque sound effects when he walks, I imagine.

The book was allegedly a hit and Remco bought the merchandising rights. They went all in, as is detailed in the 5 minute promotional video below. Based on a cast of 6 characters, plush toys and posable action figures hit the market with a promise that Hanna Barbera would develop an animated tv show starring Firffels, housewares would be made, there'd be a clothing line, and Design-a-Firffel contests would be held. A few housewares seem to have been made and plush toy sewing patterns were released, but I was unable to find evidence that anything else moved forward.

Absolutely fucking insane fact: according to this video, Caedmon Publishing was owned by Raytheon at the time. Thanks Raytheon for these cuddly children's toys and also, uh, horrific weapons of war?

After I bought Shamel, I went back to the store to see if there were more. There were! I found Bertle and Elephonkey, who still had the original tags. I swear the day earlier I had seen a frog toy with butterfly wings but it wasn't there anymore. I remember passing over it and thinking "eh, butterfly wings on a frog aren't cute," and did not bothering even looking at the tags. My mistake. Turns out that toy was worth a decent amount of money and was part of this whole story.

Bertle's pink belly super bright in real life, like neon. There is a sunbleached spot on it's front.

Elephonkey is the only one with original tags. I also included an image of the tush tag. For each toy the tush tag is the same but displays the character's name.

Hybrid animals are not a unique concept. Wuzzles, a line of plush toys that were animal hybrids with wings and likely made to compete with Care Bears, are brought up in most posts and forums where Firffels are mentioned--usually to disparage Firffels as being knock off, less successful Wuzzles. Wuzzles weren't exactly successful either, though they definitely lasted longer and had more reach, likely due to the backing of a Disney/Hasbro budget. AF Blog in 2015 makes a good point that I agree with: it's unlikely that Wuzzles and Firffels were ripping each other off due to production timelines. Toy lines can be in development for years before any information is made public. It takes a long time to design toys, then get them to a manufacturer, then go through the revisions process. Not to mention the time it takes to ship things out, negotiate contracts at every step of the way, etc. And, as AF Blog notes, Whoever Heard of a Fird? was released in 1984, a year before the first Wuzzles tv episode aired, and Firffels hit the market a year later.

People draw hybrid animals all the time. For example, furry adoptable artists draw hybrids all the time (take a shot every time you find a closed species that is a feline with a fish tail or deer feet or some other animal's defining trait), the Lego movie had Unikitty, and I literally went to Walmart today and in the toy section there was a miniature rabbit-like rainbow animal with wings and a unicorn horn there. The thing that makes these toys potentially appealing, in my opinion, is that they choose safe and popular traits: sparkly horns and feathery wings, for the most part. Things that are easily marketable.

The thing with Firffels is that they combined animals with traits that are less immediately appealing. Image below from Ghost of the Doll.

Some of them are cute but the others miss the mark. Personally I like Shamel and Bertle (the plush version only tbh).

Worth pointing out is that the character illustrations do not match the toy designs. If you go back and watch the commercials included in the 5 minute promo video, you can see that the Bertle plush and action figure are brown and green rather than pink and blue, and that Shamel's hair is brown instead of purple. I saw varied photos of the Butterfrog plush: some were lighter green while others were darker. Could be an issue with differing cameras, but I don't know for certain. And then there's Elephonkey, who is the most inconsistent of the bunch:

The first image is the prototype toy as it appears in the commercial. It is grey and flesh colored, with odd looking plastic hair. The second image is from Ghost of the Doll, of how the Elephonkey action figure actually appeared in stores. Third is a photo of my Elephonkey plush. Compare it with the official character art...well, he's not my favorite design in any incarnation.

I think the toys in the commercials were prototypes that were changed to brighter colors so as to appeal more towards girls. In the 30 second plush commercial there are 4 girl actors and 1 boy actor, with the camera shots getting closer to and focusing more on the girls' faces, so it would make sense. In contrast, the action figure commercial features 1 girl and 2 boys, and most of the camera shots are of the kids' hands playing with the toys, giving off a more boyish, gender-neutral vibe. Classics of gendered marketing, am I right? lol. But I think the change was a good one. I wouldn't have picked up Shamel if I hadn't seen the purple hair, and I definitely would not like Bertle if he wasn't pink. It gives the toys more of a cohesive style, a unique identity, and they fit in more alongside the Wuzzles/Care Bears visuals with the vibrant, happy colors. There's more of a toy-like quality to them, which increases the cuddle-ability and inspires more of an urge to play.

Discovering and logging all this inconsistency has been pretty fun. But it makes me think that these toys were probably doomed by a chaotic, unorganized development process behind the scenes. And given that the book was published in '84 and toys hit the market in '85...the signs seem to point to production being rushed.

To be fair to Firffels, it was probably a little harder in the 80s to hit it big with kids. You had to be lucky, you had to have connections with the right distributors, you had to anticipate what is universally appealing to children--one of the most unpredictable audiences out there--and you had to pay to air your commercials during prime child viewing hours. These are all things that are still true, but we have the internet now and the advertising power of the internet is scary. Going viral on TikTok has the potential to skibidi someone's toilet career. iPad babies are growing up into grade school kids who throw birthday parties every year and get toys as gifts. We are living in an era where mass-producing cheap little polyester plushies and plastic figures is easier than ever and corporations have massive budgets to pump into kids' eyeballs through every advertising avenue they possibly can. They don't even need to come up with the designs anymore, they can just partner with whatever Roblox game is popular right now and capitalize on that. Maybe Othello Bach should get on Roblox.

Actually, it appears that Bach was given the short end of the stick by the time Firffels were pulled. Though her personal website is no longer up, her other website dedicated entirely to Whoever Heard of a Fird? has some info:

At the height of Fird's success, with over 100 licensees cramming the store shelves with children’s merchandise and an animation contract with Hanna-Barbera, the book and all the merchandise suddenly vanished from the shelves.  Although she lost the rights to several other published children’s books at the same time, Othello has never received a reasonable explanation for what happened.

So this passage actually clears something up for me. This whole time something that hasn't really lined up is that I had assumed that Othello Bach published the book first and then was approached for merchandising rights after the book sold well. I actually think now it's possible that from the get-go the book was written with the intention for it to become a worldwide sensation. Not so much Bach's intent, though. I have some professional familiarity with licensing and other such creative publishing contracts, particularly with books. Based on what I know, I believe it's more likely that Bach pitched her manuscript to Caedmon Publishing and Caedmon, seeking to create popular IP, was like, "this has potential and we are going to sign you on not only for the book, but for more." That might be why the character designs are so strange: they were trying too hard to get famous quick and had instructed the illustrator (it is regular practice for publishers to pair authors with an illustrator and given how much was on the line for this IP, Bach might not've had much input here) to design characters that could also become toys. It's unlikely that Michelle Dorman, a kids book illustrator, had product design skills needed to make standout, awesome toy designs. Not a knock on her, illustrators just have niches within their field that they're best at it. It's why you see so many illustrators complain about how often they get approached to design logos--that's not what we do, thank you.

What's sad is that clearly Bach had signed a bad contract that gave away most of her rights as the writer to the publisher. She openly says so above. My guess is that Caedmon told her they needed more rights than usual to be able to conduct so much merchandising (like signing contracts with Remco, much easier to do when you don't have a third party also involved), and because they were pouring so much effort into it on their end. Bach is just the writer, so while the original idea is hers, Caedmon would have matched her with an illustrator and taken charge of all the licensing and merchandising. For a publisher this is a huge commitment financially and personnel-wise, so it makes sense why they would have put forth a contract that gave them so many rights. If Firffels had become as popular as they'd hoped, they don't want to not own the IP. They would have poured all those resources into it and not be able to reap all the rewards because that pesky author would own it. It's almost like contracts like these are predatory and only serve the interests of the publisher. Almost like publishers are companies existing in a capitalistic system and therefore only serve profit, not people. Almost like companies will never truly have artist's best interests at heart, and if you are ever to sign a contract with a big publisher you need to have a good lawyer by your side.

It makes me so sad to read that they didn't even give her a reasonable explanation as to why everything was cancelled. She does not even appear to have any of the merchandise on hand, as all the photos on her website are from Ghost of the Doll. In hindsight we can guess, obviously, why the cancellation happened but I'm in the moment it was probably upsetting. It's still upsetting, given that she has included this in her website for the...revamped book!

However, like Fird, Othello refused to give up. For the next 20 years, she tried to regain the rights to her work. Entertainment attorneys assured her it would never happen.  They said, "It can't be done!" But... it could be done and Othello did it, regaining the rights back to all her work.

Yeah, so, I actually think this is the saddest part about the whole thing. She managed to get some of the rights back and republished the book with...new art...that looks so fucking BAD. Image from her website:

Sorry to this illustrator, but got damn. There is no sauce to this art whatsoever. It is unseasoned, not even salt and pepper. This looks like ass and would never fucking fly with any editor worth their chops. It took me ages to figure out that the long yellow curved line is Fird's tail. Like, this is so unbelievably sad to me. I don't even really like the original art a whole lot, but compared to this...

My informed guess as to what happened is that Bach lawyered up and fought. As we know, Caedmon is now owned by HarperCollins. I can't say for certain but there was probably some case to be made that Caedmon being sold breached the contract, or nullified parts of it, or perhaps the contract expired. It could even just be that HarperCollins didn't care about an old, unprofitable IP and granted Bach her rights back. There is also Remco to consider: they also hold some of the rights, but probably just for the merchandise? Given how prominently their logo is displayed on the toy tags, they might actually own a significant share. Perhaps they were happy not to have anything to do with the book so long as the merch rights weren't touched. I don't know! There's no info about it on the site and this stuff is usually under NDA.

So Bach got her rights back, but she's just the writer. She doesn't own any of the art, so in order to republish the book she had to hire a new illustrator. She likely did not have a huge budget for it, maybe even paying for it out of her pocket because the Choice Books logo she has in several spots on the Fird website appears to be for a distribute on demand service, in place of a traditional publisher.

As the writer, she also would not have gotten the rights to use the original audiobook, so she had one re-recorded. It also appears like she does not have the rights to the name "Firffels" either, as the only places it appears on the site are in photographs of merchandise and in titles specifically referring to the work that is still owned by Caedmon. She carefully refers to her own work as "Fird" for short or the book's full title, probably because she cannot legally imply that she owns or made anything else.

I dug into this thinking it would be a quick look at some strange, forgotten toys from a bygone era. Instead I found a story about how an artist can so easily be shafted by publishers. Everything always loops back around to workers' rights, it seems. Stories like this about shitty publishing contracts (see: Webtoon if you want to get into something current) still appear so often, man. It's depressing, and indicative that the publishing industry needs some reforming ASAP. Like, Illustrators, when are we getting a proper union?

But I'm glad Bach got her rights back and got her book republished within her lifetime. I'm sad she didn't have the budgets for a better illustrator. Sorry to bring that up again, I work as an illustrator irl and I have opinions about craft, lol. Also I just think that given how hard Bach had to fight, she deserved to have better art made. That being said, here's another link to her current website. There's not much there but what is there is a monument to a battle she fought and won, and is proud of.

The lack of detailed, clear, centralized documentation of these toys frustrates me. One of the most frustrating things about the internet for me is that there are few easily accessible, publicly available archives of toys--even for modern toys. I've had to use Amazon reviews and Ebay listings and broken online stores to decipher publication years. With this in mind I decided to do a write up and provide clearer pictures of the toys that I have (I'll take hi res pics in natural lighting too someday). Archives are important to me and the internet kinda sucks for it, I say as someone who started this blog for that purpose. If Tumblr goes down, so does everything I've posted here. As an artist who works primarily digitally, one of the scariest things is knowing that I'm laboring over an ephemeral body of work. It's just not going to exist for very long unless I print it out on archival materials. Data is not the same as a physical object. My Firffels have survived for 39 years but the digital art I draw every day is unlikely to last past 10 years because websites die and files get deleted.

I bought the Firffels from my thrift store thinking I'd resell them. I'm low income so I sell many of the things I thrift. I prefer to buy the older toys or the ones that need cleaning because it makes me feel better about being a reseller (I don't want to take away options from low income kids in my area, ya know?). But I'm putting in the labor to freshen them up and I'm putting in the effort to make unavailable toys available again, at least for one person. And I don't have a whole lot of shelf space to display the toys in my collection...but for now I think I'll keep them.

[melfinawins]

My partner started watching the new season so I joined in. Oops?

The spoiler tag is at the top. I recommend not reading this until you've watched the entire season.

Well. That season was all over the place. Big lack of cohesion.

I wound up watching it because my partner did. And I just marathoned it.

I like all the long conversations, but it got taxing and too meandering by around episode 6. I kinda hit my limit with Mikey and Tina. I loved their interaction completely, but instead of it being a unique/special moment, they applied it to every fucking character on the show.

I liked that Claire told the Faks to fuck off. That was nice!

I loved Ted Fak and Sweeps/Gary's conversation. Got teary-eyed.

Loved everything to do with Marcus. I've said it before and I'm going to say it again: he's getting a star before all these other jokers. He's the only one who has balance. He has climbed the mountain of self-actualization and reached its peak.

Loved in the finale where the camera just recorded real life world famous chefs talking and being happy about food. I was so starved for a sense of joy, I rewatched that part over again because I just wanted to see happy smiling faces. But they kept showing Carmy's dumb ass.

Things I hated: nothing was resolved, only secondary storylines (Marcus, Nat). Literally EVERYTHING ELSE IS OPEN. We didn't even get Syd telling Carmy she wanted out (didn't have to resolve that shit, just fucking START THE PROCESS OF RESOLVING IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE), or Cicero being straight with Carmy. We didn't get Nat showing off the baby to her brother, we didn't even get Carmy meeting the baby. WE DIDN'T GET RICHIE FINDING HIS JOY AFTER LOSING IT-- HE DIDN'T EVEN GO TO THE WEDDING OR NOT GO--NOTHING. Like, the fuck? This show goes on and on about the heart, but we barely got any moments with the characters reminding us what we watched for.

I hate that Carmy passed down his abusive behavior and trauma he got from the EMP chef to Syd, so now her ass is panicking in a hallway when THE FORMER EC OF EVER IS DOING JAEGER BOMBS IN HER LIVING ROOM. Carmy ruined that for her. They didn't get trapped by a star, Carmy ruined that opportunity the moment he got out of that freezer. They were never going to get the star. It was always a shot in hell in the first place, but with Carmy at the helm, it was fucked from jump. HE SHOULDN'T BE EXEC CHEF OF JACK SHIT.

I'm mad that Carmy doesn't even realize how hard he's fucked literally everything. I know that's a part of the point, as EMP chef didn't give two fucks either, but I'm mad that Carmy let the trauma get the best of him and then fucking PASSES IT ON.

WHY DIDN'T CARMY APOLOGIZE TO CLAIRE. I feel like even with his traumas, it was overblown. Like, a lot. As a person who was raised by two Donna's, who fucked off and left the state like this fictional character did with like, 24 hrs notice, a person who would have also skipped their parents funerals had not they had to pay for it, ect, where are his motherfucking balls? CLAIRE FUCKING DESERVES BETTER. THIS MAN IS IN HIS THIRTIES.

This review isn't even about SydCarmy, because I'm just mad about the season in general lmao

Like, I hate Carmy right now. There are sooo many people depending on him to support their families and their way of life. He was so self absorbed this season that he imploded his restaurant over fucking menu choices. The damage may be too great. And he may have fucked it beyond repair. I kinda don't care about his head space, because Donna is/was shit, but she didn't fucking implode a restaurant full of people depending on her.

He's turning into his parents.

I said previously that his ass was on thin ice. I meant that shit. Like, I'm not rooting for him as of right now. He's done too much damage. It's like Syd said in the 2nd episode or whatever: this is a him problem, not a them problem.

And Donna can fuck right off lmao And no, being women who can experience and bond over childbirth doesn't heal fucking wounds, actually. As a person who has been in that exact situation, I skipped half the episode once Donna showed up. Because I also thought my mother with severe mental health issues could relate to her daughter giving birth. But then that shit didn't happen and once the baby has arrived, the story gets rewritten. Donna, in her current state, is incapable of change. Sorry not sorry.

And when has Nat ever been that fucking dense? Anyone with eyes could see Syd and the rest of the staff are miserable. And she saw the numbers-- that place won't last a year if they don't fucking bring in the budget. What good is a star if the place is closed a week later? CICERO HAS PUT DOWN ALMOST A MILLION DOLLARS. If the storyline is to be believed, they would be making a nice dent in the loan if not for the daily changing menu. And for what? Recycled, uninspired food that Carmy is just regurgitating from his former bosses who actually put in the creative energy to accomplish it? Very 2014 of him indeed.

I usually really love dark seasons of shows, or the mid point of a movie franchise (think Two Towers of LotR). I was going in expecting it to be fucking really dark. But something that's really important when you're doing the midpoint of a story is giving the audience something to hold onto. You have to show the audience that though it's dark, the dawn will come. There needs to be hope, even if it's just a flicker.

Not the case here.

In this 3rd season, every time the story would show some positive moments in a tiny storyline, they'd reiterate how shit is fucked and possibly permanently. And the characters are unlikeable, but not in a Succession kind of way!

My hopes for the characters of The Bear is that they get the fuck out and find other spots at other places where they can self-actualize and be happy.

I hope Syd gets every one of her dreams and spending time with Carmey will seem like a drug induced psychosis from the stale waffles she ate in her freezer. I hope she and Luca fuck. I hope she, Luca and Marcus fuck. I hope she opens her dream spot with those two and they get everything that Carmy inadvertently sabotaged at The Bear.

I hope Tina goes if she wants to go around the world, even if it's just at Syd's new place. I hope the staff walks and goes with her. Honestly, I hope they all just go to a spot Syd creates. Syd has the potential to be Terry when she "grows up". All she did this season was babysit Carmy and put out fires that Carmy himself lit. Even if Carmy promises to fix himself, like, HE CAN'T BE TRUSTED. Because his "relapses" are fucked and terrible and severe. Even though we see him kind of get a catharsis from telling EMP chef off, Syd and the crew didn't see that shit and there's not much left of his word to them.

That's it for now. I got progressively more angry as I started writing.

I think that episode 1 of this season was one of, if not the best, hour of television I've watched in a long time.

I'm surprised that the season as a whole left me so disappointed.

Also, it's really funny that they got Thomas Keller to do a cameo, since Joel McHale is based off him lmao

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

I was wondering, what's your interpretation of tTPD as a whole?. I know a lot of people think it's a 31 album dedicated to one main muse minus 2 songs for his ex long term relationship but i was curious about your thoughts.

Also, some theorists are talking about a potential 10 years situationship between taylor and one muse and it makes me feel... weird. Because she was committed to someone else and i don't know how to feel knowing the other muse could be in some of my fave albums... sorry for the long rant

So there’s a lot going on here and it’s nuanced.

I don’t think it’s as simple as “it’s all about one person minus two songs.” There are several muses woven in both the text and subtext of the songs. And what happened with one muse in many cases was only possible because what happened with another. There are some songs that are explicitly about specific people’s actions, but overall things get muddy because situations are muddy.

This is a cop out answer, but ultimately to me the album is about Taylor. It’s about her pain and grief and trauma and also healing and recovery and joy. To reduce it to a man in particular discounts that she is the main character of her own life and story.

I do not think the story she put down in TTPD is one of a decade long situationship. As I said yesterday, I will gladly change my mind if new information comes to light. The story I picked up in TTPD is one where someone entered her life at a very vulnerable time, exploited their shared history to sow the seeds of this fantasy life to her that she was desperately grieving in her very real current life, which caused her to play revisionist history with her memories because she needed to make it “real” to herself as an escape hatch.

But even if that isn’t the case, and if it turns out that yes, she was pining for this person for ten years… it doesn’t take away from the fact that her past music is excellent, regardless of the inspiration. IMO fans would be better served to not always recall the muses when listening to music for their enjoyment. I know Taylor’s music is different because her life is so well documented and she used to be so open about who she was writing about, but very few artists do that and their music still hits. I don’t think at all about the artists’ lives when listening to any other band; hell, even in well-known messy situations like Fleetwood Mac, I’m not thinking about Stevie and Mick, I’m thinking that Landslide is beautiful and Rhiannon is a banger or whatever. If you think too much about the artists’ personal lives, you’re gonna get twisted in knots and may find there are few people you can listen to, because humans are fallible and messy and make mistakes. Like Taylor says, once the songs are out in the world, they’re not hers anymore, and you need to ascribe your own meaning to them.

Which is not to say I wasn’t surprised when I first figured out who she was writing about when I listened to TTPD, and yes the first few listens of the album made my head spin a bit for the lore of it all, but i truly listen to it like any other album now. It’s good music plain and simple.

What I’m trying to say is that you have to set your own boundaries I guess. If it really bothers you then you don’t have to listen to or engage with it. But personally I’m also not going to moralize Taylor’s or anyone else’s music because she’s human just like any of us and we all make choices in our lives. She was just brave enough to share the mess. It’s not a condoning of her actions because she doesn’t need my or anyone else’s approval for her choices. She’s recording a moment of time in her life and turned it into art, and now it takes on new meaning for listeners.

(Also if people are moralizing her choices because of the “commitment” thing well… I think they weren’t picking up on other parts of the album but. Well.)

Also my pet peeve is that I hate the word “theory” when applied to real people. They’re humans with lives, not characters in a TV show. This isn’t directed at you anon, just a general sentiment.

[phantom-does-a-thing]

may i have some horror podcast recommendation?

I GOT you king hold on, I love horror podcasts.

1) Mayfair Watchers Society

A podcast set in the world of Mayfair which is a town with a bunch of monsters and other horrifying phenomenon. It’s based on the work of Trevor Henderson who is an AMAZING horror artist, I’m in love with his work. It is told in an episodic format usually based on some kind of record storytelling such as phone calls, autopsy reports, meeting recordings etc. So far there’s no reoccurring characters but it’s such an interesting listen and the world of Mayfair is very compelling. The first episode is my favorite honestly and episodes are only about 30 minutes or so.

2) The Magnus Archives

As much as I hate to, I have to recommend it. Absolutely amazing podcast and honestly! Very scary in certain parts. Follows the work of Jonathan Sims recently head archivist off the Magnus Institute a company that archives supernatural occurrences. The first season is super fun with scares and statements and my favorite part about it is that it hits so many different types of fears without sounding scattered, it does sound very well put together. And then there’s the horror of the character narratives which are going to haunt me forever. 200 episodes about 30 minutes each, 5 seasons each 4 episodes. Incredibly worth it if you haven’t seen it already.

3) the SCP foundation database

There’s about a million SCP podcasts out there so me recommending this one isn’t really that much different. I haven’t listened to all of those million ones but I do like the voice actor and editing of this podcast. It’s literally just reading out SCP entries. Episode range from 2-20 minutes from what I’ve seen. If you’re interested in SCP I’d recommend it

4) The Stranger

Now. Listen. I HATE to recommend something like this because it’s unfinished and hasn’t been updated in like 3 years or so. But it was a very compelling story from what there is available, only a couple episodes but very good. It’s the story of this guy who finds tapes from his grandfather who used to be a news anchor describing disappearances of children in the 1930s and the actions of an entity called “the stranger”. I wish there was more to it, the story is very interesting and I’m super compelled by the world. It follows the same narrative of “guy finds footage from a person they used to know and decides to upload it to social media and finds out how scary and haunted and how much of a bad idea that was”

5) Welcome to nightvale (last one I promise)

Not so much of a horror podcast, I’d consider it more of a horror comedy but it is a super fun listen. Tells the story of Cecil Palmer, a radio host in the strange desert town of Nightvale. When I say strange I mean it, it’s absurd and almost surrealist. It’s a fun listen and Cecil’s voice is so soothing I honestly listen to it sometimes to go to sleep.

Honorable mentioned that I can’t fully recommend just because I haven’t listened to more than a couple minutes of an episode:

Bridgewater (my brother recommended this to me),

Redwood Bureau (kinda similar to tma imo),

Tower 4 (made by the same people who made Mayfair watchers society),

heart starts pounding (also recommended by my brother, but it seems like irl horror stuff rather than a story so idk)

I love horror podcasts, there’s so many that I want to get around to listening to but I unfortunately don’t have that much time. Here’s a list of some good stuff that I’ve enjoyed! Lemme know if you have any questions or wanna know more about anything! Always happy to talk!

ALSO EDIT: Mayfair watcher society and the magnus archives both have transcripts available for their episodes. Both also have episode by episode trigger warnings, tma is in the transcript (and maybe the description of the episode on Spotify i don’t know), and Mayfair has it in the description. The SCP foundation database just reads off the entries on the SCP website so basically a transcript.

[kivaember]

i got inspired by this piece of twitter art for flatwell and o'keeffe... really check out that art it looks AMAZING.

anyway, o'keeffe owning a plant nursery called Barren Flower with coffee shop flatwell GO!

Flatwell's cafe was an early retirement present to himself. He'd lived a long and exciting life, doing work that'll never see the light of day and recorded in documents sealed away in concrete bunkers six feet deep. It was profitable work, though, and when he hit forty he gracefully retired while he still had all limbs and his sanity.

One may say that running a cafe wasn't a peaceful retirement plan, but Flatwell thrived in being under a little bit of pressure. He liked people, for all that he hated them sometimes, and he enjoyed the mental stimulation of keeping mental profiles of the regulars, and analysing newcomers to try and predict their order and character. He also just liked talking to people - Flatwel had mastered the art of small talk by pure necessity, and he felt himself go into withdrawals if he went too long without gossiping with someone, stranger or not.

So, he got his cafe. He bought an old, empty building on the fringes of Xylem, near the touristy parts but still off the beaten path. He rennovated it, learned how to make coffee, how to bake, and slowly but surely built up a steady stream of customers and a reputation. The street was quiet, many buildings lying empty, but Flatwell was content with his retirement package.

His kids visited often, Rusty especially came with that new boyfriend of his (Raven, a little strange but nice, with an intriguing past considering his links to Walter, an old acquaintence in the business Flatwell had retired from, what a small world) and Flatwell drifted from one peaceful day to the next, content although admittedly bored at times. But that was just the adrenaline junkie side of him, he'd tell himself.

Then one day, the empty building opposite his cafe had a SOLD sign hung on its window, followed by rennovators and workers streaming in and out of it. It brought a brief boost to Flatwell's business, the construction workers walking across the street to get refreshments - and were very talkative when Flatwell generously gave them a discount for being such hard workers.

They didn't know who had bought the building, but they knew that it was being outfitted to sustain large amounts of plants. A plant nursery, apparently, which Flatwell thought was an odd choice for this location, but ultimately harmless. The person ordering the rennovations paid in cash too - hundreds of thousands just dropped, like that.

A rich person dabbling in a new hobby, maybe? A company trying something out? The mystery was mundane but intriguing, so Flatwell watched from his cafe, as the front of the building was rennovated to have a large, wide window to easily see the inside, and a set of flowerbeds were constructed right in front, brightly coloured flowers and lush green plants planted in the soft, loamy soil. He watched as more and more plants arrived, getting carted inside, set up, strange contraptions and machines Flatwell couldn't begin to guess the function of being hauled and installed inside the building. He watched as they erected the sign above the building's doors, a wilting sunflower next to the bland and frank words of BARREN FLOWER.

Interesting name choice, Flatwell had thought upon seeing it.

And almost six months after the rennovations began, the plant nursery opened its doors. Flatwell, like any good neighbour, decided to pay a visit, a quick walk across the street in the early hours of the morning, before the first few customers would arrive. He had a thermos of coffee and a bag of baked goods, oddly excited to scout out the new visitor and deduce their character and intentions.

But when he walked across the street, when he entered BARREN FLOWER with a small jingle of the door's bell, he came face to face with his past in the most unexpected way possible.

"Wow, is that you, Flatwell?" O'Keeffe asked in that dull, inflectionless way of his, dressed like a farmer with a green, soil-stained apron thrown over the top of it - a far cry from his usual shirt and tie combo. "Small world, huh?"

Flatwell's old arch-rival, O'Keeffe, of all people.

Small world indeed.

-

"So, what's with the flowers?"

Flatwell didn't look up from where he was carefully stowing that day's cupcakes into the front display case. "They're a message."

Rusty leaned on the counter, idly touching one bright red petal from one of the flowers bursting out of the bouquet barely contained in its plain green vase.

"A message, huh?" Rusty smiled impishly. "Don't tell me you got yourself a secret admirer, Uncle."

"Is that so surprising?" Flatwell drawled, straightening up and closing the hatch on the display case. He dramatically swept his ponytail over his shoulder and flashed a smile Rusty's way. "I'll have you know I'm still considered a catch."

Rusty grimaced. "Uncle..."

Flatwell laughed and stepped over to the counter, gently shooing Rusty's curious hands from the bouquet.

"Anyway, they're not from a secret admirer," he said. "They're from an... old friend, shall we say."

"Uh huh." Rusty did not believe him in the slightest, the rascal. "Old friend, sure. An old friend that sends you a bouquet of pretty flowers... it looks expensive too."

Flatwell just smiled, saying nothing. The bouquet did look impressive, and would've been expensive if it'd been bought, but he knew for a fact that the only currency used to obtain it had been nothing but time and attention. Some may say that this gave it more romantic weight, but considering the flowers in the bouquet...

Adonis' flower, painful recollection and sorrowful rememberances. Narcissus, self-love and egotism. Mixes of green and purple carnations, love between men and capriciousness, unreliability. Carolina, love is dangerous. And lastly, the ominous black dahlia: betrayal and dishonesty.

The bouquet had also been accompanied by a cabbage - profit. The joke had gotten a reluctant laugh out of Flatwell, he had to admit. He'll use it for today's salad.

"You going to give one back?" Rusty asked. He was more perceptive than others gave him credit for, and there was a knowing edge to his gaze as he said: "It's first time I've seen you accept flowers from someone."

"Hm... maybe," Flatwell said. "It'd be rude not to respond."

"I can go get some for you," Rusty offered. "I'm, um... well, I'm heading that way anyways..."

"For Raven?" Flatwell teased, and chuckled when Rusty's cheeks went pink. "I didn't realise he was a flower person."

"Me neither, but his terrifying guardian dropped a hint about how he... really, really liked gardening, and maybe I can give him something like that for his upcoming birthday..."

"In which case... sure," Flatwell took out a post it note and a pen from his apron pocket. "I'll write down what flowers I want you to get for me."

He jotted down his list and sent Rusty on his way. He already knew what his response would be to O'Keeffe's question.

Their past was a painful and thorny thing, and ill-advised flings from their careless youths had made those wounds cut even deeper. Love is dangerous indeed, and Flatwell had been a flighty, unreliable sort. Of course O'Keeffe would tread carefully, even in the twilight days of their retirement years.

Still.

They both needed some excitement in their peaceful days, right?

-

O'Keeffe stared at the bouquet resting across his bed's pillow, surprised at how unsurprised he was that Flatwell went to these lengths to give his response.

"He better not have broken my window's lock," he grumbled, moving over to inspect the bouquet. After double checking it for potential concealed razor blades or any other manner of unpleasant surprises, he picked it up, peering at the flowers.

Tansy, maiden's blush and white spider lilies.

"...this is a terrible bouquet," O'Keeffe muttered, but he felt the corner of his mouth tick upwards.

Only Flatwell would say he's declaring war on his heart.

Dramatic as always.

[loveofmyknife]

Live Blogging the Burrow’s end finale but it’s all in one post because I can’t be bothered to reblog the same post 10 times. So like… pre-recorded blogging I guess

Spoilers. Obviously.

- loving the finale outfits! Especially the caution tape accessories!

- hey girl hey! Poor Teedles is taking all of this very well and we love them for it. I too would rather face possible death than have to babysit my boss’s children

- someone really should go check on Simon

- love how Tula is advocating for a nonviolent solution and ends it with “and we should definitely track down and murder Phoebe”. It’s nonviolent except for one specific person (being?)

- Lucas is just doing his best as a congested little boy. Somebody get him some mint! (Bint)

- “oh, mommy has so much bloodlust!” is an excellent line

- again, Brennan is unhinged, and also maybe wearing pink lipstick, which I think adds to the vibe

- Thorn being concerned for Dr Steel is so indicative of his character. He just wants to protect his people, and even though they’ve only known this human for a few hours, she is one of his people

- I DID NOT KNOW HE COULD DO THAT

- love a good title drop, but this plan seems very hastily put together. I am concerned

- persuasion- “-OR ELSE!” … ok intimidation

- gasoline lasts for however long is narratively relevant

- how many stoats does it take to drive a truck? Apparently at least 5

- I mean as far at Nat 1s go operating a gear shift as a rodent makes sense

- viola is holding this group together by sheer force of will

-oh fuck human magic!

- new map! New map!

- Oh fuck “human” NECROMANCY!

-kinda sad that Carlos isn’t playing Wennabocker on the board in some way but it obviously makes sense from a practical standpoint

- the minis!!! So cool!

-“grandma casts sounding” oh no…

- box of doom strikes again

- 40 points of damage is insane

- Lucas no! I love his little hat but no!

- hate when the BBEG rolls a Nat 20

- 69 hp…nice

- not Lucas!!

- oh Tula is never going to forgive herself for this and I have Thoughts about it

- Phoebe really is just a situation at this point

- That is exactly what a 12 year old would say when beating up an eldritch horror

- yeah I’d say hitting the ground really hard is a reckless attack, Ava

-109 damage! Jesus fucking Christ

- oh it’s some eugenics shit, okay

- Dr Steel coming to the rescue!

- I love using a bunch of skills and mechanics to get the desired outcome. Casting a spell, moving out of range of counterspell, and disengaging an opportunity attack all at the same time just to be able to fireball this meat suit

- I also would not recommend hitting a nuclear reactor with fire

- “no that’s okay” was such a power move

- “I DEBONE THAT MOTHERFUCKER” yes you do, and somehow that invents cooking! I love it

- Nat 20! “THATS! MY! WIFE!!!” Viola has taken out 4 giants in a single round. She is a badass. She is a warrior. She is my hero.

- oh yeah, Dr Steel was just standing there for all that

- We may be experiencing a tragedy but at least they’ve also invented ice cream

- LUCAS NO!

- ok yeah i might be sobbing a little, what of it?

- I like that Ava can have a little magic as a treat

- I personally welcome our new stoat overlords

- babies!

-Get it, Tula! But seriously I like that she really got to process life without being just a widow and a mother before moving on

-baby’s first word: viscera. This is cannon

-Ava’s doing great, and her life is in her own hands. She’s completely overhauling the local law enforcement and creating triple A

- Dr Lila! She’s a nuclear physicist now!

- Did not expect Jaysohn to go for an Airbud plot line but I’m not mad at it

Closing thoughts: I loved it! I think the ending was pretty abrupt but taking out the BBEG in like 2 rounds will do that so I can’t fault them for it. I would have loved for at least one of the party to take over Education, and I think Tula was kind of set up for it but I’m glad she gets to just enjoy life now instead. I can’t wait to see tomorrow’s Adventuring Party and I’m super excited about next season!

[prettyoddfever]

about Northern Downpour...

there are a few misunderstandings related to this song in the modern fandom, so I’m going to try to hit a bunch of different points all in one post.

THIS SONG WAS EXTREMELY MEANINGFUL TO RYAN

Ryan continually said that Northern Downpour was the most important song to him, his favorite lyrics were on that song, and the most meaningful line was “I know the world’s a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home.” He said this song summed up his experiences of the last few years (and he’d definitely processed a lot of huge life changes). 

The band often described Northern Downpour as the most meaningful song on the album and Mad as Rabbits as the most defining song. Sometimes that got switched around, but the point is that those two songs were very important. And honestly, ”I know the world’s a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home” has a lot in common with “we must reinvent love.” Both of those songs reject bitterness and show an intentional turn towards embracing love (we see your influence, JWalk). Those songs saw Ryan making a powerful statement on how he viewed the world and life now.

The whole band talked about how they wanted to do something positive, uplifting, and meaningful with the second album. Ryan mentioned several times that Jon’s positive outlook on life had influenced him, and told NME that “Life isn’t all bad – it’s not all good obviously – but there’s a lot of good to be found in it. And there was no good on the last record – it was all negative.” Ryan told Mean Street Magazine that “I think Jon coming into the band was a big deal, a big thing for us because he’s such a positive person. Me and him spent a lot of time together over the summer and we wrote a bunch of new songs together.” Jon said in a 2008 interview that “I think that was a lot of people’s motives back then was to try to write music to inspire people and make the world better.” 

Ryan told Kerrang in 2008 that “But at some point things got so big and so out of our hands that we had to do something important because we have so many people paying attention to what we do. And this album is us doing something important.” Even in early 2006 Ryan was talking about how he didn’t think AFYCSO was that good... but the way that he talked about Pretty. Odd. in 2008 was so different. It was clear that the second album meant something very significant to Ryan on a personal level. In an interview in late May 2008 Ryan complained that a crowd wasn’t fully listening to Northern Downpour. Basically, he was super invested in this song that meant so much to him. He wanted it to be delivered correctly with the right emotion and for fans to properly appreciate it.

RYAN WAS PARTICULAR ABOUT HOW BRENDON DELIVERED HIS LYRICS

The band talked a lot during the Fever era about how much Ryan & Brendon had fought in the early years as they struggled to figure out how to successfully work together. Both guys explained in many different interviews that Ryan had a very specific idea of exactly how he wanted his lyrics performed, but he wasn’t able to sing well enough yet to communicate what he wanted… and Brendon couldn’t read his mind. They definitely still had their struggles in 2006, but by the end of the Fever era Brendon seemed proud that he’d learned how to read Ryan and work with him better. However, Ryan was still talking about how parts of his lyrics would get lost in translation when he handed them over to Brendon. 

The early tension only grew in 2007 after the Fever era ended. Ryan had become WAY more confident and worked so hard on his singing that he was like a completely different person onstage than he had been in 2005. Plus, the band was changing so much that they no longer needed a dramatic frontman to step into a flamboyant narrator character and dance energetically around onstage singing the risque lyrics. Ryan could have easily delivered the eventual Pretty. Odd. songs too (but that wasn’t the case for the Fever era). So if you understand the positions they were in while entering the Pretty. Odd. era, you can see how Ryan would probably be extra picky about Brendon’s performance if Brendon was still going to be delivering the majority of the songs. 

Ryan REALLY wanted his favorite line (”I know the world’s a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home”) to be delivered with the right emotion. That had absolutely nothing to do with Ryden...

THIS IS NOT A RYDEN SONG.

Here’s a Rolling Stone interview clipping where Ryan talked about Northern Downpour:

I’ve seen some people claim that the clipping above is a Ryden moment because Ryan was telling Brendon to notice a hidden message to him or something?? lol no. This is like a movie director saying that they told an actor to pay special attention to a line… it’s because that’s a key moment they want to make sure is delivered precisely how it’s meant to be. 

When you suggest that this song is a Ryden thing, you completely erase Ryan Ross and all of the pain & loss & really profound growth he went through in 2006-2007 as he processed his life and seemed to make peace with a lot of things. This is absolutely not a love song to Brendon, and the whole associated Seattle Ryden story never even happened. Like I’ve said in other posts, I’m not necessarily against Ryden if everyone’s on the same page that it’s just for fun. I’m against erasing all of reality in order to pass off Ryden theories as real. It’s not fair to new fans, and it’s certainly not fair for Brendon or Ryan to endure a fandom’s escalating warped perceptions over time.

Side tangent: it was very common for Brendon to tell the crowd that he loved them during this song:

At the time I figured he was trying to get into the right “I love you” mindset to deliver the song with the correct emotion, but now as an adult I’m like eh whatever it’s probably not that deep. Moving on.

BRENDON MESSING UP THE MOST IMPORTANT PART

I think it might be easiest to first say that there’s this popular video from May 6th where Brendon messed up Northern Downpour, and it’s evident in the comment section that the current fandom has a very loose understanding of spring 2008. That mistake was not unique to that one night, the way that Ryan sang the line and “helped” Brendon isn’t special either, May 6th is absolutely not the specific reason why Brendon cried while singing this song in 2011, and there’s clearly just a LOT of context people are missing.

Brendon seemed to feel the extra pressure while delivering ”I know the world’s a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home” because he messed up that part way more than anything else in their set list. His first serious mistake was at Bamboozle 2008 when the band was headlining. 52:56 in this video shows the band backstage at Bamboozle (Shane is behind the camera) and Zach touches on a topic that the band talked about a lot in 2008: they focused more on playing the festival circuit that year in the hopes that they could reach a “new” audience and expand the type of people who listened to their band. Most of the big festivals were that summer in Europe & Asia, so Bamboozle was an early one. It was deemed the first festival that Panic at the Disco ever headlined (which seemed debatable to me, but I’ll stay on topic). Bamboozle was definitely turned into a decently big deal and carried more weight than their regular shows each night, so Brendon could have understandably been more anxious about getting the line right.

The band didn’t play Northern Downpour during the European tour that spring before Pretty. Odd. was released. The first tour with that song was the Honda Civic Tour that started on April 10th. So they’d only been playing Northern Downpour live for a few weeks by the time Bamboozle happened on May 4th.

Brendon messed up Northern Downpour at Bamboozle by skipping ahead to *the important line* a bit too early... it felt like he was overly focused on it. Ryan called out Brendon’s mistake to the audience, and then took control when it came time for the correct part (and also brought attention back to the fact that Brendon had messed up). So it’s understandable that Brendon would have been even more anxious about that part at the very next show... which was May 6th (the show that currently gets singled out as “the one time Brendon forgot the lyrics”). Brendon literally just repeated the previous show’s mistake where he jumped ahead to the line too early. BUT then he actually caught himself on May 6th and that’s why you see him singing nonsense sounds until he can switch tracks and jump to the correct part. It’s not because he suddenly forgot the lyrics. So then at the next show on May 7th when Brendon screwed up yet again (but in a different way) we were like omg please help him break out of this anxiety loop lol. And obviously he did!! But the context of those 3 shows in a row helps illustrate why he might have been extra anxious. You can’t isolate one show and act like Brendon was lazy for not knowing the lyrics. (btw I put the details of these 3 shows in the video below... Brendon’s reaction after finally getting it right on May 8th is adorable).

I think the most noteworthy mistake in any Northern Downpour performance was actually the Johannesburg show in South Africa in April 2009. Brendon legit blanked on the song towards the start and froze. A couple fans closer to the stage said that Brendon looked scared and/or like it was anxiety that caused him to space out... like I remember several people mentioning his panicked look. So Ryan told Brendon the lines and restarted the song. Brendon still couldn’t get the lyrics, though. He ended up on the floor laughing and said something to the crowd about how his parents have always said he was a f*ck-up and they were right. I think Ryan even had the crowd sing the words to help remind Brendon?? This is a hazy memory but basically it was a hot mess. May 6th was absolutely not “the one time” Brendon messed up Northern Downpour and it shouldn’t be given any weird special significance.

RYAN SHARED THE DELIVERY OF HIS FAVORITE LINE

Brendon sang *the line* on his own at the first 2 shows of the Honda Civic Tour, but then Ryan became very much involved. Occasionally Brendon stepped back and just let Ryan sing it, but most often they sang it together. Sometimes Brendon sang the first half and then Ryan took the second half, but usually Ryan either sang the whole line alongside Brendon or else joined in for “but melt your headaches call it home.” Here are some examples of how that part went throughout 2008:

Ryan didn’t sing at the show in Malaysia (I heard he was sick), so Jon sang Ryan’s parts there. I thought it was interesting how Jon didn’t step in for *the line* on Northern Downpour, though... like that made it feel even more like Ryan’s line.

Brendon & Ryan delivered that line together throughout the Pretty. Odd. era. That’s why it was such an emotional & stark contrast to see Brendon singing that part ALONE in 2011 (I’m not speaking for Brendon here, this was just my own feeling when I saw the videos). Ryan’s voice was almost always there for that line, so the absence just drives home exactly how gone the old band was. It’s the most painful, sharp illustration possible of how much things had permanently changed. That line just feels empty & wrong with only Brendon’s voice.

OTHER RANDOM RELATED THINGS

Ryan didn’t do too much with P!ATD’s book club after starting it, but one of the girls who ended up taking over the book club reached out to him to get a recommendation at the end of the Fever era. Ryan recommended Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, which had the line:

“But then they danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles…”

Northern Downpour’s not my favorite song on the album, but it’s absolutely the most meaningful song that defined the Pretty. Odd. era for me (and not just because the band said it was meaningful or named their new fan club Northern Downpour lol). It completely represents 2008 and a whole era that’s just… gone. Forever. This particular sound is sad to me these days because I get hit with such a strong wave of nostalgia, but the song in general is absolutely NOT a sad song! I’m genuinely curious why today’s teens seem to view Northern Downpour as an inherently sad song to cry to (especially since they weren’t around in 2008 to have any sort of emotional nostalgia connected with it). The song’s underlying contentment & honest happiness felt like a love letter to everyone who had come into the band members’ lives… it was really meaningful to both the band & fans in a positive way. 

Here are some of the main moments of the band talking about Northern Downpour:

[pagegirlintraining]

AO3 wrapped (writer’s edition)

Well, this was a lovely way to close out the year. Here goes:

1. How many words have you written this year?

An unbelievable 331,924 👀

2. How many works did you publish this year?

12 in total. 6 are oneshots, and of the rest I’ve finished 4.

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

I’m extremely proud of Oh, Those Summer Nights. The dialogue in this one flows so beautifully, I love the way I got to incorporate some of my favorite places in Stockholm, and it just altogether has this magical atmosphere about it.

But also, for entirely different reasons, Vi har bara varandra, det är allt vi behöver. Because I wrote a freaking story in Swedish, what even?!

4. What work of yours has the most hits?

Overall it’s Dancing Through Life with a little over 22k, but considering we didn’t start publishing The Prince And The Popstar until August this year, the 16k on that one feel worth mentioning. On a chapter basis they’re also very close to one another.

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

The Prince And The Popstar. For sure. That one blew both of us away I think.

6. Favorite title you used?

Both One, two, three, four, five, sex on my mind and Stop the world (I wanna get off with you) fit so nicely with what the respective stories are about.

7. If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most?

I haven’t actually checked, but it’s probably Sabrina Carpenter from Prince and Popstar alone 😂

8. Pairing you wrote the most for this year?

Wilmon. They’re also the only pairing I wrote for.

9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?

Same answer as 8.

10. What work was the quickest to write?

Copy and Pasta went from a batshit idea to a fully-written thing within 4 hours, that’s got to be a personal record.

11. What work took you the longest to write?

The writing process of Prince and Popstar was very spread out because both @the-amber-fox and I had lots of life stuff happen in between. All in all it took us 4 months to even have enough to start posting, and then another 3 to finish it.

12. How many WIPs do you have in your docs for next year?

I have two new ones I firmly plan on writing, and one idea I’m not so sure about yet. Also two I plan on finishing next year.

13. What’s your longest work of the year?

Based on the amounts of them that were written this year, it’s The Prince And The Popstar. Then again I only wrote about half of that, so it may also be The Time Of My Life with 45501 words and counting.

14. What’s your shortest work of the year?

Vi har bara varandra, det är allt vi behöver (714 words) for obvious reasons 😂

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

Dancing through life (don’t look at me, I swear I will get myself to finish that epilogue at some point🙈), The Time Of My Life and Killing me softly (with his song), which still hasn’t gotten a second chapter yet but is very much not abandoned.

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

Alternate Universe. Who else is not surprised?

17. Your favorite character to write this year?

I swear, the answer to this changes every time I think about it. For now I’ll go with my Dirty Dancing AU version of Simon, because he’s somehow the version that feels closest to canon Simon even though plot wise the story is the farthest from canon. That’s a nice mental stretch to keep up.

18. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

Can you hear me laughing? It’s Wilmon all the way.

19. Which work of yours have you reread the most?

It’s probably a tie between Copy and Pasta (short, sweet, always cheers me up) and the already existing parts of The Time Of My Life (it’s two of my favorite things combined, has my favorite version of Wille I’ve written and some beautiful Wilmon moments I really like revisiting).

20. How many kudos in total did you get this year?

4448.

21. Which work has the most comments?

Per chapter it’s The Prince And The Popstar.

22. Did you do any collaborative works this year?

Yessss 😍 I realized the other day that I’ve written four complete works with my darling @the-amber-fox this year and could not believe it. They’ve been some of my faves to write, and that’s hugely thanks to her, so thanks 💜

I also got to write the first chapter of Killing me softly with the amazing @ishotforthestars . Mayyyyybe we’ll get back to that one for a special occasion…😁

23. Did you write any gifts this year?

I sure did. Got to cowrite two birthday presents, for and with @the-amber-fox and @ishotforthestars respectively. Then another birthday present for @omaremioo and a Christmas present for @zee-has-commitment-issues .

24. Did you receive any gifts this year?

Yes again. Got a lovely birthday gift and the very best Christmas gift this year (Thanks, Foxy, and thanks times two, Elin 😂🫶🏼)

25. What’s your most common category?

M/M unsurprisingly.

26. What do you listen to while writing?

When I do it’s either my ever-growing annual playlist or the cheesiest 80s ballads for intimacy scenes.

27. Favorite work you wrote this year?

I think I’ve had the most fun with Prince and Popstar, but the most moments of giddy pride with The Time Of My Life. That’s all I can say for this one.

28. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

I can’t possibly choose a favorite, mostly because I’d have to reread all of them and I don’t have a whole week off to do it😄 so I’ll go with something that, while pretty simple, resonated with me a lot when I reread it: “Just because that’s what he expects doesn’t mean it’s what you need to give him, Simon.”

29. Biggest surprise while writing this year?

Learning that despite what I’d been told before, I seem to have a knack for comedic writing.

[denimbex1986]

'Review at a glance *****

So it’s goodbye David Tennant again, and over to you Ncuti Gatwa! Except, no! The big twist in this twistiest of episodes – one that may well be the best hour of Who ever – is that the three-episode reprise of Tennant’s Doctor is not quite the end for him at all.

What seemed to be simply a canny way for Russell T Davies to bring some goodwill back to the Whouniverse, using a Tennant as a drum-roll for Ncuti Gatwa’s new reign, was not merely that, not just cynicism: it was a chance to crowd please a crowd in need of a damn good pleasing.

What a rare delight to watch prime time Saturday night TV delivered with such aplomb. This short run has echoed Marvel’s accomplishment with the Avengers films, matching drama with humour, and never taking itself too seriously even as it brings you to tears.

The Giggle topped it all off with a genuinely brilliant and thrillingly unpredictable episode that started off as a fun satire for all the family before turning into a Carnival of Horrors, by way of a murderous Spice Girls set piece by the lead villain that would make the Joker frown in envy. This was pop culture hitting some kind of high-on-itself high.

Last week the Doctor and Donna landed back in present day London to find Wilf waiting (sadly Davies revealed on a post this week that Bernard Cribbins died before he could film any more scenes so he does not appear in this episode). He told them humans had turned on each other and were fighting in the street and the world was basically ending.

Turns out that back in the day, 1925 in Soho to be precise, when John Logie Baird invented the TV, the first image he recorded was the head of a ventriloquist’s dummy (actually true, Stooky Bill, was his name, and yes Stooky was as spooky looking in real life; what was Baird thinking? Sick man, with all due respect).

A dummy which happened to be a magical evil puppet that was sold to him by a German-accented, racist Toymaker (played by a sensational Neil Patrick Harris having the time of his life here). And the image has sat hidden within every screen since then, not just TVs but phones too.

Back to ‘Today’, where Bonnie Langford is back as Melanie Bush after her companion stints with Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy (incidentally, I wonder how many near-misses they had in Who writing rooms over the years, with character names veering close to Bond-esque smut) to help out because a satellite launched by South Korea has made the world 100% online – “For the first time in history everyone has access to a screen,” the Doctor frets, and our skinny hero does do a lot of fretting here – which triggered the hidden puppet into doing an evil laugh, that in turn sent everyone’s brains crazy.

Pilots are landing wherever they want, people are fighting for their right of way on the road, insulting the infirm and different, seeking angry justice for the mildest of questioning, and everyone is basically turning into a conspiracy theory loon. It’s described as so: “Basically, every single person on earth now thinks they’re right and everyone else is wrong.” Sound familiar?

OK, yes the first half is a very bludgeoning satire of social media-infused life today, which includes a red-faced buffoonish Prime Minister addressing the nation by saying, “Why should I care about you?” But as I keep saying, Doctor Who is family viewing and making sure the kids get it without making the adults groan is a line which Davies navigates masterfully here.

Assessing the imploding world, the Doctor rants about “humans hating each other,” suggesting the “anger and lies and righteousness,” was always there waiting to take over. Tennant has always channeled rage in his Doctor but here he gives it his full ‘den of thieves’ moment, and orders the UNIT agents to shoot the Korean satellite out of the sky, since all of the world leaders have gone crazy too. The Doctor making decisions on behalf of the earth? Treating it as his kingdom? It feels like he’s overstepped a mark and he knows it.

Anyway, while humanity is on a precipice the Doctor and Donna take a trip back to Frith Street in 1925 to confront The Toymaker.

Cue a sequence of surrealist delight reminiscent of classic carnivalesque horrors like Dead of Night and Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice in which Harris revels like Gambit meets Dr Strange meets the Joker. The scary puppets that attack Donna hit some great old notes, bringing flashbacks to Trainspotting and Poltergeist.

The climax comes with the Toymaker dealing out death to ‘Spice Up Your Life’, and bringing an end to Tennant, who almost seems relieved by it.

This proves to be one of the most moving narratives related to the Doctor. Donna took him to one side earlier and said that when she saw inside his mind, “You’re busy every minute of the day… it’s like you’re staggering along… is that why your old face came back? Because you’re wearing yourself out.”

That skinniness that has been joked about throughout the specials is recast as evidence of a man coming undone, not taking care of himself, consumed by self-loathing as he’s haunted by his past failures. “I’m always so certain,” The Doctor cries in full tortured Tennant mode, “Take away the toys and what am I now? Lost and broken.” (“You big idiot,” Donna retorts).

So when the Toymaker takes his life, the Doctor almost want it. Except, he’s not given it. He doesn’t die and regenerate into Gatwa, rather he splits in two. Two Doctors! He’s Tennant and Gatwa. One can remain on earth with Donna, while the new Doctor is free to roam the universe on the new Disney funding.

I loved this explanation for Tennant’s return, the haunted figure that he became post-Rose and post-Donna taken to the logical extreme, his mental health disintegrating after too much death and loss and destruction.

Doctor Who has always been about loss. Companions leaving people on earth behind or never having them at all (like Melanie Bush), the loss of time, loss of life. The Doctor is a kind of charismatic god of life, taking on death always, trying to save everyone, everywhere, all at once. Exhaustion was coming…

But so was regeneration – or rather bi-regeneration, which is a first for Doctor Who, and is portrayed as rehab: to save himself, he has to become a new person entirely. He splits in two! Tennant is still here, but so is Gatwa’s Doctor. And lo, parents across the land are spared the tears of a million children.

Gatwa is immediately a new kind of Doctor, not falling apart – “thin as a pin and running on fumes” he observes – but so sure of himself that he gives Tennant a hug and a kiss, the younger man like a father, and when Tennant says, “You can’t save everyone,” he replies, “Why not?”

It sets up Gatwa’s new Doctor deliciously as a capable, flamboyant, winner, a very ‘out’ figure who will continue to annoy the anti-wokies/anti-BBC/anti-vaxxers/anti-youths but who will deliver the thrills. The Errol Flynn moustache he sports can be no accident, given how swashbuckling the trailer of the Christmas Day episode is.

Will Tennant keep a presence in the Whoniverse? Not sure if the new guy is going to need him…'

[thecraftyfoxthewriterscorner]

Stories Featuring Animal Friends

Some thoughts on how animal friends fit into storytelling. 🐾

Hey Story Crafters,

A lot of my favorite stories feature animal companions. It’s one of my favorite storytelling tropes—and I’m sure many of you will agree with me. I think the bond that can form between a person and an animal—the absolute trust and devotion that can develop—is a bond most people either wish they can experience for themselves, or have experienced it, and enjoy seeing other types of person-animal companion bonds develop.

If I had to trace it back to a source, it would probably be Pokémon. Or at least, that’s my earliest memory of a creature companion being featured in a story other than Disney movies. I loved watching Ash encounter new Pokémon, gradually gain their trust, become friends and then go on adventures together. I rewatch the Indigo League arc every once in a while, and I still experience that sense of wonder and get hit right in the feels while watching Ash (and Misty and Brock) interact with Pokémon. And naturally, I haven’t outgrown the need to read or watch stories that feature animal friends!

Based on the media I’ve consumed, I’d say stories featuring animals can be divided into two categories: animal companions and anthropomorphic animals. I’ll share a few examples of each below and my thoughts about them from a storytelling perspective.

Animal Companions

In some stories, the world-building creates the expectation that animal companions aren’t unusual. This is the case in Pokémon (or Pocket Monsters), where inhabitants of this story world can breed or catch wild Pokémon and train them. This then leads to the expectation that the main character’s journey will involve Pokémon: Ash’s goal is to become the greatest Pokémon master.

In other stories, animal companions may be used as part of the world-building to establish a fantasy setting, or fantasy/supernatural elements. This is true for Brian Jacques’s Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, in which an angel curses all of passengers on the pirate ship, The Flying Dutchman, with immortality. Among the passengers is a cabin boy named Ben and his dog, Ned—and because they are the only innocent souls on board, Ned is gifted a human-like consciousness and a telepathic bond with Ben. Another example is Nghi Vo’s novella, The Empress of Salt and Fortune, in which a cleric named Chih is partnered with a hoopoe named Almost Brilliant, and tasked with recording stories. In both of these stories, the connection between the main character and their animal companion serves as a reminder that fantasy, supernatural elements exist in their respective story worlds, even if nothing else fantastical happens as part of the plot.

Anthropomorphic Animals

I was a big Brian Jacques fan when I was growing up. Before I read Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, I was already hooked on his Redwall series, a fantasy children’s book series featuring anthropomorphic animal characters. For those unfamiliar with Redwall, its story world is similar to Disney’s Zootopia in that the inhabitants are divided into “good” and “bad,” with the Redwall series being more concrete about which species falls into each category: with woodland creatures like mice, otters, squirrels, hares, and badgers (“good”) vs. vermin like rats, stoats, weasels, and foxes (“bad”). Basically, it was another way of identifying the heroes vs. villains, cops vs. criminals in storytelling. This allowed Jacques to tell straightforward stories of good vs. evil using the types of characters most children identify and like to play make-believe with—animals.

Juneau Black’s Shady Hollow series also features anthropomorphic animals characters, and like other media (e.g., Redwall series, Zootopia), it doesn’t dwell on the logistics of how predators can coexist with prey animals. While a character’s animal traits may be addressed to establish setting or make observations, the focus is on solving the mystery established at the inciting incident. There is no good vs. evil, just characters living their lives and making choices to the best of their ability. A predator can be a spunky reporter like Vera Vixen, eager to sniff out a new story to publish for Shady Hollow’s local paper, and a prey animal can be the suspect—or culprit—in a crime that’s been committed.

As with any storytelling element, the relevance of the animal friend trope needs to be weighed, and woven into the storyline. If you’ve recently finished a manuscript that features animal friends, I’m the editor for you! I mostly edit fantasy, dark fantasy, science fiction, and horror, but I’m open to working in most genres if an author and I fit well together (like cozy mysteries!). Get in touch below if you’re interested in working with me.

Visit The Crafty Fox Editing Services!

Send me an email!

Until next time!

Leah

Connect with me on social media!

Substack Post: https://thecraftyfoxwriterscorner.substack.com/p/stories-featuring-animal-friends

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[remy2fang]

So about them Season 2 SF6 Leaks

If you’re curious what the leak is, it can be seen here:

https://x.com/daryo1989/status/1769861372740042895?s=46&t=iEGeYIIN_aP028wRnoVcUQ

There were a mixture of reactions for this. The people who main those characters are happy while everyone else, which I think it’s the majority, were really upset. The leaker is supposedly Vergeben, who actually had a hit or miss record in leaking info. But his leak for the SF6 season 1 characters was almost 100% accurate, down to “Cammy wearing pants.” To me, if there’s a short written description of the characters’ appearance, they tend to be true as oppose to just naming the characters. But I read that this Vergeben may be an imposter because that’s not his real Reddit account. His real account is DasVergeben while the most recent one is shinvergeben. But the DasVergeben account hadn’t posted anything in the past 2 years, so who knows if shinvergeben is the same guy or not, but created a new Reddit account.

Ngl, when I saw the list, I was kinda sad. F.A.N.G’s purpose in Street Fighter 6 is to revive Bison and Shadaloo. This was known since the TOXICITY story was released in 2018. I’d like to see how his revival journey would unfold in his Arcade or World Tour Mode because it sounds like a compelling character story. But if Bison comes back as a DLC before a playable F.A.N.G, that could mean FANG’s moment to shine in SF6 would become unlikely because his goal had already been met, so what’s the point. Sure, we might see FANG’s revival journey through Bison’s story, but it would be much better if it was through a playable FANG. It would give more meaning and significance to his story. Alas, I guess I’ll just accept FANG as an NPC for the entirety of SF6. FANG would be happy for Bison’s return, at least. But I’d still be salty that Capcom decided to steal FANG’s thunder. It would be nice if both FANG and Bison were to some back to SF6 in the same season…preferably FANG coming before Bison. Oh well. Dee Jay and Ed spoiled me so much because they proved that characters don’t have to be super popular in order to come back to a Street Fighter game.

Anyway enough of my rant. Regardless if the leaker source is true or false, I personally believe the Bison part is true. Back many months ago in October, I found unused voice clips for F.A.N.G. I had a feeling they’ll eventually be used in a later dlc. At first I thought they would be heard in the Ed DLC, but that didn’t happen. So I have a feeling they would be used in the Bison DLC instead. F.A.N.G did say Bison’s name twice in unknown contexts, and they were not heard during the AKI dlc. I’m assuming he either thinks about Bison or he finally sees Bison alive again. You can listen to extracted unused voice audio here, starting at 0:39 :

Now I have my own thoughts on what may happen during the Bison DLC. Based on the voice lines above, I think the avatar would be helping F.A.N.G in finding resources to revive Bison and Shadaloo. Unused lines like “You have my gratitude” and “Splendid job” sounds like you’re doing some tasks for him. I did mentioned about this in an older post:

If the avatar is indeed helping F.A.N.G revive Bison, then the avatar is both hero and villain!

[sofipitch]

Does the characters sharing a body in tlt ever have an element of mysticism to it? Is it more of a cool thing that happens? How do you see that aspect of the books on a metaphorical level/ the work it does in the story?

If mysticism is defined as an altered state of consciousness due to fusion then yes, when Palamedes and Camilla come together they are new and unique person. Nona tries to pick apart their movements and determine what is part Cam or Pal and notices there are decisions/actions Paul makes that their component parts would not. However using it in religious terms, so far no. In HTN Palamedes tells Harrow he is working on a new Lyctoral theory that doesn't involve the cavalier dying. They state after transformation that Paul is that. This happens late enough in the story that we don't know if Paul is immortal or has all the benefits the other Lyctors do, but that's very clearly not why they did it.

Within NTN Camilla and Palamedes share a body, Cam's body. However unlike most body sharing stories they cannot talk to each other, there is no Ling and Greed arguing in a void space. When one is conscious the other is not. The only way they communicate is writing each other notes or recording themselves talking, then switching. Or by telling someone else what to tell the other. It is made clear that this arrangement does not make them happy they miss each other terribly, but it's the only way to keep Palamedes on this side of the river.

It is hinted very early on in NTN that a fusion (sorry old Steven universe fan just gonna call it that) is something they've considered, however Pyrrha disapproves of it. In one scene Pyrrha toasts, "Here's to Camilla Hect, one of devotion's casualties". Because Camilla is sacrificing her body to accommodate Palamedes, and lyctorhood requires at least one of both of people dying. Which sacrifice and who it's for and what is good versus "I never asked for this" sacrifices look like, is a big thread running through the series. Two characters die for other ppl in this book adding to the total sacrificial body count and there is also this question of was it good for the person who chose it, and was it fair to the recipient. All relationships require some sort of compromise or sacrifice but it should be mutual, and something both parties agree on. So while Pyrrha and Nona and many audience members feel like Camilla and Palamedes effectively dying to be together to bad it's also something that both wanted and were willing to give to each other. It is theorized that Nona may be a fusion of both Harrow and Gideon, and Coronabeth and Camilla both say they would be jealous of them if that is the case. By contrast after Paul is born, Paul tells Ianthe this is their lyctorhood and that she could still save Naberius's soul and she waves it off, she isn't destroying herself for Babs, and it's pretty clear Babs wouldn't have wanted to die for her either. But as Camilla later tells Palamedes, "love and freedom don't coexist". Everyone has to determine what levels of that they are capable of or would want in return.

The second theme it hits on is the inevitability of change. There is a really good post I've reblogged at some point talking about how this one permeates the series, they said it a lot better but I'll try and hit the highlights. You see it in characters never getting over grief, you see it in Gideon not wanting to change her relationship with Harrow in GTN, you see it in the way John wants to hold all his lyctors to his chest and have shitty dinners of spaghetti Os for 10k years. Also as that post pointed out, the series does it to its readers, you enjoyed GTN and want something exactly like that, too bad HTN is very different. You only care about Gideon and Harrow? Too bad, they are barely in NTN. Paul is a part of that change, this is the one where Nona and Pyrrha (and me) were also upset over Paul because it means that you never get to see Palamedes and Camilla anymore. The characters are resistant to change even though it's better than both being dead. And it can/has been read the opposite way, that Palamedes and Camilla should have accepted Pal's death, rather than alter Cam to preserve him. No matter which way you look at it you just want to go back to before Palamedes experienced rapid unscheduled disassembly, but it's not possible.

On a similar vein to the change theme, Nona's reaction to Paul can also be viewed in the lens of how some people react to someone in their life transitioning. Where they are afraid that bc this person is changing they won't know them anymore, this is a whole new person, etc. But while yes Paul has changed how Cam and Pal exist, it didn't get rid of the love between them.

In terms of gender, Paul is referred to with they/he/she. They is the most common but it's not really something that is brought up the way you might expect regular media to go "are you a boy or a girl now?" Because TLT operates on the basis of a queer norm, Gideon and Harrow never have to say, as most lesbians do, that they is not interested in men because the assumption that a woman must be interested in men doesn't't exist. You see that with a lot of the body swapping, a character's gender is respected no matter what the present as. TLT's commentary on queer topics is found in noting not only what an absence of prejudice looks like, but what an absence of assumptions looks like. And especially with gender it's something you see with a lot of characters in NTN.

Okay sorry if that was long-winded, I'm sure there's other stuff (ppl have pointed out a connection to Paul from the bible who also underwent a conversation and subsequent name change) but also Paul only shows up like the last 15% of NTN and I am so excited to really meet him in ATN

[duhragonball]

Was rereading your liveblogs of the Uub vs Baby fight, and one thing I noted was the part about how all the merger of Uub and Buu accomplished was giving him the Candy Beam, and I felt such a sense of disappointment all over again. Of all Buu's powers, they gave him the one that ends the fight immediately if it hits (with the exception of Vegito I guess) so he can never successfully use it because the story can't allow it.

And that especially sucks because Buu, particularly Kid Buu, had so many cool applications of other abilities. His stretching and shapeshifting make him unpredictable and allow for unique approaches to combat, which could've helped Uub stand out more from the other fighters. Obviously GT's "Goku Time" philosophy means there's not that much competition, and they don't have a great track record for creative or well-animated choreography, but I can't help but think of how awesome it would've been to have a Dragon Ball character with the cartoonish, rubbery fighting style of Luffy.

I've got some time to kill, so I'll start going through my backlog of asks. This one is about Dragon Ball GT 33, which we talked about at the beginning of the year. Yeah, I really shouldn't have let these pile up so much.

Anyway, I get what you're saying, in that Uub could have gotten more interesting powers from combining with Buu, but the thing to keep in mind is that GT wouldn't have made good use of stretchy limbs or shapeshifting or anything else. Remember, they already had a character who could do all of that: Majin Buu, and they basically wrote him out of the story.

Now, a GT fanficcer could still do a lot with the idea of Uub discovering new abilities from the merger. He may not have known about them during the Baby fight, but he could continue training and find out he can do other stuff that Buu could do. But GT was never going to put that kind of focus on Uub. They lost interest in Trunks partway through, and he was one of the three main characters.

I'll go a step further, though, and submit that merging Buu with Uub defeats the point of Uub's introduction to the story. Kid Buu absorbed all those other characters to transform, becoming a more defined personality, but it wasn't authentic because Fat Buu and Super Buu weren't really him. They were Buu with other people's personalities stacked on top. But without those other people, Kid Buu is just a hollow killing machine, he could never grow or evolve on his own... until he got killed and reincarnated as a human. Than Goku could train him and make him into a greater fighter than he ever was before.

Recombining him with Fat Buu undermines that whole idea. That just takes them back where they started, when they were all one character as the Fat Buu we first saw hatch out of that magic ball. GT presents it as a reunification, sort of like Kami and Piccolo fusing back into their original self. But Majin Buu doesn't work that way. Kid Buu was the pure version of the character, and the other versions were dilutions of that. The whole point of Uub is that he can become greater and stronger than he ever could by absorbing other people as Kid Buu.

I suppose I can give GT some credit and suggest that they may have understood this perfectly well. After all, "Majuub" never really got very far, so one could argue that the merger was a mistake all along. But Fat Buu couldn't have understood that, and Uub didn't even know what was going on, so they had to find out the hard way. That could be a good subplot for a supporting character, but they never gave Uub enough screentime to learn his lesson. More grist for the fanfic mill, I suppose.