#I have been drawing off book characters as like imagined versions of them but this is just straight up zach reino screenshot redraw

[leek-e]

I got a couple requests on discord for Darren Vapes so here is an ink painting I did of him :)) One of my absolute favourite Play It By Ear characters, his monologues are so funny.

[die-pink-maus]

A Weekend in Vienna 🇦🇹

While vacationing in Germany, Chantelle’s (OC) best friend, Adrian (also an OC), books an impromptu trip to Vienna to visit extended family. Chantelle decides to join her for the last few days of her trip, where she meets an interesting friend of Adrian’s family who offers to show the two around the city for the weekend🤭

TW: Pretty much none, not for this chapter anyway, but things will get 🌶️spicy🌶️ in the next parts. Also there is an age gap between OC and König, she is 25 and he is about 36-37.

CW: FemOCs, female pronouns used, while both characters are technically OCs please feel free to imagine them however you’d like, ultimately the main character is the reader, I just didn’t want to use “Y/N” so I gave them names 🙈

Word Count: 1,516

*DISCLAIMER*

This is my first time EVER writing any kind of fan fiction so please go easy on me 😭 if you like where things are going, likes and reblogs would be greatly appreciated! If you’d like to see anything in particular in the next part or part(s), I’d love to hear it!

This version of König is based on the above interpretation drawn by @lettaniko (I hope you don’t mind me using it! I absolutely love this drawing it’s perfect! 🫶🏼)

I like a nice build up to the smut so if you like to get right into it this is probably not going to be for you…but if you can wait I it out I promise it’ll be worth it 😂

Enjoy! 💋

7:30am. There’s approximately 30 minutes before my train departs for Vienna, and I still haven’t reached the train station yet. I scrambled as I dashed out of my hotel room, hoping I’d left the place in a somewhat decent state and I hadn’t forgotten anything valuable as got into the elevator. I’ve been exploring Munich for the past two weeks and I’ve been having the absolute time of my life. Although traveling alone can be quite scary, oddly enough, I’ve never felt more at home. Munich is such a vibrant city, filled with all kinds of exciting things to do and I’ve met so many incredible people, it’s definitely been the experience of a lifetime. To say that I am not looking forward to going back home to Vancouver would be an understatement, but all good things must come to an end. I’d spent about a year and a half learning to speak German, and promised myself that I would plan a trip in celebration of achieving fluency, so here I am! Now, Vienna wasn’t initially on my list of places to visit when I decided to come to Germany, but my best friend, Adrian, ended up booking a spur of the moment flight last week to visit extended family in Austria and suggested I come hangout with her during the last few days of my trip. Seeing as its only a 3-4hr train ride from Munich, I figured why the hell not! I’ve heard Vienna is beautiful, and Im at all not opposed to exploring another city.

Upon arrival at the train station in Vienna I was greeted by Arian, excitedly jumping up and down while holding up a large white sign that read “Willkommen in Wien, Schlampe!” I rolled my eyes and shook my head, laughing as I got off the train and ran over to her, tackling her in a tight embrace as she laughed hysterically. “Did you have to let the whole station know that I’m a bitch or…?”

“Honestly, they should’ve known the moment they saw you.” She said jokingly. “How was the ride over?” She asked.

“Amazing, I haven’t slept that well in years. It also didn’t feel like a 4 hour train ride.”

“Trains in out here are quite quick so I wouldn’t be surprised if it somehow took less time. They definitely shit on the ones we have back home.”

“Oh for sure.” I agreed as we began walking over to the car.

“So a family friend of ours just came back from a mission in the states, he’s in the military bee tee dubs —“

“Yeah kinda pieced that together when you said ‘mission’.” I chuckled.

“I don’t drive out here so he’s gonna give us a ride back to my aunts, cool?”

“Sounds good.”

“He’s also a lot more familiar with Vienna than I am, so he offered to show us around a bit later on this evening.” Aw how nice of him. Knowing Adrian, the first place she’ll want to be taken to is the nearest bar, that girl can drink! If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my time in Germany, and my 10 years of friendship with Adrian, it’s that Europeans love their liquor. There are people from all parts of Europe in Germany and that’s one thing that remains quite consistent across the board. I also love my liquor, which is probably why I ended up fitting in so well.

We finally arrived at the car and opened the trunk to begin loading all of my luggage inside. I’d brought a small carryon suitcase, a duffle bag, as well as a large suitcase that was full of clothes I’d over packed from home, and a bunch of other clothes and souvenirs I’d bought in Munich. “Okay this one’s gonna be a tad heavy.” I warned as Adrian grabbed hold of the handle on the top. I reached forward to try to help her lift, but neither of us could manage the weight. “I got it.” His voice was low, but gentle. He had an accent, but it wasn’t overwhelming or harsh, nor did it make anything he said hard to understand. I wasn’t expecting to see the person I saw when I’d finally caught a glimpse of him…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man like this in my entire life. Adrian and I stepped back as he grabbed hold of the suitcase, lifting it with absolute ease, as if it were light as a feather. His arm muscles bulged within the confines of his olive green long sleeved shirt as he tossed the suitcase inside the trunk. My heart began to race, It felt as if I was watching him move in slow motion. “Easy peasy.” He smirked as he turned around and looked down at me, his dazzling dark blue eyes awash with amusement at Adrian and I’s prior struggle. Jesus Christ…This man is an absolute unit. He’s gotta be at least 6 foot 7, if not taller. He’s incredibly easy on the eyes in a rough and rugged kinda way — a nice low trimmed beard, medium length dark brown hair, and a smile that is captivatingly dangerous to say the least. His presence alone exudes a confidence that causes me to grow weak in the knees. “I’m König,” he smiled knowingly as he stretched his hand out towards me. I know I’m definitely not the first woman to look at him the way I am. Even though I’m trying to keep my composure, it’s very clear that he can see right through it. “And you must be Chantelle?” He asked, eyes slowly roaming about my frame from head to toe. He bites his lip slightly as they return to my gaze, suggesting so much without saying any words at all. “I — yes.” I blushed, sheepishly brushing my hair behind my ear as I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.” He said. “Oh yeah, König Chantelle, Chantelle König.” Adrian yelled from the backseat. He laughed and shook his head as he closed the trunk.

We arrived at Adrian’s aunts house about 45 minutes later. König helped us load all of my things into the foyer before letting us know he’d be coming back in a few hours to take us out to this bar that he and a few of his buddies on his task force frequent whenever they’re home. I’ve been thinking about him ever since he left — those mysterious blue eyes, the way he slightly bites his lower lip just before laughing at something ridiculous Adrian has said, the way his arm muscles swell beneath his shirt with the slightest movement…God, he’s sexy. I could think of a million different ways I’d want him to ruin me. The thought alone of being trapped beneath his large brawny frame writhing in pleasure as he thrusts into me over and over has me clenching around nothing. Though I’m not usually one for a one time fling, I have a feeling he’d be able to convince me. “So, you wanna tell me what all of that was about?” Adrian asked as she helped me settle into the guest room. “What are you talking about?” I asked. “Since when are you a shy girl?” She giggled. Sigh. I figured she was referencing my unusual silence during the car ride over here. “He’s hot as fuck but I’ve never seen you like that before.”

“Ugh!” I groaned as I covered my face with a pillow. She’s right. I’m not very easily intimidated. I’m quite the confident woman and I ensure everyone in the room knows it, but this was different. Almost as if our energies were fighting for dominance, and mine didn’t stand a chance. “Hey if it’s any consolation, my jaw dropped the first time I saw him without his mask too.” Mask?

“Mask?” I asked.

“Yes…the last time I was here he was on base training recruits, so I’d see him often in full tactical gear. He’s a snipper, so he wears a mask to hide his face in the field. I mean, that was hot too, but in a Ghostface kinda way”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the comparison, but I was curious to see what his entire ensemble looked like. “How old is he?” I asked.

“I think he’s in his mid to late 30s? I’m honestly not too sure, and it doesn’t matter to me either way.” She winked. “I was sensing some unspoken vibes between the two of you in the car though. Don’t think I didn’t see both of you stealing glances at each other every now and then.” She smirked.

“Stop,” I scoffed. “A man like that is definitely not single, and even if he is…I don’t know” I blushed. “I didn’t see him looking at me..”

“K well I see everything, he definitely likes what he sees, and clearly the feeling is mutual on your end as well. Looks like tonight will be interesting.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen, Adrian.” I laughed as I rolled my eyes. Nothing’s gonna happen…right?

PART II 👉🏽 A Weekend In Vienna 🇦🇹: PART II

PART III 👉🏽 A Weekend In Vienna 🇦🇹: PART III

[lomappreciationblog]

Been a while since I did an actual proper version of these kinds of posts - but it's character art appreciation time! Featuring Miss Crystalle from "Can't Look Back," who is not an ice witch. She's kinda pissed off at Mephianse for that.

As far as I know she only appears in this one quest, but I'm sure a lot of people remember her appearance - I know I do. I think there is one other quest involving the pirates in Fieg Snowfields, but I don't think Crystalle appears in that one.

She really just pops up once and never comes up again lol, but she's a strongly established character via her design elements and personality.

The Character Tome is actually the only thing that reveals more actual information about her: mainly, it gives her name, and it also reveals she's a "Snow Faerie." Which is an odd detail, since for starters she looks nothing like the typical Faerie we see in the game.

All the Faerie we see appear like this, with recolored sprites and portraits distinguishing them, but only a little.

Another oddity of her being named the "Snow Faerie who guards the Garden of Icicle Flowers' has to do with "Can't Look Back," wherein Crystalle herself says the reason why Nakratos became a snow beast was because he intended to ambush and capture a Faerie at the said location.

This kinda makes it ambiguous if Crystalle was actually Nakratos's target and so it's why she kept an eye on him while keeping her distance, or if her being the guardian Faerie of the Garden of Icicle Flowers means she was just doing her duty when she witnessed his transformation. Crystalle herself doesn't show any fighting ability in the quest, despite what Mephianse said about her, but Crystalle does seem to indicate Nakratos has failed to capture even a single Faerie, so it's possible that has to do with her, perhaps she had some sort of restrictive measures put over him but was unable to defeat him herself. Again, it's all a bit ambiguous, but I imagine Crystalle would have been mightily pissed off at Mephianse slandering her if the case really was that she had been Nakratos's target.

...this is a character art appreciation post, not analysis, so moving on - well, Crystalle actually has a detailed entry in the "Art of Mana" book, made again by character artist Nao Ikeda!

I wonder if there's some sort of change or translation slip because the art book introduces Crystalle as "Enchantress of the Snow Fields". Nothing about her entry mentions her being a Faerie, which might be the reason why she doesn't really share any characteristics with them, it seems like she wasn't even meant to be one. In fact, one of the notes even says she's "more like a demon" though it could just be visual description rather than character lore.

Here's the all the notes typed up:

Here's the note to the right of the chibi illustration:

"In contrast to her fluffy cotton hat, her hair is like columnar joints and her kimono sleeves use crystals to convey a sharp look."

Here's the note in the middle of the ink drawings:

"More like a demon than a magical being. She might have a horn growing under her bridal hood."

The bottom note:

"She's the enchantress of the snow fields, so for her design I included things like a cotton hat that looks like piles of snow and hair that hangs like icicles. In the story, she's also like the old Japanese folklore tale of the snow woman (Yuki-onna), so her bangs and clothes have a somewhat Japanese look to them. (Ikeda)"

These notes do confirm that Crystalle's similarities to the Yuki-onna are deliberate, and Nao Ikeda speculating she might have a horn under her "bridal hood" also gives her the flavor of an oni. Interestingly, despite these motifs of more frightful yokai, in the final game Crystalle doesn't seem to be malevolent at all. She just sounds harsh towards Mephianse, but can you blame her after he misunderstood what happened?

Here's close-ups of the concept art:

Nao Ikeda likes making chibi illustrations of her characters - it's really cute! It does seem like she was rather fond of Crystalle to draw her this much, but I'm just speculating.

The Crystalle art we see in game dropped the detailing of the pattern on her robes - the shape of the clothes is actually quite different too, in Mr. Kameoka's official art for LOM. In Nao Ikeda's work, it seems like Crystalle wears some sort of ice-like stockings, but in-game she looks like she has furry legs.

I think this one is still Nao Ikeda's work, but she did draw Crystalle here in a way that's more similar to Mr. Kameoka's work. The eyes, especially.

Another chibi on top, but these bottom two ink drawings remind me of Final Fantasy art. I can't quite put my finger on why, but the way Crystalle looks her reminds of Ultimecia from FF 8.

Hope this was interesting! Sources for the art are screenshots from the HD version of Legend of Mana on the switch, and the concept art are pictures I took from the Art of Mana book.

[crystalcleararts]

Move Out for The Imagination Movers (The One Way Door Room) The Wiggles and The Imagination Movers Crossover Fic

The Old Version of Move Out for The Imagination Movers (The One Way Door Room) The Wiggles and The Imagination Movers Crossover Fic Because I Working an Rewrite of Move Out for The Imagination Movers (The One Way Door Room) at The New Version of The Wiggling Wiggles's WiggleUniverse

Move Out for The Imagination Movers (The One Way Door Room) The Wiggles and The Imagination Movers Crossover Fic

(Like the title say this a crossover Fic between two of my childhood bands, keep in it that this is included things from my WiggleWorld and my ideas/headcanons about the characters so keep a open mind)

Chapter 1: A One Way Ticket to a Wiggly World:

It was a another day for one of the popular band and the world best problem solvers in some cases: The Imagination Movers

The Imagination Movers is a band that perform everywhere, across places and places while handling and doing a business, and their business is problem solving, they help people with their problems and found a way to fix them in their own ways

In their huge warehouse where they mostly be helping people and hanging out with themselves and some of their friends

Rich, Smitty, Dave and Scott was cleaning up the warehouse that they do every week, cleaning the warehouse, checking every room in the warehouse make sure everything is is good

Checking every room in the warehouse is not a easy job since each room has it own special way like one of them is just a whole beach, one of them is like the north pole, and one of them it their own barbershop, The list can going on and on in this warehouse

The movers been checking and cleaning the rooms mostly all day, entering every door, cleaning in and out, and checking it off of the list

As one of the movers sweeping the floor down the hallway looking up to the room doors and down to floor so he won't trip down, repeating the movement

He across a room that he never seen, he pull out the list again and look at it makes sense it was right, once he noticed that the room that he run by is not on the list he call the others to come to him

"Ummm guys?" The lovable Funny Himbo Scott says, Scott is the one who play the keyboard on the group and able to see through walls and other things with his special Wobble Goggles

The others 3 movers put down their cleaning supplies and their own version of the list and started to ran towards where Scott

Once they got there they look at Scott worry that something happens

"What is it, Scott" Rich asked

Rich is the Self proclaimed leader of The Imagination Movers, who plays the drums with his glow up drumsticks which he use them to draw with Scribble Sticks

"Is something wrong?"

"Yea….I think so?" Scott say he points at the sign to the room

"I think we have a new room that we didn't know or discovered"

The sign has a rainbow cover the sign but instead of the normal rainbow the rainbow only has the colors: Yellow, Purple, Red, and Blue with a picture of earth but it looks different than their earth

"Have any of you guys seen this room before?" Scott ask but the movers just shake their heads and say no

The movers just looks at each other in confusion, one of them Smitty just looks at the sign for a while and think, like if he seem those colors before

Smitty is the oldest member of group, he is a caring but adventurous inspiration cowboy who plays lead guitar in the band and with his journal he wrote and learn anything from picture that can fly out of the book or it plays videos

Smitty look at the sign before looking down at Dave who was walking through the door to experiment

Dave is the youngest member of the group who play bass guitar, and have a fantastic of inventing things when he was playing with the other movers, he has red hat that he use to pull everything out of that

He started to walk towards the door and look at it for a while before reaching to the doorknob and turning it and open the door

The movers look at him in worried as he reached the doorknob and as he opened open the room was show a bright white light that cover everything in the room

He looks at the white room for a while before slowly reaching his hand out and connected his hand into the light, he pull his light out and look at it and see that his hand is fine

"It looks like it safe"

"Yea, but should we go in there I mean none of us enter the room before" Scott say

The movers look at each other before thinking up a idea for this situation, Smitty noticed something and look down, he noticed his little buddy Warehouse Mouse was running cross the floor and up to his shoulder

"What up little buddy?" Smitty asks looking at him as he try to talking to him, while keeping a ear open for any of the movers if they have a idea

"If we know we have the room or not we still need to check it, it apart of cleaning job for the warehouse" 

"Rich is right, we do have to check the room to see it good or not" Smitty replied

"Yea we don't know how long we going to be there in the room and we do have to start the day for today work" Scott points out

The Movers look at each other before hearing Warehouse Mouse speaking and looking at him

"Warehouse Mouse say that he could look after the warehouse while we be in there" Smitty explains

"Are we sure we should let him look over the place?" Rich ask kinda annoyed, Smitty look at Rich with a eyebrow raise before responding

"Yes, he always been here even we leave for the day" he say, grabbing Warehouse Mouse and puts him down the ground

"Now little buddy, we probably be gone for a while so you would look after the warehouse while we are going, here" he pull out some cheese out of his pocket and give it to Warehouse Mouse

Warehouse Mouse cheers and nods at Smitty before running out the hallway The Movers look at each other for a while before looking at the door with the white light room

They just stand there before one of them started to walk through the door, so the others walk in to as all of them went through the door, the door closed itself and the door changed looks

Meanwhile into the "room" The Movers was having a hard to see though the bright white light and since the whole room is white they didn't know what the end of the room

With their hands trying to cover some light so they can see, but so far there was nothing to been found

"Guys, I can't see anything" Rich explain

"Yeah, me too" Dave replied

"If only way we can see though this light" Scott points out, he stop for a while and thought of a idea 

He pull his Goggles down and use them to see if he can see though the light, for a while the goggles wasn't working normally it started off glitching for awhile before it finally went back to normal

"Hey guys, I can see though the light with my Wobble Goggles"

"Ah..good working Scott!" Smitty yells out in excitement

"Quick we should grab and hold each other's arms and let Scott lend us!" Dave explains and so they did they found each other's arms and grab them so that they didn't get lost

It takes them awhile in the white room to found something, Scott looks up and see it, he told the other that he thinks he found a exit so The Movers started back walking towards that

The white light cover their view for a while before slowly colors come back into their views, green alot of green, it slowly forms in trees and bushes, it looks like they are in a forest

"Where are we?" Dave asks

"It looks like we are in the woods" Smitty responded

"But we already has a forest room"

"And I already checked it off the list" Rich jumps in

The movers just shrugs and turn around and walk to the door, but when Scott reach and grab the Doorknob it was gone

He looks down at his hand and see he was holding nothing, confusion full the mover face

"Ummm, guys the door is gone" the others just noticed that once Scott turn around and telling them that, The others got worried before calming themselves down

"Ok movers we need to calm down and brainstorm idea of how to get back to The Warehouse, but first we need to know where are we" Rich explain

Than a loud noise appears it's gets closer and closer to the movers before a big creature pop up behind they slow turn around to see what it was

It was a big black creature that looks like a fantasy creature that you would found in a show, black smoke was coming off it and it looks it was wearing some form of mask

The creature looks down and noticed The Mover and let out a roar, which make The Movers scary for their life which make Rich jump into the red cap mover's arms

The creature was about to attack the red and blue wearing men until something happened, the creature stop in place and let out a painful scream before falling over which The Movers move out of the way

When The Movers was out the way they noticed someone on top, it was a girl who has a bow ribbon on her head and around her hips, she has red orange hair and her hair was up in a ponytail

It looks like that she was sticking a sword towards the creature, she pull it out and jumped off the creature, the creature started to slowly turning in black smoke and soon disappear

"That's weird, they normally don't appear close to the town" The Red haired girl thought

"This is the 4th one this week….I wonder if is…" she thought before she looks up and noticed the four guys

She just looks at them looking at some part analyzing their outfits, their "tools", she try to look see their names closer on their outfits

She decided to put her weapon away but always have a hand on it just in case she started to walk closer to them, she thought they seem friendly so she try to talk to them

"Are you guys ok?" The Red haired girl asks

"Y-yeah we are" Rich get down from his friends arms and dusted himself before answer the question

".... little bit scared" Scott jump in, laughing awkwardly

"Who are you guys? You guys don't look like you are from here, are you from a city or a town?" She asked

"Well we guess we can answer the first part of you question" Rich speak up

"We are….."

"Imagination Movers!" All four of The Movers says, they each tell the girl their names and what they do

"So you guys solve problems?"

"Yea, and now we have a new one we don't know where are we" Rich replied

"Well you are in one of the woods outside of WiggleTown" The Red haired girl responded

The Movers look at each other in confusion saying WiggleTown confuses, The girl just looks at them in confusion until she speaks up

"It probably better if you guys don't stay in the woods, especially if creatures like that thing are in here, follow me maybe the others can help you guys" She say and started walking away, The Movers noticed and started to caught up with the girl

The group walking through the woods, making sure that no harm come, The Movers started to ask The Girl questions

"Actually you didn't tell us who you are" Rich asks

"Yeah, and what was that creature?" Smitty asks 

"And how do you learn to attack it?" Scott asks

The girl started to slowly down a bit but continuing to walking, she slowly turn her head around to face the boys, when make them trip a bit

"I guess I can answer the first question" The girl say

"I am Emma….Emma Wiggle"

"Emma….Wiggle?" Smitty question which make Emma to stop her place, the movers expect Smitty bump into each other and almost fall down, she fully turn around

"Yes?... Have you heard of me before?" She ask hoping that this would make her with where did they come from

"Not technically, but I heard the name before……Wiggles"

"Mmmm you must know about us where you guys come from"

"Yea, but the last time I hear about them there was 4 guys in the group…. not being rude Miss Emma" he points out than quickly caught himself

Emma thinks for a while about that information than look back to The Movers

"Well there is a female wiggle, and I am the first one"

"You're The First Female Wiggle?!" Scott say in shock which make her shoulders go up, The Other Movers noticed it and look at him in kinda disgust, which him kinda upset

Emma noticed them look disgusted and upsetly, she quickly jump in and speak up

"No no no, it's ok, yes, I'm the First Female Wiggle and have been for two decades now"

"...is it hard?" Scott asks

"Is it hard to solve problems for you guys?" Emma responded with a another question, which make the Movers look at each other and whisper which come out a "sometime yes"

"Than there your answer" Emma say with a smile

"What the next question…of yeah the creature, that creature is one of COS"

"Cos?" Dave questions

"Cos is the shortest version of Creatures of Shadows, we don't know what they are we just know that they are creatures that made of shadows and darkness they mostly looks like normal animals like a bird, or wolf, or maybe a bear"

"A Bear?!?!" The Movers yell out worried, they look around, scary for a actual one, but not a minute pass they started to calm down and just laugh for a bit

As Emma continue explain what the creatures are Smitty put out his journal and started writing down the information, as he was writing his journal something happened, as he noticed that he full the page up he turn a page, than one of the pictures started to flicker, glitching

He looks at it confused, he slowly reach out and touch the page when he did, a shock went through him which make him get a headache

"Ah!" He say to himself, luckily no one hear him, he started to feel dizzy for a minute, his vision starts to change color than soon turn back to normal

He focus back on the girl that they just met explaining Creatures of Shadows, she was about to explain that they are attracted to negative emotions until Smitty say it before her

Emma stop walking and turn around to face the movers, she mostly focus on Smitty looking confused

"Y…yea…how do you know that?" She ask

"I…I don't know" he responded confusedly, he scratches his head in confusion, this is the first time that he hear of this creature, he looks down at his journal for a while before Emma started walking again, and The Movers follows

They was close to WiggleTown, once they leave the woods they follow down a path to the town, they soon finally made it to town

"Finally, we're here, Welcome to WiggleTown Imagination Movers!" Emma say and show The Movers WiggleTown, The Movers was in amazings about the look of the town

It looks more like a city than a town, the people of the town was wearing of their own clothes that they all have the same four colors: Yellow, Blue, Red, and Purple

The Movers noticed The Big Tall Building that looks like it was in the middle of the town, They noticed that Emma was walking through it, they look at each other confused than follow her

The Movers look around as they follow The Wiggle, a Bakery, a Big Cafe, A Perform Area, they keep looking at the buildings and the people, until they aride to the building

They enter the building and there was a woman that was walking by until she noticed Emma, just her

The Woman has a ponytail, and wearing something that a marching band wears, some people who was also walking by in the building was wearing something similar to the lady's, it looks like the lady was more detailed and design

"Caterina?" Emma say, The lady looks up and see Emma

"Emma, you are back already?" Caterina say

"Well, I come back early because I need to talk to the other wiggles about something…well multiple of things, do you know where they are right now?" 

"Well today, Simon is with his group in Dorothy's Rose garden, Anthony is at main town cover some issues that we having lately, Lachy is there him mostly is, in his invention room" Caterina responded

"Mmmm, can you call them and tell them that I need to see them quickly, it a emergency" Emma say

Caterina look at Emma for a minute before looking over and noticed the four guys in Blue Fixed it Uper Jumpsuits, she raise a eyebrow before looking back Emma

"I will get them on the way" she say before walking away and started calling the others wiggles 

Emma walk back to The Movers and show them around the building until they walk across one of the green rooms in the building

"Here you guys should be here and chill out while I found the others to help you with your problem" Emma say closing the door before her leaving The Movers in the room

"Well she was nice" Scott say with a smile

"Yeah, but we still don't know exactly where we are" Smitty points out

"We just know that we are in a town that we never hear of" Rich jumps in, The Movers all agreed on that they started to walk around the room trying to think of something

One of them noticed that some musical instruments was laying around the room, a drum, a keyboard, a bass and a guitar, the same instruments that The Movers play, but the instruments was color covered, the guitar was blue, the keyboard was purple, the bass was red, and the drum was yellow

"Hey guys, Look…" Dave say as he run to the red bass and put it on him, and started to play some cores

"There are instruments that look like ours…. maybe we shouldn't worry about it right now…maybe until Emma comes back with help"

"Maybe Dave is right" Smitty say running towards the blue guitar and put it around him

"We shouldn't worry about it alot remember we did that last time we try to solve Rich's sleeping problem" The Movers look each other and nods in agreement

"We should play some music, maybe that can calm us down" Rich say running towards the drums, Scott just shrugs and happy runs towards the keyboard

Rich started to count to three and they started to play one of their songs, meanwhile Emma was starting walking back to the room with the other Wiggles

"So Emma, what is the emergency that you need to show us" Simon ask

"Yeah, because we are always happy to help" Lachy say

"Well there is multiple things I want to talk about I want to show you the main one first" Emma point out until she stop at her place which make the other Wiggles stop too

"Is that music?" Emma say before starting walking fast towards the room it was coming from The other Wiggles follow her and try to caught up to her

Once she got to the room she opened the door to see The Movers playing her and the other wiggles instrumentals, they was surprised about how good they were

The music stops when one of the movers noticed Emma with other people, which make the other movers to stop and look at the group

The Movers quickly put the instruments down and stand up a front of The Wiggles, they started to apologize which makes Emma giggle and laugh

"Guys it's okay, I just didn't expect to hear music when I came back…I didn't know you guys can play"

"Yeah we do, we are a band after all" Rich say

"You guys are in a band?" Lachy ask

"Yea we are, just like you guys" Smitty answers

"Oh yea, I probably need to explain you Wiggles" Emma says jump in so that she didn't almost forget it

"Wiggles, This is The Imagination Movers, Rich, Dave, Scott and Smitty" The Movers smile and wave to the other Wiggles

"I found them in the woods, when I was doing my work for today, they didn't know where they are, and I don't where did they come from, I ask them if they were from here and they don't know where here" Emma explain

"Well, what happened to you guys before coming here" Lachy ask

"Well before we was in our ideal Warehouse, doing our normal cleaning routine, until we found a room we didn't know so we enter and end up in the woods" Dave explain

"Yeah, and we try to go back the door disappeared" Scott added in

The Wiggles just looks at The Movers confused for a minute before Lachy started to walk back and forth thinking of something

"Do you have a idea, Lachy" Simon asked

"I have a theory but I want to check it to make sure it true" he say grabbing his coat and pulling out a little gadget out it

"Besides I don't know of a "ideal Warehouse", I don't think we have one in our world"

The Movers look at each other confused when he say their world, they immediately looks at Lachy when he got their attention

"Now, I want you guys to stay still and apart, this won't hurt so you guys be fine" he told them and aim the gadget towards The Movers, but when he try to turn it on it doesn't work

"Aw man this the third time this happened, I been fixing it and fixing it everytime it doesn't work I don't know what the problem is"

Dave step up and look at gadget before asking if he can see it, which the purple wiggle give him it

He started to look at it until he took off the back of it and noticed a missing gear

"Ah, there is the problem, you probably didn't realize it was missing a gear" he put the gadget under his arm and take his hat of his head and flip it

He looks into it because reaching down in it and try to found a gear to fix the gadget, but when he put his hand it in it started trying to pull him in, the other movers see that Dave was having trouble with it and help him by trying to pull his arm out

It takes a couple of tries before his arm was free, holding a gear in hand, his hat fly cross the road with something inside of the hat falling out of lt

The Movers fall over, laying on the ground luckily Dave grab the gadget so that it won't fall down and break

"Get it!" He say, slowly getting up as does the other movers, The Wiggles walk over and pick up his hat and some tools that fall out of the hat, and give it back to him

He thanks them and started to fix the gadget, once he was done fixing the gadget up, he give it back to Lachy and tell him to try it now

"It works…. thanks…well…. Movers please be apart and stand still" The Movers follows what The Purple Wiggle told them and he started to scanning them, which make Scott giggle

When the scanning was done it took a while for gadget finally has results to confirm Lachy's Theory

"Ah…just like I thought…you guys are from outer worlds" He explained, which The Movers just looks confused at what he say

"Oh…let me simplify it, You guys are not from here, our world, so whatever that door you guys went through telepost you guys here" The Movers nods in understand what he say

"No worries Movers, there is a way to get you guys back to your world, I have something called Interdimensional Substance, that would be your key to getting back, I will go to see where I put it in my invention room" Lachy say before starting to walk out of the room

Hours pass, since it takes a long time to found for Interdimensional Substance since Lachy's invention room was huge and full of all of things, but when he was found it, he found out that he doesn't have any more

"I guess I use the last of it to make your Interdimensional Pendant Necklace, Emma" The Movers look at each other worried

"No worries, that means I just need to make more….but I don't know how long that would take, I guess you guys have to stay here for a while" Lachy say with a little upsetting tone, one of The Movers noticed and speak up

"Hey, it ok, you guys solve our problem, now we know where we are" Rich say

"Yeah, that means that is one more step to solve this Big Idea Emergency" Smitty jump in

"And we are The Imagination Movers, we not going to leave one thing to stop us to solving a problem" Dave say

"And you guys help, Wiggles, you can solve anything you guys know this world ways better than us" Scott say reaching his arms out towards The Wiggles excitingly

"So, you guys are ok staying here in our world" Emma asks, all of the Movers yell out "YEAH!!!"

"I mean we don't have much choice" Rich thought before he started hearing one of the Wiggles talk

"It looks like it getting dark" Emma say look towards the window, than looking back towards the group

"No worries, I know where you guys can sleep in, Movers you mates can follow me, while you three going back to your WiggleHouse and get some rest we need to walk up early the next few weeks" Anthony say telling everyone what should they do

He started to walk out the door, The Movers slowly starting to follow the blue wiggle, while The other Wiggles walk out afterwards

Anthony and The Movers started to walk towards the town, The Movers continue looking around the town in wonder what is world is

"Where you taking us, sir" Dave asks

"Just call Anthony, you guys going to stay in The Wiggly Entertainers Campus Center" Anthony answers

"What is that?" Rich jump in

"It's a land in WiggleTown that for all of The Wiggly Entertainers live in"

"The Wiggly Entertainers?" Smitty Questions 

"The Wiggly Dancers, The Wiggly Actors/Actress, The Wiggly Singers/Players, ect" The Movers "oooh" in once understanding it

"It like their own Downtown for them" Anthony points out

It took them a while before they hit The Big Main Building in The Wiggly Entertainers Campus Center

"Here where you guys going to stay in for a while"

Entering The Big Main Building the inside of it looks like a if a very fancy hotel and a Campus was mix together, The Movers "oooo" seeing it

The Movers noticed that they lost Anthony for a minute before founding him talking the same lady that Emma was talking to earlier today

Anthony and The lady was talking for a while before walking towards The Imagination Movers

"Guys, this is Caterina, she is the Head of alot of groups here but she is mostly The Head of The Wiggly Dancers, she going to be your "Guardian" while you guys staying this building so if you guys have anything you can ask her" Anthony explain

After The Movers greeted Caterina, she give a little bow towards them in return, Anthony say good night to everyone before leaving

The Movers thanks Anthony for this, and they say to thank the other for helping them out, Anthony say "he will" and "it's no problem they just like helping people out" before leaving the building

Caterina started to show where The Movers going to living in, the walk was kinda awkward but The Movers mange to get some small talks from her so they can get to know her a bit

She opened the door show a pretty fancy room should has it own living room, it's own kitchen, two bedrooms and bathrooms

The Movers just walk in and Caterina told them if they need anything just call her, they smiles and nods, so as she and close the door

It was night time and The Movers was in the bedrooms, Rich and Dave in one room and Scott and Smitty in the other one

Rich just was laying down staring at the ceiling, until he noticed that Dave was doing the same thing

"Hey, don't worry we going to solve this Idea Emergency, even if it takes days to solve"

"Yeah, but we don't know anything about this world"

"Well, that why The Wiggles will help us, they was kind enough to help us and letting us stay here"

Dave was having something else in mind before he decided to hold it until he can figure it out, he turn around to face his roommate and give him a thumb up before facing the other way to fall asleep, he does the same

Today was interesting for The Imagination Movers, but they have a big idea emergency to solve this maybe be the biggest one they have

But hey, they are The Imagination Movers, there is no problem that can't solve and help with their new friends there is nothing that they can't compare for

Chapter 2: A Colorful Festive Problem:

It was the new day after The Imagination Movers accidentally enter The WiggleWorld

It was sunrise and the sunlight was hitting on the young Mover's eyes, he slowly sit up and try to cover the light with his hand for while so he can actually wake up

Once he was fully wake up he looks around the room for a moment, kinda forgetting where he is, noticed that he was alone

He looks at his roommate bed, it was empty, Dave slowly gets up and started to walk out of them room, he poke his head into the other movers room to see they still asleep

He walking down towards the living room, he was about to call out Rich's name until he heard a knock at the door, he just stand there until he heard it the second time

He walk over the door and open it slightly to see who it is, it was Caterina, Dave smile before opening the door fully

"Good morning, Ms.Caterina"

"Just call me Caterina" She replied, she slowly come in the room, holding a trade full of 4 plates of breakfast food in one arm

"Do you need something ma'am?" Dave ask walk by her, so he can be there to help her

"No, I'm here to give you guys breakfast" she say placing the food down"

"This is your guy's normal breakfast order, Right? A breakfast pizza with whole wheat crust, Some Burro-shaped pancakes, a bowl of Yogurt and Granola Parfait that's……that's shaped like The Matterhorn?..." She say in confusion but she shake it off and continue the list of orders"

"And a Pineapple, Strawberries, and Wheat Smoothie, but the one who want it already got it when I come over here"

"Already got it?" Dave asks

"Yes…earlier this morning I was about to knock you guys to ask you what you guys want to have for breakfast until one of y'all was walking down the hallway"

"Rich?"

"Yes, I ask him why he is up this early, he say he was going on a run around the Campus, and he tell me what you guys eat for breakfast, that why I bring it here"

"Oh ok, thanks" Dave say with a small smile, Caterina nods and say "no problem" she started walking out the door after saying if there something else they needed just ask her

As she closed the door, Scott and Smitty come in after waking up, reaching up the air, and rubbing their eyes

"Who was that?" Smitty asks

"It's was Caterina, she brings us breakfast, apparently she was going to ask us what we want but Rich already told me because he is out running around" Dave replied

"I wonder why he is running?"

"I mean it's Rich, he always do runs in the warehouse" Smitty point out

"Yes, but we are in a world that we don't know of"

"That is true" Scott jumps in

The three Movers stand there and think for a moment before one of them speak up again

"Well maybe after we eating breakfast we should look for Rich, maybe we should head to the tall building in the middle of town maybe The Wiggles can help us" Smitty explains

The others agree and started to eat their breakfast before it gets cold, they can't do anything without breakfast

After they finish breakfast, they started to head out the Campus and walk towards WiggleTown since they don't really need to change clothes they only had one

Once they get to the building, they enter and when they did they found Rich and Lachy talking to each other

"Rich!" The Movers say, and Rich look at them

"Oh, hey guys"

"Have you been here?" Scott ask

"I only been here for a couple minutes now, I just finished running with Lachy, he saw me doing it alone, so he ask if he can join me because he does the same every morning, also he thinks it a good idea if I do it with someone I already know in a world I don't know of" Rich explain himself

The other movers just ooo and ahh in understand and agreement, than The Movers look around and noticed that some people in the building was putting up decorations

Actually when Scott Smitty and Dave was walking through town people was also decorating with Rainbows of the colors of Yellow, Purple, Red, and Blue

The Movers group together looking at the people decorating for a while before they noticed the other wiggles come in with trouble faces

The Movers look at each other with confusion, they walk over to them and ask them is everything ok

"Oh Movers, Hello" Emma say surprised, holding some of the decorations

"Well…. everything is…everything is out of our hands" Emma say sighing

"What's wrong?" Scott asks

"You see, it spring times in WiggleWorld, which means it time for one of our annual celebration, The Wiggly Rainbow Festival" Emma say

"Oh no" Lachy explain

"I forgot that our next event, we have so much in a year I forget"

"It's doesn't help that alot happened the past weeks including you guys appears in our world, it's slip from our heads" Simon points out

"Yeah, especially the fact we also have the Gala in the same week and we can't cancel it because we already announced to the world and they are all excited about it" Emma say worried

"Oh this is the first we have two events happening at the same time, and we told Anthony we have everything under control….oooo have we gotten ourselves into a huge Colorful Festive Problem?" Emma say accidentally dropping the decorations putting her hands on his cheeks

Since she the leader of the group she is control of a lot of things especially events and festivals

"Wait!" Rich say run through the other movers and grab both of Emma's arms

"What did you say?"

"I say how we got ourselves into a huge Colorful Festive Problem?"

"That's great!" Emma looks at Lachy and Simon in confusion before looking back at Rich

"We have a problem, how's that great?" Rich let go of her and ran back to the Movers

"We're The Imagination Movers!"

Emma just looks at them for a while before realize something

"And you guys are problem solvers! That's what you guys told me when we met!"

"But are you guys sure you can help us, these are huge world events" Lachy say

"Yeah!" The Movers yell out

"Again, We're The Imagination Movers, solving problems is what we do" Dave say

"Plus, we have a similar problem before we made a un-party" Scott say, The three wiggles turn their heads in confusion

"It a long story" Scott explain

"Guys, this is our first problem from another world!" Dave explains

"Wait this isn't just a problem…it's"

"An Idea Emergency!" The Movers yell out in excitation

“Movers! We have a situation that needs some imagination” Scott explain

"We need to figure out how we are going to help The Wiggles…" Smitty explains 

"To plan their events at the same time…" Dave say

"And that means we need some good ideas from this new world!" Rich jump in

"Guys…"

"Let's Brainstorm!" They all yell out

The Movers starting to thinking making their thinking faces until a gust of wind appears in the room, it started to get stronger and stronger, until the point that The Three Wiggles was trying to hold on, putting their hands in front of their faces 

🎶We need good ideas

And we need them now

So put your heads together

And we'll write them down🎶

🎶There no bad ideas

When you're brainstorming🎶

🎶I can count on you

You can count on me

To make our ideas a reality🎶

🎶There no bad ideas

When you're brainstorming!🎶

🎶There no bad ideas

When you're brainstorming!🎶

🎶Brainstorming here

And brainstorming there

Brainstorming upside down

Or sitting in your easy chair🎶

(Sitting In Your Easy Chair)

🎶Reach High🎶

🎶Think Big🎶

🎶Work Hard🎶

🎶Have Fun🎶

The Movers put their hands on top each other and throw them up the air, they shake themselves in overwhelming

"Wooo, that was cool" Emma say

"Yeah, does a storm always appear when you guys do that?" Lachy asks

"Well, Yeah, it happens when we brainstorming" Scott say with a proud smile

"Guys, this is our first Idea Emergency in another world, Soo….who has a good idea?" Rich explain

"Well, there is always a reason for events and holidays happens" Smitty points out

"Yeah like Christmas!" Scott say

"Or birthdays!" Dave say

"So what is the meaning of The Wiggly Rainbow Festival?" Rich asked

"Well, The Wiggly Rainbow Festival is a Event that Celebrate the creation of The Wiggly Rainbow that was made by The Original Wiggles, Greg, Jeff, Murray and Anthony, The first Wiggly Rainbow was important because it how WiggleWorld was created" Emma explain, moving her arm slowly showing a little yellow trail

"Wait wait wait…it's created WiggleWorld….this world….the world that we are stuck in?" Rich questions, The movers looking confused at what their just hear

"Yes, a long time ago there was another world before WiggleWorld….WiggleWorld was the recreation of the old world which we still figuring out, but that is a different quest" Emma explain

"Anyways The Wiggly Rainbow Festival is one of biggest events we have, Every Year We, The Wiggles perform and create The Wiggly Rainbow in the event, it be great if we can figure out how everything ready for it"

"Hey, maybe we can take your guys places!" Scott explain, everyone looks confused

"The event is about you guys right? So you guys must be the heads of the event planning right?"

"Well, I mostly the one control alot of things including events and festivals, but yes" Emma say as she picking up the decorations from the floor and caring it

"Well, why not let us take place was the replacement event planners for you guys" Scott say walking towards Emma and taking the decorations off her hands

"Yes, you guys must have a list of things you need to do for the event?" Rich point out

"Well, we normally remember it in our minds"

"We can write it down and make it a to do list" Dave say reaching to his pocket but stopping thinking if he put his notebook in his pocket or in his hat, remember that he put it in his pocket

He pull the notebook out and toss it to Rich who caught it and pull out one of his Scribble Sticks

"I'll use my Scribble Sticks" he say spinning it before turning it on and get ready to write anything down

"Well, first we need to decorate the whole town, which some people are already doing"  Emma explain

"Than, we need to collect and harvest the foods for The Festival and for The Gala" Lachy jump in

"We need to collect the flowers for The Festival and for The Gala, Especially Roses" Simon explain

"Why Roses?" Scott asks

"Because we have a friend who favorite flower is Roses, she use Roses for everything, so we get extra Roses for her, she normally help us with collecting the flowers for the events" the Movers "ooo" in understand

"There is two more things but we already handled them," Emma points out

"We need to practice, since can perform The Wiggly Rainbow, and we need to notice The Wiggly Rainbow Wonders so they can practice too, that why Anthony is not here right now"

"What's The Wiggly Rainbow Wonders?" Rich asks, interesting about what is it

"The Wiggly Rainbow Wonders are a squad of people who have flying as their main Magic ability basically have a specialization in flying and perform aerial acrobatics and demonstrations. They are apart of The Wiggly Royal Armed Forces"

"The Wiggly Royal Armed Forces?" Scott questions

"The Wiggly Royal Armed Forces is our army" Lachy explain

"Ooh, so The Wiggly Rainbow Wonders is like your guys Air Force?" Smitty point out 

"Well, yes" Simon replied

The movers oh for while before looking at each other in confusion

"They have a army?!" They asks questioning why they need one in a world looks peaceful

They just shake their heads and get back to the plan

"I can be in charge on collecting and harvesting the foods for the events" Smitty jump in

"I can come with you Smitty" Dave say walking towards to Smitty

"I guess me and Scott be in charge of the decorations and the flowers" Rich says....

That's Enough about it and I Working an Rewrite of Move Out for The Imagination Movers (The One Way Door Room) at The New Version of The Wiggling Wiggles's WiggleUniverse, So I Would Rewrite, but There's Out....

[denimbex1986]

'Fleabag’s hot priest is about to take on his most liberating role yet: a one-man show of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in which he will play all nine roles, male and female. He loves taking risks, he says. It seems to be paying off…

I last saw Andrew Scott in the flesh eight years ago. I was sitting in the gloom at the top of what used to be St Martin’s School of Art in the Charing Cross Road – a tiny, temporary theatre had sprung up there – and he was three feet away from me, surrounded by great piles of stuff: newspapers, books, chairs, cupboards… a piano. The occasion was Richard Greenberg’s play The Dazzle, about two compulsive hoarders, the Collyer brothers, and his performance as one of them was mesmerising: in truth, almost too mesmerising. My mind went into overdrive. All that paper and mahogany. What if something toppled, and he was crushed – as the real Langley Collyer was – beneath a chest of drawers?

He wasn’t crushed, of course. But what’s striking and slightly odd is that today I’m seeing Scott in the flesh for the second time, and we’re again at the top of an old building – in this case, a public library – in rooms that feel a bit dilapidated, if not exactly derelict. People imagine the actor’s life to be a glamorous one, particularly if the actor in question has been in a Bond film – and of course it has its enchantments. But then there are the hours spent in spaces like this: long days of sandwiches, bottled water and elusive lines. When we came up in the ancient lift together, I couldn’t decide which of us was the more anxious. He was, I would guess. “MY TWELVE HOURS TRAPPED WITH FLEABAG STAR” ran the ticker tape in my mind as the mechanism creaked and groaned, and we each did our best not to meet the other’s eye.

Scott has spent the past three weeks here, deep in rehearsals for Vanya, a new version by Simon Stephens of Anton Chekhov’s great tragicomedy Uncle Vanya. But there’s new, and then there is… new. This adaptation gives the play, among other things, a contemporary setting. However, when the production opens in the West End, its chief novelty – and its chief draw, given Scott’s huge following – will be the fact that it is a one-man show. He will be playing all nine parts: male and female, young and old, beautiful and not-so-beautiful. It must be hard to learn so many lines, I say, once he’s (semi) comfortable on a battered leather sofa, his old, white T-shirt giving him a slight look of Marlon Brando. Doesn’t he feel like he’s going mad, with all these voices in his head? He laughs – a high-pitched, wicked laugh. “Yeah. I do, and it’s really hard [to learn]. Usually, when you can’t remember a line, another actor will say, ‘What time is it?’ or something, and then it comes to you. But now I’ve no one to cue me.” Alone on stage, he has had to change his mindset completely: “I’ve come to understand that I’m sort of looking after all these characters.”

The idea for a one-man production came about by accident. Scott, Stephens, and Sam Yates, who is directing the play, were workshopping it together (Scott has worked with Stephens twice before, most notably in Birdland at the Royal Court, in which he played a rock star who has made a Faustian pact with fame). “We miscalculated the parts, and I ended up having to act with myself, and it was kind of interesting. It gave birth to the idea that, as much as these characters say they’re different from each other, actually, some of them are very similar. I’m more interested now in those similarities than in, you know, doing a funny voice [for each one]. The production seems to me to be about what the act of creation is. I love the idea that you might be able to represent what a writer experiences on stage, all these characters in his head.”

But how on earth will the audience work out what’s going on? I understand about the funny voices, but won’t Scott have to change his a little bit when he’s acting the part of a woman? He smiles, teasingly. “I don’t think I should tell you that… But you don’t need to worry too much. I feel so liberated! I hope people will start to look at what’s within the performer so that something happens that can only really take place in a theatre – which is that you’re seeing one thing, but imagining something else.” This sounds like reading a novel, visualising scenes and characters for yourself, filling the gaps between words. He nods. “Look, I definitely don’t want to shy away from the ridiculousness of this project, and yeah, I’m nervous, but I’m loving the process. I think it’s a really sexy play. You know, Chekhov was a doctor, and he saw death so much, and I think he was able to understand human beings like no other writer.”

The argument that actors should only play who they are – that a gay character, for instance, may be played only by a gay actor – is made more and more often lately. But this production seems (to me, at least) subtly to resist the notion of identity politics in the theatre; to suggest that such rigidity may sometimes be a cul-de-sac. “It can be a cul-de-sac, certainly,” Scott says. “Of course those arguments have to be heard. The world isn’t a level playing field. But I think transformation is as important as representation. Our first understanding of storytelling happens when we’re young. Our mother or father is pretending to be a wolf. We know we’re safe, but we’re scared, too. Our parent can be a wolf! Human beings can create worlds within themselves. I don’t think we can just slice that out of ourselves.”

He knows some will heartily dislike this Vanya, but the thought seems, if anything, to excite him. “It could go wrong,” he says. “But we need a bit more of people not liking things.” He’s ambivalent, to put it mildly, about standing ovations, which seem to happen in the theatre most evenings nowadays. “My concern is that everything becomes meaningless. I think it’s unfortunate that if someone decides not to stand up, it’s perceived that they hated it. That’s not necessarily true. Maybe I thought it was very good, but I didn’t feel like rising to my feet. My producers are going to hate me for saying this, but I strongly believe that if people don’t feel like standing up, they shouldn’t. People feel lonely, having to stand when they don’t want to. Equally, it’s kind of moving when most people are not standing up, and three people are.”

Does he blame the internet for this? Is it just another form of “liking” something? “I do blame the internet, yes.” But perhaps, too, it has to do with cost. “I was recently on Broadway, and tickets there are astronomically expensive, and I thought: well, these people have to stand up because they’ve spent $390, so it’s got to have been one of the best nights of their lives.” Either way, he doesn’t understand it: the firmness and immediacy of people’s responses. “When you’ve just seen a play, it’s a really sensitive time. It’s weird when people start talking straight away about their new conservatory.” All this may explain why he feels there is more value for him in doing experimental work. “Some people will like it, some people won’t, and that’s great. I feel ferocious about wanting to take risks.”

In the coming months, Scott will be everywhere: a trick of scheduling, rather than by design. Vanya will be followed in January by the release of All of Us Strangers, a film in which he stars with Paul Mescal and Claire Foy (he plays a depressed screenwriter who goes to visit his childhood home, only to find that his parents, far from having died in a car crash when he was 12, are alive and well – though much of the coverage of the movie so far has focused on the fact that his character and Mescal’s are lovers). “It’s a beautiful film,” he says, dreamily. And then there’s Ripley, a Netflix series (its release is expected at the end of this year), based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr Ripley, written and directed by Steven Zaillian, the screenwriter of Schindler’s List and Hannibal.

“It’s a big, big thing,” he says, of his role as Tom Ripley, grifter and serial killer. And yet, Scott said he wouldn’t be doing any more crazed sociopaths, having played Moriarty in Sherlock (he was also a baddie in the Bond film Spectre). “I know, but what I find interesting about him is not the psycho-ness; it’s the otherness. To me, it’s about what it’s like never to be invited to the party. We all know people who don’t make it easy for themselves, who are maybe a bit strange. But if you’re constantly ignored, or sidelined, or don’t fit in, what happens? Is it that something dark emerges? I don’t mind saying that playing him was challenging. It was very lonely. We filmed during Covid, and the five-day isolation requirements that were in place both here and in Italy meant people couldn’t come and visit, and I couldn’t come home. It’s eight hours of television, and he’s a solitary figure in this version, so I was on my own a lot.”

Scott is 46, though you wouldn’t know it; his enthusiasm, like his fidgetiness, belong to a younger man. He grew up in Dublin, with his two sisters – his father worked at an employment agency; his mother was an art teacher – where he was educated at private Jesuit school, attending drama classes on Saturdays. Art was his first plan – painting is still his great love; he can’t wait for the forthcoming Hockney show at the National Portrait Gallery – and he won a bursary to art school at 17. But then he was cast in a film, Korea, about an Irish boy emigrating to America in the 1950s who’s enlisted to fight in the Korean war, so he turned the place down, and once the movie was done, went to Trinity College to study drama instead. After six months, bored by the course, he left to join Dublin’s Abbey theatre.

He seems hardly ever to have been out of work, and his CV is such a mixture: Gethin the tense gay Welshman in Matthew Warchus’s film Pride; eccentric Lord Merlin in the BBC adaptation of The Pursuit of Love; an acclaimed Hamlet in 2017 at the Almeida theatre. By this point, his mantlepiece – he has two, one in London, and one in Dublin – must be quite frantic with statuettes (his most recent win, in 2020, was a Laurence Olivier award for best actor for his performance as Garry Essendine in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter). Does he feel blessed? “Yes, and that’s a really nice way of putting it. I’m grateful.” But perhaps this sounds too… humble: “I’ve never understood why there’s some sort of shame associated with being an artist. I feel able to call myself one.”

His fame is at a level that means he can move around London unnoticed, and he’d like to keep it that way. “I’m suspicious of it. I’ve no real interest in the value of it. The idea of being followed by a photographer seems hellish to me.” Does it affect his relationships? He doesn’t believe that it does, though there are “creepy, unsavoury people” out there who might not “have my best interests at heart”. Is he single? “Yes, I am.” Would he like to meet someone? He would. Surely it’s easy in his world? So many lovely new people entering his orbit all the time – and with his looks… He laughs. “That’s a lot of projection, there,” he says, sounding suddenly more Irish.

I read somewhere that some women in Ireland will always think of him as the guy who turned up to their demonstrations in the run-up to the abortion referendum in 2018, even when it was raining (the vote overturned the ban on abortion in the country, and followed one of 2015, which allowed same sex couples to marry). Isn’t it amazing how much Ireland has changed? When he was 16, it was still illegal to be gay, as he is. “Yes, it’s immense for people of my generation to have been emancipated from the shame of the Catholic church. But it’s interesting. Privacy matters to me, but then I remember Sinéad O’Connor being on The Late, Late Show, talking about human rights, and how important that was. Her kindness… We’re only just finding out about it. She didn’t announce it to the world. Again, it brings us back to social media. Does kindness happen if you don’t tell everybody about it?”

Scott is no longer a practising Catholic. But he can’t be certain this means he won’t call for the priest at the end (this conversation has taken a morbid turn, and it’s my fault). Perhaps it’s in the marrow. “It’s the organisation that’s the problem, not the principles behind it, which are very beautiful for the most part. I remember when Simon and I were doing [the play] Sea Wall. One of the lines in it is: show me God, where is he? And then the next line is: well, show me love, where is that? You can’t get evidence for either of them really. They’re just strong feelings. I believe in the power of love. I feel it’s stronger than anything, because you can’t do anything about it. I’ve so much of it in my life, and one of the things I’m most proud of is how much I’m able, not only to receive it, but to give it – and if somebody thinks that’s sentimental or mawkish, well, to me it’s the opposite.” He talks for a while in this vein. “I want to try to be a good person; not just a nice person, but a good person,” he says, his voice racing on – and it makes me think of him as the Hot Priest in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, the role for which he may now be best known. If every pulpit came with an Andrew Scott, our churches would be bulging at the seams.

Soon after this, there’s a knock on the door. It’s time to begin rehearsal (in the hall outside, his director stands at a lectern, looking quite priestly himself). He has, he says, another three weeks to go before Vanya opens, and when it does, he’ll be looking out for me; I’d better be sitting down at the curtain call, he jokes. Well, perhaps I’ll have good reason to be sitting down, I joke back. But he’s ever serious: “I always remember what my mum used to say. She’s an art teacher, and she used to tell us that a good drawer never rubs out. So, you draw a line, and then you get it wrong, and then you start a new line. The fact that people can see your old line doesn’t make them appreciate your new line any less. It may even make them appreciate it more.” What he means, I think, is that he believes it’ll be all right on the night.'

[darkfictionjude]

I just want to say that I'm in love with your work. You write like this... with a soul! All these details, anxiety, history, characters (a reference to Nine Inch Nails, with this you pierced my heart through and through) 💓✨ A question about the reaction? How would Ro and the brothers react if they noticed that mc was imperceptibly drawing them?

This is very sweet 💜💜💜

Yeah I knew I wanted the first episode to have a very recognizable lyric that still fit the tone I was going for.

By drawing you mean actually drawing right? Or like mentally drawing? I’ll go with the former. It’s a big long tbh.

Imre: he’d been rattling off about palaeolithic stone tools for a good while before he noticed that all your answers were “wow.” He had broken off momentarily to see what was preoccupying your mind and saw a very poor attempt to conceal a sketchbook, your arm trying to hid away what you were doing while your hand was gently moving along. In that moment you looked up and he looked away. “As I was saying…” he continued. He wouldn’t disturb you. Of course he kept rolling his lips together to prevent a smile threatening to break out.

Nia: fires had always made her feel sleepy. You two had moved the couch around to face it as you’d done when you children. She was laying on her side, her head laying on the armrest, she would sigh contently but she didn’t want to seem trite. She knew what you were doing. The tip of the pencil sliding, the way your finger would rub against the paper, was a sound as familiar to her as her own voice. She knew how you felt about being called out during this and so she merely tried to keep her lowering eyes opened and her face angled for you to get her best side.

Lorcan: he had you do this with other things before, the trees, the lake, a character you’d imagined from a book you’ve read. He didn’t really about it much and merely watched the rain coming down from the porch while you scribbled away. His shoulders were slumped and his mind felt light. He had thought you were drawing the rain but as he bent down to tie his show laces he had seen something that looked alarmingly similar to him. He straightened back up and hoped the night would conceal the pink blooming on his cheeks. But he knew it wouldn’t.

Sally: he hadn’t thought about this as thoroughly as he should’ve. He didn’t want to leave you home alone but he didn’t think of the lack of fun it would be for you to take you to the office. He had tried to make conversation with you but your one word answers didn’t give much for stimulating conversation. You had asked for a pencil and a sheet of paper a while back and he thought ‘what’s the harm?’ He wouldn’t ask further questions but as he looked down and kept writing, he could feel your gaze on him and knew he didn’t have to guess what you were drawing. He found he liked that.

Percy: the things he does for a buck. Since Arthur was indisposed and Sally had to go to work, he had been charged with talking the kid to school. He erratically turned the wheel from left to right, pressed his foot hard down on the pedal and flipped off anyone who honked at just to get there faster and not have to deal with this persistent silence he always found there between you two when he wasn’t bothering you. You left without as much as glance back and he was about to reverse when a notebook left on the seat caught his eye. He took it up, flipped through it until he noticed himself just as he was at this moment. His fingers gently caressed this version of himself. Hmm. They made him look good.

[vampiremeerkat]

not sure if you've caught up much to Vivziepop's work lately, but got any thoughts regarding her Helluva Boss show, or her upcoming Amazon Prime version of Hazbin Hotel?

Said this: https://vampiremeerkat.tumblr.com/post/188696192708/hazbin-hotel-came-out-thoughts-aye-watched-it https://vampiremeerkat.tumblr.com/post/665027239768899584/since-youve-seen-hazbin-hotel-what-do-you

But I've still not watched Helluva Boss, only about two or three few second snippets out of curiosity for the animation quality. My knowledge on it is based on a review from Just Stop, and if the show is like he describes, I won't be turning on episode 1 soon. It appears to me like Helluva Boss just does things to look or sound exciting in the moment, without caring about previously established rules or how stupid these decisions make a character look in the face of past or upcoming episodes. Then again, my mind has been poisoned by anime, and I like Cars, so I can also imagine none of it would keep me up at night. But even before Just Stop's video, I've not felt particularly interested. If I had to give a reason, perhaps I just don't enjoy Vivziepop's interpretation of Hell enough to want to know about its residents. Just Stop gives a sensible list of reasons what's wrong with her Hell, but like I said in one of the linked messages above: I find many of the characters too approachable/aesthetically pleasing and already don't think that's what Hell should be like. I want disfigured gremlins no one wants to draw porn of. Hell should be Hell, not a (slightly) less bearable version of some big city you can find on Earth. A good example of Vivziepop's work is the character "Beelzebub". I happened to come across an image of her not long ago, which is a fluffy neon-rainbow fox with insect wings, instead of an actual bee with beastly features, which would've made more sense. Why is someone who's called "(queen) bee" a fox? We know why, and I cry for all the sexy bees in the world. You don't always have to cater to the furries, my friends, please, just try something else for once, leave the canines, felines, and dragons alone! There are so many different kinds of animals walking the planet to sexualize! And you.. furries.. You're all conveniently inhabited by the soul of a wolf -an animal that so happens to appeal to most humans in terms of appearance- while there's infinite times more sea life and insects that existed throughout time and in present day, that died and could've reincarnated into what is now you! That's right loser, you are a literal worm! Anyway, the characters draw the attention of teenagers, but at the same time, the show mishandles the use of swear words and throws them around like it's all good, which I also can't stand. I think the latter is what initially turned me off from sitting on stand-by for the upcoming Hazbin Hotel show, because why should I care about anything you have to say if you're always going "fuck" and "shit" in my face? A sliver of positivity in this rant: I think the owl looks cool. Again, he does not look like anything Hell would produce, I'd design something like him if my intention was a "mysterious, forest fairy tale creature", but still cool. I contemplated looking up his scenes under the belief there's a complicated, emotional story attached, but if you're telling me they did this hooty boy wrong by making him a sexually dissatisfied whore, with Blitzo's only aim being his magic book, and yet further episodes proclaim there's an actual connection between the two without the writers having put in the work, then never mind. I'll find myself a different hooty boy. 💔🦉

[lollytea]

in a hypothetical toh/Peter pan au (bc the parallels are interesting to explore) The Collector is probably the closest equivalent to Peter (eternal child who's repressed all their troubles in the name of Fun and Whimsy and has an ambivalent approach to morality) (though keep in mind I'm not a scholar and it's been a while since I last interacted with a pan adaptation. You're the more knowledgeable one here feel free to correct me)

And then Wendy's closest equivalent as the viewpoint character who learns the main lesson about growing up and moving on and while not losing the part of yourself that made childhood seem so wonderful would probably have to be Luz (though obviously if we're going for this lineup then the peter/Wendy dynamic would have to be decidedly not romantic. Probably lean more into the "mother" thing from the book or Luz and Collie's like. Babysitter and baby dynamic)

Though again I'm very interested in what you, Lollytea, local Peter Pan scholar and toh enthusiast has to say and whether or not I'm off the mark on these ideas. P.S I feel very seen w/ u obsessing about an early 1900s western children's Isekai (/j) bc I did the exact same thing w/ the wizard of oz.

Okay okay okay okay okay okay this is a huntlow AU for my little huntlow brain but I decided to develop the universe a little and give some info on where all the main characters currently are and what they're doing.

Yes absolutely the Collector is this universe's version of Peter. The island adores them for mysterious reasons and their mood and temperment has complete control over the elements. All his whims and dreams and fantasies become a reality here so the place is very chaotic. I'm imagining that the island has the same starry sparkly aesthetic as the BL in S3.

The Collector is heaps of fun and the Lost Boys love hanging out with him and going on adventures. However....he's also prone to tantrums and his tantrums can have devastating consequences so.....none of them are really his true friends either. They're afraid of him, they tiptoe around him, they try to keep him happy.

His only real friend is King, a Neverbeast whose species is as ancient as the Island itself. King has a depthless cavern of power that he just....hasn't really developed yet. He might be a few centuries old but he ages similarly to the Collector. Just a pair of babies. Boys will be boys.

Luz is the most recent Lost Boy in a whole village of Lost Boys. You know how they had that epic village in Hook (1991) Yeah that shit was so cool, I'm giving them one of those. Anyway Luz's reasons for taking the Collector's offer are very similar to her reasons for choosing to stay in the BL. Fantasy as a form of escapism, struggling with the conventional education system and also grief and her mom trying to get her help that she doesn't want. It lands her here.

Amity is a girl who used to be frequently visited by a fairy named Willow when they were both little kids. However, Willow's friendship influenced Amity's overzealous imagination. She was drawing pictures of and writing about fairies and the stories her friend told her about Neverland and this got her in trouble with her parents. Cracking under the threat of more severe punishment, Amity got into a huge fight with Willow, ending in her declaring "I don't believe in fairies!" before slamming her window shut. This is the most cutting thing you could possibly say to a fairy.

Now, years later, Amity is residing in the world she tried so hard to forget about all those years ago. You see, she was at the age where her parents were preparing to send her off to finishing school and were having discussions about future arranged marriages. But Amity is not ready for that just yet. She wants to be a teacher!! She wants to be an inventor!!! So she runs away to Neverland where she can live out her dreams for a while until she's ready to return home.

She's currently running a "school" for the Lost Boys and is affectionately referred to as "Miss Amity", while also tinkering in her spare time. She feels very comforted by the order and control she has over her life now.

It's Luz's arrival that throws it all into disarray. Luz doesn't agree with Amity's style of teaching and though she doesn't deliberately try to interfere, a lot of Lost Boys do end up gravitating towards her, preferring her strange anecdotes and insane hyperfixation infodumps to Amity's lessons. This ends up putting the two of them at odds.

Gus is a Lost Boy....with a gift!!! The Collector was initially drawn to Gus because of their fascination with his primative human "Magic" tricks. Cards, coins behind the ear, cute silly stuff like that. He chose to go to Neverland because the stress of his Dad's high expectations was getting to him and he wanted a bit of a break (a case of miscommunication between father and son).

However, after being spirited away, Gus became Neverland's official Magician, knighted by the Collector himself. And by that I mean the Collector went "Haha I like you. I wonder what you could do if you had real magic!" and then proceeded to snap their fingers and gave Gus powers beyond his comprehension. Like waaaaay too much power. Gus is currently struggling to control his new magic and it tends to come out in uncontrollable bursts and its actually more of a curse than a gift. But he's pretty optimistic about his ability to eventually master it. And also the Collector refuses to change him back so....[shrug]

Willow and Gus? Besties. They're kinda like Peter and Tink in that Willow's favourite place to chill is atop Gus' shoulder or in his pocket.

She does not tell Gus about her secret romantic rendezvous with a certain pirate because that pirate tried to kidnap her once and Gus is very protective of his best friend.

Eda is.....a lot.

Okay. Originally a rebellious but insanely intelligent human girl, Eda and her sister were preparing to take on the world together. They were both aiming to attend the same university on a scholarship, but due to circumstances, the opportunity was only available to one of them. Eda's sister Lilith, panicking about all her dreams being ruined, wound up doing something she'd regret.

She snitched. She told a representative of their dream school of one of the delinquent acts Eda committed. Things quickly got out of hand. One person told another, things getting warped and exaggerated and other people who knew Eda personally began chiming in with their opinions of her. Some things were true. Others were not. But the most hurtful thing is that everybody was willing to believe all of it, because that just seemed to be the person Eda was. All of a sudden, it felt like the whole world had turned on her.

Life became very difficult Eda, she felt isolated and detested. She felt like a monster. This resulted in her running away to Neverland, but she carried her outcast feelings with her. She continued to stew in her own self loathing but that had terrible consequences.

Neverland is unpredictable. Its wishy washy. Its very attuned to imagination and dreams. Because Eda felt so strongly about being a monster, she gradually became a monster.

The Owl Beast is like the Crocodile to Belos' Captain Hook. She sees him as a reflection of the way she was treated back home, while he views her as everything vile and disturbing about this wretched island. Plus when he looks in her eyes, she reminds him of somebody he used to know. Somebody he hates with his whole heart and soul. He needs her dead. She needs him dead.

A huge part of Luz's goal in this AU is uncovering the mystery of the Owl Beast and eventually bonding with her and maybe even helping her return to her human form.

Anyway so yeah thats what's poppin on the island if anybody was interested. We can have our fun with this stuff, incorporate it however we want. I'm very focused on huntlow being silly tho. It's fun to me.

[sofella-butter]

Two years ago, I had written an action and drama book. The story is about an Akita Inu dog that was taken from his owners by the government, who had kidnapped other animals to raise them as military weapons. This dog ended up becoming anthropomorphic (in other words, furry) and suffered several atrocities, from cruel tests and experiments, in addition to training hard to become the perfect weapon.

Since the dog was the one that showed the greatest progress, the other animals were discarded as if they were mere objects. And so the Akita Inu became the military weapon that the government wanted, where he began to carry out several secret assassinations on behalf of the government, eliminating targets that in theory were very dangerous people who are considered a threat.

However, when he discovers that one of his targets is innocent, he begins to have an existential crisis about the goodness and value of life. Following this epiphany, he thinks he can no longer kill. Because of this, he abandons his mission and runs away, but is pursued by the government that wants to eliminate him, since he is living proof of the crimes that the government has committed.

At one point, the anthro dog ended up being found by a 8-year-old girl. She lives with her parents who are getting divorced, and she doesn't accept their divorce, which she blames her father for. The focus of the story is on the friendship between the little girl and the furry dog, while he is still being persecuted by the government.

Detail: The dog's claws are made of razors, meaning the government guys simply ripped off his claws and replaced them with fake ones (implying that he also killed his targets with these claws and his teeth).

To write my book, I was inspired by the comic book We3 and the movie Lilo & Stitch. Furthermore, my intention in writing this book is to make a strong criticism against tests and experiments on animals, which are forced to be subjected to these barbaric acts, whether to create perfumes, shampoos or something like that.

On 12/08/2024, it's been two years since I wrote this book, but unfortunately I still don't have any art of my characters. So I would really like you to draw the main protagonist of my book, Jack the Ripper/Sparky (the anthropomorphic dog/furry), if you don't mind ^w^

Below are the reference images for my OC :D

I imagined him being an Akita Inu dog, but anthro/furry:

In addition, I also imagined him being inspired by this character created by Thanshuhai, who is one of my favorite furry artists.

Also, I imagined him holding a gun and wearing these clothes here:

However, I never imagined him having human feet, but rather canine feet. Below are some more art by Thanshuhai and a ref sheet I made for the alternate version of Sparky (yeah, before my OC was supposed to be a cat lol but then I discarded that idea and decided to turn him into a dog), I think these images can help you :)

And lastly, I imagined him holding two guns and doing a pose inspired by Claire Redfield (Resident Evil – Code: Veronica) or Regina (Dino Crisis) pose.

And that's all I want you to draw ^^ I hope you have fun drawing my furry OC ❤️ Thank you so much for the opportunity and I truly hope you enjoy the art you make ☺️

here's ya boy

[angelofthepage]

Okay, so lately I've been seeing a lot of mixed feelings (namely on Twitter) about the announcement of Bendy: Dreams Come to Life getting a graphic novel iteration. There is a LOT to talk about when it comes to this thing, and maybe I'll discuss it more another time, but today I wanna talk about the thing I've been hearing the most: strong feelings about having canonical designs for the human versions of some of our favorite characters.

In Dreams Come to Life, we have physical appearances from the following BATIM characters (that I can remember off the top of my head, I may be missing some):

Joey Drew

Sammy Lawrence

Norman Polk

Thomas Connor

Allison Pendle

Bertrum Piedmont

Wally Franks (this one I'm unsure on, it's been a hot minute)

This means that for the first time, we're gonna know what all of them look like as humans in the minds of the game developers, since, let's be real, if they're doing this thoughtfully, there is likely a lot of communication with the artist they got for this book. Making sure these characters fit their vision is a very probable priority.

In this fandom, we have had the freedom to design whatever the heck we want for the human versions of these characters. And that has been so much fun. You've had all sorts of takes, from characters mirroring their voice actors to completely original things that you never would have expected. Some things would pop up consistently in fan designs, and others would be an occasional pleasant surprise. We've seen a lot of things tweaked over the years, sometimes because we latch onto designs we like from artists we've met in the fandom and incorporate them into our own. Sometimes it's because we get new information in the canon, like Sammy confirmed to be blonde in The Illusion of Living (EDIT: I was extremely wrong on this, he is not confirmed blonde in this book, but he does have long and floppy hair that Joey thought should be slicked back more, and also Jack had some wild fashion), Allison is platinum blonde in DCTL, Wally having a hat as of his YouTube audiolog, Shawn and Tom wearing belts as of Boris and the Dark Survival, Tom being a wall of a man, Bertrum being a bear of a guy, etc. But even before Wally was confirmed to have a hat, a lot of us gave him a hat anyway, because the idea of him with a hat is fun! Bertrum being large, Tom being really tough! Heck, I saw a number of blonde Susies and Allisons before we got that bit on Allison, because it's fun to contrast their looks with that of Alice. That's the spirit of all of this, we make these designs because it's fun! You have characters all across the board in terms of race, sexuality, gender identity, age, body types, etc, because it's fun to imagine the possibilities for all of them with this cast that we love (and sometimes connect with them on a personal level), regardless of what's "canon" or not.

One of the things I'm hearing a lot is that some people don't want canon designs, and it sounds like it stems from a fear that they can't make their own designs anymore. And for those people, I'd like to ask, when has that ever stopped us? I mean that as a genuine question, I'm not here to mock anyone. Like, my first big fandom experience was over with Sonic as a teenager, and I never dreamed of deviating from the canon because I just, did not have any experience with that at the time. Bendy was really good for showing me that there's a LOT of ways the fandom experience can go, especially on this front. When Bendy and the Dark Revival came out, and we got two really major reveals for character designs: Memory Joey and Henry Stein. Henry, a character fans have been designing for YEARS, a character shrouded in mystery, finally got a confirmed design, and you know what happened? We started drawing this new design, but we didn't stop drawing our fan designs just because we got this new one. BATDR Henry has kind of been adopted into the fandom the same way we do designs for AUs, he's just another AU guy that happens to be canon to the sequel game. Heck, I love seeing art where fandom takes on Henry are interacting with BATDR Henry, it's really sweet honestly.

And that's exactly the attitude I have towards this graphic novel. It does not matter how these characters are designed, we are still valid and allowed to make whatever the heck we want. And if people really try to gatekeep it and scream that you're only allowed to draw the canon, I think that says more about them than it does anything else. Go draw what makes you happy (so long as it's not hurting anyone, obviously there is some nuance here but that is a whole other can of worms)! The only thing that this actually changes (or at least, what I'm guessing will change) is what's gonna fly when it comes to stuff like the fan art contests and challenges/what the devs might choose to retweet in terms of fan art. But that's only one part of the fan art scene. Otherwise, go fandom your way! No one is stopping you, draw what makes YOU happy. I am still going to draw a pointy blonde disaster of a music director however I please, even after we see Sammy in canon. Because darn it I like my Sammy, he is my strawberry blonde (depending on the world, sometimes it's more ashy) buffoon, and one new version of a book doesn't change my love for that.

That said, I am really curious how the teams behind this series imagine these characters. I feel the same way about it that I do my fellow fan artists. To me this really is just another AU, the DCTL AU. I think I'm less curious about the game characters and more about the characters native to this book, and that's got more to do with, well, I don't see a lot of people designing them! There's some, but they're not flooding my timeline like the game characters do. Like, I've designed the DCTL art department before for a Sims game, but I haven't gone much farther than that. I wanna know what Abby looks like, give me her fashion! I wanna see Buddy, Dot, and Jacob! I'm still keeping my Jacob design regardless, I love playing with him, but gosh do I wanna know what Jacob looks like in canon. Same with Dot. I have a lot of hopes for both of them, and I'm trying to lower my expectations so as not to be disappointed if it doesn't turn out that way. Like Dot has potential to be our first plus sized Bendy character given how she's described (also the first to wear glasses), of COURSE I want to see that! She's my writer girl that's super sus and incredibly interesting to me personally, I love her! And then I have more information to consider when I go to design my dolls (because believe you me, dolls based on the books have been on my list for a LONG time). I'm curious how much input Adrienne Kress will have here as the author, like I would love to know what's going on in her mind with these characters!

Whatever happens next, the most important thing to remember is that you're free to create whatever you like. Go make things that make you happy. That's all the devs are doing in the end, and if it's good enough for them, it's more than good enough for us. Bendy is made the way it is (hopefully) because that's what they wanted to make. Like why make an indie project that makes you miserable, you know? I don't know what to think of this new graphic novel, but whatever happens, I'm gonna take it with a grain of salt and keep doing what I always do: make my own fun out of what we're given. That's what fandom is, a place to enjoy a piece of media. And everyone enjoys this sort of thing differently. Find what works for you.

[oc-dumping-ground]

I’m not entirely certain what to put here, but I figured if I’m going to make this a thing then I might as well introduce myself! For the sake of this blog you can call me Edin, my pronouns are they/fey, and I’m a 20 year student old writer currently in the process of formatting their first book series.

I’ve always had a huge obsession with film and literature in general, but for the sake of this blog to keep it precise I’m probably just going to focus on Disney products and Disney antagonists.

As for why I’m here with a page I’ve essentially been writing little Oc x canon villain stories in my head for years as and finally said “fuck it, I can’t just keep this in my head any longer”. This isn’t meant to be a particularly serious blog, really just a place to encourage me to get comfortable sharing any version of my work with a wide audience, but it seems like this could be a fun way to show off some of my characters and writing style. I mostly intend to post OC x canon work as well as some tidbits so you know who the fuk these OC’s actually are, but I’m also open to writing canon x reader headcanons and stories for Disney villains if anyone is looking to see that as well.

With that being said, this is probably a good place for disclaimers:

First of all this is an 18+ blog. I am not specifically catering towards erotica for my writing or this page, but I will incorporate sex into a story if it is narratively fitting/requested. The same stands for other mature or potentially triggering topics, so for minor safety I must advise that this blog be skipped if you are under the age of 18.

As for generally triggering topics I generally draw the line at in depth depictions of SA and rape, and fully draw the line at any depiction of incest, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t imagine there being no potentially triggering material in my stories. Any possibly uncomfortable topic will be tagged in warnings at the beginning of the story with a severity scale, but I still want to give warning that there will likely be potentially triggering topics depicted on this page if that is a hard no for anyone.

Finally this is not a place where I will tolerate any form of harassment or discrimination against any marginalized community, and I will block anyone that wishes to engage with this blog or anyone participating on it in a hateful manner. I myself am afab, autistic, and a part of the LGBTQIA, and I will not allow my communities or any other to be targeted on this page.

I should probably also add a list of characters I’ll write for, so I’ll put that here:

Hades

Jafar

Frollo

Maleficent

Ursula

Captain Hook

Dr. Facilier

Ratigan

Yzma

Cruella

Gantu

Long John Silver

Hans

Shan Yu

Magnifico (hate the movie but that dumbass of a man will NOT leave my brain)

I’m also potentially willing to write for Gaston, Clayton, and Rourke, but I have more difficulty connecting with them so I can’t guarantee that they’ll stay here.

That’s about everything I can think of right now for an introduction, and ofc I’ll update this post as needed, so for right now I will send this off with the hope that this page will find its people and that this is a neat little place for you!💚💚💚

[animehouse-moe]

Otherside Picnic Volume 3

Yeah yeah, I'm pretty well behind on having only just read this volume, I know. I'm slow with a lot of light novel reading because I really want to be in it, you know? I want to savor every moment and feel like I don't want to put the book down while I'm reading.

And it just happened that lately I've really been craving for the horror and fear that stems from Miyazawa's expert understanding of net and folklore horror. So imagine my surprise when I pick up the volume and see just how far Shirakaba's art has come. Sure, it was never bad by any means. But my god, this volume's illustrations are amazing. The level of detail has skyrocketed, but at the same time a more clear and personal style appears. Heavy and dark contrast, an overall feeling of weight with each piece of art. Even though they can look vastly different due to moments, the overall feel of it remains. Really, hats off in that regard, truly some outstanding art.

Of course, Miyazawa's writing withstands the shock of this incredible improvement from Shirakaba.

Their perception of horror - what comprises it and causes fear- remains absolutely expert. From the endings of the previous omnibus volume we continue the downwards spiral into Sorawo's personal hell. The types of contact, and the overall fear that arises from it are spine chilling.

Perhaps the biggest proponent is Miyazawa's ability to guide readers to answers. You can connect the dots as things go on, realize that there is something wrong, that there's a heavy feeling in your stomach and that all your hairs stand on end as your mind races to the finish line. It's such an incredible experience, where at times they don't even tell you the answer. Instead, you're left with a lingering feeling and concern for what things are and why.

Personally, it's my perfect definition of horror. Beyond us. You can come up with as many answers as you want to everything that unfolds, but for just as many things there are that Sorawo and Toriko resolve, there are just as many spine shudderingly disturbing pieces left hanging.

Of course, Otherside Picnic does like to remind readers that it's not just about disturbing and scary stuff. It's a healthy mix of characters that are poorly adjusted in the social sense (among many others), and their attempts to grope through their incredibly odd predicament. All of the characters that appear in this volume are so full. They're all hopeless and oddball versions of the more "simple" characters that they're portrayed as in the anime. They all have very glaring character issues, and present as far less perfect even in spite of how others view them. It's incredibly refreshing, and they all stumble through their interactions in an endearing and believable way that develops as the story continues.

The biggest thing from this volume though is just the sheer effort Miyazawa puts into the horror. It's not middle of the ground, on the spot horror stories they themselves come up with, but a far deeper and darker world that they draw from. Hours upon hours of historical and archival searching of books and webpages and chat forums to produce countless stories that end up interwoven and meld together into a cohesive framework to address the Ultra Blue Landscape via.

It's insane. Not only are we, as readers, attempting to understand the Otherside and its creators and/or inhabitants, Miyazawa is translating it. They're pulling from our reality, adding their own spin and twist to it, and spitting it out in the form of communication. The sheer talent to preserve the original value of the stories used, while at the same time repurposing them is incredible.

In terms of horror, I truly feel that Otherside Picnic stands comfortably separate from so much of what makes up the genre, not even just within the framework of animanga, but of modern media in general. So much of what's popular and talked about is on the absolute fringes of what horror is: that sense of dread and fear. Not 30 seconds of buildup into a single jumpscare reveal that the characters run away from. Rather, the tension building and things seeming wrong, like something is lurking around the corner and you absolutely must find out. Or that there's some terrible figure/creature staring right at you that has you frozen in place. Horror is not thriller, and Otherside Picnic continues to establish that beautifully.

Also, for the best reading experience, the anime OST is actually outstanding for furthering that fear. Plenty of songs that will put you perfectly on edge. You can find the full playlist right here.

[chasingshadowsblog]

"Home is now behind you. The world is ahead." - Going on an adventure with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Lord of the Rings films have been such a firm part of my life that I can't remember a time before them. I can't imagine a period when I didn't know the characters names, every note of the score, and the inflections of every line. I am less familiar with The Hobbit trilogy, a lot of which comes down to time. Lord of the Rings came out when I was far too young to see them in the cinema but somehow saw them at home not long after, so they've had plenty of time to stew. While I saw every Hobbit movie in the cinema on release and enjoyed watching them, they didn't have the staying power of the previous trilogy. While I'm disappointed that The Hobbit films veered so far from the book, in its own way, this version of the story brings me as much joy. The films may have added where they shouldn't but a lot of the time the additions enrich the story and background history of this period in Middle-Earth. Overall they capture the essence of what makes the story a classic: Bilbo's growth as a hero and the excitement of adventure, with the cautionary tale on the dangers of greed that lies at its heart. What follows is the beginning of a retrospective on The Hobbit trilogy - the good, the bad and everything in between. It wasn't always easy, but, it was always fun.

And it starts, well, it starts as you might expect… With an expositional monologue providing background context for the wider story.

"I think it is time for you to know what really happened." 'My Dear Frodo' is the first track on Howard Shore's score for An Unexpected Journey. It is also the opening line of a twenty-minute long sequence that acts as a prologue for the three movies. In it, Ian Holm's older Bilbo begins to write the events of The Hobbit as he tells it to Frodo, filling in all of the details he may have left out in the past, "My Dear Frodo, you asked me once if I had told you everything there is to know about my adventures and while I can honestly say I have told you the truth, I may not have told you all of it." From the very moment the title card fades in (with that familiar Shire theme that immediately warms the heart) to Frodo running off to surprise Gandalf, this prologue is fantastic. The imagery alone is stunning, like the set design of Erebor and the shot of the dragon kite with the real Smaug's shadow looming over it as he ascends on the mountain. Howard Shore returns with the introduction of the Erebor theme, and the very language of the piece echoes the 'Misty Mountain' song the Dwarves sing that first night they spent in Bilbo's kitchen - "The trees like torches blazing bright" - evoking not just the atmosphere of the dragon's attack on Erebor, but the effect the Dwarves had on Bilbo echoing through all these years later.

The prologue also introduces the Arkenstone, "the heart of the mountain." In the book, the Arkenstone is simply a valuable heirloom, but here it represents leadership over the entire Dwarven kingdom; we will learn in The Desolation of Smaug that the seven Dwarf clans will only unite under one who holds the Arkenstone. Even though Thorin is the heir to the kingdom of Erebor, without the stone he would have no kingdom to rule. I like that the Arkenstone has become a symbol for Thorin to hold onto in his journey; the Arkenstone now represents Thorin's identity as the King of Erebor, and even when they have the mountain back and the dragon is dead, he still pushes them all to find the stone and goes so far as to believe one of them has stolen it from him. The Arkenstone is only a device, but it's one that comes to represent the worst parts of Thorin, the ones that he so vehemently denies sharing with his grandfather, Thror. "…and a great anger without hope burned within him as he smote the red iron on the anvil." The prologue also effectively draws on snippets from Tolkien's appendix notes on Dwarvish history and turns them into something powerful. This is a line that comes at the end of a short section relating to Thorin after the taking of Erebor, now burdened with a desire for vengeance and responsibility for his people. In a similar way Jackson manages to evoke this feeling with a simple line and powerful image: "And he never forgave, and he never forgot." In this way, the prologue represents the best of Jackson's abilities to draw on the deeper history of Middle-Earth.

(I mean...)

"To think that I should have lived to be 'good morning-ed' by Belladonna Took's son, as if I were selling buttons at the door!" Immediately following the prologue is the best scene in the trilogy. The introductory scene between Gandalf and Bilbo (between Ian McKellan and Martin Freeman) is the most perfectly translated scene from book to screen that I have ever seen. Yes, it's almost verbatim Tolkien's dialogue, but dialogue cannot accomplish this task alone. The performance between the two actors is stupendous: every beat, delivery and facial expression is spot on. At once, it becomes clear that Martin Freeman is going to be the perfect Bilbo and as an introduction it is beyond reassuring. Freeman brings a physicality to Bilbo across all three films that, even when he's not speaking, ensures his personality always shines through making all of his moments that much more enjoyable. Here, his begrudging politeness towards Gandalf, then confusion and panic at the first mention of adventure is quintessential Hobbit behaviour, executed stuffily and perfectly by the actor. Ian McKellan is a fun contrast, as he enjoys making the Bilbo suffer, "Well, that's decided then. It will be good for you, and most amusing for me."

In no scene is Freeman's knack for playing Bilbo more evident than the Dwarves' infiltration of his lovely, quiet Hobbit hole. While I can't say that this scene is as perfect as the one before, or as effective as the prologue, it is only because it doesn't pack as much of a punch as either of these; it is still an entertaining scene. Bilbo's confusion as a foil to the Dwarves' forthrightness and his frustration at their pilfering of his pantry (while Gandalf is enjoying every second of it) are a joy to watch unfold. Even the integration of the dish-washing song is handled smoothly, short and sweet as it is. The fun is cut short by the arrival of Thorin Oakenshield and all of a sudden the mood is serious. Richard Armitage does well at entering a room with an air of command, he immediately controls the scene with his presence, giving some necessary gravitas to the Dwarves and the movies. A gravitas that is cemented by the performance of 'The Misty Mountains', a song detailing the plight of the Dwarves of Erebor and the Company's desire to get their home back from Smaug, "We must away, ere break of day, to find our long forgotten gold."

The first forty minutes of this movie is very near perfect and the rest of the movie is highly enjoyable (with another glimpse or two of brilliance) - but there are some issues, too. As the company marches on a conversation comes up about the wizards of Middle Earth, "There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman the White. And then there are the two Blue Wizards… You know, I've quite forgotten their names." This is a precursor to Radagast the Brown's presence in the movie and though he is given some respectability by Gandalf's backing of him, "I think he is a very great wizard", Radagast is often too goofy to fit in with the tone that Jackson has been trying to establish so far. Radagast's first scene, introducing the idea of the Necromancer, is just shy of too long. At this point we are settled into the movie and know who our characters are and adding another body to the mix is frustrating as it slows down the story they've worked so hard to invest us in. In any other situation, a character like Radagast would be one of my favourites but here his presence weakens the tone and he has little influence over the plot. It would have been enough for Gandalf to simply express his concerns to the White Council. As well as this, we are halfway through a three-hour movie and another thread is being added to the plot, adding weight to an already hefty movie.

Another issue that spikes up for me is Azog the Defiler. Since it always comes up anyway, let's get it over with now: yes, the CGI Orcs are heartless and they should have used prosthetics - especially remembering such beloved characters as Lurtz and this fucker.

(This fucker.)

My issue with Azog, however, is not the CGI but the fact that he takes up so much screentime. I have no problem checking in with the bad guys (I think this is done well with Gandalf and the Necromancer in the next two movies), but so many of the Orcs' scenes involve hunting the Dwarves that these moments swiftly become repetitive. How many times do we need to see a scout report to Azog that the Dwarves are nearby? (How many, Peter?) Also, we have spent so much time with Azog that it's easy to forget that it's supposed to be a surprise to Thorin that he's still alive, so this element is lost on us when they finally face off at the end of the movie. I wouldn't think of this as a minor transgression considering how important Thorin's beef with Azog is later on in the trilogy, but it doesn't lessen the merit of An Unexpected Journey as much as it does the next two films. The film is strong in so many other areas that Azog and his roving band of Orcs are more of a nuisance than anything else and the scenes that show them following the Company are an unneeded extra ten or fifteen minutes.

After battling trolls in a neat action sequence, the Company are found and chased by Orcs. In their confusion and haste to escape, the Dwarves are led by Gandalf to the Hidden Pass, which brings them to another site we're familiar with: Rivendell. Introduced in a beautiful wide shot and Bilbo's awed expression, the otherworldliness of Rivendell and the Elves is captured beautifully in its set design, along with the waterfall where Elrond reads the Moon Runes and the outlook where Gandalf meets Galadriel. This portion of the movie is then divided between Thorin receiving information for the quest and the White Council questioning Gandalf. "You are not the only guardian to stand watch over Middle Earth." As soon as he's alone with Elrond, Gandalf reveals the true nature of the quest, expecting an argument, but Elrond gently tells him, "It's not me you must answer to." With a few lines and knowing smiles, the script did well to establish a friendly history between Gandalf and Elrond, but through looks and gestures alone, the history between Gandalf and Galadriel is positively palpable. The love in Gandalf's face when he sees Galadriel for the first time is magical (the dread in his face when Saruman appears straight after is hilarious). "In the late summer of that year…Gandalf had at last prevailed upon Saruman and the White Council to attack Dol Guldur…" Developing on the White Council was such a great move for this trilogy and another way to bring back familiar characters without force or farce. It also helps that each of the four actors are a powerhouse in their own right and when together, make absolute magic. In this first scene, Gandalf expresses his worry over the sway Smaug would provide Sauron's army should the Dark Lord return. While Saruman dismisses his concern and his trust in Radagast, Galadriel uncovers the evidence Gandalf has been keeping hidden so far - the blade of the Witch King of Angmar that had been buried with his body, "in a tomb so dark it would never come to light." She and Elrond begin to show real fear, but Saruman is still not convinced and turns the conversation back to the Dwarves to distract from the subject. But it's a double cross! because Gandalf has been distracting him while the Dwarves leave Rivendell in secret. Despite the serious nature of the discussion, this scene is great fun to watch. The dynamic between the four characters and actors is astounding, it adds to the history of the world while nodding to events to come, and it's somehow one of the funniest scenes in the movie. From Gandalf's face when Saruman shows up and any time he speaks after that, via Galadriel tele-conferencing with him while Saruman is speaking, to her amusement at the Dwarves' early flight from Rivendell, you can really tell that these people have been keeping the peace in Middle-Earth for the last 400 years.

I keep bringing up history, but it's so well captured in these scenes and at it's absolute finest in the later moment between Gandalf and Galdriel. This scene is so short and perfect that all I need to do is let it speak for itself: "Mithrandir? Why the Halfling?" "I do not know. Saruman believes that it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I've found it is in the small things - everyday deeds of ordinary folk - that keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps it is because I am afraid, and he gives me courage." "Do not be afraid, Mithrandir, you are not alone."

Soon after this scene, the Company is captured by goblins and brought before the Goblin King. The goblins in this scene are all suitably disgusting (which is great) but I do wish they were more practical as it's hard to believe the Dwarf actors are really interacting with anybody particularly when they're being pushed around and Thorin speaks with the King. I also find the Goblin King himself far too cartoonish in his design and the actor's performance for the tone of the movie. Intercut with the riddle game, the goblin scenes are stretched far too long; the action sequence, though entertaining, lacks any tension, but I do like the journey through the Goblin Kingdom we get as a result for its inventive set design. These scenes are really only meant to check in with the Dwarves; our real interest lies with Bilbo, Gollum and the Riddle Game, a scene that couldn't be improved upon if they tried. Like the scene earlier on between Galadriel and Gandalf, this is one I have so many thoughts on that I don't quite know where to begin, so, instead, I'm going to sift through it moment by moment and try to pinpoint exactly what makes it such a beautiful, effective piece (spoiler alert: it's Andy Serkis).

From the very beginning this scene is rife with tension because we already know who Gollum is and, if you didn't know, you are introduced to him killing and dragging away the goblin that attacked Bilbo and fell down the chasm with him. I love the close-up shot of Martin Freeman's face as he wakes up and the overhead shot of him hiding in the mushrooms as Gollum smashes the head of his victim, showing us just how close to danger he is in. As Bilbo spots the Ring falling out of Gollum's pocket, an effect is repeated that we first heard in Fellowship of the Ring: as it bounces to the ground the sound effect suggests a much heavier item than a simple golden band. There are a mountain of small details added in the make-up, like the scraped, bleeding, peeling skin of Bilbo's knuckles, the gnarly, hairy goblin skin, and a reddish, scabby wound on Gollum's head. There are lots of great shots as Bilbo finds Gollum's cavern by following the sound of his fishing song - as he peers over the rock and watches Gollum eat the goblin, Gollum noticing a disturbance, and Bilbo realising that he has been found.

"Bless us and splash us, Precious! What is it?" The acting ability Andy Serkis displays as Gollum/Sméagol is nothing short of monumental. The utterly tragic figure that Sméagol cuts is on display more than it is in Lord of the Rings where he is far more nefarious. Even though Sméagol has been long corrupted by the Ring and wants to eat Bilbo as much as Gollum does, there is something strangely innocent about his curiosity for Bilbo and his desire to interact and "play" a game with him. "Yes, yes, just us." Sméagol says this conspiratorially, while looking around him, as if there would be anyone else there but he and Bilbo. The dichotomy between Gollum and Sméagol in this sequence is brilliantly depicted, and what makes it even more fascinating is how Bilbo plays off of it. After first bringing up the idea of a game of riddles Gollum orders Sméagol to stop and "finish him" so to keep himself alive Bilbo coddles the softer side of the two. "I can see you are very good at this." In these two moments (the first mention of a game and Bilbo's compliment) Sméagol expresses sincere joy that Gollum immediately shuts down, but, when Bilbo agrees to the game Sméagol's desire to play wins out and Gollum loses control. This battle continues on throughout the scene with Sméagol posing and answering some questions and Gollum others; at one point when Bilbo is having trouble with a riddle, Gollum's sneer turns to delight as Sméagol cries out that he knows the answer, "Oh, oh, we knows, we knows - Shut up!" The Sméagol side of the character is almost child-like in his eagerness to play with Bilbo, "Does it like games? Does it? Does it? Does it like to play?" which really hammers home the tragedy of the Ring's corruption and what could have happened to Bilbo and Frodo. While Sméagol in Lord of the Rings is also aware of Gollum, after banishing that part of himself he is still focused on serving the Ring and the Ring's master, Frodo. Here, Sméagol is just relishing in the interaction with another person and when he is in charge even alludes to his past, recalling how his grandmother taught him to suck eggs. The fact that Bilbo can see these two conflicting personalities contributes to his decision later on not to kill Sméagol/Gollum. Though he wasn't aware of the Ring's power, he can see by the sorrow in Sméagol's face (when he believes that he has lost Bilbo and the Ring) that this creature has nothing. "Is it tasty? Is it scruuuuuuumpiouuuuuuuuusss?" While both actors really shine in this scene, Andy Serkis' performance is transcendent. This sequence is strange as it is so seperate from the rest of the plot; Bilbo is on his own with this creature who has been isolated from the world for so long that when he has to think of what someone might keep in their pockets, lists "fish bones, goblin's teeth, white shells, bats wings" before string. He never mentions his encounter to any of the other characters and no one other than Gandalf suspects that anything notable happened to him; often moments and lines from one movie are re-called by characters in another one but the riddle game is never referred to again, even Bilbo's use of the Ring is private, but the riddle game is so important to both events in Middle-Earth and Bilbo's future. In Fellowship of the Ring Gandalf tells Frodo, "My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many." Bilbo's pity for Sméagol has a rippling effect on the fate of the Ring and the act fortifies in him an ability not to be ruled by its power - greed, fear and jealousy - as will affect those around him later on. Bilbo's long life with the Ring, his ability to give it away (with struggle admittedly) for the better of everyone starts here, in the manner he acquired it.

After being hunted by the Orcs, the Company is forced into one last stand-off before being rescued by the Eagles. The confrontation is fine; the fire-pine cones are a bit silly but I always love a nod to Hobbits being good at throwing things. I almost had a problem with Thorin's impulsive decision to attack Azog while the rest of the Company was literally hanging on for their lives, but I appreciate, in the grand scheme of things, that it shows the desperate and obsessive side of Thorin that will become more emphasised as the films progress. That these two characters' obsession with each other is what kills them in the end touches on the cautionary tale underpinning Tolkien's works (that Bilbo avoids, that kills Gollum, that overwhelms Frodo at the very end) - the destructive nature of greed. While Thorin gives in to this througout the trilogy, Bilbo is there to save him from it. The film ends with the Company having been rescued from the Orcs, and Thorin, specifically, having been saved by Bilbo. However, after being woken up by Gandalf Thorin turns on him, admonishing, again, his presence on the quest, "Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild? That you had no place amongst us?", then turns it around on him, "I have never been more wrong in all my life," he says, pulling Bilbo in for a hug. I find Thorin's dislike for Bilbo throughout this movie intriguing because, until the end, it is so relentless. By the goblin scenes at latest every other Dwarf has come around and, at the very least, cares about his well-being; Bofur, who catches him trying to leave, wishes him well and Balin patiently explains their history to him. Thorin takes every opportunity he can to resent the Hobbit. Ostensibly, he doesn't like Bilbo because, as he admits in their first interaction, he can't fight, "Well, I do have some skill at conkers, if you must know," which means, on the road, he can't take care of himself and displays a Hobbit-like lack of responsibility on the quest. Since the Dwarves' loss of their home, Thorin, as their prince, has had to take care of an entire population, while comparatively Bilbo has led a care-free lifestyle. By launching himself at Azog, for the first time Thorin sees Bilbo as willing as everyone else to risk his life (Thorin doesn't see Bilbo trying to get the ponies back from the Trolls, he only sees him being caught and getting the rest of them captured, too). It's no surprise that from this point forward, coinciding with more opportunites for Bilbo to prove himself useful on the quest in his own way, Thorin treats him as an equal.

In their new found friendship, Thorin and Bilbo, with Gandalf and the Company at their backs, gaze out across the world at the sight of Erebor in the distance. A thrush flies by in that direction which Glóin takes as a sign of the birds returning to the mountain. "We'll take it as a sign, a good omen," Thorin says, smiling at Bilbo then out across the landscape. "You're right," Bilbo responds, "I do believe the worst is behind us."

It wasn't.

The film ends following the same thrush as it flies towards the Lonely Mountain, picks up a snail and starts cracking it against a rock. The noise travels through the mountain and wakes the dragon Smaug leaving us with the image of his eye opening and the sound of a deep belly growl; a cracker of a cliff-hanger setting us up neatly for the next adventure.

I often felt while writing this essay that I was looking for things to complain about. An Unexpected Journey is a great execution of a text that is lighter in tone to The Lord of the Rings that grounds itself in its main characters and the story's role in the history of Middle-Earth. The visual effects and sets are phenomenal and a rich development in the world's aesthetic and, if I haven't said it enough already, the acting all around is fantastic. It deserves to be viewed with the same love and admiration as the original trilogy and features many scenes that could be ranked among the best across all six films.

[sanssoucisims]

Those of you who have been to my main blog in the past year or so might recognize these familiar faces. The little girl is Karin Fjellvik, a character from the game “My Child Lebensborn” (I call it “MCL” for short), and the woman is Karita Omdahl, my MCL fan character/self-insert and Karin’s adoptive mother. I’ve made a few posts about them both on my main blog as well as my sideblog which specifically focuses on my OC x canon relationships, so take a gander if you’d like to read more about them! 

I’ll probably mention a bit of the game as I talk about them in this post, so minor spoilers ahead!! Also, fair warning if you do decide to check out the actual game for yourself: it’s based on real historical events (specifically having to do with the end of World War 2) and involves prejudice/racism and violence towards a child (among other things). Needless to say, it’s quite emotional, and let’s just say that by the end of my play-through, I wanted to punt quite a few people into the shadow realm because of what they did to my poor daughter. 😭

While MCL was originally set during the aftermath of World War 2, I imagine my sims counterparts live in the modern day. Funnily enough, the developers of MCL are currently working on a sequel which will take place in a more modern setting! I would think the sims versions of Karin and Karita moved to this new place in Willow Creek after they’d gone through similar events that happened in the original game. All they wanted to do was to just... get away from their old town, from Karin’s old school, from everything their cruel neighbors had done to them.

Karin and Karita would start their new lives in this modest but pretty one-story home with a small outdoor area for the two to sit and for Karin to play. In the game, you happen to make contact with Karin (or her male counterpart Klaus)’s biological father, who wires you money to help you move out of town. I imagine Karita used much of that money to pay off this new house. They started with only $200 in simoleons, which was a nod to how you would start off with 200 coins (? - dollars? Or whatever they used in Norway during that time? I don’t think the game actually specified what that actual currency was lmao) in the original game.

As money is tight in their household, Karita knows they’ll need it only for the most important items, and she’s made sure Karin knows that. There are times where Karin wishes she had the newest toys or clothes like the other kids have, and she’ll get upset when she can’t have them. Karita promises she’ll buy them one day for her, just not today. After all, it’s better to be selfless than selfish. Karin recently received a whole mini art studio set for her birthday, and she LOVES it! She plans to create lots of artwork to display in her room, and she even uses it occasionally in the middle of the night when she can’t sleep. She even says she hopes to help her mother earn money by selling her best artwork. 🥰

On certain days of the week, Karita works as a manual laborer as a way to bring in some stable income (I thought this was the closest to some kind of factory work, which is your/the parent’s job in MCL). The catch to this, though, is that she currently works during the weekend, which means Karin is left at home alone in the morning. :( Karita knows how much her daughter hates being by herself, so once she returns home from work, she makes sure they spend plenty of quality of time together. Their favorite activities include fishing (they can catch something to eat or Karin asks to keep one as a little pet), reading books, drawing pictures, cooking, and watching television.

See the little fish next to the television? Karin caught it and wanted to save it from being eaten!

Other than Karin’s idea to sell some of her artwork in the future, the two also already have creative ways to earn extra money on the side (or when they really need money fast). For one, Karita happens to enjoy gardening and has made a habit of exploring her neighborhood and harvesting wild plants to grow around their home. She may keep some to use as fresh ingredients/food, but most of the time, she’ll sell them when they’re fully grown.

Being experienced in manual labor, Karita isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty by digging for things as well. She’ll sell the majority of her finds along with things she catches through fishing.

Karin is also a keen explorer and likes to look for frogs. She’ll keep them as pets, too, but once she catches a new one, she knows she’ll have to sell the old one since multiple frogs is... kind of a lot to deal with in such a small home, lol.

This is her latest find, a spotted leaf frog!

So that’s basically how a typical day would go for Karin and Karita! Karin goes to school during the week, of course, and since Karita doesn’t work on weekdays, she’ll usually spend those days building her skills and doing the many things she’s already come up with to earn extra money.

Currently, Karita is hoping to save up for some renovations, including expanding the interior of their home so she will able to build a little writing studio! She wishes to write about her and Karin’s experiences and to send a message to the world to be kind to each other - something among those lines.

I like playing wholesome families like this, and I think the added challenge of reduced funds not only ties into the original game where the characters came from, but it also makes playing this household a lot more fun and interesting.

Oh, I forgot to mention, guess who came by their household while I was taking screenshots of them for this post?

a wild rose appears lmao

also i just realized you can spy one of dina caliente’s sons in the background

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Long post and hyperfixation/infodump session incoming:

It's reminiscence time again... A) Life hasn't been great as of now, and B) I saw something pretty cool the other day...

So, there's a free book online called DRAWING FOR NOTHING, which was compiled by an individual named Ziggy Cashmere. It is a book chronicling unmade animated movies, or animated movies that got - more or less - cooked into something else...

The book, so far, has a treasure trove of concept art and stories for ME AND MY SHADOW, FOODFIGHT!, B.O.O.: BUREAU OF OTHERWORLDLY OPERATIONS, THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET, JOE JUMP, DREAMING MACHINE, DRAGON'S LAIR: THE LEGEND, JACK AND BEN, CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY, and HUCK'S LANDING...

All kinds of animated films from different eras, some that weren't made, some that were re-imagined as something else entirely...

And their work isn't over yet!

The Drawing For Nothing's twitter account is posting all kinds of cool, unearthed stuff...

And the other day, they found some conceptual work for an unmade Disney animated movie called AMERICAN DOG...

Actually, AMERICAN DOG kind of... Was... Made?

This film was to be directed by Chris Sanders for Walt Disney Feature Animation, his sophomore directorial outing following the success of LILO & STITCH. If all had gone according to the plan, this movie would've likely debuted around fall/Thanksgiving 2007-ish, maybe a little earlier. Things were a little more fluid back then, when it seemed like The Walt Disney Company were to lose Pixar after their contract was up. Either way, it was aiming for 2007.

Of course, a lot had changed at Disney Animation after Michael Eisner was essentially ousted as CEO of the wider company. After Bob Iger succeeded Eisner, one of his first big moves was acquiring Pixar for over $7b, in early 2006... And then that move lead to the studio's veterans and founding fathers John Lasseter and Ed Catmull becoming the heads of that studio, on the heels of critically lambasted films like HOME ON THE RANGE and CHICKEN LITTLE.

And they took their way of doing things at Pixar with them, infamously. Chris Sanders was given lots of notes on AMERICAN DOG throughout 2006, until Lasseter took him off the movie at the end of the year. Lasseter had "reasoned" that the movie was "too quirky for its own good", and that Sanders wasn't getting it to where it needed to be. This was a shocking blow to animation fans everywhere, that not only was Sanders removed from his next movie, but that he was also leaving Disney Animation for DreamWorks. (Where he currently is at the moment, in twenty-twenty three!) Yet some suggested, "They're from Pixar, maybe we should trust them?"

Lasseter then had AMERICAN DOG completely re-imagined, working only off of the core concept of a dog TV star going on a cross-country trip with some animal friends, into an entirely new movie called BOLT.

Directors Byron Howard and Chris Williams, both first-timers at the helm of something, brought the film to the finish line for Thanksgiving of 2008 to critical acclaim and even an Oscar nod, but a low final gross at the box office... While it was generally liked, there was a sort-of lingering feeling of what kind of movie AMERICAN DOG would've been. BOLT has often been compared to it, negatively, because visually it's just sort of... There? It looks nice, it's cute, the animal character design is pretty appealing, while WDAS was still working out CG human designs pre-TANGLED. Some of the extras in BOLT are little strange-looking to these eyes, to go off on a tangent.

Anyways, the short version: BOLT's fine, but what could've been... AMERICAN DOG...

There have been other pieces of concept art for AMERICAN DOG that have available to view for years, especially pieces from when the movie was still in development...

So, now... I want to talk about the days when I first came across this project... Around November/December 2004...

At the time, 12-year-old Kyle was beginning to look up upcoming movie slates and such on various movie news websites. Stuff like ComingSoon-dot-net and stuff like that. Box office was reported in many places, not just the usual suspects...

I had already seen THE INCREDIBLES maybe three times in theaters by this point (I saw it *five* times on a big screen total, during its one and only theatrical release), and that movie really rocked my world. It still does. I'm a huge fan of THE INCREDIBLES, and its sequel too. I was endlessly influenced by the movie, and it actually legit excited me at the possibilities of what CG animation could... Even though this was an era of hand-drawn animation being ushered out...

Still, I saw a lot of potential CGI before we got glomped with a ton of kiddie talking animal movies and such within a few years, that kinda cast CG in a more negative light online. It already got so much blame for ending 2D, for merely existing, so the kinds of movies that came out - like a dam burst - around late 2005-2007 certainly didn't help...

Anyways, I wanted to know... What was next???

For Pixar, since it seemed like they were splitting with the Disney Co. at the time, the future was a little less definite. A teaser for CARS was running before THE INCREDIBLES, and after that the plan was for RATATOUILLE to be next... Which it ultimately was. This was back when Jan Pinkava was still directing the movie, before he got taken off of it in early 2005 and replaced by INCREDIBLES director Brad Bird... And a lot of it was changed after that. Back in late 2004, it was simply a movie about a rat "living with" an eccentric famous chef.

Of course, per the original contract that Pixar signed with DizCo (to borrow from Steve Hulett, to save syllables), Pixar couldn't make any sequels to their hit movies. DizCo had those under lock and key if Pixar were to split with them, and they planned on taking advantage of that... DizCo opened up a CG animation studio called Circle 7 Animation, and tasked them to make TOY STORY 3, MONSTERS INC. 2, and FINDING NEMO 2... Quite different ones from the movies we ended up getting. At this stage, TOY STORY 3 might've still been about the whodunit story set at Andy's grandmother's house... Or, it had become the infamous "Buzz Lightyear recalled" story that got the green light.

Other studios had slates of sorts. DreamWorks, in addition to having MADAGASCAR and Aardman's WALLACE & GROMIT movie lined up for 2005, had OVER THE HEDGE and RATROPOLIS (changed to FLUSHED AWAY) on the horizon. They also had multiple SHREK movies lined up, up to five and a direct-to-video origin movie about Puss In Boots. KUNG FU PANDA was entering development at this time, but it wouldn't be announced officially until about a year later, ditto a few other pictures. Donkey made an appearance on the studio's CG animated primetime NBC sitcom FATHER OF THE PRIDE (a real trip of a show), in an episode that aired 9/21/2004, and remarked "But let your kid know that SHREK 3 is coming out in 2006!"

Other stuff was coming, too. Sony was getting OPEN SEASON fired up, I think Imagi was getting started on CAT TALE, there were a bunch of other random movies here and there... Most of them not made, I reckon...

Then there was Disney Animation's future stuff...

CHICKEN LITTLE already had a teaser that I first saw on the spring 2004 BROTHER BEAR DVD, and there was a much faster-paced trailer playing before THE INCREDIBLES (set to R.E.M.'s 'It's The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)'). Next up were likes of A DAY WITH WILBUR ROBINSON, AMERICAN DOG, RAPUNZEL UNBRAIDED, and FRAIDY CAT I believe was announced as well.

I caught glimpses of AMERICAN DOG, and saw this particular action-packed image:

And I was draaaawn in. I was already hyped about how THE INCREDIBLES did such dynamic action, and this piece was reminding me of the scene where the Parr family use a news trailer to weave through Municiberg traffic to find the Omnidroid. I like a good car chase, so this was exciting.

At the time, I was already writing lots of stories about dogs, cats, stuff like that, dogs running away from dogcatchers and such. I was literally writing and picturing all these action sequences because THE INCREDIBLES really lit up my imagination on how action scenes could be done, especially in animation. All the wild angles and camera pans and swoops, it's like I was Incrediblizing everything I was writing at the time, my 12-year-old brain was just sooooo influenced by it. It was a formative film for me, m'kay?

Moving on... I was kind of in-and-out on what was happening with AMERICAN DOG once Chris Sanders was fired from the movie. I had found out that it become BOLT a little before the first trailer debuted, and I remember being down on it. Not to mention, I was going through a lot of other things at the time and I was kind of out of the loop on what was going on. There were some bad vibes going around in the circles too, that BOLT was sure to be bad because it wasn't AMERICAN DOG. It created a sense of "this is what we got instead", like we see a lot nowadays... And I saw the trailer before WALL-E in theaters, and just was not impressed.

The marketing for this movie was so weird. The posters, which pushed a lot of heavy reds, seemed to pass this picture off as "Dog INCREDIBLES". Anyone who has seen BOLT knows that the superhero stuff is literally a TV show he stars in, but the posters and covers really make it seem like it's a super-pets movie or something. And Disney had already done that live-action UNDERDOG movie a year prior. We were kind of at the tail-end of that weird period of Disney's movie output, the remains of the Eisner years and some very strange greenlights... I was starting to see movies in theaters again, following a depressive period where I didn't really go out in public much. And I was kinda softening on BOLT, but I missed it in theaters. I would later get the Blu-ray, as a blind present, around the end of 2009 I wanna say? And I finally gave it a watch, and I really dug it! I still do, actually, even if it is rather standard and workmanlike. Part of me assumes that Disney Animation, after years of critical and/or commercial bombs, were intentionally making something very familiar. Something cute and Disney-like and digestible, a fun little dog movie, as a way to ease back into the swing of things and get audiences to see their movies again.

After all, their last string of movies were... MEET THE ROBINSONS (lost money), CHICKEN LITTLE (made over $100m domestically but barely doubled its budget worldwide, got terrible reception), HOME ON THE RANGE (critical/commercial dud), BROTHER BEAR (critical flop but made its small budget back), and TREASURE PLANET (infamous massive bomb)... Maybe the rationale was, "Let's just make a classically Disney dog movie, but with some stuff that people like about the movies we make at Pixar!" It does feel a little assembled, it does feel like Lasseter using stuff from the movies he directed/oversaw at Pixar, mixing them with some "Disney" elements. The light satire of Hollywood and network television was an extra touch that gives it a little bit more flavor. In a way, I get it... Disney Animation hadn't had a genuine big hit in *years*, and maybe the thought process was "let's just make a straight-up family movie about a dog". Not something a little weirder or wilder, certainly not the utterly gonzo stuff Sanders was coming up with... But maybe, if they had taken a chance on it and kept the budget reasonable, they could've had a bigger hit on their hands? Who the heck knows...

BOLT ended up making around $309m worldwide against its $150m budget (I wonder how much of that came from the thrown-out AMERICAN DOG, since that got *very* far in pre-production), and managed to have spectacular legs in North America after such a blah opening weekend. I guess it's kind of a flop? Underperformer? The Hollywood math changes for each and every movie, it seems. But I think the positive critical reception and Oscar nod were taken into consideration, and so the movie was probably viewed as a stepping stone to the likes of THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, TANGLED, WINNIE THE POOH, and WRECK-IT RALPH. The so-called "Revival"...

But I would loooooove to visit an alternate universe where AMERICAN DOG *did* happen. And that it was the unhinged Chris Sanders movie it was looking to be. Maybe not an alternate universe where David Stainton is running Disney Animation, by all means he really had to go. Lasseter was not exactly an exemplary replacement, as we'd learn in later years, but someone should've let the movie happen. I think a second Sanders WDAS movie could've not only been a major hit, but it could've down as one of Disney Animation's most interesting and experimental films... Much like his own LILO & STITCH was! And to think John Lasseter despised that movie... It's no wonder Sanders left the dog movie and left the studio, though he did negotiate with Lasseter to keep at least one of the characters from his concept and use it elsewhere... Namely the one-eyed cat who became the main character of his comic, KISKALOO.

Sanders made some really cool movies at DreamWorks. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON is good stuff, and THE CROODS is a lot of fun. I even enjoyed that live-action CALL OF THE WILD movie he did for 20th Century Studios, with the CG'ed dog... And I'm excited as heck for THE WILD ROBOT, his third DreamWorks movie... But, part of me feels like AMERICAN DOG would've been Chris Sanders at his most Chris Sanders. Something totally uncorked and wild and unlike anything else... Whereas, two of his DreamWorks movies are based on books, and the other was someone else's movie first. He had expressed interest in turning KISKALOO into a feature, and if he gets to do that after WILD ROBOT... At DreamWorks... That would be pretty amazing, honestly. It'd probably be the closest thing we get to what AMERICAN DOG was shaping up to be...

Anyways, I wanted to talk about where I was at with upcoming animation in 2004 as a young, weirdo enthusiast... And just talk about an unmade movie and the director's stuff in general and such. Hope you're having a great holiday!

(And go read DRAWING FOR NOTHING!)

[lovely-english-rose]

⚓ What made you want to start drawing?

🥦 Can you share an old piece of work next to a newer piece and say what you've learned?

🦑 How did you design your OC?

🌜 How would you describe your style?

⚓ What made you want to start drawing?

I actually have no answer for this one! I've been making art longer than I remember (my mom says I may as well have been born with a paintbrush in my hand lol). So drawing has pretty much always been a constant in my life, and I really can't imagine my life without it. If I had to take a guess, I probably started and kept doing it for the joy of getting to create something ;w;

🥦 Can you share an old piece of work next to a newer piece and say what you've learned?

I had to DIG but I was able to find the old drawing I had in mind for this- Left is from 2010, and my first real attempt at digital drawing, right is from this April - so 14 years difference! I've learned alot since then, I've gotten better at dynamic poses, and I think what I'm most proud of and have put the most effort in working on is drawing fabrics, how they layer and fold and just move in general. I've also learned how to draw backgrounds! Be they simple hints of a location, or a whole atmospheric room. That's another thing I'm proud of

🦑 How did you design your OC?

This honestly varies from oc to oc. I think most often though I pick a color for a character who I'm getting the idea of in my head and go from there. Usually then I'm looking at different fashion to get ideas on how a character might dress. Like Alyosha, Vasile, Leaf, and Kale all started with colors I wanted to use. And then some other characters started to stem off of them, such as Liesl, Amy, Verusya. For Lethe, I saw a cool fish and thought "well I can't NOT make an oc out of that" so I did. And he needed some friends so I started looking at other fish and boom we got Blaise and Hibiscus.

Cerdic's process was a little different, I wanted to fill in a blank in Fates canon of Garon's other children, so I started by flipping through my Fates art book to decide which class he would be and if I wanted to mix and match versions of the uniform or how I might want to customize his look. So he more started based on already existing official works, and then personalization came in later.

🌜 How would you describe your style?

I'd say a blend of realistic and cartoony? Realistic in that I try to keep proportions and body shapes looking more real, but my lines and how I draw certain features like eyes or hair lean in more to the cartoon area.

Artist asks!