#I'm honestly just having fun reacting to smth new again C:

[justakennyoshi]

So I'm going to do the work myself, welcome to Yuki overanalyzing their fav characters, emoji edition c:

Kenny

😒: The side eye emoji mhm, this was probably the hardest one to think about because Kenny is not usually a guy who gets mad and you could associate it with getting angry. However, I think he would use it when he accepts to be part of smth he might not like but he's not a guy to let down others

Cartman: omg kinny don't be a pussy, let's sneak at Token's party it'll be fun Kenny: 's a bad idea Cartman: I'll give you 10 bucks Kenny: 😒 fine I'll go Kyle: It's Tolkien* fatass and Kenny you don't have to agree to everything for money for god's sake Cartman is typing...

🌮: I actually didn't know the meaning of this so I had to google it! And well...

Self explanatory am I right?

Butters: Kenny, why is your status just "🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮"? Kenny: . Butters: Ken? Kenny: ...I was high Butters: That didn't answer my question :( Kenny: There are some things you don't need to know Buttercup Butters: Ok! Kenny: Good Butters: I'm googling it Kenny: wait no- Butters: Oh now I know, that's clever mister! Butters: Me too!! (based on me being 19 yo and not knowing the meaning before this)

☝️: Ok so this was obvious for me but it's because I use a similar emoji for the same purpose. If I could put it in simple words, it means "this" tho I thought of the nerd emoji LMAO (🤓☝️). It could be used in a message but its clearly more effective if used as a reaction emoji like the following

Kenny is a guy of few words and I think it would also apply when texting so he'd react with this whenever he agrees on someone's statement instead of actually replying

EDIT:

Thanks to a comment I've seen there's another interpretation for 2 of Kenny's emojis, being 😏 and✌️so I'd like to briefly cover them too!

😏: "horny" Self explanatory, goes well with 🌮

Kenny: guys Stan: wassup kenny Kenny: nothin just thinkin in 🌮😏 Kyle: GROSS

✌️: I can feel this one is more of a mood than anything. It literally means "peace" which makes sense bc he's a peaceful guy but I also think he'd be using it when feeling silly lmao

Craig: Ok, so who of you fuckers broke it? I'm not mad I just want to know Tweek: I DID IT I BROKE IT Craig: No, no you didn't. Clyde? Clyde: Don't look at me, look at Tolkien Tolkien: What? I didn't break it Clyde: Huh how weird, how did you even know it was even broken? Tolkien: Because it's sitting right in front of us and it's BROKEN Clyde: Suspicious... Tolkien: No it's not (I hope you know this iconic audio bc I'm skipping it) Kenny: I broke it. I kindly smashed it because it scared the shit outta me Kenny: Now I'm going to watch them all fight for hours Kenny: ✌️peace

Butters:

🍁: The maple emoji. I'm not quite sure about this one tbh. According to urban dictionary it could mean weed bc of the shape but honestly Butters wouldn't use it with that purpose lmao. So where does maple come from? Welp from Canada, oh right! Butters had a canadian girlfriend during that time (they broke up eventually but Heidi's investigation pretty much included all the past logs so yeah) so the meaning is probably a shortcut to mean his (ex)girlfriend, showing how of a visual guy he is

Cartman: Hey I need you right now Butters: Nuh uh I'm in a vc with🍁🍁🍁 Cartman: You're "talking" with weed???? That kinny bastard invited you and not me???!!! Butters: What?!! Nononono I meant my girlfriend! Cartman: Oh dats lame

🍆: I'm not innocent enough to not know the meaning of this one. I mean, this one is universal knowledge me thinks. So it means "penis" or how Butters would call it: a weiner LMAO

So if you don't know our fella Butters, in the show he talks about these quite often, watch the black friday trilogy, wieners out and the one episode with cartman for reference. This is not surprising at all and also a reason why Cartman (he's one to talk) always says Butters is gay lol

Butters: YOU GUYS, THE NEW GAME OF THRONES REBOOT WAS HORRIBLE Cartman: Ugh not again Butters: I'm telling yall!!!! his 🍆🍆🍆 WAS SO BIG AND EXPLICIT, WHY did they have to show the guys 🍆🍆🍆 so much Kyle: We know that movie sucked ass Stan: Yeah dude, get over it Butters: But I don't get it!!! What's the appeal of it? Why so much 🍆🍆🍆?????? Kenny: maybe the author was just gay Butters: Mhm that could make sense why else would they expose so much 🍆🍆🍆 am I right? Kenny: yeah so much 🍆🍆🍆 Butters: Ikr 🍆🍆🍆 >:( Kenny: hehe 🍆🍆🍆 Cartman: YOU FUCKTARDS USE THAT DAMN EMOJI ONE MORE TIME AND YOU'LL SEE Kyle: 🍆 Cartman is typing...

👫: An emoji of a couple, I think this is likely to be used when Butters is either 1) being visual again and showing his relationship with his gf (Charlotte in this case) or 2) when he's single and is complaining about how much he wants a girlfriend, showing how much of a daydreamer he is www

Butters: Aw gee Ken, I'd love to get a girlfriend and do 👫 things :( Kenny: nws it'll happen eventually :) Butters: Are you sure? I'm not really popular at school and everyone makes fun of me Kenny: they know shit ur a good guy Leo Butters: c: thanks Ken Kenny: that's what friends are for Butters: Yeah!!! I love you so much Kenny thank you so much for being my friend!!! I hope it never changes :D Kenny: ... me too buttercup (context Kenny in this convo has a crush on Butters wahaha)

🍍: So another fruit huh, I again googled it to find THIS meaning

tho I found it has more meanings... I want to think Butters just likes pineapples and uses these a lot 😭😭😭 there's also the meaning of swinging but Butters is not this type of guy www

But also "complicated relationship status" really reminded me of his parents so what if he tells his closest friends that whenever he sends that emoji it means his parents are there/near?

Kenny: hey buttercup hows it going Butters: 🍍🍍🍍ffsafsdfasdfdsvjkvnjn Kenny: got it (Butters was already being yelled at and typed that without seeing but the pineapples are one of his most used emojis so it works)

UNLESS??? (and prepare Marjorine believers)

:))) not sure about this one but if it's correct how nice

Welp that's it folks I did this instead of my sptober entries otsu

So

Kenny uses 😒🌮☝️

Butters uses 🍁🍆👫🍍

Ahem bunny nation can we just super overanalyze this please?

[birb-tangleblog]

Rise of Flynn Rider - THOUGHTS

THE PROMISED LONGER POST ON THE RISE OF FLYNN RIDER- spoiler warning!

Ok so first off, a very brief summary: the book centers on Eugene and Arnie (Lance), childhood best friends. The orphanage they've grown up in is financially struggling, under threat by a crooked tax collector, and they're both aging out of the system; the only clue Eugene has to his parents is a letter from the woman who left him there, which is signed with a ~mysterious symbol~. When a traveling circus run by the Baron (yes, that Baron) passes through town and Eugene learns of a possible lead on his past, the two boys reinvent themselves, join up, and eventually end up entangled in a scheme to steal from the King and Queen of Corona. 

I won't lie, I enjoyed this one a lot- it was a fun read, very cozy to curl up with, and even with some contradictions, it felt like a novel that was derivative of the series and set in that world. There are a lot of cameos and references, enough that I think most TTS fans will find something they like to nibble on.

Like I said in my earlier post abt the prologue and first few chapters, I'm so happy that Lance got a role alongside Eugene- he's definitely a secondary character to Eugene’s main, and he does get sidelined somewhat, but it's charming to see his friendship with Eugene and his growing passion for cooking. 

'I didn't expect anything, so I'm more delighted and pleasantly surprised than genuinely unhappy with the execution' is a running theme with this book for me and basically the tl;dr of this write-up.

There are soo many cameos and little treats- I get the impression Calonita didn't have the most complete knowledge of the series, but her chats with Chris and interest in the series’ writing definitely show. King Edmund, the Stabbingtons, all of the pub thugs, Weasel, Stalyan, and the Baron all make appearances, and we get cameos from Cap, Maximus, Pascal's mother, and even Cass gets a name drop. Several series-exclusive locations are also mentioned by name- Vardaros, the Spire, and the Forest of No Return.

I'm not immune to the fannish hit of 'hey! I understand that reference!' and I really enjoyed hunting for easter eggs, so even if the presence of the pub thugs in the Baron's crew, or the boys stumbling on Rapunzel's tower in one scene and making nothing of it (yea that happened) is a lil questionable, it made me smile and I can't be mad.

I would just describe this book as 'comfy'.

(That said, I'm a little unsure who all those references are for- I feel like if you hadn't seen the series, you'd lack context and some details would be meaningless, but if you had, I think you might long for more depth and exploration...)

Structure & Progression

Here's the part where I start criticizing the book aimed at middle and elementary schoolers lmao

It's a v short book, but the plot progression still feels a little scattered- it didn’t feel quite like a heist OR a mystery. The subplot that takes up a lot of focus is actually interpersonal conflict between Lance and Eugene- and they reconcile, but not after spending much of the book in a standoff due to a misunderstanding/'liar revealed' trope.

One of Eugene's motivations for joining the circus is spotting a man with a mark on his arm that matches the one from his letter working there, and believing he'll be able to learn more abt his parents from him. He doesn't disclose this to Lance right away, and when it comes out later on, he's upset that Eugene didn't tell him- he feels tricked, and like Eugene's prioritizing his biological family over their bond. I had a hard time with this, b/c I honestly think Eugene could've literally said to Lance, 'hey, joining this circus is a great opportunity to travel, make money, send some back to the orphanage, AND I found something about my parents, will you come with me?' and Lance still would've jumped on it. Later on, there's also another similar miscommunication that deepens the rift. 

It feels like manufactured drama, and I would've loved a book of the two of them just being buds, bouncing off each other, and trying to unravel the mysteries of the DK symbol and the Baron's ulterior motives together. Lance's fears of being left behind by his friend absolutely could've surfaced without the misunderstandings, especially the closer they got to the truth. (And I don't think that'd have been dissimilar to the unused 'Trial' episode concept and flashback.)

The pacing itself... meanders. After the boys complete an initiation mission to get a hold of a special key for the Baron, time passes (two weeks in-story) and there's some slice of life as they learn the ropes, get inducted into a lifestyle of thieving (it’s revealed the circus is a front for a crime ring), and get to know the Baron's crew.

I liked these parts and would've kept them in a longer book! But maybe there could've been some fine-tuning here so big events (Eugene stealing for the first time, the heist, the meeting with the mysterious Man with the Mark) weren’t so one-and-done. There are several points where nothing's really happening because the characters can't quite connect with each other, or they're waiting around for an opportunity passively, and that makes for a frustrating exp for me as a reader.

There were also lot of elements I thought were getting set up to come into play later, but not a lot of follow through? The folk hero Lance Archer is mentioned several times and has wanted posters, but we never meet him in the flesh. The Man with the Mark is revealed to be a former member of the Brotherhood(!) named Vedis(!!), but he isn't seen again after Eugene speaks with him... once. (More on this later this post is getting so long omg) 

The Baron’s plan is revealed to be stealing a reward offered for the lost princess when it’s on display to the public during a festival. Eugene and Lance balk b/c stealing doesn’t sit well with them, especially when it’s from what are ultimately a family trying to find their lost child- they decide to do the right thing by foiling the scheme/stealing it back and returning it to the royals. It goes a bit pear-shaped and they’re caught, but are forgiven and face no consequences after explaining, other than being ousted from the circus/crime ring and making enemies of the Baron. Eugene hasn’t given up on finding the DK, but he realizes he already has a family in Lance, and that’s the most important thing; the two resolve to travel the world and have adventures together.

I want to make another post on it, but at the least it feels like a foregone conclusion given we know ‘Flynn Rider’ goes on to become a renown thief who steals the crown of the lost princess- that’s literally the plot of the movie, and being a dashing rogue is Flynn’s defining trait- so even aside from questionable ideas about wealth, class, and morality, the novel’s ending doesn’t fit what’s firmly established about his character, and I think big fans of Eugene might have an even harder time with that then me. 

(I’m very suspicious that there might’ve been some executive meddling in an attempt to soften young Eugene’s character, and send a more palatable/upstanding message to children- it feels like Disney editing the old SW films to show Han didn’t shoot first.)

It’s def one of those novels where you can take some elements you like and leave others, but overall I’d still rly rec it for series fans! I’ve been buzzing and what-iffing about it for a few days, and I got some tasty tidbits on the characters and nods to the series, which is exactly what I wanted out of it.

And maybe it’s a funky take, but honestly I want to think of this book as the beginning of an alternate timeline where Lance and Eugene got out of crime earlier, Eugene got a clue abt his heritage by chance, and it changed his course. I think embracing the retcons and contradictions to canon makes for an interesting angle, and you’ll enjoy it more if you don’t take it too seriously.