#Mufasa Re-Do

[artist-issues]

Mufasa Re-Do: Zazu

For my first adjustment; Zazu! Zazu and his interactions with the rest of the cast.

In the Mufasa We Got, Zazu is supposed to be young, and comedic relief, because he is following Sarabi around like he’s on her staff somehow, because the rest of her pride was scattered by the villain. He doesn’t interact directly with Taka or Rafiki beyond flying in the same traveling group as them, and he has one interaction with Mufasa where Mufasa tells Zazu that he can save the day by using his bird wings to cover their tracks so the villains don’t find them. 

They’re inconsistent with Zazu’s characterization, and with what he’s doing in the story. At first, he seems to be dedicated to Sarabi as part of her honor guard, though she mentions he’s just her scout. That’s supposed to be funny, because he’s like a 1lb-bird claiming to protect a 200+lb lioness. But any time there’s trouble while they’re in the traveling part of the movie, he turns into a coward and darts into the sky with a one-liner about how he didn’t sign up for this danger. Even though he had no trouble “confronting danger” when it was Taka and Mufasa. Then, even later in the climax, he seems to lose all cowardice (inexplicably) and has to be rescued because he’s trying to fight three evil lions at once.

None of which has anything to do with the Zazu we know and love from The Original Lion King. 

He has one line at the end where he seems to be a stickler for tradition, which would be in-character for the Zazu we know—he tells Mufasa that he must banish Taka for betraying them. But uh…where does that tradition come from, and how does Zazu know it? He just got to this kingdom ten minutes ago. Also, THIS young Zazu has not demonstrated any personality-bent toward tradition until this moment. Basically what I’m saying is, they just needed someone to suggest banishment in that moment, and Zazu was luckily nearby and they could give him that line. It only fit his adult-characterization by accident. 

In the WHOLE movie, they should’ve been showing that he was a stickler for rules and pomp and circumstance. They should’ve been showing how he was THRILLED to be part of a royal lioness’ staff, and wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from him. 

In the movie, however, I love one moment with Zazu, which was totally inconsistent and never gets addressed again, but they should’ve been focusing on it much more and it could’ve been great:

It’s when Mufasa encourages Zazu to use his wings to cover their tracks. 

This scene accomplishes 3 things:

1 - It gives Zazu a moment where he can be validated, and feel useful, as a young bird in the company of royal lions. That could be a real character beat that shows us how he got to the majordomo we know & love in The Lion King. 

2 - It shows Mufasa’s “superpower” as a character; he “respects all creatures in the Circle of Life” and can not only empathize with them enough to see how they can be useful—but he can INSPIRE them to work together for the greater good. He can make a plan, see how someone else can be delegated-to to put it into action, and then inspire them to get it done. You know. Like a good leader.

3 - It shows all the characters around Mufasa, from Sarabi to Taka to Rafiki, that there’s a different way to think; animals of all species can be useful. For Taka, he needs to learn that to become the evil-genius who thinks of allying himself with hyenas. For Sarabi, she can admire the way Mufasa trusts others, and see that they CAN be trusted.

The problem is? The Movie We Got doesn’t lead up to it well. Zazu acts insecure and uncertain, in this ONE scene, until Mufasa believes in him and gives him a pep talk. But earlier, Zazu seemed to have no problem with confidence and self-importance. The other characters’ interactions with Zazu don’t lead up to this moment well either. Actually, they’ve barely interacted with him at all. He’s just flying around saying one-liners to himself.

So! Here’s what I would’ve done.

Young Zazu:

Instead of being all-over-the-place with his characterization, I would’ve made Zazu an intensely loyal bird who thinks he can be useful to the Grand Scheme of Things. Unfortunately, he has way too much confidence in being able to do anything, when actually, he needs to learn that he;s just a bird. He can do some things well, but he won’t fit into ANY place in the Circle of Life—he needs to find HIS specific place. A place where he can be of the most service. (That’s a recurring theme in my idea for the movie.) So, first he thinks he can be a bodyguard for Sarabi, then he almost gets her and himself killed and loses all confidence—then Mufasa gives it back to him by showing him that he can be more useful in a smaller way. Like covering their tracks.

Zazu and Sarabi:

Sarabi’s father did leave Sarabi in Zazu’s care. But it was a panicked, spur-of-the-moment decision. It went like this:

Sarabi’s father heard there were Rogues hunting in his territory and, like a good King should, interrupted their illegal hunt and tried to chase them out. They happened to be toying with young Zazu at the time when Sarabi’s Dad burst in and fought with them. But he was overpowered, underestimating their numbers, and Sarabi’s Dad realized that his kingdom was about to be taken over. So in the middle of what became his last stand, he commanded Zazu, who was still nearby,  to go find his daughter, the Princess, and warn her to run away. But Zazu actually found her after she already escaped, on her own, and insisted that “your father left you in my care!” Then he won’t leave her alone.

And in my concept, she hates that.

 In The Movie We Got, Sarabi was very inconsistent, too, just when it came to Zazu. She’s like, “I don’t need anybody’s help— and nobody’s WOULD help me, anyway.” She acts that way with Mufasa & Taka, she acts that way with Rafiki, and she eventually acts that way when Mufasa wants to get help from elephants. BUT. She does NOT act that way with Zazu. Which is not only inconsistent, but ridiculous, because he is, again, a 1lb-bird, and making her consistently annoyed by his offer of help would have strengthened the story and given Mufasa more of a spotlight, by contrast, because he DOES value Zazu.

Anyway.

Sarabi should find Zazu bothersome, especially because she CAN’T get rid of him. He flies out of her reach whenever she tries to scare him away, but he never goes far, and he won’t shut up. At first. He’s convinced the King, her father, condescended to save his life and entrusted him with something important, he’s thrilled to have that mission in life, and he doesn’t (at first) care what she or anyone says to the contrary.

For most of the movie, Zazu and Sarabi’s relationship is one-sided. Eventually she softens her dismissal of Zazu into seeing him more like an “annoying little-brother,” (because they bond over Zazu’s brief connection to her late father + they spend more time together + Mufasa sets a more empathetic example and it rubs off on her.) 

Then they have one tense moment where Zazu’s bad-fit as her bodyguard really leads to bad consequences for Sarabi, and he loses all confidence, until Mufasa fixes that.

By the end of the movie, Sarabi and Zazu are friends and she’s come around to Mufasa’s way of thinking—all animals in the Circle of Life should be respected in their own right, and Zazu is their first example of why.

But at the beginning, it’s pretty tense. He insists he can be useful and she demonstrates how much she refuses to need help by wishing she could eat him.

Zazu is introduced to the rest of the group like this:

While Sarabi is slinking through the bush, trying to put as much distance between herself and her fallen kingdom as she can, Zazu won’t stop flying overhead, yammering. He’s talking about how danger can come from anywhere, and pontificating on what a good Royal Escort’s policy should be to watch out for it, and she’s shushing him but he’s taking no notice.

 Taka and Mufasa spot him flapping and monologuing above some bushes as they are making their own escape, and when they get closer, THAT’S how they find and meet Sarabi.

Taka thinks Sarabi is beautiful at first sight and tries to pounce on Zazu as soon as he gets the opportunity, kind of to show off and make an entrance. Zazu protests that he is Sarabi’s Royal Escort, and should not be eaten. Sarabi wants him to shut up—she doesn’t know if these two strangers are part of the Rogues that she’s running from, and she doesn’t want them to know who she is (more on that in my Sarabi-focused post.)

But Mufasa? 

Zazu and Mufasa: 

Mufasa hears that Zazu is Sarabi’s Royal Escort and he thinks that’s a great idea. He admires that she works with a bird, immediately. (Remember, in the great Lin-Manuel/Lebo M. Song, “I Always Wanted a Brother,” Mufasa admires birds for their freedom and ability to see more than he can?)

He shows how Zazu can be useful, and eventually convinces Sarabi that Zazu IS useful. This can happen more than once, but the best moment I’m thinking of is Zazu flying to get help when Sarabi is knocked out by the elephants. (That’s scene was almost strong, so I want to keep it.) 

Zazu does this without thinking, even though a moment ago he was downhearted and feeling useless after his Big Mistake Moment. But Mufasa takes notice, after getting Zazu’s message and saving Sarabi. He reminds Zazu of  his helpfulness as a messenger later on, when they need him to cover their tracks, and that convinces Zazu that he really is believed-in by the lions. Then Zazu goes to Mufasa for orders in the climax, further hitting the nail-on-the-head that Mufasa’s True Place in the Circle of Life, where he serves others the best, is as their natural leader.

Because he can see the respectable nature of all creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope. And it starts with Zazu!

Zazu and Mufasa are fast friends, from the beginning. This is obviously because Mufasa does more than tolerate a bird traveling with them, he actually laughs at Zazu’s jokes and treats him civilly—but he also stops Taka from eating Zazu.

Zazu and Taka:

The running gag for much of the movie is that Taka finds Zazu annoying, as one of his maneuvers to have something in common with Sarabi. Also from an early age, Taka believes other animals are only as useful as they are tasty, or maybe as entertainment. 

Zazu dislikes Taka’s presumption to always be walking alongside Sarabi. He keeps getting in the way every time Taka tries to put the moves on the Princess. Sometimes Taka comedically menaces Zazu, but once or twice at the end of the movie, to show how violent and bitter Taka is getting as Mufasa gets the spotlight, Taka really tries to smack Zazu around. 

Mostly, Zazu serves as a way for Taka to demonstrate how differently he and Mufasa think…and Sarabi is caught in the middle of the two worldviews.

Zazu and Rafiki:

Zazu starts out skeptical of Rafiki and even being a little jealous of him. He sort of unconsciously liked that he was the only non-lion traveling companion of Sarabi—it gave him a sense of special-importance. He also likes things to be proper, and Rafiki seems a little crazy, so their personalities don’t exactly mesh. 

But then I’d hint every now and then at the idea that Rafiki, in their travels, is teaching Zazu about the traditions of the Great Kings, and how lion prides have been run in the Pridelands. Zazu likes that, because in his mind he’s part of Sarabi’s nonexistent court, and now he has rules and regulations to insert into conversations with her.

This way, by the end, if Mufasa needs someone to suggest punishment for Taka, Zazu can believably be the one to do it. And it won’t come out of nowhere. It’ll feel like this was always where Zazu was headed, because now we’ve seen where he came from. 

[abdy-18]

Yor is very grateful to Loid and Anya because thanks to them she can now go out to more places to have fun, so when she found out that there was going to be a re-screening of the movie “Bambi” at the movie theater, she decided to return the favor and invite them to watch the movie.

Everything was going well until they had to leave the movie theater while Loid was carrying Anya because she started to cry inconsolably at the scene of Bambi's mother's death.

Yor's eyes become moist seeing Anya so sad and Loid so worried , she really was a fool, this was all her fault.

The death of the “real” Mrs. Forger must have devastated them so much to the point that the only way Loid and Anya can move on is to not mention her at all.

Poor Loid, he has no siblings, no parents and Franky seems to be his only close friend, before her, Franky was her husband's only support, and when he wasn't available, then Loid was alone (Sometimes she's curious about Anya's maternal family, but that's none of her business.).

So she had to have a conversation with Yuri in which she asked him to please not bother Loid by questioning him about his past.

“Please, Yuri, leave him alone. Loid is not a bad person, if he doesn't talk about his past or doesn't show pictures it's not because he's hiding things, it's because it hurts him and Anya, it's not nice to ask a widower about his past wife.”

She imagines Loid the first days after his wife passed away, having to take care of a 3/4 year old girl by himself and having to explain to her why her mom is not coming back, she understands, Yuri was around the same age when their mother died, and although she tried to stay strong, she could not keep her voice from cracking when she explained that “mom was very tired and fell asleep…forever.”

Yor had heard of people who after being widowed focus on work so they don't have to think about their loss, maybe, that's why Loid works so hard and comes home so late, deep down he must still miss his wife a lot, even more so considering that Anya looks nothing like Loid so he must look a lot like her.

And now here she was, a failed attempt at a wife that made his daughter cry.

After Anya calmed down they returned home and Loid and Yor read her a bedtime story.

Children must be very perceptive because Anya seemed to notice her distress and decided to try to reassure her by saying that “it's not mama's fault that Anya is sad” and that she's sorry she couldn't finish the movie because she was loving it and was having so much fun watching it.Anya is such a sweet girl, Yor could not help but hug her.

Loid and Anya (and Bond) have only been part of her life for a short time but Yor loves them and would do anything for them.

This was a mini idea I had for a one-shot but I don't know if I ever finished writing it so here it is 😊

I think Yor secretly must compare herself to (her idea of) the “real” Mrs. Forger, but obviously she would never say that to Loid for respect.

Anya is lucky that the lion king movie was not released until the 90s because if she sees the scene of Mufasa's death, she would cry uncontrollably because it would remind her of the future Bond showed her in which she found Loid's corpse.

damn, now I imagine Anya in this future telling Loid “papa, come on...you got to get up, we got to go home” just like Simba

[yuurei20]

hello there! so sorry for how vague this question is but: do you have any idea as to why EN won’t give us the tamashina event? :’< we got the stitch event before tamashina 💔

Hello hello! ^^ Thank you for this question!

It is true that the EN server seems to have shuffled the order of release for Tamashna Muina (this is the spelling of the event music from the official soundtrack, which I have never seen anywhere else before 👀 Interesting!) but EN has a history of rearranging events, putting Halloween before Vargas Camp, Tsumsted before Harveston, Port Fest after Vargas Camp 2, etc ^^

We do not have any precedence for EN skipping something altogether so I think it is safe to say that EN will receive Tamashna sooner or later, and we might be able to guess when 👀

The 30th anniversary of the release of the animated Lion King movie is coming! ^^

As it was originally released in June in the US it seems that a June release would have made more sense than the Stitch event for this month. There is a chance they are opting for the Japan release date, instead? Maybe?

And there is another event up and coming!

The new "Mufasa" movie is coming out this December, but it was originally slotted for a July 5th release 👀

Is it possible that Aniplex USA timed their 2024 schedule around Mufasa coming out in July, and were not able to adapt to the sudden change that came from the writer's strike?

This would not be the first time that the EN server has tied in-game content to a live-action theatrical release, with a "release celebration" and Octavinelle Training Camp timed with the The Little Mermaid! (And this was unique to EN! JP received a log-in bonus but no training camp.)

In conclusion: Based on past release patterns, there is a good chance that Tamashna is on its way! ^^

A July release would be curious due to its proximity to Leona's birthday, but it would also not be the first time that EN has released multiple SSRs of the same character curiously close together (re: Phantom Bride and Clubwear Ace, Dorm Malleus and Birthday Malleus, Tsum Azul and Birthday Azul, etc.).

Only time will tell! 🦁

[weclassybouquetfun]

I thought we'd get no Luca Marinelli after the festival showings of his upcoming series M – IL FIGLIO DEL SECOLO / M. SON OF THE CENTURY, but thankfully mans has things to do; like attending the Italian premiere of MUFASA: IL RE LEONE / MUFASA: THE LION KING (directed by Barry Jenkins).

At least when Marwan Kenzari go baggy, it's a more fitted baggy. Never go full baggy Luca!

MORE LUCA AT THE MUFASA PREMIERE.

Buts from their panel courtesy of YouTube channel Madrog Cinema and Twitter account Rebelle Vague. Costar Elodie mentioning her favourite villain is Ursula and Luca divulging that Ursula was voiced by his aunt; Luca talking about doing Disney voice work.

[gemsofgreece]

10 best animated movies to watch in Greek

One of the best ways to practice a language is by watching a movie. Even more so, watching an animated movie dubbed in your target language can be really fun and useful, as these movies tend to include jokes (even inside jokes specific to the language) and songs. So, without further ado, here is my personal list of 10 best animated movies to watch in Greek.

10. Shrek 2

The reason I am recommending Shrek 2 instead of Shrek is just because I have the - maybe not standard, but certainly not unpopular - opinion that Sherk 2 is overall a funnier movie than Shrek. The Greek dub maintains successfully all the witty and somewhat adult-oriented humour. The voice casting done for characters like Donkey, Puss in Boots and Gingy is memorable and accurate.

9. Lion King

The voice casting is really good. Adult Simba has a sympathetic voice, Mufasa has a superb kingly radio voice, the hyenas are hysterical, Zazu is funny too, Nala's voice is warm and womanly. I also love Scar's voice. Scar has a sinister voice but it's a weaker, not as “thick” a voice as Mufasa’s, just like Scar relied on the evilness of his mind and not his muscles. Timon and Pumba's dub is iconic. Greek Can you feel the love and Be Prepared are fantastic versions of the songs. And Greek Mufasa just steals every scene vocally, especially those when he appears in Simba's memory.

8. Monsters INC

Another amazing voice casting for all characters but we all (Greeks) know that this is one man's show. Christos Hatzipanayotis just KILLS it as Mike Wazowski. I believe Greek Wazowski is much funnier than the original. Also let's remember "Fovízume yatí sas frondízume" lol the Greek "We scare because we care (for you)"

7. Finding Nemo

This dub did something special with the casting. It casted as Marlin and Dory two actors that had already worked together in a super famous comedy series as a couple. As a result, their chemistry is off the roof and Dimitra Papadopoulou's voice is incredibly accurate for Dory's character. Dory's whale language is hysterical and I also love the incredibly relaxed voice actor they found for that turtle reincarnation of Bob Marley. All other casting is good too, except I want to slap the extremely nasal Nemo.

6. Sleeping Beauty

Although I love this movie dearly and I really like its Greek version, I actually place it that high because I have found it to be really popular with foreign people. Some say they like Aurora's song better in Greek, which I find interesting as I really love the original. It is surely a masterful work though. It is an old movie and the Greek actors speak more elegantly, more sophisticatedly like people tended to, back then. The voices suit properly an aethereal princess and her dreamy prince, the fairies have these warm, elderly, ladylike voices and Maleficent also is imposing and very cold.

5. Aristocats

This is a perfect example where it is clear that both the voice casting directors and the actors worked their asses off. Every actor chosen is simply ideal for their character, including the kittens, Edgar the evil servant, the diva, the super SUPER old lawyer, the tomcats, Lady is so prim and proper, Uncle Waldo and the goose nieces with their Britsh accent Greek lol BUT. I have no idea how it dawned on them to make the dog couple have a comedic Heptanesian island accent but whoever that was, they were a bloody genius. Not only it's impeccably performed, it's twice as hilarious when you see them in an old Parisian environment speaking some really strong Heptanesian out of nowhere. The dogs in the original do not have any particularly heavy accent to my understanding, so if you watch the original after you have watched the Greek, you won't even understand they are supposed to be funny. I love that the Greek directors took the uneventful speech of the dogs and were like "Clearly, we 're gonna make them speak extreme Heptanesian" XD

4. Spirit: The Stallion of the Cimarron

Spirit has mostly narration and songs, it has very few dialogues. Its songs are amazing though and they really make a difference in the movie. In the Greek dub, both the narrating and singing role was given to singer - actor Yannis Savvidakis who is very talented. Not only he performed those songs wonderfully but I liked how well it maintained the feel of rock ballads coming from America, despite being sung in a language from a place that has nothing to do with any of this.

3. The Emperor's New Groove

Okay, we reached the Golden Triad. The Emperor's New Groove is, simply put, the best Disney comedy to date. If we consider that the Greek version is funnier than the original, as I strongly believe, you get a comedy for the ages. The voice casting is PERFECT. Every voice chosen is like it was created for the character, the characters get life and personality through the vocal performances. Kuzco sounds blasé, egocentric, sarcastic and you want to slap him silly, Kronk sounds like a soft dumbass himbo which is what he is, Pacha is your everyday good-hearted peasant, Yzma is killing it as the old ambitious narcissist. The humour is awesome and tranferred ideally into Greek comedy. It just works on every level. I can't explain it more, it's just perfect. While this movie is unfairly obscure and underrated on a global level, in Greece it was a hit and people still remember quotes by heart, exactly beause the dub was so god-tier level.

2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Okay. The dub of dubs. The Dub of Notre Dame. Seriously, this is a masterpiece on every aspect. Again, this is better than the original. Esmeralda has a sensual, really beautiful speaking voice and an outstanding singing one (Alcestis Protopsalti y'all), Frollo has an ideal casting in that he sounds like a bad person but in a totally realistic way (as he is also a very realistic villain) and he sounds so very sophisticated, very elegant. Sinister and elegant, which makes total sense as in the Disney version he is the supreme justice minister of Paris. Quasimodo is voiced by Sakis Rouvas (a sexy singer with a soft voice), who a few found like a somewhat odd pairing but it works perfectly since Disney's Quasimodo is soft, sensitive and considerably sophisticated as well. Clopin's singing is done by tenor Konstantinos Paliatsaras. The songs in the Greek version are in my opinion better performed than in English. Hellfire is quite possibly the most loved villain song in Greece. A small example to understand the level of perfection; the intro song "Bells of Notre Dame" has an extremely difficult ending note that only a few versions globally managed to hit. Even the original singer struggles with the note, he hits it but a little weakly, he is very supported and almost covered by backing vocals. In other versions, even this is not possible at all and singers just skip the note. The Greek version by Paliatsaras is one of the very few where the note is hit correctly, he essentially rips it apart, but I think it is also the only version (unless something escapes me) where the lyrics were different in a way that it made a difference to the singing. All versions I have heard are a variation of the original "bells, bells, bells, bells" which prepares the crescendo / raise of the pitch and then, "of notre DAAAAAME". Greek is the only version I have listened to where a full sentence is delivered effortlessly, without a repetition of "bells". "Ke ihún pandú kambánes stin karthyá tis panaYAAAAAS". It's a full sentence instead of a convenient one-syllable word over and over. Of course, it had to be done because the word for bells in Greek (kambánes) wouldn't work but it still was a harder thing to deliver than the repetition and it was accomplished even better. Okay, in short, Oscar worthy dub. Perfect in every way. I am in love with it, you can tell. The only reason it is not first is because the first spot had to be saved for the obvious one.

1. Hercules

The obvious first spot. Of course, it doesn't take it without deserving it. Greeks really made sure to give this one even more attention to detail. So, it doesn't only feel like it's natural, it also IS the most natural one, as contemporary languages go. All voice casting is once more ideal. Hercules, or Heracles as he is of course in Greek, has a sensitive, warm, sympathetic voice. They did a great thing with Megara when they gave the role to Evridiki who has a more mature, seasoned voice which fits Megara's character and not like a girly, princessy, out-of-place voice. Famous comedian Lakis Lazopoulos steals the show in all his scenes and they are MANY, since he plays Philoktetes and Pain AND Panic, all three of them! But he can't steal the scenes where Hades is in, as Konstantinos Tzoumas is in reality the big star of the movie. First and foremost, you watch this movie for Hades. One more fantastic detail in my opinion is what they did with the Muses. So you know, the original movie Muses are singing a liberal style of American gospel. Instead of ditching it as unfitting and entirely inaccurate, the Greek directors played along with it. Most notably, one of the Muses is voiced by Julie Massino, a vocal coach and singer born and raised in the US (I don't know if she has Greek descent) who lives and works in Greece, so she has a natural and strong American accent in her Greek! I just found this so cool. It is a really cool dub. They knew the stakes were very high and they delivered down to the very last detail.

*We really had to title this: Heracles - Beyond the Myth...!

[my-book-list]

When the Lights Go Out

Two races later, in Spain, Harry and Louis are racing in P4 and P5 during lap 35. Harry is using the turn to pass, sneaking past Louis as he takes the turn slightly wider. Louis cuts in as they go around the curve, and Harry is forced off the track as he pulls ahead and takes P4 from Louis.  He pulls away from Louis during the second half of the lap, until he hears from the team radio during lap 36.  “Harry, you have to give the position back.” “What?!” “You were not ahead at the peak of the turn, so going off the track was illegal to do while passing” Steffan says.  “That’s bullshit,” Harry says. Aston Martin must have challenged his pass. “We have to give it back.” Harry does, but he isn’t happy about it.  After the race, Harry stays after his press conference with Max to hover and watch the next one, which includes Louis.  “You seemed pretty outraged by Harry’s pass,” a Dutch reporter asks. Harry mentally makes a note to seek out the footage from Louis’s team radio from the race. “At that moment, were you confident that it wasn’t legal?” “Immediately yes, I was ahead at the peak and knew it wasn’t right.” Harry doesn’t wait to watch the rest of the press conference and leaves.  The incidents continue, small altercations during the races that are building up more and more. When Harry is set to win his first ever grand prix in Canada, Louis’s car breaks down and he doesn’t move it off the track before the power unit fully dies. Between these aggravations on track, and Harry’s persistent crush on Louis, he finds himself less and less confident of how he should act around the other driver. While they used to celebrate after races and run in the same circles, Harry now hangs out with Niall alone. Louis does the same.

“If you can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.”

“Driving is your fuckin’ job, act like it.” on ao3 by @antidotetogo

79k

[lionessinarms]

I've seen a lot of hate from the upcoming new Lion King movie and I get it, it's the internet. I know a ton of die hard fans would have loved to see the new story done in the traditional 1994 movie. But that is not what we're getting. Personally, I loved the 2019 because it's different version of my favorite movie. More adult feeling and full of epic action! Seeing The Lion King on Broadway too helped with that.

So enjoy this nice digital fan art. Done in photoshop (my age is showing). I had fun looking at high res images from the original movie to color match even the line work. Yeah I got lazy and. copied the background or was I being efficient?

Can't wait see Mufasa! I'll probably be doing more art like this soon!

[kaliade]

Twisted Wonderland Headcanon- The Villains Were Right

  I’m really, really into Twisted Wonderland right now and you all have you suffer for it.  If you don’t know what Twisted Wonderland is, it’s a gacha style Disney game with Twisted versions of the Classic Disney Movie villains all attending an all boys college called Night Raven College (herein referred to as NRC).  There the Great Seven (the Disney villains) are revered.  There are 2 different ways of interpreting NRC’s reverenace of the Seven that I’ve seen so far. 

1. The Villains were villains and this is a school for villains so no one cares 2.  The Villains won instead of failing in their respective movies and thus are still respected.

I propose a 3rd option.  The Villains were in the right even if their actions were seen as extreme.  Allow me to elaborate.  Beware, Spoilers ahead!

The Queen of Hearts In my re-telling/re-imagining, the Queen of Hearts is the uniter of her kingdom.  The Rose Queendom did not always follow a single ruler, instead being made up of a bunch of smaller kingdoms that were in a near constant state of war.  This war state would represent the madness that keeps getting brought up in regards to her.  The Queen of Hearts managed to untie the entire area of what would become the Rose Queendom under her banner.  The 800+ odd rules of hers were her way of uniting several cultures.  Feeding the flamingos while wearing pink?  That’s from one group who believed the similar colors would make the animals stronger.  No eating hamburgers on Tuesday?  One group had a religious observance on that day that forbid it.  And yes, the Queen did sentence many who broke her rules to be beheaded, but that was mostly because those breaking the rules were rebelling against her in an attempt to break the kingdom apart.  This is the main part where I think the Queen’s a bit extreme in her punishments, but my version of the Queen of Hearts was a traumatized general who definitely had PTSD as well as other mental health issues.

Scar United the hyenas and other downtodden folk against his brother King Mufasa.  Mufasa was giving positions based on blood ties and, in essence, racism by not allowing certain animal species to hold rank or even employment.  The hyenas were banished.  Scar saw that things were going to go bad with the spark of rebellion just waiting to be lit.  Wanting to save his kingdom, he allied with those who the Lion King scorned and banished.  Scar was successful in defeating his brother and took over as king, even saving his nephew Simba from being kidnapped by Mufasa’s loyal retainers to make the prince a puppet ruler.  He was aided in this by a meerkat and a warthog that had found the injured cub and taken him in.  Both meerkat and warthog were rewarded for their actions.  Scar ruled fairly over the Savanna until Simba, who had been taught how to be a ruler by his Uncle, was ready to take over.  Scar then retired and enjoyed the life where he didn’t have to make decisions that could affect the whole country, even if he did stay in the palace to act as a source of wisdom for his young nephew.  His extremeness comes from being the killer of his brother.

Ursula Triton’s sister who left after being treated horribly by the tailed merfolk (Basically like Azul was)  She does learn her magic and to create contracts and, yes, did start out as she is in her movie.  A scam artist, power seeking, etc.  Then her sister-in-law dies at the hands of humans (see the Little Mermaid prequel for details)  As much as she despises her brother, her nieces need a female role model.  Triton is busy and grieving and takes little notice of his sister’s return until he eventually does and she’s banished again, but now the mermaid princesses know her and have heard stories about what she can do. This is also a turning point of Ursula.  She’s been bitter this entire time and being treated kindly by her nieces and getting respect for the other merfolk with how she was helping the princesses made her change her tune, slightly.  She still makes deals, but the consequences of the deals are less eternal servitude and more indentured servitude with a stated end date.  This brings us to the Little Mermaid movie events.  Ariel still falls for a human prince but this time she knows her aunt has the power to give her legs and there’s less screaming all around from Sebastian and Flounder.  Ursula is hesitant on giving Ariel what she wants.  She remembers how her sister-in-law died.  So, in order to keep the existence of merfolk quiet, her price in her niece’s voice, which she also uses to test the human boy her niece is in love with.  Triton does find out, but the man has mellowed over the years, especially with his many daughters asking why he’d so mean to their aunt.  He is angry, but the siblings do talk it out and he appreciates Ursula looking out for his daughter on land.  There is no stabbing of the giant cecaelia or any stealing of a trident and Ariel eventually works out a treaty between the merfolk and the humans after getting her voice back form her aunt after Eric proves he loves her.

Jafar Took over Agrahbah because the sultan was an  idiot and the princess nearly caused a war with having her pet tiger attack her suitors.  It was the only way to keep his home safe.  After the princess was nearly tricked into marrying a street rat with a genie at his side, Jafar deposed the sultan and his daughter.  Life in Agrhabah grew better under his rule as he made several advances using magic to bring comforts to his people.

Beautiful/Evil Queen (Trigger Warning:  Rape allusions, Abuse, Assisted Suicide) Married to the king less than a month after his first wife died of mysterious circumstance,  Grimhild age age 17 became the new Queen and stepmother to a 5 year old Snow White.  While she didn’t spend much time with the girl, leaving her rearing to nannies and tutors, the Queen did not have any animosity toward the girl.  No, her hatred was focused on the King, who liked his women beautiful and young, the younger the better and they didn’t necessarily have to be willing.  Grimhild put up with this, trying to help the girls as much as she could with her potions but having no actual power to stop her husband.  Then Snow turned 14... Before the king’s eye could turn to his daughter, a prince from a nearby kingdom visited and was besotted by Snow.  Grimhild became enraged, not because he did not look at her like that, but because the man was in his 30s!  The king agreed to betroth Snow and the prince.  Fearing for the girl, the Queen sent her loyal huntsman to take the girl out to the woods to gather wildflowers for a gift for the prince.  In truth, she ordered her huntsman to take her into the wood and get the girl to run away on her own or make her.  After scaring the poor child with tales of what awaited her and what her mother and stepmother had suffered through, Snow fled into the forest and came upon the dwarves, who took her in and protected her in exchange for some housework and cooking.  The Queen would later, after events, give them royal fiat to mine magestones and sell them at high profit with the royal seal.  Unfortunately, Snow fell ill one day from the plague and never recovered, dying at the age of 18.  Nothing her stepmother or the dwarves did could save her.  Grimhild, taking pity on the girl’s suffering and inability to heal her, offered Snow poison to make her miserable death easier, which Snow accepted.  (Meaning assisted suicide) Now, while Snow was safe with the dwarves, the Queen decided enough was enough and with the help of the castle staff, who were also sick of the king’s ways, poisoned the king and took over the kingdom.  Snow came back home after a year, but she missed the dwarves home and would visit when she could.  The prince that was courting her never made it home and no one (save for an eagle eyed huntsman and a viciously protective queen) know what happened to him...

Hades (Admittedly my weakest of these) The Titan Class Phantoms are phantoms of half-gods that attacked Olympus.  Hades, being the only god who didn’t have residence of Olympus, was the only survivor and managed to trap them in Tartarus.  He set himself, and his descendants, to watch over the gate, which did eventually come to be more like a curse than a true calling.  Due to his connection to death, it was very difficult for him or his descendants to accumulate Blot.  Their magic tended to have a life draining effect which is why the family prefers to use tech over magic.

Maleficent The only one out of the whole bunch that I do not blame her canon counterpart for her reaction.  Listen, you are dealing with the Fae, a ruling Fae to be precise.  THat shit of not inviting her to a christening (which  for the sake of TWST i’m renaming a Naming Ceremony), which for a royal is a very big, public event, is just asking for a curse.  Seriously.  And if we take the fact they invited 3 light aligned fae to the party but not the dark fae, then that adds another layer to the situation.  In short, that could have been cause for war with a human nation, let alone a fae one.   So yeah, not much change in this one for me personally.  Maleficent was in the right. 

[ultraericthered]

Whitewash Fit For A King

Somewhat related to the post I just made.

It's quite ironic given King Magnifico's cult leader-like status in the film that there exists a small but still sizeable (for this site at least) amount of Wish viewers who make up a cult following of Magnifico stans. And when I say this, I mean they're all that kind of villain stan.

Oh no no no no no...

Yeah, it partially gives me more cause to resent the filmmakers of Wish including both scenes with the burnt tapestry of Magnifico's sad childhood trauma-related past that spurred him towards creating his kingdom in the final cut ("If only I'd known magic back then...", "so THAT doesn't happen again!"), but at the same time, I feel like even without those moments, these people would've found some way of woobifying and saintifying the character and act as apologists for his villainy. After all, this has happened with virtually every fictional villain in existence in the history of ever. These kinds of stupid, immature simps who don't want to look in the eye the reality that their faves are problematic to the point of being literal evil villains have always existed, and a character like Magnifico is hardly the most perplexing case of this. I recall long ago reading the opinion pieces of someone who was an apologist for Scar from The Lion King, trying to paint him as a lifelong victim and Mufasa as the real villain (can't wait for the upcoming Mufasa movie to re-ignite THOSE takes!). On Xitter I once came upon someone who actually simped for and woobified fucking Ghetsis from Pokemon, projecting all sorts of mental illness and disabilities onto him while insisting that the character had some redeemability that has never once been shown to exist in canon. Even on here, there are people who stan Phillip Wittebane/Emperor Belos from The Owl House, to the point where they maliciously trivialize the religious trauma that Dana Terrace had to grow up with so that they can act like she's petty for "vilifying" the literal villain of her own goddamn story. And I don't even need to get started on the "Magneto Is Never Wrong" subgenre of villain apologism that you can find all over social media. These stans are all absolutely koo-koo!

I've seen this whitewashing/apologism garbage for villains spewed out ad nauseum and the Magnifico simps all sound the same as what I've seen out of those other villain simps - "He deserved better, he wasn't at fault for his mental downward spiral that Asha, the citizens of Rosas, and even his wife drove him to, how dare Disney vilify the mentally ill and victims of trauma like this, blah blah blah blah." And yet there was still one in particular with takes that made me go:

To be specific, it was the very same "Rainbow the Clown" take that this post gave a mention to. The person in question felt the need to mention that they're a Christian (and I hate that in the Trump era, that has become almost a red flag for me), and that as such, they believe that all black magic/dark magic has demonic roots and that they can recognize a demonic possession when they see one. Their interpretation of the film's events, which had absolutely zero basis in anything that was made the least bit explicit in the film itself, was that Magnifico reading from the tome of forbidden magic gave some anonymous demonic entity that progenerated that magic access into Magnifico's soul, mind, and body, and it overtook him. Therefore, everything Magnifico went on to do cannot be blamed on Magnifico himself, as he was "possessed" at the time, not in his right state of mind and not truly aware of the reality around him anymore. And this is why it was so cruel that he ended up punished rather than saved.

Yeah, about that. In the actual movie, there's zero mention of demons or otherworldly entities tied to that spellbook. The black magic itself that is conjured out from the book once the pages are read from and is able to make the spells and curses described within the book work is its own natural force. Its capabilities are destructive and once it bonds with its caster, it poisons their mind with an unbreakable addiction to using it, so that's why it was considered "forbidden" to start with. Magnifico unseals the tome and reads from its pages during his grievance-laden villain song, and we see this:

The magic comes out like green arms or ropes that coil around both of Magnifico's hands, and once they do, we see that green magic juice flow right inside of Magnifico, which briefly makes his eyes glow green as well. This is not "possession" - this is amalgamation. This magic binds itself to Magnifico like a symbiote, and in turn Magnifico is one with the magic now, committed to wielding it and making it manifest as awesome power to service his whims and desires. The literal next thing that happens after is the green fading from the king's eyes as he goes "Where was I? Oh yeah." After the process has be done, he shakes it off and resumes his singing, only now with the green dark magic at his disposal to freely use however he pleases. The magic and the destabilizing effect it has on Magnifico's mental state as he uses it to break and ingest magically contained wishes was not the cause of his turn to evil: it was the consequence of it.

And let's say that the book did contain a demonic entity that made the magic happen and it went into Magnifico to influence him from within a la Myotismon with Yukio Oikawa. It was still Magnifico's own damn fault because he chose to go back on his word to his wife and open up the forbidden book. He's no more absolved of calling out the demon than Mok Swagger is for deliberately summoning a demon to devour his own concertgoers. And no, "but he's just so traumatized!", "he's mentally ill with anxiety issues and was having a breakdown!", or "Asha and those selfish, ungrateful citizens drove him to it!" don't erase Magnifico's agency and capacity for making choices that he did, even in a limited time, think through and decided to go for it anyway. I'm not into the discourse over whether or not Magnifico could be redeemed or if he "deserved redemption" or not, but if you'd like to see a character's redemption, they need to have done some unjustifiable wrongs or else there's nothing to "redeem" them for!

(There was another Magnifico cultist who was a little more on point and likened the book and its magic to a substance abuse metaphor, drawing parallels between Magnifico and the character of Jack Torrance from Stephen King's The Shining. But they specifically paralleled his situation with King's Jack Torrance, when in the actual canonical narrative of the actual movie, Magnifico is Kubrick's Jack Torrance - the alcohol addiction isn't there to draw his inner demons back out so that a demonic entity can better use him and ultimately possess him, it's there to reveal who he always truly was deep down, which is what he becomes when he discards anything and everything in him that beforehand was reigning him in and holding him back.)

Another argument for the demonic possession theory? This part here in the climax, cited as the moment the entity was exorcised from Magnifico, leaving him confused and afraid of what he awoke to find himself currently facing before getting oh so wrongfully imprisoned.

....Folks, that's literally Sakina's wish, the first wish he broke and absorbed into himself through use of his newly acquired dark magic, coming back out from him. The green glow is there because, as just stated, it was that green dark magic that was used to eat the wishes in the first place. The green eyes and green glow fade from Magnifico to signify his power weakening. All the wishes that he absorbed after Sakina's come out from him following this. And if he'd really snapped out of a possession and was back to being his true "good" self at that point, why would the first thing out of his mouth be "NO! THOSE ARE MY WISHES!"? And if the demonic dark magic entity was gone, then where do the green magic hands that drag Magnifico into the tip of his scepter come from? The magic did not leave him because it cannot leave him; it's a part of him, he's a part of it. Reading from the pages of that book even once made him committed to the magic. It's a symbiotic bond and there's no breaking it. That was the point!

Last argument for this crackpot idea I saw from this person was that "high on green-colored dark magic" Magnifico cannot possibly be a valid representation of the king's true character because....his face when we first met him looked so handsome and kind! Look at him!

It's the same ol' "Hans' Twist Villain reveal was bullshit because he was not set up like a villain at any point beforehand, meaning he was not a villain until that very moment, and we can tell this because he never LOOKED evil!" argument, the one that usually relied on a single moment of Hans giving a sweet looking yet condescendingly fond and amused grin to himself after having met Anna that ignores all context, and is based on the idea that only cartoon caricatures of delightfully foul and obvious evilness have to exist to play the villain in place of realistic people in a Disney animated movie, as in real life, evil people aren't easy to identify just by looking at them. The thing is that some Disney villains, arguably all the way back to the likes of Stromboli and the Coachman in Pinocchio, serve as reflections of the dangers of people that have existed and still do exist in the world. King Magnifico is that for the covert narcissist in a position of authority that they're prone to abuse. Yeah, he won't always have EVIL BASTARD written all over his face, but there's context for why that is. In that first image, he's just talking to another person when that person is applying for a job working for him, and as such he plays the part of the kind, charming, generous and benevolent king. In the second image, he's looking at the wishes. The beauty within those magic wish orbs and the splendor their magic gives off make him very happy; that's part of why he hoards as many as possible.

That is King Magnifico.

^ And THAT is ALSO King Magnifico.

He's a villain. He visibly enjoys being a villain. He is valid as a villain. Let villains be villains and love them for that, dammit!

[starlover2]

More HCS because my FOP hyperfixation kicked into overdrive

Re-names Schnozmo's actual name is Sagittarius in my au, Anti-Schnozmo's name is Oberon(No way in hell am I typing out the name backwards) Blonda's actual name is Wendy Bc Wendy and Wanda sound great together Goldie Goldenglow's new name is Amber Sunsprite, I don't like the og name so

More Orion/Omsoc

Orion and Oberon's relationship is like Mufasa and Scar, like "Oh I should practice my curtsy.." "Do not turn your back on me, Oberon!" "OH no Orion. Maybe you shouldn't your back on me" Furious cat growling and hissing "IS THAT A CHALLENGE?" "Temper, temper.. I wouldn't dream of challenging you"

Since regular Schnoz/Sagittarius is an evil conman with a fake nemesis, I pretty much went: What if Oberon is also an evil conman but is actually a threat and has enemies Oberon actually tried to kill Orion via hitmen multiple times and Orion has scars bc of them. And he knows its his brother behind them Oberon thinks Irep is the only good thing to come from Orion bc the little shit caused so much chaos the day he was born Irep on the other hand hates him

Orion is not only the king of the dark fae but also a historian. And he searched every nook and cranny to restore any dark fae history that was unbiased and thought to be lost to time Once he was able to restore enough of it, he decided to teach the next generation of dark fae himself, and it obviously includes his son And unlike Ms. Powers, Orion makes sure his son feels included Irep He eventually warmed up to the idea of taking over the Realm of the Fae as a family, and his father making him feel included contributed to that

[kaythefloppa]

With The Lion Guard's 10th anniversary happening in November of next year, I think the best way they can celebrate it, and also the easiest way they can celebrate it (as in, not a fourth season, sequel series, books, or new movies), would be reruns.

When The Lion Guard was coming to a conclusion, it's viewing figures on television took a hard dip, partly due to Disney's poor distribution of the episodes. Because of this, reruns (at least here in America) did not last that long. Only from November 3rd to December 30th, 2019, and then the show was gone for good. They couldn't keep the completed show on the air during the winter holidays when kids had 2 weeks off from school and were at home likely doing nothing but watching TV. Which is - not a good sign.

Up until recently, I would've assumed that Disney would've done nothing for the show given these unflattering results. But seeing the Disney Jr. musical short, as well as people online posting merch of the show in spite of half a decade passing since the show ended, gets me thinking of some significant way Disney would acknowledge the series.

Anyways, back to the topic of reruns. The one thing that would redeem this show's unsatisfying send-off would be reruns, perhaps in the form of a marathon, to celebrate the decade anniversary of the show. Something similar happened this year when The Lion King was re-released in theaters for it's 30th anniversary (most likely to compensate for Mufasa: The Lion King, getting delayed 6 months due to the strikes).

Disney, even Disney Jr has done reruns of cancelled/completed shows, either regularly or as special occassions. Sofia the First and Tangled got reruns on World Princess Week: Jessie still gets reruns on Disney Channel, ironically increasing in quantity ever since it's spin-off Bunk'd ended. Phineas and Ferb got endless reruns on Disney Channel and Disney XD, even before the announcement of the revival. And not to mention many holiday specials/movies/crossovers such as Good Luck Charlie. And just recently, Wizards of Waverly Place got a marathon of reruns in light of next month's reboot series, Beyond.

So it would be very thematically appropriate for The Lion Guard to get this type of treatment. Reruns, from the pilot episode, all the way to the finale, marathoning all day on Disney Junior. It would give the show the mainstream fanfare and recognition, from its target demo audience, that it was robbed of when it died. Not only would it introduce kids of today's generation to The Lion King franchise, but it would potentially bring back viewers who were in the show's target demographic when it aired - who would now be adults themselves.

And it would come full circle too since The Lion Guard was pitched, created, and announced as a tribute to The Lion King's 20th anniversary itself, so to have a decade-related anniversary like this would be sweet in theory.

Do I think Disney will actually do this? No. This is all hypothetical. Logically speaking the furthest thing they'll do is probably upload some Lion Guard full episodes onto the YouTube channel, post a few Tik-Toks, make a few "happy anniversary" tweets and leave it at that. But it's a do-able/possible-ish idea for a way they can give tribute to the show's decennial. I will not hold my breath on that idea, or be surprised if they do viritually little to nothing for the anniversary (I'd actually be surprised if they did anything more than the abovementioned logical factors such as happy anniversary posts and tweets).

[artist-issues]

Will you be watching the Mufasa movie when it comes out? I personally don’t think I can handle it. They already demolished Lion King in their Live Action version so I don’t trust them to do right with this one.

I think I might just for one reason: they added more facial expression to the animation.

If I had to expand on that and say “I’ll go for two reasons,” it would be “this is a new story, not a remake.” There are different dangers to adding-on-to an established story, and I prefer those kinds of dangers to the ones that come when you’re trying to re-tell something that’s already been perfectly told.

I’ve said in other posts before, they changed The Lion King’s Main Point from: “Remember who you are: a King takes responsibility for the care of others.” to:

“I have self-worth.”

Which, you may notice, is pretty contradictory. It’s another one of those “let’s capitalize on a franchise everybody already buys into by re-telling it—and while we’re there, retelling it, let’s completely take back the message that the original had, and give it a completely new message based on whatever the current culture thinks is ‘correct.’”

So, selflessness out. Self-obsession in. Responsibility out. Self-validation in. Self, self, self.

Anyway.

That’s the danger of remakes. They use a “retelling” opportunity to “remake” everything that made the original good. And by remake, I mean, erase and make-worse. I digress.

This new movie won’t have those same sets of dangers. They can’t exactly ruin the original origins of Mufasa, the character, in the same way the ruined Simba—because there’s never been a really canon story about Mufasa and his brother.

(What I mean by that is, the original The Lion King film did not spell out Mufasa and Scar’s relationship or backstory in great detail within that film. The printed media and fan theories and even The Lion Guard versions of events, which came later, I don’t count, when it comes to evaluating this new movie.)

But, I will say this. It looks like, from the trailers, Mufasa and Taka aren’t blood-related. That raises my eyebrows. Why are they doing that? The fact that Scar is Mufasa’s brother in the original makes his betrayal and motivation for killing him and trying to kill Simba much more impactful. Why take that away? Also, it makes it look like Taka was supposed to inherit some sort of leadership role, and maybe choosing to adopt Mufasa winds up putting events in motion that rob him of what was otherwise his rightful rule. So that sort of further justifies Scar’s bitterness later on.

All of that is dumb. You should not make a prequel that weakens every story that comes after it. See Star Wars.

I’ve also said: Mufasa, as a character is the ideal Strong, Selfless Father/King. And he specifically states that he got his ideals from his Father, and clings to them because of a heritage, something Outside of Himself. He’s not special. He’s not the Chosen One. He’s one in a long line of good, strong men (Lion, whatever) who pass down valuing others as more important than themselves. He submits and obeys those ideals. He is the opposite of “getting my way all the time.”

Do you see why it’s important that Mufasa did not come up with those values himself? He has to get them from an authority figure who came before him. He has to be submitting to someone—even though he’s a King.

They have a high chance of ruining that.

Because it’s not very popular right now for the Western Culture to say “give your life up for others! Sacrifice your interests for the big picture! Submit yourself to someone else’s authority and wise advice, whether you feel like it or not!” But the powerful truth is, that is what Mufasa is, as a character.

I already outlined how in this post.

So this new movie has new dangers. I might go to see how it handles them. Because if they could listen to people enough to make the lions’ faces move more animatedly, maybe they have stopped and thought about how to make a good story that fits in with the original Lion King’s values. Maybe it’ll be a fix-it for the 2019 movie.

Not likely. But I’m going in with an open mind, even if I watch the trailers with skepticism. So we’ll see!

[breserker]

my writing advice for the day is to re-evaluate instances of using "nearly, almost, practically" in your sentences. save them for things that don't actually happen, in particular things that have no debate over happening or not. you cannot un-crack an egg for example, so you can almost do so, or practically break the eggs on the way home from work, or nearly do so.

but if you got like, "he ran, practically sprinted" what you want is either "he sprinted" or "he jogged". my guess is you want the former, and the reason for nixing "practically" is that practically bloats the snappy tension. that's it, really; especially in a moment where sprinting would be understandable (a medical emergency, a vase falling, stampede, in the gorge, simba's down there) you don't want something fluffing your tension with an extra word for the reader to pass over especially one that may instill doubt or debate over what action is being taken. ok they're running, but not sprinting? is it that much of an emergency? must not be.

"Mufasa ran, practically sprinted to the gorge"

vs.

"Mufasa sprinted to the gorge"

and chewing on how those two sentences differ despite getting the same information across.

and i'm saying this because i do this all the fuckin time and i have to nix it from my drafts and all that, this is as much a bonk on my head as anyone's.

postscript: if you think of what you're writing in a visual manner, literally turning the words and sentences into a visual affair (how they look, the amount and shape of the words as strokes of paint on a canvas), the shorter snappier strokes can speed up the feeling of reading it (if we're going with the sprinting example above). does that make sense? it's not something you Have to take into account but if it helps it helps.

[w1ld-wr1t3r]

i have a lot of lucky numbers 🫣😆

#56, #64, #21, #18 & #77 with norrix? for the wrapped drabbles

pls feel free to split this up into different posts HAHA thank uu

The more lucky numbers, the better! I'll definitely split this into multiple posts, I'll include the first two requests in this one then do the next three separately.

And speaking of the first two . . . I almost started cackling when I scrolled through the list and realized what they were. You really couldn't have picked two more Lando-related songs than these if you tried!

56. Friday (feat. Mufasa & Hypeman) - Dopamine Re-Edit

Martijn was usually the one putting on a show in a club. But tonight, he was out in the crowd, dancing to the music with hardly a care in the world. And it was especially fun, seeing as the whole weekend was still ahead of them to have even more fun.

Of course, F1 usually fully occupied weekends. But not this one. Summer break had just started, and as soon as he'd could, Martijn had booked a ticket to the one place he wanted to be, and the one person he wanted to spend it with.

Lando.

They had found a fun, bright, loud club to kick off their vacation at, where they could dance and party to their heart's content. And Lando was making the most of it, out on the dance floor. He moved to the music with infectious energy, and Martijn found himself drawn to him.

In this place, they were free to enjoy themselves. They could celebrate past accomplishments and toast new ones. They could be together and closer than they had been in ages.

Martijn never wanted this night to end.

---

64. Lando Norris by Maxx Power and Carte Blanq

By the time Lando crossed the finish line, Martijn was completely hoarse.

He mentally patted himself on the back for not agreeing to do a post-race performance tonight. It was kind of hard to hype up the crowd and praise his boyfriend's achievement if he had no voice.

Man, he wished he could praise Lando right now.

He pulled into parc ferme and parked the car, rising out of the vehicle and reaching a triumphant arm to the sky. The crowd roared for him, cheering his win. He had conquered the field, beaten everyone else out on the track, opened up the championship lead by a wide margin. He deserved the applause.

In this moment, he was greater than everyone.

And Martijn had never been prouder of anyone.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

2025's first box office weekend, where an all-animated feature that looks like a live-action movie takes the #1 spot after largely playing second-fiddle for a few weeks...

Yeah, MUFASA finally claimed a #1 weekend haul. This movie's really pulling through, isn't it? Despite mixed reviews, despite a lot of us online folks thinking it looks hokey... Well, at the theater I work at, it's routinely packed, and audiences are coming out of it saying how much they liked it. A real disconnect, lol.

MUFASA tumbled only 35% with a $23m est. take, SONIC 3 wasn't too far behind though. They're both neck-and-necking this. MUFASA sits at $168m domestically, and $476m worldwide. $200m stateside is all but a lock now, and it could even top $600m worldwide and pass Disney's special threshold in order to be "profitable" in their eyes. Don't be surprised when you hear that a CG LION KING sequel is in the works, it's probably already being discussed right now.

I wonder what this movie has, a prequel no less where you know how it all ends... That the ALICE and MALEFICENT sequels didn't. Maybe it's simply because it's THE LION KING. I couldn't tell ya. Maybe Barry Jenkins brought something special to this that was absent in a lot of the photoreal/live-action Disney remakes. Maybe it's Lin-Manuel Miranda's new songs. I also wonder if it is political in any way, if it has those icky "messages" that Bob Iger wants to scrub clean from Disney's movies going forward so as not to upset a certain demographic? If so, lol.

MOANA 2 remains in the top 5, dropping an est. 34%, making $12m, and landing at $425m here. Looks like it'll finish somewhere near the halfway mark. Worldwide, the picture sits at $960m worldwide, just a few inches from that big billion. Again, another new Disney release drubbed by folks online for being a hastily-reassembled-from-a-TV-series romp, but audiences keep eating it up. I guess families have to have something to do, right?

FLOW rose 19%, sits at $2m domestically, $6m worldwide. No major change in its very limited release.

THE WILD ROBOT stays the same, but a re-release is coming, on the 17th, ahead of its Peacock debut. A surefire nomination and maybe even winner at the Oscars, that is all sure to give it a nice boost. How much of a boost, we'll see, but to see the DreamWorks picture get a last hurrah is always nice.

[miss-bvnny]

Okay fine. MY re-write for Kion.

The lion guard has not existed for several generations. There was never a replacement guard inaugurated after Scar killed his. And while Simba had many friends, he had no siblings. When Scar took the throne after murdering Mufasa, he forbade a guard from forming, fearing that all the younger and stronger lions would form a coup and overthrow him. When Simba returned, he didn't feel the need for one either. Sarafina and Sarabi explained the tragic fate of Scar's guard to him when he returned, and Simba didn't want more stress in the middle of his busy term rebuilding the pridelands. The guard as an idea died out, and perhaps it was for the best. The royal family had enough of a rule over the Pridelands, and did not need to micromanage every little detail to an almost fascist extent. Everyone was shocked but content to see the new King Simba ACTUALLY fully retire the idea.

...And it might've been best if it had stayed that way.

Kion never took anything seriously. He could always be found fooling around and shirking his responsibilities. Simba worried about himfor this. The cub was adopted after he'd been found alone in the grasslands, and having a hard time fitting in with the royal family. Simba was the king. Nala led the hunts. Kiara was to be Queen one day. So...what was Kion? The spare? Royal only by mere adoption? He didn't seem to have any sort of importance to his name like the rest of his family. As a child that had always seemed nice. He would tease his older sister for the responsibilities she would be burdened with. Ha! He had none of that! He was free to play and goof off with the other cubs his age as much as he pleased! Such wonderful golden days! Nothing but a life of Hakuna Matata as far as he could see!!

...The ignorant bliss only lasted until Kion realized what it REALLY meant.

He stumbled across the abandoned lair of the Lion Guard by chance one day while playing. These days, the pride occasionally used it for privacy when lionesses gave birth, but not for much else. When he asked his father what it was, Simba felt like explaining the Guard and its controversial level of control over the pridelands was a good idea. Kiara had learned the dangers and true story about it not so long ago, after her adventures with Scar's heir that fateful day. Kion deserved to know as well. Simba cautioned him that the guard was a gateway drug. An open door to a lust for power that would eat him alive, the same way it had eaten Scar alive. Even a royal lion was not meant to have that much power. Kion seemed to finally take this seriously, and vowed to never become like his great uncle. But....in a way, it was always out of his paws.

The truth is...Kion was almost always destined from the start to follow in Scar's footprints. Despite being adopted into Simba's family with no idea of his own parentage...the evil red lion haunted his family tree far closer than anyone else might've wagered.

Kion was in a hurry to get the Lion Guard out of his head and go back to his normal life. And yet...it didn't leave him alone as easily as he wished it would. He kept thinking about how the guard would give him a purpose. Something important to do in the family. It would be just like being a king, wouldn't it? Keeping everything in check, and ensuring no harm befell innocent pridelanders. A lot of Kion's best friends were prey animals! And he wanted to help his friends! Simba always acted so calm about it in front of mixed company, but Kion heard his father's whispering about the hyenas, when no one was around. There was still a hint of resentment and distrust for the creatures. So...someone had to do something to keep the scum out of their lands, right?

It was a game at first. Something for Kion and his little ''Guard'' playing pretend as they went all over the pridelands. Being heroes and helping where they felt their help was needed. In reality, they were a bit of a nuisance. But the children didn't quite see it that way. The guard interrupted hunts, important ceremonies held by other species, and nearly got other animals killed with their interference. In an attempt to catch the eye of the beautiful Tiifu, Kion thought to show off by trying to fight Janja, the direct descendant of Shenzi herself. Had it not been for Nala interfering, the entire ordeal might've ended much worse.

The king and queen had to do quite a lot of cleaning up to fix the mess Kion and his friends seemed to leave wherever they went. Kiara wet along with them, dutifully trying to prove herself a proper princess in the wake of Kion and his chaos.

They were children. Children playing with something bigger than they could comprehend. Kion saw it as his rightful place in the circle of life, and his infatuation with his ''destiny'' blinded him from the truth. There even came a time when Ono, Fuli, and Beshte grew tired of the game and no longer wanted to play. Their parents had explained the gravity of things to them, and they understood. Kion refused to give in. Surely this was HIS destiny. HIS calling. His so called ''friends'' didn't believe in him. They were just like everyone else! They thought he was a useless spare! Bunga was the only one who stood at Kion's side, but...arguably that was just because Bunga was the only one fool enough to go along with it. Kion broke down in a fit with no one but Bunga to talk some sense into him, and...''talking sense'' was simply not Bunga's strong suit. With what he perceived as his purpose on the line, Kion decided he would have to show them all that this was what he was meant for.

He was so consumed and inconsolable about the idea, that he failed to realize the very familiar path he was walking down. But how COULD he know? He was only a child, seeing things from a very one-sided perspective. A perspective that was bound to get him in bigger trouble with other pridelanders one day....