#Thidwick

[ofsilentthings]

One day I'll adapt Dr. Seuss' Thidwick The Big Hearted Moose but it stars Micolash.

Why this hot abomination, you may ask?

Just because of a few choice phrases.

I think it'd be easy enough. Thidwick the moose has all sorts of crazy animals take advantage of his generosity to live on his horns. The guests weigh him down and threaten his life. And the kicker is in the end, hunters try to kill Thidwick for his horns and Thidwick sheds his horns and leaves them behind, running free to safety.

The thing practically writes itself....

[walkingsaladshooter]

I absolutely ADORE @thidwickdoodles's art for our project for the 2023 @steddiebang!

THE RHYTHM OF A WILD HEART

pre-relationship steddie / rated T / one-shot

Eddie’s hands, Steve thinks, could have chipped away the mortar in his walls and pried free the first brick just as surely as Nancy had. Except when Steve still had those walls, he never would have let Eddie close enough to get the chance. He’s glad they have the chance now. Or: It's 1990, and Eddie Munson still has the prettiest eyes Steve's ever seen.

Featuring bike shop manager/volunteer basketball coach Steve, senior thesis meltdown Robin being fueled by Steve's chocolate chip muffins, Eddie's new tattoos, and many introspective Steve-centric meanderings about building walls around your heart and the people who kick them down.

So excited to finally share this! Please go enjoy this wonderful fic that I have had the absolute honor to work on the art for with @dinosaurjam

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

Asking this knowing it will break my heart- Stan being a Vet Tech while being the biggest animal lover and extremely sensitive must be ROUGH.. is there any specific times he’s been really affected by something that happened at work 💔💔

I know Ky and Moose will help their boy though 🤓

Oh my god YES holy shit our boy OJV Stan gets so attached to every animal he works with and like Wendy runs the front desk and has totally implemented a rule that Stan does NOT get to see any pets coming in for euthanasia. The whole clinic squad knows that would break his heart. Stan is such a good pet doctor man and his patient’s humans love him too, like a sweet old lady with a cat coming in and he’s like “uh oh Fluffy did you get into the yarn box again” “I’ll tell ya, I don’t know if she ate any of it this time but I figured you could check” lmao. The main vet handles most of diagnosing and everything, but a lot of the regulars request Stan to assist because he’s AWESOME at keeping the patients calm. They all adore him as they should.

Like even when a patient is super nervous and panics and even hurts someone (I’m never getting over the fact that this boy got his ribs broken and was more worried about the horse than himself lmfao) he LOVES those animals.

It does destroy him when there’s an emergency and he can’t save the critter. I’m a lot like Stan in that I’m a vegetarian animal lover fantasy dork, which this why I’ll never write out an animal death (hence why we’ve just decided Moose is immortal), and I have a headcanon about a time a pet death really upset him.

Someone had been a regular for years at the clinic with a parrot named Quito. Quito was old as hell, his favorite word to squawk was “fuck”, and he would trill the national anthem and Stan found him FUCKING HILARIOUS. but Quito had lived a longggg life and his human eventually had to make the decision to put him down because he was dying. Stan was devastated for real. Like yes it comes with the job, and the staff knows him well enough to make sure he doesn’t see any of the dead animals, like this is the man who starts crying because a sick puppy on the exam table wagged it’s tail at him (oh my god y’all he’s so good at petting creatures he knows exactly where to scratch fuck ojv Stan is the most precious boy) and after that parrot passed on, he started sobbing in the back room, had to go home early.

My boy called Kenny on the drive home and THANK GOD it was a Saturday and Kyle wasn’t at work, bc Stan immediately wrapped himself around Ky and just held him, one hand on Moose’s little head, begging them both to “please never die” (holy fuck i am crying. It is 4 in the morning and I’m genuinely struggling to see because I’m crying) and if you’re familiar with the Moose origin story, u know that that kitty is named Moose because Stan, in a depressive slump, had been reading his favorite kids books and “Thidwick The Big Hearted Moose” was the one he’d been reading the day before someone brought a certain little brown kitten into the shelter he was volunteering at. And Kyle, ever perceptive, knowing his sbf inside and out, seeing he’s really in need of comfort, reads him (and Moose) that Dr Suess book, about the moose who let all the woodland creatures make a home in his antlers. Because that’s Stan.

[bonni]

I questioned removing thidwick alongside the other books I didn't include for racism reasons but thidwick is interesting because it doesn't contain racial stereotyping or anything like that, it just has a shitty conservative message. kids books with "bad" messages have always been kind of fascinating to me, and when I was a kid thidwick read like a parody to me rather than a serious book that was trying to pick on squatters and other unhoused people (which i think is certainly a valid analysis due to geisel's other views at the time it was written). I doubt anyone would say it's their favorite but I'm curious if other people read thidwick when they were younger and what they thought about it

[faline-cat444]

Needed to do a little search to learn this is most likely Thidwick

[adtothebone]

I was flipping through this April 1954 Children’s Digest and hey! A Dr. Seuss story — Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose!

[tomfowlery]

I had the honor of doing some artwork for the annual Dr Seuss Day / Read Across America Week, and to donate them to my local elementaries and middle schools. I felt it'd be a great opportunity to offer something to kids that may enjoy em!

[argentdandelion]

The Crime a Moose Can Get Away With

A Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose and Green Lantern: The Animated Series "Prisoner of Sinstro" Comparison

Who is more corrupt or unjustified in choosing to let people die: the future supervillain, Sinestro, or a big-hearted moose?

Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose Plot

The plot starts with Thidwick inviting one Bingle-Bug who's in some mild discomfort to ride on his antlers. The Bingle-Bug invites more "guests" to live on Thidwick's horns without Thidwick's permission, who cause him pain. Guests point out and exploit his "big-heartedness" and say he's made his horns a "public hotel", which is certainly not the case. One guest, a Zinn-a-Zu bird, causes him physical harm by plucking out 204 of the hairs on his head to make a bird nest on his antlers; another guest, a woodpecker, drills into his antlers and causes him pain. The guests' sheer peskiness, and Thidwick's belief he can't remove them because they're his "guests", make his other moose friends leave him.

The seasons change to winter, and his other moose friends leave for better feeding grounds on the far southern shore of the lake. Though there's no more food ("moose-moss") for Thidwick to eat there anymore, the guests say Thidwick has no right to take their "home", his horns, to the far end of the lake. More and more guests pile onto him, including fleas and a hive of bees.

Then he's pursued by Harvard Club Hunters shooting at him with a bullets like hail, all while carrying 500 pounds' worth of guest-weight. Cornered at a spit over the lake after an exhausting chase, Thidwick realizes all moose shed their antlers at this day in winter, and throws his antlers, guests aboard, off himself and into the direction of the hunters, as he joins his moose friends at the other end of the lake. In the final page, there’s view of his old shed horns on the wall of the Harvard Club, with the following:

"His old horns today are

where you knew they would be.

His guests are still on them,

all stuffed [taxidermied], as they should be."

"Prisoner of Sinestro” Plot

In "Prisoner of Sinestro", the Green Lantern Sinestro saves a mysterious alien, Neuroxsis, from a space-frigate run by the Spider Guild, an organization known to torture and devour prisoners in its care. In a homage to the film The Thing, Neuroxsis unpredictably “mind-jumps” from one person to another, using their bodies to try to kill the others crew members.

After realizing what’s happening, Sinestro creates a foolproof way to determine who’s under Neuroxsis’s control at any given time: he depressurized the spaceship. Neuroxsis’ possible hosts all wield “power rings”, devices linked to the bearers’ minds which will only create life-support fields for the individual users under the dangerous conditions if the users are presently in control of their bodies. Sinestro claims the ship’s cell for prisoners (“the ‘Sciencell’”) is the only room still pressurized; Neuroxsis will have to jump back to his body inside the Sciencell to save itself.

Though Neuroxsis does jump back to his body, Sinestro later reveals he “must have forgot [he] compromised the chamber’s seal” when the escaped the cell himself earlier in the episode. Though he easily could have saved Neuroxsis while he was in a state of shock from being unable to breathe, he did not. As Neuroxsis dies, he says “Justice is served”, and explains what happened to another character, Hal Jordan, who did not witness the interaction:

Sinestro: "I must have damaged the venting system when I escaped. The criminal's body suffocated before his mind returned." (not true)

Hal Jordan: "Thaal...the Green Lantern code…"

Sinestro: "I didn't kill him, Jordan. I simply didn't save him...in time. A tragic accident. Perhaps it's for the best---you wouldn't want Neuroxsis getting loose on Oa, would you?"

Similar Antagonists

The pest-guests and Neuroxsis have some broad similarities: they exploit the protagonist(s)’ kindness, take over their body or bodies without consent and override their desires, and deliberately harm their targets’ body or bodies.

Thidwick’s houseguests “took over his body” in the sense of physically burdening him up to the point he had to carry 500 pounds while fleeing the Harvard Club hunters, plucking out 204 hairs from his head to make a nest (when there was no information saying it was the only option, at that), “outvoting” him from swimming to the other side of the lake, and leaving him in an area where there was no more food. The houseguests also mistreated Thidwick for months, judging by the passage of the seasons. Neuroxsis takes over crewmates’ bodies more directly: his species can explicitly “take over another’s body and will”, and the person so taken over does not recall what the mind-jumper has done with them afterward. Neuroxsis’s motives are more sinister: he jumps from person to person to get them to kill each other, ostensibly to get to Oa with no witnesses or suit its murderous desires. Unlike with the pest-guests, Neuroxsis's mistreatment lasts for hours, at most.

Though the pest-guests’ decisions would lead to Thidwick likely dying of starvation, Neuroxsis’s whole goal was killing everyone. Unlike for Neuroxsis, the pest-guests wouldn’t actually benefit from Thidwick’s death.

Morality of “Not Saving”

Both Thidwick and Sinestro choose to “not save” the antagonists, in situations where they believed the protagonists would die without intervention.

There’s some ambiguity between how much Thidwick understands of the hunters’ motives and their actual motives. They say they “must get his head for the Harvard Club wall”, not specifically “antlers”. If Thidwick can understand humans, perhaps he would have thought the Harvard Club Hunters only wanted to kill him for the wall, and the guests would be safe, if annoyed that Thidwick shed his antlers. However, they did take his head-less antlers (plus pest-guests) at the end. The line “His old horns today are where you knew they would be” suggests it can be expected the hunters would be interested in his head-less horns, even though they claimed to specifically want Thidwick’s head. If Thidwick thought there was a high chance the hunters would kill the pest-guests, he committed a murder-by-inaction, or wanted them dead and let the hunters do the dirty work.

Sinestro’s legal guilt is also ambiguous. It’s unclear whether Thaal didn’t remember his method of escape compromised the Sciencell’s integrity until later on, or whether he was outright lying when he said the Sciencecell would be safe. Either way, given how quickly he fixed the seal later, he clearly avoided easy methods of saving Neuroxsis’s life that would not put himself at risk of harm. He wanted the outcome of Neuroxsis dying: when Neurxosis is dead, he unnervingly says “Justice is served.” and tells Hal: “Perhaps it's for the best---you wouldn't want Neuroxsis getting loose on Oa, would you?"

What Does the Work Think?

Both Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose and Prisoner of Sinestro have meta-messages framing characters’ actions.

At first, the narrative of Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose suggests Thidwick is doing the best he can in this situation, accommodating his 'guests' and not being rude. However, the description later shifts from “guests” to “pests”, and the narrative calls Thidwick “poor Thidwick” (as in “pitiable”) and blames the pest-guests for Thidwick being trapped. The final line is most condemning: “His guests are still on them, all stuffed as they should be”. The book, therefore, shows a meta-message of the guests being terrible people who should be punished with death, rather than only illustrating their deeds and characters’ reactions to them.

In “Prisoner of Sinestro”, everyone knew before Neuroxsis’ death that he was one of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy, though no one knew for what at first. By the moral standards of the show and real life, that’s not enough information to determine whether Neuroxsis should be killed or “not saved”, After all, one of the crewmates, Razer, was originally a criminal in the hateful, cult-like Red Lanterns: he acted to kill thousands of people, his actions led to the death of one Green Lantern, and, like Neuroxsis, he was once held captive in a Spider Guild prison. While Neuroxsis is portrayed as scary when people figure out what’s happening, when Neuroxsis is dying, the treatment shifts. The musical cues while Sinestro lets Neuroxsis die, Neuroxsis’s weak flopping and pained breathing noises, and Sinestro’s unsettling dialogue conveys the feelings of “Sinestro is morally suspect” and “Sinestro letting him die is sad and scary”.

If one’s aware of outside materials, Sinestro’s actions are further cemented as immoral. In many Green Lantern works, Sinestro later founds the evil Sinestro Corps who gain their power by terrifying others. In contrast, Thidwick’s choice never leads to his descent into evil, no one criticizes his choices, and everything is perfectly happy for him in the end. (Unfortunately, the author cannot find the plot of All Aboard Thidwick, written by a different author and ostensibly a sequel of sorts.)

Who is More ‘Evil’?

If the ship (other than the Sciencecell) were still depressurized, even if Sinestro sealed the Sciencell up again and saved Neuroxsis’ life, Neuroxsis couldn’t mind-jump into another host without risking suffocation within seconds. He could have been safely contained, so Sinestro did not “not save” Neuroxsis as the only way to preserve his own life or the life of others.

One could argue Thidwick simultaneously distracting the hunters and lightening his load by throwing his horns to them was the only way Thidwick could survive. However, Thidwick’s smile before and during the part he throws his horns, and the insouciant attitude of his dialogue in that moment, make his thinking awfully suspicious. He isn’t troubled at all by the possible fate of his pest-guests when he ends up with his moose-friends at the other end of the lake, either.

Both situations might fall into the legal idea of “duty to rescue”. In the words of Wikipedia, it’s a concept that states “a party can be held liable for failing to come to the rescue of another party who could face potential injury or death without being rescued.” Who should be persecuted? Who is more corrupt, or unjustified in his actions: a Seuss moose or Sinestro?

[seenashwrite]

littlegreenplasticsoldier reblogged your post “Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose” and added:

Yes, that was I. I. Me I. I am equal parts sorry and not. I’m sure you are too. What’s is this glory? What did we? Yet, we did. We did. And you’re probably thinking This ain’t what I came here for! Oh but you did. And you know it.

@littlegreenplasticsoldier - The fates knew what they were doing when they separated us by not just continents, but, like, super far away continents. Incendiary minds this volatile shouldn’t be in close proximity. #big booms

[poppgunn]

Thidwick

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

More Moose-centric OJV headcanons bc I love that cat.

-so Stan, post college grad and working up the courage to actually put his degree to use (mans self doubt is beatin his ass), is volunteering at the local animal shelter, when someone brings a cardboard box to the front desk.

- they’re like “hey someone left this outside my building, I can’t really have a pet rn” and Stan looks in the box to see the TINIEST little brown cat looking up at him with big sad eyes and he just starts SOBBING.

- immediately decides that this kitten is coming home with him, tells the shelter owner he’s leaving early and BOOKS IT home, got the cat wrapped up in his jacket in the passenger seat, seat warmer on, and Stan’s talking to him still crying a little. The thing is, this boy’s been going through a really tough time and he’s been reading children’s books to comfort himself, so he has “Thidwick The Big Hearted Moose” by dr Seuss on the brain, so he’s like HOLY SHIT IM CALLING YOU MOOSE! And Moose is just vibin he’s a real good cat

- they get home and Stan realizes he didn’t tell Kyle (adhd boy moment) bc he was too excited so he’s FULLY expecting Ky to be mad at him for bringing a pet home spontaneously, but Kyle is JUST AS HAPPY AS HE IS!!! And later that night, when Kyle thinks Stan’s out of earshot, he’s whispering to Moose, thanking him for making Stan smile again askfhdjwl

- bringing Moose to the vet clinic where Wendy works to get his shots and a checkup gives Stan a push to actually apply there, and everyone there LOVES that cat, like Wendy’s facetiming Bebe (they’re married at this point btw) to show her and Stan has a job working with animals now, like Moose really pulled him out of a SadSack slump shout-out to Moose!

-Moose’s favorite spot in the WORLD is Kyle’s chest, like Ky cannot lay down anywhere without him curling up in the divot of his sternum, ESPECIALLY if he senses that something’s wrong. Like when Kyle’s sick or having a bad pain day, Moose is there purring like a lawn mower directly over his heart.

-that cat is spoiled as HELL like I’m talkin everyone who meets him falls immediately in love bc he’s so sweet and so little even years later, he’s also intuitive as fuck and a natural emotional support animal. Kenny builds him a sickass cat tree, if he wants some of whatever the boys are eating all he has to do is rub his little head on their hand and (as long as it won’t make him sick) he gets a bite lmao. He wants picked up? He gets picked up. And everyone knows Kyle Broflovski cannot say no to Big Sad Blue Eyes and Moose is no exception to that ajsgdkwjdk. When Craig and Tweek meet Moose, he LOVES Craig bc he’s quiet and calm and that connection helps crog get over his friendship barrier with Stan. Tweek is nervous around animals but eventually falls in love with Moose too.

- he’s a pretty chill cat, doesn’t yowl in the middle of the night or cause problems, doesn’t bite or scratch even playfully. Occasionally he’ll get suspicious when Stan comes home from work smelling like other animals, but he’s used to it. His zoomies are HILARIOUS but he’s a total crybaby when he gets stuck on top of a door or something and needs help getting down. Once he got himself on top of the kitchen cabinets while Stan wasn’t home, Kyle couldn’t reach him and his stubborn ass didn’t want to go across the hall to get Craig so he climbed onto the counter, fell and aggravated his bad knee, and Moose would NOT leave his side for days after. Moose still got himself stuck in the same place the next week.

-he loves to go on walks! He has a little red harness and WEARS LITTLE CAT SIZED SWEATERS IN THE WINTER!!! The three of them 100% do holiday cards In matching outfits oh my god.

- Moose likes to sit in the windowsill in the home office and *ekekeke* at birds it’s the funniest shit ever.

-he’s very good on car rides except when Kyle’s driving because that man gets horrible road rage and Moose is all oh ok dads mad that means something is Wrong everyone panic and he’s yelling and bouncing around the car and it’s funny but it’s really not bc ~danger~ and yeah if Kyle’s driving Moose is in the carrier lmao.

- is a MODEL patient at the vet (partly bc his dad is the vet in question and he trusts Stan with his whole tiny heart)

-oh my god ok so Stan’s AA chapter has a lot of people who bring their pets to meetings and whenever he brings Moose in everyone is SHOWERING him with attention it’s so cute all the old timers are all “that’s a good cat right there he takes a pet no problem” and he’s wandering the meeting hall saying hi to everyone social king!

- Moose has never met a person he hates. Except Randy. Moose hates Randy.

[slaughter-books]

Day 4: JOMPBPC: Favourite Childhood Book

I loved this book when I was a kid! 💙

[thegreatallie]

Dr Seuss Cartoons 1942-1991

“Horton Hatches the Egg” 1942 Leon Schlesinger Productions

“The 500 Hats of Bartholome Cubbins” 1943 Paramount Pictures

“And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” 1944 Paramount Pictures

“Gerald McBoing-Boing” 1950 United Productions of America

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” 1966 MGM Television

“Я жду птенца” 1966  Союзмультфильм

“Horton Hears a Who” 1970 MGM Television

“The Cat in the Hat” 1971  DePatie–Freleng Enterprises

“The Lorax” 1972 DePatie–Freleng Enterprises

“Dr. Seuss on the Loose” 1973 DePatie–Freleng Enterprises

“The Hoober-Bloob Highway” 1975 DePatie–Freleng Enterprises

“Halloween is Grinch Night” 1977 DePatie–Freleng Enterprises

“Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?” 1980 DePatie–Freleng Enterprises

”The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat” 1982 DePatie–Freleng Enterprises

“Добро пожаловать” 1986  Свердловская Киностудия

“The Butter Battle Book” 1989 Turner Network Television

[robbmommaerts]

Some “ Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose" fan art. This story is a favorite of mine since I was a little kid. #thidwickthebigheartedmoose #kidlit #moose #animals #childrensauthor #funnyanimals #childrensbooks #forestanimals #inkdrawing #robbmommaerts https://www.instagram.com/p/CammTyqrnoV/?utm_medium=tumblr

[chamomileteainabuttercup]

began calling Boba Fett a big-hearted schmuck and realised that wasn't quite it, I wanted to call him a big-hearted moose, like Thidwick