#This is not me trying to start ship wars it’s just before this movie I’ve literally never seen any other ship on Deadpool’s tag or any hate

[yuripira4e]

as someone who’s very anti mcu and really only consumes comics the poolverine vs Spideypool ship wars have just been insane to me because before the movie I feel like the Deadpool tag has just been this little isolated capsule of Spideypool content so it’s just kind of shocking to see

[king-sil44]

I’m tweaking out a little. I went with friends to see the Sonic 3 movie on release day. Was really good ofc. Went to see it a second time the other day with my best friend. Sorta fixating on movie Sonic content. Might even watch the Knuckles show (y’know despite the unnecessary amount of Wade I’ve been hearing about) because he’s my favorite version of Knuckles in the Sonic franchise.

But that’s not what I’m here to yap about.

What I wanna know is why aren’t more people hopping on the Knuxadow ship train? Like???

I’m usually not a big shipper of Knuckles and Shadow, more of Sonadow girlie. But in the movie universe?? Please people imma need y’all to start dropping fanart and fanfics of them before I start having to make it myself.

LIKE THINK ABOUT IT.

(Spoiler Warnings btw)

- Both watch the same soap opera, La Ultima Passion I think it’s called (Knuckles is watching it in an episode of the Knuckles series I think and Shads is getting into it in the movie while hangin with Stone in the Crab). I could totally imagine them watching it together and arguing over the plot lines.

- Both ride motorcycles.

- You can’t tell me Knuckles ain’t the type to fall head over heels for someone who can EASILY kick his ass. “What a woman����” type vibes but it’s after Shadow rocks his shit.

- IMAGINE Sonic and Tails. Cuz Knuckles is their big brother. Can y’all just imagine them lowkey bullying him? The whole immature nine miles? Making barfing noises if they catch Knuckles and Shadow flirting (in their own way), making very obnoxious kissing noises when Knuckles is gushing about how powerful and strong of a warrior Shadow is. THEY WOULD.

- Also Shadow, not being experienced with romance feelings or a crush, would have no IDEA what he’s feeling. I think his “OH” moment would be while watching other people interact. Be it in a movie/show, seeing Sonic and Amy interact, or Tom and Maddie. A whole “So this is love?” vibe.

- Someone theorized that in the hypothetical Knuckles & Shadow series that Keanu and Edris had talked about, they would be working together to locate all the Chaos Emeralds after they got lost at the end of the movie. CUE TWO SUPER POWERED ALIEN DUDES GOING ON A ROAD TRIP TOGETHER. And I think THAT is when they would become friends and start to form feelings for each other. Chat does this count as forced proximity?

- And we mustn’t forget Tom and Maddie. Tom doing the typical “I don’t want this dude dating my kid” routine (in his case tho it’s fair. Shadow did try to destroy earth and almost killed him) and Maddie would be supportive and I KNOW she would pull out the “leave the door open” line. Iykyk hehehehehe. They would both be really supportive of Knuckles having a crush and I feel like Shadow would try his best to be kind to them for Knuckles. He would be awkward.

- It’s also worth noting that if the whole Black Arms thing does happen in the cinematic universe and it ends like in the Shadow game with Shadow basically killing all of them, Knuckles and Shadow would BOTH be living the “I’m the last of my kind” lives. Not to mention both of their species have MESSY histories. Like we know the Echidnas were not perfect, otherwise they wouldn’t have been at war for so long. And we KNOW that the Dark Arms are all lunatics. Boyfriends can bond over their family drama.

THATS ALL. For now. 👹

And I know we probably gonna get Rouge in the franchise at some point and Knuxouge will be canon I’m sure but like… can a dude dream? And ask for more people to share this dream?

HEAR ME OUT PEOPLE-

PLEASE HEAR ME OUT!!

[alanaartdream]

Ok so my copy of dreamworks trolls band together little golden book has just arrived today

(Don’t worry I’m not gonna post anything spoilers on here I want everyone to watch the movie 🍿 like I’m planning on doing)

Now I’ve seen some posts saying it’s ok to pirate this animated film because dreamworks is a big animation company

That is the lamest excuse I’ve ever herd

Dreamworks isn’t Disney; it’s not got the funding to buy out other animation companies like Disney been doing; it doesn’t own a a bunch of parks based on it’s movies/ shows all over the world; plus dreamworks pays their writers/ animators/ artists for the work they do

Dreamworks started out as a group of animators who Disney screwed over after treasure planet movie was made by them (witch is a very underrated flim) ((also it’s what I’ve herd from a lot of animation fans have told me about dreamworks animation history))

Look I get not being able to afford to see a movie or it never being available in your part of the world so that’s why you pirated I get that excuse but if you can afford it and have the time and can get it on dvd then don’t be a cheapskate go pay for it but if you can’t I get it no hate to you

It’s the cheapskates people who like to put every animated film company as like Disney when no the others are not Disney in fact Disney the only one right now who can afford for many people to pirate their films/ movies/ shows right now

I mean they own stars wars and marvel AND Pixar

They we’re it’s competition and they just bought them over so that they can do whatever it is they want

The competition they have now is studio ghibli: dreamworks; and maybe Sony animation

Too often Disney gets away with how they handle their artists/writers/animators and even it’s actors (Disney has a lot of skeletons in their closet and not talking about jack skeleton here; I’m talking about the stuff alot of people like to ignore and just say oh it’s *Disney* we’re just gonna ignore it because it’s them)

Also if you think pirating doesn’t effect a movie series

Let me remind you of dreamworks Rise of the Guardians (you know the movie with Jack Frost the character so many like to ship with Disney frozen Elsa character? You know him)

That movie cost a lot to make but it didn’t make enough for it to have it’s story continue; they were planning on fleshing out Jack Frost’s story more to go with the books the movie was based on but being as soo many had pirated that movie the year it came out they couldn’t get the money together for that so those plans were cancelled

Because it was pirated to kingdom come

It was at a time before streaming services were a thing and people didn’t want to wait for it to finish being aired AND couldn’t wait for it to come to dvds either so any ideas they had to continue the story got cancelled this no more story of teenage Jack Frost or even about night light (character from the books) or anything

So look I get it if you can’t afford it and it’s not coming to your part of the world so you pirated the movie but could you at least wait until after the movie been out in and makes it to dvd before you pirate it?

And if you can afford it; have the time AND can get the dvds AND it’s showing where you are

DO NOT BE A CHEAPSKATE

Go pay for it to see it it could all the support it can get

This isn’t a Disney film that can afford to lose a few dollars

If you want trolls to last as long as my little pony; transformers; Care Bears; kung fu panda 🐼 and teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 🐢 have done then

WE NEED TO SUPPORT it however we can (within reason; don’t make yourself broke for it ok thank you)

Just don’t let yourselves turn into poor Floyd’s captors who are killing him for their own gain not caring that they are killing him for their own selfish gains

If you can’t afford ok I get it but please be patient and don’t post spoilers for others who are planning to see the movie maybe try to wait until after the movie comes to dvd; also if you can check out the books while you wait if you can

Because we all want this movie to do well

We all don’t want a repeat of what happened to rise of the guardians movie to happen to trolls band together ok

[themoonandthedogstar]

Hey I’ve been wanting to get into the mauraders but always get confused. Can you teach me?

Ahhhh okay idk where to start so i’m just gonna do like a character introduction thing?? i’ll try idk if this’ll be helpful tho 😭

okay so the main 4 are:

Remus Lupin (moony) , Sirius Black (padfoot) , James Potter (prongs) , Peter Pettigrew (wormtail) . The nicknames come from Remus being a werewolf and the other tbree are illegal animagi (they can turn into animals like McGonagall who can turn into a cat) Peter turns into a rat- hence wormtail, James is a stag/buck- prongs for the antlers, Sirius is padfoot bc he’s a black dog (he’s also named after the dog star sirius and his last name is black so ofc 💀💀)

moving on to the “valkyrie girls” aka Gryffindor Girls:

Lily Evans- Harrys mum- we love her she’s super sweet, great at potions etcetc, then we have Mary MacDonald who’s usually depicted as very sweet and she’s the only one who survives the war (or one of the only ones) and usually depicted as obliviating herself at the end of the war bc she doesn’t want to remember all the terrible things that happened and all of her friends dying basically, then theres Marlene Mckinnon, badass, usually depicted playing quidditch with James also the fandom collectively decided she was a lesbian dating Dorcas Meadowes (slytherin) and we love that for her

Next we have the “Slytherin Skittles” (that bame is so weird to type out anyways-)

Starting with Dorcas Meadowes cause i just mentioned her- she was mentioned like once in the books as being 1) part of the order 2) having been killed by voldemort himself and thats all the canon we have about her but again usually depicted as Marlenes gf and usually plays quidditch on the Slytherin team, Then we have Barty Crouch Jr he was in the 4th movie/book, he’s a deatheater with daddy issues he used be depicted as dating Regulus before jegulus was a thing now he’s depicted as dating Evan Rosier (also a deatheater who dies) or all 3 date idk, then we have Regulus Black, aka Sirius’ younger brother who becomes a deatheater but ends up dying getting the horcrux locket from the cave in the sixth hp book/movie so he turns out not being a bad guy and people took that, ran with it and decided to make him this tortured soul who writes sad boy poetry, it’s fun, its angsty and usually shipped with James Potter just bc, Lastly we have Pandora Lovegood- Luna Lovegoods mum- we dont have a canon last name for her but losts of people come up with Rosier (Evans twin) or Lestrange or any last name we want for her bc we don’t know

[adventures-in-a-world-of-fiction]

I’ve had a YouTube channel for nearly two decades. The first video I ever posted was in 2006. It was a Power Rangers fanvid and while it’s not the worst video ever created, it’s definitely not the best. It was a weird choice of song (Spirit of Man from War of the Worlds) and some of the clips are badly trimmed so there’s a frame or two of the next scene/shot at the start or end in a few places.

Since then, I’ve made a bunch of other videos, music videos for shows or fake trailers for some of my fanfics (many of those fics were posted on sites that no longer exist). I don’t post often these days, but every once in a while I’ll get struck with the urge to make a fanvid for a film or TV show that I like. Recently, it’s been The Sandman and the Dreamling ship in particular.

In all this time, my YouTube channel has never been monetised. When I first started the channel, that wasn’t even an option, as YouTube monetisation wasn’t a thing on the platform until December 2007, the year after I posted my first video, and even then, I don’t think it was available for anyone to apply to once they hit certain thresholds the way it is today.

So yeah, when I started, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to monetise my channel. Then I had a real world job and my video creation dropped off and in recent years, I haven’t met the monetisation thresholds, so it hasn’t been an option and I haven’t given it much thought. After all, I didn’t start making silly little fanvids expecting to make money from them, and most of them would be demonetised anyway because of the use of copyrighted material.

But recently I checked my analytics out of curiosity and I’m within reach of those monetisation thresholds. I got a load more views than usual around October and November last year for no reason I can see. There’s an obvious bump in the watch time analytics for a couple of months before it drops down to my usual trickle of views. I’ve no idea why it happened or why it stopped, but it was enough of a bump that I’m now at 3997 hours of watch time for the past year, with the monetisation threshold being 4000 hours.

Given how close I am, it feels like I should try to push to meet the eligibility criteria and apply for the YouTube partner programme, just so that it’s an option for me if I want it. And I clearly need to do it in the next few months, because I don’t expect to replicate that spike in views from October. But over the next month or two, getting 3 more hours of watch time than I got in the same time period last year feels like a realistic thing to achieve, even if almost all of my videos are under 5 minutes long.

Especially if I actually tell people that I have YouTube videos. So here I am, telling people. If you enjoy fan made music videos, please consider giving some of mine a watch.

Here are a few of them:

Ranger Spirit, the first ever video I ever posted on my YouTube channel, made in Windows Movie Maker, with all of the mistakes and badly trimmed shots:

One of my recent videos, Meet Me On The Battlefield, for The Sandman fandom:

Sticking with Neil Gaiman for the time being, an ineffable husbands video for Good Omens season 2, What Hurts the Most:

The video that got the most views during that weird spike in my analytics, I Don’t Deserve You for the show White Collar, focusing on the relationship between Peter, Neal and Elizabeth:

And for a silly challenge I gave myself, I tried to use footage from Dirk Gently’s season two to create a trailer that looked like a serious fantasy film. That was not easy, given how ridiculous the armies looked:

My channel has absolutely no consistency in terms of what I post. I will make videos for whatever happens to grab my attention at the time, so across the lifespan of my channel I have fanvids for Yuri on Ice, the MCU, Teen Wolf, Charmed, Voltron, The Chronicles of Narnia (both the old BBC TV show and the films), Doctor Who (and spin offs), X-Men, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, The Sentinel, The Tribe, and more Power Rangers than feels comfortable now given my age. If any of those grab your attention, please take a watch and help me hit that 4000 hours threshold.

[vickozone]

The Magnus Archives

-S3 Notes-

WAY MORE NOTES

More fanart is definitely coming soon.

<- previous notes next notes ->

Handwriting translated below:

#81 childhood neurodivergent trauma. I like Georgie already. … I… didn’t like this episode very much. It reminds me too much of myself…

#82 Elias has the eye powers

#83 “The Stranger.” Circus and delivery service seem to theme. But, how?

#84 Martin is filling in for Jon, old “graveyard”, Melanie is archival assistant?

#85 “The Spiral”, someone isn’t not existing, Georgie is going on a date.

#86 The blanket never did anything, Jon spills some tea.

#87 Sebastian was so oblivious that Megan had to invite him back to notice something was up. [what an icon] Also, mentions of the lightless flame, the stranger, and some weird ritual. Jude Perry even needed to show up!

#88 The calliope is GONE. DIG. Martin really got into that statement and I do not trust Daisy one bit.

#89 Perry is The Desolation and Jon’s hand is TOTALLY singed off

#90 Jared is a bodybuilder and a butcher? He’s the Barbie of TMA. Also, strong women.

#91 Just as quick as he came, Michael Crew, [avatar of?] The Vast, is dead. Daisy is strangling Jon and we learn he can make people speak. AAAA NOT HIS THROAT!

#92 Elias confesses to killing Gertrude and Jurgen, Basira now works at the institute, “Hunt” is associated with Daisy, Jon is so mentally and physically unwell, and more details about the avatars.

#93 Admiral, delivery service, Georgie learns the truth, “Jonathan Sims, are you trying to save the world?”

#94 Georgie talks about her own experiences with death

#95 Martin reads statement regarding 2nd World War. He cares for Jon… a lot…

#96 Breekon and Hope backstory, and Daisy/Jon interview Sarah Baldwin

#97 “ELIAS, WHAT IS MY METAPHORICAL PIT?!” Also, Nikola Orsinov is that stranger chic.

#98 Maxwell, sandman, and Mel is new to poisoning people.

#99 The buried, Michael used to work for Gertrude, Jon is moving out and he got kidnapped— HOW MANY TIMES IS HE GONNA GET HURT?! (HIS LAST NAME IS SHELLEY?! 🥺)

#100 This is so hard to listen to. This literally hurts my brain.

#101 Michael. He… IT shares its statement. Gertrude created Michael. It got sucked through its own door, making way for… Helen Richardson. “He trusted her.” (I feel I am being too tame. MICHAEL IS DEAD?!)

#102 Jon + Mel planning to kill Elias right in front of him, Jon spoke French, more bugs.

#103 Demon pig

#104 If Tim dies… oh, he’s so hurt…

#105 Jon goes to china, The End mentioned, he is rather oblivious.

#106 The space and vast, also Melanie + Basira are shipping Martin and Jon. Stoppp! Also, Elias is pure evil. Jon is also ace.

#107 Jon travels the world, meets murderer’s daughter and vampire hunter! Power trio!

#108 “The world’s a stage…” + PETER LUKAS, MY BOY

#109 More of the trio and how they met. Mustermann just needs some quiet lol

#110 creepy spider movie director. Martin finds a way to distract Elias. ALEXIA. YOU GO!

#111 GERRY! NO! Also, there’s 14 fears. This episode is legit one of the most important.

#112 Friends take turns killing one another, and Barisa + Daisy are… friendly

#113 Gertrude knew Adelard, The End avatar, and Martin needs to keep his hands to himself! “TURN IT OFF!” 😰

#114 Hill Top Road cleaner, and we are off to blow a place up! :D

#115 yo. It’s the antique guy. Also, Helen is nothing like Michael… she’s… pure, somehow?

#116 This was the most confusing thing I’ve ever heard. I’m killing Leitner again if Tim dies.

#117 They all give their statements before The Unknowing. Tim… oh, Martin is so gay and Gerard is gone…

#118 I actually cried. Martin, you sweet boy, you don’t deserve this— WHAT IS HAPPENING!? NAH! NOPE!

#119 16 MINUTES OF PURE CONFUSION. I CAN’T EVEN START IMAGINING A SETTING! Kaboom.

#120 Tim is… dead. Lukas is in charge and Jon is in the hospital. (I need to lie down)

[hexcurors]

Okay, I just found your blog and Dralbus?!?! WHATTTT?!?? I’m not really hating (i guess), but I have literally never heard of that pairing before so i’m greatly shocked.

What do you think about Scorpius/Harry, but like one-sided (on Scorpius’ part)?

Okay, you just touched on a sensitive topic, so sit down, and let’s talk.

First of all, I’ve never even had ships in Harry Potter. I watched the first movie when I was three years old, and from then on, it became the fascination of my life. Since I was so young, I thought the characters were teenagers?? The closest I ever got to a ship was a crush on Harry in The Chamber of Secrets... until I found out I’m a lesbian, hahaha. After that, I grew up deeply attached to the universe, eventually outgrowing the characters and seeing them as just kids.

About Draco Malfoy: I never gave a damn about him, seriously. I always thought he was a loser (sorry, Draco stans).

My view of him changed when I read Cursed Child, and I really love the man he became—the way he carries himself and takes care of his life and family.

And Albus, oh my God, he’s the love of my life. <3

I like Cursed Child because it gives me more freedom to create headcanons and just have fun with the story and characters. I don’t like meddling too much with the past (that’s just me, not saying it’s wrong or anything).

So, how did I end up buried in Dralbus?

It started with Scorbus. I found their relationship so sweet—they’re adorable boyfriends—but the fanfics… Let’s just say I don’t want to badmouth the ship. They’re healthy and light, too light for me. 👀 While looking for something a bit more intense with an adult Albus, I stumbled upon an ABO Dralbus fic, and my God, the smut was so, so good. Not just the sex itself but the tension between them.

I’ll share a few examples of fics I love (unfortunately, there are so few since they’re a rarepair) to show their dynamic.

Alpha my Alpha

Draco lives for Scorpius—his son is the most important thing in his life, and he’d destroy the world for him, that’s a fact. But when Draco loses his composure with Scorpius because he feels Scorpius is hurting Albus in some way, and the possessiveness inside him can’t handle it... It hits different.

The Mark of a Good Man

Draco, openly a morally grey character, self-assured, weighing the idea of possessing Albus solely based on what Scorpius might think.

"Albus tastes like every dark thought he's ever had."

Gotta Stay High (To Get You Off My Mind

love when the two bump into each other, and how Albus has absolutely no respect, no intimidation whatsoever when it comes to Draco. And Draco? He doesn’t rise to Albus’s provocations. He just handles him calmly, sidestepping his tantrums because he knows Albus is just trying to get attention since he’s feeling needy. That’s exactly why Albus feels so comfortable around him.

Another thing I really love about their dynamic is how Albus is this needy young man, unable to take care of himself and often spiraling into self-destruction. He doesn’t need someone to yell at him or throw his mistakes in his face. What he needs is someone grounded, someone who will embrace him, care for him, and love him unconditionally. And to me, that someone is Draco.

ERISEDE

Despite all of Draco’s self-control, Albus still manages to throw him off balance. I like to imagine that Draco built and hid himself within a mental fortress after the war, especially after his wife’s death. Deep down, he feels like he doesn’t deserve happiness or to be loved by anyone. Then Albus comes along, tearing down everything Draco thought he was certain of—without asking for permission.

I love the way Albus feels so at home in the Malfoy household. I adore the trope where, whenever he’s running away or in danger, he steps into a fireplace, says “home,” and ends up at Draco’s house. The bond and connection Albus feels with Draco come from them both living in the shadow of the Boy Who Lived. With Draco, Albus feels seen and understood in a way no one else makes him feel.

And about Harry x Scorpius—like I said, I don’t ship much with Harry, but I think it’s an okay ship.

[airbender-dacyon]

Just some quick personal thoughts on Netflix’s adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender before it premieres tomorrow.

I know I’ve not been as active the last couple years, especially in the Kataang and AtLA fandom, but I started this blog for Kataang and AtLA and it will always be a blog for Kataang and AtLA. And it’s been a while since I’ve talked about my favorite fandom and ultimate OTP.

First and foremost, I think the adaptation is completely unnecessary (same goes for the HTTYD live-action movie that’s currently being filmed). The story has been told in a visual medium already through its original animated series.

That said, I feel this live-action series will be an improvement over the 2010 film, though that is admittedly a very low bar to clear.

Despite that I feel it’s unnecessary, I do intend to watch it after I rewatch the first season of AtLA. I want the first season fresh in my mind because I’m planning to do some level of a review of each episode as I watch it, if anyone’s interested.

My expectations for the show are that it will be… okay. Somewhat good even. Slightly above average.

From the trailers and clips released so far, I have hopes for some aspects of the adaptation and disappointment and irritation with other elements. It seems like they’ve handled some concepts well (set design, costumes, casting, visual effects, some character bonding moments, expanding upon some of the lore and characters, etc.) while it appears they may have failed to grasp the significance of key plot points and character arcs (Aang is a kid, please let him be a kid and have his fun; Sokka needs to grow as a person; Katara needs to relearn how to be a kid and have fun; Ozai scarred Zuko because Zuko refused to fight him during their Agni Kai, so why is there apparently a fully choreographed fight?).

I’m hoping I’m proved wrong on the rumored issues regarding plot points and character arcs.

I understand there are always differences between adaptations, but some of these things do worry me.

All of this said, please do not attack the cast and crew if you dislike the show. Criticism is fair, but do not go after the people who worked on this adaptation, no matter how much you disagree with some (or all) of the decisions.

And I think most importantly, be kind to newcomers to the fandom and if they liked the show, encourage them to watch the original animated series. We have an opportunity to show people that the original series is worthy of its praise and that any adaptation, no matter how well done, won’t be able to recapture the essence and beauty that made the original series so special.

I say this because it was only thanks to the live-action adaptations of One Piece and Percy Jackson that got me interested in the originals. It wasn’t that I never had an interest in them, but I had other shows/books/fandoms/interests that overshadowed them for literal years. Now I’m planning to read the OP manga and the PJO books once I’ve got some free time. And I imagine I’ll enjoy them both more than the live-action adaptations.

Last, but not least, I’m hoping to see some bonding between the main trio and especially hoping the Kataang friendship is strong. I doubt there will be any indications of anything romantic, but if they at least handle Katara and Aang’s friendship well, it will serve as a foundation for any romance in potential future seasons.

So, these are my ramblings.

If anyone is interested in me reviewing the episodes, let me know and I’ll try my best to write them up when I get a chance.

In conclusion, be respectful of the cast and crew, be kind to fandom newcomers (and please do not incite ship wars), be open-minded about the show if you watch it, but also do not be afraid to critique the adaptation.

[kindlythevoid]

So this point might have been made but I would once again like to link the Death of the Clones and to the Fall of the Republic

We all knew that the downfall of the Republic went hand-in-hand with Order 66. In Clone Wars, Filoni, as we all knew, emphasized the clones’ death in the series finale as much as the Jedi’s in the movies. He places real emphasis on the effect it had on the clones, who we had grown to see as individuals, as people, while the Emperor saw them as a means to an end. 

However, not only does Filoni acutely break our hearts by showing us the other side of the coin, he makes an interesting association throughout the show. The end of the Jedi means the end of the Republic, it’s true, but, in most media types, Luke Skywalker rebuilds the Jedi Order in a new way and helps preserve their legacy. The Empire is done away with and the Republic restored. 

Or is it?

On one side, the New Republic and the Jedi show the resurrection of an old idea in new ways, a transformation in order to adapt to new ideals. 

But the Old Republic is dead. The time of the Jedi intermeshed with the Republic is gone and buried, another story to be passed down as more of a cautionary tale than the height of an ancient order. 

You know who else is dead? That never gets revived or reformed? The clones. 

Our brave boys in every color under the sun die, and they never return, not in any way that prolongs them. 

You see, they age on the double. During wartime, this was so they could get more troops on the field faster. Afterwards? It’s pretty convenient that they die twice as fast as the rest of the population. And even though surviving clones such as Rex and Wolffe and Gregor, the main ones we truly know about surviving later on at this point in the Star Wars Canon, made huge contributions to the Republic, it ultimately will not benefit them from a genetic or cultural standpoint. 

Culturally, they were dead the moment the Emperor gave the order. 

And, here’s the kicker, so was the Republic. 

The Republic spent its last years mired in politics and war rooms and, as Filoni likes to remind us, clones. 

I’m still going through my rewatch of the clone wars, but there are a few prominent scenes that come to mind that make Filoni’s point, intentioned or not, extremely clear. 

The first is this gif of Commander Thorn’s death. 

As Thorn falls back after his admittedly badass last stand, he lands in the center of what I would describe as a symbol of the Republic. The gear’s right there, formed by the droids. 

This, of course, is just one of several moments where the Republic symbol is made, but it is a popular scene and a good example for the point I’m trying to make. 

Thorn in this picture, takes the place of the Republic. And just as the clone dies, so, too, does the Republic.

Don’t believe me?

Fives very literally held the secret to the clones’s survival. And, as we all know, had the clones had full control, it is likely the Republic would not have fallen, or at least not as dramatically and without the multiple genocides on its way out. 

Fives, in the gif above, is surrounded by the Republic symbol once again, only this time by other clones. It’s poetic, in a way, that two clones struggling to save their people die in a Republic symbol. Almost as if the fate of the Republic hinges on the fate of the clones. 

And if that doesn’t cover it enough for you, if you truly don’t see the connection between the clones and the Republic, I’d like you to meet a dear clone whom we all love:

Jesse. 

The only clone I’ve seen with a big ass tattoo of the Republic symbol stamped right there on his damn face. 

Jesse, who truly believed in the Republic and had served long enough to be the only clone other than Rex to keep his helmet creatively apart after Ahsoka’s return. 

Jesse, whose death marks the start of the Empire. His destruction and death under Order 66 marks the turning point in Clone Wars. Before they got the call on that ship, the Republic was alive and basically done with the war. But as soon as that ship crashed, as soon as we see that Jesse is well and truly dead, buried and respects and everything, the next scene, the very next scene, features Darth Vader and the Empire. 

The clones were the canaries of the Republic. When they died, the Republic followed. 

[basilone]

I was tagged by @onehelluvamarine, ty! 💚

A band you don’t like that many others do:

Coldplay. I am absolutely mesmerized by how popular they are, because every single song of theirs I’ve ever heard gets on my last nerve.

A childhood memory that you remember vividly:

I used to do ballet and got to perform in a huge theatre once. I remember hanging out backstage, watching the older dancers, getting to see what the lighting crew was doing… It was a brilliant time, though the hassle to get hair and make-up done had a lot of people yelling and losing the plot. (I learned how to do stage make-up myself when I was a lil older, partially because that’s how you roll in drama classes but also because of that experience hahaha!)

Least favorite animal and why:

Listen. Listen to me. We do not need lightbulb fish. We do not need them. We do not require their presence in our waters.

Hot fandom take:

Do you know how many hot takes can fit in me? It’s a lot. I’m going to go with two hot takes because it’s my party and y’all have never ever seen me post one to this blog before.

Numero uno: readerfic is not OC fic, OC fic is not readerfic. If you name your character, it’s an OC. Even if you write them in first or second person POV. If you write Y/N, it’s readerfic no matter how much backstory you try to chuck at it. Learn to tag it properly. A fic cannot have both the canon character/OC and canon character/reader tags. Please do my last remaining pieces of sanity a favor and don’t make me read Y/N with my own two eyeballs just because you mistagged your fic.

Numero two: smut belongs under the cut. I don’t make the rules. If you start your fic with smut of any kind, put it under a readmore. Especially do this if that smut contains highly specific kinks. Aside from the fact that there are minors on this website who’ve got no business being subjected to that, people should be given the choice whether they want to see that level of smut on their daily newspaper dashboard scrollthrough first thing in the morning.

Do you wear any jewelry, if so, what’s your favorite piece:

I do, though not all the time. One of my fave pieces is a small ring with an eight-pointed star that I wear on my pinky finger.

A movie others liked but you didn’t:

Titanic. I know it’s got many many many fans, but I was cheering that iceberg on.

Three things you love about yourself:

My creativity, my ability to switch gears and learn on the fly, and my hair that does whatever I want it to do.

A place you hope to visit in the future and why:

Dude, have you seen the state of the world lately? I think I’m just gonna hope to visit my bed later on today, much safer.

An actor that gets on your nerves and why:

I have Tom Cruise blacklisted on this hellsite for good reason. The good reason being that I think he’s batshit and that people should stop entertaining his presence in anything. I’m not drinking that cult juice, thanks.

Things you’re excited for in the nearby future?

My birthday’s coming up on Feb 9!

Least favorite ship in a fandom you’re in:

At the risk of getting utterly disowned by a good number of folks that follow me: Webgott. I have gone for an outing or two in this ship, if memory serves me correctly, and I think I understand why people like it. I love banter in a ship as much as the next person, and the push-pull of opposites can be fun. But I also think Lieb deserves a lot more than someone who’s fundamentally at odds with his life and his POV. I think that the discussion they have in that final ep is indicative of something so major that it is a dealbreaker in that ship. (Plus, Web is just… not my fave character. Putting this mildly.)

What’s the most toxic fandom you’ve been in?

Vikings. Hands down, no contest. Absolute toxic cesspool of lies, backstabbing, and badmouthing. There are a few very good reasons why I’m no longer on speaking terms with people I used to call friends (at least one of whom was also in our lovely little war fandom back in the day) and why I’ve all but given up on doing any new gifsets or writing in that fandom for the foreseeable future.

List three things you find beautiful about life:

I’m gonna all caps this like a particularly obnoxious internet citizen because !! important !!

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR UNIVERSE DO YOU HAVE TIME TO TALK ABOUT THE STARS

MUSIC

THAT MOMENT WHEN YOU’RE LAUGHING WITH PEOPLE YOU LOVE AND YOU REALIZE THERE’S NOWHERE IN THE WORLD YOU’D RATHER BE THAN IN THAT EXACT MOMENT

Any dreams for the future?

I just want to live a life that’s good. I don’t really do future plans or dreams, it’s all vibes. I will know the move I need to make in the moment it needs making. Everything else is confetti.

How are you really feeling today?

Tired! (She says while about to embark on a screencap-to-gif journey. You might note the tiredness by the fact that I have completely lost my filter somewhere down the line of answering these questions, lol.)

Tags:

lmao I feel like half this fandom got tagged already and I’m very shit at remembering usernames and who likes tagging games sooooo. uhm. ain’t tagging anybody today.

[clarktooncrossing]

Giraffe's Eye View: Christmas Specials Special (2023) | ADVENT INDEX

Chestnuts are roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost is nipping at your nose. Mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again. All the dogs in the neighborhood somehow learned to bark Jingle Bells in sync. Yet retail workers are still more annoyed with Mariah Carey. Snow is getting shoveled, tossed, and formed into sentient beings leading parades without permits. It makes for an excellent distraction as the Krampus abducts children for bad behavior. Fruitcake is exchanged only to find its permanent home in the garbage. Terrorists have hijacked the Holiday office party right before your boss can give you a Jelly of the Month Club membership as your bonus. And of course, the Turducken has returned to wreak its fiery vengeance upon an unsuspecting world! If all this doesn’t put you in the Christmas spirit, perhaps these following Holiday specials will!

Greetings people of today and robots of tomorrow! It is I, Santa Clark, your geeky giraffe friend with a deep love of Christmas! My obsession for the yuletide is rivaled only by Maleficent’s hatred for it, which is saying a lot considering she once teamed up with Mad Madam Mim to kidnap the literal Spirit of Christmas. Yes, that really happened. I know this due to my annual pilgrimage to the Island of Misfit Specials, home to obscure or nerdy festive media ranging from movies, TV episodes, and comics. It’s no easy journey. Constantly I find myself confronted by sinister snowmen, genocidal gingerbread men, and worst of all, crappy commercials. Getting stabbed in the foot by a candy-cane wielding cookie is one thing, but I swear I’ve seen that ad for Wilbur’s White Elephant Gift Emporium more times than I’ve seen Miracle on 34th Street! Sometimes at night I catch myself reciting that jingle. Wilbur’s White Elephant Gift Emporium: Where Christmas meets Convenience! Huh, maybe Maleficent had a point.

Nah, my deep-rooted appreciation for this time of year can weather even the most moronic marketing! It helps that most of the merry media I’ve seen have put me in the perfect Holiday mood! Examples include the time a Ninja Turtle found himself trapped in a truck full of stollen toys, a drunk department store Santa stumbling onto a wish-granting magic bag, Big Bird nearly becoming a popsicle, Gwenpool waking up in a world where Galactus took the place of jolly ol’ Saint Nicholas, a terrifying tree stump trying to slaughter some saps over a stupid ship war, and the year when Death gave the Little Match Girl the greatest gift of all. Needless to say, I thought I had seen it all. That is, until I took my friends on a trip to the Island, tasking them to find me new, strange, seasonal specials to review! Some of them were fair, finding me festive favorites as comforting as coco in front of the fireplace. Others were fiendish, wanting to feed off my misery like Gremlins after midnight. Regardless of how naughty or nice my companions were, I’ve compiled all of their suggestions into a makeshift advent calendar! So stay tuned everyday until Christmas to see how badly my buddies can shred what little sanity I have left.

DAY 1: Barbie in Nutcracker (Suggested by Molly)

DAY 2: Care Bears Nutcracker (Suggested by Your Clairy Godmother)

DAY 3: Equestria Girls Holiday Special + Holidays Unwrapped (Suggested by @foxhatart)

DAY 4: The Flash: Running to Stand Still + Justice League: Comfort and Joy (Suggested by Zephron)

DAY 5: A Christmas Special: Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (Suggested by xXFluffyPachirusuXx)

DAY 6: Klaus (Suggested by Void-Android)

DAY 7: Sakura’s Wonderful Christmas + Komi: It’s Just a Merry Christmas (Suggested by Alice2Rose)

DAY 8: Christmas with the Kranks + Tokyo Godfathers (Suggested by @burningthrucelluloid)

DAY 9: Come back tomorrow to unwrap The Christmas Tree!

DAY 10: ???

DAY 11: ???

DAY 12: ???

DAY 13: ???

DAY 14: ???

DAY 15: ???

DAY 16: ???

DAY 17: ???

DAY 18: ???

DAY 19: ???

DAY 20: ???

DAY 21: ???

DAY 22: ???

DAY 23: ???

DAY 24: ???

To tide you over until then, Santa Clark's gonna regift some older reviews from years back during #ThrowbackThursday, so be on the lookout for those as well. Until then, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

[lajulie24]

🤔 What is the hardest part of writing fic?

&

💻 Do you do research for your fics? What’s the deepest dive you’ve done?

🤔 What is the hardest part of writing fic?

This will sound flip, but….writing it? Yes, sometimes the words sort of fly out of me onto the page and I’m basically just trying to keep up typing fast enough to capture what my brain came up with, but that’s more often not the case. A lot of times I’ve spent a fair amount of time envisioning scenes (while driving, while walking, while showering) that come up movie-style in my head, but then when I go to describe that interaction on the page either it’s not quite as poignant or affecting as it was when I had envisioned it, or it’s a great standalone scene but hell if I know how to get the characters there or what the hell they’re going to do AFTER they do that perfect scene I’d come up with. Or sometimes I start writing it and I get to that moment I’ve envisioned and I’m like “this person would never actually do this / say this.” Because humans (and other sentient beings one might find in Star Wars) very often don’t say the perfect thing in the moment, and they react differently than I might script them to, and sometimes they surprise me (and themselves?) a bit by doing something they wouldn’t normally do but will do when their guard is down / their guard is up / they’re with someone they trust / they’re in a traumatic situation / they’re struggling with who the hell they even are anymore / they’re comfortable in a way they hadn’t been before etc.

Oh, and writing the positioning of people’s bodies when they’re kissing or fighting. That’s another hard thing to write. Especially for love / sex scenes because you’re trying to make sure you’re describing things people’s bodies actually DO, and then if it’s supposed to feel good for the characters you want it to be something this person would actually enjoy in the moment, and there’s always a limb in the way or a height difference (Leia, you are so damn short and Han is so damn tall). And let’s face it, the practicalities of a sex scene (how we’re getting clothes off, for instance, or which way bodies are turning) are often not super sexy to read about, but if you don’t handle them in some way I always feel like the reader is going to be taken out of the scene anyway, wondering how their clothes evaporated off of them or how the hell they can enjoy this leaning up against some hard surface on the Falcon.

💻 Do you do research for your fics? What’s the deepest dive you’ve done?

I don’t do research in terms of researching Earth time periods or political movements or things like that. What I do often do is spend an inordinate amount of time down various rabbit holes on Wookieepedia. Sometimes this is deeper research (I’m looking for a character or event I could use for a plot I have in mind, or I need to know more about a character’s backstory so I can use that as a shortcut to understanding them a bit better, or I need to know how the Alderaanian succession crisis played out because I’m interested in where Bail and Breha or Leia would be coming from on something, or I want to know more about the kinds of things Han or Luke or Leia would have been exposed to growing up, or I need some info on ships they’d be using or trying to steal or whatever). Sometimes it’s my ridiculous brain insisting that even though the planet name I need is for a mission we are literally going to mention only in passing in the fic, that it’s imperative that I use the Galaxy Planet Map and Wookieepedia to find the ‘right” planet for this mission (can’t have too much of an Imperial presence, has to be somewhere humans live and have some kind of reason they would go there, etc). Ditto for “I need the name of a fruit someone is going to eat” or “I need a tool someone is going to use that isn’t a hydrospanner” or the like.

Deepest dive I’ve done would probably be me preparing to write some flying scenes (with X-wings, and later with the Falcon) in The Solo Girls, because I don’t normally write a lot of battle scenes and I wanted them to not suck. Plus I was trying to portray that Jaina and Rey and the older Rogues are excellent pilots. So I reread some parts of the X-wing novels (the Aaron Allston ones, because he has more of the balance of action and characterization that is what I was going for, as opposed to more technical descriptions), and looked up flight terms that pilots would use, and watched excerpts from Star Wars battle scenes and from movies like Top Gun or Iron Eagle on YouTube. At the end of the day I didn’t actually end up using much of what I watched and read, but I think it did give me a better sense of what I like to read and what I care about in the scene, which was helpful.

The other deeper dive I tend to do a lot is looking up slang terms or phrases in the GFFA, as well as using the Coruscant language translator (where you can translate things to and from Old Corellian, Mando’a, Huttese, and a few other languages, although I generally use it primarily for Corellian), so I can make up Corellian toasts and things Han Solo would say in bed.

Ironically, despite all this research, sometimes if I’m not satisfied with what I’ve found I’ll just make something up anyway. “Eh….you know what, they’re just going to eat space oranges, screw it.” “I’ve decided the flex capacitor is a thing.” “That story from Legends is stupid and creepy, so I’ve decided that didn’t happen, but I’m still going to use that character.”

Thank you for the ask!

Fanfic ask game

[bellewintersroe]

Hi! I would like to request a Band of Brothers ship!

I am 5’5 and I have long dark brown hair with bangs. I’m very pale, I have hazel eyes, and I usually wear glasses. My personality type is INFP, enneagram 9, and I am usually a little timid and shy, and tend to keep to myself around new people. I don’t like conflict so I’m pretty agreeable and easygoing, but once you get to know me I’m more talkative and witty! I can also be a little stubborn at times. I’m a hard worker, and when I set my mind on something I usually get it done. I prefer to keep a small circle of close friends (I’ve known most since middle school,) and I really enjoy spending time with friends and family. I really value loyalty and honesty. I enjoy doing new and exciting things, and I love to travel and see new places that I haven’t been before (I especially love road trips.) I also enjoy reading, hiking, doing puzzles, listening to music, and watching movies. I’m also a December Sagittarius ♐️

Thank you!!

Thank you sm for the request !!! So happy to see lots of people’s still active in the BoB fandom <3<3<3

I ship you with… Lewis Nixon!!

I’ve been wanting to ship somebody with Nix again so bad!!!!

your personality really seems to match up with Lewis/ I think he’d super appreciate your laid back attitude. I think as well you both have dark features which would be super complimentary to one another.

you’d make such an attractive couple.

whilst Lewis isn’t as shy, nor is he timid, he does kinda keep himself to his group of friends, he’s super mature, a little bit older but nothing inappropriate.

im not sure how you two would first interact? I think it could be a number of interactions between mutuals where you’re sat on the same table but you don’t really interact.

Catch each other glimpsing across the table.

let’s say there’s some kinda conflict happening, you both stay out of it and afterwards, you’re a little more comfortable with him so you start making all these little jokes that Lewis finds super amusing.

ok I said he wasn’t shy but I think he’d get a little nervous around you? It’s only natural cos you’re so beautiful, he’d give you small looks with his lips tugged up in an amused smile.

soon his confidence grows and when the man begins smirking at you it’s got you weak in the knees. He has a vague idea of what he’s doing, but never actually realised anything would happen.

he values how honest you are, so when both your feelings are eventually expressed he’s over the moon about how straight forwards it was. Ofc it took a little time to get to that point, but when it happens it’s so worth it.

would steal your glasses just to tease you, kisses you whilst he’s wearing them.

I feel like he’d be so nervous to meet your family and friends? Obviously you’re so close nit with them all, he’s worried about intruding???

wont admit he’s nervous but you can just tell.

honestly it would go completely fine, I think Nix would feel a little awkward at first, but the more everybody keeps taking the more comfortable he grows. He’s so likeable so he never had to worry in the first place.

he’s stubborn, however, so like I said would never admit he gets nervous in these situations. Even throughout the war the man never admitted his nerves to you- even when the two of you first started seeing one another, he wouldn’t ever admit he was nervous.

might admit it after a few drinks.

but you’re stubborn too so you can just argue right back and be like ‘Lewis I could see the sweat beads running down your forehead’.

not afraid to publicly express his love and gratitude for you, praises you, loved you openly, it’s amazing. Maybe not so big on PDA, but enjoys talking about you, would probably hold your hand, slip a hand over your waist or kiss your forehead sweetly.

If you get lost on a hike good luck trying to find your way home anytime soon, I think the two of you might buttheads a little but it’s mainly light hearted.

now you’re a Sagittarius and Nix in a Libra so you’re supposed to apparently make one of the best matches of all zodiacs which I love as well.

your feelings for one another would be overwhelming, and I think at first Lewis gets a little stunned by this? He’s not frightened of commitment, he’s frightened over how quickly he fell for you- and a little worried of you leaving him???

Again, I’m not sure how much of this he’d admit? But you’d spend so much time together you can read the man like a book, so after a couple months to a year he never ever doubts your loyalty.

trusts you with his life, tells you mainly all his deepest, darkest secrets- but won’t admit to being scared of something silly like chickens or bugs to you.

would be so immensely proud of how hard you work, rewards you by taking you on lots of different holidays to many, many different places.

loves travelling just as much as you do, his childhood was spent in so many different countries/ areas, so he’s happy to show you different places he’s been and take you to the best parts of each area.

loves relaxing and sleeping soooo much, probably takes power naps.

I don’t think he’d admit his wealth / background to you at first? It’s not that he’s ashamed, he just doesn’t want to seem like he’s flaunting it. Once he realises how laid back and calm you are he can casually slip things into conversation.

if you two are together during the war he tells you stories about different places he’s been, like London, France and Germany- and how much better they were before the Nazi’s had savaged through half of them.

You’d really bring out a more mellowed side to Nix, helping him through hard times without even meaning to. You’re so honest with him about everything, that he trusts your opinion on everything and follows your lead.

eventually I think one of you would become less stubborn, and maybe after you’ve had a family or grown a little older, Nix finally admits he was indeed a tiny, tiny bit nervous when the two of you first met ;)

[pages-of-us]

When Dadda's Out

The Zane household had always operated like a finely tuned, slightly chaotic orchestra—with Andrew as the maestro. Every meal, chore, and schedule revolved around his meticulous, almost telepathic sense of timing. But when Andrew flew to Los Angeles for a week-long writer’s conference, Ralph was left at the helm of the ship.

“Relax,” Ralph said to Andrew the night before he left. “It’s just a week. I’ve got this.”

Andrew gave him a skeptical look. “You mean the same way you ‘had it’ the last time I left, and Yazmin ended up dyeing her hair with food coloring?”

“That was… creative expression.”

Andrew sighed, hugging him tightly. “I trust you. Just… don’t let them burn the house down, okay?”

**********************************************************************

Day One: "Where’s the Coffee?"

Ralph’s first morning as solo captain began with him fumbling around the kitchen. Andrew had left a detailed list on the fridge: breakfast ideas, after-school schedules, and a highlighted warning: DO NOT FORGET YAZMIN’S DANCE BAG.

The first problem arose at 7:10 a.m.

“Daddy, where’s the coffee?” Ellias asked, yawning as he stumbled into the kitchen.

“I don’t drink coffee, kid,” Ralph said, squinting at the coffee machine as if it were an alien artifact.

“Dadda always has coffee ready by now,” Ellias said, sitting at the table.

“Well, Dadda’s not here,” Ralph muttered, jabbing buttons at random. The machine sputtered out a watery, suspiciously light-brown liquid.

“Is that tea?” Elliot asked, walking in with his usual book tucked under one arm.

“Don’t start,” Ralph said, pouring the questionable beverage into a mug.

Yazmin bounded into the room next, still in her pajamas and already talking a mile a minute. “Daddy, can we have pancakes? Dadda makes pancakes on Saturdays!”

“It’s Monday,” Ralph said.

“Pancakes don’t have a specific day!”

“Cereal,” Ralph declared, sliding a box of Frosted Flakes across the counter.

“Cereal’s boring,” Yazmin whined.

Ralph groaned. It wasn’t even 7:30 yet.

**********************************************************************

Day Two: Laundry Wars

By day two, the laundry situation had reached critical mass. Ralph had tossed in a load the night before but forgotten to move it to the dryer.

“Daddy, my soccer uniform’s wet!” Ellias yelled from the laundry room.

“Why didn’t you tell me you needed it sooner?” Ralph called back, balancing Yazmin’s forgotten dance bag in one hand and a half-made peanut butter sandwich in the other.

“I did!”

“No, you didn’t!”

Elliot poked his head into the laundry room. “You could just blow-dry it.”

Ellias looked at him like he’d suggested black magic. “That’s not a thing.”

“It is,” Elliot said calmly. “I saw it in a movie once.”

Ten minutes later, Ralph was holding a hairdryer over the soccer uniform while Ellias hovered anxiously.

“This better work,” Ellias grumbled.

“It’s this or you’re playing in pajamas,” Ralph said, trying to keep his temper.

**********************************************************************

Day Three: The Tragedy of Missing Lunchbox

Midweek brought the case of Yazmin’s missing lunchbox.

“Where’s my lunchbox?!” Yazmin shrieked, digging through her backpack like a squirrel in a panic.

“You had it yesterday,” Ralph said, rubbing his temples.

“Well, I don’t have it now!”

Elliot sighed from the doorway. “Check the car.”

“I did!”

“Maybe Dadda took it with him to LA,” Ellias joked.

“Not helping,” Ralph snapped, though he couldn’t help but smirk.

Eventually, the lunchbox was located in the refrigerator, where Yazmin had apparently put it after unpacking her leftovers. “You see what I’m working with?” Ralph muttered to himself, shaking his head.

**********************************************************************

Day Four: Dinner Disaster

By Thursday, Ralph decided it was time for a home-cooked meal. Andrew had left a stack of recipes, but Ralph figured spaghetti was foolproof.

Except Ralph didn’t check the pantry until halfway through boiling the pasta.

“We don’t have sauce,” he realized aloud.

“So? Make some,” Elliot said, looking up from his book.

“Make some?”

“You know, tomatoes, garlic, spices…”

“I’m not Dadda!” Ralph said, throwing his hands up.

“Daddy, I’ll help!” Yazmin offered, dragging a chair to the counter.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Ellias asked skeptically.

“No,” Ralph muttered, but he let Yazmin try anyway. Thirty minutes later, the kitchen looked like a tomato massacre. The sauce tasted halfway decent, though, and the kids declared it a win.

**********************************************************************

Day Five: The Call

By Friday, Ralph was exhausted. The kids had survived, but the house looked like a hurricane had hit it.

Andrew called that evening, his voice warm over the speakerphone. “How’s everything going?”

“Great,” Ralph lied, glaring at the pile of dishes in the sink.

“Did you get Yazmin to dance practice?”

“Yes.”

“Ellias’s soccer game?”

“Of course.”

“And Elliot?”

“He’s alive.”

The kids burst into laughter in the background.

Andrew chuckled. “Sounds like you’re doing fine.”

**********************************************************************

Day Six: The Redemption

When Andrew came home on Saturday, the house was… not as bad as he’d feared. Ralph had rallied the kids that morning to clean up, and though they missed a few spots, the effort was there.

Andrew walked in, surveyed the damage, and smiled. “Not bad, guys. Not bad.”

“I told you I could handle it,” Ralph said, puffing out his chest.

Andrew kissed him on the cheek. “Sure you did, sweetheart.”

Yazmin ran up and hugged him. “Dadda! Daddy tried to make your pancakes, and they were terrible!”

“Thanks, Yaz,” Ralph said dryly.

“Don’t worry,” Andrew said, smiling. “I’m back now.”

And just like that, the orchestra was whole again.

[whoatherebigguy]

if you mentioned/posted about either of the above characters and I appeared on your post like a wasp on a can of freshly opened soda I am so sorry

Askbox is open! I'll try my best to do requests but i can't promise anything. Feel free to ask about any of my goofy universes!! Give me at least 3 days for requests please!! And be as specific as u can in terms of characters and vibes!

about me/this blog: this blog is Godzilla and Gamera centric and I'll mainly be posting art for my mini continuities, most of which i dont take very seriously. My main tag for art featuring my own designs is whoa!kaiju. I’ve got 3 continuities, one is a goofy combined universe that takes place after defeating the Big Bad, its mostly silliness and drama at the monster brunch club. The second is a Gamera Universe I’m chipping away at, it spun off of the 1st one but developed its own self contained story arc. I’ve named it Cyclogenesis [Tag] and I think it’s my favourite to work on.

The third and final continuity you'll see me posting about is a comic based on Gamera Vs. Zigra called Rapid Ascent [Tag]. If all goes well, it should be released later this year!

For shitposting about the giant monsters living like washed up 30 somethings check whoa!awe aka: 'adventures with emoguirus' ... for some reason.

[heads up: i use my own silly tags for my versions of characters i draw a lot, just so i dont end up spamming their main tag lol]

-> Since a few people have asked: I do not have a Twitter or Instagram, my apologies. BUT i am setting up a Bluesky account if u want to follow me there!

More About and BYF Below:

about me [giant monster related]: The first godzilla movies i saw were millennium and my designs/art's general vibe reflects that i think[?]. I used to rent all the films i could find at blockbuster video[RIP]. I got back into big monsters after seeing KotM and i think the monsterverse is p cool, if not a little grating. I like the showa and millennium eras the best, but the poster art for the entire heisei era is fire. My fav Godzilla monsters are Megalon[shocking, i know], Gigan, Rodan, and Kiryu, but Mothra is always appreciated. <3 Final Wars is good in a bad way. Minilla exists but i dont hate them and its weird how much hate he gets.

I have a faint memory of seeing the heisei gamera films as a kid, but it didnt click at the time. now, however, i am a very big turtle enjoyer. Fav Gamera guys are: Zigra, Gamera, Gyaos and Viras. long live that dumbass tuna can and his stupid skittles bowl ship., im actually obsessed with him. please watch the Gamera movies, im so alone here

about me [personal?]: im an adult and im mostly gay [if that wasn't obvious]. It’s no longer hypothetically because I charmed someone using my cringe-fail swag<33. i dont have a strong preference for any pronouns, but he/him is my default. im not american, but im pretty close so that doesn't really matter. uhhhh. i also really like space and sailboats.

byf basics: i dont plan on posting anything nsfw, but do use swears frequently and will probably make gay jokes. idk if thats a thing ppl avoid or not but eh. there is a zero tolerance for intolerance policy on this blog. everybody deserves food and shelter. colonialism in all its forms was and is horrific. also, we love and respect trans ppl here, transfem's selfies aren't "mature content". if any of the above statements offends you, go outside and reflect on ur life a bit.

godzilla as a franchise started as a partially metaphor for nuclear war and mass destruction + i think we should all be of the opinion that bombing people is bad.

some important links you should click before u scroll:

PCRF

ANERA

UNRWA

[gentlemanjimcraddock]

Wanna Try Star Trek? 4 - Bad Makeup and Bad Acting

John Startrek reporting in for our newest entry of Wanna Try Star Trek, where we’ll be looking at The Next Generation for the first time. TNG ran for seven seasons between 1987-1994, and was a genuine cultural phenomenon. The Original Series was more of a cult success, and the movies were certainly successful, but it wasn’t until Picard and co started boldly going that Trek truly entered the cultural mainstream.

So far we’ve had some fairly high concept shows, but TNG’s setup is quite simple. There’s a ship. It’s called the Enterprise. There are people on it. They have adventures.

Our story today is Too Short A Season, from Season 1, which was 26 episodes in total. I dunno, seems long enough to me.

So, whether you’ve boldly gone down this path before, or you’re just Star Trek-curious, get yourself a cup of Earl Grey, hot, and join me on this journey.

We open with Captain Jean-Luc Picard narrating his Captain’s Log, that the Enterprise has been assigned to pick up and escort Admiral Mark Jameson to negotiate a hostage crisis on the planet Mordan IV. 

Jameson is an 85 year old wheelchair bound man, being played by a 30 year old man in a pretty shoddy makeup job. To be honest, I’m not very interested in critiquing that aspect. I’ve seen enough shoddy sci-fi effects to find them kinda charming. A much fairer criticism is of Clayton Rohner’s old man acting, where he’s engaging in just about every cliche of a young actor playing an old character. It’s a little much, even for me.

With Jameson on the bridge, Picard mentions that he’ll need to undergo a medical procedure, which Jameson isn’t fond of, but Picard insists it’s a routine procedure. Gee, I wonder if this is foreshadowing. The governor of Mordan IV, a man named Karnas, calls the Enterprise and says that if Jameson isn’t present, the terrorists will kill the hostages. Picard discusses the call with Jameson and his crew, with Counsellor Troi saying that she detects that Karnas is holding something back. Here, Jameson shows his shrewdness by giving a pretty incisive read on Karnas. Don’t underestimate your elders, kids, they’ve picked up a few things.

Medical Officer’s Note: Troi is a Betazoid-Human hybrid. Betazoids look almost to humans, save the eyes, which certainly helps keep the makeup budget down. They’re also telepathic, which would be a super handy power for a counsellor to have. Sadly, Troi lacks this due to her human heritage and instead possesses an empathic sense. Luckily, it can even span lightyears if she’s having a space zoom call.

Now, time to repeat the previous scene in a new location. They’re in Picard’s ready room, a little office just off the bridge, talking about what the terrorists could want. Lt Commander Data posits that they’re unhappy with Karnas’ leadership, and want to join the Federation. Jameson instead suggests that they want the Federation to arm them so they can restart the civil war that devastated their planet. A civil war, you say? Gee, I wonder if that’s foreshadowing.

Jameson goes back to his quarters where his wife Anne is waiting. She notes that he’s looking stronger and healthier since they came onto the ship, but Jameson gets a sharp pain in his chest. Anne wants to call sickbay, but Jameson insists that it’s a complication of his medical condition, although Anne doesn’t seem completely convinced. Gee, I wonder if this bit is getting old yet.

Speaking of sickbay, Doctor Crusher (who is Picard’s situationship, to make an understatement) has an important issue to bring to Picard’s attention. See, Jameson sent over the results of a medical examination from two days ago, so clearly he doesn’t need a checkup. Except, these results are two months old, not two days. Picard suggests it could just be an age related slipup and accidentally insults Crusher, before backpedalling and asking her to observe Jameson from the bridge for the next few days.

Back on the bridge, Picard offers Jameson the chance to pilot the ship for a while, and Jameson surprises everybody by getting up and walking the length of the bridge to the Conn. He puts this down to some new therapy he’s been doing lately, but Crusher takes Picard aside and says that’s simply not possible. Jameson’s condition is irreversible, and there is no therapy that can roll back the effects.

That night when he returns to his quarters, Jameson’s not only up and walking about, he’s trying to get frisky with Anne. She remarks that he’s even looking younger, which he is, thanks to a relaxed makeup job. Before they do the do though, Jameson’s pain flares up again and this time Anne does call sickbay.

Crusher is flummoxed, and tells Picard as much. Jameson must have ingested some kind of wonder drug that’s not only reversing his ageing, it’s also cured his incurable Iverson’s Disease.

An even younger Jameson, swaggering about his quarters with the energy of youth, tells Picard just how he managed this turnabout. He visited the remote planet of Cerebus III in search of a mythical drug. Turns out it’s real, and Jameson procured two samples, one for him and one for Anne. There’s a few caveats, however. You have to tailor the doses to the individual, and take them over the course of months. But when Jameson got the call, he decided to take both samples as is.

Anne hates that he’s kept all these secrets from her, and gone to such extremes just assuming that he’s right. Picard is more concerned with why Jameson felt it so necessary, which Jameson pointedly doesn’t answer.

Later, from a darkened meeting room where we can’t see Jameson’s face, Jameson calls Karnas to ask more questions about the terrorists. Pretty quick, Jameson starts to realise there are no terrorists, and Karnas is the hostage taker, wanting revenge on Jameson for some unspecified reason.

He goes to the bridge, looking quite young by now, where he orders the ship to speed up. This is, notably, Jameson overstepping his bounds. See, something I glossed over earlier is that they make a point of saying that Jameson is in charge of the mission and any away teams, but Picard is still in command of the ship itself. So Picard pushes back, and Jameson tells him he plans to personally lead an armed rescue team to free the hostages.

We transition to a shot of Jameson in the captain’s seat as he goes through his plan with Picard, who urges a more cautious approach. Jameson’s ego, anger, and magic space drug induced mania are clearly driving his actions here.

Anne, meanwhile, is talking to Troi & Crusher about how hurt and betrayed she feels. A particular sticking point for her is that Jameson gets to live his life anew, while she’s still an old woman. Crusher has to break it to Anne that, actually, the drug is killing Jameson.

We’re in another darkened meeting room now, with Picard coming to get some answers out of Jameson. See, Jameson had previously negotiated a hostage crisis on Mordan IV, where he famously talked down none other than Karnas himself. While Jameson did manage an impressive victory, the planet soon descended into 40 years of civil war with Karnas as one of the leaders.

At least, that’s the official story. Karnas wanted Federation weapons to wipe out his rivals with. Jameson agreed, but then secretly armed the other side with the same weapons. This was his interpretation of the Prime Directive - though he had interfered, he’d left the situation equal. Unfortunately, those weapons formed the core of the bloody civil war that engulfed Mordan IV. That’s Karnas’ motivation, revenge against the man who made their war quite so bloody.

First Officer’s Note: The Prime Directive is a very important and famously inconsistent piece of Star Trek lore. It’s actually two directives - 1) do not interfere with the development of a culture that has not reached a certain level of technological development 2) do not interfere with the internal affairs of civilisations that have reached that point - the problem is that it’s never kept consistent, and characters and stories will interpret it wildly different over the years.

Picard tries to mollify Jameson’s guilt, even though he’s clearly in the wrong. Jameson, rightfully, realises that the deaths of millions are on his head, and says he sees this as his do-over. So this time, he’s going in guns blazing.

With the away team ready to beam down, Picard makes it clear he’s not happy with this plan. Tough titties, Jameson says, you can’t stop me. I can’t, Picard replies, but I can go with you. So Picard beams down with Jameson and the team. 

They arrive in a series of tunnels underneath the city. Jameson insists that he knows a direct route to Karnas’ palace, but Data says their scans show no such passage. Jameson insists, and when they reach a dead end where an open connection should be, they’re forced to cut a hole in the wall with their phasers to proceed. 

Karnas predicted something like this, however. Gee it’s almost like he’s a leader with forty years of wartime experience or something. A large group of soldiers set on the away team, forcing a firefight. The team is pinned down, and Jameson’s pain returns. Picard takes charge and orders an immediate transport back to the Enterprise.

On the bridge, Karnas calls up, livid over the attack, and says he’ll start killing hostages if Jameson isn’t beamed down in ten minutes. Jameson is dying, but insists he be sent down to try to set things right.

Karnas, of course, doesn’t believe that this shaking and shivering young man really is Jameson, and Picard has to try to convince him. Even with Jameson’s intimate knowledge of what happened 40 years ago, it’s a no-go.

Crusher says that Jameson is fading fast, and Anne should beam down so they can say their goodbyes. Picard allows it, and tries to show evidence of Jameson’s regression, in the form of a series of still photos. Somehow, this doesn’t work. Nor does a great big Picard speech. What does is Karnas insisting on seeing “the scar”, which Jameson shows him.

Instead of shooting him, Karnas decides that letting him live out his life in this terrible pain is much more fitting. It takes maybe a minute or two, and Jameson gets to spend a few sweet moments with Anne before he dies.

Karnas releases the hostages, and Jameson is buried on Mordan IV.

So, did y’all realise that the entire plot changed partway through there? Jameson’s ageing turning him manic and arrogant goes completely out the window when he calls Karnas, and instead becomes a story about war crimes and redemption. It’s an odd switch, and one that doesn’t work.

Either approach is fine, and fertile ground for a Star Trek story, but trying to do both means that one story doesn’t get an ending and the second is underexplored. 

There’s not a lot for anybody not named Picard or Jameson to do in this story, it’s less an ensemble piece and more a story all about its guest. I mentioned Picard, Crusher, Data, and Troi, but I didn’t even mention Worf, Riker, La Forge, or Yar, who all do appear in this episode and do get a few lines.

The other major problem is that, when it does turn into a political drama, it’s curiously unwilling to take a firm stance. Our lead, Picard, tries to defend him, and Karnas is shown to be in the wrong, if only in his actions if not his feelings. It’s a very late 90’s “end of history” viewpoint.

Common wisdom is that every Trek show from this period has a weak first two seasons. It’s hard to refute that, but for all its flaws, Too Short A Season is still one of the better stories of this inaugural season. While it’s not a waste of your time, there’s certainly a lot better you could do with this franchise.

Like, hopefully, our next episode. Great Wheel of Trek, don’t fail me now.

Ho boy, we’re gonna have to talk about Chakotay.