#also I almost added 'again' to the end of wirt's line

[egginfroggin]

Wirt is far too tired for this

Saw the quote and immediately thought of them

Transcription:

top left - Greg: "Oh, just so you know, Wirt, it's very muggy outside

top right - Wirt: "..."

bottom left - Wirt: "Greg, I swear, if I step outside and all our mugs are on the front lawn..."

bottom right - Greg: "*sipping from a bowl*" (arrow, pointing to bowl: "hot chocolate")

[boyy-wonder-grayson]

No Bad Luck At All

A/N: hey guys so this idea came up to @riseofnightwing​ and i did my best to wirte something good out of it. This is basically a DC/Marvel crossover, hopefully you’ll like it!

Summary: Dick Grayson and Felicia Hardy had hisory and none of them seem to have forgotten about the other. The titans are once again facing Deathstroke. What happens when Nightwing crosses path with the one and only Black Cat.

Warnings: violence, kind of. Smut-ish

Pairings: Dick Grayson x Felicia Hardy/Nightwing x Black Cat

“C'mon Dickie why don’t you come back to bed?I’ve heard that leaving so early it’s…bad luck” Felicia said mockingly.

Dick chuckled and turned around to see her lying naked on his bed. He was supposed to be leaving for work,like 10 minutes ago. He put his shirt on and sat on the bed trying to find his shoes. He felt a hand running up and down his back and smiled, without looking at her he said “I’ve got to work today, I told you last night but you didn’t seem to care when you crashed down at 2 am, didn’t you?”

Felicia laughed and sat down wrapping dick in a hug, resting her head on his shoulder

“You didn’t seemed to care when I started to su-” he turned around and kissed her deeply, before she could finish that sentence. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and depended the kiss, pulling Dick down into bed with her.

“ I’ve to go to work” he said between kisses

“Call in sick” she replied unbuttoning his pants.

Dick pulled away and looked down at her. There she was, looking so pretty underneath him. She was glowing. He caressed her cheek and kissed her one more time; he grabbed his phone to call in sick. One day wasn’t going to kill anyone. 

“Grayson!” He snapped the moment he heard Donna’s voice. He didn’t notice when his mind drifted back to her. 

“Sorry, I zoned out. What happened?“ 

Donna rolled her eyes. She knew that dick was thinking about her. When was he not? Donna didn’t know exactly what happened between him and Felicia, and frankly she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. The only thing Dick told her about his breakout with the Black Cat was that he found out something bad about her and so he needed to leave. Donna didn’t ask any questions, she knew Dick well enough to know that she was not going to get any. She knew that whatever happened must have been bad enough for him to leave Gotham and her behind, but no matter how sad dick was there were more important matters to address right now.

“What happened is, that we don’t know where Deathstroke is, and we need to know”, Donna said looking at the computer in the Titans tower.

“This is the last place we’ve seen him. Back in this wearhouse, when he killed those man” she added.

“Okay so the last two locations have something in common right? They were all hideouts for drug dealers. Now why Deathstroke is killing those men? I mean is not like he became a dealer and doesn’t want the competition now, right?” He said looking at the screen. 

For the past four weeks they’ve been trying to locate Deathstroke but ended up empty handed. He had been going on a killing spree and taken down a bunch of criminals. Now what the Titans didn’t understand was why. Why Deathstroke was going after those men. Was this part of something else? Probably.

“Do you think they’re connected? I mean what other possible explanation do we have for this? That he left the dark side and is now taking down bad guys out of the goodness of his heart? Yeah right”, said Donna sarcastically.

Dick looked at the screen one more time when an idea popped into his head. He typed something into the computer and a bunch of files appeared on the screen.

“Look at this” he said to Donna “Those guys, the first one he took down they were working for Maroni, but the second group was from Falcone so what does it mean? They were even on opposite sides of town, I don’t-” he stopped talking 

Donna looked at him and waited for him to continue but he didn’t “what, was wrong?” She asked impatiently

“Fuck,i know what he’s trying to do” he said running a hand through his face “he’s trying to pit those two against each other”.

“Why? It’s not like it’s new that Maroni and  Falcone hate each other but what’s in it for Deathstroke?”,she asked confused

“I don’t know but it can’t be good. I mean what better way to distract everyone than putting two of the most important mafia families against each other, knowing exactly that they were going to go against each other?”, he said looking at Donna

“Okay I still don’t know what he gets from this” she said 

“I don’t know,but we need to find out. Now”. Dick got up and left the room with Donna hot on his heels. 

He was trying to figure out what deathstroke could possibly want know. Suddenly an idea popped into his head and he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Fuck- Donna this is going to be like the last time” he said with concern. “Remember when Garth died it was just like this. The criminals, the false leads, Arkham?”

“Jesus, do you really think it’s like the last time?” Donna asked, almost scared.

“I do, yeah”, he said as he entered the training room where Rachel, Jason and Gar were all practicing. “We need a plan, I think I know where he’s going to go next”

Addressing the kids he said: “I need you in the living room, in five minutes.” They all looked at him with questioning looks, but nodded in agreement anyway.

“How could you do this? You knew I was looking for Foreigner and you were working with him!? What the fuck is your problem?” Dick was angry, furious “I trusted you and you went behind my back. You knew and you still decided to go and help him” he couldn’t look at her, she had betrayed him. 

Once everyone was in the room Dick took a few minutes to think what was he going to say to the team** **

The situation was rather delicate, they couldn’t just dive right into it. This was Deathstroke after all; it was going to take more that just brute force the beat the man.

“Okay so we all know that Deathstroke’s back,what we need to know is how to catch him. The last time he was here he killed dozens of man and we didn’t even know what he did it for, but I think I might have a clue now” Dick said as he looked at each one of them.

“Okay so what the fuck does he want now?” Hank asked annoyed.

“Remember how two years ago we found out he was working with Rha’s al Gul to try and create some super-soldier like army?well apparently they hate each other now and he’s trying to get the juice before Rha’s” Donna explained.

“Okay so let me get this straight. These two assholes are having marital problems and somehow we have to pay for it and also do the dirty work? Why can we let Batman take care of this?” Hank said pinching the bridge of his nose. He does that when he’s annoyed. 

“Because Batman’s out of town and we’re the next best thing,so you’re either in or out, but we’re handling this, not batman, not Superman not anyone else. If someone’s against the plan, they can leave now” Dick replied slightly angry. He knew that this whole situation wasn’t their fault but he was tired. Tired of following false leads, of not being able to do the job right.

“Okay so here’s the thing, Deathstroke has been seen blowing up drug organizations for the past two weeks, and we know that they’re were from two of the most important mafia families in Gotham” dick explained “we know now that he’s trying to create a diversion, so he could distract us from what he’s really after” he added.

“Great that’s awesome” Jason said sarcastically

“You said you know we’re he’s going to go next. So where is it?” asked Dawn.

“Arkham asylum” dick replied. “I believe he’s trying to break Ivy from there so he can get whatever toxin that he needed to create an army before Rha’s"  he said

“Okay how the fuck do you know all that?” Jason asked while trying to suppress the surprise on his face.

“Because this isn’t the first time he tried something like this. We-” he stopped and remembered that the last time something like this happened someone had ended up dead “someone died okay? And the pattern was the same as it is this time. So trust me I’m not wrong about this. But this time we’ve got the upper hand. We know what he’s trying to do and we’ll stop him for good this time”.

Everyone left to prepare for the mission and dick left with Donna behind him.** **

“You know,we could use an extra hand” Donna said looking at dick

“We’re going to be fine” he sighed, he knew where this was going.

“I’m just saying, the last time she helped it was a success, and this is a job where have to be sneaky as possible. And even though we are more now, I don’t think Rachel and Gar are ready for this type of gig, this is different from everyday missions Dick” Donna said with a worried expression. 

“I’ll think about it” was all Dick said.** _ **“You got it?” Dick asked smiling at her_

 "of course I got it babe” Felicia said smoothly

 "No one saw you right?“ He asked looking back at the building

“Quiet as a cat” she replied with a smile.

Dick laughed and kissed her; he grabbed her head and deepened the kiss getting lost in how good her lips felt against him. Dick hummed against her lips and said: “we should probably go, don’t want the bad guys coming at us now" 

"Your place?” She asked with lustful eyes, knowing the answer alreadyDick took her hand in his and pulled her in for one more kiss before they both jumped off the building.

He browsed through his phone looking for her contact ‘Felicia Hardy’ his thumb ghosted over her name for a second and then he pressed it. ** **

It rang three times before she answered

“Hey Dickie” she answered. In that moment Dick felt something inside of him that he had not felt in a long time. He felt warm inside, like he used to all those years ago, and it only took two words for him to feel like that.

“Hey Felicia, how are you?” He asked in a small voice

“Better now that you called” she replied. Dick could hear the smile on her voice, the line went silent for a second before she inquired.

“Can I help you with anything Dickie?" ** **

Dick swallow hard, and took a couple of minutes to gather his thoughts.

"Look, there’s.. there’s something I need your help with and I know we didn’t exactly ended up in good terms but this is important and I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t” he sighed. 

She hummed but didn’t answer. The silence was prominent, but it didn’t feel awkward, it never was with her. 

“Okay, I’ll help. What do you need me to do?” She spoke after a while.

“Come to the tower and I’ll explain.”

Two hours later Felicia was getting out of the elevator in Titans tower. Dick looked at her and all those feelings he thought that were dormant inside came rushing up like a volcanic explosion releasing it’s lava inside of Dick’s chest leaving him with a burning sensation he hadn’t felt in years. It was all because of her. Little did he know that she felt the exact same.

He took a step forward getting closer to her and she did the same. They stood like that for a minute, her perfume lingered in the air, and the smell made Dick weak in the knees. She was using the same perfume he loved. 

He grabbed her by the waist pulling her close against his chest; his hand gently caressed his cheek, as he looked at her in a way he had never looked anyone before. Her eyes shone with passion and she smiled teasingly, goosebumps lined her skin, the good kind. The kind that make you realise that nothing matters except the man in front of her.

His lips brushed hers -in a not so innocently fashion- fiery passionate and demanding. The kiss was hot, their breaths mingled. She tasted like mint, probably from the gum she was chewing. His hands roamed her body, as he was trying to remember how every inch of her felt. They settled on her waist and hers find their way around his neck pulling him down to deepen the kiss, she pulled his hair and he moaned. She broke the kiss first,lips glistening. She bit her lip trying to suppress a smile, Dick dragged her into his room. 

Their clothes were on the floor in seconds, not caring about anything else right now but the person in front of each other. 

Felicia pushed dick down hard into the bed. He sank down into the mattress, and she straddle his hips,he tried to sit up but she pushed him back down.

"Felicia” he whispered desperately. She grabbed his hands and placed them on her hips, without warning he flipped her over. Her eyes widened and she laughed a little

 "Eager dickie?“ She asked 

"You’re irresistible” he said while kissing her chest.

 Hands touching every bit of skin. He kissed her one more time and thrust into her. They moaned in unison. They move in perfect synch, as if they were dancing. 

Her toes curled as the waves of her orgasmed washed her away. Dick came soon after collapsing on top of her. He kissed her one more time before he rolled over and laid besides her.

After a few seconds, while she was recovering she declared: “I missed you Dickie" 

“Me too” he replied kissing her temple.

They stayed there for a while, neither wanted to ruin this moment. They knew that whenever the other would move, the spell would break and they would have to go back to reality. 

A few hours later the Titans and the Black Cat were all gathered in the training room; they discussed the plan over and over so that everyone knew what they had to do. Hank Dawn and Kory were going  to keep guard at the entrance of the asylum, while Gar, Rachel and Jason were supposed to be at the back just in case something happened. Dick, Felicia and Donna were going in, making them the first line of defence against Slade.

“Okay, I don’t mean to be the asshole here, but who the hell are you”, Hank asked Felicia,“and what is she doing here?” he added looking at Dick now.

“Felicia Hardy,nice to finally meet you all Titans. Dick told me a lot about you” she answered smiling sincerely.

Dick placed a hand on her lower back and looked at his team: “She’s here to help, the more the merrier. We’re going against deathstroke tonight and any help is welcome.”

Everyone noticed the little touches they shared through the night, the lingering stares the soft smiles. 

"Oh shit, you’re screwing her” Hank hollered. “Holy shit man”, he went over to Dick and patted him on his back. Dick face turned a bright red under the light of the room and Felicia stifled a laugh. 

“Well, I’m screwing him too, if you wanted to know” the Black Cat said. Dick swallowed hard under the stare of his teammates.

“No offense but, what could she possibly do that we can’t?” Jason asked interrupting the awkward moment.Dick was grateful for his little brother for once.

Felicia didn’t answer right away she just looked at him and when Jason went to sit down he felt right off the chair, and landed hard on his ass.

“Ouch, what the fuck” he hissed.

Dick laughed knowing exactly what had happened.

“Have you ever heard the myth that black cats give bad luck? Well now you know it’s not a myth anymore” the platinum blonde woman replied.** **

Rachel was trying not to laugh at Jason when she asked: “So…your powers are what? Bad luck?"  

"Pretty much yeah, and also I’m one hell of a fighter” she smirked. 

“Okay enough chit chatting, we all know the plan right?” Dick asked looking at each one of his teammates.

They all nodded and went on separate ways. Each team knew what they have to do,so it was time to take Slade Wilson down for good.

[Arkham asylum 1.00 am]

The night was quiet, not a sign of Slade anywhere. They had been there for almost two hours and nothing happened. The Titans were starting to get annoyed. Hank, Dawn, Kory have just briefed Dick on the entrance situation, no news so far. This was odd, there was no way that Deathstroke knew their plan.** **

They made sure to be as careful as possible. 

Dick and Donna had managed to get in dressed as guards, while Felicia was supposed to be a transfer inmate from Detroit. So far so good. No one noticed a thing. After all it was Arkham, the worst place in Gotham.

Dick pretended to make rounds throughout the cells and kept a closer eye Into Ivy’s one. He was about to ask Jason if he had any new information on the situation but Kory’s voice interrupted him.

“Dick! We need-” Kory was cut short.

“Kory? Kory!?” he screamed.

“Fuck, Donna get in position” Dick warned her.

The corridors were quiet. It was actually way too silent, the only thing that could be heard was Dick’s heavy breathing. Before he could turn around, a kick landed on his back and he fell forward into the cold marble floor. He got up quickly and drew his escrima sticks, ready to fight. 

“Can’t say I’m happy to see you” Slade mentioned.

“New costume,same old Dick Grayson” he stated with disgust.

“You wanna get to her, you gotta go through me first” Dick announced.

Deathstroke withdrew his sword and slid forward trying to hit dick, but he was fast and deflect the attack with his sticks, pushing him against the wall of the small corridor. Definitely not the best place to have a fight.** **

Slade advanced trying to hit dick once again, and succeed by landing a punch right into the hero’s face; seeing that Dick was stunned Deathstroke took his chance and stabbed Dick under his ribs. 

He grunted in pain touching his side, he saw that red coated his hand 

“Fuck” he muttered. Not caring about the immense pain he was in Dick tried to hit the villain but failed miserably. 

“Not so fast now Nightwing?” Deathstroke voice echoed through the asylum.

“You shouldn’t have come her tonight boy. But you don’t listen, do you?” He voiced.

Dick’s wound was making it difficult for him to fight steadily; the pain was so intense that he was losing consciousness by the minute.

Slade took a step forward, and tried to hit Dick but he failed. Every single one of his punches were avoided, resulting in Dick getting the upper hand in the fight. He hit him the face, and a crunching sound was heard under the mask, and he knew that he had broken Deathstroke’s nose.

The man screamed in pain grabbing his masked face. He cursed Dick, and tried to get to him, but every single time he failed. He avoided the clumsy attack of the man, and kicked him in the stomach.

“You shouldn’t have come here tonight man” Dick said repeating the same words Slade had used with him a few minutes ago. 

Deathstroke was lying on the floor, his mask long forgotten as he held his bloody face grunting in pain. 

Donna came by short after and saw Slade on the floor.

“Well, you look like shit” Donna mentioned trying not to smile too much, “thanks for waiting for me dude”, she said to Dick.

“Yeah, sorry i kinda wanted to kick his ass on my own” smiling at his best friend he asked:

 “maybe next time?” 

Dick and Donna let Felicia out of her cell , thankfully nobody really noticed anything out of the ordinary,but  once again this was Arkham. They met with the rest of the team outside the building they were all fine 

“So…is it over now?” Gar asked putting his jacket back on; he really needed to find a way to not get naked every time he transformed Dick thought.

Donna responded while trying to help his best friend from falling into                the floor: “Yeah, we’re done with Deathstroke for good” “Let’s get home then” Dawn stated.

**[5 am Titans Tower] **

Dick and Felicia were laying in bed,entangled in a mess of limbs. Felicia’s hands ran up and down on his chest and his hands were wrapped around her hips, squeezing them every once in a while.

“I couldn’t have done it without you, you know that right?” he said kissing her temple. Felicia hummed and looked up at him. 

“You’re giving me too much credit Dickie. You did all the hard work” she replied, putting her head back on Dick’s chest.

“Yeah, but i knew you did something the moment his movements started to get sloppy” he stated. 

Felicia spoke after a few minutes, “i’m glad you called me D. i know we didn’t end up in good terms all those years ago, but i wanted you to know that i never stopped thinking about you”

Dick felt his heart fluttered as she spoke. He had missed more than he cared to admit.

He closed his eyes savouring the moment. His sore muscles ached every time he moved and his stab wound hurt like hell, but he felt at peace. it’s been quite some time since he felt like things were going to be okay. And now that she was lying on top of him, half asleep he realized that being around black cats wasn’t bad luck after all.

[goingoverthegardenwall]

Chapter 3: Schooltown Follies

Since there have been stories, there have been stories that anthropomorphize animals. Folks have imagined creatures behaving as humans in every corner of the world, in myths and fables and fairy tales from ancient cultures to today. So by the turn of the 20th century, when a mycologist known for painting incredibly detailed images of fungus decided to instead write and illustrate stories about animals in contemporary clothes, it wasn’t exactly a new idea. But perhaps that makes it more impressive: despite the multitude of animal books for children that have been published in the last hundred and fifty years, the work of Beatrix Potter still stands out.

She’s not alone, of course: no good conversation about humanized animals in Western kid lit can last long without mentioning Richard Scarry or Margaret Wise Brown or Arnold Lobel. And Peter Rabbit’s extended family is quite British, which puts it at odds with the nostalgic Americana of Over the Garden Wall: it’s not for nothing that our assortment of animals in Schooltown Follies includes a raccoon and an opossum. But the timeless quality of Potter’s work is still felt in this episode in two ways. First, while the show has a cartoony lens, the school animals are far more anatomically accurate than Beatrice or the frogs of Lullaby in Frogland, evoking Potter’s signature field guide style. And second, there’s a mischief to Potter’s animals that makes them feel more like real children than the cute but bland residents of Scarry’s Busytown, and mischief is the name of the game when Greg comes to schooltown.

Schooltown Follies is full of clever tricks, but perhaps its most clever is introducing animals with human qualities (they wear clothes, play instruments, and walk on their hind legs) but not giving them voices. It’s generally great comedy fuel, showing the inherent ridiculousness of a school for sorta normal animals, but it more importantly allows the episode a silent movie feel, with plenty of physical humor enhanced by characters without dialogue. That style completes the episode’s subversion of Beatrix Potter’s oeuvre: she wrote stories about naughty animals learning that they should behave, but in this vaudeville version, the only way to save the day is by misbehaving.

“Then I’ll do what I need to do, I guess.”

Despite being one of our three main characters, Greg trades a full character arc for a comic relief role. At the beginning of Over the Garden Wall he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun, and at the end he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun. This doesn’t mean he’s fully static, as he matures enough to accept some responsibility to others instead of seeking entertainment for himself: he abandons a potential happy ending to try to save Wirt with the Beast, and returns his stolen Rock Facts Rock in the last shot of the series. But even this obligation to help out is present early on: Schooltown Follies is the first of his two focus episodes, and the foundation of his eventual heroism is established right here.

And frankly? I think it’s okay if he’s not that dynamic. Greg doesn’t change as much as Wirt or Beatrice because he doesn’t have nearly as much to overcome, and he still contributes to the show without forcing the crew to juggle three distinct arcs. Our older kids are on a shorter timer to grow up, and have clearer negative traits (Wirt’s got no confidence, Beatrice is a jerk), and while we can accuse Greg of lacking social cues, he’s so young that it’s not indicative of a larger problem. He’s just acting his age, albeit in a heightened way for entertainment, and to lose that innocence this early in his life would make this show a serious downer.

“Heightened” is the general mood of Schooltown Follies, where Greg’s less realistic behavior fits much better than The Old Grist Mill’s bottom-of-the-barrel aside. This is an episode where Two Old Cat, an old-timey bat-and-ball game that evokes a similar old-school era as our old school, involves searching for actual old cats, somehow finding them immediately, then realizing one is too old to play and must instead be taken care of by a raccoon in a newsboy cap and overalls.

While there’s plenty of humor to go around in Over the Garden Wall, this is the only fully silly episode. Our other lighthearted outings come with dark twists: Songs of the Dark Lantern introduces the Beast, Lullaby in Frogland reveals Adelaide, and Babes in the Wood turns out to be the most somber episode of the series with context. Here we almost get a parody of such a twist, with characters repeatedly mentioning a wild gorilla on the loose apropos of nothing, then revealing that the gorilla is Miss Langtree’s paramour trapped in a suit. It’s a ridiculous setup to a ridiculous punchline, aided by casting Thomas Lennon for a few lines of dialogue (his read for “I. Was. The gorilla” was worth every penny), so there’s never any sense of danger. Jimmy Brown and Enoch are equally harmless in the end, but I doubt any little kids watching are gonna get nightmares about the ape suit.

This mood is enhanced with song, but among the many musical moments in the series—Mad Love is the only episode without singing in some form—Schooltown Follies stands out by not letting any of the numbers finish. We begin and end the episode in song, but Greg doesn’t have the last lines for Adelaide Parade figured out, Langtree’s Lament faces numerous interruptions before being cut short by the bell (they actually did a full version though!), and Potatoes and Molasses gets stopped first by Mr. Langtree, then by the end credits. Even Miss Langtree’s piano rendition of last episode’s Patient is the Night halts when Greg mashes the keys. It’s the perfect atmosphere for an episode about a kid who loves fun, but is easily distracted and hasn’t developed good planning skills.

Which isn’t to say that Greg is dumb, but that he’s prone to winging it in a way that sets him apart from Wirt. While Wirt rambles his thoughts aloud, Greg takes action without telling anyone why, making his decisions appear random in a medium that often explains motives concretely to young viewers. Wandering in his own direction has become a running gag by now, and while he sets off to make the world a better place, he instead plays outside with animal truants. He’s jolted back to his quest by the bland food and dull atmosphere of lunch hour, and his irrepressible energy lightens everybody’s day without much effort. When Mr. Langtree steps in as an antagonist, Greg decides once again to do something about it, this time saying explicitly that he has no plan, but everything works out again. We get an excellent joke from his decision to rob Langtree right after he becomes sympathetic, but as usual, Greg has bigger ideas behind the humor that he just hasn’t articulated. 

While Greg is busy delightfully saving the day, Wirt and Beatrice ease into a sniping side story that establishes their relationship for the next few episodes. They got off on the wrong foot in The Old Grist Mill and twisted that ankle in Hard Times at the Huskin’ Bee, so by now Beatrice doesn’t even try to hide her disdain and Wirt gets fed up with it. This is the perfect type of subplot, one that develops our characters and fits into the theme of the episode—Wirt’s rebellious obedience bounces off Greg’s rebellious call to disobey—but doesn’t distract from the main story.

Beatrice is helpful in opening up Wirt’s snotty side in a way that allows us to cheer for him. Until now his biggest conversation partner has been Greg, and it’s tough to side with Wirt when he’s mean to Greg, but Beatrice is an equal in terms of sparring, and her rudeness is a more understandable motive for Wirt to be obstinate than Greg’s playfulness. Our last episode had him aimlessly suggest staying in Pottsfield, and he’s similarly bound to this new location, but his different attitude changes the entire story. After two episodes of dithering, it’s nice that they let Elijah Wood play a character who’s funny on purpose for a spell, reveling in annoying Beatrice.

And even though he doesn’t know what to do, we actually get our first heroic moment from Wirt here. Greg saved the day in Grist Mill, and the situation resolves without much issue in Hard Times, but Jimmy is saved from the gorilla costume because of Wirt. True, he only interferes after being commanded to by Mr. Langtree, and he clearly has no idea what to do, and he trips over his shoelaces rather than contribute in an intentional way, but it sets the stage for his rescue of Beatrice in our next episode. Deep down, when he’s not overthinking it, the kid is capable of bravery when it’s asked of him. And it’s wonderful that for all his differences from Greg, both share an impulsive approach to heroism when they decide to help others. It’s almost like they’re related.

Beyond getting a few good digs in at Wirt, Beatrice extends her meanness to Miss Langtree, which makes her pestering of the boys feel less personal: it’s not that she hates them, she’s irritable with everyone. But we also get the first hint of her warming to our heroes, letting Greg have his fun at the concert and telling Wirt to finally tie his shoes with just a tiny speckle of fondness. While she gets a bigger friendship moment in Mad Love, when she’s essentially forced to get to know Wirt better, it’s neat to see Beatrice gradually come around instead of flipping a switch after a major story event.

We’re about to get our next big Plot Episode, introducing the Beast and adding new doubts about the Woodsman, so a silly episode is just what we need. It’s our third in a row where something sinister turns out to be okay: obviously the gorilla is an example of this, but Mr. Langtree is similarly an intimidating presence who ends up being a regular man. Even the creepy squirrels from the opening shots of the Unknown’s dangers in The Old Grist Mill return as comic relief. We’re fully primed to look for goodness where we see wickedness. Just in time for us to learn to fear merry opera echoing from the woods.

Rock Factsheet

Greg’s spiel on hot dogs might not summon the Rock Fact Rock, but it certainly evokes the stone’s spirit.

Where have we come, and where shall we end?

Adelaide Parade and Potatoes and Molasses will both get dark reprises, and the former also gets the rare jolly reprise as well. But we unfortunately don’t get a harrowing future scene featuring Langtree’s Lament.

Two Old Cat is part of a list of bat-and-ball games mentioned by a rambling background teen in The Unknown.

[thecartoonarchivist]

Weekly Spotlight #6

Welcome, Welcome, one and all~!

To the Weekly Spotlight

In honor of this sppppooooooppppyyy season, this week’s spotlight is....

*drumroll* *very pathetic trumpet*

Over The Garden Wall

So, this series isn’t very old. The pilot aired in 2013 and the full mini-series aired in 2014; thus it’s very easy to say that this show is very fresh in my mind.

When this show was first airing, I remember watching part of an episode of it and becoming very intrigued. Initially, I felt no desire to watch it as when they were advertising the special, this originally gave me the vibe of The Misadventures of Flapjack, Chowder, and other rather strange and, at times, grotesque cartoons that never really tickled my fancy. So, I was more than willing to let this series slide off my radar and into some obscure corner of my knowledge never to be heard of or talked about ever again.

But one day, a episode happened to be playing and, for whatever reason, I found myself watching. I knew I was about to leave the house soon so watching some TV show I never really cared all that much about didn’t seem like a bad option at the time. The episode I was watching, I’ve come to learn, was Mad Love. I didn’t actually start from the beginning of the episode, if I remember correctly, but I started near the beginning. Here they were talking about how Quincy Endicott had somehow managed to fall in love with a painting in his labyrinth of a mansion and I ended the episode with the revelation about Beatrice and the heart-to-heart that Wirt and Beatrice had.

It was then that I knew I had to sit down and watch this show from the beginning. I could feel it in my bones that this show had potential and that it would continue on for a long time.

It ended four days later and I felt like I had missed out on something very special. I never realized it was only a mini-series and as a result, I felt that I saw something very beautiful be snuffed out very quickly. I’d have this curiosity and regret linger in the back spaces of my mind for several years. During this time, I’d see videos pop up on YouTube now and again, talking about Over The Garden Wall: analyses on the writing and why the series was so good, cosplay, various musicians playing music from its soundtrack. Over all, I got the impression that the series was something to celebrate and so I added it to my list of series that one day I’d sit down and watch. 

But every fall season, Over The Garden Wall would pop up on my radar now and again and I knew that this time I had to sit down and watch it. Luckily, Over The Garden Wall was on Hulu so I snuggled up in my pajamas and fuzzy blanket and spent a little over 2 hours watching this series.

So, why don’t we take a look at its history?

This mini-series was a created by Patrick McHale for Cartoon Network in 2014. Originally, the series was pitched under the title, Tome of the Unknown, in 2006, however the series was much different than the one that was aired. It was originally designed to follow two brothers, Walter and Gregory, as they travel the Land of the In-Between to track down pages from a book of forgotten stories after signing themselves into a contract with a devil named, Old Scratch. However, McHale had difficulties creating a larger story arc for the series and as a result, it was placed on hold for a number of years.

McHale would go on to storyboard for The Misadventures of Flapjack (makes sense why I got that vibe) and co-develop the famous Adventure Time where he would serve as Creative Director and eventually, as a writer. After having more experience underneath his belt, Cartoon Network returned to McHale and asked if he would like to pilot another series. McHale, then, returned to Tome of the Unknown; polished it up; pitched it to the network again; and it would pilot on Cartoon Network in 2013. After having piloted the episode, McHale sat down with the network again where they would decide that instead of an entire, full-blown series, they would simply trim it to a mini-series that would air over 5 days. It was initially envisioned as an 18 chapter (or 18 episode) series but due to budget and time constraints, it was trimmed down to 10 episodes

The interesting thing about this series is that I don’t think I’ve ever had the opportunity to experience another cartoon as dark yet oddly whimsical as this series. In some regards, I would almost like to call it a darker version of Studio Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle but even then, I don’t think that it would actually do this series justice with that sort of comparison. As I was watching this series, I couldn’t help but feel a similar feeling as when I played those one-sentence stories games as a kid. You know which one I’m talking about! Everyone is gathered in a circle, or a campfire in my case, and each person had to say a sentence that would add to the story. You couldn’t change what the previous person said, but you could change the context of how it would affect the story. 

For example, if someone said a sentence along the lines of, “Trapped inside the closet, Susie began to cry loudly and alerted the monster of her hiding place.” that doesn’t exactly leave you with a whole lot to work with. Your immediate conclusion is that the monster will find Susie and that she will be eat/maimed/destroyed/etc. However, with a little bit of creativity, you can change the situation to something like this, “Susie, frantically searching for some sort of weapon to defend herself, finds a panel on the back wall of the closet that leads to some place that was not part of the house.” This can lead you to a crazy situation where Susie might find Narnia, or another dimension that is almost exactly like this one, or that there’s a curse on the house because a body in this secret, unmapped room of the house. The situation that you start with won’t be the situation you end with and the only rules are that you can’t undo what was already said and you can only add one sentence. And this is what I felt was going on.

Rampaging gorillas became long-lost loves in animal suits. Graves dug for the main characters ended up being skeletons for pumpkin people. Ferry rides for frog people turned out being a migration for hibernation. The things that you expected would turn on their heads very suddenly and what seemed terrible and fraught with dangers, would end rather cheerfully and full of hope. I felt like it was such an important lesson for young and old alike and I’m very happy this ended up being such a staple theme of the series.

As a sibling myself, I thought that the brother interactions were pretty accurate enough. Wirt likes to blame his brother for all his woes and get rather annoyed with his upbeat attitude; it was funny how much of my younger self I saw in Wirt and there were so many times I had to laugh and cringe at the true renditions of being a Freshman in high school. Greg never dumb, or naive which is something many, many cartoons like to paint younger siblings. I will easy admit that my brother is a whole lot smarter than I was at his age. (Doesn’t make him less of a brat but still!) So having Greg be that rock for Wirt and to help stabilize him when he starts overthinking things and panicking underneath the responsibility of taking care of him was such a refreshing thing to see in cartoons. It felt oddly real.

Some of the shining jewels in this series’s crown is how heartwarming and touching some of the more serious moments of the series is. In the last episode, I found myself fighting back tears despite the fact that I already knew what type of end was coming. (Of course, things were turned on their head as they always were but regardless.) These heart-to-heart discussions and these moments of #realtalk really tugged at my heartstrings and made me feel about ten years younger. But even the whimsical moments were always fun and weird. Did some of the humor fall flat? Yeah, but that’s also because it wasn’t meant for me. Other instances of humor however had me snickering at the realism of such an absurd situation. It was simply a pleasure to watch. 

It’s darker tones and moments of horror is such an interesting thing to see in a children’s medium that it almost becomes a rare thing to pull off well. For those of you who grew up with Courage the Cowardly Dog, I’m sure you remember at least a portion of the fear you used to have watching a couple of these episodes. But one of the interesting things about Courage is that there was never any threat of death in the series. Courage’s family might be turned into battle robots, or turned into grotesque creatures, or some unknown horrific happenstance occur, but never really any threat of death. In this series however, that’s the main threat that prevails throughout the course of events. By the end of the series, we know why this is the case, but that still doesn’t make it any less of a gutsy move by its creators. On top of this, it’s so cool and interesting to see all of the little Easter eggs that plant in each episode that point to the twist at the end of the series. Although the series may be a bit too scary for younger kids, you can easily see that this series was intended for as many audiences as they could fit into such a short run.

I think the little things in this series is what shines through the most. The soundtrack was stellar, oh my word!! The voice acting, although at first seemed pretty generic, really fit the tone of the series and breathed life into these quirky characters. Even though the animation itself is pretty cheap (Flash animation isn’t the greatest ya’ll), the backgrounds are stunning to look at and the character designs were very creative and interesting to watch. Each part of this animation played well into the other to the point that the entire piece felt like a wonderful, cohesive whole. Not many cartoons can say that. Not many pieces of art can say that. For that, I salute the entire team of Over The Garden Wall for creating something so wonderful to indulge in. Although part of me wishes that this could have been a full series, I realize that to do so would ruin the good of what I have, so I am content to leave things as they are. However, if anyone has a suggestion for any similar series, send them to my inbox because I will definitely check it out. 

For many people, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween/Christmas tradition. For others, many like to watch Soul Eater for its spooky themes. Still others will watch classic scary movies like Psycho, or The Shining, or Nightmare on Elmstreet for their scares. 

For me, this’ll be my new Halloween tradition. The harvest-time aesthetic. The Halloween-like themes. All of it screams everything Halloween was for me growing up and man, did I love enjoy this piece of media.

Overall, this series easily rates a 9 out of 10 on my scale. 

It has very few flaws in it (even now I’m having a hard time picking them out) but they’re still there. Perfection is such a hard thing to achieve so I doubt there will ever be a series that reaches a 10/10 on my scale but the fact that it got a 9? It speaks volumes to this series.

I’ll gladly watch this every Halloween. I wouldn’t even mind watching this even more than once a year. I heartily recommend this series to everyone who hasn’t watch it before, even if you don’t like the more bizarre series of Flapjack and Adventure Time. I do adore this series. And it will forever hang in my Hall of Fame for being such a beautiful and fantastic series. 

If there are any corrections you’d like to make in regards to this post, please feel free to send me a message with your corrections and I’ll get back to it as soon as I can!

Do you remember a cartoon your friends have never heard of? Got a scene from an animated film that you’re dying to know the name to? Send your questions to The Cartoon Archivist and I’ll see what I’ve got in the vault!

[solliciiti-blog]

❡「ａｎａｌｙｓｉｓ: ᴡɪʀᴛ·s ʀᴏᴏᴍ」

An inventory of Wirt’s room. Contains minor headcanons, but it is mostly analysis. This is an updated and edited version of my first posting on the topic.

Formatted so that there is commentary screenshot by screenshot. Some have been brightened by psd.

Battle Space: this reality’s version of Star Wars I assume. probably would also fit the era more as Star Wars started coming out during the late 1970′s & the living world is suggested to be during the 1980′s, plus McHale was growing up during this period making this a possible personal touch.

Clarinet: either he never keeps it in a case (and on that note, I don’t see a case in his room), or he was just playing it either for the tape or practice. if he never keeps it in a case then that certainly speaks volumes about his lack of responsibility…

Bedspread: surprisingly matches the wall color. he makes things work with odds and ends, colors that almost seem out of place like the blanket’s green but fit regardless.

Room in General: a mess in every space, somehow he manages to make his bed and clean nothing else anyway, (even on the walls & under his bed) except for his walkway. considering even the chair is pushed out of the way he probably has this setup readily available so he can pace. at least in recent days as he prepared the tape & plans for Sara. as he sits on his bed when he is thinking in the beginning of the episode, it might suggest that he keeps it perfectly made so that this one space, at least, is clear for him to think. has it somewhat organized in where things land so he knows where everything is. again, everything ties together design/color wise. main palette is autumn colors: red, tan, brown, and green - except for his pillow. the blanket at the end of the bed is the best representative as it has red, green, & tan. basically his style would then be adding in colors then using an item such as the blanket to tie it all in

Books: while some of them may be on poetry & other interests, two of the books at the bottom of the shot illustrate his interest in interior design ;; one reads Interior Design on the cover while the other has an illustration of a building on it. keeps his place & points of particular interest in books by means of small bookmarks. does not properly take the time to take care of them considering all of his books are left strewn across the floor / stacked haphazardly everywhere, even under his bed. one book is even open face down. this could be a minor marker of his overall lack of responsibility - he won’t clean his room, take proper care of his books, or put his clarinet away.

Clothing: left anywhere, not even an attempt at folding. white shirt on chair might be another button-up shirt, suggesting that this really is a normal part of his attire.

Loose papers: left anywhere. a majority of them contain writing, though one above his nightstand appears to be a sketch of some sort of animal. another just below that one has a circle so it may be a graded paper of his from school, most likely an essay considering the multiple lines beneath it. a ripped paper hung by the poster has a header in cursive above smaller print but considering other notes displaying his handwriting are not in cursive, he may reserve this just for titles or select notes. handwriting changes from large to small - the papers on the ground show larger print than those above his nightstand - which may indicate that he changes his handwriting for circumstance. i.e. larger & messier for quick ideas, smaller and somewhat neater for school essays. also, some notes above his nightstand contain a heavier handwriting than the rest so it may not be just his notes on the wall. the only notes with visible writing are on the far right, one containing “OK” and another having what looks to be a signature at the bottom of the page. so for content, he may hang up ideas, school papers, notes from others, notes in general, sketches, etc. as for poems, he probably hides those or they’re in the various crumpled up sheets of paper. also, some of the papers are pretty ripped up & there are a few small pieces of paper on the floor so this may explain the origin of his bookmarks. he hangs all of it up with tape, no care for the paint…

Black Turtles Poster: there’s 4 silhouettes within the turtle so this may be a band poster.

Nightstand: actually clean. has some loose sheets of paper probably for getting any idea down quickly when he wakes up. another book.

Owl: more likely just a decoration than anything else. possible allusion to Halloween / the Unknown. may also serve as an example of his projects - assembling a train set, carving an owl decoration…

Note the rug on the bottom right - helps suggest his room’s format.

Minor Headcanon: his mother, not him, was a major driving force in the arrangement of this room for a few parts. the furniture all matches (same ornamentation + color) so she no doubt had the main say in this set - no furniture from outside this set appears to be present. some areas are arranged extremely well: the cuckoo clocks, poster, & especially the lamp & pictures (one of which features flowers in a vase) with the bureau (minus the stack of books / loose papers). its all arranged too precisely for someone his age & lack of cleaning habits. thus: his mother had a large say in the furniture set, & arranged the bureau / lamp / pictures / clocks for him - perhaps even when he was quite young for the dresser & the framed pictures. she added the poster & clocks later as he got older & picked them out himself. after that she let him arrange the rest of the room himself, hence the mess & mismatched pillow.

Poster: perhaps another band poster? there appears to be script in the upper corners. it could be a house with the globe in it? either way, it appears to be more for aesthetic than purpose (i.e. its not a map or anything to do with interior design as far as I can tell). also the page appears to be aged. it may be an alteration of the album cover for Yes’s album Fragile, which features a somewhat detailed globe on it with a contraption in the middle like in the poster.

Instrument Case: bottom right. clearly a string instrument, roughly waist-height for Wirt.

Note the wood paneling & small wall decoration on the right.

Cassette Tapes: more likely to be mixtapes than his own recordings. the red & white tape is labelled what could be read as “Three Non-Blondes” which would then be a parody of 4 Non Blondes, a rock band formed in the late 1980′s. the tape on the left reads “Mist” at the end so this may just be based off of music within the show itself.

Crumpled Paper: most likely drafts of the poetry for Sara’s tape

Train Set: he has an interest in old-fashioned things, so a train set would fit in. although they began to wane in popularity during the 1950-60′s he had one anyway, illustrating that point. also points to his having some skill & interest in constructing older technology (assuming he eventually gets it to run) - see my technology headcanon for more on this (beware! the technology post will be rewritten completely).

Room Format: from the pov of the third screenshot. bed & bureau are against the far wall. nightstand is against the left wall. the wood paneling, rug, instrument case, and wall ornament suggest that the mirror is against the right wall. considering the mess thins out quite a bit at the left wall it is possible his bedroom door is also along that wall, just out of shot. alternatively, his bedroom door could be along the fourth wall, from which we look on from.

Clothing: quite a few articles piled in one spot - hopefully a laundry pile… also, red & white striped sweater???

Instrument Case: far left. a string instrument, rather large - its a guitar. despite the uncommonly steep edge on the left - meaning the neck falls more to the left than the expected center - it is quite possibly the same make of guitar that Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes plays. the instrument fits the case’s shape. & with the band’s name being practically written on one of his cassettes & the band fitting the genre and time period for Wirt’s taste, it would not be difficult to believe that he bought the same type of instrument that perhaps one of his favorite musicians plays. however, while he may have the instrument, it is not certain whether he can play it, or if he plays it often if he can. he has it kept within its case & hidden away in a corner of the room so its more likely that he does not play it, at least not that often. it may be more for the want of owning what an idol of his owns, but its clear he didn’t buy the guitar solely to play it. considering his clarinet’s being left out on his bed, void of a case, & he only ever alludes to the clarinet during the entire show, he must prefer the clarinet over his guitar. it could very well only be for show, or an abandoned pursuit in playing the guitar.

Patrick McHale addressed the origins of the case. his unofficial statement is that the case is empty due to no one remembering what was supposed to be in it. in light of this, i will be keeping my guitar headcanon as a part of this rp.

Conclusion: Wirt’s a nerd & his room is about as put together as his life.

[thepenultimateunicorn]

Haven’t done a review in a while and I wanna do one for The Cruel Prince but frankly I think that’s the first book I’ve reviewed that has a sizable fandom on here so I wanna mull over it a bit more before I post anything.

But I also finished And The Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich yesterday so I’m gonna talk about that.

The rest is under a cut cause this got way longer than I intended.

I’m not entirely sure how I felt about this book. I don’t usually read in the horror genre (apart from those ghost books by Mary Downing Hahn, I think I’ve read almost all of those, mentioning this because it’s gonna be relevant in a bit) so I don’t have much to compare it to.

Considering the goal of horror is to scare the reader, it was pretty successful. I was genuinely freaked out by several of the things that happened, and reading it late at night certainly made me jumpy. The author had an uncanny knack for chilling descriptions, although the events of the book were creepy even without the way they were written. The idea of a part-sentient forest literally getting closer and closer to the house was what caught me about the plot summary, and the way it was actually described only made it scarier.

I also liked Silla as a character. Admittedly I think she (like a lot of horror protagonists, from what I’ve heard about horror movies/books) made a lot of dumb decisions, but in the context of the big plot twist at the end those decisions started making more sense (I kept rolling my eyes at the fact that she refused to just leave the house but with the ending as it was I think she literally couldn’t have left the house even if she had tried). But she was so fiercely protective toward her sister while grappling with her own issues and in some ways it was almost reminiscent of the end of Over the Garden Wall and I appreciated that. (No, seriously, she runs into the depths of the woods to save her little sister who left with a tree-looking demon. I don’t usually compare things to OTGW but the similarity to Wirt in the last few episodes of the show was noticeable. not saying the author took this from OTGW but it stuck out to me.) Nori and Gowan weren’t particularly remarkable and I feel like Gowan should have had a lot more character development, especially considering his significance toward the end of the book.

The last thing I found interesting was the way some of the plot was structured. There’s a chapter very early on that makes no sense at all and is seemingly about a character who has no significance to the plot whatsoever, but in the last few chapters it was woven into the conclusion in a completely surprising way and I am always a fan of multiple arcs being cleverly brought together into one story.

Now, for the not-so-positive things. First, the author’s style gimmicks. There were a few places where these stylistic flairs worked beautifully. Shrinking and spacing a sentence to show Silla’s shock and horror when she finds herself imitating her abusive father? Adding a page of complete black between two one-line pages describing grief? Those were both effective. But apart from that all the different instances of using bolded writing or larger fonts or slanting the sentences on the page got to being excessive.

I didn’t mind the notes and lists so much, apart from the fact that it took me a while to register that Silla was writing both the broken book and the burned notes. Since Nori and Cath each only had one note style for their perspectives, the fact that Silla had two separate note styles in addition to being the POV character seemed confusing and again, excessive.

Now, on to some plot points, the ending of the book immediately reminded me of Mary Downing Hahn’s The Old Willis Place. TOWP is my favorite of Hahn’s ghost stories, so usually a comparison wouldn’t be a bad thing, but somehow here it just made ATTCI seem unoriginal and more of a cop-out than an actual resolution, probably cause after seeing this sort of ending once already, it just didn’t surprise me the way I think it was supposed to. Adding to that, while I do find a character repressing memories due to trauma interesting, this was another case where it sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. Silla repressing what happened in the house with her aunt and sister? Understandable and one of the best twists of the book. Silla repressing what happened with Gowan/her abusive father? Confusing, with no foreshadowing that I can think of so it wasn’t even a twist it just came out of nowhere.

In general, a lot of the ending confused the hell out of me. I get that Silla is an unreliable narrator and the last part was confusing because she was sorting out the truth in her own very confused mind, but all the back-and-forth in her and Cath’s past was hard to keep up with.

Overall I liked how creepy the book was, some of the plot twists were really clever, others not so much, there were some good comparisons to OTGW, some less favorable ones to TOWP, there were lots of strange stylistic embellishments, but it was definitely a page-turner. I’d recommend it for the chills but be prepared for a slightly cliche ending that doesn’t quite live up to the tension build-up of the first part of the book.

ALSO HEAVILY SPOILERY AHEAD BUT IF ANYONE ELSE HAD READ THIS BOOK AND KNOWS MORE THAN I DO:

What the heck happened to Anne? Her death was never explained and while I don’t usually mind minor loose ends left at the end of a book, this one is really bugging me. Like everything else was mostly neatly wrapped up. Like the in-story implication seems to be that Anne’s death was just some kind of tragedy and the cause isn’t as important as the effects it had on her family. But if it was that unimportant than why go to the trouble of describing the horrific discovery of her body instead of just saying something like ‘oh she wandered into the woods and got attacked by a wild animal and her sisters just couldn’t process that’. Because the way it’s all described in the book, particularly with how Anne was being drawn to the woods and Cath found her hiding in their wardrobe because something in the woods was ‘looking for her’ makes me think that maybe, even though the end of the story has Silla facing her own demons and realizing the creeper man wasn’t haunting her, maybe the creeper man was real when Cath/Pamela/Anne summoned him. Maybe he took revenge on them, as a second horror story, unrelated to Silla’s. And that would honestly make this book so much more terrifying.