#as a sailor moon fan I wanna see more art

[alevolpe]

Hello I’m not good at drawing like you but every time I see your art you inspire me to keep on practicing and not give up on trying to learn to draw so I wanted to thank you by making you I little ami drawing I know it’s not good but yeah.

Ok that’s all ☺️have a wonderful day

(Also ignore my username I’m bad at names 😭)

Thank you so much!

Your little Ami is adorable and I love her, thank you!💙💙💙

I'm super happy to hear that I'm inspiring people to keep drawing, cause that is really the secret on how you improve!

Trust me I know it first hand!! Even tho I'm very much an intermediate artist at most right now, I have gotten better. Just by keep drawing and trying to improve everytime I picked up the pencil.

The first drawing is from 2020 vs my most recent drawing.

Just keep drawing!💪💪

I love your little Ami and I'm sure you're already a talented artist.

Thank you for writing in!

And also ur name is 👌

[alevolpe]

These are so lovely!!💖💖💖 I would love to see more of them, but no pressure 👀..

I wish more people would feel less shy about posting more art on social media spaces, does not matter at what level of skill! I don't wanna hear it!

The sailor moon fandom needs more art, needs more fics, more live blogs, more analysis, more appreciation posts, more hcs! I wanna see them all, keep the sailor moon fandom alive, we're still here and we're passionate!!

Sailor moon and the wonderful creative people within its fandom is the reason I draw and write! Go inspire someone to draw and write!

I'm positive that I've already posted this but Tumblr's search function is a sad joke, so! @alevolpe is such a nice person and inspired me to post my first ever fanart for Sailor Moon. I drew a lot as a child but I generally stuck with original designs (mostly fairies and mermaids). Sailor Moon ignited a love in me for fanart, as well as original characters for established properties. I'd like to redesign--or at least redraw--these ladies if I can motivate myself. There are even five; I can make a whole team of sailor soldiers!

[luna-di-fuoco]

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

Yukina, Izumi and Rei 👹👹

— @bihanspookies 🫶

eeeeee, the WMS girilies!!! 💓💓💓

YUKINA

✨- how did you come up with the OC’s name? - when i was about 13, my mom bought me an OVA from best buy called "seraphim call." in said OVA was a character whose name was yukina kurimoto (she was the first episode's lead if you're curious)

i don't know WHAT clicked in my brain, but from then on, i named my girl after her. the thing is, when you use an existing character's name verbatim, it might not bode well as it could be considered plagiarism and your OC gets mixed with the official character in art folders (OOPS)

once i was older and realized the error of my ways, i needed something to differentiated the two. so i changed the kanji:

seraphim call's yukina: 雪菜 (the kanji in her name mean "snow" and "vegetable")

my yukina: 雪奈 (the kanji in her name mean "snow" and "endure")

🥊 - what do they love to do? what do they hate to do? - yukina loves travelling, especially in the company of her friends and loved ones! from the northern reaches of ukyo ward to the openess beyond, she loves seeing new things and opening herself up to new expieriences

now, i don't think there's anything she hates doing...but i will say that she doesn't like cleaning the house when it's super hot out due to her sensitivity to heat. she has to either break up the chores per day or take breaks, neither of which she's a fan of

🧊 - is their current design the first one? - for the most part! originally, yukina was more of a self-insert and wasn't even a hybrid OC. back then, she was strictly a sailor moon OC and her guardian form was pink and red (like another sailor guardian. i think i'm seeing a pattern in baby luna's choices ghdjkfghfdlj)

but once i started crafting her to be her own character and made the original beats for "white moon saga" in 2009, she got an updated guardian form, casual clothes, etc.

since then, she's pretty much stayed the same!

🧠 - what do you like most about the OC? - oh gosh, there's a lot about yukina i enjoy. from her being the longest-lasting OC i have to being the building blocks of how to craft characters, this girl has a special place in my heart

BUT, if you wanna look at it from a different perspective, i love that despite her past and everything she's been through, she's remained kind. she could have easily been written to be a more tragic character with outward angst, but to me, the biggest flex a character can have is to be humble and kind after tragedy (even if you still suffer from it at an internal level)

IZUMI

✨- how did you come up with the OC’s name? - during WMS's early days, i wanted to have a character with the surname "harada" because WINK WONK, it was a tekken story lmaooooo. while that might be izumi's origin, her surname got scrapped fairly recently!

in 2022, i finally got the courage to write WMS in full (i only ever wrote small portions back in the day, and i think most of them are lost since the story has gone through multiple revisions)

while working on izumi's profile, i got the intuitive nudge to follow madoka magica's recipe of using two first names for a character (like kyoko sakura for example)

from there, her surname went from "harada" to "himeno"

🥊 - what do they love to do? what do they hate to do? - BAKING! izumi was part of the home ec club in high school, so it put her skill set to good use. she also loves going to j-pop / idol shows, catching up on her favorite manga, and hanging out with yukina at their favorite cafe

if there's anything izumi hates, it's taking tests. she's the type of person who procrastinates studying until last minute, which causes her IMMESNSE levels of stress. the only time she put her nose to the books was when during the college application process because her mom was INSISTENT she take it seriously (though in truth, it's because she wanted to attend college in her hometown of fukuoka)

🧊 - is their current design the first one? - yes! of the three main girlies, izumi is the only one to retain her OG design without any sort of adjustment (minor or major)

🧠 - what do you like most about the OC? - in my eyes, izumi's the kind of person you'd want as your friend! she's bubbly, fun, and cares a lot about your well being. she's also the type to say things as they are, which you need now and again. it might cause some tension, but it's better to have someone be honest than try and be your "yes man"

REI

her questions spoil some things in "white moon saga," so from here on, answers will be under the cut

✨- how did you come up with the OC’s name? - in the early days of WMS, yukina (or selene in this case) had the closest bond to sailor mars during her time in crystal tokyo

when adding rei to the story, i wanted to pay homage to that bond by giving her the same name. i'll admit that i've tried giving her a new name over the years, but no matter what i tried, nothing stuck, so she remains as "rei" to this day! she also has her name written in katakana, same as the guardian of fire

🥊 - what do they love to do? what do they hate to do? - rei's a little bit of a mythology buff, so she loves looking into the occultism and mythos of the world to learn about the past. she also loves travelling and exploring new places her mother before her

like yukina, i don't think rei hates doing anything in particular; however, her incarnation during the main story suffers from social anxiety, so for her, a lot of things are scary ghfkjghdlk

🧊 - is their current design the first one? - of all the OCs i have, rei went through the most drastic change. originally, she had dark brown hair with red tips and was styled like misa amane's from death note (this style remains in her child / toddler design, though)

oddly enough, when i first saw juri oba from magia record, i was like, "...EXCUSE ME. that's...that's old rei's hair" gdfhjghdl. nowadays, she rocks a head of blonde hair that's a couple of inches past her shoulders and wisps out of the ends; in the epilogue, her hair is halfway down her back

fashion wise, though, she's stayed being a mix of her mother and father's aesthetics, so that luckily stayed

🧠 - what do you like most about the OC? - watching rei evolve has been the greatest joy. from her shrinking violet days in the main story to her more confident and assured self in the epilogue, her growth is a reflection of my own; not only as a writer, but as a person

thanks for asking! | send an OC question

[aspiring-holistic-otaku]

alright so half way through the year (2021), reading classics/older stuff only as much as possible n these are my top 10 reads so far:

10. battle angel alita aka gunnm

pretty good, the definition of strength and self are some of my favourite themes, great art & aesthetics, the story was just a little bit choppy at times but all in all pretty good as I said

9. shaman king

another pretty good one, I think it had a lot of good messages and I loved how philosophical n thought provoking it was and tried to be showing a variety of approaches to life, great art & a pretty good cast

8. hellsing

big fan of chaos, destruction and so on so I really enjoyed it, the only downfall was the simplistic plot & how predictable it was that alucard would always pull through but watching the cast dance around to the tune of madness was undoubtedly entertaining

7. drifting classroom

really old but really good especially for how short it was, pretty fast paced but the story was well handled and never really felt like it was going off track and even had a few comedic moments, honestly didn't really expect to like it but the mc was great, cast was great, art though old was also pretty good... honestly just really good lmao

6. uzumaki

I hate sp*rals now but this was really good, I'd always heard how great junji ito is but finally getting around to his works for myself and he's truly a master of the genre, innovative, creative and all with such little material tbh.. like spir*ls??? who knew

5. remina

another piece by ito, really short, only 6 chapters but it's absolutely phenomenal what he did with those 6 chapters

4. initial d

man... I don't like cars like that and honestly I hate driving but this manga was great, despite the fact that they refused to draw the characters decently, the art was great in literally every other department and not just looking pretty but everything was clearly drawn to immerse the reader in a certain atmosphere whether that was the speed of the car, the slowness of thought, pain of loss, melancholy of stillness it was all just beautiful, the story was pretty solid, somehow kept me entertained by somehow excellently diversifying the feel of every race because honestly they should fundamentally all be the same but the atmosphere around every race was different and engaging in it's own way... absolutely loved it

3. dragon ball (z)

the first manga I read this year, dragon ball straight into dragon ball z and honestly I loved it way more than I thought I would, like I figured I'd have to turn off my brain and just accept fight fight fight but the whole story from db to DBZ, story, characters, everything was masterfully done, sure it can be said to be a simple pursuit of strength but I loved how Goku wasn't about violence he just wanted to be free and to be the best self he could be and that's something I never knew before reading, I'd always thought he was just dumb muscle but based on his origins I think his simplicity is a strong point, great cast, phenomenal art, really good vibes, absolutely loved it

2. banana fish

always heard of it, finally got to it, glad it lived up to it's reputation, really really good, great ever unfolding story, loved the constant bashing of the american government, beautiful aesthetic, great cast... yh

1. Great Teacher Onizuka

great teacher onizuka... didn't have any expectations really but man... what a great manga... very touching, hilarious, decent art, pretty good cast... of course unrealistic in a sense, lots of hijinx n all that but really really touching...

other reads so far ranked highest to lowest:

blame!

sailor moon

baki

city hunter

negima (not a classic but a friend promised to read my favourite manga spirit circle of I read it lmao)

flame of recca

saint seiya knights of the zodiac

riki oh

I was trying not to make the post too long & I'd already done "reviews" of most if not all of the these so if you want to see those they should be tagged by name somewhere on here

also if you wanna see what I've read, what I'm reading & plan to read you can check out my anilist

and as always, shamefully plugging my aesthetics animanga page (it's not letting me tag it for some reason but it's @moodthroughmanga)

[nocturnal-impala]

Hi, I’m the one known as AuraLuna!~ Left a comment on your YouTube which I noticed you liked a few days ago so, I figured I’d reach out here as well, ask if you ever wanna chat some time! Needless to say I’m so excited about your project (I tried making my own series before, although it’s something I had to cancel, to make time for irl life stuff), But anyways, there’s something so special about seeing a sequel to Princess Tutu specifically, as Ahiru and Fakir are so special to me, I always wanted to see more of them ❤️❤️

Hello!

Thank you for your comments and compliments!

I understand, it's unfortunate but I guess more than 70% of fanworks end up not being finished. Life is hecktic and living in the moment means you don't know what future brings, you may wish to do things you can't but that's the normal circle of life. I'm stuck with PT for various reasons but like Sailor Moon it endures time while many new series have the heat of the moment and then they're forgotten. It'd had been interesting to see your work though :)

I'm flattered you'd like to chat more with me, but I'm one of those people who prefer being alone. I mainly use computer for making art, I'm a very sensitive person and chatting in social media is very burdening for me and therefore I'm not very active here. I just answer asks and comments. I hope you understand. I'm sure there are many other fans who would like to chat with you. I'm a boring person, you don't miss much. Thank you and have a nice day!

[ag-celestina-gorillaz]

Hi there. This is my new AG Celestina Azula Damon. She's a doll I customized, and she's also my Gorillaz OC, 2-D's daughter. I was inspired by @agrosehamada's blog, and wanted to do something similar. I answered a "get to know the doll" list, also from ag rose (though I added a few things), and I hope to make friends in the AG community. Please feel free to ask questions (I turned anon off to prevent from mean messages, so if you want to be anonymous, just ask the question, say you wanna be anonymous, and I'll copypaste and answer the question).

Get to Know the Doll :)

-Birthday: June 23rd 2005

-Family: Sharon Damon (mom), Mia Lucci (stepmother, married to Sharon), Stuart Pot/2-D: (dad), Murdoc Niccals (family friend thru 2-D, like an uncle, a drunk uncle), Russell Hobbs (family friend thru 2-D, also like an uncle, but more responsible), Noodle (family friend thru 2-D, like a cool older sister)

-Favorite Foods: Teriyaki chicken lo mein, fresh peaches, Mia's homemade pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms

-Favorite Drink: Peach soda pop

-Favorite Dessert: Cherry trifle, cotton candy ice cream

-Favorite Animal: Bunnies and pandas

-Pet: A gray fluffy bunny named Scratchy

-Hobby(ies): Sewing plushies, singing, practicing keyboard and/or drums

-Favorite Show: Sailor Moon, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Steven Universe, and Powerpuff Girls

-Favorite Movie: Mama Mia, Zombieland, Rocket Man, she also loves Disney and Studio Ghibli movies

-Favorite Color: Blue (any shades), pink, lavender, mint, black

-Best Friend(s): Lucy Phillips (close friend and singing partner, hopefully, something more in the future?), Kailey Green (friend since childhood, and fellow theater nerd)

-Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

-Dream Job: A famous singer like her dad, or an actress (more likely in a Broadway musical or a musical movie), maybe fashion designer.

-Favorite School Subject: Music, Art, English

-Favorite Book: Mostly manga and American Girl books, she has a soft spot for Samantha and Julie

-Favorite Candy: Pocky and KitKats

-Favorite Flower: Roses, sakura blossoms, bluebells

-Favorite Music Genre: She loves listening to songs from Gorillaz (her favorite songs are Starshine, On Melancholy Hill, Clint Eastwood, and Humility), she's also a fan of Queen, David Bowie, Melanie Martinez, and she likes soundtracks from her favorite musicals and Disney movies.

-Dream Vacation: Any of the Disney Parks, and Japan, but she hopes someday soon she can visit her dad and the rest of the band in Britain to see the new Kong Studios.

-Favorite Holiday: Halloween and Valentine's Day.

-If She Could Have Any Superpower: Understand any spoken language, including being able to speak to animals, and zombies!

-Hero: She looks up to book her moms because they raised her and gave her a good childhood, and she looks up to her dad because he's this cool singer in a band, and even though he has his problems, and it's difficult being a long distance parent (as he's in Britain and Celestina lives in the US), he does his best to be in her life as much as possible and he loves her.

[princessfanonanona]

Fandom ask meme- N, Y, Z

Thank you for sending me these!

Based on this ask meme.

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice) Oof I guess more original fluff in the teen wolf fandom? also more fluff in the dp fandom sounds like a good idea to me. actually you know what I want? crack in both. actual, rib bruising level of laughter style crack. I wanna see my faves get up into the craziest situations and have hilarity ensue

What are your secondhand fandoms (fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them) Oh there’s so many; The Untamed, Leverage, all of DC, all of Marvel, HTTYD, Sailor Moon, BTS, LotR, AtLA, Star Wars, Star Trek, Supernatural, I could keep going but yeah...I have a very full dash of random things

Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go (prompts optional but encouraged) I guess I’ll ramble on fandom interaction? I’ve been on tumblr for years actual years, I remember those ‘heritage posts’ when they were new, (the breadstick debacle and SuperWhoLock, I was there for the Ball Pit Implosion) and I never understood fandom. I didn’t get it. I mean, logically I understood what the terms meant, (ships, canon, OTP, TTP, meta, etc). I knew the definitions and when to apply what term where and what not to use for other things. But. I didn’t get it. 

I would say my first true fandom interaction was Teen Wolf in college because my dash was filled with TW. I couldn’t find a post for pages that wasn’t TW. There was so much art, and mv’s, and drabbles, gif after gif everywhere. 

So I watched it. And I fell in love with the characters and the world. TW became the first fandom that I got it. This is what fandom is. I inhaled fic after fic. Lurked in the fandom and watched interactions between the Big Names on story ideas and brainstorming. I tried to join the conversations and my voice was lost. I couldn’t write well so my stories were forgotten under wonderful masterpieces. My attempts to engage was buried under notes. So I returned to being a lurker.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad or upset about it. I was just a small no name and the Big Names weren’t acting malicious. They had already developed friendships and history with each other and were enjoying themselves. It is not their job to cater to every interaction. I still love their work, one of them is actually a big reason I survived college and It’s the only series I will read again and again.

But it was a moment of learning for me.

I joined other fandoms and I ignored the Big Names and made my own circle. I had fun in my circles. And I made my own art and stories.

And then, life happened, as it does. I stopped writing, I left Tumblr.

I left fandom.

I made new friends and moved on with my life. I would check my tumblr every once in awhile. It was infrequent and for sporadic amounts of time. 

I  joined discord and I found the TW fandom by and large had migrated (I found the link on a fanfic I am mildly obsessed with) so I lurked in the TW server, engaging here and there. I felt (feel still sometimes) small and that's on no one but myself. The server is huge and I struggle with too many voices and too many channels and so many rules I don’t truly understand. The TW fandom are all very nice and welcoming but it didn’t feel like a home I could settle into.

I scrolled into a Danny Phantom post that blew my mind. It was a gif of someone’s art. I am still in aw thinking about it. So I went looking for more. 

And I found stunning art and magnificent stories and lore so deep it felt like it could go on forever.

I didn’t know who was a Big Name or not, and it looked like most of the fandom were on a discord server. So I asked. And I joined a DP server, a small one with some interesting characters. And I was tired of so much personal things and I wanted to feel included somewhere, to feel wanted in a space.

So I engaged, and I listened, and I participated.

And I found that I was, not only welcomed, but my thoughts and opinions mattered. That there were wanted in the conversation.

I kept engaging. I started writing again. Truly writing for the first time in several years. And the phandom loved it. My followers skyrocketed, I received so many comments and add-ons of how much people enjoyed my work.

It absolutely blows my mind. I’m actually happy being in a fandom now. I feel like I found a home, which may not be permanent. I may find a new fandom, I may get busy with life and forget about tumblr and fandoms. But I know I can always return to the place I found and be welcomed home.

[alexis-vaughn]

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed. //D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t. //F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom? //Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

Ship meme from here

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

ALL MY SHIPS I HAVE ON HERE. But I’m secretly a bit obsessed about The Darkling and Alina 🥺 they are so pretty 😭 and I like Daryl + Connie a lot and hope so much we see more of them in season 11 ❤️ also I wanna see a hot ship for Magna please that woman is freaking sexy 😭 and as always Regan and Hannigram, always will be 🥺

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

Daryl x Rick and Rick x Michonne. I’m very sorry but Daryl for me is the absolute best brother for Rick, he’s family and therefore I can’t see him in a sexual relation. And Michonne x Rick? I better say nothing about it cause otherwise I write a book about their not existing chemistry and how they are best friends (also like family) in the comic and I hoped to see that :(

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

Ugh I never was really involved in a fandom like joining forums and discussing things or commenting views and opinions on Twitter or doing art or whatever. BUT whenever I become a fan of something, that usually always stays (besides they ruin the franchise *GOT coughs*). So I guess longest would be Sailor Moon cause I was 7 (makes it 26 years now) as it started in TV here and I was a fan ever since. I still order merchandise from japan, still go to certain museums and pop up cafes in japan and visit theme parks which feature it (like universal studios in Osaka). I have a lot of merchandise and clothes from it which I use or wear pretty regularly and my friends still gift me with things from it. Second one is probably my favorite band Dir en grey which I started listening to as I was 14 (makes it 19 years now) and visited around 50 concerts from and traveled through countries to see them live and have a BIIIIIG collection from which is probably more worth than the rest of my flat and have a few tattoos from 😂 but as I said, I might be an obsessed fan by myself and collect these things but I don’t get involved in fandoms cause they are all toxic af (even if I met a lot of friends to concerts or conventions after all).

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

Ugh toooooooo much. But something people just don’t understand in ANY fandom, is that no matter if you’re an actor, musician, painter or writer: you create an alternative version of yourself, no surprise so many use stage names or artist names. Actors get hated for a villain they play, musicians are assumed to be sex symbols just because they dance and seem confident on stage when in reality they have social anxieties and are loners. When you write a complex pairing where one part is more troubled than the other you’re considered an abusive person when you never would support your muses actions. We’re all artists and some people just can’t differ between reality and fiction and I think it’s a shame 😤

@wexarethewalkingxdead

[crystalbehindthescenes]

I think all the little changes made to the characters, the planet symbols from circles to hearts; their character designs being closer to the 90's anime; Eternal Sailor Moon's brooch being the 90's gold brooch instead of the manga's pink brooch MIGHT have had something to do with all the people who complained that Crystal wasn't enough like the 90's anime (even though the wasn't the point), so Toei finally caved and was like, "Fine, you want it to be more like the 90's? Here you go!"

That, and I think Chiaki Kon, being the director and all, is also a huge 90s anime fan.

It's a slippery slope imo, fans of the series oughta work on Crystal/Eternal cus a fresh new eye could probably misinterpret things or miss the charm, however biases can get in the way of from the overall like, point of Crystal ie not to be in the 90s anime shadow and instead be it’s own thing.

Sakai I felt was able to balance a homage from blatant rip offs but he also didn't seem to put much care into the overall product and that charm was missing in some parts and can feel forced or rushed. can’t say for sure if due to Season 1/2 production schedule was or if he was kinda being a bad director

Same goes for Sakou, ontop of being a female character designer to avoid male gaze but also without being biased for a preference on designs, shes a fresh eye if you will. (Tho what fucked this up was she was a  EW character designer at the time and you can tell by her early settei's line work she was nervous af), but again she's missing that charm in some areas

Takahashi was this as well but then he just went way off in his direction, diving the fans even more imo. Partially Kon's fault here, she told him to make the designs cuter, but the reused stock footage was definitely all Kon, she storyboards them. (or is credited for them anyway) The charm was missing entirely for me not to mention I just thought Kons direction was just odd and strange during Season 3.It just didn't feel right.

Then we got Tadano whos the weird one, she said it was gonna be a more elegant style than what she used in the 90s but this style is way cuter than how the girls looked in the 90s. I can't say for sure if the charm is there since I haven't seen the movie yet, but some of the reused stock footages does feel incredibly forced than charming to me.... if that makes sense, like an obligation like you said.

Idk there needs to be a balance of some kind, but also fans working on Crystak/Eternal need to try not to be biased toward the 90s anime... New ppl oughta be put on to have a fresh eye cus 90s fan or not people wanna see something new but also not too new to the point its jarring, something familiar. Sdjvnsdjg  I'm talking in circles forgive me jednferjgn I hope I'm making sense

So yea like you said this could be big wigs interfering with the production as per usual cus the 90s sells so well cus fuck animation for the art of it all.

But it also could be Kon having a bias as well, cus she told Takahashi to make his designs cuter, who's to say she didn't say the same for Tadano? I'll check the credits when I find time, I notice a lot of big changes tend to happen  when the Producer changes

I'm also low-key convinced they chose Tadano cus they couldn't get Itou cus when it comes to the precious 90s anime thats all who anyone cares about (to the point many convinced themselves Itoh's style was the mainstream style for 90s animes when it really wasn't)

let's just hope they stick with Tadanos style cus I'm just kinda sick of the artstyle changing its so headache inducing this ain't Precure where every season is a soft reboot geez

[ducktracy]

178. i wanna be a sailor (1937)

release date: september 25th, 1937

series: merrie melodies

director: tex avery

starring: robert winkler (peter parrot), elvia allman (mother parrot), mel blanc (duck), berneice hansell (patrick parrot, patricia parrot), billy bletcher (father parrot)

though porky was established as a star by this point, his stardom was a lonely one indeed. gabby goat had come and gone as a failed experiment, petunia only had a handful of shorts left, and daffy wouldn’t be established as a sidekick until a year or two later. aside from the pig himself, warner bros. didn’t have a vast repertoire of characters to boast. but that didn’t stop them anyway.

perhaps “boast” is a bit too hyperbolic, but there’s a rather fascinating trend in the late ‘30’s of warner bros. advertising characters who ranged from minuscule to down right obscure. porky, petunia, gabby, and the early prototype of daffy are all reasonable characters to tote, but it got to the point where one-off characters such as petunia’s dog fluffnums, “sammy sparrow”, and peter parrot where toted around as well. this marks the debut of peter parrot who, despite only starring in this short, found his way onto ice cream packaging, publicity sheets, and even wall hangers.

so, what’s all the hubbub with this little parrot? the short, an unofficial sequel to i love to singa, chronicles peter’s wishes to follow in his footsteps and become a sailor, despite his mother’s pleas against him. peter sets off for shore anyhow, but quickly realizes that it isn’t a captain‘s life for him.

the short begins with mama parrot (voiced by the great elvia allman) teaching her children how to talk. specifically, how to cite the ever-appropriate “polly want a cracker.” berneice hansell voices the first two siblings, patrick and patricia, who both fumble over the sentence in cute, giggly, slow voices. avery loved to put hansell’s squeaky voice to use, specifically to test our patience to see how annoying and how long he could drag it out. both children manage to spit out the magic words, much to the approval of mama. the underscore of “we’re working our way through college” is a nice touch--one of my favorites!

in the averyverse, it’s common knowledge that the third attempt at a gag results in a mix-up, and here is no exception. mama drills our star, peter, (named patrick on his various mediums of advertisement) but to no avail. instead, he resists, robert winkler (who was one of the voices for scrappy over at the columbia studio) providing his vocals as he grovels “i don’t wanna cracker, see? i wanna be a sailor like me pop, see?”

pan over to reveal a framed portrait of dear old dad, clad in a sailor suit, bulging popeye arms and all. mama does not agree, and is quick to launch into a rant. “huh. like your pop! why, that sea-bearin’ homewrecker, that high-seas hitchhiker... a fine father he’s been, the sea-goin’ sob!” her rant segues into a flashback sequence, animated by the great irv spence. the layout and background of the newly-weds’ new abode in the canary islands is very pretty indeed, great contrast with the blues and the yellows of the moon/light from inside.

elvia allman’s deliveries are great as always--she doesn’t get nearly the same amount of buzz as the other female stars of warner bros. such as berneice hansell, sara berner, bea benaderet, and of course june foray. the fond trip down memory lane includes warm memories of the new mother feeding her infants, the atmosphere warm... and then we pan over to the father, allman’s narration now acidic and vitriolic as she hurls insults in conjunction with the animation--the “rum-soaked old seagull” is surrounded by a wall of empty bottles, pouring himself a hearty dosage of shots. 

irv spence’s animation of the father’s lumbering, drunken exit out of the house is great--i especially love the extra details such as the swirls and stars. just as allman mentions the father’s venture to hawaii (on account that he could never stay in one place), we get a moment of avery genius as pa shoves his face back in the door to interrupt the narration (voiced by billy bletcher): “no, ma, it was catalina!” allman’s bite that was so harsh earlier is completely absent as she corrects herself. “oh... oh, yes. set sail for catalina.”  

another great avery gag that would be reused in the smash hit red hot riding hood, another avery piece: ma fondly remembers how she would “burn a little light in the window.” cue a giant spotlight beaming out the window, sweeping the entire island. 

mama parrot tearfully ends her lecture, asking her son “now you don’t wanna be a sailor, do you?” wonderful comedic timing as a tearful, mournful peter wipes his eyes. after a few seconds of sniveling, he responds with a warbled “...yes!” 

“WHAAAAT!?” so taken aback by her son’s reaction, mama parrot faints, literally hanging by her toes from the bird cage as she dangles unconscious. thus provides the perfect escape for peter, who opts to take matters into his own hands. cue the similarities to i love to singa: estranged bird children leave their over-protective parents in order to pursue their dreams. 

there’s a wonderfully smooth transition between multi-plane pans here: close-up to peter haughtily stalking off, footsteps tinkering to the beat. the surroundings of his household melt away to reveal a pan of the outside, the momentum never halting, no breaks in the walk-cycle, just perfectly timed. VERY impressive! i’m always a fan of the multi-plane pans to begin with, but this in particular is very well executed. in the midst of peter’s angsty stewing, he bumps right into a spare barrel. suddenly, an idea hatches, and he lifts the barrel (cartoon physics!) as we fade out. 

fade back in to another multi-plane pan, this time of a pond. i love the lush, painterly look of the backgrounds in the late ‘30′s and early ‘40′s--daffy duck and egghead in particular has some divine color styling. this pan reminds me quite a bit of the backgrounds in that one, as we’ll explore relatively soon (8 more to go!)

peter has successfully crafted a makeshift ship out of his barrel, the perfect size for such a pint-sized parrot. cue the introduction of the archetypal annoying blabbermouth--warner bros. loved their blabbermouth characters. dizzy duck, a blabbermouth facsimile to a certain disney-owned duck, would be porky’s sidekick for a whopping two cartoons. friz freleng would play around with the trope in his little blabbermouse, and even chuck jones would refine his sweet, mellow character sniffles into a bonafide chatterbox. 

here, it’s a little yellow duck (who looks awfully similar to daffy’s next appearance in daffy duck and egghead), barraging peter with a number of questions. peter is quick to shut the duck up, closing his beak as he snarls “well, see, i’m buildin’ a boat, see!” his explanation, reused from egghead rides again, is “because, because, because... today, i am a man!”, a take of the same line used in bar mitzvahs. while there may be a disconnect between the catchphrase and audiences today, one can at least appreciate the vocal talents ingrained in the line--specifically, the squeaky, prepubescent “i am a man!” provided by mel blanc here. little duck is eager to tag along. peter agrees, but not before clamping a spare clothespin down on the duckling’s beak to shut him up. 

cue the song sequence, which is more talk-song-y than anything. irv spence provides some nice animation as the two climb onto deck, peter shoving a mop into the curious duckling’s grip (”all aboard! c’mon, by heck! your job will be to scrub the deck!”) while the song continues, peter peels a skull and crossbones off of a spare poison bottle (how safe!), using it as a flag. the up shot of the flag being raised is nice and dynamic, even if the timing is a little bloated.

the ship has set sail. after glowing at his makeshift sail (a pair of long underwear), peter directly addresses the audience, a nice reminder that tex avery is directing the short. “this picture’s kinda like mutiny on the county, [actually titled mutiny on the bounty] dont’cha think?” he pauses for a few beats before turning back to the audience, now with a glower: "or dont’cha?”

to assert his dominance and strong masculinity, peter pulls out a stick of licorice from his pocket, tearing off a bite as a makeshift glob of tobacco. the animation of him chewing (and thusly spitting) the tobacco has a nice sense of weight to it--the push and pull is strong. he hocks it up over the side of the ship, and, like all spitting gags, the piece of “tobacco” traverses through the bottom of the water and lands perfectly in a submerged spittoon.

self-satisfied, peter now opts to scale the crow’s nest, using his beak and feet to guide him along the way (woodblocks doing a nice job of synchronizing animation and music). suddenly, he does a take to something offscreen. a storm’s a-brewin’, as indicated by the lightning that literally spells out “BAM!” as it streaks past. experimenting with typography is always refreshing to see in the shorts, especially when the words themselves form works of art. 

just as quick as he was to leave the family, peter drops his tough-guy demeanor, panicking and running around his ducky first-mate, who’s still dutifully swabbing the poop deck. peter snaps the clothespin off of the duck’s mouth, ordering him to do something. cue rambling duck: “what for? i like the rain. i like the water.” as he rambles on, borderline incomprehensibly, avery strikes again to remind us of what he’s capable as the duck interjects to the audience (in an adult voice), “ain’t i the talkingest little guy?” even better is that he wastes no time launching back into his hyperactive rant about swimming in the water and splashing around.

to make matters worse, the button flap of the long underwear sail unbuttons, rendering the sail useless. the combination of the rain, music (william tell’s “the storm”, of course), and sound effects all blend together nicely. the “ocean” currents, now forming ferocious waves, look hilariously cartoonish and not at all believable, but what’s the fun if the waves were drawn with precise accuracy?

peter wrestles with the ship’s wheel, which is out of control. his efforts are futile—he ends up twirling around the wheel. elsewhere, we get another gag that would be reused time and time again: a bucket of paint spilling and pouring back into itself due to the rocking of the ship. the timing holds on just longer than it needs to for it to warrant any laughs, though i’m sure it was much more amusing to an audience in 1937 than now, especially if you’ve seen the gag over and over again like i have.

speaking of reused gags: the blabbermouth duck is just reveling in the rain, not at all bothered by the catastrophic events unfolding. this gag is taken from one of tex’s last cartoons from his previous job, making the walter lantz oswald cartoons at universal. more specifically, his 1933 picture five and dime (about the 1:33 mark.) nevertheless, back to warner bros., the little motif of “september in the rain” adds another layer to aid in appreciating the gag. 

in an attempt to haul an anchor, peter’s plan fails: instead, half of the ship is yanked off with the anchor, sending the ship down. the little duck is beside himself, willfully diving into the current to soak up those sweet white caps. peter does not share his ecstasy, nor his courage. instead, he cries for help, crying for his mother... which, miraculously, she hears. seems he wasn’t that far off from shore after all! the extra touch of peter lowering his voice to bellow “calling all cars, calling all cars!” (also used in i love to singa) is a great little humoristic touch. 

despite her previous harshness, a mother’s love prevails, and mama parrot takes off after her son. cue another great joke, one that’d probably be even more uproarious during a time when the song was popular: mama dashes through the rain, reassuring her son “I’M COMIN’! I’M COMIN’!” and, in an instant, she drops her panic to sing a few lines of "old black joe” to the audience. wonderful timing--tex’s fourth wall breaks in this one are definitely satisfying. 

peter continues to cry for help, even in the tune of “shave and a haircut” at one point, much to the disgust and contempt of the duck, who goes as far as to give him a black eye. clearly, he doesn’t think highly of his captain. maybe this is more like mutiny on the bounty than we thought! 

and, with that, the duck easily tosses peter ashore, snarling “ya big sissy!” before frolicking in the rain once more. while some of the ship scenes dragged in momentum, tex does create a strong suspension of disbelief: remember, they were in a pond, not a treacherous ocean!

mama reunites with her baby boy, swaddling him and cooing all the way. “now... you don’t want to be a sailor, do you?” if you believe we’re about to learn some sort of moral, remember what you’re watching here. peter sniffles, wiping his eyes, giving a few sobs before answering in a direct parallel to the beginning, “...yeeeeees!”

it’s two iris out gags in a row for tex. like the beginning, mama shrieks another “WHAAAAAT!?” and passes out from the shock, iris closing in on her. just then, the iris widens back up as mama pulls herself up to face the audience. she heaves a sigh, her tone surprisingly gentle as she asks “now what would you do with a child like that?” iris out for good.

thus puts an end to tex’s 1937 dry spell. tex was no stranger to the vices of burnout (been there!), and i suspect he may have suffered a bit of burnout throughout mid-1937, or, at the very least, have been at a crossroads in terms of where to go and who to please. he had some great momentum going—porky’s duck hunt would, of course, become monumental in animation significance, birthing daffy and a whole genre of characters with it (and you could argue it’s why we have bugs, too). and, despite the nastiness of the short (which is inexcusable), viewing the technicalities, uncle tom’s bungalow was rife with energy and wit as well. but, for awhile after, tex floundered: shorts like a sunbonnet blue completely lack the avery wit and charm. egghead rides again was enjoyable, porky’s garden tolerable, but none carried the momentum that these shorts once had. thankfully, this dry spell comes to an end after this short.

so, moving on: this is a short i’m neutral on. it still lacks the fervor and conviction of previous tex entries, but it isn’t dismal. it has some bits of greatness that could constitute a watch: elvia allman does a wonderful job as the mother—the “burning a light in the window” gag with the giant spotlight was great, as were the various fourth wall breaks. those in itself constitute a watch, but other than that, this short remains largely unremarkable, at least to me. some of the scenes drag in pacing, but that’s an easy verdict to make when you constantly compare to the speed of forthcoming avery cartoons (especially at mgm), where you miss an entire gag if you blink.

ultimately, i think you could go either way. watch it if you’re more devoted to animation like i am, or at least snoop around for some of the high points. however, you won’t be missing too much if you skip it for now. thankfully, better cartoons are ahead!

link! (pardon the title, it’s fake, but the print is good enough quality.)

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Eternal eclipse - Klance Month Week 4

I have no idea where I was going with this but it happened, so yeah. I do wanna redo week 2 of @monthlyklance at some point, but I’ve got a mer bang to finish, so don’t be too surprised if the last prompt for this week is late. Enjoy I guess. Eclipse/Victory

“I’m the sun and your the moon.”

“What does that even mean?”

“We’re apart, but an eclipse is a moment worth watching.”

Keith burst into laughter. “That made no sense.”

“Yes it does!”

“No it doesn’t.”

Crappy webcams couldn’t distort the pout on Lance’s lips.

“What I mean is when they do get to pass each other, it’s one of the world greatest wonders and us being reunited would be the airport’s greatest wonder. Or at least, me getting to see you would be mine.”

While the analogy made no sense what so ever, knowing that he was Lance’s always put a smile on his face. Even when they were miles apart.

He and Lance met at a convention and had a slight competition over who had the better mecha lion cosplay from their shared favourite show, Space Warriors. Keith wouldn’t admit it then, but Lance had won with his Blue Lion cosplay, seeing as the people he came with were engineers and had made the moving pieces of their costumes. Lance himself, despite being a professional stage manager, was able to create the light up weapons they used. Keith made his Red Lion cosplay with hard work and long nights but he was willing to wave the white flag, if Lance hadn’t been so smug about it. In the 3 days of the convention, they always seemed to bump into each other, competing over the smallest things, like who could get a better score in the game room or who could find the better deal on a plush in the dealer’s hall. Even though they spent a good amount of time arguing, Lance had given him his number and told him to call if he ever wanted to admit Lance was better.

Keith was mostly never planning but he was working on a cosplay and the top didn’t look right and he had no other friends who liked cosplay, so he texted Lance.

‘Ah, so you admit I am the better cosplayer. it’s fine, no need to send a voice memo saying so. By the way, the shirt is the wrong colour if that’s the character your going for. You can actually order to correct colour from Jo Anne’s if you want to make it yourself. Check H&M or Forever 21 for similar looking shirts in the correct colour.’

While he rolled his eyes at how utterly smug the guy sounded, he took his advice. It was easier to get the shirt and fix it up himself and it was actually surprising how close to the real thing he needed was. Their relationship continued in asking for advice on cosplays or line ups for conventions and then he happened to find Lance’s Instagram.

Keith kept his cosplays and personal life separate, but Lance combined everything. Pictures of his cat, pictures of the beach, pictures of his friends as they lounged around, somewhat professional pictures as Lance worked, even though Keith knew enough about theatre to know Lance should be completely in the dark in the booth. So, Keith started asking questions about his life, Lance asked about his and they started to become friends. Lance could still be as snooty about his cosplay skills as possible but he was always helpful when it came to offering advice. Somehow it took finding a small fandom they both liked to make them closer.

“Whoa, wait a second. You like Kirarin Revolution?”

“Yeah?” Keith had been playing his usual cosplay making focus playlist and the second opening had come on and Lance heard it over the phone.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to find someone who likes that anime? Almost no one knows it! I’ve been trying to find someone to be my Hiroto to my Seiji for a cosplay. What convention are you going to next?”

“Um, Galaxy Con?”

“Prefect, text me your sizes. we’re doing a cosplay together.”

“Wait, my size?”

“How else am I suppose to make your cosplay?”

“Wait what?”

Lance would not be swayed and when he arrived at his hotel on badge pick up day, like a hound dog, Lance found him and put him in his cosplay to do finishing touches. He even styled his wig for him.

“Why don’t we do this more?” Lance asked as he fixed the feathered pieces for the coat.

“Because you live in LA and I live in Texas.”

Despite Lance claiming not a lot of people knew the anime, they had made quite a hit at the convention. He became good friends with Hunk and Pidge and got to see another side to Lance that wasn’t hidden in smugness. Lance was actually a pretty nice guy and once they had separated again, they still kept that closeness they gained during that convention. They had even started to stream animes together, texting each other on everything.

Even with the distance between and the fact that they didn’t always go to the same convention and see each other, they kept getting closer and closer. One day, they were video chatting and Lance had been falling asleep on himself. His cat had joined him and was asleep herself and looking at him with his face squished by his hand, his half awake eyes and how he was all cosied up, Keith couldn’t help thinking he looked really cute.

He might not of been one for relationships, but was he even considering doing a relationship when your significant other lived so far away. Ok, maybe not that far, but long distance was hard. There was a reason it had such a stigma around it, even if people claimed it could work out.

Keith broached the subject and while ecstatic that Lance felt the same, he’d been as worried as Lance was. They were such good friends, what if this relationship didn’t work?

It took a lot of communication to make it work. Keith tended to keep things inside, including his nerves about how to act around Lance when they could meet at conventions. Lance was always nervous he’d be too clingy. There was a good moment where they stopped talking because not talking meant things couldn’t change or get worse. It was miserable and if it hadn’t been for Shiro – and Hunk on Lance’s side – it would of kept up. Once they talked everything through, it got better. It wasn’t like they’d go ages without seeing each other. Keith always saved up his vacation days at the Fire Station for conventions and he was always working so often anyway that the guys kept insisting he take more time off. Plus they loved teasing him about Lance, trying to sneak into the background of any video calls.

Lance would talk to Keith during shows that he knew the cues for like the back of his hand. He considered it worth getting in trouble for. he’d always count down to the next convention they’d meet at, somehow always knowing where he’d bump into Keith. they’d been doing it for a year now. There were long periods were they couldn’t  see each other at conventions, maybe due to flight issues or work and the distance, while manageable, did hurt. Keith didn’t know why he didn’t just take a random week off when the theatre Lance worked with was in the dark and just spend the week with him. Maybe the fear that without conventions, they’d fall apart. Not a healthy way to live, which was why he was sure Lance announced on this very chat he was coming to visit him. Which kinda lead to their discussion on eclipses. When Lance was in town, in between actually hanging out and not sticking to a convention schedule, he wanted to make a couples cosplay with him. they’d been bouncing back ideas, almost going with Zuko and Sokka from ATLA (even though Keith knew he was more into Zuko and Katara), when Keith went on a tangent about the BNHA manga.

“You know I rarely read manga half the time.” Lance complained.

“I think you’ll like this one. The artist made this little drawing moon Todoroki and Sun Izuku and tododeku shippers have been going insane. it’s a whole huge thing now. I mean, everyone already says things like ‘oh the moon and sun get to kiss each other during an eclipse’. I must of seen 1000 fan arts of those two getting their kiss.”

“Oh! We should do that! it’ll be like us!”

which then lead back into their current conversation.

“Lance, when I get to see you, it’s not going to be a one time thing to kiss you. If it’s up to me, I wouldn’t stop. We might not even get any cosplay work done because I’ll be too busy kissing you.”

“Ooh, eternal eclipse. Kinda like the final battle with the Dead Moon Circus.”

Keith furrowed his brow. “What?”

“Sailor Moon? My god Keith, we might not be doing any cosplay stuff if I have to school you on essential anime.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “It’s not essential.”

“Keith, it’s changed the whole game. it’s essential.”

Keith could put up being school with ‘essential anime’, as long as he got Lance with it.

[szopenhauer]

Do you like Chanel purses? no

When was the last time you had Pepsi? ages ago

Do you know anyone with exaggeratedly big muscles? not personally

What is your favorite endangered animall? elephant

Can you name someone with the same last name as you? my parents

Who was the last person to scream your name? ...

By the way, that wasnt meant to be perverted.  too late  I have no idea why I thought about that - no one ever screamed my name this way and nobody ever will :x

Do you struggle to articulate your thoughts and feelings? it seems Name something that you are doing tonight. nothing and I realized that I don’t want to go to sleep more than ever before, I just don’t want to wake up tomorrow and yet I’m scared of dying (suffering)

Do you like the smell of a barbecue? nah

Would you date an 18 year old at the age you are now? too young for me Are you more likely to show affection through your words or your actions? words I guess Do you have an easy time falling asleep? I wish Are you a crier? crybaby Do you like to wear makeup? no Do you have a high tolerance for people? pfft Do you like your bed? why not How many times have you been to the ER? few

Are you wearing shorts? basically never

Do you eat randomly, just whenever the hell you want? ...

Did you have trouble getting up this morning? yeah What’s a few things that automatically make you go, “Awww”? cute little dogs Do you have soft hands? Do you like holding hands? do I? I like to hold hands tho What’s your opinion on perfumes that are REALLY expensive?  dumb, I hate perfume but expensive - that is ridiculous! Have you ever really hated a teacher and practically made it clear you did? Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. Are you a little bit cautious around horses? Do they scare you a bit? I’m just a cautious person in general  If you could live next door to ANYONE, who would you want to live beside? love of my life, I mean - we can live together but for now it would be cool if we were neighbors at least, you know what I mean? Do you think your friends are pretty? Do your friends think your pretty? what friends... Are you currently worried about your parents finding out about something? maybe mom about that one particular thing that starts on S and ends with X

What is your opinion on air pollution? less cars!

Were you forced to read ‘The Odyssey’ in high school? from what I remember

Who was the last person to come visit you? M.

When was the last time you shaved your legs? recently

Do you own any superhero shirts? nope

What is your opinion on the “Team Edward/Team Jacob” shirts? I dislike Twilight

If you had to teach a class, what would you teach? if I really had to then art

How did your parents meet each other? personal

What profession do you think is the most under-appreciated? garbage collectors, those who clean the streets or hospitals, postmen etc.

Have you ever drawn on someone while they were sleeping? don’t do that

Does time really heal all wounds? Or is that just a trivial saying? trivial saying

Where is your favorite place to take a nap? I don’t do naps but my bed

Would you rather lose all your old memories, or never be able to make new ones? not be able to make new

Have you ever swerved off the road to avoid hitting an animal? I don’t drive

What’s a tradition you hope never dies out? it’s a secret

Do you have any exes you’d consider dating again? I’m dating my ex 

Have you ever went a year without getting your hair cut? yes Do you think you could go a week without sugar? without sweets? I already do, I don’t even drink tea with sugar  Would you be willing to go one day each week without meat? absolutely Do you feel comfortable telling people how much you weigh? whatever Are you any good at sewing? I know basics Have you looked at any old photos of yourself lately? this year Do you carry a calculator around with you everywhere? I don’t need it that often Do you like to plan things out or just go with the flow? plan but not strictly

Do you garden at all? If so, what types of things do you grow? I help my parents which I find pointless because there is always much more work than results Do you consider cooking to be an art? when done right How many pairs of sunglasses do you own? too many considering that I barely wear ‘em ^^” Are you a fast or slow reader? fast Would you ever spend $500 on concert tickets? hell no Do you know anyone who looks like you? there was a gal who was similar to me on tumblr but younger than me, I lost contact with her  Do you get nervous when you go to the doctor?  yeah :( Are you a short tempered person? oh well...

Does it take a lot to gross you out? I’m easily grossed out  Last time you seen an ocean: never saw ocean in person Do you collect sea shells? not as much as I used to

What is one change you need to make in your life this month? lets not talk about it, ok?

Would you have sex with the last person you texted? done Are you planning on kissing anyone tomorrow evening? she’s gonna be busy working Do you require a lot of private time? yasss Have you ever told a guy you were a lesbian to get him to leave you alone? it’s because I’m a lesbian lmfao If you have a favorite television show, who’s your favorite character? in my most fav shows plot was more important to me than characters tbh, it’s hard to explain, I hope I’m not the only one who thinks this way haha but in Buffy I didn’t like Xander and Angel was annoying even though he was necessary, I wasn’t a fan of Faith and didn’t understand Riley existence in the universe, also Dawn changed a lot for worse but I swallowed it with patience, in Call the midwife I felt crappy when they took Chummy and Jenny away, I didn’t watch newest episodes so I have no idea who Lucille and Valerie are, I horribly miss sister Evangelina :(

What’s the best part about flying? don’t ask me, I’ve never been on a plane

Did you ever watch Sailor Moon? fragments

Chocolate or Vanilla ice cream? vanilla

If you had to get glasses would you wear contacts? I’d prefer glasses

Are mac’s really better than PC’s? I’m a PC gal

D0 y0u l1k3 t0 t@lk l1k3 a 5c3n3 k1d? *cringe*

When you were red and green clothes do you feel like a Christmas Tree? lol

What TV show has the best theme song? hard choice

New Year’s Plans? I don’t plan to live that long

Would you agree that Sex and The City is the best show ever? no way, I didn’t even care enough to watch one episode of it

Do you call your friends with red hair “ranga’s”? wtf

Have you ever been surfing? me? surfing? r u kidding?

Would you feel funny if you kissed somebody of the same sex? excuse me, I’m into women exclusively

Name a thing in your room that other probably don’t have in theirs: me ha!

What’s your best jacket like? comfy :3

What’s something you can cook or bake like a pro? nothing 

If you could pull off any hairstyle, what would it look like? I have couple of ideas ;)

What is the worst thing that happened so far today? my failed appointment as I didn’t get any answers nor help for my heart condition and allergies and that was the last attempt, I have no other ways of fixing things to survive next months, my life;s officially over, I only have suffering and fear left, I’m a burden and I want to kill myself sooner than food or cardiac arrest 

Did that ruin your day? it ruined my LIFE

What’s something good you’re looking forward to? sweet relieve of death?...

What’s something that you think is really cute?

*wish it was mine

Describe your feet: eww, why, better not

If you see somebody crying, do you start crying too? depends

How do you like your hoodies? oversized, without kangaroo pocket in front and/or a zipper, yuk

Is having to pee really badly worse than being really thirsty? it is to me at least

Were you a cute baby? I was a red haired potato

Are you talking to anybody right now? online 

How tall are your tallest socks? I kept my rainbow knee high socks but I don’t use them anymore

Are you waiting for a phone call? at night?...

Do you look forward to swimsuit season, or get really nervous? I was skipping swimsuit seasons for over 10 years until this summer - I bought the cheapest and went to stand/walk in the water and sit on a beach despite my insecurities 

If you could live for a year with any foreign family, where would you go? don’t wanna, scary

What do you wish people would pay you to do? browse the internet XD

Do you take good pictures? I try

Should you be doing something else right now? wash my hair, drink water, commit suicide - who knows

Did that question make you nervous? that question made me sad 

Why don’t girls like porn? some enjoy it 

Tell me a memory of this summer: this summer is all about romantic love, illnesses and nostalgy

Do you think it’s pretty when 100s of balloons are let loose into the sky? a waste but still pretty, sorry love, I know you’d be irritated so don’t worry - I will never do smth like that to ya

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Welp, I watched the first episode of Sailor Moon Crystal. And so it begins. This first episode is very similar to the first episode of the 90s anime, which makes sense, since it’s the first chapter of the manga. So plot wise there’s not much to say that I’ve not already said. Notable differences though include what I feel like is way more talk about Sailor V than was in the 90s show, which I’m cool with, you can foreshadow her a bit better and have Usagi’s aspirations to be like Sailor V contrasted with her actual reaction to being Sailor Moon. Speaking of which, we’ve now got some slightly different poses than those of the 90s anime, Crystal’s more or less used the same “tsuki ni kawatte oshioki yo” pose but Usagi kind of moves her body around a lot more, like the arm movements are way more exaggerated, which I think I actually prefer, gives her a more particular liveliness and flair, I’m a fan. Also this isn’t a change but I totally forgot about her fuckin, red things in her hair being able to hear danger, was that ever used again? And then there’s her ultrasonic crying, which I also forgot about and think was only used like twice in the 90s anime. Also, Moon Tiara Action is now Moon Tiara Boomerang, which honestly is a much more sensical name, comes with a way shorter animation (thank god) and now, rather than become a magic flying disc, the tiara sort of, fuses into a big outline of a circle, which I’m down with. Also, Mamoru’s first appearance features him in a tuxedo, which I checked and is manga accurate, but my god what a fucking wanker. I don’t remember if he was this obviously looking for the Silver Crystal at this point in the 90s anime but I’m glad he is here, sort of draw the connection a bit sooner since the twist that he’s Tuxedo Mask doesn’t really mean much anyway. Also he doesn’t throw his usual rose to save Usagi here, which I actually think kinda sucks since it’s such an iconic introduction. Oh well.  And then lastly for sort of plot stuff, the episode ends with an Ami tease, which is exciting, I’m glad I don’t have to wait long to see her again, and yeah if Crystal aims to cut out some filler it makes sense that they’d just jump straight to the character introductions. So like, so far a lot of the changes to the story and episode structure are very minor things and I actually appreciate them quite a bit, many I’d say are for the better even. In the long term I have no idea how true that’ll remain but for now we’re off to a good start.

So let’s talk about the visuals now.

Immediately I want to mention something - I torrented the Blu-Ray for this. I know Crystal’s visuals to be infamously uh, questionable, but with the knowledge that the Blu-Rays do improve a lot of the areas where the original cut faltered, I kind of had to go with them, Crystal deserves to present me with its best after all. And I’m uh, not of high opinion. I like the sort of water paint look of the backgrounds, it’s a less distinct look than the more blue oil paints of the 90s anime, but I liked them. But I don’t think they blend with the character art at all, something the 90s anime pulled off without a hitch. Those soft water colour backgrounds conflict really badly with the vibrant character colour palettes and artwork, which sort of immediately makes everything look less appealing. I wanna say the animation was fine, but fucking hell that 3D transformation sequence was really bad, the gross noodly limbs in particular, plus the awful look and physics of the hair, it’s really upsetting to the eyes. And then the 2D character artwork isn’t great either. Everyone’s got really big, angular heads and I don’t like the look of them, the males especially all looked really bad, and there’s nothing about the eyes I was able to enjoy either. I know Crystal’s supposed to look more like Takeuchi’s art rather than the 90s anime’s own art style, but after looking at the manga myself just to compare, Crystal is a really bad imitation. Cute, pretty, beautiful - all words with different suggestions about Sailor Moon’s aesthetics, all 3 of which can be applied to both the 90s anime and Takeuchi’s manga despite their differences. And yet none of them can really be applied to this. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but that won’t make it suddenly look good. I do believe Crystal season 3 is where they change up the art style a bit and people actually like the look of that one so hey, something to look forward to.

Sound fronts, we’ve obviously got a full recast for everyone aside from Usagi. And thank god for that, Kotono Mitsuishi’s still got it and I’m glad I won’t need to readjust to the main character. But actually, of the few characters who do appear in the first episode, most of their replacements are pretty good. Right out of the way, Shingo, Ikuko, Jadeite, Motoki and Haruna-sensei all sound fine, though I don’t really remember their original voices well enough to compare. Naru also sounds good and still pretty cute, though her original voice is cuter. Umino still sounds like a fucking nerd who I want to beat up and that’s good, though he sounds a bit snobbier here, whereas in the original he sounded more pathetic, so I think I prefer the original on that front. But both of them are fine. Despite the Ami tease she has no speaking lines this episode, so our most major recasts are Mamoru and Luna. Mamoru actually sounds pretty great. They got a guy that sounds quite a lot like Toru Furuya, there’s that same sort of kindness to his voice blended with a sort of older gruffness. This guy sounds a tiny bit more gruff but honestly I’m really happy with it, he’s enough like Mamoru’s old voice to where I’m not getting whiplash from seeing a different voice come out of him, and that’s all I really wanted. Luna actually takes the opposite approach, they got someone that doesn’t sound very much like Keiko Han at all, though actually I still think it works? They went with a sort of, younger, bit less raspy voice, and while it’s way different from what I’m used to it’s one that I think suits Luna pretty well, not really upset about the change or anything. So that’s interesting, they got someone really similar for Mamoru and really different for Luna and yet I think both were great. What I’m most curious about is the rest of the Sailor Soldiers so, we’ll see those soon. Musically, we seem to have a bit more of a rock focus, which is fine with me, stuff was pretty sweet, and Moon Pride honestly slaps pretty hard. So Crystal is promising to be pretty great audio wise, whereas visually? Uh, nah.

And that’s the first episode of Crystal. Interesting time, looking forward to more, etc, etc, end of post.

[lemonpixycatart]

This is an art trade with SirenRune from DeviantARt! It’s her oc, Sailor Star! Copy-pasted from Da:

I went a wee bit overboard with this one. Was supposed to be just a simple line art with simple color but my #toomuchgene kicked in and I loved the sketch so much i HAD to go like all the way with it. I'm pretty happy with how it came out!!!! This is the Sailor Moon oc of SirenRune , Sailor Star! I'll admit, I done goofed up the outfit accidentally. For some reason, I was CONVINCED that her broach and tiara were stars, until I took a better look at the reference images to grab colors. To make up for the error, I tried to make them really well detailed. Which of course, you can't really tell. On the Star broach, I have gemstones corresponding to the colors of the gemstones on her reference sheet that stand for the different Sailor Senshi + the Fan Senshi of a friend, Mercury, Mars, Moon, Jupiter, Venus, and Planet. In my materials folder for clip studio, I saw a star material I'd downloaded and it instantly reminded me of Sailor Cosmos' insignia/scheme with it's shape and it's rainbow. I remembered from the backstory of this character that in her Silver millennium life, she had been responsible for the creation of all the Sailor Soldier items. I thought it'd be cool to use this little cosmos-esque star as though she were creating it or something. I had a lot of fun with this one. The color scheme was a lot of fun to work with! I hope I did her some justice! Sailor Star belongs to SirenRune If you'd like an art piece like this of your sailor moon oc, my commissions are currently open If you want to support me regularly so I can draw more often, you can become a patron at my patreon. Low as 1 dollar a month!

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Like stated above, if you want me to draw your sailor moon OC (or any other oc you or a friend has, or hell any character in general!), my commissions ARE currently open, and handily enough, that link above takes you to my commission sheet! You can private message me here on the TAmBlrg.com about what it is you want and we can discuss there, or you can also email me at the email address listed in the sheet! If you wanna skip all that linke clicking and you just want a commission exactly like what you see above - a shaded, upper/mid torso character piece, you can let me know that as well and I’ll come up with a price point for it!

[a11y-kat]

Hi!!

I just recently got my Tumblr account and wanna meet some fellow fans so hit me up if you’re a mutual 👀🤙🏼

I like:

-SVTFOE

-She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

-The Dragon Prince

-Miraculous Ladybug

-Disney

-Andi Mack

-Steven Universe

-Bojack Horseman

-The Good Place

-Brooklyn 99

-Queer Eye

-Marvel

-Tales of Arcadia

-Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse

-John Mulaney

-The Try Guys

-And more!!

I do:

-Draw

-Write

-Songwrite(?)

-Have a YT channel

-Complain

-Obsess over cartoons as you can see above

Looking forward to:

-The Owl House

-Amphibia

-Infinity Train

-Frozen 2

-The rest of the new Sailor Moon dub to come out on Hulu

I might’ve missed some stuff so please just ask!! I’ll be posting some art shortly 👀

[johnny-boy-17]

STAR VS THE FORCES OF EVIL or The Art Student’s Awakening (A Review)

Oh hey, it’s another review by me that nobody asked for! Ok, this one is actually gonna mean a lot to me since this show is pretty much the reason I even started posting things on this site to begin with (thank you and curse you Tumblr), so I need to get it all off my chest. 

Short version: It’s really fuckin’ good, and y��all should check it out. The ending could have used a little more finesse, but it’s still pretty damn good.

Long version: *gasps for air*

Ok let’s start with the story. Yeah, it’s certainly a rollar-coaster. What starts out as a fun little-romp-of-the-week type of story...

...becomes this tale of power corruption, racism battle, and a tale of trust in one another and unity among the people.

Whether or not it handles that well seems to be half and half. On one hand, grace under fire this show is not. It does seem a little rushed in the last season, and you can really tell it wanted to be a bit longer, flesh out ideas, but didn’t have time for it (I blame the Mouse on that). 

I mean I dunno about you, but a show that introduces time travel right the fuck out of nowhere in a medium never seems to end well, this show is no exception.

That and they reeeeeaaaaaally try to knock you unconscious using a hammer with all the prejudice allegories.

On the other hand, good characters can make a shit story seem like high-class art. And good characters this show has in spades (no eclipsa-related pun intended).

Firstly, Star Butterfly herself. It seems stupid not to start with her. And... yeah she’s a really fun protagonist. Not only is she basically Sailor Moon hyped up on too much nose candy, but she has an incredible story of growth to go with. She starts as a fun-loving monster battler that’s too eager to run away from her problems to this teenager facing the looming shadow of adulthood head on and ready to ditch her past of monster-ism(?) for good, never to let such discrimination see the light of day again. Not to mention Eden Sher just absolutely brings this character to life, even if it’s just little things she says like “yeah totally totally totally” or “we got burger juice on the wall rug.” Something in her performance just absolutely friggin’ works wonders. I’d say she’s probably one of my favorite protagonists out there that “the big D” has come up with, but my favorte character they’ve created in a looooong time? That award... 

... goes to mother-fuckin’ Marco Ubaldo Diaz. I cannot BELIEVE how much they won me over with this guy. I think it’s because I saw so much of myself in this guy to the point where I am convinced he’s my long-lost brother. This B0I starts out as this paranoid play-it-safe ‘nother brick in the wall type who just wants to get through his teenage life without any kind of trouble, and by the end is a guy who’s ready to shrug off getting impaled by an evil unicorn being ridden by a corrupted version of Star’s half-demon ex just to get him to snap out of it (it just now dawns on me how fuckin’ batshit this show is). I just love how as he’s easing up on his paranoia, he learns to stop taking himself so seriously and let loose every now and then. Adam McAruther deserves praise for playing this guy, and I don’t know who could ever play this guy like he did. If no other takeaways for this show were to be, it’d be that Marco is in a lineup of my favorite fictional characters of all time.

Now I sense some ears (ok fine all ears) are waiting for me to talk about the two together, so I’ll touch on it once, and make an entire post on it later: It’s great. It’s pleasing to the eye, it’s wholesome for the soul, it makes them both into better beings, the opposite attracts thing is done beautifully, the chemistry could make Bill Nye proud, and I think their ending was as good as it could be for them... though I do hate how long it took to get there. 

OK LIGHTNING ROUND GO (can’t get ‘em al, so sorry):

-Tom: I like the guy, definitely a more relatable and visible character arc and his design is neat.

-Jackie: I wish my lesbian venice beach girl got more appreciation, but I luv her none the less.

-Janna: I luv my strange bisexual filipino witch-wannabee (you know what I said is true don’t deny it)

-Moon: Never really gave her full trust, but was not disappointed by her in any way, despite various actions in the end.

-River: I liked him in the beginning season, sorta trailed off by the end.

-Kelly: Not sure why she was there, but she was cool.

-Eclipsa: We stan that queen! Loved the fact that her motives were so grey, and you every could tell if she was going to turn out to be truly bad or not.

-Globgor: We stan that king! I adored how he actually was a threat back in his day, but now regrets everything he ever did then (plus him size shifting in fights is creative as hell), wish we could have had more of him, but it’s cool that we got any at all really.

-Glossaryck: I loved him, true chaotic neutral god. He was such a troll, and he has my respect (and to think all he wanted to do was die).

 -Ponyhead: I hope that sack of shit gets donated to a glue factory.

But what is a good story without good villains? Well, this show wants to have a ton of good ones, but nothing really sticks to the wall too well, though they do leave an impact.

LUDO: This is how to do  a comedic villain right. You have fun with him in the beginning, and then you make him into a legit threat the next, and by the end give him a redemption arc so as to let him go back on his old ways without soiling his actual good moments as an antagonist. He was the one who surprised me the most.

TOFFEE: Ooooohhhhhhhhh everybody loves this lawyer-lizard B0I and so do I. This guy’s plan was 1: not evil at all, 2: his methods were borderline black and grey, and 3: it was still going on in the background of the story of the entire show since his arival. His personality was cool, suave, persuasive, manipulative, downright terrifying sometimes, and he was just so good at it. While everyone certainly wishes we had more of him, what we got and how long le lasted just cements him as probably one of my all-time favorite villains ever really.

Ms. HEINOUS/METEORA: Oh shakespeare where art thou? Such a wondrous work this tragedey is. Heinous just starts out as a villain who pushes the patriarchy so you can say “fuck that shit,” tries to steal youth for herself, wants to kill Marco for ruining her perfection, y’know yahoo. But the moment you realize her name is Meteora, and what her past has been like... yeah, this is a fuckin’ shakespearian villain for certain. It gets to a point where you begin to agree with what she’s doing, and you’re glad thing turn out all right for her in the end, but god-damn she was such a captivating force to go up against. Scar can suck one compared to this.

MINA LOVEBERRY: I wanna say this was a good attempt at an Aku-type villain (humor and terror in perfect balance), but yeah she could have been handled better. For what we did get with her though, I’m content with it. It’s just funny to see hobo-usagi here just hulk out and talk with a southern accent about what is essentially senile racism n’ shit. There are hints to a tragic past that led to this, and that was nice, but overall not exactly a swan song.

In fact, that’s kinda how the whole ending was wasn’t it? It was serviceable, but nothing big to write home about. I could have definitely used a little more polish to flesh out some things, but we got left with enough to tide over I suppose, though I so wanna see more. 

I mean, look at this new world we were left with! Could you imagine a new season just exploring that? It sounds like so much fun! However, the crew have this “leave them wanting more mentality (ha! hope you were paying attention to that foreshadowing!),” not to mention I have seen the creator Madame Daron Nefcy encourage all the creative fans this show has to do all sorts of stuff (of which we seemed to have wasted no time and not even waited for the show to end to start doing *glares at the fan-made-starco kids everywhere*).

Really, at the end of it all, I’d compare this entire series to a friend doing a cannonball from a high-dive. First, you’re amazed that they decided to climb the ladder. Second, you’re in awe of the guts their showing to prepare for the jump. Third, you gawk as they actually did jump off into the water from the height. But fourth, you see them underwater and watch them un form the ball and into a weird janky zero-gravity water thing swimming up for air, not to mention you remembered they didn’t swan dive. But that doesnt mean the plunge was all that bad, you enjoyed watching all the steps to it, didn’t you?

Overall, the score I shall leave it at would be... 7.5/10, and an easy thumbs up approval. It’s ending and other aspects have a lot to be desired, but the story and characters are too good to ignore. 

Check it out if you haven’t already (probably binge it), and to Madame Nefcy (if by some stroke of a miracle you see this) thank you so much for creating this show. I am so glad I saw it despite my gripes, and I’d gladly see it again.