#especially with shrek genuinely a good movie

[ashtonisvibing]

with the how to train your dragon live action remake on the horizon, it made me want to rewatch the original

and fucking hell i forgot how phenomenal it is, like my god

the music, the animations, the friendship between hiccup and toothless makes me cry

the subtle details, especially in toothless' movements. i love how when hiccup comes around with the fish the first time and toothless is sitting on the rock, you can see his tail start to flick and sway, like "hey, the human brought food..."

this movie is a masterpiece and just... what's the point in remaking it? especially in live action, which still has the dragon's animated! if the dragons aren't going to be puppets or some sort of giant props, why make everything else live action in the first place?!

thinking back to the trailer, there's a subtle thing that really makes me think this is a cash grab no one actual care about

in the original movie, when hiccup finds toothless bound up, toothless' pupils are sharp. of course they are, they become sharp when he's angry and being intimidating, or when he's straight up scared. he's trying to scare hiccup off and only lays his head down when he realizes that the intimidation isn't working. his pupils only become dilated when he's calm and happy

so why, in the same exact scene in the trailer, are his pupils dilated?

i'm sure i'm reading far too much into this, especially since this is only one scene in the trailer. but if they can't even get his body language right, how can i trust that the rest of the movie will be just as good as the original?

considering this seems to be a shot for shot remake, just rewatch the original. don't even pirate the remake to hate watch it, cuz it's just going to be the same thing without any of the charm the original had

and anyways yeah how to train your dragon is fucking amazing and i'm so glad i decided to rewatch it

[kingofthewilderwest]

Am I the only one who feels like HTTYD isn't as memeable as Shrek or KFP? I know we have "You're as beautiful as the day I lost you." and the famous dancing Toothless, but that one was really from a parody recap. Other than that, I really don't see a lot of memes from it.

I think that means HTTYD is successfully doing its job with the type of narration it intends.

There are comedic lines like "talking fishbone" and "thanks for nothing, you useless reptile" that fandom has parroted since the early days. There's Hiccup encouraging Toothless while the Light Fury looks aghast as a meme template. And fandom can find anything to josh with, be it Hiccup's hot froglegs in HTTYD 2, or Hiccup's love affair with scrap metal from RTTE, or throwing everyone in the dungeon who made a Stoick joke (I am DATING my time in the fandom here, y'all). There will always be moments we play with, as it were.

But HTTYD, while funny, is built on heart. Shrek and KFP have heart, too (especially KFP), but they're built around different vibes (especially Shrek). Shrek was an intentional, abrupt, genuinely shocking aberration from animated fairy tale movies. For people who weren't around when it happened, there's a REASON it was a HUGE, rocking sensation and has become part of permanent culture. Meanwhile, KFP is a comedy action. HTTYD, at its core, is the story of a boy and his dragon, and a boy and his dad. I wouldn't expect fan response or general societal response to respond to these different frameworks the same way.

When audiences think about the impact of HTTYD, they aren't thinking about the pleasurable absurdisms that lead to "You're tearing me APART, Lisa!" or "I don't like sand" (which actually, for the record, I think is an unironically good character scene, sue me).

You ever watch a movie where they try soooo hard to be meme-able? Or they're throwing in jokes at places they shouldn't? I'm not not not saying it happened here, but one of the things I think THW could've improved was by reducing the number of gags it tried to run - while competing for time to emotionally conclude a sweeping trilogy. Sometimes it's not the place for a movie to have the content that'd make it meme-able. HTTYD's always been funny, yeah, and that's part of the franchise's charm. But different types of funny bring different audience results, and you ain't gonna beat Shrek when it comes for appropriate humor vibes for memes.

I could be forgetting a ton in my sleep-deprived state. But I'd agree it's not as meme-able as Shrek, one of the most meme-worthy pieces of media to exist. It means both have their place in the ecosystem of movies, and it makes both of them fantastic for what they are.

[dawnlune]

Random Characters that remind me of the planets Pt 1

Emily From the Corpse Bride is Big Pisces/ Neptune vibes ♓️ 🫧

Because her dream was to get married in love and she was literally a lover yes a little too naive but very genuine even if it came with a cost, a hint of magical vibes to her, sad in such a DREAMY beautiful way , NURTURING , a TALENTED pianist , dream girl vibes , ETHEREAL, and self less in the end. She also has this fate feeling to her like she and Victor were supposed to be together right at first Pisces be that way sometimes :0 . She literally was able to touch Victors heart almost married him for reals and even heal some blockage in his heart space because remember he was able to return to Victoria and actually feel ready to Marry her :). So Pisces / Neptune vibes

Harley Quinn From Batman is Big Gemini / Mercury vibes ♊️🧠 (Specially the Quinn from Suicide Squad)

Because she’s a very INTELLECTUAL and vocal about everything. She embodies the masculine side to mercury and Gemini is the masculine side to mercury with Virgo being the Feminine side of the planet. She’s a psychiatrist and Gemini loves to learn about the HUMAN MIND / BEHAVIOR. naturally Mercury talks about our mind , and our verbal communication our behavior. Heck all the best rappers are Geminis hands down or they have it in their rising sign , moon or mercury/ mars. Mercury rules over WORDS, SPEAKING, SPEECH. She’s just so Gemini/ Mercury placement vibes with her natural teenage energy. Sagittarius has an inner child while Gemini has an inner teenager no matter how old those signs get it’s something they will always have and naturally help you discover that as well .. Harley Quinn is a good example of Gemini when the energy isn’t balanced :) but still embodies the sign either way especially before she wasn’t obsessed with a criminals mind she was smart, kind and open to helping him mentally. She just really reminds me of MERCURY :)

Tiffany From Chucky gives me big Scorpio/ Pluto ♏️ 💀 Vibes

Because she’s quite the TABOO magnetic gaze. VENGEFUL. She’s naturally witchy as we can see and know that about Scorpio auras . She loves the darker side to life. She loved chucky a little too much for who he was :0 . She herself resembles with being chaotic and possessive. Some how she has more self awareness of her behavior than Chucky though which is interesting .. Very CALCULATING and never backs down from a challenge :0 also her natural seductive alluring nature to her . She really resembles Pluto energy/ Scorpio when it’s not balanced this sign can tend to be on the darker side to life when it’s in its extreme sight… The bride of Chucky movie is so Death & Resurrection vibes physically yes Scorpio & Pluto placements/ aspects dont need to physically pass on and live again it can also be a conscious thing/ mentally.

Princess Fiona From Shrek Gives me Big Taurus ♉️ 🌹 vibes

Because shes has a Venusian vibe to me her human form is majestically feminine/SENSUAL . She also doesn’t mind putting someone in their place physically especially in unfair circumstances. She’s a very FAIR person and grounded when it comes to romance. Like you can tell that in the beginning of Shrek she was waiting for her prince and had everything planned out in her mind as in she was ROMANTICIZING love and planning how everything was going to go. In addition she didn’t feel anything for Shrek in the beginning but she did after knowing him like no Prince Charming was going to be able to change the fact that she fell for someone who isn’t physically conventionally attractive but love to her was more important than looks. Fiona embodies the Feminine side to the Venus planet Libra Embodies the Masculine side of Venus. She loves the luxuries of life but also enjoyed living in a swap because she fell for Shrek. Strong Taurus / Venus placements LOVE LOVE LOVE Luxuries and pricy things heck they are usually born in wealthy families or easily accumulate a fortune but they also very much LOVE LOVE LOVE Nature, the beauty side to love like aesthetics. She was an also a little STUBBORN when she wanted something her way did you see when she asked for something and then demanded it 😂. Taurus/ Venus vibes there Shrek wasn’t a Taurus but the movie is so Taurus vibes it’s such a balanced romance humorous movies

Scar Face Elvira definitely gives me Leo / The Sun ☀️ ♌️ Vibes

Her compelling nature of being naturally an ATTENTION call especially to our cool character Tony. She was hard to get to but seriously even if she wasn’t to protagonist of the movie her whole persona was a big part of Main character energy and an unforgettable screen presence. Leo’s tend to be the eye for attention for many reasons starting with being the sunny happy go lucky personality they usually have or a tough prideful personality. Her PRIDEFUL nature really stands out. Her Colorful elegance because Leo’s know how to make colors elegant or noticeable to the public eyes they simply can pull of most colors and look awesome 😎 . It would’ve been awesome to have seen more of her saying but her small presence was still very much remembered as iconic just like Leo tends to be naturally and I know they love to hear those ego boosts :) Leo placements / or strong sun placements/ aspects make someone very magnetic to be looked at and DESIRED by lots of People it’s the MAIN FAME sign. I’m sure we would’ve seen more of the Leo vibes to her if we saw her hidden DIVA more on screen but we didnt oh well. Yet we did see her harsher humor when she was dancing with Tony the first time. Anyhow Leo is just the main star of the day. They love a good laugh Tony managed to make her laugh 😂. Leo’s soften up usually with a good laugh. And the main star of the night is Scorpio the difference is the reasons they shine.

[ovwechoes]

Halloween Costumes: DPS Girls Headcanons (SFW) As Halloween approaches, I'll be writing more about it with the ovw characters. So, this post is about what the DPS girls would want to dress up as for Halloween (if they did at least). It's under the cut, enjoy!

Elizabeth Caledonia / Ashe: I can honestly imagine she likes to dress up, but not for the reason of trick or treating. For her, she likes to use Halloween as an excuse to dress up in a disguise on a robbery with her gang. So, some of her favourites in the past were of a saloon girl (she hated the dress but it worked well for seducing her way into the bank she planned to rob from) and as poison ivy from dc (she used it as a way to blend into the crowd of a Halloween carnival, making it perfect to escape from the police).

Mei Ling Zhou: Mei always likes to use Halloween as a bonding experience, enjoying co-ordinating her outfits with close friends and work colleagues such as Lena and Brigitte. So, some of her favourites were as a pirate (Lena was a parrot, with Brigitte as a wench) and as Velma from scooby doo (Brigitte was Scooby and Lena was Scrappy-doo, with other members taking the other main characters).

Fareeha Amari / Pharah: Fareeha used to despise Halloween as a child because she used to see families together, dressing up and taking their kids out to trick or treat, when she couldn't have the same experience. But, she's grown more light-hearted about it, especially dressing up for themed parties such as ‘hear me out’ costumes (dress up as your biggest hear me out character), and ‘sexual awakening’ costumes (dress up as your sexual awakening character). She doesn't have a favourite, but loves costumes that aren't serious and look poorly made, just because of how much more humorous they are to her.

Vivian Chase / Sojourn: You can't tell me that Vivian doesn't do trick or treating with her sister and niece every year - you know fine and well that Vivian's letting her niece pick the group costume each year, and following along with her ideas to make sure that she has the most enjoyable year possible. Vivian loves to let her take control and holds back her distaste for the costumes she picks, purely because she loves the family time she can have with them more so than the dressing up part. Her favourite group costumes that she's done, though, are Alice in Wonderland (Vivian and her sister were the card guards, with her niece being the Queen of Hearts), Cat in the Hat (Vivian and her sister were thing 1 and thing 2, with her niece being the cat), and Little Red Riding Hood (her niece was the grandma, her sister was little red, and she was the wolf). All in all, though, any Halloween costume will be her favourite if she knows her family had fun.

Olivia Colomar / Sombra: Honestly, I can't imagine Olivia's really been able to enjoy Halloween in her life, and doesn't have much interest in it in general. However, she does like to do group costumes with Amelie and Moira when going to clubs or bars, but only silly ones (similar to Fareeha). She'd definitely love to dress up as final girls from horror movies, animated movie characters (i.e. shrek, megamind, etc). If she can find humour in it, she loves it especially with her friends.

Amelie Lacroix / Widowmaker: Amelie used to do couples costumes with Gerald, finding it a genuinely fun time with him. So, now that he's passed away and gone from her life, it took her a while to warm up to the idea of dressing up again for Halloween. With the help of Moira and Olivia, she's found herself warming up to it but doesn't have specific preferences. She likes ones that are more clever than funny, though, but will go with what her friends would like to do (to an extent - if she hates an idea, she'll tell them of course). All in all, she can be picky but has good intentions, wanting to make sure that she and her friends are enjoying themselves wherever the night finds them. She doesn't have any pictures of her favourite costumes, though, because she'd rather keep them in place in her mind.

Lena Oxton / Tracer: Lena will always do costumes with her friends and take their family members with her trick or treating - Halloween is one of her favourite holidays in my opinion, and she loves to go all out for it. For example, with Brigitte and her family, she'll often accompany them and show just as much enthusiasm as the little sisters and brothers have for the events that night. Her favourite costumes are simple ones, ones she can wear and have fun with her friends in - whether that's cheap, silly or serious ones, she's happy and enjoying herself.

[justine1268]

Genuine Question About Broppy getting Children In The Future... (long rant incoming)

Am I the only one who really wouldn't like an accidental/"surprise"/ unexpected/unwanted/unplanned/unintended Broppy child in future canon and who isn't really all that overjoyed about the idea of them having one in the future in general? I want to know.

I kind of feel like the only one because I haven't seen anyone else be so genuinely confused as to why the first situation is such a widespread and beloved thing in the fandom. If you do, please feel free to let me know what you find so appealing about it, because I'm not so sure I understand in all honesty and I want to get it.

I want to say that I really don't mean to come across as rude or hateful towards anyone who created Broppy children that would fit into the current canon who were unplanned! I just want to give my own perspective on it and why I personally feel iffy about that scenario.

A lot of my opinion here is also related to my personal attachment towards the ship itself. It's the first one I've had and for more than 7 years at the time of writing this, they've consistently been part of my life during this time. It's the ship I've been invested in the most.

The reason why I'm worried about this is because in Shrek, an other DreamWorks franchise, him and his wife had unexpected children. If they decide to make an other story like this:

Branch and Poppy is one of their few romantic relationships from ongoing franchises and a very popular one at the moment, so it could be with them.

There's a multitude of reasons why I rather have them want and desire a child before it happens and also to have it be almost a last part of the franchise addition. Like, one of the last things we get out of their relationship.

If it happens accidentally, depending on the context, it could likely be because they weren't careful. I feel like this is especially out of Branch's character. We know one of his major traits is making things the safest possible, he's hectic whenever something could be trouble. I think he probably would put action to avoid getting an unwanted egg as much as he could. We know Poppy can be kind of reckless, but she listens to Branch now and I don't think she is enough to not do any prevention and roll with it. She loves to throw herself head first into danger, but when she truly thinks she'll be okay. If she knows her own safety or well-being are really at risk, she takes it more seriously.

Obviously, putting characters through tough situations is the whole point of a storyline, but when it comes to them getting a child, it is something that (I'm assuming because we don't really know much about that yet) they CAN or at least should be able to control so...I think they should.

I don't want them having a toddler to get in the way of their relationship. I want lots more of just them two. A toddler, unless they don't show up for much, would take up a lot of moments that would otherwise be only with them. I want to get a lot more moments of solely them and focusing on their relationship with each other before a baby comes in!

Their characters, if, let's say, an infant or egg is with them during most events of a movie, I believe would be reduced to having to meet their needs. They're now tied down to needing to care for them and they lose that freedom they currently have. They'll have to be like "Ah, no, can't do that, got a baby." I don't want that.

I find it still way too early in canon for them to have children and that they should really be able to enjoy their time together and with their loved ones for now. Considering all Branch has gone through and the years he spent alone, being at such a low point, I don't want him to have the added responsibility, stress and worries of a parent so soon. I want him to be able to just have good times and hang out with his friends, girlfriend and family.

Both him and Poppy are so busy already, not to mention Branch is a person who really needs alone time. Give him a baby and that's going to be a whole lot harder.

It doesn't even seem to me like it's something they want in the future for now. Branch wants to marry Poppy, we already know that, but neither of them have ever mentioned wanting to have kids someday. Poppy already works with little trolls and loves it, but she has never said she wants one herself someday. Branch doesn't seem like it's crossing his mind. All he wants is to be Poppy's significant other.

I don't want a "surprise" Broppy kid and not know what went wrong or why it was so. If it's like Shrek, they'll leave that part ambiguous and I am not going to be happy about that. If they're going down that road, I at least want to know if they were intending on being careful at all. (Obviously brought up in a way that's appropriate for PG content).

Kids being raised by parents who didn't want them to arrive isn't ideal to me. Yes, parents can have regrets on deciding to have children in a way down the line and it doesn't mean they'll do a bad job, I agree the ship would make awesome parents, but it can be a lot more difficult thanks to that.

Look. I love the idea of them having little ones someday, I really do! I just wish it to happen way later on in the timeline than now, and most of all, I seriously want them to intend and want to have a baby before they do (we'll likely know if it's accidental, since, like I said, they did that in Shrek).

Scenarios I'd appreciate in canon:

1- They get married or just engaged in whichever next installment we'll get or stay only a couple and have a child or children that they planned on having years later.

2- They adopt a child/children which they either stumble upon or meet at an orphanage. They still look like their own, their colors being a sort of mix between Branch and Poppy's possible colors and being pop trolls (honestly, my favorite idea for a Broppy child).

3- It arrives at least a couple years after their romantic relationship has started (either still a committed couple, engaged or married), it wasn't intended or expected at all, from an unknowingly failed appropriate prevention method. They would be suggested the opportunity to abort, but they choose to keep their egg/eggs that resulted and raise them.

Scenarios I don't want:

1- It's a Shrek The Third 2.0 where it's left very ambiguous what happened with any time jump or none.

2- Unwanted egg from not trying to prevent it, no time jump at all. They have to raise their child/children as the early official couple they are now.

3- A baby/babies they didn't want and weren't careful for with a truly effective method, years or not after they're made official.

4- The child wasn't really wanted from both sides. Either one of them wasn't actually happy about the idea.

If we mostly get content of them out of the newborn stage (between about 5-18 years old), we get to know them once they already have built a personality. The child also has some amount of autonomy so the parents won't have to impose as much and we can still get only them both interacting pretty often. Kind of like in How To Train Your Dragon where Nuffink and Zephyr were already kids when we met them.

I think that's the idea I'd enjoy the most. Branch and Poppy wouldn't be tied down as much(also yes I'd want to see them getting older. Something so bittersweet in seeing a long time ship of mine age together...chef's kiss with that.) I'd get attached to the child a lot more easily as a character and I'd just love to see how the couple handles their youth.

Like I said: I do see lots of positives. I love the idea of them getting a child to build sweet, deep bonds with. The idea of caring, super invested dad Branch makes me melt. Him getting through that has something that can beautiful and powerful considering his story. It adds another person for him to love. A lot of wholesomeness and emotions to be explored! It can bring more to his relationship with Poppy as well! A supportive dynamic that's always ready to advise each other and to work through when it gets harder...yeah. It's simply great! It's a good foundation for a child to grow up on.

I just have some preferences for how it happens. Thank you for reading my long opinion piece!

[rosetyler42]

In my opinion, the Hotel Transylvania films were underwhelming, cliché and too juvenile, they simply weren't for me. I didn't find the characters that interesting and so I didn't care about their relationships, the character I liked most was Ericka because of her potential as a goofy villain.

While I know it's a kid's movie, I dislike when vampires can opt out of drinking blood using blood substitutes. Its my opinion that vampires should be scary, and if they don't have to feed from living things then what's the point?

Do you like vampire-themed media in general, and do you like any mature vampire-media? I'm currently into Vampire: The masquerade which is an rpg taking place in a dark, gothic-punk version of the real world where supernatural beings live in secrecy.

I think they were good films, especially HT and HT3. They had alot of untapped potential I think. Transformania in particular did NOT measure up to what it could have been, and HT2 had it's problems too. But I liked the cartoony Addams Family approach and family dynamics. I wouldn't necessarily call them "Juvenile," particularly since there's a tendency to brush off animation - particularly cartoon animation, as being for kids and somehow not as valuable a medium. (You're also talking about something made by a person who was used to doing family cartoons like Dexter's Lab and Samurai Jack, and loved cartoony animation. So it's not surprising it takes a more family friendly spin on monsters.) Along with Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, it helped bring cartoony stylization back to modern animation, which it deserves respect for.

I'd say there's something for everybody in the films. Heartfelt moments, funny moments, angst, surpeising depth at times, even some adult humor. But they're definitely not for those that believe vampires should be scary or evil as the big point is the "Monsters are just like us" racism/discrimination allegory. Then again, particularly as a queer neurodivergent and someone brought up on films like Iron Giant, Monsters Inc, Megamind, Shrek etc. I've always liked films that humanize characters we're expected to hate and be scared of and show them in a different light. And I personally found the introduction of blood substitutes and animals as vampire food sources an interesting way of doing that. Particularly now I know how vampire mythos can intersect with blood libel and the HT Drac fam's jewish coding.

(Here's another read more:)

Now, I DO agree Ericka is one of the best characters, and has been at the center of my obsession. Not only is she a fun goofy villain, but she's genuinely an interesting, loveable character too with an interesting backstory who deserves FAR more love than she got. A beautiful mix of feral chaos and charming elegance, who can be just as nuts as the guys, and definitely not the norm for a woman character. Particularly a love interest. And like many in the fandom, I feel she would have made a BEAUTIFUL vampire. But characters like Johnny, Mavis, Dennis, Drac etc are also fun to watch and play with for me.

In terms of other vampire media, I actually have gotten into some of them, particularly with my recent HT obsession! Dracula Dead and Loving it is a recent watch I liked. It has the tongue-in-cheek humor of HT but being more like the book and other Dracula adaptations, it's darker and more adult. Rocky Horror Picture Show's vampire adjacent and is pretty fun, particularly the music. As is Little Shop of Horrors (both versions of the musical film AND the OG black and white one.) And I've been meaning to watch the Van Helsing film. I've also read Dracula Daily and plan to do so again this year. While not exactly SUPER mature depending on how you define that, I've also played some of the Monster Prom, Camp, Roadtrip series which includes vampire characters. Alot of my "horror" stuff tends to be more like Nightmare before Christmas, Ghostbusters, Monster House, Corpse Bride, Gremlins, Addams Family (both Live action films and the TV series, plus I plan to watch the animated film some point,) Blithe Spirit, Bendy and the like. More family friendly type stuff.

Coraline (and Laika in general,) Bendy, Poltergeist (OG), The Twilight Zone (OG and one of the new series') and sometimes Doctor Who are probably the most hard horror things I've really gotten into. I've kind of dipped into FNAF on occasion, Quite a few of my friends are into Undertale, and have meant to watch Supernatural as well. But never fully got to watching either of those.

[houseofthelilypads]

Shrek isn't just a movie picking at of Disney, it's a movie picking at white supremacy.

Notice how all the villains were white people? Excluding Goldilocks & Death, who were antagonists/rivals, the villains were all white humans with a high status, wealth of power (figuratively and literally) who weaponized the status quo to erase, attack or manipulate marginalized groups. They weren't these powerful entities of death (heh) they looked like people we could meet in real life. Charming especially is the Perfect "Aryan" Man: blond haired blue eyed good-looking and white.

Farquad exiled all fairytale creatures from their homes and even implied to have killed some of them. He doesn't even go save Fiona himself, at least Charming made it that far. Instead he expects her love then turned on her when she embraced her true self.

Godmother talked over Fiona by trying to sell her an American Dream type wish, only to ignore her needs and desires. She runs her magic like a business. A testament to materialism and how it is a shallow replacement for genuine relationships. She also raised Charming to feel that he is so special he is above consequences, which sadly led to his downfall. It's also an allegory to how racism/yt supremacy is taught. Tow kids eagerly embrace these prejudices without question or truly thinking for themselves.

Jack Horner was jealous of not being famous like the others without fully understanding the reality magical creatures go through due to the prejudice they face. Instead of being thankful for hus very successful pie company he tries to steal everyone else's things. Showing how greedy people will never be satisfied. But also how racist white people would be jealous of another ethnic group for a naive lens of being "special" without fully understanding the struggles the ethnic group goes through.

Rumple treated the witches like servants than equals, and tried to eradicate a resistance made up of mostly ogres to keep his crown. While I classify him as a fairytale creature he doesn't have that solidarity and only thinks of himself. Showing how some would eagerly throw their own kind under the bus to enjoy the benefits a horrible status quo brings.

Charming wanted to keep his privileged lifestyle by taking over Far Far Away under the guise of helping outcasts, when it was just him nursing a broken ego. He doesn't even entertain the thought his mother is wrong, just that Shrek stole a happy ending he thinks he deserves. Again a reminder of how yt supremacy often fails the very people groomed to uphold these values, and how some simply refuse to change their ways despite suffering their doomed ideology.

They were members of the aristocracy, businessmen, who were already living it high but wanted more & keep things as they were, regardless who got hurt.

Shrek represents the marginalized adopting love and allowing themselves to love and be loved without being forced to fundamentally change themselves. Shrek believed himself unlovable because society already deemed him as a threat. But the interesting thin is Shrek never exactly defeats the villains on his own or by brute force. The villains are taken out by their actions or or by somebody else (a character who is also a victim of the oppression). The villains meet their ends at the same item they used to weaponize the status quo.

By Shrek never directly defeating the villains, it dismantles the preconceived notions of ogre being inherently brutal and violent. It also shows how fighting oppression isn't just through brute force or snark but thru love and community.

Artie & Fiona represent white people who acknowledge their privilege and uses it to help others. That even yt folk suffer under the same conditions they put in the first place as they fear or subjected to the same mistreatment if they stray out of line even an inch. For Artie it's being a softspoken dork and not the hypermasculine warrior; for Fiona it's being an ogre/tomboy & not a dainty princess. These flaws prove to be great gifts, & help them see those expectations for the harm they really are.

Shrek and Fiona's romance are the biggest aspect of the franchise,but another important aspect is community. By building solidarity with other fairytale creatures, they're able to more support then just having only each other. Without Donkey (and Dragon) Shrek and Fiona wouldn't have their happy ending; without the fairytale critters Shrek wouldn't have had the power to stop Fairy Godmother. Without connecting with Artie, there'd be no one to sympathize with the story villains. Without the Ogre Resistance Shrek wouldn't have been able to restore the timeline.

That's also why Charming's takeover failed: he hadn't formed any true solidarity with the villains only really viewing them as props for his happily after. He was so blinded by hate and jealously he failed to actually HELP the villains accomplish their dreams or their needs. He failed to acknowledge his own complicity in the way villains/outcasts were treated. Artie talked to the villains, not talked down to them.

Overall, Shrek offers a very good look at the harm white supremacy inflicts on EVERYONE and the ways to combat it. Remember, you can hate your oppressors/society but it's also important to recognize your privilege, and show up for the oppressed. That marginalized groups do have the power to make their dreams come true through love, community, action and solidarity.

[disneyfanboy13]

I know what I'm about to talk about isn't Disney, so off topic from this blog, but I wasn't sure where else to talk about this and this is a big deal to me: Kung Fu Panda 4.

I love the first three Kung Fu Panda movies. 1 and 2 are among my top 5 Dreamworks movies, with 2 being one of my favourite movies of all time. And while 3 isn't quite amazing, it's still really great and in my opinion, pretty underrated. Based on the first three movies, I honestly have no problem calling it my favourite animated film franchise of all time. If you'd told me four or five years ago that Kung Fu Panda 4 was happening, I would've been ecstatic, as the series was rumoured to be planned as a six film series.

But... seven years after the third movie ended, I... I guess I'm kind of over it now? I remember being absolutely ecstatic when the third movie's trailer dropped because FINALLY they were going to answer that cliffhanger that the second movie had left us on for years and while KFP3 had some issues, I still considered it a satisfying conclusion that could have and seemingly did end the franchise. But now... KFP4's trailer dropped and... I didn't experience that same endorphin rush that I did with KFP3's trailer. Maybe I'm just more world weary now than I was in 2015 (especially since it's the Christmas season right now), but something about this new trailer just felt... weird. As did the rumours about what the story was before said trailer dropped. I mean, bringing the series' past villains back from the dead to fight Po again? That just sounded... well, silly and I prayed that wouldn't actually be the plot.

Seeing the way it was actually done though with the new villain seemingly stealing the old villains' chi, which directly connects with the third movie's lore, did make it feel more natural but everything else about the trailer was just weirdly off. "Where are the Furious Five?" Was the most obvious question to me. They're Po's friends, why wouldn't they accompany him on a big dangerous journey? Are they being intentionally excluded? Why is this weird fox/wolf looking thing voiced by that one celebrity everyone hates going with him instead of Po's friends? Why does the animation look different but not in a "oh, it's been improved way!" but more like a "this looks more like those Kung Fu Panda TV shows I never bothered to watch outside of clips on YouTube" way. Is it because Ruby Gillman bombed and Dreamworks are in a tight place financially? Still haven't watched that btw is it any good? Was it a stylistic choice? I have so many questions but not the kind of questions that get me excited for the movie like I was for KFP3, they're questions that make me... concerned and confused. I love this series dearly and I want more than anything for this movie to be good but... I can easily see a universe where it sucks and bombs and ruins the series' reputation like Shrek the Third did to the Shrek series. And that would be genuinely tragic to me.

So please, Kung Fu Panda 4 be good.

[figothynewton]

First listen thoughts of Unreal Unearth!!

Disclaimer: when it comes to his music I am literally incapable of thinking it’s bad all of these reviews are good and I don’t take criticism ps sorry for the long post oml

De Selbys: part 1 STUNNING the fuckin gorgeous Gaeilge vocals at the end???? The tranSITION TO DE SELBY 2 COME ON !!!!!!

First time- SOME PART OF ME MUST HAVE DIED THE FIRST TIME YOU CALLED ME BABY??????????? FUCK!!!!!!! God the rhythm his fucking voice the instrumentals !!!!! So good

Francesca- phenomenal as we already know

I, Carrion- Girl I already knew I was gonna like I, Carrion cause like hello I am a whore for Greek mythology and especially Icarus like sunlight is one of my favorites BUT “if we fall I only pray you don’t fall away from me” I am weeping it is so so beautiful oh my god

Eat your young- as fucking amazing as always

Damage gets done- Brandi Carlile and Hozier’s voices blend beautifully and this song feels like something you’d hear in like a coming age movie when the main character is having her realization that her life is changing for the better like full on perks of being a wallflower car tunnel scene (and yes I fucking love it)

Who we are- are the fucking vocals in that middle part him??? How is he physically capable of doing that???? Holy! Shit!

Son of Nyx- I think the best way to describe this is that my sister sent me the gif of Pinocchio from shrek rising out of the bed cause. Yeah.

All things end- remaining probably my favorite from the eat your young ep

TSFAWC(U)- Y’all. I had to replay the intro of to someone from a warm climate about five times “a joy hard learned in winter was the warming of the bed you’d shake for minutes there and move your legs wrap the blanket over you and keep your head within let your breath heat the air until you’d feel it getting thin” FUCK I need help PLEASE Ohp ok and now I’m crying again wow I almost choked from crying I’m not doing well

Butchered Tongue- girl I’m just gonna not stop crying am I ? it’s still singing here above the ground ??? Screaming crying yelling throwing up

Anything but- ! So fun!! But still so like melancholy like I’d give anything to run away! Clapping reminiscent of almost (sweet music) and it just feels like they were having fun dining the background vocals just so good

Abstract (psychopomp) really be making me fell that post about not being able to understand him cause if he wanted me to know the words he would have enunciated but lord I still love it. upon hearing there’s a part of me I’m afraid will always be trapped within an abstract from a moment of my life and I wish I could go back to not understanding the lyrics that fully made me cry all over again

Unknown/Nth- so the album hasn’t been out long enough for me to decide what my favorite out of the whole thing is but this has been my fav if the early/single releases so this one is for sure up there

First light- wow just wow wow so like I don’t even know how to describe it like I hate the word epic cause it’s so 2000s but like it truly is so like epic and powerful the sheer strength of his voice is genuinely jaw dropping just wow wow wow wowowowoowowo

So it was just a first listen through I don’t know which my favorite is yet but wow they are all just stunning it’s just an incredible album so so so good

[opanchu]

I talk a lot about disliking shrek the third and trust me it's not without reason. it refused to take the franchise seriously, making too many parts into jokes when it's unneeded and even then the jokes never land, it TRIES to have a good message about shrek overcoming his fear of becoming a father and with arthur finding confidence in himself after being bullied but it fails, it feels like it doesn't even try to go for the same type of feel that the first two movies went for with having a really deep message and emotionally-driven story under some ACTUALLY well-written comedy (you know, layers) and made the entire franchise fall into "kiddie cartoon bullshit" category instead of being a beloved franchise with good writing that doesn't treat the audience as immature. it stretches the story too much and not giving many characters no importance. its plot about shrek becoming a father was literally be summed up in a few minutes in shrek forever after.

forever after went in the same angle as the first two movies, trying to get the franchise back up after the third movie (it even comments on this indirectly: "i used to be an ogre, now i'm just a jolly green joke") but people have already started viewing the franchise as what the third movie set up and were too stupid to go back to the beginning. it's a well-written movie that didn't get enough love because the third movie tainted everyone's view of the franchise. i genuinely feel like if forever after was the third movie, people wouldn't have made the entire franchise into a goddamn joke.

it purposefully pulls you into a world that's all about showing you the emotional layer of the story. it takes place in a universe where shrek was never born, thus purposefully getting rid of the comedy and lighthearted pop music—aka, what makes shrek, shrek. it feels odd and too gloomy because that's what it's SUPPOSED to be. it purposefully takes the story and twists it inside out, especially with fiona, who rescued herself from her tower and lives as an ogre who rejects being a human princess, as opposed to in the first movie where she had to be saved and was a human princess who rejected being an ogre. it's the first time the series actually establishes that she was traumatized by her time in the tower, being locked in there since she was a young child, crying herself to sleep every night, waiting for a true love that never came. the movie has darker themes throughout, especially that shrek would die if he can't find a way to make true love's kiss work. it has shrek crying for the first time, in despair about wanting to get back to his life with his family and friends. it has a major plot about the villain wanting to imprison all ogres (except fiona, since she's not "all ogre"), and shrek turning himself in and sacrificing his freedom for everyone else, even though he KNOWS he would die soon. it has shrek realizing that true love's kiss is real after being given a loving family and friends, and fiona thinking true love's kiss is a lie because her true love never came for her when she needed him. and when the kiss does work, shrek tells fiona that he fell in love with her all over again, then returning to his own universe, having gained true appreciation for the loving family and friends he has.

and yet people have the audacity to call it a bad movie, because they lack media literacy and they thought the rare moments of humor in the first few minutes were the only good parts of the movie, despite it barely having humor on purpose? i thought you wanted an emotionally-driven story again, isn't forever after good enough for you?

[cosmas-the-explorer]

Shrek the Third is Underrated

Unlike many people especially internet critics, I don't think Shrek the Third is this horrible abomination on the level of Shyamalan's Avatar.

I think it has a lot of going for it.

Like Shrek's relationship with Arthur. It was great because Shrek was able to impart his own life experiences of being seen as lesser onto Artie. It's a good development for Shrek who once belived he could only be an ugly monster now believes in himself.

And it also ties into his own worries of fatherhood, although that part might have been underdeveloped.

Prince Charming I actually thought was insteresting in that he persuaded the villians that they were the underdogs and that they should take hold of their destiny. I think the ending could have better with Charming considering whether Artie has a point and either embracing or rejecting it, instead of just ironically being the pure villian out of it.

I do agree this was not the best Shrek movie though. It didn't have that grandeur of the pervious and it felt kind of like a tv movie, I dont know what it was exactly.

I think Artie was underdeveloped. We could have seen him try to have to be taught by Shrek Donkey and Puss how to lead. And show that he did have some hidden talent after all that just had to be pried from positive reinforcement. Also... I'd like to see more references to Arthurian stories even if just Monty Python!

Personally I think they focused on those dumb princesses with Fiona too much and it took away from the genuinely heartfelt Artie arc. In fact, Fiona being a relative perhaps should have also went to see her relative. It could have given some development for her too, altough that would probably require some changes to the story.

I could say more in this rough unedited defense but I'll just say this. Shrek the Third isn't the worst. I would say it's not even bad. Maybe a little mid but I think there is a great movie underneath. Frankly I think it's better than Shrek Forever After which I am not as attached to and have my own personal gripes with it.

And for God's sake, we couldn't have at least invited King Arthur to Shreks kids birthday?! I dont care if Timberlake had a concert going on, they should've gotten another actor!

Anyways that's all folks. This is the Cosmic Explorer signing out. (Heh I like that name)

[kitchfit]

Year in Review: Movies Part 1

I don't have that great of an attention span. If its something I am invested in I can spend hours upon hours reading or playing through it until I get a headache telling me its time for bed, but if something doesn't hook me after around 30 minutes I'm probably turning it off or putting it down for a bit. It is for this reason I don't finish a lot of movies unless there is another reason to watch through it all. Usually that means watching it with other people. If there aren't friends to help me finish this movie it's probably going back in the case, which I think is true for all but one movie on this list.

Glass Onion

Knives Out is one of my favorite movies of all time. I've not read any of Agatha Christie's works which is who Benoit Blanc is largely parodying, but I do love other things inspired by her such as Columbo, and the first movie is a stellar deconstruction of that genre, while still providing an engaging mystery. I saw this movie's baby brother at the dawn of the New Year alongside my cousin, both fervently pushing out trope appropriate theories only to be completely wrong at the twist ending in plain sight.

This sequel is not anything as elegant as the first, but still seeks to deconstruct mystery tropes in a very similar fashion. The mastermind behind a series of murders or even one murder is a role often given to rich, suave, and intelligent people of high standing. It is this role that Edward Norton's character sees himself as, but while he is a rich dude of high standing, he is a more realistic rich dude than most murder mystery antagonists; that is, an arrogant dumbass who got where he is by manipulating and screwing over everyone he can. He wants to be complex while being transparently simple. Also he smells. LIKE AN ONION. WHOA. ONE MADE OUT OF GLASS. THANKS JOHN LEMON.

A Silent Voice

A good way to get me to watch a movie until the end is to make it animated, that way even if its boring as all hell I still get to look at some pretty art. That's not the case with this movie. I first watched this on a bus ride when I was sixteen with one earphone on while the girl next to me held it up on her phone. That was a good memory, but seeing the gorgeous animation on the big screen was a nice treat.

I love the dynamic between the two main characters. I wouldn't say this movie is a romance in any real sense of the term, but is about a relationship. Both of these kids spend most of their adolescence admonishing themselves for hurting the other, believing everyone hates them for what happened when they were 10. This is especially tragic for Shouko, the deaf girl who did literally nothing besides exist and try to make friends. The fact that she blames herself for her bully becoming ostracized is even played as a twist, but its a very realistic mindset anyone can fall into. The theme is forgiveness of the self after others have already forgiven you, which can be pretty tough to do, especially when you've done some genuinely shitty stuff.

I also showed this movie to my mom, an ASL instructor and translator, cause I thought it might be interesting for her, but she lost interest and fell asleep after she realized it was JSL and couldn't understand it.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

My friends were freaking out about this film, one of them going so far as to watch it like six separate times within the span of a couple weeks. This made me expect it to blow my mind, but it was just a very well written, beautifully animated movie about a cat coming to terms with its own death. I think the drought of movies with good writing from mainstream studios really elevated this one further than it would have normally. It was nice to return to this character, having grown up with the Shrek films, and doubly nice to see his character arc being used to discuss a serious topic in a healthy way.

The central conflict is the most compelling aspect of the story, the John Mulaney villain and Goldilocks subplot are funny and entertaining, but the effectiveness of Death as the main antagonist is genius. The Shrek universe has always been a conglomeration of fairytales and folktales brought to one setting, and who is most common death metaphor than the big bad wolf? Or I'm sorry. Not a metaphor. He's just Death. Straight up. You don't outrun death or win against it in any meaningful capacity, and the story could only end with Puss' acceptance that he will die. There's no Sisypussing his way out of this one. Pussyphusing? Pfft.

X-Men: First Class

My dad and I decided to watch through every X-Men movie earlier this year. We managed two of them. They're good movies, most of them at least, but marathoning all *looks at watch* eleven films just never came to fruition. This one might be in my top 3 for X-Men movies, though. Xavier and Magneto's relationship has always been the most interesting part of these films, and this movie puts it front and center. Xavier's focus on helping his friend make peace with his traumatic past is something so genuinely sweet that ultimately empowers his greatest enemy. It's this understanding they have with each other, established in this movie, that underlines every interaction they have in the future.

The rest of this movie is pretty standard origin story stuff for the ensemble cast. How the Beast Became Blue. How Mystique Stopped Pretending and Became Her True Blue Self. How the Guy Who's Power is To Never Die, Died. It's fun for what it is but overall pretty generic.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

This is also one of the better X-Men films, not sure if I'd put it in the top 3, but there's enough time travel nonsense in this movie to make me giddy. I love paradoxical bullshit. This movie works as both a direct sequel to First Class, while also working in the continuity of the first 7 or so films. It's the Apocalypse, baby! Okay, not that Apocalypse, I still haven't seen that one, but we are introduced to one of the more famous fascist genocidal hellscapes to come out of Marvel comics. The story starts at the very end of this murderous crusade, only a handful of mutants are still alive, grouped together as a unit in some abandoned... temple bunker? I'm sure this is explained somewhere in the movie, but it makes a cool setting to fight for your life in.

Most of the plot, however, takes place in the 70s. It was a big twist in the comics that the girl who can walk through space without hindrance can also walk through time the same way, but in this movie Kitty Pryde can only send other people into their past selves, meaning it's once again Wolverine's turn to take the spotlight, because Hugh Jackman is more expensive than Elliot Page. It makes less sense, but this movie still has a lot of fun jumping between the past and future versions of established characters. Angry, passionate Magneto in his 30s vs the wizened Sir Ian McKellen Magneto. At some point the X Man himself gets to talk directly to his depressed, 70s incarnation. Not to mention Quicksilver is there, which is always nice.

This was the "Rogue Cut," which adds cut content about Rogue infiltrating a sentry factory to blow it up. The new stuff doesn't add a lot, but I did like her character from earlier films, so it was cool to see her again.

Shrek

After the joy of obsessing over Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, one of my friends insisted that we all catch up on the deep lore of the franchise, and go through every Shrek movie in order. Unlike with X-Men, we succeeded in one marathon through them all. The dude who suggested this also made the assertion that PiB: Wish was the first Shrek film to feature blood and cursing. This is patently false and I took immense pleasure in proving him wrong. *whispers* Shrek says ass within the first twenty minutes, don't tell mom!

The first movie got memed on quite a bit, but I think most people have come around to enjoying it in a genuine sense. It's a cute love story with a good message and funny fard jokes. I don't think the gross-out humor really oversteps in bounds, and it would feel pretty bizarre in hindsight if a movie like Shrek ever toned that stuff down. There were a lot of movies with "fairytales come to life and their rude and goofy," as their premise, (think Hoodwinked, another fun movie) but I think the style of the Shrek world comes off in the most endearing way. Or maybe that's just nostalgia talking.

Shrek 2

I have the soundtrack of this movie embedded into my skull. I had the CD growing up and would make my mom play it in the car on the way to primary school ad nauseum. I also had the entire movie with incredibly compressed graphics on my GBA. This classic film is synonymous with my early childhood, and it holds up really well. It's shorter than I remembered, but I think that's just because it's so expertly paced.

It also introduces our favorite fearless hero, who blends effortlessly into the main cast. All of the character's play off of each other really well, actually. The gags of a royal knight planting catnip on Puss or Gingy yelling "IT'S A THONG" to get Pinocchio to lie still get me. Not to mention the perfect fight scene scored by "I Need a Hero." Every studio with rights to that song have been chasing that high ever since.

Shrek the Third

Some people hate this movie with genuine vile and malice in their hearts. Maybe that's harsh. It definitely doesn't match the highs of either of the first two, but I still enjoyed it a lot as a kid and had a good time with it now. My friend noted that the first half of this film has a lot of funny gags that peter out in the second half, where the focus is on Shrek's complicated feelings on fatherhood. There are moments in the movie where I can tell it can't decide whether to write a scene with appropriate drama or make a stupid joke, which is odd as the first one balanced those aspects pretty elegantly.

This movie does have a sequence where the classic fairytale princesses learn martial arts from Julie Andrews and kick the bark covered asses of the trees from Wizard of Oz, all to the beat of Barracuda. Disney could never. I also like that Prince Charming takes a more central role as antagonist in the story this time around, which feels very appropriate for the setting. Justin Timberlake is here too I guess. Damn, I forgot about him. Sorry Justin.

Shrek the Final Chapter

This movie came out when I believed myself toooo olllllllld and MATURE for silly animated movies with farting in them. I had grown, and was ready for stuff like *looks at movies that came out 2010* MEGAMIND, an even sillier animated movie with still probably several fart jokes. I had a bunch of reasons for disliking this one when it came out, but I don't really recall any of them. This movie is pretty wild upon revisiting. Shrek pulls a It's a Wonderful Life with Rumpelstiltskin and is pulled into an alternate universe fanfiction where he never existed, joins an Ogre resistance and tries to get his wife to fall in love with him again. It's such a goofy premise with some fairly well constructed dramatic moments. It's also very good 3D animation for its time, which might be consistent with the rest of the series.

There's a scene where Rumpelstiltskin jumps off a ledge and makes a weird noise that I cannot for the life of me find on youtube, but it sticks in my brain for some reason. He's a pretty fun villain, overall, all of his scenes made me laugh. I think we watched the other Puss in Boots movie after this, but I fell asleep. Sorry Justin.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

This franchise got reimagined with a new cast a few years ago, and for some reason became a controversial focus of American politics for several weeks. I mean not for some reason, it was really just sexism. Women? Fighting ghosts??? Only men fight ghosts in real life, everyone knows that. This movie, on the other hand, is a direct sequel to the original film and also didn't come out during an election year, so even though Girls do be Fighting Ghosts in this one, there was less outrage around it. It's a fun homage to the original, but doesn't acknowledge the original Ghostbusters 2 in the least, and that movie genuinely freaked me out as a kid with its pink slime that kills you.

The film focuses on the very autistic granddaughter of the late and famously autistic member of the original cast, Egon. She's a delightful protagonist throughout the story, working with the ghost of her grandfather to uncover the truth behind the natural disasters plaguing her Podunk town. There are also some fun new ghost designs our child heroes have to overcome. The supporting cast is serviceable, mostly focused around Finn Wolfhard and Paul Rudd's eternal struggle to get dates before the world is eaten by Gozer, or whoever. There's a lot of nostalgia bait in this movie. The OG Ghostbusters even make a Deus Ex Machina style cameo, saving Baby Egon at the last moment aside a CGI Harold Ramis that did get me to tear up a little. This whole movie was dedicated to him, which is sweet.

Kingdom Hearts: Back Cover

Remember when I said I was done talking about Kingdom Hearts for this year? No? You haven't been reading these? That's okay, I was lying anyway. As part of my full bodily integration into this series, I watched the entirety of the KH Union X Cutscenes interspersed with clips from the Back Cover movie in order of the proper timeline of events. This is probably the sanest way to experience this story. The original has you play a mobile game where you are updated on the plot every ten or so boring ass missions and then watch the movie as a companion piece. It's a pretty engaging narrative by KH standards, but its told in the most batshit way possible, which I guess is also up to KH standards. You can watch it here, if the embeds work:

The first part of this story focuses on a member of the Keyblade Guilds, who is slowly encroaching upon the reality that the organization they're apart of is tearing itself apart. All of the Guild Masters are in conflict over a potential traitor, and this suspicion eventually spirals into an entire war. The Master of these Masters, or MoM, is largely implied to have orchestrated the entire event. The second half focuses on the fallout from that war as the surviving Guild members try to escape the end of the world.

I got pretty attached to several of the characters and their ultimate fate, but I think this could have worked better as a TV show rather than a REALLY BORING MOBILE GAME. I guess you can watch it as a TV show, if you watch the video above in 30 minute chunks, and if you're okay with beautiful 3D animated cutscenes transitioning into kind of stale sprite art at random.

Alright ending this here. I didn't finish this on Friday as I had some other Things going on, so we're in for a double feature! Hopefully, I'll continue on the games list which will be out this evening. I'm writing these ahead of time so who knows???

[beetleohbeetle]

The more and more I consume more fantasy media the more o come to realize there’s no reason for people to really buy/read/watch/consume anything by J.K Rowling.

For one, there’s far better, more well thought media out there. Where the writers genuinely thought about what they were writing.

Book series wise my favorite is the Septimius Heap series, 7 books about a magical special boy ( and then 3 books of a spin off that’s set later in the time like and is also really good)

There’s also LOTR and The Narnia series which are always beloved

There’s the Lunar Chronicles which is a fun cyber punk fantasy retelling of some fairytales across a larger plot ( really fun to read and the author has another series and a few spin off books as well highly recommend)

Movie wise there’s always Shrek

I also really like King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, kick ass soundtrack and fun characters

T.V shows there’s a fuck ton

If you like the aspect of categories for your self inserts The Owl House is fantastic and has the coven system ( or if you don’t you don’t have to be in a coven) as well as fantastic representation

BBC’s Merlin which is cheesy at times but is a great watch, I believe the show writers have also talked about how it could have been an LGBTQ love story

I also like it because of its allegory of magic= being LGBTQ in an unaccepting world

And I’m sure there’s more that I haven’t watched or consumed

I know of a fuck ton of webtoons that exist, mt favorite is Suitor Armor which has been such a fun read, Crumbs is also a fantasy setting but more modern and it’s such a soft story, it’s got a physical copy as well

And game wise I could go on and on, Skyrim I’d good and Kingdoms: Two Crowns is a favorite especially because the soundtrack is good but there s a million fantasy games out where that exist

As well as a lot of indie content by individual creators online

There’s just like no excuse anymore

[camodielsart]

What’s your favourite part of a story like … character development, references, art, morals/ethics, ideology, hierarchy’s, non-stereotypical characters and such? Like Casino Cups Mugman so-so becoming a power hungry figure for immortality. Gotta admit, I wasn’t really expecting that one given the stereotype people label him from the original game! Srry if this is too long I’m just geeking out so much!

Oh man what is my favorite part of a story? That’s a tough one, ngl. I think i gotta say character development. I just really like stories that tend to be mainly character based. Seeing the cast change as the story goes on. Seeing relationships build and break is just fascinating and really fun to write. I’m also a sucker for a good redemption arc. Like with Zuko from ATLA, it was just so good and definitely inspired how i write those types of characters.

Also the underlying message or ideology is probably the better word to use. I’m not sure what to call it tbh but we’ll go with ideology. That’s another fave of mine. Especially if its done in a symbolic way and not done in an obvious way. Like with in the Babadook. How i saw the movie, (and spoiler if you haven’t seen it) the Babadook is an analogy to the mother’s stress/mental illness (im not sure if it was supposed to be anything in particular. It has been awhile since I’ve seen it but yeah). At the end of the movie, she finds a way to control it and conquer it. But it’s still there just like how many ppl with mental illness will always have it but there is a way they can take back control over it. A lot of horror movies uses monsters as a stand in for an idea/construct. And that’s probably why i like them a lot. The same thing applies with animated movies. Complicated ideas being broken down into symbolism to get the ideology across is just clever ways is just so fun to watch. An example is in Encanto, (spoiler warning) Casita breaking after the last argument between Mirabel and Abuela was the physical representation of the family falling apart. Stuff like that is just cool to me haha

And ah yes, breaking the stereo types. Yeah that’s a fave, too. Making the audience think that it’s gonna go one way and then bam, nope, this ain’t gonna go that way! Not this way! Shrek is a great example of this cuz 1. Fiona isn’t just some damsel in distress. 2. Shrek isn’t just some scary ogre, he’s a genuine guy that’s fine with just how he is. And 3. It put the whole fairy tale on it’s head while making fun of how outrageous the traditional stories are.

[the-voxel]

Is fake dating a thing in voxel media when *vague gesture at the stripes showing emotions*?

Is there a 'stripe change moment' trope when an enemies-to-lovers pairing starts getting into lovers territory?

Do they engage with a lot of non-voxel romance media or do they not 'get it' because it's reliant on humanoid expressions and body language instead of stripe colours?

What would a 'Beauty and the Beast' AU look like to them? Rival athlete AU? X-Men AU? The infamous coffeshop AU?

You can get away with fake dating if you're confident enough. If you're nervous people will find out, they'll all know you're uncomfortable and your nosy great aunt will dig to figure out why. But if you're good friends with your fake partner and relaxed and happy with them, people will buy it. And if you're a little extra giggly about getting away with it? Well that's just new love for ya.

Their stripes turning bright is very similar to when humans blush, so normal romance always has that first moment where their stripes turn very bright with each other. I bet in enemies-to-lovers there's a widely popular moment where one of them will have their stripes go from and angry deep color (say dark red) to a bright one (scarlet) and the enemy in question will suddenly realize everything. Everyone always waits with baited breath to see how the enemy reacts seeing the other has some kind of feelings.

There are a few xenophiles among voxel, who of course are not widely accepted or even known. They may still consider any other species with stripes as objectively beautiful, but not strictly someone they'd want to pursue. But occasionally you'll find one (such as Liithal) who are genuinely attracted to an alien and find their different expressions mysterious and alluring. (if a voxel got with a human, other voxel would consider them a monsterfucker, ESPECIALLY since humans eat meat that's like,,, MASSIVE monsterfucker energy) I have just realized this wasn't your question and will now go on to answer your question.

If they read standard alien romance, they likely wouldn't understand many of the clues and context, meaning all human romance books/movies feel like the kissing comes out of NOWHERE. Not only are human romance stories only set to a time frame of a few days to weeks, but they go through none of the familiar flirting and courting rituals and they go zero recognizable attraction clues.

Many AUs will be similar, but with added layers

'Beauty and the Beast' AU: would be the most different. Of course nothing would have to be changed about the trope for the entire structure to change. To voxel, a beast is something that eats flesh and subsequently has the power to damn a soul, being turned into a beast has MUCH darker implications for the prince. Because as a beast, he's not just "ugly" and outcast, he's essentially the devil of their religion. Quite literally. Their word for predator and their word for evil are the same. So he would be turned into a savage animal that consumes flesh and renders a soul to be lost in the Mirror World.

The Beauty could go a couple ways. Given herself up in place of her father would be seen as the ultimate sacrifice. Because the assumption would be that whoever stayed would be eaten by the Beast. (I can't imagine the father being very liked in this version.) She would start as this ultimate virtuous character, but her felling in love with the Beast would be viewed as her falling from grace. She would be accepting a monster.

Now, the story MAY go the classic fairy tale route, and have the Beast give up feeding because he loves her and refuses to hurt her, and he just slowly starves to death. This may let him die and be redeemed, or he could be transformed back into a prince for learning to love and put other people before himself. It may go the shrek route and have Beauty join the Beast and they become a villain couple to scare little kids into behaving with. Or they may go the disney style and she come to love and understand him more, and she makes him realize what kind of person he wants to be and he has a big heroic moment in the end where he puts everything on the line.

No matter what, this concept is highly complex, factory made to be filled with religious messaging, and can have endless variations.

Rival athlete AU: Not much to change here. Voxel have sports and they get competitive enough for rivalries.

X-Men AU: There may be some reluctance toward getting people to read this one, since the idea of superpowers isn't highly popular. But once you got an audience voxel would LOVE sending characters to the x-men universe. The idea of a voxel going to Xavier's school and being surrounded by humans would resonate with how many voxel feel about taking their place among the galaxy. It would have all the usual x-men themes of acceptance and equality.

The infamous coffeshop AU: Well, as they function on communism, there is a stark lack of shop to go with their coffee. Also, voxel don't really have an equivalent to coffee to be putting in these shops. It's probably more common to write about characters working in a brewery together. They can have to romantic tension over tasting for fermentation levels together, pine while watching each other suggest fine thick wines to a mother planning her kid's wedding, and of course there has to be that one scene where they get a lil tipsy and confess their feelings. Just all around, this is what they write instead of a coffeeshop.

[insertbrowsinghere]

Okay I was trying not to make propaganda just because I'm trying not to get too frustrated with all of the ghibli films winning (I am very upset about it, especially in regards to this one matchup, but I do not think I, fans of either of these movies or the pollmaker want to hear about any of that) but like. please watch these scenes actually. The fact that I had such a hard time choosing between scenes and had to pick two (and it was a hard choice just to cut things down to those two!! There's at least ten other scenes I could have picked that would have been amazing, because Puss in Boots is such an amazing film) just because I couldn't decide on one is a testament to how good Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is, and it's genuinely my second favorite movie ever and a 10/10 movie to me. It made me care about a Puss in Boots movie through one single trailer when I thought that would never be possible. It even made me go to a theatre for the first time in years just to watch it because I knew it would be best enjoyed there, and I was right in that choice, because this is the best movie I've ever had the pleasure to see in theatre, and somehow made a Shrek spinoff into a lovely story about mortality, all while being a love letter to animation in a way I hadn't seen once since Spiderverse, but also in a way entirely unique from movies who pushed animation as far as it went here (spoiler warning for scene #2, I've edited in something to hide it for people who want to experience it blind)

Tumblr’s favorite animated movie, Round 5!

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