#fan colored glasses

[fancoloredglasses]

[RERUN] Gargoyles (Gettin’ medieval for the kids)

[All images are owned by Disney. Please don’t sue me]

(Thanks to Jan Schmelter)

(If you would like to see the wall of text that was the original review, you may do so here)

In the 90s, before there were a ton of cable stations devoted to cartoons and kids’ fare (The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon were it) and you could still watch a ton of cartoons between the time that kids would be coming home from school and the time parents came home from work (every TV station not affiliated with the “Big Three” (Fox was not yet the major network it is now, and its stations were often regarded as “independents” that happened to have Fox programming a few nights a week) had this format in the afternoon)

(Thanks to DuckTales Wiki)

In 1990, Disney decided to get in on this action with The Disney Afternoon, a two-hour block of cartoons using series previously aired on the Disney Channel, with such well-regarded shows as Duck Tales, Chip & Dale’s Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, and Goof Troop.

Then in 1994, Disney took a serious risk with its block. Instead of the kid-friendly mild adventure (and outright comedy) reruns, they premiered a show with a much darker (though still kid-friendly) tone that included characters being wounded and (gasp) killed! Needless to say, this got the immediate attention of my college-age friends and myself!

The cartoon is about a group of gargoyles (hence the series’s title) from the 10th century who, despite a symbiotic relationship with Celtic nobility (they defended the nobles’ castle at night and the humans protected them during the day when they were stone and helpless), were feared and shunned by the very humans they helped protect (almost sounds like a metaphor for racial tensions, much like the mutants in X-Men)

The clan of Gargoyles (well, the ones who the series centers on) consists of 7 warriors

...led by Goliath, the only one of them with a name (voiced by Kieth David who went on to voice Captain Anderson in the Mass Effect video game franchise)

...along with his mate (voiced by Marina Sirtis…we’ll get to her in a moment)

...his mentor (voiced by Ed Asner, who played Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show)

...three younger warriors

...and a gargoyle-dog (dog-goyle?)

There are others, but as you’ll see they’re not that important.

When their main ally among the humans betrayed them, (though, to be fair, he was actually betraying the nobles. He assumed the invaders would leave the gargoyles alone after they won. WRONG! The invaders smashed the majority of the gargoyles while they were stone, killing them in a way that was technically kid-friendly) and the nobles blamed them for their defeat (Why? The invaders attacked during the day!) The court mage (who is known as the Magus) cursed the gargoyles to remain stone forever “until the castle rises above the clouds”. What dicks!

Fortunately, the nobles realized who really betrayed them, but unfortunately the mage could not undo the spell, so they took it upon themselves to care for the unborn gargoyle eggs as they fled (This will become important later)

Fast forward about a thousand years, when billionaire industrialist David Xanatos (voiced by Jonathan Frakes…I swear I will address this!) has the castle carefully taken down and reconstructed (making sure to use every piece) atop his skyscraper. Sure enough, this meets the conditions of the spell and the gargoyles awaken at dusk. Goliath discovers his mate was not demolished by the invaders, but was somehow still alive (after a millennium? Given Goliath’s mentor is old, they are obviously not immortal!) and told Xanatos about the spell.

As thanks, Goliath agrees to work with Xanatos, until it’s obvious that Xanatos isn’t exactly on the side of the angels.

Nor, apparently, is Goliath’s mate, who had grown more cold and ruthless (and has developed a hatred of humans) in the past thousand years (again, how? I mean, it is sorta-kinda explained in later episodes, but for now it’s a mystery). Eventually, the pair turn on the gargoyles.

(Thanks to Tooth)

About this time, Goliath meets...

...(and accidentally nearly kills) an NYPD detective named Elisa Maza.

Elisa becomes a fierce ally to the Gargoyles, eventually helping them find a new home since living over Xanatos’s roof could be hazardous to their health (and sorta-kinda becoming a mate to Goliath? Well, at least a romantic interest in a “will they/won’t they/is the biology even possible?!” kind of way)

Elisa is also inadvertently responsible for naming the rest if the Gargoyles. When she asked Goliath’s mentor what his name was, he was exasperated that humans needed to name everything, and asked if a nearby river had a name too. She replied it was the Hudson. He then threw his hands up and declared that he, too, might as well be called the Hudson, which led to the rest of the clan to choose their own names...

(Thanks to Chris bentley)

OK, time to address the Enterprise in the room. A lot of actors affiliated with Star Trek gave their voices to the series (the fact that Sirtis and Frakes played villains when so many associated them with the crew of the Enterprise-D was surreal at the very least) Every chapter in the Trek mythos to date was represented, with TNG being the most heavy.

(Brent Spiner voiced the fae known as Puck

…and LaVar Burton voiced a spider god), though there were voice actors from...

the original series (Nichelle Nichols voiced Elisa’s mother)

Deep Space Nine (Michael Dorn voiced an undead cyborg gargoyle (yes, the series had some weird characters) known as Coldstone)

Voyager (Kate Mulgrew played Xanatos’s lover’s mother,

...as well as Queen Titania of the fae)

…and even the movies! (Paul Winfield, who played the captain of the USS Reliant in Star Trek II, played a recurring role as blind man who befriends Hudson)

The show’s creator has said that, while he did cast Sirtis and Frakes for the roles, it was not originally his intent to fill the series with voices to please the Trekkies, but he did seem to favor Trek actors more as new characters were written.

Many sci-fi and (urban) fantasy tropes were visited, including time travel (again with the time-travel…however, I like how the series handled the concept: you aren’t altering the past by going back in time, events in the past happened as they did because your present self traveled to the past!)

The series was very well-written, especially for its time (X-Men showed that younger audiences could handle more mature content and could follow a continuing storyline…plus a series written as such could draw in an older demographic that could afford all the merchandising)

As always, let me know if there are any episodes you would like reviewed.

[spacecasehobbit]

After seeing yet another popular tumblr post with thousands of reblogs bemoaning the state of comments on fanfics these days - more specifically, the supposed lack of commenting these days, as opposed to The Good Old Days - I have decided that this is in fact a hill I am willing to die on. I'm making a separate post about it rather than reblogging the latest iteration, though. This is hardly the first time I've seen these types of discussions, and my issue is with the mindset in general, not any of the specific people who hold it.

In the most recent version, the entire post with all its various arguments and assertions was plenty frustrating across the board, but it included one line in particular that cut beautifully to the heart of my issue with this type of discussion. The line in question:

"fanfic authors now are treated like content mills, and not like valued members of a creative community who thrive on interaction."

Once I read this bit, I had to stop, take a few deep breaths, and then go make my own post before I imploded over the sheer level of NOPE this line inspired. And okay. The thing is... I want to say this as gently and kindly as I possibly can, but I need to be real blunt for a minute, too.

That line I quoted sounds like a wannabe social media influencer.

It sounds like a person who thinks fandom is - or should be - comprised of fanfiction writers, aka Valued Content Creators, and their respective communities of readers, aka Content Consumers, a strictly distinct group from fic writers, for whom they create fanfiction content and who in turn pay them back with attention and validation in the form of comments and praise.

It does not sound like a fanfiction author who enjoys the creative hobby of writing stories based on characters and worlds from existing stories, engaging in their hobby within a community of other likeminded creators of fan content.

Frankly, fandom has always been worst when it starts obsessing over Big Name Fans who wind up treated like elite fandom social influencers, instead of hobbyists engaging in a fun hobby together based on mutual interests. A shift towards the idea that every fanfic writer should be effectively a social media influencer whose community consists of fans reading the content they oh-so-lovingly create (but only if they get enough positive attention from passive consumers, presumably readers who don't write their own fic or expect comments back from the author in return) sounds like an absolutely awful direction for fandom to take.

I don't want fanfiction and fandom spaces to turn into another social media space full of Our Valued Content Creators, all fighting to build the largest "community" of passive consumers turned devoted followers.

Again, that sounds frankly fucking awful.

The people who only read fanfiction are not your fanfiction community, because they are not engaging in the shared community hobby of writing fanfiction. Your fanfiction community is, perhaps, the other people who are also writing their own fanfiction based on someone else's original work.

So perhaps if comments really are declining on fics these days, instead of asking why passive readers aren't heaping praise on every fic they read and making sure it all happens where the Valued Creator can hear it, you should ask yourself how many other fanfics you've commented on recently, and then go comment on another one if you're still feeling down about your own work.

Or, I dunno, find a fic author you admire and send them a message on tumblr, if you've already commented on all of their fics that you read and enjoyed.

Or start your own discord for likeminded fans, or find a way to set up your own fandom forums centered on your personal fandom interests and invite other fic authors to come join.

Or, like, anything that involves reaching out to the actual community of hobbyists you can reasonably consider to be a community you are actually a part of.

Aka, other fanfiction writers.

[cappycodeart]

🎶🎹CHILL IT OUT TAKE IT SLOW THEN YOU ROCK OUT THE SHOW🎵🎹

wow I can’t stand this guy I was happy when he died he was such an annoying egocentric jerk and a pain to deal with, anyways //draws him a bazillion more times

[lulu2992]

Joseph Seed ❈ The Father

Chosen by the Voice

[knight-of-aether]

Larger versions of the letter and frog I drew for the Fan Joy July thank you collab. As someone who's recently been getting back into creating for fun by diving headfirst into the Legend of Zelda and Linked Universe scenes, it's been nothing short of inspiring to see so many fans come together and support each others' works this past month. The event @kikker-oma started has introduced me to so many amazing stories and artworks, and encouraged me to share more of my own. Thank you all so much for existing and sharing your creativity with the world, and here's to whatever comes next.

[spacerockband]

the twin suns of no man's land

[hercarisntyours]

im go sleep but before I wanna share an adult oplita sparkling (glaux) design :> i'm working on a few because idk what colors mostly, I want to keep purple (especially maybe royal purple because that's always been oplita to me for years) ughhhhh yeah idk share post go!

[thepastneverforgets]

tommy looking worn and weary after a difficult shift pre-the buck kiss vs. tommy looking delighted and just content to be there at evan's side post-the buck kiss >>>>>

[croissantk]

So please listen clearly I love you dearly !!!!

[glasswarproject]

“Elegy for the End” from Genshin Impact

This was the first recreation I ever made in my stained glass journey 🦦🏹✨💕

[umbrenshadowart]

Scourge colour palette challenge!! I really like how he turned out

[fancoloredglasses]

Xena: Warrior Princess (Somehow more popular than a demigod)

[All images are owned by Renaissance Pictures and Universal. Please don’t sue me]

(Thanks to iTs- Abubakardurrani)

Xena started as a recurring character on Hercules, first as a brutal warlord, but slowly coming around to become a hero of the downtrodden. She was popular enough for Sam Raimi to green light a spin-off after her third appearance!

The series follows the former warlord Xena (played by Lucy Lawless) as she roams ancient Greece (and sometimes beyond) as she atones for her past by helping those in need, using the skills she’s forged to protect rather than conquer.

However, do not think her change in attitude makes her weak. She’s perfectly capable of being ruthless and dealing death to those who oppose her, such as the time she took on the Persian army single-handedly (well, she had a bit of help)

(Thanks to All Action)

Xena’s constant companion is Gabrielle the Bard. While she does pick up some competence in combat, she’s still not a warrior. And I’ve made my views on bards clear in an earlier review.

(Thanks to Mary Bones)

However, she does prove to be a loyal companion and a reminder that there are good people in this world that need her protection. Over time, the fandom shipped them as a couple (eventually becoming canon) and they became not only feminist icons, but heroes among the LGBTQ community.

Like Hercules, Xena has a number of recurring characters (some of which followed her from Hercules), but the one that appears more than any is…

Joxer (played by Sam Raimi’s brother Ted), the black sheep of a warrior clan who absolutely sucks at combat. Joxer more often than not is the comic relief on the show.

When Xena was first introduced, she was a champion for what is now one of the primary antagonists…

…the God of War, Ares

…only he now has a new champion, Callisto.

The series ran for 6 seasons, with the final seeing Xena and Gabrielle being frozen for decades, then travelling to set right a world (beyond Greece) gone mad!

If you wish to watch the series, it’s available on Amazon Prime or behind your favorite paywall.

[zurakuraworks]

/RKGK: The Legendary Hitman, White Demon/

Had to draw this the second I heard that Mr. Tomokazu Sugita is announced to be voicing Taro Sakamoto

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[cappycodeart]

Fiiiiiiiine alright I'll stop holding hostage my piles and piles of simon doodles aughgh...

[lulu2992]

I don’t know what the story is or why I ended up improvising a new coloring technique as I went, but I had fun drawing this :)

[zer0expektation]

lovers kiss of death - [ib: Dracula 1931]

<process vid>