#featuring my pixar version of me

[tadwisethebrave]

Your Name: Lena Characters: Tad, Shang, Tink

Pick one of your characters and talk about their growth (we recommend choosing an older character, but it’s up to you!) What about their story has surprised you? What are you proud of? How have they changed from their original inception to now?

I feel like my muses haven't been in town long enough to grow a lot. But since Tad has been in the rp before I can talk a little about his growth. Especially as it comes to being off the drugs and trying to live his best life. I'm still trying to figure out the direction he really wants to go in but it's kind of fun to see him try things he never would have before like college. I'm also really proud of the fact that drug free and all he can and will still be just as silly and whimsical to write. I've also really enjoyed working more on his family background and where they're at now. Exploring his uncle and the situation he was in post rehab has been super fun for me. And also Tad starting to actually see that his parents aren't that great is a really interesting and fun thing for me to explore. He's had blinders on to that for a long time but they're starting to come off and I'm really excited to see where it ends up with him there. I don't think he's the type to get super jaded but I do like the growth he's had so far and hope he stays fun and silly even so.

Pick another character (or the same character if you only have one) and talk a little about where you WANT them to go. What are your plans for them going into the new year?

Shang and Tink have interesting stories I want to tell and I don't really want to neglect talking about one over the other. So I absolutely will be discussing both.

For Shang I think it's pretty clear I plan on following through with this storyline with his missing father. I want to have him commit to a longer stay in Swynlake for sure and to accept the reality of what that means. I'm also hoping to explore some of the consequences of his father's absence with the company and how he'll move forward there. And also, this is smaller but I do plan on getting him more involved in the running club and getting more social in general. I'm also hoping to get him out there in the dating world. I want fun awkward dates with this man. Let it happen.

As for Tink…lol. She's got a long way to go and she and I both know it. I plan on having her life be very messy and the more ridiculous the drama the better. I want short term relationships and flings for her. I want her to be a kind of messy and chaotic boss to some. I want her to hit more lows before she figures out where she really wants to go from there. I do have an idea of what direction that low will be but I don't want to spoil that. I also want more fairy interaction I've just been dropping the ball a bit there.

Pick a thread or a plot that you’re proud of and talk about why you loved it.

I think right now I'm still trying to get my head in the game plot wise to build to something good. I have some old plots I can list that I really did love. Like Finn/Nemo mer reveal which is still one of my all time favorites. For now I am loving Shang and Maximus on this journey to discover the truth. Oh, also I did really really love telling Arthur's story and the whole experience bringing the knights together and taking down Zira. That was a big plot I'm still super proud of.

In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 things you love to write about (metaphors? Sibling relationships? Physical description?) and talk about why you enjoy it!

It's funny but I do like writing about ocean metaphors when it's writing Tad. It feels especially ironic to me when I never liked the beach much myself. But it's really so fun to tell a story through someone as quirky as Tad's eyes with such comparisons only he would make.

I like adding humor to most things I write. I think I just really like to embrace the silly, and it's fun to add that in even with dramatic points. I just really like adding humor into things a lot.

Dialogue. I do feel like I really enjoy thinking about how a character is going to respond to someone and go from there. Tads responses are so different from the polite tone of Shang's voice, or Tink's snarky one. I really love to make those distinctions.

What major updates have your characters gone through this year? (For example: beginning/ending a relationship, moving, starting a new job, adopting a pet, etc). Think if it as anything you would have put in the #character-updates channel. If you have a pinned post, consider adding these updates so everyone is aware of them in the future.

I don't think I have any major updates to share but I can give a few small tidbits I guess.

Tad had an awkward moment with Pip and still kind of thinks about him. He also went on a blind date with Edric lol.

Shang has discovered where his father was staying with the help of Maximus.

Tink has mainly been flirting with people and figuring out Pixies again.

Talk about your dash reply style and your Discord reply style! (And if applicable, also your doc reply style). What do you like about each type of interaction? What is something you feel is difficult? Do you have preferences regarding how many times you’re tagged per day, or do you prefer for your replies to be queued for a certain amount of time?

I think I mainly prefer the dash now. It's easy and I can generally locate replies and reply at a pace I'm comfortable with. I also like that i can go back and read through it on the blog. Thats always a plus. I will say editing threads and stuff can be annoying and also sometimes the activity page does look weird so tumblr does have those annoying complications. Discord can really overwhelm me with events these days, though I do like Discord for rapid fire plot things to get through in a day if it can be. I forget about doc replies too easily but it is nice to keep some mystery to things. I don't mind being tagged however much on the dash. I will probably try to queue my own replies through the week though once I'm back on track a bit. It makes it easier for me.

And now, a wishlist! Jot down a few themes or stories or genres etc that you want to maybe pursue in the upcoming year! (i.e. a good ol’ fashion forbidden romance, maybe you want to dig deep into racial identity etc) This doesn’t have to necessarily be attached to any characters or stories you have now– it’s just meant to help you see for yourself what kind of stories call to your heart.

I love a lot of romantic plots and I want to get messy so I do want to dive into rom com territory and do some silly plots there, especially with Tink but also maybe even a Tad's excellent adventure into the world of dating these days.

I also want a family plot. I have several different muse ideas for a character in a family that can be written. Though one in particular is forming herself in my brain and I do hope to see that happen in the new year. I love sibling dynamics especially and exploring those bonds.

I've also always been a sucker for friendship things. Friendship bonds and plots surrounding things friends go through as they get older and try to figure out their lives. This is especially true for a muse I plan on bringing back but yeah I love those deep bonds to work with.

I want a mean girl again. Idk why I thrive off of having a character thats a bit of a bitch and doesn't give a fuck about what other people think. This works best in the secondary environment though, so a girl can dream for a secondary revival story wise. There's so much one can explore in youth storytelling that I feel is lost right now. I shall dream of its return.

I want to write a parent at some point. Ming in particular did catch my eye, but a mother daughter or mother son relationship would be amazing to write. I'd also love to do the reverse with a parent out there one day too. More family stories!

Villainy! I have this idea for a competitive rivalry in villainy for two sisters that I would love love love to explore next year if anyone would be interested. I think it'd be so fun to dive into.

OPTIONAL: Why do you RP? I've always loved diving into a world that isn't our own. I've rped for so long and it's just the best outlet for a lot of feelings and exploring directions you might never do. It's awesome.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

SHREK 2, approaching its 20th anniversary, took in around $1.3 million this past weekend... In its first theatrical run since its original release.

I have a movie theater job, and I worked this past Friday. Spring break for many schools was this past week, and this week too. Those screenings on Friday at my cinema were often packed, and a lot of them were packed with kids. As in, kids who were born well after this movie originally hit theaters. And *after* SHREK FOREVER AFTER was released, at that.

Yeah, there's some multi-generational appeal there with SHREK and SHREK 2.

Some animation fans jeered at the SHREK movies back in the day, feeling that their early 2000s attitude and pop culture references-aplenty scripts would date them, ditto their art direction and design... But no, nostalgia is very strong, especially when it's passed down. These movies appeal to little kids today. The second PUSS IN BOOTS movie being more recent also helps.

It goes to show that at the end of the day, the characters and what the movie does with them can make something a long-lasting flavor.

And I'm saying this, as someone who is not the biggest fan of those movies myself. As a kid, I did *love* SHREK and SHREK 2. I was the perfect age for them, you could argue - I was 8 1/2 when SHREK came out, 11 1/2 when SHREK 2 hit. I could probably quote whole sections of them verbatim. I know it's sacrilege to say these things, but to me, the SHREK movies are basically the animated equivalent of late '90s/early '00s live-action comedies that were usually made for adults, but in PG-rated form. Set in a fractured fairy tale world with ogres and talking donkeys and dragons and such. If not for those fantastical elements, these movies could've been some '00s live-action comedies with hot stars. They just have that vibe to them, right down to their contemporary soundtracks.

I don't see the first two SHREK movies as the high-water marks of the animation medium that they were sometimes made out to be by critics who didn't see animation as anything other than babysitter fluff. In addition to feeling that MONSTERS, INC. deserved the inaugural Best Animated Feature Oscar over this film, I also never bought that the first two SHREKs were these "revolutionary" "adult" alternatives to whatever Disney had out at the time. There's a roughly 2-second scene in Ralph Bakshi's X-rated FRITZ THE CAT - from 1972 - that's a way better satire of Disney than this movie is said to be, haha. I know at least one person who doesn't really like animation, but they will admit that they liked SHREK. That tells me a lot... SHREK was an animated movie that managed to appeal to just about everybody, including folks who would otherwise not bother with cartoons. It just has that zazz to it... Their core appeal, well specifically, SHREK 1 & 2, is undeniable. How many other relatively chill, less formal comedies like this did you see in mainstream feature animation at the time? It's not zany like, say, Disney's similarly irreverent buddy comedy THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE from five months earlier, nor is it like Pixar's clever, tightly-plotted movies.

The first SHREK movie hit a sweet spot with a lot of American audiences at the right time. Adult audiences who were burnt out on Disney's Renaissance formula being repeated for each movie after THE LION KING, and especially all the movies made at other studios following their lead. Like ANASTASIA and QUEST FOR CAMELOT. Even DreamWorks' own THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, for that matter. These big, grandiose musical pictures... Certain young film fans nowadays will say "those movies went SO HARD", but back in the late '90s/early '00s, the attitude towards them was "Okay, enough of that already." They were often called things like "politically correct", that era's version of "woke". Audiences wanted an animated film that they could just laugh and have a fun time with, without the moral messaged in a specific way.

Adults had also avoided the slew of edgy action-adventure animated movies aimed at a demographic that would never be there, films like DreamWorks' THE ROAD TO EL DORADO, along with Disney's ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE and Fox's TITAN A.E.

So you have this particular landscape of animated features, circa early 2001... Big grandiose family-friendly musicals that have become rather traditional, and these action-adventures for preteen boys that few were interested in seeing in theaters. Few exceptions are in-between, like THE IRON GIANT, but those were ignored because of other circumstances. IRON GIANT by all means should've been a small respectable success back in 1999 at the very least, if not a sleeper hit/blockbuster, but distributor Warner Bros. didn't believe in it. That's the animated movie landscape of early 2001... and then this chill comedy with dick jokes and a gross-out factor to it comes along... Right place, right time, planets aligned... One person put it this way: SHREK was an animated movie that "you could have a beer with."

And to think that SHREK was at one point shaping up to be a cursed, troubled production. Something that animators were punished with. An impending bomberoo, a film that was stopped and restarted, that lurched through a tumultuous 5-year journey...

Then the sequel went on to break records in the spring/summer of 2004, a high that the later films in the franchise couldn't rekindle.

SHREK THE THIRD certainly made a lot of money back in 2007, it was the highest-grossing animated movie of that calendar year, beating out the likes of THE SIMPSONS MOVIE and RATATOUILLE... but I don't remember it landing the way SHREK 2 did. I remember seeing it opening weekend with my dad, my good friend, and his family... and... largely forgetting about it afterwards! I was in high school at the time, and had mentioned one day that a fourth one was coming. This was around late 2007, by the time SHREK 3 was out of theaters and close to DVD release. (And HD-DVD as well, remember that?) One of my classmates responded, "Ugh, they're making another one?" A new SHREK movie wasn't as novel and fresh by then, and when SHREK FOREVER AFTER came out in the spring of 2010, I remember everyone being hyped about TOY STORY 3 - opening less than a month later... Not a word on the fourth green ogre movie. SHREK 4 still made plenty of dough though, it was bigger worldwide than here. Then DreamWorks pumped the breaks on the green ogre, as FOREVER AFTER was billed as "The Final Chapter".

It's interesting to note that DreamWorks' original plan was to make five SHREK movies, and PUSS IN BOOTS would be a direct-to-video movie with the subtitle THE STORY OF AN OGRE KILLER. The fifth SHREK movie would've been a prequel, interestingly enough. But over time, as PUSS IN BOOTS graduated to theatrical feature film and was given to SHREK 3 director Chris Miller, the plans slightly changed...

PUSS IN BOOTS had a rather blah opening in fall 2011, no doubt fueled by franchise fatigue and arriving just a little over a year after SHREK 4... but the cat legged it up something fierce. Because it was pretty good, and for some, a return to form after two lackluster SHREK sequels. It was right for the time, too. An old-school swashbuckling adventure for the family, featuring a fan favorite character from the SHREK sequels. I'm not sure a Donkey or Gingy spin-off would've landed the same way, lol. I remember the early 2010s being a time of more sincere animated movies, a country mile from the ironic early 2000s attitude of the first SHREK movie and all of its imitators. PUSS IN BOOTS Uno was more in line with those kinds of movies, and some of the classic-style adventure movies that DreamWorks had out at the time, like HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and the first two KUNG FU PANDA films. Their then-recent comedies, like MONSTERS VS. ALIENS and THE CROODS, leaned in a more cartoony and wacky direction. The early 2010s, to reiterate, were way different from the early 2000s in terms of animated movie output. What goes on in the world moves the needle as much as the pop culture does, indeed.

So then, some 11 years and at least one period in limbo later, PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH comes out. An exciting reinvention of the whole franchise, and arriving after a decade-long void where SHREK became something of a meme. Add in nostalgia, word-of-mouth, THE LAST WISH was a gradual trip back into the world of SHREK for many audiences. A big hit in the end, and a beloved movie. It's certainly my favorite movie in this series, for sure. I still find it neat how they didn't just do the safe thing and simply make a SHREK 5 after Comcast acquired them, no. They stuck to that long-gestating PUSS IN BOOTS sequel and saw it through first, as a sort-of lead in to new SHREK movies... And still did something amazing with it, when it could've just been another typical-style SHREK universe movie. It could've also been the movie that it was initially planned to be.

I have no doubt that SHREK PLEADS THE FIFTH, when it hits in a few years, probably makes a good run at highest-grossing animated movie of all-time. SHREK 2 was just that for six years. $919m back in 2004 - without 3D, IMAX, and other such premium formats - was **massive**. TOY STORY 3 took the crown thereafter, and held onto that for three years. SHREK 5's target to beat is the 2019 CG remake of THE LION KING, $1.6 billion. If you don't count that, FROZEN II with $1.4 billion.

I wonder if this re-release of SHREK 2 sparks Universal and DreamWorks to re-release other older films of theirs. Maybe even one that didn't do so hot back in the day? This year also happens to be SHARK TALE's 20th, and MONSTERS VS. ALIENS' 15th. 2014 saw the release of three movies: MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, and PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR. 2019 saw the arrival of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD and ABOMINABLE.

Who knows...

I think they should re-release animated movies more often, no matter the studio. The SHREK 2 re-release opened wider than the three recent Pixar first-time ever theatrical runs of movies that went straight to Disney+, and people turned out for it. It also helps that the movie is that old, whereas those three Pixars aren't that old. SOUL, the oldest of that trio, came out Christmas 2020. Not even four years ago.

Now, if Disney re-released a Pixar film wide like - say - THE INCREDIBLES this year, I'd imagine it'd get *some* traction like this SHREK 2 re-release did. Or if Disney did the same to an animated feature like LILO & STITCH. Remember those 3D re-releases of various Disney Animation and Pixar films? THE LION KING did quite well in 2011, while everything else barely made half of that... But still quite a bit nonetheless. $40m+ for, say, FINDING NEMO in 2012 is something a new animated feature would fight for today.

Every year, my cinema does the Studio Ghibli fest. Most of the beloved movies... Ya know, little tiny unheard-of movies like SPIRITED AWAY and PRINCESS MONONOKE? Always sold out to the front row.

The original KUNG FU PANDA ran for a few weeks earlier this year in the lead-up to KUNG FU PANDA 4, and a few people showed up for those screenings.

Yeah... More re-release of animated movies, please. Plus, they're great to experience on the big screen again.

[piscessheepdog]

Deciduous Forest

Testing the Pizza Tower style… I mean, the pure Pizza Tower artstyle, complete with an intentionally cheap-looking art reminiscent of Microsoft Paint art and 1990's Nicktoons. Although this piece of art was made neither in Microsoft Paint nor Aseprite, this one is a fan art that evokes the "Special Guest" meme. The Internet meme in question originates from the title card of the level "Fun Farm", which features Mort the Chicken, the titular character of a little-known 2000 PlayStation game that received generally unfavourable reviews.

I have seen some "Special Guest" memes that feature characters from more popular media, especially indie games. But I have the following questions: What if an animation production company or anyone who worked for such company allowed McPig (or anyone who worked for Tour de Pizza) the use of a underrated cartoon character in an indie game without copyright issues? What if this animation production turns out to be a subsidiary of one of the "Big five"? I chose André from the animated short film The Adventures of André & Wally B. for my version of the "Special Guest" meme. In fact, this short film was produced by a Lucasfilm division that later became Pixar, and André has two fathers: Alvy Ray Smith and John Lasseter.

In order to create an elaborate title card of a fictitious Pizza Tower level, I had to look up in the Miraheze incarnation of Pizza Tower Wiki (@pizzatowerwiki). While I didn't come up with a better name for a fictitious level set in a deciduous forest other than just "Deciduous Forest", I realized that each title card featured a different font. I chose the Britannic Bold font for the text that displays the fictional level's name. I carefully traced the "Special Guest:" text while I used the same font as the one that was used for the logo of The Adventures of André & Wally B. for the text "André the Android".

Once again, I attempted to draw Peppino Spaghetti. Luckily, I managed to find (and save) a visual tutorial of how to draw him that comes from Reddit by chance. That is to say, this would help me to draw this Pizza Tower character properly. Maybe the next time I will post another fan art featuring Peppino Spaghetti, he will be drawn consistently.

Well, I may hibernate the posting of fan labor of little-known media (such as The Adventures of André & Wally B.) due to having little to no success when it is neither done by word of mouth nor being a crossover art with a more well-known one. Yes, I acknowledge that fan labor of popular media, especially independent media, are more likely to draw attention compared to fanworks of obscure media.

André > The Adventures of André & Wally B. © Pixar (formerly Lucasfilm Computer Graphics) and Lucasfilm (both owned by The Walt Disney Company) Peppino Spaghetti > Pizza Tower © Tour de Pizza (indie developer) and McPig (creator)

[melis-hellis]

mel | 22 | she/her

main blog (which i interact from): aloftmelevar

caddicarus blog: beautifully-lumpy

this is a blog for my general hyperfixations and special interests.

wanna be friends? send an ask or a message! please note i reserve the right to ignore any asks that make me uncomfortable!

interests:

all types of western animation (film and TV)

cartoon network/adult swim is my favorite

favorite feature animation studio is pixar tho i love the others as well

specific shows i love are TAWOG, regular show, gravity falls, ducktales (both versions), amphibia, TGAMM, the marvelous misadventures of flapjack, chowder, foster's, kid cosmic, scott pilgrim takes off, smiling friends, and many others

scott pilgrim (anime and comic specifically)

vinesauce

vargskelethor

scott the woz

the sims games (minus 4)

playstation (little big planet, astro bot, katamari, ratchet and clank, etc.)

retro video game history

and many many other things

toyhouse | neocities | linktree

[somecallmejohn]

Your Asha x Simon ship made me realize that we lack Disney couples with one partner who is plus size.

Flynn's early version called Bastian was the closest we got to a princess love interest who isn't generically fit til they redesigned him.

That's so true anon! Like the only examples of canon disney ships where at least one of them is plus sized I can think of at the top of my head are Anastasia and the Baker from Cinderella 2 (whom I've also seen being theorized as Simon's parents, which I could see), PJ and that Beret wearing girl from An extremely goofy movie and Chien Po and Su from Mulan 2 and both ships originate from straight to DVD sequels and arent even the main protagonists of the movie.

The most recent example I can also think of isn't even from a Disney movie but a Pixar one and that too is a sequel, Sadness and Embarassment in inside out 2 are pretty heavily implied to have a thing for each other, but even then they don't really become official although they're marketed together as a ship.

In another recent Pixar movie, Elemental, there's concept art featuring Wade chubbier than he looks in the movie and I do have to say that I was heartbroken to see that art cuz that design was so cute.

Overall it's kinda sad that there aren't many canon Disney ships where one or both of the characters are plus sized and are the focus of the story. Now I'm sure there are more examples I haven't brought up, but when talking about this subject, I do specifically mean ships that have a bit of a love story going on rather than already established couples as Jin and Ming from Turning Red also came to my mind, but they're already married and the story doesn't focus much on their relationship.

While realistically speaking, I doubt that there's gonna be any continuation of Wish considering that even Encanto, which was a huge success for disney, doesn't have anything announced (yet), I do hope they're gonna do something that could potentially give some romance between Asha and Simon, heck I wouldn't mind a book, I'd gladly read it if it meant we got canon sleepy rose.

[just-jordie-things]

Hey so...

Here I am with another “JJK Characters (as)…” idea.

This time: their (maybe unusual) comfort movies.

Featuring some of my own personal favourite comfort movies, enjoy <3

Satoru Gojo -> Howl's Moving Castle

You can’t tell me Gojo doesn’t recognize himself in Howl at least a little. He was sceptical of the movie at first but he loves the story far more than he likes to admit. (He even cries) As much as he is rizzful and arrogant on the outside, I feel like he truly does see himself in Howl because, after all, he is a kind and sweet man who is only trying to fight for what he thinks is right. The movie strangely touches something deep inside him.

Yuji Itadori -> Mean Girls

Maybe it seems like an odd choice to others but for me, that just kinda resembles him the most out of the entire list. I cannot fully explain why tho.

Megumi Fushiguro -> Spirited Away

I’d be lying if I said there was a reason for this choice. I just feel that as much as Megumi tries to keep to himself and be the introvert he is, he’d absolutely love stories like that. It might be completely surprising to others that this is a movie that deeply comforts him, but once you get to know him and his soft side it actually makes a lot of sense.

Nobara Kugisaki -> Shrek

It might be a bit unorthodox and unlike classic romantic fairytales, but that’s how Nobara is too. She’s a girly girl who loves shopping but the premise of not everything being the mainstream fairytale with a prince charming whose looks can hypnotize the entire female cast is just up her alley. She also loves the female dragon.

Suguru Geto -> Fight Club

All I’m saying is “You met me at a very strange time of my life”. Suguru oddly relates way too much to the narrator, having a difficult time with himself as if there are two different versions of him. He tries to do the right thing and after a lot of trial and error, he comes to a conclusion. That is what heavily resonates with him. It’s an odd choice for a comfort movie, but there’s something deeply captivating about it.

Kento Nanami -> Shawshank Redemption

Nanami is the most grown-up of the whole bunch, so it’s no surprise that he prefers dramas and old movies. It might not count as an actual ‘comfort movie’ but it certainly is a movie that Nanami treasures.

Takuma Ino -> Grown Ups

It’s fun, it’s silly, it’s oddly deep sometimes. It’s exactly his taste. Takuma Ino isn’t one for deeply emotional movies. I feel he doesn’t want to dwell too much on emotions, it’s one of the only aspects where he is the absolute opposite of his mentor when it comes to movies. He wants a distraction from the seriousness of sorcery and goes for comedies like this that make him laugh until he’s crying.

Shoko Ieiri -> Trainspotting

It’s a Scottish movie about drugs, addictions, and everything in between. It might seem shallow on the outside, but the movie has so many different meanings. Shoko watches it less for actual comfort, but more because the meanings resemble something within her.

Choso -> Pixar’s Brave

This one just kinda makes sense to me. It’s just kinda Choso coded TT I know it’s mother and daughter, not brothers but the journey and the bond still resonates with him. He’s a big softie at heart, no one can convince me otherwise.

Aoi Todo -> The Lion King

Listen, hear me out for this one. In all seriousness, it’s essentially just a movie about a young man forgetting his way but a beautiful woman gets through to him and gets him back on the right path, where he emerges as the strong and fierce fighter he has always been. He starts to believe in himself and fights for his family, his land, and what he loves the most. Do I need to say more?

~ Nanami Flowershop Anon

YOU NEVER MISS AHHHH seriously your brain is magnificent!!!!!

[roweclementine]

Getting ready to end my Spotify subscription when it expires at the end of the month but I’m keeping the account up so here’s all of my playlists that I’ve made since I joined back in summer 2020

Downloads (the Big One)

2023:

March 2023 (v proud of the cover for this one; can’t believe I’ve been doing these for a whole year)

April 2023

May 2023

June 2023

Fourth Of July 2023 (Rowe’s Version)

august 2023

September 2023

October 2023

November 2023

December 2023

March-December 2023

2024:

January 2024 (platonic breakup season woooo)

February 2024

March 2024

The monthly playlist idea was stolen from @trenchcrows. Each playlist has as many songs as there were days in that month (except when they don’t because some of them used to have Lovejoy/Wilbur songs in them). They were my favorite/most listened to/most looped songs from each month. It was a fun project and I think that it’s cool that I can look back and figure out exactly when I got into certain songs or when certain things were happening to me. November-January was certainly A Time.

Queer Playlists:

Aspec (aro and/or ace songs)

🏳️‍⚧️ (trans/nb songs)

🏳️‍🌈 (gay gay homosexual gay)

Podcast Adjacent Playlists:

Favorite SFBO Episodes

Favorite Podcasts

Songs from Let’s Learn Everything!

Playlists For Specific Artists/Albums:

GLOOM DIVISION (new idkhow album go stream it)

We’re Not Panicking! At The Disco Anymore (by Fall Out Boy)

Everything by Jon Walker (all of the songs/bands mentioned in Everything)

Jon Walker favorites

Waterparks songs named after colors

Waterparks Songs Named After Pixar Quotes

Sparrow Sleeps

Infinity on High but it's my favorite parts (by fall out boy)

Local Dreamers (the Wait I Need to Listen to Twenty One Pilots More So They Show Up on My Wrapped playlist)

American Beauty/American Psycho, but with 9% more Demi Lovato

Razzmatazz, but with 9% more Tessa Violet

Playlists For Specific Situations:

Songs to listen to at the end of the year

Beachy

Therapy :( (Rowe is not having a good time)

Therapy :) (Rowe is not having a good time but she’s trying to be optimistic now)

✨ Seasonal Depression ✨ (Rowe is not having a good time part 3, now with more Christmas)

Christmas Songs That I Actually Like (We’re going to ignore the fact that Every Snowflake is Different isn’t technically a Christmas song ok?)

Relationships:

Breakup songs

Show Me The Door (break up songs; a playlist dedicated to my mother)

/ (love songs)

Hopeless Romantic Bittersweet Yearning (more love songs)

& (songs about friendship)

Spotify Wrapped:

Rowe’s 2020 Wrapped

Rowe’s 2021 Wrapped

Rowe’s 2022 Wrapped

Rowe’s 2023 Wrapped

Rowe’s Wrapped 2019-2023 (I had Spotify in 2019 but was using a different account at the time)

Minecraft:

Fallen Kingdom Saga

Minecraft Songs

The Minecraft Archives:

TMcA

tmca!Tommy

(The Minecraft archives was a mcyt (dsmp/Hermitcraft season 8) tma au that I was working on which I am no longer writing because of Current Events)(I also had a TMcA!Wilbur playlist but I deleted it back in February along with all of my other Lovejoy playlists because fuck Wilbur)

The Rest Of Them:

Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday (sometimes you just wanna listen to songs with Saturday in the title; here’s a playlist for that)

Favorite Covers

Walmart Radio but it’s the songs I actually like

# (songs with numbers in the title)

Duets & features

Inside you there are two wolves (aka Fall Out Boy are liars)

Eurovision Favs

and finally,

Some Songs That Aren’t Lovejoy:

When did this happen why are there so many of them this post took like an hour to make

[furby-junkie]

Furby Friend Scriptwriter: Elise Allen

Elise Allen wrote lines for a "Pikachu Furby" and "E.T. Furby", (Interactive Pikachu and E.T., I assume) and it seems she was going to work on Interactive Mike & Sully. This is mentioned in episode 4 of a podcast series called "Typin' Toons", which features an interview with Elise:

-------

27:40-32:05

"The Furby scripts. They're like 100 pages long and it's all charts because you have to track what they're learning along the way. If you pressed E.T.'s hand just once, he might just say 'Ouch'. "

"I did an E.T. Furby, I did a Pikachu Furby, you'd be amazed how many ways you can say 'Pikachu'. Because I mean, there's 'Pik', there's 'Pika'. Like, this is Pikachu. There are some cool things that came out of that, too, because I was gonna write a Mike & Sully one, and they flew me up to Pixar to see an early screening of Monsters Inc., where they still had scratch voices… and they had me create my own version of Furbish."

"They wanted to do a really super special Furby. It was going to be called a Mee-Wah. So he started only speaking his own language, and then wound up learning English… Charts and charts and charts, along this way, I got a new agent who was wonderful and basically was asking me, 'What do you really respond to?'. And I said, my favorite thing, ever, ever in the universe are the muppets..."

------

From an article (archived):

"Since then, I’ve had all kinds of random writing jobs, from the heady (a prime time sitcom where they feed you incessantly and give you high-priced electronics for Christmas presents!) to the hilarious (100 pages of dialogue to be programmed into a Furby… most of it written in Furbish!)."

[oldschoolvpq]

HAPPY TAMAVERSARY! Smart Anniversary Party Set

It's November 23, so you know what that means...new Anniversary Tamagotchi to celebrate the market release date of the original Tamagotchi 26 years ago! Once again we have a Smart set, though it's a bit more lavish and readily available than last years.

To recap, last year the white Tamagotchi Smart was available via lottery on Bandai's exclusive shopping site Premium Bandai and shipped at the very end of August 2022 (close to 3 months before the general release of the coral pink, mint green, and NiziU versions). It includes the 1997 Friends TamaSma Card that lets you raise 4 classic characters (Mametchi, Kuchipatchi, Nyorotchi, Oyajitchi) in their 1996 monochrome pixel stylings along with playing the good old "Left or Right" game. Come to think of it, I wrote a post about the unboxing!

Anyway, this year's theme is Anniversary Party, plus it's available at general retail so more fans will be able to get their hands on it. Let's see how it looks next to last year's package.

IT'S BIG! The added length and depth comes entirely from the character book added as a bonus. (For those who've never opened a Smart, it's a VERY tight fit in there!)

On one side of the package you've got your special artwork...last year's mimicked the original P1 Japanese packaging, while this year's features a big old party with cake, balloons, plus all the Smart adults and the 10 included on the TamaSma Card, including Ginjirotchi who was picked by fans in a poll a few months back! This year's is much more in line with the modern Tamagotchi branding...I personally remain a fan of the classics.

Time to look inside!

Character Special Book? Check. Anniversary Party TamaSma Card? Check. Smart unit and wristband? Check. Instruction booklet and charging cable? Check and check. (Between my Vital Bracelets and my Smarts I'm swimming in these tiny cables!)

Now let's get a look at the actual unit.

Oh that is SPARKLY! A gorgeous glittery gradient makes up the "faceplate", with the new Tamagotchi logo screened in white on the clear cover. Matched with the purple of the unit it's a true visual treat.

Taking a look at the unit without the wristband, it's an opaque cool purple shell. I'd call it closer to periwinkle than lilac if we're going by Crayola crayon colors. The printed buttons around the Home button aren't a perfect color match, having a bit more red to them. It bothers me a bit but honestly I'm so busy staring at the sparkles I doubt I'll care much once this review is gone.

The wristband itself has a jelly-like opacity to it and feels a little firmer than the standard strap. The clasp is a slightly darker purple that matches the unit's Home button, and features no printing.

As for the Special Character Book...?

It's a bit smaller than the books that have been released so far. I thought it would be similar to the character introduction section of January's "Special Book", but it's actually BETTER!

While the Special Book used the blue-outline "modern" art for classic characters up until the Connection series, this book uses the original artwork from "back in the day". Pixels and personality galore! Plus they have full rosters for Angel, Garden, Ocean, Devil, and Yasashii, which were only covered briefly in the special book.

PLUS it's got character descriptions for EVERYONE, even the funky dudes who were exclusive to Data CardDass cards and random town residents who I'm not sure have ever been featured like this before!

All non-collab (NiziU, Sanrio, Molcar, One Piece, Pixar) SmaCard characters are included up to September's Magical Change as well. (The Anniversary Party characters are introduced pretty early on, plus they were all in past versions anyway.)

The inner covers also feature past series art including the original package, 20th anniversary art, and more!

I wasn't expecting so much love and care to go into a such a small volume, but I've gotten a real sense that whoever is in charge of Tamagotchi cares greatly about the history of the brand. Professor Banzo and Mika-Chu even give a send-off on the back cover, thanking us for 25 years and hoping we'll continue to stick with them going forward.

Overall, a great set sure to please even the most nitpicky of fans. Here's to another 25 years!

[doamarierose-honoka]

The latest fan-made concept trailer for a live-action Pixar film imagines Toy Story getting the treatment. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Chris Pratt leads the cast of the imagined film.

Shared on YouTube by Multiverse of Movies, the same channel that previously put out a concept trailer for The Incredibles in live-action, a concept trailer for the live-action version of Toy Story has been released. With AI-generated imagery and voices, Pratt is featured as one of the actors playing live-action versions of various Toy Story characters. Given how Pratt has already taken on iconic roles of animated characters like Mario and Garfield, it may not be too shocking if such a casting were to happen in reality. The faux trailer can be seen below.

Playing the live-action Buzz Lightyear is Chris Evans, a reference to how the MCU star voiced an alternate version of Buzz in the animated movie Lightyear. Traditionally, Tim Allen has voiced the animated Buzz alongside Tom Hanks as Woody. Similarly, Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie have respectively been cast as Ken and Barbie after already playing the roles in the live-action Barbie movie. Keanu Reeves is added to the mix as the live-action of Duke Caboom, the character he voiced in Toy Story 4.

Other imagined cast members include Emma Stone as Jessie, Steve Harvey as Mr. Potato Head, Amanda Seyfried as Bo Peep, John Malkovich as Stinky Pete, Dwayne Johnson as Sergeant, Josh Brolin as Emperor Zurg, and Will Poulter as Sid, which is likely due to how many times the actor has been compared to the Toy Story bully.

Playing the live-action Buzz Lightyear is Chris Evans, a reference to how the MCU star voiced an alternate version of Buzz in the animated movie Lightyear. Traditionally, Tim Allen has voiced the animated Buzz alongside Tom Hanks as Woody. Similarly, Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie have respectively been cast as Ken and Barbie after already playing the roles in the live-action Barbie movie. Keanu Reeves is added to the mix as the live-action of Duke Caboom, the character he voiced in Toy Story 4.

Other imagined cast members include Emma Stone as Jessie, Steve Harvey as Mr. Potato Head, Amanda Seyfried as Bo Peep, John Malkovich as Stinky Pete, Dwayne Johnson as Sergeant, Josh Brolin as Emperor Zurg, and Will Poulter as Sid, which is likely due to how many times the actor has been compared to the Toy Story bully.

As Poulter once said in a GQ interview, "A guy at a urinal in LA last week turned to me and said, 'You're in Toy Story, right?' And I was like, 'Well, that was animated.' I don't want to be rude. I also appreciate there's a meme going round of me—I dressed up as Sid from Toy Story for anti-bullying week. So arguably I haven't helped my case. But [Toy Story came out in] 1995. I was two. And they weren't doing it through live-action."

A Fifth Toy Story Movie Is in the Works

Currently, there are no known plans for Toy Story, or any other Pixar film, to be reimagined in live-action. However, the franchise continues to move along, even after Toy Story 4 had seemed to cap off the movie series. It's been announced that Toy Story 5 is in the works with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen set to return as the voices of Woody and Buzz Lightyear. While not many plot details have been divulged, it's been hinted that the story will see the toys competing with modern technology taking away the attention of children.

Toy Story 5 will be released on June 19, 2026.

Source: Multiverse of Movies on YouTube

[drewandareview]

This is the End (2013) and Monsters University (2013)

Originally published June 21st, 2013

Featuring an all-star cast against the background of the apocalypse, This is the End had all the potential to be a great popcorn movie.  It also had the potential to be ruined if put in the wrong hands.  Thankfully, it was put into the hands of people who love popcorn movies.  What the audience was hoping for is what the audience got, and I might even say they got more than the bargained for.

It's still just a popcorn movie.  It didn't do anything particularly clever or extraordinary.  It was flawed.  There was one part toward the end I particularly hated where two characters I liked considerably were defeated by a character I disliked considerably, and without comeuppance.  But while not being anything historic, the movie still might be groundbreaking.  The big producers might finally begin realizing the obvious: Movies are successful when made by people who deliver everything the audience wants.

However, there was something very distinct about this movie to me.  All of the actors were playing themselves.  Maybe not accurate versions of themselves, but they went by their name and went by their backgrounds.  It's not as if movies featuring cameo performances haven't been done before.  That's not what's distinct.  But I don't think that there's been such a cameo-heavy movie that featured such dark and dramatic events.  With the stakes as high as life or horrible death, you're quick to develop an emotional attachment to these characters.

And that's what's distinct: Just how quickly you can develop that emotional attachment.  With fictional characters, you have to create some kind of a background and personality for them before you can really start caring.  With This is the End, the backgrounds aren't needed because they've already been written by pop culture.  You know these celebrities already and you know what they've done.  Before you even hit the first frame, you have characters the audience is invested in.

And to me, that's fascinating because I have never seen such a layer of authenticity in a movie.  In fact, it actually bothered me for a while.  I could write the greatest fictional story ever, but it still wouldn't be as authentic as This is the End because my story would feature characters that are strangers to the audience.  Naturally, they couldn't be as invested.  

But I don't like to think that anything's hopeless, so I began brainstorming.  Just how could you ascend to that level of authenticity without relying on celebrity cameos?  Your characters would have to somehow be rooted in culture before your story came out.  You'd have to have some kind of supplemental material prior to the events of your story that could establish your characters.  Something like--a prequel.

To me, this is why Monsters University is so unique.  It's not a movie that you should consider a part of the great Pixar canon because it really isn't.  Monsters University feels more like a supplement to Monsters, Inc.; a bonus feature if you will.  It notably creates a very dynamic origin for Mike and Sulley and tells the best story it can in the process.  If you view this movie as a standalone, it's average.  But if you view it as additional material to enrich your experience of the original story, it's extraordinary.

I had wanted to see both of these movies for a while, but I did not expect them to be any more related than "coming out in June 2013".  One used pre-existing backgrounds to make its story more authentic while the other created backgrounds to make its established story more authentic.  I had always thought of movies strictly within the boundaries of first scene to last scene, but my eyes have been opened to the incredible possibilities of building onto a story before it's even told.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Estimated $100m second weekend for INSIDE OUT 2... Really out here breaking some records, eh? Rare for a movie, and the first time for an animated movie, should the estimates be on the low end. Very possible the actual is like $98-99m, which is still very impressive, and only an approx. 35% drop.

If it gets over $100m over the three-day, it'll sit with all-timers THE FORCE AWAKENS, ENDGAME, INFINITY WAR, BLACK PANTHER, JURASSIC WORLD, and THE AVENGERS...

Really shows that the original INSIDE OUT is beloved after its blockbuster run in 2015, and it shows that audiences quite like this movie and are back for more. Might even make a play for INCREDIBLES 2's $608m domestic total, unadjusted of course. (The actual total in today's ticket prices is around $720m, per The-Numbers.) That would make it the highest-earning animated movie domestically, but right now, Pixar's Supers hold that title. Adjusted, it will always belong to SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS.

But if anybody was gonna beat Pixar, it was gonna be Pixar. I don't see another studio getting a shot at this, maybe except cousin studio Disney Animation and their MOANA 2... Or DreamWorks if SHREK 5 really lands like a meteor in a few years from now.

Worldwide, INSIDE OUT 2 sits at $724m. Again, within two weeks of release. Already circling the original's $857m take. (Before anyone says it, the film saw a small re-release in July 2020 that pushed the take to... $858m. Know that I refer to original release grosses, lol.)

And with this movie doing so well, I see all the Chicken Little-ing... Over the wrong problem.

"We're NEVER getting an original movie from this studio again"

Okay... Let me try to debunk this.

I don't think an animation studio of this size can feasibly ONLY make sequels, because eventually... Wells run dry. Also, the people who yell this often online... Are they aware that ELIO exists and will be released next summer? Are they aware that Domee Shi, director of TURNING RED, has a new movie in the works at Pixar? (It's not ELIO, she is likely just doing story/script on that one.) Are they aware that Pixar has a movie slotted for release in late winter 2026 between ELIO and TOY STORY 5?

I'll tell you something funny... There was a fellow who insisted to me in December 2015 that Pixar was going to be done with original movies after THE GOOD DINOSAUR became the studio's first money-loser. That they'd put COCO on hold, and that would be it... LOL. This person also claimed to be a shareholder... That speaks volumes.

But no, really... You need to keep making untested or original movies in order to have things to make sequels to in the first place. And one of Pixar's recent losses was... A spin-off of TOY STORY featuring a version of one of their most recognizable, practically synonymous-with-their-name characters. Yeah, that epic movie about Lenny the binoculars!

So, please... Never making originals again? That's just a bad business plan and completely not feasible.

When originals/non-sequels don't meet the corporations' expectations (because I refuse to call SOUL, LUCA, TURNING RED and ELEMENTAL "flops" in any way, shape, or form... *Especially* the first three), the studios don't stop making them... They stop making them in a specific way.

Hence, Pete Docter - likely with Bob Iger pointing a gun at his head - saying Pixar won't make "autobiographical" movies anymore. Basically no more TURNING REDs, and more... Well, whatever the early 2026 movie is going to be. (Which is not this "Ducks" thing people keep insisting it is, as far as I know.)

The other studios do that, too. Off the top of my head... DreamWorks had a bunch of these fantasy movie in the works circa 2011. Stuff like THE GRIMM LEGACY, RUMBLEWICK, ALMA, fantastical stories with something of a darker bent to them. They were also considering adapting GIL'S ALL FRIGHT DINER... They had all these really cool movies in the works that would've redefined what a DreamWorks movie could be, post-SHREK. And then after a movie called RISE OF THE GUARDIANS lost money (even though it had good legs and became a cult hit thereafter), all of it never happened. ME AND MY SHADOW, which was in some form of production and was HOTLY anticipated by the animation community, got canceled. They proceeded to finish TURBO and MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN.

Both of which also "flopped"... I remember Jeffrey Katzenberg, when he was still running that place, saying something to the tune of: "Well those failed because we tried to aim at preteens and teenagers." Really? TURBO and PEABODY, which were overpriced to begin with, were aiming for that age group? The plan going forward was "We're going to make movies for kids and their parents." Whatever the hell that meant. Eventually, Comcast bought DreamWorks, a little over a year later. And the flightplan constantly changed after that.

Studios don't give up on movies that aren't sequels, they just re-route them. They find "reasons" for previous movie failures, and usually it's the fault of the filmmakers and the stories they chose to tell. It's never any outside circumstances, which are actually often the case with money-losing movies. The very movies that go on to be big on home video and streaming, and attain cult followings. With today's line of thinking, Walt Disney wouldn't have even gotten past PINOCCHIO's disastrous original release results.

So instead of yelling "we'll never get original movies again", I direct my energy elsewhere... And I say "Well, hopefully the future movies - both original and sequel - don't fall flat because of needless executive interference that attempts to *correct* a perceived problem." That to me is the issue, not the fantasy of Pixar completely stopping making original movies altogether.

[angeliqueshelleyartist]

Nostalgia and Memory

Final

I wanted to choose a positive memory for this piece from a holiday adventure to Crystal River in Florida. I have a fear of snakes and my encounter with this particular mud snake helped overcome that a little. I was paddling along the river, my partner and our tour guide further upstream, when a large black and vivid red snake passed close to my leg. I immediately thought of the age-old advice that brightly coloured creatures are often poisonous, which I learned was mostly false when I frantically researched it later. I stayed perfectly still in my panic, but as the snake passed, I noticed that it was happily minding its own business, just going about its day quite confidently and happy to share the space with a large floating biped. Still, when the snake had passed a safe distance, I hurriedly took my legs from the water just in case anything else crept up on me.

Research

Crystal river is a fresh water river with stunningly clear waters that wouldn't feel out of place in the Caribbean. I wanted to capture the colour and clarity of the water in my piece. The colour itself lends to the welcoming and holidaying vibe of this memory.

I chose emulate Disney/Pixar rendering and colour style for this memory as memory doesn't always appear in the mind as realistic, and Pixar has a marvelous and very scientific way of eliciting emotion through its colour use (ROGERS, 2021). Most of the Pixar colours seem to be neon pastels, this style gives space for capturing the colours of crystal river and even enhancing them as memory can.

Examples of Pixar pallets:

In Moana, the neon color of the water entity enhances the feeling of wonder and magic.

My memory does not accurately recall details, for example, when I think back to that event, I do not see the Smaug-like eyes of the snake pictured below, but rather a more caricature version where the snake has cute shiny, button eyes. Pixar has a wonderful stylisation of real life that will lend to the feelings I'm trying to convey.

I wanted to be accurate in my colours when presenting the snake, but also stylise its features to come across as cute, confident, and oblivious to the alarm it caused!

A key style cue for Pixar animals is large eyes that don't seem to anatomically fit in the head, bright colours, expressive eyebrows and a big smile.

Process

As I began my rough thumbnail sketching, I was struggling to show the snakes face, which would need to be a key focal feature in order to show his cuteness. I realised that I needed to for-go the strict recollection form the first person and adjust the angle to make it all about the snake, but still capturing the aftermath of his passage. I tried a lower angle with a wide-angle lens distortion to capture the micro-elements. The distorted curve helped add drama and a dynamic flair to a simple composition.

As I was pleased with the direction, and to get a more relevant photo-reference, used the prompt: "looking down at a very cute mud snake swimming ontop of the crystal river in florida with depth-of-field mangrove roots in the background and blue water underneath. --ar 3:2". This was a great realistic reference for rendering.

I had chosen to go with a depth of field with a shallow focal range, this meant most of my assets would be blurred. I was able to work quickly and efficiently by using Photoshop's powerful blurring filters to achieve a realistic result.

After roughly painting out the forms with a foliage brush, I ran it through the Lens Blur filter in Photoshop.

I also used a Photoshop filter to blur the undulating water effects which were painted using a water specular concept brush. To match the shallow depth of field, I used the Tilt Shift blur filter which lets you control the depth of field (1), focal range (2), and focal point (3).

I duplicated the water effect layer twice to create the light refraction. The first layer is the primary layer that shows the colour of the water beneath the surface. The second layer is a deeper and darker blue moved just a couple of pixels above to create a core shadow, and the third layer, in white, moved just a couple of pixels above the last, creates the specular. I adjusted the opacity of each until accurate.

Crystal River underwater reference image:

The water beneath the surface was relatively easy to achieve with a pretty realistic result. The most valuable players being the rocky textured brush and the perspective transformation tool.

In image one I created the water line against the lens and painted in the vibrant colours that captured the Crystal River.

In image 2 I used the texture of the brush to add in some debris and then manipulated it into perspective.

In image three I used another concept brush for ground rocks.

In image 4 I used a rectangular brush with fall-off to create the caustics, which I also warped into perspective. The shadow of the snake helps emphasise its length and size and the trail of caustics is a cute detail to show motion.

I wanted to spend time detailing the caricature of myself even though it was going to be blurred. I wanted to capture the fear in my eyes and have my focus be on the snake. Sadly, I think this feature is a little lost, but if this were to be animated, a change in focus, or a close-up of the character's face would help sell the emotion beyond the large movement of the limbs. The splayed toes are another cue to the emotion which I think is pretty cute and funny.

I wanted to have more control of how the character was blurred, so I created a depth map where pale is foreground and dark is further away, this would have to be inverted later to be applied using the Photoshop filter.

The filter requires the depth map to be applied as a layer mask (unlined or later deleted so opacity is not affected). I copied the depth map and pasted is directly in situ into the layer mask (alt+lft click to select) and inverted the entire layer.

In the Lens Blur filter, I selected "Layer Mask" as the source for my depth map and adjusted the sliders to where I was happy with the blur amount.

It was a little late, but because my assets were painted independently to the rest of the scene, I was able to move the character and snake into positions better suited to the composition.

I am really pleased with the way this piece turned out, the colours and characters match the style I decided to pursue. The main critique from my peer review, on which I agree, is the movement of the character; pushing the dynamic element of the pose and positioning. I struggled a little with the angle of the person, and the movement seems to create some confusion as to whether this person is falling in the water or dramatically pulling their leg from it, I will need to work on the clarity of my story telling!

References:

ROGERS, A. (2021). How Pixar Uses Hyper-Colors to Hack Your Brain. [Online]. Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/how-pixar-uses-hyper-colors-to-hack-your-brain/ [Accessed 25 October 2023].

Image References:

DISNEY. (2016). Moana. [Photograph]. Burbank: The Walt Disney Company.

GRANT, C., SAUNDERS, M. (2023). Waterways of Crystal River, Florida. [Photograph]. [Online]. Available at: https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/destinations/north-america/explore-the-waterways-of-crystal-river-florida/ [Accessed 25 October 2023]

MIDJOURNEY, (2023). Looking down at a very cute mud snake swimming ontop of the crystal river in florida with depth-of-field mangrove roots in the background and blue water underneath. --ar 3:2. [AI Generated Photo].

PIXAR. (2016). Finding Dory. [Photograph]. Burbank: The Walt Disney Company.

POWERS, L. (2014). Red-bellied Mudsnake 01. [Photograph]. [Online]. Available at: https://kysnakes.ca.uky.edu/snake/farancia-abacura [Accessed 25 October 2023].

POWERS, L. (2014). Red-bellied Mudsnake 04. [Photograph]. [Online]. Available at: https://kysnakes.ca.uky.edu/snake/farancia-abacura [Accessed 25 October 2023].

QUALITY LOGO PRODUCTS BLOG. (2023). 8 Color Schemes from the Pixar Universe. [Online]. Quality Logo Products. Available at: https://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/pixar-color-schemes/ [Accessed 25 October 2023].

WAKE AND WANDER MEDIA. (2020). Crystal River, Florida. [Photograph]. [Online]. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willmcgough/2020/08/20/road-trip-florida-5-insider-tips-for-visiting-crystal-river/ [Accessed 25 October 2023]

[qu-film-history-to-1968]

Rewrite - Introduction Blog Post, Ratatouille

By Jack Muscatello

In looking back at the films that defined my childhood, one of the biggest standouts for me is Pixar’s 2007 film Ratatouille. The second collaboration between director Brad Bird and the studio, Ratatouille tells the story of a rate named Remy who desires to become a chef in Paris, while also trying to remain close to his rat family, who collectively fail to see the value in cooking that Remy easily visualizes. After watching the film as a kid, Brad Bird’s vision struck me in a way few other animated films had at the time. With its striking color palette and more mature tone, the film harbors its approach of being a “study of extremes” (Pixar.com).

Primarily, Bird entered the project at a time when the story and design were still in flux, and he made a few key decisions that would define the film’s presentation. First, he chose to kill off the character Gustaeu, who owns the primary restaurant in the film that Remy, the main character, idolizes. I feel this change made the film into what it is most recognized for – it’s romanticized view of Paris and the French Cuisine. Remy worships food throughout the story, and placing Gustaeu’s “consciousness” as a figment of Remy’s imagination makes for several important character moments (Pixar.com). Additionally, Bird decided to bring the crew along to several real restaurants around Paris, where the titular ratatouille dish was discovered. Gourmet Chef Thomas Keller developed a new version of the dish for the film, which is featured in a pivotal scene in the third act involving a stuck-up food critic named Ego.  

For me, Ratatouille represents an important departure for Pixar into a more mature direction, which they continued with their succeeding projects Up, Inside Out, and most recently Soul. I think this style from Bird and his team helped spark my early interest in more dynamic and realistic stories, even in animated form.

[artxsticsuper]

My favorite member is definitely Robaire 🌹 THIS MAN IS SO FINE ✨✨✨ When I first saw him, he reminded me of 2 of my favorite artists: Jason Derulo and Usher. I started to grow into him after finding out he was voiced by Jordan Fisher (bro’s so talented I swear 😭). Also, THE HIGH NOTE! Can’t forget that high note he did. It was so angelic and it literally gave me goosebumps when I first heard it. 

I don’t have a favorite member I previously had but if I had to pick another one, it’d be Jesse.

Robaire likes to confuse the hell out of anyone who doesn’t know or speak French, specifically when he flirts or swears in French.

When it comes to Tae, Jesse can become overprotective sometimes (he’s literally the dad of the group).

Because Tae is an animal person, he’s usually not afraid of most animals. He’d be the type to ask if he can keep a rescued animal while on tour. If they say yes, he’ll end up filling the whole tour bus.

For Aaron T: T is the type of guy to say yes to “If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you?” For Aaron Z: Z would sometimes playfully tease Robaire while playing basketball with him.

My top 3 songs ranked: 1. U Know What’s Up 2. 1 True Love 3. Nobody Like U // This was honestly a hard pick to choose from since all of them I loved. But my favorite was “U Know What’s Up”, especially the panda hustle version. Because of how catchier the song and the lyrics are, I ended up dancing harder with this song compared to the rest of the other songs.

I ship Robaire and Tae Young; I feel like Robaire would have a cute relationship with Tae and he would be one of the members where he treats Tae like a regular member rather than a child. It’s hard to ship the rest of the band since they never got a lot of screen time in the movie. I might ship Robaire with Jesse too but for now I’m depending on Tae.

My first memory of 4*Town was when I first saw the Tween Beat magazine on Pixar’s Instagram account back in early 2022 before Turning Red was released on Disney+.

Yes! I wish there were more chapters but I absolutely enjoyed it. My favorite chapter in the Manga is True Crew because I love the idea of Robaire and Aaron Z being childhood friends and rivals to each other. We should have seen more of Robaire’s mom in the manga since she could have some similarities to Ming Lee and she could also be an obstacle to Robaire’s relationship with Z.

Nobody Like U: “I want everybody to stop and stare, and you know why it’s me Robaire” 1 True Love: “I could never survive a minute apart, you are my one true love” U Know What’s Up: “You want those shoes, you want that shirt, you want that car, you want that purse”

The concert scene, 100%! The moment those cages and the wings appeared, I knew I was going to lose it because I ended up fangirling so hard the whole time and I wanted to take Mei’s place to reach out for Robaire’s hand so badly. It gets even better when the band comes back during the Panda ritual, it had me shook—

Tough choice. I’m thinking between Robaire and Aaron Z because I feel like these two would be the ones who led to the rise of 4*Town besides both of them having a passion for singing.

I’m not that experienced with fairy tales. But here’s which fairy tale I think each member would be in: Robaire: Jack in the Beanstalk // Jesse: Rapunzel // Tae Young: Snow White // Aaron T: Alice in Wonderland // Aaron Z: Red Riding Hood//

I would buy their clothes and accessories, maybe the CD’s as well.

This one, I’m not too sure about. But I do want an album that relates to the song featured in True Crew.

What I like the most about 4*Town is their songs. As much as I don’t frequently listen to boy bands, 4*Town perfectly represents a band from the 2000s, especially with the lyrics, tone, and beat (Finneas and Billie, I love you for this 💕).

I love the headcanons and the artwork from this fandom! It’s fun to read them from all of the members and I would sometimes read the X Reader ones too! 💕

Besides doing art, I sometimes make edits and play video games.

“Catch 22” and “I’ll Be” ✨

NewJeans - OMG

Smash Mouth - All Star

If I had to make a series, I would include all of the members backstories and the formation of 4*Town because I was hoping to get more screen time with the band in the movie. I don’t care if they’re not the main protagonists, I NEED TO SEE MORE OF THEM 😭

I have 2 favorites, specifically from the Manga: I love Tae Young and Jesse’s relationship in the manga. It melts my heart when Jesse becomes supportive of Tae while he’s going through conflict with his parents. I also love Robaire and Aaron Z’s relationship. Like I said before, I love the idea of these two being childhood friends and rivals to each other.

I would love to hear the Girl I Love Your Jeans remix! I say it should have a mixture of pop and rap for most of the song. The rap sections would mostly be in the verses.

I currently don’t have any suggestions.

I can’t pick any favorites at the moment. However, I did love most of the blogs on Tumblr when I first started using Tumblr around mid 2022.

I enjoy sharing 4*Town content! I also enjoy the fandom that increased my love for the band. If Pixar ever made a series focused on the band, I would immediately binge watch it because these guys deserve it after what I have witnessed in that concert scene.

The Manga doesn’t really need changes but I do think there should be more added to it. Although we did get a minor backstory for most of the band members, I wanted to see more of the lives of each band member, especially Robaire, Aaron T, and Aaron Z.

I have a feeling I’ll get jumped for this. But I don’t ship Aaron T and Aaron Z a lot. As much as I have nothing against this ship and I support the idea of them being together, I just don’t ship it as much as other people do in the fandom.

Another tough choice but I think I would mostly get along with Robaire and Jesse. For Jesse, him being the father of the group should be a good enough explanation even though I consider him the type of guy to babysit me and try to keep me under control even when I’m not being a menace (I could be kinda goofy in real life but only with close friends cuz I’m not very sociable). However, he has similar interests to mine due to him going to art school. Personally, I think he can do art other than pottery. For Robaire, his personality would be spot on to Jordan Fisher’s. I count this man as a sweetheart, pretty mature like Jesse, charming, and takes certain things seriously like I do. Robaire could sometimes be extra to the point where it can be slightly annoying but I can manage him. And another thing, this man’s singing skills other than Aaron Z’s sends me over the roof. It feels like heaven to me and I would wanna be his soulmate if he was real.

I currently don’t have any expectations.

Love me Back by Trinidad Cardona: I honestly blame the edits people made of 4*Town with this specific song. That, and this one Tae Young X Listener video I watched a while back which has been unfortunately deleted. The song gives me summer vibes and I think it would be awesome if the entire band sang this song! If I ever got the chance to learn how to animate, I would make a music video. Everybody by the Backstreet Boys also reminds me of 4*Town, which is a bit ironic since this band might be Domee Shi’s inspiration behind 4*Town.

Yes, I do! Here’s my message: I would like to say thank you all for giving 4*Town the attention they deserve and for the popularity it got. I would also like to say thank you to the people who made some of the most talented artwork, edits, fanfictions, and headcanons from this band. No matter how active this fandom is, 4*Town will always remain in my heart and this will be a reminder to me where I can count on the team who created this band. I love y’all so much 💕

Welcome one and all to the… 4*Town Ask Game! Where you can answer questions to emphasise your love for the entire 4*Town fandom and to also bring the hype of my fanfiction that’s coming up soon.

How it’s going to work: I’ll write the questions on this post, make sure to read them carefully as a way to fully answer the questions in detail, once you've read them, reblog to answer the full questions and make sure that the words are appropriate as I don’t tolerate hateful behaviour. And don’t forget to share this to others so they can share the love for this group as well! Without further ado, let’s get started!

Who is your favourite member and why?

Who was your favourite member previously?

Share with me a headcanon on Robaire 🌹

Share with me a headcanon on Jesse 🎨

Share with me a headcanon on Tae Young 🕊️

Share a headcanon on The Aarons (Z and T)

What is your favourite 4*Town song and why? (Include your Top 3.)

Who do you ship from the group and why?

What was your first memory of 4*Town?

Did you read the manga? If so, what is your favourite chapter and why?

Name me your top 3 favourite lyrics from each 4*Town song🎵🎶

Do you have a favourite 4*Town scene from Turning Red and why?

Since I’m working on the “4*Town: Unfiltered” story, who do you want to be the main protagonist and why?

If you could imagine each 4*Town member in a fairy tale or any story, which one would each member be in and why?

What type of merch would you buy if 4*Town had merchendise?

For their next album, what concept would you want it to be and what songs could you include and why?

What do you like the most about 4*Town and why?

What do you love most about the entire fandom?

Do you do art or any other activities?

Can you tell me your favourite song from Robaire and Aaron Z’s discography? (You can sing the song’s lyrics as well.) And if you don’t know what I mean, I’m talking about the songs from my headcanons.

Pick a song for Tae Young and Jesse if they were a duo.

Pick a song for Aaron T if he went solo.

If you had to make a series or a spin-off of 4*Town, what would you include and why?

Do you have a favourite relationship from the group and why?

Which unreleased song from the group are you willing to hear and what are you expecting the song to sound like?

Are there any more themes or genres for my fanfiction that I should explore? It would be nice if you gave me any suggestions, please.

Do you have a favourite blog from the fandom and what do you like about them?

Do you enjoy sharing 4*Town content? Why or why not?

If there were any changes in the manga, what would you change? Why or why not?

Any unpopular opinions on 4*Town?

Which member do you think you’d get along with the most? Why or why not?

What are you expecting the fanfiction to look like to you when it gets released on Wattpad? Any form of plot? Character development? Conflicts?

Which songs remind you of 4*Town? Why or why not?

And the final question: Do you have a message for the whole entire fandom?