#funnily enough i despised this comic at first

[kinonicaltrickster]

yall want some kin edits

[holyghostflo]

I forgot to include some of my VERY OLD Code Lyoko art in the collection post!

I almost don't want to because it's some of my first digital work ever, but... despise not the day of small beginnings...

Here are some profile cards I made!

-and this is series I did. It's supposed to involve one Lyoko Warrior in one specific sector on Lyoko... with my own OC, because of course. (She looked so different back then...)

Rounding out the batch, we have my first ever Code Lyoko comics! Funnily enough, these bad boys STILL get a significant amount of attention, despite being couple years old...

[spiderin-space]

So does Leviathan only really dislike Baphomet because of the latter's change of faith, or is there something else brewing under the surface?

Also what made Baphomet so happy to swap faiths when they did?

I hope your ready for an Essay on these two’s relationship because I think about their tragedy A Lot

(Under read more in case it gets too long)

So I’ll answer the second question first, and funnily enough I actually have a short comic I did a while ago (but never posted) kinda explaining it!!

So for a long time Baphomet’s family worshipped The Fanatic to the point they were some of their most devout followers, never missing a single sermon, always sacrificing what they could to their god; for they always believed that, no matter how much they lost, it will all come back to them in the end and they will be handsomely rewarded whenever their faith was finally recognized by the deity they so loved.

However, The Fanatic viewed their followers as nothing more than vessels for power and devotion; as long as they kept worshipping the serpent, they didn’t particularly care to reward or elevate them in any way, even when they gave up everything in The Fanatic’s name.

However, that didn’t mean their followers still couldn’t be useful… in particular, they figured that thanks to their blind devotion, Baphomet would be especially gullible and easy to take advantage of: specifically by fitting them with a Demonic Necklace, possessing them with a demon, and ordering it to go kill The Bishops (though it would surely cost Baphomet their life in the process).

Of course Shamura is able to free them from the demon’s influence before they can cause any real damage (but not before they get seriously injured), and they’re left with a feeling of betrayal and loss, as the deity they venerated and adored with all of their heart and soul ‘rewarded’ them by sending them to their death in a futile attempt to settle a petty score.

They didn’t want to worship The Fanatic any more of course, but these lands are dangerous without a cult to call home… and that’s when Narinder came along, visiting them in the Healing Bay as they recovered from their possession, giving them gifts and making polite conversation; something The Fanatic wouldn’t dream of doing to a lowly follower.

Being shown even the smallest amount of kindness and basic decency was enough to convince them to switch sides; Finally seen and loved by a god who saw them as more than just a pawn in a divine chess game, it really was an easy decision to convert to Narinder’s faith, especially when they were awarded the role of disciple 😩

AND NOW to answer the first part!!

After The Fanatic dies (along with the remaining gods, leaving just The Bishops), their cult did not follow them; in fact, it was kept alive by Baphomet’s former family who stayed behind, with each heir becoming the new leader until finally Leviathan came along 😩

He was taught to hate The Bishops (and Narinder specifically, believing he delivered the killing blow to The Fanatic) because they got to live while their god didn’t, their cults thrived while his own struggled rebuild; but Baphomet is a unique case, coming with some… complex feelings towards them.

While he does hate them for abandoning The Fanatic, he also believes that they were manipulated by Narinder in order to follow him, despite the fact they left their old cult out of their own free will; his family had reinforced the story for countless generations, and so he can’t help but feel pity when he finally meets them in the flesh and invites them home. After all, Leviathan and Baphomet are kin… shouldn’t they want to return to their true family? He feels a strong (FAMILIAL) love towards them, emotions which are complicated by the dead god he devoted his life to. He wants to redeem them so badly, viewing them as worthy of forgiveness for the sin of worshipping Death; but alas, you can’t convert an unwilling soul 😔 their refusal becoming just another reason to despise them.

But ultimately, Leviathan views them much the same way The Fanatic did; as a pawn to be used to settle a score, seeing as how they’re one of the few things he can use to get his revenge against Narinder. And he succeeds, causing great pain to the god of death by killing his beloved disciple in front of him, even though he loses his own life in the process.

But, what’s a life lost in this great game of gods and heretics? In the end, he gets what he (and The Fanatic for that matter) always strove towards, as the death of Baphomet eventually led to Narinder’s rebellion against The Bishops, and the dissolution of the Old Faith all together 😩

[beevean]

Funny as not even this is consistent

Lanolin giving a fake smile to Sonic implies that she is lying to him. She is pretending to be courteous and grateful while in reality she already holds resentment against him.

I don't believe it. It's much more likely that at first Lanolin respected Sonic, but then her opinion of him worsened as she got to work with him and saw how much his behavior clashed with what she believed to be the best way to do things.

Unless the comic where she comes close to shooting Sonic because she blames him for all the ills of the world he won't fix is canon? :) doesn't paint a good picture of her, ABT.

Also. The Lanolin shown after this panel has been very, very, very blunt in her dislike of other people.

I wouldn't know how to find it, but funnily enough I remember another comic drawn by ABT where Lanolin does hold a fake smile while Tangle is rambling and then interrupts her with a loud "THAT'S NICE. :)", implying she can't stand her but she's pretending to be polite. This behavior, however? Mask off. If Lanolin thinks you are beneath her, and she does often, she will let you know.

Very generously, this could be seen as a fake smile, although I would call it between "polite" and "barely holding together":

And wouldn't you know, it's to the one character she doesn't despise!

"Well, maybe she doesn't want to be rude to Sonic!" well that would make her a hypocritical asshole, if somehow she considers Sonic too special to be treated honestly but still expects him to obey her commands and rules. Either Lanolin is a cold, no-nonsense tough soldier who values honesty, or she's a liar and a coward who only thinly pretends to like people but internally seethes. You can't have both.

anyway I'm still waiting for the part where you explain why I'm supposed to like her ABT

You forgot that, despite the headbutting, Lanolin and Holdo have admitted to actually viewing their loose canons positively. Though I guess that's in reverse order

According to Adam Bryce Thomas, we're supposed to interpret this panel as Lanolin having a "fake smile" because of the shape of the dimples

Which uhhh??

Art criticism aside ....

Apparently he is intending us to understand this as meaning that Lanolin was always a cunt who hated Sonic, basically. If I'm understanding correctly.

So the panel of Lanolin saying she's grateful to Sonic for saving her is not meant to be interpreted as sincere. According to the artist and creator of the character.

So frankly it seems like sheep girl doesn't even have that going for her.

[otterskin]

Lokabrenna - Loki & Fire & Swords, Part 2

This is a sequel to this post here

This is why I don’t mind trailing off in a post sometimes. People come by and give me new information to chase. Thanks to @whatyoufish4​ for informing me of some more Loki-Fire facts. Because learning one simple word has taken me down a rabbit hole...

Lokabrenna translates as “Loki’s Torch” or “Loki’s Burning”.

Lokabrenna was the Scandinavian name for the North Star, AKA Sirius, AKA the Dog Star, AKA My Favourite Harry Potter Character. 

It’s also, Google informs me, the name of a Black Metal album by Nawaharjan (meaning Corpse Army, which may be another reference to Loki, neat), released in February of 2020.

I’m not much of one for black metal, but I found the description of why the band chose to name their album after Lokabrenna good for our purposes as well:

“The album’s namesake, Lokabrenna is the Scandinavian name for the star Sirius...The star is associated with important destructive and liberating attributes in many cultures worldwide.

“Within the Brandawegiz tradition, Lokabrenna is associated with the liberating powers of Loki. It is also linked to the destruction of the cosmos that follows after the release of the flaming sword Lævateinn during Ragnarök and Loki’s transformation into his final, liberating aspect Hveðrungr.”

I’m not sure what or who “Brandawegiz“ is, I think it’s something to do with metal music and therefore very outside my knowledge - but now I’m beating myself over the head for failing to mention the sword Lævateinn! Because this is the sword forged by Loki himself in Norse Mythology! Although there’s some contention there - some think it’s more of a magic wand or staff, or maybe a dart or arrow, or perhaps even a shape-shifting weapon. Apparently that’s due to contention over how to translate the name. To quote Wikipedia:

To be fair, Lævateinn or læ-wand can have three possible senses of meaning,[11]...The three meanings of læ (the nominative case of læva) are: "cunning", "deception", and "injury".[12][13] The weapon's name is glossed as "wand of non deceit" in passing without further explanation by Einar Ólafur Sveinsson.[1][14]

Wand of non-deceit? Sounds a little like a thesaurus reworking of ‘Sword of Truth’. Probably a coincidence, but...when it comes to these posts, I make coincidence a three-course meal with an ice cream stopped for on the way home. 

So, anyway - Lævateinn. It’s from a poem called the Fjölsvinnsmál, one of the youngest Eddic poems. And it has a great deal of fire in it.

To sum up a very old, partially corrupted and very confusing story and cut to what interests us today, there’s essentially a hero named Svipdagr, who’s got to kill the Rooster at the top of Yggdrasil as part of his quest to wed Menglöð, who is trapped inside a fortress made of fire. The only weapon that can slay the celestial cockerel is the flaming sword Lævateinn, forged by Loki.

This is interesting, because other than this I’d not much heard of Loki being connected to forging - that was always Thor, who has many ties to blacksmiths. Then again, Loki is around dwarves a lot - maybe he learned a thing or two after commissioning Thor’s hammer from them in the first place. How interesting that Marvel comics have Loki again forging his own weapons as well.

The poem also implies that the hall of flames was also constructed by Loki. How interesting. This poem leaves a lot of questions - why did Loki forge the cockerel-slaying blade, and construct the hall? Well, the cockerel is probably related to the one that raises Odin’s soldiers from the dead with his radio-clock-alarm call. And the hall contains Menglöð and will only open to a hero with the true name Svipdagr, but only if he kills the cockerel. So it would seem implied that this was Loki’s plan, or some sort of destiny driving everything towards Ragnarok and end of days.

(I’d like to recommend this post, which goes into much more detail about Loki’s role in this poem. It also gives more details on why some think Loki was originally a fire giant and his connection to Surtur, expanding what I touched on previously.)

Speaking of driving everything towards Ragnarok - what about this bit of that wonderful album write-up?

Loki’s transformation into his final, liberating aspect Hveðrungr.

Hveðrungr - A name meaning ‘Roaring’, as in the sound of an out-of-control conflagration, or that of a howling storm. It appears as a name for Loki in the Völuspa  (incidentally, I’ve been using parts of that poem in Finnesang), which is a seer’s prophecy about Ragnarok. It’s the name used for Loki as an apocalypse-bringer.

I like what Nawaharjan are implying here when they say that Hveðrungr is a liberating aspect of Loki - I’ve always felt bad about Loki’s transformation into the world-destroyer Snorri Sturluson helped make him and considered it a character assassination of the lighter character I’d come to love in my Norse Mythology books as a child. Yet this different perspective is one to consider. The album cover depicts Loki’s flaming sword severing the chains that bound him to the rock, where he was tortured by acidic serpent’s venom by the Aesir, the people he both despised and desperately wanted to be loved by. In freeing himself and beginning Ragnarok, in unleashing all of his fury and pent-up destructiveness, maybe he did become someone else - a Roaring. After all that treachery, maybe it was cleansing.

I seriously want a copy of this LP now, and I’m positive I won’t really listen to the music too much, ha ha. It’s just so shiny!

To doubleback to where we all started with this, though - Lokabrenna, the star. Let’s get serious about Sirius for a second.

It’s the brightest star in the sky and used as North in navigation. Ancient Greeks believed it could make dogs behave strangely in summer (where the term ‘Dog days of summer’ comes from). It can be seen as a star of ill repute. Homer describes it in the Iliad as:

Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky On summer nights, star of stars, Orion's Dog they call it, brightest Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat And fevers to suffering humanity.

Interestingly, many indigenous people in North America also associated the star with canines. The Cherokee believed it one of a pair of guardian dogs on either end of the Path of Souls. Some Inuit tribes called it the ‘Moon Dog’, while the Pawnee tribe called it Coyote Star (another famous trickster) or Wolf Star. Funnily enough, Chinese astronomy called it the ‘celestial wolf’ as well. 

No matter where, though, Sirius is one of the most important celestial bodies there is thanks to its role in navigation. It’s odd that the Norse decided to name it “Loki’s Torch”, especially since Loki has a strange place in the pantheon, with few known worshipers. They could have called it Odin’s Eye, or Thor’s Toe-Nail Clipping, or Fenrir’s Spittle - but it’s called Lokabrenna. A guiding torch to lead people home or out into the unknown.  

Loki with his torch, alternative cover for Lokabrenna (2020)

[stebeans]

She-Ra Inspired Actor AU - IV

Cast List (so far):

Taylor Cruz - Adora/She-Ra

Maya Sanchez - Catra

Jessica Cho - Glimmer

Marcus Patterson - Bow

Mei Lin - Frosta

Alexandria - Scorpia

Emmaline Lee-Scott - Queen Angela 

Jacqueline Emery Grey - Shadow Weaver

Taylor did not run. Ever. It was against her very nature. She never ran to catch a bus that was just departing, she used to stroll into class minutes after the late bell and she’d bet her past gym teachers were now probably grey in the hair from all the stress she had caused in gym class...

But now.

Now she was practically sprinting in a dead run across the studio lot towards the brick building one of the passing assistants had pointed out. Ha! If Mr. Brody, her seventh grade gym teacher, could see her now he’d probably be crying tears of joy seeing as he was always pushing her towards to join the track team. Something about her body build, lithe and toned, had made him believe she could be the next Usain Bolt. It was a pipe dream. No one could ever be the next Usain Bolt unless there was some sort of cloning device. And as if she would be caught dead wearing those gym shorts.

If only her damn alarm clock went off when it should have, Taylor wouldn’t be tearing like a bat out of hell. Apparently some time during the night she had knocked her phone charge loose from the flimsy wall outlet of her crappy apartment resulting a dead battery that never got charged. To make matters worse her beat-up Prius had chosen today of all days to finally break down forcing her to spring for an Uber she could barely afford. Taylor had sat in traffic on the I-105 for hours, her leg bouncing with anxiety and internally debating if she should just fuck it and continue on foot because anything was better than the painful crawl of the worst-known traffic in LA. She would know, being a born native and all.

Taylor cursed her string of bad luck that had resulted her in being late for the first cast meet/table read. She had spent endless nights and every waking second between shifts at the restaurant and a popular juice bar, studying the script front to back, since it had been dropped off at her door a few weeks back.  She had wanted to come prepared. To prove everyone that she wasn’t a risky choice. A mistake. A liability. Taylor was going to be the best damn She-Ra the world has ever known.

Her sneakers squeaked against the linoleum flooring as she skidded into the building, eyes squinting against the brightness of the fluorescent lights. Damn. Not only was she late but now she was sweaty. Ugh, Taylor could feel her damp t-shirt clinging to her back from underneath her signature leather jacket. She slowed to a stop just before the door, huffing and puffing, ignoring the nagging voice pointing out just how out of shape she was. She shot a glance down at her worn leather wristwatch, ten minutes late, not too bad but not great for a first impression. It took a minute to fix herself up as best as she could but at least she didn’t look like a hot mess. Grasping the door handle, Taylor could hear the muffled yet elated chatter beyond the door and without wasting another second she pulled the door open.

The view before her surprised her a little. The room was full of people, both cast and crew Taylor surmised with the handful of people staring intently at their clipboards as they made little notes in the margins. People hung out in little groups, making small conversations with shy smiles and nervous glances. Despite the awkward tension that hung in the air (typical for a first time cast meet) the room didn’t seem as stuffy and unwelcoming as the table reads she had attended in the past. It was usually full of pretentious lead actors already attempting to exert their dominance and one or two fellow male co-stars acting chummy with her.

Just as she was about to step forward to make her entrance a round of laughter erupted near the back of the room, rising above the idle chatter and garnering a few curious looks. Her gaze wandered over to the cheerful group, taking in the small group that somehow was making so much commotion. A short Asian girl had her head tilted back, roaring with laughter and it wasn’t until the taller black male had doubled over clutching his stomach, he was laughing so hard, did she catch the familiar wild mane of hair and wiry stature. Her mouth dropped open, her mind going blank and despite the distance she immediately— and inadvertently—caught Maya’s eyes from across the room. There was no mistake that Maya had recognized her the same time she did and it was quite unfortunate that Maya had been mid-sip when they had caught each other gazes because the girl had practically snorted water out of her nose in disbelief.

It would’ve been quite comical for Taylor had she not been internally panicking and all she could think about was Maya. And that she was here. At the cast meet for She-Ra. Maya. Here. With her. It had been a couple months since she last saw the girl and while she was banking on the shot she wouldn’t run into her again ever since the chemistry test from hell, Taylor knew better that while LA was a large city filled with hundreds of thousands of people, the chances of meeting one another in an audition was quite high. The Hollywood world wasn’t as large as everyone made it out to be.

Caught off guard and shocked beyond belief, Taylor stayed frozen at the doorway. Her mind just barely registering what was happening as Maya descended into a fit of forced hacks and haphazard coughs. Taylor winced slightly at the choking sounds and unwanted attention Maya was receiving. If people weren’t paying attention before, they were now as a few of them gathered around her, worry etching their faces. Yikes, that was one way to stand out at cast meet, Taylor supposed.

Taylor watched Maya wave off their concern with a watery smile and flimsy thumbs up before meeting her eyes once again, as if confirming she wasn’t just imagining things. Taylor didn’t blame her. She too had done a double-take because what were the freaking chances they would meet again? Especially during the table read for She-Ra considering their chemistry test from hell for said production?

Despite the shock, confusion and lingering guilt from how Taylor had last left things, she couldn’t pull her gaze away. It surprised how fast the incredulous look was wiped away from Maya’s face. Now Taylor couldn’t read her. She didn’t look happy because yeah, she was kind of a bitch the last time they talked but she didn’t seem un-happy. Sort of indifferent? Which honestly, Taylor could work with that. She squared her shoulders. She was going to woman-up, approach Maya and apologize. Maybe she’ll convince her to have a re-do introduction. A blank slate. It was of course for the best considering they would now be cast mates for the foreseeable future. It would be the professional thing to do.

She was going to rip off the band-aid and set aside her ego for once. Taylor inhaled deeply took a step forward only to be almost immediately deterred by an arm wrapping around her shoulders. “Taylor!” The Director greeted with a cheer. “So glad you made it! Now that our star is here we should get started, I bet everyone is excited to finally get the ball rolling, I know I am!” The Director clapped her hands until everyone’s attention was on her. “Okay everyone gather around, gather around!” She called out, corralling the occupants to the front of the room, where Taylor now noticed was clear of any furniture and spacious enough for the Director to instruct everyone to form a wide circle.

Oh no. If Taylor was right – and from the round object the Director was rolling in her hands – she was. Taylor felt a wave of dread fill her. She hated theatre games. Despised them actually. Some people thought it was a fun and brilliant way to break the ice between actors but Taylor hated it with a passion, almost as much as she hated running. She didn’t have the natural charisma or friendly disposition to easily befriend people. It would take more than some theatre game to warm her up to others and usually people didn’t have the patience or care to get to know her, already passing judgement in the first few minutes they meet her.

It shouldn’t surprise Taylor that Maya’s eyes lit up at the sight of the foam baseball, with how eager the Latina found everything. Unable to hold back the eye roll as Maya strolled towards the front of the room, hauling her new friends along with her with a cheery glint in her eyes. Apparently that was all it took because the rest of the room began to converge to the front, languidly following after Maya. Funnily, Taylor slipped through the crowd in the opposite direction towards the tables. “Looks like we got our first volunteer!” The Director announced joyfully and Taylor watched as Maya easily caught the ball in her hand, squeezing and examining the colourful foam ball.  

Taylor took her sweet time, randomly choosing one of the free seats left and slowly pulling her shoulder bag from where it hung limply at her side. It was obviously well-used, the weather so worn it was soft to the touch but despite it, it was Taylor’s most prized possession. The shoulder bag was a gift from her grandmother, her first true fan, a believer in her talents and pillar of support from anything from her floundering career in acting to her love life, or lack thereof in this case. Carefully placing the bag on the table, Taylor ran a hand over the flap for good luck. It wouldn’t compete against her grandmother’s unwavering tone as she wished her good luck or the following warmth of her loving embrace but it was the next best thing. Pretending her shoes needed re-tying, which actually wasn’t that far from the truth after nearly losing one on her jog over, Taylor took her sweet time in an attempt to prolong the inevitable.

The chatter within the room rose to an excitable level that had Taylor grimacing. After milking as much time as she could, Taylor straightened and glanced at the circle of her cast mates. She met Maya’s challenging gaze from across the room where the other actress was confidently tossing the ball in the air with a single hand, her eyes never once straying away from Taylor’s. Fine. If Maya wants to play, she’ll play. If that was how it was going to be. Taylor shrugged her leather jacket off with jerky movements, draping it across the back of the chair and strolling to the group where she planted herself directly across from Maya, meeting her challenging stare with one of her own.

As the ball was thrown at her with the speed and projection of a freaking rocket, Taylor barely had the time or reaction to bring her hands up before it whipped her in the face, her hands stinging despite the foam filling of the ball. So. Turns out she was wrong and Maya wasn’t feeling quite so indifferent after all. Feeling a dozen or so expectant eyes on her, Taylor nearly dropped the ball with how sweaty her palms had gotten. In front of a camera Taylor had no issues with her confidence. She could act the hell out of her character, she could play the dumb blonde, the air head cheerleader, the golden child of a popular tv series but when the cameras were put away and it was just her, no script, no fake persona, Taylor was as vulnerable as a baby bird. “Um, hi?” She gulped, feeling her throat dry up like the Sahara Desert.

The Director smiled encouragingly. “Why don’t you tell us who you are, something about yourself, who you will be playing in the show and a little fun fact if you will?”

“Right.” Taylor gulped. “Right. Well…I’m Taylor Cruz.” There was a chorus of friendly “hello Taylor’s” that helped ease her nervousness. “I will be playing Adora and I guess She-Ra by extension. I’m nineteen and a fun fact about me is uhh…” Taylor forced herself to think but with everyone’s focus on her she drew a blank. “I umm, I know all the words to ‘Baby Got Back’…”

Her “fun fact” was met with silence and Taylor could feel her cheeks warm up rapidly. A snort of laughter broke the quietness and Taylor’s eyes narrowed at Maya who grinned at her stupidly, waving off her uncontained laughter. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She apologized between pursed lips, failing to hold back her laugh. “It’s just…it was so unexpected.” The rest of the crew joined in a light chuckle and a towering woman beside her clapped her on the shoulder that nearly sent her flying.

Taylor could’ve sworn her cheeks were on fire and she wanted nothing more for the floor to swallow her whole. “It’s not something I’m proud of.” She added not wanting to give the room of strangers the wrong impression but nonetheless her comment elicited another round of good-natured laughter.

“Well I guess that means we will have to plan a karaoke night soon.” The man next to Maya said cheerfully, who Taylor would later learn to be Marcus.

Everyone nodded encouragingly and even Maya sent her a grin that looked less mocking and more in amusement. She glanced at the director, the obvious leader in this torture game, shooting her a what now?look, hoping that she would understand. “That’s great Taylor, I’m sure we’ll get you on stage soon enough. I bet everyone is looking forward to hearing you sing.” A whoop and a joyous ‘hell yeah!’ cut in that had everyone chuckling anew. “Why don’t you toss the ball to someone and they will repeat your name before they introduce themselves. We’ll continue the process until everyone has had a chance. Anyone who messes up a name will be severely punished.” The Director teased, giving Taylor the go ahead which Taylor was too happily relinquish the pressure to the next unfortunate person.

Taylor lifted the foam ball, all the ready to throw it back at Maya but she overlooked one crucial fact. She didn’t own one athletic bone in her body and while the intended target had been Maya, she nearly taken out the eye of another woman standing two person’s down from her mark. Taylor attempted to play it cool, as if that was who she was aiming for all along but by the raised eyebrow from Maya she could surmise she wasn’t as successful in the ruse. Thankfully everyone else seemed to have not noticed and was more than happy to get the theatre game started.

While Taylor had cursed her luck during her intro, she was relieved that she had gone first. A few people had jumbled up the order of the names or had outright gotten them wrong and were forced to do pushups while everyone booed and teased mercilessly. One pushup would already be…pushing the limit, pun not intended, for Taylor.

It was funny cause in the end the last person to be introduced was Maya, who caught the wavering ball before it smacked into Jessica – or Jess as she preferred – with relative ease. “Hi it’s nice meeting everyone.” She greeted the group shyly and of freaking course, repeated all the names in the room without issues. “My name is Maya Sanchez and I am seventeen years old. I just graduated high school and my fun fact is that my first love is softball and we have been going steady for ten years now.”

If Maya hadn’t surrendered the fact or if Taylor hadn’t seen her pick up the uniform from the floor the first time they met, it was obvious with the way Maya handled the ball with ease, tossing it up from hand to hand, adding spin so the rainbow coloured ball blurred in a magnitude of colours in the air. “Oh! That’s cool!” Marcus remarked. “Are you any good?”

Maya smiled sheepishly, raising one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “I’m alright.” She replied and Taylor had a feeling that she was being too modest for her own good.  

As anxious as she was at the beginning of the ice-breaker game, the ball tossing and questions did its intended job as Taylor could feel the tension release from her shoulders. Admittedly it had been a fun and efficient way to get to meet her new co-stars and the production team. It wasn’t as terrible as she had thought and she even chatted with Alexandria, the tall giant of a woman with long black hair that fell past her broad shoulders, who would be playing Scorpia. She also happened to be super kind which was highlighted when a few people had trouble completing their set of pushups as punishment, Alexandria had dropped to floor and had completed the penalties on their behalf without breaking a sweat that had Taylor slightly, just slightlyjealous.

If it weren’t for her easy smile and kindness, Taylor already knew she would like Alexandria. The woman was unapologetically herself. Where many actresses in Hollywood fought to be tall and skinny, Alexandra looked like she could easily out bench press the guys in the room. She was strong and she was kind, something that was quite rare in Hollywood and Taylor had already made a silent vow to start hitting the gym more regularly. She wasn’t going to cut it as She-Ra with her noodle arms. Maybe she would even ask Alexandria for some tips.

The team was now gathered around the tables. Finally they were going to get down to business and back into Taylor’s comfort zone. Plus she couldn’t wait to jump into her new role. Pulling her well-used copy of the script where all her lines were highlighted with little handwritten notes and questions that she had for the production team. She had made sure she had studied the script as best she could in preparation for the day. The first page was filled with notes, mostly about questions about the stunt work. This role as Adora was going to be Taylor’s most challenging and vigorous yet and to be honest she was more than a little nervous.

The opening scene was mostly action filled and of course being the title character, Taylor had first honor of opening the show.  It was tricky when you were the first person to read at the very first table-read. It all fell on the first reader to set the tone. Was she going to play it cool and comfortable and just read her lines normally? That may send the wrong idea as she didn’t want to come off as lazy or unexcited about her role. But if she went hard, she might look too enthused and everyone was going to be forced to match her intensity. She had internally struggled on how she was going to play her role today but after the ice-breaker game everyone seemingly eager and radiating with excitement, Taylor went with her gut feeling. “Hey Princess.” She growled, trying to make herself sound intimidating. “You lookin’ at me?”

Luckily Andrew (playing Kyle) and Brianna (playing Lonnie) were all too happy to play up their readings too and soon they had set the tone for the table read. The first act was flying by as they had skipped through the action scenes and the introduction of Catra came all too soon. Taylor could feel her palms clam up as she played with the edges of her script.

“Hey Adora…how’s it hanging?” Maya chirped in now, her voice deep and teasing.

Taylor was taken aback as soon as Maya read her first line and nearly missed her cue.  Was Maya’s voice always so raspy? Shaking her head clear, Taylor had forced her eyes up, dismissing her script. She had this part all memorized already. “Catra.” She grunted out in annoyance. “Do you really show up late and let us do all the hard parts? That is low.” Taylor admonished, eyes on Maya who stared back with an excited glint in her eyes. “Even for you.” Taylor finished off.

“Awwww.” Maya cooed lowly, her eyes not leaving Taylor’s. Apparently Taylor wasn’t the only one who had memorize her lines. “You know nothing’s too low for me.” She said before letting out a high pitched cackle that had the cast and crew sharing amused smiles. “Now come on. You look stupid hanging down there.” Maya said, adding a hint of reverence instead of admonishment that Taylor had been imagining on her solo read-throughs.

The two had disregarded their scripts and had ignored the rest of the room as they exchanged lines, playing off one another and Taylor could feel herself ease into her role as Adora. From the corner of Taylor’s eyes she could see the Director and Producer exchange a proud smile. They weren’t the only ones who felt the chemistry. It was quite ironic really given how they didn’t really get along in real life. If only the others knew what had truly happened before today.

Taylor couldn’t remember laughing so hard at a table-read before. When it had come to the confrontation between Queen Angela and her daughter Glimmer in the throne room. Jessica Cho, who Taylor had overheard was mostly in the voice-acting scene and the beautiful and revered actress Emmaline Lee-Scott who played the Brightmoon Queen, were just so natural with one another despite just meeting for the first time today. They had read their lines so perfectly with just the right amount of huffing, scolding and annoyance of a typical mother-daughter dispute that had the whole room in stitches. It was a welcomed follow up from her read-through with Jacqueline Emery Grey who would be playing the role of Shadow Weaver. Jacqueline was just as famous as Emmaline Lee-Scott and playing opposite of her, even for a short moment was enough to leave Taylor star struck. She was glad for the break so she could calm her racing heart and gather herself again.

It had taken nearly all day but the first table read was a success. By the end everyone had eased into their roles and it seemed the Casting Director was now fully committed to the cast. They had all played off one another and the energy in the room was high and full of potential. It was the first time in a long while that Taylor was genuinely excited to go to work. The department heads was thanking everyone for the day and were handing out the upcoming schedule while Taylor was shoving her belongings in her bag. She followed Maya’s movements, watching the other girl slip on her backpack and waving off her new friends Jess and Marcus. They were the last of the stragglers and Taylor decided that it was now or never.

“Hey! Umm Maya? Can I talk to you real quick?” Taylor approached hesitantly, shoving her hands into her pockets.

Maya looked uncertain but nonetheless she nodded. “Sure. I have time. My mom is a little late. Traffic, you know?”

Taylor nodded gravely, grasping onto the lifeline Maya was throwing. “Oh I know. Kind of one of the reasons I was late. So much for a good impression.” She shrugged.

“Eh, I think you did alright Cruz.” Maya said with a small smile.

“I umm… I thought you were pretty great today too.” Taylor praised. “We make a pretty good team.”

“Yeah, we do.” Maya agreed easily. “Near-death experience aside.” She joked with a wry grin. “I had a lot of fun today.”

Sucking in a deep breath Taylor turned to face Maya head on. “Listen. About before. I just…wanted to apologize. I was being rude and I took it out on you. You didn’t deserve any of that and…I’m sorry.”

Taylor fought the urge to fidget underneath Maya’s calculating gaze. After a moment that had Taylor sweating Maya seemed to recognize her sincerity cause she broke into a soft smile. “Thanks Taylor. It means a lot and I accept your apology. I also wanted to thank you.”

Puzzled, Taylor was taken aback. “Thank me? For what?”

“For the first time we met. In the audition room? You stood up for me when that other actress was giving me a hard time and I never got to properly thank you for that. I was super nervous if that wasn’t apparent.” Oh, it definitely was. “And I knew it was a long shot but it’s rare to see any roles for people of colour. I just took a chance, however slim it is.”

“Well I’m glad it paid off.” Taylor stated. “I’m looking forward to working with you Maya Sanchez.”

“Same here Cruz.” Maya replied with her easy-going grin.

An old sedan pulled up to the curb and Maya waved happily at her mother. “Well that’s my ride. My mom’s going to want to hear a play-by-play.”

“Your mom sounds pretty cool.”

“She has her moments.” Maya smiled warmly. “Hiya Mama.” She greeted as soon as she opened the passenger door.

“Maya! How was your day? You have to tell me everything. Is this a new friend? Mija don’t be rude, introduce us unless you are embarrassed of your mother?”

“Of course not Mama.” Maya replied with a teasing roll of her eyes. “Mama, this is my co-star Taylor Cruz. She will be playing She-Ra. Taylor this is my mom, Gabriella.”

Taylor stepped forward, hunching half-way through the passenger seat to offer Maya’s mom a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Sanchez.”

She could sense Maya’s mother analyzing her, her eyes were sharp just like her daughter. The critical scrutiny must’ve ran in the Sanchez family. Taylor sweated under her gaze, knowing she looked out of place with her multiple piercings. Never had she been so nervous meeting a mother before. After a moment that felt like forever Maya’s mother clasped her hand in a firm handshake. “It’s Gabriella, my dear but aren’t you a sweetheart. Do you need a ride home Taylor?”

It was then Taylor remembered her beat-up car sitting uselessly on the side street back home. She had been so caught up with the events of the day she had forgotten to call for an Uber. The ride home was probably going to eat a good chunk of her savings too. “I took an Uber this morning. I just need to track one down –”

“Oh that won’t do! Take a seat Taylor we can drop you off home.”

“Mrs. Cruz, I mean Gabriella,” Taylor corrected when the older woman shot her a look. “I appreciate the offer but –”

Maya laughed, cutting Taylor off again. “It’ll save us some time if you just give up now and get in the car. My mom won’t take no for an answer. It’s in our culture. It’s best if you don’t offend my mother by saying no to her hospitality.”

“Of course not!” Taylor stuttered, unable to wrap her head around what was happening. She was used to fending for herself and none of her co-stars had ever cared if she made it home or not before, let alone her mother when she had been her manager. “Thank you for offering. I guess I’ll take you up on it. But I can help pay for the gas? I’m just a little out of LA, it’ll be a drive.”

“Nonsense my dear. It’ll be nice getting to know one of Maya’s new friends.”

She stared helplessly at Maya who shrugged and motioned to the car. “Come on Cruz. Let’s get you home.”

The ride was a only a little bit awkward. Fortunately Gabriella was able to fill in the silence with questions about the day, sounding just as enthusiastic as if she was starring the show also. Taylor had sat mostly in silence, answering questions only when Gabriella had attempted to pull her into the conversation but the older Sanchez had quickly learned that Taylor was more content with just listening in. Taylor was leaning her head against the glass window, watching the city skyline pass by and thinking about the day and what was to come. Things were finally looking up. Her co-stars were pretty cool and friendly, the production team was proud of the show they were making and she was on friendlier terms with Maya. They weren’t buddy-buddy but at least she was able to clear the air. Maybe they would never be friends but they both knew that they were good for the show and Taylor couldn’t wait to get started.

[kokichi-and-co-imagine-blog]

SEES, the Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves as SHSLs/Ultimates Part 3:

Up next is everyone’s favorite protein guzzling boxer, the white-haired lightning bruiser, the guy who I still haven’t forgiven Atlas for bastardizing in their spinoffs (particularly the arena series), Akihiko Sanada.

Seriously, the poor guy did not deserve the simplistic treatment of his character in Arena. ...Though than again, the sad truth is that seemed to happen to most of the cast, huh?

ANYWAY, enough about that, you’re not here to hear me gripe, you’re here to hear about how he’d fit into the DR-verse!

Akihiko Sanada:

SHSL Boxer/Ultimate Boxer: As we know from DRV3, Ultimate titles can be used more than once. It’s why I honestly like the SHSL moniker more, it doesn’t imply the same level of insuperable expertise as Ultimate does. Regardless, we know Akihiko is an amazing fighter with his fists; frankly if you’re able to punch out Eldritch Abominations from the human psyche with nothing but boxing gloves you probably deserve Ultimate Boxer. Plus, he is the boxing club’s leader.

Akihiko has probably the absolute WORST reputation out of all the students for breaking things in the dojo. Mitsuru and Shinjiro hold far more shame over this than he does of course.

Just like in Persona canon, Akihiko has a LOT of female admirers in Hope’s Peak. Even plenty of girl’s from the reserve course are probably head over heels. He reacts just as he does in canon. (I would almost want to see someone write up interactions between him and Miu because seeing him getting flustered from how explicitly thirsty she would be over him would be hilarious.)

Not a relationship thing because I really don’t know enough about her to do a full one, but I do think the dynamic between Akihiko and Tenko Chabashira could be extremely interesting. Anyone who knows more about her, feel free to write up how you think their interactions and views of each other would be and do let me know.

Major Relationships within the DR cast: -Sakura Ogami: Akhiko and Sakura are sparring partners and have an immense mutual respect. I imagine their first meeting was somewhat comical in a way, Akihiko striding right up to Sakura despite his issues speaking with girls, and asking for a fight with her, having heard of her abilities. I can’t honestly see him beating her outright without using his Persona powers (considering how she actually defeated Mukuro in DR: IF and how Kodaka said she could defeat Juzo, though admittedly Akihiko isn’t just a normal human) but I do think he’d give her a good match and the two would hit it off immediately. Expect a lot of talk about about training and protein. However, I think Sakura would be a major driving force for Akihiko to re-examine himself and how he views strength. After all, Sakura isn’t just strong, she is very wise and I have no doubt she’d challenge Akihiko to try and help him figure out what strength really is and why he desires it. She may become a sort of ‘sensei’ for him. (I also find the idea of Sakura eventually asking why Akihiko doesn’t seem to have issues interacting with her despite his very clear issues interacting with girls hilarious because there is no way Akihiko could answer that without saying SOMETHING wrong. Shinjiro would mock him remorselessly.) If I’m being honest, this is even a sort of crack-ship for me, the only thing keeping it from a full ship the fact that Sakura is in a relationship with Kenshiro and the fact that I’m too invested in Akihiko/Mitsuru. -Akane Owari: I’m sure absolutely no one is suprised by this. Just like Sakura, Akihiko and Akane are sparring partners, though their relationship is far more a rivalry than Akihiko’s with Sakura’s. Not that the two aren’t friends, they are, but Akane’s personality lends itself more towards the two being intense rivals. However, I happen to think that how they formed their rivalry is VERY different to how Akihiko and Sakura first engaged each other. Akane had to challenge Akihiko, not the other way around. I see this happening for two reasons. First, Akane is known as the Ultimate Gymnest. Akihiko likely would not have immidiately thought of her as a fighter the same way he did Sakura. Second, Akihiko’s own issues with dealing with woman would have been a roadblock at first because Akane is far more obviously feminine than Sakura is. I think this would have caused an initial roadblock for Akihiko, one that was easily overcome though after Akane challenged him to a fight. And this time, Akihiko would have absolutely won. The two actually have an inverse relationship to the one Akihiko has with Sakura, as Akihiko would honestly be the one teaching Akane, both about fighting and about the nature of strength. I have no doubt Akihiko would challenge Akane’s own beliefs on what strength means, just like Sakura would do for him. I can also see a repeat of how in his social link with Hamuko he sees her like he used to see his younger sister and could have a very similar case of trying to protect Akane, particuarly due to her somewhat oblivious nature. As you could imagine, that would go about as well as you’d expect. However that mess would resolve itself, Akihiko would have once again taken another step to moving forward and being at ease with his past, while I believe Akane would learn to be okay with showing vulnerability and being helped. Also, you can’t convince me that Akihiko would TRY (emphasis on that word there) to help Akane with school work. He is a good student after all.  -Nekomaru Nidai: Yet another ‘I’m sure you all saw this coming’ case. Nidai and Akihiko are yet again sparring partners, though in Nidai’s case it’s less for him and more for Akihiko’s own development. In all likelyhood, he’s probably why Akane even got interested in Akihiko as she probably heard about the boxer from him. For his part, Akihiko has a decent bit of respect for Nidai, even if he finds his... openess about some topics a bit much. He also is, just like everyone else, a major fan of Nidai’s deep tissue massage. (I can also see Akihiko bothering Shinjiro to try and help Nidai with his Dyspepsia in the form of some cooking help though I have no doubt that would piss off Teruteru. Of course, Shinjiro might even see that as a bonus... but more on that later.) -Byakuya Togami: Not really a major relationship, but it is worth a mention. Togami is one of the few people Akihiko is outright disdainful of (and perhaps even despises, but that might be a bit much for him). This is of course due to Togami’s insistence on asking Mitsuru to help produce Togami’s heirs which infuriates and disgusts Akihiko. (Whether this is simply due to how good of friends the two are, the amount of respect Akihiko has for Mitsuru or perhaps is something more is entirely up to interpretation. Again, MAJOR Akihiko/Mitsuru shipper here.) For his part, Togami doesn’t view Akihiko as anyone of import or as being worth his time. Funnily enough, that specificaly wouldn’t bother Akihiko too much on his own, he wouldn’t really give a damn what someone like Byakuya thinks of him. It’s just his attitude towards everyone and the stuff with Mitsuru that caused the immense disdain. - Juzo Sakakura: Juzo is a difficult case. While he may not have any issues with someone else getting the Boxer moniker as well, his entire general attitude clashes with Akihiko’s immensely. Juzo is used to throwing his weight around and near bullying others to get what he wants, as opposed to Akihiko who is an upstanding guy and, while competitive, would never go about acting like Juzo does. Juzo is also a VERY prideful man, so getting called out on his s*** may not go well, and Akihiko may very well call him out on his s***. Doesn’t helpt that I’m certain Akihiko could beat Juzo in a fair fight.  All this being said though, Juzo would honestly admire several of Akihiko’s qualities, for example how Akihiko protects others without thought of his own safety. Ultimately, I think Juzo would have some respect for Akihiko but would never admit it and Akihiko ould respect the man’s skills but recognize that he’s very much flawed and that there isn’t much he could do about it.

Now, that’s it for Akihiko. But before I go, there’s two things that needed to be covered.  The first is that I need to quickly circle back to Mitsuru because there is a MAJOR relationship that I forgot to discuss when I was writing her profile up.

You can probably guess who I’m talking about:

Kyosuke Munakata: How I missed this the first time shocks me. Seriously, Kyosuke is so similar to Mitsuru I’m embaressed this slipped by me. Let’s start with the obvious: His own talent reflects what Mitsuru spends a lot of her time dealing with as a student. She is the Student Council President at Gekkokan in canon and I said in her profile that she would get involved in student goverment here. It’s only a matter of time before she runs into Kyosuke, particuarly if they ever went to school at the same time. In such a case I could see Kyosuke taking on a sort of mentor roll for Mitsuru and even a sort of big brother one where Mitsuru would likely confide in him if she felt overburderned and stressed with her own numerous responsibilities. Afterall, we do know that pre-tradgedy he is described as being kinder than his post tragdey self so I could see him taking on Mitsuru as a kohai/younger-sister. Plus, he would also be a great sword fighting partner for her. (Note, this fobviously would happen only if they attended Hope’s Peak at the same time, which would make it near impossible for her to also have relationships with the 78th class. The only way this could really theoretically work was, assuming the typical 3 year high school system used in Japan, Mitsuru and her year were all the 76th class, meaning that she’d be a first year when Kyosuke was a senior and would then be a senior when the 78th class came along. Which could work and liekly wouldn’t change much of her already established relationships).

Now for the second bit. You probably all notice that I’m dealing with Pre-Tragedy stuff for everyone so far and haven’t touched Post-Tragedy. The first and most honest reason is that I kinda forgot to touch that bit when I was writing everyone. The second bit though is that it’s honestly VERY hard for me to see the tragedy happening if the Persona cast were in the DR world and the Persona-verse rules were still in affect. With the way the Collective Unconciousness works I can’t see Junko winning without eliminating SEES, the IT and the PT and well... she’s good, but she’d be fighting ALL of them on their turf. The same group we know are capable of taking down gods. And hey, worse comes to worse, Door-kun can door-kun or something. Besides the fact that someone like Akechi would have absouletly no qualms about just murdering her. And once again, not a whole lot she can do about the way he goes about killing people. 

This being said, I may make an addenendum post later which details what would be going on with everyone post-tragedy. Spoiler though: everyone pretty much becomes shadow operatives full-time for a long while and they sort of are their own third-party group, seperate from the Future Foundation. I’d go more in depth though if I do make a follow-up.

Anyway, you all can probably guess who’s up next. We did two of the the original three members, up next will be the third. Shinjiro Aragaki will be coming soon... hopefully. My next semester is starting later today and it is a doozy. I am going to do everything I can to make sure this continues, but it will be slightly slower.

[nuttyrabbit]

✚ (HEALTH) ♕ (CHILDHOOD) ✿ (HAPPINESS) and ✄ (PET PEEVE) For Cassia.

HEALTH

I imagine that Cassia's illness took hold of her at a rather young age, and ever since then she's been very sickly, since her illness compromises her immune system, opening up the door for vsrious other illnesses to take hold. As a result, Cassia never really got to spend a lot of time playing outside like normal children do, hence her being forced to spend a lot of time watching TV and playing video games before she lost her eyesight the first time. Although this has led to an interesting quirk where she can actually play some games by sound alone

CHILDHOOD

I don't have a definitive vision of how her childhood went, but I imagine at some point, either one or both of her parents left or she was kicked out of the house (with Clove following after her to look after her) due to her illness, since it likely exacted an immense physical , mental, and financial toll on her parents and eventually they couldn't or didn't want to deal with it anymore.

Either way, I think this led to Clove becoming her de facto guardian and the two becoming much, much closer. Before this, most of her days were spent in and out of hospitals and going to various doctors to try and treat her disease. I imagine any education she got was likely at home if at all. Sorry for the rambly answer for this particular section, I've been meaning to iron out a headcanon backstory for these two

HAPPINESS

I imagine the things that really make her happy are her sister, video games, and funnily enough, comic books. She's bedridden a lot even now so she's learned to really appreciate the latter, and Clove's done so much for her and been so nice to her over the years Cassia really can't help but be happy when she's around.

Also when she is happy, she's very obvious about it. She hums, she laughs boisteriously, even her eyes light up just that much brighter, and she's got this big goofy grin that's incredibly infectious. It's actually really cute until you see it after being on the receiving end of a practical joke of her's, something she's ALSO learned to enjoy over the years.

PET PEEVES

She despises being coddled and thought of as helpless. It's actually why she askes for tonfas and had Clove teach her to fight. Also the smell of hospital food actively causes her to retch.

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #192 - Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Oh yes

Did I like it then: It’s grown on me.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: DVD (although we watched my brother’s blu-ray copy)

1) Watching this film is a tradition to do on my brother’s birthday (which was in August but I’m behind on my rewatch posts). We’ve been doing it for 9 years (give or take a year) and it kinda grows on you.

2) I’m a sucker for 4th wall breaks in movies, so the numerous ones in this film are appreciated.

3) Honestly, the rapping which bookends the film feels like a misguided attempt by Mel Brooks to make the film “hip”. It just doesn’t really work and doesn’t feel like it belongs in a Mel Brooks bit.

4) There are actually quite a few clever gags in this film. A lot of them come from the very first scene in Jerusalem’s prison with Robin and Falafel.

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

5) Cary Elwes as Robin Hood.

Elwes was cast in The Princess Bride back in 1987 because of his “Errol Flynn” like quality. Now he plays a role which is one of Flynn’s most iconic. He commits to the part in the grandest of Mel Brooks’ tradition, as set before by Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein and Bill Pullman in Spaceballs. Elwes’ Robin is wonderfully buffoonish and ridiculous, with most of the humor coming from his lack of self awareness. It would be easy for an insecure actor to give a wink to the audience that lets them know he’s aware they’re stupid, but Elwes isn’t afraid of appearing idiotic. He embraces it. Robin should come across as an idiot. That’s the gag!

6) I relate to Achoo so much.

Robin [while going into a fight]: “Watch my back!”

[Robin gets hit in the back twice.]

Achoo: “You’re back just got hit twice.”

Robin: “Thank you.”

7) Dave Chapelle as Achoo.

Chapelle’s ability to play the straight man in this film is absolutely amazing. A legendary comic, Chapelle basically represents the audience. I mentioned that Robin is blissfully unaware of the foolishness in his life, but Achoo is hysterically aware of it. He’s observations are comedically wonderful and just all around inspired. Chapelle is a wonderful addition to the cast.

8) Blinkin, the blind butler.

The film is able to take an absurd concept that was taken so seriously in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and take it to its naturally funny punchline. While many of Blinkin’s jokes may fall flat, his overall presence is appreciated and does lend to some nice comedy all around.

9) Robin losing everything he loved shouldn’t this funny.

(Screenshot taken of a GIF set originally made by @thorinss)

10) I despise the Home Alone “joke” this film makes. It is the first in a long line which shows that just because you make a pop culture reference doesn’t mean you’re being funny.

11) Roger Rees as the Sheriff of Rottingham

Roger Rees is the definite scene stealer of the show, outshining even Dave Chapelle’s Achoo. He is able to take ownership of every moment he’s in by playing the Sheriff as a bigger idiot than even Robin to a wonderfully hysterical degree. I got a chance to see Rees on stage before his passing (when he played Gomez Addams in The Addams Family) and I could see from that his comedic talent was not only limited to his work with Mel Brooks. All in all, for me, Roger Rees will always be my favorite performance in the film.

12) Amy Yasbeck as Marion.

Yasbeck - like Elwes - commits to the silliness of Marion. Although more of a spoof than a character at times, it’s a damn good spoof. By taking aim at old school “fair maiden” tropes and sort of the humorous daintiness of that, Yasbeck is able to hold her own against Elwes and the insanity of a Brooks’ movie.

13) Richard Lewis as Prince John.

If the Sheriff of Rottingham is the evil version of Elwes’ Robin (in his embracing of the character’s foolishness) then Roger Lewis is the evil version of Achoo. He plays it modern, very aware of kind of the idiocy around him, and casual to the point of funny. He has the ridiculously strong chemistry with Roger Rees which makes all their scenes a treat and all in all totally fun.

14) Tracy Ullman as the witch/cook Prince John goes to in times of need and she’s fine enough in the part. It’s not exactly a fountain of character writing but she’s funny enough and works with the part well.

Prince John [after Latrine says her family changed the name when they came to England]: “You changed it TO Latrine?”

Latrine: “Yeah. Used to be shit house!”

Prince John [after nodding]: “Good change!”

14.1) Also, Latrine promises to make a magic potion that’ll make Robin worthless if Prince John puts in a good word for her with Rottingham. He agrees and then…it never comes up again. At all. It’s like the scene never happened. And I’m just like…

15) Hey, that’s Erik Allan Kramer!

16) The bow staff fight between Robin and Little John is actually pretty clever, primarily because of just how funnily it deteriorates into a slapping game.

17) Remember what I mentioned in note #10? Well, we get these two “jokes” back to back.

Will Scarlett: “My full name is Will Scarlett O’Hara. We’re from Georgia.”

Achoo [after Robin fails to jump on his horse]: “Man, white men can’t jump.”

Repeat after me: making a pop culture reference is not the same as making a joke.

18) However, this is pretty funny.

According to IMDb:

The gag about Robin being able to speak with an English accent is a reference to Kevin Costner's performance in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). Unfortunately viewers who saw both movies in a dubbed version couldn't get this gag. For the German dubbed version the gag was changed to: "because I - unlike some other Robin Hood - do not cost the producers 5 million". The German word "kosten" (cost) was also pronounced to sound a little bit like Costner. In the French (France) and Italian (Italy) dubbed versions, it is translated as, "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I do not dance with the wolves", referring to another Kevin Costner movie Dances with Wolves (1990). In Quebec, the translation becomes "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I accept to wear tights," which refers to the fact that Costner didn't wear tights in the 1991 movie. In the Hungarian version, he says "Because unlike Kevin Costner, I have a shapely bottom," a reference to the infamous fact that Costner used a body double in the nude scene.

19) The castle fight has a number of clever bits but some could’ve been cut in support of pacing. The scene as a whole drags at times and can come across as dull instead of fun like it should be. Tightening it up may have helped.

20) If only for Dave Chapelle’s Malcolm X impression, this is my favorite scene in the entire film.

I also love the juxtaposition between Robin’s Churchill and (again) Chapelle’s X. It just really works for me.

21) Hey…isn’t that David DeLuise? The dad from “Wizards of Waverly Place?”

22) Ah, the obligatory Mel Brooks cameo.

23) Dom DeLuise as Don Giovani.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights - Don Giovanni - watch more funny videos

Okay, I lied. THIS is my favorite scene in the entire film. DeLuise is absolutely hysterical and why the scene may be a bit too long, I just don’t care. He’s so fucking funny! His Brando impression is a gift from above and I’ve got a feeling most of his shit was improvised. It’s just…it speaks largely to the talent of Dom DeLuise. I love it.

24) This is probably the best Blinkin gag in the film.

[Blinkin falls from a tree, dusts himself off, then starts to look around.]

Blinkin: “I can see!”

[Blinkin walks right into a tree then takes a step back.]

Blinkin: “Nope. I was wrong.”

25) The “Men in Tights” song is a much better fit for this film than the rap. It feels organic to the kind of comedy the film embraces and is just pretty fun.

26) “The Night is Young” is similarly organic and a better fit than the wrap, but it probably shouldn’t have been put back-to-back with the previous song. We need a little variety.

27) I love this.

(GIFs originally posted by @summercountess)

I love that the filmmakers aren’t even trying to explain why he gets another shot. It’s just, “It’s in the script.” I mentioned I’m a sucker for fourth wall breaks and this one takes the cake for me!

28) There are a lot of gags in this movie which were funnier in other Mel Brooks films.

Prince John’s, “I have a mole?” vs Igor’s, “What hump?” from Young Frankenstein.

“Walk this way!” in this film vs Young Frankenstein.

The hangman in this film vs Blazing Saddles.

etc.

29) The fight scene is actually what the castle fight should’ve been more like. The swashbuckling action is fun and mixed well with gags and slapstick humor.

Rottingham: “En guard!”

Robin: “Thanks for the warning!”

Also they run into a crew member on his break, which continues my love for 4th wall breaks.

30) And a wild Patrick Stewart appears!

He has a Scottish accent because Sean Connery made a similarly random cameo at the end of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with his natural accent. It’s kinda weird and doesn’t add much but who cares, it’s Patrick Stewart!

While there are other funnier Mel Brooks movies out there and better Robin Hood films out there, Robin Hood: Men in Tights does exactly what it is supposed to do: it gives you a 100 minute distraction with silly comedy and fun performances that can act as a break from your day. Cary Elwes is a delight as Robin, with Roger Rees, Richard Lewis, Dave Chapelle, and Amy Yasbeck all showing off their comedic chops. It’s just fun. Occasionally stupid, yes. Some of the jokes do fall painfully flat (like that Home Alone gag), but by the end of the film you’ll probably have gotten in a few chuckles and feel like it’s time well spent. It’s just silly Mel Brooks fun.