#i am heavily projecting on mountain i'm sorry

[delusionalbitchinthehouse]

This is inspired by this post, thanks @coffeeghoulie for the idea ! I don't know if my interpretation of the lyrics is like. Exactly what it's meant to mean ? But I basically went "character A thinks they're not good enough for character B". Also I couldn't for the life of me decide if I wanted it to be Mountain about Swiss or Swiss about Mountain, so I decided to write both perspectives ; this is Mountain about Swiss, the other part will come later don't worry :) Also just a head's up, Mountain judges himself pretty harshly in this, but he's obviously biased and it's not at all what I actually think of him. (I love him to bits)

In the late afternoon light, Mountain watches Swiss. Sprawled on the couch, loose and relaxed, his cheek resting against Rain's, eyes half-closed and a content purr rumbling in his chest, the multi ghoul is a sight for sore eyes.

Mountain's chest aches as he takes in that soft smile pulling at Swiss' lips, the easy way he shuffles to make space for Dew as the fire ghoul unceremoniously flops down on the couch. Dew says - something, Mountain isn't sure what, but it makes Swiss laugh, a full-belly laugh, his head tipping back, throat bared and fangs out, the gleeful sound bouncing off the walls like a siren song, drawing Mountain in, stealing the breath from his lungs.

That stabbing pain in between Mountain's ribs is back in full force. There's something so unbearably good about Swiss. Sure, he's a hellspawn who will occasionally crave blood and violence, snarl and hiss and dig sharp claws in until skin splits and flesh tears, but. It's in the way Swiss seems to always know what everyone needs and is always willing to give it freely if he's able to. A smile, a hug, a kiss, some time alone, a warm meal, conversation, praise, pleasure, reassurance, laughter, music. Goodness, oozing out of him.

Swiss gives and gives, and does it with a smile and the knowledge it will help. He'll mask generosity behind a smokescreen of nonchalence and carelessness, hide his genuine worry under layers of cockiness and distract from his big heart with the glint of an even bigger grin - because he knows, too, that comfort is sometimes easier to accept that way.

It's sweet. He's sweet. Too sweet.

Mountain, folded in an armchair on the other side of the room, watches golden light splash on Swiss' features, drip in the smiling lines around his mouth and the joyful creases around his eyes, mesmerized. The pressure in the earth ghoul's chest increases.

Because Swiss is good, Swiss is sweet, and Mountain...Mountain feels inadequate. Too long limbs never knowing how much they should squeeze during a hug, useless tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth whenever he tries to find reassuring things to say. Always missing clues, no matter how much he tries to pay attention. Selfishly hidding away in his room or the greenhouse far too often, even as others might need him.

Where Swiss can cheer him up in a second, validate his feelings and worries with a few words, make him feel seen and understood in a way he never knew he craved, Mountain isn't sure what he has to offer to the multi ghoul. Long silences and slightly awkward embraces, carefully arranged flowers to try and express the knot of feelings blocking words in his throat.

And yet Swiss always comes to him when he's feeling down, for some reason. Mountain isn't sure why. He doesn't fell worthy of such trust, doesn't feel worthy of him. But he will never turn Swiss away, not for all the gold in the world.

Swiss laughs again, pulling Mountain out of his thoughts. Their eyes meet across the room, moss green and liquid gold. Swiss' smile softens around the edges. Mountain's stomach flips.

[fan-clan-fun]

Hello! I love this blog and always come to it for inspiration!

Right now my current fan project takes place in a post apocalyptic future where cats are going through their own Stone Age and using tools, very simple like clay bowls, antler and stone knives, learning to control and use fire, etc.. (I wanted to get rid of humans as the idea of sentient humans owning sentient cats doesn’t sit well with me) Instead of Clans they’re called Guards, and they each protect a small place of power within their territory from outsiders, relations between guards are actually pretty good and they allow cats to move Guards when necessary and encourage friendships and rivalries between cats.

Their leadership is loosely based on British Monarchy, with a ‘King and Queen’ (called Commander and Consort) and a ‘parliament’ of skilled cats who advise the commander (usually the Commander ends up picking his mentor and his parents perhaps some friends but his choices have to be approved by the Oracle so they don’t choose untrained or unliked cats) they do have a ‘Deputy’ but they are now called ‘Second’, Seconds are usually the oldest most promising heir from the Commander and consort, or a cat the Oracle and Advisors (elders) choose.

I tried to base the culture heavily on succession and mentorship, passing knowledge down, so it’s considered an honor to be given the same or similar suffix as your mentor. Cats are also apprenticed differently, becoming apprentices at 3 moons, early into training is just going over the code, games that teach them skills, and when they reach 7 moons they choose which guild they want to join (they can change their mind whenever but it’s uncommon)

The Guards are larger than Clans in general and have unique ranks, Guardians are warriors, a focus on fighting and hunting, regularly do patrols, switch amongst the territory camps to help protect them, especially camps that may not have a lot of fighters. Next are Crafters, cooking falls into crafting, but they also make satchels, knives, rudimentary traps, toys, as well as den maintenance. Then I have Ambassadors, I condensed them with one of the healer positions, ‘Speaker’ as they essentially do the same thing, Ambassadors are outside relations and Speakers were inside relations, but now they’re basically the guard therapists that also mediates with other Guards and groups. Mentors are pretty self explanatory, while every cat should get the chance to experience the bond between mentor and apprentice, these cats spend a lot of time with the young cats before 7 moons and pick their mentors according to personality and desired skill. My personal favorite are my Keepers, they keep track of history and familial relations, they’re essentially Perma-queens with a huge role in keeping bloodlines clear and recording history, they’re rarely storytellers but often parents. Lastly I have a sort of unique rank for each guard, usually something to do with the unique dangers each territory presents, (ie Mount Guard has an ‘Avalancher’ who after mountain slides they take a count of all the cats and go out searching for those missing)

I hope this isn’t too long, I got really excited seeing you pop up on my notifications again, I might send another ask going over healers or some of the unique customs the Guard cats practice.

I'm so sorry this took me so long to answer, truth is I've been answering most of these on mobile, so the longest ones have taken me a lot longer to get to, thank you for your patience in that!

I'm always curious how people plan on going about settings with cats and tools, as it's something that could be very interesting. Ultimately it requires a liiiittle suspension of disbelief, but I find sometimes that can be more fun.

Some of these concepts I've actually used or considered using myself before, so I am perhaps a bit biased when I say I enjoy them. I'm curious, do the commander and their consort often fulfill certain roles? Is it exclusively to produce kits for the next generation of leadership? Or is it more of a partnership than that?

I do have some clarifying curiosities, are the Guards the replacements for Clans? Or are there both?

So many fun different roles, and I like that you call them guilds. Once upon a time I wanted to do something similar, with a bunch of different ranks, each with their own little group of suffixes to denote their rank/guild, and when you apprenticed, you chose which guild to join. Seems like you could make it work well with your system.

I also think apprenticing that young, as long as they aren't fighting, makes sense. The bigger kits would likely require extra effort to keep busy, as they are pretty large at that point, so adding a few moons of education in camp before going out makes perfect sense.

Thanks for sending this in! Sounds like you have thought this all out pretty well, keep working hard and having fun!

[sleepingfancies]

TELL ME ABOUT DEATHBRINGERS!!!!<3<3<3<3!! how are there no stars???? what's the giant fucked up wall (or gate? you've mentioned it b4 but I forgor) ??? what role do ur characters play in the Things That Are Happening, or do they live in the aftermath? I fuckign love hearing about deathbringers it is so cool

TEEHEE ^-^ (thank u sm for asking i'm about to type an ungodly amount im sorry)

So about the stars >=) there is a sun and people in the world Assume there May Have Been more like it in the past!! But the sun is to their world what one random dragon would be to us, really; it's there, and no one can deny Its Nature, but people are a bit confounded or skeptical about it. The absence of light at night has largely been blamed on vampires as something they achieved (incorrect, though they do benefit from only having one sun-source to worry about). But there's no more proof for that theory than there is the concept other stars ever existed at all :3

What actually happened doesn't have any definitive documentation in canon anymore!! It was all intentionally destroyed by the involved parties and the main characters never fully learn the big picture <3 but essentially. An extremely long time ago and far beyond living memory, some particularly ambitious individuals decided to Bring Down and Swallow stars for their power ^_^ the resulting conflict was apocalyptic but ultimately the stars lost, and so there are no stars anymore =) unless

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The giant fucked up wall could refer to three things and I'm insane so I will tell u abt them all ^-^

The titular City of Gears has many a fucked up wall !! It was built into a mountain and meant to be a sanctuary for vampires, away from the sun. But the original architect wanted to ensure the vampires were safe from even the most immortal threats (teehee!!), so he designed the city as a labyrinth with hundreds of walls that could rotate, appear and disappear, and raise and lower; this on top of stationary walls, as well. The idea was that the labyrinth's pattern would never be the same twice and change once a month, thus making it impossible for an immortal threat to spend centuries memorizing the city's layout for an attack.

Blynnfell's Crown isn't necessarily fucked up and crazy insane like the City of Gears' rotating labyrinth but it is Different !! Blynnfell is the capital of the country and sits on the southeast coast, sort of boxed in by the continental-long Blackcrest River and the sea ^-^ it's surrounded by enormous and thick as hell jagged shards of stoneglass (in our world we call it alexandrite). Its primary purpose is to absorb light reflecting off the ocean + manage the city's light pollution, but it's almost as hard as diamond, so it makes for excellent defense as well. The city is always surrounded by a very colorful glow, it's rather pretty =)

The Spire isn't technically a wall itself but it is fucked up <3 it's the seat of the Lovely Prince (the title of the current and singular god). It's been heavily enchanted and covered in illusions; the Lovely Prince doesn't actually maintain it well, so it's a rather derelict mess in reality, but the illusion projects an opulent veneer. The illusion persists as long as the Lovely Prince is around to maintain it :3

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The characters ougghghghgaaaaa the characters >=) I am sure u have heard me mention all of them at some point but the core four are Daciana Cel Tradat (vampire), Mortimer Crackbone (human), Vidar Rothmoor (fey), and Kadija Ekunye (human). The four of them get together to kill the Lovely Prince ^-^ I won't get TOO into book 2 shenanigans here just bc this is already soooo long SJDHGDSG

Daciana is the head of the group and the duology's deuteragonist. She personally assembles the gang to kill the Lovely Prince, she plans out how to travel to the Spire without drawing attention, she refuses to stop until she completes her goal, and she goes against the vampiric Grand Coven's warnings to do it. Daciana is a very "I will do what I know must be done" kind of person, which does a lot for driving events both good and bad <3

Mortimer is the soul of the group and the duology's universal foil. He quite literally monitors and cares for the souls of the other three. He contains multitudes and is deeply understanding of other people's multitudes as well; his protectiveness and gentleness directly impact the end outcome. Mortimer also foils almost every single major character; he represents both someone's doomed villain and someone else's redeemed hero.

Vidar is the body of the group and the duology's antihero. He is a creature of indulgence, and indulge he does!! His hunger and consumption have enormous ramifications on the plot, especially leading into the second book. Vidar is also fundamentally selfish, cowardly, and mocks other people's feelings for a laugh. But still he takes the heaviest beating in defense of the other three, and consistently utilizes his advantages as a fey for their benefits.

Kadija is the heart of the group and the duology's protagonist. She can and will choose kindness every single time, even at great cost to herself, which shapes the entire overarching plot. Kadija is also the center of the conundrum and always was. She is the core of the story, the overlaid note in everyone else's arc, and she always was and always would be. Kadija's arc would have happened regardless of what the other three did or didn't do <3

[365days365movies]

April 4, 2021: The Great Dictator (Review)

It's a 100%. Haven't given one of those in a while!

Here's the thing: this is a great film. Hang the comedy bit, even though it's also a very funny film! This is a great movie, no questions. I actually have no problems with it, and barely any actual commentary, gonna be honest. Fact of the matter is, it's essentially perfect in my book. Maybe it's not actually flawless...but I'm having a lot of trouble seeing any flaws. If you've got any, PLEASE tell me! I'm curious, really.

But OK, why am I even writing this, then? Because I want to close out this Golden Era of Comedy with a post about the end of its biggest star, Charlie Chaplin. Because from here...things are all downhill. And the seeds of that journey can be seen in this film. So, in other words, this post is a film history post. WELCOME TO SCHOOL

Yeah, sorry. If you like these history posts, I hope you like this one! And if not...yeah, that's entirely fair. Go ahead and skip this one! The next movie is Arsenic and Old Lace, so I'll save you the trouble of scrolling down! See you next time!

...

...OK, you still here? Cool, let's do this. Go ahead and "keep reading" for more on Chaplin after this film!

Review: Charlie Chaplin

Chaplin's walking on air, at least in terms of his film career! The Great Dictator will become his best-received film critically, and was a smash-hit in the United States. But that's pretty heavily contrasted with the reception of, well, Chaplin himself. Because unfortunately for him, Chaplin's ideologies would soon VIOLENTLY clash with that of his adopted country of the United States.

First things first, his love life was a mess, as was typical for the film star. His latest significant other was actress Joan Barry, and they separated bitterly (AKA, the only was Chaplin separates from anybody), after having a child together. This relationship would begin the downfall of Chaplin's image, starting in 1942. And that would be due to one of the most irritating, shitty dudes in the history of the FBI: J. Edgar Hoover.

Hoover HATED Chaplin, mostly because he was suspicious of him, as he was with EVERYBODY. Fuck Hoover, by the way, dude was a monster. He was also an INSANE patriot, bordering on straight up nationalism. But his hatred of Chaplin revolved around the fact that Chaplin's views were...controversial. I mean, Modern Times was an anti-industrialist film, and that's what the USA was ALL ABOUT at the time. And then, there's...one more thing. I'll get there.

Hoover launched a smear campaign against Charlie, and the Barry case was saddled with an additional allegation: violation of the Mann Act, which stated that it was illegal to transport women across state lines for sexual reasons. It was an attempt to stifle prostitution, and part of a massive moral panic of the time period. It was a bullshit charge, and Chaplin escaped it in trial. But damage had been done to his reputation, and Charlie was about to make it worse.

Shortly after, in 1943, Chaplin would meet his last wife, Oona O'Neill. She was 18, he was 54. Fuckin' OOF, dude. And in 19 years, the two would have EIGHT CHILDREN JESUS FUCKING CHRIST CHAPLIN!!!

Anyway, other than this positive development, the Barry trial had beaten the shit out of him, will-wise. But he began developing a new ambitious film project in 1946, which was called Monsieur Verdoux. This was a black comedy about a bank clerk/serial killer that killed women for money. Which is obviously pretty controversial in a moral panic-stricken America, but that was made worse by Chaplin more overtly expressing his political views...which were violently anti-capitalism! In post-World War II America!

Uh-oh.

In 1947, with the release of Monsieur Verdoux, the film was legit booed at the premiere in the USA. Fuck. Tensions finally came to a head, and Chaplin was "outed" as a filthy, filthy commie! And I put "outed" in quotes because, well...he wasn't. Sure, Chaplin was against capitalism and military nationalism, as well as sympathizing with communist ideals in some cases. He was also friends with suspected communists, and with Soviet diplomats. And that shit's barely OK NOW amongst a pretty big proportion of people in the country. In 1947? WAY FUCKIN' WORSE.

Chaplin was "dangerous and amoral" according to the FBI, and he probably believed in equal rights for minorities too, the FILTHY FUCKIN' COMMIE!!! But, yeah, he was targeted by Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, and was nearly listed as one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of filmmakers blacklisted from Hollywood for alleged communist activities. Chaplin escaped that, but was still a major target for the Red Scare.

Chaplin, not giving a fuck as always, now decided upon a new project. Limelight was a semi-autobiographical film, in which he played an aging former vaudeville actor who had lost his popularity and fame, and falls in love with a younger woman. On the nose as always, Chaplin. Also, that's Buster Keaton in the GIF up there! Only time the two ever appeared on screen. Neat, huh?

Chaplin went home to the UK for the film's well-publicized premiere in 1952. And that's when the US Attorney General STRUCK, revoking Chaplin's VISA, and trapping him overseas permanently. Chaplin was banned from the United States, through really shitty underhanded tactics. Fuck, man. Worst part is, it's since been proven that there was no good justification for the VISA to be revoked. But the damage was done, and Chaplin willingly cut his ties with the United States, having been spurned by his adopted country for years.

Loved in Europe and hated in America, Charlie continued making films, with his next film being another semi-autobiographical parody called A King in New York. He also came out not as a communist, but as a straight-up anarchist! He hated government altogether at this point, and it's hard to blame the guy. He really did get screwed. But, ironically, his love life was now quite stable, and his marriage with Oona was happy, by all accounts.

His films were banned in the United States, and Chaplin banned them right back, not releasing his films there, and preventing American journalists from attending its premiere. But even ten years later, Chaplin's filmography began to re-emerge for movie audiences, and his popularity began to rebound. The man was just that good, what can I say? Chaplin made a romantic comedy in 1967, called A Countess from Hong Kong, and starring Marlon Brando of all people! It was his first color film, and...it did NOT go well with audiences, ANYWHERE. It just wasn't well-received, and that film would be Chaplin's last.

In 1967, Chaplin had his first stroke of many. He continued his marriage with Oona, and even continued making another film called The Freak, an ambitious project from what's known about it. Basically, it was about a South American girl with wings, which is interesting. In 1972, after 20 years away, Chaplin was welcomed back to the United States with open arms, and was given an Honorary Academy Award for his insane contribution to the medium since the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was given a 12-minute standing ovation, the longest ever given at an Academy Award ceremony.

Still planning on making his film, he returned home. But the film went on a permanent hiatus by 1977, by which time his health had badly declined. On Christmas Day, 1977, Chaplin was found dead, having suffered a stroke in his sleep. He was 88 years of age, and was buried two days later in Switzerland. And THEN...he was dug up.

Yeah, DUDE'S GRAVE WAS FUCKIN' ROBBED! A couple of guys held Chaplin's corpse for ransom, which didn't work out for them, and he was reburied a few days later, this time in a reinforced concrete vault, where his remains remain to this day.

Charles Spencer Chaplin is one of the greatest actors and filmmakers of his time, and didn't deserve the guff he got from the government. The guff he got from his wives...eh, that he probably did deserve, not gonna lie. Dude wasn't the best husband, or the best dad to at least three of his kids. But in an ongoing effort to separate the art from the artist, Chaplin needs to be appreciated for the mountain of talent that he was, and his films will make him immortal in the annals of film history. Long live the Tramp.

But with him and his influence, the film industry had a place to evolve from, especially in terms of comedy. After The Great Dictator, some comedies felt the freedom to take a bit of a darker tone. And from here on out, we're splitting the timeline by genre, tracking comedy films by the evolution of their respective genres. And we start in 1944, with a film about...MYURDERRRR!!! And sweet old ladies!

April 5, 2021: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), dir. Frank Capra