#i could've made a whole set using just one movie but alas

[thelostsmiles]

acting from the optic nerves @giftober 2023 ★ day 4: eyes

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

The unmade PUSS IN BOOTS sequel...

In an alternate timeline, the 2nd PUSS IN BOOTS movie would've been released during the holiday season of 2018... It would've been a significantly different movie, too.

It would not have been directed by Joel Crawford, but rather Chris Miller, who directed the first PUSS IN BOOTS movie, and SHREK THE THIRD as well. He's not *that* Chris Miller of the Phil Lord-Chris Miller duo, but a long-time DreamWorks Animation veteran whose work goes all the way back to their debut feature ANTZ.

The title was PUSS IN BOOTS: NINE LIVES & 40 THIEVES.

It had, you may have guessed it, a 1001 Arabian Nights setting.

The concept art for this picture suggested something pretty damn cool. I absolutely love PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, in fact it is my favorite film in the entire SHREK franchise and just a new favorite movie of mine, period.

But... I'm not gonna lie, I would really love to see what *this* movie would've been like. I'm sure it would've had a tone and directing style similar to that of the first PUSS IN BOOTS, and the visual style for it would've been about the same: Much more hyper-detailed with ornate textures everywhere (look at Puss' sword in that movie and the other SHREKs, and look at his much simplified sword in THE LAST WISH), no framerate fluctuations, etc.

The SHREK series had often covered European fairy tales, and the first PUSS IN BOOTS movie married such fairy tales like Jack and the Beanstalk, and the Golden Goose, to a more old-school adventure genre: Think Zorro, Three Musketeers, etc. Threw in spaghetti westerns for good measure. It was a sandier side of the SHREK world, deserts, and Spanish and Latin American-inspired towns. THE LAST WISH retains all of that, the magical "Dark Forest" being not too far removed from the European fairy tale aesthetic. That whole storybook-inspired look they were going for put it firmly in the European fairy tale, I feel. Again, best of both worlds... But there's other worlds, right?

NINE LIVES & 40 THIEVES would've taken us more East, and I'd really love to see that in the fairy tale universe of SHREK. Who's to say they can't... take that idea off the shelf again? After all, THE LAST WISH ends with a direct lead-in to a fifth SHREK movie. Perhaps SHREK 5 can incorporate the Arabian Nights setting? Or a third PUSS IN BOOTS movie where we only follow "Team Friendship" on a new adventure?

About that... Very few Western animated movies spawn ongoing spin-off feature film series. DESPICABLE ME scored with the MINIONS movie in 2015, and that got an equally ginormous sequel this past summer. That was the inverse of LIGHTYEAR to the TOY STORY franchise, LIGHTYEAR could've been a big hit and could've spawned more space adventures with the human/actual space ranger Buzz... But alas, no cigar. (I'm honestly bummed about that, I was ready for more!) THE LEGO MOVIE tried to do this, but I feel Warner Bros. made the mistake of having the studio make two spin-off movies - unrelated to one another, LEGO BATMAN and LEGO NINJAGO - *before* THE LEGO MOVIE 2 proper. Maybe if LEGO MOVIE 2 opened in 2017 as originally planned, with BATMAN and NINJAGO afterwards, we could've had plenty of different theatrical LEGO stories to choose from. DreamWorks' own MADAGASCAR franchise couldn't have a side series of PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR movies, the first one - released back in 2014 - was deemed a box office disappointment. Its "flopping" actually lead to a big restructuring month at DreamWorks, which took NINE LIVES & 40 THIEVES off their schedule...

It was very possible that the movie was no more, much like other DreamWorks pictures that got the axe at the time: BOLLYWOOD SUPERSTAR MONKEY, B.O.O.: BUREAU OF OTHERWORLDLY OPERATIONS, etc. Thankfully, PUSS Dos remained in limbo rather than being outright cancelled.

But NINE LIVES & 40 THIEVES didn't make it, we got THE LAST WISH instead.

But now... THE LAST WISH has been a leggy box office success, a record-breaking one at that, too. It's actually the first post-1999 wide-release animated movie since THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE to make more than 10x its opening weekend gross... EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE came out in 2000... So that makes **two**, **two** animated movies released in the domestic market since 1999 that scored 10x their opening weekend grosses... WOW!

So yes, I'd imagine the PUSS IN BOOTS train won't be stopping. I think it's a strong possibility that we get *both* new SHREK sequels *and* new PUSS IN BOOTS sequels. Puss showed with both movies that he can more than hold his own and have his own long-form adventures w/ Kitty Softpaws and Perrito. The original made over $500m worldwide back in 2011/12, and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars much like this film, which looks to finish up with over $450m worldwide. Hey, is it possible somebody else gets a new movie, too? I feel there's a lot of ground to cover in Shrek's fairy tale world that goes beyond Shrek's swamp, Far Far Away, San Ricardo, Del Mar, the lands inbetween, etc.... A magic carpet that's reminiscent of the one in most ALADDIN interpretations appears in THE LAST WISH as part of Big Jack Horner's collection, so maybe that Arabian Nights-style world is still out there and might be featured in a future SHREK/PUSS IN BOOTS movie?

I'd love to see that, honestly. Since the world of SHREK is back in business, I say go explore and expand that world!

[dragynkeep]

Have you guys seen the outfits for the new RWBY anime movie? What you two think of them?

I love that after five minutes of new content being released, ten separate people ran to my inbox to ask me to critique the outfits.

I will say this, these outfits are honestly better than their V7 outfits, but that's not the major achievement given what we have here. Some parts are good, others are just really bad.

Ruby's is easily the best out of the four. It keeps her colour palette, it looks good, and it does fit Ruby's character; it's cute and young, like something a teenager would reasonably wear in the snow. I'm guessing these are outfits for the cold anyway, since we already saw that they keep their Beacon outfits in this show anyway.

The hat, goggles and fanny pack are cute additions, while the oversized red hoodie looks comfortable while adding to the cute factor. This looks like something Ruby would wear, and while it takes away from her big skirt and long boots, what replaced them kept to the overall vibe that Ruby has.

The only thing I don't like is the weird white skirt/shirt thing underneath her hoodie. It's the only white on her design and it just drags the attention to her legs. Also, why is the metal on her pack coloured teal and not silver? It just clashes when it easily could've fitted in with Ruby's eye colour.

Weiss' just reminds me of Dishwasher's design with the giant pope hat being swapped for the flatter cap. It's a nice look, very militristic which I guess is where they're taking Weiss' character for this new RWBY thing, and the coat with the dress underneath doesn't look bad.

The blue on the underside of the coat stops Weiss' white dress from blending in with her white coat, is a nice blue to use rather than the royal blue they keep trying to stick her in, and the black decals contrast a lot with the overall white colouring she has going on. It's not really on this picture of her, but her other one shows white snowflake designs on the end of her tights were her shoes are. I just think that's pretty.

Obviously, for Weiss, the shoes are impractical and don't fit her. She wears wedged boots, but those types of shoes would look out of place with the aesthetic they have her in. The shoes fit the outfit, but the outfit isn't really Weiss as we know her. Very likely because this will be a different Weiss to who we knew.

The problem is that there's way too much going on with the coat and the dress. I like the slits in them showing more blue, but the decal on her chest is way too much with the straps and then all the lines and designs on her coat. It makes it very hard to focus on one thing. Definitely tone it back a bit there.

They really did go full cat girl with Blake. Just said "fuck it" and made her a catgirl with their whole ass cheeks out. Not a care in the world.

For the most part, I don't hate the outfit. I just don't really like it either. The lacing on the shorts look too cluttered, the catsuit is something I've always hated, the gloves made her look like discount Prowler, and I hate the half bow thing. It looks like she got a tiny beanie to go over one ear. Just the one.

Like, she's wearing black, but now all the purple and the gradients are overpowering the black, and the purple tone on the back of her hair does not help. This is an instance of Blake wearing too much purple, but at least it's not the ugly shade that she wears in her later outfits.

There's not even much I can say is good. I guess that it keeps in tone with her Beacon outfit but updated, but it really doesn't look that great. She's just Cat now.

Now, Yang's look isn't bad. She might look like an extra from Attack on Titan, but it's not a bad look for her. I think the jacket is cute and her hair being up in a ponytail is a great hairstyle for her. It helps set her apart from Blake while both keep their long hair. I always wished she kept her ponytail from V4 onwards but alas.

The jacket looks warm and is a nice style. It isn't made of 50 different fabric types and is actually zipped up to keep Yang warm. I'm not entirely sure on the bottom half though. The purple sash on the belt is fine, wish it was a nicer purple, but I don't like the one leg up, one leg down pants she got going on.

Not only that but, while I like the boots, I think they can go without the sudden grey metal plate on them. I don't know why Yang is wearing grey metal rather than her usual gold, but the colouring on this outfit is just not good. She's back in her brown, but this time without any orange and the yellow is an ugly desaturated shade.

Really, just fix the colouring, give her proper pants and take the metal off her boots.

They also released the outfits for Team JNPR as well, so I'm gonna give some rapidfire thoughts on them here:

It's just his Beacon outfit with mittens, a scarf and hat, and his sneakers were changed to boots. Jaune's Beacon outfit is an alright outfit, nothing too out there but works for him at that point. The only issue I had was that he had way too many colours on him, and the orange and white accessories don't help with that.

This is cute. It's like a V7 style that actually works, the coat isn't too long but looks like it would actually keep her warm, as well as having the one heart on her chest and some cute bow accessories. The pink being mostly on her jacket is a nice touch, but the cyan and pink right next to each other is a bit much.

It might've helped to have the navy blue a bit more here. The cyan bows and cuffs can stay, but maybe change the legs to navy blue so the pink pops more on her boots.

Ignore my hack job, I'm not Ais-levels good yet.

But yeah, just darkening the legs already makes the colouring more balanced. The pink is throughout it, the cyan is accenting it, and the black/navy blue is used as contrasts.

Good outfit either way, just a bit too bright on the eyes and needs to be pulled back a bit.

This is literally Weiss' Gala dress but red. Why is Pyrrha dressed like this? Where's her Greek style gone? Her armour? Has she retired? Is she Weiss' mistress now? Someone please tell me, I'm lost in this Denny's.

Ren in silver supremacy 2022-

So, this is by no means a bad outfit. I actually like it, he keeps his Beacon outfit but just changed slightly to fit the colder weather. I miss the lotus designs on his boots, and the random splotches on pink on his robes don't really add to the design. It actually makes the front design look like an angry frog.

Not only that, but the random white fur on his shoulders are so distracting. Get rid of them and the design will look better for it.

Really, nothing can beat Ren's Mistral outfit, but this one isn't his V7 one at least.

[jellyfishinc]

Day 8

S1E7 Gift Rappers

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, I’ve finally reached the episode many of you have been waiting for, and it’s my turn to post about it.

And for the record, even if there weren’t any sibling moments, I would’ve made a post anyway, because it would’ve been a crime against the Warners not to.

The opening scene shows the Warners testing a catapult, and landing inside a set where they’re shooting for a music video.

Naturally, they have no idea who he is, even after he finishes rapping, and the audience fills him in. Jaypac La East, a self-proclaimed lyrical genius. (Jay-Z, Tupac, and Kanye West?)

Someone mentions he’s even objectively better than Shakespeare, and Yakko asks for confirmation.

The dumbass has the nerve to call Shakespeare a “sucker MC”, and we see THIS.

Obviously Yakko's reaction is golden, but see the look on Dot’s face right there? That’s a look that says, “Oh hun, you have no idea who you’re talking to, do you?.” 

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say Dot is well aware of Yakko’s love for Shakespeare, and has probably schooled her himself in the past when she tried to say the same thing.

The best part? This is all character continuity for Yakko, when you remember THIS from the original, when the narrator tried to suggest Yakko didn’t know what he was saying.

And before I dissect it, I’m just gonna share the whole Shakespeare rap, because...oh who am I kidding? Do I really need an excuse to share Yakko Warner, or Rob Paulsen, rapping Shakespeare?

I didn’t think so.

Now that we’ve had a moment to just sit back and appreciate Yakko’s theatrical genius, let’s break it down, shall we?

First off, of course Yakko Warner had a costume like that at the ready for something like this, because of course he fucking did.

Look at him!

Yakko starts playing the flute, and we see THIS from Dot and Wakko.

Makes me wonder if he’s ever played the flute for them to fall asleep to?

Next thing you know, we got this epic payoff of Yakko quoting Shakespeare throughout the whole verse.

And in case you wanted to know exactly which ones he was quoting, or if he was using them correctly, here you go:

“Alas, Poor Jay-Pac, I don’t know who you’re supposed to be” Hamlet, Act 5 Scene 1

“All the world’s a stage, but player, leave the stage to me.” As you like it, Act 2 Scene 7

“To rap or not to rap, that is the question.” Hamlet again, Act 3 Scene 1

“My boy Bill told us ‘pride cometh before the fall’” Richard II Act 5 Scene 5

“Else Yakk a liar call.” Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, Scene 1

Good enough on its own, right?

Wrong.

I was a wannabe theater kid, instead of an actual one, therefore I only know a little bit about how theater dynamics work, so forgive me if I get something wrong here:

If you’re going to be working with a partner, the thing that is stressed over and over is that whatever personal issues or drama you might have, leave it at the door, because the second you step on that stage together, you need to have 100% trust in the other person to have your back, so you can pull off something like this lift, because if you don’t, one or both of you is gonna get hurt.

That particular lift? Is the result of YEARS of trust and practicing lifts with each other, until they’ve perfected it to where they can do it within a second’s notice.

Jaypac goes next, and his first verse is to insult Dot and Wakko, and we see THIS.

And once he starts dissing the Marx brothers, they get up on stage, just in time to have the guy drop the mic on Yakko’s head.

Yakko’s up next, and Dot and Wakko get behind the DJ booth and camera for maximum effect.

Rob Paulsen, my hat is off to you, good sir, for spitting bars while also battling throat cancer, and having Yakko throwing out all kinds of references to both the original and the movie.

First there's a Wakko's Wish reference, which prompts THIS, which was also pointed out to me in another post, where apparently Wakko actually wasn’t saying this line, he was mouthing it alongside Yakko.

Then there’s THIS line, which is a reference to what their very first director Weed, said about Outback Buddy before bringing the Warners into it.

And by the end, Jaypac concedes, and of course Yakko, the little shit, can’t resist doing THIS just to mess with him.

Shoutout to all fans, who, like me, fell in love with rap battle themed episodes/segments because of the one in Regular show, and thus were stoked for this one.

Also, my sincerest apologies to Yakko himself for even thinking he could've possibly misquoted Shakespeare, when we all know damn well he'd do no such thing.

Shame on me!

This episode will forever hold a special place in my heart, and I can think of no better way to end this post than to just let our man of the hour, Yakko Warner, send it off right with now and forever the only acceptable way to drop the mic.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

B2:S - Chapter 5

Much of this series will be about the differences and additions in the novel version, and how they contribute to my understanding of story canon. But there will be character appreciation, the odd theory and headcanon, and suchlike as well.

Here be lots of Viren deets, Best Boy Soren deets, some writing/continuity stuff, worldbuilding appreciation and half of a theory, Detective Rayla, Moon Temple geeking, Claudium and dark magic, and more!

Spoilers for Book Two: Sky below.

(I know for darn sure that I wrote up a post for chapter 4, but I can't find it anywhere so I guess Tumblr ate it and I'll have to redo it at some point, but today is not that day)

Viren, my evil dude, my bad guy, coming in clutch with the worldbuilding and backstory again! If you want to know decades of information, you gotta talk to Viren. Or read his scenes, at least. Here, he seems to not sleep much when he has a big problem to analyze his way through. Solutions trump pretty much everything else in this guy's life, and he's had a really hard week with a lot of new and complicated problems. Of course he's getting sleep-deprived trying to find his way through them all.

Harrow put so much trust in Viren when he made him High Mage! He just threw himself extra hard at that Lady Justice blindfold, didn't he? Didn't really want to see what Viren was doing in his magic study, so he left Viren to his devices. And Viren has a lot of devices.

Also, this is fascinating: Viren made the secret passage to his "less official study" in Katolis Castle! And he was inspired to do so by the way his own mentor kept the Puzzle House. What else could a Puzzle House be, except a place with secret passages? Yay! secret headcanon that "the Puzzle House" is just "Katolis Castle" from Kid Viren's perspective tho

So either Viren built all of those passageways, or at least the ones to his dungeon. Which means he has to have, or know where to get, a stash of those glowing blue Moonshadow crystals. Hmmm.

I can't wait to learn more about Kpp'Ar and young Viren, btw. From this description of Viren and all his literal secret ways, it feels like another parallel between Viren and Runaan, with the whole "secretive paths, members only, insider knowledge" type stuff. Only the really cool members of this cult club get to know the secrets, and guess what, kid, you're cool now but you can never tell anyone, okay? Our secret.

Yeahhh, that'll never backfire in any way for either of them.

Kpp'Ar calling puzzles and secrets "man-made magic," though. Yes sir, knowledge is indeed power.

This chapter mentions Runaan by name, from Viren's perspective. Generally that would imply that Viren knows his name, even though assassins do not share their names, and Runaan didn't seem to give his to Viren in the first book. However, there was a scene in book one where the last paragraph switched perspective from Viren to Runaan - a technique that's very common in visual media like movies and shows and gives you that "ohoho they left the room and didn't notice this, but you do!" vibe. Using Runaan's name there in book one, where Viren couldn't see it but readers could, helps them keep track of the assassin's story arc while maintaining Viren's racism.

So in book two, in which Runaan has no onscreen scenes (alas), using his name in a scene that calls back to the events in book one helps us remember what happened in that dungeon cell. It would be a bit muddier to recall the specifics if Viren kept thinking about Runaan as "Elf." So I'm cool with the perspective nudge because it serves a narrative purpose: clarity. But I'm also enjoying the angst of considering that, somehow, Viren learned Runaan's name either during or after the coining spell. Mwa ha ha haaa. (Obligatory "Keep my pretty name outta your mouth" goes here)

Okay, back to Viren's scheming! He took the mirror because it was human-sized in a dragon lair. He knew it didn't really fit there, and that made it interesting, so he stole it. But he realized it was really powerful when Runaan wouldn't tell him squat about it - the assassin's instinct to protect Xadian secrets from human hands meant that Viren was holding a very powerful Xadian secret. And that just made him want it all the more. Ah, Runaan, if only your relationship with lying was, like, the exact opposite of what it is. Nyx could've spun Viren a believable tale in 2 minutes flat.

Also of interest: Viren considers his cursed coins to be a final fate. He expects Runaan to remain in his coin forever. With the Chekhov's coins still extant in the storyline, we can assume that they'll come up again eventually, but Viren has no current plans to do anything with his elf money except carry it around.

It's worth noting that Viren admits that he got impatient when he trapped Runaan in the coin. Runaan's first fate in Katolis was supposed to be death at Soren's hands, but Claudia "saved" him from that. His next fate was to become spell components, but Viren's frustration with his stubbornness "saved" him from that fate, too. So now he's in a coin, where no one can chop him up at all. Yay? No, boo!

We get one last line about Runaan before Viren shifts gears: he makes a point of noting for us that Runaan's shackles are still locked shut. However much of Runaan made it into that coin - body, soul, hair care products - he was magicked there, pulled right out of his restraints.

The creepy black liquid that Viren pours right into his eyes is the last of a powerful potion he got from Kpp'Ar, and its recipe is ancient! Humans used it back in the age of Elarion to see through the illusions of the world. And we get a delightfully creepy bit of description about the preparation of this serum, which makes it abundantly clear that it's a Moon magic-based concoction, harvested from eyeless vipers on a moonless night, with the threat of irrevocable madness ("madness" by whose definition, though) if it's done wrong-

Hang on. Hold up. This is a Plato's Cave reference. OH MY GOD.

No no I'm fine, this is brilliant. Sorry, sorry, I couldn't figure why there was so much description for a potion prep that Viren didn't even have to perform himself. But now I get it. I see the light. HA. I should make a separate post for this, it's amazing.

Anyway, for reference, the humans who used this serum were called the Oracles of Ophidia, and Ophidia is a taxonomy group that includes all modern snakes. Can you say "creepy ancient snake rites"? I can! Woo!

Viren activates the serum with a spell, but apparently he's never done it before. He's not sure if it's supposed to be hot and bubbly, and he worries that it's been tainted by moonlight.

Oh, I do hope so.

The magic potion hurts, a lot. Viren will do just about anything, to himself or anyone, to do what he believes is necessary. He just risked madness and blindness to find out what this mirror does! Viren. Can you just. Take a nap or something. Have a Snickers.

This chapter gives us a fun clue that I don't remember from the show: when Viren's vision clears and he can see, his reflection has white pupils and the room reflected in the mirror has inverted colors. You know where else has inverted colors?

You know who else got white pupils for a hot second?

Okay, now it makes sense! Viren and Lujanne were both seeing into the realm beyond life and death. Him with his moon magic potion, and her with her moon powers on a full moon night at the Moon Nexus. Which is Very Interesting! Is it a direct hint about Aaravos's location, or just a separate cool detail? Orrr, does it look like a direct hint because Aaravos is actually trapped in the world beyond life and death, but it's actually separate and we'll see something about white pupils again later on?

Viren really does have self-esteem issues, we all picked up on it with his rant at his reflection. He throws a fit when he catches himself wondering if he's actually worthless. In the book version of his tantrum, he shoves the mirror and hurls a candelabra instead of flipping a table. He didn't need to shove the mirror to set the fire, but it's in here. Foreshadowing that perhaps, if push comes to shove, Viren will choose himself over Aaravos? Giving Aaravos time to peek through and see that the coast is clear?

Soren, my boyyyyy. He has a rough night at the Moon Nexus because two sides of him are fighting with each other. He struggles to understand Callum's friendship with Rayla, and he also fantasizes about chopping off Rayla's head. One of these is a pretty ordinary thing to do. The other is Soren's internalization of what he needs to do to gain his father's approval. If he brought his dad a chopped off elf head every week, he'd probably feel a lot more confident because Viren would praise him a lot more.

Okay, okay, omg, is it just me, or does the "Moonshadow Madness" story, as it's told in the book, seem like Soren just doesn't know what a monsterfucker is? He thinks an elf bite puts humans under a spell. But vampires are sexy, and some people want them to do more to them than just bite them. A passionate kiss under the moonlight could look very bitey, especially if one of the participants has horns and you're already culturally trained to hate them. No yeah, I'm already headcanoning an actual human-elf kiss that got misunderstood by an observer long ago.

it's Lujanne isn't it, we all know, because what is a love spell but a sweet soft illusion, I mean how else does she get supplies for her Caldera, I ask you, and also Corvus was totally sent to investigate once and he told Soren at camp what he saw

And then back to magefam angst: Soren pretending that his sister's nose-tapping is stupid, even though he actually thinks it's cool, just because their dad thinks it's stupid. Viren, istg. Let your kids like harmless things. It's so cute that Soren taps his nose back at her, though! Like they have their own sibling code. I hope we get to see the nose tap again, especially now that they've chosen different sides. It could mean so much, that they're not too far apart yet.

Rayla knows what buttery pancakes smell like. I love this. Do Moonshadow elves have butter and pancakes, does Rayla eat a stack of eight giant pancakes in the morning? Orrrr it is just illusion food? I don't care, let Rayla have pancakes! Everyone loves pancakes. Pancakes will save the world. this message brought to you by the fact that I can't eat pancakes rn, send help

I love that Rayla is both sus of the pancakes and hungry, and that combines into a very motivated "I will get to the bottom of this" attitude. She kind of goes into Poirot Mode when she inserts herself into Soren and Ellis's conversation about Ava, explaining about the wolf's illusion leg and segueing into her claim that the pancakes taste sus. Claudia confirms she used dark magic, and Rayla is furious. It's different than the show's version in that it puts Rayla in detective mode, as the only Moonshadow elf in the scene, and boy does she take that role seriously. Also, she doesn't actually swallow the dark magic pancake bite. It ends up on the ground just like Lujanne's grubs from that earlier meal. These poor kids are so nutrient-starved. You guys gotta eat!!

Rayla's determination and prejudices and the fact that she super knows Harrow is dead all dovetail to make her try repeatedly to persuade Callum that Soren and Claudia are Not To Be Trusted. It's nice that the book keeps taking the time to point out that Rayla is Well Intentioned But Flawed, just like Callum and pretty much every other character in the show. No one is Right All The Time, no one Knows More Than Everyone Else.

Callum loving the sound of Claudia's unique voice is so wholesome. When you like someone, it only makes sense that you like all the things about them that they can't change - like the sound of Claudia's voice. Her choices with dark magic, not so much!

Claudia seems to have the same concerns Soren does about Callum's relationship with Rayla, but she comes out and asks him. The inherent possession implied in "your elf" is interesting, though. Elves are not people to Claudia. They're enemies who can be disassembled for the magic inside them. So maybe more like robots than living beings, if she knew what a robot was. Maybe she heard Soren's "Moonshadow Madness" story and realized he totally missed the kissing implications - but she didn't, and now she's genuinely worried that Rayla could kiss Callum under a full moon and enchant him to do her will. Good thing it's only a half moon, then!

Okay, Callum nervously making a puppet hand and then not knowing what to do with his hands and freaking out about itching and moving and pointy elbows is such a ND mood. The sudden stress of knowing that someone else is noticing your existence and maybe you're Not Existing Right, amirite? Ugh, poor Callum.

The Moon Temple! Omg it's so pretty in the description! Made to be beautiful and useful, full of knowledge but also allowing light and life inside (butterflies and vines). Lujanne, when can I move in, please? Also, it's all the more angsty because Lujanne is the only one who gets to see this beautiful place, but it has lots of chairs and shelves and tables, and it was meant to be used by lots of people. :(((

Claudia knows some of the runes on the walls. She isn't in a hurry to copy the rest of them down or anything, either. Her spellwriting is very precise, and she's a skilled mage. Her father would have made sure she was aware of the dangers of drawing sloppy runes, as much as he made her aware of the dangers of doing dark magic wrong. And the whole point of dark magic is that it's easier to learn than primal magic. Claudia supports her dad and their shared knowledge and life path. She's not gonna go nuts over an elf library she can't translate.

Side note: Between Claudia knowing some Moon runes and Viren building a secret passageway and a dungeon and lighting it with the same blue crystals that Lujanne and Ethari use for light--and Claudia exclaiming that she loves ruins--I wonder once more if there are really Moonshadow ruins somewhere in Katolis, which Viren has found and looted. Father-daughter relic hunting trip, maybe while Soren is away at camp? Omgsh that would be so wild!

Callum out here having a Viren moment with his "I feel powerless unless I've got magic that lets me help" vibes. God. I love their complicated mirroring. One of the hard differences between them is that Callum is very sure dark magic is bad because you have to kill stuff and take its power to cast spells, and he doesn't want to be a person who kills and takes like that. The line he walks to be nice to Claudia on their tour of the Cursed Caldera because he likes her, while telling her that he doesn't want to do her magic, like, ever, is so fine that it might as well be a shifting shadow on the ground. It's a very fitting conversation to be having during the half moon, with its tricks and little white lies.

Callum being out of the castle and his comfort zone, having to deal with the fact that the Claudia he loves is not quite the Claudia who's chasing him down across the kingdom, but of the two of them, he's the only one with a problem with this.

They say that if you really want to get to know someone, you should spend time with them outside their comfort zone - in heavy traffic, with a small baby, taking care of a new pet, trying a new skill, following unfamiliar directions, etc. While the castle is familiar territory for them both, Callum's never really found his comfort zone yet, while Claudia is pretty comfortable with her growing skill set. The creepy part starts to kick in when Callum begins to realize that Claudia's comfort zone encompasses a whole bunch of stuff that seems like it should make her uncomfortable... but it doesn't. But that'll be for a future chapter!

[kirabook]

Candyman 2020

Well, I've had some time to collect my thoughts and think about the movie.

I think I give the movie a... 7-8/10. Somewhere around there. It was a REALLY good movie but if the original was a 10/10, then this one was definitely a 7 or an 8.

It's mostly because I feel like the original Candyman wrapped up and explained the themes a little better with racial injustice and the like. Beyond here is spoiler territory.

SPOILERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I think my main issue with the movie is the ending and how it wrapped up. It felt almost nonsensical?

The movie was building up on this secret connection Anthony had with the Candyman. They also introduced and reinforced this idea that the Candyman was not one person, but many throughout the ages, and every generation has "their" Candyman.

Even in the 1992 version, one gang dude was pretending to be Candyman. Or rather, he adopted the moniker to spread the legend (whether he knew he was doing it or not)

Even the main Candyman we see in the movie, the one who was accused of putting razors in the candy, he was alluded to in the original as well.

I think my problem is as interesting as this new Candyman was, it was... TOO much?

You've set up this premise that there's more than one Candyman. You have Anthony researching and painting all these different Candymen. Why does it feel like only that one was the main focus?

I wish we'd have seen more of the original Candyman, the one that made an appearance in 1992 (Tony Todd) because that is the version of Candyman that originally took him, you know?

Even if he wasn't on camera a lot, use his voice. Use the tricks they used in 1992. Make us feel his presence. The way they just smacked him into the last scene was silly.

Speaking of the last scene, the whole ending part felt like it was supposed to go on for another 30 minutes and they rushed to the finish line.

In the 1992 version, we hear Candyman speaking to Helen. A lot. Whether its in person or her head. That doesn't seem to happen with Anthony?? He just sees him and gets spooked and then starts zoning out at the end.

I just find it odd why that didn't happen. We knew from start to finish what was going through Helen's head, but with Anthony.... it feels the role of main character switched from him to his girlfriend at the end.

Also the ending where the cops come in and shoot him.... ridiculous. Straight up ridiculous.

Trust me, I know cops suck, but the way it was done was stupid and again, WAY too fast.

Here's my alteration to the scene with the acknowledgement that this path is harder to close out:

- Cops come in, sees that laundromat guy dead, sees Anthony with the hook, sees Brianna. Cops come in, pull Brianna away. Anthony gets up, trying to get back to Brianna, but upon ignoring police demands to back up (cause he probably can't even see or hear them), he is then shot and killed.

- We skip to Brianna in the police station being interrogated, not in the back of the police car.

---------------------

That's as far as I can think up. It erases two issues I had. Kinda randomly killing Anthony off in such an unbelievable way and two, having Anthony get up like a zombie to kill all those policemen and fly around with bees around his head.

Something about it... I just didn't like it. Candyman is of course a supernatural being, but not like THAT. It just feels... cheesy?

And if you're going to kill off poor Anthony, at least make it more dramatic? Haunting. Play out the theme of star crossed lovers ala the 1992 film.

All that said, I did like the movie. Especially the beginning and the middle. I think they could've done a bit more to tie in Brianna's father's suicide with this idea of a generational plague among black people that leads to stuff like that.

It was there, but hm. I guess there's not too much more they could've done ti make it more obvious else it would've been too on the nose.

All that to say, man, I feel sad for Anthony and his mom. I wanted more of them to be honest. How horrible Anne-Marie must feel, having done so much to protect her son after he was saved in 1992, only for something like this to happen. It really speaks to that generational pain I'm sure my parents and my parents parents feel. I guess I will too, the day I have kids.

Anyway, random splurge of thoughts done.

[molly2140]

I feel like showing off my vinyl collection, feel free to show me yours!

I'm an avid 70s/80s/90s collector, and deeply wish I could've been alive for all of that, most of my vinyls are 70s/80s, some older, some newer. Some are 100% vintage, others are newly made/released. My dad (who brought me up on literally everything 70s and 80s) got me a record player for Christmas and helped me start my collection, since then it's grown rapidly.

First I must show off my RDR2 vinyls, with Marty Robbins' "Gunfighter Ballads", his songs are perfect to listen to while playing RDR2, "Big Iron" being one of my favorites.

Dad got me all 3 of my Queen albums for Christmas, as he knows that Queen is perhaps my favorite band of all time, I've been trying to find vintage vinyls of their albums rather than the newly remade ones, haven't had much luck yet but we will get there. :)

Did I mention that my dad and I are diehard Gordon Lightfoot fans? "Summertime Dream" and "Sundown" are perhaps my favorite albums. Lightfoot's song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" holds a special place in my heart. While the song is based off of a true story, about the tragic sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior, this song has a deeper connection with me. My dad, my Uncle Rob, and my Uncle Rodney, they loved this song so much, they would sit and listen to it on repeat for hours and hours mesmerized by the story that it told, along with Lightfoot's iconic voice, and the instruments itself. This was their group song essentially. Unfortunately, on July 25, 2019 (a year ago this coming Saturday), my Uncle Rodney lost his battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), he was only 49 years old, a year younger than my dad. It was something we would never expect happen to any of us, let alone him. Uncle Rodney went out of his way for everyone, he'd help everyone whenever he could and would never ask for or expect anything in return. He put his family first, he loved and cared for his kids the best he could, he worked his ass off hand crafting furniture out of cedar wood, and adding onto his home and designing it just the way a true country boy could ever want it, he was dedicated to his job, his family, and his friends. Hard to believe it will be a whole year this weekend, not a day goes by where I don't think about him, he was like a second dad to me, and I greatly wished that I'd had more time with him, especially hugs, he gave the best hugs.

However he'd want me to carry on and continue to be happy, and it was hard the first few months after he passed, I went into a depression spell, and starting coming out of it in February, and then I met the man who is now my boyfriend. I don't know if it was just coincidence, or if Uncle Rodney had a hand in all of it, but I shit you not, my boyfriend reminds me so much of him, including my dad. My family absolutely loves him and has taken him in already, and I've never been this happy. But alas, this isn't supposed to be my life's story, but some of these records mean so much to me, and Lightfoot's records will forever hold a special place in my heart, for the very sole reason you just read about.

Moving on! These are some great records I found on a clearance rack at a record store, all under $5 a piece! My grandpa is a huge John Denver fan, so he very much appreciates it when he stops by our house and hears me blasting that album from my room haha. My boyfriend loves The Oak Ridge Boys, and let me tell you, he can sing the oom poppa mow mows in the song "Elvira" perfectly, and I melt everytime haha. Rosanne Cash, her music gets played constantly whenever we are having a party at my Uncle Rob's house, so when I hear her voice, it makes me want to go down there and have a great time. The Outlaws, I only recently discovered them but I really enjoy this album in particular, "You Are the Show" is perhaps my favorite song on the album, I sing this one a lot no matter how terrible I may be at it, I can't help it lol.

Ah yes, more classics. My dad really enjoys when I decide to blast my CCR album (a birthday present from my boyfriend). "Fortunate Son" is probably my dad's favorite CCR song, and it is definitely his theme song. Boston and Molly Hatchet are two of my other favorites for sure, including Chicago, it has been awhile since I listened to them, but they sure are fun.

Oh these three here I love talking about. I mean, who doesn't love Footloose and Dirty Dancing? The Footloose record is vintage, the Dirty Dancing one is a newly released version, but I ended up buying it anyways as the record itself is that purple color of awesomeness. The Quiet Riot one I found at an antique store, my favorite album of theirs, and because it's a picture vinyl, I had to have it. It looks kickass watching it on the record player.

Any Fleetwood Mac fans? My witchy sisters, this is our music. I can actually sing Stevie Nicks pretty decently, my boyfriend absolutely loves it when I do. "Tango in the Night" is my favorite Fleetwood Mac album, I listen to this record religiously. Once I listened to it on repeat for about 3 days straight, and my dad eventually had to tell me to switch to a different record because he was ready to hear some other great music 😂 The song "Twisted" which Stevie sang with Lindsey Buckingham, was part of the 1996 movie "Twister" with Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt. My favorite movie, and my favorite Stevie Nicks song, might I also mention that I'm a weather nut and also studying for a degree in meteorology? Yeah, I also chase tornadoes, hence why "Twister" is my favorite movie.

And last but not least, these two little guys. Tiësto is perhaps my favorite DJ of all time, his classic hits and even the new ones, always give me such a vibe that is so enjoyable. My favorite mix of his? "Silence" by Delerium with Sarah Maclachlan, this was one of Tiësto's "In Search of Sunrise" mixes, and I still get absolute chills hearing it.

Oh yes, I forgot to add, a bunch of the vintage vinyls I bought, I got at Guestroom Records in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma while I was there back in May. They have a giant clearance section with records under $5, and of course they have all the newly released music, and even full collection sets. My favorite part? They also have a beautiful kitty cat that lives at the store and he/she is such a lovely kitty. So if you're in OKC and wanna buy some vinyls? This is your place.

So that's all of my vinyls I have so far! I hope you enjoyed seeing my collection, and reading about why they mean so much to me, I hope I didn't bore you too much with them haha. Again, feel free to show me some of yours! Tell me why they mean so much to you! :)