#idk a queen piece a key....

[givemethedamnflowers]

Brand new craft project starting tomorrow : an aftg pillowcase, with all the covers embroidered

[raayllum]

4x06 making me consider ezran as the chessmaster aaravos is playing against yet again

[hauntingblue]

NEFERTARI D LILY WHAT AN ICON

[game-hobbie]

My 17yo coworker is always quoting the latest memes and brainrot, but he's never seen The Amazing Digital Circus. I showed him 3 images of the main cast and told him to give his first impressions and a name for each one. These are his responses.

Caine

- "A little wacko" - "Little funny guy got balls in his mouth" - "Looks like he would do nefarious acts" - "Probably shoots magic out of his cane" Name: Mr. Doohickey

Ragatha

- "I like her hair. Looks like Twizzlers" - "Looks like a character from 'It Takes Two' or something" - "Can see her doing something with ice"

Name: Kenny or Elizabeth

Gangle

- "Immediate SCP vibes" - "Not sure if it's good or bad" - "It's a girl?" - "She looks really stressed"

Name: Joyce

Zooble

- "They seem kinda cool" - "Bipolar, very energetic, funny and soft" - (Quickly picked up on that they change their look each day) - (Likes Ep 2 design) "They look like a wasp and would sting"

Name: Susan

Kinger

- "Low-key villain. Tragic. Up to no good" - "Is that a queen?" "He's a white king piece" "Yeah, he definitely scheming" - "Definitely plays chess and stuff" - "He's playing the long game"

Name: "Some wizard name like Gandalf idk. Grandalf?"

Pomni

- "They lookin' at me real funny" - "They can switch personalities like Sun and Moon from FNAF" - "They're probably crazy" - "They gets triggered easily"

Name: Moss or Mosay

Jax

- "He's long. Long boy" - "Got the need for the bag" - "He's fast" - "Ears pointed up and up to no good"

Name: Cheddar

[themoodydoodles]

Just a handful of theories and details and shit

Firstly just wanna say

Jax calling Pomni kid while being like 3 years younger than her 💀

anyway The doors

I was rewatching the pilot for the fourth time when I decided to count the doors

I was able to count around 26

Considering there’s only six humans left

they’ve seen a lot of people come and go

I caught a few glimpses of some of the characters

this one resembles a fuzzy worm

This one is a dog

Rabbit stuffed animal thing

I don’t even fucking know

and a Queen piece. I bet she and Kinger were married idk why I just get that vibe

The office

Pomni appeared to be in a similar office to the one ominously shown at the end of the pilot

It’s the same desk. Same set up, same everything aside from the laptop being on at the end

I believe that Pomni might have been in a digital copy of office which might be close to the doorway to the void

But I’m not sure the void is the way out. I think that it could be endless. It’s the outskirts of the circus so it could be the unused space that the code doesn’t reach

So if Caine didn’t return Pomni to the circus she could potentially be floating there forever

I dunno tho

also holy moly Pomni

get this girl therapy

actually get them all therapy

I dunno why but she low key reminds me of Uzi from Murder Drones

ANYWAY HAVE SOME JAX

purple bitch asshole rabbit

[goodlucktai]

thank you for pulling me through

one piece pairing: brook & luffy word count: 2k title borrowed from precious love by james morrison smile again au

read on ao3

x

[The livestream begins without any introduction, the camera stationed to that side so that the baby grand piano and the bench are both in profile. The Soul King himself is sitting in front of the keys, playing scales idly and humming to himself. He seems to be waiting for something.]

skuuuullj0ke  Anyone know what this is?

gremlin energy✨✨ @ skuuuullj0ke check his pinned

existential dread but make it cute  @ skuuuullj0ke probably an apology

A handful of angry bees @ existential dread but make it cute Apology for what?? 

A handful of angry bees There was a loss in his family

A handful of angry bees Get some perspective maybe??

existential dread but make it cute  @ A handful of angry bees i paid like 200 dollars for my ticket and he canceled a week before the show

👻SOUL PARADE👻 @ existential dread but make it cute Literally his brother died whats wrong with you?

👻SOUL PARADE👻 @ existential dread but make it cute Also his team worked with all the event organizers to get everyone refunded asap so idk why youd choose to cry about money you already got back.

5924874392607 imagine spending 200 usd on soul king tix lmao 

gremlin energy✨✨ @ 5924874392607 i think you’re in the wrong place actually

skuuuullj0ke  Yikes

[A door somewhere out-of-frame opens with a mighty slam, and someone lets out an ‘oof’ as it presumably bounces back off the wall and knocks the wind out of them. Brook turns around on the bench to face the newcomer, an animated smile on his face. “So glad you could join us!” “Sorry, sorry,” a younger voice replies brightly. “Zoro went the wrong way and we ended up at a Mexican diner somehow. The food smelled amazing so we had to get some. And then Barto was there because I think he’s still tracking my phone? But he paid for lunch so that was cool. And I brought you some steak tacos!”  “In that case, all is forgiven!” A teenage boy in a worn straw hat finally scrambles into view. He launches himself at Brook for a full-bodied hug that almost knocks them both onto the floor. Brook catches him easily and hugs him back with equal enthusiasm.]

clankclunk imagine being this extroverted 😭😭

Jen.  I dont know who this child is but I’d die for him

⋆｡°✩lullabyparry⋆｡°✩ OH MY GOD ITS LUFFY!!!!!!!!

gremlin energy✨✨ He looks like hes doing a lot better !

A handful of angry bees Aww we haven't seen Luffy on here in ages 👒💛

Water 7 🔛🔝 Is anyone else worried about the dude apparently stalking his phone?????

clankclunk @ Water 7 🔛🔝 no that’s just bart. he’s weird but harmless.

existential dread but make it cute  @ Water 7 🔛🔝 lbr wed all stalk brooks contacts if we could 💞

skuuuullj0ke  We really really wouldn’t though

stream “1000 sunny days” album now 🔪 @ existential dread but make it cute hey mods come get this weirdo

👻SOUL PARADE👻 @ stream “1000 sunny days” album now 🔪 I wouldnt worry. His sister is the mod today and she wields the block hammer with an iron fist  

⋆｡°✩lullabyparry⋆｡°✩ @ 👻SOUL PARADE👻 lmao our queen is in the room 👑🙇

[“Come sit, Luffy,” Brook says cheerfully. “Ah, but first, throw your bag as hard as you can that way so the food smell doesn’t distract me this entire time,” he adds, pointing off to the left. Gamely, the boy gathers his tote bag together in his hands and flings it with what appears to be all the strength he can muster. It clatters noisily against something off-camera and there’s a deafening bang.  “Perfect!” Brook declares.  “Ah, wait, I forgot that was Sanji’s stuff,” Luffy says.  “He’ll get over it,” an unnamed person replies off-camera.]

Jen. RIP whoever sanji is 🙏

skuuuullj0ke  So much chaotic energy, so little time

clankclunk Luffy’s been here for 1 minute and already something is broken. New record??

[Moderator] Nami 🌊☀️ @ clankclunk Not even close. 

newname92 Woah when he threw the bag and his shirt fell open for a sec

newname92 Did anyone else see that crazy scar????????

A handful of angry bees @ newname92 You know what, I'm not even going to bother explaining why that was an insensitive question, because I’m not actually your kindergarten teacher 

[“My manager as well as the rest of my team have been very forthcoming about my recent absence,” Brook says, seeming to address the thousands of people watching the stream for the first time. “I know that the cancellation of my Sunny Days tour was a disappointment to many of you, and I’m very sorry for that. You know by now how important it is to me to be able to share my music with you all. But I do not regret it, because as much as I love the stage, my heart lives at home, and home is where I was needed.” Luffy leans against him, his head barely making it to Brook’s shoulder. He lays his own fingers on the keys and starts up a stumbling rendition of Binks’ Brew. The musician’s more practiced hands guide him along patiently.  “While there was plenty of anger to be heard from a number of you,” Brook goes on, “mostly your voices poured out to my family in sympathy and support. Your kindness means more to me than I can explain, so I’ll simply say thank you, thank you, thank you.”  “Thank you!” Luffy adds. “I always said Brook’s fans were the best.” “That you did,” Brook confirms cheerfully.]

stream “1000 sunny days” album now 🔪 Not me literally tearing up in the break room rn

👻SOUL PARADE👻 Oh OK cool I’ll just sob horrifically into my pad thai then thanks so much Soul King

clankclunk HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE NORMAL WHEN THEY EXIST

⋆｡°✩lullabyparry⋆｡°✩ 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Water 7 🔛🔝 Ive only been a soul king stan for like 2 days but already i would give my life for this family

stream “1000 sunny days” album now 🔪 @ Water 7 🔛🔝 welcome to the crew 🏴☠️

[“So the reason for this livestream is not to apologize,” Brook says. “But rather something more personal. Today marks the very start of a brand new year, and also the birthday of one Ace D. Portgas—the first birthday we find ourselves celebrating without him.” “Ace can’t be here anymore, but he loved a good party,” Luffy pipes up. He’s still smiling, but some of the energy is gone from him now. His hands are in his lap, no longer tripping merrily across the keys. “We’re gonna make sure he hears it from wherever he is. Marco and Thatch and everybody’s gonna be there.” “That’s right! But the party is later. For now, I’d like to play him a song.”  “A birthday song?” Luffy asks.  “His favorite,” Brook confirms.  He begins to play without further ado, accompanying himself as he sings a slow, acoustic version of James Morrison’s “Precious Love.” Luffy watches him with wide, lamplike eyes, expressive face strangely unreadable. Brook’s voice swells and fills the room.    [CAPTIONS] 🎶 I was so lost, didn't know what to do with myself.  I was my own worst enemy, I was lost and oh, I needed help. Then you came along, and saw what state I was in. You picked me up when I was down, showed me how to live again. 🎶   A young man with hair dyed vivid green comes into frame, but only to sit on Luffy’s free side with his back to the piano. His face can’t be seen, and he doesn’t offer any obvious condolence or comfort; but he sticks his elbow out, and Luffy immediately loops their arms together, and that seems to be more than enough.  There is movement from elsewhere in the room. The light shifts as the door opens again, and shadows move across the wall as the three by the piano are joined by an unknown number of other people. Luffy looks up and whoever he sees makes him smile. Brook continues singing, soulful and slow and golden.    [CAPTIONS]  🎶 I say thank you, for pulling me through, I'm a lucky man. I didn't know what life was, but now I understand. 🎶]

Jen. Okay i did some googling. I dont really follow artists personal lives beyond what they share on their own social media bcus its not really any of my business

Jen. But goddamn this is sad 

skuuuullj0ke  @ Jen. Bro I cried so hard when I found out about the accident i had to leave class

stream “1000 sunny days” album now 🔪 @ Jen. No joke. Some of my friends met ace backstage once during brook’s sabaody tour, the second night of the oakland show, but i never got the chance. Still, his entire familys grief was so raw and horrible, i know in my heart he must have been like a really really wonderful guy

gremlin energy✨✨ Ace is in a lot of the older videos on this channel, those are still up 

gremlin energy✨✨ I’m not saying go be super weird about it but if you watch like 2 of them you’ll understand immediately 

Water 7 🔛🔝 @ gremlin energy✨✨ Ace was brooks brother?

A handful of angry bees @ Water 7 🔛🔝 Not biologically, but yeah. 

gremlin energy✨✨ @ Water 7 🔛🔝 They all sort of adopted each other. Even Ace and Luffy aren’t biologically related but that’s so much a non-issue that i cant remember the last time it ever came up 

⋆｡°✩lullabyparry⋆｡°✩ @ Water 7 🔛🔝 they’re family 

clankclunk I didnt know this was ace’s favorite song. I didnt even know this song existed. Adding it to everything as we speak 

👻SOUL PARADE👻 @ clankclunk This cover might be the most beautiful thing Ive ever heard

skuuuullj0ke  @ 👻SOUL PARADE👻 FR like i want to be respectful but i also want this version released on spotify asap 😭

Skeletons on parade  The way they talk about ace like hes just somewhere else is kind of beautiful 

owl be back 🦉 @ Skeletons on parade they’re throwing him a birthday party 😭😭😭

clankclunk @ owl be back 🦉 love isn’t past-tense

[When the last ringing note from the piano fades, Brook looks down at Luffy and says, “What did you think, boss?” Luffy rubs his face with the heel of his hand, which is the only indication he’s been crying. Arms come around him from all sides, half a dozen faces spilling forward to hold him. The green-haired boy beside him gets squashed into the group hug before he sees it coming and no amount of flailing gets him out of it. Brook laughs above it all and flops over to splay his weight on the top of the pile playfully.  The piano keys give a jarring clang when someone’s elbow lands against them. A knee slipping from where it’s braced on the bench is all it takes for the entire group to go down in a tangle of limbs. A woman with long black hair is the only one aside from Brook who remains upright, effortlessly graceful. It’s her arm around Luffy’s shoulders that keeps him from falling, too.  “I loved it,” Luffy declares, in response to Brook’s unanswered question. “Ace would have loved it, too. Can you play it again?” “Until my arms fall off,” Brook agrees at once, already fanning his hands out over the keys, as if there’s not a bunch of people bickering noisily and wrestling with each other on all sides of him, just out of view of the camera.  Luffy grins and says, “Louder this time!”  The music that starts up is boisterous and triumphant and raucous—less of a bittersweet remembrance, more of a call for everyone to join in at the top of their lungs. And that’s exactly what everyone does. Clambering upright to hold onto each other, their voices ringing off the walls. The words of the song are clearly familiar to every one of them. The act of screaming out the chorus together is even more so. This was their brother’s favorite song, and they sing it like they mean it.   [CAPTIONS]  🎶This is precious love, it’s precious love. No, I can't let it go. This is precious love, and it’s teaching me, everything I need to know. 🎶]

skuuuullj0ke  Raise your hand if your singing along 🙋 

gremlin energy✨✨ @ skuuuullj0ke ✋✋

stream “1000 sunny days” album now 🔪 @ skuuuullj0ke My coworkers hate me but ✋

👻SOUL PARADE👻 @ skuuuullj0ke ✋😭

⋆｡°✩lullabyparry⋆｡°✩ @ skuuuullj0ke 👐👐👐

Skeletons on parade  @ skuuuullj0ke 🙋🙋

clankclunk So now im supposed to go to dinner with my friends and act like im not a fundamentally different person after this????

Water 7 🔛🔝 @ clankclunk 🤝 I SEE YOU BESTIE I KNOW YOUR PAIN 🫂🫂 

Jen. They’re laughing and being silly on his birthday. Idk its just rly nice. Its like proof that the good things can outlast the bad 

A handful of angry bees RIP Ace, I hope you had even half an idea of how loved you are

clankclunk @ A handful of angry bees He must have known

clankclunk @ A handful of angry bees Look at how goofy his family is. Theres no way they loved him quietly

skuuuullj0ke  He knew 🧡

[stolaz-the-artist]

Murder drones au pt 2

Long awaited follow up for my murder drones au, of which was kindly requested by @burgertron17.

I appreciate the patients you've had with me, I and I apologize for the wait. But enough talk, lets get into it.

⚠️Spoiler warning for murder drones. Duh⚠️

lot of text ahead. like A LOT! beware!

So first an explanation of how the timeline is played out in comparison to murder drones canon.

Macy isn't really "bullied" in the same sense Uzi is, but she does experience a disconnect with the other kids. There is a rumor going around that she's half disassembly drone, which would explain why she's so tall. This one singular rumor is why she isn't outright bullied, they're low-key kinda scared of her.

The gun incident goes as followed in the canon. Aaron and Lance walk by and see Macy is hurt. Macy talks about the outdoors and how she's planning on sneaking out to get the last part she needs for her gun to actually work. Bottom panel of the lance drawing plays out here.

As the exit the outer door Aaron makes an off comment of "I bet Lance is worried sick." Hard cut to top left corner of Lance drawing, insert elevator esque like music. Hard cut back Aaron and Macy. Moment of silence. Macy says "Eh we'll make it quick.

They find the piece and blah blah blah.

Ok I'm not gonna write every single change I made cuz that will make this post wayyyy to long. now I don't even know if posts have a word limit but I don't wanna find out. Also cuz. didn't change overly a lot, most of the stuff still goes the same way. Its not a roots deep au like my other ones.

Instead of Clays comment that everyone thinks hes useless and terrible he just casually flexes how many kills hes gotten, followed by an awkward laugh, showing how he isn't actually enjoying any of it. Instead of him telling Wanda his name he just says "welp, guess I'll stay guard and . . . look for other drones. or something. Also cut out the whole crush comment cuz in this context ew. Just have him stare into space is sum idk. Also In the J flashback just have them have a very awkward conversation, and right when Clay is about to ask him something he flies off. Keep Jestro as the leader or not Idk

instead of Clay firing hearts (cuz that would be weird) just a puff of smoke comes out. He's too tense too shoot her. he says ". . .Listen! im sure we can talk it out like civilized-" And then the bomb. or rocket. whatever it is.

Obviously Jestro is a lot less menacing and brash. Where the failed monologue comes in he more so only apologizes and tries to brush it off in a "don't take this personally" manner

only difference in episode two is that Lance, Aaron and Axl is there. Place them in any situation as you please. Expect when chad or whatever his name is almost dies. that's Aaron.

It's Fletch and Izzy who try and give Macy a make over. Fletch is probably speaking English thought. Also obviously they're a lot less mean and any off putting comments is Izzy trying to seem cool. She looks up to Macy.

Axl isn't in the room when the attack happens. Returns right after, gets rather angry cuz rightfully so- all his hard work has been destroyed. Lance comforts him with a pat on the back.

Lance was the one who tried to get Wanda killed. Ended up saving her. they bond. they're besties now.

Didnt change anything for ep 3. Oh expect the hot comment. Lance instead says. "Dramatic. . . Justified reaction? . . he doesn't appreciate you enough"

Where N is, Wanda is instead. Given how Clay and Fletch was built after everything. Monstrous as Cyn. Marlok as Tessa. And Jestro as J. Macy ended up hacking into Wanda and then connected Clay into it so he could see what happened too.

Not much change for episode 6. I dunno who the souther creepster is. Didn't even make a sketch. I might. probably won't. If you have any suggestion do tell.

During the Flashback in episode 7 we obviously have Hama (Queen halbert) and the other one I didn't think much for either. So place whoever there too. Yet again, if you have any suggestions, do tell.

Where Doll gets killed Wanda rescues Fletch last second. Monstrous could barley figure out what happened and decided that he has more important things to do.

If you ship Clay x Macy, keep it the same, if not, change it to "Are best friends. we hang out a lot." Or something. I dunno

Not much change for the finale. The reason Clay is scared is mainly cuz he just knows what hes capable of from his mom's memories. "Wanda says: Its monstrous! You know, from when- you know what I mean!

Where we get the flashback of doll dying instead have Fletch enter the room. Izzy says "Woah! Cool limbs! How that happen" Fletch lets out a "um . . " Flash back of him waking up with the new limbs and then experiencing a existential crisis. He shrugs and says "Its a long story"

Yeah that's about it for the story. Now for some behind the scenes stuff!

Pilot C

His mother build him after the explosion. He's actual defective (He's a lot shorter) But he was so good at his job they just let him be, in fear of fixing him would change it.

Clay: *Liiiick*

Clay: Oh please don't run, if I miss then this will just be more painful. Ill make it quick!

Fletch (Actually F)

W lost him during an attack. He was raised by worker drones. He isn't very confident with his limbs and is a bit clumsy. (robots built to be JUST disassembly drones don't work well with worker drone limbs.

He was attacked by AD (Absolute destruction) but W saved him last second and gave him proper limbs

F (after being converted) He still hasn't fully figured how to make everything work, but he's already gaining confidence within himself

Macy

Daughter to Eggred who built the bunker. Freezer out because she's weirdly tall and gets called a "Wannabe disassembly drone"

Macy: Shit

Aaron: I mean, he seems . . . fun sized?

Aaron: Ok so not fun

Macy: You think!?

And now for some extra stuff!

This was the initially requested casting. I couldn't quite make it work while still keeping stuff rather canon. But I made some sketches for how they would and or could look like. Oh and a drawing page for more Merlok as Tessa

More canon Clay worker drone

More Uzi leaning Clay worker drone + feat my "joke" scene Clay hc

N jestro (Just gave him a hat lol) Wanda as Nori

Kinda gave up (Not kind, I just gave up)

Merlok Moorington

Merlok: This extension looks amazing! We're matching now! I swear in another universe we're siblings.

Merlok: If you could have a family, what would their names be?

Wanda: You're my family!

Merlok: He he, of course! But other than me

Wanda: Hm . . . Clay and Fletcher.

Merlok: Hm . . I like those names.

Only child of the Moorington family. Only friends are the worker drones. Mom hates that hat, but he refuses to take it off. Mom gave up eventually

Merlok: It wants paid time off . . . to attend Union Negotiations!

Wanda: THIS IS A UNRELATED LAYOFF!

AND BOOM! we're done! Thanks so much again for all the patience! Been having a lost of work and test as of late, and I wanted to have the time to properly write all of this.

[the2amshitposts]

Okay I forget to talk about this but there something rlly cool in the inheritance game trilogy (spoilers btw)

So the covers have rlly nice symbols i dont know if anyone noticed them but okay so the whole trilogy had chess pieces but the brothers Hawthorne doesn’t so that’s because the trilogy is kinda its own era Toby / Avery , Avery/ Tobias , Avery/vincent

okay so for the first book the chess piece is a king probably reference to Tobias king of the games of the mystery of the empire left for Avery

The second book has a rook which is where I get a bit more like crazy with this but the rook could reference Toby/Harry cause you know the rook is usually trapped in a corner till the like half the game kinda like how Toby was trapped till the fire idk kinda a stretch

The final gambit it’s a queen now Avery is the legal heir she won and beat vincent and how does she beat him queens gambit do you see it

Okay also in each three books you got the knife in every single cover (it’s kinda hidden in the third ) and in all three you got a flame and I think this is supposed to be reference to the fire Toby caused also there are necklaces in all books including the brothers hawthorn except the final gambit I still haven’t figured that out and finally keys these probably are reference to Avery’s first puzzle with the keys ( no key in the third tho ) and in all three you got crowns cause you know heiress

you also got the ballerina in the first book you also got the weird disk in the second book amd also Zara’s ring and a seashell ( reference to Toby and fire and lake )

And I am pretty sure that’s all but it’s rlly cool

[medtech-mara]

For the Cyberpsychosis Ask

Can i please have for Mara:

1: Demons of War: Is there a job that has left a permanent mark on your OC?

2: Lt. Mower: What is the worst betrayal your OC has faced?

13: Seaside Cafe: Does your OC like reality shows? Would they ever be in one?

OHHHHHH I HAVE BEEN EXCITED FOR THIS ONE. We're gonna call this Thanksgiving.... Because this turkey gonna be STUFFED!!!!!

Character Key idk if you will need it but its there.

1: Demons of War: Is there a job that has left a permanent mark on your OC?

It's hard to choose, there were a few that I really want to talk about that have left marks on Mara, but one outshines them all in leaving the BIGGEST scar on Mara.

In the timeline of Legends of Night City, Night Raid was contacted by Raj, their fixer from Charter Hill, Militech had reached out to him looking for a crew that would be willing to go into the inclusion zone, having NO such team, as most of his contacts had written him off as burned, the only ones he could ask was NR. Gordie, being the silly man he is, agree'd before the rest of the team could discuss what they were getting into. Not having a good feeling about this job, Mara made her prep for not making it out alive. There was far too much risk, and too much left in the air when it came to Militech to... and Pardon my french when i say to FUCK THEM. Which.... Surprisingly didn't happen. Yet..

Mara eloped with J I H Z Z Y just a few days before the gig, to allow them to enjoy a little marital bliss, or the closest they could get to a honeymoon with such money and time constraints. Re-wrote her will, splitting money between J I H Z Z Y and Jack, if she was to meet her demise while out on this job. Lazarus was CRAWLING all over city center and planned to move into the Inclusion zone. According to the NC54, who was doing a piece with Biotechnica, you could see Marcus in he background, packing more chrome than the first time they had met, when he chanced them all thru the NID.

This job s h o o k her to the core, everytime she thought about it.

So, This Gig required them to go into the inclusion zone, which was a 1 1/2 day walk following a Militech solo "L" setting up net access in for militech. On the way, they stopped at the safehouse of an old friend of L's. Upon investigating, she saw a picture of Chae-Rin, Mara's roommate, So.... If theres a picture of her, this must be.. Jago's (Jay-go) safehouse.... One of the first members of Night Raid who was beheaded before their very eyes by Tetsuo Okaada, one of Wakako's sons. Something told Mara there was more than "L" was letting on..

Once they get to the inclusion zone, they get a notification about a bounty is near by, and frankly, no one wanted to take on more of a load than they already had. Who even knew what that bounty would even be, and who they'd be meeting at the end of that bounty to cash in to. TBH TOO RISKY considering the political stance with Biotechnica & Lazarus, Petrochem & NIGHT RAID. It requires a whole lot of explaining that I don't think anyone is prepared to handle. However, its IMPORTANT for you to know. NR passes on the bounty and choose to just get straight to the job.

Let me tell you a job has never went so fucking FLAWLESS for NR.

Look at this piece my husband did of the a scene from climbing a building to get to the top and install this antenna.

credit: @cyberpsychotic-purgatory [Image is Rockerboy J I H Z Z Y looking out at the nature(?) reclaimed city center. Mara looks back at her secret husband, the team knew something was going on between the two, but it was a big question mark in how involved they really were until the week leading up to the City Center job.]

!!!!!!CONTENT WARNING!!!!!

Like I said, things were flawless for NR, they were leaving the area... when Token (@dezthefixer, she's no longer active sadly...she retired. rip queen) rolled horribly for stealth..... Even J I H Z Z Y who rolls the worse in the whole group for everything PASSED this stealth check. Let me tell you it was the worst time too because who starts deep scanning her? Marcus from Lazarus. By the time she was able to get out "RUN" Marcus jumps from his location and landed on the ground in front of the group. This is where I issue a content warning. Point of No Return

When Marcus lands, just a few feet in front of Token, he's holding the head of the beloved combat cab driver, Boris.

"Need a Cab, Desiree Yang?" He asks as he crushes the head before Token.

(Ya'll he was there from the beginning of Night Raid, He's helped them time and time again, this was devastating to the whole group.)

During combat with Marcus, it couldn't have gone better, except "L" the militech Solo was taking the brunt of Marcus's force. The group finds out that the two have history, that Marcus tried to hook up with L, and she turned him down.

When L is about to reach her limit, Mara runs in and passes a speedheal over to give her a second wind, to keep fighting, while the rest of the team weaken him as much as we can.

If anyone in Night Raid, besides Mara gets hit by Marcus at all, they are dead. If Mara dies, theres no hope of anyone being saved with the Cryopump.

Just before L rejoins the fight again, she begins her Plight.

“We’ve got him right where we want him, let’s finish him off. What ever happens, please don’t leave me behind. I would hate to see what the plant life would do” [this requires more explaonation about how things work on our universe. I’m just giving you the boiled down info, my husband or I will go more into depth later about the inclusion zone]

She stands up, and turns to Marcus.

“You know, I didn’t turn you down that night at Gamorrah because I was scared. I turned you down because I’m spoken for.”

“You can’t mean that “Solo rat” you ran around with in city center.”

“He’s not a rat, his name was Jago (Jay-Go) and he was my husband!”

A shock to everyone on the battlefield in this moment. Gotta understand, Jago was an OG member, he had a mainline, was warming up to Mara (before his death 💀) and now we’re being told the man was married TOO? How does he have the time for all these women and to make a living? (Oh right, two of those pretty women were work involved)

The fight between Marcus and L continues as the Borg’d corpo titans exchange blows, with what little you could see with both of their sandi’s going. The victor on top, was L. But just barely. Turning to the group, with a beautiful soft smile, beat black and bloody, hair clinging to the sides of her face from blood and sweat.

Behind her, dust was stirring everywhere and the sounds of fighting off in the distance could be heard, but they were far enough to not feel concerned, until they began to hear heavy metallic footsteps coming closer.

A hand reaches out of the dust cloud quickly and grabs L by the neck.

“I remember you, cunt.” He looks at L’s face just before crushing her neck severing her head from her body. Turning his attention back to NR, they had wasted no time in starting to run. They knew if Adam Smasher wanted them, they’d better get to running.

Though, he did want to know what Militech and a group of no-name mercs were doing in the inclusion zone, doing a job he was sent to do. It wasn’t badly enough to be something he had to do himself, sending his small team to handle catching them.

Though, they had failed to do so, Mara and Gordie quickly took care of those in in pursuit, and made the collective decision to hurry to the roof, where a Militech AV would be waiting.

Something in every fiber of My being said “we need to wait a minute” but Mara was just wanting to get out asap.

That feeling was correct, because as NR is being EVAC'd out in an AV & Flying over the inclusion zone, she gets a message from her brother Jayce saying "Wheres Jack? I know he's with you. His ping says he went in the building you just went in."

Mara is confused, how does Jayce know where she's at exactly? He knew she was going to City Center, but not where she would be? And Why would Jack be in City Center?

A wave of panic overcomes Mara, as she becomes visibly panicked in front of her team, the most shaken they've ever seen her. Trying to figure out whats going on, Mara is frantically calling and messaging Jack & Jayce.

Jayce isn't answering.

Jack... Answers a message, and says he made a mistake, he hears them coming, he tells her he loves her if anything was to happen to him.

At this point, Mara is ready to bust down the door of the AV and jump out to get to Jack. She gets a message from Jayce saying he's got Jack and is heading to Medcenter, meet him there.

Pushing herself in overdrive, she rushes to Medcenter. She's 2 days with very little sleep, exhausted from the last 3 days being hell.

When she arrives at Medcenter, Mara sat in a private waiting room, courtesy of her Sister in law Emma. Where she was able to close her eyes for an hour or so. Until the doctors came in and informed her that Jack was stablizing now, but he had most of his body replaced with Cyberware, because he was mauled very badly.

Getting to Jack's side, the two start discussing what happened, why he was there.

Jack had been working as a merc after he'd figured out what she was doing. He wanted to be strong enough to protect her. So he followed her, and he had no idea about the Biotechnica cybernetic mountain lion chimera lurking in the area, which had gotten the advantage over him.

After, he begins to ask Mara about why she felt the need to become a merc to begin with? Why wouldn't she just tell him what was going on?

That's when Mara breaks down, crying, confessing how things had gotten out of hand. She'd only started being a merc to make ends meet with the Clinic, how on her 3rd gig, she should have gotten the hint when their solo was beheaded before her eyes, but she didn't because the next gig she had a killswitch put on her by a rogue a.i and she has no choice at this point to keep going.

And thats when he asks.... When the killswitch is off.... Will you stop then?

The rooms air felt suffocating, as she tells him she has no choice but to report for Duty at MAXTAC, to work under Jayce.

The answer was too much for Jack to bare, his humanity took a hit when he had all that cyberware installed on top of the trauma of what happened being fresh, caused him to slip into Cyberpsychosis.

Mara was gone. Who was in front of him, he couldn't be sure who is was, but he knows it wasn't Mars.

When the hospital room lights change to red, there is an alert that starts going off to inform that a patient is going Cyberpyscho, and MAXTAC was already in the building, so they wasted no time getting to the room.

Mara, pleading Jack to stay on this side of sanity, she's grabbing his arms forcing him to look at her, saying:

Stop, please stop!! They'll take you, they'll take you-

"I'm already gone, Mars." and Jack lunges at the C-Swat team now pouring into the room.

Just as she was about to throw everything she'd built away to keep Jack Adams on this side of sanity, she was going to tell him she loved him, and would do whatever it took. But she never got the chance. He was killed in front of her.

Her humanity dropped from 31 to 1. She was immediately knocked out and detained. Where she spent the night in Maxtac holding cells after watching her best friend and love of her life murdered before her.

How did all this impact Mara?

-Well, Mara suffers from trait she can never kick from her Psychosis. She will never be able to accept responsibility for what happened to Jack.

-Mara lost her clinic A.I JOI, because Jack had taken her with him to City center, and she was damaged. Because she wasn't registered to a legitimate clinic, she wasn't able to be restored.

-She's left alone to try and run and manage a clinic that was falling apart.

-She MAY OR MAY NOT have painted a black mark on her new marriage with her Rockerboy J I H Z Z Y, because of her inability to let Jack go.

Those are just a few examples of the impact this one job took on her. Im sorry this was so long on this one thing. but I did promise to get into the meat and potatoes about this gig.

2: Lt. Mower: What is the worst betrayal your OC has faced?

The worst one Mara has ever faced.. Depending on the timeline.

LoNC- Mara was dating this guy she worked with on Trauma team(worked on another flight crew), who cheated on her with their boss... in the locker room showers... in front of Mara's whole crew.

Water on Mars- Jago and Mara had been seeing each other, he was making it very clear he wanted something more than them just stuffing it. He wanted to Mainline, He'd been making steps to clean up his life so he could give it an honest shot with her.

While, Mara is very tennative about commitment, she was receptive to the idea, but wanted to wait a bit.. She didn't want to commit and it blow up in her face. She knew he had a Wife, well he said Ex-wife as he was making steps towards divorce, she knew his life was complicated, and so was hers.

Agreeing to keep seeing each other to work on something real together, Mara was interrupted with her brother at the door, Jayce. See, Jayce and Jago have a long history, and the two hate each other.

Mara had just talked Jago into striking a deal with ODESSA, he works for them until the job is complete and they leave him alone to live in Dogtown, he can come for work, but never for leisure.

Throwing her whole reputation on the line with Titus & Jayce. Shit, she even threw her relationship with Titus away to save Jago.

& a few weeks later, he's ghosting her, and she finds out he's working for Militech, he's defected to be with his Ex-wife.

Though, it isn't until later that Mara learns it was all Jayces idea to have Jago infiltrate Militech.

13: Seaside Cafe: Does your OC like reality shows? Would they ever be in one?

Yes, Mara loves reality shows, she loves the drama. However, she couldn't ever be on one, not that she'd ever want all those eyes looking at her all the time.

I am so sorry this turned into a long winded post... I have been working on it for a few days here and there. YES I called it THANKSGIVING, because I was hopeful I would at least get it done by then, but we all know I work on my own clock lmao. TYSM for asking me about this! I'm sorry.. I know you'll probably never want to read or ask anything from me again, I totally understand.

[ticktockteapot]

You've convinced me. How would one get into Mad T Party?

Oh goodness where do I begin!!! LONG POST AHEAD!!!! Ok soooo I have some posts tagged as #mad t fandom lore thanks to @spikrock and @hattersgirlalice for giving me the inspiration to start this whole rabbit hole of nostalgia lol which showcases the basic general info of the mtp band performer's nicknames and noteworthy moments in the fandom (mostly gifs of the band that altered the fandom in some way, and fanart from the captains)

U can watch all the videos of the band performing on YouTube (There's numerous sources but I personally like to watch Nick Turchens playlist another place to find vids of T are just random clips here on Tumblr)

The OG Captains from what I can personally remember were @briannacherrygarcia she was THE ARTIST! she made the majority of the fanart headcanons for the fandom along with Storywhisper who wrote fanfics! (unfortunately they're deactivated and it still makes me sad I wanted to reread all their fics to freshen up on the lore but alas they are lost in the void somewhere as far as I know if anybody has links saved uhhhh help a girl out 👀)

There's many other talented fanfic authors and fan-artists!!! Gifs and Photography were a HUGE part of the fandom! People would make reaction gifs out of any and everything! Alot of shippy moments that were captured by these talented peeps made us all go feral EVERY SINGLE. TIME. BCUZ THEY WERE OUR ONLY REFERENCE FOR CANON CHARACTERIZATION STUFF.

@briannacherrygarcia (she always ate and left no crumbs🔥🔥🔥 absolutely iconic queen💅 a freaking art legend for any Alice in wonderland fan)

@cogitaeworks / @cogitae (they are godtier ohh m y godd fucking gorgeous artworks I swear)

Here is a list of all the blogs I've hunted down here on Tumblr to rummage thru for anything Mad T related, u don't have to follow all of these peeps a good majority of them especially on the lower half are inactive, and lower half is mostly just reblogs from other blogs maybe we can find eachother and form a lil T renaissance I'm just desperate for any MTP crumbs from this ancient ruin of a fandom lost to time

@elrohare is still active, they don't write fics as recently but thier old fics r one of the only main references I still use for MTP fics character arcs and lore so far

@rockingthemadtparty @oldeststoryintheuniverse @madtpartymisadventures @mishydraws @capnhap @artbymaryc @cheshire-kitten @nodamikimischief @fannishflightsoffancy @trekkiebeth @marchmousekits @drinkmebar-blog @tevlek @mgmpluto @allpackedforadventure @its-maddhatterfan @glindyupland @thackery-earwicket @t-party-madness @nemo-in-wonderland @marchmouse @zintk @allpackedforadventure @mrsmarchhare @thatrandomartistjavi @xsunnysoftx @illuminatilovesyou @fandom-hell-ferrylass @writegeist-muse @midnightwriterkay @littleivyfaery-blog @inuitakumi @queerasian-blog @mrchmouse-blog @burrwabbits @thacky-earwicket

(Put an F in the chat for @storywhisper 😢 they're not dead as far as I know but their blog is totally gone from Tumblr and I can't find any of their fics 😭😭😭)

If u wanna get to know more about the performers outside of the band, as in irl, they have social medias on YouTube and TikToks. I'm still a little iffy on sharing the irl identities for new fans cuz the whole character integrity thing at Disney AND ALL THE OG FANS REMEMBER ALL THE DRAMA ABOUT THIS TYPE OF STUFF IYKYK First I would have to get consent from a trusted source who can confirm that they are ok with fans knowing thier identity outside of T. Y'all gotta be respectful this time frfr 😒🙄

And not to toot my own horn but I've made a few MTP fanarts recently tagged in #myart and I'm in the middle of making my own Mad T Party Universe. Taking inspiration from multiple headcanons and performances from the fandom and combining them all together in a multi chapter art/comic thing??? IDK I'm not a writer but imma just post art pieces here and there with lore sprinkled in or something low-key if anybody wants to help me write it I'd totally appreciate it cuz how the hell do authors DO THIS ALL THE TIME 😭😩 y'all are troopers for keeping all these random facts and characters in ur head all the damn time🙃 and the audacity to have it in a linear timeline?? Organization???never heard of her!

Soooo yeaaaaa just look at my tag #mad t fandom lore for the basics, devour all of Briannacherrygarcia's masterpieces, watch the YouTube vids, follow some of the blogs, and maybe follow me as well since I'm rebooting this fandom apparently. Cringe is dead and I'm the grim fucking reaper.

FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY MORE QUESTIONS IF U HAVE ANY! Or if u wanna discuss shippy stuff 💞💞💞

Btw this has absolutely nothing to do with MTP but high-key I LOVE ur url bcuz I'm actually a Neo-Pagan Persephone devotee sooo the whole pomegranate thing is just *chefs kiss* ✨blessed be fellow warlock/witch✨

[luvendrawingonthemoon]

ooh, Nailah for the ask game perhaps? :D

Oh damn first ask and it's one of my favs 🥰 (purple supremacy) Thx for the ask!

Okay so go Nailah! (sorry it's kinda long)

I personally really love her design. First her bodytype is very fitting for her personality maybe just a bit more muscular would be perfect.

For me a good design need to have two key point : must have a recognizable shape and being able to resume the character. By being one of the 2 only wolves, the only woman of them and by having a more muscular bodytype than the average stick arms girls we got most of the time, the first point is pretty easily checked (which is often a problem of the old Fe but I felt like Tellius games were the games who get rid of this problematic).

Her design also talk a lot about her role and personality. She's a queen so her outfit is pretty refined, with gold jewelry and on her belt, and something that looks like embroidery on the cloths, it's obvious when compared to Volug who have way more used clothes. And I also would add that the red cardinal (idk how to say it in English in french it's pourpre) is also a symbol of royalty.

But she's not only a queen she's also the best fighter from her country. She mostly fights in her wolf form , so her clothes are also made to be comfortable, she don't need an armor and is probably too proud to "hide" herself inside one (on top of not being useful for Laguz). Also I may be mistaken but if I remember well these kinds of tattoos look like warriors tattoos of some tribes, it's a detail who really add to the "this is the Hatari queen and she's ready for war" look.

Also I kinda love how her design work in parallel with her partner Rafiel. He got pretty tidy hair, hers are messier. His outfit covered everything, hers is less covering. Her outfit is very colorful, and his is mostly variation of white. She covers one eye, and his eyes are on full display.

About the eye, her eyepatch is by the way, pretty original and very gorgeous with all the pieces of cloth on it, like she really needs to take precautions about it (I'm kinda sad they didn't exploit the whole cursed eye stuff more but I'll put the fault on the lack of support of radiant dawn)

But if I needed to point to some defaults, first some stuff on the design can be associated with some orientalism, like the gold jewelry and the tattoos but both have also the others connotation I previously said so... Yeah I felt like it really depends on each other's sensibilities on that point.

I'm also a bit puzzled about a part of the color scheme : the green clothes. I understand it's for the contrast with the red but I kinda felt like it would be better if it was only warm colors, like another shade of red instead, especially cause it would fit more with her fierceful personallity.

But overall a very solid design. And she's so f*cking gorgeous I would do everything to have a kiss from her.... I still don't know if I'm more jealous of her or Rafiel... 😳

Damn I can't really shut up when I start. It's like 3am in my timezone so I really need to go to sleep so I'm sorry if I'm a bit hard to read. I can't really correct myself rn. I hope you like it! 💜

[kscosplaycatalog]

No. 9 - 2010/11

Character: The White Queen Series: Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

Cosplayer Credits: - Ace of Spades: My brother! - Cheshire Cat: Invincible Kiwi - White Rabbit: Van - Mad Hatter: Axel - Alice: Skyward Key Park group: - Mad Hatter: Sepiatone Carol - White Rabbit: Andy - Cheshire Cat: Kiwi again! - March Hare: Hykuw - Red Queen: Technically Toki - And Alice: Apple Bunny Cosplay

Photog Credits: - Blue Eyes Dante at Flamingo Park - Axel w/ his Cousin at Metro

==========

I got a lot of inspiration from the Disney movie, which is when me and my friends wanted to debut this! I mostly pieced together this costume only really making the sleeves and outer skirt and then embellishing the corset and under skirt. I also made my brother's Ace of Spade's smock.

This costume was a lot of fun to wear because it was my first brush with the "Disney Princess" moment--lots of little girls wanted to take photos with me!

==========

Because I wasn't planning on doing much with this costume, I bought most of it: the wig (ProfessionalOnly), corset (bestlingerieline), petticoat (Party City), under skirt, tiara (Claire's), and shoes (Payless). I made the poofy sleeves and over skirt. The wig needed no styling and I modified the petticoat and corset a bit. I also added Organza to my sleeves and corset.

For my brother's Ace of Spades costume, we bought or modified the shirt, gloves, pants and hood. The "card" was made from a bedsheet a la Yuuen; I hand-painted the As and spades. The Spade Halberd was just a simple wooden poll with a notch cut into the top and the spade top was made from black Plexiglas screwed into it and painted over. The boots are Captain-100 Men's Boot from Cosworx.

==========

Cost: $114 Time: ~15 hrs

(IDK my brother's stuff anymore.)

[imminent-danger-came]

What are your least favorite lmk characters?

(lmk is one of the few shows where I think 'least favorite' is actually a fitting description. Most of the cast just have such fun and unique personalities, so it‘s pretty difficult to actively dislike any of them imo!)

(not counting cop out answers like the Goldfish Demon)

I‘ve sat here for an hour trying to figure out which characters I would pick myself. I‘ve genuinely never thought about it before, that‘s how GOOD this show is 😆

Like- the Host Girl low-key feels like cheating. (Again- I don‘t dislike her but she doesn’t really have a CANON personality. Everything about her is purely fanon and hinges on her being Macaque‘s generic cute daughter.)

Not sure if Mo counts either. He doesn’t really rise in the rankings through virtue of being a cat for me. Most of the time there just isn‘t much for him to do.

I physically CANNOT pick someone from the main cast or the brotherhood- that hurts just thinking about it. ALL WOMEN ARE QUEENS (I have soft spot for Chang‘e in particular!). And even the characters we’re supposed to dislike are such a blast on screen! The Mayor was so fun! And Lady Bone Demon? As a least favorite? NEVER.

I guess by process of elimination my least fav is Syntax? That‘s the closest to a reoccurring character I can get.

IDK. Maybe you have a character that comes to mind immediately 🤔

I'm going to argue that there is some interesting stuff with Mo, and I may sound the way the pepe silvia guy looks, but that's okay. Anyways, episode 2x03 shows Mo's devotion/loyalty to Sandy, which on it's own isn't really much, but it's the fact that Mo is the one to bring sandy back in 4x06. Pigsy's big heartfelt speech doesn't do the trick, but Mo giving Sandy unconditional love does. And boy, is there something there! Like, "You said it Mo! The world may be full of darkness, but to let the light shine, all we need to do is stand together!" Girl, what is going on between Mo and Sandy! Mo get's a pass from me not by virtue of being a cat (I'm actually a dog person, I got 4 puppies), but by virtue of loving Sandy. We have so much in common.

But yeah! There really isn't a character I dislike in this show. I love everyone a lot, and most characters, even if they don't have interesting stuff going on are a blast to watch on screen.

I'm someone who is legitimately a fan of the Jade Emperor because of his one cool speech and subsequent death on screen. "Heh. And I suppose you think that person is you? How is it you come to stand before me today Azure, was there a point where you questioned it? Or were you too oblivious with your own delusion to realize that you were a mere piece in someone else's game. You may try Azure, the throne will be yours, but if you think I'll gift it freely, you are mistaken." Coolest shit ever. Big fan.

But. And I'm sorry to everyone, but I'd say Jin and Yin are my least favorites. I know. The gold and silver demons everyone loves. Like, they're fine, they're entertaining, they have a lovely placeholder as a manifestation of a simpler time, but that's also just kinda all they are. And they don't need to be anything else! It just also solidifies them as my least favorites asdfadsf. I'm sorry boys.

[alltimefail-sims]

random question but erwin gives Lana stan vibes and same lolz but then i wondered what music your characters from strangerville story all listen to?

First off I am so happy to answer this question for you!! Thank you for asking! I love love love music and love this question!

That being said, before I begin I want you to know that I'm so sorry to burst a personal headcanon you've made about my version of Erwin Pries...but he has probably never heard a Lana Del Rey song in his entire life lmfao (I'm assuming that's who you're talking about). But Erwin is an EA premade, so if your Erwin is a Lana Del Rey stan I love that for you and that's valid!!! My Erwin just isn't haha (but his sister Maggie would like her music!) Anyway!!!

Very long response below the cut! ↓

Erwin mostly listens to older music: he loves music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s and listens to everything on vinyl or cassette (he is very passionate about the preservation of physical media, he is the Paranoid ass king after all). His favorites are Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, David Bowie, Abba, Neil Diamond, Jim Croce, Billy Joel, John Denver, James Taylor, Elton John, The Mamas and Papas, Johnny Cash, and so on. He also has a not-so-secret love for musicals and claims that the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack is one of the best pieces of composition to ever exist (he also likes Godspell, Rent, Xanadu, and many more) Get him drunk enough and he will talk about how Mamma Mia is "Literally a transcendent work of art with whimsy and heartbreak and joy and a tender ass storyline at the heart that quite literally fucks so hard. Fucking Meryl Streep. Fuck!" Direct quote. That man hardly listens to anything post-1990, with the exception of "Queen Florence Welch" (Florence and the Machine).

Zoe appreciates all kinds of music, but has a deep love for the soul music that she heard around the house growing up. She likes music with feeling and depth, and the lyrics are most important to her but if the song isn't deep, it better have a good beat that she can dance to! Her personal favorite artists include Otis Reading, Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, Dionne Warwick, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Rhianna, Lauryn Hill, The Temptations, Roberta Flack, Janelle Monáe, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and so on!

Beckett's looks deceive him because he loves pop music. He is listening to the current hits, think Billboard 100s exclusively lol. He might have listened to a few rock or rap songs to get "pumped up" back in his football days, but for the most part he is always listening to pop - he even likes boybands, but won't willingly admit that lmao. He's a Swiftie through and through, and he will fight for her honor on any Twitter thread or in-person discussion. He also has a love for 90s and early 2000s country artists like Shania Twain, Alison Krauss, Lee Ann Womack, and The Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) because of cleanin' and cookin' Sundays with his momma <3

Junia doesn't care about music that much! She doesn't have any favorite artists, she's never even bought a CD and probably couldn't tell you 5 bands or artists off the top of her head. She's one of those people who will listen to anything that "has a good beat" while she's working out, and it doesn't even have to have words. She's listening to music more for background noise as opposed to being passionate about it or seeking it out.

Anwar listens to alternative music mostly! Bands like the 1975, The Strokes, Paramore, The Clash, Fall Out Boy, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, The Neighborhood, and so on. He definitely went through a pop-punk, Hot Topic, combo of emo and scene phase in his teen years in the 2000s. (Iykyk, if you don't... look it up lmao. It was a time to be alive.) If they could play at Warped Tour, he listens to them lmao. But he's cool with most pop or radio music, he's not like a music snob or anything.

Tashia listens to pretty much everything, but she also loves metal music. Idk if you've seen the Pixar/Disney movie "Monster's University" but there's a scene in there where the mom of one of the main characters drops them off at Monsters Inc. and she's like "I'll just be listening to my tunes until you get back" in like the sweetest voice and then as she's rolling up the windows you can hear metal music blasting through the speakers and she's just like... calmly vibing like she's listening to elevator music or smooth jazz lmfao. It's very funny. That's how I imagine Tashia's music taste to be and it concerns everyone around her <3

[caramelmochacrow]

ok i just read the event story for the current event and i think it's... ok. not bad, per se, but ok.

i wrote my tsubaoi fic before i (obviously) read it and it's. very interesting to find out aoi is canonically a people pleaser (well, considering the fact that she's an amazing dj, it makes sense). her being called the 'queen of yoba' is very very interesting, i'll be keeping that piece of information in the back of my mind for future reference. (peaky p-key & rondo fic might come in the future lol)

aoi liking her long hair is interesting, i think i need to re-read that card story to make sure im not making up some stuff. (my mind likes doing that a lot.)

maybe bc i like masculine clothes more than feminine clothes, but aoi can wear cute dresses and she doesnt need to get her hair super long, hell, she can even get like. shoulder length hair and just tie it up and stuff. (honestly that opinion might get me killed and make me an outcast so im not gonna talk further abt it lol.)

also. like. the difference between the way haruna and tsubaki saw aoi is interesting.

haruna saw her as an idolized version of a person: kind, considerate, caring, and patient. all of those things are aoi, but that's only what she saw. nothing else.

tsubaki, she saw those things as well, but she also saw aoi's fear of bugs, her way of just helping people even if that means she will get injured or make herself lose time, her naivete (denseness), and her stubborn side.

tsubaki telling haruna that she doesnt see the other parts of her, even when aoi showed those parts to her, is soooo interesting.

aoi has an amazing poker face, that is literally her specialty other than making jam and she also has a way with words. so she can just make u forget it really easy.

but tsubaki (i think) is the only one who didnt fall for that.

(or maybe im just reading into this too much. idk.)

also!

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT AOI AND ALL OF RONDO AND MERM4ID ARE LITERALLY TWENTY YEAR OLD 2ND YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS AND HARUNA AND ALL OF LYRILILY, HAPIARA, PEAKY, AND PHOTON ARE ALL A SIXTEEN-SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD 2ND YEAR AND 3RD YEAR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

[pinkest-nekomata]

A Spellbound brain dump

Sometimes a piece of media is so close to being great and then bungles it at the end in such a strange way that it leaves my brain... itchy. Idk. Like Wednesday, or the Acolyte. Unlike those two, where the analysis seemed worthwhile, my latest brain itch is courtesy of Spellbound, an obviously mid movie for children that is unlikely to be of much consequence. So it doesn't really seem worth analyzing, but given the ambitions this movie had to tell a "real story", maybe it's fair.

So, uh, if you watched Spellbound and care, you might find this interesting. Otherwise, I just need to get it out of my system.

Spellbound is one of those movies where you learn something at the end that changes the meaning of the rest of the plot.

As you watch it, it starts as a relatively straightforward premise: Princess's parents have been turned into literal monsters. It's been a year. They're trying to hide this from the kingdom and it's getting harder. Oracles from the forest finally arrive and inform the princess that she needs to bring her parents to the forest. Via magic, she does so. Then they go on a journey to cure the parents.

This is where things take a turn. Finally, they find the pool of light, but it turns out the parents can only be cured if they admit that they want a divorce. And, in fact, they were only cursed in the first place because they were fighting. This leaves the princess distraught, and the parents are pulled out of their self-centered thoughts to be reminded that they need to assure their child that they still love her. The family returns to the kingdom, the parents separate, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Now, I want to be clear that I am supportive of divorce, and I think a well-executed divorce can be much less damaging to children overall than parents in a dysfunctional relationship refusing to split up ever "for the kids". It is because I am supportive of this that I don't like how the story handled divorce. Notably, I'm also very wary of media that teaches kids is their responsibility to parent their parents. I'm sure this movie doesn't mean to send that message but... it's there.

So with the full context, the events behind this movie are: King and Queen go to the forest of darkness for Reasons (tm) and bicker so much the darkness turns them into monsters. They wreak havoc in their child's life for a full year. The movie is very clear that the princess feels ignored, like they don't even notice she's there, and so in retrospect this is clearly meant to reflect how a child with divorcing parents feels. She takes it upon herself to manage them, tend to them, and believe in them even when the other adults in her life give up on them and her. She then leads them on a magical journey, and is responsible for quelling their bickering to get them that far. Her reward for all this is to be explicitly told her parents are splitting up anyway, and her emotional stress summons the darkness again, threatening to devour her. Her parents telling her they love her no matter what saves her from the darkness, she accepts that life has to change, and that's pretty much it.

I'm at least very glad that the parents admitting wrongdoing was a key part of the plot, and that's why it's clear that the creators don't intend for "parent your parents" to be the final message, and despite the messy symbolism, I don't think most kids would absorb the problematic conclusion. But still, it leaves the brain itch. Much like Inside Out 2, there's a conflict between the genre and the point the movie's trying to make. In Inside Out, Riley's problems have to be resolved internally to give the Feelings something to do--though ultimately (light spoilers) the source of Riley's problem is an adult (the hockey coach) being too strict and cruel to children. Yes that's a common experience, but the movie ends up indicating that kids should be able to figure that out by themselves, vs. leaning on parents for support or recognizing that adults don't always behave appropriately. The movie seems to uphold the idea that strict coaches are good for kids, which I strongly disagree with.

Connecting that back to Spellbound, there's a fundamental mismatch between the genre and the story the movie's trying to tell. A fantasy adventure gives full agency to the main character, in this case a 15 year old girl. But when the main life-changing event is her parents getting divorced, the message starts to get muddied. The movie misses an opportunity to point out how the advisors have let the princess down as well--these are problems adults should have been attending to. It should have been another adult working tirelessly to cure the king and queen. The behavior of the advisors is actually quite grim through this lens--they gleefully inform the girl that her parents are effectively dead, and that it's her job to lead the kingdom now, with absolutely no comparison for her grief.

If it's a silly movie about a silly adventure, such things matter less--but since the creators made this movie very explicitly about parental separation, these other details bear greater weight in the story.

I think comparing to Brave is very illuminating--that's also a story about a child whose parent is cursed to become a "monster", but it succeeds at showing how the adventure ultimately brings mother and daughter closer together and heals the relationship. Merida is eager for an adventure out of her own genuine desire, and appropriately conflicted about being made responsible for her mother. And critical for the genre, the family bonds are restored, and the family is closer than before.

Spellbound tries to convince you through airy, triumphant music that the family is happier than before, but the image of each parent living on polar opposite sides of the city from each other is... kind of grim. It continues to center the parents' dislike of each other, which is odd for a happily ever after. I think there are many, many lived experiences of co-parenting that provide a much better example of prioritizing your child's true needs. Why can't they simply have separate rooms at the castle?

So the movie is unconvincing in its restoration of relationship, meaning it fails to fulfill its genre. A romantic story where the couple breaks up at the end isn't in the genre of Romance, it's in the genre of Love Story. Likewise, this movie fails to fulfill the genre conventions of a hero's journey/adventure story.

In fact, there's a bit of a sad theme through the whole movie where the parents' behavior upends and dictates the details of the princess's life and... she just kind of has to smile and deal with it. All the way through to the "happily ever after". There's some attention paid to that, with her flippantly saying "I have no dark feelings" (which attract the sentient darkness) and then we see two instances of those dark feelings developing, but I have a big issues with the idea of a child's anguish at their parents' selfish behavior being framed as "dark feelings". The "darkness" metaphor is clumsily used--is it an evil force? Is it a personification of anger/hate? If so, why is it attracted to justified grief and anguish? Ultimately, the darkness coming for the princess spurs the parents to act in her defense, so that's good, but the symbolism is still really muddy.

The ending feels very rushed--because it is. The movie treats this reveal as a twist, and though I saw it coming, that has a lot more to do with my meta-experience with these types of narratives, not the movie successfully foreshadowing its own conclusion. From everything we see of the princess and her memories, the family was totally happy before the monster curse. The movie avoids showing the parents bickering for long, which is probably good for a movie meant for young kids, but it also makes the ending bewildering. All we've seen is mild conflicts that would be easily overcome with, like, some light couples therapy. So the parents end up coming off as incredibly flippant and selfish when they deduce that they have to separate. The move has to tell us the stakes, it can't show the stakes, because the stakes of divorce are distressing for children. Perhaps it could have worked if the movie spent longer developing the conflict, but as it stands, it's just this awkward "twist" at the end.

I can see it providing some comfort to a child whose parents are separated, since a little representation can go a very long way. But at the same time, it feels like it trivializes that experience. Parents separating is complex and layered and distressing to a child, even when it's in their best interest. If a movie wants to explore this topic, I think a premise more like Inside Out is a much better choice. You can then explore the complex layered emotions, and validate them specifically, recognizing how hard it is for the kid before ultimately assuring them.

As it stands, the movie seems to imply that as long as your parents say they still love you, then your problems are solved, and you should go back to smiling as your parents divorce. This is really a shame, since the move is so close to providing a really cathartic example of the anguish of wondering if your parents still love you, but then it trips over itself. The song the princess sings when she learns her parents will be separating, "What about me", paints her as menacing and selfish. The tone is more angry than sad, and the emotion most often depicted as "dark"/bad/evil is anger. Her parents still jump to her aid, but she's depicted as being the one to summon the darkness to herself--the source of her own near-death experience.

The princess has clearly been doing a lot of emotional repression, claiming she doesn't have "dark feelings", and ultimately the movie paints this as... a good thing? basically? It's only when she lets slip and gets angry that the darkness comes for her. The movie doesn't do nearly enough to affirm her anger as justified, nor is it clear in showing how her repression interacts with the darkness. Whenever she's pretending to be fine... she's fine. I think there was a huge missed opportunity to have the "darkness" come for her repressed feelings, and illustrate just how much grief and anger she's hiding. Instead, the advisors are kind of flippant about her being a moody teenager, and... the plot kind of supports that.

I think part of why this movie bothered me so much is that so much of my experience has been pretending everything's fine, and having to parent my parents. So to see a movie depict that and be like "yeah it's mostly fine" is pretty deeply frustrating.

Hopefully most people aren't reading into it so much and just stop at the statement of "even if your parents are separating they love you" and "if your parents are splitting up it's not your fault and it's not your job to get them back together because you actually can't". But it's still really frustrating when a story's own symbolic layers contradict the message it's trying to send. And kids pick up on those layers more than we realize, sometimes.

I really wanted to love Spellbound, because the visuals are really charming. I love Nathan Lane, so hearing him as one of the oracles was a treat. The fluffy gryphons, the antelope and kingdom design, the cultural representation of the main cast, it was all really nice to see. So that definitely made it more disappointing when the story's central message was... very confused.

And to be clear, it's just sort of a low-quality plot in general. There are a lot of false starts, and creative decisions that seem geared towards filling time. The musical numbers are forgettable, and there's a few moments where the writing is weirdly cliche and lazy. And maybe that's all for the best--by being a generally "meh" movie, the more problematic elements of the story won't have as much reach.

But I'm still going to complain about them because I need to get this out of my system. (And, as a writer, analyzing what other media gets right/wrong helps me strengthen my own craft.)

The most striking thing to me is that this is a movie of false starts. Our first scene is of the princess flying through the sky on a fluffy gryphon with her friends, a la How to Train your Dragon. But then she doesn't ride a gryphon again or see her friends again until the very end of the movie.

Then, we have one of the more successful musical numbers of the movie, where the princess explains her current life to us (her parents are literally monsters). I don't personally like the way she talks to the camera, but that's a subjective creative choice. Interestingly, during this song, she talks about she'd rather have her parents be human and nagging or criticizing her instead of being actual monsters. This is a bit of a red flag to me--yes it's relatable and how a lot of kids feel, but it's also the basis of a lot of emotional abuse from parents to their children. The child who feels comforted that their parent is angry with them instead of absent is NOT having a good or healthy childhood. This is also a failed opportunity for foreshadowing--if she had said "well I was mad they were nagging me but now I'm sad they just ignore me" we know her life wasn't perfect. Instead, she sings about "the way things were before" in an idyllic way. The reason I was able to clock that the story was ultimately going to reveal that the parents weren't happy was "we can't go back to the way things were before" is such a common framing with grief/loss stories.

Then the advisors get a whole song about how they're going to fix all their own problems--coronate the princess and send the king and queen "to the country". The resemblance to "oh our old dog now lives on a farm in the country" is played for laughs, and as the advisors insist to the princess that the king and queen aren't "in there" anymore, there's absolutely no recognition given to this means that HER PARENTS ARE DEAD??? Like no compassion just "Hey kid, admit your parents are dead and rule the kingdom now! thanks!"

If the movie did more with the parentification/forced maturation of the princess it would be one thing, but it picks up that thread and then quickly drops it, because the princess refuses to believe her parents are gone (OBVIOUSLY).

Presumably, the point of that musical number is to create new urgency around the fact that the king and queen are monsters. But the story already created all the urgency it needed by showing how destructive they are in the previous song, and how hard it is to hide them.

The coronation detail actually ends up being entirely pointless. Because in basically the next scene, the parents escape anyway, creating the actual urgency that the story needed. You could cut straight from the parents rampaging around to them finally escaping and revealing the truth to the kingdom, and the overall pacing would be much better.

And on the flip side, other plot mechanisms don't really get enough flesh on them, leading to things feeling very mechanical. The princess sent for the Oracle of the Sun and Moon ages ago, they finally show up, then they flee, but they've left behind a magical item. The magical item is what allows the princess to get to the forest with the queen and king once they escape. It's all a lot of back and forth that ends up feeling odd for the genre, because it takes so long for the actual adventure to start. There's a lot of arbitrary decisions that seem to serve certain jokes or musical numbers but don't really come together into a cohesive story.

Speaking of jokes, the movie bungles its own punchlines on more than one occasion. The magical item is voice-activated as a little nod to voice-activated universal remotes replacing many separate remotes, but then the writers so clearly didn't want to actually deal with writing logical prompts for the voice activated part. The princess gives a vague command, it has a comedic result, so she's like "guess I have to be more specific" before giving another equally vague command that works this time. After that, the voice control gets passed to her rodent friend, so that the writers don't have to explain what prompts cause certain things to happen.

Once they reach the dark forest, the oracles of the sun and moon immediately know what the solution needs to be. I guess they've had some time to think on it, but it's odd that they go from so frazzled about it in the throne room to having a whole song ready to go about what needs to be done.

It's also the most generic convention imaginable. "This is the dark forest. Follow the light. Watch out, the darkness will chase you." This is another missed opportunity at foreshadowing--here would be a great place for the oracles to conclude that the curse is from the darkness itself, and to theorize as to how the parents picked it up. But they gloss over that entirely.

The trials that follow are relatively entertaining, and there's some real creativity in the rules of the forest. There's a part where sounds gain physical presence and power, and can be damaging when they're spoken with anger--I actually really like that as a symbol of the harm that rash words can cause, but when the princess's frustrated efforts to calm her parents down are painted as just as "violent", the symbolism really starts to break down.

There's also a sand sea, where the sand becomes quicksand when covered in shadow. It's visually beautiful and emotionally compelling, especially when clouds of darkness roll in, and there's adorable baby gryphons involved. Elements like that visual storytelling are what really made me want for the story to work--and made me frustrated when such a strong visual metaphor was so mis-used.

It's a subjective creative decisions, but I also didn't really care for the way the parents slowly regain the ability to speak. It just doesn't work as well as Brave to show the relationship healing, and the main point of it is that when they parents reach the final light, they're lucid enough to realize they need a divorce. It also means they're very childish and simple in the middle, which does lead to some amusing moments, but ultimately really exacerbates the feeling that the princess is needing to parent her parents.

Likewise, there were just some odd creative choices. Like when the sounds have physical power, the positive is that the parents do realize that the cycle of violent words is their own fault. So, to speak a "comforting" word, the first word they say is... "girl". It gets repeated, and it fits the idea that they're recognizing that their daughter exists again, but... it only works in that meta sense. It's really weird in the actual story. "Sorry" would have worked much better, and reflected their actual emotional state better, not to mention emphasizes early on that it's parents' responsibility to apologize and repair. Instead, the child-like first word prompts the princess to be even more parental towards them.

I've gotten this far without even mentioning that the male advisor body-swaps with the rodent sidekick on the way to the dark forest because it's rather baffling and pointless. It adds a second lucid voice to the adventuring party, but that leads more to uninspired jokes than anything that feels important. He does get a long musical number about finally enjoying being a rodent, but because his character development is so inconsequential to the story, it still doesn't feel necessary. It also serves to quickly bypass the story's third trial (a maze), and given that it only has three, it ends up feeling like it really only has two (the embodied sounds and the quicksand). And in the end, the princess ends up having to parent him as well.

Legit the most amusing part of the bodyswap is that the advisor's human body starts acting like a chipmunk and nobody seems to notice that there's anything wrong with him, with the other advisor making a quip about his incompetence. But that's also kind of dark? Like these adults that were supposed to be taking care of the princess are so self-absorbed nobody notices when one of them starts acting like a LITERAL CHIPMUNK?

At a meta level, the purpose of putting the advisor into the adventuring party is to allow for the kingdom's forces to more effectively pursue the princess, king, and queen. (They don't believe the parents can be saved, so they want to exile them.) On the one hand, they want to save the princess, but on the other hand they effectively want to murder her parents so it's also pretty dark? The advisor ends up leaving a trail for the kingdom to follow, which itself is only necessary because the story can't decide how dangerous the dark forest actually is. All you have to do is give the army some fantasy creature with super-smell powers and the body swap is totally pointless.

From there we launch pretty quickly into the final climax, which has some charming moments but also some inexplicably lazy writing?

When the princess, king and queen finally reach the pool of light that's supposed to fix the king and queen, the princess jumps right in and starts frolicking. The king and queen soon see that the light retracts from them, which is what prompts them to realize that they'll stay monsters until they commit to getting a divorce. (This is an absolutely bizarre sentence, right? it's not just me?)

This leads to one of the more baffling lines in the movie. "Come on in! The light's fine!" Given the target audience is children, I don't think they're going to have the cultural touchpoint of "come on in, the water's fine". (Does gen Z even have that? What is it even from?) And then if you do have the touchpoint, it's not funny or charming, it's just... lazy. Like, what? You couldn't think of anything else to say? Even just don't make it a joke and be very literal--"Hey, why aren't you coming in? It feels nice!"--so that at least it's more comprehensible to children?

Then the parents finally announce that they're separating, the princess is understandably distraught, a giant darkness cloud swirls around her (which is bizarrely lo-fi. In movie where every hair is individually animated, the darkness tornado is just a shiny black squiggle. Another subjective creative decision, but it makes the darkness more laughable than menacing). The parents team up (after being briefly and pointlessly captured by the army) to pour the "light" onto the distraught princess, communicating their love for her and calming her down.

But again, being told once that your parents love you doesn't exactly solve the feelings of parental abandonment. Her parents need to show through action that they're still prioritizing her, which the movie does not give them any time to do. (Yeah, teaming up to pour the light on her kinda counts, but there's also a giant swirling darkness tornado so you can't exactly argue they aren't being driven by panic and guilt.) False promises can be one of the most stressful things for a child to experience (whether their parent are separating or not) that solving the conflict with promises (not actions) feels irresponsible.

Then her parents turn back into humans, build new houses on polar opposite ends of the city, leaving the princess with three homes--her old home, the king's mini castle, and the queen's mini castle. Separating is one thing, but needing to be physically as far apart as possible is played for laughs, but is actually rather dark. It's part of the lingering feeling that the whole situation is being trivialized.

As you'd expect, anti-divorce moralists went off in the movies reviews, and I kind of think that's Spellbound's own fault. Despite the undoubtedly noble intentions behind normalizing the experience of parental separation, the movie can't exactly justify that it hasn't trivialized the experience either.

Spellbound almost understands that it needs to give the princess her childhood back--the final scene of the movie is a big surprise party with all her friends for her 16th birthday, making up for the non-party she had for her 15th as a result of her parents' curse. (This is also not really well-explained, but presumably letting the princess have a party without her parents showing up would have given too much away.)

So, Spellbound is mostly bad/mediocre in mostly mundane, unimportant ways. The songwriting is forgettable, the plot is a clumsy concoction of thin tropes, the humor doesn't entirely land--but that's hardly new for kids' movies. Sure, it's billed as having talent from Shrek and Toy Story, but even so, a "meh" kids movie is not usually worth writing so many words about. (God I don't even want to check the word count of this.)

Normally, the elements that shine would do just that--a cute character, a compelling visual--and you'd leave feeling happy those things were there, and not entirely disappointed.

But I think what has given me the brain itch after Spellbound is that the adults in it behave in really awful ways. The advisors that are supposed to be helping support the princess are actually incredibly selfish and cruel to her, flippantly suggesting she accept her parents are dead, and overly eager to put the entire weight of the kingdom on a fifteen year old's shoulders. It would be one thing if the male advisor had a change of heart after seeing how sad the princess truly is, but he doesn't, really. He does say "wow I guess I was wrong" but in no way does this cause him to step up and be a responsible adult in the situation.

Likewise, because of the constraints of the type of story this is (i.e. not depicting traumatic parental fights on-screen) the parents come off as incredibly selfish too. "Hey, kid, thanks for helping rescue us, but I'm remembering how I cannot tolerate being in your other parent's presence for literally five seconds so we are going to chose now, an incredibly vulnerable and inconvenient time, to announce to you that we're getting a divorce. But hey, we said we loved you! So it's all good now!" Within the movie's own logic, there's no reason the parents couldn't have agreed with each other to get a divorce, returned to their human form, reconciled with their daughter first, then weeks/months later sat down with her to discuss changes that need to happen. And, indeed, in a real-life scenario, that is what the parents should be doing. Those are the actions that communicate love to your child--seeing to their actual stability first, and then confronting the more difficult parts from a secure place.

There's a reason most kid stories have goofy villains and plot points that exist purely for comedy reasons. It's fun, it's entertaining, good wins, and you don't need to analyze it too closely. That's not to say that children can't follow emotionally complex stories--I think that both She Ra and Centaurworld are excellent examples of stories that explore complex themes like grief and loss in ways that are accessible to even young children. Notably, these stories are extremely well considered and precise in their messaging.

There's a reason you have to be careful when mixing goofy kids' movie logic with complex, painful stories--when done poorly, as in Spellbound, the movie ends up making a lot of points it doesn't mean to, and getting in the way of its own (well intentioned) message.

To me, the most disappointing failure of Spellbound is painting the princess's emotional repression and Fine Actually. It would be very easy for a viewer to conclude that everything would have been fine if the princess had just continued to repress her "dark" emotions, and to interpret her "letting the darkness in" as a personal failing that causes her to need more support from her already stressed parents. So while we may forgive her lapse in will power, and we appreciate her parents' helping her, she Should Have Known All Along (tm) that they loved her, and a Good Child (tm) would have kept soldiering on without letting such dark feelings get to her at all. A younger me absolutely would have taken this message away, and that's probably why I reacted so strongly to the story as an adult.

On the one hand, children who already have secure attachments to their parents probably won't internalize any of those negative messages. On the other hand, the movie's clumsy message can serve to reinforce abusive/neglectful family dynamics. "See, they said they loved you once. Things are better off when they're separate. You can't complain anymore--if mom and dad are happier, you need to be happy too."

If it had just stayed surface-level and fluffy, it would have been a fine movie. But it's frustrating to see that in an effort to normalize a common childhood experience, it strays into the territory of normalizing some disturbing and rather dark behavior from adults.

And I think that leads me to my ultimately conclusion with stories that deal with dysfunctional parental/adult dynamics--not only Spellbound, but also stories I've loved, like Turning Red or Inside Out 2.

There's a sense that the writers have unresolved parental/authority trauma. They unwittingly infuse their stories with many elements of their trauma, and see these as "relatable details" when actually they reveal the elements of unhealthy dynamics that linger. For example, there is always a strong drive to show that the parents meant well the whole time, no matter how cruel their behavior. "Your parent might have caused you deep harm, but they still love you, an reconciling with them should be your goal" is the message that comes across. Sometimes, this is true. But more often, when the child is experiencing that much anguish, it's a sign that the parent does not have the capacity to reconcile. The parent's willingness and ability to reconcile is ultimately a fantasy in the story, and may serve to reinforce abusive dynamics with children hanging on waiting for their parents to change.

I'm biased, of course--my own parents have proved over and over again that they do not have the capacity to change. Stories of parental reconciliation kept me working hard and pouring energy into the relationship, ultimately resulting in repeated harm. And this experience is not as uncommon as we'd like to believe. Children, as a developmental rule, desperately want to maintain relationship with their parents as a source of safety.

There's a certain line between "relatable family difficulties" and "signs a relationship cannot be reconciled." I think this line is well illustrated by the mother/son relationship in the movie Wish Dragon (which I love). Though there is surface-level conflict between them, her actions always communicate love (she feeds him even after getting angry at him), and she is the first to seek reconciliation when the conflict has gone too far. She is self-aware enough to confess her own struggles, and make clear to her son that it's not his fault.

Contrast this to Turning Red, where as much as I enjoyed the movie and its normalization of puberty/big emotions, I think there is still a little too much leash given to an emotionally abusive mother and emotionally passive father. It's striking to see what is really a quite abusive dynamic depicted as "just how families are", and you can feel the pain of those unresolved traumas clearly in the writing (at least in my opinion). ((Also to be clear, I am reacting to what is depicted on-screen based on my personal experience and research into attachment theory and trauma, doing my best to take the story at face-value. I really, really don't mean to be commenting on East Asian diaspora family dynamics in general, or implying that they're all abusive.))

Works like Centaurworld and She Ra seem to understand the arc of trauma healing from a much more resolved place--they're able to articulate the complexity of the sympathetic ways that trauma arises, vs the ultimate responsibility adults have for how they act. Notably, these stories focus on peer dynamics, since exploring parental dynamics in this way is (clearly) very fraught.

Every story dances this line of "this specific story about these specific characters" vs "something universal you can take with you into life experiences like this". You can say, "well, Spellbound is about this specific family and this worked for them, and that's all their is to it" but again, the fairy tale genre demands that stories have universal elements to them. There's a strong sense of the story communicating "how things should be".

That's what makes stories with abusive/neglectful parents particularly complex. Culturally, parental reconciliation is The Way Things Should Be. Many, many parents (especially boomers) believe that they are entitled to reconciliation no matter how reprehensible their behavior. Likewise, Spellbound accidentally insists that children being easily reassured that their parents still love them, no matter how neglectful the parents' pattern of actions, is The Way Things Should Be. There are no lasting consequences to the parents' selfishness and awful timing, and emotional repression is shown to be Useful Actually.

Because even just taking the story at face value, when the princess's parents start fighting, if she hadn't believe that she could keep them together and restore their humanity, they would have died. Permanent monster transformation where they don't recognize her equals death for all intents and purposes. So even though her hope to return things to the way they were is ultimately proven to be futile, it's literally the only reason her parents are still alive.

Spellbound seems to know what it wants to say, but it really does not seem to be able to organize its myriad disparate, derivative parts into being able to actually say that thing. And like, I'm not going to claim I've never accidentally implied something I didn't mean in my stories. But I am also one person (I edit my own works) so there is always a point at which I'm going to be so close to it that I miss things. But for a full feature film, with multiple writers, a director, story board artists, a whole publicity team, it's definitely disappointing to see something this clumsy.

And it makes me sad, because I liked the setting so much. Seeing fantasy worlds through a more diverse cultural lens is something that gets me really, really excited. And the oracles of the sun and moon were so gay! It was adorable! So it's always a let-down when the other parts of the story just... don't work.

On a broader level, I think I find it particularly disappointing when neglect and irresponsibility from adults is normalized alongside parentification and forced maturation of children. It's not a fun time. Just let me enjoy the fluffy gryphons without getting cPTSD triggered, please. 🙃