#my goodness this is such a cool idea

[tawnysoup]

the fritter (frin critter)

[cozylittleartblog]

Columbo and the Knight (1984)

put me in the universe where Columbo ran through the 1980s and had a crossover episode with Knight Rider. I think they deserved it, and I am not just saying that because they're my two favorite Old Shows. @telebeast wrote a little fanfic blurb about it and I HAD to visualize it into a comic (which is also the longest comic I have finished thus far at five pages...), so writing credit goes to them.

Autism W!

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[bisexualshakespeare]

[ID: several photos of a book with excerpts highlighted. They reads: In 1995 Columbia Pictures and Jim Henson approached James and me with a plan to make a movie of the show, using Henson creatures as the animals. A script was written by Low- ell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and two readings were held in Los Angeles, fol- lowed shortly by one of those periodic studio shake-ups where a new platoon of executives replaces the old one, eager to throw out all projects begun before their arrival in order to demonstrate the freshness of their re- thinking. The readings, therefore, were as far as the production went. I wrote two songs for the project before the axe descended, however. (/end highlight)

The opening number would have been this: The camera looks down onto a small, charming storybook village from centuries ago. It swoops around and finally down behind the royal palace and into the village streets.

Stop taking away our rainbow, Don't tell me it's all in vain. Why would you expect a rainbow? I think you enjoy the pain. You chip away long enough At every dream we've made, Things soon will go wrong enough That more than dreams are going to fade. Don't say they just last a minute, That rainbows are only air Don't tell me there's nothing in it- We've got to have hopes to share. The longer we love each other, More and more it seems Love isn't enough. We need some dreams.

(highlight) The first reading of the movie script had, among others. Martin Short as the Baker, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Wife, Neil Patrick Harris as Jack, Mary Steenburgen as his Mother, Kathy Najimy as Florinda, Janeane Garofalo as Lucinda, Cynthia Gibb as Cinderella, Rob Lowe as her Prince, Christine Lahti as the Witch, Daryl Hannah as Rapunzel and Michael Jeter as the Giant.

The second reading was even more star-studded: Robin Williams (the Baker), Goldie Hawn (the Wife), Cher (the Witch), Carrie Fisher (Lucinda), Bebe Neuwirth (Florinda), Moira Kelly (Cinderella), Kyle MacLachlan (Cin- derella's Prince), Brendan Fraser (Rapunzel's Prince), Elijah Wood (Jack). Roseanne Barr (Jack's Mother), Danny DeVito (the Giant) and Steve Martin (the Wolf). All that and Jim Henson, too. I wish... /end ID]

Finding out that Jim Henson approached Stephen Sondheim to make a partially-puppet movie of Into the Woods and that a table read included Cher as the witch, Robin Williams and Goldie Hawn as the Baker and his Wife, Kyle MacLachlan as Cinderella’s Prince and Steve Martin as the Wolf has sent me into mourning for this timeline.

[lara-cairncross]

take so good im posting it here too

[lockerlungs]

Alright but what if Godzilla slithered

[crabsnpersimmons]

OHHH

Eclipseeeeee

I can give my.. my-

whole me

if you

still

peckish ;)

sorry not sorry

Eclipse: my my! all for me? a treat just for me? it must be my lucky day!

[ricky-mortis]

I heard that Corey Dorris sang Show Stopping Number at Innit- so I present: Corey!Hidgens

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Bonus 7: Time moves sideways

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[reegis]

Heyyy so i saw like, one doodle you did of raph & tim, i love it, they are my favourites ever. Can i please have more?

the duo ever

[rocketbirdie]

The Rebirth B-Team that we deserved...

[mohntilyet]

veilguard spoilers regarding a josie romance. but can we talk about the letter josie sends to a romanced inquisitor because. i’m sorry. fucking losing my mind at the fact that the inquisitor and josephine are close enough friends with the guy the inquisitor duels in her romance to be invited to meet his third child. implying they’ve been invited to the other two. at a baby shower and getting introduced as the one who dueled the baby’s father because he was trying to steal your girl. antivan romances insane.

NO LITERALLLYYYYY. AND HE’S AN IN LAW. ITS TOO FUNNY. i cannot imagine how they met and how yvette probably was like “teehee…. the man that my sister spurned…. has fallen in love with ME!” and the best/worst part is that ortranto really has. i like to think of them running around with each other and secretly meeting as though their families actually hate each other (they really don’t lol) . the ortrantos would probably be delighted to have their son actually marry a montilyet like they wanted, even better that they’re actually in love and it’s not arranged!

i have this image of josie going like “you can’t marry him. is this a joke, because it’s not funny. i almost embarrassed him! the only reason the ortrantos do not hate us is because he is a very kind man who saw that i was in love with the inquisitor! ….yes i suppose a very kind man like that could love you…….. yes of course i want you to be happy…… yvette gabrielle montilyet, i fear you are not hearing what i’m saying— DON’T SAY YOU ARE ALREADY AN ORTRANTO. DID YOU ELOPE? ah okay. don’t do that. i said don’t do that. yvette come back and listen to me” etc etc

of course i must believe that there was a big scene caused (once again) by a montilyet and ortranto that ends with lord ortranto making a speech where the publicly declares his love for yvette in front of all of antiva city to see and hear. so there’s no backing out from this one. in my mind there’s a rehash of the big “BECAUSE I LOVE HER!” (ortranto, desperate but genuine), “you do?” (completely aghast josie who has somehow missed the fact her sister has been giggling even more than usual), plus an “OF COURSE HE DOES!” (a thrilled yvette) that reminds josie so fondly of her own love story that she's immediately relaxed (and suddenly accepting) about this whole thing <3

[tubbytarchia]

Oh, I'll bow my head, I'll clip my wings I was never gonna make it anyway (x)

[elvyn]

Shinji because his scenes in the last episode were so damn cool

[eleonorpiteira]

Photo from New York Comic Con 2024, courtesy of @luguardio 😁

aka: HUGE Penguin Random House booth with the covers I painted!!!

[bonefall]

Hey, what makes a character a 'plot device but not a character'? And how do you not do that? I'm trying to do it on purpose but also I need to still make them interesting because it's on purpose, yknow?

A good skill to pick up is to learn to criticise criticism itself. A "plot device" is simply a thing that moves the plot along, it's a neutral literary analysis term! Usually, when people are angry that "a character has been used as a plot device," it doesn't mean they hate plot devices. It means they're gesturing at something deeper.

Runningwind and Bumble are equally plot devices in their deaths. They are both killed by the antagonist to escalate political tension. Runningwind is rarely "accused" of just being a plot device, and yet, we're talking about Bumble for the same thing.

So, why?

Well, Runningwind is just a background character, but in life, he was a part of the community. He was characterized as impatient but responsible. Yet, he wasn't SO important that he died with a bunch of unresolved plot threads.

He is mostly an extension of the entity of ThunderClan. His killing by Tigerstar, and the fear and paranoia that settles on the group after this, feel like a progression of the story insteas of something forced.

Bumble, on the other hand...

Is hated immediately by Gray Wing, when she's established as Turtle Tail's friend. Bumble's abuse at Tom the Wifebeater's hands invites even MORE investment. The rejection is shocking and upsetting. There's a story there about our main characters being imperfect; jealous, bigoted, and judgemental.

But, she is simply killed off. Everything they set up for this character is gone with little personalized fanfare. It's not a tragedy with a lesson about cruelty, or something anyone regrets.

It's just... plot. Gray Wing whinging that no one will like his shitty brother now that his body count is 2.

More than that, in the discussion of women in particular, "Fridging" was coined to give a name to the way women characters often don't get their stories told at all. There is a CULTURAL trend of female characters facing disproportionate violence, for the sake of advancing male plots.

Bumble has a lot going for her. Petal had a lot going for her. Turtle Tail had a lot going for her. Bright Stream had a lot going for her. When they died, they took their potential with them.

It's not always wrong to kill off a character of high potential, mind you. In Gurren Lagann, Kamina's death is sudden and shocking, leaving a massive hole in the hearts of the cast that never heals. Grappling with that loss, but also letting his memory fuel them, is a major theme of that story.

All that to say... there's no formula for avoiding it. You've gotta identify what the deeper issue is, in your specific narrative.

I can't say for certain what that will look like for your story, but here's some things I keep in mind;

When you make characters who exist to die, make sure they're people before you axe them.

Ask yourself; what about them does the cast miss?

If they just miss them because they were (pre-existing relationship), go back to the drawing board.

Fluttering Bird as an example. Who was she? Dead sister. Why do they miss her? Dead sister. No traits until after her death.

Runningwind was short-tempered and helpful. Kamina was a valuable leader who made people believe in a brighter future. Swiftpaw was fiesty and desperate to prove himself. The better characterized, the more profound the loss usually is.

If this is a female character who is dying just to serve the plot, be aware of cultural bias and tropes. How is the gender ratio looking in your cast? Is this happening disproportionately with your girls?

Note how Quiet Rain's litter had both a boy and a girl, but the girl was chosen to be "weaker" and wither away.

And how most of the time in DOTC, whenever a man had to be upset, a girl would get killed for it.

If you ever feel like the character on the chopping block is NOT a full character, ask yourself why it needs to be a character at all. You don't need to spend narrative time building out someone when a literal object of high value might suffice.

"My sister died when I swore to protect her and I can't face my family" = Old. Tired. Ive seen this.

"I lost my heirloom sword when I swore to protect it and I can't face my family." = Fascinating. Why was the sword so valuable? Will they really not take you back? How did you lose it?

When you do kill off "high value" characters, try to make sure you're not leaving too many plot threads hanging. Or at least make a point of how they will never get closure.