#my nickelodeon childhood ships came back to me

[pairingbrainrot]

If I had a nickel everytime a Nickelodeon pairing from my childhood came back as adults and stabbed me in the heart with all the feels, I'd have 3 nickels, which is not alot but it's weird that it happened three times right?

[ptbf2002]

I Quit The Loud House Fandom

Yeah I Know That people are obsessed with this show. and i know they obsessed with little things and defend them like it's a gift from God or Jesus Christ. to be honest, every cartoon and animation shows and movies can have toxic communities and fans. like My Little Pony, (The Brony Community And Fandom), Which I hate My Little Pony. the fandom of Disney's Zootopia and etc. about The Loud House Fandom. I was Like. Oh My Fucking God! why does my favorite show on Nickelodeon next to Spongebob Squarepants has a Toxic Fandom And Toxic Fans. that is not quite as the fandom of My Little Pony. Although these shows don't mix. Like Come On! The Loud House Is Like A Masterpiece Of The Modern Nickelodeon, The Animation Looks Clean And Fresh. However, There's one who caused this mess! The Fandom Is not worth it. and it's just dangerous and intoxicated. now before you all go Like, *Peter, I thought you liked The Loud House* Well I Do. i do like The Loud House, it's once again My favorite show on Nickelodeon next to Spongebob Squarepants. i am not turning back on the show as a whole. i just hate it's toxic fandom of the show. and I'll tell you why've i decided to quit this dangerous fandom of the show. they're group of the fans of the show who tending to ruin the show for others. make those stupid fanfics. and stupid fanarts just makes me wanna go to the bathroom and barf in the toilet. hey! the fandom at least has some good fanfics from other users. but some of them are bad. and etc. however, there also toxic shippers that includes Ronniecoln Shippers. i just can't believe that i shipped it in the past. since 2016 and 2018. but now, since 2019 and 2020. i stopped shipping it since it's getting old and intoxicated. those stupid shippers don't give a shit about that fact. and keep shipping it for stupid and dumb reasons. the fandom also keep on whining over the show losing the Kids Choice Awards to Spongebob Squarepants. Don't get me wrong. The Loud House did won The Kids Choice Awards in 2018 in mexico which was before Teen Titans GO! to the movies released in theaters. i know that i'm kind of suspicious that Spongebob Keeps on winning all the Kids Choice Award's. he sometimes loses In Kids Choice Awards. don't get me wrong. i also like Spongebob Squarepants. since it's part of my childhood, and also my favorite show on Nickelodeon. The Fandom Keeps On Framing On Spongebob Over The Loud House Not Winning the Kids Choice Awards. the toxic is not only the Ronniecoln is the intoxicated couple of the fandom. but also is Loudcest. i was like, Holy Shit! who came up with that stupid fucking idea?! shipping a main character with one of the siblings. this doesn't make any god damn sense. shipping other toxic couples. even other fanbrats keep on attacking on someone who disagrees or even quited the fandom. and this goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Boring. So This Is Why I think that Quitting The Loud House Fandom is the right thing to do. don't get me wrong. i do like The Loud House, it's once again My favorite show on Nickelodeon next to Spongebob Squarepants. i could have watched the show to this day. despite the show going downhill since Season 5. and i could have watched it's movies. that includes no time to spy: that came out on my birthday. so, i think that Quitting The Loud House Fandom is the right thing to do. Goodbye Forever Toxic Fandom!

Original Template: https://www.deviantart.com/moxiethequeen/art/I-Quit-This-Fandom-Meme-1001200697

The Loud House Belongs To Chris Savino, Jam Filled Entertainment, Boat Rocker Media Inc. Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Nickelodeon Productions, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Nickelodeon Group, Nickelodeon Networks Inc. Paramount Kids and Family Group, Paramount Global Content Distribution, Paramount International Networks, Paramount Domestic Media Networks, Paramount Media Networks, Inc. Viacom International Inc. And Paramount Global

[shi-daisy]

The Phoenix and the Dragon

Yet again we've arrived at Ulquihime week! Gotta confess I'm not much of a Christmas person but I do look forward to December for my OTP week. Everyone puts so much love and effort into their entries that it's hard not to be excited. Okay so today's theme is Crossover and I wanted to pick something that wasn't likely to be repeated by someone else, so leave it to my nostalgic mind to go 'What about a Winx Club crossover?' Thus here we are! This little one-shot is based on one of my fave childhood shows and one of the first villain ships I ever had. (Yes, my 10-year-old self hardcore shipped Darkar & Bloom) 😅 Hope you like it! (Spoilers for some aspects of season 2 of Winx Club. I'm taking from the 4kids version of the show and Nickelodeon special btw. And some mild spoilers for the second movie.)

Also for those who do know the winx cast and want to know who is who in the crossover here it is.

Orihime- Bloom

Ulquiorra- Darkar/Avalon

Tatsuki- Stella

Shizuka- Layla

Ichigo- Prince Sky

Isshin- Errendor

Sora- Daphne

Unohana- Faragonda

Okay now that's all set, here's the fic!

@ulquihimeweek​

Ulquihime Week- Day 1 Crossover

The Phoenix and the Dragon

Orihime awoke in a dimly lit room. She didn't remember much, just going into Professor Schiffer's office and then...'And then he changed and turned into the Phoenix.'

"I can sense you. Just come out of the shadows already." She muttered.

Ulquiorra obliged, no longer looking like a human but in his true form as the Shadow Phoenix.

To her he didn't look much different, his skin was paler but his other features remained the same. He had large dark wings and a tail, along with tear markings.

"I should've known it was you. We get warmed about a Shadow Phoenix and next thing we know a new professor shows up at our school."

He chuckled. "Yes well, that didn't occur to you as we bonded, Ms. Inoue."

She lowered her head in shame. Since Ulquiorra arrived at Alfea he had become her favorite teacher, and even offered to teach her about her home kingdom, Sparx, which had been destroyed when she was just a baby.

"Is that why you brought me here? To taunt me?!"

"No, darling. I have other plans for you. Or should I say us?"

"I'll never collaborate with you!"

"You say that now, but you might change your mind after I explain my plans to you."

She frowned, but at the moment there was nothing she could do. Orihime sighed. "Fine. I suppose I can listen to you for a while."

"I appreciate it. First I must ask you something. What do you know about me, Orihime Inoue? Who do you think I am?"

"Headmistress Retsu told us you were once human. That you came to the underealm to try and find the shadow fire, but that it's power consumed you and that now you're seeking to take over the magic universe.

I also know that you came to our school and posed as a professor until now..."

"The headmistress is a wise woman, studious too since she appears to know my origins well, the one commonly excepted that is."

"What do you mean?"

"Indeed, I was once human, that I came here to study the Shadow Fire, but it's power didn't overtake me. For you see, I willingly submitted to it. I'm the one in control, always have been. And while I do wish to take over the magic dimension it is not for my own gain."

"Why else would you want to take over?"

"I want this dimension to change. I want to tear down the structures that bind its kingdoms. I've wanted that since I was a human.

You see, darling, the structures of this dimension are so very ancient and so very obsolete. The squabbles between kingdoms have led to so much war, to destruction, to sadness... Just look at what happened to Sparx."

"My kingdom was destroyed by the ancient witches. Not by war."

"You're right, but your kingdom had a close ally. An ally that should've saved you from the witches, yet instead bargained to have them take your kingdom and spare them. The king of Eraklyon made said bargain."

Orihime grew dizzy. 'No, no it can't be! Ichigo's father wouldn't do that! This is a lie!"

"You think I'm lying, don't you?"

"Of course you're lying! King Isshin wouldn't do that, neither would Ichigo!"

"Analyze the situation, darling. Eraklyon was your closest ally, and yet they didn't suffer any damage as Sparx was destroyed. Your parents vanished, your brother died saving you, your planet is now an icy wasteland. Yet Eraklyon stands as the richest land in Magix. As for your little prince, he was merely a child when this took place, but I don't doubt he'd keep it a secret from you, he has done so before."

Orihime felt as if her skin was catching fire. She hated to be reminded of that lie, to think back when Ichigo had hidden his royal lineage and engagement to a princess. She'd forgiven him, of course, and they were a couple once again, but deep inside she still distrusted him. And a part of her did think Ulquorra's words were true.

'Maybe that's why his father disapproved of us. Not because I'm a princess of a destroyed kingdom, but because my kingdom's destruction was partly his fault...'

"You see, darling. That's only one example of plenty I can give you. All of these realms need someone truly wise to rule them."

"Even if I believed you, that doesn't mean I'll join you. I don't want to kill anyone."

"Who said anything about killing? There are plenty of ways to dethrone a ruler. That's what I crave to do darling. Imagine it, a dimension without destroyed kingdoms, without arranged marriages, without squabbles for the throne. We'd be the only rulers, the royals would be our regents, they'd have to abide by what we demand."

Ulquiorra's eyes glowed green as he spoke. She had seen him like that before in his humanoid form. His eyes always sparkled as he thought her class about History and asked them to be part of the change.

"Ulquiorra, I think it's wonderful that you're trying to make the universe better, but I fail to see why would want me to join you. I'm no leader."

Orihime felt Ulquiorra's cold hand gently lift her chin. "Orihime, you're the only person I've ever met worthy of wearing such a crown.

The reason I posed as a teacher at Alfea wasn't to further my plans, or to steal the codex but to observe you. In just a few months you made such great progress that I couldn't help but be convinced you were worthy of sharing my crown, of carrying the dragon flame, of ruling over Magix.

You came from Earth yet quickly adapted to this dimension, to its power and its costumes. You're kind, fierce, strong, I couldn't ask for a better queen."

He noticed Orihime's pale skin turn bright red, and her sliver eyes grow misty. "No one's ever really praised me like that. Thank you."

He smirked. "I'll be sure to do so more often in the future then."

With a snap of Ulquiorra's fingers, her bounds disappeared. Orihime stood up, directly facing Ulquiorra.

He took her hands in his and directly stared into her eyes, silver meeting emerald. "Orihime Inoue, will you join me in my quest to bring peace and order to the magic dimension?"

It wasn't easy, she didn't want to leave her friends, her school, or even Ichigo. Even after what she learned it felt wrong to vanish without a word.

'But it must be done. Tatsuki-chan will be free to choose who she marries, Nemu-san won't be forced to follow the path her father wants for her, Shizuka-chan won't have to take the throne of the harmonic nebula...even Ichigo would now be free to make his own choices. This would be for the best.'

With a beautiful smile and newfound determination, Orihime finally responded. "Yes, I will."

"Then it is done, our power is now bound."

She could feel a surge of dark magic taking over, but it wasn't unpleasant. Her characteristic blue fae dress was now black and her fairy wings had turned grey. Orihime also noticed Ulquiorra's form slightly changed, his dark wings now had accents of green and he resembled his humanoid form a little more.

"It's the bond." He told her after noticing her confusion. "Light cannot exist without dark and vice versa. As such my darkness had to take some of your light and your light had to take some of my darkness."

Shadow Fire & Dragon Fire were united at last. Orihime was certain that now she and Ulquiorra would be unstoppable. 'We'll fix everything soon.'

"What shall we do now?"

"Since I've acquired all the pieces of the codex, I was thinking we could go to the Relix dimension. Your parents might've vanished there after the destruction of Sparx."

"My parents...I never thought it'd be possible to reach them."

"It is, my darling. We'll bring them back and then return Sparx to its former glory. After that, we can finally reshape the magic dimension into what it should've been from the beginning."

For the first in a long while, Orihime felt like she was doing things right. It would take her friends some time to forgive her, but she knew in time she would join them again. 'I'm doing this for all of us. For me, and for him.'

She gently kissed Ulquiorra's cheek, he blushed at the gesture. "I was not expecting that."

"I'm still a little miffed at you for pretending to be a professor but if we're to be in harmony as rulers this is a good place to start."

"Then I guess I should do my part too."

Ulquiorra wrapped his arm around her waist and gave her a passionate kiss. Orihime quickly blushed and playfully shoved him as he let go of her.

"Show off."

"Guilty as charged."

"Y'know, I remember seeing paintings back on earth with dragons and phoenixes together as a couple. Do you think that was a prediction?"

"It could be, after all, the most enduring romances are likely to echo through many universes."

[jippy-kandi]

Digimon Adventure: 2020 – Yamato “Matt” Ishida & Sora Takenouchi

Thoughts on the new Digimon reboot series, Yamato, Sora, and the potential for Sorato . . . before it airs on 5 April 2020.

Which . . . is actually today in Japan. Yeah, I’m cutting it really close! But I wanted to write a post about it before it airs. The new Digimon Adventure: series will broadcast several hours from now in Japan -- and then be released online via Crunchyroll “worldwide” (select countries) a few hours after that. Which is great!

I’m going to refer to the series as Digimon Adventure: 2020 just to make it more obvious I’m talking about the reboot. Toei, please fire the person who suggested simply adding a colon to the original title was OK. Thanks.

So, when I first heard about the reboot, I did sigh and think, CAN DIGIMON PLEASE JUST DIE ALREADY?

I was thinking primarily of my wallet, because I have this irresistible urge to purchase almost every single Digimon merchandise with Yamato’s face on it (and usually Sora’s face, too -- as well as Taichi’s, to a lesser extent). So the fact that Digimon was still going? Well . . . yes, my wallet has continued to bleed.

I also thought Toei Animation were being really tired and greedy to reboot Adventure. No new ideas? Really?

But that was when the last Digimon series I watched was Digimon Adventure tri. in 2018 -- which I wasn’t particularly impressed with (save for Chapter 3: Confession).

Now?

I’m actually pretty excited about the reboot -- thanks largely due to having seen Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna a month ago. It even fuelled me to rewatch tri.! Which is quite a feat, because it was such a slog for me to get through the first time (. . . and still a slog on a rewatch). But Kizuna made me hungry for more Digimon!

So Digimon Adventure: 2020 has turned out to be a godsend (so far . . . that could change after it airs). I haven’t thought so much about Digimon in well over a year -- and Kizuna has made me think about it quite a bit this month.

My first thought about the first Digimon Adventure: 2020 key image was that, from the little we can see of it, Yamato’s purple top looked awful (I focus on Yamato a lot, if you couldn’t tell). Thankfully, it does look a lot better now that we can see it properly! In fact, I quite like Yamato’s reboot outfit.

But it really feels like this conversation happened in the Toei Animation offices:

Staff A: “Let’s modernise Digimon Adventure for a 2020 audience.” Staff B: “How about, instead of Yamato wearing a green turtleneck . . . he wears a purple turtleneck?” Staff A: “BRILLIANT!”

I’m sure they came up with the title for the series in the same meeting. *cough*

So I guess “modernising” the kids means tweaking their outfits a bit. I think Taichi, Jou, Koushirou and Mimi look fine, because their new outfits most resemble their old outfits. I also like Yamato’s, as I said. Sora’s took me back a little at first, because there’s just too much pink, but I’ve since gotten used to it and thinks she looks cute. Takeru and Hikari’s outfits are the worst, I think.

But I like that Yamato’s purple turtleneck “matches” quite nicely with Sora’s pink everything. And that they’re both wearing wristbands on opposite wrists! Sora’s appears to be a normal red sports wristband, and Yamato’s is a green handkerchief (obviously a throwback to his green turtleneck). Cute!

I also like that Sora is being “motherly” over Takeru in the first key image . . . because that was part of the Sorato foreshadowing in the original continuity. ;)

We can assume that the reboot is targeting two different audiences: the primary audience being adolescent boys (and girls, to a lesser extent) in 2020, and the secondary audience being the generation of children who grew up with the first series -- and are now adults.

Us.

So they want to sell more Digimon toys to a new generation of kids, because kids buy (or force their parents to buy) the most merchandise and generate the most money. Simple.

But they’re also betting on the old generation to be interested in it as well, and generate even more money on merchandise sales (as has been the case for tri. and Kizuna). That’s why they’re using the original Adventure characters, instead of just creating an entirely new Digimon series from scratch.

So while they’re going to aim to introduce a new generation to Digimon with an updated world, I think they’ll be aiming to “please” us old fans, too -- so I don’t think they’ll stray too far with the characterisations.

From what little information we have so far, it looks like it’s pretty much the same characters, placed into a modern 2020 world. It’s an entirely new story (canon), and there are modern updates to their clothes and accessories (tablets, smartphones).

But Yamato and Takeru still live apart due to their parents being divorced, and Taichi and Sora are still childhood friends . . . so it looks like their character backgrounds are still the same in the reboot.

Even so, a different staff can reinterpret their characters completely differently to the original staff. So even if the aim is to keep the characters the same, I think they’re going to end up being at least a little bit different, just because different people are involved in their creation this time around.

Is it possible Yamato won’t even be my favourite character in the reboot?

Yes.

It’s highly unlikely, because of my sheer 20-year attachment to him (HOLY FUCK I’M OLD T_T), but the possibility exists.

This has actually happened to me once before. Yamato has been my favourite fictional character of all time since I was introduced to him in, I think, 2000? It might have been late 1999.

But before Digimon aired on Western shores, my favourite fictional character was Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ‘90s movies (and the cartoon series, to a lesser extent). As a kid, I was completely obsessed with the very first TMNT ‘90s movie.

However, in Nickelodeon’s 2012 reboot of the TMNT series, my favourite character was Leonardo (best fictional leader of all time, people). He’s my favourite in the most recent reboot movies, too. But Raphael is still my favourite in the ‘90s movies -- I wish they hadn’t changed his character to that of a super typical brute in the reboots (which is what tri. almost did with Yamato, too. SIGH. MY EMO BOYS ARE NOT BRUTES).

It’s such a fine line between someone who pretends to be brutish to hide their emotions, and someone who is an actual brute -- because just having deep emotions doesn’t cancel out a character being a brute, if they’re just being a complete brute with their actions . . . it’s a really fine line! The TMNT ‘90s movie and original Digimon Adventure series got it right, but the TMNT reboots this past decade and tri. got it wrong.

But I don’t “force” myself to like things. If Toei screws with Yamato’s characterisation too much, he might not be my favourite character in the reboot. Tri. Yamato came close to making me dislike him in a few scenes in the first two tri. movies -- but thank god he got a lot better as the series went on, otherwise I might’ve dropped him, lol.

Just going off the official Toei Animation profiles, the 2020 characters appear to be pretty much the same with the same backgrounds. But there is an entirely new cast of voice actors for all of the kids (the digimon cast are the same from the original series, except Tailmon’s VA).

I think the reason the original voice cast for the kids didn’t return is because Taichi and Sora’s original VAs, Toshiko Fujita and Yuuko Mizutani, have unfortunately passed away (RIP), so it was an “all or nothing” thing. It would’ve been nice to have Yuuto Kazama back as Yamato, though.

Reboot Yamato will be voiced by Daisuke Namikawa (Daigo in Digimon Adventure tri.), and reboot Sora will be voiced by Ryoko Shiraishi (Akari in Digimon Xros Wars). I haven’t seen Xros Wars, so I have no thoughts on Sora’s new voice, but . . . Daigo as Yamato? Really?

I rewatched a scene where Daigo and Yamato converse in tri., and Yamato definitely has a lower voice than Daigo (who has a low voice himself), so I guess it makes sense for Daigo to be younger 11-year-old Yamato. (Although . . . Yamato has always had a too-low voice for a kid, lol.) But I’m really looking forward to hearing the entire new cast!

But if it’s possible that I might not like reboot Yamato, is it also possible I won’t even ship Sorato in the reboot?

Yes.

I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, but the very first time I watched tri. (Chapter 1: Reunion), I thought to myself: If Yamato is going to act this way, Sora should just ditch him for Taichi.

Yep.

And this was because Yamato and Taichi switched roles in tri. (especially in the first two movies). I just don’t see Sora being attracted to guys like Yamato in Reunion (who was acting like Taichi in Adventure), but I do see her being attracted to guys like Taichi in Reunion (. . . who was acting like Yamato in Adventure). Thankfully, Yamato and Taichi go back to their usual roles/characterisations by the end of tri., so I still shipped Sorato in tri. and all is well in the world. ^_^

But if the reboot characterises Yamato and/or Sora a bit too differently that I just don’t like them together . . . I’m out. Again, I’m not going to “force” myself to like Sorato if I don’t think their personalities are compatible, or if there is zero connection shown between them in the reboot. There’s no point to me, personally, to ship what’s not there. For example, I actually like Mimato -- but I don’t “ship” it simply because it’s completely non-existent in Adventure.

But I guess, if there really are zero connections shown between Yamato and Sora in the reboot, I might still “like” them together anyway (casually) just from the fact that I have an attachment to them from the original continuity. But I hope there’s an actual connection shown in the reboot so I can ship Sorato harder, lol.

Hiroyuki Kakudou, the original series director of Digimon Adventure, told Misato Mitsuka, the new series director of Digimon Adventure: 2020, to do whatever he likes because it’s an entirely different canon. So Kakudou doesn’t feel “protective” of his old series from the new series, because he knows it’s not touching his canon.

(FACT: Yamato and Sora got married and had two adorable babies together in Digimon Adventure. The reboot can’t change that.)

At the moment, I think it’s likely that Digimon Adventure: 2020 will just be one season -- but who knows how greedy Toei will get? Maybe there could actually be a 02 where the original cast are the main characters!? (I personally would have wanted that, instead of the 02 we got with the 02 cast. :P)

Can you imagine if this reboot got a new season 15 years later a la tri.? Poor reboot Yamato will be forced into purple tops for the next 20 years, lol.

The reboot isn’t being narrated by a man this time (at least, a woman was hired to do the narration . . .), so Takeru is definitely not telling the story this time. I also don’t think they’ll do an epilogue, simply because it was done last time -- and they wouldn’t want to “restrict” themselves to staying true to it, like the original continuity did. But . . . what if the reboot wants to follow and frame the series with a similar narrative, and there is a reboot epilogue?

If that’s the case, I think it’s highly unlikely they would go with “another” canon couple/s, because it would be odd and disrespectful to the old continuity.

Can you imagine if Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask never hooked up? But Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Mercury were canon instead?

Yeah, insane.

Let me be blunt: I don’t think Taiora has a chance in hell of becoming canon in the reboot.

Will Taichi and Sora be portrayed as close childhood friends? Yes.

Will they have shippable moments? Probably.

But will they date and end up together? Nope.

As I said, I think it would be really weird (and even disrespectful) for there to be an original canon where Sorato is official, and a reboot canon where Taiora is official instead of Sorato. I just really don’t see it happening.

But, having said that . . . I could end up shipping Taiora in the reboot, and hoping like all Taiora fans that it does become canon, lol. The irony would be amazing. XD;

I think the reboot was/is being worked on as a one season idea. So even if they choose to do a second season for it later, that shouldn’t affect their plans for this first season (until towards the end, anyway, when the possibility of a second season can come to fruition). So let’s accept that the staff have worked on it as a one season concept for now.

It won’t have “romance” because it’s a shounen anime aimed primarily at prepubescent boys and the characters are 8 to 12. I think we’re going to get exactly the same treatment as the first Adventure -- and people worldwide will just naturally ship all the friendships between the kids.

Since the reboot is not the brainchild of Kakudou, I doubt they’ll be foreshadowing anything. But they could?

But if they don’t foreshadow Sorato, it does open up the possibility that they might make Sorato more overt instead? Even with no romance, they could make them better friends . . . because, remember, they do have knowledge of the original continuity. And I just don’t see them swaying from it (or against it) -- but that doesn’t mean they need to make it “official”. Especially as they’re just 11-year-old kids and there’s probably no epilogue. (But it would still be really amazing if the reboot made this a reality.)

But Sorato or no Sorato: I hope Digimon Adventure: 2020 is a good children’s anime, even if I’m way too old to be watching it. I hope they don’t just rehash all the old growth of the kids shown in the original continuity . . . I can’t handle another tri..

I guess I’ll make another post with my first impressions of the first Digimon Adventure: 2020 episode a day later. Maybe. It’s only 20 minutes, right!? But I don’t think I’ll be writing about it every week . . . that’s too much Tumblr for me (especially after I ignored Tumblr for a year). ^^;

Or maybe I will write a weekly post . . . because the world has gone crazy with the coronavirus pandemic. Stay safe, everyone!

[zutaralesbian]

1, 2, 3, 4, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 for the ask game!

Thanks! here but here are the rest:

1. Talk about the first ship you ever had.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what my first ever ship was. I guess I pretty much shipped all of the Disney movie couples and a lot of cartoon pairings on Disney channel and Nickelodeon. But my best guess would be:

Arnold/Helga (Hey Arnold!)

I’ve always loved Helga and rooted for her to get Arnold to like her back as a kid, and there were a lot of little moments here and there that made their relationship endearing. I’m glad that they finally got their endgame ten years after the show was canceled lol.

3.  What’s your current OTP?

Maxanne (Black Sails)

I’m obviously really into Black Sails atm so I had to go with those two. My #1 f/f ship constantly goes back and forth between them and Pricefield depending on my mood but right now, I think it’s them. My two soft lesbians who helped shape each other’s arcs so beautifully…I just adore them

4.  What’s your current NOTP?

Because i’m into Black Sails right now, Eleanor/Vane and Eleanor/Woodes (and I refuse to include images of those cursed ships).

But tbh, it’s not so much basic ship hate than it is just Eleanor deserving better in general. I’ll fight anyone who says she isn’t a good LGBT+ character because she’s canonically bi no matter who she’s with, but it is really unfair and infuriating that her only romance with a woman ended so quickly and that she was shoved towards two awful men who didn’t deserve her. My ideal scenario would have been an Eleanor/Max/Anne OT3 or her getting another girlfriend (maybe Ms. Hudson…that could have been good) but at the very least they could have put her with a decent guy. I just….Eleanor Guthrie deserved so much better 2k18

19.  Have you ever shipped something despite yourself?

Cleith (Reign)

I tried really hard not to ship these two because I was pretty much done with Reign when it comes to trying to ship anything since the writers literally ruined EVERY SINGLE pairing they introduced eventually. But they were adorable and I couldn’t help myself :/

21. Is there a ship you just don’t get but have nothing against?

Sokka/Toph (ATLA)

I know it was kind of implied that Toph had a small crush on him but they just give off such bro and sis vibes to me. I can’t see them in a romantic light at all.

22.  Which of your ships have the best chemistry?

Fuffy (BTVS)

Bamon (TVD)

Gallavich (Shameless)

Also Maxanor from Black Sails had some fire physical chemistry. And it’s another reason I wish their romantic relationship had lasted longer.

23. Which of your ships deserve better writing?

Pricefield, Bamon, and Gallavich. I already explained why I hate the writing for Gallavich in my last ask, but i’ll rant about the other two lol.

Pricefield (Life is Strange)

Overall, I actually love the story for these two. Childhood best friends who were separated by bad circumstances only to be reunited years later. They never stopped loving each other and quickly fell IN love as they worked together to solve the mystery surrounding their hometown. The only bad part of their narrative is the ending. The game presents us with two choices: allow an entire town to be destroyed by a tornado or let Chloe die (and we only get the loving kiss shown above if we choose the sacrifice Chloe option smh). So the f/f ship only gets a tragic ending or they get a happy-ish ending with the guilt of destroying an entire town. It’s just bad Scoob.

Bamon (TVD)

The writers just never let them be great!!!! And even though I love them, their relationship and the writing for them as individual characters was Bad. Damon had a lot of potential as a character but the writers never made up their minds with him. He was constantly one step forward and two steps back when it came to development. (I always laugh when people say he had a redemption arc because…he really didn’t lol). Bonnie was undeveloped and constantly had shitty things done to her because the writing was racist and the writers hated her for whatever reason. Their relationship development was pretty good in S6 but after that the writers kind of dropped the ball on them, probably because they were scared of DE shippers. Anyways….i’m still bitter. 

[smokeybrandreviews]

Nineties Revival

We’ve reached that lull in my moviegoing life where the transition from summer chaos to heavy winter releases leaves the actual theaters with barren schlock. There are a few gems out there but august has become the new January in a sense, mostly because no one wants to f*ck with the juggernaut that is Marvel, and we get a lot of underperfoming or studio abandoned films that they just want out there. August is a weird month because, while the movie released around this time are all lower budget, filler experiences, they are usually the most original flicks released. It’s a double edged sword because, while i’m glad originality is being pushed, they often suck so much ass, you know? So while the cinema recuperates over this long few weeks, it gave me an opportunity to revist and visit, a few surprises from my childhood.

Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie

I predate Nicktoons by a few years so i remember a world when they didn't exist. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original fare but there were a few gems. Hey Arnold was easily my second favorite of the lot. This show was amazing. It follows Arnold and his adventures growing up in Hillwood. The show is rich with characters and they all have time to shine. The Jungle Movie is a fitting close to the world we lives in with these characters. It was a little bit of stretch plotwise, but i was happy Shortman got his well deserved resolution and that Helga, the sneak true protagonist of this show, finally got her football-head. If you can’t tell, Helga is my favorite characters and i shipped the two of them hard.

Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling

When i was a kid, i remember loving the hell out of Rocko. It was the second coming of that raunchy, spastic, unapologetic, smut from the old Ren and Stimpy show. That mess had got cancelled because the the creator was a pedophile dick who kept teenage sex slaves but that’s a different story. Rocko came in and kind of filled that niche for a few season and then was a gone. Some, what? 23 years later, Netflix dropped a revival and i was thoroughly surprised. The sow and it’s formulas has not aged well at all but it approached this revival trend with legitimate awareness and hubris. This is basically an indictment of the Millennial obsession with nostalgia with just a sprinkling of modern politics and i kind of dig it. This is definitely a Rocko episode, but it’s a Rocko episodes for all of those kids who watched back in the day, who are 23 years older now.

Invader Zim: Enter The Florpus

Zim is my, hands down, all-time favorite Nicktoon. As far as i’m concerned, it’s the greatest thing Nickelodeon has ever created and i was livid when it got cancelled, especially when i found out it was because they simply didn’t want to pay the animation bills. Like, f*ck you guys! I mean, Invder Zim is a classic and they abandoned it because of loot? Come on, the Hot Topic merchandise proves there’s an audience for this show. Thank god for Netflix because they swooped in and bought the rights to the Florpus flick we’ve been waiting on for what seems like decades. And that wait was worth. I loved Florpus. This was everything i ever wanted out of a Zim film. While The Jungle movie gave Arnold his deserved happy ending, Florpus pretends to hand Dib his own fairy tale ending, only to snatch it away in a very Zim way. It was truly glorious. This thing is beautifully animated, giving Zim it’s proper due with a myriad of techniques that range from the absurd to the adorable to the WTF, as Zim should be. Florpus was perfectly executed and told the store it wanted to tell. It never lags or overstays it’s welcome but it does make you yearn for a new series simply because, with today's advancement in technology, Zim would look spectacular and probably wouldn’t cost near as much as it used to.

[smokeybrand]

Nineties Revival

We’ve reached that lull in my moviegoing life where the transition from summer chaos to heavy winter releases leaves the actual theaters with barren schlock. There are a few gems out there but august has become the new January in a sense, mostly because no one wants to f*ck with the juggernaut that is Marvel, and we get a lot of underperfoming or studio abandoned films that they just want out there. August is a weird month because, while the movie released around this time are all lower budget, filler experiences, they are usually the most original flicks released. It’s a double edged sword because, while i’m glad originality is being pushed, they often suck so much ass, you know? So while the cinema recuperates over this long few weeks, it gave me an opportunity to revist and visit, a few surprises from my childhood.

Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie

I predate Nicktoons by a few years so i remember a world when they didn't exist. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original fare but there were a few gems. Hey Arnold was easily my second favorite of the lot. This show was amazing. It follows Arnold and his adventures growing up in Hillwood. The show is rich with characters and they all have time to shine. The Jungle Movie is a fitting close to the world we lives in with these characters. It was a little bit of stretch plotwise, but i was happy Shortman got his well deserved resolution and that Helga, the sneak true protagonist of this show, finally got her football-head. If you can’t tell, Helga is my favorite characters and i shipped the two of them hard.

Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling

When i was a kid, i remember loving the hell out of Rocko. It was the second coming of that raunchy, spastic, unapologetic, smut from the old Ren and Stimpy show. That mess had got cancelled because the the creator was a pedophile dick who kept teenage sex slaves but that’s a different story. Rocko came in and kind of filled that niche for a few season and then was a gone. Some, what? 23 years later, Netflix dropped a revival and i was thoroughly surprised. The sow and it’s formulas has not aged well at all but it approached this revival trend with legitimate awareness and hubris. This is basically an indictment of the Millennial obsession with nostalgia with just a sprinkling of modern politics and i kind of dig it. This is definitely a Rocko episode, but it’s a Rocko episodes for all of those kids who watched back in the day, who are 23 years older now.

Invader Zim: Enter The Florpus

Zim is my, hands down, all-time favorite Nicktoon. As far as i’m concerned, it’s the greatest thing Nickelodeon has ever created and i was livid when it got cancelled, especially when i found out it was because they simply didn’t want to pay the animation bills. Like, f*ck you guys! I mean, Invder Zim is a classic and they abandoned it because of loot? Come on, the Hot Topic merchandise proves there’s an audience for this show. Thank god for Netflix because they swooped in and bought the rights to the Florpus flick we’ve been waiting on for what seems like decades. And that wait was worth. I loved Florpus. This was everything i ever wanted out of a Zim film. While The Jungle movie gave Arnold his deserved happy ending, Florpus pretends to hand Dib his own fairy tale ending, only to snatch it away in a very Zim way. It was truly glorious. This thing is beautifully animated, giving Zim it’s proper due with a myriad of techniques that range from the absurd to the adorable to the WTF, as Zim should be. Florpus was perfectly executed and told the store it wanted to tell. It never lags or overstays it’s welcome but it does make you yearn for a new series simply because, with today's advancement in technology, Zim would look spectacular and probably wouldn’t cost near as much as it used to.

[dawnajaynes32]

Future Perfect: Brandon Johnson’s Mid-Century Modern Illustrations

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At a time when the word “futuristic” generally conjures dark and dystopian landscapes, Brandon Johnson’s mid-century modern aesthetic looks forward with a sense of optimism and nostalgia.

The first time Brandon Johnson got paid to draw, his illustrations appeared on flyers for punk bands appearing in Las Vegas—that is if, by “payment,” you mean free admission to performances by Agent Orange, Bad Religion, Seven Seconds and Social Distortion. Johnson, who is also known by the alter-ego Ragnar (his middle name), had watched his father make a living as a fine artist, but was more drawn to the commercial end of the spectrum.

No surprise, given a childhood spent watching Tex Avery cartoons, reading Mad magazine, and devouring Marvel titles like Fantastic Four, X-Men and The Hulk. Years later, major Hollywood studios including Disney, Sony, and Warner would pay him to dream up characters for prospective animation projects, and he’d get regular assignments from House of Secrets—a well-known comic book store that’s a stone’s throw from Disney’s studios. But like most creatives, he started at the bottom rung of the ladder.

[Related: Moving Pictures: Motion Graphics & Editorial Illustrations by Chi Birmingham | Accentuate the Negative: Branding & Identity Design by Christopher Doyle]

“My first full-time gig doing design and illustration was in a screenprinting shop during the second birth of Vegas—the early to mid ’90s when it was all about getting families to visit, to broaden the appeal,” he says. “I’d lived in Vegas as a young teenager, and back then there was still so much of the old Vegas that people loved—the Rat Pack and young Elvis—which always appealed to me, but it was starting to disappear as the old casinos gave way to the The Mirage, Treasure Island, and The Luxor.”

Johnson spent his time slapping logos on shirts, bags and sunglasses, and quickly found himself yearning for more. So he applied to Art Center in Pasadena, and was accepted. And although he left Vegas behind, the diamonds, starbursts and other kitschy mid-century modern graphics stayed with him.

“As a kid, mid-century design always appealed to me, even though it existed years before I was born,” he says. “A lot of it comes from the hopeful outlook of postwar America, which runs counter to dark, dystopian idea of the future that we see so often now. Everything was so bright and promising—the colors, the architecture, the films, the fine art, the advertising, the design, the typography—all of it.”

You can see that optimism and brightness in Johnson’s illustrations of robots, aliens, ray guns and space ships—subjects that seem to be torn from the sketchpad of a teenage boy. And tacked to that teen’s bedroom walls, you might find selections from Johnson’s Fragmentia series: scantily-clad women posing in space-age living rooms, who possess the innocence of pin-ups from another era.

“Sometimes I think I’m stuck in this pubescent teenage fantasy of what’s cool and the way things should be, and I think that I really should have moved on by now,” he says. “But on the other hand, it’s authentic to me, it’s honest. “I’m not thinking ‘Oh, people will dig this, so this is what I’m gonna do—it appeals to me and it’s what I enjoy doing. I like to think my work has evolved over the years and matured, but I don’t want it to feel too manufactured, either. I try to let the work be what it is, so that it’s sincere.”

Pages from The Art of Fiction

As you’d expect, Johnson has found a healthy audience of fans at Comic-Con and Designer Con—a smaller gathering that began with urban vinyl community and now spans a much broader landscape. In recent years, he’s moved from two-dimensional art to three-dimensional projects, creating and licensing products for the home.   

“Whenever I get an opportunity to experience something new, I just can’t pass it up,” he says. “I want to know what it’s like to design bedding or a chair or a car. It’s not about ego or even making more money, it’s just the creative aspect—I want to do the widest possible variety of projects.”

For a long time, Johnson found it difficult to turn down any opportunity that came his way, working 70-80-hour weeks, and even feeling guilty on vacations. Until one day, he recognized that he had to slow down. Much of his animation work for Cartoon Network, Disney, MTV, and Nickelodeon contributed to his exhaustion: Johnson says it wasn’t unusual to get a call from a studio on a Friday afternoon asking for characters in time for a Monday pitch meeting, which meant working nonstop through the weekend. After seeing too few of those projects actually come to fruition, he decided to step back from the animation projects, and only recently returned to them. (Much of the work appears in his book, The Art of Fiction.)

Art print for the Disney film The Princess And The Frog, produced by ACME Archives

“Finding balance is always difficult for me,” he says. “If I’m doing something, I want to do it 100% all in, all the time, and think about nothing else. I envy people that can find balance so effortlessly. But for me it’s a lot of hand-wringing and second guessing: Should I be working more? Taking time off? In the past, I’d get away from the office, and really enjoy it, but after a couple days, I’d start thinking about projects I wanted to work on when I got back—now I’ve found when I’m away, I can completely shut off work, and I don’t think about it at all. So hopefully, I’m making some progress.”

Johnson now recharges his batteries by going fishing with his kids whenever he can and visiting national parks with his entire family. But he still manages to stay pretty busy. His to-do list following our interview? Create a character for a band’s album cover and merchandising sales, design a poster for House of Secrets, dream up some new color palettes for one of his best-selling textile patterns, and illustrate a movie poster for the sequel to a recent comedy hit that’s still under wraps. 

Slipcase for Epymonstrous, a studio retrospective

See more of Brandon Johnson’s work in his portfolio.

Online Course: The Product Design Process from A to Z

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