#never meet your hero

[clepysdra]

It is 4 am and I should be sleeping, but instead I’m trying to recreate the best bromance of all time in the Sims 4. Of course I’m talking about Enkidu and Gilgamesh.

[flanaganfilm]

Do you have any “don’t meet your heroes” stories from working in Hollywood?

Absolutely. Hollywood really is a place like no other. If you grow up loving cinema, certain people can take on mythic status in your imagination. Actors, filmmakers; they are larger than life. They become idols in the truest sense - an image that is actually worshipped. But Hollywood is actually full of very weird human beings who have been lucky enough to make their living in a world of make-believe. A huge percentage of the people who work in this industry are strange birds, unsuited for working anywhere else.

Some of our biggest stars wouldn't last ten minutes working a real job; some of our most exalted filmmakers collapse inward if they're in a crowded room. They can have unusual talents, or beauty, or unique perspectives and abilities that have propelled them to various levels of success, or even stardom, but they're just normal, neurotic people.

And success, fame, and money can really twist people. It can be like radiation. They can go full Gollum from it.

But most people who work in Hollywood are not stars at all. The vast majority of people who work here are not rich, not famous. Most are hardworking craftsmen and craftswomen who are fighting every day to make a living, scraping by the best they can in an industry that is brutal, impersonal, and impenetrable. But every single person in this business - whether they are superstars or not - are just ordinary people. They're insecure, anxious, and prone to all of the failings we mortals are prone to. Some of them are awesome; some of them are assholes. But most of the people here (even the superstars) quietly feel like they don't belong, or that they don't deserve it, or that their sheer ordinariness will be discovered any minute. In fact, it's the people who seem to feel the opposite - those rare people who feel that they DO belong here, and deserve the lifestyle this industry can afford, who are inevitably the least likable ones I've met.

As I've been lucky enough to keep working in this business, I've met a lot of the people who I idolized along the way. Filmmakers and actors who I admire so much, whose work has shaped the trajectory of my life without them knowing it. I've been starstruck every time, and I am still am - I stammer, I freeze, and I kick myself for what I say, or don't say, or how I said it. I'm not good at it. I have acute social anxiety, and when you throw me at someone I admire, I turn into a blubbering idiot. They say "don't meet your heroes" because you may (likely will) be disappointed by just how ordinary they truly are. Or worse, they may even turn out to be people you wouldn't want to interact with in normal circumstances - your heroes might be people you wouldn't want to invite to coffee. The persona you have admired is a product in itself, something you bought, something you have taken home and displayed proudly in your imagination... but the human being behind that persona is full of all the ordinary failings. That can be really hard to reconcile. So yeah, a long-winded way of saying that I've had the experience of meeting people I admired a great deal only to be disappointed, or worse. I've got some nightmare stories in there where the actual person violently shattered the idol I'd built in my imagination. I won't share those stories, there's little point in that, but instead I'll talk about the rare exceptions - the few heroes I've met who were every bit as awesome as I'd hoped they'd be. They may say "never meet your heroes," but they haven't met Mark Hamill. I worked with Mark on The Fall of the House of Usher, and he is one of my favorite people. Kind, generous, humble, and so, so funny. I was nervous and excited to meet Mark for the obvious reasons, because of the hero he was in my imagination - but I got to meet Mark the actor, the father, the husband, the humanitarian, and the friend. Guillermo Del Toro - one of my biggest heroes, his work has meant so much to me. And I was terrified to meet him. But he is one of the most joyful, honest, sweet-natured people I've met in the business, and his love for movies is infectious. For me, the man himself exceeded the myth.

I've been lucky to meet other exceptions to this rule, heroes of mine who exceeded my expectations - Ewan McGregor, Mick Garris, Brian Henson, Heather Langenkamp, Henry Thomas - and yeah, I've had the other experience too. But I try to focus on the exceptions. It can be unhealthy to idolize people - unhealthy for you, and unhealthy for them. But it's truly awesome when someone is even more amazing than you imagined.

[detectivenao]

“Endure. That’s what spice is all about.”

I’m still on my "Capsaicin is related to Burning Spice" agenda.

[roseyturtles]

Anyways I am taking Arcade away from Zachary Levi. Arcade Israel "anarchocommunist" Gannon no longer belongs to this man. As far as I'm concerned he gave up the right to be associated with one of the best-written gay characters with the rest of his soul.

[turtleblogatlast]

Something I really like is that April’s constant stream of odd jobs she goes through is somewhat reflected in the boys as well. Like, you have April working at random pizza places or getting a crane license or being fully willing to apply for a job at a place clearly made out of cardboard. Then you have the boys as well who do anything from working as a basketball mascot, building a massive dog park, being waiters, getting a whole band gig at a theme park, etc, etc-

Main difference is that April actively applies for these jobs (and is hopefully paid for the short time she’s in them) whereas for the bros the jobs usually find them (and they practically never get paid.) It doesn’t even stop at jobs either, they just seem to casually amass skills in general.

I don’t know, I like how both April and the turtles are just so ready and willing to do things. Sure, they’re not always good at these things, but they do them readily! In a way, being heroes is just another job (well, more like volunteer work/vigilantism/another fun activity) that they initially took on because of their general sense of “why not?”

They’re very willing and open to trying out new things despite their tendency to revert back to what they enjoy (and how commonly trying new things ends up going wrong), and I think that adaptational interest of theirs really helps them be well rounded in multiple regards.

[kitamars]

>:/

[squishykitty825]

Death by comparison

Comparing oneself to others is a given in life.

Comparing oneself to one's heroes is also a given.

People say to never meet your heroes. Most say this because they believe their heroes will never measure up to who they thought they were. Others say this because they believe they will never measure up to the greatness that is their hero.

For Tim, he believed neither. He met his heroes. Met Batman and Robin Nightwing. And they were everything he expected them to be and more. He even became one of them. Became the new Robin after the loss of the last.

He was finally getting everything he'd dreamed of. Even things he never could have imagined. So why did he feel as though he didn't deserve it? As though he was unworthy of the Robin mantle.

Despite Dick's encouraging smiles and Bruce's constant efforts of being a better dad than his actual father, Tim couldn't rid himself of that feeling deep in his gut. A feeling of worthlessness, that he was just pretending to fit in.

His fears were only deepened with Jason's return from the dead. When another of his heroes hunted him down, took down his team, and nearly beat him to death, all while calling him a pretender. A replacement. Because that's what he was. He was a pretender. A replacement. An imposter.

Tim Drake was nothing more than a replacement for a dead son. A pretender in disguise. An imposter with a brilliantly crafted mask.

His life as Robin was nothing more than a facade of gilded lilies. Maybe that's why he walked away under the guise of taking time off to find himself. Maybe he walked away because he didn't want to keep up the charade anymore.

Or maybe he was running away. From the family he didn't feel a part of. From the role he had failed at. From the comparison that was slowly killing him.

Death by comparison, what a way to go.

[beginnerblueglass]

I was telling my sister about Titans, and she was like, “the whole Bruce/Dick/Jason storyline is like the prodigal son story, with the older and younger brothers' positions switched,” and I was like ohhhh???

[eigs]

Private art display

I suppose we were interrupting that.

A collab I did with @overlordmetal where we both did artworks of our ocs hanging out at 2 different stages of their life.

The one I did was set in highschool with the two showing eachother their art books.

[formulaonedirection]

LEWIS IS SUCH A SWEETHEART LIKE IMAGINE MEETING YOUR IDOL AND THEY ARE SO KIND AND LOVELY AND AS TALENTED ON TRACK AS YOU IMAGINED IN YOUR HEAD. Why is Franco Colapinto living the y/n x Lewis Hamilton life THAT SHOULD BE ME

[espeiderman]

Val from Double Life as a Child being haunted

Just sort of catching you guys up on some older art so you forget how late I am 👹

[screamononsense]

Sticktober - Day 4 :: Follower

[milktian]

I know I don't go to mha (unless) but why have people automatically assumed "omg he couldn't see or speak to his friends for 8 years" like guys 1) that's not what happened 2) that's just what having friends as an adult is like

when you get older it becomes almost impossible to meet up in person w/ ur old friends. I haven't seen my high school friends in person for actual literal months now, but I still talk to them??? phones are a thing??? long distance communication exists???

I don't think 1-A cut contact completely I think they just stopped meeting up as much cause of work. because they're adults with jobs now.

[layton-heritage-posts]

Huge Day for people who spend too much time online!

[thowawayuntilfurthernotice]

On today’s episode of “Tara Strong continues to be an objectively awful person with no redeeming qualities.”

Jokes aside, as a Middle Eastern guy who grew up watching a lot of Tara Strong’s shows, this shit makes me want to vomit.

Strong has always been a controversial figure, she was spouting out anti vax conspiracies back in 2018, she mocks anyone who isn’t vegan, and let’s not forget about the time she promoted an NFT scam and got super pissed at everyone who called her out on her shit.

So it wasn’t really all that surprising to find out she’s a raging Islamophobe.

What’s even more depressing is the fact that none of her colleagues are speaking out against this, because fuck forbid they end losing work for calling out blatant bigotry, am I right?

[my-wee-hughie]

What if Hughie is excited to go to Tek Knight Manor because Tek Knight was his favourite supe when he was a kid and he wants to meet him in the flesh.