#non atlantis content

[atlantis-archive]

House of Mouse S3E06 "Goofy's Magic Menu"

At approximately 19:11, Milo Thatch can be seen swimming in the flood of stew.

Honestly, any number of characters could be hidden in the crowds, and we won't know unless they release a clean version at some point. Who knows what mysteries are locked behind the 360p resolution?

[atlantis-archive]

A bulletin board in Camp Discovery in Adventure Isle at Shanghai Disneyland includes information on Preston B. Whitmore, Whitmore Industries, and the lost Milo expedition.

As the text isn't entirely viewable here I will look into whether it would be possible to acquire better copies.

Here’s close ups on some of the board details.

First pic - features Atlantis reference with Milo missing and Whitmore’s financing of the LoA. Also introduces us to a major recurring League character, the engineer Cooter Carter.

Second pic - Encapsulates the sheer ridiculousness of the League with one of their dog explorers testing out a submersible. I love it! Note also the submersible is of Cooter Carter’s design.

Third - Great vintage style magazine depicting a LoA submersible - there’s also one featuring an airship.

Fourth - Assorted Expedition Everest ties. Note the yeti photo. There’s also a news clipping mentioning the time frame and that the project on Everest was not related to what we actually do on the ride.

Fifth - The best shot I have of the newspaper page (The cage makes it hard to get a closer shot head on). Left side is the headline about the Hollywood Tower Hotel incident, pretty much describing the backstory we get from the TV. The right side article gives a humorous anecdote about the League helping discover the temple and Indy basically shutting them down and chasing them out after they prove unprepared for the dangers. Also talks about them driving through the temple, obviously referring to the ride. Photo is of the League team in the Indy queue.

Please note there are other boards as well, with many more details not pictured here, as the boards are in the queue for the ropes course which does not allow cameras or phones. There is a profile of all League members there as well as another newspaper referring to the Anaheim Haunted Mansion, so that’s oddly a thing.

[creature-wizard]

Looks like it's time to talk about starseeds and the New Age movement again.

Since I'm seeing more starseed content being posted, I'm gonna make another post on why the whole starseed thing and the surrounding New Age belief system are... not good.

So for those who don't know, New Age mythology is essentially a hodgepodge of cherrypicked and distorted myths from various cultures, racist pseudohistory, and far right conspiracy theories. To put it very briefly, starseeds are supposedly here to help Earth resist the reptilians, a race of politics-manipulating, war-starting, media-controlling blood-drinking aliens. For those who don't recognize the tropes here, these are basically all antisemitic canards. The reptilian alien myth as most know it today comes from David Icke, who ultimately cribbed a bunch of his material from The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, a Russian hoax created to justify violence against Jews. He was also influenced by the work of people like Fritz Springmeier, a hateful crank who based much of his work on other hateful cranks.

(David Icke, by the way, also claims that transgender is an evil reptilian conspiracy. You'll never find just one form of bigotry with these people.)

There are supposedly numerous alien races out there, and one of the most prominent among them are the Pleiadians, AKA Nordics. While modern depictions of the Pleiadians give them more variety in skintone, there's no denying that older Pleiadian mythology basically pictured them as Aryans In Space, even associating them with the swastika.

You see what's going on here? "Good" swastika-loving Aryan aliens versus "evil" Jewish aliens? Sound familiar?

Racism isn't just a tangential part of the starseed myth, either. It lies at its very core. It's inextricably tied in with the ancient astronaut hypothesis, which has a history of racist motivation behind it. The TL;DR is that a bunch of white people couldn't believe that non-white people had built a bunch of things they couldn't figure out how to build themselves (EG, the Great Pyramids), so they proposed that the real builders were anyone from Atlanteans to aliens. (Atlantis, by the way, never existed; it was a literary device created by Plato.)

One supposed purpose of starseeds is to help the world "wake up to the truth," which basically just means "convert people to New Age spirituality." New Age believes that world peace is contingent on a majority of the world being converted to New Age belief, and that resistance against their belief system is ultimately the work of the aforementioned reptilian aliens.

To put it another way, New Agers think they understand other cultures' spiritual traditions better than the actual members of said cultures, and think that anyone who disagrees with them is being manipulated by the conspiracy, or is an agent of the conspiracy. This includes Indigenous cultures which are already endangered from white Christian colonialism.

Essentially, endangered cultures cannot speak up for themselves and resist New Agers' efforts at cultural assimilation without being labeled a problem and an enemy. It's basically white Christian colonialism repackaged as "spiritual, not religious."

Again - if you heard from these people that some ancient text or myth describes extraterrestrial beings visiting our planet for one reason or another, you heard misinformation. They twist and misrepresent literally every myth and text they get their hands on. For example, you may have heard that the vimanas from Hindu traditions were actually alien spacecraft. They were no such thing. Or maybe you heard that the Book of Enoch describes aliens performing genetic experimentation on humans. It literally does not. At best, all of the stories they cite just kind of sound like aliens if you ignore most of their content and pay no attention to their cultural contexts.

The starseed movement preys on alienated people, especially autistic people and people with ADHD. You can look up nearly any list of signs that you're supposedly a starseed, and many of them will align perfectly with characteristics associated with autism and/or ADHD, or that people with these conditions commonly report. Some people within the movement even go so far as to claim that ADHD and autism don't even exist, but were actually made up by the conspiracy as a cover to suppress and control starseeds, which is some yikes-as-hell ableism.

So basically, people are being told that if they have these certain characteristics or symptoms, that means it's their job to spread New Age spirituality to defeat the conspiracy and help others ascend to the fifth density.

And what's the fifth density, you might ask? It's supposedly humanity's next evolutionary level, because New Age is also based on biological misconceptions. Supposedly once everyone's DNA "upgrades," they'll essentially morph into an aetheric form. Supposedly, this is preceded by a number of "ascension symptoms," including depression, headache, gastrointestinal issues, and any number of other symptoms that could indicate almost anything, including stress.

What many of these people don't realize is, this prediction has already failed. Back in the 2000s and 2010s, experiencing "ascension symptoms" was supposed to precede ascension to 5D beginning December 21, 2012. One lady, Denise Le Fay, was convinced that the hair loss she was experiencing in 2008 was an ascension symptom. As we can see by looking her up, she's very much still with us on the 3D plane these days, repeating the same tired old scripts New Agers recycle endlessly.

By the way, everything you near New Agers saying today about old systems being dismantled, dark forces being arrested or kicked off the planet, and new economic systems on the horizon? They've been recycling these scripts for years now. Take a look at this page written back in 2012. You got stuff about the complete dismantling of an enormous network of sinister forces," "the arrest and removal of a world-wide cabal," and a "new economic system."

("Cabal," by the way, is a dogwhistle term for "Jews.")

Furthermore, people in this movement are often encouraged to try and access past life memories through dreams or hypnosis, which makes the whole thing feel even more real to them. But the thing is, you can have incredibly vivid experiences about literally anything you put your mind to - the people in the reality shifting having vivid experiences of living another life in the Harry Potter universe are a great example of this. Just because you have vivid experiences, doesn't mean they have any bearing on anything happening in this reality.

So yeah, the starseed movement and the larger New Age movement are both extremely harmful. They promote racist pseudohistory, medically-irresponsible pseudoscience, conspiracy theories that target numerous marginalized groups, and functionally target aliened people with ADHD and autism to convince them that spreading its beliefs is their job.

[copperbadge]

I was making breakfast and listening to an episode of Just King Things this morning, which is a podcast I do recommend -- two very smart English teachers are reading the books of Stephen King in publication order and discussing them. This could go extremely awry except they're both highly conscious of his failings as well as his skill, so they do really well handling a lot of his less salutatory content.

They've hit the point in King's ouvre (this episode was about Hearts In Atlantis) that follows his recovery from the car accident that very nearly killed him, where he was struck by a van while out walking. One of them pointed out that it seems as though he came back from nearly dying determined to write the wildest shit imaginable and only write what he wanted, which struck a chord in me this time despite having listened to this episode before. Perhaps because I was thinking about my own writing and where it's going in the short term (there are a couple of short stories I want to do that I don't quite have a way into yet). I generally don't think about the drift of my creativity in the long term because when I do I usually draw the wrong conclusions.

I don't really classify my life, the way some people who've had high-impact injuries do, as before-TBI and after-TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury -- the fairly severe concussion I had in January of 2020). For one thing, given I had to cancel a trip to NYC because of it, it may have saved my life; I almost certainly would have caught COVID as someone with known lung issues in New York at the time. For another, the TBI was way scarier to almost everyone else; for me it was just one more dumb injury I gave myself and I didn't even remember most of it so it hardly registered. I used to open the story of it with a joke about waking up not remembering going to bed the night before, but nobody ever found it funny.

It's true that there are changes it wrought in my life, though. Even practical stuff like making sure my living space doesn't have tripping hazards and continuing to wear a fitbit even though I don't really need to (the fitbit told us, the morning after, exactly when the concussion happened, because it registered a heart-rate spike when I fell). For weeks after, I had to move slowly and put off making important decisions because I couldn't trust my physical or intellectual judgement; I didn't even jaywalk in my own neighborhood because I couldn't be sure I was judging the cars' speeds properly. For about a year after I had periodic post-concussion syndrome which basically just slammed me back into concussion space, which wasn't painful or upsetting but was definitely inconvenient.

And it's also undeniable that my writing shifted after the injury. It's not necessarily because of the injury, since my initial recovery from the TBI and the declaration of quarantine happened at roughly the same time, and anyone who tells you that a years-long global pandemic didn't impact their artistic expression is selling you a line. But the last thing I wrote before the TBI was the first draft of Six Harvests, and aside from the Six Harvests publication draft, which had fairly minimal changes, almost all that I've written has been blue-sky, light-hearted, PG-rated romance. It's been on my mind that I've been writing different subject matter from what I used to, but the timing of it didn't strike me until just recently.

I don't mind, really. I love fandom and I support fanfic in whatever expression it comes, but I'm also happy writing my own stories. While I'm aware it's been years since I've meaningfully written fanfic, it doesn't bother me per se, as long as I'm writing. It bothered me much more when I could write fanfic but not original fic, especially in those last few awful months at my last job. I'm proud of the literary and non-genre fiction I've written in the past, but it's also much more trying and frustrating to write at times, so I'm enjoying having a different sort of challenge that feels more fulfilling in the process. I'm sure at some point I'll go back to literary fiction -- there are ways in which it's hard to avoid turning the later Shivadh novels into literary fiction, being honest -- but for now I like what I'm writing, and I'm writing primarily to please myself and without regard to what's necessarily rational or linear.

Just struck me, is all, that it's by far the most noticeable major shift in my work. I do sort of wonder what will be next.

[waytooinvested]

Forgotten, Not Forgiven - Chapter 37 (FINAL CHAPTER)

The full fic is also on AO3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lena woke feeling blissfully warm and contented. Late Sunday morning sunshine was spilling in through the curtains they hadn’t bothered to close the night before, and it blazed over the lightly freckled skin of Kara’s bare back, painting her a warm honey-gold that looked good enough to taste.

It was tempting to do just that, but Lena didn’t want to wake her yet. It had been a late night (a wonderful, glorious, fantasy fulfilling night, but a late one nonetheless), and Kara deserved all the rest she could get while she had the chance.

In a few hours they would be going to the DEO, officially so that Kara could be filled in on what she had missed while Supergirl was out of action, but unofficially for the surprise party that Alex and Kelly (long since fully informed about the true nature of Project Atlantis) had been feverishly throwing together to welcome Supergirl back, if the string of missed texts Lena had discovered during their 10pm snack-bathroom-shower interlude was anything to go by.

The sampling she had read before she had given up the struggle to use her hands for anything other than touching Kara had gone something like:

Alex: Can you make it to a surprise party for Kara tomorrow afternoon?

Alex: 4pm til late

Alex: Don’t tell her

Alex: Obviously.

Alex: Do you think 2 dozen potstickers will be enough?

Alex: Lena???

Alex: Who am I kidding I’ll get 4 just in case.

Alex: Can you get Kara to the DEO without telling her why?

Alex: and bring the SingStar?!

Alex: ANSWER ME LULU.

Alex: Wait

Alex: Unless you two are naked right now. Then definitely do not answer me.

Alex: Urgh you are aren’t you. Gross.

Alex: Happy for you but lets never speak of this again.

Alex: Hey Lena, it’s Kelly. Don’t worry I have confiscated Alex’s phone, we’ll leave you in peace now. See you and Kara tomorrow at 4 x

The flurry of messages would have made her smile if she hadn’t already been smiling non-stop since their flight around the bay (at least when her mouth wasn’t busy doing other things that she would never, ever tell Alex about... Well. Not unless she was REALLY annoying).

She had no doubt the party would be fun, and was happy that everyone else was going to get a chance to celebrate with Kara and show her how loved she was, but it would mark an end to their honeymoon period and a return to a more usual way of life. From that point on they would both have to actually attend their jobs and other responsibilities, not to mention tackle the publicity of Supergirl’s return in general and the exclusive promised to William Dey in particular (and possibly get ahead of any gossip caused by their mid-air make-out if anyone had happened to spot them, though Lena hoped they had been too far out and high up to distinguish for a casual observer). Things were about to get incredibly hectic for all of them, and yet Lena didn’t mind nearly as much as she had thought she would.

Kara loved her.

Kara loved her, and she was sleeping naked in Lena’s bed, and it was going to be the first of many, many times that would happen. Now she got to have the real one Lena found that she was willing to let go of the bubble-world they had been living in during Kara’s amnesia. It might mean less hours in the day in each other’s company, but there was no longer an end point to their closeness. They had the rest of their lives to be together.

And right now, they still had all the hours of the morning and part of the afternoon to be naked and blissful in each other’s arms before the time came for clothes and friends and working out their next steps.

Kara breathed deeply beside her, and Lena savoured the peaceful moment, lightly tracing the taut skin above her shoulder blades and skimming down the dip of her spine, testing herself to see how long she could last before the urge to press her lips to some part of Kara became overwhelming.

She wondered how she had gotten so lucky as to end up here, and then, with a shiver, what might have happened if she had succeeded in shooting Lex the first time, when he had revealed Supergirl’s identity and opened the rift between her and Kara.

Without having the need to undo what her brother had done to Supergirl to focus her mind, where might all that pain and rage have taken her? She had already been isolating herself when the kidnapping had happened, and her thoughts had taken a pretty dark turn for a while.

Would she really have ended up trying to brainwash the entire world, just to get over being hurt by the woman she was secretly in love with?

She liked to think she wouldn’t have, but she wasn’t sure.

She was just glad they would never have to find out.

Lena brushed the idle thoughts away and curled herself around Kara’s heat, giving in at last to the temptation to press her lips to the nearest bit of skin she could reach, and felt the stirring response to her touch as she did so.

Kara turned on her pillow to face Lena, pulling her into her arms for a sleepy kiss that slowly evolved into more as their bodies tangled together again under the covers, and Lena decided that no matter what had happened, in whatever version of reality they found themselves in, she and Kara would have made their way to this eventually.

It had been inevitable right from the start.

[general-kalani]

With my work not giving me shifts for the past 6+ weeks (for some reason, I still don't know why), here's a better Ko-Fi list of what I do, for how much, the goal I have right now, AND the deal that's going on right now (that may be permanent).

Reminder that my prices are in Australian.

Goal: The goal I have up right now on the Ko-Fi is $150 for a new monitor with my paypal currently having $28 on it.

Deal: The deal I have on hand however makes it much more worthwhile for bang for your buck! You buy say 200 icons, you get 200 free! No limitations. So whatever you see listed, just double it in your mind.

Dislaimer: I do not offer refunds, I prefer to keep constant communication with the buyer and I tend to stream on discord to the buyer to see in real time what they want and what they don't want.

Ko-Fi listings: Whenever you're too lazy to add a new muse to your list and write up a bio for it, you have the Character biographies! Being $10 per character you can say good bye to worrying about. (On google docs only, I can enable editing however if you feel I did smth wrong, you want to add something in, etcetc).

Anime content is for those who just want gifs or icons based on their favourite character from an anime like Legend of the Galactic Heroes or Macross. This is $5 per three gifs, $1 per 100 pictures(unedited) OR 1 icon.

Greg Bryk content is the same, but just for one specific actor: Greg Bryk! $5 per three gifs, $1 per 100 pictures(unedited) OR 1 icon, you can also specify what show, movie, game, and whatever else he might've been in for these gifs and pictures/icons.

Voice acting is something I'm tentative on but willing to offer, doing $1 per line you just let me know what you're using it for and I'd love to see how it goes when used!

The Walking Dead content is the same as anime and Greg Bryk content, but can be split between the show and comics! The show however will be the only one to get gifs as the comics do not move since they're pictures. $5 per three gifs, $1 per 100 pictures(unedited) OR 1 icon.

Gifs (non-specific) are for things that don't exactly fall under anything else I have in my listings. Can be done for miscellaneous movies, games or tv shows (Spirit, Atlantis, Stargate, Babylon 5, etc) $5 per two gifs.

Dinosaur gifs are one of the cheapest options for gifs on the listings at $1 per 1 gif, it's super cheap as I love dinosaurs and I will absolutely grab more content when necessary regarding it.

Character pictures & icons are for things not already listed on the listings such as games, episodes of shows, movies, etc. Done at $10 per 200 pictures and $1 per icon.

Writing is something I'm very familiar with and as such, it's $1 per 5 words. If I go over the limit I will not ask for repayment, as it means whatever you prompted me with I had fun with it! I do not accept however NSFW in the form of smut.

[namorweek]

NAMOR WEEK 2024

Welcome to the the 5th Annual Namor Week, a fandom event dedicated to our favorite Undersea Anti-Hero! We welcome all new & old fans to the event and hope you can join in this year’s Namor Week on April 24 - 30!

(Art by @pointdotiozao )

Themes

Day 1 - Wings // Sun Day 2 - Prince/King/Emperor // Outcast Day 3 - Alternate Universe // What if...? Day 4 - Piercings/Tattoos // Scars Day 5 - Friends/Allies // Enemies Day 6 - Magic // Science Day 7 - Creator's Choice

The Rules

No sign ups, no checks, just create whatever you feel like creating! Choose one or all of the prompts. Please read and follow all rules to be a part of this event. Types of fanworks accepted: Fanfiction, Fanart, Podcasts, Edits, Playlists, Podfics, Aesthetics, Gifs, etc. you may commission work to be submitted but it must be created for this event, so no reposting an older work for this.

All work must be submitted on the day of the prompt, late works will be accepted up until end of the week. You may add your works to the Namor Week Collection on Ao3 if you wish. 

All Fan Works must be original works created or commissioned for this event and it must focus on Namor or any of his supporting characters in the Talokan or Atlantis universes, examples but not limited to; Lady Dorma, Namora, Attuma, Fen, and more! Choose from MCU or Comic Canon, but it must be a canon character and the work may not use Namor or his supporting characters as background for other non Sub-Mariner characters or fandoms. 

Fanworks must be tagged with #namorweek in the first five tags & tag @namorweek so that it can be featured on this blog by end of day, and unless otherwise stated then fanworks will be linked/cross posted to the Namor Week twitter. If you wish to participate on twitter and post there then simply @ the namorweek account there! All works will be rounded up in a master list.

Tag appropriately! If you have heavy themes, tag what your work contains!

Any fanwork*, ship, canon, canon divergent, or non-canon, romantic or platonic, welcome. However this is a character(s) week so please remember to keep focus on Namor, Atlanteans, Talokanil. *see banned content

Ship and let Ship & Don’t like? Don’t Read is in full force. 

Banned

Racism, hate work (fanwork created to bash on characters), and other forms of hate are not tolerated or accepted. Including Anti Ship or Shipping Wars. Don’t create something just to be a jerk to other fans or shippers. 

Pedo/Incest works are not accepted.

NamorSue, Namor/Susan in a romantic ship are not accepted. (Platonic Namor & Susan Storm is accepted.)

Namor x Reader, x Reader, Character x Reader, all works with x Reader or Character Imagines are not accepted. 

Good Luck with creating and see you in April & if you have any questions please send an Ask! 

[kindlingkeen]

if you could give Jay a team of his own during his Robin days, who would be in it and why? 🤔

Okay, I’ve been thinking about this all afternoon and I have an answer, albeit a somewhat non-traditional one. The thing is, Dick kind of had a lock on most of the younger heroes of that era with his Titans. There’s the kids that end up making up Tim’s team, but something in me rebels at imagining them with Jason. The one exception to this is Steph, because Spoiler and Jaybin would have gotten on like a house on fire. Plus, Jason strikes me as a homebody, content to stick with Bruce and patrol Gotham, rather than setting up base in another city and fighting off world crises. And, honestly, I see Jason as the kind of kid who had trouble making friends his own age. He gravitated more naturally toward adults. Probably a result of having to grow up much too fast and having life experience few of his peers could relate to. (Side note: this is one of the reasons the original outlaws work for me, although I hc them as Jason having the pre new 52 age gap with Roy and Kori, not Lobdell’s bastardized version). So, I think he would end up making friends and “teaming up” with older contemporaries.

~~~

Bruce: When I said you could go to a friend’s house for dinner, I was not giving you permission to go to Oa!

Jason: But Hal has an apartment here and he’s making lasagna!

~~~

Bruce: No, you can not sleep over in Themyscira, even if they did make an exception for you to attend the Amazon Games! It’s a school night!

Jason: So Saturday works then?

~~~

Bruce: I don’t care if Orm is fighting another Black Manta wannabe, Atlantis is not on the way home from school!

Jason: But, Daaaaaad

~~~

And so on and so forth. 😊 Thanks for the ask, anon! 💙

[imagitory]

@andrewmoocow Personally I find them to be misguided. There is a very well-done analysis video I've cited before that talks about the animation and why it ends up looking like AI, and I think it really addresses this argument better than I could --

-- but TL;DR, the animation looks "fake" largely because of stylistic decisions (l.e. turning off motion blur with the thought it would look "more like 2D") that weren't well thought-out. And I actually think the film's writing issues run into the same problem.

Because here's the thing -- writing high fantasy is not as easy as it looks. I can testify to this because I myself am writing a draft for a high fantasy novel right now.

All these years, Disney has been in an advantageous position with their animated films largely being adaptations of previous works, since they're already given a lot of the parameters a writer needs to build a world, plot, and characters. In a Snow White adaptation, for instance, you need a vain queen, an innocent princess, a prince, seven dwarfs, a magic mirror, and a poisoned apple, as well as a fairy tale world where these things fit comfortably. And since so much mainstream fantasy is largely inspired by medieval Europe, that aesthetic remains very familiar with audiences to the point that you need a lot less explanation for things. We don't really need an explanation for the political landscape of Cinderella because we see "fairy tale kingdom" and immediately know it's an absolute monarchy led by generally amiable rulers. We're not surprised when fairies appear in Sleeping Beauty, or when a magical sword predicts who should be king in The Sword in the Stone, or when Tiana and Naveen are turned into frogs in The Princess and the Frog, or when trolls appear in Frozen -- all of these magical conventions fit within the usual fantasy aesthetic and really don't need any explanation or backstory. I'd hazard to say that most people -- aside from those nitpicky critic types who get all hung up on how many servants are in Beast's castle just because they saw a bunch of extra silverware in the Be Our Guest sequence -- just don't bother questioning these things. And the original material also gives some shape and form to the adaptation's story, characters, and overall feel. It doesn't matter how close the finished product matches the original idea or even how familiar the audience is with that original material -- it still provides a jump-off point and sense of focus for the writer(s), the same way fanfiction (even an AU fanfic) can, in contrast to original content.

All right, well, what about those Disney projects that aren't fantasy? Well, in the case of stories like Treasure Planet, Robin Hood, and Mulan, they're still based off preexisting properties that people will find familiar enough that the writers can focus more on the adaptation's unique additions and not focus on detailed backstories and explanations about how the world and societies depicted in the story work. It's a lot easier to just focus on the fantastical elements like the space tech, talking animals, or Mushu and the ancestors if the rest of the story and cast are relatively easy to understand. Even in the case of original stories like The Lion King (which admittedly was largely inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet, but I digress), Lilo and Stitch, and Lady and the Tramp, they still exist in a non-magical world that closely resembles ours, with only superficial changes like animals being able to talk or the existence of aliens. Even quasi-historical settings like The Great Mouse Detective and Atlantis: The Lost Empire look enough like our real-world equivalent that their settings are largely recognizable to us.

In just about all Disney animated films, the screenwriters didn't have to world-build that much. They didn't have to put the character development and plot on hold to explain the rules of the universe these stories take place in that often -- not unlike how writers like Rick Riordan didn't have to explain as much about the country his hero Percy Jackson lives in, because his books are an urban fantasy where our real world is just "plused up" with magical elements. We don't need to know if gravity works on the story's characters the way it does for us. We don't need to be told about the political landscape, history, or terrain of our location. We don't need to ask whether dying is something our characters can come back from.

Wish, on the other hand, is an original story in a high fantasy setting that doesn't resemble our world. People might try to claim it takes place in the Iberian Peninsula, but come on -- Rosas is a completely fictional country in a world that has magic we don't know the rules of and countries that faintly resemble cultures from our world, but we don't know the histories of or how similar they actually are to their real-world inspiration. We also have a cast of characters we've never met in any other media and a story and messages that we know nothing about beforehand. This means that we have no preexisting framework going in for what's possible and impossible in this world; no frame of reference about who these characters are and what their histories are; and no parameters that the plot, characters, and themes must fit inside, whether based on the fantastical story being adapted or a real-world setting that's a lot like ours. And I don't think that Disney really thought through just how challenging it can sometimes be to tell this kind of a story without stuffing the script with a lot of "tell" and not "show," which, as just about any film person can tell you, is the exact opposite of what you generally want. In film scripts, you want to show your audience a lot more than you tell them -- this not only takes full advantage of the visual medium and communicates your point in a much more natural and artistic way, but it also lets your audience think for itself and come to its own conclusions.

Now of course, can you write a high fantasy original story that's easy to follow and evokes a lot of emotion in your audience? Of course! But it does take time and a lot of careful and creative world-building. J.R.R. Tolkien was the king of such things. George R. R. Martin has done it. Neil Gaiman has done it. Ursula K. Le Guin has done it. Even the writer of the Nimona graphic novel, ND Stevenson, did a good job of it! But I think it's quite clear that Wish's script was not in the works that long -- development of the original idea started back in 2018, yes, but it wasn't until January 2022 that it was announced Jennifer Lee was writing it and Julia Michaels was brought on to write the songs, so the film's current trajectory likely wasn't pinpointed until then. And if the film was released in November 2023, then that means Wish's script was finished in under two years. Although there are successful Disney scripts that I daresay needed only that much time (Frozen, for instance, was quite rushed, by all accounts), once again, those scripts were done for stories with some sort of preexisting framework that allowed the writers to skip explaining certain visual or contextual short-hand in favor of focusing on their own creative flourishes in character and story. They were written with a tighter focus on the plot and its players without the need to build a complete stage under them.

The reason some people want to cry "AI!" when they look at Wish's writing is that they're looking at a script that makes the rookie writing mistake of exposition-dumping in an attempt to make its audience care, rather than evoking emotion. That kind of exposition-dumping is something that most novelists usually have to trim and rewrite in future drafts of their work: it's a mistake done while the writer is trying to world-build enough that their audience understands all of these original rules, societies, locations, and characters they're not familiar with. This exposition is then often trimmed down before publishing, and when adapted for the screen it's often trimmed even further or even completely rewritten, in favor of more visual methods of conveying the same information. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz writes about Dorothy traveling down the Yellow Brick Road and about the long journey that takes her and her friends through a lot of side adventures on their way to the Emerald City: it's the famous film adaptation that cuts out the Kalidahs and puts the whole trip to jaunty music for the characters to sing and dance to. Wish could've communicated to us the importance of the wishes to their owners through more visual means, but instead feels the need to reiterate this idea over and over through written dialogue. And again, this is a common mistake by writers when they're inexperienced in creating completely original content, as opposed to spin-offs, sequels, or adaptations of other people's work.

AI writing is generally known for repetitive phrasing and sentence structure, lack of accuracy, and lack of a personal touch. As much as I'll agree that there are a lot of character and world-building choices in Wish that don't make sense, I don't think that's the same thing. There clearly was a story someone (or multiple people) wanted to tell about a person hoarding the precious ideas of other people away, even if it means those ideas can never be shared with the world -- it just wasn't a story that ended up being told that well. And I think this is why Wish is almost worth seeing -- it serves as a good example of why certain writing decisions work better than others and how writing for fantasy projects and/or "family entertainment" is an art form that's worthy of respect when it's done right.

To sum up my stance on the matter -- I think Disney just bit off way more than it could chew and then didn't give its writers enough time to properly digest it.

[mayalaen]

Looking for Discord server recs/invites please

Star Trek

Stargate Atlantis or SG1

The X-Files

His Dark Materials

Leverage

Angel the Series/Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Sherlock

Hardy Boys

Sentinel

Blacklist

Dexter

Highlander

General/all fandom server

I'd prefer servers that allows n/s/f/w content but I'll take anything I can get

OTOH I'm in some awesome Stranger Things, Suits, SPN, It, 911, Hannibal, and Ted Lasso servers i can invite you to 😁

It's easy to find those fandoms everywhere else but non-community servers are so hard to find!

[atlantis-archive]

Disney Lorcana Into the Inklands previews

The third set of the Disney Lorcana trading card game will feature cards based on Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Set is due to release on 24/02/2024. (cards sourced from Mushu Report)

Text:

JOSHUA SWEET The Doctor Amber Character Storyborn · Ally Cost: 4 (Inkwell) Strength: 1 Willpower: 5 Lore: 2 Bodyguard (his character may enter play exerted. An opposing character who challenges one of your characters must choose one with Bodyguard if able.) --- "Heading out to the inklands? Come on back if you need patching up." Art by Jeanne Plounevez Common 5/204·EN·3

KIDA Atlantean Amber Character Storyborn · Hero · Princess Cost: 1 (Inkwell) Strength: 2 Willpower: 2 Lore: 1 -- welcome to the inklands. [this lore is written in the Atlantean language] Art by Nicoletta Baldari Common 6/204·EN·3

HELGA SINCLAIR Femme Fatale Emerald Character Floodborn · Villain Cost: 5 (Plain) Strength: 4 Willpower: 4 Lore: 2 Shift 3 (You may pay 3 ⬡ to play this on top of one of your characters named Helga Sinclair.) THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING Whenever this character quests, you may deal 3 damage to chosen damaged character. --- Art by Alice Pisoni Super Rare 74/204·EN·3

HELGA SINCLAIR Vengeful Partner Emerald Character Storyborn · Villain Cost: 2 (Inkwell) Strength: 2 Willpower: 1 Lore: 1 NOTHING PERSONAL When this character is challenged and banished, banish the challenging character. --- "You said we were in this together!" Art by Kasia Brzezinska Rare 75/204·EN·3

LYLE TIBERIUS ROURKE Cunning Mercenary Emerald Character Storyborn · Villain Cost: 3 (Plain) Strength: 2 Willpower: 4 Lore: 1 WELL, NOW YOU KNOW When you play this character, chosen opposing character gains Reckless during their next turn. (They can't quest and must challenge if able.) THANKS FOR VOLUNTEERING Whenever one of your other characters is banished, each opponent loses 1 lore. --- Art by Mike Parker Super Rare 78/204·EN·3

MILO THATCH Clever Cartographer Emerald Character Dreamborn · Hero Cost: t: 1 (Inkwell) Strength: 2 Willpower: 2 Lore: 1 --- "Believe me, studying gibberish really can take you places!" Art by Giuseppe di Maio Common 79/204·EN·3

MILO THATCH King of Atlantis Emerald Character Floodborn · Hero · King Cost: 7 (Plain) Strength: 4 Willpower: 4 Lore 3 Shift 4 (You may pay 4 ⬡ to play this on top of one of your character named Milo Thatch.) TAKE THEM BY SURPRISE When this character is banished, return all opposing characters to their payers' hands. --- "You don't know what you're tampering with." Art by Valerio Buonfantino Legendary 80/204·EN·3

MILO THATCH Spirited Scholar Ruby Character Storyborn · Hero Cost: 2 (Inkwell) Strength: 2 Willpower: 2 Lore: 1 I'M YOUR MAN! While this character is at a location, he gets +2 [Strength]. --- "My grampa never told me about this place!" Art by Massimiliano Narciso Common 115/204·EN·3

AUDREY RAMIREZ The Engineer Sapphire Character Storyborn · Ally Cost: 5 (Inkwell) Strength: 2 Willpower: 5 Lore: 2 Ward "Opponents can't choose this character except to challenge.) SPARE PARTS Whenever this character quests, ready one of your items. --- "How'd you break this thing, anyway?" Art by Richelle Canto Rare 137/204·EN·3

HELGA SINCLAR Right-Hand Woman Steel Character Storyborn · Villain Cost: 3 (Inkwell) Strength: 2 Willpower: 4 Lore: 1 Challenger +2 (While challenging, this character gets +2 [Strength].) --- "That was an order, not a suggestion. Let's go!" Art by Kasia Brzezinska Common 175/204·EN·3

KIDA Royal Warrior Steel Character Storyborn · Hero · Princess Cost: 2 (Inkwell) Strength: 2 Willpower: 3 Lore: 1 Bodyguard (This character may enter play exerted. An opposing character who challenges one of your characters must choose one with Bodyguard if able.) --- She's seen stranger things before, but nothing like this. Art by Carlos Ruiz Common 177/204·EN·3

[adutchlover]

#lestappen Ao3 fic /// when Max meets Charles in a strip club and gets hard for an hologram

(Non-drivers au / charles is a dancer / explicit content / inspired by music / dirty dancer by enrique iglesias / mention lando&daniel)

•••

Max had to admit that he looked extremely sexy like that. He was distracted by the slightly bulging veins on the Monegasque's white arms, wondering what it would be like to have those hands firmly gripping Max's waist like he did with that damn steering wheel, or was he the type to-

"Did you not tell him?"

Max blinked, realizing the blunder. He furrowed his brow, trying to ignore that he had been caught staring too much but genuinely confused by the brunet who had a mischievous smile on his face.

"Tell him what?"

"That you saw me at Atlantis that day", Charlie said simply, “Dancing for you”

[elvain]

MK'S FIC MASTERLIST

hi all! after almost a year of sporadically/regularly posting various fanfic chapters, one-shots, and announcements, i have decided to add a masterlist to my blog of all my writing thus far! this post will be updated as needed and then reblogged. please note all my fics on AO3 are locked/restricted.

Chaptered Fics

Me, You, And The Multiverse, Too - ongoing for 20 chapters, 616 Canon Divergent, Multiverse Travel, AlisonJen. Jen and Alison are forced to hunt the warlock across the multiverse. In searching for him, however, the two women just might find something else. Something way out of this world.

A Semblance of My Soul - ongoing for 10 chapters, 616 Canon Divergent, SteveTony + HankSimon, Documentary Style. Dating in New York is difficult for anyone. Dating in New York as an Avenger is something else entirely. Can love truly be blind? Or are there some realities you can never escape from after all?

Performance Of The Dead - completed at 6 chapters, Canon Divergent, Flashbacks, JimNamor, Namor + Betty, DormaNamor. The diary of the the Sub-Mariner is discovered many years after his time among the humans. Namor of Atlantis lived a long life - this is but a glimpse into it.

(sometimes goodbye is a) second chance - completed at 4 chapters and 8.6k words, 616 Canon Compliant, Pietro Maximoff + Family. In the wake of Magneto's stunning revelation, Pietro Maximoff tries to cope with his past, his present, and his future.

dream a little dream of me - completed at 13 chapters and 26.8k words, 616 Canon Divergent, Johnny-centric, JohnnyPeter & JohnnyWyatt. After months of tiptoeing around each other, Johnny and Peter have finally put things right between them. Their relationship is everything Johnny hopes it would be. He should have known better, really.

The Beau Monde - completed at 26 chapters and 68.7 words, Regency AU, X-Men, CarolWanda and BobbyWarren. In a slightly Briderton-adjacent world, the X-Men we know and love must navigate scandal, sex, and, worst of all, society.

Good Food, Good Mood - completed at 6 chapters and 10.9k words, 616 Canon Divergent, WonderBeast. Five times Hank McCoy and Simon Williams got dinner together, and the one time they got breakfast.

Almost - completed at 25 chapters and 59.5k words, 616 Canon Compliant, Spideytorch. Having been good friends and often times coworkers for years now, Peter and Johnny are about to find out that sometimes, almost is not enough and that it is okay to want more.

One-Shots

Some Type Of Love - completed at 4.6k, 616 Canon Divergent, Snapshots, JanWanda. According to the Ancient Greeks, there are eight forms of love in this world. For Janet Van Dyne and Wanda Maximoff, this is that love.

I Never Let You Know - completed at 2.9k, 616 Canon Compliant, Getting Together, Set After X-Force #50, HankSimon. Hank and Simon must deal with the aftermath of… Well, of all of it, really.

From Dusk Till Dawn - completed at 2.4k, 616 Canon Compliant, Explicit Sexual Content, SamSteve. A superhero’s full and undivided attention was a daunting prospect.

Angel With A Shotgun - completed at 2.4k, 616 Canon Divergent, AlisonJen. When Alison is taken hostage by AIM agents, She-Hulk swoops in to rescue her damsel in distress.

Indecent Encounters at the Ritz-Carlton - completed at 2.1k words, Canon Compliant, ReedSue, Explicit Sexual Content. Reed and Sue shake things up a little for Valentine's Day.

only you, darling - completed at 2.6k words, Canon Non-Compliant, JeanOroro, Explicit Sexual Content. Ororo has a bad day, but Jean knows just how to cheer her up.

a swift burning inside - completed at 4.8 words, Not 616 Canon Compliant, JohnnyPietro, Explicit Sexual Content. Johnny and Pietro get heated during an Avengers barbecue. And things only get hotter after that.

the edge of night - completed at 2.1k words, 616 Canon Divergent. Thor seeks a place to mourn the loss of his father. Hercules follows.

visions of the self - completed at 2.6k words, 616 Canon Compliant. A study of the ties that bind Jim Hammond, the Vision, and Simon Williams throughout the years.

Hell on Earth - completed at 3k words, 616 Canon Divergent, JohnnyWyatt, Explicit Sexual Content. A lonely road, a long history, and a little car trouble makes things a whole lot more complicated for Johnny Storm and Wyatt Wingfoot.

sick little games - completed at 6.1k words, 616 Canon Divergent, SteveTony, Explicit Sexual Content. Steve wants to maintain at least some professionalism. Tony thinks professionalism is overrated.

Another World - completed at 4.5k, 616 Canon Divergent, Multiversal AU, O5 X-Men. “Do you think we’d still be friends in another life? If we had never been X-Men, if Xavier had never put us all together on the original team?”

should my people fall, surely i'll do the same - completed at 3k, 616 Canon Compliant, JimNamor. At the edge of the world, Namor and Jim choose what the future will bring them.

Sweat, Sand, and Somethin' Else - completed at 2.5k, 616 Canon Compliant, Explicit Sexual Content, Two-Gun Kidd/Clint Barton. A hot day in the desert ends even hotter for Clint and Matt when the pressures of the desert become a little too heavy for them both.

liquid dreams - completed at 3.9k, 616 Canon Compliant, Explicit Sexual Content, PeterGwen. After sustaining a minor injury as Spider-Man, Peter must now face his concerned (and breathtaking) girlfriend.

Messily - completed at 4.1k, 616 Canon Compliant, Explicit Sexual Content, SteveTony. Date night ends with a bang. 'Nuff said.

--

reblogs are totally encouraged! catch you around

[creature-wizard]

Tips for maintaining algorithmic hygiene on YouTube and avoiding conspiratorial/far right content

It's true that it's very easy to get YouTube to show you increasingly right wing content. But this can also be mitigated somewhat with care.

Understand what's going on in the algorithm's "brain." Algorithms recommend content based on stuff like whether it's associated with the stuff you just clicked on, and whether it's popular. If you click on a video where actual xenobiologists speculate on what alien life might look like, understand that the algorithm might choose a popular video about ancient astronaut theory to show you.

Here's more examples of paths the algorithm can potentially take:

Herbal remedies -> Alternative medicine -> Energy Healing -> Law of Attraction -> Illuminati conspiracy theories -> Antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Astrology -> History of astrology -> Ancient astronaut theory -> Starseeds -> Reptilian alien conspiracy theories -> Antisemitism.

Gun safety -> General gun info -> Joe Rogan.

Fortunately, just because this can happen, doesn't mean it will happen. Sliding down a right wing/conspiratorial rabbithole is never inevitable. Here's what you can do:

Be cautious with content that might be conspiratorial. For example, a video titled "Does life on Earth come from another world?" could either be about panspermia (not necessarily conspiratorial) or ancient astronaut theory (definitely conspiratorial). If you're not sure, open the video in a private tab to watch it.

If the video does contain conspiratorial content, close the private tab. If it's a video that YouTube recommended for you, click the meatball menu next to the video's title and choose "Don't recommend video" or "Don't recommend channel."

Carefully inspect unfamiliar channels in private windows. Open the channel page in a private tab and see what all they're posting about. Can you see a number of videos griping about stuff right wingers are wont to gripe about, like 'the woke mob,' the 'trans agenda,' 'angry feminists,' or whatever? Then it's a right wing channel. If there's content about 'Secrets THEY don't want you to know,' 'The secret history of the world,' or "Big government cover up! Truth revealed!", then it's conspiratorial.

If you can't tell the political slant of the channel by way of the titles, watch a few videos in your private tab. If you see them advocating right wing talking points, or pushing conspiratorial content, there's your answer. Close the private window and tell YouTube not to recommend this channel.

If you're still not sure about the channel's political or ideological bent, I recommend going to RationalWiki and looking up whatever or whoever they're advocating. RationalWiki isn't a perfect site, but it's a decent starting point. For example, if a video claims that Graham Hancock has a lot of evidence for Atlantis, you could go to the site and look him up, and see what else Graham Hancock is associated with.

Other resources you can check out are the Southern Poverty Law Center's article What You Need To Know About QAnon, their list of hate groups, and the ADL's hate symbol database.

Delete dodgy videos from your history. If you accidentally click a video with right wing or conspiratorial content, you can go and delete it from your history so YouTube doesn't use it to recommend more videos.

Watch videos from people who aren't right wingers or conspiracists. There's plenty of non-conspiratorial, non-right wing content out there, and the more you engage with it the more you'll get that kind of content recommended to you. I have some listed over on my resources page.

So yeah, YouTube's algorithm is an absolute disaster right now, but there are steps you can take to avoid conspiratorial and hateful content. Be careful what you click on, use private tabs to investigate videos and channels you aren't sure about, use the "do not recommend" feature on the homepage, delete any sketchy videos from your history, and make sure you're subscribing to and watching content that isn't pushing garbage.

[rewritethisstxry]

Hello and welcome to my mixed mosh little corner of tumblr. Here I write for a variety of fandoms and characters. Primarily will be featuring drabbles with the occasional longer piece. Headcanons will feature from time to time.

At the time I do NOT consent for my work to be translated or posted anywhere else.

Below you will find some more information on who and what I write.

MINORS DNI. Due to the nature of potential content, only 18 and older are allowed.

Characters || Rules || Masterlist || Slasher/horror writing blog : @slxsherwriter

What I will write:

Angst

Fluff

Smut

Platonic relationships

Alpha/Omega dynamics

What I won’t write:

Snuff

Rape, rape play, non con

Underage

Inc*st

Real person fic

Marvel: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Alexei Shostakov, Peter Parker, Victor Creed, Deacon Frost, Peter Quinn, Frank Castle, Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson, Bruce Banner, Brock Rumlow, Nathan Summers, Eddie Brock, Cletus Kasady, Otto Octavius

DC Universe: Bruce Wayne, Harvey Bullock, Jim Gordon, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Jonathan Crane, Clark Kent, Arthur Curry

Stranger Things: James Hopper, Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers

Stargate Atlantis: Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Ronan Dex, Carson Beckett

Sons of Anarchy: Jackson “Jax” Teller, Harry “Opie” Winston, Filip “Chibs” Telford, Juan Carlos “Juice” Ortiz, Lincoln Potter, Galen O'Shay

The Walking Dead: Rick Grimes, Shane Walsh, Negan Smith

What We Do in the Shadows: Nandor the Relentless, Guillermo de la Cruz, Laszlo Cravensworth

Resident Evil: Karl Heisenberg, Albert Wesker, Chris Redfield

Ted Lasso: Ted Lasso, Coach Beard, Jamie Tartt, Roy Kent

Good Omens: Gabriel, Aziraphale, Crowley

Video Games: Connor RK800, CaptainJonathan Price, Simon Ghost Riley, Sniper

Movies: Finn Brody (Godzilla), Raleigh Becket (Pacific Rim), Terry Malone (Black and Blue), Abe Guevara (Point Blank), Bobby O’Neill (The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard), Guy Clifton (The Crash), Roy Pulver (Boss Level), Sloan (Into the Ashes) Braxton Wolff (The Accountant), Ethan Sawyer (Those Who Wish Me Dead), Bradley James (Grudge Match), Sam Rossi (Sweet Virginia), Mr. McCarthy (Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl), Grady Travis (Fury), Griff (Baby Driver), Adam Frawley (The Town), Buddy (Baby Driver), Clyde Brenek (The Posession), Patrick Sullivan (The Accidental Husband), Harvey Russell (Rampage), Jude Fisher (Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding), Luke Vaughn (Heist), Franklin Clay (The Losers), Max (The Resident), Nicomund the Red/Santa Claus (Violent Night), Doug Dennison (Sleepless), Frank Masters (The Equalizer), Hellboy (2019), Alex Baldr (Max Payne), Matt Graver (Sicario), Douglas Hunsiker (The Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Steve Emmett (Boa vs Python), Joe Braven (Braven), Lee Christmas (The Expendables), Deckard Shaw (Fast & Furious)

Musicals: Jack Kelly (Newsies), Dewey Finn (School of Rock), Hades (Hadestown)

Tv shows: Ike Evans (Magic City), Jason Crouse (The Good Wife), John Winchester (Supernatural), Mason Baldwin (Elementary), Colton Fisk (The Equalizer), Kevin Tidwell (Life), Declan Murphy (Law & Order: SVU), Eugene McGillicutty (Royal Pains), Chuck Martin (ER), Dickie Flood (Th Practice), Malcolm Bright (Prodigal Son)

Tolkien: Boromir, Faramir, Eomer

[dear-indies]

Hello, could you help me pick a fc for my Bridgerton oc? She is part of the Bridgerton family, is in her early 20's, sweet and bright, but doesn't really feel as if she is truly heard, and her love interest is Freddy Carter. She can be summed up as “sunshine with sad eyes” Thank you!

Aiysha Hart (1990) Saudi / White - in Atlantis when she as younger - has spoken up for Palestine!

Ebonee Noel (1990) Afro Guyanese - in Still Star-Crossed when she was younger.

Georgie Henley (1995) - in the Spanish Princess.

Jessie Mei Li (1995) Hongkonger / English - is a gender non-conforming woman who uses she/they - in Shadow and Bone when she was younger - has spoken up for Palestine!

Wang Yifei (1995) Chinese - in Ashes of Love when she was younger.

Maddison Jaizani (1995) Iranian / White - in Versailles.

Emily Bader (1996) - in My Lady Jane.

Ann Skelly (1996) - The Nevers.

Marina Moschen (1996) Brazilian - in Deus Salve o Rei.

Anya Chalotra (1996) Indian / White - in the Witcher - has spoken up for Palestine!

Abbie Hern (1997) Black and White - My Lady Jane.

Alisha Boe (1997) Somali / White - in the Buccaneers - has spoken up for Palestine!

Sun Zhenni (2000) Chinese - in Till The End Of The Moon.

Freya Allan (2001) - The Witcher - has spoken up for Palestine!

If this has helped you in any way please consider donating to a Palestinian fund me and/or please consider reblogging content about Palestine if you haven’t already!