#not that the storytellers right now aren't special

[anulithots]

I agree with every. single. one of these. (except I haven't read sarah j mass)

I never write stories about human beings JUST for the sake of not having to deal with romance and gender and school and such and such. And it would be so much fun to have more media that isn't centered around romance or romantic subplots, (especially since I'm on the aro/ace spectrum, and it's annoying sometimes to see characters treating romance as if it's the meaning of life, when I've never felt that way and never will.)

Book cover illustrations can be the reason I buy it. I want book covers that look like animated movie posters. (Because pictures and models can be a bit... less compelling, at least to me.)

I want book covers to be a whole thing, where artists are paid a lot to design them, and everyone can obsess over the book cover artist and the story, and the cover/art go hand in hand in a bunch of creative euphoria.

(I just want stories to feel like... events, movements, something building upon itself.)

MORE ADULT CATEGORIES :D

I'm a minor but.... can we please have stories that fall between 'todler goes to preschool' and 'teenager goes to high school' and then 'here's an 18+ mature yada yada'. Can't we have... all stages of life and everything and anything?

TRIGGER WARNINGS ARE THE BEST THINGS EVER <3

Like, I don't want to acknowledge reality sometimes, sometimes I want to exist without having to think about... all of everything.

OOooOh... what if blurbs, instead of generalized sensationalism, were more accurate and honest. What if the authors themselves told people in the blurb - "here's what this story is about, here is who it is for," OR have a snippet of the story for free to read, to see what the book will be like.

Overall, I kind of want a story telling renaissance. And I like all the points you've made.

I miss stories that were metaphysical explorations of what it means to exist, intermixed with the silly heartwarming ones.

give us a hyper specific writing opinion U have (good or bad)

ough i have so many opinions. i think i might piss some people off with some of these lmao

enemies to lovers is a bad trope and i don't like it. a lot of the books marketed as enemies to lovers are actually just romanticized abuse, and sometimes other books that are marketed as enemies to lovers are just characters who insulted each other once and are now 'enemies.'

not every book needs a romantic subplot. why is it so hard to find books centered around family dynamics, or completely platonic dynamics? why must everything imply romantic interest? i actually don't mind romantic subplots, it's just that its so hard to find anything without a romance that it can be a bit frustrating sometimes.

i have several very specific book cover icks. i really hate those book covers that look like they were made on canva (especially if its from a bigger publisher and i KNOW they have the money to pay an illustrator to come up with something better). i also really hate a lot of contemporary romance-style covers. they are too similar and its hard to tell them apart. recently book covers have gotten more varied, which is actually great! i really love illustrative book covers, or book covers with scenes from the book on them. i know they say not to judge a book by it's cover, but i am an art kid. i really like pretty covers. sue me lmao

i actually don't like sarah j mass's writing style. i tried to read one of her books (i think it was that YA one? throne of glass iirc) and had to DNF it pretty early on because i couldn't get past the writing being so bland

i actually really like CWs for books. i don't know why some people are so against them. i wish that CWs were more common, actually. because sometimes i'm not in the mood to read something really dark, but its hard to tell from just the blurb is a book will make me bawl my eyes out. (also i adamantly believe that even in books marketed for adults, explicit/graphic content (like overtly violent themes or sexual content and such) should be labelled. they already do that for movies, including ratings and why it was rated that way. i wish there was a way to be more informed about what you were investing your time into in the literary world before you end up feeling ripped off because you ended up stumbling across something you weren't anticipating)

when will book stores/libraries create a new adult category. i wanna read about college/grad school aged people, but sifting through the adult section at book stores is confusing. because books about a 21 year old will be right next to books about a 35 year old divorced person. there's no rhyme or reason.

i have more opinions i'm just getting distracted now so i will leave it at that lmao

[grison-in-space]

honestly so much of the way we conceptualize autistic special interests is predicated on there not being anyone who shares them with us? and like. have you met humans. have you talked to any autistics. because lots of them are pretty interesting actually! and autistic people are often pretty good at infecting you with their interests so that you share them too even if you're not as motivated to fixate happily on them for their own sakes!

huge whorls of autistic-generated human communities exist, and people who aren't used to autistic people never seem to realize that Yes Those Are Also Autistics, often because people are used to autistic special interests occupying some very limited contexts like Computers because Computers were a big new societal innovation and community spinning up right when people also started thinking about autism as a Distinction Among Humans. Also Pokemon. And the Internet. Nineties kids know what I mean, eh?

anyway here are some heavily autistic communities that allistic people never seem to realize tend to concentrate autistics and be driven by them:

every non-commercial domestic animal fancy ever, including dog, cat, pigeon, chicken, and horse people; also includes a fair chunk of the commercial kinds but there are slightly less of these

fandom of any kind (for some reason--it's misogyny--no one seems to realize that this also applies to female-slanted forms of fandom focused on storytelling and modification as well as male-slanted ones that involve information curation)

religion. especially any kind that involves any kind of organization--less the charismatic ones that involve manipulating other people, more the kind that draw people interested in the way that religion works. less/more is not all/none.

kink and sexuality generally and also gender. we think a lot. it's a problem. and we get snagged on stuff. plus sensory shit ties into everything. just saying. e v e r y t h i n g.

academia. look we get. we get interested in things. if you get interested enough in things people call you an expert and sometimes they give you money. money is nice. it lets you buy more objects of special interest.

acting. we wear masks all the fucking time and we get caught up in it. which makes you think about structure, eh?

comedy. ditto.

building shit. admittedly the allistics have largely noticed that engineers concentrate us by now but it has taken a surprisingly long time to realize that this also applies to other, older crafts.

fibercrafts and textiles. what about "we like textures and also figuring out how things work" is a surprise to you. also math. again the answer to how the allistics keep failing to notice this one is "there's lots of ladies in there."

I bet I'm missing plenty that I'm just not thinking of but my god, man, look at how many of these things touch us! look at how they shape our understanding of one another and ourselves! how cool is that

[tinydefector]

Swerve: traditionally, humans gift chocolates and stuffed animals, as a display of hunting prowess and ability to provide, on the fourteenth of February. This is because a deity named saint valentine is said to bless conjux pairs on this day.

-bumpinSUV

Traditions

Swerve x Human reader

Word count; 1k

Warnings: none

Heeeyyyyy Bumpin got some food for you~. Enjoy some clueless and hopeless romantic Swerve becuase I said so.

_______

Swerve stared down at the clunky plastic earth animals and chocolates clutched in his servos, completely befuddled. It had sounded like such a good plan when he came across it! But now, facing his human, uncertainty crept in. He offered an awkward chuckle. "Uh, happy February fourteenth! I know on Earth it's tradition for you guys to, uh, exchange dead animal carcasses and sweets as a romantic gesture. Something about showing you can provide, I think?" 

Rubbing the back of his neck, Swerve hoped he hadn't misunderstood. Or offended them! Primus, why was organic culture so weird? "So, uh, I thought maybe you'd like these gifts. Even though mice probably aren't a big hunting prize for humans." He cringed internally. At how embarrassed he was. "S-so, what do you think? Did I get the tradition right? Or should I just forget the whole—"

They give Swerve a slight look as they cut him off. "Swerve, why would you need to hunt?, plus it's July if my callander is right " They ask while looking at the stuff Swerve had set up, it looked as if he was trying to organise a date for them, it was a rather cute little set up more so than past people they had ever dated before, Their words fall silent as they take in the scene. 

Wincing internally, Swerve fidgeted under their searching gaze. Frag, this was even worse than he'd feared. "Well, ya know, I did some reading that Earth Valentines is about showing you can provide for a mate. And I know I ain't got much to offer organics, but I wanted to try!" He held out the gifts in his massive metal hands, practically trembling. 

"I know it ain't exactly a feast or nothin'. But I saw these toys and thought, maybe they'd pass for some small game? And the chocolate's real! Well, not made of real chocolate, more like synthechoc. But it's what I could get you!" 

Slumping with a sigh, Swerve knew he must look utterly foolish. But they deserved his honesty. "Look, I just wanna show ya I care, okay? Even if I'm lousy at Earth courting."

"My courting..." they go quiet for a moment before starting to giggle which turns into laughter. "Swerve Honey, Valentine's day, is in February. It's a day to spend with loved ones and enjoy each other's company, sometimes trade gifts to special people, which most are fake flowers and sweets" they continue to giggle softly. "What did you think was handsome?" They ask with a smile.

"O-oh." Swerve felt his plating heat as their laughter sank in, truly mortified. He should've just stuck to energon pouring and storytelling, left the Earth traditions well alone! "I, uh, may have misunderstood some cultural exchange files," he admitted bashfully. "Thought it was about proving yourself as a good provider! You know, strong and capable." 

He scuffed his pede sheepishly. "Maybe shoulda just asked you straight out, huh? Instead of all this." Swerve gestured ruefully at the mess of toys and candy. They smile and grab his servos. 

A warm glow flooded his Spark at their smile, though. Maybe he hadn't fragged it up totally. "So, uh, does that mean...you'd still consider spending time with me? We could watch a flick, share some high grade—" He cycled a vent, fans whirring. "I just wanna make you happy, anyhow I can. Without any mouse-hunting required."

They laugh lightly as they move towards him. "Swerve, please it's OK, calm down" they call out while waiting for him to sit down so they can at least touch his faceplate. "Yes you probably should have come to me to ask about it, but now I'm more interested in who told you about Valentine's day." they hum while pressing a kiss to his nasal ridge. 

Swerve's vents stuttered as their lips brushed his plating in a gentle kiss. "W-well, you know how it is - a mech hears stuff in the bar sometimes," he replied shyly, fans whirring as they caressed his face. "I think maybe Rung was telling Rodimus about Earth traditions, and overheard Whirl say something about hunting prowess being important for it." 

He groaned, covering his optics. "Frag, I should've known better than to trust second-hand cultural osmosis from that glitchheads, i justed wanted to do something special for you." Lowering his hand, Swerve gazed down at them hopefully. "Sorry about the mess, forgive my clumsy courting attempt? There's still a whole stash of synthechoc with your designation on it." 

He's still sheepish as they laugh at him, their hand trying to keep it in and not embarrass Swerve more. " Maybe you could, um, give me some proper pointers? About Earth holidays and such? I'd really like to get it right next time." They give him another soft kiss which he melts into.

 "Think we might have to talk about human holidays, and Swerve I don't expect you to have to follow human stuff. You know that right?" They ask softly tracing his face.

Swerve leaned happily into their gentle touch, systems buzzing with joy. "I know, I know. Don't gotta do human things if they don't make sense," he conceded affectionately. 

"It's just..." He vented softly, captured by their smile. "I wanna understand where you come from, y'know? Be able to celebrate the special days that are important to you. Share in your culture."

His fans hitched as their fingers traced the seams of his faceplates. How did they always make him feel so calm yet alive all at once? "So maybe lessons would help this fool bot out, huh?" Swerve ventured shyly. He nuzzled into their hand with a lovesick sigh. "I just want to be able to spend time with you doin things that are important, that's really all I want, sweetspark. To be wherever you are."

 "Alright, how about we set up your hab and watch some vids.?" They inquire with a sly smile on their face.

Swerve perked up, any trace of embarrassment melting away in his eagerness. His engine gave a happy rev, hope blooming in his spark. Clapping his servos together, he bounced on his pedes like an excited sparkling. "Oh frag yes, I'll fire up the holoprojector right away!" 

In an instant he had them swept into his arms, cradling them gently against his chassis as he strode off toward his berth. The gifts were forgotten in his joyful haste. "You're gon' teach me everything, sweetspark! Holidays, customs, what all those weird organic dishes are!" He nuzzled their cheek fondly as he walked.

________

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[rebuke-me]

be more chill : hero, heroine, both or neither

or, jupes cares way too much about the journeys of media and audience reception

to start, am I allowed to flex my (near) college degrees? I'm going to. I'm doing college level research into the heroines journey, writing, and how audiences respond to it, and I have a fascination with fandom experiences. this is going to be mostly intellectual, but also be an attempt to be accessible for non-obsessed nerds like me. but this will assume you have at least a passing knowledge of the plot of the musical be more chill, a semi-awareness of the heros journey, and care about storytelling/writing.

now that that's out of the way, there's one more thing I want to get out of the way: my critiques of this show and it's writing is not reflective on the fans that enjoy it. I am a fan of it. I also like media analysis and criticism of things I love. if you are the type of person to take media criticism personally, this post may not be for you. 

on with the actual crux of my post! 

most (fictional) media falls into one of two categories: the hero's journey or the heroines journey. if you've dabbled in media criticism or storytelling, you've probably heard of the hero's journey. if you haven't, maybe you've heard terms like the Call to Adventure or The Death of the Mentor. if you still have no idea what I'm talking about, it's okay, I'll explain beat for beat later.

the heroines journey is more complicated. most writers aren't taught it, it's swept under the rug. which sucks, because it's a very popular storytelling medium, arguably more so than the heros journey. it's just frowned upon and ignored because it's mostly used in genre fiction, like romance novels. I don't have time to unpack misogyny right now. just know that the reason you probably haven't heard of this is because of misogyny.

also, to clarify: a hero does not have to be male, and a heroine doesn't have to be female, at least in the context of journeys. male characters can go on a heroines journey, and vice versa. stories also don't have to hit every single plot beat of a journey to be considered one- it's more of a guideline than a checklist. 

onto the actual topic of be more chill.  I saw a post that sent me on a rabbit hole, that mentioned bmc in the context of a heros journey. and I was like, hold on, no, it's a heroines journey. sure, it has some plot beats of the heros journey, but it's a heroine. right? 

kind of. 

but also kind of not. 

see, be more chill is an interesting media, because it follows, at its core, both journeys at the exact same time. 

we'll start with the heros journey first. it's more familiar to people, and therefore easier to explain. 

the Hero usually has a magical or fantastical birth. strike one against bmc- Jeremy, at his core, is just some guy. he's not special or magic. he's some teenager. 

however, he does get the Call to Adventure- rich, offering him a squip in the bathroom. Jeremy is promised everything he'd ever want. popularity, girls, respect. and still he Refuses the Call at first. he hesitates, then goes and seeks answers on his own, bringing him to the payless, where he buys his squip. 

the squip acts as the Supernatural Aid/Mentor figure. usually, these are male parental figures, or wizened old men. the squip guides Jeremy through his new life and prospects, giving him help that's almost magical. it is the reason he does a lot of things in the plot. this is jeremy’s Withdrawal/Quest- he wants to get popular, get the girl, so he Abandons his Community (his dad and michael) to do so. he metaphorically leaves his home, and it’s all self-motivated. he chooses to leave. 

the next part of the journey is encountering obstacles which is, in fact, the rest of the show. between brooke and chloe, christine liking jake, the halloween party, etc. if there’s a part between jeremy taking the squip and him getting rid of it thats hindering his goals, it falls into this category. 

then there’s the Visit to the Underworld. this is, in most modern media, purely metaphorical. it’s a place where there’s intense pain, death, the main character is at rock bottom. for our purposes (both here, and in the heroine’s journey) this is the play. its entire thing is zombies/zombified people, which is a big thing in metaphorical and literal underworld areas. 

this is where the hero’s journey falls apart. usually, the hero has to face the villain one-on-one, drawing strength from his isolation. he deals the killing blow, he takes down the whole thing, either in a noble sacrifice or with his own wit/skill. 

but jeremy, notably, doesn’t do that. michael brings the mountain dew red, jake attempts to help michael save him, and even in the end, christine is the one to drink it, shutting down the entire web of synced squips. jeremy, as a whole, doesn’t really save himself. potentially, you could argue that him giving the last of the red to christine is him giving a noble sacrifice, but he still had no intent to defeat the squip for himself, get revenge, or get glory, which are the hero’s main motivations and pillars of success. so strike two against the bmc hero’s journey. 

the ending of the journeys are arguably most important. it determines whether or not the media sticks the landing, if its satisfying for the reader. so how does the hero’s journey end? with the hero returning home, fundamentally changed, unable to fit into his previous role. he’s acknowledged for success, rewarded and honored, and receives glory, but also has to leave, isolating himself, but receiving a boon. 

jeremy receives a boon, sure, in the form of christine. (sorry, christine, i wish you weren’t reduced to being a prize to be won, but i can’t pretend that isn’t what you are, from a hero’s journey lens.) but he’s not isolated, he has no reason to leave his community. he gets the best of both worlds. he gets the girl, new friends, new self-confidence, and he keeps his old friends. if this is a hero’s journey, then it’s a terrible ending- jeremy seems to have gone through all of that for nothing. it lands poorly. so, if be more chill is a hero’s journey, it sets it up pretty well, but fails to commit to the ending.

but what about a heroine’s journey, i hear you asking (if you’re still here, that is.)

this is where it gets really interesting. because the heroine’s journey, at its core, is the inverse of the hero’s. it all focuses on community, networking, making connections. there’s a reason a lot of romance novels fall into this journey. It falls into three main arcs- the descent, the search, and the ascent. 

interestingly, if bmc is a heroine’s journey, the Descent starts before the musical does. the first step of the heroine’s journey is the breaking of a familial network. jeremy’s mother has left, leaving just him and his father, who do not get along, and michael, who doesn’t understand, not entirely. jeremy Withdraws. usually, in heroine’s journeys, the heroine withdraws involuntarily, but jeremy chooses to do it. he pulls back from his support network, because of a main factor in the heroine’s journey- Family Offers Aid but No Solution. 

if that doesn’t describe michael’s role in bmc, i have no idea what does. michael’s the one aiding jeremy on his journey, at the beginning. but his aid is “just stick it out,” but that’s a further down the line answer, not a solution to jeremy’s problems now. so he has to pull back from the support system he had, because its not working for him. 

this leads him to Isolation and Danger. because he meets with rich in the bathroom alone. he takes michael to the payless, but he makes the decision alone. and when the squip activates, he’s left by michael, surrounded by people he doesn’t know. he’s isolated, maybe not on the stage itself, but metaphorically. 

this starts jeremy on his Search– he forces himself to withdraw, all to search for unity. he breaks all ties to his previous life, just to look for the one thing he wants. 

in the heroine’s journey, there are two main throughlines– Loss of Family and Disguise. jeremy loses his first family, disguises himself, and attempts to create a surrogate family network. he tries to rebuild his community, shaping himself into something different, trying to find something that he can be or do to be worth it. each of his obstacles is an appeal to a new community, and each one is rejected. 

and then comes the play, which, again, is the underworld. death imagery, loss of control, the literal rock bottom for the characters. jeremy is at his lowest point, everything he’s done is falling apart. and what happens?

his family and friends render aid. as previously mentioned, the hero’s journey focuses on isolation, strength in loneliness, the value of doing things for you and only by you. but the heroine’s journey focuses on strength in numbers, in relying on others for help, in the importance of being saved, sometimes. jeremy’s dad reaches out to michael, who knows how to help, and christine is the one to drink the mountain dew red in the end. jeremy, as a whole, is nothing and would get nowhere without his friends. 

with the defeat of the squip, the Ascent can start. and this is where we, again, ask the question of if be more chill sticks the landing. sure, maybe it didn’t succeed with the hero’s journey ending, but if it sticks the landing for the heroine’s, then its fine, right? it successfully completed one journey, at least!

not really, actually. 

there’s parts where it does land. jeremy’s new network (the popular kids) is established, meaning he has more friends, more opportunities and advice handed to him. his previous network (michael and his dad) is re-established in an altered form. his dad is going to attempt to be better, more involved, and michael is more understanding of where jeremy is at. jeremy also establishes his connection with christine. the defeat of the squip is, as a whole, kind of irrelevant, from a “villain defeat” perspective. there’s no revenge or glory in it. it’s not even entirely gone, but the defeat is more metaphorical. 

so why doesn’t this work? i just told you that it mostly succeeds, that it fits almost all of the criteria. but there’s one fundamental issue with the ending of be more chill as a heroine’s journey. 

see, the heroine has to make a sacrifice, to make negotiations, to give a compromise. otherwise, it feels too easy to the reader. so what sacrifice does jeremy make? he keeps his previous friendship with no issues. he makes new friends who don’t question his decisions. he gets the girl. he gets (mostly) rid of the voice in his head, or gains the ability to ignore it. he gets a happy ending, and it doesn’t feel earned.

so, is jeremy a hero? a heroine? did i just draw you into reading this to leave you with a wishy-washy answer of “he’s whichever you think he is!” maybe a little bit. 

the hero’s journey doesn’t land because there’s no isolation, no sacrifice that jeremy makes to his own connections. he doesn’t draw away and stay there. the bad is defeated, and he doesn’t have to make sacrifices. the heroine’s journey doesn’t land for the same reason, because he doesn’t make a compromise. there’s nothing to prove that something’s changed, that he’s grown, because he’s given everything he wants in the end. 

this is why the story of be more chill, as a whole, doesn’t land for most people, even subconsciously. critics, especially those who love the hero’s journey, are upset that there’s not a satisfying ending to the hero’s journey, that it feels too childish. the happy go lucky “everyone is friends at the end” moment falls flat for those looking at the journey from a hero’s journey perspective. the bones are all there. the plot beats make sense, for the most part, with some minor flaws, right up until the end, where it trips and falls flat on its face. 

but what about the heroine’s journey lovers? well, if you’re in this fandom (or any fandom, for that matter) it’s probably you. (its also me, hi, im calling myself out here, too. i wouldn’t be writing this if i wasn’t so into this.)

the heroine’s journey is particularly attractive to those who are active in fandom. there’s a reason there’s a lot of fanfiction focused on relationships, connection, group dynamics, and not so many on the characters put in a vacuum where they have to defeat the big bad alone. not to say that there aren’t any, but fewer. so how do people who love the heroine’s journey cope with the lack of a satisfying ending? 

fanfiction, mostly. fanart. alternate universes. seeing potential in the bones of the thing, the messages it offers, and making it our own. and there isn’t anything wrong with that. i do it, if you’re reading this, you probably do it, or like when others do it. 

personally, i am more intrigued by be more chill as a heroine’s journey. clearly. i’m biased, i know. because, while it doesn’t stick the landing entirely, it has the messages of a heroine’s journey. that your strength is with other people. that you are not alone. that you should ask for help, you should be kind, you should find the people who care about you. your friends matter, old and new. isolation and disguising yourself as someone you aren’t is never going to help you achieve your goals. and that’s an important factor. 

maybe you see jeremy as a hero. maybe you see him as a heroine. maybe you think that both of these journeys suck and you don’t think it matters which one it follows, or if it follows one at all. but clearly, there’s something to love, to latch onto. there’s flaws, which give us something to analyze, to pull apart and make art and creative works and essays about. it’s not perfect, and that’s why we love it. 

[ because im a library science student, i’m going to give brief sources. i drew my knowledge of the plot of be more chill from my own brain, if i missed anything, its because of that. feel free to point out if i said something wrong, if i did. the hero’s journey is the one by john campbell, and i used the heroine’s journey structure from gail carriger’s book. some other heroine’s journey sources may not fit this as well. if you’re interested in any part of this concept, read The Heroine’s Journey by Gail Carriger, its a fascinating read, and its pretty tongue-in-cheek, and goes way more in depth with a lot of the stuff i touched on. ]

[ also, this should not be used in any actual classes, this is a 20 year old college student with autism and a hyperfixation, i did not do in depth research, i have not graduated yet, i am simply a bitch with a weird brain. do your own research babes <3. with that, thank you for reading this, if you got to this point, feel free to reblog this or like it or leave a comment or whatever. ]

[danjaley]

Storytelling ask game:

8, 17, 20, 25 :3

Thank You!

8: What about your story are you proud of?

Whenever I read a book set in 18th century Britain and there is something similar to how I did it in my story, that's kinda magic. Yes, I did these things right by accident, but it still makes me proud. I guess being a historian helps, but I made it a rule not to mix up free-time and work and go overboard researching for the McCarrics.

17: What about the process do you hate?

I'm struggling with one of those points right now: When I write, I think in terms of the real world, not Sims worlds. So I wrote they'll organize a crossing in Le Havre and then they're in Portsmouth, and then in London. And when I get there, I realize I need to find Sims worlds to stage this in. And there aren't very many 18th century city worlds. Not to mention that I have to set up a new save every time...

20: Choose your favourite shot from your story so far

The moment of perfect bliss between Andrew and Fergus. I love everyone's expressions in this one. And it's always a special challenge to find good poses for teenagers.

25: What inspirations have you drawn on for your story?

The first inspiration were the Scottish novels by Frances Hodgeson Burnett. By now there are so many! A lot of inspiration comes from my research, and I'm excited as we get closer to the times and events I really know a lot about.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

John Musker recently spoke of his final years at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and on directing MOANA under the stewardship of John Lasseter. There's some stuff worth noting in here...

To start off, he kinda repeated the words Bob Iger said when evaluating Disney's 2023 movie releases that didn't do very well at the box office, in describing what's not working with WDAS' most recent films. Namely the box office bombs STRANGE WORLD and WISH...

We weren’t trying to be woke, although I understand the criticism. The classic Disney films didn’t start out trying to have a message. They wanted you to get involved in the characters and the story and the world, and I think that’s still the heart of it. You don’t have to exclude agendas, but you have to first create characters who you sympathize with and who are compelling. I think they need to do a course correction a bit in terms of putting the message secondary, behind entertainment and compelling story and engaging characters.

The key takeaway here is "you don't have to exclude agendas".

While I found Iger's similar statements to be confounding and toothless, seemingly catering to all the angry assholes on YouTube who call everything "woke" and think about Brie Larson 24/7/365... What John is saying is a very basic thing about storytelling, in that it's character first.

That being said, I personally don't feel the problem with WDAS' recent movies is that the messaging is front-and-center. I think that so-called messaging, like some of the character work, feels like an afterthought too. Specifically in STRANGE WORLD and WISH, not so much ENCANTO. But it is instead the rushed and hurried pacing of their over-crammed stories, the sort-of plainness of the presentations, weird dialogue choices (throughout my first viewing of WISH, I kept saying "Who talks like this?"), kinda reheated old hat tricks. It sometimes feels like the films made under CCO Jennifer Lee's watch are just trying to recapture FROZEN in some way or another... Without understanding why that film ticked with audiences and where the overall zeitgeist was in late 2013/early-to-mid 2014.

Also... Messaging. I'm not taking Musker to task specifically, because I know what he means in his words... But when others say it: All art is either political or about something, anyways. Choosing NOT to say anything is still saying something, it's still a political act to bow out or to be indifferent. Every Disney animated movie is about something, and they are indeed the works of their creators, so that means that their views on life and the world are somehow within the stories themselves. "Message" in this context, to me, reduces a work of art to a mere statement, like an after-school special or something. John and Ron Clements' Disney animated movies simply knew how to mix the themes with the character work, the storytelling, the worlds they put together, etc. You can't tell me with a straight face that something like THE LITTLE MERMAID, ALADDIN, or MOANA aren't about something or aren't political in any way, shape, or form. Especially the first of those three examples. The spirit of Howard Ashman would have a word with you if you think otherwise.

John also points out that the Lasseter years, which a lot of people online alarmingly pine for, weren't these amazing halcyon days. And this statement only confirmed the rumors I had heard about MOANA's production, how both John and Ron Clements were warded off on various things during its making:

MOANA was a very difficult project. It was our idea, but with Pixar and John Lasseter, our story kept changing hands. In the ’90s, we had Jeffrey [Katzenberg]. He was an emperor, you know. But there weren’t 10 Jeffreys. Now, you have too many people to satisfy, before we didn’t have 15 directors telling you how to make the movie. But in some ways, they were right, it was a good thing.

I feel like John's being very balanced in his words, finding the positives of that kind of environment while still calling out the not-great stuff. I love to hear these stories in former directors/animators' own words, and what the Lasseter and Lee regimes have been like. I feel that there are potentially fantastic movies buried in STRANGE WORLD and WISH, the former I rather liked still and the latter I found a fairly pleasant diversion.

I feel the fault lies in the execution, not so much the concepts, themes, or ideas. While some pockets of animation fandom online strongly feel that that earlier iteration of WISH with a younger version of Asha's grandpa being some kinda Star Boy would've been automatically better than the released film, to me it's down to the storytelling itself. Like, I think Asha, the silly goat, and the cute star thing could've been a fun trio and the movie itself a pretty fantasy flick, but it doesn't really get there. The Human-Star WISH, if made, could've also suffered from the same writing problems and similarly underwhelming songs.

STRANGE WORLD could've been this really dynamic sci-fi pulp adventure with a funny and super-enjoyable bickering family at its core, with the environmental themes intact... but it's mostly just kinda there in its execution, the characters kinda flat, the dialogue is forced a lot of the time, the dramatic beats aren't properly built up, and the film's editing makes it feel like it had been thrown into a dicer. There doesn't seem to be the hand and personality of the directors/filmmaking team, it's almost like a template is set for them. And they fill in the blanks and eke out as much personality as they can. See, I don't get that out of Pixar's recent films, all of which feel much more director-driven. And ARE about something, too, whether explicitly political or not. This current iteration of WDAS would not have made a movie like LUCA or TURNING RED.

For the forseeable future, it's sequels to favorites from last decade, who knows how those will be executed. Maybe an original or two sneaks in, I don't know, but I wonder if Lee and the leadership themselves looked at the response to WISH, STRANGE WORLD, et al. and are figuring things out. Or staying the course. But it isn't just people online saying it, nor critics. More than one Disney veteran is saying it... WDAS is in a bit of a rough spot at the moment. The solution isn't as simple as "they need to have romances and villains again" nor "they need to be less left-leaning", to me it's really... Let the filmmakers try something cool, even if it doesn't land. If it doesn't land, it'll be a cult classic thereafter. Live-action directors get to mess up all the time and make these 45%-scoring-on-RT released-by-A24 movies that later get hailed as auteur classics... Why do some animated movies have to live up to this weird nonexistent standard?

Back to Musker... In addition to this, John still expresses interest in adapting the DISCWORLD book MORT, from Terry Pratchett. He and Ron tried to get that going at Disney Animation after finishing THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, but it didn't pan out, so the pitch that morphed into MOANA happened thereafter. He feels it's a tough sell in today's "risk-averse" environment... Though somehow, the DISCWORLD book THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RATS recently happened as an animated feature. The interview seems to confirm that METAL MEN, the DC animated adaptation that he and Ron were heading up at Warner Animation, isn't a thing anymore. John's new thing is his self-made short I'M HIP, so hopefully that circulates somewhere we can all see it.

[mjfsupremacy]

Let's talk about this.

CM Punk was a bigger star than everyone else when he came in. That is 100% fact. We would be crazy to deny it. He came in on legend status, 7 years of fans wondering if they would ever see him again. That's huge and he was a big get and for the first few months, whenever we saw him it felt like a big deal. He was putting in decent matches, he was doing incredible storytelling and he was adding so much value to the company.

That didn't last long. It became apparent well before the all out media scrum that he'd very much gone into business for himself and that he'd allowed his ego to run rampant. The list of names pouring out weekly that he had pissed off just kept getting larger and larger, and no, I don't think all the issues he had were his fault but a great many of them he claimed some fault in at least.

That media scrum was the perfect example of a man whose ego has been left to go unchecked for too long, someone who has clearly decided he's better than everyone else in the room and what he has to say matters more than what anyone else does.

After that, he was no longer the name he came in with. It's surprising that seeing AEW be completely fine without him didn't humble him even a little bit because when he came back, he didn't come back with any integrity or willingness to work to make AEW better, he was clearly, again just there for himself. Maybe at this point, he was already hoping to go back to WWE, who knows, but it was apparent he wasn't there because he cared about AEW and the fans knew it. It's an interesting bit of revisionist history happening right now that apparently WWE fans either willingly or ignorantly don't know that a large collection of AEW fans wanted him gone, because they were so tired of his attitude or they sensed he didn't care about AEW like they did. AEW fans are getting straight bullied on the internet because WWE fans think they are jealous or salty he went to WWE when that, honestly, for most, couldn't be further from the truth.

Of course he doesn't rate the top AEW guys highly, his actions for the entire time he was there showed that he didn't care that this was more than a job for them, this was a dream to put American pro-wrestling on the map again, this was a chance for wrestlers who dont fit the mould to do what they love on a huge stage. (Not a knock on WWE, by the way. They aren't wrestling. They specifically do not brand themselves as such.)

As for the WWE guys in AEW waiting to go back, they should be released. Let them go back. There seems to be this fear that if AEW releases talent that clearly wants to go back to WWE that it's a loss. It shouldn't be, they clearly don't have the companies best interests in mind, and if AEW is going to survive, it need people who believe in it 100%

AEW needs to refocus and they desperately need a restructure. They need more women in leadership for one. They need someone who can keep the egos in check but most importantly they need to remind themselves who they are and why they were so special to begin with. They have always been about heart, and wrestling, and having something to say, and passion. Some of that's been lost this year.

I firmly believe they will find it again, but I think the key is to move on, and keep grinding. Keep putting in work that silences the naysayers and is something to be proud of. I honestly wouldn't even mention Punk ever again, I'd literally scrub him and if the few friends he has left there don't understand why, I'd be asking them if they believe in what's best for AEW or what's best for them.

Anyways, here's a quick list of AEW stars that could carry the company on their back tomorrow and would smoke CM Punk on his best day.

- HANGMAN ADAM PAGE

- Orange Cassidy

- Ricky Starks

- Trent Bereta

- Wheeler Yuta

- Daniel Garcia

- Kris Statlander

- Hikaru Shida

- Julia Hart

- Willow

- Skye Blue

- Eddie Kingston

- Wardlow

- Bandito

- Konosuke Takeshita

- Kyle Fletcher

- Penta

- MAXWELL JACOB FRIEDMAN

(Edit: Darby Allin was originally on this list, I was not aware of his previous SA history with his ex or his alleged behaviours toward homeless people in his past. I'm genuinely sorry if anyone was hurt or offended by this.)

[motheatenscarf]

I keep telling myself I'm being too harsh and that other expansions must have been this slow as well, but actually, no, I'm on level 92 stuff and by this point in EW, the Tower of Zot had been done and in SHB, fucking Holminster Switch had come and gone.

This is just not economical storytelling and the pacing's off.

I was momentarily excited when Gulool Ja Ja summoned up the WoL to meet. The duel was cute and it felt like I actually got to do something, it was reminiscent of the duels with Raubahn and Zenos where the player character is given the chance to just. Have a fun fight for glory's sake and nothing else and revel in it.

I'd noticed that people had been prompting the WoL a lot for their input on how to proceed, but very little in the way of introspection and how they might feel about things or what their motives might be. Which, yeah, actually, that's been a little disappointing given how Endwalker was literally an expansion about, hey, how you feel about things matters, and how Shadowbringers was, hey, why people do things matters.

Like. I don't need the WoL to be the main character or the main focus of the story right now, I acknowledge that Dawntrail is Wuk Lamat's story and our role is, as stated in text, to guide her and mentor her. That's fun! That's new! That's different!

...

Let me do that! There's a difference between not being the main character and feeling like a non-entity in a story. And like. Kinda everybody here feels like a non-entity except for Wuk Lamat. And she's fine as a character, she's just. There's not a lot to her. There are no real flaws that aren't cute or endearing, and like, that's fine, not every character needs to be Oops! All Flaws, Aymeric is one of my favorite characters in this game, but the narrative isn't challenging her and her convictions beyond tummy hurty and alpaca's stinky. Aymeric was STABBED and spit on and had to watch people scorn his name and nearly watched children be murdered in opposition to his dream of peace. He got put through the ringer! Wuk Lamat gets motion sickness and isn't taken very seriously and she feels inadequate when comparing herself to her brothers. Cool. That's relatable, sure, but not compelling. I also get motion sickness and don't feel like I'm as smart as my brother and know that my mom likes him more than me. I'm not the protagonist of a Final Fantasy game! And if I was, I'd hope someone would make that family dynamic the FOCUS of the story at the very least.

Everyone else is like. Why are they here? The twins have nothing to do here. The WoL has nothing to do here. Krile in theory has a quest but she doesn't seem particularly driven or excited about it and we've learned almost nothing of consequence regarding it. We now know she was an orphan but she isn't interested in who her parents were or why they left, and also her earring is special, I guess.

Thancred and Urianger have more to do than this group. Koana and the other one are kinda one-note but they've at least got the advantage of like. Being withholding and letting me interpret the things they say and do sometimes, rather than telling me.

I keep thinking, god, maybe Erenville will be interesting but he's starting to feel a little one-note in his interactions with Wuk Lamat. We know a little more about him now but it's like. Trivia. He was from this village and his mother tasked him with finding the Golden City. Cool. What does that mean to him? How does he feel about it? Why did he obey her instructions to become a gleaner to search for this city? Nothing we've learned is of substance.

I'm... frustrated. We're at 3/7 of these Feats completed and I do not have any greater understanding of these characters and their reasons for being here or their roles in the narrative than we had at the start of the contest. We're still just establishing the setting 1/5 of the way through. It's frustrating. I've been pretty patient, but I don't think my continued urge to fuck off and do something else every hour or two is misplaced. I've almost finished grinding fates in the first 2 zones just because I wanted to take some time to sit and think and digest what I'm feeling about all this and why.

[the-priestess-of-dawn]

So hey the Hero-King Marth that Ylisseans claim is from Altea which is in modern Northern Plegia (right under the Feroxi border wall). Given this, can you imagine the political strife and potential religious conflicts happening over this? Because Marth is 100% the ancestor of the Ylissean Royal Family, but historical Altea is Plegian ground. How hard would the Hierophant play with this if allowed?

I am delighted to be asked this because I think about this little detail all the time. Because Chrom and the Shepherds do go to the location corresponding to historical Altea. It's where Chrom defeats Gangrel and ends the war between Ylisse and Plegia. We know Chrom isn't exactly in high spirits ("We've won... Somehow I don't feel like celebrating.") and though the game itself never brings it up, I can't help but wonder how much the location itself contributes to everything weighing on him.

This location is also listed as "Border Wastes." It's a wasteland, and Marth's Altea definitely was not. Again, the game itself doesn't say a word about it, but... Is it not easy to imagine how it might have got that way? Somehow I doubt the exalted line, proudly descended from the Hero King, WANTED to give Altea to Plegia or was ever satisfied with Plegia ruling it. Awakening thematically grapples with cycles of violence, and though this geographical detail is so minor and is never directly addressed in the text, the environmental storytelling seems to me to speak volumes. I think Plegia and Ylisse have been mad about this for as long as they've both existed.

And the thing is, I can easily imagine Plegians taking pride in holding this land, too? Marth is not just special to the Halidom of Ylisse. He is a hero to the entire continent. He saved EVERYONE. "Marth was Plegian" is not exactly accurate, because Plegia would not exist until a thousand years after him, but I bet there are plenty of Plegians running around whose features resemble Marth's as much as Chrom and Lissa and Emmeryn's do.

(Remember, Ferox suspects Chrom of being an imposter when he first arrives at their border, and Cynthia's paralogue involves a guy successfully impersonating Chrom. I don't think you can tell just by looking at him that he's not Just Some Guy, and specifically, you can't tell that he's not Just Some Plegian Guy, either.)

It's interesting to think about what if anything Grima would do with this... Grima was after Marth's time, but that doesn't mean they can't put words and ideals in his mouth just as well as any other political figure.

Moving more deeply into pure headcanon territory... As you may be aware, I think Grima ate the earth dragons that Marth sealed at the Dragon's Table, and honestly if they did, I can imagine them twisting that act to be like.... Obviously what Marth Would Have Wanted, because you see, he didn't have the power to do anything more at the time, but OF COURSE he wouldn't have wanted the beloved people of his precious continent to have to fight the earth dragons again. The Fire Emblem can't do enough. Let Grima eat the dragons for you. (Meanwhile, you've got the First Exalt, actual descendant of Marth, arguing that um, HE is right there, totally ready willing and able to seal those dragons right back up, guys come on we KNOW this will work. Yes I do like to think of this as a reverse "let Chrom deal the final blow?" situation. One in which Grima refused to back down.)

So in that regard, I don't know, I feel like "Grima is the Hero King's true successor (in spirit)" is something that at least some people could actually believe. That would be fun to work with. It's a little hard to see how to get from there to "and now Grima destroys the world because humans are bad" but... given how Plegians value loyalty, it might honestly be enough for some people simply to say "we side with Grima no matter what because we always have before and we aren't filthy traitors."

[burningexeter]

[PITCH]

A new scene, fully animated, for the next anniversary of The Incredibles (2004)

What is it (or rather an elaboration):

A whole new entire sequence for any of the movie's anniversaries and a special re-release in theaters that is done in the most on-point and immaculate detail in the exact same animation style of the 2004 original to where it feels like a completely unearthed, never-before-seen scene that's been fully restored.

PREMISE:

Taking place right after her dealing with the guards but way before she found her husband with Mirage, Helen Parr or as she's now known as Elastigirl continues on her search for Bob, Mr. Incredible himself, somewhere in Syndrome's high level and high tech lair on Nomanisan Island. But after that whole incident earlier, she's now more careful than she ever was and it's because of this along with plenty of other close calls that lead her into an entirely closed off and top secret underground room, section and chamber that's been hidden from the guards.

There, she finds an entire chamber with blurry and fog-like mirrors, an encased cement body of a woman in the middle across a bridge over water and the key to finding her husband Bob.

Helen is more than willing to risk it in saving her loved one but after successfully doing it, her bumbling boobishness causes her to trip and come not just face-to-face but nose-to-nose and breast-to-breast with the woman in cement. A horrified Elastigirl screams in horror as the cements cracks and once she gets up, it completely breaks apart to show that the woman is alive, well and not happy. The mirrors burst through and out comes several other women that it's revealed that they were holding and are now awakened.

Now Elastigirl has to fight her way out of this just like before while at the same time with a bigger threat then and there that prepares her for the larger threats that she'll face with her family by her side this time later in the film.

Notes/Details/Trivia:

• Through visual storytelling without a single line of dialogue or exposition, the backstory for the women in the chamber is shown and how Syndrome essentially betrayed them. And top it off, these clearly aren't ordinary women. Even though they have their own distinctive designs to where you can tell them apart, all women are light purple skinned with dark purple spy-type catsuits and pitch black eyes with the awesome and underrated villain Eris from the not-so-good Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas serving as the clear and obvious influence with their overall designs.

• Just like with the 2004 film that this is being added to, the entire sequence will obviously have a dark and intense edge that this time is a little more horror-oriented with these women all giving Elastigirl a run for her money with her boobishness still being a problem.

• The sequence won't just be pointless however for it actually still serves a story purpose in that it leads Elastigirl to where Bob is being held until Mirage with a change of heart releases him. It's a new scene that still serves a point in the overall story.

• What will help add more to the movie is that throughout Syndrome's hidden room, section and even chamber, there's several objects that Syndrome has collected over his adult years and it's objects from a shitload of other media. For example since it's the best of the bunch, in fighting against the chamber women especially the main one in the middle, Elastigirl uses an object she grabs to use as a defense mechanism only for it to be sliced in half which leads to yet another boob moment for Helen as she looks at it in half and looks at the slicer with a "Huh?". But what is that object you may ask —

It's the Spear Of Osiris.

Now as for whether or not, this will ever become a real thing. I don't know but it's a fun idea.

[my-mt-heart]

Don't get me wrong, I love Caryl, I love Carol but sometimes I wished she never would've signed onto the Daryl show.

Let him be, let him decide and use Carol the way she deserves especially Melissa. She now got dragged back inside the whole mess of male masculinity. Maybe in a few years they would've come up with something special and they could've continued Carol's story.

It's still not what both of them had envisioned years ago and it still might not be their vision in S3.

It all feels so messy and in my homecountry they're calling it the Daryl Dixon Show even for season2. I might throw up at every interview that might be published next year when they continue that.

Carol deserves more, Melissa deserves more. The disrespect is never ending.

The problem with having a solo show, whether it's Daryl or Carol, is that their characters are too important to each other's development. It's not that they aren't compelling in their own right. They absolutely are, but you can't disrupt 12 years of storytelling and expect everyone to believe Daryl can suddenly live happily ever after with a nun and a boy with long hair while Carol gets her kicks blowing everything up on her way to New Mexico.

I do agree that what we're getting now is not what we were promised three years ago. Not to say Carol won't have a good arc in S2 or that Caryl won't go canon, but the show isn't going to feel right as long as EPs think art, SFX, and obnoxious tropes are what people want to watch. Melissa, Carol and Daryl, and their fans deserve a good storyteller in their corner. That's where the money should go for S3.

Also, change the title.

[visitmedali]

My idiot coworker found a flash drive in the parking lot and plugged it into their work computer. Turns out it had a rotom in it, and now the network's down and I'm pretty sure someone has my personal information from HR.

Can you tell me a heartwarming story about one of your pokemon to cheer me up?

Huh. I've never heard of something like that. You would think that you could tell when there's a rotom haunting the drive but... it seems not. That's unfortunate. I wonder if your coworker's going to keep their job. Certainly not going to be their best evaluation that month... Anyway, I can't say I'm a storyteller, but I'll try my best to provide something heartwarming. So... my Dudunsparce was my second pokemon. I caught her as a Dunsparce, of course. And she stayed that way for a long time. It sounds a bit silly, but I never even realized she could evolve until I moved here... there's just something about the Paldea air, I guess. She and Staraptor never completely worked well together. I mean, they didn't fight, but they kept to themselves. As more pokemon joined my team, Staraptor had no problem establishing relationships with all of them. Even Braviary... and he's been quite the difficult coworker for everyone. Dunsparce just didn't seem interested in teamwork with anyone. Or interested in much at all, really... she tends to spend a lot of time asleep. She's always put in good work when I need her to, though. This was all the case up until I needed a new team member for my gym team... I didn't have anything special in mind. Really, I just caught a common pokemon right outside of Medali- I like when things aren't too interesting anyway, it's easier that way. So that's when Komala joined our team. She's quite the sweetheart. I mean, she's always asleep, so there's not a great variance in emotions there, but she's always trying to hang on to me and cuddle up... Unless Dudunsparce is around. When they first met, Komala rolled at an impressive speed right towards her. I thought it'd end up with poor Komala getting paralyzed with a glare, but to my surprise Dudunsparce was not only gentle with her but then curled around her— to the best of her ability to do so, anyway. I can't explain it, but now they've been inseparable since the first time they met. Dudunsparce is cold-blooded, you know, so there's no additional warmth for Komala... and Komala isn't even conscious for Dudunsparce to do much with. But I guess that's the point. They both just want someone simple and quiet to nap with... Well, I guess I do understand. Nothing beats a good nap.

Since they've bonded, Dudunsparce has performed at her best. She's sent out after Komala, so I guess knowing her friend has fainted makes her more determined than ever... Oh, Dudunsparce's name is Fido, if you're curious. I never thought much of it before, but I've realized here that people seem to expect a different pokemon when you say that name... Luckily, I tend to keep it simple by just referring to the species' name anyway. Thank you for your question. I know it's not the most riveting story, but I don't think you'd expect that from me anyway.

[hihopelessromantics-writes]

my stuff <3

So y'all know what I've been up to basically. I'll put pieces that have a significant amount of progress down here.

Feel free to ask about any of these!

NNT:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/13luckyhopelessromantics

Novellas / Novels:

The Scarletts

The saga of abandoned bookworm Logan Duo, whose idea of making - or rather, collecting - his own family entangles him in the increasingly dangerous baggage of fellow alien orphans Pia and Rue, and the decades-old history of the house of horrors they chose to call a refuge.

Log

The implications of the Guardian's Tower aren't even an afterthought to the newly recruited Guardian, a prodigy bioengineer fresh off the worst mistake of her very short career. Which is perfect for a utopian government that relies on tunnel vision to get by . . . especially when their paradise must be evacuated, leaving the fate of Arorta's most precious treasure - their symbol and son, the pseudo-diety Maximo - in Sylvia Cornerstone's hands. The nature of Maximo's existence isn't quite what it seems, and even if it wasn't a concern before . . . it certainly is now. Because their ancestors never discovered what lies ahead of her in the Deep Woods. 

Aquamarine's Ordeal

Underappreciated monster hunters run into unanticipated danger and social drama on the open seas. Completed, 2020.

I'll Come With You, Friend

A blind girl's unconsenting camping trip brings good luck through adventures with a friend she meets at a spring. Completed, 2020.

Short Stories:

Wasteland

Anita specialized in the cycles of dying planets in college. No one has understood her passion for the subject so far in her career . . . here's hoping this civilization on the brink of being sucked into space can, now that she's tasked with persuading them to evacuate. Now this social orbiter has to endear herself to the mysterious children of the ruling class to stand a chance at saving their lives. Her job is to educate them on their options moving forward and provide assistance. Customer service. Basic, right? 

Ten

Orphan Liza's being honored with a party by the residents of her manor home and all their socialite friends! And if she's lucky, this will be the last party they ever get to throw for her. Her wealthy, manipulative guardians have finally found out about her friend Mia's magic, and she needs to leave. Now.

​A flash fiction for class I will expand into a full short story soon.

Poetry:

Flight

Do you think birds are tired? Completed, 2023

Save the World

The tale of an executioner who finds himself in the one he’s sent to slay, and takes the killing blow instead - except, the story has yet to end . . .

Inspired by the horror visual novel "Slay the Princess." I have such a great respect for what the video game medium has contributed to the art of storytelling. Truly inspiring. Completed, 2023

Ode to the Queen of My Heart

Inspired by the original characters of a good friend of mine, this sonnet was a gift for him. Completed, 2023

Other I guess:

To Protect A Child

"Animation Screenplay" 

POV: THE LITTLE ONES

In a strange landmark called the Ravine where the cave systems connect to some of the world's different dimensions, a group of young friends explore the 2nd layer around their town. They find themselves hunted by hungry creatures and, after one of their group is injured, have to rely on strangers with dangerous associations to watch over them until their parents arrive on the 1st level.  

POV: ADULTS 

Despite their ages dwarfing that of a young human adult, engaged couple Velvet and Bethie are only on the cusp of early adulthood. Them moving out into their own cottage whole layers away from their folks is truly peculiar until you consider Bethie's nightmarish controlling parents. Bethie's worst fear comes true one afternoon when a stressful day of demanding phone calls is complicated by her lover bringing home stray children, prompting serious conversations about Velvet's past and an "intervention" by the in-laws.

[melliotwrites]

Hi! I just stumbled onto you two while browsing the Sondheim tag, and it's awesome to see other musical writers on tumblr! I have one that is currently being workshopped, which is super exciting (it's also dark academia coincidentally!)

Anyhow, I was wondering, do you have any advice on letting go? I have a cast and director for the workshop, and they are BRILLIANT, but I still struggle sometimes with them taking my work and running with it. Inherently I know their choices are awesome and will make the work greater than I could make it alone, but it's still really hard to put that in others' hands- even though I'm incredibly thankful for their participation and help, it's this weird dichotomy. I'd appreciate any words of wisdom you have to share!!!

Hi!! Great to see and meet other musical writers on tumblr (I love Frankenstien and Dracula, so your show sounds right up my alley!) This is also a really good question- we'll try to do it justice! I'm also going to be talking mostly about Adamandi, because that process is fresher in my mind and was more akin to a professional rehearsal process (with a longer timeline, bigger budget, etc). 

Speaking as Mel, the practice of collaborating on the book and lyrics prepared me a little bit for creative compromises in the rehearsal room (I know you said elsewhere you work better on your own, which is very valid- I just know for sure now that I don't). I had already experienced the joy and excitement of seeing Elliot's ideas enhance my own (and, honestly, seen concrete proof of how much better my work got when I let other people into my work as collaborators!) By the time Georgina Escobar became our director for Adamandi, I was prepared to step back a little bit more- and also knew I would have to, because I totally had that personality trait that makes me put inflection indicators on all my lines and grind my teeth when something is staged differently from how I envisioned it. Adamandi was still a learning process for me in that regard, but I think my couple of tips would be: 

Respect other people's skills- AND ask for yours to be respected. Especially as a student writer, I've sometimes experienced people (who aren't the director) giving us unsolicited feedback on the writing of the script, which I hated until I realized I sometimes accidentally did the same to my collaborators- I still cringe thinking about giving really picky notes to our sound designer, or asking our lighting designer to change One Singular Light (tech week is an altered state for us all 😔). It's helped me to remember your director, your actors, and your designers all have specific, highly specialized skills in what they do, so make sure you're not telling your director how to direct, your actors how to act, etc. Vice versa, you are the writer because you have skills in storytelling that they don't (or that they are not being asked to bring to this project)- so own that! Defend the story to your last breath, but let your opinions on how that story is specifically delivered go (e.g. you can't say "make that lighting cue blue because I always imagined it as blue," but you can say "The tone of this scene is really somber because xyz character has to realize y- do you have any ideas on how that could be reflected in the lighting?" or "the pink polka-dotted spinning light cue gave me the impression this scene was really upbeat and cheery- could you walk me through why you chose that one?" Bonus points that the latter two can help you realize something about the work- or how the work is perceived- that you didn't know before!) ~Mel

Everyone has incredibly different lived experiences, and trust in the ability of your collaborators to see and add depth to your work that you had no idea was there. Whether this is an actor coming up with a culturally specific backstory for their character or a director noticing a fun parallel between scenes that you didn't originally intend, it's always exciting to see how others are analyzing your work (to which you can go "Oh, yeah, I totally thought of that!" etc., etc.) It's like adding layers to a painting. For example, I (Elliot) am a Chinese-Canadian gay man. Working with collaborators, I gained valuable insight (and revision fodder) through how actors connected to characters' stories through their nonbinary identity, or how our director as a bisexual woman envisioned a tender moment in our sapphic plotline, or how certain configurations of actors could mirror paintings of Catholic saints -- all things I could've never realized, understood, or articulated as well on my own. - Elliot

Trust your director (and ask your director!) to ask you questions. (For example, on the flip side of #2, your team might not share the lived experiences you brought into your writing, so trust in them to ask for your expertise when they need it!) This really depends on the structure of your rehearsal room- Georgina is also a playwright, so her process was super inclusive of us as the writers. She allowed us to be there every rehearsal and would ask us questions when she wanted our input on a staging choice, an acting choice, or a bit of table work- and not ask us questions when she didn't, which is equally important! Often I discovered something new about a scene (or found out that a bit of writing needed to be edited) when she wanted to try something out that I wasn't quite sure about (the spooky underscoring under the pyre scene was all Georgina's idea, for example!) This dynamic was established before we even entered the rehearsal room, when Georgina asked us about the timeline (fast) and about how much input we would have on the final vision of the show (which ended up being lots). I'm also excited to have future collaborations where I get to step back more, but it was the right thing for the project timeline and a workshop process. Deciding early on what our communication would look like, and really trusting that she would ask us when something could compromise the story, made it easier to sit back and watch everyone play around and experiment in the reho room without biting my nails.  - Mel

If you have the chance to be in the rehearsal room, put yourself out there as a resource! You created this world, so you're there to share if someone's confused or curious about your artistic intentions. You're also there to get excited about others' ideas and give them Word of God approval! A good collaboration doesn't have to be wholly relinquishing your writing into others' hands. If you feel a little helpless, talk to your director to see if there's a way y'all can be communicating better, or running rehearsals differently, etc. - Elliot

Use your vetos sparingly. Sometimes something just... doesn't work. The scene is playing as romantic instead of predatory. That really cool extra special costume piece is falling off the actor's head every two seconds. The lighting cue that you personally suggested to create a spooky ambience really just makes it hard to see anything. And everyone else seems to love it! As the writer, IF something is in your lane, IF it is significantly impacting the story, IF it's too important to just let slide for this production, AND people will think it was your choice... you are within your rights to put your foot down. But this should only happen as an absolute last resort, and in my opinion you don't get more than 3 a production, so really think about whether that jacket-that's-a-little-more-red-than-blood-orange is worth wasting one. Having a rule for the maximum number of these helps me be more generous and chill out a little if something's not exactly right.  -Mel

As a last resort- hit the bricks! This isn't my ideal collaboration structure, and it depends on what your director wants out of you, but if watching someone take apart your script in rehearsal is too stressful, it's been good to remember I can also leave. Sometimes it's hard (but good) to internalize that once your show is up on its feet, you're not strictly necessary anymore- you're vestigial, or mostly there to collect data, like a scientist. Occasionally some of my own experiences that I wrote into Adamandi would get too intense for me to watch in rehearsal(I might talk about that some other time- wild experience), or struggling to figure out a scene hit me with the good old "am I a good writer" fears. Having a co-writer like Elliot who was comfortable taking over in those moments- as well as a director-SM team who understood this about me and would come find me if something was dire- allowed me to step out for a few moments and recover my sense of perspective. It's just theater. For Princes, we weren't in the rehearsal room very much at all, and it still turned out lovely and very close to our vision- with the added bonus of delightful surprises we hadn't written in! In these moments I like to imagine all the old playwrights revolving in their graves like dynamos over all the productions of their work nowadays that cut it down, rewrite it, and abridge it- and consider reinterpretation a compliment. ~Mel

Hope this helps! Break a leg with your workshop!

[starlight-shades]

tag gamerules: favorite: movie, hobby, animal, character, color, place, season, album, food

movie: I'm one of those people who doesn't have just one favorite anything. But I tend to rewatch Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron every now and then (it was def my fave for a bit when I was a kid). I used to make my dad watch it with me whenever he stayed home to watch me when I was sick.

hobby: Does drawing count when it's what I went to school for? If not, I'll go with reading. Love a good bit of escapism. I love storytelling more generally in all sorts of forms (i.e. movies, TV, games, etc), but reading was definitely what got me started. Recently I've been reading a lot of fanfiction. Last year I kept track of all the books I read and I ended up with the insane number of 534 books read.

animal: I'm a big fan of hyenas. This is another one where I don't have just one favorite, but hyenas are where I'm sitting right now. I think that they're really neat for a variety of reasons. They're matriarchal which is super cool, and they were used in medieval bestiaries as a sort of example of sexual deviance because they were believed to be hermaphroditic (they aren't, the females just have external vaginal canals that look like a penis- it makes giving birth as difficult as you think it does). I think they're a really cool example of how nature doesn't give a fuck about human ideas of how sexual dimorphism (and subsequently gender) should work. I tend to gravitate towards animals that media tends to use as shorthand for evil bc I think it's lazy and irresponsible (I also love sharks).

character: Ghost. I do too much projecting for it not to be him. I'm deep in my COD era (this is a COD blog after all). He's just this big beefy man who is deeply traumatized and has trouble trusting people and developing deep relationships. What's not to love?

color: It's maroon. It is maroon, it has been maroon, it will always be maroon. IDC that I surround myself with pastels. If it has to be one color and not a palette, it's maroon.

place: the aquarium <3. It's just so calming (when the children are not screaming, but we listen to the children scream because they're excited and it's good for them and we're an adult and can wait until they move on so we can watch the fish in the quiet). Every now and then I'll take a day in the middle of the week when school is in session to go to the aquarium or the zoo by myself. I like watching the animals, and I don't feel bad about sitting and drawing them for like 30+ minutes when there aren't any other people who's view I'm blocking.

season: spring. When it's easiest to spend time outside. It's not too hot, and if it's chilly I can throw on a sweater. I like sitting outside in the afternoon sun and reading poetry out loud. Makes me feel like a fairy.

album: star-crossed by Kacey Musgraves. That album came out around the time I had to put down my cat, and I would just listen to it on repeat and cry. It's got a very specific grief+nostalgia combo that really hits me. It's still one of my go-tos when I need a good cry. I have playlists for when I'm happy, but that album has a special place in my heart. 'if this was a movie..' and 'camera roll' are probably my favorite songs off of it.

food: this one is hardest I think. My family is Not Great at expressing feelings, so I ended up with food as a proxy for love and care. And both my parents draw from a pretty diverse set of culinary practices for various reasons, so I've inherited it. When I'm feeling homesick, I'll cook Italian. When I'm sad or missing my brothers, I'll cook Korean. When I miss my mom, I'll make Turkish. As I'm writing this, though, I'm thinking about dumplings.

TY to @soapsdish for the tag. Idk why the formatting did that.

I don't really have any other moots I know well enough to tag, but feel free to do this if you'd like!

[starmessngr410]

The Little Prince | W. Junhui

- Drabble

- Not Requested

- Not Beta-Read

Little Prince!Junhui is mysterious, to say the least. You met him in a dream you had. He would meet you in a garden of roses and lead you to a magical world in the clouds. But, right before you could see it, you would wake up. Then, things in your life started to remind you of him. Like when you look at the stars every night, you can only imagine how that world in your dreams would look.

As you drift off to sleep one night, you see the faint figure of a man through your window. You quickly clear your eyes and see that this man is familiar to you.

'Do you remember me?' The man asks. You see now that this is The Little Prince from your dreams. He's come to take you away to the world in the skies. He only approaches you once you give the okay, then he takes your hand, and you're suddenly flying on a tiny boulder in the shape of a planet.

Little Prince!Junhui doesn't ask you any further questions on the journey, but he turns to you smiling.

'You are my new friend. We will be together forever, and after that, too.' He looks at you as if he had known you for years.

Which he technically has, through dreams. Similar to you, he had dreams of a person who will make him feel less lonely. He had been very sad after the departure of his friend Rose!Minghao, but with you he would have a new friend.

All of a sudden, you come to an abrupt stop in between the clouds. You, confused, start to question what was happening. Little Prince!Junhui however, looks as calm as ever. In fact he steadily reaches a hand over one of the clouds and blows on it. As he does this, the clouds then disperse in a flurry of star dust and magic. He looks back at your bewildered face and takes your hand gently as he steps off the rock and begins walking through the clouds.

This is usually the part of your dream where you wake up, so you pinch your arm to check if you're still conscious. Little Prince!Junhui assures you that you aren't asleep, and that this is very real.

The two of you keep walking and are met with a giant gate that protects the world in which he resides. He gives you a quick affirming glance and calls in a special language that you wouldn't even try to understand.

'Let us in!' He calls, 'I bring a friend'. The gates then open with the sound of faeries singing through them.

You are met by an officer by the name of Seungcheol, and are being led to a castle. Then you feel fuzzy as you wake up in a strange place.

The land from you deam was real, and you now resided in it. The doors to the room or opened attentively, whoever was on the other end must be considerate of who they might be waking.

You are met with Storyteller!Seungkwan as he slight opens the door.

'The Little Prince', he starts, 'He requests your presence in the hall' He then waits for you to get your barings and accompanies you down to the hall.

Little Prince!Junhui looks at you with soft eyes and says, 'I've waited for your return to our home .'

To Be Continued...

a/n: she lives! This was something that came into my head today and thought, why not. I usually save bigger writings (in my standards) like this to be written over time, but I squeezed this out in one (two) days. should i make this a series, i lowkey like the concept (I would actually write about this one, as it's shorter, and I have more free reign with storytelling).

ps: i might hold off on the dream of me in wonderland story, because it's a really big project, and i get intimidated by lots of writing. so until further notice, dream of me in wonderland is to be determined.