#peet's theme

[wings-dings-and-iggyfings]

GUYS the Wingfeather people sent me the link to the soundtrack (they said they sent it out to investors early so Idk if I’m allowed to share it yet) and like all the tracks so far are great but

PEET’S THEME IS BEAUTIFUL. It starts out all light and silly and then there’s a pause and it turns into this heartbreaking violin (?) and piano music and it sounds so sad and beautiful and I’m gonna cry I love it so much they captured him so well ;-;

[groceryreceiptss]

hii! could you do peeta melark x reader? just some domestic sunday morning cuddling :) thanks so much!

'cause it's gravity, keeping you with me

peeta mellark x reader | word count : 0.9k | requested

a/n : hii!! to be honest, i wasn't really sure on how to write this so i'm really sorry if this wasn't what you had in mind, but i tried my best, and i hope you'll enjoy reading it either way! :) thank you for the request < 33 (also yes, i know the picture i chose doesn’t quite match the theme of this fic but look at him!! and look at that golden light on his face!!!)

contains : baddd writing. fluff -> soft intimacy!! but a bit of angst too if you squint. you know, longings and a sense of vulnerability. feelings of hopelessness and despair in the past. let me know if there's more!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

the soft morning sun drifted its way to your face, resting its warm light against your closed eyes. you were just about to give yourself an excuse to sleep in a bit later before you subconsciously remembered that, today is a sunday. no business in waking up early then, you thought, as you pulled the blanket closer.

you shifted a bit and shuffled in closer to peeta’s body next to you. His breathing met at the same pace as yours and his heartbeat the same thrum as the one you had going.

peeta mellark. you knew it was silly to dwell on what could have and would have, but every day, each morning, as you woke up to his comforting presence next to you, you couldn’t help but wonder, what would your life have become, if he hadn’t been there to keep it going?

the war had destroyed everything, leaving trails of loss in its path, wider than the land itself. you didn’t know what you would have done, if you hadn’t seen him again. if he hadn’t come back to your life and reminded you that there were still reasons to live and try to heal for.

and every day you woke up feeling more grateful than the day before.

you didn’t know if an hour had passed, or had it been merely minutes later, when you felt peeta’s arms on your waist, pulling you back onto his chest, engulfing you in more of his warmth, his comfort. his head nested on the crook of your neck, his messy golden blonde hair on your cheek.

in response and out of habit, you brought your hands to his curls, smoothing them softly.

“y/n, sweetheart?” he muttered, and you could feel his lips on your shoulder, sending vibrations onto your skin and bone. it was crazy how he could still make your heart skipped a beat like it was the first time.

“hm?” you responded, still not ready to part with sleep too much to say anything else.

his lips lost touch with your skin and moved on to your ear, whispering, “turn around, look at me please.” 

and so you slowly did. with your eyes still refusing to open, you felt his fingers playing with your hair, pulling them off your forehead. 

“morning, sleepyhead.” he chuckled, and you could tell that he was playfully rolling his eyes. he kissed your temple slowly, and you let your eyes flutter open. 

rubbing your eyes in an effort to erase the sleep out of them, you mumbled, “how are you already awake? it’s sunday.”

“old habits die hard,” he’d answered before you felt his hands on your wrists, stroking them softly with his thumbs. 

you placed your arms around his chest, and as if on cue, he pulled you closer to him, earning him a soft sigh. “do you think it’s physically possible for us to get any closer?” he wondered aloud with a way too cute smile on his face.

still not entirely conscious, you muttered without thinking, “maybe once our bodies have withered into skeletons." oh, you caught yourself. “oh wait, that's dark.” 

he let out a light laugh at your scrunched up eyebrows. “i love you.” 

you looked up at him, into his deep beautiful blue eyes. his eyelashes are so long. “i love you too, peet.” 

and you did, you really did. you told him that everyday, but you never did think it was enough. it was so dramatic to actually utter it, but you truly didn’t think there was enough variety in the english dictionary to fully capture this. this thing that passed between you and him.

as if hearing your quiet thoughts, maybe your eyes had displayed a moment of fragility in them, he responded saying, “i know, love, i know.” 

the grip on your waist held on tighter, like it was scared if it faltered, then it would lose. you mirrored his gesture and snuggled your head further into his chest, the top of your head touching his chin. 

“you want to get some breakfast?” he mumbled into your tousled hair. 

you thought about it for a second, but then shook your head. you looked up at him, a wide smile etched onto your face. “no, i’m good here.” 

you didn’t want to leave this yet, this sacred place. one where you could feel his signs of life all around you, one where you could shut the entire world all around you and its bleak reality and made it only consist of you and him. peeta mellark. 

was it possible to fall further in love with the same person every time you heard his name in your head? was it possible to have the same name echoed through your head over and over like a promise?

you saw his lips formed into a bigger smile, his fingers played with the strands of your hair. 

maybe you knew, maybe you didn’t, but all he could think about  at this very moment was how he had gotten so lucky. to have you here beside him, letting him love you and and letting him show it to you. he looked at your face, with that big smile on it, eyes still bleary from sleep. you were so beautiful, my god. 

he nodded, agreed. he didn’t want to leave too. if he could stay here forever, he would. it would be like having lived a lifetime itself, he thought. “yeah, me too." he said softly as he planted a kiss on your forehead. 

[thelilypit]

Lily Orchard doesn't understand File Explorer

(or she does, but she's hoping that you don't)

Content warning for discussions of abuse and incest. Also, this post is long as balls.

Okay, I wasn't going to make a post about this. I agree with Crim right now: there's no point interacting with Lily or her posts. She's shown herself to be completely full of garbage, and isn't convincing anyone outside of her inner circle with her recent posts.

Still, there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding as to why her recent explanations don't hold up to scrutiny, so I'm making this post to help people understand exactly why her evidence is bunk. If you're reading this, please don't bother Lily about it further. At this point, any further antagonism towards Lily only serves to convince her remaining fanbase that she's a helpless victim, and not the dangerous manipulator she truly is. With that out of the way, here's the sitch:

BACKGROUND: On September 5th, 2024, Lily Orchard briefly showed the contents of her Downloads folder during an editing stream. Keen observers noted a handful of peculiar filenames, including a .rar file with the exact name of a RWBY incest-themed fancomic, and a .zip folder with the name "aslutphone-0.22-pc.zip", which corresponds to a mobile phone-themed visual novel that is also incest-themed.

The presence of fantasy adult material on Lily's computer is in of itself no concern - private kinks are private kinks, after all. However, some commentators noted similarities between the scenarios highlighted in "A Slut Phone" and statements made by Courtney Peet, Lily's sister, in regards to alleged abuse she experienced as a child at the hands of Lily.

Almost immediately, anonymous asks were sent to Lily Orchard querying her about the contents of her folder. Rather than provide a relevant answer, she pretended those asks were related to a different game:

It's reasonable to say that Lily didn't have an explanation handy at the time, at least, not one that would fit with her current public image. Still, the anon asks were piling up behind the scenes, and people on Lily's patreon discord were beginning to ask questions as well. On September 8th, three days after the initial discovery, Lily posted her explanation for one of the two files highlighted:

According to Lily, "Sisters - Ruby&Yang.rar" is a full archive of the RWBY series, and she intended to mention Ruby and Yang in her "Sibling relationships" video, back in June. The fact that it shared its filename uniquely with an incest porn comic was totally a coincidence, and anyone who accused her of owning said porn comic was just a pervert themselves.

(what Lily, who frequently complains about disk space issues, was still doing with an alleged rip of RWBY that she had no intention of watching, I have no idea. But I digress) And finally on September 12th, after a week of anticipation, Lily had finally come up with her explanation for "A Slut Phone":

It was all a trick to make her critics look stupid! She had downloaded a different game for an upcoming video, and had renamed the filename to, in her words, the "worst possible game I could find", just to catch out the trolls!

This is, to put it mildly, a little difficult to believe. Still, it's the explanation Lily provided, and the following day Lily provided evidence that proves the contents of that folder pertains to sexadvicesuccubus.exe, and that said contents had not been recently edited:

This is where some of Lily's critics start to falter, accusing Lily of fabricating the contents of the above folder or changing around the other files. Personally, I'm willing to accept that the folder displayed *does in fact* contain the game data for "Sex Advice Succubus." However, there's still some glaring issues. For one, Lily is showing us a Windows File Folder here (with compressed data inside)

Meanwhile, the file spotted on September 5th was a .zip

Another (minor) issue is that the filename for "A Slut Phone" looks different on its itch.io download page, compared to the name of the actual file (as demonstrated above). If Lily had simply copied the filename based on the itch.io page, her "decoy" folder would have been named differently As for the issues with the file's modification date... more on that after the break. And now, a brief intermission. The Lily Pit presents:

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH YOUR WEIRD PORN GAMES GETTING SPOTTED IN YOUR DOWNLOADS FOLDER

So, you're a reasonably successful youtube creator and occasional streamer, and one day someone spots a suspiciously named .zip file in your cluttered downloads folder:

Worry not! Just follow these simple steps to exonerate yourself of any signs of pervertedness!

First, you're going to download a scapegoat game - don't worry about this game's raunchy title, it's far more tame than whatever wild stuff you're surely into:

Now, go to your computer's date and time settings, and set it back far enough to avoid culpability:

(In this case, we've adjusted it to the exact time of the original .zip's modification, but if nobody saw that part then you don't even have to worry!) While your PC's time is adjusted, extract the contents of the new game's .zip, and compress it while you're there:

Rename the folder to match the filename of the .zip, and there you go!

And if you're thinking "That's an awful lot of effort to go to to hide the fact that you've got weird porn on your computer",

You would be absolutely right.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Lily Crit

... Shoot, where was I? Oh yeah, falsifying the "date modified" part of a file or folder is trivial. The evidence Lily provided proves nothing, and arguably, it makes her look even more suspicious than she was before.

Still, I do have to acknowledge that there is no definitive proof of those files' contents being what we suspected. Lily's explanations, however outlandish they are, could well be the honest truth...

... but let's be real, they're not.

Stop lying, Lily.

[curlybraceyourself]

The Case for Curly Brace

In July of 2024, a tumblr account by the name of "Curly-b-blog", themed after Curly Brace from Cave Story, began posting harassment towards prominent members of the "Lily Orchard Critical" community. These members include IloveKimPossibleALot, Courtney Peet (Lily Orchard's sister, who has accused her of sexual assault while both of them were minors) and Sai Scribbles, an artist from the aforementioned community.

Curly-B has gone as far as to involve people outside of the community in this harassment, sending unwarranted "critique" to unaffiliated artists, purely due to those artists having sent gift art to Sai Scribbles. Curly-B has used her anonymity as a shield to get away with this behavior and has expressed no remorse for her actions.

It should be made clear at this point that Curly-B is not an alias of Lily Orchard, nor is she Lily's wife Mikaila Orchard. Furthermore, the collator of this evidence requests that you do not harass the person behind the Curly-B alias; this information is collated for purposes of evidence only.

(Collator's note: tumblr has a policy of appending "-blog" to tumblr blogs that go inactive for extended periods of time. Due to this, some archived versions of curly-b-blog will simply be labelled as curly-b. Please keep this in mind if you wish to peer review the evidence presented)

Prior to her reappearance in July of 2024, Curly-B was already an established tumblr blog wth some history; as of this writing, a handful of posts dated to late 2011 and early 2012 still exist in Curly-B's archives. Moreover, there are a handful of posts dated to December 2023, that allude to some undetermined drama:

An Internet Archive snapshot from November of 2023 reveals the root of this drama: on November 15th, the Curly-B tumblr was used to post an anonymous screed detailing turmoil within the ranks of the Moderneopets art team. For the uninitiated, Moderneopets is a fan-run clone of the popular webgame Neopets.

(the full post by Curly-B can be viewed here: https://web.archive.org/web/20231123030516/https://curly-b-blog.tumblr.com/)

It seems Curly-B's post led to some friction within the Moderneopets community, as evidenced by its current absence from the blog. For more information, we have to go to the source; the Moderneopets Discord, which just happens to have public access:

From the above posts, we can ascertain that

Curly-B was an established member of the Moderneopets art team

Curly-B was removed from said art team on or around November 23rd, 2023.

Unfortunately, we run into a bit of a dead end here; see, the only archived instance of the Moderneopets artist roster dates to November 27th, 2023, four days after the discord posts mentioned above. In this snapshot, Curly-B has likely already been stricken from the record.

record of the Moderneopets art team as of November 27th, 2023 If we had an earlier snapshot then we could compare and contrast, but alas, we do not. Shy of combing the Moderneopets discord for all mentions of prior artists, this angle seems bust.

And then Curly-B did something incredibly stupid.

An anon ask sent to Curly by a mysterious figure known only as "K" According to the above anon-response, Curly's still on the Moderneopets art team. If we take this ask at face value, then either Hazer, the admin of Moderneopets, was lying about Curly's removal, or Curly was indeed removed… and then reinstated shortly thereafter.

And wouldn't you know, we have access to a list of Moderneopets artists, taken mere days after Curly's removal.

So let's compare:

Archived list of artists vs. list of artists, current as of August 20th, 2024.

One name appears on the current list that is not present on the November 2023 snapshot: Taffer. A quick search on the Moderneopets discord confirms that Taffer (aka Sneaky-Taffer) is not a new artist, but in fact an established artist with contributions to the Moderneopets project dating back to at least 2022.

It is not unreasonable to assume that Taffer got caught up in the drama of the time, and was briefly removed, before being reinstated at a later date. Just as what Curly is implying happened to her. So who is this Taffer? Well, she has a tumblr of her own:

As a reminder, Please do not send Harassment towards Sneaky-Taffer. This is merely a collection of evidence, not a call to arms.

The above evidence alone would not be enough to implicate Sneaky-Taffer as the individual behind Curly-B, however, a substantial quantity of evidence can be gathered from both Sneaky Taffer's and Curly-B's blogs that pushes this connection beyond the circumstantial:

Artistic similarities:

Curly-B draws herself in the above style in the margins of her redlining posts- this style is highly similar to one used by Taffer in several comic pages:

Artwork by Sneaky-Taffer, 2018 Note the similarities in how hair is shaded. Other comics by Taffer (viewable under "My Art" on her tumblr) use a similar means of shading hair, as well as the crosshatch shading and blush methods used by Curly-B for her avatar. Similarities in handwriting:

The above depictions of Curly-B feature handwriting in a consistent style. This handwriting is highly similar to that used by Taffer in her comics:

Note the shape of the Ws and the Ms in particular Edit: Taffer's Twitter account also features this piece of redlining that matches Curly-B's style and handwriting quite closely:

(Image links to the relevant Twitter post) The design of Taffer's OC:

On the 18th of August, Curly-B briefly posted an image of art that she claims is hers, before deleting it shortly thereafter. The image was, however saved by tumblr user Nivatar:

While no matches for this image have been found by typical searching, one of the characters depicted bears a striking similarity to one of Taffer's OCs, Sarnai :

more art of Sarnai can be found here

This suggests that the above artwork is either unpublished artwork by Taffer, or art commissioned by Taffer of her OC(s).

Prior involvement in the Lily Orchard circles

Would it surprise you to find out that Sneaky-Taffer had involvement in Lily Orchard discourse on Tumblr, prior to the appearance of Curly B? It turns out she's crossed paths with noted Lily Critic britts-galaxy-brain before:

(click on the image for link to the relevant post)

And Taffer has even responded to Lily Orchard's posts directly:

(click on the image for link to the relevant post) EDIT: Evidence has also been found of Taffer feuding with both KP and Courtney, on Twitter in June of 2024, shortly before Curly's revival. Both KP and Courtney were early targets of Curly-B's ire:

(Image links to relevant discussion and Taffer's twitter) and finally, as silly as it is:

Taffer had a Curly Brace phase in 2011:

EDIT: Taffer's former Deviantart account has been uncovered. Artworks in this Deviantart appear in an artist retrospective posted by Taffer in 2019:

This Deviantart account hosts a number of Cave Story-themed artworks dated to late 2011 and early 2012, the same period during which Curly-B was first active:

(Images link to their respective artwork pages on Deviantart) As an additional note; an archived version of Sneaky-Taffer's tumblr from 2013 links to a forum called Anime Maniacs United, which appears to be a message board for Anime Roleplay accounts. While no public archives of the AMU boards' content are available, it appears that AMU has a tumblr blog that persists to this day, featuring a list of affiliated character blogs:

... and wouldn't you know it, Curly-B is on the list. To quickly recap the things that we can be absolutely certain of:

Taffer is an artist on the Moderneopets art team, which Curly-B is also a member of

Taffer was not a member of the Moderneopets art team at the time that Curly-B was ostensibly removed

Taffer has interacted directly and negatively with ILoveKimPossibleALot and Courtney Peet, the first two targets of Curly-B's ire, prior to Curly-B's resurfacing.

Taffer was a member of an Anime RP Forum that is directly affiliated with Curly-B's tumblr. At this point, coincidence doesn't cut it. Sorry Taff, the jig is up. Noticed anything that I missed? Please let me know, and remember: No harassment. Thank you for your time.

-K

[liquidorcard]

I need to see your flowers in the attic post

We're going to be talking about Lorch's general skullduggery when it comes to the fucking creepy implications to her incest obsession. Because it's not wholly just an obsession with incest, per se.

People (including myself) make fun of her in a way that implies it's just a fetish, but I think it's more than that.

I've had to have a bit of a think about how to go about talking about this appropriately without a) speculating about shit that happened to her when she was a kid, b) armchair psychoanalyzing her and c) talking about anything too directly involving Courtney like the Peet family drama is some Geek Show to rubberneck at. I'm going to try to stick to the realm of just pointing out there's a whole lotta common themes, and try to carefully word why I believe this appeals to Lily. Trying to keep this in the bounds of tasteful analysis.

I've also heard enough about the Coffin of Andy and Leyley to conclude that I probably should familiarize myself with that, too.

So that's going to be the next write up: the common themes in Flowers in the Attic, Iris and Kiera, a little bit on Pokemadhouse and Stockholm, The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, and why I think Lily gravitates towards certain ideas in fiction.

[ayeforscotland]

(tw: discussions of rape, child sexual abuse)

the person who said "mixed reaction to baldur's gate 3 in þe "people i respect þe critical opinion of" community" said they were referring to lily orchard. if im understanding them correctly - i hope im not - theyre saying they respect lily's critical opinion on things, which with all due respect, you should not. Lily's consumption of media is almost exclusively animated shows for children, disney movies and marvel, and she has warped ideas on what media "has" to be, including having little conflict, never using slurs and such.

She wrote MLP fanfiction that glorified child abuse, it was based on her raping her younger sister before she transitioned, as she had been sexually abused as a child herself. Her sister, Courtney Peet, came out with the full story and while it is very much word of mouth vs word of mouth, Lily herself has went on record saying she wrote the fanfic, titled "Stockholm". She claims to be Native American and draws her persona much darker than her actual skin, as her sister has proven. Presumably to allow herself to complain about all the "white character praising" in kids' cartoons without people able to point out that SHE is white, which she often complains about. She also slandered Rebecca Sugar, a Jewish person, claiming they wrote themes supporting Nazism in Steven Universe, and insists that artists cannot write stories well, which is why SU was a badly written show, as the storyboard artists worked on the story. Her critical thinking skills are very low.

In other words, don't worry about her opinions on Baldur's Gate 3. And I'm a bit concerned about people attacking Courtney if they read this so just fyi I'm not saying this to cause drama, just to inform you that Lily Orchard's opinion on that game should be discarded for a number of reasons. So you dont have to reply to this or anything, and I hope I havent bothered you by saying any of this.

I don't usually engage in online drama but Lily Orchard is my one exception as I started watching her a while back and thought she maybe had some good points, until I learned she made up things about the shows she covered and the people that worked on them, then learned about the awful stuff she did and lies about. There's a ton more discourse I don't think is worth getting into.

Good grief. Happy for this to be the first and last time I hear of this person.

[dabingusbongus]

"Let's hold peets while watching this random guy get spanked in a restaurant."

Context: Was watching a video about themed restaurants and apparently at the Heart Attack Grill (a hospital themed burger joint) when you take on the challenge to eat their biggest burger; if you don't finish it you get spanked in the middle of the restaurant. And man did she spank this guy hard.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Very pleased to inform all my fellow Artham Wingfeather fans that Peet is indeed in episode 4!

Less pleased to inform you that he is not at all having a good time. (but this is covering the events of book 2 so that's to be expected)

Also The Florid Sword's theme music is hilarious. And to my utter delight he quoted the disney fox Robin Hood!

[randomfoggytiger]

Inbox being weird again, had to repost (sorry, anon!)

What are your thoughts on IWTB? It’s now on hulu and I am like 15 minutes in to a rewatch (I’ve watched FtF a truly offensive number of times but have only seen this once, when it first came out) and am absolutely incensed already. I’m having trouble making sense of their characters, they seem so OOC to me — even with the understanding that they are (possibly both) depressed and life on the run has really jaded and hardened them. Also its so weird to me that Amanda Peet reaches out to touch Mulders cheek bc he cut himself shaving? Just bizarre behavior all around!

It is a truly bizarre movie. I've not seen it; but I have done extensive research on it, if that makes sense. I think it can be summed up by this one Tumblr post I saw (and lost, someone help me find it!) that noted Mulder requested a helicopter for himself and Scully to, essentially, walk a few street blocks to the next location. Because CC wanted a helicopter in his movie and he was going to get it, somehow, someway.

Below is a tragically long post filled with article links for more enjoyment~.

(**Note**: Will edit this post later, brb.)

TLDR: A movie/tv series worth its salt is well-written, end of story. It doesn't matter how excellent or in-character the themes or motifs or etc. are if the characters are badly written or act out-of-turn. You cannot have a god-tier theme about fighting back the Darkness and seeking for the Truth if at every opportunity the characters themselves reject the message continually in ways that make no sense, especially when they have a history of stellar characterization and well-thought-out opinions and actions. This movie is a prime example of that.

There are numerous blogs here that have already (rightfully) griped about IWTB, so I won't go into plot nonsense or whatnot. But I DO have interviews that show how roughshod the movie making process was before it even hit theatres, so....

I first heard about IWTB's flaws peripherally through this article (that trashes the Revival, highly recommend. Written by a CC fan, too, so it's not a bash-sesh against the Creator.) It spoke endearingly-ish about IWTB, believing it to be more in-character than the Revival (yup.... unfortunately.) Then I started perusing fan opinions... and everyone pretty much agreed it was awful in most parts and shippy in others.

TBH, shippy doesn't mean squat to me. Maybe it's how I'm wired, but I was drawn to The X-Files because the romance is so unspoken with very light kisses. I 100% get Chris Carter's restraint perspective; but I also get the fans' perspective, that it's gone too far to ignore or take back. An example: the movie sets up a "gasp, really??" mystery that Scully is a doctor with a life separate from Mulder, driving over to him to try to get him involved in the FBI manhunt. It's taken back almost immediately when Mulder later springs up beside her in bed, but it's those little touches that start to confuse the message. And then throw in Scully insisting Mulder join the chase while Gillian Anderson acted her completely opposite to what she was saying and you start to see the mess unravel. Then Mulder tosses aside his loyalty to Scully-- something that is KEY to his character, having formerly left his life's work for her and even left his newborn son when she told him to-- to chase the very monsters she begged him to chase but is now begging him not to. There is no reason given other than "It's who I am", which is NOT who Mulder is: he is a man willing to sacrifice who he is and what makes him tick over and over for Scully's sake. This not only breaks his character in-movie, it nullifies all his actions and choices in the original series, stripping them of their consequences and weight.

The movie, I believe, was supposed to be about Mulder and Scully scrabbling against the Darkness while also lost in confusion: they're together but Scully feels threatened by Agent Whitney, Mulder no's the case before getting wrapped up into it, Scully supports then withdraws her support (and LEAVES??), both rely on the word of a pedophile priest (a similar alliance to Luthor Lee Boggs but creepier and less redeemable... and even Boggs wasn't redeemed), and finally Scully casts aside her doubts to get back in the saddle and save Mulder. It seems a compelling story, no? ...No.

An example of the "confusion" theme of the plot: When Mulder meets up with the other agents to discuss terms (I suppose), the camera briefly pans to random people walking past him in the hallway-- one of them is the actress who played his little sister in the OG series; and the camera makes it a point for Mulder to notice that fact... but so briefly and quickly it never made an impression on him permanently, a.k.a. a seeming callback. BUT when Scully yells at him (before? after? I dunno) about always looking for his sister, this is the scene that was supposed to back her up? In which case: dude, we all saw the Samantha Agent. She did, indeed, look like Samantha; and she had NOTHING to do with this case. The only explanation Scully had for her tasteless remark was that she thought Mulder was full-on delusional or so stubborn he was projecting his own demons onto this case. Y'know... the case he didn't want and only got more involved in to SAVE LIVES. In which case, it doesn't fit with the themes of the movie at all: Mulder was right here, Scully was wrong; but the movie stated that SCULLY was right, or at least half-right, and Mulder was at least half-wrong. It's all nonsense.

The dialogue is atrocious. Absolutely appalling. Which makes sense to an extent: CC and Spotnitz had this movie written out right after the series ended as an attempt to gain back the studio's attention. No such luck; and when FOX was finally interested to make more money, the script notes were accidentally lost; so CC and Frank blitzkrieged up a final draft in just a few weeks (very not good.) This and this article breaks down how Spotnitz (in his own words) watched CC battle FOX from the sidelines for the movie, then scramble with him to complete a draft in time for filming; and it explains (but doesn't justify) the stilted dialogue, horrendous pacing issues, and disjointed theme. To summarize:

""Frank Spotnitz: ...The pressure in television is incredible because you’ve got to keep coming up with another script, another script, another script. The movie was completely different. We started work on the story in 2003, and then got derailed for four years by deal-making and the threat of a lawsuit. Then when we returned to it in 2007, we’d lost our notes.

Lost your notes?

Frank Spotnitz: We’d put them on note cards to pitch the studio, and we couldn’t locate them. At first, we were very unhappy, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise. We remembered what the case was about, but the emotional beats, the personal beats between Mulder and Scully, we had to start from scratch, and we had changed."" 

Frank Spotnitz claims it was effortless to get back in their characters' heads; and, while that may be true, it was certainly not effortless to put them down on paper.

The messaging of the movie was so confusing that Mark Snow, the composer, didn't read all of it correctly (which is important for the person composing the score for each scene):

""Now the plot of I Want To Believe has characteristically remained a secret – I don’t suppose you can tell us anything about what we can expect from this film?

Well the interesting part was, when I read the script the first thing I got out of it was deep, dark complexity and I spoke to Chris Carter afterwards and he said ‘what do you think?’, I said ‘man, it’s so complex and dark and mysterious’, and he said ‘and it’s a love story with religious overtones…’ Okay! He said ‘just keep that in mind’ and you know I re-read it and I got what he meant, and then seeing the movie I certainly got what he meant. Besides the Mulder and Scully relationship there are some other very very emotional, intimate if you would, moments there that do add spiritual and religious weight to it...."" 

This article does well at picking apart the claims (some ludicrous) for and against the movie But, for time's sake, let's skip to the summary of the very sloppy (and downright goofy) climax of the movie:

""The biggest shortcoming may be that the case is solved by both Mulder and Scully independently and simultaneously, and thanks to coincidences on both their behalf. Mulder’s investigative skills lead him to the villain thanks to a simple visit to a local store; stem cell research for organ transplants and for curing Christian allow the two storylines to cross, but Scully having a revelation by finding the villain’s research on the internet through a non-related search draws the odds extremely. There is little actual investigation and the case is wrapped up too quickly. All those are little things — but they pile up to too much.""

Both the actors had "notes" and "questions" (read here) about their characters when they first got the script, with Gillian Anderson admitting how hard it was to find her character (post here)--

""Gillian Anderson: I had a similar experience. This feels so weird. Summertime. I didn’t have all the running around that David had to do, but I did have my own unfortunate beginning which was starting with one of the most difficult scenes for Scully in the film where it’s later on in the script and she goes through a range of emotions in confronting Billy Connolly’s  character. I just had a really time for those first couple of days that that scene was. I had a really hard time just finding her, finding her voice. I think I must’ve gone through ten other characters in the process of trying to get to her when I had assumed that I would be able to show up on the first day and it would just be there. It wasn’t until I think day three when we got to work together, not just necessarily in a familiar environment which it really wasn’t, but in the environment of each other and the relationship and that it kind of felt natural and familiar and I felt like I’d landed this time."" --

but it was David Duchovny who was surprisingly the most honest to the press about his (measured) thoughts, as he's usually the most reticent. He always wanted to do a movie series, liking the scope and freedom it would give him with acting and scheduling; but he mentioned, once or twice, that he wished IWTB had been a bigger action film in the vein of FTF. Further, he admits to an interviewer about his thoughts and his (slight) dissatisfaction with Mulder's out-of-character element here:

""Since The X-Files: I Want to Believe may not have been the huge blockbuster that everyone was hoping for, we’d like to know: What is your own measure of success for the movie?

Duchovny: I guess it’s always the first time I see the movie. What’s my feeling when I come out? I always felt like the subject matter of this particular movie was limiting. It was dark, and it wasn’t going....

I’ve only seen it one time, and I was sitting in Chris’ editing room. I watched it on a little screen. I guess I missed the chance to see it on the big screen, and that’s too bad, but when I left that initial screening at Chris’ house, the film was pretty much almost done except for some special effects. I just felt like it was really strong and kind of a strangely moving piece of work. Still dark, and still, I thought, limited, but the way that the movie performed did not surprise me so much, and I think that if we do get a chance to do another one … what I always really liked about the show was that it had a dark vision, but at the heart of it being driven by Mulder was this real optimism or wonder or sense of belief, and then it would kind of open out. Most of the best shows that we did would open out into real wonder at the end, if only because you didn’t have an answer, which was the mystery of it, but the wonder.

Mulder’s quest, to me, is a very positive one. If we get a chance to do another one, I think because in this movie Mulder kept getting reinvigorated, Mulder was in a down place for much of this film; he wasn’t driving the way he drives, the way he drove everything before that. In a way, the nature of how we had to get back into the show, which was to take the guy out of his job, also deprived the movie of some optimism and wonder and enlightenment that occurs when you’ve got this unhinged guy trying to prove wonderful crazy things.""

And while DD defended IWTB's box office failings as having to compete against Batman, one of the previous articles I linked had the savvy to tackle that reason and debunk it:

""The defenders of IWTB will endlessly complain about the budget (but look at what a feast Darren Aronofsky did with $35 million: “The Fountain” (2006)), the fact that it’s low-key ‘intellectual’ and not blockbuster-like (so is “There Will Be Blood” (2007), $25 million, and countless other generally agreed upon masterpieces), the lousy promotion (but look at what good word of mouth can do with a movie few believed in in the beginning: “The Matrix” (1999), $65 million), the unforseen success of “The Dark Knight” as competition (hardly an argument) or trends in selfish cinema critics (as if a bad reception is the sole result of a conspiracy).

However what will remain in history is not the whys and hows but the what: the final product itself. And the truth is that if IWTB featured characters other than Mulder and Scully, this would be a not very memorable movie.""

Needless to say: the entire movie's a mess, and it's down to the roots. While beautiful visually and musically-- all the reviews and cast and crew had nothing to say against that-- the characters and the script and the plot were a horrible mishmash that highlighted its weaknesses and smashed down its strengths.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to ramble; and sorry if this didn't do what you needed! But you did inspire me to find all the old angry IWTB discussions/posts on Tumblr (archive hopping, heheheh) and put them all in one place. So, look forward to that sometime in the future, I suppose~!

Disclaimers: I do not like canon after S8; and that's only because they get a happy ending and, even though it has garbage canon decisions, the characters were able to save most of it and forget the rest. But I will treat IWTB as its own thing devoid of my personal opinion.

[carasobbler13]

Soooo basically i’m gonna rant about WFS season 2 bc I have no friends who like it and need to get this off my chest.

!!SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE BOOK AND SHOW!!

In episode 1 i reaaaaaaally like that they put in the explanation for Podo hating Artham/Peet, it would be kinda weird if he was just being mean for no reason. And the rockroach! It was so cool! Glad to be rid of Zouzab (Me and my siblings were rooting for his death lol). When Peet got captured i was like “noooooo” but also “yes yes yes my favorite part is coming up”

In episode 2 I was just sad bc NUGGET NOOOO!!! Poor Leeli 😢 But also, i was aggravated with Kal and Janner bc like Janner is being pretty mean and Kal is running away from his problems. I was kinda sad that we didn’t see Podos nightmare too.

In episode 3 I was just like MARALY AHHHHHHH and PODO STORY OMGGGGGGG and Kalmar, what were you thinking. It worked, but still.

And last, but definitely not least, episode 4. At first it was like mm ok kinda boring but whatever and then it was like yay McHiggins! and then it was like OH NO DONT TRUST HIM! and then SONG REPRISE??? THE IGIBY FARM ON FIRE IS THAT YOU??? and then THE FORID SWORD OMGOMGOMG AHHHHH I LOVE HIS THEME! yeah so that’s it.

EDIT: I JUST WATCHED EPISODE 5 AND AHHHHHHHHHHH! Ok i was like “Ugh here we go” and then i was like “OMG OSKAR YASSS” and then “KALMAR HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID??” and then “huh they’re kinda over using ‘The Igiby farm on fire” then “OMG A ‘WAITING FOR SOMEONE REPRISE! IT FITS TO WELL AHHHH” the “OOP OSKAR” the “oh yeah pie” the “MATTHEW RHYS I LOVE YOU AS THE FLORID SWORD DHWBGDGE” THEN “OH FRICK NO JANNER” then “Kal… WHAT THE ACTUAL FRICK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!” then “WAIT! OMG! THE SONG OF ANCIENT STONES SOUNDS LIKE ‘THE IGIBY FARM ON FIRE’ AHHHHHHHH” then “PEETHAM NOOOOO” i’m not ok guys

[the-shy-lonely-weirdo]

You know what the most disappointing Clone High S2 episode is to me personally? The musical one.

I’m not comparing it to the first seasons Rock Opera one because there is no point because it is perfect Clone High Ep. I mean it was Jack Black for Peet’s sake.

However, I want to keep in mind, since the end of S1, we have had HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL! One of the easiest things to parody! It should be a parody of that very specific time in Disney TV where it’s all about stupid Disney teen dramas of that era. You have an audience that probably either watched that growing up OR at the very least knows about it through cultural osmosis. And it doesn’t even need to be just high school musical. It can also be one of the MILLION other teen Disney musical movies from the 2000’s. Cheetah girls, (Joan and the girls can be the “Ocelot Ladies” and dress like Ocelots) Camp Rock, (They can just be camping in the middle of the School Campus and also make it a slasher camp horror parody, with singing!) or at least have one of those awkward teen trauma dump scenes in all those movies where the clones could be laying in the grass in a circle and just try to out trauma each other. (It’s starts with Confu talking about how his parents don’t pay attention to him and ends with Cleo talking about seeing her Foster Father have his guts eaten out by a hippo at the zoo. No one really knows how to react to that one)

But even if they don’t go with that route… THERE ARE A MILLION DIFFERENT HIGHSCHOOL BASED MUSICALS THEY CAN PARODY! Heathers! Harriet and the girls accidentally kill Cleo, hijinks ensue! Dear Evan Hansen! They already love dumping on Abe so much, have him break his arm and whine about how his life is so unfair while having someone with real issues like Van Gohn not get noticed! Grease! OMG IMAGINE HOW FUNNY IT WOULD BE IF THE BOYS ALL DRESSED LIKE GREASERS AND SANG A KNOCK OFF OF GREASE LIGHTNING!

And the “Big Race” is just them racing down the halls on a tricked out version of one of these things:

Hell, they could even do the lazy parody of The Phantom of the Opera. Like Topher is mad that he doesn’t get to be the leader in the awareness month campaign and puts on a disguise so that he can sabotage it. And it’s so obviously is him doing it but no one ever figures it out and when he’s unmasked everyone screams because HE’S HIDEOUS!

Instead, what do we get? A very weak ep with 3 songs that aren’t even memorable. Nothing really making good jabs at the musical High School drama and what I found most disappointing is Harriet. If I’m reading her right, she’s suppose to be a bit of a Theater Kid? Have these people MET Theater Kids??? She should be a lot more pushy with her musical love! She should be a drama lover and want to know all the juicy details in everyone’s drama! She should be a huge romantic and try to ship her school mates and manufacturing romantic tropes between them! But as is, she is flat. Not Theater Kid enough.

They don’t even have a musical guest star! I get if they can’t get Lin-Manuel Miranda, but like SOMEONE THAT CAN SING AT LEAST! You know, go with the theme of the ep! But no, they couldn’t even do that!

That’s what I feel like is the worst part of the ep. There is SO MUCH they could have done with this genre and they did almost nothing! Everything they did do just didn’t push enough and felt flat. I WANT Clone High to have a good High School Musical ep. I LOVE Musical drama and it’s campiness! I want a ridiculous parody of it! I think the Clones would be great in one! But it just wasn’t enough and that is super disappointing.

[bjsmall]

18.08.23

We watched Walt Disney's The Jungle Book (1967).

IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061852/

The Jungle Book is a 1967 musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution.

The film is based on Rudyard Kipling's 1894 book of the same name. It was the 19th Disney feature film and the final film produced by Walt Disney who died during its production.

The film plot follows Mowgli, an abandoned human child raised in the Indian jungle by Wolves. Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear have to convince Mowgli to leave the jungle before Shere Khan arrives to kill him.

Wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle_Book_(1967_film)

Early versions of the screenplay and soundtrack were more faithful to the book with a dramatic, dark and sinister tone which Disney did not like. Leading writer Bill Peet was replaced. Much of Peets work was thrown away but his characters were kept but made more happy and funny.

Work on the animation began on June 5th 1965. The animation was done by Xerography, using rough artistic edges to contrast the round animals. Background were hand painted and used in the foreground and background to create a feeling of depth.

The character of Baloo was based on real footage of bears and their movements in the wild. This was one of the first animated films to study animal behaviour.

A Disney trademark of using previous cel-sequences from other films was used for the Jungle Book. This includes 101 Dalmatians and A Tiger Walks.

The films score was composed by George Bruns and orchestrated by Walter sheets. The score features six original songs, five by the Sherman Brothers and one by Terry Gilkyson who wrote The Bear Necessities. The songs have become classic in their own right. The songs are as follows:

- The Bear Necessities - Trust in Me - I Wan'na Be Like You - Colonel Hathi's March - That's What Friends are For - My Own Home

For more information on the production of The Jungle Book, see:

Favourite scenes in The Jungle Book:

- The wolves scene at the beginning, who adopt Mowgli and raise him.

- The King Louie scene where he sings 'I'm the King of the Swingers'. ''Have Two Bananas!''

- The vultures 'That's What Friends are For' scene. The vultures where influenced by the Beetles who came from Liverpool. - - The 'Trust in Me' scene featuring Kaa the Rock Python who tries to hypnotise Mowgli with his eyes and the song!

- And of course, The Bear Necessities, which Baloo sings with Mowgli in the river.

The Jungle Book was released in October 1967, 10 months after Walt Disney's death. The film was a massive success, costing $4 million dollars to make and earning over $23 million dollars by 1970.

The film was re-released throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s and is regarded as being in the top 50 grossing films of all time.

The film has been released to home media on all available formats from VHS to streaming. The Jungle Book was digitally re-mastered in 2014.

The original aspect ratio of The Jungle Book is 1.37.1, the alternate theatrical released was 1.75:1.

The Jungle Book received positive reviews upon its release. This was partly due to the affection for Walt Disney after his death. Although it was nothing like the book, the film was seen as simple, bright and delightful entertainment.

It still has a rotten tomatoes approval rating of 88%.

In later years the film has received some criticism for being racist, however this was not the film makers intention.

In 2016, a live action/CGI version of the Jungle Book was released. It is darker than the animation but it is highly regarded.

I have seen the live action version recently on BBC iPlayer.

I first saw the Jungle Book in the late 90s on VHS, more recently I brought a copy of the film on Blu-Ray disc in 2017. This version was watched on YouTube Movies. The Jungle Book looked fantastic on my 4K LG TV!

I particularly enjoy watching Kaa, as I like snakes!

My favourite stories from Rudyard Kipling were his 'Just So' stories which I first read in the classic children's Golden Treasury book. My favourite story from 'Just So' is How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin!

Obviously the film isn't up to modern animation standards, but it is still really enjoyable to watch with its catchy songs and engaging characters.

It is a classic!

[st-hedge]

Ooh, ooh, me, I'll be your excuse to draw ww Ganon! /j

On a more serious note, that post made me look at ww ganon's design again, and the dragon-themed details on his clothes are so interesting in the context of how dragons (well, dragon singular) feature in WW, especially when compared to how dragons are featured in other titles like SkSw and BotW/TotK. That's like, the most clearly and directly opposed dragons are ever shown to be to Ganon (not counting Zelda's animorphs moment) and yet that's the game where he has grasping dragon claws on his sleeves and a vaguely draconic pendant at his neck. I just think that's kind of neat. Themes of desiring what is always out of his reach, etc.

I actually keep forgetting that it’s supposed to be dragon peets on his sleeves (I suppose??). I always think it’s just bird claws since there is a theme of bird monsters

And speaking of dragons and ganon, I think in totk the inside of his robe actually had the face of a dragon instead of the gerudo symbol? Or that’s how it looks to me on the amiibo and some dubious screenshots people have been taking. The eyes just look very dragon like

[syn4k]

go

thank you whoever you are for enabling me on this btw you have saved my life

(if you read through this review and decide that you wanna check this series out or buy it, the link to the official website is here!)

OKAY

SO

The Wingfeather Saga is a four-book fantasy series by Andrew Peterson. Despite being a series written and aimed towards children, it also deals with serious themes in a way that doesn't trivialize them or shove them to the side.

Do you like dragons? This series has dragons. Do you like themes of healing and dealing with some pretty heavy shit but healing nonetheless? This series has that too. Do you like hella good worldbuilding and a solid plot that is richly detailed and makes sense, but isn't muddled or confused? Like hell you do! Do you like actually decent representation in your works? You're never gonna guess what this has! That's right! It's got it all, baby.

This book has next to no romance in it, and all of the major relationships that it focuses on are platonic. But what even is in it in the first place?

The story is centered around a small family living in a small town. Their surname is Igiby, and they lead as quiet a life as one can whilst being occupied entirely by what's essentially a fully armed army. More on that later.

The members of this family are:

Nia, mother

Podo, grandfather

Janner, eldest sibling (12 when the series starts, 15 when it ends)

Tink (Kalmar) (11 when the series starts, ~14 when it ends)

Leeli (8 when the series starts, ~11 when it ends)

Now, the world these people inhabit is called Aerwiar. In it reside half-lizard creatures called Fangs, which have been making the lives of the people living on the content Skree horrible for years. The Fangs are under the command of Gnag the Nameless, the whole villain behind the whole thing, although we don't really figure out why he is like he is until the fourth book.

Through a series of events, things happen and this family alongside a few other characters go places and eventually have to run from their home.

What other characters? I'm glad you asked!

Peet the Sock Man (that's not his real name, it's later revealed to be Artham- again. lore. i'll explain later), the local village "crazy man" who lives in a huge treehouse in the woods and is actually related to the Igibys.

Oskar Reteep, the local librarian who runs a small bookstore called Books and Crannies. It's an odd place, but as a family friend of Nia and Podo's, he ends up going with them when they have to flee to their home.

Now, here's the thing. I mentioned representation earlier, right? Here's the cool thing. I wasn't kidding. This shit's fuckin' awesome. Let me explain.

Leeli, the aforementioned youngest sibling, has had a lame leg for as long as she can remember. She walks with crutches, and it's just regarded as a casually natural thing. She can keep up with her brothers just fine, but they also know that if she needs help, she'll ask for it. (This is literally said in plain text like, 6 pages in.) Even though she needs additional help from her family sometimes, they're also very respectful about it and stand up for her where they can!

Podo, the grandfather, was a sailor once and has a wooden leg. His original one was eaten by a dragon. He gets around just fine with this, and makes a lot of casual jokes about it as well.

"But Amys!" you say. "Why's it called the wingfeather saga if there's no mentions of wingfeathers in it at all??"

Allow me to elaborate.

The Shining Isle of Anneira was a kingdom that got totally and utterly destroyed about ten years ago by Gnag the Nameless for reasons that are elaborated on later about halfway through book four. It's revealed at the end of Book One that Nia used her maiden name of Igiby when she and her family fled to keep them all safe, but her husband's name was Wingfeather, so basically everyone's last name is Wingfeather. Yeah.

Where's the husband? Oh, he's dead. (Or is he?)

See, during the attack on the castle way back then, he just straight up dissapeared amongst the fire and the ashes. Everyone has long since made their peace with his death, or something close to death. Except for Artham, a.k.a Peet the Sock Man.

Artham, as it turns out, is heavily implied to have some heavy trauma/PTSD for [waves hand vaguely] lore reasons. I can't explain this perfectly, I'm trying so hard to not spoil anything because the best thing to do would just be to read it. Anyways, here's the incredible thing- at one point, he DOES face his fears and get through a large part of his trauma. Even then, though, he has recessions sometimes due to triggers! Healing isn't linear, and in fact he still struggles with his past throughout the entire series!! How fucking amazing is that! god i love artham he's one of my favorite characters in this entire goddamn series

Uhhhh let's see here *flips through notes* what else is there this is my second time writing this goddamn post (thanks Tumblr) oh yeah! There's uhhhh nonhuman transformations there's seriously good worldbuilding and lore and explanations for things there's some serious advice on how to persevere through difficult things there's a focus on the good in the world despite the evil within, there's really silly but still genuinely touching poems, there's a bittersweet ending that's still incredibly satisfying and zero plot holes that I have found, and best of all the art in jt SLAPS.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention. There is some SICK ASS ART in this series, both on the covers and in the pages of the books themselves. I can't find a good source for any of that so you'll just have to take my word for it but trust me it fucking SLAPS.

anyways i'm trying to not spoil anything so that you can go into this yourself because this series is chock full of detail and completely rewired some core bits of our brain. i promise uou will not regtet it i habe been going insane over this for years OLEASE AT LEAST TRY TO GET THENFIRST BOOK IF YOU CAN

thank you for coming to my ted talk, fuck you tumblr for deleting my first draft, and please for the love of god just give it a try

[because-she-goes]

cadillac

warnings: angst, hurt/comfort themes, happy ending, alleged cheating, heartbreak, smidge of violence, swearing, the boys being mad at matty. Enjoy!

Her heart sank. Body dropping to the floor in a heap. A sob wracking through her throat. Her Matty driving around in an unknown city, with a car she didn’t recognize and a girl looking blissfully unaware that the man next to her was in a relationship. She couldn’t believe her eyes, willing them to see differently - maybe she is overtired, maybe too many cups of coffee, maybe it was her period coming sooner than normal and fucking with her hormones. She had no idea what the fuck was going on. She only had a singular idea - to call Danes and see if he knew anything because fuck calling Matty right now, she’ll buckle in an instant and weep as he tries to tell her from godknowswhere that its nothing, that she is just a friend. Fuck that.

Phone rings, once then twice. Finally she hesrs her friend’s voice on the other side. She had known George longer than she knew Matty - the two of them meeting in his music production class during his brief stint in university. They had become fast friends over their love of music and the details of it and how any subtle change could then affect the whole song. She could talk to George about anything and trust he would tell her the truth, even if it hurt her.

“Well, fancy hearing from you! What can I do for ya, Daisy?” The petname he gave her that first day still making her smile all these years later. He was in London, at his apartment currently working on some production stuff for Charli’s album.

“I need you to look at the picture I am gonna send you, okay? I am not fucking around here, George, I am panicking over it right now.” She alerts him, voice trembling. She sends the screenshot from the music video her friend sent her. Putting him on speaker and now pacing around the room nervously biting her nails.

“Oh, fuck.” Is all that comes from him. Her heart sinks. So it is real then, she isn’t dreaming this and her mind isn’t playing tricks on her. “Love, I am gonna tell you right now, as soon as I get a hold of him he is a deadman, yeah? Gonna forward it to Hann and Ross if thats okay with you?” He double checks. This is serious shit, I mean for heaven’s sake Matty and her were practically married - dating for 7 years! And now, he pulls this shit without even the courtesy of a heads up. Oh fuck him, George thinks as he rages.

“Yeah, thats fine! Just am nervous about it being real and all ya know? Like why wouldn’t he tell me? Why don’t I know where in the world he is? He told me he was going to Italy with his family and that sure as shit doesn’t look like it!”

George flips back to the picture, now patching Hann and Ross to the call. Wait a minute, he quickly zooms in past his friend’s head and sees a sign for “Peet’s Coffee”. He is in fucking Los Angeles. “He’s in LA. Theres a sign for a coffee place he likes there behind him.”

She doesn’t know how it is possible, but her stomach drops further. He is across a continent right now and didn’t even think to tell her. He is literally the exact opposite direction of where she thought he was.

“Honey, I am so sorry. We will call him later and see what this is all about yeah?” Ross adds, much calmer than George, but equally as upset at his friend. Adam can’t even think right now, anxiety and frustration eating away at him. “Daisy, it’ll be okay, I will talk to Matty first - he always knows that if I am talking to him its serious. If George calls, he’ll start joking and dancing around the questions. Ross, mate I’m sorry, but if you call him he wont even listen to you about this.” Ever the Dad, she thinks.

Adam adds Matty to the call. “Hey, lads!” He greets in his normal tone. “Matty…. you are in deep fucking shit so you better start explaining to us why there is video footage of you driving in LA with another girl in your fucking car!!” Adam booms, you have never see the normally mild tempered get angry, let alone yell.

“I can explain, I met someone while I was at a party there and I got a bit drunk-“ Before he finishes the sentence, she leaves the call. Not wanting to hear the rest of this, it being too painful.

However, the boys continue to hear him out: “…and I was just lonely without Daisy there that all I needed was just a warm body on the other side of a bed. I promise you, on my life I didn’t do anything. And do you really think I am that big of a wanker to a) live with myself after that and b) drive the girl home the next morning?? Really, guys?” He asks and ya know what, he isn’t lying. They’ve gone down this road before Daisy came into the picture and they all know if/when Matty ever cheats on someone, the poor guy is in shambles for weeks. Riddled with anxiety, self-esteem in the toilet, depression… you name it, he’s got it. At the end of their conversation and once they all come to an understanding that it really was as innocent as he is saying it is, he calls her.

One ring, then two… “Hey, Matty! How is Italy, honey?” She greets warmly, voice syrup sweet as usual when talking to him while he is away. Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt for a bit and see if he comes clean. Bracing herself for heartbreak.

“Hi, baby… look I need to tell you something. I’m not in Italy, I’m not with my family. I went to LA to work on some stuff with Jack for a few days when the vacation ended. I should’ve told you, I know, but I got so wrapped up in the studio and LA and work that I completely forgot I didn’t tell you.”

“Thats okay, as long as you’re safe and okay, honey.” She reassures him, thankful he is attest with Jack and not totally alone out there.

“There’s something else… I went to a party a few nights ago, one Jack mentioned…” She inhales, holding her breath ready to get the wind knocked out of her any second. “I met someone, a girl named Meredith. I was a bit drunk and just missed you loads, so I asked her to keep me company while I slept. She agreed, understanding I am spoken for and she didn’t pull anything. I didn’t either. We just shared a bed. That is all. You can even call her if you want to hear it from her. The number is 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX” He hangs up. Not waiting ti hear her cry, to hear her heartbreak, to hear the sigh if relief that leaves her.

Dialing the number, a girl’s voice answers.”Umm hello, this is Mer, who am I speaking to?” Her voice smooth and soft, Californian.

“Uhh hi, I’m Daisy. A friend of Matt Healy’s and just wanted to ask you something… woman to woman. So, please don’t hold back and be honest with me, at the very least give me that respect.”

“Absolutely, I know Matt. What can I help straighten out?”

“Well, excuse me for being blunt and straight forward with this, but did anything happen between you two? Kissing, hugging, sex? Anything?” Daisy anxiously picks at a cuticle.

“Oh absolutely not! He kept saying your name actually, saying that you guys have been together for ages and he just missed you. He didn’t try anything and neither did I if that is your question.” The girl’s words sounding like music to Daisy. A deep sigh of relief and joy leaves her body, her Matty… her good, sweet, innocent Matty.

“Well, thank you, Meredith! Loved talking to you.” Daisy hangs up as the girl adds a “You Too!”

Calling back the four boys, voice dripping with giddiness, she tells them about Meredith and how everything checks out. He really is innocent. A shit eating grin permanently on her face as she talks.

“Thank Fuck!” George says, no longer having to deal with all of this drama and able to get back to work. “Mate, never do that again oh my god!” Says Ross, hanging up in relief. Adam gives Matty an apology for being so harsh initially and then as he hangs up lets out a “Matty, you are gonna be the death of me I swear.” She giggles.

As for the two love birds: “Told ya, sweetheart. I am a perfect angel!”

“Well, I don’t know about that mister, but never pull that again. Gave me a heart attack!” She scolds lightly.

He already booked his flight back to New York and can’t wait to wrap his arms around his girl.

“Love you too, baby!” He grins and hangs up the phone.

She laughs, collapsing on the couch in exhaustion. She giggles at how ridiculous the whole thing is: her thinking he had chested on her when all he needed was someone else in the bed with him… how perfectly, sweetly innocent. Adorable.

[waltcrewlog]

Sorry that my posts are so few and far between. I think about the thewaltcrew blog a lot and still check my activity all the time. But I'm just so bad at time management and am currently busy with other projects at the moment. Each of my posts on thewaltcrew take a lot of time to do, and I'm bad at making the time to work on a post a little at a time.

But meanwhile, here are just some random thoughts/updates:

I just found out about this Walt's People series by Didion Ghez? Which are compilations of interviews with Disney artists. I just bought two of the volumes (I specifically wanted the one with Bill Walsh and then I got one with Bill Peet, but upon reading the Bill Peet interview, I recognized it from here).

My next post (which to be completely honest, I haven't started yet) is on Mary Blair. I know the exact topic/idea I want to do but am still figuring out what the format should be.

I am still awaiting the day I can talk about my love for Tim Considine! I have plenty of other posts to make before then, but I've been watching The Champ (which is what Considine's film The Clown is a remake of), and it's rekindled my interest in him. One of these days, I will make a post either about him or one of the Disney projects he was in.

I don't understand so many of Disney's picks for Disney Legends, e.g. I feel like Jamie Lee Curtis doesn't have a deep enough connection to the company aside from Freaky Friday? (Though her father Tony Curtis was in 40 Pounds of Trouble, the first movie to receive permission from Walt to film in Disneyland!)

I rewatched Mary Poppins last week, and wow, what an amazing film. I should do a post on that one day too. Ub Iwerks' technical work on that film is fantastic, and the film as a whole incorporates so many of Disney's trades into one product (animation, live-action, and even animatronics/theme park magic).