#rambling about capitalism because of a cartoon

[my-gender-is-revolution]

rambling abt the season 1 part 2 finale of inside job

Talking about reagan

so I was like why doesn't she just develop an algorithm and then run away with Ron like that's what algorithms are for but also I was like damn men don't have to choose btwn having a job and a family like they just go away on a business trip every other week and no one cares but also ig she doesn't want to be like that due to the trauma with her dad and why does capitalism make us work so much that we cannot do the things that are human anyway (is this why the robes may not be human) and capitalism and the 40 hr work week is why we have patriarchy and gender roles and shit one person does the work the other does the Family everyone is overworked there is no time for anything

tldr cartoon causes me to think about how capitalism cause gender

[earthwormjimnocontext]

Hey just curious but did u ever join Bluesky?

I joined on my regular account as Teddyroo12, but I don't know about joining Earthworm Jim No Context on Blue Sky due to videos and lack of content. I'd love to but I'm just tired as a fan like don't get me wrong, I love Jim I'm probably never going to stop loving the games in the cartoon, but it's driving me insane. I don't really have any submissions and also I've been running dry on the Earthworm Jim well.. which is Why I stopped it on Tumblr. It's being stopped here until there is another goddamn reboot that's probably getting canceled.

Unless y'all want clips of the show in German.

It's tiring being a fan that's been stuck in a zombie like steak is it getting a single is it getting a reboot? oh it is? where is it? I don't know when's it coming out? I don't know? It's like we've been granted a monkey's paw. It's happened over and over again. It happened in 2006, it happened in 2016, it happened in 2020 twice, it happened in 2021.

We had to get our toes dragged into the Amico shit. And find out our composer is a lying stealing scumbag.

I'm not even as mad about Doug TenNapel anymore despite the fact that the man wants to kill me because I like What's Her Name too much. I'm mad at the people who have the rights to the character.

Banjo Kazooie fans are lucky, because at least they tell you, they don't want to make any more shit instead of just announcing it and then canceling it over and over again. To quote rock band Yes, "Owner of a lonely heart Is much better than an owner of a broken heart"

I can't even contribute to the fan game space and try to make it myself because it's just going to get fucking taken down. They take down redbubble designs.

These people took down MUGEN. WHAT KIND OF HEARTLESS BASTARDS TAKE DOWN MUGEN?! INTERPLAY WERE THE FIRST.

I can put aside rainbow capitalism, I can put aside in her plate potentially committing stock fraud on their charts, I can put aside the Creator being a homophobic douchebag, I'd even take those crappy Christian comic books any day because at the end of the day, I'm just tired of being treated like absolute shit by this company. And so is the rest of the fan base. And the entirety of Russia. And their own employees that are somehow still there. I feel bad for that poor soul who poured his tears onto 4chan over that Clayfighter project that they didn't pay him for. I feel bad for everybody in this fan base still clinging on a hope of life, looking at an "April fool's Day joke for Earthworm Jim 2 HD thinking God damn that's really impressive and sad good job now I want to cry, we forgive you for giving us hope"

I'm sorry this turned into a ramble post.

TLDR Interplay abandoned us by treating us like shit and also they don't even have a blue sky account so they're pretty much dead in the water.

[redux-iterum]

i am aware you can't answer this right now, but! as a patron, your Tigerclaw. ough. it's been a good couple months(?) since i read his death scene and i am still reeling from the impact (in a positive way). just. everything. i am lacking in words tonight but just how emotionally charged it is, from every angle, in every way......... man. thats the kind of shit i hope to write one day. "emotional impact that feels like being beaten with a really heavy pillow (in a good way)" my beloved <3

OH same patron anon from like 2 minutes ago with the Spoiler Comment Question, here with a Hopefully-Not-Spoiler Comment Question. Once again; I love how you write Tigerclaw!!! the fact that I was, in the moment, disappointed and a little upset that Lionface was chosen as deputy over him, the fact that, on more than one occasion, I found myself wondering-slash-hoping that he was somehow, in some way, a red herring and not. y'know. responsible for the deaths that have ALWAYS been his fault in every rewrite and retelling. as if I didn't already know. as if it wasn't a fact I've known since I was a small child reading WC for the first time. damn. as i said before: many thoughts no words to express them But I Love, patron anon back for round 3. sorry that im spamming you with messages i just keep having More Thoughts and apparently no filter. I love how you write Tigerclaw as, like..... not a grand cunning mastermind, possibly not even in his own eyes. Prideful, yes, but there's this element of.... i don't quite know how to put it. He's just a guy. He's just a guy who loves his mate and his son, and is excited for the kits his mate is expecting, if a little apprehensive. Just a guy who is dangerous and terrible because he is so, so very certain that he knows what The Right Thing To Do is, and is willing to do whatever it takes to reach that ideal, but his idea of The Right Thing To Do is so horrible and skewed and dangerous. He does what he has to do, or what he thinks he has to. Does he see it as self-sacrifice, in a way? stooping so low for the sake of those he cares about? sorry again for the multiple asks but i'm obsessed with villains like this and have only just now managed to put the words together. cause like.... a lot of truly awful people aren't masterminds. They're people who are so very certain that they're in the right, and are so very wrong about that. i do love flamboyant, Evil-with-a-capital-E cartoon villains a lot (when done right), but there's something about having a villain be so normal, so clearly An Average(ish) Person, someone who may not even see how horrific their actions are. NOT THAT ANY OF THIS IS AN EXCUSE, it's not that they're misdirected or confused. it's like... the dead certainty that they are Correct and other people are Wrong. There's something very..... tactile? about it. "Real" might be the right word but it doesn't feel exactly right. It's like, this is a person you could meet. A person you could know. And they're just quietly (or not-so-quietly) abhorrent in so many ways. sorry for rambling my head is full of thoughts tonight and i apparently cannot shut up </3

Much gratitude and flustering for these asks, man, golly. I've hoped that I've improved in writing over time, and asks like these make me more confident. Thank you for reading along! (And for pledging on Patreon, an absolute of course.) Apologies for not getting to these sooner, I was saving them for today.

Your assessment of Tigerclaw is spot-on. I would say he THINKS he thinks of himself as a normal, good husband and warrior who's doing his best and having a humble life. There's only so real that can be when he also has the constant thought of "I am the only one who sees the truth and I need to Fix Things because no one else can". He thinks he's so much more honest and realistic than he is. You know people like that. I know people like that. The most dangerous person is one that can fool themselves.

[pigswithwings]

ramble abt ur ocs buddy. for me <3

I LOVE YOU. OKAY SO . basically . ill be rambling about some different ocs thank you :]]

first oc. my friends have heard ALLL about this guy but my proudest oc is nova.

^ it looks like this and is incredibly shivering beast btw . hops under the cut

anyways the setting for nova is basically. it's many, many millenia into the future. aliens have been discovered (sick and rad). capitalism still exists (not sick or rad).

anyways the No Space Unexplored corporation, or just N.S.U, developed the NOVA project, which consisted of sending several intelligent humanoid droids (called Navigators) onto various habited planets by themselves, mostly to figure out whether they were profitable. whoops! some of the Navigators happen to be a bit buggy, and a few behavioural errors are noticed early on during some of the droids' first few days after landing on different planets. hopefully nothing happens because of that!

Flashforward a few weeks and the N.S.U becomes involved in a big old legal case that ultimately shuts them down. oh boy well what happens to their property and various pioneering space related projects? instead of being regular about the whole deal, the company just. destroys any old property. cuts off all contact with various rovers and projects because they're petty about it. the Navigator droids are shut down and presumed destroyed by any alien environments or animals.

oops. welll except for one. Navigator #4 sure did get cut off from any contact with Earth, but guess who lived, bitch? she did. built different.

and yeah Nova gets pronouns now (she/it). anyways Navigator #4 gets her name from the company project. she doesn't have a very good imagination or as much creativity as the average human because she runs on literal numbers, but she is pretty good at surviving on planet #5098 like she was designed to. although it does happen to have a varied ecosystem and several very large predator animals. but it's okay! it's living life pretty well and has settled into its (possibly permanent) residence on this planet. so thumbs up!!

OKAY SECOND OC. this is mike. he/him. unidyne microphone for a head but otherwise normal <- lies

get it? anyways he's pathetic. he basically lives in a cartoon world. the cops hate him because he keeps trespassing as part of his work and also interrupting. he has horrible time mangement and does not sleep enough. forgets to take off his hat and tie before collapsing into bed.

now mike says he's a private investigator, but really he doubles as a sort of bodyguard for people who pay. and triples as "the guy who works part time at the grocer's, but only on the third weekend of every month".

he loves music but hates singing himself. humming is great, but he was born into a family of performers and always feels like his own singing isn't worth the effort or embarassment. hes my favourite and one of my oldest characters :]

third oc! zero. or xeyr real name, which is 0000. uses xhe/xher and xey/xem.

they're a bit messed up! but it's good for xem because they are incredibly nihilistic. xhe is always, constantly, 24/7 aware of xher audience and the fact that xhe is being judged for xher actions. which can make a person both paranoid and aggressive when criticized.

this isn't to say that zero's actions are always 10/10 ethical, of course. xey work on a submarine researching the deep ocean and mainly help to identify/categorize species. one win for the science community! and as a side gig, xey are employed by some pretty shady people to conduct some pretty shady experiments. normal things :]

hope everyone enjoyed ... i have more tidbits but this is the general overview for some of my ocs !!!

[xxx-theartofsuicide-xxx]

Greetings, I'm a fairly new gal to the beetlejuice fandom (I've seen the movie and the cartoon back in the day but I've never engaged in the fandom until the musical came out) And English speaking spaces are.. not exactly new, but still, most views they share don't come naturally to me, or I straight up disagree anyway. So, while I can't fully stomach how agressive you are with your views (I get why you are though, and I think you are admirable for how set in your ideals you are and how they are not your typical cancel culture cultists bullshit) your posts about dark romance and why a lot of afab like them and why mass media hates that afab like them give me some food for thought.

So, I just wanted to say thank you? I always felt so very guilty for liking stuff that *my* side of the internet wouldn't even look twice at, because most of spaces that use my language don't care either way, but English speaking side of the internet keeps telling you, you are a creep for liking (And I was literally a minor then I first started feeling like this). I just.. it's so refreshing to see that there's sides of eng speaking fandoms which aren't either a puritists who would devour you for saying or doing ONE minor wrong thing they consider unforgivable, or straight up (usually amab) creeps who find excuses for predatory behavior in real life and are straight up homophobic and transfobic.

It always felt like I either don a persona of being this.. strange ideal of a person with views that I don't fully agree with, blame myself for liking things I'm not supposed to, and keep very very quiet about myself and my interests or I'm joining the other side which is even worse. I, as a young adult woman (can't even drink yet if I was living in America), always felt the need to fit.fit.fit. And now that you pointed out how misogynistic most of the views of those people are, I feel less... uncertain? At least I know there's things I need to think on, and I might've viewed a lot of the things in a way I wouldn't agree with if I had more information. So, I wrote this to say thank you, and to tell you that while people hate you for speaking your truth, your opinions and your strong personality can and will make young adult women like me who don't quite fit, think. It will be reassuring to know that there's someone out there, who is older and more experienced who still likes the same things and is a nice person. Who is agressive, yes, but it's an indication of their strong personality their ability to defend their views who isn't afraid of being bold and loud and use curse words and balantly say "fuck you" to the people who try to shun them, even if I, myself, am not that brave or strong. I used the anon for a reason. I still fear people using my words against me, but the fact that you aren't despite not being part of either group I described is.. it means a lot.

So thank you.

(I'm so very sorry if my anon comes off a bit rambly and is hard to understand, I am still learning how to express myself properly in this language. )

I am picking up the message you are laying down, don't worry about translation issues. Your English is pretty good actually, if you hadn't told me it wasn't your first language idk if I would have known.

I'm aggressive because I have to be as a survival technique. Any show of vulnerability is immediately capitalized on and used to hurt me because these motherfuckers are obsessed.

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. I stand for freedom of fiction, and for women and girls; and everything that entails.

I've been cancelled and cancelled and cancelled and I'm still here lmao. I'm still popular. I still get messages like these from people like you who resonate with me. Cancelling isn't anything but free publicity for my nasty beetlebabes fanfic. My numbers always shoot after interactions like this.

I'm just saying what we're all thinking and I'm not apologizing for it. These people depend on your fear. Fear is how they control you. "Think/talk/act this way, don't step out of line, or we will use every tool at our disposal to destroy you." I welcome each and every one of them to please give it their best damn shot.

They ain't got shit on me. And they ain't got shit on you either, babe. Don't be afraid of anyone who uses fear tactics to control you. If you're not afraid of them, they lose all their power.

[jubileebloom]

just some ramblings about name stuff before I get in the shower

I love having an "online name." It gives me something to be called, even if I don't have many who would, and it lets me do those things that are like "your [x] name is based on XYZ of your name" without giving away my real name online. It's awesome!

My name, Odina Bonfire Rose, has a bit of a story to it.

It all started when I was 13 and thought I was going to be a small youtuber, because I was 13 and didn't know how the world worked and grossly overestimated my capacity for productivity. We've all been there at one point or another, or at least a good amount of us probably have. I decided to name myself after my ponysona, because I wanted to make MLP theory videos, and back then my ponysona's name was Imaginer. Being raised in a family of math nerds, I named my youtube channel Imaginer 31415.

But... after a while, I didn't like the name Imaginer anymore. I am a very imaginative person, but that felt too on the nose for a name, even in MLP name terms. So I think I just googled "names that mean creativity" or "[x] gods of creativity" and somehow that led me to Odina? I don't remember how that all went down, but somehow I decided on Odina, despite it being a very human sort of name to give to a cartoon horse. But I liked it, and decided to add Rose for a connection to nature and to symbolize love. A bit Mary Sue of me, maybe, but I was a much more kind and optimistic person back in the day and I guess it did somewhat reflect myself. I also made this tumblr around that time for an inktober, and thus the name remains.

I'd also made a reddit account under the name Imaginer 31415, but I abandoned that after a while. Later on, I made a throwaway reddit account, not because I was going to do anything bad or personal with it, but just because I didn't want to admit to using reddit. I know the stigma it has, and some of the community there definitely deserves it, but I was mainly just there (and still am) for another place to post my art/writing/discussions/what have you. On a whim, I named the account EmotionalBonfire, because I was a very emotional person and I thought it reflected on me well. I then ended up getting a bit attached to "Bonfire" as an online moniker, so when I eventually made an AO3 account (and later a twitter), I put myself down as "Bonfire Rose."

(Side note: yes, I capitalize AO3 but not reddit, twitter, or youtube because I generally have more respect for AO3 than any of the others. Just a little thing I tend towards. Not that I don't respect tumblr, because if anything it's become less of a hellsite than the other places, but it just doesn't feel like the sort of thing to be capitalized. Anyway.)

I liked Bonfire Rose, but especially after getting back into MLP, I still wanted to keep "Odina" in my name. That being said... I'm not sure if I like that as a name anymore. I have no idea what I would want to change it to, though. And I feel like I still have to keep this name. Although I also felt that about Imaginer, even though I eventually gave it up.

I don't know if it's because "Odina" doesn't feel much like a pony name, or if I just outgrew it, or maybe my gender and I running into communication problems is playing a role in it. I feel that way sometimes about my irl name too, but I'm still very attached to my name and I do want to keep it for now. Even if a lot of new people I meet don't pronounce it correctly. I love my name because it's more unusual, but it's also hard when I've corrected someone multiple times on how it's pronounced and then they still mispronounce it, and honestly at this point I've stopped trying to correct people, even though it hurts to have someone never say my name right. I'm just tired.

Anyway. Point is, I decided my online name should be Odina Bonfire Rose, with Bonfire acting as my middle name that I sometimes go by. I've thought about going by my irl middle name before to avoid all the pronunciation issues, but it just didn't feel right. It's still special to me, just... not as my main name. I dunno. I've fiddled with nicknames and stuff before but nothing really feels right. But Bonfire works. Or Bon. I like getting called Bon.

But I'm not really sure what to do about this whole name thing. Maybe I'll change it. Maybe I won't. I want something that really feels like me, but it's hard when I don't know exactly who or what I am.

[givemeasong-singamelody]

Current status: Happy.

Hello there, peeps and pals! I suppose I should tell you a bit about me!

I use full punctuation and I capitalize my sentences. Deal with it. It is a habit. A good habit, by the way. Not one I particularly think I should break.

My favorite colors are blue and purple and green and brown.

I will always accept a hug and give them too if you let me.

Favorite book series is the Wizard of Oz series. Currently.

Favorite book by itself is probably either Alice in Wonderland, or maybe The Phantom Tollbooth. I like kid stuff that is also deep if you look at it. And the just innocent bafflement throughout the whole books is just. Perfection. I love it.

I also like cartoons and stuff. So what. Kill me. Not Peppa Pig though. I like The Berenstein Bears, Curious George, Bluey, Popeyes, Paw Patrol, etc.

Of course just because I like something doesn't mean I agree with everything in it. There is literally nothing ever that everyone will agree on completely so just relax and let me steal my childhood back from people's cold dead fingers.

I am not always very active. I come on here sometimes and when I am on I do tend to spam but also I won't be on like every day.

If something I say makes you uncomfortable let me know and I'll not do it again on purpose. As you can tell I like to ramble.

Oh I forgot, some of my favorite songs are Upside Down by Jack Johnson, Row Row Row your Boat ESPECIALLY when it's sung in harmony like it's supposed to be, Catch a Falling Star especially when it's sung in harmony, and But Tonight You Belong to Me. That last one to me seems like a mother telling her son good-bye just before he leaves home to get married and to me it is very wholesome. Fight me. I also like You Are My Sunshine but it's not one I really listen to all that often. And one that has brought me comfort is Fighting for You by Us the Duo.

I am a theater kid. Deal with it. I like art and literature too.

So this is mostly just gonna be a lot of reblogs. I guess that would drown out anything I actually say so I will start tagging the things I actually say as #Yabberwocky.

Well I think that is all for now, if you want to know something just ask me. I just like to be silly and have fun. I am not mean and I also do not hang out with people who are mean because life is short and if I wanted that I would just go downstairs. Be kind.

I will remake this eventually! Currently I am tired.

[kittycatcarla]

YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF STUDIO GHIBLI?????? HOW

I started looking into it a little bit now and..

No, not really. Ive heard the name itself a couple of times before on tumblr but having searched their productions, with pictures, if any of them appear faniliar to me its jist because some of them have been used for meme templates.

The thing is, i dont think a lot of japanese media reached my country. First of all, until the dissasociation of the USSR, TV times were very restricted and there was only one channel. There were like 20 minutes of cartoons but not every day. And all of them had to be approved by the Communist Party, of course

Then, during the 90s, there was the grand movement to embrace capitalism. Strangely enough Nixon and our dictator got along pretty well but im not sure how much that ties to anything here. Anyway, there was a lot of influx of hollywood media, but also local. With the massive censorship for the most part gone, a lot of old and new media appeared.

Im rambling but the point is. Growing up i do not recall seeing any sort of japanese animations on TV. My sister reminds some Pokemon episodes but that's about it. Its very likely that there were there, but for a fairly long time, a single tv frequency would be shared by two tv channels, here typically switching at 10pm and i think 6am.

Im getting too long with it. Anyway. Most likely the channels i had access to and regularly watched didnt really have contracts with japanese studios

[cheese-water]

hii I made the post about the pole you made :D honestly I make a lot of random posts like that at 3am and your literally like one of the only people to actually respond to them and I am just so happy like crying rn- So yeah more rambling:

I feel like the dehumanization of cc can also be applied to ep 1 in a sense? Because kinda think about Charlie? What was he known for in genloss? Not really about Charlie the streamer, but his character. Also sneeg, he made friends with a skeleton and humanizes it. Does any viewer’s questions it? Nope, just another form of comedy. Irl that is really concerning if you were to do that. Yknow known more for their characters instead of being amazing storytellers, actors, writers, etc.

Also on the topic of the meanings the community adopted, I just realized how many secret meanings could have just buried 6ft under? In the genloss talking about stream if Ranboo didnt point out the meaning of the mask(if he takes it off the show ends) like would anyone question it if they didn’t point it out? I sure as heck didn’t to me it was just a cool way to show mind control and hide their face.

 I kinda feel like the audience in general has a lot more meaning because like the whole thing is being controlled by showfall media/ being controlled by social media. We are kinda assumed the main intended meaning is dehumanization of cc and I kinda think like what else? Because you know how the internet can be what if there is a theory that did make sense but just got to much hate to reach the surface? Genloss is created by Ranboo and the producers etc but also the audience and how they adopt the cc/characters to their liking.

TIMELOOPS WOOOO. I might be having a stroke but so many spoilers at the start of the cabin, Ranboo complaining his head hurt, him laying down in the same position as he died, etc. tbh this could just be funny foreshadowing, but you never rlly know

Okay I just saw this post and like I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS I JUST 

In ep 3 when we picked the red combination code in the computer, but Ranboo didn’t put in the one we picked because they thought we were wanting to kill him. At the very end we did kill him they died thinking we wanted to kill him for entertainment, but we killed him because we wanted to save him. kinda hit or miss, but relates to chat. Chat says stupid shit because it’s funny yknow. Idk how much Ranboo streams you watch, but like in killer frequency chat keeps telling them that they missed something when they didn’t, chat tells them they picked the wrong option when it was right. It’s kind of weird because it’s to a point when chat suggests something you don’t know if they’re trying to mess with Ranboo or actually trying to help. It creates this  relationship of slightly broken trust where Ranboo doesn’t know if chat is playing with them or actually trying to help.

on my last theory I made last time because I don’t like how I worded it:

How if the internet doesn’t like your interests and personality you are forced to changed to actually be successful. Kinda how at the end of ep 2 they are literal cartoon characters. When you try to seek help and turn back to yourself it always ends the same: death of your channel and content.

( I would like to talk about capitalism allegories, but I am just so uneducated in that field that I might as well just say bananas are purple)

Also I got a lot of info about generation loss I got  from this really cool and underrated video “The Dehumanization of Content Creators | Generation Loss” by Lex Cat also I would watch the jack manifold reaction but I just can’t justify the time it would take

-☁︎🪷

P.S- heads up at some point im doing specific analysis for each individual cc/character yes I now come to ramble here permanently deal with it<3

I am honored <3

And yeah ep 1 definitely has some cc dehumanizing in there looking back on it, just much more subtler than eps 2 and 3 obvs. With Sneeg especially. Right as he’s introduced, we learn that Sneeg tried to complete Slime’s trials, failed, and was stuck in a cage, while not being particularly angry about it. Like it’s understandable that he’s trapped, that it was his fault and he gets that ig? And then for the rest of the series, he acts a Ranboo’s funny sidekick, doing everything he can to get Ranboo, not himself, to the end. The only time Sneeg’s character shows any agency for himself is ep 2 when he’s wearing the hat and, after reassuring Ranboo that he’ll come back for him, tries to escape the mall. But he gets caught, brainwashed, and returns back to his cynical yet helpful self again. So within the context of the audience perception of ccs, Sneeg’s character only serving as a benefit to Ranboo and without him (locked up in a cage) Sneeg is nothing, makes it all so… icky.

I think that’s why I don’t enjoy the dehumanizing cc theory all that much. It never fails to make me viscerally uncomfortable whenever I think about it for too long. Which like, wow genloss doesn’t have a happy ending and is supposed to make you uncomfortable? no shit sherlock. Yeah yeah I know but that interpretation is just too real for me. With the no choice or timeloop theories, we are able to absolve ourselves from blame since this is what Showfall wanted to happen. Still not reassuring but I’m used to not having control over what happens, be it social, politically, economically, etc. But through viewing the characters as their cc counterparts, their pain becomes so personal, that we have no one to blame but ourselves for the suffering they endure. And while I know I personally wasn’t at fault for this, (I was a lurker on twitch twitter and tumblr at Ranboo’s “peak,” I couldn’t share my opinion even if I wanted to) I still feel a sense of responsibility knowing that I can’t do anything about it now. I can’t stop random people for harassing Niki, but I’m still shameful that it happened in the first place. It’s like secondhand embarrassment cranked up to 1000%.

I want to watch Lex’s video essay so badly but I have to wait until I’m in a right enough headspace because I know it will leave me feeling desolate after. I haven’t seen the killer frequency steam yet but I believe you 100% that that’s how chat behaved. I know this because I was there for the late night mining streams, having to sit through chat screaming DIAMONDS at Ranboo just for shits and giggles. Like no wonder he doesn’t trust chat. Which for me makes it all worse since it’s seemingly shows that his audience has learned nothing. If they view Generation Loss as Ranboo’s cry for help, pleading with his audience to see him as a human being and not just a commodity, then why are choosing to treat him exactly the same as before? Maybe that’s why voting to kill Ranboo was so easy for me. I never viewed myself as their judge and jury, just his executioner simply following orders. Maybe I was wrong…

…Anyways, tangent aside, I also tend to take into consideration the gen 1 teasers into my theories. Like the browser game and the video experiment thing, which all had predetermined endings and no references to content creation, further my interpretation. Plus, I just enjoy finding little things and making meaning out of them, my most popular example being Austin being dubbed “The Gay” by Showfall when during emotional scenes, Austin played the role as “the straight man” in improv. Like during the carousel voting, we were able to vote for more than two people and I took that not as a technical bug but as foreshadowing that who we choose didn’t really matter to Showfall, which was “confirmed” when they all ended up dead. And how we were able to vote multiple times during the final choice, making me think we had no real choice to begin with. The latter two were being able to experience live, I don’t blame others for not catching them.

Btw for Jack Manifolds interpretation about genloss, this post encapsulates it very nicely. It also happens to be the fourth option on my poll ;)

[sheepmouse]

Not coincidentally‚ most my favorite characters at some point get screwed over by Scrooge.

But on a more serious note, I have a lot of complex feelings and opinions when it comes to the Ducktales reboot. Obviously, it's one of my favorite properties in recent time. It's still my pfp and I'm still making fanart/fics two years after the finale (at a snail's pace, but hey it still counts).

I won't lie though, there are some parts that still rub me the wrong way because they either hand wave or play something related to colonialism/capitalism as a joke. Obviously I can't truly someone's intentions, but considering co-creator Frank Angones is Cuban-American, I would guess some of it was tougue-in-cheek commentary that couldn't be elaborated on due to needing to fit the "disney brand."

Personally, I'll always lay the majority of the blame on disney being too cowardly to allow their recent stories to stray beyond safe kid-friendly messages like "believe in yourself" or "family is the most important thing." Hell, The Owl House is the only disney cartoon I've seen really tackle anti-establishment themes with real nuance and gusto (and it got prematurely cancelled for "not fitting the brand").

Plus with Disney rapidly rising to become one of the biggest entertainment media companies, I wouldn't be surprised if the show was given strict guidelines on how they were to depict Scrooge to possibly help soften their own image.

But this is all my own conjecture, so take it with a grain of salt.

(Sorry for rambling, I was originally just going to comment in the tags, but it got too long. I think the original post is from an old troll account but it's something I've though about a lot and felt like getting off my chest.)

many of the things that are weird and pro-capitalist and pro-colonialist in dt17 are things that are kinda baggage from the past iterations. like scrooge being super rich. but dt17 sure goes to bat for billionaires way more than lot of the other versions of scrooge’s character

dt17 idealizes scrooge. the whole arc of s2 was louie discovering scrooge was the mentor figure he needed to teach him how to be a good billionaire

the characters can only bond via ‘adventure’ aka laboring under their billionaire boss

i never expected a disney cartoon to be radically leftist or in any way genuinely critical of capitalism and i don’t need it to be but huh, the extent of pro-capitalist sentiment in this show is kinda more than necessary and i think people should maybe think about it a bit?

the ways scrooge is painted as ‘the good billionaire’, the way his exploitation is depicted as ‘okay’, how he is contrasted with the villainous rich characters in this show, how the show justifies his ‘treasure hunts’ etc

[communistkenobi]

I think that one thing that makes the MCU different from past franchises like SW is how much it's relying on its conglomerate of Marvel source materials across various mediums. The MCU does not need to establish Peter Parker's Spider-Man or the values that went into creating the character and his canon (as in his comics/cartoons/shows as a whole, not in-universe character continuity) bc its target audience already has a rough concept of the character due to prior exposure to Spider-Man canon/media in pop culture—which means there's just enough of a foundation for the MCU Spider-Man to be widely recognizable as Spider-Man without portraying what makes Peter Parker Peter Parker (poor financial situation from childhood to adulthood, low self-esteem, learning up to stand up to his bullies and his boss, survivor's guilt, etc.) on-screen. But it's like the franchise is then relying primarily on the audience's concept of the character of Spider-Man from exposure to other (including both subjectively and objectively better) versions in other mediums to establish their iteration of the charracter and by extension those films. And that's how adaptations work, of course, but I think the MCU as a whole fails to capitalize on the benefits of adapting into another medium, so all that's left for the critical audience are elements like the military propaganda, the racism and whitewashing, the imperialism apologism, and so on that are consequences of franchising decisions rather than creative decisions.

Like yeah, franchises and fandom aren't new and are direct results of capitalism and mass-media consumption, but the MCU feels like its own special blend within the Marvel franchise (as a whole) in how much it relies on this idea of The Brand and being just recognizable enough that it doesn't (and won't) go further than surface level. It's insular to a degree that I don't know what I can compare it to. I think SW has started to shift toward this template(????) with the D+ shows (well really since Solo), but I don't know how to explain where this shift occurred or where it falls between MCU and traditional franchise media????? Even the DCEU differs enough despite still imo having the mass-produced/soulless/lacking in substance feel. It's like you said, we don't have any specific term that quite defines this yet, and not to be a snob but I really really REALLY hate that I added a yet there even though I know it's only a matter of time.

(Sorry for the rambling, I just really like your analyses, especially where capitalism and fascism intersect even tho I didn't really bring those points up bc I'm not sure what I could contribute in that area lol)

sorry for the late reply i know this was like two days ago now lol

anyway i think my framing of the mcu as uniquely bad is incorrect in the sense of what you said, which is that fandoms and mass media are not new. mcu is just a good shorthand to refer to mass media because its the most glaring and obnoxious example of it.

i also don't want to be ahistorical about it because the first marvel movies weren't like the recent ones, they felt more real in the sense that there was more to them than simple reference. @sashacore made a good point about not categorising art into low/high categories because you can quickly get into reactionary territory. which i don't want to do, obviously, but i'm coming up short on language that describes what im trying to articulate. and i dont think im being reactionary when i say the mcu is devoid of meaning

agh idk i guess i just have a motivated desire to call the mcu uniquely bad in a way. like when scorsese said that the mcu isn't art i want to agree with him. like it literally just feels like an infomercial for capital and empire. if you wanted to point to something as the logical endpoint to art produced with the sole goal of capital accumulation i would point to the mcu. but it's not unique in that sense. the difference is of degree, not kind

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Greetings to you Ms Raven, I hope that you're doing well. It's just that I've read your ramble (I would rather think it's more of an analysis than it's a ramble because your point it's so crystal clear) and I totally agree with your opinion about the said problem. And your post kinda reminds me of what my literature teachers said about capitalism. They usually compare it's like an octopus tentacle as it's sucked onto the others so tightly that you can not pull it out until it has sucked off all of your resources and strength. Which it's kinda ironic when you see Azul is an octo-mer and he's a capitalist??? It's just some afterthought of mine after reading your post that is really not that related to the topic of the ob boys.

[Referencing this post!]

OH DAmN 😂 I remember seeing a bunch of old political cartoons in history class with octopuses representing capitalism… Blast from the past cbsksbwkdvjsbwoen

I guess Azul being a capitalist octopus really was fitting after all… 🧐

[carewyncromwell]

*exhales heavily* Cinderella AU time again...and yes, I am in just as much pain as you are. 

Carewyn’s dress, which she first wore at the Winter Festival several sections back, is once again based on this design. The scene Orion is pictured in above was inspired by a scene from one of my absolute favorite Disney shorts, The Prince and the Pauper. (Yes, turns out a Mickey Mouse cartoon can end up bringing out some real emotions!) The line “have courage and be kind” is also a reference to Disney’s 2015 live action remake of Cinderella. 

Trigger warning for grief, depression, thoughts of suicide, and minor character death. 

Previous part is here -- whole tag is here -- so let’s begin.

x~x~x~x

Carewyn rode without stopping all the way back to the Cromwell estate. Her mind was so dark and her spirit panged with such emptiness and pain that she could hardly have explained why. Perhaps she’d thought to confront Charles. Perhaps she’d thought to demand that he explain why Talbott was wrong -- where he’d really sent Jacob, if not off to War. Perhaps she’d thought to demand the truth. But for her to do that, she’d have to accept that what Talbott said was really true. And if she did that...

Overhead the clouds gathered and grew darker still in the night, rumbling with thunder. By the time Carewyn had reached the capital again, it had started to pelt sleet and rain. 

When Carewyn had arrived at the Cromwell estate, she leapt off her horse in such haste that her foot got caught in the saddle. Loosing her balance and grip, Carewyn fell right off and right into the mud several feet away from the manor’s front stoop. Her horse, startled by the sound of his rider’s cry, gave a whinny, backing up with its hooves padding the muddy earth. 

Carewyn shakily eased herself up out of the mud. One of her slightly-too-big shoes had come off when she fell. She tried to gather enough awareness of her surroundings to retrieve it...but in that moment, she found herself unable to move. The cold of the freezing rain was enough to make anyone feel numb, but combined with the paralyzing despair that clung to her blood like ice, she was just too weak to stand. 

Jacob...Jacob...

Carewyn tried to get up, but her legs quaked under her and she slumped forward. 

I have to get up, she tried to tell herself. I have to be strong. I can’t fall apart...when...

“Jacob needs me. I have to be strong for Jacob.” That was always the thing that kept her from breaking. That was always the thing that helped her stand back up, every time she fell. That was always the thing that convinced her that she could still endure somehow. 

I need to make up for my mistake. I need to bring Jacob home. It’s okay if I can never be free -- it’s okay if I can never be happy again. If I’m a slave to Grandfather the rest of my life, that’s fine, as long as Jacob is...

Carewyn’s hands vaguely clutched at the sleeves of her dress, almost trying to simulate the way Jacob had hugged her nine years ago. 

The memory of her older brother’s arms squeezing her tight always used to bring Carewyn some warmth in the past, even through the pain of how much she missed him. But now...now even that memory could not shake the shuddering cold off of her shoulders. 

A loud crash of lightning overhead spooked Carewyn’s horse. With a scared whinny, it galloped away toward the stable, leaving her alone. Carewyn, however, barely noticed. She was too lost in her own head. 

“My Wyn -- my sweet Wyn -- ”

Jacob’s choked, relieved voice echoed in her ear...only to be replaced with Chester’s recollection of Jacob’s final words.

“‘Wyn. I’ve failed you, Wyn.’”

Carewyn’s heart felt like it was being ripped open. A part of her was gone -- torn out with force. 

No, Jacob. I failed you. It was me. It’s all because of me. 

She was the foolish one, to have ever trusted Charles in anything. She was the ignorant one, to never have questioned his explanation or why she’d never seen a single shred of a letter from Jacob, all those years. She was the stupid one, to not have immediately run after Jacob, rather than stay under Charles’s thumb all that time. She was the pathetic one who’d sold her and Jacob’s souls away...all for nothing.

Jacob did everything he could to try to get away. He must have known he was going to die, but he did everything he could to try to get back to her...while she...she immediately got to work being her family’s servant. She cowardly slunk into the kitchen and obeyed Charles’s will, in the exact moments when Jacob was trying everything he could to reach her. And then, when the spell was broken...he died alone. He died alone, and in chains, bruised and crying...knowing that he’d never see his sister again.

Carewyn had stayed in line hoping to keep Jacob from suffering...but her inaction -- her stupidity -- had made him suffer all the way up until his last breath.

Tears streamed down Carewyn’s face. She felt like claws were tearing at her heart, ripping her apart from the inside. She couldn’t catch her breath. She gritted her teeth, trying to keep herself from sobbing openly, and huddled in on herself. Her soaking hair was coming out of its bun and falling all around her face, but she didn’t even feel it. All she felt was cold and pain and grief and heavy, unnatural gravity. 

You deserve this.

The thought was a whisper in her mind, but it was a knife in her brain and her heart at the same time. 

Jacob died alone. Jacob suffered and died...all because you didn’t...

She shut her eyes, her shoulders quaking. 

You deserve to be alone. You deserve to die alone. 

The voice that had always belonged to that “beast” inside of herself had never been stronger than it was in that moment. Its voice rumbled like the thunder that echoed overhead, and yet it was silent poison in her ear, trickling through to her brain and into her icy blood. 

She screamed. It was all she could do. She screamed in anguish, clutching her own shoulders as her tears muddled with the raindrops sliding down her cheeks. 

Die alone. Die alone. 

Time blurred for Carewyn as she sat in the rain alone. Looking back, she could hardly have said whether it was ten minutes or an entire hour later before anyone approached her. 

“Carewyn!”

Carewyn barely heard the cry of her name. It was as if it’d come from a mile away, in a voice that was vaguely familiar in how misty it was, but echoing with anxiety.

Someone collapsed to their knees in front of her, grabbing hold of her arms and hoisting her upper half back up. Carewyn stiffened like a cat -- when her eyes shot open, they could just barely make out a man with wet hair messily falling into his black eyes. 

“Carewyn,” breathed Orion. 

Carewyn tried to speak, but she couldn’t inhale without choking back a sob. She clenched her teeth harder. 

Orion had been waiting outside the gates of the Royaumanian camp for her, she recalled. He must’ve seen her ride off and immediately followed after her. 

Orion’s face was so pale -- so anxious. It made Carewyn almost ill to see it. Tearing her eyes away, she brought a hand up to his chest and pushed him back away from her. 

“Go away,” she whispered. 

The words were an arrow in Orion’s heart. 

“Carewyn...”

He reestablished his grip on her shoulders. but Carewyn once again pushed at his chest. 

“Leave me!” she rasped. 

Orion, however, only squeezed her more tightly, his eyes flooding with pain and caring. 

“Don’t look at me like that!” she lashed out despite herself, as more tears slid off her lashes. “I told you to leave me! Leave me be...”

Orion amazingly didn’t respond to Carewyn’s temper. Instead he merely steadied his hold on her shoulders, even though his hands were trembling. 

“Carewyn,” he whispered, “your brother...”

“DON’T TALK ABOUT JACOB!”

Carewyn brought both of her hands up and finally shoved Orion off of her. She tried to get up, to put more distance between them, but her legs collapsed out from under her and she fell back into the mud. 

“Carewyn...” said Orion, reaching out to try to help her again, but Carewyn wrenched herself out of his reach. 

“I told you to leave! I don’t want your help -- I don’t want your kindness, or your caring, or your sadness -- ”

"You don’t want them,” said Orion, his voice a bit faster than normal due to the anxiety throbbing through his head and heart, “but I feel them, all the same. Please...won’t you accept them? Accept how sorry I am, that I couldn’t reunite you with him -- that I couldn’t -- ”

“No.”

Carewyn shut her eyes tight, clutching her own shoulders in a vain attempt to make them stop shaking. 

The denial made Orion flinch. “...Why?”

“Because I don’t deserve them!” she shot back, her voice choked with pain. “I don’t deserve your concern -- I don’t deserve your worry -- I didn’t deserve it before, and I don’t deserve it now, so stop trying to give jewels to swine! I will not appreciate them!”

Orion’s black eyes welled up with anguish. 

“My lady -- ” he whispered. 

“NO.”

The title made Carewyn’s eyes flood with fresh tears, her eyebrows knitting tightly over her eyes.

“I’m not your lady -- nor am I anyone’s! I’m not a lady -- I never was! I’m barely even a Cromwell! My mother ran away from home and eloped with a merchant against our family’s wishes -- Grandfather disowned her long before I was born! I’m just as much an outsider to my family as she was -- as Jacob was! I have no dowry, no money, no status -- the only reason I was even at the palace was because Grandfather sent me to work there! I’m a maidservant, a peasant, an orphan...I’m nothing!”

Orion’s eyes were very wide upon Carewyn’s face. He seemed a bit intimidated by her ferocity, but he didn’t recoil. Instead he tried again to reach out. 

“You’re not nothing, Carewyn Cromwell -- you’ve never been nothing...”

He didn’t touch her this time, instead clutching his own hands in his lap, but inched as close to her as she’d let him. 

“Carewyn, I was a peasant myself, until my half-brother, the first Prince, was killed,” he whispered. Once again, the anxiety that made his heart race and his head pound was making him talk in a faster, tenser, rambling voice. “It doesn’t matter to me what you are -- I know who you are, and you’re the furthest thing from nothing to -- ”

“Who I am!” 

Carewyn couldn’t contain her volatile emotions. She clutched at her own face, the nails digging into her skin. 

“Who I am is a SLAVE, Orion! A slave to the Devil I stupidly trusted, thinking he would help my brother...the Devil I stupidly followed the bidding of, trying to get him a crown through my cousins, in the misguided thought that it would spare Jacob from further suffering! And instead...instead all I did was stay in line, march lock-step, for no reason at all! My brother died alone, because of me! I gave up our freedom for nothing!”

Her nails left red marks on her face with the effort of trying to force back her tears. 

“Everything, all of it -- all of this pain is my own fault! All because I couldn’t save Mum or Jacob -- because I was actually stupid enough to believe Grandfather would help me, pathetic enough to become as much of a liar and a fraud as he is -- ”

Orion impulsively unclasped his hands and grabbed hold of hers gripping her face. 

“Carewyn, please,” he choked. His eyes were rippling like turbulent black waves and his voice was strained with anxiety. “This is your inner beast talking, not you. You don’t deserve this pain and grief. You deserve more, so much more -- you deserve to be happy -- you deserve to be free. If I could break your chains, I would -- if I could bring your brother back, I would -- if I could give you the Southern Sea itself for you to sail on, I would -- ”

Orion’s hands were shaking as he tried and failed to peel her hands from her face. He couldn’t bear to see this woman who had always been so strong, who had become an anchor when he’d needed it, so off-balance. He knew he needed to find his center, and try to focus...but how could he, when his center of balance was the cause of his lack of balance? It made it so that all Orion could do was mirror Carewyn, becoming more upset and losing more hope as she did. 

His heartrate was spiking. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to do or say, to fend off the beast assaulting the woman he loved. 

“Please...” Orion whispered, “please don’t hurt yourself like this -- please -- let me help you...”

All of a sudden, a lantern was lit inside the manor. A window opened, and the sound of voices came out of it.

“Who’s there?!” bellowed the voice of Blaise Cromwell.

Carewyn and Orion both stiffened. Orion’s hands tightened on Carewyn’s on her face, but she tore out of his grip again.

“Go,” she said very coldly. 

Orion faltered, his face desperate. “Carewyn -- ”

“Now. Before you’re caught trespassing.”

Despite the coldness of her voice, it was not cruel. It was very quiet and strained, despite its lack of light -- an opaque shadow of her usual voice. 

Orion’s hands were trembling as he impulsively grabbed her hand, bringing it up to his lips. 

“Come with -- ”

But she withdrew her hand. 

“I said go now!” 

Orion closed his eyes, trying to hold in the wounded, miserable flinch that passed over his face. 

It was the first time she’d refused to accept his help at all. When they’d first met, he’d said that if she did refuse his help when it was offered willingly, it would only serve to make her all the more wonderful of a contradiction...but now that she had...it only served to make his heart break. 

She’s in so much pain, he thought. She’s in so much pain, and yet still, even now, she cannot place her well-being over someone else’s. Even now, she sacrifices, and endures, and suffers...even now, she’s so...

Orion was breathing heavily, shakily. His thoughts were racing as fast as his heart, making his brain throb just as badly. 

He was in no state to help her fight her beast in that moment, while fighting his own...especially when she had already surrendered to it. 

And so, Orion did as Carewyn asked. He turned away and ran back to his horse. He climbed back onto its back, flicked the reins, and charged back off into the rain, just as the door of the Cromwell estate opened.

Orion returned to the Florentine capital. He was so off-balance that he didn’t have the heart to try to go look for Andre, KC, Erika, and the Weasleys, to tell them where Carewyn had gone. He didn’t have the heart to face them, knowing that Carewyn’s brother had been killed in a conflict with his own father’s men. (For, as one might recall, Orion never learned the circumstances behind the spell cast to stall Jacob’s death.) 

Orion arrived at the palace soaking wet nearly three hours later, just before midnight. It was fortunate he did, for as soon as he rode in through the gates, a pretty woman with braided blond hair rushed out to him. It was Penny Haywood -- the chief medic from the war front.

“Orion! Thank God you’re back!”

Orion was too emotionally overwhelmed to give her a proper greeting. Instead he tried to detach himself, climbing off his horse and immediately moving toward the stable to tie her up. Penny, however, seized the horse’s reins out of his hand and stepped in front of him. 

“You must go to your father at once,” she said urgently. “He’s up in his chambers -- ”

“I shall speak with him in the morning,” said Orion lowly. He let Penny take his horse -- he couldn’t focus on fighting with her about it. He just had to get somewhere quiet, away from the thunder and pounding thoughts in his head...

“No,” said Penny, her voice very strained. “You must see him now, Orion -- ”

She held onto his horse’s reins as she pursued him and grabbed his shoulder. 

“Orion...the King is dying.”

It seemed that General Parkin hadn’t just been blustering back at the battlefield, when he was trying to coax Orion to return with him to camp. The battle King Cosimo V had prematurely waged against the Royaumanian army had stolen many lives and injured many...the most prominent of which was the King himself. He had been shot several times in the heart, an injury too traumatic to the human body for any of Penny’s potions to heal -- and so all that could be done was stall his death through a spell that temporarily gave him the heart of a pig the army had co-opted from a local farm. Severus Snape, the court magician, had stood by the King in his chambers maintaining the spell, in the hopes that Orion would return in time to say his proper goodbyes. 

Orion found Skye and McNully waiting outside the King’s bedchambers. Skye offered Orion a towel to dry off, but Orion silently shook his head and, with a trembling hand, pushed open the door. 

Snape was sitting at the King’s bedside, his concentration fixed on his spell, but was talented enough of a magician that his focus wasn’t broken when Orion entered the room. 

“Your Highness,” said Snape lowly. “At last.”

Orion clasped his hands in front of him. “Master Snape.”

The court magician’s expression was very stony, but he nonetheless rose to his feet and moved to Orion, his eyes boring into his face solemnly. 

“I shall leave you alone, to speak with him,” he murmured. “Be quick. His time is short.”

Orion closed his eyes, his head falling in something of a half-hearted nod. Snape swept past him, his outer robes billowing behind him like a bat’s wings, and he closed the large door behind him with a soft, but resounding boom. 

Orion’s hands were very clammy. He squeezed them tightly, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth in a vain attempt to calm his racing heart. 

“Cosimo...?”

His father’s voice came out very hushed. Orion’s eyes shot open, startled and dismayed. 

“Be quick,” the memory of Snape’s voice urged him again.

Taking a deep breath, Orion swept over to his father’s bedside, sitting down in the chair that Snape had been sitting in before. 

The King of Florence lay limply in bed, his green eyes half-mast upon Orion’s face. When his son approached, something in them softened. 

“Cosimo,” he murmured. “You’re safe...”

Orion nodded. “Yes.”

The King closed his eyes, his expression breaking into a relieved smile. Orion swallowed back the lump in his throat. 

“Father,” he said quietly, “I didn’t know you were injured -- if I had, I would’ve come to the camp straightaway...”

“I’m grateful for that,” said the King. “Under the circumstances...I’m afraid I did wonder.”

Orion’s black eyes grew a little smaller. “You believed I wouldn’t care, if you died?”

The King’s face grew very somber as he slowly opened his eyes again. “Not believed. Simply wondered. And...perhaps understood the logic of it.”

Orion’s eyebrows knit together over his eyes with confusion and upset. “Well, I’m afraid I fail to.”

The King sighed. 

"...You have never had an easy life, Cosimo,” he said lowly. “I knew it long before you became Prince, and yet I did nothing to mitigate it. I was never a father to you, when you were young. I never gave you anything but a paltry allowance, to make sure you were clothed and fed. All because I chose my duty to our people and country over my love for your mother.”

Orion squeezed his own hands tightly. 

“I do not resent you for that,” he murmured. “You couldn’t abandon your responsibility...nor your first son. If you’d done what Mother had intended, and cast aside your wife and my half-brother so that I would be sole prince and heir, I’m certain you would’ve had just as many regrets. My half-brother would’ve been the one in my place...and after having actually known you as a father, that would’ve been far more crippling to his sense of balance -- to his identity and his life.”

His black eyes softened sadly. 

“I’m not foolish enough to think that Mother was right, to expect you to choose her ambitions over your duty. She should never have put you in the position to make such a choice...least of all by giving me your name, so that everyone would know I was meant to be a replacement for your first son...who I know you loved more than anyone else. I’ll always love and miss my mother...but she never learned that one can’t love another person by forcing them to choose between two sides of their heart.”

The memory of Carewyn crumpled over in grief in response to her brother’s death rippled over his mind again. 

I couldn’t tell her not to grieve for him. I couldn’t disrespect her, by refusing to leave, when she told me to...by forcing her onto my horse and stealing her away...

His heart clenched. 

Even so...I wish I did. I wish I wasn’t such a coward that I didn’t just refuse to leave her side, no matter what she or her family said...no matter what happened...

But Royaume and Florence were still at war, despite everything. If he’d stayed and been arrested or gotten into a physical altercation with Carewyn’s family, what would that have helped? Who would it have helped? 

The King’s green eyes trailed over Orion’s face, slightly awed. Then they melted, rippling like emeralds under candlelight, and he reached out a hand through the bed curtains toward Orion. 

“...You truly have become so wise, Cosimo,” he whispered, his eyes sliding closed. “So wise...”

After a brief hesitation, Orion shakily detached his hands and took his father’s in both of them. 

“You...will be a great king, my son.”

Orion’s eyes fell down to his father’s hand. 

“I’m not ready,” he confessed. 

“No prince is.”

King Cosimo squeezed his son’s hands, the tension flooding out of his shoulders. 

“Tell me about her,” he murmured.

“About Mother?” asked Orion.

The King shook his head. “No. The lady you wrote of, in your letter. The Royaumanian.”

Orion’s heart felt like it had been dunked in water. It sparked some adrenaline and made his heart race, yes...but it was still so cold...

“She’s...”

Orion closed his eyes. He inhaled and exhaled several times to try to steady his heartrate. 

“...a robin in a cage, Father.”

The King didn’t respond. Orion pressed on. 

“She has a frame so small and fragile that anyone could underestimate her...but her soul has wings strong enough to take flight, if she so chose. Her feathers sheen with light and color, yet they pale in the face of the brilliance of her eyes. She flits about with courage and agility. She has a heart too large for her red breast to contain...and so she sings. Oh, how she sings! Her song could soothe the most savage beasts...and they have, in the hearts of men. It can bring people together -- inspire hope for a future that had seemed impossible. And...”

He swallowed.

“...she’s selfless. The bravest, kindest, most selfless person I’ve ever met in my life. Nothing frightens her. Nothing intimidates her. No pain is one she won’t endure...so long as the people she loves thrive. As long as she can bring others happiness...she’ll take every bit of pain onto her own shoulders, take the brunt of the whole world’s ire...just so that no one else has to. She’ll help a complete stranger simply because they need help...and yet never demand a single thing for herself. All because, even with how wonderful and good of a person she is...she still somehow sees herself as unworthy.”

His voice had become very hushed. 

“Her standards...are higher than I could ever fathom.”

“I can imagine.” 

The King’s hand squeezed Orion’s hands lightly. 

“She truly has inspired you, Cosimo. I realize now that you never wished to be a King of War, as I have been...but she was the one who encouraged you to fight for that wish, regardless of the risk. When I first read your letter...I was so blinded by my own fears...of losing you, as I had your brother...that I could only read your words as evidence that an infatuation had caused you to recklessly put yourself in danger...just as I might have, as a young man. But now...now I only regret that I won’t get to meet Lady Cromwell myself.”

He opened his eyes, and to Orion’s surprise, they’d started to flood with tears. 

“I understand the pain of loving someone who you’re not free to be with,” said the King. “I lament that you must know it too...but from the sound of things...your lady knows love better than either I or your mother did.”

He actually gave a choked laugh. 

“Please consider courting her -- I’d love knowing my son had a queen like that, by his side.”

Orion wanted to smile in return, but he just couldn’t. 

Somewhere far away, a clock began to toll the hour. The sound made Orion’s heart clench with anxiety. 

“No...”

He looked at his father. As the second toll gonged, the King clutched his chest. The third and fourth tolls prompted the wounds in his chest to start reopening.

“My time is up, Cosimo,” the King said solemnly. 

“No,” said Orion again, “no...not yet...”

“It’s all right.”

The sixth gong made the blood blossom up out of the wounds in his chest. Despite the pain he was clearly in, King Cosimo faced Orion with a very brave, firm expression.

“You must promise,” he told him, and his voice came out as a rasp, “promise me you’ll rule Florence from your heart...justly...and wisely.”

Orion felt like his racing heart was stuck in his throat. 

“...I promise,” he said at last. 

“Follow...your lady’s example. Have courage...and be kind.” 

“I will. I promise.” 

The tenth toll of the clock made blood spill out the side of the King’s mouth, but he forced a smile all the same, even as tears streamed from his eyes. 

“...I’ve...never been more proud...to be your father.” 

He kept his eyes on Orion’s face all the way up until the last stroke of midnight. His eyes remained there even after all of the light had left them and he had taken his final breath. 

Orion’s hands were shaking as he held his father’s limp hand. He bowed his head, closing his eyes, and sat there in silence. He breathed in through his nose, out through his mouth, for a very long moment. 

Florence...its people, its land, was solely his responsibility now. 

His shoulders suddenly felt so heavy -- as if he were suddenly Atlas, with the weight of the world resting upon him. It was suffocating, but it was also devastating...for no man could hope to run free, carrying such a heavy burden. He wouldn’t be able to leave Florence as he pleased any longer. He wouldn’t be able to escape from his duties for a day, or make believe he was anything other than what he was. 

Carewyn couldn’t fly because she was in a cage. And now...Orion couldn’t fly because he bore a weight too heavy for him to carry. 

It was only when the door of the chambers opened several minutes later and Skye, McNully, Penny, and Snape all reentered that Orion raised his head. He looked over his shoulder at them, his face very restrained and calm, even though his black eyes were shining with unshed tears. 

Skye immediately ran over to Orion and threw her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his shoulder and squeezing tight. McNully wheeled right up beside Orion too, his own eyes full of tears. For once, he didn’t seem to know what to say.

The door inched a bit more open, and Orion caught sight of Lord Malfoy coming to stand in the door frame. Although he was dressed in black and tried to appear solemn, however, his cold gray eyes were glinting with an odd kind of satisfaction. 

Lord Malfoy had certainly not planned for things to unfold as they did...but the wealthy businessman wasn’t unhappy at the thought of the King who’d been too noble for his own good being replaced with an ignorant bastard peasant. 

Orion released King Cosimo’s hand at last to hug Skye in return. Then, detaching himself from her, he rose from the chair and moved over to the bed so he could bring up a hand and gently close his father’s eyes. 

“The King is dead,” Snape said solemnly, his eyes locked solidly on Orion as the Crown Prince faced him. “Long live the King.”

[cometcrystal]

favorite & least favorite scooby monsters by series

stipulations: the racist ones (zen tuo, the witch doctors, etc) would all get “least fav” by default so i’m gonna exclude them from this list so i’m not being redundant. we all know the racist ones are the worst. so these are my least favs that aren’t like. problematic.

ALSO it has to be a person in disguise OR an actual monster. it can’t be a villain that’s grounded in reality. so while i love professor huh, he doesn’t count here cause he’s a human and just Like That. likewise, i hate pericles, but he doesn’t count here cause he’s a bird and thus neither a guy in a mask nor a monster

sdway

fav - honestly a tie between the space kook and charlie. literally the GOATs. legends. 

least fav - THE ZOMBIE. FUCK THAT THING I HATE IT SO MUCH IT DOES NOTHING AND YET IT GETS MERCH

new sd movies

fav - moat monster. its just a big ol frog!

least fav - the ghost of redbeard. come the fuck on guys

the rest under the cut

tsds

fav - 10000 volt ghost and the technicolor ghosts. ik theyre just recolors of the giggling green ghosts but THEYRE ICE CREAM THEMED!! the creepy heap from the deep is also scary to me like if i saw him i’d run. honorary mentions are the skeleton men bc theyre cyclops but scooby doo doesnt care about calling stuff what it is and i think its funny and also i like the pterodactyl ghost. this show had a lot of good monsters

least fav - the rambling ghost. i dont dislike him but i dont rly DISLIKE any of the monsters from this series so i just picked the sports-themed one

scooby & scrappy

fav - the star creature. this thing is SO damn cool and unique. i also like the neon phantom because... what a weird concept

least fav - the blue scarab. BORING

new scooby & scrappy

fav - i guess the great white shark wins be default because i dont really care abt any of the others from this series. this show’s strength was daphne being back, not the monsters

least fav - phantom of the soaps. what a fucking loser

new sd mysteries 

im gonna keep it real with you chief! i was looking over the list of monsters and i literally dont remember a damn thing about any of them so i must have been disassociating for this entire series

13 ghosts

fav - DEMONDO. a comic book monster??? GOD thats so cool

least fav - nekara. dont take van ghoul away from his kids they need their dad

pup

fav - stinkweed cause i think its one of the only plant monsters scooby has had so far. also the design is very good

least fav - headless skateboarder. simon seville voice marijuana an unlawful substance used to experience artificial highs

wnsd

fav - the leeland brothers but i think its just because i love the chase song from that episode. also the mystery machine because i like when the mystery machine becomes evil and twisted. AND the toxic terror because fight capitalism + good design

least fav - headless snowman. it’s not even headless for god’s sake

sdmi

fav - the entity is honestly a shoo-in. name another scooby villain more evil and with as much impact. honorary mentions are the ghost truck, junk, the horrible herd, and the cicada monolith for some truly unique and scary monster concepts, and to the manticore for being marcie. sdmi had a TON of good ones

least fav - daphne’s writing wakka wakka. for real though fuck the dandy highwayman

bcsd

fav - the ghost of mother wins by FAR. probably the only tv scooby monster that actually legit creeped me out. also the rebooted space kook bc he’s had a glo up. bcsd also has a ton of good monsters!

least fav - the yeti bc the joke about it making no sense was funny but also the yeti itself doesn’t really do that much

guess who 

fav - i love the just so fucked up and twisted sia. its just sia but now shes evil. ALSO the screaming skulls of london & the dinosaurs in weird al ep are very good

least fav - the man-bat because it’s not even the actual dc man-bat it’s just the fucking joker again

scrappy era movies

fav - mirror shaggy. WAY better than werewolf shaggy imo

least fav - i wish i could bash in the skulls of reluctant werewolf’s version of count dracula and his two minions

zombie island era

fav - giant turkey :) & phantom virus! extremely cool monster he’ll zap ya!

least fav - as much as i LOVE the visceral horror and discomfort when fred rips off the zombie’s head cause he thought it was a mask, i just dont care about any of the monsters in zombie island

wnsd movies

fav - the loch ness monster. GENUINELY impressive. also the ghost of cleopatra bc god queen shit. bonus points go to everything in the goblin king

least fav - the chupacabra because THE CUPACABRA IS A DEMON DOG, NOT A BIGFOOT!!! and the yowie yahoo because THE YOWIE IS A BIGFOOT, NOT A VAMPIRE!!! literally how hard is it to do a google search before you design a monster

2002 & monsters unleashed

fav - its gotta be the 10000 volt ghost again. he’s my man

least fav - THE ZOMBIE!!!!!! FUCK THIS THING AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

cartoon network live actions

fav - the ghosts in the first movie SO good guys theyre SO good

least fav - shelma

2010s dtv movies

fav - THE PHANTOSAUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELL YES & the red ghost from the bobby flay movie is also extremely good imo i LOVE its design. & the multiple phantoms in stage fright. literally name something more iconic than the multiple phantoms

least fav - the big top werewolf.......scooby doo one of the things i love most dearly about you is when you make out-of-place monsters WORK (ex. a gryphon in a stage magic movie) but i really want something more exciting for a circus movie

dtv 20min shorts

fav - cornfield clem is my boy because i never cared about scarecrows before i saw this and he made me care. he and the scarecrow in scary stories to tell in the dark both showed me scarecrows can be interesting. thank u clem i love you.

least fav - i like all these monsters but ill list the sea monster here because just drink him up lol

[koutaroulogy]

𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐊𝐘𝐔𝐔 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐍𝐄𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐒 (𝐰/ 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭)

but fr- this is just a bunch of headcanons out of a brainrot keke

↳ 𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐊𝐈 𝐕𝐁𝐂 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌

- ROBIN HOOD

- YES ROBIN HOOD

- and i mean the 70's cartoon.

- like look at this boi down here-

- he's pretty please 😩🤼‍♀️

- i have a thing for foxes and my first love was robin hood until nick wilde came and took his place.

- the whole inarizaki volleyball team stole nick wilde's place easily 😋

- anyway- yes robin hood.

- the story of robin hood was the depiction of anarchy and capitalism in cartoon form. again- you cannot convince me otherwise

- because prince john and his stupid ass taxes- and other than that- you 'borrow' from the rich and you give it to the poor.

- now that my ramble is over LET'S GET TO THE SIMPING HEADCANNONS HSBEBD

- atsumu. piss hair baby is the main character. his forlorn ass will be knighted robin hood.

- he'd fit in right exactly where it hits: the charm, the ambition, the cunningness, the dorkiness, the recklessness and the fox eyes all in one is just- 😩

- although leggings wouldn't exactly look good on him do they come in men sizes? WHEEZE

- while atsumu's busy basking in the spotlight and being an attention whore i'm a whore for tsumu too- osamu is just little john rolling his eyes and saying 'here we go again'

- i don't think his john is little though- AAKBSBSBS I'LL STOP I'LL STOP

- the one who'd suit prince john is surprisingly suna.

- he can be the snarkier version of prince john since the cartoon version of him was pretty lame even though he was funny.

- he'd be tired but he'll also be pretty eager for any deets going on in nottingham

- akagi is his counselor and gives him advice since he's the one who tends to remind him of what he's forgotten to do when kita or aran ain't around.

- and yes- the role of the sheriff of nottingham goes to big bad ginjima <3

- loves the look but hates his role

- ngl he'd look hot with that hairstyle dho-

- kita-san is pure. he is holy. we worship this man daddy in this household. and this man is bringing friar tuck

- lowkey suits the role dho- keke

- and of course, aran is the very famed and novle king richard <3

-i can really see aran as the king rather than kita because oijiro has this certain manliness to him that i can't really explain since writing this certain part i've been making wild gestures in a futile attempt to find words pardon me

- riseki is a precious person please protect him 🥺

- i thought he might be one of the villagers when fr i think he might be friar kita's assistant 🥺

- protecc this boy he's very pessimistic you see 🥺🛐

- omimi has a vvy scary face so if we clone him he'll be a palace guard aye-

- and don't get me started on maid marian my dear <3

- you- my dear reader, will be the maid marian to atsumu's robin hood.

- don't worry we won't be meek and a bit naive like her- instead, we will be the ones who will escape the tower on our own and be an absolutely beautiful person who can kick ass <3

- we are the absolute embodiment of anarchy <33

- "whaddya know? we're about to have an outlaw for an inlaw!"

- "oijiro-"

tsumu be the romantic interest in dis one- pls, just wait till i make an osamu or kita one for this bad bish 😼

[wanderinginksplot]

Clone Trooper Rambles

The misadventurous mixture of an overactive imagination, a Clone Wars obsession, and a boring yet high-stress life. Basically, I’m an adult with a group of armored, highly trained imaginary friends. This is the stuff that happens.

Kix Hates My Lunch

It all started with Kix. I shouldn’t have really been shocked. Too many days in quarantine had left me bored and frustrated with the worldwide virus response, and I started thinking about how a medical professional I actually trusted would handle it. The fact that the only medical professional I trusted was a character from a children’s cartoon was also a problem, but Kix seems like he would be smart enough to get things done right.

Mistake number one.

Next, I started writing down some ideas for Kix-based one-shots. Those quickly snowballed into fully written one-shots and their number started to grow almost daily. I started reading more clone-based fics and planning out additional content of my own.

Mistake number two.

When I finally got the call to return to work, I was nervous. We’re busy, almost constantly packed with people and I didn’t see any real chance of that changing. Capitalism is a powerful thing to those who benefit. I was scared, wishing for a sense of confidence and security that could help me through those first few days back.

Mistake number three.

When I got to work, they were there. I saw clones patrolling the area, listened to them talk to each other, and took comfort from their presence. It doesn’t really matter how I started talking with them, but I did and Kix soon became one of the troopers I spent the most time with.

Kix is judgmental. It’s because he cares, but it’s a bit stressful. He urges me to sleep more, drink more water, wear more sunscreen. I try, but who really has the time? 

I’ll never forget the first time Kix came with me while I ate my lunch. As I pulled out a plastic baggie filled with trail mix, I could feel the horrified stare, but busied myself opening my water bottle so I could start to rehydrate in the air-conditioned space.

“What the kriff is this?” he asks (a little harshly, if you ask me).

“Trail mix,” I answer simply, silently. I never speak out loud, but the clones always seem to hear me.

“And what else are you going to eat?” It’s a dangerous question, with an even more dangerous answer.

“Nothing.”

Kix doesn’t disappoint. In fact, he pushes his chair back so he has room to stand up again and start pacing. “Nothing? Are you karking serious? Do you even know how much trail mix you would have to eat to get the calories you need? Especially if you’re going to work for the rest of the day?”

“It’s hot outside,” I explain as patiently as I can. Conversing with an imaginary medic wasn’t particularly how I wanted to spend my lunch break, but he was here and demanding answers. “If I eat too much, I’ll feel sick when I go back to work. I eat something small and drink a lot of water, then I go home and eat again when I’ve showered and cooled down.”

“You’re going to pass out,” Kix tells me, voice matter-of-fact. 

I would almost have believed him, except that… “I do this all the time, Kix. The last time I had a big lunch at work, I almost did pass out. This is what works. Trust me.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Well, so much for trust. “Your bedside manner sucks.”

“I’m trying to keep you out of a hospital bed!” Kix snaps. 

“I’m not going to pass out, Kix. I am going to get cranky if you keep pestering me about it. I have work I need to do while I’m not… working. Schoolwork. It’s due soon and I need to get it done while I have a few minutes.”

“Yeah, add stress to the mix, that’ll help everything,” Kix says snarkily. 

I can tell from his voice that he’s moving further away from me and closer to the door, but I’m focused on my phone and refuse to look at him. After he’s gone, I pop the baggie open and start to read my assignments for the week as I enjoy my trail mix in peace.

*fin*

Next | Masterlist 

A/N - for full authenticity, read all titles for this story while thinking really hard about the theme song for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.