#seeing the behind the scenes look for the cartoon with the voice actors

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

Dudes, the entire Sonic Boom franchise turns 10 YEARS OLD this month....

The cartoon turns 10 on the 8tb while Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal is on the 11th

HOW THE HELL HAS IT BEEN 10 YEARS ALREADY?!? WTF-

[steven1123x]

Behind The Scenes - Chapter 30: Meet The Cast

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October 28, 2013

Steven was at the studio to meet his co-stars, Tomorrow they were going to start shooting for the show.

A lot has happened in a year, he is officially a teen, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, Greg, and Rose all drove to the Cartoon Network movie lot, They parked at the gate.

“Oh, you're here to see Rebecca?” Buttercup asked them. Steven nods. Buttercup raised the gates to let them drive through.

Steven and everyone stepped out and they all saw Rebecca.

“Hey, Rebecca!” Steven chirped.

“Hello, Rebecca,” Pearl said, shaking the director's hand Garnet waved. Rose hands her a box.

“Hope this is no trouble, but I got you something from my bakery,” she said, Rebecca opened it, it was one of her homemade cakes.

“Aww, Rose. thank you. By the way, who’s watching the shop for you?”

“Oh, Shay and my staff are,” she said. Greg nodded in agreement with his wife that it was a smarter option than to close for a few months. Or if the show goes well — years.

“Come, I want you all to meet your co-workers,” she said, walking to the cafetera. Steven sees two teens

His gaze fell on the first teen. She was a lively presence, short and heavyset, with fair skin that seemed to glow under the warm lights. Her curly blonde hair bounced slightly as she moved, framing her face. The bold "LOS ANGELES" emblazoned on her shirt caught his eye, and he couldn’t help but notice her casual blue jean shorts paired with classic Nike low tops — an effortlessly cool look that radiated comfort and confidence.

Next, Steven's attention shifted to another teen male. He was the kind of guy who stood out in a crowd, lanky and slim, with a height that gave him an air of confidence. The boy sported a distinctive mohawk, his curly auburn hair styled boldly, while the tunnels in his stretched earlobes added an edge to his appearance. The white Miami Heat jersey he wore looked well-loved, complementing his ripped dark blue jeans that spoke of a laid-back style. Completing his outfit were mint and dark-green high-top sneakers, vibrant and eye-catching, giving him a youthful vibe.

The contrast between both of them was striking, yet there was a magnetic energy about them that made Steven eager to get to know them both.

Steven walks up to them, sitting at a table. “Oh, hello,” Sadie said.

“Hi, I’m Steven!”

“I’m, Sadie. That’s Lars.

“What’s up?” Lars said, giving him a fist bump.

“I’m fine.” he smiled. Lars nodded and looked at Rebecca walking to them.

“Hey, Rebecca,” Sadie said. “So, he’s going to be our Co-worker?”

“Yes, and the show’s name is going to be named Steven Universe.” Steven’s eyes

were starry and he whispered: “Awesome…” he said.

Rose smiled and giggled at her son.

Steven smiles and hugs his mom. Rebecca went to her office to grab some things, Steven talked to Lars and Sadie. Then, Ameythest notices someone, She was sitting by herself and was eating a sandwich

The woman she saw has tangerine skin with reddish-orange markings on her face and arms. She has amber eyes and plump lips. Her gemstone is located where a normal nose would be. She has thick, beige-white-colored flowing hair. Physique-wise, she is the archetype Quartz Gem soldier; she has a muscular body and stands both taller and wider than Garnet, an indication of her immense strength and durability.

Ameythest walked to her. She looks down at her.

“What?”

“Um…Hi, are you one of the new actors too?” she asked. The woman scoffed.

“Why would you want to know?” she said in a gruff voice.

“I was just asking,” Ameythest said.

“Get away from me.” Amber eyes glare at her. Ameythest backed away from the table and walked back to Steven Greg, Rose, Lars, and Sadie.

Rebecca walked into the cafetera with some scripts in hand. Steven watched her give them to the cast, they were for the first episode, So. That woman sitting alone wasn’t going to be in this episode.

Steven reads his script as Rebecca hands Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Sadie, and Lars' scripts. Greg wasn’t getting one either because he was going to be introduced in episode two of the show.

“Alright guys, you all got your scripts for the show?” Rebecca asked.

“Yeah!” All of them said. Lars puts his into his backpack and zips it up. He slung his backpack on his shoulder and stood up, Sadie did too.

Steven handed his script to his mother. Rose reads it. it was printed on white paper, In the middle of it read ‘Steven Universe’ Under that it said ‘Directed by Rebeccas Sugar.’

“Alright guys, you can go, make sure that you highlight your lines and study them, we are going to begin shooting next week.” their new director said. Steven and the others nod.

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Clarence, Jeff, and Sumo were over Steven’s house, they were in Steven’s room. Steven sat on his bed. The now fifteen-year-old boys were helping Steven study his lines for the very first episode of his show.

Jeff took a look and read it. “So… The first episode is going to be about….” he paused and continued. “Ice cream?”

“That’s pretty, cool Steven!” Clarence said, spinning in his desk chair.

“Yeah! And there’s bug monsters in it!” Sumo said excitedly, taking his script from Jeff’s hands.

“Sumo!” Jeff sighed, annoyed.

Steven was lying on his stomach on his bed with his legs in the air.

“Yeah!” he said. Steven was excited to be working on the show, he still can’t believe that it’s going to be in a week! this is going to be so much fun for him and the others!

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Steven was in bed, He highlighted and studied his lines, he was going next door over to Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst were coming too, so they could study together.

Steven closed his eyes, he felt his body heat under the covers as he went to sleep.

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A\N: This is IT! The next chapter will be the shooting of the show! And I can’t WAIT! I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me through this, with everything going on around the world the news being on 24/7 and people constantly talking about these things and these issues…. So, I needed an escape from all of the craziness and stuff. If you want to DM me my Discord is in my bio because my DMs are closed. Thank you and see you in the next chapter, I love you all.

[hostilemuppet]

miss seeing behind the scenes of cartoons and the voice actors just look like regular people youd see at a sports direct. now even if theyre not Famous Live Actors (that are brought in for star points despite them being two very different skills) they still look fake as fuck. WHERE is my average joe representation

[edenmar]

I’m interested in animation because I’ve always loved watching so many different animations growing up, and I love how different animators have unique styles. I love how some animations can have the most childish art style, yet have the most deepest stories behind them / hidden in them. I never did pay much attention to the work of detail in the art styles growing up, but now that I’m older, I try to see every detail and really appreciate it, even the smallest details.

My 3 favourite animated things are:

1. Adventure Time. I’ve always loved Adventure Time because almost all of the characters make me laugh so much. The show is a mix of funny episodes like Finn and Jake playing this card game that went super extreme. I remember the animations of that card game made it look so intense. And I remember this scene that had no dialogue because Finn and Jake had to be quiet, and the animations of them made me laugh so hard, I even have the clip saved on my phone. I remember Jake got bit by a spider, but he couldn’t make any noise so they just animated him silently screaming in pain and crying. Yet, it also has the saddest backstories for some characters like: Marceline and Ice King. I remember telling people in my class in grade 3 that I watched Adventure Time, and someone called it a “boys only show” and them saying that made me insecure . And I never understood why they said that, I still don’t understand why!

2. Avatar: The Last Airbender. I absolutely love ATLA with my whole entire heart. I’m sure I’ve rewatched it like 50 times by now. I remember me and my little cousin would test each other on memorizing the dialogue and what movement the characters do in the next scene coming up, hahah. I love the art style so much but in my opinion, it’s more than just a cartoon. The backstories of literally ALL the characters make me feel bad for them, even the villains (Except Ozai, I will never feel bad for that guy 😆). I think the last few episodes, the animations blew me away. The fight between Aang and Ozai looked so intense with all the movement they were doing and when he was taking away his bending and going into avatar state. And the Agni Kai between Azula and Zuko was amazing! The way the lightning and orange/blue fire was animated was so amazing. During sad scenes, the way they animated their faces when they cry or show vulnerability, it really made me feel for them. Plus all of the voices actors are amazing. I’ve cried over this show because I really felt it in my heart.

3. Five Nights at Freddy’s. If I could get into the storyline and lore behind FNAF, I think this post would be as long as the bible. It’s so sad knowing that these “scary animatronics” are actually kids/people who got murdered. The way they animated the jump scares in this game is great, it’s fast and surprising and I love how we can even see the inside details of the animatronics sometimes. Some animatronics may fool you with their cutesy exterior, but they can have the scariest jump scare / be the hardest boss to beat. The music is great, SFX even greater, but the art style is amazing. I really wish that I could just know how the artists came up with all the different ideas for the different characters and scenery. Also the voice acting is on a whole other level. So good!

[cheswirls]

a:tla la thoughts 1.3

oh my god i forgot abt cabbage man being introduced in omashu. he was at the gate but he didnt' say anything! i was waiting for that scream. hopefully next time

oh is this jet. at first i thought it was haru but the shorter hair. sokka's immediate disapproval. this is jet huh. ok. ok i see you

NOOOOOOOOOOO he didnt say it aaaaaa whyyyyyy theyre teasing meeeeeee

OH they're putting this kid in the first season < i said that they looked it up and they do visit the northern air temple in s1. the fact that he and assumedly his father are in omashu instead is. hm. a choice.

jet also being in omashu is weird considering they made it a point to say there's no fire nation presence in omashu. what business does he have here. like why. that's his whole thing. hunting soldiers.

teo's design is sick tho, love the hair. love the goggles. thought his father caused that explosion but if not that was a weird way to show katara and aang are benders.

OH ok now i get it. jet and co are bombing parts of the city as a way for the ppl to rise up. trying to drag omashu into the war. i do like that if that's the case. good angle

i!!!!!!! don't like mai's hair. are they like space buns? what was wrong with her original hair? they had that sort of ornate hairstyle down for suki's mom. i like thalia tran's voice but the hair is rly throwing me off, not to mention the scene they're all introduced in is rly dark for some reason????? if it's colored black i cannot see it.

ty lee is cute tho!!! and i do like azula so far. i like them all so far. just not mai's hair.

hehe :) the cabbages

i don't rly have full context so idk that i can give a complete opinion based on conjecture. the significance behind having teo and sai inhabit the northern air temple was about sharing culture and more than just idk... sai giving weapons to the fire nation to protect their livelihood. like that is a part of it, sure, but by removing the setting, it's taking away a lot of nuance the whole situation had.

jet and co being behind the bombs makes sense but idk in what context. if they're tailing fire nation spies outside (outside???? or does omashu having a woodsy side to it where they've set up camp and i just missed it?) the city to eliminate them, then why also bomb them inside the city? that part to me still seems like indiscriminate attacks meant to incite the army to fight. but i will hold back bc i dont wanna give these writers credit if thats not the case and its smth stupid instead rhgowhgqeg

speaking of stupid. can we live in an era (as someone who knows very little about showrunning) where actors voice if something pertaining to their character is bad or doesn't make sense. didn't emilia clarke wander around london or whatever in absolute turmoil bc she hated the ending for her character in game of thrones but in the end she still went thru w it bc what else could she do. i wanna live in a world where an actor reads a script or tries to act smth out and stops and goes no. no this is stupid i don't like this he would not say that. and it like, have weight and significance?? like if bad writing exists, instead of letting it slide, can ppl in the making of the show voice their opinions? if smth is bad then it's bad.

this is all bc of the senseless iroh pushing zuko to the ground and drawing attn to himself scene at the end of e3. like why. the gate was right there. no one was checking faces. cover zuko's head again and run out in the crowd. do anything aside from the needless sacrifice like what was the point, whyyyyyy, i don't understand.

(this was an interesting mashup episode but tbh all i was thinking thru watching it was 'wow! ppl who get into atla thru the netflix adaptation r gonna be so confused when they watch the cartoon and learn jet and teo are introduced at different points of the season from each other and omashu. completely different points. omashu is first half, jet is middle, teo and sai are end. not a bad thing it was just jarring to think abt.)

once again i do not like anything they've done with iroh's character.

idk i'll probably go in depth next episode when everything hopefully gets explained better but. maybe bc they're making atla into a drama instead of the action/adventure it was originally, they feel like everything has to be "dramatized" and it's sucking the soul out of the show? the comedy isn't there really, which is a shame. atla's comedy is like the golden standard of cartoon kids-rated comedy. i would've loved to see them get into omashu by disguising aang and katara running with the absurd surname and that whole element, instead of sneaking in with jet with what tries to be humor maybe but falls short of such. this show needs to be funnier to be successful in my eyes.

also i know i said this last time but i wanna say it again re: the change in genre. taking this show from a global journey adventure serial and trying to make it a drama is removing a lot of what made atla work so well. there was so much planning and nuance in everything, and it worked bc of the genre it fit into. trying to slice and dice certain elements of a season to fit a not even 8 hr runtime isn't great to begin with, but like. you can make the show more adult-oriented without changing what it is at its core, y'know?

now that there's definitely gonna be a good chunk of next episode also set in omashu, i rly hope there's some nod to haru and that it's not smth they cut entirely. tbh, i said everything connects throughout atla's three seasons, and this rly makes me wonder if they get a s2, what they're planning on doing then. i thought before this came out that if they were gonna cut anything, that i actually didn't care for jet's episode that much, but if you cut out jet, then you get rid of one of the more iconic scenes of s2, if not the whole show, where he's being brainwashed by the dai li. everything connects. the friends you make along the way come back to lend their assistance. i really hope the rest of what they'll do with omashu is decent and not wasted time.

[spider-xan]

Apparently msm2017 gets better in the writing department, but I couldn't bear watching through that slog. I barely got past three episodes, I just couldn't stand the stilted dialogues and them turning Peter into that awful nerd stereotype that can't talk like a normal person and has to use scientific terms in every sentence. His design looks too much like Ben 10 and I just can't look past that.

The whole "everyone is a genius" thing really annoyed me too. Every characters feels the same, and they know the solution to everything because they're Smart. They got a packed cast full of A-list voice actors but they all sound so wrong, as if the voice director didn't give a damn. I did hear some horror stories from behind the scenes like tons of miscommunication and corporate meddling. And apparently the storyboard artists were confused as hell too, because the finished product didn't reflect what they planned. That would explain some of the weird decisions.

Hopefully, Freshman Year will be a better Spider-Man show. I am very intrigued by the artstyle and the premise of Norman Osborn wanting Peter to become his protegé.

The writing getting better later sounds like what basically happened with the USM cartoon as well, but yeah, I just could not get through the first episode where Peter's characterization was a one-note cliche teen movie nerd turned up to eleven instead of feeling like Peter in spirit (and I'm someone who seems to be more flexible than average, re: adaptations taking liberties with the source material) and the writing and art style were just not good - like, aside from looking cheap, the character designs for Peter and Harry in particular were so generic that if you showed them to me out of context, I never would have guessed it was them, which to me is a failure of good character design for well-established pop culture characters.

I heard that the creative team was forced to include a lot of the science stuff for whatever reason - since the show doesn't interest me, I haven't really looked into it's development much myself - so that's probably part of why the writing was clunky, but yeah, I wasn't a fan of the everyone being a science genius high school student attending a science genius high school concept either precisely bc it homogenizes the cast - at least with the everyone is a superhero thing in the USM cartoon, there's more variation in skill sets and personalities.

Anyway, omg this Ask is barely a week old and the Freshman Year part is already outdated bc the show now has a new title and a new studio is doing the animation with a possibly completely different art style kggdhjj, but yeah, the Norman aspect could definitely be interesting, but yeah, we'll see when it's another D*sney Spider-Man cartoon and as we have seen from both USM and MSM2017, even if the creative team has good ideas and the voice cast is phenomenal, there is probably going to be the usual corporate meddling, unfortunately.

[skullaton]

Little Lambs

(Unedited) Excerpt:

Static rippled across the CRT TV as the faint whirr of a VHS tape echoed through the room. Inside the curved display sat a man on a multicoloured sofa with a giant picture book propped open on his lap. As the camera slowly zoomed in on the scene, the man’s attention was brought up from the pages. A sweet, charming smile brightened his boyish features, the corner of his eyes crinkling as happiness radiated from him. “Why, hello there! You’re here early!” his chipper voice crackled through the speakers. “I’m just waiting for my friend, Lily! It’s almost story time, after all.” He slowly closed the book, resting the hardcover against the flat of his lap. “Would you like to join us?” he asked the viewer, allowing a pregnant pause to settle between him and the invisible guest. After a few long seconds pass, he beamed. “Wonderful! Lily loves to have guests!— Oh, wait, I think I hear her now!” The cartoonish sound of hooves clopping against hardwood overtook the noises in the episode. The man, as if to hint that he was listening, cupped the corners of his ears and leaned to the side. Then, an animated lamb hopped into view, superimposing over the live-action scene. She sat at the man’s legs, her tiny hooves pressing against his knee. She bleated cutely, “Baah! S-sorry I’m late, David!” David leaned down to stroke the cartoon sheep’s wooly head, putting extra effort to make it appear he’s actually petting something. The animated character butted its head into the actor’s palm, each frame so delicately drawn to go in tandem with David. “Don’t worry, Lily! We even have a friend here today!” Lily glanced back at the camera, only for her to hide behind David’s pant leg. She was visibly shaking. “H… Hello there.” “Awe, don’t be scared! They mean you no harm.” Lily didn’t look convinced. Instead, she just looked up at the book resting on David’s lap. “Wh-what are we going to be reading today?” He took the hint to turn it around to show the audience. “Today, we’re going to be reading ’The Wolf and the Sheep’.” Lily gasped, her hooves comes up to shelter her eyes. “D-David! That’s too scary!” He chuckled, reaching down to pet the cartoon lamb. “Don’t worry! Together, we can face anything! Whether it be big and scary, or tiny and silly. That’s what friends are for!” He paused, his attention drawing back to the camera. His smile was more demure, his tone softer. It was as if his gaze could actually pierce through the glass of the TV — Like he could actually see the viewer. “Isn’t that right, friend?”

Decided to put a quick little WIP prologue as a teaser! :)

Now back to writing.

You can follow my progress at:

https://nanowrimo.org/participants/skullaton

[makyougenkai10]

Cartoon Stans Know literally nothing About 80′s Cartoons.

You know saying that Thundercats and every other 80s cartoon as “cartoons just to sell toys” is grossly misguided, if not ignorant (then again, this is you we’re talking about). They were popular in the toy industry because the shows had engaging characters, gripping storylines, cheesy but enjoyable humour, creative lore and cool concepts. This just shows how shallow your understanding of cartoon and their impact had. By your logic, Star Wars was only popular because it was made to sell toys!

The sad thing is, despite how cheesy, corny and sometimes unredeemably bad are the 80s cartoons, their bad things can be seen as something to poke fun at. One can easily watch He-man and Thundercats and laugh at how bad some things are. This reboot, however, nothing is funny. There is no issue that can be made fun of. Even bad jokes in 80s cartoons can be laughed at how bad they were, but Roar's jokes just make people groan.

Honestly?, Modern People are way too hard on 80's American shows. I mean sure, stuff like TMNT, The Smurfs, Carebears, Thundercats and He-Man did mostly existed to sell toys, but at least they put back than the effort in creating an entirely new brand. This is more I can say about most of today's shows.  A lot of new cartoons today are just sequels or reboots. I do not care if they are even good or decent, I am thirsty for new stuff. Say about the '80s and '90s whatever you want, but those were actually a very good era for new ideas.

And you know, Any cartoon who thinks its audience are idiots will always turn out to be Garbage, but after reading a few comments on here I had to look it up to see if it's real. And yes. There is a Panthro skeleton scene in the Teen Titans Go crossover episode apparently referencing the death of Panthro's original voice actor. Now that may work on some Adult Swim cartoon like Rick and Morty (and that's a big maybe) but not on a supposed "just for kids" cartoon. The crew behind this is not only incompetent but apparently incredibly vindictive, which I've come to find is very common in corporate media circles, not just cartoons. I will always say that the difference between OK KO and this show is that Ian Jones-Quartey actually respects his audience and these people apparently hate theirs. Hollywood is 70% personal connections and 30% talent, and shows like this one thoroughly prove that.  I have no idea the exact details on how this petty vindictive production staff got the greenlight to work on the ThunderCats IP, but what I do know for certain is that traditional monopolistic media is dying and things like ThunderCats Roar are why.

I'm gonna present an argument I don't think anyone's made: Shitty reboots hurt families. Hear me out, watching an original show with your kids, it's fine but the show is clearly for the kiddies. An inspired reboot/revival/etc. is something special because you can mention growing up with that series as a kid yourself and you get to share a little bit of that wonder across the ages. A shitty reboot however... it's there, the kids will probably not even think about it cause it looks awful, and if they do watch it it's because they'll watch anything with bright colors and loud noises. So you're left with this sinking feeling of entropy, and the vain hope you can show them something from the old series that they won't dismiss because the age shows.

Imagine if zelda was turned into something unimaginably dull. Secrets? Gone. Puzzles? Nurtured beyond belief. Everything is literally told to you. And everything that isn't is in front of your eyes. All the exploration, any wonder the series has, that is completely absent in this theoretical new game. Now I'll imagine if I, as a 5 year old, played that game. I likely would have gotten bored as fuck and put down the game. Now, personally, even way back when, I was always willing to give games a chance. I played anything that I could, even Dora the fricken explora. But for the sake of arguement, let's say I dont since I bet most children dont. Let's say i refused to play the original zelda 1 and 2 because i found that new game boring. I would never have got to play zelda with my dad's help. And I would never have tried zelda 2 and have fun with it. (Although I never beat it) many memories with me and my dad had to do with zelda, including other games, (I found twilight princess randomly and asked dad what it was. Then I got a memory where he was at the part where he was talking to Ilia at the lake, for example) and even the cartoon. (Though it was only at the end of the mario cartoon) a piece between us would be forever lost if I never picked up that game. I went on for a while, but hopefully you get my point. Guaranteed, there are thousands if not millions of family's in this situation right now. They wanted to show something from there childhood to their kid which they know they'll like, but the kid likely saw some half assed interpretation of it and was like; nah, it's too boring. I know from the outset it looks like some boomers unhappy that their kids aren't like them, but this is an actual problem that can divide families. You'd be surprised at how many bonds between families have to do with entertainment. As if we didn’t have enough of a generational divide.

 Entertainment SHOULD be taken seriously. Entertainment is a large part of families. This shit is part of why the generational gap exists.

If you're gonna remake an existing property, coming up with the excuse that it's for the new generation is horse shit. It should appeal to both the new generation AND the fans. Just because the fans are grown up doesn't mean that they're not allowed to enjoy these reboots. It should be just as much for them as it is the new generation.

[ariaofsorrows]

Ok so I just finished watching the first episode of Netflix’s Bee and Puppycat, so here are my thoughts:

As I had mentioned before, it looks gorgeous. It has this Studio Ghibli and 90’s Sailor Moon feel that makes it look very comforting and soft. Its current aesthetic is a massive improvement over the one shown in the Cartoon Hangover pilot, earlier episodes and the comic books. The style is cleaner and it definitely leans more into anime than cartoon, which I like. Also, I like how most of the show’s charm was kept intact. The show is still as whimsical and funny as the first time I saw it. I loved how the show kept minor “mistakes” that the voice actors made, like stuttering and pronunciation errors to make every conversation seem real and grounded. Bee and Deckard’s conversation still holds up nine years after the pilot.

I like how they managed to go further in depth on world building and expanded on character backstories. However, certain details are no longer implied, such as Puppycat’s identity as the space outlaw, and other things I would’ve liked being kept subtle. I loved seeing baby Bee and her dad. The story behind Bee’s firing made Bee go from someone ‘pathetic’ to someone who is kind and sweet. I’m happy that the episode length is now 22 minutes instead of the original ten.

THE SPACE OUTLAW LULLABY!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH

And now for the things I did not quite like:

The humour isn’t as good. Maybe it’s nostalgia bias talking, but the pilot had more weird, comedic moments than the Netflix version. The energy of this new show seems a lot more toned down compared to the earlier stuff. They changed up the whole (real life) Temp Agency scene [You took too long, now all your candy’s gone], they cut out when Bee went dumpster diving for Puppycat, and although Deckard and Bee’s conversation was good, it’s not as funny as the original. I wonder if they’re going down a more dramatic route for this adaptation, because it seems like a lot of the comedy was sacrificed. Bee’s weird little behaviours like being messy, lazy and impulsive, as well as her adult problems like being broke were changed to be cuter. As a result though, she doesn’t feel as relatable, and it’s not as comedic.

I miss pathetic Bee, now she’s just cute lol. Anyways, if you made it this far, you get a cookie. *For clarification, I am just comparing the pilot and the first episode because one is a reboot of the other. The Youtube shorts and Lazy in Space are all their own thing.*

[gillianthecat]

War of Y - episode 9

This took forever to watch since I kept pausing to take notes and getting distracted. But for some reason I feel determined to push through and finish the GusBew arc.

~ Ah, it was all a fake out. It wasn't Yo behind the leaks, it was Kitty! 😱Which I think we all knew - they're not going to feature her so prominently and hire a bigger name actor just to have her be an extra. But they did have me fooled - I assumed she and Yo were working together. Oh, and Yo is working with our boys.

~ Why are their press conferences always in such dark rooms?

~ I'm still confused half the time, but I've decided to watch this like some weird 1970's experimental European art house film. And I think it's making it all a lot better. Why are they here? Why are they there? What is the order of events? Who knows, it's all about the symbolism, man (stoner voice).

~ Oooh, someone paid her? That makes more sense then her little heartbroken fan story. And Toon looks suspiciously uncomfortable. Looney1988? Could you pick a more obvious fake name, Miss Approximately-34-year-old -Cartoon?

~ But was Yo involved or not? Inquiring minds want to know.

~ Also I'm confused about who actually filmed the sex tape, and how it got into Toon's hands in the first place. Was it Gus? Did he give it to her, or was he hacked? Is this going to be another twist, or another glossed over plot hole?

~ Bew with the receipts!

~ Hmm. Do I believe her or not? On the one hand, using that account was pretty dumb. On the other hand, this show is pretty dumb.

~ Bridal carry, baby!

~ Lol, gaga actually translated "assistants" or whatever it was supposed to be as "extras."

~ Still very confused about Yo's role.

~ This is a show where having high quality translations would really help, since there are so many plot twists in the details of conversations. Or maybe not, maybe it makes just as little sense in Thai.

~ Aww, sweetness. I wish I cared more about their relationship, but they haven't really showed me enough of it to get invested.

~ Similarly I wish I cared more about Toon. She could be a really interesting character, even with the ambiguity of not knowing how much evil shit she's done. But as written she just feels flat. Same with Pla.

~ I'm pretty sure this top spender shit is a real thing, and it's disgusting.

~ I don't understand why Gus and Bew don't just lawyer up and stop getting involved with Pla and Toon entirely. I mean, I know, it's for the Drama, but why are they handing over evidence to Toon? They don't trust her at this point.

~ Ooh a reference point to sort of anchor us in time! Bew graduated a few months ago. Not that it really helps since I don't know how far along in school he was when the show started.

~ Is this conversation in the car a flashback? Who knows? Gus is wearing the same outfit as the previous scene, but i thought he already had the evidence?

~ I think they're intending to critique anti-fatness with this, but again it's all so muddled that whatever Cheewin's message is gets lost.

~ I knew he had a second recording device stashed somewhere. Ha! Clever Gus.

~ Gus is our second plant dad this week. 🪴And this house looks so pretty. Although yet again I don't know where we're supposed to be. Gus's house? A space is in Bew's house we haven't seen before?

~ Ohh. Clever Bew. Of course. I feel like there actually is a lot of character development here, we're just not getting to see it as it happens. Which is frustrating because seeing Bew grow from timid ingenue to confident schemer would have been really interesting. And now he's the one reassuring Gus!

~ Intellectually I get that breaking with their long term managers would hurt. But we the audience never got to see the good parts of those relationships, so it's hard to empathize with Gus and Bew over this when I'm just thinking thank god they're finally freeing themselves.

~ Hinting that they're together? I can't tell how much was shown.

~ Toon's house!

~ Ok what?

~ I'm not any more enlightened by this conversation. Were they only pretending to fight all along? Did they just decide to make up now that they've lost their clients?

~ I saw mention of a huge plot twist. Is it that Bew was in fact the one behind the sex tape leak all along? This phone call is very suspicious and they made a point of mentioning that he was the only other person who knew about the looney88 account. Gus maybe is looking suspicious if Bew too.

~ That would certainly be dramatic, but I can't figure out how it would make any sense for him to be the one to leak. It did work for Kim Kardaashion, but I feel like criticism for a sex tape of a serous actor would far outweigh any sympathy he'd garner. And if he leaked it in a confulated plan to free himself from Toon, it just seems like their had to have been easier and less risky ways of accomplishing that.

~ Maybe this conversation about potential new clients is supposed to show the way managers treat actors as disposable products? But it's done in such a comic style. I can't figure out what this scene is intended for.

~ I like this kitchen scene, it's very cute. And a conversation about being the first "y couple" to come out as a real couple. Which is in a way one of the basic questions of this series. But it also feels like they don't actually ever grapple with it? Arghh. This show is confusing on multiple levels.

~ Really showing the exploitive side of mangers preying on young broke college students to get them to do things they're uncomfortable with.

~ It makes sense thematically to introduce a new actor pair. But I feel like we don't even know the existing characters very well so thinking about adding new people in feels exhausting.

~ It is kind of interesting seeing Pla and Toon whispering together and strategizing how to turn raw material into sellable products.

~ And a hint of the Y-Idol section starting in two weeks.

~ Ohhhhh. I take it Peak and Kla are the leads of that story. This all makes more sense now. They're not random, just early.

~ So it seems like Toon and Pla will be the most consistent characters through the 20 episodes. I'm assuming they'll show up in y-idol if they're the leads' managers?

~ Bew, you're an ambitious little schemer, aren't you.

~ PeakKla's story could be cute. This is getting me at least interested enough to check out their first episode.

~ Toon and Pla are just so unprofessional. I know that's maybe the point? (Are they supposed to be the exception or the rule?) But it still annoys me.

~ And now she's crying over losing her "child." Are we supposed to empathize with her here? I cannot figure out what Cheewin wants me to think about her.

~ This new manager at least seems calmer and more rational. But I'm withholding judgment for now.

~ Probably if I followed the Thai industry's behind the scenes and fanservice stuff this would all make more sense. I would at least have some context of what's normal and what's exaggeration

~ More gorgeous houses. Well done, location manager!

~ I think I like P'Kong. Not sure if he's good or evil yet, but I like him

~ Weaponized tears? That's my vote.

~ They did it! They came out!

~ Yep. The hints properly hinted. Good job Cheewin. This would be interesting if I still cared about any of the characters.

~ It's a fascinating concept. The seemingly timid character was orchestrating everything all along. But it falls so disappointingly flat.

[blackradandmad]

why blippi is rotting yr children's brains

preface: i literally expect no one to read this. it is an essay length, strong opinion piece critiquing a niche youtube-based children's show that i don't expect most of y'all to even have knowledge of lol. but like, i promise that even if you know nothing about what i'm talking about, in my incredibly, super humble opinion, it's a good piece of writing and interesting nonetheless. anyway if you read this whole thing for some reason yr really hot and we should kiss.

i thoroughly vet everything my child watches before he watches it, episode by episode. and we rarely watch youtube for entertainment; we usually just look up educational videos when he has a question about something and wants more detail than i can provide him. and that's mainly because children's content on youtube is so fucking troubling and distressing. i don't judge parents who give their children a tablet at a restaurant at all bc i've been there and sometimes it's easier on everyone to just put on a video and avoid a giant scene, but i do judge parents who just leave their children alone with youtube kids on autoplay.

take stevin john, a literal millionaire who got famous from dressing up as a silly character called blippi and going on tours of places like aquariums, zoos, construction sites, etc and posting it on youtube. this has branched into a whole empire of blippi videos, hulu shows and specials, live shows and tours (that he outsources to another character actor), merchandise and so on. this 30-something year old man cites his main influence as being mr. rogers, but i question if he's ever even seen an episode of that program.

mr. rogers had no background in early childhood development or media production, but he revolutionized the world of children's media, because he respected his audience and didn't shy away from real world situations, all while creating a show with an enormous heart. mr. rogers begins his episodes by inviting the viewer in, literally changing his attire to be more comfortable, and talking about/doing things he genuinely cares about. whereas mr. rogers calmly and maturely addresses the viewer, blippi puts on a high pitched, contrived voice, interjecting every other sentence with a forced exclamation such as, "teehee! we're having so much fun!"

i don't find it a coincidence that john (blippi) is a veteran, either. his videos are completely devoid of the absurd, abstract, childlike thinking that makes children's media fun, creative, and entertaining. his thinking and process is methodical, devoid of emotion, and very superficial. this line of thinking clearly shows the kind of creative sterilization and emphasis on sameness and conformity instilled in the military. blippi simply observes things and interacts with them in a stale, matter-of-fact way. "this ball is purple! this ball is pink! anyway... what's over there? teehee! a car! vroom, vroom!" objects are colors, toy cars don't do anything but drive, curiosity is simply not encouraged.

he uses the "it's educational!" excuse to hide the fact that his show lacks everything that makes media a valuable resource for children to consume in the first place. further than identifying colors, numbers, and the occasional letter or shape, there is just this total lack of children's need for social and emotional development. when mr. rogers breaks the fourth wall to address the viewer and let them know they're special, it feels authentic and natural, because we've spent the last half hour building whole worlds with diverse characters and unique stories in a pretend neighborhood, learning about and enjoying different musical instruments, being exposed to and making friends with (even if parasocially, it is still a real bond to children when done properly) children who are similar to us in character regardless of physical or environmental differences, feeding the fish, making art together, and so on. when blippi tells the viewer, "you are very special, and i enjoy spending time with you!" it falls completely flat and feels unearned, because the last half hour was spent running around a soft play center pointing at bright, colorful objects, visiting interesting locations like farms or fruit production factories while failing to acknowledge the humanity of the humans actually working there (everything is machine or product focused; the human workers are simply an extension of the machine), learning "fun facts" about elephants that just list attributes of elephants, not taking the opportunity to inform the viewers of elephants' intelligence, or diet, or matriarchal society. it is a loud, sensory overwhelming display of a man so disconnected from the social and emotional needs and desires of children that he assumes they're stupid, easily entertained idiots who only need some silly dances and fast-moving cartoon graphics to give their attention (meaning time and desire to purchase products meaning $$$). john clearly views his audience as a means to gaming the algorithm and ultimately a paycheck by the hollow way he addresses them.

the show is so narcissistic, so focused on all the fun blippi is supposedly having, but he lacks any of the character traits that make individual children's show hosts memorable, so much so that he was able to have someone else who doesn't even vaguely resemble him dress as blippi and impersonate him and host the show or appear at live shows, and it went unnoticed by most of his toddler and child audience. the show is so formulaic and the character of blippi is so unmemorable that instead of taking the blue's clues route of developing a story of the host leaving for college and his brother now stepping in, or making some sort of believable excuse for the change in actors, they can simply swap him out with some random guy and not acknowledge it at all. although a comedy show for older children, the amanda show in no way could or would try to replicate the show with the same name but swapping out amanda bynes with a random teenage girl who is clearly not amanda bynes. it's weird and nonsensical and shows that his character is so much of a farce put on for a paycheck that not even his dedicated audience is affected or even cares when he is replaced by a random, unknown person.

this is completely garbage content made by an opportunist with no experience with children who saw his nephew watching children's youtube content, took it at complete surface level and still hasn't realized that while children's content only looks and feels so easy, entertaining, and enriching because it is so hard to do well. even with outsourcing his music, that aspect of the show still sucks. famous and successful children's musician, raffi, is known for his song describing the life of a little white whale, called "baby beluga." it opens with a calm strumming of his guitar, followed by the lyrics, "baby beluga in the deep blue sea/swim so wild and you swim so free/heaven above/sea below/and a little white whale on the go." is it silly and kind of pointless? yes, but the point is that he is captivating children and showing them the fun of listening to music, dancing, singing, and appreciating art. the "excavator song" featured in an episode of blippi about construction vehicles opens with what sounds like a default garageband loop and the flatly sung lyrics, "i'm an excavator/i'm an excavator/hey dirt, see you later/i'm an excavator." i don't feel i have to meticulously analyze the aforementioned lyrics; the stark contrast should speak for itself.

i have a million more criticisms about both blippi specifically and youtube children's content as a whole, but this is already so long and i doubt many people will get this far anyway. it's an issue i was completely apathetic towards until i had my own child and had to wean him off these kinds of junk food shows because i realized the fast-paced visuals and bright colors and repetitive songs/lyrics were putting him in this spaced-out, fugue state, and he thought he could demand this show or that show whenever he wanted. the moment he started regularly yelling things like, "watch! cars!" or "no! click it!" i knew i had to be a lot more invested in the things he watched even if just for entertainment or as a soothing message. i showed him an episode of mr. rogers yesterday and feared it would be too slow to hold his attention, but he was mesmerized, greeting and interacting with mr. rogers verbally, asking me, "what's that?" to different objects on the screen. since purging this low-brow children's entertainment, he has had a noticeable increase in attention span and concentration, can focus on a task for longer amounts of times, is more likely to "read"/look through books without me initiating it, and doesn't throw a fit when the tv/my laptop is off.

i just know that for me, growing up with so much unsupervised internet access definitely led me to real-world pain and consequences, and it seems like now children are born with an iphone as an extension of their arm. if my child is going to be consuming videos, i'm definitely supervising every second and am going to be highly critical of the videos and the credentials (or lack thereof) of the creators and team behind it. but i also know, from pure observation admittedly, that parents letting youtube kids autoplay parent their children for hours at a time is not an uncommon occurrence. and it worries me that a generation of children are being raised on videos that rely on being as loud and bright and superficially enjoyable as possible. what's the use of a child knowing their colors and alphabet if they don't know how to treat people with kindness and empathy and respect? there is something wrong for a children's show host to plug the spelling of his name at the end of his videos ("well, that's the end of this video. but if you wanna watch more of my videos, just type in my name! can you spell my name with me? b-l-i-p-p-i!") after essentially rotting his audiences' brains for a half hour. there's something so insidious about the prioritization of naming different parts of construction vehicles over honest depictions of and conversations about dealing with feelings, or why someone with autism may act differently than you, or what to do when you feel lonely, or ways to make art and express yrself creatively. also, not to mention the blatant police propaganda and outright worship is seriously jarring; as a black mother to a visibly non-white child, i cannot sit there and watch blippi show kids how to be a bootlicker for the shittiest profession on earth, but that could be a whole essay in and of itself.

anyway, thanks for reading, if yr looking for quality children's content, i recommend, in no specific order: mr. rogers, sesame street, the electric company, molly of denali, daniel tiger, bluey!, blue's clues, the odd squad, word party, trash truck, puffin rock, uhh... that's definitely not an extensive list but that's just off the dome!!! ok bye y'all <333

[lahyene]

Chemistry Read.

Pairing: chris evans x celeb!reader

Summary: You’ve been casted as Chris’ love interest in an upcoming movie he’s not only acting in but directing himself. He calls you over to run lines, but you soon find out he wants to do a little more than that to prepare for filming.

Themes: smut

Word count: 1537

Your heart is racing as you knock on the door of the upscale LA apartment owned by none other than Chris Evans himself, the director and lead actor of the upcoming movie you’ve been selected to play the female lead in. 

You only met him a handful of times. He was there during the casting process, of course, and you had to have a chemistry read with him. You could still remember the way he gazed at you with those perfect blue eyes, as if you were the only girl in the world- he’s dangerous, and you’re reminding yourself of that now as you hear the footsteps approach the front door.

But when he opens it and looks down at you with those rugged features and charming smile, any warning from your conscience is thrown out the window. If this was a cartoon, you would have a puddle of drool at your feet by now. He looks ridiculously handsome in a steel grey henley that fits his muscle just right, a pair of dark jeans, and a Red Sox cap atop his fluffy brown hair.

“Hey,” you greet with a smile, barely tugging on your lower lip with your teeth. “Sorry I’m a little late. LA traffic, you know how it is.”

“Oh, do I.” He scoffs, gesturing for you to come inside. “Just another reason as to why I miss Boston everyday. I mean, sure, we get a little road rage from time to time, but at least we know how to keep it movin’.” He laughs softly and you do too, already feeling at ease despite his intimidatingly good looks. “Thanks for coming here to run lines, though. Can I get ya a drink or anything?”

“Just a water is fine, thanks.” You reply with a smile, unzipping your purse to take your script out. “So, uh, was there any scene in particular you wanted to go over?”

“Honestly, I was thinking we should go over the more intimate scenes.” He answers truthfully, going into the kitchen to retrieve your water from the fridge. “I mean, it’s clear we’re killing it with the light, romantic, sugary sweet stuff, ya know?” He comes back with a small grin, handing you the bottle. “And I hear it’s your first time doing more... explicit scenes in a movie?”

Your heart is beating faster solely from the thought of doing anything explicit with Chris, but you force yourself to look composed, smiling slightly. “To be honest, this movie has a lot of firsts for me. I’m more used to modeling than acting, but I’m so grateful to have this chance. I’ve wanted to be an actress ever since I was little.”

“That’s right, that’s right,” Chris nods, and you swear you notice his pacific hues rake over your body. “I remember seeing your pictures during casting. You mainly model lingerie, right?” He smiles, head tilting slightly. “So you’ll probably already feel more comfortable in front of the camera in... well, next to nothing.” He laughs, but you don’t miss the way he bites his lip, the sight in itself making you feel thirsty for more than just water. 

Did he really call you here just to run lines?

“Yeah, I’m pretty used to it.” You answer, your voice a little softer than before as your mind begins plotting. After taking a sip of the water, you set it down on the table. “But it’s not just about the camera, right? It’s also important to be comfortable with the person you’re working with.” You look up at him innocently, barely raising an eyebrow. “So maybe we should really get into character, huh?”

Chris blinks, but the corner of his lips tug upwards ever-so-slightly into a tiny smirk as he looks at you with intrigue and curiosity. “What exactly were you thinking?”

You pick up the script again, flipping to the right page. “Well, for instance,” you answer nonchalantly, “there’s a scene where our characters are making out- but we’re both naked, because we just went skinny dipping.”

Chris’ smirk is getting slightly wider as he walks backwards, sitting down on the couch with his jean clad legs barely spread, his thick thighs looking more welcoming than ever as if waiting for you to sit upon them. “Right. So what are you proposing here?”

You bite your lip as you admire his manly stature before placing the script down, taking hold of the hem of your tank top and pulling it up over your head. You’re making a bold move here, but Hollywood likes bold. And from the way Chris is staring at you in complete awe and hunger, it appears he likes bold too. You’re not done yet, though- you reach behind to unhook your bra, letting it drop to the floor. His blue-green eyes widen slightly before a husky curse escapes from under his breath, his large hands immediately reaching to yank his own shirt off, his hat falling off with it. “C’mere,” he mutters hastily, reaching out to grab your hips and pull you to his lap, eliciting a delighted squeal from your lips.

“I don’t think that’s how the script goes,” you barely have time to tease before he pulls you in for a kiss, his hand wrapped around the back of your neck with his fingers tangled in your hair. 

He chuckles darkly in between steamy kisses, moving his other hand up to squeeze and grope your breasts as if practically worshiping them. “You said we should get comfortable with each other first, right? I think that’s exactly what we’re doing here...”

You can���t help but hum and whimper in satisfaction as he plays with your breasts, your hands moving up so you can run your fingers through his hair as you continue your heated make out session. It isn’t long before you find his belt, unbuckling it and tossing it aside, lifting your hips so both of you can remove your pants and underwear. 

“Did you actually intend on running lines, Chris?” you ask with a breathless giggle, curling your fingers around his thick shaft as you rub it up and down. 

He lets out a deep and guttural groan, tilting his head back while he bucks his hips slightly. “I... really did want to, for at least a little bit... but... fuck,” he’s practically panting, teeth tugging at his lip harshly from the enjoyment your hand is giving him, “Ever since we first cast you, and since I saw your pictures... shit, I needed you. You’re the hottest girl I’ve ever fuckin’ seen...”

“Little ol’ me?” you whisper, rubbing faster and enjoying the pleasured expressions twisting his handsome face. “Well, I’m flattered, seeing how many A-listers you know...”

“Shit, baby.” He growls, giving you an urgent look of desperation. “I need to be inside you right fuckin’ now.” 

As much as you want to tease, you’re only torturing yourself here. You look around, breathing out, “Do you have a-”

“First drawer,” he immediately answers, nodding towards the chest beside the couch. You giggle slightly and lean over, opening it and taking out a condom, removing the wrapper and slowly sliding it along his impressive shaft. 

“You’re so big,” you murmur, lifting your hips and teasing him by rubbing your wet core against his tip. “You’re going to stretch me out so much...”

“Fuck,” he groans, gripping your waist, “I can’t wait, baby girl.”

You sink yourself down onto his swollen head, a moan erupting from your throat as you grip his biceps tightly, eyes closing as you feel him already enter deep inside you. “Holy... holy fuck, Chris...!” 

He smirks breathlessly as he watches you bounce on his cock, his massive hands supporting your waist and helping you move as well, his chest heaving with his breaths. “Shit, it’s like your pussy was fuckin’ made for me, honey. You feel so goddamn good!”

Your moans grow louder as his hands find your ass, squeezing and groping and smacking every chance he gets. You can’t help but marvel over the beautiful sight underneath you, from his perfect facial hair, lust filled blue eyes, huge arms, and toned abdomen. You arch your back to get a better angle, leaning forward as your breasts bounce right under his nose- he gladly begins to kiss and suck on them as he thrusts himself upwards, wanting to fill you up as much as he possibly can.

“Fuck....! Chris, I’m gonna....”

“Me too, baby, holy fuck, me too!” 

You both find your release, your mouth open as you practically gasp for breath, running a hand through your slightly dampened hair as you slowly lift yourself off him. He helps you steady yourself before removing the condom, walking away to dispose of it- you can’t help but stare at his beautiful frame, eyes lingering over the chiseled muscle of his back and dropping to his infamous nude ass. You lean back against the couch, trying to catch your breath again.

He comes back and chuckles, picking up your water bottle and handing it to you, shaking the sweat out of his brown hair. “You know, I think this was way more productive than any chemistry read or rehearsal I’ve ever had...”

[steven1123x]

Behind The Scenes-Chapter 23: Brand New Friends

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Steven sits down, Sumo sits next to Steven, grabs some pens, and starts coloring in the letters of his name. Steven put stars around his name, Clarence put stickers around him, and Jeff left his blank.

"Akright class, my name is Miss. Amin, And I will be your teacher." She said, picking up a back Expo marker from the whiteboard and writing her name out for the class. Steven sees today's date on the board as well, written in blue Expo marker on the corner of the whiteboard.

Steven sees Miss. Amin turns around and walks to her desk. "Okay guys, this is a little worksheet to get to know your neighbors a little bit better," she said, walking around the classroom and handing them out. Steven put his name up at the top and started.

The class was finished, and Miss Amin collected the worksheets and put them on her desk.

"Alright, guys, Who will come up first?"

"I want to!" Sumo said, standing up and running towards the whiteboard. The teacher gave him his worksheet, Sumo cleared his throat and read off his worksheet.

"I am Ryan Sumouski My favorite subject is science, In school, I am good at making my friends laugh. Outside of school, I am good at drawing. Something you should know about me is. That I live with my nine brothers.

And Steven asked me if I liked space movies and I said yes, Clarence asked me if I wanted to go on vacation. And I said that I would like to go to San Diego with my two older brothers Tanner and Joseph."

"My name is Jeff Randall and My favorite subject is science too, In school I am good at school. Outside of school, I am good at organizing. Something you should know about me is. That I live with my two mothers.

And Steven asked me what is your favorite thing to do, Well. Steven, I like to have fun with you guys and draw, Clarence asked me if I want to go on vacation too. And I said that I would like to go to Florida with my mothers."

"Very good, Jeff. Now it's Steven's turn. Then I can tell you all mine."

"I am Steven Universe My favorite subject is writing, In school I am good at helping my friends and others. Outside of school, I am good at music. Something you should know about me is. That I moved here from Delaware

Clarence and Sumo asked me if I had ever been to space before and I said no, And Jeff asked me if I wanted to be an actor. And I said, yes, I want to I think that would be so much fun to star in my own cartoon."

"Ver good, Steven. I'm up." Miss Amin said, getting up and telling everyone hers.

A boy raised his hand. "Yes, Tim?"

"Where are you from, Miss. Amin?"

"I am from the country of Palestine," she said. The class gasped in wonder.

"I heard on the news your people were kicked out or something." A boy said, Steven looked at the boy who was occupied with playing his PSP.

Steven turned his head to the voice and the half-gem saw a short and chubby boy with a mop of curly brown hair. He wears a Persian red T-shirt, blue shorts, and navy shoes. He also has a unibrow and a long red nose, Steven thought that he was a character from The Muppets if he wasn't human.

Miss. Amin cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable now. "Um… Could we please change the topic?" she asked the boy.

"Yeah, Belson! Be quiet!" Sumo said. Steven and Clarence both laugh.

"Whatever…" The boy by the name of Belson said as he went back to playing his PSP.

"Alright, settle down guys. Now, we are going into reading." She said as she grabbed some books from her desk. Steven took one and read the cover. 'The Secret Of Superhero Academy.'

Steven's eyes widened and went starry. He'd never read this book before. He'd read others but not this one.

The class had free time now, Steven was talking with one of the new kids. Gregory. "That's so cool that you play instruments. When did you learn?"

"When I was three." Greg was wide-eyed.

"Three? Woah!" he said.

"Yeah, I have a gift. My dad used to be a musician and I learn faster than any other kid because my mom learns fast." Steven says, Greg nods.

"Hey, Steven. Can you teach me how to play guitar?" he asked.

"Sure! I can bring my ukulele in tomorrow, and I'll teach you at recess." Steven said. The boy smiles and puts his hands on the table.

"So, you want to be an actor?" he asked. Steven nods.

"Heck yeah, I do!" he said.

"Wait, you're the boy who was singing on YouTube!" he said, amazed. Steven giggled and blushed. He wasn't used to getting praise like this. "You know, the CEO of Cartoon Network complimented me about that when I visited.

"Woah!" Greg asked. Steven nods and smiles.

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Steven was at lunch, Clarence, Jeff, and Sumo were all sitting at a table, Steven took out his lunch which was a substitute for fried chicken.

"What's that?" Sumo asked as Steven took out a fork and knife.

"Oh, it's a substitute for fried chicken, it's a cut-up mushroom dipped in the stuff you make breaded chicken," he explained.

"Can I try?" Clarence asked.

"Sure," Steven said, cutting off a piece and giving it to him.

At the end of the school day, They were all walking, Steven saw a girl walking across the street. Then a car speeding by, Steven sees the car inching closer The half gem dropped his backpack, Clarence, Jeff, and Sumo see it. Steven ran to the road to push the girl out of the way, causing her to fall onto the sidewalk.

"Are you okay? you were about to get hit." Steven said

"Thank you." the girl said, Steven looks at her. A young female, Steven guessed that she would be Indian, or African American with dark brown skin and a slim figure, and is slightly taller than Steven. She has a prominent nose, black eyes, thick eyebrows, and dark brown puffy hair that varies in length.

She wore a blue T-shirt and white shorts with white and red Converse.

"No problem, what's your name?" he asked.

"I'm, Connie. I moved here a few weeks ago. you're the boy with the red shirt who hangs out with the three boys." She glanced at Clarence, Jeff, and Sumo who were waiting across the street. Jeff held onto Steven's red star backpack by the strap.

"Are you in Miss. Amin's class?" Steven asked her. She nods.

"I am."

"Wait, you're the one who likes fantasy and playing the violin, right?"

"Yeah," she said. Steven smiles.

"Hey, Steven!" Clarence yells from across the street. Connie looks at the three boys.

"Oh, coming! Hey, you wanna come with us too?" he asked.

"Sure, where are we going though?" Connie asked.

"Wherever the wind takes us!" Clarence said. She smiles.

"Okay! Let's go!"

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"Mom! I'm back, and I brought some friends over!" Clarence said, coming through the back of the house by the sliding glass door. Steven sees who appears to be his mother, a curvy woman with pink skin and blonde hair. Wearing a pale yellow t-shirt and tight pink pants with dark brown boots. She also wears red lipstick.

"Oh, hello! who are they?" His mother asked, seeing both Steven and Connie.

"I'm, Steven and this is Connie. I met her while saving her from almost getting hit by a car," he said. Connie nods in approval. Steven sat on the bar stool, his hands resting on the pink-tiled countertop. Steven took out his phone and saw there were no texts from his dad or the Gems, he smiled in relief.

Pearl would've been texting him nonstop by now wondering where he was at. But, Rose did say that she was not his parent. So, that is a plus.

"Clarence, do you and your friends want some leftover sushi?"

"Yeah!" Clarence, Jeff, Sumo, and Connie said, Steven looked up.

"Um…Excuse me, do you have anything vegetarian?" the hybrid asked her.

"Mmmm, let me see what I have…" she said, looking in the fridge, rummaging through it, looking for something that he could have. She poked her head out and grabbed some celery sticks and peanut butter.

"I have this, you want this?" she asked. Steven nods.

"Uh, what's your name by the way?" he asks.

"I'm Mary," she said, Steven nods.

"Hi, Mary," he said, shaking her hand.

She smiles and proceeds to make Steven his snack.

Mary places Steven's snack in front of him, He picks one up and takes a bite. They hear the door open. A man walks into the house.

The man has a very ape-like appearance, with shoulder-length brown hair and permanent stubble. The man is very tan with big, hairy arms. He's wearing a white T-shirt and black pants.

"Hey, Chad. Your home early." Mary tells her boyfriend, as he kisses her on the cheek.

"The shop wasn't as busy, so I closed up early."

"What does he do again, Mary?" Jeff asked.

"He owns a music store in downtown LA." she reminded Jeff.

"Coool! My dad worked at a music store back home," Steven said. "But now, he's trying to look for a job."

"Oh, what happened?" Mary asked.

"His house caught fire in Delaware three days ago, so he's living here now to be closer to his family and friends," Jeff explained. She nodded as Steven ate the rest of his celery and peanut butter.

"If he's looking for a job, I can hook him up. You know, I can always use more help." Chad said, handing Steven a black business card.

"Chad's music store." Steven read off the card, the boy put it in his pocket and gave him a thumbs up towards the man.

"Bye, Steven. I'll see you tomorrow!" Clarence said Steven and Rose were going back to Misty's and Tony's house. Rose was driving Greg's van. "How was your first day of school, Steven?"

"I loved it, oh! and I have this card. Dad can work at a music store like he did back home! And I met a girl, who almost got hit by a car. I saved her though." Steven said. Rose put a hand on his curly hair.

"You are very compassionate, Steven." his mother said, Steven blushed and smiled. They arrived back at Tony and Misty's house. Steven walks in and puts his backpack by the door.

Steven walked into the bathroom with his PJ pants and a Star Wars T-shirt to take a shower.

Dinner was over, Steven was in bed, and he felt warm under the covers as he drifted to sleep.

He was surrounded by a home on fire, the smoke from the burning wood was making him cough and wheeze. Steven sees a beam fall and tries to duck out of the way, Steven's hands, arms, and legs are black from the ash.

Steven's heart raced as he knew where he was.

He was in his home in Delaware.

Steven ran into the living room, he saw Greg on the couch, limp. "Dad, Dad!" Steven yelled out, running towards him as he coughed violently as smoke filled his lungs.

Steven tried to pick him up and drag him out but couldn't. He then hears a noise. The boy lifted his head and saw a burning beam fall on both of them, Steven's mind raced with questions. How did this happen? Who would do this? and…

Where was his mother?

Steven's eyes shot open, he bolted up and started breathing heavily. Tears welled in his eyes as he wiped them with the back of his hand. He wasn't sure about waking his parents for a dumb problem like this, but…. He sighed, Steven peeled the covers back, opened the door, and went to his father's room.

Steven sees both his parents asleep while holding each other. The hybrid stepped onto the carpeted floor and shook his father's shoulder.

"Dad…" he said. Greg opens his eyes and rolls over and sees his son.

"Steven? What are you doing up?" he asked yawning, rubbing his eyes.

"Um…. I had a nightmare, can I sleep with you guys?" he asked.

Greg smiled at his son. "Of course, Buddy," he said, scooting over and letting him in. The boy went in. Immidely his body was swallowed up with his father's warmth. Steven slowly closed his eyes and went to sleep.

🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬🎥 🎬

A/N:Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter! I hope you'll like this one, See you in the next one!

[tcm]

Reframing Films of the Past: An Interview with TCM Writers

All month long in March, TCM will be taking a look at a number of beloved classic films that have stood the test of time, but when viewed by contemporary standards, certain aspects of these films are troubling and problematic. During TCM’s Reframed: Classics in the Rearview Mirror programming, all five TCM hosts will appear on the network to discuss these issues, their historical and cultural context and how we can keep the legacy of great films alive for future generations.

Also joining in on this conversation are four TCM writers who were open enough to share their thoughts on their love of classic movies and watching troubling images of the past. Special thanks to Theresa Brown, Constance Cherise, Susan King and Kim Luperi for taking part in this conversation. Continue the conversation over on TCM’s Twitter.

What do you say to people who don’t like classics because they’re racist and sexist? 

KL: There are positive representations in classic Hollywood that I think would blow some peoples’ minds. I always love introducing people to new titles that challenge expectations. 

That said, anyone who broadly slaps a sexist or racist label on a large part of the medium’s history does a disservice to cinema and themselves. That mindset keeps them ignorant not only of some excellent movies and groundbreaking innovation but history itself. 

I think people need to remember that movies are a product of their time and they can reflect the society they were made into a variety of degrees - good, bad, politically, culturally, socially. That’s not to excuse racism or sexism; it needs to be recognized and called out as such for us to contend with it today. But it’s important for people who say they don’t like classics for those reasons to understand the historical context. In particular, we need to acknowledge that society has evolved - and what was deemed socially acceptable at times has, too, even if sexism and racism are always wrong - and we are applying a modern lens to these films that come with the benefit of decades worth of activism, growth and education.

SK: I totally agree K.L. For years I have been encouraging people to watch vintage movies who keep proclaiming they don’t like black-and-white films or silent films. For every Birth of a Nation (1915) there are beautiful dramas, wonderful comedies and delicious mysteries and film noirs. 

 These films that have racist and sexist elements shouldn’t be collectively swept under the rug, because as K.L. stated they shine a light on what society was like – both good and bad. 

CC: First off, fellow writers may I say, I think your work is amazing. I'm continually learning from the talent that is here, and I am humbled to be a part of this particular company. Similar to the prior answers, for every racist/sexist film the opposite exists. Personally, classic musicals attracted me due to their visual assault, creativity and their unmistakable triple-threat performances. While we cannot ignore racist stereotypes and sexism, there are films that simply are "fantasies of art." There is also a review of evolution. In 20 years, what we now deem as acceptable behavior/conversation will be thought of as outdated and will also require being put into "historical context."  What we collectively said/thought/did 20 years ago, we are currently either re-adjusting or reckoning with now, and that is a truth of life that will never change. We will always evolve.

TB: I would say to them they should consider the times the movie was made in. It was a whole different mindset back then. 

Are there movies that you love but are hesitant to recommend to others because of problematic elements in them? If so, which movies? 

TB: Yes, there are movies I’m hesitant to recommend. The big one, off the top of my head, would be Gone With the Wind (1939). The whole slavery thing is a bit of a sticky wicket for people, especially Black folks. Me, I love the movie. It is truly a monumental feat of filmmaking for 1939. I’m not saying I’m happy with the depiction of African Americans in that film. I recognize the issues. But when I look at a classic film, I suppose I find I have to compartmentalize things. I tend to gravitate on the humanity of a character I can relate to. 

KL: Synthetic Sin (1929), a long thought lost film, was found in the 2010s, and I saw it at Cinecon a few years ago. As a Colleen Moore fan, I thoroughly enjoyed most of it, but it contains a scene of her performing in blackface that doesn’t add anything to the plot. That decision brings the movie down in my memory, which is why I have trouble recommending it.

Also Smarty (1934), starring Warren William and Joan Blondell, is another movie I don’t recommend because it’s basically about spousal abuse played for comedy, and it did not age well for that reason.

SK: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961): Audrey Hepburn is my favorite actress and I love her Oscar-nominated performance as Holly. I adore Orangy as Cat, as well as George Peppard and Buddy Ebsen, who is wonderfully endearing. And of course, “Moon River” makes me cry whenever I hear it. But then I cringe and am practically nauseous every time Mickey Rooney pops up on screen with his disgusting stereotypical performance as Holly’s Japanese landlord Mr. Yunioshi. What was director Blake Edwards thinking casting him in this part? Perhaps because he’s such a caricature no Japanese actor wanted to play him, so he cast Rooney with whom he had worked within the 1950s. 

CC: I cannot necessarily state that I am in "love," but, a film that comes to mind would be Anna and the King of Siam (1946). It is an absolutely beautiful visual film. However, Rex Harrison as King Mongkut requires some explanation. 

Holiday Inn (1942), and the Abraham number...why??? Might I also add, there were many jaw-dropping, racist cartoons.

How did you learn to deal with the negative images of the past? 

KL: I often look at it as a learning experience. Negative images can provoke much-needed conversation (internally or with others) and for me, they often prompt my education in an area that I wasn’t well versed in. For instance, blackface is featured in some classic films, and its history is something I never knew much about. That said, seeing its use in movies prompted me to do some research, which led me first to TCM’s short documentary about blackface and Hollywood. I love how TCM strives to provide context and seeks to educate viewers on uncomfortable, contentious subjects so we can appreciate classic films while still acknowledging and understanding the history and the harmful stereotypes some perpetuated.

SK: It’s also been a learning experience for me. Though I started watching movies as a little girl in the late 1950s, thanks to TCM and Warner Archive I realized that a lot of films were taken out of circulation because of racist elements. TCM has not only screened a lot of these films but they have accompanied the movies with conversations exploring the stereotypes in the films.  

CC: As a Black woman, negative images of the past continue to be a lesson on how Blacks, as well as other minorities, were seen (and in some cases still are seen) through an accepted mainstream American lens. On one hand, it's true, during the depiction of these films the majority of Black Americans were truly relegated to servant roles, so it stands to reason that depictions of Black America would be within the same vein. What is triggering to me, are demeaning roles, and the constant exaggeration of the slow-minded stereotype, blackface. When you look at the glass ceiling that minority performers faced from those in power, the need for suppression and domination is transparent because art can be a powerful agent of change. I dealt with the negative images of the past by knowing and understanding that the depiction being given to me was someone else's narrative, of who they thought I was, not who I actually am.

TB: I’m not sure HOW I learned to deal with negative images. Again, I think it might go back to me compartmentalizing.

I don’t know if this is right or wrong…but I’ve always found myself identifying with the leads and their struggles. As a human being, I can certainly identify with losing a romantic partner, money troubles, losing a job…no matter the ethnicity.

In what ways have we evolved from the movies of the classic era?

KL: I think we are more socially and culturally conscious now when it comes to stories, diversity and representation on screen and behind the scenes, which is a step forward. That said, while there's been growth, there's still much work to be done.

SK: I think this year’s crop of awards contenders show how things have evolved with Da 5 Bloods, Soul, One Night in Miami, Minari, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The United States Vs. Billie Holiday, Judas and the Black Messiah and MLK/FBI. 

But we still have a long way to go. I’d love to see more Native American representation in feature films; more Asian-American and Latino stories. 

CC: There are minority artists, writers, producers, directors, actors with the increasing capacity to create through their own authentic voice, thereby affecting the world, and a measurable amount of them are women! Generally speaking, filmmakers (usually male) have held the voice of the minority narrative as well as the female narrative. I agree with both writers above in the thought that it is progress, and I also agree, more stories of diversified races are needed. 

TB: One important way we've evolved from the movies made in the classic era by being more inclusive in casting. 

Are there any deal-breakers for you when watching a movie, regardless of the era, that make it hard to watch? 

KL: Physical violence in romantic relationships that's played as comedy is pretty much a dealbreaker for me. I mentioned above that I don't recommend Smarty (1934) to people, because when I finally watched it recently, it. was. tough. The way their abuse was painted as part of their relationship just didn’t sit well with me.

SK: Extreme racist elements and just as KL states physical violence. 

Regarding extreme racist elements, D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation (1915) is just too horrific to watch. I was sickened when I saw it when I was in grad school at USC 44 years ago and it’s only gotten worse. And then there’s also Wonder Bar (1934), the pre-code Al Jolson movie that features the Busby Berkeley black minstrel number “Goin’ to Heaven on a Mule.” Disgusting.

I also agree with KL about physical violence in comedies and even dramas. I recently revisited Private Lives (1931) with Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery based on Noel Coward’s hit play. I have fond memories of seeing Maggie Smith in person in the play when I was 20 in the play and less than fond memories of watching Joan Collins destroying Coward’s bon mots.  

But watching the movie again, you realized just how physically violent Amanda and Elyot’s relationship is-they are always talking about committing physical violence-”we were like two violent acids bubbling about in a nasty little matrimonial battle”; “certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs”-or constantly screaming and throwing things.  

There is nothing funny or romantic about this.

KL: I try to put Birth of a Nation out of my mind, but S.K. did remind me of it again, and movies featuring extreme racism at their core like that are also dealbreakers; I totally agree with her assessment. I understand the technological achievements, but I think in the long run, especially in how it helped revive the KKK, the social harm that film brought about outdoes its cinematic innovations.

CC: Like S.K., Wonder Bar immediately came to mind. Excessive acts of violence, such as in the film Natural Born Killers (1994). I walked out of the theatre while the film was still playing. I expected violence, but the gratuitousness was just too much for me. I also have an issue with physical abuse, towards women and children. This is not to say I would not feel the same way about a man. However, when males are involved, it tends to be a fight, an exchange of physical energy, generally speaking, when we see physical abuse it is perpetuated towards women and children.

TB: I have a couple of moments that pinch my heart when I watch a movie. It doesn’t mean I won’t watch the movie. It just means I roll my eyes…verrrrry hard.

-Blackface…that’s a little rough; especially when the time period OF the movie is the ‘30s or ‘40s film.

-Not giving the Black actors a real name to be called by in the film (Snowflake…Belvedere…Lightnin’). I mean, can’t they have a regular name like Debbie or Bob?

-When the actor can’t do the simplest of tasks, i.e. Butterfly McQueen answering the phone in Mildred Pierce (1945) and not knowing which end to speak into. What up with that?

Are there elements they got right that we still haven’t caught up to? 

KL: I don't know if the pre-Code era got sex right (and sensationalism was definitely something studios were going for) but in some ways, I feel that subject was treated as somewhat more accepted and natural back then. Of course, what was shown onscreen in the classic era was nowhere near the extent it is today, but the way the Production Code put a lid on sex (in addition to many other factors) once again made it into more of a taboo topic than it is or should be.

One thing I particularly hate in modern movies is gratuitous violence, and it perplexes and angers me how America weighs violence vs. sex in general through the modern ratings system: films are more likely to get a pass with violence, mostly landing in PG-13 territory and thus making them more socially acceptable, while sex, something natural, is shunned with strictly R ratings. Obviously, there are limits for both, but I think the general thinking there is backwards today.

CC: The elegance, the sophistication, the precision, the dialogue, the intelligence, the wit. The fashion! The layering of craftsmanship. We aren't fans of these films for fleeting reasons, we are fans because of their timeless qualities.

I'm going to sound like a sentimental sap here, ladies get ready. I think they got the institution of family right. Yes, I do lean towards MGM films, so I am coloring my opinion from that perspective. Even if a person hasn't experienced what would have been considered a "traditional family" there is something to be said about witnessing that example. Perhaps not so much of a father and a mother, but to witness a balanced, functioning, loving relationship. What it "looks like" when a father/mother/brother/sister etc. genuinely loves another family member.

I was part of the latch-key generation, and although my parents remained together, many of my friends' parents were divorced. Most won't admit it, but by the reaction to the documentary [Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 2018], the bulk of them went home, sat in front of the TV and watched Mr. Rogers tell them how special they were because their parents certainly were not. We don't know what can "be" unless we see it.

[darkspellmaster]

Chip n' Dale's Rescue Ranger's Movie: Clues? and a few things I noticed in the trailer

So...Yeah...been away a year due to doing a Master's degree, and I couldn't post or write until it was done. So now I"m back and I just saw the trailer for this...and I have some thoughts. First...Why are we not just letting Tress and Cory reprise their roles? I mean Bill Farmer did a joke about Goofy being a Classically trained actor, why not just do that with these two, and...you know, not have "famous" actors doing the voices of the characters, because it just doesn't sound right. Second, I didn't see Peter Cullen or Jim Cummings listed for voice acting in the Wiki page, so....does that mean we're not getting traditional Monty either? That's going to be rather sad since Cory is back for zipper at least. Another thing, and maybe it's just me, but I'm not liking the hints that they are making more of Monty's reaction to Cheese than just a gag (He's a mouse named Monterey Jack like the cheese and he really likes cheese. It's a joke.) and making it into something way way darker than it needs to be. So really fast here's the moment I mean.

You have this shot here where you can see his "Cheese" eyes going off, which doesn't happen unless he's smelling it. So someone either brought it in or something. Unless this plays a part in the plot (which maybe it does) it just seems odd. Or did they can the show because of Monty? Again odd. The Verity cover is odd too.

Then later we see Chip finding cheese in Monty's fridge

And the look that follow from Monty indicates Cold turkey. So I'm really curious (also worried) that this is just not going to be a good joke to tell with this character. Also Veg-e mite in the fridge? Well I guess because he's an Aussie mouse.

I think there was an episode that he went cold turkey against cheese, but it wasn't treated like this.

Anyway on to more interesting thing from the Trailer.

The Alligator could be Sewernose De bergerac? Who was one of the villains on the show, but I'm not sure about the Gorilla or the Chef. So they may be random characters for the shot.

Aladdin Cosplayer, I think it might be a Pete like character wearing the outfit, since you can see the ears, the stretch and squash is only used for non human Disney characters unless they are very cartoon like, and the gloves give it away.

I'm trying to figure out the girl in the coat with the gold or whatever it is she's carrying. But there looks to be a twin of her ahead.

When the two are walking there's a poster for a voice actress or a creator, not sure who it is though. What I can tell is that there are four girls around he and they are either magic girls or fairies. On the left is a girl in pink, above her is a girl in blue with dark blue or black hair, not sure about the third at the top, and the fourth is a darker skinned girl with a yellow dress and purple hair.

Not sure who the cartoon lady is with glasses and looks like an artist. Same scene has a Pewee Herman cosplay and a Borat cosplay. Behind the woman in the batman/bat-girl is George Jetson, it's a blink and you'll miss it but he has on the green waste belt. Behind him is I think another cartoon character cosplay but I don't know who, and I'm not sure who the guy is that has the mixed mask. Half his face is batman the other half is the joker. So two-face? And the girl with the purple looking costume that looks kind of sci-fi-ish.

Trying to figure out who the guy with the yellow helmet in the back.

I feel like these might be from an animated series but I just can't place it. I swear they remind me a bit of something from Adult Swim or the Venture Brothers, or something from the 80s that was based on a tv show from the 70s.

So going to have to break this into parts See part 2. for the rest.

[simplyclary]

Ewan McGregor: My Serotonin Booster

[P.S: Upon the time of writing, I have yet to watch most of his films including The Island, Beginners, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Trainspotting along with some of his series/documentaries including Fargo, Long Way Round and Long Way Up]

I have known many celebrities who has given me happiness these past few years, but it was during quarantine when I needed someone the most. Don’t get me wrong though, many of the people whom I discovered during the start of quarantine still provides me happiness until now, the only difference being that there is a specific someone who really provides me the dose of serotonin that I really hunt and yearn for, that specific someone being Scottish actor Ewan McGregor.

Before I get to the cheesy part (I guess), let me narrate the timeline on how I found my happiness in him.

I first saw him as the debonair bronze candelabra Lumiere who sang the iconic song “Be Our Guest” in 2017’s live-action Beauty and the Beast. I instantly found Lumiere charming and cute in that film and him being head over heels in love for Plumette (played by the gorgeous Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is so cute and adorable, not gonna lie. Also, a moving candelabra singing and dancing in the middle of your dinner table is such a cute visualization, don’t you think?

A year later, Ewan then brought me back to childhood nostalgia through the lens of Christopher Robin, where he played the titular character. Seeing that film for the first time and watching him interact with Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and the other characters in the Hundred-Acre Wood has awakened the child in me. I honestly melt everytime I hear Pooh’s voice (voiced by Jim Cummings) since that voice was what made Pooh one of the cutest bears in the world of cartoons. Also if you observe in the film, there was a scene where he (Christopher) twirled his umbrella like a lightsaber when trying to "kill" a “Heffalump”. That scene kinda made me giggle and also made me think if it was just Ewan’s muscle memory or not.

Fast forward 3 years later to the current year of 2021, I have made a galactic discovery through Star Wars (yes, I know, I’m so late to the rave but hey, better late than never, right?) and through this galactic discovery, I met the sassiest, kindest, strongest and iconic Jedi warrior Obi-Wan Kenobi. I honestly applaud both Ewan and Sir Alec Guinness for their portrayals of the live-action versions of Obi-Wan as well as James Arnold Taylor and Stephen Stanton who voiced Obi-Wan in the animated series The Clone Wars and Rebels.

Now, believe me when I say that I fell in love with the animated Obi-Wan first because of The Clone Wars. Falling in love with the animated version then made me fall for the live-action version which Ewan portrayed flawlessly. It was really obvious in Ewan’s performance as Obi-Wan how much he paid homage to the Obi-Wan of Sir Alec Guinness and I really admired that. Plus, the iconic (and meme-worthy) lines are utterly unforgettable and it made me so happy to hear that he’s coming back as Obi-Wan in his own series on 2022. It was honestly through the character of Obi-Wan where I really started to love Ewan and because of this, I started to dig and binge some of his past and recent work.

Now armed with the yearning to look for and watch more of his movies, I scoured the internet and I found Birds of Prey among the list of his movies. First of all, I was utterly surprised when I found out he was involved in an all-female movie, but I was even more surprised when I found out that he was playing Roman Sionis, a.k.a Black Mask, who is the main villain in the movie. Truth be told, I have a history of loving villainous characters and he was no different. I honestly found him convincing as a villain, egotistical at best and was kind of saddened when he *spoiler alert* died at the end. I was hoping he would come back in a somewhat miraculous way, but I could accept if that’s how his story ends.

After watching Birds of Prey and witnessing him play a villain, I delved into the world of fashion design through the lens of Halston which is a Netflix series about Roy Halston, a famous fashion designer back in the 70s. Ewan played Halston flawlessly, and while some scenes made me cover my eyes because of explicit content, I still enjoyed the show overall not only because of Ewan but because I got to understand what Halston was really like behind the curtain, if you’d like.

Now, I am not the biggest horror movie fan but I faced my fear when I met Doctor Sleep himself, Danny Torrance. Considering that this is the sequel to “The Shining” which is deemed the scariest horror film ever made, I braced myself for it to be horrifying and I would be jumping out of my skin while watching it, and I did in several scenes. I applaud Ewan for playing the grown-up version of Danny and making me understand his story through this film.

After that horror experience, I decided to watch something that speaks to my heart and that is a movie with music, and Moulin Rouge was the perfect one. Now, this movie is highly recommended for every Ewan McGregor fan, because he showcases both his acting chops and his powerful vocals in this movie. I instantly fell in love with the penniless writer Christian, his sweet smile, kind spirit and utter obsession with the idea of love. Also, those songs he sang with Satine (played by the angelic soul that is Nicole Kidman) are automatic auditions to my playlist. Also, that drama at the end when Satine died and Christian was grieving, it made me tear up indeed.

After drama comes more drama, I went into a real-life story and that is The Impossible where he played Henry who is the husband to Maria (played by Naomi Watts) and father to 3 kids, one of them being my favorite Spiderman Tom Holland. Believe me when I say that the movie pulled at my heartstrings, especially after the tsunami hit and the family got separated as well as the scene where Henry (Ewan) was at this one camp and he was speaking on the phone while crying. I really felt the “dad” emotions there, knowing that he is a dad in real-life. This movie, even though you are a fan of Ewan and Tom, is not for the faint of heart.

The latest addition to my list is the knight-in-shining armor that is Elmont from Jack the Giant Slayer. He is a feisty one, let me tell you that. He does not give up easily and boy, does he look hot with that crossbow. Anyways, him as Elmont was a fantastic casting, showcasing the selfless persona of a knight who was willing to protect his kingdom above all else. The mini swordfights in between serve as bonuses.

Please do know that I will be watching more of his work as the days progress, but while writing this, this is all that I have seen.

Finally, I’m done with that lengthy timeline narration and now, onto the chessy-ish part, because it depends on perception if you are willing to think of my love for him as obsession or just dedication.

For the most part, I can’t really describe how happy he makes me. It’s as simple as me hearing him talk in interviews with that lovely Scottish accent of his, hearing him sing covers of songs and seeing his pictures on Pinterest (I have about a hundred of him on a board on the app, along with a few Star Wars characters) and the internet in general or it’s as bizarre as me smiling when I see a photo of him with a silver hoop piercing on his left ear or as scenic (I don’t even know if that’s the right word) as when I see a clip/GIF of him running his hand through his hair. I don’t really know and therefore can’t describe what is this feeling I feel when I see him.

Recently, I’ve been binge-watching his interviews on Graham Norton, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and other outlets and I can’t help but smile amidst him repeating stories and saying the same spiels and all, there’s just something about his presence that makes me feel happy. I’ve also been listening to his covers of songs and him playing the guitar and I melt. I mean, even with his mundane fashion sense, his charisma just stands out for me. Also, his point of views on career and why he chooses the projects that he does is inspirational. I just love, adore and admire him, amidst all the controversy (which I’m not gonna go deep into because that’s all in the past) that happened.

At the end of the day, all I can takeaway from all of these, is that Ewan really makes me happy. With his expressive blue eyes, charming smile, melodic voice, and sweet personality, he can easily lift up my spirits as high as the galaxies can reach. If only I could tell him all of these, but I would just faint and stutter if I were to see him face-to-face. But seriously, given the chance to speak with him, I would tell him how much he means to me and how much brighter the world is because of him.

I’ll just end this lengthy narration with a line from “Your Song”, which is originally sang by Elton John and Ewan sang it beautifully in Moulin Rouge and is now one of my favorite songs.

“How wonderful life is, now you’re in the world”