#since I just hijacked a background character

[theprincelyking]

Redesign Time

Don't ask why I did this, I don't know either. Anyways, here's Chili Hickory Applewood! Zinnia's soon to be boyfriend!

OG

[yumeka-sxf]

I'm finally home from my vacation and able to discuss the latest SxF chapter...all I can say is, I have a lot to say! I'll start with funny stuff first before I move on to analyzing...

Anya was especially hilarious in this chapter - where do I even start with her gremlin-ness? 😂 First off, there's her calling the butlers "henchlings' henchlings" (in the Japanese version, I believe she's using some mispronunciation of 弟子, which means "follower")

Then she calls out Twilight for being, well, Twilight, even giving his behavior its own acronym 🤣

She feels bad for George because his family isn't important enough for Twilight's aforementioned Twilighting 😅

And this doozy of a nickname for Bill!

In the Japanese version, she calls him something like "old man bully who hits people with balls" 😆

But joking aside, we get these profound words from Jeeves that seem to resonate with Twilight.

His words remind Twilight of the hypocrisy of his position: on the one hand, he agrees with Jeeves and wants the children to be able to grow up as they wish, without being burdened by the expectations of their parents. But that's exactly what he's been corralling Anya towards this whole time...doing whatever's best for Operation Strix, regardless of what may be best for her.

This scene reminded me of his musings when they first took Bond to the dog park; another case where he's aware that the morals he believes in are the opposite of his actions and yet...he continues with the mission.

I also think it's great that the other parents thank Anya for her bravery during the bus hijacking. Even if their kids don't act grateful, the parents should be on their behalf. Perhaps seeing this praise for Anya right before his eyes is what made Twilight feel even more guilt upon hearing Jeeves' words - he's seeing more and more what an exceptional girl she is despite not having the perfect traits for his mission, and yet he's still manipulating her (not realizing she's aware of the mission and wants to help).

But on that note, it's nice to see that George's dad and Becky's mom somewhat agree with Jeeves. As of now, I'd say out of all the Eden kids we've gotten to know, George and Becky seem to have the most decent families. I especially like how Becky's dad is adorably doting, to the point where he gets crushed when Becky asks Yor for help instead of him 😅 Also Martha having to reel him in, lol.

But despite being an overbearing dad, at least he isn't quick to jump on Loid supposedly "seducing" Becky 😂 He seems to not take it seriously, which is good since Becky is the one making the moves with her silly little girl crush.

Also Emile thinking Yor is pretty~ I'm surprised he had something nice to say about anyone connected to Anya, lol. I really want a chapter where Yor takes all the Eden kids on a playdate and they start thinking she's awesome like Becky does, even Damian.

Speaking of Yor, just when I thought she would be demoted to "background character" for whatever arc is coming, the last few panels give the impression that she'll have her next moment in the spotlight soon! Is she just destined to always catch Melinda when she falls? 😅

Not only are we getting more Yor/Melinda interactions next time, but also (hopefully) more of Anya reading Melinda's mind. I know there's theories floating around of how Donovan may be able to read minds and is possibly the one behind the experiments done on Anya, and that Melinda may have some psychic abilities too. Also some relation to that Arnold Crowley character introduced several chapters ago. I'm not good at theorizing, so I'll leave it to fans who are better with that kind of stuff 😅 But I think they're all good theories and I'm keeping my fingers crossed we'll get more insight into Desmond secrets very soon!

...but unfortunately the next new chapter won't be until November 25th, so we'll have to be satisfied with theories for now!

[randomness-is-my-order]

the pjo show’s cinematography is so warm and homey and clever and detail-oriented so i wanna compile a few of my favourite still shots because why not??

^this one had me smiling so hard, not because it’s a particularly beautiful shot but the framing of the three is so well done. the focus is on sally who is talking to grover (both prominently in the front of the shot) while percy – who isn’t a part of the conversation but a listener of it – is still properly visible through the glass of the door and like??? i just think it’s a super cool way of having a passive character in the shot that i haven’t ever seen before, in a way that percy is both highlighted and still so clearly in the background that it doesn’t take away from the focus characters. also percy’s sweater matching the colours on the door is the cherry on top!!

^next is this one. it’s so perfectly angsty and though not complete, the symmetry is still eye-catching. it encapsulates the feeling percy must experience in that moment–him, amidst destruction, knowing he’s the cause but not knowing how or why. he looks all of twelve with his haphazard hoodie and almost forlorn look. he is not gloating, he is not cheerful. though he doesn’t know the gravity of his parentage, it’s almost like the show is telling us that his powers–which cause the door to break, too btw–will always be a source of isolation for percy. he is a force of nature, a destructive one most of the time, and the fact that he is just a child who is confused will never matter because this world doesn’t care for childhood but godhood alone.

idk, this shot just evokes a very unsettling kind of sadness for me. i think it’s beautifully framed.

^i absolutely love this one simply for the fact that the sheer struggle of the fight is so prominently visible. and yes, i cheated, this isn’t exactly a still shot but like an action sequence screenshot but whatever, it’s too good to not mention it here. the way percy is, honest to gods, bracing against the spear for his dear life, the evident and overwhelming rage on clarisse’s face, the blocking of the scene – it’s perfect. clarisse is not playing and percy is genuinely in danger and i love how this shot and the whole scene really sold us on that fact.

^ i just think it’s extremely cool that we can see the minotaur howling in pain, percy having his mouth wide open as if he’s letting out a yell as he goes to plunge the horn and that as percy does this act–killing the minotaur–which is surefire source of safeguarding himself and grover, something that will get him to camp, we can see thalia’s tree in the background. there is no reason percy had to make the kill here, with the chaos of the fight, so the fact that this is the spot and this is the shot as he kills the minotaur makes me think it’s deliberate. having thalia in the background is so impactful because again, percy could have met a similar fate in some other alternate universe but here, he wins and he survives.

^ do i even need to explain??? the shot is pretty and beautiful and almost magical. percy, alone with a tin of fire, burning blue food and talking to his mother. maybe one thing i can point out is that the sally-percy bond has been heavily indicated through glowing lights since the start. if you recall, the “you are not broken” speech by sally was given in front of the warm, glowing headlights of the car and percy’s face was illuminated by that warmth just the same way it is illuminated by the tin-fire in the forest.

^ first, this is too fucking gorgeous. second, percy is wearing his red jacket again and this dream happened after he reached camp so in my opinion, this dream was initially a comfortable imagining of percy’s mind and was then hijacked by kronos but i could be wrong since i don’t clearly remember how they manifested in the books originally. nevertheless, it’s a great detail to have him wear the red jacket because even if he may not have it with him anymore, it’s still clearly something he holds dear – and might associate sally’s memories with.

also, the fact that percy seems to have alot of scenes with fire might be because as someone who can control water, fire can never truly be a source of danger for him and therefore, he can find comfort in its warmth unhindered, always?

^ how could i not love this epic moment? the trident is perfect, big and blue and grand and majestic. half the screen is water, obviously. but what makes this good shot a great one is that there is literally no one else directly near percy except annabeth. the campers are all far away and in this shot itself only annabeth remains close to percy, though she is fittingly on the land, observing the scene before her. remember how i said percy’s legacy promises isolation but this shot tells me that despite that, percy will have someone who he can count on to be by his side (also cool that even in the bathroom, annabeth was technically still near him, even if she was, well, stalking him) and maybe this is my delusional ass talking, but annabeth being here is foreshadowing for me. i just think it’s a choice to have this epic revelation where they could easily have had percy standing alone in the middle of the lake but no, annabeth is also there and not only because she’s the one who led to that revelation but because she’s someone who isn’t intimidated by percy’s parentage and still can be beside him.

^ i adore this shot because 1) it shows us just how young and tiny percy is and 2) it tells us that maybe that door is so fucking huge because it’s being inclusive of centaurs and other giants of their world. also, symmetry strikes again!!! the colours are so well balanced, not bright and vibrant but on the pastel side that indicates an aged feel to them.

and lastly,

^ i just find it funny that a private academy like yancy has an official vehicle that looks as beat up and terribly malfunctioning as this. �� like this half van was so out of place i literally goggled at the screen when it first appeared.

okay, i’m done for now. i also really liked the faceless sally scene in the start paralleling medusa’s eventual beheading but i already made a post about it. this legitmately only covers about 10% of the shots i wanted to talk about but these might be my favourites. this was long af so if you read the whole thing, mad respect to you.

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Background Events: Persona Experimentation

Unethical experimentation on Persona Users has been happening since the beginning. But how has it evolved until now?

Warning: Some speculation will be involved.

TW: Human Experimentation

The Beginning

We don't have an exact date for when experiments related to Personas and the Collective Unconscious began. Phil and Nyarly's bet had been going for some time by the time IF took place. However, if we had to place a true beginning to the experiments, we would have to go with Stephen and the Demon Summoning Program. Along with Kyouji Kuzunoha, he's the only SMT character who's also canon to Persona. Makes sense, considering his weird transcendent nature. The tale may vary between franchises, but the Persona version goes like this:

By unknown means, Stephen managed to create the Terminal System to travel through computer networks. Since he's in a wheelchair in IF, then this Stephen also managed to connect to the Expanse (located in the Collective Unconscious) with the Terminal System. Since he didn't have a way to communicate with the demon who crossed and no Persona to defend himself, Stephen was was attacked and subsequentaly crippled. All of this had to have happened before 1996 for the timeline to make sense (Side Note: This also tells a lot about Stephen, since the incident had the perfect conditions for an Awakening).

The incident led Stephen to create the Demon Summoning Program, probably for personal use, since there was no upcoming war to prepare to (that Stephen could have known of). For some unknown reason, Stephen chose to upload the only copies of the program in the computers of Karukozaka High School. Was he an alumni? Did Stephen realize teens had more probability of connecting with the Expanse? Were Karu High's computers just that good? Who knows. Only Hazama and Tamaki took the program serious enough to use it, even if it was against each other. But that's a story for another time.

Like St. Hermelin would in a few months, Karu High briefly made the news before the entire incident was forgotten. That is highly suspicious on itself. My assumption is that there truly were some experimentation going on before this, amd they made sure to silence the press and make sure the students didn't snitch. Since Tamaki managed to hide among the student population as another victim (probably with Stephen's help), they never questioned her on her abilities nor disappeared her.

But who are they? Well...

SEBEC

The first formal organization seeking to gain a foothold in the Collective Unconscious was the Japanese branch of SEBEC, leadered by Takahisa Kandori. Their story goes like this:

When Kandori took over as head branch of SEBEC, they began to undertake the creation of a device capable of transporting matter from one place to another. Kind of like a portal. This had the main objective of helping to lower freight costs of imports and exports. Maybe even erasing them entirely. Key contributors were Setsuko Sonomura (an engineering specialist) and Dr. Nicholai (a scientist). Kandori kept the project so under wraps that those involved basically lived in the installations. Together they created the Dimension Variable Accelerator System, or DEVA System. However, they also pulled a Backrooms and accidentally connected to the Collective Unconscious.

It is probably at this point that Kandori awoke to his Persona, which was hijacked by the real Nyarlathotep. And thus, Kandori became a puppet in The Great Bet while believing he was achieving world domination or something like that. "But, Kati," I can hear you saying, "all of that was about the Collective Unconscious. Aside from Kandori, there were no Persona Users working with SEBEC".

Oh? OH? So quickly you forget about him?

Takeda. The man, the myth, the barely remembered NPC. All we know about him is that he is Kandori's right-hand man, the head of security at SEBEC and a Persona User. We don't even know what his Persona is, only that its couldn't handle the combined forces of the St. Hermelin students. His existence does imply something deeper: SEBEC is already employing Persona Users to their cause. They probably didn't know much about the phenomena (understandable, since they had just finished the DEVA System) and didn't have a definitive way of figuring out who could be a User and who couldn't. For all they knew this could be random. And so, a not-so-stellar security guard rose to become the second-hand man of the main antagonist. Just because he had the same power as him.

As we know, Kandori and SEBEC failed. But what was the fate of the staff that worked on the DEVA System? What about the little knowledge of the Collective Unconscious they had?

New World Order

Due to Nyarly's meddling, the NWO was founded in 1979 after they found Kiyotada Sumaru's head. They might have had supernatural advice from an ancient head and the backup of one of the most powerful beings in the Persona Universe, but no real Persona Users. Not one of those people had their shit together. The closest thing they had was Chizuru Ishigami, who was a sorcerer (most probable given true power by the Rumor Curse). When the time was right, we can assume Nyarly guided them to the remnants of Kandori's fuck up. The NWO revived Kandori and began their recruitment of the now-lost scientists and inventors. The NWO gave more freedom to their researchers than SEBEC did, which eventually led to the beginning of true human experimentation.

We don't see the worst of it unless you play Tatsuya's Scenario, where the hints they leave us are enough to call for a second Doctors' Trial.

Yikes. And this was only one known experiment.

Like SEBEC before them, the NWO also fell. But they weren't the only ones running supernatural and unethical experiments in 1999.

Kirijo Group

With the creation of the Dark Hour, demons shadows weren't only a danger of the Collective Unconscious anymore, at least, as far as the Kirijo Group knew. Now those in the know had to watch themselves every night to avoid being attacked by them. They couldn't always rely on the perfected version of the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons. That must have been the moment when they began to hear rumors of supernatural events in Sumaru City, which led them to the crumbling NWO.

As it turns out, the entire Death Incident a couple of months ago left a huge vacancy for their supernatural research division. And these guys seem like they have fresh ideas that might just solve their self-created problem! A secret scramble must have taken place where the Nanjo and Kirijo Groups tried to covet all the info and personnel that had anything to do with the NWO. Those who weren't important enough to know the truth behind Kiyotada Sumaru's head and their self-proclaimed high-class greatness could have become the precursors of the Conspiracy.

And so, the Kirijo Group now had better scientists, inventors and researchers than before, and more willing to dab on unethical territory. With the need for defense, the former NWO scientists must have suggested they try to create their own Persona Users, like the ones who kept barging into their labs back in Sumaru. Thing is, no one there knew how a Persona User came to be. They did seem to have the power to control a shadow to do their bidding... maybe all they had to do was link (whatever that meant) a human with a shadow. The survivors of these experiments would become bodyguards for the Kirijo Group's excursions to Tartarus. No one would last long, though.

Skip a couple of years and the unexpected happened:

A natural Persona Awakening.

Note was taken of the factors that had to do with the event: the User was a child and she had been in a highly stressful situation. This is how the Kirijo Group rounded up the 100 children they would experiment on to create Artificial Persona Users. All of them dying except for three: Takaya Sakaki, Jin Shirato and Chidori Yoshino (and Sho Minazuki). This violation to the Nuremberg Code probably fell to the side when Mitsuru found and recruited two natural Persona Users on her own. Nothing like flushing dozens of children's lives down the toilet.

We must remember that the Kirijo Group didn't know everything about Personas, and so believed that the stressful situation with a dash of fear of death was necessary every time the User wanted fo summon their Persona. And so Evokers were created. Better not think of the trial and error that led to those inventions. Nor the one that helped create Persona Suppressants.

Who cares if three failed lab rats ran away? Now the Kirijo Group had true Persona Users with them.

A lot happened after that, but that is a story for another day. What about the hypothetical precursors to the Conspiracy formed from the high-profile members of the NWO? The ones that fell through the cracks during the power vacuum?

The Antisocial Force

For once, this wasn't Nyarly's fault. The basic rich bitches would have remained basic rich bitches if it wasn't for Yaldabaoth. The creation of the Shadow Operatives and the less restrictive hold on Kirijo Group employees probably made all that Persona and Collective Unconscious experimentation more of an open secret in the science community. And like hypnosis, this is one secret that most didn't believe until they witnessed it themselves. Not all were skepticals, and those interested were recruited by Masayoshi Shido for the creation of the Antisocial Force.

They would be the new oppressive entity in this area, suppressing information and giving stitches to snitches. This wouldn't stop "Cognitice Psience" from becoming an increasingly popular field. Who knows what kind of experiments happened in and out of the Antisocial Force. They couldn't have been the only ones.

If there is one thing the new Kirijo Group managed to contain, was the knowledge of the creation of Persona Users. The Antisocial Force didn't even have the research from the original NWO scientists that would help them create Artificial Users. Yaldy had to put an already-Awakened Goro Akechi in Shido's path for them to have a User. And even with an actual User, they couldn't replicate the circumstances that could have helped create more. I doubt Akechi was very helpful with that, though. Can't have any potential substitutes for his job.

Nah, the Antisocial Force's forte would never be Persona Users, but rather humanity's cognition.

So, what was the order of events?

Stephen created the Terminal System and began working on the Demon Summoning Program.

SEBEC began working on the DEVA System.

Stephen completed the Demon Summoning Program.

SEBEC finished the DEVA System and, after Kandori's Awakening, began to recruit Persona Users (at least one other than Kandori).

After SEBEC's fall, the New World Order recruited the staff that worked in the DEVA System.

The NWO began to experiment with demons and humans.

The Kirijo Group hired all the scientists and inventors from the NWO.

The Kirijo Group began to create Artificial Persona Users.

After Mitsuru's Awakening, the Kirijo Group focused on children experimentation.

The Antisocial Force began to recruit experts in cognitive psience for personal experiments.

[dianesdiaries]

Writeblr Intro

Hi!

Just for a little introduction, I go by dd and my pronouns are she/her. I'm using this blog page as a one shot/continued fanfic account until I can really start generating ideas for my own stories, so requests and questions are very appreciated!

(For a little background) I love cats. To death. FL.

I love playing video games, watching films, and expanding on my writing ideas. One of the main things that gives me ideas on what to write is video editing, TikTok etc. Some of my all-time favourites that will, most likely, get published onto here are The Boys, The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, and more!

Also would love to meet new writing mutuals!!

WIP(s)

So far I have to WIPs and would love feedback!!

Bewildered- Historical Western Drama/Dark Fantasy

A group of outlaws set high in the plains of north america plan the biggest heist of their life; hijack the north american railway. Ramond has waited for an opportunity like this, as the south prairies winters only grew colder his destined robbery of the railway was destined to meet him halfway. But with the love of his life waiting for him to leave everything behind and start on a clean slate, how will Ramond leave the outlaw-life behind? After all, prosperity comes with the cost of life. 

This was my first WIP that I started back in November, I never really had the chance to finish it and I've been stuck on chapter two since January (God save me). The plot and settings is so interesting but I have no idea of what makes the story itself interesting. Working on it tho!!

(Untitled Draft)

Kumiko has been a rather quiet person since highschool ended, and a year later finds herself living a comfortable life in the heart of Toronto, chasing big dreams of standing judicial someday. But until then, she works at the local gas station, meeting all kinds of new characters during her graveyard shift.  Her nights are filled with endless hours of watching netflix episodes and serving late night regulars, like any other day. But a meteor crossed the night sky in everlasting blue, and a star was born. Kumiko is reunited with a familiar classmate the same night of the meteor shower, Linari Hoshi. The two reconnect and find comfort in living in the same old, run down apartment. But something is off. She’s not as bright as she used to be, and Kumiko never knew her to be someone that stays out at graveyards’ timing. Kumiko’s regular life of invading-like customers shifts its colours, and reveals cynnical truths of the Rockafort apartments that make her blood run cold.

A new story that I might start working on to kill time, loosely holds theme inspiration from Sally Face!!

[winwin17]

(From Shannon's Instagram, on the new cover reveal )

My humble response:

No, our Lord Hunkyhair is not looking especially hunky on the new cover. He's not bad, but he just looks a little wrong.

Yes, I am somewhat bothered that our Fearless Miss F is not on the cover. KOTLC has been hijacked by a side character, and as much as we all love Keefe, he's stealing the show by now. Hogging the narrative rather than haunting it.

Yes, the new cover is absolutely a different feel from all the others. Again, not bad, but it does make it feel all the more like we're branching off into a different story. That being said, it's kinda cool to have a different mood to the new cover art because it's set in the human world and therefore of course the vibes would be different. (However, the Legacy cover is also capturing a moment from the human world, with Big Ben in the background and all, and yet it still has that fantasy feel.)

Yes, unfortunately our boy *could* look more awesome. No disrespect to the artist, but this time Keefe just doesn't quite look like the Keefe in the other cover illustrations.

I am liking the plain, ordinary, simpler feel of the setting depicted in the new illustration since it's the Forbidden Cities and not sparkly elf town, as Ro would say. And I am liking the ominous looking hoodie guy looming in the background, and the way he seems to be aware of Keefe while Keefe is maybe not aware of him. I do think this is possibly a critical part of the story somehow.

But I'm still not crazy about how the whole cover is so Keefe-centric and the one and only Moonlark is nowhere to be seen. It's just a little sad to me, and I see it as an indication of how the focus of the plot has shifted from where it started. I'd be fine with having a Keefe short story or a Keefe side story, but he needs to quit hogging that narrative.

Okay, end of rant lol

[sboochi]

Hey! I just wanted to say how I love your art!!! I love how you draw characters and how you color. I really enjoy all the hijack art you make, especially since the fandom isn't as active as it used to be 😭 I also love the storytelling you have with simple additions in the background on top of whatever arch is going on in the foreground - I initially followed you for hijack, but your Merlin x Good Omens comic was amazing! Loved how you portrayed Arthur and all the angst you gave Merlin was *chef's kiss*

Also, by any chance have you read a hijack fic called Dress Us In Blue & Silver? It's like an AU that happeneds after the events of rotg with modern day! Hiccup who can see Jack and keeps having mysterious nightmares about the lake Jack drowned in - I think you might enjoy it!

Yeah the fandom isn't as active as it was 1 or 2 years ago (I assume people have Life Stuff to take care of, or they naturally moved on to other fandoms!) and thinking about that time already makes me nostalgic, but worry not for I'm back and you all are gonna be fed up with me soon :'D

I do know about the fic!! I love seeing art and wips from @that1notetaker pop on my dashboard! I absolutely plan to read it, it's just that I try to avoid reading fics when I'm writing my own so I don't start making comparisons and lose motivation lol (it's been hard tho because it sounds so awesome and I can't wait to binge read it!)

[seraphhskies]

long distance pt. 1

--⋆♱✮♱⋆--

swiss ghoul x cardinal! fem! reader

word count: 751

type: fluff, romance cw: very slight sad, 18+ language summary: In which, you are keeping an exciting secret from your favorite ghoul (who also happens to be your partner.) I had a weird dream like this a while back, and for some reason I decided it should be Swiss that I write about :) this is cross posted on AO3 as well!

Part 2

--⋆♱✮♱⋆--

“I will fucking end you, Swiss! Are you kidding?” You yelled into your microphone, frantically tapping the keys on your keyboard. You were determined to find him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, princess.” He replied, causing you to groan in frustration. The smirk in Swiss’ voice was audible, even through headphones.

“You know exactly what you did!” You exclaimed, throwing your hands up in the air. “I needed that iron!”

“Well, maybe I needed it too!” He argued back, protesting as you found him in the game. 

“Then go get your own!” You snickered, punching him. The two of you had played Minecraft for as long as you’d been dating, using it as a way to have dates despite the distance. Complaints filled your ears as you actually killed him- smacking his character to death with just your hands.

It went like this most of the time- well, not that you killed him frequently- but he always found some trouble to get into, even in a video game. 

You huffed, stretching as you leaned back in your chair. “I practically heard your spine snapping from here.” His voice crackled, and you rolled your eyes despite the fond smile growing. “Yeah, uh huh.” You replied, squinting as you tried to determine which was the best way home. 

Swiss sighed loudly, doing it multiple times before you finally responded. “What’s up?” You gave in. 

“I miss you.” He complained, oddly sappy with you over the phone today. 

“I miss you too.” You smiled, a fuzzy feeling in your chest. You hadn’t told him, but in about a week you would finally be seeing one another after an entire year apart. The Ministry had sent you across the country for work, but you had recently applied to work back in the states. They had accepted, so you were due to return in about a week. Swiss had been kept busy too, so you had not seen him since you left.

You heard some shuffling on the other line, arguing, and then a series of thumps. 

“Swiss?” You called, brows furrowed in concern. No response.

“Baby?” You tried again. “Everything okay?”

“Fine!” It was faint, but you sighed in relief. More shuffling, and you winced as a high pitched sound filled the mic, before another voice greeted you. In the background, you could hear what sounded like wrestling, and protests.

“Are we playing Minecraft?” The voice chirped, and you laughed when you realized. 

“Cirrus!” You greeted, and she responded in kind. “Yeah, Swiss and I were playing. Bitch used all my iron though.” You teased, knowing that he could hear you. He always tended to, especially with the heightened hearing that ghouls seemed to have. 

“Mhm, sounds like him.” Cirrus laughed, Swiss shrieking behind her as she hijacked the game. “We miss yoooou,” Cirrus complained, absently running around in the world. “You coming back anytime soon? Someone needs to keep this guy in line.”

You laughed softly, making sure that you sounded sad. “No, I wish though. I would love to come home.” 

“Oh sh- gotta go!” Cirrus rushed out, sounding like she had the mic pressed to her face. “Hey!” She sounded distant now, and you heard a grunt before Swiss’ voice came back. 

He was arguing with the other ghouls in the room, and it took a few minutes for him to push them out. When he did, Swiss groaned before apologizing. 

“Sorry, princess.” He murmured. “They forcefully removed you from me,” Swiss sighed dramatically. “I fought hard.”

“I’m sure you did.” You snorted. The two of you talked for a while longer, as you always did. Eventually, you both were yawning over the phone. You climbed into bed, taking your laptop with you as you got cozy.

A frown came over your face as you fought yet another yawn, not wanting to hang up. “You should head to sleep, sweet thing.” Swiss murmured, sounding exhausted himself.

You simply hummed in response. It was times like these that you truly felt the distance. It’d been a hard year, especially since you two had just become serious two weeks before you had to leave. The two of you said your sappy goodbyes, before you finally pressed the dreaded hang-up button.

With a sad sigh, you curled up in your bed. It was warm and fluffy underneath your blankets, especially as you clutched a giant plushie to your chest, and yet you still felt empty. The week couldn’t go by soon enough. 

[upsidedownsmore]

Ohhh! I found you from your giveaway but I remember seeing your Hollow Knight x Warframe crossover and thinking it was really cool :D Love your art and thanks for the giveaway :D

Thank you so much!!! I'm really glad you like my stuff and participated in the giveaway!! :)

I was actually working on hollowframe Qorvex when I saw your ask, so here's a wip screenshot of where it's at currently! Lot's of background shading and coloring to do still but it's coming along nicely

Anyways sorry about this but I'm gonna hijack this ask to talk about hollowframe for a bit under the read line cause now I'm in a real reminiscent mood lol just bear with me

This hollowframe project really has gotten so much bigger than I thought it ever would when I first started. It really was just an idea for a longer term project to keep myself drawing during my pandemic slump in 2021. It's really hard for me to believe that it's been two and half years since I started lol.

At first they were just gonna be simple like this

and then I kinda just kept adding detail and color and

now it's like

lol

For the longest while I tried to be as style accurate as possible to challenge myself with character design elements and techniques. That provided me such a good wealth of practice and the reception to it was crazy.

Once I had caught up to the most recent frame though I started abandoning full style accuracy as I pushed myself to practice more advanced styles and techniques while waiting in between new frame releases.

It's honestly such a cool feeling being able to trace a lot of my art progression within a single project, as silly as a cross over like this can feel like at times lol. It's so funny how hard it is to explain to people outside of the fandom how important hollowframe has been for me and the development of my other projects, I legit don't know where I'd be at without this thing and that is such a wonderfully absurd but awesome feeling

Anyways sorry again for hijacking your ask! I guess it's just still such a surreal thing to meet people online who are familiar with my work lol. Thank you!! :)

[dragonmarquise]

OK OK OK HEAR ME OUT!!! HEAR ME OUT!!! all the BRC crews, but like, they're slashers/murderers, and the BRC crew is basically the main cast y'know???? I feel like solace should be the final girl

This is gonna be a fun one! I like horror stuff, but admittedly with slashers I tend to just read about them, since seeing the gory stuff makes me ill. ^^;

Still! Even just reading about a lot of these kinds of movies gives a lot of ideas, so I'm working off of that!

Also sorry I’m posting this the next day! I finished this yesterday, but I wanted to proofread it first and got too sleepy to finish it last night. ^^;

So with BRC as the main cast (I’m assuming just the original 5? Tryce, Bel, Felix, Vinyl, and Solace), horror movie logic dictates that usually the comedy relief character dies first. Then again I have no idea if that’s still a thing in horror movies these days. :u

But anyways, I feel the character who probably fits that role is either Felix or Solace. Because, Felix gives me the impression of a chill guy who cracks jokes every now and then. And Solace is Solace, the comedy is mostly in his bad luck and/or his status as a Sad Wet Blorbo, lol

imo Solace’s bad luck could actually work in his favor, basically him bumbling/tripping/etc. while avoiding death in more and more ridiculous ways as the movie goes on. To the point where he just happens to be the Final Girl!

But if we go with “comedy relief character dies first” and Solace gets that role, then I nominate Vinyl as the Final Girl. I feel like she’d be great as the Final Girl and actually manage to finish off the villain!

I guess the rest of the non-rival BRC members (Rave, Mesh, Shine, Rise, and Coil) get to be the background characters that get killed off along the way. Or otherwise they manage to escape just in time, but don't play much of a role in stopping the villain in the end. Whoops, sorry guys. D:

So with the main cast established, let’s move on to the crews! I’m gonna be predictable and start off with Devil Theory, specifically with my OCs. *u*

Daishō is a lover of horror media, so he goes all in on being a slasher movie villain! Serial killer who recreates elaborate deaths from his favorite horror movies!! Also involves plenty of knives and butcher themes, maybe.

Sai and Nunchaku tag along as minions, also a bit of a “If we didn’t help him, he might end up worse” kind of way. Cool motive, still murder though. Going by a horror movie structure, they’d get killed off before the main cast (or what’s left of them at that point) can take down Daishō directly.

Bō stays out of this whole mess because he hates horror stuff, especially gory stuff. He might play the role of someone warning the main cast to leave before it’s too late… before getting killed off by Daishō as a “traitor”. Yikes. D:

Now for DOT EXE... probably stuff involving hijacking robots and machines? Like that big incident in the mall in the Child’s Play remake from 2019. All the electronics go haywire and kill people, oh no!!

For my versions of the crew, Twoson and Fourside in particular would go all in on being evil serial killers like this. Like with Daishō, they’re big horror media nerds. Also they both probably kill off the other DOT EXE members when/if they try to get in the duo’s way too. I just can’t imagine the other members being okay with this, like how Sai and Nunchaku are okay with going along with Daishō’s plan. :o

With the Franks, maybe something like the Prince tricking people into thinking they’re getting life-saving surgeries free-of-charge... but then just harvesting them for organs and spare body parts for some experiments the Prince is carrying out. Or otherwise just sending out the Franks to kidnap people for “surgery”. I guess something like the doctor from the Mad Father game, just without the “turn people into dolls” obsession… or maybe have something like that too?! Or otherwise it’s just experiments to improve his skills and eventually advance humanity overall.

He insists he’s doing it for the good of humanity, but, y’know, he’s still tricking and killing people in the process. The Franks here are his minions, made from the body parts of former victims, and like I said being sent out to find more "test subjects".

So then for Eclipse, uhhhh, make them witches I guess?? Has there ever been a slasher with a witch as the villain? Gory magic! Surely there’s been at least one movie with that kind of idea.

Or if not that, then serial killers who leave astrology-themed “clues” at their murders, but really the clues are just to lure in more victims. Heck, combine the two! Why the hell not. Either way, they mostly target men who are genuinely heinous people, especially those who managed to escape punishment/jail time/etc. Basically a “the villain has a point though” kind of thing.

Sometimes they mess up and target a man who turned out to be completely innocent, or even the wrong guy entirely, but they don’t see it as a big deal. You could take this as a “He probably would have done something bad sooner or later anyways” thing, or otherwise “Well, you can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs. Or heads in this case.”

And now finally, FUTURISM! I’m thinking psychological horror mixed with slasher stuff! DJ Cyber and his crew basically messing with people before killing them off, stalking them for weeks or even months to get a good idea of their personality, background, etc. and then use it against them.

Maybe even go Saw with it, elaborate traps where they have to earn their survival or literally die trying! If we go with Solace surviving just on his weird luck alone, I can imagine some genuinely hilarious ways he can narrowly avoid death in this situation, lol

I think that’s about it for my ideas on this topic! This was a fun one to think over, thank you for sending this in. :D

[trampledore]

Rhaenys' decision to join Rhaenyra's side was arguably the most logical choice and in line with her character/motivations

I'll be partly referring to a recent post by @squgs HOTD and Ambiguity. They discuss a really interesting point and I didn't want to hijack their post by addressing a minor detail that they used as an example. But it also wouldn't leave me alone, since it's been bothering me for a while how a lot of people seem to interpret Rhaenys' motivations and actions in episode 10 (and 9). Apparently, House Velaryon backing Rhaenyra seems confusing to some (which I agree it might). Obviously everyone can have their own opinions and interpretations of the characters, but I am passionate about mine and need to make my case somewhere where I don't offend anyone accidentally. So I'll just write down my thoughts here. (This is just me ranting for fun, don't take it too srsly pls)

I agree that the Velaryons taking Rhaenyra's side instead of remaining neutral doesn't seem to make a lot of sense if you look at what happened in the show and their conviction that Rhaenyra is responsible for Laenor's death. BUT, I've wasted a lot of time thinking about it, and I do think joining Team Black was their best shot.

I do believe that her wish to see a Queen on the Iron Throne and protecting her grandchildren are her main reasons for joining Rhaenyra.

Moreover, I think that she believes that an alliance with Rhaenyra ensures she keeps what she has and furthers the goals of House Velaryon as well as her own (more than, say, joining Team Green would)

Firstly, I'd like to address why I would rule out Alicent's offer in episode 9. It seems like a good way to go if Rhaenys wants Baela to inherit Driftmark, IF Rhaenys believes that Alicent is to be trusted and actually has the power to back it up. If she thinks that Rhaenyra has the better chance of coming out on top in the end, then she would only make herself a traitor by agreeing to this deal. Then there is also the fact that she would turn directly against her remaining family members. Corlys made his wishes clear before he left, naming Lucerys heir and by that putting them indirectly on Rhaenyra's side - there was no way to be sure at the time that he would actually die, or, if he survived, go along with this deal between Rhaenys and Alicent; Baela expressed her loyalty for Rhaenyra too (in the deleted scene, and probably made her standpoint clear before at some point) and might not even agree to go along with it. So putting all her eggs into Alicent's basket might not work out in Rhaenys' favour, and even tho it might prolong the negotiations for peace between the factions, it would definitely not hold back Daemon and Rhaenyra indefinitely imo. They have enough dragons to risk it even without Meleys and the Velaryon fleet. They are completely convinced that Rhaenyra is the rightful claimant to the throne after all. They won't just give up and resign themselves to the situation. In any case, with or without an escalation, Driftmark is closest to Dragonstone and I don't see them forgiving Rhaenys for siding with Alicent. They would fly over there and take that inheritance away from Baela in a heartbeat and just install someone else on the Driftwood throne. I don't see the Greens being able to stop that from happening, and Rhaenys probably knows that. Apart from the possibility of Rhaenys getting the heir for Driftmark that she wants, I see no gain in joining Team Green, especially since the Velaryons clearly consider them traitors; view Aegon's coronation as usurping the throne and have to assume that Team Green would actively try to kill Rhaenyra's sons.

Secondly, I also believe that Rhaenys' main motivation is to keep her family safe and ensure her house's survival. I am convinced that she cares about the boys, not only Baela and Rhaena. We didn't get any real scenes with them, but what I saw in the background in episode 7 is enough for me to believe that she at the very least doesn't want them to get hurt. They are also members of House Velaryon as far as most of Westeros (including Coryls) is concerned and additionally, they are betrothed to Baela and Rhaena. By making sure that they survive to take over the Iron Throne and the Driftwood throne, she is ensuring her granddaughters' futures (futures that they also both seem to want). She may not have the same ambitions as Corlys, but she probably also wouldn't pass up that opportunity. So: even if she didn't care about the boys, it is in her interest that they survive. Joining Rhaenyra is the way to protect them.

That also brings me to the question, why she didn't fight for her own claim, but then decided to fight for Rhaenyra's, even though she couldn't really stand her at this point in time. Simply put, her chances back in the day were much worse than Rhaenyra's. At the time of the Great Council (and Jaehearys' death) she only had one dragon and very few supporters. Rhaenyra has a whole bunch of dragons, more support, the lords actually swore fealty to her at one point and she was appointed by the previous king, which means more loyal lords might stand with her even if they had preferred a male heir otherwise. Rhaenyra has a claim that can be backed up with a lot of arguments and force, while Rhaenys was a woman AND rejected by Jaehaerys. Of course she could have tried to fight for the throne anyway, but that would have been so much more risky and probably doomed to fail, especially with no other members of House Targaryen backing her up. She would have risked the lives of her family and herself to take a throne that she might not be able to hold in the end anyway (Daemon and all the lords who voted against her would have had something to say about that even if Viserys himself didn't care that much). So, arguably, Rhaenyra has a better chance of success (at least that's how I see the situation) and I am convinced that Rhaenys wants some form of justice for the slight against her. She might see Rhaenyra as a way to change "the order of things" after all.

And finally, while Rhaenys obviously doesn't trust Rhaenyra and Daemon, she also has no more reason to trust Alicent and Aegon. In her eyes war seems to be an inevitability, but while Aegon hasn't exactly shown a lot of virtues so far, Rhaenyra seems to prove herself reasonably capable at the moment. So why not back the arguably better ruler for the kingdom? I do think that it also would have made sense for the Velaryons to simply remain neutral and wait out the war, but her deciding the way she did also isn't unreasonable. Especially when the support of House Velaryon might just cause the scales to tip in Rhaenyra's favour (which would be way more in their interest than the Greens winning). Not to forget: Corlys actually swore obeisance to Rhaenyra, so accepting her as Queen would actually be the honourable thing to do.

And then there is the fact that she seemingly is now tired of standing at the side lines, unable to do anything. She clearly wants to take action and have more influence on what is happening around her. So taking a side and becoming an active part in the war might be her way to do it. Whether it's smart in the long run is another question entirely.

My point is that her reasons for wanting to join Team Black do actually make a lot of sense even if one might think that her disagreements with Rhaenyra and Daemon are too great. If House Velaryon stayed out of the war, they would risk their grandchildren's deaths that might have been prevented if only they had helped when they could. All five of them are closely connected to Rhaenyra and Daemon and have no intention of just leaving; if they remained on Dragonstone and then died, House Velaryon would have no future. From Corlys' and Rhaenys' perspectives, there is probably nothing worse than that, even if for different reasons. Staying neutral for no other reason than a (completely justified) grudge, could possibly cost them more than joining the war would.

[residentdormouse]

About (me) This Blog

Hey, I'm Mouse! 👋 I'm a 30-something old millennial, just living on Tumblr for a fun escape from the daily bullshit. This had been solely Stand FanFiction before, but since it's bound to expand to different fandoms here soon (a certain wizard has hijacked my brain), I figured my intro should adjust accordingly.

I am but a humble fanfic writing, doodle drawing, nonsense producing Tumblrite. I mean, we're all here for fun right? Right?? Well, I am, so I'm gonna do it anyways. Embrace the cringe. Or is it cringe is dead? Meh, same concept... Some of my stuff has smut (smut lite, if we're being honest), so 18+ and all that jazz - heed warnings, etc. But smut aside, there's bound to be lots of smoking and swearing and violence; that's pretty unavoidable.

If you're just here to talk about fandoms, writing, art, Blorbos, music, anything truly, I'm pretty open for conversation. Just drop an ask or a DM. I don't bite, promise. I'm here for community, 100%.

(I'm on discord too - ResidentDormouse)

FanFiction Masterlist:

The Stand (2020)

Jumping to Wonderland - Main Post w. Links

This page contains everything I have for this OC insert series: artwork, asks, backstories that never made it to AO3, chapter summaries, as well as the links to the stories themselves. Basically all the things you'd see on Blu-ray/DVD features, cause that's still a thing, right?

Supply Run (and other Stand One Shots)

A series of single serving One-Shot stories before/during/after canon. Canon compliant.

Baldur's Gate 3:

Breaking Waves

Waking up on the Nautiloid, Hayden discovers three things: this place is much different than the world she knew, the purple guys are not very nice, and she has pointy ears... One causes more alarm than it should. Now she is left to figure out how to deal with this unfamiliar place, and possibly find her way back home. If Fate wills it, that is.

In Progress Chapter Story : 6 of ???

From Waterdeep

Short one shot in which Gale receives a surprise gift, and Hayden (OC Tav) unlocks a later dialog.

Art:

Gale and Hayden

Team: Gale Needs a Hug

Random Musings/Head cannons:

Weave Scene Thoughts / Does Gale Know Himself? / Chess Banter (w. Beautiful Art by Pelcrow)

Stranger Things:

Even in Death

A Short Drabble post Season 4, using the prompt "Did you think they could protect you", a ghost, and Eddie Munson.

Original Works:

Close to the Vale: WIP

Intro post to an original story I'm starting. This is a full collection of links, character backgrounds, and other information as it's released. Updating on AO3 as I go. Come and hold me accountable for writing on time.

Random Drabbles/Flash Fiction:

Dream Shop Prompt, Sidekick Prompt, Dark Chatroom Prompt, Song Prompt (1)

I also reblog shit posts. A lot. And I reblog other's stories, because that what we do here, yeah? Community. Should anything not be your jam, here's my typical tags to block:

#Mouse's Friend's OCs #Mouse's Friend's Stories #Mouse's Friend's Art #Mouse is back on her Nonsense #Mouse's Tag Games & Reblogs

That said -- Welcome! -- Always feel free to say 'Hi!'

[hislittleraincloud]

🕸️🕯️HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU DRUG-ADDLED MADMAN!🕯️🕸️

Without you, we wouldn't have Nevermore or our Raven Wednesday as she is. We would have had to rely on a culture without your poems and stories, and I can't imagine growing up in a world without masterpieces like Annabel Lee or The Telltale Heart. I would have not have won my 6th grade horror story writing contest that creeped everyone out without your influence, and I thank the gods for my introduction to your work three years prior. I would not have snatched up lovely 1890s copies of your poems for the love of my life, since she too had been obsessed with your work from an early age. (An 1892 Thomas Crowell and an 1895 Henry Altemus, according to my ancient eBay receipt.)

And now I must hijack your birthday to bemoan something inextricably tied to you and your work. (But alas, it has done it in just a superficial manner so far.)

Your presence as the basis for Wednesday's setting is why the show is Gothic Horror, not Horror. The complex emotions explored in the whole of the series sets it apart from the fear-evoking terror and violence of straight-on horror, which is perhaps why I am dismayed by the young actress's comments about nudging the show towards horror, since horror deals in terrifying the audience rather than taking them on an even more damaging tour of the various terrible emotions that make us question human morality.

Allow me to quote an L.A. Times critic who reviewed The Following, a show revolving around a Poe expert and a Poe-guided serial killer and his cult:

When we’re meant to observe the creepy gothic horror of [Poe's] stories, it’s the sense of inevitability or fate that gives the reader a frisson, not the gore: someone is buried alive, or dissolves in a moment.

This needs to be explained, considering the news that the show's S2 will 'lean more into horror'. Allow me to defer to Daniel Blackwood's excellent breakdown of the genre (picking out the features here, but all should watch the video for deeper insights):

Emotional Turmoil: "Antagonists are often personifcations of the protagonists' misdeeds or endured tragedies re-emerging as the physical or the metaphysical manifestation of emotional turmoil. In defeating or by sometimes being consumed by these presences ultimately concludes the inner and outer dilemmas of the characters."

That is literally this:

Though no one really talks about this, Sheriff Galpin is a background protagonist (he is in every episode) antihero, because he lacked the courage to face the truth because he loved his son and feared that his suspicions. He is, actually, a main character, and without him, the story loses the greater tragedy that is Tyler Galpin.

Mystery & Suspense: "The genre is pervaded by a threatening atmosphere, usually unseen and felt on an instinctual level. Protagonists may apply logic and rationale to otherwise supernatural happenings or vice versa. This is enhanced by the emotional turmoil suffered by protagonists, which makes for truly engrossing tales as the reader or viewer, much like the protagonist, attempts to make sense of the things around them. "

Again, literally**:

There's just something wrong about this place. And not just because it's a school. ~ Wednesday, Ep 1

Also, Sheriff Galpin knew something at the very beginning, and Wednesday pinpointed that in the second episode (in the previous episode, he and Santiago chat about the murders and how they were to be perceived as bear attacks). Noble also makes mention of bear attacks as well. **I edited this, because I had originally meant to use Wednesday's intuition as the example for Mystery & Suspense.

Ancient Prophecies: "Often connected to the very geography of the story, for example a castle or a forest, prophecies are usually unwittingly brought into fruition by the protagonist's actions or lack thereof. Prophecies are mostly obscure partial or deliberately confusing."

Once again, directly*:

My dear Wednesday, you are the key. Your arrival at Nevermore set the chubby wheels of my plan in motion. ~ Laurel Gates, a.k.a. Thornhill, Ep 8

Metonymy: "Metonomy is a subtype of metaphor, in which something like rainfall or lightning is used to communicate something else such as a mood, for example a thunderstorm being used to communicate impending dread, or using rainfall to denote sorrow. It's used so commonly in the genre that it's now a major staple, and you'd be hard pressed to find a gothic novel that does not use this to some degree."

Wednesday is checking all of these boxes, isn't it:

At least it's turning into a beautiful day. ~ Morticia Addams, Ep 1

Inexplicable Events: "Often supernatural in nature, events such as a knight's helmet falling on a character without logical reasoning or a glass being held at the protagonist by an unseen presence are extremely commonplace in the genre. In some ways these events are explained logically, and in others are indeed supernatural."

Xavier saved Wednesday from being crushed by the gargoyle, which 'inexplicably' fell (but at the end of the ep is revealed as Rowan's work). There are other examples of this throughout the season, like when Wednesday was attempting to summon Goody and the candles were blown out.

Mortality: "The Victorian Era was rife with an obsession with death, so much so that historians have dubbed this era and its people The Cult of Death; with this in mind, it stands to reason why many of the genre's works possess a morbid fascination with human mortality. Many of the genre's works attempt to romanticize the passing of human life while others simply lay bare its effects on those still living."

That is probably the most glaringly obvious and fitting characteristic of our main protagonist's core personality. Wednesday is death-obsessed. She sleeps like that because of it (and we love her for it). Honorable mention is her nap in the morgue.

Human Nature: "Many gothic novels and short stories aim to display the underlying sinister motivations of human nature. They depict the deep desires and passions that lie beneath the façade of socially engineered morality. This is usually done through the use of metaphors."

(No words needed for that one. However, Gates's half-baked actions could also be a metaphor for Wednesday's, which is only part of the reason why "Thornhill" tells Wednesday that they're a lot alike.)

დ

There is zero question that Wednesday (and Burton's other light-hearted work, if we're being honest) is a Gothic Horror Comedy.

It was never meant to be overtly scary or bloody/gory, and Edgar's works more than inspired the show's plotline and its very existence (as thin and clumsy as it was with its handling of the 'mystery'). I shall be bereft if it is cheapened because of a misunderstanding or deliberate dismissal of genres, though we are all hoping that it turns out well and that the change of tone doesn't weigh its comedy roots down (the hope is tenuous, given the near abandonment of satire...Pilgrim World's existence might be the first season's saving grace on that front).

TLDR; Gothic Horror (with emotions and relationships explored within an Old World 'horror' setting, its themes revolving around the complexity of human nature) is not *Horror* (aims to evoke fear in its audience, with terror being its main objective), Wednesday is Gothic Horror, Happy 215th Birthday Mr. Poe 🐦‍⬛🎂🎉

[kasarawolf]

So I was playing around designing side characters/background characters that are in my story, since I guesss they need designs XD And the character I was designing was a Time Jumper named Robert Gillihan (Temporary Name that may become a permanent name) but then my friends wanted me to livestream what I was doing, and so I did. They ended up hijacking Rob, changing him completely and gave him a whole backstory/voice. So now he's their crack character that they want to make the stupidest content with lol

This character is now named Johnny Aquatic from the planet Diskco.

He is a Time Patroller.

Very Low Rank.

Goes back in time to ride the sickest waves. (Quoting the Boys here, "Moses parting the sea was the sickest wave yet)

Rides a surfboard for his attacks. Surfboard to the face is very effective.

He is best friends with a small alien dude named Brody.

They get arrested on the regular for using Time Traveling for their own fun and games. They are never not seen doing something illegal or being thrown in prison.

Always seen at the Resort District.

Bisexual. "Playing both fields, and still, getting rejected." - The Boys

Brody and Johnny are both insanely stupid (how they even got into the time patrol, is beyond them) and they are totally on something 24/7 X)

He's the pretty one in the friend group.

"Bruh" and "Sha" are practically in every sentence he says.

Always on the run from Trunks and Kota.

Oh well, Robert will just have to have another design made for him, Johnny belongs to my friends now for weird crack shenanigans and to be filler characters that get arrested in the background for some chapters B)

[bugsbenefit]

new post bc i don't want to hijack a post and make it unnecessarily long but since we're already talking about mirrors in ST (check out the post i'm talking about super great points about how mirrors are used in film, @chirpsythismorning has bangers)

it's crazy to me how much these mirror moments get discredited and it's clearly coming from a place of not understanding how filming mirrors actually works. i assure you there will never Ever be a mirror on screen in a film/show if it doesn't have meaning, there is always an intention behind a mirror shot. even a low budget production that films in the director's actual basement might have unimportant set design lying around because they didn't have time to properly work with the set, but there will still be no accidental mirror shots

because mirrors are HARD to work with

it's not even just about the obvious thing of having to keep the camera out of it's sight. you also have to hide all background set crew, camera tracks, microphones, etc. that's the reason you rarely see mirrors in the background of shots that aren't turned away from the camera

and on top of that there's also the fact that mirrors complicate set lighting. every scene has some form of artificial lighting, but the audience isn't supposed to constantly be reminded that there's an actual lighting set up instead of the nice overhead lamps. however, spotlights reflect in mirrors which mean lighting crews have to carefully plan around mirrors (or special set mirrors are ordered that break light differently)

essentially, every time you're actually able to see into a mirror in film someone spent a considerable amount of time making sure nothing unwanted shows up in it, the lighting works, and that the angle doesn't make the actors look awkward/works with the flow of the scene

and aside from the complications mirrors bring to filming, mirrors are also a vital theme of ST itself, having Vecna's main killing motive/method be "holding up a mirror" to people

and just to make clear how noteworthy any mirror shots actually are, there's also examples of mirrors used in a completely different way. look at the Bingham house for example

there is a LOT of mirrors in there. however. you never see anyone in them despite them being situated right in front of people

that's because they're all tilted upwards. (in this case the mirrors seem to actually be tilted slightly, but some set mirrors are even tilted in their frames, so a frame could hang straight while the mirror itself would still face slightly upwards)

this way you have to worry less about reflections, or a camera crew being visible, much easier to film

if you want to see it better i recommend watching an actual clip of the scene because the characters not showing up in the mirrors is hard to capture in still images. one good example would be here though

where in the moving frame Mike's head clips into the mirror for a second

just to properly show how far the mirrors are actually tilted. if this was a normal mirror not set up for filming, both Will and Mike's whole upper bodies would reflect in it, instead of just the tip of Mike's head and the actual ceiling being visible

any scene that is filmed with a clear view into a mirror is carefully thought out and intentionally planned. there is no "accidental mirror shot". mirrors aren't just there and the directors decide to have a fun shot. mirror scenes need to be carefully planned and worked with to make them look right in the end result. and there is a myriad of ways to avoid mirror shots, even while having mirrors in frame, see the Bingham house

so shots like this

aren't just there because there was a mirror and it looked fun. a lot of thought and planning went into making this shot work out on screen and the mirror has meaning. mirrors in film aren't regular props

even though the complete lack of reflections in the Bingham house might actually have some narrative importance as well in the specific case of ST. since the big bad's whole M.O. is holding mirrors up... but that's not the point i'm making here. just wanted to talk about filming techniques involving mirrors

[dastardlyobnoxious]

Robots 2005 Review

Blue Sky Studios, while it’d later be defined as the production company behind many famous films such as Ice Age Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and Ice Age: Collision Course (I jest) back in 2005, the studio was still getting its footing as an animated film producer. Following the success of the original Ice Age (2002), its next work Robots, released in 2005 set as the title implies in a world of robots. But how well does it hold up? With its eighteenth anniversary having just passed us earlier this month, here are my thoughts and opinions on it.

The first thing that comes to mind when discussing Robots is their art style, think something like Toy Story or Meet the Robinsons. Its visuals pop out in a way that’s helped age the movie in more ways than one. From its character to city design almost everything about the movie sells this world, think of the film's Rupert Goldberg machines or the design of the ever-intimidating chop shop. That said, don’t stare too hard at background characters cause you’ll likely notice a few repeating designs (Ex; Bigwelds Corporation), and like most early 3d don’t look at the liquid cause it’ll look metallic. Aside from more background stuff though, gotta appreciate the main cast's design and how they all look rather distinct from one another. For example, Cappy is the most futuristic looking as opposed to Fender looking older/rustier by design. Madame Gasket and Bigweld are probably my favorite design-wise of the movie with both of them being very striking in how their design correlates to their personalities. And that’s ignoring the visual treats here and there from the referential posters to the high school graduation pictures and quotes. The occasional action sequences the film has are also pretty fluid, really helping to up the ante in a couple of scenes. All and all, this is the standout highlight of the film and if you like the look of the posters and trailers you’ll probably love the look of the film.

The story of Robots is unfortunately, nothing that striking, a young Rodney Copperbottom is trying to make it big in Robot City when his idol Bigweld goes missing. Will he be able to figure out what's going on, and stop Ratchet and Madame Gasket from taking over Robot City? It’s a simplistic make it big in the city story, and while it’s at least somewhat uplifted by its comedy, voice talent, and art style. At the end of the day, it’s a very forgettable plot, with the occasional strong point such as the introduction of the Chop Shop and Madame Gasket. This is a comedic film first and foremost and while I’ll focus on that more in the next section, it does undercut more of the narrative-focused serious moments. Robots had the workings to be more memorable since I didn’t dislike what they were going for, but whether the result of the movie being so short or having to introduce so much in a narrow window it’s just not the greatest. Speaking of run time, this movie could’ve easily run for another thirty minutes to an hour than it ended up having. While it could’ve been budget or production reasons, part of me does wish we got more from the story.

Then we have the comedy, which, it’s honestly surprising how much they get away with, from the movie's frequent adult jokes, toilet humor, darker humor, and its off-the-walls absurdism. Some of it landed but most of it didn’t for me, and from what I can glean from the trailers and some of the behind the scene stuff, the movie was aimed towards tweens and teenagers. I can see why the movie was able to be more daring in its comedy. In a world that in the past few years had seen stuff like Shrek or South Park become global phenomenon's. As I mentioned a bit ago, the humor can be kind of at odds with the film’s narrative, hijacking it at times. And I think that’s best shown via the character of Fender. Fender throughout the film has many moments where he’s intentionally or unintentionally being used as a comedic device. And while I enjoyed Robin Williams' performance, it’s way too focused for a comedic character. Fender is very Looney toons esc in his non-stop energy, and aside from one scene comforting Rodney he is always bouncing off the walls. So much so that the main villains don’t get anywhere near the same amount of focused screen time as him. Fender in my eyes is the worst of the comedic hijacking, and if he had been scaled back a bit I think he would’ve worked a lot better as a character. Take, for instance, Diesel and Wonderbot their comedic bits are more occasional and toned back and usually work better within the scene. Again, not to say I didn’t enjoy Fender as a character. My favorite jokes of the film usually involved Fender doing something absurd (the fight dance scene, Rodney and Fender dancing, etc), because once you go beyond him, a lot, and I mean a lot of the humor is crude. Take a side character like Aunt Fanny for instance, the second you see her the second you know the recurring joke with her. To each, their own though, the movie gave me the occasional laugh but I didn’t find it all that noteworthy in its comedy.

Now onto our main characters, and their vocal talents, characters such as Aunt Fanny and Diesel will be left out since I feel like the comedy section covers them well enough. This’ll mostly just be my impressions after having watched the film twice so if I don’t point out a vocal talent in the blurb assume they did alright in my book.

Herb Copperbottom - performed by Stanley Tucci, Herb was a really fun character and I think Tucci nailed his general enthusiasm during the opening scenes and later when he was more solemn. His overwhelming support of Rodney and his dreams are super uplifting, but beyond that, there isn’t much to him.

Rodney Copperbottom - Played by Ewan McGregor, the main character of our film Rodney is one of the blander parts in it. Partially because he has to be built up as this hero leading the charge against Madame Gasket. Partially because of the scriptwriting, I think McGregor’s performance here is alright but I was left wanting more from his delivery. I’ll touch on Rodney’s dynamic with other characters in their own sections but by and large, excluding Herb and Bigweld his relationships with the remainder of the cast are serviceable but weak.

Bigweld - Played by Mel Brooks, I One hundred percent expected Rodney and Cappy to find him near death/dead in his workshop on my initial viewing. Ends up kind of overriding the other side characters given he’s able to solve the problem by firing Ratchet. He’s a standout character that gives a sort of Walt Disney aura coming off as bigger than life, that said after being knocked out by Ratchet he becomes more of a plot device than someone actively contributing with the villains and Rodney fighting to save/kill him. Can't not shout out Mel Brooks because he's great here.

Ratchet - Played by Greg Kinnear, the best character in the movie hands down. Greg Kinnear’s over-the-top performance of a capitalist nut obsessed exclusively with profits is great. From his sleazy nature to his dimwittedness in charming Cappy. His relationship with Madame Gachet is something of a strong point. There isn’t much I disliked about this scumbag of a character only wish he had more scenes.

Cappy - Played by Halle Berry, advertised as Rodney’s love interest, as a character she’s barely present. It feels like they wanted to do more with her and Rodney but besides a few action sequences and her bailing Rodney out she just has so little.

Fender - Played by Robin Williams, this’ll be brief since the comedy section covers how I feel about Fender for the most part but he’s the strongest of the supporting cast due to him having the most time with Rodney. Their relationship is very quick to go from Fender mugging Rodney to friends, and I can’t deny Robin William's strong vocal talent.

Lug and Crank - Performed by Harland Williams and Drew Carey. Sorry to say, both Crank and especially Lug are relegated to background characters. Cranks' cynical view of the world could’ve been used to juxtapose Rodney’s optimism but as it stands his most memorable scene is a one-off joke. Lug, on the other hand, is irrelevant, and scenes with him in the frame, let alone talking, probably total somewhere under ten minutes of the entire film. Directors seemed to have more plans for them both initially but it seems that got scrapped at some point.

Piper - Played by Amanda Bynes, she’s in a similar situation to Lug and Crank, she’s just narratively present as Fender's younger sister who’s attracted to Rodney. Hardly anything comes of this beyond a few jokes between her and Fender, but she also gathers the army for the final fight. From the advertising, you’d have expected her to have a much bigger role since she’s up there on the poster but nope!

Madame Gadget - Played by Jim Broadbent, I'm gonna be real the design of Madame Gadget feels like something out of an entirely different movie. Their introduction nails them as this super intimidating villain, and they deserved to have more standalone/planning scenes with or without Ratchet. Loved the crazy mom angle they went with her, honestly didn’t expect her to get the blast furnace in the end.

Alright, that’s probably the most anyone has written on Robots in quite a bit, I’ve heard this sentiment echoed online but after having seen the film I do feel this had the potential to have a more lasting impact than it did. While most of what I saw on the behind-the-scenes, development stuff was on Youtube if there's anything I missed, comment! Or however Tumblr works, I’m still getting used to this stuff.

It’s been a minute and figured I’d write a short piece while I write more long-form stuff, and this was free on Youtube at the time of writing. Until next time, don’t question what is and isn’t a robot in this universe lol.