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joezworld · 4 years ago

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Delta Dawn (10/10)

April, 1995

“Soooo...” Siobhan asked James teasingly over lunch. “When’re ye gonna put a ring on it?”

James, who had not been expecting such a question, spluttered and choked for a minute as Siobhan fell over laughing.

“I’m sure that I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he said at last, his face going as red as his paintwork.

“Sure ye don’!” She giggled. “Just like I’m sure that ye and Del’ ‘ave been shagging each other senseless for fifteen years! You’ve got ta make an honest diesel of ‘er at some point, Red!”

“We-” James choked.

“-are no’ subtle. Everyone else is just blind.”

“Well - I - You - we - What about you and Declan?” James eventually managed.

Siobhan shrugged. “Deccie’s too much o’ a puss to ask me - he’s afraid ‘is parents won’t like ‘im ‘marrying down’. Which, considerin’ that his parents are like, crazy rich Indians who care only about status, I canno’ really blame ‘im”.

“So if he’s not going to marry you, then why are you cheeking off to me?”

“Cause I’m gonna ask him to marry me.” The woman said smugly. “Deccie’s parents won’t be able to say no if I ask because it’d look bad to their friends - they just don’t think I’d do it because they think that girls are weak and subdued!”

James goggled. “They have met you, right?”

“I know, right?” She stretched out on James’ bufferbeam. “I just have to find out his ring size and I’ll do it.”

“Ring size?”

“Oh yeah, ye lot don’ have those. It’s what you put on yer finger to say that ye tied the knot.” She pointed to the fourth finger on her left hand. “It goes ‘ere. Every girl in ma school knew what 'er size was, but blokes are hopeless.”

“Hmm...” James looked pensive. “I might be able to help with that.”

Siobhan raised a surprised eyebrow.

--------------

Later

“Declan!” James called across the platform. He’d become friends with Siobhan’s boyfriend from the moment they’d met - the sharp-dressed Indian businessman was one of the few people who kept up with fashion at the same pace as James did, and they frequently spoke about the latest trends.

“James! Have you seen this?” Declan smiled as he trotted over with a fresh copy of GQ.

Later Still

“He’s a size 11.”

“How did-”

“-And he likes coloured gemstones - apparently they’re ‘conflict-free’, whatever that means. Make sure that the stones have some meaning about you, because he thinks about you more than him. And don’t worry, he doesn’t suspect a thing.”

“How?”

“I’m James the Splendid Engine - I can do anything.”

-----

One Week Later

Siobhan asked Declan to marry her a week later. James was away on a train when she did it, so he didn’t see it, but apparently Donald and Douglas caused quite the commotion.

That Night

“-so then Donald keeps whistling even after everyone stopped applauding, and it turns out that he’d managed to jam his whistle open!” Henry had seen the whole thing, and was eagerly relaying the story to James at the coaling stage. “I know that it’s a special event, but I’m glad Gordon didn’t see it - he’d never let him hear the end of it.”

They both had a good laugh over that - much to the consternation of Gordon, who knew they were laughing at him but not why.

“Have you put any thought into it?” Henry said once the laughter had died down.

“Have you?” James asked quietly. Why was everyone asking him about this?

“Of course I have - and it’s illegal.” The green engine sighed deeply.

“What? I thought that the Magistrate in Arlesburgh...”

“That man can do many things, but he can’t make gay marriage legal.”

“Oh.” That brought James up short. “If it were?”

“Yes.” Henry said immediately.

No more was said. James was lost in thought, and Henry was fairly sure he knew what about.

Gordon, who was watching them suspiciously, wondered whether the entire Island had gone crazy when he wasn’t looking, or if he had gone insane and no-one had bothered to tell him.

James was somewhat more subdued than normal for the next few days. It did not go unnoticed, but he refused to say why, only insisting that he was fine, and was thinking about something.

The Fat Controller made several attempts to discover the root of the problem, and only grew more confused as each engine claimed to have heard a different reason why.

“I know that you have something to do with this.” Gordon snapped at Henry after the Fat Controller left the sheds.

“Whatever could you mean?” Henry asked, the very picture of innocence.

“Henry. Look at me. Look at my face.”

“I am. Perhaps that’s why James is so upset - there’s a hair growing out of your nose at a most upsetting angle.”

“I will put you back into that tunnel.”

“No, you won’t.” Bear said, suddenly awake and interested in the conversation. Gordon had been joking, but the Hymek wasn’t, and his tone implied violence if the topic wasn’t changed.

----------------------

A Few Weeks Later

“Psst. Psst. Miss Delta, over here!” One of the coaches whispered to Delta from the entrance of the coach shed.

“What is it, Norma?” Delta grumbled. The coaches had been decidedly on-edge around her for the past few days, and it was starting to become wearisome.

“Can you please come into the sheds? There’s something very important that you need to see!” The second-class coach was looked like she was letting Delta in on a secret, which instantly put the diesel on the alert.

“Why?” She said, visions of past April Fools Days fresh in her mind.

“I can’t tell you out here!”

“How am I supposed to get in there?” Her engine may have been running, but there was no crew in sight - and even if they were here, there was no way that her driver would run her into the carriage sheds based on some gossip.

“You could ask Miss Siobhan!” The coach said brightly.

Delta blinked. Donald and Douglas’ daughter/driver was not usually drawn into the coaches’ cockamamie schemes, but was clearly standing by the fuel pumps holding - but not reading - a magazine like she was waiting to be noticed.

“Huh?” Siobhan said with faux-ignorance. “What am I doing?”

“Could you move Miss Delta into the shed dear?” The coach didn’t even bother with pleasantries, and Siobhan didn’t even bother answering, instead springing into action - throwing her magazine to the ground and clambering into Delta’s cab before the diesel had time to process what was happening.

“Oi!” She yelped as Siobhan poked and prodded at levers until Delta started moving. “You can’t do that! You’re not qualified on diesels!”

“I’m a smart girl, I can figure it out.” Siobhan smiled as she rolled Delta into the carriage sheds.

“Figure it out, my buffers! If I go through the opposite wall...” Delta’s shouting faded as she entered the sheds.

From across the yards, Gordon and Thomas watched as the red diesel dissapeared into the dark confines of the carriage shed, the door closing behind her.

“Thomas, do you ever feel like there are things on this island that we are not aware of?”

“I think you must be bad at noticing things if you don’t know what’s going on right in front of you.”

“Coming from you, that’s like the pot calling the kettle black.”

“Oh really? I know everything, Gordon.”

“Tell me what the word ‘drip’ means, then.”

“It means shut up Gordon.”

“Really? I thought it meant ‘small engines who tell embarrassing stories to authors and then are surprised when those stories are published.’”

“Why don’t we speculate wildly about why Delta was just driven into the carriage shed, hmm?”

“I thought that you knew everything, Thomas. Why don’t you just tell me what she’s doing in there?”

“...”

“What’s that? Is it possible that you don’t know? How strange! I thought that you were omnipotent.”

“shut up Gordon.”

-----------

Inside the carriage shed, Delta was in the dark - literally. All the lights were off, and the roll up door had rolled down behind her.

“What kind of Mickey-Mouse bullshit is this?” She muttered to the empty room, too caught up in the entirety of the event to realize that Siobhan had scampered back down her cab ladder and vanished into the building.

After a moment of quiet murmuring in the dark, a small voice called out. “all right girls - on three, two, one!”

Before Delta could ask what was happening, the light over one track snapped on. A single coach - Delta thought she was Dulcie, one of Duck’s coaches - sat in the circle of illumination. She smiled at the diesel for a moment before a piano of all things, started playing over the building’s PA system.

Delta dawn, what’s that flower you have on, could it be a faded rose from days gone by? The coach was now singing, and Delta was now thoroughly baffled.

She's forty-one and her daddy still calls her, 'baby' All the folks around Brownsville say she's crazy 'Cause she walks down town with a suitcase in her hand Looking for a mysterious dark-haired man

It was bad form to interrupt when somecoach was singing - even if they were clearly deranged, but when this song was over there was going to be some explaining to do.

In her younger days they called her Delta Dawn Prettiest woman you ever laid eyes on Then a man of low degree stood by her side And promised her he'd take her for his bride

For obvious reasons, Delta was familiar with this song, and was rather startled when more lights snapped on, revealing another one of Duck’s coaches - Isabel perhaps? - and Marie and Lilith, two of the first class coaches from the Express, who were all providing backing vocals.

Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today To take you to his mansion in the sky?

The centre of the shed was still shrouded in darkness when the lights on the edges snapped on, but Delta wasn’t really in a position to notice, as she was too busy goggling at the sudden appearance of an entire express rake’s worth of coaches on the remaining tracks, all of whom began singing the chorus of the song.

Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today To take you to his mansion in the sky?

A light in the back flickered to life, showing Siobhan’s fiancé Declan playing an electric keyboard. Siobhan was next to him with a tambourine. Who is doing this, and how many people are involved? Delta wondered to herself as the music built to the last verses.

Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today To take you to his mansion in the sky?

The lights in the centre of the sheds began to brighten, revealing a very familiar set of shapes - on the tracks to either side of hers, Bear and Henry slowly became visible, grinning like lunatics.

Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today To take you to his mansion in the sky?

Finally, the light in the centre of the shed turned on, revealing -

“Jamie?!”

James’ smile was threating to break his smokebox in half. “Hello gorgeous.”

“Hello yourself,” Delta said, still extremely overwhelmed. “Did you put all this on? Why?”

“Because I wanted to show you how much you mean to me.” James said sincerely, drawing an “aaaw” from the coaches.

“That’s - Jamie - you didn’t have to...”

James smiled. “Of course I didn’t - but I wanted to. Especially because I wanted today to be special.”

“Why?”

Bear opened his mouth, seemed to realize what he was doing, and then immediately shut it again.

Delta looked at James as she began to put the pieces together. Her mouth dropped open. “Jamie. Are you...”

“Asking you to marry me? Yes I am.”

---

Across the Yard

“Are you really going to bring that up now? It’s been almost fifty years and I didn’t tell him about that!”

“Well I certainly didn’t run my mouth to every clergyman I saw running around with a notebook, so it must have been you.”

“It wasn’t! And thank goodness for that, by the way! Can you imagine the size of your smokebox if the stories were called ‘Gordon the Big Engine and His Friends?’ I can’t imagine that there’d be room on the Island for the rest of us!”

“The only reas - what on earth?”

Thomas and Gordon were drawn out of their bickering by an explosion of cheers from within the carriage sheds. It was loud even from their side of the yard - it must have been cacophonous inside the building.

“You know what Gordon?” Thomas said as the cheers continued with no sign of quieting down. “I take it back. There are things going on in this Island that we don’t know about.”

#ttte #music #sodor #sodor shenangians #oc: Delta #Oc: Siobhan #OC: Declan #ttte bear #ttte henry #ttte james #ttte gordon #ttte thomas #ttte isabel #ttte dulcie #long #helen reddy #awww #fools in love

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crusherthedoctor · 4 years ago

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Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 15: DR. EGGMAN

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a mini-series of mine, in which I go into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, it’s finally time for him. The bad doctor himself. Gather round ladies and gentleman, for the spotlight is on the arch-villain that shines above them all... Dr. Eggman.

The Gist: It's the dawn of the 90's. A little company called SEGA had an ephiphany. They wanted to make a video game juggernaut that could rival the quality and iconic appeal of the then-unmatched Super Mario Bros, and their current star, Alex Kidd, just wasn't doing it in the way that they hoped. They promptly set about starting anew, as a worldwide phenomenon wasn't going to make itself.

So a gentleman named Naoto Ohshima created a selection of design concepts for this brand new mascot. One of these concepts was President Roosevelt in his pajamas.

Seen here with his catgirl body pillow.

The response to this character was “This is good, but we think kids would prefer kicking the shit out of him”, and so he was given an antagonistic role instead. In the meantime, after juggling the rest of their ideas, they eventually settled on a rabbit hedgehog named Sonic for their main protagonist, knowing his Mickey Mouse-like aesthetic would help endear him to the audience, and the franchise as a whole would have an easier time gaining a DeviantART fanbase later on down the line.

Initially, the character of today's review was but a mere lackey among many, seemingly little more than one of numerous minions working for Sonic's originally intended main villain, the Nonspecific Goblin. He was also dressed as a bee for some reason.

Which is the least weirdest thing in this image.

At some point however, they all got together and decided that actually, the guy with the moustache was the only one worth shit, and so he was upgraded to the role of main villain himself. With a spiffy new attire of red and black, he was given the bold title of Dr. Eggman, because with a shape like that, what else are you gonna call him?

“Funny you should say that”, laughed SEGA of America, as they rebelled like an angsty teen and named him Dr. Ivo Robotnik instead. While this name does make equal sense for the character, as he is indeed a hard worker who also happens to like robots, the reason for this name's existence seems to have been mainly because they thought Eggman was too out there of a name for an egg-like man. Whatever the case, this would confuse a lot of fans for years, and remains a point of divisiveness to this day... Unless you're like me and your first game in the series was Advance 2, in which the manual clears it up right away, and you accept the idea of a character having two names and immediately carry on with your life.

He would have aimed it perfectly if it weren't for the Sonic Heroes Parrot distracting him.

And that was that, really. It didn't take long for them to come up with his characterization, which was that of a cackling fiend with an ego to end all egos. This guy was the Narcissist Alpha, more king than actual kings, no strings attached. Other villains would build statues of themselves, but only Robotnik would deface Ancient Egyptian monuments to improve them with his face. Other villains would think “Nah, refacing all four in Rushmore would look silly”, but only the Eggman, the Eggmyth, the Egglegend, would go “Well fuck you, I'm doing it anyway.” Then he'd do it anyway, and proceed to address to the entire world that he did in fact do it anyway.

It also didn't take long for them to develop his primary schtick. With the dynamic of Sonic VS Eggman, you had a classic rivalry between nature and technology. Interestingly enough however, this turned out to be executed more tactfully than your typical Amish-abiding examples in similar media. Never was technology itself regarded as a corruptive influence that you should never utilise no matter what. Rather, it was only as good or as evil as the person using it, with it just so happening that the villain loved machinery only slightly less than he loved himself, and it was countered by Sonic’s best friend being a techno wiz in his own right anyway. Anyhow, with his machinery, the doctor would make a name for himself among video game baddies by confronting his enemy as the boss of nearly every zone in each game, rather than hide away until the endgame.

And all without a driver's licence.

In his soon-to-be-30 years of activity, he has largely remained the same since his inception. Other characters have been introduced, other villains have came and went, but Eggman has remained THE villain of the franchise, and he's remained a vital part of the Sonic the Hedgehog universe... with a slight redesign along the way.

The only ad I don't want to skip.

The Design: Eggman's design may be more simplistic than the likes of Bowser and Ganondorf, and he may not look as openly threatening at first glance, but it's still a very iconic look no matter what look it is. His original appearance was devised so that kids could have an easy time drawing him, which only makes me feel worse about not being able to do it as a grown adult without it looking like a Sexy Legs Kirby.

Still, it's a classic for a reason. With his to-the-point colour scheme, contrasting heavily with Sonic's blue, and his capelet collar resembling walrus tusks, it was an instant winner and made everyone goo goo for g'joob.

The Emeralds he’s juggling are a metaphor for the divided fan community.

And when it was time to give the cast an update for Sonic's first real 3D adventure (or at least the first one that didn't get axed for being a magic eye seizure), Eggman got a respectable change of his own. He was taller, his getup was militaristic, and his body was more legitimately egg-shaped rather than basketball-shaped. He also gained a pair of goggles that he never uses, except in scenes where he puts them on and then never uses them.

“How do my chicken legs not collapse under the might of my gluttonous mass? Find out in an unrelated tie-in novel that you have to pay additional money for.”

There was also that one redesign from 2006, but...

Be it Classic or Modern, I've always loved his design. Before he even says a word or does anything, you know from his appearance that he's a bit of a clownish sort. But he also has a subtle creepy vibe going on, with the way his glasses often obscure his eyes, and how this only makes the pearly-white, unnecessarily wide grin on his face that much more empty and unsettling. This little bit of eeriness hiding among his cartoonish physique reflects the full extent of his character pretty accurately, as we’ll delve into soon enough.

If nothing else, it's more effective than him having no eyes at all.

GRRRRRRRR FUCK YOU BUNNIES THAT I CAN'T SEE

The Personality: If you've seen my villain reviews, then you'll have gathered that Sonic's rogues aren't known for having much in the way of personality. There are exceptions, but they are indeed the exceptions. More often than not though, whether it's an alien conquerer, an ancient monster, or Dan Green the Recolour, they can be summed up thusly: They're evil, they want to destroy the world, and the heroes stop them because they're evil and want to destroy the world. If they're feeling particularly daring, they might go for a second colour.

Luckily, as if to counter all these cardboard drawings, the central adversary of the franchise makes up for these voids of personality by actually having one. And what a personality it is.

The writers of SatAM looked at this and thought “No, this won't do, there's no character to work with here.”

He really is brimming with comedic charm. Every moment that he's present...

Every moment that he shows off...

Every moment that he basks in his own glory...

Every moment that he unveils a new wicked scheme...

Every moment that he puts his enemies to the test...

Every moment that he challenges the world...

Every moment that he laughs at the world...

Every moment that he lives, nay, every moment that he breathes...

Yes, the man has plenty of humor, and it's part of what makes him so enjoyable and memorable. However, if you think being a clown is all there is to him, then prepare to have your expectations subverted initial assumptions taken in a unexpected direction, because although he puts the goof in goofy, he ALSO puts the “oh...?” in “oh shit”.

For you see, Eggman is by all means the epitome of Laughably Evil, but do not, under any circumstance, take him at face value and write him off as a joke. He is anything but.

For starters, he can swing a planet.

There is a rule of thumb that I personally go by with Eggman’s characterization, one that I believe is an immediate make or break factor in regards to whether or not you understand what makes this villain work. Eggman - when you put all his secondary traits aside - is made up of two prominent halves. There’s the egocentric meme machine that bounces up and down like a kid with his N64 and laughs like Santa... and there’s the monster buried within that remains completely and utterly unrepentant for everything he’s responsible for. This is very important. Despite the character’s simplicity at his core, many writers have failed to grasp this, official writers included, and I for the life of me cannot understand why this is such a recurring problem. Eggman is funny, AND Eggman is evil. Both are equal. When you take away one or the other, you may have a funny character, or you may have an evil character, but you don’t have Eggman. Simple as.

Armchair intellectuals may argue that Eggman’s deeds aren’t that evil, since he tends to be merely callous rather than actively trying to hurt or kill people. Those people are probably the types on TV Tropes who weigh a villain’s evilness and effectiveness purely through the surface-level scale of their goals rather than what they actually do to achieve them. While it is true that Eggman tends to be more apathetic about the aftermath of his actions, that doesn’t - and shouldn’t - negate how dangerous he is. It shouldn’t negate what he’s capable of. It shouldn’t negate how far he’s willing to go. And it shouldn’t negate the consequences and casualties that can and do result from his many schemes.

Seriously, think about this for a second. If you confronted Eggman about his current plan to... I dunno, make a water park in Africa or some shit, and you informed him that there has been unexpected mass suffering as a result of this, how do you think he would truly feel about that? What do you think he would actually say to that?

Spoiler: No fucks.

If anything, that he “merely” doesn’t care either way as long as he gets what he wants is more uniquely horrific and deplorable than if he were a generic baddie who committed his evulz specifically for evulz’s own sake and nothing more. At least you’re inadvertently acknowledging that other people’s lives have value when you act one-dimensionally gleeful over ending them, but when your immediate response to the side-effect of a million potential deaths and environmental disasters is “Oh well, fuck ‘em, Eggmanland time baybeeee”, that’s a new level of cruelty.

Besides, even in the Genesis era, he was carpet bombing Angel Island...

“Good thing I have this shield. Sucks to be this forest!”

And he’s only gotten worse since then, indulging in such acts as going full suicide bomber with a missile, after his initial plot to destroy and rebuild Station Square through the means of Chaos and the Egg Carrier didn’t work out...

But don’t worry, he kept it lighthearted by making it look like a penis.

Making one of Sonic’s friends go insane with power against their will, forcing the Blue Blur to put them down personally...

It’s ironic, cause he’s metal. Or do I have to awkwardly explain the joke two more times before I’m a proper YouTuber?

Capturing thousands of innocent aliens, and forcefully converting them into mindless beasts...

I’m pretty sure I saw Alfred Molina conduct this experiment one time.

He even removed the heroes’ collective IQs so that he could shoehorn a cliffhanger on an already terrible game.

Thanks, cunt.

And honestly? When it comes to Sonic and chums at least, Eggman does let out a more openly sadistic side now and then. Need I mention that time when the doctor forced Sonic and two random buddies to make their way through a trap-infested island of his own creation? Not for the sake of nabbing Chaos Emeralds or anything of the sort mind you, he just wanted the blue motor mouth to suffer.

Images you can hear.

To make matters even worse, as befitting of his manchild tendencies, he’s ridiculously petty. How petty? Petty enough to abduct a little girl’s mother for no other reason than because Cheese completely trivialized his forces the girl was friends with Sonic and helped participate in the latest kicking of his own ass.

He only picked Vanilla because there was no Strawberry.

But at least his captives can admire the sheer variety that their captor has to offer. One of the greatest things about the doctor's style is that anything goes. With all due respect to Bowser, he tends to stick with his fiery castles (although he has been branching out recently), and plenty of other villains in gaming tend to be similarly stuck in their ways when it comes to tastes. Eggman, on the other hand, will create all sorts of fortresses and reside anywhere on the planet and beyond. It can be in the sky, in space, somewhere hot, somewhere cold, under the sea, in a circus... and every now and then, he might combine some of them together and thensome. So long as it's even vaguely mechanical in some way, his ground rules have already been ticked off.

Hang on a minute...

You know what else Eggman is? Relentless.

Persistence is a quality that most villains by their very nature share, lest they cease to be an effective antagonist. But once again, Rrrrrrrobotnik maxes out more than any other, and will often go to insane lengths to keep the current plan going, or if not that, then to spite Sonic.

Exhibit A: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, in which the grand finale consists of the madman throwing a gravity-shifting contraption your way, busting out a Kaiju-sized robo, escaping with the Master Emerald after his defeat, continuing to escape even after the Death Egg has been thoroughly destroyed, getting chased through the asteroid fields in space by Super Sonic, and only finally going down when the escape craft and the piloted mech controlling the escape craft are down. And all of this came after a grand adventure where, among other things, he destroyed an entire level just to kill you.

There are immortal omnipotents that put up less of a challenge.

“Looks like it’s time for Plan... *checks paper*... F.”

His relentlessness also reveals another side of the doctor that is simultaneously admirable and terrifying: He bows to no one. No one. Doesn’t matter who it is. Doesn’t matter how powerful they are. Doesn’t matter how much the odds are stacked against him. If another villain were to demand that he cower before them, the scientist would laugh and show through physical demonstration that this is not the way the egg rolls. Unless he’s absolutely unable to do so, he will give it his all every time, and even if he can’t, he’ll use his crafty mind to find some other way to get around the issue. You can beat him in battle, you can foil his plans, but you absolutely cannot break his resolve.

“Dad said it’s my turn to play with the Ruby. I know this, because I’m your dad.”

What about his relationship with those who actually serve him? Specifically, his own robots? Well for the most part, he treats them like absolute crap, what with verbally abusing them at every corner and being all too willing to go full Vader on them the moment they mess up. He IS capable of expressing fondness and giving praise to his more successful creations, like with Metal Sonic and Gamma, but even then, it’s a roundabout way of praising himself, since he’s the one who made them what they are. So basically, you’re only valuable to him if you make him look good.

Gaming in the Clinton Years in a nutshell.

And as for Sonic? Yeah, like with any legendary and long-lasting hero/villain dynamic, it’s obvious that Eggman has some degree of begrudging respect for his opponent. But if you think this respect would dissuade him from actually going through with his ambitions of rulership...

As the hedgehog’s apparent demise in Sonic Adventure 2 proves, as well as his defeat at the hands of Infinite and the subsequent six months of brutal conquest in Sonic Forces, Eggman is dead serious about his goals. If you think he’d get bored after conquering the world, he would simply expand his resources and have a crack at conquering the rest of the universe. When he says he hates that hedgehog, I’m inclined to believe that he means it, and although he may enjoy his “games” with Sonic to an extent, I also can’t see him wanting to remain stuck on square one forever.

If this were Sonic X, he’d just grieve.

By the way, the scene above? Undeniable proof that for all the doctor’s boasting, he’s not actually lying or exaggerating when he prides himself on his brilliance. Because when you get past his goofy exterior, when you look beyond the occasional, relatively minor mistake (*glares at IDW*), you’ll see that... yes. He IS brilliant. And not just in the science department either, although his countless robots and strongholds over the years are no doubt a testament to his credentials there. While he may prefer to go in big and bold, he can also be shrewd with his strategies when he wants to be.

Sonic’s aforementioned near-death experience, for example, was the result of Eggman turning the heroes’ own cunning plan on its head by being one step ahead of them. And in Sonic Unleashed, he lured his enemy into a trap, culminating with him cancelling out Super Sonic.

“...and pay the price for your Werehog gameplay...”

And after all those years of struggling, he finally got a giant monster under his complete control. “But he had help!”, you say? Yeah, from himself.

Did Flynn sleep through all this...?

Much like his inner nature as an evil bastard, Eggman's effectiveness is likewise commonly underestimated by writers. Yes, he occasionally makes mistakes. Yes, he occasionally overlooks details. Yes, he occasionally lacks foresight. But he is NOT stupid. A hero is only as good as their villain after all, and if Eggman is portrayed as a bumbling fool, then how can Sonic be a truly great hero? Eggman is humorous, sinister, and when the chips are down, competent.

...Did I mention that he's also a master Olympian?

The Execution: There's no surprises here. You knew from the moment you saw this review that my stance wasn't going to be anything less than 100% fanboy adoration. In that respect, this section almost feels redundant, because there's only so many ways I can say “Dr. Eggman is the fucking shit and I'm eternally grateful to Mr. Ohshima for bringing this absolute masterpiece into our world” without it getting repetitive. So to cap this review off, I'm going to very briefly compare his portrayals in other media, and explain why they tend to not be as good as the original SEGA Eggman.

“Cause they’re not balanced, right?” you ask. “Cause they veer too far in a particular direction? You're so predictable,” you add. To that I say:

1. Yeah, basically.

2. ...S-Shut up...

3. While the conclusion may be obvious, it's nonetheless important because as I mentioned previously, despite how straightforward this villain is, writers seem absolutely intent on not getting the point. There are loads of villains out there who share Eggman's talent of mixing hilarity and evil together with a bow of competence on top. Two of those villains are among the most famous supervillains of all time, in fact. You might have heard of them.

Joker can do it just fine. Green Goblin can do it just fine. And plenty of others can do it just fine. So why is it such an issue with Eggman? What is it about a round body and a long moustache that gets people to think “No, this guy is absolutely incapable of being comedic and threatening at the same time, no question, end of.” Is it because he’s a more cartoony franchise? Well, that can't be the case, because even Mario has a couple of beloved examples. Fawful, anyone? How about Dimentio? Cackletta? King Boo? K. Rool? Hell, you could even count Bowser himself depending on the portrayal.

Anyway, the point is, writers tend to miss the mark for one reason or another. With Sonic X for example, he wasn't too bad in the beginning, but as the show went on, he became exactly the toothless non-villain that many people misjudge him as. We all know that scene where he berates Black Narcissus for harming their captives (not for pragmatic reasons mind you, he genuinely took issue with the act on moral grounds, even though his own hands weren’t exactly clean either), but even before that point, he was doing such things as healing an injured Sonic without an ulterior motive, not taking any opportunity whatsoever to start conquering Sonic's world because he was pining for Sonic's attention, and being the Jiminy Cricket to Chris Thorndyke's Pinocchio. Why they thought the goddamn villain should be the moral conscience of this show remains an unanswered question, but at least it no longer influences how he's portrayed in the games.

Then you have the IDW comic, which is a similar tale of starting off decent and then careening wildly into the abyss, but for different reasons. Initially, he was built up to be in-line with his competent, foresight-packed self from Forces, with his inevitable return being met with dread, and a delightfully devilish scheme to match when he finally did so. But somewhere along the way, Ian Flynn thought that Eggman coming back from his amnesiac period and returning stronger than ever with a new minion and a deadly virus wasn't enough to up the stakes... so they decided to “up the stakes” by turning both the doctor and his new minion into massive imbeciles so as to justify their plot getting hijacked by the Deadly Six, a move so predictable yet infuriating that it got even me to turn against the Six. And the reason the Six got invited in-universe is because Starline decided he didn’t like being unique and devolved into Snively 2.0 behind Eggman’s back. All this from the alleged “best writer” for the series...

Yeah, same.

And then you have the Boom version, which shares basically the same issues as Sonic X but in a more mundane fashion. It's easier to dismiss because it's a comedy-centric show and his redesign makes it easier to separate him from mainline Eggman, and I'll gladly admit that he does have a lot of genuinely funny lines that redeem him a little bit. But yeah, too much of not being a true villain for my tastes.

Now this isn't to say that there haven't been portrayals in other media that are up there with the original. The versions that I consider better off than the ones above include...

- The OVA Eggman is pretty faithful all things considered, aside from his romantic feelings for Sara, which feels slightly off since the idea of Eggman loving anyone other than himself is incredibly unrealistic at best. But it doesn't actually soften or undermine his deviousness, so I'm willing to let it slide for an alternate take. Especially since he gave us the best Metal Sonic out there.

- AoStH is far from a perfect show, but there's a reason why even its detractors tend to treat its version of Robotnik like a national treasure. Admittedly most of that is because of the legendary Long John Baldry and the endless memes associated with this incarnation, but despite hailing from a comedy-focused show like Boom Eggman, this Robotnik still had a lot of legitimately dangerous moments, more than you'd think.

- And of course, Jim Carrey's Robotnik in the Sonic movie is just... *chef's kiss*

So obvious aesop though it may be, but you see what the more effective portrayals have in common, I assume?

Granted, this also isn't to say that SEGA Eggman himself has had a perfect track record. The decade's worth of upstagings and backstabbings by other villains should be enough of a counterpoint to that claim, and I've also made it clear now and then that I take issue with certain games regarding what they do with the doc, no matter how revered they may be by other fans. Sonic Adventure 2, for instance. I praised the fake emerald scene, and I do sincerely believe that he has a number of other badass moments in that game, but because Shadow was playing him like a fool the whole time, I can't help but have a bitter taste in my mouth when I look at the bigger picture.

So close to greatness, yet so far...

So in that case, which game do I think has Eggman's best showing overall? That's not in any way an easy question, but lack of dialogue aside, I'm gonna go with Sonic 3 & Knuckles again, as the classic journey through the sights of Angel Island plays out in a way that highlights just how determined, ruthless, and underhanded he is with carrying out his mission to revive the Death Egg by any means necessary. Other games do win out in other areas - SA1 for how bastardly he is, Forces for how cunning he is, Colours for his hilarious announcements, CD for using the scenery to show the effects of his actions, Mania for not letting the other villain walk all over him - but for the purest essence of the doctor at his cartoony yet competent best, I'd say S3&K is a reasonable bet.

And when it comes to all his many traits, which one do I find the most special one of all? Well again, far from easy to answer, but I think the coolest aspect about him is also one of the most overlooked. Robotnik, despite whatever superhuman qualities he may occasionally unveil, is for all intents and purposes a regular guy with a big brain. This might make him appear unimpressive when compared to your average Final Fantasy villain and the like, but if anything, it paints him in a more flattering light than expected, because he doesn't even need to be on their level to still be on the radar. It's easy to be a big bad threat when you're an ancient demon or an almighty god-like being, and you only have to wave a hand to cause armageddon. But when you're just Some Guy™ going up against superpowered opponents, meaning you have to earn your threat level the hard way, and you prove to be a challenge every step of the way regardless, because you're just THAT much of a genius... that's fucking awesome, no other way to put it.

And you know what else is awesome? You may not like Eggman, and you don’t have to like him, but like it or not, he is directly and indirectly responsible for a vast majority of the coolest and most loved moments and aspects of this franchise.

The opening to Unleashed? Eggman set up the scene.

Shadow running around and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman released him.

Blaze getting involved with Sonic’s world and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman’s half-responsible for that.

Metal Sonic? Eggman made him.

Egg Dragoon? Eggman.

Big Arm? Eggman.

Monkey Dude? Eggman.

That text is missing a blue checkmark.

This review is probably longer than the echidna family tree in Archie at this point, so I better finish it off. If it wasn't obvious from all the paragraphs I've belted out in this post, I'm very passionate about Eggman and the way he’s portrayed. Ever since I got into the Sonic franchise in 2003, I immediately took a liking to the doctor, and to this day, he remains not only my favourite Sonic villain, my favourite Sonic character, but also my favourite character period. Some may find it a weird or lame choice compared to other, “better” characters, but that's the way it is, and I ain't about to change it. I am very unlikely to ever stop enjoying the hell out of this villain, and even if he got irreversibly ruined in some way, I'd still continue to love what he was before that point.

Because yeah, he's not the deepest character ever, but... who cares? Is it not enough that we find something that appeals to us? When I got into Sonic, I was introduced to fantastic games, a likable cast, high quality soundtracks, beautiful worlds, numerous friends on this very site, and of course, the lovely treasure that is my partner. I may not have been with this franchise during the 90's, but it's given me just as much fun, nostalgia, and happiness as those who were. Despite the flawed titles, despite the fandom conundrums, I still love this series.

And I still love this absolute prick.

Crusher Gives Dr. Eggman a: TWO Thumbs Up!

#Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite?#Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog #Dr. Ivo Robotnik

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starshinewriter · 4 years ago

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Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck & Louie Duck, Donald Duck & Fethry Duck & Gladstone Gander & Scrooge McDuck, Dewey Duck & Fethry Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck & Gladstone Gander, Daisy Duck & Donald Duck & Goofy & Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse, José Carioca & Donald Duck & Panchito Pistoles, Daisy Duck & Louie Duck & Goofy & Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse, José Caricoa & Louie Duck & Panchito Pistoles Characters: Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, Huey Duck, Dewey Duck, Louie Duck, Gladstone Gander, Fethry Duck, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Goofy (Disney), Panchito Pistoles, José Carioca Additional Tags: TBA - Freeform Series: Part 4 of A Bigger, Different Family Dynamic Summary:

The boys meet their extended family.

Notes: Set between Hatching and First Words...

Alternative to ao3:

The day Gladstone and Fethry got to meet their cousins was finally here, Fethry was finally able to come up from the lab which meant Gladstone was coming as well. Scrooge and Donald were both nervous and excited for this. Nervous because they wanted it to go well and Fethry and Gladstone were, Fethry and Gladstone; excited cause despite their eccentricities they really did want to see them again. It had been a while, even before Della disappeared, and though they wouldn't readily admit it, they missed them.

The four of them had a lot they needed to talk about, but this wasn't about that. It was about the boys, who didn't know what was going on but could feel the tension in the air. Llewellyn, being quick to upset when he was confused, started crying. Donald's attention was immediately on him; he set to soothe him as he rocked him back and forth, giving a look to Scrooge as he did so. They had to calm down, the boys had to be in a good mood for this to go well.

Once Donald got his son calm he placed him down next to his cousins, who had been watching the whole thing worriedly. They comforted him in their own ways -mainly soft pats and quiet babbling- which made the adults smile.

Scrooge ran a hand through his hair- his hat currently on Dewey's head, and sighed, "When are those ta gonna get here?"

Donald rolled his eyes, "You know how Gladstone is." He tended to take his time getting to places, even when he knew it was important. It got on Donald's nerves to no end, which was definitely why he did it. Honestly, if he hadn't been family Donald would've stopped talking to him years ago. "And Feth's probably with him, and those two being together never ends well."

"Why didnae ane o' us go pick them up again?" Donald was about to respond when the doorbell rang. "Finally," Scrooge said going to answer it. He opened it up and sure enough, there they were. Two hours late. "Do ae want ta know why yer so late?"

"No." Fethry replied honestly; Scrooge chose to drop it, they were here now, that was what mattered. The two of them walked in and Donald shared a quick hug with Fethry then gave Gladstone a stiff handshake. "Can we meet the boys now?" Fethry asked, bouncing on his toes excitedly.

"We need ta go over a few rules first." Scrooge closed the door and led the party to the den, "Firstly, ye have ta be gentle with them, they're wee babes and can get hurt easily. Second, ye have ta be quiet, their ears are very sensitive. Third-"

"Yeah yeah we got it, Uncle McD, can we see them now?" Gladstone interrupted making Scrooge glare at him but gave them the go-ahead anyway.

"Be careful, they don't know who you are and they've never meet strangers before." Donald added warningly.

And sure enough, as soon as the two of them stepped into the room the boys got confused. Scrooge quickly took control of the situation, "Boys, these are yer Uncles, Gladstone and Fethry." He said pointing at them when he spoke their names. "They're here ta meet yew, isnae that excitin'?" Dewey, who loved any kind of attention, immediately brightened up and waved, which made Fethry coo and pick him up.

"Oh, aren't you adorable! You're like a little Scrooge!" He continued to coo, messing with the hat which made Dewey start giggling. Meanwhile, the other two were apprehensive, they didn't know who these people were, they weren't sure they wanted anything to do with them. And Gladstone sure wasn't helping the situation, he was just standing at the edge of the den, like he didn't know what to do with himself. Donald scoffed and nudged him in. He slowly went in and stood next to Scrooge, who looked at him puzzled.

"Why are yew all nervous now?"

Gladstone stumbled, "I don't know, man, just actually seeing them. What if I mess this up?"

"Fethry's doing fine." Donald pointed out, the three of them looked to Fethry, who was still gushing over Dewey. Not that he was complaining at all.

"He's Fethry." Scrooge let out a thoughtful noise then bent down to pick Hubert up.

"Hubert, this is Gladstone, wanna wave hello?" Hubert frightenedly curled into his Uncle's embrace and turned his head away from the stranger. Llewellyn, not liking the fact that no attention was on him, started crying again. Donald quickly picked him up which made him stop almost immediately and brought him over to Gladstone.

"What about you, Llewellyn, do you want to?" His son looked at Gladstone for a few seconds before breaking out in a small smile and gave a tiny wave. Gladstone smiled back at him then looked at Donald questioningly. "Can he hold you?" Donald asked Llewellyn, who nodded and made stretchy arms toward his Uncle.

Gladstone gently took him, "Hi, Llewellyn, you look like a little green bean." He said softly and Llewellyn laughed, which made Donald break out in a grin. He loved that sound. His laugh got the attention of Hubert who unburied himself from the tall person holding him and saw that both of his playmates liked the strangers. He offered a wave, still not sure if he liked them but trusting his playmates and the tall people who looked after the three of them. They wouldn't let bad people around them, Hubert knew that they wouldn't.

And that was when Fethry came over to them, holding a still giggling Dewey. "Thanks for letting us come meet them, this is a lot of fun!" He got quieter. "And it really means a lot." Scrooge and Donald smiled at him and Gladstone nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it does. We'll have to come by more often, if you'll have us of course." Fethry looked at them pleadingly and the two of them found themselves having a silent conversation. It wasn't like they didn't want them around, and it would be good for the boys to be around more people.

"O' course we'll have yew. Yer family." And this family needed each other right now, more than ever. They just lost one of their own, it's wasn't right for them to be separated, and it wasn't what they wanted either. It was true the four of them still had a lot to talk about, things to apologize and make up for, but knowing they had each other was enough for the moment. Knowing they would all be there for the boys was more than enough, and it always would be.

#a bigger different family dynamic #ducktales 2017

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ankkalinna · 5 years ago

Text

My Duck Comics Secret Santa2019 Gift for @paperino-protection-squad who wanted Tamers of Nonhuman Threats and X-Mickey crossover and some stuff about Donald’s different identities. I hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 4600

Donald had been in a bad mood ever since he woke up, and hearing the voice of the person he hadn't really thought of in years really didn't make his trip to the grocery store any better.

”Donald! Hey, it is you!”

Donald turned towards the mouse. ”Hey. It is you.”

He shuffled in place a bit, awkwardly regretting the blatant unenthusiasm in his tone. ”So. Long time no see.”

”Yeah.” Mickey nodded.

An awkward silence fell.

”We should do lunch sometime,” Mickey said. ”To catch up.”

Before Donald could reply he continued: ”Why not right now, actually?” He looked at his watch. ”I'm free. Do you have anything?”

Donald did not. He was, as one might say, between jobs at the moment.

But telling Mickey that...

He paid attention to the mouse's suit. It wasn't expensive, nothing that made it look like he was trying to overcompensate, or that he was throwing money away.

It was neat, well put together. Paired with a nice watch that implied he had a bit of an extra money to get himself something nice. Not too expensive. Then again, Donald's idea of expensive was 'I could not justify spending money on this when there are three sets of school supplies to buy'

The mouse had always radiated self-confidence and had this annoying successful aura to him...

He is probably doing well, Donald thought bitterly.

Out loud he said: ”Sorry, I'm really really busy now.”

He couldn't help adding: ”An important career... thing. A thing. Yeah. I got opportunities. Bye.”

…

Donald woke up to an alarm.

He struggled up. ”Not now Uncle Scroo-”

Wait.

That sound was his TNT alarm.

He pulled it out of his closet. It had been a long time. He even sometimes forgot he had this gig. His life was so full of being The Duck Avenger, and Doubleduck, and Scrooge's slave, and a parent-

But this job had a big difference compared to all of those.

It paid.

And it paid well.

Donald saluted the image on screen. ”What's up I'm awake!”

…

In half an hour Donald had dragged Fethry out of bed, shaken him awake with a ”The world needs us!” and gotten him into the TNT headquarters for briefing.

”Welcome, Agents,” The Head started. ”We have measured outstanding levels of extradimensional portal radiation somewhere around or near Duckburg.” He pointed at the image on screen. ”We have reason to believe this person is involved-”

”I just ran into him!” Donald pointed at the screen at the file image of Mickey Mouse. ”Now that you mention it he was maybe acting a bit odd.”

”I'm sure it's fine,” Fethry said. ”And what do you mean portal radiation anyway? It's all fine...”

”Really?” Katrina Kolik said, ignoring Fethry and focusing her attention on Donald. ”Maybe it'd be for the best if you tried to dig up some more information.”

Donald saluted. This sounded like an easy job.

”Okay,” he said.

It might even be nice, seeing an old friend and reminiscing a bit.

…

Donald smiled at the mouse sitting in front of him in the small cafe. ”So, it's nice to meet up like this-” He took a sip from his latte. He wasn't sure why he had suggested an overpriced coffee shop.

It had felt like something Mickey would fit in, he supposed.

”And so lately I have been doing more work at the paper, writing a column on bee-keeping,” Mickey said. ”Of course I keep being pulled back in but at the moment I really would prefer a more stress-free life with everything going on. Maybe I will return to being a police consultant at some point.”

”A-ha.” Donald lifted his drink to his beak and pretended to drink. The cup was tiny and he was dreading the bill already. He had to make this one cup last for as long as possible.

”I remember you being a reporter too?” Mickey asked.

”Not in a while,” Donald sighed. ”Uncle Scrooge outsourced his clickbait journalism to some trained ferrets. I was shining coins for him but-”

He hesitated. He had fallen asleep at the job after a hard night's work patrolling the city as the Duck Avenger. A row had happened. Donald couldn't remember if he had been once more sacked or if he had quit. Not that it mattered. He'd grovel back there at some point anyway.

Not that Mickey would have to know any of that.

”I had other opportunities, so I quit.”

That was basically true anyway. His work as the Duck Avenger took a lot out of him and without having to get up for work he had been putting even more hours in crime fighting.

Mickey leaned in. ”An exciting job?”

”Nothing big,” Donald said. ”I can't talk about it much. Because uh- I still don't know if it will actually happen.”

But he seemed a bit... Impressed.

Donald smiled, feeling a bit better.

Now then-

”So, I don't know how much I should be talking about this gig I got,” Donald said. ”I had to sign a non disclosure agreement. It's big.”

He had technically signed a contract for TNT. Or less signed anything and more had his biometric data scanner into the system with the implication that if he let anything slip the Organization would 'deal with him' presumably in a way that'd include being teleported into space.

”Say no more. I get it.”

Donald frowned, hoping Mickey would have been a bit more curious and tried to dig up more information out of him. Probably he didn't think it was actually anything cool. Nothing that could measure up to his interesting life.

”Yeah it must be pretty important job you do. With the police and stuff,” Donald said.

”Like I said, not in a while. I'm taking it easy now. Anyway, I'm good at keeping secrets, so if you want to talk-”

Donald was just trying to think how to approach the subject or try to find out anything when he was interrupted.

”Hello!” Fethry popped up from behind a potted plant and patted Donald's shoulder. ”Here you are, my dear colleague. Have you taken a good look at the charts?”

Donald stared at Fethry. And the obviously fake beard he was wearing.

Fethry winked.

”No,” Donald told him. ”Anyway I was bu-”

Fethry pulled up a chair and joined the two. ”Say no more, pardner!”

He winked at Donald again, batting his eyelashes at him. Donald glared.

”Nice to meet you...” Mickey said.

”Doctor... George.” Fethry shook his hand. ”I'm Donald's colleague. Nice ta meet ya'll mah dude.”

So now he was also doing an accent of some kind. Great.

”Yes and I'm sure Mister George is very busy!” Donald said.

”Nono, not at all.”

”So?” Mickey asked. ”Is this Doctor George from your new job?”

Donald got up.

”Yes. And he was just leaving.” Deciding Fethry would not take the clue he took his arm. ”In fact we are leaving.”

…

”What was that about?” Donald asked.

”I thought I'd help you,” Fethry said. ”To sneakily get information out of him. I once saw this documentary on interrogation. The trick is to spot things called 'micro expressions'”

He poked Donald's bill.

”For example right now your macro-expressions are saying 'I am angry' but your micro expressions are saying 'wow cool.”

”And tell me, is being dressed as a hobo santa part of the process?”

”I told you what I was doing! I was getting a whole bad cop good cop thing going on!”

”You told me? When?”

Fethry looked at him like he was pulling his leg. ”Just now. Come on I used Morse code.”

He winked again. ”See? Come on now Don, we have a system. I think I explained it to you.”

”You were... blinking Morse code at me..?”

Fethry patted his back. ”I knew you'd catch on! Eventually. It's great this connection we have. Almost makes it okay I have to keep quiet about the secret mission Katrina Kolik gave m-”

He slapped his hand over his mouth.

Donald gave him a glare. ”A what?”

Fethry fidgeted. ”Nothing!”

Donald took hold of his shoulders and shook him. ”What did she give you? Some assignment I'm not part of?”

Fethry glanced around. He leaned in conspiratorially.

”Top Secret.”

”Fethry...”

Donald crossed his arms.

”Okay so. Remember when we were kids and we used to climb this tree and that one time you threw my favourite hat on the roof?”

Fethry looked at Donald expectantly.

Donald stared at him. ”I have no idea what you are talking about.”

A relieved smile spread on Fethry's face. ”That was a test! I had to test it was really you. Of course you never threw my hat onto the roof you wouldn't be mean like that-”

”Fethry I am losing my patience here!”

Fethry looked around and slapped his fake moustache on Donald.

”Here, wear this just in case as I explain. So, the TNT organization maybe thought, just a bit, that you might have been replaced with a clone or be unreliable for some other reason.”

”What?”

”Shhh!” Fethry shushed him. ”Apparently Mickey got involved in something weird. And not just him. Someone else you know-”

”Who?”

”The Duck Avenger.”

…

Donald never had done something like this before.

He was very good at compartmentalization. He just had to.

He was Donald Duck.

A single parent, minimum wage worker, the nephew of the world's richest man, a boyfriend, a rockstar, a reporter, a Caballero, a superhero, a tamer of nonhuman threats...

And the top agent of The Agency.

He usually did his best to keep all of the different facets of his life far apart.

But TNT was looking into the Duck Avenger and Donald Duck's connection with him.

Boundaries were starting to break.

He had to know what was going on.

So Donald locked himself into his closet and pulled out his Agent Phone. The one he only ever took from its lock box for Agency missions.

The mechanical voice spoke out. ”Please identify yourself.”

Donald stood a bit straighter and spoke into the device, slipping into this role. ”Agent Doubleduck.”

”Scanning. Please hold still.”

After the face and fingerprint scan the phone opened.

”Welcome, Agent Doubleduck. Please state your inquiry.”

”I need to get into the TNT organization database.”

”Scanning. Please stand by.”

”Hurry up...”

Finally the files from the TNT mainframe were pulled up on the tiny screen.

”As we cannot be certain of the level of personal involvement Agent Duck has with Mr Mouse it is recommended Agent D.Duck is not informed of the details and instead is let to interact with Mr Mouse under supervision from Agent F.Duck while our other Agents track down the anomaly- I knew it!”

With shaking hands Donald clicked the folder.

He sighed in relief. Apparently they weren't aware he was the Duck Avenger. The document focused on his superhero persona as a separate entity.

And they weren't even all that interested in him as a person it seemed. Apart from a few cases where he had interacted with otherwordly threats TNT didn't seem to much consider the Duck Avenger. Not their jurisdiction.

Except-

The file mentioned Fantomius. It seemed TNT was very interested in the connection between the two.

Donald clicked on his file.

”Warning. Security level insufficient.”

Donald frowned.

Giving up on that he pulled up the details on the latest briefings instead.

Contact 'M' has informed us about the possibility of a Level Omega threat.

Donald skipped the paragraph that got into the technical details he had no hope of understanding. It was big and spooky just like everything TNT dealt with (also apparently 'adularescencent'). He skimmed over the report until something caught his eye.

Fantomius's aka John Quackett's connection to the painting 'Land of the impossible' must be investigated further.

Land of the impossible... Donald had seen that phrase before-

“Doubleduck? What are you doing?”

Donald bit his bill. He had been careless.

The image of Kay K filled the screen of his phone. “You better have a good explanation for this.”

Donald looked her in the eye. “I do.”

“Is it Agency business?”

Donald had a feeling she already knew the answer. “No.”

“I should report you trying to use the Agency resources for personal reasons.”

Donald looked her in the eye. “You should. But I am asking you not to. This had nothing to do with the Agency.”

Kay examined his face. Eventually she nodded. “I'll pretend I didn't see anything. Be more careful this time, Agent Doubleduck.”

The image cut off. Donald sighed in relief.

A hand grasped his shoulder.

Donald let out a surprised quack before his secret agent instincts caught up with him and he pinned the other figure to the wall.

He stared at the intruder.

”Fethry?”

”Hey, you never told me you were a secret agent!” Fethry sounded hurt.

Donald let go.

”Sorry. I really need to go.”

”Well me too actually I'm still busy with things like distracting you-”

Fethry slammed his hands over his bill.

Donald sighed. ”TNT told you?”

Fethry shook his head. ”No but I can't tell you who. It's a secret.” He mimed zipping up his beak. ”I promised.”

Donald was about to call him out as a terrible liar. Of course it was TNT. But he wasn't too keen on bringing it up again when he himself had been caught up in a compromising position.

Deciding he could explain it away later as a job he had gotten from Uncle Scrooge, Donald pushed it away from his mind for now.

”It's okay. You stay here and keep up the good work of distracting me.”

Fethry gave him a look.

Donald smiled. ”I'll be fine.”

He opened the closet door. As he did so it only then occurred to him the door had been locked and somehow Fethry had gotten in anyway.

No time to think about that.

…

The Duck Avenger stared at the familiar ruined manor. Villa Rosa. It had been so long...

He shook his head. No time to dwell in nostalgia.

He jumped to the ruins. Once this mansion had belonged to the gentleman thief. Now it lay in ruin. (Thanks Gladstone)

The Duck Avenger had returned there for a few times. He had thought he had solved all of the mansion's mysteries.

He wasn't alone.

The Duck Avenger hid in the shadows as two TNT agents walked past.

One of them pulled out a scanner. “I lost the trace again. I don't think it's nearby.”

The other one examined a crumbling wall before kicking it. “Let's keep at it.”

The Duck Avenger frowned. They better not destroy the mansion any further.

He shook his head. At least it seemed like he was on the right track. TNT knew Fantomius had hidden something supernatural nearby and had decided to keep their Agent Donald out of it.

A smile played on his bill. Unlike those guys he had a pretty good idea where to actually look.

He returned to his car and pulled out his scanner. He should have done this sooner. Done a thorough search. Well, no time like the present.

He turned the scanner Gyro had made him on and watched as an image was drawn onto the screen.

If he remembered correctly, large parts of the mansion were hidden underground...

But those were pretty thoroughly searched. But if he had been Fantomius he would have had other hideouts nearby.

He pulled up the satellite image. He had come to Villa Rosa before but this time he had more information.

Remembering the 'Land of the Impossible' had been mentioned in Fantomius's diary he had re-read it. And yes, the last entry mentioned Land of the Impossible, something Donald had previously assumed referred to maybe an another country John and Dolly had fled to once their situation had turned too dangerous in Duckburg.

But with the knowledge he now had it all made so much more sense.

The details mentioned in the last entry were not veiled references to their new home across the globe.

It was instructions for finding something much closer to Villa Rosa.

Duck Avenger moved swiftly through the night.

The mansion grounds had been searched both by him and uncle Scrooge in search of Fantomius's secrets (and treasures) before. Most of what Dolly and John had stolen had never resurfaced, and Duck Avenger knew there had been some other secret vault for stolen artwork. A hidden gallery. Both he and Scrooge had searched it before but had found nothing.

But if he was right the diary was pointing him towards the countryside surrounding the mansion.

Eventually he spotted an overgrown well and landed his car. He looked down. According to the scanner the well was surprisingly large. The Duck Avenger set his rope onto the ledge and started to descend into the darkness only lighted up by his belt-buckle lamp.

There was a sudden snap and he plummeted down-

And landed in a puddle.

He struggled to the dry land. He looked up, the night sky visible from the well. Had his rope cut off accidentally..?

He dried up his cape, surveying his environment. It seemed the bottom of the well was attached to a large room with a door on the other side.

He moved there and opened up the door.

And barely managed to avoid the net coming down.

Duck Avenger nudged the decrepit old net with his foot. Traps.

So he was on the right track.

He opened the door and gasped at the collection in front of him.

So this was where Fantomius had collected his loot. The paintings and statues were arranged in the vault- no, a private gallery.

So, where was the painting he was looking for?

When he saw it he knew immediately he had found it.

The Duck Avenger had never considered himself an art critic. If he saw a portrait that looked realistic it was Good Art as far a he was concerned.

But as he looked into the painting he felt... He supposed it was like seeing something for the first time.

The artwork was rough and definitely not realistic.

But the winding mountains and forests that were painted with merely the implication of a brush seemed so much like something more. Like it was a twisted mirror of the world itself. Even the colours on it seemed to shift in the light, as if alive.

He tore away his gaze and turned the frame around. On the back there was an envelope.

And in the envelope, a letter.

To whom it may concern.

I fear everything has its end and our adventures as the Phantom Thief and his dashing partner in crime are not different. Now after our identities have been leaked I fear it's best for us to go. So, we will put everything in order, leave my inheritance as Fantomius behind, and step into the new unexplored world.

-John&Dolly

The Duck Avenger examined the painting.

Had they really-

”Donald!”

The Duck Avenger turned to see Mickey.

”What are you doing here?”

And how did he know?

Mickey took a step forward. ”You don't know how dangerous that thing is! Please quietly set it down-”

”Why would I?”

Duck Avenger suddenly had the strongest feeling he was being watched.

Swiftly moving the painting under his arm he pulled out his Freeze-gun and pointed it at the mouse.

”Did you come alone?”

Mickey hesitated.

”Please, Donald. That painting is a gateway to a different world, it has been active lately, and we don't know if-”

Duck Avenger could feel the energy radiating from the painting before he saw the portal open.

It was as if the reality itself shifted, the painted landscape stretching out until the chamber surrounding them was indistinguishable from the artwork.

”Donald!”

He was tackled into the dusty floor just before the insect-like leg could spear him.

Duck Avenger recovered fast, pushed Mickey away, and aimed his Freeze-gun.

But he hesitated. Would it work?

No time to wonder. He had to act before whatever that was could get through the painting. He pulled the trigger.

The creature did not freeze.

Instead it let out a screech that made both him and the mouse fall down.

Duck Avenger could see more of the spider-like monster emergence. It turned its hungry eyes to him.

”Hey! Over here!” someone called.

The gaze of the monster left the Duck Avenger and he took the chance to kick at the creature.

“Go for the eyes! It's a Shadowland Arachnobeast they don't like it when you poke them in the eye!”

The Duck Avenger acted fast and threw his Freeze-Gun at the eyes.

As it connected, the monster wailed.

It retreated back into the painting, reality bent back into the shape.

And then it was over.

Duck Avenger turned to the tall figure who had come to their aid.

A figure who seemed to be some kind of a hairy beast man.

Mickey lifted his hands up.

”So, I think everyone here owes someone an explanation.”

…

Mickey sat next to Donald. ”So.”

Donald nodded. ”So.” He finished putting away his Duck Avenger costume in the trunk of his car. If he was going to Car-can memory erase Mickey he had to appear just the normal old Donald Duck.

”Have you been involved in this kinda stuff for long?” Mickey asked finally.

Donald shrugged. ”I keep busy.”

Mickey patted his shoulder. ”Don't worry buddy I will keep this a secret.”

Donald looked him to the eye.

”I know you will.”

He thought back to the Car-can in his pocket. It would be easy...

But no.

”So, are you planning to wipe his memory?”

Donald turned around to face the tall hairy creature. ”No!”

Mickey gave him a look.

”I did maybe think of it,” Donald admitted. “-but I decided... Maybe not.”

Donald eyed the tall man. ”Anyway, I don't think we have been introduced. Are you related to that Archeologist guy Mickey hangs out with sometimes?”

”The name's Pipwolf.” He offered a hand.

Donald shook it.

”I'm a werewolf.” He tapped his nose. “That's how I helped Mickey here track you down. Scent. I was looking into this missing portal painting stuff and asked for my good friend Mickey for help.”

“The only lead he had was this Fantomius guy who had likely stolen the painting from the previous owner,” Mickey said. “And Duck Avenger who Pipwolf suspected was a rogue occupant from the Land of the Impossible. He asked my help in tracking him down and some research pointed me to his 'best friend'”

Donald nodded. “Me.”

Something dawned on him. “So you didn't run into me in Duckburg by accident?”

“No,” Mickey admitted.

Pipwolf sighed. ”This will be such a mess. I want to give Manny my report and then head off as far away as possible. I mean, she likes her bureaucracy... Two unaccompanied guests? Who have been loose in the Land of the Impossible for decades?”

”Poor guys,” Mickey said. ”You don't know the kinds of creatures there are, Donald. Two unprepared people? I fear they didn't stand a ghost of a chance.”

”I wouldn't be too sure of it,” Donald grinned.

Mickey gave him a look. ”Maybe you're right. And yes. Maybe you do know what it's like...”

Pipwolf clapped his hands. ”Anyway! I will head off. And no it's not just because I want to avoid Manny. I have a real reason. I need to check up on a Guest. He keeps wandering off. Nice duck though.”

And then, before Donald had time to ask more questions, he was gone.

”Let me guess, Pipwolf headed off before I could ask him to explain what was going on.”

Both Mickey and Donald turned to face the speaker.

She turned out to be an albino mouse.

Accompanied by Katrina Kolik and The Head of TNT.

Donald quickly saluted.

”At ease, Agent,” Katrina said. ”I want you to meet Manny. She is something of a colleague.”

”Oh?”

The albino mouse nodded. ”Even in our world, the Land of the Impossible, there needs to be rules. And people who enforce them and take care of...” She eyed Donald. ”Problems.”

Donald gave her his most innocent look.

”He won't be a problem,” Mickey said.

”We will vouch for him,” Katrina stated briskly.

Manny reached out her hand. “The painting.”

Donald looked at Katrina.

She nodded. “It's her jurisdiction. Better give it to her.”

Donald did so. Manny examined the painting.

“Ah yes. Just like I thought. It's a stable two-way portal. It seems some creatures wandered to the other end in my world and activated the portal.”

“Something tried to get through,” Mickey said. “Luckily it was too big to fit.”

“I see. By the way,” Manny turned to face Mickey. “How did you find this so fast?”

Mickey shrugged. “Donald here had a hunch.”

“Good job, Agent Duck,” Katrina said. “Although I wonder how exactly. I could swear that was classified information.”

“Uh. I was lucky?” He couldn't help adding: “I did sort of hear you thought I was unreliable.”

The Head of TNT looked embarrassed. “Maybe we jumped into conclusions. We got a tip from our contact in the Land of the Impossible here.”

“Perhaps I could have been more specific,” Manny admitted. “Our two organizations tend to avoid stepping on each other's toes. I didn't give out much information since I figured it was none of your business. I told them Mickey had a connection to us and that was all they needed to know.”

“Well, no harm done, eh?” Donald said. “You really should talk more. Communicate.”

Mickey patted his shoulder. “You're right. For starters, you might want to start by telling me what this whole TNT thing is.”

The Head turned to him. “TNT or the Tamers of Nonhuman Threats is an organization dedicated to keeping Earth safe.”

“And you're a member?” Mickey asked.

Donald nodded. “Yeah.”

He sighed. No use trying to keep things secret now. ”I guess saying I live a double life would be underselling it.”

”It's really amazing. That you can do that all. I am barely even involved with detective work and this... And I feel I'm overly stretched a lot... I don't even have custody of my nephews full-time.”

”You don't know the half of it. I have tried so hard to keep everything separate...” Donald sighed.

“That sort of a thing seems to cause more problems than anything,” The Head said. “Perhaps TNT and Manny's people should work together more. Cultivate a healthy working relationship.”

“Sounds good,” Mickey said. “Hey Donald, how about we meet up every now and then and share information?”

He saw Donald's expression. “I'm not going to drag you in into anything new. No new duties, just friendly banter between friends.

Donald wasn't all that certain. He had a suspicion this wouldn't be the last time he'd be dragged into trouble relating to this Land of the Impossible business.

But, he supposed, that was what it was like being Donald Duck.

He sighed. “That would be lovely.”

#donald duck #mickey mouse #fethry duck #fic #hmmm there's quite a lot of characters in minor roles #ducksanta2019 #i hope you enjoy

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grosiranjakarta · 5 years ago

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arcpolh · 2 years ago

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Disney cast member work schedule

#Disney cast member work schedule free#

So partying is huge and cast members have gotten kind of a reputation for raging when they're not on the clock. When you work as hard as people do at Disney, you play hard, too. Flickr/gordontarpleyĪll the hard working means hard partying, too It really takes a special breed to work there. You must always be portraying the magic of Disney and carrying on Walt's legacy, no matter what goes on in, what's left of your personal life. They told her you can either get married and quit, or work around our schedule. I knew a woman who alerted Disney to her wedding nine months before it happened, and they gave her one day off. The thing they did mind was giving people days off for anything. Sure, we liked the excitement of making $16 an hour, but most of all we just wanted to be part of the magic for longer - and that trade-your-life-away commitment was probably why Disney didn't mind paying out the overtime. We actually looked forward to working those endless shifts. And as a full-time cast member you were expected to work overtime, any shift, 24/7/365. The majority of people I knew there were workaholics and would sign up for all the OT they could get. So people would actually COMPETE to see who could work more 20-hour shifts. And if you worked a shift of more than 20 hours, you got double time. So we worked 10- to 18-hour shifts in order to make overtime. When you make $8 an hour, 40 hours on the clock isn't gonna pay your bills. Last are those who get wrapped up in the wishes, hopes, dreams, and "making people happy" mindset, and eventually they find themselves having invested so much time at Disney, that at some point, they no longer have the desire to leave. Why do they get "so into it"? My guess is Pixie Dust.

#Disney cast member work schedule free#

Then there are those who come to Disney as a College Program intern, or as a seasonal employee, and then come to the realization that they'd rather get free park admission for the rest of their lives than continue pursuing their education. There are the ones who were born and raised with the sole life goal of working for the Mouse. Like somehow getting to work 80 hours a week in a 120-degree costume for $6.90 an hour is the greatest thing you could possibly be doing for humanity.īut some people get sucked into it for life. But you pretty much sign your life away, agreeing to work whenever and however long Disney wants - and you're happy about it. Like a Disney Princess, you're encouraged to dream your way to improving your situation. Typically if you've signed up to work there, you already have an emotional attachment to Disney, and the indoctrination course pulls hard at those heartstrings. When you get hired, you have to go through what we called a "Disney indoctrination course," where you're shown endless films about the history of Disney, the parks, and the feeling the word "Disney" evokes in people. It's like a daylong suspension of disbelief.Īnd what were all the costumed characters that I played, you ask? Well, at Disney, it is prohibited for cast members to say they "played" certain characters, because the characters are "real." Cast members can, however, tell someone they "hung out with" characters. So, to answer your question, some of the more popular characters I "hung out with" included: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Lilo, and Stitch. There were always seven or eight of us walking around the park at one time in Mickey Mouse costumes, but when people would ask, "How many Mickeys are there here?", the answer was always, "One." And for whatever time those guests are in the park, they really believe it. When you go to work at Disney, your most important job is to keep the illusion of Disney alive. And there was a lot of stuff I learned there, but I think above all else it was this: In my six years working as a Walt Disney World "cast member" (that's what they called us), I did everything from working attraction lines, to taking pictures of park guests with costumed characters, to being an actual costumed character (more on that one in a minute). Your job is to keep the illusion of Disney alive

#Disney cast member work schedule

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losparanoias · 7 years ago

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I was tagged by @ahumoroussuggestion ta may <33

Nickname: Martis

Gender: Female

Zodiac: Capricorn

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff according to Pottermore and my Hufflepuff gloves. (although I feel I should be Ravenclaw)

Favorite Color: GREEN, YEAH

Time Now: 5:55 pm

 Last Thing I Googled: if a word that sounded really weird was a real word or it only exists in my town.

It appears it doesn’t exist but we use it anyway.

Blankets I Sleep With: why is this question everywhere? what’s so important about this?

Favorite Bands: The Beatles, Manel, Els Amics de les Arts, Dire Straits, Wings, La Gossa, Oasis, Grateful Dead, Queen, Obrint Pas, Hall and Oates (does this count as a band?)…

 Favorite Solo Artists: Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Adele…

Dream Trip: Anywhere beautiful

Currently Wearing: my Mickey Mouse PJs

Age Of Blog: a couple of years but I didn’t know what to do with it until a couple of months ago.

Things I Post: beatles + my doodles + memes + cats + cute stuff

I tag @monsieurlennon @paulmcmuffin @prettymacca @i-amsavilerow and whoever wants to do it! <3 I always forget about someone, and I want to know everyone!</p>

#about me #I've seen many people's done it already so I'm trying not to repeat hehe

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gelasmugcantik-blog · 6 years ago

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scrawnydutchman · 8 years ago

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Character Design: Curves vs. Points

Character design is an essential part in communicating theme, atmosphere and, as the name suggests, character in any given animated work be it a television series, film, video game or what have you. It’s of utmost importance that one be able to communicate what kind of character they are trying to sell in their story through their appearance. What should a good guy look like? How should a bad guy appear? What if I want him to be funny? Or cute? Or Scary? What colors should I use? What article of clothing should I give him? Does the appearance reflect his or her history at all? It may be a good idea to go through a checklist of what attributes you want to reflect in your character before you begin to draw them, especially if you want said character to reflect what is being described in a novel or screenplay. That really doesn’t even begin to explain just how deep the process goes. Even an element as basic as linework is something you have to seriously consider in order to express your characters personality. So how does linework affect our perception of a character? How does a difference in strokes create a difference in persona? Well, in my mind, the easiest place to start is in articulating the difference between curves and points.

we associate shapes with comfort and danger in our everyday life. It’s a defense mechanism to help us stay away from hazards but also know when something is safe to touch. Curves are what we associate with optimistic qualities such as youth, cuteness, sexual appeal, innocence, safety and trustworthiness. As such, more often then not you will find sympathetic, relatable or otherwise desirable protagonists have very curvy figures, which can often be broken down into a series of circles and other curvy shapes. Large examples include Mickey Mouse, Super Mario, Pac-Man, Po from Kung Fu Panda, Winnie the Pooh and many many more.

*Notice how in Mickey’s design there’s not a sharp edge in sight, with the exception perhaps of his tail.

In contrast, we associate pointy design with danger, intimidation, hazard. We’re cautionary around things with sharp edges and therefore are intimidated by characters with very sharp designs. As a very common use of shorthand so many animated villains have very angular cheekbones, prominent chins, long bony fingers and so much more. Just look at 90% of Disney Villains.

The most frequent use of curvy linework is used for protagonists and characters we’re generally supposed to be sympathetic with, and in contrast pointy linework is most commonly used for characters we are scared of or characters that have more dramatic weight to them. But this does not necessarily mean bad guys always have to be pointy and good guys always have to be curvy. Sometimes crossing the line is the best course of action to evoke completely different feelings.

Elmer Fudd is most definitely an antagonist. Always trying to hunt down that wascawwy Wabbit when Bugs just wants to mind his own business. But his intent is not to be a legitimate threat. He’s very easily thwarted by the cunning and mischievous Bugs, and this is largely due to him being naive, not very bright, gullible and a little clumsy. This is articulated through his adorably baby-ish design. He puts up a tough guy attitude the whole way through but has such an innocent and harmless demeanor you laugh at him more then you’re intimidated by him. By being exposed to his design we as the audience immediately understand that despite technically being the antagonist, he’s not actually anything to be worried about. Now that we see him it’s less about whether or not Bugs will survive and more about in what silly way this funny little man is going to get his come-uppence. Pretty well all the Looney Tunes bad guys have the same principle applied to them except maybe Wiley (but there’s an exception to everything).

Now on the flipside, let’s look at one of the most iconically scary crimefighters in all of fiction. Batman, as everybody knows, is a good guy, and is the protector of Gotham City. But people in his universe often have huge trust issues with the guy, and for good reason. He scares the crap out of everyone he interacts with. He’s rigid, mysterious, dominating, and is both sharp in the mind and in design. The picture above was taken from the ever so great Batman TAS but incidentally this show got a redesign in it’s 4th season and pushed the points and the angular linework even further then this. It made the tone even more gothic and gritty then it already was and was IMO the right creative move . . . with the exception of how the Joker was redesigned but that’s irrelevant.

*side note: Bruce Timm is one of my all time favorite show creators. Loved Justice League to death and JLU is one of my favorite series of all time.

So generally speaking curves relate to innocence and points relate to dominance. But what happens when you mix them together? It can be done, and often creates a very slick and cool result in which a character is relatable but also admirable. You take him seriously but you’re also confident around him.

Sonic the Hedgehog is the perfect example of this point hands down. In his original inception Sonic was very round, short and plump, and was heavily inspired by classic cartoon characters as they appeared in the early 20th century (hence why he also wears white gloves and has very Felix the Cat-like eyes). But being a hedgehog, he naturally has sharp quills peering out of the back of his head, typically in a formation of 3. This is a wonderful design because it makes him cute but cool. It articulates that while he can be fun and innocent he can also be adventurous and mischievous. In the revamp that took place in the late nineties and early 2000s Sonic took the slick and lean side of his design and took it a step further. Now he’s taller, thinner, more spikey and angular. More “extreme” if you will. Personally I’m more akin to his early design but his later one is great for it’s purposes too. All of this said, be warned: a design like this is a very delicate balance to uphold, and going too far in either direction can lead to some VERY awkward results.

*shudders* hideous . . .

So whenever you’re designing a character for a new show or a comic or, are just doodling for fun, really think about what kind of personality you’re drawing and what the best decisions are to express that. Even the most minor details make the most dramatic difference.

#animation #Cartoons #video games #tv shows #movies #sonic the hedgehog #mario #batman #batman tas #looney tunes #Disney #mickey mouse #disney villains

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ikonmenow · 8 years ago

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hello I am new to ikon and I'm still getting to know the boys ! Can you do like a brief summary of what each of them are like (personality wise) and maybe their likes and dislikes ? I don't know if you these kinds of request but you are the only blog that seems easier to approach if u know what I mean ! ~~

hey there! omg welcome to the fandom c: sure sure, i will try my best to get you a small description of the boys, i hope you enjoy it. yeah, it’s totally fine to be honest and omg i’m glad to know that c: thanks for stopping by c: i apologize if this is very messy but i still hope you can get the main ideas out from this- let me just tell you that the original six members all have a mole on their neck- yes this information is very important...

hanbin / b.i.

hanbin is the leader of the group, he is not the elder of the group though and the other members have said that they are able to be where they are thanks to hanbin’s leadership. hanbin is however, very serious when it comes to work and he has stated before that out of the group, he’s the one who stays back later to work - he’s a workaholic; whenever he’s working he is pretty much strict with stuff to the point they call him tiger leader. apart from being the leader, he also works on the choreography, lyrics and what not- he has composed for other artists, other than his band (such as winner’s empty, together with bobby; he also took part on blackpink’s whistle, epik high’s born hater) i am not, under any circumstance saying that the songs are only hanbin’s creation though. he does write their songs but there are other people involved as well, either on the composing part or the lyrics. he’s also very dorkish and a bit shy sometimes. he has a huge passion for his little sister that has been present in the survivals he had been part of and the concerts as well. oh- he also has an obcession for mickey mouse haha and his favorite snack is probably pringles. he is called by his members gorilla / monkey and is a model for nona9on together with cl, bobby and blankpink’s lisa (i’m sorry if there’s anyone missing here). i’m sorry, i almost forgot his love for dogs- i had to state this.

jiwon / bobby

he’s the other rapper in iKON although he can also sing; he has composed songs for his own and also for iKON as well as for other artists (as stated, winner’s empty, took part in epik high’s born hater, hisuhyun’s i’m different). he is the winner of show me the money 3. he also debuted under the subunit MOBB, together with winner’s song mino. he is, as stated before, a model for nona9on. he’s the mood maker who’s 99% of the time all hyper - for concerts he is the party itself. he’s very close to his family and let me just say he is very charming. jinhwan and bobby are the ones who have been with hanbin since the begining, them being the very original team that later on had four other guys joining them. he does get along with everyone pretty well. he has an older brother and used to live in virginia, i believe; his family moved back to korea when he won show me the money 3 as he had promised to buy a house for them. he’s good at basketball, by the way. and has an obcession with winnie the pooh-

junhwe / junhoe

he’s the sassiest out of them. and he’s awkward as hell, tho he is aware of that. and i’m sorry but i gotta say this - he is probably the silliest out of them. he’s part of the vocal line, as well as the maknae line. in all honesty, is vocals are probably the easiest to distinguish from the group. oh and he is loud as hell. he had participated in kpop star (not sure of the season, sorry) and well, he has an undying passion for michael jackson. he’s also very good at dancing. i believe he took part in composing at least one of the songs in their album, rhythm ta it is. other than this, he’s the one to tease the other members and atcually mock them because he has no shame. okay, i didn’t say this haha. he has an elder sister

donghyuk

he’s a very smart, loving and sweet guy. has been part of jyp entertainment before joining yg entertainmend and team b. his father passed away when he was eight. he was part of the DEF company (just in case you wanna see him dancing, which you should because he’s life). he has a younger sister. omg lemme say that this cutie patootie hurt his beautiful foot on the last episode of mix and match. and he’s the paparazzi (dongparazzi) of the group. he also plays the piano and his voice is sweet like an angle’s- don’t try to deny it, fight me if you do- he’s a cutie and probably gets teased often. he offered his debut album to his late father as he promised he would when he visited him. and you gotta know that his laugh is life- lemme just- on bobby’s holl up, there’s donghyuk laughing and i feel like my life is complete. he also speaks english as he had studied overseas, in america, i think? i’m not totally sure about this-

yunhyeong

he has a huge passion for the nivea lipbam which got him to participate on a commercial. i had to start by here... he’s the closest to hanbin and junhwe (as he had stated he joined when junhwe did). he also has a sister that’s a model or something like that and a dog. out of everyone, he cooks the best as his family owns a restaurant. he is one of the most underrated members and he tends to keep his feelings to himself especially if he’s sad because he doesn’t want to worry the others tho he is always looking out for the group, making sure they’re alright. oh and he looks alike chanwoo...or better, chanwoo looks alike him so they are the monster twins- yunhyeong also likes pranking the others and he is pretty clueless when he is pranked- cue in that one time jiwon pulled a prank on him and yunhyeong was real lost. he’s mostly smiling as well, because that’s just how bright he actually is

chanwoo

he was the last one to join the original group. he is the maknae and a very kind person who hates crying in front of other people. he had improved a lot, both dancing wise and singing wise after the show and even though he was real closed and probably even akward, he is now more carefree to the point he goes around mocking the eldest, especially bobby (you gotta know they are natural enemies). he’s one of the tallest out of the group, together with junhwe but this kid- damn. he has an older brother and he was an actor and joined ikon to follow his dream. he had participated in tvxq’s balloons mv (i believe) when he was a kid, together with astro’s moonbin who’s his childhood friend. we need actor chanwoo tbh- he is the satan of the group the evil maknae

jinhwan

he’s the eldest and a very sensitive person who doesn’t like people fighting. he has a sister, not sure if younger or older. he participated on mari and i with b.i., a show where he roasted the living hell out of hanbin where he played with dogs and animals in general. he’s the shortest out of the group and gets teased about it, our little 13cm fairy- he has an heart shaped mole under his eye ermg- so cute tbh. also, he’s trustworthy and he was born in jeju so he loves the ocean and whenever they go there, they have to swim or he’ll nag at the members because coming to jeju and not going for a swim is like a sin- his vocals are very sentimental as well, he can easily express his feelings through the song and he is very funny too- he likes teasing his members a lot but then gets roasted and just yeah- poor him-

well, i know that there’s so much left to say but my brain right now is just not working anymore hahah. i hope you enjoyed it and feel free to stop by the ask box again if you have any question.

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vunishop-blog · 7 years ago

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cervenykoberec · 7 years ago

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Disney filmy přináší šťastné konce už 80 let. Průkopník animovaného filmu a oscarový rekordman Walt Disney (1901–1966) se svou společností The Walt Disney Company nesporně ovlivnil vývoj filmového a zábavního průmyslu. Jeho tým už od 20. let 20. století vytváří pohádkové světy a roztomilé pohyblivé postavičky. Mezi první pokusy patřily Alenka v říši divů, Šťastný králík Oswald a rošťácký myšák Mickey Mouse, který je dodnes maskotem společnosti. Následovaly desítky let úspěšné produkce, které přinesly nespočet animovaných půvabných princezen, statečných princů, chytrých zvířátek, ale i dobrodružných hraných snímků. Pojďme si přiblížit 11 nejikoničtějších Disneyho filmů, které se proslavily po celém světě. Protože kdo by neměl rád, když dobro zvítězí nad zlem a všichni žijí šťastně až do smrti?

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Dnešní náročné diváky, kteří jsou zvyklí na propracovaný děj, silné dialogy a nálož akce, už asi Disneyho pohádky na zadek neposadí. Na druhou stranu, v jednoduchosti je krása. Příběhy plné zpěvu, veselých zvířátek, temných nástrah, princů a princezen a králů a královen, nikdy neomrzí. A tak si některý z filmů začínajících osvětleným zámkem s nápisem Walt Disney Pictures rádi pustíme, i když je starý půl století.

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Sněhurka a sedm trpaslíků (1937)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Jak je známo, závist dělá z lidí bestie. A co teprve ze zhrzené macechy, která touží být nejkrásnější na světě, ale prvenství jí bere nevlastní dcera Sněhurka? Aby ne, když má havraní vlasy, alabastrovou pleť a růžové líce. Navíc její líbezný zpěv přiláká všechny zvířátka z okolí. Prostě k zulíbání. Proto královna nařídí myslivci zavést Sněhurku do hlubokého lesa a nemilosrdně ji zabít. Služebný se však slituje. K tomu se přidá sedm srandovních mužíčků, kletba, skleněná rakev, princ, který polibkem kletbu zlomí a vyklube se první Disneyho celovečerní film na motivy knihy bratří Grimmů a první princezna z tria Sněhurka–Popelka–Šípková Růženka. Za 80 let existence se dočkala několika remaků, ale žádný tuto verzi nepřekonal.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeInUp” css=”.vc_custom_1496777709337{padding-top: 15px !important;}”]

Popelka (1950)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Popelka si musela na korunku počkat. Než okouzlila prince, nosila na hlavě tak akorát starý hadr a sloužila své maceše a dvěma protivným nevlastním sestrám. Potom jí však dobrá víla (žádné tři oříšky) vykouzlí blankytně modré šaty, kočár a hurá na ples! Tam s princem protančí večer, ale přesně o půlnoci musí být zpět doma. Ve spěchu ztratí skleněný střevíček, který se pro prince stane jedinou stopou, jak svou lásku najít. Sluhové prohledají celé království, ale žádná dívka nemá tak malinkou nožku jako Popelka. Přestože se macecha snaží nalezení té pravé zhatit, Popelka se nakonec s princem šťastně shledá. Propracovaná animace, líbezná hudba a celkově kvalitní zpracování asi nejznámější pohádky na světě vyneslo snímku tři oscarové nominace a několik ocenění. Úspěch Popelky také zažehnal finanční problémy Disneyho společnosti, která měla po 2. světové válce dluhy.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Popelka (1950)

Sněhurka a sedm trpaslíků (1937)

20 000 mil pod mořem (1954)

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20 000 mil pod mořem (1954)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Vědec Aronnax (Paul Lukas) je pověřen identifikací záhadného podmořského tvora, který zničil loď námořnictva. Po dlouhém bádání zjistí, že se jedná o ponorku Nautilus, která připlula v čele s kapitánem Nemem (James Mason) z budoucnosti. Adaptace dobrodružného románu Julese Vernea je Disneyho první širokoúhlý film. Současně jím Disney dokazuje, že nemusí vytvářet pouze animace. Při scéně s večeří se publiku objeví úsměv na rtech, při boji s obří olihní děs v očích, záběry podmořského světa, na svou dobu nevídané, mu seberou dech. Zkrátka další mistrovské dílo. Ještě, že se Verne ani Disney nedožili doslova hororové předělávky z roku 2007 s názvem 30 000 mil pod mořem.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeInUp” css=”.vc_custom_1496777898813{padding-top: 15px !important;}”]

Šípková Růženka (1959)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Šípková Růženka byla na rozdíl od Sněhurky a Popelky obdařena milujícími rodiči a třemi dobrými vílami. Do života jim však vstoupí královna černé magie Zloba a malou princeznu prokleje (snímek Maleficent s Angelinou Jolie z roku 2014 nabízí jiný pohled na věc, kdy Zloba není ta zlá). V den šestnáctých narozenin se píchne o kolovrátek a znehybní. Naštěstí princ Filip na bílém koni Zlobu v podobě hrůzostrašného draka přemůže a polibkem zachrání Růženku i celé království ze spárů věčného spánku. Šípková Růženka představuje další revoluční film z hlediska techniky (točeno na širokoúhlé filmy Technirama 70) a může se chlubit na svou dobu jedním z nejvyšších rozpočtů. Postava Růženky je také poslední z princezen, na které se osobně podílel Walt Disney.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeInUp” css=”.vc_custom_1496777921866{padding-top: 15px !important;}”]

101 dalmatinů (1961)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Lady a Trump se osvědčili, proto Disney počátkem 60. let přichází s dalším filmem s psími hrdiny. Dnes už na ulici na dalmatina nenarazíte, ale po uvedení 101 Dalmatinů (a posílení trendu hranou verzí s Glenn Close z 90. let) prosilo o flekatého čtyřnohého přítele rodiče každé dítě. Dobrodružný snímek dokazuje, že psi jsou ideální návnada na seznámení. V londýnském parku si padnou do oka dalmatin Pongo s dalmatinkou Perditou, stejně jako jejich páníček Roger s paničkou Anitou. Zanedlouho poté, co se čtveřice sestěhuje k sobě, narodí se Perditě patnáct štěňat. Idylku překazí Anitina známá Cruella de Vil, která štěňata ukradne. Chce si z nich totiž nechat vyrobit luxusní kožich. Pongo s Perditou zburcují všechny psy a další zvířata v okolí, aby jim pomohla s hledáním. Nakonec se podaří všechny zachránit, včetně hromady dalších uvězněných štěňat dalmatinů, která najdou u Rogera a Anity nový domov.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

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Mary Poppins (1964)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Zaneprázdnění manželé Banksovi hledají pro syna a dceru chůvu. Děti jsou zlobivé a žádná z guvernantek se dlouho nezdrží. Dokud se před domem objeví s parapletem a kufříkem Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), na první pohled stejně přísná a upjatá jako všechny předešlé vychovatelky. Jenže Mary Poppins je zábavná a co víc, umí kouzlit. Zažije s dětmi a kominíkem Bertem (Dick Van Dyke) na několika výpravách po Londýně nezapomenutelná dobrodružství. Odchází až ve chvíli, kdy si rodiče uvědomí, že jejich přítomnost děti ocení víc než cokoliv jiného. Trochu přeslazený rodinný muzikál nevšedně kombinuje herce s animací. Na pozadí pohádkového příběhu o dětech a jejich čarovné chůvě tvůrci zakomponovali i detaily z reálného Londýna počátkem 20. století – hnutí sufražetek, ve kterém se angažovala paní Banksová, smog nad střechami londýnských domů aj.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeInUp” css=”.vc_custom_1496777981201{padding-top: 15px !important;}”]

Malá mořská víla (1989)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Rusovlasou mořskou vílu Ariel, dceru mocného vládce moří Poseidona, fascinují lidé. Otec její náklonnost neschvaluje, a tak se Ariel zaprodá čarodějnici s chapadly. Výměnou za hlas jí čarodějnice přičaruje nohy. Pokud nedokáže němá kráska do tří dnů okouzlit prince Erika, promění se nohy zpět v ploutev a její duše propadne zlu. Ve světě lidí se Ariel často dostává do úsměvných situací. Copak může vědět, jak se používá příbor a další vymoženosti? Přesto se nechce smířit s předurčeným osudem pod vodní hladinou a s pomocí svých kamarádů kraba, rybky a racka získá Erikovo srdce. Na rozdíl od knižní předlohy dánského spisovatele Hanse Christiana Andersena zvolil Disney šťastný konec. Malou mořskou vílou započne éra zvaná Disneyho renesance.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeInUp” css=”.vc_custom_1496778016681{padding-top: 15px !important;}”]

Lví král (1994)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Tentokrát se od honosných paláců a podmořského světa přesouváme do africké divočiny. Širokému okolí vládne alfa samec Mufasa, kterému se narodil syn Simba. Mufasa zemře v boji proti stádu hyen poštvaném podlým lvem Scarem. Vyděšený Simba s pocitem odpovědnosti za otcovu smrt utíká pryč. Po letech života s novými přáteli v duchu pozitivní filozofie Hakuna Matata je čas vrátit se domů. Simbova domovina strádá, musí vyhnat Scara a pokračovat v otcových stopách právoplatného vůdce. Motiv smrti rodičů se objevuje už v roce 1942 v Bambim, ale během koukání na Lvího krále nezůstane žádné oko suché. Další ze série Disneyho rodinných animovaných muzikálů byl tak úspěšný, že se dočkal dvou pokračování. Hudbu skládal Hans Zimmer, který se po vydání Lvího krále celosvětově proslavil. Český dabing bohužel písničky degraduje, i tak je Lví král jednou z legend, kterou by měl každý vidět.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Piráti z Karibiku (2003-2011)

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Ledové království (2013)

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Piráti z Karibiku: Prokletí Černé perly (2003)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Prokletí Černé perly odstartovalo napínavou jízdu, na které Disney uplatnil další oblíbený motiv – piráty. Charismatický kapitán Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) velí lodi Černá perla, tu však ukradne kapitán Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). Navíc unese guvernérovu půvabnou dceru Elizabeth (Keira Knightley). Jack a mladík Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) se vydávají na záchrannou výpravu, v patách je jim načančaný Elizabethin snoubenec, komodor Norrington (Jack Davenport). Je tu však háček, Barbossova posádka je prokletá a odsouzená k věčnému životu ve světě mrtvých. Kletbu zlomí pouze navrácení všech mincí do prokletého pokladu. V okamžiku, kdy se všechny strany střetnou na tajuplném ostrově Isla de Muerta, není jisté, kdo vyvázne živý a kdo ne. Pokud nemáte pirátů s Johnnym Deppem v čele nikdy dost, aktuálně běží v kinech vydařený pátý díl s názvem Piráti z Karibiku: Salazarova pomsta.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeInUp” css=”.vc_custom_1496778070602{padding-top: 15px !important;}”]

Ledové království (2013)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Po Rebelce přichází další emancipovaná ženská hrdinka. Princezna Elza je obdařena nadpřirozenými schopnostmi, dokáže vše zmrazit. Bohužel je dar spíše prokletí, nedokáže svou sílu pořádně ovládat. Poté, co v bouři na moři zahynou oba rodiče, čeká Elzu korunovace. Ceremonii zvládne, její děsivé tajemství však odhalí lehkomyslná Anna, která návrhem nerozvážného sňatku sestru rozčílí k nepříčetnosti. Elza uteče do hor, kde může být konečně sama sebou a celé království Arendelle upadne do věčné zimy. Anna chce sestru zachránit a vydává se na nebezpečnou cestu. Na pomoc jí osud pošle neohrabaného horala Kristoffa, jeho soba Svena a oživlého sněhuláka Olafa. Elzu se v jejím ledovém paláci nepodaří přesvědčit k návratu, navíc Annu zasáhne do srdce smrtelný ledový osten. Ani laskaví trollové si se záchranou neví rady, pomůže jen pravá láska. Nebo je nejmocnější láska ta sesterská? Ledové království odstartovalo další vlnu dětského šílenství, každá holčička chce jít na karneval za Elzu, každá zpívá ústřední písničku Let It Go.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeInUp” css=”.vc_custom_1496950045584{padding-top: 15px !important;}”]

Kráska a zvíře (2017)

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Letos se Disney vytasil s hranou adaptací nadčasové pohádky o chytré dívce a prokletém princi. Sečtělá a nezávislá Belle (Emma Watson) si nedělá hlavu z upjatých sousedů na francouzském maloměstě. Zas a znovu odmítá přízeň namyšleného krasavce Gastona (Luke Evans), po kterém touží všechny dívky v okolí. Když se Bellin otec jednoho dne nevrátí domů, vydá se ho hledat. Tak objeví honosný, avšak zpustlý zámek uprostřed lesů. Zámek obývá princ (Dan Stevens) zakletý kvůli své pýše ve Zvíře a jeho služebnictvo proměněné v roztodivný nábytek a nádobí. Belle však před děsivým zjevením neuteče, se Zvířetem se seznámí a pod drsnou skořápkou vycítí laskavou duši. Jedině taková dívka dokáže kletbu zlomit. Elegantní moderní zpracování plné propracované počítačové grafiky může hrdě konkurovat animované verzi z roku 1991. Pozornost upoutá především Emma Watson, která opět dokázala, že si ji nemusí diváci pamatovat pouze jako kouzelnici Hermionu z Harryho Pottera.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

11 nejikoničtějších Disney filmů, aneb od sedmi trpaslíků, přes Marry Poppins, až po 20 000 mil pod mořem Disney filmy přináší šťastné konce už 80 let. Průkopník animovaného filmu a oscarový rekordman Walt Disney (1901–1966) se svou společností The Walt Disney Company nesporně ovlivnil vývoj filmového a zábavního průmyslu.

#Mary Poppins #Piráti z Karibiku #Popelka #Sněhurka #Walt Disney

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theaalvarezworld-blog · 8 years ago

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Chapter Seventeen: GLOBAL SOURCING + MERCHANDISING

Key Concepts:

▪️Means of importing for retailers and manufacturers.

▪️The role of offshore production in product development.

▪️The international balance of trade and its effects on the fashion industry.

▪️International trading laws and agreements between the United States and its trading partners.

IMPORTING BY RETAILERS

Foreign fashion markets Store-owned foreign buying ofﬁces Commissioners or independent agents Import fairs held in the US Importers

Globalization: the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale

Global Sourcing: Is the practice of sourcing from the global market for goods and services across geopolitical boundaries. Global sourcing often aims to exploit global efficiencies in the delivery of a product or service.

Imports: Bring (goods or services) into a country from abroad for sale.

Exports: Send (goods or services) to another country for sale.

Off-Shore Production: Manufacturing or assembly in another country, typically one with lower wages or less strict labor regulations, of products for domestic sale or use.

Foreign-made goods: Can be purchased at and by the following:

IMPORTING BY RETAILERS

American Buyers and International Fashion Markets

Buyers travel overseas to observe new trends, often during market weeks so they can be sure to obtain goods that will sell in US. In these travels, buyers soak up social and cultural climates that can be translated to US market.

Store-Owned Foreign Buying Ofﬁces

Some large stores maintain company-owed foreign buying ofﬁces. Buyers who work in these ofﬁces support /advise the store on new trends, supervise pur-chases, and follow up on delivery. These ofﬁces are generally located in Paris, Rome, London, Hong Kong. Examples of companies with foreign buying ofﬁces are Saks, Neiman Marcus, and Sears. Doneger Group is an independently owned buying ofﬁce. http://www.doneger.com

Foreign Commissionaires or Agents

Foreign-owned independent agents whose ofﬁces are located in key-buying cit-ies, tend to be smaller than store-owned ofﬁces. They represent both retailers and manufacturers and are paid on a fee basis, taking a percentage of the FIRST COST in the country of origin (wholesale price).

Foreign Import Fairs in the U.S.

Buyers attending fairs with many participating countries have two important func-tions:

Fairs give foreign manufactures/designers ability to observe American cul-ture ﬁrsthand.

They increase the size and depth of the import market by giving smaller buy-ers a chance to tap into the foreign market.

Importing by U.S. Businesses

Today, American buyers are purchasing from American-owned importing ﬁrms. Import ﬁrms shop the international markets to purchase own lines and display to retailers. This gives smaller retailers the opportunity to to purchase foreign mer-chandise, but it does not allow for customized buying offered to big stores and chains. Manufacturing in US has become more appealing due to high labor costs in China, high duties, ﬂuctuating currency. Companies are buying more goods that are “Made in America”.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SPECIFICATION AND PRIVATE-LABEL BUYING

Private-Label: Brand owned not by a manufacturer or producer but by a retailer or supplier who gets its goods made by a contract manufacturer under its own label. Also called private brand. Speciﬁcation Buying: Purchase is done on the basis of the specific descriptions or specifications of the item rather than standard version.

INTERNATIONAL BALANCE OF TRADE

Balance of Trade

The Balance of Trade is the difference between the value of exports and im-ports. When the value of goods that a country imports exceeds the value of its exports, it experiences a TRADE DEFICIT. When a country’s exports ex-ceed its imports, it has a TRADE SURPLUS.

Protectionism

The name given to an economic and political doctrine that seeks to exclude or limit foreign goods. The ﬁrst import restrictions on goods brought into the US date back to 1789 to reduce its reliance on imported goods – this was done with a 50% tariff, or Import Tax. Today, leading supporters of this legisla-tion are US manufacturers, apparel and textile workers’ unions.

Free Trade

Free Traders believe that restrictions on trade will threaten the nations ability to grow and compete in the global marketplace. Retailers and most consum-ers are those that support free trade and believe that the public should be allowed to buy imported and domestic goods. The history of the US as the model of a capitalistic economy, the ﬁnancial interests of US businesses, and the relationship of the nation’s role in international politics all favor free trade.

INTERNATIONAL TRADING LAWS

Trade Agreements

In 1947, US and 23 other countries created GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). The agreement played a major role in reducing trade barriers and unifying trading practices among mem-ber nations. In 1995, GAAT was succeeded by the World Trade Organization. Currently, the US has Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with 17 countries. FTAs are bilateral agreements between 2 govern-ments, for example NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) is multilateral. FTA have come un-der criticism – many believe that the interests of powerful nations and corporations are shaping the terms of world trade, compromising the interest of the people.

Multi-Fiber Arrangement

In 1973, the US and 53 other nations signed Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA) to speciﬁcally regulate the ﬂow of textile products. The primary purpose was to establish ground rules for bilateral agree-ments and unilateral actions designed to restrict the free ﬂow of these products. With a few previous renewals, the 1986 renewal attempted to deal with 2 changes to the status of the textile trade:

1./ Growing pressure in the US to enact tighter quotas on textile imports. 2./ The US insistence that the Big 3 exporting nations (Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan) re- vise their bilateral agreements with the US.

US producers felt the arrangement limited the number of units rather than the cost of value merchan-dise and foreigners shifted to higher-priced goods. Textile exporters were dissatisﬁed because they did not want to be singled out for quotas at all. The exporters won and MFA was phased out over 1995-2005.

US REGULATION OF TEXTILE AND APPAREL IMPORTS

Import Quotas

IQ limits are set to restrict the number of speciﬁc goods that may be brought into the country for a speciﬁc period of time. Established by presidential proclamation/legislation, they are either absolute or tariff-rate. ABSOLUTE QUO-TAS limit quantity of goods that can enter US (no goods of that kind can be im-ported until quota period ends). TARIFF-RATE QUOTAS set a limit on which a higher duty is charged on goods entering the country.

Tariffs and Duties

A fee assessed by the government on certain goods that it wishes to restrict or limit (make more competitive in price with domestically produced goods; TARIFF SCHEDULES 807(9802) and 807A, duty paid on labor done abroad.

Social Responsibility

Downside to offshore production (even domestic) became apparent with the “sweatshop” environment. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) is not only when a company fully complies with the obligations of legislation, but also accounts for how it integrates social and environmental factors into its global decision-making policies and practices.

US REGULATION OF TEXTILES AND APPAREL IMPORTS

Counterfeit, Black Market, and Gray Market Goods

COUNTERFEIT GOODS are inferior imitations passed off as the genuine article. Luxury goods and designer brands are chief objec-tive of counterfeiters. Counterfeiting ﬂourishes for 2 main reasons:

1. Considered a high-return, low-risk business 2. BOOTLEG GOODS, which are not cheap rip-offs and hard to dis-tinguish

from real goods, are made from same manufacturers who make real items. BLACK MARKET is where illicit goods are traded. GRAY MARKET GOODS are those that were not intended for sale in the country in which they are being sold.Foreign investors, mostly from Europe/Far East have taken 3 routes to ownership: Joint Ventures, Total Ownership, and Licensing.

Licensing

An investment by foreign manufacturers in the fashion industry is common, presence wide-spread. For example, Donna Karan and Marc Ja-cob’s collections are ﬁnanced by the French LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) family.

American character licenses such as Mickey Mouse, Kermit, etc have had great success. Also, so have sports brand names (Nike) and de-signer names (Ralph, Calvin). While US allows total ownership by foreign investors, most other countries only allow partners or joint owners.

To counterbalance foreign investment, American businesses are investing in foreign countries where US management is welcomed due to US know-how and standards for high quality are much-respected commodities. These invest-ments help the balance of trade. For example, J. Crew expanded its brand to China.

Today, the “Made in the USA” label is desirable all over the world. Increased US Exporting is seen as solution to the US trade deﬁcit. Although US designers fashions are available around the globe, a common strategy is to establish a “sig-nature store” abroad. It gives the ability to moni-tor consumer reaction to the merchandise.

#global sourcing

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