#there's no visual or audio gags to really get into

[boobachu]

I have plenty of fun within reason! I don't think being stupid and silly is something to be proud of!! Though it is a nice ms paint doodle.

dog time AKA the only reason i've been managing not to overwork myself

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

How did Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6 Episode 7 Once More With Feeling sprint so that later shows* could stand dead still interpreting "musical episode" as "the characters put on an existing musical and stop the plot dead to do covers of songs that vaguely relate to them. Maybe we make some single-episode subplots with no follow up so the characters fit the songs better?"

*not you, Scrubs, you're doing amazing and we're glad you're here

[gurugirl]

I need a breeding kink blurb PLS 🙏🙏🙏

⛔️ WARNING ‼️ SMUTTY SMUT BREEDING KINK SIZE KINK ALL THE KINK (enjoy 🤭) + plus a link to an audio porn on tumblr to really get into that wet pussy sound 🙈 I'm so sorry in advance but I am in fact ovulating according to my calculator and this was... Anyway there's no plot, this is basically only smut. PLEASE DON'T READ IF YOU'RE NOT INTO THIS KIND OF THING THANK YOU

587 words

😈😈😈😈

"Oh baby... look a'you... getting stuffed so deep. Loves getting her little pussy filled up and bred yeah? Need Daddy's come honey? Need me to put more babies in this belly? Fuck you til your tummy's swollen, your tits are full of milk, and pussy ruined?"

"Mmm..." you tried moaning but you were out of breath and your gargled noises were stifled by the way he was plowing into you, long and heavy strokes that dipped into your guts and punched the air from your lungs. All you could do was lie there with your legs spread apart as he fucked the life from you. His fat cock was making your walls ache he'd been going at if for so long.

"Can't speak, little mama? Don't want the kids to hear do we? That's right... just let daddy fuck you til your come hole is full of my sperm and let it sink in deep so I can knock you up over and over again. Likes her pussy stuffed with cock and come and her womb full of babies..."

Harry loved it when you were pregnant. You already had two kids and he was raring to go for a third. But so were you. You loved watching him be a dad. And you'd love to see him holding another tiny baby again - your tall, tattooed, and strong husband holding that delicate bundle against his chest with tears in his eyes, humming a tune and swaying slowly back and forth. Just for that, you'd give him as many babies as he wanted.

"Already had you stuffed with all my cream this morning, now here you are all sweaty and gagging for more. Fucking need it don't you? Gonna take my come honey? Little mama wants it, yeah?"

You could barely nod but you managed to knock your head back and forth. You were exhausted after he'd already given you two orgasms but now you could feel him coming to his end, his arms were shaking and his thrusts were getting sloppy with that big cock twitching as he stretched your walls. His impressive size was addicting.

"You ready? Think you can take another load?"

"Mmmm..." a pathetic wet mumble fell from your lips as Harry choked out a groan, trying to keep quiet so as not to wake the kids and you felt him throb and throb as he dropped his mouth open wide and pasted his hips against yours, unloading hours and hours worth of vital come into your womb, his balls emptying every drop inside of you.

You were very much done for by the time he pulled out but Harry wasn't. He angled your hips up with a heaving chest and stuffed himself back inside, holding his shaft to keep steady as he fucked his come into you, "There we go. Let's get that all in there," he watched as he dipped inward, keeping you full of his sperm, wet squelches (NSFW LINK - opens up a tumblr audio porn, no visuals 😈) coming from your pussy with the way he was plunging back into you to make sure his come didn't leak out, "Get that pussy fed and happy," he hissed as he pumped in gently, his cock sensitive to the touch after his orgasm.

He enjoyed the view of it... your shiny puffy pussy wrapped around his thick shaft as he pushed his come back inside you until he couldn't stay hard any longer. You were sure that was baby number three.

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[trippinsorrows]

ltye: in your hands

authors note: welp. here i am, once again. we're back with yet another 'what if' scenario, prompted by you lovely people in an ask that i can't seem to find to link right now. smh.

words: 3.3k

warnings: none. just sam being sam.

song inspo: in your hands by halle

Roman should have stuck with his first mind. Stayed home. Texted her some excuse about being caught up with work. She would have never found out the truth, and even if she did, he wouldn’t have given two fucks. 

Because this shit doesn’t seem to be getting any better. 

This dating thing. 

It’s gotta be at least the fifth or sixth one he’s taken her on, and each one has been just as miserable up until the point where he gets her on her knees, gagging or bouncing on his dick the minute they get back to his penthouse. Anything before that has been irksome, borderline miserable. 

Samantha is stunning. Has been since they were kids, and her body is the most desirable of the women he has on his roster. She leans on the thinner side of what he prefers, but the tits and ass are decent, regardless. She’s also just as kinky as him, which is why they’ve worked all these years.

But, the more “dates” Roman forces himself to power through, the more he’s starting to feel like bedroom activities is where it stops for them. 

Technically, he’s always known this. Even if he did have some level of desire to be in a real relationship with someone, which he doesn't, it would never be her. She’s vain, condescending, and seems to think she’s somehow better than the other women he fucks with.

If only she realized he views her just like he views the rest of the women. A warm body with a wet cunt to help him get his dick wet. 

“Roman!” Her voice cuts through his inner dialogue as he focuses on her cleavage. The dress she wore, short and tight, doesn’t help his desire to skip to the fucking part of this evening. “Did you hear what I said?”

“No.” Roman sees no sense in lying to her. “I probably don’t care either.”

She rolls her eyes and proceeds to continue like he literally didn’t just tell her he doesn’t care. “I was saying we should go somewhere.”

He’s partially intrigued now. Mostly because he’ll probably need to set her ass straight. “Where?”

She smiles and shrugs. “I don’t know. I was thinking Bora Bora.”

He shakes his head. “So go.”

She frowns, clarifying. “I said we should go, Roman.”

He scoffs, looking off at the ice sculpture in the middle of the upscale restaurant. A waste of money, in his opinion. “What the hell makes you think I have time to go to fucking Bora Bora with you?” He really wants to ask her what makes her think he would want to in the first place, but he’s trying to be somewhat less of an asshole to see if maybe this could work.

His Wise Man’s nervous voice balanced out with sage wisdom returning to the front of his mind.

“If the Elders are to force you into a marriage, why not with someone you already know? Especially someone who you know would have no issue in giving you an heir.”

If only Samantha wasn’t so fucking annoying.

She leans back in the chair. “You make time for these dates.”

Out of obligation. But, he won’t say that. “Yeah, but I can get my nut and send your ass packing in the same night. Can't do that if we're out of the fucking country.”

“You’re suck a di—”

“I’m so sorry.”

Soft. It’s the first thing that comes to mind hearing her voice. Light, almost. Kind. Even with just three words being spoken. And that’s just based off audio. Visually, Roman’s thoughts take an entirely different direction.

Stunning. 

Roman’s seen, entertained, and done a lot more with some beautiful women in his time, but the one standing at their table seems to have something more than all of them put together. She’s beautiful, easily one of the most gorgeous women he’s ever laid eyes on. And her smile, small but genuine makes him pause. As does her body.

She’s wearing the same uniform he’s noticed on the other waitresses, but none of them fill them out like she does. The white, long sleeved shirt that’s tucked into the knee length black pencil skirt can’t hide the curves he can practically see through the bland outfit. Nice, heavy breast. Curvy hips, thick thighs and an ass he can partially see from the front. 

This. This is his preferred body type. A woman who has something he can grab onto when he’s fucking her from behind. And Roman can only imagine what it would be like to be holding onto those luscious hips of hers while he—

“Oh my god, are you stupid?” Samantha’s annoying voice once again pulls him from his carnal fantasies. She gestures between herself and him. “Can you not see we’re in the middle of something?”

The girl, who Roman would guess is in her late twenties, early thirties at most, immediately looks repentant. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—I was just going to apologize for your wa—”

“Whatever.” Samantha lifts her hand, silencing the girl who’s now looking down at her shoes, clearly embarrassed. “What’s the special for this evening?”

“What’s your name?” Roman’s question comes out at the same time as Samantha’s inquiry. However, his voice clearly presents with more of a commanding nature. 

She swallows. “S–Solana.”

Pretty. Just like her. 

Samantha notices the way Roman is looking at her and is fully confused as to why he’s asking this fat troll for her name. She cuts in again, in that same nasty tone. “Hello? I asked you a question.” 

Solana is clearly struggling with Samantha’s aggressiveness, Roman wondering why this bitch is directing whatever unresolved feelings she has onto this innocent girl. “Umm, I think—”

Samantha scoffs, nose turned up. “You’re our waitress, and you don’t even know what the evening special is?”

“No ma’am, I do. I’m sorry. It’s just—it’s been a long day.” There’s a weight to her words, a sadness in her voice and in her pretty brown eyes. Roman notices all of these things and finds himself wondering what the story is. Everyone has one, and hers is suddenly of interest to him. For reasons he cannot understand. 

“Pretty unprofessional to bring up your personal life, don’t you think?”

Solana closes her eyes, pausing before answering. She looks exhausted. Mentally and physically. “It’s Squab. That’s the main co—”

“I’m a vegetarian. I don’t eat meat.” Roman rolls his eyes. This hoe has been saying that since they were in high school, yet every so often she goes back to having a normal fucking diet only to switch back to that salad shit. “What’s on your—”

“I’ll do us both a favor and get her to shut the fuck up.” Roman has had enough, both of Samantha’s grating voice but mostly her being a bitch to this girl for no reason. He’s a dick on the regular. He knows this. But, never has he come across someone like this Solana woman who, with just her presence alone, exudes such softness. Like, she doesn’t have a mean bone in her fine ass body. And she clearly doesn’t because anyone else would have probably lost their job by cussing Samantha out. Not that it wouldn’t be deserved.

Roman catches the faintest hint of a smile on Solana’s face as she redirects her attention to him. “Give her the salmon. I’ll take your best steak. For wine, you carry Madeira?” 

She’s pulled out her notepad and finishes taking down the order before answering with a nod. “Yes, sir.”

Roman’s jaw clenches at that sir bit. He could ruin this girl. “What do you recommend?”

She’s visibly taken back by his question, probably by the fact that he’s asking her for her opinion. “Umm—”

“Roman, I can rec—”

“I didn’t ask you,” he cuts that bitch off with the quickness, eyes never leaving the pretty girl before him. “I asked Solana.”

Her smiles widens as she answers in a more confident tone. “Julio Barros…..1950.”

Roman smirks. 

Exactly what he was going to order.

“I’ll take it.”

Their gazes linger on each other a second too long for Samantha’s liking as she cuts in once once more. “You can go now.”

Solana’s smile drops again, Roman suddenly finding himself all annoyed. Her smile is something pretty that he wouldn’t mind seeing more of, though that irritation is waned as he’s granted the view of her nice, round ass and curvy hips swaying as she walks to the back to turn in their order.

Samantha reaches over and touches his hand, Roman snatching it back and sneering at her. “What?”

She sighs. “Baby, I’m trying to talk about us.”

And just like that, he’s annoyed all over again. “There is no us.”

Samantha looks sad only for a brief second. “Roman, I’m not stupid. I know what these dates have been for. You’re trying to see if it could work.”

“If what could work?”

“Us.” She goes on to share. “There’s rumors that the Elders have been putting more pressure on you to settle down and make an heir.” Sam leans over the table, intentionally trying to emphasize her cleavage. It’s nice. He’ll give her that. But, he’s certain it’s nothing compared to Solana though and those big breast of her hers. “I can do that for you. Be that for you. Be your wife. The mother of your children.”

Not a damn thing she’s saying sounds even the least bit desirable. At all. 

“I mean, we’ve been fucking around since we were kids. Why not make it official?”

For a lot of reasons. All the reasons. The main one being Roman don’t like this bitch unless she’s choking on or riding his dick. 

What he does like, however, and finds solace in is the interactions with Ms. Solana as the evening goes on. They’re not very often outside of her bringing the bottle of wine and their food when it’s ready as well as a check-in here or there on how they’re doing.

Each time Samantha sending her the dirtiest look or just being an ol’e nasty bitch, to which Roman shuts down, cutting her off and even telling her to shut the fuck up.

The girl is just trying to do her damn job. And as his eyes locate and land on her on several different occasions, he can see that she works hard. Moving from table to table, almost saddened facial expression indicates she’s on the receiving end of more verbal lashings from people like Samantha.

That actually pisses him off, Roman having to control and stop himself from doing some out of pocket shit. 

Again, for what reason, he hasn’t the slightest clue. He just knows those brief glimpses of her actually smiling, usually when she’s chatting with a coworker, do something for him. 

Maybe even to him. 

And unbeknownst to him, the intrigue goes both ways, because as shitty a day Solana Miller was having, the handsome stranger with the rude girlfriend or wife or whatever has somehow, someway made this day just a little bit better.

It’s been some time, if ever, Solana has come across someone with such a presence about them. Him dining at this uppity restaurant she was able to score a job at tells her that he’s wealthy. His disposition and the fact that he somehow secured it to where the surrounding tables of where he sits have been marked as unavailable tells her that he has pull. But, the way he interacts with her, a literal nobody, she’s not sure what that means.

Especially with the beautiful woman he’s with, because while Solana thinks she’s every bit a bitch as most of the women who come into this place, she’s a stunning bitch. 

Which is why Solana can’t allow herself to believe that that equally beautiful looking man is looking at her in any sort of capacity. 

There’s no way in he—

“Solana.”

And just like that, she's frowning again. “Mami?”

The last thing she expected to see this evening was the sight of her mother, already dressed in her scrubs, baby in her arms. 

Solana’s baby. 

Her 11-month–old daughter, Soraya. 

The shock wears off as Nina gets closer, Solana shaking her head, “what are you—”

Nina shakes her head, face apologetic and tone contrite. “I’m so sorry, baby, but I got called into work. I can’t watch Raya.”

Shit

It's inconvenient, but Solana understands it. She remembers the countless times Nina had no other option but to leave her with a neighbor after being called into work at all kinds of hours. She’s always worked so hard to take care of the two of them when Solana was growing up. 

“It’s okay, mama.” Solana easily reaches for her daughter, a wave of relief and happiness washing over her as she holds and kisses her baby. The source of all her joy. All of the struggle, every bit of it, is worth it as long as she has her daughter. She’d do anything for her. “How was she?”

Nina gives a small chuckle. “She’s like you were and still are. An easy child.” Solana kisses Soraya’s temple. “Sol…..” And just like that, Solana already knows she’s probably not going to like what she’s about to hear. “I know you’ve said you don’t want to go after him for child support, but it’s not fair for you to be out here working two jobs while putting yourself through school to take care of his child.”

Solana holds Soraya just a smidge tighter. “She’s my baby, mami.” 

Nina counters. “She’s his biological child.” Solana looks away, hopeful her manager, Aldis, doesn’t come out and scold her for this little interaction. She’s scheduled to clock out in another half hour anyway. “He should be paying you child support.”

Her mom is right. Solana knows this, knows that it’s not fair for her to have to be the sole provider for her baby girl, while Cruz lives his best life as an absentee, deadbeat dad. And she’s considered on several occasions going to the courthouse to see what she needs to do to get that ball rolling. 

But, every time, she’s haunted by something he said the last time they spoke, not even a month after her daughter was born. 

“Don’t you get it? We were fine before she came in the picture! We could be fine again if she wasn’t.”

Solana’s never been more disturbed than she was to hear those words leave his mouth. That’s why she’s glad he’s gone, that he wants nothing to do with her or his child. Because she would never trust to leave her baby girl with him in the first place.

And if that means she does it without him contributing financially, that’s exactly what she’ll do. 

Solana shifts Soraya from one hip to the other. “I don’t need him, mami.” And she doesn’t. Because if Solana had to resort to sex work to take care of herself and her daughter, it’s exactly what she’d do.

Nina gives a heavy sigh. “Mija, you know I help you when I can.”

“I know.” Because she does. But, the same way that times are hard for her. They’re hard for her mom, too. Everyone’s struggling these days, it seems. Everyone except the rich people who wine and dine without a care in the world around them. “I’ll be okay.”

Always will be.

Nina gives a knowing nod, hugging her daughter and gently taking her granddaughter’s hand, kissing it, speaking in Spanish. “I’ll see you later, okay? Abuela loves you.”

Solana smiles. “Thanks, mama.”

“Always, baby.” 

Nina reaches Solana the diaper bag, Solana placing it on the bar stool, knowing it’s bound to be left alone. These rich ass people would never bother with the Ross purchase. With a final parting smile, Nina is off to the hospital, leaving Solana with her daughter who’s just now waking up.

“Hi, baby girl,” Solana giggles at the almost cranky expression on her baby’s face. Raya is definitely not the happiest camper when being woken up. 

A glance at the time reminds Solana that she technically is still on the clock and really shouldn’t have her child with her. But, with no other option, she accepts she’ll just have to clock out early and take whatever those consequences are.

But before that, the least she can do is grab the bill from the table where the handsome stranger and his girlfriend sat. She’s briefly disappointed to see the table empty, even if she remembers his deep voice thanking her for her assistance this evening as she brought them that same check earlier. 

It’s a silly thing, really. And she tries to push away the disappointment at not properly telling him goodbye. A stranger. 

Silly.

Soraya grasps at the collar of her shirt while Solana walks over to the table, pausing as she gets close enough to see that there’s more than just a bill with a signature. There’s cash. A stack of it. Money in hand, she’s confused, because this man paid with a black card, so what—

“Good.” 

Solana gaps and spins around, her eyes widening as she looks up. He’s a lot taller than she realized, burly body nearly eclipsing her view of anything else, silky black hair in such a neat, perfect bun. “Wanted to make sure you got it.”

Brows furrowed, it’s hard for her to speak for a lot of reasons. One of which is the fact that this man cannot be real. A man cannot be this handsome. But, he is real, and he’s looking at her.

And Soraya. 

“I—” She shakes her head, clearing her throat. “Is this—you already paid—”

“That’s not for the bill,” his voice is so velvety, smooth, and deep. “It’s your tip.”

Eyes widening, her gaze snaps to the wad of cash as Soraya continues to grasp and squeeze her shirt. She doesn’t even need to count to know that this is a nice amount of money. 

Too much.

“I can’t—it’s too much.” 

He chuckles, “do I look like I can’t afford it?” Her eyes roam over his big, muscular build dressed in fine, expensive looking clothes. He just oozes wealth. 

And power. 

“N–no.”

“Dealing with Samantha, trust me, you earned it.” Solana looks down, wanting to hide her small smile. His gaze redirects to the child in her arm. “Who is this?”

And just like that, Solana’s proud smile returns. “My daughter, Soraya.” It’s like Soraya knows she’s being discussed, lifting her little head to look at Roman. A big grin on her face before she buries her face into Solana’s neck. 

Roman makes a sound, and she can almost swear she sees the smallest smile on his handsome face. “She looks like you.”

That creates such a warm, fuzzy feeling in her stomach, “thank you…..”

He looks at her a bit confused, like her unspoken question surprises him, before answering. “Roman.” Roman. “Roman Reigns.”

Roman Reigns. Even his name is powerful.

It fits him.

Solana shifts Soraya around as she starts to get wiggly in her arms. “Well, thank you, Mr. Reigns.” She’s certain the shock of just how much money this random, rich stranger has given her hasn’t truly set in. Because if it had, she’d have a much more visceral response. 

A lot more.

“Roman,” he corrects. “Call me Roman.” 

“Roman….” 

Something indecipherable flashes in his eyes, something that makes her feel a bit unnerved under his intense stare. It’s broken, however, by her now irritated daughter.

“Mama.” Soraya makes her dissatisfaction at being still for too long known by punching her tiny fist against Solana’s chest. “Mama!”

“Shhhhh,” Solana kisses her temple, trying to quiet her down before someone makes Aldis aware of her presence. She looks at Roman, eyes softening, “thank you again.”

Truly. Honestly. He hasn’t the slightest clue how much this will help her. It’s why she can stand here without anxiety and concern about making it to the bus stop on time. Tonight.....tonight she’ll treat herself and her baby with calling an Uber instead. 

Might even stop and pick up dinner.

Roman nods, eyes briefly glancing at her daughter again, the smallest smile on his face. “I’ll see you later, Solana.” His head dips a bit in acknowledgment towards her baby. “Soraya.”

The smile is plastered on her face even as he walks off without another word. And it’s only a good two minutes later that she catches onto what he said. A certain word in particular standing out the most. 

What did he mean by later?

[space-owl]

Stolas is incredibly classist!

And probably doesn’t realise it.

I already made a short post about it here but I want to go more into detail with all of this.

First I want to show how he is acting with demons that aren’t Goetia and then how his classism even bleeds into the relationship with Blitzø.

Disclaimer: I love Stolas, he is one of my favourite characters of the show! Doesnt mean though I wont critic him for some of the bullshit he is pulling

Stolas is constantly dismissing other demons and looking at all of them from a high angle. We can clearly see it when he interacts with Millie and Moxxie

Just look at his uninterested face too while Moxxie is talking to him

Not to forget he keeps referring to Imps as "little ones“ etc

Of course he is aware of his status sometimes and does use it to get into Ozzies. But he also does it while presenting himself on a higher angle than the poor bouncer in front of the club would’ve needed

Like Stolas you’re already one of the princes of hell, the guy KNOWS who you are! Why are you giving him this look??

He doesn't see any imp or even any demon who is ranked below him as equal. It shows again when he is directly attacked by Striker. Stolas was mostly chill about the situation and not even fully aware he was in danger!

Yes, he brings it up but he isn’t fully convinced of it himself. The first time he REALLY understands he is in big trouble is when he realises that his glare doesn’t work!

I don’t think Stolas doesn’t know what holy rope is. But I do believe that he himself didn’t think an IMP could possess such dangerous equipment!

And what shows it to me the MOST that he really doesnt seem to hold any respect to Imps that aren't Blitzø is this:

How he handles Pringles, the butler of the family!

He literally squeezes him so tightly the poor guy cant get any air anymore!

Just holding him and handling him as if he was an object! Dude is already getting dizzy and Stolas wont let go of him!

Yes I know I suppose this is mostly a visual gag to make the scene more entertaining. We just cant forget that animation is a long process to do. Anything, any action a character does is there for a reason! If Stolas WASN'T a person who wouldnt handle an Imp butler like this, it would'nt be in the scene!

This is already enough proof for me that Stolas is very classist. Its so casual for him and normal that he doesnt even seem to realise it! Why do I think that? Because it bleeds into the relationship with Blitzø!

All the things Stolas keeps saying about Imps, he also says directly to Blitzø.

Calling Blitzø "his little Imp", again just saying Imps are little and "things" to be posessed

Dismissing Blitzø when he tries to get serious, just saying he is cute even though Blitzø is trying to complain

Also the constant cheek pinching, something youd mostly do to a child.

And dont forget the most posessive thing of all of them to say in "Truth Seekers"

"Who dares to threaten my impish little plaything?" (youtube didnt pick up the audio here so no automatic subtitles appeared (holy shit im so thankful season 2 finally has proper subtitles!))

Stolas literally called Blitzø HIS "plaything", also pointing out the Imp part again.

Id say something like "oh but that was probably just before he got feelings for Blitzø! And then it changed!" I mean even if that was the case it wouldnt make it any better. But no, Stolas literally had a crush on Blitzø the first time he SAW him! Look, this is his literal first reaction:

Stolas always had feelings for Blitzø, but still he keeps downplaying Blitzøs feelings and totally ignores the class thing. Because he himself is already in a higher class! So he can just pick and choose which Imp he respects and which he doesnt.

Worst of all of this is that as a child Stolas was a LOT more open about those things!

Until his father "corrects" him

And Stolas rememberd this statement until his aduldhood. The only exeption he makes to this rule is Blitzø.

And Blitzø of course notices those things. Of course he notices the constant dismiss of Stolas! Being called a "Plaything" and a "little imp!" He is already self conscious enough. And that makes him even more vunerable and hyper aware of those things.

Even though Stolas showed general intersted in him someties, Blitzø already accepted himself as his little tool.

Moxxie even brings it up to Blitzø, obviously playing to Stolas feelings for him.

But Blitzø immediately thinks its still just about something sexual. And nothing else.

Because he cant see himself being anything else to Stolas than just a plaything. It doesnt matter how often Stolas was honest with him and showed interest. His constant belitteling and downplaying on him and also any other Imp that happens to be present while Blitzø is with him is enough.

With ALL of that context, its totally clear why Blitzø lashed out at Stolas in Full Moon. For him this confession came out of nowhere. He didnt have time to breathe or understand what was really going on there. And Stolas himself keeps ignoring their class difference and has 0 self reflection on that part so far, not getting why this is so upsetting to Blitzø.

"Blitzø, I think so very highly of you. I didnt realize you think so low of me!"

GEE STOLAS! I WONDER WHY BLITZØ DOES SO!

[thecurioustale]

Notes on my Watch-Through of Jennyffer by F.I.P. Industries

This week I watched the animated webseries Jennyffer, by @fipindustries / Amanda Avila. It’s a short series about an assholeish trans girl in high school, just living life in our silly world. You can watch it on YouTube!

TL;DR: This series is funny, witty, edgy, delightfully absurdist, and full of visual richness, gags, and allusions despite the minimalist style of the drawing and animation. Jennyffer grew on me as I watched it and I definitely think it’s worth the hour or so runtime. There are nine episodes averaging about 4 minutes apiece, plus a few small bonuses.

Fip is a friend of mine so I wrote down my thoughts as I was watching, but I am posting them here (with her approval) in the hope that folks happen to get intrigued and decide to go check it out. I’ve adapted my notes a little bit to make them easier for you to read, but for the most part these are extemporaneous notes speaking directly to Fip.

Indented (“ ---> “) comments are written after I watched the entire series and went back to review my notes.

“TUMBLR PEEPS / TP” comments are additional comments I’ve written for you lovely people on this huggable hellsite. I’ll also give you my overall review and recommendations at the end.

* This post contains spoilers for Jennyffer.

Title Sequence

Very fun! :3

TUMBLR PEEPS: Not very useful for you, I know. Fip is both an illustrator and an animator, and I think this title sequence sets the tone for what she’s aiming for with the series. There’s always a moment of disorientation when stepping into the world of an artist whose style you’re unfamiliar with, but if you hang on it begins to make sense soon enough.

Ep. 1

I appreciate subtle touch of “Panoptic” High School, with the round building, etc. TP: This series is full of background references. It’s one of my favorite things about it.

Lol @ the identical 😮 faces on the pack of Mean Girls in the background.

Wasn’t expecting the confrontation to escalate that hard! 😮����

----> You don’t really go this hard ever again in the series! Both the shooting and Jennyffer’s primal scream are unique to this episode in their tonal intensity. 

LOL @ the Mean Girls actually turning into a pack of feral monsters when their leader falls; unmasked at last!

---> This is a candidate for my favorite single joke in the series just because of how economically and absurdly it encapsulates so much about this trope.

I appreciate that Ashley admitted defeat; that’s cathartic because this (almost) never happens in real life.

TUMBLR PEEPS: When I watched this episode, it came across to me as uneven on the audiovisual production values. Things like Fip’s audio recording setup not being as good as the guest star’s, sound levels being a little imbalanced, etc. I would encourage you not to be scared off by that! Although it doesn’t completely go away over the series, it does improve a lot, and in any case it doesn’t interfere with the storytelling or worldbuilding basically at all. I wanted to lampshade this because I know some people nope out of a series if the production values aren’t AAA. Give this one a chance!

Ep. 2

I appreciate that Mom is trying her best.

---> To build on this point, I appreciate that it’s true to life for many trans kids whose parents are willing to accept them when they come out, but don’t really know “how.”

TUMBLR PEEPS: That’s my only note for the entire episode, lol. This episode is probably my least favorite in the series. Fip’s style of humor is very much old-school Simpsons in that it keeps dropping joke after joke; so you’re always smiling because even if one joke doesn’t land there’s another one coming up in a few seconds. This episode is different in that it’s basically one joke that gets hit over and over again. And since it’s a joke that doesn’t land for me, it’s kind of forgettable. (When I was preparing this post for Tumblr I was like "Why did I only write one sentence for Episode 2?" And then I went back and realized why as soon as I saw the thumbnail.) This is my most negative criticism of the entire series. In my opinion, things get significantly better from here!

Ep. 3

RIP his Gains 🤣🤣🤣

Lol, and they still win the big cup! 💪🎀

---> I appreciate the continuity on these jock girls later in the series.

You have a great sense for comedic layering of different jokes operating on different wavelengths happening close together or even at the same time. (That’s more of a sense from everything I’ve seen so far than just this specific episode, but it stood out to me when Jennyffer’s friend Peter gets his lights punched out just as a side gag.)

---> I originally wrote “when Jennyffer’s friend gets his lights punched out…” here because I couldn’t make out Peter’s name whenever you first introduced it. I am hard of hearing and the audio mixing, especially in the earlier episodes, is a little low at points. One frequent constructive criticism I have for people is to make sure that dialogue is sharp / non-mumbly on the soundtrack, otherwise people like me get lost, especially with names and proper nouns.

---> (I hope that isn’t an unwelcome criticism. A friend of mine just started a new podcast, and he had this same issue on his soundtrack. He got so upset when I gave him this feedback, because of course the reasons we do things are often not closely connected to the things we do, and I realized too late that he was doing this podcast for validation and self-empowerment, so it turned out that he wasn’t in the mood for constructive feedback at all. But that's about the only kind of substantive feedback I know how to offer. So I hope you understand my intent isn’t to shoot down your work; I’d just like to be able to hear it better. You got better with this as the series went on, but I think there’s still room for improvement.)

Ep. 4

That is some Grade A, all-natural, free-range School Counseling for sure. I have a hard time dealing with this shit in the media (including in this comic) because I’m already rubbed so raw at the dysfunction of systems (in this case the healthcare system) that are supposed to help (and which I very much want to support in principle) and I just don’t have much resiliency left to deal even with fictional accounts of it.

I think the Mean Girls are my favorite background part of this series so far. They come across as (tragically) true-to-life, and your depiction of them is just utterly unapologetic. Going so hard on that is what makes it work.

---> I’m also just weirdly fascinated by Mean Girls, so I love the attention you give them here. I guess they live in a tonal space that’s fairly close down the block to the tonalities of the types of female characters I tend to like to write. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to push Mean Girls off a cliff when they’re actually Being Mean, but in terms of the “vibe” there’s something I find compelling about it.

I think it makes your work a lot more real that you’re willing and able to illustrate the transphobic worldview as a fact of life among many people and the background cultural default in society, with all of the transphobic jokes and wrong pronouns etc. that this entails. I see a lot of queer artists choose not to do so, probably in some cases because they can’t (see my comment above about not having much resilience myself to put up with systemic dysfunction in fiction). The willingness and ability to be able to do this is the difference between art that is capable of also being subversively realistic (among its other qualities) versus art that is limited to being escapist or revisionist. It’s always empowering to be able to depict “the enemy,” in whatever guise they might take.

I’d never heard of Hannah Daigle, but since the Credits told me I need to go look up Satina, I looked it up, and wow! Going by her subscriber count, that’s a pretty big get!

3’44” This isn’t even half the true power of high school students and their superability to befoul school bathrooms. 😭😭😭

Ep. 5

For a minute there it seemed like things were going well. Too well. One thing about a series this ruthlessly cynical is that the expectation that “Nothing Good Will Happen and Nothing Good That Does Happen Can Be Kept” sets expectations for the other shoe to drop (indeed, many an other shoe).

3’15” Just the one cat ear up as she’s leaning in and talking secretively…great attention to detail! This is something I often notice with illustrators who get into animation (as opposed to artists who go directly into animation). So many details in virtually every frame! Both in support of the story and simply there for environmental embellishment. (Like the rose that hasn’t bloomed yet.) I can only imagine how many references I’m missing! TP: Seriously, I love the depth of subtle background references in this series!! I’m not calling out most of them in these notes, but they’re a constant presence in the background of the story.

She [the tutor] got there! Yep. As soon as it occurred to me to notice that the rose hadn’t bloomed yet, I knew how this one was ending. 😏

Ep. 6

* breaks computer *

MOM: "You know you don’t have to break your computer every time I come into your room, right?"

🤔🤔🤔

But seriously, that’s what I’m talking about when I say you have a great sense of comedic layering. It’s also a good example of something I haven’t articulated yet, which is that your comedic style is ultra sharp and punchy. It’s so economical, so efficient! It goes really hard with minimalist support, and, in my experience with other creators’ work, that only works for people who have a genuine gift for being funny. I think this is one of your strongest suits as a potential entertainment creator, and you could potentially develop it as a possible pathway to get noticed / get bigger.

---> This is a skill I could only dream of. I’d like to think I have a good sense of humor and can be funny not infrequently, but I need way more words to do it than you do, and my efforts are rarely as clean.

Lol, Jennyffer is the true master of the schoolyard. I appreciate the continuity from Episode 3. TP: When I was writing my notes during my watch-through, this is the comment where I realized “Oh no! I haven’t been checking to see if I’m writing ‘Jennyffer’ with two Fs!” I was like “Did Fip do that just to catch people who aren’t paying close attention?” And I figured, probably not! But I went back and made sure I got all my spellings right, and corrected a previous erroneous instance of it, and tried not to mess it up again going forward. I hate to get names wrong, especially when it’s the title of the goddamn series, lol.

That first stringer chord was great. Then I stopped noticing the next few. Then the ones after that actively grated on me. I get what you were going for (I think), but it didn’t work for me.

That confrontation with Dad went surprisingly well!! I was prepared for (and about halfway-expecting) this conversation with Peter’s dad to go in a much darker direction. <3

Interlude

0’39” That Whale is TOO CUTE omg :3333

---> Seriously, that Whale is the cutest friggin’ whale on the planet. Too wholesome for this world; too pure! <3333

Happy Birthday, Jennyffer! So sweet. I think it’s important for cynical works to have moments like these. I mean, that’s just my opinion, but it really humanizes the work, I think, which makes it easier to connect with and perceive as “real” in the sense of reflecting reality as opposed to being a purely stylized fiction.

TUMBLR PEEPS: I just want to emphasize that point. If you’re writing a work that’s heavily cynical, I would suggest that, unless you’re going for a very specific stylistic effect, a few moments of wholesomeness here and there, where you’re willing to let characters care about things and not get punished for it, is really important to adding depth to the story and humanizing the people in it.

Ep. 7

1’09” “No, that’s not how that works.” 😂 The deadpan here (and really through the whole series on this same joke) is so good. This kind of straight-man (figuratively speaking of course) reaction to an insane world is pure 😒😒😒, and 😒 is one of my favorite forms of absurdism. TP: This is in reference to a joke about how cis people sometimes misgender trans people because they just flat-out do not understand gender or queerness.

Also, can I just say, I’ve been noticing it for a few episodes, and I have no clue what it’s called, if it’s called anything, but I absolutely love Jennyffer’s ridiculously high and short ponytail. I wish we saw this hairstyle more in real life, because I always love it when I see it, but in American culture anyway it’s usually played as a joke / a sign of somebody who isn’t being serious. Then again, maybe that’s exactly the point with Jennyffer wearing it; I could see that being a decision she’d make. So maybe its mockédness and unpopularity are exactly why I get to see it here?! 🤔

2’40” lol, I am delight. TP: You’re a rotter, Mister Grinch…

That ending! 🤣 Yep. Jennyffer is chaotic neutral for sure, and a USDA Prime goofball.

---> I think this was the tipping point where I basically started liking Jennyffer as a character and identifying with her / rooting for her to succeed. It often takes time for characters to build on me, especially cynical assholes. (I have a hard time with cynicism despite having devolved into a cynic myself from my many years of woe.) And coming around on Jennyffer basically meant this was the point where I came around on the whole series. I certainly hadn’t disliked it at any point, but I originally came to watch it because you had recommended it to me and as a friend I wanted to check out your work, and not because I was actively seeking it out for its own sake. But now I think I can say I like it on its own merits.

A personal anecdote: In this episode, there is a moment where Jennyffer gets the wind taken out of her sails over the crotch bulge in her bathing suit and how it is making other people uncomfortable, and, instead of fighting or being an asshole about it, she is defeated and retreats. A very rare moment for her in the entire series, and thus a potent illustration of how humiliating it can be to be the target of bigotry. I love the creative decision that was made to play it this way. I can sort of relate to this issue in my own way. When I was a kid I never swam in public without a t-shirt on, because, for me, my attraction to fat is a sexual orientation which has been with me my whole life, even before I adolesced and understood it as a “sexual” thing. So as a kid I was always super sensitive to being perceived as fat. And I had a big ol’ round belly my whole life, not even because I was actually overweight as a kid (I mostly wasn't) but because I’m just shaped that way. I am convex at all weights. And I was very embarrassed about it! So, in my childhood memory, public pools were always a minefield of me trying to have fun versus trying not to be humiliated. Also, I couldn’t swim until I was like 12 or something, so that was embarrassing too, and I tried to fake it by splashing around in the 4’ zone.

Ep. 8

1’43” Glam!! Even cynical dystopic trans girls aren’t immune from the siren song of the shutter and flashbulb! That jacket is sweet, too! I love that look.

This is the second time you had a chance to completely change the tonality of the series into something way darker because of a scary father figure, and this time I genuinely didn’t know what would happen. But I’m glad it turned out this way, not only because it’s totally one of the many different reactions that are true-to-life among real-world parents but which don’t get highlighted as often as the more awful scenarios, but also because I just really struggle with grimdark stuff and I kinda just want everyone in this series to turn out okay. <3

Also: John Jingleheimer, eh? (Jennyffer Jingleheimer, lolol!) So, if Peter’s dad is named Jacob Schmitz, then I totally see what you’ve done. I’m pretty sure their family name is Schmitz (right??), but I don’t remember what episode(s) I got that from. I went back and watched Ep. 6 but his name is not mentioned. I personally appreciate all the J names in Jennyffer’s family. 😏

Stingers at the end of episodes really suit this series’ style! I found myself explicitly missing them in the beginning of the series. I’m glad they found their way to you.

7’06” The happiest we’ve ever seen her, 😂! 💖 (Give or take the birthday episode.) I just wrote that same moment in Galaxy Federal a few nights ago. (Cherry’s parents get her a spazer after she sneaks out one time and is gone all night.)

I appreciate the clearer-to-read credits at the end as the series has gone on. I had decided in the early episodes that I wasn’t going to criticize the original cursive because I kind of hate it that we live in a world where we can’t have nice / bespoke / Weird things because people always want something easier / more convenient / more accessible (I’m still upset they killed the big clock a block away from my apartment, whose chimes had been a charming part of living here; I’m sure it was because of “noise” complaints). So, since they weren't a content accessibility issue the way, say, the sound levels were at the start of the series, I was actually rooting for your cursive credits to never give up! Let the people struggle to read them! Long live the glory of the impenetrable! It would be very much in Jennyffer’s spirit for her credits to be totally unreadable if she were to make an animated series herself. Oh well! With legible credits I win and lose at the same time.

Ep. 9

Love the comment at 6’57” (from somebody who had written that your series is doing work to advance trans acceptance in society). I think there’s some truth to that, too. A lot of people can only come around on issues of acceptance by being introduced to it through the humor of this sort. More medicinal / academic / intellectual approaches don’t work on them at all.

April Fool’s

Caramelldansen!! A Desert Bus classic. I watch this every year! They’re both doing it right. Lol, Jennyffer is the best; it’s like Fate has put her in this skit so she has to do the dance, and she hates it, but she also secretly loves it.

I love seeing them in color.

Also, “Episode 10, Part 1,” lolol. Beware scope creep! 😂

Final Thoughts

Like I said in the TL;DR, this series is funny, witty, edgy, delightfully absurdist, and visually rich. It packs a lot into a small space.

Fip is freakishly smart, has a lot of insight and perspective to offer as an artist, executes on her concepts well, and has a distinctive style all her own. This, together with her artistic talents, makes her art very approachable, very easy to enjoy once you settle into it. On a more personal note, Fip has been the most supportive person I know here on Tumblr. I am inexpressibly grateful for the work she has done to try and boost my own art, and it is an honor to have the chance to offer something like that to her in return. She works hard to get her work noticed without being spammy about it, and deserves more attention than she gets, so I hope at least one (and preferably more than one!) person reads my notes here and checks out her work. It’s very important for small artists to support each other, and moreover it’s an honor to support a friend.

Go check out Jennyffer! I went into it with an open mind and no expectations, and I enjoyed the ride, and came away liking the series. You can also see more of Fip’s art on her alt account, @unbeknownsttomen.

[saltydkdan]

Are the JoJo's icebergs fun to work on? They look like a blast to edit and write! (If a bit of a large workload)

The Jojo Iceberg has been... interesting. On one hand yes! It has been a blast to work on in some senses! It taught me a lot about writing, and research, while also allowing me the freedom to experiment with editing and injecting my humor into scripted stuff in a more organic way. I feel like with each chunk of the series I've posted thus far, I've shown more and more confidence over time.

Plus you are right!! Once the audio editing is done, working on visual edits and gags is a blast. Sure it takes time, but I have a weird love for making smooth video edits for people to watch (even though like 50% of the people that view those videos probably just listen to em like a podcast without looking at it haha).

So that sort of stuff, yes! That's been a blast, and I've learned a TON that I'd never take back for the world!

However on the flipside, logistically this project was a nightmare from day one LOL. And this is the part where I try to dissuade anyone from EVER working on a longer project like this because god damn it's been a pain at times.

Keep in mind, the script (as it stands) is nearly 200 pages. That is the longest scripted work I've ever helped write in my entire life, and when I started I was NOT that experienced as a writer whatsoever. I'm a bit better now, but at times I still struggle.

I made the horrible decision to never put a cap on the script. For every new fact I learned, even if it wasn't a part of the original plans for the video, I would add it to the pile. No matter what it was. I was committed to making it as long as I thought it needed to be, not as long as it probably SHOULD have been to get done in a reasonable amount of time.

I did all this for a deep passion for the source material, and even after the final part comes out early this year, I plan on going back and correcting the very few mistakes or miswordings I had in the original videos when I put them all together in one MEGA video.

But that passion for Jojo is a blessing and a curse, and I hadn't realized how long a project like this would take me amidst all the other big projects like Friendlocke and HYHA.

Full disclosure, the script was first started in December of 2020. That's nearly 3-4 YEARS AGO by now. If I knew that putting all this together would take that long, I probably wouldn't have committed to it in the way that I did. In that time, I probably could have put out a TON of shorter stuff, but I was so committed to this that I just didn't and that very much hurt my channel in the long term.

Though to be real, I haven't worked on it consistently, I tend to jump on and off between projects to avoid burnout. However still, by the time it's all done, the Jojo Iceberg combined together will most likely be the longest piece of content on my channel (yes, potentially longer than Friendlocke Season 3, I estimate that it'll probably come out to around 6 hours in length if I don't cut anything down).

It's because of this that after this is all out there? I plan to NEVER tackle something this long ever again. Friendlocke and Jojo have drained my bones, and all I wanna do these days is work on shorter stuff. Though I guess in that sense, this project has really helped teach me a lot about the sort of stuff I want to make. So in a way, even the negatives have positives! There's always something you can take away with, even if your experience had some downsides.

Looking at such a long script and doing some math, it's made me realize that like... damn. I could DEFINITELY do shorter videos way more consistently in the future. And so that's what I plan to do :)

So yeah! Some positives and negatives. But overall, I learned a lot and that's all I could ever ask for.

Thanks for your question! Have a good one!

[gingerteaonthetardis]

MSR prompts you say? This is a bit weird but, an autopsy record has more than the autopsy on it. Mainly Mulder and Scully being ... well themselves. (Basically Mulder interrupts Scully mid Autopsy and she forgets to turn off the recording.) -disappears into the ether-

thinky!!! i had so much fun writing this, i hope you like it even if you don't really go here and i don't really know what i'm doing. <3 thank you for prompting me and for always being an incredible friend.

click here to read on ao3!

click here to send me another prompt!

warning for: lame ass gag names, brief objectification of a corpse, mulder being a sentimental dweeb (but what else is new), msr being sickeningly in love

-

for posterity

-

He finds it in a dusty box, crammed in beside VHS tapes and manila folders and a million other memories, and he can't help himself.

He presses play.

A static hiss. A crunch. The rush of movement through still, cloistered air.

He hears the recorder clicking into place, suspended over the gurney. He's seen it there before, hanging like a pendulum, poised to hear every word she speaks from every possible angle.

"11:32 p.m., August 1st."

Like so.

"Begin autopsy on unidentified white male, weighing… 198 lbs. in extremis. No immediately visible cause of death."

There's a puff of breath near the recorder, and he can picture her blowing it out between her full lips. Balanced on her tip-toes, leaning out over the body to get her closest approximation of a top down look.

"Subject appears to be between the ages of thirty-five and forty, and healthy. That is, he's in good shape."

He pops a potato chip between his lips with a crunch. She sounds flustered. Interesting.

"Uh, really good shape, actually. Well-developed pectorals, abdominals, and whew, that inguinal ligament—wait," she says, voice slipping out of its even, prim cadence, "what the hell am I saying?"

He snorts.

She sighs, and it's tinny but familiar. "Okay. Get it together, Dana… A visual examination of the epidermis shows multiple tattoos, relatively fresh. The newest, on the upper left thigh, is—" and her words go the tiniest bit muffled as, he assumes, she leans in close to the appendage, "—still slightly scabbed. Certainly less than two weeks old. It's in the shape of a… a reindeer head? A moose? Huh. How… cute."

Charmingly, she says it like being cute is an infectious disease an otherwise appealing corpse has been tragically inflicted with.

"Artifacts left at the scene suggest that the subject had some sort of fixation on body modifications, or perhaps needles in general. However, the extensive tattooed area makes it difficult to determine if injection of some kind played a role in his death, as initial findings suggest. I'll have to look beneath the surface. Beginning with a Y-incision…"

His nose wrinkles, and he's quite certain the next bit will put him off his chips, so he hurriedly presses the fast-forward button, zipping through a few minutes of audio.

It resumes on a splat.

"...heart weighs 520 grams, no signs of aching or breaking," she cracks to herself before clearing her throat. "Appears healthy."

He's always suspected she's like this when he isn't around for autopsies, looking over her shoulder and going green as a Painted Parakeet with car sickness, pitching theories at her like he's playing for the Mets. When she goes in alone, she tends to leave the morgue with a kind of tranquility about her—a counterintuitive freshness that even the stale scent of latex and bitter iron can't hide. Her smiles are a little brighter.

Perhaps, he considers, it is simply the opportunity to reconnect with what makes sense to her: anatomy, the body and the story it tells. Everything connected, with clear delineations of where each piece belongs along the way.

There is so little ambiguity in the arrangement of a person's organs. Mysteries cannot help but stumble forth to reveal themselves.

But it's equally possible Scully just likes her own jokes. Her achy breaky jokes.

"This is interesting," she interrupts him, as she so often does when he's on a roll. She doesn't even have to be physically present to do it. Her undercurrent of genuine excitement pricks at his ear. "There's some cirrhosis of the liver, atypical for someone who bears no outward signs of extreme alcohol usage or any of the other usual physical risk factors. Perhaps the subject was participating in regular steroid use, or—"

On the tape, a door swings open and closes on an exuberant thunk.

"Whoa! I didn't know we were getting a celebrity in." His voice crackles out from the speaker. "Or that Steve Reeves had so much ink."

"Steve Reeves is about seventy, Mulder."

His own startled laugh sounds very, very young and—he winces—tinged with an arrogance that can't be tamed, even by his partner's dry replies.

But past-him is too intrigued for self-consciousness. "You know who Steve Reeves is, Scully?"

"I have two brothers." Her tone has gone cool and inscrutable, the loss of her previous lightness palpable in a way that only a voyeur could sense. But she was always so careful with him, back then. "Do we have an ID yet?"

"No, not yet. Prints are still being processed. But the name given at the motel check-in desk was clearly false."

"Let me guess, 'Steve Reeves'?" Listening hard, he can practically hear her eyebrow twitching upward, the faint lift at one corner of her mouth.

"Try 'Mike Hawk.' Jeez, what's that a tattoo of?" he adds distractedly. "A Rorschach test?"

There's silence for a second on the tape, and he suddenly remembers this exchange. Vividly. "Oh my God," he mumbles, abandoning his chips in favor of rolling over on the couch.

He sets the recorder down cautiously, like it's a holy relic, and stares at it, grinning with his chin propped on crossed forearms.

"I don't get it."

"Don't get what, Scully?"

"Why would that be an alias?"

"Why would the name 'Mike Hawk' be an alias? Mike Hawk?" His words are tinged with an obvious grin. Probably smug, as is his wont. Some things never change. "Mike Hawk."

There's a snapping sound as Scully removes her gloves. He recollects how they caught on her fingertips, causing a bit of a struggle as she spoke. The beginnings of a blush had seeped into her cheeks, the sting of embarrassment her fair skin couldn't help but betray.

"Why do you keep saying it at me? It's a perfectly ordinary-sounding name, Mulder."

"Didn't you just say you had two brothers? Mike Hawk, Scully, come on. Known associate of the dirty devil Mike Hunt?"

"I think Mike Hunt was in my sixth grade class."

On the recording, he can barely speak with the effort not to laugh. But there was another feeling, too, in that moment, one he remembers well: a pulse of intrigue, of fascination, which used to catch him off guard. He never knew how to cope with the reminder that Scully the woman—a shadowy mystery, perpetually out of his reach—existed in cohabitation with Scully his partner, the woman he saw every day.

This was the person who threw wadded up bits of paper at his face when he fell asleep with his mouth open; who wore men's deodorant on the road just so, in a pinch, they could share. Back then, Scully using any word—even unknowingly—to acknowledge her own sexuality felt like sudden, blazing exposure to the Lost Ark. It was a miracle his face hadn't melted clean off.

But it was a line they'd taken so much care not to blur, even then.

Now, he listens as it all begins to deteriorate over a puerile joke.

"Listen, Scully, listen to the sounds. Mike," his past self says, stretching the syllable, "Hawk."

"I am listening! You sound ridiculous! What am I supposed to be hearing?"

"You're supposed to be hearing 'Mike Hawk'!" He chuckles quietly to himself. "I can't believe this. The smartest woman I've ever met doesn't know about Mike Hawk."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," she casually replies. "I did see you in a bathrobe once."

The words are so perfectly clear, and suddenly all the noise—the shoe-shuffling, the rush of water as she washes her hands, even the background hum of the refrigeration units—seems to stop.

An interminable second passes in which he wonders if the recording got cut off. But, no.

That's just how long it took him to put the pieces together.

He closes his eyes, picturing it: the pert angle of her stubborn chin, the smirking tilt to her lips. Sparkling amusement, tinged with an adorable hint of triumph.

His grin grows. Scully really does like her own jokes.

"Scully!" his recorded voice bursts out, suffused with delight and bafflement. There's a thread of horror there, too. And desire, but that's more or less a given.

Her voice is thrillingly deadpan as she pronounces, "Gotcha."

"I don't believe it!"

"Mulder, has anyone ever told you that you're endearingly naïve?"

"You little—you just wanted to hear me say 'my cock' over and over, didn't you?"

She clears her throat, a demure little ahem.

"That would be very unprofessional of me."

In sync, both his past and present self laugh, one compressed and crunched by time, the other ever-so-slightly roughened by the same.

"That's not a denial."

"No," she replies. "It's not."

God, he can barely believe this conversation was recorded for posterity. This, of all moments. The moment when he realized maybe Scully enjoyed their flirting. That maybe, when he pushed, she could be counted on to push back.

Even now, belly down on the couch in the privacy of his own home, his stomach clenches at the memory.

She's always been the better actor, between the two of them. He's convinced she could get away with anything, and she more or less has. But the warm undercurrent of invitation on that recording is unmistakable.

"Scully." Closer to the recorder now, he goes low and flirtatious, even as he cautiously asks, "Are you coming on to me?"

He doesn't hear her answer this time around; instead, his ears catch on the rattle of keys, the click of the lock in the front door. When he glances up from the little black box, there she is in the open doorway, auburn hair catching the light.

She's holding the brown bag of takeout in one arm and her purse and keys in the other, and before he can think, he's pressing the pause button on the recorder, shoving it under a pillow, and going straight to her.

"Mulder, what are—?"

Wrestling the bag out of her hands, he stoops his shoulders and catches her lips in a long, hard kiss.

She doesn't expect the force of it, but she's got the legs of something seaborn, unbending against his tide. She accepts the assault with parted lips, mouth already curving like she's laughing at one of her own jokes.

"You must be really craving that Pad Thai," she whispers.

"Nope." He isn't even embarrassed by his own breathlessness, how hurriedly he dives back in to breathe her air. "Just you." He feels the muscles move as her eyebrow jumps toward her hairline, same as ever, and it's like all the blood drains from his brain.

It's hard to help her shed her coat with one hand holding noodles and the other in her hair and the bulk of her back pressed to the door—but he likes to think he makes it work.

"Hey," she murmurs, freeing herself enough to drop a kiss on his chin, "this have something to do with what you just crammed between our couch cushions? You weren't digging through my old cassettes again, were you?"

His eyes light up at the reminder of that particular discovery. "I didn't even know they made erotic audiobooks, seriously. A whole avenue, Scully, a whole dimension of pornography I was completely ignorant of until you opened my eyes! But," he stops, shaking off his momentary distraction, "no, that's not it."

He pauses for another kiss, lingering again because he can.

"It was an old audio log, an autopsy you did on one of our cases."

"An X-File?"

He and the takeout make it to the couch, Scully only a beat behind, pausing to kick off her little heeled boots. She's been breaking them in, claiming she'll need them if they're going to be chasing lights together again.

"No, it was a case we took on as a favor to someone. I can't remember now… What was his name?" He snaps his fingers. "Ben… something. Ben Dover? Or was it Mike Hunt?"

And Scully—well, she just wouldn't be Scully if she wasn't immediately hip to his bullshit, attuned to it like a sniffer dog to a suspicious scent. Her gaze narrows, and he grins at the way her eyelids flutter in an attempt not to immediately and violently roll her eyes. She's had a lot of practice, but he truly is a hazard to her ocular health.

Her smile, though. She can't help herself. It spills out at the edges, softening the corners of her mouth, even as it carves her laugh lines deeper.

She smiles more now than she ever did back then, and he treasures each one. The twist of her lips always feels like he's pilfering extra helpings from some great cosmic store of joy. It's an untold pleasure to watch the wrinkles form, knowing how hard-earned her smiles used to be.

Now, she's happy. She gives them out for free.

"I remember that case," she sighs, flopping down beside him on the couch, kicking her socked feet up on the coffee table. "God, we were young."

"I was 'endearingly naïve,' if I'm to take your word for it."

"Did I say that?" Her lips quirk in wry amusement. "Doesn't sound like me. I must have been in love."

"Yeah," he agrees, stealing another kiss. "Must have been." She softens against him.

He's about to steal something else—second base, if he's lucky—when there's a muffled sound from under the pillow. The distinct sound of his own voice saying, "Mike Hawk" over and over again. Their disturbance of the couch cushions must have started the tape over.

Scully's snorted giggle parts their lips. Her eyes dance like sapphires under the sun. "Did we ever figure out the victim's name?"

"You don't remember?" He sits back, shaking his head. "Wow, Scully, you really love 'em and leave 'em. I thought you had a thing for the guy."

"The dead guy?"

"Yeah, who else? Don't try to deny it, it's all on the tape."

She just shrugs. "Well, if I did—which I can neither confirm nor deny—it's only because I had a lot of tension back then… for some reason."

The grin he's wearing is probably so goofy, and hell if he cares.

Someone once called him one sorry sonuvabitch, but all Fox Mulder knows is that he's lucky. So ridiculously, obscenely, deliriously lucky, sitting next to the girl of his dreams, his once and future partner—twenty years later, on a couch they bought together, in a house they call home.

Twenty years, and she still flirts back.

"The guy's name was Eric," he finally says, because he can't not. Especially when it's the truth. "Eric Shunn."

Scully's laugh is so loud and uninhibited it rings through the house. And he has the distinct pleasure of letting it go on a while before silencing it with his lips.

[yanknowalready]

Yandere Lightweaver headcanons

aka: gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss

[0.9k words] Spoilers for the Stormlight Archive series as a whole

It feels almost too on the nose to say this order is likely to attract Delusional yanderes. Cryptics are attracted to lies after all, and what could be a bigger lie than "my darling loves me too." (Is it just you, or is the ripple on the tablecloth humming?)

The Lightweaver could use the Surge of Illumination to project the image of an expression of joy on your face, or even have words of love projected from that illusion's mouth. All the while, you are actually gagged to keep from crying out (whether from anger or fear) and breaking the illusion. You are the muse to their art, and the more they can see and feel and hear of you, your body, your voice, the more perfect the illusion of you will be, making it easier to content themself in the delusion that lets them hear you profess your own undying love for them, while they hold you in their arms and convince themself your sobs are not but tears of joy.

Rescue would be near impossible, as this illusion of you could be used to convince the outside world either that you died (so no one would look for you) or that you are with the yandere willingly, pulling others into the delusion as well.

Depending on just how delusional the yandere is, one of the Lightweaver's "oaths" could be admitting you do not love them. I wouldn't count on that being enough to guarantee your freedom though, and it may even lead the Lightweaver towards another type of yandere that would become more dangerous with the powers this order obtains.

The Surges of a Lightweaver (Illumination and Transformation) would also be particularly dangerous in the hands of a more Manipulative, or an emotionally Sadistic yandere. Not only can they use their powers to feed into their own delusion, they could force you into one of your own. Audio and visual hallucinations from lightweavings, and even soulcasting objects to actually be what they want, and not just appear that way. They could trick you into believing you managed to escape, or that someone freed you. From there, they could reveal the illusion, repeating the process until you start to believe any chance of escape you may see is just going to be another illusion, that it is no longer worth it to get your hopes up because you know your spirit breaks just a little bit more each time you see how your "freedom" was really just your yandere playing with you.

Alternatively, your "escape" could lead to a scenario even worse than the one you just "left". At least then you always had food, a bed, safety from the storms and the wars. The "person who saved you" turned out to be cruel, uncaring, ugly, anything to make the Lightweaver look better by comparison. Sure they may have to rough you up a bit, but it's just to sell the illusion, to make you see how much worse things could be if you did get away. Maybe you even find your loved ones have all been killed or have turned away from you, that there is no one left out here who cares about you. At this point, wouldn't things be so much better if you just turn around and ask for your yandere to take you back? And, as such a loving partner, of course they would graciously welcome you "back," fretting over how you look and tending to your injuries which they caused. Aren't you so grateful for this kindness? Such a warm welcome after you so cruelly broke their heart, surely you could make it up in some way. A kiss wouldn't be a bad place to start <3

If they weren't a Delusional type of yandere to begin with, they may have managed to trick you into believing you were not kidnapped at all, and actually did come here of your own volition. As long as you think the Lightweaver is not your captor, not your manipulator, but a person you do love and want to spend the rest of your life with, they don't even need to worry about you trying to run away.

Your chances of escape are probably greatest the more "oaths" your yandere has spoken: the more truths they admit to themself, the less delusional they will be. No matter how far along they are, anything that looks like a chance to escape should be viewed with suspicion. You are likely to have better luck trying to talk your way out by pleading your case once your yandere is more grounded in reality. Even before then, be firm about not returning their feelings (when possible), but do so as kindly as you can, to best avoid your yandere lashing out at you when the delusion shatters. One way to check if this occurred (assuming you have enough freedom to speak) is to ask if they know how you feel about them. If still in the delusion, they will probably respond cheerfully how you love them as much as they love you. If they have admitted to themself and their spren that it isn't true, well, pretty much any other reaction should give it away. At this point, gently explain how you don't want to be there, how you can't return their feelings, and ask your yandere to please let you go.

Even in the best case scenario, you can never be 100% sure you really are free this time, there will always be the lingering thought in the back of your head telling you this is merely another illusion.

[soullistrations]

i'm a few episodes into season 2 of haikyuu--they just got to japan to meet with nekoma and a few other schools--and here are some more things i've enjoyed so far:

i like that shimizu is more of a fleshed-out character this season. she had moments in the first season and it was a fun gag for her to be super chill and silently unbothered at all times, but then the added depth of her finding the banner and struggling her way through a little speech because she's kinda awkward was endearing, and then now with her training yachi it's fun to see more facets of her personality

speaking of yachi, love that she was so blinded by shimizu's beauty that she didn't listen to a single word of her sales pitch

seijoh's chants are still stuck in my head. that really syncopated one was SO fun. whoever did the audio mixing and directing for this did such and excellent job, because they captured the clamor and chaos of that tournament, with everyone cheering for different matches, so well.

that scene with the team all eating and crying at the restaurant really got to me. i just really love how grounded these characters are!

and speaking of grounded, i really loved the way they decentralized the protagonists after their loss. like! they went toe-to-toe with aoba johsai for three sets! they went point for point past 30 points the last set! and yet, after they finish and they want to linger and mourn on the court, they still have to bow to their fans and clear out, because another team is coming in. they don't get special treatment because they're the team we as the viewers are following.

and speaking of, that bit after the first round with all the teams that got eliminated! augh! this show just does such a good job at showing that all these teams share the same love for the sport that karasuno does--that any of them could be our protagonist team. it's just a lovely bit of storytelling.

sugawara continues to be the mvp. daichi was all ready to fall on his sword and sugawara was like, 'i mean, i'm staying for the spring tournament. do what you want--but you know what you want.' like he is keeping this family TOGETHER

the scene where takeda was like 'you have to pass your classes' was. incredible. kageyama's black and white freeze frame, hinata going through the five stages of grief at top volume--i just. they captured no pass no play panic so well

kageyama not memorizing anything at school because what's the point of remembering that--and then knowing every single signal daichi showed him at the drop of a hat. autistic king.

also! i watched the arrival of lev, and i didn't know it was possible but i love kenma even more now. that scene on the shinkansen with him and kuroo was so great--the expression on his face when kuroo told him he was bothered! ahahaha

i'm so easy but any time they do the praying hands heaven's light freeze frame, i crack up. the visual expression in this show is just really really fun

okay onward!

[podfeels]

Podfeels Adapt8ion Notes: Episode 3

hello, dare again! just as a reminder for how these posts work, stagelights will be covering the notes as a whole, and if i ever have to pitch in it will be with purple text like this! with that said, lets get back into it!

this episode had a good chunk of rewrites just because there's a ton of visual gags that simply do not scan in audio format. there was a good chunk of back and forth on a bunch of lines.

this bit of dialogue had a minor change, as the ‘question mark’ line kind of felt weird in audio. i think it probably could have still worked, but we decided to replace it to make it a call forward to a line later in the text, where vriska says the “prompting for a response” thing instead. for some reason the text in the video version was changed to a winky face instead of a normal smiley? i dont know who made that change or why but its so minor i dont even really care lol. it was made into a wink because we felt it fit the tone better! the original smile was kind of oblique, just ignoring june's question. but with the scene in general, and especially with our rewrites and our vriska's performance, a taunting wink felt far more fitting than the flat smile.

more emoji replacement. fairly simple

another text gag changed because it didnt work in audio. also the question marks were changed to exclamation marks in the text because i thought it fit the delivery of the actual line slightly better. 

theres nothing new to say about this that hasn’t already been said a bunch. moving on.

this line was a major sticking point. it’s a visual gag that we can’t just cut, because this gag is directly related to why june picks the name that she does. so we had to do *something*. we had a bunch of different rewrites on this.

we ended up going with the second one of these, as you can tell

there was also some deliberation on how long the actual “very long june” should be when said out loud. i thought the initial take we had was way too short, and i was mostly thinking back to the voxus dubs take of this specific line, but if we just took that delivery and slapped it here it would have felt *too* long because the context behind the lines is completely different. i think we ended having it be about 6 seconds long, which was perfect.

the immediate next line was also a bit of a bitch.

these were some of the rewrites suggested.

ended up going with the second one, which surprisingly isn’t *that* different from how it was in the original text. this is because ultimately we decided that our edits were all... overegging the pudding a bit. we ended up going with one close to the original in writing, but specifically directing our vriska to perform it as if she was lying through her teeth. lying about xenobabble she doesnt know (either because she's vriska and hiding a mistake like vriska does, or because she's Not Quite Vriska and making up exomemories on the fly to justify herself, who is to say) and brushing it off, with a couple added lines to show she's forcing it to be dropped through force of will and rudeness. god i love that spiderbitch.

this line was changed to be a call forward to this bit in a later chapter, which i didn’t even notice until listening back to some of the early drafts of episode 7 (coming soon™)

this was actually to try and solidify a bit of consistency between John and June. we've sprinkled some quotes from each other into the other's dialogue to make them seem a bit more like each other. (i use John and June like this for godfeels reasons to be clear, because June isn't quite John, and John isn't quite Dare, so there's no good way of going about it so I just use John. personal taste.)

some emoticons removed

some fairly minor narration changes for pacing

bunch of emoji replacements

this part is pretty fun. vriskas voice becomes jades and johns matching the text color, which fits whats being said in the narration. stuff like this is a huge part of why i love working on podfeels.

nother emoticon replacement

this is a very minor text change, literally because john’s va said the line slightly differently and i edited the script to match whats being said

 this bit of narration was cut for pacing

replacing the description of “bawl so hard it feels like dying” with audio of john crying, with dialogue of vriska being comforting. not just comforting, but Encouraging. in the "You got this", she is in a sense instilling june with her confidence. shit may go to hell, but we'll make it work. YOU'LL make it work.

minor change, theres a text sound effect here

there was a small change in the narration to reflect an addition in sound design of tossing the phone, and the smaller text is a fun little gag

none of the text here was changed, but this is such an important moment in the story, and the decision to cast john and june separately really helps sell the same switch from second to first person, replacing the swap in text color with a swap in actor. i believe this decision was partly to sell this moment and partly as future proof for later parts of godfeels. i remember sarah saying once that she had planned for june to be played by the same actor throughout in her initial plans for podfeels, but i personally like the way we did it a lot. also, a nice coincidence in our casting is that, junes voice sounds like a perfect in between of john and vriska’s voice.

this seems like a fairly big change, but its not…really? the script formatting makes it look way more complicated than it is. mostly this is just adding dialogue for the characters approach, similar to how its described in narration in the original text.

this isn’t necessarily a change but the final “fuck” is slightly cut off as the song jumps into the credits theme. which i think is very funny. also if and when we get to godfeels 3.2, when they do the same bit again but with dare instead of june, i REALLY hope we can do this exact same cutoff gag again. but that’s getting way ahead of ourselves. :)

_____

so thats it covered! thank you to stagelights for doing the breakdowns for these episodes! check back tomorrow for episode 4's breakdown!

[minindo]

Have you ever had an instance of you only noticing a rip's error after it was uploaded?

Mistakes.

Absolutely, so many times. For the sake of not making other people feel bad, I'll focus this answer entirely on my own mistakes. And these mistakes are most often noticeable with visual rips, which I have a lot of.

The First Law of Video Editing

No matter how carefully you edit, there will always be at least one mistake you only notice after the video's published.

Here's a major example: "The SiIvaGunner 7th Anniversary Art Gallery"

I edited together this video. As you can see in the description, there are three corrections listed, because while I went through many drafts, I didn't completely watch the final draft all the way through. Big mistake. The background music fades went out of sync twice, overlapping with video submissions, and Sinci1 was credited incorrectly. I felt pretty bad about it, but I felt better that we were able to add corrections. I edited 2024's gallery too, and tried to avoid mistakes as much as possible, doing so many once-overs and getting more eyes on it. I'm sure there's at least one mistake somewhere in there though, but at least the audio was fine.

Sometimes you can pass off mistakes as intentional jokes:

"Smurf Cat but it's Skibidi Toilet but it's a dance party with your favorite characters #shorts", which is a video on the SiIvaGunner channel, has the Numberphile's head visibly show up behind SpongeBob's leg even though he's supposed to be in front of him in the room. That was a mistake, but maybe it works because he's not supposed to be in the "original" video.

And for a throwback, an example of an obvious mistake I made (9:54) on a video before I ever contributed to SiIva:

The art for that shot was already made! I just forgot to put it in before rendering, and didn't watch the very final version (again, always watch your final versions all the way through, even if you're tired of it.) We passed it off as a gag, but I had to make sure to never do that again lol.

In terms of audio in rips, a recent example is this rip: Forest Moon Lake - Ganbare Goemon Kirakira Dōchū: Boku ga Dancer ni Natta Wake

Really subtle mistake, but at 0:46, both string layers are in the same right-panned channel, instead of one being in the left and the other being in the right like they're supposed to be the whole time.

I have several other musical examples from my own rips, but I don't know if I want to send them because I feel like it might damage the listening experience, hahah… it already has for me, on a few of them, but I try my best to ignore it.

Often times the mistakes are pretty subtle though, or technically not mistakes but things I wish I had done, or had planned to do but forgot about. For example, in Ruby Illusions - Final Boss (In-Game Version) (Beta Mix) - Sonic Mania, I had an pink-tinted fog overlay over the video (meant to represent Fools' Spirit), but while editing it I turned it off to be able to see the stuff behind it better, and I forgot to turn it back on when I finished.

To be fair, I was crunching the fuck out of that video… I had a real life adventure on the way to get that video made, but that's a story for another time.

Mistakes happen all the time, and everyone does it, very much including me. Just don't beat yourself up over it, like I have. I'm learning to let it go, like water off a duck's back.

[dichromaticdyke]

hi!! you made a really good point with your pickles signature post, i hadn't thought about the fact that he probably hasn't really considered the legal aspect of changing his name, although maybe charles or the snb manager made it a lot easier for him to do so already. however, i will say that a signature doesn't need to be your legal name, or even a name at all, just something unique that can identify you, so if charles filled out the rest of the paperwork correctly (which i assume he did) then pickles' signature is still valid. but still, i do wonder what charles put on the paperwork, and if one of the other band members could happen upon pickles' legal name that way....

oh damn really? i didn't know your didn't have to sign with your legal name, that's crazy, i'm keeping that in mind...

but yeah, you're totally right that if there were any potential legal problems arising from that, charles would get it taken care of with no problem. it was definitely more a fun hijink i could imagine the band getting into especially in a post-aotd setting where it's dubious whether or not they have a manager anymore.

as for if any of the other band members happen upon pickles's legal name, that would definitely be shenanigans. i mean he doesn't even use his last name at all, so you could only imagine how he would feel about his first name (again, could be true for both cis or trans pickles, but this blog is a trans pickles truther zone only).

i also really like the idea that even in that scenario, there are certain visual and/or audio gags preventing the audience from finding out pickles's birth name. like the paperwork always being obscured by something on screen or blurry, there being a sudden interruption every time someone's about to say pickles's legal name, etc.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Each viewing of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World reveals new depths to its narrative and humour, making its failure at the box office an even bigger shame. Well, better late than never. Go in for the memorable characters, arresting visual style, humour, and creative story. Come back to catch all the gags you missed. See it a third time to see what this movie is REALLY about.

22-year-old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a slacker musician dating 17-year-old high schooler Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). He's with her because he knows it’ll go nowhere. It's only a matter of time before he dumps her, which will be easy. Enter Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Promptly ditching Knives for the Amazon delivery girl of his dreams, Scott learns he must defeat her seven evil exes before they can date.

If the plot sounds crazy, it is. Director Edgar Wright (who co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Bacall, based off the comic series by Bryan Lee O’Malley) injects special effects in nearly every scene. References and Easter eggs to video games are everywhere in the form of health meters, bonus points, sound cues, non-sequiturs, and more. You can have a great time with a notepad playing “spot the reference” but it’ll be tough. There are so many and the deluge of gags is one hell of a distraction. It’s an outlandish tale with many characters and to ensure you never forget who’s who, we have a hugely talented cast bringing these quirky people to life. Kieran Culkin as Scott’s gay and very seductive roommate, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman and more as Ramona’s evil exes, Anna Kendrick as Scott’s disapproving younger sister, Aubrey Plaza, Brie Larson, Alison Pill, Johnny Simmons and Mark Webber as Scott’s friends/bandmates... Every time one of them appears on-screen again, you perk up. What hilarious new line are they going to deliver? It never fails. You always laugh out loud.

This is sort of a “battle of the bands” movie, meaning you get all sorts of musical talents adding extra oomph to the dazzling visuals. The score & soundtrack is another character, another reason to re-watch the film so you can properly see (well, hear) how every note perfectly compliments the characters’ actions and the point we’re at in the story.

While you’re dazzled by the audio and visual, you might overlook one of the most important aspects of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: its theme. Those references to bands and video games? They’re just gravy. The fact is, this movie has a great message. It’s not actually about battling a bunch of crazy enemies in order to get a prize lady. All that’s a metaphor. What this movie is actually about is a slacker, a person you’re not really supposed to like. Scott is lazy and he’s stringing Knives along. Even when it’s obvious he wants to move on to the new hot thing, he takes way too long to admit it. When he does get with “the girl of his dreams”, he takes forever to get over the fact that she has a past, that Ramona broke some hearts and was selfish in her past relationships despite Scott having done the same thing to Knives. The battles he fights are actually against himself. To win Ramona, what he must actually do is learn humility and self-respect. This is what pushes Scott Pilgrim vs. the World from being “merely” good to being great. If you really look at it, you’ll learn something.

I might change my mind about this the next time I view it but right now, the only flaw I’ll bring up is the running time. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World a fast-paced, highly economical movie, which makes seven evil exes A LOT of enemies. The combat actually winds up slowing the film down and I can think of a couple of bad guys who could’ve been removed without losing much. Otherwise, it’s an instant favorite. You’ll want to come back to it over and over thanks to its unmistakable style, the ample creative choices made throughout, the humor and the characters. (On Blu-ray, July 24, 2020)

[masked-marauder]

THE OLD ARMY GAME (1943)

Director: Jack King

Story: Carl Barks, Jack Hannah

Animation: N/A

Release Date: November 5, 1943

TW: The mention of suicide.

Out of all of the cartoons in the "Donald Duck Goes to War" saga, The Old Army Game has ALWAYS been my favorite. It has such a wonderful mix of slapstick, visual gags, morbid humor, actual drama, and even some good audio gags. I'd even go as far as to argue that this is one of Donald's best outings! Sadly, due to how dark it is, it probably will never be re-released nowadays. While it may be stuck in the Disney Vault, it's also stuck in my brain, so let's see what makes it such a good Donald Duck.

Our story begins with Pete, depicted as the sergeant, inspecting the camp. He goes through the cabins, making sure all of the men are sleeping.

Suddenly, he hears an odd snoring sound coming from one of them. He goes to check it, only to figure out everyone inside of it is just a dummy, including our "hero", Private Duck, and the snoring is coming from a broken record. Why... he's gone AWOL! Oh, that Donald, such a devilish little bastard!

Why, would you speak of the duck!

In a clever visual gag, he sneaks back onto the base after fluffing up his tail and bringing his arms up in the air, making a silhouette of a rabbit. Clever little fella, ain't he?

However, Pete knows that Donald is coming back, so he props himself onto Donald's bed, tricking the tired duck into using his arm as a pillow, providing us with some great expressions from both of them.

Donald himself even states as he drifts off to sleep "Boy, we sure pulled one over on the sarge." Observant as ever, Donald!

However, Donald soon realizes that Pete is right there next to him, so he makes a run for it.

As Pete chases him, he gets an idea, sliding into one of three randomly placed boxes outside.

This is where the cartoon gets its name from as Donald begins spinning the boxes around, similar to the famous shell game. Pete keeps flipping the boxes, trying to find him.

As Donald continues to slip the boxes around, Pete gives up the search, ragequitting by kicking the middle box over the fence while doing a Curly-like wince, not knowing that Donald is IN it. The sharp fence cuts it in half.

Despite falling into the sand, covering his legs, Donald believes his legs have been CUT OFF by the fence. Just a classic little misunderstanding, right?

Donald gets Pete to believe this as well, with both of them now teary-eyed, as Donald is in clinical depression and Pete believes he caused the accident to occur.

Now, I know what you're thinking: Jeez, pretty dark, even for a 1940s Donald cartoon. And while that is true, it gets even MORE twisted. As Pete turns, still sobbing, Donald notices the gun in his pocket. He takes it as he points it against his temple, losing the will to live as he contemplates over whether or not he should do it. That's right. DONALD DUCK IS CONTEMPLATING WHETHER OR NOT HE SHOULD COMMIT SUICIDE. Just another fun Disney cartoon for kids, amirite?

This one frame in particular has always haunted me, with him staring at the screen with his eyes squinted and his teeth showing, as I remember seeing it on a Youtube Thumbnail when I was REALLY little and it absolutely scared the piss outta me.

Instead of trying to stop him, Pete simply nods as he sobs, telling Donald to "do it behind the bushes". As Donald nods, he crawls off, the gun still pointed at his head. It is that this moment Pete realizes that Donald STILL has his legs, and has been bluffing this entire time. This leads to a hilarious visual of Donald crawling off in absolute distraught, complete with dramatic music accompanying it.

As Pete plucks one of Donald's tailfeathers, Donald realizes that his legs are still there! Hooray! Now all of his troubles are over!

Aren't you glad that he's safe, Sergeant Pete? Clearly not, as we get a great visual gag of his eyes turning into literal daggers as they clash against each other. Looks like Donald would be a dead duck either way.

As the two chase off into the night, they come across a sign, saying "National Speed Limit: 35 Miles". Well, they HAVE to follow it! And so the cartoon ends, with Donald and Pete running in slow motion off into the moon. (This also provides a neat little gag where as the music flares up, the drums sound off exactly whenever Pete's feet hit the ground.) The old army game indeed.

All in all, The Old Army Game is an INCREDIBLE cartoon, perfectly mixing comedy with a bit of psychological horror. The voice talents provided by Clarence Nash and Billy Bletcher greatly compliment the amazing expressions. Not to mention the beautiful, picturesque backgrounds, which provide a nice little contrast compared to all the chaos that they're near. While I doubt it'll ever happen, a full on Donald in the Army DVD/Blu-ray collection similar to the Private Snafu one would be incredible, of course with a disclaimer for the depictions of the Japanese present in Commando Duck. You can view this cartoon here!

Oh, and an extra note: All of the gifs used in this review are provided by adventurelandia.tumblr.com. Go check them out!

[nias-nook]

sooo, i was talking to my friend zizzy about the references to metalocalypse in metal family, as well as the parallels between the two shows. she hadn't heard about them before, and it seems like this isn't super common knowledge in the fandom, so i wanted to compile everything i've noticed while watching as a fan of both series.

this is part one, where i'll just list the explicit references, aaand if people want me to, i'll start getting into more guesswork talking about themes in metalocalypse that might've inspired metal family's story and themes.

The Music

The most obvious Metalocalypse references in Metal Family are the songs that are used in the show.

In season 1, episode 3, Dethklok song Face Fisted plays on Stasik-Contras' hacked cameras. this is almost definitely a reference to BATMETAL, which Dima/Xydownik worked on prior to Metal Family.

Season 2 episode 4 opens with Birthday Dethday, which is featured in the Metalocalypse episode Birthdayface.

Visual/Audio References

Admittedly, I haven't found too many of these, but they're there! Here's Skwisgaar as one of the YouTube thumbnails when Dee looks for guitar lessons.

In Heavy's Q&A, when listing stray cats he takes care of, he mentions the name Toki; likely a reference to the Dethklok guitarist of the same name.

Oh! And in case you're unsure of if this was intentional, here's Heavy name dropping Metalocalypse specifically five minutes later:

Heavy's Piercings

Heavy's (potentially temporary?) double eyebrow piercings are most likely a nod to Pickles the Drummer's near identical ones that he wears throughout the show!

Ches' Weird Thing with Old Ladies

Look, can I prove beyond a reasonable doubt, in a court of law, that Ches' obsession with grandmas is a reference to Skwisgaar's running gag of only being into old women? No. But sometimes you know something to be true deep within your heart.

This is all I've really noticed in terms of explicit references so far, but I'll edit the post to add more if/when I come across them! I'll almost definitely make another post later discussing the more subtle parallels between the two series later down the line.