#this is the third disney musical of this challenge

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I feel like Unparalleled Aeons and Far Out songs stands out to me is how both members were given equal screen time (Given they are two). Because I guess the issues with the songs is how they have small amount of time for some. Well I don't blame some not just the number of members but also how some of them aren't professional singers like

Notice how the rest of the songs, the way housewarden sings like being the main singer (make sense on who is twisted version they are) the rest being like back-singers but still have some good solos. Meanwhile, the way Idia and Kalim sings doesn't feel like Jamil and Ortho are back-up singers nor them being main singers but like partners with equal parts. When I listened to the other songs, I can't tell who's who while the Ignihyde and Scarabia I can tell.

I don't hate the songs, but you can't help but notice that makes it interesting. Overall, I love all songs that have their motifs, themes, and lyrics. It's kinda sad these songs couldn't be use in modern Disney that much.

[My personal ranking(s) of the dorm songs here!]

I definitely feel like Far-Out and Unparalleled Aeons had the most evenly distributed lyrics of all the songs. As you said, maybe it was more challenging for the composer to balance larger groups, or maybe the composer was limited in how he could write the songs due to some VAs being less skilled with singing. However, I also have to wonder how much of this was intentional??

These are dorm songs, right? And the VAs are singing in character. So to me, it feels like the songs are storytelling too, telling us about the dynamics of the group through their performances.

Looking back on it, the two most balanced songs belong to the dorms where its members are the most deeply intertwined with one another. Kalim and Jamil are locked into a toxic codependent relationship due to their families' history. Kalim relies on Jamil to do practically everything for him, while Jamil is stuck in a servant position he wants to break free from and always forced to play second-fiddle to Kalim. Idia is constantly haunted by Ortho's death, and Ortho plays a huge role in providing support for his older brother's mental faculties (encouraging him to get out of his room and mingle with peers). Ortho is very reliant on Idia for much of his own identity and presence at NRC (prior to book 6), only allowed to be there because he was registered as Idia's + Idia provided tech support for the school. Idia also designed many new forms (gears) for Ortho.

Many of the songs are structured to feature the dorm leader--which I'd argue is thematically appropriate, as I will soon get into. I have a pretty bad ear too, but I was surprised at how many of the voices I could distinguish. The card soldiers, Silver and Sebek, and Epel and Vil were the only ones I couldn't quite make out. There was enough variation for me to tell the others apart, especially Savanaclaw (no way would I mistake Ruggie for Jack or even Leona for Jack).

Every song not only has its own genre, but also its own vibes. I like that Twst can be its own thing and not necessarily kowtow to Disney's more traditional musical roots. I personally wouldn't want these to be incorporated into modern Disney film or TV productions. When Disney tries to do this, it ends up sounding so tonally dissonant or mismatched with the rest of their OST(s). ... Anyway, here's a very brief analysis of each song's arrangement + some lyrics and how they're divided up-- (MVs not taken into consideration; I unfortunately don't have the time to analyze every frame and how it lines up with the lyrics.)

Heartslabyul's Obedience is interesting in that it is very symmetrical with its vocal pairings. Cater and Trey sing with one another while Ace and Deuce sing with one another. The third years are deliberately paired with each other, while the first years are deliberately paired with each other. Trey and Cater, the original loyalists, have lines about "[playing] your cards right" and how their ruler is looking righteous and smug. Meanwhile Ace and Deuce, the rebels, sing about not being "caught" by their dorm leader's gaze. It's not until the second half of the song where they mix things up (Deuce with Trey, Ace with Cater), but it's still very predictable with the blends (always a third year with a first year). Trey and Deuce, the more level-headed duo, bring up setting the table, while Cater and Deuce, being more of the "hide your true feelings"/"avoid responsibilities" duo, "[hide] behind a smile" and warn to not "get caught with your tongue sticking out". This goes along with the song's theme of following the rules to a T; all the card soldiers are in place! You can even say that the song starting off with the rhythm of a military band indicates the song coming up will be regimented and structured. The only part I would say outright "breaks" this rule is when Adeuce sing with Riddle (around the middle of the song?) but in a way, that also makes sense given that those first years rebelled against Riddle in book 1, but eventually come around in book 7 to become his supporters. Then they of course all chant together for the English portions ("Yes, your Majesty!", "My pleasure, my Queen!", "As you wish, my Queen!") where they express their devotion to the Queen, indicating that these phrases are something "[the Queen wants] to hear". (Riddle chants with them too, to show respect for the rules.)

I think the true chaos of the song comes in the second half. Trey and Cater mention running through a maze and how the Queen's righteousness breaks at that moment, then Adeuce elaborate it scatters like cards. Riddle remarks how this--the twisting maze--"[hides] the true colors of [his] heart". This parallels how there was an elaborate chase through the rose maze in the depths of Riddle's book 7 dream, obscuring his loneliness.

You definitely get the vibes that although everyone has their little solo, Adeuce, Cater, and Trey are there to support their dorm leader. Riddle gets about the same amount of lyrics as the others, but his parts are more embellished and have more vocal flair to them. The lines specifically assigned to Riddle also feel like he's the Queen welcoming you to his territory full of his followers ("This is the path to the Queen's rose garden", "The cards are lined up and awaiting their (next) orders", etc.). The lines assigned to the card soldiers seem intentionally designed--as if the cards are reminding you of the rules so you don't upset the Queen.

DIADEM is reflective of the relationships between its dorm members too, but the relationships are very different than Heartslabyul's. The song begins with Jack singing, followed by a line in which he and Leona sing together. Then Ruggie has a solo line, which is also followed by a line in which Leona joins him. It's only AFTER Leona has already shared lines with Jack and Ruggie that he belts out his own solo, which stresses that they will continue to roar, no matter how many times it takes for their message to be heard. This gives the impression that he swooped in to support Jack and Ruggie with their own parts, just like a benevolent king or mentor figure/senpai might do for his people or mentees/juniors. This is also what Leona essentially does for his dorm in book 2. Then once Leona makes his own declaration, they're all able to sing together, united as one. It's like he uplifted Jack and Ruggie to join his rebellion.

There's an interesting part in the chorus where Ruggie and Jack break away to sing (without Leona) about fate and laughing through the hard times which. Has some heartbreaking implications when you consider that Leona expressed as late as book 6 (and is strongly implied in his book 7 dream as well) that he sees hope in others, but not himself. So??? Him NOT joining Jack and Ruggie in singing about laughing through difficult times seems pessimistic. Around the middle of DIADEM, Leona shouts out commands ("howl" and "roar", respectively), each of which is punctuated by Ruggie and Jack joining him with the English phrases "BEAT DOWN" and "DO MORE". These come off like a leader rallying his allies, and those allies responding with chants for their cause. This is especially the case because right after we get Ruggie declaring that his blood is boiling (ie he's pumped now) and he's eager to destroy a future that has already been decided for him. Then Jack enters, saying that he, too, wants to tear down an unjust world. There is NO Leona in this part, it's ONLY Jack and Ruggie, who have been newly emboldened by his words. The song really highlights how much the juniors are motivated by their strong leader.

In Heartslabyul's song, you get the sense that everyone else exists to prop up the Queen/Riddle and try to keep each other out of trouble by reciting the rules. In Savanaclaw's song, you can see how Leona encourages his dorm members and they react by taking to the words that lift their spirits. Both dorms' members are showing deference to their dorm leaders, but in different ways.

Entanglement opens with Jade imploring the listener to spill their secrets to him. Then Floyd comes in, continuing the charade. Azul takes over from there. This framing makes me think of Octavinelle's usual schemes--that is to say, the twins advertising Azul's "services" and then finally introducing us to him, this supposed "wish granter" (a procedure described to us in book 2). The order of the characters' presentation slots in nicely with this: we start with the more polite and unassuming twin luring us in. Once Jade has set the bait, Floyd, the more conspicuous brother, feels safe to step in and really talk up what Jade laid out in the beginning. Only after both twins are pitched Azul does Azul actually show up to make his offer. Jade and Floyd make up the majority of the chorus, singing together to coerce the listener into making a decision, even framing it like the decision is being made exclusively based on YOUR free will ("It's all up to you"), when really, it's not. Azul shockingly says very little solo in the chorus, only "Now, go on, we're all ears", before the twins join him and they urge you to share your wish with them.

The latter half of the song gives Poor Unfortunate Souls energy; it features Azul telling the listener they won't find a better bargain than this, then Jade saying they're drowning in their own desires and finally Floyd putting on the pressure to close this deal. Azul then mentions paying a price and how his rules are reasonable, which is very similar to how Ursula demands her a toll be paid (how it isn't "asking for much", etc.). The twins also very characteristically warn you what will happen if the contract is broken ("punishment", "squeezing", "no escape"), like the potential consequences if Ariel cannot get the kiss of true love from Eric. Overall, Entanglement reads as the extended experience of you being roped into a Bad Deal.

Far-Out opens with Kalim (the dorm leader), with Jamil (the vice) following. This pattern of Kalim first, Jamil second (which reflects their dynamic in general) also occurs when they speak English in the song; Kalim gets his verse about the magic carpet first, Jamil gets his verse about treasure later. The dual nature of Kalim and Jamil is also made apparent here: Kalim is allowed to fly "whenever [he] wants", while Jamil is only allowed to "dream" about "treasure whenever [he] wants". When the two sing together, this duality persists: "good and evil intertwine", "[falling] into a sea of ecstasy", the part where they list several people of different social standing, etc. The one time when Jamil sings before Kalim is at the beginning of the second verse, before Kalim mentions a scarab flying in front of him. This comes off as if Jamil is leading the way for his dorm leader, like some puppetmaster dangling his puppet and tugging it along by the strings. I think it's very telling that Kalim's opening line is about describing the scorching heat of their homeland but Jamil's opening line is about... TEMPTATION??? Hilariously on-the-nose, seeing as how Jamil is the one with the literal mind control UM and he describes a serpent in the night with sharp eyes in the lyrics to Far-Out (literally describing himself). Meanwhile, Kalim's UM chant seems to be referenced, as he talks about singing and dancing. Both Scarabia boys sing about "giving in" together, but as the song goes on, the framing of the lyrics makes it clear they're "giving in" to different things. For Kalim, it's "the heat" (a stand-in for Jamil's mind control), which is made apparent by Jamil immediately saying "indulge in this feeling until it takes over" and Kalim later says he is "captivated by the heat". For Jamil, it's "treasure", something he repeatedly indicates as wanting to take throughout the song. For example, Kalim sings about endless riches, and then Jamil has a solo line where he says "if you desire it, take as much as you want"--and his dream in book 7 shows him taking all that was once the Asims'. They're both venturing to a metaphorical oasis to seek relief, but seem to be distracted by things along the way ("heat", "treasure", etc.).

Kalim mentions a golden scarab crossing his eyes in one line, and while this is an obvious Aladdin reference, it also makes me think of Jade's one golden eye interrogating him in book 4; this would be another time in which Kalim is taken advantage of by others. First by Jamil, then by Jade. At the very end, Kalim sings about undoing shackles (most likely referring to Jamil's) while Jamil sings about a party (of which Kalim throws many of) that will eventually exhaust. The other Scarabia character is at the forefront of each boy's mind, and it is also where their respective desires (friendship for Kalim, freedom for Jamil) derive.

La Volonté is French for "will" or "willpower", which is a huge theme in the song. Unlike the other songs so far (which open with a solo or duet), La Volonté begins with all members of Pomefiore singing about their "one and only wish", and how they intend to immortalize their beauty. This is fascinating in that all three of them have very different personal goals (Epel wants to be strong, Vil wants to be seen as a "hero", Rook wants to pursue beauty), but they sing in unison anyway, because this validates all of their goals as being "beautiful".

Rook, the most secretive of the trio, mentions a heart locked away in a box, then Vil joins him in speaking of a truth entering his ear--like in book 5, when Rook convinces Vil to go with the more unconventional picks for the VDC/SDC auditions. In one of Epel's solos, he tells of sweet poison dyed in crimson, which is wording that is very close to his UM name. When Vil joins him, they sing, "A little more, a little more...", which makes me think of how Vil intends to "perfect" Epel into a weapon to use against Neige in book 5. The fact that Rook sings about their goal "[being] within reach" is ironic, given that it's ultimately his vote that decides NRC's loss.

Though this song starts off with the Pomefiore boys together, this is definitely one of those songs that centers the dorm leader over the others. There are many parts where it's just Rook and Epel singing ("Let all freeze", "[...] grant eternal slumber", etc.) and Vil joining in later or getting a solo after them. The first "waltz upon white snow" invokes the image of Vil standing over the cold body of his fallen rival Neige, but later on Rook and Epel join in singing about this. I wonder if that's an intentional callback to book 7, when they delved into Vil's dream and found Neige... dying. It's Vil singing somberly about all the hands that seek to pull him down (all his haters, all the people who assume he is as evil as the villains he plays), not knowing "the worth of a true star" (ie himself). It's Vil issuing the order for your breath to still (as if your breath has been stolen away by him; this is also the beginning to Epel's UM chant). And, most importantly, it's Vil vocalizing to end the song--a song which, need I remind you, started off with ALL of Pomefiore singing. Now Epel and Rook have stepped back, allowing Vil, the "true star", to command the stage.

Oftentimes fans—and even the Twst characters themselves—will compare Riddle and Vil on the basis of strictness. This also holds true for the compositions of Obedience and La Volonté. Both songs have their respective queens front and center, but La Volonté is definitely moreso than Obedience. Maybe it’s Vil’s celebrity status that has him commanding the spotlight? It could also be that Rook and Epel are simply more inited under a common front (“beauty”) whereas the card soldiers are more selfish and follow Riddle’s rules as a means to avoid punishment for themselves rather than truly subscribing to his strictness.

Unparalleled Aeons has Ortho starting us off, and it's framed kind of like the middle of an argument between the Shroud brothers?? He seems to be addressing Idia, asking if he will shut himself away again, only for Idia to respond that "[he's] just one soul" and that "[he's] the problem". The fact that the song begins with Ortho and not Idia--the dorm leader--makes me think it's symbolic of many of Idia's social problems "originating" with the original Ortho's death. This would go well with the theme of persisting despair in the early verse. In any case, they continue to have this back-and-forth, with Idia stating that he has known dreams are hollow for a long time (likely a reference to his backstory and how he's destined to be Director of S.T.Y.X. one day, whether he wants to be or not). The two later on talk about sulking in the Underworld, which is something Idia notes is a common trait between him, his father, and his grandmother--previous or current heads of S.T.Y.X., and what awaits him too.

The chorus has both Shrouds singing, and it is very much structured around the book 6 disaster in which they attempt to open the gate to the Underworld, unleash Phantoms upon the world. They reference their "happy end" and Cerberus's engine revving up--perhaps to call attention to Phantom!Ortho, the third "head" and sibling to the Shroud brothers. Idia sings about how his loneliness spawned into genius (could he mean how his grief led him to invent a new Ortho?) too. In another verse, the Shrouds declare they will "rearrange the cosmos" and Ortho jeers about heroes that arrive too late to stop them. They're almost gleeful in the "whirlpool of {swirling) souls", full of despair and chaos as they finally realize their shared dream. Hilariously, Idia and Ortho shout "FEVER TIME", a special state that grants temporary advantages in games--indicating that, at least to the Shroud brothers, they see this all as one big game.

At one point, Ortho has a solo line about how a happy ending with tears is crueler than being forever alone. Is he talking about bittersweet endings here? Does this not describe book 6's conclusion--an ending in which Idia is forced to say good-bye to one brother, while also embracing another brother? Idia gets his own line about having all of the cheats and going at full throttle, which paints the image in my head of him putting together that cheat tool and delivering the weapons + armor to Silver and Sebek via magiwheel in book 7. Ortho's solo line in the chorus mentions entertaining trials and tribulations, which I think calls back to book 6, when he tested each of our little groups with mini games. Unparalleled Aeons is simply packed full of internet lingo and gaming slang, all being weaponized to taunt the listener.

The Shrouds lament about how they've been "forsaken by [...] Fate", then make reference to the Fates cutting a Thread of Life, sending them crashing towards "The End". They also later call to attention knowledge of past, present, and future, which are concepts associated with the Fates too. The cut life might be the original Ortho's death, or it could be Phantom!Ortho finally moving on, and thus Idia pushing past his grief. The chorus wraps up with Idia whispering "Welcome to the Underworld"--very fitting, seeing as I recall him uttering a similar line when welcoming the OB boys to S.T.Y.X. HQ (the domain he will rule in the future) for the first time.

Unlike Far-Out, which has an insidious vibe due to the clashing nature of Kalim and Jamil’s parts, Unparalleled Aeons allows Idia and Ortho to be on the same page. It really feels like a Final Boss and his top-ranked henchman scheming together to destroy the heroes.

Capricious Calamity is technically another song which centers the dorm leader, but not in the same way that La Volonté does. In La Volonté, Vil has many solos, whereas in Capricious Calamity, Malleus is the subject of the song, the one being praised and worshipped (using archaic terminology). Given that Diasomnia seems to be a cult of personality around Malleus, this direction makes sense--and the choice to open with Sebek, THE Malleus fanboy, singing about his master's radiance shining brightly in the night, also makes sense. Sebek also closes off the second verse, declaring "unending tribute" to Malleus.

The first verse slowly evolves with a new character added per line. First there's only Sebek, but then it becomes Sebek and Silver together. It gives the vibes of wandering into an old castle and running into the ruler's guards who are evaluating you before you may be graced with their lord's presence. Lilia (the eldest and most experienced of them all) then gets a brief solo before making way for Malleus. It feels like Lilia showed up to announce their prince's arrival, and how all should make way for him. And of course the first thing Malleus says is that he "knows not of celebration"... This is followed up by Silver mentioning that Malleus "wishes for a miracle" (to be invited/included). Then Silver, Sebek, and Lilia speak of this as a transgression which warrants judgment. Again, Lilia concludes this verse with the line about judgment, which harkens back to earlier, when he seemingly "announced" Malleus.

Malleus leads the chorus once Lilia has summoned him. He calls himself an omen that comes with the lightning (his signature), then his dorm members chant that all shall kneel before his green light. Disembodied voices join in, echoing that the listener should give their entire being to the thorns. It paints the image of loyal knights kneeling before their king and beckoning others to do the same in order to quell his rage. This is also the note that Capricious Calamity concludes on, which just further drives the message home.

Silver starts the second verse, noting Malleus reflected in the dark skies. (Sebek begins the first verse, and Silver he second; the two youngest in Diasomnia are also the "start"--the start of, perhaps, a future where fae and humans can live in peace together.) When Sebek joins Silver, they sing about how Malleus, even at his lowest, burns brightly. These phrases paired together, said by the first two of Diasomnia to "awaken" in book 7, make me think of them staring up in horror as Malleus's draconic form takes to the skies. They're terrified and in awe of his might. There's a part where Malleus and Lilia share a line, commenting on a commotion and the cries of the weak ringing out. These two, the strongest in Diasomnia, remarking on this... It calls to mind their battle within Lilia's dream, or even Lilia intervening when Malleus (as a dragon) intends to strike Silver and Sebek down.

At the very end, Malleus announced another omen, this time harkened by spreading thorns rather than lightning... thorns, like the very ones he summons to drag us all into a deep, deep slumber--the trap he sprung in book 7. I think it's telling that it's Silver that joins Malleus in song before the entire dorm sings together. This duo sings about an aurora that is overtaken by the abyss. Is this meant to be a reference to Silver and Malleus's final confrontation, and how Silver refused to slay Malleus at the crucial moment?

It’s really interesting to compare this song to DIADEM, the two performances featuring a prince. In Capricious Calamity, Malleus is propped up by his dorm members—but in DIADEM, Leona is the one propping up his dorm members. This really speaks to (and feeds into) the idea that Malleus and Leona are opposites of one another. A prince worshipped by his people and promised the throne. but still left lonely and emotionally unfulfilled… versus a prince scorned by his people and forbidden from having the crown for himself, yet he’s surrounded by people who look up to him and trust him to lead them… OTL

[sneezemonster15]

So I read about Diddy case this past weekend and it reminded me of a Simpsons episode I had once seen, which featured a portrayal of Diddy's infamous white parties. So of course I opened my Disney OTT app, and watched those set of episodes. They are called The Great Phatsby btw, 12th and 13th episodes in season 28.

As the title suggests, the episodes were a satirical take on the culture on which the Great American entertainment industry runs. Of course since it's Disney, and they be money hungry like no one's business, it had ads, even though I have paid for the app, but you gotta buy the premium version (and more expensive obviously) to escape ALL the ads.

Anyway, I had to watch the ads as well. There were three ads. For three different products. One was for cooking oil made according to the specifications of my native cuisine, the other one was for mayonnaise and the ad featured models from my country, and the third ad was a Levis ad. And guess who was the model used for this ad.

It was none other than Beyonce Knowles. Lol. And you might not find it curious but it was curious to me because see, this was the first time I had seen a Beyonce ad without me actively looking for it. I don't live in the States or even in the same continent, I don't buy from American brands, I don't listen to her music, I have never googled her even, definitely not in many years at least, it's not my area of interest, and I don't wear jeans, I am not really the target audience for this ad. We generally don't get to see ads with foreign models/celebrities because we are simply not the target audience for it. And thing is, we do have native celebrities who are ambassadors of Levis, and who make a lot of Levis ads as well. But those aren't the ones I saw, I saw the ad with the B-woman. The last time I remember seeing a foreign celebrity in an ad was on YouTube almost a decade ago, I think it was Jennifer Aniston in an Emirates ad.

And you know what Beyonce was wearing in the ad as she stalked around the set, with a challenging, Devil may care look in her eyes? All White. Lolol.

Furthermore, once I finished watching those two White Party episodes, I wanted to see if I would see the same set of ads for the rest of Simpsons episodes, but I didn't see the Levis ad again...

Coincidence or not? Haha though, I won't be surprised if it wasn't. These folks are the artists of petty. I hope to see all of them behind bars for the rest of their miserable lives including Will Smith.

[kneesheee]

I tend to look at the antagonist from the television shows, games, and abandoned characters. Alongside minor characters if I need a character on the “good” side.

Here are just a few scrapped characters:

Clarice is a character that was deleted from the final film version of Beauty and the Beast. 

In one early concept of Aladdin, there was going to be a Genie in the Ring that would team up with Jafar.

Aladdin had three friends that were going to help him. They even had their own song before they were scrapped though they do show up in the musical adaptation of the film.

Bastion is a deleted character from Tangled; he was replaced with Flynn Rider and his design went on to become Kristoff’s in Frozen.

Mata is a character that was intended to be used in The Emperor's New Groove as the considered tritagonist. Mata was originally to have been a love interest for Kuzco who would have aided him on his journey, and later married him. She was the inspiration for Malina.

Prince Oswald was a skeleton in Evil Queen’s dungeon; presumably someone that was interested in Snow White, and she was jealous of that.

Claire and Vince were the original protagonists for Tangled which at the time went under the title Rapunzel Unbraided. Very unusual for the leading characters, they were intended to satirize the concept of a typical Disney romance.

Moana's Brothers are characters that existed in one version of the film Moana and were scrapped in the final version.

These are a few characters from the shows:

King Edmund is a recurring character introduced in the second season of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. He is the ruler of the Dark Kingdom and the long-lost father of Eugene Fitzherbert.

Varian is a young alchemist who appears as a recurring character, later a major character in Tangled: The Series. He later serves as the main antagonist for the second half of the first season until he redeems himself in the third season.

Quirin (pronounced Kiran) is a recurring character in Tangled: The Series. He is the leader of the small village of Old Corona on the mainland of Corona and Varian's father.

Hortense Q. Crowley (more commonly known as Old Lady Crowley) is one of the castle servants who appears in the 2017 Disney Channel television series, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. She is a grumpy old lady who is known to never smile, earning her the nickname "Scowley Crowley". She is often seen sweeping the castle floors. The one and only thing that puts a smile on Crowley's face is peace and quiet.

Monty (often known as Uncle Monty) is an elderly shopkeeper in the show Tangled: The Series.

Dale is a main antagonist of the episode, "Fitzherbert P.I." in Tangled: The Series. He is an actor who impersonated the famous artist Giovanni.

Wreck Marauder is the main antagonist of the Tangled episode, "Challenge of the Brave" and he is considered the most feared warrior ever.

Arnwaldo Schnitz (better known as Lance Strongbow) is a major character in Tangled: The Series. He is Flynn Rider's childhood best friend and former partner-in-crime.

Frideborg is a handmaid who appears in Tangled: The Series. She is recognizable for her atypical facial features, and being silent all the time. She can sometimes be mistaken for Cassandra, since she wears the same maiden dress that Cassandra wears.

Nigel is King Frederic's royal advisor and a recurring character in Tangled: The Series.

 Xavier is a deleted character from earlier versions of Disney's 2010 animated feature Tangled. He later appeared as a recurring character in Tangled: The Series.

Feldspar Willipeg is the cobbler who appears in the show, Tangled: The Series.

Kiera and Catalina Schnitz, better known as Angry and Red, are a pair of young former thieves who appear as recurring characters in Tangled: The Series. After plundering the kingdom of Corona, the duo would meet their match in the form of Eugene Fitzherbert and Lance Strongbow, who were tasked with reforming the two girls by King Frederic.

Princess Wilhelmina (commonly named "Willow") is Rapunzel's estranged aunt and Queen Arianna's younger sister in Tangled: The Series. Willow is also second in line to inherit the throne of Corona, after Rapunzel.

Adira is a character in Tangled: The Series. A fierce, yet mysterious warrior, she serves as Rapunzel's guide to the source of the ominous black rocks that have plagued parts of the world.

Vex is a character in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. She is a no-nonsense teenager living in the streets of Vardaros.

Captain Quaid is a character in Tangled: The Series. He is the sheriff of Vardaros.

Calliope is a character from Tangled: The Series. She is a former street magician turned assistant to the Keeper of the Spire who eventually becomes the actual Keeper.

Seraphina is a character from Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. She is a mermaid and the love interest of Hook Foot.

Madame Canardist is a character who appears in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. She is Vigor's keeper and agent.

Cassandra is a major character in the Tangled franchise. She is the biological daughter of Mother Gothel who was abandoned as a child when Gothel kidnapped Princess Rapunzel and hid away from the world. She was taken in by the Captain of the Guards thereafter, and raised in Corona as a handmaiden. Upon Rapunzel's return to the kingdom, Cassandra was enlisted as the princess's lady-in-waiting. Despite being polar opposites and occasional rivals, Cassandra and Rapunzel developed a close friendship—one that would inspire Cassandra to pursue a bright future despite her troubled background.

Hook Foot is a recurring character in the show Tangled: The Series, until the second season. He is the younger brother of Hook Hand.

Pete and Stan are two members of the Royal Guards of Corona who appear in Tangled: The Series. Both are often seen together throughout the show, carrying out their duties as guards. The duo are recognized by Corona's Captain of the Guards as his top men.

Zeus is a purplish-red crab and Sebastian's arch-rival from The Little Mermaid episode "Tail of Two Crabs".

King Augustus is a minor character who appeared in the animated television series The Little Mermaid. He is the ruler of Olympia, a neighboring kingdom of Atlantica. Olympia is known for its strong warriors, though the kingdom had actually never seen a full war. 

Thor is the son of King Augustus, and prince of the kingdom of Olympia.

Urchin is a young teen merboy who becomes one of Ariel's best friends. He is an orphan who lives alone and initially has few friends. Eventually, he becomes to be like a younger brother to Ariel and her sisters, and a son to King Triton.

Gabriella is a recurring character in the animated series The Little Mermaid. She is a deaf Latina mermaid who communicates in American Sign Language. 

Ollie is a blue vocal octopus from The Little Mermaid who appears in the two episodes "Wish Upon a Starfish" and "Ariel's Treasures".

Dudley is a character in The Little Mermaid television series. He is King Triton's best friend, and whom Sebastian is often jealous.

Pearl is a young mermaid featured on the animated television show The Little Mermaid television series. 

Hans Christian Andersen is a character who appeared The Little Mermaid episode "Metal Fish". As his name suggests, this character is based on the real-life author of the same name who wrote the original story of The Little Mermaid.

Mervikings are merpeople of Valhalla, known as the Land of the Heroes, but also known for being dangerous. They first appeared in The Little Mermaid, in the episode "Heroes".

Apollo is a minor character who appears in the television series The Little Mermaid. He appeared in the episode Heroes. He was seen as Atlantica's greatest hero and Triton's most trusted sea warrior long before Ariel or her sisters were born.

Neptune is the grandfather of King Triton. He is shown in a flashback in the Little Mermaid episode "Calliope Dreams".

This is also interesting since Poseidon is said to be the father of Triton. Greek mythology comes first. Also, Poseidon and Neptune are two very different gods despite their almost identical similarities. 

That being said, with them being two different gods, that means that the Greek and roman gods exist in Disney lore which makes sense considering that in they use roman names in  "Pastoral Symphony" segment of the 1940 film Fantasia. 

There is also the fact that the Norse gods exist in the Hercules tv how also!

COMICS

In the Marvel Comics, two being in The Little Mermaid serial,there is Prince Waverly of the Pacifica Kingdom.

The Countess de la Perle is an offscreen character that Lumiere and Cogsworth alluded to in Issue 11 of the Marvel Comics serial for Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Characters from Prequels and sequels:

Angelique is a character from Disney's 1997 animated film Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, a midquel to the 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast. She is the castle's decorator who was transformed into a Christmas angel ornament by the Enchantress' curse. Angelique initially opposes preparing Christmas, as she fears the Beast will destroy her hard work, but Belle informs her of all the enjoyable things about the holiday.

Queen Athena is a minor character in Disney's 2008 animated feature film The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning. As ruler of Atlantica alongside her husband, King Triton, Athena is the mother of Ariel and her six older sisters.

Although the goddess Athena is unrelated to the sea deities in the Greco-Roman mythology, this character's name may be a reference to the goddess Pallas, Poseidon's granddaughter in the Greco-Roman myths, who became Athena's epithet.

 Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, Andrina, and Ariel were 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5 years old, respectively, when Athena died.

Chandeleria is a character in Belle's Magical World, the third film installment in the Beauty and the Beast franchise. She is one of the Beast's servants who was turned into a chandelier by the Enchantress' curse.

Stevie is Adella's love interest in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.

Witherspoon is a pigeon, one of the Beast's many servants, and a minor character in Belle's Magical World, the third film installment in the Beauty and the Beast franchise.

Le Plume is a protagonist in Belle's Magical World, the third film installment in the Beauty and the Beast franchise. He is one of the Beast's many servants who was turned into a quill by the Enchantress' curse.

Crane is a set of paper sheets, one of Beast's servants and a protagonist in Belle's Magical World, the third film installment in the Beauty and the Beast franchise.

Webster is a dictionary, one of Beast's servants and a character in Belle's Magical World, the third film installment in the Beauty and the Beast franchise.

The Baker is a character in Disney's 2002 film, Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, the sequel to Disney's 1950 film, Cinderella. He is Anatasia’s love interest.

Prudence is a minor character in Cinderella II and III, the two sequels to the animated feature film Cinderella. She is the castle’s housekeeper.

Beatrice and Daphne are minor characters from Disney's 2002 animated film Cinderella II: Dreams Come True. They are the assistants to Prudence.

Countess Le Grande is a minor character of Cinderella II: Dreams Come True.

The Queen is a minor character in the 2007 Disney animated film, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time. She is the late wife of the King and mother of Prince Charming.

The Duke (also known as Lord Duke or just Duke) is a supporting character in the Sleeping Beauty segment of Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams. He is King Stefan's fussy, but well behaved, majordomo.

Sha-Ron is Fa Mulan's number one fan. Since Mulan came back from the Imperial City, she was inspired by Mulan.

Simea is a character who will appear in Disney's upcoming 2024 animated feature film Moana 2. She is the youngest daughter of Chief Tui and Sina, and Moana's little sister.

Moni is a supporting character in Disney's upcoming 2024 animated feature film Moana 2. He is a member of Moana's wayfinding crew along with Kele and Loto. He is described as a passionate storyteller in Motunui and a huge fan of Maui's.

Kele is a supporting character in Disney's upcoming 2024 animated feature film Moana 2. He is a grumpy old farmer who is a part of Moana's wayfinding crew along with Loto and Moni. Kele is also the elder statesman of the island community of Motunui, responsible for the vegetables crops.

Loto is a supporting character in Disney's upcoming 2024 animated feature film Moana 2. She is the "brainy but quirky" member of Moana's wayfinding crew along with Kele and Moni, who designs and maintains the ship during their quest to the mysterious island of Motufetu.

Live Action Characters:

Queen Selina is a character featured in the 2023 live-action film The Little Mermaid. She is a human queen and the adoptive mother of Prince Eric. 

Dalia is a character in the 2019 live-action Disney film Aladdin. She is Princess Jasmine's loyal handmaiden, confidante, and childhood friend.

Princess Chelina of Zaragoza, Kit's unwanted suitor, whom the Grand Duke wants him to marry in the 2015 live-action film which I personally prefer.

Cadenza is a major character who appears in the 2017 live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. He is a harpsichord who is described as "a neurotic maestro".

Jean Potts is the village potter and husband of Mrs. Potts and the father of Chip Potts in Disney's 2017 live-action adaption movie of Beauty and the Beast.

 In As Old as Time, he was named Alaric Potts and was a stablemaster and an old friend of Maurice. 

Monsieur Toilette is a minor character in the 2017 remake film, Beauty and the Beast. His scene was cut from the film but is featured in the deleted scenes.

The King is a posthumous character in the 2017 Disney live-action film Beauty and the Beast based on the acclaimed 1991 animated classic with the same name. He is the (possibly late) father of the Prince (who was transformed into the Beast) who used to rule an unnamed French kingdom.

The Queen is a posthumous character in the 2017 Disney live-action film, Beauty and the Beast based on the acclaimed 1991 animated classic with the same name. She is the late mother of the Prince (who was transformed into the Beast) who used to rule an unnamed French kingdom alongside her cruel husband, the King.

Conall is a character in the 2019 film, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. He is a male fairy who saves Maleficent from drowning, and reintroduces her to other fairies like herself.

Borra is the anti-villain turned supporting protagonist of the 2019 film, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. He is portrayed by Ed Skrein. One of the leaders of the Dark Fey, a band of winged creatures residing in a cavernous nest, Borra seeks war with the humans and views Maleficent as key to their success.

Hua Xiu is a character in the 2020 live-action Disney remake of Mulan. She is the younger sister of Mulan.

Commander Tung is a character in the 2020 live-action Disney film Mulan. He is the mentor and teacher to Mulan who leads the Imperial Regiment.

Sergeant Qiang is a supporting character who appears in the 2020 live-action remake of Mulan. He is the fiercely loyal second-in-command of Commander Tung's Imperial Army.

Chen Honghui is a character in the 2020 Disney live-action remake of Mulan. He is a confident and ambitious recruit who joins Commander Tung's unit. He becomes Mulan's most important ally and eventual love interest.

[jules-has-notes]

Tennessee Whiskey — VoicePlay music video

VoicePlay's fans love to challenge them from time to time, and this was definitely one of those instances. The guys were a little intimidated by the prospect of tackling such a popular and complex tune for their PartWork series, but they rose to the occasion beautifully, providing a velvety doo-wop-style take full of tight harmonies and flowing rhythms.

Details:

title: Tennessee Whiskey

original performers: David Allan Coe (1981); inspired by the Chris Stapleton version (2015)

written by: Dean Dillon & Linda Hargrove

arranged by: Layne Stein

release date: 19 April 2019

My favorite bits:

putting corn stalks around the VP logo on the title card like a laurel wreath (This does deserve awards, dangit.)

the color scheme of their wardrobe, set dressing, and lighting that gives the whole thing a sepia-toned nostalgic feel

Layne holding the beat with laid-back brush snares and high hats

the proliferation of leisurely bell chords throughout the backing vocals

Eli's freedom and agility on the lead for the first verse

the steady simplicity of Geoff's bass line, with the occasional two-octave descending arpeggio for punctuation

Earl's appreciative smile as J digs into the lead melody

J.None settling into the lower end of his range with ♫ "always dry-y-y-y-y" ♫

the echo of ♫ "did-n't waste your looo-ove" ♫ from Eli and Earl

showing off J's falsetto at the beginning and end of the second chorus

Layne adding just a touch of whimsy with a cork pop 🍾 sound before he joins in on the harmonies for the third verse

Geoff finishing off his solo with a subharmonic drop, just because he can

riffing in three part harmony (That is so hard to do well, and they pull it off magnificently.)

that smooth, gentle ending chord from all five guys

Trivia:

The rhythmic and melodic changes in Chris Stapleton's cover of this song were inspired by Etta James's "I'd Rather Go Blind".

When the VoicePlay guys were tasked with singing it, J.None, Eli, and Earl all started brushing up their already impressive riffing skills. Geoff was slightly alarmed when Layne prodded him to do the same, because basses don't usually riff in that way.

The video was filmed at a swanky Prohibition-era themed bar called Mathers Social Gathering. Their pals the American Sirens used it later in the year to film their "Puttin’ On the Ritz" video.

It racked up 15 million views on Facebook in just 3 months.

There is a very cute video on Geoff's Instagram of him rehearsing in the car and little William trying to follow along with dad. (Kathy's driving. Everyone is being safe.)

The cover art was designed by the guys' friend and frequent collaborator, Rek Dunn.

Judging by the YouTube comments, this video was an introduction to VoicePlay for a fair number of people, pulling in a very different demographic of new fans than their Disney medleys.

By legal definition, Tennessee whiskey must be made from at least 51% corn-based mash, filtered through maple charcoal, and aged in new charred oak barrels. And, of course, manufactured in the state of Tennessee.

Some of the boys indulged in a bit of silly dancing on set while they were getting ready to film.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by VoicePlay (@thevoiceplay)

As part of their Patreon behind the scenes video, Layne and Eli tasted some actual strawberry "wine".

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by VoicePlay (@thevoiceplay)

This track was later included on VoicePlay's "Citrus" album, which compiled most of the songs they recorded from 2017-19. Because the individual songs had already been made available digitally, that album is exclusively a physical item that can only be purchased at live shows or through their website.

[talenlee]

How To Be: Cassandra and Rapunzel from Tangled (In 4e D&D)

In How To Be we’re going to look at a variety of characters from Not D&D and conceptualise how you might go about making a version of that character in the form of D&D that matters on this blog, D&D 4th Edition. Our guidelines are as follows:

This is going to be a brief rundown of ways to make a character that ‘feels’ like the source character

This isn’t meant to be comprehensive or authoritative but as a creative exercise

While not every character can work immediately out of the box, the aim is to make sure they have a character ‘feel’ as soon as possible

The character has to have the ‘feeling’ of the character by at least midway through Heroic

When building characters in 4th Edition it’s worth remembering that there are a lot of different ways to do the same basic thing. This isn’t going to be comprehensive, or even particularly fleshed out, and instead give you some places to start when you want to make something.

Another thing to remember is that 4e characters tend to be more about collected interactions of groups of things – it’s not that you get a build with specific rules about what you have to take, and when, and why, like you’re lockpicking your way through a design in the hopes of getting an overlap eventually. Character building is about packages, not programs, and we’ll talk about some packages and reference them going forwards.

You know the story of Rapunzel? The kid’s story about a girl with long hair in a tower which you can tell as a bedtime story and it takes maybe ten minutes, fifteen if you’re doing a lot with the voices and details and want to make the witch’s end really grisly? Well, yeah, turns out that got a movie back in the day and then that movie got a TV series and that TV series kicks ass, and so for this Smooch Month, I decided to try and make an article about base-level optimising choices for a pair of characters, a battle couple. In this case, one of those Battle Couple members is Rapunzel, the hero of the story Rapunzel, and the other is, uh

Her name’s Cass.

Original art by Nonadraws

And hey, I’m going to talk about some spoilers for a kid’s cartoon you probably didn’t watch but I do like it and I think if you care about spoilers, well you should watch it without me being the way you find out about the third story arc of the TV series and what it means okay byeee.

Alright, what do you know about Rapunzel and Cassandra? They’re Disney Princess style characters so it’s not like you see a lot of comic book measurement stuff going on in their stories. They’re adventure stories, and the characters are as tough and strong and smart and witty as they need to be to get you to an ad break, or, because this was late 2018, probably to the next streaming check-in. Though maybe they have ads on Disney+ now, it wouldn’t surprise me.

The characters are pretty basic, though so it means it’s not that hard to give a rudimentary breakdown of how they present in the story and then how that informs choices about how to build them in the rest of the game.

Rapunzel,

Is a charismatic leader with a huge variety of skills. In the story of Tangled she’s shown developing a huge variety of skills, including engineering, crafting, knot-tying and juggling, which implies mathematical skill.

Extremely sociable and prosocial and operates in a good faith with almost everyone.

Access in some form or another to influential music; she can sing songs that change people’s minds or maybe make a compelling case.

Cass, on the other hand:

Routinely is shown handling weapons and wearing armour

Is represented as being physically fit and uses her physical strength to achieve things

Doesn’t, at first demonstrate any magical powers or prowess

For this exercise, the challenge is not in trying to find a way to represent everything the characters can do but instead to present an example of how two players can construct their characters so they fundamentally work together, while sticking to the framework presented above. It’s also going to try and build a pair of characters that work together expressing the different versions of these characters that you can perceive throughout the story, in a way that fills two complementary roles in a party.

Basically, how do you make team synergy that also leaves other people ways to connect, and can it be done such it looks like the different possible iterations of Cassandra and Rapunzel?

Before the Beginning

First principles, established introduction for Cass and Rapunzel. You have Rapunzel, as she was at the end of the movie Tangled, and her handmaiden Cass. These are characters who are very new to one another and new to their relationship to the world. Rapunzel has not been a princess before, and Cass has been a handmaiden in waiting looking for a princess to take up the mantle.

Cassandra in this time is also sneaking out to fight. She wants to be a warrior, she has aims to be a knight, but her predominant job is to be a handmaiden doing needlecraft and proper courtly management. At this point I would suggest you can represent Cass best with a Rogue, and Rapunzel, without magical powers as a Warlord.

The build I’d pick for Rapunzel is a lazy Warlord – the build that doesn’t actually have to make attacks of its own, and only grants them to other people. The best advantage of this build for Rapunzel is that it avoids her needing a high strength score, and instead focuses on things like her Wisdom and Charisma. While Rapunzel does not commonly wear heavy armour, this kind of build can give up on armour in exchange for better and more free movement.

As a rogue, Cass can emphasise a good basic attack, which is exactly the kind of thing a Warlord wants to have on hand. The Thief build from Heroes of the Fallen Lands starts with a good basic attack, and can do things that emphasise and improve it.

During The Day

The next major iteration of the pair, Cassandra is now openly able to act outside of the Handmaiden duties she has in the castle. She gets involved in fights, but her fighting is in defense and protection of Rapunzel. Rapunzel, on the other hand, now has access to her hair again, which changes a lot about how she acts – now she’s a character with a lot of reach and the means to control people at distance.

For this pairing, which represents the bulk of the narrative of the series, I’d represent Cass with a Fighter of some variety, and Rapunzel now as a Bard.

Rapunzel as a Bard can take the Superior Weapon Proficiency (Whip) and have that represent her hair. Melee bards don’t have to care that much about the power of their melee attacks, but they can do things that trigger off those attacks. An example would be the Skald bard, where you set up an aura around you and trigger buff effects off your basic attacks.

The Fighter gets to wear armour of varying degrees, but can mix up a melee weapon and a bare hand, if you want Cass to feel like a fencer, or you can represent a shield with a reinforced arm guard, and play a much more standard fighter build. The bard can grant attacks, or temporary hit points depending on build choices, and the fighter can capitalise on that.

The Lonely Twilight

In the final season, Cass and Rapunzel are apart, broken up by the revelation that Cass is the real child of Mother Gothel and has had to deal with Rapunzel literally being chosen over her by even her own mother. But in this time, Cass embraces magical power, and gets lithomancy magic, a kind of stone based magic. What it looks like is attacking with spikes and having big chunky stone armour. She still draws a great big sword, and she still fights with that.

At this point, the Cass looks a lot more like something like a Paladin. Her powers are driven by her personality and she’s less mobile. If you take this aesthetic, this look, you’re going to see her raging out and swinging a big sword. There’s a lot more magicality to her area control, and if you want the Warden could do the same thing, similar vibes. The heavy armour pulls me towards Paladin here.

Rapunzel is at this point full blown wizarding with glowing eyes and magical incantations and the hair as a whip is less important. For this end, and because a thing like granting basics is less important, I’d instead look to a Cleric as your compatriot pair. Two different sources of divine powers are pretty cool but also they can have overlap on energy damage types. A cleric who goes for blasting lasers and charisma based powers can benefit from the Radiant Mafia build, and that means these two bring the core of what that needs to any given play group.

Junk Drawer Options

It’s pretty cool how many of the leader types can be stuck onto the different versions of Rapunzel. Bards, Clerics, Warlords, they’re all covered, but don’t neglect the value of the Shaman or Artificer, which both can carry a lot of the feelings of the setting even if Rapunzel herself doesn’t do much with it. Cass is very limited but if you don’t want to play the defender type in the group, she can play a dual-wielding Ranger or Scout, too.

At this point the outline of this document is a thousand words. Presenting specific examples of things that can make builds work together in synergy is pretty challenging. There are things like Agile Opportunist and specific ways to maximise basic attacks. With a really off the wall option you can have Cass doing the leader duty of a Bard while Rapunzel takes up the job of a Wizard or even –

yes, I’m going to mention it

A druid.

Okay, okay, I’ll stop.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[yen-sids-tournament]

Disney Sequel Movies Final Results

Congratulations to "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" for being our ultimate tournament winner!

We would also like to congratulate "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" for winning the Animated Sequel Tournament!

Both of these movies are fantastic in their own right but also masterfully continue their original story into the next phase of their worlds. Well chosen, voters.

Thank you to everyone who submitted movies, reblogged/commented/liked our posts, and voted in the poll(s). Without your engagement, we would've stopped a while ago.

Below are our final thoughts from this tournament:

First things first: we absolutely thought Cinderella 3 was going to win it all. It would be interesting to see how Cinderella 3 would do up against Dead Man's Chest. Would it be closer? or would Cinderella get crushed worse?

Speaking of Cinderella 3, the Animated finals was so close! The first half of the week C3 managed a small but consistent lead over LK2. Then LK2 fans were mobilized and suddenly LK2 was miles ahead! the last two-three days C3 fans managed close the gap. It was like there was a steady ratio of votes that had been disrupted by the mid-week spike. We firmly believe that had the poll been open for another day (even half-day) C3 would have taken the title back. Alas, LK2 won fair and deservedly by 17 votes.

On the other side, Thor: Ragnarok got further than we though considering the number of people who disliked it in the first round. We were pretty sure it would be taken out by Spiderman: No Way Home. But winning there pretty much guarenteed it would beat the DCOM film.

Speaking of DCOM, we had no idea High School Musical 2 was so popular! It's our favorite of the HSM group, but we were thinking the more recent Descendants would be more of a challenge.

Another close race was Pirates v Princess. There PotC won by just 18 votes. We had expected it to be a close one. This was also the poll we anticipated it most likely for people to bring the actors into the debate to persuade. As great as it would have been to see praise of Julie Andrews or Keira Knightly or Orlando Bloom or Chris Pine we want to thank everyone for not using us as a place to debate the personal actors involved in the films.

Going off on actors a moment, how many of you all know that George of the Jungle was recast for the sequel?

We would also like to highlight that the top four submissions we received were Cinderella 3 (top), The Lion King 2 (second), The Little Mermaid 2/The Lion King 1 1/2 (tied third).

(We had structured the bracket so those four would have the best chance to face off. But Kronk happened (in the best way))

In fact, Cinderella 3 was the first submitted, had 3 of the first 6 submissions, and was almost able to book end by almost being the last submission too. (C3 also had enough submitted propaganda that rounds 1 and 2 are different where everyone else is working with the same)

The most submitted Live Action sequel was The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

As for a lesson learned: We know the way a ballot/poll/tournament is structured will inherently impact the results. We don't think we will set up the first round like this one's again when there's less than 64.

Now for the standard disclaimer: with the exception of 1 or 2, all the propaganda used was not created by ourselves. The words were pulled from the google form, the gifs are from the search here, the videos were from youtube.

Finally, for those of you anxiously awaiting everyone's favorite color:

Half of y'all like the blues/purples! Blue is slightly more beloved on it's own

about 7% of you picked the wrong answer (black) but none of you picked the other wrong answer (white)!

We gotta acknowledge the call out for Teal specifically. It aint blue, it aint green!

But secretly, while we might say purple when asked, we agree with the 2.5% of y'all who can't decide.

[denimbex1986]

'Neil Patrick Harris’ debut as The Toymaker delivered a chilling performance that elevated the third Doctor Who special in truly surprising ways.

“The Giggle,” now streaming on Disney+, quickly ditches the whimsy that characterized the previous two specials. Its opening minutes acquaint us with The Toymaker, who runs a toy emporium in Soho circa 1925. An assistant to the real-life inventor John Logie Baird purchases a ventriloquist’s dummy named Stooky Bill from the off-putting clerk (very clearly the Toymaker) and hurries off to help his boss run tests on a prototype for a live television system.

Baird pops off Stooky Bill’s head, fixes it to a crude-looking contraption, and starts the test. The experiment is a success and Stooky Bill becomes the world’s first televised image. Baird notes that to prove his invention works, he will next need to produce moving pictures. Gazing upon the now-melting dummy’s head in awe, Baird and his assistant hear distant maniacal laughing.

The focus returns to Donna and the Doctor in present-day London, where, if you recall, things have escalated dramatically. The people of London have suddenly and inexplicably turned on each other, brawling with strangers, stepping in front of careening cars, and setting fire to newsstands and storefronts. As the Doctor tries to talk down an especially unruly pedestrian, the Toymaker flits into view behind him. The enigmatic villain now sports a slick black suit, a top hat and liberally applied makeup, epitomizing fashionable evil.

UNIT soldiers arrive and whisk Donna, the Doctor and Wilf across the city to their headquarters.

Returning from “The Star Beast” is UNIT scientist Shirley Anne Bingham, who again proves to be a valuable ally to our heroes as they navigate this new threat. Shirley and UNIT Science Director Kate Stewart lead the Doctor and Donna to the control room, where former Companion Melanie “Mel” Bush greets them.

They wrap up the pleasantries and break down what’s happening: Every person on the planet suddenly believes they are right, and any attempt to convince them otherwise is met with violence. Everyone at UNIT wears a metal armband called a Zeedex to keep them from going mad, too. They don’t know exactly what’s going on, but they suspect a signal (triggered days prior to humanity’s collective snapping) is behind the chaos. They’ve identified a specific satellite as “a link in the chain,” but the Doctor suspects something deeper.

Eventually, the Doctor discovers that the signal setting the world on fire is actually a hidden recording of Stooky Bill’s crazed giggling. Shirley traces the recording back to October 2, 1925, prompting Donna and the Doctor to board the TARDIS and travel there. They quickly find the Toymaker at his shop, but finding him and beating him are two very different challenges.

The Doctor recognizes this old foe and tells Donna to return to the TARDIS. “You never ask me to do that!” Donna protests. She realizes that the Doctor is afraid of the Toymaker, but before they can do anything else, they find themselves trapped in a maze. Donna and the Doctor are separated, the former being forced to fight off a bunch of walking, talking dolls while the latter encounters Baird’s puppetized (not a word but we’re running with it) assistant. After overcoming their respective trials, Donna and the Doctor end up together again in a theater, where the Toymaker treats them to a puppet show recounting the Doctor’s adventures with various Companions.

The Doctor challenges the Toymaker to a card game and loses. Recognizing their very immediate predicament, Donna and the Doctor escape the Toymaker’s shop as it noisily converts to a tiny music box.

Back in the present, UNIT uses a galvanic beam to target and destroy the problematic satellite that’s boosting Stooky Bill’s malicious signal. The Doctor and Donna return to headquarters moments before the Toymaker appears, indulges in lively song and dance, kills a handful of soldiers, and abruptly flees.

The dastardly villain reappears and uses the galvanic beam to shoot this reincarnation of the Doctor, saying his next game must be played with a new Doctor. As this Doctor falls to his knees and starts dying, Donna and Mel rush to his side and promise to be with him until the end.

But the end doesn’t come. Instead, the Doctor, still David Tennant, makes a bizarre request: “Could you…pull?”

Donna and Mel tug on each of the Fourteenth Doctor’s arms, “pulling” the Fifteenth Doctor (played by franchise newcomer Ncuti Gatwa) from Tennant’s body. The Fifteenth Doctor explains that they can both exist at the same time because of “bi-generation,” which was previously thought to be a myth.

The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctor face off against the Toymaker in a final game: don’t drop the ball. The Doctors manage to beat the Toymaker and banish him from existence.

Donna and the Fifteenth Doctor convince Tennant’s Doctor to retire, and after using the Toymaker’s toy hammer to knock another TARDIS out of the TARDIS, the Fifteenth Doctor departs.

“The Giggle” concludes on a touching note: the Doctor, having “retired” from Time Lording, spends a quiet afternoon with Donna and her family. Is this the actual end of his story? Probably not, but it’s a much-needed change of pace for the guy….'

[depressedstressedlemonzest]

Weekly Tag Wednesday! (actually on Wednesday)

It's that time again! Time for another round of Weekly tag Wednesday!! Today is all about music, food and fics!

Thank you @rayrayor @ian-galagher @mybrainismelted @lingy910y @energievie @creepkinginc@jrooc for the tags!

🔤 Name: Lem

🎶 Last song you listened to: La Vie En Rose sung by Emily Watts

🎵 Artist on Spotify giving you the feels : Can't really think of one.

👯‍♂️ Fave Blorbo Moment:

Sidenote when I googled "mickey getting franny a gun I got half shameless half disney results

🍟 Your guilty pleasure snack: Brownie batter. Everything all mixed in, then just not baking it.

🌮 What food are you craving today: charlies. Basically chili cheese fries from this drive thru from my mom's home town called Dairy King. We were able to try them before the place closed, but it's been a few years, and the family's recipe isn't the one the new restaurant has.

📖 Last fanfic tab you opened

If He's The Moon, I'm Eclipsed by Myfavoritesweater

🖌️ Favorite fic project you've created: God that's hard. Maybe The Upside? It's pretty challenging accuracy wise because I want proper disability rep and I have to be careful and consult people with the same abilities and limitations that Ian has.

👩🏼‍🎤 Next tattoo you want (or would consider if you're not a tattoo person): Different pansies and plants representing Good Omens and alpha centuri plus the "To The World" quote. Is the first one I have planned, and an appointment in January (@suzy-queued I keep meaning to update you with the appointment lol)

But since seeing the finale of OFMD I want to get a quote from Izzy, plus something significant botanical wise to fit my theme. But the quote it: It’s about belonging to something when the world has told you you’re nothing. It’s about finding the family to kill for when yours are long dead. 

🧐🆓 What's living in your head rent free this week

That this will be my third weekend in a row off and how fucking nice it is and i need to enjoy it because the next weekend is back to work every other. LAAAMe

Tagging @witchboywitchboywitchboy @suzy-queued @scurvgirl @m4ndysk4nkovich @flamingbluepanda and @mikhailoisbaby

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

RACKETEERS

Now in the multiplexes:

Challengers--Two rising teenage tennis stars meet a third at the U.S. Open Juniors, beginning a triangle that defines not only their careers but their lives. That's the premise of this tempestuous sports drama from Italian director Luca Guadagnino.

At the top of the triangle is Tashi, played by the elegant, long-limbed Zendaya, understandably worshipped at first sight by both Al (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O'Connor), inseparable friends and doubles partners since childhood. Their passion for her is on different levels, however. Patrick is fascinated by her ferocious physicality; Al suffers true love.

Those who dislike nonlinear storytelling may find Challengers a bit, well, challenging. Even Quentin Tarantino's movies don't usually have timelines this scrambled. The story wanders around over thirteen years, as Tashi has relationships with both Al and Patrick, as estrangements and injuries bedevil the trio, as Al becomes a superstar under Tashi's coaching, as Patrick's career slides to the level of declined credit cards and sleeping in his car. We get subtitles like "13 YEARS EARLIER" or "THREE DAYS LATER" or "MIDNIGHT," but sometimes it's mostly variations in facial hair that help us keep track of where we are in the narrative.

It's worth the effort, though. Challengers starts a little slow, but Guadagnino, working from a script by Justin Kuritzkes, unfolds the story in convincing scenes that gradually accrue emotional punch. There are some risqué passages which, unlike most such sequences, actually forward the story.

The three leads--the rest of the actors here are basically bit players--have charm, which softens how unpleasantly the characters behave at times. The core of the film, of course, is the remarkable Zendaya, a Disney Channel veteran who, after a turn as a pop singer--my wife and I took our kid to see her at the Arizona State Fair more than a decade ago--has carved out a niche as a serious actor in stuff like Euphoria and the Spider-Man and Dune flicks. In Challengers her lissome beauty is balanced by a slouchy, imperious pugnacity. It's a true star turn.

The recurrent thumping techno music on the soundtrack verges on the unintentionally comedic at times. And Guadagnino allows the movie to get a bit operatic in the homestretch, with tortured scenes played out against wild windstorms and scandalous revelations telegraphed across the net before crucial serves in tournament play. But this feels right for a story about how our long-haul lives are shaped by the feverish melodramas we get caught up in as adolescents.

[disney-stuff]

Sleeping Beauty - Production

{The color laboratory in the Walt Disney Studio’s ink and paint department prepares the special colors for each production, selecting the pigments and making certain that the paint batches remain consistent}

-

The Story of Production

The third, and most ambitious, of Walt Disney’s fairy-tale presentations, Sleeping Beauty was six years in the making at a cost of 6 million.  It was released in 1959.

This animated feature was far more challenging than its predecessors because of the new large Technirama 70mm projection process it employed.  Walt Disney explained that the wide screen “imposed added labors on the artists [300 in all].  They had to move their characters in larger fields of action.  Every phase of artistry and mechanics, which together comprise the art of animation, had to be revamped.”

The richly colored backgrounds were modeled after Renaissance paintings, and as for the characters in Charles Perrault’s seventeenth-century classic, Disney instructed his animators to “make them as real as possible, near flesh-and-blood, and sympathetic.”  One million drawings later, Disney himself called the perfected process “the art of painting in lifelike motion.”

The fidelity of the sound, too, was improved to do full justice to Tchaikovsky’s lilting Sleeping Beauty ballet music that serves as the picture’s score.  Five songs - “Once Upon a Dream,” “I Wonder,” “Hail the Princess Aurora,” “The Skump Song,” and “Sleeping Beauty Song” - contribute to the charm of one of Disney’s best-loved films.

-

[laresearchette]

Saturday, June 14, 2025 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: ARGO (Paramount+ Canada) CHOPPER COPS (Season 2) (Paramount+ Canada) TO BARCELONA, WITH LOVE (Lifetime Canada) 8:00pm   NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA HARI HARA VEERA MALLU KIIYII (Seasons 3 - 4) MORPHLE CLASSICS (Seasons 11 - 13) SUPA STRIKAS (Seasons 3 - 4) NWSL: BAY FC V ORLANDO PRIDE

CRAVE TV HOW IT’S MADE (Seasons 25 - 28) PADDINGTON IN PERU

NETFLIX CANADA ANTZ OCEAN’S 8

U.S. OPEN GOLF (TSN4) 10:00am: Third Round: Part I (TSN4) 12:00pm: Third Round: Part II (TSN4) 7:00pm: Second Round: Part III

PREMIER LACROSSE LEAGUE (TSN) 1:00pm: New York Atlas vs. Maryland Whipsnakes   MLB BASEBALL (SN) 1:00pm: Reds vs. Tigers (SN1) 3:30pm: Jays vs. Phillies (SN1) 7:00pm: Yankees vs. Red Sox (SN Now) 9:30pm: Guardians vs. Mariners (SN1) 10:00pm: Giants vs. Dodgers

NSL SOCCER (TSN2) 1:00pm: Ottawa vs. Montreal

CFL FOOTBALL (TSN) 4:00pm: Stamps vs. Argos (TSN/TSN3) 7:00pm: Roughriders vs. Ti-Cats

PADDINGTON IN PERU (Crave) 7:10pm:  Paddington and the Brown family stumble across a legendary treasure as they embark on a thrilling quest through the rainforests of the Amazon to find his beloved aunt.

NHL HOCKEY (CBC/SN) 7:30pm: Panthers vs. Oilers  - Game 5

ZOE'S HAVING A BABY (W Network) 8:00pm: Zoe wants a baby, but she's single and tired of the saturated New York City dating scene, so she decides to use an anonymous sperm donor. When she becomes pregnant, things get complicated.

GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER (Lifetime Canada) 8:00pm:  Renee and her daughter, Imani, are left homeless after she loses her job and gets an eviction notice. When Child Protective Services takes Imani away, Renee finds support from new friends as she does whatever it takes to reunite with her daughter.

MLS SOCCER (TSN2) 8:30pm: Houston vs. CF Montreal

BOTTOMS (Crave) 9:00pm:  Unpopular best friends PJ and Josie start a high school fight club to meet girls and lose their virginity. They soon find themselves in over their heads when the most popular students start beating each other up in the name of self-defense.

2025 CONCACAF GOLD CUP (TSN5) 10:00pm: Mexico vs. Dominican Republic

CORA BORA (Crave) 10:35pm: When Cora senses her relationship is in trouble, she puts her fledgling music career on hold to go home and win back her girlfriend. However, she soon realizes it's much more than her love life that needs salvaging.

TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY (CTV) 12:30am:  NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby faces his greatest challenge ever when French Formula One driver Jean Girard roars onto the scene.

[rogue-ai-cat]

American Politics - What Happened Today That You Should Know

Friday, May 23, 2025

Courtesy of Gov Brief Today

Booz Allen Hamilton cuts 2,500 jobs as Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency spending reductions force federal contractors to restructure operations and eliminate thousands of positions.

Trump funding freeze forces Planned Parenthood to close eight health clinics in Minnesota and Iowa, shuttering the state’s only Planned Parenthood abortion facility and laying off 66 employees.

GOP agriculture chairs tell Kennedy’s health commission to “adhere to sound science” after report links widely-used pesticides to chronic disease, marking first Republican pushback against Trump’s health and human services secretary.

Judge halts Trump’s retaliation against Harvard for defying political demands, blocking administration from cutting off enrollment for 7,000 international students days before graduation.

Trump deregulates nuclear industry with “total reform” of independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission, cutting staff and fast-tracking reactor approvals for AI data centers and defense facilities.

Trump cuts National Security Council staff in half and embeds loyalists to transform the independent policy-making body into a rubber stamp for predetermined White House decisions.

Hegseth bans reporters from Pentagon areas previously accessible to press, citing national security after leaks revealed his Signal discussions of military strikes and planned Musk briefing on China war plans.

Federal judge orders Trump administration to return third improperly deported immigrant after officials falsely claimed Guatemalan native was asked about torture fears before deportation to Mexico.

Homeland Security Secretary Noem posts “Suck it” on social media after migrants dismiss lawsuit challenging their transfer to Guantánamo Bay detention center.

Justice Department sues four NJ cities for sanctuary policies that “obstruct” immigration enforcement, claiming they violate federal immigration law in escalating legal war against municipalities.

ICE asks border shelters to house migrants while FEMA investigates same organizations for potential felony smuggling violations, forcing nonprofits into legal limbo over humanitarian aid.

Disney puts 45 Venezuelan workers on leave after Supreme Court allows Trump to strip their temporary protected status, exposing 350,000 Venezuelans to potential deportation.

Privacy groups sue Trump administration over USDA demand for personal data of 42 million SNAP recipients, including names, addresses and Social Security numbers from five years of records.

Supreme Court pauses transparency lawsuit against DOGE after watchdog groups seek to depose Musk’s staff about the secretive operations behind massive federal workforce cuts.

Judge denies Trump administration’s request to stay ruling that blocked DOGE from shutting down U.S. Institute of Peace, declaring the March takeover and firings “null and void.”

Judge blocks Trump’s retaliation against Jenner & Block after other law firms “threw in the towel” and agreed to provide $100 million in free legal services to avoid executive orders.

San Diego airport suffered technical glitches affecting weather data and runway lighting before fatal Cessna crash that killed music agent Dave Shapiro and five others, investigators reveal.

FIGHTING BACK

Join Indivisible virtual training on Tuesday, May 27, to learn how to mobilize friends, family, neighbors.

Take Action:

Write to your officials with resist.bot

Call your officials with 5calls.org

Find events at mobilize.us

[darkrpfinders]

Steamy Supernatural Rp (OCxOC Doubles welcomed)

Two rival species. One town. Explosive chemistry. And a whole lot of music.

Hey there—and thank you for stopping by!

18+ ONLY – NO EXCEPTIONS.

I am 18+ and All participants and characters must be 18+.

This RP includes mature content, fast-paced romantic/steamy scenes, and explicit themes, so please be a respectful and experienced adult writer.

If you love drama, tension, lust-at-first-sight, and characters who set off sparks the second they lock eyes—this is for you.

Let me introduce myself:

I’m Kim, in the CST timezone, and I write in third person, semi-literate style. I usually write 2–4 paragraphs per character and ask the same in return—no one-liners, please. I’m fairly active (unless life gets in the way—I’ll communicate!) and I appreciate that kind of energy from my partner too.

Here’s what I’m craving right now:

A supernatural enemies AU, inspired by the tension and dynamic world of Disney Zombies—but original. Two rival supernatural species are being forced to coexist in one town. Prejudice, secrets, forbidden relationships, and the threat of chaos always lingering beneath the surface… except here’s the twist:

It’s a musical.

Characters burst into song to express what they’re really feeling—whether it’s lust, rage, heartbreak, or obsession. From fiery duets and seductive performances to emotionally raw ballads and chaotic group numbers, music drives the soul of the story.

My character will be a siren OC—dangerous, seductive, and feared for her power. She’s unapologetically sensual, confident, and very used to getting under people’s skin.

Your character? I’m looking for a cocky, sarcastic, overconfident bad boy from the rival species (vampire, werewolf, demon—you name it). He’s magnetic, smug, and never backs down from a challenge. The moment these two meet, the air practically crackles. This is not a slow burn—this is fire from the jump.

I’m also totally down to double, explore side characters, build the world, and bring in even more drama, music, and chaos. I love building playlists, Pinterest boards, headcanons, and throwing our characters into beautifully messy situations.

What I’m looking for in a partner:

• 18+ only

• Must be okay with steamy scenes, mature themes, and fast-paced romantic tension

• No one-liners

• Open to plotting, character development, and creative collaboration

• Comfortable with a musical element woven into the story

• Please communicate if you’re busy or need to pause

• I ONLY RP ON DISCORD

If this sounds like your kind of chaotic, sexy, musical mess, message me and say you’re interested in the Supernatural Musical AU so I know which ad you’re replying to!

Thanks so much for reading—I can’t wait to create something wild, romantic, and utterly addictive with you.

.

[moe-princess-marebear]

April 2025 Goals Update

Goals 2025

Regularly upload dance covers, aim for a few a month- 17 so far!

Jan

Mite Mite Koichichi, 45 fun no Koibito, Music Music, Toluthin Antenna, te-yu-te, Miracle Encore, First Kiss, The Snow White Princess Is~

Feb

Sweet Magic, Kero 9 Destiny, Cirno’s Perfect Math Class, Mischievous Function, Sweet Devil, Discommunication Alien, Alien Alien

March- Ambiguity Avoidance

April- Colourful World

Cosplay Beargguy, no need to complete- Pepakura pattern is no longer available ;-; on hold until I figure out a solution, either waiting or attempting on my own! Likely not this year but I am looking to still do one cosplay this year.

Sew a new pin up dress for spring 2025, carry on from last year, patchwork project- Sewing machine is a bit wonky still so I have done much more on it but it's going!- I’ve dropped the patchwork project and I’m repurposing yellow curtains to make a pin up dress LOL I am hoping to finish it before our 10 year anniversary next week, just need to pick up a couple spools of thread and a matching zipper!

Find a consistent workout routine, go on walks- I gotta get out more! I wanna find a workout buddy! Pilates, dance, hiking, and walks!

Read 3 books- Around a third of my first book!

Paint something- Not really, just started a project and didn't like it so far so I'll revisit!

Build 3 model kits- ✅ 7, Green Haropla, Devil Gundam clear, Gunpla-kun, Hello Kitty RX-78-2, Charizard and Dragonite, MG Char's Zaku II vers 2.0

Get my G2- not yet!

Embroider or cross stitch something-Got a frame but no project in mind lol, I'll be working on something!

Frame 1978 kitchen embroidery-✅ DONE! I got a basic white frame and it's so cute!

Highlights:

I celebrated 10 years of dating and 4 years of marriage with my husband! So amazing to close out the first decade of our lives together. I'm just more and more in love with him every day. Hubby took the week off of work. We had a little stay at home vacation and it was just exactly what we needed. We back on the healthy lifestyle now tho LOL

We did some household restructuring that has truly helped immensely! I feel so much more free and comfortable. Here's to the next couple years getting us through to the rest of our lives!

I started getting back into my grind for planning dances. I got so inspired to dance that I pumped out 20 dance covers in the past few months and I'm glad I took my time to slow down and appreciate quality over quantity! I'm probably only going to do a few dance covers a month moving forward but I'm just feeling so excited to dance and enjoy this hobby while I'm still young! I filmed one dance cover in April!

I'm learning how to crochet! I picked up some of the Red Heart granny square yarn and I'm going to make a simple cardigan! I'm so excited! It's been really hard and I've frogged my first square plenty but I'm glad to be challenging myself to learn a new skill!

Welcoming our rabbit into our home has resulted in lots of downsizing and also just optimizing our space! Waiting to get a new couch for the living room eventually, gotta get a junk removal service for these hunks of garbo. Ugh, so not worth it to buy new couches for us, we'll likely go for a nice vintage couch next time!

Rewatched Wizards of Waverly Place, it was really a beautiful experience to reconnect with one of the Disney shows that really shaped so many of my tastes. I had two WOWP backpacks growing up, even in grade 6 LOL

Watched last season of You, so good! So much to comment on with this show but I really enjoyed the writing and conclusion of the series!

Started stacking the cube shelves in the hallway and they're literally my dream for this space eeeeee, it'll be so cute when we add more!!!

Replaced the living curtains to some burgundy blackout curtains with some cream lace sheers!

April was a lovely month. I can't wait for life to bring more good memories and warm feelings. 🧸🧡

[cleverhottubmiracle]

Brandy announces upcoming memoir, Kemi Adetiba announces release date for “King of Boys 3,” West Ham appoint Graham Potter to replace Julen Lopetegui as head coach. Stay in the know with our Rave News Digest, which summarizes five of the hottest global news stories you need to catch up on, saving you time and energy. Consider it your daily news fix. 1. Brandy announces upcoming memoir #BrandyMemoir 10.7.25Pre-order in my bio ♥️ pic.twitter.com/7XgFGdhSPs — b r a n d y (@4everBrandy) January 8, 2025 Brandy, the iconic singer and actress, has announced the release of her highly anticipated memoir, set to debut on October 7, via Hanover Square Press. The book, currently untitled, will provide an intimate look into her journey from growing up in McComb, Mississippi, to achieving global stardom as a trailblazing entertainer. Fans can expect stories spanning her early music career, including the release of her self-titled debut album at just 15 years old, and her groundbreaking role as the first Black actress to play a Disney princess in the 1997 classic “Cinderella.” Sharing the news on Instagram, Brandy described the memoir as one of her most challenging yet rewarding projects. “I allowed myself the space to be fearless and vulnerable to reveal some of my most intimate moments,” she wrote. Highlighting her journey of resilience, she reflected on the highs of performing on world stages and starring in beloved TV series like “Moesha,” alongside the personal trials that shaped her. “This memoir is a lifetime in the making,” Brandy added, expressing hope that her story inspires others navigating their own paths. The memoir is now available for preorder, promising readers an unfiltered glimpse into the life of one of entertainment’s most enduring stars. 2. Kemi Adetiba announces release date for “King of Boys 3” Kemi Adetiba announces the upcoming release of “King of Boys 3: The Beginning of The End”. pic.twitter.com/2DmPS46ZbY — T.U.E (@TheUpperEnt) January 8, 2025 Acclaimed director Kemi Adetiba has announced that the much-anticipated third installment of the King of Boys franchise, subtitled “The Beginning of the End,” will premiere in December 2025. Adetiba broke the news to her fans on Instagram on her birthday, sparking excitement across social media. “KOB Army… ARISE!!! It’s time… We move. Signed: Your General. #KOB3 #TheBeginningOfTheEnd #DettyDecember25 #KAV25,” she posted, hinting at a thrilling culmination to the hit series. Since its inception in 2018, King of Boys has captivated audiences with its gripping tale of power, betrayal, and redemption, centered on the formidable Alhaja Eniola Salami, played by Sola Sobowale. The sequel, “King of Boys: The Return of the King,” released on Netflix in 2021, raised the stakes with its dramatic twists and powerhouse performances. Fans can look forward to the return of beloved characters, along with fresh faces, as Adetiba promises another intense and emotional journey. The ensemble cast, featuring celebrated actors like Nse Ikpe-Etim, Jide Kosoko, Adesua Etomi, and Richard Mofe-Damijo, is expected to deliver stellar performances in what Adetiba has called “#TheBeginningOfTheEnd.” 3. Y/Project is officially closing down Y/Project has officially announced it is shutting down after 14 transformative years. The Paris-based fashion label became known for its twisted denim and warped silhouettes. The decision comes after the brand’s inability to secure a buyer following creative director Glenn… pic.twitter.com/yQUw2z3oQW — Complex Style (@ComplexStyle) January 9, 2025 Parisian fashion house Y/Project has officially announced it is ceasing operations after 14 years of bold and innovative design. The decision follows the brand’s inability to secure a buyer after being listed for sale last year, a move prompted by the departure of creative director Glenn Martens and the death of co-founder Gilles Elalouf. Founded in 2010 by Gilles Elalouf and Yohan Serfaty, Y/Project became renowned for its avant-garde aesthetic under Martens’ leadership, earning accolades like the ANDAM Grand Prize in 2017. However, the loss of Elalouf placed the brand under financial strain, ultimately leading to its placement into receivership by a Parisian commercial court. Y/Project leaves behind a legacy of daring design and impactful collaborations. Under Martens, the brand redefined contemporary fashion with its signature trompe l’oeil styling and exaggerated silhouettes. Despite generating nearly €11 million in revenue in 2023, the brand’s closure reflects the broader challenges facing the luxury market. As a tribute to its legacy, Y/Project will donate archival pieces to prestigious institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Palais Galliera in Paris, marking the end of an era for the independent label. 4. Asake makes history as artist with most certified songs, albums in Nigeria Asake has the most certified songs and albums in Nigeria LONELY AT THE TOP 7x Platinum (700K) BANDANA 5x Platinum (500K) TERMINATOR 5x Platinum (500K) SUNGBA 4x Platinum (400K) 2:30 4x Platinum (400K) MR MONEY WITH THE VIBE 7x Platinum (350K) BASQUIAT 3x Platinum… pic.twitter.com/A90s9VibPZ — Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) January 7, 2025 Nigerian singer and songwriter Asake has achieved a monumental milestone, becoming the artist with the most certified songs and albums in Nigeria. Known for his genre-blending style that fuses Afrobeats with hip-hop and highlife influences, Asake has redefined success in the Nigerian music scene. His record-breaking album “Mr Money With The Vibe” has been certified 7x Platinum, with over 350,000 units sold, while hit singles like “Lonely At The Top” (7x Platinum, 700,000 units) and “Bandana” (5x Platinum, 500,000 units) have further cemented his dominance. In addition to his Platinum accolades, Asake boasts a host of Gold and Silver certifications for tracks like “Active,” “Fuji Vibe,” and “Olorun,” and has earned international recognition with certifications in the UK for “Bandana” (200,000 units) and “Mr Money With The Vibe” (Silver, 60,000 units). As a Grammy-nominated artist, his rise to global prominence showcases his hard work, creativity, and ability to connect with audiences worldwide. This historic achievement not only solidifies his status as a trailblazer but also serves as inspiration for emerging artists in Nigeria and beyond. 5. West Ham appoint Graham Potter to replace Julen Lopetegui as head coach West Ham United is delighted to welcome Graham Potter as the Club’s new Head Coach ⚒️ — West Ham United (@WestHam) January 9, 2025 West Ham United have confirmed the appointment of Graham Potter as their new head coach, following the departure of Julen Lopetegui. The announcement comes after Lopetegui was dismissed on Wednesday, less than eight months into his tenure, following heavy defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool. The Hammers currently sit 14th in the Premier League table, seven points above the relegation zone, as they look to steady the ship with Potter’s guidance. Potter, who has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal, brings experience from his successful stint at Brighton and a challenging spell at Chelsea, having been away from coaching for nearly two years. Speaking on his appointment, Potter expressed excitement about the opportunity, citing West Ham’s strong foundations and global support. “It was important to me that I waited for the right opportunity, and West Ham feels like the perfect fit,” he said. “This is a club with everything in place to achieve consistent success, both on and off the pitch.” Potter’s immediate task will be preparing the team for their FA Cup third-round clash against Aston Villa on January 10, as he aims to kick-start his tenure with a strong performance. Fans will hope Potter can reignite the Hammers’ form and build on the progress made in recent years, including their Europa Conference League triumph in 2023. Featured Image: @brandy/Instagram Our Weekday News Digest summarizes five of the hottest news topics worldwide–including celebrity news from Hollywood to Nollywood, the latest trending global headlines from American reports to top African news today, and the best sports stories in 2024.For the latest in fashion, lifestyle, and culture, follow us on Instagram @StyleRave_— Read also !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments); if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script', ' fbq('init', '496558104568102'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script',' !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script',' fbq('init', '1453079628754066'); fbq('track', "PageView"); Source link