#what was that hercules quote again

[saikkunen]

The diver was a beloved character I played in one of my films.

[sublime-is-the-silence]

swear to god if i see one more post about this nonsense discourse of "abstract art enjoyers are pretentious classist people and the art has no emotion in it" I'm gonna splatter paint on the OPs Pollock style and knowing Pollock, it will be a CONSIDERABLE amount

[grandpeachpersona]

It's A Man's World

Chapter 10 ☆Moment 4 Life☆

Sorry this took so long I just kept hitting a roadblock while writing it but I finally finished it. I hope you all enjoy as always feedback is appreciated ;) Word count: 2.17k Warnings: Lots of sports talk, Mentions of alcohol consumption, and tension😏

24 Hours before The World Series 

The stage was set: Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros. And believe me, I was ready.

I let out a deep breath as I racked the bar on the squat rack. Working out always seemed to calm my nerves before a big game, especially this one.

I sat down on the beach and took a sip from my water bottle. Part of my brain hadn’t fully processed the fact that tomorrow was the biggest game of my career, while the other part was trying to focus and get into the zone.

“Hercules! Hercules! Hercules!” my mom called out, quoting The Nutty Professor while clapping her hands.

Looking over my shoulder, I shook my head and laughed. “Morning, Ma.”

“Good morning, sweetheart! Breakfast is ready,” she said, leaning against the doorway.

“You didn't have to; I was going to grab something before—” I started to say, but she cut me off.

��You know how I am,” she waved her hand. “Come on upstairs and eat before the pancakes get cold.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After a fantastic breakfast made by Mom—something I'm sure my trainer will have a few words about later—I walked onto the field for practice. The familiar scents of fresh paint and damp dirt filled the air.

Practice felt different today and in a good way. Everyone was pushing themselves just a little harder, and smiles were on everyone's faces; rightfully so, considering tomorrow is the World Series—who wouldn't be excited?

Walking into the media room for what could possibly be my final time, I took a seat and quickly greeted everyone in the room.

“Sierra, how are the nerves less than 24 hours away from the World Series?” the first reporter asked.

I took a breath before answering. “Pretty good! I won’t lie and say I’m not nervous, because that would be a lie. But the right kind of nerves are good.”

“The last time you all played against the Astros, you lost a three-game series. Are you confident that you can beat them?” another reporter inquired.

Confident? Man, please.

“We don’t have any other choice but to beat them. I am confident that we’ve learned from our mistakes, and we will win,” I replied with conviction. 

Once again, Mom commandeered my kitchen for dinner, but honestly, I can't complain. There's something comforting about her culinary prowess that makes the house feel warm and inviting.

Later that evening, as I settled down to unwind, I scrolled through Instagram when a notification caught my eye. I had been tagged in a video posted by the Bengals, and my curiosity piqued. Tapping on the notification, Joe's familiar face filled my screen, a snippet from his press conference earlier that day.

“The World Series starts tomorrow. Do you plan on watching?” a reporter asked, his voice steady with anticipation.

“Yeah, I do. Got to watch my girl get the win,” Joe replied, a wide grin lighting up his face.

Wait a minute—did he just say “my girl”? 

It struck me like a bolt of lightning. We hadn't even been on a date yet, let alone discussed any labels or commitments, yet here he was, claiming me in front of the world.

Possessive? Yes. But I have to admit, I liked it.

World Series Game 1

Today is the day: Game 1 of the World Series.

Waking up felt different today. Getting dressed felt different. Even having my hair and makeup done felt different. Everything feels different, but not in a bad way—more like, this is my moment.

As I walk into the ballpark, I find myself not really paying attention to the cameras. My focus is on the game ahead of me, and I’m also trying not to trip in these heels. I see why I don’t wear them often—they hurt!

But that pain quickly faded away when the first pitch of the game was thrown.

Two teams will play between 4 to 7 games, all for one prize: the Commissioner’s Trophy. This is the World Series.

Game 1 is in the books. Unfortunately, we didn't secure a win, but that's okay; you win some, you lose some. The score was 4-8.

In Game 2, we bounced back with a blowout victory of 7-0.

Game 3 saw us lose home-field advantage, but we still managed to win in Houston, finishing with a score of 4-1.

In Game 4, Houston gained some momentum and narrowly won by one run, with a final score of 6-5.

Game 5 went into extra innings, but we pulled through and got the job done, ending with a score of 10-9.

In Game 6, the Astros clinched a victory with a grand slam, keeping their World Series hopes alive. The final score was 8-7.

Now, we find ourselves back in Atlanta for the last game of the series. As of right now, my nerves are on edge because, in this game, every hit counts, every out matters, and most importantly, every score matters.

It all comes down to this pivotal moment. The stadium is electric as I stand at the bottom of the 9th inning, two outs secured, with a runner perched on second base. With the score hanging in the balance at 8-7 against us, the weight of the situation bears down heavily on my shoulders.

I know exactly what I need to do: connect solidly with the ball and drive it deep into the outfield, giving the runner a chance to dash home. Easy, right? Just a casual swing in front of 31,000 fervent fans who are all hoping for a miracle.

Stepping into the batter's box, I adjust my helmet and take a deep breath, trying to drown out the cacophony of cheering and chanting that envelops Truist Park. The familiar strains of "It's A Man's World" echo in my ears, heightening my focus as I mentally prepare for what lies ahead.

I set my stance, feeling the cool air against my skin, and lock eyes with the pitcher on the mound. He’s a seasoned player, his demeanor calm, yet I can sense the tension rippling through him as he glances briefly at the runner on second before facing me again. With a swift motion, he winds up and launches his pitch toward me.

I tighten my grip on the bat and, as the ball approaches, I make the decision to check my swing. I hold back just in time, watching the ball sail past me — it’s a ball, one count, no strikes. I exhale slowly, mentally recalibrating for the next pitch.

Gathering my concentration again, I position myself for what could be my final chance. The pitcher goes through his routine again, taking a moment to check the runner’s position before propelling the ball towards me once more.

This time, I hold my breath as I watch the projectile race toward the plate. I swing my bat with everything I’ve got, the wood making solid contact with the ball. The sound is explosive, resonating like a whip crack through the air, sending a thrill through my veins.

As I adjust my stance, I see the ball soaring into the sky, arcing beautifully as it heads toward the outfield. It continues its ascent, disappearing over the stadium's walls and splashing into the waterfall display that adds to the ambiance of this incredible venue.

In that exhilarating moment, it hits me: we just won the World Series.

Holy shit… WE JUST WON THE WORLD SERIES!

In an adrenaline-fueled rush, I slam my bat to the ground, the echo of victory reverberating in my ears as I begin my journey around the bases. The stadium erupts in a deafening roar — fireworks burst overhead, illuminating the night sky, while the crowd erupts with cheers and shouts, a collective celebration of triumph.

Tossing my helmet aside, I approach home plate, my heart racing as my teammates swarm me the instant I touch it. They envelop me in a chaotic celebration, screaming and jumping in unison, pure joy radiating from every face.

This is the pinnacle of my dreams, a moment I’ve envisioned since I was just a nine-year-old girl playing wiffle ball in my backyard with my uncle. From being the only girl on the high school baseball team to earning a full-ride scholarship at LSU, and culminating in winning the state championship, this moment eclipses them all: winning the World Series.

God. 

is. 

good. 

Every ounce of hard work, every sacrifice, every moment of doubt pales in comparison to the realization of this dream. I stand amidst the celebration, grateful, overwhelmed, and utterly elated. This is why I play.

After a whirlwind of interviews followed by a bear bath celebration, a refreshing shower, and an energetic afterparty, I finally stepped back into the comforting embrace of my home. 

“Thanks again, Kyle,” I called out, watching as he made his way back toward the elevator, his figure illuminated by the soft hallway lights. 

“No problem, sleep well,” he replied, flashing a warm smile before disappearing behind the elevator doors. The best driver in the world, hands down.

With a sigh of relief, I unlocked my front door and crossed the threshold, the familiar scent of home washing over me. I locked the door behind me and, with a gentle thud, dropped my duffle bag right at the entrance, mentally promising myself I’d unpack it tomorrow—or, more likely, later today. All I craved was the soft cocoon of my bed, a well-deserved sanctuary after such a long day.

As I rounded the corner toward my room, I noticed a sliver of light cutting through the darkness—the kitchen light glowed unexpectedly. I furrowed my brow, certain I hadn’t left it on. Perhaps my mom had flicked it on before heading out to the airport. 

Curiosity piqued, I padded softly toward the kitchen, only to be met with an utterly unexpected sight: a strikingly handsome quarterback, standing 6’3” with tousled hair and piercing blue eyes, casually leaning against my counter like he owned the place.

“Surprise,” he said, an amused smirk playing on his lips.

A smile broke across my face as I shook my head in disbelief. “Surprise indeed,” I replied, the warmth of his presence igniting a flutter of happiness in my chest.

“C'mere,” Joe beckoned, his arms outstretched, inviting me into a hug that felt both familiar and incredibly grounding. 

I stepped into his embrace, surrendering to the moment as he nestled a tender kiss on the top of my head. “Proud of you,” he murmured, his breath warm against my hair.

Emotions swelled within me, and I simply nodded, overwhelmed by his kindness. 

Joe pulled back slightly, his gaze searching mine, an edge of concern etching his features. “You okay?”

Looking up at him, I nodded, a smile slipping out as I exhaled. “Yeah,” I breathed, “Just really, really happy—and maybe a little drunk,” I chuckled, the effects of the evening buzzing in my system. “When did you get here?”

“About an hour ago,” Joe replied, his tone laced with both excitement and regret. “Today starts my bye week, and I figured, why not surprise you? Just wish I could have been here to see you win,” he added a bittersweet note in his voice.

“It’s okay, you’re here now, and that’s all that matters to me,” I reassured him, my eyes drifting from the depth of his gaze to the inviting curve of his lips, only to return to his eyes—intensely captivating.

Ugh, why did he have to look so kissable? Damn you, vodka!

A comfortable silence enveloped us, a fragile moment stretched between us, thick with unspoken words and electric tension. 

Clearing his throat, Joe broke the stillness, “Come on, you look like you might pass out,” he teased gently, nodding toward my bedroom. It was true; the exhaustion was pulling at me, whispering sweet nothings of sleep. So, without resisting, I unwound myself from his embrace and began the trek to my room, Joe following closely behind.

I couldn’t tell if it was the lingering alcohol buzzing through my veins or the undeniable desires I felt, but the need to be close to him was intoxicating. In his arms, everything felt perfectly right.

Groaning as I woke up to the bright Atlanta sun shining in my eyes, I pulled the blanket over my head to block out some of the light. I really need to invest in blackout curtains.

Eventually, I decided it was time to get up and start my day.

But as I opened the door, I heard a noise coming from the living room. Is that the TV?

Curiosity got the better of me, and I walked into the living room.

“Morning, sweetheart,” 

@enretrogue @hoodharlow

[telvess]

Headcanons for all the characters including Jack since it’s based on Hamlet watching The lion king with the reader. (the original animated movie not the live action remake.)

Record Of Ragnarok Characters x Reader watching together The Lion King (headcanons) 🔞

You know, I haven’t watched The Lion King in… well I watched it once when I was kid and that’s it. Mulan, Hercules and Tarzan were my movies. Anyway I ended up watching The Lion King again to refresh my memory.

Qin

A what? Are you involved? Then Qin would agree to do anything.

He’s like a big kid - chill and carefree, even more than usually. Both of you goof around, Mr. Emperor tries to sing without knowing words, popcorn flies around, you pause a movie in stupid moments to make him laugh etc.

You get a stomachache from laughing too much and Qin obviously has to get infected.

Just two morons have time of their afterlife.

The only moment when there is silence is when Simba loses his father. That scene just hits too close to home and remains Qin about Chun Yan. However he doesn’t let it bother him too much.

HAKUNA MATATA

You both loudly encourage lions to battle.

At the end he asks what other movies you like.

Jack

Because he isn’t familiar with the concept of love and how to express it, spending time with you is probably Jack’s way to show his affection. If you ask him to watch an animated movie together, he’d politely agree, even if it’s not his thing.

Expect tea. And cheddar apple pie.

Jack sees Simba’s journey as a lovely and naive story. Deep inside he does compare himself to that lion cub and wonders what kind of person he would've become if he had only received help from strangers. On top of that Jack actually killed his parents, so it’s odd to him to see how much Simba struggles with remorse over Mufasa’s death which wasn’t his fault.

Truth to be told Jack might mentions some quotes from Shakespeare IF you point out similarities between the movie and Hamlet. These resemblances aren’t very visible. But it may be enough to start an interesting conversation.

The ending of the story may seems a bit bitter to Jack. Whoever was meant to be good, stayed good, and whoever was meant to be bad - stayed bad. Kinda depressing outcome for a man who’s trying to change himself, right? You’d have to talk about it and remind that it’s just a simplification made for children.

Now it’s time for a cuddle session.

Loki

Do you really want to do this to yourself? You’re very naive if you expect to have a fun with this guy while watching this kind of movie.

At first it’s just boring to him, but after awhile he amuses himself by coming up with new ways to destroy the show. He makes a loud comment every time the opportunity arises. For example, there is a scene where Zaku tells young Simba and Nala that they’d be married one day, to which Simba replies: No way! She’s my friend! You can hear a loud snort on the side, followed by She’s your SISTER, dumbass!

Loud chewing.

Hey, y/n, do you know that once Simba becomes the king, he will have kids with every lioness? Even his mom?

Do they have to sing all the time?

DON’T YOU DARE mention that you can see a similarity between him and hyenas or forget about chips, popcorn, whatever you two are eating.

Phew! It’s finally over. Wanna do something funny, y/n?

Adamas

Childish entertainment but once he sees that your eyes get wet with tears, he quickly agrees.

A cheerful start bores him but except tactless way of sitting, he doesn’t do anything to ruin your fun.

Even if Mufasa’s death was expected, it still hits hard Adamas. Basically catches him off guard. It remains him about his last meeting with Poseidon: his brother’s pure contempt towards him, that dead, indifferent expression of his face when he pierced Adamas with his trident, then cold surrounding body and Poseidon’s back as he walked away. But while the movie continues, a new digression haunts Adamas. He plays that scene again in his head and it hits him harder, because he realizes that he almost became Scar to Zeus.

So now he sits stiffly on his ass with a very depressed expression. One look at him is enough for you to know that you have to pause the movie and talk to a guy. At first he rejects your attempts, but very quickly ends up letting you hug him tight. Still plays a tough idiot tho…

Beelzebub

Most of the time he just sits next to you with lifeless expression.

Hakuna matata his ass.

Beelzebub secretly enjoys when you sing, but it’s really hard to catch him with a smile on his face. If you manage to do so, he reluctantly admits it. Good luck with convincing him to join you.

He doesn’t have any deeper thoughts about the movie.

If you mention that Timon and Pumba remain you Samael and Azazel, Beelzebub would just give you a dull look. After awhile he starts to notice that too and has mixed feelings about it.

Hrist

She finds this idea very sweet. It’s relaxing and enjoyable.

When Scar kills Mufasa: RAGE MODE ACTIVATION!

Since then you sit with angry Hrist who really does not like phrase hakuna matata. She starts to hate Simba for being so thoughtless.

Screams SHUT UP every time they start singing.

When Simba lets Scar leave, Hrist in heat of the moment chokes you and loudly screams how dumb he is. You wonder if it can get worse and the answer comes very quickly - Simba fights Scar on the TV screen and you fight for every breath on a couch.

Hermes

Hermes approaches the movie from a different angle: he focuses more on a soundtrack. The movie itself is simple story with moral, standard for humans’ approval.

You both consider an improvement of some songs and probably start doing it in the middle of a movie. Sorry, Simba.

Ares

Ares doesn’t care much about Mufasa’s death - it's necessary plot twist to move on with thread… but the ending kinda touches him. It's very climatic in his opinion.

He is NOT crying, okay?

Well you are. Or you pretend very convincingly so he doesn’t have to play tough boy. He has no idea…

Hades

Because he is a gentleman, your wish would be granted.

It’s animated movie but Hades drinks wine. No cola, no popcorn or other snacks. Please, have some dignity.

Hades has weird uncomfortable feeling in his chest when Scar kills his own brother. Scene just awakes something he doesn’t like to mention: conflict between Poseidon, Adamas and Zeus. Hades never could bring himself to blame any of them for how things turned out, so now he doesn’t try to look too deep into Musafa’s murder.

Afterwards he would share his honest opinion with you, almost like professional critic.

Poseidon

No expression throughout the entire movie.

Scar is pathetic.

Mufasa is pathetic.

Simba is pathetic.

Timon and Pumba aren’t even worth mentioning.

That movie proves that humans are lower forms of life.

At least you have chance to hug Poseidon. If he spends time with you, it means he demands it.

After a movie: Y/n, such entertainment is unworthy of the gods.

Leonidas

Books are better than movies. But fine, if you insist, the King of Sparta would spare some time.

The best comforter: Why are you crying? It’s fiction! It’s not even human! By the way - that lion could kill you with a single paw swing. These mfs are huge! Better him than you, hon!

He smokes so much that you have trouble seeing the TV screen.

Stop couching, hon! I can’t hear what they’re sayin’!

The moment Pumba approach, Leonidas starts talking about his love for venison.

You need truly heroic self-denial to not kick him out. The only option to get him to shut up is to kiss him. He doesn’t get why the kiss is angry but he likes it that way.

You two probably miss the ending. Leonidas thinks Simba isn’t worthy of being king anyway.

Apollo

Ah, y/n, aren’t you adorable for loving such innocent enjoyment? Of course he agrees!

You have to feed him snacks.

He sings along with the characters and makes the movie much better. You end up watching him showing off instead of the movie. Your dirty side may bait off a bit more mature show.

He knows exactly what you're doing and doesn't mind at all.

Later you might catch him humming songs from the movie.

Hello, dear. May I be your king tonight?

Rudra

Simba’s and Nala’s childhood brings nostalgia. Rudra spent his entire youth with Shiva and they were both free spirits. Watching these lion cubs brings back many funny memories.

Rudra’s favourite moment is Simba’s reunion with Nala. He gets mad if he notices you smirking.

Parvati, Kali, Durga and Shiva

You decide it’s time for girls’ night out.

None of you is focus on the movie, it’s just an addition. You mostly talk and laugh. Very loud that it may attracts Shiva.

He just sits down between you with Whatcha doin’? then proceeds to eats all the popcorn and other snacks like vacuum cleaner.

[booksrbetterthanpeople]

since you guys now have a Greek myth au, any Hercules quotes?

Some quotes are from @msweebyness and as usual, @imsparky2002’s got a hand in the AUs

*When Lila has gathered her titans to invade Olympus*

Adrien: I NEED MORE THUNDERBOLTS!

Alix: They’ve already ransacked the forge, Ivan’s been captured! *Everyone’s been captured! *Two of Lila’s minions grab her* I’M being captured! Hey, watch the cap, dickhead!

—

Jean: Would you listen to this guy?! He’s making this story sound like some Greek tragedy! No offense, Jesse! *His twin lightly whacks them with his tragedy mask*

Evie: Lighten up, hon!

Spinelli: We can take it from here, chief.

Narrator: You go, queens.

Clara: We are the muses! Deities of the arts, and proclaimers of heroes!

Mindy: Heroes like Socqueline!

Anais: Honey, you mean Socque-FINE! I’d like to make some music with-

Dot: Our story actually begins long before Socqueline!

Vivica: Many eons ago…

—

Adrien: Nath, you finally made it! How are things in the underworld?

Nathaniel: Well, they're just fine. You know, a little dark, a little gloomy. And, as always, hey, full of dead people. I’m having the time of life down there!

Adrien: Aw, Nath, don't be such a stiff. Join the celebration.

Nathaniel: Love to, baby bro. But I regretfully have a full-time job that I took up because the Underworld is awesome and fits my vibe. So, can't. Love to, but can't.

Marinette: You just hate parties.

Nathaniel: That, too.

Marc: Hon, you promised we could at least say hello to my sister. *Turns to Adrien and Marinette* I talked him into this.

—

Master Fu: I trained all those would-be heroes. Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus. A lotta yus-es!

—

Nathaniel: I'm sorry. You mind runnin' that by me again? I must have had a chunk of brimstone wedged in my ear or something...

Maël: Then read my lips - forget it!

Nathaniel: Maël, Maël, Maël, my sweet deluded little Lucien-worshipper. Aren't we forgetting one teensy-weensy, but ever so crucial, little tiny detail?

*Nathaniel explodes into flames*

Nathaniel: I OWN YOU!

—

Alix: Woah, scuse me, hot stuff, coming through! *Dodges a sword* One side, Kagami! *Hands Marinette a bouquet*

Marinette: Oh, they’re lovely, Alix! Thank you!

Alix: Yeah, I had Marc do the arrangement! Isn’t that too nutty *Flies over to Adrien* Fabulous party, you know I haven’t seen this much love in a room since Ray discovered himself!

—

Titans: *freed from their prison* Crush Adrien! Freeze Adrien! Melt Adrien! And blow him away!

Lila: Uh, guys? Olympus would be that way. *points behind her*

—

Nathaniel: Well, you know, that's good because that's what got you into this jam in the first place, isn't it? You sold your soul just to please Lucien. And how does this creep thank you? By lusting after MY boyfriend. He hurt you real bad, didn't he, Maël? Huh?

Maël: Look, I learned my lesson, okay?

—

Lila: What d'ya say? It's happy ending time! Everybody's got a little taste of somethin' but me! I got nothin'! I'm, I'm here with nothin'! Anybody listenin'? It's like I'm... What am I, an echo or something? Hello? Hello? Am I talking to, what, hyperspace? Hello, it's me! Nobody listens.

—

Marinette: Hey, hey, hey. Hold on! What's your hurry? After all these years, is that the kind of "hello" you give your own friend?

Socqueline: F-F-Friend?

Marinette: Didn't know you had a famous friend, did you? Surprise!

[femmeleatherface]

i tortured myself by reading the poto (1925) shooting script! there were good things and bad things and if i don't infodump about them i will explode

really long and rambly disclaimer: this isn't the original-original draft (which from my understanding is where the rosy hours of mazandaran sequence came from, but don't quote me on that), nor is it the same as the los angeles premiere cut (which from my understanding included the redemptive love ending for erik, which was apparently never scripted and got shot on the fly while they struggled to figure out how to end the film, But Again Do Not Quote Me). that said, you can see traces of the original script and some of the sequences lost with the los angeles premiere cut, and some of the choices made are... interesting!

long post so thoughts under the cut

complete list of items i am mad or at least disappointed we didn't get in some capacity:

the frame narrative. for some reason they had the story come from the files of m. faure instead of anyone actually involved in the narrative like christine or the daroga, but still. would have been cool

a close, honestly sweet relationship between joseph and simon buquet. if you're going to spend so much time focusing on joseph's death, maybe making us care about him is a good thing??? wild concept

la sorelli's knife <3 also just a role for her in general

erik using a trapdoor to spirit away cesar the horse. i don't know if they ever actually filmed this or what since it seems a little complicated, but the way it's written gives me major looney tunes vibes:

130-D ANOTHER PART OF CELLAR #5 OR #6 IF WE HAVE THE SET. MED. SHOT NEAR THE BIG OPERA HOUSE FORGE A groom currying a great white stallion while a Hercules of a smithy is preparing to put new shoes on the stallion. We plant the stallion fastened to a ring bolt in the stone wall by a strap and is parallel with the wall. The blacksmith is holding up the hoof of the great white stallion to measure a shoe, then he moves over to the forge and with his back to the horse pumps the bellows and sings to himself -- then a strange thing happens, a section of the wall and floor upon which the white stallion stands suddenly turns as if upon an axle and the white stallion vanishes leaving apparently the same wall floor and ring bolt - the smithy lifts the red hot shoe from the forge and prepares to hammer it. He casualy looks around toward the place where the horse was, gasps and drops the hammer. Then thinking perhaps one of the stablemen played a joke, he calls to him - they join him and he asks them about the horse.

so! much! daroga!!!! obviously he is the highlight to me. he gets so many more little scenes and i will say they get pretty repetitive after a while (he shows up, is mysterious for a paragraph, leaves, rinse & repeat), so i get why they changed things. but what i find interesting (and most agonizing to lose) about this particular version is that he's shown to be a pretty compassionate man, aloof but overall very kind and caring about others, even before we know what his deal is. he has a scene with raoul where he shoots him a look of "friendly compassion" while raoul is the exact opposite. it's... a wonderful characterization. what the fuck. also i get the sense that he regularly visits erik's house offscreen and maybe every time he's leaving/entering the cellars we are supposed to infer after the fact that he's paying erik a visit. MANY QUESTIONS. anyway this daroga is amazing and wonderful and i love him. we were robbed.

the "erik visible behind the mirror looking at christine" shot before ALW made it cool:

[181.] SEMI C.V. CHRISTINE ON COUCH Suddenly part of the mirror beind her becomes transparent, revealing the upper portion of the masked face.

mme valerius! she's christine's biological grandmother in this script rather than an adoptive mother, but waves hand. her relationship with christine is very sweet. definitely understand why they cut her, though, she shows up in one scene and isn't even mentioned anywhere else. but what she gets is nice

the cemetery at perros scene. it's SO atmospheric and probably was gorgeous-looking in black and white. unlike some of the scenes in this script we know they actually filmed it because we can see extant photos of it and UGH. UGH!!!!! MAD!!!!!!!

erik has a black mask. i get why they didn't do this one too because it wouldn't have shown up well in a black and white medium, but oh... it would have been nice...

the unmasking scene being partially colorized like the bal de masque. i am a sucker for silent film experimentation, this could have been neat

also the rat catcher (as a rat catcher vs. some random guy) having a colorized red scarf around his neck to make him look decapitated. very morbid. love it

the comic relief played by snitz edwards being the guy who touches red death. from a storytelling and filmmaking standpoint it makes sense (brings new characters into the original story, less actors to pay, etc.) and i'm honestly surprised this didn't make it to the final cut. also, erik's "don't touch me i am red death" warning is on his cloak like in the novel and that is one of my favorite book details so it delights me they were originally going to do it in the film

this erik line:

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BAG? DON'T YOU KNOW THAT IS THE BAG OF LIFE AND DEATH!"

more understanding of/sympathy for erik from him expressing his desires in general

subjectivity in the torture scene. raoul imagines a forest fire and a lion in his delirium and maybe it wouldn't have worked but i love the stark contrast of that with the daroga's perspective of the frankly banal reality of the torture chamber immediately after (if only because it's a great daroga moment)

also the daroga being more levelheaded during the torture scene in general like in the book. i don't think they necessarily changed this in the final cut, but i do think they shortened the torture scene to a degree and used shots such that the daroga actively searching for a way out based on his preexisting knowledge is a little hard to infer, whereas on the page it is very obvious

this beautiful moment between christine and erik:

[535.] MED CLOSE UP ERICK AND CHRISTINE AMBER Christine gazes up at him earnestly and the picture is held for an instant. Erick realizes that the final moment is at hand and there is sense of terror in his manner. She asks him in a trembling voice: "DO YOU SWEAR TO ME THAT THE SCORPION IS THE ONE TO TURN?" BACK: For the first time Erick shows fear. In a hushed way he answers her: "YES... IF YOU WISH TO BE MY BRIDE." BACK: Quietly she turns from him. [536.] CLOSE UP CHRISTINE AMBER Without an instant's hesitation, but with thorough consciousness of what she is doing she turns the scorpion. [537.] A LONGER SHOT AMBER Erick walks toward her - a man crushed. Christine in this instant has become his master. Christine turns calmly to meet him.

but also i am extremely glad we didn't get these things:

a long, tedious history of the opera house. so much exposition that is mostly not interesting and only barely ties into the story. yawns. we dodged a bullet on this one

just raoul's entire starting characterization. the raoul we got is hardly amazing but wow. this guy is... literally everything raoul is not supposed to be: cool, suave, dashingly romantic, a womanizer. he's basically every 1920s he-man romantic lead and I Do Not Care For It. he gets better the further the script goes along/the closer the script follows the book, but woof. bad. BAD!

reveal of erik's face and the chandelier scene way too early. 35 pages into a 126 page script, or about 30 minutes in if we follow the 1 page = about 1 minute rule. that would have KILLED the suspense of erik's character and undercut the unmasking scene with christine later. and probably also messed with the pacing and sense of stakes. speaking of:

messy pacing. the most egregious offender of this is the beginning. the first fifty pages cover a single night, in which we: meet our characters, introduce the opera ghost concept, get even MORE boring exposition about the opera house, get three "wow the persian is so mysterious who is that guy" moments, set up the plot with erik wanting christine to sing, the murder of joseph buquet (also setting up his relationship with simon so we're sad about joseph biting the dust later), stealing cesare, the chandelier scene, an erik face reveal, raoul finding out about erik, and a whole bunch of other stuff that i can't even remember because it just comes nonstop all at once. the order is... weird, and the story does not benefit because there is just no dang moment to breathe and get to know any of these people. also HOW DOES ERIK HAVE TIME TO DO ALL THIS MAYHEM IN ONE NIGHT. HOW!!!!!!!!

erik's name is erick. for some reason??? it's like they couldn't decide between the eric and erik spellings and just decided to mash them together for... some reason...

subplot with philippe and his wife trying to send raoul to monaco. i do like giving philippe more to do to make his death is more meaningful, but this... is not the way. philippe calls the cops on raoul when he ends up becoming an army deserter, and i get the desire to add stakes, but I Do Not Care About Any Of This

the rising action for the climax is way too complicated. we do not need christine and raoul planning to leave after the bal de masque and then having their plans foiled because raoul gets thrown in prison, only for him to manipulate philippe into letting him out and then give christine a new plan to run away with her after the show, have erik find out about this and be mad because he was the one helped the cops catch raoul at the bal de masque (also he found out about raoul's prison escape and the new runaway plan because erik's apparently a peeping tom who watches christine get dressed in her dressing room, charming), and THEN get to erik kidnapping christine during the performance because apparently he is great at coming up with elaborate kidnapping schemes on the spot. we do not need it. we do not.

the daroga gets less important rather than more important at the end: this is something you can see in the extant versions, but it's especially frustrating in the shooting script because so much of his character was built up, but after the grasshopper and the scorpion sequence he just... exists. becomes one with the mob and that's it. at least in the extant cuts he gets to be the ONE person who ushers in the mob, semi-justifying his presence after he guides raoul to erik's house. in this script he ushers the mob in with simon buquet and raoul (because yes, the mob ending apparently existed in some form dating back to this script if not earlier--UGH!!!!!), which doesn't make the daroga feel really useful or necessary as a character at the end. also he and erik don't even get one scene together in the entire script, which is flabbergasting to me because the trajectory of the story is clearly steering toward some kind of confrontation between them at the end, but nope. my guess this is all a casualty of the constant ending rewrites and the daroga's character being one of the more difficult characters to adapt to 1920s hollywood movie standards, but i'm still mad. this daroga was so good and even during pre-production was getting done so dirty

philippe.... lives????? how did that even happen, what. just what. he went and was drowned but sike! he's alive! what the fuck.

[sentience-if]

seeing the ask where the anon keeps forgetting Io isn't Io's forename (tangent: Io Io is the Moon Moon meme of this game lol) and you said "well, i keep thinking Io's first name is $Name", genuinely made me want to share my Io's forename and i hope other people feel compelled to share their Io's names because i LOOOOOVE name-meanings and made-up names and everything in-between

(also, i apologize if i have already shared my Io's name on this tumblr; i have chronic memory loss and do not remember doing that. i searched the blog, it said nothing, but tumblr's search-engine is ass. so. i assume i havent shared mine yet. but i wouldnt be surprised if i already had, period, or even just off-handedly or something. anyway)

my Io is named ✨️Promethea✨️

it is a feminine version of the Ancient Greek legend of Prometheus. a God who had so much sympathy for humanity's plight that he shared sacred fire from Mount Olympus with humanity (what was once as godly-only a thing as ambrosia, until Prometheus shares it with humans) so as to save these hairless/fur-less creatures from the cold and give them an advantage over other creatures. and Zeus, out of anger for this mutinous act of compassion, proceeded to punish Prometheus by chaining him to a rock where eagles (Zeus' symbol was eagles btw) would eat out Prometheus' liver everyday, then due to immortality, Prometheus' liver would regrow the next day to be clawed and pecked out yet again come morning. it is important to note now that, for the Ancient Greeks, where WE see the heart as "our soul" metaphorically, they saw the stomach-liver as the same in terms of poetics, because of the feelings of knots in one's stomachs or butterflies or so on. so, if we were to translocate Prometheus's punishment to our current era and poetic cliches: Prometheus' HEART would be eaten by an eagle everyday for punishment for, well, having a heart. this went on from the dawn of humankind all the way until Heracles (or Hercules, if you prefer) freed him. there's different reasons why Heracles freed Prometheus, but basically, Zeus wanted Heracles to free Prometheus for Zeus' own selfish gains (usually, it was because Prometheus had some kind of secret and used that as a bargaining chip; but what the secret was, depends on the storyteller). i do also always play an Io who turns off the sun for Klaus, so that fire/sun connection feels important, to me, for that event specifically lol

the other big reason i picked Promethea is because of Mary Shelley's book, "Frankenstein", whose full title is actually "Frankestein; or, the Modern Prometheus". the book equates Frankestein's creature to be the equivalent of an abandoned Adam and Frankenstein himself to be Prometheus, as he gifted the "spark of life" and deciding life/death (as the Creature is made up of corpse pieces) when all of that's ✨️God's thing✨️ and thereby commited blasphemy like Prometheus and the fire. personally, i always saw the Creature as more akin to Prometheus than Victor Frankenstein. because Prometheus didn't abandon humanity unlike Frankenstein, and the Creature had to metaphorically steal his own fire so to say. and Victor isn't immortal, but Prometheus and the Creature are. and the Creature uses the artic as its own "chained to a rock with an eagle" punishment. and i could explain more, but I dont want to start bringing out quotes and page-numbers lol

lastly, the name "Prometheus" itself famously means "foresight, forethought". and i like the idea of "thinking ahead" paralleling Io's whole understanding of magic, of "You don't need a formula to count to ten"; or how Io argued with the lecturer about said lecturer not understanding magic well by not "seeing" magic the way Io did. and, rather similarly, if you look up the word "Promethean" in the dictionary, not only does it mean "relating to Prometheus" but it also means "especially creative or daringly original"

i also checked myself just now to see if there were any other "Prometheus"-related meanings and, besides a moth, there is also a type of Lucifer-Match called the "Promethean" which is having a match be lit by breaking a glass tube containing acid. which. idk, i only learned about Lucifer-Matches in general and Promethean Lucifer-Matches 5 minutes ago, but that now reminds me of a certain explosion? sure. Prometheus has connections to fire and explosions anyway, why not ALSO THIS lmao

anyway, i just love researching names, being intertextual, and stuff. i hope more people share their Io names, because i was happily kicking my feet thinking of $Name Io and Io Io, just rotating them both in my head (i do genuinely find them clever. Io being named after a bit of coding?? amazing. i love that for them, unironically. and Io being named the equivalent of 1010, which means "ten"/"10". so, legit, Io Io = 1010 = 10, which i see "Io" as being binary for "10". so. that's so funny and faacinating, "Io Io" means "Io" lol). so id love to hear people's other name ideas for their Ios!!

I am ALWAYS hungry to hear about people's Ios. and this is delicious. little italian chef's kiss. it's even extra triple delicious because of things I know you that you don't 😏

also whenever binary comes up all I can think about is my friend's dad who has a shirt that says "There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary, and those who don't" and it makes me laugh every time

[starrrlights]

Masterlist

... ˚₊·͟͟͟͟͟͟͞͞͞͞͞͞➳❥ ꒰ ⌨ ✰ @starrlights ⁱˢ ᵗʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ··· ꒱ | ೃ࿔₊• ...

Here is my other masterlist on my other account: Shadowsoveryou

I will write more in the future, hopefully

Arcane

☆ Ekko - End of a Cycle (coming soon...)

☆ Ekko - maybe in this universe...

○ I'll save you (p2)

☆ Ekko - Would You Fall in Love with Me Again? (coming soon...)

☆ TimeBomb - Two Sides of a Coin

☆ Spider-Woman!Jinx

☆ Jayce - Would You Fall in Love with Me Again? (coming soon...)

☆ Vi - lipstick trend

☆ Vi + Sevika (seperated) - Valentines day

Dc

☆ Jason - notes app thingy

Harry Potter

☆ James Potter - Library Girl (coming soon...)

Spiderman

☆ Miles Morales - A Winter Wonderland

Z-O-M-B-I-E-S

☆ Zed - Until I Make You Mine

Descendants

☆ Ben - Did I Mention

☆ Carlos - Enchanted

Disney

☆ Meg from Hercules (idk how to spell)

☆ Elsa - Cure a Frozen Heart

Gender-bent characters

☆ Cinderella

☆ Elsa - One Last Dance Before I Go

'Incorrect quotes' (idk if that's what you call them)

☆ Tangled

☆ Tangled²

☆ Encanto

☆ Encanto²

☆ Mulan

☆ Descendants

☆ Z-o-m-b-i-e-s

☆ Little Mermaid

☆ Frozen

F/o x reader (this one is random)

☆ Forever

...

More in the future ♡

[persephoneflowerpetals]

You know in my mind after defeating Cronos either imprisoning him again or he runs off to try and get his revenge. I would so want Rhea to say this in spirit to her boys after they saw their father would never change.

"Chasing Miracles.

Ha! He's a fool.

He's been out there chasing miracles,

but he can't even see that he had the greatest one of all

right in front of him.

You."

It's from the Ghost and Molly Mcge but I could see see Rhea telling them all that even if their father can't see them for the gifts they are. She always will. And also adds she is happy that as fathers themselves they see their children as the greatest things in their lives unlike Cronos did.

Oh yes! If this is the same anon that sent in this ask with the clip of the video:

I totally see ya! Sorry for late answer! 😅

But yes! Rhea would absolutely say something like that to her kids! Her boys are all her little miracles and she’s always gonna be there! 🥰

Here’s the clip of the line btw!

Actually, I was thinking about making a fanfic based off of the book: Camp Lil’ Vills: My Teammate Is A Hothead a while back (I might actually do it lol).

The book is pretty much about a whole AU (What isn’t an AU with Disney’s Hercules? Lmao) where the villains are kids and go to this sleep away summer camp run by a reformed villain wizard guy and his daughter (who’s really nice) is a camper there who basically gets stuck dealing with each of the Disney villain kids that join the camp lol. I wont spoil anything in case anybody ever wants to read it since it’s kind of an obscure book because it’s a kids chapter book lol (It’s a really cute story though and I do recommend it!) but basically Hades ends up joining the camp and he wants to win this big obstacle course relay race thingy the camp has and my fic takes place after the story lol.

But I say all that to say that I can see Rhea being in this AU and saying that to Hades after he visits his dad. I’m pretty sure the universe in the camp lil vills books is sort of a “modern au but everyone is kids at a summer camp” thing, so I can imagine Rhea being a divorced single mom raising her 3 boys in the suburbs lmao

I actually thought of this “incorrect quote” (inspired by that line from Trolls 3 lol) for when the boys are all grown up 😂

Zeus: *talking to someone about his childhood* Yes, I suppose you could say I come from rather “humble beginnings”. Hahaha!

Hades: Oh, please. “Humble beginnings”? We grew up in the suburbs, bro. It was one of those fancy cookie cutter neighborhoods. Ma kept pulling into the wrong driveway for years until she decided to buy that creepy lawn gnome for the front porch. Yeesh, that thing still gives me nightmares.

[dreamingdormouse]

Context!

Hey, other parents! PSA: Many works of pop culture derive significant portions of their humor and/or meaning from familiarity with cultural touchstones. Monty Python and the Holy Grail, for instance, assumes you know who King Arthur is! Children are not born familiar with these stories. Educating your kids does not JUST mean teaching them to read and write and do math and why they have to wear a seatbelt. Familiarize them with your culture's lexicon of mythology and references, both modern and ancient, and ideally some of those of other cultures!

I read the first few pages of Howl's Moving Castle to my kids a few days ago, and on the very first page it said "In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes." And I had to stop and give context - I summarized the fairy tale trope "Youngest Child Wins," seen in such stories as "Diamonds and Toads," "Ivan and the Firebird," most of the "Askeladd" stories, "The Princess on the Glass Hill," and non-Disney "Beauty and the Beast." I didn't tell them all of these stories, just explained that there were a lot of old fairy tales where the youngest of three siblings does much better than their older siblings, and that, at the time, that was a subversion of assumptions because the eldest was expected to inherit and to do well.

You don't have to start with the full (adult, graphic, tragic) version. Think about what references people are likely to make in person or in the media your kid consumes, and go from that. I do think my kids should know who Hercule Poirot is, but he can be on my "for later" list - partly because he's a more obscure reference, and partly because he largely figures in murder mysteries, which are less appropriate for 7-12 year olds. If my kids want old mysteries, we can go with Encyclopedia Brown instead. (Side note, recently ran into those again, shocked but not actually surprised to find out they were published in, like, the 1970s.)

And when you encounter problematic things, like period-typical bigotry of various kinds, you can discuss why those things existed and why we don't think like that, but knowing they did exist is also context.

For our family, we're working on the Grimm fairy tales, the Olympians, the Asgardians (not because of Marvel, because of Grandma), and based on their blank looks when I talked about Merlin the other day, I need to add the Arthurian mythos.

Later additions can include Anansi, Osiris and Ra, Coyote and/or Raven, Star Wars, Peter Pan, Sherlock Holmes, Shahrazad, Lang's Blue Fairy Book and some of the sequels, Robin Hood, Shakespeare, Llyr of the Long Hand, Amaterasu, Paul Bunyan (especially because great-great-uncle Paul was a logger), Bilbo Baggins, Narnia, Poirot and Miss Marple... whoo boy.

Yes I'm aware there's an English bias in what I've just listed, and that some of those are problematic in certain ways. I'm not listing everything they should eventually read, or trying to build up role models here. This is just me trying to cover the things that will form a basis for references in other stories and general conversation; "Elementary, my dear Watson" (which Homes never said, but is often quoted) means nothing without context.

[pardonmydelays]

fave lyrics from "yorktown (the world turned upside down)"?

ALL. OF. IT. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

ok, so i promised you this is going to be a long post & i always keep my promises. let's fucking go:

IMMIGRANTS WE GET THE JOB DONE - this is probably the most iconic line from the entire musical, i actually think i have to give you a little bonus right now because it's important:

i am not throwing away my shot (...) - the use of hamilton's motif here is just chef's kiss if you ask me, i love it so fucking much

i imagine death so much it feels more like a memory, this is where it gets me: on my feet, the enemy ahead of me, if this is the end of me at least i have a friend with me, weapon in my hand, a command & my men with me - once again, we are repeating one verse from my shot but the lyrics are slightly different & the same thing will happen later in the musical but we're not talking about it today (somebody tell me to shut up pls)

then i remember my eliza's expecting me, not only that, my eliza's expecting - BROOOOOO THIS WAS CLEVER

and so the american experiment begins with my friends all scattered to the winds, laurens is in south carolina redefining bravery/we'll never be free until we end slavery! - i am seriously trying not to quote the entire song can you see me struggling & failing

how did we know that this plan would work? we had a spy on the inside, that's right, HERCULES MULLIGAN! A TAILOR SPYING ON THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT I TAKE THEIR MEASUREMENTS INFORMATION & THEN I SMUGGLE IT (...) - not gonna type all of it but damn you know what i mean

black & white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom/not. yet. - gonna throw in a little bonus here:

tens of thousands of people flood the streets, there are screams & church bells ringing, & as our fallen foes retreat i hear the drinking song they're singing... THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN - come on this is poetry at its finest, no matter how many times i hear this one i get fucking goosebumps, this is probably one of my favourite moments in the entire musical

FREEDOM FOR AMERICA FREEDOM FOR FRANCE, GOTTA START A NEW NATION GOTTA MEET MY SON! - sooooo emotional!!!

bonus: i think it's also important for all of you to know how absolutely obsessed i am with 2016 tony awards performance... the choreography, the EVERYTHING, i am in love, i am screaming crying throwing up, JUST WATCH IT:

[twistedtummies2]

Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes - Number 11

Welcome to A Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes! During this month-long event, I’ll be counting my Top 31 Favorite Fictional Detectives, from movies, television, literature, video games, and more!

SLEUTH-OF-THE-DAY’S QUOTE: “It really is very dangerous to believe people. I never have for years.”

Number 11 is…Miss Marple.

Miss Marple is one of the most popular characters created by Agatha Christie: a woman whom many consider to be the single greatest mystery writer in the history of English literature. (Yes, even more than Conan Doyle.) While Christie wrote many marvelous books, and created a number of equally marvelous characters, only two have managed to make this list. On the bright side, however, one will be in my oncoming Top 10 (I won’t say who, nor where they rank exactly), and Miss Marple herself only JUST misses out on making the same, which I’d say is pretty good.

I mentioned with Ellery Queen and Father Brown the idea of the “Accidental Detective” or “Busybody Detective.” I think many would argue that, at least in the world of literature, Miss Marple – while not the first of this kind (the aforementioned Father Brown predates her by about twenty years) – might have been the most popular and influential. Miss Marple is not a detective by profession in any regard; she’s not even a priest or an author. She is, in fact, a rather prim, elderly spinster lady, who lives largely alone in a fine old house, living a life of sublime comfort and seeming tranquility and peace. She is, some would argue, the single least likely of all unlikely detectives there have ever been. She’s old, she’s petite, she’s mild-mannered, has a few eccentricities…in short, she seems more like that kind, well-off grandmother or aunt down the road than a super sleuth.

Of course, a super sleuth is what Miss Marple is. Miss Marple doesn’t go out of her way to find crimes and solve them, but whenever a murder or some other injustice effectively falls into her lap, and she feels the police aren’t doing well enough to figure it out, she takes it upon herself to lend her assistance in solving the crime. Her age, her experience, and – much like with Father Brown – her plain common sense are her greatest assets. While Miss Marple is not typically harsh or unkind, it’s indicated that – even before taking up her "hobby" of solving befuddling crimes – she’s seen a lot of human injustices and cruelties. Under her gentle-hearted surface, she’s privately a bit jaded. She’s not grouchy or overtly cynical, but she's also never remotely shocked or startled when terrible things happen, nor particularly upset by any motive for them, because she’s seen it all. She understands human nature and its capacity for evil, so she trusts no one completely and sees no great surprises.

Once again, the character of Miss Marple is one who has been adapted many, MANY times over the years. The first highly popular interpretation onscreen was Margaret Rutherford: her somewhat comedic film takes on the Miss Marple stories actually reinvented the detective somewhat, accentuating her eccentricities and making her a more zany character than usual. While not really what Christie imagined, this version is still popular today. Other actresses who played the character in movies include Angela Lansbury and Helen Hayes. She’s also starred in a couple of TV shows; the most recent featured first Geraldine McEwan in the role, then later Julia McKenzie, after McEwan decided to retire from the series. Arguably the strangest interpretation was an anime with the very long title of “Agatha Christie’s Great Detectives Poirot & Marple.” This series adapted various tales of Christie’s, including not only the Miss Marple books, but also several tales featuring her other most famous creation, Hercule Poirot. The two detectives were connected by an original character named Maybelle: a relative of Miss Marple who works for Poirot.

Most fans of Miss Marple seem to agree that the definitive screen portrayal of the character was Joan Hickson, who played the part in a TV series that ran from the mid-80s all the way into the early 90s. (She is the fine lady pictured here.) Hickson also narrated several audiobooks of the Marple stories, only adding to her legacy. To say she was right for the role is an understatement: long before being cast in the TV program, Hickson had appeared in a play based on Christie’s story “Appointment With Death.” The author was so taken with her performance, she later told Hickson that she felt, one day, the actress could be a perfect Miss Marple. As evident from critical reception since, this was a case of excellent judgment. No matter who you prefer in the role, considering that as recently as 2022 there were new Marple stories still being printed (obviously by contemporary authors; Christie’s work, in general, has many contemporary treatments to uncover, some better than others), it’s safe to say this grand old lady is still in the prime of her crime-solving life.

Tomorrow, the countdown enters the Top 10!

CLUE: “The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.”

[improudofyousammy]

My Beef with the SPN Hell Realm

A never ending novel by Shadow

There is so much lore about Hell in the world. From the Bible to Dante's Inferno to movies to shows to books. And Supernatural chose what? Lightning, a never ending line, a warehouse and a set of spooky stairs. You know who had a scarier Hell realm? Disney's Hercules. The Loony Toons. A realm of fire with a weird devil guy was scarier than anything Supernatural threw at us. You pulled nothing from the Divine Comedy even though it is one of the most quoted works about Hell?

You know who does a good Hell Realm? The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. It actually has circles and different parts. (minus the whole school room scene, that was a bit much). It was different ways of torturing different sinners. It's a thought out realm. It's not a warehouse. It's not a hallway. It's not a staircase. It's a realm.

If a four part series about a teenage witch can put the effort into creating a terrifying concept for Hell, why can't a big budget 15 season popular as hell show do it?

They could have given us the seven circles. They could have given Lucifer this opulent yet horrible palace in the middle of a frozen waste of the dead. But again, they gave us a factory. They could have pulled from various art pieces through history. But again, they gave us stairs. They could have given us so much. But they gave us a line in a hallway.

[k-she-rambles]

Some Nuggets (not quotes) from reading Fumio Sasaki's Goodbye Things and Hello Habits:

• don't pretend to have time you don't really have, or you'll find yourself missing out on the things that are truly important to you. 24 hours minus the things that are most important to you is how much time you REALLY have

• failure should not cause too much shame, which prevents you from trying again.

• too much shame can come from assigning emotional meanings, fate, destiny, or the will of God to failures. A lot of the time it's better to simply say to yourself "that didn't work." Or even better to ask what you can try differently next time.

• Aim to fail as many times as possible. Seek a high volume of failures and be merciless in killing perfectionism. If you are failing many times, it means you are trying hard, trying often, and trying many things, and that's nothing but good! Ceramics students asked to make 40 mugs for their final grade made better mugs than the students asked to make one masterful one.

• Maintaining the habits you want to build is less about doing them, and more about coming back to do them again after you wander off. It's like refocusing on your breath after your mind wanders while meditating. What does returning look like for you?

• the things we own are sometimes things we enjoy, but somtimes they're meant to tell a story about ourselves to other people instead.

• The two big questions to ask while downsizing are: "do I like owning this, or do I like what owning this says about me?" And: "do I want to discard this, or do I like what getting rid of it says about me?" (Asking the latter helps guard against pride)

• Quit at 80% effort ‐‐people aren't very good at knowing when to stop, and it's just as easy to overextend as it is to be lazy. "A small daily task will beat the labors of a sporadic Hercules."

• Nature vs Nurture is like asking if the area of a field depends more on the length or the width. You play the hand you're dealt, but life is the kind of card game where you pass the cards, too.

• Some people do have natural advantages! If your family is full of doctors, you have a sense that becoming a doctor is a thing that possible to want or achieve. Some people have to teach themselves that things are possible.

• However, people that do believe or teach themselves to believe in the possibility of change tend to reach for things that people who believe only in nature or only in nurture don't.

• you use endurance when you don't have an immediate reward for the price you paid. You've suffered and endured, and you feel like you deserve a treat, since there wasn't an inherent reward.

• Effort, in contrast, does compensate you. It compensates you slowly, but it compensates you steadily. The true meaning of "do what you love and you'll never work a day" is "prioritize effort over endurance." ("A small daily task will beat the labors of a sporadic Hercules.")

• a knack for something is a natural ability for something. A talent is the skills and capacities you get from continuing to do it.

• Both a knack and a talent are valuable, but the one who pursues talent by continuing to try may overtake someone with a neglected knack (even if the knack is a significant advantage at the start). We all have different capabilities, but we learn to paint the same way we learn to tie our shoes as kids

• Ask yourself "is this object or habit paying me rent, or is it a freeloader?"

[read-review-recommend]

Go The Distance by Jen Calonita - a review

Title:

Go The Distance

Blurb:

What if Meg had to become a Greek Goddess?

Hercules has regained his godship, but Zeus tells Meg she can't be with the hero because she's, well, mortal. Luckily, Hera has a solution that would see Meg join Hercules on Mount Olympus as a goddess.

The quest? To rescue Meg's ex-boyfriend's wife. The same ex who left her while she was trapped by Hades. Can Meg defeat monsters and gods alike and finally put her past behind her?

Or will her fear of commitment have her running away from an eternity of goddess-hood with Herc?

Favourite Quote (if any):

'You may have got by me, but Cerberus won't be so forgiving.'

Review:

Hercules has always been one of my favourite Disney films. This book gives Meg a proper back-story and makes us understand the way she acted in the film, like why she'd made a damn deal with Hades. Not only that but she has some unexpected help from goddesses and Phil... it's a good read and one I will definitely read again.

Stars:

[moveslikeanape]

hey! it's been a few days again, since i still had a lot going on irl, but i'm the 🌟 anon--i thought i might as well come off anon since we've already been talking quite a bit through asks (which i didn't expect when i sent my first message haha, not that i'm complaining though). i hope you're doing well.

i agree heavily with what you said in your second paragraph. i don't know if you heard about this, but mark henn retired from disney last month, and he said on a podcast that he would've liked to stay until his 45th or 50th anniversary but ultimately his work just didn't feel meaningful anymore. and even though as i mentioned, i did enjoy encanto, i'm not really surprised. i think it says a lot about the quality of things lately that someone who worked for WDAS since 1980 and did so much important work for them would feel this way.

as for wish's songs, and specifically "at all costs", i read an interview with the songwriter the other day where she stated that she wanted that song to sound like a love song that could be played at a wedding, or a lullaby you could sing to your kids, so that when you see the movie and learn the actual context you're surprised by it. i suppose i can't say she didn't achieve her goal, but that's so far away from the purpose that songs in disney movies are supposed to serve! it just tells me that unlike phil collins or elton john, who wanted to write disney music, julia michaels just wanted to do her own thing and throw it into a disney movie whether it really worked or not.

some of the "art of" books are pretty detailed and have what i feel is a decent balance between production info and art, but others not so much... i've mostly enjoyed reading the ones i own for specifically disney movies, but the pixar art books i own tend to be very heavy on art and light on any other information. the hercules one is strange, though, because the author doesn't put much of his own writing into it, instead presenting the majority of the information by directly quoting the filmmakers, which makes it an awkward read. there are also comedic asides from the characters presented alongside lineart of them--for example, one page shows a reproduction of notes taken by one of the filmmakers, and below that is art of phil looking annoyed with text beside him that says "phil: yeesh, it's all greek to me! how am i supposed to read this chicken scratch?!". i've never seen anything like that in these kinds of books before. i did finish the art of animation book, though, and it was great! around 60 or so pages of it were dedicated entirely to the making of hercules and there were a lot of things in it that i didn't know.

to keep things on topic for your blog, i'd love to know your thoughts on the tarzan broadway show if you have any you'd like to share! i've always been a fan of broadway musicals but i don't know much about the tarzan one, other than that i remember hearing that terk was changed into a male character. which is interesting, because she was originally supposed to be a boy in the movie, wasn't she? also not the first time that's happened in a disney broadway musical, with the lion king again being an example here because of rafiki.

Hey, nice to meet you! I hope you don't mind that I followed you from my personal blog. And no worries, I completely understand life being busy… there never seems to be enough hours in the day. I'm doing well, thank you. Hope you are too!

I'd heard Mark Henn had retired, but I never heard what he said on the podcast! That's such a shame. It's hard enough watching this happen as a fan, I can't imagine being in his position.

Wow, that's completely insane about "at all costs". I'd probably be more confused than surprised, and even if I were surprised it wouldn't be a good one. And on top of that and the fact they're supposed to be written for the movie, they shouldn't be written with the intention that people would hear them before they see the movie… to me that seems like they truly did want them played on the radio, and have people want to see the movie to see what they songs about. I agree with you it seems like she just wanted to do her own thing, and also that she wants to deceive and trick her audience.

That's such a shame the Pixar books are like that. It definitely is nicer to have more info on the making of the movies. The Atlantis one is technically an "illustrated script", with a few notes here and there. Lots of great artwork, but I wish it went more in depth, especially about the Atlantean culture and language. I didn't know they did those comedic asides in the Hercules book! I've had it for years, but never actually gotten around to reading through it (really need to find some time to read through these books!) I'm glad you enjoyed the art of animation book though, and that you got to learn some new things about it!

As to the Tarzan Broadway show… I've been kicking myself for almost 20 years that I never saw it! I was in Albany on a trip during the Broadway run, but didn't have the time to make a quick side trip to see it, and been regretting it ever since. I also missed out on the production in Tuacahn, Utah last year (Josh Strickland reprised his role as Tarzan!) because I'd made a very big purchase around the time it was announced, and sadly couldn't afford to go. I did see a bootleg recording of it once, but it was so long ago I don't really remember it. Will have to rewatch it someday.

I know there were somethings that needed tweaking, but I'm not sure what could have saved it in North America. I know it's very popular in Germany (it's actually currently playing in Hamburg). Most of my experience with it is the album. I do love the new songs, especially Kerchak's "No Other Way" and Jane's "Waiting For This Moment". But my favourite has to be "Everything That I Am", when Tarzan learns about his human parents. If you only listen to one song from the broadway, I highly recommend it. The OCR has the one in the broadway sung by Josh Strickland, plus another version at the end of the album sung by Phil Collins.

One thing that's always bothered me is the song "For The First Time", a duet between Tarzan and Jane. It's basically Jane and Tarzan working through what they feel about each other and if it's reciprocated. There's nothing wrong with the song itself, I actually do love the song, it's just the subject and it's place in the musical. It comes after Strangers Like Me. In addition to the lyrics "Every gesture, every move that she makes…" etc from Tarzan, there's a new section in the song sung by Jane:

"I can't explain the way I feel Everything I wanted’s here And my heart is beating faster Every moment I’m with him I feel so complete I cannot deny what I’m feeling"

Which is sung to the same tune as "For The First Time". To me, that makes FTFT feel like going around in circles, it's basically an entire song to say what's just been said. I've always thought it would have been better to have a song where they both torn about what to do, a should I stay or should I go? song.

As for Terk, I've never read anything on why they decided to change her back into a guy. I remember thinking about Rafiki back when I first found out about Terk, they just can't keep their monkeys (apes) straight! I'll have to see if I can find out anything about that.