#which sounds like a warrior cats character which is pretty awesome

[moxielynx]

what am I doing here

[professorchaos]

Cartman for your latest ask meme

Why I like them

he's probably the funniest character in the show. it really would not be the same without him in the slightest. his character also points out a lot of societal problems and makes some interesting points regarding bigotry in america and the ways it manifests itself. from a more personal standpoint... i think that his situation unfortunately rings true for a lot of children and even makes a strong statement about how bigotry festers and perseveres. he reminds me of kids i grew up with, and people i know, and even, in some aspects, of the uglier parts of myself. which is exactly what he's meant to do, and that's really cool!

Why I don’t

sometimes (fairly often, actually) i think that he is written in a way which comes across as immature, and because of that immaturity in the writing he can become far too sympathetic to the casual, genuinely bigoted viewer. there is a serious danger zone where he crosses over from "constructive commentary" into "vessel for genuine bigotry" and, unfortunately, a lot of people simply do not have the reading comprehension, outside knowledge or critical thinking skills to view him through the unbiased and extremely metatextual lens through which he should most healthily be viewed. i've had huge arguments unfold, on this blog, in my inbox, where people from two very extreme sides of "south park discourse" have attacked me for the exact same statements about eric, for entirely opposite reasons! people simultaneously criticising me, with extreme passion and violence, for being too sympathetic to him and not sympathetic enough. all i was doing at the time was presenting factual evidence from within the text. i think that divisiveness is a huge flaw in the writing, though i appreciate that it is often the entire point of it... it can come across as spineless. i think matt and trey could stand to have a little more conviction.

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

1%, super fun time, casa bonita, the death of eric cartman, awesome-o

Favorite season/movie

pretty much anything from the early seasons (he was so so cute!) and a lot from around season 15-17 too (where his dynamic with kyle was the funniest imo)

Favorite line

ugh that's so hard but what always sticks out to me is his little song "i hate you guys" from jakovosaurs (stupid ep imo though) and also when he used to say "i love you guys"... LOL... also like any time he does a weird voice when he's trying to sound cool.

Favorite outfit

his wizard outfit without a doubt

OTP

none <3

Brotp

main 5 dynamics - especially with butters and kenny - and shelly marsh (:

Head Canon

i think that he would like warrior cats. like he would call it stupid but he has all the books and knows all the lore. only butters and kenny know about this.

Unpopular opinion

i do not think that he is irredeemable! but i also do not think that you can analyse him or talk about him sympathetically without seriously acknowledging the harm he has done both to other characters within the text and to people in the real world at large. it doesn't have to be a chore, nor does it have to be the majority of your engagement, but it is extremely important (and also really interesting and fun!)

A wish

in general, i think that sp needs to take much stronger stances against bigotry in the modern world, and eric needs to be a part of that, whether it's through making even him disgusted by certain things, making him have changes of heart, or portraying his bigoted views as even more outlandishly stupid and unsympathetic than they are.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

i guess the inverse to the above - just... make sp better. not worse. it has the power to be both hilarious and a tool for, if not good, at least the better side of neutrality.

5 words to best describe them

eric cartman therapy speedrun now

My nickname for them

eric <3

[kinetic-elaboration]

July 1: 2x25 Bread and Circuses

Today, the Classic ep, Bread and Circuses aka Star Trek: Ancient Rome AU.

Literally all of the bridge is just standing around, watching Kirk, watching Spock.

Another missing ship hmm? The S.S. Beagle. With a crew of 47--that’s small. And surprise surprise, the Captain is someone ELSE that Kirk knows. Does he know everyone in the galaxy? Truly excellent at networking.

Feels like it’s been a while since Spock called him “Jim.” Possibly because this was written early in the season, when he still did that a lot?

Another Merchant Marine, or equivalent. Interesting.

He was kicked out of the Academy in his 5th year. How many years is the Academy? I always assumed 4 but maybe it’s longer if you count like extra trainings and stuff.

Kirk is so in love with Spock talking about the planet. His face has gone all soft again.

Excellent roads--the first clue it’s Rome. (The big televised gladiator fights is the second clue.)

“I believe they called it ‘video.’“ If there’s no TV in the 23rd century, what is their entertainment? Netflix?

“We’re beaming down”--dramatic shot--dun dun dun.

Yeaaaah triumvirate!! They’re really going hard with this dynamic at this point in the series and I’m here for it.

I feel like this is the first time they’ve called the Non-Interference Directive the Prime Directive but I could be wrong. It’s certainly the first time they’ve spelled it all out.

“Behold! I am the Arch Angel Gabriel!”

“We come from another...province.” That’s a very convincing delivery. Especially paired with those outfits.

You can tell this guy’s important because he’s the only one wearing cut offs.

“We have many beliefs.” I feel like McCoy is a Southern Baptist.

Flavius: “I know killing is evil. But maybe just this one time? As a treat?”

“That’s our ship, somewhere... at sea. Yeah, our ship at sea. Not in space. That would be wacky.”

This episode is LITERALLY  “Rome AU.”

I love Spock looking through those “Elite” magazines. Doing a little research.

"Captain, I thought you might find this interesting." Hands him a magazine with a buff man on the cover. Yeah, Kirk is definitely canonically bisexual.

And he likes that car, too.

Why do all of Kirk’s friends and/or heroes lose and it and become tyrannical? At this point, it’s becoming a distressing pattern.

The SPACE ACADEMY? Damn why didn’t they keep that name?

“My dear Mr. Spock.”

And Spock’s like “You got me there, that was an example of Logic.”

Oooh, nice knit hat. Spock needs more beanies.

The son/sun pun is inspired honestly and it makes the Enterprise crew look so silly like "So you heard the words of the sun, you crackpot?" whereas he means, "I heard the words of the Son," which makes so much more sense on its face.

This Spock and Bones banter is also inspired. “Doctor, you are stealing my word, please stop.” “Medical man are trained in logic.” “I had no idea they were trained.”

Flavius is a really good character. I feel like I really understand all the sides to him: the warrior who can’t quite untrain himself from the killing instinct, even after he’s converted to Christianity and vowed to be a pacifist who loves mankind.

The triumivrate would have had so much fun together in college. If Jim they were all the same age, knew each other then, and Jim weren’t a stick in the mud at that time. “He’s sick, he’s about to double over!” “I am? Oh, yeah, I am! So sick!”

Spock immediately grabs the sword. That’s that Vulcan Warrior instinct. He does love old weaponry.

I’m considering the possibility that Merrickus is another ex-boyfriend. The vibes aren’t as strong as with that guy from A Private Little War, but there was a charged sort of look between them just then.

“He knows who and what we are.” Aliens. You’re aliens.

Oh, you want 50 Vulcans? Fifty Vulcan pacifists for the arena? A rollicking good time.

“Beam... come ashore.” Kirk’s very good at the Prime Directive.

Haha Spock said it was “interesting,” not “fascinating.” McCoy stole his word so now he needs a new word.

Classic Bones and Spock philosophical debate.

“My word is my vessel, my oath, my crew.” I love him your honor.

His two dear friends! Don’t threaten them!

They really think they can threaten Jim into doing the wrong thing. Never! He’s too good!

Honestly, it’s not really the Prime Directive (which they have broken before) that stops him from just annihilating a whole city with his ship...it’s that that would be immoral in and of itself. He’s not obliterating a society lol. That’s not an option.

Uhura is very interested in Scotty and his plans.

I love the whole concept of Roman Gladiator Television. The fake-ass background and the sound stage. “Empire TV.” The fake applause, boos, and catcalls. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect to see in fanfic tbh.

“Two highly aggressive barbarians.” Aka Spock and McCoy looking confused.

Good thing Spock definitely trained with Vulcan swords for fun when he was a small child.

The pro consul  is obviously in love with Kirk. Who wouldn’t be?

I don’t know if I believe these not-so-ancient Romans are so strong or so smart. This is pretty standard threats and kidnapping. Also Merrick can cry me a river about how hard this all is and how sad he was to see his men die. He’s the First Citizen ! It worked out well for him. Except that he appears to be the pro consul’s bitch.

That was a real missed opportunity for “I’m a doctor, not a gladiator.”

Spock only knocks the guy out when he needs to get rid of him to help Bones!!

Okay, that Spock and Bones scene is one of THE BEST in the entire series. Between anyone! The tension. The emotion. The complex friendship. ...The way Bones 100% knows Spock has a thing for Kirk and there’s pretty much no other way to read that exchange. “You wouldn’t know what to do with a warm, decent feeling” and then Spock’s like ‘ah, got you there,’ eyebrow raise, ‘Really, Doctor?” and then Bones is IMMEDIATELY like oh, right, you’re in love with Jim, forgot about that.” Have they discussed this or is it just that obvious? How does Spock know that McCoy knows??

In other news, a gratuitous Kirk kissing scene. They’re not even trying to come up with a pretext for this at this point.

This TV Execution is about to be pre-empted...by Scotty.

“What did they do to you, Captain?” Spock is so worried!! This would be a good time to call him ‘Jim’ but he used up his quota earlier. And Kirk doesn’t want to explain. “They threw me a few curves. A few blonde curves.”

Flavius was killed?????????? NOOOOOOO.

...And Uhura finishes up the ep by explaining the pun. Honestly, I get that Spock wouldn’t get “they’re Christian actually” as the explanation for all this and I’m going to give Kirk a pass also because I headcanon him as Jewish but McCoy, who is almost 100% certainly some kinda Christian AND was the most interested in this ‘sun worshiper’ confusion should really have put that one together on his own.

So overall, a good episode! I’ve seen it quite a few times, I think, and it doesn’t disappoint. I enjoy the concept of ‘parallel Earth but what if MORE ROME,’ I think the son/sun pun confusion is nifty, and it’s an awesome triumvirate episode that really shows off Kirk’s leadership skills. So no complaints!

Next is Assignment: Earth, which is a complete cheat of an episode because it’s a back door pilot to a show that doesn’t exist, but it does have Spock holding a cat in the beginning, so I guess I’ll muddle through it. Then...starting S3 off with Spock’s Brain. A rough couple of weeks ahead. But the reward is The Enterprise Incident.

[smokeybrand]

Breaking the Rules

So the Snyder Cut finally dropped. Four hours of Snyderisms like slow-mo, dumb kinetic camera work, and relentless edge. Now, I'm a card-carrying Marvel shill. Been real transparent about it for years. Marvel is my sh*t and Spider-Man is my favorite superhero. That said, i do like DC. I always give them a fair shake. Hell, my favorite capeflick is The Dark Knight. I even like Watchmen and that was a slog to get through. I’ve seen every film in the DCEU and they have left me wanting. A lot of DC heads write off my opinion because of my Marvel bias but let’s be serious; The DCEU is inferior to the MCU in almost every way. As it is, the DCEU needs to be better. It needs better storytellers. It needs a better plan. It needs a Feige. Snyder is not that dude and i don’t think Wan is either. I think WB and ATT have to figure out a way to coalesce this sh*t because it’s all wonky, especially now that we have this Snyder Cut. I’ve already reviewed a Justice League before so all of the observations i made about performances in that, stand. This is more what i think this version does better and worse.

The Better

This opening is much better and makes more sense. That Super Death Wail as the principal genesis of Steppenwolf’s conflict, the thing that wakes that first Motherbox, makes way more sense that whatever the f*ck Whedon did.

This thing definitely looks so much more gorgeous that that first run. Zack Snyder can’t plot a story to save his life but this motherf*cker can compose a shot, for real. Snyder is an idea man, a cat that just wants to make cool looking sh*t, but this ain’t the medium for that. You can have all the beautiful shots in the world but if they are tied together by a shoestring of a narrative, then it’s just polished sh*t, you know?

The extended Aquaman intro was outstanding. Whedon didn’t let this scene breath and, seeing it as it was intended, that was a mistake. Seeing this version of Justice League kind of makes Josstice League in it’s entirety, a mistake. It’s weird that this was cut because it’s so good and shows so much more of Arthur.

Jeremy Iron’s Alfred continues to be my second favorite Alfred after Michael Caine. Sorry, Michael Gough...

Wonder Woman’s first scene in this, the one with the terrorists, is ridiculous. This one scene is a perfect example of the difference between the two versions of this film. Snyder’s is better, if way more brutal than it needed to be. Still, i love the warrior version of Diana so I'm good with this.

Speaking of Amazons, Snyder, apparently, put them in more clothes this time around? I couldn’t really see for sure because of the color correction but it didn’t seem like they weren’t rocking those iron bikinis like in the Whedon cut. I think Joss Whedon might be a bit more problematic than we think. Between the half naked chicks, the way he kept sexualizing Diana, the fact that there are no people of color in his version or the way he shortchanged the entirety of Cyborg’s plot... Breh.

Steppenwolf is SO much more menacing in this version of the movie. Dude feels like a force, like a proper threat an not just some stop-gap for something better. Ol’ Wolfie was a decent antagonist for an initial run at an Avengers-esque team up for the DCEU. Definitely more Loki this time around and less Ultron like the first time.

Also, the Parademons look much more dope. The first time, they looked like fodder. This time, they actual felt like a force, like a horde.

Hey, we got an Atom sighting!

Not a ton of Iris West but enough to wet my appetite. Anytime i get to see Kiersey Clemons in stuff, I'm happy. Having it tied to an outstanding sequence demonstrating Flash’s powers was just icing on the cake. Seriously, Snyder did a great job visualizing Barry’s abilities. That scene where he saved everyone from the debris and then the subtle reversing of time; All of it was dope to see.

Are those Starros that Steppenwolf is using to “interrogate” the cats with Motherbox stink on them? They look like little mechanical Starros. I hope they’re Starros.

Lots of Cyborg stuff. Like, intricate Cyborg stuff. The sh*t Whedon cut of Vic was instrumental to the coherency of this story and dude was just like, “Nah.” It’s no wonder that version of the movie doesn’t make any f*cking sense.

Hey, we got a Spectre sighting! Nice.

The explanation for the Motherboxes and their mcguffin-ness goes a long way to soothing the whole “resurrecting Superman” thing. Snyder basically tells the audience they’re magic boxes that can do anything because of magic-technology. It’s a little ridiculous considering what Motherboxes actually do in the comics but whatever. It makes sense in this universe i guess.

All of the action scenes are better. All of them. Snyder is nothing if not a cat that can actualize a dope punch-out. Dude can’t get out of his own way when telling a story but if you need a fight scene, Snyder is definitely your guy.

Speaking of, that climax was WAY better. It carried far more weight and there were times when the heroes felt like they could lose. There’s an unrelenting tension that grips you hard and doesn’t let up until it finally does. I appreciated this way more than the first one, even if it’s dumb edgy for no reason.

The Worst

Zack still doesn’t understand these characters, man. It’s very apparent to me that a lot of this is just window dressing for kind of a Zack Snyder fan fic version of DC and that’s fine i guess? Sh*t’s not my cup of tea but a great many people seem to like it. Dude’s writing can definitely be tighter and he can skew a little more toward the heart of these characters but i mean, it’s called Zack Snyder’s Justice league for a reason.

The Snyderisms, man, they are all over this thing. Look, i just don’t like how Zack makes movies. Too much style, not enough substance, or rather, not enough focus. He has a ton of great ideas but gets too bogged down in how sh*t looks, or tumbles down his rabbit hole of concept but never expresses any of them clearly enough. Outside of 300 or Dawn of the Dead, this film is probably the most focused I've ever seen Snyder and it’s still kind of all over the place yet, never where it needs to be.

So many plot holes, man. Less than before, but so many threads left untied.

This thing didn’t need to be four hours long. Not even close. There were several shots that i thought could have been cut. Like, that three hour version which got the standing ovation was probably the best version of Justice League and we’ll never see it. This version is definitely better than the theatrical run but f*ck is it long. You really feel that sh*t, too.

Cyborg still looks gross to look at. You’d think they’d try and make his weird, angular, body look a bit better upon the redo but nope. This what we get i guess.

Also, why the f*ck the Atlanteans sound British? Why they make Amber Heard do that accent? She can’t do that accent, man. You’re actually asking a chick who’s professionally pretty to act and she can’t act. She’s just pretty. That actually brings up an interesting question; Is Aquaman canon to this universe because Mera in that doesn’t have an accent and her Pops is still alive. This one has an accent and her parents are dead. Or maybe the accent makes it easier to recast Heard later with a British actress? Maybe the Mother of Dragons really is about to be the Queen of the Seas?

Why is this Knightmare sequence in here? Sure, it was awesome to see, pure fan service, but this is the blue balls of blue balls because we don’t have a movie to follow this one. This is it. This is all the Justice League we’re getting. There is no part two or whatever. Why even hint at something more?

The Verdict

There’s a lot to like about this version of Justice League. It is, hands down, better than Josstice League in almost every way. Sh*t is a better film, man, and should have been what we got to begin with. WB did Snyder a disservice by letting him go and then letting Whedon butcher his movie. I don’t like Snyder’s take on DC. I think it’s try-hard, edgelord, nonsense but it is it’s own thing and i commend him for that. Dude has a vision and I'll never take away from from a creative’s inspiration. That said, this thing was a slog to get through. It’s definitely better than what we got before but it’s still not that great and it’s way too long. Three hours is more than enough to tell this story if you make prudent cuts. Still, I’m glad it exists and, if you’re a fan of this world, a fan of Snyder’s work, you’ll love it. For me, as a cat who has no skin in this game, I'm not all that impressed. Per usual, Snyder has too many ideas and that leaves the plot unfocused and meandering at times. In a genre that is predicated on storytelling, you can’t be a bad storyteller like that and just gloss over it with spectacle. That’s disingenuous. At the end of the day, it was entertaining. It was pretty to see. It was a Snyder film.

[duhragonball]

shadowjack12345 replied to your photo “Got a commission this week by the awesome FrauleinPflaume, and it...”

Nice to finally see Zatte, I always liked her - she's dangerous in a way we don't often get in DB.

Hey, thanks, that means a lot to me.    Also, this is all the prompting I need to try to explain how I came up with the character.   Spoilers under the cut.

The thing that held me up early on was that I couldn’t decide if Luffa’s “career” in the past should be long or short.   I used the Bardock: Father of Goku TV special as a model of a “short” Luffa arc.    You have this character who’s only mentioned in passing (by Raditz), and the TV special fleshes him out and kills him off in the space of an hour.   Then he wakes up in the past in the 2011 “Episode of Bardock” Special, if you want to count that.    On some level, I imagined it could be possible to give Luffa a really quick run in her native era, and then send her to the future to join the TIme Patrol, like the Bardock specials.   

I worked on Chapter 126 and 127 today, so I think it’s clear that I did not go down that route.   I knew the alternative would be to really flesh out the character, having her go through multiple adventures like Goku in Dragon Ball.   That meant I had to come up with extra stuff for her to do.   The simple fact is that I really enjoyed writing the character, and I wanted to take the long road, so that later on, when she refers to her past exploits, there would be some weight to them.   

So I worked on coming up with stuff for her to do in between major plot points.   I thought about giving her some love interests, since we’d never seen a Saiyan character jump from one relationship to another, like Spider-Man in the 70′s.   At some point, I thought it might be interesting to have her run into an old flame, someone who knew her before she went Super.   

The problem with that was that when we first meet Luffa, she’s only 19 years old, and she’s been married to Kandai for about a year.    And she’s been living on the Dorlun colony for about five years.    I say this like someone else foisted this problem on me, but I’m the one who came up with all that stuff, to better amplifly the tragedy she experiences before turning Super Saiyan.   This isn’t some seasoned veteran who’s been all over the universe, loving and leaving ‘em from one planet to the next.     She’s young and inexperienced and isolated in a very small community.    

But I still liked the idea, and I hadn’t published Chapters 1-10 yet, so I still had a lot of room to set things up for later.   I realized the only way this would work would be if the “old flame” was a Dorlun who had admired Luffa from afar.    And that led me to Captain Mesas, the leader of the Dorlun militia.  

Mesas originally served only one purpose, which was to be a sort of proxy who could represent the entire Dorlun colony that Luffa had been hired to defend.   I assigned her gender at random, I think.    I just know that I didn’t put a ton of thought into it, since I was planning to kill all of the Dorluns off later anyway.   Luffa would take this personally, because she came to appreciate these people without really admitting it, and this would be demonstrated by her respect for Mesas, who was their lead warrior, and thus the most Saiyan-like of the bunch.   Eventually, I renamed her Captain Zatte, because I had settled on naming all the Dorlun characters after anagrams of metric prefixes, i.e. “zetta”.  

So I quickly came to the conclusion that the only way this “reunited with an old flame” idea would work would be if it was a Dorlun, and the only one that would make any sense would have to be Zatte, and the only way that could work would be if there was some sort of romantic tension between them.    They couldn’t be lovers in those early chapters because Luffa was married at the time, but later, there would need to be a moment where Zatte would confess her feelings and Luffa would have to feel the same way.   

And this is how I ended up making Luffa bisexual.    I didn’t want Zatte to be a man, and I couldn’t make Luffa gay, because I needed her to start out in a marriage to a Saiyan man.   Too much of the plot depended upon that.   I struggled with this decision for a couple of reasons.   

First, I wasn’t sure I could pull it off, and I didn’t know if I wanted this story to be my first try, because I was already trying to do a lot of other new tricks.   I didn’t want real-world wlw’s to see this story and be disappointed by my amateurish attempt to get it right.    

Second, I felt disingenuous about making such a major change to the character for my own convenience.    I felt like I’d seen that a lot in comic books over the years, where writers would seemingly assign bisexuality to characters arbitrarily, or for “shock” value, or just to be salacious.  I didn’t want readers to think I was only doing this for shallow reasons, or to get my jollies writing two girls making out.  

But at the same time, I really wanted to do it this way, and I finally decided to just go with it and see where it took me.   In hindsight, I realize that I was just being a fraidy cat about the whole thing.   Writing wlw romance isn’t so functionally different from mlw romance, and once I got used to the idea, I realized the only thing I needed to do was to treat it with the proper respect.    And really, this wasn’t so far off from the original premise.    I wanted to make the “Legendary Super Saiyan” a woman to defy convention and to piss off dudebros.    Making her queer just continues that same line of reasoning, right?   I used to see jackasses on the internet say that women couldn’t turn Super Saiyan because they couldn’t “get angry enough,” which is pretty similar to a lot of biphobic crap I’ve heard on the internet.    I mean, I used to listen to Loveline on the radio around 2001, and Dr. Drew was acting like bisexuality was some made-up thing.    Apparently Dr. Drew went nuts somewhere along the way, or maybe he always was, but he seemed pretty progressive in 2001, and he accepted gay and lesbian callers just fine, but he told bi callers to “figure out what they want”, and that never sat right with me.   People used to say there were no such things as black swans, too.    That’s Luffa all over.     You can deny her all you want, but she’ll still kick your ass.  

I’m this close to going off on a rant about J.K. Rowling, so let me try to force myself to talk about Zatte here.    The problem I ran into almost immediately was that I wrote what I had originally planned for her, and I was very pleased with how it turned out.  And then I had to move on to the next arc, and yet, she was still there, and I knew I’d have to do something with her.    I feel like I’ve been winging it ever since, but my main priority was to set her apart from Keda, the other Dorlun character I kept around.  So I ran with the idea that Zatte is more “Saiyan-like” than the rest of her species, and maybe that makes her a little radical at times, maybe not in a way we humans might notice, but a way that other Dorluns would find unsettling.   Dorluns are survivalists, and for them “risk” is a four-letter word, but Zatte’s a thrillseeker at heart.   She wants to survive in spite of the dangers rather than back away from them.    Keda would find somewhere to hide for several months until it’s safe to come out, but Zatte would try to go all Die Hard on a situation.   Keda sticks close to Luffa because Luffa is the strongest person in the universe, so by Luffa’s side is arguably the safest place to be.    Zatte sticks close to Luffa because she’s a furry being by Luffa’s side is arguably the most dangerous place to be.    If she can survive there, she can survive anywhere.  

There’s also the whole fanaticism angle.   At some point, I came up with the idea that Zatte sees Luffa’s Super Saiyan emergence as a watershed moment in history.     I sort of threw that together, mostly to make Luffa uncomfortable and to add some tension to their relationship, but it also distinguishes Zatte from characters like Chi-Chi or Bulma, who see Super Saiyan as a lot of flashy nonsense, signifying nothing.    “Punk rocker?   Don’t you understand?   Your son is a miracle!”

That angle is kind of hard for me to work with, because I also tried to make Zatte very grounded at the same time.    I guess it’s like if you had Jerusalem Syndrome but you were very self-aware the entire time.   You make a toga out of your hotel linens and just constantly saying “Man, I’m just being really nutty right now, but oh well.”

A lot of her tactics are sort of rooted in stuff I thought made sense with the weaker characters in Dragon Ball.   I don’t really know how strong Zatte would be.    I envisioned her as being like a “mere mortal”, like Lois Lane, but in Dragon World even guys like Mr. Satan are insanely tough.   I’m pretty sure Bulma could kick Brock Lesnar’s ass if she visited our own world.   He’d F5 her and she’d just get up and slap him in the face and he’d collapse.    I feel like if Zatte entered the 23rd Budokai, she could sweep the entire thing.   That’s not what I set out to do, and it sounds really arrogant because I’d be putting her over Goku and Piccolo, but come on, that’s low-tier by DBZ standards.   If she couldn’t dominate the 23rd Budokai, then definitely the 22nd, which also sounds unthinkable, but that’s how this crazy show works.   Yajirobe could have won the 22nd Budokai if he’d only thought to enter it.   

My point is that “weaker” characters can do a lot from the sidelines if they know their limits and pick their spots, like Tien using the Kikoho on Cell and Super Buu, or Yajirobe cutting off Vegeta’s tail, and so forth.    Most of those guys hate resorting to that sort of thing, because they prefer to stand and fight in the open, but Zatte specializes in sneaky hit-and-run attacks.   She should be able to shoot ki blasts, but she sticks to firearms instead, because they’re more precise and ki senses can’t pick them up.  She likes being underestimated, to the point where her ideal battle is one where the enemy doesn’t even know she’s on the field.  

I dunno, I’ve always wondered if I was getting her “right” all this time, but now that I summarize it all in one place, it doesn’t seem as disjointed as I feared.   I had all these different things I needed her to be and do, and most of them involved finding ways to justify her continued presence in the story, but maybe it’s all worked out after all.   Sometimes I feel like Zatte is the Yoko Ono of this fic, but the Beatles suck, so I shouldn’t indulge in their crude analogies.    I Zatted my way into this mess, and I’m happy to Zatte my way out.    

[nullanythorm-ao3]

Hiccup/Hiro/Varian OT3 FFXIV Headcanons

Stuck on my next fanfiction update? Time to bust out one of my OT3 headcanon posts again! The next chapter of Chemistry in Motion IS on the way, I promise you. But for the time being I’m a bit braindead - and being obsessed with playing Final Fantasy XIV with my friends isn’t helping. Instead of Variro and Varian & Honey Lemon sibling fluff, my brain has thought, “Okay, but what if the OT3 either played FFXIV or just existed in Eorzea?” and hasn’t stopped. 

So, instead of the Camp Halfbood concepts I was planning on doing next, you get this. 

Let’s start with easy mode: races

This part was simple. The only one that really gave me any trouble was Varian, really. I have certain things I associate each of the boys with - and two of those things just so happen to have races in Final Fantasy, so let’s go!

Hiccup is an Au Ra. They’re half-dragon, all-awesome, and Au Ra males are some of the tallest characters in the game!!! Second only to Roegadyn, I think. So Hiccup is TOL. If this is a concept of an AU where they exist in Eorzea as Warriors of Light - I feel like Hiccup’s the type that seems intimidating at first, the tall half-dragon man - but is actually just a soft cinnamon roll who’s hopelessly in love with his two boyfriends, but we’ll get to that part, eventually.

Hiro is a Mi’qote! Maybe because of Mochi, but I just can’t stop associating him with cats. So, naturally, I’m just going to keep doing it. Mi’qote are a moderate, slightly below-average height race. Also cat ears and tails, and the “mission complete” screen after dungeons has male mi’qote do a little happy ear wriggle, and it’s cute. I feel like Hiccup and Varian play with his ears a lot - like, a lot of scratching behind them or rubbing them for cute, fluffy, affectionate moments. He’s small, sassy, and about to get some world-saving s*** done, okay?

Varian. Varian was difficult. On one end I considered Hyur - just a simple smol human (though you can’t really make Male Hyur that short in-game, closer to average height really). But then I thought maybe Lalafell, make him super smol and cute. But actually, I’m going with my favorite race in the game: Varian’s an Elezen. For two reasons. 1) if this is a matter of them playing the game - Varian’s the type I could see wanting to play a character taller than he is, and Elezen are pretty darn tall. 2) As for if they exist in Eorzea, we’ve seen through the examples of Alphinaud and Alisaie that young Elezen can be quite small!!! Varian with pointy elf ears is also adorable fight me. Anyway. I feel like he’d definitely be a “runt of the litter” Elezen. Taller than Hiro, but still on the short side. Maybe it comes from Ulla (if you include 7k in this) being an Elezen, but Quirin being a Hyur or another shorter race that kind of dwarfs his growth a bit? 

Okay, so let’s talk roles

Note: roles. Not classes. For the FFXIV uninitiated, one of the coolest things about this MMO is that you’re not tied down to one class. There are several classes within certain roles - Healer, Tank, Melee DPS, Ranged DPS, Magical DPS - and you can swap between those classes freely. There’s even disciple of the hand - crafting classes. And disciple of the land - gathering classes. We won’t talk about those as rolls, but I’ll bring them up when I talk about the squad’s main classes later. For now, let’s talk about the roles they prefer for adventuring, dungeons, raids, etc. 

Hiccup is a tank! Tank classes are his first choice, without a doubt. He’s kind of the leader of the squad without meaning to be. He protects Hiro and Varian, and kind of keeps the other two in line and out of trouble with the rest of the party (because these two are SASSY and will cause trouble, trust me), whether it’s only one other person just running a dungeon or a whole raid alliance. In large parties, he’s quick to defer to someone else if they want to be the main tank. He’s not the ‘fighting for dominance’ type. Other than tanking, he enjoys melee DPS and healing, and uses magic DPS the least.

Hiro usually plays ranged DPS! Honestly, his central roles are basically all the DPS roles, but he likes Ranged most because of mobility, and ability to take things out from afar without worrying about his DPS dropping too much from dodging big attacks. Other than that, he enjoys magical DPS for range and Melee for mobility. His least-used role is healing, because caretaker he is NOT. Some of his ranged DPS classes have utility, and that’s good enough for him. 

Then, for a well-rounded team, Varian’s main role is Healer. This comes mostly from his tendency to be “support” in most situations. He is, overall, a sweet boy who wants to look out for and help his friends (even if he can be self-centered). He’s definitely the sassy healer that will get passive aggressive with bad tanks in big parties or if Hiccup isn’t tanking. “I couldn’t keep up. So sorry, I’ll try harder next time if you try harder not to over-extend. Okay, thanks”, “The Dragoon is floor tanking? Guess who’s going back to the start of the dungeon because I’m not ressurecting them”, “Hiro, for the last time. We DODGE attacks first, shoot later. If you get hit for extensive damage because of a dumb mistake again I am NOT healing you”. THAT Healer. He’s also the best technical player of the three though (if this is the ‘they’re just playing the game’ situation), so he has the skill to back up the sass. Also, he flirts with Hiccup whenever he clutch heals him, or whenever Hiccup thanks him for heals, and it breaks Hiccup’s brain. Outside of healing, I think he’d like magical DPS and ranged DPS, and tanks the least.

On to actual classes/jobs now!

So here’s how this is going to work. We’ll be talking about the classes in their primary roles. What’s their main class, and ranking the classes within their main role in order of most to least used. After that, we’ll talk about some outlier classes. Classes from other roles they enjoy playing that they might play often or that I think suit them(A note: we’ll only be going over a couple, and no matter what outliers I mention, the role rankings from the previous section are the priority in knowing what and how they play). Then we’ll talk about their crafting/gathering classes of choice. 

Hiccup

 So, we mostly see Hiccup with a sword and shield, so naturally his main job is Paladin. It was what stuck out in my head, especially since I wanted him to main tank. It’s the balanced, all-rounder tank as well - which I think suits Hiccup. After that, there’s Warrior. Our big, brutal axe swingers. This one’s focused more on his viking heritage. Battle Axes run in that blood, don’t they? Then, there’s Dark Knight. The enormous sword is cool, but Hiccup isn’t really the ‘dark, brooding, edgy’ type. So I don’t think DK would really be his style aesthetically. Gunbreaker is the one he’d use least. It’s a cool class, but the more modern gunblade just doesn’t scream “Hiccup” to me. I think he’d enjoy the damage output, but feels better with normal weapons like swords and axes in his hands. 

So the first outlier for Hiccup is something FFXIV fans might see coming. Dragoon. Hiccup with a spear is cool, but this is mostly for the lore. For those who don’t know - Dragoon’s lore is all about dragon slaying. They’re spearmen trained in Ishgard as part of the Dragonsong war - valiant defender of the city and slayers of dragons. Sound familiar? Similar to his actual story, I love Hiccup picking up the spear and being ready to fight dragons - but he’s a sweet bean and still tries his best to broker a peace when he learns how intelligent dragons are. 

The other outlier I’d like to discuss for Hiccup is White Mage. The ‘taking from the spirits and nature’ vibe I think really suits his personality. He loves his island, and the dragons that live there, and everything around him. Not QUITE a tree hugger or anything, but preserving nature and caring for its creatures would definitely be important to him. It’s probably his main healer role.  

As for crafting and gathering. Blacksmithing and Armorsmithing are probably his central crafts, so he probably does a lot of mining as his gathering class. He spends a lot of time in the forge, after all! I could also see him delving into a little carpentry, what with all the tinkering and mechanics he works with. 

Hiro

When I thought about Hiro, my first thought was “machinist”. The steampunk vibe it has fits Hiro being the most modern of the three boys, I think. Also, a robotic/automaton partner/minion? YES. After that is Dancer. He probably picked it up for a laugh, not expecting much, then wound up hooked. He enjoys making either Hiccup or Varian his dance partner and flirting with whoever it is incessantly. With Varian, it’s just a back-and-forth of witty flirting and laughing. With Hiccup, he actively takes up a two-sided flirting front with Varian and well... if Hiccup breaks with just Varian flirting, adding Hiro makes it worse. He plays Bard the least, but still enjoys it. “He’s not much of a singer”, he often jokes whenever he stretches his Bard muscles. In the ‘they’re just playing the game’ universe, I feel like he forgets his song utility a lot and just focuses on doing as much damage as possible. Because that’s kind of his schtick. 

An outlier for him would be Red Mage. I think he’d like the quick, easy casting with Dualcast, and the fun melee rotation. He’d be the type that enjoys using Displacement just for the flair - and always gets a talking to from Varian whenever he accidentally flips off the edge of a platform. So, you’re not allowed to play Dragoon, Hiro (he plays it anyway).

And the other outlier is Gunbreaker. Again with giving the guns to the more modern member of the squad. However (and I’ve hardly touched my tank  classes so I can’t say anything here), it’s a running joke that Gunbreaker is for “people who want to try tank, but still kind of want to be DPS”, and I love that. It’s kind of perfect for Hiro. 

So for crafting and gathering. Hiro would probably be a Goldsmith and Leatherworker. Leatherworker for practicality - because I think Hiro’s definitely the most practical  of the three. Goldsmith because he likes to tinker with things and I can definitely see the precision work of accessory making suiting him. Now, normally that would probably mean he’d spend most of his time mining - but there are exactly three gathering classes in the game, so I like to think they’d try to round each other out. So, Hiro’s going to spend most of his time fishing. One, because cats and fish jokes. Two, because it’s just kind of chill and less work (or at least labor) and knowing Hiro I could see him going for that.

Varian

Varian’s main class would most DEFINITELY be scholar. He just seems to gravitate toward my favorite things. I think of all the magic-based classes. The arcanist set would be his favorite since it focuses more on logic and strategy. Scholar, especially, deals with hunting down a centuries-old plague on an ancient civilization and a lot of things I can very easily equate to the black rocks and dark kingdom. Also, he gets to summon a fairy and COME ON. That’s adorable. He probably talks to the fairy (usually Eos), because that’s just him. Second main healing class is White Mage, similar to Hiccup. The nature vibe just seems to suit him. He seems good with animals and the whole natural element just works since he seems to enjoy the outdoors and comes from a farming family/village, let’s not forget! Then Astrologian would be last. He wouldn’t really be into the astrology/future sight but I think he would have fun with the star vibes and (in Eorzea universe) would learn the uses of the future reading and get more invested in it, eventually. 

An outlier of mention for Varian is Summoner. I mentioned before that he enjoys arcanima for its focus on logic, strategy, and value of intelligence, so, naturally, Scholar’s opposite would work well with him too. Also the carbuncles make me think of Ruddiger for whatever reason. Look at him! I love the concept of him summoning his carbuncle and it just crawling up his back and wrapping around his shoulders. He summons the Egis too! He knows how to play his job! He just really loves the carbuncles. 

The other outlier for him of special mention is Bard. I think he’d like it, because he can be DPS but still give the party utility. Also. Come on, this boy can SING and he’s going to take advantage of it. God-tier bard for his singing voice alone, right here. Hiccup and Hiro low-key get excited whenever he pulls out the bow, because it means they get to hear their boy sing (because even in the universe where it’s just a game, Varian totally sings on whatever method of call they use for a lot of the dungeon whenever he plays bard). 

Crafting classes. It surprises no one. He’s an Alchemist. Possibly a culinarian. His gathering class is botanist, the only one left. He spends a lot of time with plants, natural elements, and alchemy to make potions and all that jazz. He is very passionate about his crafting job and is probably the biggest crafter of the group. ALCHEMY!

And now for some miscellaneous headcanons

So, if it’s just the OT3 playing the game - Varian is the biggest roleplayer, no question. He slips into character ALL the time and it makes Hiro and Hiccup chuckle a little, but they always play along. He got the two of them to enjoy the roleplaying aspect, even. 

They each have their own squads/groups they play/adventure with, and they almost always change up their roles with those groups. 

For Hiccup - he’s basically in a group full of people who want to be tanks. It’s a constant battle for dominance (that Astrid almost always wins, unless she gives a pity win to Snotlout occasionally or lets Hiccup take out of respect for his tanking ability). Most of the time, Hiccup just shrugs it off and goes DPS or healer depending on if Fishlegs is there to heal or not.

Hiro usually tanks for his team. Mostly because Gogo refuses to level anything but DPS, Wasabi suffers from tanxiety and usually either heals or goes ranged, Honey Lemon does whatever Wasabi isn’t doing, and Fred is... Fred. 

Varian’s group is well-balanced, but they each have their preferences. Cass or Lance are usually the tank, Eugene’s usually a melee DPS (probably ninja), and Rapunzel is almost always the squad healer (tho she defers to Varian for that role occasionally). So he’s usually DPS in that group. 

Still, they work best together in their main roles. Their favorite times are when they’re adventuring together, as much as they love their friends. 

Hiccup and Varian occasionally tease Hiro for being the shortest of the group - to which he usually groans and complains. But they use their tank/healer status to prevent him from messing with them because “I can always turn off my tank stance you know”, or “I mean if you don’t want healing, by all means”. He hates it when they do that.

They usually make up for it by giving him a TON of presents, though. They’re both frugal with gil compared to him, so if there’s some new shiny, expensive thing on the market he wants and doesn’t have the money for, Varian or Hiccup can usually swing it for him.

Hiccup likes to surprise Varian with gifts too. It’s the one one time he can make Varian flustered, and he quite enjoys it. 

If any Elezen bully Varian for being a runt (in the setting where they’re adventurers in Eorzea), they can expect to meet with the business end of Hiccup or Hiro’s weapons. They won’t hesitate. 

[avatar-news]

From the animation studio behind The Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defender, meet KOJI: Studio Mir’s first original series

Up until now, Studio Mir’s stunning, legendary animation has been reserved for work contracted out by other companies-- Nickelodeon for Korra, DreamWorks for Voltron, Lego for Secrets of Elvendale, etc.

But now, very excitingly, they’ve announced their first original series: Koji.

Koji comes from the mind of Alexander Snow, an animator who has a prolific resume including Disney, Blue Sky Studios, and the production company he co-founded in 2016: Wolfbat Studios. (Not sure if the name being the same as Tahno’s pro-bending team is a coincidence...)

It’s unclear how much Wolfbat Studios as a whole is involved, but their website does feature an old concept demo reel for Koji, which looks really cool:

It also gives us a look at who may be the second main character:

Studio Mir really loves their elves! 😂

In all seriousness, this looks really cool, and we’ve been told to keep an eye out for “for more updates coming fast”, so it seems like this could be coming sooner rather than later!

This announcement coincides with Studio Mir launching their official instagram: @studiomir_official. It looks like the bulk of the content coming our way will be posted there, so be sure to follow them, as well as our #koji tag on here for the big updates coming soon!

Update: Just found a bunch more information from the original 2016 press release, including a synopsis, backstory, inspirations (including ATLA!), themes/issues covered, and more! It’s a lot so it’s going under a readmore:

The following text is all reproduced verbatim from the Koji press release.

KOJI

“A lightning powered boy and his giant water/ice powered blue cat buddy, go on an epic and fun journey seeking an end to the evil that has taken over their planet.”

Creator/Director: Alexander Snow

SYNOPSIS Koji crash lands on a colorful earth-like planet, inhabited by incredible alien creatures and hybrid animals. It's here that he meets Tako, a giant blue cat with water/ice powers, who will become his lifelong best friend. They journey together to defeat the evil spreading throughout the land, and it's up to them and a few valiant others they meet along the way (including an elf with a cybernetic arm and a puggorilla warrior), to put an end to the Robot King and his mechanical army.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT Koji is a story that at it's surface is very fun, with characters everyone can enjoy and who each bring something unique to the table. As cool as their powers are, and as awesome as it is to watch them fight and destroy their robot enemies, what makes the show standout from others is what lies beneath the surface. At it's heart Koji is a story about teamwork, its about choosing to do something because it's the right thing to do even if it's the harder path, and for Koji it's about the complicated question of what it means to be adopted and the unknown past that picks at his brain. Not only does the story have a lot of substance, but each character is believable and layered and throughout the series tackle real issues such as confidence, abandonment, racism, brotherhood, friendship, and purpose. Everyone is a hero in their own eyes, until they see the truth through another's.  Although that sounds pretty intense, most of that is in layered in the subtext. The show in actuality plays and draws inspiration from great character driven stories such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Samurai Jack, Ben 10, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, Pokemon, and more.

HISTORY   Three years ago, after first coming up with the idea of Koji, Tako and the world they inhabit, Alexander set off to create a comic version of the story of Koji and his lightning gem. After having fun beginning the creative process, Alexander used the start of Koji to meet and work with a ton of extremely talented artists before finding his perfect collaborators. After finding fantastic artistic talent, and with a personal history working in film/tv/and games on products such as Zootopia, Big Hero 6, The Amazing Spiderman, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Red Dead Redemption, and more, Alexander turned his focus to the screen. With a solid structure in hand and story planned out, he brought Joel Foster on to write the official version of the pilot script. After completing a pitch book, Alexander teamed up with a small but superbly skilled group of artists, and began creating the awesome KOJI ID animation which was done on a shoestring budget in just a couple of months. After almost 3 years, with the ID animation complete and the pitch book written, he is now seeking financing to begin production of an animated series to truly bring the world of KOJI to life.

FAQ

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR DISTRIBUTION? Yes. KOJI is currently without distribution or partnership and is the property of Alexander Snow.

WHAT MARKETS ARE YOU LOOKING INTO? We are interested in both domestic and international markets.

WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE? KOJI is a show targeted for boys and girls age 6-11+, although we aim to explore themes and topics that relate to people of all ages.

ARE THERE MATERIALS TO USE IF WE WRITE AN ARTICLE ON "KOJI"? Yes, please feel free to contact us directly at wolfbatstudios.contact@gmail.com for any additional needs/requests.

WHAT IS "WOLFBAT STUDIOS"? WOLFBAT STUDIOS is a multi-platform storytelling studio specializing in Animation. It was founded in 2016 by Alexander Snow, Ryan Bowden, Mason Gardner, Gop Gap, and Avi Lasser. It is located in Burbank, California.

[ryuukenden4]

Do What Makes You Happy

(Okay fair warning, this is a very long post with some seriously personal stuff in it.)

I know I don't usually open up on here, but I think it's time I finally do it to get it off my chest. This has been a topic I often find myself thinking about. It usually makes me feel really shitty when I do, but I don't ever talk about it with anyone. I think I need to let all of my thoughts air, even if no one listens.

This post is about "cringe culture." Basically, judging someone for something they love. Not criticizing or internally judging, but shaming. This is a topic that sits badly with me on both ends of the spectrum. I both have judged people and been judged, and both sides feel bad.

Let's start off with why I'm even making this post. I've thought for a long time about myself and the stuff I enjoy. I know it isn't normal, and I know a lot of people in my age group can't relate. I love anime, it's been an outlet for me and my weird fantasies (like dragons and swords, not the other kind) for almost 10 years now. Video games are some of my lifeblood even though I guess gamer girls don't exist?? I immensely love making characters, fan and original. Fictional characters are my cornerstones where real people (usually) tend to fall flat. Let me elaborate.

Anime has helped me cope with many difficult things over the years. It helps me connect with family and friends. It gives me a creative outlet for not just drawing and writing, but thinking. Even cliché anime always make me see the world in new ways, and I love it for that. It's helped me develop myself and my style for such a long time that I can't imagine being parted from it any time soon.

From anime especially comes my love of fictional characters. I have always loved them (my first favorite characters were Jim Hawkins and Bilbo Baggins, and I'll never forget that fact about myself), but that love became intensified as I grew older. I don't necessarily see myself in them, but I enjoy getting to know them. It's almost a personal connection with the characters. My favorites are almost always established from their introductions because something with them and me just...clicks. Even if I have no clue who or what they are, there is something there I feel. Like they're an old friend or something. They make me feel not alone, as strange as that sounds. Like for instance, take Mirio, my current muse on here. His sunshiney personality and goofy nature brighten my day. His selfless nature and general goodness make me strive to be a better person. As soon as he was introduced, I knew he was gonna be one of my favorites, I could just tell. He feels like a friend to me, and I really feel a connection with him.

Moving from characters, video games have allowed me to explore new worlds and escape the mundanenss of our own. I'm not trying to sound deep, but having a way to escape this life for a little while is nice. The interactiveness of video games is so wonderful, and it really feels like I'm shedding myself and becoming someone else for a spell. I especially love games that either have an awesome protags who is loveable and you root for them, or ones that you create your own character and save the world.

Which brings me to my last and most sensitive topic; my characters. I have made characters since I was able to. From my warrior cats to my anime side characters all the way up to my completely original ones, my characters have always had an influence on me. Rarely do I make self-inserts, but when I do they are versions of me I wish I was. (My first warrior cat was pretty much me as a cat, I'll admit. And my first anime OC was also loosely based off me.) But I have come so far with them from what I used to do. Now my characters all have their own lives and I'm just telling their stories. Yes this sounds cheesy, but I hear that this is what makes a good character. When you sit down and "chat" with them and they are separate from you. I don't want to say none of my recent characters are like me, because obviously new characters are still forming from MY brain, but I do my best to develop them like functional, separate people and not fictional versions of me. And yes, often I do end up shipping my characters with other characters (my own or canon), but I never make it about me. It's about two fictional characters that are fun to imagine going to see a horror movie or taking a walk or cuddling under the stars.

As much as I love all of this, I'm terrified to talk about my interests with others. This post has been extremely hard to write so far, but I'm forcing myself to do it so I can finally be at peace with my negative thoughts. I find it hard to talk with others for fear of being labeled "weird" or "cringey." And it's not even that I mind their comments, I mind and worry about what they DON'T say. I always get nervous talking about stuff with people because I worry they're silently judging me. And sure, I understand what I do isn't everyone's cup of tea (nor do I expect that literally at all, especially shipping OCs and canon characters). I just worry it actually affects how people view ME as a person from what I like. That's why I hide my interests in my pysche, I try to avoid making others uncomfortable with me, even if I feel uncomfortable hiding myself. It all stems from my lack of self-confidence and fear of being hated. Judging and being judged are very stressful things to undergo, especially for someone not happy with who they are 90% of the time.

I mentioned earlier I've experienced both ends of this. So let me discuss. I had a very judgmental mindset of people for a long time based upon what they liked. I judged people hardcore for liking things that were ridiculous to me. I never said it to them, but my thoughts were mean and malicious. Looking back on myself for that, I find it disgusting, and I'll be the first to say I was wrong. I honestly think my spitefulness stemmed from my own bad experiences I'll describe later. What people like doesn't usually harm me in anyway, and so what makes me the one who dissuades them from doing what they love? I am a devout Christian, and one of my life-changing takeaways from those experiences was to step back and let God be the judge. My judgment ultimately means nothing to someone's life, and so they should be allowed to do as they please and God can decide if it's wrong or right at the end. Again I say, if it makes you happy, DO IT.

On the other end, I have been ridiculed for what I like. It's been little things like disparaging comments from family members or even anon hate (old Tumblr accounts now deactivated). I still remember my worst experience was on a platform called Flipnote Hatena. Basically, you drew little animations, often to music, flipbook-style on your DSi and posted them for others to see. I made a Flipnote for my Spyro fan character (very much a self insert...I was like 10) and Spyro to the song "Listen to Your Heart." I was so proud of my work, and it was my best yet. I posted it, not expecting much, as my stuff wasn't very popular. Then I got a notification for a comment. I was so happy to see what someone said, praising my art. Turns out it was another user telling me I was wrong for shipping my dragon and Spyro because he only loved HER character. She peppered in death threats and told me to kill myself. She proceeded to make Flipnotes about wanting to fight and kill my main avatar (my warrior cat at this point) to prove she deserved Spyro. Obviously I was distraught. I just wanted to share my love for Spyro and what I thought was my best animation, and I got told to die and threatened to be killed all for what I enjoyed doing. I know nothing would have come of it in hindsight, but being a 10 year old, that really scarred me. I caved and deleted my Flipnotes with said characters and never posted them again. I let that person win, and erased a portion of myself from my heart.

This is the event that usually makes me question if what I'm doing is "okay." I get bouts of negative thoughts toward myself and my "weirdness." I find myself wanting to delete all my characters and writings and everything. I tell myself what I'm doing is wrong, and it would make so many people angry and mean if I posted it. And then I tell myself I don't NEED to post it to be happy. I don't need validation on my stuff. I don't need fans of my characters or for people to ship my couples. I just need someone to affirm I'm okay, that I'm not wrong. I need someone to tell me "if it makes you happy, do it." I need to be reminded I'm also a person with feelings that matter. I'm uncomfortable deleting all of my hard work. I'm angry for deleting that character I put hours of research and thought into. I'm mean when I think of someone being so bothered by what a stranger does that they have to verbally abuse them for it. That's why I'm extending that for anyone listening. If you need to hear this, you are valid. If it makes you happy, please do it. Know that someone out there is rooting for you. I am 100% behind you.

That old show you watched with your middle school best friend? Watch it and relive some great memories! That cute idea you have for a scenario between your Naruto OC and Kakashi? Draw it, it's probably super cute! That idea for a for a story based solely upon platonic love and not romantic? Hell yeah, we need more of that content!

Basically, do whatever makes you you. True happiness seems like it's becoming hard to find nowadays, so if you find it, hold onto it. Never change for what you expect people want from you, and that doesn't just extend to hobbies. Be your awesome self. One day, someone will come along who loves what you do too, or will love you for being you. :)

Do what makes you happy.

[uncloseted]

Back again with the costume designer talk -- Yes, I agree with the mischaracterization of all the characters in s6. It felt like last series' plots and endings had been thrown out the window. While watching s6, it felt like a different show all together. Everything that made every character unique was gone. Was there any reason as to why Edward was gone? Also, you stated that Matty likes Victorian and gothic culture. What are other characters' interests? I know Alo's are nature/punk; Rich: metal

Totally.  I think series 5 got a lot of backlash from older fans who no longer felt like the characters were relatable and were very vocal about that fact on Twitter, and so they decided to go completely in the opposite direction because maybe people would like that instead.  And I think that’s a real shame, because like I’ve said before, I think series 5 is some of the best, tightest writing that Skins ever did.  As far as Edward goes, I think he left to work on Secret Diary of a Call Girl. My impression is that he was trying to balance both jobs in 2010 and then felt like it was too much.  Katie Newham, who took over, was Edward’s assistant costumer, so I think he assumed that she would be able to just pick up where he left off, which ended up totally not being the case (and which is what makes me think she comes from a styling/costume construction background as opposed to a costume design one). 

Canonically in terms of interests, here’s what the characters like:

Franky likes “making stuff,” The Catcher in the Rye, The Little Prince, Clockwork Orange, Graphic Novels – Dark Knight, Manga - The Rose of Versailles, Arcade Fire, Burial, Crystal Castles, Nirvana, Corpse Bride, Seven Samurai, Let Me In, Bad Santa, Spirited Away, Vertigo, Harold Lloyd!,  Dexter, The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica, and taking photos.  

Alo likes his weed, his van, his dog, Youth in Revolt, The Dharma Bums, The Velveteen Rabbit, Blitzen Trapper, Wolf Parade, Dog is Dead, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's, Fruit Bats AND Filthy filthy filthy filthy filth. Borgore, Excision, DatSikk, Funtcase, 16 Bit, Into the Wild, Grizzly Man, Where the Wild Things Are, East of Eden, The Jungle Book, Backdoor Sluts 9, The Hangover, Ninja Warrior, Party Down. Summer Heights High. Babestation. South Park. Family Guy, Lookwell, porn, and Victorian porn.

Rich is mostly defined by what he doesn’t like: he doesn’t like pop music, Simon Cowell, beautiful people, Radio 1, ITV, rapping, beatboxing, middle-class wankers, racism, sexism, Death Cab For Cutie, The Smiths, religion, Downton Abby, Tracy Chevalier, nu-metal, Empire magazine, Kerrang (wankers), drum machines (except when carefully used in Grindcore or Cybergrind – see Cutting Pink With Knives and Noism), synthesizers, Beth Ditto, public displays of affection, the city centre at the weekend, trance, techno, house, dubstep or any music made by skinny white people with computers, Kanye West, JLS, any show about fucking cooking or cooks, townies, chavs, narcissistic politicians, teachers, the song ‘Wait and Bleed’, the second solo on ‘Master Of Puppets’, artichokes, JK Rowling, any film or tv show with fucking vampires or zombies made after 1986, Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee. He does like metal (”ugly, angry music which you’d probably hate because you don’t understand it”), Atlas Shrugged, American Psycho, The Illuminatus Trilogy, Slayer, Napalm Death, Black Sabbath, Raging Speedhorn, Noism, Atari Teenage Riot, Venetian Snares, Behold The Arctopus, Godflesh, Cathedral, Sleep, Sepultura, Pantera, Soul Fly, Slipknot (2nd album only), PPK, Anal Cunt, Pig Destroyer, Jesu, Sunn 0))), James Plotkin, Earth, Brain Donor, Chrome Hoof, Hair Police, Mayhem, Wolves In The Throne Room, Burzum, Wolf Eyes, Ec8or, Dark City, Split Second, Blade Runner, Near Dark, Braindead, Halloween, The Thing, The Fly, and Alien.

Mini likes “Shopping. Shoes. Sushi. Sex. (”yes, always in that order.”) Sour apple martinis, putting effort into her appearance, Diana, Princess of Wales, Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, yoga, Pilates, fashion, fragrances, dubstep, Katy Perry, Harry Potter, Twilight, Dreamgirls, Grease, Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman, The Hot Chick, Legally Blonde, Clueless, Mean Girls, Crossroads, Inbetweeners, Misfits, Come Dine With Me, Party Wars, True Blood, Gossip Girl, 90210, The Hills, and ANTM.

Liv likes dancing, HST, Philip K Dick, The Animals of Farthing Wood, Only Forward, Dubstep, Hard DnB, Die Antwoord, Kids, A Scanner Darkly, Dazed and Confused, Bright Young Things, Anchorman, Blades of Glory, The Other Guys, anything in which Mel Gibson dies, Banged Up Abroad, BSG, Firefly, South Park, Twin Peaks, Hollyoaks, The Gilmore Girls. 

Nick likes Rugby, Sex, Winning, Drinking, being awesome, “all sorts” of music, R’n’B, Mumford and Sons, Rocky, Bourne, Borat, and anything with action or the funny, Sport and Friday Night Lights.

Matty likes absurdity, Friedrich Nietzsche, William S. Burroughs, Clive Barker, Hakim Bey, Splatterpunk, Maurice G. Dantec, Anton LaVey, Robert Walser, H.P. Lovecraft, Antonin Artaud, Raymond Abellio, The Art of War, everything Edgar Allen Poe would have listened to if the synthesizer was created before 1964, David Lynch, My Own Private Idaho, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and Shortbus.

Grace likes so many things. Jane Austen, ballet, theater, lucid dreaming, not having to wear a school uniform, collecting pennies, making wishes on things, animals, vanilla ice cream, The Big Book of Fairytales, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Northanger Abby, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Emma, Lolita, Jane Eyre, Little Women, Ballet Shoes, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Great Expectations, Tess of The D’Urbervilles, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Tom’s Midnight Garden. The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Wizard of Oz, Tales From The Brothers Grimm, Matilda, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Death of a Salesman, Cyrano de Bergerac, Macbeth, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, music that moves her, Casablanca. Sabrina. 42nd Street. Meet Me In St. Louis. A Star Is Born. The Wizard of Oz. An American In Paris. Mary Poppins. The Sound of Music. Annie. Singing In The Rain. Top Hat. The Gay Divorce. My Fair Lady. West Side Story. The Red Shoes. Grease. Fame. Dirty Dancing. Moulin Rouge. Chicago. Cleopatra. The Philadelphia Story. The Shop Around The Corner. An Affair To Remember. Some Like It Hot. Roman Holiday. Meet John Doe. La Belle Et La Bete. Breakfast At Tiffany’s. Romeo and Juliet. Disney films, Jeeves and Wooster. The One Show. Strictly Come Dancing. Anything on the Disney Channel. So You Think You Can Dance. Downton Abbey. Agatha Christie’s Poirot. The Forsythe Saga. Any Human Heart. Upstairs, Downstairs.

[shy-violet-soul]

Bite Me, Bit Fit!

Title:  Bite Me, Bit Fit! Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester Summary:  Dean is introduced to wearable fitness technology.  It doesn’t go well. Rating: E for everyone Warnings: fitness-related fluff; canon-compliant violence Word Count: 1,500

A/N:  I just recently got a FitBit™.  Quite the handy little contraption - because my job is sedentary, the little buzzing reminders on my wrist are good for me to go take a walk.  In the midst of a crazy moment, when that thing buzzed, I had to roll my eyes.  Then it made me wonder what Dean would think of it.  I took some creatively liberties with the actual functionalities of the app/device for the plot.  Enjoy!

A/N: somehow this got completed deleted from Tumblr. ???

*************************************************************

Suspicion lasered out of Dean’s narrowed green eyes as he stood there, arms crossed over his chest, while Sam wiggled the slim box in his direction.  

“C’mon, Dean.  It’ll be good for both of us.  It monitors exercise, your sleeping patterns…”

“None of which I do.”

“...Steps taken, water intake, calories burned...”

“None of which I care about.”

“And look - we can compete with each other on stats.”  Not to be outdone, Sam whipped out his phone, swiping quickly to an app.  “See?  We can set up a ‘Step Showdown’ or a ‘Workweek Water’ challenge.”

Plucking the phone from Sam’s grasp, Dean scrolled through the app dubiously.  “Does the ‘Weekend Warrior’ measure machete swings?”

Sam rolled his eyes.  “Look, you were just saying how you needed to take better care of yourself.”

“No, you said that.”  Dean extended the phone back to him dismissively.  “All that fancy fitness crap is your wheelhouse, so go wheel yourself along.”

Pocketing his phone, Sam propped his hands on his hips and sighed as he looked down at the floor.  “Well, that’s fine.  I figured you wouldn’t be up for it.  I mean, with you getting older, I’m sure competitions like this are more of a toll on you.”

“Whoa, hey, what?”

“It’s fine, Dean.  I kept the receipt.  I’ll get you a new heating pad for your shoulder or something.”

Dean scowled as Sam turned to walk away.

“You saying I’m too old?”

“Now, I didn’t say ‘old’.  You just need to be...careful.”

“You’re the one that needs to be careful.  I could still whip you five ways from Sunday, Sammy!”

“Dean, hey, it’s fine!  We don’t need to have any stupid competitions on which of us is in better shape…”

Stomping forward, Dean snatched the box out of Sam’s hand.  “Gimme that!”  He glowered at the box for a moment before tossing it on the library table and digging out his phone.  “What the hell is the app called?”

“FitBit™.”

“BitFit, fine.  I’ll show you who’s in better shape,” he intoned, shooting his brother a glare.  Sam merely raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture, then turned and hurried off before Dean could see his smirk.

*************************

Day 1

“Did you hit your step goal today?” Sam wanted to know.  Dean scoffed where he sat at the kitchen table with his laptop.

“Uh, yeah.  Like, hours ago.”

Sam frowned in surprise.  “Really?  ‘Cuz I literally just hit 10,000 after walking around the storage room all day.”

Dean blinked at his brother.  “My goal is 3,000.”

“Dean!”

His brother cavalierly waved off his protest.  “Hey, you said ‘step goal’.  You didn’t say whose step goal.”

Bitch Face Level 1 volleyed at Dean as Sam tossed his hands up in disgust.  “You can’t just change the goal after the challenge begins!  That’s like cheating!”

“It’s not cheating!  It’s...creative interpretation of the ground rules.”

“Dean!”

“Fine!  I’ll change it to 10,000.  Bitch,” he grumbled.

So validated, Sam sniffed in offense.  “Jerk.”

Day 3

Jaws popping around a yawn, Sam headed for the kitchen and the coffee pot.  The unknown case in Wichita Falls, with only blue-eyed victims missing their left eyes and their hair mysteriously purple, meant a lot of caffeine to fuel the lore research.  He’d no sooner stepped down into the kitchen when a phone suddenly arrowed into his face.

“HA!  Look at that!”  

Sam sucked in a breath as he tried to slow his heart rate.  “For cryin’ out loud, Dean!”

“Hydrate challenge...completed!” Dean crowed with a swaggering gesture.  “Eight glasses, Sammy.  Read it and weep.”

“You - Dean Winchester - drank eight servings of water, eight ounces each?” his brother side eyed him as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

Pocketing his phone, Dean brandished a plastic bottle aloft, shaking the dregs of water in it vigorously.  “That’s right.  And, no, some of it wasn’t beer,” he griped when Sam quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Good for you, Dean.  You win this one,” he praised around a yawn as he trudged back to the library, Dean in tow.  Dean pulled a laptop towards him as he sat across from Sam, sending him a confident smile.

“What can I say, Sammy?  You shouldn’t mess with the master.  Oh, and check this out!”  Chugging the last couple of swallows, Dean reopened the app and added his latest bottle to his daily total.  The app exploded in confetti and triumphant notes rang out happily.  “Ta-dah! Gotta say, this BitFit is pretty cool.”

“It’s FitBit™, Dean.”

“That’s what I said.” 

Too tired to formulate a comment, Sammy just smiled.

Day 8

“Uh-oh.”

Dean cracked an eye at the tinny sounding voice.

“We’re worried about you.”

Frowning his eyes open, Dean groaned as he turned his head and the muscles cricked up painfully.  As much as he loved his Baby, sleeping here was hell on his body.  He and Sammy had rolled into McCook, Nebraska yesterday after reports of three deaths proved weird enough to be their kind of thing.  Three dead guys, working for the same company, burned to a crisp in at the same golf course and one eyewitness groundskeeper swearing he saw a lion at the scene.  Awesome.  Lore hadn’t turned up any ideas on the monster yet, and the hours on the road had caught up with him.

The device on his wrist buzzed, catching his attention as another “uh-oh!” chirped from his phone.  Fumbling it up, Dean squinted as the app showed him a very sleep sad face emoji.  

“You only got two hours of sleep last night.  Remember - you’re at your best with eight!” the app notified dutifully.  Dragging himself fully upright, Dean tossed the phone into the passenger seat as he headed to meet up with Sam.  

“Shut up, fitness warden,” he grumbled, pulling back onto the road.

Day 10

The friendly blue band lit up and buzzed merrily.

“Congratulations!  You’ve hit 250 steps this hour!”

Dean didn’t even flinch as he sprinted through the woods at full tilt, flames licking at his heels in advance of the unearthly roar behind him.

“Sammy!”

“This way, Dean!”

The creature dug its claws in, clots of dirt tossing up as it spun to track Dean when he turned a tight corner towards his brother.  Snapping its jaws, it growled before giving chase once more.

“Uh-oh!  Your heart rate appears to be elevated past the peak rate.”  No shit.  He could feel his heart pounding with every footstep, but when a blast of dragon-lion-monster breath hit the back of his neck, Dean poured on the speed.  The ground beneath him rumbled, roiling and quaking in threatening earthquake omens as the chimera behind him roared again.  Who knew Greek monsters could pop up in freakin’ Nebraska?  “Doing cardio activity past peak level for extended periods hasn’t proved to be beneficial.  Stay at the cardio level for maximum impact.”  

“I’m about to maximum impact all over the place, godammit!  SAM!  I’m about to be cat-lizard food!” he blared out.

“Now!” Sam shouted, and his tall frame was suddenly there, crossbow at the ready with a hastily prepared iron spear locked and loaded.  “Tuck and roll, Dean!”

His bad shoulder cracked ominously as Dean hit the ground, his trajectory scraping a Dean-sized swipe in the foliage as Sam aimed, fired, and ducked.  The iron met the chimera’s spewing flames dead center, arrowing into the heart of the beast.  A heartbeat later, it exploded into sparkling, burning bits that dissipated into purple-y, ashy clouds almost instantly.  The earthquake stopped in its tracks, leaving the brothers’ spines twitching and ears itching.  

The trees held nothing but silence as Dean wheezed for oxygen.  He could feel his heartbeat all the way in his boots as he rolled over to check on Sam.  Twigs poked up out of his ridiculous hair as he gingerly pressed against the knee he’d twisted a few minutes before, sucking at air like it was going out of style.  Huffing out a sound that could have been a laugh, Dean nodded when Sam gave him a thumbs up.  They did it.  They killed the bastard.  And they didn’t die this time.  Although his lungs felt like they might make a liar out of him in a moment.

Then, into the quiet came two merry voices in stereo.

“Congratulations!  You’ve hit 10,000 steps!  Fastest record yet!” their phones chorused.  Sam groaned as Dean sneezed a leaf out of his nose.

“Bite me, BitFit, you son-of-a-bitch!”

[frederator-studios]

Grace Ellis: The Frederator Interview

Grace Ellis is among the most exciting comic and TV writers working today, and all from coffee shops ‘round Columbus, Ohio. The first comic she created, Lumberjanes, is a NY Times bestselling series, in development as a movie, and brought her home Eisner and GLAAD awards for her cat to try to knock over. Grace is currently writing one of the most magical comics of the year, Moonstruck, but still found time to pen some awesome episodes of Bravest Warriors season 4 (after she determined that the gig was not, indeed, a prank). Grace and I sat down to talk log-doodling, queer representation in comics, and the commonalities between Beth Tezuka and Captain America.

Having written Lumberjanes: were you a Girl Scout yourself?

For a little, until my troop disbanded! Lumberjanes re-connected me with my Girl Scout roots. The inspiration for a lot of the woodsy stuff comes from an outdoor camp I was part of. After college I worked for Autostraddle, the biggest online network for queer women. They host a weeklong sleepaway camp every year called A-Camp. It has a bunch of panels, talent shows, activities - really cool stuff. When I was a camp counselor one year in Big Bear, I made friends with an attendee, Shannon Watters, who’s a writer and editor at Boom! Comics. Later, she approached me about making a comic together.

Wow! So Lumberjanes was your very first comic... ever?!

Yup! The first issue of Lumberjanes was the first comic I ever wrote.

That’s amazing! Wait, backin’ up - what were you doing before?

My big kid job was journalism. I studied a mix of journalism, theater and women’s studies at Ohio State. After school ended I started pitching around and got a gig writing ads for Playbill. Then I got some work with Bustle too. I was doing sort of garbage writing: mostly TV recaps and some vaguely personal stuff here and there. Very little actual journalism. Then I got the job with Autostraddle when the site was still fairly new.

So you taught yourself both comic writing and screenwriting?

Pretty much! I was already familiar with story structure, so it was really about learning to adapt those elements to different formats, and take advantage of each medium. That comes with practice more than teaching. Every format is different. Like with comics, I go panel by panel, one at a time. I have to keep framing in mind while focusing on what’s happening in the scene, and what the characters are saying, because comics are super dialogue-driven. Writing comics is like trying to write the minimum in order to say the most. 

How did Lumberjanes develop from the first ‘let’s make a comic!’ moment?

We drew a lot of inspiration from Ms. Kitty Fantastic and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I developed the concept with Shannon and we started from just rough outlines of the characters. Then Brooklyn A. Allen came on and designed them. And after that we brought on Noelle Stevenson as a second writer. Working all together was really smooth, a cut-and-dry process. We only needed one Skype call per issue!

Which girl in Lumberjanes are you the most like?

Molly - well, I’m always told to answer Molly! She’s the timid and unsure one. But hopefully Jo as well! I like to think that I can be a leader.

How did you come to write for Bravest Warriors?

Shannon submitted me! Benjamin (Townsend, Story Editor) reached out. I actually forwarded the email to my lawyer right away. I was sure that I was getting scammed. I was so excited when it turned out legit!

(“Catbug! You don’t just bust in on someone when they're dukin’. Buddy... we talked about this.”)

Do you have a favorite character in Bravest?

Catbug is the most fun to write. Before pitching the Detective Catbug episode I wrote this season, I prepared by hanging out with a 5 year old. It actually helped! Catbug has the funniest voice, I just love writing him. But Beth is my favorite Bravest Warrior. Once I’d nailed down who she is, I really liked writing her. She kind of reminds me of Captain America: she’s unbeatable and refuses to stay down. And she’s unapologetically herself.

She truly is That Beth. How did you first start working on Moonstruck?

It actually started as a school exercise, with no plan to extend it! 2 years ago I was doing a program with Columbus College of Art & Design, where they partner their artists with pro comic writers. I was lucky enough to be accidentally (I later found out, secretly-totally-on-purpose) partnered with Shae Beagle. The assignment was to write a 5 page scene, with 2 twists; the first building off the second. That became the opening of Issue 1: the first twist is that we’re not in a normal human coffee shop - it’s full of mythological creatures. The second is that the girl we're following who seems totally normal… well, she doesn’t view herself as normal at all.

I’ve wondered why Julie is so insecure, when she’s surrounded by such a diversity of mythological people?

For Julie, it’s really this fear of losing control. She’s has a deep sense that in her werewolf form, she’s not normal. She’s not right. So she’s internalized some really negative stuff about what that means for and about her.

Are there levels of privilege and marginalization in this world around being human or mythological?

Yes - I’ve been working on how to represent societal privilege surrounding mythological and non-mythological people. A big inciting factor in Julie’s story is her falling in love with a girl, who - spoiler alert! - is also a werewolf like she is. But Selena has a totally different perspective on who she is. She’s comfortable with herself.

Your characters are so distinct - what is your process for nailing a character’s voice?

It’s a lot of time thinking about who the character is; how they’d react to things, based on their personalities and what they’ve lived. Living close to a college is a big help because I’m surrounded by people around the age of the characters I write. Overhearing conversations is often inspirational! I also pull a lot from real life and my own friends. I have the best time writing over-enthusiastic characters: the ones that are high energy, always on, and oblivious.  Julie, on the other hand - it was tougher to find her voice. She’s so timid, yet she also has this sardonic edge. It helped when I realized that she would say “Sorry” all the time. It’s her instinct to apologize for herself, even when she has no reason to! After figuring out something like that, that’s core to her character, I was able to grow her voice from there.

What do you find most challenging about writing? And most rewarding?

Being done is very rewarding! And feeling like you nailed it. The worst thing is when you don’t want to write. It’s easier now that it’s my job, because I have to do it. When I was an AV tech at a movie theater, I always wanted to write, but I wouldn’t do it. What’s tough is that I would rather think than write. Thinking is underrated. But the problem is, I know that I should write something - anything! - every single day.

Do you ever do any of your own art?

Nah, I’m not an artist. I draw sometimes. I’m a prolific log-drawer.

Logs?!

Yeah (laughs) I sometimes fixate on one thing and it becomes the only thing I doodle. Logs are that.

That is… oddly fitting! What is your creative process like?

It’s not very strict. My rule is that I leave my house every day before noon and go to a coffee shop. Then I just plug into it.

What do you like to do outside of writing?

Is there such a thing? Video games, especially during winter. Reading a lot of comics, plays and nonfiction. Biographies are great character studies. Currently, I’m reading a novel, The Blunderer by Patricia Highsmith. For writing pretty light and happy comics, I really do like books about heavy guilt and punishment...

Speaking of Patricia Highsmith - with her Price of Salt such a cornerstone in queer writing - what are your thoughts on representation and writing queer characters?

Oh yeah - we’re all familiar with the tropes. The sad stories, the coming out stories. They’re important in their way. But they aren’t what I need to write! I’m not a sad person, so I can’t just put that on. I write upbeat stories about characters who are already out and accepted. I’m a happy, out lesbian. So to represent those characters isn’t just what’s truthful to me - it also says to readers that hey, you can be a happy, out lesbian too!

Do you think there is a market for young adult media with queer characters and themes that didn’t exist a decade ago?

Absolutely. It used to be that anytime a writer put a gay or lesbian character in anything - let alone a main character - they were pigeon-holed as a ‘queer writer’. And a decade ago, that could severely limit, or even ruin, a writer’s career. Now, ‘queer media’ isn’t just a subgenre - gay and lesbian representation is coming into the mainstream. It’s a changing world. Lumberjanes did so well, it uncovered a whole market of tween, teenage girls and queer women. And there hasn’t been enough made for them! Backstagers, Zodiac: Star Force - a lot of the new comics coming out are riding on a wave of realization for the comic companies. They figured out that they were leaving money on the table when it came to queer female audiences.

What’s your advice to people who want to write comics or TV shows?

Write a lot. Write every day, if you can. It’ll make you a better writer. And put stuff on the Internet. It sounds scary, but it’s the best way to get your work seen. At this point, people are getting jobs off of Twitter. Networking is BS!

What is your Dream, or dream gig?

My dream is to write things that I’m proud of in many different mediums. A musical. A video game. A movie. I’m a really big fan of form. It’s an almost intellectual interest: the different things each format brings to the table, and how you work with each to find the best possible way to tell a story.

What are some of your favorite Things?

I loved Saturday Morning Cartoons. Recess, The Weekenders. I like weird slice of life children’s stories. Calvin and Hobbes is a huge favorite. LA Noir is my favorite video game. And one of my favorite comic artists is Alison Bechdel. She does a strip called Dykes to Watch Out For that is absolutely hilarious. ❀

Follow Grace on Twitter and Instagram.

Thanks for the interview Grace! We’ll no doubt be keeping up with you. Can’t wait for the great stories you’ll tell, across all the formats that strike your fancy!

- Cooper ❀

[echodrops]

Louie x webby? (Ducktales reboot)

(I’m going to answer some for the series I haven’t seen in one post because I’ve got so many in the inbox now I’ll never catch up otherwise. I still have a lot of these to go and I will be getting to them over the next week–thankfully I’m caught up on grading so life is good!)

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

I theoretically knew there was a Duck Tales reboot because of the KH UX medals lol but I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet. Nevertheless, this seems really cute–I like Webby’s redesign. The character looks more modern and more like a main character now, and I like the nod to Daisy’s design too. She seems like she’s a lot more fleshed out as a character now, rather than just being the girl of the team? (It’s been a long time since I watched Duck Tales, but I feel like I recall her not having as much impact/being as cool as the boys back then.)

In any case, this ship seems really cute!

Putting the rest under a cut to avoid stretching people’s dashes:

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / I don’t even know?? / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

South Park started airing just before I went into middle school, but even though I was getting to almost teenage, my parents were pretty aggressive about monitoring what I watched, so I was never allowed to watch this show in its early years, and by the time I reached high school and would have been able to watch it, my edgy “I want to watch the adult shows” phase was pretty much long over and the drive to watch the show never caught me. I’ve only ever caught a handful of South Park episodes here and there when others were watching it or something. From what I’ve seen it can be quite funny; I just never got the energy to catch up with all of it.

I heard Tweek and Craig became an actual canon thing through tumblr, and my dash was a wall of people drawing Creek fanarts for a while there. But I wasn’t sure if it was a “Hey, we’re putting in gay characters because we want to offend homophobes” or a “Hey, we’re putting in gay characters because we want to make fun of gay people” so I kind of just enjoyed the cute fanarts and then went on with my life.

But hey, the fanarts for this ship are super cute. I hope it stays a positive thing for the fandom!

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

Shit, I guess now I have to admit that I haven’t actually see Castle in the Sky. I really like Studio Ghibli, and My Neighbor Totoro, which my parents took me to see in the theatre when I was little, was basically the formative experience that kicked off my love of animation that has persisted today, but I haven’t actually had the means/time to sit down and watch some of the Ghibli classics that I missed over the years. I’m a big fan of Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns, Princess Mononoke, etc. but I haven’t sat down and watched Castle in the Sky or Nausicaä. I know, I know, you can shame me.

Still, it’s a Ghibli movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki, so I think I can guess what this ship is like–lots of mutually supportive loyalty, putting their friend’s happiness first, and helping each other fight for what’s right while being generally adorable children together? Okay, I pronounce this ship good in all ways.

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / What is this show, I’ve never even heard of it??? / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

True story, I had to look this up because I knew that the whole Nadia thing sounded familiar but it took me a while to realize I was thinking of the video game and that I actually had no clue there even was an anime before it. My mind is super blown. This anime looks rad as hell–it’s probably not weird of me to say that I feel like shows from earlier decades took way more risks and did way more out there stuff than shows today? I’m so tired of trite harem animes in comparison to anime that apparently relate to Jules Verne novels and have characters from Africa? Sign me up.

I watched a couple Jean/Nadia AMVs while looking for info on this series and oh my goodness they look so adorable. I love 90s anime, everyone was just so much cuter and sweeter back then. XDD I’m putting this on a to watch list ASAP. Um… if I can find the whole thing.

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / My tragedy senses are tingling / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

All right, some of y’all out here are watching some really classy shit in comparison to me. @_@ We go from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to the Count of Monte Cristo? I feel like I’ve been missing out on a whole vein of classic literature anime adaptations. Next you’re going to tell me there’s Shakespearean anime OH WAIT–in any case, knowing how things go with the Count of Monte Cristo, I was already like “Is this ship really going to turn out all right?” and then I made the mistake of reading that shipping wiki and lordy guys, why you gotta do this to me? I won’t ruin it for anyone else who hasn’t seen this series but mannnnn, it’s a good thing I eat up tragic drama like nobody’s business. Ships that hurt are still good ships!!

Gonna put this one on the watch list too.

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / The plot summary of this series is wild / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

So there really is a Shakespearean anime??? Okay, to be fair, I actually knew about this one, at least on the peripherals of my attention. It’s probably pretty bad of me to admit this, as a professor of English, but I’ve never been a very big fan of British literature, so Shakespeare is often hit or miss for me–it’s better seen performed than read. I probably wouldn’t have naturally sought out a Romeo and Juliet anime on my own, but after reading the plot summary of this, I’m just like… “Wait, whatttt???” Space fantasy Romeo and Juliet with vigilante Juliet??? This sounds awesome, what the hell.

Star-crossed lovers gets me all the time, and of course I love political intrigue. Not to mention I am all about that red-headed anime warrior girl trope not because my own hair is long and red or anything, nope not at all.

This seems very cool and different enough from the original story to distinguish it from other adaptations. I just have one question though… do they both still die at the end???

[celmation-gibson]

Well, It's Time I started these 'Best of' Reviews for what Animated thing had Happened this Year, and Now I'm ready for it, and for me, I think that 2017 was a great Year for Cartoons on TV (and one on the Net), and here are my Reviews on why.

Ben 10(2016 series) – Although the Show was Made and Released in 2016 at other Foreign territories, It finally got a Release in the US in 2017. And some Folks might say that some reboots aren’t very too Bright (and I would agree on TTG and/or PPG 2016), But I find this to be a Nerve Calming excitement, some of the Character Designs/Re-Designing look Cute & Likable to Me. And the One Thing that gets me Fired up for this Series is that some Artists I know worked on this Program, like Mr. Ryan Krammer(Uncle Grandpa, & SpongeBob's 'Food Con Castaways' episode), Ms. Monica Ray(Harvey Beaks, Magic Children Doing Things) as Storyboard Artists & additional Writers& Mr. Colin Heck(Legend of Korra, Harvey Beaks) as Supervising Director. And It was Wonderful to hear Ms. Jessica DiCicco(Lynn & Lucy Loud) voicing a Different-looking FrightWig, who the Character was previously voiced by Cree Summer in the Original Series. But believe me, I remember seeing the Original Ben 10 series along with Alien Force, but didn’t quite go thru the Rest of the Series until the Reboot came. Even the Original villains of this Show look so Cute (except for Billy Billions), which that Cuteness also goes to the re-Designing of the other Villains from the Original ‘Ben 10’ series, and the More appearance I’ve ever seen from a Villain is Steam Smythe (voiced by Roger Craig Smith of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ & ‘Regular Show’).

Billy Dilley’s Super-Duper Subterranean Summer – Quite an Interesting Show, and I bet many people thought that the Program reminded them of ‘Uncle Grandpa’, so Keep in Mind, Most of the Artists & Writers who worked on this Series previously worked on ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ & ‘Uncle Grandpa’. Even the Show’s Creator Mr. Aaron Springer voicing Billy almost sounds like Paul Rugg of 'Freakazoid', 'Pig, Goat, Banana, Cricket', & 'Secret Mountain Fort Awesome'.

Samurai Jack(Season 5) - I truly Enjoyed watching 'Samurai Jack' when I was Young, this Program along with 'Courage the Cowardly Dog', 'Juniper Lee', & 'Chowder' are Probably the only Good Old Cartoon Network Programs that I give Full Circle to in my Childhood. After the "Jack and the Baby" episode, the show went into a Deep Cliffhanger, and I truly Sympathize the Great Hero Jack for it, But Twelve Years Later, a New Season had Finally cometh, with the Show's Original Creator Mr. Genndy Tartakovsky coming to Ex. Produced the series after some Great Work back at Sony Pictures Animation(Hotel Transylvania films, & that Popeye Test Footage). And Instead of the Program being a-little Lighthearted like the Past Seasons with just Slime, Oil & Robotic Guts, and Major Boo-boos, the New Season 5 now airing on Adult Swim has moved to a Darker Tone, which I like as much as 'Return to Oz', 'Over the Garden wall', & 'the Black Cauldron', with some major Blood, Profanity, and some Grown-Up jokes put into it. And it was a Surprised to see some Old Characters that I recognize to make some Cameos in that one episode(or few), such as the Woolies, Demongo, and the Ravers, the Robots and their Robo-Samurai, and the "Jump Good" Monkey man & his Tribe. And some Fresh New Voices came in by Surprise, such as Mr. Chris Parnell & Keegan Michael Key in some Episodes. And I was Lucky to film the Final Confrontation between Jack & Aku during the Premiere of the Series Finale for Instagram. And did I nearly weep during the Part that Now that Aku is Gone, Ashi will Never be Born in the Future(because of the Space Timing Continuum), and I got to say, Ashi was a Cute Character that I truly Sympathize because of her Dark Past & People Torturing her back then, and I like her Voice Actress, the Legendary Ms. Tara Strong (Powerpuff Girls, My Little Pony, Ben 10, & Chowder). And even since Aku's Original voice actor Mr. Mako passed away back then, I say that Mr. Greg Baldwin really did a Good Job impersonating Mako voicing Aku, just like he did with Iroh of 'Avatar: the Last Airbender' & 'Legend of Korra', almost sounded like If Mako aged Puberty. I would say I'm Gonna Miss this Show, just like how I'll miss Chowder, Regular Show, and soon Uncle Grandpa.

Star vs. the Forces of Evil: Battle for Mewni /SvtFoE Season 3– To come Clear, I only watched the First Four Stories of that TV Movie Special, from “Return to Mewni” to “Marco and the King”, Because during the Further Episodes there was an Artist whose Career I clearly dislike, Tyler Chen of ‘Clarence’, ‘Fish Hooks’, ‘Pickle & Peanut’ & the Overrated Bravest Warriors minisode “drama Bug”, and that’s why I never made it to the Ending point, But I do read Perfectly that Star won the Battle against the Vile Toffee, and she got her Wand Redesigned. But what I can tell you that one of my Favorite Episodes from that so Far is “Moon the Undaunted”, and I gotta say that Eclipsa, Queen of Darkness is one of my Most Favorite Characters from the show so far. As for the Rest of Season 3 so Far, I’ve only watched Episodes that are NNOT directed by Chen, cuz remember when I said I don’t like his Career, but my Most Favorite Episodes out of Season 3 so Far is ‘Stranger Danger’, ‘Lint Catcher’, & ‘Trial by Squire’. Also, Despite having appeared in the 2016 episode "Page Turner", I like Hekapoo's appearance in the 2017 episode "Running with Scissors", which is One of my Most Favorite Episodes of Season 2.

The Loudest Mission: Relative Chaos - I really Enjoyed this Half-Hour Special of ‘the Loud House’, the New Characters there seemed Likable/Lovable unlike the Unlikable/Hate-able ones in Royal Woods where some Folks aren’t that Disgusting as Hell(Funny Business, Cereal Offender), and It’s also a Good Episode where no Sister Siblings were Complete & Utter jerks(Sleuth or Consequences, a Novel Idea), Even what surprised me Completely is that this was the First Thing in a Kids’ Cartoon to showcase a person with Down-Syndrome, and believe me, I felt Really Disappointed on how they were Portrayed in Adult Cartoons, Mostly *COUGH*Family guy*COUGH*. But in a Kids Cartoon, they were Treated Properly with Good Respect. And the Character Rosa reminds me of Mrs. Claus/Mama from Rankin/Bass’ ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ for some Wacky Reason, “Eat, eat, EAT”. And I still Love the RonnieColn Fandom Completely, that one LH Episode “Back Out There” almost Ruined some Things, and that Led me to have Mixed to Negative Feelings for Lincoln’s Friends Clyde, Rusty, Liam, Zach. So I would say that ‘the Loudest Mission: Relative Chaos’ is a Fun-Filled Episode that I could watch Multiple Times, It’s got Cute & Funny moments, some Heart-Warming Drama, and some Great Entertainment when the Alley Cats run amuck in the Casagrande apartment.

OK K.O! Let’s be Heroes – This Show has become a Great New addition to the Grand CN, It was created by Mr. @ianjq, who was previous storyboard supervisor & storyboard revisionist of ‘Adventure Time’, Writer & Story Artist for ‘Secret Mountain Fort Awesome’, voice of Wallow of ‘Bravest Warriors’, & developer, co-executive producer, supervising director, storyline writer & storyboard artist for ‘Steven Universe’, and I really like him Voicing Rad & other Characters such as Darrell & Crinkly Wrinkly in the K.O. program. It was based off a short Pilot episode ‘Lakewood Plaza Turbo’ back in 2013, in that Great Year of Discoveries along with other pilots for ‘Steven Universe’, ‘Over the Garden Wall’,  & ‘Clarence’, and that was a Time when I was also Fascinated with Disney’s Nine old Men and their Work/Book ‘the Illusion of Life’, and watching that Awesome Documentary on Cartoon Network’s ‘Next Generation of Animation’, I will always accept New Cartoon Network shows like ‘Adventure Time’, ‘Regular Show’, ‘Uncle Grandpa’, ‘Over the Garden Wall’, ‘Steven Universe’, & ‘We Bare Bears’ into the Cartoon Society. But as for ‘OK K.O.’ , the seems pretty Wonderful, It has a Blend of 1970’s Obscure Anime looks into the Western Animation looks, and How they have some Classical Cartooning Principles(Funny Cartoon Noises, Jokes & Gags) into the Modern Day Greatness. Even some of the characters seemed likable, Mostly on either Lord Boxman(voiced by the Great Jim Cummings), some of the Villainess Characters that the Heroes might met(Professor Venomous, Cosma, & Mr. Cardsley), and even some of the Main Good Characters, especially the Ones I also Sympathize like K.O., Rad, Enid, Dendy, Carol, & Mr. Gar, and I gotta say that Character Crinkly Wrinkly is the Funniest character that I’ve ever seen. I think it was Good that I first get to watch the Series when It was On-Demand before it aired on actual TV, but I have yet to see it’s 2013 Pilot episode along with the Rests that Aired on 2013, But I do know that it had a Mobile Game back then (though I did not Download it or played it) and a Series of Shorts by other Animation Studios, but I haven’t watch them because I am Never a huge fan of SCIENCE SARU and I’m Not too certain about Studio Yotta. But I gotta say also, This Show is a Fanstastic Experience on the Grand CN, Filled with Precious Heart-Warming episodes with Good Life Lessons like How to handle your own Duties as an Employer or how Great your Boss can be (‘Legends of Mr. Gar’), or If you Try not to Spoil your life by being a Self-Proclaimed Selfish ‘Cool Kid’ like Brat, you should have a More Focused Future ahead of you, even without going to Jail (‘We’ve Got Pests’), and the Show had some Crazy Developments such as Enid & Rad used to being a Couple (‘Second First Date’), and Enid being a Witch and being in a Family of Halloween-Themed Characters (‘Parents Day’). Plus the shows got a Good crew, Like the Program's Supervising Director Toby Jones, who Previously worked on 'Regular Show', and one of the Show's Story folks Dave Tennant, previously does some Stories for Pete Browngardt Cartoons, Which I think makes it Better for Me.

Pickle Rick – Why not, It’s “PICKLE RIIIICK!!!!”, I thought I would pass on this, But eventually won my Heart, don’t ask why, but Things just happen like that.

The Summoning - I just Discovered this while browsing on the internet probably from Fan-Art on DA, and I watched it on Youtube, and I gotta say, this Cartoon is Really Cute, Funny, & Creepy at the same time. The Main Characters seemed Lovable, and I mean Claire & Edgar, the Bunny Character is hugely Funny in a way, Though I feel Terribly Bad for the characters accidentally eating some things like Eating some Dandruff from a Big Head Island which Claire thought it was Dirt, and Eating Poop which Edgar thought it was Chocolate. But to make Matters Better for the Cartoon, Celmation Hero Ms. Natasha Allegri(Bee & Puppycat, Fionna & Cake) worked on the short as Director, Story Artist, & Character Designer, WHAT A HERO!!! And the Animations/Celmation was done by Digital eMation inc., the Celmation Team behind ‘Ok K.O. Let’s be Heroes!’ & the Season 5 of ‘Samurai Jack’.

The Movies of 2017 & Probably some on Video Games should be made soon.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Robin Hood Template

Good morning, Everyone! Happy Saturday! Hope you have a lovely weekend planned. So today I'm gonna talk about a story template (Robin Hood) that the show has used before.

I've mentioned this template several times in passing, pointing out that Joe Claimer in S4 made several RH references about or around Daryl.

So I recently had a follower ask if I had an actual post about the Robin Hood template. I don't, and when they asked me, I wondered why. Just never got around to doing one, I guess.

So I started doing some research and quickly figured out why I'd never made this into a post. I could only find a handful of references to the Robin Hood template, and they didn't tell me much more than what I've already said. But then, as always, I turned to my ingenious FB group. Putting our heads together produced some pretty awesome insights.

So let's start with the basics. The references I always noticed from S4:

In 4x15, Us,  the Claimers wake up to find Daryl gone. One of them says, "Looks like that robin hood cat cut out on us after all.” But of course, he didn't. He's out hunting rabbit. (Total Beth symbolism ensues, btw. ;D)

Later, when talking to Daryl about the "rules," Joe says the rules "keeps our little band of merry men together and stress free."

So we can see that in this analogy, Daryl = Robin Hood (also a fairly obvious parallel to draw because of his bow, which RH is famous for) and the Claimers = The Merry Men.

That DOES make sense. In RH, Robin happens upon an already-established band of men in the woods and joins them.

My biggest take-away from this has always been that RH's love interest, Maid Marion, doesn't die horribly in the Sheriff of Nottingham's castle. In pretty much every version she's in, Robin rescues her, they have a woodland wedding, and the peasants rejoice. (Yea!)

Before we go on, let's appreciate one other, earlier RH reference. Back in S3, when Rick, Daryl and co find the inmates who survived in the prison cafeteria, Tomas (Shane 2.0) calls them Robin Hood Cats. He's referring to the entire group, or maybe specifically to Rick and Daryl who are obviously the leaders.

So here's where things get interesting and kind of reach into S7. I don't think any of these references can be coincidences. In both cases, they use the same phrasing: robin-hood-cats. So let's look at both situations.

Just like in S4, in S3, Rick's group happens upon an already-established group that has some kind of hierarchy already in place. Joe led the Claimers in S4. Tomas was obviously the alpha male among the inmates.

The thing is that Robin Hood doesn't just join the Merry Men. He ends up leading them. In a war against an evil dictator. Who it is (King John, The Sheriff, etc) depends on what version you're dealing with, but Robin Hood always robs from the rich and gives to the poor, and leads the common folk against some tyrant who is oppressing them. Are we seeing how that might translate into Negan and S7?

One thing I've always noticed in Daryl's arc with the Claimers from 4b is how much Joe watches Daryl. He's always observing him, wondering how he'll react to various situations. 

Sure, part of it is just feeling him out, trying to figure out what role he'll take in the group. But I think it's more than that. I think Joe recognized leadership abilities in Daryl. He knew instinctively that, unlike the other guys in that group, Daryl wasn't one who would simply fall into line and follow. But he wanted Daryl with him specifically because of Daryl's strengths. He just didn't get that Daryl's mindset wasn't evil and callous like theirs was. So when Daryl tried to sacrifice himself for Rick, Michonne and Carl, Joe had no idea how to handle that. The rest is history.

Lots of people have theorized that the Claimers foreshadowed other bad groups that followed, such as the wolves (which I still think is true) and also the Saviors. Just as with Dawn at Grady, there are plenty parallels between our villains. All have "rules" that must be followed, and harsh consequences for breaking them. All three are led by villains that can be charming, or positive sometimes, but in truth are so flawed, they can't be left in power.

And the leadership aspect for Daryl makes sense, especially in view of @thegloriouscollectorlady's 4 Arcs for 4 Communities theory. Daryl never ended up leading the Claimers. They died after attacking Rick. But if Daryl ends up leading the Saviors or any other group, this will have been a powerful foreshadow.

Another way in which this template makes sense for Daryl's character is because of his peasant status. Some more recent Hollywood versions have Robin Hood being a Lord, but that's not common. The story traditionally has him being a peasant who went off to the crusades and managed to return home in one piece. That means he comes home with more knowledge than most people in that time period have. Most peasants didn't travel more than 50 miles from where they were born, so RH has experience most of them can't begin to comprehend.

That works well for Daryl. He's a redneck. He's never had a lot of money or been well-educated. (Never eaten frozen yogurt or had a pet pony.) Yet he knows more about survival than most people do, simply because he's always had to do more in order to survive.

(This is a little off-topic, but I almost think Daryl's time with the Claimers could parallel Beth at Grady just in the aspect of learning how evil people work. Between Joe and Negan, I think Daryl has had several "I get it now" moments, even if he hasn't verbalized them.)

Although Joe called his group "merry men," he's obviously the bad guy, right?

So let's look at Robin Hood. Again, different versions have different plots and villains, but as a general rule, the "big" bad guy is Prince/King John, who is trying to usurp his brother's throne. (His brother = Richard the Lionhearted; I'll come back to that.)

Then there's the Sheriff of Nottingham. Some versions have him as the main villain, foregoing John completely. But even when they do, the Sheriff is generally trying to take the throne for himself. Which means he's been given John's arc. Whether the version has one or both of them, John would always be considered a "bigger" bad guy, because he's more powerful than the Sheriff. The Sheriff, on the other hand, is usually set up as Robin Hood's arch enemy. As a peasant, Robin would be beneath John's notice anyway, but the Sheriff is lord of a Shire and has to deal with the peasants on a daily basis.

So, if the Claimers follow the RH template, then chances are Joe = King John, the biggest baddie. And who was set up in that group as Daryl's arch enemy? Lenny. Interestingly, the RH stories rarely have King John being interested in Maid Marion. Again, it's a social status thing. Marrying her would be beneath him. But it's very common to have the Sheriff wanting to marry or even rape Maid Marion in some way. And who razzed Daryl mercilessly about Beth, even though he never knew her name? Lenny. 

You could even compare that the symbolism of them both wanting the rabbit and cutting it in half. When Lenny died, Daryl ended up with the whole rabbit. Maid Marion is being fought over by RH and the sheriff, but in the end, RH wins, the Sheriff is toast, and RH wins Marion’s heart and hand in marriage.

Now let's look at Negan. If Joe and the Claimers foreshadowed Negan, then we should be able to figure out this template for the current season.

The big baddie would obviously be Negan. So Negan = King John. And who has been set up in S7 as Daryl's arch nemesis? The anti-Daryl? Dwight. So Dwight = Sheriff of Nottingham.

We're not sure how that will translate into Beth's arc, especially given the twist that Dwight is currently trying to switch sides. Given Sherry, Dwight won't want to marry Beth or anything (that'll probably be Negan) but he may have something to do with her arc or with her falling into Negan's clutches.

I said I'd return to Richard the Lionhearted. In the Robin Hood template, we have two men fighting over the throne: Richard the Lionhearted, who is the true and rightful king, and John, who's trying to steal the throne for himself. Richard the Lionhearted was a fierce warrior. He was known for fighting battles and he was a genius at it. He rarely lost a battle, even if outnumbered or on low ground.

Robin Hood, on the other hand, never fought for his own power or leadership. He fought to put the rightful king on the throne and to protect the common people. So how does that translate to TWD?

The two "kings" fighting for the "throne" would be Rick and Negan. And I think the Richard the Lionhearted thing works SO well for Rick because he is so fierce, and we all know that TF rarely loses. 

Even when they lose people, they're awesome at battle and improvising and they pretty much always survive and leave a trail of bodies and fire in their wake. That's a very accurate description of who Richard the Lionhearted was. Meanwhile, his people loved him and were fiercely loyal to him.

Meanwhile, Daryl doesn't especially want to be a leader. Like RH, people follow him because of who he is and what he stands for. They trust him. But he doesn't want to take Rick's place. Not at all. He'll fight to keep Rick in a leadership position, because he knows that's how it should be, and that Rick is the true and rightful leader.

There's even a RH story where he gains leadership for a time as a reward for helping King Richard (much like Daryl will probably end up leading at some point) but RH gets sick of it, and eventually goes back to live quietly in the woods with a small group of trusted friends. Sound like Daryl to you? Does to me.

So that's the gist of it. And again, in the legends that include Marion, she's taken captive by the big baddie, and they are separated for a time, but things always end up okay. Robin Hood always marries his love and they live many happy years together.

Just one more interesting thing and I'll shut up for today. This template really does more toward an illustration of Daryl's character than Beth's. Despite the Maid Marion element, it really does seem like more of a Daryl theory than a TD theory, right?

Don't be too sure.

In the Safe Zone, we also talked about the fact that both in the 3rd and 4th season, they used the phrase "Robin Hood cats" rather than just "Robin Hood." I mean, the Claimers could have said, "that Robin Hood guy" or "that Robin Hood character." What does a cat have to do with anything?

Well, we have another cat reference from Joe as well. If you remember, he says the thing about loving cats (vicious creatures) and how there's nothing sadder than an outdoor cat who thinks he's an indoor cat. 

It's a really random comment and it took me a while to figure out what Joe meant. You can interpret it on many levels. In the moment, Joe is suggesting that Daryl is trying to be civilized (as Beth taught him to be) when really he should be more savage like they are. We can see ties between this and his Buttons arc in 5b, where Daryl realizes that if he stays outside the walls too long, he'll become more animal-like, and it will eventually lead to his death.

But where the RH template is concerned, this is yet another emphasis on cats. Why?

So I decided to research cat symbolism. I didn't expect to find anything definitive, simply because there's too much. Cats can symbolize vastly different things depending on what culture we're talking about, and there's no way to be certain which interpretation tptb are going for.

So when I put the most vague thing I could think of ("cat symbolism") into Google and saw the first thing that came up, I burst out laughing. Like really? I didn’t even have to search for that or find a way to apply it:

Cats are most often indicative of resurrection and rebirth, y'all. They can be dark and deceptive at times (what is hidden) but are also considered lucky. (Luck Theory). And in some cultures (like Egyptian) they're considered guardians or keys to Underworld.

Again, we can't be sure that's what the writers were going for, but if it is, we have the RH template paired with resurrection. And remember that it comes right after Lenny teases Daryl about some girl he just lost.

As far as I can tell, cats aren’t a big part of the Robin Hood legend, if they have any part in it at all. Tptb added this in around the RH symbolism. For, you know, some reason.

So I'll just leave this here and let everyone stew on it. Who's ready for S8? ;D

Special thanks to my FB group, especially @getkath and @thegloriouscollectorlady for their amazing insights! 

A Robin Hood cat, just for fun 😆:

[sweetcerac]

Finding Free Kindle Books That Rock

There are so many free books on Amazon! And I’m hoping I can help you find your next great read from one of these frugal finds.

When I stumbled upon Introductions (The Ghost Bird #1) by C.L. Stone free for Kindle, the plot sounded so interesting. Set in this world of the The Academy, Sang Sorenson meets this amazing group of Academy guys that help her see she is worth so much more than how her family is making her feel with their abuses. Gorgeous wonderful guys and this really strong caring girl who seems to weave into their group so seamlessly as they try to solve the problems at their high school. It completely sucked me in!

Here I am, after reading all 12 Ghost Bird books and all of her second Academy series, Scarab Beetle series (the first book is also free) as well, I can't help but BEG for more from the author on Twitter. But it makes me realize what awesome nuggets of story telling these free Kindle finds can lead me to.

So here I have listed the Top 15 Free Kindle Books that I have found on Amazon that sound like they will lead to some more amazing series! Give them a shot along with me!

1) Awaken by Skye Malone

"Running away from home was never Chloe Kowalski's plan. Neither was ending up the target of killers, or having her body change in unusual ways. She only wanted a vacation, someplace far from her crazy parents and their irrational fear of water. She only wanted to do something normal for once, and maybe get to know her best friend's hot stepbrother a bit better at the same time.

But the first day she goes out on the ocean, strange things start to happen. Dangerous things that should be impossible. Things to which 'normal' doesn't even begin to apply.

Now madmen are hunting her. A mysterious guy with glowing blue eyes is following her. And her best friend's stepbrother seems to be hiding secrets all his own.

It was supposed to be a vacation. It's turning out to be a whole lot more."

2) The Mind Reader by Lori Brighton

"Cameron Winters is a freak. Fortunately, no one but her family knows the truth... that Cameron can read minds. For years Cameron has hidden behind a facade of normalcy, warned that there are those who would do her harm. When gorgeous and mysterious Lewis Douglas arrives he destroys everything Cameron has ever believed and tempts her with possibilities of freedom. Determined to embrace her hidden talents, Cameron heads to a secret haven with Lewis; a place where she meets others like her, Mind Readers.

But as Cameron soon finds out some things are too good to be true. When the Mind Readers realize the extent of Cameron’s abilities, they want to use her powers for their own needs. Cameron suddenly finds herself involved in a war in which her idea of what is right and wrong is greatly tested. In the end she’ll be forced to make a choice that will not only threaten her relationship with Lewis, but her very life."

3) The Fallen Star by Jessica Sorensen

"For eighteen year-old Gemma, life has never been normal. Up until recently, she has been incapable of feeling emotion. And when she's around Alex, the gorgeous new guy at school, she can feel electricity that makes her skin buzz. Not to mention the monsters that haunt her nightmares have crossed over into real-life. But with Alex seeming to hate her and secrets popping up everywhere, Gemma's life is turning into a chaotic mess. Things that shouldn't be real suddenly seem to exist. And as her world falls apart, figuring out the secrets of her past becomes a matter of life and death."

4) Bound, An Arelia LaRue Novel #1: by Kira Saito

"Sixteen year old Arelia LaRue lives in New Orleans where the music is loud, voodoo queens inhabit every street corner, and the ghosts are alive and well. Despite her surroundings, all she wants is to help her Grand-mere Bea pay the rent and save up for college.When her best friend Sabrina convinces her to take a well-paying summer job at the infamous Darkwood plantation, owned by the wealthy LaPlante family, Arelia agrees.However, at Darkwood nothing is what is seems. Arelia enters a world full of tricky spirits, strange characters and forbidden love.In the intoxicating world of New Orleans Hoodoo/Voodoo expect the unexpected! Come along for the ride..."

5) Starfire Angels by Melanie Nilles

"They've been coming here for thousands of years, using Earth as a sanctuary to escape threats from their own kind. Mankind knows them as angels, and one of them left a child upon her death to be raised as a human.

Raea is now a high school senior, and her life as a human is about to end. The crystal shard she bears is not a pretty pendant; it's a collective of powerful entities who chose her as their Keeper, a protector of one of the four shards that power a machine capable of destroying whole worlds. Those who desire the Starfire's power have sent an agent to find her, but she's too busy evading a nosy reporter ready to exploit her secret and dating a hot new foreign student to notice. Nevermind learning what she really is.

Only one person on Earth can help her, the last person she ever expected. But he's not from Earth. Life as a human would be so much easier."

6) Deep Blue Secret (The Water Keepers Book 1) by Christie Anderson

"California teen, Sadie James, thinks her life couldn't get any better. She has great friends, an energetic mother she adores, and the beach practically in her own backyard. But her carefree life is turned upside down when she's rescued by a mysterious and strangely familiar boy who won't even tell her his name.

Each time the boy appears, Sadie's unexplainable attraction to him deepens along with her need to unravel his secrets. The boy is there to protect her. But as wonderful and exciting as it might be to have an irresistible boy with crystal green eyes protecting her every move, every minute of the day . . . why does Sadie need one?

As Sadie finds answers, she realizes her life isn't as perfect as she thought. Not only is she caught in a world of dangerous secret agents she never knew existed, but it turns out her true identity may be the greatest secret of all."

7) The Deepest Cut (The MacKinnon Curse Book 1) by J.A. Templeton

"Sixteen-year-old Riley Williams has been able to see ghosts since the car crash that took her mother’s life and shattered her family. Guilt-ridden over the belief that she’s somehow responsible for her mom’s death, Riley is desperate to see her mother’s elusive spirit to gain her forgiveness.

When her father moves the family to Scotland so they can all start over, Riley believes her life couldn’t get worse––that is until the ghost of nineteen-year-old Ian MacKinnon catches her purposely cutting herself. An uneasy truce quickly turns into friendship, and soon Riley’s falling hard for Ian.

Riley believes her gift could help Ian end the curse that has kept him tied to the land for centuries, but that would mean letting him go forever and she’s not sure she is strong enough to do that. As if her life wasn’t complicated enough, the spirit of the woman who killed Ian returns and she’ll stop at nothing to keep Riley from helping Ian find eternal peace."

8) Initiate - The Unfinished Song Book 1 by Tara Maya

"The initiation ceremony is the gateway to ultimate power...or death. A DETERMINED GIRL Dindi can't do anything right, maybe because she spends more time dancing with pixies than doing her chores. Her clan hopes to marry her off and settle her down, but she dreams of becoming a Tavaedi, one of the powerful warrior-dancers whose secret magics are revealed only to those who pass a mysterious Test during the Initiation ceremony. The problem? No-one in Dindi's clan has ever passed the Test. Her grandmother died trying. But Dindi has a plan... AN EXILED WARRIOR Kavio is the most powerful warrior-dancer in Faearth, but when he is exiled from the tribehold for a crime he didn't commit, he decides to shed his old life. If roving cannibals and hexers don't kill him first, this is his chance to escape the shadow of his father's wars and his mother's curse. But when he rescues a young Initiate girl, he finds himself drawn into as deadly a plot as any he left behind. He must decide whether to walk away or fight for her... assuming she would even accept the help of an exile."

9) Rippler (Ripple Series Book 1) by Cidney Swanson

"Discovering she can turn invisible terrifies Samantha, especially when she learns a geneticist who murdered her mom wants her too. Handsome Will Baker offers help and secrecy, but soon Sam will have to choose between keeping her secrets and keeping Will in her life. Suspenseful and romantic, Rippler and its sequels capture the collision of the beautiful with the dark. Discovering she can turn invisible terrifies Samantha, especially when she learns a geneticist who murdered her mom wants her too. Handsome Will Baker offers help and secrecy, but soon Sam will have to choose between keeping her secrets and keeping Will in her life. Suspenseful and romantic, Rippler and its sequels capture the collision of the beautiful with the dark."

10) Sora's Quest (The Cat's Eye Chronicles Book 1) by T. L. Shreffler

"A noblewoman, an assassin, and a soul-stealing necklace....

Sora planned on running away from her wedding, but she never expected to be kidnapped! Dumped into a world of magical races, arcane jewelry and forgotten lore, she finds herself at the mercy of a dangerous assassin, haunted by an even darker past. She yearns for freedom, but he won’t let her go—not when her Cat’s Eye necklace is the only thing that can save his life.

But the necklace itself presents a problem. It is an ancient device from the long forgotten War of the Races, and its magic has the ability to steal souls. Can Sora learn to wield its power—or will the power wield her?"

11) Six Moon Summer by SM Reine

"Rylie's been bitten.

She's changing.

And now she has three months to find a cure before becoming a werewolf... forever.

Rylie Gresham hates everything about summer camp: the food, the fresh air, the dumb activities, and the other girls in her cabin. But the worst part is probably being bitten by a werewolf. Being a teenager is hard enough, but now she's craving raw flesh and struggles with uncontrollable anger. If she doesn't figure out a way to stop the transformation, then at the end of summer, her life is worse than over. She'll be a monster."

12) Into the Shadows by Karly Kirkpatrick

"Paivi Anderson has it all - friends, a spot on the varsity basketball team, wonderful parents, and quite possibly, her first boyfriend. It was everything a freshman in high school could ask for. Her perfect life begins to crumble when she discovers her name on a list distributed by a power-hungry presidential candidate. How could anyone think of Paivi as an Enemy of the State? Could it be because of her special powers? No one was supposed to know about them, but the mysterious messages in her tater tots say otherwise. In INTO THE SHADOWS, Paivi quickly learns who her friends are and is forced into a reality she didn’t see coming."

13) Fire in Frost by Alicia Rades

"CRYSTAL FROST tells herself she isn't crazy, but sane people don't see ghosts. As her psychic abilities manifest, Crystal discovers she can see into the future, witness the past, and speak with the dead. Add blackmail to the list of things she never thought would happen to her, and you basically have her sophomore year covered. After spotting her first ghost, secrets from her family, friends, and classmates begin to surface. Uncovering secrets can be dangerous, but giving up means someone will get hurt. Again."

14) The Ghost Files by Apryl Baker

"Cherry blossom lipstick: check Smokey eyes: check Skinny jeans: check Dead kid in the mirror: check

For sixteen year old Mattie Hathaway, this is her normal everyday routine. She’s been able to see ghosts since her mother tried to murder her when she was five years old. No way does she want anyone to know she can talk to spooks. Being a foster kid is hard enough without being labeled a freak too.

Normally, she just ignores the ghosts and they go away. That is until she see’s the ghost of her foster sister… Sally.

Everyone thinks Sally’s just another runaway, but Mattie knows the truth—she’s dead. Murdered. Mattie feels like she has to help Sally, but she can’t do it alone. Against her better judgment, she teams up with a young policeman, Officer Dan, and together they set out to discover the real truth behind Sally’s disappearance.

Only to find out she’s dealing with a much bigger problem, a serial killer, and she may be the next victim…

Will Mattie be able to find out the truth before the killer finds her?"

15) A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends #1) by Jayde Scott

"The moment Amber starts her summer job in Scotland and sets eyes upon Aidan, her fate is sealed. Summoned by an ancient bond, she can never love another. Lost in the woods one night Amber enters Aidan's deadly world when she unknowingly participates in a paranormal race and promptly wins the first prize...a prize worth killing for.

In a world of forbidden love, ancient enemies, legends and rituals, nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted. Life will never be the same again, unless she enters the Otherworld. But to do so, Amber must die..."

[skygatecreations]

what up i was tagged by @kaitenkenburokuren

RULES: Answer all the questions, add one of your own and tag as many people as there are questions

not tagging that many ppl either.

not taggin no one because I pmuch know all of em pretty well and they all busy being awesome at life. but thank for the tag, these fun despite how smartass I sound.

under cut lmao <- same bro

1. Coke or pepsi? coke <-same

2. Disney or dreamworks? Disney has a higher hit vs. miss ratio with me, but Dworks got some good ones.

3. Coffee or tea? Coffee bro.

4. Books or movies? prolly movies. usually animated sh** that I use as ‘inspiring background noise’ and don’t actually watch a lot of the time.

5. Windows or mac? Windows cause it’s what I know best. Also I don’t tend to  like Apple’s monopoly-ish-ness.

6. DC or marvel? Marvel pm strictly because I like the movies. No clue on comics...Also ol X-men cartoon Storm was my homegirl as a youngling. I honestly think she might have subliminally created the thing I have for white hair lol

7. Xbox or playstation? Playstation cause that’s what fell into my lap.

8. Dragon age or mass effect? no.

9. Night owl or early riser? night owl <- same

10. Cards or chess? cards...but preferably neither because I’m uncannily terrible at non-video games...k actually pretty bad at vid games too but the nons...Jesus Christ 8/

11. Chocolate or vanilla? Are we talking ice cream because that kinda important op. like get yer sh** together...anyway if yes, then Chocolate.

12. Vans or converse? probably neither. not usually my look...also I’m picky as Hell.

13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash or Adaar? ...what you just call me bro?

14. Fluff or angst? angst in certain doses. Also I’m picky even with that.

15. Beach or forest? both.

16. Dogs or cats? both

17. Clear skies or rain? both kinda - no like...that patchy sort of cloud+sun after it rains that makes the light look all awesome and sh**

18. Cooking or eating out? eating out, but if I learn to cook more it’ll probably be a harder call.

19. Spicy food or mild food? mostly mild. There if like, 1 at times very spicy food that hurts me but tastes freaking amazing lol but been trying some slightly spicer that my normal jam foods lately.

20. Halloween/samhain or solstice/yule/christmas? can’t decide. strangely apathetic at this...slightly concerned about myself now. thanks for the existential crisis, man. 

21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot? maybe a lil too hot tbh. just increase water intake and *thumbs up*. cause a lil too cold makes the migraines worse. like ‘difference between vom-ing or not’ worse.

22. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Flight bro.

23. Animation or live action? Animation. like good 2D Disney-ish stuff, not this eyesore bullsh** on CN these days.

24. Paragon or renegade? Apache attack Helicopter. idk.

25. Baths or showers? shower <- same...I like baths but I don’t have a plug for the tub so they don’t happen much...

26. Team cap or team ironman? shut up I haven’t seen that movie yet.

27. Fantasy or sci-fi? depends on the mood.

28. Do you have three or four favorite quotes, if so, what are they?

‘Fall seven times, Stand up eight’, ‘Don’t be afraid of dying, be afraid of not living’, ‘Fly as far into the crash as you can’ (or ‘drive’ if we talkin cars) ‘You panic, you die.’ ...idk, a lot of stuff I heard from people that are generally a lot braver and cooler than I am lol.

29. Youtube or netflix? Youtube. Can’t afford netflix. check yo privilege damn.

30. Harry potter or percy jackson? HP. not even close.

31. When do you feel accomplished? *bitter, empty laughter*

32. Star wars or star trek? Not a space opera fan but if I have to choose, Star Wars all the way. because it’s a little LESS space opera.

33. Paperback or hardback books? hardback but can’t say no to all the free classic ebooks that I’ve been finding. Bro. Read the Jungle Book(s). the REAL ones. That mess is epic. All movies made of it so far are SH** and it will anger you once you learn how sh** they really are.

34. Horror or rom-com? Rom-com if must choose. because I have an overactive imagination and I will have f-ed up dreams. My sleep pattern is sh** enough as it is lol...and yet I listen to a lot of ‘true scary story’ narrations...

35. TV shows or movies? tv shows because easy background noise

36. Favourite animal? MANY. Dogs, cats, horses, sharks...

37. Favourite genre of music? MANY. like...only criteria is “do I like it?’. notables are classic rock, epic soundtrack-y sh**, and I’m super hooked on synthwave right now...which basically means I like 80′s synth music...

38. Least favourite book? idk, if I dislike something that much I stop reading/don’t read. I guess Hunger Games series qualifies tho compared to everything I’ve read. Not a bad story, but I really...don’t like first-person perspective...so cringe. sooo shamelessly made for self-insert fantasies.

39. Favourite season? fall I guess.

40. Song that’s currently stuck in your head? toss up between Neo-tokyo and Running in the Night (totally freaking different vibes? told you I like a lot of sh**)

41. What kind of pyjama’s do you wear? usually-loose camisoles and soft pants/shorts, preferably of Jersey material. I dislike fuzzy ‘warm’ sh**. let the blankets do their damn job lol

42. How many existential crises do you have on an average day? my whole life is one big existential crisis.<- SAME BRO

43. If you can only choose one song to be played at your funeral, what would it be? Bruh that dark.

44. Favourite theme song to a TV show? tbh AS a theme song? ...probably Yuichi ikusawa’s WARRIORS from one of the Yugioh openings. Pretty damn epic. only up to a certain point of the full song tho (opening cut is fine). eventually he starts doing this weird actually laughable thing with his voice and ruins it.

45. Harry potter movies or books? Books. movies are good for book movies though.

46. You can make your OTP become canon but you’ll forget that tumblr exists. will you do it? OTPs are great but I have friends on tumblr and some that I I’m having active interactions with and are expecting stuff from me. I sacrifice the OTP for my duties. *salutes*

47. Do you play an instrument and if so, what is it? *more bitter laughing*

48. What is the worst way to die? anything slow. Bonus bad points if you are alone and have time to think of your fam and friends and how your end will effect them...that got dark again. moving on :)

49. If you could be entirely invisible for a day, what would you do? idk man, maybe just go around looking for wild animals to hang out with without their knowledge...or the risk of being mauled. Or go places I’d never go by myself because ghetto-as-hell and just chill.

50. If you could have personally witnessed anything in history what would it be? The first hop of the Wright Flyer. Dawn of powered flight bitches. 

51. If you could understand animals but you could never understand humans again, would you? ...bruh. No. like I know a lot of people would think that would be cool and sh** but if you think ‘people just don’t get you’ now, imagine if you really were incapable of communication. like...sh** would suck. And you’d have to be a hermit somewhere with no money cause no/extremely limited livelihood options...is my adult showing? I feel like my adult is showing.

52. What is your most favourite album currently? I don’t really do albums. I pick and choose what I like.

53. What is your favourite TV show character? lots of them. usually the dudes with complex/’juicy’ backstories...which is pretty boring because a lot of people would probably say that. because those tend to be the most interesting.

54. What is something you were obsessed with as a child? doggies idk

55. Do you have any tattoos/piercings and if not would you like any? just single earlobe piercings.

56. Biggest pet peeves? hard to call. a lot of things annoy me lol. maybe people not taking responsibility for their own actions/bullsh**.

57. A place you’ve always wanted to visit? Close between Germany or Japan, I got family both places. Japan narrowly wins.

58. cheesecake or carrot cake? carrot cake if it good...and doesn’t have deer turds- I mean raisins. ...I think I got all of them? idk you see one I missed lemme know.