#yes this is a remake of an older comic

[dimespin]

Parenthood

[princesssarisa]

Disney's unconventional "Cinderella" (1950) (long)

Having watched most of the many adaptations of Cinderella, I've come to realize what a unique adaptation Disney's 1950 animated classic really is. Unlike Snow White, which only had a few stage and screen adaptations before Disney produced its groundbreaking film, Cinderella had already been adapted many times before Disney's turn came, and Disney's version makes a surprising number of departures from the standard Cinderella "formula." It was definitely a fresh, creative Cinderella when it made its debut, and it arguably still is. Yet because it's become so familiar in pop culture, and today so often serves as our childhood introduction to the tale, it's easy to overlook its inventive storytelling choices. The 2015 live action remake uses several classic Cinderella adaptation tropes that the original 1950 film actually subverts!

Here's a list of the often-overlooked ways in which Disney's Cinderella stands out from earlier adaptations, and from many later ones too.

Cinderella herself. Disney's Cinderella isn't a traditional Cinderella in personality. The "traditional" portrayal of Cinderella, seen in virtually every adaptation before Disney's and several afterwards too, is the portrayal I call "The Waif": a very young, fragile, melancholy girl, dressed in pathetic rags and smudged with ashes, who makes the audience want to rescue her and who wins the Prince's heart with her wide-eyed innocence and artless charm. But whether chiefly to set her apart from earlier screen Cinderellas or from Disney's earlier delicate ingenue Snow White, Disney's Cinderella is none of those things. She comes across as older, or at least more sophisticated. Nor is she waif-like, but instead combines down-to-earth warmth with ladylike dignity, even at her lowliest. She doesn't sit in the ashes ("Cinderella" is her real name in this version), and her servants' dress is humble yet clean and only slightly tattered. She's gentle and kind, yes, but also intelligent, practical, playful, sometimes sarcastic, philosophical, optimistic, genuinely cheerful when she's with her animal friends, and yet angrier and stronger-willed than virtually all earlier Cinderellas. She doesn't beg to go to the ball, but asserts her right to go, and then sets to work fixing up an old dress of her mother's for herself. Only her stepfamily's sabotage, first by keeping her too busy to finish the dress, and then by destroying it after the mice and birds finish it for her, prevents her from taking herself to the ball without a Fairy Godmother. To this day, she stands out as a complex, unique Cinderella, which pop culture too often forgets.

Lady Tremaine. Some critics today complain that Disney makes Cinderella's stepmother a total monster instead of giving her "nuance" and call her portrayal "sexist." But can't we agree that her sheer cruelty enhances the film's dramatic power? And compared to earlier portrayals of Cinderella's Stepmother, it definitely makes her stand out. In most pre-Disney Cinderellas and many after, the Stepmother is a pompous, vain comic antagonist. Once again, Disney was innovative by portraying Lady Tremaine as a dignified, manipulative, and truly sinister villain, who takes quietly sadistic pleasure in abusing Cinderella and will stop at nothing to prevent her from going to the ball or marrying the Prince. As far as I know, she's also the first Stepmother to realize before the slipper-fitting that Cinderella was the lady at the ball and to take action to prevent her from being found. That's a commonplace plot device in more recent adaptations, but in 1950 it was a creative twist!

The mice and other animals. Viewers debate whether Cinderella's mouse friends, Jaq, Gus, et al, and their misadventures evading Lucifer the Cat are a welcome addition or take away too much screen time from Cinderella herself. But there's no denying that the presence of the mice and birds is an inventive storytelling choice, which makes Disney's Cinderella stand out! And I can provide a long list of reasons why they're more than just "filler." (1) They add liveliness, humor, and appeal for younger children. (2) They gave the animators an outlet for the type of character animation they did best, rather than binding them to the harder work of animating realistic humans. (3) They give Cinderella someone to talk to besides her stepfamily. (4) They give her a way to demonstrate her kindness. (5) The struggles of the mice with Lucifer parallel Cinderella's abuse by her stepfamily, and Cinderella's undying optimism not only keeps her from despair, but inspires them too. (6) They arguably provide a further reason why Cinderella stays with her stepfamily – not only does she have nowhere to go, but an entire community of small sentient creatures relies on her for food and protection. (7) They reward Cinderella for her kindness. From the start, her friendship with the mice and birds makes her life easier to bear, both by easing her loneliness and because they do helpful deeds for her, like mending and cleaning her clothes. They fix up her mother's dress for her to wear to the ball – only the stepfamily's last-minute cruelty requires the Fairy Godmother to step in. And in the end, they're directly responsible for Cinderella's happy ending by freeing her from her locked room. They do all these things because Cinderella has protected them, fed them, made them clothes, and been their friend. Therefore, Cinderella's good fortune never feels "just handed" to her: her kindness directly earns it.

The Fairy Godmother. It's always varied between illustrators whether Cinderella's Fairy Godmother is portrayed as a grandmotherly old woman or as youthful, regal, and beautiful, but screen and stage adaptations before the Disney version virtually always took the "youthful, regal, beautiful" approach. That is, when they didn't change her into a wise, fatherly male magician-advisor, as in several opera adaptations! At any rate, seriousness and dignity were the norm for this character in most adaptations from the 19th century through the 1940s. Making her a sweet, comforting, grandmotherly figure, with a comically and adorably absent mind, was another of Disney's fresh choices.

Cinderella's entrance at the ball. We all know the classic image of Cinderella's entrance from other adaptations. Cinderella appears at the top of the grand staircase that leads down to the ballroom, and a hush falls over the assembly, as not only the Prince, but all the guests and members of the court are amazed by the unknown lady's beauty and magnificent dress. Even in versions without a staircase, Cinderella captivates the room the moment she enters. Adaptations both before and after Disney's, including Disney's own 2015 live action remake, play her entrance this way. But the 1950 animated classic subverts it! The grand staircase leads up to the ballroom, not down to it, and Cinderella's entrance isn't a triumph at first, but a vulnerable moment as she makes her way up the stairs alone, dwarfed by the splendor around her. Then, when she reaches the ballroom, no one notices her at first, because the other ladies are being presented to the Prince and all eyes are on him. But then the Prince notices her in the shadowy background as she quietly marvels at her surroundings, and leaves his post to approach her and invite her to dance. Only then does the rest of the assembly notice her, because she's the one the Prince has singled out. It's more understated and it feels more realistic than the traditional entrance, as well as more clearly symbolic of Cinderella's venturing above her station, then both literally and figuratively being led out of the shadows by the Prince's unexpected attention.

The slipper-fitting plan. Over the years, it's been fairly popular to mock the idea of using the glass slipper to find the Prince's love, as if there were no chance it would fit anyone else. Disney's version is creative by having the slipper-fitting search be the comical, hot-blooded King's idea, not the Prince's, and making it clear that it's not, nor is it meant to be, a foolproof plan to find Cinderella. The Duke points out that the slipper could fit any number of girls, but the King doesn't care if they find the right girl or not: he just wants to hold his son to his pledge to marry "the girl who fits this slipper" and force him to marry the first one who fits it. This also means that Disney doesn't do what most adaptations do and have the Prince conduct the search himself, but follows the original Perrault tale by having a gentleman, in this case the Grand Duke, do it instead. This prevents audiences from mocking the Prince for relying on the slipper instead of knowing his beloved's face.

Cinderella breaking free and asking to try on the slipper. Even though in Perrault's original tale, Cinderella asks to try on the slipper, she almost never does in adaptations. In most versions other than Disney's, including Disney's own 2015 remake, Cinderella's presence in the house (and/or the fact that she has the other slipper) is either discovered by accident or revealed by Cinderella's allies, not by Cinderella's own initiative. In some versions, she even tries to hide from the Prince and/or the search party, either out of fear of her stepfamily or because she feels unworthy of the Prince in her rags. But not Disney's animated Cinderella! First of all, she has an assertive emotional breakthrough when she calls on her dog Bruno to chase Lucifer away and free Gus to slip her the key to her locked room. Earlier on, she urges Bruno to try to get along with Lucifer, lest the stepfamily not allow him to sleep in the house – it's clear that Bruno represents her own rebellious side, and in that scene she's really talking about herself, revealing that she tolerates her stepfamily's abuse so she won't lose her own "nice warm bed" and be homeless. But in the climactic scene, when she finally sees a way out, she gives up playing nice and seizes her chance. First she unleashes Bruno on Lucifer, and then she runs downstairs and directly asks to try on the slipper, not caring how her stepfamily will react, or what the Grand Duke will think of her shabby dress, or whether the audience will accuse her of gold-digging or not. This isn't a common breakthrough in other Cinderella adaptations, but it fits perfectly (like a glass slipper, you might say) with the Disney Cinderella's stronger-willed and more self-assured characterization.

"I have the other slipper." We can probably all safely assume that when audiences first saw Disney's Cinderella in 1950, they all expected Cinderella to try on the glass slipper she lost, with her identity revealed by its perfect fit. They never would have expected Lady Tremaine to trip the footman and break the glass slipper... only for Cinderella to calmly reveal that she has the other one. It's yet another clever and unexpected twist, not seen in any other version. Not even Disney's own 2015 remake.

Disney's Cinderella deserves far more credit than it gets for being unique among the myriad versions of the tale, especially compared to the versions that came before it.

[princeloww]

I met this older doctor who fan at a comic festival today - I was with 2 of my friends, and we were just sort of browsing the stalls. He was selling some old comics and stopped us to talk to us a bit. He saw that I was holding a doctor who book, so he started going on this rant about how new doctor who is lesser and that we aren't proper fans (essentially) if we haven't seen the old one.

It was like, almost sort of condescending? He was the superior fan and we were simple lesser beings and annoying for enjoying something new and "changed" (He had some issue with Ncuti Gatwa's sexuality, race and Jodie Whittaker's gender).

And I appreciate that - he is sentimental when it comes to the original doctor who, and doesn't like the remake as much. But like... shouldn't you be happy that young people are still into the thing you like? That it's being carried on, and not forgotten and left behind? Just because it's not the one you grew up on doesn't mean it's automatically bad. Yes, some episodes are utter shite, and 13's writing wasn't spectacular - but there's no need to act superior. It just seemed quite rude?

He used "I have trans friends" as a justification for his dislike towards having a gay doctor. He also defended his dislike of Jodie Whittaker by saying that new female characters should be made, rather than replacing existing ones with females - but the whole point of the doctor is that they change, isn't it? Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant have completely different faces and bodies. Is it really that big of a "change", having slightly different body parts? Or a different skin tone?

Anyway, and then he came over to MY stand and gave me unsolicited, unhelpful critique on some of the stuff I was selling. Thanks random doctor who fan

[aragarna]

Zorro Vive

And vive bien!

So, I've finished Season 1 of the new Zorro show (available through Amazon in the US and most Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries), and I really enjoyed it!

Without spoilers, I'd say that its main qualities are that it's fun and earnest and more cosmopolite in its retailing of the old story. It doesn't take itself too seriously, there's plenty of little homages to previous adaptations. There's many interesting and well-developed characters - of all genders and ethnicities.

It's (literally) colorful, with a comic/pulp feel that suits it well. There's been a true care brought to the action scenes, and OMG the night scenes are damn well lit. It's rare enough nowadays so points for that. Generally, the show is quite beautiful.

More spoilery thoughts under the cut.

I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from a new show. It's always hard to bring new canon to something so established and so iconic. And even though the Disney show is *not* the original canon, for a lot of people, it is.

But as a principle, same as for book adaptations or remakes, I'm not opposed to variations or changes. As long as they're good changes.

And I have to say, the vast majority of the changes in the new Zorro show, to me, were actually good changes, or necessary improvements for today's audience.

The most obvious is giving back a real voice to the Natives and not sugarcoating the colonization aspect. There's tension there. Natives are angry. But as years passed, people born there consider themselves "true Californians". Natives aren't just background characters or peons anymore. They're a driving plot force. They're shown in their own environment, with their own rites (I don't know enough about Natives of this area to know how accurate it is, but it felt a lot more authentic and respectful to me than other versions).

I do like the idea that the Zorro character comes from the Native culture, and that it's been passed on from one person to the next. Though it also brings my one big issue with the show: Diego becoming Zorro reads a lot like "a white dude steals a Native heritage." And yes, it's symbolic, and yes the fox spirit chose him, Diego didn't pick him, but still. Given that the audience is meant to support Diego (who really is a sweet guy!), that the narrative keeps showing us that Nah-Lin is wrong and should accept it, given the colonization context of that story, it's sitting a bit wrong with me.

This aside, I do like the exploration of revenge vs. justice, violence vs. a more measured response, in the face of adversity. When a few months back, the tagline "revenge is personal, justice is for all" appeared on the first poster, I wasn't sure what to think. I don't like revenge-driven characters. It's cliché and wrong. But the fact that the show precisely explored that, both with Diego and Nah-Lin, was actually quite interesting.

Diego, as I said, is a decent guy. A sweet boy really, vaguely immature originally but having to mature really fast, as the death of his father, the business of the rancho, the Zorro thing and Lolita's wedding are all dropping on him at once. Miguel Bernardeau is a clear departure from most of the previous Zorros, who were played by older actors, giving a more "adult" vibe to the character, but given he's supposed to be fresh out of college and out of his element, Bernardeau's more juvenile features fit the character well.

Nah-Lin is a lot angrier, and while in the context of the story, she's shown to be going at it the wrong way, all that anger *is* justified, and not something that can just be brushed off. Peace can't come easy when you anger people that way.

And you know who else I really liked? That damn Capitan Monasterio! Who would have thought LOL No, but seriously. Not sure why they named him that way. He was actually more of a Sergeant Garcia (or Mendoza from the 1990 show) than a Monastario. Obviously without the comic relief and cutely incompetent side of the character, but as the character who is a decent guy stuck between a rock and a hard place, serving a tyrannic boss and chasing a heroic outlaw that he may not hate that much.

I also really liked what they did with Lolita. An opinionated young lady that throws away all the corseting conventions of her time is always very relatable to me. Also, I just love her fashion sense. I wasn't sure what they were going to do with that impossible love triangle (I thought for a long time the wedding wouldn't actually happen). I wouldn't have thought they'd have Lolita figure it out, but I'm glad she did.

I'm glad they kept Bernardo, the mute confident. And I love Mei, too. The dynamic between the three of them (with Diego) is great!

Also, it's great to finally have a Spanish-speaking production, and have the characters speaking in Spanish, instead of having American actors put on fake accents.

I may have a couple of minor complains: namely that I didn't care about Samael nor Alejandro's first love. Not sure planting so early something that they're keeping for S2 is a right move. Feels like a waste of screentime. Also, I'm not particularly found of secret societies trying to rule the world, but it seems to be mandatory to any Zorro story... And the finale episode didn't actually wrap up that many plotlines - every major villain escaped! So that kinda made it look like Zorro didn't accomplish much, apart from breaking Lolita's heart, and his. But none of this prevented me from having a good time watching the show. I just really hope there'll be a S2 cause it'd be a shame to leave things there!

How about you guys? What did you think of it?

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

rewatching atla and yknow it really is such a shame that the same writers and creators betrayed the ethos and pathos of their own show with legend of korra

i really wish we had gotten to see more older aang in korra, even as just flashbacks would've been fine. but it just would've been nice to see the older gaang interacting as friends, during a peaceful time, when all of them have only known war previously.

and yeah, i know they published comics but it would've been fun to see it animated. them trying to navigate their feelings when they finally feel safe enough to do so. aang especially coming to terms with the fact that his people were genocided and that he's one of the last air nomads (but possibly not the last, last airbender, but certainly the last of his specific culture. more on that in a moment)

and if they had done it thru flashbacks, they could've paralleled those times of peace (but maybe interpersonal drama) with whatever they wanted to do with korra that required the avatar. (and i say it like that purposefully bc i still don't know if i understand what they were trying to achieve with the over-arching narrative of korra)

it feels like they were so afraid of not being able to raise the stakes, they completely forgot what atla was even about.

the thing i think that gets me the most is the fact that instead of finding a better way to integrate air benders back into the world, like say, since they were, oh idk, nomadic, they just decided to randomly make people air benders all of a sudden through oriental mysticism.

instead of smth like, it turns out that a lot of little sects of air benders exist in the wider world of atla bc the air benders were, famously, nomadic. they're literally called air nomads. the writers remember what nomad means right?

like the sandbenders in atla. yes, they demonstrably bend sand. BUT, as my friend @justletmeremember has pointed out, they use tornados of sand to power their ships in the desert. that requires some amount of air bending!

not only that, but the air benders were the way they were bc of their culture, not the other way around. like sure, air bending probably informed some of their choices and culture. but their culture is what made them who the wider world of atla know them as. so to make random air benders just Exist in lok completely disregards and betrays that culture.

they didn't need to remake the air nomads' exact culture. but their culture, alongside evironment, should have informed the writers who they wanted the next air benders to be. i mean, i think there's a crucial reason the air nomads were nomads, monks and pacifists, and the writers lost that reason in lok.

and that's one of the main cruxes of my problem with lok. the writers/creators made aang the last air bender, literally had his people genocided, and didn't understand or even examine what that meant when writing lok.

[mysteryverse6]

Mystery kids remake comic pt 10

Dipper pines: So I ran some numbers and it looks like we're going to be in debt forever for the rest of our lives. What are we going to tell Stan? They have spot cyclones in Oregon, right? I'm sure every surgeon is crazy these days.

Rasputin Aquato: Technically, he is a dentist.

Mabel pines: | My dentist just happens to have one of those tiny little moustaches and is strangely fascinated by my uvula.

Coraline Jones: Dentist, baker, candle maker, what does it matter? This chuvai is crazy and he is outside, so I think we have bigger problems than your passive-aggressive uncle.

Dipper pines: Great Uncle

Coraline Jones: Great Uncle

Norman Babcock: I really don't want to bring this up right now, but there's still my dad's looming wrath.

Kris Dremurr: And my older brother too

Coraline Jones: Well, yes, so what. What do you think he and your older brother are doing now?

Mr Babcock: (angry) Let's try again. I need to see the mechanic.

Susan Wentworth: With a mechanic? Why didn't you say so right away?

Mr Babcock: (angry)

Susan Wentworth: You want Spanners O'Malley. You just missed him.

Mr Babcock: Okay, where can I find it?

Susan Wentworth: He's right on the street!

(there is an ambulance there)

Susan Wentworth: Poor Spanners O'Malley. He was the best mechanic in town. He was the ONLY mechanic in town.

Mr Babcock: I hope it wasn't the coffee that did this to him.

Susan Wentworth: Of course not. It was his cat allergy.

(Mr Babcock disgust goes away)

Susan Wentworth: Oh no, you're going to beg for affection around the coffee again!

Norman Babcock: He'll be fine. At least as long as he's looking for us, so what about you?

Sheriff Blubs: be more careful, this is part of the preparation, neatly, neatly almost there.

Deputy Durland: (but he lost) Damn I almost took the treasure.

Sheriff Blubs: The real treasure is the time spent together

Asriel Dremurr: Great, now let's move on to the important matter, about the cries of the mad scientist.

Sheriff Blubs: Oh, sorry, we played a little too much.

Asriel Dremurr: That's what it looks like

Sheriff Blubs: Yes, we know about the mad scientist, our operatives are already on their way to the Mystery Shack, but for now, go to your place and lock yourself in your home well

Asriel Dremurr: Thank you very much Sheriff

Another employee: The whole crew Steve puts a whole melon in his mouth, I repeat, a whole melon

Deputy Durland: This is 2316

Sheriff Blubs: We are leaving

(Asriel Dremurr angry)

Kris Dremurr: He'll be fine.

Coraline Jones: Okay, before that happens, I think we should take care of our friend, the psi-dentist. Who is in favor of not dying tonight?

All: is

Dipper pines: So question to Kris and Susie, did you really move here?

Susie: Yes, we came here for the whole summer, as brother Krisa said, we need to relax in the village.

Mabel pines: True, my brother and I also came for the whole summer, and we also shouted

Dipper pines: So we've already sorted this out... so

(Coraline Jones points to the name)

Dipper pines: Caroline

Coraline Jones: Coraline

Dipper pines: I'm sorry, Coraline. Well, what should we do?

Rasputin Aquato: YOU don't have to do anything Agents of Razputin Aquato

Lili Zanotto: And Lily Zanotto, from Psychonauts, and Dr. Caligosto Loboto is wanted by the Psychonautical Research Bureau for crimes against the psyche.

[fools-fall-much-too-soon]

Leon's personality "change" between RE2 & RE4

Disclaimer: I'm not a huge fan of the remakes so I don't really take them as 100% canon. When reading this, understand that I'm taking parts from both the ogs and the remakes, but primarily the og games. (TD;DR is at the bottom of the post)

Something that's been on my mind a lot lately is how we went from heart-on-his-sleeve, genuine RE2 Leon to loud, confident, sassy RE4 Leon.

RE4 got me into resi as a kid and remains my favorite game in the franchise. HOWEVER, it's pretty clear (on first inspection) that RE4 Leon is an outlier in the character's development.

In RE2 we get to see rookie cop Leon. I've seen a lot of people claim that og RE2 Leon doesn't have much of a personality but I'd have to disagree. Its abundantly clear that Leon is incredibly pragmatic, a very quick thinker, quite friendly and seems to be able to work well with just about anyone, he even kneels down to get on people's level. Often it seems more like he was trained as an EMT than a cop.

He doesn't approach strangers w a gun. He's so sincere and almost gullible in his faith in other people. That's not to say that he's stupid, he doesn't immediately trust people including Ada (although some folks wanna act like Leon is some lost puppy dog with 0 self-preservation skills). In a lot of ways he comes off a lot like a shonen mc despite him being so snarky. If anything, the closest comparisons I can think of are characters like Percy Jackson or early (comics-era) Peter Parker. All genuine, kind, smart people who are also spunky and funny. He stands his ground, voices his opinion, and is driven by duty. Yes, he's logical and level-headed and pleasant/easily digestible but he's definitely a big personality and a strong character. Practical =/= Boring.

I can't say that much of this changes going into RE4. The only real difference is that he's less gullible and sincere which definitely doesn't feel like its coming out of nowhere. He is 6 years older to be fair and while we only know of Operation Javier between the two installments, we know Leon gets sent on other missions... despite none of them being directly connected to BOWs until OJ. He's been trained by the military which is absolutely part of why he's less gullible other than the obvious reasons. And even then, he's so quick to untie Luis, despite not knowing if he's armed or dangerous, doesn't question the medicine Luis gives them, trusts Ada's intel for some reason, and still considers Krauser a good guy.

Leon was lied to by Ada, who he wanted to protect, and was left feeling used and betrayed. Only to be abandoned by Claire and had to look after the recently orphaned Sherry alone. That, plus the training would make him grow up quick... So what we're left with is the same old snarky, idealistic, but duty-driven Leon who is only a bit more grounded in reality/jaded.

It's also my opinion that all his cheesy one-liners is more than just a way to cope with stress.

Really think about how military training is meant to strip you of personality... It'd make sense that on solo missions he'd finally have the space to let his personality show. He has to hide it so much, ofc he'd be extra when there's no higher-ups to keep him in place. The thing that really hammers it home for me is that he tends to act a lot more serious when there's other agents/military involved. In both Degeneration and Operation Javier, Leon isn't funny. Even in most of Infinite Darkness he keeps his jokes to himself. He's been silly/campy since day one, it's just time and place and RE4 was the right time and place to let his personality shine (especially with all the other big personalities around him).

Leon's personality "change" just seems like a natural progression in response to his environment.

speaking of natural personality changes... I think Krauser and Luis's deaths really messed Leon up. In one day, Leon has to watch so many people die all over again. Innocent villagers slaughtered at his hand. I can imagine that knowing the parasite could be removed and that the villagers were tricked didn't sit easy on his mind either. Like yeah he gets Ashley home but that's one person saved vs the ~1000 that died. Krauser and Luis were important to him in different ways and in the end, things ended up just like Raccoon.

I think that's when it truly starts to set in for Leon that he's just as helpless as everyone else and what he's doing isn't much in the grand scheme of things... Not that he has a choice to stop. It also very easily explains why Leon starts to get more serious as time goes on. Fundamentally, he never really changes the part of him that gets easily attached and cares deeply about the lives of others, but as he ages, it gets harder for him to believe that what he's doing matters since nothing changes.

TD;DR: At the end of the day Leon's personality in RE4 isn't an outlier in his development, but likely of one of the last moments his personality gets to shine without as heavy a burden on his shoulders as he has later in his life. He was been always sassy and kinda campy since day one and him being the way he is in RE4 makes a lot of sense, even though he gets more serious in later installments.

[petra-creat0r]

Annual Update 2024

Alright everyone! New year, new updates for all my stuff!

Starting with ...

AtDFF and AYC

(The new signatures for my main art, AtDFF, and AYC)

As some, and by that I mean most of you have probably noticed, I rebooted AtDFF... again. I technically started a revamp all the way back in 2020 where I was redrawing the older updates to better match the current style and reformat the asks and text for better readability, but that didn't impede on the main updates (well, besides putting more onto mine and the rest of the team's work load.)

The Reboot

This past year though, I made the decision to completely reboot the comic for a few reasons. One was an attempt to renew my motivation, another was wanting to rework some of the lore, yet another was being inspired by @askfallenroyalty to remake the comic and post to ComicFury, but I think the main factor was... I wasn't all that happy with it. I think I kept comparing it to other comics, especially Fallen Royalty, which is my own issue, please don't go blaming anyone else. I knew I could do better, especially after over 5 years working on this, but now looking back, part of me feels that, rebooting it again is, in a way, diminishing those years. Even with the 2020 revamp, prior to it you could go through the updates and really look at how my art has progressed, and though true you can still scroll and find the old updates, it's just... not quite the same. Same can be said for the 2023 reboot.

Does that mean I'm going back on the reboot? No. I already have the next updates planned (I just haven't had a chance to work on them that often) and I really like the new lore of the world that I've come up with. I just think this will be the last time I ever reboot the comic. Whatever happens, happens, and I need to just roll with it. Even if what happens is our little roadtrip getting derailed into a corn field again, lol.

Comic Fury and New Comic?

With that said, what do I have in store for the new reboots of AtDFF and AYC? (yes AYC got rebooted too, I just haven't posted the first update like I did with AtDFF) Well, I mentioned a Comic Fury, which surprise. Both AtDFF and AYC have their own Comic Fury pages now! Don't worry, I still plan on posting to Tumblr as well, but now you can also find them on Comic Fury. Along with another comic I'm planning to do (eventually), Undertale-ish: The Comic. Ever wonder what Ish Frisk's journey through the Underground was like? Want to see what happened in most (not all) of their 800 runs? Want to see this child grapple with their self insecurities, perfectionism, and the responsibility of having full control over time and an entire civilization's lives in the palm of their hand? Want to see Chara as a ghost? Well that's what you'll get with Undertale-ish: The Comic! Coming I don't know since I such at scheduling and time management for these things!

Schedule

Speaking of scheduling! When are any of these comics coming out? Well... I just said I suck with schedules, and I can't promise really... anything when it comes to release but like... I know I for sure would like to release things... regularly? Even with the start of the reboot, I started it in April, and that stuff extended until at least August. Every summer I naively think "Oh! I'm gonna have so much time to work on the comic!" and then I get a summer job. Because I'm nearly 20 and going to college and even if I'm still living under my parent's roof, I can't entirely rely on my dad to pay my tuition. Only for half the year. Then during the school year, I have classes, and I feel burned out by the time I get home, and- It's a whole thing I need to find someway to work around or else nothing gets done and my brain just screams at itself. So, I think scheduling is something I'm gonna figure out throughout January, and try and get a backlog of updates ready throughout February to April or May so maybe we can start posting again in summer. Does that feel like a long wait? Even being near a year from the first update of the AtDFF reboot? Yes. But also I'm trying to over estimate and give myself the time and space I need while still attending college, and I wouldn't just be working on one comic update, but multiple. I'm trying to give myself space and some grace instead of making promises that feel hollow after a while of being unfufilled.

Lack of Motivation and How to Fix

Another thing to address, is my motivation when it comes to these series. I don't think it's accurate to say I've felt completely unmotivated to work on either comic, I mean, I was motivated for some of the beginning of last year to full on overhaul them, but I will say that, these comics have started to feel like a job. It's been something I've felt for a couple years now, where I've been having less fun with the comic as it's begun to feel like actual work. Believe me, I'm super excited for some of the later plot points of both AtDFF and AYC, and I love Undertale-ish and these characters but to get to those points or character moments, it feels like I'm slogging through what comes before it, which isn't good. This is something that sure, rebooting helped for a bit, before I got caught up in school and other stuff, but it's not a permanent solution and I've felt myself slipping back into the comic feeling like a job.

So how might I remedy this? Well, I think the solution might lie in another series I started this year, Drawing Junior Secret Squad until Chapter 3. Even if DJSSuC3 is more Deltarune focused, I've enjoyed drawing Chicago and my other fankids pretty much daily as, there's not that much pressure on it. Definitely not like there is with AtDFF or AYC. I don't have to line, or even color them since, they're just little doodles. I don't have to worry about missing a day since, I'll just do multiple the next day. They're quick, they're easy, I can just draw whatever idea I have with the characters I want, I'm having fun. Back when Ask the Dreemurr-Font Family was nothing but an ask chat on Amino, that's what I did it for. For fun. I wasn't worried with popularity or being like other creators, I just did silly little character driven roleplays for fun. I think that's been my issue with the comics. They aren't fun anymore. They're work because, I feel it's my job to tell this story rather than just... telling it because I want to. So, I think going forward, I'm gonna try to have more fun with the comics and Ish in general. For you all, that's probably gonna look like more sketches and doodles getting posted and maybe even just sharing small comics based off ideas that pop into my brain or from roleplays that happened in my server. Little things to help me regain the enjoyment I had with these comics and world.

Deltarune: Fool's Fate

I think that's all I've got to say on the Undertale based comics, so how about now we move onto something Deltarune related? As I was doing DJSSuC3, I introduced an idea called Deltarune: Fool's Fate. Aka, Chicago and Co's adventures through the Dark Worlds after Kris denied their destiny. So far, this has just been little doodles, character designs, and a roleplay I've been doing in my discord server. I've been having quite a bit of fun with that RP, we're nearly to the end of what would be the first "chapter" and have been fighting Dorothy, the secret boss of the Attic Dark World and who some of y'all might recall I made a real life doll of when my old computer finally kicked the bucket earlier this month. (I've still yet to make her dress or crown) I think roleplays have always been the thing I find the most enjoyable when it comes to character exploration as, I don't have to spend forever drawing comics and I get to sorta live through the characters. It's something I've been doing for characters from even before I was in this fandom. With the Fool's Fate roleplay too, I've also got to come up with elements that could feasibly be in an actual video game without, you know, actually coding a video game.

I don't know where Fool's Fate will go from here, while it'd be cool to have it be an actual fangame, I don't have that sort of skill. Nor the budget to pay a team. (My team for the comics is really just a bunch of friends I convinced to help me out for free.) Even with a sprite comic, it'd be too much. So, for now, it'll likely just remain a concept and roleplay. But, who knows. Maybe someday I could make it into something. I mean, after watching this year's Underevent I wanted to.

Other stuff

With all the UTDR stuff out of the way, what about some of my other stuff? (Because, surprise, Undertale and Deltarune aren't the ONLY things I do. Just the things I hyperfixate on the most.) Well, I've got my Fakemon region, Azmayca, POW-R, Dragon Riders, and Kinder Eyes which I started last summer. I don't really have any plans for them, asides from bugging people for ideas and doodling whenever I'm in the mood. However I think starting this year, I'm gonna try to post more of the doodles I make. Either ones in my sketchbook since DJSS gave me the confidence to post sketchy silly little doodles like that, or sketch doodles I draw digitally as warm ups. Though who knows. Maybe a hyperfixation swing some time during the summer will cause me to actually try to do something crazy like outline the whole Azmayca region and hypothetical game. Hopefully not something like that though. Making the evolutions of my redesigns of the starters might be nice.

Commissions

Another thing I'd like to finally do next year is update my commissions sheet. It's something I've had in the work for a while now, and was working on along side launching the comic updates. But, like the comics, school and work got in the way so... I sorta forgot about it. Regardless! I'm gonna try to post my updated sheet some time within the next few months, it's mostly just been havin to draw or find recent examples of my work. Hopefully then I'll actually get some more commissions because, um *looks at the whooping $3.94 in my checking account* I could really use the extra money. I might work during the summers and get grade payments from my dad but, that stuff is to pay my tuition and some of my lunches during the semester, and even with lunches, 500 dollars is spread thin through 17, 16 ish weeks. That's like, only $30 a week, which is maybe enough to cover buying lunch at the campus food court like, once or twice from the food court. Maybe three times if I'm lucky and conservative with my spending. Not to mention that $300 of that went to my new laptop, and even if I should be getting $300 from a paycheck I was never paid back when I worked at Arby's 3 summers ago, I still haven't gotten that gift card in the mail so... Yeah. If I was living on my own, I'd be screwed. Which is why commissions and Patreon are like, my only source of income during the school year. (I still need to look into getting an on campus job for this upcoming semester but that's its own whole big can of worms.)

Patreon

Speaking of Patreon, that's another goal I want to set. Actually posting to it again. I had a burst early last year were I was regularly posting to Patreon with early access chapters of The Puppet and the Real Boy (before I retconned that with Fool's Fate) and thanks to my only Patreon ever @kierangecko, I managed to make around $50 bucks which ended up being used to help get blanks for some of my Christmas gifts for people (thank you Gecko. I know I did stop posting after like, May, but that money really came in handy.) So for this next year, I'm gonna try to post to that again. Be it WIPs of the comic, scripts, little doodles I don't post on Tumblr or whatever, I want to make Patreon another source of income. Which involves posting to it at least monthly. And even if I don't, then you guys won't have to worry about anything since I've got it set to not charge for months I don't post anything.

Resolution Review

So, to review some of my... I guess you could call them resolutions, though I'd rather think of them as goals I don't absolutely have to hold myself too but would just like to accomplish, I'd like to...

Have more fun when with AtDFF and AYC through drawing and posting more loose, silly comics and doodles

Try figuring out a posting and work schedule for AtDFF and AYC by then end of January

Hopefully get a back log of updates for both comics ready to release by summer

Start on and release Undertale-ish: The Comic sometime this year

Keep doing Drawing Junior Secret Squad until Chapter 3 until Chapters 3 and 4 of Deltarune hopefully come out sometime this year.

Possibly design hypothetical secret boss predictions for Chapters 4 and 5 of Deltarune before the next chapters come out.

Keep working on, designing characters for, and coming up with Dark Worlds for Deltarune: Fool's Fate. Perhaps even drawing some tarot cards with the chapter bosses.

Post more about my other projects, even if they're only sketchbook drawings or warm up doodles.

Update my commissions page and hopefully take more commissions to earn some extra money/save up for college or to move out.

Post regularly to my Patreon, also to earn some extra money.

Generally have a better year than 2023 and to find more enjoyment in my art and projects.

Closing

Ho boy! That was... A lot! This has turned out to be one very long post. Hehe. Well, should be over now that I've said all I need too. Also, if I haven't said it already, I'd like to thank all of you for supporting me and my art. Be it my comics, DJSSuC3, my other projects, or anything I've posted this year. It means a lot to me that people even like what I draw and you all mean the world to me. With all of that out of the way, thank you Creative Creators and I hope you have a Happy New Year.

[fantasygerard2000]

On Snow White, I don't particularly have any feelings on the remake one way or the other (though production sounds like a mess, ngl), but when Rachel basically said that the story would be updated... I honestly didn't understand what the big fuss was about and still don't on that part specifically. The Prince is barely in the original film as is, so while Snow White is clearly a romantic, I don't think it's fair to say "they're disregarding the love story" or whatever, because there was barely a love story to begin with besides one interaction at the very beginning and again at the end unless you count Someday My Prince Will Come, as the story itself wasn't really what Walt wanted to focus on as much as he did the animation; even much of the praise the film received at the time had more to do with the style and music than anything else, and deservedly so. I'd even say the comics and musical did a better job at developing the two romantic leads than their own film did!

Granted, putting even less emphasis on it won't necessarily help either, but my point is, it seems like Disney isn't really doing anything that hasn't already been done before anyway, including by Disney themselves. Hell, they've been trying to subvert the "Classic Princess" trope since the Renaissance, and then you have '07's Enchanted, which served as a great parody and love letter to the films that came before it. For Snow White directly, you of course have Snow White from OUaT, as well as her LEGO version from The Castle Quest special and I believe one of the Twisted Tale books too; a sweet romantic who won't hesitate to help her friends when the going gets tough. If I had to guess, it's more likely the film will simply continue this, but how well it does it will obviously all depend on the execution.

It could be bad, it could be good. I honestly don't really care. I just think it's funny how the older princesses are getting so much praise now after being derided for so long—something I've honestly been wanting to see happen for years because yes—but the second it's announced there's going to be a remake—mind you, a remake with a WoC leading the film at that—there's all this uproar and defense of the original films, when there was barely any previously except for a pretty small community, especially when it came to Snow White. Not saying that any criticism whatsoever is a bad thing and I'm all for reevaluation, but you also can't deny there's a certain pattern to all this, one that needs to be talked about more.

Snow White is in this awkward spot where it's obvious that it aged like milk while people who herald don't want it to be changed while it sits on the pedestal and rotting.

Any media official media made by Disney that's centered on her and her movie has either kept her passiveness, flanderize to the point of parody, or give her an axe and talk to dragons because why not.

Hell, even other adaptations of Snow White after Disney have try to update the story by emphasizing the romance more than in the 1937 film. Like what you said, Disney themselves even updated the story in the musical and comic adaptation.

I recently discovered a children's book about Snow White made by Disney where she meets and befriends three giants and introduces them to the dwarfs. It's a cute charming short story that emphasizes how Snow White works best in small doses because her status as the first princess and first movie has cause people to tire of her yet they barely want her to change.

[theteethofgod]

Week One of Random Horror.

Stream of consciousness reviews below (heavy spoilers)

Insidious: Chapter 2.

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/3

Typical that our first spin would land us on a sequel - luckily I watched the first one all the time as a kid so I’m pretty familiar with both plot and characters.

I’ve got to be honest, the majority of my enjoyment of this film came both from how damn good it looks and its commitment to being a Ghost Story��️. The lighting is wonderful, especially for a Blumhouse horror which typically either under light or simply take no creative direction with it whatsoever.

Narratively it’s above average. I am a sucker for a sequel that expertly fills in the gaps from the original and the scenes of Josh in the Further recontextualised without really uprooting some of the best sequences from the first film. Also a big fan of the comic relief of the two idiot ghost hunters trying to contact their dead boss via haunted dice - honestly kinda giving Shakespearean comedy in some places.

Despite some strong scares early on and a very clear love for its neo-gothic aesthetics the film falls flat in the third act. I remember a lot of discourse around whether or not a cross dressing serial killer is transphobic but honestly the bigger crime here is that they do nothing with him. I appreciate the attempt at the twist that the ghost isn’t actually “evil” just desperate to relive a stolen childhood but nothing interesting was done with it and it did feel like the film decided that it was time that you understood that and dropped everything else in favour of conveying this singular idea.

Was it scary? No

Was it fun? Yeah.

Would I recommend? Watch the first one, if you like it keep going.

The Blob (1988 Remake)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

The fact that I have gone my entire life without seeing this is outrageous. I believe that I naively dismissed it due to the ridiculous title (I have never seen the original either). Turns out that this is a properly nasty film. Characters are introduced, fleshed out, made funny, gentle, awful, or just irritating and then all are dissolved in a screaming, writhing mess of stunning practical effects. This film has no regard for horror conventions when it comes to violence: children are dissolved on screen and the sheriff off - his acid eaten body floating past the woman he was on his way to rescue in her final moments.

I can only assume that the twist would have been even more effective had I seen the original - the “alien” turning out to be a US government biological warfare experiment feels uniquely post-Vietnam. Even without the impact of the original story being subverted, it was a great reveal that breathed some brand new tension into a second half that could have fallen flat once the blob had used all his tricks (there’s only so much “oh no he’s on the ceiling” a film can make fun).

Was it scary? Kinda.

Was it fun? Fuck yes.

Would I recommend? Yes absolutely it is on youtube go watch it.

Bone Tomahawk

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

I literally watched this film for the first time like a week ago so of course it would come up immediately.

I don’t know why but the first time I watched this I was absolutely convinced it was a lot older than it is. Maybe it was the first kill where they just bash a totally stiff mannequin around. Maybe it was because I just don’t associate the 2010s with 2 hour long horror western hybrids. Either way, this film is a lot of fun. I’ve read plenty of debate around whether or not it qualifies as a horror film but I think these people are too caught up in base aesthetics. Monsters come to town and kidnap the doctor, a cowboy, the sheriff and his deputy (who defo have something going on, it can’t just be me), and a sketchy outsider must hunt them down and get her back. The film uses the classic western formula but supplements the Cowboys vs Indians model for Cowboys vs Other, whilst maintaining the native presence as kind of mediators - aware of both sides and choosing, fairly, to say fuck that we’re not getting involved.

That’s not to say it’s some kind of radical colonial horror. Instead I think this was simply included to acknowledge the issues of writing a genre that inherently requires the Other in a period of genocide and displacement.

Mannequin kill aside, the gore is fantastic. There’s one scene in particular that is just absolutely sickeningly brutal and I loved it so much.

Not all that much to say about this one - it’s a slow burn character drama against the backdrop of western horror. It’s fun it’s gross there’s cowboys.

Is it scary? No

Is it fun? Yes

Would I recommend? Yes!

The Omen

⭐️⭐️1/2

Full disclosure: I have tried to watch this film many times and this was the only time I managed. Nothing about this really resonates with me. There’s two main subgenres of horror that never really move me, religious and children/family. I was raised not only atheist but completely removed from any form of religion, genuinely believing that Jesus was kinda like santa in the sense that it’s something you tell kids to make christmas more fun. The idea that people genuinely believe in souls and hell and the like is something that I really struggle to empathise with, no matter how much I’ve tried. I also can’t think of anything worse than being married with kids so the whole Desecration Of The Nuclear Family also falls totally flat. Luckily for me this film combines the two and then goes on for all of time. Damien is not threatening, his nurse is not threatening, the dogs are not threatening. The baboons were kind of scary but not exactly the antagonist.

The priest and photographer both had insanely good deaths - the latter felt a little cheapened by how impressed the film seemed to be with it, but good all the same. The graveyard scene was beautifully lit and I was briefly engaged when he got his arm impaled on the fence.

I don’t like this one. It’s boring and I have nothing to say about it. I hope I never have to watch it again.

Is it scary? No

Is it fun? No

Would I recommend? No.

Hatchet

⭐️

I hate this fucking movie. Perhaps unfairly, but hear me out. 2000s horror is perhaps one of the most cohesive periods in the genres history. The post-9/11 practical effects torture porn dirty warehouses rusty metal and that awful brown/green diseased colour scheme that feels like it infects everything it touches. Controversially I do not attribute this to the classic Saw -> Hostel -> Worthless Derivative Imitators that every History Of Horror book will. Instead I think that we do not pay enough attention to the 2003 Texas Chainsaw remake. Tobe Hooper’s OG commentary on the meat industry finds new thematic relevance in the wake of mass loss of life - especially an event such as 9/11 which saw people trapped amongst the dying and the dead, knowing it was only a matter of time. What is that if not the experience of the slaughterhouse. “Torture porn” (which is a whole discussion in itself) was not about the act of killing, it was about the knowledge that you will die. Combine this genuinely compelling emotional foundation with some of the most ridiculous chinese-whisper warped tropes from the classics (sex being thematically important -> some of the horniest shit you’ve seen in your life, for example) and you get the weird offputting hybrid of the schlocky and the cliche with the genuine zeitgeist of the destruction of the body and sudden outbursts of violence.

How the FUCK do you fail at parodying that. By the time Hatchet came around (2006) these themes had become so codified that if you ask anyone about horror, even now in our “elevated” era, they’ll probably default to describing them (aside from maybe the classics, but that’s a given). Hatchet fails to nail down a single piece of commentary on the genre aside from “sexualised girls” (who incidentally are the funniest part of the film for this exact reason). The villain is cool looking and the practical effects are genuinely outstanding but for a horror comedy that consistently seems desperate to reflect on itself it ends up creating nothing more than a below average replication of the genre with perhaps one or two jokes funnier than your average bottom tier slasher. The whole time I just wished I was watching Scary Movie.

Was it scary? No

Was it fun? No

Would I recommend? No

[galaxy2earthspark]

I HAD THIS WRITTEN DOWN LAST NIGHT AS A DRAFT AND IT DELETED IT?! GREAT! REMAKE! JUST GREAT!

anyways I had this idea while folding clothes so I was like: "Write it down so you can make it a comic later"

Starscream didn't know what had happened. Just a few seconds ago he had been in the Air with an ember shard in his cockpit and he was on his way to the Malto residence, they had trusted him to deliver it to them after he helped them get it out from under a boulder. the next he was on the ground shot outta the sky surrounded by Autobot command being ordered to stand down. Prowl was infront of him with Rachet, Ironhide, and Hound on his Right and Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and Cliffjumper on his left and Jazz, Hotrod, and Mirage behind him. All weapons trained on him. Oh and a Gaping hole spewing smoke on his left wing, with a damaged Thruster and definitely the human equivalent of a concussion. So much for peace.

"Stand down, Starscream" Prowl Warned. Starscream simply snorted and looked around for an opening in their formation. Prowl was the only one alone but even so he'd be a difficult task on his own. Starscream clenched his derma and looked around, while disguising his fear, not for him but for the shards, in his optics. Then he remembered. He had given Hashtag his private and Emergency comms. He sent her a quick message asking for her to send back-up but not adding the fact he was under Autobot threat. He didn't know if his message reached her. He hoped it did. It was his last chance.

"I won't ask a second time." Prowl glared at the seeker who glared right back and stood his ground. What Starscream wasn't expecting to happen were for volts of electricity to wash over his Frame like an ocean wave drowning out a small fishing boat. He fell to his knees and then his helm slammed into the ground. The last thing he saw was a white pede and then... darkness.

_______/\_________________/\_______

Hashtag was pacing around in the dugout worried as her family plus Megatron and Optimus argued about the fact that Starscream could have stolen the ember shard. Maybe he was low on fuel and going slow? It wasn't the first time that would happen. Maybe he had traffic? Maybe he was ambushed....? Either way he had to have some explanation right...Right?

'Hashatg?" She looked up to see who called her. It was her mother, who was giving her a concerned expression. "You okay, baby?" Her mom asked. "Y-yeah im...fine." Hashtag responded which was a lie. "Hashtag, I think it's safe to assume that Starscream stole the shar- No! I know him! He wouldn't do something like that!" Hashtag cut Megatron off. "Hashtag." Her older brother Robby spoke up. "Its Starscream. The most dangerous seeker known? The traitorous, and selfish liar, who does nothing but care about him- he saved me!" Hashtag blurted out "And twitch!" Her family went quite at that. "He would nev-Yes, he would. Because he just did." Dorothy cut off her youngest daughter. Hashtag lowered her helm. Just when she was about to admit defeat she received a message. "Wait! He sent me a message!" Hashtag spoke up. All eyes (optics) were on her. 'Send back-up'?" Hashtag read-aloud. 'back-up? ' Mo echoed "What does that mean?" Robby asked. "I-i don't know." Hashatg shrugged.

"Ambush" Megatron and Optimus said in unison. "Did he send you his coordinates?" Megatron immediately asked. "Y-yeah, there not far from here." Hashtag answered. "Then we roll out! Optimus ordered.

______/\___________________/\______

They were speeding down the highway with Megatron, Nightshade, And twitch above them. "Turn here!" They did. Hashtag transformed first and the others followed suit. It was a big clearing in the middle of the woods. There were mud stains surrounding a huge crator in the middle. "He must have been shot down." Optimus conclude as he approached the crater and examined it. "But.. by who?-or why?" Robby added. "Somebody must have been after his ember shard." Dorothy theorized "but..how would they know about it? Or that he had it and not us?" Jawbreaker asked. "Unless... they weren't." Everyone faced Robby "what do you mean, Robby?" Asked Mo. "Unless they weren't after the shard...but after Starscream." Robby explained. "It would make sense. And what if they took the Shard with Starscream?" Mo added.

__________________________________

I'll add more some time later or maybe as I make the comic? But j have problems. I can only draw one frame on obis paint x and i need help. Who knows how to make comics with something else?

[blindtaleteller]

That and other non-dialogue scenes like it are more telling of his character internals than most current content manages today: which ..is pretty amazing for those previous creators, and kinda sad with some if not all of what we've had since.

Scenes like this one frustrate me in some terms too, for as happy as they make me: because the capability (budget, and otherwise; prior to the series anyway) was there to do as well in continuing both brothers stories.. or at least tell their continuing separate stories just as well. And they've failed at that since hiring and keeping on Taika Waititi after he bragged about making Gagnarok with every intent to destroy everything beloved enough about those characters TO land him the job, and then continued to brag about succeeding at doing exactly that during 'promos' for L&T: only to have Waldron, Herron and the series crew continue on in that mentality cranked up to 17 of 10 in Loki's own title in between.

And who among us actually liked the Thor title and where it was going and intended to gothen, as a continuous universe apart from the comics: can honestly say that isn't a reason to be frustrated, as we look back at especially moments like this that are eleven years old now, including the filming time alone for just this second Thor title? And still...

Gorgeous, well written and directed scenes in character display: with barely a word was said.

Meanwhile, ten years later.. all the exposition in the world and see-sawing excuses off screen, still haven't managed to make sense of the character whose name is the title as they've tried and failed to remake him; or the shoddy Sylvie Lushton ripoff they slapped that name onto to pass her under said title.

So I love these scenes still.

But it also makes me sigh and drop my head: because I miss the story we never got, or any mention of the 5 years he was the King separating the Stones and ruling Asgard --with Odin's face so he didn't get any credit either as a 'narcissist' (pardon me while I roll my eyes to the moon again)-- nor that time they skipped of the year he spent in Thanos' hands that every creator involved equated to the Seventh Circle of Hell in the hands of a "horrifying terrorist" for not one film but for three years straight in official and unofficial interviews both: only to be baited into thinking they fixed that on screen in the series through Con interviews and ad campaigns to... whatever that dumpster fire of an opposite series using the name it was.

They had time travel and multiple universes to use as tools and premise. And Discount Larry aka Bob: the Account was what lazy we got, under the Loki title. Just ...ugh. The rehash and multiplication of Taika's mess ups and ignorant ego we didn't ask for, or need: especially not being done in a Loki title.

Anyway imma stop there, in part because I totally didn't intend that to become even a near-rant (especially of that length) but if you see this and do read and are either a newer fan not getting it, or an older fan who might have missed these things: yes those posts and more have this shite eternally chronicled between the films themselves, official interviews and more.

[reggietheduck]

Watched the Littel Mermaid (the new one) And I fucking loved it. OK OK,First let's go through some background info.

1.no I have not seen the animated version in years

2.I was born after it was put out so I have no childhood love for the littel mermaid

3.I love Broadway music and balleds.

When it comes to animated vs live action,I tend to prefer love action espicelly compared to older animation,So I could be a littel bit biased. I do like animation (camp creatcous,into the spider verse,Ponyo) but I tend to think that animation tends to not have has much chemistry and emtion between charters.

I disliked a few things like the absence of the chef scene with sebastin and no wedding at the end but I understand why they didn't have them I understand. Relastic crabs being killed could have Tramuatized some kids and the wedding defintly was rushed and I feel like Disney is trying to go for more of a healthy relationship.

What I did like was most of it!🐠🐡🐟

I loved Eric and Arials chemistry! It was so much more visable in the live action,they defintly had a tension between them that made you route for them! Along with Fleshing out Eric more! His song was amazing,Uncharted waters felt like it fit in the movie and gave Eric more emtion and felt more real.

Also Hallie Bailys cover of Part of his world was amazing! It was so emotional and good and you could feel the emtion coming off her voice! It was amazing.

One thing I did also like and noted was the relationship between Arial and his father which is in the original but seems more fleshed out in the movie. (I mean it made my mom cry so there that.) (Also yes I did go see a Disney movie with my mother has a adult)

Hot take. I did like Sebastin and Floudner and scuttle! I know most people wanted more animated less relastic but I liked it! Sebastins voice expressed enough of his emtions and such. And scuttle was a good bit of comic relief!

Also the change into a Tropical island and not British Europe type. I LOVED the scene with the villagers giving Arial a good expirnce with these people! It made it seem more real and why you could understand why she wanted to stay.

So I would say The littel mermaid remake is Good! As good has the original! (Again have not seen the original in years but I digress)

[orphancookie69]

Nintendo Direct: June 2023

I have been catching the last couple of Nintendo Directs, and I was super psyched to see the most recent one. The one before gave us old handheld systems playable on the Nintendo Switch. So I was hoping for good news in games coming up...

Now, I watched it on 6/25 so days after. If you have a switch, you can still watch it. Or maybe Youtube? Here are some of my thoughts on the games I saw: 

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC: I have been out of the pokemon loop for while but the DLC’s look good. 

Sonic: same thing with pokemon, but glad to see it still alive. It has been around a while. 

Palia: looks like a neat real life simulator. 

Persona 5 Tactica: Cute characters in chibi form! Happy to see a title that has only one other title on switch to have more titles. 

Mythforce: this is such a nostalgia trap, but it looks real fun! I would totally play this! 

Splatoon 3 Splatfest: This game seems like COD but kid version. I never really got into this. But this looks like DLC. 

Detective Pikachu Returns: The movie was great, the game was good. I love this as a direction for Pokemon. 

Super Mario RPG: This is a remake of an older game of the same name. It looks like a refreshing take on mario games, which are classic. 

New Nintendo Switch Peach Game: This looks like another remake of an older game. 

Luigi’s Mansion 2 Dark Moon: Another old remake, I do love the Luigi games and hope that this is to appease the players as they make a new one. 

Batman Arkham Trilogy: This was supposed to be one of the better batman games and comics, and this looks dope-I am looking forward to playing this for the first time on switch. 

Gloomhaven: Good looking game, card based. 

Just Dance: nice active game, nice to see it continuing. 

Silent Hope: Anime game. meh. 

Fae Farm: this looks good, I kind of think there are too many simulators out, but it is supposed to be one of the better ones. 

Hot Wheels Unleased 2: Looks ok for a racing game, but I also kind of feel like there is a lot of competition in this genre. 

Manic Mechanics: This game looks like overcooked, and the builder game. I love games like this, this one is happening. 

Mario + Rabbids Spark of Hope: Mario doesn’t do well in turn based games, in my opinion, but its an interesting game. 

Dragon Quest Monsters: This looks like a pokemon wannabe, but it looks not bad. 

Pikmin 1, 2, 4: I have never played this series but it looks cute and I would not mind this as a multiplayer family game. 

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection: this is an old game, I might even try it if it goes on sale.  

Vampire Survivors: This game looks really fun, simple but oh so deceptively hard. I do really want to try this game. 

Headbangers Rhythm Royale: I am getting this game, its a beat game with birds. Yes. 

Penny’s Big Breakaway: It looks like a hodgepodge of many games but unique in its own way. 

Mario Kart Booster Course Pass Wave 5: I should be more excited but I am not. 

Star Ocean The Second Story R: Meh, another anime game. 

WarioWare Move It: This looks like 1 2 switch but mario, I mean wario. Might be nice for an active game. 

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Amiibo: Amiibos are still a thing? This game looks good, but there are so many zeldas out at one time right now. 

Super Mario Bros Wonder: Looks like a new direction for the mario side scroller. 

For those that want to read more about this: https://www.nintendolife.com/features/nintendo-direct-june-2023-every-announcement-and-game-reveal

There were so many games revealed, that I had to reference the list to make this post. Obviously, ones that did not stick with me means I was not the intended customer but there are so many gaming customers these days! Games I am looking forward to are: Headbangers Rhythm Royale, Vampire Survivors, Manic Mechanics, Batman Arkham Trilogy. What games are you looking forward to? 

[macabrebatz]

Sweet Tea (Thomas Hewitt/Pregnant!Reader)

Author's Note: I'm a simp. I'm a whole freaking simp. The only reason why I like the TCM remake and its prequel is because of Thomas. This oneshot idea has been in my head for months. It's a short oneshot and has a little bit of fluff. The reader is a pregnant person so....yeah. This is a pregnancy oneshot. There's not much for me to say. Also this has a lot of family talk about the Hewitt family. I know there's some discourse amongst the horror community on how each character is related. My research is based on the extended lore in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre comic books, not just the remake. Enjoy!

___________________________________________

I woke up to an unusually cold bed. My eyes were closed tight as I tried to block out the morning light. I pulled the covers closer to me in an attempt to get warm.

A cold front had moved through Texas the night before, and the temperature had dropped significantly. I knew it wouldn't be that cold outside, but it was definitely chilly in the drafty Hewitt household.

I turned around, reaching for Thomas to pull him closer. But instead of feeling his chest like I normally would, I was met with the sensation of cool sheets underneath my hands.

My eyes opened, and to my surprise, Thomas was gone. I sat up and yawned, stretching my arms as I did so. I looked around our room and saw that Thomas' work apron was gone from the spot he normally left it.

I got out of bed and got dressed. Once I was finished, I made my way downstairs. The floorboards of the old house creaked as I made my way down the hallway. There was a faint sound coming from the kitchen, which I decided to follow.

Luda Mae stood at the sink, washing a couple of dishes. Her grey hair was pulled back into a bun, and her glasses were on the very edge of her nose.

Over the years, Luda had become somewhat of a second mother to me. She was ecstatic to welcome me into the family. She never thought that Thomas would ever fall in love with anyone, so it was safe to say she was happy to see him in love. Looking back, I think she was also really excited to have another woman in the family. And now she was even more excited to have a baby soon running around.

Luda only had one biological child, and that was Hoyt. Thomas was like her adoptive son, but he had gained the label of "nephew" by Hoyt. Hoyt was much older than Thomas so he didn't view Thomas as a younger brother. Eventually, everyone just started referring to Tommy as Hoyt's nephew instead.

Luda also didn't have any grandchildren. Neither did her brother Monty. Their sister, Gloria, had a daughter and a grandson of her own though. It wasn't until I came along that she was finally going to get the opportunity to be a grandmother.

I leaned on the doorframe of the kitchen and placed a hand on my stomach.

"Luda, where's Thomas?" I questioned.

She glanced over at me and turned off the water in the sink. She dried her hands on her dress and turned to me.

"Oh, Hoyt needed his help with something. I think we got some trespassers last night. They're probably out looking for them," she said.

"Oh, okay," I said.

She walked over to the counter. On the counter were what appeared to be two small laundry baskets. However, I could tell just by looking at them that the contents of the baskets were not laundry.

I walked over to her and peeked into the baskets. They were filled with neatly placed mason jars. I picked one of the jars up and looked inside. They were filled with jerky. I couldn't tell what the meat was, but I probably didn't want to know anyway.

"Would you like to help me in the meantime?" Luda asked.

"Yes, ma'am," I said, nodding my head.

I placed the mason jar back into the basket.

"Help me carry these down to the shop," she said, gesturing to the baskets.

I nodded and took one of the baskets. I held it on my side with one arm, avoiding my stomach.

Luda and I made our way outside. The air was cooler than usual, but it was a comfortable temperature. It was a nice change to the extreme heat of Fuller, Texas.

It wasn't until my feet touched the cold dirt road that I realized I was barefoot. It didn't bother me, however. I just watched the ground as I walked, avoiding anything that looked potentially sharp.

We talked as we made our way down the long dirt road and onto the paved road. Luda's butcher shop wasn't that far from the house, but it still took a while to get there on foot. After about twenty minutes, we made it to the small butcher shop on the side of the road. We went inside and sat the baskets down behind the glass counters.

"Thank you, dear," Luda said as she began to put the jars of jerky on the shelves of the store.

I joined her, helping her stock the shelves.

"Now, do me another favor and take a couple of these down to Gloria and Henrietta. Then you can head back to the house," Luda said.

She handed me two jars of the jerky and sent me on my way.

Gloria was Luda and Monty's sister. I often referred to her as The Tea Lady. She was a very heavyset woman with short dark hair. She often sported a pair of glasses and a floral dress. She was softspoken and had a fondness for tea. She enjoyed making it and experimenting with new flavors.

Her daughter was Henrietta. She was in her late twenties and didn't resemble her mother at all. The only thing they really had in common appearance-wise is that their hair was short and choppy. Henrietta actually had more in common with her Uncle Monty. She was tall and lanky just like him. She often looked like she didn't eat much. Their house, which was a small trailer, was in between the trail from Luda's butcher shop to our house.

I approached their tiny trailer and walked up the steps. I knocked on the door and it creaked open slowly. Henrietta's sunken eyes looked through the crack, ensuring it was someone she knew before opening the door all the way.

"Hi, (Y/N)," Henrietta said.

"Hey, I brought you and your momma some jerky. Luda Mae made it a few days ago," I said, holding out the two jars.

She opened the door a little bit more and took the jars in her hands.

"Thank you. Wanna come in?" she offered.

I smiled and nodded. I walked in after her and closed the door behind me. Their entire house smelled like an odd combination of tea leaves and cigarette smoke. Normally the smell didn't bother me but because I was eight months pregnant the smell didn't agree with my senses.

"Momma, (Y/N) is here. Look what she brought," Henrietta said, walking into the kitchen.

Her mother sat at the table, reading a book.

"Oh, thank you so much, (Y/N). Be sure to tell Luda I said thank you as well," Gloria said, smiling.

Henrietta sat the jars on their kitchen table and turned back to me.

"Have you guys seen Hoyt or Thomas today? Luda Mae said we might've had trespassers last night," I asked.

"I didn't see them but I heard a chainsaw early this morning," Henrietta said, shrugging.

She walked back over to me and stuck her hand out, feeling my belly.

Just like Luda Mae was excited for me to join the family, so was Henrietta. Ever since I had met her she had become a shy sister-like figure in my life. She was also equally excited for the baby.

"Well if you see any trespassers come this way be sure to slip them some of that," I said, gesturing to a black ceramic jar on the table.

I knew the jar was filled with a special tea that they only ever served to strangers. The tea leaves had been mixed in with arsenic.

"That's momma's specialty," Henrietta joked, taking her hand off of my stomach.

"Speaking of my specialty, feel free to take you a box of tea. It's the least I can do to thank you guys for keeping us so well fed," Gloria said from her spot at the table.

Henrietta went over to the cabinets in the kitchen and pulled out a box of tea. She handed it to me and smiled.

"Thank you. I'll see you guys later," I said, turning to leave.

"Bye!" I heard Henrietta say as I closed the door.

I made my way back out to the dirt road and began walking back to the house. I slowly walked, mainly because I was already tired, but also because I took a bit of time to read the box of tea. I held the box in my hand as I read the back of the box.

A few minutes passed, and I was suddenly pulled out of my thoughts but the sudden sound of screaming.

"Help me!" I heard a girl scream.

My head shot up at the sudden sound. Down the dirt road, I could see a figure in the distance. I squinted my eyes a bit to better see. It was a girl, more than likely a teen, running for dear life.

"Help me please!" she screamed.

I paused and stopped walking. It was just then that the girl saw me from down the road.

"Run! Run the other way! They're coming!" she yelled at me.

The poor girl ran up to me. She was in hysterics, yelling and limping. I looked down at her leg and noticed a large gash in her thigh. She would be lucky if she didn't bleed to death from it.

"Come on! They'll kill you!" she exclaimed, thinking I was also in immediate danger.

The girl grabbed my arm and attempted to pull me with her. I attempted to pull my arm away to no avail.

"Get off of me, Jesus!" I said as I began to grow frustrated.

"You don't understand! They're coming! They'll kill us both!" she pleaded.

She pulled my arm again. This time she reached for my other arm, attempting to drag me by both my arms. In her state of panic, she twisted my arm as she began pulling me down the street. I pulled my arms away from her, and she grabbed them again.

She was so busy trying to save me that she didn't even notice the figure quickly approaching from behind her.

"I said GET OFF!" I yelled, pushing her back.

There was a sudden roar of a chainsaw, and the girl stumbled back, impaling herself on Thomas' chainsaw. Blood splattered across my face and clothes as the chainsaw tore through the girl's abdomen. Her body slumped over and dropped to the ground as Thomas turned the chainsaw off.

"Is that all of them?" I questioned.

He nodded his head and walked closer to me. His hand gently caressed my face. I could tell it was his silent way of asking if I was okay.I brought my hand up to his and patted it.

"I'm fine, Tommy," I said.

I leaned up, kissing him on the cheek. I then brought his hand down and placed it on the top of my belly.

"They're fine, too," I reassured.

He nodded again and sighed in relief.

"Well, then. Let's go home and get cleaned up. Look what I got," I said, holding up the box of tea.

We walked home, and I talked as we approached the house. Thomas sat down in a rocking chair on the front porch, noticeably tired. I made my way inside and upstairs. I took off my clothes as I walked into our bedroom, placing them in a laundry basket. I got redressed and then cleaned my face, washing off the blood in the bathroom sink.

As I made my way downstairs I decided to make some of the tea Gloria had gifted us.

Once I was in the kitchen, I boiled the water and made the tea. We lived in the south, so it was only natural that I made the tea sweet. I grabbed two glasses, filled them with ice, and then poured the tea.

I walked out onto the front porch and handed Thomas a glass.

"Here you go, sweetheart," I said quietly.

He took the glass from my hand gently.

There was no one around but me, so I reached behind his head, unbuckling his leathery skin mask. I leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. I then took a seat beside him in my own chair.

He took a sip from his drink as we both sat on the porch, rocking back and forth. I reached my hand across the gap between our chairs and rested it on his free hand. He took his hand in mine and held it, not letting go for hours.

______________________________

Author's Note: And that's all for now! It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to. It kind of sucks but oh well. I hope you enjoyed it!

[cherrybakewell666]

Nearly five years late (never too late, I guess), but I noticed some things.

You can see a poster of Pinhead from Hellraiser (1987) in issue two after Nny and Devi's date.

About the wall of posters shown at end of issue two, I'm certain that this is a poster of Predator (1987). Issue two really was jam-packed with references.

There's a poster of The City of Lost Children (1995) on the floor at the end of issue six. Nny, do some bloody cleaning up, you messy sod...

Devi has a poster of Naked (1993) on her wall in issue seven.

Squee has a poster of Se7en (1995) in his room in issue seven. Delicious spaghetti...

And then he has a poster of Nukie 2, which is a non-existing sequel to Nukie (1987).

Referring to the original post, yes, Nny quotes the 1986 remake of The Fly. Good film choice, Nny. I watched it the other day after the original.

Edit: I forgot to check out the older comics, and I noticed a parody poster of I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) in the Nny and Phlegm comic.

Movies mentioned in JTHM

That other post I wrote has got me thinking about JTHM and movies and I started thinking about all the ones that actually get called out by name in it. I was hoping I would have actually seen more of them so I could talk about what parallels (if any) are actually being drawn here but I’ve only seen about three of these lol. But if anyone’s interested here’s just a list of all the movie references I caught in JTHM:

Aliens (1986) or possibly Alien (1979) (looks more like the logo for Aliens tho) - poster on Johnny’s wall

Edward Scissorhands (1990) - another poster on Johnny’s wall in the same panel

Brazil (1985) is the movie Johnny and Devi saw on their date

Nny “met” Tess and Dillon at a showing of Kafka (1991)

And in the very next panel Dillon mentions The Crow (1994)

Which also gets parodied in this poster on Anne Gwish’s wall

As well as Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

And of course, Nny quotes The Fly (1986) (which is actually a remake of a movie from 1958, but I’m pretty sure the line he quotes is only in the 1986 one).

Feel free to add on if I missed anything!!