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evertomorrowart · 4 months

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Best of YouTube 2023

Yes, I did spend the first week and change of January on this. I wish I could have had it done for New Years, but too many people came out with incredible work in December, so waiting turned out for the best.

What these creators do are a huge influence on my life, I would honestly have difficulty doing what I do without them. That isn't to say that my favorites of the year are *only* on this image--It was almost impossible to narrow down my favorites. Many creators I wanted to include couldn't fit on a single page, and too many of them made more than one video I wished I could draw too!

But, to all of you, thank you for what you do. You're an inspiration.

For those who don't know, further is an explanation.

At the bottom center is an artistic masterpiece by Defunctland: "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History." Over the last several years, Defunctland has risen from delightfully-entertaining commentary on decommissioned theme park attractions to occasionally dropping profound statements on the creation of art itself. "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History" is worth treating like the cinematic experience it is: No second screen, you sit your ass down in front of a TV, set down the phone, and then you *watch it.* Any Disney, theme park, or independent film fan needs to pay attention to this one.

Bottom left is Caelan Conrad with their piece "Drop the T - The Deadly Consequences of Gay Respectability Politics." While I do think they've done more visually or artistically-daring pieces before, "Drop the T" is one of the most important videos released on YouTube in today's current climate of hate. We as queer folk (and our allies) need to understand how integral every identity of the queer experience has been since the start of the Civil Rights movement (and before!). While we are not identical, we *are* inseparable, and we deserve having our real history easily accessible.

TERFs and other conservative mouthpieces need not reply. Your opinions are trash. 😘

I cannot stop watching and rewatching this video by @patricia-taxxon, "On the Ethics of Boinking Animal People." It's not just a defense of furry fandom and its eccentricities, it's a thoughtful and passionate analysis of what the artform achieves that purely human representation can't. Patricia goes outside of her usual essay format to directly speak to the viewer about the elements that define furry media (the most succinct definition I've ever heard) and just how *human* an act loving animal cartoons really is.

As an artist who can draw furry characters, but never really got into erotic furry art, this video is a treasure. Why did I choose to have her drawn as a Ghibli character, hanging out with one of the tanukis from "Pom Poko?" Guess you'll have to watch, bruh.

Philosophy Tube continuously puts out videos that I would put on this list--I'm not even sure that "A Man Plagiarised my Work: Women, Money, and the Nation" is the best work she released in 2023. However, this video got many conversations going between myself and my partner, and the twist on the tail end of the video shocked us both to such a degree that I had no choice.

At the very tail end of the year, Big Joel released "Fear of Death." On his Little Joel channel, he described it as the singularly best video he's ever done, and I'm inclined to agree. However, for this illustration, I ended up repeatedly going back to a mini-series he did earlier in the year: "Three Stories at the End of the World." All three videos are deeply moving and haunting, and I was brought to tears by "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot." While it may be relatively-common knowledge that the original Gojira (Godzilla) film is horror grappling with the devastation America's rush to atomic dominance inflicted on Japan, Big Joel still manages to bring new words to the discussion. Please watch all three of the videos, but if, for some reason, you must have only one, let it be "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot."

Y'all. Let me confess something. I hate football. I hate watching it, I associate seeing it from the stadiums with some of my worst childhood experiences, I despise collegiate and professional football (as institutions that destroy bodies and offer up children at the feet of its alter as a pillar of American culture)--

I. L o a t h e. Football.

But.

F.D. Signifier could get me to watch an entire hour-plus essay on why I should at least give a passing care. AND HE DID IT. I might think "F*ck the Police," the two-parter on Black conservatism, or his essay on Black men's connection to anime might be "better" videos, but this writer did the impossible and held my limited attention span towards football long enough to make a sincere case for NFL players--and reminds us that millionaires can *in fact* be workers. That alone is testament to his skill.

Sit down and watch "The REAL Reason NFL Running Backs Aren't Getting Paid." Any good anti-capitalist owes it to themselves.

CJ the X continuously puts out stunning, emotional videos, and can do it with the most seemingly-inconsequential starting points. A 30 second song? An incestuous commercial? Five minutes of Tangled? Sure, why not. Go destroy yourself emotionally by watching them. I'm serious. Do it.

Their video Stranger Things and the Meaning of Life manages to to remind us all why the way we react to media does, in fact, matter. Yes, even nostalgia-driven, mass-media schlock. Yes, how we interact with media matters, what it says about us matters, and we all deserve to seek out the whys.

Folding Ideas has spent the last few years articulating exactly why so much of our modern world feels broken, and because of that his voice continuously lives rent-free in my brain. While the tricks that scam artists and grifters use to try to swindle us are never new, the advancement of technology changes the aesthetics of their performances. Portions of Folding Ideas' explanations might seem dry when going into detail of how stocks work in This is Financial Advice, but every bit of it is necessary to peel back the layers of techno-babble and jargon and make sense of the results of "Meme Stocks."

Jessie Gender puts out nothing but bangers, her absolute unit of a video about Star Wars might be my new favorite thing ever, but none of her work hit so profoundly in 2023 than the two-parter "The Myth of 'Male Socialization'" and "The Trauma of Masculinity." There's so much about modern life that isolates and traumatizes us, and so much of it is just shrugged off as "normal." We owe it to ourselves to see the world in more vivid a color palette than we're initially given.

Panels drawn after Kate Beaton and "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands."

"This is Not a Video Essay" is one of the most intense and beautiful pieces of art I've ever put into my eyeballs. Why do we create? What drives us to connect?

I don't even know what else to say about the Leftist Cooks' work, it repeatedly transcends the medium and platform. Watch every single one of their videos, but especially this one.

The likelihood you are terminally online and yet haven't heard of Hbomberguy's yearly forrays into destroying the careers of awful people is pretty slim. Just because it has millions of views doesn't mean that Hbomberguy's "Plagiarism and You(Tube)" isn't worth the hype. Too long? Shut up, it has chapters and YouTube holds your place, anyway. You think a deep dive into a handful of creators is only meaningless drama? Well, you're wrong, you wrong-opinion-haver. Plagiarism is an *everyone* problem because of the actual harm it creates--the history it erases, the labor it devalues, the art it marginalizes--which you would know if you watched "Plagiarism and You(Tube)".

Watch. The damn. Video.

In fact, watch all of them!

Thanks for reading this if you did.

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plutowon · 6 months

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enhypen as mythical / supernatural

creatures ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

pairing: enhypen x gn!reader

genre: fantasy, fluff

warnings: blood mention, fantasy violence, reader is somewhat described as short ?

happy halloween!!

🍰 ೄ🩰ྀ࿐ 🧸ˊˎ-

heeseung- banshee

heeseung was always emotional.

that’s how you met him.

sitting atop of the old hill in the town park he cried and wailed with flowers clutched in his hands. you being the kind and gentle spirit you were, went up to ask him what was wrong, to which he responded “i don’t know”. usually when people see heeseung they don’t mistake him for human. your approach startled him a bit, even more so when you grabbed his cold dead hands and drew him into a hug.

you run your fingers through his hair and tell him everything is gonna be okay. then, you took him out to eat. of course you two got a few stares—holding hands with a banshee tends to draw in attention—but you seemed not to notice. you hold his hand and listen to his sorrows. you caress his cheek and you don’t flinch at the lack of body heat, paying no mind to the coldness that surely makes your hands freeze slightly.

mourning death all his life, he finds your kindness and comfort refreshing.

your boyfriend is a bit pessimistic. he looks at the glass half empty rather than half full. like when you watched coraline for the first time and he cried for half the movie believing there was no way she’d make it out of the beldam‘s hands alive. or when he sulked for half a day because he felt the sad lady from next door would never find love, resulting in the death of her love life. you told him to keep his head up and a week later, she comes into your home, bringing cookies and talking about a handsome man she met two nights prior. heeseung supposes there are some happy endings. but even so, he’s sweet and sings you songs all the time. his favorite thing to do is sing you lullabies and watch your sleep consume you. you look so beautiful while you dream, he wishes he could be in your dreams with you. he wonders what you dream about. he wonders if your dreams are as beautiful as you are. you like to take him on happy adventures and show him the world is not as bleak and depressing as it seems. you did make the mistake of taking him to a theme park, more specifically the rollercoaster, where he cried and called it a big death and torture machine. even if you left him outside he refused to let you ride it by yourself, certain that you’d fly out and die (he saw it on the news). needless to say that was the last time you went to six flags…disney world was fun though! you try to make him try new things as much as possible. heeseung finds it exciting. he looks forward to your little rendezvous.

he still cries and wails, mourns death every sunday at the top of the old hill, but after all his pain and anguish has been tossed into the atmosphere, he comes home to your warm and loving arms, where you hold him with love.

jay- ghost

you knew your house was haunted. you knew the moment you walked in with the realtor. would that stop most people from renting a house? absolutely. did it stop you? no.

the house was dirt cheap and you really needed a place to stay after your ex boyfriend kicked you out of the house. your parents are 900 miles away and you’ll be damned if a little ghost made you sleep in boxes on the street until you could get a plane ticket.

jay’s first attempt to scare you ended in a scoff. you laughed at him. how insulting. but it doesn’t get any better when he ramps up the scare factor. he’ll get you to jump, maybe a tiny shriek, only for you to come back and be like “wow that one was really good you’re getting better” with a smile etched into your face. seriously, what the hell was wrong with you? why was it so hard to scare you out of his house? he tried everything from making your dishes fly to making the lights flicker to making you see visions of dead people but nothing worked. he even flinged your knives into the wall (not that he would ever physically hurt you but perhaps if you thought he would you’d finally leave…you did not).

one night though, he shows you his face through the bathroom mirror. instead of a scream, you swoon, clasping your hands together across your chest. you call him handsome and beg to see him again. you beg for days and days. it tires him out, so he appears again. he’s much taller than you, which has you giggling and twirling your hair before you offer him a shy “hi”. he thinks you’re insane.

your ghost boyfriend has now devoted his already dead life to protecting you from other supernatural entities. once, a goblin came into your house unannounced and…well jay didn’t take too kindly to that. he gets jealous when you have friends over. perhaps it’s the fact that your friends have physical bodies to touch you. not that you can’t feel his touch, but it’s not the same. he also just doesn’t like mortals entering his property, and he’s now extended that possessiveness to you. he’s still sweet though. watches over you while you sleep to make sure no demons come by. most creatures that come by don’t expect jay to be so tough and intimidating–he’s just a ghost–but they always end up leaving the house in fear, trembling. he has a habit of sneaking up on you to tickle you, the sound of your laughter that once filled him with rage now fills him with glee. he wishes he could feel you better, but still, he loves the touch of your skin. his favorite time to see you is in your dreams, where you are both on equal planes. he can feel your soft hands, kiss your pretty lips, and have normal dates with you. it’s also great that he can defy laws of reality.

jay has been dead for years and years now, but having you in his home makes him feel alive once more.

jake- angel

you meet jake while he’s on a thrilling adventure exploring the mortal world. he bumps into you at the mall, knocking you over. of course, being the literal angel that he is, he helps you up. you’re just a small fragile human—he could’ve killed you for goodness sake! (he couldn’t have but he still believes he could’ve)— he calls you gorgeous, as he failed to realize that most humans tend to restrain from saying every thought that comes to their mind, no matter how good the thought may be. but to his luck, you blush and say thank you and he thinks you’re the cutest flower he’s ever seen. you give him your number on the back of a receipt and jake is too ecstatic to realize…ah…he doesn’t have a phone.

he buys one just for you though! and after that you two are inseparable. jake being the literal angel that he is, takes care of you like his life depends on it. your sick? jake’s here. hard time with school? jake’s here. your friend’s being a bitch? jake will be there to listen intently to allll your drama, and not just because he’s a little nosy.

of course, he’s begged god to make him your guardian angel, to which god reluctantly agreed, so long as he does not take his guardian duties too far or too lightly. there’s also monthly check-ins with the head guardian angels to make sure jake doesn’t go too far. you ask him if it’s too much of a burden, to which he smiles and tells you he couldn’t be happier.

he’s still a bit naive when it comes to humans. he doesn’t often think that human beings can be so cruel and evil, but when he witnesses this firsthand, he’s worried about you! what if you fall victim to these cruel and heinous creatures! his fragile little flower…he’d never forgive himself. he protects you with his life. he asks you a great many questions about human beings and their history, what they’re like and such. you think it’s cute. jake is so sweet it makes your teeth ache.

the first time he shows you his wings you’re in awe of the way they span across his back. they’re big enough to be a makeshift shield. his beautiful pure white feathers are soft to the touch. you run your fingers along the point in which his wings sprout from his back only for jake to laugh and fall to the floor. ah, he’s ticklish. he loves to hold you with his wings and shield you from the world. just the two of you together. per his guiding duties, he’s a little bossy. he tries to steer you away from bad decisions and protect your pure innocent eyes from seeing horrendous things, which you appreciate, but you also wish he would let you go crazy and stupid. you know, for the plot.

your cute angel boyfriend may think you to be the most delicate dove in the whole world, but you also can’t help but hold him close to prevent him from flying away. he holds you against him with his wings covering over you so you can rest easy. he’s not going anywhere.

sunghoon- siren

sunghoon has no intention of drawing anybody into his waters, but when he sees you on the sand he can’t help but stare. when you lock eyes with him, he knows it’s wrong to tempt and tease you, but he’s selfish by nature and he wants you all to himself. you must forgive him for this.

you are his most valuable treasure.

when you’ve submerged yourself into the water and make it to his arms, he sings to you. he holds you tightly and carries you across the waves and you both fall in love together in the deep, salty waters that you don’t even realize you’re in right now. he brings you back to the sand, kisses your legs and hands all the way up to you forehead, but your lips are left lonely. he makes you a promise. till death do you part and you shall see him again.

surprisingly enough, the next time you see sunghoon is on land with two legs. of course, you question him and he laughs at your innocence, “yes, my love, i can walk”. the shocked expression on your face is too cute. he kisses your nose and you shyly hide yourself in his chest. he finds the way your cheeks heat up magical. sunghoon is a siren that hides upon humans before he makes his way back to his home sweet home, the chilling sea.

dating sunghoon obviously entails walks on the beach while the sun sets. he loves watching the moon rise with you, loves the way you look when the light hits your pretty face. he always sings you songs. karaoke at least twice a week is definitely a must. he loves hearing your voice too, whether you’ve been singing for 15 years or 5 months, he loves it. he loves to tease you. loves the way he can fluster you just by staring at you for a bit too long. it gives him a huge ego boost. the way you melt into his touch makes him sore, he feels like he’s become a creature of the land, sea, and sky. when he does go back into his waters, he misses you. longs for the hours in which he can see you again. he loves when you visit him so he can swim with you and hold you for just a bit longer. you find that sunghoon likes to be up at night. you find that usually he comes to you in the late afternoon or at night. he brings you beautiful jewelry and treasures. pearl necklaces and pearl embroidered dresses. gorgeous hand held mirrors and diamond earrings. how he obtained the items is something you don’t have to worry your pretty little head about. he loves to spoil you rotten. when you do see him during the day, he just wants to cuddle up against you and rest.

being lovers of different domains is hard, but to sunghoon, loving you is the easiest thing he’s ever done. to him, you’re more valuable than all the jewels in the world combined.

sunoo- dragon

you should not be in this cavern alone all by yourself. this you know, but cannot bring yourself to care. you’re far too curious to stop now. but when you’re deep into the cavern, you see something glow in the distance. you walk closer, too close, and you hear a loud growl. which makes you jump back. there that stares as you is a fierce dragon. he inches closer and closer to you as you tremble in fear. he asks what you’re after, to which you panicked and told him you were just nosy and thought this was where your peers were meeting to share their secrets.

he looks at you quizzically and sighs before he turns into a much smaller man.

although he’s still bigger than you, almost towers over you and his shoulder span is twice as big as yours, it’s still much less anxiety-inducing than a big fire breathing dragon.

especially because he’s gorgeous.

he gives you a death glare that has your knees weak. he rolls his eyes at your shameless display of attraction before he takes your hand and pulls you, guiding you out of the cavern. to sunoo’s surprise, you keep talking. you ask him questions, ask him about what he does, tell him about your life, and sunoo would like to say he doesn’t care, but he does. a lot. when he leads you out, you promise him you’ll be back. he gives no visible reaction, but inside he smiles a little bit. your warm his heart.

your boyfriend would describe human beings as incompetent and selfish beings—minus you, of course—and you tell him he should be more open minded, but sunoo has dealt with (and severely injured) a great many humans that don’t know their place. you think it’s cute. you call him your hot emo boyfriend, something sunoo thinks is annoying and corny but he endures it for you. he’s snappy, takes no shit. he’s more patient with you, but the average worthless human being that tried it with him? it takes everything in him not to burn their eyebrows off. thank god he has you. if not, he’d probably burn your city to the ground. he’s also grateful, but concerned that you find his temper attractive. perhaps he should send you to a therapist.

his favorite thing is when you think you’re being sneaky and you creep in his cavern while he’s sleeping and slip yourself between his body and his tail and cuddle up against him, falling asleep until he wakes you up. he finds it adorable. he loves to guard you with his tail. loves how safe and secure you feel around him. despite what others might think, sunoo is incredibly caring. before you leave the house he makes sure you’ve got yourself together. tidies up and smooths out your clothes, tucks your hair behind you ear if it’s down and makes sure it’s out of your face. he cooks for you, cleans with you, and makes sure you’re safe and happy.

although sunoo usually hates being disturbed, he’s glad you woke him up that day. because of you, he always has something to look forward to. and if he can help it, for the rest of your day’s you’ll always have someone to protect you…and someone to burn the hair off your enemies.

jungwon- fairy

the leaves and sticks crunch beneath your feet and you find a place in the forest where the sun’s light seems to beam down brighter than the rest of the forest. the sun feels nice on your skin. you take in the smooth air and breath out, content.

when you turn around, you see a man with beautiful translucent wings that glitter yellow, but the tips of his wings are pink. he looks at you wide eyed. his smiles before he runs up to you, taking you in his arms and spinning you around, “oh my god, a human! you’re sososososososo cute~~”, he goes on and on excitedly. he sits you on his lap, inspecting every aspect of you from your cute little nose to your pretty eyes to how ticklish you are. you truly are the most adorable thing he’s ever laid his eyes on. unfortunately–or fortunately, i should say–because of fairies interest in humans, he’s decided that you are his human and his only, like a little kitten he gets to love and take care of! it’s a dream come true.

he takes you deeper into his side of the forest, where jungwon’s fairy friends come up to you both and ask about you in awe. when they try to touch you though, he swats them away and hisses at them…you had no idea fairies had fangs… .when you tell him you must go home, his face falls for a second before he smiles again and says you may go, so long as he get to go with you. and when his wings flutter happily and he’s bouncing, how could you say no?

although jungwon has declared that you are his cute little human that he shall protect and care for, outside of the forest, you find yourself being the one watching over him. you no longer allow candy in the house because if it’s in a 10 mile radius jungwon will eat it all, resulting in a very sugar high fairy bouncing off your walls. before jungwon had a concept of human society, he went inside of a candy store and ransacked the place…never had you imagined yourself in a police station like this. it didn’t help that jungwon kept asking the cops about scary criminal stories and why and what a taser was for. they ended up letting him go on a warning. being around a lot of humans is also very exciting for jungwon…but he had no concept of personal space. he used to go up to random people and inspect them, pointing out his observations to you. he did this especially when he saw pretty humans, which made you a little jealous but he assured you that you were the prettiest, most adorable human in the world.

in the forest, he is much more protective and possessive. no other fairy is allowed within 10 feet of you and touching you is a crime punishable by death. though, he doesn’t like other humans touching you either, he’s more lenient with them. one unlucky human tried to kiss your cheek and almost got his face bitten off…never happened again. and of course, he takes you flying across the sky.

to jungwon, you are the most precious thing in the world, his most prized possession from the moment he met you. and although he believes your his little baby, you know he’s just as much your baby as you are his.

niki- vampire

niki is very clumsy for a vampire, if he’s being honest.

he’s trying hard to beat the edward allegations, but perhaps he should learn how to prioritize because while he’s growling and tearing up in the woods, ripping bark off trees to chew on to dull the ache in his teeth he makes eye contact with a very pretty person, watching him in awe. awkwardly, he spits the bark out of his mouth, his glowing red eyes still looking at you. he tries to think of anything to ease the tension, so he asks you if you come here often. to his surprise, you say yes. you ask why he’s chewing tree bark to which he, embarrassed, says “i’m teething..”

you coo.

you come up to him and ask to see his fangs. you ask him if it hurts. he kicks the dirt under his shoes and nods. he licks them and takes a blood substitute for kids box out of his pocket.

you think he’s so cute. he thinks it’s annoying how you’re cooing at him when you’re a foot shorter than him but he loves the positive attention. you drag him to a target. he notes how small your hand is in his and squeezes it a little harder. you take him to the wooden spoons. you give him one to chew on and take him back to the checkout, where you scan it out and pay. now he shouldn’t have to rip the bark off trees. niki promises to repay you, writing his phone number in your phone before he takes off because his mom was gonna kill him for being out at 1 in the morning.

niki loves to visit you at your window at night. he’ll tap on it lightly and wait for you to answer. he asks how you are, if you’re safe and if any other vampires have tried to mess with you, to which you giggle and tell him no. he loves to sit and cuddle with you, of course he prefers to be big spoon, but if you pout and say please he’ll give you anything you ask, even if little spoon is embarrassing for him. you spend a good amount of time teasing him, but when he teases you back, suddenly, you’re quiet and he loves it. he loves to pinch your cheeks and carry you on his back. he loves knowing you can depend on him. niki’s very soft with you so you often forget he possesses superhuman strength. a man made the mistake of putting his arm around you and ended up in the hospital with broken ribs once… .he gets shy asking if he can feed off you. he feels bad about it even when you assure him it’s fine. after he’s done, he makes sure you’re taken care of. licks your wounds to the speed up the healing process and gives you a little snack with juice before he cuddles you and soothes you to sleep.

niki’s very clumsy for a vampire, but his love and devotion to you comes to him as naturally as breathing does. he will love you till the end of time.

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physalian · 12 days

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8 Signs your Sequel Needs Work

Sequels, and followup seasons to TV shows, can be very tricky to get right. Most of the time, especially with the onslaught of sequels, remakes, and remake-quels over the past… 15 years? There’s a few stand-outs for sure. I hear Dune Part 2 stuck the landing. Everyone who likes John Wick also likes those sequels. Spiderverse 2 also stuck the landing.

These are less tips and more fundamental pieces of your story that may or may not factor in because every work is different, and this is coming from an audience’s perspective. Maybe some of these will be the flaws you just couldn’t put your finger on before. And, of course, these are all my opinions, for sequels and later seasons that just didn’t work for me.

1. Your vague lore becomes a gimmick

The Force, this mysterious entity that needs no further explanation… is now quantifiable with midichlorians.

In The 100, the little chip that contains the “reincarnation” of the Commanders is now the central plot to their season 6 “invasion of the bodysnatchers” villains.

In The Vampire Diaries, the existence of the “emotion switch” is explicitly disputed as even existing in the earlier seasons, then becomes a very real and physical plot point one can toggle on and off.

I love hard magic systems. I love soft magic systems, too. These two are not evolutions of each other and doing so will ruin your magic system. People fell in love with the hard magic because they liked the rules, the rules made sense, and everything you wrote fit within those rules. Don’t get wacky and suddenly start inventing new rules that break your old ones.

People fell in love with the soft magic because it needed no rules, the magic made sense without overtaking the story or creating plot holes for why it didn’t just save the day. Don’t give your audience everything they never needed to know and impose limitations that didn’t need to be there.

Solving the mystery will never be as satisfying as whatever the reader came up with in their mind. Satisfaction is the death of desire.

2. The established theme becomes un-established

I talked about this point already in this post about theme so the abridged version here: If your story has major themes you’ve set out to explore, like “the dichotomy of good and evil” and you abandon that theme either for a contradictory one, or no theme at all, your sequel will feel less polished and meaningful than its predecessor, because the new story doesn’t have as much (if anything) to say, while the original did.

Jurassic Park is a fantastic, stellar example. First movie is about the folly of human arrogance and the inherent disaster and hubris in thinking one can control forces of nature for superficial gains. The sequels, and then sequel series, never returns to this theme (and also stops remembering that dinosaurs are animals, not generic movie monsters). JP wasn’t just scary because ahhh big scary reptiles. JP was scary because the story is an easily preventable tragedy, and yes the dinosaurs are eating people, but the people only have other people to blame. Dinosaurs are just hungry, frightened animals.

Or, the most obvious example in Pixar’s history: Cars to Cars 2.

3. You focus on the wrong elements based on ‘fan feedback’

We love fans. Fans make us money. Fans do not know what they want out of a sequel. Fans will never know what they want out of a sequel, nor will studios know how to interpret those wants. Ask Star Wars. Heck, ask the last 8 books out of the Percy Jackson universe.

Going back to Cars 2 (and why I loathe the concept of comedic relief characters, truly), Disney saw dollar signs with how popular Mater was, so, logically, they gave fans more Mater. They gave us more car gimmicks, they expanded the lore that no one asked for. They did try to give us new pretty racing venues and new cool characters. The writers really did try, but some random Suit decided a car spy thriller was better and this is what we got.

The elements your sequel focuses on could be points 1 or 2, based on reception. If your audience universally hates a character for legitimate reasons, maybe listen, but if your audience is at war with itself over superficial BS like whether or not she’s a female character, or POC, ignore them and write the character you set out to write. Maybe their arc wasn’t finished yet, and they had a really cool story that never got told.

This could be side-characters, or a specific location/pocket of worldbuilding that really resonated, a romantic subplot, whatever. Point is, careening off your plan without considering the consequences doesn’t usually end well.

4. You don’t focus on the ‘right’ elements

I don’t think anyone out there will happily sit down and enjoy the entirety of Thor: The Dark World. The only reasons I would watch that movie now are because a couple of the jokes are funny, and the whole bit in the middle with Thor and Loki. Why wasn’t this the whole movie? No one cares about the lore, but people really loved Loki, especially when there wasn’t much about him in the MCU at the time, and taking a villain fresh off his big hit with the first Avengers and throwing him in a reluctant “enemy of my enemy” plot for this entire movie would have been amazing.

Loki also refuses to stay dead because he’s too popular, thus we get a cyclical and frustrating arc where he only has development when the producers demand so they can make maximum profit off his character, but back then, in phase 2 world, the mystery around Loki was what made him so compelling and the drama around those two on screen was really good! They bounced so well off each other, they both had very different strengths and perspectives, both had real grievances to air, and in that movie, they *both* lost their mother. It’s not even that it’s a bad sequel, it’s just a plain bad movie.

The movie exists to keep establishing the Infinity Stones with the red one and I can’t remember what the red one does at this point, but it could have so easily done both. The powers that be should have known their strongest elements were Thor and Loki and their relationship, and run with it.

This isn’t “give into the demands of fans who want more Loki” it’s being smart enough to look at your own work and suss out what you think the most intriguing elements are and which have the most room and potential to grow (and also test audiences and beta readers to tell you the ugly truth). Sequels should feel more like natural continuations of the original story, not shameless cash grabs.

5. You walk back character development for ~drama~

As in, characters who got together at the end of book 1 suddenly start fighting because the “will they/won’t they” was the juiciest dynamic of their relationship and you don’t know how to write a compelling, happy couple. Or a character who overcame their snobbery, cowardice, grizzled nature, or phobia suddenly has it again because, again, that was the most compelling part of their character and you don’t know who they are without it.

To be honest, yeah, the buildup of a relationship does tend to be more entertaining in media, but that’s also because solid, respectful, healthy relationships in media are a rarity. Season 1 of Outlander remains the best, in part because of the rapid growth of the main love interest’s relationship. Every season after, they’re already married, already together, and occasionally dealing with baby shenanigans, and it’s them against the world and, yeah, I got bored.

There’s just so much you can do with a freshly established relationship: Those two are a *team* now. The drama and intrigue no longer comes from them against each other, it’s them together against a new antagonist and their different approaches to solving a problem. They can and should still have distinct personalities and perspectives on whatever story you throw them into.

6. It’s the same exact story, just Bigger

I have been sitting on a “how to scale power” post for months now because I’m still not sure on reception but here’s a little bit on what I mean.

Original: Oh no, the big bad guy wants to destroy New York

Sequel: Oh no, the big bad guy wants to destroy the planet

Threequel: Oh no, the big bad guy wants to destroy the galaxy

You knew it wasn’t going to happen the first time, you absolutely know it won’t happen on a bigger scale. Usually, when this happens, plot holes abound. You end up deleting or forgetting about characters’ convenient powers and abilities, deleting or forgetting about established relationships and new ground gained with side characters and entities, and deleting or forgetting about stakes, themes, and actually growing your characters like this isn’t the exact same story, just Bigger.

How many Bond movies are there? Thirty-something? I know some are very, very good and some are not at all good. They’re all Bond movies. People keep watching them because they’re formulaic, but there’s also been seven Bond actors and the movies aren’t one long, continuous, self-referential story about this poor, poor man who has the worst luck in the universe. These sequels aren’t “this but bigger” it’s usually “this, but different”, which is almost always better.

“This, but different now” will demand a different skillset from your hero, different rules to play by, different expectations, and different stakes. It does not just demand your hero learn to punch harder.

Example: Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2 does have more influence than Tai Lung, yes. He’s got a whole city and his backstory is further-reaching, but he’s objectively worse in close combat—so he doesn’t fistfight Po. He has cannons, very dangerous cannons, cannons designed to be so strong that kung fu doesn’t matter. Thus, he’s not necessarily “bigger” he’s just “different” and his whole story demands new perspective.

The differences between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are numerous, but the latter relies on “but bigger” and the former went in a whole new direction, while still staying faithful to the themes of the original.

7. It undermines the original by awakening a new problem too soon

I’ve already complained about the mere existence of Heroes of Olympus elsewhere because everything Luke fought and died for only bought that world about a month of peace before the gods came and ripped it all away for More Story.

I’ve also complained that the Star Wars Sequels were always going to spit in the face of a character’s six-movie legacy to bring balance to the Force by just going… nah. Ancient prophecy? Only bought us about 30 years of peace.

Whether it’s too soon, or it’s too closely related to the original, your audience is going to feel a little put-off when they realize how inconsequential this sequel makes the original, particularly in TV shows that run too many seasons and can’t keep upping the ante, like Supernatural.

Kung Fu Panda once again because these two movies are amazing. Shen is completely unrelated to Tai Lung. He’s not threatening the Valley of Peace or Shifu or Oogway or anything the heroes fought for in the original. He’s brand new.

My yearning to see these two on screen together to just watch them verbally spat over both being bratty children disappointed by their parents is unquantifiable. This movie is a damn near perfect sequel. Somebody write me fanfic with these two throwing hands over their drastically different perspectives on kung fu.

8. It’s so divorced from the original that it can barely even be called a sequel

Otherwise known as seasons 5 and 6 of Lost. Otherwise known as: This show was on a sci-fi trajectory and something catastrophic happened to cause a dramatic hairpin turn off that path and into pseudo-biblical territory. Why did it all end in a church? I’m not joking, they did actually abandon The Plan while in a mach 1 nosedive.

I also have a post I’ve been sitting on about how to handle faith in fiction, so I’ll say this: The premise of Lost was the trials and escapades of a group of 48 strangers trying to survive and find rescue off a mysterious island with some creepy, sciency shenanigans going on once they discover that the island isn’t actually uninhabited.

Season 6 is about finding “candidates” to replace the island’s Discount Jesus who serves as the ambassador-protector of the island, who is also immortal until he’s not, and the island becomes a kind of purgatory where they all actually did die in the crash and were just waiting to… die again and go to heaven. Spoiler Alert.

This is also otherwise known as: Oh sh*t, Warner Bros wants more Supernatural? But we wrapped it up so nicely with Sam and Adam in the box with Lucifer. I tried to watch one of those YouTube compilations of Cas’ funny moments because I haven’t seen every episode, and the misery on these actors’ faces as the compilation advanced through the seasons, all the joy and wit sucked from their performances, was just tragic.

I get it. Writers can’t control when the Powers That Be demand More Story so they can run their workhorse into the ground until it stops bleeding money, but if you aren’t controlled by said powers, either take it all back to basics, like Cars 3, or just stop.

—

Sometimes taking your established characters and throwing them into a completely unrecognizable story works, but those unrecongizable stories work that much harder to at least keep the characters' development and progression satisfying and familiar. See this post about timeskips that take generational gaps between the original and the sequel, and still deliver on a satisfying continuation.

TLDR: Sequels are hard and it’s never just one detail that makes them difficult to pull off. They will always be compared to their predecessors, always with the expectations to be as good as or surpass the original, when the original had no such competition. There’s also audience expectations for how they think the story, lore, and relationships should progress. Most faults of sequels, in my opinion, lie in straying too far from the fundamentals of the original without understanding why those fundamentals were so important to the original’s success.

#writing advice #writing resources #writing tips #writing tools #writing a book #writing #writeblr #sequels #kung fu panda

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awakefor48hours · 7 months

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*Redoing this poll because I made typo and want to add some clarification.

Out these five, you can only save one, the others are deleted 100% from existence.

Keep in mind what this question entails. Think about what "100% deleted from existence" means. Every last bit of the others' existence (movies/shows/concepts) has been completely wiped away from human existence forever. Think deeper than "without Shrek, we're just losing 'what are you doing in my swamp' from meme culture."

Shrek was able to stop Disney's monopoly on animated movies. If that never happened, would the Spiderverse movies be made by Disney? If so, then would they be as good as they currently are? Would the Spiderverse movies even be made? By sacrificing Shrek, who knows?

Without the High School Musical movies, does Zach Efron have the same career and if not then what does that look like? If it does change, how does the theater community change?

Kung-Fu Panda was such a success in China that there's now a Kung-Fu Panda theme park in China.

Just think more before you vote. Let your sci-fi fantasy brain have a turn at the wheel.

Also, please consider reblogging for a larger sample size

#my poll #poll #tumblr poll #across the spider verse #across the spiderverse #into the spider verse #into the spiderverse #Shrek #Megamind #high school musical #hsm #hsm the musical #kung fu panda

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parkhumans · 4 months

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HI WELCOME TO PARKHUMANS

I'm KAZ (he/him) and i'm an artist cartoonist etc etc you know the drill.

ever since i was a kid i had a massive special interest in theme park history and for whatever reason that's been really present in my life as of late. so i created parkhumans, which as you could probably gather is a project where i humanize a ton of rides, attractions, hotels and the like out of a passion for them and their history. i tend to include a lot of anthro elements in my designs too, so the term 'human' is pretty nebulous. more elaboration on what these are will come later down here

ive actually had this project going for a while, i just havent posted much about it here because i just couldnt find the time to. woopssss

some other things i feel are important to know

i dont just exclusively humanize disney parks/attractions. my theme park special interest is very general and encompasses multiple parks not just those

i hate disney as a company and i am sure to make that explicitly clear. when i praise their theme parks, none of that praise is directed towards disney as an enterprise, it's towards the people who are behind the engineering and art of the resorts. again it bears repeating that i am very vocal about the fact that i Do Not support disney as a company. im extremely critical of them. im just a big proponent of preserving the hard work that goes into these resorts and i think that work deserves to be highlighted, and im glad i can convey the history behind these attractions with my art

do not conflate the parkhumans project with c0untryhumans or anything of the same vein. they are not remotely comparable. c0untryhumans is pretty inherently bigoted just as a concept. i don't like the prospect of being conflated with that as with the parkhumans project is something i create with as much tact in mind. i purposefully go out of my way to avoid depicting things that are offensive or in poor taste in this project.

tangentially related to that last point, there are certain attractions i refuse to make designs for. generally this includes rides that have had tragedies occur directly on them that are inseparable from their histories (such as america sings), rides that have origins in inherently bigoted sources (this is why i wont ever do splash mountain) or have bigoted things within them, and, this one is more of a case by case basis, but i tend to stray away from heavily ip-focused attractions. what i mean by this is that you won't see me making characters based off star wars or marvel rides. this is more out of a personal place, as i simply just dont enjoy doing it. i feel like certain companies have gotten too comfortable just relying on their ips and its something im very loud about being disappointed in. i prefer to focus my time on the attractions i like, not ones that are just popular. of course that last one has a ton of exemptions so you cant expect me to 100% uphold it, but just keep in mind that i dont really pay mind to the attractions i feel are kind of corporate and shoehorned in. if you want more elaboration on my stance on this, here's a twt thread i made regarding it

normally i dont take requests for designs unless i ask for them myself. again, i like to do my own thing most of the time

i dont consider this to be a big collaborative thing, but that doesnt mean i wont let people make their own spins on this idea. i have my own vision in mind for this thing but im totally open to the idea of people making their own fanchars and stuff!

& some other things

here is a big doc i made explaining what parkhumans are in case you're wondering about the specifics of how they operate

also heres the toyhouse page

that should be it 👍 ok cya

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norrington-hell · 2 months

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I’m offically buying tickets to see this upcoming Ted talk from you. Please elaborate because this is obvious me to every time I rewatch the series. I wanna see what you have to say about it!

VERY WELL TUMBLR USER @grayladyofthewell

It’s been nearly five years, and I still feel very strongly about this subject. Lord knows I’ve tried my damndest to find peace, but alas! Jimothy continues to consume my waking thought!

It’s so clear that Jack Davenport was playing a character that HE’D been the one to write. James is so much more fleshed out and real than the majority of the very fun, and very trope-y cast. That’s not to say every other character is devoid of nuance (I am not talking about the sequels oh my GOD am i not talking about the sequels), but more to the point that the original script had James written as a mustache twirling, power-hungry, opportunistic secondary antagonist. I think they might have even drafted him to team up with Barbossa at one point (either that or I dreamed it in which case hell yeah original idea do not steal).

When Jack Dav showed up, the part evolved into something much more complex. Much more relatable. Much more HUMAN. Something reminiscent of a regency drama. And the audience has the benefit of SEEING it…while the other characters in the universe DO NOT.

We, the viewers, can know James is in love FRFR. Elizabeth doesn’t. And that’s a damn shame bcuz if the worlds best pirate hunter had been even a little bit more exciting and visibly interested in her as, you know, a person, I imagine he would have been a much more pleasing prospect for her.

When Elizabeth does finally see him in all his complexity, when she does finally understand the depth of his feelings, it’s too late. Or James believes so, at least. He likely had no intention of going with her. He likely had every intention of hanging for his treason. But he would do so knowing he’d tried to put things right.

James Norrington was so well-written he COULDN’T survive this narrative. There’s too much beauty in his tragedy. Too much poetry in his sacrifice. And…let’s be honest, fam. The writers were riding the wave of mid 2000s ‘lol random’ energy they assumed the audience loved about J*ck Sp*rrow and making a delirious cash grab in the process. This series wasn’t made to be art. They had no idea what to do with James after the second film.

Now, as for what I said about conforming being his end.

The reason he stands out to us, the reason he captures our hearts and imaginations, the reason we’re still talking about him nearly 20 years after his canonical death is also the reason he is as killed.

He was a goddamn Jane Austen hero in a goddamn Disney movie based on a goddamn theme park ride.

send tweet

#pirates of the caribbean #james norrington #Elizabeth swann #this post gets a lot of notes every so often #there’s been a bump in activity on all my old Norribeth stuff #everyone doing okay out there?#do you need some water? a trauma blanket??#anyway welcome to Norrington Hell

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oonajaeadira · 5 months

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For the Love of Fic: November 20

Heyo! I've been just parking read fic here for a while and didn't realize how long it was getting! And then I used my wait times in Disney to read a bunch more.... anyway. I've got a long list of fun for you!

Also, I'm really sorry, this is the dumbest header I've ever made but it made me laugh so here we are.

🪐 = Year of Themed Creation Fics!

DIETER BRAVO

Dieter, Dieter, Pumpkin Eater by @coulsons-fullmetal-cellist I can't decide what I love more: Dieter getting frisky in a bouncy castle or his gleeful exclamations when the goats take to him. I want this. I want all of it. Sign me up. Crocs and all.

Tip Your Server by @nothoughtsjustmeds I love love love this fic. I love Dieter needing to get reader all hot and bothered while wearing fancy clothes, I love the banter, I love the obvious love these two have, the cavalier throw-away of a precious object, every gesture of affection and its tie to absolute, loving sass. And the prose is so great. This is a masterclass fic.

JOEL MILLER

Strong Enough To Stand by @the-blind-assassin-12 Oof. This both hurt and was satisfying. Joel has a habit of holding onto love and hurt. It's definitely detrimental at times. But damn if it doesn't illustrate how fiercely he loves. Alyssa's lead up story to this--It Pours From Your Eyes--nearly destroyed me, but this one thankfully helped to soothe.

Surrender Chapter 13 and Chapter 14 by @ezrasbirdie Birdie gave us a beautiful reunion and ending for Daisy and Joel and I'm just so proud of her for putting her heart into a wonderful OC. There's so much in this series about learning to love and--even more interesting--learning to BE loved, and both Joel and Daisy are wonderful for that. I know there's an epilogue coming and I will patiently wait for my desert while this meal of a fic settles in my heart.

Saying I love you through an accidental kiss by @songsformonkeys Listen. Joel Miller's got a lot going on today and it's chaotic and you made him food and took care of Sarah and you...you reached for him first. SOFT! CUTENESS!

Spend All Your Love Making Time by @haylzcyon Sub!Joel is my new favorite obsession. He's just so in LOVE with reader, so in thrall and this is hot hot hot.... Those baby browns are certainly made for puppydog wants....

Something Soft by @keldabe-kriff 🪐 Everyone knows what you do with dandelions, right? Until an apocalypse wipes off even the tiniest things from human culture. Then kids like Ellie may not understand the simple joy of making a wish on one. Good thing there's folks like Joel who remember and help her out.

Joel, Interrupted by @iamskyereads This is both melancholy and warm, and that is such a welcome taste. It is quiet and lovely and the last line gave me so many feelings. If Joel was a ghost in his own house, this is exactly how he'd be. <3

MARCUS MORENO

Not All Heroes Wear Capes by @all-the-things-2020 🪐 I love "fandom crossovers" as a year of tropes offering. ST:TNG was one of my big fandom obsessions, so it's nice to return to some of those characters. Putting a Pedro boy in there is inspired, and this was handled so well!!!

If It Wasn't For The Nights by @simpingcowboy 🪐 Marcus is just made for angst, isn't he. It's obvious how much he loved his wife and how much he loves their daughter. Going inside to examine that is just asking for a heart twist....

JAVI GUTIERREZ

The Last Blockbuster: Bump in the Night by @blueeyesatnight I love these two slacker filmophiles and am always happy to see them return to my dash. This time it's a test of readers' spine, to see if she can handle the scary movies like she says she can. I appreciate the appearance of another movie memorabilia piece...🦇🦇🦇

IRL part 1 @ nickcage_numerouno and part 2: of festivals and food by @grogusmum I love that both these dopes are so insecure about meeting one another. Javi is sweet and wonderful like always, and it's nice to get his POV here and there as our plus-size reader deals with her own assumptions. But oh my gosh he's smitten and if there's gonna be a part 3 I'll lose my mind.

COMANDANTE VERACRUZ

When it Comes to You... by @flightlessangelwings 🪐 I mean, if anyone's gonna get violently protective over his girl, it just might be Veracruz. I mean, to make you his priority during an ambush? To come back victorious and rail the crap out of you afterward? That's the dream....

DAVE YORK

First Kill by @hopeamarsu 🪐 Holy balls, this is a beautiful little character study on Dave. Hope goes inside his head during a therapists' session where he's asked about his first kill, and it is menacing AF. Take a look at this piece, because it is bomb.

EZRA

Gravity by @insomniamamma 🪐 J has a way with Ezra that I'm just addicted to. I know she loves him deeply, always takes so much care with him, gets his soft side just right. She makes me yearn so very hard for this man...his physical gracelessness a grand contrast to the gracefulness of his devotion. My goodness, I love this fic.

PERO TOVAR

untitled by @writeforfandoms Listen. It's a little mixed trope drabble about Pero as your bodyguard that might not mind being mistaken for your boyfriend and I could take 10K of this thanks.

Bangathon fics Cowgirl and Missionary by @prolix-yuy I may be a broken record, but I just cannot get enough of a solem and sour protector who only shows his vulnerability behind closed doors. I knew better than to read LJ's take on him and expect to remain unmelted.

Grumpy Pumpkin by @sirowsky This is just the very cutest. Of course Pero knows his way around knives, but pumpkin carving doesn't go exactly as you planned. In fact, it goes much sweeter.

Seed by @perotovar I love a Pero that is hot for his wife whether or not she can concieve. And that the want for a baby that hasn't come yet doesn't make them sad...it just makes them want to try harder! Soft and sweet and spicy all at once. Just like I like him.

FRANKIE MORALES

Ring Toss by @morallyinept Look. It's a simple concept. Frankie brings you donuts because Frankie loves you. You're resisting because you're on some silly diet. Donuts have holes. Frankie's got something that will fit in that hole. One temptation is bad enough, but two sticky treats together? Resistance is futile.

Questions and Stories part 1 and part 2 by @never--doubt 🪐 I love this concept of Frankie and reader's daughter asking them how they met and functioned as soulmates, how love takes work, and the mechanic of not being able to see one particular color until your aoulmate finds you....

EDDIE THE VAMPIRE (WITH MAX PHILLIPS)

An Act of Kindness by @missredherring This is a very sweet intro to a really lovely dynamic between a vampire reader and a fledgling. Oh my balls, Eddie needs help and she's such a good teacher. And he's so smitten with her in the cutest way... And of course, Max being Max, which is to say, Max being a douche.

JAVIER PEÑA

Summer Kiss Prompt - Apology Kiss by @something-tofightfor I cannot deal when strong men recognize thier trauma and try to do better. It's clear here that Javi hasn't learned how to let someone else take the lead with him yet, but the growth that's comes is beautiful.

Summer Kiss Prompt - Lazy Kiss by @something-tofightfor Rachael does slice of life so well. There's something very wonderful about Javi's focus on his work to the point where he forgets to take care of himself, and maybe even lovlier about the woman who makes sure he eats something and has himself a break now and then...

TIM ROCKFORD

Rockford and Roan 4 by @littlemisspascal I am so in love with Rae's soft soulmate stories, she always knows how to warm my heart. This one has some darker elements what with Tim investigating crimes....BUT THERE'S ALSO A DOG THIS TIME.

DIN DJARIN

Ambrosial by @spacecowboyhotch A soft and lovely story staring a black reader, wherein Din learns about the ritual and culture of her hair, how it links her to her family, how much a part of her it is...and therefore how much a part of himself. I just wanna curl up in this, it's so cozy.

SPECIAL GUEST CORNER

FENNEC SHAND

A Different Way of Life by @ghostofskywalker 🪐 Yes. Yes this is what I want. To run away for adventure only to find I really ran away with the love of my life...who just happens to be a bounty hunter and a ton of fun.

DICK GRAYSON

Seasons of Love by @captainsophiestark 🪐 I don't know much about this character, but he seems very sweet and loving. A jump through time in a relationship involving ties to the Wayne family.

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mothmanlikesmen · 1 month

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THE LEGO SHOW/MOVIE UNIVERSE

(I know this is very obvious but I need to rant 😔 also first post 🤠 also thoughts about this matter are appreciated and I tried to get all of the Lego shows,this is very much modeled after the scale of the universe)

Lego chima universe is canon in ninjago both were in the same period with nexo knight meaning it in the same galaxy. Dreamzzz had crossovers with ninjago Dreamzzz is connected somehow by a pizza logo from hidden side which begs the question: wouldn't most of the Lego shows be in the same galaxy ; to back this up you can look at the Lego movie where the master builders are in unikitty’s solar system

you can see Batman, unikitty, Michelangelo(tmnt),Lloyd ,worker(city), and Gandolf while the themes the classic Legos (medieval, space, western,and pirate ) are all there and in the same room with a cameo in one scene with the millennium falcon from Star Wars

In the Lego movie 2 we are introduced to jurassic Park by Rex (he probably stole the dinosaurs ) and Lego Duplo

you may be thinking

“No Disney” character Disney has it own universe which includes marvel,Disney princess,Disney movies,etc. however star wars is really weird due to it making a cameo in the Lego movie (I still need to think it through”

"what about the Lego friends"

They have there own galaxy with Lego elves due the main character in elves being human presumably from the friends solar system who travel via amulet to the elves solar system

"what about Lego monkie kid" to that idk hypothetically it would go in the Same galaxy as ninjago but it doesn't really work due to its animation style its drawn rather than cgi (yes the unikitty show and some of ninjago was too) but it's based of of journey to the west an actual story by being a twist off of it being set in the future a few hundreds of years after. (Will probably rant about jttw media)

Mixels and Bionicle are in the same galaxy because no humans/humanoids.

This is brain rot,and the Lego universe is weird

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aziraphales-library · 2 months

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heya! i was wondering if you have any fics where crowley and aziraphale go to disney/a theme park/a festival of sorts? just them being human and enjoying its pleasantries

thank you for all you do for this fandom!

Hi! Here are some theme park fics...

Mouse Ears by stillmellow (G)

Aziraphale and Crowley have a wonderful day, in the most magical place on Earth. Well, by American standards, anyway.

happily ever after by Waywarder (T)

“Oh, all right,” Aziraphale threw his hands up in the air, having been found out. “I was certain you’d never agree to come under honest pretenses, but my dear, it’s supposed to be the Happiest Place on Earth!” Anthony J. Crowley, as we all know, was an actual, literal Demon. He’d spent time in actual, literal Hell. As he stood there beneath the scorching Florida sun, surrounded by noisy, sticky children, balloons and cartoon characters around every corner… Perhaps he’d never really known Hell after all. I... I sent the boys to a one-off at Disney World. Have fun!

happy together by vtforpedro (G)

In which Aziraphale and Crowley visit Disneyland.

Disney Bound by KaytheJay (G)

Aziraphale plans a secret Disney trip for Crowley.

Big Spooky Fan, Me by Everchanging_Cryptid (G)

Aziraphale surprises Crowley with a trip to Cedar Point Halloweekends after Crowley became hyperfixated on it.

Fell's Lands of Wonder by journeytogallifrey (T)

Theme park owner and visionary Aziraphale Fell dwells at the top of the sorcerer’s tower in the middle of Fell’s Lands of Wonder, somewhere between the superhero training academy, the crashed alien spaceship, the alchemist’s workshop, and the animatronic dinosaurs. When solicitor Crowley is sent to broker a deal with Fell, he is quickly swept into a world of magic where anything can happen. But his employers have sinister intentions, and he’s sure there is no possibility for a happy ending. Fell has his sights set on Crowley, and he always gets what he wants. By the end of the day, Fell is sure he can win him over. And if his ambitions stretch beyond a business deal… who can blame him? After all, what’s more wondrous than love at first sight?

- Mod D

#good omens #ineffable husbands #theme park #mod d

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boybff · 8 months

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wait hiiiii hi hello bestie i didn’t know u like video essays!! i’ve been trying to find more to watch recently, do u have any other recs? about any topic 👀

HIIIIII bestie Robin, are you ready?? After harvesting my Youtube subscription and liked video lists here is what I have compiled. I'm gonna put my current top 5 video recommendations and then the rest of the list, under the cut, is organized by creator.

Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires

The art of religious interpretation (midnight mass vs god’s not dead)

Defunctland: Walt Disney's City of the Future, E.P.C.O.T.

Hogwarts Legacy, JK Rowling, and Trans Advocacy

Cultural Inspirations in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1 - Water

CHANNELS

biz barclay - hilarious, brilliant, my best friend who drinks wine and weaves me long insightful stories while sitting on the dresser or in the bathtub. The vast amount of knowledge, historical

understanding snapewives: religion, fandom, sociology, & erotica

Goncharov (1973) video essay

The art of religious interpretation (midnight mass vs god’s not dead)

Xiran Jay Zhao - Author of one of my FAVE YA novels, “Iron Widow” (which is a MUST read). I always want more avatar content that focuses on cultural inspirations from trusted sources. Xiran taught me so much about the avatar universe I already loved as well as valuable critiques. They also do retellings of historical events such as- Bisexual Han Dynasty Emperors and Forgotten Warrior Queen - Fu Hao.

Cultural Inspirations in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1 - Water

Cultural Inspirations in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 2 - Earth

Cultural Inspirations in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3 - Fire

Fundie Fridays - Jen, a leftist queer feminist, and her husband James examine different aspects of Christian fundamentalism, American conservative politics and pop culture. She has remade a lot of her older videos so make sure to watch the updated versions! She was also featured in the Amazon docuseries “Shiny Happy People” which I would HIGHLY recommend.

Vacation Bible School of Rock (3 part video series History of Contemporary Christian Music)

Ken Ham’s Creation Museum & Ark Encounter

Ask a Mortician - Caitlin Doughty!!! The adult Wednesday Addams we should have got. So compassionate, informed, and moving!! I love her work and she has taught me so much about what it means to have a relationship with death and grief. Her work deals with heavy topics and you can tell she does this work from a deeply respectful, informed place.

The Lake That Never Gives Up Her Dead

Let’s Visit the Churches Made of Human Skulls

Why are Black and White Funeral Homes STILL Separate? With Dr. Kami Fletcher

Iconic Corpse Series

Princess Weekes - Nuanced video essays on pop culture, race, feminism, and other social issues. Takes time to break down complex concepts, their origins and material consequences. The essay on confederate vampires and the connection later made to sci-fi media like Firefly were so paradigm shifting to me!

Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires

The Magical Negroes of Stephen King

Ro Ramdin - Poetic, biting, and introspective essays on pop culture.

Do Celebrities Hate Their Fans? (Doja Cat, Frank Ocean)

Hogwarts Legacy, JK Rowling, and Trans Advocacy

DefunctLand- History of extinct theme parks and themed entertainment experiences.

Defunctland: Walt Disney's City of the Future, E.P.C.O.T.

Disney Channel’s Theme: A History Mystery

Mina Le - Fashion, movies and pop culture

WHY IS EVERYTHING SO UGLY: The Curse of Modernism

FAIRYTALE COSTUMES: it’s giving renfaire but why?

Quinton Reviews - Extensive videos covering niche topics, most popular for Nickelodeon deep dive retrospectives.

How Documentaries Lie to You

The ICarly/Victorious Saga Playlist

TheEpicNate315 - yea i fucking love endless hours of useless skyrim lore because the conspiracies are so deep and I have to do 0 of the research to get all of the information years of scouts worked to piece together!

The Skyrim Mysteries Iceberg (Part 1 of 4)

The Fallout Mysteries Iceberg (Part 1 of 2, incomplete series)

Mike’s Mic - Silly, goofy, and thorough breakdowns of nostalgic TV shows

Any of his unhinged recaps - LOST, Pretty Little Liars, Glee

Tiffanyferg - Media criticism and commentary

Internet Analysis Series

Zoë Ligon - sex educator, artist, and writer, who also owns SpectrumBoutique.com, a health and education oriented sex toy store. Such a special place in my heart for her!! Her bondage mini-documentary with Midori was so touching.

Sex Stuff | Japanese Rope Bondage with Midori

Channels Newer to Me

Broey Deschanel - a mixture of film analyses, retrospectives, politics and just absolutely overthinking anything to do with pop culture

Elvis (2022) and the Utter Mediocrity of Biopics

Meeptop - rambling about movies and stuff

Who is Dahmer Even Made For?

LadyJenevia - discussing entertainment media content including films, television series, etc. Expect to find reviews of recent cinematic releases, video essays on older releases, and interviews with talent from the film/television industry

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and The Art of Hiding in Plain Sight (Netflix Review/Video Essay)

As a disclaimer, I am not endorsing any creator fully and if you see someone you think I should not promote please reach out to me so I can edit this list. As a general rule of thumb the more I had to write about someone, the more informed the recommendation.

#if you read/watch this monster list thank you and I hope you enjoy!!#you can really see my niche interests displayed here lmao #send me asks if you have questions! or have recommendations for me!!#boybff reccomendations #video analysis #video essay reccomendations #video essay #YouTube recommendations

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ourple-battle · 1 year

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Welcome to the ourple battle!!

I am your host Soda and I'm hosting a competition to see who is the most the coolest, bestest, the most swag purple carachter of them all!!

What is happening why are you doing this?

What's going to happen is I choose the carachters and set up the brackets for the left 16 carachters and the right brackets will be chosen by submissions.

There will only be one carachter per franchise excluding transformers and pokemon beacuse I am biased like the rest of humanity.

There will be 4 rounds and maybe some bonus rounds if I'm up to it!

I'm doing this beacuse I saw other people doing this and I thought it sounded fun! My theme is purple cuz I didnt see anyone else do it and my favorite color is purple.

The google forms is closed, thank you to everyone that recommended characters!

The rules are in the form already but I'll restate them here for you guys

No real people, this includes fictionalized versions of real people too!!

They have to have a good amount of purple in the design. Magenta, pink, and blue dont count!

No charachters from MHA, Dangonrompa, Honestuck, South Park, or Hogwarts. Sorry to fans of those, I'm not really comfortable with those :(

Dont submit carachters that are preselected!

Be civil!

Here is a list of our preselected contestants! Don't complain about them they are all swaggy and awesome and cool!

Waluigi (Mario Franchise)

Thanos (MCU)

Galvatron (Transformers)

Shockwave (Transformers)

Donatello (TMNT)

Daisy Duck (Disney)

Darkwing Duck (Darkwing Duck)

William Afton (FNAF)

Grimace (McDonalds)

Count von Count (Sesame Street)

Twilight Sparkle (MLP)

Espeon (Pokemon)

Robbie Rotten (Lazy Town)

Daphne Blake (Scooby Doo)

Mace Windu (Star Wars)

James (Pokemon)

Thank you to @autismswagsummit and @nonbiney-swag-competition for directly inspiring my contest!

#polls #ourple battle #I'll tag the carachters on the bracket post when that's ready

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disneyparksattractionstournament · 7 months

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Favorite Disney Parks Attraction Showdown: Round 3 - Group A

Videos and propaganda under the cut!

MuppetVision 3D: Disneyland, WDW Hollywood Studios

Propaganda:

"Muppets!!! We love the Muppets!!! And also the last thing Jim Henson worked on!!!"

youtube

It's a Small World: (Any version/park!): Disneyland, WDW Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland,Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland)

Propaganda:

"it's a small world" is one of the oldest rides still standing today, and I think it's for good reason. It might not be as thrilling as expedition everest or as flashy as the haunted mansion, but it has a distinct charm that has people coming back year after year. The design of the ride itself - inspired by Mary Blair - is whimsical without being garish; the gold and white of Disneyland Anaheim is reminiscent of their early classic films, while the colorful geometric shapes in Tokyo Disneyland are fun and funky. It's one of the few rides with installations in every park. The propulsion system created for it would go on to be used in later rides like pirates of the caribbean, so if you're a fan of the latter, you have the former to thank for that. You either love or hate the infamous song, but there's no denying that it's catchy. What's more, I think what really keeps people coming back is it's message. "it's a small world'' emphasizes unity, but it also celebrates the diversity and uniqueness of cultures around the world. It's not "you and I are both the same", it's "you and I might be different, but at the end of the day we both laugh and cry and have hopes and fears and many more similarities than what our geography and government tries to say". Sure, it might be corny, but it's not like anyone goes to Disney to get away from this type of cheesy shmaltziness."

"Taken from Escape From Vault Disney podcast, but, three women and a stoner were the main artists and I think that's important. Adding to that, the song is good and no I don't care if it's annoying. Listen to the original version, it's freaking beautiful. Mary Blair art is cute and charming and the whole attraction just looks like kids coloring and drawing and singing and being friends!!! The adult chorus in the finale room is like the parents joining in and spending time with their children and encouraging their kids to respect each other and don't judge people. But also it's like those kids are adults now and refuse to let negativity win and they see the beauty and kindness in people and dang it, that's what being human is about!!!! Be kind to others and accept and help people because we got one earth people!!! And it has just one moon and one golden sun!!! Also the clock has a name. His name is Glockenspiel and he's just a happy guy I love him. Also inspired the boss in Epic Mickey and that boss theme is so good omg"

"it's stuck in your head now isn't it"

"the song may be annoying. it may be creepy. it might, despite its intentions, come off as kind of xenophobic. but, goddamn, it's one of the few good memories i have from my disneyland trips as a child"

Video is of Disneyland, but any version/your fav for the poll!

youtube

#disney parks #disney parks attractions tournament #poll #disney #disney world #tournament poll #disneyland #round 3 #muppets #hollywood studios #muppetvision #small world #wdw #Youtube

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memecucker · 1 year

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If you wanna surprise people with the answer to a trivia question, ask them to name the first Disney full length movie to use computer generated images?

Because the answer is 1961’s 101 Dalmatians. “They had CGI in 1961?!” you might ask and yes though it wasn’t anything we might call CGI nowadays but they were images which were “generated” by a computer so to speak. And by “generated” I mean they used a Xerox machine.

By 1961 Walt had started to become jaded when it came to animation following Sleeping Beauty being a flop at the box office in addition to costing twice as much as previous animated films from Disney (especially since Sleeping Beauty was something Walt actually put a lot of passion into, similar to Fantasia which and how that also bombed and I don’t care much for Walt as a man but I can get how this would be pretty demoralizing) and shifted his attention to theme parks and his futurist utopianism. So with 101 Dalmatians, Walt was less directly involved than in the previous animated movies and largely was there to approve ideas people had.

One day art director Ken Anderson came to Walt and proposed a cost that they use a new method for animating the film, Xerox machines. The technique is called “xerography” (Xerox is actually both “named after” the word but also invented it) and allowed for greatly reducing costs and time when it came to animation because rather than having people hand draw sketches onto animation cels they would instead xerox those sketches onto the cels. Now at the time this was only viable with black and white images and so the cels would still need to be hand colored but 101 Dalmatians ended up being the ideal movie to use the technique on because of the Dalmatians and particularly how there are certain scenes where you have dozens and dozens and at some points all 101 Dalmatians present at the same time. Imagine the amount of effort that would be used in hand drawing cels where you have all 101 Dalmatians present considering that each Dalmatian is supposed to have their own unique spots and the ample room for animation errors to come up and you can understand the appeal. And while it doesn’t meet modern understanding of “computer generated images” the fact that a machine was copying and producing these images and taking over what was formerly a human task (I mean human animators still needed to color it in but whatever) and Xerox machines at the time were essentially analog computers and you can get it. There’s an interview with Chuck Jones from the 70s where he talked about 101 Dalmatians and used the word “computer animation” to describe it so that was how it was seen at the time and even ten years later

Now like I said Walt had been disillusioned with animation but was aware it was his companies bread and butter so when Anderson came to him with the proposal he replied with “"Ah, yeah, yeah, you can fool around all you want to". But when Walt finally saw early versions of the movie? He fucking hated it and said Disney is never going to use one of those “goddamned” Xerox machines again. It destroyed the enchantment and wonder in Walt’s view. This was a guy that had already sorta given up for the moment on actually putting passion into animated films from his studio and just let the animation department handle it but upon seeing all the end result of xerogrgraphy, he was disgusted! Where was the humanity in this? All he saw was the work of machines and said Anderson would never be an animation director again (Anderson says Walt would eventually apologize shortly before his death).

And I think that’s interesting. Without knowing any better, would any contemporary person watching 101 Dalmatians claim it’s anything other than “hand drawn animation”? Because that’s not what it was considered to be at least circa early 60s Disney animation department. Hell, the technique isn’t even really noticeable unless you’re watching the blu-ray version of the movie which is in a higher resolution than it was ever intended to be watched in (there’s actually a lot of agreement that the film is much visually worse in blu-ray). But for Walt Disney, the futurist who in 1961 had already been stepping away from animation? He only saw the work of machines and something stripped of its humanity. But nowadays? You can have CGI movies in our sense of “cgi” where you aren’t even working off any hand drawn sketch but instead images wholly created by computers being directed by artists and the humanity and passion can be made readily apparent in something even more removed from the days of hand drawn cels than the Xerox machine technique.

Anyway, whenever there’s new technology in the arts it’s normal for people to initially see just the work of machines and artificiality. But once people get used to it and it becomes normal, they stop seeing the machine and start seeing the people behind it. Same as it ever was

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