#its the latter. show my nerd some love.

[astrodances]

"Now I've had the time of my life No, I never felt like this before Yes, I swear it's the truth And I owe it all to you"

This is a very, very special drawing for me. ✨

In September of last year, I watched Dancing With The Stars' "Step Into the Movies" special again, at the end of which they recreate "The Time of My Life" scene from Dirty Dancing. And that sent me on a nostalgia trip back to my high school theater days over a decade ago now, where the drama club accepted my idea to do a "Time of Our Lives" theme, and a performance for that song à la Glee. Mind you, I was mainly the stage manager/techie sort, but I did some scenes for the showcases, and participated in this song with my then-boyfriend, along with two other couples.

And while we were hanging out in the green room backstage, a friend took some pictures of us. Including the one that directly inspired this drawing of Webby + Lena.

This started out as a memory remix of that photo, after watching the DWTS special, because I thought these two lovebirds would be really cute subjects for it.

But once I got going, it turned into a love letter, for many things.

As part of the remix aspect of it, I now picture myself in Lena's spot in the photo, getting to have the short hair I wish I had had back then, and getting to wear a suit and tie! (Yes, in the original photo, I am wearing the dress and red bow Webby's sporting here, and I have long hair. 🙈 Though I will say here that the little heart necklace she's wearing is exactly like the one I had, too! :)) Drawing this was really cathartic for my nonbinary self. 💜

And as for Webby, in this remix, she represents someone that, in retrospect, I wish I had shared this moment with from back then. In many ways, she really was the Webby to my Lena. 💜💖💝

(Literally) beyond the subjects of this though, this is indeed very much a love letter to a lot of things, to passions. The background is pretty much a replica of the drama classroom wall we were in front of for the photo, at least as far as layout goes, with a few direct recreations of things that were on the wall and on the table there. Everything else was me being a passionate (theatre) nerd.

(Details (many details) of said nerdiness and alternate versions below the cut!)

I've included un-blurred and background-only versions (and a version with drop shadow lines on the girls, because why not? it's a cool effect!) below, but I just want to point out the details, because I'm so dang proud of this.

The posters/programs for The Phantom Blot of the Opera, Featherspray, Chickago, and My Fair Dewey are obvious duck-parody references to their real-world counterparts (with the latter being the exact poster they use in DuckTales, in Dewey's dream in "Nightmare on Killmotor Hill!" So thanks, Dewey! 😂). The Featherspray one was also included because Hairspray was one of the shows we did in high school! And lemme just say, creating theater posters is really fun!!

The MJ the Musical poster and the half-shown Notre Dame de Paris "Duckbill" right behind Lena's head are particularly special to me, since they (along with Phantom) are my favorite musicals, and getting to draw those two was especially fun!

The L'Orange Theater poster in the top-right is a bunch of duck easter eggs in one - the L'Orange Theater is mentioned and seen in the very first episode of DuckTales 1987, and of course, there's Aquarioon from DT17! Looks like it toured in Duckburg a long time ago. 😉

And the sheet music is the DuckTales theme! (Or at least the left side of it :P)

The "Congrats" card, calendar (the whale for upper half was my own touch), folder, page of random backstage stuff behind Lena's head (which includes little Star Trek and Darkwing Duck references), and golden "Theatre" card (with my old director's favorite quote) are directly from the photo (or at least based on what I could see through its blurriness 😝), as is the very edge of a cast photo in the upper-right. The purple note (totally not with any secret messages whaaaaat) below that, the certificate of excellence, and the little pride heart pins everywhere are little garnishes/dedications. 😊

The stage/theater diagram below the certificate is really cool, because that's a direct recreation (+ another hidden message) of a project a friend and I did for stagecraft back in our freshman year - I was even able to copy my own handwriting for the labels! 😄😂

The "Time of Our Lives" poster is a reference to the showcase I mentioned above that inspired all this, though the real-life poster looked very different, from what I remember.

The green bag below is sorta a nod to the secret pal exchanges we used to do during shows. 😉

And finally:

The Glittering Goldie show poster is me just having an absolute blast drawing her once again and coming up with something for her Blackjack days! And bonus - I'll be posting a gradient-only version of Goldie tomorrow! Really happy with how she turned out!

And the "All the World's a Stage" poster is me combining all of my theatre nerdiness with my passion for space and a good pun! 😁

ANYWAY...

I learned a lot with this drawing, about creating and about myself.

And I just had so, so much fun with it - it was all love, all passion, all happiness for this one. 💜💖💝

Wishing the same for all of you. ✨

Love, Astro 💜

#DuckTales #Webby Vanderquack #Lena Sabrewing #weblena #my art #long post #I just have a lot of feelings for this one 🥹 #(the post itself kinda is a love letter? for future me as much as past me and present me. yeah let's go with that) #for real though still cackling over my design for the Phantom Blot of the Opera poster XD

[klavery]

tell us your klavery hcs about how they started dating^^ (who asked who first, where they go for dates, first kisses/hand holding, etc)

EEEK! I AM SO SORRY!!! this took a while 2 answer cuz i wrote a whole frickin ESSAY! i guess thats what happens when u ask tumblr user klavery 2 talk about klavery, lol.... ANYWAYS,

ok ok omg... firstly i want 2 warn that i clearly take them wayy too seriously and romanticize the fuck out of them and its rly embarrassing bcuz they are stupid but i am just too gone 4 them at this point so 😊👍

SO LIKE!!! avery being aspec + autistic in my minds eye affects pretty much everything abt their relationship 2 romance & dating & stuff... so that & the fact theyre like a dorky awkward nerd to me makes them pretty passive & nervous abt romance stuff, at least at first! avery seems like they could b the suave confident type when it comes 2 romance, which is the kind of person i think their character develops into once they get the hang of it (still a silly dork tho OF COURSE). that being said, in the beginning, avery wasnt usually the one to initiate things often! klara was his first everything... his first crush, his first kiss, everything like that (as opposed to klaras like, 20 exes, lol) so he was kind of inexperienced XP

the development of their relationship is like... at first they HATED each other, they found each other so ANNOYING and INSUFFERABLE, naturally... until a little problem in the form of a 13 year old child showed up at the dojo. apparently this kid was enough of a mutual threat to get the two of them to tolerate each other enough to reluctantly team up... also can i say they r literally like cartoon antagonists to me? they are SO funny and dumb i am SO obsessed... anyways! after the whole main plot of the isle of armor is over, they still kinda almost, try 2 awkwardly ignore each other? tsunderes... they cant admit theyre growing fond of each other xP and after a while, that strategy just doesnt work out :p they continue 2 train at the dojo, and this soon leads 2 them becoming friends! this part is integral 2 me 4 the development of their relationship, they become total besties, they r such galpals........

after some indeterminate amount of time after becoming friends, avery finally falls for her. i headcanon klara was always attracted to him, even when she hated him, lol. they were like two freaks who were perfect partners in crime. they get really close and affectionate, even platonically ❤ ... u can tell how crazy i am over enemies to friends to lovers for them xP

so with ALL THAT in mind.... i think klara would ask first? technically? i mean klara would b the kind of person 2 want someone 2 confess their undying love 4 her, but avery was kindaa weird. i dont think they would have EVER asked her directly tbh.... they were soo confused abt their feelings hehe, abt her but also abt dating in general. klara kinda knew abt the latter, considering avery would have opened up 2 her abt it in my brainspace. i guess knowing this she would just shoot her shot & suggest that they could date! avery is so nervous.... he panics and says he needs time 2 think on it, and when he finally recomposes himself hes all like, Ahem, Klara, I Would Like To Formally Accept Your Ever So Gracious Invitation.. hehehe.... he was so funny.

UM so they try dating!! and i dont rly care if it isnt realistic or believable or whatever at all i just like cute indulgent things.

so what do they do!?! WELL, i think a particular Official artwork could answer that..

(ok but could u IMAGINE my reaction when this was first revealed!? they literally merchandised MY headcanons they merchandised MY SHIP they did it ALL 4 me💞💞💞 this is my own scan too btw! sooo worth it. its soo in character too, klara too busy clout chasing 2 notice her partners abt 2 get his flesh melted off over some curry 😊 and of course, all the lil slowpokes around them❤ quintessential klavery image). but ya! this could possibly b their first date?? i feel like i wanna honor the existence of this wonderful art and say yes.... so aside from pokecamping or just hanging out around the island doing tasks and training and such, OFC they would go shopping, they would go 2 the mall, they would have spa day, avery would take her 2 high end fancy restaurants (bcuz hes upper class and loaded lol), all while being menaces 2 society of course 🥰. OH! wanna know what i think would b cute?? THIS IS SO CRINGE but basically i hc that they have rooms at the dojo 4 the students (so they dont have 2 sleep in tents or go home everyday or whatever...) and i think it would b SO cute if honey and/or mustard helped avery set up a lil candlelit dinner date in his room~ its so silly but so sweet❤

hmm.. honestly i really like the idea of their first kiss being kinda like, lowkey. juxtaposed to the kind of people they are. one might expect some kind of grandiose fairytale type situation... when in fact they were just chillin alone somewhere on the island, and she asked 2 kiss them... and they agreed! it left avery asking themself, what am i doing? how did i get here?? everything had been so different. this definitely wasnt what they would have imagined for themself... but they loved it. averys life was changing in unexpected ways. i guess this was first-love making him a little cuckoo in the head, huh? maybe this event had been a bit grandiose, in its own way.

WOW this post really devolved into me writing fanfiction about how kissing klara caused existential revelations within avery. nice! ok!

anyways!!! we r almost at the end! so!! avery was so touch starved, omg. he wouldnt let just anyone touch him, tho, of course. but if he liked you, well... earlier i said i believed they were pretty close b4 they dated, so if klara were to grab their hand, they wouldnt object, hehe~ (shes the one w the cold hands btw, and a firm grip, too..). things abt avery & physical touch interest me so much honestly, it is so intriguing when a character who could use psychic powers 4 everything would decide not to... especially when it comes 2 affection....

eeeeeaaaaahhh!!! ive gone on too long!! i never talk abt my hcs in detail EVER so like! theres stuff i know i couldve elaborated on more but i didnt wanna go TOO off topic... ofc i could write whole novels about my silleys..... THANK U 4 SENDING THIS!!!! hope it was comprehensible, heheh

#hollyposts #klavery #i am totally ok with more questions btw hehehehe #i get kinda nervous abt it but i do love talking abt them too so...

[queenlua]

tagged by @vintar for “ten songs you’re vibing to right now”!

ok, i gotta tell you just how EXCITED i was when i got tagged in this, because

i saw it earlier this week, just as me and a friend were talking about our misspent youths, which for both of us involved an awful lot of “stockpiling dope midi file versions of various anime theme songs,” right

and i was like “bro i still have my WHOLE COLLECTION,” and we spent a VERY pleasant evening nostalgia’ing over the tracks i found, and now here i am, days later, sharing ten of my dopest midi files with you as well (& all my fine fine followers ofc)

here’s the dropbox link!  a guide:

abyss.mid: god wasn’t this song so sick when it was in dance dance revolution

galaxia.mid: i have NO IDEA what song is from.  hmu if you recognize it?  lil’ kid me was impressed with its majestic scope, its sick reverb, its really fun ancient-temple-y orchestration, and, ok yeah adult me agrees this one rules

giveareason.mid: i have never watched slayers in my life but i have listened to the midi of its theme song approximately one billion times

lastempl.mid: i think this is the last temple theme of one of the earlier zelda games?  i like how AGGRESSIVE it is, just, RIGHT out of the gate it’s loud and in your face

nightwait.mid: *old man voice* back in my day we didn’t have enough space to download em pee threes.  we had to collect midi files of cool pop songs.  such as jennifer lopez’s classic “waiting for tonight”

SD3_-_Innocent_Sea.mid: it’s a tune from Seiken Densetsu 3, a game soundtrack i find overall tragically underrated.  (the whole series, really; Secret of Mana has some absolute bangers too!)  anyway “Innocent Sea” and its companion “Innocent Water” have fucked me up for years; ask me to play the latter on the piano at a nerd convention sometime

sealcrazy.mid: there was this one wildlife artist who sold his art on his lovingly handcrafted website and he had a different midi file for each page.  like each piece of art for sale had its own page.  anyway this was my introduction to Seal, though i didn't realize it until i heard it on the radio when i was 25 and was like HOLY SHIT IT'S THE LIVE VERSION OF THAT MIDI FILE

song1.mid: i think this one might be from Ultima?  like the original Ultima online?  but i’m really not sure; i found it on a Geocities website for this horse roleplaying game called Black & Blue where this song played in the background during its cool Javascript intro page, where they told the story of The Falling-Out Between The Two Brothers That Has Now Cleaved Our Realm Into Two, and like, text would fade in & out in sync with the music?  such a sick effect.  loved it

song2.mid: this played once you entered the main part of the site.  might be another Ultima song.  who fuckin knows

SongoftheWolf.mid: some of you didn’t listen to an absolutely disgusting number of world music albums + Enya during your formative years and it shows

anyway, i will spin the wheel since i’m honestly looking for some new music (i have to drive a bunch during the next month, UGH): @radicarian @ourlightsinvain @jaggedwolf @soanvalcke @departo @nightpool @cyansighs @tototavros  @cyanoscarlet & anyone else who wants to join!  (did i mention. i have to drive a lot. please share some music with me. save me from listening to Bad Religion’s The Gray Grace so many times it causes an integer overflow in the fabric of the universe and sends us all straight to hell)

[linisiane]

The Weird Diversity of Wednesday

While watching Wednesday, my brother and I were disappointed to see the darker skinned characters consistently used as bad guys or jokes!

The mean popular girl, the bully, the shady mayor, the pathetic nerd. It was WEIRD to see a darker skinned character get introduced, predict that they’re gonna be a minor antagonist, and then get proven correct every time. Obviously, that didn’t happen with the white/light-skin characters, who had the options of being bad guys and good guys.

The only exception was Eugene. Instead of being a villain, he got the chance to be the loser character that the show fridged for the latter half of its run time. (Excepting the finale, I presume, but I haven’t seen that episode, yet.) (Also, Deputy Santiago is a black woman who is just a deputy, but she’s also working with Sheriff Galpin, and she’s such a minor a character I forgot she existed. That one depends on your perspective.)

If you couldn’t tell by my “the option of being good guys and bad guys” comment, I don’t actually think dark skinned characters being bad guys is a problem. A person of any race or complexion should have the chance to be a bad guy because villains are fun and allow for complexity. (Also, more importantly, because race doesn’t determine morality.) In fact, I actually really love how the show delved deeper into the minor antagonists.

I love Bianca’s issues with her mother and her siren powers. I appreciate that the popular/beautiful queen bee isn’t a blonde white girl. I love the way the show humanizes the “mean girl” by demonstrating that she has more depth than her mean girl caricature, such as her talking with Wednesday at the dance about struggling with connection or her trying to save Lucas from getting scammed by her mom.

Lucas, similarly, is really fun as a villain. My brother and I got a kick out of how much game this guy had. Almost every girl he shared a screen with had chemistry or a mini-romance subplot with him! Go off, Casanova! I also liked that his reasons for attacking the dance wasn’t just cartoonish bigotry, but a human reaction to Wednesday kinda sorta enacting domestic terrorism at his dad’s ceremony. And it was cool to see him change and grow over the course of the season!

The show almost works! But it doesn’t, and Morticia’s scene with the mayor demonstrates why.

There’s a scene in this show where Morticia Addams, a white woman, tells a black man he has "no idea what it's like not to be believed."

Obviously the show was going for the “me-too” movement, identifying how her background as an outcast and a woman made her more vulnerable to victim blaming and disbelief. But it’s kind of crazy to me that they had her say that to a black man because black men have historically also had issues with being believed due to their marginalized status.

There is something to be said about how being a woman is different from being a man, how women are uniquely ignored, but Morticia, I’m sure the Mayor—as a black man in America—does have at least some awareness of what that’s like. Especially, especially, with the history of white women falsely accusing black men of crimes and getting them lynched or locked up because nobody would believe their word over a white woman’s.

It’s astounding that the show doesn’t address this context, and it makes the scene come off as ignorant. Almost willfully so. In fact, so much of this show felt like the reason they made “outcast” a marginalized social group was so that they could have white people be the victims of oppression with the most screen time on their tv show about marginalization, like they’re appropriating marginalized stories.

And this is consistent. They did this with LGBT+ themes, as well! Enid, a character who has no queer aspects to her character (only shown dating guys, no canon hints about same gender attraction), got an entire subplot about her mom trying to put her into “werewolf conversion therapy,” AND she got an entire scene where she told off her mom while wearing rainbow eyeshadow. Meanwhile, the actual LGBT content of the show consists entirely of two background characters (Eugene’s moms).

It honestly reminded me of the scene in the Vampire Diaries where Caroline, a vampire, gets electric shocks from her human dad, who is trying to use conversion therapy to turn her back into a human. Only, the dad character is ALSO canonically a gay man, for some reason.

Like, what is with this thing of creating fictional marginal statuses as a way to talk about social issues without actually involving said issues (no actual homophobia or colorism). Without actually creating main characters of real life marginalized status (no LGBT main characters). While also having the real life marginalized characters that do exist acting as the oppressors???? (Lucas, the Mayor, Caroline’s dad).

So yeah, the show is really interesting with its diversity. It almost works, as the stories it’s telling are cool and nuanced, but within the context of real life and the casting, the show is tone deaf. Plus, the show being somewhat produced and directed by Tim Burton (a guy who thinks that black characters must justify their blackness to exist in his works, and as a result, his works almost feature white people exclusively) does NOT help.

#wednesday netflix #wednesday 2022 #my thoughts #literary analysis #metas #meta #basically all the producers and directors except for 2 people are white #Disney's Luca does the same thing with marginalized fish monsters and background gay characters #I'd probably bandaid this by casting Xavier black #that has its own issues #the real solution would be having black people with creative control #so that they can catch structural issues like the stuff mentioned here #im not black so feel free to critique my critique if im saying something off here #@Tim Burton WHITE PEOPLE ARE NOT THE DEFAULT #Enid’s whole thing is giving me Queerbaiting vibes tbh #RWBY also did this with the Faunus #despite everything ive written i enjoyed wednesday a lot

[mrultra100]

OCEAN MAN, TAKE BY THE HAND-

We’re finally at not only my favorite episode of not only Season 2, but the entirety of Prehistoric Planet so far; OCEANS! As much as I love prehistory, I’m also a huge marine biology nerd, and have been since early childhood. I’ve always been a fan of marine animals, and the same applies for the sea creatures of the deep past. And when it comes to highlighting the various marine fauna of the Maasrichtian, this episode does a pretty good job with that. Aside from a few complaints that I wanna save for the end, I’m more than happy to say that this episode has many scenes that I consider to be some of my favorites in the entire series. Let’s “dive” in to see what I mean.

…I hope you laughed…

Anyone else getting “Cruel Sea” vibes from this?

The episode begins with an animal that I’ve been hoping to see make an appearance since the very beginning; Phosphorosaurus. This was a species of mosasaur that has adapted large eyes. During the day, this creature hides in the various coral formations, while much larger mosasaurs stalk the depths in search of prey. However, the night is a much different story, as when the Mosasaurus is away, Phosphorosaurus will play. Y’know those large eyes that I mentioned? Well, they’re used to assist the animal while hunting in deep, dark waters, as the female mosasaur zips and darts her way through a school of lanternfish. As if this didn’t become clear enough, this scene is highly reminiscent of the Ophthalmosaurus from Walking with Dinosaurs. Think about it; both are marine reptiles that hide within coral reefs by day, and stalk prey by night. The latter part of the track used for this scene certainly helps with the whole vibe. And while I consider this to be nothing more than a coincidence, I really love how the scene plays out. As much as this series is more similar to Planet Earth, I’m all for similar vibes to the Walking with series in this show.

Chicken of the Sea, anyone?

The episode then cuts to the shallow waters of North America, where two familiar faces of the Late Cretaceous oceans finally make their debut within the PHP universe; Hesperonis and Xiphactinus! Alot of people are aware of these two species. One’s a man-sized diving bird with teeth in its beak, while the other is a gluttonous fish with the face of a bulldog. Once a school of these fish stop by a bunch of Hesperonis snacking on a baitball, things go well…at first, that is. Once enough baitfish have been gobbled up, the X-Fish (A name that David Attenborough lovely calls the Xiphactinus) start attacking their avian acquaintances. Another WW parallel in this episode is how both species did similar things between this episode, and the Hell’s Aquarium part of "Chased by Sea Monsters'’. The main difference between both is well… the lack of a certain time-traveling zoologist peeking in.

One last note to bring up for this scene is how the first draft of it (According to concept art made by Gaëlle Seguillon) also had Hydrotherosaurusin it. For those who aren’t aware, that was a species of elasmosaur that was discovered in California, and its name means “water beast lizard”. While it blows that we didn’t get to see this species show up in the final product, it’s still interesting, and I’d like to think we’ll see the creature in full for season 3 (Again, my season 3 idea may or may not be including this particular species).

Pictured here; Thousands of autism creatures going “Yippee!”

The episode then cuts to a tide pool on what will become Europe, where thousands of baby ammonites are hatching into the world. Not only are these lil’ guys adorable as a button, there’s so, SO many of them, which can be a problem when dealing with limited space. In order to get to deeper water, the ammonites straight-up use piles of their own masses like a living wave, allowing them to reach a deeper part of the pool. While a few dozen of these creatures are left stranded on the beach as food for other creatures (Including a pair of adorable Pyroraptor chicks), the vast majority of them reach the sea. Not alot for this segment, but it’s got some things going for it. The question then remains; What species do these tiny autism creatures belong to? That’s a question that’ll be answered in due time…

FREE WILLY!

In a very similar vibe to the T. Rex from the last episode, the next segment shows off how, despite its rather calm manner from Season 1, Mosasaurus was still a formidable predator to behold. Hunting a pod of Tuarangisaurus near a drop off, the giant lizard tries to ambush one of the elasmosaurs. The first attempt, while having a good start, doesn’t end with a kill, so the mosasaur has to try again. The trick is to curve your body into a c-like shape, use your tail to spring yourself off the seafloor, and do it in a manner where your prey can’t see you coming. We then witness one of the greatest visuals in a series already filled to the brim with great visuals, as the Mosasaurus breaches out of the water with a Turangisaurus in his jaws, very similar to how great white sharks do the same with seals. A good point to note is the fact that the PHP team commissioned a study on how mosasaurs like Mosasaurus hunted prey. The creature is not only big and strong, but also fast enough to catch its prey by surprise. The mere impact alone would kill its prey before they get eaten. The fact that the people behind this series commissioned info for the show that ties perfectly into the segment is incredible enough, but they absolutely KNEW how much the shot of the Mosasaurus breaching with its prey would be one of the most famous moments from this season, mainly due to its majesty and power. Not bad at all for a whale-sized Komodo dragon.

This is what dreams are made of. Only with alot more tentacles and shells.

The next segment after the sheer majesty of the Mosasaurus might be not only my favorite episode from this episode, but in the whole series. Y’know those baby ammonites from earlier? Well, a good few of them have survived months at sea, long enough to flow into a seagrass meadow full of their kind. Not only are some bizarre species like Baculites and Diplomoceras here (The latter essentially being a giant, swimming paper clip), the young ammonites we follow are revealed to belong to a species called Nostoceras. The shells of this species consist of a helix spire ending in a U-turn that faces the animal towards its own shell. Is it weird as hell? Yeah, sure. But like the living paper clip that is Diplomoceras, this was a real animal that existed. Alongside the visuals and major focus on the ammonites, another huge reason why I love this scene alot is the music. Prehistoric Planet, as a series, is no stranger towards banger tracks, but this one might be one of the most whimsical, majestic, and alien tracks of both OSTs for the show. Have a listen.

Imagine a fever dream with that sorta music.

The select choice of instruments used for the track, especially the use of techno noises, all help to solidify what’s basically the theme of the ammonites. Most other forms of paleomedia tend to either use these creatures as nothing more than background visuals, or have them be eaten by larger predators. In the nature of what it sets out to do, the show does these shelled goofs justice yet again. If anything, I wouldn’t be surprised if the show does the same for a species like Parapuzosia. While that particular ammonite species was only around for the early years of the Maasrichtian, it should be worth noting that these creatures grew as big as tractor tires, so I’m hyped to see if the show will do them justice too in the future.

With teeth like those, trips to the dentist must be weird.

The last segment of the episode travels to the South Pole, where pods of Morturneria arrive from their migration. Unlike other elasmosaur species, these guys not only can deal with the chilly water, they also have a unique way of getting food. You see the bristle-like teeth that the mother and her calf in the picture above have? They serve in filtering out small animals that these reptiles get from scooping up mouthfuls of polar mud from the seabed. The Morturneria not only have a feeding behavior similar to gray whales, they also peek out of holes in the sea ice like belugas. Pretty neat way to close out the episode, I must say.

And if you thought Jaws was scary.

The Uncovered segment for this episode goes more into depth (Pun not intended) about the way mosasaurs used speed to hunt. We’ve already covered alot of that during the Mosasaurus segment, but it’s still neat that the people who’ve worked on this show went and commissioned a scientific study into how these seagoing lizards were faster than we thought.

And that sums up all of the thoughts about my favorite Prehistoric Planet episode. All and all, I had a fun time with it, and I enjoyed the array of fauna shown. With that said, the only complaint that I can bring up is how the episode could’ve used more. Don’t get me wrong, between mosasaurs, ammonites, filter-feeding elasmosaurs, and bulldog-faced fish, we got a solid selection of marine animals in this episode. However, there were more than that in the seas of the Cretaceous. Animals like seagoing pterosaurs, rudist clams that played the role of coral reefs, a tube-nosed sea turtle in the form of Ocepechelon, massive filter-feeding fish like Bonnerichthys, polycotylid plesiosaurs, and especially SHARKS were also around during the Maasrichtian. As much as I wish they were in here too, I had a fun time with this episode as a whole.

We’re nearly at the end of our Season 2 review series, so join me again next time, as we cap off Prehistoric Planet’s second season with not a biome… but an entire continent? I dunno how they came up with that, but it’s gonna be a weirdly neat end to the season as a whole, so stay tuned for the finale of our second trip to the Maasrichtian!

#ultra ramblings #prehistoric planet #marine biology #ultra's php2 reviews #Youtube

[mouseratz]

excuse me. time for a comic nerd post.

"do you think space ghost could work as an unironic superhero" anything is possible. I'd say dynamite's current attempt isn't looking fantastic from the previews/summaries, but I also would say superheroes, as a genre, have been known to do a lot more with a lot less than what this series has. "it's stupid" isn't enough of a roadblock to actually be a problem. the way I see it, the two major problems have very little to do with Coast to Coast & it's legacy (the biggest superheroes have been parodied successfully many, many times over and yet still managed to Do Both, so to speak- Lego Batman is beloved by fans and didn't keep The Batman 2022 from coming out, y'know, although our friend is far from Batman, superheroes as a genre have long had to exist alongside parody and done just fine is my point):

1. in an effort to escape coast to coast, I imagine all creatives will be tempted by the horrible spectre that infects all superhero stories at one time or another in a post-TDKR world: the need for gritty dark angsty troubled superheroes. this will not help anything, and will not appeal to many fans; it will off-put people coming from sgc2c AND fail to stand out from a sea of pre-existing angsty sci-fi superhero stories, but many will be convinced it's the only possible way for anyone to take the series remotely seriously.

2. space ghost, as a series, seems like it was pretty memorable to its original childhood audience. however, the reason parody has overshadowed it, is that the main character.....doesn't appear to have a lot of character to speak of. can you tell me a single character trait? he's just a guy in space doing 'good' things. ('good' in quotation marks, but that was just kind of par for the course for this era. they had heroes doing any damn thing.) the things, to me, that appear to be cherished is that distinctive 60s sci-fi flavor that permeated the world & villains, since I don't think plot seems to be discussed too widely.

....and y'know I do kind of get that. I really love 60s fantastic four & the 1966 batman show (although the latter already emerged with some purposeful comedic elements and stylization, itself referencing the Very Old Batman stories and becoming more popular than what came before).

my point being, space ghost himself from his core roots is kind of serving a nothingburger. this could be changed with someone with a very strong vision, but I imagine we won't get that. see point 1- we will be getting Generic Troubled Superhero Guy (In Space), which we already have a million of. that's why it's gonna suck. not bc it's not trying to be "funny" or it's impossible to coexist with parody versions, but because it's just another grab at nostalgia from the 60s era of superheroes that probably won't try to be any fun. are they gonna put the saucer crab in the Dynamite comic? that's the real question.

#space ghost #these r just predictions im not even an expert or longtime fan i just know some patterns around comic revivals #maybe im like crazy wrong. idk

[barb-l]

Top 5 of your favorite shows that others seem to not like. Or top 5 moments on Tumblr that you were here for?

I'm not sure I can remember 5 things for the latter off the top of my head, so lemme do the former

in no particular order. also chose these not because others think it's bad or anything, but because I don't know a lot of people who like em

Gosick - this anime is so good guys. It's about this Japanese exchange student that goes to study in a fictional European school in the 1920's. He befriends a girl that detectives go to for help solving cases because she's hella smart. The romance is great, cute as hell, but also the plot and mystery is just really good and engaging. It's a bit of an oldie but a goodie, and will have you at the edge of your seat at the first arc alone

Love Lab - this show is hilarious. About the student school council who secretly give the repressed students in their all girls school relationship advices even tho none of them have any experience in romance themselves. Just high school girls being silly

Infinity Train - I'm still so mad that this show was cancelled. I'm still holding out hoping it'll get picked up. The fact that it's an anthology series that focuses on different protagonists whose stories are connected to each other in some way is my favorite thing about it. One of the best Isekai stories out there

Tokusatsu Gagaga - this show is so damn cute. About adult women of different age groups(18, 20+, 30's) bonding over how nerdy and too "childish" their interests are considering they're supposed to be grown women. Super relatable for fellow nerds who grew up being reprimanded for having interests not meant for girls too

Agents of Shield - this show doesn't get enough credit for having its first female Marvel hero MC who was also asian. I didn't expect much from a show starring that dude who used to appear in every Marvel movie before getting killed by Loki, but this show really made me love Coulson and his father-daughter relationship with Daisy. Melinda May is also the baddest ass character ever. Her fight scenes were just *chefs kiss* They had the best Ghost Rider too, even though he was only there for a bit

#asks

[lorz-ix]

Japanese nerd stuff

Shin Kamen Rider (2023)

Out of Hideaki Anno's recent projects, I had already seen Shin Godzilla and the last Evangelion movie, and I thought those were amazing, so my expectations for Kamen Rider were positively through the roof. I have now learned a lesson, because those expectations might have been unfairly high.

This is a gorgeous movie, first things first. Some of the computer-generated effects are pretty poor, a letdown for sure since they blemish what would otherwise be peak visuals, but the costume/character design is fantastic, the cinematography is certainly pretty, and the vibes of the Showa era are unmatched here. Really makes me wish they used a lot more practical effects to match the characters and the setting of the original show with just as much love and care.

A highlight that I really liked was the battle against Hiromi, the hornet lady. The special effects weren't bad and the choreography really sold the superpowered, high speed level these characters are fighting at. Easily my favorite fight, if that's what you're looking for.

As for the story itself, you really get the feeling that it's too complicated for its own good, mostly because there's a lot of villains to get through and a lot of exposition to be dumped, so everything feels very rushed and too fast-paced. It's kinda weird that they tried to cram what feels like a short TV series into a cinematic run time, because the structure doesn't entirely feel adequate. At least the second half of the movie has more proper pacing, since by then the main antagonist has already been introduced and the final stretch of the conflict is clearly underway, so it has more time to breathe.

Speaking of said conflict, the morals at the core of this movie, they also let me down a little bit. I love seeing clear, optimistic messages, but coming from Evangelion and Godzilla, I felt that Kamen Rider's message fell flat, feeling a bit vapid, or perhaps rooted in story elements that are too fantastical, so it's a bit more detached from the audience. I'm not sure how to put it into words, I simply thought the other two movies did their stuff better.

In conclusion, it's a fun watch, but probably not as accessible, and not as impressive as other Anno productions.

Shin Godzilla (2016)

I immediately wanted to watch this one again, to sort out my feelings on Kamen Rider, to make sure that I really liked Godzilla as much as I did, and yeah, sure. I still adore it. It's still a very easy top 3 Godzilla flick.

Much more has been said about it much better than I ever could, so I'll be brief. Godzilla is perfectly reimagined as this Anno-esque religious symbol and as a brand new social metaphor that was very relevant for Japan at the time. The political commentary is wonderfully unsubtle, and the message is both clear and grounded. The monster is absolutely terrifying, at points feeling chillingly real. I felt the dread of these events like they could actually happen more than with any other kaiju production, not because I expect a fire-breathing dinosaur to appear anytime soon, but because in here, Godzilla is a very clear embodiment of things that already happen constantly, both because of war, and because of natural disasters, the latter of which being more relevant here.

The one thing that could make this movie "fall off" is that its appeal and commentary are very specific. The movie jumps straight into the action and doesn't tell as much of a dramatic story around people as much as it's trying to say something both critical and inspirational about humanity. Perhaps the fact that it was inspired by the Fukushima disaster will mean it will be less timeless than those inspired by the atomic bomb, but only time will tell.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Boy am I overjoyed that I got to see this in cinemas before the end of the year. This was very unlike Shin Godzilla, but it's easily at least on the same level, in my humble opinion. Minus One, Shin, and the 1954 original are arguably equally strong contenders to the throne of the best entry in the longest running movie franchise.

Unlike Shin, this is a dramatic story very focused on specific people, while also mantaining an extremely strong message about humanity coming together to overcome adversity. Relatively simple on paper, but the execution has shining moments that had me even crying at times. In post-war Japan, a country humiliated by defeat, the worst has already passed, leaving behind broken people and the hope to rebuild what was lost. The collective trauma of war, loss, and survivor's guilt are all addressed, and then, a massive creature threatens to tear down any hopes for the future and make the country re-live the horrors of war.

As I grow older, I have come to adore media that's able to just speak the message out loud with very little subtlety. Interpretation is fun, I won't dismiss more complicated movies as pretentious, but I am aware of how many people miss, ignore or even misread the morals of many popular movies. So when something comes along with an openly positive message with very little room for interpretation, I kinda love it. The lack of restraint isn't necessarily bad.

That said, there was still some dumbass behind us at the cinema who was mad at the ending because he took the movie completely at face value and somehow still missed what it was trying to say. So leave it to that one smart loser we all know to look like the biggest fool, because they still got it wrong. I don't know.

#lorz mediapost 2023 #movies #godzilla #kamen rider

[happy-mokka]

Stranger Things happening - or the geeks shall inherit the 🌍...well first they'll save it of course...

From Wikipedia: (looky here)

geek /ɡiːk/

The word geek is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a generally pejorative meaning of a "peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, boring, or socially awkward". In the 21st century, it was reclaimed and used by many people, especially members of some fandoms, as a positive term. Some use the term self-referentially without malice or as a source of pride, often referring simply to "someone who is interested in a subject (usually intellectual or complex) for its own sake".

I guess I can consider myself being a Geek. In fact, I've been living the Geek's life for almost half a century now. That's why I had a good chuckle, when I was reading what Wikipedia had to say about my "condition": "eccentric", "non-mainstream", "obsessed with intellectual pursuit", "overly intellectual", "unfashionable", "boring" and "socially awkward"...

Check, check, check, check, check, check and check.

Funny, especially when being able to witness the changes in perception over the decades to what it is now. Worn with pride, Geeks being the backbone of every fandom and motor of their creativity and imagination.

Sure, still boring for many and socially awkward for others seeing themselves as the crown of mainstream's creation.

To hell with them. Without us geeks, where would the world stand?

No fantasy novels. Karen would never have had the chance to watch Jackson's Lord of the Rings in cinema with her cheerleader friends and football jocks.

No Science Fiction. The captain of the soccer team would never have watched the latest mediocre Star Wars clone on Netflix.

No Computer Games. Eat this, Fifa Soccer FUT addicts and Call-of-Duty wannabe soldiers.

No Disney+, Netflix, Prime, XYZ streams anywhere, fuelled by the fantasy and creativity of Writers, all of them Nerds.

Tumblr would already have sunken into oblivion without the fandoms holding it together. Geeking out here just for the sake of it and to share their love for all sorts of things amongst each other.

What triggered this sudded Geekocalypse of mine?

I just finished a rather extrem binge of Stranger Things Season 1-4 in the course of 7 days (incl. full days at the office).

Loved it. A show so made for me. Don't get me wrong. I still love my ineffable husbands above all else and the Dead Boy Detective agency didn't conquer a special place in my heart for nothing (and is here to stay...hopefully til season 2, 3, ...). But Stranger Things? That mixed group of kids/teenagers? They're basically me. I am an 80s kid. Grew up exactly in that time the things take place in Hawkins Indiana. I was the DnD playing, fantasy loving, booksmart, shy, introverted, wannabe hero in mind, sci-fy loving, angsty yet courageous Geek. I walked small but dreamed big (guess still do...). Blushed when girls even looked in my direction, at least the ones that were not mocking and bullying me (which there weren't many of the latter..almost none tbh). So watching this show triggered quite a lot. Actually this feels like a huge understatement. Letting this bunch stumble into all those strange things (pun intended). The way how the different groups of characters - some completely on opposite sides in the beginning - find together and in the end grow to something bigger...sigh. Even the few grown-ups in leading roles are basically just grown-up geeks (Hopper - David Harbour and Joyce - Winona Ryder).

They save the Earth times over without getting any acknowledgement or thank-you and the bing-bang with season 5 is yet to come...

Anyway. Consider this my shoutout to all you other Geeks out there!

Let's be geeky! Let's be creative! Let's be kind! Let's spread the love! Let's be proud! (It's pride-month afterall 🌈).

In the end, the 🌍 will be ours. First, we'll be saving it of course. No one in their right mind can trust that to those normalos out there, right?!?

(Picture ©️ of Netflix)

#stranger things #netflix #the geek shall inherit the earth #geek #geeks #nerds #nerd #fantasy #science fiction #computer games #creativity #imagination

[xombizzle]

The Return To The Wasteland

In recent weeks, there has been a resurgence in interest in Bethesda’s critically acclaimed video game series, Fallout. As many probably feel, I see this as an absolute win. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in my summers in high school modding Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout 4, with the latter being the one I spent most of my time in. While I know Fallout 4 is a divisive game, I absolutely love it. My singular gripe with the game is the dialogue options. Installing one mod that changes it to be like previous entries in the series is a game-changer, except that it’s not available on PS5 because Sony is allergic to making fans happy, I guess. Regardless of my opinions on big companies, these games are all a delight, and from what I hear, this now includes the infamous Fallout 76. This series has been pivotal in my growth as a person and as a nerd, so seeing all this love being shown towards it fills me with child-like joy. I had the same feeling when Marvel became popular after the success of the MCU. People used to pick on me for liking video games and comic books but I didn’t care.

Shit, I was happy when people started asking me about comic books even if they had shown no interest before. I believe that embracing new fans into communities is important, this applies to real life too. If you put out good and positive energy, you will receive it in return even if there are a few bad apples. Anyhoo, I’m writing this because I have fallen face-first back into my addiction to these games. I genuinely want to do nothing else but play them when I get into these phases. It’s like how every 6 months, you and your friends will play Minecraft and then forget it again within weeks. This cycle repeats, just like history, and my history is full of these games so it's enjoyable to finally play it again with a newfound sense of perspective. I mean this in the sense of seeing it become so popular, and the fact it’s been like 4 years since my last playthrough of an RPG due to my busy schedule. 

I wholeheartedly believe this game franchise should be enjoyed by everyone in some capacity. That’s why I’m so happy about the success of the new Amazon adaptation. Not only is it unique and beautifully crafted, and deserves its merits. Many video game adaptations are garbage-I’m looking at you, Uncharted, despite your enjoyability as a movie alone-so to see so many adaptations being done right is wondrous. My heart could not be more happy with being in the universe where Fallout received a faithful and enjoyable adaptation. It’s probably a lot easier to adapt something from an RPG world, but many other producers and writers need to take some fuckin’ notes. I suggest to anyone who reads this to try a Fallout game at least once, even if you don’t vibe with it you’ll appreciate the show a bit more, and despise Todd Howard a little more. Come on man, support a remake of New Vegas if you’re gonna keep Elder Scrolls VI or another Fallout entry from us, ffs. 

Anyway, I hope you guys continue to come back and listen to my ramblings, reviews, and poetry. I have so much in store for this blog and I appreciate anyone who gives me the time of day. 

Tally ho, XOM

#fallout #blog #maine #nerd #rpg #first post #vault boy #amazon #bethesda #prose

[ellas-journey]

🌸 Presentation🌸

   Hi! My name is Ella. I’m your local nerd that likes to yell at people about how historical accurate an anime is. But for real I like to merge my two-sided love for the Japanese culture, let me explain.    (Be prepared for the long af back story)    It all started when I was a kid, and I couldn’t get enough of the pretty cartoons that I was seeing on television. Latter I would find out that they were called anime, and, after getting sick of always watching the same episodes over and over again I would find out that I could watch the episodes that did not air on TV on a magic website called Youtube (on a different language, divided on like 10 parts: and this is how you find out how old I am). Thanks to this I will go on to draw this random anime characters during classes and after classes (every hour I as awake really) and watching everything I could (Back in the times where people would make fun of you).    I did choose to pursue an art education. Now, this is where this start to go downhill. My drawing teacher in high school hated anime with a living passion. “It is not art” she said (I would love to go to her and spill some facts to her now). So, she forbids us to draw anime. My love for Japanese culture started to fade (momentarily replaced by Korean culture but let's ignore that little fact for now). I when on to a Fine Arts university, and that's when I found out that some teachers did not mind anime at all. They said “if it’s your thing, it is, but make it even yours” still I’m still healing on the drawing department so let’s move on to the history side of the story.    I had a lot of art history curses, including an one full year dedicated only to Portuguese art. Now if you know Portugal was an empire, were cultures got mixed (this is still a heated thing, so let’s more on) but not once did I hear about that. Hybridism. A simple word, and I would be the one founding out by myself because it was triggering me that we only talked about mainland Portugal (that was boring let me tell you) and not once about what happen overseas. One day I had to do a paper about a piece that was from a Portuguese museum, and that’s where I found the thing that would change me: a beautiful Namban screen. What is Namban? Well, Namban art is the art that was produced when the Portuguese were in Japan.     U read right. The Portuguese were in Japan.    I made that my whole personality. I started to regain my love for Japanese culture again but with an even bigger burning passion. When on to study Japanese history (and I’m trying the Japanese language but God its hard) and did my master’s thesis about that. (Yes, I have a masters I read actual books I'm not going Wikipedia, only sometimes)    But there was a moment where I thought that maybe I didn’t know enough to do that. But then I watched Demon Slayer. And on episode 4 when Tanjiro goes to the selection, and the hand Oni ask “What year of the Meiji era are we” and Tanjiro answers “Meiji? We are already on the Taisho...?”. And then I went to the internet and found people confused about the year in which Demon Slayer takes place, cause Tanjiro comes from a village in the middle of nowhere were it looks like ancient Japan and then suddenly you have card and electricity in Yokohama. I realized that maybe, without knowing I started get the Japanese references that would not be easy for a common western viewer. And I realize that I still had lot to learn.    And like a normal person that is totally in a mentally stable place (did you get the sarcasm?), I decided to hyperfocus on studying all the history and culture behind Demon Slayer. Mostly for myself, but also to all of those that are also curious and want to learn more.  So, this takes us to today, were I finally decided to take this project from my brain-attic and show to the world all the amazing historical references that demon slayer have in the hopes to share all that I learn with Tanjiro & co. 

#presentation #history #history research #demon slayer #demonslayerhistory

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Coming back to write this top bit after finishing a post that really got away from me - this one probably doesn’t make a lot of sense. I found two articles about Daniel Kitson from 2002. I’m going to put a link here so that I don’t feel bad about filling everyone’s Tumblr feed with that - if you get lost in my pointless post about comedy reviews/interviews/articles that’s based around a couple of articles about Daniel Kitson from 2002, that’s your own fault for clicking on the link. I haven’t inflicted that to anyone.

So, I’m back into old Kitson things this week, and was looking up things about it because that’s, you know, something I do sometimes. I used to read all the Daniel Kitson articles I could find because I loved the shows of his I’d heard, and in absence of being able to hear his other ones, I at least wanted to know what happened in them. So I’d look them all up and memorize what he’d done in each year. Now that I have heard most of his shows, I don’t need to do that anymore (I mean, there’s an argument that I never needed to do that and could have done something much more productive and/or, just, normal, with my time, but anyway), but I sometimes like to do that anyway.

I like reading comedy reviews/articles about comedians in general. Because some of them are very good, give me good insight into a comedian I already know, or tell me enough about a comedian I don’t know to pique my interest. But many of them are not very good, and that’s interesting to me in a whole other way. I’ll often read a review of a show I’ve seen and see very little connection between the words on the screen and the actual performance. That could have to do with it being different to see a filmed version of a show than it is to be there, but I’ve read a few reviews of shows I’ve seen live, and those also tend to feel off. If anything, those tend to feel even more “off”.

That’s presumably caused by a combination of two different things, both of which I find interesting: every person’s experience is subjective so even the same show can feel very different for different people, and the business of writing articles about comedy is weird. The former thing interests me just as a psychological phenomenon, the sort of thing that I guess we all know is the case but I tend to not always remember. And the latter thing interests me as a nerd who is interested in this sort of thing that’s of interest to almost no one else, and that’s the bit I want to focus on.

I think comedy might just be really hard to write about (if you do it properly, I mean, not just stick every thought from your head into a Word document and then post it on Tumblr while normally not even bothering to read it back and edit out the most glaring errors). It’s such a subjective thing, and we don’t even really know why some things make us laugh so much, and no one’s really going to understand what something’s like unless they see it themselves.

If there’s a way to write about comedy and have the writing bear any resemblance to reality, I think finding that is severely hampered by anyone trying to do it in the “newspaper style”. Does that make sense? Probably not, because everyone’s experience is subjective and I can describe something that makes sense to me but anyone reading it will get something completely different from it. But what I mean is that thing where when someone’s reading it, they can tell the writer has studied journalism. Crucial context is missing, and in its place are pointless details in there that the writer has been told add “texture”. Language is used that no one actually uses. You can feel their awareness of word count in every sentence. And it’s all informed by all kinds of shit that’s not just a desire to tell the readers about a comedy show and/or comedian. The reviewer thinking of their personal reputation, as well as the reputation of the publication for which they write – wanting to be seen as tough, insightful, knowledgeable, not too easily impressed.

I think the context and details thing is the crux of it. Adding details that they think might be interesting to people who don’t know a lot about the thing they’re reviewing, and leaving out context that actually would be interesting to people who do know about it. Trying to appeal to many different types of potential reader at once, but defaulting to the largest group, which will be people who start by not knowing what you’re talking about.

I don’t know. I find all those things interesting in general, about any comedian. I think I didn’t realize just how emotionally attached I’d gotten to Andy Zaltzman until I read the Times calling him the “left-behind sidekick” after John Oliver left The Bugle and I got genuinely furious about it. But of all the reviews I’ve read, the ones about Kitson are always the weirdest. Because those combine the usual weirdness of comedy articles with the fact that everyone (and I do not claim to be any exception to this) is at least a bit weird when they talk or write about or around Daniel Kitson. Everyone. I guess he just throws people off. Some people are fully caught up in his mystique, and it leads them to use language that makes no sense. Some people are self-aware about this phenomenon so scramble to seem like they’re not caught up in his mystique, but the fact that they’re consciously doing that just makes it weirder (I may be projecting a bit as I describe that category of person). I suppose someone could talk/write about him normally if they were genuinely not caught up in his mystique, but there are maybe about ten people in the world who both know anything about him and can say they’re not caught up in it, and those people don’t write for The Guardian. They definitely don’t write for The Guardian, I’ve checked.

Do you want to see an example of what I mean? Specifically two examples to show the spectrum of what I mean, from 2002? I was looking up this sort of thing today, and I wondered how much of this phenomenon is his many years of building up that mystique, and how much is just what he’s like. So I went looking for articles from a long time ago, before he’d built so much up. Which doesn’t really work because as far as I can tell Daniel Kitson’s had everyone’s attention pretty much since he walked off a Blockbusters set sometime in the 90s, but there was a time when he had slightly less attention than he’d build up later. Anyway, I found two articles from 2002 that I think hit different sides of a spectrum.

Here's one from 2002 that I think does a very good job of being quite normal about him, in, of all places, The Metro. There’s an acknowledgement in there of how weird it is that articles about Daniel Kitson are often so focused on his appearance, so I guess the writer was intentionally avoiding making the same mistake, and it worked out well. It isn’t completely free of references to his appearance – I could have lived without reading the phrase “flowing locks” to describe Daniel Kitson’s Phoenix Nights-era hair – but to be fair they were describing his own jokes about it so they had to mention it somehow. There were quotes from him, presented without a sense of either reverence or judgement for his avoidance of fame. They managed to not once make his stutter sound like a bigger deal than it actually is, or find creative, flowery ways to call him a fucking nerd. They tell us what sort of things he talks about and what he said in an interview and what show he’s doing. That’s useful information, if you’re a comedy fan in 2002, or some sort of weird comedy archeologist in 2023.

Do you want to see the opposite of that? Presented as a contrast here is the other 2002 article I found today, from this Australian publication, The Age. To be fair, they’re obviously different types of articles. I can’t say the writer from The Metro did a better job than this other person, partly because I don’t think a writer from The Metro has ever done anything better than anyone, but partly because they were going for different things. The Metro one was trying to give us information, the Age one was trying to do one of those weird sort of profile things, I guess. I don’t like those things, as a rule.

To be fair, I did find that article from The Age really interesting. I didn’t like it, but I found it interesting. Mainly because 2002 was just before the era from which I’ve heard almost any recordings of Daniel Kitson, so I’m interested in an article that’ll tell me what he was doing then, as something else to put on the map of what directions his comedy has come from. A description of his 2002 Edinburgh show is particularly interesting, given that for many years after that, he enjoyed sort of ironically referring to his 2002 winning of the Perrier Award as his quintessential achievement.

So the information is interesting. I just hate that style of conveying it. It always reads as really awkwardly contrived, and I wish they’d just ask the person questions and tell me what the answer was. Or if you haven’t got an interview, tell me what actually happened during the comedy show that you watched. In this particular article, there are some awkward transitions between describing the gig and describing the interview, where sometimes it’s confusing what happened where, and I think that is down to bad writing, rather than just a style I dislike.

I did not mean to get so into any of that in this post. I started because I wanted to copy one quote I really liked from that Australian article that I did not like. A few things Kitson said in that 2002 interview have not held up, and are notable as things he no longer believed in recent years (which is fine, you cannot hold people to everything they said in 2002), so that’s interesting, as a comedy archeologist. A few obvious ones stayed the same, like saying he didn’t want to do TV. A few bits of the described interview that just had me a bit:

But here’s one quote that I think was enduringly true of his work, and also not incredibly obvious – I mean, it’s sort of obvious, but I’d never seen him explain it like this elsewhere: “Because basically I’m far more interested in stuff that is introspective, because that’s how you become truly universal, I think, by making it absolutely specific.”

I really like that quote, as a way to capture a little of whatever quality makes his work so captivating that no one is able to even talk like a normal person when describing him. It’s something Daniel Kitson does really well. Looking at twenty years of his work that comes in wildly different styles and formats and approaches, that quality I think is one of the few consistencies that ties it all together.

I think it might be very good advice, too. I think there’s sort of a scale – something that’s not great is better off being more general, so it appeals a bit to lots of people. Something that has the potential to be really great needs to be fairly specific, so it can really appeal to people who like it. And I don’t even think that means it will only ever appeal to the small pool of people who’d relate to that specific thing, though you will strike gold if that occasionally happens. I think it’s more that something can resonate even if it isn’t exactly relatable, and if it’s specific enough to feel meaningful, then people will connect with it either way. But it’s a risk, because if you go to specific and it’s not great, then that’ll just fall flat with everyone. While if you write something really general then you have a better chance at hitting something at least a bit relatable to lots of people so it’ll come out okay.

I don’t know. Occasionally I try to write things – not the bullshit error-ridden streams of consciousness I put on this blog, but, you know, actual things – and the advice in that quote is something I’ve thought about a lot as I try to do that. I’ve thought about how to get that scale right for years, but since starting to listen to Daniel Kitson, I do feel like I’ve encountered a new standard for how to do it amazingly well. Which is something I hadn’t seen him put into words before I read that article. I think I might be trying to say that listening to so much Kitson has made me a slightly better writer as I see whole new ways to get things right, but I’d like to not be saying that, because that’s the sort of thing people say that makes me say “Why does no one sound like a normal person when writing about Daniel Kitson?”

Anyway. This post got a bit out of hand. There’s actually a whole other thing I wanted to write about, another article but going off on a different subject from it, but I’ve gone so long about this one now that I think I’ll make that another post. Or possibly not write it at all. It’s possible that the world does not need any more incoherent ramblings inspired by Daniel Kitson.

[codenamesazanka]

I feel like I can’t stress enough how important Spinner is to the ‘My Villain Academia’ arc, and how badly I need BONES to give him the attention and care in portraying him that he deserves. BONES have been pretty faithful to the manga, they’ve followed the story and brought each scene on the page to the screen... Except for some reason not when it comes to the Villains. Maybe it’s because arguably the Villains wasn’t the focal point of the show and they weren’t what most viewers watched the show to see; fine, but that was the case in the beginning and no longer.

Shigaraki Tomura, his exploits, his character, his story *is* the manga: the Heroes and protag react mainly to him and his actions, his past and motivations is one of the main factors that caused the current central conflict, and resolving his character arc is what will probably bring the whole series - to its end or near end. Yeah, imo I argue that everything about him moves the plot along.

Unfortunately(?), I think Horikoshi-sensei realized/decided/planned this a bit too late in his pacing. He said himself during the Stain arc or so that at first, he wasn’t planning on doing villain profiles - he wanted the villains to be scary.

But for the time being, I have no intention of writing about [the villains]. I do the introductions because l personally like those sorts of behind-the-scenes things, and also because I want my readers to feel a connection to the characters. But with villains, I decided I can't have them too likable. They're supposed to be terrifying.

Often it’s what we don’t know/understand/predict/expect (and therefore can’t get a grasp on) that makes things scary/uncomfortable/dislikable. The Villains were strange, seemingly erratic and incomprehensible in their behavior and motivations, malicious without rhyme or reason. Even now, I think a lot of people still think they’re just ‘completely evil crazy psychopaths’.

Anyways, the quote from him is from Volume 7. A whole bunch of volumes later in Vol. 23, he decided nvm: “The story has evolved beyond that point, so I'm ready to start doing villain profiles.” As he said himself, the profiles are to help the readers connect with the characters, make them relatable and likable. That’s what My Villain Academia is all about in the meta sense - to demystify Shigaraki Tomura and his ragtag chaos friends, to give them depth, and to induce interest in their stories, if not sympathy. Hype them up for the rather major roles they play in this ‘final arc’ of the series.

Enter Spinner, the lizard ninja guy.

Besides his unusual looks, Spinner is really, truly nothing special. He’s got a weak quirk, he holds no title of being the strongest or smartest or whatever member of the League, he’s not related by blood or thematically to any major players in the main conflicts, and his ‘tragic’ backstory is completely mundane compared to his allies - he was bullied as a child, and so is fueled by resentment. In the events leading up to the start of the arc, Spinner is the most moral and understandable of the Villains - has a ‘good’ reason for his crimes (eradicate corrupted Heroes), has standards on who he’s willing to fight (questions attacking the police and anyone with a ‘true heroic spirit’), and wants a concrete game plan instead of aimless discord the rest of the League seems alright with.

Once the arc starts, we immediately learn the basics of his character - he’s got a heteromorph quirk that makes his appearance a humanoid gecko and it’s something he was born with that he can’t control, and yet he faces discrimination from literal KKK-type cultists who refuse to see him as human. This was more or less his life in his small, rural hometown, harsh enough that his heart had become ‘completely empty’. It’s simple, it’s relatable and an realistic analogy anyone who has faced prejudice and harassment and been hurt by it can understand.

All this is so Spinner ends up being the most normal and typical sympathetic of the League of Villains, which sets him up to be a sort of ‘gateway Villain’. It’s why he’s narrator. He doesn’t understand at all the crazy All For One shenanigans, he’s thinks Shigaraki is an incompetent weirdo, and he asks what we were all thinking: “Shigaraki Tomura, what the fuck are you doing.” Quite obviously, Spinner’s meant the audience surrogate and so he is. That being a core of the way the story of My Villain Academia is told means it needs be followed by the anime adaption.

This core sets up the rest of the arc - sets up how we will come to view Shigaraki Tomura and his backstory, alongside the rest of the League Villains, their relationships and dynamics with each other, and who they are at heart. Shigaraki’s telling of his distorted origins in Chapter 222 is horrifying as it is already; but it’s Spinner’s worried-facial-expressions reactions littered throughout the chapter that adds to it by telling us one major thing: Spinner’s an empathetic guy, because he immediately feels a kindred spirit with Shigaraki when the latter talks about the hollowness he feels. So begins the audience surrogate’s change of opinion and us readers going along with it, and also: that Shigaraki Tomura now has Spinner’s concern and attention - and is deserving of it.

Pardon the sudden heavily edited quote, but CS Lewis says,

Friendship arises...when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common...which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique [burden]. The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one." ...And instantly they stand together in an immense solitude.

That’s almost word for word Spinner in that moment, suddenly realizing he’s no longer as alone as he thought. He’s no longer as alone, and this means perhaps neither should Shigaraki. Because established in that very chapter, too, is the hate in Shigaraki’s heart fueled by his grief and despair, the loss of his family, past, and faith in others, his misery of thinking he’ll never feel good again. Yet - there’s Spinner, willing to extend some empathy and care, the very antidote to all that Shigaraki had revealed. Because the desire for companionship (or at least the lessening of the pain of loneliness) is universal, even among villains - maybe especially among these villains - we probably love to see it. Want to see it.

On that basis - friendship borne out of empathy - Spinner puts his faith his leader, puts his trust and support, and the rest of the arc is us following the tension of whether he was right to do so. Whether Shigaraki would live up to what Spinner expects of him, whether Spinner will side with Shigaraki despite their earlier conflict. Whether they could become friends, or something like that. And once they do, the consequences of this as things spiral more and more out of control, beyond this arc - that Spinner would know Shigaraki well enough to do something crucial at the turn of a battle later, that Spinner would stick by Shigaraki’s side when he’s in danger, that Spinner is loyal enough to Shigaraki to help him as a friend should.

Through Spinner, we come to see Shigaraki, originally incomprehensible and terrifying, as someone beyond a Villain or a leader, but rather someone valued as a person, a friend, a fellow silly gamer nerd. He’s still scary, of course - just less so, with a seed of doubt of his doom that Spinner - and only Spinner, by virtue of his specific narrative and emotional role in this arc - planted in their characters and the story.

It’s because of Spinner that MVA works, by itself, and as a stepping stone towards the rest of the series. So he really needs to be everything he is, was, and more in the anime adaption please BONES oh my god please

#long post #nalslastworkingbraincell #shigaraki tomura #bnha #mha #heroaca #Spinner #Iguchi Shuuichi #my interpretation of course #but like #everything I said is right there in the text and can be convincingly argued for #so I’m right and it’s mandatory that BONES listens to me

[sepublic]

Through the Looking Glass Ruins!!!!!

         …

         SO! Onto other things first…

         WRATH IS BRAXAS’ FATHER!??!!? HOLY SHIT, Wrath is a canonical dad, I’d always expressed my… OH MY GOD WRATH IS DAD! And of BRAXAS, that sweetie… How is Braxas such a sweetie with a father like HIM, also-

         Wrath was in casual wear? Either he has a day off, or he got fired by Belos/Kikimora after drawing Luz a map to Eda in Young Blood, Old Souls! Either way this guy has a sudden new level of NUANCE that I am reeling from, and yes I checked, that really is Wrath according to the credits! Dang this puts everything in a WHOLE new light…!

         AMITY HAIR OHMIGOD IT LOOKS SO ADORABLE SHE’S SELF-ACTUALIZING I AM FUCKING SCREAMING HOLY SHIT OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD, it’s PINK and not green… They acknowledged it, Emira did! And they CHANGED IT I AM LOSING MY FUCKING MIND OVER THIS-

         She looks so BEAUTIFUL and I love the kind of foreshadowing with the bookends of our first shot of Amity having her hair down, and now it’s changed! And she looks adorable and EMIRA AND EDRIC BEING GREAT SIBLINGS I LOVE IT SO MUCH! This… THIS is everything I wanted! I was resigned to not much of them but HELL YEAH they’re being good siblings and we get a look at their rooms, we see them doing MAKEOVERS together this is everything from my favorite fanon content and MORE,

         Also Edric has a date?! Emira says ‘their’ mom… Unless the Golden Guard has a mom, DARN! Not gonna lie, I half-expected a big twist at the end that Edric was dating the Golden Guard, who was doing some sort of reconnaissance as his unrecognized normal self and/or screwing around with the Blights even further, but in a GENUINE sense… But then who knows Kikimora could be posing as GG’s ‘mom’, this is a stretch anyhow-

         JUST HELL YEAH Blight Twins! Blight Twins being sweet and mischievous and supportive of each other, Blight SIBLINGS being siblings, Emira being an older sister and giving advice! And AMITY, Amity mentioning how much Luz has changed stuff, I love that they acknowledge it openly how her life has completely shifted, and now… NOW…!

         No necklace! Red leggings! PINK HAIR?! Is this why Amity in the intro hasn’t been updated yet… She was getting TWO updates, so the animators decided to only animate a change after this final update?!

         King and Gus are also friends it seems, and they even recorded some fun together! I’m surprised at how much Bria and the others mock Gus’ illusion skills… Obviously Belos is kinda terrible but like; I don’t think he’d set aside an entire subset of magic into Illusions without reason! Also that nightmare trip… I LOVE IT, I love Gus applying the creativity of illusions in their ability to completely warp and distort someone’s sense of reality! And I called that dragon-thing being an illusion!

         A graveyard… I wonder if the Gallderstones (is that how it’s spelled) have any relevance or if they’re just neat? I hope Mattholomule and Gus help hide the Looking Glass Graveyard… Damn, that’s another Death reference with Gus, huh! Is it culminating in his respect for the dead, or will it continue further with Gus being a necromancer, or an Oracle who can commune with the deceased, and he has their respect as someone who treats them properly?!

         Also not to get dark but… What if all those Illusionists are dead because of Belos? I’m JUST SAYING…! And not gonna lie, every time someone insulted Illusions, I kept imagining the Illusion Head just suddenly waking up and feeling like there’s a disturbance in the force, as well as a weird compulsion to beat up some Glandus kids. It’d be even funnier if he had beef with the Construction, Plant, and Abomination Heads as well!

         Speaking of which, more confirmation on Construction Magic being related to earth! Glad to see Bria give us a look into that, which furthers my idea of Belos using construction magic… Also dang, Bria and the Glandus Kids really are the parallels/foils to the Detention kids! You’ve got the short ‘nice’ girl, the tall lanky kid, the furry… But the Glandus Kids start off looking nice and cool, but turn out to be rather nasty!

         Meanwhile the Detention Kids seem like bad news and delinquents, but no! They’re just demonized and actually very kind and chill! The Detention Kids are looked down upon, the Glandus Kids are appraised… The Detention Kids are dual-track, the Glandus Kids are singular; Glandus Kids from, well, GLANDUS, Detention Kids from Hexside… One’s ‘mischief’ is actually very neat and cool, the other’s is literal grave robbing.

         I guess that’s how the bleeding statues got past the censors- It’s technically just an illusion! Also more insight into how Glandus works with its Survival of the Fittest mentality, I wonder if we’ll get confirmation on which coven heads came from there, how that might influence them as adults…

         What is Glandus like, is it more whole-heartedly accepting of Belos’ rule, hence its harsh ideals? Was it made after Hexside? Does Bump hate it for being so cruel like that, or is it just school bias? And dang poor Mattholomule, I always had a feeling he sort of felt and knew that he wasn’t much, so he accepted and compensated by deliberately doing whatever he can for power…

         They confirmed he’s from Glandus, and I appreciate this new look at him! This new leaf turned… Hot take but he’s honestly not as bad as Boscha, his stint with Gus was a one-time thing that Gus was able to live with! And that seems pretty good to set them up as friends! Speaking of Boscha, Willow was injured by pixies? And the last time we heard of pixies, they belonged to Boscha and caused the school to get shut down… Did BOSCHA DO THIS I SWEAR SHE IS DEAD TO ME-

         (Also she’s mentioned in the credits for this episode but I don’t remember hearing her? I might’ve gotten distracted with so much other things.)

         Gus! I like the insight into his relationship with Illusions, and I appreciate how he’s considering other forms of magic… But this hesitation might just serve to reaffirm his believe in Illusions, which is okay! It’s all about choice… And yeah, it seems Gus also has a case of impostor syndrome like King, no wonder they get along so well! I love the glimpses into Gus’ house and the confirmation that he has a library card, no Perry though alas…!

         I appreciate how Gus feels overlooked, like he has no real substance, which is how his Illusions reflect a desire to draw attention, but also the idea that there’s nothing real beneath them… Again, very much like King! And Gus, he’s not a powerhouse like the rest, he’s SKILLED and smart, but strength isn’t his forte, it’s not brute force he operates on, but cleverness! Trickery, I like it…! It’s a nice callback to his last A-plot episode, SVSF, where instead of fighting Mattholomule physically, Gus’ solution is to think outside the box and pull the alarm!

         You go kid, not relying on brute strength but showing that some clever tricks and thinking are just as valid! Kinda wonder if this episode is lowkey a discussion on masculinity for young boys, especially with Gus growing older with puberty, though the latter is mostly because his actual VA grew… But maybe the writers rolled with that and incorporated it, or it’s just a very neat coincidence! Also, it is me or did Mattholomule’s voice change? And the gag that Gavin’s dad looks identical to him, even moreso because he’s NOT supposed to have a moustache… That’s great!

         Malphas! Love this reference to a classic demon, I wasn’t sure if Malphas was the librarian with glasses whom I’ve always headcanoned as a father figure to Amity… But maybe it’s actually this bird dude! He seems adept in Bard magic, and I love the reveal of his true crow appearance… Guess those theorists were right that the one-eyed figure is from the Forbidden Stacks! Also Malphas NOT COOL with Amity, but I’m glad Luz changed his mind, and I wonder how that adventure looked…

         Which- DAMN, the RSD with Luz! She looks so UTTERLY BROKEN when Amity mentions doing stupid things, and she didn’t mean it like that, but Luz just looks so completely shattered and you can tell she wants to cry but instead she bottles it up and tries to take it in stride, and that plays into her trying to overcompensate for her mistakes AGAIN… SOMEONE GET IT TO HER HEAD that she doesn’t need to! I’m scared for Luz, and I was SO scared this episode would end on a bad note…

         BUT DOAHLDdFAEONDKFHN LUMITY KISS LUMITY KISS! ONE-SIDED BUT THEY FINALLY FUCKING KNOW AND AMITY IS LIKE WHAAAAT AND I WAS WAITING FOR IT AND I COULD FEEL IT HAPPEN AND GAY KISS! GAY KISS ON-SCREEN!!! And the way Luz just FLOPS to the ground on her knees AAHJJFFKHGGK and no Alador nor Odalia to ruin this, UTTERLY PERFECT and the twins WATCHING OOOHHHHGGGG YYYEEAAAAHHH-

         This is EVERYTHING I ever wanted!

         What an AMAZING episode with wonderful characer beats and reveals! Again, Amity’s growth as a character, that brief insight into how Luz as a person is very chaotic and sometimes frustrating for Amity and forces her to reevaluate, but ultimately it’s good and Luz DOES try her best, and Amity clearly wanted to make things up for Luz and apologize, they’re BOTH doing things, just the little moments!

         Also, Alex Lawther voices Philip Wittebane! He has long hair and a vaguely british accent, he’s… He’s Belos isn’t he? And they got a new VA because having him voiced by Matthew Rhys would be really spoiler-y right? He’s got the long hair and he’s a nerd… And with how he talks of finding a way back home, maybe Belos really DOES just want to return home, after all? He talks of making a way back home…

         And we see a glimpse of the Portal, so it might’ve brought him there? Or did Philip succeed in making it, and that was his blueprint designs? Did he arrive by Titan’s Blood? What happened to the portal if it brought him there, or if he made it? Why the scar, why near Eda’s house, partially buried?

         Was it lost before he could finish his work, and Philip got side-tracked into something else… Perhaps going on a crusade, on behalf of a curse/demon that possessed him? A demon that killed King’s father…? Was the portal broken and he had to discard it, but then it naturally healed- Or did it just need to recharge, maybe Philip DID make it back home, WHAT IS THE ANSWER?! Is there some sort of doppelganger for Philip, is BELOS his doppelganger?! What is THIS WHAT-

         WHAT AN EPISODE!

#the owl house #lumity #the owl house gus #augustus porter #the owl house mattholomule #the owl house luz #luz noceda #the owl house amity #amity blight #the owl house bria #the owl house gavin #the owl house angmar #the owl house malphas #the owl house wrath #warden wrath #the owl house braxas #the owl house philip #philip wittebane #speculation #analysis #the owl house spoilers #spoilers #toh spoilers

[dindjarindiaries]

Mandoctober - October 23: Rifle

summary: Din catches you admiring his pulse rifle—and decides to play both with it and with you. (featuring this ask from @thedevilwearsbeskar)

pairing: din djarin (the mandalorian) x f!reader

warnings: din gets pretty cheeky, a ~little~ spicy, there’s an ~innuendo~ let’s see if y’all catch it

rating: M (to be safe)

word count: 1.373

mandoctober masterlist

october 23: rifle

The shining from its recent polish is what causes your eye to be drawn to the weapon.

Hung upon the wall of the Crest in a regal manner, the pulse rifle claims its throne—and you’ll gladly bow down to it. Din left the hatch open to take a look around where you’ve landed and the light of the planet sets his trusted weapon in a holy glow. You find yourself approaching it, letting your gaze rake over it slowly and steadily.

In all your time spent with Din so far—with whom you’ve been traveling for a few months, now—you’ve had yet to see him wield the weapon. The thought of it alone sends a contented chill through you. The idea of him unhooking it from his over his shoulder, quickly flipping it and aiming it and looking completely unaffected by its kickback—it’s almost too much for your pining self.

Before you can stop yourself, your hands are reaching out to touch it. You take it delicately in your hands, running your fingers over the cool metal and sleek wood. It feels brand new. You know Din keeps his most revered weapon in pristine condition—and now, you can feel it, too. It feels right in your hands, accepting your warm touch with ease as you explore all of its features.

You even test aiming it within the hull, holding it out and peering through its scope. It’s not too heavy, but it’s not light, striking a sweet balance that causes you to toss the weapon between your hands in an impressed manner.

“You like my rifle.” The modulated voice makes you jump a bit, gripping the rifle tighter in your hands as you turn to look at him. Din’s standing with his pauldron resting against the entrance of the hatch, his arms crossed over his cuirass as his visor stares you down.

You swallow hard, looking between him and the rifle as you nod. “Yeah.” You bite back a smile as you run your thumb over the wood. “Actually, I… I love it.”

“Yeah?” You nod as you look back up at Din, watching him tilt his helmet at you. “Good choice. It’s very effective—and always ready for action.”

“Seems like it.”

Din nods, his arms falling to his sides as he stands up straight. You can feel yourself slightly narrowing your eyes at him, now. You’re picking up on an edge in his tone that makes you think your conversation may not be entirely oriented around the weapon in your hand. But you blame that on your pining, shaking your head and brushing it off as you look down at the pulse rifle once again. You can hear Din’s boots approaching you, so you look back up at him, watching as he stops and gestures to the rifle. “I could, you know, demonstrate how it’s used.”

You lift an eyebrow at him. “Really?”

Din nods again. “I can teach you, too.”

Excitement pulses through you as you nod at him. “Yeah, I’d—I’d really like that.”

“Good.” Din extends his hand, and you offer the pulse rifle to him. He takes it and leads you both off the ship, bringing you into the clearing where he’s parked the Crest. You stand back for a few moments, letting Din do his thing.

And, Maker, does he do just that.

He flips it a few times over in his arms, letting it move as if it’s just a simple extension of himself. All of his motions are fluid, smooth as honey dripping out of the comb as he moves. When he holds it in a proper shooting position, he aims quickly at something flying overhead and pulls the trigger—instantly causing the creature to disintegrate before your very eyes.

Din’s chest isn’t even heaving at his actions—but yours almost is. You swallow hard, composing yourself before Din turns to you. “Pretty simple,” he states, tossing the pulse rifle to you. “I want you to get used to it first, then you’re going to try to disarm me.”

You hold the rifle up, looking to him to make sure you’re using the right position. Din walks over, adjusting your grip and stance briefly. The touch of his gloved hands and close proximity of his cuirass makes you nearly want to weep with satisfaction. Long months of pining have made you sensitive to this, and many times, you can’t help wondering if this Mandalorian ever feels the same way.

For hours, you both stay out there, working until you get to know the rifle and then training to disarm Din. The latter part takes much longer, and now you’re starting to get frustrated.

“I can’t.” You heave out a sigh as you toss the pulse rifle back at Din after your umpteenth attempt—and thankfully he catches it. Your shoulders hang in a dejected manner.

Din releases a sigh of his own, clipping his rifle back in place over his back before crossing his arms. “Yes, you can. That’s the problem: your attitude.” He takes a step closer to you, nodding his helmet at you in a quick motion. “You need to watch your mouth.”

You raise an eyebrow. “And what does that have to do with anything?”

“You need to have the confidence if you’re going to win the fight.” He starts to get himself back into a combat ready position, bending his arms and waving his fingers towards himself. “Try it again.”

You take a deep breath, trying to analyze him quickly for some kind of weakness. You lift your chin a bit to raise your spirits, insistent upon winning this fight. With a sharp inhale, you lunge forward, pretending to go for the pulse rifle over his shoulder. When he reaches to stop you, you instead switch directions and turn the other way, spinning around him and grabbing his blaster from his holster as you do so. You kick at the back of his knee, forcing it to the ground. Before he even has a chance to stand back up, you get a hold of the pulse rifle and yank it off his back, using the end as you swing it around and hit it against his cuirass. He falls back and grabs the pulse rifle, pulling it hard to get you to fall. Instead, you flip over and land gracefully on top of him, straddling him now as his and your hands still hold tight to the pulse rifle—but your free one presses his own blaster against the cloth of his neck.

Though you’re breathing heavily, you start to smile, realizing you’ve finally done it. You can sense Din doing the same, especially as he lifts a gloved hand to gently grasp the side of your head. “Good girl,” he praises you with his rasp. 

Instantly, your mind goes blank. You can feel your mouth starting to drop open at the simple words, your stomach flipping more than it had when you rolled over him. You’re frozen in place, still pressing the blaster to his neck as you stare in awe.

Din’s chuckle breaks you out of your thoughts. “Care to help me up?”

“Oh! Uh, yeah.” You try not to act as flustered as you feel as you stand up, letting the pulse rifle go to instead grasp his hand and pull him off the ground. He nods in thanks, accepting the blaster you hand to him and hooking the pulse rifle back over his shoulder.

“You did well today,” Din observes, his voice still low as he speaks. “Let’s rest.” His visor lingers on you for a moment longer than usual, followed by the gentle touch of his hand to your lower back to guide you towards the Crest.

That’s when you realize there’s no hiding your reaction from Din—and he’s not hiding the satisfied way he feels, either, all thanks to his rifle.

permanent tag list: @mikahid @bestintheparsec @stilllivindue2spite @givemethatgold @xbrujita @mandalorianspace @blushingwueen @sevvysaurus @myakai13 @thisis-theway @beskars @rachelloveseveryone @theindiealto @hiscyarika @wickedfrsgrl @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @bookwafflefangirl @charliepeaceout @cable-kenobi @ezraslittleblondestreak @hdlynn @your-pixels-are-showing @b0n-chann @javier-djarin @nettyklecan @mistermiraclee @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @smellssharpies @catfishingmorales @wille-zarr @kaetastic @saltywintersoldat @agentpike @mrsparknuts @readsalot73 @yespolkadotkitty @mandhoelorian @lilangeldevil006 @roxypeanut @hail-doodles @randomness501 @this-cat-is-dea @hopplessdreamer @paintballkid711 @dracos-jedi-marvel @whataenginerd @katlikeme @petertingless @propertyofdindjarin @theocatkov @bisexual-space-slut @cyaredindjarin @arkofblake @cryptkeepersoul @motleymoose @mrschiltoncat @f0rever15elf @lady-of-nightmares-and-heartache @rogueonestan @goldafterglow @thedevilwearsbeskar @badassbaker @pancakepike @create-a-constellation @mymindisawhirpool @antmnwasp @capbrie @freak-of-nature2002 @arabellathorne @mandilflorian @phoenixhalliwell @beiroviski @darthadeline @cheriedjarin @edencherries @mstgsmy @seasonschange-butpeopledont @aliciaxglasgow @poesflygirl @weirdowithnobeardo @dee-rosemary @ceebeetheartdork @kiwi-the-first @mitchi-c​

mandalorian tag list: @lola-wolf​ @hoodedbirdie​ @chibi-liz05​ @nerd-without-a-cause​ @hdlynn​ @thepjofanqueen​ @bwemph​ @starwarsslytherin​ @iellarenuodolorian​ @littlevodika​ @jjemcarstairs​ @promiscuoussatan​ @fahrenheit-not​ @vernon-dursley​

#oop #y'all know i had to do one for the din simps #this spice is just for y'all #din djarin #the mandalorian #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian x reader #mandoctober #drabbles #dindjarindiaries

[gellavonhamster]

in the bleak midwinter*: an asoue/atwq peaky blinders au concept

...also known as the idea that’s been living in my brain for what must be a couple of years now; I have reconciled myself with the fact that I will never write this fic because I simply do not have enough patience to think it out and write it down in the way that would give it justice, so here’s a plot bunny or something.

This is basically the Sugar Bowl Generation of VFD (still young, before kids and all) meets All The Wrong Questions (some of the events + some of the kid characters of ATWQ as adults) meets season one of Peaky Blinders, but I guess it could be read and understood without the knowledge of the latter simply as an organized crime AU.

It’s the beginning of the interwar period, and VFD is a gang. Which, yes, would require a certain amount of OOC of the characters, though I imagine their intimidation tactics would still avoid too much bloodshed. They deal with bookmaking, contraband, and sometimes art forgery because even this version of VFD has to have something sophisticated about it. There’s a number of places, such as bars and clubs, that pay them for protection, and there’s also a number of places they own, such as the Hotel Denouement with the Denouement brothers in charge and the nightclub ran by Ramona Browning**, alias the Duchess (her father was some kind of aristocracy, see, too aristocratic to ever truly acknowledge her). They use their influence to become the informal rulers of their part of the City. They claim to strive for power to make the City a better place, and these are not just words - they do donate money to schools and libraries, for example - but it’s not like they don’t enjoy being in power, and their rule is still based on crime, those who threaten it being eliminated swiftly. 

The Snickets are the Shelby family of this AU, of course. Lemony is Tommy - the mastermind, already a legend of sorts despite being the youngest, plagued by the horrors of war - but still hoping for the best, strange as it seems, because he’s still Lemony. Jacques is Arthur, the fighter suffering from PTSD. Kit is Ada, but she’s also Aunt Polly - she’s the one who ran the business while the boys were in the army. 

Now, season one introduced Grace Burgess as an undercover police informant spying on the Peaky Blinders.

Enter Ellington Feint.

Ellington’s father, the only family she has left, has been kidnapped by a gang called the Inhumane Society, and she’d do anything and everything to save him. So she agrees to infiltrate VFD, their rival gang, to find out the whereabouts of a shipment of weapons that was meant for the Society but was accidentally stolen by VFD. Apart from machine guns and shells, the shipment includes some “statue of a sea beast”, and no one cares to provide more explanations to Ellington about it, but apparently it is the most important part of that cargo. So Ellington takes on the position of a barmaid in The Black Cat Bar, one of the places that pay VFD for protection and the one frequented by its key members, and starts listening and watching.

Ellington needs to get close to the Snickets, because if anyone knows where the weapons are, it’s them. Steward Mitchum, the corrupt cop on the Society’s payroll whom she is to meet from time to time at the Natural History Museum (which she used to attend with her father) to pass on the information, suggests she should seduce one of the Snicket brothers. The problem is, Ellington has a chance to learn very soon that Jacques doesn’t know much about the stolen cargo, and Lemony is too taken with his girlfriend, the music hall singer Beatrice Baudelaire, to even look at any other woman. There’s no getting between them, even though it seems Beatrice also has something going on with VFD’s bookkeeper Bertrand Markson, and Lemony seems aware of it. 

So Ellington decides to approach Kit instead. Kit, who seems so lonely - Ellington doesn’t know the details, but there was some serious falling-out between her and her ex-boyfriend, who has since left the City (and won’t appear in this story. Olaf is the problem for the hypothetical season two of this imaginary show). Ellington doesn’t plan on anything other than a very close friendship - yet, the closer they become, the more she understands that she is attracted to Kit.

(There certainly is a variant of the “I warn you, I’ll break your heart” - “Already broken” scene in which Ellington sings to Kit)

Anyway. Things progress, and they fall in love. Well, Kit seems to have fallen in love, and Ellington keeps trying to persuade herself that she hasn’t, because Kit has to remain nothing but a task for her.

The location of the stolen weapons, however, still remains a mystery, even though Ellington once hears Kit and Lemony discuss it. Whatever the statue is, Lemony seems to believe it has great powers, and Kit seems to believe it’s nothing but folklore. Lemony tells her of the stories of a mysterious sea animal (or spirit, or whatever it may be) he heard from other soldiers during the war, about what Widdershins heard during his time in the navy. Kit tells him that everyone is a believer in a foxhole, and that she loves W like her own kin but he’s a bragging idiot. There was nothing on the sea other than enemy ships.

Elllington’s mission is complicated by Lemony clearly not trusting her. He tells her it’s because his sister has been hurt before, but she suspects it’s more than that. He even admits that he had his people make enquiries in Paltryville, the town she claims to have come from, and found out that no Ellington Feint ever lived there. When he suggests her secrecy is due to a child born out of marriage, she is eager to confirm that. (Cue him asking her if she’s read Les Misérables - yeah, even this version of VFD would be literature nerds, how can it be otherwise - because this whole situation reminds him of Fantine, and her lying that she hasn’t and thinking that she’s more of a Javert at the barricade, really).

Then there’s a masquerade party at the Duchess’s club, and Kit takes Ellington there as her date. (Which is okay, because if there’s any place in the City where a woman dancing with another woman or a man dancing with another man would not be looked at askance, it’s the Duchess’s club. If I was actually writing a fic, there would definitely be a scene in which Ellington observes Beatrice asking Bertrand to dance with her and Bertrand trying to decline by telling her that, since he didn’t have time to procure a mask, he shouldn’t be on the dancefloor at all, and then Lemony approaches him with a spare mask in hand and encourages him to dance with Beatrice and puts the mask on Bertrand himself and it somehow looks so intimate as if he’s undressing him and Ellington’s like “Oh, so it’s like that with them. This is probably of no use to me but still, good to know”). 

When Kit disappears at some point, Ellington follows her quietly and eavesdrops on her conversation with one of the Denouements. He tells her that his brother is all right and sends his regards. Later at the party, however, Ellington sees two Denouements. Why would one of them send the other’s regards to Kit if they’re all in the same room? A couple of drinks with the already tipsy Olivia (officially a fortune-teller, but who knows what purposes VFD really uses her salon for?), and Ellington learns that there used to be three Denouements, actually. But the third brother, Dewey, had a conflict with one of rival gangs which nearly resulted in a war, had not Lemony agreed to dispose of Dewey. To stop that gang from going against VFD, he killed Dewey with his own hands.

Except he didn’t, Ellington thinks. Lemony must have staged Dewey’s execution, and now he’s out there very much alive. Perhaps this knowledge will come in handy.

Meanwhile, the Inhumane Society, who have other beef with VFD apart from the stolen weapons, are getting impatient. There’s a gun-fight which results in Ike Anwhistle dying and his grieving widow, Josephine, telling Lemony it is all his fault and leaving the city. (I know I said this is based on s1 only, but they’re the John and Esme Shelby of this story). And Bertrand is severely wounded. VFD needs another bookkeeper while he’s recovering, and Kit, who knows from The Black Cat’s owner Dashiell Qwerty that Ellington has also been keeping the books of the bar lately and doing it well, offers this position to her. This gives Ellington an opportunity to learn more about the asserts and resources of VFD - and a chance to discover some interesting notes scribbled next to the name of Dewey Denouement. Dewey Denouement, who is only officially dead, but still has a grave at the cemetery.

Ellington tells Stew she has an idea where the weapons and/or the statue might be hidden.

When she meets some of the members of the Inhumane Society to take them to the tomb, she is surprised to see Hangfire himself among them. She’s only seen him in passing before, this mysterious man with his face covered in bandages. They say he’s been horribly disfigured during the war. They also say he came back mad. When they’ve done some digging and unearthed, instead of a coffin, several crates of guns - and opened one of them to find a small statue of what seems like a very scary seahorse - Mitchum and Flammarion are suddenly shot down, and Lemony Snicket steps from behind a gravestone. 

He’s been following them.

Of course he didn’t believe that all Miss Feint is hiding is an illegitimate child, Lemony tells them as he’s holding Hangfire at gunpoint. He’s been doing research. In fact, the man whose grave they’ve unearthed is presently in a unique position allowing him to make research away from the City. He’s found out that Ellington Feint is the daughter of a renowned naturalist Armstrong Feint, who’s recently gone missing. And then they managed to discover something more. 

This is when Hangfire grabs a gun and points it at Lemony, and Lemony aims at Ellington instead, which for some reason stops Hangfire from shooting. 

This is also when it turns out that Lemony has also been followed, and Kit Snicket steps from behind another gravestone, pointing a gun at her brother. He keeps aiming at Ellington, wearily telling Kit she isn’t really going to shoot him. 

Kit tells him that unless he drops the gun, he’ll find out.

(When Ellington tries to speak to Kit, she just tells her to shut up. And it hurts, because Kit has stopped being just a mission a long time ago. And now she knows that Ellington’s been lying to her from the start. And she may not want Ellington to die, but she would also hardly ever forgive her. And that would be fair).

And then Hangfire tries to shoot Kit, and Ellington screams, and Kit manages to spring back, and Lemony fires at the man who tried to kill his sister, and suddenly Hangfire is bleeding out on the ground and calling out to Ellington in her father’s voice. 

That is what they’ve also found out about Hangfire, Lemony tells her as she’s kneeling beside the body, unable to bring herself to uncover his face. He sounds genuinely surprised; he thought she knew.

Kit makes him let Ellington go and tells her she doesn’t want to see her ever again. And Ellington leaves. She takes a train to some seaside town she’s never heard of before and leaves. Her job is ended. Her father is dead. Her love affair that never should have happened is in the past. She still doesn’t know why her father lied to her when he could have just asked and she would’ve done anything, why he kept up this double life, what was the significance of the statue and what it might become in the hands of someone like Lemony Snicket. She is too tired and sick of it all to try to find out.

She manages to build a life in Stain’d-by-the-Sea. She works in a coffee shop and sings there in the evenings. She never sings the song she sang to Kit again. She marries a man she doesn’t have any truly strong feelings for.

Then, a year or so later, there’s a phone call, and the voice of the woman she loved and betrayed tells her she still can’t stop thinking of her.

*This phrase used by the Peaky Blinders upon the death of one of them is replaced by “The world is quiet here”. Obviously.

**My Last Duchess, referenced in ASOUE in connection with R, is written by Robert Browning.

#asoue #atwq #a series of unfortunate events #all the wrong questions #snicketverse #kitsnickettsfam #ellington feint #kit snicket #kitlington #lemony snicket #hangfire #stew mitchum #duchess of winnipeg #dewey denouement #beatrice baudelaire #bertrand baudelaire #lemonberry ice #talk talk talk #gella talks snicketverse #my fic #not exactly but this got too long to be just a headcanon so??? i guess