#my whole philosophy when creating him was 'a guy I'd want to be my best friend' bc well. I didnt have any friends lol <:'3c

[shallowseeker]

SHAL YOU NO LIKE ROBBIE?!

TBH, I don't care as much about the writers. (I know--eternal shame. I'm not even a real fan--kill me now etc.) I just...don't remember things. I always have to remind myself who's doing what. I don't know how half of you keep it all straight AND remember episode titles??? And no, nooooo I like Robbie just fine. Love him, even. He’s in my top choices!!!!

I just consider him something of a specialist, maybe? I'm going off vibes, remember. I feel like Robbie is a long-winded, loveable teddy bear. His writing reminds me of comic books, which could be why it feels so fraught and verbose at times, like it's crammed into a speech bubble...? Idk.

I think a lot of his characters are also a bit...it's hard to put my finger on it, exactly. Wholesome? They're so Loveable (TM) and Dorky (TM). I find it stifling sometimes to stomach all the "pluckiness" at once. It even took me awhile to warm up to his characters in The Winchesters. (Don't hit me! Maybe I just have a bad personality.)

I think you'd want him on your team for sure. He did Goodbye Stranger and other wonderful things like Metatron's speech in Don't Call Me Shurley (which was also belabored at times but greatly helped by Curtis Armstrong)! It's a type of energy I find leaning "too meta," and "too mechanistic" at times. The best example I can think of is There's No Place Like Home. I like it in pieces, but as a whole, it seems a little too self-aware sometimes. But not in a fun Ghostfacers way? It's hard to describe.

I...can't imagine Robbie creating an Alastair or a Uriel, or even a Meg...but maybe I'm forgetting something.

////

Maybe it's Ben Edlund's intellectual(TM) vibe that makes his Sam and Cas more to my liking? Idk. I feel like, since Sam's the only one still alive, getting Sam right would be key to the whole thing hanging together in a sequel. Anyway, I feel like his work in Reading is Fundamental is legitimately Ecclesiastical because he can be more wry/philosophical/satirical. I'm biased--I like philosophy!

He can do entire standalone narrations which are just as “long” but it doesn’t feel so…templated, somehow? It usually just hits better for me, personally. Sometimes he lurches into being too poetic for my liking, too, especially in season 8. But overall, I dig. Meredith can infuse his stuff with some much-needed warmth. It all makes sense in my head!

I think he's at his best when he's being sarcastic and when the action is so fast-paced he doesn't have much time to get stuck doing word-acrobatics. His good guys are conflicted, and his bad guys are really oily. He lets the characters be mean and surly. He can be as deeply fucked up as Sera Gamble when he wants to be (Repo Man????)

////

I can find something I like in most of the writers, even Bucklemming. They have some great devil's advocate lines and political stuff in their scripts, once you comb past the racism, fetishism, and weird pacing.

////

I'm not above keeping Sera Gamble in a cage and letting her out to contribute random, unhinged things. Something is deeply, deeply wrong with her, and that translates well to a good dose of fucky-uppy-ness and incredible pain, which I think Robbie can tend to sleep on a little bit. (Dream a Little Dream of Me, Houses of the Holy?? SO GOOD.)

////

Others? Bobo does some great stuff, but sometimes I find his back-and-forth dialogue to be a little off? I even think something felt off with Cas's speech in Despair as much as I applaud the effort. Steve Yockey does an excellent Rowena.

Also, I'd let Amanda Tapping direct everything. Just because.

////

Mostly, I think they should just hire @angelsdean 🤷  and @jewishtrentcrimm -- I followed them during their live tweeting reactions of The Winchesters and mostly longed for their ideas over what was happening on screen.

////

Most importantly, it’d need a shortform writer in the wings whose job it is to take all the long-winded ppl's excellent monstrosities and chop it to bits and couch it in the right voice with the right amount of prickly subterfuge and defensiveness. A vicious, short-form editor who values brevity and would kill me inside...

Also, we’d need an official meta wrangler, because the meta can start to eat itself and really devolve if you're not careful (I think this is Robbie's Achilles' Heel in some of his stuff; it walks the line reeeeeally close for me in "There's No Place Like Home," for example, but I've come around to "Fan Fiction.")

////

I am...quite happy to be corrected. Knowing who does what well is NOT my specialty.

#i know i have the same problem #i'm long winded #related to a previous ask #i have IDEAS about sequels man #i might change my mind about all this tomorrow i'm moody like that #i'm verbose the point of puppet therapy talk when i try to write too and it makes me want to stab myself in the brain actually #agggh #oh well #i can be self-indulgent let it be said

[k00299539]

Movement Project Artist Research - Mamoru Hosoda

Above: Guy has somehow looked the exact same for 20 years

Mamoru Hosoda is a Japanese animator and director best known for his family focused feature films. Hosoda got his start in the animation industry in early 90's with Toei Animation, initially as an animator before moving into a directorial role by the end of the decade. While his career was already on an ever accelerating rise, his work on the second Digimon film; Our War Game, catapulted him into being the most sought after talent in the industry.

While still an employee of Toei, he was drafted in to direct Studio Ghibli's feature; Howl's Moving Castle. This ended in disaster with Hosoda feeling as though the company wanted him to mimic Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki rather than direct on his own terms. Having abandoned the project it wasn't too long after he left Toei as well, going freelance.

He next directed The Girl Who Leapt Through Time for Madhouse, becoming a sleeper hit for them. This was followed up with Summer Wars, the success of which afforded him the opportunity to open his own studio; Chizu, and work truly on his own terms. He has since directed a number of films under the Chizu banner, with 2018's Mirai having been nominated for an Academy Award.

Above: Stills from Our War Game

...That was probably too many words. Hosoda is a director I'm overly familiar with and it's dfficult to sum him up in a couple of paragraphs. I guess if I had to sum up what it is about Hosoda I'm so drawn to it would be his unrelenting desire to express exactly what it is he wants to express on screen for better or for worse. I actually think a number of Hosoda's films have suffered as a result of his hardheadedness but I have to admit all the same that's interesting to see a film fail not for the myriad of factors it normally would but instead for the uncompromsing vision of it's director. I guess what I mean is, no matter what I make or whether I fail or succeed, I'd like to do it on my terms and take responsibility for the result. Now that I write that out I'm begging to doubt if it's even an admirable quality ...but that's how I feel and I don't want to rewrite this whole blog post.

The other thing I wanted to give specific mention to in regards to Hosoda is his continued use of the kagenashi, or without-shadow style. Hosoda's stated philosophy is to ignore shadows and unnecessary details and let the drawings speak for the themselves. He employs this approach in particular to capture the essence of children in his work. It is a style derived from a desire to portray something accurately, not realistically.

Of course this is easier said than done, as the drawing has to be perfect when you can't fall back on shading or detailing to convey information. Hosoda has a ringer however, Takaaki Yamashita.

Above: This is literally the only picture of him on the internet...

Takaaki Yamashita is Hosoda's right hand man, having mentored him early on in their Toei days and eventually following him to Studio Chizu. He has served as animation director on virtually all of Hosoda's films. He's also just really good at drawing and animating. For as good as Hosoda is, his philosophy in depicting life on screen through strict adherence to the kagenashi style wouldn't be possible without Yamashita's skill. Yamashita can create drawings that express themselves as open and honestly as children, this is something I try to emulate when animating (and usually fail).

Above: Yamashita's work on Slam Dunk, Below: a link to more of his work

#movement #lsad #animation #research

[leftnipsdoodles]

my first(-ish) oc, Jonathan ‘Johnny’ Tillhauer, a half-german half-american with IBS who works as an assassin in a way only a middle schooler could come up with

anyway I was looking through old oc pics yesterday and realized I never continued this redraw tradition so. I remedied that.

I think back in the day I only saw this as an improvement meme thing, but now I look at it more as a documentation of trends in my own style, which is pretty fun to look back on. especially when you see things that never change. like the fact that I just don’t know what a cigarette looks like.

#oc #i dont remember a whole lot abt him if im honest. #he falls in love with a butch woman called Nikita whom he meets at a pet shop where #he looks at the fish and she tells him abt em. #but nothing much comes of it due to the nature of his lifestyle. #also aside from being an assassin he's rly just a nice dude. #i was rly into films like Silent Killer and Leon the Professional back then and it shows in the bits of his story I still recall lmao #my whole philosophy when creating him was 'a guy I'd want to be my best friend' bc well. I didnt have any friends lol <:'3c #also notably he's the only 'main' oc I have who isn't left-handed. lil bit of trivia for ya.

[otterskin]

Quick Thoughts of Loki Episode #5

Me during the First Half:

After 30 minute mark:

Me at the End of episode:

Full text thoughts below.

So those first thirty minutes, right? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about! Some crazy fun sets full of hilarious background details, this great new cast of Lokis (sad we didn't have more of Boastful Loki, he had an interesting design), some great humour and finally a little, tiny bit of Hiddleston acting off of Hiddleston, which I've wanted for awhile with all these multiple Lokis. Alligator Loki was flippin' the best, although I wanna know how Old Loki speaks whatever it is he speaks and no other Loki does. And that Alioth!! Such a fun concept in this crazy world, I loved everything about the worldbuilding and how it related to storytelling. The writing itself was a huge notch up from episodes 3 & 4 - I will be keeping an eye on Tom Kauffman (writer of this episode). This one understood how to keep 'characters walking places and talking' really engaging and interesting, it had some great one-liners that feel like classic quotable lines already (I am heartbroken to say I'm not even surprised"), it kept up its momentum but knew how to slow down for quiet moments. All in all, this was nearly the best episode in the series and definitely would have been if not for the problems in the post-30 minute mark.

I loved the random creative elements like the Battleship (from a conspiracy theory I understand), the giant Easter Egg Nest in the Van, the peacocks with little purple balls on springs for heads, and the surprise of Alioth, which fits into a show about a Norse God rather well. These all made the episode sing as a unique entry in the show and the MCU. It reminded me of the Island of Lost Toys from Rudolph and also Toy Land (Fables Comics).

Kid Loki may not have had any physical resemblance to Tom Hiddleston, but the child actor was amusingly poe-faced and dark and got a lot of chuckles out of me and I whole-heartedly embrace him as an alternate Loki. I also enjoyed the sly 'JIM' references, as that Gillen run in the comics is probably my favourite for Loki stories, even though this Kid Loki was very, very different. I don't know if there'll be more of him, but I'm on board. And of course, President Loki, although here all too briefly (I really wanted more Hiddleston-acting-off-Hiddleston action), was marvelous and charismatic and I loved the weird silky voice he had, and of course his many creatively-dressed minions that included a few other Lokis. I wish, wish, wish that had been longer. Hands down the MVP of the episode is Richard E. Grant, who took a character I was nervous for, dressed in a ridiculous costume, and made him the heart and soul of this episode. I've been feeling like Loki has been in need of another A-list actor and this was the guy. He elevated everything. His pathos, humour, and delivery were spot on, and he had such an easy chemistry with everyone, including that CGI alligator. Every moment with him was a treasure, small and large - and I especially loved his large moment fighting Alioth where he created the illusion of Asgard from memory. That was really touching and beautiful and damn did it hurt when he got munched. Good writing, great acting, just...man, I'm gonna treasure this alternate Loki in a way I didn't see coming. That was just magic. But...that brings us to the other revelation. The not-so-good one. Sylvie...I'm sorry, kid, but...

I really wanted to give this character the benefit of the doubt. I liked a lot about her in her initial introduction, but at this point it's clear - she's another MCU Action Girl Model No. 678, off the shelf. Her writing takes very few risks and gives her almost no traits I'd associate with Loki. She's just another Natasha/Gamora/Hope clone. What makes a Loki a Loki? I've talked about that before and the show almost seems to get it. But there is a crucial difference between my philosophy and theirs. They say Loki is a survivor, God of Outcasts. I say Loki is the God of getting knocked down and getting back up again, the God of Odd-Couple pairings and the Court Jester of Asgard. Sylvie might have survived, but she doesn't suffer the constant humiliation and self-effacing humour and self-hatred that makes Loki's resilience especially moving and interesting. She doesn't get to be very funny, she never gets to be clumsy or pathetic. She's never the architect of her own failure. She's never a clown. She's just stock Action Girl in a Loki crown. And since when is wanting revenge and being kick-ass enough to be called a Loki? She's just another hyper-competent female raring to be the main character while the fun, bumbling lead trails after her. And then they have to further burden her, the sole female lead and sole female Loki, with being the romantic interest. There's no getting away from it now. That's what they're driving at and God is it uncomfortable and unpleasant. What makes a good romance? What makes any good or interesting relationship on screen? Contrasting and complementing traits. Some of this on paper could work, if you could somehow get around the gut-instinct incestuous vibes. Sylvie is self-assured, Loki is not, Sylvie solves her problems with violence, Loki prefers words, but both have had a hard time connecting with people outside their families, etc. And yet they come together like three-week-old bread pudding and onions. One of these things has flavour and goes well with all sorts of dishes, and the other is a bland mess that just gets a bit lumpy when it comes in contact with a strong-tasting ingredient like Hiddleston's onion. When the episode slowed down for their romantic moment, it really slowed down, to an absolute slog. And then the worst thing happened. Loki officially stopped being the main character. I'm reminded of Ant-Man and the Wasp, where the story was really all about Wasp and her personal quest, and Scott was just around because I guess they're romantically involved or whatever. He was just following Wasp around and occasionally screwing things up. Here, it's even worse. Loki is entirely besotted with Sylvie, to the point where all he does is follow her and the only plan is her plan. His entire motivation is her. This is her story and he's just a footnote in it. She drives the plot, she has the motivation, she has the deepest emotional connection to the goings on of the story, she interacts with the villains the most and has the deepest personal connection to them. She, despite being a Loki in name only, (and not even that really) is the main character of Loki. Making Loki such a passive character, most devoted and passionate as a love interest to Sylvie than anything of his own, is just...I don't know how to process it. Loki has always been such an active, dynamic character in the films. He drives the plot entirely in THOR, and even though he's an afterthought in the writing of TDW he still very much drives his own narrative arc forward, and in Ragnarok, where the character's schtick is floundering for purpose in the wake of his father's death, he still drives forward his own arc, makes his own choices, and carries large parts of the narrative and plot. He is essential. Here? In the show supposedly named after him? He doesn't even get to have his own character arc, his own self-reflection. Instead, they use the good ol' trope of 'redemption through romance', whereby he learns to love himself by loving Sylvie. He is 'fixed' because of a romantic relationship.

That's not good character development, it's not fair to Sylvie, and it's not good writing. It's an old trope that I even consider a little bit dangerous. Believing a romantic relationship is a substitute for self-reflection and growth and personal reckoning is asking for failure at all of that, and the failure of the relationship. People - especially women - shouldn't have to fix their romantic partners, or inspire them to be their 'best versions'. Yes, there's a little more going on in the subtext than that, but it still boils down to this same, tired old trope. This was also the trope I despised most in Waldron's script The Worst Guy of All Time, which I also felt had a bland action heroine burdened with being the mirror through which the lead, flawed male could fix himself - by snogging her. Just. No. Don't do that. In addition to that...I think I've got to admit that I'm finding DiMartino a bit lacking in the role. Yes, it's thanklessly written and I do put that as the largest problem. But Grant just came in here and stormed the castle. His writing had a few stumbles too but I didn't care because his delivery and massive charisma just sailed right over those potholes. He made me care about a different Loki, and care a lot, in just one single episode. There was an electricity when he was onscreen that not only held its own with Hiddleston, but often stole his thunder. God, the way his eyes moved and focused, the wry cynicism and good humour of his voice, his offhand reverance for Kid Loki, everything he did just sparked. DiMartino doesn't have a fraction of that panache, and that's very evident in scenes with both Owen Wilson and Hiddleston, who just outcharm her at every line, despite them and the story pushing her as the lead of the story. To be clear, I like Sophia, I don't think she's a bad cast, but I honestly feel she's not keeping up. I just don't get a good sense of her character's inner life, and I don't think she brings much individual energy that no other actor could. Say what you will about Wilson and Hiddleston, but they have immense individual energy in all their roles. She's also no Hemsworth, who's leading man abilities I've always found quintessential to the Thor films - but then again, Wilson, Hiddleston, and Hemsworth are all allowed to be funny and charming, and Sylvie is more like Thor 2's Thor, a vehicle for the plot and romance. So maybe I am being too hard on her. But seriously, Marvel, let women be weird. Let them be kooky, ridiculous, silly, earnest to the point of cringe, let them be offputting and crazed and eccentric and...unique. Not MCU Action Girl Model No. 678 with a new coat of paint. Because this is just Wasp, Gamora, and Natasha. Again. Finally, another problem came to a head this episode. There's a flanderization of Loki at work here, and I do so hate to use that phrase. Their understanding of him can be quite complex sometimes and at others it’s cartoonish or based on some version of Loki that’s not been in the MCU. It’s also frustrating that the subtext of Loki has been made text, which would be fine if they gave him new subtext - which they haven't. They've also ignored quite a bit of text, like his heritage and discomfort with that, that makes the character seem a little incongruent with the guy coming off of Avengers and Thor. There's just not much happening underneath the surface anymore. It's all stated, often by the character himself. Every feeling, the meaning of every action, everything telegraphed by bullhorn. ("I think we're stronger than we realize!!" should have been a reaction shot. Classic over-writing.) I don’t have as much to dig into as I did in the films other the Easter Eggs. They keep saying the themes out loud like WandaVision did rather than trusting the audience to interpret. No, you're told exactly how to feel, every character tells you exactly what they're feeling, with no room for gray areas at all. What happened to the character it was fun to analyze and think about? How did he become a side character to someone else's story in a story that

was supposed to be about him getting his own story? I would have thought that was the point, but they’ve brushed aside everything I cared about with that character to make way for Sylvie.

His heritage? A throw away Easter egg not at all developed amd actively disregarded. His self-hatred? Well, now he wants to jump his female version’s bones so that’s all better! His relationship with his family? Whatever, now he has Sylvie and Möbius guys! He’s just met them but they get the hugs and probably the eventual kisses. (Oh god I don't want that, please.) That's not to say I'm against Loki getting a cast of his own characters (I quite enjoy his recent casts in the comics, with Leah, Verity Willis, Thori, etc.), I'm just against this large emotional pay-off being given to characters where I don't really feel that level of bond has been earned. Loki hugging Thor would be a big moment. Loki hugging Mobius is...fine, because he does seem to see Mobius as a proxy to both Thor and Odin, and I can buy that he likes him and might invest a lot of other emotions into him. But it's not fireworks. It's just...a bit of a forced emotional climax for a friendship that never quite had the time it needed (gosh, I would have loved this to be 12 episodes long and to have had three episodes just jetting around time with Moby. That would have been ideal.)

I just wish it was Loki and Mobius teaming up at the end, not Loki and... the most boring Loki ever. They do at least have a way more interesting and complex relationship than the bland Sylvie has managed to muster. This has been a long screed with a lot of negativity in it, so I'll just double-back and say that there really was so much I loved about the episode during that first half-hour. Really, the set was a character in its own right, and the Easter eggs were hilarious, non-stop and clever (so many urban legends and comics cuts). The direction was also a huge step up, with that fantastic opening shot showing the dysfunction at the TVA and recapping the previous episode better than the actual recap did, just zooming past the remains of that day. There were so many genuine surprises, really good editing, sight gags, written gags, great acting, excellent VFX (Allokigator looked stunning in every shot, better than CGI Goose in Captain Marvel!), and the writing itself was just really engaging. It felt like its own mini-movie, a fresh flavour, a new scoop of icecream below the one we've been munching on. It's the unfolding, larger writing issues surrounding Sylvie that are bringing the whole series down, but this nonetheless remains a highlight of the series and I will be returning to it with fondness.

#loki 2021 #loki thoughts #loki show #sylvie #loki

[oscarwaswildebutalanwaswilder]

The talent map 2 (Queen AU)

Starlight Pearl: [slightly muffled, over loudspeaker] In sameness, there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie.[door pounding]

Starlight Pearl: Free yourself from your talent. Choose equality as your special talent.

Roger: [over] [grunting]

Starlight Pearl: [voice fades under] Difference is frustration. To excel is to fail.

Peridot: Hey, this is pretty good!

Starlight Pearl: [under] Be your best by never being your best.

Brian: Ugh, we've gotta find a way out of here! I can't take much more of that voice!

Freddie: Oh, this is horrible! [crying]

Lapis: There, there, Fred... It's not so bad...

Freddie: Yes, it is! Look at those drapes! I have no idea if they're tacky or not!

Lapis: Well, I think they're nice.

[pulsing noise]

Freddie: [crying] So do I!

[bird tweets]

Lapis: Oh, thank goodness! Can you help us, little birdie?[bird tweets][pulsing noise]

Lapis: Go on, now! Fly away and get us help![bird tweets]

Lapis: Oh, even tweets don't make sense any more!

John: [grunts] This door's shut tighter than a... summer of...[pulsing noise]

John: ...uh, piglets in... shoot! I can't even talk no more!

Peridot: I don't know! Maybe it'll be super fun to be all the same![pulsing noise]

Peridot: Sort of. More pleasant than fun, I guess...

Brian: Something odd about that staff. I haven't studied Eastern unicorns as much as I should have, but I'm pretty sure Meadowbrook only had eight magical items, not nine. And I don't remember any of them being a staff.

John: Well, it looks like you'll have plenty of time to try to think about it.

Starlight Pearl: [fading up, echoing] ...Choose equality as your special talent. Difference is frustration. To excel is to fail. Be your best by never being your best. Conformity will set you free. Accept your limitations, and happiness will follow. You're no better than your friends. [abruptly fades back under]

Brian: I've got it!

Rest of main cast: [exclamations of surprise]

Brian: I know how we can get out!

Roger: [sighs] Forget it, Bri. This door's not opening.

Freddie: And I'm afraid the windows are much too small for escape.

Brian: But there is a third way.

Peridot: Of course! Eventually the wind and the weather will wear down the walls until they start to crumble! Then all we have to do is wait for a big enough hole to form and we can just walk out! It's the perfect plan![pulsing noise]

Peridot: I guess.

Brian: We don't actually have to escape. They'll just let us out when they think we've accepted their philosophy!

John: But they're never gonna believe we switched over in just one night.

Brian: There's one of us they might believe.[beat]

Lapis: Oh! Me?!

Roger: You've been saying how great this place is since we got here!

Lapis: But that's because everyone's so nice and their village is so pretty, and, and... Oh, you're right. They probably would believe me. I hate to lie to them. They've been so welcoming and friendly... aside from locking us in here and trying to brainwash us into abandoning the things that make us special... Okay. I'll do it.

Peridot: Woo-hoo! [pulsing noise] I mean, cool.

Lapis: But what do I do once I'm out?Brian: You've gotta find a way to get our talents back.

Lapis: [gulping][loudspeaker feedback]

Starlight Pearl: [over loudspeaker] Oh, good morning![door opens]

Starlight Pearl: I trust you had a pleasant night? This way, please. There are some friends who'd like to see you. Gather round, friends, gather round! We've come to ask if any of you are ready to join us! There are so many friends to be made once you realize you don't need your talents.

Bono: We have a welcome ceremony for new friends! The whole village joins together to build you your own cottage—

Roger: Not interested! You may have them now, but we're going to get our talents back!

John: Y'all don't understand, do ya? You can't force no one to be friends! It don't work like that!

Elvis Presley: Please, join us!

Sid Vicious: We love new friends!

Starlight Pearl: It's all right, everyone. This is a perfectly normal part of the equalization process for those who haven't... quite seen the light yet. We'll try again tomorrow once you've had a bit more time to consider our philosophy!Lapis: I'd like to join![people chattering]

Brian: Lapis? How could you?!

Lapis: If giving up my talent means I get to stay in this lovely village with this lovely people, then I'll do it.[door shuts]

Starlight Pearl: We have a new friend, everyone![people chattering]

Starlight Pearl: Now, there's one more order of business. It seems some in our midst might be... dissatisfied with the village life!

[people gasping]

Starlight Pearl: Unfortunately, it's all too true, my friends! [to Lapis] Will you kindly tell us the names of those friends who so desperately miss their talents that they would sneak around in the shadows talking to strangers about it? Just so we can be sure your intentions are indeed pure.

Lapis [gulps]

Lapis: Um, I don't know who they were. Um, I'm sorry. I don't know your names and faces yet.

Starlight Pearl: Nonsense! Obviously these persons must have asked you directly. Kindly point them out!

Jimi Hendrix: It was me! It was only me! But I only wanted it back for a little while!Starlight Pearl: And you're quite certain it was only you?

Jimi Hendrix: I just wanted to remember what it was like.

Starlight Pearl: And no thought to the pain you'd cause your friends. Such selfishness.

Jimi Hendrix: I'm sorry, everyone I never wanted to leave the village! I love all of—[door shuts]

Jimi Hendrix: What was I thinking?! I can't believe I even considered asking for my talent back.

Roger: Don't worry. Lapis will have us out of here in no time!

Jimi Hendrix: Didn't you see what just happened out there?! Your friend has accepted our way! You will all accept our way! It's only a matter of time!

Roger: This guy's a barrel of laughs.

Peridot: [flatly] Laughs don't come in barrels. They come from inside you as your body's response to delight.

John: [hushed] So what are we gonna do while Lapis' out there lookin' for our [whispering] talents?

Brian: We have to stay as positive as we can. If Jimi sees how much we really do like each other, even though we're all different, maybe we can use him to spread our message to the rest of the village.[loudspeaker crackles]

Starlight Pearl: [over loudspeaker] To excel is to fail. [continues under]

Freddie: Let's hope they don't convert any of us first.

Emma Bunton: Welcome!

Sid Vicious: Welcome!

Stevie Wonder: Welcome!

Lapis: Gosh, you really are the nicest persons I've ever met.

Starlight Pearl: Come. All new friends stay with me until their cottage is completed. Let's get you settled, and then you can enjoy all that our little village has to offer.[rumbling]

Lapis: [coughing] Brrrrrr! [sighs] Get the talents back. That's all you've gotta do, Lapis. Just sneak through the dark up to that spooky old cave with the scary magical staff and get the talents back.

Lapis: Okay, you're doing great. The cave's gotta be close now...

Starlight Pearl: Excellent work, Bono.

Bono: Of course, but I don't understand why you wanted me to bring them here. Lapis is one of us now. Surely she can be trusted.

Starlight Pearl: This one belongs to Freddie Mercury. It could be very important to our cause.

Bono: But if Freddie Mercury becomes our friend, then why do we care about this old talent?

Starlight Pearl: I just want to keep them close until everything is... settled. You may go, Bono.[door shuts]

Lapis: Oh, dear. How am I ever going to get the talents back now?[crash]

Starlight Pearl: Ow![bucket rolling]

Starlight Pearl: Ugh! Starlight, you clumsy pearl!

Lapis: [gasps] Oh, no...

Starlight Pearl: I've got a good feeling about today! So, do any of you have anything you'd like to say? Aw, pity. Well, let's try this again tomorrow, shall we? No new friends today, I'm afraid!

Lapis: Wait! I'd like to lock them in.

Starlight Pearl: Marvelous, Lapis! That's the spirit! Jimi, will you join us, please?

Jimi Hendrix: I'm sorry, Starlight! I'm sorry, everyone! I've seen the error of my ways! I never want to look at my talent again!

Starlight Pearl: It seems there's cause for celebration after all!

Crowd: Hooray! [cheering]

Jimi Hendrix: They tried to break me! They wouldn't stop talking about how different they are, and that somehow makes their friendship stronger!

Starlight Pearl: Such backwards thinking.

Jimi Hendrix: But I didn't listen! I knew what they were up to, and I didn't listen!Starlight Pearl: Well done, Jimi! We welcome you back with open hands!Lapis: Um, Starlight? I think we might have one more friend joining us today.

[Freddie comes out]

[crowd gasps]

Starlight Pearl: Is this true?

Freddie: I-I think so. But I just want to be sure. If I agree to leave my talent in the vault, I'll really be happier?

Starlight Pearl: Just look around! Equality has given us more happiness than you've ever known!

Freddie: And you wouldn't let me just live here in the village with my old talent?

Starlight Pearl: Out of the question. A person with a different talent in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy. We are all equal here![crowd muttering]

Lapis: Then how do you explain this?![splash]

Starlight Pearl: I knew you couldn't be trusted! No! Get away!

[crowd gasps]

Starlight Pearl: Wha... What are you looking at?! They're the problem, not me!Jimi Hendrix: How could you?

Bono: You said talents were evil! You said special talents led to pain and heartache!

Starlight Pearl: They do! Don't you see?! Look at them!

Elton: Then why? Why did you take ours and not give up your own?

Starlight Pearl: I... I had to, you fools! How could I collect your talents without my magic?!

Michael Jackson: But the staff has all the magic we need!

Starlight Pearl: The staff is a piece of wood I found in the desert! It's my magic that makes all this possible! You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everyone else if it weren't for my magical abilities! I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!

Bono: You lied  to us!

Starlight Pearl: So what? E-Everything else I said is true! The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!

Jimi Hendrix: Except for you.

Brian: Everyone has unique talents and gifts, and when we share them with each other, that's how rea—

Starlight Pearl: QUIET!

Elton: You can't have your talent, Starlight! Either we're all equal, or none of us are![door shuts]

Bono: Come on! Let's get our talents back!

Crowd: Yeah! [shouted agreement]

Roger: Come on! Let's go get our talents!

Lapis: Our talents aren't in the vault! They're in there with her![pounding]

Bono: Stand back, everyone![glass cracking][magical zaps]

Freddie: Even without my talent, I can tell this is beautiful!

Starlight Pearl: They think they can come to my village and disrupt my life? Let's see how they like spending the rest of their lives without their precious talents!

John: [grunting]

Freddie: [grunting][whistling]

Michael Jackson: Stand back, everyone![crunch][glass breaks][door opens]

Lapis: They're gone! They were right over there!

Roger: Look!

Bono: [blows up balloon][balloon squeaking]

Bono: She's headed for the pass! If she makes it into those mountains, we'll never find her!

Peridot: These are amazing!

Michael Jackson: There's a whole network of caves up there! Your talents will be gone forever!

John: Then let's get moving, y'all!

[pulsing noise]

Roger: Oh, come on![jars rattling]

Starlight Pearl: Are you all so willing to give up everything because of these strangers?![snow thudding]

Elton: We gave up everything for you, because we thought you were our friend!

Rogee: I can't believe we have to count on these other guys to save our talents!

Brian: If we hadn't come here to help them, they'd still be living under her rules! Now it's their turn to help us!

Lapis: And I know they can do it!

Elton: My newest recipe – snow pie![thud][explosion][balloon squeaking][balloons stretching]

Roger: She's gonna get away!

Jimi Hendrix: Whoa! These are my old skis! This is where I first met Starlight!Michael Jackson: Maybe you can reminisce another time! She's almost to the caves!

Jimi Hendrix: Feel like an air drop?[skiing noises][snow thudding][glass breaking][magical zaps]

John: Yee-haw! Finally, I can buck like a five-bit snake herder in an Appleloosa ranch house again!

Lapis: And you got your countryisms back![magic zap]

Starlight Pearl: Wh– I studied that spell for years! How can you—

Freddie: I studied magic for years too! But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far. Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself! It was their unique gifts and passions and personalities that helped open to the others! And I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now!

Starlight Pearl: Spare me your sentimental nonsense! I gave these person real friendships they never could've had otherwise!

Bono: How do you know that?! You never even gave us a chance!

[magic zap]

Roger: She's getting away!

Bono: We'll never find her in there!

Brian: We just have to hope that when she's had a chance to think it over, she realizes that you all have taught her something.

Jimi Hendrix: It's you who have taught us something. We all came to this village because we were searching for something missing from our lives. We thought Starlight had given it to us, but now... now it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!

Brian: Does that mean you'll stay in the village?

Michael Jackson: It's our home. I'm not going anywhere.

Jimi Hendrix: This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!

Elton: And I finally have a chance to bake something besides terrible muffins!

All: [laughing][ponies laughing and chattering][Wilhelm scream]

Peridot: Now those are real smiles.

John: I'll never get used to that.

Freddie: I think it's divine.

Lapis: Does that mean that the map is calling us somewhere else?

Brian: I have a feeling it means our work here is done.

Lapis: Looks like you were right, Bri. The map did have a reason for sendin' us here. We brought real friendship to these humans.

Brian: But the map didn't send someone else. It sent us.

Main cast: [laughing]

Peridot: This feels like an ending! It doesn't have to be an ending yet, right? 'Cause that Elton can bake!

Brian: Maybe we can stay a little while longer. Come on!

(Based and inspired by a MLP episode the "cutie map")

credits to MLP

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