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hkpika07 · 24 days

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The Spencer Post

Hi this is where I explain my observed nuances with Spencer and how I personally characterize him. Explaining why I think he acts the way he does. Please note that like 90 percent of this is headcanon.

Let’s get some backstory on Spencer. His job is to be the personal private engine of the Duke and Duchess of Boxford. This is a very prestigious job, one unsurprising of his class of engine. Being a Gresly and being implied siblings with the real life engine Mallard, he has a lot of expectations and responsibilities put on his buffers. On top of that, let me remind you he is a private engine. Not only does he carry the weight of expected perfection as the other greslys, he has to look good and be the status symbol for the Duke and Duchess. He has. So much to keep on top of, to keep track of and remember. He arguably might have more expectations placed on him than Gordon or Scotsman.

Not only that but Spencer is very….alone. He doesn’t fit in anywhere on account of his position. He’s not really a mainland engine because he’s not always on the mainland. He’s not a Sodor engine because he doesn’t live on Sodor, he lives with the Duke and Duchess presumably at their main house somewhere else. He’s a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit into either picture.

But how does this affect how he acts? Why does he act like such an asshole? Well, the answer is a bit more complex than you might think. As we all know, steam engines are always at a risk of being scrapped. The exception being Sodor because Sodor is a steam sanctuary. But on the mainland it’s a different story. If engines on the mainland are at risk for being scrapped for not being useful enough, what’s to stop them from sabotaging each other in order to get a leg up on them. To make their competition look bad just so they can live another day. On the mainland its every man for himself. And if you want to survive, you take out the weakest.

And Spencer, poor poor Spencer, already burdening the weight of perfection on his shoulders and his status as an outcast fueling his desperate need for validation and need to fit in. Lets the mainland engines’ way of thinking pollute his brain. This idea of needing to take out those below you, less useful and who are a threat, infects his mind and influences his actions. He thinks he needs to get rid of those underneath him so he can continue to survive, to not jeopardize his position as private engine.

And he takes this way of thinking to Sodor. He harasses Edward and says he should be scrapped before losing to him in a race. He hunts down Hiro because he thinks he’s a piece of rusted scrap metal and nothing more. He becomes rotten. Vindictive. Vitriolic.

But…. He gets better. He gets lectured pretty harshly by the Duke and Duchess for his hunt on Hiro. And he spends more time on Sodor. And once again, he’s influenced. Because at heart, Spencer is a people pleaser. And this fact is important.

Because Spencer’s personality and morals seem to fluctuate wildly throughout the show. Sometimes he’s a great guy, if a bit snobbish, and in others he’s quite possibly the biggest asshole ever known. And here’s why I think that is. Spencer pingpongs between Sodor and the mainland. Thus his personality is influenced by whoever he is around. And to be frank, the mainland engines are massive pricks, and would 100% tell Spencer he’s too soft or insane for letting a “useless hunk of scrap iron” live. For not falling into the every man for himself mentality. And so every time he returns to Sodor he’s been conditioned to think that way because he molds into whatever people tell him to be.

And on Sodor he molds into a better person. I think that later on in the series where his personality is more solid and less horribly inconsistent, he genuinely comes into his own with the help of the Sodor engines. Knowing that he always has a place on Sodor and grows out of the mainland mindset for good

He learns. He grows. Yes he fucked up bad but he was heavily misguided and insecure about not only fitting in, but also being perfect. His mind was poisoned but it got clearer. He finally made friends and has a place he can say he belongs to.

I love Spencer, I only want the best for him.

#ttte #ttte spencer #this is not the most eloquently or well explained post but please take my 1 am ramblings.#red rambles #I love my boy. he’s got so many problems. deep down I think he’s a good person #cause at his core. he is.

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atlafan · 1 month

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Jordan, ik you probably don’t want to have a whole conversation about this but I recently watched Drew Gooden’s video on the live action atla series (it just affirmed that I definitely don’t want to watch it lol) but it did inspire me to do a rewatch of the original and ughhhhhh it’s so incredible😭😭 all the little characterization details are SO rewarding and so good. Zuko’s small acts of kindness, even early on in book 1, just show that he’s always been Ursa’s son and help set up his arc for the rest of the show. Going after the captured Iroh instead of tracking the Gaang in Winter Solstice. Saving his crew in The Storm. It just shows you that at his core he believes in doing the right thing, and that’s a huge part of why his overall arc pays off so well. It’s the same with all of them—seeing Sokka put on his war paint and his battle regalia (in ep 2 or 3 I think) to confront Zuko in the village…it shows you that he takes such pride in the responsibility of being a leader and a warrior, especially in his dad’s absence. Yet when he gets to Kyoshi, we see the humbled side of him, and that he’s devoted to learning and respectful of the masters in their craft (whether it’s the Kyoshi warriors or Piandao or even the mechanist) and wants to learn what they have to teach him. Even Jet, who is always a very complicated character for me, is so compelling and so real. He’s suffered horribly and unfortunately has let that radicalize him. Tbh it reminds me of when anti war groups in the 60s would bomb places and things like that…the mission is “peace” but you’ve let your mission turn you into a violent radical who doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong anymore. I KNOW I don’t have to tell you lol but all the little details of this show, from design to writing to performances, are just incredibleeee and I’m so happy it exists.

GISICKAKAAK what a fun message to wake up to!

Yes I am simply pretending the new series doesn’t exist because I know it’ll just piss me off if I watch it. And I know myself well enough to know I am just not mature enough to separate the original from the new, so yeah I won’t be watching and I doubt I ever will. The one thing I am mature about is that I don’t “hate watch” things anymore lmao

I think this is why zuko is like my favorite character. I feel like he was the first character I was ever like “no, that’s actually my son” when I got older. He is so fucking complicated and so not at all what you think he’s going to be. He’s not just the antagonist, he’s Aang’s foil. They parallel each other in so many different ways. There’s a scene in book 3 where Aang literally says, “I need my honor back”, and it cross fades from one side of his face to the other side of zuko’s!!

All of the characters have incredible arcs. They all learn something about themselves, and they actually use that to grow and get better. Remember, these are literally children who were thrusted into adulthood, forced to grow up way too early. Katara is a nagging mother, but she also remembers how to be a kid and have fun and laugh. Sokka is a sexier idiot, but what teenage boy isn’t? He unlearns so much behavior, and even though he still feels like he’s the leader of the group, and in so many ways he is, he learns that it’s okay to let someone else take the lead, that he doesn’t always have to be right or in charge. Toph learns that she’s loveable for who she is, blindness and shoeless and a badass.

Aang and Zuko obviously have the most difficult arcs. Aang has to come to terms with the fact that he ran away, and a mass genocide of his people ensued. But if he hadn’t left, he would have died along with the rest of them. Like it or not, it was fate that he froze himself. And most avatars get told who they are at 16 and are given all the time in the world to learn the other elements. Aang was 12…and then had to learn the other elements in less than a year. I would argue that he didn’t necessarily master all the elements in that year. I think he learned enough about each to get by, and I’d like to think he took some time afterwards to really master them. He still relied on his air bending a lot. Whereas if we look at Korra, she did a lot of fire bending even though water was her natural element.

And my baby zuko…I could go on for days about him. My tortured emo son. He overcame so much. He cried, he learned to laugh again, he learned how to be young again. He hated being in the slums of ba sing se, but he also went on dates and got closer with his uncle like he never had been. He was such a sweet little boy. The storm always makes me cry. Zuko alone always makes me cry.

I could go on! I always wanna talk about avatar so never be afraid to come to my inbox about it!

#atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #zuko #katara #aang #sokka #toph #uncle iroh #the gaang #gaang #prince zuko #zutara

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achillesmonochrome · 2 months

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What really drives me insane about the ATLA Live ACTION

Is this change.

Here is the funny thing, this really didn't bother me until much later in the series; granted at first I thought having Aand wanting to get some air rather than running away from his responsibilities was throwing away an important part of his characterization, but I thought maybe they wanted to explore a new angle about him so it was okay.

That's not what happened.

I decided to not get the screenshots because I don't want to comb through so many episodes, but my problem is that the show REPEATEDLY, CONSTANTLY doesn't stop to tell Aang how he failed the world, how because he wasn't there people died and he needs to take responsibility.

And this went from a situation who had people sometimes being harsh to Aang but from a situation where you could understand where they were coming from; to people being EXTREMELY mean to a kid.

Aang went to fly for a bit in order to clear his head, got caught in a storm and acted on instinct, got trapped for 100 years, and then spent the entire show with him and multiple people telling him how much he messed up.

Sure, in the animated series Aang didn't intent to disappear for as long as he did, but he did decided to run away of his responsibilities, is because of this that he ends up caught in a storm and frozen 100 years. As much as anyone can understand his reaction, you can see why he would feel guilty and responsible about the situation, because if he hasn't wanted to run away from his responsibilities this wouldn't had happened.

But in the live action show is just a freak accident.

The thing that really bothers me about this change, is that why? Why even do it?

All the people being angry at Aang, Aang feeling bad and being moody about what happened, all of that would have much more impact if it was because Aang decided to run away.

Instead, I end up feeling frustrated both with Aang and the other characters because DUDE, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT, YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T BE FEELING THIS GUILTY, AND YOU PEOPLE YELLING AT HIM SHOULD LEAVE HIM ALONE.

I don't even think he tells anyone that it was an accident, heck I almost feel than the writers in the show somehow forgot that they did it that way, even I feel the audience forgets because it was different in the animated show and is not like the live action show acts as if it was an accident.

I don't know if is my memory or what, but I even feel people are being harsher in the live action show than they were in the animated, which feels SO much worse with this new context.

Look, I don't think an adaptation has to be identical in order to be great; I really liked the Percy Jackson show, I LOVE Nimona; but I feel if you are going to do changes, you better do something good or interesting with it.

Not do a change and then act for the rest of the show like you didn't.

#natla #the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #avatar netflix #natla spoilers

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blodgmonster · 2 months

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Thoughts on live action Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Not that anyone actually wants my take.

It's solidly in the middle. Not as horrible as that wrteched movie. Obviously, it's not as amazing as the original series. It was never going to be. It was NEVER going to be as good as the original. You can't top perfection. I don't hate it. I don't love it. Below the cut (for spoiler free...ness) are my likes and dislikes. Probably not all of them. I'm sure I forgot some.

LIKES

Iroh. His characterization was good and I like that it kind of addressed the fact that he's a war criminal. Our beloved war criminal.

Azula. I've always adored her and was worried they'd wreck her. Obviously, I want to see her blue fire, but she was clever and badass, and we saw her insecurities. And went she lightning bent? * chef's kiss * That's my girl. Also, glad they didn't have her grinning like a sociopath when Zuko got burned.

Kyoshi. They leaned HEAVILY into the fanon interpretation of her and she wouldn't have yelled at Aang but she was badass.

Aesthetics. The show looked good.

Jun and Nyla. Perfect

The line "You are the fire in which her iron was forged." Fantastic.

Yue. Less wishy washy, more proactive. Also, a waterbender who sometimes chills in the spirit world. Good for her. And no love triangle.

Big fish fuckin things up!

Sokka. The actor did a good job.

"Kick his ass." Sokka being fully supportive of Katara

Katara bringing all the women to the battle.

Having Zuko's crew be the division he got his scar for was a cool touch.

DISLIKES

Zuko fought back against Ozai in the Agni Kai? I think NOT. That's the whole point. Ozai attacked a CHILD who refused to fight back. That shows the depth of his evil. Why erase that?

Did Aang just...leave my boi Hei Bai raging and in pain?

Aang never learned waterbending!? Didn't even try? Why???

Where was Katara's rage? Yes she's hopeful and motherly and in touch with her feelings but she's also fucking angry and she's right and it's great. But cutting that, they made her one dimensional.

Cutting Sokka's character growth, wherein he learns to respect women. "It was problematic." Yeah, dude, that's the point. He was in the wrong and had to learn that.

Suki. They made her...less than somehow. Less capable. Less strong. Ogling Sokka? Unnecessary. Saying he brought the world to her? Lame.

BUMI. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? Bumi was so BITTER and CRUEL to Aang! It made me so mad. Yes, he's unhinged but he's also a playful genius

Aang was kind of wooden. They cut his joyful, playful nature. But that's at Aang'd core. Why cut that? And he sides with PAKKU when he says Katara can't fight? EXCUSE YOU? No. He calls him Master Poophead and teaches her himself.

Cramming all the spirit world stuff into one episode was weird. Koh, Wong Shi Tong, and Hai Bei all in one go? And having Gyatso there only to have him leave? What was that? And they stripped Koh of his purpose, telling Aang who Tui and La were.

What was Mai's wig? Good Lord. The wigs in general were meh, but hers was particularly heinous.

Kyoshi and Kuruk yelling at Aang. Too much yelling.

#avatar the last airbender #netflix avatar #natla #atla

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buddyaldridge · 15 days

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You’ve talked about the musical (correct and based opinion) but what about the tv show?

thank you!

if i had to rank the adaptations it would be:

the complete novel of the movie

the theatrical version of the movie

the musical/play

the tv show

the tv show is by far the worst version of the outsiders for several reasons chief among them being that it came out too late in the wrong decade. the movie had come out seven years before, had been a huge success — no matter how you feel about the theatrical version, please remember that it was a hit. it launched careers. the movie was made for $10m and made $33m — and made audience very happy. to have a tv show come out in 1990 was an act of desperation to get money out of an audience that had generally been fulfilled.

and it shows. the first episode or two, they at least have some care towards the time period and at least are trying to do something with the material. except, it's clearly bad from the getgo. the writing is strongest in that episode, yet it's still unbelievably lacking. there's a pretty good attempt to talk about the police brutality, the system that presses down on the disadvantage and even a call back to things that didn't make the movie like soda putting food coloring in mashed potatoes.

but there are really huge gaps in characterization here: darry is way too bigger and angry; soda clearly isn't nearly as empathetic as he was; it's extremely clear that scout was shoved in there to replace johnny in a heavy handed way; cherry is written terribly even with her minimally interesting traits scrubbed off and tim shepard essentially functions in that series as a replacement, knock off dallas. it's telegraphed from the moment that tim shepard shows up onscreen.

and the show just gets worse from there. the show is terribly written, the cast ranges from "actually a really great two bit" to "do any of you know what a human emotion is?" all the way, and by the time you reach episode three, it doesn't even bother pretending to be a period piece anymore. the little trappings that they have fall away; ponyboy's hair looks very 90s, there seems to be no passage of time that matters, the sets look cheaper.

it's like very, very bad fanfic in a very entirely different way than the musical is. the musical is a bad fanfic produced in early 2012 tumblr that somehow survived. the television show is just a really bad fanfic that was produced and made in a way that is generally thoughtless, careless, and cheaplesly trying to cash in on a much, much better piece of art. i think some people pick through the garbage to figure out what is good and what's not — there's achingly little. i think the only character that was remotely similar was two bit, as was his corresponding episode. beyond that, the show is just terrible; ponyboy is sexually assaulted by an older woman no less than twice and this is set up by darry and buck — soda literally has one episode where he didn't learn his lesson and knocked up another girl and then another episode where he attempts to pull off a hate crime — cherry forces ponyboy to do her fucking homework — randy is quoting mlk in scenes.

it's just horrible. i can see why se hinton refuses to approve another live action adaptation and i think she probably feels used that they put her name on it but did nothing with her thoughts or ideas.

it could've been... i'm not going to say good. it was still too late to make that. but it didn't have to be so bad that the only way you can see it now is on crusty youtube videos. so.

#asks #anon asks #the outsiders #cw: mentions of SA #it's ridiculous

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suchine-toki · 9 months

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Thoughts about Takasugi

Ok time to talk about this Takasugi bitch. I'm a tsundere when it comes to him lmao. At first, I thought he was going to be the Sasuke (from Naruto) in this series, a character I’ve a complicated relationship with, so I wasn't exactly excited about him. Also, he was a bit ugly in his first appearance, wasn't he? 😂

It was in Benizakura arc that Takasugi started to capture my interest in a more positive way, which progressively increased until he destroyed me in the SA arc. However, since he was more of a villain acting in the shadows, I didn't pay much attention to the bits of characterization he’d in the past, like when he told Itou how lonely it’s to be a genius.

In truth, he wasn't self-absorbed and wasn't lying either. He was one of the best, but he was accompanied by Gintoki, Zura and Tatsuma. Later he’d the Kiheitai at his side, but they were his subordinates, not his equals. So this is where we begin to see that there’s more to his anger and sadness over Shouyou's death, there’s a lot of loneliness too over the bonds he believes he lost.

It can also be seen how perceptive Takasugi is regarding other people's feelings, using this ability to manipulate Itou, Sasaki, and Nobu Nobu, as well as how smart he’s in choosing them to progress with his schemes. However, we must admit that his catchphrase about destroying the world did him no favors in this respect.

Takasugi wasn't some lunatic aimlessly wanting to annihilate everything. He wanted to bring down the corrupt government that destroyed his life and the lives of everyone he loved. For self-serving reasons, sure, but at the end of the day he was doing something good, the problem was his methods.

But to be honest, his actions never seemed terrible to me. The worst crime there’s is killing people, as many characters in this series have done, starting with Gintoki, so it wasn't particularly shocking every time Takasugi did it. That's a big part of why I disagree with the idea that his crimes were horrible and he couldn't be saved.

I've talked about his death before, so I'll just conclude by saying that I wish he’d more appearances throughout the series (not just at the end of the serious arcs), that he interacted with more characters, and of course, that he didn't die. I still think he’d a lot of potential regarding the serious aspect of Gintama, but also on the comedy side. The little bits we saw were hilarious.

#Gintama #Takasugi Shinsuke #I can write #Thoughts about #my post #His relationship with Kamui was pretty interesting but underdeveloped imo #I also wish his relationship with Matako was explored more #By the end of the series it seemed like only Gin and Shouyou existed to him #I refrained from writing more because I’ve already written a lot about this bastard 💜#I’m just gonna add WHY SO PURPLE

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praetorqueenreyna · 9 months

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I disagree with your take on men not being able to experience SA (even if Ianthe is a stupid character and its alarming that SJM only seems to villianize her female characters committing SA) but there's something to say about a group of people coming after you for saying men don't experience SA in the most unserious way possible when that group of people also unseriously support and romanticise the SA scene with Fey/sand.

its ACOTAR, a fandom rife with horrible SA takes and depictions but they can somehow set that aside to stan the whole entire series and all of its demeaning themes and characterizations. Its also not lost on me that this went from "you're not putting wlw ships in a survey" to a whole research session on your opponent to discredit the fact that they did do the survey twice and it was for petty reasons.

Once again I wish you hadn't worded your take on men and SA like that, but hey it's your space and we do curate our online experiences. If that person knew beforehand that you posted things like that, why do the survey? If they had to search your blog after the survey argument to put a weight on your general character to take away from the original argument? Still backhanded, still not very "curating your online experience". We're all 30+ years old on a website that is very unserious and has supporters of incest of all things. I'd like to think half the things we are into or say here are unseriously said/or not said at all out in our regular everyday lives.

SO I will fully admit that that post was poorly worded. It was a casual post that was never supposed to get any traction, just something to throw my opinion into the ether. Not a serious analysis of how SJM expresses power dynamics and sexual assault. Part of why it's so confusing is that I literally got bored halfway through the tags and just stopped writing things.

Of course men can experience sexual assault from women, regardless of anybody's sexuality or attractiveness. My point was that women in power do not systemically abuse men in the way that men do women. I'm tired of lukewarm liberal feminists (such as SJM) trying to make some point about how the true victims of patriarchy are men. And that online warriors like the people throwing a fit about this do literally nothing to help sexual assault victims of ANY gender, and think that attacking some random person over a random post counts as social action.

But I totally agree with you! SJM seems perfectly happy to show over and over again these villainous powerful women who are somehow skeevy enough to offput the horniest men in world, but are conventionally attractive and don't really do much other than aggressively throw themselves at men. Which ALSO was a point of confusion: that post was not about Ianthe and Lucien. Obviously Lucien doesn't want to have sex with Ianthe bc he's gay. It was about how Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel are all written as these shallow horndogs who bang everything with tits, but are somehow genre savvy enough to know that Ianthe is a Bad Female Character and are disgusted by her. It's not cohesive, it's just a way for SJM to villainize a caricature of a person and make her male characters (who btw are WAY more sexually violent than Ianthe has ever been) seem like good characters.

But again, this kind of bad faith interpretation and virtue signalling has nothing to do with real victims of anything. Because if it did, they would have had an actual conversation with me, rather than putting words in my mouth over what I did and didn't say. Quite frankly, they're mad that I'm a Tamlin fan, and so they're trying to tear me down however they can. Like you said, first it was "well she's lesbophobic bc there are no wlw ships on the survey." Then when I made my point about how the people who complain about that do NOTHING to actually contribute wlw content to fandom, it shifts to me doing something else. If I kept up the conversation and tried to defend myself, I would be accused of some other crime.

ANYWAY this is exactly the kind of conversation I do enjoy having, so I do appreciate this ask! It is so important to cultivate your fandom experience and try not to take this stuff so seriously, especially for a series as poorly conceived as ACOTAR. Not all of my posts have been winners, but the actual content of those posts doesn't matter. Because I like Tamlin, I'm always going to be a criminal of SOME kind to these people.

I fully admit I should have just deleted the original ask because it was not sent to open a real dialogue. It's a lesson I have to keep learning over and over again, but maybe someday it'll stick!

#asks #THANK YOU FOR THIS HUGS AND KISSES #the fact that that post got blown so out of proportion is insane to me #especially because it wasn't even ABOUT LUCIEN #ANYWAY I've blocked the main haters and hopefully they've all blocked me too!#never ceases to amazing that feysand and nessian stans will climb up my butt screaming about power dynamics and assault #when those ships are predicated on the men assaulting their partners in much more REAL ways than anything Ianthe ever did #but alas!!! this is the clown website for clowns

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sjbattleangel · 1 year

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*sighs heavily*

Seriously, am I the only one here who enjoys the Batgirls solo series? Look, I know it's not perfect: some jokes don't land, the characterization isn't always 100% but no, that doesn't make it "The worst comic book ever", "Mein-Kampf-by-way-of-The-Room" or other such rubbish! It's a really good, enjoyable action romp where Cass, Steph and Babs get to let loose, kick-ass, take names and have fun. I just feel that Batgirls and any other Batfam book with Cass Cain are held to such idiotic and impossible standards all because of one-ONE horrible storyline that happened YEARS AGO! You know? Robin: One Year Later? That monstrosity where Cass is turned into a moustache-twirling, Bond baddie reject who makes together-we-can-rule-the-world villain speeches.

To this day, Cass-Cultists will continuously, pointlessly trash the Batgirls solo and Cass-starring Batfam stories all because they can never get over that horrible storyline! To Cass-Cultists: to loosely quote an animated fairy-tale queen, just...let it go already! I love Cass, adore her. I get it, you had to live through terrible stuff-the said turn-to-evil, the editorial-mandated erasure of her-but to be so obsessively bitter, angry at Robin: One Year Later to the point where you forget to have fun with comic books? (a medium based entirely around fun!) and let it defy all future Cass stories, regardless of their actual merits? *sighs*

Maybe I'm speaking as a more lax casual Cass fan here, but please, if we can memory-hole reviled stuff like Beast Machines, The Next Mutation, the worst of either Marvel's Ultimates or DC's New 52 then I'm sure we can forget Robin: One Year Later ever happened. It's that easy! Look, you have every right to like or dislike any stories, just please move on and stop being this guy:

youtube

It's just not cool. (TW: around 2:37 the annoying jerk uses a problematic term but, luckily, is called out on it.)

#comics #dc comics #dc fandom #comics fandom #batgirls #cass cain #cassandra cain #cassandra cain batgirl #batgirl #dc batgirls

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brokenmusicboxwolfe · 7 months

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I am deeply saddened to see that actor David McCallum has died. While 90 hardly a short life, when someone has mattered to you, even in the distant way of an actor playing make believe for a living, you always wish the life were longer.

I expect I am about to ramble, and not very coherently (sleep deprivation), so all of it will go under the cut.

Actually, he was about the first actor I ever remember recognizing. When I was 3 I adored an obscure tv series called The Invisible Man, where he played the title character. It bares little resemblance to the original story, instead following the adventure show of the 1970s-1980s formula. I think the fact he played a scientist, married to a scientist, and that the couple happily worked together had a lot to do with it. Reminding me of my parents was a natural thing to appeal to a preschooler.

To be honest, I only remembered fragments of the show, but I remembered him vividly. Even as a little kid if I saw him anywhere my first thought was “lt’s the invisible man!!” and a wave of affection would wash over me.

Affection is something you wouldn’t find with my favorite of his tv shows. Steel, in my beloved Sapphire and Steel, is hardly a warm character. How can I describe the show…Well, the title characters aren’t human, but beings that are sent out to deal with problems in time, or maybe you can say caused by time. Nursery rhymes, photographs, and gas stations take on a menacing quality. If these two show up you better be afraid because while they will go to extreme lengths to stop the threat, those lengths might involve sacrificing you.

Steel the cool, sharp edged, and anything but the lovable nice guy I’d adored as a tot….and I adored him here too.

I was late seeing Sapphire and Steel, but I was even later seeing The Outer Limits (original version) where he starred in two of my favorite episodes.

In one, The Sixth Finger, he played a coal miner experimented on by a scientist until he evolved far beyond a connection to his humanity. I have an action figure of that one!

The other, Forms of Things Unknown, has an obvious inspiration in a certain famous French thriller, but then in comes McCallum, a man experimenting with time. While in the other episode he played a man shedding his humanity with every mutation, here he actually is unearthly from the start, a peculiar characterization that reminds me of the madness of characters that have seen to far into the void, but also of a child lost to forces far beyond them….

TBH, I went through a period where this episode was comfort viewing. I would day dream up back story details for McCallum’s character, and even ways to connect it to Sapphire and Steel.

What? just because I was going full geeky fangirl on a single episode of a tv show made well before I was born isn’t THAT weird on here!

And here is another obscure one I’m fond of, a movie called The Ravine. It’s a movie set during WWII where he’s a German soldier sent to capture a woman that’s been acting as a sniper picking of his side like crazy. The concept, that they end up trapped together and do the enemies to lovers thing, seemed like the usual contrived thing. Still, out of mild curiosity I watched a horrible print on Youtube and I was surprised how effective it was. I was actually sold on the tragic relationship, and I’d gone into it expecting to be rolling me eyes. In fact , since it isn’t (or at least wasn’t) available on DVD in the US I got one from Europe. Good thing the acting and setting are more important than dialog, cause I don’t speak Italian!

Frankenstein: The True Story has about as much relationship to the original novel as Bram Stoker’s Dracula has to the book, but it’s actually a rather fascinating take on subject. Tumblr would approve of the gay subtext (more like text, cause how could even folks in the ‘70s miss it) McCallum’s part is supporting, but crucial being both Frankenstein’s mentor and brain donor. I’ll be honest with you, my weakness for mad scientists is showing because I swooned over even has he enthusiastically collects raw materials (ahem) for their work.

Is it weird that this is the roll he played that had me properly, classic fan girl swooning?

There are couple of adaptations that are notable for me. There is that adaptation of Kidnapped he was in. I got it on DVD for my father because the sequel to Kidnapped was a childhood favorite of his, and this was the rare version to use that book (TBH, Pop had a fanboy crush on the girl in that book, from the way he talk! LOL) Unfortunately Pop died before seeing it, so it colors my thoughts on it. And there was an adaptation of Our Mutual Friend, one of my favorite Dickens novels, but I watched it in a “see all the adaptations” kick so it’s a blur of compare and contrast.

I will end this with the most peculiar way a part he played connected with me.

It started unexpectedly, with me watching The Man from UNCLE on a DVD set my father had gotten for Christmas. My parents had liked the show, but like a lot of shows from before I was born I’d heard a lot about it before I’d seen it.

To be honest I wasn’t particularly impressed. Oh, it was fine, and I did like the warm dynamic of the main two characters. **It’s just sort plain potato chip tv, tasty but forgettable. Plus it was sooo of it’s time that the sexism irritated me no end. I have watched, and loved, a lot of 1960s tv, so maybe I just expected more. I enjoyed it, but if you asked me to rank my faves of the “ Sixties lets do the Spy Thing” tv shows I would pick Wild, Wild, West or The Avengers or Danger Man or Get Smart*** even before it.

So it was fine, I enjoyed it while we watched, and then didn’t really think about it anymore.

And then my father got sick.

My father’s illness, and eventual death, hit me hard. Very hard. I was alone dealing with it. I had no friends, and wasn’t even on Tumblr yet. I couldn’t weigh my parents down with my emotions when they had so much of their own. And with my father’s chemo and such I was often actually alone. Obviously not as much as now, but so many days completely alone was new to me then.

So there I was, on the verge of being an emotional but holding it together, desperately aching for someone, anyone, I could turn to….

And then I started dreaming.

Of course I always had dreamed, but this was different. This was nightly dreaming. Serial dreaming. Stories that continued on for days or weeks. And fictional characters started creeping in. Up until then the characters in dreams had always been my OCs, but now suddenly tv shows, books, movies, comics…they were all fodder for the stories helping me escape.

The part may be one of his most famous roles, but it still came as a huge surprise when I found myself dreaming about Illya.

Actually, the first dream was a general Man from UNCLE dream. It was fun, even if it seemed weird to be dreaming about the show. But then the next one had Illya only.

And so it started, an epic series of dreams, chapter after chapter, night after night. Adventures with Illya.

Well, and aliens and time travel and so on. It was, after all, my subconscious spinning the story, not screenwriters. Gotta get time travel and/or alternate universes in there somewhere if it comes out of mushed up brain.

After a while the dreams had bigger gaps between them, but the dreams with Illya still came. In fact over months they dominated my dreaming. Illya was there all the time.

It got so I spent time when I was awake, thinking about the dreams and the character. What would Illya think of this? What would Illya listen to? What would Illya say? What if Illya were in that situation? What if…

Now, I admit, the Illya I was imagining is only inspired by the one David McCallum played. It looked like him. It sounded like him. I even found myself replaying select episodes to remind myself of his “voice” so my brain could make him seem more authentic. But the truth was he was my interpretation of Illya, my head-cannon, my quirks, my obsessions..

Actually I guess it was my need. I needed someone. My dreams even created characters to be my avatars for interacting with him. I those dreams I could talk to him, laugh with him, cry in front of him, save him or be saved by him, and be his friend.

And in a weird way, that is what my brain was doing. It was giving me an imaginary friend while I slept. Someone smart and kind and brave, to save the world…just like the imaginary friend I’d had when I was little.****

I’d given myself an imaginary friend that looked and sounded like Illya!

Well, in dreams. I wasn’t so far gone I talked to him when I was awake!

But it was comforting. I found myself thinking about those dreams, almost cuddling up to them in those painful dark days. I confess I worried that if I ever were in a delirium or under anesthetic or something might call out to him and have some very embarressing questions asked.

Eventually the dreams stopped. Time moves on. Maybe I didn’t need them anymore, or maybe my subconscious got bored.

TBH I kinda wish I still had dreams about him, or some other characters. Any dreams with a repeated cast or continuing story would be beyond welcome. I could REALLY use their company now.

And now, writing this, I realize just why I actually gasped when I saw David McCallum had died. Yes, as an actor he had played many parts I enjoyed, but other actors have done that without the shock of their death knocking the breath from me. But the fact is no other actor has had their performance gift me with something that felt like a friend when I needed one most.

So that’s why I am sad. It isn’t just a list of parts he played that I loved or that he had been a familiar face as long as I can remember. He got stored in a special part of my mind, the strange area of the imagination where strangers and friends get blurred and fiction protect a fracturing heart.

I am eternally grateful he lived. Even if I didn’t have a list of credits I enjoyed ******, as long as I had those dreams he helped inspire when I needed them most I’d mourn his passing.

Condolences to all that loved him, be they friends, family, or fans.

**Though I would end up in fandom exile for seeing them as like brothers or little boy best friends instead of shipping them. Good on you if you do. I think it’s beautiful every character everywhere gets shipped with someone, but dang, what is with the hate for the non-shipping fans?)

*** The Prisoner, possibly my fave tv show ever, isn’t really in this category to my mind, but a lots of folks would disagree.

****My childhood imaginary friend was the ghost of a little boy murdered by his uncle during the American Revolution. Still, the smart, kind, brave, save the world stuff was there too.

*****I didn’t mention something he did that I enjoyed. For instance, Mother Love, a wonderful bit of tv that criminally isn’t on DVD, because it’s Diana Riggs’ showcase. But then I’ve also never seen any of the six billion years of NCIS (I think those are the letters). Who knows how many other of his work I never saw.

#rambles #david mccallum

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please-someone-give-me-love · 8 months

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One piece live action review #1

There's a lot of good things but also some bad things. In general, I think the live action was really enjoyable, the pacing was good (maybe a little too fast but it's understandable why), almost every change fits good and for what I have seen, I think every main character and side characters feel in character withh their priginal counterparts.

The ost wasn't as great as our dear original ost but it was pretty good as well, the cinematography esencially is the best, not only in the one piece standsrt but in the anime live action standar, I would say it's on the same level of "Erased" cinematography.

Now, I have saiid a lot of good things of tecnical stuff but what about the story?

There wasn't a couple of changes that I pretty much enjoyed while watching it.

1. The way Luffy gets to introduced to Cobh, Alvida en everything.

Obviously, following the anime and manga route and reoolicating the exact movements and things to say would be leas to a cringey failure, we can't replicate anime expressions neither their comedic gags so they have to changed it and adapt it which was a great decision.

The scenes have the same vibe and love as the original but in a more "realistic" way to adapt to real people.

2. Luffy as a kid and his way to eat the gomu gomu no mi.

That kid nailed it completely in every way, he nailed it, did an incredible job replicating Luffy's stubborning and admiration for shanks, he was great and I like the way they made him eat his devil fruit.

Sure the scene is not as iconic as the original but it feels special and magic and also pretty funny.

The red shanks pirates nailed it as well, I think they showed the comfortable vibe that they have in the manga/anime.

3. Coby.

I think the best characterization from the first episode was Coby, the actor did a great job on portraying his fears and insecurities. It's a pity they couldn't show more of his participation.

4. Nami, Zoro and Luffy.

Their dynamic was really funny to see, I was worried at the beginning when I saw the first trailer but now nowing the context I understand why they changed it, still, their sheninigans were really funny and have a great chemistry.

5. Captain Morgan and Helmeppo.

They really adapted them well, in a really good way, I think they did a great job.

6. Buggy.

I don't need to clear nothing, good my hormones are crazy for that clown.

Now, even that I generally emjoyed the episode and adaptation, there were also things I didn't like.

*clearing that I am not taking account things like cgi because they actually did an incredible work with the cgi or stupid nitpickings but more like scenes that I think they could be make but they decide to not do it, as well as some (just one) characterization.

1. Luffy's characterization.

NOT HATE TO IÑAKI HE DID GREAT.

I understand why they couldn't adapt Luffy as the original, it would ended up horrible and cringey and Iñaki did a great job capturing Luffy escence and spirit, there were a few times that I thought:"Wow that's something Luffy would do" but in general, I do think his characterization is pretty oc, nothing that would stop me to watch the series but it something thag I had to say it, hell, even Oda himself admit that there were things Luffy wouldn't say or act but it was alright.

Please send love to Iñaki, it's another fellow mexican actor that I am supporting so this is not hate or anyhing.

2. Hopefully they change Garp's vibe.

I think since the very beginning in the original we knew that Garp wasn't normal lol but here he is so much more serious, I hope this is only a question to hide his relating to Luffy like Oda did in the manga with the whole dog mask.

3. This scenes.

Shanks and the bandit.

I don't think it was a bad scene but I think they could recreat the original scene with no so much problem, they added Zoro's fight with the baroque work member, so I doubt they couldn't recreate Shanks getting humilliation from the bandit.

More because it will become a single during Jaya arc, showing Luffy's grow and understanding towards his pirate life, we all knew this parallel and I think it is important because we really didn't need words to understand how much Luffy's view has changed, it's that subtle message that feels so close and personal to us.

The scene is good but it didn't have a lot of impact.

Zoro and the little girl.

They did a great job, everything is great and this little complain is more like a stupid nitpicking by myself but I think the scene is less impactful in so many ways even if it's the same, I understand why they changed but it's still, I enjoyed in generall but I haave to say this.

4. Haircolor

Sorry but I am actually ranting about this, the haircolors look so bad, it took me completely put, just bad, it looks fake for exception of Coby and maybe Zoro but god, I hate the way they made them look so bright and put of entonation.

Conclusion.

It was a good show, a great anime live action, easily one of the best in the list (sorry but for me Erased is the best LA) but an incredble adaptation, I can see the love and dedication and they did a fantastic work.

*Ps. I started laughing so hard with the den dem mushi.

#one piece #one piece spoilers #one piece live action #one piece netflix #anime live action

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mean-scarlet-deceiver · 2 years

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Rheneas and the roller-coaster? (My apologies for inflicting this one on you)

Robin. What the hell did you just make me re-watch.

Heh heh. Actually, in all seriousness, it's imho... not horrible. It is however very bland. Like, I'd gotten through all of Season 7 once but I had no memory of this.

The plot is stupidly unbelievable—railway realism is thrown out the window. Then again it is far more plausible than "Rusty and the Boulder" sooooo...?

The episode simply feels like such a nothingburger than I can't even bring myself to detail all the ways in which it falls flat. Let's just agree that, well, it does. I get the sense it was written with the aim of doing Rheneas's character a long-overdue favor but in the end it's just filler.

Having stipulated, however, that this ep is a low point in season 7... there are actually a couple kudos I want to give it.

Mild kudos:

1) Hey, the "rollercoaster" runaway ride might have been silly and stupid... but it is kinda fun? A little? A pale shadow of the shenanigans of "Boulder," but I can tell the film crew were enjoying themselves. It seems obvious that Mitton wasn't really in charge of this one or, if he was, that he was entirely checked out. No, whoever directed this, you cannot make an interesting action sequence just by filming the whole thing with the camera tilted 90°... it takes a bit more than that.

But. Nevertheless. The detail of the props actually getting wet as they veer by the waterfall is such a nice touch:

This (live water!) ^ is the sort of thing that makes the model series so fun to watch, even when the writing is shit.

2) Is the writing all shit, though?

[Disclaimer: I feel the TVS has already established context/continuity in Season 6 for the NWR/Fat Controller having taken over the narrow-gauge railway and starting to make some drastic changes; we see the engines adjusting to a management style very different from what they experienced in the plots that were based on the books. So I take FC's and Rheneas's exchange in that spirit. He's trying to show a gentler side than "I'm going to shut down your entire line on a whim." Rheneas is especially keen to use this chance to prove himself to a somewhat capricious owner.]

On the one wheel, I sort of hate how this is another in a long line of episodes in this era that continue to baby-fy Rheneas and Skarloey (who are in need of kind, brave, clever Rusty to look after them in a cruel world).

On the other wheel, this particular story—if it is considered strictly on its own, and not in that sad, sorry context—I feel does a plausible job of characterizing Rheneas? Who is not an easy character to work with, since even Rev. Awdry left him quite undeveloped.

I can see people (probably yourself among them?) preferring other interpretations of Rheneas. But honestly... this one is valid. If you need him to have some sort of weakness or flaw to motivate a story, "fears he's not exciting enough to be of interest to a train full of kids" feels legitimate. In RWS, one of his things was very much always seeming to be overshadowed by Skarloey's charisma. He's the quieter and more serious of the pair, and while he gamely gives it a go he's also nervous and not at all comfortable when the Thin Controller puts him on the spot to give a little speech on his birthday.

The "insecurity" motive gets way overused in TVS, of course—but as of Season 7 it wasn't quite overused yet. And, obviously it would be stupid to have Rheneas feel he's not up to most jobs, given that at this point he's got over a hundred years of badassery under his boiler bands. But the specific charge of "this is a very special day for the kiddos; make sure it's memorable for them!"... like okay, I can actually roll with this and easily believe in a Rheneas that's secretly going, Well, fuck. Then why didn't you have literally anyone else do it? I'm not the entertaining one.

*insert cute image of Rheneas licking his thumb and quickly flipping a handbook entitled How To Be Fun*

Sooooo... yeah. It's not a good episode. But I don't actually find it dire. It's within the usual range of Season 7 bland.

(Which I used to think was the worst... until I watched the next few seasons. At least Season 7 bland was still short and sweet, clocking in at under 6 minutes a pop!)

#chatter #this is ttte #ttte #ttte episode talk #ttte season 7 #rheneas' rollercoaster #ttte rheneas #ttte skarloey #the fat controller #narrow-gauge is all the rage #... mitton IS listed as the director for this one i know but i truly believe he read the script said 'fuck this' and delegated 😂#james mason #<- this is the writer for this episode #kinda interesting to look at his credits #and i believe it bears out my sense that he's a writer with a good handle on the characters #yes he wrote a lot of crappy boring episodes #but notably he also gave us 'It's Only Snow' (GREAT characterisations all around)#'Respect for Gordon' (commonly cited as people's favorite HiT episode)#and 'Saving Edward' (which is less universally approved but at least a relevant episode #that shows some understanding of the characters as more than just #ciphers who can be interchangeably shoved into a silly three-strikes plot)

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girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 2 years

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tuesday again 8/30/22

goodbye august (almost)

listening friends at the table is an actual-play ttrpg focused on critical worldbuilding, smart characterization, and fun interactions between good friends. the scifi seasons in particular, counter//weight and partizan, are particularly dear to my heart and have kept me company through some of the worst times of my life. we are going BACK to my favorite setting for the next season, and jack de fucking quidt has done it again with an eerie, experimental...electronica? piece. there's a glitchy guitar bridge. there are my favorite sputnik-style bleeps and bloops. "Permanent Peace" is so ominous as a title. i'm so fucking hype for this season. ty to @bronanlynch for gently bullying me into listening to this podcast (TRAIN GOES BY NOISE) years ago.

reading grabbed a random paperback bc i had to do a lot of sitting around and waiting on sunday, and this one has a hell of a concept. unfortunately it is the third book in a series, which took me a while to figure out bc it was printed in the back and not the front. the character introductions are extremely abrupt, which is reasonable for a third book but i have no fucking idea who these people are. if i can track down the first book in the series i'll report back.

watching a wide variety of things. i seem to have temporarily burnt myself out on spaghetti westerns due to a string of terrible django ripoffs, so i am filling the void with mediocre action movies. nothing terribly notable except for Dick Tracy (1990, dir Beatty) which was a colorful spectacle and GOD was madonna hot. this dress perplexes me bc im pretty sure there's a way to engineer it so you don't need that uncomfortable looking proto-spaghetti-strap. perhaps by boning the everloving shit out of the bodice and judicious application of fashion tape, but i'm not a costume designer

how'd i come across this: it's been on a horrible awful google keep list with hundreds of entries of movies i want to watch for literal years. i am slowly transferring that list to letterboxd bc unfortunately that site significantly reduces the number of steps it takes for me to watch a movie

playing breath of the wild, bc the switch lives on my nightstand and it's easy to pick up and put down. i don't think i've played this game in this house yet. or at least not since i right after i moved? im fucking around in rito trying to finish a couple shrines (killed the hobgoblins or whatever near one shrine thinking that might be the key [no], followed a bunch of fallen pillars in the directions they were pointing [no, but did find a chest], gave up and googled it and the answer was to go back to the main town and listen to a song, and glean from that song that i was supposed to build a fire on the pad at 1230 PM. i would never have arrived at that on my own).

different shrine, walking into this cave was one of the coolest experiences this game has given me. i gasped out loud. i've been looking for this fucking thing for SO long bc it's the last leviathan skeleton i needed for a quest, and coming around that corner and getting to climb all over it? mwah. it's so hazy bc it's that far away!!! this cave is enormous!!! video games good (sometimes).

if i have done my math right (unlikely) there are like fifteen shrines that i have absolutely no fucking clue where they are (not counting the dlc bc i didn't have dlc money when i bought this game and still don't). i am GUESSING at least half are in central hyrule bc i simply have not fucked around in there at All other than unlocking the one memory. i will not be collecting all 900 or whatever korok seeds bc uhhhh fuck that.

making cracked open the late seventies stand mixer i bought a month and a half ago to find it is just fucking Full of powdery white mold (not flour. don't @ me). i had previously taken off a bunch of dials to clean them and found mold underneath, went "i don't want to deal with this right now" and stuffed it inside a taped-closed plastic bag. dealing with that now, i'm not confident i can clean it enough, and thinking about completely breaking it down to clean it after every use makes me not want to use it ever, so back to the thrift store it goes. so it goes sometimes, they don't let you take appliances apart in goodwill and i had not previously considered this as a thing to look out for, since modern stand mixers have far, far fewer apertures and openings for shit to get inside.

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem #Bandcamp

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gilbirda · 2 years

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The man with a thousand faces

He was the man with a thousand faces, but in the end, he didn't like any of those.

Prompt: What's Amorpho's story? He has a preoccupation with his actions being noticed but staying out of sight, and I just think he needs more attention. How'd he come to be? (PR102) by @ghostlyhabato

For the @phicphight

My AO3 series

[Read on AO3] [Read on FF.net]

There was once a man. They called him the man with a thousand faces.

This man was an expert in his field, you see. This man was known by all, and yet unknown, because this man wasn’t famous because of his looks or his money or his name. And he loved it like that.

Because this man was known for his work. The best in the field, they said. He came out of nowhere and stood on top of his peers, everyone wanted a piece of him, everyone wanted to be his friend. Soon, he became the most popular man alive.

The man was a god of special effects.

It was the era of monster movies; of mummies and Frankenstein's monsters, of vampires, of swamp creatures. It was the time where the most prized crew member was someone with good hands and creative talent.

Ohhh, this man didn’t just make creatures come to live - he also could transform your features into someone else’s! He could do actual magic with silicone and paint. He could morph people into practically anyone else.

He wasn’t vain, but he knew he was the best and he liked to be noticed. His work was a form of art and he liked to be named next to the actors, because good acting was just as important as costume design and characterization.

This was until the accident.

It had been just a normal Saturday night and he wanted to go home, change, and go to the party with the designated arm candy he would ditch halfway through the night. Dating wasn’t his thing but that didn’t mean that keeping appearances wasn’t as important as his talents.

He was distracted. He didn’t see where he put his hand. He didn’t see where the very volatile and inflammable paints poured close to the lamp he needed to see the details better.

When he woke up in the hospital everything hurt. Smiling for the cameras hurt.

It hurt more when he saw what he looked like.

He wasn’t vain, but he knew what Hollywood did to people that looked like he did. It didn’t matter the talents, it didn’t matter that his hand was still steady, it didn’t matter how good he could transform anyone else’s looks.

Nobody wanted to be touched by the amorphous freak.

Nobody wanted anything to do with him. Nobody thought he was a genius anymore, even if his mind was intact after the accident. He didn’t care about the money, even if it was worrying how he was tapping more and more into his savings for the treatments of his burns.

He would show them what he could still do, he promised himself.

So he became someone else. He used masks. He used silicone prosthesis on his face. He used practiced accents and voices he did on the mirror.

When he was ready, he came back to show his talents. It was going to be great - charm everyone into his ability to transform people not only into monsters, but also into other people. He didn’t want to be forgotten. He didn’t want to be the star that burned into oblivion, quite literally.

He wanted to show them, but everyone knew what he looked like under the mask. Everyone looked at the border of his eyes where the burned skin was faintly visible under the silicone - he put on sunglasses to hide it. Everyone looked at the hairline of his wig or how fake they looked - he wore a hat. He hated feeling sweaty but wore a four piece suit with a cravat to hide the burns of his neck and chest.

He tried to explain that his hands were fine, that his nerves were barely damaged in the fire. He tried to explain that he didn’t want to stop working as a special effects artist. But nobody listened. Everything the people wanted to know, wanted to see, was the man under the disguise and how horribly he was disfigured, as if he were some kind of circus freak.

They didn’t let him show them what he could still do. But the man devised a plan, a last stand, a desperate move that could prove he was still in the game.

He suited up, despite his aversion to sweat, on a rather warm April day. A heatwave, they said, so the man wasn’t looking forward to taking off the suit and the prosthetics he wore - but it was a needed evil. He needed a big hit, he needed to get back to his life, he needed to be the recognized genius he once was.

His knees wobbled a few times as he walked up the Studio’s main office. His friend would be there. He was very influential, and he was sure that if he knocked his door his friend would help him, give him the chance that nobody else wanted to give him.

The sun hit him harder the closer he got to the building. He ignored the looks, of course. He was dressed as a gentleman, he wore the face of a gentleman, he had to behave like one and keep his head high.

His wide black hat did nothing to shield him from the heat, but he was close enough to the shade of the entrance of the building to not cave in and remove it to fan himself a little bit. Because then people could see how his wig was hastily glued to his forehead.

He took another step, and the world was tilted.

He tried to take another, but the ground was closer than he expected.

The man found himself on the floor, and found that he couldn’t breathe. His mouth was dry and his head hurt. When was the last time he ate? His mother always told him to drink water and eat or else his migraines would get worse.

He was too hot, he wanted to take off everything. He was so close to the door of his opportunity. He was so close to getting everything back…

His lungs refused to function.

He was so hot. He hated sweating.

He hated wearing his own work.

He hated that everyone on the street was crowding him, talking to him. He couldn’t hear the words, but there was so much noise.

He hated that he knew he was dying. Not taking care of his own body had finally taken its toll.

And worst of all, he hated dying with another man’s face.

He may have been the man with a thousand faces, but he didn’t like any of those. He liked his own, but he had been robbed of that.

He tried to take another breath, finding out that it was futile. Ambulance sirens roared in the distance, but he knew this was it for him.

He closed his eyes, feeling the silicone peeling around the edges.

He thought, This is pathetic for a last performance. Another take, please.

And then, everything became black.

Back to Main Archive

Back to Danny Phantom Archive

#danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #amorpho danny phantom #amorpho #phic phight 2022

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iwantescapism13 · 2 years

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Amphibia Week: Day 2 - Favorite Character

Sasha Waybright

Sasha started off as a horrible person, acting as the main villain of Season 1. In the flashback in ‘Reunion’, it has come to my realization that Anne being a pushover was because of Sasha, who was being emotionally manipulative. Even though it wasn’t her birthday, Sasha forced Anne to hang out with her (and Marcy) instead of adhering to Anne’s wish to go home by a certain time so she could celebrate with her parents. Her intentions were always in the guise of “I’m doing what’s best for you” but it just came off selfish and possessive (in a sense).

In another way to interpret Sasha’s cliff scene in ‘Reunion’, even until her demise, she still sounded like she emotionally manipulated Anne into “regretting” choosing to let the frogs live instead of joining her by saying the above famous line.

She... was a piece of work in Season 1.

But my perception of her changed in Season 2. Specifically, in ‘Toadcatcher’.

The shaking of the voice? The denial? Grime’s lines along with Sasha’s expression that seemed to insinuate that he was right? The implication that maaaaaybe she likes Anne? Awesome. Most LGBTQ+ thing I’ve ever seen in the show (at that point).

And I fucking love it.

There’s definitely something else about this character (more than being queer), I thought.

And I was right.

The flashback scene in ‘The Third Temple’ showed a heroic side, something that didn’t seem to line up with the bitchy attitude she had been portraying for the past few episodes she was in.

But what sold me into liking her even more was her interaction with Anne against the stone goblin.

Oh? That was such a soft tone. She... regretted it?

Huh... interesting.

And then she proceeded to go all anime by taking off all the heavy weights that she’d been wearing and sliced off the stone goblin cleanly. All this... because Anne cheered for her, telling her how much of an inspiration she was to them (as in her and Marcy, I presume).

Damn. She’s so cool.

Thinking back on it, her actions in ‘Reunion’ were all for the sake of finding her friends and a way back home. To be fair, she really was trying.

However, she's willing to sacrifice other creatures - innocent frogs, mind you - and that’s even after Anne told her how important they were to her.

Best intentions ultimately but terrible, TERRIBLE execution.

Then... oh boy... just when I thought she’d have a change of heart (because she showed a hint of regret at the end of ‘The Third Temple’), she betrayed them.

Anne was, for the first time in the entire series, goddamn PISSED as hell.

WITHIN that SAME episode, Sasha had self-doubts.

What if Anne’s right? What if I AM a horrible person?

Yes, Sasha. You are. But... then... you’re not.

After the infamous scene in ‘True Colors’, Sasha started to regret every single thing she did.

And eventually, she made a promise. To be better. Whether for a certain someone or herself... only I know the answer to that. Haha.

And now... she has made a damn great effort to change for the better.

Her actions affected so much more than she could’ve ever planned and she’s trying to make up for it by setting up the Resistance Team and leading the rebellion against King Andrias. She had held off the threat to Wartwood, she had helped them train in combat to protect themselves, she had established a base in order to get the villagers comfortable...all of it... to wait for Anne to come back. She had learned to care about Amphibia, about the frogs, about other creatures and about setting boundaries in terms of control.

She has the BEST characterization in the entire show and that’s why Sasha Waybright is my favorite character. I love her so much.

I didn’t think there’d be a time where I’d say that I love the blonde-haired bitchy character in a show because they’re usually portrayed as ‘refusing to change for the better’ or whatsoever until the very end (Pacifica Northwest, for example). So huge, huge kudos to all the Amphibia crew and sir Matt Braly for creating such a well-paced character.

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Amphibia Week hosted by @picturejasper20

#amphibia #amphibia week #sasha waybright #posted this earlier but i thought it was not great #so i redid it to only show one character

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nuri148 · 1 year

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Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

Hi Anon! Thank you so much for the ask! No, I hadn’t been asked this before.

It was quite hard to come up with 10 names for, outside of my current blorbos, throughout my life (which is quite longer than that of most people around this site) I’ve consumed and loved a lot of fiction, and so I’ve loved many characters, but also many of them I fell in love when I was too young to know (or remember) why I liked them, or know anything about characterization at all.

Still, I tried to cover a wide variety of works/genres, which as I racked my brains came with some interesting revelations:

- The first characters that came to mind were all males. It took me an extra effort to recall some female characters that I love.

- The list is white af. This can be for a number of reasons, all related to complex societal dynamics, cultural constructs and how the media portrays or ignores this. This is meant a light hearted ask, so I won’t delve into that, but I did want it to make clear that yes, I’m aware this list lacks diversity.

Some of these media I haven't seen for years so apologies if my memory of some details is not very accurate.

Last but not least, as I don’t like the reductionism of “top x”, I am listing with bullets for these come in no particular order. (Except Levi, of course; as current top Blorbo he could actually fill the top 10 by himself.)

Levi Ackerman (AoT) – He kicks ass, he’s a no-nonsense guy, he’s got a rough exterior but it’s a kind person. He’s had a shitty life but he chooses to be the good guy, even if he has to resort to violence sometimes.

Severus Snape (HP) – I said it already and I’ll say it again that I’ve no proof and no doubt that if you were a Snape fangirl, you’ll be a Levi fangirl. Snape makes Levi look like Miss Congeniality in comparison. He too had a rough life,went over to the dark side, yet realised he’d fucked up big time and spent the rest of his life trying to minimize the damage his actions had caused. PLUS he’s a huge nerd.

Mike Ehrmentraut (BB/BCS) – Mike is SO OVER being a badass. He just wants to live a quite life spoiling his grandaughter. His curse is being too good at what he does, and he can’t help but care about the idiots that would die if he wasn’t there to clean their messes. (On the topic of diversity... Honorable mention for Stanley from The Office and Lester from The Wire, whose “I’m too old for this shit” vibes give me life).

Arya Stark (GOT) – She didn’t stay around suffering for her losses nor went into a rampage, nope. She took the long scenic route to become a pro killer to serve her revenge in a cold dish.

Heidi (from the 70's anime series)– Hands down my first and oldest Blorbo. She lived in the mountains, roamed barefoot on beautiful meadows, was friends with a bunch of goats and all the little critters of the alps. What’s not to love? (At the ripe age of 3, I would make my mum buy me goat cheese bc if Heidi ate it, so must I. At 4 my parents took me to the mountains in winter so I could see the snow and the fir trees that Heidi loved. We’re rewatching now and my new Heidi Blorbo is Joseph the dog, he’s got big Mike Ehrmentraut energy).

Jesse Pinkman (BB)– He’s a good guy who fell into the wrong path. He’s had rotten luck, partly brought onto himself through bad choices and poor judgement, yet he still tries to do good and craves some love.

Petunia Dursley (HP)- Harry's unlikable aunt kinda grew on me over the years, as we saw some of her backstory and how it resonated with parts of my own family history. She grew up knowing herself the lesser child and I believe she never got a chance to smooth things over with Lily. In spite of which P. still cared enough to do the right thing and take charge of Harry (horribly, admittedly).

Omar Little (The Wire) - I don't usually like "bad" characters but Omar was more badass than he was bad. Circumstances made him a violent criminal but he I believe he had redemption potential. Also, how cool is it that he was unequivocally gay in a setting where everyone tends to be so macho... but of course no one would say anything about it. bc it's Omar.

Peter - he's the MC and first person narrator from a rather unknown Ray Bradbury's short story titled “I’m not so dumb” which is one of my favourite Bradbury's tales. Like the title suggests, as the story unfolds the simple-minded Peter will try to show his neighbours that he's not that stupid.

Mafalda - I could not leave out the title character of the (likely) most famous comic in Argentine history. Mafalda's concern for world affairs is of course unrealistic, but it does sort of put those call-outs "in the mouth of babes".

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