#Doverstar

[milkbanjo]

quick doodle before i go do my homework 😎

also thank y’all for sharing my last post I hadn’t posted my art in a long time and it made me really happy y’all liked it!!! genuinely tho, is there still a market for elevenrose timepetals art bc i have a comic that i thought would never see the light of day…

[artist-issues]

I’ve enjoyed a lot of your thoughts on Disney movies and I was wondering what you thought of the movie Enchanted(assuming you have seen the movie xD)? I rewatched it recently and I really enjoyed it(I personally like that even though Giselle does evolve throughout the movie, her wish of finding true love stays the same) so I was curious to know your thoughts :)

I

LOVE

Enchanted.

Morgan is the kid that represents Disney’s audience. Robert is the well-meaning parent of that kid, who is missing the point of the Disney movies. Giselle is the Disney movie.

I love it. It’s so good. It ranks right up there with Mary Poppins, in my mind, as Disney getting itself right.

Disney has been accused of two things, prominently. On one side, you have people being like “oh Disney doesn’t have any courage to do new things, they’re just bowing to whatever the culture says, they’re remaking everything, etc.” That’s nowadays.

But in the early 2000s, when Enchanted was released, it was much more punk rock and edgy and popular to criticize Disney for not being “feminist” enough, for having characters who are stupid or silly—“what, they fall in love in just one day? What, they sing about their feelings? Look at all the dippy magic in their movies! Ha! Corny! Cheesy! Kiddie! Gag me!”

But then Disney whips out Enchanted.

Enchanted is Disney saying “Yeah our princesses have undying faith in love, and to them, magic is normal, and that’s a good thing, and our world needs more of it.”

furthermore

like this video so perfectly captures:

Giselle is this character who is (at first glance) the typical Disney Princess: that is, she’s all about faith. Having a dream of the special someone you’re destined to be with is one thing, but believing he’s out there in real life and you’ll find each other? You kind of have to believe in a higher power (fate, destiny, a horse, a wishing star, God) making that happen to get there. And then, what comes with faith, is this positive, joyful, innocent happiness that she carries everywhere.

When she meets somebody new? She trusts them to help her. When she calls to vermin? They answer her and befriend her. When she gets lost? She trusts her friends or her Prince will come find her. No need to be suspicious, to pretend to be something she’s not, or to despair; everything will work out, because life is full of wonderful things happening, and she knows that love exists and that love is often directed toward her—so why worry?

That’s so Disney. (The REAL Disney.) “Maybe something wonderful will happen.”

Enchanted celebrates that ideology by having her teach it to a guy who is from our world—and he’s basically the opposite of Giselle in every way.

He’s been hurt by someone he thought loved him (his ex wife.) He works with people who used to trust each other and spends all day helping them legally dismantle their once-loving relationships. He has his own girlfriend, but he is way too uptight and controlling to take the next step with her—because he’s afraid. Afraid, afraid, fear, fear, the opposite of faith.

Giselle has that belief in the good, the beautiful, the true, in the world. Robert has zero belief. He thinks that kind of faith is just going to get everyone hurt by the cold hard ‘real’ world. But she teaches him that the most real things in the world are the good, the beautiful, the true…

She really does love him truly, there really is magic, and those two facts really do have power. That he’s the one who hasn’t been seeing things 100% “how they are,” because he leaves love and faith out of the picture.

…and we have to talk about what he teaches her. Which is that there’s something worth getting angry about and protective of—before him, none of her beliefs were challenged. I really think by getting angry with him specifically because he refuses to take that leap of faith and believe in anything (which is exactly what his current girlfriend is angry with him about), she realizes that she can be angry with him, that she can disagree with him—and like him anyway. That it’s a choice, to love someone—which is what everyone thinks fairy tale princesses don’t have, and they couldn’t be more wrong.

Meeting a man and finding out enough about him on your first day to love him isn’t “boy meets girl, therefore they must end up together.” It’s her, knowing what is good, being insightful enough enough to see it in him even in a brief interaction, and then what ladies and gentlemen? Choosing to love him. So there’s Giselle, proving us all wrong about fairy tale princesses again.

I think it’s so good, because while he does help her to think more deeply and realize things about herself, he doesn’t change that joyful, faithful part of her. He just deepens it. It’s like a real life object lessons why “compare and contrast” is such an effective way to exercise your belief in something. Giselle believes in true love. Robert doesn’t. But she’s never met someone who doesn’t. By interacting with someone who’s trying his best, but is getting it wrong, she has a better appreciation for what she already knew was right.

I mean you could say “no she just realized that she has a right to be angry, women don’t have to be positive all the time” but that’s totally out of context. What’s she angry about? She’s angry that he keeps refusing to have faith, when she knows it would be good for him. It’s anger, for something worth being angry about.

And the songs are so good.

“That’s How You Know” is such a good song to refute critics of Disney Princesses and explain faith. Faith is believing what you know to be true and acting on it regardless of how you feel in the moment. In ‘That’s How You Know,’ Giselle is proving that princesses do actually need that truth component to have faith. It’s not blind faith.

It’s Ariel saying “I know humans are good because Truth 1: they make beautiful things, Truth 2: I saw one risk his life to save an animal, so I’m going to choose to love him.”

It’s Belle saying, “I know the Beast looks vicious, but Truth 1: he’s kind, he gave me a library and my freedom, Truth 2: he’s saved my life, and even though I’ve seen him break furniture and fight wolves, I’ve also seen him try to eat with a spoon and dance with me gently, so I’m choosing to love him.”

It’s Jasmine saying “I know this Prince Ali lied to me once already, but Truth 1: he saved my life and shared that he knows how I feel, and Truth 2: he keeps showing me the new things I want to experience without letting me get hurt in the process, so I’m going to trust him.”

It’s Snow White saying “I know I’m homeless in the woods and my only caretaker is trying to murder me, but Truth 1: I’m engaged to a Prince who promised to give his heart to me, so I’m not going to act despairing and fearful.”

Before the song starts, Robert is assuring Giselle that his girlfriend Nancy knows he loves her. But he doesn’t tell her all the time. He doesn’t do anything to show her. Because that would be vulnerable, and he’s a self-protective guy. Self-protection is the opposite of selflessness, and selfless action is love. So Giselle is telling him, “you have to do something, love is an action, and that action shows Nancy a truth she can base her faith, faith in your love for her, on.”

Not to…over-analyze a really catchy song.

But they’re all like that. This is the whole movie. The whole movie is Giselle being the Disney movie, walking and talking, proving the people who don’t get Disney movies wrong.

It is that deep!

And guess what? Robert, the guy who doesn’t get Disney movies? He falls in love with Giselle, the walking talking Disney movie. So there.

We haven’t even talked about the villains or Pip or Edward or Nancy, but they’re all amazing, they’re all perfect for this movie, but I’ll save it for another post.

I love Enchanted.

[pftones3482]

Thoughts on Ferbnessa? Negative, positive? Obsess over PnF with me!

I think Ferb's crush is cute and realistic, but I don't ship them. Vanessa is canonically about a year older than Candace, which puts her and Ferb at roughly a six year age gap. She'd be 18 when he's 12. That's gross. Plus, anyone who has followed me long enough knows I prefer Montnessa and Ferbella lol

I do however love the idea of Vanessa just adopting Phineas and Ferb as her little brothers and showing up to hang out with all of them randomly.

[stitchandani]

So what would you guys say are your favorite episodes of The Series?

ArtistIssues

My favorites are:

Spooky - Probably some of the best animation in the show is in this episode, plus they nail the Halloween-spooky-fun vibe, it’s fun to see the nervous-scared side of Stitch’s personality, and Spooky’s whole function is so genius! And almost everything Pleakley says in this episode makes me laugh.

Splodyhead - I’ve always loved this episode. I love Splodyhead, too. I particularly like episodes where characters who hate each other are forced to work together on a desert island. That’s a trope I’m here for!

Poxy - I love Poxy. When I was a kid I used to ride around the neighborhood on a scooter pretending to be him and his slick little germ self.

627 - This episode was so so cool when I was a kid. I love 627’s black claws and how all-out they went designing him. Plus, again, an episode where we’re shown how unstoppable Stitch always is, until he isn’t anymore, is such a cool break from the norm.

Bonnie & Clyde - I adore the different musical score in this episode, and I love Bonnie & Clyde’s dynamic together and the fact that they can speak English, but they’re rotten little alien life form stinkers. And I love Pleakley in this episode, too. I could just rate every episode based on Pleakley moments. But then I’d have to add Holio to this list which is already too long!

Doverstar will chime in, too! Doverstar:

Angel - It's my #1 favorite episode of the show, for sure. It hits all the nostalgic notes for me. Angel is my favorite experiment, and though the animation in this episode is terrible, I'm a huge fan of Angel's color palette in it and the idea behind the episode. The fact that love is what turns Angel from bad to good - and that it's Stitch who names Angel and changes her, instead of Lilo, which was the norm - love that. Plus it's cool there's an experiment in the 600's series that exists whose primary function is literally the opposite of the goal of the series.

Remmy - I like this one because of the emotional plot, and the fact that it focuses on Lilo and her mind and the lasting affects of her parents' death on the family. Any particularly deep Lilo-centric episode is a standout in my book! As a kid, the heavily-decorated "door" in Lilo's dream, which she says always has "bad things" on the other side of it, was super creepy and interesting to me. I remember thinking even at that age that the scene of her parents' actual crash would be behind that door, or maybe their gravestones, or maybe just a flashback of the night they didn't come home. I both did and did not want to see that. But no, instead it was Lilo's hula school and disarmingly-kind classmates, which is also interesting! All in all, it's my second favorite because of the slightly-deeper-than-usual subject matter. 627 - This one is purely nostalgia-based for me. The 627 episode was one of the all-time coolest to us growing up, like Arti said! Lots of her reasons for listing this one are the same as mine. Always cool to see Stitch come to terms with the fact that though he's pretty cool, he's not always the best at everything. And extra wonderful to hear Lilo say something like "So what if you're not king of the block anymore? You're still king of my block." So. Good. So sweet. Love that. Shoe - Shoe is one of my top 5 favorite experiments. I like the plot in this episode and the animation in it too! I like Pleakley's comedy beats, and the idea of turning the old ship into a B&B was genius for a show about aliens living on Kauai. Perfect. But Shoe's lil emotional journey makes me very happy. His sole purpose is for the gain of other people, and he's at least intelligent enough to understand that people only seem to value him for what he can do for them, and then finding out Lilo specifically likes him even when he's bad luck? 10/10. One of those times where part of the episode isn't just catching the cousin or showcasing the shenanigans its abilities get the cast into, but showing how the experiment goes from bad to good and why. Dupe - Because Dupe's design delights me, because the writing in this episode is fantastic, because the idea of a slumber party at Lilo's house with the experiments instead of four bratty human girls who'd ruin all the fun anyway is awesome, and because in the end, Lilo gets another reminder that even if she wants lots of friends, having one like Stitch at her side is more than good enough. Retro - I always wanted this one to air often on TV growing up, specifically because it was later in the show and therefore rarer to see rerunning. I thought Retro's ability was so cool, and I was especially interested in the little glimpses of Nani's life before becoming sole caretaker of Lilo. Plus the setting of a cruise ship is always fun! Swapper - Lilo gets a human friend Lilo gets a human friend Lilo gets a human friend LILO GETS A HUMAN FRIEND- Snooty - Victoria gets an experiment of her own, Snooty is precious and Halloween-y, more looks at Victoria/Lilo's friendship, Pleakley driving is hilarious, and the ending gets me every time. Amnesio - Gantu? An excellent friend for Lilo? Latent protective affection for the cute little Earthling? It's more likely than you think- Bad Stitch - I like this one because it has some of my favorite Lilo/Stitch moments. It also seems to have unused material from the original movie? Maybe? I don't know, but Chris Sanders seems like the kind of guy who would suggest more of Lilo training Stitch like a "puppy" and squirting him with the stupid water bottle. I especially love the ending, where Lilo tells Stitch she knows he's good, even if he breaks things. And how Stitch wants to behave because Lilo asks him to, and she loves him, and that's why he wants to behave. Love that. The Asteroid - Jumba recognizing that Earth is his home and that the Pelekais are his family waters my crops and clears my skin. And I love watching the whole Ohana work together on a planet-saving space trip.

[doverstar]

Based on the similarities between Eddie and your husband, do you see any of yourself in Chrissy? From the little we see of her character, do find help in characterizing her from yourself? I'm curious because I think its so funny how these two characters who have such little screen time have such a hold and impact on people(or maybe just my circle of the internet). For me personally, I think for the smidgeon of screen time these characters' have(particularly Chrissy because Eddie has a complete storyline) I wish we could have enjoyed more of them and see how their interactions and story may have unfolded together. What reasons do you find yourself drawn to Eddie/Chrissy?

Hi there!! This is such a deep question. Thank you so much for thinking to ask! I'll try to answer your questions/statements in order! Like you said, we don't get much of Chrissy's character in the show before she dies. All we know is what other characters say about her, and what her actress, Grace Van Dien, says about her. I am also an introvert, I am also somewhere around 5'3, and I would also giggle at a boy who behaved like Eddie did in the woods scene. Actually, I did. I have. I do. I'm married now. So I guess yes, I maybe see myself in Chrissy? I'm introverted, and insecure physically, and I have blue eyes. And I'm not strawberry blonde (oh, to be strawberry blonde) but I am blonde. But again, we don't know much else about Chrissy's personality! Jason describes her as "straight as an arrow", someone who would never try to buy drugs. I am that person. All the way. Chrissy's relationship with her mom is implied to be bad. I do not have an emotionally-abusive mother; my mother is great. However, of all my family members, my mother and I have the rockiest relationship. I can relate to having at least some strain in that department, but don't get me wrong - it's not an abusive relationship by any stretch.

When I'm writing from her perspective, I do use the things I relate to when it comes to Chrissy. Maybe that's lazy? Maybe that's not creative or original enough of me? Whatever. Write what you know, and I know how that stuff feels. I know how it feels to be insecure, introverted, perceived as "straight as an arrow", and have mom issues. But yeah, a character whose personality isn't really fleshed out that much before she's brutally murdered is an easy thing to project yourself onto. Maybe that's why so many people are crazy about Eddie/Chrissy? It's the Edward Cullen thing all over again. Some people must like it simply because the idea of Eddie in love with a timid girl like that is delightful and gives them butterflies imagining being in Chrissy's place. It has to be said. It's more likely than you think, guys. It makes sense that Eddie's character has such a hold on people; he was really done excellently by all involved in his creation. As for Chrissy's character, I think every single girl ever relates to body-image issues in some fashion, and what we got of her was a scared girl who just wanted help. What little time she was given onscreen was played and written in such a way that we couldn't not feel sympathy for her. If you've got a sympathetic character, you've got an audience. But them as a couple? It's all that scene in the woods. That's why people ship it. There was so much chemistry there. It was designed to make you like Eddie, whose first scene was so firework-y you didn't know what to think of him exactly until he was sweet to Chrissy. It was designed to show you Chrissy's really struggling, because in that scene, she gets to talk about what's happening with her. So we care when she dies. We care like Eddie ends up caring, which makes "Chrissy, this is for you" matter. That scene did its job. It made you like them both as characters. And they're obviously very cute at the same time, and cute together, so most brains immediately slid into ship mode. Who doesn't love the whole bad boy/popular girl trope? Or the rockstar/princess trope? Or the freaking "he's not actually a bad boy, he's a doll" trope or the "she's not actually a preppy jerk, she's precious" trope? Mash them together? Kryptonite. At the very least, you leave the first episode sorry she's dead and worried for Eddie's safety. It's a trope because it works. It's CUTE. As for the last question: I'm drawn to Eddie/Chrissy not just because of all the reasons I just said, but because, cornily - Eddie fell backward off that picnic table bench and I was transported into summer of 2019, where my would-be-husband was throwing himself off of a similar picnic table at a church camp to keep my attention, all long curly brown hair and lanky arms and legs, and I was a big nostalgic storm of butterflies.

I have literally had a guy who looked like that do that to me, and yes, he was doing it to make me laugh, he was flirting. Instantly I wanted them to get together. I was texting my sister in a frenzy about how cute Eddie suddenly seemed to me, and how I hoped they'd get together because that seemed like where it was going. I was wrong. Thanks, Duffers. Thanks, I hate it-

[doverstardoodles]

warm-up with my entitled son

[way-too-addicted-to-fandoms]

Tagged by @doverstar, thank you!! Thanks for being patient about how long this took me!

Three ships: (these are the first three that popped into my head) Faramir/Eowyn, Jelsa, Percabeth

First ship: I think the very first ship I ever had (though I didn't know it at the time) was Aragorn/Arwen.

Last song: Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis

Last movie: Born of Hope (2009) It's a fan-made LotR film centered around Arathorn. It doesn't have the highest budget, but the story was good, and I enjoyed it.

Currently reading: Hardy Boys: The Masked Monkey. I collect those and the Nancy Drew books (specifically the original series') and I just got a couple more over the summer. I'm also still working on the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series (currently on The Conference of the Birds), and the Shadow and Bone trilogy. I haven't started the second book yet, but I'm excited to! (No I'm not capable of reading one book/series at a time😅)

Currently watching: One Piece (anime), Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan (finally catching up; also I'm not capable of watching one series at a time either😅)

Currently consuming: Nothing, since it's late at night.

Currently craving: Chocolate sounds good, and BBQ chicken tenders. Something like a homemade or non-fastfood version of DQ's.

Tagging: Anyone who wants to, and I mean anyone! Even if you're a follower or mutual I haven't interacted with, I'd love to get to know you! I might add specific tags later, but it's late so I'm gonna head to bed now (I have church in the morning😅)

[way-too-addicted-to-anime]

For the Disney ask game ( one good turn deserves another! <3 ) Aladdin and Peter Pan?

Aladdin - A sacrifice you made for someone:

Hmmm I suppose the biggest one was switching rooms with my brother. He'd previously had the one next to my parent's room, but when he turned 18, he wanted more side from them. So I have up the nice, spacious room with good heating and a big almost walk-in closet for the bedroom that has unfinished walls (difficult to explain, basically walls on the outside of the room, but not the inside? Like the newly installed insulation is exposed. Don't worry I'm safe). But I'm only there during holidays and breaks, and it's still enough room for just one person, so it's not that bad.

Peter Pan - Something from your childhood you still love:

A lot of things, but one of the toys I remember playing with often (and had/have a large collection of) was the Littlest Pet Shop pets and sets. They're just so cute. I like getting the special edition series where they'd release animals from parts of the world other than the U.S. Some of my favorite are a koala, a giraffe, and a panda. I also have a lot of lizards. They're fun to use as decoration, especially in gardens and flower pots🥰

[valorianknights]

Caitlin And Frost

In season 3 Caitlin had these slight side bangs, so I think I'm going to keep that and I decided that Killer Frost wasn't going to have pupils. Frost's features are also slightly sharper than Caitlin's.

Hey @doverstar, Would you be interested in seeing Savisnow hanging out with ToyBird by any chance?

Toybird is the ship between Red Daughter x Winn Schott from Supergirl, more specifically from a fanfiction that have Red Daughter a second chance at the life she deserved to live.

Idk about you, but these are some similar ship archetypes, the angsty doppelganger of the superhero who is given a second chance after being a villain/threat to team and their intelligent friend who wants to help.

Also, I'm starting to believe that all the ship wars would have been solved if the writers just pulled a Tentoo x Rose. Like come on, there's a multiverse, doppelgangers... It's right there!

[empress-of-snark]

Tag 9 People You Want To Know Better

tagged by @simplyshelbs16xoxo

three ships: Eddie x Chrissy (Stranger Things), Connor x Abby (Primeval), Mabel x Theo (Only Murders in the Building)

first ship: Kim x Ron (Kim Possible)

last song: Goo Goo Muck by The Cramps (from my autumn/Halloween playlist)

last movie: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) (rewatch—a friend of mine hadn’t seen it yet)

currently reading: A Song of Sin and Salvation by L.H. Blake

currently watching: Murder She Wrote, Brooklyn 99, The Great British Bake-Off, Sabrina the Teenage Witch

currently consuming: water

currently craving: the homemade pizza that’s currently baking in the oven :)

I tag @televinita @kateschechterxthorwasmyfirstotp @loubuttons @a-strange-inkling @aicosu @doverstar @championdoodler @vulpixsworld and @eric-draven-94

[nerdemic]

Tag 9 People You Want To Know Better

I'm finally home so I can do the thing!

Thanks @doverstar for the tag!! <3333

three ships: Zuko/Katara (Avatar: the Last Airbender), Samson/F!Inquisitor (Dragon Age: Inquisition), Merlin/Morgana (Merlin - that is 10000000% @doverstar's fault because they just reblogged a gifset with them and I went all heart-eyes).

first ship: Robin/Raven! (Teen Titans)

last song: Don't You Dare (Make Me Fall in Love with You) - Kaden Mackay

last movie: Howl's Moving Castle/Bob's Burgers (comfort movie)

currently reading: Letters to the Church - Francis Chan (listen, not my favorite fella but reading it per a recommendation from a friend (:), The Last Days According to Jesus - RC Sproul

currently watching: nothing really? maybe Jujustu Kaisen ?

currently consuming: Eggs! And hashbrowns! :D

currently craving: more eggs. more hashbrowns.

Up next is: @aheartundercrossfire @riickety-cricket @shenzi-hemlock @oasisr@bourbonandcinnamon

[milkbanjo]

ahhhh idk how to use tumblr but they have my whole heart and i needed to share it!!!! everyone go read @doverstar ‘s Lost and Rewritten bc it occupies 99% of my brain space and I can’t stop rereading it

[artist-issues]

Raya and the Last Dragon popped into my head today and I kept thinking about how the incredibly unsubtle and poorly executed message of trusting others felt like a first draft.

What do you think about it? Would a revised script with the same story premise fix that film? Or was it doomed from the get go in what it was trying to say?

Good question! I go back and forth. I think the movie's biggest weak point was its writing, so I guess I'd say, "a revised script with the same story premise would fix it!"

There's nothing wrong at all with a message like "Without trust, we can't stand together." Because it's very true. Everyone has priorities, and there's always a chance they'll choose themselves over you, or over the "greater good." But if you keep trying to take control of the situation by believing the worst about them before it happens, you'll be exhausted & jaded, they'll be exhausted & jaded, and all your time and energy will be spent on competing with each other for the grand prize of "who can look out for their own interests better."

I think Raya and the Last Dragon's premise works for a truth like that. It makes total sense to have a girl who's competitive become jaded and control-freaky when her father, the symbol of the virtue of trust & good faith, is murdered by betrayal. And not just any betrayal, but betrayal from someone she directly tried to befriend and trust as a sort of "first experience" with that good faith her dad was always talking about. Makes total sense. And it's impactful; something that traumatic and personal would cause a relatable character flaw that the heroine needs drastic measures to overcome.

I actually love the concept of Sisu too. I like the idea that she's this pure, selfless soul who's got childlike faith—but, all the jaded people in a post-apocalyptic world respect and consider her worldview because she's a revered dragon. So she really does change minds just by being around them, just by coming back and existing in the first place. I mean, if she had been just a sheltered girl from, say, a different country, who came into the broken Kumandra with stars in her eyes, the bad guys wouldn't have thought twice about whatever she exemplified. But she's a dragon.

And step back and think about it: having a group of characters from every walk of life come together as a mini-experiment in trust and unity during the course of the adventure is a great idea. It's not flashy or original, but it's classic and true. Avatar the Last Airbender has a crew of characters from each tribe combining to defeat evil. When Kenai has a prejudice against bears in Brother Bear, how is that character flaw solved? Not just by him turning into one, but by him having to travel with and get to know one.

What they get to know is that they all have something in common: they've all lost people to the great evil in the world. And, they all want the same things, despite cultural differences. They all want their families back, they all want safety and success.

So yeah, the pieces are all there. The problem is, the writing was just super clunky. Theres a lot of telling, when it comes to the story, instead of showing. There's not no showing. There's just not enough.

I know this is already a long post, but I'll just point out: Aladdin's message had a lot to do with trust, too. But no character ever said out loud, "you have trust issues and you need to work through them." Certainly not more than once. The closest you get is Genie telling Aladdin to be himself.

Instead, you're just shown that Jasmine is the type of girl to give an apple to a hungry kid without even thinking about whether or not the shopkeeper wouldn't want her to do it. She's the type of girl who plays along with a scrubby boy from the marketplace trying to help her. She's the kind of girl who goes out with a Prince even though she has reason to believe he's already lying to her. She just does those things, and never says, "hey, why did you lie to me--you have trust issues!"

Meanwhile Aladdin's whole story is him bending over backwards to control what everyone thinks of him, because he can't trust them to accept him as he is. But he never says, "Trust gets me hurt." He just says, "if Jasmine knew I was really some crummy street-rat, she'd laugh at me."

Those sentences that the characters say are well-written because they are realistic. Only in our modern psycho-babble Instagram-influencer culture, where everyone thinks they're an expert on the human psyche, are teenagers starting to say things like "My trauma causes me to struggle with trust."

What Aladdin says is much more immediate, much more down-to-earth than that. It shows where his brain is in that moment. He's not thinking about the general philosophy of truth and trust. He's just thinking about what he should or shouldn't say on his date, and how scary the idea of getting laughed at is. We, the audience, are smart enough to infer that it's all rooted in trust issues. We don't need Genie to deliver a speech six times to make it abundantly clear.

I'm capable of identifying that as the problem, but I'm not great at doing it, myself. I know the language, I'm not great at speaking it. But actually I'm going to punt this part of the question over to @doverstar , who is very skilled at "show, don't tell," especially in dialogue. How would you re-write that scene where Sisu is trying to convince Raya of the importance of trust?

One final thing that I think handicaps Raya and the Last Dragon is that, because of the way they're written, the characters lose likability. Theres a way to have a traumatized, defensive girl who thinks she knows everything still be likable. Just like there was a way to have a selfish, insecure liar be likable in Aladdin.

I think there are other issues—I'd have completely written out the baby and the monkeys, and I'd have cut the fight sequences between two teenage girls way shorter because nobody cares about them. But that can be for another post.

[hellcheerficdatabase]

The Things That Should Not Be

Author: @doverstar

Rating/Warning: General

Chapter Count: 13/?

Description:

Maybe he hadn’t had enough time to fully grasp the severity of the situation, and Dustin’s pontification was valid. Maybe he’d been unabashedly high all night long and was still not fully clean from it. One thing he couldn’t push away was the fact that that stupid yellow Walkman and that stupid little cassette tape might be the only difference between someone’s life and death, and here they were wasting time trying to figure out how to get it to that someone. He’d have to make a scene.

He got to make a scene.

Eddie snatched the plastic bag, slammed his hands down on the table to gain his club’s attention, and climbed up to rush to its end, standing right above the startled cheerleaders freezing in the aisle.

The moment his reeboks hit the table, he was shouting, “Hail, Her Royal Majesty, the Queen of Hawkins High School!”

Tags: Alternate Universe- canon divergence, alternate universe- everyone lives/nobody dies, fix-it fic, slow-burn eventual romance, fluff, angst, Chrissy needs a hug, mutual pining, alternating POV, multiple chapters, status: WIP

[stitchandani]

Doverstar what would Ani look like as an Experiment though-

[doverstar]

not to rush you! do you have an idea of when you will next update the eddissy story? its by far the best!!!

Hi! Yes!

My workload is heaviest Wednesday-Friday, but when Friday ends, I tend to have lots more time to write - so if there are delays, it’s usually a combo of work and life. That being said, I think I can update it by Monday or possibly sooner! Sorry for the wait - and thanks for the interest!

Also thanks for the compliment. Made my day!