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crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf · 18 days

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Disgrace Chapter 4 : Crosshair x F!OC

How does one ignore the inevitable? You already know it's useless to try to avoid it, but how do you ignore its presence at your peripherals? The way it taunts you. There is absolutely nothing challenging about being stuck together on an isolated moon completely alone and cut off from the outside universe for an undisclosed amount of time. There should be plenty of wholesome ways to distract oneself... right?

Chapter Specific Warnings: Nudity, Unprotected Piv, brief angst

Authors Notes: Crosshair and Tah'Nyem are like those cats who hiss and yowl at each other through a glass door but have no idea what to do once it's been opened. They chat a little about Tahny's life, love lives, and the things they refuse to talk about. Paging Medic Crosshair.

Word Count: 6700

Dynamic: Princess x Guard, Speed running Co-dependancy, A Mangy Cat and his Aggressive little Chihuahua. She's a damsel, she's in distress- she can handle it.

<-Previous Chapter - Read On Ao3 {START HERE}

Music Inspo- Aliens Tawk by Taw Listen on Spotify - Listen on Youtube

Chapter 4 : Aliens Talk

Unbelievable.

I looked into my empty pack and the giant tear along one of its seams.

This was designer…

I huffed and slouched back into the co-pilot chair.

So this means everything but the inner pocket of credits was lost in the factory. Fantastic.

We had already made the jump to hyperspace, though we weren't headed straight to Ga’hah.

Crosshair had taken a data device from a pouch and popped it into the navigation with a click. An encrypted code set a scrambled coordinate, a safe house, possibly a moon. We won't know till we get there.

Our ship wasn't making for an extravagant trip, the partially stripped vehicle lacked any food stores and we had limited water. There were cleaning rags piled in the corners. Some crusty, tattered jackets, and a dusty pair of knee boots in the door less storage closet. The life support system was fine, but once again, freezing.

Still.

I got up and searched a pile of rags, picking one out that had the least amount of stains, and headed to the small sink. I wet the cloth conservatively and wiped at the dust on my face and arms, hissing as the rag passed over the scrape on my jaw where the intruder's boot had broken skin. I pulled the cloth away to eye the dark bruise that had come in. Seemed like that happened weeks ago now but it had only been about half a day.

No medical supplies. I'll just have to tough it a while.

The damp cloth left me more vulnerable to the cold and I would kill for a hot shower.

And a snack.

We had avoided saying anything for a bit now. Hunger was making us both snippy and it was safer to just avoid pushing each other's buttons in the small space. Though, I may be blaming hunger where withdrawal was a likely culprit; felt very alone with my thoughts suddenly…

I ran a little more water and rinsed my face, catching eyes watching me in the mirror when I looked up again.

“What is it?”

I turned at his puzzled expression.

“Is that ink too?”

He gestures at the red markings and shadows around my eyes. I guess he expected it to fade like my arms.

“A more permanent variety, yes, tattoos but it's cultural. Means I'm of age.”

He paused, but not at the insinuation.

“You have tattoos on your eyes?”

I looked at him for a moment. I admit the tats were subtle, the lines much finer than what used to be traditional. Most just assumed it was dramatic makeup.

“...as do you?”

The air was awkward now, and I sighed. We need some food. I hope the safe house is fully stocked.

And has running, hot water.

I eased myself back into the co-pilot chair across from him, careful with the torn split of the tattered gown and my manifesto of growing aches and pains. I was physically active but not ‘running around blowing up factories,’ active and the extra wear and tear was catching up to me despite my conditioning. There was no spice to dull the aches and throbs and stings that plagued me.

“Sorry.”

“Hmm.”

I looked up.

“For what?”

“I should have let you change.”

He was eyeing my bare, scratched up thigh, though that might have been to avoid staring at the stiffened peaks beneath the thin fabric over my chest. It was always so cold on these ships.

“You're right… You should have.”

I shifted, lifting my knee to rest my foot on the cushion of the chair, letting the skirt fall away exposing the curve of my ass against the seat.

He cleared his throat and turned back to the racing field of hyperspace, shifting in his chair uncomfortably.

Serves you right.

It was only fair he lived with the consequences. I looked over at him, pristine besides the streaks of dust here and there and contemplated getting my own set of armor.

And I'd never leave home without it.

The thought was glib, and mostly an attempt at amusing myself. My mind drifted to other ways to torment my captive audience. An empty can, hurtling through space. Nothing but two chairs, us, and time to kill.

… I'm just hungry. And bored. Behave.

“So… spice?”

He broke the silence, seemingly desperate for something else to think about besides my shivering, exposed form.

“I'm not an authority but… what about it?”

“You, uh, like it?”

“Oh, Yeah, can't deny that… it feels nice,”

“You do it a lot?”

“Not that often, The burnout is no joke, but ‘you can't run the underworld in broad daylight without knowing how to do things safely.’... so, it's fine… I know what I'm doing,”

I put on a mock tone of my father for a bit that seemed to amuse the man across from me.

“Is that what you're doing? Cleaning up the underworld?”

“It's what my Vah’hadarr says he's doing, cleaning up the dirty side of dirty business,”

There was a little venom in that last part as I thought about the recording and the possibilities of my willful ignorance.

“It's his show…I just manage some of the actual business, It’s club and hotel and theater all in one, and it's a chore making sure it all stays legal and without political incidents,”

“Just that, huh?”

“It's a complicated trade! Mostly flimsiwork honestly, but the workers can be absolute divas when they get in a mood,”

I was on a roll now, the irritability of an empty stomach and an unhealthy amount of disassociation had me focused on the mundane topic.

“they think because they own shares they can petition me to let them drink away all the booze and blow our spice, And Kahtzi needs to learn to not abuse her authority! The shyte she gets me into, Kriffen workplace relationships…You know, it's actually refreshing having a new set of people trying to kill me!”

I threw my hands up before resting on an arm and rubbing my forehead.

“Who's Kahtzi?”

I was brought out of the foray into my everyday life and back to the bare cockpit.

I thought for a moment, trying to quantify Kahtzi.

“Mm, Assistant, best friend, on and off lover,”

That would have to do, it was more nuanced than that but hard to summarize.

He made a noise that I couldn't really interpret, eventually asking:

“On?...or off?”

“Currently?”

…

“Guess I simplified too much. We're never really a… couple, Just… two people who take care of each other? There's not really an ‘on’ or ‘off’, we love each other but don’t really work like that… together, long term,”

A beat of silence and him patting his belt, looking for something and then giving up.

“Why not?”

I smirked a little, shooting him a look.

“Missing the right parts,”

“There's tools for that you know,”

“Oh but those don't satisfy like flesh and blood,”

He smirked back and we fell silent again.

“How bout you, tough guy?”

“Me what?”

“Ever been in love?”

A pause as he chewed on that…

“I thought so… maybe, once or twice,”

He finally admitted.

Cute.

“Not at one of our houses, right? The girls can be convincing but they are paid to act like that,”

He chuckled.

“And the boys?”

“Less convincing, that… more your thing?”

“Ah… uh, not really,”

“‘Not really’, what's that supposed to mean? Just like to look?”

“Sort of, just… some clones seem to, I just… haven't,”

“Fascinating,”

I held my hand like it was holding a holo recorder,

“The courtship rituals of clones seems to be one of varied taste and values, furthering evidence of their individuality,”

He looked at me sideways and I felt like maybe I had gone too far.

“Sorry… I had a professor who did field studies, it's kind of a running joke between Kahtzi and I,”

I had let my guard down, and that was probably a little insensitive. I’m not too sure about clone… culture?

“Don’t be… just, seemed familiar,”

The mood had passed though and I leaned back, letting my eyes flutter shut.

“I hope we get there soon… it's too cold to relax,”

The quiet air hung around us, thicker than before.

~~~

I woke up, having dozed off eventually, curled up uncomfortably in the large chair. A tarp or drop cloth of some sort had been draped over me as a makeshift blanket.

My stomach growled and a pang hit me as the acid started to flow.

I eased my sore legs down, stretching them carefully; glad to see the fatigue hadn't grown into full on pain, and cast about for my unlikely companion.

He was bent over the console where our encryption chip was plugged in, now projecting data and instructions for our arrival.

I padded over, my slippered feet not making much noise on the metal flooring. My hand slid to the small of his back, signaling I was there, and I leaned to look around him to the projection.

Stifling a jump, he shifted so I could see.

We were headed to a red sun system, uninhabited. There were warnings about how much tech we used outside of the bunker, apparently any signals picked up by passerby's would be suspect. Keep the beacon on us, but abandon the ship till it's needed again.

“So just… sit and wait?”

“Mm,”

“This seems a waste of your talents,”

“It is,”

“I once again ask…Why send you?”

“An impeccable record of self control,”

I laughed at that,

“What's so funny?”

I wasn't sure, that just seemed… wildly inaccurate. No reason to think so though, he had in fact been quiet in control of himself.

“Is it really all that important? It can't be real that you were ordered not to sleep with me, literally…”

He shrugged giving me a look like he wasn't sure what else could be said about it.

I scoffed at that, irritated at the confusing perimeters of the situation.

“and to think, if they stuck me with a Reg it wouldn't have been an issue,”

“What do you mean by that?”

The question wasn't accusing, just a hint perplexed at my wording.

… Maybe I said too much.

I sobered and straightened, trying to think of a way to side step the topic.

“I tease, I flirt, but it's all an act… it's my job in fact, to seem available but not be, but I don't push things very far… usually, my actual cravings are…”

An enigma? Rare? A reflection of my inflated ego? Either way this is different…

I trailed off, once again too close to the truth, and retreated slightly. He was raising an eyebrow, waiting for me to finish the explanation and not realizing how dangerous it made him look to me, or perhaps, maybe he did. I deflected,

“Isn't it annoying, to have to follow such petty commands?”

Turning, I wandered back towards him, lifting my arms to rest against his chest plate and leaned in close, remembering the darkness that swirled in him, in me…

How much did he see?

“You were in here, what do you think?”

He seemed to know where my mind had went, but my question appeared to bother him more than intended. There's definitely something hiding in there.

“I think ignoring direct orders has never been an issue for you… what changed?”

We can't keep this up, without any eyes on us it seemed idiotic to keep denying ourselves. I continued, pressed to him as I was, I had to look up to catch his eyes.

“Is the Empire really such a loving mistress?”

“...I need to be trusted,”

It was the truth, but vague enough to not answer anything. He did something… I saw it, and he's been in that swirling storm ever since.

Was it worth it?

There was a harsh beep from the encryption chip warning that we would be dropping out of warp.

I snapped out of the spell that had begun to fall over us and went back to sit in my chair, strapping in. He followed shortly.

~~~

The moon under the red sun was eerily quiet. Most of the surface was water besides a few flat islands covered with coniferous pines and ferns. All that could be heard was a gentle lap of water, there were no animals, no insects… no breeze.

The sky was a deep purple and my skin looked red under the dark filter of the alien sun. Everything else was black. The trees, the ground, the beach of smooth flat stones.

We had been walking a while, having set down on the opposite side of the designated island as instructed, and were making our way to the bunker that should be waiting for us. Our footsteps made small shuffles and clatters as we moved down the beach, Crosshair holding the beacon out as it flashed quicker and quicker as we found our way.

I held my tattered slippers in my hand as we picked our way along. The moon was temperate. The sun, large in the sky, cast a moderate amount of heat making the stones comfortably warm beneath my feet.

“I wonder if it's safe to swim…”

“Should be, but I wouldn't trust it,”

I looked over the smooth expanse of water to our left. The waves were so gentle the horizon looked flat and reflective, the red ring of the sun reflecting in the inky sea.

The beacon chirped as we came even to a path cut into the ferns and turned to follow it, eventually coming to a large metal alcove jutting from the ground. Crosshair tapped the device to a panel on the door triggering a loud mechanical whine that cracked the otherwise pristine soundscape, and the door was opening.

The first chamber was dark, the walls thick and insulating. We walked a ramp downward, about twenty paces, before coming to another barrier.

This door clicked and a blue light illuminated the space, scanning us from floor to ceiling.

“Welcome. Tah’nyem Ra. And. Companion.”

There was a loud swish and we were let into a small, furnished apartment. The kitchenette and living area were equipped with the usual amenities. Thick ventilation and a bank of carbon scrubbers were recessed by the door, explaining the thickness of the walls.

How well can that actually scrub all the emissions? Where do they go?

With a small electric hum, the lights came on warm and low, and a screen flashed over the couch projecting a feed of the surface. It was all rather lush, despite its size, fine fabric and intricate metal work everywhere you looked.

A low whistle came from beside me and I turned to look at the soldier, not seeming too out of place against the black tones and shadowy aesthetic of the safe house furnishings.

“This’ll do,”

I dropped my tattered bag to the floor where it hit with a clunk, the credits and old boots from the shuttle landing hard on the tile, and made for the kitchen.

Please please please

Popping the pantry I laughed in relief as I took in the rows of food stores. Nothing too fancy but it was more than enough for two people to live fat and happy for a while.

I grabbed two packages and headed to the rehydrator tucked on the wall, catching Crosshair's profile still standing awkwardly by the couch.

“Relax, Commander, Mission accomplished,”

“Not yet, we still have to get you home,”

He looked at the data stick in his hand, now quiet and dark. It would blink again once new arrangements have been made for me. Which, if my parents left the same day using civilian travel plans…

“We could have days before Vah’hadarr lands on Ga’hah,”

And who knows how long he wants me underground…

“Go on, take a shower or something, you earned it… and probably need it,”

Turning back to prepping food, I popped the packages open and tossed them into the machine, hitting the appropriate buttons so that it started humming softly.

Crosshair hadn't made much progress, now casting his eyes about the clean, black living room and down to his guns and armor dusted in brilliant red sand. I rolled my eyes, wondering what had him so… of kilter.

“Just put it by the door, someone will probably clean and restock this place later,”

He jerked into motion and started stacking his things by the door frame, pieces of armor plating coming off in loud clacks against the hum of the cooking food.

I leaned against the counter and eyed the sleek under suit that was emerging from beneath the plates.

Doesn't take much imagination from there does it…

He moved to remove the belt and codpiece and I turned swiftly to look at the humming rehydrator instead.

Well that was unlike me…

What is this? Blossoming respect?

Ugh, gotta get rid of that…

Out of the corner of my eye I traced his movements as he crossed my peripheral and into the back room of the bunker.

I checked the timer on the food and followed, waiting a moment to hear the water start in the fresher before leaning against the door.

“Hey, pass me your body suit, I'm sure there's a washer in here,”

There wasn't a reply but it wasn't because he didn't hear me.

“It's okay, I'll find a robe or something while you wash,”

A few seconds and the door opened, him in a towel, avoiding my gaze and holding out the black suit.

I took it and the door zipped shut again, quickly.

There was a closet next to the refresher door and I clicked it open. More towels. Next cabinet had two robes hung inside and I grabbed them both turning back to the fresher and hung one on a hook near the frame, taking the other for myself as I padded back into the short hall.

There were two bunks opposite the door to the room and another thin door. I opened it to find the expected utilities, tossing the body suit in. Listening to make sure the shower was still running I stripped out of my tattered nightgown and tossed it in as well.

Wishing I hadn't let him go first, I slipped the robe on, committed to filling my belly anyways. Which,

A beep could be heard from the kitchenette and I wandered back to retrieve my much needed calories, taking the two rolls from the machine and finding a plate to leave one out for Crosshair. I took a bite out of mine and savored the protein and grains, though they could use a bit more seasoning, I was starving. I eyed Cross’s portion and grabbed two more packs from the cupboard.

That is not gonna be enough.

The faint sound of running water stopped and I scarfed down the rest of my food, eager to shower myself.

My pace towards the bedroom faltered as the door opened and the tall clone hesitantly emerged, the gray waffle knit doing about as much to hide his frame as the tight black under suit.

I glanced down at his exposed calves and marveled at their definition for a moment.

“Uh, there's food on the table, more cooking if you're still hungry,”

I pushed past him into the room, wedging him out and shut the door.

Days shut in alone together and I'm supposed to behave myself. Be��llahl, what did I do to deserve this?

I knew what I did.

I looked through the rest of the storage and found some silk button ups and trousers. Nothing my size. I checked a few more drawers, but the only female clothing I found were skimpy lingerie pieces. Sighing, I grabbed one of the large shirts and made for the fresher.

Kriffs sake Vah'hadarr, you sure you don't want me shacking up with soldiers?

Be'llahl or not, I wanted nothing to do with thoughts on why my father's safe house was stocked with such sundries.

The water was already warm, and I stepped into the spray with a relieved groan.

My scrapes and scratches stung as the water flowed over them and I liberally coated myself with soap, feeling like the dust and sweat might never come off.

At least it's decent stuff.

My mind drifted as the creamy suds rinsed off of me. Mostly to the brief flash of Crosshair, framed in the door in nothing but a towel. I hadn't really processed the visual but now that I was clean and undistracted by hunger it came back in a vivid assault.

Two days?... At least. Does today count?

I turned the handle, cutting off the warm stream and stood in the stall, letting the water bead and run down my skin, enjoying the feeling of it a moment before reaching for the towel.

Finally dry, I carefully slipped on the black dress shirt. It was the style my father wore, the slim cut almost framing my torso, and fell to about mid thigh, reminding me how short I was compared to most Ga’haiians. I thought about rolling up the sleeves but the material fought me on it so they stayed long.

I hung my towel next to the other damp cloth already drying next to the door and stepped back out into the bedroom, catching my reflection in the mirror.

I'd say the look was seductive, if it wasn't for the bruises and scratches that patterned my exposed legs, the oversized article hanging off my hips in a way that complimented my slim build.

Well, better than lingerie…

Wandering out to the living area I found Cross at the counter on one of the stools, halfway through the third roll and cleaning the smaller of his guns.

He looked up from his task, eyes traveling from exposed knees to my dripping hair as he took another bite.

What the kriff now?

I rocked from heel to toe a few times in the awkward seconds, but he was pushing away the cloth his work was organized on and tapped the stool closest to him before finishing the rest of his food.

Closing the distance at an unsure pace, I slid onto the bar stool indicated and he pulled over another box. He had found the medical kit, popping it open now to retrieve a canister of bacta spray.

“Oh, I can do that myse-”

He shot me a look and I shut up as he cupped my chin to examine the bruised abrasion on my jawline.

A warm sensation spread over the wound as he carefully applied the slimy substance.

“How did you manage to take such a beating…”

The wonder came under his breath as he moved the fabric from my shoulder, pinching a gash together and applying more spray.

“I can handle a little pain… enjoy it even-”

I winced, letting free a small whimper as he lifted my sore leg and assessed the damage there.

“That I can believe,”

A sigh, more spray.

“Some escort I turned out to be…”

“Don't sweat it, I'm breathing, even have both arms still in the sockets…”

Our eyes met briefly before he finished and set my leg back onto the foot rest of the stool.

“Those should be healed by morning,”

“Well, thanks doc, what would I do without you,”

He snorted dryly and pulled his gun back, patting at his waist, making a face like he forgot he was in a bathrobe.

Oh!

I got up and started opening drawers in the kitchen. Finding a little box by the cutlery marked in Ga'haiian.

I triumphantly pulled out a couple travel vials of toothpicks, and rolled them across the counter where he was still perched. They were gratefully snatched up, one quickly finding its way between his teeth. He leaned into his work with more enthusiasm now that he could concentrate and I slipped a few more vials into my bag's inner pocket, moving it from where it was still discarded on the floor.

Wonder when he managed to lose them.

At least he was keeping himself busy; it was my turn to figure out how to spend the time now that my creature comforts had been met. Well, most of them.

Finally free to really roam about the space I realized there wasn't a lot to look at. The living area was made up of a low, deep couch made of a soft black leather, a console with speakers beneath the false window, and another screen housing facing the couch. The kitchenette was barely a hallway, separated from the rest of the space by the thin island counter Crosshair was leaning over. Then the short passage with bunks and utilities to one side and the proper room with the refresher on the other.

The bunker had no access to the outside holonet, its system self contained and concealed from any scans or probing. This meant all entertainment was limited to whatever was preloaded into the base's memory.

I scrolled through the holopad, reading through the meager selection of games, films, and music. There… wasn't much.

Wonderful, we can spend our time playing cards.

I selected an old Diva Shaliqua track and the hypnotic tones of the Theelin’s voice poured from the speakers, making the space more familiar and inviting.

I turned to Crosshair gesturing to the speakers, and he nodded approval.

“You a fan of the Divas?”

“Not really a fan of anything,”

“Mm… Kahtzi’s related you know, not that that's saying much, I think all Theelin are related at this point,”

Kahtzi was a human Theelin hybrid, and would have been rather difficult to meet if I hadn't attended such a prestigious university. There were only about a million or so left in the galaxy.

There were nested cabinets all around the room and I popped them open systematically, checking their contents. Most were empty, but one contained a few soft knit blankets. I carried one back to the couch and sank into it, pulling the knit tight around me.

Exhaustion was catching up to me quickly, the nap on the tiny shuttle didn't do much in the way of rest. The warm living room and soft music were lulling me into a state of true relaxation.

It wasn't long till my eyes grew too heavy to keep open, and I fell into a deep sleep.

~~~

Where's that cultural dress I had made for the meeting, Tah’nyem?

…

No it's not revealing

…

That's the style, li’ha, the clients appreciate the care we pay to their customs.

…

Wear. It.

…

It was dark when I opened my eyes again, the stereo and most of the lights turned off.

I couldn't see Crosshair, but I could hear his breathing in the direction of the bunks. It didn't take long for me to figure that that was what woke me. The breathing was labored, almost panting, irregular. I got up with my blanket and tip-toed over to the hall to check on him.

As suspected, his eyelids were twitching rapidly and a sheen of sweat glinted in the remaining light spilling over from the kitchen. I thought about waking him, but the brown eyes fluttered open on their own. He looked disoriented for a moment, but quickly refocused on me standing near the foot of the bunk.

“What are you doing?”

I sat next to his knees.

“Just seeing what the fuss is about, you remember what you were dreaming?”

He was quiet for a while.

“No,”

It was a lie.

“You know, if you were to talk about the shadows that swim behind those eyes… who would be safer than someone you'll know so briefly?”

That didn't seem to placate him, but he forced himself into something resembling ease.

“It’s… I'm fine,”

I reached over and took his hand, turning it to massage the palm as I had on the transport only a day or so ago and the ease seeped into him, becoming real.

“You want to go back to sleep?”

“No,”

Genuine this time.

“Me neither…”

I cast my eyes about the space, now feeling stiflingly small.

“Come on,”

I tugged his arm, getting up from the bunk and letting my blanket fall to the floor.

“Where, exactly?”

“Let's get some fresh air,”

“Prince-... Tah’Nyem, we have to stay within the walls,”

It was the first time he had used my name rather than the more derogatory form of endearment and it sounded wrong in its formality.

“Tahny,”

“What?”

“Call me Tahny… my full honorific feels… too heavy on your lips,”

No one really called me that anymore other than my mother, but…

“We have to stay inside… Tahny,”

My heart fluttered. The childhood nickname sounded different, colored by his voice, and it only spurred my resolve.

“Anything a scanner can pick up has to stay down here, empty your pockets and it'll be fine,”

He still resisted.

“They can scan for life forms…”

“The trees will throw them off,”

I turned, still holding his hand, to be even with him sitting up on the bunk.

“Please, Crosshair?”

Since we're on a first name basis now…

A little tremor went through him and he sighed, moving to get up but pulling his hand from mine to close the robe that had come undone while he slept.

Together, we left the mechanical hums and whines of the bunker doors, making our way back out into the dark, red stained landscape.

The sun was positioned differently, but nothing else had changed since we had passed through hours ago. The rocks were warm on my bare feet, and the water lapped softly against the surreal, black backdrop of stones and trees.

I could feel his wary presence, calm but untrusting, scanning the horizon. He had grabbed his rifle, and now held it lazily to his side while he took in the alien moon.

Turning back to the sea, I breathed deeply, expecting to smell salt, but all that came to me was the vaguely green scent of ferns. How good it felt to be outside.

“I've never seen a world like this, have you?”

“Red suns I've seen, but like this? Not… exactly,”

“New for both of us then?”

A noise of affirmation.

I stood a moment, taking it in, breathing the fresh air and toying with the buttons of the shirt I was draped in.

“I wonder what else we have in common…”

I didn't need to use much imagination, having been forcibly dragged through each other's minds. We're both filled with dark, swirling thoughts of people not their own. An ever growing resentment for being perceived, thoughts racing in an ever tightening circle of how to be free of… well, everything.

Death wish?

It seemed like an accurate label, and its hold was on both of us. We flirt with danger in different ways… but we were just begging for one instance, one moment, where maybe the danger will win. End the torture, the loneliness. Give us our freedom. All it took was once. Was one bad decision really better than another?

“Put your gun down.”

“No,”

A pause of consideration,

“Why?”

“You won't need it.”

A moment passed as he fought with abandoning his physical sense of security. Eventually, I heard him put the stock on the ground, apparently leaning it against one of the trees at the edge of the narrow beach.

With a deft hand, I worked the buttons down my shirt free of their clasps and let the fabric fall with a slither onto the warm stones.

“Tahny!”

Alarm in his voice.

“Quiet.”

The command made him rock back from whatever action he meant to take to end this.

I turned to look over my shoulder. He was only a few paces away, transfixed in a sort of befuddled way.

“Why do we give them everything?”

“W-what?”

“Everyone else. Those who control us, own us as you will, just… accepting that if they decide to change our lives, abandon us, use us, it's in their power to do so, and yet- what do they let us have for ourselves? What do they think of us?… they don't even see us,”

He didn't answer, I didn't need him to.

“Listen… you can walk away, go inside, forget this and me the moment we part ways,”

A long moment of nothing but the lap of water…

“..or?”

It was so quiet. I turned and slowly closed the distance, pressing against him, feeling how tense he suddenly was.

“You can help me remember this beautiful night in a way that would always be ours,”

His breath was carefully even.

I looked into his eyes, pleading.

“How many times will you throw yourself at death till it finally snags you? Would you really go off to die without having me? Never knowing…”

He still teetered on the edge of duty and reason but had run out of excuses. His eyes darkened as I reminded him of our grim realities, stoking an anger that reflected what was burning through my core. I kept pushing,

“I don't know how you work but for me… it would be torture to never know you,”

I had my answer when his arms snaked around me, crushing me to him as his mouth found mine, clamping to me with a sudden, desperate hunger; Ravenous to take, to have, to fight back in a way that would bring a smile to Be'llahl.

Hands running over his chest in return, I slipped the robe from his shoulders helping him to catch up to my nudity.

His fingers roved down my hips, giving my ass a firm squeeze before he carefully lowered himself to the ground pulling me into his lap, never breaking the kiss that was slowly consuming us in flames of lust and hidden rage.

I moaned into his mouth in need as I felt his cock stiffening against my thighs. Taking him in hand, I felt the weight of him, the length against my wrist as I gripped the base. I couldn't wait much longer.

“Please, Crosshair…”

My flesh was on fire, his hands on me sending waves of tingles to my brain churning me into a sensitive mess. He stroked his fingers up my spine and I arched against him with a gasp. Using my free hand to cup his neck, thumb caressing the edge of the ragged scar over his ear, he took the opportunity to bite at a nipple that had come in range.

This earned him another pitiful moan and I stroked his length wanting it inside of me.

With a low growl he gathered my arms and held them behind my back easily with one hand. The other slid over my hip and down between my legs, gently caressing the tender petals he found there making me tremble as he coaxed the slickness of my arousal to drip onto his waiting member.

He moaned low, the same need consuming him, and he guided himself to my entrance. There was no resistance as he lowered me down to take him fully, pulling me into him till he was sheathed in me, grinding against my slick and swollen lips.

We both sighed in relief before our mouths met again, less frantic now. Taking the time to explore the sensation of us, pulling back only to look at each other, bodies now interlocked. He was beautiful beneath me, naked and drenched in red light…

I squeezed my thighs. Rocking myself on his lap, desperate for some friction, he tightened his grip on my wrists. His other arm wrapped around me firmly but he was letting me take the lead. Cross’s lips gently brushed my forehead creating a strange juxtaposition with the rough, dominant hold around my bucking hips.

The stones under my knees shifted with me as I rode him, his hands guiding my bouncing body. He was trembling, but focused, not wanting this to end too soon. I could feel the pleasure shifting into something more wild as I reached the first threshold. He pulled me down onto him suddenly, slamming into me, driving me over the waiting edge.

The climax took me quickly, days of tension making me easy quarry, and my knees squeezed his hips as I let out a strangled cry, any other thoughts forcibly scrubbed from my brain as I shook in his hold. My desire was only deepening. I was starting to fear the physical contact wasn't going to be enough any more. I wanted him in my mind again, clawing against my soul.

“Look at me,”

My eyes fluttered open, not realizing I had closed them. I drank in his face, the rapture in it, the red sun reflected in his eyes.

This will have to do…

He let go of my arms, letting his left hand drift to my hip while his right trailed up to my neck, holding it gently as he laid back onto the stones. He thrusted up, increasing the power from below.

The scoop of my hips became violent as I met each of his strokes, arms now free to use his chest for balance. I dug my fingertips into the firm pecs as pleasure pushed the sense from me; It escaped in wispy moans that carried across the rippling water. It didn't take long for another orgasm to rip through me, harder this time. My muscles clamped down on him threatening to push him free as I cried out, echoing into the quiet, alien night.

I didn't dare look away. With him holding my neck, I couldn't if I wanted to. It was all intensity rolling off of him and a rumbling through his breastbone, pleased with my writhing form holding his eyes so desperately.

“Oh Cross… li’nen, you feel so good,”

The world was spinning, he shifted us, skillfully flipping to be on top of me. My back pressed into the warm stones and I adjusted, wrapping my legs around his hips as he continued with careful, measured humping.

No… that's not right.

“Don't, ah! hold back,”

His rhythm faltered but he didn't change pace.

“I don't want to, ha-hurt you,”

“It's okay… I can take it, just… I want it all Cross-hah, give me everything,”

He took a deep, shaking breath… then roughly thrust into me. His chest pinned me as he scooped forward in a full bodied motion taking up a slower, harder rhythm.

I hadn't realized how much he had been restraining himself and I groaned at the new force. It took a moment to acclimate before becoming comfortable. I remembered what was said about his enhanced strength…

I'll have more bruises tomorrow for sure,

The thought was wiped clean as my body shuddered with each hammering thrust, any jolt of pain becoming pleasure as it was lost in the labyrinth of my quivering nerves. All I could do was wrap my arms and legs tighter about him.

I was getting close again. Listening to his soft grunts as he ravaged me was just as erotic as the physical sensation. It felt like I was floating, eyes glazed, no longer capable of much sound at all. I clung to him, his breath, his heartbeat, the only thing that was real anymore.

A gasp finally escaped me as everything became brighter. I claimed his lips again as I came, nails biting into his back and legs locking about his hips as my muscles flexed against him wanting him as deep as possible.

It was finally too much for him and his breath caught as he lost the battle with his own pleasure. He pressed back against me, letting my knees pull him deeper as he twitched inside, wracked in his own orgasm, a soft groan against my lips,

“Tahny…”

Before he collapsed over me. The hormones fled, leaving him spent and panting.

I stroked his back as he rested his forehead against mine and we breathed heavily… together, reduced to our most vulnerable forms.

Two frightened children, lost and adrift on the edge of the galaxy, grasping for a friend in the dark.

Shhh... *ushers you away*

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sageourplanetmeow · 10 days

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Indie Animations I Recommend

Haven’t posted in a while since, as I have said, my Apple Pencil broke and I haven’t been able to work on commissions or that one hazbin hotel animation… which I was actually getting through for once. Also I have fallen into a Varian And The Seven Kingdoms obsession.

Anyhow I shall now take the chance to share a couple indie animations I’ve watched/been watching recently possibly with a brief note about what kind of audience would enjoy it (might not be accurate I dunno)

youtube

First and foremost The Epilogue Of Endings which released approximately 12 hours ago as of when I’m writing this. And just before I summarise anything I just want to praise this pilot for HOW AMAZING IT IS DESPITE ITS SMALL BUDGET! The animation is fantastic and I swear something about it makes me so happy. The art style is also amazing (in my opinion) and suits the character designs perfectly. I love the character designs, just saying, and the voice acting is superb. I think my favourite designs from it are Blu (because I mean the mask and metal arms are pretty damn cool) and the ————. I won’t say who they are because the reveal is too good to miss, but you might be able to guess who I’m talking about if you’ve watched it.

Now to say what happens. This takes place after the sun ya know, goes. I think I’m probably the most interested by what exactly is going on with Mole but I think my favourite character thus far is Blu. I suggest you go watch it, it’s very cool. I think if you like Indie animation in general then this is a good pic due to its indie feel (positive). Also would suggest to people who enjoy slightly creepy media (it’s not that creepy in my opinion but it does feature the downfall of humanity and what happens after the sun dies so it’s slightly unsettling, it masters that feeling).

And here’s their Kickstarter

We also have Dreamworld which also has a season 2, I’m just linking the first one though so just so you know you can find the second season on the channel. As said by the creator, it borrows certain tropes/aspects from analogue horror and has animatronics. As it says up there it is a sci-fi horror series that is intended to be accessible to younger fans of the genre. Again, I love the story and the character designs. So far, my favourite character and character design belongs to THE Star Light. I’m starting to see a theme with me liking sun/moon/star themed animatronics. I mean this guy has a BOW TIE and a charming smile. If I wasn’t already dressing up as Varian for Halloween then I think I would’ve looked into trying to dress as Star Light.

youtube

The pilot hasn’t released but the animation from this teaser is SO GOOD! I’m excited to see the pilot. There’s also been music/songs released by them, I can’t remember if I’ve gotten around to listening to any but I fully intend on doing so.

youtube

I’m sorry but how is the animation this good with only one person animating it (I might’ve gotten that wrong). I find the character designs really cool and the art style is fun. They’re in space. The voice acting is good. Also just gonna say, they have merch.

youtube

This is Dungeon Flippers, a fantasy real-estate cartoon following Maulie, a manticore. (I copied and shortened down the description of the YouTube channel)

The animation is great and the voice acting is really good. The story is interesting and The Ace Of Wands Theme is a joy to listen to every time.

youtube

I don’t know how to describe the plot but lemme just… the animation deserves praise, it suits the vibe of the pilot and the character designs are amazing. Voice acting is also fun and I’d recommend this even if it’s just sea side/coast vibes you’re looking for.

This one is a YouTube channel that posts OC animatics and has posted Sundrop and Moondrop animations, just saying I think they drew the Sun and Moon Q&A comics soooo that was my introduction to their work.

youtube

Just watch this and you will see some PEAK animation.

youtube

Again, the animation is awesome.

https://youtu.be/XPE3nTxV2_k?si=Rgd5yBL9_B-Fl5i7

And that’s where the video limit comes, alas, but check it out. It’s by Meppity and has some really good paper looking animation.

And this is where we have the indie animated stuff (I consider it that at least) centred around pre-existing shows.

youtube

I myself am looking forward to making my own indie animated stuff or comics (I haven’t really decided, I’m just working on different characters whilst also writing fanfics and drawing fan comics and other art stuff on top of art homework. YAY

Here is one… dated… animation I did a year ago which took me a while.

https://youtu.be/jmteRdRgHWI?si=o-p-l9gheLSkw7Xr

It’s for an OC, but with their old design. The new design has a satchel, otherwise nothing changed to be honest. I also have done another animation which was far more rough but it was me animating whilst seeing who would win the election so it’s political and not about any of my ocs or any actual characters. As I said, I already have another animation in the works for Alastor so I have to wait till my Apple Pencil gets fixed or replaced to continue working on it.

#art 2024 #Hazbin hotel #animation #indie animation #indie show #the owl house #mandelbrot hall #port by the sea #dungeon flippers #atlas and the stars #far fetched #Dreamworld #epilogue of endings #Youtube

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nyancreeperdraws · 11 months

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She amaze on my digital till I circus.

So, yeah, to keep me satiated until the FNAF Movie, I decided to draw Pomni and Jax from TADC because honestly, these colorful characters make me smile.

If you don't know, The Amazing Digital Circus is a pilot from creator Gooseworx, who you may know from things like their short film Lil Runmo or from THE_BLUE_CHANNEL and just a week ago she released this pilot for a new show she is working on with Glitch Productions.

But you probably already know that. TADC is like, one of the most popular internet pilots to date, even getting more views and attention than even Hazbin Hotel. (And unfortunately getting nearly the same amount if unnessesary hate on Twitter but that's a whole different rant)

My opinion: I love this pilot. It's so wacky and fun, and extremely dark. And Gooseworx's extremely zany yet dark comedy meshes well with Glitch's more experimental 3d animation. Plus the story is extremely intriguing, I wanna see more.

While I might end up becoming more of a casual fan than anything (Hazbin and Helluva brainrot still infests me I'm afraid :( ) I will definately watch more of this show when it gets made! Who knows, maybe by then I'll become a super fan.

So yeah, if you haven't watched TADC, go watch it now, it's on Youtube for free and only half an hour long. Trust me you won't regret it.

So yeah, hope you enjoy Jax and Pomni in my style.

#the amazing digital circus #the amazing digital circus fanart #amazing digital circus #digital circus #gooseworx #tadc pomni #pomni #pomni fanart #tadc fanart #tadc jax #jax fanart #nyancreeperdraws

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deliciouspirateangel · 9 months

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just finished binging the entirety of high school musical: the musical: the series in six days and now i'm going to ramble about it for longer than anyone would care to read. it's gonna be generally positive but definitely nini and olivia unfriendly so if you dont wanna read that... dont ♥️♥️

so i suggested to my sister a while ago that i wanted to watch the show bc the videos that youtube commentary channel "pretty much it" did for it were hysterical. and she had watched the first couple of eps by herself and was like "i dont think you'll like it. its not as funny as they make it seem". but we finally decided to start it anyway

(also i dont know the entire casts' real names so i'll mostly refer to them as their character names)

season 1:

that first season was kind of rough. especially the pilot. it got better over time but its definitely my least favorite season over all. im not even a fan of high school musical so it lacked the nostalgia enjoyment for me

and i definitely did not like nini and her main character syndrome. and sorry to say but i think olivia is the least talented cast member over all. pretty privilege is so real like she didnt deserve to be the break out star she was just the most marketable. kourtney and ashlyn's voices were so strong and stellar, and they might not've been Dancers but they could definitely move. and gina was the best dancer in the fucking world and while i do think her voice wasnt as good, she could obviously still sing. nini's best talent moments were when olivia was shining thru imo (that one taking it for gra-a-a-anted song comes to mind first) but i was not here for the acoustic numbers and honestly i dont think she was a great actress

so i definitely wasnt a fan of the whole nini ricky gina ej love square. i know its a tried and true teen show staple but goddamn it got tiring. i just never liked rini and i didnt like how nini treated him right from the start asklfjlds. she was also rude as hell to everyone else, especially gina, being all passive aggressive towards her. literally saying she wanted to kick gina in the face bc gina is a good dancer and she's intimidated?? but also all the talk in general about gina being intimidating or aggressive or a bad seed like ??? the microaggressions were off the charts

not to mention the fucking macroaggression of kourtney's entire s1 "character". i think hattie mcdaniel had a more nuanced role in gone with the wind. it was so fucking painful to watch. she didnt exist to be anything other than nini's personal soundboard, cheerleader, stylist, life coach, and whatever else she needed in the moment. thank god they gave her a real character by s2 bc kourtney was way too talented, too gorgeous, too charismatic to be forced into the role of nini's handmaid the whole time

i dont really have much to say about s1 cause i wasnt into it at the time lol. it was okay. all the actors did a good job, it was kind of funny, the only song that really stood out was miss jenn's fantasy sequence song with lucas. the actually high school musical show they put on was painful to watch but thats high school theater for you babyyy

season 2:

this was such an improvement from s1 and my favorite season over all. there were a handful of eps in the middle where i was constantly like "this is my fave ep" "ok this is my fave ep" "ok now THIS is my fave ep" it was a delight. i love beauty and the beast and was so happy for ashlyn getting belle, and everyone else was very well cast. although idk why seb was chip and not cogsworth?? my sister said it was bc disney didnt want to confirm that they were gay 💔💔

the music was obviously better bc we've got fucking alan menken on the track. all the numbers from the show were perfect. i wish ej had gotten to sing the gaston reprise bc he didnt get to reach his full gaston potential and i think we deserved that 💔

the debacle with the whole rose song was sooo annoying. nini deserved to be that fork. she dragged the whole show down like it was always so much better when she wasnt there aklfjlksd

the rivalry with the other school was lots of fun. i liked all the new characters. my favorite original song was miss jenn's number with derek hough

season 3:

this season was likeee a pleasant mid for me??? idk it was fine and fun but it didnt have anything in it that blew me away. i think this season was screaming for extra episodes more than any other, since we were missing a chunk of the cast. we deserved to cut back to salt lake every now and again and see what the non-camp-goers were up to

kourtney and gina as elsa and anna was a dream. not the biggest fan of frozen but they did a good job. everyone looked so cute in their costumes and kourtney's solo was amazinggg. the new characters were fun but i dont have strong feelings towards them lol. but i loved getting to explore kourtney's character and her struggles with anxiety, that was very real

them filming a documentary was funny bc have they not been filming one this whole time? my headcanon was that the to-the-camera interviews were all in their heads and everyone was practicing for when they became famous lol but then ricky ruined that in s4 by acknowledging them directly rip 💔

i liked after their show ended and they all got sharpies and wrote their names on the walls back stage. that was definitely a potent theater kid memory and got me a lil teary eyed

i liked ej taking on the role of director and copying miss jenn's hand holding and high pitched singing at the first read thru. i liked ej and gina together i thought they were cute. it was disappointing that the show wouldnt commit to them for even a minute and they always had to be teetering on the edge between being a couple and not. that was frustrating

and girl just get nini out of there already. olivia wanted nini to be there as much as i did. she was sooo over it by s3

umm favorite original song was corbin bluh's basketball song

season 4:

very very fun season again. loved the chaos of filming the movie at the school while school is happening. as if every movie set in a real school doesnt shoot in the summer. oh well. gotta have a season!

there was too much mack for me personally. i dont think he gave wanted they wanted to be given. i needed more dani tho. her actress was so good at bad acting. she couldve been a much bigger comedic presence also she looked like a cross between sofia carson and emma roberts but sometimes just looked like a latina emma roberts ??? is that just me??

and still the lack of seb and big red at the beginning like ?? did they specifically piss off the writers so they had to banish them for nearly half the show?

loved that the little girl from camp was there. she stole the show. and maddox and jet are fine alskfjsldk i just didnt form strong opinions on them but i do like them

ashlyn's "i need to give her mouth to mouth! AS A FRIEND!" was the funniest line of the entire show hands down

so happy they finally had a halloween episode! it was lots of fun and everyone looked so cute in their costumes uwu. but that guy from camp that was stalking carlos??? that was so bizarre and it never paid off likeee what was the reason

and gina's mom was pissing us off so bad. she was acting wild this season. like gina has to focus on her studies so no boys but she can work from sun up to sun down on a movie lmao. and her mom had the nerve to be like "well i never came to your shows bc that was just high school theater but THIS is a movie" like wooow. and i swear it felt like she was about to sell gina off to mack bc he was famous. and when she started with that "porters dont wait around" mess and ricky cleared her with a quickness with that whole "well i seem to remember gina waiting around for you on opening night" like damn

and omg when mack was over for dinner and ricky came over with chocolates but saw him thru the window. i was like ugh fuck its gonna be the stupid thing where he sees this and gets the wrong idea and its gonna be a stupid wedge between him and gina that doesnt need to be there bc no one can communicate BUT THEN gina sees him outside and runs to him and i think i screamed bc i was so relieved aslkjskl but their kiss was very cinematic and cute ♥️♥️

and omg on sunday night im sitting there trudging thru s1 like "yeah starting this might've been a mistake" and by friday im bawling my eyes out bc the story is ending 💔💔 sofia deserved the whole fucking egot and a golden globe too for that scene at the end. and i was SO invested in her acting career and like pleading with the show for her not to pass on it and stay at school but fucking genius that she is found a way to do both!!!

and i honestly didnt know what i wanted miss jenn to do like i was rooting for her both ways but of course she staaayed. and the show ended and it had the "skip credits" button and my sister was like "oh there's something after the credits?" and then i saw "for good" listed at the end of the songs and i screamed again. and was bawling again when everyone was singing that. who knew this silly little show would have such a death grip on me by the end???

so over all it was really very good and not a waste of time. i liked pretty much every character and it was just a lot of fun! would definitely watch it again

my over all season ranking would be two, four, three, and one is dead ass last

my favorite characters from the start were gina, miss jenn, carlos, ashlyn, and big red lowkey alskfjdskl. kourtney got up there in s2 and beyond. and i do really like ricky, ej, seb, they're my secondary faves. (kinda wish ricky had more to do bc aside from his parents, i feel like every single one of his issues had to do with a love triangle and i just wish the character was granted a little more texture) and the camp kids were good, they were fine, they're like third-iary faves. and the only ones i dislike are gina's mom and nini lol

and i wasnt like screaming over any ships but generally i liked them all except rini. ej and gina was cute, i liked ashlyn and maddox, i liked ashlyn and big red, carlos and seb probably were my faves if i had to pick, i liked kourtney with howie (wish we saw him again) and jet, and yes by the end i was rooting for rina they just won me over this season and were super cute and im glad they ended where they did ♥️

#hsmtmts #high school musical: the musical: the series #high school musical the musical the series #disney #disney channel #disney+#angel watches #angel watches hsmtmts

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nightfurmoon · 1 year

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Okay, I hope you don't mind me doing this, but I wanted to talk about the USA English dub for HBO Max! I was a bit caught off guard by the new voice cast, I was expecting the same cast they used in the pilot on YouTube. The new cast isn't bad or anything, in fact I really enjoy them, but it's just not what I was expecting, and I think Penumbra & Sunblast in particular sounded a little strange. Again, not bad, just, off ... I would've perfered the Pilot voice cast. Also is it just me, or did it feel like the Animation was moving slightly faster than the voice over? Cause there was a few places where I remember the next scene would start as the last scenes Audio was still finishing. Maybe that's just a Glitch on my end. There was also a few moments where the audio just randomly dropped out, or was missing, like in the Pilot when 5.0.5 responds to Flugs warning not to clean the office his cute little, "Copy That!" Was missing. A few of the line deliveries sounded a bit strange, almost like they weren't said in the right tone, or mood I guess, like Flug really should've sounded tired when he said "Breakfast" to the Rookie hero being lowered into Dementias chambers. Not to mention how they changed a couple of lines from the original Pilot script, and a different English dub I watched that DID feature the Pilot voice cast. Most of them made more sense than the original or just sounded better, but a few were a bit weird. But altogether I loved it, and im happy to finally have Villainous available in the US without paying for an expensive VPN! ^^ sorry this turned into a bit of a rant...😅

Yeah they changed the cast a while ago! The English dub was released on HBO Max Latam with this new cast and script, I'm guessing you didn't catch on that. But yeah, they had to change the cast for union reasons and that boring stuff.

I think they sound better than the original! And yes some lines are weirdly missing like the 'copy that', but apart from that I think it sounds better. I reaaally love the new Flug and Miss Heed. It's also very normal for them to change the lines, and sometimes some scenes don't really align, but it's not much of a bother. I guess I'm more used to it since I watch shows both in eng and spanish and you can definitely see the differences in script, the tone and the timing. Each language is its own world, you can't really make all of them align perfectly

#nightfur talks #villainous

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jajanvm-imbi · 8 months

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Hey there! Not so much a question but wanted to reach out because I saw your post on Hazbin/Helluva. As someone who has followed both the shows and is still looking forward to watching Hazbin when it comes out I have to say, I’ve stayed in my lane and avoided the majority of the fandom all together and I’ve been having a great experience with it.

It does suck that that has to be the way I interact with this media that I’ve come to enjoy. Fandoms are great (at times) spaces where people should be able to discuss the thing they enjoy, as well as challenge it when needed with conversation. But the Helluva/Hazbin one has not seemed to bring great things to the table, so I’ve opted to simply remove myself from it. I could definitely say a lot more, but ultimately this message was just to say I’m one of the ones out here too who is just looking to engage with the media!

Ugh its so great to see other people just trying to have a good time with Hazbin and Helluva. I've been following both series since the pilots were released and I was genuinely excited to see them both become fully fleshed out.

Its a shame that both shows and their creator have been at the center of peak toxic Twitter purity bullshit culture for all these years, especially in these past few weeks leading up to Hazbin's release.

Thank God I deleted Twitter and Tiktok a while ago. Every day I go onto YouTube to find yet another controversy surrounding one of the shows or Viv, I can't imagine the piles of shit being thrown from both sides of the fence.

I'll probably make on more post critiquing Hazbin once it finally premiers and calling it a day but honestly just because I love analyzing media in general. I'm also thinking about making a post or series of posts critiquing Helluva Boss because even though I love it and find it entertaining, there are a lot of valid criticisms and I'd love to analyze those as well. (Again purely because I love analyzing the media I consume)

But its nice to see some positivity being spread around!! I am so so so excited for Hazbin's release! I'm also a musical theater enthusiast (have been since I was like 13 lmfao) and hearing so many Broadway stars in the cast has me vibrating with excitement. (Jeremy Jordan???? Leslie Kritzer?? CHRISTIAN FUCKING BORLE?????? Sign me up!!!!)

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toonrandytalkstoons · 2 years

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Pony in the Spotlight: An “It’s Pony” Retrospective

Today, January 18, marks the third anniversary of It’s Pony – an unique original Nicktoon in which it’s mainly produced out of the United Kingdom instead of the usual Nickelodeon Animation studios in the United States. Created by illustrator, animator and writer Ant Blades, It’s Pony chronicles the antics of a talking pony and his human best friend who live in an urban farm on the sixth floor of an apartment.

In my mind, It’s Pony stood out from many other Nicktoons when it aired – while it did have its moments in wacky moments, it has an unique charm to it. It has its own brand of humor – probably because most of its writers are British and the Brits have their own sense of humor – and the stories themselves have their twists and turns. When watching the series, you’ll never know when the story would lead because of an unpredictable pony. And with any animated series filled with quirky characters, great music, hilarious situations, unique character designs and art style and heartwarming moments, I fell in love with It’s Pony.

Alas, with many other Nicktoons, It’s Pony didn’t last well. While it never achieved the same amount of success as SpongeBob SquareParents and The Loud House, Nick’s two current biggest Nicktoon franchises, to me it was a breath of fresh air when I was growing tired of the latter aforementioned series, and for reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph.

In this retrospective, we’ll look back at the series as well as its merits and highlights from all two seasons of It’s Pony. Let’s begin!

Having launched in 2012 and lasted until the end of the decade, the Nickelodeon Animated Shorts Program garnered so many pilots. For the 2016-17 season, a pilot called Pony made the rounds as part of a slew of submissions from the program’s international edition. Luckily, it got picked up for a full series. British-born Ant Blades has made a name for himself as a creator of various animated shorts. Among other things, he’s also the creator of the comic strip Bewley, about a family of blue-colored birds, that ran on the British newspaper Daily Express for a number of years. (The strip appeared on the website GoComics in the United States about a decade ago, but it's since removed as its rights have expired.)

Enter Nickelodeon a few years later. When Blades’ Pony got picked up, the decision was made to have the series produced mainly out of the UK. Blue Zoo, a renowned London-based animation, was known for its CG productions in the preschool programming field. Recently, they opened a 2D animation unit – and its first production was Pony, since renamed to It’s Pony. (Blue Zoo also produces the animation for 2019’s The Adventures of Paddington, which is also on Nickelodeon in the US, and they are also currently working with the network on producing the upcoming series HexVet, based on the graphic novel series.) While its artists and writers are mainly based in Britain, much of its voice cast are based in the US.

-----

So, how did I get invested in It’s Pony? In early 2018, during Nickelodeon's Upfront, the series was announced during the event. When Nick’s other announcements of a fourth season renewal of The Loud House as well as its spin-off The Casagrandes garnered so much attention within my friends and the online animation community at large, while I was fine with those announcements, one look at It’s Pony’s promotional image sold it for me. At that moment, I knew I’m for something special despite it being ignored from the beginning.

Since then I was counting the days til the day It’s Pony made its debut. However, over a year has passed by that time I became a little desperate as there was no new news about the series. Finally, during the holiday season in 2019, Nickelodeon announced that there will be a sneak peek of the series on YouTube on Christmas Day, with the series officially premiering on January 18, 2020. I was excited. However, Nick didn’t upload the sneak peek on Christmas as announced, only to finally appear on YouTube the next day. (If that’s the first time Nick attempted to mistreat a new Nicktoon before its debut, then I don’t know what is. :D)

The sneak peek was a 10 minute segment of an episode called “Plants!” I wrote my first impressions back then and I liked what I saw. After a few more watches of the same segment, however, “Plants!” became one of my favorite episodes/segments of It’s Pony. I laughed more and more. The upload wasn’t an immediate success, however: When I wrote about “Plants!”, its view count at the time was 188,000 – the video didn’t reach one million views months later. By comparison, the sneak peek of The Casagrandes’ first segment on YouTube a few weeks earlier surpassed over a million views within 24 hours. If my memory is correct, I think Nickelodeon promoted The Casagrandes’s sneak peek over It’s Pony’s, or they had promoted It’s Pony’s sneak peek but lots of people were only interested on The Loud House spin-off.

It kinda bothered me, because I wanted It’s Pony to succeed. But it doesn't matter. I was looking forward to the series premiere.

It’s Pony’s arrival came at a critical yet tragic time for me.

Several years prior, I got back to watching Nickelodeon. The Loud House was my main cartoon from the network during that period. But even then, Nick continued to can some other Nicktoons I also liked watching while putting so much attention to TLH – the last Nicktoon I loved by this time was Welcome to the Wayne. Secondly, I grew dissatisfied towards The Loud House and felt that its quality had dropped while it became a show that was unfamiliar to me, and I also dealt with an increasingly hostile fandom that took a toll on my mental health. Thankfully, a new animated series on Netflix called Archibald’s Next Big Thing brought me some respite from it all – I loved it so much that I even rewatched the first season multiple times.

The tragic part – and most important of all – is that while all of this was going on, my mom was dying and I found myself into heavy depression at times. A few weeks after Mom’s funeral and while I was coping with grief, It’s Pony arrived to bring me much joy. A half hour’s worth of silliness, great characters, and tons of heart to shield from the harsh realities of life, thanks to an unlikely pony-girl friendship and the hijinks that surround them.

I frequently brought up TLH here, but It’s Pony did have ties to the popular series: One, a handful of writers from TLH including Bob Mittenthal (also served as the series’ head writer) and Jacob Fleischer contributed to It’s Pony. Finally, Jessica DiCicco – the voice of sisters Lynn and Lucy – starred as Annie Bramley, while Grey Griffin (Lily, Lola and Lana), Yvette Nicole Brown (Mayor Davis) and Joe DiMaggio (Mr. Grouse) make frequent appearances in the series. Because of the TLH/It’s Pony connection, I often told people who love The Loud House to check out It’s Pony. Obviously, it didn’t work most of the time, but only a few people I know did.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that Josh Zuckeman, the voice of the starred character Pony, also appeared as Young Evil in the movie Austin Powers in Goldmember. The Austin Powers series is one of my favorite film series, and I was ecstatic when I found that out after I started watching the series. He’s great as Pony. Pony is one of my comfort characters – his character design as well as his voice are what makes him so adorable.

-----

What is the tone of It’s Pony? For starters, it features the antics of a talking pony who’s not only naïve, but also causing havoc throughout the city, which later came to be called Pickleton in the second season. Yet, Pony always means well and while he’s good – well, chaotic good mostly – he has always come through for the people he loves, including Annie and her parents George and Helen, and his friends.

As mentioned earlier, when watching the series you’ll never know when things would go when Pony’s around, and I think the writers worked so hard to make it happen and miraculously pulled it off. Pony drives much of the series’ comedy. When I noticed people who had tried to watch the series, they found Pony to be annoying. To me, it’s just a part of the series’ charm. I just love him and he has always made me laugh!

Amid all the chaos, however, It’s Pony can also be surprisingly laid-back. It gives the effect of the series to be soothing when it’s not in chaotic mode. The series’ soundtrack usually features a string instrument being heard, which I do think it helps give off that kind of vibe. It’s also appropriate given the fact that the Bramleys are a farming family.

And the heartwarming stuff, oh the heartwarming stuff. At the series’, um, heart, are Annie and Pony’s relationship. They’re the best of friends, they love each other, and they can’t imagine being separated from each other. A segment from season one, “Teacher’s Pet”, touches on this, with an emotional beat. There’s also Annie’s friends: including her closest human friend and rich but sweet Clara, sportster Heston, smart Gerry (whom Clara has a crush on), geek Brian, slightly-deranged animal lover Beatrice, weirdo Fred, and kinda dark yet sometimes frenemy Henrietta. Beatrice, Fred and Henrietta aside, the friends – despite some conflicts that appear between them every once in a while – they’re very supportive of each other. There are tons of other heartwarming moments in the series, which I’ll also mention in the episode highlights later in this retrospective.

In addition, It’s Pony came out in a time when the world was (and still is) already in despair, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic was in its beginning stages, with the pandemic arriving in the US nearly two months later after the series premiere and millions of people were ordered to stay home. The New York Times named It’s Pony as one of the new series for parents to watch with their kids. Nickelodeon’s Twitter account tweeted their article. It’s Pony seemingly was destined to move to greater things if good reviews and decent ratings were any indication. However, we all know what happened next…

----- I’ve talked about how the series came to be and my personal history with it. Now, we begin the brief recaps of my favorite episodes from both seasons! While it’ll only be about the episodes, It’s Pony also has a series of shorts available online – all of them are great!

Season 1

“Nosy Pony”

In the series’ debut segment, Pony does what the title suggests: being nosy. He really gets in the business of strangers and what they do. That, of course, causes problems and not only that, George and Helen need them to temporarily run their produce stand at the city market. After a fix to correct Pony’s nosiness, it worked…until Pony nearly got himself in danger. “Nosy Pony” is a great segment to start off the series, and it’s full of twists and turns.

“Plants!” I mentioned before that I liked this segment when it was shown as a sneak peek, but it has grown on me and it’s now one of my favorites. Pony being afraid of plants does sound silly from a bad moment he experienced. However, while hilarity ensues – including scenes where a therapist who’s helping Pony ends up with a phobia of her own – you can’t help but feeling sorry for Pony. He wants to go on a camping trip with his friends in a forest that is obviously full of plants. You may even end up cheering for him, including him saving Annie from certain danger. And there’s this gem of a line: “The plants are out to get me!”

“Distractions” This segment is so much fun, and it also best demonstrates how unpredictable It’s Pony can be. Annie agrees to help out Gerry on his science project. However, Pony keeps distracting her, and each time it happens it leads the duo on unexpected adventures – and a great heartwarming moment between the two aside from all the chaos. “Distractions” speaks to me because I am easily distracted at times. I’m set on doing something I want to do, only for me to do something else later on – or nothing at all.

“Gerry’s Birthday” It’s Gerry’s birthday, and his friends plan a surprise party for him. Pony stalls him, while Annie and the rest set up the party at the Bramleys’. Along the way Gerry gets hurt (Gerry always gets the worst, doesn't he?) and the planned surprise(s) ends up disastrous. However, while Gerry appreciates Annie and Pony’s gesture, he only wants a quiet birthday, even with a few friends by his side. I think it was this segment that Gerry has become one of my favorite characters on It’s Pony. Like him, I’m reservedly quiet. I have preferred quiet birthdays for years now, and I don’t like a lot of noise. However, I don’t mind having some people by my side. Also: “Pirate burglars! Call the police!”

“Loud Horse” A noisy neighbor is playing her tuba from Annie’s bedroom below, giving her a sleepless night – multiple sleepless nights to be exact. Having enough, she speaks to her neighbor, Marti, about her tuba playing – it turned out that she had to do it because Pony’s the one who annoyed her with his noisy antics. Annie and Pony proceed to rectify the situation – including a (sort of) marriage proposal involving Marti’s girlfriend Meg, and having Marti go on tour with her band so Annie can finally rest easy. It’s a fun episode. And this scene:

“Annie-versary” A special day has arrived for Pony that involves his best friend in the world. He drops subtle hints at Annie, but the problem is that Annie is having trouble with what the “Annie-versary” is about. Later, Helen shows her pictures from the past of Annie meeting Pony for the first time and their activities together. Annie is finally convinced that it’s the anniversary of the day their friendship was formed, but when she catches up with Pony he finally reminds her that it’s the anniversary of the very first day of them eating pizza together. A hilarious and heartwarming episode, and it’s also the episode that will forever remind fans of a touching scene showing a very young Annie and Pony.

“Bramley Holiday” In this Christmas episode, the Bramleys’ holiday tradition involves visiting George’s mother Ruth in her cabin up in the mountains near Clifton. However, their trip is thwarted after Pony’s mishap at the airport, leaving Annie behind while her parents have already taken off. George and Helen did return to a heartbroken Annie, who wanted to see her grandmother. However, an opportunity arises when the Bramleys disguise themselves as part of a troupe on a bus heading to Clifton. But Pony blew their cover and they found themselves stranded in the forest; and along the way they face obstacles including fending off a bear before they finally reach Ruth’s, and their Christmas tradition happily resumes.

While many Christmas episodes from various television series involve stories characters who are Scrooges or Grinches – or even what happen to their families and friends in Christmas if they don’t exist – “Bramley Holiday” involves a family heading to a relative’s for the holiday as well as the meaning of family. George has thought of Pony as a nuisance and it was the reason why he intentionally kept Pony away as the family headed to the airport. However, Pony has always been good to the family – Annie adores him and so does Helen. George realizes he does care for Pony deep down, and while he acted as a grump towards him early in the series in subsequent episodes he has warmed up to him. See the ending of “Teacher’s Pet”!

Season 2

“Annie vs. Pony”

Annie and Pony inexplicably found themselves competing against each other in a pet competition, which might threaten their friendship. And – spoilers – Beatrice was the one who started it all. She’s at her best here in the whole series – a great moment for her. I absolutely love the battle of the pets between Pony and a lizard he entered into the competition. Very Godzilla-like if you ask me!

“Second Best Friend” A crazy episode involving a fly that everyone needs to believe in to save the day, and also an episode involving second best friends. Pony introduces the fly named Michael, his second best friend, to Gerry, who mistakenly injures him while he was shooing him away. Suddenly the whole city stops and begins rallying around Michael, who’s being sent to the hospital. Unfortunately for Gerry (you still can’t feel sorry for him enough), he’s being attacked by a large swarm of flies as revenge. While the city has to believe in Michael to save Gerry, it takes longer for Annie to accept it, and Gerry is saved…but only to be dived into a pool of paint as it has always planned. This episode is just out there in terms of craziness when you consider that It’s Pony was normally laid back, but it’s really funny and sweet.

“Pony Car” A snobbish rich cousin of Clara’s, Barrington, invites her friends to a party being thrown at the pier, which they accept. Clara disdains Barrington’s rude attitude towards her friends and says their friendship is more important than any riches. Later, when Annie, Gerry, Heston and Brian need a ride, Pony arrives with a car he built, which is assembled of various parts presumably from the junkyard. And thus begins a seemingly never-ending ride of wackiness, with them passing by Clara and Barrington at the pier several times until it all finally ends. An amazingly funny episode, and I think this episode has some of Pony’s best moments, including when he pretends to be the car’s radio.

“Wedding Planners” A (scam) honeymoon is awarded to the Bramleys by mail, which excites Annie for her parents. The problem? George and Helen aren’t legally married as their marriage certificate is fraudulent! So Pony and Annie do what they do best: getting themselves into messy situations – in this case it’s in order to have their parents remarried. However, Helen got them as she revealed that she and George are legally and happily married after all and it’s all a ruse to trick Annie and Pony. Helen’s really a smart trickster, and here she did it because she knew the best buds would mess it up. But in the end they’re family and they’re happy together. Plus, Helen’s one of my favorite characters in the series – she’s really sweet, and even fun for a mother like her.

“Song of the Soil” I love “Song of the Soil” for two things: one, it’s an episode full of creativity and fun, and second it has a cute song! Annie and Pony take over tending to their urban farm because the backs of George and Helen break. And behind their parents’, ahem, backs, Pony decides to pull a Phineas and Ferb (!) and builds a giant roller coaster at the top of their apartment building. This temporarily sets back Annie and Pony’s job of harvesting their produce on time, but they complete their job before George arrives and Annie develops a green thumb through the song of the soil.

“Raiders of the Lost Cinema” Being the second Halloween episode (“Scarecrow” being the first), “Raiders of the Lost Cinema” not only has the usual Halloween hijinks but also, unusual for such a Halloween episode, there’s a heartbreaking (when you think about it) backstory of a man who secluded himself for decades after a love of his never arrived for a date – and a movie theater of his went with him, never to be seen again. And thus begins the journey of Pony and friends searching for the theater and its legendary display of (long expired) candies. But standing in their way is a group of high school kids who also want to get to the candy. “Raiders” is one of my all time favorite Halloween episodes, and it also comes with an awesome dance scene from Brian!

“City Pony/Country Pony” In another half hour episode, the Bramleys fear that Pony isn’t having a suitable life in the city due to the havoc he creates and decide that the country life should be perfect for him. George accepts a deal with his Uncle Fitz to stay at the apartment while the family is away at his farm. Upon arriving, the Bramleys face a rundown house (which terrifies Pony), and then they have difficulty adjusting to the country life. Pony, meanwhile, brings the city life of Pickleton to the country life. Everything’s back to normal for the Bramleys in the end, but it is a great episode.

“Annie the Influencer”

A fun episode but also a cautionary tale of sorts as a popular app appears in Pickleton -- and Annie’s hooked into it. The search for being popular and gaining at a lot of clicks by Annie cause a rift between her and her friends, and Pony’s concerned. Then suddenly, Annie finds herself on an island apparently without any modern conveniences, and tries to break free from her addiction. She eventually realizes what she did and makes amends with Pony and her friends, and the end of the episode reveals how she ended up on the island. This episode is notable for the fact that even though Pony is known for being naive, he’s being shown as the straight man, er, pony. It also brings the point that social media can be very addictive and also brings the worst out of people. I’m kinda addicted to social media, mainly Twitter -- but recently I made some strides to limit things that made me negative there.

“Bowled Over” While some episodes of It’s Pony gave hints that Annie may like Heston more than just a friend, in “Bowled Over” it shows her having a clear crush on someone for the first time. She tries to woo a boy named Theo at the bowling alley by trying to improve on her bowling skills. Meanwhile, Pony wishes that he has fingers and he did just that by taping some hot dogs into two of his hooves, giving them “fingers” of his own. But Theo’s constant belittling of Pony and Annie realizing that she put her friendship with Pony over Theo got her to dump him, and the girl and horse duo happily sing about their toes. It’s a favorite episode of mine for only one thing: Pony’s song about fingers! It’s so, so cute!

“Pony, Come Home” The penultimate segment sees Pony unlikely get himself in a new home thanks to a pompous wealthy kid. Annie and friends hatch a plan to get Pony back. This and the accompanying segment which also serves as the series finale “Special Sauce” (which has Gerry in Annie and Pony-style adventures with a pet rock), I feel, celebrates the series as well as the special relationship between Annie and Pony. “Pony, Come Home” features a flashback to a fun time the celebrated duo had from an earlier episode during a scene where Annie reminisces about Pony. (Despite these segments that make up the actual series finale, Nicktoons network premiered a holdover episode a week later, “Beachy Weachy Weach/Bee In a Jar”, presumably because it was close to the summer season at the time. Other countries had access to this episode about a year prior.)

Epilogue

Anyone who knows about Nickelodeon and their tendency to get rid of animated series that aren’t successful to them almost immediately. That’s what happened to It’s Pony despite showing promise. Nick gave up on it more than halfway through the first season, and after that two episodes only premiered throughout 2021 and then burned off the rest of the episode through the first half of 2022. I mean, there’s that and the fact that The Loud House and SpongeBob continue to get more attention. (In addition, by mid 2021 some It’s Pony shorts appeared on Nickelodeon while the main series was still on hiatus, though they were never advertised and other shorts were released online only.)

Like many fans of It’s Pony, I was disappointed but also not surprised. Was it like TLH or SpongeBob? Obviously no, but at the same time other Nicktoons that stood out uniquely from those that are now exist to be milked by the network. And there are lots of animated series I watch that have at least some flaws. However, I can’t seem to find any with It’s Pony in my view. It’s a great show for those who want to forget their worries for me. Like many series within a similar vein, it’s perfect for me to cheer up.

It’s Pony and its creator Ant Blades deserve better. The show and the fact that he’s also an illustrator is the main reason why I want to have a career as a professional artist. Blades’ illustrations are fun, energetic, and have a cuteness to them. Maybe one day he would announce a new project to the delight of his fans, and hopefully it would be much more successful, though It’s Pony deserves to have a lot of success.

I’m closing this essay to paraphrase Blades’ statement from the day It’s Pony had its final episode: the show may be over, but rest assured that Annie and Pony will continue to have their adventures in Pickleton with their special bond together.

Thank you, Ant, and to everyone who made the series for what it is. Happy Annie-versary!

#it's pony #nickelodeon #nicktoons #essays #cartoons #animation

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awesomephd · 2 years

Text

Watching Through My Collection: Day 16/36

I Eat Your Skin (1964) aka Zombies aka Zombie Bloodbath aka Voodoo Blood Bath

Day 15 / Day 17

Now, not only does this movie have so many names, but the 1964 date on my copy is actually when it was filmed. It didn't get released until 1971. Even still, with all the names it got after release, it was filmed under the working title Caribbean Adventure to keep potential investors from catching on that it was a zombie film.

So, truly, it's a painful gem of low-budget horror.

It even made it big in an episode of Elvira's Movie Macabre that I might just watch after this on Tubi. (The plain movie itself is on Youtube too, but I'd rather watch it with Elvira)

CW: 1960's sensibilities

While there were some enjoyable moments in this movie, it wasn't good and constantly felt like it wanted to be a different genre entirely. This is an adventure romance that just so happens to have zombies in it.

The main character is even an insufferable, womanizing erotica adventure novelist that we get introduced to absolutely surrounded by women beside a pool in Miami while he recites his own work to them.

If you want me to believe this many women are that interested in what he's saying, at least let him say "throbbing cock" instead of "throbbing temples" when we all know that's what it's supposed to be.

There's some admittedly funny dialogue here and then some unfunny dialogue that tries too hard and had me thinking this might actually be some kind of horror comedy. But it isn't. It's just weird.

They fly to Zombie Island (yes, that's the actual real name they call the island) and their plane runs out of gas so, naturally, our protagonist must take over for the Hispanic pilot to land them on the beach because he's so sexy and cool and suave. So sexy and cool and suave that he gets absolutely soaked through swimming in a river, but can still use the revolver he had stuffed in his waistband against zombies.

I'll give them credit for the makeup, though. It's fun.

The movie goes back and forth between poorly acted, dull scenes with our white ensemble and "voodoo" rituals that almost feel like they just told the extras to improvise and dance crazy for. Whatever sort of mysticism that does get built up in the movie gets immediately ruined when they decide that actually the thing that made all these not-actually-zombies-apparently was a doctor doing experiments with snake venom and radiation.

Because god forbid the zombies be actual voodoo or anything. Guess that would've been too much like White Zombie (1932).

Oh, also the doctor's daughter has no chemistry with the protagonist, but right after she almost gets kidnapped to be a virgin sacrifice they fuck so it's real love and she's ride or die for him.

I could probably go on all day about the nonsense this movie has happen.

The author, his publisher, and the publisher's wife are definitely swingers the way they all talk to each other.

The Hispanic pilot gets blown up in his stationary plane by a slow-walking zombie carrying explosives as if he couldn't have just gotten out of the plane.

The protagonist pulls a guy off a boat by his rifle, beats him in the water with it, and then tosses it off in the water instead of taking it himself! He has proven he can still use guns that have been submerged!

He then steals a flare gun off the boat because "it's better than nothing" as if he hadn't just had someone's rifle in his hands a minute ago.

The opening had an extended bit of him making out with a girl, getting caught by her husband and getting chased back to his publisher's car where they drive off laughing as the guy he cucked literally kicks his wife in the butt like some slapstick routine!

NO ONE'S SKIN GETS EATEN!

Feel like doing this after watching this movie.

#nick is a dangerous man #collection reviews #i eat your skin 1971 #the only good thing about this movie is that they have the genre awareness to know what zombies are

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thebigbadspike · 2 years

Note

38, 41, 99, 180, 188, 202, 213, 214, 227, 235, 236, 238, 239, 266, 268

38- do you wake up cranky?

Cranky? No. I'm usually just not awake enough after getting up to care about anything lol

41- share 2 habits

I stir my drinks with knives, not spoons

I never use people's names with them. I will use names in reference to people (when asked by another friend if I call her Buffy, my Buffy explained it pretty well. "To my face? No. In front of me? Yes." She also stated before "when Spike wants your attention he just gets your attention" when discussing with another friend that I don't use names like others do)

99- say 6 facts about your home town

1. It's small. Like... it's not technically a town. Or even a township. It's a charter township, we are technically one step above being a village

2. My hometown mostly consists of churches, liquor stores, and pizza places

3. The only thing to do there is go to the roller rink which is still the go to Friday night hang out for teens

4. Until very recently you had to drive into the city for gas

5. We have more stabbings than shootings

6. During one of the worst winter storms we were the only school district to not close, the surrounding areas made fun of us for years. And we didn't even have high enough attendance for it to count but they still made us stay the whole day

180- share a relationship story

While visiting their friends in CA for a con years ago we broke into an old abandoned zoo for cosplay pictures. We were doing punk!Lion King and even got some shots in the old lion exhibit

188- put your music player on shuffle and write the first ten songs that play

Doubt -Twenty One Pilots

Rise Above -Black Flag

Song for Ten -Doctor Who

Sleep Tight -Rhett and Link

What Do I Get? -Buzzcocks

The Devil You Know (God Is a Man) -Face to Face

Cretin Hop -Ramones

Blister in the Sun -Violent Femmes

Main Offender -The Hives

Sex and Violence -The Exploited

202- what is the first curse word that comes to mind?

Right now? Bollocks, for some reason

213- if you met me what would you do?

Tbh not much lol I'm not the most...friendly person meeting new people irl and tend to not say much, and I usually look intimidating which doesn't help put folks at ease meeting me

214: YOU have to leave me a random/ridiculous question:

What's the strangest thing in your fridge?

227- is it the thought that counts? Or is that phrase circumstancial?

Circumstancial

235- five words/phrases that make you laugh

I honestly don't really laugh much unless you wanna count those small semi amused exhales because that's usually all you'll get from me, there aren't any specific words/phrases that get me. Now if you want people who make me laugh I suggest you watch Mythical Kitchen on YouTube, Josh will make me genuinely laugh out loud

236- share a story of something that makes you smile

I got a cameo from James Marsters when we were doing OMWF and he starts it off with "I bequeath unto you the role of Spike" and it was super genuine and he talked about how playing Spike helped him deal with personal stuff and hoped it would help me the same way. He also said he was a bit jealous because I was getting to play Spike live and he never got to do that

238- what is something you used to enjoy, but was ruined for you? What's the story behind that?

Ok so you know Inkheart? The book by Cornelia Funk (not the movie that was rubbish) well I absolutely love it and had intended to read the whole series but my brother read Inkspell right before I was going to and as he was passing the book off to me he told me my favourite character gets killed. I refused to read it then and still haven't gotten myself to actually do it. I have the books...I just get so mad at my brother for telling me about their death every time I look at the books

239- describe one of the most awkward experiences of your life

In high school I was accepted into this special week long Shakespeare program where we worked for 1 week with professional Shakespearean actors from Stratford. At one point we had to do these bonding things and had to hug one of the others, you had to keep holding it until you were breathing together and say "I love you, [name]" we would mill about the room until they told us to stop and turn to the closest person and do this. I don't like saying those words and especially back then would basically refuse to say it to anyone, so having to say it was already awkward. We only did it twice but the first one one of the other kids was in the bathroom so I got paired with one of the instructors who I thought was attractive so that was awkward enough but then the second go I got paired with the girl I had a crush on 😬 the whole thing was real awkward for me

266- have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Honestly not sure how to answer this, I have a hard time figuring out if I have a crush on anyone really, it takes a lot of work for me to differentiate feelings like that

268- make a confession

I hate tiktok because so many people make their videos impossible for those with processing disorders to watch. I will watch the ones Buffy sends me (typically ADHD based videos) and have agreed to make tiktoks with her when I have my Hades cosplay ready, but I really hate tiktok in general

#asks

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mysteriouspresence · 4 months

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Madoka Magica and Evangelion: A Review

part 2/3

this is a brief, spoiler free introduction to Madoka Magica and Evangelion, two anime that i was surprised to find many similarities between. you can skip this post if you want to just see the analysis too, just click on this link → Part 3

i got carried away, so please expand to see the whole post!

to begin, let's point out the obvious differences that both franchises sell at a glance.

take this promotional poster of Madoka Magica:

(promotional poster for original Madoka Magica anime, source from official website)

from this first glance, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is very reminiscent of a shoujo show targeted at young girls (along with merchandise such as figurines, plushies, and props that can be easily put into toy stores). the premise of the story is simple enough as well — Kyubey, the magical animal sidekick, wants to recruit the main character Madoka and her friend Sayaka to become magical girls to fight against the evil witches who trap innocent's in pocket dimensional spaces known as “labyrinths” and torment them. In exchange, Kyubey promises to grant any wish they have, and grant them magical powers and strength that will let them right against their enemies. Sayaka is strong willed, tomboyish, and wants to use her wish to heal her sick love interest, while Madoka is kind-hearted but indecisive on how to best use their wish. the story also introduced three veteran magical girls: Mami, who takes Madoka and Sayaka under her wing as they consider their options; Kyoko, who lives in the city over and hunts competitively for witches; and Homura, who shows up every now and then to coldly warn the girls about the dangers of the job. Seems simple enough, right?

now, let's take a look at the opening for our second series:

youtube

(video of Neon Genesis Evangelion anime opening, sourced from YouTube repost)

Neon Genesis Evangelion instantly gives shonen vibes (again, giant mecha toys sell very well) with its action scenes, kaiju-esque battles, and futuristic technology (albeit dated, since it was written twenty-plus years ago!) Shinji, a young boy, is called to the big city Tokyo-3 by his estranged father to pilot a giant robot (EVA Unit 01) to fight alien creatures known as Angels. though unwilling at first, due to his poor relationship with his father, he ultimately decides to take the call to action and learn to overcome his cowardice. he is joined by fellow pilots Asuka — a textbook tsundere girl from Germany — and Rei — a typical kuudere with a mysterious past. together, they fight tougher Angels in a monster-of-the-week fashion, learning to synchronize and get along with each other to improve their teamwork and reach greater heights. sounds fun, doesn't it?

both these series earned high acclaim and received canon movie expansions that continue the story, spinoff series with alternate universes and endings, and yes, merchandise for days. but all targeted at adults — the seinen demographic, to be specific — rather than kids.

why?

psychological horror. (Top: Madoka Magica episode 8, Bottom: Evangelion episode 25)

cosmic horror. (Top: Evangelion episode 22, Bottom: Madoka Magica episode 11)

thus, not suited for children and some adults too. Evangelion also includes themes and visual symbolism that allude to Freud’s studies in human sexuality, and both shows get quite bloody and violent in their dispatching of the enemies — this isn’t some bloodless exorcism or cool explosion seen in other shows. the viewer and the traumatized protagonists are forced to watch the people around them — their comrades, their mentors, their innocent friends, and random civilians — get injured and even killed in brutal ways. but just like the protagonists, the viewer cannot turn away. both become too embroiled in the tragedy that unfolds to escape.

yeah, i would not recommend my 14-year-old brother watch this yet.

behind the thin film of the cherry, childish themes of adventure and “14 year olds saving the world” is the exploration of the grim nature of sending children off to fight humanities battles and how cruel fate can be when the only option between humanity and a few lives is the latter. these two works from unexpected corners of fiction share a metric ton of cool parallels, converging and colliding through shared themes, plot elements, and character arcs. i believe that people should definitely check out these two key series if they enjoy trippy stories that work to subvert the viewer’s expectations using the conventions that existing trope sets have using genre deconstruction, to explore the deeper aspects of sub-genres often targeted to children in an adult light. after all, tons of dark magical girl/mecha series that popped up afterward were all inspired by, and encouraged by these two shows — in defying one genre, they helped establish a new one.

#pmmm #neon genesis evangelion #writing #anime review #anime recommendation #summary #spoiler free #anime

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watching-pictures-move · 9 months

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Movie Review | L.A. Takedown (Mann, 1989)

This is obviously nobody's favourite Michael Mann movie, but despite not being a hardcore Mann-head (nothing against the guy, I just haven't really dug in past a certain point), I did find this interesting to consider within the context of his career. This is obviously in the shadow of Heat, and you can see embryonic forms of the latter movie's iconic scenes rendered in a crisp, televisual style. But there's a fair bit of Miami Vice in this one's DNA, and I'm not just saying that because I've been obsessed with that show for the last few months. I mean, even the title plays like a response to that show. (If you must know, I just finished the entire series a few days ago. I suppose I should write something about the finale, but in any case, our long national nightmare of me bringing up the show at every opportunity is finally over... NOT!)

You get a neon-tinged nighttime driving scene like the famous "In the Air Tonight" montage from the pilot episode "Brother's Keeper", although the music choice here, Billy Idol's cover of "L.A. Woman", is a lot more on the nose. (I do think this movie makes better use of it when it recycles it towards the end, accentuating the verve of the final showdown.) But the visual style, with the extra dark interior and nocturnal scenes and sunburnt daytime scenes, brings to mind the look of the not particularly beloved (but still worthwhile, in my opinion) fifth season. Apparently Mann shot this unusually quickly, and he's understandably unable to give L.A. the same curated sense of visual identity he achieved through the extensive location scouting in Vice, but there is an interesting squarish sense of geometry to the movie. Obviously some of that comes with the realities of architecture (buildings and their fixtures only come in certain shapes), but the rigid angles extend to the screen composition and even the action, which is often captured either perpendicularly or directly aligned to us. Despite the relatively bloodless confines of network television, the violence here has a real kick.

And with Vice's casting director Bonnie Timmermann involved, you unsurprisingly get a season's worth of great character actors packed into this. Best is Xander Berkeley as Waingro, playing his character like a more deranged Bruce Willis. Worst, surprisingly, are Scott Plank and Alex McArthur in the Al Pacino and Robert De Niro roles, respectively. Obviously when you're put up against two all time great actors, it's hard to measure up, but you can just look at the coffee scene here to see just how much they come up short. Plank is doing a lot of the shouting that I assumed was Pacino's contribution, and absolutely not pulling it off. Especially bad are the shouting matches he has with his wife, played by Ely Pouget from "Junk Love", who despite her valiant efforts, is given nothing by Plank to play off of. While I haven't seen Heat in some time, I remember the relationship stuff being the worst part, and that's definitely the case here. I should note that the copy I watched on YouTube dropped the audio for a few minutes late in the movie, but it was during these boring ass relationship drama scenes, so I probably didn't miss much. At least when Crockett or Tubbs had bad luck with women, Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas could pull off the material, and there were often wild and highly entertaining twists to boot, like in "Definitely Miami" and "Little Miss Dangerous".

Apparently NBC offered to pick this up if Mann replaced Plank as the lead, which Mann refused to do, so it never went to series. I respect Mann's loyalty to his guy... but Plank sucks and NBC was right to want to replace him.

#film #movie review #l.a. takedown #michael mann

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kimberly-stocks · 2 years

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Warning. A long rant about Rory Gilmore ahead.

I was doing a research for a story I'm writing (it's literati fanfiction), and after watching a few clips on YouTube from the show I kinda got sucked into this whole realm of Gilmore girls content. There's literally a ton of videos, and a lot of them are uploaded recently. Which is so fascinating, considering the show aired 2 decades ago. And while I was going through vids on analysis of the show and its characters, I kinda got stumbled upon a whole bunch of them called 'the downfall of Rory Gilmore' and the likes. I watched some of them... And it made me feel weird. I mean, there were several valid points they made about her character, but at the same time, I tried to reconcile them with my thoughts on her the first time I watched the show because they didn't necessarily coincide.

I first watched the original series a year ago, meaning I was 32, just like Lorelai was in the pilot. So, I wasn't a kid watching it when it aired. I was a grown adult with some life experiences under my belt. So I didn't just get automatically sucked into what the creators of the show wanted me to believe. And I remember I kinda liked Rory in the beginning. She was this studious introverted girl, kinda like myself at her age. She had a great relationship with her mom which I could relate to. It was a very cozy show, homey, and it was easy for me to remember what it was like to be 16 again. I had a harder time identifying with Lorelai, even though we were the same age, because her personality is way different than mine, and also she often times annoyed me a little. And I could understand the logic behind everything Rory was doing. I didn't necessarily agree with all of her choices, but I could understand them. Why she stopped spending as much time with Lane when she met Dean, why she didn't tell Lorelai about Jess, why she was mad when she saw him with Shane, etc. I could even understand why she slept with married Dean. Like, it was bad, i get it but I also understood why she did it. She wasn't perfect, and I could see her logic behind what she was doing.

But as the show progressed, I guess I started having problems with Rory's character and have a lot of questions for her, because the more I watched (from the late season 4, and then season 5, 6), the only thought I had about her was 'god, what a waste! What a waste of resources, potential and time'.

Personally, I don't think having negative thoughts about a character is necessarily 'hate'. I thought the writers did her dirty. And here's why.

When I was in college I had two girls in my class who were straight A's students and basically stars of their local schools in their respective small towns. They graduated with honors and whatnot. And one of them, Angy, was like a perfect little girl, her mom was a teacher, she was a straight A's student, she participated in every shindig her school threw, everyone loved her, her picture was even posted on a special school board of best students or whatever. And when she first came into a big city and a big college (our uni had probably more students than her whole town's population combined), she expected everyone to treat her like she was a star just like she used to be in her school, and she acted accordingly. But in a big city and a big school no one gave a damn, nobody knew who she was and they didn't care. That was a serious reality check for her. I remember one time my friend and I passed the exam and we got A's, while Angy went before us and got a B. And when she found out we got A's she got so mad! And she literally threw a temper tantrum like 'why did THEY get A's and I didn't???? I'm gonna go back to that professor and demand a retake' and she said 'they' in such a tone which implied 'such losers', because, my friend and I, we kinda struggled, especially me, so getting an A was a big deal, we were by no means excelling. To her credit, Angy later realized that she had to earn her status all over again, and she kept up good grades, and was even helpful to her fellow students, and later she even helped me when I really stuggled with my math assignments. So, in the end, she realized she had to work to get what she wanted, and it wouldn't just be given to her because she was The Angy. Season 5 Rory hadn't. She met Logan instead.

I don't blame any of her boyfriends in her short comings, it was more her upbringing I feel like. She was a product of her environment really, if you think about it. Her whole town treated her like she was a special snowflake, a gifted super child. Lorelai herself said 'if you see a girl with a halo above her head and a book, that's my daughter, Rory'. Her grandparents told her she was smart and talented and whatnot (which I guess was better than the Christopher's parents attitude), but in the end it didn't really help her in the long run. It's hard to accept you're not as special as everyone told you you were your whole life. And even though Lorelai encouraged Rory to pursue her dreams and such, it seemed like she didn't give her any room for error or exploring the world on her own. Rory was always kinda sheltered and lived in a bubble.

Which in turn makes me question where did that dream to become an international correspondent even came from? I was so surprised to hear that when she told Jess about it in Teach me tonight. She was so introverted, she didn't make any new friends at Chilton. If Paris didn't pursue her from day one, she might not even had any friends at Chilton at all, because she had Lane, Dean, her mom and books. Then at Yale having Paris as a roommate also didn't do her any good. It was a safely blanket. Instead of branching out and finding new people she just stayed with Paris instead. She said she wanted to travel and see the world and be a journalist. But you don't have to be an international correspondent to travel. And sure, she's good at writing, that's great. But why Christiane amanpour? Wars and trenches, Rory? Really? She couldn't even handle her first day at Yale on her own without her mommy. Which was kinda the point of chosing Yale in the first place, and a dead give away of the fact an international correspondent is not for her. The signs were always there, but no one in Rory's circle took them into account.

And then the Mitchum incident. When I first watched it, I thought, "my god, you can't possibly take everything he says seriously. He doesn't want you to date his son just like the rest of his family, that's why he gave you the internship and then critiqued you, so not to be a jerk at first at that dinner, but then mess with you. Isn't that obvious? Am I the only one who sees it???" Why was her first reaction to steal a yacht and drop out of Yale? Would she do the same if she was covering a war overseas, and someone told her, 'there's no place for you here, go away'. And she what, would be like 'oh? Okay'. The first criticism in her life and instead of retreating and regrouping and fighting back, she just decides her career is over before it even started? Like wtf??? There's a lot of different kinds of jobs where you could apply writing. Even if journalism was not for her, she could've figured something out without dropping out, especially considering she was majoring in English, not in journalism. That's a lot broader category with more flexibility. Why wasn't her first reaction to prove him wrong?

I struggled a lot in college. Granted, I was a STEM major, so the experience is not exactly the same, but still, the amount of people who told me I wasn't smart enough, that I didn't have it, was astounding. If i listened to everyone who doubted me, I would've dropped out after the first semester, and would not have a PhD I have today. That's why that storyline was not relatable to me, and I did not agree with her decision. Frankly, it pissed me off. I mean, it's easy to just give up when you have rich grandparents to fall back on, when they're gonna pay for everything, and you wouldn't have to work a single hour to pay the bills. I personally didn't have that opportunity and privilege, maybe that's why it made me react so passionately about it, I was fuming when I watched that episode. I was like 'girl, please! Get you shit together, Gilmore!' Her grandparents and Lorelai are extremely stubborn, but Rory in that situation seemed like she didn't inherit any of the Gilmore stubbornness and resilience. Maybe it's flaky Christopher genes, I don't know. And from then on I kept thinking what a waste of money that was. I wondered if she would throw that away if she had a student loan, or Lorelai was paying for Yale from her own pocket, and not her grandparents who basically just gave her money for free, and refused her offer to pay them in installments when she gets a part time job (Which she never did).

I don't know what's the point of this whole rant. I guess I can kinda understand her story arc was realistic in a way, and her being nowhere near successful in her thirties makes her relatable to the audience, but I still think it was a waste. Especially when you think about guys like Marty who had to bartend to cover his expenses and couldn't pay $70 for a meal. Rory never had to do that.

I guess, it makes me sad that her character turned out to be written that way. And I have a lot of questions to Rory, and maybe to ASP. When I first watched the show, I didn't notice a lot of stuff because I binged it. But after reading a hell of a lot of fanfiction and watching all those analysis videos and reading fan theories and whatnot, I watched bits and pieces more closely, and noticed a lot of discrepancies, which made me question the show and Rory's character. And I wonder if those things were just a sloppy writers' job, or was it intentional, and they dropped hints on what Rory's trajectory would be like all along.

For example, it still surprises me to this day, that Rory only realised she needed extra curricular activities to get into Harvard when Paris told her about it in JUNIOR year!! Like, wasn't it your dream school since you were a little kid? You had at least a decade to do a thorough research on this school, and memorize everything about what kind of stuff and grades and things they were looking for in their potential students. How come Rory didn't know that having just good grades wasn't enough? Like, how? It seemed like Rory's dream of going to Harvard was exactly that, a dream, not a realistic plan. And she kept living in a fantasy world where she's so special and would get into Harvard no sweat just because Babette told her she was smart. How come she didn't have doubts? Also, Lorelai, who encouraged her Harvard dream, how was she going to pay for that if she couldn't even pay for Chilton? It was like Chilton price came as a total surprise to her. Didn't you know the cost before your kid applied to that school in the first place?

I understand that going to Yale was a plot device to keep Rory close to her mom, so that the show could still be 'Gilmore girls', not 'one gilmore girl is going to Harvard and the other opens an inn'. But I think, character wise, it would be better if Rory went literally anywhere else. Maybe not necessarily to Harvard, because I feel like it was more Lorelai's dream anyway, and she already dreamed about it for too long, which builds expectations, that the school might not meet in reality, and that would lead to another identity crisis. I think Rory should've gone to some school that was further away than Yale, so that she couldn't visit as often, and so that she would have a chance to do her own thing, without the pressures of constantly being a perfect unicorn child, or a perfect granddaughter, Lorelai 2.0, where she could just be herself, and try new things and meet new people, and just explore the world outside of stars hollow and Hartford and her grandparents house.

It makes me sad. I understand she had a lot of flaws and did some questionable things, and that made her character so realistic and appealing to the audience, but she had so much potential, and it makes me sad the writers wrote her the way she turned out eventually.

And I guess, it also bugs me that after all those vids it's harder for me to ship Rory with Jess, which I need to be able to keep doing for the sake of my story 😄🙈 because I can't get those mean things said about her out of my head. Also, Jess had the best character development on the show, in my opinion. Of course he did a lot of stupid shit too, and he was by no means perfect or better than Rory. But seeing her so helpless and flailing while he's going steady is disconcerting.

What I liked about the show is that the characters seem very realistic, they have real flaws and great treats as well, they act like human beings, that's why it's such a beloved series. Also, while I was watching i could mostly understand not only Rory's logic but everyone else's logic behind the things that they did. I loved the chemistry between Jess and Rory, and that's probably the reason i shipped them from the start, from the first episode he appeared. I was like 'ooh, this is gonna be fun' 😏 and it was super entertaining and I wanted more, and discovered a beautiful world of literati fanfiction. Which is the only outlet for fans to get Rory and Jess the relationship they deserved. I really hope I won't burn out, and finish the story I started after all. 🤞 Maybe I should stop with those analysis videos 😬

There are literally keyboard wars unfolding in the comment sections of those vids. The comments range from 'rory is the worst, i wish she died' to 'why is everyone hating on rory, she's so sweet'. I guess, my point of view is that I'm not a crazy Rory fan that would defend her no matter what kind of shit she does, but I don't hate her either. After reading so many stories about her and Jess, after discovering so many beautiful plot lines people came up with, where Rory still does screw up and make mistakes, but she learns from it, it makes me more disappointed in the original canon writing, more than anything. I mean, there are so many different ways ASP could've gone, and she chose to go with this? I mean, really? Dude!

I think she said something like she wanted the show to resemble life, and you not always get what you want, and not all of your dreams come true eventually, which is understandable. But the show started as this portrayal of mother-daughter relationship who had this amazing bond, and I feel like, a lot of people don't have that, so it was nice for them to watch that kind of close relationship. But then it turned out like Lorelai only loves Rory as long as she does everything Lorelai wants her to, but the moment she deviates, Lorelai flips out or stops talking to her. What is the moral in that? That motherly love is conditional? That you only deserve to be loved when you try to follow unrealistic expectations of perfection? That's not exactly nice and comforting. It's like the show digressed from being a sweet family show to a depressing therapy-needing mess.

Also, many people view the series as a comfort show, the one they watch to feel better. Of course, ASP didn't intend it to be a comfort show, so she didn't have to do what the audience wanted, but a happy ending, at least to a certain extent, would be nice.

Phew, rant over. I guess.

P.S. I also saw a lot of posts and comments saying that Rory gets way more hate than any other character on the show which isn't fair to her. I guess it's true, but at the same time, she IS a main character, next to Lorelai she has the most of screen time, hence the most of footage and material to analyse her behaviour. And it's a general knowledge everyone loves Lorelai and god forbid you criticize her in any shape or form. So, by elimination Rory gets all the shit, unfortunately.

#gilmore girls #rory gilmore #rant

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alyona11 · 3 years

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French musicals recs (aka my previous special interests listed in one post)

Actually I wanted to make a post a while ago, since there're some nice musicals that mostly go unnoticed by tumblr even though they are really cool (and have a DVD records)! Before I start I wanna say that these are very different from what Broadway or West End usually stages, so I advise you to just relax and enjoy without purposefully comparing the two together. I bet this gonna be a pretty big post, so clock on "read more"! @machine-without-feelings, hope you'll have fun!

I'm a little extra so it took quite some time to write, so please join me in my weird interest leave a like/rb. Under the read more you'll find:

1) My excited rambles

2) Links to these musicals (proshots with English subs)

3) Some songs to vibe check whether it's something you'd enjoy listening or not

1) Notre-Dame de Paris! Gonna start with this one since it was one of the main reasons I've started to learn French. There was a time where I would watch it every single day. I probably watched it a millions of times by now and was obsessed with it for a good couple of years.

About: What can I say? It's a Hunchback of Notre Dame adaptation that sadly usually goes overlooked when English speakers talk about the book. Which is a shame! Cool French-Canadian cast, good grasp of the original, really nice lyrics and music. Love from the first song for me.

Where to watch: here with English subs, the quality isn't the best, I have a better one on my google drive so you can DM me for link. Plus there're some DVDs of different productions (notably Italian one) just waiting in the internet for free.

Songs recs (to get the vibe of the musical): Actually it's hard to choose, because I love the thing so much, but here're some.

Classic Belle, Le Temps des Cathédrales, Ma Maison C'est Ta Maison, Pretty Guys In Pants In The Background song, Song after which I became Daniel Lavoie fan lmao could add some more but you haven't got all day, just check the whole thing.

2) Le Petit Prince! I said that I wanna promote it and I will. As I said earlier I really liked Daniel Lavoie (aka the guy who played Frollo) and here he plays the pilot!

About: A very very very good adaptation of The Little Prince book. Literally quotes the book in most songs. The music is written by the same composer as NDDP, so it's good. The set and costume design is amazing! It's very colourful and inspired by author's illustrations. I cry each time I watch it cos it gives me FEELS. Also a good musical for beginner French learners imo, not as hard as NDDP, can be an addition to reading the original book. Wholeheartedly recommend, it's criminally underrated.

Where to watch: There's a playlist with English subs, French subs are also to be found on YouTube if you want them.

Songs: Dédicace, C'est un chapeau, Apprivoise-moi.

3) Well, cannot avoid mentionning Roméo et Juliette. Kinda a classic, to be fair. Was probably the 2nd French musical I've heard. More active in terms of music, some tunes gonna stuck in your head for days.

About: Well, it's obvious from the name. Kinda cool actually? Weird in some places but not in a bad way. Good musical to have a fun time (well. at least act 1 is fun, right?). The costumes are a bit cheesy, but that's not important. Still sad the pandemic ruined its tour I hope to see it live one day.

Where to watch: Actually it has two DVDs of different versions from different productions. Some songs changed, I vibe with the earlier version more, but the newer one is nice too.

Songs: Oh these slap, haut my mind since the second I first heard them. Kinda pop. But not that boring pop that modern French musicals have, it kinda has its style. Here're some of my favs: Vérone, Les Rois Du Monde, Aimer (aka the song I can listen for hours).

4) Starmania. Speaking about classic. To be fair, never watched it, only listened to the albums, but I mean it's still looks more like a concert.

About: deppressive cyberpunk and anti-utopia. A lit of bandits. Evil capitalist included. A classic. If you were interested in French songs you've probably heard some of these multiple times.

Where to watch: here

Songs: SOS d'un terrien en detresse, Le Monde Est Stone, Le Blues Du Businessman

5) Le Roi Soleil. Ok, I cannot explain why I like this one. Can't say I was obsessed with it, but I liked it a lot. I like the songs, enjoy relistening from time to time.

About: Louis 14. That's it, that's the musical. Kinda about his romantic relationships and king issues. A bit about La Fronde. But mostly about romance, lmao.

Where to watch: boop

Songs: Être à l'hauteur, Contre Ceux D'un Haut, Un Geste De Vous.

6) Mozart L'Opéra Rock. Was kinda hesistant to add it to the list because I mostly wanted to mention least well-know stuff and it feels to me that Mozart is kinda hype-ish? But I got that it may be not so well-known for the English speakers and it's worth checking out!

About: Well it's about Mozart and it's rock! The songs slap! probably will get in your head and you gonna whistle Le Bien Qui Fait Mal or something. Also Mozart and Salieri are pretty gay.

Where to watch: here! and the quality is great!

Songs: L'Assasymphonie, Place je Passe, J'accuse mon père, Bim Bam Bim Boum

Ok, I'll stop there cos this post took me a few hours to write, I could have added some other musicals, but I guess I need to rewatch them first, cos I barely remember them.

#me being me #musicals #french #french musicals #le petit prince #notre dame de paris #mozart l'opera rock #le roi soleil #starmania #romeo et juliette #my recs #i'd say that nddp and le petit prince are an absolute must-watch #others I like but these two are in its own league

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voltronfandomhag · 3 years

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Albegas/Gladiator Voltron Revisited

A few years ago I posted about Gladiator Voltron, the proposed third Voltron season which was to be adapted from Lightspeed Electroid Albegas. Ultimately it was abandoned in favor of producing another batch of Lion Voltron episodes. About a year ago Toei released the first two episodes of Albegas with English subtitles on Youtube. You can watch both episodes here and here.

This post is meant to be an update of my first Gladiator Voltron/Albegas post, with more detail about the characters and setting. I also briefly share my thoughts on the show based on the two episodes available.

SETTING AND STORY

In the future, the nations of Earth have been at peace with each other for many years. Our three protagonists, Daisaku, Tetsuya, and Hotaru, are talented students at Aoda School, which is famous for its robotics program and located near Mt. Fuji. Their lives are turned upside down when the evil alien Derringer Empire, who already rules the galaxy, invades Earth. Earth’s only hope against this threat is the super robot Albegas and the three teenagers piloting it.

THE HEROES

Our heroes are teenagers who attend Aoda School in Japan. Each of them created a robot for a school competition. Their bots were later improved and modified so they could combine into Albegas.

Daisaku Enjoji

Daisaku is brash, confident, loud-mouthed, and a total cad. Despite his bad grades, his skills in robotics are apparently superior to both Tetsuya and Hotaru’s. He comes from a working class family consisting of his painter father, stay-at-home mother, cheeky younger brother Jiro, and a younger sister. Both he and Tetsuya have a crush on Hotaru, though Daisaku is more blatant and perverted about it. His hobby is soccer. Pilots Alpha Robo (black).

Tetsuya Jin

Tetsuya comes across as more reserved than his two teammates. Like the others, he’s a student at Aoba School and skilled in robotics. It’s unknown what his grades are like, but at least one of his teachers, Ms. Danko Kibi, scolds him for his rebellious attitude. He and his sister grew up orphans with no other family to take care of them. Currently he lives alone in the school dorms. Tetsuya feels lonely and envies those who still have parents. What happened to his parents, along with the whereabouts of his sister, aren’t mentioned in the first two episodes. Unfortunately, he’s something of a slob; his dorm room is a mess. Like Daisaku, he also has a crush on Hotaru. However, he’s more subtle about it and expresses exasperation at Daisaku’s pervy antics towards her. His hobby is playing guitar. Pilots Beta Robo (blue).

Hotaru Mizuki

Hotaru is the daughter of Professor Mizuki; her mother isn’t mentioned, but it’s implied she’s been out of the picture for a long time. Beautiful, intelligent, and feminine, she’s the star of Aoba School and her class representative. Despite being adored by her teachers and the heartthrob of her male classmates, she’s bullied by her female peers. She also longs for a mother figure; there’s a scene where Hotaru outright tells her father and his assistant, Saeko Asabuki, that she approves of their relationship and hopes they get married so Saeko can be her stepmother. While annoyed by Daisaku’s caddish ways, it’s implied the attraction might be mutual. Her hobby is tennis. Pilots Gamma Robo (red).

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS

The allies, family, and friends of our heroes.

Goro Kumai

HIS JAPANESE BLOOD TINGLES! A well-meaning but bumbling classmate of the main trio who serves as the show’s comic relief. Goro does his best to help defend Earth with his self-made gorilla robot but he’s simply out of his league. Daisaku considers him a burden while Hotaru pities him. He has an unreciprocated crush on Hotaru.

Professor Mizuki

A brilliant scientist and Hotaru’s father. His knowledge of robotics is second to none. After the main trio’s robots were nearly destroyed by invading Derringer, he not only rebuilt them, but made them much more powerful and able to combine into Albegas. He also serves as both a mentor and the voice of reason; he tries to encourage the trio to exercise caution and patience. However, his words often fall on deaf ears, and the trio’s insistence on rushing headlong into battle against his repeated warnings frustrates him. But he believes in the trio’s abilities. It’s implied he’s sweet on his assistant, Saeko Asabuki.

Saeko Asabuki

Professor Mizuki’s assistant and love interest. She’s soft spoken, beautiful, and lady-like. Hotaru wants her as a stepmother.

Ms. Danko Kibi

An overbearing, outspoken and strong willed teacher at Aoba School. She takes her job very seriously, is fiercely proud of the school, and believes it’s important her students grow to be strong, stout, and fearless. Despite not being the head teacher, she often gets her way through sheer force of personality.

THE VILLAINS

The villains aren’t very fleshed out, but given I only had two episodes, that’s not very surprising. Anyway, the Derringer are an evil purple-skinned alien race of conquers who have set their sights on Earth. They desire our planet for its beauty and consider humans primitive. Albegas is humanity’s only effective weapon against their superior technology. Their giant robot Mecha-Fighters are the Derringer’s most fearsome weapon.

Lord Deran the Great

Supreme ruler of the Derringer. We don’t actually see him in these episodes. The only information we learn about him is he desires all things beautiful as his own.

President Azass

The leader of the invading Derringer force stationed in a base orbiting Earth.

General Duston

President Azass’s top officer, at least during these first two episodes. He’s ruthless, prideful, and doesn’t take humans seriously.

General Catastra

Another army officer on President Azass’s orbital base.

Dyme

Yet another Derringer officer. He considers Duston an incompetent moron for not taking Albegas more seriously as a threat

LIGHTSPEED ELECTROID ALBEGAS

The three robots that compose Albegas (Alpha Robot, Beta Robo, and Gamma Robo) were not originally designed to combine together. Instead they were individually built by the main trio as entries into a school competition. When the Derringer attacked Japan, the three teens attempted to fight off the invaders in their robots, but were soundly defeated. Professor Mizuki, seeing the robots’ potential, both rebuilt and heavily modified them, making them far more powerful and able to combine together into multiple configurations. However, the three pilots, at first, don’t know and understand just how extensive the modifications were despite Professor Mizuki’s repeated warnings. Unfortunately, circumstances in the first two episodes have not given them time for proper training. As a result, the pilots are learning about Albegas’s abilities, and how to use them, in the heat of combat.

As stated, the robot comprising Albegas can combine in different ways, with each combination having its own specialization.

Denjin Dimension

Alpha, Beta, Gamma. This is the basic combat configuration. Can use the finishing move Denjin Sanbai Sword.

Sky Dimension

Beta, Alpha, Gamma. We don’t see any of its abilities, but I’m guessing it specializes in flight and/or aerial combat.

Professor Mizuki mentions four other modes: Space, Sea, Underground, and Rescue.

My Thoughts

Do I think American Voltron fans missed out by not having Albegas localized? Not really. Between this, Golion, and Dairuggar, I feel this was the weakest show of the three, and I don’t think it would’ve captured kid’s imaginations the way Lion Voltron did. Granted, in some ways Albegas has more elements in common with GoLion than Diaruggar: small number of pilots, planet bound, faster paced, and a simpler story. But, again, I only have two episodes to go by, so I could be wrong on some of those points. But I’m interested enough that I’d watch more episodes if they became available.

#albegas #lightspeed electroid albegas #gladiator voltron #tetsuya jin #hotaru mizuki #daisaku enjoji #voltron

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