#I would give Disney all my money for a live action

[thoughts-of-a-bibleophile]

castle in the sky 🤝 treasure planet

beautifully animated movies based on classic novels with a fun twist on the original story that deserve more love than they get

[jellazticious]

“You can’t rush art”

I think everybody can recall the quote from Toy Story 2. From the most satisfying part of the movie where we see a montage of Woody getting restored by a toy maker. It’s one of my favourites too, I absolutely loved looking at the different procedures used to fix a single toy. The toymaker’s precision and care were found mesmerizing by everyone. As a multi-hatted artist, one that can draw, sculpt, animate, and write, I can say that it’s spot on that there’s so much to do for a single piece of work. HOOO boy, you should see how me and Beefy are organizing Cursed to Charm, there’s so much.

For the upcoming webcomic, we design characters, give each and every one of them their stand-alone story, design different clothes, create the map, draw renders and posters, polish scripts for the episodes, plan to program the comic’s own website, make the backgrounds eventually, etc. To people who aren’t artists or take art for granted, to them, art is stroking a paper using a pen and BAM instant masterpiece. No no, it’s more than that.

Another thing I’d like to say about the comic is that the progress is very slow yet very fruitful because of the time taken. Me and my co-author came up with the idea at late November, which makes the comic four months old now. However, with all that time passed, we have already finalized the list of nine episodes of season one. We have also written seven out of nine summaries from that season before actually writing the dialogue in detail. We have a rough four seasons worth of story progression in the span of four months. Nyeh, excuse the little ramble about CtC, I’m just giving insight of how much should be done for the production of anything which leads us to the next point.

Art production in general.

Movies, animation, shows, video games, books, comics etc etc

All of these are part of art, some people would deny because it isn’t sophisticated like they’re lead to believe art is supposed to be. Art is literally just creation man, can’t get any simpler than that 😩 if you made something, then you made something woohoo! Congratulations you made art, cooking included. It came free with your fucking humanity.

Anyway, just like the webcomic, every single one of these listed also have a set of different procedures that will piece together the final output.

Let’s take Disney movies as a specific example, I want to talk about something real quick.

So one time, I was watching Tarzan with my parents and we stuck around for the end credits. My mom pointed out the animators are divided into sections and there’s so much names on them. There are different teams of animators for each character and these teams are divided in two for the storyboarders and the clean up artists. When the credits rolled a bit more, it showed that the background artists and colorists also have their own sections too. There’s so much people working on different body parts of a movie. I got the habit of reading end credits of every movie I watch, animated or live action, then I would compare the credits of old and new movies. Boy, let me tell you that the work space on old movies are FILLED compared to newer movies. One thing I noticed about Disney movies although, is that the old movies have more sections compared to new ones. The major difference of old Disney and new Disney are the length of the credits and the time gap of the movies. I’m really not trusting the way new movies have way shorter end credits while the publish time of new movies are getting narrower and narrower. Before the 2000s, movies usually come out twice a year and sometimes there’s a two-year hiatus before the next batch of movies are published. Now there’s at least two or three movies that publish yearly while also releasing a bunch of shows in the middle of it. I really don’t understand business talk with the way it sacrifices quality over quantity. Like I get having money is great and all but what’s the use of hoarding it? Especially when there’s so much news of people about to be in poverty and mass layoffs. Why should companies earn money if they’re not going to redistribute it back to the economy at all? This is a little off topic but I want to point it out that people in the 80s used to buy whole houses by being a janitor but nowadays people could barely afford a one room apartment even with three jobs. The Simpsons is an example of this because it was set in the 90s and the family is constantly reminded of how “poor” they are. They even created an episode that talks about the same job that supported people’s fathers will no longer support you nowadays (Poorhouse Rock ep22 s33). It’s fishy and I’m salty about it especially because I hear so much people complaining about how they’re not being given a chance to work. Anywho! Let’s go back to art.

I’m just spitballing my thoughts here but somehow they’re connecting either way. All I’m trying to say is that for the people who care so much about the quality of art, it’s noticeable that they get downgraded, not just by the look but by the way they’re written.

Example.

Clone High.

Jesus Christ, the new show is a nightmare and an insult to the original Clone High. The difference is clear with this one. The original Clone High was heavy satire of every single high school trope used in shows and movies. Every single character was meant to have one personality and that personality is the butt of the joke. The original did not care about making the characters appealing because the appeal is found in the way they interact, they clash so much and a lot of them are idiots. The writing is funny because the dialogue flows so easily unlike the renewal. The renewed Clone High takes itself too seriously and it tries too hard to be relevant. It’s funny to me that fans can draw the original’s art style more accurately than the animators hired. What’s even more frustrating is that concept art was released from the art head and the concept art looked way better than what they decided on the final designs. Other than the art style that tries to be marketable, the writing is insufferable with the way they try to be “relatable” without understanding why the original jokes were funny to begin with.

Now we’re all familiar with this cheap tactic of using the title of successful franchises to grab clicks and views. It’s every live action Disney film, it happened to Scooby Doo, Marvel shows, FNAF, some Cartoon Network shows, Megamind, and now even Kung Fu Panda. Basically MILKING. It would have been better if the productions TRIED to understand the original’s intentions which they forgot about. They ended up being disappointing at best and soulless at worst. I won’t be explaining much cuz I’ve already reached the minimum word count lmao. I’m just rambling here, I better not see anyone interrogate me in asks or replies. ANYWAY, I’m gonna get to the point real quick.

Back to the quote at the start of the post, people tend to forget that. Art is a skill, not a button people press and it gives you pretty pictures or videos. Art is a job and an effort. While art is subjective and it differs from person to person, one thing for certain is that art that is made ingenuinely will never be better than art that is made because the artist loves art. This is why the Tom & Jerry reboots with the lineless art style even if they had a storyboard artist who understood the cartoon wackiness (which were discarded for a “cleaner” and faster style). This is why it’s so frustrating to see concept art of movies which have more appeal than the final 3d models. This is why FNAF Security Breach was nearly unplayable.

Because they all rushed art.

They rushed in favour of what is marketable, no matter how unappealing it is. Everything could have been better, some final products are good, but all of them could have been better. As good as what were released pre 2010s when production had a passion. You can’t spell heart without art.

I’m just really passionate about art in any form since it’s everything that created me too. I will not be here at this point in time if it weren’t for me learning that there’s so much beauty in the world if you could just squint and appreciate why that’s so. I’m defined by my works and it only hurts and infuriates me that people who have the ability and accessibility to create better art than I do waste it for their personal gain or selfish intentions. Everyone could be a better person because of art just as it did to me. Again, it came to us the moment we’re born, art isn’t just a pretty picture, it’s everything we create out of love, passion, time, and effort.

But really, to the wise words of Chef Saltbaker, “like any good bake, heart and soul is the secret ingredient”

You can’t rush art.

[adorethedistance]

Princess Antics - Trevor Zegras x Actress!Reader

Hockey Masterlist

Warnings: swearing, PDA

Words: 1352

Summary: Dating a famous hockey player is tough sometimes, but dating a Disney Princess may just give Trevor a run for his money.

A/n: I've posted this fic before and if you want to know the reason why, I've included an author's note at the end to explain.

A fruit smoothie. All week I have been craving a fruit smoothie, but because I’ve been in the recording studio all day everyday, I’ve had to eliminate dairy from my diet completely. I’m recording songs from the upcoming sequel to my first Disney movie “Cassie and The Prince”; a half-animated, half-live action Enchanted style movie, in which I play Cassie, the cautious and delicate wallflower-princess whose best friend is a grey rabbit. ‘The Prince’ aka Prince Oliver, who is voiced by Tom Holland, is the rambunctious, rifting presence in her life that gets her to live a little.

This week, the two of us have been recording vocals for a duet that the characters share at the beginning of the movie, and continuous days of singing equals ‘it’s better to not risk it’ with foods that affect your vocal sound and ability. We eventually wrapped on the song and the arrival of the weekend means I can finally fulfill my smoothie craving. My supportive as ever boyfriend, Trevor, accompanies me in getting my hard earned smoothie, figuring we could make a date out of the outing.

As we enter the small shop on the outside of our favorite mall, Trevor and I breathe a little easier to see we’re the only ones in the place. When you’re a Disney Princess and NHL player together, at least one of you can and will be recognized in public at any time. However, it’s hard to be recognized by people that aren’t around. I give Trevor my order (although I’m sure he already has it memorized), spewing the information at him as quickly but coherently as I can, as I have to use the bathroom urgently. Trevor assures me he’s got it and ushers me away to finally use the restroom. 

Once I finish, I look at myself in the mirror and gasp aloud at the realization that, in my hurried state, I forgot to tell Trevor I wanted a vitamin boost in my drink. With a pouty bottom lip and a melodramatic sadness in my eyes, I exit the smoothie shop’s bathroom, and approach my boyfriend who’s sitting on a bar stool that’s facing outside the store window. I begin to whine because of my own slip up,

“I had to pee so bad I forgot to tell you I wanted the vitamin boost in my drink!” Trevor laughs as he pulls out the adjacent stool, patting it for me to sit on,

“Good thing I got it for you.” 

“You did?!”

“Mhm.”

“Ah! What would I do without you?”

“Not have a vitamin boost probably.” The quip makes me laugh and Trevor smiles upon hearing the sound. I open my mouth to ask him another question but my voice is caught in my throat when a tiny squeal interrupts the mechanical sounds of the smoothie shop.

Looking to the source of the noise, I spot a young girl who can’t be any older than pre-school age with her mouth open in a gaping-smile. Her tiny brown eyes glitter with pure shock upon seeing me look at her. I can’t help but smile at her excitement and look at Trevor who is trying very hard to conceal a smile of his own.

“Princess Cassie! Mom, look! It’s Princess Cassie!” The girl tugs on her mothers hand to grab her attention before pointing in my direction and I grin at the mother to ease her previously startled demeanor. Her face morphs from confusion to a smile of disbelief.

“Oh my goodness, you’re real!” I laugh lightly at the woman’s joke before turning my attention back to the little girl who can hardly contain herself.

“Hi sweetheart. What’s your name?”

“Lucy.” I bend down to her level to both hear her and to let her know she has my attention.

“Lucy! What a pretty name. That sounds like a princess name, are you a princess, too?”

“Well, sometimes.”

“Sometimes? Me too. How old are you, Lucy?”

“Four- Also, I saw you in the mall yesterday,” responds, clearly not interested in talking about herself at the moment.

“You saw me in the mall?”

“The poster for Cassie and The Prince is in the window of the Disney store,” her mother clarifies, as the ramblings of four year olds can be incoherent at times.

“Ah, gotcha.”

“And, also, you were on the tv there, too, singing ‘Be Free’ with all the animals and Prince Oliver.”

“‘Be Free’ is a fun song. Is that your favorite song from the movie?”

“No. I like ‘Today Of All Days’ when you teach the prince how to talk to Louie the Bunny,” Trevor and I still haven’t gone public with our relationship, so I honored him in naming the Princess’s animal sidekick after his own real-life animal sidekick “What happened to your hair?”

“Oh, Lucy!” Her mother scolds the bluntness of her daughter’s question. My hair is up off my face today, and nowhere near the length of the extensions hair and makeup puts me in, so the contrast is notably different.

“It’s okay. I had to cut some of it off because it was getting too heavy.”

“Order for Trevor!” The one man cashier-barista calls from behind the counter, setting down the two smoothies Trevor had ordered not just five minutes ago. The mother clocks Trevor--the unfamiliar man I’d been talking to earlier--rising to grab the two drinks and leans down to speak to Lucy.

“Honey, we should let Princess Cassie go, I’m sure she has things to do today.”

“Can we take a picture?”

“You have to ask her for a picture, not me.”

“Can we take a picture with you?”

“Of course, honey.” I squat down to be closer in height with the small girl before beckoning her over. “Is it okay if I hug you for the picture?” I ask to which she nods yes and wraps me in a tight hug, pressing her tiny cheek against my face. Her mom snaps the picture on her white iPhone 12, using her index finger to do so. After, she motions for her daughter to come view the picture, and once Lucy’s attention is centered on the picture, she mouths a silent ‘thank you’ to me; I break character to wave off the complimentary closing and, miraculously, gracefully rise from the floor. When I’m back to full height, I take my smoothie from Trevor’s extended hand, smiling at the fact that he took the liberty to unwrap ¾ of the straw like a restaurant would.

“Thank you, kind sir.” Trevor steps in front of me to hold the door open, and with a wave, I give Lucy a final goodbye. As the two of us begin walking back to his car, I don’t miss the indiscernible smile he’s giving me. “What?” I ask. He shrugs nonchalantly,

“Nothing.”

“Whaaat?” He then shakes his head in partial amusement, partial disbelief. 

“I can’t believe I’m dating an actual disney princess.” 

“I’m just glad she didn’t ask me to sing.” Trevor barks a laugh as he nearly chokes on a sip of his smoothie.

“Has that happened before?”

“Oh, babe,” I puff out of exasperation just thinking about it, “They want the whole album!”

“Did you?”

“Yes! I’m not gonna crush a little girl’s dreams just because my voice is cold. Would you refuse to throw a puck to a kid over the glass if your arm was sore?”

“This isn’t about me, Princess Cassie.” I roll my eyes as I slip into the passenger seat of Trevor’s car. Once buckled, I pull the remaining straw paper off my straw and at the first taste of the fruit smoothie hitting my tongue, I let out a groan at the satisfaction of what had been a week-long craving in the making.

“God, if I’d known a smoothie was all it’d take to get that kind of reaction out of you, I would’ve brought you here ages ago,” Trevor jeers from the driver’s side. I playfully shove his shoulder which doesn’t do much in the way of inconveniencing the six-feet-tall pro hockey player. 

“That’s no way to talk to a princess!”

***

A/n: If there's anyone who's been following me for a while now, you'll recognize this is the exact same fic as one of my Owen Joyner fics. I originally wrote this piece about Trevor but posted it for Owen because I didn't have a hockey following then and I didn't think anyone would want to read it at the time. Now that I have a relatively stable hockey following I figured posting the original would reach the original intended audience.

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

The problem with Disney right now...

I know I usually state my opinion on movies I see recently and give reviews but sometimes I give my opinion on movies that are going to come out soon. So, I heard about the unnecessary sequels for Moana and Inside Out, which are great movies but they don't need sequels. In all honesty, after seeing what they did with Wish, I think Disney should take a break on making animated movies for a while! Not forever, just for a short time.

Okay, so I think we all can tell that they used A.I on Wish. It's not the animation and stuff, it's just the story! I even think the songs were written by real people, it's purely the story that feels A.I generated. Watch them use A.I on Moana 2, Inside Out 2, and Frozen 3... oh gosh that would break my heart to se them ruin the sequels with A.I. I don't consider myself a Disney fan, in fact, even as a kid I wasn't a Disney-movie kid, but I did have a Frozen phase back in the day. Every kid had a Frozen phase. Inside Out is okay but it was kind of emotional, but the first Moana was really good. The thing is, Frozen is based off the Snow Queen while Moana and Inside Out aren't based off any fairytales and are Disney's own original ideas for once. Plus, I think they're only making these sequels because their original ideas like StrangeWorld and Wish are failing so they're proffiting off live action remakes and making sequels of already existing characters because they're desperate. They're just so greedy and can't stand to see the competitors, who are smaller animation companies, beat them!

I'm mostly boycotting Disney (and have been ever since I saw Zootopia) but I'll watch Disney movies pirated on free websites like Actvid and Moviesjoy. The only thing I like from 2024 Disney is Kiff! LITERALLY KIFF! KIFF! Of all things, I never thought KIFF would be the only thing that's stopping me from abandoning Disney all together. I don't use Disney plus but the website I watch Kiff on doesn't have the recent episodes and I refuse to get Disney plus. Disney should focus on stuff like Kiff and Phineas & Ferb anyway. The only good show they got on Disney channel now is Bluey and Bluey is NOT EVEN DISNEY! Bluey is an Australian show and should be seen as that, instead of having the greediest corporation in the world act like they own an Aussie show that they didn't have anything to do with. Bluey should be on PBS kids or something, not greedy Disney! Who agrees? I'm American, but If I was in Australia I'd be so mad at Disney. Disney literally censored episodes, removed episodes, and stopped the writers from throwing in a Bible reference... when they weren't even making the show! If I was in charge, Disney Channel/Disney Junior would have shows like Jungle Junction, Phineas & Ferb, Bear in the Big Blue House, Good Luck Charlie, Suite life of Zack & Cody on Deck,... ect. Basically I'd bring back everything except JESSIE because it was racist (R.I.P to Cameron Boyce tho, he wasn't a bad guy he was just on a bad show).

Anyway, Disney is on my last nerve rn, and if it wasn't for Kiff I'd hate it all together. I still do hate Disney but the only thing that keeps me from wanting it to go away is Kiff. If you haven't heard of Kiff, it's a recent show by Disney, about an orange squirrel who's really energetic (and no, she's NOTHING like Scaredy Squirrel). As far as movies go, I know for sure that I will never see another Disney movie in theaters and I encourage you too, as well. They'll end up on Actvid or Moviesjoy before they even end up on Disney plus anyway, because Disey is popular and people care enough to record it off some hidden camera in theaters. I'm not saying you have to follow in my footsteps and boycott Disney, I'm just telling you on how I do it. Like, the day they come out in theaters is the same day they end up on free websites. Plus, you don't have to waste your money if the movie is going to be bad, like how Wish ended up being bad.

So yeah, please share your thoughts! If you're a Disney fan, I'm sorry. You have to know that they've been really shady recently (they always have been shady but particularly now).

[pastamansta]

🔥 Tim Burton (him as a person or his aesthetic, your choice!)

"Beetlejuice" (1988) reminds me a lot of another film I watched recently; "Tombstone" (1993). Sold by an aesthetic and a FANTASTIC performance from a side character, audiences were conned into loving a mediocre film. I'm not Lindsey Ellis, so don't expect me to talk about the cartoon.

"Batman" (1989) and its sequel is proof that Burton will not be giving up his aesthetic for God or money. Gotham is heavily disconnected from both the film and its source material, with little reason other than its director. There's a reason no one calls these "Keaton's Batmans," they call them "Burton's Batmans." Jack Nicholson is great as The Joker, but that's no hot take. The hot take is that Devito is too horny as The Penguin, and it makes me uncomfortable for a film that's already so sexual.

"Edward Scissorhands" (1990) is a bitter, bitter film where artist finally meets muse. Not, like, in the plot, but in the production. Depp and Burton were made for eachother... or at least that's what I'm supposed to think. This movie's just too messy, however, and can't decide where its focal point lies and leaves me wishing I had just watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000) instead.

"Sleepy Hollow" (1999) leaves me, a fan of the original text, I know that's probably a weird thing to say, miffed, even if understanding. Outside of some pacing issues, it's a bold reimagining that feels like Burton attempting to get out of his comfort zone... but I just didn't need this story to be turned into an homage to B-horror. Go watch that Disney short, eh?

"Big Fish" (2003) is his best film. I am hardly qualified to speak on it, and even if I did, I would cry. So, you know, just go watch that shit.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) is destined to be compared to "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971), and why wouldn't it? In thirty-four years since the making of the original, not a single person worth listening to said "i need this done right," including Burton himself, which is why he tries to add so much, but no amount of additions changes the fact that he casted his muse instead of someone who could, you know, act like Wonka? So, you know, destined for failure and to be loved by everyone who won't watch movies made before 1987.

"Corpse Bride" (2005) is one of only two claymation films that Burton would actually direct, and he uses this time to steal a Jewish story and make it less Jewish. I don't like the ending or the songs and it feels like it could be cut in half and achieve the same effect.

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (2007) literally doesn't have the iconic opening number from the stage play??? Overall, there's rarely a pairing of source material and director that works as well as this one... If only I enjoyed the source material, eh? So dark, so bitter, so edgy, so... nothing. I never think about this movie. When I do, I think of Mrs. Lovett's dream sequence and remember the good old days of "Big Fish" (2003) when Burton liked to use color.

"Alice in Wonderland" (2010) is one of my guiltiest pleasures in all of film. It is the reason why every time Disney announces a live-action remake, my ears perk up. If all of them were as wild, unhinged, original, creative, and inspired as this one... Well, I think Disney might not be fucking bleeding money right now. No one ever even mentions that it's a sequel to the original animated film. A SEQUEL, not a remake. Sometime movie-goers surprise me with how little they think.

"Frankenweenie" (2012) blows. I don't care how unique it is, I do not like it.

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" (2016) is one of the funniest remnants of the teen dystopia genre. Like, it hardly applies, but is trying SO HARD that it's unbelievable. Also, props to Mr. "Black People Aren't My Aesthetic" for casting Samuel L. Jackson as a dude who eats white babies. (I do not mean that.) Seriously, this is proof that Burton, as a modern director, should no longer be taken seriously.

"Dumbo" (2019) is AAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHA I FUCKING HATE THIS DUDE HOLY SHIT

If I didn't mention, I haven't seen it. Yes, I know I skipped some big ones. I may watch them one day, but I am in no rush.

[marciabrady]

did you see that jodi benson is applauding the lyric and story changes to the remake? does that make you feel like the energy is of the film is the same as the original?

I'm going to preface this by saying that I haven't been a fan of any of the live action remakes and that, while I do admire Jodi, I can be objective about what's going on.

Before I state my opinion, let me start with just listing some facts: Jodi is currently a Disney employee and relies primarily on her Disney salary for her income and livelihood. Jodi has become very deferential to Disney and has contradicted herself and changed her opinion many times in the past, vacillating between what was arguably her authentic opinion and a PR answer (for instance, she was pretty vocal about having a lot of difficulties with the creative team of the third movie and disliking it, before changing her tune entirely and giving seemingly rehearsed soundbites; she also did this when asked about the character of Ariel. Anytime she would give her take on how strong Ariel was or if the character was a good role model before 2019, she would always defend Ariel, but after 2019...well, we'll get into that later). Jodi has been vocal about getting in trouble with Disney in the past and having to adjust accordingly. Jodi is doing everything she can to maintain her relationship with the company and is trying to have her daughter hired into the company and possibly her son. Now, take all of those things into consideration, alongside the fact that anyone who's said anything against the live action remake has been essentially labeled as a bigot or problematic, etc, so it's impossible to really have any discourse about the film in a way that's earnest or isn't overly flowery and complimentary, which is what Jodi is doing.

I think art ceases to be art and becomes completely commercial the minute every person has the exact same take on the film, and this has been the case with this project since before even a single frame of it was shot. And, honestly, that kind of encapsulates why I don't think this film will be anything like the original? Well, it won't retain its energy, at least. Obviously they're ripping off the songs and the characters for their own gain.

It's hard to overstate how dire the conditions were that the original creative team was working under and how much was riding on this project- how inventive it was, how fresh a concept, how much it married a traditional reverence to the classic Disney films while marking a stamp all of its own to it. Time and time again, the success and novelty of this film has been accredited to one man- Howard Ashman. Howard Ashman did so much for the original production- he wrote some dialogue, he wrote the music, he performed key numbers for the talent to the point where they just copied whatever he did- he even invested his own money into the film. The fact that this was the first time an openly gay man had so much creative control over a project at Disney is something that, sadly to this day, is an outlier that has never happened again. This, married with some of the other gay talent working on the film- like Andreas Deja- infused a necessary element of queerness into the energy of production. Even the fact that Ursula was based on drag queen Divine, or the animator working on the scene where Ariel's grotto was destructed drew parallels of his father kicking him out when he came out...this is the definitive queer-coded fairytale for the gay community, going back to the original author and his artistic intent, and that's why I'm so happy that so many LGBTQIA+ people were able to contribute to the film in the 80s. When you mix that with how down animation was at the time and how animation would've ceased to exist at Disney, had this film not been successful, how the animators were pushed off the lot to working in trailers for the first time in the company's history...I think all of that contributed to lending an authentic energy of repression and being underground, etc, all things super necessary to illustrating the gay experience and having all of that ring through on screen. All of the people involved had something of being an outsider in society, too, which I think is perfect for the story of Ariel. Did you know about Jodi Benson before The Little Mermaid? No, of course you didn't, because she had virtually no fame and had auditioned for Ariel as a pity gift from Howard after the show she had been performing in had flopped, according to Jodi. Whenever she told her family and friends about the project, they laughed at her and told her the only people that do animation are ones whose careers are downhill and were so discouraging, until she finally stopped saying anything to them about it at all until the premiere where the success shocked everyone. Even Pat Carroll was a third choice- they wanted a different actress, and once they didn't get her and hired another one, she didn't work out either which is why they finally called Pat in. This film was solely riding on the creative energy and passion and love the creative team had for it and so many bets and stakes were on its back. The success of it came as a surprise to everyone, and it arguably reinvented animation and brought forth the animation period known as the Disney Renaissance.

Compare that to the 2023 film...literally nothing about it is inventive or edgy. It's the 100th live action film that is anything but the reimagining it's remarked as- it literally tries to be the same film as the animated which has already found success, down to naming the mermaid Ariel, giving her red hair, a green fin, a fish friend named Flounder and a crab named Sebastian, and other inventions that were created specifically for the 1989 film as opposed to going back to the original story and trying to be its own thing (every single live action Disney film does this which I think is so stupid honestly; like people being surprised that Sebastian and Flounder look like that...of course they do, because they were created for the medium of animation, not whatever this movie is try to be; how much better would Emma Watson's performance have seemed if she didn't have to live up to the animated Belle's songs or the iconic gold dress?). It rips off the same songs, which have since become Americana and already proven to be successful. In the age where so many critiques have come up regarding the original film, this movie softens both the characters of Ariel and Ursula to appeal to as wide a demographic as possible further illustrating that while the emphasis on the first film was to bring forth a reality to the characters of Ariel and King Triton, this movie just wants to be liked by everyone and has nothing to say.

While many people have stated that Halle's casting was progressive, every other principle character is portrayed by a white actor- Ursula, Eric, Ariel's Father, Vanessa, etc. The man that has taken over Howard Ashman's seat is painfully straight (sorry Lin Manuel, but I can't get on board) and has already written songs for huge Disney productions in the past (ever heard of Moana?) and is currently very popular (ever heard of Hamilton?). Besides, a Disney Princess being racebent isn't a new concept- as we saw with Brandi's Cinderella in the 1990s- and it isn't even new to this property, as we saw the voice actress of Moana playing Ariel in a live action version back in 2019. Remember when I mentioned how the original cast hadn't been super well known prior to the film's release? Halle was literally recognized by Beyonce and had already been in an established singing group with her sister and news of her casting was announced four years prior to the release of the film and super publicized- which, by the way, the marketing budget for this film is nearly double than the production budget for the original, so just think about that...Melissa McCarthy and Javier Bardem literally admitted to texting the director begging for a part, which they got since they were already bigshots in Hollywood. Speaking of Melissa, if Disney really wanted to be progressive or inclusive or be any of the things they're touting to be, I feel they should've hired a drag queen to portray Ursula. Instead, they gave us a white straight married woman from Illinois who's never sang a note in her life. I'm sorry but there's no way she was the best possible choice for the role. Also, outside of not hiring any substantial amount of queer talent or talent of color in front of or behind the camera, Disney has intentionally tried to distance themselves from the community and the subtext of the original movie's queerness. I already mentioned how Ursula was based on a drag queen, and it was Howard's invention that she had a fling with Triton in the past, which you can hear Pat confirming in this interview. This 2023 film makes them siblings...also, I'm sorry, I'll never get over the fact that the original author of the fairytale was part of the community, Howard was, and then they give us...Lin Manuel? There's so many things about the production of this film that make me so uncomfortable and it's all rooted back to the erasure. Which reminds me- Disney announced that they were taking a documentary based on Howard Ashman, his creative achievements and his struggle with AIDs, off of the Disney+ platform the same day they were going to release TLM 2023, before they later repented due to complaints. Aside from the erasure, it's also unsettling to me, as I mentioned before, that there's such a lack of diversity in the cast and it's nearly all white principals when this movie LITERALLY has advertised how "diverse" it is above all else.

In 2019 they announced they were going to set the film in the Caribbean, which I thought was new to this retelling and I was excited to see what it would've looked like and what the new music would've been etc...but this was back when they were planning on casting Harry Styles, a white British man, as Eric. I think having a white British man as the ruler of the Caribbeans is horrible optics, and when he backed out, they hired another white British man...it honestly doesn't sit well with me, especially when other young actors of color were auditioning and were allegedly encountering racism (just saying allegedly because I'm not trying to get sued lol). Also take into account that women of color that have actual talent when it comes to singing were auditioning to be Ursula, even women with pull and influence in the industry, before it was given to director friend Melissa McCarthy who begged for the role via text. Unfortunately, none of these topics are being addressed because Disney very smartly tied audience approval to this film on whether or not they agree with Halle's casting so people are treating it as above reproach and don't really want to speak out or discuss these really problematic elements of production for fear that they might come across as not being in support of Halle having gotten the role and, by extension, making it appear as though they don't support any leads of color.

Finally, where the original was a labor of love with barely any money going into it, fueled purely by a spirit of creativity and love and art, such is not the case with the remake. The remake doesn't offer anything new in the endless strings of live actions, which are doing the same thing with each film- down to how they're marketing the female talent (a strong woman who don't need no man!!). The director has even shown that he doesn't understand the character of Ariel multiple times and fed right into criticism that the talent from the original, like Jodi, used to speak out about before she was ironically silenced. Because she doesn't anymore...because Disney won't let her, allegedly. Jodi allegedly works with a speechwriter and you can kind of tell. I've met her and I've seen almost every panel she's been a part of, and when you ask her about an experience or a memory or her opinion, her stories change a lot. There are still the same truths to them, but she'll reveal different details in each, just the way you would when you're telling the same story to different people because anything that's natural isn't something that will be duplicated too much and there are going to be changes and shifts depending on when you tell it, who you tell it to, etc. Starting in 2019, Jodi stopped defending Ariel and began reciting a speech which she's repeated ad nauseam over how Ariel was appropriate for when she was made but, by virtue of how much "stronger" female characters are now, she'll pale in comparison to someone like Merida or Mulan. She claims you can't hold a 1989 portrayal up against a 2019 or 2023 one, because of course it would have aged...which is the opposite of what she used to say. I've heard her parrot this speech time and time again- and even in person. And that goes back to your original question...I wouldn't place my bets on the remake offering anything authentic or new if Jodi's saying it. Even aside from this, the BATB original cast have all said disparaging things about the remake, aside from Paige O'hara, who's continuously sung its and Emma Watson's praises (and what a coincidence that she's been invited to the premiere and gets more attention from Disney)...until you catch her on an off day or at a convention and she starts complaining about the darker tone, or the gun inclusion, or how Emma couldn't really sing but it was fine because she could act, or how she didn't approve of elements of the costuming...at the end of the day, these people are celebrities in their own right and have to do and say things that are canned tbh just to keep their likability up and remain palatable to the masses and hirable to Disney and Jodi's unfortunately sold out, in my opinion, in that way.

[catwouthats]

Do you know how I can watch stuff that’s usually on Disney plus in a way that doesn’t give them money?

Yes!

I have four answers for that!

1) Your local library

I know that not everyone is comfortable with pirating. The good news is that, nowadays, some libraries will let you borrow streaming services! I’d ask your library if they have something like that available (it’s usually a firestick) and if not, ask if any other libraries connected to your main one have it.

Also, even if they don’t have the streaming service, usually they have some sort of way to rent out movies or shows (weather online or in person)

And my dear college and information yearning friends, libraries have many databases and textbooks you can use for free!

2) A friend

Sometimes, someone else is already paying for it. Maybe a friend’s sibling or parent is paying for their whole family. Or maybe that person is paying themselves (Of course you wish they wouldn’t give money to them, but sometimes no amount of talking will stop them unfortunately). You could ask a friend, online or not, to share their account/family account with you!

3) Watch parties

A group of people coming together to save money/boycott shitty things. What’s better than that?

Online: Sometimes people will sharing their watching experience online. Usually on discord, tiktok, or instagram. You can join, you just of course have to find the accounts/servers that host these watch parties. I’d ask around on Reddit in order to find servers to join that do movie nights.

In real life: Also, you could get a group of friends/a club together to watch something on someone’s TV or some shit (some people even have those phone projector things so it actually feels like the theater). This is especially a good option if you’ve tried everything else and don’t want to personally resort to piracy… but might have a friend who’d do that for you…

You can find clubs at libraries, schools, colleges, and even retirement homes btw.

4) Pirating (of course)

To some people this might seem scary (because it runs the risk of viruses and and such), meanwhile, others might not even know how to pirate.

Here is how to pirate and precautions you should take when doing so:

Try to have an ad blocker (you don’t have to, it’s just an extra layer of protection. You probably should have one though)

You can use your phone instead of a computer, just know that it WILL fuck your phone up a little (personally I use my phone bc my computer is much more prone to viruses and information leaks. Ive been doing this for years and my phone’s fine… unless my storage gets near full/I have too many tabs open.)

Some internet providers may block you from using pirate websites on Google or Safari. I use Yandex as a search engine to get around this. With Yandex all I have to do is search “[movie name] watch now” and it will instantly come up for free.

Usually you can look up common pirate/free sites online and you’ll get some okay sites. Personally I use moviesjoy.is for live action movies/shows, readcomiconline.li for comics, and wcostream.tv for anime/cartoons.

Always ALWAYS X out the pop up tabs and close out things that say “you need to download this first” YOU DO NOT NEED TO DOWNLOAD ANYTHING FIRST (usually. Some websites do have downloadable versions… personally I don’t use those bc it risks viruses.)

Sometimes X ing out doesn’t work. you will have to reload the page or wait like 5-10 seconds for the X (or for “close”) to appear. It can appear in any corner of the screen. Sometimes even the middle of the screen. Like middle center or some shit.

It could take you between 1-10 tabs/pop ups to close before you’re actually able to access the shit. Especially if you don’t have an ad blocker. Be patient.

Going incognito mood would help keep your info safe… but personally I find it doesn’t make a difference. Doesn’t hurt to be extra careful though.

Also, would not recommend looking at questionable things on pirate sites on a library computer/property. Even if you clear history, the library knows. (They didn’t gaf that I used readcomiconline to read some comics on their firebook thingy. It’s just… know that they know.)

[nachos-and-movies]

No, yanno what, I’m not done with this movie yet

Cus I’ve been wondering about the right questions to ask.

Context: I think ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ the live action disney remake is fucking awful and no one should waste their time watching it; it’s ugly and boring.

And my question when watching a bad movie is always “who was this made for?” Cus even godawful movies have at least 1 person who absolutely loves it, yanno. And in the end it doesn’t matter as much if a movie sucks as long as that 1 person got exactly what they wanted.

And with this movie, I genuinely don’t know what the answer is. People who love the colour puke-green?

It’s clearly not made for Peter Pan fans. The movie lacks good flying scenes, a Peter that smiles for more than 10% of the scenes he’s in, a Captain Hook that doesn’t resemble your drunk Uncle on the 4th of July, or a Neverland that is lush, beautiful and a playground for kid adventures.

It’s not for Pan fans that like darker variations of the story, there’s not nearly enough dead children in this.

It’s also not for winning brownie points with marginalised groups, like, really? You add dope representation and you put it in a shit movie? Do you think we’re stupid?

Is it for Disney fans? It’s definitely not for kid Disney fans or they would’ve added colour to the movie. Maybe colour-blind kid Disney fans? Movie’s too boring for that, don’t insult kids by having your movie be the equivalent of homework. Adult Disney fans then? Recent live actions do show that movie-makers think adults like boring, ugly and hard to see, so maybe… but then again, the movie is made BY disney adults, you’d think they’d know what their own people like to watch.

Which is how I got to the question I’m actually supposed to ask: Who is this movie made BY?

Cus I made a half-assed joke in my original review post of this movie, where I’m like “Are the writers okay? Maybe they need a vacation” but Actually..? I’m genuinely worried.

Cus I know 1 thing for sure and that’s that almost none of these crap-ass-motherfucking-dumb-shit-awful live action remakes have been made by people that actually LIKE movies, disney, fairytales or storytelling. Whoever is in the writing room right now, I can tell they fucking hate their job.

I can’t think of another reason why one of the biggest companies on this planet, with the biggest reputation and legacy to uphold, would be okay releasing the literal vomit they’re producing right now. It’s embarrassing. This is the company that got a standing ovation for a WORK IN PROGRESS, reduced to not being able to think further than British cliffs and forests when they think of Neverland, the literal most fantastical, whimsical, childlike wondrous place in fiction.

And then you start wondering how this could happen and the obvious answer is money capitalism the hubris of men, we all know this shtick. At this point I’m mostly just worried for my fellow creatives who clearly need to gtfo and work in a nice peaceful bookstore or smthn, i dunno, I wanna give them a hot coco real bad.

[writeblrfantasy]

DAYBREAKERS: lila's lesbian found family heist genre bending wip

featuring friends to crushes to enemies to lovers, the obligatory undercover fake relationship fancy ball scene, a metaphorical and literal magical love interest, a lot of suits, sunsets, and a found family like you wouldn't believe, may i present DAYBREAKERS!

for fans of six of crows, mission impossible, and some disney princess inspiration. the genre is fantasy with a lot of modern quirks and fun gadgets. there's a train scene like the one in uncharted 2, and a mage with a collar and demeanor as stiff as zoya nazyalensky. genre means nothing to me.

THE PLOT:

two years after evelin left the daybreaker crew due to a job gone wrong, her former crew members interrupt the peaceful little life she's built for herself as a designer living on the waterfront. they have the nerve to bring along summer, the woman who betrayed them on that horrible, fateful day two years ago--consequently the most beautiful woman evelin has ever seen, in body and spirit, the one she once hoped to spend her life with--has a sibling in prison. they need to break them out.

they don't ask evelin to give up retirement from that life. she helps them get the money they do ask for, and then they go. she goes with them anyway.

being around the crew and summer again is easier than evelin thought it'd be, especially when summer reveals that night of her betrayal was all a terrible misunderstanding, and she committed no crime. as evelin & crew adjust to having a stiff royal cursebreaker in the midst of their questionably legal methods, and plot their way through the toughest prison on the continent to jude's rescue, evelin wonders if she hasn't missed her chance after all. if there really is a second chance to build something with summer, something evelin dreamed of before the split.

(the answer is yes, and her friends tell her so. repeatedly. gods damn it, ev.)

THE CHARACTERS:

evelin: the upper class pov fashion designer, the "eat the rich, but especially my parents" the stubborn but kindhearted bad boy gentleman lesbian every femme dreams of. aka the person i would like to be!

summer: some call her fireblood. some call her a queen. most just call her beautiful. but she's more than just a pretty face stuck in the honeypot role. she's wanted by the government. aren't we all, girl.

meredith: the leader. a former army child, she is a master negotiator. too bad she doesn't gamble, she has the best poker face in the country!

ruth: bisexual master lockpick, the logical short one who has her head screwed on straight (ha) the most out of all of them. also a former priest. i know, right?

bath(ozan'gog): ruth's demon boyfriend, he is not fully corporeal so he lives in ruth's shoulder. he is very scary and very helpful and threatening, indeed. mhm. no, bath, i'm being serious.

nell: meredith's spouse. driver of their getaway ship/motorcar. a person of few words and dad energy like you wouldn't believe, they have an honest heart. the physical worker of the bunch.

katirina volonov: royal cursebreaker brought onto the crew who has to adjust to their antics and maybe, just maybe loosen up a little once she observes this found family in action.

tagging @ashen-crest @magic-is-something-we-create @chayscribbles @dakrapatops out of interest! let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist! i'm really excited about this one, and it goes to my irl bestie who has been begging me for another lesbian wip forever <3

[sweet-potatah-pie]

i’m a chronic twitter user and there’s been a lot of patf discourse happening over the past week and a half. for starters there’s speculation that disney might end up canceling the tiana series because on disney’s website they changed the release date from “2024” to “coming soon”. also, there’s rumors that disney is working on a disney live action and there’s been a shit ton of terrible fancasts (like someone said avan jogia from victorious should play naveen and i busted out laughing LMFAOO).

since you’re a big fan of the franchise, i really wanted to know your thoughts. is there anyone you would want to see in a live action if it happens? personally, i really don’t want a patf live action cause i find the idea of watching realistic looking frogs falling in love to be a bit bizarre 😭😭😭. plus disney’s live action track record isn’t really that great imo (but i can’t see what they do with the little mermaid). also, i’ll be really disappointed if the tiana series ends up actually being cancelled cause i’ve been looking forward to it for a while.

OMG! If Disney canceled the animated show I would be soooo heartbroken!!! 💔😭💔😭That's all I want from them!

I’m not surprised that this sort of discourse would be all over Twitter though. People probably feel emboldened by the presence of a Black female live action lead with Halle Bailey as Ariel in The Little Mermaid remake, and think now’s the time to push for a live action Tiana. Even the director that Disney tapped for the animated series, Stella Meghie, straight up went to Disney in the hopes of making a live action The Princess and the Frog before they came to her with the idea of the animated show.

TO ME, that is telling of her true intentions. Because if she really wanted to just make art/tell stories, an animated series is the way to go in my book. But wanting to direct a frame-for-frame live action remake is just about making money. There’s nothing new or artful about that. But all those shitty remakes gross $1 Billion. I’m not even the least bit excited for The Little Mermaid. Congrats to Halle on securing the bag though. 🤷🏾‍♀️And I guess, at least brown kids coming up now will have a little bit more representation.

There aren’t any actors I’d cast in a live action PATF, because that is not a movie I want in the slightest. 🤣The fancasts are all atrocious though. People forget that Tiana has a rich, deep brown complexion and that she should LOOK 19-years-old. LOL! (Okay, I guess I would MAYBE cast Coco Jones as Tiana if I HAD to??? And then I give up after that, because I remember I don't want this remake. 🙃)

Also, if Disney were to “rewrite” the live action remake as a “fixit” film so that Tiana (and maybe Naveen) are human the whole time… why not just put that creative energy into telling completely new stories about them? Or into reviving their beautiful 2D animation?

I guess this is all just to say, I think Disney’s live action remakes are lazy, capitalist money grabs, and I don’t support them at all. 🙃👋🏾I get wanting Black women actors and directors to make money, but it will not be MY money they will be taking.

[destinyc1020]

last anon is WILDLY overestimating how famous the other members of the cast and crew are. Tom is “my entire family knows who he is famous”. Tom (and Amy) chose Paul King because he has a specific light heartedness to his films. If he wanted to make a film about Astaire’s obsessiveness, he would’ve asked for (and gotten) Damien Chazelle.

Tom is the most famous actor under 30. Timmy is also famous but he’s not “my entire family knows who he is famous”. With how much the box office has been underperforming since COVID, I’m sure most directors are EAGER to give Tom his first bona fide live action critical hit outside of Spider-man since 2017. Because THAT movie is going to MAKE money.

And can we just say? The main reason why Tom is so famous IS because of Spider-Man/Marvel/Disney. Like, let's just be honest. That role opened up TREMENDOUS doors for him. HE might have still been doing indie films (nothing wrong with that!) had it not been for Spider-Man.

I know we all want to see Tom outside of the suit (in more ways than one lol 👀🤭), but we DO have to give credit where credit is due...and the main reason why Tom is so famous under 30 IS because of the fact that he has played Spider-Man in like 5 films. More than any other Spider-Man actor. So people definitely recognize him.

So, we can't sneeze at that fact. We need to appreciate that as well.

Plus, he's wildly charismatic, so that doesn't hurt lol. But imagine where his career would have been had he NOT taken the Spider-Man role?? So you guys just have to trust that Tom knows what he's doing and he's choosing the roles that speak to him. 😊

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff: Nimona

or How to Not Worry & Channel Your Inner Limp Bizkit

In the year before 2020, it was announced that Blue Sky Studios was adapting ND Stevenson's hit graphic novel. Everything changed though when Disney was on that bullshit post-Fox buyout, where to our surprise Blue Sky and Nimona would be shut down. The latter's cancellation hit especially hard understanding it was almost finished anyways, but that's Disney for you. Long as you don't say gay and give 'em your money, they'll stay out of the way. Leave it to Netflix to let the film rebound from Super Hell and finally make it to both the big and small screen; makes you forget they're garbage at anything else. All in all, Blue Sky had the last laugh one more time but was Nimona able to bring the flavorful fireworks or did we get a weak flare that fumbled before the 4th of July?

Well, I will declare now that the film... is fun. If it wasn't fun, that means Disney made it and would remake it live-action around 2040. This film is a ride-or-die by its titular protagonist and lads, I can't lie...

PROTECT. THIS. GODDAMN. SMILE.

Nimona is both a bundle of chaotic joy and an entity that deserved far better. She's like the manifestation of Limp Bizkit, 2000s punk, and B-tier shitposting rolled into an unapologetic but deeply frustrated rebel. I've seen naysayers before release going, "She's another attitude girl archetype" and like no. She has that raw gremlin bastard energy, but she's never an annoying bitch and that's big difference. The best thing is that you're with Ballister in getting to know her; it surprisingly hard for folk to be accepting of somebody harmless who's more comfortable with themselves than anyone lets on. She's not a character I felt forced to sympathize with nor was intrusive on Ballister's story. She's not exactly the focus, but she earned being the star of this movie.

I got major Haruhi and Kyon vibes from their dynamic and it's great

Plotwise, there's a good flow to it all that makes this rewatchable thrill. If there's one major gripe I have is that while Nimona and Ballister have a great dynamic, there's a part in the 2nd act involving them and the villain that was a bit rushed. I will admit to not have read the book, but while I do know the tone is different given they were probably going for an all age rating, I say things didn't feel too compromised. My mind is blown enough that we got an animated kids movie with two, COUNT 'EM TWO, openly queer protagonists. No winks and nudges towards Ballister being gay, no scatterbrained subtlety on Nimona's genderfluid existence, and thank balls their story exists as more than being a preachy memoir. These two get to just BE and live to go on a crime spree justice adventure. That is what I've wanted for longer than any of you think and this delivered. Any criticisms I could have I felt was diluted by the actual fun this was.

And if you've seen Iron Giant, you probably will love this movie

To conclude, I am wondering of a timeline where this wasn't originally cancelled and Blue Sky didn't get axed. This was as much their movie as it is Annapurna and DNEG who helped finish it. People said it looked "unfinished" but then again, given the situation I can cut it some slack because it still plays out gorgeously. Like you know Blue Sky got most of it done, but you think about the changes in direction and ponder if this was the best outcome for the film. It is poetic though, a phoenix forced to burn out but gets to revive as a stronger, if not more so, being that people finally get to see. For Nate, this is undoubtedly a dream come true. As for me, not since Puss in Boots The Last Wish have I been delighted to call this a...

9/10 ABSOLUTE BANGER

[doevademe]

What are your general thoughts for how the new percy jackson series will go? I think the boy cast as Percy is adorable

Walter Scobell is indeed quite good for the role. I've seen him on the Adam Project, and his acting is great in both emotional scenes and banter. He'll probably be a highlight of the show.

Now, as to how I think it will go, from a writing perspective, I think it will be fairly accurate to the books, for better or worse. I'm especially curious to see if they will tone down Annabeth's aggressiveness since... well, it's already very uncomfortable in the books, but seeing it live action might not be the best.

From a production perspective... I'd like to preface it by saying that I'm a cynical person by nature, and my knowledge of Hollywood tints a lot of my opinions in a somewhat negative way. With that said...

I give this show 3 seasons, max. It has a lot going against it, including, but not limited to:

Child Actors: Leah Jeffries is 13, Walter Scobell 14, and Aryan Simhadri 17. These actors will soon be growing up, maybe develop features that may make them look even older. It will become more and more difficult to make them pass as the ages their characters supposedly are. And I know what you're thinking, that they'll age with the characters, and I would agree if it weren't for...

The Strikes: Thanks to the strikes, the actors won't be promoting the show, which means less people will even know it's out, only online people and whoever manages to catch a TV spot or billboard. Not only that but Season 2, if it's greenlit, will be delayed at least six months, if not more. That gap might kill the show in this day and age, and if it doesn't, that's half a year for the actors to grow, for their voices to change, and it will be harder for them to keep pretending they are 13-16 year-olds convincingly.

The Effects: CGI is very expensive if you want it to look good next to live action, and from what I saw in the trailer, the budget seems to not be there. There's a lot of PS3 level textures and a lot of obvious green screens. Disney is also infamous for mistreating VFX artists and forcing them into crunch, so it's even less likely to be good (remember She-Hulk?). Speaking of...

Disney: The company is notorious for cancelling series as soon as profit goes down or a showrunner tries to do something that will tank international sales. Add how they are taking down series to save money from the eventual strikes negotiations and you have a show that the company won't hesitate to ax the moment it becomes a liability.

The Streaming Curse: It's a well-known phenomenon that ratings for streaming start tanking starting season 3. This is because everyone watches the first season to know what a series is like, a lot stay for the second to see how it goes, but fewer turn up to season 3 because they either move on to the next big thing or the flaws turned them off (because every show has flaws, it all depends on your tolerance for them). As I said, Disney renews shows based on money and audience. If both start to decline, the show will simply die.

With all that, I find it hard for PJO to be successful in the long term. I think a second season is quite possible, but I highly doubt we'll see the whole series adapted.

[there-are-many-ways-to-smile]

I just watched the live action ‘The Little Mermaid’

And it was really cute.

Um I can see why we don’t have more underwater movies, a lot of the underwater scenes looked a bit weird. We definitely don’t have the technology for water movies yet and this movie proves that even with a Disney budget.. we just aren’t there… yet.. (i’m mentioning that the underwater scenes, looked weird because I don’t usually notice stuff like that)

Water, she’s a tricky mistress.

I’m watched this movie with the eyes of an adult and I felt Scuttle was in the movie a bit too much, like even if we remove my distaste for Awkwafina.. I felt her scenes could have gone more to Ariel being on the surface, human Ursula or Ariel’s sisters. The screen time could have been utilized better. (Speaking of human Ursula, she was great)

I grew a small hatred for that blue dress Ariel had to wear. It was cute for day one and if she was staying with the village people, I’d understand her having to wear it all the time but she wasn’t… she was staying at a big beautiful castle with royalty. She should have been wearing more than that one dress. Unless one of the deleted scenes shows her struggling to get a different dress on. See I could understand that. The one dress just doesn’t make sense. Like it didn’t even show if this was her favorite dress. (Did they spend all of their money on the underwater scenes?)

Instead of that raggedy blue dress, I would have rather the silver dress that animated Ariel gets when her father turns her into a human. Like THAT is what I wanted. (Like what do you mean the sea has magic and he couldn’t even give her any clothes)

[heyitschartic]

Tagged by @vikugnavikugna

coke or pepsi? You know I love coke, but in terms of soda I'll have a diet pepsi.

disney or dreamworks? Dreamworks

coffee or tea? I drink like seven coffees a day

books or movies? BOOKS. I love movies, but books are so fun.

windows or mac? Windows, fuck Mac!!!!!!!

dc or marvel? I don't really like comics in general, but my gf loves the BatFam so I'll go DC

x-box or playstation? Playstation easy

dragon age or mass effect? I don't like either

night owl or early riser? I wake up at 6am every single day

cards or chess? Chess, but I always lose at it

chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate for taste, vanilla for smell

vans or converse? Vans

Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash, or Adaar? Who?????

fluff or angst? You KNOW I love angst

beach or forest? Ooooo I think I have to go forest

dogs or cats? Cats all day (sorry Illidan)

clear skies or rain? I lvoe days with just that slight drizzle of rain

cooking or eating out? Eating out tf??? Who is picking cooking

spicy food or mild food? SPICY

halloween/samhain or solstice/yule/christmas? HALLOWEEN MY FAV HOLIDAY

would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot? I live in Minnesota, I already made that decision

if you could have a superpower, what would it be? I think I'd have to go with Boensaw's power from the hit Canadian web serial Worm

animation or live action? Animation

paragon or renegade? Evil 😈

baths or showers? Baaaaaath, I love a nice bath

team cap or team ironman? Hate Iron man, at least cap is likeable I have never found Tony Stark interesting or entertaining and Captain America just has thay sort of scruffy charm

fantasy or sci-fi? Fantasy

do you have three or four favourite quotes, if so what are they? This would get too long so Ill post one: 'What are we going to do, Dogger?'It seemed a reasonable question. After all he had been through, surely Dogger knew something of hopeless situations. 'We shall wait upon tomorrow,' he said. 'But--what if tomorrow is worse than today?' 'Then we shall wait upon the day after tomorrow.' 'And so forth?' I asked. 'And so forth,' Dogger said.

youtube or netflix? Youtube

[REDACTED] you couldn't get that out of me under torture

when do you feel accomplished? When I accomplish something that I've been working at for a long time, especially something that means a lot to me

star wars or star trek? Star Trek, easily. Star wars is like two good movies and a game, at best

paperback books or hardcover books? Hardcover, nothing feels as good in your hands

to live in a world without literature or without music? Without literature, sorry. I just couldnt live without something to listen and dance to.

who was the last person to make you laugh? Hard to remember, it was either my gf, bug, or Peri

city or countryside? City, I want to have things to do

favorite chips? Salt and vinegar

pants or dresses? Dresses, you can't force me to wear pants anymore

libraries or museums? Museums just because they're so much more of a trip

character driven stories or plot driven stories? Character driven, almost always. That's always the stuff that digs into me more

bookmarks or folding pages? Bookmarks Jesus christ what kind of freak folds pages

Dream job? Honestly, I'm kind of in my dream job already. Doing scientific research on fun and interesting problems every day. If it wasn't that, I think it would be writing. I love writing, but I don't have enough time for it sadly.

What gives you comfort? A good book, a lover's touch, warm blankets and soft animals, the quiet sound of the city waking up, good food and fine alcohol.

what are some of your favorite song lyrics? One for the money, two for the better green 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine

favorite ice cream flavor ever? PEANUT BUTTER that or cookie dough.

first fandom? No surprise but it was the Ranma 1/2 fandom, for obvious reasons a young Chart was ENTHRALLED by that concept

Your desert island band? Otoboke Beaver cause I'd be pissed

As for who I'm tagging.... @cpericardium @bug4932 @skitter-queen @rainfrazier get to work

[blvckdress]

𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐤 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐔

Collab with @iheartkomori-deactivated2022072

u will be missed :,(

Eight actors are chosen for the corresponding roles and each season will be a new 'route' where the heroine, Yui Komori, chooses which boy will suck her blood.

Social media goes absolutely insane when a live action adaptation of the series is announced (cough cough booktok and book twitter) and the controversy of whether the books romantacize abuse re-emerge, creating more traction for the show.

People come up with all sorts of fancasts (with some insisting the actors have to be romanian) but are general depictions of how the characters look like in the books.

Anyways, fan opinion does have a little influence on the casting and the eight actors are revealed to the public.

Shu Sakamaki:

Everyone lived for his casting 

Like it was the same way people felt when ben barnes was casted for shadow and bone 

It was absolutely perfect 

He’s of greek descent and has been in a few indie films 

Nepo baby 

He was def in baby diaper commercials and a child model for a while 

Think bjorn andreson in that one movie 

His mom was a big 80s/90s actress and his dad is a popular screenwriter 

Style gives very much greek, mediterranean wealthy 

People constantly make tik toks of how he invented old money 

People also make edits with the audio ‘glimpse of us by joji’ with scenes of him and edgar/yuma 

He is super different from shu in real life but likes to call him a mood because he lies down, listens to music and vibes

Very much gives older brother energy with the rest of the sakamaki actors

His real life little brother gives very much iris apatow who’s a fashion icon and constantly feeds fans content 

Is a big shu x yuma shipper and constantly talks about how he would definitely be willing to explore that in interviews 

Is straight but def gives fruity vibes 

popular achilles fancast and knows it oop 

Gets the most set candids because he is such a natural 

Has a highlights on his instagram of him sleeping on set 

Him as shu is undeniably sexy and my guy has the most expressive eyes despite being a mostly chill character 

Ocean eyes from billie eilish automatically becomes associated with him

Reiji Sakamaki:

Bro

This guy absolutely slays at playing Reiji 

Lowkey unintentionally funny 

But for real though his screen presence is top notch and he carries such charisma

When it is shu’s season, he gives major second lead syndrome 

Out of the entire cast reiji’s actor is the most like his character minus the sadism and trauma 

He is also a nepo baby with his mom being a 90s supermodel, think Kate Moss or Vanesa Paradis 

Used to be in this one disney original movie as the snarky little brother and people didn’t realize it was him till it was brought up 

Extremely professional on set 

Like deadass 

He is always on time with 99 problems and green chai 

He is always seen reading the script

The paparazzi always takes pictures of him and no matter where he is, he is either annotating or skimming pages 

It becomes a tiktok trend to read a random script at random places for the aesthetic 

Dark academia king 

Wears light kohl that matches with his tim burton eyes 

Is not super close with his co stars or crew but occasionally has brunch with them individually and wishes them happy birthday along with getting them a gift 

In general he is a very private person 

Has a girlfriend who he loves with his entire being 

Keeps his relationship on the down low to avoid annoying paparazzi 

She is a lawyer and activist with a teenage son (single mom) who later becomes the product of edits and is widely used in the ‘i want my mommy , i want your mommy too’ audios used to refer to reiji 

Popular fancast for cardan greenbriar 

His girlfriend and yui’s actress are super close and yui is also super in love with her 

He jokingly says ‘team reiji’ during interviews but is very vocal about how the series and the relationships should not be romanticized

A little kid once comes up to the comic con panel and he nearly shits himself

Ayato Sakamaki:

Fans will not leave this man alone 

Especially when he is with yui’s actress 

Like there will be an interview where they look at each other and you will see people trying to analyze their body language and raving about how they are soulmates 

Is the funniest member in the cast and you never know if half the things he does are ironic

Bro will dress like a nike highlighter one day and the next day he will be dressed by tom ford himself 

Nike loves him 

When he was casted as ayato people were skeptical because while he was good looking, booktok and twitter are nit picky as hell 

But when they saw him in the ryotei uniform and red hair they gave him a massive apology because the man delivered 

A fan favorite for sure 

Has a bfa in acting which he received in florida state university

He has had credits in theater and television but this show was his big break 

Like it was destined for him 

He is also romanian 

Memes 

Memes everywhere 

Kanato Sakamaki: 

By far the most underrated and seasoned actor in the show amongst the younger cast 

Brings the horror and vibes to the max 

Posts pictures of the prosthetics in the show 

Casually eats sweets on set 

Has voiced jason todd in a batman movie and people were surprised at how well his voice can change 

Alas kanato requires a lot of tone changes 

His season is one of the scariest 

Like jumpscares come super naturally to him 

Yui’s actress is taller than him so they are the poster couple for  “tall girl x short boy” ships 

Is currently dating a costar from a previous project 

Lowkey a nepo baby 

His mom is a celebrity makeup artist oop 

There’s pictures where he randomly shows up in pictures with other celebrities and events he has no business being in

think alexa demie

naturally blond

Laito Sakamaki:

Best actor in the show

It is a generally prodigious cast but laito steals the show 

His season is one of the most controversial but critically well received 

Is nominated for an Emmy award for as lead actor in drama series 

Like ayato he also holds a bfa in acting from the carnegie mellon school of drama 

Is a newcomer to television but has been in off broadway shows and the broadway revival of “death of a salesman” 

Extremely versatile 

Is mixed (he gives me very mixed vibes in general im sorry) 

Is mom is french and his dad is afro-brazilian 

Acts fruity, is fruity 

Bisexual 

Him and Yui are best friends 

The epitome of sky by playboy carti ("she my best friend yeah we not a couple")

Think olivia rodrigo and conan gray 

#freelaitofromhisstylist goes viral because his fashion sense on the show is horrendous 

Debates on whether the fedora is necessary exist on twitter 

The green leopard print seals the deal 

Gives very much harry styles trying to fight gender norms but it ends up looking trash

When asked about how he gets into character he says that he plays laito “with a little bit of gayness” because that is the vibe he got when he read the books 

Like reiji he states very clearly how the show shouldn’t be romanticized and frequently calls out people dumb enough to believe the show does on twitter 

Very unapologetically might I add 

Does this with kanato and ayato on instagram lives since the three of them hang out together a lot

Subaru Sakamaki:

No one can do it like he does 

Bro embodies subaru to a T 

Him and ayato smoke weed and dance together in thier LA homes 

Is a london based actor 

One of those actors who had frequently played the younger versions of other characters 

Is wasian

finds subaru trying to act like a gangster the funniest thing ever and will always make fun of it during interviews

does the 'his eyes darkened' and 'he growled' like its in his blood

for readers that were never able to visualize it

here he is

Yui Komori:

this girl literally jumped out of the books

she looks exactly how one would picture yui looking in live action

everyone absolutely loves her and vows to protect her from all harm

acts fruity, IS A BIG FRUIT

is nominated for lead actress in a drama series

a huge huge book nerd

has talked about being a huge fan of the series and always posts little easter eggs in her insta posts to tease fans

the actress is Romanian

has a deeper voice in real life and carries a more snarky chill demeanor

her and ayato's actor lowkey have beef

but not the kind of beef one rlly takes seriously

mostly the kind where the rest of the cast and fans laugh at how idiotic it is

no one ever knows why they have beef

they just do

even ayato's actor who is an open book still to this day will not talk about why they occassionally give each other stank looks in interviews which fans make analysis videos of

that being said her chemistry with ayato on screen >>>