#answers from yours truly

[writers-in-moominvalley]

Do you think it would be better (from a story telling perspective), if in Moominpappa's Memoirs, for Moominpapa to be the one who stumbled upon an astrology newspaper/book and find out that he was born under "special stars", or if the Hemulen actually was into astrology.

When I first read The Exploits of Moominpappa, I was actually a bit weary if the Hemulen was the one who was into astrology.

It just didn't seem in character for her. I know we picture astrology differently than people did when this book was written, so I know now it astrology is seen as rather feminine and "fake", and I don't know if it had the same connotations as it did back then as it did now.

It didn't make sense that a strict Hemulen would care or put stock into something like astrology. But, then again, it was seen in a different light, then maybe she could have viewed it as the stars (something Big and Important and has Authority) giving advice, in a way, about how a child will behave.

And from a storytelling perspective, I think it could be really interesting for the Hemulen to tell Moominpapa that he is "special", as it would have been the only time in the Home where he was told that, and it's possible that Papa could have felt inspired to hear the Hemulen call him "special" again, which is why he thinks of her so often throughout the book.

But I think it also could be interesting for Moominpapa to find the astrology book himself and find out on his own that he was born under "special stars". It showcases how Moominpapa yearns to be special, and could even place the idea that he is special in his head in the first place.

It also feels more isolating, Moominpapa finding out this information on his own and being the only one to believe it, instead of being told by someone else, further sells the idea that Moominpapa was very isolated in the home.

Idk, it was just something I thought about. I really like how unreliable of a narrative Moominpapa can be in his memoirs. While reading them I found myself pausing a lot and wondering if that's how something really went down, or if Moominpapa changed it.

See, the thing with Moominpappa's Memoirs is that it really is an unreliable narrative, but I want to think that every horrible emotion Moominpappa wrote that he felt was real to him atleast.

Maybe the Hemulen really was as abusive and neglectful as he made her sound! It would explain much his behavior, as people with self-aggrandizing disorders like NPD tend to develop them as a coping mechanism for low self-esteem stemming from such abuse. Or she might not have been as bad as he said! Maybe it was a lie to make himself seem more pitiful and endearing to his readers, truly an artist who suffered and bested his circumstances. Moominpappa has admitted himself to be unreliable from the preface, so we're the only ones who gets to choose what truth to believe - and I choose to believe Moominpappa when he says he was verbally abused and isolated and self-pitying, because it makes the most sense for his behavior and he may even take pride in having such a sad backstory, characterization in adaptations be damned.

And with that, I think it would be strange for Moominpappa to lie about his principal having an interest in astrology when he discovered such a thing himself, because what is the goal of displacing the credit in this case? If he discovered astrology by himself it would've further painted him as the gifted child genius he claims to be!

Astrology was sort of a niche thing that slowly gained popularity in Tove's time, and it's always been a pretentious thing atleast in the modern era. Moominpappa is as much of a reflection of Tove as he is of her father, Viktor, and that's why Moominpappa shares the same birthday as her. As a creative person I can imagine Tove giggling to himself writing a character being pompous of his (and her own) star sign because it's silly and almost cute, just like alot of the other things her characters believe and do. But also Tove has a great knack for (ironically) humanizing her characters through small details.

The Hemulen being interested in astrology is a small silly thing that may not be entirely relevant to the story and could've easily been a discovery handed to Moominpappa, but so is Hodgkins using a net his nephew made for his birthday even though there's no fish in the river because he doesn't want his nephew to feel like he made him something useless, so is Joxter and Muddler sharing sweets during the Autocrat's party. Moominpappa is a great storyteller and Tove is an even better writer in this regard - it adds a realism to the warped reality Moominpappa presents to us, an impression of a reality that's beyond Moominpappa and he only has a glimpse of.

We don't know about anyone else's backstory besides a few vague lines because Moominpappa is never interested in them, only his own, this story is about him and he's said himself that he's become incurious about anything (or anyone) but himself. The Hemulen's interest in astrology humanizes her in ways we don't fully register, she isn't an abusive character with no inner world who only serves Moominpappa's character, but all he can do is provide an impression of her through faded memories, and it's honestly more realistic that she'd be capable of saying something that could be seen as a great compliment to Moominpappa.

In fact, it could be that him being called special once in an early childhood memory is the thing that made him latch onto the label, because it's the only explanation he likes for why he seems so isolated from his peers. He's not Weird, he's Special! The Hemulen told him so! And she must be right about that and nothing else.

And it breaks my heart everytime to think about it.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Out of sight, out of - wait.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[juleteon]

it's one of those times, folks

[canisalbus]

Hello, I'm not sure if you're aware, but tumblr is going to start helping midjourney gather data for their AI. You're one of the artists I follow here pretty actively and I wanted to warn you to maybe start nighshading your art before posting it here so it doesn't get swept up!

I've seen a couple of posts about it. Feeling disappointed but not that surprised. Also not excited about having to start nightshading/glazing my pieces but if there isn't going to be any serious regulations regarding data scraping and ai "art", there aren't a lot of choices.

Thank you for taking the time to warn me just in case, it was very thoughtful of you!

[whatwooshkai]

Heatwave with a cup of coffe, because he has been abusing it for too long and definitely don't wabt to go to sleep

yeah

[l0stfoster]

Something makes me think you used to be a be more chill kid

What? Pppsh absolutely not. Who do you take me for, Anon? What do I look like? A loser? ..A loser who’s- who’s fl- flying solo- who you think that you kno-

How dare you scope me out so easily

[writers-in-moominvalley]

You might have gotten an ask like this before but I think it's unfair how snufkin often gets misrepresented in moomin media/fandom as either a deus ex machina type of wise traveler whos never wrong, or some sort of awkward teen who's "scared of socializing" could you perhaps analyze the nuances in his character?

I held off on answering this ask for a bit because Snufkin has honestly become such a nebulous character to me after a while that I barely have the motivation to properly discuss him. But now I've finally come to the right mindset to talk about his character;

Snufkin was... A few things in the books. A few very different things, actually.

His character is very notably different between the first half of the books (Comet in Moominland through Moominpappa's Memoirs) and the second half of the books (Moominsummer Madness through Moominvalley in November). These 2 eras of Snufkin make for an interesting character to ponder about even if he isn't as prominent as other characters (ironic, considering he's the first character anyone would know of when entering the fandom and is practically its figurehead)

Snufkin in his first era was... A very regular child with a much happier disposition, he tended to kick the shins of those who are about to say something they shouldn't and had very strange preferences and lifestyle but he was still very much a child unburdened by having to socialize or talk to people. He became quick friends with Moomintroll not because he exemplified an ideal that Moomintroll hoped for - but because he was so gosh-darn friendly and fun to be around.

He claimed himself a tramp and a poet when first meeting Moomintroll and Sniff and tried very dearly to be of help to them along the journey, even consoling Sniff when his plan to nab some garnets went awry, and he continues to be a good-natured fellow and a quick thinker throughout Finn Family Moomintroll. In Moominpappa's Memoirs he was absolutely mesmerized by the idea of his father and wanted to learn as much as he could about him, and arguably taking to idolizing him for both their similarities and simply how cool and punk he considered him.

Snufkin was also a story-teller throughout and contained more wisdom in his self than even some of the adults likely due to his traveling making him accumulate stories and practical knowledge that others wouldn't even think to explore.

Much of Snufkin's "tragedy" boils down to being orphaned so young that he didn't even imagine having parents of his own, thinking that he just came to existence in some basket one day and was found by some unknown "they", whoever they are, but that tragedy is quickly resolved as he reunites with his family in the epilogue of Moominpappa's Memoirs. He also took to traveling out of Moominvalley with great eagerness, it was more of a sudden decision and he didn't seem apologetic about it at all - he wanted so much to go somewhere new again, he was excited!

And it wasn't a goodbye forever, he promised to return in the spring when everyone was going to wake up. Perhaps he found that hibernation just wasn't for him and would rather take the lonely but exciting alternative, who knows! He's just a jolly little lad!

But then came Moominsummer Madness where we are presented with a more mature Snufkin, suddenly taking after his father with his smoking and anti-park terrorism but also after his mother with his care for an impossible amount of children. Although he didn't ring as excitable in tone as before, he still had conviction and a small sense of whimsy in him, he still cared deeply and wanted to be kind and it was almost too easy for him to take on a very parental role for the Woodies. He also still exhibited his greater knowledge of the world through knowing exactly what a play is and how it works.

We lack him in Moominland Midwinter, but he becomes a very romantic subject in Moomintroll's mind, reading his letter a bit too many times and imagining what it's like in the south - even declaring to go and meet him before the reality of winter hits him in the face. Those thoughts are very sporadic and short-lived however, as he has everything about the foreign land of Winter to worry about.

We then have the luxury of having 3 whole chapters mainly featuring Snufkin, The Spring Tune, The Last Dragon in the World and Cedric, all of which place him on the higher ground, whether as a philosophical authority or someone to be impressed. He's clearly depicted as a more closed-off character, much different than the younger Snufkin we knew in the first half of the series.

Where he was excited to make new friends who've stumbled onto his camp in Comet in Moominland, he's totally apprehensive of a Creep invading his space. Where he tried to help make Sniff feel better by looking on the bright side of things and relented when Sniff countered him with his real lament in Comet in Moominland, he lectures to him a story and is too stubborn to stop it when Sniff is clearly disinterested and keeps interjecting.

Finally, Moominvalley in November made him very... Restless in his need for isolation. He hated or atleast disliked these people he was stuck with without even knowing them properly, he freaks out at the sight of signs that only tell the name of Moominhouse and he felt watched by the others even in the safety of his tent. But he grew out of it, his main motif was his harmonica and he kept playing and playing and playing it throughout the book, he became an inspiration to the Fillyjonk, he was a partner in Mymble's act during the party, he helped the Hemulen sail his boat for the first time.

He learned to coexist with new people again. After a long time of getting too used to a family as understanding as the Moomins, he finally formed new bonds with new people, and when the snow came it was his time to depart as the second-to-last person left in the Valley, even if he never got to see the Moomins that time. Toft pondered if Snufkin understood that Toft was meant to be the only one to greet the Moomins upon their return, or even that he understood even more than that.

Snufkin is still a kind person through it all, an unwilling inspiration to others now too, but even when he's become so terribly closed off from others he still makes the choice to help and make the right choice in the end.

He's changed a great deal throughout the books, but his integrity remains all the same.

-

Snufkin in the comics, on the other hand...

Is just kind of there? For about... 4 comics out of the 21 that Tove made?

I mean, not to diminish him, he's still spoken about as though he's Moomintroll's best friend in The Conscientious Moomins but he lacks any stay them. In Moomin and the Brigands and Moomin in Family Life (literally the first 2 comics of the strip), he seems very similar to how he was in the first half of the books, he's very quirky and happy to lend a paw whenever he should. He spouts about using money to plant trees all Lorax-like and barely helps in Moomintroll and Sniff's endeavors (he's characterized as more of a nuisance in Brigands, really), and he becomes an object to impress for Moominpappa because of Moominpappa's emphasis on wanting exciting things to happen in the comics. Snufkin's still a wise guy but he left before we got much of him.

And then we have the Conscientious Moomins and Moomin and the Golden Tail where he's characterized more familiarly to anyone who's watched the 90s series, Moomintroll goes to him whenever he needs advice or to 'get away from it all', and he's super willing to help others with jobs even if he and his lifestyle doesn't fit into the conscientious life. In Golden Tail he keeps asking Moomintroll to fish with him and he becomes the one source of normalcy in the story before being torn away because Moomintroll's fame is interfering with even his friendships. Snufkin is characterized as a support mechanism in these comics.

He's very likeable as a character but like almost everyone else in the comics, he's Not That Deep, Bro.

-

I think the reason why Snufkin gets characterized as dues ex machina who solves problems most of the time is because those adaptations lean into him being The Smart One With Outside Knowledge a bit too hard, however when you look at the 90s series as a whole his characterization there is only seemingly not-good because the series has an overall problem of not letting its characters express themselves, and he gets involved in much more stories than he actually was in the source material so I could hazard a guess that the writers - based on not only Tove's Snufkin but also Lars' Snufkin which continued Contentious/Golden Tail Snufkin's characterization - would reason that since Snufkin was Like That in the comics then he could easily also be like that in their own stories.

Shin Mūmin made an egregious use of the Snufkin-ex-machina card because they aged him up and they reshaped him into a traveling and helpful loner archetype who knows what he's doing 99% of the time, however they did what the 90s series couldn't and actually made him emotional which very much saves his character in my eyes.

Moominvalley 2019 started Snufkin's character in Tales From Moominvalley aswell as Moominsummer Madness and that pretty much dictated his personality for the rest of the show. Because Moomintroll was meant to be a teenager who acted like he did in the comic alot, I could easily believe that the writers also trying to rein Snufkin in by making him more relatable or more like a real teenager. Perhaps they also wanted to stray from Snufkin's previous characterization as a deus-ex-machina character and Gary Sue by going into the other end of the spectrum, but given how Moominvalley2019 is with the rest of the cast... It ended up a little too much.

While I admit Snufkin is a very interesting character and I can see how he's good enough to be a fan favorite, I don't have any plans on delving into him much further when there's other things that interest me. As I said, he's become a nebulous character to me - and no matter how much I read or watch about him in the source and licensed material and get happy to see him, there's always going to be that half of my brain that keeps reminding me about his fans and how fanon has took hold of him that there's really nothing but indifference whenever I think about delving into his character.

I wrote most of this based on memory with some occasional checking so I may have gotten some things wrong, and even when I read or watch stuff with him in it, my attention usually goes to things other than him. It's not because of an inherent fault in his character, really, it's just a tragedy of the fandom tainting my enjoyment of him in general. So... Let this be my one full-length analysis of him.

[90stvqueen]

it is so hard to break the habit of consumption but once you start trying, once you really start to ask yourself "do i really need this brand new piece of garbage?" whenever you're at the target dollar spot, or wherever else, it becomes easier and easier to say, "actually, no. this will not bring my life new meaning. it will maybe provide a tiny dopamine rush, and then it will have served its purpose." and you'll start to realize that not only did you not need this $3 piece of plastic whatever, you didn't actually really want it. you'll go home without it and you won't regret it and the next day you won't even remember it

[glittercake]

"we're going to put sam through the wringer" yall cant even put him in an episode of your silly little cartoon show.

[alwaysakookie]

Would it be too much to ask for some Ro fanart 🥺

Ok, but only since you asked nicely :3

I made this WAY more detailed then intended (I got carried away)

But that’s ok cause Ro is the best

@buckybarneshasmyheart cause I feel you’ll like this too

[burning-academia-if]

Honestly I was set on the beck/rook poly but starting to think of going for a beck solo route tbh. I could see my mc giving up his crush on rook and decide to see how things with beck go. My process went from solo rook to poly to solo beck

Tbh I just really like the angst of having a crush on Rook(past) and solo romancing Beck lol it's a very fun dynamic

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Hope you're feeling better, Snap. Good luck with your finals! :)

SO IM FEELING MUCH BETTER NOW FOR SURE

[canisalbus]

IDK if I'm phrasing this correctly, but in my brain, Vasco is, like, the personification (caninification?) of an afternoon chilling on a back porch swing.

.

[not-the-living-ghost]

Favorite episode from dbd?

My favorite episode is probably Episode 7. It's just such an emotional rollercoaster, from start to finish. There's the staircase scene, the Simon scene, the flashback to when Charles first met Edwin, and so, so much more.

The acting in this episode absolutely blew me away — specifically George Rexstrew's performance as Edwin — and the scriptwriting was absolutely phenomenal.

The cinematography was breathtaking and incredibly clever. I loved the way that they shot the different scenes in Hell, angling and twisting the camera to evoke whatever emotion was intended. There were so many different nuances and details that were added into this one episode — so much so that I'd probably have to make a post about about each one separately.

One scene in this episode that I think is thoroughly underappreciated is the scene with Simon and Edwin. This scene meant so much to me, as a queer person, especially as someone who's gone through a crap ton of internalized homophobia (although I can't say I've sacrificed any of my classmates to a demon over it). Seeing something like that portrayed in media in a way that was so real and raw was insanely meaningful to me.

I feel like this small subplot of the show perfectly represents how the show blends fantasy and reality. Dead Boy Detectives is a supernatural show with supernatural characters. The main characters are ghosts, their friend is a psychic, and they're constantly under the threat of an evil witch. However, the show tackles so many real life issues (issues such as homophobia, racism, and domestic violence), and they do it with a level of grace that perfectly balances fiction and reality. The Simon scene perfectly demonstrates this.

I also appreciated the way that the showriters went about dealing with Simon's internalized homophobia. Generally speaking, when people suggest that homophobes themselves are likely queer, they mean it as a joke, or an insult. "You're homophobic, so you must be gay," and they'll simply laugh at the disgusted reaction — which is, in it of itself, simply another provocation of homophobia. Dead Boy Detectives, however, went at this from a different angle. Because yes, homophobes themselves can be queer — internalized homophobia does not discriminate, ironically enough — but Dead Boy Detectives took this narrative and flipped it on its head. They took the common trope of the homophobe being secretly in the closet, and further delved into what that truly meant for everyone involved. They explored the destructive reality of internalized homophobia for someone like Simon without, at the same time, undermining the struggle and torment that Edwin was put through. And the fact that they did all of this in the span of just 10 minutes is absolutely mindboggling to me.

Episode 7 had a little bit of everything, and I loved it so so much <33

This post ended up being three paragraphs longer than I expected, and I went off on a bit of a tangent there, but this was fun to write 😭😭

[gomzdrawfr]

In the spirit of you getting a rude customer (I've been there, it sucks and I am cursing their entire bloodline, that bastard), I think Nik would be the kind of person to be extremely polite to people working in any job that involves dealing with customers. He always smiles, doesn't hesitate to talk with them for a bit, leaves generous tips and best of all, he will threaten any other customer who happen to be rude to them.

Like imagine some asshole being a real bastard with a barista at Nik's favorite café. Nik would just place one of his big bear hand on the guy's shoulder, towering over him, and tell him that this is no way of talking to another person and order, straight up order him to apologize. Or else :3c.

Anyway all this to say that Nik would hunt the rude customers you had to deal with for sport. Drop them from his helo in the middle of Siberia.

(Hope you're okay Gomz, I know how hard it is, it's tough to not let those assholes get to you but you're awesome and fuck them <3)

uuuuuuuu *sniffles* thank you for dropping this in my ask JAJKDADKSJKKJ absolutely Nik would give em hell

the type that gentle turns the customer around and give em a smile that's going to haunt them in their dreams or the type that pushes the customer down to their knees and make em apologize to the worker. If that all doesn't stop the rude ass MTF- well he knows a few ways to set their bones right :3

[pixelatedraindrops]

Yuma Month: Day 25: Broken

Night terrors, burning body temperature, delirious hallucinations, and glassy faded vision…

Helpless and afraid, he calls out for his caretaker…but he’s not there…

He’s all alone now…with no one to help…

Completely broken.