#guess what i found in my drafts..

[untitled-tmnt-blog]

I absolutely HAD to draw something for @phoebepheebsphibs's DTIYS (based on this pose)! I decided to mix things up a bit by experimenting with a more limited color palette, which was a pretty fun challenge.

[storm-driver]

hi, i have feelings about cartoon nostalgia and the audience perception of them 20 years on

this is gonna read hyper-specific, but bear with me

i refuse to credit butch hartman for the way danny phantom came out during it's first two seasons, at least outside of the initial pitch and the idea of the protagonist having white hair. i know the majority of enthusiasts for this show are more than aware of hartman's antics at this point. these anctics, i won't get into. other people are far more suited to explain that stuff vs me, a random guy on the internet. but there's very specific topics that i don't often see get brought up in detail, like the production and staff behind this show.

i'll get into it below the cut so as not to clutter your dashboard. but if you're not familiar with the actual production history of danny phantom, this might be interesting to read.

it's common knowledge these days that stephen silver is the one who developed the design for danny based on hartman's original rough sketches. the similarity between each drawing is apparent, but you can see clear as day which design was gonna be more apt for animation and overall audience allure back in 2003.

he also did character designs for hartman's other poster child, Fairly Oddparents. the trend is similar, though far from a huge concern. character design overhauls happen all the time in media production. designs might be too complicated for animation, so they get stripped down. or maybe things aren't complex enough and more nuance needs to be added. that's normal stuff, and i am not dunking on hartman for not nailing danny's design right out the gate. i'm pointing this out in case you've ever looked at butch hartman's recent work and wondered "how are these done by the same artist?"

the answer is they weren't. hartman had to adapt to stephen silver's conceptual designs in order to work on the storyboards. take from that what you will.

onto the actual writing.

butch barely wrote a single episode for this show's first two seasons.

steve marmel helped write at least 28 episodes of the original two seasons, with writers like sib ventress and marty isenberg bringing a good amount of episodes to the table, as well.

butch hartman is credited primarily for directing and storyboarding this show. the episode pitch and writing was by other people almost entirely. the ONLY episodes in the first two seasons that hartman is credited with having written are mystery meat, one of a kind and splitting images. and he's credited with co-writing these episodes alongside steve marmel and mark banker. ie, he did not write these episodes on his own. and allegedly, butch hartman had a tendency to be credited as a writer for an episode, even if he only wrote a few lines of dialogue. again, take from that what you will.

past that in season 3, he wrote infinite realms, torrent of terror, forever phantom, urban jungle, and ofc, phantom planet. which a lot of people know, these episodes in particular weren't the most enjoyable, nor was the overall direction of them very good.

a director's job is to make sure that the overall tone, feel, and message of the show is being kept consistent with intent. that means meeting with producers, who are the ones managing the, y'know, producing part of the whole project. it may sound like the director is the one heading the project if it's their job to keep things in check. which, i will not deny, hartman must've put in a good deal of work to make the show come out as well as it did.

but pile that with some of the off things per episode. the mean-spirited way that characters tend to be taught lessons, the voice direction getting a drastic change in season 3 (you can hear it explicitly with david kaufman suddenly going for higher pitches instead of the usual one he's done so far). there's really only one consistent motif in the entire show's OST. which isn't a bash against the music producer. it's a concern that the director of the show never asked him to change things up, and ONLY stuck to this one motif.

to briefly touch on the mean-spirited thing. there's multiple instances in the show where danny or someone else is seen fighting back against whatever has given them trouble, or they're taking matters into their own hands to ensure they won't be hurt ahead of time. and repeatedly, the show likes to kick these characters back down for trying to stand up. it's a trend in all of butch hartman's shows, and it's treated more like comedy than anything else. it's up to audience perception on how to view it. but for me personally, it starts to feel like an overused gag and turns into something more malevolent after seeing it overused almost every single episode.

okay besides that, i actually wanna look at specific examples of episodes that steve marmel wrote for. again, this is the guy who's more or less responsible for the show's serialization.

the complete list of episodes is as follows:

Mystery Meat, Parental Bonding, One of a Kind, Attack of the Killer Garage Sale, Splitting Images, What You Want, Bitter Reunions, Prisoners of Love, My Brother's Keeper, Shades of Gray, Fanning the Flames, Teacher of the Year, Fright Night, 13(Thirteen), Public Enemies, Memory Blank, Reign Storm, The Ultimate Enemy, The Fright Before Christmas, Secret Weapons, Flirting with Disaster, Micro Management , Kindred Spirits, and Reality Trip.

multiple episodes listed here are from the first season, which a lot of people consider the show's best. and of the handful listed for season 2, he wrote all of the hour-long specials.

i would be here for hours talking about how steve marmel tackles all of these characters and concepts significantly better than hartman does in season 3. but that's a topic best praised elsewhere. point is, if you watched any of these episodes and thought to yourself "wow, that was actually kinda clever," steve marmel is more or less the guy responsible.

butch hartman was in charge of direction, but that does not give him exclusive credit for every single line of dialogue or plot beat. there could be a LOT we just don't know because people on production staff don't want to comment. but the writing consistency taking a dive off the board by season 3, which is the same season that steve marmel departed from the project due to conflicting direction in the story? you might deduce that butch hartman was not the prized writer and artist behind this otherwise beloved cartoon.

to dredge up an easier-to-tackle target, season 3.

my criticisms are 18-year old echoes at this point, you've heard them all. from otherwise pointless episodes that don't develop the characters or world, to completely out-of-touch writing (looking at you, phantom planet) that juxtaposes the characters with everything we've been told about them so far. it became a slog of a season that didn't have any build-up to it's finale. the occasional gem of an episode like frightmare helped in some aspects. or the promise for something later with d-stabilized. but it all gets swept under the rug thanks to a rushed finale with poor build-up, bad writing direction for the characters, and most importantly, an unlasting effect on the viewer. (or a negative lasting effect, which is arguably worse)

for a season that knew it was on its last leg before inevitably needing to give up, there's seldom few episodes dedicated to advancing an overall narrative, and thus give a slimmer of hope for a satisfying conclusion. instead, the show goes all in with villain-of-the-week stories, and even the returning villains are hardly taken seriously or given more to do besides just being there.

of course, we know the reason steve marmel had left the project was because hartman wanted the show not to taken a more story-focused drive. it almost starts to feel like spite that kept the show so horribly grounded, letting it become stagnant before eventually being forgettable.

all this is in service of letting people know, it really wasn't butch hartman that made the show, not alone. death of the author and all that nonsense aside, he pitched the concept. and it takes a lot of love and dedication to make a concept something you can physically see and adore. don't let him swath in all the credit. recognize the others who made the work you can still enjoy.

[incoherentsobbing]

A. Thing. 🧍🏾

CW: Unhealthy relationship dynamics, implied drugging (a potion of some sorts), light mentions of death, Yan! reader x (character of your choice), l'm pretty sure I had someone in mind when I first wrote this, but it's been months and I have No Clue, lowkey disturbing. reader is manipulating mansplaining manwhoring this

Tell me if I miss anything :P

Heavy breathing.

The deafening sound of skin brushing against skin.

The shrill laughter coming from them made butterflies flare up in such a beautiful way in you.

"Haha! (redacted)!" They'd gleefully chuckle as you'd both roll around in the pillow fort you made together, tears forming in the corner of their eyes.

And you'd laugh right back, engulfing them in a loving hug they'd surely return.

They just loved you so, so much.

And you loved them too.

Enough to put them under a spell.

Enough to make sure all they thought about was you, you, you.

Because they loved you so much.

And you loved them too.

They'd cry and cry, but how could they be sad? When all they could feel was the tight pull on their heart when they saw you? When they heard your voice? When they tried to resist the spell you put them under?

Those were just tears of joy. What more could they be?

Their dead eyes meant nothing, so long as they gazed at you, and you alone.

They didn't mind when the people they were once close to vanished. One after the other

How could they?

They were too preoccupied with wedding plans to even think about their companions dropping like flies around them.

You'd speak, and they'd listen. Obey. Without question.

All because they loved you

And you loved them too.

[junior-high-rui-official]

ihad a dream I met a sleazy guy in a back alley who offered to do my top surgery for 5 bucks and some chicken nuggets do you guys think its prophetic

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Some Grishaverse characters rated based on my opinion of the Doc Marten’s I think they would wear

Because if you think these folks wouldn’t wear DMs then you’re just lying to yourself

Kaz Brekker: 8/10 Kaz would wear classic all black boots, it has “maybe a bit basic but you’re not wrong” vibes going for it, they match his aesthetic, and it’s a real vibe. I could see him going for the black shoes as well, but I’d like to think he’s a boots man.

The Darkling: -1/10 this bitch also goes for classic black boots but somehow, I can’t explain it, it’s in a bad way. Maybe my judgment is just clouded by my hatred for the Darkling, who knows.

Jesper Fahey: 100/10 I feel like no explanation should be necessary for this but you’re getting one anyway. Jesper would have like a full shoe closet of DMs and he’d meticulously select which ones went best with his outfit that day. I can fully see him wearing different colours on each foot, and he probably also has a full selection of different coloured laces to swap in and out.

Wylan: 9/10 Unlike his boyfriend, he only has one pair; boots, flat colour - probably black or something muted - but sometimes he adds laces with lil rainbows on

Inej: 7/10 This is tough because I so badly want Inej to be a DMs fan but we all know that she wants to walk everywhere silently and I’m not sure that even she could achieve that in DMs. That being said, she’d have a pair of boots in like a really dark purple colour with black laces or black with purple laces.

Alina: 7/10 She’s got her beloved, beaten up old brown boots that she wears on the daily, and then she’s got her cute lil floral number on a pale background that she adores but is terrified of ruining

Nina: 100/10 She also has a full cupboard of Docs; she’s got her florals, her colours, she’s got shiny boots that are like silver-blue but also have loads of colours in, like the suit that Danielle wore for press day (gorgeous), I don’t know how to describe it as a colour. If she and Jesper were the same size then they would absolutely borrow from/raid each other’s DM cupboards all the time. I’m also of the strong belief that she has those chunky heeled shoes in black

[morethanwonderful]

My dealer: got some straight gas 🔥🤪 this strain is called “tomb of the sage" 💀 you’ll be zonked out of your gourd 💯

Me: yeah, whatever. I don’t feel shit.

5 minutes later: dude, I think all cultivators, both orthodox and unorthodox, are slowly feeding themselves to the spiritual mountains and their ways of the heart in an ever-degrading man-made closed system

My cousin, pacing: I have never seen the real sun moon and stars

[sluttymickey]

[astarionancuntnin]

not me having an epiphany at 1am and rewriting 3 entire chapters for my fic

[sadcabbages]

I'd make a knife fight animation just to make them kiss at "guess what man, I'll pin you to the wall"

[ickypuppi3]

“you’d do anything i asked, wouldn’t you?”

“fuck off, harrington.”

“no, see.” steve presses his fingers into billy’s thighs “i don’t think you mean that. because” he stops to brush a kiss against billy’s jaw “you’d do anything i asked. anything i wanted. as long as it means i’ll pay attention to you. isn’t that right?”

“i fu- fuck- i hate you.”

“no. you don’t.”

he’s right. of course he is. and billy hates it when steve’s right.

[agentark]

I love S Dorran so much ugh

The way they're the scholar of the group, but not a skeptic??? They're willing to entertain more "fantastical" explanations for what's going on in Fernweh and that's very cool of them

[flopbftheo]

and also btw...

[another-clive-blog]

Unwound Future in modern day France

Clive : President Bill Hawks killed 10 people and then used his money to become head of the country. He's a corrupted monster

Layton, who's also head of the CGT : Listen pal right now the Minister of Justice is on trial we can't send another one there just yet. Best I can do is striking

Pavel is fistfighting a cop in the background

Luke : The vibes coming from these pigeons are rancid. We should go

[sunkillerlovechild]

i finally forced myself to watch 9-1-1 and im going crazy

i got hooked cause of buddie edits and stuff and first of all they really dont do justice to how crazy they both are about eachother

secondly i got to the tommy part and its kind of like watching a car crash but also so on point for buck and eddie's relationship

[looking4thatqueersubtext]

I love when characters become evil. I love when by the end of the story they think back to their old self just to see someone completely different. I love when everything they witnessed corrupts their mind , the violence seeping into the essence of who they are as a person. I love when they become ruthless and utterly deranged. I love

[patheticgirlsteve]

steve ties eddie’s shoes for him. not because eddie is incapable of doing so himself or has ever even asked steve to do this for him, steve straight up just wants to tie eddie’s shoes and eddie just lets him because why not? he, like steve, also thinks that this a normal and not at all weird thing to do for your buddy