#he wanted it to be an actual duck at first but I don't paint animals usually and there's no way I could make it look sort of okay and be

[running-in-the-dark]

things I've got to do tonight:

watch Leverage: Redemption

paint a rubber duck in a Christmas sweater for my husband's Christmas present

maybe write like. one page for my thesis. idk. I'm gonna try, okay? I'm gonna at least try.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

fictional girls who should have been gay

Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck, from the 2004 "Micky, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers" animated movie.

The situation: GAY

Princess and lady-in-waiting. Is there anything more intimate and potentially gay than a girl and the girl who she specifically keeps around just to officially hang out with? I don't care I love it.

they are the most romantic thing in this movie

Their introduction scene is Minnie sighing over her future love (hypothetical and male and not necessarily royal) while blowing flower petals in Daisy's face

Daisy has reservations

but when Minnie is explaining True Love to her (while they hold hands and twirl around the room)

Minnie says she'll know her true love because she'll hear music (sentimental music is now playing) and they'll make her laugh- AND THEN DAISY LAUGHS

she starts saying that sounds silly...

but Minnie looks at her, and flutters her eyes at her...

and Daisy just MELTS. She clasps her hands over her heart and switches to sighing that that sounds lovely...

who drew and directed that and didn't notice how much it looks like Daisy just fell in love with Minnie. hey. I want to know

did they realize they could've had Daisy staring at something else?

a painting of young lovers. a couple passing by the window. even the sad bedraggled flower Minnie had been using for a game of he-loves-me-he-loves-me-not

(i cannot get over how the flower wilts the last time we see it, right after Minnie says "trust me Daisy, I'll know him, when I see him)

(I understand it's meant to be like, oh look the flower looks like Micky now she'll know him when she sees him- but it could also look like HER, Minnie is talking to Daisy about true love and knowing it when it's there but oh the IRONY if Daisy was in love with HER while she says that!!! With Minnie having no idea!!!!)

anyway

how about just not have Minnie flutter her eyelashes at Daisy like that

have HER not be looking at Daisy when she's talking about true love

anything. anything else would have worked better

Well apparently none of those options occurred to the film makers because these girls are supposed to be STRAIGHT somehow

(Minnie, princess of prolonged held eye contact)

(and Daisy, lady of keeps having to look away when Minnie is staring at her Like That)

Moments later, after a montage of Minnie strolling around the gardens dreaming of love (to the tune of a song about young love), an attempt on her life is thwarted by DAISY asking her to come over for a moment, moving Minnie out of the path of a falling safe meant to crush her

(by the way, holy heck it feels honestly scary. it just. DROPS)

The song lyric leading up to Daisy calling out for Minnie is "Your first your only love~! Love so-" (can't hear properly)

Minnie being willing to leave her daydreams of love for Daisy no questions asked is what saves her actual literal life I'm sorry but again why did they think having Daisy being the reason she lives was so important. This is a Micky Mouse cartoon legit just have Minnie stand up on her own and wander out of harm's way or get distracted by a flower or something but NOOOOO it's DAISY who unknowingly gets her out of danger, it's Minnie listening to her that saves her. ARGH IT COULD HAVE MEANT SO MUCH BUT

Minnie has actual whole conversations with Daisy. Actual. Talking. Sharing of thoughts and opinions. Chances to see their personalities and how they play off each other.

Princess Minnie, the slightly head in the clouds princess, and Daisy, grounded and a bit dry

Minnie: He loves me. He loves me… a lot. He loves me. He loves me even moooore. He loves me...

Daisy: Pardon me, Your Highness… (blows some free-floating petals off her face) you‘re, kinda mangling that flower.

like there's this set up for Minnie being rebellious enough to reject tradition and rules, being annoyed at them for cramping her style

Daisy: This, fantasy man- (the exasperation on those two words XD), d'you happen to know if he's royalty?

Minnie: Does it matter?

Daisy, breathlessly: Well, as you know, someone of your, royal stature, needs to be courted by a gentleman of royal blood.

Minnie: What a royal pain.

It's supposed to be about getting with a commoner instead, but... HMM I WONDER WHAT OTHER SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS MINNIE COULD BREAK.

A gentleman of royal blood? Well what if it's not! A gentleman!!

Minnie: Daisy, I can't marry someone I'm not in love with.

Daisy: You want love? Buy a dog.

the delicious set up as Daisy as jaded and practical BUT moments later she can't help herself with Minnie, she can't ruin Minnie's little happy bubble, she can't keep pushing Minnie away from her dream

When Minnie gazes at her all warm and mushy, Daisy has to giggle and admit that the idea of a true love who makes you laugh is just Lovely, actually

she says, while staring back at Minnie

WRITERS I WANT TO TALK WITH YOU I JUST WANT TO CHAT

but anyway, they have a flow, a rapport, they play off each other and clearly care about each other and, meanwhile, M e a n w h i l e

meanwhile, nearly all the time Minnie spends "being in love" with Micky is done in silent daydream episodes where they float on clouds and stuff. They get a montage of vague cute stuff. It's a whole lot of Nothing. Very pretty! But nothing

They see each other and it's supposed to be love at first sight. Whee. I'd find it cute if Minnie didn't already have someone and Micky wasn't mostly focused on being a good Musketeer. What do they give each other? They hardly even TALK! At the end of the movie I still have no idea how they'd get through a simple conversation! As a crush sure it reads fine- but true love? Where? When????

MOMENTS after meeting and "falling for" Micky, Minnie is yelling at him and his friends, furious because they accidently attacked Daisy thinking she was a threat

wow good job showing us Minnie's priorities here. Good job showing us she cares about Daisy

good job not using that to let her and Micky like, talk, or anything

Daisy, meanwhile, spends the whole movie with 0% interest in Donald at all, nothing but burns and scorn, only getting with him in the last moments literally just because why not

As in that's honestly the reason the movie gives. Not that she likes him. Just. Why not.

my eye is twitching

MINNIE LOVES THE IDEA OF A FORBIDDON LOVE!

SHE SAYS, SHE SAYS-

Minnie: Our love is, forbidden?

Daisy: Bin-go~

Minnie: A forbidden love? How romantic...!

girl you've had 1 (ONE) interaction with "the little one" like props to you for liking a short king but hey, heeey, this is so not selling the love vibes ok

GUESS WHAT OTHER LOVE WOULD BE FORBIDDEN

HMM I WONDER

Minnie: Look, Daisy. Mickey and I have the same last name!

Daisy: Well, it must be destiny. Good thing destiny doesn’t control my love life.

(daisy being practical jaded or daisy using code for 'yeeeah, im prim and proper in everything else, but im going against the flow when it comes to romance)

Minnie: What do you mean?

Daisy: Well, look at me! If it did, I’d get stuck with Mister… (squawking and babbling)

Minnie & Daisy: (laughing together)

hey remember how Minnie laughed when Micky rolled a nat 0 trying to untie her and the narrator was like "Oh he made her laugh! It must be love!"

remember when Daisy makes Minnie laugh with a Donald Duck impersonation? While they were in bed together??

NARRATOR IF A LAUGH IS ALL IT TAKES THEN CHIME IN PLEASE

Do You Remember when Micky and co failed and Minnie was kidnapped by badguys and Micky had a moment of slump before getting his second wind? Was he motivated by thoughts of his True Love? Was he thinking of Minnie when he decided not to give up on saving her??

NO.

he was looking at his friends being sad.

He encourages himself thinking about how the captain of the guard chose him and his friends to be musketeers

No Mention Of Minnie At All, Aside From A Quest To Be Cleared

wow much love such devotion

The point of Micky's story is him wanting to be a Musketeer. The emotional climax is always between him and his two friends. THE ROMANCE IS SO WEIRD IT DOES NOTHING AND COMES FROM NOTHING AND GOES NOWHERE.

Minnie has no character growth no obstacles nothing to do. she was ready to throw tradition aside for the man of her dreams the moment we saw her-

IMAGINE the crunchiness if she had either a moment of "wait actually, i think he's cute but this isn't love" OR "hey wait all this time I've been dreaming of a guy maybe it's not a guy though? Tee hee let's destroy some more social norms!"

(don't for the love of all things bring up lines of succession this is alternate universe france in the 1600-1700's there is a Lot To Gloss Over Okay)

And Daisy is RIGHT THERE.

Not interested in guys! Sighing over Minnie! Staying with her throughout the whole movie because apparently you can't kidnap the princess without her lady in waiting!

RAAAGH. I know, I know Disney and gay don't mix, especially in 2004- but why why why why did they think Minnie had to be with Micky in this one? Why did they make the emptiest crush ever instead of just letting Minnie and Daisy chill up on the throne dais together? IM IN PAIN EVERY TIME I REWATCH THIS.

tldr: Daisy was in love with princess Minnie, and if Minnie had known she's the exact sort of rebel princess to just marry her lady-in-waiting like a boss

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Trials of the Darksaber"

Delicious. Finally some good kriffing Sabine backstory. :)

Really love the unique design of Atollon, the coral reef type plantlife, like the ocean floor drained of water. Love that we get lots of establishing shots this season just looking at and admiring the coral formations. <3

From this look Sabine gives as Rau heads up the ramp into the Ghost's cargo hold I think she already suspects and/or dreads why he's there.

Rau looks at the darksaber with reverence and awe and disbelief like it's Excalibur.

"Liberated" is an awfully nice way of saying y'all stole it, Rau. And oh boy the ink I could spill on that.

Long story short, the thing never should have become a cultural icon for the Mandalorians in the first place, Tarre left it with the Temple, if he wanted the Mandos to have it he would have instructed the Jedi Order to give it to them. Actually kind of sick that a Jedi lightsaber--representative of peace and diplomacy--got used instead for warfare, conquest, and dominance.

Side note though, the 2D animation sequence of the darksaber's backstory is gorgeous.

"I imagine Sabine was excited to recover it." Yeeeeeeeah you don't know her at all, Rau. Sabine has too many family trauma-shaped issues for that. She thought for one second about the implications of finding the darksaber and was like, "Nope! Not dealing with that." straight into denial and avoidance.

Which is not the last time her character journey in this episode will mirror Ezra's from all the way back in "Empire Day/Gathering Forces".

This is so cute. <3

From how Sabine has painted herself this particular wall art must have been added sometime in Season Two, probably earlier in the season. Her depiction of Ezra here is a little bit more flattering than the one she painted in Season One... but still kind of poking fun at him. XD

(Really kind of amazing to contrast this portrait with the one she did in the finale, where Ezra is centered instead of her, and finally looks serene and grown up.)

Sabine is kind of curled up, clutching her helmet a bit self-protectively.

Be honest, you thought the purr Chopper gives when Sabine pets him as she passes was cute too.

The score is already heavily reliant on clarinet and harp, a combination that makes this cue sound vaguely exotic.

Hmm, does this collective family confrontation seem familar?

It does!

Ezra points out the obvious: It's a lot harder for someone non-Force Sensitive to wield and be proficient in a lightsaber. Something that the Ahsoka show will hopefully delve into.

Maybe?

Perhaps?

Please?

Kanan agrees that Sabine "can't fight like a Jedi" (more evidence that she's not actually Force Sensitive) but she can become proficient with the blade, to which Sabine objects because "[...]that is a lightsaber." and there is this raw look of actual fear in her eyes.

This is the first time we hear her theme, by the way, faint in the background.

Sabine has such a defeatist attitude about reconciling with her family. :(

Tiya's voice acting is amazing this episode, Sabine already sounds like she's about to cry.

(Also note she curls her arms around herself self-protectively here, juuuuust like a little Season One Loth-rat we could name. :) )

Hera is being SO very gentle about the fact that she has to, as Rebellion leader, ask Sabine to try and make a strategic alliance with a prominent Mandalorian clan. Sabine feels a little bit betrayed by this, obviously, but Kanan emphasizes she can still walk away if that's her choice, which I really wish the people who trauma-coddle Sabine would remember as a thing he and Hera did.

Does Sabine relent because she feels a sense of pressure? Probably. But also she was not healing ducking and avoiding the issue.

Even though she agrees she's not really committed to her actions yet, and Ezra points out that getting her head right about that is going to be the first step. (Hera kind of gives him stinkeye for this but Hera, this is Jedi Training 101, let the padawan who's already wrestled with this have a say. He's not even that mean about it.)

Sabine gets angry, which is the opposite of what she needs to be in order to do this. (Also, "Give me the lightsaber and I'll make the connection!"/"Gimme the sword, I'm gonna learn how to kick your--") At Kanan's urging she calms herself, though, and it's only then that he lets her hold the darksaber.

AND THUS WE GET ROAD TRIP AND JEDI BOOTCAMP WITH KANAN. :D

Ezra doesn't often get the chance to poke Sabine back so you know he's enjoying this.

Sabine is actually being way pricklier at the teasing than she normally would be, and that's one of our clues of just how emotionally unbalanced and rattled she is this episode.

They start setting up camp and Sabine immediately begins questioning Kanan's training methods, to which Ezra assures her this kind of thing is normal.

Something I really like and appreciate about this episode? Ezra never once acts jealous or bratty about the fact that Kanan's training Sabine too. He's actually very eager and helpful to walk her through the forms.

The only two times he complains it's because Kanan made him unload the supplies Fenn brought instead of taking a break to rest--which isn't really about Sabine at all, more like a typical teenager griping about the chores--and when Sabine uses her new gauntlet arsenal on him. Because you know, that's cheating.

There is nooooooo particular reason I'm including this screencap, nope. None at all.

I said like a liar.

Look at him, he's so proud for her. <3

I love watching the choreography in this episode. Sabine lunges, almost off balance from the very-start, movement heavily telegraphed, and slashes with very little thought or strategy, and none of the elegance or precision she's going to need with an actual lightsaber. So obviously, Kanan easily deflects and overpowers her.

This first clash is punctuated with some lovely drum percussion in the score. Possibly some wood blocks too? That or the drums are Japanese Taiko or something.

He's so excited to teach her, look at him. <3

Fun note from the closed captions: "Hey, slow down, all right? You're not gonna learn this in one day." Ezra being encouraging when she's frustrated about her progress.

After the commercial cut we're back with Ezra and Sabine again and she's almost gotten herself perfectly synced to him.

Hera: "Were you careful with Ezra?" Ah, that would be a NO, Hera. He was not. Lol.

Both Hera and Kanan have points here. Kanan, understandably, doesn't want Sabine to get hurt (his "I'm trying things differently" line) and Hera accuses him of doubting in her abilities because she doesn't have the Force. And it's not that it's that her emotional blockage is going to completely screw up her ability to hold a lightsaber, because to use the Force properly in any fashion, even just enough to hold a lightsaber without dismembering yourself you have to be at peace.

You can't be channeling your emotions because that feedback loops through the Force and amplifies whatever you're feeling and amps it up to dangerous levels you can't always control, especially if you aren't trained.

Kanan is the Jedi, he knows this. But Hera is the mom, and she knows Sabine. By not letting her actually confront herself via the real blade, Kanan isn't helping her work through her issues.

Mostly because he doesn't know how to even begin to approach those issues because Sabine's got everything so battened down and bottled up under stubborn layers of denial and anger and hurt. (So he's going to have to throw her in the deep end like he did with Ezra, and it seems like he doesn't want to.)

Like, this episode is an almost perfect encapsulation of why the Jedi practice mindfulness and why the Jedi way can't be for everyone who shows Force potential.

Though on those lines, again, please note that the show completely supports the premise that Sabine is not Force Sensitive, even with Kanan's line about how the Force resides in all things but you have to be open to it. We'll put a bookmark on this and hopefully we won't have to come back to it for reference with the Ahsoka show. *narrow stare at Filoni*

"I'll be sending out supplies, is there anything specific that you need?" "Patience, understanding..." SUCH a #married line lol.

Back to the boot camp and Sabine is doing marginally better, her movements sharper, more controlled, kept closer to her chest. She's still pressing forward too much, too eager to just attack and overwhelm; Ezra barely expends any effort dodging and blocking her. His form is polished, casual. You can spot several of the established canon block positions. Sabine's is erratic and stiff, her strikes all over the place.

She smacks him for his chipper encouraging compliment but also--

She smiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiing. ^_^

There's a move here Ezra does where he spins around Sabine's strike that gif-makers have noticed she uses later in her fight with Saxon.

Sabine is SO ANNOYED that Rau is adding to the chorus of critical voices lolol.

Rau spoiling Sabine like a doting uncle, aww.

The gifts provide Sabine with a temporary, artificial confidence, which leads to a bit of arrogance on her part. She's too caught up in getting one over her opponent that she forgets all respect and decorum and attacks Kanan out of turn.

Kanan gets a little pissy in return, quickly turning things around and emphasizing that her bullish attitude is going to get her killed.

Oh, something else I love? Sabine doesn't ever target Ezra with her anger, even here where she's yelling at Kanan, all her bitterness is directed squarely at him and she only mentions Ezra because she incredulous he's learned so well when he has such a "lousy" teacher.

But oof, Kanan and Ezra's expressions, ow.

There's this painful little pinch of guilt. Wonder if he's remembering Kanan's doubts about being a good teacher for him, about how when things were at their worst he was the one lashing out at Kanan and claiming he didn't need him.

Sabine goes off to be by herself and after a moment Ezra follows, attempting another of his infamous impromptu therapy sessions no doubt lol.

I love this scene so much. The soft lighting, the quiet rendition of Sabine's theme in harp. Ezra trying to be encouraging and understanding and Sabine just bursting at the seams with all the hurt and pain she's trying to hide because if she gives voice to the reason she left she has to confront it all over again.

Thematically it's all the same beats as their conversation back in "Gathering Forces" where Sabine was urging him to reconcile with and resolve the trauma in his past, reconnect with his former family, only now with the roles reversed, now he's the one urging her.

Gif-makers have not failed to notice the shot-for-shot blocking, the parallels are so strong and clearly deliberate. Ezra's trying to be there for Sabine the way she was for him, with the same results, Sabine shuts down and shuts him out. Ezra withdraws respectfully, though not before pointing out that she still has a chance, because her parents are still alive to reconcile with. (I hear a snatch of his theme right here, very nice.)

Boy fandom gave him so much unnecessary grief for that line. It made... zero sense. Then and now.

Sabine tries to call after him, a bit too late, and just stays alone with her thoughts some more.

Hi Bendu!

See what I said above, Kanan's thinking about the practicality of letting a volatile emotionally-compromised teenager swing around a Force weapon and Hera knows she's not going to get past her issues if she's given an out to avoid things. (Hera also alludes to her issues with Cham, which is probably what got Sabine to start trusting her in the first place.)

Ezra voicing some worry about how long she's been gone. <3 And complete faith in her abilities, feeling like Kanan's maybe pushing her too hard. <3

He's so happy to see her back, too. <3

Oooh this track, relying on those unique instruments again, some kind of flute and that might be an erhu but I'm not sure. This is "Sabine's Catharsis", a cue which takes her leitmotif through an emotional wringer, bending it around different percussion harmonies and giving the theme to different parts of the orchestra. (I counted at least four or five shifts, from the flute, to the erhu and violins, to a cello and some horns, to the full string section and back around again.)

Sabine looks trepidacious at finally being handed the darksaber.

Ezra with an expression of, "Oh this 'bout to get good."

And his anxious glance at Rau when he realizes Kanan isn't dialing down his saber to training mode lol.

Ho man this overhead shot.

This whole sequence. *chef's kiss* The lighting, the score, the character drama... Kanan pushing Sabine to her limit, physically and emotionally, to break past the walls that are preventing her from healing, from accessing that place of catharsis she needs.

Sabine's choreography starts fraying as the duel goes on, Kanan still easily able to knock her down or push her about. At one point the darksaber glances off her right vambrace, singing it, which is probably what Kanan was worried about when he hesitated to actually give her the sword.

(Ezra almost rushes in, because she's hurt, but Fenn holds him back. People holding Ezra back from trying to protect Sabine will almost become a running gag in this arc lol.)

Again, I would love to point out those sweet sweet parallels in the dialogue here.

"You're blocked!"/"You're not committed to this. You should quit."

"I'm not afraid of them!" "Then what?"/"You did run, didn't you?" "No!"

"Ezra, what are you afraid of?"/"Then what's the truth?"

And... it works.

"I'm... I'm afraid of knowing. I'm afraid of the truth!"/"The truth... is that... I left to save everyone!"

Frick, the emotion in Tiya's performance here, it's so raw. :(((((

And finally that juicy juicy Sabine backstory they've been sprinkling out a trickle at a time, lol.

:(((((

All of them pledging to support her as we close out on this powerful image.

Oh man I love this episode. Something that becomes apparent in Season Three is that Sabine is being moved forward into narrative prominence, to wind up ultimately as a co-protagonist to Ezra. That spot had previously been taken up by Kanan, who has been sort of stepping back, the writers very slowly shifting him out of focus and allowing Sabine to grow, and also allowing her and Ezra to grow up together. (I think at this point they already knew that Kanan's days were numbered as Ezra's mentor, and were making sure he still had someone who was always going to be in his corner.)

In the end the show is about them, the children who become adults too soon in a world at war. "A boy who was lost" and "a girl who was broken" as Hera's trailer voiceovers would say, later.

Sabine's backstory confession is heartbreaking. Slightly confusing in places, @seleneisrising has an attempt at a coherent timeline of events, but nothing that dampens the emotional resonance of the scene. So many things about Sabine make sense now, and boy I hurt for her.

Great music, great character work... This episode is on people's top fives for a reason.

[celamoon]

I just wanna hear you're mine

Pairing: Komaeda x reader

Mermaid AU

WC: 691

Event Masterlist : Main Masterlist

Komaeda chitters as you emerge from behind the rocks. The closing of the cave curves over the two of you, and you grin. Komaeda's fins spread in excitement as you wave your sketchbook. His arms reach for you, and you wrap your arms around him in response. He bites your collarbone gently, and you pull back.

"That hurts," You push him off, and he pouts. He boops his head on yours instead, and you sigh. "What kind of wonders did you bring to draw me?"

You motion as you speak, and Komaeda grins. His teeth show, and he shows you the sea star on his chest. Pulling it from himself, he places it into the makeshift tidal pool, and you start sketching it. He leans on your shoulder, the water on his skin wetting yours. The watercolor palette is stained with saltwater as you finish the painting. Komaeda tilts his head as he chirps.

"Hm?" You tilt your head. "You want another picture?"

He nods.

"Alright," You lean against the wall, and you grin at Komaeda. "Strike a pose, guppy."

Komaeda spreads his fins, leaning on his palm, imitating a smile at you. You sketch, and the sounds of the lead scratching against the paper fills the cave as the waters start rising. Komaeda taps your leg as you finish, and you realize you've been made stuck in the cave.

He chirps.

"Ah," You chuckle sadly. "Will you help me get home, guppy?"

Komaeda lifts you in his arms, making sure you don't get wet as he bobs with the wave to get out of the cave. He doesn't want you to ruin your sketchbook. You lift the book above your head as he ducks into the water to swim you to shore. He sets you on a rock, and you grin at him. "Thank you."

He grins back at you, and you rush to head back to your dorm.

Komaeda's fins fall back, and he swims back to his own place. Though, he lived in the cave you visit. He'd see you again sometime soon, he's sure of it. After all, you always come back.

You come back in a week.

"Guppy!!" You cry, and his fins spread at the sight of you. Your skin flushes.

"G...uppy!" He imitates, and you gasp.

"Aaah!!" You hug him, grip tightening as he turns red. "Guppy!!!"

Komaeda grins. He had a friend teach him how to speak lately so he could communicate with you. It seemed to work. He wonders how long it'll take for you to realize he actually understands what you're muttering under your breath.

You tap his fin gently.

"I learned that when fish want to court other fish," You hum, pulling out your sketchbook. "So I wanted to ask you."

He tilts his head.

"You don't know?"

He shakes his head.

"Mm," You pout. "Too bad. Also, apparently biting is also a way of flirting for belugas."

Komaeda freezes at that sentence. Did you find out?

"I wonder if..." You motion for Komaeda to get closer, and you bite his collarbone. Komaeda jumps, his skin probably tastes bad. Oh, he probably tastes like seawater—

You let go of his collarbone, and you blink. "You taste salty."

Probably from the sea.

You grin at him. "I hope that's enough to tell you. Well, that was it for today-"

"Wait," Komaeda croaks. "What... what do humans do to court others?"

Your eyes widen at his voice, and your throat goes dry.

"Uh... uh," You panic. "They kiss?"

"Then can I," Komaeda looks down at you, caging you in with his arms. "give kiss?"

"Uh," You exhale. "Yes. Please."

Komaeda's lips are cold, but you suppose that's expected for a cold-blooded animal. You part your lips slightly, and Komaeda presses his lips to yours feverishly. You taste good.

He tastes like salt.

You pull away first, needing to breathe, and Komaeda stares at you, wide-eyed, worried he did something wrong.

"I can't hold my breath as long as you." You mumble.

Komaeda chirps weakly. "S... sorry."

"No," You mumble. "It's fine. One more."

Komaeda couldn't possibly be any more willing to comply.

[loopscereal]

@multishipper-baby @thedumbestfuckingpersonyouvemet

you guys both mentioned the background so uh lol hi. btw do tell me to stop @/ing you guys if you dont want me to do that :3

Anyways I'm glad that you noticed the bg! i actually did that first before toddy. Sorta as a warm up, just blocking in shapes of characters. First it was gonna all be silhouettes like the screenshot, it then i started having fun setting up a genuine scene. Having them all "doing their own thing" as characters with names faces rather than blank slates was very fun.

Just the filling in of a void. Having messy blocked in characters with juuuust enough detail to be recognizable was satisfying to do.

I did, I jrook the original bg, coppied the mos visible half and then flipped it over to cover more of original toddy, then started "painting" over it with blocky shapes. Again, it was originally gonna be shillouettes like the og, but i suddently started making em the cast lol. it makes me happy to hear that you like what i did with toddyyyy :3 I like making up styles for herrrr

It might look like a lot of people, but its not everyone, far from it tbh lol. The toys, Town and Cami, Lilly, Golden and Puppet, Fox an Bonnie, Mai, Malva and Loon, our version of Felix, then two oc's. Based of lefty and ennard.

Also yes, they all have animal features. Cami has antennae because shes a Praying Mantis, that is also why shes so damn tall. In the arthropod world Mantis are built all vertical which is very odd. In my friends words. They're freaks of nature /lighthearted. Anyways, This is why you will see us drawing her with things such as segmented limbs, green "blades" on her arms, and cool bug eyes. She has green surface blood.

Towns a lion, Lilly is a shark, a nurse shark specifically as a reference to Melanie Martinez since Lilly has that song that's a cover of Mrs Potato Head. (it was a process of just looking at Melanie's song titles names and looking up if any sharks had names with certain keywords.)

Joy is a duck, "isn't Chica a chicken though?" yeah. In the fnaf fanbase people confused Chica for a duck sometimes, though so! She's a duck. Chica herself is a chicken, though :3 Bon n Malva n Bonnie are rabbits (all to be determined what specific species)

Loon is your classic 7 spotted ladybug, complete with segmented limbs, antennae that's sprout from the back of her neck that aid in listening to very quiet sounds. He has yellow surface blood. Mangle is a fox (again, to be determined what subspecies.) You might notice that he is missing his tail though. Or, well. She has a little stub, which is why shes got the cane right now, Animals with Tails need those, mainly for balance.

Fox is your classic red fox.

Golden is an Andean/ spectacles bear, Mai n Pup are ring tailed lemurs. Lefty is Mai and Pups cousin, so she is an indri lemur.

Ennard is an amblypygi, also knows as a whip spider (don't be fooled its not a type of spider) Extra appendages for sensing things like vibrations Toddy, is a cinnamon bear, a sub species of black bear !!!!! "Felix" (Felicia now) is too be determined on her animal all together. We have too many fox's and bears and rabbits so were holding off on repeating those any more than we have to. Fede is still a bear (for now??) though because it satisfies me to complete the "main bear types". Polar bear. erm. anyways i love ranting abt our silly ass animal choiced i could do it till the end of time.

[booksandchainmail]

Pale 5.1

oh good he's not making us read a chapter from the point of view of the conspiracy theorist (yet)

... or i guess that could just be these extra materials

bleh. Interesting way of painting a picture of her though. Thinking about the true crime aspect of her video's, the "wouldn't it be great if there was something fucked up here" vibe

what's up with the animals? Not sure who would do that in Kennet, doesn't seem like how anyone's magic normally works. Goblins I guess? Nervous about the livestreaming, none of the Kennet Trio should have their faces out there, even just for mundane reasons

“Do you really think you’re going to stay awake longer than me?” Lucy asked.  “Every time you sleep over, you sleep in.” “‘Cause it’s cozy and low-stress.”

I wonder how Verona normally sleeps at home?

“I wouldn’t move if I could help it.  If it meant you could nap, I wouldn’t,” Verona said. She sounded so serious.

I'm not sure Lucy fully processes how much their friendship means to Verona? They're very close, and it means a lot to both of them, but for Lucy its best friend who she grew up beside, whereas for Verona it seems to have been the only good thing in her life for a while. Most of the time they're at normal levels of friendship, but every so often Verona will get serious and the intensity will skyrocket.

“What if I, like, became a cat, and stayed a cat for most of the time?” Verona asked.  She looked skyward, up at the stars.  “You could keep me around, and every day could be a bit like those days were.  And if you got sick of me, you could dump me on Avery?” “You might be at Avery’s a lot then,” Lucy joked. Verona looked at her, unsmiling, and in the gloom it took Lucy a second to see that Verona looked stung. No, not stung. Wounded.

yeah :( Lucy read this as joking around, but Verona was trying to casually bring up what she sees as her best possible future. Bringing up Avery here was I think mainly a way to not make too many demands on Lucy.

“And you being a full-time cat is the answer to that?” Lucy asked.  “I’m… I’m not connecting the thought.” “Throwing an idea out there,” Verona said, very quiet, almost inaudible. “You don’t really want the cat thing, do you?” Lucy asked. Verona was silent, staring up at the stars.

... she does. And Lucy is right now the biggest reason why she isn't going for it. Verona's been thinking about this for a few arcs, she's started research, and the stumbling point keeps being that Lucy wants them to grow up together. I don't know where this is going to go! I think they need to actually talk about this, because Lucy needs to see how serious Verona is about this, and Verona needs to explain her goals if she wants to keep being a part of Lucy's life as a potential cat. I don't think Lucy will approve of this, and I don't know if I agree with her or not. Regardless, from the book Verona read, it sounds like becoming an Other takes time and resources and decisions about what you want to become, so there's a delay built in to think it over. I think also Verona should spend more time away from home and more time at the school, to give her an idea of other futures she might be giving up.

“There’s a plan.  Maybe she has two girlfriends, not cheating or anything, but as an organized thing.  Or five.”

get it imaginary!Avery

“Cool.  Okay.  She’s athletic but I don’t think she’s five girlfriends athletic.” Verona laughed. “I didn’t mean that!” Lucy corrected.  She cleared her throat. 

don't worry Lucy, I parsed what you meant the first time through. Not surprised how Verona took it though

this sucks to say, but I don’t really feel like I know her.  I want to, but I’m not sure how

it just takes time, and they've only had a couple months

Verona ducked down, opened Lucy’s bag, and grabbed Lucy’s knife.  She held it by the leather sheath, then slapped the handle into Lucy’s hand.  Lucy pulled it free. “Booker’s torch,” she said. The forged blade ignited, gradually taking on a red heat.

oh that's sick. Lucy currently winning for aesthetic

“You’ve been doing the self-affirmation with glamour, right?” Lucy asked.

relieved to finally have confirmation the other two know about this

It was good, Lucy decided, that Verona wasn’t here, listening.  Verona… probably would have been on the same page, on a lot of those things.  Sympathizing to the point she stopped listening.

:[

Did Verona want out of that house that badly?  Was that it?  The quiet child and the domineering, self-indulgent tyrant? So badly she’d just give it all up? The chance of growing up together, graduating University together? Going through life milestones together? Tears welled in Lucy’s eyes. She would. She might. She could.

they need to find a way to get Verona out of her father's house

With our poor Guilherme, you took half of what he had.  Of his love story and mystery, he has only his mystery left.

is the mystery the Carmine Beast? And if so, does that mean once they solve it they lose Guilherme?

“Stop,” Maricica said, calm, as her arm was torn down to bone.  “You know this only gives me power over you.” “I don’t,” he started, mouth bloody and partially full. He swallowed and finished, “care.”

a particularly morbid application of eating faerie food.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

Can I have some of the craziest things our skeletons did?

Undertale Sans - Sans really wanted a parrot when they got on the Surface and Papyrus said no. So Sans cut parrot faces in magazines and stick them on EVERY thing in the house. And I mean everything. Every brick of every wall, every piece of furniture, every pen on the desk, every key of Papyrus' computer keyboard. Parrots everywhere. After two days and Papyrus close from a mental breakdown, Toriel tried to calm him. He then started to do the same in her house. It pissed her so much that she bought the parrot. Sans loves his parrot.

Undertale Papyrus - While passing his driving exam, he really wanted to impress the examiner. So he sped on the top of a hill and did a flip with the car. The examiner didn't like it as he literally saw his entire life pass in front of his eyes. Papyrus didn't understand why he didn't pass. It was the best flip he has ever done! Even Undyne never manage to do it without breaking the car! Clearly no one understands his genius.

Underswap Sans - During a wild safari, he decided that looking the animals from the car was too boring and ran to jump on the lion's back. Everyone screamed as he started the best rodeo of his life, screaming with excitement. He's banned from safaris now.

Underswap Papyrus - He wanted to do a stupid Halloween prank and show a massive 15 kgs pumpkin between his ribcage and his pelvis. Except once it was done... He couldn't get it out. He spend the night of Halloween trying to explain doctors crying with laughter that his idea was really good and pertinent.

Underfell Sans - He put 120 marshmallows in his skull after Undyne challenged him to and instantly regreted it as the marshmallows melted and agglomerated making them impossible to get out from his head. He spent the night at the hospital, Undyne dying of laughter on his right and Edge insulting him and her on his left.

Underfell Papyrus - Undyne said he was becoming as lazy as his brother and that he wasn't taking risks anymore, it's boring. So he convinced security guards he was a minister and enters in the White House to steal a fork. He never got caught and slams his victory in Undyne's face for months and months. Undyne tried to do the same thing, got caught and imprisonned 3 months lol. He went to see her every week just to laugh at her face.

Horrortale Sans - In the first months on the Surface, he burried an insane amount of can food under the forest... Just in case. A few months later, Willow decided to build a barn at this spot, but then he starts digging... And digging... And digging??? He found 12 475 raviolis cans buried in little holes in the ground. Oak got mad he unburied them. What if a famine stroke again? At least there was plenty of food there! Willow screamed back that he doesn't even like raviolis anyway. Oak hissed and covered one of the holes like a mama duck, daring him to approach.

Horrortale Papyrus - Willow was bored one day so he enrolled in a club he didn't know anything about. A drag queen club. Everyone was so nice to him he let them paint on his face and skull happily, wear a wag and make him walk with high wheels. It's actually the best day he ever have, way more fun that that chess puzzle club he once went in. He's a bit old to keep up with their shenanigans, but he's going often and loves to disguise now, as it helps him a lot with his self confidence. He even paraded once and he was so proud! It helps him feel better with accepting his body. Also his hips movements are killing the crowd.

Swapfell Sans - In the first weeks on the surface, he proposes his services to the police and they rejected him because they don't trust someone who his main function was too kill people. Nox then started to list all security defaults in the room and suddenly attacked the police officer. Just when the poor guy saw his life flash in front of his eyes, he spared him, and said quietly that if someone motivated wanted too, he could have kill him because that office was not secured. The next day, he got a call for a post. He smiled and rejected them. The legend said the police officers all became paranoid from that day.

Swapfell Papyrus - One day he was bored so he filled the entire house with legos. Except he doesn't have enough money for this, so he used his brother credit card. He then bought 5 tons of legos and filled the entire house with it. That costed 10 000$. He doesn't give a shit since his brother is rich. His brother though cares very much and after trying to call him on his phone for 3 hours straight, which he didn't heard because the phone was under 3 meters of lego, Nox came home screeching hysterically and threatening to kill him. Rus sank in the legos. Nox jumps to find him. For two hours straight, he tried to catch Rus, but he's so small that he can't see anything. There's legos in his eye sockets, in his ribcage, in his bloody pelvis and all he can hears is Rus laugh somewhere around. Though, Rus stops laughing when he caught him and forced him to sell all his mess. They slept on legos for three weeks straight and still find some at this day, five years later.

Fellswap Gold Sans - The neighbours complained he never cut his grass to the mayor, who ordered him to take care of this. Wine sighed and since he has over things to do, he decided to use a more expeditive way to do this. He used a flame-thrower. The grass died, yes, but he also not-so-accidentally put the annoying neighbour's garden on fire too, and would have continue with his house if the police didn't came to stop him. He played the innocent monster act who didn't know it's wrong and got away with it. Nothing ever grew on the neighbour's garden and they ended moving away because they said Wine is a psychopath. Wine waved them goodbye with a maniacal smile.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - During his helicopter baptem with Wine, Coffee thought they were going to jump with parachutes. So he opened the door and jumped, while Wine and the pilots were screaming in horror. Wine managed to catch him with his magic, but too far down to get him back in the helicopter. So for 3 hours straight, people of Ebott City witnessed there was a flying skeleton in the sky, who completely enjoyed his experience, screaming to Wine to look at him because he's flying! Wine almost got a soul attack and used all his magic just to keep him alive. Wine decided to never take Coffee on a trip in the air ever again in his life.

[ycurkxng-a]

Self Inflicted Wounds

Characters: (Default) Dean King, (Coasty SMP) Dean King

No cw/tws

•

•

•

•

•

If Dean had to be completely honest, he was pretty fucking bored. He couldn't find a contract that interested him enough to risk his life, and he'd been sitting around the kingdom fiddling with his knife.

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there before a bright flash caught his attention, he turned his head away from it instinctively and looked back at the source when he believed that it wouldn't blind him in the process. Upon turning to see just what had happened, he got a good sight on someone.

The male who stood there had torn up and bloodied clothes with a scarred face to boot, a belt was wrapped tightly around his torso and what appeared to be some kind of bladed weapon was stuffed into it... The guy looked like him, probably just another version of himself.

He looked confused, which was a fair reaction to being suddenly taken to a place made out of cardboard. Dean stood up and moved towards the alternate version of himself, who glared at him as soon as he was in his sights. "Who the fuck are you?" The male snarled, stepping forward.

Dean stared back at him and stopped in his tracks a few feet away from the other, "You're a friendly bastard ain't you?" He scoffed, the aura of the other was nothing but hostility, so he kept his guard up. "Where's Adam?" The other version continued to question, he moved closer to Dean.

Who the hell was Adam?

"Not sure who you're talking about, but if you just let me explain some thin- OOMPH!" Dean was cut off with a shout and a boot being kicked into his gut, promptly knocking him onto his back, the gun that had been stashed in the waistband of his jeans slid out a little behind him. This could only go well. He opened his eyes to stare at the other who now took the weapon out from behind him, an axe. Dried blood painted the otherwise silver head of it, the guy clearly had a history with it.

"What'd you do, you son of a bitch?!" Dean alternate shouted before stepping forward and swinging the axe down, he turned himself to the side and grabbed onto the handle once the head was buried into the ground next to him. With a grip on his opponents weapon, Dean lifted his leg and kicked into the others knee, causing it to buckle and making him fall to his other knee.

Both scrambled back up to their feet, but Dean was faster. He grabbed onto the axe with both hands and pulled it back up before throwing it to the side, he'd never really used an axe as a weapon, as long as it stayed out of the hands of the other he'd feel a lot more confident.

Dean swung first, simply refusing to wait for the other to attack when he didn't know just what he could do. His first hook missed but the followup with his left caught the alternate off guard and it hit him straight in the jaw, however much to his dismay, it had barely phased him.

Of course Dean kept swinging though, but his attacks were swiftly blocked and ducked under, right up until he attempted to break through his arms guarding him with a surprise jab. His wrist was grabbed onto, the other stepped in while he had his arm in his grip and clashed his forehead against Dean's, making him stagger backwards with an aching skull.

"WHERES MY FRIEND?!" He shouted again, which only confused Dean even more. The only Adam he knew of was a guy he beat the shit out of in the 8th grade, and there was no way in hell any version of him would be friends with that asshat. "I don't fucking kno- AUGH!"

Dean let out a yelp as he was tackled back onto the ground, knees dug into his sides as he felt hands grip his face tight. "GET OFFA ME!" He barked, nails began to claw at his face as Dean wildly thrashed against the weight of the other straddling him.

He was trying to tear his face off, a terrifying and painful way to go, hed know from experience. Granted, before it had been a wild animal and not an actual human, but nonetheless, he didn't want to experience that kind of pain again.

Dean grabbed onto one of the hands that gripped his face and brought it just a little closer to his mouth, allowing him to open his mouth and clamp down onto it. The other screamed out as Dean's teeth sunk into his flesh, beginning to draw blood from the points of contact.

Suddenly, he was trying to wrench his hand away from Dean. His other fist cocked back and he hit Dean in the side of the head, but when one punch didn't make him let go, he continued to strike him. Funnily enough, it wasn't the punches that made Dean let go of his alternates hand, it was his blood seeping into his mouth, the mix of blood and the taste of pennies in his mouth was revolting enough to make him pull off of the others hand.

He raised both of his hands and shoved his attacker off of him while he was distracted with his excessively bleeding hand, Dean took the few moments where the other was on the ground with him to gain distance from him and crawl backwards before getting back up. It was life or death at this point, the other had already shown that he wanted Dean six feet under, so he just had to return that energy.

The alternate stood up and the two only stared at each other for a moment, they were literally fighting themselves. It was something they would question under different circumstances, but both of their minds were focused simply on surviving... Well, not so much with the Coasty alternate, he just wanted to kill the other.

He didn't know where the hell he was, he didn't know where his friend was, and his confusion had immediately turned into a mind numbing rage upon seeing the other. He believed he'd had something to do with taking him away and putting him here, but based on his confusion- he was beginning to think that wasn't true.

Dean once again started the fight back up, he closed the distance between him and his Coasty self with a mean right hook. The alternate barely ducked under the hit before attempting to retaliate with an uppercut, that of which was just dodged with a quick step back.

The Coasty alternate thrusted his knee upwards, hoping to catch the other off guard and hit him in the gut to follow it up with further attacks. But his knee was grabbed onto by Dean, who then pulled his other fist back and tried to hit him square in the chest. That only led to his arm being grabbed, which left them at a standstill.

Well, for only a second or two, right up until Dean lifted up the others knee and used his right leg to kick out the others last. It knocked him to the ground and forced him to let go of Dean's arm, he hit the ground with an "umph" and pulled his leg out of Kings grip. He lifted up his other leg and kicked it forward, barely hitting the side of Dean's abdomen. It still hurt enough to make him back off and give the Coasty version of himself a bit of breathing room, in the short time he laid there he had spotted his axe close by.

He immediately went for it, his left hand grabbed onto the lower bit of the handle which was just enough to let him swing it in the direction of Dean, who unfortunately had been standing too close which made him get a cut across his gut for his troubles.

Dean stepped back a little and pressed a hand against his wound, blood quickly spread across his palm and the tips of his fingers. Before the other version of himself got up, Dean stepped forward and reared his right leg up before kicking it forward. The front of his boot smashed against the others jaw and made his teeth clatter together, knocking him back down flat on the ground.

With the alternate stunned for a few moments, Dean turned back and went to grab his gun that had fallen out of his jeans before. As he scrambled to get it, the other was quickly getting back up with his axe. Dean could hear him groaning and beginning to move, and he dove forward towards the gun as a result.

He slid against the ground but managed to grab onto the glock, Dean turned himself onto his side and immediately pulled the trigger as his enemy got into his sights. One round shot clean through a knee and two others went into his hip, causing him to lose his balance and shout out as he fell to the floor.

The axe was let go as he hit the floor, it landed a few feet away from the other, not like he could do much with it anyways. Dean slowly got back up to his feet while keeping a firm grip on his pistol, his breathing was heavy as he stared down at the other. "Fuckin' bastard.." He panted out.

With the other finally down for a considerable amount of time, Dean turned around and walked away, he needed some kind of medical attention for that cut of his. There were a lot of things he would've been questioning if he weren't so focused on that pulsating wound of his, like, where did that guy come from? Why did he immediately attack him? Whose blood was on his axe? Who the fuck was Adam?

He could learn all of that later, when he wasn't bleeding all over himself.

[corvicides]

@rosehearrt asked: Standing in front of Wuya, he held in his hands a rather weak looking bird. A light shade of pink, contrasting well with his hair, but not with the deep concern painted over his expression. Riddle was attached to the animals which called their campus home, more so than he perhaps had a right to be, but he couldn’t very well help it. They were the first living beings he truly bonded with upon coming here.

And while it wasn’t quite clear, if Wuya-Senpai had fae traits, or more specifically, bird traits, perhaps he could inform Riddle of what the veterinarians he’d contacted hadn’t been able to. He was certainly willing to try asking, if it increased the flamingo he held’s chances of a faster recovery.

“…Well…? Do you think you could figure out what’s wrong with her…?”

ah... this was a common misconception: he was not a bird. yes he had wings, feathers, and a raven form. but he was fae-- that he happened to be corvid in nature was entirely coincidental. he isn't offended though, and actually found riddle's clear uncertainty quite amusing. smiling, as his singular eye focuses on the extremely long necked duck in his hands. it was a duck right? it had webbed feet, seems to be semi aquatic. it's beak was shaped horribly though...

wuya is a bit taken by riddle's genuine concern. he's come to expect very little from humans. but there was a great deal of thought, and well meaning intent behind coming to him. a far cry from what wuya has seen of the ill tempered, and rule driven rosehearts he's observed previously. so he has chosen to forgive it, to take no real offense by the unintentional assumption.

" i don't know much about ducks. " he says, brow knit. " but i can fix them if you'd like me to. " less an ask to see if it was what he wanted- and more something to precede something else. " i'd be willing to trade with you. one gift for another. " and as if wuya can already see riddle's train of thought-- " and no, it's nothing like the contracts azul writes. i trade, i don't scam people. "

wuya eyes the flamingo's neck, sees how lethargic it is. yes, he can fix them up, even if he doesn't know much about them. " so how about it hm? i'll make your duck as good as new, right now. if you give me that little crown on your head. "

unprompted / always accepting

[a34trgv2]

Why It Worked: The Princess and The Frog

Introduction: The Princess and The Frog is an animated musical fantasy romantic comedy film. Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, the film stars Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jim Cummings, Jennifer Lewis, Jennifer Cody, John Goodman, Oprah Winfrey and Terrence Howard. The film was released on December 11, 2009 and recieved very positive reviews from critics and audiences (85% of 200 reviews agregated by Rotten Tomatoes gave an average rating of 7.4/10). The film grossed $269 million on a budget of $105 million. For the past decade, I've grown to love this movie more and more with each passing year. Having rewatched it recently, I now firmly believe this is one of Disney's best films. In this post, I'd like to go into detail as to why.

The Plot: Based on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, The Frog Prince, mixed with the material in The Frog Princess by E.D. Maker, this film tells the story of Tiana, a waitress trying to earn enough money to start her own restaurtant. She encounters a talking frog, who's actually Prince Naveen turned into a frog by Dr. Facilier. He agrees to help Tiana get her her restaurant if she helps him turn back into a prince by recreating the classic tale of The Frog Prince. This backfires and now they're both frogs hopping around the buyou with their gator friend, Louis and a cajun firefly named Ray, to find a way to reverse the spell they were put under. The film is really a subversion of classic fairy tale tropes that makes the film feel fresh and new. The goal for our leading lady is not to fall in love with a prince but to make her childhood dream come true. What also makes this film standout is how magical they make New Orleans, paying tributes to jazz music and cajun cuisine. I also found the humor to be very funny, with many of the jokes getting a great laugh out of me. One of the funniest scenes in the film is when Tiana and Naveen outwit a trio of frog hunters. The slapstick and perfect timing had me in stitches. What really makes the story so engaging is the animation. It's too bad Disney hasn't used 2D animation in their recent films (not to say they don't look amazing in 3D) because the animation in the Princess and The Frog is amazing. The character movements feel so smooth and fluid and they're designs are unique and well defined. It should also be noted that some 3D was used for background elements yet are coated with a 2D paint so well you never would've noticed.

Cast and Characters: The cast of this movie did outstanding jobs voicing these characters, who are all well developed and very likable. Starting with our leading lady, Tiana is a smart hardworking woman that's determined to start up her restaurant. She's also sassy, funny and a great cook. Anika Noni Rose was perfect as Tiana as gives the character a very determined and no-nonsense tone in her voice. Prince Naveen starts off as an arrogant playboy that only wants to live a carefree life. However, the more time he spends with Tiana, the more he realizes that not everything is just going to be handed to him. This is especially true during the scene when he and Tiana are making gumbo and he comes to realize he's so used to having everything be done for him that he doesn't even know how to take care of himself. Bruno Campos gave a very stellar performance as Naveen, giving him such charm and funny lines while also selling the more personal aspects of his character. Louis the gator is such a fun comic relief that plays a mean trumpet. He easily brings out some of the best laughs and Michael-Leon Wooley gave a very memorable performance as the character. Ray the cajun firefly just might be one of Jim Cummings' best vocal performances, up there with Darkwing Duck, Pete, and (of course) Winnie The Pooh and Tigger. Ray might appear to have a screw or too loose, but he's actually a really smart, brave and reliable ally who's more than willing to help his friends. His love for Evangeline (which is actually the North Star) feels very genuine even if it might come across as odd at first. Then there's the film's made baddie, Dr. Facilier (often referred to as The Shadow Man). Dr. Facilier is every bit as charming as he is sinister. He's manipulative, he's smart, he's charsmatic and he loves what he does. Keith David was excellent in the role, giving him a deep yet unsettling tone in his voice.

Super Supporting Players: This film has one of the strongest supporting cast I have ever seen. Each of the supporting and even minor characters leave a lasting impression and make the film feel lived in. Lawrence, Naveen's butler, acts as the secondary antagonist of the film, being the catalyst of Naveen's desire for a carefree lifestyle. He sides with the Shadow Man and poses as Naveen while the prince is a frog in order to marry Charlotte La Bouff. Speaking of Charlotte, is very much nothing like the standard spoiled brat. Rather than be snobbish, selfish and rude, Lottie is a true friend to Tiana and is willing to help her get her restaurant. Believe me folks, after having to deal with the likes of Gem Stone, Princess Morbucks, Sincerity (What About Mimi), and Tricia Holmes (6teen), Charlotte is a breath of fresh air. Her father, Eli (aka Big Daddy) is also a very kind and caring figure who, despite spoiling his daughter, clearly raised her well as she gets her generosity from him. Mama Odie is a wise 197 year old blind lady that not only helps our heroes on their journey, but helps them understand the difference between what they want vs what they need. This is echoed by Eudora (Tiana's Mom) earlier in the film, who even in the limited amount of screen time she had exerts such a motherly personality and has authentic chemistry with her daughter. Then there's James (Tiana's Dad), the main driving force behind Tiana's desire to open her restaurant. Despite succumbing to the frequently used "dead parent" trope, every second he's on screen is imperative to the story. He's a kind hard working man who dreamed of opening his own restaurtant with his daughter Tiana. When she tells her Dad about the wishing star, he gives her great advice: "that little star can only take you part of the way. You got to help it along with some hard work of your own and then you can do anything you set your mind to." What truly makes this supporting cast come alive are the stupendous voice work from the actors who portrayed them. Jennifer Cody was fantastic as Lottie, making her sound so energetic and lively. John Goodman is always a treat to hear and he brings such a humble fatherly presence to Eli. Jennifer Lewis perfectly captures the sass and erratic nature of Mama Odie and is an amazing singer. Peter Bartlett right captured the bumbling mannerisms of Lawrence and when he's disguised as Naveen he exerts more confidence in his voice. Oprah Winfrey, who was also a consultant for the film, played Eudora beautifully as a kind and caring mother and they couldn't have picked a better actor than Terence Howard for the role of James.

Songs and Music: Randy Newman is a musical genius! Every single song in this film is written wonderfully with an awesome beat, wonderful lyrics and the amazing vocal talents of the stars. Starting with the opening track after the lovely melody prologue, Down in New Orleans perfectly introduces the audience to this city and what it's like to live here. The late Dr. John brought such authenticity to the song being a New Orleans native and he had great singing chops. Almost There, Tiana's number, is not so much an I want song, but more like "I'm so close I can almost taste it." Anika Noni Rose has great singing talents and carried that long final note like a champ. The villain song, Friends From The Other Side is (in my opinion) one of the best Disney villain songs. It perfectly captures the charismatic and manipulative nature if Dr. Facilier and Keith David's baritone singing makes this all the more memorable. When We're Human is an upbeat song that showcases the excellent singing talents of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos and Michael-Leon Wooley as they sing about what they'll do when they're human. It also makes great use of the trumpet, the go-to instrument for jazz. Ray is given the distinct honor of singing 2 songs, which are polar opposites yet are both wonderfully well crafted musical numbers. The first is Gonna Take You There, which is a classic cajun song in with Ray sings while he and his firefly family take our heroes to Mama Odie's. It's bounce, it's fun, it's makes great use of the accordion, it's just a great song to listen to. The second is Ma Belle Evangeline, a slow yet beautiful love ballad Ray sings for Evangeline. Even though Ray is singing to a star, it feels very genuine with his mix of French compliments and Louis' slow trumpet playing. Than there's the last musical number before the reprise of the opening track, Dig A Little Deeper. This is my personal favorite song in the film, and that's saying something because they're all great. Dig A Little Deeper incorporates a choir of roseate spoonbills to make it look like a church service on Sunday. It also has a great message behind it about finding what you need versus trying to get what you want. Also, Anika Noni Rose coming in with that extra verse was the perfect cherry on top. In addition to these spectacular musical numbers, Randy Newman also made a very memorable score incorporating strings and strong brass for intense scenes and some soft, subtle tunes for the quiet moments. Where the score truly shines is during Ray's death and funeral. From the sad reprise of Ma Belle Evangeline all the way up to the music slowy but surely picking up as Ray essentially becomes the brightness star in the sky next to Evangeline, this scene best showcases what a great score this film has. The song that plays during the credits, Never Knew I Needed by Ne-Yo, was also the picture bookend to the film, capturing the film's central message in a wonderfully crafted pop ballad with a beautiful piano tune.

Where It Falters: 👆. No, seriously this film is still a 10/10 in my book, but I personally would've amended this response from Lottie to "Travis, when I said later, I really meant not ever." Still shoots the guy down but without making her speak for all women. This concludes my meaningless nitpick.

Conclusion: The Princess and The Frog is without a doubt one of Disney's best films and Tiana is my personal favorite Disney Princess. The animation is spectacular, the characters are great, the songs are all wonderful, the voice acting is superb and it delivers a great message of finding what you need versus trying to get what you want. If you haven't seen this film, I highly recommend giving this film a watch on Disney+ if you have it. Thank you so much for reading and I'll see you soon ;)

This addition of Why It Worked is dedicated in memory of my grandmother, Margaret "Peggy" Simpson. I'll see you in Heaven Grandma.

[pawpadink]

Art Feedback Session - Spookydoesstuff

"Our task was to make a mock intro to a show using our own original stories, either ones we had in the past or ones we made in class. I used Adobe Animate, which isn't very traditional for art to begin with.

I wanted something dramatic and more anime-esqe (inspirations being Persona 5's 2D animation, as well as the Cowboy Beebop intro.

The render itself didn't turn out as high quality as I had hoped, but that's on me for not figuring out how to render in a higher quality. With my time crunch (I had put off working on this until I had 1 1/2 days left, on top of a project for another class.)

I feel this could have been better? But I'm satisfied with it. I just wished someone had said something, even just asking about my characters (I dont generally ask here, at least about these specific ocs, just because I've had them so long and I want to give out more of their story through context and art. But in that class no one had seen them before and I would have loved explaining their story better than just 'alien cats')"

-- Spookydoesstuff

So! Let's start with the good. The color contrast is lovely, the bright red against the monochrome is a classic high tension color combo that really sells the adversarial stress of the scene. The characters themselves each have their own unique silhouettes, which means if you just filled each of the characters in with pure black and then showed me their reference sheets I could easily identify which character is which. The line work here is very crisp and clear, which for animation lends very well to streamlining and simplifying things. Your style itself applies very nicely to an animation style, again, thanks to its general simplicity will make the whole animation process much easier than a more detailed or complex style or design.

When thinking of areas of improvement, the first thing that is brought to my attention is expression. With the four-eyed cat in the second image, at a glance it's hard to see he's furrowing his brow a bit and his current expression comes across more as a neutral expression than a concerned, worried, or frustrated expression. I would recommend here adding a bit of emphasis on the expression with the eyelids or eyebrows so that it goes into the general shape of the eye instead of just above it or add a stylized eyebrow so it is more visible against the dark fur. Due to the thin line art, the line that marks where he's furrowing his brow is hard to spot.

Your art would also benefit from expression through body language! Cats, in particular, are incredibly expressive through body language. The ears in particular here are showing no emotion- Cats when anxious, scared, or angry will pin their ears back. Perhaps a bit more emphasis on bristling fur too- in the nape of the neck and the tail. Fluffing of tails is not just fear, but also aggression when raised high or thrashing. When curved it's fear. The nervous cat in the second picture might want to be keeping her head a little lower, as nervous cats will duck down, especially if submissive. Of course, since these are not standard cats, you are welcome to take these cat behaviors and alter them to your alien culture's standards! Go wild!

Also, look into playing with the line of action a little more. Even with characters that are standing still, exaggerating some curves in their body will add a hearty dose of personality. Plus, look into the 'law' of stretch and squish- I use the term law here loosely, it's more of a guideline.

(Here are some image scans from a book called Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair, and there's a lovely tutorial on expressions from the comic Lackadaisy here!)

Next I'd like to mention the shading. There is a bit of an inconsistency between the way you shaded each character. Although lighting direction was ignored for style here, the particular techniques used for each piece should remain the same throughout each frame of an animation, each panel of a comic, or between related images in general. In the second photo, the highlights on the four-eyed cat almost looked like fur patterning, so maybe refining that highlight by making it a little darker would make it more obvious it was a highlight and not a change in fur color?

I think if you were given a little more time you would have managed with the shading, but still something of note to keep in mind for the future~

Finally I would like to address the environment... or the lack of it. The bright red background is lovely, especially in this grey scale-pop style of colors. My only issue is that it feels like they're floating in some red void- you have the darker red to denote the ground, but it doesn't feel very consistent with where the characters are placed and there's no shapes in the background to denote any kind of environment- no tree silhouettes, no building silhouettes, or any other objects that could denote where the characters are.

Above is an example from Persona 5 which kind of shows what I'm talking about. Looking at some perspective tutorials will actually show you a way you can manipulate the floor or gradients to help add some solidity to the ground. With this style I wouldn't even say you would need to add nearly as much detail to them as Persona 5's art- just some dark shapes and perhaps a gradient of sorts to give a sense of location to the scene would help.

Overall, wonderful job! My first impression was 'Oh hey this looks like something from Persona 5!' so you really got that feel you were looking for. You also immediately get a sense of relationship here- from an outsider's perspective with zero previous information on who these characters are or how they are related. You can clearly tell the four eyed cat is protecting the female cat in the back, and there's a sense of either accusation from the one-eyed cat or threat, and that the other two almost seem to be distressed as if they were once close to this character.

Keep up the good work, don't feel discouraged with the lack of feedback from your class. I really feel with a bit of practice in terms of expression and body language you can really make some great waves with your art! You have a great foundation.

In terms of art program recommendations, my wife and I both use Clip Studio Paint. You need the EX version for feature length animations unfortunately, but the PRO version is much cheaper and lets you do some very short animations however it is a very powerful illustration and comic tool as well. Krita is a totally free program that will let you animate as well and has a pretty robust illustration feature itself, but I'm not sure if it has anything specific for comic making.

A big thank you to Spookydoesstuff for being our first review and for being so pleasant to speak to! Please check out more of their art and their blog by clicking here to go to their tumblr!

[princess-sengoku]

Secret Santa Fanfic

@hunny-pp This is for your request in Secret Santa for this year. I hope this is great. Merry Christmas to you and Merry Christmas to everyone else. AAAA My first fanfic to be posted on Tumblr :')

Carnival Competition

Rating: K

Modern AU

Summary: Shingen and Kenshin are going to Osaka carnival to see who can win the most games at the carnival.

The carnival's in town as everyone from all over the land of the rising sun go to one of the most underrated festivals in the land; Osaka Carnival. The fun games, great food, and amazing rides that it had was all in good fun for everyone to enjoy. Once Shingen heard for himself that the carnival was going to be in town tomorrow, he just had to call Kenshin to join him for the carnival. He was disappointed that he didn't show up last year, then again they weren't dating at the time. Maybe this year would go in his favor? He and Kenshin could at least compete in the games, kinda like a battlefield? Shingen was in Osaka for a quick vacation and the carnival would be the top of the cake. With that in mind, Shingen picked up the phone and began to text to Kenshin.

Shingen: My stoic dragon "nemesis", are you still awake?

Kenshin was comfortable on his futon at his Castle, just starting to head off to bed and sending a quick prayer to Bishamonten to thank the god of war for allowing him the pleasures of life. There was wine, business, and finally Shingen. Shingen was probably one of the most worthy friend and business partner he could ask for in this life. Although he didn't show much happiness on his stoic face, his actions show that he cares for him, especially when he accepted to be Shingen’s boyfriend. Speaking of Shingen… 'Bing Bing'. Kenshin heard his phone go off. "It is almost time to go to bed… Who's texting me?" He said, visibly annoyed. He picked up his phone and once he saw the message, he softened a little bit. It was Shingen. 

Kenshin: Tiger of Kai, my "nemesis", I was about to go to bed, but I can talk for a bit.

Shingen gave a good-natured chuckle at Kenshin's message sent a couple of minutes later. Of course he forgot that Kenshin would be getting to bed around this time.

Shingen: Sorry about that, I was hoping maybe this year we can go to the carnival together. Think of it as a date.

"A date?" He mouthed to himself. When was the last time they had a date together? It had been a while. They were both taking it slowly so they wouldn't be discovered and to have it at a carnival, that everyone was going to…

Kenshin: Are you sure you want me to go?

Shingen was not giving up on making him go to the carnival. They were always competitive when it came to the games. A lightbulb went off in his head. He can use the games as an excuse for him to go.

Shingen: I bet I can win a lot more games than you. Don't worry I'll give you some prizes :)

Shingen always knew how to push Kenshin's competitiveness button. They both were like strategists in their own businesses but eventually one must come on top eventually. He really now was interested in this carnival but he would conceal his intentions to him.

Kenshin: It is tempting to go to the festival to have a friendly competition. Go have fun. Good night "nemesis"

Shingen shrugged at his message. At least he tried to convince him to go. At the back of his head, he did feel that Kenshin would come here. He just had that hunch.

Shingen: Good night. Don't have a rough night.

As soon as he got Shingen’s message, Kenshin got dressed again, called his limo driver, and took a blanket. He would now begin to surprise Shingen to the festival date. "Shingen, let's see who wins the most games." he thought with confidence. They always liked competitive plays over each other. He just thought of what kind of games would be there to play as the limo left with him inside, going to Osaka, as he drifted to sleep.

~The next morning- 8 AM~

Shingen saw the shining sun glimmer in the curtains as morning came and he was just starting to wake up from the tiger's slumber. This short bald man yawned as he sat up in the bed, slowly getting his act together. It was also very hot today when the festival and vacation was in the summer. He could only imagine what the south had to deal with like the Shimazu in the summer. After 10 minutes of just sitting there, he finally got up to brighten the room. The curtains opened and Shingen shielded his eyes from the brightness a bit. Once it got adjusted, he finally saw a limo in front of the hotel. It had the Uesugi symbol on the side and the limo was white. He could see Kenshin come out the doors. "Hahaha, I knew Kenshin would be here!" Shingen said to himself. He put on a tiger print t-shirt with some khaki shorts and some sandals.

Kenshin walked out of the limo with a nice short sleeved buttoned white shirt with white pants with some nice black loafers. He was casually sleeping the whole ride so he would be well rested for today. Carnivals are mostly energy sucking. The driver let him know he's here so he doesn't have to rest during the day. "Great Bishamonten, please give me strength to have fun today and beat Shingen in a whole bunch of games." He prayed. They both met in the lobby and gave a hug. "Haha, I knew you would come. So are you ready for the carnival?" Shingen asked. Kenshin gave a small smile and nodded. "I am. Looking at the clock means that it had just started." Said Kenshin as he looked at the clock which read 9:00A.M.

Looking out at the carnival laid out before them, it was full of life and high fun energy. Many games, food stands and other attractions can be seen before them. People were walking around them full of laughter and friendly talk. You can't really hear what they had to say because there were so many people and they were loud. Shingen and Kenshin simply walked side by side together holding pinkies looking out at what games they should play.

The first game they saw was kinda strange with a huge log and there were lines in the ground. Musashi was actually the one hosting that game. "Hey you two! Do you want to try the log toss? 1 yen to try it and the rules are clearly read on the sign." He managed to get Shingen and Kenshin's attention. "You want to have a go Kenshin?" Asked Shingen. "Sure" said Kenshin blatantly. 

They both walk up to the wooden sign. It was well made with no chances that anyone can get a splinter and it looked really smooth for writing on as shown in words that are painted on. It says the following: 

Log toss:

'You throw a log as far as you can. This can be played for competition. If you are solo, you win a prize no matter what. If you are against each other, then the winner gets a prize.'

Shingen was known to do some lifting at the gym sometimes, Kenshin watched him while he worked so he knew as well. They've decided to do the competition version. The prizes included stuffed animals, posters and pins. Shingen went first as he went and picked it up by the sides then he spinned around a few times getting ready for the wind up. He threw it up and away pretty far and it landed with a thud and the ground shaked a bit. Musashi ran to where the log went with a measuring tape and a flag. "150 feet-1st person!" Musashi announced. Kenshin smiled at Shingen’s impressive performance. It was as expected for him as was a worthy challenge for Kenshin to try to beat.

"You're next Kenshin." Shingen said as he stood back with a smirk, a smirk that Kenshin loved a lot. "I have practiced a bit in lifting." Kenshin remarked as he picked up the log. He winded up by standing back a bit then using the force that he gathered to launch the log forward as he stepped forward. It flew not as high as Shingen did but it definitely was going far. There was a thud in the distance and Musashi was running fast with the other marker. "Not bad! It's about… 160 feet. The second person wins!" Musashi announced happily as he went to pick out a prize. Kenshin kissed Shingen on the forehead proud of his own victory. "Well done 'nemesis'." Shingen said, congratulating him. Musashi gave Kenshin a big tiger plush. 'It would be perfect for Shingen.' Kenshin thought.

Many hours go by with more prizes, food, the times they went through a funhouse and a haunted house in a succession while holding many little toys, pins, posters, more stuffed animals. It was a lot to carry for a long time, then again they had played lots of games. Games were ring toss, balloon pop, guess what's approximately in the jar, bumper cars, test your strength, and many other games.

It was the last few minutes of the carnival to be open for the day. There was one more game they wanted to try for a magnificent dragon plush. Shingen was immediately reminded of Kenshin when he saw that plush. "Kenshin! Before we go let's try this game!" They both look at the bucket of water with ducks floating right along. The sign read the following:

Lucky Duck:

'You hook a duck on the hook stick provided to you. Get a star duck (which the star is on the bottom) to win any prize you want.'

"This game sounds simple and quick." Kenshin remarked. "You can do this game." Said Kenshin as he gave the game owner 1 yen to play the game.

Shingen concentrated on the pond itself like a fire trying to get hotter by the minute. Any of those ducks could have a star on the bottom and any number of the ducks could have stars. They all looked the same. All he could do would be to guess which one had the star and which ones didn't. He took the hook stick on the ground and just went for it, eyes closed. When he opened them again, he looked underneath the duck and a gold star was at the bottom. He won the game and the dragon. "This is great!" thought Shingen as he got the dragon in his hands.

As Shingen turned he saw Kenshin take the tiger plush out of the mass of prizes they won and handed it out like it was a gift for him. Shingen saw a slight blush on Kenshin's stoic face. "So umm… this is for you 'nemesis'." Kenshin said in a softer voice than usual. Shingen laughed out of kindness a little, knowing that Kenshin wasn't used to the sometimes sweet moments of their relationship. "Thank you 'nemesis'. In return, I will give you this dragon I just won."  Shingen blushed a little bit as he received the tiger and Kenshin received the dragon. They soon divided all of the prizes in between them. Shingen’s vacation would go on and Kenshin would join in for the last week that Shingen had left.

--------------------------------------------------

P.S. as a bonus I give you some headcanons of the pairing on google slides that I made myself. This helped me create the fic lol.

[gildedmuse]

My brothers favorite "arc side character" (it's a very specific character type) is Bartolomeo. Like, easily. One of my first posts here about One Piece is just my text to him.

Me: So Barto is just a male version of Boa?

Bro: No. Boa is a female version of Bartolomeo.

[In this household we like'em mean, green, tall and willing to die in order to see Luffy achieve his dream of becoming King of the Pirates. It's a VERY specific character type.]

So you know he got super excited when they did this:

Bro: Oh, awesome. I can't believe he got his own poster. He'd be so happy.

Me: Law didn't even get one and he just a whole arc about how he was secretly lovable the whole time.

Bro: Yeah, I THINK this makes him an official Strawhat.

Me: I mean, him and Vivi... And her duck. Do you think since it's Bartolomeo filler and not a new new eyecatch they'll double Barto it?

-They Do Not-

Bro: This is better, this is what he'd want.

Me: Huge honor to be in an eyecatch pair with Luffy.

Bro: Oh my god, do you know what this means?

-I Do Not-

Bro: I think this means they're married now.

I could never thank Hancock enough for giving us this little meme. We've pretty much used it constantly since 2D3Y.

I knew then that I would make this gif to capture his moment of happiness for Bartolomeo. What I didn't know was the selfish dividends it would pay off in later. Usually we get a new eyecatch and it's like ten episodes of just Luffy before they bother animating the other characters. So I did not expect three episodes later to be greeted with:

[Only improvement I would make? Have a bunch of baby Zoros swordsmen in training in the background trying to practice fighting with a motherfucking katana clenched between their teeth like goddamn idi-- the soon to be greatest swordsman in the world.]

It lead to some admittedly embarrassing squee like sounds. And also an unexpected but of chanting.

Me: Please be Luffy please be Luffy

Bro: ?

Me: Please be Luffy or Zoro just not Barto or Sanji or anyone else please be Luffy maybe Robin please be luffy--

Bro: -Better at recognizing sound cues and probably knew this was coming, damn him- Oh my god. -Actually laid a hand on my shoulder like this is Serious Business- I think maybe--

Me: Hafaghgyeieohs--

[Is... Is that a gas lamp on the side of the Polar Tang? Why? Also: What? How? Wait where? and But... but why?]

Me: --ahhfhajshbi! Oh my god! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!

Bro:

Me: They're married now! You said so! No take backs!

[Once more. Together. Like they were meant to be. Canonically.]

I don't know what to tell you. Sometimes we act like reasonable, intelligent adults. Sometimes we just go with memes. And then, occasionally, arguments in are our house will be treated as though we are in kindergarden.

But everyone knows that once you win an argument, that becomes house canon.

Thems the rules.

Trying to say otherwise would be like debating a kindergartner. You can't win, man.

[Can confirm: That is an old fashion gas street lamp someone has stuck to the outside of a submarine and then scribbled the word DEATH underneath. That is pretty much the equivalent of getting your grandma's old antique lamp and spray painting a neon orange skull and crossbones on top of the classic floral print. It is somehow the most badass and least badass possible look. God, boy, you need so much therapy.]

[jimjamthehorrorman]

"Texas Hold Em'"

(PART TWO of the "Unconditional Love" fic. In this AU, the boys are all alive, modern setting and not cannibals. Just a bunch of eccentric boys with secrets. Hope you enjoy!)

Early morning, a tinge of blue coats the walls like thick paint. You forgot to close the curtains, but this isn't your house, so how would you remember so easily? You wonder if your dog is having a good time lazying up the house with your friend who came to pupsit. But you have other things to worry about, she's in good hands.

The guest room at the boys farm was empty other than an uncomfortable old futon, some strange bone art (as you know, Nubbins and Bubba are quite the taxidermy artists) and the subtle smell of a "cinnamon clove" candle on the dresser that really ties it all together.

The sound of a rooster crowing next to the window reminds you..

"The boys are up already. Today I finally get to meet the notorious 'Chop Top'" you thought to yourself, struggling to get the heavy flannel sheets off so you can get dressed. "first day as a farmhand, that's a step up from gas station attendant."

When Drayton saw how easily you got along with the boys, he realized that you could be a good addition to the farm. Obviously you wouldn't live there full time. You've got your own home and your own life seperate from them, but something draws you there when you have free time. Actually, someone.

Stomping down the hall, you hear boots already mud clodden. Speak of the devil, he knocks at the door frame with a gentle thud. He groans in a way that almost sounds like "are you up?" You see his eye barely peak through the gap in the door.

"I'm getting dressed, Bubba!" You shout, grasping at the sheets to cover yourself. You hear the sound of his heels turning and a slight jog that turns into some thudding and stomping again. He must have been embarrassed because he turned heel, ran, stumbled and hit the lamp in the hall on his way out.

"BUBBA YOU FOOL, YOU DAMNED NEAR BROKE GRANDMA'S GOOD LAMP!"

Drayton's up.

"GODDAMNIT BOY, GO ON OUT AND GET THE TRACTOR STARTED!"

You hope to yourself he isn't like that with you. Poor Bubba.

"You about ready in there Y/N? We've got to get some work done and then we'll get breakfast made." He took a totally different tone with you. It's almost sickening that he can be so nice to you and so mean to his brothers, but you can't complain because he'll do his best to hold his tongue with you around.

"I'll be out in just a few, Drayton! I'm putting my boots on now!"

He chuckled on his way down the hall.

"Chop Top's back from the VA Hospital, so be prepared. He's crazier than any of us." You can't tell if he's joking or dead serious.

You meet Nubbins at the door.

"Hey! Hey Y/N! Bubba wants you to meet the animals and his favorite are the birds! They're so nice, really good tempered! The ducks are his favorite but I think the chickens are mine!"

"Alright! We'll go check them out together, they have to be fed anyways right?"

"Oh yeah! And they eat real good too! Hungry little things!"

He prances down the lane towards a little crooked shack, Bubba's standing outside the door putting buckets of water and feed out for the birds. He just can't stop wearing that pretty mask and suit. He knows how much you like it and you haven't seen the other mask since the day you met. He's dressed to impress and he's going to get his dress boots dirty, you just KNOW it.

The sun's come up as you were coming down the lane and Nubbins, running in his standard silly formation, makes it to the door and slams it open, letting out all the chickens to Bubba's dismay. He hadn't finished putting everything down and now he has to get his shoes muddy to get back to the other side.

He looks to Nubbins and groans loudly, putting his hand up to his masked face. Shaking his head, he walks around the muddy nasty pen and finishes his job. As soon as he sees you he perks up, running out the pen and nearly ripping his good coat on the wire fence.

"Good morning big guy! Thanks for the privacy this morning!" You laugh as you watch his cheeks redden from under the mask. "It's alright you didn't know I was changing. Anything exciting planned for this afternoon?"

He points toward the gate at the end of the midpoint in the driveway, a truck is making it's way out toward the road and you see Drayton, his mouth running like he's cursing his whole way out. His window is closed but you feel for the poor soul on the other end of the phone.

Nubbins runs up and grabs you by the shoulder. "He's going to get Chop Top from the bus station in town! They finally got him out, he's going to get him and we'll have a great time, a hell of a time!"

You've heard wild stories about this guy, and you weren't sure how to feel about him but certainly he would come to be as close to you as the other boys.

Bubba and Nubbins finish doing their jobs while you get some Alfalfa treats for the cattle out back. Who knew these hefty old things were like big dogs themselves? The one with the biggest horns you knew to be "Dolly" the longhorn named by Drayton and his favorite. You give her a couple extra treats for good measure.

It's only been about fifteen minutes since Drayton left, and based on Nubbins' watch, he wouldn't be back for another 45. Now's your chance to get even closer to Bubba. He doesn't talk much but there's a spark and he for sure likes you.

More of an action than words guy, that boy.

"Hubba Bubba, look at you all fancy!" You smile at him, he's got his sleeves rolled up to the elbow, his pant legs rolled to the knee and he's slinging a 50 lb bag of cracked corn into the feeder. He looks down at you, giving you a once over before wiping corn dust off of his tie and jacket. "I'm done with my jobs if you want to go on a walk!"

Bubba giggles to himself before putting the burlap sack on the pile and walking up to you, excited to spend time with you, knowing soon you two can have a snack at the barn.

"So, do you like living on the farm?"

He nods, he loves it here with all the animals, you can tell. He scratches his chin under the mask. He must get hot wearing those all the time and shaves quite often so it must get itchy.

Walking down a hill toward the barn you pass a beaten up old shed. Getting too close to the door he grabs your hand and snags you in close to him. He's shaking his head no.

"What's wrong with the shed, Bub?"

He looks uncomfortable and points to the barn.

"Okay okay, we'll keep moving." You give him a pat on the lower back and keep walking before giving one hesitant glance back at the shed. What's in there and why is he not letting you in? Weird.

Halfway to the barn you realize you're still holding Bubba's hand. He's tangled his fingers up in yours and you feel him gently trailing his thumb around on your hand. He looks down at you every once in a while just to be sure you're comfortable. He's nervous and it's easy to tell.

You try your best to reassure him by doing the same and smiling back each time. He lets out a relieved sigh as you make it to the barn. A decrepit old metal barn from the 50s filled to the top on one side with square bales of hay and the other side a little table with five chairs and a couple of empty stalls sit. The barn is open on both sides other than the back, a torn up old screen sways back and forth in the wind, like a piece of paper held on with tape. Bubba retracts from your hand to pull down some bales with ease, stacking them into something roughly resembling a couch.

He flops down on them with only a slight rustle of the hay, obviously more comfortable than the little rusty metal ones at the table. He sits up and pats the bale beside him. You walk over and flop next to him, looking around to see that Nubbins is nowhere close by, you wrap your hand around his and lean into him. Between the heavy overalls you have on guarding you from the itchy hay and this space heater of a man, you're warm and comfy. Bubba gazes down at you and envelops you in his arms. He too is very comfortable.

---

"I think they're in the house, I couldn't really tell you!"

You hear Nubbins in the distance, it sounds like he's yelling to Drayton and Chop Top but you can't be sure.

They can't possibly be back yet unless...

Bubba's asleep. You were asleep. How long have you been out? How long have they been home? Is Nubbins covering for you?

"Well tell them if you see them before us that Chop Top and I are making lunch and they'll be too late if they don't get themselves up here!" Drayton sounded like he was content for the moment but if you didn't get to the house soon you'd be in big trouble. Footsteps trail around the back of the barn, Nubbins peaks in and whispers loudly to the both of you.

"Get yourselves together love birds! Drayton's gonna whoop my ass if you two don't get in this house soon. It'll be real bad! So hurry on up!" He blows a raspberry at the now awake Bubba who groans at the thought. You look up to see the bottom of his mask has rolled up to reveal a normal looking chin and mouth, a freshly shaven face is hidden by the mask every day and you don't get to see it so this is a glance you didn't expect. As he starts to roll down his mask, you grab his hand. He looks at you scared and worried.

"I'm not going to take it off" you smile at him and he calms, holding onto your hands. "I just want to try something and you have to tell me if you're uncomfortable okay? I won't ever try to make you uncomfortable."

Bubba nods at you, his left hand trailing up your arm, resting on the nape of your neck where he can run his fingers along your hairline. As you lean in for a kiss, he closes the gap. Your lips touch and he pulls you in closer, holding you in his arms.

Bliss. You may have been kissed before, but he was a whole other ballgame. He had never kissed before and there was a level of touch starvation that he was trying to cope with upon this embrace. He was holding you and being held by you at the same time and he was beyond happiness.

Bubba's depraved lips were soft as silk and cherry flavored as they grazed over yours, his cologne thick but not overpowering smelt of burning oak wood in a crackling fireplace. The only fire here is one of desire and soon you would both be burning. His hands crept up and down your back and hips, trailing over your hands and back to your hair. Soon enough you felt smooth shaven skin and soft pillowy lips crawling down your chin and neck, circling your shoulder. You were completely and utterly surrendered and victim to his tender embrace.

*horribly obnoxious phone ringing*

Bubba breathed hard letting you go, a sigh escaping his lips as he pulled his mask down again. You reach into your pocket and pick up the phone. Of course, Drayton was getting finicky.

"Where are you kids? Your jobs couldn't have taken that long!"

"Sorry Drayton we'll be right there!" He hung up and you could see the dissapointment in Bubba's eyes. You were dissapointed too but relieved because you weren't sure how far that could have gone. "Sorry Bubba, Drayton wants us at the house."

He grunted as he stood up, helping you up after him. He held your hand as you walked back to the house. You didn't get a snack, instead you got a whole lot of a hot take.

---

The birds squawked and cooed softly as you passed by, echoing the same calmness that filled the breeze. In that breeze came the smell of lunch: a mixture of fried eggs, bacon, fried apples, little crunchy potatoes and fresh squeezed orange juice. The taste of cherry carmex chap stick still lay thick on your lips as Bubba walked beside you.

It was going to be the best job you could ever have dreamed of.

[aotopmha]

Attack On Titan Chapter 124 Thoughts

Chapter 36, the focus chapter Sasha had, has for the longest time been labeled as a filler chapter, but I maintain that it's thematically probably one of the most important chapters of the story and I think this chapter only adds to this idea.

Attack on Titan has such a strong perspective and thematic core and I think that's what makes this chapter a really solid one instead of just a chapter to drag this story out or just set all the ducks in row for what's coming.

Even if Eren succumbs to the demon inside of him, as Nicolo puts it, and has to be killed to be stopped, there are characters that haven't succumbed to their demons yet.

The story provides at least some source of hope even in it’s most darkest moments and compared to many other stories that go for this kind of exploration of humanity, I actually think this is one of the more balanced ones when it comes to the hope and darkness in the story. Usually the finale for these kind of stories is covered in a thick layer of cynicism, with the real, more idealistic perspective and actual thematic point of the story coming out in a understated, but firm manner - From the New World and Devilman Crybaby come to mind the most to me when it comes to anime.

Cynical stories about humanity to me are stories that have no empathy for humanity and just tell you how horrible it is.

Even as Jean expresses his cynical viewpoint this chapter, it’s full of understanding on the meta level.

As he's been doing since moral ambiguity has taken the center stage, Jean simply tries to rationalize a very difficult situation. It’s not there to say that the rest of humanity deserves this or humanity is shitty and that’s that.

The story has a lot of empathy for Eren's situation as it should because the readers have been with Eren on this journey for a long time and are conflicted just as the characters are.

Some of this material might be redundant (and I think the anime could help out here once more), but to me it's still very effective.

Some of my favorite themes in stories are learning to see the world in a more complex light and fighting against all the negative within yourself and I'm pretty much eating all of this up not only because it's themes that I love, but also because I think they are handled a bit more complexly than usual.

These have been some of the most fundamental ideas of the story since the first chapter: it all started with the most basic idea of standing up and keeping up the fight despite the fear and loss someone experiences and we’re right back here at the end of the story.

As I said in my initial post and what I’d say is the second strongest part of this chapter to me overall behind Nicolo’s speech about having a demon within yourself and leaving the forest, is Gabi's character arc.

Eren has been the primary positive representation of this struggle of fighting your demons for a while, but now it's Gabi - she fights to return everyone she loves to Reiner (and her) and does so without throwing anyone else under the bus, while Eren is now the negative representation of that struggle.

Stories about struggling with the bad in yourself don't often have negative examples where people lose against their demons, either, that's why I find Eren so interesting, as well.

The story truly paints nobody or nothing at fault here but human nature and I think you don’t really see that often.

Maybe in some story there is some conspiracy going on with some organization or some individual orchestrating everything that is wrong with the world - see Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill, Dragon Ball or most other Shounen stuff. I enjoy that stuff - a central antagonistic force that represents everything that the protagonist shouldn't be/is representitive of an opposing ideaology isn't even foreign to AoT - for a time it was the Colossal Titan and the other shifters, the nobles within the walls, then Zeke specifically, all the way circling back to Eren himself and it very much helps to give direction to a story.

AoT just claims the root of all evil isn't one specific antagonistic character or group, but the parts of human nature that might drive us to hurt others.

The shitty nobles of the walls and King Fritz? Instead of the story just telling you how horrible they are, it also says that it’s human nature to grow corrupt - Ymir Fritz got her Titan powers by pure coincidence and naturally, humans took advantage of it. The humanity outside the walls? They aren't just a evil hivemind, in fact most of them are innocent people and the element that causes the most problems is actually ignorance.

Desiring power, being scared and hurting others because of being scared and doing anything you possibly could to survive, even if it also involves hurting others - it’s all shown as something natural, but also something to overcome rather than a inherent, unchangeable part of humanity.

It’s not just “that’s how humanity just is and there’s nothing we can do about it”, it’s “that’s how humanity is, but we can do something about it”.

It's human to succumb to these instincts, but we can also be above them.

This chapter is called "Thaw" and majority of it is about barriers between people melting away - Gabi and Kaya, Shadis and the recruits, the 104th and Gabi and of course, even the barrier Annie is surrounded by melting away.

Eren's presence as an enemy seems to have caused everyone to at least temporarily try and put their differences aside for the sake of survival, so whether Eren planned this or not, on some level unity is being achieved because nobody wants to die. This situation is playing into humanity’s intrinsic desire to survive and strive. Eren’s message to the Eldians really might be something to facilitate at least a temporary truce among all the sides for everyone to survive and if the Eldians play a essential part in stopping this, their contribution would be impossible to ignore and therefore they should get something positive out of this.

I suppose how believable it would feel narratively is up to everyone individually, but I don’t feel like it’s all that naive if you frame it like that.

Looking at it myself, I think some people would fall back to rely on their worse instincts, but I also think some wouldn't - an overly cruel humanity is just as unrealistic as an overly kind one.

There's nothing much for me to say about Annie because the panel of her being out of her crystal says nothing, but her plot thread is now at least addressed.

Finally, some neat details are Armin once again taking action with the Manouver Gear as he did before to be consistent with some physical character growth we've seen of him and Connie taking away Falco to finally also address the plot thread with his mother - if it came ahead somehow, I think Connie finally having enough makes sense and was properly built up.

Nile ultimately had his character arc capped off in a fine way prior to this chapter, so what happened here worked for me.

Looks like Pixis actually didn't get eaten by a female Titan, but rather taken out by a character with the history of being mistaken for a girl, so there you go. Armin also ended his life with respect, which I think also works fine here.

It's also nice Shadis gets to have a little bit of a character development moment of acting instead of just remaining passive.

I think now the plot threads left to address are:

1) The Ackerman powers

2) Levi and Hange

3) Historia

4) Eren

5) Kiyomi

6) The Warhammer Titan

I think the story can do it just fine looking at the timetable with the announced season 4. Some of these don't need very elaborate explanations and can be combined with other stuff - like Connie's mother.

I expect Levi and Hange, Annie, Eren and Historia to all get separate chapters and the other stuff to get mixed in there.

I think it'd work out with 8-10 more chapters.

This chapter, though, was a solid set-up chapter with side character payoffs and closures here and there to me.

I think the story is definitely doing it's best to give closure to everything - Connie's mother and Annie have seemed to be dropped plot threads for many people for a while now, but the story brought them back and seems to wish to address them in some manner.

The story has already broken ground among mystery box stories for actually answering most of it's huge mysteries in time, but as I've gone into in a bunch of my chapter posts for some time now, if it satisfyingly sticks the final landing, even in however flawed way, I think it'll definitely be special just for that.