#here are some potato quality gifs that no one asked for <3

[swallowedabug]

MAYKO NGUYEN Working the Engels 1.09 (2014)

[fauxfickle]

Another month, another info dump of things you already know, or the search for "The Great All-American Pizza Show!"

Last time, we talked about the Citrus Heights commercial produced by Bob Wilkins Advertising Inc and it's potential showing at the Orinda Theatre. The bad news is that I don't know anyone from CA and I don't have anywhere near a big enough platform to spread the word. Was it there? Was it not? We'll never know! Good thing is that the Psychotronix Film Festival is putting on another show in May at Foothill College, also in CA.

But on to other news! I finally got a response from PBS about Ben Wattenberg's segment on PTT. They said they didn't have it so yeah...

I've been looking around for Ben Wattenberg's 1980 and PM Magazine listings on Ebay, hoping for maybe a DVD copy or something but nothing comes up. These aren't really my top priority since they aren't part of TGAAPS but it helps me from burning out looking at a million commercials

Let's move onto the real meat and potatoes, the ads themselves. Starting with the Citrus Heights commercial, I've been doing research on Bob Wilkins' ad company and you'd be surprised how scarce info is on it. His obituary states that he made ads not only for PTT, but Lay-Z-Boy as well. This newspaper from 1981 says that his agency makes over $1M annually and was doing "amazingly well" which makes it all the more stranger that there's so little documentation of it. I also found a house in Oakland, that was used by the company at some point. I won't link the house, the company is so far removed from it and I don't want the people living there to be bothered. Something funny I found while looking on other search engines for traces of BW's agency is that Bing's AI assistant literally uses my post as a source. It's surreal seeing the info I wrote be regurgitated back at me by an AI. Weird...

Now the animated ad! I'll admit, I've been slacking a bit when it comes to looking for this ad, however I found 3 people on Linkedin that worked for Colossal Pictures during the late 70s. Also found out that Adam Savage from Myth Busters worked for (C)P at some point. Hmm, having your company initials be CP wasn't the smartest move in hindsight. Maybe that's why they added the parenthesis.

Something that wasn't found by me :( was a storyboard for one of the live action commercials. From what I've heard, it was posted in the showbizpizza.com discord server and spread from there. In the bottom left it says UBC which I can't really link to anything. I thought maybe it could be a production company, or an acronym, but I've got nothing. Maybe it just says Inc. Bottom right isn't much better, it's completely illegible and the first page of the storyboard is in even worse quality. An exciting find for sure, but not one that really helps me.

Or so I thought! In the end card it says (location tag), not just "Kooser and Blossom Hill". Unlike the radio ad, nothing in here denotes any sort of specific location like having a certain guest star or cabaret act. Sure it uses the Winchester bots, Kooser bots, and Mopsey sisters but people aren't really going to pay attention to whether the backup singers are mops or crows and they probably wouldn't even notice the small diffences between the portrait bots and a cyberamic in a 60 second ad.

Here's my big theory though. Oh yeah, we're getting conspiratorial! Someone asked me about that forum post I discovered that mention a PTT jingle from 1978 - 1980. Way back in my first post, I found that this person was most likely from the Detroit area, and probably didn't see the ads that I thought at the time were only in the Bay Area and aired during early 1980. I thought that because the ads ended around spring and the first store to open in MI was around November, this person was simply misremembering the "Smile America" ads from 1982. It's been a few months, and in that time I've learned probably more than any sane person should know about this campaign, and while looking at the store lists on the Cheese-e-pedia after that person mention the post, I realized something that made me feel like a complete idiot. The first PTT to open in MI was in Westland. I looked up where that was, and low and behold, Westland is A SUBURB OF DETROIT. I felt so stupid but also really happy that this tiny detail actually meant something. My theory is that maybe, just maybe, one of, if not a few of these ads were aired outside CA with the location tags edited for each store. PTT has done that before, so I feel it's not totally out of the picture for them to have done it few years earlier. If this is true, then it expands this search from just CA to Nevada, Utah, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina, and of course, Michigan.

I still want to keep most my searching in the Bay area, but I think this could lead to exciting things. Or I could be delusional, who knows? Until next time!

[spicymayonice]

How to Get Rich in Sims 4 Without Cheating

We probably have tried the 'ctrl + c and motherlode' option at least once in our life with this game. I used to. I'm the kind of player who always want my sim to get rich no matter what kind of scenario I eventually play, because I love to decorate, moving to one house and another.

I could get a bit idealistic at times, I found myself unsatisfied being rich through cheating. I wanted to pave my own way. Here's some of the way you can do based on what I have tried:))

1 - Publish Your Writing

*No additional pack needed

I think this is already a common knowledge. I do this almost in every family I have. The thing is, all you need is a computer. Just buy the cheapest one, I think it's around §800 or something. You can already start publishing your works once you start your game. Self-publishing only requires level 2 in the skill, writing your first book will bring you to that level, so you'll be able to publish it right away. It might be small at the beginning, like getting about §40/book each day, but at least you can earn money while also enhancing your writing skill. And once you've skilled enough, you can earn approximately §200 with excellent quality works and around §500 with the bestseller quality. Not to mention at level 9, you can start submitting your works to the literary digest, but only once per week.

Based on my experiences, the highest accumulation I could get was earning about §5k per day (I've heard someone get §10k/day) through my books royalties and I don't even need to leave the house! Plus the royalty for each book will be sent for a certain amount of days. You can play another lifestyle, get a job, travelling, or simply just be a couch potato and still earn money. You need to know that that's only for one sim, if you're determined enough, you can make all your playable sims to publish their works too, lol.

2 - Sell Your Painting

*No additional pack needed

Another activity you can try that could make you rich quite fast. This could actually be crazier than book royalties because if you're skilled enough to be able to produce high quality paintings, you can get around §500 for each painting. Imagine if you paint four of five times per day, because you can actually do that much, even more. Masterpiece is on another number, §2k-§8k or more I forgot precisely.

The difference is publishing book will be like putting only one effort and getting paid multiple times, while in painting one effort equals one payment, but with a possibly higher price per item.

3 - Work as an Investor

*No additional pack needed

You can become an investor through the business career, just choose investor branch when you're being promoted to the seventh rank. Maybe you're asking what's so special about this job? Astronauts make more money than this. The answer is, you'll get access to the stock market and are able to invest in stocks through this branch career.

I know there's a chance you'd get unlucky and lose 80% of your investment here, but keep in mind that before you start investing, make sure your sim is focused. Just in case, okay. Anyway, you get to invest up to §5k and can get §10k or someone said 2.5x more than you've invested. But this is not like royalty, you'll receive it per investment. Be wise and make your choice with this option.

I personally like this way, since Sims is only a simulator (obviously), loosing an investment isn't a big deal to me.

4 - Choose the Fabulously Wealthy Aspiration

*No additional pack needed

This is almost like a must to me, at least one of my sim has this aspiration (especially one that earns a lot). The goal is you need to finish this aspiration which (unfortunately) requires you to earn §200k at the end of its milestone. Though you can combine this option with painting or writing to make it faster. The best part comes after days of struggling, the shrewd reward trait. I'm both lazy and a sucker for money, so free income like this is exactly what I love, doesn't matter how much I get.

With shrewd reward trait, your sim will get 5% of your household funds transferred to you every week until your sim dies. The bigger the funds, the happier you'll get. I've once had a family with §6 million funds and imagine how crazy it was for me to receive §300k every week for no reason. That's where I started to have interest with fabulously wealthy aspiration.

5 - Grow Money Trees

*Season expansion pack is needed

I'm going to claim that growing money trees is the best way to be rich, this is fast and furious. Up until this point, money tree is my number one favorite. Basically, you can only have money tree from aspiration rewards store and it costs 5k of reward points, that's where you get your first challenge.

I'm going to give you the number. A normal quality money tree will produce §8k everyday, evolve it once and it'll become §11,5k, evolve it again and you'll get §15,1k, magnificent quality will produce §18,6k, and finally perfect quality which is the maximum quality you can get in Sims 4 will give you §22,2k per day. The craziest thing is those numbers are only for one tree, one fucking tree. Plus it can be planted in any season. Just improve your gardening skill or if you're lazy, you can hire a gardener.

How to get more than one tree without spending any more of your aspiration points? I've tried three options, first copypasto the money fruit/tree using magic (only if you're a spellcaster and have mastered the spell). Second move your harvestable money tree into the family inventory, you'll have several money fruits extracted from the tree. Don't sell them but plant them all. Third option is grafting your money tree onto another tree (requires level 5 gardening).

Voila!

The least you can earn is §8k per day. You have 6 of that quality, you'll get §48k a day. Take care of those plants until they evolved into perfect trees then you'll have §133,4k deposited to your funds everyday (unless you forgot to harvest the fruit). Might as well change your house everyday.

6 - Be the Burglar

It's like cheating but not technically cheating. You're just stealing, there's an effort here. There are two ways I've done, being a kleptomaniac and a spellcaster.

Kleptomaniac is a lifestyle trait, so keep in mind to choose it when you're creating a sim. Having this trait will enables your sim to steal some objects from other places. Just click the computer, musical instrument, pieces of art, etc. from your neighbors or public places, then choose "Attempt to Swipe" interaction. Do remember don't get caught! Once you back at home, sell those stuff.

Now spellcaster isn't something that everyone can do because not all have the Realm of Magic pack. But once you have that, try to be one and you'll see what other advantages you can get from doing the gameplay. Practice spells until you required Adept title (rank 4), learn the spell burgliate which enables you to acquire object that doesn't belong to you. I've stolen a computer and a bookcase from magic realm HQ, quite expensive. Better if you also learn the copypasto spell to duplicate the object. Also don't get caught with this one too!

[thebookluvrr1816]

You always make such beautiful gifs!! I've been trying my hand at gifmaking recently and am running into one big problem: all my gifs turn blurry on tumblr mobile even though they look fine on desktop and (I think) adhere to the 540px width dimension guidelines. If you have any advice on how to create gifs that don't turn into a potato on mobile, I'd appreciate it massively!!

First of all, thank you!!! 🥺 Sweet appreciative messages like this always makes me smile :)

I tried to put together some tips that might be useful when it comes to making clearer gifs :D 

1) Footage If you want your gifs to look really good, try to use 1080p videos for giffing! (or atleast 720p) (DM me and I’ll drop you a link for a collection of 1080p bbc merlin videos if you want :D) Afterwards, you can either use screencapping or you can extract the scene you want as a clip. This tutorial explains the basics of gifmaking (and the process of screencapping) very clearly so do check it out :D (click here)

2) Tumblr Dimensions Dimensions! are! so! important! The width of your gif matters. The height? not so much. I made a gifset for the appropriate sizes below. Always make sure your gifs are sized accordingly. Or tumblr resizes your gifs to fit its dimensions, and that makes them go all wonky and grainy :’)

3) sharpening This is probably the most important step in the gifmaking process. I use a gaussian blur to soften the gif, but sharpen settings mostly depends on the gifmaker!!!

1) Convert your layers into a smart object. (filter > convert for smart filters)

2) Duplicate the smart object. (now you have 2 layers)

3) Apply smart sharpen to the layer below. [ filter > sharpen > smart sharpen and 500% radius 0.3px (or 0.4px sometimes) I change my sharpen settings according to the scene I’m working on tbh ]

4) Apply a gaussian blur filter to the layer on top. (filter > blur > gaussian blur and 1px. Try playing around with the settings and see what fits your gif best!!) and then you can change the opacity of the blur layer as you wish. (from the slider)

Try not to oversharpen because that might cause gifs to look grainy too :(  (it’s especially tricky when working with season 1/2/3 of merlin because the footage is old and the quality is kinda worse than s4/5.)

Play around with the sharpening settings until you find a satisfactory result. Save a gif you experimented on as a draft and view it from your mobile, and check whether you like how it looks! If not, keep playing with your settings and proceed when you feel like you found the best option!! :D

4) Colouring

When colouring your gif, don’t overdo the colour balance layer. Go  wild with selective colour,(I love using selective colour) but use  colour balance wisely. Overdoing it might cause your gif to be grainy :) 

Using a lot of layers (colouring layers etc.) on your gif might affect its sharpness and quality. It has never been an issue for me, but I’ve seen some gifmakers having problems with it.

5) Save settings Save settings play an important role on the final outcome of your gif. So make sure you choose the best one! These are my save settings :

You can use “selective” instead of “adaptive” and “diffusion” instead of “pattern” :) Choose the option that looks best on your gif :) and the looping option should be set to “forever” (I have mistakenly set it to “once” in my screenshot) As for the “quality” option below “Bicubic” works just as well as “bicubic sharper.”

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I think this covers the major points of sharpening :) I hope you find this useful anon 🥺  and please don’t hesitate to drop me an ask if you need any further help!!! <3 *hugs*

[rosesloveletters]

Self-Shipping Reference.

I have been debating on creating a self-shipping reference for these two, but since I am certain of our dynamic at this point, I wanted to delve right in; I love Will and Jakob so very much and I wanted to create a little collection of our relationship like I’ve done before in the past. Most of all, this is for me so that I can have it as a reference, so there is absolutely no obligation to interact with this post. If you do, thank you for showing us so much love and care, I really appreciate it more than anything. This community is so welcoming of self-shipping and that means a lot to me<3.

last updated: June 17, 2021

please do not read if you are not interested in or comfortable with self-shipping.

word count: 2,908

Ship name?

Our collective ship name is Grimmrose, for obvious reasons (my poly heart can hardly take it😭✨💛) 

I do not feel I should need to say this (as it should already be implied), but since I do not want angry anons in my ask box about this, I will state: Will and Jakob are not romantically involved in our dynamic; the love they have for each other is familial only. They both share me, but that is as far as it goes. There is absolutely no incestuous aspects of our relationship. 

Date you got together?

Jakob: May 26, 2021. The open honesty and security within our vulnerabilities were what prompted Jakob and I to jump in headfirst. We knew how we felt almost immediately; Jakob believes in love at first sight and I value that sentiment. It was a mutual understanding that the two of us were meant to be together (even if I hadn’t already known, the darling would have convinced me - he is extremely persuasive and given to a dreamer’s mindset.) The two of us easily came to an agreement on beginning a relationship because of how similar we have found ourselves to be. It was not difficult to access what each other was thinking and how we chose to approach those thoughts and feelings. Jakob is driven by those, after all, and his bright spirit and general interest in the things that cannot be so easily explained drew me to him. 

Will: 

Platonic:  May 26, 2021.

 Romantic: June 14, 2021. 

Will was, to my surprise, not as difficult to access as I expected. He has a much different personality to Jakob’s; the two are near opposite ends of the spectrum. Will’s mission has been to protect Jakob, mostly from himself, but Jakob does not understand that the reason Will is so hard on him is because Will feels helpless around him. Jakob’s mind is so bright and open, while Will does not understand how to compete with that nor how to understand or fit into Jakob’s world of folklore and mythical, magical beings. He feels weak in comparison to Jakob’s spirit; Will values my ability to cross those lines and connect with both him and Jakob. Will has never known another to be so well-suited for his brother and he is respectful of how we interact, since until now he has been the only one who has been able to reach Jakob. We were platonic for several weeks out of respect for Jakob, but soon entered into a mutual agreement to share the love that we all have for each other; the brothers agreed to share me since they have both developed such strong feelings. 

Favorite personality trait?

Jakob: His sense of security within vulnerabilities. Jakob is more given to childlike excitement and the thrill of action whenever it is of a magical quality. He fidgets, has a distinct nervous energy/uncomfortable body language, a clear mind but one that fancies fiction over reality. Whenever he drinks, he’s giddy and excited; the only one who can get through to him in these moments are Will and I. The thing is, Jakob has never tried to be anybody but himself. He is aware that these qualities are not valued by the vast majority and are perhaps seen as weaknesses or even are simply frowned upon (much of this he experienced as a result of the way Will treated him over the years), but even all of that has never caused his personality to shift or made him close himself off. Jakob has always found security within who he is, regardless of whether those around like it or not.

Will: His protective commitment to those who he loves. Even though Will canonically admitted his frustrations over Jakob and how he “hates” his younger bother, stating how Jakob “drives him mad”, he is fiercely protective of him and committed to maintaining their relationship in spite of any disagreements or arguments. Will does not give up on those he loves. Even though it would have made sense for him to toss Jakob into the streets and leave him if he truly hates him, but Will does not. Despite his confession, he has never actually hated his brother; Jakob makes him feel weak, helpless and inferior because Jakob’s comprehension of things beyond Will’s understanding or compulsion to understand or look beyond what is right in front of him is too different and unusual to him. 

Favorite physical trait?

Jakob: His eyes. Jakob’s eyes are so expressive; they sparkle in the light and his irises twinkle. His soul appears as if it were made from stardust and every bit of him glows. His eyes reflect the innocence and playful mischief bound within him; he is a dreamer at heart and his eyes mirror that. 

Will: His smile. There is a scene when Jakob and Will first arrive at Marbaden and they are confronted by the townspeople with weapons, uncertain of who these two strangers are, and when Will tries to explain who they are his smile is simply dazzling. I believe that was the moment I found myself in love with him; I have not seen a smile so bright in a long time. Here’s a screenshot of his smile (Jakob’s expression in the background is so funny😂):

Couple song

We do not have a couple song yet; we have couple albums. 

Taylor Swift’s albums Folklore and Evermore are sister albums, so it only makes sense that they are representative of the two brothers respectively: Folklore for Jakob and Evermore for Will. 

Both albums are suited to the three of us; the feelings provoked from both establish the tone of our relationship. 

Pet peeves…

There is only one: their constant bickering/arguing and fights. It is natural for siblings to fight, but the longer I spend with these two, the more consistently they seem to fight in front of me. I do not believe the fighting affects their relationship as perhaps it did in the past; they seem very content, even after they’ve been fighting a while, and neither of them holds a grudge anymore. 

Favorite outfit on them?

I will share photos since it would take some time to explain in enough detail; I am a sucker for older/medieval clothing (perhaps this is why this movie spoke to me in such a way?)

These are my favorite outfits of theirs:

their armor is a close second, because it really makes me laugh:

Favorite meal?

Jakob: This bit is indicative of all of us and I was the one who introduced the brothers to this meal - vegetable soup; beef/broth, noodles, peas, carrots, tomatoes, corn, green beans, potatoes. The brothers are used to eating whatever is being served them at the pubs they visit and the inns at each town they stay and, needless to say, are not often prepared a meal especially one to their specific tastes. The first time I made this for them, they ate heartily and it has been their favorite since. 

Will: This is less of a specific meal and more of a eating habit of his, but Will is partial to sweet treats and desserts of all kind. His favorite treat is soft bread with a sticky, sugary glaze (wait until I tell him about glazed donuts😂) 

Early bird or night owl?

Neither of the Grimms are particularly one or the other. They both have been known to stay awake all hours of the night for one reason or another; Jakob stays up writing most nights when brand new ideas flood his mind and prevent sleep. He works whenever inspiration strikes and if that is the middle of the night, then Will or I will find him hunched over his desk, pen scratching away across the page as he squints to read what he has written under the low candlelight. 

Will stays awake late born out of a habit he has yet to change. He does not like to sleep very soundly until he knows that Jakob and I are either asleep or keeping each other company; Will takes responsibility of us quite seriously. Since we’ve begun a relationship, they do not go out as much as they once had and when we do, they are awake nearly the entire night and whenever they crash, they are both out cold. 

If I wake up throughout the night, Jakob sleeps so soundly that he would not know (he wears earplugs if we’re staying at an inn because the noise bothers him.) Will always wakes up whenever I do; the shifting around wakes him, but he does not usually open his eyes or speak to me until I come back to bed and he settles me back into my spot. 

Snorer or sleep talker?

Jakob: SLEEP TALKER! Jakob talks in his sleep nearly every night, most especially if he has had something to drink beforehand or if Will has gotten under his skin about something. Stress/anxiety also trigger it; I don’t hear him often, because he only does it in a deep sleep which is usually whenever I’ve already fallen asleep. 

Will: Will does not snore or talk in his sleep; he is unusually quiet, however, he will groan or mumble softly if he’s turning over or something like that. He does not move a lot when he’s sleeping either. 

Do you have any pets together?

No, our lifestyle is not suited to pets, unless horses used for transportation count. 

Pet names! (Both from them and yours for them)

Will’s for me: little one/little girl, peanut

Jakob’s for me: sweetheart, darling, lover

Mine for Jakob: Jakey, Beanstalk (turning Will’s mean comments into something sweet💕), Dreamer, Sweetie/Sweet One/Sweet Baby

Mine for Will: Blondie, Prince Charming (only in certain scenarios)

Ones Jakob and Will use collectively for me: Briar Rose, Rosebud, Unicorn, Beauty/Belle (a play off my favorite fairytale), Princess

Ones I use collectively for Jakob & Will: Grimmy

How often do you fight? What starts fights?

I have yet to have any fights with either of the brothers (though I have had mild disagreements with Will over the way he speaks to Jakob.)

Jakob and Will fight often and about everything, but more often than not, the source of the argument is their personality difference. Their interests clash significantly and they find it difficult to coexist at times because Will feels he must fill the role of Jakob’s caretaker, while Jakob simply wants Will to be his brother and believe in him. 

I usually do not get involved in their squabbles unless Will speaks out of turn. He can be somewhat hateful in the remarks he makes to his brother and I am not afraid to set the record straight. Jakob has gotten much better at standing up for himself; he is not afraid to get physical if things escalate to that point, though I have yet to see them lay a hand on each other. Jakob knows that one swift punch is all that he needs to deliver for Will to fall in line and understand that he is serious; he saves them for when he needs them and has only punched Will outright one time, that I am aware of. 

Who apologizes first?

This depends on who feels they are “wrong”. Will does not like to apologize, so usually it is Jakob who initiates the apology. Occasionally, neither will apologize and it is implied that they both have and things will continue on like normal as if nothing ever happened (this is best case scenario.) 

I have not known them to simply not apologize to each other for wrongdoing; Will has apologized to Jakob on a number of occasions where I have been present. If Will apologizes, it is usually for speaking too harshly to Jakob or bringing up the “magic beans” he has terrorized Jakob with for years. 

Big spoon or little spoon?

Jakob: Jakob adores being the little spoon. Even though he likes to hold onto me at night, nothing seems to compare to being held. Jakob has gone the majority of his life without being shown affection and tender love; he is so touch-starved that he asks to be held almost every night. 

Will: Will is the only F/O (aside from J) who I allow to be the big spoon on a regular basis. I trust him implicitly and know that he will keep me safe; he likes to hold onto me while we sleep so that he knows and can feel he isn’t alone. He does not like to sleep whenever it is too cold and he wants a warm body pressed against him. 

Dom or sub?

Jakob: Submissive.

Will: Dominant.

Will has had his misgivings over Jakob and I, both being submissives, entering into a relationship together, but it has not presented an issue so far. Most of the time, Jakob and I love all over each other so it doesn’t matter one way or another😂 It is rare for Jakob and I to be sexually intimate. 

Will takes on the more dominant role, since he has been so with Jakob over the years of their lives before they’d met me. Will is the nurturer and takes care of us both; he remains protective of us despite certain insecurities and fears. Will takes on more of the sexual responsibilities of their relationship with me because of his experience with women.

What are their kisses like?

Jakob: Jakob’s kisses begin as achingly shy, reverential ones that develop into slowly sensual, spontaneous or exploratory ones. Jakob likes to hold my hands when we kiss and I like the way his facial hair pleasantly scratches my face; he is always extremely gentle and never oversteps. I especially love when he kisses me with such eager impulsivity that our cheeks turn red and we laugh when it’s over. 

Will: Will’s kisses can either be covetous and greedy, fervent, and deeply passionate or chaste and flirtatious. He always cups my cheeks, chin or tangles his fingers in my hair at the back of my head while kissing me; his lips often taste sweet or sugary from how often he indulges on sweets. My favorite of Will’s kisses are the languid, open-mouthed ones when he uses his tongue. 

What do they smell like?

Jakob: Parchment, books and ink, candlewax, earth just after it has rained, sweet basil, a vaguely sweet musk, warm skin.

Will: Warm sugar, sweat/spicy musk, pine, flame. 

What are their hugs like?

Jakob: Bear-like, full-bodied, fiercely affectionate and warm. 

Will: Long, tight, unexpectedly powerful and almost needy. 

Who is more protective?

Will. 

Both brothers are fiercely protective of me and I know that, in spite of their differences, neither would ever let anything happen to me. As long as they are facing danger together, they would willingly take on any enemy (Jakob would never let Will face danger alone and vice versa.)

Interested in children?

No. Will says that Jakob and I are enough like children as it stands😂

Who needs the most TLC when sick?

Will AND Jakob. They are both huge babies whenever they are sick and all they want is to be taken care of. Surprisingly, they bicker a lot more whenever they’re sick; mainly, they fight over who gets to cuddle me first.

Whenever I am sick, I tend to react the same way and the brothers are more than obliged to take care of me in any way they are able. Will takes the more ‘hands-on’ work like fetching me a drink, food, blankets, etc. and helping me move about as I need. Jakob does not like to leave my side and he will not do so unless instructed by Will and he will fetch me whatever is needed and then return to cuddle with me. 

Who says ‘I love you’ first?

I was the first one to say ‘I love you’ to either of the brothers. I told Jakob first; we nearly admitted it at the same time. We knew how we both felt upon the first of our meetings. 

It took me a while to say ‘I love you’ to Will. Our relationship began platonically; I did not feel comfortable saying so to him until I spoke with Jakob about it first. Intuitive of human emotions is he and he was already well-aware of how we felt about each other and, with his blessing and consent, the brothers agreed to share the love and, well, me. 

Which of you is more accident prone?

I bet you’re thinking either me or Jakob. WRONG! It’s Will. Jakob and I are very steady on our feet because we are full of rambunctious energy; Will is more laid back than either of us and he gets more indignant whenever he does accidentally hurt himself. 

Bed hog?

Jakob is more of a bed hog than Will or I. He is consistently moving around in his sleep, talking, etc. There is one unspoken rule: Jakob sleeps on the left side of the mattress, I am in the middle and Will is on the right. Both use me as a barrier and do not cross to the other’s side of the bed at any point and they each take turns cuddling with me until we all fall asleep. 

Who loves the other the most?

As if it even needs to be said, we all love each other equally, but in different ways. Jakob’s and Will’s relationship and love for each other is strictly familial, while the brothers’ relationships with me are both romantic. 

Will understands and accepts that my relationship with Jakob takes priority, as we began ours first and I am unspokenly Jakob’s above all else. Any and all major decisions are made between Jakob and I; we of course always consider Will’s emotions, well-being, etc. but Jakob prefers to take the reins in terms of calling the shots, in spite of Will being the dominant and more protective one. He feels like Will owes him this and Will is happy to allow his brother this courtesy, considering this is Jakob’s first true relationship. 

[goingoverthegardenwall]

Chapter 3: Schooltown Follies

Since there have been stories, there have been stories that anthropomorphize animals. Folks have imagined creatures behaving as humans in every corner of the world, in myths and fables and fairy tales from ancient cultures to today. So by the turn of the 20th century, when a mycologist known for painting incredibly detailed images of fungus decided to instead write and illustrate stories about animals in contemporary clothes, it wasn’t exactly a new idea. But perhaps that makes it more impressive: despite the multitude of animal books for children that have been published in the last hundred and fifty years, the work of Beatrix Potter still stands out.

She’s not alone, of course: no good conversation about humanized animals in Western kid lit can last long without mentioning Richard Scarry or Margaret Wise Brown or Arnold Lobel. And Peter Rabbit’s extended family is quite British, which puts it at odds with the nostalgic Americana of Over the Garden Wall: it’s not for nothing that our assortment of animals in Schooltown Follies includes a raccoon and an opossum. But the timeless quality of Potter’s work is still felt in this episode in two ways. First, while the show has a cartoony lens, the school animals are far more anatomically accurate than Beatrice or the frogs of Lullaby in Frogland, evoking Potter’s signature field guide style. And second, there’s a mischief to Potter’s animals that makes them feel more like real children than the cute but bland residents of Scarry’s Busytown, and mischief is the name of the game when Greg comes to schooltown.

Schooltown Follies is full of clever tricks, but perhaps its most clever is introducing animals with human qualities (they wear clothes, play instruments, and walk on their hind legs) but not giving them voices. It’s generally great comedy fuel, showing the inherent ridiculousness of a school for sorta normal animals, but it more importantly allows the episode a silent movie feel, with plenty of physical humor enhanced by characters without dialogue. That style completes the episode’s subversion of Beatrix Potter’s oeuvre: she wrote stories about naughty animals learning that they should behave, but in this vaudeville version, the only way to save the day is by misbehaving.

“Then I’ll do what I need to do, I guess.”

Despite being one of our three main characters, Greg trades a full character arc for a comic relief role. At the beginning of Over the Garden Wall he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun, and at the end he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun. This doesn’t mean he’s fully static, as he matures enough to accept some responsibility to others instead of seeking entertainment for himself: he abandons a potential happy ending to try to save Wirt with the Beast, and returns his stolen Rock Facts Rock in the last shot of the series. But even this obligation to help out is present early on: Schooltown Follies is the first of his two focus episodes, and the foundation of his eventual heroism is established right here.

And frankly? I think it’s okay if he’s not that dynamic. Greg doesn’t change as much as Wirt or Beatrice because he doesn’t have nearly as much to overcome, and he still contributes to the show without forcing the crew to juggle three distinct arcs. Our older kids are on a shorter timer to grow up, and have clearer negative traits (Wirt’s got no confidence, Beatrice is a jerk), and while we can accuse Greg of lacking social cues, he’s so young that it’s not indicative of a larger problem. He’s just acting his age, albeit in a heightened way for entertainment, and to lose that innocence this early in his life would make this show a serious downer.

“Heightened” is the general mood of Schooltown Follies, where Greg’s less realistic behavior fits much better than The Old Grist Mill’s bottom-of-the-barrel aside. This is an episode where Two Old Cat, an old-timey bat-and-ball game that evokes a similar old-school era as our old school, involves searching for actual old cats, somehow finding them immediately, then realizing one is too old to play and must instead be taken care of by a raccoon in a newsboy cap and overalls.

While there’s plenty of humor to go around in Over the Garden Wall, this is the only fully silly episode. Our other lighthearted outings come with dark twists: Songs of the Dark Lantern introduces the Beast, Lullaby in Frogland reveals Adelaide, and Babes in the Wood turns out to be the most somber episode of the series with context. Here we almost get a parody of such a twist, with characters repeatedly mentioning a wild gorilla on the loose apropos of nothing, then revealing that the gorilla is Miss Langtree’s paramour trapped in a suit. It’s a ridiculous setup to a ridiculous punchline, aided by casting Thomas Lennon for a few lines of dialogue (his read for “I. Was. The gorilla” was worth every penny), so there’s never any sense of danger. Jimmy Brown and Enoch are equally harmless in the end, but I doubt any little kids watching are gonna get nightmares about the ape suit.

This mood is enhanced with song, but among the many musical moments in the series—Mad Love is the only episode without singing in some form—Schooltown Follies stands out by not letting any of the numbers finish. We begin and end the episode in song, but Greg doesn’t have the last lines for Adelaide Parade figured out, Langtree’s Lament faces numerous interruptions before being cut short by the bell (they actually did a full version though!), and Potatoes and Molasses gets stopped first by Mr. Langtree, then by the end credits. Even Miss Langtree’s piano rendition of last episode’s Patient is the Night halts when Greg mashes the keys. It’s the perfect atmosphere for an episode about a kid who loves fun, but is easily distracted and hasn’t developed good planning skills.

Which isn’t to say that Greg is dumb, but that he’s prone to winging it in a way that sets him apart from Wirt. While Wirt rambles his thoughts aloud, Greg takes action without telling anyone why, making his decisions appear random in a medium that often explains motives concretely to young viewers. Wandering in his own direction has become a running gag by now, and while he sets off to make the world a better place, he instead plays outside with animal truants. He’s jolted back to his quest by the bland food and dull atmosphere of lunch hour, and his irrepressible energy lightens everybody’s day without much effort. When Mr. Langtree steps in as an antagonist, Greg decides once again to do something about it, this time saying explicitly that he has no plan, but everything works out again. We get an excellent joke from his decision to rob Langtree right after he becomes sympathetic, but as usual, Greg has bigger ideas behind the humor that he just hasn’t articulated. 

While Greg is busy delightfully saving the day, Wirt and Beatrice ease into a sniping side story that establishes their relationship for the next few episodes. They got off on the wrong foot in The Old Grist Mill and twisted that ankle in Hard Times at the Huskin’ Bee, so by now Beatrice doesn’t even try to hide her disdain and Wirt gets fed up with it. This is the perfect type of subplot, one that develops our characters and fits into the theme of the episode—Wirt’s rebellious obedience bounces off Greg’s rebellious call to disobey—but doesn’t distract from the main story.

Beatrice is helpful in opening up Wirt’s snotty side in a way that allows us to cheer for him. Until now his biggest conversation partner has been Greg, and it’s tough to side with Wirt when he’s mean to Greg, but Beatrice is an equal in terms of sparring, and her rudeness is a more understandable motive for Wirt to be obstinate than Greg’s playfulness. Our last episode had him aimlessly suggest staying in Pottsfield, and he’s similarly bound to this new location, but his different attitude changes the entire story. After two episodes of dithering, it’s nice that they let Elijah Wood play a character who’s funny on purpose for a spell, reveling in annoying Beatrice.

And even though he doesn’t know what to do, we actually get our first heroic moment from Wirt here. Greg saved the day in Grist Mill, and the situation resolves without much issue in Hard Times, but Jimmy is saved from the gorilla costume because of Wirt. True, he only interferes after being commanded to by Mr. Langtree, and he clearly has no idea what to do, and he trips over his shoelaces rather than contribute in an intentional way, but it sets the stage for his rescue of Beatrice in our next episode. Deep down, when he’s not overthinking it, the kid is capable of bravery when it’s asked of him. And it’s wonderful that for all his differences from Greg, both share an impulsive approach to heroism when they decide to help others. It’s almost like they’re related.

Beyond getting a few good digs in at Wirt, Beatrice extends her meanness to Miss Langtree, which makes her pestering of the boys feel less personal: it’s not that she hates them, she’s irritable with everyone. But we also get the first hint of her warming to our heroes, letting Greg have his fun at the concert and telling Wirt to finally tie his shoes with just a tiny speckle of fondness. While she gets a bigger friendship moment in Mad Love, when she’s essentially forced to get to know Wirt better, it’s neat to see Beatrice gradually come around instead of flipping a switch after a major story event.

We’re about to get our next big Plot Episode, introducing the Beast and adding new doubts about the Woodsman, so a silly episode is just what we need. It’s our third in a row where something sinister turns out to be okay: obviously the gorilla is an example of this, but Mr. Langtree is similarly an intimidating presence who ends up being a regular man. Even the creepy squirrels from the opening shots of the Unknown’s dangers in The Old Grist Mill return as comic relief. We’re fully primed to look for goodness where we see wickedness. Just in time for us to learn to fear merry opera echoing from the woods.

Rock Factsheet

Greg’s spiel on hot dogs might not summon the Rock Fact Rock, but it certainly evokes the stone’s spirit.

Where have we come, and where shall we end?

Adelaide Parade and Potatoes and Molasses will both get dark reprises, and the former also gets the rare jolly reprise as well. But we unfortunately don’t get a harrowing future scene featuring Langtree’s Lament.

Two Old Cat is part of a list of bat-and-ball games mentioned by a rambling background teen in The Unknown.

[blujane]

Dreams & Dream-like States in Steven Universe

In real life, I have been known to be a bit obsessed with dreams and the unconscious mind.  I taught myself how to lucid dream, I’ve kept several dream journals over the years, I read books on why we dream... it’s just something that fascinated me, especially back when I was struggling with severe depression and recovering from a rather traumatic experience.

One of my absolute favorite things about Steven Universe is how it depicts dreams and the inner mind of the cast as experienced by Steven.  The show gives some accurate examples of what dreams are like: weird, strange, and completely detached from reality.  As Steven told Pearl:

“dreams don't always make sense. When you dream, the thoughts in your head get all mixed up into a weird movie. And they're really hard to explain, which is why they're boring to listen to.”

The earliest example of dream-like imagery in SU is, I believe, the fake Beach City from Rose’s Room.  I’m not sure, but I suspect that the cloud city was inspired by dreams for its surreal, creepy effect.

I don’t think I need to discuss all the little ways that the show made it pretty clear that nothing is real, from little things like how the outside of Steven’s room is featureless darkness, how the inside of It’s A Wash is too bright, how the sky is too dark and too full of stars (all white, in contrast to the different colors used in the real Beach City sky) to the big things like the fry bits loop.

Rose’s Room is the only example on the show so far where this dreamlike quality has been used to hint that nothing is real and something is wrong, and it does it realistically and not at all subtly. No matter how much detail is put in a dream, it always comes apart upon closer inspection. That’s why reality checks are an important part of learning to tell when one is dreaming or awake. 

The first time we see the show depict an actual dream is in “Lion 3: Straight to Video,” where Steven has a dream about playing checkers with Dogcopter.  Much like in Rose’s Room, everything is depicted in a surreal manner.

The clouds and water are all aqua while the sky is yellow, with a sun that’s darker than the sky.  Dogcopter is sitting like a person (yet is still able to scratch his ear like a dog) and, for some reason, they are playing checkers on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.  Everything except Steven and Dogcopter is drawn in a simplified manner.

Dogcopter wins the game of checkers with a previously unseen queen chess piece and an impressed Steven asks him how he became so talented. The advice Dogcopter gives him is good (be true to yourself), but given in a rather oddly worded way.  Dogcopter’s mouth also doesn’t move as he speaks and he eats the queen piece.

Everything in this dream is complete nonsense and can’t be mistaken for the show’s version of reality.  Rather obvious considering Dogcopter’s presence, but this is true even for dreams where the characters who appear are just Steven, the gems, or the people of Beach City, regardless of who the dreamer is.

(Pearl’s projected dream from “Chille Tid” and Kiki’s nightmare from “Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service”)

“Chille Tid” features quite a few of Steven’s dreams, starting with a black and white parody of old family sitcoms.  This is perhaps the most coherent dream shown on SU to date, but still obviously detached from Steven’s reality with the gems appearing as humans and the set of Steven’s living room missing two walls and his bedroom area.

The dream is presented in black and white until Lapis makes a splash of creepy and color.

Steven’s next dream is much less coherent, being a colorful string of weird mismatched information like Dogcopter meowing, Pearl’s giant head eating Steven and spitting him out with rocket upgrade, and Amethyst riding a whale.

It isn’t until he comes across Lapis that things take a jarring leap into realism, because Steven is no longer in his own dream, but encroaching on the consciousness of another person.

Despite Steven and Lapis sharing a conversation, there’s still a lack of realism here.  We know Lapis is currently fused with Jasper, not floating in the ocean alone, and Steven is asleep in his room.

(We also know there’s no giant Amethyst mouths in the ocean.  That would be weird)

Steven’s dreamscape is even more of a jumbled mess when he goes to sleep again and enters a lucid dream.

Steven: Oh! I know this is a dream now! So I can imagine anything I want. Uh... *reaches into pocket* Mashed potato! *pulls out a small grey fish* Hmm...

While this depiction of a lucid dream isn’t perfect, it’s pretty close.  Lucid dreams tend to contain fewer details than a normal one and even if you know you’re dreaming, it actually takes some practice to be able to imagine whatever you want.

Of course, at this point, he falls into Malachite’s mental realm and sees the struggle going on between Lapis and Jasper.

We see glimpses of the subconscious (or “mind realm”) of several characters outside of Steven, though the only reason we see any of these is because his magic allows him to be involved, because the whole show is either shown from Steven’s perspective or told to him with only two to three exceptions (two of which are from Lars’ perspective, perhaps because Lars later opens up to Steven).

Like dreams, these glimpses are surreal and detached from reality.   However, unlike most of the dreams shown in SU, which appear to be just random for the most part, these images seem to reflect the character’s mood and psyche.  At least to some extent.

Naturally, most subconscious imagery comes from Stevonnie.  None of which can be mistaken for their reality, as shown when they start to have an anxiety attack at a rave in “Alone Together.”

When they’re meditating with Garnet by the beach on letting go of troubled thoughts in “Mindful Education.”

When Steven is overcome with troubled thoughts about his mother and the gems he couldn’t help while training with Connie as Stevonnie against Holo-Pearls later in the same episode.

And when Steven consumed with anger and bitterness over Kevin’s nasty attitude toward them back in Season 1 while they’re racing him in “Beach City Drift” in Season 3.

We see more surreal imagery when Steven communicates with the Cluster’s component gem shards, though this is the one time the line between the physical and the mental is left ambiguous. 

The audience can see that Steven isn’t physically in the cluster; he’s unconscious in the drill with Peridot.  Despite this, he is capable of bubbling individual shards from within the Cluster.  

Or at least this is what appears to be happening.  Perhaps he is only dreaming that he’s bubbling the shards while in their mind and this gives them the idea to bubble themselves.  Either way, this internal moment has an element of ambiguity to it.

Steven Universe has consistent world-building rules that aren’t shared by reality and dreams alike.  No mental imagery of any kind is shown without some form of transition and the line between reality and mental imagery being clearly drawn.   It would be impossible, or at least very difficult, for the writers to pull off an episode with a surprise dream reveal ending without betraying this narrative style that has been consistent up to this point in the series.