#i love dropping dca design after dca design

[latehere]

ugGHHH i had to get porcelain doll sun out of my system as soon as possible

[sunnys-aesthetic]

I have had this certain itch to say this. I'm surprised you never got mad or despised Naff for being more well-known about a dca detective au and people stealing your designs to make fanart for her

I had to think over how to respond to this ask because by all means I didn't want to give a quick answer and dip without leaving things properly, genuinely answered or explained. I'd like to minimize any misinterpretations or misunderstandings :<

I think the best way for me to properly address this is to section it into 2 parts? One part for how I feel about Naff and the second part for how I feel about some of my designs being used without credit! Also sorry for any messy typing as admittedly I'm nervous typing all of this out after so much time has passed and I haven't really thought about this in eons FHSKJDHFSDGJKHJF

Long body of text warning So I'll place down a 'keep reading' down here! v

I want to answer this ask truthfully on my experiences and how I overcame this, what my mindset was then, and what it is now.

So! First part- Naffeclipse! Right off the bat I want to say that, no, I don't hate or despise Naff. Yes, I used to feel hurt by how they used my work, but I don't feel that way anymore. I think you're the first ever person to have asked me anything regarding this in almost two years. If I'm honest, no one online has ever made a comment regarding this so I was a little surprised! I began the DCA Detectives and dubbed it "Sleuth Jesters" in my original post back in mid-June 2022. And from there the concept's popularity kinda exploded.

I'm proud of Naff for the wide range of followers, love and support that they've cultivated using my au, and I don't want to take away from the fact that yes, the story, the world, the character interpretations they created was all their own work! That's something i want to make known first and foremost. That is all 100% their own hard work and skill as a writer. And I never want to take credit for that.

Now, I know this may look really unfair and believe me, within the first few months of Sleuth Jesters taking off from not my own platform but from another persons, I thought it was too. I was possibly going through one of my roughest periods, as all of this was very new for me and I had a lot of IRL personal stuff going on at the time. The main reason I hadn't made any remark or mention aside from one post asking for credit the same day I had talked to Naff about it privately in DMS is because I inadvertently developed imposter syndrome with the whole situation, and I privately decided to not work on that au of my own volition and lack of want to continue it on my own terms!

Why did you have imposter syndrome? Well! Because for me personally it was a feeling of 'hey! I know you racked up tons of followers and created a big platform, and you personally put the work into it, but can I please be credited for your hard work? Because they're my initial idea and designs?' was essentially my mindset for months back then, it was a sticky tricky situation! ^^; and it was not very healthy for me.

However I don't want to dive into too many details on my emotional & mental wellbeing during 2023! I was a new artist, and I was absolutely scared I would be the one who would make or initiate the first large discourse within the DCA community if I spoke up about it, possibly receive unwarranted hate or backlash, and I felt the pressure was really on me to keep the peace because as far as I had known, the DCA community hadn't had any 'big drama' since its making during that time.

But! At the same time all of this was happening I moreso delved into making my oc cloud drop + being with friends and having fun, and I simply personally didn't want to continue the AU anymore. It was not entirely due to Naff's usage but also because I simply just didn't have the time or energy for it! That's all there was to it. I struggled yes, sure! but,

What matters to me is not how or what i think or say, but how I choose to act or deal with situations that can be stressful or uncomfortable in the general sense. and despite any negative feelings I may have had, I think kindness can live a lot longer than any hatred ever could. I don't physically have it in me to hate someone or hold a grudge for too long, even in the heat of the moment, and I hope this mentality can be applied to anyone who reads this as well ^.^ Communication is key to me in any relationship, even if i know you or don't know you! And if you are not willing to make that effort in talking or speaking up it will negatively affect you in the long run. And I made that mistake by waiting for too long! sorry that was cheesy haha but its a personal mindset i live with.

So to answer the first part of the question, yes I used to be upset, but I'm not anymore.

What about the people who used your design(s) to make fanart for her?

wwweell, ill admit this was actually one of the bigger things that hurt me the most at the time, Nowadays I am being more properly credited, even if there's a few people who forget to credit me I wont take it personally. It's a much better improvement compared to when I hadn't spoken at all about it.

It's already gotten to a point where its thousands of people who associate the fanart to their fiction, and even if it wasn't with my permission at the time, it is now! We can't really force or change what happened in the past but at the v least I hope those who will make fanart are a little more aware of who to give their credits to! I still enjoy seeing everyone's art! ^^

tl;dr, i was really sad and hurt by it at the TIME, and yes it messed me up but not once did I despise Naff as person at all. Everything's all good now and I'm doing much better and all I can ask for now is the continued credit for at least my au and my designs ♡

And i very VERY VERY much urge you all TO NOT give any animosity towards naffeclipse as I already know they did not mean any of this in any ill will at all since the beginning, and we both already talked about it mid last year c:>

[lilacartsmadsion]

And finally, the last of the gods in my ‘That Time I adopted a god AU’

The Nameless One

Most Commonly Known: God of Light.

Other least common domains: Day, Dawn, Sun, Life, Healing, Virtues, Penance, Wonders, Peace, Resolution, Miracles, Beginnings, Life Powder, Soulstones, Adventure, Reincarnation, Rebirth, Enlightenment, Harmony, Reason, Courage/Bravery,Boundaries, Rescue, Care and Mercy.

‘Praise Thee the one chosen by the Witch of Light. Born from the Iron and Flames, Casted into Horror, the blinding might of He who bares No Name. For when the Witch Fortuna baked him, she made the grave mistake of gifting his dough with Life Powder. In her last dying breath, The Witch of Light gifted this brave Cookie, the power to slay even the might of gods. Through his power were the Witches Defeated and Casted away into the far lands beyond Earthbread.’

‘With the four gods by his side, The Nameless One spoke to Earthbread with the good news, freeing us from the lies which the Witches spoke. He gifted the Cookies so that the frail and mistreated may have a chance to nurture and grow’

‘The Power of the Soul Jam resonates with the Might of the gods and blessed by Chosen Heroes did they give. The Light of Passion, a imitation of the ever-Ethreal Goddess of Love, The Light of Truth, a reflection of the Apoditic God of Wisdom, The Light of Abundance, a mirror of the Glorious Goddess of Fun, The Light of Freedom, the dawning shadow of the Abysmal God of Night and The Light of Resolution, the Very essence of The Nameless One himself’

‘With these 5 he proclaimed the glory of Earthbread, now and Forevermore’

Popular Places of Worship: Vanilla Kingdom, Ginger Kingdom and Beast-Yeast.

Symbols of Worship: Candy Cane, Magic Candy + Candy Cane, Head Piece, Diamonds, Circles and Soulstones.

————————————-

Inspirations for his design:

Yep…I had to pull an Elder Faerie again. But to be fair I was running out of ways to make Gingerbrave’s clothes. The transparency of his sleeves however is mostly Affogato. Another cookie I forgot to add is that background priest Cookie in the Dark Cacao Kingdom Update.

So yeah- Gingerbrave Absorbed the Witch of Light. And yeah he created the Soul Jam in this AU.

Again the reason why I don’t correlate Gingerbrave with PV is because none of PV’s Soul Jam traits suit Gingerbrave. (Knowledge, Deceit and Truth are all variants of PV’s Soul Jam) PV’s Soul Jam more-or-less correlate to Wizard who in this AU is the God of Wisdom. Gingerbrave mostly correlates to DCA’s Soul Jam, which is Resolution (Hence why Dark Cacao’s the one adopting Gingerbrave)

For the Soul Jam, the explanation as to why DCA and PV’s aesthetics don’t match their own gods/their main gods (DCA’s Kingdom worships/respects Dozer whereas PV’s Kingdom worships/respects Gingerbrave) It’s because of the whole ‘Beast Cookie thing’ (Hence why the Ovenbreakers look similar/are correlated to the Original Beasts.)

Gingerbrave is also not called Gingerbrave in this AU, this is somewhat following Witch’s Castle Lore where Gingerbrave got his name after the gate/hallway thingy mentioned him being a brave Cookie. In this AU Gingerbrave doesn’t even name himself so Wizard and many others just kept calling him ‘Nameless’ hence why he has the ominous title ‘The Nameless One’

The explanation above, serves as an explanation as to why Dark Cacao didn’t recognize Gingerbrave at first. Because well- Gingerbrave used the name ‘Gingerbrave’ when he dropped down to Earthbread.

Now- I’ll just have to make like- a full-scale design of them… *Sigh*

[pokedash55]

I need to ramble about Tales From The Pizzaplex Book 4, story 3 Bobbiedots for a hot minute cause IT CHANGES THE ENTIRE DAYCARE DYNAMIC PEOPLE!!!

So there's a bombshell drop of lore that states:

Abe sighed. "The Sun robot was an old stage animatronic. Part of its theatrical shtick was to turn evil when the lights went off. When it was reprogrammed to be the day care attendant, the performance functions were taken out, but the darkness trigger couldn't be removed. That, combined with the occasional blackouts in the day care, created the Moon side of the attendant, which results in several undesirable behaviors." Abe shook his head. "Apparently, they had meetings about what to do, and they decided that fixing Sun was more trouble than it was worth. It's cheaper to just make sure the lights stay on."

Many DCA theories connected them to the theater from their room's access to the location and the design of the theater, so that isn't exactly earthshattering news, but it seemingly debunks the SOFT MOON HC?? Or at least it appears to!

Sun and Moon were originally just one AI, acting as a stage performance, but this employee says they were repurposed for the daycare. This seemed to cause Moon to splinter off from Sun, as they reprogramed Sun but forgot about Moon.

MOON ISN'T SUN'S TWIN BUT HIS SKRUNKLY ANNOYING YOUNGER BROTHER OMG.

OK OKAY I'm kinda trying to fuse well known fanon with this vague, possibly untrue information the "reliable" Fazbear employee gives us but what if the timeline is like this:

Sun is in complete control of Moon simply as an act for kids to enjoy

They open the daycare and repurpose the animatronic, Reprogramming Sun but not Moon

Moon becomes his own individual and causes problems, causing them to build the generators and implement the lights on rule, BUT they hastily repair the code so he isn't a liability anymore towards the kids and utilizes the aggressive side for security so they don't have to pay for the sky high electric bill anymore.

So now Moon is programmed to care for and attend the kids, but also has the leftover traits of his show/self. He tries to be a good naptime attendant but keeps falling short and the kids are scared of him. He becomes Sun's weird younger brother who is just trying to be as useful and loved as Sun is, but Sun, being the orderly one, starts to resent him for making his job difficult!

Instead of being fluffy powerteam twins, Moon is an unwanted younger brother with poor social skills but is trying his best (he likes patrols cause it makes him feel needed and valued (while also being a skill he excels at as that stalking aggression spider was always apart of "him")) and Sun is a caring but uptight perfectionist older brother who will protect him, but gets exhausted by the mistakes he makes! Plus the fact that Sun would have to deal with a peice of himself becoming their own person (nothing like more Sun angst!)

They brotherly bond as the daycare operates somewhat efficiently for a while before the virus starts to take hold of Moon, reverting him to full on spurts of aggression that puts kids in danger. When he flashes back to reality, he is upset with himself that he still can't be the beloved Attendant Sun is. This insecurity allows the virus (which was already targeting him for his security clearances and stalking abilities) easy Access to his code and he gets corrupted, causing the management to once again pull the plug on him and keep the lights on.

Imagine the brotherly angst! This angle on their relationship also incorporates the "Moon is jealous of Sun's popularity" fanon so well while also incorporating what lore we received from the books. And after the virus when everything is working again, they can grow to become the Soft Moon and Sun paring we thought they were BEFORE the virus! It's a long Brotherly love slow burn people and I am honestly here for it.

[clxckwork-sun-n-moon]

about to get dinner, but!! gib 👁️ (please)

17.

well considering I literally just threw a snippet of So Cries the Wolf in your direction I really should talk about this one, huh.

for starters this shit is currently going through so many revisions on the spot. it started out as a general plan, got a more detailed plan, got a full plan complete the ending, and then the plan blew up so now I'm kind of racing along like that one gif of Gromit the Dog on a model train laying down tracks as I go

there's definitely some conversations I had ideas of and managed to slot in, but also several conversations and ideas that no longer fit. I was also getting stressed about making sure all the questions were answered by the end of the story and yknow what - I've decided not to do that. not everything gets a nice tie-off or an explanation. I have a collection of ideas for me as to why certain things happened, but bringing those answers up in the story in a natural way is just not feasible. when the story is finished, I can sit down and explain, or I'll leave it to readers to debate over. if people do. it'd be hilarious if So Cries the Wolf had a theory channel, I'd eat that up

I can't really remember what inspired me first to write SCtW. I wanted something supernatural and horror, which isn't an area I'm used to, but that's part of the challenge on it. at the time I was very new to the DCA fandom and Eclipse figures were fascinating to me. like, these two guys could make a whole new guy! often imposing and terrifying. I wanted to make an Eclipse. but what kind? what setting? well, why not spooky flesh-n-blood demon? I'd seen mers, monsters, angels after all. and now I'm 47.7k words into some of the wildest shit I've written in a long time

18.

kinda mad you didn't pick a passage for me because oh my god there's so many. let's go with this scene from Chapter 3:

Caught mid-step, Eclipse hesitated. Their brow furrowed as they lifted one of their hands to their eye-line, as if seeing the circling red silk for the first time.

“No,” they said quietly. “They were not part of the design. These were given to us.” That absolutely piqued your attention.

“Given to you?”

“Yes. A gift. A reminder.”

“A reminder for what?”

“...We have forgotten,” Eclipse murmured, his voice dropping and hollow. This was new, very new for you. This was regret on his face. Sympathy turned your stomach over, urging you to approach and lay a hand on the demon’s arm. He didn’t pull away, not immediately at least. But the snarling teeth returned and he stalked back to the edge of the circle.

this was one of those moments where I was on the train, I had nowhere to write anything down, but my brain just slapped a short exchange of lines between Y/N and Eclipse and I had to type into my notes app to write in my document later. since it came to mind fairly early on, I couldn't use it right away, but I knew it would take place during a heart-to-heart between the pair and it sure did fit in perfectly

this one I enjoyed firstly because that was the first little point where it's suggested Eclipse has memories from the DCA. like yeah, technically the ribbons don't belong to Eclipse, they belong to the boys! but the ribbons ended up on him. same with the memories.

secondly fun because we got our first look at soft Eclipse. he's definitely gotten a lot softer in the last two chapters, but at this point we'd just had grouchy, griping, physically violent Eclipse. they'd been throwing temper tantrums up the wazoo, the main emotions they'd shown had been anger, irritation, and general brattiness. this got to be the first moment of their wall coming down, and it felt right that it got wound in with the ribbons - something that wasn't a physical part of them, but instead from outside

25.

Montague gets stomachaches from peanut butter. unfortunately, Montague loves peanut butter. Y/N has had to endure a number of various days where Monty decided to snaffle one of their sandwiches and ended up on the sofa in demon doggy discomfort

36.

...I did three years in circus club. take a solid guess what I was most proficient with.

jokes aside, I do a lot of hiking, so I know general forest navigation as well as animal tracking. I've learned about septic tanks by staying in cabins (way more luxurious than Y/N's but still off the water grid). I absolutely adore reading up about myths, fables, legends, cryptids, seeing who overlaps with what (okay that's less of a 'what I know' and more of a 'what I want to know more about constantly'). I know birds. I fuckin LOVE birds. and cats.

I know some things, and all of them go off in different directions, so I never feel like I can say I know everything about one thing. but a lot of the little things help with bigger things I don't know about (ish)

[malindamay]

Ian POV: Hi uh, I’m Ian and I-I’m going to you a story about time that. I saved Disneyland and how me and Barley become the 26th characters so, uh, I’ll try my best I never tell anyone story’s except my movie story, of course. Uh, *clears throat* so here’s my NOBLE story. *chuckles* Mickey Mouse will you please be the narrator, please?😅

Mickey/ normal POV oh boy! Yes! So *clears* one day In a beautiful place, where all mystical creatures live in peace and harmony mostly, called, New Mushroomtin. The Lightfoot family was starting a new day. Ian, a 16-year-old elf, is shy and sometimes unconfident, but he wanna make his family proud especially his dad and his beloved brother, Barley. “Dear Brother we have a buffet awaits us!” Said Barley with enthusiasm-

Ian POV if you don’t know barley, he’s my older brother, and he’s very joyful and kind-hearted for me and the only thing that fears him the most is A, staying in hospital long time, B, he sees someone who has medical problems or has tubes, ventilator ETC, and C, seeing me hurt

Sorry, Mickey, gotta tell our Disney/fans about my brother if they don’t know who he is.😅

Mickey POV ok, so Ian replies with a chuckle, “*chuckle* its dinner Barley not a fancy buffet lol” Blazey pounces on Ian making Ian almost dropping the food “ *yelps* laughs * Blazey *ack!* okx3!🤣 😅 love you too.” Till Ian saw a letter tape on their door it’s from me(Mickey Mouse)

“ Hey Ian

this is Mickey Mouse and I was wondering if you and your brother can come to Disney world for the DVC Celebration plus you and your brother will be debating on the Disney team I know you’re shy,but you’ll be fine I’m sure my pals love ya, and even there’ll be fans who love your movie! Please accept this invitation.

Love, Mickey Mouse.❤️”

Ian reads it twice and his face turns from 😕 —>🙂😀 “Barley, will you love to go on a majestic quest with me?!😀”

Barley suddenly answer” *laughs* My dear brother, of course!” Ian nods he grabs his staff and he goes pack up their luggage’s! Laurel( their mom) looks at them a little nervous.” Are you sure you boys will be fine?” Ian nods “don’t worry I’ll call ya if something happens wrong,ok?” Laurel says “but-“ Ian cuts her off with a smile “I’m wizard well, 1st stage *chuckles* we”ll be fine, I’ll try to protect barley and he’ll protect me!”

Laurel had a tear in her eyes “ *sniffs* you two always have your father’s spirit. *sobs* 😢” Ian hugs his mom “before you go I have something for you,Ian. *grabs a flowey (lavender with gold,swirly glittered design in the edges) scarf(same style like elsa’s mom’s but different) it’s from your dad’s when he’s about almost your age.”

Ian clenched it suddenly a guset of wind swirls around him ounce as Ian closes his eyes. “Thx mom.”

Barley smiles at Ian till Blazey comes up to Ian and hugs him likes they’re gonna be leave her with their mom alone for few months, Ian says in his sweet tone “sorry girl wish we could take you with mom but, I think Mickey just wants me and Barley,ok? Who’s a good girl,come on who’s a good dragon?” Blazey barks at Ian as a “I am.” Ian gets up grabs their luggages “we’ll miss you mom,Blazey. We’ll be fine I’ll text call or FaceTime you when we want to.” Barley comes and puts his shoulder around ians’s softly “ it’s ok mom.🙂” Lauarel sheds a tear “*sniffs* you’ll always have your dad’s spirit.”

Ian goes and about to close the door “see ya in a few months,mom. *blows a kiss*”

In New Mushroomtin Airport:

Ian was a little nervous and excited to go,but he knew he always have his brother by his side and his spiritual dad beside them. Barley smiles at Ian “ready,Ian?🙂” Ian takes a deep breath and grabs his luggage’s as Barley grabs his, as Ian says” *sighs* yes!🙂”

After few days they had landed and as they saw the beauty of the Disneyland hotel Ian slowly twirls as he admires around “woah, this place is gorgeous!”😀” they’re about to unpack their luggage’s till they heard a knock on their hotel room(room 24) Ian opens the door and saw the big cheese himself,the one that started it all, Mickey Mouse! “Hi pals, hope you’re enjoying your room so far *ha ha* oh boy!” Ian shakes Mickey’s hand, *gasps* it’s a really honor to meet you Mickey can’t wait to make our 1st debut in DCA!😅” Barley comes up “hi, names Barley nice to meet you,bro*laughs* “ barley gives Mickey a bro hug. Mickey asks in his kind voice “is anything that my cast members can do for you, or-“ Ian says “no,but we’re a little hungry.” Mickey says in his cheerful tone” oh boy! I know just the place! I’ll wait till you 2 are done with your unpacking.” Ian nods and says “ I’ll knock after we’re done unpacking

Mickey closes the door as the 2 brotherly elves unpacking their luggage’s Ian took his staff out of his long suitcase. Barley asks “need help dear brother?😀” little help,please!”Ian replie. As Ian saw something in his satual shiny is a locket that has the Lightfoot gain including Blazey in the inside! replies, He puts it around his neck and looks at his reflection in the mirror Ian sheds a tear in his eyes. Barley looks at him and coax him “hey,you ok?” Ian couldn’t control his tears, so he let his tears out Barley gently puts down his stuff and hugs Ian to conforts his beloved brother. “I know you miss mom and Blazey, I miss them too,but hey, we get to make our 1st apperience in DCA,Disneyland! They’ll be tons of human fans will love us,and ETC, it’s ok.” Ian sobs softly as he hugs barley back. “ I love you and *sobs* I’m not letting anyone or anything hurt me or you. *sobs softly*😢😭“

Chapter 2

After they unpacked their luggage’s, Ian wears his shawl/scarf and grabs his staff, and knocks on the door, “ready pals?” Mickey asks. Ian grabs Barley’s hand, “*sighs* yes!🙂”

“ wow this place is majestic!” Ian said

Mickey replying “yes it’s a fun place where all ages to have fun and ETC.

Mickey: Yes, the wind blows a little bit cooler

And we're all happy

And the clouds are moving on with every pixie dusts

Our flowers just became gorgeous

Goofy:And my leaf's a little sadder and wiser

Mickey: That's why I rely on certain certainties

Yes, some things never change

Like the feel of your hand in ours

Some things stay the same

Like how we get along just fine

Like an old stone wall that will never fall

Some things are always true

Some things never change

*to Ian and Barley* Guys, did your dreams come true?

Minnie: The flowers are already blooming

Pluto, it feels like the debut is coming

*talks for pluto* tAre you telling me tonight he’s gonna get down on one knee?

Yep, but I'm really nervous at planning these things out

Like greeting them the 1st time!

*talks for pluto* Maybe you should leave all the exciting stuff to the characters

Yeah, some things never change

Like the joy that I feel for them

Some things stay the same

Like how dogs are easier

But if I commit and I go for it

I'll know what to say and do, right?

*talks for pluto* Some things never change

Pluto, the pressure is all on you

Ian: is this really true , could that be this day of our debut?

Dad, wish you could see us now? I'm not sure I want things to be perfect

These days are precious, can't let the magic fade

I can't stop this moment, but I can still go out and see this day!!

Other Disney characters: The wind blows a little bit cooler

Goofy: : And if you believe in yourself

The elf brothers: It's time to count our blessings beneath an heaven sky

Disney characters: We'll always live in the kingdom of plenty

That stands for the good of the many

Ian: And I promise you the flag of Disneyland will always fly BOOMBASTIA! *staff swishes*

Disney characters:Our flag will always fly

Our flag will always fly

Our flag will always fly

Some things never change

Turn around in the time that's flown

Some things stay the same

Though the future remains unknown

May our good luck rest, may our past be past

Time's moving fast, it's true

Some things never change

Barley: And I'm holding on tight to you

Ian: Holding on tight to you

Mickey:Holding on tight to you

Ian and barley: Holding on tight to you

Chapter 3

A trolly appears and a tourist comes would you both like a tour of the park?”

The elves replied “ yes of course. *laughs at each other*” Ian goes inside the horse trolley Barley sat beside his brother after he grabs few snacks from one of the shops in Main Street USA.

After 2 hours of touring around and. Behind the castle. “Thank you so much for giving us a tour!” Ian shakes the tourist and hugs him and Barley asks, “if you don’t mind can I take a selfie with you Ian and your trolley with your horse?” “Oh absolutely!” Ian poses with his staff and helds his shawl/scarf. “SELFIE!😀” Barley calls out with delight! “Thank you so much!” “Hey no problem, have a magical time on your 1st day!” Calls out the tourist as the 2 elves goes out and have fun. They’d arrive to the AMC in Disney Hollywood studio. “Ready Ian?” Ian takes a deep breath and he holds his staff in his right arm and the other holds his brother’s hand, and said “ Yes, Yes! I’m- we’re so proud of our hard work with our movie. *sigh* I’m ready to meet our fans!”

They enters the entrance and they stop at their meet and greet spot and Ian is ready.

Chapter 4

The crowds was in line and a little girl, a 2 year old dressed as Ian, got her own Ian’s staff. It was her and her family’s turn. She hides behind her mom’s leg. Ian kneels and holds out his hands “hey little girl, it’s ok I won’t use my staff on you to hurt you, it’s ok, awww. *hugs* it’s that your staff?” The mom says “ wanna show Ian your 19 inch Ian plush?”

Ian holds his doll and make it wave at her and covers its eyes “peekaboo.”

“Aww, hey, name’s Barley it’s ok. Wanna take photos? Huh?” The girl turns towards the photographer. Ian holds his doll in his left hand and his right, hugs the girl. “ok say bye.” Says the mom. Ian blows a kiss to the girl and make his doll waves bye to the girl and says in his little high pitch voice “bye, love you * makes his doll blows a kiss and make his doll hugs her* *normal pitch* bye love you, one more hug? aww. *hugs* bye.we Love you.”

Chapter 5

Suddenly blast of wind burst the door open! Malificeint appears, smoke appears from her. “Well well well.” The wind from her power makes Ian’s hair,flannel,scarf/shawl, Barley’s vest flows. “Who are you?” Ian asks as he holds his staff and points it towards the dark souceror . “I’m Malificent. The powerful villain in all the land!” Thunder boomed as she evil laughs. “ there’s something I want. Something that’s magical and more powerful. I need your magic.😈” Ian looks at her puzzled “what?” Barley looks little upset “ why,why do you want his magic?!😨😠 Ian nobley says “wait so-“ Malificient cuts him off “let you something to you all! I want his magic to becomepowerful and become the queen of DISNEYLAND!!” Ian emotion turns from 😠 —>😨 “wait. NO!! *grunts* VOLLTEr ThUNDE-“ Malificent used her power to push Ian! “*yelps in fear* NO you YOU MONSTER!!” “YOU’LL SEE YOU’LL ALL SEE!!!! *evil laughs out loud*😈” a huge gust of wind blows ounce hard across the room. Ian’s flannel opened from the wind! Ian looks at his hand and the staff “NO! *sobs*” Ian grabs his shawl/scarf and flieds through the park the trolley horse stops and yelps out the tourist tried to calm the horse down and saw Ian ran to the hotel room(room 24). Ian shuts the bedroom door and sinks to his knees and cries as he hugs his dad’s staff. “Dad! *sobs* please help me! *sobs*” suddenly the window opens and a swirl of wind created a spirit of his dad his voice echos. “Ian,my son. Why does she wants your magic?” “*sniffs* *breaking voice* I-I don’t know.” His dad puts his hand on his young son’s cheeck.

Ian holds his scarf close to him as he looks up at his spiritual dad. His dad holds his staff and gives it to Ian, but Ian slowly grabs the staff. Suddenly he saw darkness pulls into Disneyland. Ian looks out the window, he gasps in horror his iPhone rings. “I-Ian it’s me B-barley please he-“ Ian got scared his dad told him “listen you can do this you defeated the curse dragon last time.” Ian looks at the staff and looks noble! “ I’m going to give Malificent what she wants!😠” Wilden cries out “What?! No Ian I can’t let you be powerless I can’t let my son be powerless and weak!” Ian clenched his staff and runs off to Malificent!”

Chapter 6

Inside Disneyland castle all the Disney/Pixar characters inside Malificent is waiting for her power gift,Ian! Doors slam open with a blast of Ian’s staff from Ian. “Oh Ian *hugs* I thought you-“ Ian cuts Barley off. “I’m here to give you the gift. My MAGIC!” Barley gasps in horror so does all the other characters! Malificent approaches to Ian and she stabs him in the heart Ian yells in pain.

“IAN!!!😱 NO!!!”Malificent froze Barley in place. Ian lies there shouting out pain! “No *moans* please.” “Your magic will make me more powerful! *evil laugh*

Malificent: I'm not the villain in distress.

I'm not your girlfriend or the frightened sourccer .

I'm not a little bird who needs your help to fly.

Nope..... I'm the bad guy.

All these former villains that you see...

Each of them with shaking knees has knelt before me.

So I'm not your teammate or your partner in crime.

What am I, boys?!

-She's the bad guy..-

Oh, it's magic

To watch a planet

Shrivel up and die...

Oh, it's thrillin'

To be a villain.

I take over their homes and then I watch them suffer...

Mwhaha!

CUZ, I'M THE BAD GUY!!!!😈

Ian tries to stands up but the pain in his heart hurts so bad Malificent dissapears Barley unfroze as she dissapearss.

Chapter 7

Barley brought Ian to their hotel room and laid Ian on the couch, along with the other characters “Runpunzel use your heal power.” Flyn says. Runpunzel sings a special song as she wraps her hair around Ian’s torso.

✨💫flower gleam and glow,

Let your power shine.

Make the clock reverse,

Bring back as mine.

Heal will help the pain.

Change the faith desires.

Say what’s has be loved bring back ounce was mine.

When ounce was mine.💫✨

His heart was healed Ian breaths as Barley holding his hands while he sobs sofyly and saying prayers.

Chapter 8

Elsa and Anna rush yo check on Ian withe the other Disney characters

“Elsa! *moans*” barley coax Ian @shh Ian lie down.” “ I’m so sorry it’s not our fault.”

Ian: Barley, 🎶 you’re the soul who I understand. The love that show me of who I am! through the darkness to the light. You got my back and I believe you. If It weren’t for you. I’ll be the wheels and you’ll be the road.

Barley: Ian,what you’re trying to say? Can you please let me know.

Ian: cause you carried me with you

From the quest of the gem to the battle of the dragon. I was so brave cause of you. Like a moonlight with the stars you’ll guiding me, yeah it’s true. You carried me with you!

Barley: Ian, 🎶from the day that Youall begun. But, I was there to protect you. But when I see you being hurt. I tried to help, you’re a fighter. And when my heart filled with worried. found a way to comfort me. You always found a bright side, and make me feel better.

Both: cause you carried me with you

From the quest of the gem to the battle of the dragon. I was trying to protect you, like a moonlight with the stars, you’ll be guiding me, yeah it’s true, yeah carried me with you.

Ian: oh we’ll be always be together no matter what.

Barley: watching out the days turns into night

Ian: we know to brave the stormy weathers.

Both: well never give so without a fiiiihhhhhhttt!!

Ian: and if it weren’t for you from the battle

I’ll would’ve die without you.

Barley: I’ll see us through thick and thin

For love and lost till the end.

Both: yeah you carried me with you

From the quest of the gem to the battle of the dragon I was just to secard to see

Like a moonlight with the stars you’ll always protect me

Yeah it’s true

You carried me with you

Ian: oh you carried me with you.🎶

Chapter 9

Judy and nick rushes to Ian and barley with other characters in the hotel. “We heard the news! oh sweet cheese and crackers, are you ok,Ian? *holds Ian hands*” “*sighs* he’s fine,except he has no magic left Malificent had his power!” Barley told Judy. “I’m-we’re sorry we-“

“How do we stop this darkness?!” Ian asks. Barley puts their dad’s shawl/scarf around Ian’s shoulders. Barley ordered all the characters, except Ian, to go and try to stop Malificent with him, but Ian won’t let him. “What?! No” “Ian I can’t let you die!” “No I’m coming too! If dad was here, he would go a-and go to be noble to fight and never give up. I may not have dad actually being here, but if I swear to God, he’ll be with us spiritually,I love you!” Barley looks at him little sceard. Ian holds his shawl/scarf and shouts “Come on, stay together! STAY STRONG!!” Barley can’t believe that his brother is gonna sacrifice his love for his family and old/new friends!

Chapter 10

Malificent : 🎶Believe me I know

I've sunk pretty low

But whatever I've done you deserved

I'm the bad guy, that's fine

It's no fault of mine

And some justice at last will be served

Now it's time to step up

Or it's time to back down

And there's only one answer for me

And I'll stand up and fight

Cause I know that I'm right

And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready

Ready as I'll ever be

Ian: Now it's time to rise up

Or it's time to stand down

And the answer is easy to see

And I swear by the staff

If you're in, get on board

Are you ready?

Judy: I'm ready

Mickey Minnie : We're ready

Crowd: We're ready

Ian: Ready as I'll ever be

Barley : Are you quite sure we can do this?

Ian: Together we will guarantee

Malificent : I'll make them hear me

Crowd: Now it's time to redeem

Or it's time to resolve

Ian : Prove they can trust me

Crowd: And the outcome will hardly come free

Ian: I'll save or land and family

Crowd: Now the line's in the sand

And our moment's at hand

Mérida : And I'm ready

Barley : I'm ready

Ian & Judy: I'm ready

Malificent : Ready as I'll ever be!🎶

Chapter 11

Ian got on a horse(which it almost reminds him Guenivere (their stead)

Barley looks confident but scared for his brother. “Ian, are you sure? I don’t want you to get hurt. “ Ian says “I may not have magic, but I still have little magic inside if me.” Ian fleds through Main Street USA to the Castle. As Ian gets off alone with the horse, the horse neighs meaning: be careful, ” it's ok I’ll be fine.

Chapter 12

In Disneyland caatle area the sky covers with darkness, The wind blows across the land. Ian gasps in horror along with the Disney characters. Ian stood noble to try to control his tears. “Come on, Barley you Judy with me the others splits together.” The characters nods as they splits up. They go inside the castle until army of guards surrounded them Ian reaches out his staff,Barley grabs his sword and Judy grabs a spare sword and they start batting! “Boombastia! Guys I’ll go and and find Malificent!” They agree as the others continue battling withe guards. Ian goes and find Malificent with his staff till *whoosh* smoke appears and she appears in front of him! Ian grabs his staff, “you’ll never NEVER take away my magic😡!” Malificent and Ian starts their battle as she knocks him out the bouncony and top of the castle’s roof the wind was strong. Ian shivers from the wind. Malificent uses her magic. Ian uses his staff “Volltar Thundersir!” Till Malificent shoot her magic and Ian hit hers created a huge gusts of wind till *whoosh* Ian was shot a little thank god he’s still alive. Barley saw the action “Ian? NO!!!!!” And the final act of the magic Malificent and Ian magic hits Barley and knocks him down,dead. Ian cries out “BARLEY,NO,no, please, YOU MONSTER!!! VOLLTAR THUBDERSIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” *BOOM!!” His staff explodes and kills Malificent, for good Chapter 13 sadly, Ian rushes toward his brother crying, “*voice break* Barley no please don’t leave me. I-I love you *sniffs*” Ian tries his very best to use his staff to try to heal Barley. Ian grabs his staff,still crying, and says”I-insta r-Repairo!(please work please😢😭)” suddenly swirls of wind swirls around Barley from his staff his vest,hair,shirt,Ian’s hair,flannel flows in the wind. Ian’s eyes squinted from the wind and bright swirls. Few moments later with a soft swish, Barley slowly opens his eyes. Ian cried out tears of joy! Then suddenly his staff swishes around Ian the TRANSFORMATION of a WIZARD! The cape,kimono flows in the wind as his staff rose Ian in the air and twirls him majestically . Few moments later Ian opens his eyes still full of tears of joy. “Wow,Ian you look majestic!” Barley amazed “thanks *sniffs* “Chapter 14. At the castle where they do spectacular front of the stage the crowd is waiting for a special ceremony debut. Loud speaker booms over the speaker.”laddies and gentlemen,boys and girls, please welcome,Tennesha and Alex!” The crowd cheered as they appeared to the stage “Welcome everyone we’re so delighted to have this majestic debut coming for this day before we meet our special surprise guests, we wanna bring our Disney / Pixar friends on stage!” The crowd cheered as the Disney/Pixar characters come on stage and greeted the audience. “Hello everybody!” Minnie says, “Hey pals oh boy how everybody’s doing today?!” Mickey asks the crowd shouted yes out loud! “So Mickey we are so excited to see our special characters on their debut,right everyone?!!” Tenneshia says as the crowd screams with excitement! Woody says “can’t wait to meet them *giggles*” “Ok everybody I want everybody to say Onward really loud,ok? Ready? “ the crowd stood up and shouted withe the characters “1 2 3, ONWARD!!!!” Suddenly Ian voice boomed over the speaker BOOMBASTIA!!!” Fireworks and with a flash of a firework with smoke shooting and appeared, Ian and Barley are on stage and the speaker played “Carried me with you in instrumental. “It’s Ian and Barley Lightfoot say hi Guys, come on Ian don’t be shy!” The crowd went wild with excitement till they settle down. @bluezey @itsme-starmunch

[mainstreettalk]

My Top 5 Disneyland Attractions

Disneyland is home to many fun attractions and rides for guests of all walks of life. When you go to Disneyland, one of the hardest decisions to make during your trip is choosing which attractions to visit first and which attractions you’ll have to skip on. So, here are the attractions that I personally deem are the top 5 attractions that every guest should experience at least once during their trip.

5. Mickey and the Magical Map

Image by D23

It’s important to note that though many guests go to Disneyland to enjoy the rides and food, the live shows really should not be skipped out on. Mickey and the Magical Map is a musical live theatre show located at Fantasyland Theatre near the back of Disneyland park. This show features the titular icon of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey Mouse, but also incorporates some of Disney’s most popular characters, including Rapunzel, Mulan, Stitch, and many others. I could go on and on about how much I love this show, but there are a few distinct characteristics that make this one stand out above the rest. The fact that so many of Disney’s most recognized ballads and anthems are performed by live actors and singers really makes you feel like you’re immersed in Disney canon. The dancers have incredibly creative routines and perform them flawlessly. The show uses a visually stunning blend of live characters and set pieces as well as a digital background that’s really able to capture the magic that Walt Disney had originally intended for all guests of his park to experience. This show runs only about 20 minutes long and it’s a great place to just sit down, relax, and keep yourself entertained. Personally, I think this is the best live show at the park, even topping the live Frozen show at the Hyperion Theater in DCA. Mickey and the Magical Map is definitely worth your short amount of time to go visit and watch and it will really help round out your whole Disney experience.

4. Storybook Land Canal Boats

Image by Disney

The next attraction on this list is one of the original 13 attractions that debuted on July 17, 1955 when Walt Disney first opened the gates to Disneyland park. The Storybook Land Canal Boats take the guests through a calm, narrated boat ride on a river that winds through various detailed dioramas of iconic buildings, scenes, and sets from Disney films. Some of my personal favorites are Pinnochio’s village, the sultan’s palace from Aladdin, and a London-set park from Peter Pan. Though the ride starts with the boats entering Monstro the whale’s mouth, it’s all smooth sailing from then on. It’s sad to see that many of the original 13 rides that Walt himself had a hand in creating- including these canal boats- have lost their popularity to the newer, flashier rides at the park. However, this is a ride that guests shouldn’t sweep under the rug just because it isn’t thrilling; the lines are usually short and move fast and the ride itself is a substantial length, so there’s no worries about you or your children getting antsy waiting in line. This attraction is especially a must-ride for couples- there is a beautiful fairy-light adorned overhang that the boats pass through that is notably stunning when it gets darker outside, and the overall ambiance of the ride itself is very romantic. The Storybook Land Canal Boats is honestly my favorite ride when I just want to sit, rest my feet, and enjoy that nostalgic old-timey Disney feeling you get when you ride classics like these.

3. The Haunted Mansion

Image by Disney

Now we’re finally getting to the E-Ticket attractions. The Haunted Mansion is a celebrated fan favorite attraction at Disneyland, and this is reflected by its often extensive wait times. The thing that makes this attraction- and the next 2 picks- so fun to ride is the level of in-depth immersiveness that the theming of the ride gives to the guests. The exterior facade of this ride is quite possibly the best themed facade in the entire park. It just fits perfectly in the land that it’s in (New Orleans Square) and the antebellum-style of the mansion accurately emulates the large manors of the old South. When guests are taken in, they are immediately thrown into the story of the Mansion before the ride even begins. The guests are placed into what is known as the “stretch room,” where the walls of the room, by an optical illusion (I’ll talk about this in a future post), look to stretch up vertically to show the morbid demises of the portraits hung up on the walls. While this is happening, the prologue of the story is presented by the Ghost Host, who reveals that he himself is the spirit of a corpse that is hanging from the ceiling of the room. It should be noted that the Ghost Host’s voice is done by Paul Frees, a voice actor that is legendary for lending his voice to other Disney attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, and Adventure Thru Inner Space. After the stretch room, guests are ushered down the hallway that has portraits hung up on the walls that look to be changing or following them. The ride itself includes some of the best of Disney Imagineering, and each scene makes great use of Disney’s animatronics system as well as hybrid-projections. One of the most famous Disneyland characters, the Hat Box Ghost, is from this ride. The Haunted Mansion is a prime example of how perfect theming, memorable characters, and an invigorating story can truly immerse the guests in the fantasy world that it has created. This attraction would be higher up on this list if not for the fact the next two rides are not just my favorite attractions at Disneyland, but are likely my two favorite rides ever.

2. Splash Mountain

Image by Disney

Ever since it debuted in 1989, Splash Mountain has been one of the most popular E-Ticket attractions at the park. Splash Mountain takes the guests on a log-flume ride through “The Laughing Place” and the woods where the Br‘er animals live. The story is based off of the controversial live action Disney film Song of the South (again, I’ll go over the controversy in a future article), and the charming woodland creatures are some of the most entertaining animatronics at the park. The joke, they dance, they sing, and the light-hearted tone of the characters really balances with the scarier, darker part of the ride (The Laughing Place), as well as the large drop down the waterfall. Speaking of the drop, I believe this drop is the biggest drop at Disneyland (not counting DCA) at a height of 52.5 feet, a 45-47 degree angle, and up to 40 miles per hour. Personally, Splash Mountain is far and away my favorite “mountain” at the park, beating out Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and the Matterhorn. This is objectively the most physically thrilling attraction at Disneyland. Funny personal story about the Splash Mountain ride- I hadn’t ridden this attraction until about a year or two ago since, before that, I was too young/scared to get in line. However, I unknowingly already cherished a part of the ride from a young age- the “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” scene during the Disneyland Railroad was my favorite scene during the train ride and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was actually a scene from Splash Mountain. Disclaimer- this ride will get you wet. I tend to enjoy this attraction the most in the middle of a particularly hot day, and I try to avoid it at night or on colder mornings.

1. Pirates of the Caribbean

Image by Disney

For my number one, absolute top favorite pick of the attractions at Disneyland, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was a no-brainer for me. Pirates of the Caribbean is often the first ride I’ll run to as soon as I enter the park, and the last one I’ll visit before I leave. There are not enough words to say all the good things that I want to say about this attraction. Aside from being an iconic, classic attraction at Disneyland, PotC features some of the most impressive and quality animatronics to ever come out of Disney Imagineers. It has one of the largest collections of advanced animatronics at any given theme park and has beautifully designed set pieces. The guests are taken on a boat ride through a Louisiana bayou, passing by an old man on his banjo, before being dropped down a waterfall and transported back in time to an era where pirates openly ruled the high seas. The attention to detail in every single scene of this attraction is what truly makes it, in my opinion, the most immersive ride at Disneyland. The guest is truly made to feel as if they are experiencing the battles of the pirates on Isla Tesoro. From the moment you step foot onto the cobblestone pathways of the queue, you instantly feel the connection to the adventure that you’re about to embark on with the characters. The song “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)” plays every now and then during the attraction and, like “It’s a Small World,” it’s a catchy tune that guests will find themselves whistling as they spend the rest of their day at the park. Another thing to note about this attraction is the immediate wave of smell the guests notice when they walk into the building. The famously dubbed “pirate water” scent is one that was so popular that it is one of the things that guests remember about the ride, if nothing else. It truly makes the guest feel as if they are sailing the seas with the crew (although technically, the smell of the pirate water is actually the cleansing chemical Disney puts in their water attractions called bromine). A great thing about the PotC ride is that the ride vehicles are constantly moving and seat approximately 20 guests (5 rows of 4) and sends through about 3,400 guests per hour. This means that the line is consistently moving so you and your young ones will never get too antsy. Though it seems as if I’ve exhausted this attraction of all it could offer, there’s actually one more notable feature about this attraction that makes it stand out from the rest- built right into the attraction is the Blue Bayou restaurant, which is one of the best dining options at the park (and very expensive at that). Though this isn’t a necessity by any means, it is just another unique characteristic of this attraction that makes me love it so much. Though I’m always sad when my day ends at the park, I’m comforted by the fact that I can end the day right by riding Pirates one more time and then, if it’s early enough, grab a snack from the Mint Julep Bar right beside it.

So there you go guys, my top 5 Disneyland attractions of all time. Let me know if you agree, disagree, or if you just want to talk about anything Disney parks related with me!

*Revised 2 Oct 2019

[tmae3114]

The Mystery of Dareth Woodrow

*kicks down a door* HEY WHO WANTS TO HEAR A THEORY???

Okay, honestly, this is less of a case of Here Is A Thing That I Think Is Going To Happen In Canon and more of a case of me wanting to stretch my theorist muscles and “how well can I argue the validity of this possibility that I thought of?” Like, this is just. This is just for fun. This was practically a writing exercise, which is why it’s been sitting completely finished and unposted for months now, it was just fun to write but I didn’t know if I was ever going to actually share it, except maybe with friends.

So since this is just for fun, it’s waaay less timestamped than my last DCA theory (the “Diath Has A History With The Waterdeep Underground” one, which I am still giddy about having been so close with, that’s a good feeling) because I am currently A Very Tired University Student With A Lot Of Work To Do. Also it’s definitely far less grounded, mostly because the thing it’s about hasn’t really come up much and, unlike Diath’s backstory, there haven’t been many hints dropped. So, it’s also much shorter.

I’m going to keep with the format I went with for the previous theory  – a statement of the theory itself and then presentation of my evidence – though because it’s a format that works and also I already typed it up that way so here goes:

I think that maybe Dareth really was one of Diath’s descendants.

Dareth is a figure that we don’t know much of anything about. She’s been mentioned by name only once and not even alluded to since. We know that she’s related to Diath and that Gutter was forged for her and that’s it. We don’t even know if she was a Woodrow, though the fact that Gutter “wants to be with the Woodrows” certainly implies so.

The first and only time that we hear anything about her, Shemeshka states that she was “one of [Diath’s] descendants, I believe.” The general assumption, as far as I’m aware, is that that line was the result of Chris misspeaking and that Dareth is actually Diath’s ancestor. This does seem like a very likely possibility, as everybody makes mistakes and Chris has misspoken before and since, and the past tense means that it makes far more sense for Dareth to have been Diath’s ancestor rather than his descendant.However, this occasion stands out from other times that Chris has misspoken. Every other time that I can think of where Chris has used the wrong word or phrase, he has either corrected himself or acknowledged someone else’s correction – such as when he referred to Strahd as Paultin’s grandfather in Episode 78 and then quickly appended “well, great-great-great-”. As far as I’m aware, that hasn’t happened in regards to the statement about Dareth, which could be an indication that he wasn’t misspeaking and really did mean to call her Diath’s descendant.

If the circumstances surrounding the Last Lorcatha soul are such that it continually reincarnates, this is a situation which is entirely possible. Diath - or whoever he was before, if his name and identity change each time, which seems likely as evidence seems to point to him reincarnating without memories, given his displayed complete lack of memories of anything before being Diath Woodrow – would have lived quite a few lives, given that the Lorcatha-Skizziks conflict and the subsequent Ashtown Concordance occurred centuries ago as of the time of canon; if he returns as a human each time, that is roughly an absolute minimum of one life per century passed, provided he never died of anything but old age. During any given one of those lives, he could have fallen in love and had at least one child, who could have then gone on to have their own children, thus leading to Diath having descendants, thus, Dareth.

But why even consider this possibility, instead of just accepting the far more possible likelihood that Chris meant to call her one of Diath’s ancestors?

I’ve got a few things fuelling my suspicions.

Firstly, Shemeshka states to Diath that Gutter was forged as a gift for Dareth. Given what we know of Shemeshka, for her to simply freely give something – let alone freely create something specifically to give it freely – is very out of character. If she does something, there’s something that she can get out of it. So there must have been something that she wanted, which she stood a good chance of getting through giving Gutter to Dareth. It’s not difficult to guess what – Gutter was designed to use Diath’s keys, after all. It was likely created for the express purpose of obtaining those keys.

But why give it to Dareth? And why make Gutter with the desire to be with the Woodrows? What exactly makes the Woodrows special? Diath is our only metric for the Woodrow bloodline and anything which may be unique about it but all of the things thus far revealed to be ‘‘special’’ about him can ultimately be traced back to the Lorcatha – the only one that can’t for certain be is his ring of keys, but the presence of the aasimar in Sigil heavily implies that they are in some way linked to the Lorcatha. Even Shemeshka’s interest in him links back to them, with her role as an arbiter of the Ashtown Concordance and the fact that she currently owns part of his soul.

So, what if what was special about the Woodrows was Diath?

Again working on the basis of the Last Lorcatha reincarnating, what if Diath had reincarnated into the Woodrow family before? Or had displayed a pattern, when reincarnating, of recurring in families where he had been before?

If this were the case, as someone who had been present since the signing of the Ashtown Concordance and someone who has apparent reasons to keep an eye on him, Shemeshka would have noticed. We’ve seen in canon that she has no problem playing the long game when it comes to whatever she wants from Diath - such as saying “Well, I suppose I won’t lose anything in the long run,” in Episode 80, shortly before sending Diath back to face the Halruuan force bomb, with the very real possibility that this would result in his death - and so, the possibility of making a sword for a member of a family that she knows he’ll crop up in sooner or later with the intent that it would eventually fall into his hands seems like a plan she would potentially come up with.

Secondly, Shemeshka has, in the past, referenced things about Diath that he himself does not know - such as in Episode 61, where she said “So bright, that light in you Lorcatha,” - and seems to be amused when he does not recall or outright rejects these things. Thus, obliquely referring to Dareth as one of his descendants when he has no context to make that sentence make sense would fall perfectly in character.

This is my evidence as stands for this possibility.

However, I would be a poor theorist if I did not acknowledge the existence of counter-evidence for my theory. In Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms, the flavour text for Diath’s “Gutter” item reads “A magical short sword forged for one of my ancestors”. This could stand as evidence that Dareth is, indeed, canonically one of Diath’s ancestors.

However, arguing in favour of this theory, the Diath content in Idle Champions was created with Jared’s input and there is the possibility that he made the same assumption that the fandom has made about Chris having misspoke when calling Dareth “one of [Diath’s] descendants”. This is just speculation, though, and it is also possible that Jared has, in private, asked Chris about said statement and received actual clarification.

The latter of these two situations would disprove this theory, as that would stand as canonical confirmation that Chris did intend to say ancestor, but as stands with the information that we have, we do not know, and this theory is still viable.

[laurenovercalifornia]

None of you asked for this, but y’all probably know as someone who grew up in SoCal, I am keenly defensive of our coast’s disney park. As such, here is my official ranking of which rides are better at which parks:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Winner- Disneyland. Look, I’m going to say this a lot, but ours is the original and the best. The theming of the queue and load/unload area is better, the bayou scene is better, we have the Blue bayou restaurant and we have two drops. We’re better. Plus, the ride’s outside facade and the placement in New Orleans square is more thematic and special than it is in WDW.

2. Haunted Mansion: Winner- Disneyland. This is actually a tough one, but I think the facade and queue are more thematic on the west coast. It’s more enclosed and run down, and other than the occasional screams from nearby Splash Mountain, it’s pretty spooky. The Florida queue is too open and sunny for my tastes. And as fun as the interactive tombs are in the Florida queue, it’s almost too goofy. Florida does have two additional scenes than the Cali one, but they don’t add much. Plus, we have the cool portrait gallery in Cali that again, adds to the atmosphere.

3. Jungle Cruise: Winner- Magic Kingdom. This was tough as I’m not particularly attached to the ride itself and I’ve only ridden the WDW version once, but the inclusion of the temple scene really adds to the ride. Queue-wise, I want to say I Iike Cali’s better, but really as long as they both have the old timey radio spiel, we’re good.

4. Splash Mountain: Winner- Disneyland. I’m not sure what it is exactly that I Iike more about ours, but I think it’s better. Our ride feels like it has more animatronic characters, larger show scenes, an additional song (the one the possum? Sings to the kids on the way up the lift hill) and you aren’t outside for too long after the big drop. Florida has the cool jumping Br’er rabbit figure but the laughing place scene isn’t nearly as terrifying and chaotic in Florida as it is in Anaheim’s.

5. Big Thunder: Winner- Disneyland. I don’t know if Florida’s has been redone with the new finale like ours has, but I think ours is better because it’s been redone and “plused” with the new finale, which is way more fun than the shaking walls of the old scene.

6. Space Mountain: Winner- Magic Kingdom. Look, I don’t exactly keep quiet about how underwhelmed I am by our space mountain. I def don’t think it’s worth it unless you can walk right on. But that being said, I like the track layout and vehicle better in Florida. I recently learned that they took the Matterhorn track layout and put in Florida and made it space. So that’s probably why I like it more, it’s way more rough and the individual seats with the T-shaped lap bar means they can do sharper turns and sudden drops in a way they don’t do in Cali.

7. Radiator Springs Racers vs Test Track: Winner- DCA. Look man, Test Track is a super fun ride and it goes really fast, but RSR wins because it has the fun racing element, amazing theming, and some really impressive dark ride elements. I don’t even like Cars and I try and ride this every time we go if we can because it’s fun. Plus, Test Track, while it does have the really fun interactive element of designing a car, just screams too much Iike an ad for me (which it is).

8. Mission Breakout vs Tower of Terror: Winner- DHS. You all know I am not a fan of the new overlay of our tower, but that fight is over now, so I guess I’ll stop complaining. Well, that much, anyway. But obviously the tower in Florida is the OG and it’s still really cool. As a horror fan, it’s hard to find spooky theme park attractions that aren’t cheesy, and the OG tower is spooky without being outright scary. It’s a master of theming and atmosphere, has a killer soundtrack and pays tribute to a show I grew up loving.

9. Matterhorn vs Expedition Everest: Winner- AK. This is not remotely a fair comparison, and I adore both rides, but comparisons must be made regardless. The 2015 refurbishment of the Matterhorn saw the placement of some amazing Harold animatronics and some cool new scenes and effects. I love this ride and try and ride it every time I go to DLR. But Expeiditon Everest is such an awesome ride. So thrillling, so well themed, and it has a cool environmental message. Even with Disco yeti being a disco man since like, 2006 or whatever, it’s still a must-do ride.

10. Incredicoaster vs Rock n roller coaster: Winner- Incredicoaster. This was hard for me because I still miss Screamin (rip) but I have to say the fact that it’s an outdoor coaster really helps. I like Rock n roller coaster and both rides have really well themed queues (and honestly, not that great of a storyline) but there is something about riding Incredicoaster at both nighttime and daytime and feeling the wind on your face.

11. Indiana Jones vs Dinosaur: Winner- Disneyland. Listen. Dinosaur is a disgrace of a ride. Tbh if they redid that whole area into an Indiana Jones themed South American land like the rumors, I’d be fine with it. Dinosaur is SO BORING. It’s dark. It’s loud. There is zero tension. Oh no, the dinosaur is chasing us, what will we do?? I assume the ride was more fun when it first opened but Eisner neutered it and here we are. Oh well. Anyway, Indiana Jones is probably the greatest American ride they’ve ever made and it’s immersive-ness and theming and everything else is SO GOOD and honestly I think Disney should lay off the screens and go back to that (here’s hoping the new rise of the resistance ride is more like this).

12. Star Tours: Winner- DHS. The rides are basically the same but the outside queue for the Florida version is way cooler. So that’s a plus. even though you can see the lights and the support structures (because “studio park”) its’ still super cool to hav the Ewok village and the giant AT-AT outside.

13. Toy Story Midway Mania: Winner- DCA. I haven’t been to the new Toy Story Land yet so this might change next time I go to Florida but I just love the Victorian midway boardwalk theming of the DCA version so much. The ride is pretty much the same regardless but it’s so charming. And I love our Potato Head being an actual barker on the outside a whole lot.

14. It’s a Small World: Winner- Disneyland. Ours is the original and the thing that makes it better is that it’s an entire giant facade. It’s gorgeous. The small world facade being hidden in Florida really cuts down on the iconic parts of the attraction.

15. Peter Pan: Winner- Magic Kingdom. Personally I think both versions of this ride are overrated, but the one in Florida seems a little cooler, if I recall right. Idk, man.

16. Buzz lightyear: Winner- magic Kingdom. I don’t remember this too much but I think it’s cooler in Florida? Regardless, I don’t ever do this ride because I’m usually prioritizing other stuff.

17. The Railroad: Winner- Disneyland. I Iike the OG railroad because we got those cheesy dioramas left over from the world’s fair. Nice. Plus, I don’t remember if the WDW version cuts through any rides like the DLR one does, but seeing Splash mountain is fun.

18. Grizzly River Run vs Kali River Rapids: Winner- DCA. Dude, come on. As someone who grew up going on Grizzly, sometimes 5 times in a row, that ride is great. Great soundtrack, great queue theming, great theming on the ride itself, and it has Iike, three drops and several parts where you can get wet. So imagine my surprise when, after waiting for like an hour in 80 degree heat, listening to the sound of chainsaws the whole time, I get on Kali only to discover it has one measly drop?? So weak. WEAK. Although I do appreciate the environmental message, even if it’s like, super creepy to hear chainsaws in the distance in line.

This is all I can remember off the top of my head so that’s where I’ll leave off. If I missed any, let me know!

[fugandhi]

My Favorite Drum Corps Show

If you have not heard of what Drum & Bugle Corps is - Do yourself a favor and start looking it up now.

It’s NOT the same as the live experience (WAY too much POWER in a drum corps for any device to capture - Take my word for it).

So, I marched drum corps years ago (due to my love for music, then band, then marching band, and then the rest is history) and it was one of the most difficult and yet most gratifying experiences of my life (aside from adulthood LOL!!!) and I encourage anyone who is reading this and is thinking of either becoming a musician or having their child or a friend or anyone they know who is really into music - Tell them about Drum Corps (pronounced “Core” not “Corpse”).

Drum & Bugle Corps basically took what my high school marching band program had already established and it took it a LEAP forward. I mean, we toured the U.S., PAID a ton of money to do it (Thank you, Mom & Dad), and we had to work ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL THE TIME!

Weird tan-lines galore, there’s a WHOLE subculture out there - almost a friggin’ CULT (I swear man) of really, really AWESOME and CRAZY kids out there (and even more insane instructors and tech’s who are all trying to get their careers as Educators or what-have-you all started up to share the gift of music & the marching arts - YES it’s an art-form, ABSOLUTELY - 100%).

If I were to belong to any cult - It would be Drum Corps (LMFAO!).

Origins of a ton of these corps dates back decades, and I’m talking some of them started from the Military Bugle Corps from wars - and others starts from Churches, Scout Troops (Boys Troops and Girls Troops to maintain the Scout Standard), Police Departments, etc.

I first came across drum corps because I happened to be flippin’ through channels, and I was like a freshman and I had JUST finished my first year in marching band (proudly/we did a rendition of Crossmen’s 1992 show, “Songs For Planet Earth” - AMAZING show and I had the honor to be in that show - still makes me cry every time I hear the closer because that show required SO MUCH HEART) - and there it was - Santa Clara Vanguard’s 1999 show.

I ran to grab a video tape, and I came back just in time to record Blue Devils’ show “Rhythms... At The Edge of Time” which I watched over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again - I’m talkin’ like I could not believe there were people who were literally doing what I thought was IMPOSSIBLE.

With the most insane irony (or maybe it was fate) - I ended up being taught by Gino Cipriani, Wayne Downey, and like Jeff Sacktig, and like it was a variety staff like a real motley crew ya know? It was a DREAM TEAM staff - and my dreams came true - and I will never forget how much it meant to me to be able to march with friends from my high school (some who had already graduated before I could march with them at high school) and have my band director there the whole time and like - it was just such a dream come true. We ended up breaking the mold of the class divisions (Magic of Orlando Drum and Bugle Corps - Division II World Champions with record breaking score of 99.05 - which the Cavies happened to break 99 AFTER us LOL like we had A DAY where we made history and had the highest score in Drum Corps International HISTORY!) and the funny thing is - I remember at the beginning of the season we literally were trying to get everybody and their brother (and sister lol) to JOIN because we had like NOBODY lol!

Well, we had a good size corps, but there were patches missing in some sections ya know? I mean, there was literally a camp when we had 9 Trumpets and Gino was like “Yeah... We’re gonna have to do something about this” because this guy came from like The Cadets who had been DCI Div 1 champs like a ton, and prior to that he friggin’ was the brass caption for BD - I’m like - Dude, yeah, the staff and Kim & Rod were the necessary Leadership required to make Magic happen in 2002 (after not being on-field for like 2 whole consecutive years).

Either way, when I marched, I was not able to afford any more seasons, so Magic 2002 was and still is one of the biggest blessings in my life (aside from my family of course) and like if it was not for my really crazy summer that year - I wouldn’t have the mindset that the impossible CAN be Possible. Good things can happen to people if they put their hearts and minds to it...

...So...We were truly the “Cinderella Corps” of that year, and yeah I know we dropped from 10th to 11th for Finals but honestly - that accident with the Tenor Drummer who had his drums fall on his face when he fell on his back during finals - that literally NEVER happened all year. We were undefeated all season, no one expected us to make finals - even on our brass bus like we were talking about how some of the staff was even makin’ a pool of whether or not we made finals - whether that was true or not, it was a necessary motivator to push us and you know what? We did it. And the rest, as they say, is history. I left drum corps and the marching activity years ago - I tried a DCA corps and ended up getting burned badly from them - so bad that I just turned my back and walked away from drum corps and decided to never look back.

...Until I saw Carolina Crown’s 2013 show. I was inspired again. I had never heard a BRASSLINE that was SO AMAZING. Literally, BECAUSE OF THIS SHOW - my faith in drum corps had been restored. I only wish I could have seen this corps live - it must have been an absolute DREAM to be in this corps and in this show.

Carolina Crown was always a corp I paid attention to, although I always admired other corps more (BD 96-99 OH and PHANTOM & MADISON 1996!, need I say more?) - anyway, I actually used to live in South Carolina (a piece of my heart is still in South Carolina to this day - very, very fond memories of my childhood there/one of the places I was stationed). So, needless to say, I was always keeping my eye on Crown, and I have friends who marched Crown - but, I knew there was a very powerful change when I saw them in 2008 in Atlanta - the first time I ever saw a corps that pleased me as a drum corps nut more than BD - of course Phantom was AMAZING (”I AM SPARTACUS!”) - but I remember a bud of mine David was marching Tuba in Crown and I always gave props like DUDE Crown’s brassline - HOLY SHIT (LOL!)

I could go ON and ON about that BRASSLINE. They are SO beyond amazing - especially this year, 2013! THEIR BRASS LINE LITERALLY GOT A PERFECT SCORE AND THEY REMAIN THE BEST BRASS SECTION IN DCI HISTORY - uh yeah - THAT’s saying something considering how much detail-oriented work goes into these shows just on an individual level, let alone a massive level of epic proportions with the size of the corps these days.  .....Every Time I hear this brass section, I just start to melt - I’m like.. “I want to go to there” lol!...I am TELLING you.. This show inspires me every time I watch it - I literally have PHYSICAL REACTIONS to this SHOW! ...Like - I swear...that brass line performance.... I’ve had orgasms (LMFAO!!!) ...ANYYYY WAYYYYY  hhahaha I highly recommend watching the entire FINALS show on Youtube (ya got like 10 minutes? lol “LET ‘ER RIP!”) and seriously - even though I’m not too huge on the narration in drum corps these days and the over-saturation of certain effects - I gotta say - this is one of those drum corps...it’s just like... poetry.

...You know how certain things just like, transcend their normality? Does that make sense? Like...  In my humble and personal opinion - Drum Corps exists so that this show could have been made. This is one of many, many, many fine shows, but for me personally - this show is ELECTRIC (and like really profound). Even if you’re a die-hard drum corps dude like me (WHADDUP PEEPS?!), go ahead and like check out the friggin’ announcements and the crowd reaction from when Crown WON Finals Night! It is absolutely breath-taking because for any drum corps kids, we all dream of being Champions. We all strive for Perfection, and we always catch Excellence in the process.

It always makes me get like super emotional when I think about Crown winning, and it’s just so nice to know that the underdog can win, too. And, just knowing that those kids put their whole heart and faith into their work and their teamwork (a truly remarkable group) and they walked away Champions is absolutely wonderful. And the icing on the cake was how the corps was represented in receiving the Trophy, by their Drum Major, Linda Harvey - she was just so classy, and down-to-earth, and had such poise, and exemplified how honorable a Champion can be when it’s their turn to be number 1.

God bless Carolina Crown, God Bless everybody who has ever volunteered, watched a drum corps show, supported by investing in the youth programs for kids like me who believe in music and the power of inspiration and giving an audience something worth enjoying. Without drum corps, I would not have been able to believe in myself as a Musician today.

- ATOMIK 1

P.S. It has always been a dream of mine to one day own my own Drum Corps. I was always like, how would I do it if I ever had the opportunity to have my own corps - and I decided - I would totally have it be like Star of Indiana - you know, I’ll be like an older dude who’s got the bread and then I’ll just make sure it’s a well-oiled machine - and then have the quality of Star, but be designed like Velvet Knights (LOL!!!! YES!!!!) ESPECIALLY because they were the most FUN drum corps on the field and literally went the zany and quirky route instead of the super serious and militant way (and dorks like me rejoiced hahaha). ...chuck taylors and all LOL.

[mrbellcaptain]

Goodbye from The Hollywood Tower Hotel

I know this is really long, but I need to open up somewhat about this. For those of you that do read this, thank you.

“Hollywood, 1939 …”

Those words ring loudly in my head and have ever since May, 2004. I was 12 at the time and had avoided thrill rides adamantly up to that point. That single day in 2004 changed everything for me.

It started back in November of the previous year. I had received an annual pass for Disneyland for my birthday. I hadn’t been there since 1997 and couldn’t remember what the place was even like. At the time, Disney was seen as a kids thing. Being the preteen I was, I avoided talking about it among my friends for fear of being seen as less “cool.” This first trip was also the first time I’d see Disney’s California Adventure. As it had opened in 2001, I had not had a chance to go and experience it.

Upon arrival at the esplanade I was shocked to see this building looming over DCA’s skyline. My family and I debated what it was and if it was even in the park or just in Anaheim beyond. The words “The Hollywood Tower Hotel” stood out among the skyline. We were confused to say the least. This “hotel” didn’t feel like one as much as it looked like it. Our curiosity was piqued so we booked it into Sunshine Plaza and down through the Hollywood Picture’s Backlot. As we reached the Hyperion and turned the corner we were met with … Walls. But these walls made me the most excited I had ever been. Along the stretch of construction walls that lined the street were the words “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Opening May 2004. Drop in … If you dare.” I was blown away. I thought I had never heard of this attraction before and shamefully learned I did know of it quite well when I got home that evening.

I was a big fan of The Twilight Zone television series having been raised with it among other classic shows of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. The Twilight Zone was paranormal, exciting, easy to grasp but complex in nature. It was everything I enjoyed in tv. To have an attraction entirely themed around it excited me. I was deeply curious about it so I jumped into researching it. Mind you, I had seen the Tower of Terror television movie but I never pieced it together that it was, in itself, based on something real. When I finally saw WDW’s Tower I was awestruck. I researched everything I could about it. I looked deeply into the attraction through fan sites and low resolution videos. I couldn’t get enough.

January 1st, 2004. I had made it a point to watch the Tournament of Roses Parade every year and this year was no different. I got up and watched in wonder as parade float after parade float turned the corner and showed off it’s detail. Late into the broadcast a looming building came into frame. It was so noticeable that even the broadcasters commented on it before it turned the corner. At 100 feet tall, the float “A Sudden Drop in Pitch” made me bounce off the walls. This floral ode to the coming haunted Hollywood retreat just blew my mind. Again I was energized. As the clock ticked down to May, I kept up with the attraction. I watched video after video, many of which seem to have been lost to time. Gallagher and the sign lighting ceremony stands out as one of the stranger ones.

Finally, May arrived. I booked it to Anaheim about the second or third week of it’s opening. The lines were massive (for the time) but I stood there, eagerly awaiting my turn to “drop into the zone.” The lobby was lavishly furnished, every crack and speck of dust seeming to tell a story. Everything stood out to me and I could barely soak it all in. When we entered the library I stood in wided eyed wonder at the shelves of books and the raging storm just beyond the window. With a flash of lightning came the story of that fateful night long ago. The eerie intro, the echoes of a child singing, the thunderstorm just beyond. I was lost. Dragged into an episode of Rod Serling’s anthology of terror. As our huddled group wandered into the boiler room the sound of pipes clanging and furnaces roaring gave life to this dead building. The heart was still beating, long after it’s veins had rusted and faded. The gloomy bellhops throughout encouraged our group forward, helping us deeper into the depths of the hotel. As we arrived at the service elevator, my heart was racing. I was nervous, I was scared, and I was excited. I stood with sweaty hands watching the dial slide down slowly to “B.” The doors opened to our final bellhop who loaded us into our rickety elevator. The sounds of screams echoed throughout. Everyone was nervous. With a devious smile the bellhop bid farewell and the doors closed on us.

A lurch backwards and flashes of lightning dragged us beyond the depths of the Tower and to the front door of The Twilight Zone. I gripped the handlebars of the elevator seats tightly. I was terrified but entranced. We moved up and in front of us was a grand mirror. A bolt of lightning and we turned into ghostly reflections of ourselves. In a flash we were gone. The empty elevator carriage sat staring back at us. We descended to a long stretched hallway. 5 ghostly apparitions beckoned us to follow them. The hallway grew dark, stars glittering all around. Those same 5 guests beckoned one final time from a distance set of elevator doors, then they were gone.

We plunged into darkness.

As the sunlight stung my eyes, I could see everything. In those couple seconds I viewed the distant horizon of Disneyland and Anaheim. Before I could even process it we were falling.

When the elevator came to a rest with clanging and bangs, cheers erupted from our elevator. We had survived. As we returned to reality we were greeted by our haunting bellhop one final time before we drifted toward the gift shop.

I was in love. Everything about this ride captivated me. In one single ride in May I became obsessed. I collected everything I could afford. I bought pins, I got shirts, picture frames, posters. You name it, I tried my best to buy it.

That summer I spent working on a digital rendering of the Tower of Terror in LEGO form. I wanted a replica of this attraction for me. I wanted my Hollywood Tower Hotel. I spent weeks studying every angle, looking at picture after picture. I tried so hard to detail this model out of little blocks. When I finally finished and sat back, I was, for the first time, impressed with myself. There in front of me was a LEGO rendering of the Tower of Terror. I immediately set to work. I used every LEGO brick I had and when I ran out, I bought more. After the 6th tub of bricks I stopped. It was getting too expensive. With the need to paint the LEGOs afterwords, I shelved the project till I could reasonably get everything I needed.

Still, I ached for replicas. My brain kept latching to LEGOs and after a couple years I tried again on LEGO’s official Digital Designer program. As I reached the half way mark, I decided to check the price for the massive Tower of bricks I needed. The program promptly crashed. I selected a third of the building and copied it elsewhere, then tried again. After a few minutes the price popped up. $1800. I gasped and was discouraged. I couldn’t realistically shell out almost $2000 for just a segment of a massive project. Again I shelved the project and looked for alternatives. I stumbled on a now defunct YouTube channel HomeImagineering. The channel featured someone building custom miniature attraction variants using materials like foamcore. I also stumbled on Sam Towler’s Mine Train model and was inspired. My dad ended up bringing me home some foamcore poster board and I went to work. I carved windows and doors. I tried to shape out the Tower of Terror with foam and paper. It made a terrible mess and I was never able to figure out how to best support the massive structure. Eventually I shelved this project too.

As DCA started it’s 2.0 conversion I was at the parks almost every other week. Tower was my go to for a must ride attraction. I had memorized everything about it. The layout, the script, the drops. I loved it still. It was a classic to me and I desired nothing more than to be a bellhop. I started applying but got nowhere. It wasn’t until fall 2012 that I hit the jackpot. I was hired on October 13th, 2012 as a DCA Stores cast member. I started on Buena Vista Street and came to know many great people through that fall and subsequent winter. I still ached for Tower. I wanted to get photo training so I could work the gift shop, but my true dream was to transfer to attractions and fight my way to Tower. Unfortunately that dream fell short. I quit Disney in late April 2013 due to medical problems making it hard for me to continue working. I dreamed of going back, but for the time I set my dream aside to focus on school.

In February of 2016, a rumor sprouted that the Tower of Terror at DCA was to be changed to a Guardians of the Galaxy ride. I was scared. A part of me tried to ground reality and tell myself that it was way too stupid to be real. There’s always rumors and they almost never happen. As time moved forward the rumor persisted. The original leak kept insisting it was real and continued to detail the changes to come. Petitions popped up, attempting to fight the truth in the rumor.

In July, 2016, at Comic Con San Diego, Disney announced that Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission: Breakout! would take the place of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I was heartbroken. Here was something I had spent 12 years of my life involved with suddenly dying in front of me.

The reason it hurt so much is difficult to pin down entirely. Looking back, I struggled greatly with depression and continue to do so to this very day. I was teased and bullied in school and there wasn’t much of a way for me to escape. My home life was okay, but fighting between my parents and the affects of what caused those fights strained the household. Disneyland was my sanctuary, and Tower, to me, was my escape. I could be someone else with Tower. It gave me confidence and it inspired me. On nights where I might have been struggling, where my mind drifted to thoughts of suicide, I spent them at a computer, designing and building, and connecting with the Tower fan community. I made friends due to the shared passion for something that is as simple as a ride at a theme park. While my depression never healed, I was able to fight it back through this passion. As time pushed forward, I lost connection with a lot of these Tower fan communities. Many faded away or died as time marched on. I lost connection with the friends I had made and struggled to maintain my happiness. When I was forced out of high school, I spent a lot of nights with these fan communities, and suddenly they were gone. I held onto the memories of the conversations had and the stories shared and still kept returning to the parks with hopes of finding new friends and people that could be a part of a Tower of Terror family. When I worked there, I wanted nothing more than to be a part of the Tower, but my diagnosis of fibromyalgia and the worsening of it made that impossible. With the announcement it felt as if my heart was ripped apart. Everything from the past 12 years shattered instantly. I know I have the memories of this attraction and the joy and happiness it brought, but with me it’s not the same. Those memories are sad now, reflections of a history and point in time where there was an escape for me. It sounds stupid, even to me, but Tower was more to me than just a ride. Everything about me was connected to it. I built my life on that ride. My education and major was directly inspired by the ride. I wanted to one day craft something unique and amazing. Something that would inspire another the same way I was inspired way back in 2004. The change of this ride also spoke to the climate inside Disney. The corporate meddling and orders from higher ups that have no reflection on the guest satisfaction but instead on the easiest way to sell things now and to forget the long term. It hurt to see a company so good a hiding their corporate side suddenly flashing it for all the world to see. Their reckless disregard for the masses of fans and for the terrible show caused by this change is unforgivable. The Tower died in September, 2016, when the sign was pulled off unceremoniously. Ever since it has been on life support, being kept barely breathing as they slowly strip away what made it unique.

Some of you might say that there is still Walt Disney World’s Tower (and Paris’), but that isn’t the point. To me, DCA’s was the Tower of Terror, original or not. It fit the world crafted in that park. It told it’s story perfectly and dragged you into the hallowed halls that once held lavish parties. It was my definitive version.

On January 1st, I attended the 13th Hour party. There I met two wonderful Tower fans and celebrated this attraction in a way no other attraction could ever be celebrated. Disney did a great job on a party that should never have happened in the first place. That night, on our final elevator’s return, our bellhop greeted us crying. That’s when I noticed that every bellhop had been struggling to choke through the spiels. It sunk in. I felt the shockwave of this loss throughout yesterday and struggled till the very end to maintain myself. In the end it was too much. As I sit here writing this, I find tears streaming down my face.

For me, my year ended last night. 2016 has frequently been personified as this taker of life, this year of the reminder of our own mortality. We did lose many great people in such a short time, and while that can be explained by the years from which these greats were born, it doesn’t change the fact that we desire someone or something to blame. 2016, for me, took one last life. It took something I found sacred and tore it away.

Walt Disney said that “Disneyland would never be completed as long as there is imagination left in the world.” This isn’t a justification for the change of something loved and enjoyed, but a reflection on the shifts of guest’s desires and wants. A story goes that Walt overheard a child wish to ride Jungle Cruise only for the mother to refuse, stating that they “rode it last time” and “didn’t need to this time.” Walt was mortified. He went about shifting what the ride’s purpose was, giving the skippers freedom to spiel in a way they felt fit. Jokes and comedy became the ride’s signature and to this day is beloved by many. He didn’t rip it out because it was stale, nor did he retheme it. It was still an adventure through a jungle, but instead of a serious documentary tone, it took on a dark foreboding joking aesthetic. Tower was loved, and the massive lines and 300% merchandise sale increase proves that guests still wanted it. The change for change’s sake should only ever be done for the betterment and improvement of something. Guardians, especially to me, is no improvement, and does neither Tower, nor Guardians justice.

Today I struggle to push forward. My future feels shaky and distorted. I am uncertain of where I am to go next and while I will continue to try, the desire to just lay down and give up is very strong. So with this I say goodbye to The Hollywood Tower Hotel and the The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I hope, as Vera Lynn sang, “we’ll meet again. Don’t know where, don’t know when. But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.”

[coin-news-blog]

Reformed BTC Maximalist Erik Finman Proves the Value of Unschooling

New Post has been published on https://coinmakers.tech/news/reformed-btc-maximalist-erik-finman-proves-the-value-of-unschooling

Reformed BTC Maximalist Erik Finman Proves the Value of Unschooling

Reformed BTC Maximalist Erik Finman Proves the Value of Unschooling

A 12-year-old, future unschooling advocate at an Occupy Wall Street protest learns about Bitcoin while running from the cops. He invests. Later, the independent Erik Finman will become the supposed “world’s youngest bitcoin millionaire” at age 18. That’s not where the story ends, though. The high school dropout has since gone on to launch education startups, satellites into space, and become involved with big influencers and ideas in the crypto space, proving once again that independent, natural learning has a whole lot more to offer than his teacher’s advised route of working at McDonald’s, or a “cultish” adherence to BTC maximalism.

Unschooling: Kind of a Big Deal

With more and more people from all walks of life jumping into the unschooling revolution, Erik Finman’s story is illustrative of a shift in thinking on education. Bitcoiners are no strangers to the freedom first philosophy, either. Whether it means selling everything one has and hitting the road as a family, growing and selling food to become more self-sufficient, or holding 446 bitcoins as a 20-year-old, folks are beginning to see the connection between decentralized money and permissionless learning.

Botangle Aims to Replace Public Schools

In 2015, Finman sold $100,000 of his BTC stash and dropped out of school to work on Botangle, about which the independent learner stated in an interview with Wired:

Its mission is to replace the public school system because of my terrible experiences in it.

Finman has also stated that if “I ever decide to ever have kids I will never send them to school.”

Botangle’s mission was to pair learners with educators online, furthering the already swift current of change in that direction, due to the decentralized learning capabilities afforded by the mere existence of the internet itself. Finman sold Botangle for 300 bitcoins when he was 17, but has since bought the brand back, citing his love for the name.

Space Time Capsules and Coinbits

In 2018, Finman led Project Da Vinci, an initiative of teenagers to create a “global time capsule,” collecting video from individual submissions worldwide to send via satellite into space. Finman teamed up with Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize foundation, adding significant momentum to the innovative project.

LAUNCH!!! A @RocketLab Electron rocket launches from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand with ELaNa 19 for NASA. #ThisOnesForPickering pic.twitter.com/u7HCNK79yE

— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) December 16, 2018

The capsule was launched into space on December 16, 2018, as part of NASA’s ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) program. As a brief aside here, the crux of the unschooling philosophy is the exploration of ideas. This stands in stark contrast to obsolete, centralized educational approaches, where rote memorization of carefully pre-selected “facts” is the aim. As such, it makes sense that unschoolers and entrepreneurs like Finman always seem to be launching new projects; they’re not trying to memorize the past for a test, but to shape the future.

In May, 2019, Finman also launched Coinbits, an onboarding app designed to help everyday people invest in small amounts of bitcoin via dollar cost averaging (DCA), using transaction roundup mechanisms when purchases are made. The Coinbits website states:

“Blockchain solutions like Bitcoin are leading the way, but the problem is the knowledge gap between cryptocurrencies and the every-day person. We’re building CoinBits to do our part in helping ensure the collective interests of people around the world are informed and have access to this future economy.”

Unschooling Open Mind: From Staunch Maximalism to Active Solution-Seeking

In a recent interview with Youtube channel Invest Diva’s Kiana Danial, Finman, who in 2017 had called Bitcoin Cash a “fraud” on Twitter, detailed four problems he sees with his previously championed BTC at present:

Transactions are too slow.

Transaction fees are too high.

The devs are “very cultish” with too much infighting.

It’s “too hard to get into.”

Finman maintains in the interview that the reason people have not moved away from BTC, though “it could totally get to that point,” is simply brand marketing and familiarity, claiming “there are 10, 10X better technologies than bitcoin [BTC] that already exist today.” After claiming that “Bitcoin is dead, it’s too fragmented,” and commenting positively on bitcoin cash in an interview early last year, the young dynamo is now reportedly “converting all my crypto money into this coin.” The coin he references is metal, as Finman is gearing up to become a big investor in the Metal Pay platform.

After investing in bitcoin at age 12, Finman’s life became tolerating school, eating, sleeping, and trading crypto.

Innovation, Unschooling, and Decentralized Money

While the media obsesses over the “bitcoin millionaire” aspect of Finman’s story, there’s a far more compelling narrative here, just below the surface. Finman’s independent spirit, which led him to invest in bitcoin at 12, is exactly the type of thing that is not typically encouraged in public schools. In public school, kids would read about bitcoin 10 years after the fact, and be told what to think of it. Finman invested, traded, and bet his parents he could turn it into a million bucks, and if he did, he wouldn’t have to go to college. That’s a big difference. The difference between living actively, and passively acquiescing.

He joins a long list of high school and college dropouts. Tech “losers” like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and Spotify’s Daniel Ek. Entertainment and arts nobodies such as Quentin Tarantino, David Bowie, George Carlin, and Keanu Reeves. The list goes on, of course. Due to the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, it’s little wonder innovators and unschooling proponents like Finman turn to the tech in enthusiasm. Speaking again to Investment Diva on Facebook’s Libra, the young entrepreneur remarks:

Although it’s cryptocurrency technology, you know it’s also very centralized so it’s very anti the spirit of cryptocurrency.

He goes on to elaborate that in regard to the global economy and currency competition “It’s all the game on who wants to have the one-world [decentralized] currency. Right now the U.S. dollar’s the closest thing we have to the one world currency. Rome … they were the one world currency for a while.” When questioned by Kiana Danial about Iran’s development of a national crypto, Finman replied that oppressive regimes like the U.S., China, and Iran use whatever money is available, implying it’s not crypto’s fault for the inhuman behavior.

The Spirit of Permissionless Learning

One of Erik’s teachers once told him to “drop out and work at McDonald’s,” because he didn’t like school. Founder of pioneering democratic free school Summerhill, A.S. Neill, wrote in his 1960 book of the same title:

A child is innately wise and realistic. If left to himself without adult suggestion of any kind, he will develop as far as he is capable of developing.

Well, as far as that goes, Erik Finman has done alright. His capabilities surpass McDonald’s-fry-cook level by some measure. A.S. Neill also wrote that he would rather Summerhill school produce a happy street sweeper than a neurotic brain surgeon. This is another thing. Who gives a damn if someone works at McDonald’s or if they’re a 20-year-old entrepreneur? That’s the whole point of unschooling: decentralized, permissionless education for the individual, regardless of what tradition and culture may dictate. So far, Finman’s life has been a textbook example.

Source: news.bitcoin

[malindamay]

Onward: Brotherly love(part 1)

Ian POV: Hi uh, I’m Ian and I-I’m going to you a story about time that. I saved Disneyland and how me and Barley become the 26th characters so, uh, I’ll try my best I never tell anyone story’s except my movie story, of course. Uh, *clears throat* so here’s my NOBLE story. *chuckles* Mickey Mouse will you please be the narrator, please?😅

Mickey/ normal POV oh boy! Yes! So *clears* one day In a beautiful place, where all mystical creatures live in peace and harmony mostly, called, New Mushroomtin. The Lightfoot family was starting a new day. Ian, a 16-year-old elf, is shy and sometimes unconfident, but he wanna make his family proud especially his dad and his beloved brother, Barley. “Dear Brother we have a buffet awaits us!” Said Barley with enthusiasm-

Ian POV if you don’t know barley, he’s my older brother, and he’s very joyful and kind-hearted for me and the only thing that fears him the most is A, staying in hospital long time, B, he sees someone who has medical problems or has tubes, ventilator ETC, and C, seeing me hurt

Sorry, Mickey, gotta tell our Disney/fans about my brother if they don’t know who he is.😅

Mickey POV ok, so Ian replies with a chuckle, “*chuckle* its dinner Barley not a fancy buffet lol” Blazey pounces on Ian making Ian almost dropping the food “ *yelps* laughs * Blazey *ack!* okx3!🤣 😅 love you too.” Till Ian saw a letter tape on their door it’s from me(Mickey Mouse)

“ Hey Ian

this is Mickey Mouse and I was wondering if you and your brother can come to Disney world for the DVC Celebration plus you and your brother will be debating on the Disney team I know you’re shy,but you’ll be fine I’m sure my pals love ya, and even there’ll be fans who love your movie! Please accept this invitation.

Love, Mickey Mouse.❤️”

Ian reads it twice and his face turns from 😕 —>🙂😀 “Barley, will you love to go on a majestic quest with me?!😀”

Barley suddenly answer” *laughs* My dear brother, of course!” Ian nods he grabs his staff and he goes pack up their luggage’s! Laurel( their mom) looks at them a little nervous.” Are you sure you boys will be fine?” Ian nods “don’t worry I’ll call ya if something happens wrong,ok?” Laurel says “but-“ Ian cuts her off with a smile “I’m wizard well, 1st stage *chuckles* we”ll be fine, I’ll try to protect barley and he’ll protect me!”

Laurel had a tear in her eyes “ *sniffs* you two always have your father’s spirit. *sobs* 😢” Ian hugs his mom “before you go I have something for you,Ian. *grabs a flowey (lavender with gold,swirly glittered design in the edges) scarf(same style like elsa’s mom’s but different) it’s from your dad’s when he’s about almost your age.”

Ian clenched it suddenly a guset of wind swirls around him ounce as Ian closes his eyes. “Thx mom.”

Barley smiles at Ian till Blazey comes up to Ian and hugs him likes they’re gonna be leave her with their mom alone for few months, Ian says in his sweet tone “sorry girl wish we could take you with mom but, I think Mickey just wants me and Barley,ok? Who’s a good girl,come on who’s a good dragon?” Blazey barks at Ian as a “I am.” Ian gets up grabs their luggages “we’ll miss you mom,Blazey. We’ll be fine I’ll text call or FaceTime you when we want to.” Barley comes and puts his shoulder around ians’s softly “ it’s ok mom.🙂” Lauarel sheds a tear “*sniffs* you’ll always have your dad’s spirit.”

Ian goes and about to close the door “see ya in a few months,mom. *blows a kiss*”

In New Mushroomtin Airport:

Ian was a little nervous and excited to go,but he knew he always have his brother by his side and his spiritual dad beside them. Barley smiles at Ian “ready,Ian?🙂” Ian takes a deep breath and grabs his luggage’s as Barley grabs his, as Ian says” *sighs* yes!🙂”

After few days they had landed and as they saw the beauty of the Disneyland hotel Ian slowly twirls as he admires around “woah, this place is gorgeous!”😀” they’re about to unpack their luggage’s till they heard a knock on their hotel room(room 24) Ian opens the door and saw the big cheese himself,the one that started it all, Mickey Mouse! “Hi pals, hope you’re enjoying your room so far *ha ha* oh boy!” Ian shakes Mickey’s hand, *gasps* it’s a really honor to meet you Mickey can’t wait to make our 1st debut in DCA!😅” Barley comes up “hi, names Barley nice to meet you,bro*laughs* “ barley gives Mickey a bro hug. Mickey asks in his kind voice “is anything that my cast members can do for you, or-“ Ian says “no,but we’re a little hungry.” Mickey says in his cheerful tone” oh boy! I know just the place! I’ll wait till you 2 are done with your unpacking.” Ian nods and says “ I’ll knock after we’re done unpacking

Mickey closes the door as the 2 brotherly elves unpacking their luggage’s Ian took his staff out of his long suitcase. Barley asks “need help dear brother?😀” little help,please!”Ian replie. As Ian saw something in his satual shiny is a locket that has the Lightfoot gain including Blazey in the inside! replies, He puts it around his neck and looks at his reflection in the mirror Ian sheds a tear in his eyes. Barley looks at him and coax him “hey,you ok?” Ian couldn’t control his tears, so he let his tears out Barley gently puts down his stuff and hugs Ian to conforts his beloved brother. “I know you miss mom and Blazey, I miss them too,but hey, we get to make our 1st apperience in DCA,Disneyland! They’ll be tons of human fans will love us,and ETC, it’s ok.” Ian sobs softly as he hugs barley back. “ I love you and *sobs* I’m not letting anyone or anything hurt me or you. *sobs softly*😢😭“

Chapter 2

After they unpacked their luggage’s, Ian wears his shawl/scarf and grabs his staff, and knocks on the door, “ready pals?” Mickey asks. Ian grabs Barley’s hand, “*sighs* yes!🙂”

“ wow this place is majestic!” Ian said

Mickey replying “yes it’s a fun place where all ages to have fun and ETC.

Mickey: Yes, the wind blows a little bit cooler

And we're all happy

And the clouds are moving on with every pixie dusts

Our flowers just became gorgeous

Goofy:And my leaf's a little sadder and wiser

Mickey: That's why I rely on certain certainties

Yes, some things never change

Like the feel of your hand in ours

Some things stay the same

Like how we get along just fine

Like an old stone wall that will never fall

Some things are always true

Some things never change

*to Ian and Barley* Guys, did your dreams come true?

Minnie: The flowers are already blooming

Pluto, it feels like the debut is coming

*talks for pluto* tAre you telling me tonight he’s gonna get down on one knee?

Yep, but I'm really nervous at planning these things out

Like greeting them the 1st time!

*talks for pluto* Maybe you should leave all the exciting stuff to the characters

Yeah, some things never change

Like the joy that I feel for them

Some things stay the same

Like how dogs are easier

But if I commit and I go for it

I'll know what to say and do, right?

*talks for pluto* Some things never change

Pluto, the pressure is all on you

Ian: is this really true , could that be this day of our debut?

Dad, wish you could see us now? I'm not sure I want things to be perfect

These days are precious, can't let the magic fade

I can't stop this moment, but I can still go out and see this day!!

Other Disney characters: The wind blows a little bit cooler

Goofy: : And if you believe in yourself

The elf brothers: It's time to count our blessings beneath an heaven sky

Disney characters: We'll always live in the kingdom of plenty

That stands for the good of the many

Ian: And I promise you the flag of Disneyland will always fly BOOMBASTIA! *staff swishes*

Disney characters:Our flag will always fly

Our flag will always fly

Our flag will always fly

Some things never change

Turn around in the time that's flown

Some things stay the same

Though the future remains unknown

May our good luck rest, may our past be past

Time's moving fast, it's true

Some things never change

Barley: And I'm holding on tight to you

Ian: Holding on tight to you

Mickey:Holding on tight to you

Ian and barley: Holding on tight to you

Chapter 3

A trolly appears and a tourist comes would you both like a tour of the park?”

The elves replied “ yes of course. *laughs at each other*” Ian goes inside the horse trolley Barley sat beside his brother after he grabs few snacks from one of the shops in Main Street USA.

After 2 hours of touring around and. Behind the castle. “Thank you so much for giving us a tour!” Ian shakes the tourist and hugs him and Barley asks, “if you don’t mind can I take a selfie with you Ian and your trolley with your horse?” “Oh absolutely!” Ian poses with his staff and helds his shawl/scarf. “SELFIE!😀” Barley calls out with delight! “Thank you so much!” “Hey no problem, have a magical time on your 1st day!” Calls out the tourist as the 2 elves goes out and have fun. They’d arrive to the AMC in Disney Hollywood studio. “Ready Ian?” Ian takes a deep breath and he holds his staff in his right arm and the other holds his brother’s hand, and said “ Yes, Yes! I’m- we’re so proud of our hard work with our movie. *sigh* I’m ready to meet our fans!”

They enters the entrance and they stop at their meet and greet spot and Ian is ready.

Chapter 4

The crowds was in line and a little girl, a 2 year old dressed as Ian, got her own Ian’s staff. It was her and her family’s turn. She hides behind her mom’s leg. Ian kneels and holds out his hands “hey little girl, it’s ok I won’t use my staff on you to hurt you, it’s ok, awww. *hugs* it’s that your staff?” The mom says “ wanna show Ian your 19 inch Ian plush?”

Ian holds his doll and make it wave at her and covers its eyes “peekaboo.”

“Aww, hey, name’s Barley it’s ok. Wanna take photos? Huh?” The girl turns towards the photographer. Ian holds his doll in his left hand and his right, hugs the girl. “ok say bye.” Says the mom. Ian blows a kiss to the girl and make his doll waves bye to the girl and says in his little high pitch voice “bye, love you * makes his doll blows a kiss and make his doll hugs her* *normal pitch* bye love you, one more hug? aww. *hugs* bye.we Love you.”

Chapter 5

Suddenly blast of wind burst the door open! Malificeint appears, smoke appears from her. “Well well well.” The wind from her power makes Ian’s hair,flannel,scarf/shawl, Barley’s vest flows. “Who are you?” Ian asks as he holds his staff and points it towards the dark souceror . “I’m Malificent. The powerful villain in all the land!” Thunder boomed as she evil laughs. “ there’s something I want. Something that’s magical and more powerful. I need your magic.😈” Ian looks at her puzzled “what?” Barley looks little upset “ why,why do you want his magic?!😨😠 Ian nobley says “wait so-“ Malificient cuts him off “let you something to you all! I want his magic to becomepowerful and become the queen of DISNEYLAND!!” Ian emotion turns from 😠 —>😨 “wait. NO!! *grunts* VOLLTEr ThUNDE-“ Malificent used her power to push Ian! “*yelps in fear* NO you YOU MONSTER!!” “YOU’LL SEE YOU’LL ALL SEE!!!! *evil laughs out loud*😈” a huge gust of wind blows ounce hard across the room. Ian’s flannel opened from the wind! Ian looks at his hand and the staff “NO! *sobs*” Ian grabs his shawl/scarf and flieds through the park the trolley horse stops and yelps out the tourist tried to calm the horse down and saw Ian ran to the hotel room(room 24). Ian shuts the bedroom door and sinks to his knees and cries as he hugs his dad’s staff. “Dad! *sobs* please help me! *sobs*” suddenly the window opens and a swirl of wind created a spirit of his dad his voice echos. “Ian,my son. Why does she wants your magic?” “*sniffs* *breaking voice* I-I don’t know.” His dad puts his hand on his young son’s cheeck.

Ian holds his scarf close to him as he looks up at his spiritual dad. His dad holds his staff and gives it to Ian, but Ian slowly grabs the staff. Suddenly he saw darkness pulls into Disneyland. Ian looks out the window, he gasps in horror his iPhone rings. “I-Ian it’s me B-barley please he-“ Ian got scared his dad told him “listen you can do this you defeated the curse dragon last time.” Ian looks at the staff and looks noble! “ I’m going to give Malificent what she wants!😠” Wilden cries out “What?! No Ian I can’t let you be powerless I can’t let my son be powerless and weak!” Ian clenched his staff and runs off to Malificent!”

Chapter 6

Inside Disneyland castle all the Disney/Pixar characters inside Malificent is waiting for her power gift,Ian! Doors slam open with a blast of Ian’s staff from Ian. “Oh Ian *hugs* I thought you-“ Ian cuts Barley off. “I’m here to give you the gift. My MAGIC!” Barley gasps in horror so does all the other characters! Malificent approaches to Ian and she stabs him in the heart Ian yells in pain.

“IAN!!!😱 NO!!!”Malificent froze Barley in place. Ian lies there shouting out pain! “No *moans* please.” “Your magic will make me more powerful! *evil laugh*

Malificent: I'm not the villain in distress.

I'm not your girlfriend or the frightened sourccer .

I'm not a little bird who needs your help to fly.

Nope..... I'm the bad guy.

All these former villains that you see...

Each of them with shaking knees has knelt before me.

So I'm not your teammate or your partner in crime.

What am I, boys?!

-She's the bad guy..-

Oh, it's magic

To watch a planet

Shrivel up and die...

Oh, it's thrillin'

To be a villain.

I take over their homes and then I watch them suffer...

Mwhaha!

CUZ, I'M THE BAD GUY!!!!😈

Ian tries to stands up but the pain in his heart hurts so bad Malificent dissapears Barley unfroze as she dissapearss.

Chapter 7

Barley brought Ian to their hotel room and laid Ian on the couch, along with the other characters “Runpunzel use your heal power.” Flyn says. Runpunzel sings a special song as she wraps her hair around Ian’s torso.

✨💫flower gleam and glow,

Let your power shine.

Make the clock reverse,

Bring back as mine.

Heal will help the pain.

Change the faith desires.

Say what’s has be loved bring back ounce was mine.

When ounce was mine.💫✨

His heart was healed Ian breaths as Barley holding his hands while he sobs sofyly and saying prayers.

Chapter 8

Elsa and Anna rush yo check on Ian withe the other Disney characters

“Elsa! *moans*” barley coax Ian @shh Ian lie down.” “ I’m so sorry it’s not our fault.”

Ian: Barley, 🎶 you’re the soul who I understand. The love that show me of who I am! through the darkness to the light. You got my back and I believe you. If It weren’t for you. I’ll be the wheels and you’ll be the road.

Barley: Ian,what you’re trying to say? Can you please let me know.

Ian: cause you carried me with you

From the quest of the gem to the battle of the dragon. I was so brave cause of you. Like a moonlight with the stars you’ll guiding me, yeah it’s true. You carried me with you!

Barley: Ian, 🎶from the day that Youall begun. But, I was there to protect you. But when I see you being hurt. I tried to help, you’re a fighter. And when my heart filled with worried. found a way to comfort me. You always found a bright side, and make me feel better.

Both: cause you carried me with you

From the quest of the gem to the battle of the dragon. I was trying to protect you, like a moonlight with the stars, you’ll be guiding me, yeah it’s true, yeah carried me with you.

Ian: oh we’ll be always be together no matter what.

Barley: watching out the days turns into night

Ian: we know to brave the stormy weathers.

Both: well never give so without a fiiiihhhhhhttt!!

Ian: and if it weren’t for you from the battle

I’ll would’ve die without you.

Barley: I’ll see us through thick and thin

For love and lost till the end.

Both: yeah you carried me with you

From the quest of the gem to the battle of the dragon I was just to secard to see

Like a moonlight with the stars you’ll always protect me

Yeah it’s true

You carried me with you

Ian: oh you carried me with you.🎶

Chapter 9

Judy and nick rushes to Ian and barley with other characters in the hotel. “We heard the news! oh sweet cheese and crackers, are you ok,Ian? *holds Ian hands*” “*sighs* he’s fine,except he has no magic left Malificent had his power!” Barley told Judy. “I’m-we’re sorry we-“

“How do we stop this darkness?!” Ian asks. Barley puts their dad’s shawl/scarf around Ian’s shoulders. Barley ordered all the characters, except Ian, to go and try to stop Malificent with him, but Ian won’t let him. “What?! No” “Ian I can’t let you die!” “No I’m coming too! If dad was here, he would go a-and go to be noble to fight and never give up. I may not have dad actually being here, but if I swear to God, he’ll be with us spiritually,I love you!” Barley looks at him little sceard. Ian holds his shawl/scarf and shouts “Come on, stay together! STAY STRONG!!” Barley can’t believe that his brother is gonna sacrifice his love for his family and old/new friends!

Chapter 10

Malificent : 🎶Believe me I know

I've sunk pretty low

But whatever I've done you deserved

I'm the bad guy, that's fine

It's no fault of mine

And some justice at last will be served

Now it's time to step up

Or it's time to back down

And there's only one answer for me

And I'll stand up and fight

Cause I know that I'm right

And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready

Ready as I'll ever be

Ian: Now it's time to rise up

Or it's time to stand down

And the answer is easy to see

And I swear by the staff

If you're in, get on board

Are you ready?

Judy: I'm ready

Mickey Minnie : We're ready

Crowd: We're ready

Ian: Ready as I'll ever be

Barley : Are you quite sure we can do this?

Ian: Together we will guarantee

Malificent : I'll make them hear me

Crowd: Now it's time to redeem

Or it's time to resolve

Ian : Prove they can trust me

Crowd: And the outcome will hardly come free

Ian: I'll save or land and family

Crowd: Now the line's in the sand

And our moment's at hand

Mérida : And I'm ready

Barley : I'm ready

Ian & Judy: I'm ready

Malificent : Ready as I'll ever be!🎶

Chapter 11

Ian got on a horse(which it almost reminds him Guenivere (their stead)

Barley looks confident but scared for his brother. “Ian, are you sure? I don’t want you to get hurt. “ Ian says “I may not have magic, but I still have little magic inside if me.” Ian fleds through Main Street USA to the Castle. As Ian gets off alone with the horse, the horse neighs meaning: be careful, ” it's ok I’ll be fine.

Chapter 12

In Disneyland caatle area the sky covers with darkness, The wind blows across the land. Ian gasps in horror along with the Disney characters. Ian stood noble to try to control his tears. “Come on, Barley you Judy with me the others splits together.” The characters nods as they splits up. They go inside the castle until army of guards surrounded them Ian reaches out his staff,Barley grabs his sword and Judy grabs a spare sword and they start batting! “Boombastia! Guys I’ll go and and find Malificent!” They agree as the others continue battling withe guards. Ian goes and find Malificent with his staff till *whoosh* smoke appears and she appears in front of him! Ian grabs his staff, “you’ll never NEVER take away my magic😡!” Malificent and Ian starts their battle as she knocks him out the bouncony and top of the castle’s roof the wind was strong. Ian shivers from the wind. Malificent uses her magic. Ian uses his staff “Volltar Thundersir!” Till Malificent shoot her magic and Ian hit hers created a huge gusts of wind till *whoosh* Ian was shot a little thank god he’s still alive. Barley saw the action “Ian? NO!!!!!” And the final act of the magic Malificent and Ian magic hits Barley and knocks him down,dead. Ian cries out “BARLEY,NO,no, please, YOU MONSTER!!! VOLLTAR THUBDERSIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” *BOOM!!” His staff explodes and kills Malificent, for good!

[coin-news-blog]

Reformed BTC Maximalist Erik Finman Proves the Value of Unschooling

New Post has been published on https://coinmakers.tech/news/reformed-btc-maximalist-erik-finman-proves-the-value-of-unschooling

Reformed BTC Maximalist Erik Finman Proves the Value of Unschooling

Reformed BTC Maximalist Erik Finman Proves the Value of Unschooling

A 12-year-old, future unschooling advocate at an Occupy Wall Street protest learns about Bitcoin while running from the cops. He invests. Later, the independent Erik Finman will become the supposed “world’s youngest bitcoin millionaire” at age 18. That’s not where the story ends, though. The high school dropout has since gone on to launch education startups, satellites into space, and become involved with big influencers and ideas in the crypto space, proving once again that independent, natural learning has a whole lot more to offer than his teacher’s advised route of working at McDonald’s, or a “cultish” adherence to BTC maximalism.

Unschooling: Kind of a Big Deal

With more and more people from all walks of life jumping into the unschooling revolution, Erik Finman’s story is illustrative of a shift in thinking on education. Bitcoiners are no strangers to the freedom first philosophy, either. Whether it means selling everything one has and hitting the road as a family, growing and selling food to become more self-sufficient, or holding 446 bitcoins as a 20-year-old, folks are beginning to see the connection between decentralized money and permissionless learning.

Botangle Aims to Replace Public Schools

In 2015, Finman sold $100,000 of his BTC stash and dropped out of school to work on Botangle, about which the independent learner stated in an interview with Wired:

Its mission is to replace the public school system because of my terrible experiences in it.

Finman has also stated that if “I ever decide to ever have kids I will never send them to school.”

Botangle’s mission was to pair learners with educators online, furthering the already swift current of change in that direction, due to the decentralized learning capabilities afforded by the mere existence of the internet itself. Finman sold Botangle for 300 bitcoins when he was 17, but has since bought the brand back, citing his love for the name.

Space Time Capsules and Coinbits

In 2018, Finman led Project Da Vinci, an initiative of teenagers to create a “global time capsule,” collecting video from individual submissions worldwide to send via satellite into space. Finman teamed up with Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize foundation, adding significant momentum to the innovative project.

LAUNCH!!! A @RocketLab Electron rocket launches from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand with ELaNa 19 for NASA. #ThisOnesForPickering pic.twitter.com/u7HCNK79yE

— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) December 16, 2018

The capsule was launched into space on December 16, 2018, as part of NASA’s ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) program. As a brief aside here, the crux of the unschooling philosophy is the exploration of ideas. This stands in stark contrast to obsolete, centralized educational approaches, where rote memorization of carefully pre-selected “facts” is the aim. As such, it makes sense that unschoolers and entrepreneurs like Finman always seem to be launching new projects; they’re not trying to memorize the past for a test, but to shape the future.

In May, 2019, Finman also launched Coinbits, an onboarding app designed to help everyday people invest in small amounts of bitcoin via dollar cost averaging (DCA), using transaction roundup mechanisms when purchases are made. The Coinbits website states:

“Blockchain solutions like Bitcoin are leading the way, but the problem is the knowledge gap between cryptocurrencies and the every-day person. We’re building CoinBits to do our part in helping ensure the collective interests of people around the world are informed and have access to this future economy.”

Unschooling Open Mind: From Staunch Maximalism to Active Solution-Seeking

In a recent interview with Youtube channel Invest Diva’s Kiana Danial, Finman, who in 2017 had called Bitcoin Cash a “fraud” on Twitter, detailed four problems he sees with his previously championed BTC at present:

Transactions are too slow.

Transaction fees are too high.

The devs are “very cultish” with too much infighting.

It’s “too hard to get into.”

Finman maintains in the interview that the reason people have not moved away from BTC, though “it could totally get to that point,” is simply brand marketing and familiarity, claiming “there are 10, 10X better technologies than bitcoin [BTC] that already exist today.” After claiming that “Bitcoin is dead, it’s too fragmented,” and commenting positively on bitcoin cash in an interview early last year, the young dynamo is now reportedly “converting all my crypto money into this coin.” The coin he references is metal, as Finman is gearing up to become a big investor in the Metal Pay platform.

After investing in bitcoin at age 12, Finman’s life became tolerating school, eating, sleeping, and trading crypto.

Innovation, Unschooling, and Decentralized Money

While the media obsesses over the “bitcoin millionaire” aspect of Finman’s story, there’s a far more compelling narrative here, just below the surface. Finman’s independent spirit, which led him to invest in bitcoin at 12, is exactly the type of thing that is not typically encouraged in public schools. In public school, kids would read about bitcoin 10 years after the fact, and be told what to think of it. Finman invested, traded, and bet his parents he could turn it into a million bucks, and if he did, he wouldn’t have to go to college. That’s a big difference. The difference between living actively, and passively acquiescing.

He joins a long list of high school and college dropouts. Tech “losers” like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and Spotify’s Daniel Ek. Entertainment and arts nobodies such as Quentin Tarantino, David Bowie, George Carlin, and Keanu Reeves. The list goes on, of course. Due to the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, it’s little wonder innovators and unschooling proponents like Finman turn to the tech in enthusiasm. Speaking again to Investment Diva on Facebook’s Libra, the young entrepreneur remarks:

Although it’s cryptocurrency technology, you know it’s also very centralized so it’s very anti the spirit of cryptocurrency.

He goes on to elaborate that in regard to the global economy and currency competition “It’s all the game on who wants to have the one-world [decentralized] currency. Right now the U.S. dollar’s the closest thing we have to the one world currency. Rome … they were the one world currency for a while.” When questioned by Kiana Danial about Iran’s development of a national crypto, Finman replied that oppressive regimes like the U.S., China, and Iran use whatever money is available, implying it’s not crypto’s fault for the inhuman behavior.

The Spirit of Permissionless Learning

One of Erik’s teachers once told him to “drop out and work at McDonald’s,” because he didn’t like school. Founder of pioneering democratic free school Summerhill, A.S. Neill, wrote in his 1960 book of the same title:

A child is innately wise and realistic. If left to himself without adult suggestion of any kind, he will develop as far as he is capable of developing.

Well, as far as that goes, Erik Finman has done alright. His capabilities surpass McDonald’s-fry-cook level by some measure. A.S. Neill also wrote that he would rather Summerhill school produce a happy street sweeper than a neurotic brain surgeon. This is another thing. Who gives a damn if someone works at McDonald’s or if they’re a 20-year-old entrepreneur? That’s the whole point of unschooling: decentralized, permissionless education for the individual, regardless of what tradition and culture may dictate. So far, Finman’s life has been a textbook example.

Source: news.bitcoin