#i love my gelfling kids

[mythicalgeek]

The Dark Crystal Age Of Resistance is a tragically underrated work of art.

If your a fan of fantasy like Lord of the rings, Harry Potter and Star Wars please give The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance a watch.

Its a prequel series to the 80s movie and it's one of the best fantasy shows in recent years and goes back to classic fairytales and mythical storytelling.

Everything is mostly done with practical effects and only uses CGI where it's really necessary. The show also brings back puppetry and even though none of the character's are humans there's more humanity in this show than most media we get today.

The world of thra is a magical and strange place that you find yourself immersed in, with all the creatures and beuaty of the natural world at full display you find yourself encanted by it.

The gelfings are really adorable and you can't help but care about them, the main three protagonists have well flushed out personalities and each one has a interesting journey they go on that lead them to start the resistance and the quest to save there world.

The Skekies are really creepy and make for some pretty great villains. There motivation and interactions are giving just as much time as the heros, they rule thra with cruelty and manipulation, stealing the live force of the planet and the then the gelfing. There some of the most terrifying villains we've gottan in the last few years and I gotta say, I was absolutely horrifying by them.

This show does a lot of things right and one of them is how it writes the female characters. Deet and Brea (the two female leads) are very feminine heroines who are kind, empathetic, intuitive, clever and strong without it being showed in our faeces. Even when the female characters are warriors or soldiers there femininity is not devalued or see as a weakness. We also have more complex characters like Seledon and the gelfing leaders (who are all female) and it's just so nice to have a fantasy show that handels the female reputation so beautifully.

At the same time the male character's are also written with the same amount of care and respect, for example Rian (the main male lead) is a soldier who after finding out the truth about the skekies, is faced with the hard challenge of spreading the truth while dealing with loss and trauma, we see plenty of moments where his aloud to be vulnerable and we see him grow into a strong leader for the resistance.

We also have Hup who even though he is a side character, is a lovable podling who steals every sence he's in. He dreams of becoming a hero and has such a heartwarming friendship with Deet it's hard not to love him and want more of him.

All the relationships between the gelfing feel so intimate and pure, wheater there familial, platonic or romantic the show gives us so many beautifully written relationship and dynamics, that add to the emotional core of the story.

There's also some political drama with the gelfling clans and the skekies as they try to hold on to there power, it's done in a way that both kid's and adults can follow.

The action is surprisingly good for show with only puppets, we have sowrd fights, flying gelfings dropping booms, wild carriage rides and it's really exciting and done well.

There is only 1 season unfortunately but it's still worth the watch, I do have to warn everyone that there is a lot of scary and truely horrifying moments so if your sensitive maybe give this a pass, but there's a balance between the dark and whimsical and there's so many funny and sweet moment's that allow you two catch your breath.

This series is a hidden gem in the world of fantasy and that's a dame shame because it is everything you could whant from a epic fantasy story that we just dont see a lot of anymore.

I like shows like The Witcher and Rings of power but none of those shows have captured my imagination or sense of wonder like the dark crystal aor did. I have so much love for this beautiful, weird, creepy, wonderful, magical puppet show and I wish it got more recognition for the work of art it truly is.

The Dark Crystal Age Of Resistance is pure magic and deserve so much more attention. It's on Netflix so check it out if your looking for some good fantasy.

[thanatasia]

I rise from my vampire coffin bed to bring you all more IG Questions I made. Some are from a while ago and others are fairly recent.

We know how I love to write so here’s a brief continued thought for each

It’s not often I draw Fleur and Cha’l as childlings so this one was fun! They’re both so whittle and precious- Maeve and Bhihaar created two cutie pies! I apologize if Fleur’s baby talk is written poorly I was having difficulty writing how I think a young kid would pronounce those words lol

Fleur loves reading and writing so I definitely see her enjoying manga/anime as a young lassywings in a modern au lol Pretend that the screenshots I added have Gelfling ears. She’s one of those younger anime fans who doesn’t let anyone but their closest friends know. (I’m sure this idea is a thing of the past now since anime is pretty mainstream now)

I imagine that this particular scene is from Fleur early bounty hunting days, hence the mask. To keep with the AoR canon Fleur doesn’t kill criminals, she fights them into submission or uses sleeping powder/ta

I will never not be cheering that OceanPetals became parents! Definitely one of Fleur’s most treasured memories. Razer belongs to,my dear friend @jack-toons

The next two are from a reverse au myself and Jack-toons made and- I AM OBSESSED WITH IT!! Aahhhh! Y’all are not ready for that AU lol The Cha’l everyone has come to love is a delinquent and a big time charmer. Reverse au Cha’l gets into plenty of fights, likes to show off his physique to the lassywings he takes a shine to, among other fun things I’ll share in time lol. The first image is of both Cha’ls meeting and OG Cha’l being disappointed. The second is of Cha’l beating someone up for saying something disrespectful to Fleur

The last is of a new ship between Takoda and Adora- they’re so sweet! They are like that sweet couple in a cottage. How the two of them met will be shared another time, for now, Adora’s decision to go topside created many wonderful outcomes she had not anticipated. For Takoda, meeting Adora was a breath of fresh air, he didn’t realize how much he really yearned for that companionship Adora brought with her.

I hope you all enjoy these little sketches until the next one!

[ben-the-hyena]

9, 25, 27, 40 and 47!

Sorry for the delay !

So keep in mind I may have more than one ship for those but the rule is to pick one so I'll just say one for each !

9. Would be toxic in real life but it fits them in fiction

SkekSil X SkekUng from the Dark Crystal franchise. In the movie, I can't help but see them as very angry bitter exes who still have feelings deep down (SkekSil didn't kill him and SkekUng not only stopped the others who were about to rip him to shreds and accepted him back in the court later) hidden under anger, insults, fights, revenge and humiliation not helped by their common ambition : wanting to become the new Emperor. They regularly fight as much physically as verbally and hatefuck inbetween and feel cheated when one fucks someone else even if they are no longer together, but that doesn't stop them both to move on and to enrage the other. But even when they were together in my HC or even in @dracocheesecake's and mine Native AU in which they are still together, they would angryfuck, backstab each other, argue very often, kill one's enthusiasm and even going as far as hitting. But they are evil bastards, it just FITS them and feels "sexy" and funnt for them y'know

25. Power duo in their profession

Dogamy and Dogaressa from Undertale. A canon married couple ! They are very in love with each other often kissing and being affectionate and if you choose to kill one the other is extremely sangry feeling empty but determined to avenge the other by killing you and being more dangerous than when they were 2, but they still are very professional and not blinded or distracted. They are equally good at their Royal Guards job, don't stray from their mission, form a very good duo attacking in sync with a good strategy to get their enemy, they are not just a couple they are a duo

27. Dumb and dumber

Scratch X Grounder from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. NO They're not brothers, they're not more brothers than the other robots who still get together but nobody say a thing like Breezie and Junior, why is it any different for them ? That said, they're absolute dumbasses who keep bickering because that's all their artificial brains can do, but they do care, have very sus moments that had teenager me go "BRUH" and THEY EVEN MADE A KID TOGETHER

40. Old married couple

SkekGra and UrGoh from The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance. They technically are the same person but when splitting with their own personalities they feel whole together and want to feel even closer by wanting to fuse back. SkekGra fucking became GOOD for UrGoh and his morals which is a huge exploit from a Skeksis who are meant to be the darkest part of UrSkeks, and UrGoh himself isolated himself from the other UrRu because he wanted to be as active as his other half rather than waiting like the others. They also bicker over anything or are annoyed without being too much annoyed, and are old funky men. They have been together smoking weed and playing puppets for centuries in the middle of the desert so I guess it counts as old husbands

47. Soulmates

Jen and Kira from The Dark Crystal. Not only was it fate that they would meet, restore peace and more or less "repopulate" as the 2 last of their kind (even if the sequel comics had them childless with lots of Gelfling popping up from nowhere), they have an instant connection, not just a cliché love at first sight but the first time they see someone of their species, the first time they can be as intimate as dreamfasting, learn from each other, and finally know happiness. True soulmates

[childlikegoblinqueen]

This may sound like the wierdest ask, but... two things:

1. Would you like to be my Beta writer ? (I think that is what it is called.) And 2. I'm glad you like the story I wrote for some Ocs^^

Not a weird ask! Gods, I wish I could commit to saying yes! For now can I say possibly in the future?

I am so happy to see anything AoR related. That show was so much better than we deserved.

So, I’m a people pleaser and my initial reaction is always to say yes — but I’m trying to not overload myself at the moment! I began writing fic again to heal from trauma and grief but I adore the community around it.

That said, I am still dealing with residual stress and depression from the aforementioned trauma and grief and I need to make sure I am able to function properly for my own mental health, my family’s (I have young kids and a spouse) and my work life balance.

That said I’m also a multitasker and do want to consider beta reading sometime in the future… I just don’t want to overcommit— as I do and let anyone down.

Can we say possible rain check?

And I love the OCs. We got SO MUCH Gelfling Lore (pun intended) and not enough time to play in it…

[elskamo]

TD Brain Dump

Nowen Headcanons

- Owen loves all reality shows including GBBO, although they can't compete he and Noah watch it every year and Noah orders fancy snacks for them to eat while they watch. - Although Owen loves going to parties with the rest of the TD cast he knows they burn Noah out so he always makes sure there's a box of Noah's favourite tea and a new book waiting for him when they get back home so Noah can wind down the way he enjoys. - They double date with other cast members with varying levels of success: dates with Geoff and Brody end in chaos although Owen always has fun Noah ends up outnumbered, Duncan and Noah are still pretty snarky with each other and Alejandro is still warming up to Owen but Aleduncan double dates work pretty well, Owen and Duncan can be goofy together while Alejandro and Noah chat over coffee, they don't talk about the one double date they went on with Courtney and Heather.

A Midsummer Night's Dream AU

- Adding to my original post to have the TD boyband whose name I can't remember in place of the players. They're having a bad band rehearsal where nothing's going right and Harold claiming he could easily take on all the roles in the band because of his mad skills isn't helping. The band temporarily splits and Harold ends up with Bottom's plot from the original play. At the end of the story the band gets back together for their performance which the main characters watch after they finally return home. - Originally only had Bridgette as the fairy queen and Katie and Sadie sharing the role of Puck in my outline but decided that Geoff as the fairy king is a good shout. He and Bridgette are having relationship problems and fighting over how Geoff is too lax with their kids which makes Bridgette seem like a strict mom. Katie and Sadie can't agree on how to resolve this relationship dilemma either and make Bridgette fall for Harold by mistake while they're still arguing about what they did with the main group.

High School Comic AU

- Duncan acts as Brick's mentor in the second year of high school... he's not good at it XD but Brick is able to make it through his Freshman year without too many issues. Alejandro and Duncan ship Jo/Brick almost immediately after seeing the two interact for the first time and Duncan gives various pieces of bad advice in regards to befriending her. Duncan also exclusively refers to Dawn as Gelfling after meeting her, mainly because Ron finally watched The Dark Crystal and has added it to Duncan's interests XD - Duncan and Heather's bedrooms reflect their journeys throughout the comic. Both are still quite childish to begin with so their rooms have a lot of stuffed toys and bright colours etc., their rooms look a lot darker and barren after they’ve been at high school a little while and attempt to lean into the whole grownup/hardass aesthetic, towards the end of high school their rooms finally incorporate the best of both worlds where they more accurately reflect how they’ve grown up but still show off their personalities. Heather's also incorporates lots of orange and pink tones to match the lesbian flag.

Drag Race Artwork and Potential Story/Drabbles

- Duncan’s first time attempting drag involved reusing Courtney’s blonde wig and princess dress with very basic makeup. As he grows more confident with his drag persona and making his own outfits, his looks incorporate lots of fairy tale and fantasy elements. He brings Lindsay on board as his makeup artist as he still struggles to do more than nails and eyeliner. Courtney is unamused to be branded his drag mother, instead taking on more of a managerial role and helping Duncan to secure gigs.- Alejandro’s experimented with more androgynous and feminine looks for as long as he can remember. He gets mistaken as solely a fashion queen at first glance due to how highly polished his outfits, hair, and makeup are, but he equally has the acting and dancing talent to match. Heather assists Alejandro with his brand and social media image, ensuring he always looks perfect and runway ready.

[rian0006]

The SongTeller and The Satirist Bio

The is for @twiggystarrdust {thank you for liking my SkekLi design btw} and for anyone else out there who is wondering about them, I’m not going to tell you the full story of it since i don’t want to spoiler the comic for you, but i’ll tell you about a bit the characters I know, so lets start with..

SkekLi The Satirist

Some of you know SkekLi, but or those who don’t know umm lemme just say like, he’s a funny looking guy who don’t take things serious, if you wanna to know about him then watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoMVicGc8xU {it’s not my video but it’s helpful to know more about him} and in this AU, He’s trying to be the best skeksis to his bride and his childlings, but very lovable. He does give the best advice from Kylan, for trying to be a caring skeksis he can be. He’s also very close to his childlings, He dose teach Val {his daughter} how to control, know the ways of the Arathim. And as for Gyr {his son} likes to show or teach his some tricks he knows. He used to be very cruel and felt left behind, but married to Kylan, He feels less alone.

Kylan The SongTeller

Yes the one and only Kylan the SongTeller, At first he didn’t trust SkekLi, but remembered that he was alone and felt really bad. So he teaches him how to be good or nice to others. even when SkekLi is too stubborn to do it, but to Kylan, he’s still trying. He’s still bond with his kids and even cares about them. Tell them stories, sing them a song and really like to do their hair sometimes. And sometimes worried about them going to the outside since they’ve been living in the Caves of Grot. Also he is a housewife, he cooks, cleans and takes care of the kids. But mostly, Kylan spends most of the time with SkekLi since he’s now loves him deeply. Still he mostly missed the outside but then focused on his family, until Gyr discovered the outside...

Val The CareTaker

Val aka SkekVal {SkekLi’s pov} aka Valeriana {Kylan’s pov} is the oldest daughter of the SongTeller and the Satirist. She is a caretaker- that’s what she called herself, who spend most of her time with the Arathim. She used to hang out with other gelflings before when she was very young, including the one she really likes. But after when they found out that her father was a skeksis, they began to fear her and stopped hanging out with her. Val was alone then, until the Arathim began to comfort her, she was finally whole again. She never told her parents about gelflings she used to be friends with, but then never mentioned them ever. Val hates seeing her parents flirting with each other and sometimes picking on her brother for fun. So yeah, She is a spider lover.

Gyr The Child

Gyr is the youngest son of the SongTeller and the Satirist and mostly is an childling. He has a close bond with his father {SkekLi} and very soon will be just like him, a jester. But still has a little bond with his father {Kylan} but sometimes he hates kisses from him. Sometimes he really likes to annoy his sister {Val} but still has a bond with her. He likes to chill with the Arathim whatever he feels like but left shortly after {he gets bored easily}. The Child or Childling gets his name from Maurda Argot or UrLii the StoryTeller when they first met. UrLii likes to mention about the outside which SkekLi doesn’t like. Then he questions his parents about the outside above cause, he gets curious, but they never mention it to him. But hopefully after, he might check out some day... Sorry if this is a lot to think of but i hope this helps. I might change them personally whenever I have the time. So anyways thank you for listening, if there’re any more questions you wanna ask, you can always repost your question if you like or ask in the question box. I’ll do my best to answer you question soon as possible. Again thank you <3 p.s this AU is a little inspiration from The Addam Family series {mostly that one netflix series called Wednesday} and one of the Tim Burton films. just the heads up : ]

[twiggystarrdust]

I'm preparing for this lil drawing challenge to practice my character sketching, so I've thrown their faces (really) messily into the template, but I figured that it's a pretty good opportunity to briefly introduce the gang with visuals, so, here's my bunch of weirdos.

(may contain spoilers if you're following the story on AO3, oops)

Twiggy - a gelfling who thought she was a nobody but now knows she's a somebody. very adorable, curious, and sometimes naive but feisty. has a hidden thirst for power but won't admit it, cause that would make her a Skeski. Animal lover, healer, guardian and general good guy.

Griddle - Resident tough guy. Mister "I don't wanna be king." and will lose an eye to ensure it. Part fish (just kidding. he's a decendant of the god of the sea) with an appetite that could rival gods. fast, strong, but doesn't do "peopleing" very well. Also has multiple personality disorder and no interest in any kind of spooky occult shit. funny guy, though not the brightest, and the love of Twiggy's life.

Bethany - proud meat eater (vegitarians are pussies), fashion guru, likes to play with dead things. Let's be honest, when your mother is twiggy and your father is Rafiki (don't ask, it's a long story) (okay but please do ask though) what more need she say?

Rafiki - mad man who believes in a pig god, and will make you believe in one too. No one can quite jump/sniff/ preach or sing like this guy. as fun as a barrel of fizgigs and probably just as mad. king of the hobos and surprisingly humble, and can always carry a tune. HAKUNA MATATA

Myagi - The oldest, smartest, most eccentric and experimental alien father figure that anyone could want to ask for. Definitely not a mad scientist, he's an inventor thank you very much. Stole his son's body when he died and is now parading around as a handsome young thing again, reliving his youth.

Fondle - likes books better than people, and likes his women like he likes his beer, dark and bitter. master of earth and fire. has an unhealthy obsession with Fiona. like a turtle. hard on the outside, soft and squishy on the inside once you figure out how to peel the shell off. tinkerer, strategist and the only logical one in this chaotic bunch. Will hold a grudge until the end of time.

Fiona - The greatest thief in all of Thraa, and obviously the best big sister in the universe, right twiggy? Master of misdirection and queen of sass. Has an unhealthy obsession with Fondle. Don't dare her, don't cross her, and don't mess with her and you'll be fine.

Diashi/setiel (aka: diashietiel) - A walking clusterfluck. the most wanted person on Thraa for many MANY reasons. The children of Myagi: one died and became a phantasm, and one died and went to hell, they then merged, sharing her body, and she's pregnant with another man's twins (Twiggy's cousin to be precise), oh, and they're technically aliens too.

[airofquilt]

There were two nights I spent in the intra-circuitry of Virginia Beach. A patchwork of alley ways you could hear the ocean from in my van begin around 65th street (don't quote me on that), past the hotels you can indeed walk to.

With a pleasing breeze after fighting the heat much of that month. They became one. I don't know how long they let you do that, I was just chased out of an inlet, I had fled Virginia originally, after a monumental 14 days illegally camping in NC. I saw more than one group of mennonites I've talked about elsewhere. My life's going to implode thinking about it. The sky lights up, to say the least. When I saw my first black mountain in Virginia, in its humility, "the pursuit of happiness," dwarfed Mount Olympus.

On about the last trip it took to take my stuff back to my car, the park ranger gave me an hour to scram, I had a strong, definite vision of Gelflings, don't laugh. I'm not kidding. I'm the middle of the night. There are numerous protected species of avian, bugs and fauna. With that much time on my hands, I started naming them: averting (shielding, even) my eyes from any info unduly ascribed their scientific identitoes. I was told she'd be in the mountains and that, "That's exactly what she wants to do."

What was different is that I had comic books gathered in Maryland. I read them on the beach in the wind. I was able to wear the sweater I bought in Maine, marking my first purchase at Mayce"s. It still has the American flag pin I bought on the inlet. I had to go back to my car to fully pay for it. I don't remember the joke but the girl did laugh at what I said when I finally made it back. I'm not as funny as her, though, to be sure—i's closer than you might think.

My bathroom was being remodeled, the impetus of my return. When I was in Dover for the second, more enjoyable, time, I thought I would be able to make my way around Virginia again. I had fallen in love with Roanoke too.

My foot wasn't as swollen and the tide was not at your neckline line as it was a month ago upon discovering Slaughter beach, a public space on private property. The locals are, hm, friendly? I would have liked to have found that out.

What was exceptional about this trip was that due to circumstances beyond my control, it had to be made with no cell phone. By the third month, I had it all figured out. I haven't read comicbooks since the last, more successful, time I tried to runaway from home.

It was amazing and I don't care about anything.

[pinestripes]

Braids (The Dark Crystal)

Summary: 

Jen is at his wit's end with his hair. Luckily, Kira knows more about hair care than he does. Jen/Kira. Oneshot, inspired by The Age of Resistance. Tooth-rotting fluff.

“You seem to know a lot about hair. No wonder yours is so shiny,” Jen says, giving her a shy smile. “Well, my mother says that our people—the gelfling—took a lot of pride in their hair.”

Rating: K

Can also be read here on AO3 and here on FFN.

Author’s Note:

Hi, I'm pinestripes and I'm obsessed with fantasy Muppets. I watched The Dark Crystal for the first time this past September, tore through Age of Resistance immediately after, and absolutely adored both. 

Anyway, the rich worldbuilding of the show really hits home how removed Jen and Kira are from their people and culture, which makes me really sad. I have a headcanon that the podlings who raised Kira knew just a little bit about gelfing culture and shared it with her while she was growing up. On the other hand, the Mystics probably taught Jen very little about such things, so he knows essentially nothing about his roots. This fic was the tooth-achingly sweet result.

As always, dedicated to @thebusytypewriter for being my beta and best friend. Also dedicated to the lovely @artistefish, whose blog and writing have given me many hours of happiness over the last few years. Also, her posts about Age of Resistance were what prompted me to finally go watch the movie! Thank you! You ruined my life (in a good way!).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jen enjoys watching Kira braid her hair. She always does it in the morning, after brushing through it, usually humming, sometimes doing one braid, sometimes two. The braids sometimes hang loose by her face, and sometimes she has them meet at the back of her head, where she ties them together. Her hair is long and shiny, and it flows through his fingers almost like water (though he only finds that out much, much later—nearly a trine after the Great Conjunction, when he is finally brave enough to ask to touch it).

His hair, on the other hand, is thick and coarse. The brush barely gets through when he tries to untangle it. It grows so quickly that he finds himself chopping at it unevenly almost every unum, when it starts hanging in his eyes. One morning Kira comes into his one-room hut to see him trying to force the brush through it, grumbling under his breath in frustration. Behind him, she giggles and startles him.

"Oh, Kira!" He spins around on his little stool in surprise. He can feel his ears going hot in embarrassment. "I was just—well—"

"What's wrong, Jen?" she interrupts before he can babble any longer, trying to stifle her amused smile.

"It's this old mop of mine." He holds up a lock of hair before letting it rest against his shoulder again. "It's all in knots, and I can't seem to get it sorted out."

Kira walks over and holds her hand out expectantly. "Here, let me try."

He hands over the brush and she gets to work. "You have to brush the ends first. If you start by your head right away it's harder for the brush to get through."

And in another few minutes she's done, having untangled his hair faster than he's ever been able to do. Suddenly he feels her fingers brush the back of his neck as she picks up a lock of his hair. He tries not to jump in surprise, and only half succeeds.

"You know, your hair feels a little dry," she says. "I have an oil you could use."

"An oil?"

"Wait here." She darts out, presumably to the hut she shares with Ydra, before returning with a little bottle in tow. She takes out the stopper and carefully pours a tiny bit into her palm. She then rubs it between her hands, covering them both. "When your hair is dry, you take just a little and smooth it over the ends, like this." She does so, and continues, "When it's wet you can use a bit more."

"I see," Jen manages to respond, as stiff and upright as one of the great trees.

Finally, Kira seems to have decided his hair is sufficiently cared for, as she puts the stopper back in the bottle and sets it on the table. "You can keep that. I have plenty. It's made from a plant that grows near here, and the Podlings don't care for it."

"You seem to know a lot about hair. No wonder yours is so shiny," Jen says, giving her a shy smile.

"Well, my mother says that our people—the gelfling—took a lot of pride in their hair."

Jen is taken aback. "Really?"

Kira nods. "Mm-hmm. They had all sorts of tricks to keep their hair healthy and shiny. They wore really complicated braids too." A hint of sadness creeps into her expression. "Mother doesn't remember most of their styles, though."

Jen frowns. "I see." He thinks for a moment, and then suggests, "Maybe you could come up with some styles of your own?"

"I've tried. It's so difficult when I can't see the back of my head."

The sadness is still in her expression, and Jen, anxious to comfort her, blurts out, "You could practice on me."

Kira lights up and in excitement kneels down to be on level with him. "Oh, Jen! Really?"

The twinkle in her eyes encourages him to agree. "Really. I never know what to do with mine, anyway.""Thank you!" She kisses him on the cheek, rendering him speechless.

In an hour or so, a large portion of Jen's hair is tied back in a series of braids. Strands of hair are falling out. The whole thing is rather uneven. Some of the podlings giggle and tease him when they see it. Yet Kira's cheeks flush and eyes shine with happiness, so he wears his hair with pride.

[dubbledammit]

Sometimes I draw things for @yousillyoldgoose when she's asleep. 

When she wakes I want her to look at my screen, see my offerings AND KNOW THAT THEY ARE HERS.

 Ahaha she encouraged me to post these, my first and second Skekso/Emperor. Trying to figure him out.

[gocrazygostupidtheories]

AH AH OW OW OW

I’ve been trying to look into sources of story inspiration for Amphibia because I am not smart enough to predict what will happen, and I think I’ve found a few connections or patterns that can help predict certain story beats and character mysteries based the sources Matt Braly has said to us (excluding his personal life events for obvious reasons), or just sources for people who know these topics better than I do.

For the actual plot itself, he’s said his general love of fantasy has, but the more specific sources include:

The Dark Crystal (I’m assuming just the first film.)

Chrono Trigger (going for the first game too because I am lazy.)

Magic Knight Rayearth (originally a manga, so I’m trusting the source material.)

Studio Ghibli films directed by Hayao Miyazaki

The Legend of Zelda (again, very general and I think he’s referring to the first game?)

Lord of the Rings (I don’t know if he means the film trilogy or the books so I’ve tried to mash together both.)

Batman: The Animated Series

Gargoyles (Disney)

I honestly cannot be bothered to do the lower four and I will probably update it once I get around to it. If anybody has any more, please tell me. It should be noted that I’m not an expert, and I didn’t even know some of these existed, so I may miss a few things or get something wrong. If that’s the case, please tell me! I’m basically going to go through these one by one, and then do an overall summary for both groups of things that can be seen as inspiration in Amphibia so far, and stuff I find slightly alluding with mini-theories mixed in. So, whoopee. It’s a long, long post. It is important to remember not every event or bit of information I’m listing will absolutely happen in Amphibia, but I am finding similarities between other inspirations or things that may match up with the character.

THE DARK CRYSTAL

The Dark Crystal’s plot is that said a shard of the Crystal of Truth was shattered, and that brought around two races: the Skeksis, and the Mystics. Jen, a Gelfling, has to restore the shard to the Crystal to save Thra, the planet this is set on. Already we have mentions of crystals, fantasy and other-wordly planets.

The designs and set are very mediaeval-fantasy, specifically English mediaeval-fantasy. Creatures are often enlarged and over exaggerated animals, the Gelfling are almost fae-like and the Skeksis being disturbing fusions of various creatures, part reptile (alligators do exist in Amphibia, seen in Scavenger Hunt as an example), part predatory bird (herons and many, many more) and part dragon. Bugs do appear quite a lot, often oversized ones. Surprisingly, there are no real-life amphibians to my knowledge. There’s also English inspired buildings in Amphibia, such as the Tudor mushroom-cottages in Wartwood and many of them having English accents. 

Though it’s a movie meant for kids, and is rated PG, it’s surprisingly dark? Like, I can’t speak for people who grew up with it but most have said how they were terrified of it when they were younger. One of the directors, Jim Henson, said his main intention was to bring back the darkness of Grimm’s fairy tales and it was unhealthy for kids not to be afraid (bonus detail, he produced The Muppet Show, which has been referenced in Amphibia through Kermit as a special guest). It in includes, but is not limited to: genocide, war, the end of the world, climate change but make it mystical, body horror, way too much murder, animal abuse, death, totalitarianism, emotional ambiguity, harmony and the balance of power and immortality. I think we can all guess where Matt took inspiration for certain events happening so far, or what we can see happening soon, especially with the “immortality” part if he does include such a topic. 

Oh, and many of the other characters of varying relevancy we’ve grown to love die. And the main character’s love interest does get stabbed in the end and temporarily dies as a sacrifice for a ritual. And the main character, for a while, just blankly stares and cries in shock holding her dead body. But, do not fret, she does get revived and the two kiss as the land is restored. Go wild, shippers, and good luck Plantar and Grime fans.

The Crystal itself is almost like the heart of Thra, and is linked to the wildlife and its well being. It is linked with all living things and its energy reverberates all around Thra. The Crystal is actually sentient, and can communicate verbally on rare occasions through projections and images. It nourished itself through the light of three stars (we’ll get to that later), and while nourishing would release an intense beam of light that had healing properties on direct exposure. However, it was shattered in an attempt to cleanse evil from a groups’ souls when somebody gave into their evil nature. The crystal, in a daily ritual, prolongs peoples’ lives and can suck the essence out of living beings, turning them into slaves. It’s also purple. I’ve seen, and do enjoy, the questions as to why purple is such a prevalent colour in Amphibia, so here is my poor contribution: a lot of these are actually seen in Amphibia. The entire episode of Anne Hunter (it does sound silly, but then again, Matt has said some of the most important scenes aren’t the most plot relevant episodes)? The projection of Sprig? The hunting dance? Also, the more obvious examples of the bursts of energy being released when a gem is recharged in a temple, and the fact the box is considered to be so dangerous. My guess is that a possible fourth gem is missing or lost, either hiding somewhere in the box or in Amphibia. I would say the purple is just an Anne thing, but the fact it is so prevalent throughout the series makes me think otherwise.

A trio of some kind! The Three Suns/Brothers (Greater, Rose and Dying Sun) are a trio of stars Thra, orbits. Whenever all three of them fully align (people have said it looks like an eyeball, and with no shame that I will update eventually) which is a once in almost a thousand years event, it forms an intense beam to the crystal. The Three Brothers have their own folklore, where they all compete to win the hand of the daughter of the moon and return to battle again in an alignment. I don’t really think I need to explain this one. There are also Three Moons known as Three Sisters, but they aren’t nearly as significant or relevant to the original movie. 

The Skeksis remind me of Valeriana for some reason? Maybe it’s just a “thing with a sharp beak in black cloak”, but there could be some connections. Originally, a fallen group of UrSkeks (tall, luminescent, psychic and from the furthest reaches of the Uni-Verse possible, basically like angels) were banished to Thra, and attempted to separate their good and evil selves through the crystal, but accidentally created two races from that division. The Skeksis were basically born pissed and had a huge fear of mortality and used the ritual to prolong their lives. They believed themselves to be the Lords of the Crystal and kept it in their very delightful silly little castle and hid themselves in black cloaks. When the crystal was restored, they transformed back into UrSkeks, who wore white cloaks. Now, I don’t think Valeriana’s evil or that afraid of mortality, but it could link somehow? Sadly, I’m not smart enough to think of why. 

The Gelfling Clans, seven of them, are matriarchies, and women are pretty important and powerful people in the story. Matt has stated he was more interested in having a female main character for the story from some Studio Ghibli Films, so we’ll add this one to the “respects women” in this list. 

CHRONO TRIGGER

In a fictional alternate universe to Earth, the lead characters travel through time to explore and adventure in different eras of time. It could also be considered an isekai, considering how different these time periods are, from the prehistoric wilds to the future cyber dystopia. 

The isn’t a trio but instead a main cast of six: Crono, the silent yet fearless katana-wielding protagonist, Marle, the runaway princess, Lucca, Crono’s childhood friend and a genius inventor, Robo, a friendly and curious robot from the future designed to assist humans despite his robotic counterparts slaughtering them (remind you of any characters?), Ayla, a prehistoric village chief with unmatched raw strength and Frog, a former squire cursed to be in an amphibian form. There is an optional seventh character named Magus who’s a powerful sorcerer. Though, you can see a few similarities with some of them and characters in Amphibia. Marle is a blonde-haired, sheltered but vivacious and strong-willed girl who hates royal life and escaped into the Millenial Fair (a fair with all kinds of games and inventions) where she met Crono. Ever since her mother passed from illness, her relationship with her father has been broken, and you can fix it in the game as they finally recollect. She’s a healer, but her magical element is ice, and has techs (gadgets) that deliver strong water damage, but has a weakness to fire damage. Or, possibly the chief Ayla, another blonde haired, decisively confident and fiercely courageous woman who is physically the strongest in the game, and though she cannot use magic, uses her physical prowess and her hands. Another similarity is with Lucca, the inventor. She is classified as intelligent, inquisitive and shrewd who deals with problems head on. Raised in an environment where inventions were always present, she sometimes gets annoyed at her father for neglecting her for his creations, and witnessed her go through a horrible accident that left her unable to walk. Though she is physically weak and slow, she is a long-range combatant who uses techs that deal mass amounts of fire damage (her magical element), and occasionally has her father make new techs and special equipment for her. 

Early on in the game, we find out the future is desolate as a creature called Lavos who has been dwelling under the Earth, has awoken. Also known as the Destroyer of all Life, Lavos is an alien that came to Earth to drain its energy, produce genetically enhanced spawn, and continue the cycle. He is summoned by Queen Zeal, a secondary antagonist who is fixated on Lavos in a desperate attempt to become immortal and will inevitably destroy the world unless he is stopped. He has three forms: the outer shell, black with orange highlights, a humanoid form wearing armour that does remind me of Darcy, and the Lavos Core, a creepy scuba-diver looking guy. The game has multiple endings, from Lavos destroying all of humanity to Crono dying while defeating Lavos and nearly all of the characters moving on. Though, that’s only if you forget to re-acquire him. Then it’s happy. 

MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH

Three 13-14 year olds on a trip to Tokyo Tower are summoned to the world of Cephiro as the Magical Knights to save Princess Emeraude, the pillar keeping the world in balance, from the malicious Zagato. To do so, they have to revive their respective Rune-God they get their power from, and avoid Zagato’s minions while retrieving rare items. Except for the Princess Part, it seems like a pretty solid, though varied, inspiration from the plot or prophecy of Amphibia.

Though the girls are complete strangers except for a single interaction, they do become incredibly attached quickly. With their red, green and blue colour scheme (them?), each girl embodies the element they represent.

Hikaru, the protagonist, is red and represents fire: tomboyish, honest, brave, mature despite her innocence and incredibly strong despite being mistaken for a ten year old due to her height and attitude due to her kendo training she attends as her family run a dojo. She possesses the strongest heart out of the three and is the most enthusiastic about being a Magical Knight. It also helps that she's the strongest out of the three, shown with swords, bows and arrows and magic. 

Umi is blue and represents water: despite her beauty and elegance, she is incredibly doubtful, over-protective and arrogant. Because of her upbringing as an only rich child with doting parents, despite her seeming calm and collected, she is really spoiled with a short temper, and because she speaks her mind, comes across as selfish. However, she does mean well, and cares alot about her friends to the point of over-protecting the two and worrying endlessly about them. She denies all the good or caring things she does by other people and is completely clueless about love and relationships, which is unfortunate as her biggest fear is being left alone. In battle, she is calm and poised while remaining loyal and proud, wielding a fencing sword and focusing on speed and effectiveness. The Rune-God (basically like helpers for the Magical Knights that form a huge fuck-you mecha) she had to revive, Selece, involved her choosing her friends or embracing the ritual to gain more power, to which angrily she chose the former, which was the right answer, and slapping him in the process. 

Fuu is green and represents wind: despite always smiling and her polite attitude, is a strategist. She’s blunt, accurate and insanely logical. She’s quieter and more reserved than the other two, but she constantly stays calm and tries to think her way through a situation. She’s incredibly good at archery, and uses a bow and arrow before switching to a heavy sword only she can wield later on, focusing on defence and spells, and has an affinity for video games, mathematics and computer programming. She has an older sister who she loves and adores, but her parents are never mentioned. Unlike the other two, she probably has the best knowledge about love and romance, and her relationship with a guy is not questioned and is more obviously implied. 

Though the colours are switched around, and having “brains, brawn and heart” is the base for nearly all trios, we can see some comparisons here, and if they are inspired and fully taken from it, some slight implications. We came to the conclusion that Marcy had siblings, so I feel like she’d have an older sister, and since Sasha’s family owns a pool and with her behaviour, we can assume she’s pretty pampered too. There’s a cool theory I reblogged by @fermented-writers-block about their theory that Sasha is related to water contrasting with Anne’s fire motif, and hopefully this is another addition to that theory-pile. And, if they are linked to three elements, we can assume Marcy is linked to air (she has been associated with butterflies, so maybe that could also mean something?). 

Despite the seemingly more trope-y aspects on the surface, there’s just one slight plot twist near the end. They end up killing Zagato and go on to see the princess. However, it is then revealed to us she’s not doing great. The knowledge told to them from the start is actually a farce, and the reason why the world is in dismay is because Princess Emeraude was distracted from her duties because she fell in love with Zagato. As the pillar, she had to spend her entire life devoting herself to prayer in keeping the balance, but because of Zagato, began to think about more things than just Cephiro. The only way for her to stop being the pillar was for somebody else to take her place when she was dead, so she decided to summon the knights as the only people who could kill her. Zagato, who was also in love with her, abducted her and imprisoned her in hopes that she couldn’t summon them. When she did, he decided to protect her so they couldn’t come and kill her, sending out minions in hopes they’d kill them. So, basically, the real reason why the knights were originally summoned was to kill the person who sent them here, that quickly became to kill two people for being inlove under the guise of kidnapping and dark magic and have just murdered her lover trying to protect her from the people she summoned. And she is pissed. She turns into a darker form and beings to fight them in grief and rage, and realising they have no choice after being on the defence, murder her too as they cry. The whole theme of “love solves everything”, a common theme in magical girl stories and one that has been demonstrated in this one, gets two people killed because that’s what they embody. Their love was seen as selfish and evil, and they have just killed two people who would have been the types they would have been sworn to save like in all those other fights. It’s safe to say after they return back home, the girls are traumatised and cope in their own ways, from being silent and reserved (Hikaru, which we’ve seen Anne do from the mentions of Toad Tower and alot after the events of True Colours) to blanking out (Umi, remember Sasha zoning out upon entering the Plantar’s home?) to bottling up feelings of grief (Fuu, and do I even need to expain this one), and that this has changed them significantly. Though the damage has been done, later on, Hikaru is chosen as the next pillar and ends up destroying the corrupt system that prevents any more damage being done, and choosing to uphold those values of love. Princess Emeraude did not wish just to end her own life, but also the cycle that would harm others too. 

This is just so, so much, but hopefully you get the gist. Since Andrias is all about undoing the prophecy, I can’t say for certain that undoing or ending it is necessarily good, but I don’t think it’s bad either. Since this show does live it’s moral ambiguity with certain topics and open perspectives about most things (thankfully child murder isn’t one of them), and with the limited information we have about the box and the Core, I can’t say for sure which route it’s going to go. All I can say is that it’s going to get messy. Though it does sound a bit doom-and-gloom, it still does remain a typical fun, run-of-the-mill manga with magical girls and mechas, so don’t worry too much, except for the more depressing bits. 

It’s also serves as a feminist criticism of the shoujo drama, and alot of anime and manga in general: about how purity and innocence are attributed with naive young girls, and how adult, independent and strong women serve as villainous forces. It shows the slight horror of the situation as Hikaru says in the last words of the manga, “It can’t end like this”. Unfortunately, it did. They have been stripped of their innocence as they’ve just murdered two people and their former innocence is gone as they’ve arrived back in their world. People, especially women, are nearly always punished for being in love or gaining their own sense of identity outside of an oppressive system in Magic Girl Rayearth. Princess Emeraude having her own sense of agency and desires instead of constantly caring for the people is seen as a bad thing, and once she does mourn over her lover, turns from basically the embodiment of “young, pure shoujo girl” to “adult, corrupted villainous woman”. Women falling in love, especially adult women, are corrupted and renounce their “innocence” because of their political power and maturity. Women are expected to physically and mentally be “girls'', and that’s that. And honestly, I give so much kudos for Matt Braly, along with other creators, going against that (ironically while writing this, it reminded me of a response from him I cannot find for the life of me where he stated the complaints of Anne’s character he got from) and having such wonderful female characters. 

STUDIO GHIBLI FILMS (DIRECTED BY HAYAO MIYAZAKI)

Films include: Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Nausicaä: Valley of the Wind.

I grew up with some of these myself, and let me tell you from first hand experience that some of these are terrifying for children. I’m very glad the next generation of kids, and some adults and teenagers looking back, are experiencing the same thing with our favourite 13 year olds breaking down in tears as they are injured and possessed. On the other hand, some of these are some of the most comforting and magical things to watch, no matter what age you are. These films can go from light hearted comedies and comforts to tear-jerkers real quickly. 

But, no matter the film, there are usually more sensitive topics being discussed such as growing up, fear, change, family and especially the devastating effects of war and industrialism. Miyazaki often uses whimsy to explore these themes but still remains in touch with the core message, which I feel Matt Braly does do. He has described Amphibia’s core message to be about “past friendships and changing yourself for the better”, but also includes maturity, tolerance, the devastation of war and industrialism, the dangers of escapism, toxic friendships, culture, the importance of role models and parents, trust, death, denial and power which can be quite a lot to handle, especially for its structure. It explains it and demonstrates it in a way kids can understand, but also in a way that doesn’t feel patronising to older audiences. 

From a quick browse at interviews, Twitter and Reddit, he has stated the protagonists from the specific movies Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and though technically not a Ghibli film, Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind inspired him. But, I’m also including Princess Mononoke as it was apparently the movie that got him into animation. I will discuss things I noticed in the other films too, but I feel like these ones are the most prevalent in inspiration. 

Spirited Away could technically count as an isekai. It follows a ten year old in the world of Kami, working in a witch’s bathhouse in order to free herself and her transformed parents back into the human realm. It’s the most popular film the company and he has produced and is held in high regard virtually everywhere, and for very good reason.

Spirited Away terrified me as a kid. And I mean yelling at the TV, covering my ears and eyes, forcibly turning it off and nightmares. One of my gripes is having written children just. Not be like children and act more like sunshine. And I think that Chihiro as the protagonist is just so well done, especially for a child audience. Chihiro’s not exactly a ray of sunshine: she’s stubborn, scared of nearly everything but with no survival instinct in her and starts the movie sulking and unfairly whining. But, she’s a ten year old, and that’s how ten year olds think and act. They’re not exactly blooming flowers, they’re ten year olds. And, in my opinion, by having her flaws well-established but also understandable to a less or more mature audience (either from relating easily to knowledge of the time), it is so much better seeing her mature, learn, grow and get what she wants versus a stagnant character who’s happy all the time except for maybe one dramatic scene. I’m glad Matt Braly embraced making his main character, and other characters, more inherently flawed and not just constant beams of sunshine (slight bias, but I just prefer my dynamics like that) that makes it all the more better seeing them flourish and upsetting seeing them suffer. 

The isekai in this isn’t wished for or exactly good, either. For Chihiro, she’s constantly having to work while being picked on by her colleagues for being a human and smelling like one, being given the worst jobs and guests to handle and also being threatened to be turned into livestock and eaten. Chihiro is stuck in this situation because of her parents’ greed and over consumption, and she even Haku, someone from the Kami world, tells her to run as soon as she can for her own protection. The world is dangerous and foreign to her, without the comfort of her parents or family to help her and instead relying on her own abilities, so it’s no wonder she hates it. Because of her hard work and attitude compared to the constant greed of the others, she gains the respect and admiration of her colleagues (a few in particular) against Yubaba (or Natsuki), the witch. And because of her allies she can get through certain obstacles, such as almost forgetting her original identity, escaping other spirits or helping a customer fully get clean. She’s tough and brave, but she’s also incredibly vulnerable, breaking down when she fully processes the situation she’s in and acting in childlike ways. We can see similar parallels in Anne. She is dropped into Amphibia unexpectedly and spends her first few days stranded in the wilderness where everything wants to eat her, and then has to warm up to villagers who refer to her as a monster and a beast. Both characters learn how to adapt and overcome their situations with the help of allies and family they make along the way, and end up changing themselves for the better.

Unlike the devastating film that is Spirited Away, on the surface, Kiki’s Delivery Service doesn’t seem like much of a heartthrob. It’s a story about a 13 year old trainee witch who leaves her home for the first time to start her training in a big city. It seems like a typical coming of age story, but it’s just executed so well. Kiki, the main character, was a source of inspiration for Anne’s character. While it may not seem likely comparing the two on paper, both characters go through the very, very complicated process of adolescence and dealing with sudden maturity and independence from their family. In Anne’s case, however, it is forced independence, but both characters manage to make their way in this new and strange place through befriending people and making their connections (both literally find their new homes by helping their found families, in Anne’s case helping Sprig escape and befriending him and in Kiki’s case helping the locals and gaining their respect). Both characters become the local oddity of their respective homes, human or witch. But, because of their new setting, they find themselves growing or realising certain things about themselves, sadly being insecurities. Kiki is a loving and energetic but aloof girl that doesn’t know how to interact with the city kids her age, who cannot afford nice shoes or has a specific special talent like other witches, and because of the constant stress of her delivery job from various factors, she grows physically and mentally exhausted, or burnout. Her magic starts fading as she loses faith in herself and she loathes associations with the things she once loved: she cannot fly, and she cannot talk to her cat, Jiji. At the end of the film, while she gets the ability to fly again, she can no longer talk to her cat, but she is content and happy with herself. The film shows her progression and departure from immaturity and shows the loneliness and terror of maturity and growing up, but also shows how it has changed her for the better, and not the worse. In Anne’s case though? We’ll have to see. She has significantly improved, and has shown being significantly more mature and independent, but she’s also gotten a lot worse and probably hasn’t reached her lowest point, which is slightly terrifying. In Anne Sterminator, we’ve seen her and her parents, specifically her mother, struggle with the topic of her maturity too, which though addressed in the episode (communication good), may be a bit of a bigger problem than we think, considering her change in attitude towards the Plantars over the course of Season 3A.

Nausicaä was actually one I hadn’t really heard of until recently, but I heavily recommend you do. It’s really, really good. It is about a princess of a valley in a post-apocalypse world where poisonous spores grow into jungles with strange bug-like creatures. It heavily digs into themes like anti-war/violence and environmentalism, and the designs are just beautiful.

Miyazaki has stated that Nausicaä “is not a protagonist who defeats an opponent, but one who understands, or accepts. She is someone who lives in a different dimension”. Nausicaä, despite being a brave and skilled fighter, hates fighting and is incredibly humane and empathetic towards all kinds of life. She’s incredibly intelligent and skilled, especially for a sixteen year old princess, studying the Sea of Corruption (that is ironically the spore jungle) and its inhabitants, almost knowing how to communicate with them and also being an amazing windrider. Nausicaä is a fusion between the princess of the Odyssey with the same name, and a folk hero “The Princess Who Loved Insects”. Miyazaki said she is “governed by some kind of animism”, as she is, unknowingly, part of a prophecy as the hero “clothed in a blue robe, descending upon a field” (her main colour is also blue, by the way, and descending? Like how we’ve seen Anne levitate and with all the star references?). I have not read the manga, so I cannot confirm this, but she also apparently has psychic abilities, such as telepathy. 

TL;DR 

Anne’s Calamity powers could end up really good, really bad or both, but it could be “good power, bad context”. Marcy may have an older sister she idolises, and sadly, the possibility of neglectful parents and siblings, while Sasha (though we could all tell already) is rich and spoilt, she has a broken family from a single incident, probably the divorce, or something that could have led towards it and has something going on with her dad. Sasha, contrasting to Anne’s fire-inspired abilities, may have water-based ones if she ever were to access her Calamity powers. Marcy’s abilities are more uncertain, but air-related abilities could be likely. The prophecy is sketchy and possibly corrupt as Hell, and we are in for some world-breaking (literally) shenanigans. The Core may have been created in a desperate attempt to remain immortal. I’m begging that my silly theory on “the invasion with Darcy will bring an eclipse” will be right. The shippers will maybe have a ship become canon, but at the cost of an almost death, or even an actual death. Plantar fans and Grime fans are nearly definitely fucked as there is a high chance of death. The real villain is the strive for power, more obviously with Andrias, and if the Night is different from the Core, more literally the embodiment of power. For the constant purple, there may be a fourth purple gem which could be what that frog in the mural is holding in the opening that could be the sort of power-source or heart of Amphibia that maybe got put in the box or is hidden somewhere in Amphibia. 

[thewiglesswonder]

■ skekLi, ★ Rak, ☠ Hunter, ☾ Aln, ♒ Wasp, ★ Bel, ▼ Mac, ♡ Kiki, ☆ Blitz, ♦ Shockwave, ☮ skekSo, ☯ Rampage, and ൠ Tarantulas. (That's a decent enough spread of characters, yeah?)

[cracks knuckles] HERE WE FUCKING GO (under a cut ‘cause this got long):

SkekLi, living quarters headcanon: Absolute mess. Not a mess in the sense that say, skekEkt’s room is a mess, where everything looks incredibly disorganized but if you move anything Ekt will blow out your eardrums yelling at you for disrupting his system. Li’s room is messy in the way that even he doesn’t know what’s going on. There are scraps of paper with half-written jokes or notes on them, stacks of books that didn’t fit on an overflowing bookshelf, a scroll for some gelfling play or another that’s been written over with so much red ink that the original text is illegible. His bed, in a similar vein, is basically just a nest of pillows and blankets.

Rak, sad headcanon: Super self conscious about the way he sounds. If it’s a vocal quality, he’s had a negative thought about it. He hears the way that Sil or So will respond to someone, so effortless and quick, and will think of how long it can take him to think of the right words for something. He thinks about the double tone of his voice, how low and gravelly can so quickly turn to weak, pitchy rasps. He thinks he should be louder for his elders to better hear him, but many times he just can’t be. Sometimes he thinks it would be far easier if he stayed quiet.

Hunter, angry/violent headcanon: Like his “father”, Hunter’s anger manifests physically and he’s not always in control of what he does when angry (yes I am referencing that adorable bit from Reconstruct the Unreasonable). Usually he’ll go to train it off, practice teleporting or just spar until he feels at least a little better. But sometimes he’ll only come to his senses after something is broken. Sound familiar?

Aln, sleep headcanon: One word: Weight. Aln cannot fall asleep without some kind of pressure on him. Even in the summer unums, he’s got at least two of their heavier blankets and a sheet. However, the presence of a certain Spymaster at night very much helps with this issue.

Wasp, cooking/food headcanon: Can’t cook for shit, but loves anything sweet. The energon rations in the Stockades aren’t exactly the best, and he was running on what amounted to about a quarter tank of quality fuel when he escaped. As such, he will devour any kind of energon treat he can get his hands on (this is also a little bit based on the whole bug-sugar thing).

Belos, sad headcanon: Where… where do I even start with this? Nearly every headcanon about him we have is sad! Well, since I’ve got Titan on the brain, I’ll say this: should Belos ever be reminiscing about something nice that involves another person, say, Hunter’s first steps, having a friendly debate with Kikimora in the library about the outlandish possibility of domesticating some wild fauna of the Boiling Isles, even (and especially) the fleeting, faint memories of his brother, that’s when the Titan will slither into his mind like they were called. They love lightly inquiring about the moment he’s thinking about, picking it apart to remind Belos of how everyone leaves him, one way or another, and that they are the only constant. They will never leave him. They are all he has.

Mac, childhood headcanon: Her hair was twice as curly when she was little, and gradually flattened as she got older to where it is now. She was also one of those babies who was born with some hair. Most pictures of her as a kid feature her wild mop of hair, band-aids, and missing teeth. She was very scrappy as a little one.

Kiki, romantic headcanon: I will take this to my grave, between her and Belos, at least, she is the smooth one and she knows it. Zero contest. You’d think that the Emperor’s personal assistant who yells at people for 75% of her day wouldn’t have a romantic bone in her little body, but nope. If Wrath were to take wooing lessons from any demon, it should be her.

Blitzwing, happy headcanon: You know how Random laughs? Loud, full cackle, fully unhinged? That’s how Icy and Hothead laugh too. Obviously a bit different with varying pitch and whatnot, but still. Also, Random is the only one who does this, but he bounces on the balls of his pedes when he’s excited about something.

Shockwave, quirks/hobbies headcanon: Don’t really know what prompted this, but he strikes me as someone who walks very quietly. Whether this is a habit left over from consciously stepping carefully as Longarm so not to give away his true mass, or just how he is, many don’t notice Shockwave enter a room until he’s right beside them. As for hobbies, he likes to compose in his spare time. Nothing fancy, just smatterings of tunes and melodies that he thinks might sound nice.

SkekSo, friendship headcanon: You will know if the Emperor counts you as a friend if he complains to you. Some skeksis very casually commiserate, like the Collector or the Scrollkeeper; skekSo is not among them. The most he will show in public is cool irritation at something, but only friends get to hear the real bitching about petty things.

Rampage, likes/dislikes headcanon: Rampage really enjoys warmer, temperate weather, which is partially influenced by his beast mode. Adding on to that, a lot of experiments performed by the Maximals involved prolonged exposure to extremes of temperature, which increased his distaste for them. (Also likes physical affection but will NOT admit it)

Tarantulas, random headcanon: Worked at a literal fever pitch for weeks when he was making Ostaros. No idea before had ever taken him as hard as this one. Every possible waking moment was devoted to creating this sparkling, synthesizing the protoform, preparing the proper fuel, striking a spark from as close to nothing as one possibly could. Once the big yellow eyes of his creation finally opened, Tarantulas knew that every ounce of effort was worth it, and worth far more.

[oz-the-sorcerer]

Create For Thra Day 6: "There are many paths laid before us, some good, most bad."

@createforthra

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Here's a thing I have written months ago, which happens to be a perfect fit for today's topic!

Excuse my writing skills and enjoy!... Or cry.

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Open Your Eyes

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Kira tried to wipe away some of the blush from her freckled cheeks. She loved her reflection on the dressing mirror, but she thought her mom could do her make up a little bit less.

She heard her mom laugh.

"And here I was wondering how long would it take you to remove some of it."

"But it feels heavy, you know I like how I look."

"Yes honey, but this is a special occasion... Spare me this once?"

Kira rolled her eyes playfully as Brea braided her silver hair with beads. Kira's hair fell from her shoulders, she especially wanted side braids like her gorgeous mother, but had thin side braids instead of thick ones. She made them herself, then Brea offered help attaching the beads. Brea made two braids, connecting into one thick braid at the center.

"Looking good as ever." Came a silent voice. Kira turned to her aunt, whose body, spider body, was sitting on top of the counter. She couldn't help but blush, looking down.

"Don't move your head, sweetheart." Brea said, posing her head straight again.

"Sorry. I am just... Excited." She was terrifyingly aware of her heartbeat, tried to take a deep breath.

"I can sense your fear." Tavra walked with her thin legs and stopped between Kira and the mirror. "You have nothing to be afraid of."

"I can't help it." Kira explained. " I wish I could know what the future holds for me, like Mother Aughra. Maybe then I wouldn't be this vulnerable."

"You are not vulnerable." She felt her mother tug on her finished braid as a warning. She didn't like it when Kira dragged herself down this way. "Do you think I didn't feel afraid? I thought I was going to faint."

"Ah yes, glad that you only puked and didn't faint."

"Tavra!"

Kira started to laugh. Well, this story was new.

"You puked?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I didn't want my daughter to know this ridiculous fact, thank you very much."

"She was so excited, so she ate whatever she could find from the kitchen and made herself sick." Tavra spoke mischievously.

"I had to keep myself busy!" Brea argued with her big sister. Kira loved their bickering. They were almost never serious with it, that's why Kira even started some of them on purpose.

While they were stating opinions on how to cope with these kinds of excitement, Kira looked at the mirror once more, and decided her fear was a good thing. She would always have her loved ones by her side, possibly talking nonsense like this and she realized, there was nothing to be afraid of. Her future, their future was filled with hope and laughter, she just knew it.

Another deep breath. And a big smile.

"Alright, all done here." Her mother said. For final touch, Tavra brought her golden coronet, which Brea placed on Kira's brow.

A knock on the door which made Kira's heart flip. Only Onica's wild red hair could be seen since she opened the door ajar while talking with someone outside the dressing room. Tavra's tiny body bounced with joy. When Onica came in, they also saw Tae outside, waving at them.

"We are all set. You can come out whenever you want." said the Far-Dreamer.

"Thra's Mighty Hooyim King, you look amazing, Kira!" Tae cheered.

Kira thanked her while she got up from her chair. Her white gown with gold and silver rands fell smoothly behind her. Embroidered with both Vapra and Spriton symbols, she was very proud of this dress she made herself.

One last glance at her reflection, one last deep breathe.

Brea reached to fix her bangs while Onica put out her hand for Tavra to climb on. Tavra wished her a good luck with: "Go get him!" while moving her legs exaggeratively, causing a big laughter in the room.

Then they got out, it was only her and her mother now. Brea's eyes were shining, her little fizzgig was now all grown up, taking another big step in her life.

"Mother, I will be okay."

"I know, baby."

"So, don't cry."

Brea abruptly wiped her tears on her long sleeve, trying not to smear her make up. Then she held Kira's hand and squuezed. Supposedly, they promised each other just this morning as a family that they weren't going to cry.

But all those hardships back in the trines, almost getting killed by a Garthim several times... Brea still couldn't believe it was all over. Skeksis no more.

Another knock on the door, and this time both of their eyes sparkled, as the legendary songteller stepped in to the dressing room with a blinding smile.

Kylan stopped in his tracks and stared at his daughter in awe. Kira laughed and went to hug him.

"Please don't start crying like mother did just now."

Kylan chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her and spinned once. Then he sent a playful smirk on Brea's way and said: "It seems you lost our bet, love."

Brea pretended to be angry with a pout, but when she glanced at her little family, she smiled until her cheeks hurt.

"I want a hug too!" she said as she took big steps towards her husband. Kylan opened one arm for her and immidiately in she was. Kira leaned on her father's shoulder, which always felt like home. After some minutes, Brea sniffled once more, and Kira reached and hugged her as well. This is nice, she thought. It had been a while since they could be like this because of the fussy preparations.

When they let go, Kylan placed both hands on her cheeks and kissed her forehead. Kira could see his eyes becoming misty with emotion as well. She smiled widely with the same eyes she has as her father.

Brea took his arm and started to lead him toward the door.

"Aww, I don't want to give her to Jen yet!"

Brea raised a laugh. "You are not giving her to anyone, honey. Let's give her a moment and take our places at the balcony."

Then she flashed Kira a proud look, and they were gone.

Kira felt aware of her heart again. She couldn't stop this fuzzy feeling inside her stomach and bounced around happily. Calm yourself before you sweat inside the dress, she thought to herself. She let go of the fists she made without noticing, and reached for the door.

Citadel's hallways were empty. As she passed each one, she heard the Gelf folk outside, crowded and excited, just like her. The noise grew louder and louder, then she made a left turn, reaching the last corridor before the Citadel's balcony.

She already could see her parents, on the left side. Brea was already looking at her direction and when she saw Kira coming, she gently elbowed Kylan's arm, causing him to look at her too. And the smile he gave her was everything. Before she teared up, she took a right glance, and saw Rian and Deet, also waiting for her to arrive.

With all the rustling her parents caused, Jen turned around where he was standing at the center and their eyes met.

The flutter inside her chest made her think that she was really about to let go of the lunch she had at noon.

Even if he tried to, Jen couldn't stop looking at her until she was at his side. He awkwardly reached his hand out for her. She took it eagerly.

They both stood straight before her Aunt Seladon, who was going to perform their marriage ceremony. She smiled down at them lovingly, which, Kira didn't experience often much before.

Kira glanced down at all the Gelfling who attended their wedding. Besides the whole citizens of Ha'rar, she could see many faces from every clan. Well, if there is any left, at this point.

Her Uncle Gurjin and Auntie Naia were cheering loudly, as well as her Uncle Amri. As her closest family friends, they had every right to scream.

She couldn't even begin to count everyone she knew when her eyes locked with a figure, at the very back of the crowd. Her eyes widened as the old creature's crane's shard shined with light.

"Mother Aughra..." she let out before she could manage. Jen smiled knowingly.

"I also thought she wouldn't be here today."

Kira, not being sure if Aughra could see it, bowed her head slowly at her direction. Jen followed right after her, thanking Mother Thra for everything she's done for the Gelfling.

When they finally started the ceremony, Aughra snickered loudly.

"These kids..." she said to herself. She ignored the looks of some Gelfling who heard her loud and sudden snicker, and glanced at the endless sky.

"You spoil these children, old friend." She talked to Thra, jokingly mentioning the great weather today. Her tired eyes scanned her every children, happy and bonded with the song of Thra.

They deserved this, she thought.

Their future is brighter than the stars above, she thought.

Then she closed her eyes, listening to her children's voices.

She didn't want to open them. She truly didn't. However, she had no other choice. She counted every star she visited while she was sleeping, just to kill time. But, they also came to an end.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a Gelfling. Laying and unmoving, already returned to Thra. After every slow step she took, she saw another. And another.

She recognized one, two, three... Maybe all. Or maybe she didn't. She didn't know.

She wondered, why Thra showed her this vision now. Which didn't mean anything. She huffed, then coughed, trying to silence her pain.

She knew where she was. In which reality, in which possible future she was in. She had this reality as a vision trines ago, and there they were. Her children, poor children...

And she knew what she was supposed to do. Her feet took her to the right direction as if moving without her consent. But that was she. That was Thra. Already decided fate. Too late to return.

One tear dropped from her eye to the bloody soil as she stood beside the corpse of a certain songteller, his eyes are half open as he clutched into his magical firca, like a last hope.

She leaned down and grabbed it. With delicate care, she fully closed his eyes, careful of her crooked nail.

Without looking back, she made her way toward the already decided route again. She wished all of her children, for them to return to Thra safely, as that was all she could do.

Grunting while she walked, scolding Thra for showing her a vision this heartbreaking, for making her cry, off to the UrRu valley she went. With the firca around her neck.

[feusus]

About Rian (2.0)

I already wrote something about him a while ago but I did another ‘essay’ for a Trial By Stone podcast episode centered on him. Of course, I did some modifications because it was before the cancellation. The interviews I mention on the text are obviously the ones in the podcast. 

Rian is a bit overlooked as a character sometimes, often seen as the least interesting of our protagonists or just the pretty boy with beautiful hair and eyes (he sure does, but that’s not my point !) I’ve been a bit surprised by those statements because I’ve been really touched by his character watching the show, and I wasn’t even fond of his design at first ! 

Being a lifelong animation fan and a hobbyist animator, I got a hard time adjusting again to puppetry in AOR. But after watching a lot of stage puppet shows, I did ! And Neil Sterenberg’s performance on Rian was the one that struck me the most. At first I felt more familiar with Deet or Brea because their facial expressions felt more like animation. Rian expresses himself by his body, and for me, it’s the expression of puppetry in it’s purest form. Obviously, he has almost all the action packed scenes with choreographies pushing forward the art of puppetry. Now, as a puppet nerd, I would give everything to see unedited cuts of these scenes with that full body Rian performed by those three perfectly synched puppeteers. But that’s not what impresses me the most in his performance. Neil talked in his interview about “stillness without being still” and all those tiny movements we humans do even if we don’t notice it. It fascinates me how Rian’s emotions can be portrayed by those simple movements, like a tilt of a head, a breath, a gasp, a head lowering, awkward steps, a weight nervously shifting leg to leg... It was hard to convince me that he doesn’t have feet ! I can comfortably say that it’s the best physicality I saw in a hand-rod puppet ! I watched some of his scenes multiple times as inspiration, mainly because I’m currently learning to perform human-like characters. I have rarely seen that sense of rhythm, breath, balance and most of all : weight.

Because when you think about it, Rian’s character is all about weight. The weight of his father’s reputation, the weight of truth, the weight of responsibility and the weight of loss, grief, symbolized by the essence vial he keeps carrying. As Alice Dinnean said in her interview, he starts off as a spoiled kid. He was at the core of society, but unlike Brea, he didn't question anything. He took everything for granted. But he got the biggest slap on the face ever, and he grew up very quickly afterwards. Even if he still takes dumb decisions and is very very flawed, I love how he has a very mature mindset after being listed as a fugitive. He is a victim of his people's fear and ignorance, but what is truly inspiring is how he forgives and kind of understands them, he is more sad than angry about it all. It seems like seing his loved ones dying opened his eyes about Gelfling’s vulnerability and, deep down, his own. The truth can easily die with him. I had the pleasure to have a chat with Neil at the Great Con Junction (Dark Crystal’s first convention), and he said that he portrayed Rian as a character who has more growth in his heart than in his fighting strength. And it shows ! He gains more empathy and humility. We can see his movements getting slower and heavier like all this weight is literally accumulating on his shoulders, and at the same time these movements are gentler, more careful. I don’t know if it’s only Neil getting better at his portrayal or if it was made on purpose, but as he said we can easily project things on puppets.

(There was a poll) As my favorite Rian moment, I chose the group dreamfast scene in episode 4 because even if it happens a bit fast, it encapsulates that evolution the best. Rian convinced Kylan, Tavra and Naia to dreamfast with him, thanks to his sincerity and explaining calmly the truth. Dreamfasting is for me the ultimate form of empathy. A communication without any words, only memories and feelings. Reliving Mira’s death over and over again is seen as a torture for Rian by some viewers, but I saw it as a chance to heal. For the first time after dreamfasting with Gurjin, a weight is lifted from his heart and shared. He has his father with him, and new allies, he is able to cry and they are all crying with him. Rian is still very young. He is deep down a frightened Gelfling in a twisted world, running for his life. He lost practically everything and is searching for new foundations. He needs help, he needs others and he knows it. He found what he wanted in Brea and Deet. He rely on them but is overprotective and extremely worried if something happens to them, because the weight of his losses is still there. He acts this way mainly with Deet. I know that it’s pretty controversial, but I love their relationship. Deet is not Mira, and they are not officially a couple yet ! For me when they are together, they’re in a bubble of solace. They can be themselves, Deet can put down her happy face and show her sorrow and homesickness, and Rian can put down his brave face and show his doubts and vulnerability. One lifts the other up, and they give each other that precious hope powering the resistance. Now that he lost her too, all that weight is falling on him again. Will he go after her and not run away again ? Or would it be the time to properly mourn his losses ?

Rian is the fire of resistance, the « Deatea » in the song of Thra (I don’t know if that’s correct ! I haven’t read the books) But a fire can’t be ignited alone and needs to be constantly fueled. He is not the quirkiest character, even if his sarcasm in the opera scene makes me chuckle. He is a tragic character, he is my favorite character, and whatever form season 2 will take, I look forward to know how he will go on and if the slow fall of his entire species will be another weight for him to carry. 

[skekheck]

I love TDC because the world is so unique and varied. I love the themes of unity and balance. Not to mention I feel like AOR does a good job tackling its themes of racism and environmental issues.

As for projects, I've been working on a soul mate AU for 4+ years now. It's mainly focused on my OCs but I do give canon characters the spotlight. It's called Bonds if you or anyone else is interested.

The AU has spawned a prequel (The Forming of Bonds) and an alternative timeline (Legacy).

I also have another AU that's basically me being self-indulgent with gelfing x skeksis, gelfling x mystic, podling x mystic, and skeksis x podling pairings.

Yeah I think AOR handles all of those themes with care, especially sensitive topics. And they do it in a way that's respectful to its audience so even kids can understand.

And that's incredible that you've been working on that one AU for four years!

[branded-me-heretic]

TDC FANDOM PLEASE READ:

hey!!! i’m lana. you might know me, you might not. i wanted to share some thoughts a month after AOR was announced as cancelled.

i first saw TDC with my mom when i was 5 (so, back in 2004-ish) and i completely fell in love. i was enamored with the imagery, moved by the story, and found solace in the characters. mostly, the gelflings.

i won’t lie, i didn’t have a ton of friends as a kid. i switched schools when i was eight and from then until high school graduation i was kind of a floater. i was “normal” enough to not fit in with the alternative kids, but i was too weird to really find my place with friends of mine who seemed to be all-american kids.

but through everything, i had a few corners of the world that remained sacred to me. one of them was TDC. i found a fansite one night when i was ten and spent that entire summer reading seemingly endless pages of fanfic. just getting lost in a reality so far from my own.

of course, i grew up. i’m an adult now. and i have amazing friends and people who i love. but despite all of that, AOR and the entire TDC world is still my softest place to land when i’m upset or hurting.

i just want you all to know that i’ve been here since 2009, when the thought of Netflix producing a prequel series (for ten entire episodes) wasn’t even a possibility. the dark crystal was a weird movie from the eighties that no one knew besides me. however, the fanfics and fanart and fansites kept me going and, i think, strengthened my love of this universe immensely.

don’t lose hope, guys. and when you feel yourself falling, lean on the creations of fans around you. TDC fans are amazing writers and artists. TDC fans have gone on to MAKE the actual content that we so eagerly watch and read! thank you all for the work you’ve created over the years, and thank you for the work i know you’ll create even in this time of uncertainty.

love you infinite,

lana