#if i knew how to do animatics. BOI

[pekoeboo]

feeling Emotional tonight and i ended up crying ugly tears thinking about Khalan again. it's always the songs from my character playlist that get me good, man 😭

[eternalglitch]

Hi! I've been following your story since probably the 5th chapter (I'm not sure exactly), and it's absolutely amazing! I ran across the anamatic for it first, and I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking at. I had only ever known the 2007 movie version of tmnt. And then the description said it came from your story, and I love reading, so I checked it out. There, it said to watch the show first, and I was like, nahhhh. It'll be fine. I know the characters, the 4 boys, splinter, Casey and April, the Shredder. What more was there?

Oh boy. As soon as I read the name Draxum, I was confused. I thought maybe I was misremembering Shredders real name. But then who was Big Mama?

So I caved and went to find the show.

I was the same as everyone else who started it. "What in the world did they do to them?!" I really didn't like Splinter. The designs of the boys were so weird. Why was Raph acting so childish? The whole caboodle.

But I was informed by anime watchers years prior that when you first start a show, you need to give it the 3 episode test: watch the first three episodes before you give your final verdict. The first three are vital for the show writers and artists and producers to play with and figure out how the show is going to move forward and what style they'll fall into. They have the first three episodes to gently flush out who the characters are without bombing the watchers with info. So I did.

It was exactly what I needed to get through college. It actually retaught me how to laugh at shows again. How to be engaged. How to enjoy something again.

And as soon as I finished the show, I went right back to your story and finally understood who the characters were.

And coming fresh from the show, the characters I read in your story were like I never finished the series. Everything about them was the same. You drew their personalities out perfectly.

I wanted to share my findings and did the exact same thing I went through for a friend. I showed her the video, and she got excited. I told her of the story, but that it only made sense after the show. She watched the show and enjoyed it all. I gave there the link to your tale, and she ate it up. I thought she might have a breakdown as she waited for each update.

We got both our brothers into the show. I got another guy friend to watch it, and finally convinced another friend to watch it. The first friend got HER friend to watch it...

Really, it's all because of your story that I have a whole friend group that I can talk about turtles with.

So thank you 😊

-🐢

P.s. I hope for healing well and that your Lil rat buddies are doing much better.

I have actually had people read lfls with zero turtle background knowledge before, but if you are trying to map it to a different iteration it is definitely quite different. You probably joined around the 10th chapter, since I don't believe I had any serious fandom presence or fanart let alone an animatic until around that time.

Before Rise, 2007 was the only iteration of turtles I knew as well, by chance.

And I'm very glad my story created so many good opportunities and memories for you! Thank you for the very sweet ask <3

[kbthebearcat]

WHEW BOY I have been sitting on this animatic for 2 YEARS 🙃.

I first posted this as a WIP on DA here and I planned on finishing it way sooner, but I never got around to getting back to it until now. I think the main factors that made me procrastinate so much was that for a long time I didn’t know how to fill in certain gaps of the animatic. I didn’t know how I wanted it to look… Then I finally chipped away at it again maybe last year? Or several months ago… and I finally filled in the rest of the gaps. And then, because I felt like the audio was too low, I wanted to put subtitles to make sure you knew what they were saying. But then that became too tedious, which made me stall more… and eventually I just decided to amplify the audio to make it louder, and ditch the subs. And now we’re here. I see things that could be better/fixed and made to look nicer, but I’m calling it done lol. Overall, I do still like how this came out, and even though it’s really janky and messy. Audio was taken from here!

[gamerbearmira]

WOO WOO THE WHISTLE BLOWS

Ok. I decided to wait until today to post this (and totally not because I fell asleep) BUT LIKE. HERE'S THE FLUFF <33 POLSR EXPRESS AU❗❗❗

And a little animatic i put virtually no effort in the night before but. I gotta do SOMETHING to make up for what I posted last night 🥸

LEA GET IT

-----

Agustín was checking the time, his whistle in his other hand. The Polar Express was set to take off in only 10 minutes. Mirabel was excited, as it was her first time helping conduct the main cars. At first, she was only following Agustín around. But now, she could finally help conduct like he did.

Mirabel stood next to her father, giddily jumping in place. Agustín looked down at his 14-year-old daughter, smiling. "Excited hija?"

"Very!" Mirabel exclaimed happily, clutching his arm. "I get to finally work like you do!" Agustín laughed and ruffled her hair.

"Well we'll be heading off soon, so don't worry," he said, turning to walk inside to check the schedule. Mirabel stayed outside, excited. All the other kids the Encanto had already boarded, and she knew because she was the one who greeted and guided them, as well as gave them candy canes; like she did every year.

As Mirabel waited, she saw Casita's doors open. She saw Antonio rushing down the hill and to the train. He giggled as he held one of his teddy bears in his arms.

"Mira!" He smiled, the four-year-old hugging her youngest primo.

"Tonio! You're here!" Mirabel said, cuddling with him. She then showed him her hands, then reached behind his head, and pulled out a candy cane. As Antonio put it in his mouth, Agustín walked out, smiling at the sight of his sobrino.

"Hola Tio!" Antonio greeted and Agustín pinched Antonio's cheeks, eliciting a playful giggle from the boy.

"Hola Tonito. Are you excited about the Polar Express this year?" Agustin asked and Antonio enthusiastically nodded.

"Yeah! I can't wait to get to the North Pole," Antonio said, sticking the candy cane back into his mouth. The boy looked back at Casita, pausing, before taking it out and looking at his tio. "Tio?"

"Si?" Agustín said, half paying attention to Antonio, the other at his pocket watch.

"Can Isa, and Lola, and Lulu and Milo come?" Antonio asked, rattling off the names in excitement. Mirabel's eyebrows raised, and she looked at her father hopefully. She knew he was rather strict when it came to the Polar Express and how it ran but...she wouldn't lie, it could be fun.

Agustín quirked an eyebrow, looking at the pocket watch in his hand. He tapped his foot "I don't know..." He mused.

"Please papá? It's been forever since it was all of us! Plus, Antonio won't have to worry about being alone in the car anymore!" Mirabel pleaded.

Agustín pressed his lips together, looking at the watch, then Mirabel, then Antonio. He stepped back, looking into the car, then up and down the train. He sighed heavily, and Mirabel and Antonio lit up.

"5 minutes. You have 5 minutes to go back and get them. We're on a tight schedule, so don't be late," Agustín said. With an excited giggle, Mirabel rushed back to Casita, while Antonio waited alongside Agustín, his small hand gripping Agustín sleeve.

Mirabel rushed into Casita, scrambling up the stairs. "Casita, help me wake up my sisters and cousins!" She whispered. Casita gave an affirmative flip as she rushed off to Luisa's room.

Opening the door, she rushed into the stone room, running up to her sister, who was in bed. She shook her awake, and Luisa groggily looked at Mirabel.

"Mira? What are you doing?" Luisa asked, blinking away the sleep.

"Do you wanna go to the North Pole with me and papá?" Mirabel asked.

Luisa stared at Mirabel, processing what she said before shooting up. "Of course I do, let's go!" Mirabel was launched off the bed, but Luisa caught her, snatching her robe off the hook and slipping on the nearest pair of shoes.

Luisa left the room, Mirabel in her arms. Isabela was rubbing her eyes, her shoes and robe on. Dolores yawned, and Camilo was standing next to her.

"What's going on?" Camilo asked, noticing Luisa's excitement.

"We get to go to the North Pole!" Luisa said excitedly, placing Mirabel down and rushing out the door.

"Wait, the Polar Express is here?" Camilo said wide-eyed, and he was hot on Luisa's heels, barely clinging to his robe.

"What? The Polar Express isn't real, it's just a kid's story," Isabela said and Mirabel shook her head.

"Come on Isa, just trust me! You don't remember it, but it is real!" Mirabel grabbed both Isabela and Dolores's hands, practically dragging them out of the house. The two were protesting until they got outside. Their eyes widened as they saw the bright lights that lit up the cars of the large train that waited for them.

"It's real?" Dolores mumbled and Mirabel rushed down the hill with Isabela and Dolores in tow. Antonio had gotten on board in the car that was designated for Madrigals. He waved to Dolores from the window, still eating his candy cane.

Mirabel handed candy canes to her sisters and cousins, urging them onto the train. She checked her watch, it then struck 11:55 right as she got Isabela into the cart. Pulling out her whistle, she looked up and down and noted that all the doors were closed.

"Dolores, cover your ears!" Mirabel called and Dolores hastily did as her prima said. Mirabel blew her whistle, and the train started up, the train's own whistle going off. Mirabel hopped on, closing the door as the train chugged along the tracks that had magically appeared.

Antonio kicked his legs as he sat next to his brother, who was excited to be there as well, though probably not as much as Luisa, who was like a little kid on Christmas, unironically. Isabela and Dolores held their candy canes, looking around the cart.

As Mirabel wrote something on the schedule, Agustín walked into the car, a big smile on his face. "I see you made it in time!"

"Papá? It's...it's real? It's not a story?" Isabela said in shock and Agustín nodded. "Of course it's real! And we're going to the North Pole to see your tio."

"Papá Noel is our tio?!" Luisa said, her eyes lighting up, and she almost fell out of her seat, barely catching herself and her candy cane.

Agustín laughed and nodded. "Yes, he is. Mi hermano mayor. We just don't see him often, he's very busy," he explained. "I'm sure he'll be happy to see the rest of you this year as well, hm?"

"PAPÁ NOEL! OH MY GOSH!" Luisa screamed in excitement, crushing the candy canes in her hand. Dolores covered her ears, but easily understood Luisa's excitement. The other laughed at how excited she was, and honestly cpuldn't help but feel the same.

-----

WOWOWOWOWW❗❗❗ So cool, so fluff <333 I kinda wanna write more. Might be more active today since I visited family yesterday!! And. You can clearly see how excited Luisa is. She loves it because she gets to feel like a kid again and she's not working or anything. And she just like Christmas 😭

And I got new iPad!! LETS GOOOO❗❗❗ That's why I've been drawing with my finger <333

Anyway MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYYYYSSSSS <3333

[autisticlalna]

and i am just the NEW INVENTION - a Twitch SMP VikingPilot & Rubyco fanmix

[ listen on Spotify! ]

TRACKLIST: tally hall - Ruler of Everything // oingo boingo - Gratitude // hi i'm case - Monsters Nearby // IDKHOW - New Invention // forrest day - Sleepwalk // jubyphonic, circus-p - Hello, Again // big data - Put Me to Work // chase petra - Reliable Narrator // enter shikari - Crossing the Rubicon // the mountain goats - Younger // rare americans - Up, Up & Away // 65daysofstatic - Aren't We All Running // set it off - Hourglass // USS - Hydrogenuine // agosti - Triangles // becko - HOME // area 11 - Everybody Gets A Piece // panic! at the disco - Crazy = Genius // enter shikari - No Sleep Tonight // fall out boy - The Last Of The Real Ones // i fight dragons - The Devil You Know

(warning: contains strong language)

reasoning behind songs under the cut!

these are a bit of a mess and are anywhere from "viking" to "ruby" to "navigator" to "kinda sapphire-ish??" to "one's feelings about the other" to "both of them" to "general vibe". there's also a few songs that got cut but still kinda hit the vibe that i might talk abt some other time??? i dunno man this playlist was a catastrophe to make. ANYWAY

Ruler Of Everything: "you understand mechanical hands are the ruler of everything, ruler of everything, i'm the ruler of everything in the end" // Viking. i don't really need to elaborate here, it's just Viking.

Gratitude: "but when i think of you, and what you've done to me, you took away my hope, you took away my fantasy, i once had lots of pride, the world was in my hands, i lived way at the top in castles made of sand" // gestures in the vague direction of Viking and Ruby. man i don't even know what's happening over there. this is a bit of a Recency Bias song bc i first heard it like right before lore really kicked off so it was fresh in my mind

Monsters Nearby: "only get so far putting off those dreams of yours [..] thinking of all these strange things when you should rest, it's hard to sleep like this when there's monsters nearby" // Ruby! and, like, of course i'm going to add the song that keeps making me think of the "You cannot sleep, there are monsters nearby" message. "And that voice behind the polarized advice can be the same" is about Viking, though.

New Invention: "oh i can't say no, i'm losing control! i'm having bad dreams, and nothing you can do will keep the bad dreams away from me until i fall asleep. bad dreams! despite your good intentions, that girl is like an architect and i am just the new invention!" // Ruby and Viking! if i did an animatic to any song off this playlist it would be New Invention. goddamn. (also, tViking's design reminds me a bit of eFalse, and roenais's Empires animation to this song lives in my head rent-free)

Sleepwalk: "bad thoughts give me bad dreams and my bad dreams make me get up and walk. bad thoughts give me bad dreams and my bad dreams make me sleepwalk." // oh my god Ruby and Sapphire. the ominous mood encapsulates everything about Sapphire to me, especially before we knew who Saph actually is and she was just "Ruby sleepwalks and leaves ominous signs". it's dark and foreboding and i love it.

Hello, Again: "find a mechanist, a mechanism, working one-by-one! with a busted up database, i'm losing the chase, but i'll say hello again, hello, just who have i become?" // the whole conversation about fixing things, and how that's become a reoccurring theme with Sapphire as well - switching from Ruby being the broken one to Viking being the one needing to be fixed. plus the whole "Ruby and Viking meeting across loops" thing - hello again, hello, just who can i become?

Put Me to Work: "set me off, see what i'm worth! turn me on, i go berserk! i don't care if i get hurt! no, i don't care, just put me to work! [..] i will replace you, replace you, replace you [..] and i won't care when they get hurt, no i don't care, just put me to work!" // Viking is, uh. a lot. hyperfocused to the point of self-destruction. this does bleed over to Ruby too, though, what with zir being desperate to be something Viking won't throw away when he stops seeing zir as useful and Navigator's warning of "don't let him break you". i guess the real question is: would Viking care if they get hurt?

Reliable Narrator: "did you forget that i am not a pacifist? the scar we'll earn from that will be well worth it. did you-- hypnosis, bring roses, don't blow this [..] the bruising will be worth the freedom i have earned from letting everything burn!" // basically every Ruby song on here is "Ruby is going through it". there's a tension here. very fun to have this song on here though considering Sapphire sign "I am a unreliable narrator, am I not?"

Crossing the Rubicon: "fill me out a prescription for this existential dread, i woke up into a nightmare and i'm hoping that you'll take me back to bed [..] fill me out a prescription, can you free me from this curse? i woke up inside your compass and you're navigating us from east to worst [..] something's got to give, we've gone too far to turn back" // this has been a Viking song for ages but never made it onto my dViking playlist for some reason. it works better here, i think. there's going to be a tipping point where you cross the point of no return.

Younger: "try not to lose sight of the mission! it never hurts to give thanks to the broken bones you had to use to build your ladder. moment close at hand, half of you will never understand, and it doesn't really matter. [..] it never hurts to give thanks to the navigator, even when he's spitting out random numbers." // Certified Navigator Moment as suggested by Charm!! this is one of the songs i can't put into words the emotions i have about it but it's just... a lot. "It never hurts to give thanks to the broken bones" is about everybody Viking is going to burn through to get to his goal, and that kinda ties into Navigator trying to intercept i guess??? i dunno man i don't work here <- literally made this playlist

Up, Up & Away: "how many lives can a guy buy? [..] can't erase or save face, what will they think when they hear my voice on the tapes? skies open, wheels in motion, no going back, no, i've chosen!" // Viking!! aaaauughhhhhhhhh. what will you do to get to where you need to go? once again linking into the we've gone too far to turn back thing from Crossing the Rubicon. y'know, in case you can't tell that i think Viking's going to do something awful to reach his ambitions.

Asking For It: "power through the point of no return, famously deranged, all the same hope you change, if the worm is gonna turn, it's none of my concern" // somebody absolutely rips into Viking. probably Ruby. "if the worm is gonna turn it's none of my concern" is said by Viking in this context though. famous last words before Ruby (or Sapphire?) decks him. fun fact: this was one of the first songs i associated with tViking specifically, back during the first lore scene, but i went "ehhh???" on it. then we got to see a bit more of him and... yeah. this guy is asking for it.

Aren't We All Running: [instrumental] // there's a couple instrumentals on here because of talking to Solar about how character playlists rarely have instrumentals and i wanted to have a couple of rest points. i love the slow build here and the overall mood. montage music.

Hourglass: "i can't fix it, is this where i give in? i'm falling through the hourglass, and i don't think i'll ever make it back [..] turn the page, look back at what you wrote, do you still feel the same?" // shoutouts to Rubyco Themself for namechecking this song! it's real good. someone let Ruby out of his BOX he needs HELP

Hydrogenuine: "11 is the number i seem assigned to, inversions of an opposite truth aligns you, directions like the back of your hand will guide you, i am simply here to assist and remind you" // this is kindasorta a Navigator song, kindasorta just The Situation. i cannot properly explain this one, it just Is. what if we kept running into each other in different universes and timelines but something broke this time and now we're trying to fix it

Triangles: [instrumental] // iiii wanna animaaaate to this sooooongggg hope this heeeeelps

HOME: "every road leads back to where i belong! and i can see, when i'm on my own it's the place i can call home! my mind creates a new world that is so disordered, i proclaim myself king and pope! DID, we are in 3 but we're getting along well, i'm glad to be the leader of the wolf pack!" // Viking is so incredibly not okay. just, like, in general. had fun with the DID lyric though considering Viking and Ruby's plotlines are "other versions of themselves are hijacking their bodies" lmao. love unconventional plurality.

Everybody Gets A Piece: "did you honestly think it might've been, might've been me? and all this while, did you think of me? you know, all this while we were pure potential energy dreaming [..] don't ask, you'll never get! you never asked, so you never got nothing! did you get all you wanted from me?" // this one's a bit looser but the vibes are there. the "don't ask, you'll never get" bit is Viking and Sapphire constantly talking in circles mixed with Viking using everybody as tools and that potentially including Ruby. UM. ALSO MAYBE A NAVIGATOR SONG NOW TBH. I MADE THIS BEFORE TONIGHT'S STREAM.

Crazy = Genius: "and i said: if crazy equals genius, if crazy equals genius! then i'm a fucking arsonist, i'm a rocket scientist! if crazy equals genius! you can set yourself on fire, but you're never gonna burn, burn, burn! you can set yourself on fire, but you're never gonna learn, learn, learn, hey!" // peak Viking. LOOK WE'VE EVEN GOT THE FIRE THEME IN HERE! we love an unhinged inventor with an obsession with fire metaphors

No Sleep Tonight: "and from that height we'll leak the lies, and unveil the damaged skies, 'cause we can't quite stomach this! [..] i still can't comprehend a beginning or an end, no i can't quite stomach this! all i'm trying to say is: you're not getting any sleep tonight!" // more hypothetical Future Speculation stuff mixing in with how generally Screwed reality is for Viking/Navigator and Ruby/Sapphire. also the sleepless theming that's clinging to Ruby through all of this.

The Last Of The Real Ones: "you were too good to be true, gold plated - but what's inside you, but what's inside you? [..] i will protect you, i will protect you, just tell me tell me tell me i- i am the only one, even if it's not true, even if it's not true" // WHAT IF YOU WERE SIBLINGS AND KEPT FINDING EACH OTHER IN EVERY UNIVERSE BUT THINGS KEPT GOING WRONG

The Devil You Know: "nobody knows you better than your demons, so, dance with the devil you know or go home."

[thisisahyperfixationnow]

What about Bones?

So sometimes I think about AOS vs TOS, and the biggest thing is that in TOS, Mcspirk is basically cannon. You cannot tell me those boys don’t love each other, it makes me crazy.

But in AOS, it’s just Spirk. Don’t get me wrong, I was a Spirk fan waaaaaay before I noticed Mcspirk in TOS, but I try to see the tension between anyone in shows I watch, I Jim and Bones just seemed like brothers. On the surface, this is just interesting, but what about Prime!Spock? (I’m gonna call him Selek)

Because he knew Jim and Leonard since his 30s. In this scenario, he dated them, basically married them. Hell, he’s t’hy’la with one and shared his katra with the other. He knows them. It’s the three of them.

So do you think he gets whiplash sometimes?

I bet he visits Jim and Spock, sometimes, especially after they start dating. And I wonder if one time they’re talking, and Bones walks in, and he’s expecting him to join in. To meld into the pair like his Leonard did. But instead he stands apart, like the friend that he is. I bet it’s heartbreaking, another reminder of what Selek’s lost.

Not only that, but what about Bones?

There’s an animatic somewhere on YouTube of Everything Stays where it compared AOS and TOS, and it pointed out to me that in the Kelvin timeline, there’s no nurse Chapel, and it got me thinking.

Not only do we not see Nurse Chapel, but I don’t remember there being a Doctor M’Benga either. So he has none of his original work friends in the sickbay. Well, he still has Jim and Spock, to an extent.

But what about Joanna?

We hear about Jocelyn in the shuttle, how his wife took the whole damned planet in the divorce, but does that include his daughter? The crew are significantly younger in AOS, does he even have her? Just how lonely is Bones?

I think about Leonard McCoy a lot.

[summertimemusician]

Linktober Day 6

Mask(s)

Soft and sweet with just a hint of melancholic because 1.I'm tired and probably need a nap father than coffee, 2.I actually managed to make a pretty good mocha and the Anchorage LOZ animatic came onto my playlist before writing this and it kind of influenced my mood, and 3. I'm saving the usual Majora's Mask flare of angst for another prompt because I was having way too much fun dissecting the tragedy of the Hero of Time before sleep deprivation snatched the idea away which is usually my sign to pass the heck out and save the second option for when I have more energy lol.

For the Warriors fans, also Warriors is a disaster of an older sibling but we adore and appreciate him for it in this household, as always can be implied romantic or platonic between him and reader.

You were all but pinned down to the ground, brought down more effectively and unable to find the strength to get up.

Well, not literally, there were no enemies nearby, the chaos at camp had long since died down and there wasn’t anything much to do now that night had fallen, the heavens deigning to put all of it’s glittering jewels on display.

Were it any other day you’d probably focus more on appreciating it in full, the fire was crackling merrily, you were safe and had a full stomach and even with the ever present threat of the Shadow possibly deciding to ambush you all while most of your guards were down, you had your boys with you and the crisp autumn petrichor was a balm on your soul, weary from the journey.

Maybe it would be fine to rest for a little while.

And then the small figure clinging to you flinched, burrowing closer and holding onto your tunic like a lifeline. And awareness came to you like a smack over the head with a log, your fingers gently carding through blond locks as you hum gently. Weighting options and just how quietly you could move without bothering the precious Sprite at your side.

You had guessed Time had been a sweet kid, and you still wanted to lodge a formal complaint with the gods for writing such cruel fate for him because the man couldn’t catch a break and you’re not the only one to take it personally. But he was killing you here, this is how you die, with an adorable but oh so heartbreakingly sad little boy having fallen asleep leaning against you after telling you all sorts of stories about his extensive mask collection.

(You don’t know wether you want to cry, scream or laugh, Mask was so, so young. It breaks your heart, just a little.

Really, the deities of Hyrule must adore tragedies. Bastards.)

Sighing, you decide to compromise, gently keeping the Kokiri boy right where he is, fast asleep and with barely any nightmares as you hum and card your fingers through the spun gold strands, you brush your fingers through the last masks he fell asleep mid through telling the story of how he’d acquired. If you were careful surely you’d be able to reach his pack on his side so he wouldn’t worry later.

A pair of brown boots invade your vision, Warriors crouches down. You think you spot a flash of surprise on his eyes as he spots Mask napping on you, and then fond amusement of a big brother you knew he directed often towards Wind, tone low, “Well would you look at that, out like a light. It’s a rare honor for him to trust anyone like this.”

You chuckle a bit, shaking your head, “I can tell, he’s a good kid. I’ve barely met him for a day and I’d already take on an army for him.”

“Welcome to my world.”, comes Warriors dry response, though you both knew he was a hundred percent serious, his own mask quickly falling away as he gently picked up the Deku Sprout Mask to put it back in the small sprite’s pouch, hiding it’s confused, fearful sadness from your gaze (and it’s an effort, not to twitch, as your rage towards Majora gained even more kindling to burn) as the soldier handled it with the due solemnity of being one of the few Mask would allow to even touch the masks without his immediate supervision, “... I never thought I’d see him again, as...”

“I know.” Your tone was quiet, as you carefully picked your choice of words.

If there’s one thing you knew about any Link, is that they’re all really good elder brother’s and that they are too hard on themselves. Warriors specially, Mask and Wind were his everything, there wouldn’t be words that could describe how gutted he was, after confirming his suspicions with you, regretting not saying anything against Mask joining the battle field back then, loathing himself for not convincing him or Lana into letting him stay in spite of his bad feeling that as soon as the young hero of time passed through that portal he was unlikely to ever meet him again.

... You settle for something simple, instead, reaching a hand to softly pat his head, taking care not to mess his hair too much, “You did good, Wars, it’s not your fault. Mask also knows you did your best.”

He still, sighing, the mask falling away as he guides your hand to his lips, quietly thankful (really, like big brother like little brother, your wonderful, silly, caring boys. You make a point to cheerfully bat away the butterflies in your stomach, ), “... Feels hard to believe that, some times. Thank you.”

You hum, after putting the Zora mask away, Warriors takes Mask’s other side, pulls you closer and breathes.

(Just in case, he lies to himself.)

You quietly listen to his stories about his little brother, and Warriors is content.

[kittick-art]

It's time for another Animatic Deep Dive!!

For those of you who haven't seen me do this before, I always like to do a massive post digging into my animatics after they get uploaded. This'll include a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, HD stills, and a whooole lot of insight into shot choices and cinematic storytelling. All my rambling is under the 'keep reading' break!

Before I say anything, here's the link to the animatic, if you haven't watched it yet or want easier access to it while reading through this post:

I always love showing my shot sheets, and I'm really thankful for them because they manage to somehow keep me sane throughout the entire project. So here are some snip-its of that:

I also want to include my value sheet, because getting the lighting right for this project was very important to me. A bit of a fun fact: the backgrounds for the very first shot (top left) and the entire sequence where Serizawa goes outside are just barely the same value.

Now, the part where I share HD stills & go into shot composition will be meshed together here because it's a little more organized that way. One thing you should know about me is that I'm a sucker for cinematic storytelling. It's why I love doing parallel shots and other little things that help propel the story even further than just "he picks up his umbrella here."

One big example of this is the first & final shots of the video. They both feature Serizawa and his umbrella (which could honestly be considered a character in its own right for this animatic). But the umbrellas in these shots are not the same, and you also get a sense that neither is Serizawa. Where he's all alone and clutching to what's basically his lifeline during the first shot, in the final shot he's surrounded by people who love him and is able to leave his umbrella behind.

And going into a more glaring parallel, and my favorite personally, I want to talk about the two over-the-shoulder shots. They are literally mirror shots of each other, with everything including the framing. But they couldn't be more different, in order to show how much Serizawa has grown. Even the lyrics parallel each other. ("And I wandered through the house like a little boy lost at the mall" // "And I stood there like a businessman waiting for a train")

And while I'm talking about lyrics, one sequence that honestly broke my heart while working on this was the first time we hear that repeated question of "what do I do?"

This whole bit was meant to read like Serizawa was asking that question aloud. And well, if this sequence is his question, then the second time we hear those same words are certainly the answer. As if to say, "This. This is what you did."

Now. I'm a sucker for camera movement. I had a ton of it in my Royai animatic, and it was a lot of fun to figure out. But I really wanted this animatic to read as snapshots from life, like photographs on a wall. And well, photos don't have camera movements. But there is one scene in the entire animatic that does have a camera move, and it's the one where Serizawa gets dressed and the camera pans to reveal his past self staring back at him from the mirror. I think saving the one camera move for this scene really helped, because I wanted it to be as jarring as possible.

And just as a little note, because I had to include them somewhere in here, I was so happy with the two shots of Serizawa and the character I've lovingly dubbed Scaryzawa. I just really wanted to convey the fear that Serizawa had that he was reverting back to how he used to be, and I'm so glad that a lot of people enjoyed these shots as much as I did.

And now, there's one glaring scene that I've avoided talking about til now because it's my absolute favorite, and this whole section is gonna get pretty ramble-y. I'm talking about the scene where Serizawa finally goes outside. Just like I mentioned earlier, the animatic was mainly still shots, and any animation was extremely limited. But going into this scene, I knew I needed to make it special. And the best way, in my opinion, was to make it full of motion.

I just really think there's something beautiful about someone like Serizawa stepping outside and really being introduced to nature again, even if it's unintentional. I put this line in the shot sheet, and I think I've said it to a few people already, but I really enjoyed the idea of Serizawa looking up through the skeleton of his umbrella and seeing the view it never allowed him when it was intact. And trying to capture that beauty and emotion is extremely hard, and something I don't really think is possible in my style. But I'm still so happy with how those two shots turned out.

And connecting myself to this a little bit because I'm selfish...I actually finished these shots and the animatic as a whole on my birthday. It's the day before Serizawa's, and while my own birthday is always a time of reflection for me, I really enjoyed being able to to reflect on someone else's growth for their birthday. Even if he's just a fictional character, Serizawa is very important to me and a lot of other people. I think I really connect myself to fictional characters because it helps me rationalize my own growth and journey. So, all of that to say that this animatic also felt like a birthday gift to me.

ANYWAYS. Wow. This was long. The Royai deep dive was long, but this is long. Thank you if you managed to read this far, seriously. And thank you to everyone who has shown their love for this thing I spent the past month on. I don't think I'll ever get used to having people seriously enjoy the work I do. Just really, truly, thank you. And happy birthday to Serizawa!

[friendly-neighborhood-furry]

@anothertawogsideblog its been a while, but i still wanted to respond to this! first off, thank you for your compliment on this post, it really means a lot! second of all, yes! although whatever song you have to recommend, it might already be on here! (however if it isn't, dm me!! i have something for that ;3c)

i've actually been waiting for an opportunity to share this, so thank you so much!

this playlist follows Rob's character progression through the original series (wiiiith some gaps filled in ;3)

below the cut are my insane ramblings explanations of why i picked the songs on the playlist, where/how they fit into the timeline of events, aaand a couple of headcanons i have that were inspired by the songs :D i tried to be quick and concise and only talk about lines that REALLY stood out to me

WARNING: don't click on it unless you are prepared to do a bit of reading. legitimately i'm warning you here, there's well over 3K words on this (not counting the lyric transcriptions)

wow, really? okay, strap in!

Self- by Will Wood and The Tapeworms

this and -Ish were recommendations from my partner, so thank you to him :3

the respective opening and closing songs to SELF-iSH tied the og album together, so it was only natural that they serve the same function here.

the SELF-iSH album already deals with themes of identity, and i personally find Rob to be so interesting because of his complex relationship with his identity. or i guess the relationship that i perceive him to have

this song is short, but it's one of many songs that represents something we didn't see happen onscreen. for this one, its Rob getting zapped into the Void.

"well i don't remember 2012, but i heard the world would turn to hell, and compared to that, well, i'm doing well, so i pray to God it really did"

2012 was the year the show began, but its also a year where people believed the world would end. the connection is sort of paradoxical in relation to the show

"so when all my friends forget my name, no, i wont come back and be the same, no, i wont come back and be the same, and i'm gonna be myself again"

this part in particular is not only representing him being erased from the mind's of people who knew him, but also foreshadowing his eventual transformation...

the last line haunts me, because in my head animatic, its something he's saying to reassure himself that he'll be okay. that he'll get out of this and still be himself. which,,, i'm sorry, excuse me (UGLY CRIES HARD INTO A PILLOW) okay next song

Turn the Lights Off by Tally Hall

AUTISM JUMPSCARE

so this song is basically the ensuing panic and chaos from being brought to a place where mistakes are kept. most of my head animatic is just him wandering around in the Void and being chased or frightened by all the weird shit in there.

"eyes of yellow scales and feathers tails in tethers turn the lights off"

more foreshadowing,,,, how the white of his eye changes to yellow after the Void,,,,,,, how he gets a pig tail in The Future,,,,,,,,,,,,, yeah

Sweet Hibiscus Tea by Penelope Scott

Penelope Scott is a recurring artist on this playlist :3 (foreboding sense of doom)

"and i am not your protagonist i'm not even my own i don't know anything i don't even know what i don't know"

local boy achieves sentience, more at 11

"and if you look outside you'll see disintegrating trees the artificial way the sunlight bounces off the waxy leaves"

these lines perfectly paint a picture of a world that is not real, again tying into him becoming sentient

"and if you look outside you'll see disintegrating trees the artificial way the sunlight bounces off the glitching leaves"

do i even have to say it.

"my wet heart catches on every thorn you're already halfway out the door"

Rob calling out to Gumball and Darwin and then seeing them ignore him in favor of Molly........

"and i'm so tiny and so old and god its never been so cold and it is 85 degrees i don't know what i need"

the ending to this song feels so hopeless and frustrated. which sadly, ties in perfectly.

ECHO by Crusher-P (feat. GUMI)

this is like. the ultimate Rob song for so many reasons. here are my takes!!

"the clock stopped ticking forever ago how long have i been up? i don't know"

reflecting on how long he's been in the Void. has it been a day? or has it been years? it's impossible to know

"why cant i see, why cant i see all the colors that you see? please can i be, please can i be colorful and free?"

so in this instance “seeing color” is a sorta metaphor for being important or interesting. things which he wasn't, based on being put into the Void.

then him longing to be important, to be interesting, to be out of this god-forsaken place

"what the hell's going on? can someone tell me please? why i'm switching faster than the channels on TV I'm black, then i'm white no, something isn't right my enemy's invisible, i don't know how to fight"

in reference to his surroundings being screens of TV static. realizing that his real enemy is whatever decides who’s important and who isn’t, but not knowing how to fight back against it

"the trembling fear is more than i can take when i'm up against the echo in the mirror"

at this point the "echo" is the boy he was when he was brought here. young and naïve, hopeful that somebody would remember him and care enough about to come rescue him.

"i'm gonna burn my house down into a ugly black, i'm gonna run away now and never look back"

this is him running after the van and leaving this fucked up place behind. the fact that these lines repeat and overlap each other really sells the amp up towards the climax that is him grabbing onto the side of the van and holding on until we flash to the other side.

"what the hell's going on? can someone tell me, please? why i'm switching faster than the channels on TV I'm black, then i'm white, no, something isn't right, my enemy's invisible, i don't know how to fight,"

this,,,,, this is after the memory wipe. this is the "who am i? what happened? whats… wrong with me?" that happens as soon as he's spat out the other side.

"the trembling fear is more than i can take when i'm up against the echo in the mirror"

now the echo is a ghost of his former self, before he was transformed. i headcanon that his pre-Void self's appearance haunts him like a ghost, never being fully visible or tangible in any way, but still undeniably there.

from this point on when he tries to interact with it or remember who he was, its like trying to grab fog. it just slips right through his fingers and dissipates into nothing.

Eighth Wonder by Lemon Demon

FIRST and ONLY silly song!!! this one is him sneaking into and hiding in the Watterson's house almost entirely undetected :3 (DON'T look at his body dysphoria look at him he’s normal he’s NORMAL)

Projections by CG5

hey hey hey hey hey DON'T look at the Bendy and The Ink Machine character on the cover of the song—look at me! this song is a PERFECTLY NORMAL CHOICE-hey hey! stop looking at The Projectionist look at me-LOOK AT ME! this is NORMAL.

just. hear me out, okay. just listen. to the song.

"in the dark i see everything there's no place that i'd rather be"

he's just some poor amnesiac hiding out in a basement. he isn't happy about it, but he doesn't have anywhere to go. no memories, no family, and goodness knows California isn't particularly kind to the homeless. he has nowhere else to go. this is what he has and he has to deal with it.

"way back in history, you could say i was very bright, but now i'm drawn to the deepest darkness, and that's where i find my light”

and now he's alone in the dark, where the only light he has is the light that emits from his body.

"everywhere that i look, all that i see is projections of what i used to be"

he sees the ghost of his former self so often, and he knows that it's a clue to his past, but he can never get a good enough look at it to jog his memories.

in the original song, the change in vocalist signifies that Norman Polk, (the soul trapped inside The Projectionist) is the one singing now. i though that was cool, so that format carries over here as the former self begins to sing!

"but i guess it'll always be like this cant change anything about this infinite abyss”

infinite abyss is the Void that lurks just beyond their world, all powerful and unchanging

“i cant believe that this is happening, not at all i'm literally a walking thing singing 'bout my downfall i can still remember the day that i drowned, but i never even died"

this is the part in The Nobody when he got his memories back and decided to pursue vengeance

"start the show and look up at the screen watch from the beginning to the end of the scene if you want to learn more about me just watch the projections of what i used to be"

the rest of the song is his acceptance of the villain role and the ghost abandoning him for it

Again by Crusher-P

the first song for The Nemesis!!!

okay so quick thing before we start: there's a cover of this song by Jayn and The Living Tombstone (MAJOR FLASHING LIGHT WARNING FOR THE VIDEO). this version changed the lyrics in some places which offered some SUPER awesome opportunities for angst stuff. i would have put this version on the playlist, but it sadly isn't available on Spotify :( so for simplicity's sake i'll just talk abt the original here :)

i sort of see this song as an argument between his current self and the one he left behind. how much this anger and resentment has changed him from what he was. some parts of the song are sung by his past self and others are sung by the present.

"i haven't been myself lately i don't blame you for not wanting to stay saying things that i don't mean not meaning what i say"

(lines 1 and 2 are present self, lines 3 and 4 are past self)

i think that after he accepted the role of antagonist, the ghost of who he was before just vanished. i like to believe it was afraid of him, and perhaps ashamed, too.

"when its good, its so good when its bad, its so bad even when i knew what i had what am i supposed to say when i end up driving everyone away?"

(present self)

wanting revenge can change you. you were hurt, or something was taken from you, and you want to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. when you have all of that anger festering inside of you, it can distort whatever idea you have of who you are—and that is what happened here. the anger and resentment not only permanently changed who he is now, but scared away what little of himself he had left.

"every inch of me is charred god, what happened to my heart? i'm about to fall apart again, again and you're never coming back and i'm not okay with that! and i should have never let myself get attached!"

(present self speaking about past self)

he's never getting back what they took from him. he'll never be the same, because of them. who he was — that's not him anymore, and its their fault.

"and its like every day is a fight for my life to get some self control and when you've forgotten who i am, it just feels, it just feels like i'm nobody at all"

(present self talking about past self)

again, the ghost disappearing after he accepts the antagonist role making him lose touch with who he was

"i lost myself hitting the ground i held my breath in case i drowned"

flashback to when he got spat out of the Void without his memories. when he got his memories back, he also regained self-awareness.

"i should have known when to let go and when to see who i was being"

maybe it was a mistake. but its still their fault. now he's REALLY mad.

Enemy by Imagine Dragons

i think you and i know each other pretty well at this point. you're reading my analytical mini-essay about this cartoon character. we’re being cringe together. you won’t make fun of me for choosing the jerma meme song.

the first part of this song is for The Bus. think of it as an internal monologue while he does his villain shit. this one also kind of touches on how he’s taking the nemesis thing a lot more seriously than Gumball is

the second part of the song transitions into the events of The Disaster.

"they say pray it away i swear that i’ll never be a saint, no way”

this is Rob reflecting the role he’s been given as antagonist because he wants to be the main character. he’s not content to be a good little character and stay in his assigned role, he wants freedom!

“a chair in the corner is my place i stay i shake and i think about the powers at play, the powers at play”

the powers at play are exactly what they sound like. it’s the show runners and the audience — the people who are watching and controlling his fictional world.

“and the kids in the dark that were doomed from the start,"

i've done a little digging into what the show creators have said about Rob, and from what i can gather it was planned for him to have had this happen to him from a very early point in the show. so. yeah. doomed from the start indeed

"love is a constant, love is a basis, he cannot be, she cannot be, they can not be changed goodbye..."

everyone in this story is powerless to change it. everyone... except him, now that he has the remote

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing by Set It Off

a classic villain rage song! most of this is him fucking up Gumball's life in The Disaster

"baa baa, black sheep, have you any soul? no, sir, by the way what the hell are morals?!"

fun fact! early prototype versions of Gumball made him a black cat to tie into his unluckiness :3 they didn't end up going with it because he was too hard to see against black backgrounds, but still. i like to imagine Rob knows stuff like that,,,,

"maybe you'll change abandon all your wicked ways make amends and start anew again maybe you'll see all the wrongs you did to me and start all over, start all over again"

this is that moment in The Disaster where Rob tries to reveal the nature of their world to Gumball

"oh, who am I kidding? now, let's not get overzealous here you've always been a huge piece of shit if I could kill you, I would but it's frowned upon in all fifty states having said that, burn in hell, yeah!"

but Gumball doesn't understand. so Rob gives up and decides to finish what he started.

"karma's gonna come collect your debt!"

at the end of the song its Gumball jumping in after the remote, Rob closing the AV portal like curtains, and Gumball managing to press the rewind button, transitioning into the next episode

Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land by MARINA

holy fuck i love this one okay lets go. now we're in The Re-Run, but these next two songs are replacing the ones that were there in The Disaster

"you don't have to be like everybody else you don't have to fit into the norm you are not here to conform"

again, rejection of the role he was given and what the universe wants him to be.

"i am here to take a look inside myself recognize that I could be the eye, the eye of the storm"

now that he has the remote, he can be the center of it all. the eye of the storm, the main character.

"i am not my body, not my mind or my brain (ha) not my thoughts or feelings, I am not my DNA i am the observer, I'm a witness of life"

i like the interesting position that sentience puts him in. he's watching the world with the context that none of its real, so he's watching it with us, the audience. but he's still living through all of these experiences like they are real because they’re happening in his reality, so he’s still part of the show and,,, yeah you get it.

"i live in the space between the stars and the sky"

line is in reference to how he's caught between worlds. he doesn't belong in Elmore, but he doesn't want to go back to the Void

Dr. Sunshine Is Dead by Will Wood and The Tapeworms

ooooh this one’s good. let’s get started.

"if we can't see each other, then there's no more use for hiding I've decided I'll abide it; why deny the color black?"

why shouldn't he have what he wants? he has all of the power to get it. who's going to stop him?

"i'm not a flower, not a solar-powered calculator Damn my eyes for seeing what's not there"

these lines are in reference to Leslie and Bobert, who get to be important and interesting and not having their lives ripped apart by the universe. god fuck those guys and fuck him for ever wanting to settle for being a cute side character when he could have THIS

"the future must know where you've been the past predicts the state you're in the present did and will not last is, isn't, was, have, hasn't, has"

this is the part where Gumball starts to get the upper hand and it starts to dawn on Rob that he's fucked

"all that i ask is, keep those empty frames if nobody's in them, then no one is to blame for your self-portraits, sign another name well, who should I be then, if I'll never be the same?

Gumball ejects him. and now he's falling…

"and if dreams can come true, what does that say about nightmares? i'll stay awake tonight..."

if he can come so close to his perfect life, if he can wield the power of a god and still fail--is there any point in continuing to think he can be anything else? anything but a mistake to be cast aside and forgotten?

there's nowhere to go--no point in trying to be anything else. this is the end.

Bad Apple!! - English Remaster by RichaadEB and Christina Vee

STOP LAUGHING

okay so this cover is metal as fuck and i love it a lot but anyway- we're still in The Re-Run at this point. just for fun we're going to pretend he was in there a lot longer than he was in canon

"and maybe its a dream, maybe nothing else is real but it wouldn't mean a thing if i told you how i feel"

oughhh imagine trying to pull the wool away from someone's eyes only for them not to understand and leave you more isolated than you've ever been before.

"you could tell me what to say, you could tell me where to go, but i doubt that i would care and my heart would never know"

so what if he's a mistake? does any of it really matter in the first place if none of it’s real?

"will tomorrow ever come? will i make it through the night? will there ever be a place for the broken in the light?"

will things ever get better for him? will things get better for anyone trapped in the existential nightmare of their own fictionality?

will the mistakes of the world ever find peace, or comfort, or solace in what they are--toys to be ripped apart and cast aside by greater beings?

"if i find a way to change, if i step into the light then i'll never be the same and it all would fade to white"

imagine holding infinite power in your hands--the ability to rewrite reality to your liking, to step into the spotlight you've yearned for for so long, only to be sent back to the buzzing white hellscape where everything terrible began?

ramping up towards the climax of the song is when Gumball enters to rescue him from this place. Rob is running from him stubbornly because he's being overwhelmed by hatred and hopelessness- convinced an eternity of loneliness is what he deserves.

"this time you're not hurting me! this time i will take a stand! all the hatred in my eyes building up an evil plan standing lonely in the night, with the darkness by my side"

he finally gets ahold of the remote again. Gumball is utterly defenseless--and Rob has the chance to finish what he started. but...

"looking deep inside myself, and revealing only fright"

but standing behind Gumball is the ghost. his ghost.

"if i make another move, if i take another step then it all would fall apart, there'd be nothing of me left"

the person that he was- the person who would have done anything to even have the chance to be rescued, is right there.

if he does this--if he takes Gumball's life in favor of an eternity of loneliness--then he'll lose what little remained of who he was.

so he cant do it. he cant bring himself to do it. so he goes back

"so i'm back here once again, so i'm back here once again! will i ever make a change? will my heart begin to mend?

this one simple action, where Gumball goes back into the Void to save Rob even though he's won, it lets Rob forgive him in a sense. the two of them are friends now.

"would you love me if i go?"

but it cant last, even if he wants it to. he has to fix the mess he's created.

"it feels like a heart attack! but still everything's the same-"

so he rewinds, fixing all of the problems he caused. he finally stops just after he first got the remote

"and it all just fades to black"

he smashes the remote and the world goes dark as the credits roll and the music fades out...

Amygdala’s Ragdoll by Ghost and Pals

this is another song that takes place during some offscreen time, specifically the time between the rerun's end the ex's beginning.

there's a general theme of guilt and anguish in this song. he reason he “breaks up” with Gumball is tied to what happened at the end of The Re-Run. Rob feels bad about ruining Gumball life and he’s still struggling with the guilt of his actions along with everything else.

"an eye for an eye that's how the game works i'm losing my autonomy, a mutilated part of me"

being aware that you are fictional character and therefore losing what autonomy you had because somebody is making all of your decisions for you & having a mangled, broken body that's a distorted version of who you are or used to be.

"today something changed i figured it's true the frontal lobe placed me behind my own strings 'cause i defy the way the game works i'll say it again, i'm only getting worse"

yet another reference to Rob being sentient and trying to go against the show's narrative

"the dull assumptions that I've tasted decency waiting for the embers to lose their glow and I, and I dunno oh, all I've ever seen before were clusters of holes"

he's really been put through the ringer for like. genuinely no reason. what was the point.

“the fire and i, alone again the guilt and i, alone again”

ough this one hits. after everything that happened in the re-run can you imagine the kind of guilt he felt? like. friendly reminder that The Re-Run was an infinitely more fucked up episode than The Disaster because one character CEASED TO EXIST and another literally DIED onscreen.

jesus. being somewhat responsible for that happening has GOT to fuck you up.

Be Nice To Me by The Front Bottoms

this one is a breakup song that i put on here just for The Ex because there is no heterosexual explanation for it. anyway

the themes of hating someone you’re in a relationship with and trying to get them out of your life but they just keep showing up despite every attempt you make to push them away,,, yeah

“i got boulders on my shoulders collarbones begin to crack there is very little left of me and it’s never coming back”

CRYING

"you say i'm changing sorry, i didn't know i had to stay the same could we talk about this later? your voice is driving me insane, driving me insane!

you get it. you see the parallels.

"you're a werewolf and i'm a full moon all your very worst enemies will be gone soon"

oh boy, more foreshadowing! but yeah that's it for The Ex. moving on!

Infinitesimal by Mother Mother

this is one of the few super mentally ill songs that i let stay on the playlist.

this song has a general theme of feeling like an idiot for being upset about seemingly minuscule problems. its also a song about existentialism, which i thought was fitting

All The Rowboats by Regina Spektor

this ones for The Future! starting with him kidnapping Banana Barbara and ending with him being erased, then painted back into existence.

like. listen to these lyrics and TELL me it cant be tied to the paintings predicting unchangeable futures.

"all the rowboats in the paintings they keep trying to row away and the captains' worried faces stay contorted and staring at the waves they'll keep hanging in their gold frames for forever, forever and a day all the rowboats in the oil paintings they keep trying to row away, row away"

Rät by Penelope Scott

i imagine this takes place when Rob wakes up after being painted back into existence.

now he's dealing with anger and resentment over Gumball again, but now its different because he was TRYING to do a good thing but he STILL got FUCKED OVER ANYWAY.

"i fell for circuit boards rocket ships pictures of the stars if you could only be what you pretend you are"

if only Gumball could be a somebody who's worthy of being the main character

"let me level with you, man as someone guilty of the game i took the help, I took the cash i would've taken your last name"

in reference to Rob trying to replace Gumball using the remote, but ultimately choosing not to

This Is Home by Cavetown

this song is where i introduce one of my favorite headcanons inspired by this playlist: that Rob was the one who built the transformation machines from The Inquisition.

in this song, he's starting to work on his plans to save everyone as well as reflecting on his life and the decisions he's made up until now.

“i’ll cut my hair to make you stare”

okay so. you know that cluster of polygons on Rob's back? it’s supposed to be a backpack, but the fans (myself included) always draw it as a ponytail.

in The Inquisition, its missing.

i'm serious, go and watch that episode back. it's just gone.

this was probably a purposeful choice during production so that the audience wouldn't see his model clipping through the floor in the shots where he's lying down, since that would break immersion.

but in conjunction with the ponytail headcanon? oh man.

i like to think that after the events of The Future, Rob cut his hair. mostly because i just LOVE the trope of a character cutting their hair to symbolize change/character growth. not sure how it would work with his whole... whatever he has going on, but i digress

"are you dead? sometimes i think i'm dead 'cause i can feel ghosts and ghouls wrapping my head but i don't wanna fall asleep just yet my eyes went dark i don't know where my pupils are but i'll figure out a way to get us outta here"

i don't think Rob knows about the painting, but what he does know is that the world is ending, and he doesn't want to disappear before he can have a chance to save everyone.

"get a load of this monster he doesn't know how to communicate his mind is in a different place can everybody please give him a little bit of space?

reflecting on how he handled the confrontation in the Future. he was so fixated on finding answers and getting rid of obstacles that he hadn't thought to explain the reasons behind his actions to anyone.

"get a load of this trainwreck his hair's a mess and he doesn't know who he is yet but little do we know the stars welcome him with open arms oh..."

little does Rob know that while he works on a solution, the Void is waiting for him.

Moonsickness by Penelope Scott

getting all of the machines to work right is an arduous task. he's building all of them from scratch, conducting all of the necessary tests, dealing with all of the bugs and problems, and its all on a time limit. the world is set to end any day now and he feels like he's failing, but he has to keep going for the sake of everyone in Elmore.

Who We Are by Imagine Dragons

we've finally made it to The Inquisition!! think of this song sort of like an internal justification for his actions as Superintendent Evil (goofy ass name btw, there's no way he didn't come up with that because of the Dr Wrecker persona)

“it’s who we are, doesn’t matter if we’ve gone too far, doesn’t matter if it’s all okay, doesn’t matter if it’s not our day,”

its for the greater good.

"oh, wont you save us from what we are?"

"up in the attic, down in the cellar lost in the static, coming back for more oh, for more"

they need to do this. they need to change. there's no other way.

but things never go his way, do they?

7 O'Clock by Penelope Scott

after he gets knocked out via t. rex clobbering, in my head there's an intense dream sequence that this and part of Some Nights takes place in.

"a glitch in the game, i loop like a bug and all that i ever wanted was a really tight hug"

REMEMBER WHEN HE AND GUMBALL HUGGED IN THE RE-RUN? BECAUSE I DO

"a glitch in the game, i loop like a bug and all i ever died for was a really tight hug"

SCREAMING AND CRYING ANS SOBBING AND WAILING AND BANGING MY FISTS ON THE FLOOR

"the future is static, it drips on the floor and makes its way underneath my bedroom door"

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME ARHARGGARRAFHRASFASGA (<- INSANITY)

Some Nights by fun.

oh my god we finally made it to the reason i made this post. if you've made it this far you have a problem (<- WROTE ALL THE SHIT)

so. this song is already about reflecting on your past. but my GOD its like they made this song for Rob because so many lines just fit him perfectly. lets get into it.

"but i still wake up, i still see your ghost"

when he started working on a way to save everyone, i like to imagine the ghost started appearing more frequently, eagerly watching him work on a solution and rooting for him to finally become a better person

"oh Lord, i'm still not sure what i stand for what do i stand for? what do i stand for? most nights i don't know anymore"

i'm. sorry guys i need a second. (UGLY CRIES SUPER LOUD INTO A PILLOW)

at this point he doesn't know who he wants to be. first he didn't know who he was. then he decided he would be someone driven by anger and vengeance. then he wanted to turn over a new leaf, but was dragged back into villainy.

so who should he be? the frail and scared amnesiac? the malicious and cunning villain? or... maybe, once all of this is over, he can finally choose for himself.

"well some nights i wish that this would all would end 'cause i could use some friends for a change! and some nights i'm scared you'll forget me again some nights i always win (i always win)"

I'M SOBBING JUST LET HIM BE HAPPY

"so this is it? i sold my soul for this? washed my hands of that for this? i miss my mom and dad for this? no, when i see stars- when i see- when i see stars, that's all they are"

this whole bit is him waking up and monologing about why they stopped him. if he's failed, what was the point of all of this? what was the point of anything?

"well, that is it guys, that is all five minutes in, and i'm bored again ten years of this, i'm not sure if anybody understands"

in reference to how people sometimes tune out in the middle of a show's the runtime and also. the show turned twelve this year. (kubrik stare)

"the other night, you wouldn't believe the dream i just had about you and me i called you up, but we both agree

the ground starts to shake under him and the floor caves in. we hear the final lines of the song as he falls in slow motion, deeper and deeper into the abyss.

"its for the best you didn't listen its for the best we get our distance, oh its for the best you didn't listen its for the best we get our distance, oh"

-Ish by Will Wood and the Tapeworms

in his final moments, Rob reflects on his life for a final time. falling through the air, he realizes that who he is, who he was, who he wanted to be never mattered anyway. because no matter what he did, it all ended the same.

with the world devoured by static and nobody left to defend it.

[zarvasace]

Vidow Animatic Thoughts (pt 1)

I shall detail thought process etc. let’s go. It’s long. Under cut. Hit tumblr max image upload so this is three parts.

part 1 // part 2 // part 3

Animatic can be found here

Program: procreate dreams (it’s clunky but it works). This whole video took me something like 8 hours? Over the course of uhhh three days? Pretty quick.

Introduction

This is my first ever animatic, so when I began, I wanted to keep it simple. I chose my favorite pencil brush and like three colors (I later added one for emphasis). I had a couple specific scenes in mind, and I knew how I wanted the progression to go, but I winged most of it, shot by shot. The song does a good job of building up with a sort of three-act structure, so.

I referenced the castle from Breath of the Wild, but I didn’t stress too much about the details. The plan was to make it sketchy and quick. The beginning is mostly just things moving across the screen. I think that works, though, setting up the angsty mood and giving me room to expand later on. The first shot with Vio’s face is sort of meant to be a fake-out: you’re looking at him, but no he’s looking at a mirror, which is obvious when it cracks. Not sure if that came across but the cracks are very cool anyway.

This is also the first time you see white, which sort of represents change/time through the whole thing.

And then we see the first of Shadow, and he has his own color: black. He's a real drawing here (rather than black smoke or something) mostly to establish that black=Shadow.

Not much to say about the next bit, with the door and stuff dropping, I just wanted to make it clear that we’re in Vio’s bedroom at the end of a day.

And then he’s being dramatic about getting in bed. Mostly just to show that he’s tired and Haunted. Also I think it does work in establishing that this isn’t really Shadow’s doing. Whether or not he’s actually there doesn’t matter, because it’s Vio who thinks he does, and we’re seeing this from Vio’s perspective. He’s the one who can’t let Shadow go, so whether Shadow is actually haunting him like a ghost doesn’t matter.

Verse 1

SO first off, Vio is sad and has bad dreams. Well, good dreams. They're good, but they make him sad. Shadow shows up in black again, definitely part of the dream (further blurring the line between reality and delusion). Vio's in white in his dream, which doesn't happen anywhere else. If white represents change, then this is Past Vio, or the Vio That Vio Wishes He Was But Isn't. It's definitely memories of some kind, though, because white Vio's hair is short, where normal Vio has a long braid throughout.

We only see Shadow as more than an influence (by that I mean a shadow, a flash, a feeling) a few times, and this is the first. His presence is stronger in dreams and weaker in the reality that Vio lives in.

But the sun comes up and Vio is actually alone. White is the sun/light a lot here, meaning that time is passing. Vio's still brooding. (I really like that little "in the heat of the day" shot, the glint is in Vio's lower eyes which may hint at tears, but it's definitely not obvious yet.) I don't particularly LOVE that drawing of Vio braiding his hair, but it gets the point across. He can't stop thinking about Shadow, even as he goes about his day.

Chorus 1

This part hammers that in: Vio CAN'T stop thinking about Shadow and wallowing in his memories, it's driving him to distraction and failure. He's not moving on. It's right there in the lyrics: "I can never let you go." There's a reference to evil root beer as he's eating, distracted from Red (hi Red!) right beside him. He feels guilty, and can't shoot arrows without imagining himself hurting Shadow more. He still half-expects Shadow to be there for his discoveries. He feels watched, like Shadow should be there all the time, even when he isn't doing anything. He's brooding. Broody boy.

Interlude

Broody boy continues. Important: when he's walking to his room/the library/wherever books are, he's going right to left. I studied a couple videos of walk cycles to get those feet right, and they still aren't right, but I'm still impressed with myself! Also, apparently I now have a mental library of Gothic Windows. I thought that was a fun shot. Vio sure sighs a lot.

Verse 2

This verse is ramping things up and preparing for the turn.

"Nothing ever changes, so I've learned." I feel like this is quite a Vio statement to make. I don't think it's perfectly applicable—in this post-canon-adjacent AU, clearly the four of them are still separate people, which would be quite a change, but for Vio? I think it means that he's maybe a little upset that nobody else is grieving to the point of distraction. People are going about their lives, but every single step Vio takes is shadowed. (ba dum tish.)

The flower was a spur-of-the-moment decision, since I wanted something in the spot where the book was and didn't really want to just draw vague smoke again. But it ended up being thematic and calling back to a later moment in the video. And maybe it hints that Shadow might be showing his approval that Vio is at least trying to do what he loves (that is, reading books.)

And Vio's back in his room, surrounded by books. He's tried so hard to forget. He doesn't look particularly interested in what he's reading, and we know why. I tried to frame that "to forget" shot in a way that looks like he might be drowning in his own ambition, like he has all these books and he's just desperate that one of them will distract him or be a replacement for Shadow's influence in his life, which is quickly growing to dangerous levels...

Did Vio actually see Shadow here? Well, once again, it doesn't matter, because Vio thinks he did, thinks so hard that he throws himself to the ground. It doesn't injure him, but it doesn't take a fortune-teller to imagine that he might do something truly reckless if this keeps going. And Vio sees that, I think, here. He realizes that what he sees might not be real. He's in the "dark night of the soul" here, and actually cries, which is a big deal for his character. It's just two tears—white, if you'll notice—but it represents his hitting rock-bottom.

"And you've never loved me once" is maybe not the right line for this, I considered changing it to "you only loved me once" but I eventually decided to keep the line as it is in the song so there's minimal dissonance for the viewer. The song's story isn't quite the same as the one I'm pulling out here, but this line is the turning point in the song's story and in mine.

(continued in part 2!)

[mr-laveau]

i was tagged by the lovely @zozo-01 to pick some songs and list the ships i associate them with. My twitter and discord peeps can attest I'm a playlist bitch so let's get into!

Milo/Sweetheart

This shit! It's them, it's SH realizing they like Milo and I eat. It. Fuckin'. Up. It's sweet, it's calming and feels like falling in love in the best way.

Darlin/Sam

Listen, if I hear this, it's instantly me thinking about how Darlin sees themselves as some unlovable figure for Sam who foolishly sees them as someone they believe they are not. I FEED ON THIS SHIT.

Darlin/Quinn

It's them. It's them. No I don't actively ship this but it's what I think of when I hear it and it's the past that Darlin and Quinn had before they both split. This owns them in my head and this is what they were with Quinn. It's them growing apart and Darlin slowly progressing past Quinn in their healing while he's hesitant which later resorts in him getting violent.

Honey/Guy

@cashandprizes and I both have an unspoken same brain connection where we both have somehow decided this is a Hot Honey Pizza (peep the ship name, Lexi's genius) song. And we're right. It is.

D. A. M. N Polycule

Yes I do have specific songs for FL/[insert boi] but I'm a poly bitch, Fern's a poly bitch, of course we're taking a hold of this. This song, will without fail, will have me thinking about an animatic with FL popping through doors and kissing each boi. That's just how it is.

David/Darlin

THIS. THIS IS A DAVID/DARLIN SONG. It's primarily my Darlin song because of the song's themes and interpretation but it can be applied beautifully to David and Darlin and I rock with it.

Smartass/Aaron & Carter/Lasko/Aaron

I BLAME @calicostorms FOR THIS! That David kinnie knew what he was doing putting that in his Aaron playlist and now that's what I rock to everytime I think about them. I love Cal tho so he gets a pass. It also just has that morning vibe for Carter and his boys getting ready for work.

Anyways that's it and I think that I'll be picking my victims now >:3:

@autisticempathydaemon @cashandprizes @ejunkiet @penncilkid @whatalovelymae (I'm curious)* whoever else wants to hop in! (Also sorry if you were already tagged)

[chimkin-samich]

Honestly, what started your interest with these specific game characters? (Btw, I don't know if this has been asked before or not since I'm quite new to you and your comics! Amazing work btw.)

Also what peeked your guy's drawing and writing interests? It would be interesting to know how you guys got to this point. 😁

(It's also creepy how the ask thing is just like: "Go ahead, put anything." XD)

It has not actually been asked before! Your the first, so for anyone who’s interested in some Feral and Sly lore well feel free to click the read more since it’s kinda long lol

For the interest in Sun/Moon/Eclipse, Feral was honestly the first one to get drawn in, she has been a long time fan of fnaf, likes to brag about how good she was at the first few games (she is I’ve seen it lol) so her getting interested in SB was obvious, she especially like this one for it highly interactive gameplay

I on the other hand knew of fnaf but I was never in the fandoms or played any games, anything I knew about the games was either seen while scrolling thru tumblr or my little brother blasting a gameplay in our room and I didn’t mind listening in if it was YouTuber I liked as well

Feral got a bit interested in the boys after reading a few fics around last year June, she tried to catch my attention but I didn’t really bite at the time, it was around August were she caught my attention when she first drew them, saying they reminded her of me, even drew Sun with chipped rays as a little call to my SH scars but it kinda dropped off since we were in the midst of fighting with the system to let us get married lol

Around December it really kicked in for her and then me, I started delving into reading fics and searching for fan art and was like “oh shit das me” and feral ran with it saying let’s do self insert shit and I was totally down for it, it wasn’t the first time we did something we’re she put herself in and I was a character that I related to heavily

From there we started planning the storyline but decided to do little meant to be yours animatic to kick off some attention towards our stuff lol

As for what got us interested into writing and drawing? Honestly the answer is the same for both of us, we started drawing young them jumped into writing for our own little stories and ideas, we’ve both always been artistic from a young age and when we met it was one of the first things we bonded over, oh and I do also have a passion for singing as well! Which also caught her attention I used to send her audios all the time or sing on call for her

Just something about being able not only to write your own stories but create visual pieces really helps when you have extremely hyperactive minds and imagination, sometimes we yell at each other cuz someone says something cursed and cuz of how we can perfectly see the image in our mind it makes the cursed thought so much worse 😭

But yeah that’s pretty much it! Love of creativity and such started our art and writing passion and that led to us wanting to create our stuff now here with the lovely robo boys, we do have our projects of course, Feral plans on making a comic/book (2 in one kinda thing) that’s gonna be a trilogy and I have my own OC’s that I still world build with

Not to mention all our world building with OCs weve plan on making into story’s as well in the future ✨

[intertexts]

TRIVIA TIIIIIME. THIS IS ONE OF THE LONGEST ONES YET !!!! IM SO FUCKING HYPE FOR U TO BE HERE THIS IS A BIG MILESTONE

EPISODE 13 TRIVIA:

- FIRST OFFICIAL PIECE OF MARK WINTERS ART !!!!!! HELL YEAAAAAH THIS ONE IS SO FUCKING COOL. this man haunts me

- bizly is talking about how he was fucking SWEATING all week before they recorded this ep bc he thought for sure william and vyncent were gonna just get in there and mirder the lich immediately. grizzly starts to say something like "no i wont-" and bizly cuts him off like "im not worried about YOU. youre my shining star, my golden boy"

- charlie, in response to this: "well. you should feel better because i cant even win against a WALL"

- grizzly: "i was really hoping youd take the bait and depower the villains. i was hoping to give you a cool idea with that"

- "the lich shouldnt even be alive, hes undead, hes breaking the laws of-"

charlie, interrupting "OKAYYY HEY NOW LETS NOT SAY THINGS LIKE THAT" << GETTING. INSULTED ON WILLIAMS BEHALF. AHA

- Dakotas memory about his dad pranking him in the car is an ACTUAL THING THAT GRIZZLYS DAD USED TO DO !?!?!?!!

- "william took 4 degrees of failure from punching a wall so hard your bone popped out" "yeah kind of like how i took 4 degrees of failure from sniffing a bag of doritos. kind of like how i took 4 degrees of failure from dakota comically picking me up and throwing me into a dumpster. all my trips to the spirit world are so pathetic"

- bizly: "okay let me say. you were going to go to the spirit world at the end of this regardless, i just saw an opportunity there and took it. originally i was gonna have you see a wisp while you were alive and follow it through a door or something" << AAURGRHRGHRGGH. i loooove talking abt williams powers

- HELLOOOOO THE FUCKING ANIMATIC. GOD. MAKES ME FUCKING CRAZY

- they all want to do a body swap episode. fully freaky friday moment where they cant switch back until they learn something about each other. i also want them to do this i think it would be funny

- bizly: "i love dakota dakota is one of my favorite characters in media."

(bizly: "because i relate to him"

charlie: "well THATS worrying.")

- "dakota doesnt necessarily *ignore* the why when thing happen hes just really... slow. it takes him a long time to reflect on things. it either takes him a really long time to process things and come to a conclusion OR he will just pull sage wisdom out of thin air because hes so simple minded. he'll just think for a really long time before he comes to these ideals that ive written for him as a player. itll come around, it'll just take him a long time to get there. as a player i know what kind of hero i want dakota to end up as at the end of it all" << i cant even add anything to this. grizzlyplays i am shaking you like a sack of rocks

- another mention about how dakota and chip riptide would be best friends i love this recurring bit

- "what did you guys think about seeing wavelength in the prison"

"uhh. hes mean :("

"it was awesome seeing him again, he scares me"

"it made me feel guilty that we havent found ashe yet"

- grizzly: "if he gets out of prison im gonna kill him" << HEAD IN HANDS

- "william wisp experiences incompetence consistently"

- hey remember in the episode how when william rolled to see if he was okay breathing inside the prison cell and bizly said something along the lines of "youre only hyperventilating because you *think* you should be, youre actually fine" << think about this in context with what you know now :) and hold onto it for the beginning of 14

- theyre talking about what happened between william and mark over the 10 month timeskip: william contacted him at some point, not really about anything in particular, just to ask him if he knew anything about ashe that could help thsm find him/updating him on their progress finding ashe. then when they started playing again william stopped contacting him (for meta reasons, charlie just forgot that was an option BUT) bizly took note of that anyway and thats why mark was so hostile right off the bat. he just like. stopped hearing things from william and didnt know what was going on anymore. so when they showed up here and had no update on ashe whatsoever it just made him think they werent actually doing anything to find him

- grizzly: "man you would thing being in prison and losing his son would give this man some perspective and adjust his personality but he just became more of an asshole"

bizly: "no, the problem is youre not thinking about it from his perspective!! youre only thinking about it from dakotas point of view where hes a villain and hes doing bad things so hes bad. hes just a guy who thought he was doing what he had to do to keep his son safe"

charlie: "okay but he like locked his son up forever"

bizly: "yeah i never said he was a good person! and then some teenagers came along and made him rebel and now he wants to be a super hero and the first thing that happens is he gets possessed" << THANK YOUUUU BIZLY. THANK YOU BIZLY. JUSTICE FOR MY HORRIBLE MAN

- they keep referring to overlord as "alligator guy" because they forgot his name. charlie even at one point goes "yeah and he was a crocodile or whatever, dont you know those are power level 9" << this will never stop being funny to me

- "HEY WILLIAM what do you think about dying again"

- charlie is Very concerned about the no blood thing. his theory rn is that the archway he saw was like "crossing over" for ghosts. like fully passing on and not being ghosts anymore. seeing himself/his memories in the prison cells was very poetic, he kind of feels trapped by himself right now. hes the most curious about the 5 empty chairs and what that could possibly mean

- theyre trying to figure out who the group of 5 could possibly be. williams old group didnt have 5 people, prime defenders doesnt have 5 people even with ashe so they have no ideas right now and are excited to find out more :)

- "williams pretty fucked up right now to be honest!!! we just spent an episode and a half arguing about how we're allowed to kill the lich because its undead and not human. and then he learns hes fucking deteriorating. uh oh! now hes probabky thinking 'am i even a person?' i dont even know if he knows what to think about the spirit world right now i think hes just kind of panicked"

- "if only the ghost of party city were here, hed know what to say about this"

- "how is vyncent feeling right now?" "hes still kind of pissed. his one goal of killing the lich after all these years was just ripped away from him. hes accepted it for now but if that lich escapes. man hes gonna go nuts"

SUCH an insanely good episode dude hoooooly shit. head in hands. everybody say thank u bizlychannel!!!!! man. this was SO good man it really does feel like.... not a turning point, necessarily, but very important. honestly, really glad that by now they've had time to really like, sit with their characters & the world & let it all steep for a while? this season already really feels like such a tonal shift & kind of a step up frm season 1 so far!! (NOT that season 1 also wasn't really fucking good. but a lot of what we've got in s2 so far feels a lot more settled and cohesive) im here for it!!! LOVED the animatic that shit was crazy. if thats a precedent they're setting now im gonna go wild.

I ALSO THOUGHT THEY WERE GONNA MURDER THE LICH. i was like ohhhh great this is how we get the vigilante on the run arc its gonna be so bad theyre never gonna see tide again. phew!!!! i mean, i, too, still think the lich should be dead. but. also yeah WHAT DO YOU MEAAAN THATS A REAL THING HIS DAD DID. FUCKING CRAZY.

what else.. having so many thoughts about william's Situation . as always. man. it's so fucked up. i have no clue where any of it's going dude... the only thought i have is that i don't think. we have any real context for the five thrones thing yet. i don't think that's related to anything we already know except. mayyybe mal. i think that's some spirit world-specific bullshit! we'll see though. we'll see.

YEAH <333 DAKOTA IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS IN MEDIA TOO <33333 auaurrghghhggghhh. ohh hes so everything 2 me. also i love seeing characters who don't Get Everything Immediately. like yeah! you got time to parse through it all in yr brain man. hell yeah rotate it in ur mind for weeks before coming to a conclusion!! no one has their entire belief system hammered out in advance!!

+ also feeling fucking unhinged over mark winters. as always.

[rhapsodyred-writes]

A Sailor's Tail

This is a fic I wrote for @dmanix, based on the animatic he made for a Siren AU of his boy Wretch, which you can find here! This little fic ended up being much longer than I'd originally planned, but I'm happy with it. Enjoy!

Word count: 1,469

You weren't an inexperienced sailor. You knew all about sirens, and you knew that, under no circumstances, should you jump from your boat into a siren's waiting arms. No matter how tempting the song made that urge, such an act would mean certain death and you were keen to avoid that; you'd heard no shortage of horror stories.

But this siren - Wretch, he'd introduced himself as - there had been something different about. It was hard to place, even now as you thought back on it, but the hunger you'd seen in his eye as he lured you from your boat and into his arms wasn't the kind you'd expected. Perhaps it was that the siren's song had already gotten a hold of you, but now that you thought back on it, you couldn't remember if he'd actually been singing at the time. You couldn't deny though, that it didn't seem like he wanted to eat you.

No, apparently it seemed as though he wanted to keep you.

He'd even used his magic to give you a way to breathe underwater; if he intended to eat you, surely it would have been more efficient to let you drown.

He'd brought you home, gently ushering you toward the mouth of a cave surrounded by swaying vegetation. It seemed like he wanted you to enter the cave of your own free will, but that hardly mattered; you were so smitten with him that you likely would have done anything he'd asked of you.

And it seemed like he was smitten with you too.

Days passed and Wretch left the nest regularly. He'd be gone for what felt like hours - or more, some days - at a time, but he always returned with food and affection. There was only so much space in this cave after all, and even if there was enough room for separated sleeping quarters, you felt like he'd still find a way to wrap himself around you somehow. It wasn't just at night either. He never wasted an opportunity to touch you, or hold you, or wrap himself as much around you as he could.

At first you hadn't been sure how to feel about how touchy he was, but it didn't take long to get used to it - helped by the fact that he was never rough with you. Sometimes he touched you as if he was afraid you'd shatter - as though you were some beautiful, fragile thing.

Reasonably speaking, he was taking very good care of you.

The only catch was...you couldn't leave. It was padded and comfy, and you were surrounded by plant life that swayed in the current and shielded your little hidey hole. But as comfortable as it was, and as well-treated as you were, it was still a prison. It was a cage you had entered of your own accord, lured by a feeling you couldn't quite place. But a cell was a cell, no matter how comfortable it was.

Some days you felt a little like...a trophy. A prize catch that inspired a kind of greed and possession over you. Like only he was allowed to even look at you. But even this was nothing more than a feeling with little to no basis in fact.

"You can't leave," He'd told you, his yellow eyelight narrowing. "It's too dangerous for you, so stay inside. Promise."

You'd promised readily, but you would have promised anything with nary a thought of the consequences - especially with the way he smiled at you.

And now here you were, with nothing to do but wait for your siren to return with food and the only physical comfort you had these days. Every time you watched him leave, those hours (Minutes? Days? It was hard to tell.) before he returned were agonizing. You had nothing to do, and you were reliant on him for everything. Being so entirely dependent on one person for your very existence was exhausting, especially when that one person left you alone so much.

It was hard to say how much longer you could do this. At the same time though, you promised, and you didn't really want to go back on that. This was his habitat. You were trusting him to know the dangers that lurked in the shadows; surely he had his reasons for keeping you cooped up. But every time he left, it wore you down a little more.

He wasn't stupid either. You'd known from the moment you'd made eye contact with him that he was as smart as you - if not smarter. He had to have known what this confinement was doing to you, and sometimes when he returned, the smile on his face was a little tighter than usual, a little bit more forced. But he always brought food and touch, and he always spoke and acted gently with you, so the routine you'd fallen into stayed mostly the same.

Until one day, when you couldn't bring yourself to eat as much as usual. This constant loneliness was getting to you, and for some reason, you just weren't as hungry today. But the two of you had developed a routine over the time you'd been there with him, and Wretch knew something was off. Granted, he probably knew something was off before then, but he'd never let on. You were tired; the drive to achieve normalcy just wasn't there today.

You ate as much as your stomach would allow, which probably wasn't as much as Wretch would have preferred - at least if all his fussing was any indication. Clearly he didn't like this, but there wasn't much you could do except try to keep your stomach from turning as he fed you. Each piece that you accepted put a little bit more hope into his expression, and made it worthwhile.

You didn't miss the way he held you a little tighter that night, even though you didn't know exactly how to interpret it. You knew he was a big cuddle bug but this felt a little more...urgent than usual. The strength in his arms had a hint of something it was tempting to call desperation.

When morning came, Wretch delayed his departure, which was unusual. He seemed to be conflicted, but for several minutes all he did was stare pleadingly at you with that big yellow eye. After a while, his expression softened, and when he spoke it was in a tone you hadn't heard before.

"'M sorry," He mumbled, looking for all the world like you'd scolded him.

This caught you off guard, and you needed a minute to figure out how to respond. But by the time you found your words, he was plowing on ahead, looking more upset the more he spoke.

"Never kept a human before but..." A deep sigh drew a stream of bubbles from him. "Guess this isn't the way to do it."

You barely noticed his hand come up to cradle the side of your face as you listened to him. There was something about his voice that you'd always found hypnotizing, even when he wasn't singing.

"You're chained here while I'm free to leave. I thought...maybe if I provided, brought you everything you need, it would be enough." There was that pleading look again. "But it isn't, is it?"

You shook your head no. The forming lump of emotion in your throat all but ensured any verbal response would be choked.

Even though he'd expected this answer, his expression fell further. With a gentle tug, he drew you against him, and it was now that you could feel him shaking, ever so slightly.

"I don't want to be your jailor anymore," He rumbled against you.

You felt him start to move, but by the time you processed the motion he had already pulled you outside the nest.

Outside. This was your first glimpse of the outside of your new home since arriving. Was that weeks ago? Months? It was difficult to tell.

When you didn't say anything, he pulled back enough to look at you, smiling cautiously.

"You can come with me, when I go. I won't leave you home alone anymore."

"You...you mean it?" You asked, searching his face for any sign that you were somehow misunderstanding him.

He nodded.

Sure, you would still be supervised, but it was infinitely better than being stuck at home by yourself for most of the day. And if he was worried you'd swim off without him, well, there was no need to fear. You knew it hadn't been a mistake that you'd fallen for him so easily. Even before your life had depended on him returning regularly, you'd chosen him. That wouldn't change just because you were allowed outside the nest.

It was a good thing too; you had begun to feel wretched.

[fandomanimatic-tournament]

Fandom song animatic tournament: Bracket 1 Side B

Turn the Lights off - Tally Hall

"Paper colors (day's gone) Dangle streaming (night's on) Tangle screaming (light's gone) Turn the lights off"

Boys will be Bugs - Cavetown

"Don't mess with me, I'm a big boy now, and I'm very scary I punch my walls, stay out at night, and I do karate"

Remember that we're voting on how Iconic they are for ANIMATICS, not for the song itself. In order to make things fair, the tone and mood of the song should not affect how iconic it is (for example, a serious song should not be considered more iconic than a joke song just because it's serious)

Propaganda and animatic links of the songs under the cut:

Turn the Lights off - Tally Hall

Propaganda:

i already knew the song and band but one time i saw a fnaf animatic for it and now thats hardwired into my brain every time i hear the song and i never even played fnaf it means nothing but this to me

the majoras mask one is iconic to me, what can i say

Animatics with the song:

The Owl House

Undertale

Critical Role

Majora's Mask

Hollow Knight

Boys will be Bugs - Cavetown

Propaganda:

This one is always paired with the cute tragic blorbos

Animatics with the song:

Danganronpa V3 Gonta x Ryoma

South park Creek

DSMP Tommy Animatic

Tangles the Series Varian Animatic

Camp Camp

Please be cautious and read the title, description and warning cards on the animatic videos if you decide to watch them. If you've got specific triggers I'd recommend even more caution when watching animatics of fandoms you don't know, since sometimes canon-typical themes don't get warnings.

Please keep in mind that I don't know all the media and fandoms of the animatics provided as examples and I don't have the time (nor the will) to research them all. Don't come into my notes or my ask box complaining about them being included, I will simply block you. If a ship animatic included is about an adult and a minor, do tell me and I'll take it out of the post

ALSO keep in mind that I don't know all the artists submitted; in fact, even if I do know them I do not know absolutely nothing about them as people (I do not have twitter nor tiktok) and I could not POSSIBLY have the time to research ALL of the artists' controversies and what came of them so PLEASE don't flood my inbox with the artists' entire crime list.

[megatron-is-a-mattereel-gurl]

I did one of these on tiktok Over a Year Ago, I call it an Animatic To-Do List, and it's basically a list of Animatics I want to do at some point. And with The Underworld Saga coming out very soon...

A Humanformers Epic the Musical Animatic To-Do List

It's literally just Humanformers Animatics with Epic Songs and has literally nothing to do with the Oddesey/Greek Mythos Outside of That. And also, Humanformers BECAUSE I CANT ANIMATE ROBOTS FOR THE LIFE OF ME AND I DONT WANT TO TRY. It took me long enough to figure out how to draw TFs in a style I liked.

List below the cut.

So I'm doing pretty much every Song released so far except Survive,Polyphemus, and Storm, which Storm is Kinda Up In the Air of if I'm gonna do it or not. That may be a short Animatic. Also Descriptions of what I plan to do with them.

Horse and The Infant:

I've thought about this a lot, and I know I want to create a Praxis Animatic for this song because it reminds me of him. Also, Zues=Prima (in personality)

Just a man:

So..uh..Confession that a lot of people probably already know.. I used to, and still kinda do, Play Gacha. I had a series I created with Gacha and posted to My YouTube Channel called Knights Honor, which has now wrapped up. And It basically focused on Thunderhowl and the Other Knights of The Primes. This is where OCs Like Necromancer, Praxis, and Esmerelda were born. Scatterspark and Thunderstrike already existed at that time, but they were fairly different. So Anyway, in Thunderhowl’s intro for his Parts, because the series was Segmented by Knight, he had his backstory dialog from Cyberverse + Just A Man. This series was a musical of sorts, and I originally planned for One of Thunderhowl’s songs post imprisonment to be Just A Man, but eventually decided against it, though I put it in the intro. After Thunderhowl, I started this pattern of using songs I decided against in the Intro.

So this is why I want To Create a Thunderhowl Animatic for Just A Man.

Full Speed Ahead:

Optimus, Thunderhowl and Soundwave animatic. Human versions of My Fan Contunity Designs.

Open Arms:

An Animatic with Thunderhowl and Hot Rod, slightly inspired by a fanfic I read, though mostly original.

Warrior of The Mind:

ORION PAX/OPTIMUS AND ALPHA TRION I HAVE THOUGHT OF THIS SO OFTEN IT DRIVES ME CRAZY

Polyphemus/Survive: I'm putting this here to explain why I'm not doing these. And it's simple.

I don't care for these two songs. Something about Polyphemus's voice? It just messes with me the wrong way, I don't know what it is. And also that way I can try to avoid being reminded of Polites. I get why people like these songs but I don't care for them. I'll listen to them on occasion but they're not a favorite.

Remember Them:

It's probably a short Animatic because I love the end part with Athena and Ody shouting everything about him to everyone in the world. I love that he delayed his way home by 10 years by doing that. I like watching misery sometimes.Probably Gonna be Optimus and Trion.

My Goodbye:

Though it's no longer Canon,(to the fanfic, the song is plenty canon) I made a Gcmv with Aria and Cody from Rescue bots to this song, but I might change it to like, Jett and Aria.

Either way, Cyberverse Human Partners AU animatic.

Storm:

I actually like Storm Quite a bit, I just can't find any ideas for it.

Luck Runs Out:

Do you know how much this song reminds me of MegaOp.? Like, yeah. Not even in a Romantic sense.

Keep your friends close:

This is actually my second favorite song, and I really want to animate my OC Nightjaw as Aeolus, who also, like Aeolus, was a boy in the original source material.

Ruthlessness:

I knew I wanted to create an Animatic of it, and my First idea was Alchemist and Onyx Vs Starscream..but then I was like Ehh I don't like that, so I decided on A Necromancer Animatic because he may seem sweet, but he is very much a "Ruthlessness is Mercy" Kind of Person deep down. So a Necromancer vs. Op Animatic, and I'm hoping to create more of those after Ruthlessness.

Puppeteer:My third favorite song! I love this song ,and it is so my OC Loki. So Hot Rod and Soundwave are invited in by Her.

Wouldn't you like:

Thunderhowl In my Fan Contunity was built upon the snippet of this Song literally. just Thunderhowl in My Fan Contunity.

Done For: my Favorite Snippet I heard and My Favorite Song! Loki vs Hot Rod.

There are Other Ways:I actually didn't think I'd like this song as much as I did.(Thanks, Ody, for saying no to this.)

Yet another Loki Animatic.

And now, the Snippets I will maybe do:

Legendary:One of the First Snippets I heard, it reminds Me Of my Oc, Apollo, who is the Son of Thunderhowl in my Future Kids AU.

Love In Paradise: one of, If not the first,Snippet I heard. I want to create a Hammerquake(OC) animatic to it.

The Challenge: another Nightjaw Animatic

Hold Him Down:CircuitBreaker(OC) animatic if I don't replace CircuitBreaker by then.(seriously I'm thinking of Replacing him with a New Oc, he doesn't work in that AU anymore.)

Snippets I was gonna do before the Underworld saga was announced so now I'm gonna wait for the official release:

No longer You: i was restraining myself to thumbnail this one when The Underworld saga was announced because I have the whole snippet. In. My.Head.

It opens with my Fan Contunity Optimus walking into a Room, and finding Vector Prime. He starts singing. And like there's a Cybertron reference, there's clockwork all around in an empty void of Space. It was literally gonna look awesome, but now I gotta wait.

Monster:

An Animatic about one of My Thunderhowl AUs. You can probably guess what the AU is about by the song. I actually have an incomplete Flipaclip version that I abandoned.