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jypbae7 · 3 years

Text

Im Changkyun - Natal Chart

- requested by @jookyunz

Can’t remember if you wanted the 18+ section so I included it at the bottom and marked it incase you wanna skip it ❤️

(Not claiming to be an expert this is just for fun please don’t take anything too seriously!) Hope this is helpful and that you enjoy it 🥰❤️

Personality: Aquarius Sun, Aries Moon, Capricorn Mercury, Aquarius Mars

Aquarius Sun comes with lots of intrigue and lots of complexity - like the other air signs Aquarius is very adaptable and tends to prefer an “exciting life” (though earth signs tend to see this lifestyle as pure chaos lmao)

Aquarians tend to be intrigued by mystical things due to their very logical view of the world, this logical side can often lend to them coming off as cold or aloof but it’s less about that and more about their need to rule with the head and not the heart in order to avoid being thrown off the balance that they like (Aqua is a fixed sign) also they do NOT want to be hurt by people so the guard they have up towards the world is basically an iron curtain till they develop enough trust with you

Aries Moon is equally as spontaneous and adaptable but for a different motivation - Aries is bold and wants the most out of life and you can bet your bottom dollars they’ll do WHATEVER necessary to gain the lifestyle and goals they set for themselves.

But since they are naturally social butterflies and genuinely just want to have fun and encourage the people they love to reach for their dreams and have fun doing it, they tend to succeed rather easily since people are drawn to them. - All about confidence, bold styles, working hard because they NEED to be the best at whatever they do, but they definitely play hard too (as does every fire sign lmao)

As much as Aries and Aquarius like change and excitement - Capricorn Mercury does NOT. This adds a LOT of grounding and “tradition” to quick moving Aries and unconventional Asquarius.

Capricorn Mercurys are known to speak slow, quite monotonous and precise which I definitely have always felt about Changkyun. You’re not getting too much fluff or extra words from them because Capricorn finds it a waste of energy. They say what they mean when they mean it and not much else more. But this means they are good listeners and are very comfortable and unreliant on “attention” or “being in the spotlight” giving them added levels of independence. I also feel that this is why they are sooooo unbothered by other people’s opinions and friendship.

Aquarians straight up rather be alone than around fake people. They don’t care if they “fit in” with general norms because they don’t want to be like anyone else anyway lmao and they are interesting enough to keep themselves entertained. While Capricorn and Aries have places to go, people to see, and goals to crush so why the hell be worried about others???

Mixed with the other 2 placements it’s likely that his home is a serious sanctuary for him that he takes seriously. When he’s out in the world doing his busy schedules and chaotic traveling and work he’s happy and really feeding into the air and fire energy. But when he gets home it’s his Capricorn Mercury that is being nurtured and stimulated. He’s going to wanna hibernate there for a while without leaving especially if he’s been gone a long time. Could be either unbelievably messy or unbelievably neat but likely no inbetween with these placements lmao.

Aquarius Mars.... reminder that Aquarius is a fixed sign so this in Mars could mean one HELL of a temper or at least rage once he’s set off. But thankfully the Airy nature of Aqua means you’d really have to mess with him to get that kind of reaction because they generally really dislike being upset. They prefer staying content and neutral rather than having extreme feelings of any kind or it makes them veryyyyy edgy. If you can disagree with respect and if you provide logic instead of ego as your argument you’re likely to get a much better reaction from Aquarius

Relationships:

Non-Romantic Relationships & overall communication style: Aquarius Sun, Aries Moon, Capricorn Mercury, Aquarius Mars

Boy oh boyyyyyy he takes a LONG time to open up to people - 2 Aquarius placements and a Capricorn placement screamssssss trust issues and vulnerability issues

Capricorn doesn’t wanna sulk and talk about their problems so IF they trust you enough to come to you with an issue they want solutions and practical help and support

Is really cheered up by acts of service and quality time - watching a great movie even in complete silence just near each other on the couch in sweats tucked under cozy blankets or getting surprised with their favorite dinner can boost their mood instantly

Aries Moon as I said before is a natural in social situations and tends to draw attention even when they aren’t trying so he’s bound to come off a lot more open and friendly than he actually is. The deep stuff won’t come out till he REALLY knows and trusts you and even then… in SMALL increments

That said he’s a super fun friend to have - down for adventures, actually thinks about and puts effort into doing cool stuff with friends and loved ones

When it comes to friendships he shows care through quality time and acts of service

When he buys gifts for people he cares about they are BOMB - cool as fuck and either one or a combination of the following: one of a kind, meaningful as fuck, and/ or super expensive - most likely fashion, jewelry, something music related, or super cool stuff from his travels

Romantic relationships and preferences : Pisces Venus, Aquarius Mars, Aquarius Juno, Aries Eros

Lmao even MORE Aquarius and Aries energy

Ok into the main meat - these four placements are particularly interesting combo: 2 fixed air (Aqua), 1 mutable water (Pisces) and 1 Cardinal Fire (Aries)

Aqua Juno - generally hints at a pretty unconventional relationship and this can come in manyyyyy forms for the very unique and varied Aquarians (partnership without legal marriage, mixed race/culture couple, could even mean choosing a bachelor lifestyle over any normal type of relationship, etc.) - given that Changkyun seems quite close with his parents and his interest in kids I’d say he’s unlikely to choose the bachelor route.

For a lot of Aquarians unconventional can also come in the form of a very stimulating partner, they enjoy learning and expanding their minds and experiences which is why they tend to run towards challenges that others would run from. I think someone who shares similar passions but varied skills and/or background would fulfil that for him. Aquarius, Pisces and Aries like to be stimulated A LOT.

Pisces in Venus is a tricky placement - can be pretty hot and cold, lots of mixed signals, you should be ready to be stood up or flaked on atleast once in the beginning🙄) BUT if you actually manage to earn their trust and dedication they make very caring partners.

Pisces in Venus is art gallery and museum dates, binge watching documentaries especially murder mystery, and spending most of the summer near the closest body of water.

Aries Eros fantasizes about being in a partnership that others look at as a power couple but they’ll never admit it - they dream of a partner who is in awe of them and their accomplishments but has their own big goals and successes to cater to as well. They like people they can grow with as individuals and as a couple. Push and pull works really well with Aries (and the other two fire signs too honestly) they like the cat and mouse thing and they like to have time to miss & yearn for their partner especially the men - absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Love languages in order from most to least: quality time, physical touch, acts of service, gift giving

Aries is a strong sign and they want and need a real partner who respects and supports their independence and boss energy but also can nurture their softer more vulnerable side and be the strong one for them when they need it

***** 18+ Preferences ****

Ooof this should honestly come as a surprise to NO ONE but damn placements do NOT lie...Im Changkyun is one freaky ass boy

I mean ARIES EROS???? Let me spell that out for y’all: fucks you like he absolutely fucking hates you or ties you up like a present and edges you for hours till you’re crying

LOVES, let me repeat LOVES jealousy sex - whether it’s you being jealous of all the screaming thirsting fans he has or him being jealous of guys getting too close too you for his comfort - he is allllllllll about taking that energy directly into the bedroom ASAP (or a bathroom or even closet if it locks 🤐)

Could and WOULD makeout for hours on end - especially if he’s been drinking

The more you switch it up the more excited he is - with all them Aquarius placements it should be pretttyyyyyy often

Different positions, lingerie, role play - any and all of it excite him

With a partner he actually trusts and has feelings for I can see him being extremely open minded to trying things (though obviously EVERYONE has limits and boundaries)

Toys, blindfolds, handcuffs, whip cream, hot wax, spanking - all a STRONG yes

Get the strong feeling he has strong preference to use his mouth often - lots of kissing (passionate, needy, messy - sometimes more aggressive) , likes to give and receive hickeys, wants to kiss all over his partner’s body and LOVES oral both receiving and giving (and I get the feeling he’s TOO good at that 👀)

More willing to let his partner take control than you might think - he’s not a switch but he just doesn’t think you initiating or “being in control” makes him any less dominant. In fact it’s probably the opposite; you showing your desire to that point actually makes him feel MORE dominant and masculine

Literally could find anyone and everyone beautiful - is more attracted to people’s minds, spirit and energy than physical looks (BIG Pisces and Aquarian thing)

Gets turned on every single time he sees you in the crowd at one of his shows - makes him feel like you are the only two people in the world (drives his Aries Eros INSANE - gets a kick out of the slight power play of being on stage in front of so many people, as well as the secrecy and raw passionate energy of it all)

Tattoos, piercings, colorful wigs, or even just interesting jewelry paired with the right lingerie or outfit will have him 🤯- think short black see-through lace robe with nothing on underneath except a sparkling body chain dripping from your body....yep he’ll eat you like a main dish in .00000000023 seconds

Hope you enjoyed! 💕

#monsta x #changkyun #im changkyun #i.m.#i.m monsta x #monsta x scenarios #monsta x imagines #changkyun scenarios #changkyun imagines #changkyun astrology #natal chart #monsta x astrology #monsta x zodiac

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all-my-love-for-harry · 4 years

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Hi I’m in love with your series!! Single mom is definitely my favorite,I much prefer single mom over single dad if I’m honest! Can we get like a blurb about the first time Artemis opened up a little more to Harry without his mom around? ❤️

Hi!! i agree with you 100%, single moms are amazing! thank you for reading 💗

harry is running out of options to make artemis like him

you can find more of my shy little boy here

Three months in and Harry was convinced Artemis did not like him. He felt like he has tried everything, but the boy was yet to open up to him.

He tried making conversation about the things he knew Artemis liked and even if he did answer him (because that's what polite boys do, according to his mumma), he showed little to no interest at all to carry the conversation any further.

At this point, Harry needed to gain his trust, or else he knew he'd have to kiss his love Y/N goodbye.

"He'll warm up to you, you'll see" that's what his now girlfriend of two months would say to him every time. "He does like you, he's just not good with new people"

"How do you know he likes me?" he said, putting a package of frozen peas into the cart. Harry was helping her do groceries while Artemis was with his grandmothers for the weekend.

"Because i'm his mother. And because i see how every time you're not looking, he's looking at you to make sure you haven't left"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Perhaps he's waiting for me to leave"

"Doubt it. He used to do the same with a couple of friends. He wants to talk to you, but he gets nervous, so he limits himself to observe you" she explained.

"What should i do then?"

"Keep trying, he'll come to you"

So that's what he did. And although every day he felt like there was progress, he was growing desperate. Y/N knew that while she was there, Artemis would always have a way out of the interaction. So she came to the conclusion that she needed to be out so Artemis wouldn't have a choice other than actually talk with Harry, and once he realized Harry was a good person, he'd never let him leave again.

interesting how the mind of a four year old could work.

No longer after that, everything fell into place. Y/N had an emergency meeting at work, and Harry immediately jumped out to offer to take care of Artemis while she was out.

"Are you sure?" she asked one last time while she was putting her blazer on.

"Yeah. Could use some time alone with the lad" he smiled. This time, he had things prepared for them that he knew would make Artemis happy.

Overall, he was feeling confident this would be the day the little boy would open up to him.

"Great. I'll be back before six, if anything happens please call me" Y/N wasn't gonna lie, she was nervous. This was the first time Harry and Artemis would be on their own, and it'd be for a few hours. She had previously talked to her son and explained she had to leave for a little and Harry was gonna stay with him. Artemis asked why Y/N couldn't take him with her, she had said it was a work thing then he said it was fine, he'd be okay with Harry.

Y/N went to say goodbye to her baby, promising she'd back soon and remain him to be good to Harry. Then she walked towards her gorgeous boyfriend and kissed him goodbye and squeezed him a little tighter, knowing he was nervous.

Once the two were alone, Harry walked to where Artemis was. He was playing with legos on the floor of the living room, so Harry went and sat on the floor as well but not so close to the little boy, not wanting to invade his personal space.

"What are you building, mate?"

"A robot, but i think i'm not doing it right" he mumbled, still focused on the legos in his hands.

"Maybe i can help?"

Artemis look up from his toy, glazing at him. after a few seconds he nodded, blushing a little before he moved a little closer to Harry.

They spent some time without saying anything, both becoming invested in finishing what they were building together.

Artemis smiled when they finally finished, happy with the result. He directed his hazel eyes at Harry. "Thank you, Harry"

"You're welcome, mate. What do you want to do now?" he asked. "You hungry?"

The boy in front of Harry nodded. "Mummy gives me fruit before dinner" Now it was Harry's turn to nod. He stood up, extending one arm at Artemis to help him up as well.

"Let's go to the kitchen then" To his surprise, Artemis did not let go of Harry's hand after he stood up, so they walked hand in hand to the kitchen.

"Do you like grapes? I can cut you some apple too" He looked down at the boy.

"Can i have both?"

Even if he wasn't allowed two eat that much fruit, Harry wouldn't dare to say no to him right now so he just nodded while grabbing said fruits to wash them.

"Do you want to see how i cut them?" Harry asked again and Artemis mumbled a little yes. "Can i pick you up?"

"Yes"

Harry scooped him up and placed him on the kitchen island, he started cutting the apple in little cubes, deciding he'd only cut half of it. Then, under Artemi's gaze, he proceed to wash the grapes. Y/N had told him he only liked the green ones.

Once everything was on a plastic plate, he handed it to Artemis. "Thank you"

The pair settled down on the couch, and Harry let Artemis pick a movie to watch. "I like Moana" he said.

They watched the movie in silence, when they reached the part when Moana fell off of the boat, Artemis got a little scared so he snuggled closer to Harry, who immediately wrapped an arm around his little shoulder.

Even when that part passed, Artemis stayed close to Harry. When Maui started singing you're welcome, Artemis started whispering the lyrics of the song too, tapping Harry's thigh at the beat of the song.

"Does Maui exist?" he asked when the movie ended.

"I'm not sure, Artemis"

"He's cool" he said, lifting his face to look at Harry. "You're cool too, Harry"

Harry grinned happily. "Thank you, mate. I think you're pretty cool yourself"

"Do you want to see my trains?"

Artemis' train set was in his room, which Harry has never been in. So him inviting Harry to his room meant a lot for the curly haired man, it meant Artemis trusted him enough to take him to his space.

That's how they ended up playing in his room for what it felt like hours, resting on their tummies and finally enjoying each other's company.

By the time Y/N arrived, Harry was being chased by Artemis for absolutely no reason other than have a good laugh. The scene in front of her was so wholesome she could cry. Her boy had the biggest smile on his face that matched Harry's dimpled one.

"I'm guessing you two had fun" Y/N said, stepping into the dinning area, where they've stopped running.

"I like Harry, mummy. Can he come more often?" Artemis asked to his mother, giving her big puppy eyes.

Y/N turned to see Harry's reaction, he looked like he could cry of excitement. The night turned to be a big success, and Harry couldn't be more excited to explore further into his relationship with both Y/N and Artemis.

☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁

taglist!!

@myfavfanficsever @odetostep

@la-cey @cock-a-doodely-doo @awkwardbullfrog @mellamolayla @moorgannn @bagtan-serendipity @awesomebooklover17 @finelineribs @sunnybusiness

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles one shot #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fluff #harry styles fluff fic #harry styles fluffy imagine #my shy little boy

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inked-out-trees · 3 years

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⭐ for The Keep Going Song? Thanks! :)

(anh i would die for you)

Thank you for asking! I am going to be talking about the whole thing because it's fun, and because there's not really many ~secrets~ within the text to ramble about, just little fun snippets!

I'll do it under a cut because I will definitely ramble. Woohoo!

I came across The Keep Going Song (the song) after my Lookout 3 Companion Playlist (& my spotify discovery) introduced me to the Bengsons. The effect was almost instantaneous - it's the kind of warmth I try to encompass in everything I do, and for the next few days I had it on repeat as I worked. This was around the time I was finishing my Lookout script, and I had been toying with the idea of writing a Cornleyverse fic after absolutely devouring all 10 fics in the tag. What I knew was that I wanted it to be sweet, I wanted it to pull them all together, and I wanted it to be a progression. Despite only having seen the Goes Wrong Show, jumping into the fandom made me want to dimensionalize these characters and give them a story beyond everything that had already occured.

I also watched Christmas Carol before / during the writing process, but to date I have not watched Peter Pan or the full-length TPTGW. My prior knowledge comes from Wikipedia, the delightul amateur TPTGW production on YouTube, a friend's excellent transcription of the Haversham Manor script, and tumblr meta analysis. I think I did a reasonable enough job pretending I knew what I was doing.

Let's get going!

I knew off the top that it was going to be vignettes - they would give me room to spread the story over the long period of time it takes for a group of people to grow into something resembling a family. Like I said in the original author's note, there was supposed to be more of the early, snippy days - but I got so focused on making them kinder that I found I couldn't properly write a fight. In hindsight, it probably would have been easier if I tried writing that first, but, well. Once I realized that it was too late. The alphabet idea came later, once I had them all finished: I wanted to organize them somehow, but numbers felt too open, too infinite - closing the story on an organizational endpoint was just really satisfying.

a - Every good story needs a good beginning.

c - Starting with the end of Peter Pan is my sneaky way of slipping past the fact that I haven't seen the earlier shows! The Max and Sandra storyline is just so sweet, and I wanted to let it exist a little bit in between our jump from Peter Pan to Christmas Carol. This vignette came so easily when I wrote it and I love love love the feelings and the tentativity about the whole thing.

f - This was actually the last vignette I wrote. I realized I needed some front-end padding because otherwise my angst plot came rather abruptly, and what better way? At this point, too, I was trying to bring in POVs from each one of our characters, and when deciding on Trevor's POV I thought the exasperation-excitement combination would be an excellent choice. It turns out Trevor is my favourite to write, mostly because I can find his voice a lot easier than some of the others - and probably also because I hold a lot of fondness and nostalgia for stage crew work. Also, I wrote most of this one on a long evening walk in the notes app on my phone. Fun fact.

h - I did my original idea slam in a draft tumblr post, and this one just says "birthday party but one without all the drama of christmas carol". And what do you know, that's exactly what it is! I definitely took the birthday party (in CCGW as well as in this fic) as a kind of proof that they really do like each other, if they're doing things like this and if they want to do things like this - and that theme of okay, they want to be here formed the basis for this part. I think it's exceptionally sweet that Dennis came looking for friends and ended up finding, well, something. And I popped in a little MMNI reference with "one of the Janines" - Backwards Janine? Frontwards Janine? Original Janine? Who knows! It's one of them!

l - The thing about this plot is that it's actually one of the first ideas I had when dreaming up this fic, and I couldn't quite let it go. The point was, what if I somehow split them up? How can they get on when half the society is out of commission? And the most reasonable way I could find to actually get half of them out of commission was the car accident. To be honest, this one is mostly filler - it's also the second vignette I wrote, and it found its birth in the email drafts of my work laptop.

m - Trying to map out this little plotline without overdoing it might have been the most difficult part of this fic, and I'm still not 100% sure I succeeded. This is our explanation for the unease from the vignette above, and it took me 3 rewrites before I finally found something that settled in my brain. "Dennis gets chased by a goose" might be one of my favourite lines in the fic though.

Also, putting these letters right next to each other made me feel really clever for no reason.

n - My Jonathan perspective also took a few stutter-steps in its beginning, but this one ultimately came from the promo video's reveal that Robert and Dennis live together, and me playing with the continual idea of the remaining cast members being rather unmoored in their injured castmates' absence. Robert in particular because I love his character and I love making him Feel Things(TM) (fun hint: this will also be a small theme in the new cpds fic I have in the works!) and I want to see so much from this odd relationship between him and Dennis. Obviously they have to tolerate each other if they are willingly roommates - how far can I go with that? I love how this one turned out.

o - All I have to say about this one is that I still really love the sweetness between these two, and they deserve the world. Also, at some point during writing this I was really caught up with how striking Dave's face silhouette is (don't ask) so that ended up making it in somehow.

q - Girls' Night is SO important to me. After all the work they've done to make these gals friends I needed to capture it, and a pleasant night in just made a lot of sense. This one is the home of a few of my headcanons - Annie has a chef roommate and Max does a lot of the cooking, thus the "neither of us are the usual household cooks" comments, and I also think they're at the point where they can joke about their previous failures (especially with these three together) so the nod to A Trial To Watch (my favourite gws episode) was so fun. Also, Waking Ned really is a silly pick-me-up of a movie - would recommend. Special thanks to CBC for giving us Canadians quality British TV alongside our occasionally questionable homegrown programming.

r - It wouldn't be a fic about progress and growth with this crew without a disheartening moment turned into gold. I wrote this one while barbecuing, another fun fact, and no joke the hardest part was figuring out what to name the play they were doing. I kept pace with the whole "Jonathan can't get onscreen" gag, which was personally hilarious and made me cackle as I wrote it, and the rest of it just felt good. I will always have a soft spot for comfort and reassurance in a story and getting to write it has just been an absolute delight.

t - This was one of my other unplanned vignettes. It was originally to fill out Robert's POV, but also to express a bit of how things have changed in Chris's attitude towards his cast - if there's one thing I would change from Mischief's characerisation thus far, it's this brand of almost-kindness that I consistently need to write him with. It takes the aftermath of the car accident and uses it to kind of make him understand - this is a valuable group of people and I don't want to lose it. But of course he's not the type of person to actually express that in any way, so I thought the frenetic hovering was a good way to get the point across. As well, the kind-of-bonding between Chris and Robert - the two of them are such powerhouses of insistent personality that conflict so easily but they've also got a more secret kind of friendship that deserves to be explored a little more. I really like this vignette and how it ended up portraying how they are around each other, how they really do know each other, especially when they're not fighting. Makes me soft.

w - This is the first vignette I wrote! I honestly didn't realize until writing this just how much I identify with Annie - best of both worlds re. crew and cast, a bit of tenacity regarding getting through things, overall personality - I just love her so so much. She also seems like the most sensible of the cast, so the collective "why are we really here?" moment with Trevor really spoke to me. I love their friendship, I love the kind of quiet vibe this vignette gives off - this is one of the ones I can feel most strongly, the one I can step into and exist inside. I also spent most of my old drama rehearsals and classes without shoes, so that had to make it in just by virtue of the sock brigade (me).

z - One thing I knew for sure since the inception of the fic was that it needed to end on a victory. I took the images I had of this victorious adrenaline, everyone together having a good time, kind of getting smashed, and karaoke (I really wanted the karaoke, for some reason) and went the obvious route: the wedding. Ending on Chris POV also felt so right - possibly because he's the one with the most growth in this fic - and getting to finally feel this triumph with him after all these other trials and tribulations was an absolute joy. The wedding hall, in my head, looks like the one my cousin used (it was at a zoo... my sister and I went on a night walk and heard a lot of screaming peacocks) and I definitely threw all my wistfulness, all my love for the characters I'd developed, and all my love for this fantastic fandom into this part. The incorrect lyrics that Annie sings are exactly what I think every time I hear that song, because I've never looked up the lyrics before and my brain likes to play Mad Libs with my super-questionable auditory processing. And the image of the ballroom staff getting really exasperated with them and shutting all the lights off came to me at night and is hastily scribbled on a sticky note (it's a wonder it's legible) but I still strongly believe that it's the perfect, perfect way to end. I still get the warm feelings when I reread this part, even now, after so many reads.

And, finally - our end quote is exactly what started this whole thing. What is this drama society if not a rough beginning? But the concept that we'll make it through, that we can just take a step and then another and it'll be okay because we're together... it's hard to describe just how much it means to me, to my place in the world, to the world itself. I think one of my rather consistent aims in writing, no matter what it is, is to be able to have this collective - characters that become family, people that are important to each other, this constellation to lean on - because it's all I can say for the human experience. It's probably quite a bit of wishful thinking (as I said to another friend, "I am apparently letting loose on all my repressed social feelings of the past year and shoving them into fics") and a sort of subconscious confirmation that if I write it, I can be it. So this force of understanding and kindness and ultimately good people helping each other through the world is something I can't help but include, something that means the absolute world to me.

I'm so glad to have been able to share this fic with everyone, and extra glad that it's been able to touch some people along the way. I've found such an incredible community in Mischief and coincidentally I think The Keep Going Song represents that warmth, too - the community I've been so lucky to exist inside, how we're helping each other along, step by step. What a beautiful thing to be a part of! Thank you for reading and allowing me to give you a bit of my heart. 💖💖

#director's cut #the keep going song

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disneytva · 4 years

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‘The Owl House’: It’s a Hoot!

You would never think that the dark art of 15th century Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch would serve as the inspiration for a children’s cartoon. Well, thanks to Dana Terrace and her wild imagination, the strange creatures conjured by the European painter have found their way in the new Disney Channel series The Owl House. The show, which debuts in January, and is already in production of its second season, follows the adventures of a young teenage girl named Luz who decides to pursue her dreams of becoming a witch after she stumbles into a strange realm, inhabited by feisty witch Eda and her tiny warrior friend King.

Terrace, a former director on DuckTales and storyboard artist on Gravity Falls, recalls starting to collect her notes and images and putting together her pitch for the story back in 2015. Then, she finally began pitching her story about a young girl who becomes a witch’s apprentice only a few months after she started directing DuckTales.

“Many of the characters have barely changed since then,” recalls Terrace. “I knew I wanted an older witch mentor figure and a young optimistic girl who was the main character, who learns and grows throughout the show. There’s also this trickster little jerk character named King (voiced by Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch).”

The setting for The Owl House changed a little bit since its early days. Terrace says for a brief time, she was toying with the idea of the whole show being set after the young character dies, so that the Owl House is all set in the afterlife. What really had a clear impact on her work is the work of artists such as Bosch, John Bauer, Remedios Varos and the puppetry of Jim Henson.

Real-Life Models

In addition to the crazy creatures of Bosch and religious illuminated manuscripts, Terrace found inspiration in some of the familiar elements in her life as well. “I have always wanted to tell a story about a rough-around-the-edges mother figure, based off of my aunt, nana and mother who raised me,” she recalls.

Terrace says the show’s central character Luz evolved from late-night conversations she used to have with her former roommate roommate and close college friend. “We were both dorks together,” she recalls. “We tried to cut our own hair and it never worked out. We didn’t have many friends. So, in a way, Luz bubbled out of our conversations. When I told her that I was going to base the main character on her, she said, ‘Yes , but you’ll have to make her Dominican.’ So that’s what happened. Luz now also works on the show as a storyboard artist and consultant, and I get to work with my best friend every day.”

As a young girl, Terrace used sneak into the living room to watch cartoons and copy what she liked in her flip books. Her love for shows such as The Simpsons, Pokémon, The PowerPuff Girls and Studio Ghibli movies finally lead her to study animation at School of Visual Arts in New York and make her way out to L.A. to pursue a career in the animation business. Her first big break happened when someone discovered her art blog and sent her a storyboarding test, which led to her landing a job at Gravity Falls and opened other doors as well.

During her big pitch to Disney, Terrace says she was a bit worried to mention Bosch and his odd, evil creatures, but to her surprise, one of the executive’s response was, “Heck, yeah!” “They have been nothing more than enthusiastic and helpful from day one,” she notes.

After spending a good year writing and making the pilot, Terrace began building her production team in 2018. Art director Ricky Cometa and supervising producer Stephen Sandoval also joined the Disney TV Animation production. At capacity, the show has about 50 staffers as part of its pre-production crew, and an overall count of 120 including the overseas teams at Sunwoo, Rough Draft and Sugarcube in Korea. We’ve been very fortunate to work with all of them,” says Terrace. “They’ve made the show really, really spark.”

The Owl House has attracted a top-notch list of vocal talent as well, including Wendie Malick as Eda, Hirsch as King and Sarah-Nicole Robles as Luz. Among the guest star lineup for the show’s first season are Matthew Rhys, Isabella Rossellini, Tati Gabrielle, Issac Ryan Brown, Mae Whitman, Bumper Robinson and Parvesh Cheena. Terrace points out that having a sterling class led by Malick has been a real treat. “Our witch could have been a very hard character to cast, because we wanted to have sass and energy, and Wendie was absolutely perfect. She came in with all her talent and experience, and my first instinct was ‘You don’t need any direction. Do whatever you want to do because you are amazing!”

She also mentions that she knew Alex Hirsch was going to end up playing the little sidekick King. “I used to hear him pitch when I worked on Gravity Falls. I knew that he can bring a lot to the characters he plays. He would also give me some helpful advice about running his own show and working at Disney.”

Art director Ricky Cometa (Steven Universe, Costume Quest) says he was swept away by Terrace’s wild ideas and spectacular imagery, things that were not usually seen in children’s animation. “The second she came in and said, ‘I want you to read this show bible. The first thing that caught my eye was ‘Bosch and the demon world?’ I very much needed help to figure out what this world looks like. We had this blank canvas and there was a lot of religious iconography. I knew we were going to push the boundaries. I mean we are doing the demon realm on the Disney Channel? You bet I’m in!”

Cometa points out that it was clear that they needed to balance the darker aspects of the witch’s world with the more light-hearted and fun components of Luz’s comical adventures. “At first, I wasn’t sure how dark we could have made the world this world that Luz jumps into initially. We had to make clear decisions about when the story needed to be scary— when do we highlight the darker moments versus when the story is lighthearted and welcoming. It was all about finding that right balance of warmth and spookiness.”

Terrace agrees. “If we made everything super scary and spooky — which is something I’m not afraid of, scaring my audience — but if we made everything the same color, then the scary parts and the day-to-day light-hearted parts wouldn’t have popped. We needed that contrast for writing purposes.”

Amazingly enough, Terrace is only the fourth woman to solely create and run an animated series for Disney — following in the footsteps of Sue Rose (Pepper Ann), Chris Nee (Doc McStuffins) and Daron Nefcy (Star vs. The Forces of Evil). She says one of her biggest challenges on the show was going through the learning process to run a writer’s room, which includes four other writers and a writer’s assistant. “Before this show I had always written and drawn my own comics and cartoons, but this was the first time I had written scripts professionally. Learning the process of writing scripts and learning to run a writers’ room was probably the biggest challenge for me. Luckily, I was with a team of talented writers, and we all kind of learned together. Most of that team has carried on to the second season, and we’re very excited to keep writing together.

As the show begins its run on Disney Channel, Terrace says that ultimately she hopes audiences will be entertained by Luz’s world and her off-the-wall adventures. “There are so many different kinds of animated shows out there and so many traditional and streaming services, that I don’t think it’s possible to have a gigantic blowout hit anymore. At the end of the day, no matter how much stuff is out there, stories with interesting core characters and relatable, understandable stories will shine through.”

#The Owl House #Owl House #Dana Terrace #Disney Channel #Ricky Cometa

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lightandwinged · 3 years

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Haven’t posted the bobbins in a hot minute!

The twins turn three tomorrow! I legitimately cannot believe that I’ve been doing the fulltime mom thing to twins for three whole ass years. And I have to brag a little bit about their birthday stuff because last year, Covid suddenly happening two days before their birthday derailed everything--we’d been planning to go to the aquarium in Boston and take them to a special ice cream place and just have a great time, but then plague.

And they had a good time, but I felt bad.

So maybe this year I went overboard JUST a bit, both (a) because we could afford it (Kyle’s new job is pretty sweet like that), and (b) because I wanted this year to make up for last year being meh. I know they’re too young to really remember but on the off chance that they do, I don’t want them to remember two miserable Covid birthdays. One is enough.

I made cupcakes, because they are tiny, and cupcakes are easier to individually theme than bigger cakes. Carrie loves unicorns, Isaac loves Mickey and Minnie, it was a fun thing to do.

But kiddos overall.

Sam is inching closer to SEVEN YEARS OLD WHAT, is on his third lost tooth (my favorite tooth when kids lose it because it’s the one that really makes him look like a little jack o lantern), and speaks mostly in Pokemon these days. I understand none of it, but he is OBSESSED and keeps coming up with creative ways to bring them into his day-to-day life (he’s beaten Sword about three times and is currently working his way through whatever the previous title was on the DS; his favorite vacillates day to day, but he tends to go for fire types). I’m still homeschooling him until the end of the year because everyone keeps changing their mind about when people are going back and doing what. And he’s kicking ass. Currently whizzing through very basic geometry (e.g., finding simple perimeter and area) as part of his third grade math curriculum and working on recognizing patterns in science.

We also suspect that he’s either autistic or has ADHD (per his in-home therapists as well), but wait times for official testing are L O N G. We’re having him evaluated through the school, though, so that if he doesn’t get a diagnosis before he heads back in the fall (because I love him, but I do not love teaching him), he’ll at least have an IEP already in place and be able to get any assistance he needs. And that will most likely take the form of someone breaking tasks into smaller steps, maybe giving him fidget opportunities while he’s learning (he absorbs a LOT when he’s playing with Legos), maybe taking tests separately so that he can have someone read the questions aloud to him so that he absorbs them (because he can read, but unless he also HEARS things, he absorbs nothing).

He’s a terrifyingly smart kid still, and I have no doubt that he’ll be on par with his fellow second graders next year academically. I just want him to not feel overwhelmed while working.

Isaac is slowly slowly slowly gaining spoken language. I’ve said before and stand by that I don’t care if he never speaks completely fluently, but I do want him to be able to communicate his wants and needs so that he doesn’t get frustrated so much. And he does get frustrated, but his meltdowns remain rare--they usually only happen if something he loved doing ends or if someone takes his toy or won’t give him their toy or just other typical toddler stuff (which inclines me to classify them more as tantrums than meltdowns, but eh). BUT he also communicates, not just by taking someone’s hand and putting it on something he wants, but by using words. He LOVES to talk about the cats (which are his favorite thing--cats of all types, including those in the musical) (but NOT THE MOVIE DEAR JESUS), and the other day, he very meticulously directed me to draw a picture of the three cats happily sleeping on his bed, based on his memory of seeing them happily sleeping on his bed at naptime.

He’s definitely got his drilled down special interests--cats, cars, Mickey Mouse, Daniel Tiger, and Celtic Woman (we call them his “ladies”). And he is just such an absolute sweetie. He still has the smile that basically convinces you that you would both kill and die for him (shown above), and the way he relaxes against me when he’s tired just makes me sigh and love him to absolute pieces. He’s 110% a momma’s boy, and although I hope he grows out of it when the time is right, it’s really sweet right now.

He easily qualified for special ed preschool, which I’ll talk about more in a second.

And then Miss Carrie, who basically read the rhyme about little girls being made of sugar and spice and all things nice and took it as gospel but ALSO realized that you can do all of those things while being a monster, beating up everyone who treats you wrong, and covering yourself in tattoos. I say of her that she’s too much, but in the best possible way: I want her to keep being too much forever, because it is absolutely delightful. She’s always giggling or twirling, singing or commanding her brothers in a game of pretend. She never just walks anywhere, she always prances or skips or dances or hops or jumps. She can be a screechy little spitfire one second and then brush away her angry tears and transform into a little cherub the next, and it’s hilarious. Everything ever must be pink and glittery (I promise, I did not try and force pink on her, she jumped to it on her own), must flounce out correctly when she twirls, must make her feel like a fairy tale princess.

She merrily adopts all the stereotypical “girly” things in life--Barbies, princesses, My Little Pony (yep, we’re back in that phase), unicorns, mermaids, “cute” things, etc. At the same time, she’s always game for a lightsaber fight, playing “bug” with Sammy (I don’t know what “bug” is as a game, but the kids have established rules for it and play it whenever they’re not too tired after dinner), and wrestling with her dad and brothers. It’s wonderful.

And SHE qualified for special ed preschool because her muscle tone is hilariously low (read: she flops).

The twins are starting preschool Monday because they are turning three and thus losing early intervention services. I worry somewhat about them being in school with Covid still raging (even though I’m 50% of the way to fully vaccinated--going back for Pfizer #2 on Saturday!), but it’s a huge relief that their therapies (speech, occupational, physical) are being coordinated by the school and not by me. I’m the most organized person in this house, and anyone who’s ever seen my house knows what a statement that is (it’s gotten worse since my sciatica has settled in, because bending over is just not a thing I can do without suffering), so having that burden lifted from my shoulders? Heavenly.

And I’m just overall proud as fuck of all three kids. They’re so resilient, and I know that the pandemic has been hard on them in a lot of ways, but they’re still kicking ass, still smiling and laughing and having fun, and that’s been a bright spot for the entire last year.

#parenting #sammy the small spawn #isaac doomface #little care bear #hashtag twinning #holy shit they're three #them going to school is kind of like emerging from a long hibernation

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karajaynetoday · 4 years

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ours, for the rest of forever | ashton irwin

Hello friends! Here is a godparent!Ash one shot, based on this blurb about being godparents with Ashton and also inspired in part by that scene in Season 5 of One Tree Hill when Brooke is randomly looking after a baby but has to also finish fashion sketches so Lucas comes to her rescue with babysitting and it is overall very soft and cute. You know the one! Lol.

A very big thank you to Jex @sadistmichael , Anna @cheekysos , Jae @jae-writes-fanfiction and Hailey @talkfastromance4 for proof-reading and providing feedback on this when it was in its draft stages. You’re all absolute gems!

Anyway, enjoy the softness and as always, please let me know what you think! I’ve got some thoughts for a potential part 2, so we’ll wait and see how part 1 goes :)

(This is a fem reader insert)

Word count: 3.3k words

Warnings: none

More writing here | send feedback/thoughts/suggestions here

When your best friend Alice told you she was having a baby, you were over the moon. She was honestly one of the most kind-hearted people you knew, and the amount of love in her heart for others would only bloom more for a little baby to hold and cherish. Her partner James had been by Alice’s side since your university days, and their relationship was one that was literally #goals. They’d moved over to Los Angeles because James had an opportunity to work at an indie creative agency working with music artists, and when you followed a year or so later to pursue a consulting job, they’d welcomed you with open arms into the little community they’d formed of Australian ex-pats, LA creatives and generally good quality, salt of the earth people.

In the early days, there were lots of late nights (that became early mornings) running amok in West Hollywood, going from one house party to the next, but as you grew older, it became more likely to be a quiet Sunday sesh in someone’s backyard, with a barbeque cooking and someone playing their favourite tunes on a portable speaker while you floated in the swimming pool or lounged about on the grass with everyone’s various pets in attendance. When you met Ashton, he was drumming shirtless at his own house party, and then doing shots with James and their friend Calum. You were more than a little intimidated, although he had a kind face and welcoming nature, Ashton was forthcoming his opinions. On the other hand, you were always more reserved, and it took you time to feel like you belonged with their crazy crew of friends. One night, you and Ashton ended up alone in the kitchen sharing some chicken nuggets and potato gems tater tots after a wild night on the house part dancefloor, and from there you could feel a solid friendship starting to take hold.

A few months after Alice and James told you they were expecting, they’d invited you and Ashton out to brunch at one of your favourite spots. It was a little hole-in-the-wall café in Studio City that you’d first come to after Ashton wouldn’t stop raving about how good their iced coffees were. You all ordered your favourites (avocado smash with a side of smoked salmon and a hash brown for you, raspberry hotcakes for Alice, a breakfast burger for James, and pulled pork eggs benedict with a side of halloumi for Ashton) and were chatting away about your weeks at work when Alice reached down and pulled two envelopes out of her tote bag and handed on to you and one to Ashton. You took them, looking confusedly at Alice and James, who had big goofy smiles on their faces.

“Well, go on! Open them!” Alice half-shouted excitedly, squeezing James’ hand on top of the table. You and Ashton glanced at each other, perplexed, before tearing open the envelopes and finding a card inside. Yours read, “Will you be my godmother?” in gold writing on the front, and inside was an ultrasound photo with a handwritten note from Alice that made you tear up when you started reading it. You could see in your peripheral vision that Ash had a corresponding card in his envelope too, and he was standing up to give James and Alice a hug with an enthusiastic “Fuck YES! Of course I will!” that garnered some disapproving looks from the middle-aged women sitting near you. You held it together just enough to stand up and exchange hugs and choke out a “Y-y-yes” to Alice and James, before basically bursting into full blown tears of happiness and apologising profusely as your brunch was delivered to the table. As you wiped away your tears and managed to begin eating your avocado smash, you felt Ashton squeeze your hand reassuringly under the table, and when you glanced towards him he was grinning at you with a smile that was as bright as a thousand suns.

It was a normal June day at the office a few months later when your phone pinged with a text from Alice in your group chat with her, James and Ashton that

read “It’s go-time. We’ll keep you updated!”. You replied with lots of exclamation points and crying emojis, and for Alice and James to let you know if they needed anything, and a few minutes later Ashton had penned a full paragraph about the beauty of the creation of life, how he knew that Alice and James would be incredible parents, and that he couldn’t wait to meet the little one once they made their way into the world. Ashton was frustratingly eloquent sometimes. Later that night, you received a photo message of a small, pink baby snuggled up on Alice’s chest, with James’ arm thrown around her shoulders, and the caption “Charlie Rose, ten fingers, ten toes. Come visit tomorrow, she can’t wait to meet you x” and you could barely sleep from the anticipation of meeting your darling goddaughter for the first time.

Ashton insisted on meeting you at the hospital so you could visit Alice, James and Charlie together (“Dude, we’re a godparent team here! A package deal! A dynamic duo! Can’t have you getting in there as the favourite from day one!”) and you’d never seen him more gentle or smitten than when the small, wriggly bundle of blankets that was Charlie Rose was placed in his arms. Ashton rocked her gently, kissing her head, and whispering to her about how incredible she was and how excited he was to see her grow. James was snapping away with his camera, and he asked you and Ash to stand together for a photo holding Charlie, which would later be stuck on your fridge for years to come (and possibly be your phone lockscreen, but no need to mention that to Ashton).

Charlie was a tricky baby at first, resisting sleep and struggling with colic, but Alice and James were incredible and persistent and by the time she was 6 months old, they basically had the hang of this parenting thing. They didn’t want to christen Charlie in a church, but instead decided to hold one of your cherished backyard barbeques as a naming celebration for her. All of your nearest and dearest were there, and Alice’s mum had even flown in from Australia to meet her newest granddaughter. Despite it being an incredibly informal affair, Ashton insisted on making a speech about how he felt to be in Charlie’s life, to love and support her through every milestone and challenge she might encounter along the way. Charlie was happily gurgling in Ashton’s arms as he spoke, and she reached up to grab at his cheeks when he told her he loved her. Alice’s mum insisted on getting photos of everyone, including you and Ashton holding Charlie, and you tried to ignore the butterflies you felt when Ash slid his arm around your waist and pulled you into his side for a cosy photo pose. Were you actually starting to fall for him, or was it just the baby fever talking? Because damn, that man looked good with a baby in his arms.

When Charlie was almost 12 months old, Alice decided that she wanted to go back to work a few days a week. Charlie would be in childcare for most of the days, but you’d recently adopted a flexible working arrangement with your own office, and you insisted that you would love to look after Charlie for one day a week. The older Charlie got, the more adventurous she became, so what you’d originally envisioned as nice, quiet days of baking and craft activities and napping soon became full of visits to the playground and the beach and the zoo. Once Ashton heard about your regular babysitting day, he insisted on clearing his schedule as best he could, and joined the outings you and Charlie went on. It’s so much easier to cope with her boundless energy (and occasional temper tantrums) when you and Ash are together, and you have to admit it’s just as nice on the quieter days as well, when you snuggle in on your couch to watch a Disney movie, or do some puzzles with Charlie on the lounge room floor.

When Ashton was back out on tour, he’d insist on FaceTiming with you and Charlie on your babysitting day so he didn’t miss out on all the fun. Sometimes he’d read her a story or sing her a lullaby before naptime, and sometimes the timezones wouldn’t work out and he’d end up calling during naptime, so the two of you just spent a little time catching up on each other’s lives from your opposite sides of the country or the planet. Ashton also loved collecting little souvenirs for Charlie on his touring travels, and your group chat with Alice and James was regularly filled with photos of snow globes or little soft mascot toys he’d found in one city or the next. It was so cute how excited Ashton got when he found a new souvenir for Charlie, and you couldn’t help but imagine how adorable he’d be when he had his own children and carried on little traditions like this for them too.

One particular weekend, Alice and James were going away overnight to attend a friend’s wedding nearby, and despite their anxiety and nerves (and admittedly, your own), they decided to leave Charlie with you for the night as your house is the main one besides their own that she spends time in. They dropped Charlie off just after lunchtime, and after a teary goodbye, she’s soon happily playing with her toy cars and trains on the lounge room carpet (including making broom-broom noises, what a cutie) when you get an unexpected call from your boss. They’re rambling about a client needing an urgent rewrite on something that you’d submitted the previous day, a pretty sizeable project, and you could feel yourself starting to fill with dread at the idea of having to rework the entire thing while also keeping Charlie happy and entertained. After managing to jot down the gist of the rewrite on the back of a colouring in page you found on your coffee table and ending the call with your boss, you took a deep, calming breath before looking over to where Charlie was still playing on the floor. Sure, she looked content and adorable now, but nap time was fast approaching, and then dinner, and then eventually bedtime, and there was nothing Charlie liked more than stomping her feet and putting up a fight where sleep was involved. It was time to call for help, and your fingers found Ashton’s contact in your phone and hit “call” before you realised what you were doing.

“Hey, how’s it going with my favourite girl?” Ashton answered cheerily, and your heart stopped beating for a moment before you mentally face-palmed when you realised that he was talking about Charlie, not you, being his favourite girl.

“Hey Ash! All good so far, but um… I think I’m going to need some help. My boss is having a crisis, so I need to smash out some edits and new content in the next three hours, but Charlie’s due to go for a nap and you know that she -” You could feel yourself starting to sound more panicked with each word that you spoke, but Ashton quickly cut you off with his soothing voice.

“That she likes to pick a fight at nap time, yes. A truly assertive future world leader on our hands, I reckon. I’m just finishing up a demo, but I’ll be there in 20 minutes. I’ll sort dinner as well, spaghetti sound okay?” He mused, sounding as calm as ever.

“That… would be amazing. Thank you. You’re actually the best human to exist, you know that?” You gushed, feeling some of your anxiety immediately begin to disappear.

Within half an hour, Ash was in your lounge room handling Charlie’s nap time negotiations while you were furiously typing away at your laptop at the kitchen counter and fielding more frantic phone calls from your boss. Another 20 minutes passed before Ash proclaimed victory as Charlie lost her battle against sleep, and he came to see you in the kitchen and make a start on dinner. You were so lost in your task that you didn’t hear him come in, and you jumped a mile out of your seat in fright when he gently touched your shoulder in greeting.

“Jesus christ, Ash! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” You huffed, taking your glasses off and rubbing your eyes in exhaustion.

Ashton leaned on the counter opposite you and raised his eyebrows in concern. “Sorry love, didn’t realise you didn’t hear me come in. You good?”

Damn it, why was he always so nice to you these days? Remember the days when you were scared of him because he used to argue with you about politics and the state of the world? Why did those seem somehow easier because fear was more natural to you than whatever this other feeling was that you were starting to have whenever Ashton was around you.

You sighed and put your glasses back on, frowning briefly at the screen before hitting save one more time (just in case your bad luck took a turn and fucked you over with lost documents).

“Yep. Sorry. It’s just been a bit of a day. Did Charlie go down okay?” You forced a smile as you glanced up at Ashton over the top of your laptop screen.

“Yeah, she gave in once I offered another bedtime singalong. And maybe, juuuust maybe, I might have mentioned something about some sweets after dinner…” Ash looked at you guiltily, licking his lips nervously. You rolled your eyes and shook your head at him, but you couldn’t keep the small smile off your face.

Ashton got started on making spaghetti while you tapped away at your computer, and soon enough you heard Charlie calling out for Ashton in her little sing-song voice on the baby monitor you had set up on the kitchen counter (“Asht-aaaaa! Where are youuuuu! Asht-aaaaa!”). The spaghetti smelled incredible, and when Ashton brought Charlie into the kitchen from her nap and she’d had a little while to play a bit more, you settled at the kitchen table to tuck into some dinner. Well, Charlie was more interested in playing with her food than actually eating it, but yours was delicious and for the third or fourth time that day, you thanked Ash profusely for being such a gem (to which he just gave you one of those dazzling smiles in response).

After dinner, Ashton took Charlie for a bath and read her a bedtime story while you powered through the final part of the project edits you needed to finish before your boss burst a blood vessel. You could hear Ashton reading to Charlie on the baby monitor, doing all of the different character voices, and her little giggles in response were both breaking and warming your heart. Warming it with the cuteness and how much you loved that little girl and her cheeky soul, and breaking it with the guilt about how it was supposed to be you snuggled up reading to her, but instead you were frantically typing about key messages, marketing strategies and budget lines. You were doing your last section of re-writes when Ash came back into the kitchen, and this time you didn’t jump when he gently placed his hands on your shoulders. In fact, you leaned into his touch, and moaned quietly in relief as his thumbs began to work into the tension in your muscles.

“How’s it going?” Ashton asked quietly, continuing to press his hands into your back and shoulders.

“Almost there. Mostly just proof-reading now, and then I can send it and not fucking think about it for another second until at least Monday. Ash, I’m so sorry again, I know this isn’t what you had in mind for your Friday night and I should’ve been more organised but I just didn’t think that -” You began to ramble, feeling the guilt wash over you.

“Hey, hey. Stop. It’s fine. We’re a team, remember? The dynamic duo? Gotta stick together. We’ve got a whole lifetime of dealing with Charlie meltdowns and milestones ahead of us, love. It’s our job and our blessing, for the rest of forever. Don’t feel guilty over one night.” Ashton said softly, squeezing your shoulders and pressing a soft kiss to the top of your head. There were those butterflies again, and your skin was almost burning from where his hands had touched you. You simply nodded at his words, before returning to your laptop and the task at hand. Ashton stepped away and quietly began washing the dishes (honestly, is there anything this man didn’t do?) as you began typing again.

Finally, about twenty minutes later, you hit send on the email to your boss with the completed rewrites, and shut your laptop with a deep sense satisfaction, letting out a triumphant whisper-yell, mindful of the sleeping child down the hallway from you. Ash looked up from where he was sat on the couch, scrolling on his phone, and rushed over to high-five you when he realised that you’d shut your laptop.

“Right. You go shower and I’ll put the kettle on, then it’s one episode of Sons of Anarchy and then off to bed with you.” Ash began, tugging you out of your seat and pushing you towards your bedroom before you could protest.

“Wait… how did you know I was watching Sons of Anarchy?!” You turned and asked, with one hand on the door to your bedroom.

“I was stalking through your Netflix earlier when you were lost in editing land. Plus, I know you can’t resist a charming male lead who has a killer smile and looks damn good in a leather jacket.” Ash chuckled, shooting you a wink and one of those goddamn smiles.

You hated to admit it, but you felt so much better after your shower, and having Ash pull your feet up over his lap and absentmindedly run his hands softly across your legs from time to time wasn’t exactly bad either. You stuck to your promise of only one episode of Sons of Anarchy, and after pulling your groaning self up off the couch and jokingly half-carrying you to your bedroom door, Ashton bid you goodnight with a hug and a kiss to the forehead before disappearing into your guest room.

As you settled into your own bed, alone, and pulled the blankets up over you, you couldn’t help but think how nice it was to have Ash so present with you and with Charlie, and how sweet it would be in the morning to wake up together in the same house and go for breakfast at your favourite little brunch spot down the street, before waiting for James and Alice to return in the early afternoon. It was all your own little family unit, and as you felt yourself being lulled into sleep, you also felt a deep sense of content in your heart about the loved ones in your life. And then also there were those butterflies, just slowly but surely making their presence known, and getting a little bigger every time you thought of Ashton, and how much he loved Charlie, and how much she loved him and you, and how much you loved them both.

Shit. Did you actually love him? Were you falling in love with Ashton Irwin? Before you could panic too much, the need for sleep won out, and you slept peacefully knowing two of your favourite people were also sleeping calmly in the rooms either side of you.

More writing here | send feedback/thoughts/suggestions here

#my writing #ashton irwin #ashton irwin one shot #ashton irwin imagine #ashton irwin blurb #ashton irwin fanfiction #5sos imagine #5sos writing #there's going to be a part two #charlie rose ten fingers ten toes #soft AF up in here on a saturday morning #also i fucking miss going to brunch with my pals that I based alice and james on

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majingojira · 3 years

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Brief Review of Every Dinosaur/Prehistoric Documentary/Educational Short I’ve ever seen (1923-1996).

And thanks to a certain project, I’ve seen a LOT!

Evolution (1923) - This is the oldest of the bunch, a silent film. Mostly it uses modern animals to represent ancient forms, with a few statues and brief animated bits to fill things out. The only real highlight? Seeing where some of the “film real” segment from Gigantis the Fire Monster comes from!

Monsters from the Past (1923) - A short documentary with original stop motion (this was pre-The Lost World, so that’s to be expected). Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, and Brontosaurus are the key creatures. Included as an extra on the second DVD release of The Lost World.

Prehistoric Animals (1938) - Reuses footage from The Lost World (1925) for its prehistoric segments. This will not be the last time it happens.

Prehistoric Times: The World Before Man (1952) - This thing is so quintessentially 1950s, it’s highly riff-able. It uses a mix of paintings, sculptures and some live animals to represent prehistoric life.

A World Is Born (1955) - Ya know what Fantasia needed? Overbearing Narration! That’s it. That’s what this documentary is. I saw this thing rebroadcast in the 90s on the Disney Channel, believe it or not.

The Animal World (1956) - Ray Harryhausen. Willis O’Brian. Their stop motion segment is the ONLY notable part of this documentary. This is also the only part that has seen some release in modern times, as a bonus feature on the DVD of The Black Scorpion.

Prehistoric Animals of the Tar Pits (1956) - Black and white, but also quintessentially 50s and riff-able. Aside from the bones, it shows some wooden models to represent the animals.

Journey into Time (1960) - Fantasia this is not, but it TRIES to be. Lord it tries. Or, rather, there’s a Fantasia-adjacent thing elsewhere which does the same thing. Has some unique choices for animals to represent, including showing Permian forms like Scutusaurus and Inostrancevia.

Dem Dry Bones: Archaeology, Paleontology, Identification, and Preservation (1966) - This was a lucky find, it was on Youtube for half a second. And not worth digging out, really. Stuffy, dry, and mildly condescending. It was still interesting looking at the dinosaur hall of the Smithsonian back in the 1950s.

Dinosaurs - The Terrible Lizard (1970) - The stop motion here is pretty neat, if slow and plodding, it’s refreshing after all this crap. The puppets for many of these would later be re-used for The Land of the Lost. Including Grumpy, Alice, and Spot.

NOVA: The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs (1977) - Robert Bakker’s first appearance in a documentary. HE HAS SUCH LONG HAIR! Not bad, a little dry, with National Geographic titles. It reminds me of 1990s documentaries, just so show how long it’s taken for various ideas to filter down. Currently, it’s available on Archive.org.

Dinosaurs: A First Film (1978) - The art style for this half-animated 70s abomination makes identifying various prehistoric animals almost impossible. Almost painful to sit through. Stops with the Dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs: The Age of the Terrible Lizards (1978) - Similar to the above, but available from Rifftrax, so much more watchable. Also, it’s actually animated!

Dinosaur (1980) - Wil Vinton Claymation with Dinosaurs. A few edits of this exist, the latter works a bit better, but the original is interesting to track down. Most of the edits are audio only, so you aren’t missing anything. The dinosaur sin this are top notch for color and design. They even have Corythosaurus and Tyrannosaurus not dragging their tails!

Cosmos (1980) - the animated segment covering Evolution is still wonderful if only for the narration from Carl Sagan.

The Age of Mammals (1981) - A follow up of sorts to Dinosaurs: The Age of Reptiles. Decent stop motion if a little slow. Decent variety for the time.

64,000,000 Years Ago (1981) - A solid stop motion short film. Still worth checking out for stop motion fans. Available on Youtube legally!

Dinosaurs: Fun, Facts, and Fantasy (1981) - Nostalgic for some, but aimed at a rather young audience. Some interesting stop motion bits in here too... if awkward in that way British stop motion can be outside Aardman Studios.

Reading Rainbow “Digging up Dinosaurs” (1983) - Definitely nostalgic for me. Besides, it’s Reading Rainbow! And opens with a clip from One Million Years B.C.! What’s not to love?

Prehistoric Beast (1984) - One of the best stop motion shorts on this list. Included because it INSPIRED a documentary from it. Phil Tippett firing on all cylinders. Well worth watching. And he uploaded it on Youtube himself!

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs (1985), More Dinosaurs (1985), Son of Dinosaur (1988), Prehistoric World (1993) - Gary Owens and Eric Boardman have a series of documentaries on dinosaurs and prehistoric life. The presenters are what really make these work. Colorful, fun, and yes, silly, these still hold a nostalgic gleam for people like me. The last one has Dougal Dixon talk about his After Man speculations. Fun times.

Dinosaur! (1985) - Hosted by Christopher Reeve, this is one of the best documentaries of its time. Reeves loved dinosaurs and was happy to work on this project with Phil Tippet behind the animation. Covers a lot in its hour long format, and well worth watching. Do you know how good this special was? When Reeve died in 2004, the Discovery Channel (or similar station) re-aired this thing as a tribute. It holds up that well!

Tell Me Why: Pre-Historic Animals, Reptiles and Amphibians (1986) - This is something I had when I was a little kid. Dry, straight forward, a “Video Babysitter” at it’s best. It consists of a narrator while looking at pictures of the Invicta Dinosaur Toys that were also on the poster.

Dinosaurs! A Fun-Filled Trip Back in Time (1987) - Wil Vinton’s Dinosaurs! tied with a short setup/framing device with the kid from the Wonder Years involving a low-animation music video (this was the MTV age) and a guide through art from various dinosaur books from the 1950s through the 1980s. Rather meh, but Wil Vinton is why we are here. This was the only way to get Wil Vinton’s short back in the day, and is the version of the short shown in Museums like The Academy of Natural Sciences.

Digging Dinosaurs (PBS-WHYY) (1988) - Something I managed to record of TV back in the day, though not much of it, about the uncovering and preparation of Avaceratops. Bone Dry.

Maia: A Dinosaur Grows Up (1988) - A VHS version of the picture book, with narration and the whole spiel. Actually not to bad for what it is, but it is what it is. The art for that book is rather wonderful.

Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives (1988) - David. Attenburrough. Need I say more? Not one of his best, but still wonderful. Hard to track down.

Dinosaurs (1989) - From the Smithsonian Institute, one of the video followups sold in various museums (I have one from the Royal Tyrell, but haven’t been able to track it down). Not great, but I’ve seen worse.

Infinite Voyage: The Great Dinosaur Hunt (1989) - A rather dry documentary, but one I find extremely relaxing and calming. Very nostalgic for me. But still dry.

Vestie Video Sitter: Dinosaurs (1989) - This is for babies. It hurt to watch.

In November, 1990, Jurassic Park (novel) was released, and thus began the great shift.

In Search of the Dragon: The Great Dinosaur Hunt of the Century (1991) - a.k.a. The Dinosaur Project, The Great Dinosaur Hunt, The Hunt for China’s Dinosaurs. Edited into a 1 hour NOVA special from a nearly two hour documentary, all about the joint Canadian/Chinese Gobi Desert Expedition in the 1980s that gave us Mamenchisaurus among many other species. With another stop in the Arctic for good measure. Some good stop motion and pencil animation for Troodon round this one out.

A&E’s Dinosuar! (1991) - There’s so many things named “Dinosaur” that I have to specify. Hosted by Walter Cronkite, this is rather dry, but still entertaining documentary series has some nightmare-fuel puppet-work. The ‘sad’ music gets caught in my head sometimes when I think about it. It is 4 episodes long. “The Tale of a Tooth”, “The Tale of a Bone”, “The Tale of an Egg”, and “The Tale of a Feather”

T. Rex: Exposed (1991) - a Nova Documentary on T. Rex. Not too bad overall, focusing on the Wrankle Rex unearthing. Parts of it are available on Youtube, but not all of it.

The Case of the Flying Dinosaur (1991) - the third in the “NOVA” 91 trilogy, this covers the bird-dinosaur connection as it was still contentious at the time.

PBS’ The Dinosaurs! (1992) - A gold standard for documentaries on dinosaurs. The hand drawn animation with colored pencil style still hold up today. The narrator has a bit of an accent and pronounces “Dinosaur” oddly, but that is the only complaint I can really give. It has 4 episodes: “The Monsters Emerge”, “Flesh on the Bones”, “The Nature of the Beast”, “Death of the Dinosaurs.”

Muttaburrasaurus: Life in Gondwana (1993) - A half-hour short about dinosuars and mesozoic life in Australia. Solid stop motion animation. Australian Accents makes it fun to listen too.

NOVA: The Real Jurassic Park (1993) - Jeff Goldblum narrates this bit of scientists going on about “But what if we really did it?” Quite fun, lotta fun details the movies and even the books didn’t get into. My favorite bit had Robert Bakker talking to a game keeper at the Rockefeller Refuge in a Louisiana Cypress Swamp about what could happen if they kept a few dinosaur there (Edmontosaurus, Triceratops, and T. Rex). Namely, he talks about housing ‘about a thousand” Edmontosaurs on the 86K acre facility, with 2 or 3 mated pairs of Rexes. It’s fun getting numbers like that.

Bill Nye the Science Guy “Dinosaurs” (1993) - BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! Not a bad kids entry for documentaries. Available from Netflix.

Paleoworld (1994-1997) - Running originally for 4 years, and being revamps once along the way, this rather dry, “Zoom in on paleoart” style of documentary was a good holdover for bigger things, and covered some pretty niche topics. Much of the later version has been uploaded to youtube.

Dinosaur Digs: A Fossil Finders Tour (1994), Dinosaurs: Next Exit (1994) - These films hurt me. They hurt me so much. I’ve seen some painful things, but these are hour long tour advertisements for road trips with annoyingly earworms. Available on youtube, but I ain’t linking anything!

Eyewitness: Dinosaur (1994) - Not a bad documentary, but I still hold a grudge on it for replacing Wil Vinton’s work at my local museum! Still, it is narrated by Martin Sheen. The clip selection is wide and varied, but we’re still getting The Lost World (1925) footage.

Planet of Life (1995) - This documentary series is rather dry, but boasts some interesting coverage of topics. Though some of it’s conclusions regarding dinosaurs are... not great. Still, the episode “Ancient Oceans” is a favorite of mine.

Once Upon Australia (1995) - The bests stop motion documentary on Australia’s prehistory. Has some humor to is, and Australian fauna that it does cover is solid. Though finding out how one of the animals is spelled, ( Ngapakaldia) drove me nuts for literally decades.

Dinosaurs: Myths and Reality (1995) - Like a little more polished episode of Paleoworld, with a lighter-voiced narration, this covers common myths about dinosaurs. Overall, a Meh. But it has a LOT of movie clips. Which makes sense given it was funded by the Disney Channel!

The Ultimate Guide: T. Rex (1995) - The Ultimate Guide series of docs were overall rather solid, as was the Tyrannosaurus one. Stop Motion animation along with puppets and some minor CG help round out the normal talking heads and skeleton mounts. Along with a solid narrator, it has a real mood to it.

The Magic School Bus “The Busasaurus” (1995) - The original Magic School Bus was a solid series, and their episode on Dinosaurs bucks trends even the reboot didn’t cover. The core thrust here wasn’t just dinosaur information, but the idea that Dinosaurs were not Monsters, but animals. And they conveyed it in a unique way.

I may do more of these mini-reviews, but there are a LOT of documentaries post The Lost World: Jurassic Park that don’t have as much easy access. Like, I’ve seen them, but digging out links/citing places to watch them is a lot harder.

#Dinosaurs #Documentaries #Documentary #Review #Dinosaur #Prehistoric

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ill-skillsgard · 4 years

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Ugh this Mickey sex worker drabble is sooo good. You can't leave us like this 💦💦

Previous imagines here - [x]

Warning: 18+ BDSM themes, mentions of sex work, bondage, toy-play, teasing and overall mature themes.

Blindfolded, Mickey counted twenty steps until the balmy night air cooled at his back. The soles of his worn ankle boots crunched gravel, then mounted stone steps, crossed pavement, stepped over a threshold of unknown size, and stopped on a plush runner. The new atmosphere keened with scents of teak and sweet pea, dividing the outside — with all its cricket choruses and damp breezes sighing for the coming heat-storm — from the inside of her home. He knew the area of town but hadn’t wasted a venture through the streets in years. These places were littered with miraculously large homes—the likes of which Mickey never dreamed of visiting. Nothing about this end of town was for him or his kind.

He cycled through her rules in his head as she led him by the elbow down a wide corridor. The clicking of her high heels threw off the walls, and for a moment, sounded as though half a dozen well-dressed women marched alongside him through a tunnel. They turned right, and she cautioned him up the stairs—fourteen steps, a landing, another right turn, then six more to the second floor.

The thought occurred to him several times that she very well could lead him to a violent death, and the wealthy end of town would be the last place anyone might think to look for his body. You never knew with the rich types. All that money and power had twisted ways of moulding people into elusive beasts; their predatory appetites wet for suffering. For all he knew, he could have been hand-selected as some billionaire’s newest flesh-pinata and was none the wiser.

Mickey cursed himself for watching too many horror movies.

“You remember everything I told you?” Her voice tickled his right ear.

With his vision cut, the din carried dizzying potency. Mickey lost his equilibrium and shot his hand out, nearly keeling over. He snickered at himself. How silly he must look wearing a leather blindfold, tripping on thin air, and having to adhere to his mistress like a toddling child.

“My memory isn’t so good, ma’am. I wouldn’t mind a refresher course, so I can better serve you.”

Sometimes he impressed himself with how quickly he snapped into submission. For such a well-paying gig, he figured she and her husband deserved his unadulterated efforts. It was only an acting job. The aroma of money and the promise of mind-blowing sex sweetened the deal. Mickey had no problem fully committing to pleasure the woman leading him deeper into the house.

“No back-talk. I want you to be the most well-behaved boy anyone could ask. Do not toe the line tonight. I need you obedient, respectful and very enthusiastic. Tonight, I am the ultimate authority.”

“Yes, my goddess.”

She smiled. At first, she had been unsure of Mickey’s candidacy, but the farther she led him, the more his attitude subdued. She expected smart comments, platitudes and that downtown grit to make her regret her choice, but Mickey had buttoned his mouth, save for answering her questions, and was off to a good start. Mickey’s engagement pleased her, as she had fantasized of this moment for many nights, and he played his part well.

“Soon, we will enter a room where you must strip down. I’ll then escort you to the playroom. There’s a bed you will lie down on, and then we’ll get started.”

“Will my mistress be the one stripping me tonight?” Mickey asked, the corner of his mouth quirking upward.

“I will be the one to dress and undress you when you’re in this house. And no more questions.”

“I’m sorry, goddess.”

“You’re still happy with the agreement? You remember your word and the number you gave me?” She asked.

“Margarita. Eight.”

“Do you wish to change anything before we begin?”

“No, my goddess,” Mickey’s voice barely breached a whisper.

“Good. Here we are. Watch your step.”

She led the tall man through a set of double doors, into a boudoir that boasted a French rococo vanity mirror and matching armoire, a changing screen, a dusty lilac chaise lounge in the corner and various full-length mirrors for appreciating one’s opulence. Mickey saw none of these things but suspected he was in the company of many possessions exclusive to the super-rich. Something about the proud silence of the room murmured of immaculate furniture, gold and satin.

They worked together to rid Mickey of his clothing. First, he kicked off his boots and socks, then waited for her to undo his belt buckle. He stepped out of his pants and let her work his shirt up over his head without skewing the blackout mask shielding his eyes. Even if he wanted to look around, circles of fine leather prevented this. Tilting his chin did nothing to reveal even a sliver of his surroundings, but he decided, back in her car as they pulled up to the estate, that he didn’t want to spoil the fun by peeking. All the mystery had his skin prickling, the fine hairs standing on the back of his neck. And they paid him for these thrills. Looking would only cheapen the experience, so he maintained a ninety-degree angle between his chin and throat.

A furious rush of nerves came over him while he stood naked, the blindfold his only cover, and waited for his mistress to change into her evening attire. She noticed his gooseflesh when she came to collect him and ran her fingertips up and down his right arm.

“It will be fun, trust me.”

“I trust you,” said Mickey.

He followed her by the hand from the boudoir into the next room. His soles sank into the plush fibres of a rug as the heady scent of oiled leather aroused his palate.

Guided by his goddess, Mickey climbed onto a vast bed draped with silky sheets and laid on his back, spreading his limbs to each corner. She fastened his wrists and ankles with tough leather cuffs — no beginner ropes or slippery sashes out of which he could worm. Constructed of a thick material like the leather eye mask, the bindings had one aim: to hold him in place, whether he liked it or not.

“He’s on his back, naked, hands and feet tied down, eyes covered,” said his mistress.

Unsure if she spoke to him, he maintained silence.

“Tall... Very tall. Brown hair, green eyes. Several small tattoos on his arms and fingers. One red rose tattooed on his groin. Uncircumcised. Large feet and hands. Long, long limbs. Full lips. Small pink nipples. Underarms are unshaven.”

Mickey listened to her description of his body, a lustful inflection in her voice whenever she exalted his stature. It became clear at that moment she had chosen him for a reason. His mistress had an affinity for height. It caused him to smirk, imagining what she might say once he became hard.

“Hello, pet. You may greet me,” her voice floated on sweetened air.

“Hello, goddess.”

“Tonight, we begin with a riding crop. Cherry wood handle. Black tip, of course. Italian leather.”

The cool material first met his right thigh, dragging down his leg to the tip of his big toe. Then the leather foot of her instrument graced his other leg. Mickey quivered.

“The pet shivers from having his thighs stroked. His cock bounces as his blood churns. He’s eager.”

Confused by her narration, Mickey tried to relax and let the tension from his muscles until he remembered what she had told him of her husband. Another presence was in the room. She was describing the scene for this third party.

Mickey held his breath as the leather tip of her riding crop coasted up and down his legs and arms. Only when it met his pubic bone did his body twinge in surprise. But the material lifted, and he was alone. Now he prickled and waited for the next stroke of her leather, his anticipation thickening with every second that passed.

It continued for what felt like hours to Mickey. Whenever she neared his cock, she jumped to another point of his body — his feet, the column of his throat, the deep ridge of his collarbone. Anywhere but his groin.

“Do you grow impatient, pet?” She asked.

“No, mistress.”

“Your hardness tells me otherwise. Hm?”

“My patience knows no limit, goddess.”

Mickey thought he heard a slight chuckle under her breath or a chafe of movement from somewhere else in the room. In the infinite blackness, it was impossible to know. He hoped the sound came from her lips and that his obedience pleased her.

“The pet has become fully erect from ulterior touch alone.”

He hoped that whoever watched from afar appreciated his size. Mickey had been praised for his endowment plenty of times before, but the approval of his mistress and her superior held more weight than the clients whose compliments came standard and frequent.

“Enormous cock on this one,” she stated. “Symmetrical... Supple tip. Teardrop-shaped slit. The left testicle hangs lower than the right, but they’re tight and shorn. The pet has trimmed pubic hair leading up to a trail below his navel.”

Mickey bit his lip. She pressed the leather tag against one testicle, and then the other, hefting them both with the crop. The veins in his shaft swelled.

“Does the pet enjoy my leather?”

“Yes, goddess.”

She batted the underside of his shaft gently with the flat tip, causing him to jostle and open his mouth.

“How about now?”

“Yes, goddess,” whispered Mickey.

“Pardon me?”

He cleared his throat and repeated himself. It pleased her, but it didn’t stop her from fluttering the loop against his frenulum until it came away with a clear web of liquid, temporarily connecting the bat to his manhood. She smacked him a few times around his groin, measuring her force not to cause anything worse than a warm sting. Mickey was grateful and sighed when she lifted the crop away.

“I’ve grown bored with the crop. The pet’s prick is leaking and swollen red. I’ll now ring him and use the stroker—”

Her voice cut off, the abrupt silence punctuating a change of plan. She abandoned Mickey on the bed. He listened to the footsteps and strained his ears to take in any voice from someone other than his mistress. The curiosity was inescapable. Mickey wanted to know who else was watching him have his cock tortured. Before he grew too inquisitive, she returned to the side of the bed and leaned in close.

“Next comes a cock ring. Metal. Titanium, to be exact. Around the shaft and balls.”

This was no amateur set up, Mickey decided then. Perhaps another night, in an area of town not well-known for its poshness, he’d have plenty to say. Even now, Mickey reeled comments in from bouncing off his tongue. If he wanted to get paid and invited back, he had to keep quiet. And he wanted her to ask him back, so he chewed his bottom lip while she affixed the hilt of his cock with a cold metal ring.

The circle was heavy, tight, and held all the blood inside him until his length betrayed his pulse. A gust of air over his groin then made him blush. Would she touch him? Or would she beat him with a fresh instrument? He recalled her saying something about a stroker, but the buzz of something else caught his attention—a vibrator.

A jarring bolt of electricity shot through his pelvis when she held the tip against his balls.

“Oh!” Mickey cried out.

“You weren’t expecting that, were you?”

“No, mistress. No.”

She nudged the metal supporting his manhood with the vibrator, a rumbling echo engulfing him, tickling every nerve.

“Oh, ma’am. That...” He trailed off in fear of punishment for speaking out of turn.

“I’m teasing his cock with a vibrator. He can hardly keep still.”

It was true, Mickey tugged at his restraints, not for want of escape, but for the need to curl into himself, away from the excruciating tingle fizzling through his limbs. He regretted boasting about his stamina, fearing his new master might take it to heart and torment him for the entire night.

The woman controlling his pleasure was not merciless, but she was thorough. She put on a stunning show and brought him to climax using a well-lubricated silicone sleeve to jerk his shaft until he shot his first and most potent load of the night. The contractions wrang him of several impressive bouts of cum, more than he was used to producing. He blamed the hours of teasing.

Never had he experienced such a mixture of conflicting sensations. He had wanted his mistress’ cunt badly, and for her to allow him inside as he was used to doing, but the toys gave him new gratitude for unconventional methods of stimulation. And she had wielded them so professionally. He tasted her appreciation for her armaments in the air between them. It made her subtle groping that much more delicious.

As she had promised, she released Mickey from his bonds and escorted him from the room. They veered down a hallway, the air so fresh compared to the playroom it chilled his bare skin. His feet slapped against polished marble while her heels clicked next to him. A door opened, and she ushered him through, closing it and locking the handle behind them. There was carpet under his feet again, and a bright, feminine aroma about his head.

Finally, she took off the blindfold. The light scorched Mickey’s pinhole pupils, and he rubbed his eyes until they adjusted to sight. There was no time to take in his surroundings before she grabbed his cock and kissed him. Mickey kissed her back only until her grip reminded him of the shuddering orgasm she’d just stolen. He winced, and she stepped back.

“I thought you said you could go again,” she said.

“Yeah, I can. I can. It’s just... That was intense. Can’t I take five?”

She shook her head, and all the excitement snuffed from her eyes in a blink. “There isn’t enough time. I told you twenty minutes is all I have, and we’ve already wasted a quarter of that already.”

“Hang on, now. Why don’t I eat you out? Or I can finger you, or both. Whatever you like. Work you up a bit while my nuts get a refill.”

“Just kiss me. Shut your mouth and kiss me now, Mickey.”

#mickey stuff #bill skarsgard imagine #bill skarsgard fanfiction #bill skarsgard smut #mickey imagine

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romancemedia · 4 years

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Underrated DC Shows

Ever since my childhood, I have always been a Major DC fan and my love for the franchise has continued to grow as I got older as I enjoy watching some of my favourite DC shows, wether its the from the DCAU or the live action shows we see today. However, there are some shows that aren’t always given the recognition they deserve and here are my top picks.

The Batman

The Batman was one of the many Batman television series created over the years and one of the most under appreciated ones of all time. The Batman focuses on Bruce Wayne’s early years as the Dark Knight, from when he was originally pursued by Gotham PD up until he is known as Gotham’s protector and guardian, mentor to Robin and Batgirl and a member of the Justice League. The Batman lasted for 5 seasons, making a total of 65 episodes and a television movie from 2004 to 2008. This show was absolutely amazing. Everything about the series was incredible from the character growths to the season story arcs. I enjoyed watching Batman grow into the hero and legend that he is, including his partnerships with Robin, Batgirl and James Gordon. It was also refreshing to see new characters never seen before such as Ethan Bennett and Ellen Yin. Although they were less present in the shows later years, they were great nonetheless.

Every season of the show had a character story arc while also showing the growth to Batman’s legacy. Season 1 was him being pursued by the police and encountering his rogue gallery for the first time. Season 2 shows his new secret partnership with Ellen Yin until he is finally recognised as Gotham’s Guardian. Season 3 was the debut of Batgirl, determined to prove herself to the Dark Knight and become his sidekick. Season 4 featured the debut of Robin and the official Batman team being formed and the final season featured Batman and Robin teaming up with members of the Justice League. It was incredible to watch how Batman’s legacy was formed over these five amazing seasons. Although the series was ultimately successful, it is still considered greatly underrated since no one seems to discuss its greatness compared to other DC animated series such as Justice League, Batman Beyond or the Teen Titans.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

Green Lantern: The Animated Series focused on the adventures of Hal Jordan and his team as they traveled throughout space to stop the villainous Red Lanterns and later the Manhunters from taking over the universe. The series had everything for everyone, something we could all enjoy, action, humour, superheroes, mystery, suspense and romance. Green Lantern lasted from 2012-2013, making 26 episodes over the course of one year and is one of the very few CGI DC shows alongside Beware the Batman.

Hal Jordon is the team’s leader who was determined to protect the galaxy after learning of the threats of the Red Lanterns and later the Manhunters. Although many question his methods, he always manages to come out on top and again proves himself a true hero and leader. Kilowog is Hal’s former drill sergeant who trained him. Kilowog and Hal are greatly different as Kilowog is serious, gruff and by the book, but sees that despite Hal’s crazy plans or methods, he knows he what he’s doing. Aya is an artificial intelligence, serving as the nagivation computer to the Intercepter space ship, but as she spends time with the crew, she begins to grow and become her own person and wishes to become a Green Lantern herself. Finally, the last member is Razer, a reformed member of the Red Lanterns who joins Hal Jordon’s team after he is offered a second chance. Razer begins to grow, becoming a loyal and reliable teammate and along the way, allows love to enter his heart once again.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series was so underrated. It was so much fun and amazing to watch as I enjoyed watching the crews adventures and relationships growing, becoming true friends and family. One of the greatest things about the show was the love story between Razer and Aya, becoming one of DC most underrated couples. Unfortunately, although the series itself was popular the reason behind its cancellation was because of the poor toys sales and the negative reviews of the 2011 live-action Green Lantern movie.

Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey was a short lived live action DC show that consisted of 13 episodes and aired for only a year from 2002-2003. Birds of Prey focused on the trio of female heroines, Huntress, Oracle and the future Black Canary as they tasked themselves with protecting Gotham City following the disappearance of Batman. Huntress is Helena Kyle, the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle, who never knew her father and tragically lost her mother when she was a teenager after she was killed by the Joker. Oracle is Barbara Gordon who was formerly known as Batgirl until she was shot and paralysed by the Joker and now operates from their clock tower hideout as tech support and mentor. Dinah is a young metahuman teenager who harbours a variety of abilities and is learning to control and harness her growing powers with help from Barbara and Helena.

Birds of Prey was such an underrated series and it had such great potential. The series featured great action and the special effects weren’t so bad. I also enjoyed the romantic relationship between Helena Kyle and Jesse Reese, a detective with the Gotham PD. It’s a shame it only lasted for one season as I could see it had so much greatness within in it, but sadly it was one of the very rare shows that never had a chance to truly shine.

Constantine

Constantine was one of the many shows within the Arrowverse focusing on the adventures of John Constantine, a demon hunter who protects the world from supernatural threats while struggling with personal demons from his past. In his adventures, John gains help from his friends/team, Zed Martin, a psychic artist, Francis Chas, John’s oldest friend with survival magic and Manny, an angel assigned to watch over John. The series lasted for 13 episodes from 2014-2015. Although Constantine’s character has been revived in the Arrowverse, making a guest appearance on Arrow until becoming a main cast member on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, I still miss the old series and characters as John had a lot of great and mysterious adventures.

Overall, it’s a shame that a lot of these shows weren’t given proper recognition as they had were very special in their own unique ways.

#My Thoughts #DC #The Batman #Green Lantern The Animated Series #Birds of Prey #Constantine #Batman #Batgirl #Robin #James Gordon #John Constantine #Barbara Gordon #Bruce Wayne #Hal Jordan #Oracle #Kilowog #Dinah Lance #Helena Kyle

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streetsavoir-faire · 3 years

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Born Name: Damien Quincy Rodriguez

Age: 22

Birthday: May 26th 1998

Overview:

Mother: Catalina Rodriguez (39 February 19th, 1981)

Father(s): Michael Rodriguez (41 April 24th, 1979) Richard “Einstein” Jones (50), Fagin Jones (47)

Mother’s Occupation: Unemployed, Student

Father’s Occupation: Fast Food worker, mechanic, Odd-jobs in a diverse field. Warehouse work, delivery, MLM’s, production, etc.

Family Finances: Lower Class, Skirting Poverty

Other Close Family: Francis “Frankie” Corbyn (41) - ‘Uncle’, Ignacio Alonso Julio Federico De Tito (24) - Big Brother, Oliver Saluki-Sykes (20) - Little Brother, Rita Saluki-Sykes (29) - Sister,

Pets: Dorothy - Redish/pink betta Fish, Tiny - Tito’s Rottweiler/Pitbull Mix

Home Life During Childhood: Before he was found and taken in by Fagin? Horrible. Dodger suffered abuse from parents who were far too young and immature to have children. They didn’t want a kid, and they made that very clear to Dodger from the very moment they brought him home. He was never shown love or compassion from his mother or father. He was barely taken care of and owned one toy in his five or so years of living with them. He suffered emotional and physical abuse and spent many nights on the streets, unsupervised. Often, he was locked out of his house for ‘misbehavior’. Eventually Dodger just decided to stay out there and spent his nights under a bridge before eventually Fagin took notice of him and eventually gained his trust and brought him home.

After Fagin, his childhood was still a little troubled. Their family was poor, and often struggled to find money for food, luxuries or heat. Even struggling, Dodger much preferred his found family as he got to learn what it was like to have people that loved him. Even with debt collectors, facing abuse from the Sykes’ and occasionally needing to eat small inconsistent meals, or cuddle up together instead of having heat in the house. He wouldn’t trade it for the world.

What Did His or Her Bedroom Look Like: When Dodger moved in with Fagin he quickly took over the apartment’s storage loft and claimed it as his own. While it was dangerous (there was no barrier to stop anyone from falling back into the living room below) and a little drafty (there was also a nifty hole that gave him access to the roof) - it was home for Dodger. With a mattress tucked up into the corner and the rickety ladder to get up and down (that he himself rarely used), it was perfect for Dodger. Sure - it wasn’t all the spacious or child-friendly but... it was his favorite.

Any Sports or Clubs: Dodger didn’t go to school - and therefore he didn’t participate in any clubs or organized sports. Instead he went with Frankie to his theater group, spent time reading with Einstein & Fagin or scaled buildings and played made up sports with Tito.

Favorite Toy or Game: Dodger’s favorite toy (and something he still cherishes to this day) was a small teddy bear that Fagin got him the first night he came home. It’s over a decade (closer to two) old and is worn beyond relief, but Dodger still keeps it in his bedroom. As a child he carried it everywhere and was incredibly protective of it. It has plenty of tears and stitches that Fagin fixed himself - but Dodger loves it all the same.

Schooling: Again, Dodger didn’t go to school. He left his home before he would have been enrolled and while Fagin and Einstein tried to get him into school, Dodger simply couldn’t handle the hours away from his new family, nor could he deal with how overwhelming the whole concept was. So instead, they all did their part homeschooling himself and Tito over the years. He’s got plenty of street smarts and owes everything else he knows to Fagin, Einstein and Frankie.

Favorite Subject: Reading with Fagin & Einstein. (And reading plays with Frankie since he was so dramatic)

Popular or Loner: Popular (not in school obvs)

Nationality: American

Religion and beliefs: None

Physical Appearance

Face Claim: Tyler Posey

Movie/Era Representation: Alone

Complexion: Smooth, olive skinned, freckled

Hair Colour: Naturally Black / Currently Dyed Blue

Eye Colour: Brown

Height: 5′10

Weight: 153.4lbs.

Build: Athletic/Slim

Tattoos: A very large and ever growing collection --> See here

Piercings: 14mm Gauges in ears, nose piercing, snake-bites (re-pierced), eyebrow piercing (re-pierced)

Common Hairstyle: Typically sweptback, sometimes a mess when he wears a hat or beanie, usually tries to keep it semi-long, swept to the side (x is a common look)

Clothing Style: Casual street wear. Ratty jeans, ripped jeans, dirty jeans. T-shirts, muscle tanks, sweatshirts. Backwards hats or beanies. Worn black and white converse. Nothing fancy. You’ll tend to see a red bandana somewhere on his person. Sometimes he wears it around his head, sometimes around his neck, occasionally tucked into a pocket or around his wrist. But it’s always somewhere.

Mannerisms: Likes to drum his fingers or drum on things in general, also a knuckle cracker. Tends to move a lot because he’s high energy.

Usual Expression: Smiley babe

Health

Overall (do they get sick easily)?: Yes. A combination of terrible care to himself and drugs makes Dodger extremely susceptible to getting sick. He’s a perfect picture of what not to do health-wise and it shows.

Physical Ailments: Mildly Anemic,

Disorders: None

Neurological Conditions: None.

Allergies: Latex, mangos, cats,

Grooming Habits: He showers, unlike most #men he is not a 3-in-1 kind of guy, so he knows how to use separate body wash, shampoo and conditioner. He’ll wash his face every morning & every night and brush his hair and shit but he’s not over the top. Shaves if his facial hair gets longer than a mild scruff. Keeps the boys tame.

Sleeping Habits: Inconsistent. Dodger has no real sleep schedule, but he tends to sleep just about anywhere when he needs to. He’s the least picky about how he sleeps and falls asleep easy.

Eating Habits: Uh, he eats. Sometimes. Some days it’s eating for a village, some he skips for a day and is like ‘oh yeah oops.’ It depends. So I’d call this inconsistent as well.

Exercise Habits: He’s always exercising just by association. He walks/runs everywhere and climbs shit and is doing his free running/parkour all over Swynlake.

Emotional Stability: Fair. He tends to stay cool and tries to be the mediator when it comes to trouble. Dodger tends to be the one who keeps it together and stays calm when they’re in a situation. The relief, really. However when he does slip, he can get emotional quickly. Fun-fact: Dodger never yells. He may say things firmly, angrily, etc but he won’t yell.

Body Temperature: Runs warm.

Sociability: A social butterfly.

Addictions: Drugs (weed, alcohol, pills, etc).

Drug Use: Daily, addicted. The hard stuff isn’t daily (weed is... multiple times a day), but more every few days, once a week.

Alcohol Use: Often.

Your Character’s Character:

Bad Habits: Drugs. Drumming on objects or idly, cracking his knuckles, zoning out mid-conversation, scratching the back of his neck, smoking, manipulating people.

Good Habits: Loyalty, offering his help, extending manners, being kind.

Best Characteristic: Openness.

Worst Characteristic: Pride

Worst Memory: Being beaten within an inch of his life & having to leave his family and home behind and flee the country.

Best Memory: Being officially adopted as Fagin & Einstein’s son.

Proud of: Holding his job at the garage. Getting his gig at Pixie’s. Still being in a relationship (new record).

Embarrassed by: His inability to get his music off the ground, how he’s still in the same place in life when everyone else seems to be getting somewhere or doing things.

Driving Style: Does not drive.

Strong Points: His passion and drive. His ability to bring things and people together.

Temperament: Carefree and easy going.

Attitude: Optimistic & outgoing.

Weakness: Coming off as too confident, cocky.

Fears: Being abandoned/being alone again, his family getting hurt or dying.

Phobias: Being abandoned.

Secrets: An open book. Perhaps the one secret he has is knowing that Roscoe abused Oliver.

Regrets: Going to William Sykes and trying to buy them time to pay back their loan.

Feels Vulnerable When: He’s with his parents.

Pet Peeves: People who brag about their money. Charities, but not charity.

Conflicts: Having money in the family. Having Roscoe married to Rita when he fucking hates him but wants Rita to be happy.

Motivation: Support for Fagin & Einstein/to make them proud.

Short Term Goals and Hopes: To start picking up more gigs and getting music off the ground.

Long Term Goals and Hopes: To be able to fully financially support himself and the fam through his music and that he can quit his real job and do what he loves.

Sexuality: Pansexual

Exercise Routine: Running all around Swynlake like a crazy man.

Day or Night Person: Night - that’s when the action is.

Introvert or Extrovert: Extrovert

Optimist or Pessimist: Optimist

Likes and Styles:

Music: Punk Rock, Rock, Alternative,

Books: Any book that Fagin & Einstein used to read him

Magazines: Playboy (lol)

Foods: Quesadillas

Drinks: Coke, whiskey, vodka, rum, Gatorade,

Animals: Any are cool

Sports: The made up ones he’d play with Tito, Free running,

Social Issues: Domestic Abuse, Child Abuse, Women’s Rights, Magick Rights,

Favorite Saying: Absotively Posilutely

Color: Red

Clothing: Jeans, T-shirts.

Jewelry: Gauges, lip rings, nose ring, eyebrow stud.

Games: Poker, Rummy, Uno,

Websites: Not a huge internet person (because he didn’t grow up into it like most kids his age). He uses Twitter a lot though. Youtube just to watch things. Used to use the ‘Hub’ quite a bit ;)

TV Shows: Doesn’t really watch TV, but when they could pay for cable, anything ridiculous. He was a fan of the Crocodile Hunter if only because Tito and himself would mimic that show and get into so much trouble.

Movies: Again, he’s not really well versed in movies but.. I’m sure he was into shit he wasn’t supposed to watch when he could get ahold of them. Fight Club, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, etc.

Greatest Want: To be happy & with his family.

Greatest Need: Affection.

Where and How Does Your Character Live Now:

Home: Dodger now lives in Benbow (2D) and honestly his biggest complaint is simply being on the second floor. He would much prefer an apartment he has to climb higher to break into (since who uses the door?). However, he doesn’t like the apartment nearly as much as he loved the old rickety apartment they lived in back home. He misses his loft and all the weird things that made it perfect. This apartment isn’t terrible - sure, the door sticks something fierce and it’s a little cramped for five people but... it’s fine. And the neighbors aren’t the worst, it’s just... never felt right. It’s still home, if only because home is determined by the people living there more than the place itself.

Household furnishings: A mish-mash of things. Nothing in the Jones household is a set. It’s all second-hand or used items that they got when they could and when they could afford to. That means everything from the tables and chairs don’t really.. match like they might in a normal household, but none of them really mind. They’re just grateful to have them in the first place.

Favorite Possession: The bear Fagin got him when he first came home.

Most Cherished Possessions: The bear Fagin got him when he first came home (shocker) - though a worn red bandana that he took from Fagin also comes in close second. He’s almost always wearing it somewhere. Also the stuffed Reindeer from his first Christmas. The beat up guitar that the whole gang pulled together to get him.

Neighborhood: Benbow

Town or City Name: Swynlake

Relationship with Family: Great! Dodger is incredibly close with his found family. He would lay his life on the line or do anything for all of them. He’s closest to Fagin, but only because that man gave him everything in life he’s ever needed when no one else would. He loves his family so much though. Even if he annoys the absolute piss out of Frankie & Rita, he couldn’t be happier.

Car: Doesn’t have one

Career: Part-Time Mechanic, Part-Time Musician, Part-Time Con-artist/thief

Dream Career: Musician

Dream Life: Happy & can provide and take care of his family so they don’t have to work so hard anymore.

Love Life: Peri

Talents or Skills: Singing, Guitar, Percussion, Piano - musical talent in mostly all forms, athletic ability/balance, can juggle, sleight of hand, pitch perfect.

Intelligence Level: Street smart, book....slightly smart.

Finances: Poor as fuck

Past Careers: Full time thief, part time street performer, odd jobs,

Past Lovers: ‘Lovers’, none really. The closest he had was a toxic first ‘boyfriend’, Corey but it didn’t last long.

#about #inspo #muse #x; Dodger #tw abuse #tw child abuse #tw drug mention

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animationsinnovate · 3 years

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To Infinity and Beyond: how animation evolved through time

Before Infinity and Beyond

by Isabelle C. Barona and John Stephen J. Wilwayco

As animators discover computers, animations are expected to change over time. Toy Story is known to be the first-ever major animation in motion pictures’ history. As it clearly seems to be, noticeable differences between the two creations of Toy Story isn’t hard to distinguish as it can be seen through the animations’ quality of the movie itself, the sound effects, the voice actors, and even the unnoticeable little information like dust particles, scratches, and the likes that can be seen throughout the entirety of the movie.

Toy Story’s director, John Lasseter, envisioned a new experience that would not only satisfy the child in his soul, but would also take the audience into a fresh journey that will astound them.

Lasseter’s imagination led him and his team to make an astonishing creation that would soon make a new name for film. He even highlighted the passion of his team for Toy Story’s creation, saying “every animator is a child at heart.” And so, he wanted to extend that passion and love for toys into the big screens.

At the very beginning, Toy Story has already made a big statement. Their release was huge and the fan base, colossal. In a behind-the-scenes video, the creators have shown how large their efforts were in creating the film in the 90’s (VHSfx, 2013). It turned out well, with nicely rendered animations that at one point in that period, seemed incredible.

Time, however, is a big factor for evolution. One could even tell that Toy Story 4 today is quite incomparable to where it first started. In a documentary by Insider (2019), Toy Story 4 was featured and people went crazy from how detailed the movie was made into. It seemed like an animation imitating reality.

According to Ashton (2019), for more than two decades, Pixar did successfully establish itself by committing undeniable excellence when it comes to making animations. A lot of changes did really happen for Pixar from November 22, 1995 up until June 21, 2019. With Pixar’s unique advancement in terms of computer animation, it continues to pride itself as a studio which produces invigorating ideas to the forefront. This is why Toy Story 1995 and Toy Story 4 are really the ones that paved the way for Pixar to continue growing significantly as a top-tier animation house in the industry.

Getting Technical

by Andrei Arcellana and Jerome Anthony Mangalus

The Toy Story cartoon animation movie has been part of everyone’s childhood since this is the first animated cartoon in the cinema in 1995. And in 2019, the new latest film of Pixar, which is Toy Story 4, has been released, and it became a trending topic because of its 24 years gap and the focus of the animators on the little details of the said film. According to Desiderio & Phillips (2020), before achieving this almost to reality quality of the film, Pixar first used and experimented with these elements on the films prior to Toy Story 4 like Monster’s Inc, Bugs Life, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Cars, etc. The details of the humans on the first Toy Story were not perfect, using all the elements that are in the films mentioned in the previous sentences, they have fully created the Toy Story 4 with almost to reality graphics. Additionally, the technology that was used in creating both movies was very different.

As claimed by Desiderio and Phillips (2020), getting to the present sequel of Toy Story required numerous innovations. Rendering was the biggest factor in creating both movies. In the creation of the 1st Toy Story, 117 computers that were in operation 24/7 were used. To properly handle the rendering of the 1st Toy Story, they have created an application that is called Renderman. Using all these computers and applications, the movie was in 4 years of making. The producers said that if they render the first film in today’s time, it would be faster than watching the said movie. But to create good quality graphics, rendering one frame in creating Toy Story 4 had occurred for 60 to 160 hours. Overall, 5 years was used to make and fully create the Toy Story 4.

Furthermore, the technology behind the animation of the “Toy Story” had a main factor to consider in order to make it happen, which is the rendering. Rendering is where the computer saves each video frame with lighting and motion effects, and these video frames are the ones that make up the movie. The animators of the “Toy Story” had to run 117 computers that are running 24 hours a day. These computers had to render each frame that could be 45 minutes to 1800 minutes (30 hours) and it also depends on the complexity of the frame, and they have to render a total of 114,240 frames.

For the movie “Toy Story 4” the animation process also includes rendering, but because of the advancement of the technology, computers that rendered the movie are high-powered computers that are able to put elements like CG scenes, geometry, lighting, and motion effects. Sisson said, “the most expensive frame from the movie “Toy Story 4” took about 325 hours to render, and it is running on a computer with four cores” (May, 2021).

Little Details Require a Big Cost

by Jesse Jerome Jamias and Shanelle C. de Luna

We noticed a lot more details especially on their differences since it's quite noticeable in a good way because it improved. First on the list is Toy Story’s Scud vs Toy Story 4’s cat, it is a big achievement during the late 90’s to animate a dog but the detail in the fur isn’t there compared to Toy Story 4’s cat wherein it looks realistic and is made with noticeable attention to detail. Next is that during the first Toy Story, there were a lot of limitations, for instance Pixar in the early years hadn’t quite figured out how to fully animate human characters and there were a lot of shots of hands and feet so the viewer wouldn’t see any missing details. Lastly, we also noticed how the screen got bigger. Toy Story 1 used a 1.85:1 aspect ratio while Toy Story 4 expanded to 2.39:1. After all, 24 years is a lot considering the fact that technology is constantly evolving.

The evolution of animation back when the first movie of “Toy Story” came out up until the most recent film in the franchise “Toy Story 4” came out. We can definitely see the evolution and improvements in these movies. The changes between these two movies are quite considerable knowing that these 2 movies are more than 20 years apart and perfectly shows the evolution of animation over the years.

Back when the first Toy Story movie came out it was the first computer-animated film to ever be released with the budget of the movie being around $30,000,000 it paved the way for the continual advancement of computer-animated films. Fast forward to 2019 for the release of Toy Story 4 we can see how far this industry has come and the noticeable changes in the animation itself, now having a budget of around $200,000,000 we can see just how amazing the technological advancements and evolution of animation has come just from this movie franchise.

Toy Story’s Timeless Effect

by Bhrylle Humbert Corpuz

Starting from when we were kids we all loved a lot of animation films and cartoons. The entertainment, the fun, the joy it brings us really puts our minds at ease, forgetting about the worries and acting just like kids. But, one of the most eye-catchers or the reason we are so immersed from these kinds of films we are watching is its animation and its beautiful colors.

Thinking about it, if we are to compare the animated films we watched back when we were kids to today’s new animated films we can see a lot of difference. For example, if we are to compare Toy story 1 to Toy story 4, we will notice a lot of new things from the two movies. The most noticeable factor is its graphics design, the lightings and the animation for each scene in both movies. As we all know that these things are the most eye-catching factors when watching a movie especially if their target viewers are children.

Over time, we can see Pixar’s improvement and innovation as they continue to make great and wholesome animation films. Considering the 24 years gap between the two movies we can see the progress and success of both films. Ever since the creation of the first toy story movie they made good use of the technology, the tools, the equipment around them and with the ability of using their great minds to make an outstanding masterpiece.

As they continually do this their skills continue to improve to bring us new high quality films. This also shows how much animation evolved through years. With continuous practice and with the continuous innovation in technology we are able to improve and produce better high quality animation films.

Photos taken from the documentaries: “The Making of Toy Story - (1995)” and “How Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 4’ Was Animated | Movies Insider”, it depicts the difference of the graphics design, lightings, shadings etc., from the movies Toy Story and Toy Story 4.

References

Ashton, W. (2019). Toy Story Vs. Toy Story 4: How Pixar's Animation Has Changed Over The Last 24 Years. CinemaBlend. https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2475686/toy-story-vs-toy-story-4-how-pixars-animation-has-changed-over-the-last-24-years.

Copper, L. (2019, September 16). The Evolution of Toy Story’s Animation. GCU. https://www.gcu.edu/blog/performing-arts-digital-arts/evolution-toy-storys-animation

Desiderio K. & Phillips I. (2020) How Pixar's animation has evolved over 24 years, from 'Toy Story' to 'Toy Story 4'. Insider. https://www.insider.com/pixars-animation-evolved-toy-story-2019-6

Insider. (2019, July 9). How Pixar’s ‘Toy’s Story 4’ was animated | movies insider. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT_LdcWFHkA

VHSfx. (2013, February 12). The making of Toy Story - 1995 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VdERcRJ3jI

May, T. (2021, January 26). 8 mind-boggling facts about the making of Toy Story 4. https://www.creativebloq.com/news/mind-boggling.toy-story-4-facts.

#toysstory evolutionofanimation animatedfilm

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zayizzle · 3 years

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I was thinking for all last night on the words I put onto that I rant I posted a couple of days ago. I wanted to think back on the words I chosen, I feel like I could been more eloquent and mature about it. Going off the cuff with the language I did isn’t going to win points from anyone that I want to think different. Despite all of that, I will not go back on the overall message I trying to convey from my rant; I am simply going back on the tone it conveys due to writing it out of anger.

The message was simply ‘because you don't like something or your kid is addicted to something and you don’t get why doesn't mean it is "evil"’. No adult is going to enjoy every thing their kids like. Plenty of adults will believe what they watched as a kid is superior than modern kid and family media things today; I'm not innocent of that myself, everyone will always think what they experience was better when they was kids.

In addition, kids are more naturally compulsive over their current interests; some more than others. Many children on the autism spectrum like myself might like something for years to come they thought they would grow out of eventually. For example, Hello Kitty is one of many interests I’m still fixated on despite my age. That doesn’t mean it had a demonic hold on me, but that I just took a special interest in that and should be respected.

Some of this is stemmed due to how my parents, mostly my late mother raised me. I realized that even if my mom disliked a toy, show, or whatever I liked she still was supportive of it; as long as it wasn’t inappropriate or negatively influencing. A lot of time I feel that some parents let their own bias and judgement keep their kids from having a more fulfilling childhood by enjoying things they like. However, this is also coming from a person who doesn’t have a child and doesn’t know what it take to raise one. All I can go by is my parents’ own parenting, however this is not me stating my parents were perfect at raising kids. Far from that, they made plenty of mistakes; no one is perfect.

This is simply something I deeply respected out of them, that they didn’t let their own views of something keep me from enjoying it; again, if was appropriate for me. If did something or behaved badly due to a show or game, they would sit me down and say that I can’t do that. However, they didn’t blame the actual thing itself. They simply set boundaries for it.

If something is negatively affecting a child, then take to them and set boundaries. If it is such a negative influence cut it off completely. However, do not make the claim that a show, game, movies, whatever is “evil”. The people that makes these things aren’t plotting on how to corrupt the current youth like so many people conspire to believe. A lot of times, they just want to make a entertaining show and hopefully make a profit off that (though some can be very focus on the profit part I will admit).

Saying something is “evil” is such a bold and heavy claim to make. Because you not only demonizing the thing in particular. You’re placing that on the creators that made it, other parents that are okay with it, people that generally enjoy it and even the children.

You’re basically saying all those creators just want to corrupt kids and are horrible people. People that maybe just wanting to make something fun for kids and family. The creator of Pokemon initial idea for making the original game was to let children experience the joy that he had when he was a child collecting bugs. That is one of the most innocents things I ever heard, even if the transience is a lucrative cash cow. For someone to say that is evil, I don’t even know.

Parents that due to being okay with something, they are ruining their children.People that they what they enjoy is evil and thus their values are skewed, children that what they liked wasn’t right. Folks that could be good people and perhaps those interests someone else claim is evil actual was good for them or at least harmless. When I was scared, my mom encouraged me to be like Ash Ketchum and a Power Puff Girl not give up.

Another thing I was fixated on when I was kid that my late mom confessed she hated when I was over them My Little Pony. The ponies costed so much, they was hard to take out the box, she didn’t know what made one pony unique from the other aside from the picture on their hip and color but I had to have all of them included the houses and accessories. Despite all of that, she didn’t stop me from enjoying them. There was even positive influences that came from it such as me being interested in learning about real horses and wanting to help animals. I wanted to grow up be a vet until I learned I am too squeamish for that.

Point is, before you point at something and call it evil think about what you’re reasoning is it for. Is it truly justified? Do you simply don’t like it and what a reason to justify it? How is negatively influencing someone, is it all?

#pokemon #kids #rant #ramble #vent #my little pony #moral #philosophy #ideals

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thepixarenthusiast · 3 years

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Toy Story (1995)

Ah. The one that started it all.

As the first entirely computer-animated feature film, Toy Story was revolutionary. I have to say, it was fun to go back and re-watch this movie just to see how far computer graphics and the technology of animation have come. The animation certainly doesn’t look as clean or detailed by today’s standards, but I appreciate how important and culturally significant this movie was for changing the film industry as a whole.

The concept of this movie was just as innovative as the computer animation. Who knows if computer animation would have caught on so quickly if this movie hadn’t had a such a compelling story and memorable characters to go with it.

From the start of the film, we are immersed in a world where toys come alive when people aren’t looking. When I was a child, I definitely thought my toys came to life when I wasn’t around, and I think Toy Story reaffirmed my belief. That, and the fact that my older sister would rearrange my beanie babies into a conga line whenever I left my bedroom, only for me to gasp upon my return and excitedly exclaim that my beanie babies must have been having a party. And thus, the creators of Pixar do what they do best and tap into what every child is already imagining. Andy leaves his room, and his toys spring to life.

The plot of the movie centers around Andy’s birthday party and all of Andy’s toys are nervous about what new toys are coming to town. You see, it’s a toy’s goal to be loved by a child, and new toys could mean less love and the potential to be replaced. (I think this movie always made me feel guilty about not giving all of my toys equal attention). It was funny revisiting this movie because I had forgotten how much of a dick Woody is. It’s actually really interesting to see how much his character develops over the 4 Toy Story movies, which I’ll get into more as I review each one, but man oh man is he a jerk. Woody is Andy’s favorite toy, and he is determined to stay that way, so when the shiny new Buzz Lightyear comes along with all his fancy features, Woody immediately becomes jealous and plots to trap Woody behind Andy’s desk, accidentally knocking him out a window instead. The other toys quickly condemn him, and though Woody does eventually rescue and become buddies with Buzz in the end, it does seem as if his initial motivation for going after Buzz is to win back the other toys’ affection and not because he feels guilty.

If you do a little bit of research on the making of this movie, you will find that the creators had a difficult time developing Woody’s character. In fact, in an early version of the story, Woody’s character is even more of a jerk, and the character was so unlikable that they almost scrapped the whole thing. It is hard to imagine him being worse!

As mean and arrogant as Woody is in the beginning, the antics that ensue between Buzz and Woody are pretty hilarious, even for adult audiences. The fact that Buzz thinks he is a real space ranger for the majority of the movie is just hysterical and overall brilliant. It results in some pretty big laughs and the humor still holds up pretty well by today’s standards. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen have great chemistry here, and Woody grows enough of a heart by the end of the film that the audience can mostly forgive him.

So what are my final thoughts about Pixar’s first? Ok, sorry to all the Pixar purists out there, this might cause some controversy. Re-watching Toy Story as an adult in 2020, I liked it, but I was not as mesmerized by it as I was as a kid. This is probably because computer animation has improved so much in the past 25 years and because Pixar has improved their story-telling so much as well. At the end of the day, this is just a buddy comedy. Setting it in the Toy world and the innovation of the 3D computer animation are what made it such a hit. For me, it doesn’t evoke the emotion and deep thinking that many of Pixar’s later films do. That’s not to say that I think Toy Story is bad. In fact, I think it was perfect for when it came out, setting the tone and standard for the studio. It was captivating for its time but it didn’t set the standard so high that there was no way Pixar could top it. I love this movie for its time and what it meant for the standard for children’s movies to come.

Other thoughts I had during the movie:

-The scenes in Sid’s room are still terrifying!! Man, no wonder that creeped me out so much as a kid.

-The characters in this movie are so creative. A slinky dog, potato head, piggy bank, plastic dinosaur, and Bo-Peep make the perfect crew.

-The green aliens and the claw will always be funny.

-Love the music by Randy Newman in this movie and You’ve Got a Friend in Me is iconic.

Fun Fact:

Woody was originally sketched as a ventriloquist dummy. Glad they scrapped that idea.

Best character: Buzz Lightyear. (Buzz was definitely the funniest part about this movie, and Woody was too much of a jerk in the beginning to earn this title).

Tear-Meter: 0/5 teardrops. The original Toy Story was a lot of fun but didn’t need my tissues for this one.

Current Ranking:

As the first, it currently holds the top spot, but I don’t expect it will stay there for long. (Sorry everyone who puts this at #1).

1. Toy Story

#pixar movies #toy story #pixar toy story

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animatedminds · 3 years

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Film Review: On Jingle Jangle

Spoilers for the subsequent review: I liked it. And what’s more, there are things about it that make me happy on a conceptual level both as a writer and as an African American writer, and just as a lover of musicals and fun adventures. Read on after the jump!

It’s been a while, and I promised a review on Jingle Jangle - the Netflix exclusive film starring Forrest Whitaker, Madalen Mills and Keegan-Michael Key which came out a few weeks ago - sometime last week and never delivered. Well, here it is. And if you want the abridged version of my opinion, well, look above.

To give a short summary, Jingle Jangle is an clearly intentionally chintzy film written in the vein of classic Christmas fantasy movies. It focuses on a toymaker - a great gadgeteer renowned in his universe as the greatest of all time - who is able to see the world in amazing terms and make toys function like magic. However, on the cusp of his greatest invention, his apprentice - and the invention itself, who turns out to be egotistical and vile - betrays him and steals all his designs, breaking his heart so badly that he cannot bring up the spark to invent ever again. His apprentice grows rich on his work, while the toymaker - one Jeronicus Jangle - grows old, in the process losing his wife, after which his daughter estranges from him. And that’s just in the first ten minutes. Depressing enough for you? Well, the rest of the movie is more than sweet enough to make up for it. As you might expect from a set up like that, the turning point comes when Jeronicus’ granddaughter Journey finally gets the chance to visit him and discovers his one last, unfinished invention. Suddenly Jeronicus, now a bitter old hermit, has the opportunity to find the love he lost within him again and rekindle his spark, his daughter (played by a criminally underused Anika Noni Rose) has the opportunity to reconnect with him, and the toy shop - Jangles and Things - might finally have a future again. But look out, Jangle’s old apprentice is out of blueprints and needs one to keep his fame and fortune - and Jeronicus’ last invention is looking very profitable... As you might expect from a the description above, this movie is very by numbers plotwise. But I’ve never considered that necessarily a bad thing, as long as a film captures the charm that makes those numbers typical in the first place. The movie is very obviously trying to capture a feeling, a kind of story that - perhaps because they’re so well known by our generation - you don’t see much of any more, and so plays all those archetypical traits to the hilt. The last invention runs on “belief” - if you don’t believe it’s real or in yourself, it won’t work - and you can imagine why. The apprentice is a money grubbing showman who never understood the real point of toymaking. The narrator is an old woman who, surprise! (not really), turns out the Journey herself! Are those plot points groan-worthy? Sure, sometimes. But it also delivers those warm fuzzy feelings those groans intend, and that’s... well... magical. It’s not trying to be avant-garde, it’s only trying to make us feel joyous for a few hours. And you know what? I can appreciate that.

Because of that, my primary criticisms instead are about elements in that regard that the film doesn’t fulfill enough. The story is obviously about Jeronicus’ journey from disillusioned miser to the optimistic, loving man of his youth, but this happens too fast: he goes from yelling at Journey for messing with his stuff, to begrudgingly having a snowball fight with her that he turns out to enjoy, to suddenly having to make the crossroads to use his spark again to save her because he loves her so much, with barely anything in between: I wanted more - more stages in-between Jeronicus two poles, so that we can see him develop in a stronger way rather than kind of jump between the points we know he’s going to go through like a connect the dots drawing. His daughter's relationship is a primary plot point, but she doesn’t even show up for more than a cursory line or two until the very end, so we don’t get to see that develop much either. While Journey and her goofball sidekick carry the film, as they should, there is perhaps a bit too little time dedicated to the characters around them - seeing as they’re explicitly the impact characters affecting their family’s change for the positive. Even the villains are responsible for the whole thing are mostly are present in the story for comedy and they don’t get a lot of face time with the people they’ve affected either, all of which adds up to parts that could have had a lot more substance to them but which didn’t. The film overall is great, but the limits it puts on its own pacing and development hold it back from being as great as it could be.

However, as I noted before, there’s more than what I've just talked about going on here. There are conceptual aspects that made this one of my favorite movies this year, rather than necessarily the plot: which is only why this movie is engaging to watch. What the movie is built around is what makes it so special. First of all, a fantasy adventure movie with an entirely black primary cast is rare - entirely too rare - because African Americans simply don’t get those kinds of films in the mainstream. Realistic urban dramas, lurid romances about failing marriages, uplifting stories about rising out of the hood, etc - that’s the genres Hollywood typically allows for African Americans to star in: movies that hinge on archetypes about black existence in America and thus only sell attempt to themselves as “black movies” without widespread appeal, if one wants to go one step beyond. A musical about a magical inventor who creates a robot that lets you fly if you believe in yourself enough? Not especially, unless it’s a preachy DTV film about community. The primary villain is a Spanish matador doll with delusions of grandeur - Gaston as a toy - and its a weird and strange and outright wonderful idea. And interestingly, while this movie is themed and framed like a Christmas movie - I mean, just look at the name - there isn’t anything particularly Christmas about it beyond being about a toymaker. Jangle isn’t a Santa analogue, Christmas itself is never mentioned, nor is much of the imagery (beyond snow and winter) exceptionally Christmas reminiscent, being more of a Victorian Steampunk instead - full of gears and automatons and top hats (whoever did the costuming for this thing ought to get a medal, especially for the costuming in the bright period we see in the initial flashback). Its stuff like that that’s noticeable simply because African Americans in film don’t generally get to interact with those sorts of strange and weird and wonderful ideas. And this extends to the music. As both a fan of musicals, a Disney fan in particular, and a black writer, something I’ve noticed with no small amount of dismay is the way certain genres of music have been skipped over by mainstream. You have to go off the beaten path to find musicals that seriously incorporate hip hop, or R&B, soul, funk, etc into soundtracks and anything other than “party time” numbers that are just about the characters getting down and don’t engage the plot or the characters in a meaningful way - which gives off the impression that on a writing and developmental level, there is a lack of respect for those genres as having serious merit for meaningful usage. Oh, for sure, there’s musicals like “In The Heights” (which was fantastic, and I’m eagerly waiting for the film), but those are rare, and the closest you tend to get is Lin Manuel Miranda’s (much as I enjoy him) long bouts of recitative which are called “rap” by reviewers but aren’t really what I’m talking about when I mean genre. This film makes a point of kicking that trend in the pants, however: starting with a bombastic character establishment hip hop number, going into Motown-style R&B numbers and soul ballads and all sorts of wonderful genres of black music that have been long since lefts out of the mainstream. It’s something that I’m especially happy about and which leads me into tomorrow - when Soul arrives (and you better believe you’re getting a review of that as well) and hopefully delivers the same thing.

As a black writer, and a lover of music, and a lover of bringing new avenues of representation to film and media, Jingle Jangle made me happy in a way no film since Black Panther has, and for that along it immediately landed a spot on my list of classics even if it weren’t also a quite enjoyable movie. So as you might have guessed, thus, from the preceding - I quite recommend it for anyone looking for a wonderful cheesy time this Christmas, and also for someone looking to see how black musicals are growing and evolving.

#jingle jangle #netflix #african american #black representation #black film #hip hop #soul #r&B #forrest whitaker #madalen mills #keegan-michael key

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