#my first rabbit puppet

[thepastisalreadywritten]

xxx

[yours-the-author]

Spoilers for My Friendly Neighborhood? And Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Maybe? IDK I'm just putting my thoughts down.

I watched Super Horror Bro's let's play of MFN and I really liked it! Gordon is great, Ricky is great, everyone is great... but a lot of people seem to be over looking the whole "living puppets" thing? (or maybe I just haven't been looking hard enough.) And that got me thinking... what if the world logic of MFN is like that of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Like, the two have some similarities already (tough, down on his luck guy with a gun deals with the shenanigans of TV mascots while dark things happen around him), but let's put it like this:

In the world of Roger Rabbit, cartoon characters (toons) are alive. This isn't really explained in the movie, as far as I remember, but it's just a fact. The toons are real, they have jobs, they have a place to live, but they're also sort of considered "second class citizens" in a way; they don't really get a lot of variety in what jobs they can thrive in (they work in entertainment, usually), and they don't always get treated very well (Eddie Valiant, the protagonist, often responds to cartoon shenanigans by saying "toons" in a clearly derogatory way; and cartoon tools like singing swords and sentient shoes [which I think are safe to assume they're alive and sentient? less so than other toons, but you get it] are kept in boxes, seemingly for long periods of time). Toons also have their "Toon Town", their own separate place to live that, for much of the movie, is in danger due to the owner of Toon Town (a human) dying and potentially letting Toon Town get destroyed for the sake of a highway, and thus destroying the only known place where toons can safely live.

So, to summarize: 1. Toons are alive, an accepted fact by society. 2. Toons are citizens, and are expected to work to earn their keep. 3. Toons are citizens, and there is slight prejudice against them ("slight" may be putting it lightly).

Now, let's look at MFN:

Gordon J. O'Brien is a human, who is tasked with shutting off the antenna of the studio that used to produce and televise the children's show My Friendly Neighborhood. We see in a cutscene prior to gameplay that most television shows are hosted/acted by human players, except for MFN, which is primarily led by puppet actors. Nothing wrong there; it's a children's show, and as a lot of children shows go, puppets and other cartoonish set pieces are used to entertain. Most adult shows are filled with live people, and at the hour that the TV is shown, adult programming is more likely to be on than children's programming.

But consider what happens when Gordon enters the studio lot, namely when he first meets Ricky the sock puppet. Gordon is surprised by Ricky's appearance, but he doesn't really address it. In fact, he treats Ricky like he might be the owner/face of the establishment. We could argue that Gordon is just rolling with it: it's his last job of the day, he's on probation for a bad attitude and could get fired for failing to do his job or keeping up that bad attitude, so he's just playing along with whoever the crazy human behind the sock puppet is. All well and good, except when things start getting darker.

Gordon sees a puppet (Norman) bashing its head against the wall, seemingly of its own free will, and he offers little more than a "what the...?" Even when the puppets begin attacking him, he just carries on. Maybe he's just super dedicated to finishing his job and leaving so he can go home. But there comes a point, I'd like to think, when dealing with potentially deadly possessed puppets where a normal person thinks, "is this minimum wage job really worth my life?" and usually, the answer is probably "no, consequences be damned, I'm leaving while I'm alive."

So that begs the question: what sort of person carries on with his job when it's possible there are murder puppets after his life? Most people have said that Gordon is just "so done" with everything in his life that he doesn't particularly care, which makes sense; he seems to be a war veteran with little to enjoy in his life. But there's "being done", and there's "a strange but relatively normal day". So: what if puppets being sentient is just... a thing? A rule that the world doesn't necessarily question? Puppets trying to hug people to death is definitely unusual, but that's the only strange thing.

That leads to another supporting question: who owns the studio where MFN used to be broadcast? The buildings, for the most part, are all well maintained with working electricity and general power. It's a little under kept, but the maintenance is there. And yet, there are no people around. At all. All of the offices are empty, all of the sewer areas are empty, it's just puppets all the way down. But why? The show isn't being made any more, so why are all these buildings empty? Shouldn't they be filled with new businesses, new people, new lives? Or at the very least, if no one owns them/uses them, then shouldn't they be knocked down and the land used for some other company? A newspaper mentions a company that bought up a lot of land and buildings for their own consumerist purposes, often kicking tenants out of their homes to do so, so clearly it's not unheard of to knock down/take over buildings that have no obvious purpose.

But the puppets still live there. The puppets do their own thing, wallowing in their accidental trauma, but otherwise not going out and attacking people. They stick to their buildings, and don't bother anyone. So is the MFN studio the "Toon Town" for these puppets? Do they technically "own" the lot? I recall a different note mentioning that the tools and materials of MFN were the "property" of a different company after MFN was taken off air, but the puppets are still in the building, wandering around. Why, unless they have some right to the land?

It could also offer an explanation of why Gordon is tasked with turning off the antenna instead of any other company: the puppets refuse to turn off the antenna and stop broadcasting their show over the network, so they have to send someone in to do it themselves. Not just anyone, though: a down on his luck old war vet with a bad attitude who doesn't seem to have any real importance to the city. If he does get killed, fine, send someone else to do it. If he succeeds, great! In fact, everyone seems so happy to see him successfully disable the antenna that he gets promoted to manager in the "bad ending", despite being on probation. Why is he rewarded so much for doing his job, unless it was really important that the show was shut off? Maybe it's a weird political statement? Or a symbol of human dominance over the "puppet class"? Whatever the case, it's definitely weird that Gordon is so well rewarded for shutting down the show.

Alternatively, in the "normal" and "true" endings, Gordon decides to help get the show back on the air, legally. In the normal ending, he specifically makes a note of how he has to keep his head down, not telling anyone what he's doing and eventually not coming back to the studio because he thinks he's done his part and can move on. In the true ending, he's found out and fired, despite disconnecting the antenna as his job required him. Why would he be fired for doing his job? Unless the wire disconnect was meant to have some bigger meaning? Are the puppets considered "second class", or "other"? Is their show getting back on air and gaining a following some sort of problem for the company Gordon works for? Some people like the show, and some people hate it, but it does gain a following.

A recurring theme in this game is "darkness/meanness vs light/goodness", with modern "adult" television being dark and mean and more "appropriate" in the post war world, and the old "children" television being a bright reminder to be good and friendly, which doesn't correlate with the world that the post war city has become. Maybe the puppets are a living reminder of the "good" in the world that adults are shielding themselves from? I don't know, I'm kind of rambling at this point.

Speaking of the war- isn't it weird how they just refer to it as "the war"? Based on the context and the dates, it's fairly agreed by the community that the war represents the Vietnam War, a controversial event that televised the dark realities of war to everyone with a television, which was mostly everyone. If it's supposed to be the Vietnam War, why not just call it that? Unless it's not the Vietnam War, not technically, in this universe? Since the puppets are living beings (even if they aren't exposed to television and the horrors of war until after the show stops), maybe there are other historical differences in this universe, too? Different lands, boundaries, people, etc?

And when the puppets- no longer supervised due to a world going dark from the atrocities of war- watch television to find what they're missing that other TV shows have, they get traumatized by what they see, and inadvertently incorporate it into what they know. They're impressionable, like children- or a sheltered class of people. They all get a little intense- insane ramblings and hugging people to death- but some of them go so far as to physically change themselves (remove their eyes, give themselves human teeth, turn into monsters) as a screwed attempt to gain the love and attention that the "darkness" offers. Unless someone takes some time to talk to the puppets, to let them know that there can still be good and light in the world, then the puppets will all remain on that lot, by themselves, without an outlet, and will possibly be destroyed when the now pointless studio lot is without purpose. That's what Gordon's for: someone who has also been troubled by the darkness of the world, but can take the time and empathy to be a little bit friendly.

Sorry for the long post; it's possible there's more stuff I forgot to talk about, or some information I got wrong, but feel free to add your thoughts to this! I need to go to bed, I have work in the morning.

[flickering-nightfall]

Made these immediately after finishing the first ending, but I wanted to wait until more people caught up to that point before I posted it. Haha

It's a good thing I waited - at this point there's been a lot of people saying the shadows in the shop aren't the best indicator of height. Even within the region itself, giant ancients (or tiny everything else) doesn't make sense - the shelves and masks in the shop, the path to the void baths, etc. A friend (and others like skybristle) suggested that the scaling could be so off because Spinning Top (the echo's) memories of being a child skewed the perspective somehow.

I wasn't sure, because AU doesn't change for Watcher after Spinning Top has passed on, but given the rot can't spread to Ancient Urban (or Terrace or Daemon), it's possible that place really is not as physical as it seems? In any case, that would keep things open-ended without taking away from the powerful impression of the scene.

The scale was extremely cool, but if taken literally, I feel like it kind of detracts from the grandiosity of other regions. The wall to these ancients would be a rock climbing route... And the average region a stroll around the block... (at least if we take the space we see slugcat traverse literally, anyways)... waist-height subterranean cargo trains, haha, um...

Still - iterator puppets being literal hand (or finger. they're so small) puppets is a pretty novel concept. This size ancient could crush a scavenger or a lizard underfoot without really thinking about it. Vultures are turkey-sized and Rain Deer are spindly rabbits. Sky Whales aren't even as long as those ancients are tall.

Here's a height estimate to make sense within the shop:

Watcher (and Spinning Top) sized up to match the toy art:

This is how big I've been headcanoning them. (To be clear, I'm not pushing this size as "correct" - it's just what I've been working with.) They can actually fit in the subterranean train carts this way:

I think this is the tallest they can get to reasonably fit through the void bath path. (With my headcanon size as well)

Echo comparisons for fun. Not all echoes are the same size, but Spinning Top is smaller than the rest. (And also none of these make sense with any the proposed sizes if they're taken literally, lol)

And a few more I snagged while I was working on second ending stuff (Stormy Coast, Torrential Railways, Shattered Terrace):

Yeah you get the point.

I was really excited and emotional when I first realized what was going on, standing under the light of that manhole. I had joked about Watcher going back in time to meet ancients, back when I was guessing what the campaign could be about, but I didn't think it would actually happen. And I really like a lot of the new stuff for them, in terms of background pieces and mentions from Spinning Top.

Cool reveal - now I've got brain worms! I'm thinking about them more and more...

[cherriibombfics]

You know something folks don't often talk about with Self Aware AUs that I really think more people should discuss when writing about it? Sequence breaking. Specifically the inherent sequence breaking that comes with Gacha games allowing you to meet characters that you haven't met yet in the story if you haven't played that far ahead.

For example, I actually just started playing CRK nearly 2 weeks ago after watching a bunch of animations and cutscenes about the latest Beast Yeast episode online, right? And as a result, I got enough F2P currency from being a new user to get, in this exact order: Pure Vanilla Cookie, then Black Sapphire Cookie, then the soul jams to awaken PV, then Shadow Milk Cookie. All of this happened before GingerBrave canonically met any of them.

So basically Shmilk woke up one day, was out of the tree he was trapped in for what felt like an eternity, appeared in some random small kingdom, sees PV who was now all glowy and angelic and hanging out with his minion for some reason, who immediately walks up to him and says something like, "Hey man. I experienced enlightenment and I have no idea how. But through context clues from The Baker, I think I just ruined your entire corruption arc you had planned for me? Sorry about that. You wanna beat up some cake monsters as these children learn the dark lore of our existences?"

I don't think PV talks like that, but you get the picture. I like the idea of accidentally ruining the entire plotline by having some lucky gacha pulls~

"ɢᴇᴛ ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴏɴᴇᴅ ɪᴅɪᴏᴛ!"

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 540

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: ɴᴏɴᴇ

ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ

ᴀ/ɴ: ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏᴏ ꜱᴜʀᴇ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ꜰᴏʀ. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴀ ꜰᴏʟʟᴏᴡ-ᴜᴘ ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ʟᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴡ.

ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ ᴍɪʟᴋ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ x ʙᴀᴋᴇʀ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

✧ SHADOW MILK COOKIE would be ecstatic about finally being released from the Silver Tree, and with a physical form no less? All so far ahead of schedule? Oh, he was over the moon! But where was he? This wasn't that silly faerie kingdom. As a matter of fact, was he even still on Beast-Yeast?

✧ In the context of the story the existence of the Cookie Kingdom is, well, horrifying. New cookies being summoned were a common occurrence within its walls, from different regions, time periods, and even ones that had crumbled long ago. After a certain point the ruler of the kingdom started finding ways to allow cookies to adjust to their new life, but of course that system didn't work for everyone.

"For the last time, I do not want to join your silly kingdom! Where are my minions? And where on Earthbread am I?"

✧ He'd be livid that his powers don't work here for some reason, safe for a couple of things like summoning a plush rabbit of all things. Why was he being reduced to this mockery? Who was turning a former almighty cookie into an equal to the foolish cookies who lived here? Seriously, is that mask-wearing buffoon always lifting something?

✧ He'd eventually comply, albeit reluctantly, because after a while he'd realize there's no point in resisting the inevitable. You held the power here, over everyone, and for the first time in years there he felt completely powerless.

“Do you enjoy seeing me kneel before you? Do you find pleasure in watching me be reduced to this?! I’m the one holding the strings, I AM NO PUPPET!”

“Why are you yelling at the sky?”

✧ At some point you’re forced to talk to him directly since he was causing troubles for the other cookies with his ramblings and general abrasion.

“You, YOU! You’re the one who did this to me! I was happier inside of that stupid tree than I am here! Why me? Why not one of the others? Why did you decide to torture me like this?”

“I dunno, the gacha just picked you I guess.”

“What are you talking about?!”

✧ He’d become even more upset when you explain the gacha to him and, by extension, the fact that their entire world was technically a game. So his current situation was entirely chance. You sent him away after that, promising that you’d build a few structures for him in return for good behavior.

“Wow, this is humiliating. Why am I being stuck cutting wood? I’m a jester not a lumberjack…”

“Shadow Milk Cookie!”

✧ Being reunited with his minions was nice, for a short while, it gave him some sense of normalcy throughout the newfound confusion. Because at least he wasn't alone during this. That Distorted Tower you promised seemed that nice, and you weren't that bad he supposed. It could've been worse…wait. Was that Pure Vanilla Cookie? Why was he glowing?

“Oh, hello again! I believe I experienced enlightenment during your absence. I’m not too sure on the details, outside of that spire, but I’m grateful we’re meeting in better circumstances. It’s nice to see you be given a chance at redemption.”

“You what?”

✧ Nevermind. This sucks.

[trinketstar]

The Amazing Toybox Circus!

A storybook - Part 1

Once upon a time, there was a very old toy shop.

An unremarkable sort of place with very few visitors. The shelves were lined with antique curiosities which had collected dust over the years.

Among these, atop a colorful wooden toy chest, was a simple kaleidoscope. It was inscribed with a strange design of teeth and eyes, and a poem about a magical circus.

...

Now, one might imagine the type of person would walk into such a place. Perhaps someone who has worked far too hard. Someone who feels unsatisfied with the tedium of every day life, and who longs for an escape into the fantastical world of imagination that playthings can inspire. This sort of person might look through a kaleidoscope and dream, just for a moment, of a new life filled with bright color, of fun and adventure.

This was the sort of person who suddenly woke up on the floor, surrounded by darkness and extremely confused.

Feeling dizzy and thoughts hazy, she righted herself and began to wander. A soft jingling noise followed her with every step, though she paid it no mind. There were more pressing issues at the moment.

She strained her mind trying to remember how she could have possibly ended up here. She clearly remembered entering a toy shop, but her thoughts beyond this were blank besides a vivid image of swirling colors. Red and blue spirals. All she knew at the moment was that she felt terribly afraid, and very very small.

Timidly, she called out-

"HELLO, MY NEWEST SUPERSTAR!"

An enormous wooden ventriloquist dummy suddenly burst from the shadows. His painted eyes gleamed, one blue, one green. His wooden teeth chattered as he loomed overhead. He pulled a white balloon on a string, which sported an equally large toothy grin.

The sight was positively terrifying.

"Welcome to the amazing toybox circus!"

"The ... the toybox what?" She squeaked in response.

"Why, the toybox circus of course! You're sure to have a grand time, my dear! " She was suddenly lifted up to meet his unsettling wooden gaze.

"My name is Caine! I'm your ringmaster," he continued at an unnecessarily loud volume.

"My dear, you've entered a wonderful world of whimsy and adventure, where anything can happen! Soon you'll meet your new friends and we shall put on a show!"

He spun her around before setting her down on the floor again.

The girl was speechless. Be part of a circus? Led by a talking puppet? Surely this was all a strange dream!

"I'm sorry, sir," she eventually said, somehow managing to speak politely considering the circumstances. "But I really must be getting home! If you'd kindly show me the way-"

"Oh but you simply must stay for the performance, my dear! I've prepared all sorts of activities that are sure to delight! Oh the audience will love you! You shall be the star attraction!"

The puppet was very insistent. At a loss, the girl considered her options were either to continue wandering the darkness or to trust this "ringmaster". Now she was an intelligent young lady, but she was also a curious sort. After all, curiosity was what brought her here in the first place, and curiosity compelled her to see what would happen next...

So despite better judgement, she finally said -

Hesitant but hopeful. Perhaps this would be interesting? At the very least, she could play along until finding a way out of this strange place, out of the toyshop and back home. Or until she woke up, as this was likely a dream after all.

"At any rate, this may be fun," she hoped out loud.

Something cackled from atop a large shelf. The silhouette was that of a rabbit, but with a wide yellow grin.

"Heh HEH! You'll soon see, little clown," he said, before hopping out of sight.

What an odd place this was...

----part 2 coming soon!

[viperbunnies]

"Nothing good ever comes out when I start hoping... but maybe just a little bit."

[Thank you to @.unfinished-projects-galore , @.ai-kan1 and @.stestylius-arts for the assets! Thank you as well to @jovieinramshackle for giving me the inspo to finally start on this, and to @crystallizsch , @angelwishess and @twstgo whose oc intros I took inspo for the layout 🫶]

An outlier from the school, due to his situation he was home-schooled for the majority of his first year. They have decided to accompany the Ramshackle prefect in their daily endeavors, serving as a guide and as a companion in the worn-down dorm.

BASIC INFO.

NAME: Oswald "Oz" Damarys BIRTHNAME: ???? ??????? ALIAS: Oz, Ozzie, Flashlight Fish (Floyd), Monsieur Porcelaine (Rook) Shortie-senpai (Yuudai) AGE: 17 BIRTHDATE: August 26 HEIGHT: 154 cm SPECIES: Half-human half beastmen GENDER: Demi-boy (Uses they/he and masc titles) ORIENTATION: Demisexual ALIGNMENT: Lawful Neutral MBTI: ISFP Voice claim: Here! (Stc)

LIKES: Stargazy pie, Seafood in general, Acrobatics, Crochet, Art in general, Reading, Fairytales, Music boxes, Classical Music, Card games, Mystery books, Sightseeing, DISLIKES:Wishmaking, Shooting stars, Crowded places, Performing, Being observed, People touching his birthmark, His "Luck", Basketballs

Unique Magic Your Next Line is! [ Flash Forward ] — "An indisputable future is what I see... Your Next Line is!" Oswald is able to take a peek into someone's future as long as they keep contact with his pearly white eye. It can be anything from 5 seconds from now or a day later - This visions manifests like rolls of film - Lately It appears his unique magic is going haywire, showing him visions without the need of eye contact. (They aren't pleasant visions)

TRAITS +  Easy-going; Flexible; Warm; Appreciative =  Tolerant; Perceptive; Witty; Impartial -  Overworker; Indecisive; Reliant; Worrisome

BRIEF OVERVIEW (STC)

Oz is a man of many tricks; he was raised to entertain the audience, which is why he is great at lightening up the mood of the room. The many tricks he can do reminds others of a puppy trained on how to play dead, or shake hands. Despite that, Oz actually struggles in actually expressing the his true feelings— used to being the brunt of many jokes growing up, he believes that he is simply a puppet used for the entertainment of others. He sees himself as a hollow doll with no real personality, only meant for display. He is confused about who his truly is, used to what others want to see and not what he wants to show. Slowly, he is realizing that he is merely human, and that he should live for his own sake. (Old info from my notes)

TIDBITS

Random Facts - Part-beastmen, specifically a rabbit beastmen but he lacks actual features aside for his tail that was cauterized off when he was younger - He doesn't look the part but he also likes getting into shenanigans, sometimes instigating Yuu and Adeuce with the pranks they do (No one really believes the trio when they say it was Oz's idea) - He's double jointed which is helpful with his Acrobatic hobby. - Love language is gift giving, and has a tendency to make crochets for other people. They're typically things that remind them of the other. - Has a lot of birthmarks on his face, but he started to cover them with foundation after Floyd made fun of it. - Has a terrible sense of direction so he gets lost easily, but he'd like to travel around the world someday. - He has terrible luck, and while he doesn't believe in superstitions he began to be wary about them. Doesn't want to get knocked out unconscious by a basketball whenever he passes by the gym. - Doesn't really mind being called Oswald, but he associated that to whenever he'd get scolded... so Oz is his more go to nickname.

TYPING QUIRK: - His friend got him into using Kaomojis, he likes the ones with bunny ears. - Likes sending voice messages to get his point across. - Usually types in sentence cases, (although when he isn't feeling well he types in lower cases) SPEAKING QUIRK: - Uses a lot of onomatopoeia to describe unknown things. - Speaks firmly when he feels strong emotions. - Sometimes bites his tongue when he rambles, or not focused. BEHAVIOURAL QUIRKS: - Nose has a tendency to twitch when he’s interested, or irritated. - He also unconsciously thumps his foot when he’s annoyed.

RELATIONSHIPS (WIP)

(Might put a brief overview on their more notable relationships in the future!) Note: - Main Oc x Canon is with Jamil (ignore that pink on silver and jade) - Divus is his foster parent

PNGS BELOW:

p∀ƎH ⅄W NI פNIH┴ƎWOS SI ƎɹƎH���

[lactoseintolerentswag]

Rise Characterizations

Last month I did an in-depth re-watch of rottmnt s1 to take some notes on writing the characters of rise from their perspective and such. Figured I'd share what I found, but I'm also posting this bc my docs have a nasty habit of blipping out of existence.

We'll start with Raph bc he's the oldest of course, but I'll post the others sep. bc this is gonna get long!!

Raph Character Notes

Language Habits:

Catchphrases: "like a boss", "smash"

Verbalizes his attacks such as "smash", "knuckle sandwich", "power smash jitsu", "tonfa power jitsu", "mystic punch jitsu"

Uses older song titles for surprised exclamations or in place of cursing, most notably "jumping jack flash!"

Uses aave/bae, For example: 'em instead of them, 'ey instead of they, 'cause instead of because, forgoes the g in ing words (going becomes goin')

Uses less and less grammar the more he's stressed, and his voice will come to a higher pitch

Will speak in a softer tone to his little brothers if he's concerned about hurting their feelings. Aka babying them

Mixes up both metaphors and idioms. Would be one to say how the turn tables unironically

Does say "hero" a lot, lost count, especially in phrases like "hero town"

Refers to his brothers as "boys" or "fellas"

Refers to Splinter as "pop(s)" most often

Refers to strangers he's directly talking to as "bubs" or "hoss"

Personality:

Protective of his family

Plays up the hero act/has a strong sense of duty and justice

Impatient, rushes in without a plan (pre-movie), doesn't finish books until the end, falls asleep during "boring movies"

Oblivious, doesn't read into things beyond surface level. Struggles with empathy when something is beyond his understanding, but is still very emotional

Center of responsibility for his brothers, but also has a reckless sense of fun. As long as it's him doing the stupid unsafe thing it's fine

Carries the weight, in a literal sense he piggy backs his brothers, but will also use his body as a shield from danger. Unfortunately this also means he takes his brothers a little less seriously (Mikey the most common victim), and will try and either protect them from everything or as an oldest sibling everything has go "his way"

Doesn't do well in solitude. Needs to be looking after people to feel functional, and needs to be around people to feel safe

Clumsy, "takes horrible pictures", isn't very good at hiding, he's a big guy so it probably took a lot of time to find balance

A sweet guy who still won't shy from making fun of his family. Leo tends to be the brunt of his teasing since he is the most annoying, but he will also poke Donnie on his dramatics

Likes cute things!!! Has a teddy bear collection and loves animals. It's so cool how this isn't played off as a joke and he's still just as masculine for liking pink and cutesy stuff

Likes fighting!!! Gets a lot of energy out defeating bad guys (where he directs his anger towards), the one who is shown to train the most, and also weight lifts in his spare time

Doesn't do well under pressure, here the anger comes out the most. He gets stressed when it's all on him, especially since he tends to mess up the most in these moments

Miscellaneous:

Second to unlock mystic powers

Nicknames/codenames: "raph-a-doodle" by leo, "red rover" by april, "red king" by donnie

Teddy bear names: Doctor Huggenstein, Captain Snuggles, Cheech

Stinks: fear stink, amazement stink, sneaking up on people stink, victory stink

Seems to be less afraid of rabbits and more afraid of puppets

Went on his first solo mission at 13

Cannot lift a bus, at age 15

Thought about discussing fighting style, but I'm not as familiar with that concept and I've seen a couple posts dissecting such topic. So we'll end here for now. Hope this was helpful!!! I'll post the rest of the boys later and link here

Leo is up!!

Donnie is up!!

Mikey is up!!

Splinter is up!!

April is up!!

Cassandra is up!!

Baron Draxum is up!!

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - November 1-7

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles on Patreon!

1. Climate Initiatives Fare Well Across the Country Despite National Political Climate

“[California voters approved] a $10 billion bond measure to boost climate resilience across [the] state[…. Hawai’i] voters cast their ballots in favor of establishing the [climate] resiliency fund, with money for the project coming from existing property tax revenue.“

2. ‘You have to disguise your human form’: how sea eagles are being returned to Severn estuary after 150 years

“[… To avoid imprinting,] the handlers will wear long robes and feed the young eagles chopped rabbit and other meat with bird hand-puppets. […] Williams hopes that restoring eagles to the top of the food chain in the estuary will create a more balanced, thriving ecosystem.”

3. 10 states voted on pro-abortion referendums. 7 of them passed

“New York voters overwhelmingly approved the Equal Rights Amendment, adding [… among other characteristics] gender expression, pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes to anti-discrimination laws. […] In deep-red Missouri and Montana, voters also enshrined abortions protections in their state constitutions.”

4. Giant rats could soon fight illegal wildlife trade by sniffing out elephant tusk and rhino horn

“”Our study shows that we can train African giant pouched rats to detect illegally trafficked wildlife, even when it has been concealed among other substances[.…] They can easily access tight spaces like cargo in packed shipping containers or be lifted up high to screen the ventilation systems of sealed containers,” Szott explained.”

5. Sarah McBride wins Delaware U.S. House seat, becoming the first out trans member of Congress

“McBride spearheaded Delaware’s legislation to ban the “gay and trans panic” defense as a state senator [… and] helped to pass paid family and medical leave, gun safety measures, and protections for reproductive rights.”

6. Critically endangered Sumatran elephant calf born in Indonesia

“Indonesian officials hailed the births and said they showed conservation efforts were essential to prevent the protected species from extinction. […] Sumatran elephants are on the brink of extinction with only about 2,400-2,800 left in the world, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.”

7. Sin City is Going Green

“[Hotels there] have conserved 16 billion gallons of water since 2007, thanks to […] replacing grass with desert-friendly landscaping, installing water-efficient taps across all properties, and reusing water at aquariums and in the Bellagio Fountain.”

8. Gray squirrel control: Study shows promise for effective contraceptive delivery system

“[… T]he feeders have a very high level of species-specificity. […] The bait and monitoring system developed and tested in the study demonstrated that […] “spring was the only season tested where female squirrels were more likely to visit bait feeders than males. Spring coincides with a peak in squirrel breeding and is therefore a good time to deliver a contraceptive."”

9. Returning Grazing Land to Native Forests Would Yield Big Climate Benefits

“[… S]trategically regrowing forests on land where cattle currently graze […] while intensifying production elsewhere could drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, with little hit to global protein production, a new study shows.”

10. Interior Department Strengthens Conservation of American Bison Through New Agreement with Canada and Mexico

“Approximately 31,000 bison are currently being stewarded by the United States, Canada and Mexico with the goal of conserving the species and their role in the function of native grassland systems, as well as their place in Indigenous culture.”

October 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

could you please do a Beauty and the Beast au with Jake and Cassie, I love your content!

The day he came of age he went forth, as all younger sons must, to seek his fortune.  For his parents had no other heir, his only brother having disappeared many years before.

They sent him with what they could, his parents.  A few days' meat, wrapped in preserving cloth.  A sturdy bow and a hunting knife.  The warmest fur-lined cloak they owned.  "Return to us," they told him, "make your fortune and return."

The younger son walked, all that day and into the night.  He knew this forest well, having lived at its edge all his life.  But as he continued on, always with the sun at his back in the morning and ahead in the evening, the trees grew dense around him.  Their trunks were so thick around that three men holding hands could not have encircled one, and their topmost branches blotted out the sun. Many days he walked.  Many days he ate and shot.  Many days he waited for his eyes to grow used to deeper darkness and deeper still, and then for many days he walked on.

One morning, as the days grew warm and the first spring roses unfurled, he awoke to a howl of pain echoing from somewhere far in the distance.

Hand on his knife, cloak drawn back, the younger son moved toward the sound.  It was strange, the sort of howl he had never heard before despite living near these woods his entire life.  As he drew closer he at last understood why: it lacked all harmony, and a single voice on the wind.  As if a jackal were out there, and yet speaking with the voice of a much larger dog.

When at last he found the wolf, he found her caught in a snare.

The ropes were drawn tight around the beast's legs and snout, tying her to the ground and to the surrounding trees.  It was like no snare the younger son had ever seen, far too many knots and anchors for any single animal.  The wolf howled hoarse and heaving in her despair.

Just for a moment as he looked upon her, the younger son thought of his hunting knife, and of his empty satchel.  Then he looked not to the wolf but to the forest around, and he felt unease dance across his skin.  "Where is your pack?" he asked aloud.

The wolf lifted her head to look at him.  "Where is yours?" she answered, in his tongue.

Again they stared, looking each other over with care.

"We have a saying, among men," the younger son said.  "About wolves who are alone.  A lone wolf is a dead wolf, we believe."

"We have a saying about men who are alone," the wolf said.  "That a man alone is easy prey."

"I come to seek my treasure," the younger son said.  "For my family has no other way to provide for me.  What brought you so far from your kin?"

"I know of a treasure," the wolf said.  "For the taking, for any man bold enough to take it.  Among the enchanters far to the north.  The journey is far, but the reward is great if you can brave the cold. It is said the maker of puppets will grant a boon to any man brave and diligent and clever enough to reach his inner hall."

The younger son took off his cloak, and showed her that he wore the skin of a great striped cat from the lands on the edge of the world, one who stalked through snows deep enough to bury a man alive and yet never lost strength.  It had been passed through his family for many generations, its origin lost to time, but he knew that it would shelter him through the long nights to come.

"Very well," the wolf said.  "Let us go, then."

He cut her loose, and together they walked the forest.  She was a skilled hunter despite being alone, returning with rabbits and squirrels.  In return he dug them roots and used nimble fingers to remove blackberries from the vine once he had paid the price in blood for such sweetness.  They slept each night curled beneath his cloak of sunset and shadow-colored fur, and they woke each morning to put the dawn at their right and journey on.

"What is your name?" she asked him, one night as they sat before the fire feasting upon a deer they'd worked as one to kill.

The younger son looked at the wolf, their eyes lit gold from the fire.  "How do I know that you are not fairy folk?" he asked.  "For I know of no other wolves who speak men's words."

The wolf considered.  "Cassie," she said.  "My parents call me Cassandra, but my true name is Cassie."

If she was fair folk, then she would not be able to lie.  And it would be a dangerous thing indeed, to give a human her true name.  "My parents call me Jacob," the younger son said, bowing low despite his blood-sticky hands.  "But my true name is Jake.  What story underlies your name?  An odd name indeed, for a wolf."

"It's an old story, where I'm from," Cassie said.  "Of one who sees far, but cannot speak of the truths she sees.  She knows of what's to come, but she is the only one who does, and thus even if she did speak such truths she would be dismissed as a liar.  A strange name, not one oft-chosen."

"What truths do you know, Madam Wolf?" the younger son asked.

"That the roses are beautiful tonight," the wolf said.

Strange words, for there were no roses visible around them.  But the younger son remembered the power of her nose, and contrary to her name chose to believe her.  The beauty she spoke of must be one beyond human senses.

"Jacob," she said.  "Jake.  What story explains your name?"

"A man saved my ancestor's life.  He was called Jacob, and thus so am I."  He did not ask the wolf the question upon his tongue that night, nor all the next day.

They spoke in those following days of the younger son's hopes for his parents, once he had enough money of his own to make them proud.  They spoke of the wolf's skill with hunting, and the things she heard through the trees that no mere human would.  They did not speak of the past.

A figure stepped into the road before them, shrouded and cloaked.  The younger son nonetheless recognized his stride, and moved toward him straight away with open arms and open smile.  "My brother!" he said.  "It has been too long.  We thought you lost."

The figure did not speak, only drew his bow.

The first arrow whispered past the wolf's left ear, even as the younger son cried out in protest. The second struck solidly into her shoulder.

"Stop!" the younger son cried once more.  "Don't hurt her!"

In response, the figure turned and fired on him as well.

The younger son ran forward even as the arrow pierced the flesh of his arm, and tore through.  "Stop!" he called again, and "Please!" to no avail.  Desperately he drew his knife, and — when the figure notched another arrow and drew back to fire at the wolf — the younger son drove his blade through flesh and lung.

A terrible silence filled the glade, when at last only two bodies breathed there.

"Jake?" the wolf dared to ask, once her breathing had slowed.

The man stared down at the familiar face revealed by the cloak's fall, pointed toward a sky that now gave no light to those eyes.  "This was not my brother," he said.  "It could not have been.  Some fairy trick, some illusion."

The wolf looked at the figure, scented its clothes.  She considered for a span: he had saved her life.  "Yes," she told her companion, her gaze on the sky.  "It must have been."

When the sun began to lower between the trees, they were forced to walk on.  They built a small fire far enough from the glade that they could not longer see the crumpled form, and the wolf explained to the man how to tend their hurts.  Under her guidance he drew out the arrow from her flesh, then packed both their wounds with a paste of leaves that would draw out infection before binding them with tight linens to make the skin heal smooth.

"You know a great deal of medicine, for a wolf," the man said as he boiled willowbark to a tea, at her instruction.

She heard the question that had lingered in his heart, for all that his tongue was too kind to give it voice.  He saved her life, at great personal cost.  "I was not born a wolf," she confessed.  "I was as human as you, until three days before the day that you found me.  That was no mere trap which held me, but the remains of a spell to bind me in this form.  I committed a great transgression, and now I am exiled in this shape until..."  She met the man's eyes, which were steadfast and kind.  "Until the end of my life," she lied.

"What could you have possibly done to deserve such a fate?" the man asked.  "For you are selfless and wise, Madam Wolf."

"Perhaps too selfless," the wolf said bitterly.  "I gave shelter in my home, to one I should have turned away.  I was fooled by appearances, by the surface seeming of innocence and candor, and thus I am cursed to look like that which I am not."

"Giving shelter is no great sin," the man said.  "Quite the opposite, where I am from."

"She was a slaver."

The man's cheek grew pale, but he did not speak.

"The child with her was not her daughter, but one she had kidnapped to replace with a changeling.  Concern for the child fettered my eyes, so that I let them pass freely through our lands."  The wolf stared into the fire, ears flat to her head.  "The slaver claimed that she had come to regret what she had done, and that she was on her way to return the child to its family.  I chose to believe her, for all that she had no proof.  And for that, I am to live out my days as you see me.  A hideous beast, human no more."

The man knelt on the ground before her, so that they might look eye to eye. "There is beauty in your poultices, I find," he said.  "There was beauty in the steadfastness you showed in joining me on my quest.  There is, I believe, even a beauty to be found in choosing the care of a child over revenge on one's enemies."

The wolf scented the wind, as she considered his words.  "The days grow shorter once more," she said.  "Soon only the marigolds will bloom."

They slept that night underneath his warm sunset cloak, and did not look back as they walked on the following day.  That day was indeed shorter than the one before, the spheres turning on and the blackberries turning forth smaller fruit.

Many days on, the man shot a rabbit as the sun rose, for meat was more precious with each passing day.  But as he drew near to his quarry, a hawk dropped from the sky and sank talons through the neck of the wounded creature, killing it in a trice.  The hawk tossed the arrow aside, tearing into the open flesh underneath.

Hawk was no chicken, but game was scarce.  The man nocked a second arrow, and took aim.

"Wait!" a voice rang out.  And despite all that had happened these past weeks, the man's heart raced in surprise as he understood it was the bird who spoke to him.  "I should not have stolen your prize," the hawk said. "But we hunger too, for meat above all."

Slowly the man lowered his bow.  The wolf ran to his side, her eyes upon the hawk as well.  "Sir Hawk," the man said, "are you also a human under a curse?  If it is so, then do you know how such a curse might be broken?"

"He is no human."  The figure who stepped out from the trees then looked human enough, but the light behind his eyes had a sharpness that drew up the hair on the wolf's hackles.  "We are the Wild Hunt.  You are a curiosity, little man."  A smirk danced at the corner of his mouth as he spoke.

"I answer to Jake, and she to Cassie," the man said, before the wolf could stop him.  For he had not heard tell of the Hunt. "What are your names?"

A third creature stepped forth then, this one with no resemblance at all to human or hawk or any other beast the man had ever heard of.  An elf, perhaps, if an elf could also be a blueberry and a scythe and a deer with the eyes of a snail.  "It would please me," the elfen creature said, "to answer to Ax."

"Tobias," the being with the light behind his eyes said, tilting his head at the bird, "means 'one who speaks with angels' in your human legends, does it not?  And what are angels but wings and eyes?  As for me..."  He smiled more, behind the dark veil of his hair.  "Marco, I shall call myself.  As they say, you are what you eat."

The man did not drop his bow, and the wood drew tight under his hands.  He did not ask why the wolf's teeth showed between her lips, not where the Wild Hunt could hear, but he did not fail to notice.

"Dine with us," said the one called Ax.  "You provided the meat, thus it is only fair."

"We eat only that which we provided," Cassie said.  "Thus, it is only fair."

More creatures drew around, as the man made fire and drew water to stew the rabbit over the coals.  Some were from the human legends: tunnel-makers, tree-herders, three-fingered apes.  Some looked like the one called Ax, some like nothing more than tiny soft fish.  Some, most frighteningly of all, looked as human as the smiling being that called itself Marco.  One dropped herbs into the stewpot, another a rasher of fat to season the meat.  Roots went into the pot, and fragrant grasses.  Soon the smell grew so delicious that it became impossible to think of anything else.

"You are too kind," the wolf said, when Marco handed a bowl her way.  Her mouth watered, but she swallowed hard.  "We have just eaten a large meal, and could not take another bite.  Not one single crumb.  Neither of us could have so much as a drop of broth, for we are fit to burst."

Jake stared at her in surprise, for they'd had only bitter lichens to chew for nearly three days.  But he kept his mouth shut, and he did not reach for the proffered bowl.

"You refuse our gift?" the one called Marco said.  His smile remained, but so did the light in his eyes.  "Our food will not suffice to sate you?"

"You have showed us great kindness already," Cassie said.  "We would not want to grow greedy."

"There was a frost last night, Madam Wolf."  Marco's smile grew.  "Did you know that?  The roses are all dead."

These words struck her like a blow, Jake could see, for all that he knew not why.  Cassie drew into herself, ears flat and tail stiff, but her next words came out clear.  "I care little for roses," she said, staring the fae creature in the eye.  "Though their scent is sweet, their flesh does not nourish me.  And I prefer not to bleed for no reason.  Far better to plant cabbages, far better to harvest peas.  Give me ordinary and serviceable flowers, not beautiful and cruel."

"You asked my friend about curses," the one called Marco said, looking now to Jake.  "If you will not take our food, let me give you a different gift: the way to break the curse that transforms a human to a beast."

Jake knew to be wary, but his arms betrayed him in leaning him closer to hear every word and his heart betrayed him by growing faster in his breast.

"A human must swear fealty to the cursed one forever," Marco said.  "This human must abandon the family of their birth and dwell forever in the home of the afflicted, never once returning to the hearth of their youth.  The human must swear an oath to obey the afflicted in all things, to honor their every whim, and to love them from the depths of their heart.  That, Sir Human, is the way to break the curse."

"But this is wonderful news!" the man cried, turning to his companion.  "I will gladly swear such an oath."  The joy died from his voice as her tail lowered still further, its plume trailing the ground.

"One thing more," Marco continued.  "The oath must be sworn before the last petal falls on the last rose of summer.  Otherwise, the curse takes hold forever.  But then, your companion would have known all this already."

Jake had seen as much already, from Cassie's demeanor and the soft whine of her breath.  "Cassie," he whispered, caring not who heard, "Why did you not tell me?  I would have sworn this oath, abandoned my family, obeyed you and loved you forever."

"Such a thing would be monstrous," Cassie told him.  "And you are kind.  Your family cares for you, and they depend upon you.  I do not want a bondsman or catamite, and I will not become a slaver to save my own skin.  Wolves are swift and strong, hearing much and scenting more.  I chose, my beloved friend, and I do not regret my choice."

The man stood, then.  He bowed deeply to each person around the fire.  Side-by-side he and the wolf walked away from the beautiful and bountiful fete.  They'd walked only the span of the clearing when a voice spoke his name.  His full name, the name he had not given.

His kinswoman stood there, when he turned to find the voice.  The kinswoman he had long since given up as dead, for she had gone into battle and never returned.

"There is another way to save your beloved," she told the man.  "Eat of their food.  Drink of their wine.  Thus you will be young forever, and both of you as beautiful as the dawn."

She spoke truly.  There was no chance of a lie, for she was one of the fae now.  And she was beautiful, the most beautiful woman either the wolf or the man had ever seen.  Forever she would be young.  Forever she would hunt, and fight, and dance.  Never would she see home again.  Never would she leave the circle of the Hunt.

"Be well," the man told his kinswoman.  "I will speak of you, when I return home.  You have not been forgotten, nor will you be."

Then he embraced her, before he and the wolf walked on.

The following night the frost came again.  What few flowers may have remained curled up their leaves, and bare bulbs littered the bushes.  The man and the wolf spoke little, and only of trivial concerns.

At last they came to the gates of the enchanters' castle.  The guard who stood outside had the seeming of a child with wide eyes and missing teeth, though the man knew enough by now not to trust such things.  "Why do you seek to enter?" the guard asked.

"I seek treasure," the man said.  "I will not be turned away."

"You will die if you enter," the guard said.  "Most men do."

The man straightened his spine.  "I will not be turned away."

"And you?" the guard asked, looking to the wolf.

"I am no man," she said.  "And I seek to enter for love."

The guard stood aside, then.  "There will be three trials.  If you turn back, you may.  If you go on, you die.  If you go on and you do not die, you may ask our leader for a boon."

The first trial lay before them, a dark cavern.  Together they walked into the dark.  The air grew cold around them, and colder still.  The man drew his cloak around himself and his companion, and as one creature with six legs they crept onward.

No speck of light was visible no matter where they looked, no tiny glimmer to relieve the blackness.  It mattered not.  They followed her nose, and onward they went.  The cave continued until they were sore of foot and trembling in every limb, but they dared not stop to rest in this cold.  The cave continued until his eyes conjured phantom sights and her ears drew forth imagined sounds, but they drew closer still to each other's warmth and walked ever forward.  The cave continued until thirst swelled his tongue and cracked her nose, but they staggered onward.

At last it ended in a lush garden, trees dripping with fruits.  A mark of their trust, that the man looked to the wolf and waited for her nod before he tore loose a soft sunrise-pink orb and bit into its flesh.  Together they supped on the fruits, leaving a trail of stones behind them as they went.

The second trial sprawled before them at the far side of the courtyard.  The pile of grains was nearly the height of the man's shoulder and would have taken half a day to walk across, each one as golden as the gold that locked the door they would need to go on.  Once again Cassie's nose served them well, as did Jake's clever fingers.  Though it took all that day and into the night, they found a gleam of real gold amidst the grains.

One part of a key revealed itself.  One part, of perhaps a dozen, from the look of the lock.

They started at each other in new knowing, amidst the tiny fragment on the ground between them.  "Perhaps it is for the best," the man said after a time, "that you have no time limit awaiting you anymore."

Despite her sore feet and weary heart, the wolf laughed with him.  Then they set to their task.

The sun rose on their search, and it set once more.  Twelve winter-short days they sorted grain, twelve winter-long nights they drew forth fragments of the key.  From sunup to sundown they searched, and when the light failed they went on by touch.  But the time passed lightly, for all the while they spoke to each other of all they had seen on their journey there and all they hoped to see on their way home.

When at last all the pieces fit into one whole, they constructed the necessary device and placed it into the lock.  With a twist, the man unlatched the door and let them forth into the courtyard beyond.

The third trial fell upon them like a thunderclap.  The guardian was human-shaped but fought like no human, arms around the man's throat, legs around his chest, strong as an entire team of oxen.  The man wrestled and fought, outmatched but not beaten, even as the guardian drove him to the ground and the wolf sought any tender place for teeth or claws.

The man cried out in pain, exactly once, as the guardian's hand landed upon his hip and the joint was wrenched forth from its socket.  His eyes met those of the wolf, through the cage of the guardian's arms, and once again new knowledge passed between them.

Cassie ran on, leaving him.  Heart-heavy but sure of foot, she ran on.  The far portcullis was aloft, and she passed through the final door to confront the head enchanter who lay beyond.

There was a smile on the puppeteer's face, when she burst forth into his antechamber.  He was many, and he was all alone.  He had the same eyes as the guard at the door.  "Very well," he said.  "You have proven you are brave enough to face the unknown, diligent enough to work beyond weariness, and clever enough to win against a stronger foe.  Thus you will use a boon well, if I give it to you.  What boon would you have?"

"For my companion to be brought to this room and given his wish," the wolf answered, "and for him to be hale and healed when he arrives."

The puppeteer laughed.  "Clever indeed, my little friend.  It shall be done."

And the man stood among them, pale with surprise but unharmed.  "Once again you have saved my life," he told the wolf.

"Once again you have saved mine," she told the man.

Kneeling before the puppeteer, the man spoke his wish aloud.

Thus she was transformed, into a maiden strong of arm and callused of skin.  And the younger son took her hand, and thus with his fortune did he at last return home.

[deifyruby]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤlittle theorizing timeee~~~

beware, spoilers for i spent 100 days hidden in a secret minecraft base.

(ps ps. i didn't do a post for the other eps, but fuck yeah, FUCK YEah, i called it. the director is sooooo meta. fist up in the air moment.)

the moment the director involves themselves in the story they wrote, egg stops being meta (mentioning his irl life, literally said he watched spoke's videos when wemmbu asked him if he knew spoke) and starts taking uu seriously (literally told someone to chill because minecraft empires were Not That Serious, famous words thirty minutes before taking a minecraft empire Very Seriously), and spoke is acting out of character + there's clearly missing story between s1finale and s2e1. do you reckon the director is finally stepping up, busy with hunting down parrot and orchestrating tax duo's gradual descend, so they don't have enough time to fill in spoke's blank spots? couldn't bother to write anything abt minute and mape? because, a director only has two hands. godly being or not, i assume the director has a human-like form. maybe someone like cc parrot. :)

since we're going down this rabbit hole, do the mcs have protagonist halos? is it a halo granted to them by the director? then, can they lose it? when they lose it, will they stop uploading, because they are no longer center piece? also, i believe s2 is gonna heavily revolve around taking away the mcs' support network. isolating them from their best friends (wifies, eggchan and mape. i had a feeling when they killed off wifies, but egg suddenly doing a 180° just furthered my suspicions. and today we Clearly saw, mapicc and minute were not even Mentioned or referenced).

on that line of thought. the video was so out of character and Not unstable universe like at all, that when spoke actually brought up s1 after being weirdly vague about squiddo and ash as if he hadn't known them more closely than he was acting like, that it actually broke my immersion a little bit? so not immersive i got immersed in the not-immersiveness. 😭

side note, i don't have the ss but squidswag kiss in uu i know that's right... i knowww ash did that on purpose, and the way squiddo went quiet. 😭🫵🏻 why are We third wheeling. why is Spoke third wheeling rn.

also we saw a new side to ash today. :) he's a retired guy who just wants to live in his bunker with squiddo. i can respect that, to the point i felt... kinda bad for ash! crazy isn't it? since when do i, the viewer, feel bad for ash and (mildly) upset at spoke? after the stunts ash pulled? whatever spoke did may lowkey be his karma ngl. :crying:

by the way... ash is changed now that he is no longer the director's pawn. does this mean uu characters were already existing, not entirely the director's creation; just being influenced by the director? but when the director is no longer puppeteering their strings, they are now perhaps free to be the person they always were. maybe ash liked squiddo because squiddo was not a big character in the director's plot, so they saw through the role that was put upon him by the director.

not to cleanse ash of his sins, i think it'd be interesting if the director actually chose the puppets for their play based on pre-existing ambitions and traits. would make ash still a greedy manipulator, but maybe he wouldn't make a whole ass mafia?

hey. doesn't this whole yap remind you about someone else? egg, perhaps? what if the director got egg. influencing him, taking away the bits from egg that inconvenienced his plans. the fact that egg was so meta was inconvenient, wasn't it? egg may just be the closest to busting your whole play. without egg, wemmbu always seems to crack less jokes. to take the situation more seriously. without egg around, wemmbu is less likely to break the fourth wall; to even realize it's there in the first place.

wowieee i went a bit crazy yapping my head off, but hey. we'll see how far fetched this was. :P

you 🫵🏻 will not convince me that spoke s2e1 isn't intentionally edited that way. it feels meta in a weird way. if i can care enough i'll rewatch it and hopefully come out with a theory about why it's this way.

[world-of-wales]

NEWS -

KATE EFFECT STRIKES AGAIN ♡

The co-founder of The Puppet Company, Sue Lockey revealed that since the Princess of Wales was photographed playing with a baby with their Rabbit Toy during her visit to HMP Styal, they have been received a lot of interest about it.

They said :

"Oh, we just love our friendly Rabbit hand puppet, it's a perfect Easter or new baby gift and it's truly delightful to see The Princess Wales happily playing with it. This cheeky bunny will now forever be known as our Royal Rabbit!”

Talking about the impact the single photo had :

"We've had a huge amount of interest in our rabbit puppets since Kate was pictured playing with our My First Rabbit puppet.

A lot of people are contacting us, saying their children and grandchildren have already been playing with that puppet for many years, which is wonderful to hear."

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

So take this with a grain of salt since it's only one source.

But according to the first two facts of this video from an official Disney YT channel, The Little Mermaid settings were in fact Mediterranean inspired with Eric's kingdom being in Italy.

Also, another hint for Sunshine Lands being Italy inspired: what is its neighbor, the Kingdom of Heroes, inspired by? Greece! What's next to Italy irl? Also Greece! Imao

Anyway, now my headcanon of Twisted Wonderland's story of that toymaker wishing for his puppet to become a real boy originating from Sunshine Lands can finally be validated. Not me imagining an AU of Playful Land where the gang went to a different section of Sunshine Lands for the event lmao.

[My Italian fish conspiracy theory here!]

The Italian Fish rabbit hole deepens… 🧐 I hadn’t even thought about the Kingdom of Heroes though (I forget it exists half of the time with how little it is spoken about), that’s a good point about it being inspired by Greece.

dnsbsveiemdk Maybe the story of Wish Upon a Star really did originate from the Sunshine Lands?? Since Pinocchio is Italian?

Playful Land being a traveling amusement park means it is not beholden to any country. I do wonder if Fellow and Gidel were originally from the Sunshine Lands though, since they’re twisted from Pinocchio characters and their English names (Ernesto Foulworth and Gino) are painfully Italian.

[cuppajj]

I'm sorry if this is a bother (not really used to asking on Tumblr lol, I usually just lurk) but I noticed something interesting, a few things actually. First off, the neobeasts' personalities don't really correspond to their usual 'respective' beast. Saint Vanilla reminds me more of Mystic Flour than shadow Milk, with his ability to purify cookies similar to her ability to return cookies to flour, and closer motivations and delusions, because they both think they're doing the right thing and 'liberating' cookies from something they consider 'bad' (SV- sin, MF- emotions). Frigid Cacao reminds me of Silent Salt, both are isolationists who don't talk much and keep to themselves (at least, from what I've seen of Silent Salt so far). Celestial Cheese reminds me of Eternal Sugar, her kingdom similar to the Garden of Delights. Dragonberry is similar to Burning Spice in their passion and desire for destruction (though with Berry, it's less the goal and more the aftermath) and are very fight-focused. That leaves Midnight Lily and Shadow Milk, who at a first glance seem to have nothing in common, but the way they both puppeteer and manipulate cookies is similar (SM has literal puppets and manipulates PV, while ML has the Faerie Kingdom and she tries to manipulate the other neobeasts into leaving her alone. Ik it's weak evidence and doesn't line up as nearly as the others, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do). It's interesting, really. On purpose or not, I find it fascinating to think about. The neobeasts have both their Soul Jam counterparts and their personality counterparts. Another thing, is Yellow Feather to Celestial Cheese what White Lily is to Dark Enchantress? I went down a cheese-feather rabbit hole yesterday and looked through everything you posted about them, and I found an art piece (which should replace the banana at the Louvre) where Yellow Feather is looking at a mural/painting/poster thing of Celestial Cheese and her eyes are yellow instead of blue. Couple that with the one doodle where she has the same spear as Golden Cheese has in the game, and you saying that she's not Cheese's daughter but still using Rich Cheese as inspo meaning they have to be connected somehow, is she a piece of Golden Cheese's soul? Also, something I just remembered, she seems to have some connected to Burning Spice which is kinda weak on its own considering Strawberry Crepe also has one to Shadow Milk, but when looking at the circumstances seen in your art and paired with the other evidence, is this close at least to what might be going on? Sorry for the long rant, it could have been longer but I had to cut out the fangirling over the Steven Universe connections (GC is my favorite ancient because she's based off of Egypt and I'm from the Middle East (it's close enough, we're both arab, trust) and CC is my favorite neobeast (see reasons above) and your art just looks SO pretty!! I am unhealthily investing in this.

You have some great observations :)

I didn’t intend for the neos to reflect the originals like they pretty much do, but I love that there’s a connection to be picked up! At the very least I knew about DB/BS and SV/MF being similar, but now that you mention FC/SS and CC/ES, I see it too!! Shmilk and Lily being paired together is interesting… just don’t do it in person with them because it’ll get messy teehee

As for your Yellow Feather theory, I like it a lot! Whoever or whatever Feather is (or was) is beyond her, but perhaps she’ll get closer to learning the truth down the line. We will have to see if your theory holds any water…

[caitchercatlady]

Sleeping Over at Ramshackle w/Ruggie

You gotta hide me.

That’s all that Ruggie sends to you as you’re working on homework on Friday evening. You could be doing anything else that night. The weekend has finally arrived after all. Ace and Deuce have bothered you to come have dinner in Foothill Town, but you send Grim to go in your stead because Crewel’s homework assignment is indeed…a bitch this time. Having Ruggie text you like a panicked rabbit is not something you expect to dot on your weekend bingo card. You try to get what’s going on out of him, but he doesn’t respond.

He only replies back when you permit him to come to Ramshackle, and that response comes with a knock at the door. You open it to see a gasping hyena beastman lugging around a gym bag over his shoulder. Ruggie then thanks you for your generosity and barges into your rundown dorm as if he owns the place.

“Ruggie, what the hell is this?”

Ruggie eventually comes clean. As much as he loves making money off of Leona with doing all of his chores at Savanaclaw during the day, Leona’s bidding has gotten a little too much to handle this Friday. Some of the house students have gotten too rowdy at the dorm’s washroom, and a little laundry soap mishap has gotten into Leona’s ear as he attempts to sleep the weekend away. The last time the washroom has flooded with soap and bubbles, Ruggie recalls, is during his freshman year, and Ruggie ended up being the one student to try to clean the mess up before the next morning. That is one chore that Ruggie would rather wrangle ostriches in order to avoid the former option.

You immediately understand, and you get the message that if any texts come from Leona, try to explain that you need Ruggie for an assignment, and Ruggie knows how to get it done. If Jack is to text you, you can feel free to tell him the truth. You know Jack is not one to squeal on an upperclassman.

You beg for Ruggie’s forgiveness as you haven’t prepared Ramshackle to receive guests tonight. Like Ruggie even cares.

“I make my own bed at home. I can make it here. Just tell me which room is mine and let me deal with it. In the meanwhile, you can fix snacks…or dinner. Whichever comes first.”

Of course, Ruggie’s first thought will always be the food. Who do you think you’re talking to?

You don’t have much, but as long as it isn’t expired, Ruggie’s not going to care. Leftovers haven’t killed anyone…as far as you know. You fix him a plate of leftover chicken, vegetables, and the other half of a cake that has been given to you from Trey for an Unbirthday Party. You knock on the guestroom door, announcing that his meal is ready. Ruggie invites you into the room, and you are greated to a tent on top of the spare bed.

“Ruggie?”

“Come on it, Prefect. The air is fine.”

Here he goes. Escaping one dorm to avoid responsibility only to cause some brouhaha in another. You peek into the opening of this manmade tent to see Ruggie making hand puppets against the bedsheets, using his phone’s flashlight to craft the shadows. He gestures me to come in and watch him work.

His palms and fingers craft many images that you don’t expect him to do. He starts with the obvious butterflies and birds. Then, he quickly moves onto running zebras and roaring lions. Ruggie asks if you’d be interested in him recreating a story that his aunt taught him as a child: The Coming of the Prince. You allow him to do that, so you witness Ruggie conduct the march of the savanna’s animals as they walk the plains to meet the newborn lion prince at he King’s towering rock home. It’s already difficult enough to make one animal move with his hands, but two? Your eyes are going cross-eyed just watching him.

Along with the hand puppetry, he sings the song of the Prince’s Arrival. His sweet voice when he’s not blasting his vocal chords to the heavens has brought you more peace than the entire school week has to offer. You are so groggy; you end up falling into Ruggie’s chest, clocking out. Ruggie’s classic laugh hisses as he watches you drift off to dreamland. It’s not the camping trip he’s always wanted, but a night with you can top that any day of the week.

[timeagainreviews]

Lux Makes My Heartbells Sing!

Growing up in the ‘90s, we were often shown depictions of cartoonish characters manifesting in real life. There was the cartoon “Freakazoid!” where a young child transforms into a crime-fighting cartoon man. In comics, we had “The Mask,” which was turned into a blockbuster film starring Jim Carrey. We also had Marvel Comics’ Slapstick, a superhero with the powers of a cartoon character. And, of course, in film, we had “Space Jam.” While there was an animation renaissance in the early 1990s, one contributing factor of this sudden interest in animation coming to life was the recent release of 1988’s “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” which had infused animated characters into live action in a way never seen before. The concept of incorporating animation with live action was in no way new. It was seen as early as 1900 in the short film “The Enchanted Drawing.” Later, we saw the stop motion sequences of masters like Ray Harryhausen, where real actors fought swathes of animated skeletons, titans, and chimaeras. 

But Roger Rabbit was different in that its cameras weren’t locked into place. Gone were the almost stagelike compositions we saw in “Mary Poppins,” where Dick Van Dyke dances in a bowtie and strawhat alongside four animated penguins. There are real cinematic compositions mixed with puppeteering and animatronics that married together seamlessly. It was enough to have damn near created its own genre, and I was at the perfect age to eat it up! So when I discovered Doctor Who had a story where the Doctor meets a real-life cartoon character and even becomes part of the cartoon world himself, I very excitedly bought my own copy of the Eighth Doctor novel “The Crooked World,” from eBay. Because even as an adult, I still love that concept. Then, several years later, they made “Lux.”

I don’t bring up “The Crooked World,” as a slight on Lux, quite the opposite. It’s clear that Steve Lyons saw something in Doctor Who that Russell T Davies also agreed with. Doctor Who is a show begging to do an episode like “Lux.” I harp on and on about how Doctor Who is a metatextual story wherein the mythology is often dictated by its own real-world limitations. Because of this, it’s developed a kind of maleability which allows it to take on genres like the Fifteenth Doctor trying on clothes. Experimentation and parody are part of the brand. It’s part of why Doctor Who is so appealing while simultaneously daunting to new fans. But it’s also why people like me side with “rad” in the “rad vs trad” debate. Doctor Who is meant to be radical because it’s not bogged down like other properties. What is Star Wars without the Sith? Where is The Dark Crystal without the Skeksis? Doctor Who can do away with Daleks and Cybermen invasions forever because it’s also a show where glowing skulls manifest golden goddesses, sailing barges drift through space, and cartoon men attain universal consciousness.

If you read Doctor Who Magazine, which I do (mostly for the comics), you’ll likely have been treated to the first appearance of Mr Ring-a-Ding and Sunshine Sally in the one-page comic eponymously titled “Mr Ring-a-Ding.” In it, Mr Ring-a-Ding helps the Easter Bunny deliver eggs in his cartoonish jalopy. It’s very festive and timely, with it having just been Easter. But the part that stuck out to me the most was Mr Ring-a-Ding’s first utterance of “Don’t make me laugh.” Not because it reminded me of “The Giggle,” but rather how Eddie Valiant gains the upper hand in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” by making the nefarious cartoon weasels laugh themselves to death. Whether or not this was a direct reference to Roger Rabbit, I don’t know, but it was enough to give me hopes that the story would do right by its own premise.

The second RTD era has introduced us to some new tech. First with intelligent gloves and rope, and now the “vortex indicator,” or “vindicator,” as the Doctor calls it. As Doctor Who gadgets go, I love the vindicator. The notion of using a beacon to latch onto points in time like a grappling hook is so tactile and chonky. It feels like the same Doctor who flew the TARDIS onto a busy motorway with a piece of twine. It’s brilliant, but practical. The Doctor has been forced to use this mode of travel because the TARDIS keeps bouncing off of the 24th of May like a game of pickleball. Belinda, while still wary of the Doctor, seems to trust that he’s not just yanking her chain about getting her back home. However, she doesn’t want to go home so fast that she would pass up the chance to see Miami in 1952.

The usual crybaby wankers were up in arms about the Doctor and Belinda talking about the real life practice of racial segregation in public places in America. Evidently, it’s woke to mention the existence of real-world racism as it applies to the Doctor and Belinda’s safety. Yet you never hear anyone complain when Martha or Bill spoke on the subject. I guess that’s where we are in the world. And like the Doctor, I wait for people to topple that world. “Until then, I live in it and I shine,” - words I needed to hear after a week where the UK Supreme Court declared I’m no longer a woman but a secret third thing. You may ask how someone like me can keep talking about Doctor Who when the world is like it is, but Doctor Who is part of why I am here. Art and expression sustain us. The Doctor’s words helped me forget the real-life super villain smoking cigars on her yacht. That feeling lasted until watching “Doctor Who Unleashed,” and hearing Ncuti Gatwa platform Harry Potter. It’s easy to see why the Doctor Who Instagram account chose to highlight his comments about Pokémon instead. 

The conversation of race felt less like a morality tale and more of a history lesson for kids who may not know about racial segregation. It doesn’t really become the plot like it does in “Rosa,” and ironically, I feel it’s more effective. That said, it doesn’t say much on the subject other than “this happened.” The only time racial tensions truly come up in the story is when Lux is trying to fool the Doctor with another illusion. For the most part, the people of Miami seem almost eager to bend the rules. I like this depiction because it’s one often over-looked in these situations. The world would like me to see cis people as suspicious, but I see acts of kindness and acceptance from them every day. It’s important that we see the “Dot and Bubble,” side of racism as much as the “Lux,” side as well. There are people out there who want to share space with people different from them because the world is better when we do.

“Lux” plays out much like an episode of “Sapphire & Steel.” Two time travellers show up, one flamboyant and one stern. They spend their time in a single location trying to save fifteen lost souls from a mysterious “haunted” movie theatre. It’s as though P.J. Hammond was in the writers’ room. Previously, I had compared the reluctant companion role of Belinda to Doctor Who’s first human companions, Ian and Barbara. However, due to this dynamic, we see aspects of the First Doctor in the Fifteenth Doctor’s desire to explore obvious danger despite the protests of his human friend. It restores in the Doctor a bit of his mercurial wiliness that we’ve lost with gung-ho companions. It’s nice that Rose is ride-or-die, but Belinda’s sober attitude has a grounding effect when the stories start to introduce giant robot incels and blue talking cartoon pig bugs.

The Pantheon is back with another God of Chaos in the form of Lux Imperator, the God of Light, as voiced by the the brilliant Alan Cumming. After surfing a moonbeam through the Palazzo Theatre’s skylight, the glint off of a tack shines his essence into the projection beam of a Mr Ring-a-Ding cartoon. Lux has been given life in the form of this capering cartoon icon. His perspective towers over the audience as he reaches out of the screen into the dark. I was reminded in more ways than one of the friendly Stay Puft Marshmallow Man chosen as the means of mankind's destruction. After witnessing Lux vanish the audience onto celluloid, the theatre owner, Reginald Pye, keeps Lux at bay by screening reels throughout the night. Or perhaps Lux keeps Mr Pye at bay by manifesting a film reel of Mr Pye’s late wife, Helen, back from the dead. Both of them are stuck in a loop of fear. Mr Pye afraid to let go of the past. And Lux afraid to step out of the darkness into the light. My only question is what the hell was Mr Pye eating for three months? Popcorn?

After 37 years of technological advancement, how does Lux compare to Roger Rabbit? The choice to continue using hand-drawn animation was obvious. You can’t have Mr Ring-a-Ding looking like an animated reconstruction. He needed to look the part of a classic cartoon and he does. They even hired an animator who worked on Roger Rabbit, who I am sure was a font of knowledge. The static cameras we saw in “Marry Poppins,” compose many of the shots with Mr Ring-a-Ding. However, this feels like more of a directorial choice than a limitation. Many of the shots in the theatre are framed like a stage play. They’re calling attention to the artifice of theatre to call attention to how we, the audience, consume media. More on that later. The only time I was ever actually disappointed by the animation was when the Doctor and Belinda are turned into cartoons. I loved their Scooby-Doo aesthetics, but the sequence was little more than a trailer moment. Had I known this was about as far as they were planning to take this concept, I would have preferred they not put it in the trailer. I’m reminded of the time they announced the return of the John Simm Master instead of letting us be surprised by it. Hell, even the thumbnail is them as cartoons on iPlayer.

Had it not been for the stellar animation of Mr Ring-a-Ding, I would have felt stronger about the cartoon Doctor and Belinda being cut so short. It would have felt like they wasted a good concept on poor execution. As it stands, this may be some of the best animation in Doctor Who history. And I do still feel like they wasted a bit of the potential for some animated Doctor hijinks, but RTD had other plans. Hijinks would have gotten in the way of possibly Doctor Who’s most meta storyline to date- the Whovians. After breaking out of the 2-D space by gaining a bit of depth through vulnerability, the Doctor and Belinda find themselves in a white void, the visual of a film lens flooded with light. Our heroes try to break out of the film by forcing the frames of the film to advance. Davies even sneaks in a line about needing to stop scrolling and go outside. Which is really the theme of this episode. How we take in media extends into how we live our lives.

The Doctor and Belinda find themselves in the living room of three avid Doctor Who fans- Lizzie, Hassan, and Robyn. This is Davies calling us, and by extension, himself out. It’s also a love letter to the fans. Sure, they’re opinionated and annoying, but they also made friends through their love for Doctor Who. One of my favourite moments in this scene was the jump cut to the Doctor lounging on the couch while the Whovians geeked out around him. The Doctor once claimed to be a Sagittarius, but this is total Leo behaviour. I found myself thinking of the Fourth Doctor, whom I imagine would also relish in a bit of fan worship. He even had a cup of tea! It was such a cute attention to detail and I’d be hard pressed to think of a single Doctor I couldn’t see allowing themselves a moment of ego stroking. The living room set is full of fun Easter eggs for nerds like myself to scour freeze frames like a Doctor Who edition of an I Spy book. Davies pulls back on the meta by positioning the Whovians as the fictional characters and the Doctor and Belinda as real. It’s another illusion created by Lux. The fans get to save the Doctor by helping him break from the illusion. The Doctor and Belinda burn their way out of the screen.

Having the Doctor repair his hand with some excess bi-generation energy was a bit silly. It’s really only there to reveal regeneration energy to Lux. What’s funny is this is now part of regeneration lore. So have fun with that, wiki editors. It’s also interesting to note that the Doctor has firmly continued to refer to himself as a Time Lord. He reveals these things to Belinda throughout the episode. I love Belinda’s early days reactions to the Doctor. She gasps when she sees him use the sonic screwdriver for the first time. And she sighs at the ridiculousness of introducing the Doctor as “the Doctor.” I find myself all the more endeared toward her. I hope she and the Doctor continue referring to one another as Fred and Velma, respectively.

Lux sees the Doctor’s regeneration energy as the ultimate light for a God such as Himself. With it, he can grow a real body. Parts of this story felt like a rehash of “The Devil’s Chord.” Only instead of it being Ruby tied up by snakelike lines of music so a God can steal her essence, it’s the Doctor tied up by snakelike rolls of film so a God can steal his essence. They could have avoided this by having Lux manifest a couple of Sunshine Sallies to hold the Doctor within the beam. When he says “Go get ‘em, girls!” it’s what I actually expected to happen. The snakey film reels were still cool and had I never seen “The Devil’s Chord,” I wouldn’t have thought twice. I really enjoyed the attention to detail by giving Lux a cartoon heart in the x-ray shot of his chest soaking in the regeneration energy. It’s the details that make this episode work so well. There is a loving hand at the helm.

It’s up to Belinda to save the Doctor now. Remembering that celluloid is highly combustible, she heads to the projection booth to blow a hole in the roof. But Mr Pye with his nicotine stained fingers won’t give up his matches, especially not to let Belinda blow herself up. He’s spent to long pining for the image of his dead wife. His best chance to see her again is by searching the undiscovered country. The ghostly apparition of Helen is giving Lady in the Radiator vibes as she assures Reggie that in Heaven, everything is fine. In fact, a lot of this episode reminded me of the works of David Lynch. The theatre gave “Part 8,” of the Twin Peaks revival where Helen also made a fine stand in for Seniorita Dido. And the image of Lux fading into the universe evokes the ending of “The Elephant Man.” Joseph Merrick’s consciousness floating into the stars as his mother’s face welcomes him, saying “Never. Oh, never. Nothing will die. The stream flows, the wind blows, the cloud fleets, the heart beats. Nothing will die"

The “death,” of Lux was like something out of eastern philosophy. The idea of losing all identity by becoming everything in totality was both tragic and beautiful. What is complete ego death to a God? Is it odd that this felt less like Lux dying or even being defeated, and more like the natural cycle of his life playing out? It’s curious that as he’s absorbing regeneration energy, Lux becomes more complex, and very possibly, more deranged. But as he begins to soak up the light of the sun, he returns to his 2-D state. The Doctor mentioned that being 2-D gave you two dimensional thought. On a less complex and fundamental level, Lux yearns for the light. Perhaps this is why he lost dimension. His nature is simply to shine.

Other than the late Reginald Pye, this is one of those “Everybody lives!” moments. The patrons of the theatre have returned to their families with little memory of being captured to film. Even our Whovian friends become more than characters that don’t merrit last names. The credits see to it that we know their names are Lizzie Abel, Hassan Chowdry, and Robyn Gossage. The implications of this on the greater Whoniverse are yet unknown. It wouldn’t be the first time Doctor Who has broken the fourth wall or even met fans. They’ve done this storyline multiple times in the comics. However, having characters who know the world of Doctor Who exist within Doctor Who could get interesting. Just look at Marvel’s Gwenpool, a superhero from our universe. Her knowledge as a comic book fan gives her an edge in their world. Lizzie, Hassan, and Robyn are living in what is basically a Doctor Who isekai.

All of this meta fourth wall-breaking points directly at Mrs Flood. I’ve seen fan theories that the three Whovians are secretly the Gods of Ragnarok and that Mrs Flood is some sort God of Fiction. Perhaps she has the ability to cancel Doctor Who. It would make sense when you consider she says the show ends on the 24th of May. But if you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that while the 24th is a Saturday, it’s only episode seven. The show goes on beyond. This gives further credence to theory that Doctor Who cancellation rumours are actually a clever tie-in with this Mrs Flood storyline. In the same manner that regeneration addressed the real world change of a lead actor, Mrs Flood addresses the real world threat of Doctor Who’s cancellation. Mrs Flood is like a sort of all-powerful Mary Whitehouse, hellbent on putting an end to the Doctor’s story.

I said at the beginning of season two that I found it odd that they would film season two of Doctor Who before season one had even aired. However, I am now wondering if it’s not so they could leave themselves enough room to plan for season three to start filming at the end of season two. After all, we still have “The War Between the Land and the Sea,” coming. It would be weird to cancel a show they’ve put so much time and effort into. Can you imagine the sad state of airing a spin-off to a show that just got cancelled? Furthermore, Disney+ recently revealed that Doctor Who was it’s number five most watched series last year, which is pretty good for our beloved show. The BBC also stated that Doctor Who is among one of its top earners across their entire media empire. Is RTD so bold that he would use cancellation as a marketing ploy? It’s a risky one for sure. On one hand you could get more people watching, on the other hand, it could scare off would-be viewers who see it as a testament to the show’s overall quality. Are we living through a second Cartmel era where the show is facing cacellation just as it’s starting to get good again? I certainly hope not.

The real question about all of this metatextual storytelling is why now? When Russell T Davies returned to the program, the fandom was scattered. While the Chibnall era brought in new blood, it hemorraged old viewers. Going by this week’s ratings, that trend continues, which is odd considering everyone I have spoken to loved “Lux.” RTD seems interested in opening up a dialogue with the fandom about some of our more toxic traits. Sexism, racism, homophobia, ableism, all and more have been explored these last two seasons. Maybe he hopes to change some minds, or maybe he’s saying “We don’t need those types of fans.” You can sit alone in front of your keyboard banging out screeds against “Doctor Woke,” or you can come out of the darkness into the light. Like our meta Whovian counterparts, Doctor Who has the power to bring us together. Does it give me hope? Yes it does, sir.

[yuurei20]

Ortho Updated Facts Part 6: Ortho and Vil

During Book 6 Vil comments, "Ortho’s been putting on quite the villainous performance. It seems to me he could drop all this nonsense about resetting the world and start an acting career.” Rook asks Vil about Ortho joining the Film Club and Vil responds, “I think you might be onto something there.”

We see Ortho trying to decide on a club during a vignette (the other first-year students are in sports clubs, and Ortho says he is more interested in new experiences than improving his performance), reflecting on how he would watch films “to acquire proper emotive capabilities.”

Before Vil has the chance to extend an invitation for him to join the Film Research Club Ortho asks to be allowed in himself. Vil grants him membership without an audition as he has “already seen more than enough of your acting back on the Island of Woe.”

Vil says, "The level of CG in the Film Research Club's productions has vastly improved since Ortho joined us. The models themselves are higher quality, and we can render long sequences in no time now."

Ortho explains that he first started watching movies in order “to study human emotions. I had trouble conducting myself in human-like ways when my brother first built me. I didn’t really understand when it was appropriate to get mad, or to laugh. Movies helped me solve that problem, though.”

He says that, “Nowadays, watching movies is more or less something I just do for fun.”

Riddle and Leona call in Vil and Crewel to assist with Fairy Gala IF and Vil and Crewel invite Ortho, with Vil saying, “Ortho is essential for your success at the fashion show. No one is more fitting for the theme of evolution than Ortho Shroud.”

Book 5 is Ortho's first appearance in the main story, where he fails the audition for the VDC when Vil reacts to his performance with, “I’ve heard of genreless, but this is ridiculous.” Despite this, Vil seems fond of Ortho. Vil refuses to teach him make up techniques for Halloween as his costume uses a mask, but when Ortho is disappointed in the loss of a learning opportunity Vil follows with, “I jest…I will pick out some skincare products for you.” 

When Idia rejects Ortho’s invitation to Playfulland Ortho confides in Vil and, rather than comment on his ditching of school, Vil encourages him to showcase his acting skills and convince Idia to go with him via “a wholeheartedly tearful performance.”

Ortho invites Vil, instead, who tells Ortho that he is not obligated to spend his every waking hour with Idia or to defer to him, even though they’re brothers. Vil and Ortho end up in a group together (with Floyd and Jade). 

When Ortho refuses to run away from Playfulland without challenging Fellow to a fight, Vil agrees with him.

Vil is less enthused after the majority of the group has been captured, calling Ortho “A spudling with broken brakes who seems reasonable, but resorts to extreme measures at the drop of a hat.”

Vil saves Ortho from a collapsing stained glass window but gets trapped himself, sending them on alone. Ortho exclaims, “Without you, it's just going to be me and two pieces of dead weight. I can't possibly fight in those conditions!”

Vil encourages the group to figure out the situation for themselves and buys them time to escape the puppets.

After they, too, are captured Ortho reflects, “I just became a student, yet here I am, getting turned into a puppet and dragging Vil down with me…”

Ortho gives us a rare example of a student buying a souvenir for someone who is not in their same dorm during the White Rabbit Fes event, when he buys perfume for Vil, saying, “Vil has always been good to me in the Film Research Club, so I'd like to get him something as well.”

When the vendor asks how he feels about the recipient (in order to find a suitable scent) Ortho responds, “He’s very…STRONG!!!”

The vendor recommends a “very warm scent, with harmonious notes of fresh citrus and an amber accord,” which Ortho confirms are compliant ingredients and purchases for Vil.

Ortho says that he pays special attention to movement as a member of the Film Research Club, and he spends a lot of his time off watching movies and livestreams of plays.

He says that lately he has been going to to lunch or tea with classmates and other students despite how he cannot eat because of how much he learns from “observing the way people get worked up about all the little things.”

Ortho explains that he draws on the stories his classmates tell him when he really wants to disappear into a role. (Sebek: “So you use your interactions with humans as fodder for your acting.”)

Vil has a voice line about Ortho wanting to incorporate the sense of humor of the King of the Underworld into his performances.

When asked what dorm (besides Ignihyde) he would like to join, Ortho responds: Pomefiore.