#perhaps it is fate that i saw this pic for the first time today

[mettywiththenotes]

Same picture

[seeksstaronmewni]

The Bear Roots of Burbank Cartoons: A Lookback at Boo Boo Runs Wild

5 years ago, [adult swim] aired the greatest of all Yogi Bear / Ranger Smith episodes, “Boo Boo Runs Wild” (1999), on August 13th, 2016 A.D. at 4 AM.

Look and see, kids, how America’s not-so-average bear connects in the wide world of animation that produces many of the cartoons that you love in Burbank, Canada and more!

As and after I saw it, I knew that I found the greatest band of cartoonists out there, and that greatest band of cartoonists out there was none other than...

Spümcø, whose many creatives would end up working at Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Cartoon Network Studios, and many other popular Burbank and Canadian studios that made the cartoons I grew up and beyond watching.

Obviously, the character design is rather different, but they still look like the right characters, even with the slight color changes...

and with their items of human attire out. Ranger Smith, on the other hand...

Ranger Smith is wildly off model, and probably on purpose, throughout the picture.

Only in one scene appears he with a more familiar face.

Now, I didn’t have to watch Wild Kratts (which, by the way, features 6 Spümcø Canada creatives) to learn that “there’s only one thing a bear likes more than raiding a pic-a-nic basket.”

As the title suggests, Boo Boo loses his temper when Ranger Smith restricts him from tearing bark and decides to go primal in returning to his bear roots: “From this day forth, I’ll not dress in the man’s attire, and I’ll not speak in the man’s tongue. From now on, it’s going on all fours and grunting for me!”

Boo Boo wreaks havoc for the trees with his natural bear roots.

Unlike past episodes, however, the artists went far wilder than the usual Hanna-Barbera cartoon, making the trees alive and screaming in pain! OH, WHAT TOURTUE! Not to mention how I love Boo Boo’s goofy/manical laugh, a beautiful product of John Kricfalusi’s voice (Yes; I know that he was a formerly abusive megalomaniac who still has ADHD, but God knows what cartoons would be like today—at least those produced in Burbank and Canada—if it wasn’t for the many layout artists that he led).

Also unnatural to a Hanna-Barbera cartoon is the extreme levels of slapstick, wackiness and graphic nature of cartoons since such shows as Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, Beany and Cecil’s DiC reboot, and The Ren & Stimpy Show. Boo Boo and now Cindy Bear are licking away at all of the honey... and bees... with insanely long tongues (may be that they’re sloth bears?). This left Yogi Bear practically speechless.

The mere sequence of dialogue between Yogi and Ranger Smith, discussing what to do about Boo Boo, involved HEAVY work in the storyboards by Vincent Waller. So many expressions that they couldn’t fit in each of Spümcø’s 3-panel storyboard pages!

As you see, in addition to Vincent Waller’s storyboards, John K. added extra poses (storyboard revisions more or less, but definitely layout poses) under the respective scenes. That way, Vincent could focus on telling and writing the story in rough pictures. (source of storyboards)

I also love the sound design. While it’s definitely true to a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, John K. and the late Henry Porch were very creative with some weird, dated and out-of-context sound effects, similar to what they and Horta Editorial did on The Ren & Stimpy Show in the first two seasons. The production music (probably APM and Capitol Records) also gave it a vintage, nostalgic feel.

Ultimately, with the aforementioned abusive megalomaniac aside, Spümcø undoubtedly harbored some of the finest animators and artists ever. Such names as Bob Jaques (Spongebob Squarepants, Buy One, Get One Free*, The Baby Huey Show), Ben Jones (DC Super Hero Girls, Cats Don’t Dance, Teen Titans GO!), Vincent Waller (Spongebob Squarepants, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog), Albert Lozano (Inside Out, A Kitty Bobo Show), Todd White (Spongebob Squarepants), Eric Koenig (Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Madagascar, Cats Don’t Dance, The Simpsons, and The Tigger Movie), and Erik Wiese (Samurai Jack, The Mighty B!) are among the hundreds of creatives who ended up almost everywhere working in Burbank and Canadian animation.

Other names on the Spümcø team that one might recognize include Gabe Swarr (Dexter’s Laboratory, The Buzz on Maggie, Foe Paws, El Tigre), and even background artists such as Richard Daskas ( @rdaskas​ - Samurai Jack, Time Squad, Sym-Bionic Titan, Batman Beyond), Richard Ziehler-Martin (Tiny Toon Adventures, The Wacky World of Tex Avery), Hector Martinez (Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse, Timone and Pumba, Captain N, Evil Con Carne, Dora the Explorer), and Tony Mora (MAD, Teen Titans GO! to the Movies, Pickle and Peanut). I mean: in short, these artists worked for Warner Bros. Animation, Disney Television Animation and Walt Disney Feature Animation, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network Studios!

Spümcø’s production assistants on Boo Boo Runs Wild feature Matt Danner —a fantastic character designer, storyboard artists, director and producer, whose credits range from (Johnny Test and The Legend of the Three Caballeros to Team Hot Wheels and The Looney Tunes Show—and Cartoon Brew editor Amid Amidi. Brian A. Miller was an executive in charge of production, not for but probably in association with Cartoon Network.

Spümcø’s creatives, as I said, are all over the place in Burbank animation. Other shows that still air on @adultswim​ have ex-Spümcø creatives. For example: today’s re-run of Samurai Jack EPISODE XVI features Chris Reccardi (The Powerpuff Girls, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy)...

Scott Wills (Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat)...

Lynne Naylor-Reccardi (The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show, Wander Over Yonder) and Jim Smith (YooHoo and Friends, Tom and Jerry Tales, McGee and Me)...

and Leticia Lacy (TRON: Uprising, Sym-Bionic Titan, Wander Over Yonder, Korgoth of Barbaria).

Even outside of Cartoon Network Studios, where most ex-Spümcø artists end up, @cartoonnetwork​’s The Amazing World of Gumball, from Cartoon Network Studios Europe (AKA Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe), features ex-Spümcø artist Charlie Bean (The Powerpuff Girls, Robotboy, Batman: The Animated Series, Timone and Pumba, Creature Crunch) on The Cartoon Network Europe Development Team.

One of Cartoon Network’s biggest and craziest hits, Teen Titans GO!, also features such ex-Spümcø artists as storyboard artist, director and producer Luke Cormican (The Buzz on Maggie, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, Brickleberry, The Replacements, El Tigre)...

Gerald de Jesus (The Book of Life, The Ricky Gervais Show, TMNT)...

and Eric J. Pringle (Fosters’ Home for Imaginary Friends, The Problem Solverz). What wacky cartoon filled with live-action images, unpredictable visual gags and extreme slapstick humor wouldn’t?

Relatively, you could even tune in to Nickelodeon, the original home of Spümcø’s ground-breaking hit, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and see names of creatives associated with Spümcø and Ren & Stimpy, such as Zeus Cervas (Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Spongebob Squarepants, Clarence) on today’s episode of The Patrick Star Show...

or even Gabe Del Valle (Mighty Magiswords, Spongebob Squarepants) on today’s episode of Middlemost Post!

Overall, Boo Boo Runs Wild introduced me to the cartoon studio whose works I took for granted and on which I was missing out all of my life, and I strongly encourage this generation to support this Yogi Bear / Ranger Smith episode, which you can watch RIGHT NOW on [adult swim]’s site. It was officially on their YouTube channel, but it was removed for unknown reasons. This short never even got a DVD or VHS release!

The last televised airing of Boo Boo Runs Wild on [adult swim] so far was January 6th, 2019 A.D., but Spümcø also produced “A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith” and “Boo Boo and the Man” (based on true events in the life of John Kricfalsui) for Cartoon Network.

As I come to a close, it’s worth noting that layout Ed Benedict, an animator and artist whose credits go all of the way back to the 1930s with Disney and continued with MGM and Hanna-Barbera/Cartoon Network Studios, originally worked on Yogi Bear episode “Yogi’s Birthday Party” as a layout artist, and reprised that very role for “Boo Boo Runs Wild”. What a legacy the animators and artists of this episode leave!

Always will I remember how Spümcø, whose legacy connects to my Cartoon Network-infused childhood, blessed me and graced me that fateful day, August 13th, 2016 A.D., with the ultimate example of the fine art of cartooning that is the Yogi Bear / Ranger Smith episode “Boo Boo Runs Wild”. I was living in the moment, and I thank God for it.

“For years they have [been] asking me to make new Yogi cartoons, but I can’t even get a half a million [dollars] to make one, probably because I actually like the characters, but 60-70 million $ to make walking corpses is economical.” - John Kricfalsui on Yogi Bear (2010)

Another Ranger Smith, Boo Boo or Yogi Bear cartoon from the people behind The Ren & Stimpy Show is highly unlikely today, due to the abuse and harassment of John K. angering the world to the point of hating and condemning the man who helped to shape not only Cartoon Network but also television animation—and animation as a whole—with an undeniable legacy of artists and animators who deserve way more credit and respect than we perhaps thought of giving as kids.

Tweet version of this post here.

[writing-freak]

BNHA Soulmate AU Week Day 2: The Red String of Fate

(GIF credit to its owner!! :) )

Tamaki Amajiki x Reader

Word Count: 1,853

A/N: It’s officially day 2 of my BNHA Soulmate AU Week!! Today's fic, featuring this cutie pie, is a red string of fate au, where Tamaki, Reader’s shy soulmate, keeps running away, making the string longer each time. I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you guys like this one too! Remember, I’m taking soulmate au headcannon and imagine requests for BNHA characters in addition to the 5 other pics I have planned for this week! So stay tuned, tomorrow we have one where you can’t see the soulmate’s eye color until you see them, with my very favorite boy, Iida! If you want to be added to this week’s taglist, or have a request, let me know! Thanks for reading!! :))

Masterlist

You learned to hate the red string hanging off your right pinky finger from a very young age.

For while the string always went through walls, passing through everything solid and everyone in its path, it never seemed to want to leave you alone, and you found yourself tangled in it through every part of your day.

You woke up tangled in the string, with it wrapped around your shoulders and your waist as you tossed and turned during the night. When you brushed your hair, it got caught on your ear, when you ate, you had to be careful not to eat it too. You tripped on it out in the streets, your foot caught on it in the hallways at school.

You hated the string so much that one day you decided to cut it. But of course, like with everyone else, the scissors slipped right through the red string, unable to make contact.

When you first really noticed the red string, enough for you to understand what it meant, it freaked you out that no one could see it. It almost had you convinced it didn’t exist, that it was a part of your imagination, an adventure just for you.

When your mother sat you down and explained that everyone had one, that it led you to your soulmate, you realized that you had kind of been right, in a way. It was your own little adventure, one that you would go on one day.

And it wasn’t as if you didn’t try to go on that adventure. The red string led you out of your home, into crowded streets, in front of passing cars. You had been saved one too many times by a lucky hero for your parents to let you out of their sight until you were nearly in high school.

And by then it didn’t matter anyway, since you hated the string, and would never use it for your own adventure. The person on the other end of it intrigued you, but the string itself, it was your enemy, keeping you from them. You didn’t need its help. You would find your soulmate on your own.

So despite your intense hatred of the red string on your pinky, and its inability to leave you alone, you didn’t think about soulmates all too often. That is, of course, until you met yours.

You were dozing in class when you first noticed the string moving. The only reason you noticed in your tired state was because the string had previously been stuck beneath your foot (of course), and when it shifted, it lifted your foot from the ground.

Then, to your amazement, the string rose off the ground, higher and higher, until there was a clear straight line between you, and a boy you didn’t recognize, with dark hair that covered his eyes, who had just walked in your class.

Your mouth dropped wide open, but it seemed as if your soulmate hadn’t noticed the string yet. Instead, to your confusion, he was hiding his face in the nearest wall.

“L/N,” Aizawa said lazily, “Is there anything you were hoping to say to the big three?”

But you couldn’t answer, and instead, you stood up, and reached your other hand over to tug on the string.

The boy’s whole hand yanked up, and he finally turned away from the wall, your eyes meeting for the first time across the classroom. But his eyes went wide in fear, and before you could say anything, he was off, running out of the classroom faster than you could even think to ask his name. The red string tied to your finger sunk back to the ground as he slammed the door behind him, and everyone’s eyes went to you.

Your face heated in embarrassment, and still nearly shaking from shock, you sunk back in your seat. The two other students at the front of the class that had entered with your soulmate looked as surprised as you felt.

“Tamaki,” the blond one said, sighing deeply. He eyed you curiously, and you tried your best to hide your face in your hands.

Tamaki, you thought. Who was this Tamaki, and why did he run away?

~

After class, and hearing from the “big three”, minus the one that happened to be the supposed love of your life, you raced after the other two in the hallway, Nejire Hado, and Mirio Togata.

“Mirio!” you called. “Nejire!”

Despite the fact that the blond haired boy seemed much more outgoing and forward than the others in the short introduction you had had earlier, it was Nejire who turned around, with a smile on her face, and approached you.

“Y/N, right?” she asked as you caught up to her, leading you down the hall and off to the side, away from the crowds. You nodded, tugging at the string on your finger subconsciously.

“And that was Tamaki?” you asked, testing the boy’s name out on your tongue. It felt strangely familiar, as if you had been meant to say it your whole life. You guessed that was probably an accurate description; you were fated together with the boy, after all.

Nejire sighed. “As happy as I am that Tamaki found his soulmate so soon, and it seems to be a lovely person,” she smiled at you, “I’m afraid my friend is often very fearful. I’d imagine he’s quite freaked out at the moment.”

“I didn’t mean to scare him,” you protested, worry crossing over your face. “I’d just like to talk to him - would you be able to introduce us?”

But from the look on Nejire’s face, you could tell she wasn’t going to do that. “I would love for you to meet Amajiki, and for you guys to fall in love and spend the rest of your lives together. But that’s going to have to be on his own time.” It looked as if it were painful for her to tell you this. “Look, I am so sorry. I can’t imagine knowing your soulmate is right there, and not being able to do anything about it. But trust me; I know Amajiki.” She put a comforting hand on your arm. “And I know one day, you’ll know him too, and you’ll understand.”

And with that, she left, leaving you gaping after her.

~

You gave your soulmate three days. Three days to process, three days to have some space. And then you went off looking for him.

You spent all of your free time following the string. During lunch, your break during training, the hour you usually spent on homework before dinner. It never took you long; he wasn’t nearly as far away as you had always imagined. But no matter how close you got, how short the string shrunk in your hands, Tamaki always ran away, taking his string with him.

For the next week, the distance between you and your soulmate grew smaller, and then bigger, and then smaller, and then bigger. As you chased him everywhere, depending so strongly on the string you had grown to hate, he reinforced your hatred in it. The further away he was, the longer it got, the more you tripped and got tangled in red.

But this time, your stubbornness won out over the string. For this time, it was not an endless adventure that you would spend the rest of your life following. This time, the end was in sight, and you were not going to give up until you reached it.

You both knew that one day you were bound to catch him, and perhaps that was why it ended up happening sooner than you expected, with Tamaki giving up too easily one day when you had him cornered in an empty hall.

“Tamaki,” you sighed, out of breath. “Can I please just-”

“I-I’m sorry!” the older boy nearly yelled, bowing his head as you looked at him in shock. “I’m sorry I keep running away! I just can’t-”

“Tamaki, it’s okay,” you reassured, speaking softly to comfort the boy. This close to him, it was as if you could sense all of the tension in his body, everything in him wanting nothing more than to run away, far away. And everything in you was telling you to keep that from happening, in whatever way you could. “I understand.” When Tamaki met your eyes at this statement, you could see the initial hesitancy to believe you. But you did understand, on some level that made no sense to either of you, and as his eyes softened, you realized that he could sense this too.

“I’m sorry,” he said, softer this time. You nodded your head.

“I don’t mind taking things slowly,” you said, and he peered up at you beneath his long hair. You laughed a little. “We’re soulmates, we have all the time in the world! I just want to start somewhere. In all honesty,” you admitted, “I’m just sick and tired of tripping over this string everywhere I go. It would be nice to have a little break from that.” You tilted your head to the side, grateful that you still held eye contact with the boy in front of you. “So can I introduce myself? I’m y/n.”

You saw the slightest smile creeping onto Tamaki’s face. “Amajiki,” he answered, and you beamed back.

“Amajiki,” you tested, “can I accompany you to lunch? We can eat with your friends, they seem nice! Honestly, I just don’t think I can handle another cafeteria break where I trip and land with my face in my tray of food.”

Tamaki let out a small laugh, and then proceeded to hide his face in his hands from the growing blush on his cheeks. But your heart fluttered at the sound, one of the most angelic laughs you’d ever heard. And you had caused it. Your smile grew wider.

Despite his embarrassment, Tamaki did agree to accompany you to lunch, provided it be with the other big three. As you walked through the halls, your hands so close to one another, you didn’t have to worry about watching your feet. Instead, you were preoccupied with your overwhelming desire to hug the boy next to you, to celebrate the day you finally meant the one you were meant to be with.

But Tamaki needed time, and you were more than willing to give it to him. You would give him all the time in the world. When you felt a light bump to your hand, and looked down to see Tamaki’s pinky finger intertwining with yours, you realized you might not need as much time as you thought.

You walked through the halls, holding pinkies, not hands, and the red string hanging off your fingers was no more, the distance between you nonexistent. And in that moment, you knew you had been wrong before. For while the red string had an end, and you had finally reached it, you knew following Tamaki would be an endless adventure, one you’d gladly follow for the rest of your life.

Taglist: @anything-and-everything-here69​ @engel-hageshii​ @mrsreina​

[soyouareandrewdobson]

100 followers special post: KorraSami Book 1

Today’s entry (sort of a little extra for 100 followers) is rather short and admittedly just the tip of an iceberg I want to tackle later on, as it relates to a certain issue with Dobson in general when it comes to his “support” of the LGBT community. In addition it is not a comic I want to talk about, but rather a picture. To be more precise this one:

Titled “Out of our way” and released around summer of 2015, this picture is obviously fanart in relation to KorraSami, the ship of Avatar Korra and Asami Sato, which unlike other ships in certain fandoms became even canon according to “Word of God” and some post tv series material. Now personally my opinion on KorraSami is a bit “complicated”. I do not hate it nor do I really think it is as “groundbreaking” as many, including Dobson, make it out to be. Reasons for that I am willing one day to discuss in detail, but not now.

And like with KorraSami, my opinion on the picture is also a bit complicated. To paraphrase John Cleese from a famous sketch: I may not know much about art, but I know what I like. So when it comes to things such as posture and linework I can not give too many critical details.

However, even I see from a technical point a few irksome details. Like how Asami’s hips move a bit too much perspective wise to the left, making it look like she would soon slip off the wheelchair, the sparks on the ground looking more like someone inserted shitty fries via MS Paint in the picture and Korra’s face looking like it was hit with a frying pan at least once. But honestly, I think it does not look that terrible and it is at least colorful.

That said, I think it highlights a certain issue with how Dobson perceives the ship.

Independent of my thoughts on the ship, I think Korra and Asami are pretty neat characters personality wise. They are both not flawless (in fact, Korra at the start of season 2 felt like any character development from last season was missing and don’t get me even started on how she would have almost started a world war because she was a whinny ass) but they are pretty strong and independent characters who went through a lot both as friends and as individuals over the course of the show. Well, that and they boned the same guy.

The thing with Dobson is, any time I see him do something with those two, that sort of badassery is not really on display. Instead his KorraSami fanart tends to be just whimsical fluff as seen e.g. here

And don’t get me wrong, I do not think fluff is bad. I like cute pics too and hey, the following two pics in regard of KorraSami by Dobson count for me as decent fluff, even if from a technical drawing point there are likely still flaws in the pic. Mostly because they are also related as pics to the world of the show they are part of, with the first one even showing interaction with someone other than the ship.

 But I also think that just because you ship two or multiple characters, doesn’t mean you can’t also draw something of such characters as a power couple so to speak. In case of those two, perhaps something like fighting a group of Equalists, showing Asami building and working on something with Korra at her side metal binding something according to Asami’s instructions etc. You know, something that is both “cute” because in a way they do stuff as a couple, but also badass because it is about two characters doing something they were born for. Or not even necessarily badass. Just something that shows them in a situation that isn’t just mindless fluff or feels like you just randomly insert the characters into whatever you can think of, thinking that in itself makes it already shipping art.

 Bottomline, Dobson when tackling KorraSami only focuses mostly on the mindless fluff of the ship. Which in my opinion is in so far an issue, as that it reduces this so called “groundbreaking LGBT representation in animation” just further down into something cute and rather shallow Dobson can adore. The characters are not appreciated for their personality, but fo their looks and how cute they look together. And frankly, can something be considered “good representation” when it is just pretty shallow on closer look?

This at least is one of multiple issues I have with KorraSami in general, but also in relation with Dobson. Others I can address later on someday. I also bring it up here mostly, because this “shallowness” is indirectly on display in “Out of our way” once you know a bit about why Dobson drew this and how it may even be a bit insensitive. Not for any living creature, but the character of Korra actually.

See, here is the thing: The inspiration for the pic was two things: A clip from an anime called Gekijouban To Aru Majutsu no Railgun (which I admittedly never saw in my life and do not necessarily intend to) as seen here

 And the fact that Korra spends some time in a wheelchair over the course of the show. And considering that the scene from the anime is actually meant to be funny (as it actually ends with both characters crashing in the gras in a hilarious position), what sort of cartoonish antics resulted in Korra temporarily being in a wheelchair? Did she slip on water during waterbending? Break her leg in some heroic fight but took it in strife and even made fun of her situation? You want to know?

Korra was kidnapped, tortured, poisoned with mercury and almost killed by a group of four terrorists, resulting in her being physically crippled for a long time and suffering from mental trauma, depression and PTSD.

……..ehhhhhhhh….. Funny?

 Yeah, on a technical level I do not think the picture is the worst, but as “fanart” when you consider any canon context involving wheelchairs and Korra… yaiks. I mean, tone deaf is a bit of an understatement.

 And I am not making this up. The plot of season 3 of Legend of Korra involved a group of four elemental benders trying to kill Korra, because their leader thinks that if he kills her he can break the Avatar cycle and that in turn will bring in a new era where people take their lives as a whole in their own hands, instead of the fate of the world depending on a few chosen ones like the Avatar. To do so they kidnap Korra and poison her with mercury, which they forcefully bend into her body. This results in her going full avatar mode and fighting the main villain Zaheer, only to get her ass handed by him thanks to the poison and him almost suffocating her by bending the air out of her lungs. Korra was in fact closer to death than any other character I have seen in the show, including Aang. And the aftermath of Zaheer’s actions were horrible. Season 3 ended with Korra still recovering from the poison (which had been bended out of her body again), by being stuck in a wheelchair and it being obvious she needs to get through rehabilitation. And while she did put on a brave face in front of everyone, the final shot of the episode is her at a ceremony celebrating the air nations rebirth, a single tear going down her cheek, indicating that in a way she is broken. The hotheaded and overall determined Korra at her lowest point.

 I will openly admit, when I first saw that scene, I was taken aback a bit how bittersweet if not outright depressing the ending was. Begging the question, how by the time season 4 would roll in, Korra would have recovered. Turned out, not well. Not only was season 4 set three years after the events of the last one, but the first two episodes showed among other things how Korra went through rehabilitation in those years, how she was on more than one occasion on the brink of giving up and how she essentially went into hiding, not wanting to meet her friends again, abandoning her duties as the Avatar. She was not a sobbing mess, but she was broken. Not considering herself worthy of the title of avatar for the longest time and still suffering from physical and mental trauma because of what had happened to her. In fact, one of the better aspects of season 4 is how Korra tries to overcome her own trauma, in order to be strong enough to take on the fight against Kuvira before she can turn the Earth Kingdom completely into the Third Reich and take Republic City over.

 In short, the picture of Korra in a wheelchair has a pretty significant and dramatic meaning for the character and the show as a whole. It is an important aspect of te shows storytelling and Korra’s final part of her character arc. Something with gravitas a lot of fans acknowledge. But Dobson sees it supposedly as something that gives way for a “badass and fun” pic with his favorite ship. And again, in my opinion, that is just tone deaf.I am not saying you can’t make a KorraSami pic with the wheelchair, but I think something with that motive should out of respect for the actual canon and its characters also be more somber than what we got here.

Which brings me back to how Dobson handles the couple in a shallower manner than it needs to be. Cause if he wasn’t just out for whimsical fun and fluff with his two favorite lesbians from Nickelodeon and would Korra and Asami consider more than just something to fawn upon based on looks, he could have drawn something more meaningful that genuinely showed how both are a decent representation of an LGBT-couple and interesting individuals. Cause being a couple when everything is fun and sunshine is one thing. Being there for each other when things are hard? THAT is the challenge and shows how much you really love someone.

[ryanmeft]

Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Part 1

The culmination of the superhero ride that started with Iron Man back in 2008 is almost here. Avengers: Endgame tickets are selling out fast even though the movie is nearly three weeks away, and speculation as to how this stage of Marvel’s box office juggernaut will all end is at a fever pitch. What better time to rank the movies that have brought us here? Now, no one with even a tiny bit of objectivity sincerely believes Marvel had a ten year plan and executed it precisely according to a grand vision. Looking back through these movies makes it clearer than ever that, more often than not, they made it up as they went along. In fact, considering all the retcons, changed minds, dropped plot threads and unexpected surprises, it’s amazing the continuity holds together at all. It mostly does...but the bottom part of this list contains the few movies even Marvel’s PR team probably wishes they could have a mulligan on, as well as some good-but-not-quite-lighting-the-world-on-fire fare. Let’s get to it. Warning: this article contains spoilers for nearly every movie in the MCU.

21. Iron Man 2

The red-headed stepchild of the MCU. After the surprise success of the original Iron Man, Marvel Studios apparently forgot that the strength of that film was allowing Jon Favreau and the writing team to put heart before brand synergy, and decided to make a movie that was half marketing for their planned Avengers crossover. Dropping Black Widow in here felt completely jarring, and it didn’t help that her role just added to the jumble of plot threads that didn’t seem to add up to anything; at the time, many saw it as proof that Marvel was putting a little too much faith in their ability to pull off this whole crossover thing. That’s only part of the sordid story, though, because the movie is also a mess in nearly every other way. Rather than the tight plotting of the original, this one sees Tony, Rhodey, Pepper and the rest speeding from random situation to random situation---a car race, an unhinged party, a spy caper---with only the barest of plot threads holding it all together. The movie’s only saving graces are the villains played by Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke. Each of them deliciously devours every scene they are in, providing the film’s lone moments of enjoyment, but they’re also squandered on what feels like an extremely low stakes plan. Iron Man so well proved that superhero movies can have a soul that it even managed to make some critical best-of lists for 2008. The sequel made us wonder if that might have been a tad premature.

20. The Incredible Hulk

There are some genuinely creative moments in this action-oriented “apology” for the in-reality-pretty-good Ang Lee Hulk movie. The opening sequence showing how Hulk’s blood travels, a chase through a Brazilian favela, tossing Bruce out of a helicopter to incite his other half, and the almost-love scene aborted by the alter ego were signs of how clever the movie could have been if it were not focused on cramming in as much smashing as possible. Nick Nolte’s complex antagonist is replaced with William Hurt chewing a little too much scenery, the new super-villain played by Tim Roth is a dull waste of the actor’s talent, the finale is listless, and the entire movie is just one long excuse to show Hulk ‘roiding out as much as possible. The camera work of skilled action veteran Peter Menzies Jr. and some excellent CG on the title character make it more fun to look at than many of the tights flicks of the time, which is something. As a general rule, things that are made to chase fleeting audience sentiments don’t stand the test of time, and there’s been a quiet reversal since 2008 in which Lee’s more original and creative vision for the character has come to be re-evaluated, while this one has been almost forgotten and relegated to endless TNT re-runs. Maybe with Mark Ruffalo having one more movie on his contract, he’ll get a crack at doing it right post-Endgame.

19. Thor: The Dark World At the time, this movie served as iron-clad proof that the only reason the Thor character worked at all was Loki. The god of mischief is at his delicious then-best here, conniving from a prison cell, partnering with his brother out of genuine concern, and eventually managing to actually take the throne. Sure, that latter development was quickly undone in the next film, but what a parting shot. He’s the only aspect of the movie that fully works, and if you pop it in today you sit patiently waiting for his scenes and snoring through the second, Loki-free half of the movie. Thor himself is lifeless when Loki’s not on screen. The Warriors Three are still nowhere near the right balance of humor and bravery. Natalie Portman remains wasted on a supposedly genius scientist who can nevertheless be stunned into immediate silence by Thor’s golden locks, while Sif is still 100% unnecessary in every way. Perhaps worst of all, the underrated Christopher Eccleston is miscast as a villain who always seems to be doing bad Shakespeare. We all tried hard to forgive it at the time (and director Alan Taylor claims it was made “a different movie” in the editing room, not at all implausible) but thankfully we’ve since admitted this is mostly a misfire.

18. Ant-Man

If you were to judge Ant-Man entirely by the size-changing shenanigans, it would be one of the best Marvel movies. Peyton Reed, building off a script by departing director Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish (and tidied up by Rudd and Adam McKay) gets a ton of mileage out of the novelty of being the size of an insect, from outrunning a flood in a bathtub to that rather brilliant final confrontation in a child’s playroom, using toys as ammo. Further, Paul “I Am Immortal” Rudd is pitch-perfect in the title role, while Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly bring a lot to the picture. It’s in the details where Ant-Man falls a bit short (pun intended). To start, we have a single major Hispanic character in the MCU, played by the frankly more-legendary-than-you-think Michael Pena, and he’s reduced to a fast-talking stereotype. Judy Greer and Bobby Cannavale are also worlds better than their roles, which are, respectively, a cliche shrewish ex-wife and a cliche over-suspicious cop. What really drags things down, though, is the lackluster villain, who may be the most inert black hole in the MCU’s rogues gallery. He is neither good enough to engage us, nor bad enough to hate. He could have been played by a grip, for all the personality he’s allowed. The core of the film is delightful. The hill around it is crumbly.

17. Captain Marvel

Marvel’s first female-led flick is understandably a phenomenon, pulling down the sixth-largest opening weekend of all time and serving as inspiration to young girls and target to the kind of people who don’t want women in their clubhouse. So what about the movie that’s causing all this hullabaloo? It’s pretty decent. The movie can be summed up very succinctly as “safe”. It takes few chances and is more like one small step than one giant leap for womankind. Had it been released during the early superhero boom, it would still be fondly remembered as a major link in the genre’s evolution. As it is, it borrows from the buddy-cop subgenre to create what is essentially an adventure/sci-fi movie between Carol Danvers and Nick Fury. It stands out more as a callback to the kind of action pics made in the 90’s (when it is set) than the heavily marketed shared universe of the MCU, and includes standout performances from Annette Bening, Jude Law and Ben Mendelsohn. It meets expectations; it does not exceed them, and if you are a fan of the distinctive style practiced by directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, you won’t find it here. It’s only a month old, and it may be too soon to definitely say how it will be seen as time goes on. Right now, it feels more like a solid first step for the character than a fully realized final destination.

16. Thor

The original Thor has some completely solid, indisputable charms. Chris Hemsworth does physical comedy much more skillfully than he is ever given credit for, it is the debut of Tom Hiddleston as Loki, the third act is a rare-at-the-time case of inventiveness in an MCU finale, and it’s always great to see Stellan Skarsgard in literally anything. I would watch two hours of Stellan Skarsgard eating lunch, with a clone of Stellan Skarsgard. His drinking scene with Thor is a seriously underrated bit of awesome. It helps make up for the fact that the movie has no idea what to do with most of the supporting cast, including in part Loki, who at this stage seems to flail around between personalities, having crazy forced on him in time for the final duel despite it not even being hinted at earlier. It’s as if director Kenneth Branagh just let him do his own thing, and Hiddleston’s not 100% sure what that should be yet. The mirror scene is objectively amazing, but he won’t really come into his own until Avengers. The Warriors Three are utterly wasted; Branaugh and the writers just never nail the right combo of comedy and camaraderie needed to pull them off. Sif is superfluous. Natalie Portman is one of the finest actors of our generation, here reduced to goggling over Thor’s pecs. It’s not bad, especially compared to some of the dreck that gets pumped out of the blockbuster machine. It’s just rather inert.

That’s it for part 1. I’m  going to be doing some Marvel/Superhero/General Nerd content leading up to Endgame’s release. Check back next Friday for part 2 of this list, and pop by Monday for part 1 of my predictions on the fate of each character in Endgame. Part 2: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/184208179827/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-part-2 Part 3: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/184372777282/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-part-3

[kmp78]

TO ALL YOU READERS OUT THERE.

As we all know, on Dec 17 aka tomorrow new über-sensitive rules on tumblr kick in, which means all content their bots/algoritms regard as "unsuitable" will be banished from the platform. 😒

Seeing as I have almost 4 years worth of posts in my archives amounting to a grand total of tens of thousands of posts overall, there is no way for me to go over all of them and remove potentially forbidden ones.

And frankly I wouldn't even know where to start, since we have not been given any concrete guidelines regarding words/pics which "might" need to be deleted, and even if I did have guidelines to work with, the task would be too huge to undertake.

I can find over 1000 posts with the search word "P * r n" and that's just a fraction of the kinds of contents I imagine might need to be removed (one by one, of course), so that gives you an idea of the scale for that task... 😶

Yeah, there's just no possibility for me to do that.

Therefore there is a very good chance that when I wake up tomorrow morning, this blog will no longer exist.

It won't be by my choice, as I don't have any desire to retire from this project, but I can't fight against the powers of the admins on this one. 😔

So, in case that happens, I just want to say a few things while I still can.

First, a MASSIVE thank you to all who have read this blog (just on/off or regularly) and especially to those who have contributed to the making of this blog via asks, submits, reblogs and private chats. Without your contributions this blog would not be what it is (in good and in bad...), and I have no doubt that without your assistance in providing content, I would have left a long time ago.

Altho, in a cruel twist of fate, many of those provided contents will no doubt now be the reason for this blog's demise... 😂🙊

But tbh I'm not even upset about it, because the amount of entertaiment and laughs we have shared over here over the past 4 years could never be measured in money or any other form of currency.

Same of course goes for the amount of tears and aggro shared here... 😝

And speaking of which: let me just give a big ol' "F U C K Y O U and I wish nothing but the absolute worst in life for you and yours and if I saw you on fire on the street I'd struggle to even piss on you to put out the flames, you useless blob of floating diarrhea" shoutout to each and every disgusting c u n t out there who I have had the misfortune of sparring with over the years.

No need to name names.

YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND YOU MOST DEFINITELY KNOW WHY I DESPISE THE LIVING SH*T OUT OF YOU.

You folks, with your pathetic fanfics and truly insane "HE'S GAIIIIIIIIII, YANNO!!!!" desperado'ing etc. and especially that one Aussie psycho and the yankee-doodle liverspotty "My BFF Aka The Old Hag Tooootes Is Ferking JL" bulldog (seriously SEEK PSYCHIATRIC HELP IMMEDIATELY), are a true waste of oxygen and pathetic testament to what a sad conglomerate of mentally challenged retards aka SFGs this fandom is.

Whatever misfortunes life tosses your way, just know you've truly deserved it. This "snow N- word" girl from "a 3rd world country across the Atlantic" has enjoyed laughing at and ridiculing/exposing your embarrassing asses here (especially those of you who turned on me for whatever reason), and will continue to do so forever. Your hilarious insanity will never be forgotten. 😙😙😙✌

No kidding, folks: your mothers FOR REALS should have spat you out.

Or maybe swallowed... 🤔 I dunno what kind of sticky-bottom slaggies your mumzies are/were so yeah maybe a good gulp would've been more her MO. 🤷🏼‍♀️

A special shoutout indeed to all those who befriended me for years and know FULL WELL what bull manure this fandom and Leto are, but still woke up one morning and decided to start hating everything about me (for reasons which are still baffling for me): you disgust me and quite honestly make me a bit sad. You USED to be sane and sensible, until the kool-aid kicked in.

Perhaps one day the magic will wear off and you'll come back to your senses again, altho for most of you I don't hold out much hope... oh well, it's not like anyone's life would be worse off without you in it. Mine certainly hasn't been! 🤣

And to all those countless fools out there who wasted their time creating fake accts with my name and pics hoping I'd quit: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂.

I hope at some point in life you look back on your actions and realize how insane you stalkers were to obsess (yes, obsess) over me.

Your efforts really got you nowhere... ⛔

Oh no wait I got major laughs and kicks from ridiculing you, so yeah you did get that far. 😂

You deserve to feel #proud . 🙏

If I'm worthy of THAT MUCH attention from you...

Damn, I must be quite awesome! 😎

(I am, actually. 🙃 Oh and I also like pizza, with pineapples and a slice of Leto... 🍕😂😎)

And then on the other side of the fence:

I could never fully express my gratitude and appreciation to the people who I have become friendly with over these years.

You also know who you are, and I will be reaching out to you via private chat later today! 😉

Honestly, you have been the absolute best thing about this entire experience and I'll value the times and experiences we have spent together for the rest of my life. 💓

The support I have received both publicly and especially privately from many out there (some I still have the pleasure of keeping in touch with, and some who have sadly faded into the distance) has been much appreciated and I hope you all realize it.

THIS community is leaps and bounds superior to the actual Mars one.

Thank you for the laughs, the freak-outs, the arguments, the secrets, for taking part in my competitions and puzzlers, for reading my Finland posts, for suggesting non-Mars topics, for sharing personal stories...

It has been one hell of a trip! 😂

I wish you folks nothing but the best and if this is the end, then perhaps at some point, somewhere out there, our paths shall cross again! 😉😘

My IG acct ( @kmp78 ) will remain (unless they too see it worthy of deleting...), so that's where you'll find me if all else fails! 😜

Also my secondary acct here ( @kmp78secondaryblog ) will remain UNLESS it's also taken down by the admins.

And of course my e-mail ( kmp78@yahoo.com ) also reaches me in the future, as well as my Twitter ( @kmp78obvs ).

And with that... well, there's not much else to say, I guess. The situation is what it is. 😞

Have a nice Sunday, everyone!

God willing we will meet again tomorrow. If not, then c'est la vie! 😘👋

With much ❤❤❤ (or perhaps🖕🖕🖕, depending on reader),

K

[vanyel-or-just-van]

It Burns

Welp. @sessomesmaru looks like you’re the Thing to break my dry spell. This is inspired by a GORGEOUS piece of artwork done by sess, as well as some words from @the-female-gaymer during the stream of said art (once the pic itself is released im gonna edit this post and include the link).

Here we go.

UPDATE

HERE IS THE GORGEOUS PIECE OF ART IT IS BASED ON

Read it here on AO3 (if you do PLEASE come back and reblog the post, otherwise it stagnates and im a Sad)

TW: Alcoholism, minor blood/knife inclusion

It burns.

The whiskey burns as he knocks it down his throat, cold fire searing from the inside out. He welcomes the familiar feeling. He’s lost count of how many he’s had tonight, and he doesn’t care to try and count right now.

The ice barely has a chance to warm in the crowded bar before he slams the cup back on the table. No more. Too many people. He shoves over a handful of bills.

Neil nods, not even bothering to count. They can deal with shortage or overage the next time he comes in, which will be tomorrow.

Now, he goes to drink alone.

Again.

----

It burns.

Lying on his bed, he stares up at the ceiling, watching the fan turn slowly. The summer heat is particularly bad tonight, and his electricity hasn’t run out from the time he last paid for it yet.

He feels the tears forging paths through the dirt surrounding his eyes. They leave thin trails of stinging skin behind, losing themselves in the stubble.

Weakly, he lifts his arm, looking at the black symbol decorating the base of his thumb. It stares back at him like an unblinking eye. Like a black sun. It weighs cold judgment down upon him.

A reminder.

----

It burns.

He pulls back a little too slowly, glancing down. The side of his jacket had caught on the lid and slid up against the edge of the grill. A faint smell of burning hair drifts up as he surveys the marks on his arm.

One of the other dads sees the marks, wincing. “Ow, that looks like it hurts!”

He laughs dryly.

“After that tangle I got into with Johnnyboy a few years ago, this is nothing. Should have been there - smelled like a campfire.”

The dads eye him. They’re pretty sure he’s joking.

Pretty sure.

He notices Joseph’s eye on him, and tugs the sleeve back down, tipping back another sip of whiskey and starting into a story for the crowd before he can offer anything.

----

It burns.

The antiseptic sinks into the cut, and he rubs it in a little harder. A quick wrapping with the bandage, cut with the knife and tied off.

Then, he goes to clean his knife again. It got dirty from running into his skin

Soon, the cut will be just another whittling accident. Another scar.

No one will ask questions.

----

It burns.

Curled into a ball in the front seat of his truck, trying to pull his jacket over his head. By now he should be used to the headache, the glare. The price of whiskey’s bittersweet release.

But today the sun is vicious. It turns on him harder. And his calendar reminds him.

There is a moment, and then he accepts his fate. Unlocks the door, lets the jacket fall back onto the seat, shucks his shirt with it, and steps out of the truck.

He tilts his head up to the sky, and extends his wings, letting the blackened edges of his feathers flutter in the faint breeze gracing the hilltop. They twitch awkwardly from cramping and disuse.

He can feel his hand grow warm, the symbol pulsing with light. His eyes open, looking towards the sky. Letting the sun gaze into him.

The eyes are on him for a moment.

And then they pass, and he feels as though a door has been slammed in his face. Three years is not enough. He may never be enough to return. The wings fold back up, the sun dims, the symbol turns cold and black once again.

And so, too, does his world.

----

It burns.

The sound of his own laughter rings hollow to him. Even Mary looks at him with a skeptical eye.

Or, perhaps, just a very drunk one. Who knows what she had before he walked in.

“If there’s some shit eating you, lay it out,” she snorts, knocking back a shot. “I could use a good laugh.”

He closes his eyes and drinks to cover the haze in his mind a moment.

“Nothing.” A murmur, just enough growl to sound like him. “Just slept like shit.”

“More than usual, you mean.”

“I know what I said.”

----

It burns.

He leans against the wall behind the theater, rough wall digging into him even through the jacket. A hand covers his mouth, letting the sound of rain drown out the little of the world that bothers with this hour.

The other clutches at his shirt, fingernails digging into his skin through the worn fabric. It’s been weeks since he last broke them on purpose.

Popcorn-ass drivel shouldn’t be able to do this. There weren’t supposed to be good actors, good acting, good stories anymore.

He tilts back his head, letting the water stream onto his closed eyes, run down his cheeks.

Too close to home.

----

It burns.

The layers of dirt fight every step of the way, each inch its own battle. The soap almost gives up halfway through.  It sloughs into his eyes, but he doesn’t care.

He’s going to be better today if it kills him.

He digs through the piles, sniffing lightly. There has to be something here that resembles clean.

The razor is rusted. He tosses it aside, going for his knife instead. A nick or two won’t kill him.

Finally, he admires himself in the mirror, looking a little less haunted.

He’s going to enjoy something for once.

The Game is on tonight. Maybe that.

----

It burns.

The feeling of the body beside him is too warm. He kicks off the sheets, letting it crumple over them as he stands. Stretches. Feels sore in a way that aches deeper than the flesh.

He thought it would help.

He thought repeating his sin would help him understand. Remind him why he did it in the first place.

A glance over at the other man, still curled on the pillow, fast asleep. Looking far too relaxed for his tastes, considering.

His eyes drift to the corner, to a picture frame face down. Dust covers the back like a blanket.

He rubs the symbol, as if to hide from its unending stare.

It didn’t help.

All it did was make him feel more lost.

----

It burns.

The hood of the truck is still warm when he sits on it, parked at the overlook. There are grooves in the way the grass grows that match his tread. His shirt already lies discarded on the ground.

He sips his whiskey. He knows sunrise is several hours from now.

He can wait.

It’s the footsteps that break him from his reverie - far too close, far too suddenly. He sets the bottle down, turning to see-

“...you never come this far out of the city.”

A soft chuckle, as sharp to him as any knife. “Well, you rarely come out of your house anymore,” Joseph says, smile almost bright enough in the faded starlight to make him wince. “Thought it was worth the curiosity of seeing that truck leave your driveway.”

Robert turns away again, pouring another glass of whiskey.

“So. You’ve seen I’m up here. We done?”

He can feel the other man pout behind him. More footsteps, coming up against the side mirror.

They don’t say anything for two hours.

Finally, to even his own surprise, it’s Robert that breaks the silence.

“You shouldn’t be here. Not tonight.” He grabs the bottle. He knows it’s empty, but he has to try anyways. “You should be with Mary and the kids.”

Joseph snorts. “The kids are asleep. And you’d know better than I would where Mary is tonight.” Even the seemingly bitter words don’t mar his tone. It’s as sweet and even as ever.

Robert knocks back the empty glass. “You never changed. Four years, and you sound like we’re still up there.” He gestures vaguely at the stars peeking over the treeline.

“Up there isn’t the only place where you can be happy, Robert.” He steps past the mirror, forcing himself fully into Robert’s peripheral. “I saw you up here last year, and the year before. We both know the answer is never going to change.”

Neither of them hear the bottle break, hurled too far into the woods.

“Of COURSE you can say that! You’ve got it all!” He whirls on Joseph, fire burning in his eyes as he balls his fists. “Even after they cast us out, you landed on your feet, didn’t you? They put your mark in a place you have to look for to even notice, while mine stares me in the face every time I raise a glass to try and forget for a moment. And don’t think I don’t hear what they call you down there - the Angel of Maple Bay, huh? Good luck follows you? Still the favorite even with my TAINT keeping you here - and you’re the one with a chance to GO back!”

Robert stabs a finger at him, and it’s enough to make Joseph actually step back with the force of the motion.

“The last time I tried to set foot in your damn church, I burned my hand on the doorknob - and yet you practically live there half the time, and I don’t see as much as a SUNBURN on you. If that doesn’t tell you which one of us will go back-”

“I don’t want to go back.”

It’s soft, yet stops him in his tracks like a wall. Robert falters, anger tangled into confusion knots too tight to keeping running.

“What?”

Joseph looks at him. He reaches up, unties the cardigan, and lets it fall to the grass. The shirt follows in a pile. A small thump as the cross joins them both.

His hand skirts the edge of his symbol, tracing over the lines branching out like sunrays. Slowly, his eyes raise back up to meet Robert’s.

“I don’t want to go back up there, Robert. That would mean regretting what happened. And I don’t.” The sincerity is too clear for even the most insidious doubt still coursing through him. “The only thing I regret is losing you on the way down.”

Robert stares at him, sees the faint tips of wings beginning to unfurl. His own, cramped,  come out nevertheless in response, seeming ragged and ashen next to Joseph’s midnight blue.

“But...you could...the church...the holy, it…”

Words came and faded before they could be spoken.

“It doesn’t reject me because it doesn’t see me as fallen.” Joseph steps forward, past the hood of the car, giving his wings room to stretch. “It sees me as human. The man that enters that church each Sunday is just that - a man, and nothing more.”

One wingtip curls in, almost offended, and the corner of his mouth curls up.

“Well. Maybe a little more. But not what I was up there, and not what I was when I hit the ground. I don’t even have these except for tonight.” His eyes are warm in the moonlight. “Or when I’m near you.”

It’s too much. The dam breaks, and all of the anger begins to flood out of Robert in heaving sobs. He stumbles forward one step, two, then collapses into Joseph’s waiting arms.

All this time. All this time, alone. Forsaken and the only one.

Watching what he’d gained and lost settle into a life he couldn’t even try to live.

The arms around him are warm, and he nearly pulls away, but their grip is too strong for him right now even gentle as they are. He places his hand on Joseph’s wrist.

“I lost everything,” he gasps. The weight settles in his eyes, pushing out. “I lost everything, and I lost you, and by the time I found you again you were already okay without me.

He feels a hand slide up the back of his neck, the other moving to his cheek. They are warm and broad and ache. He tightens his grip.

“I knew…” Robert pauses, choking on a sob. “I thought I knew they’d take you back. I thought they were waiting for us both, that I was keeping you here because I hadn’t figured it out like you did and I just wanted to be with you again I just wanted to have what we had…”

They both ignore the taste of salt. Joseph still tastes like sunset.

“We can have it again,” he murmurs, pulling back just enough to breathe. His thumb strokes over Robert’s cheek as the first rays of sunlight crests the trees. “We can have it all again, right here.”

The symbols glow, Robert’s eyes opening against the sharp pain. He stares at Joseph’s shoulder for a moment, seeing how the light seeps from the circle outwards. His hand grows warm. Something inside of him long forgotten awakes, pushing him further into Joseph’s arms. Their wings cast long shadows, shifting in the faint fog, and he feels his heart grow warm for the first time in four years.

It burns.

And he embraces it.