#stop replacing animation with live action

[boredlore]

As an artist, I am really sick of the recent and increasingly agreed upon rhetoric that live action just “hits harder” than animation. I have been hearing this a lot from people especially in regards to the live action How to Train Your Dragon and I just???? No it doesn’t???

The thing is, when you make any piece of art, the media you use is can be integral to how the art is received. For example, I think traditional painting is often received by audiences as more professional than digital. I think the same goes for movies and audiences tend to assume that animated film is for younger audiences and live action is more mature.

Anyone can have any opinion they want about live action or animation but don’t say animation doesn’t hit as hard when hundreds of hours went into designing those characters and manipulating every aspect of the final product until it was exactly what the artists wanted it to be. Drawing and animating is difficult work and everything that is presented is intentional. It took the animators years to study light and color and shape and movement and anatomy to make something as beautiful as HTTYD just for audiences to say it had a greater impact in live action.

The reason this make me so angry is because artists are already having their work stolen by corporations using AI so people without the patience and dedication to study the craft or those who don’t feel like hiring artists can poorly and cheaply imitate in seconds mastery that is earned over years. Corporations are then remaking animated masterpieces as live action. For HTTYD, Lilo and Stitch, and the thankfully shelved live action tangled, it’s especially jarring because I am a relatively young person and still older than two of those movies and they are already being remade. It is not the same as Cinderella, Maleficent, or some of the other live action remakes where the source animation has existed for several generations (and the source material existed for centuries), these animated films were made within one lifetime and are already being remade into live action cash grabs.

The original HTTYD is one of the films that inspired me to become an artist and it’s really disheartening to see it be recreated so soon.

Also, I want to be very clear that my frustration has nothing to do with the casting of the movie, it only has to do with seeing animation and art in general be gutted and devalued more and more often for the sake of profit.

[flwrkid14]

Everyone Knows They’re Dating… Except Tim and Danny

To literally everyone, Tim and Danny are a couple. They’re so obvious about it, it’s almost annoying. Tim goes out of his way to prioritize Danny over anyone else—he’ll cancel plans, rearrange his schedule, and bend over backward to make sure Danny’s happy. Need coffee at 3 a.m.? Tim’s already out the door. A custom gadget? It’s in Danny’s hands before he even asks.

And Danny? Danny dotes on Tim in a way that’s almost overprotective. He ensures Tim eats, sleeps, and doesn’t completely drown himself in work. He’s always there, watching out for him, ready to step in if Tim ever needs help. And god help anyone who says a single bad word about Tim because Danny will defend him with a ferocity that borders on terrifying.

They live together. They cuddle to sleep. They share a bed. They have dinners together like it’s some weekly tradition. They wear each other’s clothes so often no one can tell whose hoodie is whose anymore. Sometimes they even plan matching outfits when they go out. Their “hangouts” are way too romantic and way too specific to not count as dates.

It’s obvious to everyone that Tim and Danny are dating. Everyone… except Tim and Danny.

The breaking point happens when Danny starts spending time with a new friend. Tim doesn’t even notice at first, but slowly, irritation starts bubbling under the surface. Why does Danny even need new friends? Doesn’t he already have Tim? And then the irritation morphs into a tight knot in his chest every time Danny talks about hanging out with this friend.

At first, Tim tells himself he’s just being logical—Danny is busy enough as it is, why stretch himself thinner? But when Danny cancels one of their movie nights to go out with this new friend, Tim spirals. He’s glued to his laptop but hasn’t typed anything in over an hour, too consumed with thoughts like: Is Danny replacing me? Am I not enough for him? Does he want someone else to be his best friend now?

He’s never been good at handling emotions, so naturally, he decides the best course of action is to bottle it all up and ignore it. That is until Steph shows up and immediately clocks that something’s wrong.

“What’s with the grumpy face?” she asks, slumping onto his couch.

“I’m not grumpy,” Tim lies, glaring at his laptop like it’s offended him personally.

Steph raises an eyebrow. “Right. So why are you moping like someone kicked your dog?”

“I’m not moping,” he mutters, crossing his arms.

Steph stares at him for a long moment, her eyes narrowing as she pieces it together. She knows Danny’s out with some new friend, and now she’s looking at Tim, who’s pacing the apartment like a caged animal, glaring at his phone every few seconds. Her expression shifts—realization dawning, then sharp focus. “Oh my god, Tim. You’re jealous.”

Tim freezes. “What? No, I’m not. That’s ridiculous.”

Steph crosses her arms, her gaze locked on Tim as if he’s the most complicated puzzle she’s ever tried to solve. “Okay, let’s break this down,” she starts, her tone deliberate. “You’re upset that Danny’s out with someone else. You’re overthinking it, spiraling about whether or not you’re enough, and now you’re convinced you’ve somehow ruined everything… Does that sound like just ‘friend’ feelings to you?”

Tim freezes mid-pace, the words hitting him like a bucket of cold water. “I—what?”

Steph raises an eyebrow. “Tim. You’re jealous.”

“I’m not—” Tim begins, but then stops, the denial catching in his throat. His brain scrambles to process her words, but the sinking feeling in his chest refuses to let him dismiss it. The pieces fall into place, one by one, each memory sharper than the last: the way his heart always lifts when Danny smiles, the quiet warmth of falling asleep next to him, the ache in his chest at the thought of Danny choosing someone else.

“Oh no,” he whispers, his voice cracking. “Oh my god. I’m jealous because—because I’m—”

Steph sighs, rubbing her temples. “You’re jealous because you’re in love with Danny.”

Tim’s knees almost give out as the realization settles in. “I’m the worst friend in the world,” he blurts, his voice breaking. Tears spring to his eyes as he starts pacing again, his hands flying up in a panicked gesture. “I have no right to feel this way! He’s my best friend—he deserves someone better, someone who won’t ruin his life with… with whatever this is!”

Steph groans, dragging a hand down her face. “Tim, for the love of—you're already dating.”

He stops dead in his tracks, blinking at her like she’s just spoken another language. “What?”

“Seriously? You’re basically married,” Steph says, throwing her hands up. “He practically lives here, you do everything together, and you’re constantly rearranging your life for him. What part of that screams just friends to you?”

Tim’s mouth opens, then closes, his mind spinning as he replays every moment with Danny through a new lens. The quiet mornings when they share coffee in companionable silence. The way Danny always notices when he’s stressed and pulls him into a hug without a word. How being with Danny feels like breathing—natural, essential, like coming home.

And it all clicks.

Oh. Oh no. He’s in love with Danny.

The realization is overwhelming, a mix of panic and joy and sheer terror. But beneath all that, there’s something else—a quiet certainty. He doesn’t just love Danny; he’s in love with him, and he doesn’t want to waste another second pretending otherwise.

Tim decides, then and there, that he has to confess. Because if there’s even the slightest chance that Danny feels the same, he’s not going to let it slip through his fingers. And if he doesn’t… well, there’s always Antarctica.

When Tim finally confesses, he pours his heart out in a way that’s so painfully earnest it makes Danny laugh.

“Tim,” Danny says, tears of laughter in his eyes, “I thought we were already dating.”

Tim blinks. “What?”

Danny grins. “Yeah, I kind of assumed we were. I mean, we live together. We share a bed. We cuddle. We’ve been wearing matching outfits for months, dude.”

“Oh.” Tim feels his face heat up.

Danny laughs again, pulling Tim into a hug. “You’re adorable, you know that?”

Tim buries his face in Danny’s shoulder, equal parts mortified and relieved. But hey, at least now they’re officially dating—or, well, aware of it.

Steph hears the whole story later and immediately texts them both: “Congrats on being the last ones to figure it out. True geniuses at work.”

[gardnhee]

faint memories - zuko

୨୧- tw/content. angst with a pinch of fluff, intentional lowercase, not proofread, little cursing here and there.

୨୧- zuko x afab!reader

୨୧- note. this applies to both animated and live action zuko!! requested by my baby @lovlyrickyyy 🤍

୨୧- dividers by @plutism !

୨୧- wc. 1.2k

“stop…moving!” you grit, holding zuko’s face as he glares at you, small wince erupting from his throat.

“how do you expect me-“ he hisses, hands instinctively flying up to get a hold of your wrists. “to not move when there’s this huge fucking burn on my face!” zuko retorts, grip tightening on you. you sigh, heart dropping as you no longer see that glint in his eyes. the glint that is now replaced with sadness, pain, suffering.

zuko’s chambers grew dead silent, no more arguing, no more disagreeing from you or him. just silence.

a small smile spread on his face as he now caressed your wrist with his thumb, pressing a small kiss to it, “i’m sorry for grabbing so hard.” this made your head perk up, blush spreading across your cheeks. you shake your head, “i understand.” the room goes silent again.

only thing that could be heard were the faint yells of the firebenders training outside and the mouse like footsteps of whoever passed by the unnecessarily and stupidly huge doors.

you kept applying the ointment onto zuko’s wound, sitting back with a small huff to examine him. to you, even with that huge scar on his face, he’s still as handsome as ever. you noticed how he tried to hide it from you, looking down at his trembling hands as the events from earlier are still fresh in his mind.

he slumped back on the bed, eliciting a whine of disapproval - you weren’t done tending to him. zuko ignores this as he just lays there, gazing up at his tall ceiling with a blank stare.

you knew him all too well, which means you also knew he was hiding something. restricting himself from talking. you hated it.

“zuko-?” you started as his body jerked up from the wine red sheets.

“i’m getting exiled.” he didn’t let you speak, words crawling up his throat as he was unable to hold them back.

you felt as if all air had been knocked out of your lungs, like a punch to the gut. your chest heaved, eyes squinting and eyebrows knitting together.

“w-what?” it’s not that you didn’t hear, in fact zuko’s words unfortunately fell upon very perceptive ears.

“i’m-“

“you’re joking, right?” you chuckled awkwardly, fading into nothing as his eyes saddened. “i’m sorry.” was all he could muster. you frantically shook your head, disgusted that he felt forced to apologize for something he had no control over.

“how long?”

zuko hummed, eyes spaced out somewhere, looking everywhere but at you. you bit your lip, kneeling towards him, cold and shaky hands cupping his cheeks.

“stop avoiding and answer me, zuko. how long?”

zuko’s eyes peeled away from wherever he was previously glancing at, “however long it takes.” he mumbles and you frown, “what does that even mean.” you grunt, sitting back in defeat as you run your fingers through your hair.

“until i catch the avatar.”

you scoffed, “that’s fucking ridiculous.” zuko agreed silently, but that wasn’t enough for you. nowhere near, actually.

“i’m going to speak with your father.” you stand, making him stand with you, eyes wide and pupils blown.

“you can’t, yn.” he reaches for you in vain as you yank your hand back. “don’t try to stop me, zuko.” you were beyond pissed, tone dripping venom as zuko stood in front of you, obstructing your way to the door.

“move, goddamnit!” you hit his chest repeatedly, each strike more desperate than the last. “how are you just…okay with this?” you sobbed, forehead propped against his chest, his arms falling beside him, stiff as a statue.

“what more can i do?”

he made a good point, so good that it shushed you with a slap to the face.

“i’m leaving.”

“yn please wait-“

“im. leaving.” your lip quivered, voice shaky, eyes watery. zuko nodded, moving back to his bed, sitting on the edge.

you made your way to the bed as well, grabbing the ointment and placing it back on the metal tray.

“i hope to see you again, yn.” he murmured, back facing you as you stayed quiet, not wanting to entertain the idea of him leaving. sadly, it doesn’t matter if you entertain said idea or not, it’s happening anyway.

the moment you stepped out the door, that was it, even the hope of ever seeing him again started to dissipate.

by this point you were halfway down the dim hallway, ready to turn the corner to the servant’s quarters. you looked back, guards standing proud and tall outside the prince’s room. you bit your lip, gazing down at the cold tray in your hands, caressing it with your index finger.

after taking a deep breath and preparing yourself for a life without your first love, you walk off, never to hear from zuko again.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

“fucking hell!” zuko groaned as the memory made an unwanted visit for the nth time this week, standing from his cot like bed. he looked outside the small ship window, eyes landing on an endless ocean, stretching far and wide, separating him from you.

it’s been 3 years since zuko had the pleasure of laying eyes upon you. your pouty lips - which he longed to kiss - sparkling eyes, and beaming smile, he missed it all; every single second of it.

he made it his mission to capture the avatar, whatever it took, zuko will bring him before his father and finally get to feel your embrace again.

the fact that he didn’t seize the opportunity to confess, to tell you just how much he loves you - vocalize the burning desire to make you his partner - was eating at him from the inside out.

zuko paces around the room, breathing heavily as he grows anxious. his patience is running thin and he doesn’t know how much longer he can stay civil.

with three curt knocks zuko turns, uttering a ‘come in’ as his mind was somewhere else. a soldier walks in, with a small bow of his head, he exclaims, “we’ve found the avatar, sir!” this made zuko’s face brighten, nails no longer trapped between teeth.

“where?” the prince breathed, unspoken urgency in his voice. “here in the south pole, sir.” he raised a brow, “how far?” zuko questions.

“close by, approximately 2 nautical miles.” despite his shocked expression, zuko was elated.

“good job.” was all zuko said before strolling out his suffocating room. his palms grew sweaty, his heart hammered against his chest. he simply couldn’t contain himself.

he will see you again.

oh, he’s just imagining it; walking up behind you and surprising you, indulging in your warm laugh, welcoming eyes, and safe presence.

this is something he simply won’t - can’t - pass. zuko has the target within reach and he’s going to hold on tight, so tight the avatar will have no choice but to turn himself in.

a way one ticket, an opportunity peeking its face through the blur that is his life.

no matter the circumstance, he will not miss or give up - no, he’s coming home to you, forever this time.

© GARDNHEE 2024, do not copy, modify, or upload on other platforms

୨୧ - hope you liked it!! this is kinda rushed so im sorry if there’s any spelling errors :( please like, comment, and reblog. would be highly appreciated 🫶.

[lxndonorris]

a paddock affair - Lando Norris

Y/N x Lando Norris Theme: Fluff Lando introduces you to part of the paddock x mentions of Max, Carlos, Charles, Oscar and Daniel word count: 1200+ taglist: @game-set-canet requested by anonymous :) hope you like it. gif by me;

As the sun is shining brightly, casting its golden ray upon the Melbourne skyline, you find yourself standing outside the gates of the prestigious Formula 1 paddock, hand in hand with Lando, your heart fluttering with a mix of excitement and nerves. 

It had been a whirlwind romance since you first met a few months ago, and now Lando was inviting you into his world, the heart of the F1 action.

"Lando, I'm really nervous," you confess, tugging at the collar of your Mclaren team jacket, a piece of clothing that now holds sentimental value beyond its sleek design.

Lando squeezes your hand reassuringly, his trademark grin lighting up his face.

"Don't worry, love. You'll be great. Everyone's going to love you."

With his comforting words, you make your way into the paddock, where the air is alive with the hum of engines and the chatter of mechanics and drivers preparing for the weekend ahead.

Your first stop is to meet Lando's good friend and teammate turned rival, Carlos Sainz. As you approach, Carlos looks up from his conversation with a mechanic, and his face breaks into a wide smile.

"Lando! And who's this lovely lady?" Carlos greets you, his Spanish accent laced with warmth.

"This is Y/N, Carlos. My girlfriend." Lando introduces you proudly with a shy smile playing on his lips.

Carlos extends his hand, and you shake it, feeling a rush of gratitude for his friendly demeanor. Lando stands by your side, his comforting touch a constant reassurance; his hand strokes the small of your back, a subtle yet comforting gesture.

"Nice to meet you, Y/N. I must say, you look great in that Mclaren gear," he motions to the jacket Land gave you a few days prior. "You're practically part of the team already."

You blush at the compliment, feeling a sense of belonging wash over you as you exchange pleasantries before Carlos gets called away to attend to his duties in the garage.

Next, you encounter Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc engaged in an animated discussion. Their laughter echoes through the paddock as they reminisce about the last race. As you approach, they exchange knowing smirks before Charles excuses himself, his eyes lingering on you for a moment longer than necessary.

Max bounds over to you, his infectious energy filling the air. "Well, well, well, Lando, you sly dog! Hiding your girlfriend from us, eh?"

Lando rolls his eyes playfully. "Yeah, yeah, Max. This is Y/N, by the way."

Max shakes your hand enthusiastically. "Pleasure to meet you, Y/N. Don't worry, we won't give Lando too much trouble... maybe."

Their banter is like music to your ears, easing your nerves and making you feel like a part of the tight-knit F1 family. Amidst the lively banter and laughter, Lando's presence anchors you as the grip on your hand tightens ever so slightly.

After Max excuses himself as well, Oscar Piastri joins your little group. You had met him before, and he greeted you with a warm smile, genuine concern evident in his eyes.

"How are you feeling, Y/N?" Excited?" Oscar asks, his Australian accent adding a touch of familiarity to the conversation.

"Excited doesn't even begin to cover it," you reply, unable to contain your enthusiasm.

Lando wraps his arm around your waist, pulling you close. "Come on, let's take a stroll through the paddock. I want to show you everything."

As you wander through the bustling paddock, Lando points out the intricacies of the garages, the sleek motorhomes where the drivers and teams strategize, and the various anemities that make the F1 experience truly one-of-a-kind.

With each step, your anxiety melts away, replaced by a sense of wonder and awe at the world Lando inhabited.

At the same time, your eyes can't help but wander to Lando, taking in every detail. His Mclaren shirt hugs his lean frame perfectly, the familiar papaya orange contrasting beautifully against his sun-kissed skin. The casual elegance of his outfit, paired with jeans that fit just right, only serves to enhance his natural charm.

But it is his curly hair that always captivates you the most. Each unruly lock seems to have a mind of its own, framing his face in a way that is both effortlessly cool and undeniably endearing. Every time a stray curl falls across his forehead, your heart skips a beat, reminding you just how lucky you are to be by his side.

"Lando, your hair looks amazing today." You can't help but gush, reaching up to tuck a wayward curl behind his ear.

He grins, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Thanks, love. It's a constant battle trying to tame these ecurls, but I'm glad you like them."

You smile and caress Lando's cheek, marveling at the softness of his skin beneath your fingertips. His stubble tickles you ever so slightly, but you welcome the sensation, relishing in the intimacy of your moment together.

"I love your beard, Lando," you murmur, tracing the contours of his jawline with your thumb. "It suits you so well."

A hint of surprise flickers in his eyes before a sheepish grin spreads across his face. "You do? I wasn't sure if I should keep it or not."

You nod emphatically, leaning in to press a soft kiss to his lips. "Definetly keep it. It makes you look even more handsome, if that's even possible." 

His laughter echoes through the air around you, filling you with warmth and contentment. 

Lost in your quiet moment, a familiar voice breaks through the serenity around you. "Hey there, mate."

Startled, you turn to see Daniel Ricciardo approaching you, already donning his racing suit with that siganture grin plastered across his face.

Before Lando can react, Daniel reaches out and playfully pokes his sides, causing him to burst into giggles.

"Hey, Danny." Lando exclaims, returning the gesture with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Trying to distract me before training, huh?"

Daniel chuckles, his charm undeniable, as he joins you. "You know me, mate. Always up for a bit of fun."

Lando's arm finds its way around your waist, pulling you close, giving you comfort.

You fall into easy conversation, chatting about racing and sharing anecdotes from past experiences on the track. Daniel's enthusiasm is infectious, and soon enough, you are all laughing like old friends reunited.

After a while, Daniel excuses himself, a glint of determination in his eyes, as he prepares to focus on the upcoming race weekend. "Well, it's been great catching up, but duty calls. See you both later."

With a wave and a parting smile, he disappears into the bustling crowd, leaving behind a lingering sense of camaraderie that warms your heart.

You turn your head to find Lando looking at you, a warm smile forming on his lips.

"Lando," you say softly, overcome with emotion, "thank you for bringing me into the paddock."

A tender smile graces his lips as he gently caresses your cheek. "You did amazing, Y/N; I'm proud of you."

His words fill you with warmth, and as he leans in to kiss you, you feel a rush of love and affection wash over you, knowing that with Lando by your side, there is nothing you can't face together.

[iwacura]

when we say RGU is about "the cycle of abuse", we refer to gender-based violence, particularly perpetuated through "romance" (or a manipulation of it), and even more particularly through incest and grooming—and i have no intention of erasing that because it clearly is the central theme of the show. but part of me wants to focous on the idea of RGU representing political cycles, too. on taking the word "revolutionary" by its communist meaning. because weirdly enough, the way the anime conceptualizes time, history/myth (if they can even be separated), eternity and cycles is so....marxist?

i can't stop thinking about utena as a girl born within a system that lives off of exploitation—akio's exploitation of anthy as the archetype, and all others who emulate it. and she is so desperate to liberate her from that exploitation, to revolutionize ohtori. she is full of drive and good intentions, but so were all the other duelists that came before her. all the others that upon reaching the last duel—the duel named Revolution—allegedly were told by akio give up your sword, abandon your aspirations to revolutionize the world, and instead join me as my bride at the top of the tower. and they did, only to last two or three years as akio's chosen princesses—like kanae (re: The Palace Perspective)—and then be discarded. like so many socialists that get convinced by parliamentary social-democracy and abandon communism for reformism, only to last what? a brief decade-long political cycle and then get replaced. the Podemos and Sumares. the Die Linke to be. all leftist parties in mult-party systems that claim to be moved by good intentions but end up achieving nothing because they don't pose an actual alternative to the bourgeois system—they've just joined it. and the cycle continues.

except with utena, the cycle breaks. because she refuses to participate in the exploitation, rejects the system, and leaves to find an alternative. she is utena, the revolutionary girl, in the communist sense. her actions destroy ohtori entirely—as the school's power is founded on convincing its prisoners it is the only real world. ohtori is a parallel to capitalism in this case (bear with me on this).

in the post-soviet era, after the existing alternative of a socialist state was crushed, there spread a general idea that. this was it. "there was no other alternative", as Margaret Thatcher's campaign motto kindly put it. socialism didn't work in the USSR, which means it will never work, and we are stuck with capitalism forever. this thesis is famously developed in Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism, that picks up from Zizek and Debord's concept of the "perpetual present" (*). it is also the control device akio uses to get no student to leave, trapped in the stasis of adolesence forever, where they are easily exploitable. that is, until utena reminds them that an alternative is possible, that abandoning the exploitative system is feasible. you could say she restored class consciousness.

this ties into RGU's thesis of "eternity as something fake", too. in a way that this post explains better than i could:

"There is no such thing as something eternal" is reframed as a positive. eternity is Not Good. eternity is everything staying the same forever, never changing for the better. it's the opposite of revolution. it's what akio wants, perpetuating the system that benefits him at the cost of everyone else forever and ever. and no matter what utena might have thought, it is not what she wants. —transmascutena

"Perpetuating the system that benefits him at the cost of everyone else forever and ever" is just capitalism. and the relationships of abuse he subjects his students to should be understood as an iteration of capitalist relationships of production (not literally, as students aren't workers akio is stealing surplus value from. im just trying to say the dynamics of exploitation are very much the same im both cases). ohtori isn't eternal. ohtori is the opposite of revolution. capitalism is just the same. and utena's role within the story is to shatter it.

and there's also the whole double meaning of revolution RGU uses, that is also so post-soviet (or postmodern if you want to open the chronological window). revolution as change, and revolution as cycle. but aren't those contradictory? once upon a time they were, when marxist's viewed history as a linear succession of modes of production. slavery > feudalism > industrial capitalism > communism. a stable accumulation of progress, if you will. but pretty much no marxist stands by that conception today, except they very dogmatic ones. instead we see revolutions—revolutionary experiences—and a part of a cycle. things change, but the change is not final, not stable. we must continue to polish our methods, change again and again in the future. instead of linear history, a spiral. hopefully a staircase going up.

and we could interpret "nothing is eternal" in a different way too. marxian thought was based upon a specific idea of "man", a supposition of what "human essence" entailed—allegedly stable from the appearance of homo sapiens till the explosion of the sun—that guided Marx when envisioning the future under communism. and what is eternity if not that? an essence that remains unchanged no matter how far into the past or the future you go? post-soviet times have destroyed any belief in an unchanging "human essence". nothing stays forever. RGU shares this vision too, trying to chase eternity—or human essence—is futile. though i admit this point is more controversial philosophically speaking as some people still do consider "human essence" to be worth defining.

(*) and to warp it up, i bring up Debord because his Society of the Spectacle has definitions of history, spectacle, myth, eternity, cyclical time....so similar to RGU's. im not going to get into it because the audience for this post is already basically just. me. but maybe another time. here's a sneak peak from Theses 127 & 131 so yall get what i mean. read this while thinking about the Himemiyas as mythical (whether genuinely, or as akio's pretension doesn't really matter, because he weaponizes it either way) and using their magical role in the story to shape it world:

Eternity is within this time, it is the return of the same here on earth. Myth is the unitary mental construct which guarantees that the cosmic order conforms with the order that this society has in fact already established within its frontiers.

The masters who used the protection of myth to make history their private property did so first of all in the realm of illusion. In China and Egypt, for example, they long held a monopoly on the immortality of the soul; and their earliest officially recognised dynasties were nothing but imaginary reconstructions of the past. But this illusory ownership by the masters was the only ownership then possible, both of the common history and of their own history. As their real historical power expanded, this illusory-mythical ownership became increasingly vulgarised. All these consequences flowed from the simple fact that as the masters played the role of mythically guaranteeing the permanence of cyclical time (as in the seasonal rites performed by the Chinese emperors), they themselves achieved a tive liberation from cyclical time.

[hyzenthlayroseart]

I wanted to save these for when I was done with the whole project but I have a feeling the next few entries will take a long time to make since each era has so many movies (Renaissance Era, Experimental Era and the Modern Era) and I got impatient with myself so I'm posting what's done so far.

So I decided to do a project where I draw films from each Disney era together. For those who don't know about Disney's animation eras, here's a good guide: https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/many-merry-eras-disney

Another one that had to be split into two drawings, I'm sure the Revival Era and the Modern Era will have to each be split as well.

Now in a new millenium, Disney was moving away from the Renaissance era's Broadway inspired films and entering a new era experimenting new technology and new ways of storytelling. While it was an exciting time for being creative and taking risks, they didn't always pay off. Thankfully some of the films from this era that failed at the time have been reevaluated over time as underrated masterpieces, and even some that still aren't viewed in a positive light still have a cult following. Many critics viewed the failures from this era as a consequence of putting technical innovation over storytelling.

The first film from this era was Fantasia 2000, the sequel to 1940's Fantasia. Interestingly, Walt initially planned way back in the day to have Fantasia be a continuing film series with new segments replacing older ones in each release. Tragically, plans for this were scrapped when the original film unfortunately ended up being a box office failure. It wasn't until 1984 when Walt's nephew Roy E. Disney suggested the idea of a Fantasia sequel to then-CEO Michael Eisner that the idea was revived, however, then-chairman Jeffery Katzenberg was uninterested. After the 1990 re-release of Fantasia was a financial success, Disney saw it as a sign that there was enough public interest in Fantasia to justify a sequel. Michael Eisner finally gave the film the greenlight in 1991, and years later in the year 1999, the film premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York, then in 2000 the film had a wide release in IMAX. The film was a critical success but sadly ended up becoming a box office flop like its predecessor.

The next film was Dinosaur, and while it's unfortunately a forgotten film today, it has a significant role in Disney animation history as their first CGI animated film. The idea was originally conceived by director Paul Verhoeven and special effects artist Phil Tippet as a stop-motion animated film and pitched to Disney in 1988 but due to budget disputes with Jefferey Katzenberg, the two filmmakers left the project and it ended up shelved in development hell. It wasn't until 1994 that development on the project began by shooting various test footage of computer-generated characters placed digitally in miniature model backgrounds. Computer-generated backgrounds were considered as well, but ultimately it was decided that the film would combine CGI characters in live-action scenery. Michael Eisner greenlit the project, however he insisted that the characters talk during the film; previously it was planned for the animal characters to be silent while a narrator spoke throughout the film like a nature documentary. When the film premiered it was a box office success, and the film received positive reviews for its visuals, however the reception story and characters were more mixed in reviews.

The next film was The Emperor's New Groove, which was actually a complete rehaul of a cancelled film called Kingdom of the Sun, a musical taking place in the Incan empire with a Prince and the Pauper story involving a selfish emperor switching places with a peasant who looks just like him, however the emperor gets turned into a llama by an evil witch who threatens to reveal his identity unless he obeys her. The emperor would learn humility as a llama and fall in love with a llama herder, and the two would team up to undo the witch's plans. The film ended up in a troubled production, and in the end it was clear that it wasn't far enough in production to be released on its scheduled released date. Roger Allers, who would have been the director for the film, quit the project. This lead to Michael Eisner telling producer Randy Fullmer that he had two weeks to salvage the project or production would be completely shut down. The film was ultimately changed to The Emperor's New Groove, and instead of being a musical inspired by The Prince and the Pauper it was now a buddy comedy with no love interests. Since the film had to salvaged in such a short time-frame, it was actually made without a fully finalized script and was made unconventionally with a more improvisational approach with the writers basically given free rein which lead to the film being as hilarious as it is. When the film premiered, it was unfortunately not a box office success, however it did receive positive reviews and to this day is considered one of Disney's funniest animated movies.

Disney's next film was Atlantis: The Lost Empire, a science fantasy adventure film inspired by works of Jules Vernes such as Journey to the Center of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The filmmakers used the Internet to research mythology surrounding Atlantis, visited museums to study 20th century technology, looked at ancient architecture as inspiration for Atlantis, and even hired Mark Okrand, who invented the Klingon language for Star Trek, to create a language for Atlanteans. At the time of the film's release, it was known for using more CGI than any other traditionally animated Disney film. When the film premiered, it was not a box office success and received mixed reviews, although the animation received positive reviews.

Their next film, Lilo and Stitch, would have a much better fate. The idea for the film started in 1985 with a failed children's book pitch made by Chris Sanders about a creature named Stitch who lived in the forest. In 1987 he was hired at Disney to work in the visual development department for The Rescuers Down Under, but he soon transitioned into storyboarding for Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and eventually promoted to head the story on Mulan. In 1997, it was discussed that Disney should try its hand at creating a smaller and less expensive film in wake of the large-budget films they had already done, an idea inspired by the similar production history of Dumbo. When Chris Sanders was asked if there were any stories he'd be interested in developing into an animated film, and Chris Sanders pitched an idea based on his failed children's book project, pitching an idea about Stitch crash-landing in a forest surrounded by woodland animals, but then-vice president Thomas Schumaker suggested that Stitch should interact with humans instead. The story was pitched as taking place in Kansas, but after glancing at a map of Hawaii on his wall and remembering a vacation there, Sanders decided to change the location to Hawaii. Unlike previous Disney animated films, the film's pre-production team remained relatively small and isolated from upper management until the film went into full production. When the animation team travelled to Kuaui for research for the film, the tour guide explained the concept of Ohana, a Hawaiian term meaning "family", a concept which became an important part of the film's theme. Watercolor paint was chosen for the film's background art as opposed to the traditional gouache technique. While watercolor had been used in early Disney shorts as well as Snow White, Pinocchio and Dumbo, the technique had been abandoned in the mid-40s in favor of less complicated media such as gouache. When the film released, it was both a critical and box office success, and to this day is considered one of Disney's most beloved movies.

The next film was Treasure Planet, a steampunk science fiction take on Treasure Planet but in space. The idea was originally pitched by Ron Clements in 1985 (at the same meeting where he and John Musker pitched The Little Mermaid) but was rejected by Michael Eisner, pitched again then turned down again in 1989, then pitched and rejected a third time after the release of Aladdin. These rejections angered Clements and Musker so much that they approached then-chairman Roy E. Disney, who backed the filmmakers and made his wishes known to Eisner, who in turn agreed that the studio should produce the movie. In 1995, their contract was re-negotiated to allow them to commence development on Treasure Planet when Hercules reached completion. When the film premiered it was a box office failure but received positive reviews, and throughout the years after it's been considered an underrated gem.

The next film was Brother Bear, with the idea for a film about bears being suggested after the success of The Lion King in 1994, leading to Michael Eisner urging for more animal-centric films. Initially the story idea was inspired by King Lear and centered around an old blind bear who travelled through the woods with his three daughters, but in 1997 animator Aaron Blaise joined the project and wanted a more naturalistic story, so he and producer Chuck Williams produced a two-page treatment of a father-son story in which the son is transformed into a bear, and in the end, remains a bear, which then-president Thomas Schumaker approved. After the project was greenlit, the team went on a research trip to Alaska in 1999, and a year later went to Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Sequoia National Park. In 2000, the story evolved into a tale where the transformed bear Kenai is taken under the wing of an older bear named Grizz, but after struggling to get charm into the story, Grizz was changed to a bear cub named Koda. When the film premiered, it was a box office success but received mixed reviews. As the years went on, it became known as another underrated masterpiece from Disney.

Their next film, Home on the Range, was originally conceived in the 90s as a supernatural Western called Sweatin' Bullets, about a timid cowboy who visits a ghost town and confronts an undead cattle rustler, inspired by the song "Ghost Riders in the Sky". The story was changed to one about a little bull named Bullets who wanted to be more like the horses that lead the herd, then finally in 1999 it was changed to a story about three cows who become bounty hunters to save their farm. The film was originally scheduled for a 2003 release while Brother Bear was slated for a 2004 release, however Disney ended up switching the dates in order to promote Brother Bear on the Platinum Edition release of The Lion King. When the film premiered, it received mixed reviews and was a box office disaster, and went on to be blamed for killing 2D animation at Disney (at least until The Princess and the Frog released in 2009, but that's for a future upload). Nowadays the film still is looked at unfavorably, but it does still have its fans.

The next film Chicken Little, was basically Disney's attempt at making a film like Shrek, meaning that they made a fairy tale parody with crude, edgy, self-aware humor and pop culture references, but needless to say, their attempt was unsuccessful. When the film idea was developed in 2001, the character of Chicken Little was a female, and the story would be about her going to a Summer camp to reduce her anxiety as well as repair her relationship with her father, and discovering her camp counselor planning a nefarious plot against her hometown. When it was pitched to Michael Eisner, he suggested Chicken Little be changed to a boy because boys wouldn't want to see a film with a female protagonist (yes, really). When David Stainton became Disney animation's new president in 2003, he decided the story needed a different approach, and during the next three months it was changed to a story about Chicken Little trying to save his town from aliens. When the film premiered it was a box office success but received mixed reviews, and today it still isn't viewed favorably (but like Home on the Range, it does still have its fans).

The next film was Meet the Robinsons, based on a 1990s children's book A Day With Wilbur Robinson by William Joyce, who pitched the story idea to various filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, George Miller, Peter Jackson, Francis Ford Coppola and Diane Keaton as a live-action film before eventually being acquired by Disney as an animated film. This film would be Disney's first time animating humans in CGI, so they ended up using Pixar's The Incredibles as inspiration, as well as looking at their own films from the Silver Age such as Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Peter Pan and some Warner Bros. cartoons as inspirations for 1950s aesthetics. When the film premiered, it got positive reviews but was unfortunately a box office failure. Thankfully it also gained a reputation as an underrated classic like several of its other predecessors in this era.

Finally, there's Bolt, a film which originally began as a story by Chris Sanders called American Dog, a story about an anthropomorphic dog celebrity named Henry who one day finds himself stranded in the desert with a one-eyed cat and a rabbit, and the three of them search for new homes, all while Henry still thinks he's on TV. Chris Sanders was eventually removed from the project after resisting changed to the story and went to work at Dreamworks instead, however in recent years Sanders has assured that he has no ill will over the decision and approved of the final film. The dog Henry was changed to a normal dog thinks the show he's the star of is real, and when his owner Penny gets "kidnapped" in the show, he runs away from the studio to "rescue" her, but gets lost and and ends up teaming up with a sarcastic female alley cat named Mittens and a fanboy hamster named Rhino to get back home, and along the way realizes his show was never real. When the film premiered it was a box office success and received positive reviews, and was overall a sweet and heartwarming film to end the era.

[mousathe14]

It is wild to me that the Young Justice cartoon was just the Teen Titans but they didn’t want to use the Teen Titans name again.

I mean think about it, the roster is Aqualad, Dick Grayson’s Robin, and Wally West’s Kid Flash. The original Teen Titans except, you know, a different Aqualad. And Wonder Girl is replaced with Artemis and Miss Martian.

Until the cast over expands and Tim Drake and Wonder Girl finally are there but the story and cast becomes so overbloated I actively stopped caring about the show.

Also Superboy is here too but not, like, the arrogant hormonal sassy little B Superboy, but like the mid-2000s Teen Titans broody Superboy with the short hair, black shirt, and angst about being half Lex Luthor.

And Impulse is there sometimes. Different role. And voiced by Gear from Static Shock which was… Not a choice I would’ve made for Impulse.

I wasn’t expecting a straight adaptation, but it does feel disingenuous to call these guys young Justice and not give Tim Drake and Impulse top billing.

Tim Drake has been disrespected by adaptations for years. The DC animated movie universes don’t even use him, it’s basically Dick Grayson, sometimes Jason Todd, and that no good Damian Wayne.

Because why find family when you can throw in biological children instead.

There’s no time or space for him in live action adaptations, the various animated adaptations just skip him (except the DCAU). I think the best shot he’s ever been given was the Batman Arkham games where he’s… Robin alright.

Except redesigned to look like Chris O’Donnell version from the Joel Schumacher “Batman and Robin” movie which is a weirdass redesign choice because I love that movie, but I know most hardcore people don’t like that movie, and I’m certainly not there because I think Chris O’Donnell looks like a great Robin.

Oh right, he was also in that Gotham Knights game nobody liked. I certainly didn’t play it, I didn’t hate myself that much. I heard decent things about some of the character moments though.

Anyhow, that’s all that to say that the original Young Justice got shafted and now that I’m actually reading the comics I want justice for Young Justice.

[maglarks]

Live action DC shows and movies have done the same thing to the justice league as they did to the teen titans

like they’ve shown one version of the justice league (the trinity, flash, cyborg, and aquaman) and taken that as gospel rather than looking into other fun league members

Animated shows like Justice League (to an extent) and Justice League unlimited are amazing in the fact that they include other members, people like hawkgirl, john stewart, and martian manhunter who a lot of people don’t know (in the fact that if i asked someone who didn’t read comics they probably couldn’t tell me anything about the characters)

The live action Justice Leage in particular does a good job of making out that they are the founding JL members (they. are not. that would be the trinity, flash (barry allen), gl (hal jordan in most continuations), and martian manhunter)

Swapping out Hal and J’onn for Vic and Arthur is so annoying to me because you’ve got 2/3 of your Spaceboys™️ and replaced them with a badly developed Aquaman, and Cyborg who most of your target audience know and are familiar with as a Teen Titan

Honestly every single movie with Hal and Barry has disrespected them so heavy and treated them as comic relief (most notably the Flash and the DCAMU as a whole) but to leave out all GLs as a whole is insane (rip guy gardner, gone AND forgotten)

And with the Teen Titans, they!ve done the exact same thing

People ignore the fab five (robin, speedy, aqualad, wondergirl, and kid flash) in preference of the overused and overmarketed tt/ttg 5 (robin, beast boy, cyborg, starfire, and raven)

People have been asking and asking for literally any fab five content, especially with more teen titans media in the works, but instead they go the route of the popular, marketable characters

I’m not sure if its because non comic readers don’t know the fab five, or if its because they’re not all perfect people, or whatever, but its a massive fuck you to actual comic readers

The fab five are such big parts of so many teen titans development, and though they are so very briefly mentioned in the Titans show i don’t even think that counts because it was. uhm. (and also no wally or roy + garth was blonde and died so BOOO)

I think personally a fab five tt show, with other ntt + future tt/titans members as side characters or just cameos would be such a cool way to go about it, or even a show based fully around New Teen Titans or Titans would be a way to diverge from the tt we all know and (kinda) love

anyways i’ve been yapping so im gonna stop here and let y’all tell me what you think

(also ignore the tags there are so many characters to tag in this post IM SORRY)

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Hey, psst. Want to hear about one of my more meaningless pet peeves?

You know the Moomins, right? A few years ago the answer might've been no, but after the popularity of Moominvalley (2019) the Moomin franchise seems to have gained popularity outside of Europe and Japan. In any case, Moomins follows the adventures of hippo-like "trolls" in book, comic, TV show and movie form, animated, stop motion and live action alike. One of my very favourite characters from the Moomins is Edward the Booble.

(First image from here, the rest pulled from the episode Adventures of Moominpappa: Part 1)

My first introduction to him was in the animated Moomin (1990) series, and wow!!! What a creature, I'm sure you can assume why I immediately took a liking! A gigantic, reptilian beast, magnificently suited for aquatic living with his long body and finned tail! In this series it's even implied that he might be a dragon or related to dragons (this is not a feature of other Moomin series or books though) which made him infinitely cooler to me. Despite being the second largest creature on Earth he's always described to be a very friendly guy, if he ever steps on a person by accident he always pays for the funeral costs, they say.

Edward has other interpretations of himself, naturally, given the long lifespan of the Moomins as a franchise and the fact that he made his actual debut in the book Moominpappa's Memoirs. This is him as illustrated in the book:

(Image from here)

In the stop motion show The Moomins (1977) he looks like this:

(Image from The Moomins episode Edward the Booble)

The comics take perhaps the greatest divergence, as in those he looks like this:

(Image taken from here)

...Still pretty similar, usually.

Fortunately for me, despite his rather few appearances in any Moomin property, he gets his own spotlight in the Moomin World park! ...There's a theme park, by the way. Two parks, one in Naantali, Finland, one in Hanno, Japan. I'm talking about the Naantali park in this case, a place I've gone to significantly more than the average person. ^^' As you saw, certain characters (and places) look extremely different interpretation to interpretation, so Moomin World most closely sticks to the 90's animated show if there's any conflicting designs. This is Edward at the park, he floats near the Moomins' "bathing hut":

(Image from here)

Now look at that! Naturally they couldn't have made him a gigantic looming beast, but this is really darn close to how he is in the 90's series. He looks a lot like a long-necked dinosaur, I really enjoy his individually molded scales and hair strands, and his sort of claylike texture. It makes him look like he was brought into the real world straight from a cartoon: a look that's just right for the Moomin World! Just look at his face!!!

(Image from here)

A real big sweetie!!!! He's obviously fake, yet he feels real anyway. It's the way that he's shaped so naturally, how his raised neck and tail and arched back create a shape that flows from body part to part. It’s the way each part of him is textured, even in the parts of him where he lacks scales there’s a subtle unevenness to his surface, and certain features are raised. Despite being a purple yellow-haired reptilian creature he's very much like a real animal! All in all an excellent adaptation.

“Wait,” you might be thinking. “This is all good things. You like the Edward at the park. Where’s the pet peeve?”

You’d be quite right! All of this is indeed well and good, but that’s because I’ve withheld one crucial detail.

That is not Edward the Booble at the Moomin Park.

Not anymore. He was replaced some time ago, with an all new design.

Currently, Edward looks like this:

(Top image from here, bottom image from here)

......

What in the world. Do you see that??? Edward looks like his spine was mangled. I presented you with several different versions of Edward before so you could compare: does he look like any of his adaptations? Certainly not. He has never been a sea serpent!! Nevermind this ridiculously long snake torso, he's always depicted as having a long neck and tail but a normal, plump body. See those things shittily painted on his side? Those are fins! When did he ever have fins!!!?????

All of those wonderful sculpted scales have been replaced with an all smooth surface. His body's surface texture is instead communicated through paint. I do think the paint job is quite pretty as his colouration gets some variation (reminds me of a story book illustration, likely they were going for that look), but see how much the light reflects off of his plastic surface? When his scales were actually there, you'd see their shadows, but now that they went for an all smooth design he looks cheap, like any other theme park plastic statue out there. He looks factory-made. It makes his newly added fins appear like an afterthought, nevermind his hair that shifts from three-dimensional to painted on halfway down his neck. I suppose they just didn't feel like painting his hair all the way down his back like it is in Moomin...

I suppose his quizzical look is pretty cute, but yeeeouch that neck!!!! It has that weird bend right in the middle, and it's so skinny and short compared to his body. It widens so much at the bottom, he's like a watering can, man! His head is far too small and a real weird shape, though I can't put my finger on it. Perhaps his weird bulging teeth? They're awfully big in his mouth when previously they were more in proportion.

They insisted on this weird long noodle body and yet he doesn't even flow nicely anymore. There's an awkward hump between the neck and the body, and at the end of his body where logically his form would rise up, it instead straightens out for a bit, then his tail raises.

Now, obviously this is extremely minor in the grand scheme of things. I seldom bother myself with thoughts of the new Edward the Booble — only now did I get the idea of making a Tumblr post about this, lmao. This is just another case of “man, now why would they do that >:(“ rather than anything big. Because, really… man, now why would they do that!! Had a perfectly good Booble before. Perfect down to every last detail. Now he’s been replaced by some imposter! >:(

[captainjonnitkessler]

On Temu and Shein, I think most people don't realize that 99% of shit is either made under horrendous conditions or made by parts that are made under horrendous conditions. It's like my vegan roommate who loves Oreos and chocolate. They're conscientious about animal rights, which I do applaud, but they still consume cocoa products that are only made available through extensive child labor (that's not me being judgemental, that's just an example that I can think of in a particularly stellar human being who tries their hardest to be as ethical as possible). But that's the thing about ethical consumption; you can reduce your impact significantly in one specific area, but if you look at the whole image—the unethical companies that make the ingredients, the unethical companies that own the ethical companies, the labor that goes into making the packaging and the tags and the shipping, down to cardboard and plastic wrap—it all kinda falls apart. So people are mad about Temu because that is one aspect of their life they can feel morally good about, even though they buy the exact same products at Walmart or whatever.

This is why I am rapidly getting annoyed with the "if you do X or don't do Y you're a horrible person that everyone hates!!" shit.

Every single person in the imperial core benefits massively from the exploitation and oppression of other people in the global south. The single most oppressed person in the United States is still benefiting from being in the United States. Huge portions of our industry, culture, and standard of living are underwritten by slavery and poverty in other countries.

This isn't to say that nothing matters and you shouldn't even try, I absolutely think people should try to act ethically where they can. But the average person cannot and will not act ethically in every single scenario every time. For every action you criticize other people for, there is something you're doing that can be criticized the same way.

I generally think people should boycott Chik-fil-a, but it would be hypocritical of me to demand it when eating meat at all makes me complicit in huge amounts of animal suffering and environmental damage. I generally think people should buy ethically-made clothing instead of fast fashion, but it would be hypocritical of me to demand it when I routinely buy Nestle chocolate at the gas station. I generally think people should replace their lawns and gardens with native plants, but it would be hypocritical of me to demand when I routinely buy shit packaged in single-use plastic because it's more convenient than seeking out ethically packaged alternatives.

So yeah, act ethically where you can, and I think it's a good thing to prioritize buying as ethically as possible. But you gotta keep in mind that a) this is a systemic issue that isn't going to be resolved with individual action and b) it's impossible to be perfect about it, so don't demand perfection either of others or yourself. Definitely stop using it as a bludgeon for whatever behavior the internet has decided it doesn't like this week.

[sabrinajenre96]

Episode twenty four “Big Sisters, Secrets & Snitches”

Micheal Robinavitch x wife reader x Sawyer Robinavitch x Spencer Robinavitch x Alex Robinavitch

Warning ⚠️: Chaos

Spencer is back in action — scrubs, clipboard, glitter glasses, and Kojo right by her side. She’s declared the living room “The New Pitt Junior,” and anyone who enters must have a valid reason or a badge (she makes Alex color his). She’s even roped in her grandpa to play a delirious patient. Again.

But while Spencer is running the cutest fake ER on the East Coast, things are heating up on the older sibling front.

Sawyer, now 17 and back to pirouetting like the ballerina queen she is, announces — casually, too casually — that she has a date this weekend.

With a boy.

Michael drops the cup of coffee he’s holding.

Y/N freezes mid-text.

Alex, the 8-year-old menace and part-time chaos agent, raises an eyebrow. “You mean Jeremy? The guy you met while volunteering at the hospital?”

Silence.

Sawyer’s eyes widen. “Alex—”

Alex continues, oblivious. “He’s like… older than you, right? 18? You said he’s going to college next year.”

Michael: enters Dad War Mode.

Y/N: enters silent Wife Tease Mode™.

“Wait,” Michael says slowly. “She’s seventeen, he’s eighteen, and they met while she was in scrubs?”

“I was volunteering,” Sawyer defends. “It’s not like we scrubbed in on a trauma together.”

Spencer, overhearing from her stuffed-animal ER, gasps. “Is this why you didn’t want to help me restock the Band-Aids?!” Then she dramatically turns to Kojo. “Assistant, we have a Code Betrayal.”

Sawyer rolls her eyes. “Don’t you have a fake heart transplant to do?”

Alex? He’s thrilled. “I’m telling Grandma. And Uncle Jack. And Kojo.”

Kojo gives Sawyer a suspicious look. Spencer hands him a clipboard. “Add ‘Date Interrogation’ to the chart.”

Y/N, fighting a smile, finally steps in. “Let’s all take a breath. Michael, stop pacing. Alex, stop snitching. Spencer, stop treating Kojo like he’s a polygraph.”

Michael mutters, “She’s seventeen.”

Spencer sighs, “She could’ve invited Theo so we’d double date, but nooo…”

Y/N just grins. “This is karma, honey. Remember your meltdown when I was 22 and we started dating?”

Michael groans into his hoodie.

The night of Sawyer’s date arrives.

She looks stunning — soft makeup, flowy dress, ballet flats. She’s nervous but excited. Jeremy is picking her up at 6:30 sharp. Michael? He’s been “accidentally” polishing kitchen knives since 5.

Y/N tries to intervene. “You’re going to scare him.”

“That’s the point.”

Spencer, dressed in her sparkly scrubs, perches on the couch like a mini mob boss. “I gave Kojo the signal. If Jeremy steps one toe out of line, it’s chomp-chomp time.” Kojo lets out a low huff from his dog bed, clearly ready for duty.

Jeremy rings the bell. Sawyer opens the door before Michael can reach it.

Michael opens the door anyway.

He’s in his scrubs. No lab coat. Hoodie on. Stethoscope hanging around his neck like an intimidation tactic. He offers his hand. “Michael. Sawyer’s father. I’ve cracked chests and replaced a liver today. But you? You’re what might finally break me.”

Jeremy stammers. “Uh… hi, sir. Big fan of your published work on abdominal trauma.”

Michael blinks. “...Oh.”

Y/N pulls him aside. “You’re not going.”

Michael: “I’m just going to sit a few tables away.”

Y/N: “No.”

Cut to: Michael and Spencer absolutely going. They’re in the corner booth at the same pizza place. Spencer has a trench coat and glittery spy sunglasses. Michael has a newspaper with eye holes cut out.

Spencer whispers, “Kojo’s outside, ready to bark if he sees Jeremy get handsy.”

Michael watches Sawyer laugh at something Jeremy says and groans.

Spencer nods solemnly. “That’s how it starts.”

Meanwhile, Y/N gets a text from the waiter:

“Your husband and daughter are trying to be incognito spies. It’s… not working.”

Back home, Sawyer walks in before curfew, glowing and giggly. Michael pretends he wasn’t watching her from the porch. Spencer immediately grabs her notebook to “debrief.”

Y/N just shakes her head. “This family needs therapy.”

Michael: “We are therapy.”

Kojo: sighs in judgmental Belgian Malinois.

[boredlore]

DO NOT go see the live action Lilo and Stitch or Snow White in theaters!!!! Or at all!!! Do not let Disney make more money off of soulless and frankly harmful remakes of beautiful classics. Disney doesn’t care if it’s a hate watch. Money is money.

Go rewatch the originals and show them the love they deserve.

[delimeful]

let my mind reset (6)

warnings: angst, brainwashing, torture, psychological conditioning, references to injury/gore/death, harmful surgical implants, they are really going through it now, lmk if i missed any

-

Where the hours had passed slowly before, now they seemed to slip by all too fast. Every spare moment Roman had was spent in anxious anticipation of the next session and all that came with it.

He had never seen something like the haze used on a person before. Crav’n were invulnerable to it, and he’d only ever witnessed his aunt use it briefly on one of the local fauna once, a harmless and finicky tree-dwelling species about the size of his hand.

(Roman remembered the way Marta had compelled the little creature to pace back and forth, from place to place, wearing its will away until there wasn’t any hesitation between order and action. Then, she’d sent it walking into the nearby pond.

He remembered the way its survival instinct had set in late, the way it began to thrash, and still Marta didn’t call it back. He remembered feeling relieved when his mother stepped in and put a stop to the demonstration, scooping the poor beast from its fate with disapproval etched firmly in the set of her shoulders.

He didn’t remember if the creature had lived through the withdrawal, afterwards.)

Virgil was far from a simple animal, though, and despite Roman’s half-formed nightmares, he didn’t mindlessly succumb to the influence of the drug the first time it was forced on him, nor the second or the third.

In fact, every time the other Humans entered his cell with that unsettling green canister, he seemed just as panicked as Roman, if not more, putting up as much of a fight as he could with a battered body and a wrung out mind. No matter how they tutted or scolded, the other Humans still couldn’t get the mask on him until Roux had him forcibly subdued, which was a tiny victory in itself.

That didn’t stop the drug from taking its toll each and every time.

As horrible as it sounded, the worst part was that the effects weren't painful or malicious in nature. At least that would have been easier to fight against; a logical, instinctive response to being hurt.

No, it was far more insidious than that. The haze dulled pain. First, the physical: it eased away the stiffness of sore muscles and the burning of shocked nerves, leaving only a pleasant numbness behind. Then, the mental: it stalled the production of stressful chemical compounds, replacing them with whatever was needed to trick the victim’s mind into believing they were happy, relaxed, pliable.

Roman had never seen Virgil so unwound, so carefree, and he hated how unnatural the behavior seemed on the Human. It was a miserable experience, finally seeing him without the hunted slant to his posture, and feeling sickened by the sight.

What was worse was watching it wear off.

As though a switch had been thrown in reverse, Virgil would be plagued by a creeping, unrelenting sense of panic and dread, pacing around his cell frantically until a sudden hypersensitivity to touch left him crumpled in one spot, breathing harsh and pained.

Time after time, he was shown exactly how painful withdrawal from even a few doses was, until he was left bracing for it well before the next session had even begun.

“The last guys who had me would have killed for something like this,” Virgil said, nearly panting as he laid out on his back. He had his fingers pressed against his neck, feeling his pulse. His heart was racing so hard that Roman could see the veins pulsing eerily under the skin. A heavy spike of adrenaline, unprompted by anything tangible. “Bet she has at least a few people stashed away just to drain for easy cash.”

He spoke more, like this. Out of turn, about topics that were morbid and pessimistic, as though the thoughts were tumbling free of his mind without his permission. Roman never let his negative reactions to the more grim topics go beyond his ears flickering back; it wasn’t like he had the room or right to judge. They didn’t have very many reasons to be optimistic. Besides, he’d realized early on that the more worked up Roman got, the worse Virgil got in turn.

He still didn’t know the exact details of how Dren harvesting worked, and he was fairly sure he was better off for it. The very idea of setting an entire person aside for something like that was reprehensible, and therefore entirely possible for Marta.

“She said she… she gets rid of Humans that don’t break,” he replied after a moment, the words tumbling freely from him for once. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to turn a profit from it.”

He’d been trying to match the distant, dry tone Virgil had used, but he must have missed the mark, because the Human stiffened, and drew his hand back from Roman’s grasp to press it harshly against his eyes.

Belatedly, Roman realized what he’d just implied. Virgil was one of those Humans trying not to break, was at this very moment barely clinging to his composure, and he’d just been informed he was stuck between two horrific fates worse than death. “I didn’t mean—,”

“‘S alright,” Virgil interrupted, voice rough with exhaustion. “It’s not like I didn’t know. It makes me feel a little better, honestly.”

Roman stared at him, bewildered and still slightly aghast at his own stupidity, and Virgil shifted a few fingers to peer back with one eye.

“At least some Humans didn’t fall for it, y’know? At least some of them got out in their own way,” he continued, a thin thread of hopelessness tangled up in the words. “I was starting to wonder if the rest of space was right. If we were all just destined to be monsters with the right motivation.”

Roman should have been more alarmed at the implication that Virgil felt close to succumbing, that he was nearer than he’d ever wanted to be to a Human on the brink of falling under someone else’s blatantly malignant control, but all he could feel was a painful sympathy.

“You’re not a monster,” he said, and then, more firmly— “Humans aren’t monsters.”

Virgil’s eye widened slightly, gaze intent in a way that would have made Roman bristle in the past.

“They’re just people. They can do good or bad, just like anyone else. And sure, these guys are— they’re not doing good.” A pause, and Roman forced himself to meet Virgil’s stare. “But you have. You saved Patton, and you tried to save me, and you’re— you’re not a monster. You’re a good friend.”

Virgil buried his face back in his elbow and was quiet for a long moment.

“…You’re not so bad yourself.”

—

Roman hadn’t expected Marta to show up in person, not with how much she had delegated to her brainwashed underlings thus far, but arrive she did.

“Don’t fret, ghiva’al,” she crooned to him, passing by his cell with the lightest clink of her claws dragged against the bars. “I’m here to meet your little pet, not you.”

“Don’t—,” call me that, call him that, he wanted to snarl, but his throat closed up so sharply that it sounded a little like he’d choked.

Marta made her stilted croaking laugh, sparing him a glance that might have been pitying if it had bothered to reach her cold, empty eyes. “You always did struggle with words when emotional, didn’t you? Not nearly as well spoken as your mother. What a shame to see that hasn’t changed.”

There was a sharp clacking as an aggressive shudder ran through Roman’s scales, but he still couldn’t find his voice. Not even when Marta moved on to grip the bars of Virgil’s cell, her attention shifting to the Human where he stood warily in the center of the cage.

Roman had learned more than he’d ever thought he would about Human body language over the past few weeks. He knew from the slight sway to Virgil’s every shift that the Human was drained, likely barely keeping his feet.

Still, he was upright to face Marta, his height advantage allowing him to look down at her, and that was better than being crumpled on the ground at her feet. Little victories were all they had now, and they clung to each and every one.

Roux wasn’t there, Roman realized with a jolt, and the knowledge was enough to drag his mind into overdrive, a sudden double-edged hope springing to life in his chest.

Virgil must have already realized, because the way he held himself shifted into something taut and coiled, like he was preparing to lunge forward at the first opportunity, weak or not.

“Back of the cell,” Marta commanded, voice turned brisk and blunt in a way it hadn’t been with Roman. Like she was speaking to a beast instead of a person.

Virgil didn’t move, barely deigned to acknowledge the words beyond a brief flicker of his pupils upwards.

Marta waited, letting the silence stretch for a brief moment, and then clicked her teeth together in a mild reprimand. “The hard way, then.”

Despite her apparent annoyance, the words held a sort of anticipatory delight, and Roman felt the thick tar of dread slide under his scales as he watched her slide a small, triangular remote from a pouch at her side.

When she pressed the button in the center of it, she was looking at Roman.

It was Virgil who went rigid and fell.

Despite knowing it would undercut every lie he’d tried to sell about how little he cared, despite the fact that he was playing right into her claws, Roman couldn’t help but rush to the bars separating them, a shout of horror catching in his chest.

The Human hit the ground hard but stayed chillingly frozen, with every muscle locked into hard lines. He didn’t make a sound until Marta shifted her thumb away from the button, the motion somehow allowing him to finally go limp like a puppet with strings cut.

“Virgil!” Roman managed, though the sound of it was nearly lost in the sudden loudness of the Human’s gasping breaths. He hadn’t been breathing before, Roman realized with a terrified shock.

Whatever Marta was doing, it hadn’t countered Virgil’s natural stubbornness, and he climbed back to his feet with less staggering than Roman would have expected.

His gaze caught on the tremor to Virgil’s hands, the shuddering of his pulse, and he understood. Adrenaline.

The fight or flight instinct, Virgil had called it while talking with Patton. Roman had seen him choose to fight once, at their very first meeting, but even that couldn’t compare to the speed and ferocity of the way the Human lunged now.

Marta didn’t flinch back when he made loud, skull-rattling contact with the bars, but she didn’t blink, either, keeping her eyes firmly locked on Virgil as she pressed the button once more.

Instead of letting him drop, however, she reached out and seized him by the face, claws digging in on either cheek and holding tightly.

Virgil couldn’t so much as flinch away from the pain, and Roman slammed his arm against the door of his own cell with force, furious at his own helplessness.

Marta released the trigger again, and this time, every gasping inhale Virgil took was dosed with her haze. He tried to jerk back, but it was far faster acting straight from the source, and he had barely a moment before his expression dropped to something hollow and smooth, his desperate strength wavering and then extinguishing like a flame with nothing left to burn.

“Down,” Marta commanded, releasing her grip, and Virgil stood in place for a few long heartbeats before his legs collapsed underneath him.

She waved a hand absently down at him, still scattering her haze thick in the air. “There you go. It feels so much better when you listen, doesn’t it?”

Virgil twitched, a ripple of discontent crossing his face, but didn’t respond. He was shaking relentlessly now, his entire body trembling in a way that had Roman deeply concerned.

“You’re safe with me,” Marta lied, reaching down to glide the palm of her hand over the side of Virgil’s face. “You’re only safe with me. Everyone else wants to hurt you, but I’ll make the pain go away. Always do as I say, okay?”

Virgil didn’t move away, even as her rough skin caught on the wounds her claws had left only moments ago. His breathing grew wispier, slower, until he appeared almost calm, his eyes dazed and distant.

“Let’s try this again,” Marta straightened, and when her hand left Virgil’s cheek, he strained after it for a handful of seconds. “Back of the cell.”

Virgil climbed back to his feet, and Roman closed his eyes as the Human quietly began shuffling across his stretch of cell. He felt all of six winters old again, watching his aunt lead something fuzzy and helpless back and forth, closer and closer to the water’s edge.

“Good. Now, heel.” More shuffling, wordless as a corpse.

How long did he have before Virgil took his own plunge?

—

It took longer than before for Virgil to regain coherence, afterwards.

Roman knew the moment he’d come back to himself, because the soft grip around his hand had instantly vanished, yanked away so sharply that he’d barely registered the movement before Virgil was up on his feet and backing away.

“Virgil,” he tried, and the Human shook his head, the motion harsh, his hands lifting up to grip roughly at his hair in a distressed motion Roman had only ever caught glimpses of back on the ship.

He’d continued to retreat until he hit the furthest corner of the cell, where he slid down and curled in on himself, utterly unreceptive to any of Roman’s stilted calls. Roman caught his expression crumpling into a miserable grimace before he buried his face in his knees and hid that away too.

The silence stretched.

If there were some right words to say here, Roman couldn’t find them. Even if he did, he undoubtedly wouldn’t be able to say them. The helplessness sheared against his scales like rough sand, but how could he allow himself to wallow in it when he at least still had his mind, his existence still unarguably his own?

Freshly taunted by the knowledge that he didn’t have even that much, Virgil remained still and taut and quiet in the furthest reaches of his cell for what felt like a very long time.

When he did finally stir, Roman was appalled to see the faint streaks on his face where his tears had washed away the sweat and grime.

Patton had described Human weeping as arrhythmic vocalizations, much like Ampens, but with a physical manifestation as well. Roman hadn’t known that Humans could cry silently, like a pup gone still and quiet in the face of danger, with only the barest hitching of breath to indicate distress.

The expression on Virgil now was creased into firm lines, but it didn’t seem agonized or crumbling at the edges. Rather, as he climbed to his face, he seemed to hold the same bitter resolution Roman had seen in him a few times before: during the tail end of their first meeting, and after the fight with the raiders, both times when he’d thought he was about to be left alone again.

“Roman,” he started, and then worked his jaw tersely, once, twice. Rather than continue, he held out a hand, palm-up in silent offering.

Things had changed a lot over the course of their captivity, Roman reflected as he reached out and set his own hand in the Human’s grasp with barely a shred of hesitation. It felt like second nature by now, to reach out and cling on whenever his stomach was roiling with stress.

Virgil watched him for a moment longer, and then wrapped his fingers around Roman’s hand and drew closer, slowly pulling his arm up until he had positioned Roman’s claws just above the skin of his neck.

“This,” Virgil said, each word resolute, “is the best place to sever if you want to kill a Human quickly.”

The words took a dull, ringing moment to sink in, but once they did, Roman jerked back sharply. “Virgil, what—?”

For the first time, Virgil held on, keeping his hand pinned in place with ease even as he had to grip the bars with his other hand to remain upright. Roman could see the way the Human’s pulse fluttered under the skin, a heartbeat racing visibly exactly where Virgil had indicated.

“It’s important. You need to know,” Virgil insisted, and lifted their joined hands higher, to his temple. “Head wounds bleed a lot. Gashes up here are valuable because the blood runs down and drips into their eyes, which will work pretty well as a distraction—,”

“Stop it!” Roman demanded, yanking harder as his panic increased. “I’m not going to— stop talking like that! I don’t need to know how to hurt you!”

At the start of their voyage, Roman would have done just about anything for information like this, anything to feel safe on his own ship again. So why was he learning it only now, when each word and accompanying gesture made him feel ill and rotted down to the tip of his tail?

“It’s not— Roman, it’s not about me,” Virgil said, frustration seeping into his voice. He let Roman drag his hand away from his face, but still didn’t let go. “It’s about them.”

Roman wasn’t sure he believed that. “I don’t need to kill anyone. They’re brainwashed, this is Marta’s fault! I know the truth, now.”

Virgil shook his head, ghosted the fingers of his free hand over his implant scar with a distant, sickened expression. “It’s not that simple. I don’t want guilt to be the reason— Look. If it’s them or you, I want it to be you. I want you to make sure it’s you.”

And what if it's me or you? Roman thought, but the words lodged firmly in his chest until he could barely breathe around them.

“They all made their choice,” Virgil continued once it became clear that Roman wouldn’t respond. “They’ve kept making that choice, every time. You have to want to survive, too, okay?”

Mutely, Roman nodded, trying to ignore the creeping sense of horror. He pulled Virgil’s hand back towards himself, fumbled for speech for a long moment before finding the words and hoping they didn’t feel like a betrayal when spoken aloud.

“The underbelly,” he started, and Virgil’s expression— shut down. Every hint of body language went flat like stone, and just as unyielding.

“No.” The word was final, a sentence all its own, and Roman scowled mulishly.

“But—!”

“Roman.” Virgil lifted his other arm over so that he was clasping Roman’s hand between both of his own. “You’re the only one left, right? You told me that.”

The thought was still a wound-like pang in his chest, even after all this time. “Yes,” he admitted. “But, even still—,”

“No way. I don’t want to hear it, man. There’s nobody I would be willing to use it on, anyhow.” Virgil kept his gaze locked firmly on a point past Roman’s shoulder, but his shoulders were set, his voice steadfast.

There was no point arguing. Not now, when the both of them were one wrong move from collapse.

“Okay,” Roman finally said, and forced himself not to protest when Virgil reclaimed the position of lecturer. It was a struggle not to wince away with each gory anecdote, a full guide on the quickest ways to make the Human body stop functioning or even turn on itself.

“Gut wounds are slow to kill, but they can be painful enough to debilitate. There are vulnerable organs here, below the rib cage, and damage to them is difficult to treat without surgery if the wound is severe enough…”

Still, he held himself at attention, did his best to memorize every word.

If Virgil wouldn’t accept knowledge about Roman’s own vulnerabilities as a gift of equal exchange, Roman would simply have to treasure this information with the same dedication that he applied to the rest of their small crew.

After all, knowing all the individual weak points of a Human would make it that much easier for him to protect each and every single part of Virgil.

Virgil wasn’t going to die. Not here, and certainly not by Roman’s own claws. Not if Roman had anything to say about it.

[outlanderskin]

Why are you so fucking calm????

Are you asking this in relation to the last paparazzi walk or in general😅🤣? I think that time in this fandom may give me another perspective because the only feeling I have is "I've seen this movie before." I think Sam (and Cait's) actions have no impact beyond the Outlander bubble. The fans who care about them are Outlander fans, to the general public they are unknown, at most "that actor/actress who played that character x in that filme Y". None of the people outside that bubble care if he's seen with anyone. A person outside the bubble who looks at that photo, even knowing the girl's profession, won't see anything unusual, because for that person, Sam is just a single guy who is an actor and doesn't have to live according to anyone beliefs. Mind you, he was not seen on the street beating a woman, an animal, or a child. He was not photographed or filmed committing any crime. Coldly analyzing (from outside the bubble) what you see in these articles is a single guy (that's what you find about him on social media) walking hand in hand down the street with a woman. The woman's profession would be no one's business. Those outside the bubble won't even bother to research, and even if critics, directors, and bosses in general do research or know that she works as an escort, this won't be considered a scandal. Firstly because (publicly) he is single and being single if he wants to have a serious relationship with her (regardless of her profession) is not a crime and it would be considered prejudice and puritanism to boycott someone for that. And secondly, because we are talking about the world of entertainment and let's be realistic: it is a sexist world, dominated by men and where married men involved in cheating scandals, continue to work and earn loads of money and the excuse they use is "that's his private life, not his professional life." I know the impact of these things on the fandom is huge, but it's always just here. Remember Hawaiigate? Even something so serious that it had to be handled with him making public statements (and her distracting the fandom) didn't have a big impact on his business or his career. The only impact it made was some fans who stopped following and supporting him, but those numbers were replaced in the following months by new fans and look at the numbers today.

I've said many times that I don't idolize them both and I don't expect them to make choices based on what I believe. I've also said a thousand times that I think their choices regarding this circus are terrible. But it doesn't impact me emotionally like it impacts some people in the fandom in general (on all sides). My advice is always the same: if it's causing you pain, if it's too much for you to bear, if it affects your real life, walk away. This is just a fandom. It's not your job, your family. Even the circles of friends you make in a fandom (the real friendships) can be maintained if you decide to leave. Just remember to respect the friends that remain, not to think of yourself as superior because you "found the light" and decided to leave, and friendships can continue beautifully.

As for me, so far, all their bad choices only contribute more and more to what I believe. That's why I'm here with my popcorn in hand, always waiting for the next show and remembering that the only actions and reactions I can control are my own. And, that's OK.

[mariacallous]

There’s a coincidental yet meaningful connection between two of this summer’s buzziest movies. The new Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon are both remakes; beyond that, they’re both live-action adaptations of animated films—each of which happened to have been co-directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders. Lilo & Stitch has made a fortune at the box office since its late-May debut; How to Train Your Dragon, which opens today,seems similarly poised for success. The two features are, if a little lacking in visual stimulation compared with their forebears, reliably entertaining. But taken together, they signal something rather alarming in Hollywood’s ongoing crisis of imagination: The timeline for nostalgia is growing shorter.

Since Tim Burton’s big-budget take on Alice in Wonderland grossed more than $1 billion in 2010, the live-action remake has become an inevitable, pervasive cinematic trend. Fifteen years later, it seems that capturing similar financial success requires a studio to look at progressively more recent source material to work with. Disney’s attempt to update the nearly 90-year-old Snow White failed at the box office earlier this year; the company shuffled efforts such as a new Pinocchioand Peter Pan off to streaming, despite the recognizable directors and casts involved. The muted response to these modern takes on decades-old classics perhaps explains the move toward reviving properties that resonate with much younger generations instead. The original Lilo & Stitch is 23 years old; How to Train Your Dragon, produced by DreamWorks Animation,is only 15. Next year, a remake of Moana will hit theaters less than a decade after the original film’s release. Is that even enough time to start feeling wistful about it?

Clearly, the answer is yes, given how audiences have flocked to similar adaptations. The sentimental fervor around franchises such as How to Train Your Dragon is particularly unsettling to me, because the first entry premiered when I was fully an adult; the DreamWorks canon (which also includes such films as Shrekand Kung Fu Panda) was established when I was past the ideal age to become invested. However, I’ve seen How to Train Your Dragon many times because my daughter is a fan; that intense familiarity helped me out as I watched the live-action version, looking for anything that might feel different about it—which would thus justify its creation.

Not so much. DeBlois, who also directed the two How to Train Your Dragon sequels, makes his live-action debut by adapting his own feature; as such, the end result is wildly similar to the earlier work. The new film is again set in a Viking village that is constantly besieged by different kinds of dragons. The plucky teen son of the chief, a boy named Hiccup (played by Mason Thames), befriends a sleek black dragon named Toothless and learns that fighting the beasts isn’t the only answer. The actor who voiced Hiccup’s father in the animated film, Gerard Butler, returns to perform the role on-screen; in all other cases, the film uses well-suited performers to replace the voice cast.

To my own surprise, I liked the new version of How to Train Your Dragon about as much as I do its ancestor. Both, to me, are above-average bits of children’s entertainment that struggle with the same problems: They start to sag near the end and suffer a little from their murky color palette. I got a little choked up at the exact same point that I do while watching the 2010 Dragon, when Hiccup and Toothless take to the sky together; the boy rides on a saddle he’s made for his fire-breathing pal, and the composer John Powell’s excellent score soars into inspirational mode, all strings and bagpipes.

If there’s a difference between these redone scenes and their inspirations, it’s a remarkably minor one; only good theater decorum stopped me from pulling out my phone and running the two Dragons side by side. Hollywood is struggling to get people to buy movie tickets, so I understand the impulse to offer something that a broad swath of viewers already knows and likes. But there’s simply no sense of risk in making something like How to Train Your Dragon—nothing that will convince said theatergoers that the medium has a future beyond recycling. Yes, visual-effects technology is up to the task of re-creating a cartoon on a larger scale and dotted with real actors, and yes, these redos tend to turn a profit for their makers. These shouldn’t be the only reasons for art to exist.

Lilo & Stitch, at least, diverges somewhat from its source material. Because most of the characters are human beings, its world seems easier to translate to one composed of flesh and blood. The film, like How to Train Your Dragon, is about a shiftless youngster (Lilo, a Hawaiian girl who has been acting out since the death of her parents) bonding with a fantasy creature (Stitch, a blue alien experiment designed as a weapon of destruction). The director Dean Fleischer Camp’s tweaks for his rendition didn’t particularly click for me, however. One amusing character (another alien who is searching for Stitch) is absent entirely, and the revised ending has prompted some pushback, though Fleischer Camp has tried to defend it.

In theory, I should be pro-change, given that I found the carbon-copy nature of How to Train Your Dragon so irksome—except that Lilo & Stitch doesn’t really commit to its big alterations. The animated versions of Lilo and her older sister, Nani, forge a closer connection after meeting Stitch and his extraterrestrial hunters; the live-action Lilo enters the care of family friends at the end of the film, so that Nani can go off to study in California. These adjustments to the girls’ relationship are a bit bold, because the prior film is so emotionally focused on their frayed sisterhood, yet the remake quickly undercuts their separation with the revelation that Nani can just visit Lilo anytime she wants, thanks to some space technology that Nani has borrowed.

Such a cop-out is the underlying, depressing reality with all of these remakes: No change can be too daring, no update too significant. It’s heartening that Sanders, a co-director of the original Dragon and Stitch, is one of the few people working in animation who’s still committed to innovation. Last year, he directed The Wild Robot; much like How to Train Your Dragon, itis an adaptation of a children’s book upon which Sanders found an exciting visual spin. The movie was a critical success, a box-office hit, and an Academy Award nominee. Cinema needs more entries like The Wild Robot—novel works that take chances and trust the audience to follow along. If nothing else, they provide fodder for more live-action remakes in the near future. Hollywood can’t have these nostalgic adaptations without something to redo in the first place.

[loveanalyst]

Speaking of Viper..

His body is "75% cybernetic modifications." That means

75% OF HIS BODY HAS BEEN REPLACED BY ARTIFICIAL PARTS!!

That is WILD considering his Evol grants him the power of regeneration. Like, we know that back when he was just #2961 they would cut pieces of him off for audiences so they could watch the parts flop around and then see him regenerate, but think about just how MUCH they had to do that in order for his evol to just...quit.

They said his feet went first. He endured so much trauma that his body's natural instinct to heal itself was like "ya know what? Maybe it's not in my best interest to keep doing this." When Dr. Lucius "adopted" Viper (bought him on clearance) he was in the "defective and waiting to be disposed of" pile. There was enough of him missing that they couldn't even use him for show anymore! That is horrifying!

Let me make clear that he still has regenerative abilities in real time, I'm specifically talking about how certain spots endured enough trauma to stop regenerating making some of his injuries permanent.

Side Note: When reading about young Viper I though of Hyakkimaru from Dororo, a child having their body parts stolen only for a benevolent father figure to create artificial ones for him...except the the "father" in this case isn't a caring old man that took mercy on an abandoned baby, and the stolen body part's were systematically cut off until they no longer regenerated...and the child doesn't go on an adventure to get them back....

Seriously though, If you haven't seen the 2007 Live action "Dororo", it's a good watch. I liked it more than the recent anime....which was also good!

Subsequently, Viper's intense fear of pain is totally understandable, it really hit me hard when he told Lucius that he didn't care about his remaining body because pain made him a coward and "once everything isss replaced with mechanical parts, I won't feel anything anymore." 😭😭

His distain for Caleb is also makes sense. He's very jealous and insecure. Even when he "rescued" that child, the second there was talk of her becoming family, it was like his heart dropped and his anger jumped out. He wants to be his father's favorite and there seems to be a fear of abandonment. After all, who wouldn't get jealous after their father says "you will be my most perfect child" only for him start giving attention to some jock from the deepspace aviation academy? You could totally pass some stupid test! What's so special about him!? Not to mention your father keeps brining other kids home! WTF? Who does he think he is out here adopting superpowered children? Reginald Hargreaves??😒🙄

After reading the chapters I was side-eyeing Caleb like "why you gotta be so mean to him. Like, yeh he tried to beat you up and he's constantly antagonizing you...and suuure he did harass the one person you live for with an explosion in the middle of a metropolitan area, but have you tried being NICE to him?" 🤭

Amazing Art By: bxngxsart

Anyway, I'm kinda OBSESSED with him now!