#yes i really just sorted the animaniacs

[galactic-glamour-girl-posts]

I'm bored...I'm gonna analyse a GIF.

This year marks Ed, Edd n Eddy's 25th anniversary. I may not talk about it much on this blog, but it's one of my all time favourite cartoons. I'd watch it constantly during my childhood and to this day "Big Picture Show" is my favourite series finale. So, given how much I enjoy the show, I was happy to see more tweets about it than usual on my Twitter (yes I'm still calling it that) timeline because of the anniversary.

The influx of tweets (yes I'm still calling them that) about the show led me to this tweet. There's a very good analysis of the moment here on Tumblr, but here's a screenshot from a reply under the tweet of what the user said.

It made me think of other similar moments of character acting in animation, and of course I started thinking of examples from Animaniacs.

There's many to be found across the original show and the reboot, but one example I really like is this moment here:

For context, all three Warners are making similar jokes about the size of a hunter's feet.

It's not the dialogue I wanna talk about, this moment is brief and ultimately not that important, but I just love how the Warners are animated here. It tells you a lot about them based only on the character acting and body language:

Yakko

Yakko is the first to come onscreen to make a comment, indicating that he's the leader. He calmy walks into frame holding one hand out conversationally, before standing with both arms behind his back. Compared to the other two's stances, this makes him look more reserved and professional. This not only indicates that he's older, but also suggests he's cool-headed and not as reliant on physical action as his sibs, hence why his arms are behind his back; he only really needs his voice. He gives a smug grin, so even without hearing what he's saying you know he's being snarky right now, which contrasts with his body language, showing he's purposefully maintaining a deceptively non-aggressive demeanour and is likely a smart aleck in general.

Wakko

Wakko is the only one who doesn't come in from the side, instead he enters frame from below, indicating that he's the most unconventional of the three. He flails his arms around rather than keeping them in one place like Yakko, which not only suggests that he's more wild and energetic, but (as I said earlier) is more reliant on physical action than Yakko. Wakko does a sort of "don't worry about it" motion with his left arm with a simple smile on his face, a smile that lacks any smugness. This suggests that he's a little friendlier in comparison. He sticks out his tongue like a dog and eventually settles on T-rex arms, indicating that he's more animalistic than his sibs.

Dot

Dot quickly hops into frame from the side, almost like a pounce, with a determined and somewhat aggressive facial expression, showing energy and spunk. She punches the air, which only emphasizes her feistiness. Her movements suggest she's more prone to being outwardly aggressive than her brothers. Her expression softens to more of a cute smile, showing that she's not all aggression and is quite cute and jovial too. She settles with her hands on her hips, a typical pose used to show that a character is sassy and/or confident, hence indicating that Dot is too.

Basically I just think the way animation can be used to establish characters without us having to hear a word out of them is really cool.

[theonethatyaks93]

My Official Review of the Masterclass Pinky and The Brain Shorts (Spoilers)

Attention! DO NOT READ THIS if you don’t want spoilers for these shorts because I’ll be spoiling the heck out of them. Are we good? Alright!

You guys!! I am proud to announce that these shorts, which I watched today, were actually pretty good! Like seriously! The clip show aspect was not invasive, the new animation was amazingly expressive, it was not a massive advertisement for the Masterclass service, it felt like a somewhat proper conclusion with the mice getting to say all their iconic phrases for one last time, there were no breaks in the continuity (in fact they bring back a lot of things such as Pinky lying whenever he says zort and the no-bake cheesecake), and it was actually funny!! I laughed a lot from the new stuff and the interactions were cute. Pinky calls Brain handsome!! Eeeeeeeeee! Brinky is real! The voice acting was also top notch. Why does Brain sound so good here? I don’t know but I love it! And the animation was amazing! For this being a secret project, it was well animated with a lot of expressions we see from season 3, proving that these were being produced simultaneously. Brain is also a wonderful teacher. He could does really well in this setting with him providing useful knowledge and tips. Brain was at his best here as well, with him not being too unlikable. He’s just over-the-top and funny. Also, the reveal of his greatest enemy was pretty surprising (Brain have you seen your internet fanbase? People love you!!). Pinky was so cute! He also gets a lot of good lines and interactions. I loved the ending of the final short with Pinky essentially defeating Brain’s plan because of something he learned. These shorts were also kind of complete chaos. Also, my worries of this being a massive ad for Masterclass were thankfully invalid. It wasn’t annoying and didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment. I’m so happy! However, there were a few issues. First off, they weren’t long enough! Sure the use their four minute run to their advantage, filling nearly that entire runtime with the mice, but I wanted more! They have so much potential for a spin-off that I think this might be a testing ground of sorts. Another problem was the amount of clips used. Yes, they weren’t that invasive and I thought that it could’ve been worse, but I wanted to see more new animation. It’s fine though. Brain and Pinky played off of those old clips very well to honestly hilarious results. Also, Brain Pinky-proofing his entire setup for the class was amusing and entertaining. And yes, I know everyone’s talking about the Future Brain references. I thought they were funny and clever.

Basically all my concerns about these shorts were made invalid. I really enjoyed them and I hope you did too. I can’t believe that I laughed as much as I did and I think the writers and animators were trying to put as many gags and jokes in as possible due to the short runtime. Were there problems? Yes. Was it as good as the highs from season 3? No. But I think these shorts served their purpose well and managed to surprise me. The animation was sooooooooo good! Do I think that this serves as a semi-proper finale; I think so. You have all that was missing from the final segment on Animaniacs. What more could you want? Anyways that it for now! I’d rank these an 8/10 overall. What a fun time! I’m going to miss them so much!! 🥺😢(Yes I’m working on Pinky Week right now. Sorry for the extensive delay!)

[thatyakkofangirl]

CNZ ANNOUNCEMENT

Let's just say things are about to get interesting.

So if you don't know, Crazy Not Zany, my Animaniacs fanfic had its first debut on ffn (Fanfiction.net) and has remained there for a long time on my old account, but....

Guess who got their old account information back and made an announcement on the old story?

THIS GIRL DID! I'M BACK BABY!

Honestly, I gave it a lot of thought, and as much as I love my new version of CNZ (which is on Wattpad, FFN, and Ao3) the old one still has a place in my heart. Soooooooo I'm going back to it and rewriting its chapters for all my old fans.

Not much will be changing, just a couple of grammar checks and maybe some story fixing, but other than that I plan to keep the first 21 chapters the same and continue the story!

Now it will be called something different so I don't confuse it with the other CNZ. Just a quick title change (also because I'm sure there's a rule on FFN that says something about that sort of thing, but I'm not totally sure)

It will be called Crazy Not Zany: The Alternate AU.

Lengthy yes, but if anyone has better ideas, I'll gladly hear them out.

But you guys, I'm really excited to start writing for the old version of the story again. It will only be on FFN for old times' sake. So guys I hope you all enjoy the old/new version of Crazy Not Zany.

[friendshipgirl]

You’re In Love Marigold!

It all started on a beautiful snowy day in the month of November, and Christmas is on it’s way. In her room that was also a forest, in the living house named Shiro, Marigold, the founder of the Apiverse, was sleeping peacefully when her alarm blared, irritating her. Later, she was all dressed up and out with Talolo with their backpacks. Just then, the bus passes by and Marigold gets excited.

"Oh my god! Talolo! Did you see him!?" Marigold asked excitedly.

"See who?" Talolo asked.

"That black dog in the red hat riding on the bus! That Animaniacs character Wakko!" Marigold responded, "God, every time I look at him, I become so nervous. I don’t know why. I don’t know why I gush over him so much. My face turns all red, my tummy gets all sick, my head gets dizzy, I can barely stand, and my vision gets all blurry. He's not bad, is he?"

"Of course not," Talolo said, "And I think I know why you’re feeling like this. You’re in love, Marigold!"

Marigold's eyes widen in surprise, realizing that Talolo was right. She was in love with Wakko!

Singers: Poor Princess Marigold

No matter what your told

You’ll have your day, he'll come your way

He'll melt away the cold

Poor Princess Marigold

His heart is what you hold

You’ll have your day, he'll come your way

You’re in love Marigold

Later, the two girls were at school. Marigold couldn’t stop thinking about Wakko. Why does it seem as if she has known him for years but had never seen him before?

Later, they were practicing together. Marigold was singing “A Single Man” which was pretty good. All of a sudden, Marigold felt something touch her hair. When she looked up, she saw Wakko holding some flowers.

“Um… hi there,” Wakko said shyly, handing them to her, “Are you Miss Marigold?”

“Uh... I am,” She said nervously, “And your Wakko, right?” She added hopefully.

Wakko nodded, looking down. It was obvious that he hadn’t expected any sort of response from her. “Um... do you want these back?” He asked worriedly.

“I... no!” Marigold quickly replied, “They are beautiful. It's just...” She didn't finish.

“Sorry. I guess I'm still getting used to it being so loud,” Wakko explained, “My mom says it makes me sound more feminine.”

“Well, I think it suits you,” Marigold stated, “I uh, find it cute when you sound feminine.”

This made Wakko turn red, flustered,

“Y— You really think so?” He asked quietly. Marigold could tell he wasn’t used to compliments like this.

“Yes, I really do,” She replied. Suddenly, the bell rang.

“Oh crud! Sorry, I— I gotta go! bye!” Wakko stammered, quickly walking off in a blushing mess. Marigold looked at her flowers and squeals with excitement.

“He talked to me!” the Apiverse founder squealed. This was great! Wakko was finally starting to pay attention to her.

She continued practicing the song she was learning, while humming. Suddenly, an image appeared on the wall behind her: a young man smiling with his arm around another man. They looked happy. They looked so in love.

Suddenly the scene began dissolving into black static. Marigold blinked. Wasn’t it supposed to keep coming back to her? But nothing came next.

“Marigold, let’s go!” Talolo shouts, “we’re gonna be late!”

“Okay, I’m coming!” Marigold shouted back. She stood up straight to try and remember where she left her guitar. When she did, she smiled happily. She took her phone, charger, wallet, keys, and other essentials and headed outside. She jumped in the car, buckling up, and they were on their way.

Later in class, Wakko was in the back seat starring at Marigold dreamily.

“She's so pretty,” he thought, “I can’t believe I spoke to her too short. And it’s not long before Thanksgiving break! I’ll have to wait all winter if I don’t talk to her today or tomorrow!”

Wakko glanced down and noticed that his hand was resting on top of Marigold's seat. He quickly snatched it away. ‘What if Marigold wants to hold my hand?’ His heart raced. ‘I wouldn’t mind. I know I really like her…’ Then again, he began to turn red. ‘I know what I’ll do! I’ll write to her!’ he thought and began to write, ‘Miss Marigold, I wish I could talk to you more later until Thanksgiving break. That short talk wasn’t really enough.’

“Wakko?” Twilight asked.

“Oh! Uh... yes?” Wakko said nervously.

“Have you finished your report on the walls of China?” She asked.

“Yup! Thanks for reminding me about it!” he grinned, “I will read the beginning like you told me to,”

Wakko got up and began to awkwardly struggle with his papers as everyone else giggled at him.

“Uh... Miss Marigold, I wish I could talk to you more later until Thanksgiving break. That short talk wasn’t really enough,” he read out loud, only to yell in frustration. He read the wrong paper! The class laughed even harder as Marigold blushes bright red. Wakko, also blushing, walked over back to his seat and covered his face with his sweater in embarrassment. He didn’t dare look up from his desk.

“Wow Wakko,” Yakko said, smirking at him, “You really try to let low on the ladies, huh?”

“A comforting word from my older brother,” Wakko said sarcastically.

—————————

Later, everyone was at the playground for recess where the Warner kids were playing double dutch.

Dot and Yakko: Cookies, Candy, in the dish!

Howmany pieces do you wish?

1! 2! 3! 4! 5! 6! 7!

As they counted how many times Wakko jumps, Marigold watches him from a bench, adoring him.

“I can’t believe he wants to see me again,” she said to herself, “Maybe it was my lucky charm! Maybe I should give him a present? Or maybe—”

“Hey, Marigold! Can we play dodgeball with you!?” Someone called from over the fence.

“Sure! Coming!” Marigold yelled excitedly, running over. She then looked at Wakko on more time.

Dot and Yakko: 26! 27! 28! 29! 30! 31!

Wakko then noticed Marigold looking at him and turns all red, messing up his jumping and getting him tangled. Marigold chuckled a bit before leaving, making Wakko grin nervously.

“31? Oooh, new record,” Dot said, “My turn!”

“Hey guys. What do you think about Marigold?” Wakko asked as they started.

“Yeah, I think she’s nice.” Dot said as she jumped, “I can totally picture her being a good girlfriend. You two make such a cute couple,”

“I hope we will be,” Wakko muttered sadly.

“Huh? You hope?” Yakko asked.

“I mean, I’m not that attractive. And I also got a big appetite,” said Wakko.

“Well, She does love sugar as much as you do,” Dot reminded.

“I don’t know guys...” Wakko sighed, “I really like her and I just... don’t know how she feels yet.”

The two friends just looked at each other for a second before saying in unison, “Well, whatever happens, I’m rooting for ya!”

“Thanks guys,” Wakko replied, a warm smile spreading across his face as he looks at Marigold, “I just hope I can have a longer chat before thanksgiving break and—“

Marigold looks up from her dodgeball game, causing Wakko to turn redder than before as steam comes out of his ears.

“SHE HEARD ME AGAIN!” Wakko shouts before he ran off, making Dot mess up and get tangled.

“Hey! What about my turn?” Yakko called out.

———————————

Later, they were walking home when Brain and Pinky come up to them.

“Zort! Hey guys!” said said as he caught up with Wakko, “What’s with the long face Wakko?”

“Oh, uh... it’s nothing,” Wakko replied sheepishly.

“Oh come on,” Brain insisted.

“It’s just.... Marigold likes someone,” Wakko explained shyly.

Brain turned his head over to look at Wakko, “Who?”

“Uh... me...” Wakko answered in a quiet voice.

Pinky gasped, “Egads! I remember when you read something you wrote in class about seeing her again! I can’t tell you how much I adored it!”

Wakko’s face turned red, “Uh—! I just—“

“I bet you’ve written some sweet stuff to her as well right?” Brain smirked.

“Uh... yeah!”

“Then why are you acting like this? Don’t worry about Marigold, she loves you too. I'm sure she would be ecstatic to hear that,” Brain assured him.

“Really?”

“Of course. If I had to guess... it might have been one of those feelings she has for you,” Brain said quietly.

Wakko stopped in his tracks. Pinky and Brain looked at him puzzled. Just then, Silver Platter and Greenberry come up to them.

“Hey, Sweettooth Weirdo! You seem to have such yellow teeth this afternoon!” Silver Platter laughed.

“Did you drink too much lemonade again?” Greenberry laughs.

“NARF! You ladies outta be ashamed! Wakko is not feeling like himself today!” Pinky shouted.

“That’s what happens when you try to get chubby!” said Silver Platter.

The girls burst into laughter while Wakko grew red and embarrassed.

“Hey hey hey! Stop it!” Pinky growled, “That is very rude! And that is also not the point! Wakko is just upset because he can’t talk to Marigold again because he’s too nervous! In other words, he’s got a crush on her!”

Wakko yells in frustration before the two girls laughed and started sing teasing him.

Silver Platter and Greenberry: Poor Princess Marigold, Nah, Nah, Nah!

Why’d she find your type so bold? , Nah, Nah, Nah!

Who’d crush on you? No one! That’s who!

Your face is too darn old! Nah, Nah, Nah!

Your face is too darn old!

The two girls laughed as they left the scene, leaving Wakko embarrassed.

“What’s their problem?” Dot asked, “Let's go,”

The five of them continue the walk home.

————————————

Later, Marigold was writing in her diary about Wakko.

“Dear Diary,” She said as she writes, “He really doesn’t talk to me as often anymore. But he’s always there whenever I need him. He always listens, no matter how embarrassing things are with him. He’ll always listen even if it takes forever, and... oh my, he cares about me so much. I need to talk to him tomorrow or I won’t see him all winter. I’ll talk to Wakko later tonight after lunch when I can finally escape school for winter break! I know it’s hard to talk without people around, but I want him to know how important he is to me! Even if sometimes he can be a pain. It’s worth it!”

———————————————————

Next day, Marigold wakes up a little later than usual. She gets ready as usual, but then realizes she was minutes late for the bus. She dashes out the door and misses the bus.

“CRAP! WAIT! HERE I AM!” She called out, “STOP! WAIT A MINUTE!”

———————————————

The playground was empty, meaning everyone was inside. She looked around before sneaking into the school though the door creaked. She didn’t want to get caught. As she walked down the hallway, she saw a note stuck in the door. She took it and opened it.

“Meet me at lunch recess,” she read, “I need to talk with you before it’s too late. Wakko,”

She feels her heart swell. She quickly makes it to her classroom, putting the note in her pocket.

————————————

After lunch, Marigold was looking for Wakko. She was really nervous. They did text yesterday night since both knew it was going to be the last time they spoke. The bell rang, making her run outside. She found him near the back of the school. He seemed lost in thought.

“Wakko,” Marigold said, causing Wakko to jump.

“MARIGHOLD?!” He exclaimed before blushing, “Aha.. hi... sorry.”

“No, don't apologize! I just wanted to talk to you about the whole thing yesterday. How did you know? About my letter... and everything else?” Marigold asked quietly, nervously tugging at her sleeves.

“About your letter? Oh! You told Dot right? She must've mentioned it to me at some point...” Wakko shrugged.

“Um... yeah. So? Is that okay? Or should I say should I not write it?” Marigold asked uncertainly.

“Oh... um... y-you shouldn't worry about that. I already said that it’s fine. You don't have to change anything, I mean, you already told us what we needed to know anyways... right?” He said awkwardly.

“You mean about how I feel towards you?” Marigold clarified.

Wakko nodded.

“And... it’s alright? It’s not creepy, or anything?”

Wakko shook his head, smiling.

“So,” Marigold began, looking at her shoes, “do you feel the same way about me? Like… more than just a friend?”

“Uh... yeah, I think I do,” Wakko confessed, “I mean, you were the first person I ever talked with who made me laugh. And it was always fun listening to your stories! You’re nice and cute, and smart too! And you help me when I'm sad, which is kind of a rarity. And your smile is amazing! You're so beautiful! You're a good friend, too.”

Mari giggled lightly. Her face turned slightly pink hearing Wakko’s compliments. It felt strange being praised by him when they usually fight.

“Y-you really think so?”

“Yeah, you’re great! You’re brave, and funny, and caring... you’re amazing,” Wakko continued.

“Thanks!” Marigold smiled brightly. “How about you? What do you like about me?” She asked.

“Well…” Wakko paused for a moment, thinking of how best to describe her. “You’re just... so pretty. And kind. And funny. And you always put others before yourself. You’re smart too, but not just because you're smarter than I am. You’re so talented, you're amazing... I wish I was as cool and confident as you...”

“I never thought I’d say this, but...” said Marigold, pausing a bit, “You’re a very sweet man, Wakko,”

She nervously looked at him before shaking her head, wanting to get it over with, and kisses him on the lips. Wakko jumped in surprise, his entire body heating up with steam and color. He was so startled he didn't return the kiss. When she pulled away from him, Wakko was still silent, unable to say anything.

“Y'know, I’ve loved you for a long time now, and I just wanted to tell you before the holidays, so you know… that I still love you,” Marigold explained softly.

“T… T…” Wakko struggled to speak, his eyes wide, “R… r… r… re…”

He tried to stutter, but couldn't. Instead, his mouth closed shut and he just shook his head slowly.

“What?”

“YOU KISSED ME!” He screamed happily, “She kissed me! Ahh! Oh my Gosh!”

As he continues to giggle, Marigold just stares at him.

“But you don’t… you don’t hate me… do you?” She asks quietly, “Because if you don’t then... I mean…”

Wakko shakes his head rapidly before grabbing Marigold’s hand.

“Marigold! Why would I hate you!? We’re best friends, aren’t we!?” He exclaims happily.

“Of course! Of course we are!”

“Then why would I leave you? I love you!”

It was Marigold's turn to blush. They laughed and walked across the playground, talking to each other.

Written by Apigirl000

Starring

Wakko

Marigold

Yakko

Dot

Talolo

Twilight Sparkle

Pinky

Brain

Marigold's friend

Based on You’re in love Charlie Brown

Special Thanks to Dreamily. It’s a really cool App that helps you with your stories. you should try it.

“Aw crap! We’ll have to wait until Christmas then!” Marigold said from a distance as Wakko groans sadly, knowing she was right.

Follow me on DeviantArt, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram! Thanks for reading!

[the-phoenix-heart]

Sorting Hat Chats - Animaniacs

THOSE ARE THE FACTS!

(How did you know I was working on this?)

Anyway, welcome to my new hyperfixation! So obviously I decided to sort them. Description of the system I’m using here as sometimes. 

Also, the movie Wakko’s Wish has questionable canonicity, seeing as it takes place in another universe and it could said is just a movie the Animaniacs did in universe, but seeing as this was made by the same people as an excuse to give their characters a happy ending after the cancelation of the show-I’m going to say it counts for characterization. They’re pretty much the same characters, just in a different story. 

I should also mention that as toons, they’ve modeled every secondary out there, so their secondary sorting is to find their actual sorting under all the modeling and performance. 

YAKKO WARNER was the easiest to sort. He’s a Snake primary, here for his family, maybe Dr. Scratchansniff, and that’s about it. He’s the oldest, it makes sense. I mean, in Wakko’s Wish he literally gets a promotion to parent. That scene at the beginning where he and Dot are just sitting at the train station, implied to be sleeping there to, as they wait for Wakko to get home-FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR-it’s so soft and easy to forget about with later scenes but it shows how much they love him. 

Anyway, Yakko is extremely protective and needs to be around his family. His fear in the IT parody is being alone with no one to talk to him, and his first worry after is he funny is where his siblings have been. Plus, he doesn’t really show a strong preference for the rest of the primaries. 

I know that the first thought for the Animaniacs is that he’s a Snake secondary like Bugs Bunny, but remember, they’ve had every secondary as a model/performance ever. Yakko, I believe, is a Bird secondary through and though. 

Yakko has the most songs of his siblings, and seeing as a joke in the reboot was that he kept trying to sing his educational songs and he kept getting interrupted-he clearly loves doing them. Yakko’s World, Every Word in the English Dictionary, Time, Multiplication, these are things that he clearly studied for the songs and require extreme memorization (I mean every country in the world and every world in the english language??). He also almost always has his lines memorized, and his sister’s, and probably Wakko’s. Part of his problem with Nicklewise is the fact that no one is acknowledging what he’s saying, and then he’s tongue tied. One of the first things he does when he gets back to the lot is swallow a tablet and learns everything about the past 22 years. 

When describing himself in “To be like us” he literally starts it off, “To be like me? Well buddy here’s the key/use the pen not the sword when you’re in a fight.” 

When he does just charge in like a Lion he loses. Plus, dad jokes and puns are just a Bird thing. If you have a Bird secondary you are going to have an appreciation for wordplay, trust me I’m a Bird secondary. 

DOT WARNER is an actual Snake secondary. She’s the unprepared one. She doesn’t know her lines, and she didn’t practice her song on the first ladies before she sung it, which is how she learns that you cannot give a significant amount of time to each first lady in two minutes-and she didn’t even remember them all. 

This exchange is peak Bird v. Snake:

Dot: “It’s a little ditty I’ve composed detailing the accomplishments of the women behind the men...Every single first lady of the United States of America! Please put two minutes on the clock!” Yakko: “Oh, no no no no no. Hold on. You’re going to sing about every First Lady in two minutes? Have you practiced this?” Dot, possibly sarcastic but probably telling the truth: “Well no, I have not.”

She’s also the one who always uses how cute she is to get people to do what she wants. The big scene of Wakko’s Wish is Dot pretending to die so effectively that she fooled everyone but (maybe) Yakko and Wakko, and even made the guy who “killed” her feel remorse for his actions. Also, in the intro she’s described in the original as cute and in the new one as witty-which that combination feels very Snake. 

Unlike her brother Dot is a Lion primary. It might be a new addition for the reboot, but if she wasn’t originally a Lion primary I think this is just a case of character progression. In the show she calls out people for being sexist or mansplaining, and (possibly my favorite segment) has her singing about women getting the right to vote. The great thing is that this segment addresses the fact that just because women got the right to vote didn’t mean every woman could vote, because she finds out that as a toon she can’t vote. In less than a day she brings together Looney Toons and Hanna Barbera cartoons to go to Washington and lobby congress for the right to vote. And wins. 

Yeah, Dot don’t play around. Also she calls out fear-mongering (Had to fit that in somewhere). 

WAKKO WARNER (YES I KNOW HE’S THE MIDDLE CHILD BUT HE HAS THE LONGEST SECTION) was the hardest for me to sort out. Literally of course. He didn’t feel like any of the primaries to me for a while and what I really needed to look at was Wakko’s Wish. In Wakko’s Wish he’s the one telling everyone that they have to keeping hoping for something better and never give up while his siblings seem to be more out for themselves. Wakko’s the one who interacts most with the town as a whole. He gives Plotz a drink of the elixir after Plotz just tried to murder him and his siblings. There’s also a good argument to be made that Wakko wished for the ability to give everyone in the town what they wanted. He didn’t need to wish for a second ha’ penny, but he has it and it helps the town return to prosperity, which is why I rule him as a Badger primary. 

You can also notice it in the original series with how he interacts with other people, but we don’t have enough time to talk about that since we still have to talk about his secondary. Fucking hell his secondary. Wakko’s secondary is the hardest to parse out of them all. It’s opposite problem I had with his primary, he fits all of them. 

Like I said earlier, they have models for all the secondaries because they’re toons and they have to get into a lot of situations. But there are certain secondaries they favor over others which help you to see what the real secondary there is under all the models and performances. But the problem I ran into with Wakko is he uses all of them at a ready amount!

I first considered that he was a Bird secondary because of his gag bag, or the clown episode with his extremely well thought out ideas on how to torture the poor clown (don’t feel too sorry for him he’s very annoying), and segments like Wakko’s Gizmo. In Wakko’s Gizmo he builds this very overly complicated and super badass device just so he can make a whoopie cushion go off. But that was what tipped me off, it’s a toy. Wakko’s Bird secondary is just a model he has as a toy, something to have fun with (I won’t say he got it from Yakko but he got it from Yakko). Plus, Wakko’s just to intuitive and spontaneous for an actual Bird secondary. The way he uses his gag bag is just in a way where he just understands what to get. 

The fact that that he’s very intuitive with his gag bag and impulsive also set me off that he wasn’t a Badger secondary. Of all the secondaries he uses this one the least in the original series. However, interestingly, this is the only secondary he uses in Wakko’s Wish. He works his ass off for a year to make a ha’ penny to pay for Dot’s operation, he makes the wish on the star, he plays sort of a peace maker with the town and others. It’s something he used more specifically for that movie though.

The big debate was whether he was a Snake or a Lion, but-BUT-I’m gonna be kind of controversial and say that he has a Lion secondary. Yes-he’s very situational, but his go to course of action is to hit people with his mallet. Plus, the way he uses his gag bag is he just goes for it, because he feels it. He’s always in the moment, which is how he’s able to use his gag bag. Also, there’s a difference between the way Dot and he usually do things, if they were both Snake secondaries they’d look more similar, but they don’t. And he doesn’t always have what’s needed for the situation, he needs to feel around for it. I could be talked into a Snake secondary but for now I’m pretty happy with Lion. 

So...

Yakko Warner - Snake primary/Bird secondary, has all models and performances

Dot Warner - Lion primary/Snake secondary, has all models and performances

Wakko Warner - Badger primary/Lion secondary, has all models and performances (specifically uses his Badger secondary model in Wakko’s Wish, and specifically uses his Bird secondary model as a toy)

[theoutcastedartist]

Give us all you animaniacs hcs (especially the lgbtq+ ones)((please))

Oh man I have so many to tell asfhjahsbsb I'm gonna leave out some of the more darker HC I have for this show (well technically, they are wildly-outlandish theories about where the Warner trio was for those 20+ years before the current time of the reboot, just gonna exclude those for now)

Ight imma start with the lgbtq+ headcannons first

Wakko: Nonbinary (Uses He/Them Pronouns)

Dot : Trans (Uses She/Her pronouns) and Pan

Yakko : Bi and Ace (Biromantic I believe it's called? Please correct me if I'm wrong on that)

On an unrelated note, Yakko is a whole mood

lmao look at my tiny clown-faced-puppy disaster son being the dramatic Bi-Ace icon he is when he's basically about to "die"

If you ever asked my younger siblings, they would tell you that I would 100% do the same shit, maybe even start singing "Little Miss Perfect" out of pure spite

Who knew me, as the oldest of a sibling trio would relate to the oldest of another sibling trio

ANYWHO BACK TO HEADCANNON STUFF BECAUSE YES

Oh man lemme start with Yakko HCs because he's the character I project so much on to nowadays:

Yakko

All his senses are very sensitive compared to the other two, sometimes he'll get really overwhelmed by bright lights, strong flavors, loud noise, etc... he feels like he's being dumb everytime he has a problem with anything regarding his senses.

Lights and noise: Sometimes it just gets too much for him if he's exposed to constant loud noise and bright lights to the point where he'll start crying or yelling (especially if noise is the main problem) out of stress from it.

Strong flavors: He will visibly shudder in response to a very strong and very noticable flavor. He honestly prefers to eat blander foods over savory dishes. With that being said, he hates spicy food with a burning passion.

Very unwilling to go to someone for help or comfort when he's genuinely having a crisis over how he views himself. If anything, he's will try to do literally almost anything to avoid having that sort of conversation, especially with Dr. Scratchansniff.

He will however go to Dr. Scratchansniff or another trusted adult for advice if he needs help for how to take care of his siblings or just for general advice on stuff.

He hates being picked up or hugged with zero warning.

The only people who he doesnt mind doing this are Wakko and Dot, of course. If anyone else tries it though, he'll bite them and yes, this includes Dr. Scratchansniff as well. He may be the closest thing to them as a parental figure (in the 90's show at least), but he's not in the same close knit circle Yakko is in with Wakko and Dot.

His main hobby is drawing, it's his go to coping mechanism if he's not up to cracking a joke(while he's in the watertower) as well.

He needs glasses/wears contacts (ones made specifically for toons I guess)

Prefers reading books over watching anything on TV/electronic devices in general.

If either or both of his siblings can't sleep, he'll sing them a lullaby 💕

Off-set/off-screen/ outside of the recording for animaniacs Yakko usually wears these thick, oversized hoodies, and he will refuse to take it off.

This is because Yakko feels really weird and off when his arms aren't covered(sometimes there is this random phantom ache in his arms that just wont go away until he covers them. It's not like painful, painful, but just really annoying at times.) Even if it's hot as hell outside, he will not take it off. Wakko and Dot usually have to wrestle to get it off him, otherwise Yakko will faint/have a heat stroke. They make a compromise by agreeing to Yakko wearing long sleeves, so long as they're made out of light material.

If he needs caffeine to "wake up" but is too damn tired to do so, Yakko will not hesitate to just straight-up eat pure coffee beans.

Wakko

For anything else, he does not mind eating food with very strong flavors, he actually enjoys spicy food (the spicier, the better), but for cereal they prefer the blandest one. Bland food is comforting to him (also doesnt want his brother to feel bad about not liking a lot of the savory foods he and Dot like)

Doesnt have much of a problem expressing himself. If he genuinely feels bad about something regarding themself, he wont hesitate to go to Yakko (sometimes he'll go to Dot if she happens to be there first, but 95% of the time he'll go to Yakko)

They actually likes being picked up and carried, but only by family and close friends. Any stranger who tries to pick him up will receive angry claw marks to the face.

Main hobby is composing music (instumentals). They will let Yakko or Dot write lyrics if they're feeling sad or bored (or as a sibling bonding activity too)

Favorite TV show is the Looney Tunes (classic cartoons)

He gives comfort to his sibs by just being there for them as a shoulder to cry on.

They don't like having their hat off for an extended period of time often. It's a source of comfort and his way of expressing his identity.

Is the one who usually has to stop Yakko from eating bare coffee beans when he's too tired to actually make coffee.

Dot

She's pretty in the middle when it comes to food.

If it's a minor thing, she'll usually just talk to Wakko about it. If it's something more serious, she'll go to Yakko about it.

She only let's Yakko and Wakko touch her or carry her. Outside of those two, she only let's Dr. Scratchansniff carry her. For anyone else, she will clobber anyone who makes an attempt to do so. She just really hates it when if comes to anyone else.

Main hobbies are sewing and designing clothes. She'll have her siblings model her clothes for her (they are very eager to do so everytime). It provides a good distraction for either Yakko or Wakko if they're down or frustrated about something. It's just super fun.

Really loves (well-made) action movies, it's like her favorite genre of movies.

Gives comfort by providing her siblings with soft materials (like blankets or pillows). She'll drape herself over either of them to provide a comforting pressure.

She expresses herself through her iconic pink skirt and flower scrunchie. Both are her favorite articles of clothing because her siblings were the ones who got them for her. (Yakko sewed the pink skirt; he was the one to teach Dot how to sew 💕)

She's a last resort to stopping Yakko from eating the coffee beans raw.

Original vs. Reboot headcannons

The original 1990's show is more "On-stage", having for educational songs and skits, whereas the 2020 Reboot/revival is more "Off-Stage" with the occasional show skit, hence any inconsistencies with the characters' personalities, especially Yakko.

Both shows take place in the same type of setting as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" (The idea of cartoons existing as real entities alongside humans; I got a lot of WFRR vibes during Sufferage City with the whole "Cartoon Rights" part especially)

Well that's about as much as I can write for now, I have more headcannons of course, but I found this to be a good place to stop.

These are just my personal headcannons of the Warner Trio, I don't really have any for Pinky and the Brain, but I wanna know what some of your guy's headcannons are for any aspect of the shows!

[pines-troz]

Weekend With The Warners Chapter Three - Animaniacs & Pinky and The Brain

Summary: When the CEO assigns Pinky and The Brain with the important task of watching over the Warners for the weekend, Brain is prepared for any antics that the children have in store. What he didn’t take into account was forming a familial bond with the kids.

Word Count: 7,652

AO3 Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/27849962/chapters/68854656

The big day had arrived and the two genetically altered lab mice were on top of their schedule. Brain had set his alarm clock to 6:00 AM. He and Pinky woke up and gathered their belongings. Brain decided to bring along his newly modified robotic man-suit just as a precaution. Once the mice were ready to go, Brain hopped into the pilot seat of his robot and placed their mouse-sized suitcases into his pants pocket. Pinky climbed up the suit and made himself snug as a bug in the front pocket. The intelligent mouse steered the suit and exited the lab at around 7:00 AM, about an hour before any of the scientists would arrive for work.

The mice made their way down the streets of Burbank and decided to have breakfast at a local diner. There, they spent a little of an hour consuming their morning meals and engaging in some casual conversation together.

By the time they arrived at the Warner movie lot, it was a quarter to nine, and the mice swung by the main office building to retrieve the credit card from Nora Rita Norita. When the mice made it to the top floor, Brain made his way over to her office and gingerly knocked on the door.

“Enter!” The CEO boomed from the other side.

Brain cautiously opened the door to find Ms. Norita in her workout attire stretching on the treadmill. She took the small towel and scrubbed the sweat off of her face before tossing it over the handle.

“You must be here for the credit card, I take it?” The businesswoman remarked as she eyed Brain’s robotic suit.

Brain wordlessly nodded while trying his best to muster his courage while confronting the higher-up. Ms. Norita went over to her desk, opened the drawer, and retrieved the golden credit card. Pinky’s eyes lit up upon seeing the glistening card again. He eagerly reached out for the card, enamored with its shimmering aura.

“Try not to have too much fun over the weekend, gentlemen.” Nora Rita Nortia humored in her flat voice as she gave Pinky the credit card, who immediately hugged it.

“We won’t,” Brain assured, trying to hide his anxiousness from the formidable businesswoman as he made his exit. “I guarantee you that Pinky and myself will have an appropriate amount of fun while supervising the Warner siblings.” With a nervous chuckle, Brain grabbed the doorknob and carefully closed the door on his way out.

Once the mice left Ms. Norita’s office, Brain exhaled and leaned up against the wall as he gazed at his partner. “Pinky, I would be a liar if I told you that the CEO was not the least bit intimidating.”

“I heard that, and I plan on using that information to my advantage.” Ms. Norita shouted from behind the door.

Brain’s eyes widened with terror. Now that the CEO knew his weakness and planned on exploiting it, he had no choice but to stay in her good graces in the foreseeable future.

“Very well.” He muttered as he made his way towards the elevator. “Pinky, hand me the cellphone. I’m going to arrange an Uber driver to pick us from the movie lot at noon.”

Pinky turned on the smartphone and smiled. “Hey Brain, we just got a text message from Dot!”

The pudgy mouse retrieved the phone from Pinky and read the message.

We’ll be outside the water tower by 11:45 <3

Once the mice left the office building, they killed some time by strolling around the movie lot and making idle chit-chat. They arrived at the water tower ten minutes beforehand where they patiently waited for the Warners to arrive. However, the three rambunctious siblings proved to be fashionably late.

Brain decided to make some small talk to make the time go by faster. “Well Pinky, I am fully prepared for whatever comes our way this weekend.” He announced as he checked his phone, the clock now reading 11:55 AM. “I even took the liberty of educating myself on the slang of today’s youth. Everything from vibe checks to poggers...I had to make sure that the latter word wasn’t a derogatory slur. Thankfully it’s just a synonym for an excited, surprised overreaction.”

“That’s wonderful, Brain!” Pinky complimented. “Did you do all that research just so you could relate to the kids?”

“What? No, I just wanted to have some comprehension of the contemporary vernacular.” Brain denied whilst waving his hand downwards. “Now, where are those children? Our driver will be here at any moment.” The pudgy mouse scanned the lot in search of the three siblings.

“Hellooooooo mice!”

The enthusiastic shouts from above startled the mice. They instinctively looked up to see the Warners wave at them before leaping off the water tower with their suitcases in tow. Brain stared in shock as the three kids made their descent. Acting swiftly, the smaller mouse managed to catch the children in his robotic arms right in the nick of time. Once the children and their belongings were safe in his arms, he stumbled backward, trying to support the combined weight of the Warners and their heavy luggage. Fortunately, the mouse was able to shift the levers in his suit and quickly maintained his balance.

As Brain let out a huge sigh of relief, Yakko and Wakko leaned in and smooched his cheeks. Dot gave Pinky a kiss on the cheek. “Naarf.” The lanky mouse bashfully replied upon receiving the friendly affection from the girl.

Brain, on the other hand, let out an amused snort as he gently lowered the children on the ground. “It’s nice to see you kids all excited for our little weekend getaway.”

Dot immediately had her sights set on the mechanical man-suit. She tapped at the suit’s knees then proceeded to grab a hold on the right arm, carefully inspecting it. “Oh Brain, is this a new model?” She inquired, sounding rather impressed.

“Why yes. I’ve made some modifications to the suit over the years.” Brain answered, pleasantly surprised that the Warner sister would take great interest in his work.

“So what hotel are we going to anyway?” Yakko asked. “The CEO didn’t really clue us in on where we’ll be staying.”

“She reserved us a deluxe queen room at The Ritz-Carlton.” Brain answered.

“A hotel made entirely of Ritz crackers!” Wakko eagerly exclaimed with their tongue hanging out. “Sounds scrumptious!” Even Pinky was excited by the notion of an edible hotel and licked his lips.

“That’s the name of the hotel, Einstein.” Dot corrected, causing Wakko and Pinky to let out a dejected groan.

Brain felt his smartphone vibrate and fished it from his pocket. He opened it up to find a message from the Uber driver.

“Come along children,” Brain alerted the Warners. “Our driver just arrived, and we don’t want to keep them waiting.” The Warners gathered their luggage and walked alongside Brain.

“Oh, we are going to have such a fun-fun, silly-willy weekend together!” Pinky joyfully declared while clapping his hands.

As the five walked exited the movie lot, Brain caught a glimpse of Nora Rita Norita, now dressed in her usual business attire, as she led a group of white-collar businesspeople to their important conference. The CEO pushed her glasses upwards as she stared at Brain, knowing his weakness. The mouse flashed a nervous smile and a thumbs up to assure her that he would complete his assigned task to the best of his ability. Once she turned her attention back to her associates, Brain exhaled in relief.

Once the group arrived at the studio entrance they spotted a blue minivan with an Uber sign parked by the sidewalk.

Brain took the time to pack everyone’s luggage into the trunk while the Warners took their spot. By the time the smaller mouse arrived in the car, everyone already took their place. Yakko sat in the middle seat while Wakko and Dot took the back seat.

“Pinky, come sit next to us!” Dot hollered as she patted the empty seat between her and Wakko.

“Okay!” Pinky chirped. Brain took Pinky from his coat pocket and handed him over to Dot, who placed him in the middle seat.

Brain took his place in the van next to Yakko. After shutting the door and buckling his seat belt, the driver took off.

In the backseat of the car, Wakko proceeded to take out his tablet and showed an image from his favorite anime to Pinky while Dot quietly looked on.

“I’ve been watching this cool show called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,” Wakko gushed while flapping his hands, which were cozily tucked inside his sweater sleeves. “So it’s about these two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who have to find the philosopher’s stone so they can get their bodies back, and on their journey, they come across all sorts of crazy characters!”

“That sounds incredible, Wakko!” Pinky exclaimed. But as the mouse looked at the image of the blonde boy and his brother in a suit of armor, Pinky began to feel confused. “So, uh, which one of the brothers is the robot?”

Meanwhile, in the middle seat, Brain was sitting awkwardly as Yakko had his white earpods on and jammed out to the songs on his smartphone. The mouse could only imagine what kind of music the boy was listening to that had him this excited. As he twiddled the man-suit’s thumbs, Brain looked out the window, pondering to himself as he watched the cars pass by on the freeway.

After a few moments of musing and taking in the scenery, he felt a gloved hand prod his cheek. The mouse looked over to see Yakko taking out one of his earpods.

“You wanna listen to some tunes?” Yakko offered. “My playlist is full of oldies music.”

“Well, I can’t say no to that.” Brain obliged, accepting one of the white earpods. The intelligent mouse placed the small headphone into his left ear, expecting to hear pop music from the 1960s or old show tunes from the mid-twentieth century. But when Yakko pressed play, Brain was surprised to hear symphonious violins playing the main theme of ‘For Unto Us a Child is Born’, a chorus from the classic oratorio Messiah.

Brain looked over at the oldest Warner, who eagerly swayed in his seat, humming along to the song. “You weren’t kidding.” The mouse humored with a raised brow.

“Yup, George Fredic Handel’s Messiah is full of bangers!” Yakko proclaimed with a snap of his fingers.

Brain shrugged his shoulders and contentedly listened to the rest of the song. The eloquent mouse spent the rest of the car ride listening to the classical music on Yakko’s playlist.

Once the van arrived at the front of the hotel, the group retrieved their luggage from the back of the vehicle and Brain thanked the driver for their service while Pinky gave a friendly “Love you!”, to which Brain rolled his eyes at.

Once the group entered the hotel, the mice headed over towards the front desk to check in. Meanwhile, the Warners stood in awe as they drank in the scenery of the luxurious lobby. After taking in their surroundings, the siblings decided to release their manic energy in the lobby. Yakko and Dot immediately sprinted towards an empty sofa and started to bounce up and down. Wakko searched for something to stimulate his interest. Soon enough, the middle child found an abandoned gold bellman cart with red carpeting and knew what he had to do.

Meanwhile, The Brain was nearly complete with the check-in process as the front desk receptionist handed him three hotel keys: one for himself, one for Pinky, and one for the oldest Warner sibling.

“And here are your keys.” The employee said as she offered the three white cards over to the mouse. Using the robotic man-suit, Brain gingerly accepted the hotel keys from the receptionist.

“Thank you very much.” Brain politely acknowledged with a small nod.

“Enjoy your stay.” The receptionist smiled.

“You too,” Brain replied instinctively but winced when he realized his slip-up that the employee would not be staying in the hotel as a guest. “Wh-what I meant to say is have a good day.” The mouse attempted his conversational rebound with a nervous smile.

“Love you!” Pinky called out with a wave.

When Brain turned around, he scowled at his partner. “Pinky, you don’t have to say that to every person we converse with! Do you realize how uncomfortable you’re making them?”

“No, not really,” Pinky answered honestly as he climbed up to the suit’s shoulder so he could sit next to his partner. “I like to think that it makes their day a hundred times better!”

Just as Brain was about to come up with a witty retort, he saw the Warners were already causing playful pandemonium in the lobby. Yakko was driving the bellman cart, occasionally pushing his foot onto the ground to gain speed. Wakko and Dot were perched on top of the cart, with the Warner sister holding onto her sibling as they imitated the iconic Jack and Rose pose from Titanic. Wakko had his arms spread out while Dot placed her hands above her sibling’s side to keep them steady.

“I’m the king of the world!” Wakko cheered with their tongue hanging out.

Brain massaged his temple. “Of course, this is what I get for leaving the kids to their own devices.”

Pinky noted how stressed his partner was and decided to ameliorate the situation. He got out of the front pocket and climbed up on the robot’s left shoulder. Taking his fingers, he blew a sharp whistle out to the Warners, who immediately turned their attention over to the mice.

“Hey, kids!” Pinky called out to them. “We have the room keys so you can bounce around in the hotel room!”

“Okay!” They chorused as they pushed the bellman cart over to them. After they got off, the siblings placed their suitcases onto the cart. Pinky plopped down on the shoulder, pleased with the cooperative kids.

“Splendid work, Pinky.” Brain whispered into Pinky’s ear. The lanky mouse felt all blushy and gooshy when he felt his partner’s warm breath tickle his ear. Pinky giggled and instinctively wrapped his arms around himself to contain his feelings.

Yakko and Wakko pushed the cart over towards the elevator while Dot grabbed Brain by his robot’s hand, leading him and Pinky to the open elevator doors. One by one, they all entered inside. Wakko had their sights set on the buttons and immediately pressed all of them.

Brain looked at the illuminating floor buttons and released an exasperated sigh. “At least we’re only on the ninth floor.”

Once they reached the right floor, they all stepped off the elevator and walked through the corridor. The Warners trailed behind Brain until the mouse stopped at their destination: Room 920.

Brain used the hotel key and opened up the door to the hotel room. Two queen-sized beds, a flat-screen television, a leather couch, and an elegant bathroom. The room also had a phenomenal view of the city skyscrapers. Brain had to admit, the CEO clearly knew what she was doing when she booked the room for them.

Yakko and Dot awed in unison, their eyes glistening at the sight of their luxurious room. 

“Naaarf.” Pinky purred with eyes full of wonderment.

“Poggers! This is the coolest hotel room ever!” Wakko declared as he ran into the room. As Yakko and Dot followed their sibling into the room. As Brain closed the door behind him and entered the room, he glanced over at Pinky and flashed him a confident grin to indicate that his studies on current slang have paid off.

The Warners gathered on the sofa and observed the city below them, their faces pressed against the glass as they took in the glorious sight. Brain cast a small smile at the children’s sense of wonder.

Pinky stood upon the suit’s shoulder and launched himself onto the comfortable mattress. The mouse landed with a soft thud. The bed may not be as squishy and homey as the sponge bed, but he enjoyed its welcoming softness. Pinky started to roll around on the bed, laughing loudly while doing so.

Brain was pleased to see his partner enjoying himself. He climbed out of the pilot seat of the man-suit and hopped down onto the bed to accompany his partner.

“Now sleeping arrangements should be quite obvious,” Brain addressed to the Warners, who were still gazing at the city view from the windowsill. “you children will share the bed by the door, while Pinky and myself will share the other bed.”

“Egad Brain, I finally get to live out one of my favorite fan fiction tropes!” Pinky exulted.

“Pinky, we already sleep in the same bed together back in the lab.” Brain dryly reminded his partner of the sponge bed he specifically made for him and his roommate.

“Oh, right,” Pinky said. “But still, we have a whole mattress to ourselves!” The taller mouse crowed, catching Brain in a surprise hug. The smaller mouse instinctively kicked his stubby legs in the air as he tried to resist the forced physical contact. Once Pinky let Brain down, he held the smaller mouse’s hand and started to jump up and down on the bed. Once they gained momentum, Pinky twirled Brain around, causing the intelligent mouse to cry out in protest.

“Nyaaaaaahhh!!!” Brain shouted as he was being twirled around against his will.

Yakko looked away from the window to find the mice dancing atop the mattress. He budged his siblings to get their attention and gestured towards their weekend guardians. The three kids instinctively clamored their way towards the bed, wanting to join in on the fun. Once Yakko, Wakko, and Dot perched themselves on the mattress, they started to bounce up and down. Soon enough, they joined hands as they bounced around in a circle, giggling as they contributed to the merriment.

While Pinky was enjoying himself, Brain kept screaming. As the mice jumped around, Brain noticed that they were too close to the Warners. Brain maneuvered Pinky, guiding him away from the three pairs of feet. They narrowly avoided being stepped on by the kids. Brain needed this silliness to stop before Pinky got hurt.

“Everybody off the mattress!” The smaller mouse yelled from the top of his lungs. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot immediately leaped over to the other bed, obeying Brain’s command. Once the intelligent mouse composed himself, he looked over to see how frightened the Warners were with his tone of voice.

Brain was overcome with tremendous guilt. “I’m sorry. That came off harsher than I intended.” He ruefully apologized. “Perhaps we should go outside the hotel room and find some engaging and wholesome activities to partake in.”

The Warners put on their thinking faces as they tried to come up with a fun way to spend the afternoon. “How about going to the pool?” Dot offered with a snap of her fingers.

“What a brilliant suggestion, Dot.” Brain complimented. “Now, let us prepare for a fun afternoon by the pool!”

“Woo-hoo!” Pinky cheered.

“Count me in!” Yakko declared while Wakko and Dot gave each other an enthusiastic high five.

It took about twenty minutes for everyone to get ready for their poolside excursion. The mice and the Warners were appropriately dressed in their swimwear. Brain wore his green and yellow palm-tree patterned swim trunks while Pinky wore a blue and pink floral print tankini. Yakko wore green swim trunks, Wakko wore a blue swim shirt and red swim trunks, and Dot wore a purple one-piece suit and yellow sunglasses. Brain packed a blue beach bag filled with five towels and various bottles of sunscreen while Wakko added their pool toys into the bag. Once the beach bag was packed, Brain placed Yakko in charge of carrying their belongings.

The pool was located on the rooftop of the hotel, so they took the elevator up to the top of the building. The moment the elevator doors opened, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot eagerly sprinted towards the pool. The children were close to jumping in, but a booming voice stopped them in their tracks.

“Not so fast there, kids.” Brain alerted as he walked alongside Pinky, holding hands as he chided the children. “No one steps into that pool until all of you slather your bodies with sun lotion.”

Yakko and Wakko groaned, their shoulders sagging in defeat. Dot, on the other hand, took a moment to see the mouse’s reasoning. “Yeah, he has a point there.” She concluded.

The three children approached the deck chair the mice claimed. Yakko opened up the blue bag and took out the bottles of sunscreen, and gave the mouse-sized bottles over to the murine couple. The Warners quickly applied the sunscreen on their arms, legs, ears, tails, and noses.

After Brain applied a good amount of sunscreen all over his limbs, chest, and enormous head, he turned over towards Pinky, who covered his fur with the lotion.  

“Pinky, could you be a dear and coat my back with the SPF 50 sunscreen?” Brain asked.

“Well of course, Brain!” Pinky happily replied. Squirting an ample gob of lotion in his hands, the lanky mouse generously spread the white substance all over his partner’s back. Brain sighed with contentment as he felt Pinky’s gentle hands caressing his shoulder blades and working his way down his back.

“Yes!!!” Brain joyfully cried out as Pinky massaged his back with sunscreen.

Once the Warners protected their bodies with the sun lotion, they carried their aquatic toys and made their way over to the pool. Pinky retrieved his rubber duckie while Brain grabbed his mouse-sized pink inflatable pool chair.

The Warners splashed each other in the shallow end of the pool. Dot riding around on a blue pool tube while Yakko and Wakko whacked each other with limp styrofoam pool noodles. Brain drifted off in the middle of the pool, but kept a watchful eye on the kids. Pinky, who was mounted on his rubber ducky like a horseback rider on their equestrian steed, scooted over towards Brain. The lanky mouse desperately reached out his hand towards his partner.

Brain took notice of what Pinky was doing and turned to face him. “What are you doing?” He questioned.

“Poit! Why I’m trying to hold your hand,” Pinky strained as he kept extending his reach for his partner’s hand. “But I...can’t....reach…”

Brain sighed to himself and immediately took Pinky’s hand. The taller mouse’s eye lit up and smiled. Brain returned the smile as he locked onto Pinky’s eyes. Even though he knew Pinky for years, he could not get over how marvelously blue his eyes were. His eyes glistened like a sparkling sea during sunset. Then the smaller mouse blissfully closed his eyes as he held onto the mouse he loved.

Pinky kept his loving stare on Brain for what seemed like two minutes. When he decided to take a quick glance at the kids, he only saw Yakko playfully spinning Dot around on her pool tube in the shallow end.

“Brain,” Pinky alerted with a gentle squeeze of his hand. “I can’t find Wakko anywhere!”

Brain’s eyes shot open and he turned over towards the shallow end, only seeing two of the three Warner siblings. The mice looked over their shoulder towards the deep end of the pool, only to find a grey fin menacingly swarming them.

“SHARK!!!” Pinky screamed as he tugged Brain away from danger. Pinky stumbled as he stood up on his rubber duckie and instantly fell into the water, dragging his partner along with him.

Once the mice reached the surface, Brain desperately clung to Pinky as the taller mouse swam for him and his partner’s lives towards the edge of the pool as quickly as he could. But the shark fin interfered with their escape route as it stopped right in the middle of their path.

Suddenly, the shark fin emerged from the water, and so did Wakko Warner.

“Hi!” Wakko greeted with a friendly smile. The middle child wore a grey shark fin over their red hat. “You like my cool fin strap?”

Pinky was overcome with relief upon seeing Wakko. “Oh, that fin looks lovely on you, Wakko! Troz!”

With an irritable frown, Brain shook his head and retrieved his pink pool float. The mouse continued to swim towards the edge of the pool.

“Oh thank goodness,” Pinky chuckled. “I forgot that sharks don’t live in swimming pools. Narf!” But the mouse’s smile faltered into an anxious frown. “...or do they? Brain, do sharks live in-” He turned towards his left expecting to see Brain there, but was shocked that he was gone. Pinky swam around only to find Brain already out of the pool, carrying his pink pool float.

“Brain!” Pinky called out to his partner. “Do sharks live in swimming pools?”

“No Pinky, they don’t!” Brain spat before he continued his way to the pool chair.

“Oh that’s a relief,” Pinky said. “For a second there I was starting to worry.”

Just as the mouse swam over to his rubber ducky, he noticed Wakko in a surprisingly somber mood.

“Is something wrong?” Pinky carefully asked.

“I hope Brain doesn’t hate me,” Wakko admitted, overcome with remorse.

“Poit! He would never hate you, Wakko.” Pinky assured. “He’s just a little grumpy is all. He just needs time to cool off.”

“I hope you’re right,” Wakko replied as he swam over to join their siblings.

Pinky joined the Warners at the shallow end of the pool. Yakko and Dot waved at the lanky mouse as he approached the siblings.

“Hey Pinky,” Dot asked. “Yakko and I were wondering what you and Brain have planned for tonight?”

“Oh, I already made a reservation at the karaoke parlor after dinner!” Pinky exclaimed. The mouse looked at the children, who all seemed excited at the idea of a karaoke session. Even Wakko started to cheer up the moment he heard the news. “But don’t tell Brain,” Pinky told the kids. “I want it to be a surprise! Zort!”

“Oh, I love surprises!” Wakko declared as he waved their hands in the air.

“That’s good to know.” Yakko casually responded before wrapping his arms around his sibling. The oldest Warner picked Wakko up, who kicked their feet in protest.

“Let me go!” Wakko chuckled as he tried to free themselves from the oldest Warner’s grasp.

“Okay, if you insist!” Yakko replied, tossing Wakko back into the pool. Pinky laughed and clapped his hands as he watched the silly sibling antics.

After getting out of the pool, Brain walked over towards the blue bag to retrieve his latest invention: a folding web chaise pool chair with a manual crank attached to a metal harness that functioned as an elevator. The sole purpose of the device was to make jacuzzis and hot tubs more accessible to mice such as himself.

Brain walked over to the jacuzzi and secured his device by the pool’s edge. He then took a seat in the pool chair and used the crank to descend into the hot tub. The mouse stopped the crank once the bubbling water reached his chest. Brain placed his hands behind his head and let out a blissful sigh. The mouse looked over at the children, who were playing some sort of pool game. Brain decided to appreciate the moment of solitude while he still had it.

A few minutes later, Dot got out of the pool, shaking the water from her hair. Placing her sunglasses on, she spotted Brain and walked over towards the jacuzzi.

“Room for one more?” The Warner sister inquired.

“By all means.” Brain invited, and the girl settled herself in the hot tub.

“Wakko wanted me to tell you that he’s sorry for that little prank earlier.” Dot informed him.

The mouse felt a pang of guilt for his reaction to Wakko’s antics. He may have been upset that the middle child had ruined the peaceful moment between Pinky and himself, but the mouse held no ill will against Wakko for messing around.

“I’ll soon inform them of my forgiveness.” Brain replied. “I know that Wakko had no malicious intentions with their little joke.”

Dot nodded, happy to know that the mouse didn’t hold any grudges against her older sibling. “So, are you enjoying yourself?” She asked while adjusting her sunglasses.

“As a matter of fact, I am.” Brain answered honestly. “And you?”

“Oh, I’m having a lot of fun!” Dot eagerly replied. “Although I must admit, I need some time for myself. My older siblings can be too much at times.”

“I can empathize with the sentiment.” Brain agreed. “Pinky can be a little too outgoing and energetic at times.”

Dot nodded and hummed. “Say, you wanna know some fun facts about Yakko and Wakko?” She playfully asked.

“Oh, do tell.” Brain answered with an intrigued smile.

“Okay, so Wakko always does this thing where he copies the behavior of people he admires.” Dot explained. She looked over at the pool, and pointed towards her older siblings. “Watch closely!”

Brain focused his attention on the Yakko, who scooped a handful of water and threw it up in the air. Wakko followed suit, mimicking their older brother’s movements.

“Fascinating…” Brain commented as he watched the older Warner siblings.

“And Yakko normally stays in the shallow end of the pool because he can’t swim.” Dot informed him.

“Really?” Brain questioned. “How?”

“He never bothered.” Dot candidly answered. “He tried taking swim lessons back in the nineties, but he got kicked out because he was too busy making googly eyes at the swim instructors and lifeguards.”

“How am I not surprised,” Brain dryly responded.

“And as a heads up, Yakko can’t consume anything with lactose.” Dot said with a twinge of sadness.

“Duly noted.” Brain acknowledged. “I suppose I should tell Pinky to put in dairy substitutes if he wants to make his world-famous cheesecake for Yakko in the foreseeable future.”

“Hold the phone, Pinky can bake!?” Dot asked excitedly with glistening eyes.

“Absolutely! Pinky can whip up all sorts of pastries and confectioneries, ” Brain remarked. “Cheesecakes, cannolis, macaroons, eclairs, crème brule,” Brain listed before curling his fingers, pressing them to his lips for a passionate chef’s kiss. “They’re simply magnifique!”

“Wakko is definitely gonna have a field day with Pinky if he ever knew that.” Dot remarked.

“Oh, indubitably.” Brain affirmed with a nod.

Back in the pool, Wakko looked over to see Dot having a pleasant conversation with Brain. The middle child thought about what Pinky said, that the smaller mouse needed time to chill before he was fine. He could apologize to Brain and try their hardest to show the mouse how to have fun without coming off as mean or hurtful. Wakko finally worked up the courage to approach Brain again.

The middle child turned over to Yakko, who lifted Pinky up in the air. The mouse giggled as he splashed into the pool. “I’m gonna swing by the jacuzzi, I’ll be right back!” He informed the two.

Pinky resurfaced and waved at Wakko. “Okay, have fun!”

After getting out of the pool, Wakko carefully thought about the best way to approach his sister and the smaller mouse. He looked back to their older brother, who launched Pinky back in the air for another splash in the pool.

Wakko smiled, knowing what he needed to do. He knelt down in a runner’s starting position as their sights set on the jacuzzi. The middle child then broke out into a sprint.

“Hey fellas!” Wakko exclaimed. Brain and Dot turn their gaze over to the middle child as he sprinted towards the jacuzzi. Brain’s eyes widened, anticipating the upcoming disaster that was sure to happen.

“Cannonball!” Wakko sang as he launched himself in the air, bending his knees and wrapping his arms around his legs.

Before Brain could react, Wakko plunged straight into the middle of the hot tub. The splash launched Brain about ten feet up in the air. The mouse looked over at the city skyline and back down at the hot tub with a sense of dread.

“Oh dear lord...” He exasperatedly remarked as he began his swift descent.

“Nyaaaaahhhh!!!!!” Brain screamed helplessly. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the worst. But instead of making a crash landing onto the hard ground, he landed in a soft cottony material. He reluctantly opened his eyes and realized that he was inside Wakko’s red hat.

A hatless Wakko looked at Brain with a mix of relief and embarrassment. “Sorry!” 

“Wakko, you must never jump into the jacuzzi like that!” Brain berated. “You could have seriously hurt yourself!”

Wakko winced upon receiving his scolding. “I know…” He mumbled, their eyes shamefully cast downwards.

Brain felt his heart go out to Wakko upon seeing the regret on their face. Then the mouse’s frown melted away, turning into a soft smile. “And I want to thank you for saving me.” He gently praised the Warner sibling, causing them to look back at the mouse. “I would have entered a world of pain had it not been for your creative thinking and nimble reflex.”

Wakko beamed at Brain, glad that the mouse wouldn’t stay mad at them for the duration of the trip. “You’re welcome!” He happily replied as he scooped the mouse from their hat, placing it back on their head.

But a loud whistle broke the tender moment. Wakko, Dot and Brain looked over at a physically fit lifeguard, who wore a stern face as he marched towards them. The three braced themselves for a reprimanding speech on pool safety.

Yakko noticed this from the pool, and he had to think up something to get them off the hook. He looked to Pinky, who was climbing out of the pool, and came up with a surefire solution. The oldest Warner approached Pinky and whispered something into his ear. After a moment, Pinky gave the oldest Warner a thumbs up. Yakko gently picked Pinky up and placed him out of the pool.

Pinky took a few steps from the pool and started howling in pain. “Oh ho ho, I hurt me foot!”

The lanky mouse clutched onto his right foot and rolled around on the ground, pretending to writhe in agony. “Oh ho ho, I hurt me foot!” Pinky wailed as tears sprinkled from his eyes. “Oh, the pain! The agony! Narf!”

The lifeguard then moved towards the downtrodden mouse. Yakko quickly got out of the pool and gathered the blue beach bag and motioned towards his siblings and Brain to follow his lead. Wakko placed Brain on top of their hat, and followed Yakko and Dot as they fled from the scene while the lifeguard was distracted. The children and the mouse arrived at the elevator. Brain pressed on the button, hoping that the doors would open fast enough before the lifeguard could detect them. Fortunately, their desperate pleas were answered as the elevator doors opened. One by one, the four flooded inside the elevator.

Once Pinky saw that the four successfully made it by the elevator, he stopped crying and stood up on his feet. “Oh, I’m feeling better now!” He said in his usual cheerful voice before he skipped along his merry way towards the elevator doors. “Love you!” Pinky called out to the lifeguard.

The lifeguard stared at the mouse in befuddlement. “Love you too?” He muttered with a hesitant wave.

Once Pinky made his way in, Dot pressed the button to close the elevator doors and the button for floor nine. The doors swiftly closed and the group made their descent down to their sanctuary. When they were safe at last, Yakko cackled aloud and soon his siblings and the mice joined in, breaking out into a fit of laughter.

“I can’t believe that actually worked!” Dot exclaimed.

Brain hopped down from Wakko’s hat and approached the lanky mouse. “Good work, Pinky.” He complimented as he patted his partner’s shoulder. “You’re acting is as believable as ever.”

“Aw that’s nice Brain, but I can’t take all the credit,” Pinky explained with pink-tinted cheeks. “it was Yakko’s bright idea to create a diversion to get you three out of trouble.”

Brain looked over towards the oldest Warner and smiled. “Well Yakko, I admire your clever thinking.”

Yakko was overjoyed by the compliment, smiling gratefully at the intelligent mouse. “Hey, I’m always happy to help!”

The smaller mouse smiled back at the oldest Warner before turning his attention to the middle child. “And as for you Wakko, I recognize that you didn’t mean any trouble with your little shark fin stunt earlier and there’s no use in dwelling over what happened. It’s all water under the bridge.”

Wakko felt a wave of relief wash over and he softly smiled at the smaller mouse.

Once the elevator stopped on their floor, the five got out and made their way back to the hotel room.

“Well, I hope you all enjoyed our little poolside adventure, for I am certain that we won’t be welcomed back after our little scene.” Brain remarked. “But no matter, I already took into consideration other engaging and wholesome activities for the weekend, many of which aren’t limited to the confines of the hotel.”

Once they reached the door to their room, Yakko retrieved his key and inserted it in the metal lock. The green lights blinked from the lock, indicating that they were allowed access in the room. The oldest Warner opened up the door and allowed everyone else to walk in first before he entered.

Brain climbed up the nightstand. “Now I want you all to change from your swimwear into your finest attire, for we’ll take to the streets for tonight’s dinner!” Brain explained.

The Warners gave Brain a serious salute before racing towards the bathroom door. Dot managed to get in first, slamming the door behind her older siblings.

The next half-hour was spent getting prepared for their evening of fun. The siblings scoured through their packed suitcases to find their best attire to wear. Dot put on her Spotify playlist from the tablet, not that it bothered Brain in the least. In fact, he thought that the Warner sister had splendid taste in music, as her playlist consisted of pop music from the 80s and 90s.

Brain, now dressed in his light blue blazer and a cream collared shirt. He looked in the mirror as he adjusted his red tie whilst discreetly singing along to Kiss From A Rose. “Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey. Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah.” The eloquent mouse crooned.

Pinky was settled on the bed, dressed in his checkered green suit jacket and blue bowtie, smiling contentedly as he listened to Brain sing and imagined that he was singing for him and him alone. The lanky mouse admired the way his partner could carry a tune along with his seductive voice. Oh how he could listen to Brain sing all day. Pinky was always quick to compliment Brain’s singing and tried to encourage him to showcase his talents to the world, but the big-headed mouse vehemently denied that request time and time again.

Pinky needed to find a way to pretend that he was busy with another activity so as to avoid suspicion from his partner. He hopped over to the nightstand where he found the hotel brochure. Surely there were plenty of pretty pictures to look at. But as he picked up the laminated pamphlet, he discovered the sparkling gold credit card that the CEO bestowed to him and Brain.

“Naaarf!” Pinky admired. The mouse picked up the credit card and placed it on the pillow. Pinky laid down on the mattress and propped his head in his hands as he gazed on the card’s entrancing glow.  

Brain hopped back on the bed and looked over at Pinky, who was admiring the shimmering credit card. The pudgy mouse shook his head and walked over to his partner. Brain chuckled upon seeing how enamored Pinky was with the glimmering card.

“I see you’re enchanted by the credit card.” Brain observed astutely.

Pinky eagerly nodded his head. “It’s like watching the baby sun from the Teletubbies! Troz!”

“Pinky, are you pondering what I’m pondering?” He inquired with a cheeky grin.

“I think so Brain, but what if my milkshakes can’t bring all the boys to the yard?” Pinky asked anxiously.

“No Pinky, I was not referring to your dreams of opening an ice cream shop or your chest, as soft and comfortable as it is.” Brain berated as his cheeks blushed to a dark shade of red.

“You’re darn right, mister!” Pinky confirmed with a nod.

“The CEO informed us that she will pay for any additional expenses we make over the weekend. I intend to take advantage of her little gesture of kindness by making as many extravagant purchases as possible!” Brain eagerly explained with a devious smile. “And treating you and the kids to an elegant, fine-dining experience will be the first stop in our weekend spending spree!”

“Zounds Brain,” Pinky awed, but he then remembered what he had in store for the evening. “But we have to make sure that we finish dinner before 7:00 because I already made plans for a fun bonding activity with the kids at 7:30!”

Brain frowned at the thought of Pinky planning something without his input. “What plans?” Brain interrogated.

“Oh, I can’t tell you. I want it to be a surprise!” Pinky gleefully answered.

“I can hardly wait.” Brain responded sardonically. “Very well, I’ll try to find any upscale restaurants within the area, and make a reservation for six o’clock.” The intelligent mouse said as he scrolled through his smartphone. The CEO entrusted him and Pinky with the company credit card and, darn it, he was going to treat himself, his partner, and the kids to an expensive dinner at a fancy restaurant!

“Hey Brain?” He heard Wakko speak.

Brain put his phone aside and looked at the middle child, who was wearing a red cavalier hat with a blue feather sticking up from the side, a white tunic, and a musketeer tabard with the colors of the Non-Binary flag. The mouse was not surprised by Wakko’s unconventional fashion sense, but he certainly admired the middle child’s bold choice of wardrobe. “Yes, Wakko?”

“Can we go to McDonald’s for dinner?” Wakko eagerly asked.

“McDonald’s?” Brain scoffed. “Why on earth would you want to have serviceable fast food when we could easily go to any one of the more elegant eateries in the city?”

“Because other restaurants don’t have Big Macs.” Wakko answered with a confident nod.

Yakko and Dot soon came out from the bathroom and stood beside Wakko. Yakko was dressed in a black leather jacket and a white T-shirt in addition to his signature brown slacks. Dot wore a purple pantsuit, a white collared shirt, and a pearl necklace.

“Yeah, and it’s been ages since we last went to McDonald’s.” Yakko explained, backing up his younger sibling.

“And what other restaurant could provide a relaxed, down-to-earth atmosphere tailor made for the average American family?” Dot added with great conviction.

Brain was secretly impressed with the Warners’ gumption and steadfast determination, but he had to remind the children who’s boss.

“Oh no, I remember all of those times you annoyed me into taking you to McDonald’s back in the nineties!” Brain remarked with an exasperated tone of voice. “Well, I am here to inform you that my fortitude has hardened considerably over the years, and this little song and dance won’t work on me again!”

Yakko looked over at his siblings with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.  “McDonald’s! McDonald’s!” The eldest Warner started chanting. Wakko and Dot immediately joined in. “McDonald’s! McDonald’s! McDonald’s!”

As the Warners chanted, The Brain crossed his arms, grumpily standing his ground. He was the adult in the situation and he would not bow down to the whims of the children. But the mouse was shocked to see his dearest partner join the children’s crusade, chanting alongside them.

“McDonald’s! McDonald’s!” Pinky exclaimed, pumping his arms in the air.

“Pinky! Who’s side are you on!?” Brain snapped exasperatedly.

“Poit! The one with the happy meals.” Pinky sheepishly replied with a shrug.

Brain knew he was outnumbered and outpowered. As much as he wanted to have an exquisite dinner at a high-end restaurant, he had to give the kids (and his partner) what they wanted. With an annoyed sigh, he held up his hands and surrendered to the sassy children's demand.

“Alright, we’ll have dinner at McDonald’s!” The Brain announced, eliciting cheers from the Warners and Pinky. The smaller mouse held up his hand, pointing his finger upwards to assure his dominance over the group.

“But if you children even think about causing anymore trouble under my supervision, then I shall sell you to the zoo!” Brain sternly warned. The mouse knew he was making an empty threat, and the children probably knew that as well, but he wanted to ensure that they would be on their best behavior while they were out on the town.

“We’ll be good,” Yakko affirmed before turning over to Wakko and Dot. “Right sibs?”

“We promise.” The younger Warner siblings chorused, smiling as golden halos appeared above their heads. Dot flashed a confident grin while Wakko wore a more nervous smile.

“Good.” Brain curtly nodded. The mouse climbed up the sleeve of his robotic suit, walked along the left shoulder, and settled himself in the driver’s seat. “Now let’s go.”

AN: And so the fun officially begins!

So originally this chapter was supposed to be longer, but as I was filling in the details, I realized that it was too long, so I decided to divide it into two parts (with part one being over 19 long lol) So consider this chapter to be part one of the Mice and Warners cause shenanigans on a Friday.

This chapter was so much fun to write because it gave me the opportunity to explore the dynamics between the two parties. 

Pinky would definitely be the more affectionate one of the two, doting on the Warners and giving them lots of positive attention. He would have the strongest connection with Dot, since she finds him very cute and she’s always quick to compliment him and show him affection. Pinky and Wakko are both fun-loving, but naive and they’re always looking to have a good time. Yakko would love to make Pinky laugh because that boy craves validation for his humor and Pinky is the easiest to please since that mouse loves almost anything and he would find Yakko hilarious. 

Brain is the responsible, but tired one who puts up with their shenanigans, but also respects the kids and finds them endearing. He and Yakko would have back and forth banter. Despite the two of them not always seeing eye to eye, Brain is quick to praise Yakko’s more positive attributes. Wakko just loves Brain, and Brain shares the sentiment despite the two of them having opposite personalities. In the next chapter, we get to see more of their relationship. With Dot having wit, Brain is able to connect to her the easiest, as the two of them would share intellectual conversations and spill some gossip as well. 

The pool section was fun to write as I managed to come up with a lot of crazy shenanigans as well as quieter moments between the characters. 

The McDonald’s bit was a lot of fun to write, and yes it was inspired by the classic McDonald’s alignment chart (“McDonald’s! McDonald’s! McDonald’s!”, “We have food at home.”, *Pulls into the drive thru as children cheer* *orders a single black coffee and leaves*), The Warners and Pinky would definitely be chanting for McDonald’s while Brain would be that one of those folks who orders a black coffee lol!

Thanks for reading! 

[popculturebuffet]

Pinky and the Brain: A Pinky And the Brain Christmas Review or I Just Think Schotzie’s Neat

Christmas Continues on this blog... and getting away from one set of Christmas commissions and into another, I offered my friend Blahdiddy three commissions as a present. The other two we’ll get to eventually, but with Animaniacs on the brain, heh, due to the reboot, he selected two Pinky and the Brains and one Animaniacs for me to cover. And while I intended to cover this one sometime this month anyway, my friend’s recent and sad covid diagnosis meant i’m bumping this one all the way up to the front of the line so he has some christmas cheer during this rough time. So with that in mind let’s talk about pinky, pinky and the brain brain brain brain brain shall we? Of course we can’t really talk about pinky and the brain without talking about Animaniacs. I absolutely love the series, I grew up with it as a kid and reconnected with it as an adult when it ended up on netflix. It was smart, well animated and most importantly really fucking funny. I highly recommend checking both the original and reboot of it out some time if you have Hulu. Speaking of the reboot while I might go on in full about it at some point it’s pretty good, with some creatvie jokes, some nice updates, with Rita Anita Anrita being a great new addition to the warner side of things. It’s only real flaw is it gets a bit reptitious as for the most part there’s only really the warners and pinky and the brain with a few exceptions one of which DAMN well deserved at least two segments and we all know which one that is. 

Bring.. this.. to series. The warners and pinky and the brain segments weren’t bad, but as is inevitible in a screwball comedy some just weren’t as good as others and those fell harder when you’ve already seen 2 or 3 better versions of this sort of skit in the season. They did really find their groove towards the end and if you like both Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, or even just one or the other, it’s worth checking out.  But enough about the reboot let’s talk about those labratory mice whose genes have been spliced. Thanks to wikipedia, I now know the duo were based on Eddie Fitzgerald and Tom Minton, who worked with Tom Rutgeter on Tiny Toon adventures, with menton being the one who came up with Narf, even saying it in one episode of Tiny Tunes. During the creation of animaniacs, Bruce Timm, yes THE Bruce Timm, sketched the two, and Ruetger added mouse ears and the rest was history. Maurice LaMarche was the one who added the Orson Welles to the character, as LaMarche saw the Orson Welles in Brain, ran with it and got the part and a long and storied career in voice acting as a result. In a nice and fitting bit of contrast, Rob Paulsen got the part.. because he was already on the show. Not to downplay Paulsen’s clear talent, I just find it hilarious. 

That’s about what I could dig up on the behind the scenes of the show. From what I can tell it was greenlit because Animaniacs was a massive it, and Pinky and the Brain was the most popular segment, so it just made sense. The show would likewise be a massive sucess with both adults and kids, and go on for three seasons and what should legally be considered a war crime. 

For those of you blissfully unaware yeah, that happened, no no one people actually LIKED from Tiny Toons was in it. And yeah if you want me to talk about it commission it otherwise not going near this one. While I do need to tackle more bad animation... I’ve successfully avoided watching an episode of this show for 22 years next wedsday, I’m not breaking the streak for free. 

But some.. things aside I remembered liking the series as a kid but just never got around to seeking it out as an adult. I had nothing against the animaniacs segments and I even still have a stuffed brain doll I got at a garage sale.. the pinky is sadly missing and persumed dead. I just wasn’t as bit into it as I was the slappy bits rewatching animaniacs and didin’t really see reason to watch the show. Watching this though made me realize I was wrong and I probably watch more of it in the future This special is damn good, i’m pleased ot review it and to revive and old childhood memory. So with all the exposition out of the way let’s talk Pinky, PInky and the brain brain brain brain christmas edition after the cut. 

This was indeed a special: while it was presumably produced with season one of the show and is packaged with it both on DVD and on Hulu, where I watched it, the special was aired in prime time and even put on it’s own VHS.. which I found out and of course, like with my review of the Darkwing Duck Pilot, had to use as the art for old VHS’ tapes for cartoons.. was really fucking beautiful and it’s a nice break from my traditional screencaps.   So we open with a clever Christmas rendition of the theme, frequently sprinkling in bits of other christmas stuff, utterly fantastic. The intro animation is less impressive as it’s literally just the regular intro but with a stock snow effect over everything. In case you thought Ducktales doing that was a new thing. I do not blame the team however, as apparently they only had a week to get the scripts out, so I highly doubt warner was forking out more cash for the animation than they had to. They still forked out enough to make it LOOK really good mind you, something I wish they’d do more often with their DTV Movies but do do with their animated shows still with certain exceptions so good on them, i’m just saying they clearly cared more about money than having a memorable christmas opening. Given a budget to actually make one, i’m sure the animators would’ve come up with something lovely, and i’m sure the same is true of Ducktales and other shows and like i’ve said, i’m highly in favor of shows actuallly doing unique openings for the holidays, especially since Holiday episodes tend to get reaired every year as long as the show is in circulation on the network. Sometimes even if it isn’t. So it’s fully worth the effort to fork out a little extra for this as while you’ll most likely only use it once, you’ll be using the special for years. You can afford to treat yourself networks come on. It’s...

Just like Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain. But onto the episode itself after 80 years. We find Pinky writing his Christmas list to santa, complete with Narf, a gag I like. As usual for a comedy show, I will try to gloss over as much of the gags as possible, to avoid repetttion but yeah this episode is really damn funny and reminded me just how good these characters are. Maurice and Rob just have perfect chemistry. It’s like Tom and Jerry: It’s a very simple premise, that one being “Cat chases mouse and Mouse beats shit out of mouse”, and pinky and the brain of course being “Super genuis mouse and dimwitted but loveable sidekick try and takeover the world eveyr night”. But a simple premise can be used just about anywhere and adapated for anything. To me a cartoon’s premise only has to be as complicated as it needs to be to work. Sometimes you have a vast complex tapestry behind the world like She Ra, Steven Universe or Avatar with lots of planning and ins and outs and deep character stuff.. and sometimes you just have two mice who get into shenanigans because one is a would be dictator who sounds like orson welles and the other’s a loveable british weirdo/moron. Sometimes simple just works. 

Anyways, Brain, noticing Pinky’s distracted and replaces himself with a horrifying poorly made doll of himself called Noodle Noggin, which is both an excellent name and not the only time they’d use the name either, as there was an animaniacs short about Brain making himself a fad to endear himself to the children of the future with the same name. It’s just an inherently funny set of words, but also shows Brain’s genius in a subtle and clever way as he never spells it out, but despite sounding kind of ridiculous for such a buttoned up intellectual like brain... he knows that’s the kind of name kids will eat up. His schemes may often fail, but he’s an objectively brilliant schemer and i’ts often either PInky’s incompetence or his own miscalculation of humanity, either over or underestimating them, that undoes Brain.  Back to the plot, so Brain’s plan is to distribute noodle noggins around the world, make it the hot new toy, and as always, take over the world. Problem is naturally two Mice simply don’t have the resources to make the billions of dolls. But PInky stumbles upon the solution in the paper: a want ad for elves! Everything about that sentence except “pinky stumbles upon the solution” has not aged paticuarlly well, but point is they have a plan and we have our christmas special.  This does bring me to my one problem with the special.. Brain’s weird inconsistency towards Santa. What I mean is he spends the portion doubting Santa can do anything he’s claimed to despite being proven frequently he can. That part is not all that annoying as it’s in character with him and while yes, he is a talking mouse, he’s also a man of science and reason and Santa is the opposite of that. That would be fine... IF it wasn’t for the fact that said magical bollocks weren’t constantly part of his plans. Despite Brain constantly throughought the special doubting Santa... his plans FREQUENTLY rely on everything we’ve heard about him being right. His initial plan here ENTIRELY runs on the fact Santa has a massive workforce to make the toys yet even if that’s true by Brain’s own logic, he wouldn’t be able to deliver them. Later when the boys need to escape, They hide with the Reindeer despite Brain just saying santa can’t be everywhere in one night.. which if he can’t then the odds are slim he’ll wind up at Acme Labs isn’t it? It would be fine if the special acknowledged any of this outside of one bit we’ll get to, but other than that one bit.. they don’t. IT’s just really frustrating and really sticks out since the rest of the special is perfection, so this one failing bit really grates. That being said, it dosen’t last long enough to really drag the episode down as a whole, just to annoy me a bit every so often. It speaks to the episodes quality that the bad part ONLY drags so much because everything else is so well put together.  So our boys head to the north pole with the help of a kooky pilot and a santa dummy, this pilot is voiced by Tress MacNeile and is easily one of the best parts of the special. And naturally given their luck, she asks them to take the wheel so the plane instead jerks and causes them to fall out. Luckily they end up near Santa’s workshop and soon apply for temp work with local head of things and gruff type Shotzie, played by Jeff Bennett. And yes that is his name.  I like Shotzie: he’s a goateed elf and Bennett just plays him well.. hard to explain honestly I may just like his name and Bennett’s voice for him, one he used before in animanaics for various bit parts and in shows after this, it’s just a voice i’ve always liked. 

They get put to work in the mail room, which is the bit I mentioned: Brain earlier scoffed at Santa answering all the letters with Pinky simply suggesting that Santa had his elves go through all of them. Turns out Pinky was right... while he may be a BIT stupid, one intresting thing i’ve found about Pinky after watching the reboot that ironically the friend who comissioned this and I discussed is that he’s not ENTIRELY stupid, it’s just , much like Dan from Dan Vs his knowledge is just random.. he can not know how a lot of things work, but sometimes like in this instance Pinky generally just GETS something. It’s part of why he and Brain are such a good team despite their failures: Brain is all about planning and thought and research, Pinky is about intuition and gut instinct. He just does things and it often works out. This also makes their recently added backstories all the more brilliant as they explain this well: Pinky started life just being told to find the diffrence in cheeses and thus was taught form childhood to trust in himself and his weird brain. Brain was cruelly torturued with an experiment on learned behaviors via electroshock, and was taught to never give up control again, to always know what’s going on and to always control it. It perfectly sums up who the two are and why they are that way.  Brain however quickly pivots, as the mail room ends up being the perfect location to start his plans. Since their job is to file away what each person wants Brain simply adds Noodle Noggin to it and plans to put his plans into the workshop. While Santa and Schotzie are suprised and baffled, Santa quickly adds it to the list. However things hit a snag when Schotzie gets supscious when the two try to sneak into the blueprint room to drop theirs off and he accidently yanks off their disguises leading to a REALLY fun chase scene, as the boys end up in a toy wherehouse and thus try out various toy cars: a barbie dream car that dosen’t have a working motor, a toy truck that dosen’t go very fast, and finally an rc car that while fast naturally just means Schotzie can grab it and capture them. It’s easily my faviorite scene of the episode just for how clever it is and as someone whow as a kid around the time this came out, I applaud the accuracy.. granted I didn’t have any of those personally but I had lots of friends so yeah. 

So our heroes are interrogated.. and again Brain brilliantly pivots. Schotzie assumes since they have the blueprints their spies for the easter bunny or the tooth fairy or Herschel, the Hanukah Goblin. Why Herschel never got his own Hannukah special trying to stop Pinky and the Brain from using it to take over the world, I genuinely do not know and that’s something the reboot really needs to adress in the future. Seriously Hannukah needs a mascot and it’s either Herschel or the Hannukah Zombie. Kwanza already has Kwanzabot. I want to see more of Herschel the Hannukah Goblin dammit!. I love goblins. Especially this one.

And this one

And most of all this one

I likes goblins. It’s a thing. So anyway, point is Schotize has the blueprints taken in while our boys slip out and sucessfully make their way outside, though they have to find a way home to turn on the mind control device. They see Santa and brain being a dick refuses to let pinky hand in his letter.. but does as mentioned earlier have them pose as reindeer.  So our heroes make their way home and in time to be able to activate the device once santa’s route’s finished!

And.. then land directly on the mind control device thing, meaning they now have to scramble to repair it. Oh and Pinky is inconsolable after realizing Santa didn’t get his letter and Brain is a HUGE dick about it. Easily the worst i’ve seen him just far more focused on his machine than his friend’s wel lbeing especially since ALL he needs from pinky is for him to throw one lousy switch. 

But we then get easily the best part of the entire special. As Brain scrambles to rebuild his device while abusing his best friend we get a really nice tense sequence as Brain rebuilds while kids all over the world warmly receive noodle noggin. I mean.. it’s not the creepiest doll I’ve seen a kid enjoy. 

Also Bill Clinton gets one because the series apparently really likes “Bill Clinton is stupid jokes” Oh you poor innocent dears who haven’t had to suffer through the president being revealed to be a sexual predator, the one after him being even dumber if not a predator, the one after that being easily one of the best people around, and the outgoing one being a waking nightmare whose both a preadator and dumb beyond all comprehension ina dangerous and soul crushing way. 

But yeah onto the good part, Brain, for whatever reason, reads the letter.. and finds Pinky asked for nothing. He just wanted to give Brain the world at long last, recognizing his friend really and genuinely means well for it and that he’s worked hard to conquer it. And with that goal in reach, with the very thing he’s always wanted his... Brain instead uses the device to wish a merry christmas. He sees through his friend’s kindess and selflessness that he himself.. has been selfish once again turning something into a world destroying plot and being cruel to his best friend... when all his best friend wanted was to selflessly make sure he finally got what he wanted. It’s then that Brain, for all his cold and cynical logic and superiority complex, realized the true meaning of christmas, which i’ve said before and i’ll say again: it’s about giving, about giving someone something with your heart and soul just to be nice with no expectation of something in return. It’s about being selfless for once instead of selfish. I’ts about love. And Brain loves his friend too much to destroy his faviorite holiday. For once the world can wait.. and for once they all join in saying merry christmas to one another and in love and camradire. And I know not everyone celebrates christmas, there are other winter holidays and not everyone in the world would willingly do this. I know all that.. but the special has such a well meaning message, I really can’t be mad at that or get into the weeds too much> This isn’t some jackass making an entire movie, of which there have been several, saying “There’s a war on christmas” which instead equates to them just bitching about not everyone celebrating HIS holiday. It’s about a mouse for one moment truly being selfless and putting ihs loyal and faithful friend over his greatest want to give him a nice christmas and to do something nice for the world instead of trying to take it. And that.. that’s really damn heartmelting.  So we end on the two exchanging presents, with it being a little extra heartwarming as Brain likely already got Pinky something meaning even before his big revelation, he really does care beneath all the dope slaps. Pinky got him a keychain of the world and rather than be frustrated like you’d think.. Brain just takes it in stride. It is christmas after all.. the world.. it can wait. For now it’s just the two of them having one moment in time, this merry christmas.  Final Thoughts: If it wasn’t obvious, I loved this freaking special. It’s funny, clever and has one hell of an ending. There isn’t much more to say other than go watch it if you have Hulu.. you will not regret it and a sepcial thanks to Blah for comissioning this. it was an amazing time and is now a competitor for a spot on my best christmas special list. For now though it’s just really good and I say go check it out. Merry christmas, happy holidays and later days. 

[pizzakin]

Could I have a kin analysis? The kins are Mae Borowski from Night in the Woods, Duck Newton from The Adventure Zone: Amnesty, Dipper Pines from Gravity Falls, Yakko Warner from Animaniacs, Cherri Cola from Danger Days, Kanaya Maryam from Homestuck, and Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time. Thanks!

ah, apologies for not getting to these sooner.. to get a good kin analysis, i must wake the korekiyo in my brain. i am not used to him being such a heavy sleeper.. i wonder what he found, in those dreams of his. perhaps he simply wanted the stars to be a little less lonely..

kehehe, apologies. now, let us get to the point, yes? you have spent long enough waiting, i shall do my best not to extend that time with my vaguely poetic ramblings.

now, the first thing i noticed before i even looked into the characters that i wasnt aware of on a personal levels.. you seem to kin a few nerds, yes? kehehe, this is no insult. i also have to wonder.. have you gone through some sort of gifted kid burnout? or perhaps just burnout in general. you probably feel as though you’ve failed to meet others expectations.. maybe even your own?

perhaps you were raised being told you had to/you were going to be something great, and now you can’t help but feel like you haven’t really done anything close.. now, i dont know you personally, but i’d like to add quickly that im sure you arent as bad as you think. just in general. our minds tend to be full of funhouse mirrors.. they arent ever that fun, though. not when you are led to believe it is true

hm.. what else.. you might feel like people dont listen to you enough? or at all, if we are being truly pessimistic. perhaps people overlook or ignore you, leaving you to feel unheard? ah, i am a tad less confident with this one, so apologies if this holds no truth in it

well, thats the best analysis i can muster, i think. i truly hope this was to your liking

[schibi12]

A very Cartoony Christmas: Animaniacs Wakko's Wish

Hello and Welcome to the first Christmas review of the season a bit late i know but its because i've had a ton of homework but it's my last week so i should be having more christmas reviews to come.

So this was my first time watching this movie and honestly im kind of sad i hadn't watch it sooner it was so good and wholesome. So let's do this!!

Spoilers! Read at your own Risk!

The animation was amazing it really has that perfect blend of cinematic and keeping the style of the TV show.

Musical and the songs were great i do think there where too many reprises of the songs at one point but it didn't ruined the experience. Personal Favorite is Never Give Up Hope.

The story was really smart, creative and funny i like how they subverse some classic tropes like the wishing star, the wish and others ones.

I really like how they reminded us that the Warner siblings are orphans and that there the only family they have, i think it's a detail we tend to forget when we were children and how it's sort of the main focus you see Yakko taking care of Dot and Wakko leaving for a year trying to make some money for Dot's operation it's weird at first seeing these that are insaney and comedic character in a dark and depressing setting but you get used to it and honestly is an interesting setting to explore these characters.

The rest of the cast of Animaniacs were great they had their moments and scenes they were good.

I love the references they have to the series like the mime, Pip and the knock-off Maria Von Trapp and all the characters that appeared in the nightmare rollercoaster scene nice little details that relate it to the show.

The villain King Salazar or Saladbar he was okay just another foil for the Warners to annoy but he truly is evil like why kill these poor orphaned children he is messed up.

And speaking of King Saladbar that scene you know that scene the scene where Dot dies holy cow! Wasn't expecting that but this scene the voice acting was amazing during this scene, Tress MacNeille and Rob Paulsen i tip my hat to both of you best voice acting i've ever heard and yes dear reader/tumblr user i cried during this scene and for the rest of the movie...

And i love the ending everbody gets their happy ending Hello Nurse is a CEO, Rita and Runt have a good life, Pinky is happy with a mate who doesn't abuse him and Brain has a position of power and Dot is cured, the Warners they finally find out their parentage which although sad and tragic they're royalty and have a nice life in the palace all is good...well except for the mime.

A new christmas classic definitely it's wholesome, funny and overall great it was so nice and i know it was planned as the final episode of the series and honestly its a nice conclusion to the series. And i highly recommend if you haven't watched it.

Well see you real soon!

[tymime]

So, having seen all 13 episodes of the new Animaniacs, I can say without question it’s a very good show. Not perfect by any means, but definitely worthy of your time if you’re a fan of the original.

Most comments I’ve seen have praised the show, but I’ve also seen some criticism. Mostly from people who haven’t watched it. Now, I seriously believe that it’s perfectly okay to criticize something you haven’t seen the entirety of, but if you’re going by the trailers and clips released online, well… I can’t see what there is to complain about. It’s fantastically animated, well-drawn, and I actually laughed when I heard the first joke. I actually felt some tension release when that happened!

But I would like to talk about some unfair (and also fair) criticisms from people who actually did watch it:

-Too much cynicism/mean-spiritedness One thing I didn’t realize when I was a kid is how often the original show made fun of things that really didn’t deserve being made fun of. The tradition of the Warner siblings pestering historical figures included the likes of Beethoven and Einstein, who as far as I know, never did anything to warrant being cast as villains in any kind of fiction, much less a cartoon. I think probably the most egregious of these was the episode where they torment a thinly-veiled parody of Wolf Blitzer. I don’t know much about the guy, but all of the people on CNN seem like pretty upstanding folk, so I can’t imagine why the writers chose him of all people to target. Sometimes I wonder if the whole “make fun of it because it exists” thing that so much modern humor relies on actually started with Animaniacs… If anything, the new show is actually more light-hearted in some respects.

-Too much political/topical satire Yet again, the original show was not shy in taking occasional jabs at the government and social issues. Cartoons doing that kind of humor goes back as far as Looney Tunes, and of course both that and Animaniacs contain plenty of dated pop culture references, some of which I still don’t understand. And I was alive during the ‘90s!

-Too much gross-out “humor” Now this here is the major flaw of the new show. The original never did any jokes that could make you feel queasy, and if it did talk about anything gross, it was more of a “ugh, don’t you hate that?” thing rather than the grossness being the joke itself. I will never ever understand people who like this sort of thing, and every time it happened my mood immediately went way down and sometimes wouldn’t go back up again until much later.

-Not enough characters I can sort of understand this, but not really. Just think about it- did anyone ever really find Rita & Runt or the Goodfeathers particularly funny? And I feel so sorry for Buttons’ constant suffering I can’t even stand to watch them. (Plus, I’m certain that no one ever liked Katie Kaboom.) One character I definitely want to see return though is Slappy Squirrel. Slappy is an icon as far as I’m concerned, and one of the funniest cartoon characters ever created. It was a shame they didn’t include her in the new show beyond a small non-speaking cameo.

-Not enough of the original crew This is the real tragedy of the new show. I can’t imagine why in the world the WB execs didn’t want to hire any of the original writers or artists, and it’s an insult to all the people who created and developed the characters. That said, it’s quite obvious that the new show was a labor of love, done with a lot of care and thought, written and animated by fans of the original and classic animation in general. This is the first time ever a major production has acknowledged ‘90s kids, and actually given them something worthwhile- something more than just an empty gesture to capitalize on our nostalgia. And after so many years of dealing with internet trolls who think my childhood was worthless, it’s such an incredible relief to know that there are others out there who feel the same way.

So yes, the new Animaniacs has its problems, but to say it’s a travesty is going too far. Like I mentioned in my last post, I was genuinely worried that they would do the same thing they did to the Powerpuff Girls or DuckTales. It was a good two years or so before we even knew who was going to do the voices, and it was literally only two months ago when we saw any animation at all. To say that it’s a relief to finally see it and enjoy it is an understatement.

I think it’s a bit foolish to go chasing after an X factor. Sure, there are many quibbling criticisms I have, like perhaps the timing could be tighter and more snappy, and maybe the storytelling could be refined, but the original wasn’t exactly entirely consistent in those regards either.

And we’ve got remember that the people who worked on the new show are not the same people who blackballed Tom Ruegger and Sherri Stoner. Throw your hate at the WB execs, not the show itself, and especially not the new writers and artists. The folks who hate the new episodes don’t seem to want to let the people who enjoy it have nice things, I guess. A line from the Pinky and the Brain episode “1001 Narfs” actually summed my feelings quite nicely: “We could use a little less cynicism, and a little bit more childlike wonder.”

All in all, I’m looking forward to season 2, and I hope it’s even better than the first.

[reggiejworkshop]

Animaniacs: The Trip (part 2)

It was in the middle of the morning as the beautiful sun shone directly over the Warner Bros studio in Burbank. Everyone was out and about, enjoying the day. However, three people were not taking advantage of this.

"Oh, here it comes!" Yakko groaned.

Both Wakko and Dot winced as they heard their brother heave for the third time in a row. They would have been more sympathetic had his puking not sounded like the Tasmanian Devil trying to sing death metal. The sound almost made them want to puke again for themselves. Yakko finally came out of the bathroom, a wave of relief spread across his face.

"Who thought it looked better going out than in?" he groaned.

"I don't get it, I thought it would have tasted a lot better than that" Wakko said, confused that he made a food item that he himself couldn't stomach. He along with the rest of his siblings' mouths were still burning.

"Well, now that nightmare is over, what should we do today sibs?" Yakko asked with a peppy tone.

"Let's go see what our favorite psychiatrist is up too." Dot proposed.

"Good idea" Wakko added.

The Warners climbed down the tower. The bright rays from the mole tipped sun beaming down upon them. They reached Dr. Scratchensniff's office in no time at all.

"Oh, Scratchy!" the trio chirped. They stood outside the door to his office, waiting for him to shoo him away. But nothing came.

"Scratchensniff?" Wakko asked. He slowly opened the door. The person they were looking for was not here, instead, another person was lounging in the sofa, barefoot.

"Oh, hello boys…" she replied.

"Hello, Nurse!" Wakko and Yakko whistled.

"Boys," Dot said, rolling her eyes. The trio watched the dainty nurse get up from the sofa, stumbling on her bare feet. Both brothers' hearts began to beat as her curvaceous body loomed up above them. Hands on her hips, she stared down at them.

"Uh, Nurse did you happen to see where Scratchensniff went?" Wakko asked, slightly taken off guard by her posture. Nurse knelt down to his height with a coy grin.

"No, but I just happened finally see how cute you really are," she said slowly with a husky voice. She puckered her lips. "Well, go on"

Wakko eyes widened with disbelief before shooting a glance at his confused siblings. Without a moment too soon, he puckered his own lips and slowly leaned in. The middle sibling gleefully prepared for what would be up to this point the best Friday morning ever!

BURP!

The blast of her mustard gas smacked Wakko down to the floor, sending Dot into a fit of laughter.

"Oops, must be the beans," Nurse said, as she bent down over him. She barely noticed her lower posterity was facing the other Warner, and that particular Warner was enjoying the view.

"Um, Nurse you sure your feeling alright?" Yakko asked, trying his best to see past her bulbous rear. She cocked her head to look back at him.

"Were you staring at my ass?" she snapped with an odd mischievous grin. Yakkos face dropped, he had not expected that response.

"Uhh…. Not exactly"

"Oh I think you were"

"Nah, I think I wasn't. Whoa!"

Yakko stopped mid-sentence when Nurse grabbed him by the hand and friggin threw him into the sofa. After a dizzy spell of stars and drumsticks, Yakko looked up to see the nurse's butt looming right above his head.

"Would you like to get a closer look?"

"Yes, Wait I mean no!" Yakko began to protest before she planted it right onto his face. He flailed his arms helplessly as he was losing air. Unfortunately, that would be the least of his problems.

BLLLLRRTTTT!

The loud foghorn-like blast rumbled the sofa underneath her. Yakkos body went limp as Nuse finished giving him the royal Dutch oven. She got up and fanned sewage scented vapors towards the siblings.

"Whew, that was a good one!" Nurse complimented herself. Both siblings reeled in disgust.

"When did this turn into a Ren and Stimpy cartoon?!" Dot whined. Green faced and ready to puke, Yakko crawled away from the smoldering sofa and right towards his siblings.

"Ugh, now I know how Smollett's career feels like now…" he uttered breathlessly.

"So, boys…" Nurse said. She pinched the tip of the tongue with her teeth and scratched underneath her armpits "What do you say we do some time?"

"Okay, first off that sentence made no sense, second of all what's up with you today?" Yakko asked, genuinely concerned.

"Is that time of the month?" Wakko whispered.

"Come on Yakko. I thought you wanted me. And I want you too" Nurse cooed, continuing to advance towards them.

"Uh, Aren't you coming on a little too strong so soon? After all, according to Ruegger I'm only 14!" Yakko protested.

"That's never stopped you before…" Dot remarked.

"Not helping Dot!"

"That's okay, age is nothing but a number. I can have fun with all three of you" Nurse said, staring them down with a lustful gaze. She whipped out a stick red lipsticks and smeared the gooey stick all over her luscious lips.

Faster than you can 'Goodbye Nurse!' the Warners vanished out of sight. They stood outside the psychiatrists building, trying to ignore the moaning coming from inside.

" I think we lost her!" Dot uttered breathlessly.

"Whew, I am a man of the pursuit but this isn't what I had in mind!" Yakko complained.

"No kidding! That wasn't the Nurse we know!"

"I wish Scratchy were here, hed know what's going on!" Wakko added.

A loud ringing came from Dot's Ipad on the ground. She picked it up to answer it when she froze in realization.

"When did I get an Ipad?" Dot asked herself.

"Just answer it," Yakko told her, ignoring the plot hole.

Dot pressed the device and suddenly the three of them were seeing their favorite psychiatrist on screen in a Skype connection.

"Hello, there kids" Scratchy greeted. His large gourd-shaped head took up most of the screen.

"Scratchensniff, your assistant has turned into a blond-haired Pepe le Pew! What should we do?" Yakko asked with impatience. The psychiatrist groaned with agitation.

"I don't know, maybe it's her time of…" An indistinct voice came from behind him, cutting him off. "Be right there Serena!"

It was here the Warner's noticed that Scratchy didn't appear to have a shirt on.

"Uhh… Scratchy, what's going on over there?" Yakko arched an eyebrow at the screen.

"Yakko, I was actually very busy with a session right now" Scratchy replied. Right as he said that a voluptuous bronze skinned harlot passed by in the background. "An in-depth session. Bye"

The IPad shut off with an electronic sizzle.

"I don't believe it! Scratchensniff just blew us off!" Dot said incredulously.

"Hey, you kids!" A rough voice yelled at them. The Warners turned around, completely surprised to see it came from Ralph. The fatback guard came marching towards them, his gut jiggling over his ammo belt with each stride.

"What the hell are you kids doing out of the tower?!"

The Warners were barely fazed by his hostile demeanor as they simply walked past him. Yakko greeted him with a cheer.

"Hey, Ralphie boy! We'd love to mess with you, but we got a bit of an issue to sort out. Catch you later. Byyeee!"

The Warners gasped simultaneously when the guard snatched up by their tails in one swipe. He yanked them till he slammed their backs into the wall, pinning them to it with his meaty hands.

"Hey, easy with the fur Ralph!" Dot yelled at him.

"I- Is this about the liquid heat incident last week?! We told you we were sorry!" Wakko blabbed nervously.

"Shut up! I wasn't done talking to you damn freaks!" The guard bellowed, causing both of them to shrink. The eldest sibling bore an angry glare at the guard, not liking his sudden mood swing.

"How nice, cause we sure are" Yakko retorted. "Wakko… if you may"

Out of Wakko's hand came his trusty oak mallet. Within nanoseconds, the swinging weapon swooped in the air like a graceful piranha before landing in gracious hands of the mall cop security guard.

Wakko paused to read the run on sentence above him. " What…? Wait STOP!"

"Hammer Time!" said Ralph.

BAM!

The Warners exploded into a restroom inside, causing drywall and porcelain to shatter everywhere. The trio's toony bodies slammed against an open stall. Its occupant hobbled out of the room in fear, not even bothering to wash his hands.

The trio got up from the ground, still seeing stars and drumsticks. They laid their eyes on Ralph who happily whistled in the center of the hole in the wall, slinging the mallet over his shoulders. something seriously wrong was happening today.

"I don't know what hurts worse, getting hit with the mallet or that cheesy line?" Yakko groaned.

"As if you have to ask," Dot said with annoyance.

"Gee, that was fun," Ralph said with a sardonic smirk. "What do ya say we do something else?

"Yeah buddy, if its 'Whack a Warner' well we're not interested" Yakko spat back. He and his siblings broke out their own mallets, ready to pile drive him at the slightest move towards them. Out of character or not, they were not going to let this slide.

"Nah, I want to play a different game …" Ralph replied before pulling something big and black out of his back pocket. And no it's not what you're probably thinking of. The guard began wiping off the barrel of an old fashioned Colt 45 in his hands.

"Ralph, when did you get a gun?" Wakko whimpered. A malicious grin spread across the guard's face.

"Ah, Ever heard Russian Roulette, well this is the California Crapshoot!"

Bang Bang Bang!

"Yikes!" the Warners shrieked as Ralph fired several random rounds in the restroom, obliterating the tile floor beneath them.

"You had to say that in this room?!" Dot screeched. They bounced off the walls like orbeez balls, popped in and out of the stalls and bunny hopped on the sinks, barely avoiding the projectiles.

"You're looking at the original parkour experts folks!" Yakko said to no one. He was immediately thrown off balance when another shot destroyed a nearby sink. A hard jet of sewage water swept the trio off their feet.

Ralph stood over them and aimed the intimidating weapon directly at them.

"Any ideas?" Dot said nervously.

"Wait! Let me try something! Wakko jammed his finger into the barrel of the gun right before Ralph could fire.

BLAM!

Without warning, the colt 45 disintegrated in a large shock wave, sending the guard flying into an open stall. The toilet was liberated from the floor and landed right onto the guard's bald head.

"Whoa! That actually worked!" Wakko said with a delirious chuckle.

The Warners ran out into the hallways, which were unusually empty despite that it was in the middle of the day.

"Help Help! Ralph's gone rogue!" Yakko yelled out right before he froze mid-air, "I can't believe I'm actually saying that!" he resumed running with the others.

They screeched to halt when Nurse appeared at a doorway in a dirty crusty covered wedding dress.

"Oh, you're back!" she moaned before puckering her red lips. "Ready for the honeymoon?!"

"Hit reverse sibs!" Yakko yelled. The trio ran backwards to the point where they were nearly moonwalking out of the damaged building. At this point, the trio had zipped clear across the movie lot. Above them, the dark blemish on the sun above had gotten larger.

"Yakko, what's going on?!" Dot said, pulling at her bow. A stumbling giraffe mooed at them.

"How am I supposed to know?"

"" Looks like we'll have to go to the one other person who can help!"

A quick trip to the park was all it took for them to reach the person they were trying to find. They stopped in front of the largest tree in the park and ran right up to its front door.

"Slappy! Slappy!" the trio yelled as they banged on the door. The door opened.

"Hello, Godchild!" Slappy greeted them at the door in an oversized light blue robe. The elderly squirrel looked at them blankly with a sickly yet sweet smile across her lips.

"Geez Slappy, you heading to a Dugger's convention? What's with the robe?" Dot said, staring into the squirrel hazed eyes. Slappy simply took out a wreath made of daisies and poison ivy and planted it right on top her head.

"No children, I'm heading to the town square for the peace ceremony. Care to come?" she replied in a monotone voice.

"Oh no. Not you too!" Yakko whined as his siblings smacked their heads. Slappy shrugged.

"Oh well, you're missing out on enlightenment," Slappy said before she carefully scooted past them. Birds and doves swirled around her as she frolicked out of the park and into the busy street.

"Oh shit!" A driver yelled as he narrowly swarmed out of the squirrel's path and crashed into a beaver dam.

The Warners stared at the scene, completely slack-jawed and befuddled.

"Did someone finally make opposite day a real holiday?" Wakko asked.

"Doubt it. This has to be a dream…" Yakko replied.

"Warners?! What are you guys doing here?" an irritated voice came from behind them. In a rare blue moon occurrence, the Warners were actually relieved to see that it came from Mr. Plotz. The grumpy CEO stood at attention, waiting to hear whatever excuse they would have for today. But today was not one of those days.

"T.P., I can't believe I'm actually happy to see you," Yakko said, graciously hugging him. This moment of tranquility soon ended when the CEO, actually hugged back.

"Well I am happy to see you three, you three always make this studio great around here!" Plotz said with pleasantness.

Yakko recoiled from him instantly, his blood running cold. Shivers ran up Dot and Wakko's spines.

"You three look like you need your frowns turned upside down!" Plotz pointed them. His nose had gotten larger and turned a bright shade of red.

"No… no" Dot said while shaking his head. The words that came from Plotz's lips plunged the Warners siblings into a fuzzy pit of despair.

"You're not Plotz! You're not supposed to be encouraging!" Yakko pointed an accusatory finger at him. The CEO giggled, yes giggled, as the pale-faced man approached him.

"Oh, Yakko you seem tense. Maybe you should let me give you another hug."

Plotz held out his frilly cuffed arms. His custom fitted blazer turned into ghastly bodysuit of slime green and mustard yellow. his balding hair turned into a twisting mess of orange fur. When the agonizing transformation was nearly complete, the pupils in his demented turned a jaundiced shade of yellow.

"Maybe a game will suffice, a balloon animal possibly?" Plotz continued, his voice sounding more higher pitched and nasally.

"So this is what you see whenever you come across clowns?!" Yakko said to his younger brother while he trembled. Dot held onto him tightly.

"Uh huh, but he's that not that scary, to be honest…" Wakko stated, waving him off.

"Froinlavin!" Plotz exclaimed with a demonic sound. The content smile on Wakko disappeared.

"… but now he is! Hide!" Wakko rushed for the front door to Slappy's house, his siblings were right behind him. Inside the house was Nurse in a revealing Harley Quinn cosplay.

"Hey, there puddin! I'll be your Harley and you can be my Batman!" The nurse said before she pulled a nearby lever which showered her body with cottage cheese. Teeming with ecstasy, she ran for the door.

"Uh… how about neither?!" Yakko uttered before he slammed the door and reinforced it with extra padlocks and chains.

A piercing brumm of a chainsaw came to life eviscerating the California smog around them like butter.

"Seriously, who's writing this?!" Dot said, looking at the statement above. Ralph popped out of the bush nearby with the lethal weapon ready to shed.

"Heeeres Ralphie!" the guard sneered with crooked teeth.

"Ahh! Duck!" Yakko screamed. He yanked Dot out of the way just as the metal from the chainsaw kissed the side of the tree where she stood. All three of them ran away, nearly stumbling from the shower of acorns and bird residue falling from the glorious old oak tree. The large tree shuddered and shook before it came falling down. Both Ralph and the clown unwisely happened to be standing within its shadow, the latter holding a long yellow balloon.

"Who wants to see a sword?!" Plotz said.

Crash!

Meanwhile, the Warners hid inside a nearby booth a few blocks away…

"Wait, phone booths still exist in Burbank?!" Wakko wondered.

They hid inside a nearby phone booth and anxiously watched the guard come down the street a few seconds later, cackling at the top of lungs. The chainsaw still running in his hands. Yakko added in a couple of coins and picked up the phone. It rang.

"Hello?" Scratchy responded.

"Scratchy, you got to get back here now!" Yakko said to him.

"Ugh, why?"

"The whole studio seems to be going crazy, it's like everyone we know has contracted Nicholas Cage fever!"

"Yakko Puh-lease, I'm very busy!"

"Doctor? Sire are you ready for another round?" another voice answered.

"Hey, wasn't that Michelle Phiffer?" Wakko asked. Yakko jaw dropped in realizing that he was right.

"What the- Scratchy! That's my crush!" He huffed with indignation.

"You snooze you lose Yakko," Scratchy said before he hung up. Again.

"This dream better end soon, it's giving me a headache…" Yakko rubbed his forehead. He barely noticed the red glowing dot on his temple.

"Aw, let me fix that," said Ralph.

BLAM!

Yakko ducked his head just in time. The entire phone fixture exploded from a projectile blast that came from across the street. They looked up to see Ralph had ditched his uniform and was now in full camouflage and commando gear, complete with grenades on his belt and a smoking Uzi in his hands.

"You got to be kidding me!" Yakko exclaimed.

Ralph unloaded on them with nonstop fury, all while letting out a guttural wail that would have made John Rambo tremble. They bolted out of dodge, seconds before the rest of the phone booth and the surrounding area was peppered into minuscule pieces.

The Warners ran all over the place, desperately trying to find someone who hadn't gone full retard just yet. The dark blemish on the sun covered more than half of the sun.

They spotted a crowd in the center of the town. All of them were wearing more of the ghastly light blue robes Slappy was wearing. Without a moment too soon they muscled their way into the crowd. A sea of blank faces and drooling smiles were all they could see.

"Hello, all you glorious creations, time of reckoning has revealed itself unto us" A speaker bellowed above the crowd, one the Warners immediately recognized as Brain.

"Oh no- looks like those years with Pinky finally made him snap" Dot whispered.

"Oy, potato Oy, potato" The crowd chanted.

"Give us not your money, but your unwilling duty ship to love everything with peace and cheese sauce"

"Oy Laredo, Oy Laredo!"

"And let us forever be together through whatever obstacles may appear, let push them into One Direction!"

"Fried tomato! Winnebago!" the crowd chanted.

"Surprisingly these guys are less nuts than Flat Earthers" Yakko muttered. He winced briefly when a larger cult member completely covered in robes brushed past them, stepping on his toes.

"Hey, manners are still a thing you know!" Dot snapped at him. The man looked back to give an evil grin. Their faces dropped when they realized it belonged to Ralph.

"Yeah, we're not sticking around for this!" Yakko commented before he and his siblings climbed onto various cult members, not caring that they were ruining perfectly good haircuts or giving full on concussions. None of that mattered. They had to get away from Ralph, for the first time in a while they were actually scared.

The fat guy whipped off his robe, revealing that he had on nothing but a roll of dynamite around his waist. Yakko's eyes widened in shock as he made a mad dash to catch Wakko and Dot. All while The Brain continued to preach.

"And as we pray to out suns who we rejoice from afar. They bring us enlightenment as we say…"

"Admiral Akbar!" Ralph yelled.

BOOM!

The Warner hunched together, shielding themselves from the blinding light that came from the nuclear explosion searing the air around them. It rumbled the ground like fruit roll up's on a hot day, and vaporized anything within its path.

When it finally stopped. The Warners got up to see the entire yards of nothing but a scorched flat wasteland. And its only occupants were the Warners themselves and Ralph's sparkling blue spirit. The dimwitted guard looked at his own predicament with shock.

"Huh, I guess those old instructional videos were right. All you have to do is duck and cover." Wakko said.

Ralph could nothing but pout as a flying nimbus cloud lifted him high into the heavens, all while he glared at the Warners and gave them the middle finger. He disappeared in the cloudy marmalade sky, barely missing the sun which was now fully eclipsed by the dark spot. The Warners didn't care as they gleefully waved him goodbye.

"Bye bye!" the trio chirped.

"Whew, glad that's over," Yakko said.

"Yakko …" Nurse's voice cooed from a distance, hearing it made the eldest Warner flinch with an ugly grimace.

"Oh no!"

"Oh boys, I have enough toys for everybody!" The nurse came sprinting at them like a drunken gazelle. This time she wore spike studded leather boots and lingerie. And draped around her neck were anal beads and ball gags.

"Yakko, what were those two things the narrator just mentioned?!" Dot asked, her face wrenched with disgust.

"Something Fifty Shades of Grey probably touched on in better detail," Yakko replied. They quickly started moonwalking away from the potential blond dominatrix in making.

"Kids!"Mr. Plotz yelled. Behind them, Plotzo the clown came running towards them with an army of multicolored balloon animals in his wake. One of them, a pink giraffe, brayed at them. "Do you want to sing a happy song? Froinlavin!"

Just above the trio, the blue spirit of Slappy Squirrel came flying down from the sky carrying peace doves and unicorns. The Goodfeathers dive bombed with her, ready to decorate the Warners like old statues in a train station. The Warners trembled together as they watched the pandemonium descend upon them.

Suddenly, as if their prayers had been answered, a car pulled up nearby. Not bothering to check who it was, the Warners seized the opportunity. They burst through the car window action Bond style and face planted into the backseats.

"What can I do for you?" the driver replied with a Brooklyn accent.

"Take us anywhere but here! And step on it!" Yakko told him.

"The car driver slammed on the gas pedal and breezed away just in time. Nurse, Plotz, and Slappy's armies all collided into a shower of shrimps and clams.

"Will this dream ever end?!" Dot sighed, as she threw her head back in the seat.

" I hope so, I don't how much of this randomness I can take" Yakko replied.

"Can I change the radio?"Wakko asked the driver.

"Sure" the driver replied. Wakko tuned the radio dial to different stations.

"...Despite the growing hole in the sun's surface, it is getting hotter than MY MOOOOM…!

"...Get Scwifty...!"

"...Mississippi Queen, if you know..!"

"And now, this is Mordecai and Rigby live from LA with our musical guests today, Rita the Cat and Eddie Vedder will be performing a song."

Wakko sat in the back with the other two Warners and sighed in relief. "Oh good, something normal for once."

The hair on the back of their necks rose as they heard first few guitar notes of Black Hole Sun eerily plucked from the speakers.

"In my eyes, indisposed, In disguises no one knows...", Rita sang.

Realizing this was a sign of worse to come, the driver looked down at radio with dread.

"Oh fuuuck no!" The car screeched to a stop. The driver kicked them out with a swift kick. "You kids aren't roping me into this craziness."

"Hey come back!" Wakko and Dot shouted at the guy as he speed away high speed, barely missing a semi-truck skidding across an intersection. Somehow they could still hear the music.

"...And my youth I pray to keep, Heaven, sent hell away"

"We're not giving you 5 stars!" Yakko yelled at him.

An ambient drone undercut the music with a vibration that rumbled the entire ground beneath their toes. The large dot on the sun had completely overtaken and had now blocked out all of its bright rays. Instead, the head of Flavio the Hippo appeared in the dot, smiling down at them with a toothy grin. It then opened its mouth and began sucking in air like a straw. And the music at this point was deafeningly loud.

"...Black hole Sun, won't you come. Wash away the rain…"

Trees and skyscrapers squished into purple pus-like orbs, floating their way into the ginormous void above them. Bloodshot eyes in the skies stared down at them, screaming for vengeance and lustless agony. Tears filled with clams and shrimp glistened down its victims.

"I think whoever is writing this dream has officially checked out!" Yakko said, covering his ears.

"We're dreaming? Then how come I can actually taste this shrimp?" Wakko held up a half-eaten shrimp he'd picked up off the ground, it was the size of his head. For extra measure ,both Yakko and Dot pinched their cheeks. They hurt.

"Oh, God…"

The sun descended in the west upon the sparse horizon, the Flavio shaped star widened his gaping mouth and increased its gravitational pull, sucking in anything in his path. People, prairie dogs, pets, and including the Warners themselves.

"Hang on!" Yakko yelled over the apocalypse, his terrified siblings clutching to him tightly. The ground below them pulled away like crumbled cookie crumbs, spilling away into a sea of a dark blue ocean.

The water tower they'd come to call their home had smashed against a nearby gas station. Some of the gas began leaking out and flooding into the street. In a desperate attempt to stay afloat, they grabbed onto the broken legs of the tower and held on with their feet helplessly dangling in the wind.

The girrafe knocked into the trio, loosening Dot's grip on her brothers. She could do nothing but scream as she disappeared in the swirling dark void.

"Dot!" Yakko screamed.

"Yakko, I don't feel so good." Wakko croaked. He started to disintegrate in a haze of chili powder and pepper. Yakko watched his brother disappear like an open KoolAid into the black hole.

"...Won't you come, won't you come..."

"Wak...?"

The final guitar chords were coming near. An earspiltting rumble came just above his numb head. He looked up. On top of him was a planet-sized pitcher of the Mississippi Queen drink falling from the sky, topped with a nice Molotov cocktail. Yakko closed his eyes just before it connected to the ground with a final earth-shattering smash.

original link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13263720/2/The-Trip

[queen-of-my-goofball-army]

Halloween Kiddie Trick Or Treat Fic

So at my old high school we did this thing where every year children would come to our school and would parade around the hallways. It was one of the cutest things ever and one of the best parts about going to my high school. I have recently entered my first ever poly ship (Fraxus from Fairy Tail) and when I added my OC Idina into the mix I just knew that I had to write a fic with the three of them all dressed up and ready to give kids some candy. Most of the fic is preparation for the day but I’m still really happy with it and I wanted to share it with all of you!!

At my performing arts high school every year they do a special thing that they call kiddie trick or treat where they bring in children from local day cares or from the school and they dress up to trick or treat around our hallways. It was one of my favorite days of the entire year because the drama club got to decorate the hallways the week before and then the kids just looked so cute when they eventually got here. It was also the first year that my dad would be taking Romeo since mom ditched us last year. My brother at six was becoming ever the intelligent and adorable little boy that I was still trying to manage taking care of. Ever since I started dating Laxus and Freed it seemed that I had gotten more self confident in who I was and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I had fallen in love with the world of theater, dancing and acting. I didn’t have to be myself I could transform into somebody else for a short amount of time. My partners were both equally encouraging of my passions and my dreams for what I wanted to do with my life. This was also the first year that I was doing themed costumes with both of my partners. I would usually do a theme with Natsu back in middle school if he wanted to do a duo. But since I had a boyfriend and a partner now well things got more complicated. We threw a lot of ideas around but eventually Freed settled on surprisingly Alice In Wonderland. At first Laxus and I were both more than a little bit concerned because of it’s relation to his dead name but they encouraged that it was fine.

“Hey sissy, are you okay? You’ve been standing there staring off into space for a long time.” My brother brought me out of my reserve from the couch where he had his stuffed dragon that of course Natsu had bought for him.

“Oh I’m fine bratishka just thinking about tomorrow. Are you excited?” My brother nodded his head excitedly snuggling his dragon.

“I really am sissy, I can’t wait to see you in your Alice costume. Freed is the one that made it right?” I nodded my head with a small smile sitting down next to my brother as he leaned against my side a little bit.

“I’m going over to Gramps’s place in a little bit to spend some time with them and Laxus.” My brother smiled softly at me settling against my side.

“You really love them don’t you?” I nodded my head with a small smile thinking about my partner and how much they meant to me.

“Of course I do otherwise I wouldn’t be dating them. A relationship without love isn’t really a relationship at all. It’s kind of like dad says sometimes when he thinks about mom. A relationship without love is like a bath in lukewarm water. You don’t want to stay in it for too long or you’ll get pruny.” I joked and my brother just rolled his eyes softly at me. I knew that wasn’t the answer that he was looking for.

“I know that our relationship isn’t exactly traditional or what most people would expect from a romantic relationship. The three of us can’t ever legally get married at least right now we can’t. I see it every time that people see us out in public that isn’t school with me holding hands in between the two of them. Mom thought that I was just experimenting until she realized just how serious I was with both of them. I realized pretty early on that it didn’t matter to me. I loved them both for who they are and isn’t that what matters in a romantic relationship?” I asked my baby brother who nodded his head against my shoulder.

“It does but sometimes I worry about you sissy. I see you crying at night for seemingly no reason. Is it because of what happened with mom? When she left?” I nodded my head. Losing mom the way that I did was one of the worst things that had ever happened to me. I never thought that she of all people would have been the one to judge me.

“Most times yes. I feel like it’s almost my fault in some deranged way. If I wasn’t like this, if I could just be normal and have a functioning relationship with just one person than everything would be okay. But that’s not the way that I fell in love. Dad always used to tell me that I had so much love to give that it would overwhelm one person. I know he was joking but at the same time he was probably right. It would suffocate anybody who wasn’t Laxus and Freed. I’ve always known on some baser level that they were the people meant for me. The way that our hands just sort of fit together like missing puzzle pieces…” My brother smiled softly at the way that I told my love story.

“I think that the way you love is beautiful sissy. It shouldn’t matter what anybody else thinks but what you think. You don’t need to ever get married, that’s not necessary for you. As long as you can go home to both of them at the end of the day and snuggle with them on the couch than you’ll be alright. They calm you down and are the only people that seem to be able to do it effectively enough. I’m glad that you’re so happy now sissy. You were so sad for a while when they first got together. I know how lonely you were then but now it’s like I get to see you smiling all the time. It’s a good look for you.” He explained the way that he thought about things and I was once again struck by the fact  that my little brother was at times the wisest person that I knew.

“Gah you’re going to make me cry Romes why are you doing this to me…” My brother laughed at me drying my tears.

“It’s okay to cry, you don’t do it nearly enough around other people. You are so amazing and I know that dad and I are both so proud of you. You’ve become somebody so incredible and I know that you are going to be so happy as an adult.” I pulled my hair into a ponytail so that it was easier for my brother to snuggle against me.

“I still have a few years before that bratishka so I wouldn’t worry about it too much right now. I’m not even sixteen yet perks of having a later birthday than everybody else.” I joked and felt my phone buzz in my pocket that I lifted seeing the picture of me in my Belle dress that I knew Freed had worked so hard on with him kissing one cheek and Laxus the other one all three of us happy. Every time I saw it I couldn’t help this feeling of warmth wash over me. It was a text from dad letting me know that he would be home soon so that I could go to Gramps’s.

“Babysitting almost over?” I nodded my head against my brother’s shoulder slowing down my breathing.

“Sadly yes it is but I’ll watch you again the next time that dad goes out. We’ll make it into a movie night and I’ll invite Laxus and Freed if that’s what you would like.” My brother nodded his head excitedly smiling at me.

“I would love that sissy, I hope that it happens soon!! I love when you three get to babysit me even though it is like being on a date almost.” I stuck my tongue out at him and he just giggled at my ridiculous nature. I blamed it on being friends with Natsu for far too many years it made me a bit more than crazy. “I’m sure that it will since him and mom are still getting the divorce finalized and everything. I’ll definitely let Laxus and Freed know about the idea and see how they feel about it.” I promised my brother and he smiled softly at me.

“I’m just glad that you’re doing better sissy. Mom leaving wasn’t your fault and I just hope that you know that.” My heart warmed and I shook my head with a small smile grabbing the remote for the television.

“I can’t cry anymore right now I’m sorry bratishka you pick a show and we’ll watch it until dad comes back.” My brother laughed at me a little bit finding old episodes of Animaniacs that we were still binging through.

“Does this work sissy? I’m sorry that I brought her up again I know that you don’t like thinking about it.” I nodded my head but hugged my brother all the same hearing the front door open about fifteen minutes into the episode.

“I’m back!!” My dad called from the entryway and my brother leapt off the couch to go and give him a hug.

“How did the babysitting go?” He asked me kissing my forehead his goatee slightly scratchy but I was used to it by now.

“He was perfect as usual dad, how did things on your end go?” I asked him and he sighed running a hand through his hair.

“It went about as well as you could expect. We’re just trying to figure out custody right now. As much as I want to have permanent custody over Romeo I know that would be cruel. There is nothing wrong with her technically but she hurt you and I hate that she got to you in that way.” My dad told me and I looked at him a little bit hurt that she didn’t care if she got to see me. I knew that it shouldn’t really matter when she treated me the way that she did. But she had been the only mother that I had ever known who loved me for who I was or so I thought.

“If he still wants to see her than nothing should stop that from happening. I feel like this is all my fault and I’m sorry dad.” I apologized and he just put his arm around my shoulders pulling me into his side.

“Don’t you dare apologize to me, don’t you dare. This is not your fault okay? You can’t fault yourself because you fell in love. That is not something that we as a species of people can help. If you love somebody than that just means that you are able to be human. I know that you worry about this kind of thing and that you talk about it with your partners but it wan’t your fault. I have never seen you so happy as when you came home from rehearsal and told me about how I was right for all these years and that Freed and Laxus actually loved you back. It takes a lot to love a person. It above all else takes communication. You have to talk about what you want out of that relationship all the time and it requires true and genuine honesty. You three have always talked about everything under the sun. That’s what makes your relationship so special. You spent so long making that sure that a simple Halloween costume that contained Freed’s dead name was okay with them. That alone makes what you three have special.” My dad thumbed at my cheeks comforting me and I hugged him tightly.

“We’ll get through this. I promise. I know that things haven’t been easy for you and that you’re hurting really bad sweetheart. But you can talk to me about this kind of thing. She was my wife for twenty years but it’s not your fault that she left. That will never, ever be your fault. You’re my precious snow and I love you so much. You were the best thing to come out of that marriage and you’re not even my own flesh and blood. Now I want you to dry those crocodile tears of yours and get ready to go to your boyfriend’s house.” My dad encouraged handing me a tissue and I blew my nose gently.

“Okay, I’m okay, I’m going to just go and try to have fun today. I can do this.” I told myself and my dad gave me one last tightly wound hug.

“I love you Idina, I’m so proud of you for conquering that fear of yours. Of being rejected. I know hard that must have been for you but you do deserve to be happy.” He reminded me and I laughed a little bit at my dad grabbing my Ugg boots and putting them around my ankles.

“Tell Romeo that I love him and that I’ll be back for dinner.” I reminded my dad and he gave me a mock salute.

“Send me pics of your costume!!” He told me and I laughed a little bit at my dad’s antics as I entered the garage and took my bike to Gramps’s house where everyone in the drama club was always welcomed. I parked my bike on his driveway and used the spare key that he gave me once I started dating Laxus and Freed who also lived here most of the time. Their parents hadn’t been very accommodating of their relationship or their gender identity. Other times he spent with Gray and his family since they were still very close friends. I softly closed the door not wanting to disturb anything that was happening when I saw Laxus in the living room practicing.

“You’ve been dreaming just one dream nearly all your life. Hoping scheming just one theme will you be a wife…” I couldn’t help but chuckle at my boyfriend as he rehearsed the one number that we shared together. We were still nearly a month away from opening night but him performing that song with such a straight face never failed to have me laughing outside of the stage. Mostly because as much as Laxus was a big lug of a muscle man Gaston was the polar opposite of who he was. I saw Freed lounging on the couch watching our boyfriend with all the love that we both had for him.

“I’m not hearing this.” I joked and Laxus jumped a little bit whirling around and seeing me clutching his chest.

“God fuck, doorbell snowflake you ever heard of maybe using one?” He asked me and I laughed openly at my boyfriend.

“Gramps gave me a spare key and I used it sorry I startled you.” I waved my spare key and Freed saw the redness of my eyes.

“Did your dad have another meeting with Enno?” I nodded my head looking down at my socks and they patted the space next to them on the couch as they wrapped their arms around me.

“I just don’t get it, for years I’ve seen her flirt with other men and then as soon as I get the relationship that I’ve wanted for years suddenly it sickens her.” Laxus sat next to me and wrapped both of us up in his strong arms.

“She’s just a bitch snowflake and she doesn’t deserve your light or your love. I know that what she said hurt you but you were always a daddy’s girl anyways. Macao and Romeo both adore you and so do we so it shouldn’t matter what anybody else thinks about what we do in our spare time. I love you Idina.” He reminded me nuzzling my neck and laying a gentle kiss there as I smiled softly at him.

“I love you too molniya so much. I’m sorry that I’m like this sometimes…” I apologized and Freed snuggled against my other side.

“Don’t apologize for it sweetheart there is nothing wrong with the way that you are. You’re beautiful the way that you are and I wouldn’t change a thing about you. No matter what we’ll always be there for each other. That was what we promised one another as children correct?” I nodded my head with a small laugh.

“I’m surprised that you even remember that…” The day that Ivan had came to pick Laxus up from camp had been one of the darkest days of my childhood and that was saying a lot. 

“Hard to forget when you kicked my dad in the balls for hitting me. And here I thought up until that point that you were this cutesy meek little thing. Then you had to go and do that and that’s when I fell in love with you.” I rolled my eyes because of course that was when he had fallen in love with me.

“You worked so hard to protect me I thought that I could protect you too. It was so scary though afterwards even though I tried to stand up to him.” Freed just smiled at me nuzzling the other side of me as Laxus’s arms tightened around me.

“I thought that it was amazing, I had always wanted to stand up to Ivan but you got him arrested. That got him taken care of and Laxus was able to officially move here. It made the camp trek slightly more difficult but I no longer had to worry if the boy I loved was safe at night.” Laxus cradled my cheeks in his hands and gave me a gentle kiss.

“I knew in that moment that you would be the girl that changed everything for me. I would protect you no matter what because you had given up everything for me.” I fingered the scar on his eye a little bit worriedly and he just smiled at me leaning against my forehead.

“Can I have a kiss too?” Freed pouted and I just laughed at my other partner rolling my eyes softly at them.

“Of course you can krasotka you don’t even need to ask me for them…” I trailed off giving my other partner what he desperately wanted and feeling him melt into the kiss instantly made me feel better.

“There we go that’s a bit better now you’re all soft and warm that’s better.” Freed nuzzled underneath my chin and their long green hair tickled a little bit.

“I don’t think you’re moving for a bit there, they brought the clothes with them when they got here a bit ago but they’re probably too comfortable now.” I heard the soft mutter of later from my partner that caused me to laugh.

“Can I pull your hair out of this snowflake?” I nodded my head against my boyfriend’s chest as he carefully let my long snow blonde hair out of its confines.

“I forgot to take it out before I left sorry about that.” I apologized and my boyfriend softly ran his fingers through my hair.

“Don’t apologize for it Idina. I knew you were babysitting Romeo earlier today. How is he taking everything?” I melted against my boyfriend’s touches of my hair softly settling and finally starting to relax since I got here.

“Surprisingly well even though he and mom were close. I think due to her work hours he was closer with me. He told me that the next time that dad has to go to meet with his divorce lawyer that he wants all three of us to babysit him. Would you like that?” Freed nodded against my chest and I couldn’t help but laugh at my partner.

“Your brother is a rather remarkable child he reminds me a lot of you at that age. I remember a ten year old you standing at the front of the class and singing Yakko’s Nations Of The World perfectly with the bounces as well.” I laughed at the memory since I was back then and still am today a proud member of the Yakko fan club.

“It was the first time that I had ever performed anything like that when I was younger. I mean I danced for talent shows at camp but I had never sang before. Dancing is easy it’s something I never really had to try to do even as a kid. I didn’t know hard singing could be when I was a kid but now I can’t imagine not doing it.” Freed sighed out a sound of comfort when I played with their green hair.

“I’m too comfortable I don’t want to get up ever again. I don’t care if we have a show coming up within the next couple of weeks…” I laughed at my partner getting the fringe out of their faces so that I could see the gorgeous green eyes that laid there.

“You won’t hear me complaining at least for a little bit longer. I don’t want to get up either. What were you two doing?” I asked them and Freed hummed out a sigh of pleasure as I undid their own bun.

“I was just sketching out the final designs for my redone mask for the Beast. It should have more movement so that I can still emote while wearing it through my voice.” I smiled softly at my partner and Laxus grinned down at both of us.

“I was rehearsing Me, even though I’m far past the point where I need a script it still helps. Your brother coming for opening night?” I nodded my head with a small smile on my face thinking about how excited he was for the show.

“I still can’t believe that all of this is real almost…” I said quietly and Laxus just cradled my cheeks gently.

“I know that you’ve been through a lot within the last month snowflake. I’m sorry about everything with your mom but I wouldn’t change anything. Except for maybe Evergreen locking us in that closet claiming that we were all mooning too much for each other and that we should just figure out our shit. That was the only part that I would change about everything.” I laughed at the memory and the panic that I felt in my chest when she locked the door to the green room during our first tech week at the beginning of the month. We always had two tech weeks for everything and the next one wasn’t for another three weeks. That one was going to be utterly exhausting I could feel it in my soul. “

I understand the way that you feel. When I woke up the next morning after all that had happened I thought that I dreamt the whole marvelous evening. When I turned around to see Laxus I saw that you two were cuddling and he was looking at you in this adoring way. When he reassured me that it hadn’t all been a dream I knew that I would never be happier. You’ve always been the one woman that didn’t terrify me to my core.” I laughed genuinely at my partner’s thoughts my shoulders shaking.

“You sure know how to compliment a lady Freed.” I joked and they just rolled my eyes at me with a small smile.

“You know what I meant. I always thought that you were beautiful so when I finally found out that you felt the same way about little old me well I was surprised to say the least when I’m usually such a mess.” I thumbed at my partners cheeks smiling at them reverently shaking my head.

“Krasotka you are anything but a mess. I suppose I should probably translate the pet name at some point it means gorgeous or beautiful in Russian. I told you that was one of the few languages that I didn’t want you learning because I didn’t want you to know the translation for your nickname. I didn’t want to become embarrassed about it later on when you figured out what the nickname really meant. So I lied about what it really meant and I’m sorry about that but I’ve always thought that you were beautiful almost since I met you.” I told them and they just looked up at me with tears in their eyes.

“Just give me a moment to compose myself. I wasn’t expecting to cry today.” They blinked back their tears and I couldn’t help but laugh at him a little bit.

“Do you want to see your dress snowflake?” I nodded my head excitedly and Laxus regrettably let me out of his hug.

“Can you stay for dinner?” He asked me and I shook my head with a small smile on my face since I knew that even though I desperately wanted to I would need to go back home.

“I can’t I’m sorry but I can tomorrow after the drama club’s party and it’s the weekend then so maybe I can stay over here for that. I think that my dad and my brother need some quality time together.” I adjusted my Howl’s Moving Castle sweatshirt that my partner made for me for my birthday in January of this year.

“I can work with that deal snowflake, what about you babe? You want to join in?” He asked Freed and they nodded their heads with a small smile.

“Of course I do I’m always up for a sleepover weekend they are my favorites. Okay the outfits are up in my room here.” I followed my partner up the stairs smiling softly at all the pictures on the wall almost all of them had the three of us in there in some way. Most of the ones that had Freed were taken after their transition at their request. Not that I really blamed them if I had to be constantly reminded of the person that I hated being whenever I came into a house that I loved well I would probably complain too. He opened the door to what he used as his costume studio and I saw my dress hanging up all pretty and movie perfect.

“I hope that it is to your satisfaction it was surprisingly fun to make!! I’m really proud of how it came out despite the fact that it has to deal with my dead name.” My tears were in my eyes and I embraced my partner with a bright smile on my face.

“I love it so much krasotka it is so beautiful I love you so much!!” They embraced me right back pressing gentle kisses across my face.

“I love you too sweetheart, so much. I’m so glad that you’re happy with it. Go try it on I can’t wait to see what it looks like on my favorite model.” I blushed a bright pink picking up the fabric and feeling how textured and layered it was. I went into the bathroom that was connected to their bedroom here and I struggled to put the dress on by myself.

“Umm a little bit of help please?” Freed opened the door and chuckled a little bit at my dilemma that I was currently having.

“I have averted my gaze from you my darling. It might be best to ask Levy for help with this tomorrow since it is rather intricate. I added a petticoat to the bottom of it as well to help make the volume of the actual dress. There we go now to just tie the bow in the back and perfection. You look absolutely breathtaking Idina.” He encouraged me and I turned so that I could kiss them gently.

“What show do you hope comes after this one?” I looked at my partner with a small smile on my face as I got out my character shoes.

“I really hope for it to be Les Miserables.” My partner sighed happily nodding their head. I knew that on of their biggest dream roles in life had been Enjorlas ever since they invited me to the theater to see it when we were little kids.

“Yes please, you would make a stunning Cosette or Eponine, probably an Eponine and you would wear the same wig that you are right now for Beauty. I think that you would be beautiful no matter what though.” I lovingly bumped the shoulder of my partner rolling my eyes at them as I did a simple makeup that would make me look more like my character.

“You have a bias against me that’s why you think that I would do so well. Besides I have a feeling that if that happens Laxus is going to call dibs being Thenardier and that will be hilariously awesome.” I joked and my partner just laughed at me hanging off of my shoulder a little bit.

“That was the first show that you and I ever saw together without the camp. One of the best days of my life even if we had to be around my parents…” They sighed running a hand through their waist length green hair.

“I loved that day too we had such a great time even if I knew that you were being tortured in that outfit they picked out for you. I wanted so badly to trade you since I had leggings on at least. I loved that day because I got to spend it with you. Back then it seemed that you and I did everything together nothing has really changed at all since then. I really am proud of you. I’m amazed that you were able to do this at all given that the name has such a bad context for you.” Freed thumbed at my cheeks their lips pulling into a small smile spinning me around into their arms.

“Well I have always had a problem with saying no to you my darling. It wasn’t that difficult truly besides I would like to put some happy memories with that name. Oh I also made this for you!!” They handed me a headband and I put it over my bangs with a small smile on my face. It really helped put a bow on the outfit no pun intended.

“Now you look more movie accurate I tried to go for as accurate as possible when I was designing your costume. Mine on the other hand, I looked at Depp’s costume mostly since even though I’m not doing all that monstrous makeup I loved the design.” I smiled softly at my partner as he grabbed his hat and adjusted it.

“I’ll go show the other member of our dating party.” I kissed his cheek trying to not get lipstick on his cheek. I exited the bathroom and my boyfriend looked up at me with his eyes wide.

“You look absolutely beautiful, wow I’m actually at a loss for words.” I laughed at my boyfriend as he swept me up in a spinning hug.

“That’s a first.” I teased booping his nose gently and I watched those eyebrows that I loved so much screw together in that mild irritation that I was so accustomed to.

“I’ll have you know that you are at a tremendous disadvantage at the moment as I could very easily use these and abuse you.” He mocked wiggling his fingers and I stiffened knowing what was coming.

“NO!!” I shrieked as he started to tickle my sides and my rapturous laughter left my being as I felt tears come to my eyes and the clench in my tummy start to build up.

“Heh-heh-heh-stop this torture I beg of you!! I’ll do whatever you want.” Those fingers stopped tickling me and I saw the smirk and mischief in Laxus’s eyes.

“What if I want a kiss?” I rolled my eyes giving my boyfriend what he wanted kissing him gently.

“What were you two talking about in the bathroom together?” I settled myself on his knee while he played with the ends of my hair.

“We were talking about what our next show might be after Beauty And The Beast. I know that we haven’t even gotten through the second tech week but we were just troubleshooting ideas. Me and them really want to do Les Miserables.” I could see the little light of passion in those eyes as I mentioned one of our favorite musicals.

“I think that is actually an amazing idea and I would love to do that show with both of you. I think that they would make either an incredible Enjorlas or Javert.” I closed my eyes seeing my partner as my favorite villain in musical theater history. He was the only villain that was deeply complex and emotionally engaging if you got behind his story.

“I didn’t even think about them as Javert. Maybe you should be the brains in this relationship.” I teased lovingly and he just rolled his eyes at me tightening his arms around my waist.

“I know that I’m just the brawn and the looks between the three of you two. You’re both way smarter than I will ever be in my entire damn life and that’s the truth.” I looked at my boyfriend since he would often downplay his own intelligence.

“Molniya you are anything but just the brawn and the looks. You don’t give yourself nearly enough credit for the brain that you have in your head. I am so proud of you and I know that you are going to do incredible things one day. As long as I’m by your side I will continue to encourage you and this amazing person that you are.” My boyfriend softly rubbed at my back keeping me calm and grounded the way that only he and Freed could.

“I wouldn’t promise me things like this snowflake because than I would never let you go.” I melted into my boyfriend with a small smile on my face. “I wouldn’t complain if you never let me go. I want to be with you both for as long as you will have me. Even if we can’t ever get married I don’t need that. I just need you both my side.” I heard the door open and I looked up at my partner seeing their costume. They had basically done the same costume as the Mad Hatter from the modern Alice In Wonderland movies but it was done without the makeup and it was still obvious as to who he was with the iconic hat.

“You look amazing babe, you really do both of you. I’m a little bit humiliated to have to go in there and put on my own costume.” Our partner rolled their eyes at our ridiculous man kissing him gently.

“Go and get dressed you flatterer.” He straightened his pants a little bit and I shook my head at my partner squeezing his hand.

“He is right you know, you undermine your own basic ability. I don’t know anybody that could just whip out something like this while being in charge of the costumes for all the drama club. I don’t know how you do it sometimes krasotka with all the work that you manage to get done in such a short amount of time. You could be a Broadway costume designer. I mean look at what you are able to do.” I showed them by spinning around in a small circle watching the dress flare out beneath the twirl.

“Not just anybody could do this before you open your mouth. You work so hard to make sure that everyone in the club has costumes that fit them. Meanwhile you are constantly battling me for the top student in our school academically. You’re allowed to take breaks and indulge in the finer things in life. Whatever makes you happy I think that you’ll find it.” My partner embraced me with a small smile on their face.

“I think I’d rather indulge in you my darling, you’re a finer part of my life. One of the finest things if I do say so myself.” I blushed a bright pink and my partner just clung to me leaning his head on my shoulder.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it…” I protested and they pulled back from the hug fixing the bow a bit farther back.

“I know darling I work too much but I get to see the smiling faces of my friends and the people that I hold most dear in my life when I give them their costumes. The first time that I saw you in your Belle dress I swear I nearly fainted you were the most stunning creature that I had ever seen in my entire life.” I rolled my eyes softly at my partner as he shook his head dragging me towards a mirror that they kept up there.

“How do you not see how beautiful you are?” They looked at me incredulously and I looked at the mirror seeing nothing more than a little kid.

“I look like a child…” I sighed out and Freed just shook their head at me with a small smile making me lift my chin up.

“That’s not what I see my love allow me to show you the way that I see you. Your snow blonde hair that looked like freshly fallen snow when I first met you was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen up until that point. Your baby blue eyes struck me when they first looked my way even though we were but children then. You remind me so much of your favorite Disney princess not just in your personality but the way that you carry yourself. From being most comfortable with your hair in a side braid to this very day, to keeping most of the world at a distance except for your friends. I love you so much Idina. I know that you’re scared of the future and I am too. It’s a scary thing to think about sometimes but if we just take a little moment to look in the mirror at ourselves and make sure that we’re okay than I know we can get through anything.” Freed examined me in the mirror and for the first time when I looked up I saw something that wasn’t childish. I saw a young woman with her partner by her side that would be able to get through just about anything.

“Thank you Freed, I-I love you so much…” I thanked them and they just thumbed away my tears as our boyfriend came out of the bathroom dressed as the March Hare. His hat even had little blonde ears and it was something that I fell in love with. He was another one that was taken almost directly from the animated version but I could see the happy smile on Laxus’s face.

“Now we look like the whole set, it’s perfect Freed. You did a really amazing job baby we’re so proud of you for doing this for us.” He encouraged and Freed reached up on his tiptoes to kiss our boyfriend.

“We really do, I couldn’t be happier right now. My dad said that he wanted the three of us to take pictures before I head back to my house.” I grabbed my phone and tilted it sideways and Laxus pulled me into the middle so that everyone was in the shot.

“Say cheese!!” I smiled brightly for the camera replacing it as my wallpaper for my phone with a small smile on my face.

“Text it to us as well!!” Freed encouraged as I sent off the text to my dad of all of us smiling so happily for the camera. I sent it to the group chat with the three of us. I really didn’t want to leave but it was a school night and that was my dad’s rule.

“Do you have to leave now?” Laxus asked me and I nodded my head running my fingers over his cheekbones.

“I do have to go molniya you know the rules. I’ll see you both tomorrow okay? Meet me at the drama club when you get there so that we can all get ready together.” I reminded them and Laxus picked me up in his arms kissing me gently.

“I love you snowflake…” He said quietly and I just nodded my head with a small smile on my face.

“I love you too molniya I’ll stay over tomorrow we’ll all come over here together. We’ll have a Halloween movie marathon, both Addams Family movies and Rocky Horror.” Freed embraced me tightly giving me one last farewell kiss.

“Text me when you get home won’t you my love?” I nodded my head with a small smile on my face.

“Of course I will, I always do.” I changed back into my normal clothes looking at my partners one last time as they cuddled on Freed’s bed. I decided that I would leave them be and drove back to my house.

“I’m back from Gramps’s house!!” I called into the house changing out of my boots hearing Animaniacs from the living room and hearing my brother’s laughter mixed with my dad’s. I texted my partner that I had made it back home safely and got a series of blue hearts and kisses from them.

“Welcome back sissy!! Dad showed the pictures you all looked amazing. Freed did a really incredible job with all the costumes this year. We’re ordering pizza tonight right dad? It’s pizza Thursday!!” I nodded my head knowing that my younger brother was definitely correct in that regard.

“You’re very right Romeo, why don’t you go put your dress up Idina? I’ll go and place the order since I know you must be hungry by now.” My dad smiled softly at me and I went down the stairs to my room that was in the basement. I had moved to the basement rather recently when my dad found out that sometimes if I couldn’t sleep at night I would go to Laxus’s. That’s when he put the no sleepovers on weeknights rule into effect. I hung my dress up putting my character shoes and my headband next to the blue dress for tomorrow. I saw Kyo and Jiji cuddling on my bed and I couldn’t help but smile at my two cats being so sweet and cute.

“My sweet babies…” I took a picture and sent it to the thunder legion group chat that the five of us had made once we all got cell phones.

“It’s your pick for movie night Idina what are we watching?” My dad asked me startling me and I realized that in my haste I had forgotten to close my door.

“We haven’t watched Corpse Bride yet I want to watch that one. I’m doing a sleepover at Laxus’s tomorrow and probably the weekend as well since it’s a Friday. Is that okay?” I asked my dad and he just smiled softly at me ruffling my hair between his fingers.

“You don’t need to ask me if you can stay with your boyfriend for the weekend your fifteen and will be sixteen in a few short months. You’re already driving yourself due to you taking those drivers classes at the community center with Natsu…” I laughed at my dad rolling my eyes at his quirky antics. I had taken drivers classes with Natsu because he wanted to have the ability to drive. I’ve been wanting to drive so I could have that freedom for most of my life. Riding my bike to my boyfriend’s house on the other side of town was exhausting.

“I’m getting my official license next month dad, I just wanted to be driving like everybody else my age. It’s not my fault that I have a really late birthday.” I protested and he just smiled softly at me kissing my forehead.

“I know baby, it’s alright to want to be a bit ahead of the game. I understand that you wanted that freedom to be able to drive yourself to your boyfriend’s house. I’ve always been lenient with you on rules about this kind of thing and let you be independent. It was something that I really wanted for you to be.” My dad thumbed at my cheeks and I smiled softly at him hugging him back.

“You might not be my daughter biologically but I’ve always felt that you were by design. We’re family, a bit messed up and a bit broken but still good.” I laughed at my dad as he quoted my brother’s favorite Disney movie. “I’m going to paint his room themed to Lilo and Stitch for his next birthday I just hope that he likes it.” My dad smiled softly at me taking my arm through his and leading me back up the stairs where my brother had his stuffed animals.

“What is your favorite stuffed animal sissy?” He asked me and I laughed a little bit rubbing the back of my neck at the hard question.

“I think that my favorite would have to be my King stuffed animal that dad bought me when I was your age. That was one of my favorite shows that Freed showed me so when dad surprised me with a professionally made plush of him I was really happy.” I smiled softly at my dad sitting down on the other side of my little brother.

“What are we watching tonight?” He asked me and I smirked a little bit internally since this was one of my favorite movies to watch for fun.

“Corpse Bride kiddo strap yourself in.” I joked and I went back to my room quickly to grab my King stuffed animal feeling the soft texture of his skull. He was also really big considering his proportions to my other stuffed animals.

“And I’m back just was getting this little guy.” I hugged him closer to me and my dad just smiled softly at me. 

“I hope that neither of you ever change do you hear me? Just stay the same as you are right now.” My dad threatened and I laughed openly at him hearing the doorbell ring signaling that our pizza was here.

“Can I hug him sissy?” Romeo asked me and I gently handed him my favorite stuffed animal and he gave him a hug.

“Thank you for protecting my sister when she needed you the most. I know that she’s been through a lot and has a lot of nightmares.” My brother thanked my stuffed animal and I felt tears come to my eyes at the sweet moment.

“There you go sissy, you can have him back now.” I took King back and settled him on my lap to watch one of my favorite Halloween movies.

“Thank you for giving him back to me. He’s one of my favorite animated characters ever since I was about your age.” Romeo snuggled against my side as dad came in with the greasy food and handed the three of us plates. I grabbed my plate and two slices of my pineapple and olive pizza. He put on my favorite Halloween themed children’s movie and I watched with my brother snuggled against my side and by the end of the movie he was asleep.

“You get some sleep too kiddo. I know that you and your partners have a late night movie marathon already planned for tomorrow.” I laughed a little bit and sat up going back down to the basement kissing my dad’s cheek as he tried to wake up my brother. I hopped down the stairs brushing my teeth and instantly falling asleep once I turned on my heater. I snuggled under my sheets with King in my arms smiling softly. My alarm woke me up with Dear Theodosia long before I actually wanted to get up. I cursed having to be at school by seven forty five on a good day to start at eight but that was what most schools had to do. I remembered what day it was and that was like a boost of serotonin in me.

“It’s Halloween!!” I cheered getting into my shower and washing my hair so that it would be easier to brush out. I put my costume on a lot easier than yesterday and fixed the hair bow back far enough to fit.

“Curiouser and curiouser…” I said in the mirror and I smiled softly doing a small spin. Thankfully my character shoes had a comfortable heel to them so I wouldn’t wind up getting hurt at all today. I went up the stairs smelling the scent of pancakes that my dad was making.

“Good morning princess happy Halloween!! Don’t you look just amazing?” He asked me kissing my cheek with a small smile on his face.

“Happy Halloween dad, is Romes still sleeping?” My dad nodded his head and I tiptoed down the hallway to my brother’s room. I looked at his Stitch nightlight with a small smile on my face. Soon that wouldn’t be the only thing in this room themed to his favorite Disney movie. I saw him snuggled under his sheets that had Stitch and Scrub on them and I couldn’t help but smile. I looked at his wall seeing the little paintings that I had made for him when he was born mostly it had Yakko flying around in his spaceship around the planets. I flipped on his light switch and saw him stir a little bit.

“It’s morning bratishka that means it’s Halloween!!” I exclaimed watching him sit up in surprise and cheer.

“Yay it’s Halloween!! I get to go to your school today!!” I cheered with him looking forward to this day filled with fun. Most of Halloween was meant for parties in my classes and it was one of my favorite things about going to a different kind of school. “

You do indeed but you have to spend the morning with your own class before the field trip.” I reminded him and he sighed a little bit. I went into his closet and grabbed his costume that he had picked out. He had wanted to be Flynn Rider this year because his friend Wendy wanted to be Rapunzel and I couldn’t wait to see them together. They reminded me so much of my childhood relationship with Laxus and Freed.

“There are pancakes downstairs whenever you’re ready my Flynn Rider.” I reminded him kissing his forehead and skipping down the hardwood floors. 

“Are we watching Charlie Brown while we eat breakfast and continuing that holiday tradition?” I asked my dad and he laughed as if we would do anything else. It was one of those holiday traditions that came with leaving the Grinch short until Christmas Eve and watching it way too many times.

“You get it cued up and I’ll get your pancakes all ready for you.” He told me and I smiled brightly at him spinning around and sitting gently on my side of the couch. I found the iconic episode and my dad carried me my food so that I could watch one of my favorite holiday traditions. My brother came into the room all dressed and ready and my dad handed him a frying pan to give to Wendy.

“Oh no it’s Flynn Rider…” I joked and my brother shot me his best “smolder” that had me dying laughing.

“Okay my favorite wanted man want some pancakes?” My brother nodded his head head happily as he hopped onto the couch next to me. I put on the episode once everyone was seated for breakfast and I put my napkin on my lap to make sure that I was careful to not ruin all the hard work Freed had put into this costume.

“Alright, I need to get to school but I love you Romeo and I’ll see you in a few hours.” I kissed my brother’s cheek before grabbing my backpack and heading down the familiar walking road to school. Despite me having a drivers license early mom was supposed to give me her car but when she left the car went with her leaving me without one tragically. So that meant that dad still had to shuttle me almost everywhere I wanted to go. I saw my familiar sight of my performing arts high school and all 400 students around the hallways. I wanted to go to a smaller more tight knit high school mostly because middle school was really overwhelming and even though I had to try really hard and audition to get in here all my friends were able to get in as well. It was amazing to get to have all my friends surrounding me in a special place. I opened the front door and instantly this wash of my second home came over me.

“Hey Idina!!” I heard one of my older friends call out, the leader for the seniors here and she waved me down. She had on a Charlie cosplay and I instantly fell in love with the way that she pulled it off.

“Charlotte!! I love your costume, are all your friends doing Hazbin characters?” I asked her and she smiled brightly at me.

“It’s our last year here so we figured that we might as well go all out and have fun while doing it. I’m the only one doing this show sadly because I didn’t want my friends to all get in trouble but my girlfriend is Vaggie she’s just not here yet. What about you? Are your partners both doing Alice?” I nodded my head with a bright smile on my face showing her the dress that Freed had made for me.

“They’re not here yet either I beat them to school as well. I think it’s really cute that you and your girlfriend are doing matching costumes. I don’t know what my other friends are doing yet but Freed made all of our costumes.” My friend smiled at me patting the spot next to her and I carefully sat down.

“You must be really excited it’s your first year doing kiddie trick or treat!! Your brother is coming isn’t he?” I nodded my head showing her a picture of what my little brother looked like so that she would know.

“Of course!! His whole class is coming and his best friend is going to be Rapunzel. I just hope that my mom doesn’t wind up coming not that they would let her in but security seems to be a lot more lax today…” I trailed off and my friend just took my hand smiling softly at me. I saw her girlfriend coming dressed up perfectly as the girlfriend of my favorite hotel owner.

“Whatever happens it will be fine hun just be yourself, have some fun and I’ll see you later kay?” I nodded my head as she grabbed her backpack and went off with her girlfriend greeting her with a gentle kiss.

“Oh my god you look so cute!!” I heard an all too familiar voice screech and I turned to see Levy dressed up as peasant Belle.

“Levs!! So do you, did Freed make yours too?” I asked her and she sighed a little bit fingering a lock of her blue hair.

“I wish I didn’t want to bother them so I took it to another professional who charged me a bunch of money but the product looks good. Not all of us can be dating our clothing maker.” She joked and I rolled my eyes with a sarcastic laugh.

“He would have done it for you anyways but I can see where you would be worried and a little bit concerned. It still looks great!! That’s why I asked if they made it. Do you have a certain Beast?” I playfully wiggled my eyebrows at her and she flushed a bright pink. I had been evilly plotting to get my best friend together with a recent addition to our friend group and a member of the lighting crew Gajeel Redfox. So far no luck but I really wanted them to get together and be absolutely adorable.

“Maybe I do maybe I don’t either way that’s none of your damn business.” I laughed at my best friend covering my hand with my mouth.

“I am allowed to ship my best friend get over it. What are your plans for tonight?” I asked her and she put her fingers together.

“I might have a date…” My eyes widened and I kicked her foot gently with mine in sheer shock and indignation. 

“You bitch were you going to tell me like at all?” I asked her and she smiled softly thinking about her date tonight.

“I was waiting for you to guess what was different about me. Gajeel asked me out yesterday when he came over for the final costume fitting. He is the Beast before he gets all handsome. What about you? Plans with Laxus and Freed?” I smiled brightly at my best friend happy that she finally had somebody to call her own.

“That’s great Levs!! I’m really happy for you. It’s movie marathon and sleepover weekend for us so yes we do have plans for tonight. It’s both Addams Family movies and Rocky Horror Picture Show night for us so your typical fanfare. It’s something that we’ve done every year since…. I think we were thirteen? We watched Rocky when we were way too young.” I laughed openly and Levy just smiled softly.

“I think that it’s great though that you have these traditions that now cary over to your relationship. It’s good to see you this excited about something.” She remarked and I saw a familiar figure in a very familiar looking cape.

“Oh hey look there’s Gajeel.” I taunted and saw my best friend’s cheeks turn a ruddy pink at the idea of her boyfriend being here.

“I’m not going to live this down am I?” I shook my head at my best friend’s question as the boy in question came over to our table. 

“Idina, you look cute. Freed make your costume?” I nodded my head with a bright smile on my face showing him the picture that we had taken yesterday.

“They made all of our costumes for the three of us again this year. They’ve always made my costumes but this is the first time that we’ve ever done a set.” I mentioned and he smiled softly at the three of us all happy.

“I think I’ll leave you two be, I see my partners. I’ll see you both in homeroom.” I tossed them a joking wink and going over to where I saw Laxus and Freed who instantly swept me into a spinning hug.

“You look so gorgeous my darling, I have one more thing. Consider them an early Christmas present from me but they also match your outfit and I know how much you love these things.” Freed gave me a mini backpack that had the Mad Hatter from the cartoon version on it and a wallet that had the animated March Hare on it.

“Freed you didn’t have to get me anything…” I protested and he just hushed me gently miming for me to open the backpack and when I did I saw that it had a little pop figurine of animated Alice.

“Oh it’s so cute thank you krasotka I didn’t get anything for you though…” I protested and they just shook their head at me.

“I think you wearing their clothing designs is a thank you present enough for them. Now where is my kiss.” I rolled my eyes at my boyfriend kissing Laxus gently as he wrapped his arms tightly around me.

“You really do clean up nicely snowflake.” I stuck my tongue out at my teasing boyfriend laughing a little bit.

“Thank you molniya I would say the same about you but it would make your head get even bigger.” I teased gently and he just scoffed at me rolling his eyes. He let me out of his hug just as the five minute bell for homeroom rang.

“I can put my candy in here!!” I cheered taking out the four jumbo bags of candy and putting them into the backpack before lifting it.

“If your arms get tired of lifting that I could carry it for you.” I smiled softly at the gentleness but at the same time light teasing of my boyfriend.

“I assure you that I am perfectly capable of doing this all on my own.” Freed took my hand and Laxus took the other opposite one and I found myself flashing back to Halloween when we were children running around. I had so many found memories of those early days. Days of wearing princess dresses and playing pretend. When my dad made me that King tutu and I had his mask and nobody knew who I was when I went trick or treating and it made me cry until Laxus told me that adults were just stupid.

“Darling? Are you okay? You’ve been quiet for a few minutes and I think Laxus is getting worried.” Freed waved the opposite hand in front of my face and I shook myself nodding my head.

“I’m fine I was just lost in a memory that’s all. Remember when I was King for Halloween and none of the adults knew who I was or why I was acting that way?” I asked them and Laxus scoffed rolling his eyes.

“Those adults just had no taste it’s that simple. You looked adorable demanding that the other children obey you. I knew that you were harmless just like your favorite demon of the underworld.” I smiled softly at my boyfriend as we entered the black box drama room and saw the place where I called my second home within a home.

“Alright my favorite class today is kiddie trick or treat and I see that you’re all dressed up for the holiday!! This doesn’t mean that you’re getting off easy there will still be rehearsal after school. We have a month before our big show and three weeks before the hell that is our final tech week. I know that a lot of you have put your heart and soul into this show and I’m so proud of you all. Especially our main three actors who have managed to maintain their relationship and act like enemies on the stage. I know first hand just how hard that can be since my husband and I were Javert and Valjean in high school.” Mr. Curtis called our attention to the front of the board and I listened as he talked about his relationship with his husband. He had dressed up as Milo Thatch from Atlantis Lost Empire and I was instantly reminded as to why this was my favorite teacher.

“How many of you have special plans for tonight?” He asked us and I raised my hand with my other partners and I saw Mr. Curtis smile at the three of us. “What do you three have planned?” Freed took the question since usually when somebody called on all three of us at the same time we took turns as to which would answer.

“We’ve had a tradition for the last three years that we would get together on Halloween no matter what day it was and have a three movie marathon. We watch Addams Family, Addams Family Values and Rocky Horror Picture Show. It’s always been one of my favorite holidays for that reason. I love getting to spend the day with the two people that I love more than anything in the world.” I felt tears come to my eyes and I quickly tried to blink them back throwing my arms around my partner.

“I shouldn’t have expected anything less from you three having movie marathons is one of the best parts of a relationship and all those movies are fantastic. Just try not to rot your teeth out with too many of Idina’s sweets.” Our teacher winked jokingly in my direction remembering that I had baked brownies for his birthday earlier on in the month.

“You were the one that told me it was your birthday Curtis you should have seen that coming.” The alarm went off and I instantly grabbed my bags of candy so that I could be ready for the children.

“Alright kids just like we planned it. If you don’t use all your candy feel free to donate it to the Curtis wants Candy fund afterwards.” He joked and I grabbed three of my jumbo bags handing the others to my partners. “I’m ready to see some adorable children!!” I cheered as the kids started to come through the hallways all of them dressed up and ready for the upcoming excitement of the holiday.

[lorewytch]

⭐star⭐ please please please i love learning about backstory and commentary of people's works

So ye ask, so shall ye receive. LOL!

Okay but really. Thank you so much for your interest @randomduckydoodles and your support with my current works ^^. Since you didn’t have any particular scene in mind I’ll chat about one that probably I haven’t spoken about yet.

In The Shadow Realm, the first of my Consumed by Shadows trilogy, there was a scene that took place during the beginning of the story where the triplets take Webby to a fair in town. I wrote this before I created my character Lore and she was originally designed to be just a random character who gave Webby and Dewey some clues about how to help Lena since they were all actively missing Lena’s signs more or less. (Well Webby misinterpreted a few) But it was after writing more than half of this story I wanted to give that minor character more depth so to say. I was curious and honestly I thought up a fun idea to have a character pop in out of worlds and just be a random background character. If I wrote any other fanfics it’d be like a little nugget for people to find and sort of notice and question. A Where’s Waldo type of experience. I actually would have been very curious to see if anyone had read all my fanfics would have taken the time to do something like that LOL. So I started to give her personality and a name. Next thing I knew.. welp she’s got a story now. Great there goes that idea.

I’ve honestly thought of doing that again though with another character just to see XD. Lore more or less was inspired by a mix of a idea similar to the anime xxxHolic combined probably with Tsubasa (Another anime) Both by the same creators too. I’ve always loved the concept of world hopping and wondered if I could create a character like that. I decided though to keep Lore as a minor character within these stories though and have a separate storyline with more of her info and background. And because I love doing this background info stuff I thought up another good scene to talk about. XD

Within Venomous Shadows, chapter 4.

I   am   a   music   nut.

I love musicals, disney movies.. I’m a big fan of telling stories with songs and if I had the talent I would write my own musicals. As it is though I’m pretty bad at music writing. ( I can barely write poems..it’s pretty cringe worthy.) As I was creating the timeline for this story... I wanted a unique challenge for the kids to face before meeting up with the buzzards and thought of previous shows. I asked a good friend of mine to think up random obstacles they could face. I think she mentioned something about a living suit of armor’s only weakness being the polka or something similar. It was hilarious, I loved that sort of random humor. ( Animaniacs was one of my favorites as a kid too) But I wanted to up the stakes a bit and then realized. Wait, what if the only way to get passed the suit of armor is have them be distracted by music? Then it became singing, singing a song from a musical OMG DEWEY! I giggled so much then and clapped my hands excitedly. Finding the song was a challenge and thought back that the boys had their ups and downs within the past few stories. While the current problem was Louie I felt bad leaving Huey out. His main struggle was during the first story with trying to handle Dewey. So I needed a conflict song relating to those two and Loathing was the first that came to mind. I had to edit some of the lyrics of course because they were specific to the musical. But oh my god.

I loved writing that scene and while it is really hard to write a musical number (What with the tempo in your head not matching the writing or tempo of the original song) but I really liked how it came out. I wish I could do more stuff like that. I thought of writing a musical fanfic of sorts. But as of now I have too many ideas, not enough energy or time lol.

The fact that Donald sang in that too.. omg. XDDDDD. Thanks again! if you want to learn anymore or about anything specific let me know.

I love talking about it lol.

[theoutcastedartist]

I see you like animaniacs so I wonder if maybe you have any headcannons ya wanna share?

Oh definitely! The reboot pretty solidified some of the headcannons I already had, especially for Yakko SO I'm probably only gonna mention him for now. These are basically me just kinda self projecting onto yakko if anything lmao

But first I wanna talk about the way I see the 2020 Reboot vs. The original 90's show in terms of the Warner Segments specifically:

Even though I have not seen the entire original show outside of a few clips, the reboot definetly has a different feel to it. Just from comparing one clip from the 90's show to one clip of the reboot, you can tell it is different, but not TOTALLY 100% different either, almost like a shift in focus it seems. Whereas the original show seemed more educational focused and had more of an "On Stage" feeling, the reboot strikes me as having more of an "Off Stage" focused kinda feeling. Yakko is especially different, he seems to get agitated much easier and is more quick to anger compared to the other two. The Warners seem much more emotional and expressive here in the reboot. Their personalities are added on to, make them stand out a bit more from each other outside of Yakko is the level headed, know it all sorta leader, Wakko eats, and Dot is cute. I think that's a very neat, and refreshing change. Tbh I think that if the three of them were exactly like how they were in the 90's, people would get bored of the Reboot series really quick after maybe three episodes.

Anywho, enough of my little rant lmao now let's move onto some of my Yakko headcannons:

So uh screenshots/spoilers from animaniacs reboot up ahead, you have been warned I guess

I have a hc where Yakko cant stand loud sounds/noises (well more specifically my hc is that he's gets very overwhelmed by it, but with these sorts things you kinda have to reach)

In the episode "Who Donut?" , we see Yakko immediately go to pulling and tugging at his own ears when Wakko starts crying(?) Screaming(?) (I'm not entirely sure how to describe it.)

He looks way more distressed about it too compared to Dot, who's just kinda cringing at the noise if anything.

And in episode 7, "Warner She Wrote", Yakko literally screams because of the noise

Wakko and Dot aren't bothered by the noise (but then again, they are already asleep and are partly the cause of said noise lol)

I sometimes do the same thing at home when I'm feeling overwhelmed by the ruckus, whether I mean to do it or not. I will try to be the loudest person, by a significant margin, in the room in order to get everyone else to stop what they're doing and shut up.

And then my other HC of Yakko being insecure in at least one aspect of himself (his sense of humor in this case) and not liking being all alone/without his siblings.

In the Halloween special episode, Yakko loses his cool when there's no laughing, comment, or any reaction in general (but that literally because there is no one but him in the building other than him and low-budget pennywise; and the latter doesnt react to anything Yakko says either.)

Just that whole

Then when his siblings arrive (who basically save him in the nick of time),

He literally turns to them and asks if they think he's funny (of course they reassure him and say yes)

Honestly I felt that whole segment proved that Yakko has a massive dislike of being byhimself, especially without his siblings, in most circumstances and is insecure in at least one aspect of himself.

So uh basically some of my headcannons for Yakko are:

He gets overwhelmed by loud noises much easier than Wakko or Dot

He is insecure in at least one aspect of himself

He hates being alone/ constantly needs someone around to talk to, because otherwise he doesnt know what to do with himself.

Jesus, season one of the 2020 Animaniacs reboot has not been kind to Yakko lmaoo

Anywho those are some of my personal headcannons for yakko ig

[lookbackmachine]

Manny The Uncanny Oral History Transcript

00:07 Speaker 1: When you're a kid, there's a few television moments that make you say, "What the hell was that?" Those shocking moments in which you're exposed to something wholly different than you've ever experienced. This doesn't occur often because most television shows created for kids are trying to replicate what has already worked in the past. It's why after a juggernaut like Ninja Turtles you get Biker Mice from Mars, Street Sharks and Moo Mesa. Children's television breaks with the old adage, "everything old is new again". Instead it's everything new is new again. In addition as a child, you are limited in what you can see. Your movies generally go up to PG, PG-13 if your dad was cool or if your older brother was cool, and NC-17 if your grandmother was weird. Profanity, sex, and violence are beyond your cultural scope. Not to mention as a kid you don't have the cultural framework or vocabulary to describe what you've seen. It's a purely internalized experience of the weird. That's why when there's something truly different it's so memorable. In the '90s, Manny the Uncanny definitely falls within this distinguished, "what the hell" category. Not only because he's weird; he certainly is, but because this...

01:21 Speaker 2: Why don't you go talk to the head potty guy? Come on! And Mr. Jim Langely, the head potty guy, is going to be telling us all about what happens with our potty bits. Tell me about potty bits.

01:32 Speaker 3: Potty bits?

01:33 Speaker 2: Potty bits.

01:33 Speaker 3: Potty bits.

01:34 Speaker 2: Grandma's trousers!

01:38 Speaker 1: Was on a Disney-branded Saturday morning. It begs repeating, What the hell? This character creation comes from the brilliantly deranged mind of Paul Rugg, and he spent the majority of his adult life making your childhood strange. But first a little history. Steven Spielberg has made several attempts to be Walt Disney. There was An American Tail, which eventually launched his own animation company Amblimation. There was Roger Rabbit and the Roger Rabbit shorts. And of course there was his most famous endeavor, DreamWorks. And yes, he's not Walt Disney, but he's damn close. And what puts him even closer to the heights of Walt Disney's pencil thin moustache was his run at Warner Brothers Animation in the '90s.

02:24 Speaker 1: It had been 20 years since the studio had created an animated short. The days of Termite Terrace were long gone, and that's where Spielberg saw opportunity. He thought maybe a Looney Tunes movie would work, and was working on one in 1987 about young Tunes learning from the greats at the Acme Academy, but it never panned out. Instead, the movie was put into television development, which was better suited for the wonderful short form zaniness of the Looney Tunes, and thus Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures was born.

02:55 Speaker 1: The show borrowed the Disney television animation model and infused historically cheap television animation with cash resulting in smoother animation and live orchestration for every show. Before the first episode, $25 million had been spent on Tiny Toons. After all, there was a daunting legacy to live up to, and it did. In its second year it was beating Darkwing Duck, Ninja Turtles, and DuckTales. Buoyed by that initial success, Spielberg and Warner Brothers Animation created the Animaniacs, which gracefully captured the essence of the old Looney Tunes classics, that have long evaded reproductions. Because the classic Looney Tunes shorts are perfection. That's not an exaggeration or an opinion; they are perfect. If you're a non-believer, imagine writing a joke that's still funny 70 years later. Imagine doing animation 70 years ago that is still seen as some of the best to this day, which is why its spirit has been so difficult to recapture. But the Animaniacs are the closest thing to the Looney Tunes since Looney Tunes. An integral part of the team that captured the bygone era was Paul Rugg.

04:02 Paul Rugg: I was in, sort of a offshoot of The Groundlings, called the Acme Theatre, which was founded by some people from the Groundlings. Where the Groundlings was more Hollywood-based, we were more San Fernando Valley-based, just because we were all very lazy and we all live in the San Fernando Valley. I had written some sketches for a show. Sherry Stoner, her partner Mark Sweeney, he was the director, and she started liking my stuff along with John McCann, and she said, "You know, I think you should come and we're developing this show." And I was like, "Oh, okay." And I didn't really know what they were talking about. They sent over a bible, which is everything about the characters, what the characters are. And I think I read that a couple weeks, and so did John McCann. And then we went in to meet Tom Ruegger to just get one script. He sort of told us more about characters, that they were very similar to the Marx Brothers, which is all I really needed to know. Over a week sort of wrote one and then got hired the day I turned it in, and that was it. When I saw that all of the scripts were being sent to Steven and we were waiting for his approval, and then I was like, "Wow, so he's gonna read these, huh?"

05:15 Paul Rugg: When they started doing the auditions, backgrounds, he was... We're always pending Steven's approval, so after a time I was like, well, he really does read this stuff, and he looks at this stuff and he listens to the record. And then I'd written something that never actually made it, but he sent me a memo saying, "That was really funny," so I was like, "Wow, he really is reading this stuff! My gosh, this guy really is involved". We really were writing for ourselves, and luckily he sort of liked that style. We never wrote for him, or oh, he likes this or he likes that, we were just doing what we thought was funny. And luckily he was liking it.

06:01 Paul Rugg: Once or twice, I think I might have written a joke and Tom Ruegger would say, "There's no way a kid's gonna know what that means," and I remember changing it. But maybe that happened twice out of all the scripts that I wrote. So, no, we never really thought about kids. We always wanted to keep it clean, but I can't remember ever catering a joke or a line or any of the ideas for a kid. I remember we did a parody of... Not of Apocalypse Now, but the documentary that Coppola's wife made about his making of Apocalypse Now, which is so totally obscure, and it was like, yeah, make that. So [laughter] I don't think... If we were really writing for kids, we never would have done that.

06:47 Speaker 1: Then there was Freakazoid! Which Paul voiced, wrote, and eventually produced. Freakazoid! Came along during two major changes, Time Warner would create The WB, and the Warner Brothers Animation shows would be transferred from Fox Kids to the new network. And the second, Spielberg made his final attempt to become Uncle Walt.

07:07 Paul Rugg: They were developing Freakazoid! For Steven. It was Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, and Steven wanted to take a really quirky turn and make it more very, very comedy-based. Tom Ruegger took over, and then he took John McCann and I off of Animaniacs and said, "You know, you really gotta help me, this show airs in like eight months, we don't have anything." By that time, I of felt that I had written as much as I could about Animaniacs, and as much as I loved the character I was looking for something new to do, so it was perfect.

07:38 Paul Rugg: The WB just didn't like it at all. I just don't think they liked it, which was a shame because we were having a great time with it, and Steven was really having a good time with it. We would send him a script, he goes, "This is crazy, I can't believe you guys are doing this, this is nuts". So we were all just loving it. But the WB was trying to think about... Well, in the second season, they asked us to do half hour stories in the hopes that it wouldn't be so bizarre. All that really did was [chuckle] give us a license to do more bizarre long-form stuff. Yeah, I don't think they were delighted with what we were doing.

08:20 Paul Rugg: Our demographics were coming in. Well, they weren't coming in right at the sweet spot that they want, we were really appealing to an older group, more high school, college, and some very intelligent younger children. Well, I don't wanna say The WB changed everything, but it did change everything. I think The WB in and of itself was sort of the demise of Warner Brothers Animation as we knew it then. They had a definite agenda, and that was to compete in this broader field of children's television. And they had a certain idea about what that should be. Well, they wanted Pokemon, they wanted... Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was doing really well, they wanted stuff that wasn't what necessarily we were doing. They wanted hits. While I think Warner Brothers Animation was doing very well, you know Animaniacs was doing well, they didn't care what it was, they wanted big hits. And well Freakazoid! , while it was doing really well with the critics and Steven was happy, it didn't fit in their wheelhouse.

09:34 Paul Rugg: They didn't really understand what they had. They had Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, they had the golden chest, in my opinion. And then they had the Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. I don't think they ever really truly understood what they had. The way Disney sort of takes care of their characters... I think for reasons that I've never really understood, I think that they didn't really understand the characters. And therefore you got things like Space Jam, which you might like Space Jam, but it was... I remember we all watching and we're like, "Oh my gosh, what are they thinking?"

10:12 Paul Rugg: When he formed DreamWorks, we still had, I think, some Freakazoids left to do, Animaniacs left to do, but we knew that, that sort of partnership was over. And then there was a lot of talk about us all maybe moving over. I think we all got interviews at DreamWorks when they were just starting it, we all went over there and had a meeting. And then some of us decided to go, some of us decided to stay. I was one who decided to stay because I really liked working for Ruegger, I really liked working for Jean MacCurdy. As far as bosses go, they didn't get any better.

10:54 Paul Rugg: We used to work at the Sherman Oaks Galleria, and there was this fountain where we would all... We would go down from the lobby and sit and talk, and I remember sitting there and somebody came up and said, "Hey, Steven's starting this big new thing." And we all went upstairs, and I don't think there was the internet then, but somebody got a copy of Variety and we read it. We're like, "Wow, this is big." And I think... As I recall, we were still doing the first season of Freakazoid! So I started putting that in some of the Freakazoid! Scripts, there's a Lord Bravery script that mentions DreamWorks. And in typical Warner Brothers fashion, we made fun of it because that was our job, so. Nobody was scared, I don't remember being scared because I remember we were really happy working at Warner Brothers and we really liked the anarchy there, but I think maybe people were ready to move on, to try different things.

11:53 Speaker 1: Peter Hastings was a writer who had his fingerprints all over Warner Brothers television animation. And this resume led to Disney putting him in charge of creating the vibe of Disney's, One Saturday Morning. He based the program around Bob McAllister's '70s kids show, Wonderama and Late Night with David Letterman. The colors were bright, the jokes were fast. And if you were wondering if an elephant could crush a blueberry pie with its foot, you could find out here. And within this wonderland train station was a man, a beacon of weirdness, an 11 on the dial, if you will. Manny the Uncanny.

12:32 Speaker 2: How's it going? I'm Manny the Uncanny today with the US Mint in Philadelphia to see how they make the coins. Come inside and don't be lazy. How does, how does, how does it... This is the build, large epoxy quarter. Here it is. This is touching, feelings. It transfered here, into this machine which is drilling it in there. It goes from shrunk down to this, which will make our coin.

12:53 Speaker 5: That's exactly correct.

12:54 Speaker 2: Wow, you learn... So much. Does Amos make you nervous? Okay Tim, now you're... Hey, I'm Manny the Uncanny. Do you ever wonder where all of your potty bits go when you flush them down? It comes here to the sewage treatment plant. Let's go talk to the head potty guy. Come in. Hey, hi there and all of that, this stuff. I'm Manny the Uncanny and today I am at the Bazooka Joe where... Sorry, Joe Blasco Cosmetics where we're going to learn about the make-ups. But not the make-ups for going to market or going to the fishing store, it's the makeup of scariness to be in the movie. So I tell you what, let's...

13:37 Speaker 1: Manny is delivered to each destination by a hot air balloon man, known as Mr. Lighter Than Air. He's suspended below the man's belly by cords that are similar to a baby's jumper. His glasses are thick, his suit God-awful plaid and he looks like a cartoon exiting a dynamite explosion. He's of course not the first bizarre children's TV show host. In fact, Linda Ellerbee and LeVar Burton come to mind as the only normality within this group. At the top of the list is of course, Pee-wee Herman. The voice, the suit, the bike. Strangely enough, his world is so off-kilter that Pee-wee, despite the odds, is the straight man in many of his scenes. A weirdo pointing to bigger weirdos and saying, "Isn't that weird?" In fact, Pee-wee Herman loves who he is and goes home to his amazing house filled with warmth and friends. He's undeniably happy. Manny, on the other hand, is desperately trying to relate in man-on-the-street segments with real people while having a complete inability to do so and lack of understanding of how to do it.

14:40 Speaker 1: And you can't imagine Manny going home to a magical talking chair. Instead his one counterpart is a mechanized cat puppet which you know Manny controls and voices. There's no magic, just desperation and loneliness. Because even though the shows are titled, "Manny Goes to the Mint" and "Manny at the United Nations", they might as well be titled, "Manny tries to make a friend." It's tragic comedy. This isn't Greek by any standard, but there is something incredibly human about this fictional farce that comes from Paul Ruggs's performance, which is real and grounded. But he's playing off the wall insanity.

15:20 Paul Rugg: Because we knew that Freakazoid! Was cancelled. So myself, and John McCann and Doug Langdale were developing a Daffy Duck show based loosely on the Larry Sanders Show where Daffy had his own extravaganza sort of like the old Carol Burnett Show. And it was sort of behind the scenes and in front of the scenes, and then it was clear that the WBJB counter didn't really want anything like that so that's when I decided to leave Warner Brothers. I had shot a couple of things for Peter Hastings who was... Who really wanted me to do Manny the Uncanny for One Saturday Mornings. Manny developed out of a thing I had been doing at Acme. He was this sort of washed up, cruise ship entertainer, he was the worst magician ever. So that's what I would sort of do on stage. And Peter always liked it, and I sort of always liked it, and the audiences always liked it. Which is why [laughter] I was more surprised than anyone that give me... Sort of said we should do it there but that's all Peter.

16:21 Paul Rugg: I mean Peter wanted to have fun, that sort of goes back to what we learned at Warner Brothers. If we think it's fun, hopefully it'll be fun. And then he said, "Well, maybe Manny should just go out and sort of meet people." a la Cole Huaser who was sort of a very famous guy on public television here who used to go out and visit with various people in the LA community. He would go to a bagel maker and spend time with the bagel makers. And we said, "Well let's do the same things." So Manny's segments basically became, where are the really weird places that we can go where Manny can be the world's worst interviewer. So he took a camera while I was working at Warner Brothers and decided to film some stuff of me doing Manny. I guess they really liked that. And I was writing the Daffy show when he asked me to come actually be Manny for the wrap arounds that they were doing, the on set, the whole digital set they had created. So I took two weeks off of Warner Brothers and filmed that. And then, came back to Warner Brothers. And then, I left Warner Brothers because they didn't pick up Daffy. And he called and just wanted to know if I wanted to come be a part of it.

17:38 Paul Rugg: I helped him pitch it. I remember sitting in front of the executives [chuckle] who were sort of horrified because I had dressed up in my whole Manny costume and I was, I was sort of doing my whole Manny act for them. And I don't remember them being very enthused that there was this really weird guy with funny hair in front of them, but. Which was, [laughter] which was kind of funny, but. They were liking it but they didn't wanna be a part of the Act, meaning, executives are very funny, they're like, "Great we like it, just don't put us in the position of having to sit there and be a part of this", they were just more like, "Don't look me in the eye, stop it" and so we was like, I think that day Peter and I learned a very valuable lesson. Never go pitch and sort of make those people you're pitching to part of the act. Because Manny was very abrasive he was very silly and I remember literally picking out people who we're pitching to and these are the big, big wigs and I'm insulting them and they were smiling but you could tell they wanted it to end like now.

18:51 Paul Rugg: Peter and I were having a great time I think we just did the whole thing, we were just having a blast we heard later that you probably shouldn't do that, but then we were Walt... Warners and we were more pushing the boundaries having some fun. Because I helped Tom Ruegger do the same thing at Warner Brothers when he was pitching Hysteria and he had me come as Nostradamus and do my whole act in front of the president of Warner Brothers and they were all very happy about it. So it's just a different culture at Disney it's a little more... I found it to be a little bit tightly wound, let's just say, and the Warner Brothers vibe was a little bit more it wasn't that I had never worked at Disney and so, and I was so stuck in that Warner Brothers we can do anything it never occurred to me that they wouldn't like it. So I was never surprised that we were getting away with it 'cause I didn't know that we were getting away with anything if that makes sense. I didn't know sort of what I know about Disney which is a fine company and stuff but they are definitely hands on and they want it done as a certain way, but back then I don't really remember knowing that.

20:09 Paul Rugg: Well after I left Warner brothers and did other things, I went back in for a meeting once when all of the people that I had sort of known were gone and it felt like walking into Disney and I remember going that's a shame. Because I think it was a very specific time a group of people got together and were just having a great time doing what they were doing. Manny works in very minimal doses. Anything beyond five minutes you sort of are like okay he's really beginning to annoy me which I love but no, we really didn't get any notes the biggest shout was stop screaming and that was it.

20:54 Paul Rugg: 'Cause Manny is very energetic and very sort of excitable and that is where I would play it on stage but when you put a camera like two inch in front of him it basically looks like he's gone insane. So we sort of modified him a bit and I wasn't quite sure how the bits were gonna cut together but we really lucked out and the first editor whoever took a crack at sort of putting the Manny's together was the lead editor on Waiting for Guffman and he was sort of in between gigs he just got this footage together in a way that was so surprising and fun that it really set the tone for all future editing then he eventually got busy and had to move on but we decided to sort of copy his style which was making the editing even more bizarre and it really worked. Peter Hastings and I came up with at Warner brothers and I have no idea why I think we were in the elevator, once and doing weird voices or doing something we came up with it's true.

22:00 Paul Rugg: And I have no idea where it comes from but I remember we just started giggling and then when he came in to say we need Manny song for his intro. I remember we wrote that in about 30 seconds, because we realized Manny didn't make sense so I remember, I just went into his office he goes, "I need this now". And we went in there we recorded it and that was it. I think we recorded at once it was just dumb and it made no sense, and It made us laugh and we're like okay we got that.

22:28 Speaker 2: Where are we going today miss Mr. Lighter than Air?

22:34 Speaker 6: Well, Manny some place wonderful.

22:40 Speaker 2: Hi there oh and happy days let's have some fun. And not be lazy it's true.

22:46 Paul Rugg: Yeah, I was trying to think about how Manny would get around and it just made me laugh my friend Mark Dropman was super, super, super funny guy I said I have this idea what do you think he goes, "That sounds great", so yeah, we filmed it I don't think we could get away with that now, but gosh it made us all laugh and I remember being in that harness and I think a couple of the execs might have come in and go, "Why are you in a harness?", I go, "Well I'm floating below Mr. Lighter than air." And they're like, "What the heck is that?"and I'm like, "Oh, never mind I think I've said too much already". So I don't think we would have the same budget today. We had this great makeup person and she always wanted to get Manny's hair perfect. So I think we went through literally 10 gallons of hair spray and she would sit and work on his hair and I remember that being like, Wow, I never thought anyone would be working on my hair. I remember they had been shooting a lot. They only needed me for a little bit. I came in one day and they said, "Stand here", and I was doing obviously my Manny thing very broad, very big, and the elephant wasn't liking it and they told me to not move so much 'cause the elephant was freaking out.

24:05 Paul Rugg: The trainer came over and said, "Really this elephant is about to kill you, so... " So, I might have changed a little bit. Maybe if you see it now because I hadn't seen if for years. But maybe you'll notice a very rather muted Manny who doesn't wanna get trampled by a very large elephant. I think maybe they separated me from the elephant at one point, but the elephant didn't like men. People, depending on who they were when they sort of saw what we were doing and how we were conducting the interview. And then was just all a bunch of fun, they really got into the fun. Some places didn't really like it. There was a... I remember we did something for the Egg Board of California. And we got... I think I got five minutes in to the interview, and they thought we were making fun of them and kicked us out. So, they literally put their hands in the in front of the camera and told us to leave because they thought... I don't know who they thought we were, but then as I just started airing, people were like, "Yeah yeah, you can come and do that." They saw that we were just having fun. But yeah, some people didn't really like it.

25:25 Speaker 1: Despite the Egg Board, most people seem to be enjoying themselves. They're in on the joke, which eliminates any cynicism. And they're as nice as they can be to Manny. It reaffirms acts of charity that deep down all people are good, or maybe they just wanna be on TV. Either way, it humanizes them. Likewise Manny never gets the best of someone. The ordinary people constantly try to help him understand. In the same way they would help an over-questioning kid understand. It's actually kinda sweet. The guy who is in charge of the State Quarters, or any of the knights at medieval times are for once, cooler than the TV personality, with Letterman, Conan, and Leno, that's never the case. Those are smart asses picking on the defenseless. While Manny is less than defenseless. It's this dynamic that provokes the wonderful moments in the sketches. In which an ordinary person who probably thought they had a lame job smiles. And it reads on their face "Yeah, I guess my job is pretty cool after all". As for Manny, there's a respite for the strange ones. In spite of everything, the security guard that Manny once feared... Well, see for yourself.

26:35 Speaker 2: Thank you very much. It's been a great pleasure. You wanna go get a soda or something?

26:44 Speaker 7: Sure.

26:46 Speaker 1: In that moment, there's hope for anybody weird, awkward, to meet at least somebody for a soda. Make sure to check out Paul Rugg's Freakazoid! Celebration Freak-A-Con on March 15th on Facebook Live.