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orokukarai · 5 months

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In Defence of Leorai

I know there have been a lot of these posts since forever blah blah blah but I wanted to put down my own thoughts and I've never quite 100% vibed with other people's opinions. HOWEVER this post by @leorai4life does resonate with me very well so I'll link it here because they're much more familiar with the source material than me: https://www.tumblr.com/tmnt4ever/713795384789581824 sorry i am a kataang shipper though lol, you're still cool

So a question I've seen come up multiple times is 'Is Leorai incest?'

tl;dr I don't think so.

Disclaimer: I haven't watched this show in a long time and I stopped just before the final season.

Here we go.

Are they biologically related? No. I've never bought a turtle at a pet store, but I don't think you go in, go to a tank, take out the turtles you want, carry them to the self-check out and then carry them home in your hands or pocket or recyclable bag or whatever. The shop staff would have been the last to touch them, and Splinter would have touched them maybe AFTER he got home. With small turtles, you don't handle them UNLESS it's absolutely necessary as it can stress them and stuff. Splinter not being the last to touch them is backed up by the fact that the turtles (except maybe Don) don't share physical similarities with Splinter. Splinter is Japanese and Leo and Mikey have blue eyes (plus the latter has freckles). I don't know whether during mutation if they even transfer DNA or if the ooze just evolves the creature based on what they last came into contact with, or if they're still mostly their turtle DNA or whatever, but I don't think they'd share enough similarities/DNA to be considered biologically related either way. And you know what? That's okay. He's just as much the turtles' father as if he was biologically related to them. Pushing for them to be biologically related (father-son) when it's extremely unlikely seems in bad taste to me. Also Karai and Leo are very different species. Splinter and Karai and Leo all mutated with different animals.

Are they adoptive siblings? Not... really? Only Leonardo was raised by Splinter, and he met Karai before they knew their connections to Splinter. Afterwards, Karai acknowledges that Splinter is her father, but for me it seems like more of a title to her. Splinter is more emotionally/psychologically family to April and Casey and the turtles than he is to Karai imo and she doesn't really try bonding as a family with everyone. He doesn't raise her at all beyond when she was a baby (which she can't remember), then he goes and dies rip. Oh and the fact that Leorai still flirt after the reveal (I'll get into that more in the next paragraph). Karai and Leo do not think of or see each other as siblings. Leonardo refers to Karai as Splinter's daughter but never as his sister. They were never raised together. They were not brought up together as a family. Yes Karai is referred to as family at times, but so are April and Casey and the TCRI cannister. Splinter is their father in different ways, in a way that they don't see each other as siblings. Is it still weird? Yeah. But TMNT 2012's writing gets pretty weird at times.

EDIT: I've seen a vague about this post about how they're like cousins because Shredder and Splinter grew up like brothers. My response: the turtles do not see Shredder as their uncle. Karai doesn't see Splinter as her uncle. The turtles and Karai do not see each other as cousins.

Finally, this is a kids show. Nickelodeon would not have continued pairing them and giving hints to them crushing on each other after the reveal if they were meant to be seen as siblings. Literally a few months ago, the official TMNT channel uploaded a 44 minute video of their 'best' moments with blue and black hearts in the YT title and a V-day short. I've seen people say Leo backed off her/lost interest after the reveal (not that he was ever pushing her for a romantic relationship?? They're crushing on each other but I see it as a slowburn). I think he was being respectful as she had just had her life flipped up upside down. Now wasn't the time to rizz her. Almost every other ship feels rushed and very instalovey while Leorai involves the characters being like. not weird about it. Dorky and cute. Funnily enough. TMNT 2012 does some things well but it really is a case of the show's focus on shipping characters dragging the show down (ESPECIALLY DON/APRIL/CASEY). Shipping culture, amirite?

My point about it being a kids show applies to Raphmona. I don't ship it but I've seen people argue that Mona is an adult so it's wrong. I think the simple explanation is that the show handled them and their writing clumsily too in this regard. I don't think if Mona was an adult that they'd be paired in the show. It's just not thought through well and kinda unclear but I can see people being uncomfortable with it.

If the ship makes you uncomfortable, whether it's for personal reasons or you're just not vibing, that's OK. If you personally see it as incestual, that's valid. But going around saying Leorai shippers all like or support incest is not true and there are many valid readings where they're not incestual even if you disagree with me. Some shippers probably do like incest, but then so do many non-Leorai shippers.

That's all from me! I'm disabling replies in advance bc I'm not bothered to debate. I've read what people have said already and I only have 4 followers.

#leorai #karai #leonardo #tmnt 2012

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nickmaghighlights · 1 year

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Nick Mag Highlights - Nick Mag Presents: The Fairly OddParents (Spring 2004)

Welcome, one and all, back to Nick Mag Highlights! Today we’ll be checking out an installment of the Nick Mag Presents magazine that’s all about The Fairly OddParents, from Spring 2004!

(Lots of two-page screenshots in this one, loading may be a little slow!)

For those unaware, Nick Mag Presents was a separate publication that ran alongside the usual Nickelodeon Magazine we all know and love. These books acted as a way for Nickelodeon to compile content from Nickelodeon Magazine that was based around a specific show or theme, and release it to stores. They would sometimes coincide with special episodes or Nickelodeon movies that were releasing around the same time. For example this issue we’re looking at today is based on a then-upcoming half hour The Fairly OddParents special, “The Big Superhero Wish!”.

Nick Mag Presents ran from 1999 to 2008, and presumably was a pretty successful venture for Nickelodeon. People I’ve talked to that didn’t have a Nickelodeon Magazine subscription still remember grabbing an issue or two of these compilations while they were out shopping with their parents. It was another way to deliver Nickelodeon Magazine goodness to people, and that’s quite alright by me!

But wait a minute, why am I covering a supposed compilation of old content, when I could just be covering the magazines the content came from? Well for one, someone requested it, and I’m a nice guy. Second, Nick Mag Presents was the way a lot of people experienced Nickelodeon Magazine and I think it’s fair to show it respect. And third, it’s not just a compilation of old content! Yes, there is new stuff to be found here, from comics that are way longer than the usual Nickelodeon Magazine fare, to exclusive articles and activities. There’s some particularly good stuff in this magazine, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Special Addendum

In my previous NMH post on Issue #150, I brought attention to a challenge Nickelodeon was hosting online and in-print to celebrate the 10th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants. Nickelodeon promised that if kids could triumph over each SpongeBob-themed puzzle they posted each month, they would earn the password to a “digital prize online”. Since I couldn’t find anything more regarding this contest and scans of 2009 Nickelodeon Magazine issues are scarce, I asked viewers for anything they knew about it, particularly that digital prize.

And… apparently there was no prize! Yes, allegedly from a fan, Nickelodeon eventually stopped bringing up the prize in their issues, and presumably then the only reward for kids’ expertise over the SpongeBob puzzles would be a fleeting sense of accomplishment. Thanks a lot, Nickelodeon! I’m not sure what was a more disappointing celebration for SpongeBob’s 10th anniversary: this, or "Truth or Square".

Alrighty, are we good? Good. It’s super-hero time!

You can read the magazine here, if you’d like. I always recommend it!

So, The Fairly OddParents, huh? Not much to say about it, really. Anyone reading this certainly already knows what it is! It’s an iconic show, being one of Nickelodeon’s longest running series ever, among the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants and Rugrats. That’s a tremendous accomplishment, and it’s definitely earned its place in the hearts of many fans. Even if its name has been sullied a bit by its infamously lackluster later seasons, Drake Bell-starring movies, and ridiculously bad live action reboot.

But forget about all that! This is 2004, baby! The show was on its fourth season and still pumping out veritable hits. Alongside the aforementioned “The Big Superhero Wish!” half hour special, we received “The Jimmy-Timmy Power Hour” in 2004, too! That might give you a better frame of reference for the kind of “average kid that no one understands” content we can expect from this issue.

…Oh, right, the issue! Let’s get back on track. As you can see the offerings are a bit slimmer than your usual Nickelodeon Magazine. That’s understandable, and besides, what these books lack in celebrity interviews they make up for in extra-large comics! Since these books made their money largely through in-store purchases, they’re able to forgo most of the ad space and give us more of the good stuff.

One thing I really like about these Presents issues is that they always start with an admittedly wordy but well-meaning intro to the issue and its content. For example, the Summer 2003 issue of Nick Mag Presents (also based on The Fairly OddParents) contains a spiel from Mr. Crocker featuring his usual comedic ramblings on the existence of fairies.

Taking a look here, this issue’s intro features … uh, sorry, who is this? Some sort of comic book nerd I don’t remember ever being in the show? Well, whoever he is, he’s got a point! Here I am, nearly 20 years later, pointing to these magazines as the pinnacle of magazine entertainment. Cheers to you, comic book nerd!

Hey, this is really cool! All this behind-the-scenes info and concept art is a welcome surprise. Not sure what it has to do with superheroes per se, but you won’t hear me complaining. I know Butch Hartman is a bit of a polarizing figure these days, but it doesn’t make me any less satisfied to finally hear why the main characters wore those stretchy shoe-pants combo clothes.

This is a fun activity, and I could definitely see it getting the creative juices flowing for any kid looking to play superheroes and supervillains during recess. It also doubles as a (debatably) subtle way to introduce readers to the main villains of “The Big Superhero Wish!” and hype them up for the special’s premiere. Hey, I guess that kind of self-promotion is what we’re here for, right? You saw the cover!

I really think a lot of the people at the Nick Magazine office had a soft spot for the golden age of comics, what with articles like these and how The Comic Book section in their regular editions often contained references to the same era. If I’m right, then it’s cool to see people revitalizing parts of their childhood for a new generation. That’s some proper upcycling!

Now, recurring readers may remember that in the last NMH post, I briefly mentioned another issue of Nick Mag Presents themed around Avatar: The Last Airbender. I brought up that apparently the team behind it was full of avid Avatar fans who were passionate about the series. I bring this up because what’s especially cool is that in a similar vein, the writer behind this article on superhero sidekicks, Frank Pittarese, is a former editor for both DC and Marvel Comics! It's always nice to see when Nickelodeon was able to put the right people in the right place when it came to their magazine content.

Ah, alright, alright, this is what you’re really here for, isn’t it? Comics were understandably the main selling point of these books, to the point that Nickelodeon even ran a couple of “All-Comic Special” versions of Nick Mag Presents that were completely made up of that sort of wonderful paneled content. I’m not really one for covering comics beat-by-beat on this blog. I think if they’re really worth reading, you’re better off reading them yourself! It’s not like they’re long, and I’m certain it’d be more entertaining than any summary I could throw at you. But hey, I’ll try my best! It’s not like I could just skip over more than half the book, could I?

Fun fact: There’s a coloring error on page 10. See if you can spot it!

This first one, understandably based on The Fairly OddParents, is a pretty straightforward affair. It’s still longer than anything you’d get in your usual Nickelodeon Magazine, though! Not to mention it’s also pretty authentic to the show’s heyday, which isn’t too surprising given that the team behind the comic has its fair share of The Fairly OddParents crewmembers in it. The writer, Jack Thomas, has 55 writing credits on the show to his name! That’s nearly as many episodes of the show as there are in the first four seasons combined.

I’ve gotta be honest here when it comes to my critique of a nearly 20-year old comic based on an episode of a children’s television show, though: the story doesn’t make much sense! At least, in the context of “The Big Superhero Wish!” anyway.

The episode has Timmy making a few ill-conceived wishes that end up creating a league of supervillains out of his greatest enemies, led by Nega-Chin, the arch enemy of his favorite comic book hero, the Crimson Chin. It’s a good episode with some pretty funny bits, but more importantly, it has an ending that wraps up everything and returns all of Timmy’s enemies back to their regular selves. In other words, it sounds like it’d be hard to make a promotional comic based on it! The story doesn't really have any downtime to insert a plot line that could’ve happened but the audience just didn’t see. And it’s not like they could have simply retold the episode, this whole book is for the sake of getting you to tune in! So, with all that in mind, I guess I can’t be too harsh on the odd premise, which now apparently has all the supervillains as sentient beings in a comic book? Did Timmy’s wishes mess with the fabric of reality so badly that it resulted in turning his teacher, babysitter, and school bully into canonical characters of The Crimson Chin storyline?

Anyway, hopefully you’ve been reading along! Basically the league of villains are trying to hunt down the Crimson Chin by going into different issues of his comic from throughout history. Each Chin represents a different era and are differently designed to pander to whatever was popular in the market at the time similar to the constant re-envisionings superheroes have had throughout the years, particularly Batman (I think, at least. I’m not really a comics guy).

These Crimson Chin from different eras actually first appeared in an episode of The Fairly OddParents, “The Crimson Chin Meets Mighty Mom and Dyno Dad”. I guess the comic crew really had to use everything they could to get an 8-page comic out of this.

One or two inconsequential gripes aside, I still think this comic is a solid start to the book! It’s got the humor down (I found the line about a lawsuit on page 14 here particularly funny), and the satisfying colorful art that made the show so recognizable. Nice work!

Not really a fan of this section. There’s giving kids drawing tips and then there’s just telling them arbitrary rules on what they can and can’t draw. I get that Hartman’s trying to hearken back to the comic heroes he read as a kid that all had the same chiseled body type (clearly he has fun drawing them) but the way this is all framed is a bit too opinionated for me.

I just noticed this now as I’m uploading the image: Check out the cool designs they gave to all the panel borders! That’s a neat detail.

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is one of my all-time Nickelodeon favorites, so you could imagine I was pretty happy to see a comic based on the show make an appearance here! It has a fun concept and does stuff the show most likely couldn’t have, like shifting the artstyle to make it look like an old comic book when Sheen transports himself into one.

My only criticism is that the art just looks the slightest bit… off. Alright, more specifically: Sheen looks off. Jimmy looks fine enough, but Sheen just looks weird! For some reason this show didn't seem to have any standardized 2D designs for its characters, which led to every Jimmy Neutron comic in Nick Magazine looking vastly different. And it looks like Sheen drew the short end of the stick here. Don't see what I mean? Here's a collage of my favorite Sheen faces from this comic:

Ultra Lord. Not even once.

Hey, look at the bottom corners! You can see the comic pages actually overlapping the magazine’s page numbers and casting a shadow, as if the comic book is open and lying on your magazine! Lots of cool details in this one.

I'd recommend fans just read this one themselves. It's ten pages long, pretty funny, and does a lot of cool stuff with the idea that Sheen knows he's in a comic, like grabbing onto his own speech bubbles and jumping between the different panels.

Also, this could just be a "me" thing, but am I the only one who thought Ultra Lord was supposed to be a parody of Japanese kids' shows like Ultraman and Power Rangers? If they were trying to go for a "Space Age"-look for his design then they went a little too far with the intricate outfit and bright color, cause it really just gives me Super Sentai vibes more than anything. I bring this up because here Ultra Lord is portrayed as a '60s American comic book superhero, which I find odd. Again, maybe it’s just me.

Next up, it’s a comic based on the Rugrats sequel series, All Grown Up. I never really watched the show as a kid, I always wish they’d just put on Rugrats instead. Regardless, this comic’s alright, it’s about Tommy’s brother Dil becoming popular for doing dares, which leads to him realizing that fame isn’t worth risking your wellbeing over. A fine enough premise for a fine enough comic. One question does come to mind, though: What does this have to do with superheroes? Or comics, for that matter. I guess Dil does wear a cape and starts going by the nickname “Dil-Devil”, but that's like calling Evel Knievel a superhero.

But yeah, if All Grown Up is your thing, you can check out the comic if it sounds like it’s worth your while.

This ad here shows how Nick Mag Presents fit into the Nickelodeon Magazine subscription system. Essentially, they acted as bonuses to entice potential subscribers (without mentioning that these issues reused a lot of content originally from Nickelodeon Magazine, of course). I don’t think you could specifically get a Nick Mag Presents subscription, so getting them as bonuses for your subscription or buying them at the store were your only ways of procuring them.

I really wish more of these had scans, particularly the “official movie magazines” for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Not to get preachy, but if you think you’ve got any issues of Nick Mag Presents or Nickelodeon Magazine not already available (there’s a spreadsheet to check, courtesy of @NickMagProject on Twitter), I implore you to scan and upload them. Come to think of it, I guess that goes for any old magazine you have really, if it’s convenient for you. You might just be saving a copy of somebody’s cherished childhood memory.

Back to The FairlyOddParents, with another tale all about comic books and superheroes. Go figure. Similar to the Jimmy Neutron comic from earlier, this one has Timmy going into the world of one of his new comic books to find out how the story ends. I like the art here, with the lineart done by C.H. Greenblatt (creator of Chowder and Harvey Beaks). It’s very similar to the show, but still stylized, looking a little more sharp and exaggerated than usual.

Oh hey! There’s that comic book nerd from earlier! Guess that explains that.

And when Timmy enters the comic world, the style switches over to art done by Sergio Aragones, a longtime artist for MAD Magazine. I only went through about two or three issues of MAD from my local library as a kid, and I still recognized this guy’s art when I saw it here. I think that definitely speaks to how distinct his style is and how often his work appeared in those issues.

Alright, back to business! The comic itself is fine, there’s a few good jokes. Greenblatt and Aragones’s art really picks up the slack while the entertainment value wanes a bit. Eh, maybe I’m just experiencing comic fatigue. Oh well, you read it and be the judge.

Now this is properly historic! I didn’t imagine there’d be an ad for a whole new channel in here, and it’s pretty funny, too.

Nicktoons had only been around for nine months or so when this ad was printed, which is pretty interesting to see as someone who can hardly remember a time without the channel’s existence. Anyone fortunate enough to have both channels was treated to two times the Nickelodeon, meaning there was usually always something good to watch.

It’s funny though how in hindsight this is more like Nickelodeon advertising their new funeral parlor, considering how often they used Nicktoons as a dumping ground for their lesser-performing shows to make room for more SpongeBob SquarePants. It’s happened to My Life as a Teenage Robot, El Tigre, Catscratch, and even more recent shows like Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to name a few.

It’d be cool if Nickelodeon used Nicktoons more like how Cartoon Network used their spinoff channel Boomerang: As a way to rerun their older shows for new generations to see. I always wished as a kid I could’ve watched some of Nick’s older stuff like Rocko’s Modern Life or Hey Arnold!. I always heard they were great, but unless I was willing to go out on a limb and buy a VHS of a show I had never seen, I was out of luck. Oh well.

Yeesh, this got bitter fast, didn't it? It's friggin' Invader Zim wearing a clown wig. I must still not be over what happened to Making Fiends…

The last few comics coming up are of the smaller, 2-page spread variety. So if any of them are originally from Nickelodeon Magazine, I’d bet on these last three. It’s a cute story, and I kinda love these little day-in-the life moments these comics tend to depict. The art of SpongeBob and Patrick here was done by longtime cartoon artist Shern Cohen (who actually did the cover art of the last Nickelodeon Magazine issue I checked out, #150!). The art for Mermaid Man’s comic was done by Ramona Fradon, a comic artist most well known for her art on Aquaman! Go figure, right? That is so cool.

So, what is ChalkZone considered nowadays? Cult classic or just a regular classic? Yeah, we probably won’t be seeing a reboot anytime soon but I’m pretty sure it was decently popular. I definitely remember watching it, but I’m hard-pressed to remember much about it outside of its surprisingly epic theme song. It’s definitely one of, if not the most relevant chalk-centric production in recent history.

Last comic of the evening, everyone! Good thing too, I think my eyes are starting to turn square from all the panels. Fittingly enough we’re rounding things off with another Fairly OddParents adventure, albeit one that’s very clearly not a superhero-related affair. But hey, who’s counting?

I still really like the dynamic Cosmo and Wanda used to have back in these earlier parts of the series’s history. Cosmo has always been the more carefree of the two, but Wanda wasn’t above a bit of goofing off and playing with her magic powers either. Seeing them have fun together as a pair made their relationship really cute and believable.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this comic was originally an episode concept they couldn’t flesh out to a full 11 minutes. Not the worst idea for getting the most you can out of your work!

And that just about wraps up this issue of Nick Mag Presents! I may have kind of sort of skipped over a crossword puzzle after that last comic but… if you’re really so inclined, be my guest.

Anyway, I’d like to thank one of my readers for suggesting that I check out Nick Mag Presents. It means a lot to me, and I hope I delivered! If anyone reading wants to recommend an issue of Nickelodeon Magazine, Nick Mag Presents, or even a completely unrelated magazine for me to cover on NMH Side Issues, be my guest! I am currently limited to what magazines are available online via The Internet Archive or otherwise, but if I can do it, I’ll check it out if I’ve got something to say on it.

But for now, I’d say it’s back to the ‘ole grind. With great magazines comes great responsibility after all, and these magazines don’t highlight themselves!

Have a good day, and as always, keep on reading!

#nmh post #2000s #2004 #nickelodeon #magazine #fairly oddparents

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voxasks · 2 months

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Tw: uhh...hook-ups. Bad dads. Unwanted pregancy (not mine) Smoking/Drinking. Mental illness. Adult content mentioned in the passing but not elaborated on.

Okay, soo...this seems interesting so I might as well interact. Nice to meet you. My names Mali, I'm 5'4, I'm bi-racial. (Taiwanese from my mums side and Hawaiian from my dads.) I've got grey eyes, curly hair black hair and tanned skin. (I've heard I look Filipino or Indian before, so...)

I'm an INFJ and I like writing poetry and stories and such, gardening, painting, etc., ect.

Artists I like; Maneskin, Nickelback, Poor Mans' Poison, Billie Eilish, The Neighbourhood, Fitz and the Tantrumz and Artic Monkeys.

Honestly, my movie/show tastes are kind of everywhere, Mostly old Disney movies, Nickelodeon shows (iCarly, Victorious), True Crime Documentaries, and cheesy Romcoms...yeah...

Same with my book tastes: I'm sort of addicted and I read anything honestly. Some favorites: Looking for Alaska and Our Fault in the Stars, John Green. Hoot and Chomp by Carl Hiaasen. The Little House Series, Laura Ingalls Wilder. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett. The Maze Runner, James Dashner. The Tower, Gregg Andrew Hurwitz. Any Goosebumps book, R. L. Stine.

And a bunch of manga, One Piece, Naruto, Haikyuu, Sword Art Online, Death Note, etc., ect.

My dad and mum basically had me on accident since they were both in the military, they got dumpy one night and hooked up, and my mums parents were super traditional, so they pressured her into getting married once they found out she was pregnant. My parents basically divorced when I was nine, and they did split custody.

My mum was having issues with alcohol and smoking and my dad had issues with smoking/drinking and adult content.

Then my dad got remarried, but my mum was still recovering so she stayed with my grandmother a bit before getting her own apartment.

The woman my dad was an immigrant from Portugal, she already had one kid from a past marriage, then she came to live with my dad.

They stayed married for four years, and he had two more kids with her, and then they divorced because my dad was being super toxic and she moved in with her family in San Francisco.

He got diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder and borderline personality after being evaluated by a psych ward for the case, and basically my mum got full custody of me and my two half-siblings and stepsibling live with my stepmom in San Fran. (Fifteen at the time.)

My mum eventually got remarried to this Navy Seal named (not gonna say his real name because pretty sure that stuffs supposed to be classified so lets call him Bob) when I was in sophomore year and he was okay. But the ended baby up being born with birth defects since she was pregnant during Bobs deployment and was smoking and stuff when he wasn't there.

Plus I still haven't come out of the closet to my parents. My grandparents on my mums side are staunch Catholics...and my dads side is estranged...My mums Catholic, and Bob converted to Catholicism too.

“i wanna say you seem completely over this but then you choosing to tell me about it in my inbox kind of negates that. my expertise lies in other familial issues so apologies but i don't think i'll be of any help here. though i am supposed to give you my inner thoughts so here it is : i really think it's nice that you seem to have your life a lot more together than i would have expected considering your circumstances; you have good taste all around the bases, from hobbies to music, your favorite shows and all that jazz. you've had it rough a kid so i can only imagine how it must have been to get yourself to where you are today. and man, that whole 'coming out' thing. i didn't even know there was a term for whatever the fuck i was back then. i didn't bother. i like whoever the fuck i like and that's it. though i understand the complications of your situation. if you want to come out to them, it's completely your decision, but just know that if they don't agree with who you are then i promise it will be a lot easier being alone and yourself than being controlled by your family.”

based off of the 200 follower event.

“🫐 — tell vox about yourself and he’ll give his inner thoughts about you.”

#.voxasks 200 event #.voxasks advice

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obsidiancreates · 2 years

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Turtles in Time Liveblog

Turtles in Time 1993 is my least favorite of the 90's movies, so let's hope this episode is better than it's film counterpart.

Oh more Giving Up On Karai stuff.

... Is he, still hung up on April? He hasn't really been acting like it these last few episodes, one of very few saving graces in them. Also LEO THAT'S YOUR SISTER STOP TRYING TO BE LIKE LUTHER AND ALLISON IN TUA ABOUT THIS GROSS

Awwww, Mikey saying he'll never have a crush is adorable.

Door in sky- woman? Woman with claw-like Chronoscepter from Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time? Oh it's the lady from the Monster Arc in Season 5

She looks like an adult. I don't like that she and Mikey have a thing. They better specify her age in this episode.

Awww really? Mikey is just The Cute One in the future? He should be The Surprising One, he's always pulling out surprises, be it parties or badassery

Very casual about being from the future, okay.

AWWW DONNIE IS SO EXCITED TO BE FAMOUS

Ew Mikey is flirting, I don't like this.

GIRL THEY'RE TEENS RIGHT NOW MAYBE BRINGING THIS GUY BACK WHEN THEY'RE SO YOUNG WAS A DUMB ACTUALLY

Oh god this guy looks so lame. God I miss The Kraang.

HIS VOICE SHEESH

Okay just right into a nonsense rant. Oh well, he was easy to get rid of.

THANK YOU DONNIE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON EITHER

Can I just say, I fucking hate that trope/idea that someday in the future humans will somehow become responsible for upholding the concept of time. I truly hate it.

YEAH GIRL THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T SEND THAT BITCH TO THE PAST

YEAH YOU PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE LET THEM DEFEAT HIM WHAT- I HATE THIS EPISODE

You're right Donnie. This isn't good. Isn't a good episode.

It's not as bad as 1993... yet.

Oh god they're in the bad DND episode costumes again.

THEY WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT ORCS ARE ORCS WERE INVENTED BY JRR TOLKEIN GRRRRRRR

I can't even enjoy the boys fighting because of how much I hate the costumes.

Girl this isn't how Medieval Time- DONNIE WHY ARE YOU DOING AN ACCENT WHAT WAS THAT

Oh a He's Right Behind Me moment.

I feel. No tension. Oh, a loop. Okay. How many times do we have to see it though?

Didn't that stick Demon Guy in a loop too, though? Or was it a temporal clone?

Donnie it wasn't that awesome. Mikey don't be jealous.

Was Raph referencing 1993 with the Turtles on Horses is Weird part?

Yeah this is- I dislike everything about this.

Oh haha Raph fell off the horse. Maybe I just need to sleep and it'll start being fun again? It's like trying to watch Season 3 of Danny Phantom all over again... why are Nickelodeon Season 3 of Cartoons always so bad? Well, this one started really, really good, but. Once The Kraang left, it got bad.

Let's talk about something else. How about we talk about what I think human versions of the boys would be like, like a Normal Humans AU? Not even ninjas in this.

So basically I created this idea of them within the concept of "One of those tropes where the heroes are put into a Perfect World dream and have to help each other escape" and Donnie's would be them all as normal humans.

So they're all Japanese, Splinter is a single parent of 5 kids. He's got his biological daughter, Karai (named Miwa at birth but she's goin through a Rebellious Phase right now so she changed it) and his four adopted sons. He's a trained martial artist, but he never felt a need to train his children very heavily in it, because they live pretty peaceful lives. They know enough to defend themselves if needed, but they're not ninjas.

They're quadruplets, but not identical. Splinter finds it curious how they all have varying eye colors but are definitely all blood related. He adopted them sort of by accident, meaning to just foster them for a while when they were babies, but well, they just claimed his heart!

Leo is very into yoga and zen sort of exercise methods. He's a total nerd, of course, and goes to cosplay conventions pretty regularly. Mikey usually helps him make his homemade cosplays, with extra flair like lights and stuff added by Donnie. He's decently well-liked in school, except he tends to be a bit of a snitch and a hypocrite at times. He lets his hair grow out the most and wears mostly baggy shirts and plain jeans, very Chill Guy vibes (basically if Leo didn't have to worry about saving the world all of the time).

Raph is following in his older sister's footsteps and entering his Rebellious Phase. He's in therapy for anger issues, and uses sports as a release. He's on the school football team, still very short but stocky enough to be a good player. He's a little more balanced thanks to being able to actually go to therapy, so he lashes out less. It's well-known around school not to mess with The Hamato Siblings, because both the older sister (who's been known to carry knives around on her) and the short football brother have no issues Pummeling People Who Mess With Their Siblings. Raph tends to wear t-shirts and gym shorts, but sometimes he goes for an all-out Punk Badboy look. Only when he's really feeling it though, because it's a real hassle to put the look together in the morning. He keeps his hair pretty short, not buzzed though.

Donnie is willowy and lanky, though surprisingly not wimpy. Splinter makes sure all of his kids exercise regularly, so he's got lean muscle, but much less than any of his other siblings. He usually doesn't need glasses, but when he needs to make sure the smallest detail possible is perfect, he has a pair of them. Otherwise his sight is... passable. He's the kid everyone hopes to be paired with on science projects, because he'll inevitably end up doing the whole thing himself and be happy to just let you sit there and watch. He likes to tinker with electronics and chemistry, but he's already planning to go into some field of Biology as a career, possibly something medical. His gap tooth is just because, when that baby tooth fell out, there was no adult tooth to replace it. Genetics, what're you gonna do? It's actually what got him curious about biology, so he doesn't mind it. he prefers sweatshirts usually, or anything easy to toss on in the morning, because he has a bad habit of staying up way too late reading or tinkering. Yes, he is neurodivergent, of course. He usually lets his hair grow out a little, not on purpose, just because he forgets to make the barber's appointments.

Mikey is a gymnast and an artist! He's really good at gymnastics and wins competitions pretty often, and would be captain of the school team if he could just get his grades up a little more. He only just got diagnosed with ADHD and is still getting his medication and therapy regiment set up, but he feels good about how things will go once that's done. He's also the artist of the family, in that he draws the most. Raph is actually better at the technical aspects of art, but he doesn't really do much art beyond sometimes going out with Karai to do some graffiti. Mikey however is always doodling and drawing, their house is covered in old wall drawings form when he was small. He has a million fidget toys. He likes to layer up, usually a long sleeved shirt with a jacket, one of the kinds where the torso is denim but the sleeves and hood aren't, is the minimum he must have every day. He draws on all of his jeans (Donnie actually does too, but he writes down notes to himself and formulas and idea, while Mikey just doodles train-of-thought style). His hair is short and oddly poofy, and always gets in his eyes. How he does gymnastics so well in spite of that is a mystery to all.

Karai is very protective of her brothers, because she's had one too many people say something about them "not being her real brothers" and it makes her Furious. She's gotten into a real rebellious phase, because while Splinter is a good dad he can be a little too strict sometimes, and she got tired of it. She got piercings at a friend's house, started going the graphic liner, decided to get a big leather jacket and spiked gloves... she loves it, and loves feeling very powerful and badass. She actually isn't super happy about Raph following in her footsteps so early (she's a couple years older) but knows he won't just Stop Doing Stuff, so she usually offers to let him tag along with her trouble so he's supervised and not out spray painting places alone.

April met the Hamato Clan in freshman year of highschool, she was trying to find her class and they were all arguing in the hallway about where to go. Donnie broke away from the argument and helped her out. She knows he has a crush on her, but he's a lot less creepy about it in this AU, it's mainly just he blushes around her a lot and gets self-conscious when they're along together. But she doesn't want to make things weird by telling him no, or yes, she's not sure, so she pretends not to notice. The brothers basically adopted her as another sister, which Karai also eventually came around to. She's into things like astrology and tarot cards, but on the downlow, she's a little embarrassed about it.

Casey was friend with Raph first, both of them trying out for the hockey team at the same time. Raph didn't end up making the cut, but they stayed friends. Eventually Casey and Donnie realized they both like tinkering and making little gadgets and they became friends, and then Casey was talking about his graffiti art and Mikey joined in and they became friends, and Leo warmed up to him when Raph asked Leo to take over a video game fight for a bit while he went and got some snacks. He thinks Karai is really cool, and Karai trusts him to take care of Raph or the others if Casey convinces them to do some mischief with him.

Splinter tries his best to be a good dad. It can be hard, and he makes lots of mistakes, but he tries. He was raised in a very Traditional household, but all of his children are very much the opposite of that, and he struggles with breaking away from how he was brought up to do things for the sake of not stifling his children. Still, he seeks counseling so he can do his best, especially once Mikey was diagnosed (Donnie hasn't been diagnosed yet but Splinter has his suspicions) as neurodivergent. He's still strict, usually, but has been known to soften up sometimes and allow a bit more excitement into their lives and home.

So there. That's that AU. I got so bored of the episode I jotted down this AU instead, and I'll put it in it's own post too sometime later.

#tmnt 2k12 #tmnt 2012 #sid blogs live

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avocadoguru · 1 year

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As someone who is on her period, this chapter was both painful and delicious 🤤! I can’t tell you the amount of times I yelled at y/n for stopping Harry because of her period. Like girl I get that it’s not ideal during a heavy flow but, if the man is begging to eat you out while on your tail end of your period, you go for it! Green Light Go! I feel bad for Niall though, he’s gonna come back to his apartment knowing it’s been through some stuff 👀😂. And then there’s my poor baby Eddie! Aww that little guy has been through so much, I loved the tidbits of his snacks and asking y/n to leave on the Nickelodeon channel for him, that was soo cute! I hope the bub is feeling okay 🥺, I loved we got to see more of him and y/n spending time together. I hope we’re getting closer to his shift happening. Though what Harry mentioned did surprise me some, if he told her about his kind, she’d be in some serious danger 😱. Also, I’m side-eyingthat alpha female 👀👀👀, the fact that she smelt y/n all over Harry, didn’t give me a good vibe. I wouldn’t be surprised if y/n gets an unexpected visit from her at the station. And Mickey better watch his back, he’s getting way too suspicious on Harry and Edward.

(@gurugirl here) ha ha! I know - like girl - just let him have some. He doesn't care 😛 Niall's gonna have a time when he gets back that's for sure lol!! And with Eddie, he's just upset that his uncle is gone and he can't really understand it but he'll be fine as soon as he sees Harry.

Also YES! He's been keeping her in the dark about what he is for a good reason. More to come with all of that in due time but I'm glad you picked up on that :)

Thank you for the feedback!!

#wolfrry asks #wolfrry feedback

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cinemaseeker · 2 years

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Let's Review: The Bob's Burgers Movie

*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE BOB'S BURGERS MOVIE, AND ALSO THE OCCASIONAL BURGER METAPHOR*

The recipe for a good Bob's Burgers movie is not unlike the recipe for a good cheeseburger: the main ingredients usually stay the same but, if done well (or well done, if you will), those ingredients are enough to keep the customers happy and coming back for more. But what if this time around they get a better version of the thing they love? A burger that still has the same ingredients but maybe this time the beef comes from a better cow on a better farm, thus producing a better burger.

The Bob's Burgers Movie is that better burger.

It keeps all of the same ingredients that make the show so good, but somehow makes them even better while still feeling fresh and new.

This is series creator Loren Bouchard's feature directorial debut (which he co-directed with fellow Bob's Burgers collaborator Bernard Derriman), and he takes to filmmaking like a duck to water. One only has the watch The Bob's Burgers Movie to see what I mean. The animation in this movie is top-tier, especially when you compare it to the show's first seasons. The quality of the animation always got better and better with each progressive season, but this is something else. It reminded me of when I was a kid and my favorite Nickelodeon show would get the motion picture treatment and then I would get to see the amazing animation glow-up that would come with it. Even as a kid I could sense that the production quality was different from the show, with better linework, bright colors, and a more massive scope, all of which are definitely present here. Calling the animation here a glow-up would be a severe understatement. Even from the beginning, the world of Bob's Burger felt bigger and realer as we watch the camera glide all around Ocean Avenue, home of the titular restaurant. If the TV show was 2D then this felt like 3D, while still mainly being a traditionally animated movie, a rarity in this industry nowadays. Plus, the characters felt more alive and livelier, bouncing along with the opening number, almost like something out of an early rubber hose cartoon. The movie clearly had an impressive animation budget and they take every opportunity to flaunt it onscreen.

With this movie, Loren was able to make Bob's Burgers cinematic, and he effectively demonstrated a strong understanding of how to adapt a beloved TV show, especially a beloved animated TV show, to the big screen. He gets that storytelling in a TV show is fundamentally different than storytelling in a film. The show only has 22 minutes to set up a crazy scenario and then get us from Point A to Point B. But with a movie, the story has to be sustainable enough to get us through the 142 minute runtime, like a ship crossing the ocean, and if that ship is not built properly it's gonna sink. Luckily, Loren's built a sturdy ship with his script, which he co-wrote with fellow Bob's Burger's writer Nora Smith.

It gives every member of the Belcher family a clearly stated desire and goal that needs to be fulfilled by the end of the film: Bob and Linda want to keep the restaurant from financial ruin, Tina wants Jimmy Jr. to be her boyfriend, Gene wants to use his cool new homemade instrument to rock out with his band, and Louise wants to be seen by her family and her peers as brave and not as a baby. Loren was also smart enough to give the story stakes and keep us invested by adding a ticking clock in the form of a six-day deadline for the Belchers to pay back their loan to the bank. The story has bits of real-world drama sprinkled into the mix without overwhelming the tone or bogging the characters down.

The script also manages to find new depths within these familiar characters. This is seen most strongly in Louise's arch, which gets to explore why she clings to her iconic pink bunny ears, and it's surprisingly profound and heartfelt. Louise definitely gets the lion's share when it comes to character development in this film, but I think it's for good reason. She's always been the most outspoken and proactive character on the show so it makes sense that she plays an important role with driving the plot forward. But every character does get their moment to shine, and this courtesy also extends to the massive supporting cast, with each cameo sure to excite every longtime fan of the show (myself included).

Now with all that said, this is not a perfect movie. The latter half leading up to the climax felt a bit drawn out and the ultimate villain in this is a bit weak with a weak motivation and a weak villain song that could've been so much better. It saddens me to think that we might've had a memorable non-Disney villain with a truly great non-Disney villain song. But to be fair, it's not really the focus of the film and they still have fun with it and it doesn't ruin an otherwise amazing movie.

Bottom line: This is that rare and beautiful unicorn of a movie that manages to adapt a popular TV show while perfecting preserving everything we love about that show and can still stand on its own two legs as a good movie in its own right. It will satisfy both longtime fans of the original show and newcomers who've never tasted it before. A perfect crowdpleaser to kick off the summer movie season.

My Rating: 4/5 Burgers

Bonus Content:

Check out the Bob’s Burger themed menu options available to you if you choose to see the movie at your local Alamo Drafthouse!

And, yes, the burgers do come with fries.

Also, check out the Production Babies from the end credits if you’re a name nerd like me!

P.S. there's a post-credits scene so be sure to stick around for that if you're interested!

#bobs burgers #the bobs burgers movie #the bobs burger movie spoilers #bob belcher #linda belcher #tina belcher #gene belcher #louise belcher #h jon benjamin #john roberts #dan mintz #eugene mirman #kristen schaal

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rphelperblog · 2 years

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Jack Dawson- Titanic Quote Rp Meme

Requested by @jackdawsonsghost

“Where to, Miss?”

“I’m the king of the world!”

“Promise me you’ll survive. That you won’t give up, no matter what happens. No matter how hopeless.”

“You jump, I jump remember? I can’t turn away without knowing you’ll be all right.”

“I figure life‘s a gift and I don’t intend on wasting it. You don’t know what hand you’re gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you…to make each day count.”

“Don’t you do that, don’t say your good-byes. Not yet, do you understand me?”

“I’m gonna have to get you to write that one down.”

“You’re so stupid. Why did you do that, huh? You’re so stupid. Why did you do that? Why?”

"Somebody's life's about to change"

"Winning that ticket was the best thing that ever happened to me... it brought me to you."

"Fine people, I figure life is a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count."

"I got everything I need right here with me. I got air in my lungs, a few blank sheets of paper."

"When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose."

“No, no, that's not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was, what could've happened to this girl to make her think she had no way out?"

"Music to drown by. Now I know I'm in first class."

"That's the beauty of it. I mean, I love waking up in the morning not knowing what's gonna happen or, who I'm gonna meet, where I'm gonna wind up."

"For me, Paris was more about living on the streets and trying to put it on paper."

"Seeing her coming out of the darkness like a ghost ship, it still gets me every time."

“Come on, just give me your hand. I'll pull you back over.”

“It would hurt. I'm not saying it wouldn't. Tell you the truth, I'm a lot more concerned about that water being so cold.

“Freezing. Maybe a couple degrees over. You ever, uh, you ever been to Wisconsin?”

“Well, it's a simple question. Do you love the guy or not?”

“I saw that in a nickelodeon once and I always wanted to do it.”

“Shhh. Gimme your hand. Now close your eyes, go on. Now step up. Now hold on to the railing. Keep your eyes closed, don't peek.”

“God! Look at that thing! You would've gone straight to the bottom.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Take a couple practice swings over there.”

“Good! Now try and hit the same mark again, Rose. You can do it!”

“I'm gonna dance with her now, all right?”

“What, they didn't teach you that in finishing school?”

“The best I've seen, ma'am. Hardly any rats”

“ All right, the moment of truth. Somebody's life is about to change..”

“So, you wanna go to a real party?”

“That's one of the good things about Paris: lots of girls willing to take their clothes off.”

“Well, she has beautiful hands, see?”

“ She was a one-legged prostitute. See? Ah, she had a good sense of humour though.”

“You want to walk a little faster through that valley there?”

“Well, there's been a mistake. You're not one of them. You got mailed to the wrong address.”

“No caviar for me, thanks. Never did like it much.”

“Why can’t you just answer the question?”

“you’re no picnic, all right? You’re a spoiled little brat, even, but under that, you’re the most amazingly, astounding, wonderful girl, woman that I’ve ever known.”

“You’re gonna get out of here, you’re gonna go on and you’re gonna make lots of babies, and you’re gonna watch them grow. You’re gonna die an old… an old lady warm in her bed, not here, not this night. Not like this, do you understand me?”

“That’s what everybody says, but with all due respect Miss, I’m not the one hanging off the back of a ship here.”

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indianfartysummers · 6 months

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If you want more information and they will not give you Bubba, then you do not have Bubba I did not say Bubba I said Baaba

Baba

To be honest with you, it’s none of your goddamn business you fucking hooker

Nobody said a goddamn thing about Bubba butt fuck booger britches

And yes, that is very much a Rebecca Cooper original

Nick and Brandy felt like I took from them if I said something from nickelodeon channel they felt like that was their property I guess

Most doctors in the United States of America are probably afraid that some intelligent people will find out about their evil and kill their entire lives and futures and all of that

Mark Saderholm is definitely a cowardly little bitch baby

His family is most certainly all coward little bitch babies

And they will most certainly pretend like they are me if it feeds their ego

Well, that sick guy already knows that he’s not permitted to cross that line

Sikh

Who knows maybe he’s saying he’s shy I don’t know. Can you look at him and tell him you could fuck with him that way probably too though. Excuse me, I would a little bit.

I think I heard somebody say happy birthday to you

It’ll make your belly button pucker

Just because people change doesn’t mean that energy dies, and my kind of people don’t judge like that I am sharper than any marine I ever met

And I thought about this for a minute and I thought you know I’m not really great at math, but something isn’t adding up

If I’m prepared, I can grab that image faster I said the image

Yeah, I just looked at it over and over and over and over like it must’ve been 80 times and then I was able to describe it like really fast I said grab it really fast

The 40 sporty the people like Mark Saderholm, who have every intention of keeping society way way way back in time

Because if he can’t rise above, goddamn at, neither will you

I said God dammit

Oh hi, you’re a dead bitch by the way

Keep making technology jokes keep making them, and I will describe the way you and your father will be murdered

Because you don’t really care for music do you

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giisip · 3 years

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Not a request but a question, what are some of your favorite things about Korra and Asami as individuals and as a couple?

Wow, heavy! I’m not great with words so I guess bare with me?

Korra: I mean, a badass PoC who’s apparently the Avatar? Need I actually say any more? Granted she doesn’t completely represent me in the cartoon world but it was a start at the time. She’s so kind, compassionate and always strives to be the best she can be for those she either loves or complete strangers. What annoys me is the backlash she got for her attitude. Honestly if she was a guy she’d be deemed so differently. But not to end on a negative, I just think she’s awesome and it was a breath of fresh air to have this kind of woman in the frontline of a very popular franchise.

Asami: uh stupidly rich and hot? Haha I kid, she’s also a badass but in a more ‘softer’ approach to Korra? To be honest, I think the show didn’t really tread much on her so what the great fanfic writers describe her to their audience is what really made her more endearing to me. But she is also kind and pretty selfless despite being a kinda Elon Musk/Bezos of the Avatar world 🤣 but she gives back more.

Korrasami: I just.. love them? Do I need a reason? Haha well it’s firstly two very strong PoC women who got crapped on by Nickelodeon (but we won’t go down that rabbit hole) BUT they paved the way for ships like Bubbline, Catradora and most recently Lumity. Just having this LGBTQ+ kind of rep in the animation industry is just wonderful. I almost wished we got an animated version of the comics, ya’know? Or just more moments in the show. I’m pretty sure if it was made today we’d get those moments earlier on and a lot more frequently.

Guess that’s my love letter to Korrasami! I tried to draw other things but I keep coming back to these babies 😊 sorry for the waffle lol

#questions #answered #Korra #asami #korrasami

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thesoulspulse · 3 years

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Regarding Flynn Fenton...

(Updated 12/17/2020)

Alright so, confession time. I wasn’t planning on joining the bandwagon on this new character Butch ‘supposedly’ came up with all on his own apart from sharing a few thoughts or giving replies here and there, but now I just have to come out and say it. Most of his backstory makes no sense.

Also, let’s be honest here, the canon Butch gave him is borrowed from so many Marvel characters its not even funny and I have some serious questions about why Danny’s parents would happily keep experimenting with a ghost portal if they knew their FIRSTBORN CHILD was sucked into it! And even if they did they’d be treating the whole thing much more seriously if they were planning to mount a rescue mission into the Ghost Zone...

Next, lets talk about his design.

Now, we already know that while Maddie has reddish brown hair, normal red hair and green eyes does run in her family so let’s compare Flynn to Maddie’s older sister Aunt Alicia, which I might add is the ONLY named character we know of that’s indirectly part of the Fenton family through her younger sister Maddie after she married Jack. But we don’t actually know what their original maiden name was or what their parents might have looked like:

After that there’s one of the more obvious comparisons you can make which is Jazz, who definitely takes after her aunt more than her mom. By the way, I’m using a screenshot of her as a kid because I think when Flynn was still around she was supposed to be like six years old while Danny is only two:

So with that in mind, as far as genetics are concerned I think Flynn actually could have been born as a red-head just like his younger sister while Danny takes more after his dad with the black hair and blue eyes (borrowing Amethyst-Ocean’s version since I couldn’t find any good quality screenshots of Danny as a baby/toddler):

But here’s the real kicker, as soon as I actually SAW Flynn in Butch’s latest video after hearing everyone in the phandom talking about him, do you want to know which character I ACTUALLY think he looks like the most...?

Wes Weston, the random background character that the phandom adopted from the episode “Shades of Gray” that has since become a fully fledged character in his own right and recently you guys have even given him one or two brothers based on other red-headed background characters.

So you want to know my honest to god opinion here? I seriously think Butch is just pulling stuff from the phandom and taking credit for coming up with the idea of Flynn ‘randomly’ since it came from his show which we all know has only become a source of click-bait for him since he doesn’t legally own the rights to it anymore. Nickelodeon does.

That said, while I’ll admit some of Butch’s newer ideas are decent, most of them are uninspired and it’s the show’s fans who have turned these ideas into something more inventive and created this whole Danny Phantom universe with its very own lore with things such as ghost cores, spirits that only exist in the Ghost Zone vs ghost who were in fact once dead people or animals, the list goes on and I couldn’t be prouder of our community as a whole.

Either way, I look forward to seeing more cool ideas for Flynn gradually come out and I’ve already added at least one of my own too based on something another phan wrote. But I’m sure there are more to come since there are so many amazing authors and artists in the phandom that I truly admire even though this show ended all the way back in 2007. So there you go, I’ve added my two cents to get it out of my system so take from it what you will...

P.S. I still think Flynn’s ghost hero design is kinda uninspired too personally since he just looks like a red-headed version of Dan to me.

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nickmaghighlights · 11 months

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Nick Mag Highlights - #118 February 2006

Welcome back to Nick Mag Highlights! Would you believe it: Two of the greatest Nickelodeon shows crossing over in one half-hour special? For the second time? It’s a kid’s dream come true! Again! So let’s read all about it.

So yeah, sorry for the wait on this one. A couple of IRL setbacks plus taking on a volley of different big personal projects at once resulted in quite a hit towards my motivation. But hey, we’re here now, and I’m happy to get back into it.

Little sneak preview while I’m here: One of the things I’ve been working on is a new NMH Side Issue post! One that’s covering a mag that’s ostensibly part of Nickelodeon history thanks to its connection to a very prolific creative figure at the studio. Very wordy book though, so naturally both reading it and my analysis of it is gonna take longer than normal. And then I gotta do the research and fact-checking and yadda yadda, it’ll be ready when it's ready. In the meantime I’ve always got Nickelodeon Magazine to come back to.

Read along if you’d like, I think it’s the cool thing to do!

Neopets was still Viacom (parent company of Nickelodeon)’s latest big purchase at the time of this mag’s release, with them having bought it eight months earlier back in June of 2005, so it’s not surprising seeing the new blockbuster Neopets thing getting a big ‘ole two page spread right at the beginning of the magazine.

While Neopets is famous for originally being financially supported by scientology, it was Viacom's stint with the brand that actually got me to give the site a try for a short time (thanks to a Burger King promotion of all things, if memory serves me correctly). If they don't delete old, inactive accounts then I hope my T-Rex Neopet has been doing well for itself. They can’t die, right?

I love this ad. I’m not sure what kind of vibe they were going for here but it almost feels kind of dystopian with the polluted-looking air and all the TV screens weirdly protruding out every which way. Adding to that feeling for me was that I initially thought all that shrubbery down below was a huge audience of adoring viewers. Feels like something out of The Running Man. Super cool.

Always important to check out what Nickelodeon itself was doing around the time. I remember being really excited for Drake & Josh Go Hollywood, and seeing how it went on to gross more than 5 million viewers, I guess I wasn’t alone. Really bothers me to find out it’s just called Go Hollywood and not Go To Hollywood like I thought it was all these years, but I guess I’ll live.

And speaking of millions of viewers, this section also mentions the then-upcoming SpongeBob SquarePants special “Dunces & Dragons” (oddly not actually referred to here with an actual title), which grossed more than 8 million viewers.

Oh, and it’s Black History Month. Y’know just kind of a footnote slotted in the middle there. You'd think that'd get an article or interview, I don’t know. I’m sure Kyra appreciates the shoutout at least.

Woah. Imagine living in a pre-High School Musical world. Nowadays High School Musical is the made-for-TV-movie that baby made-for-TV-movies want to grow up to be. Now we’ve got two sequels, a TV spinoff (a TV spinoff that won five Kids’ Choice Awards apparently, funnily enough), and a mountain of films that tried to cash in on that success. Mostly from Disney Channel themselves. Camp Rock, anyone?

Funny to see the not-Jumanji family classic Zathura listed as Josh Hutcherson’s big recognizable role when he’d end up co-starring in the critically lauded cultural touchstone The Hunger Games just a few years later. And now he’s starring in that Five Nights at Freddy’s movie coming out this year. What a career.

There’s gotta be some irony to me sitting here and enjoying what I probably called the “boring parts” of the magazine back when I was a kid. C’mon though, this is pretty neat! I’ll run through all the topics real quick if you’d like to learn more.

Notes From Underground - The Great Stalacpipe Organ

Still standing to this day, the instrument has been refurbished a couple times since it was featured in this magazine. In 2012 a band by the name of Pepe Deluxé composed and played the first ever song exclusively for the Stalacpipe Organ, called “In The Cave” and featured it in their album Queen of the Wave. Give it a listen, it’s a creepy kind of beautiful. Must’ve been hard to record, too!

Playing With Their Food - The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra

The orchestra is still active and has even done a couple of performances this year! I doubt they still make soup from their instruments though. But to be honest even without having to worry about viral diseases I’m not too interested in soup made exclusively of vegetables that have been blown into for several hours.

Talk About Slow Jamz! - Organ²/ASLSP

Miraculously the performance is still on track. They didn’t play a note this year but the next one is scheduled for February 5th. The second slowest performance of the piece lasted 16 hours and took place last year.

World’s Hottest Tunes - Fire Organs

I can’t really find much about this one online, but I guess it speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

Take a look at a performance and try not to think about how hot it must be in that auditorium whenever he plays that thing.

Alright, it’s time for a confession. You ready to hear the horrible truth? …Okay, here goes:

I don’t know very much about music.

I guess it was probably a bad choice for me to write about a magazine themed around music. I got pretty far without having to disclose my lack of knowledge though, right? And in my defense, Nickelodeon lured me in with that Jimmy Timmy Power Hour cover.

And I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like music. I love a bit of jazz now and then*. But still, none of the names here really ring a bell, so I don't know if any of these answers are ironic or out-of-character or so in-character it’s adorable or whatever. At least I can appreciate they spared no expense, they never usually have this many interviews. There’s even a third page with even more of them if you want to check it out.

*My top jazz favorites are Kim Scott (Spotify) and Pieces Of A Dream (Spotify). If you were curious.

It’s really cool to see something encouraging kids to make their own mix CDs. I do kinda wish there was more than one cover though. Not everybody wants to chill.

Aw man, come to think of it, is Gen-Z the last generation to do personal mixtapes and CDs? Or is that still a thing? Regardless I kind of wish I had gotten into doing that when I was younger, it seems like a fun thing to do between friends. Plus my knowledge of music would probably be way stronger than it is now. What do kids do nowadays, send each other Spotify playlists? I guess that's a bit more convenient.

I think I've talked about these Pop-Tart ads before. They were in these magazines all the time so they must’ve come up already. I think I even gave them some credit. But as attention grabbing as they were I really still don't understand the intention. What's so appetizing about seeing these little guys just get absolutely destroyed all the time? Are kids supposed to think about how they’re snuffing the life out of their morning Pop-Tarts?

A very awesome and adorable cover we have here, courtesy of Vera Brosgol (author and illustrator of the award-winning Anya’s Ghost, plus Head of Story on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio). You can check out her website to see more of her work here.

Nice little comic by Greg Cook. And wouldn’t you know that guy’s Wikipedia article has Nickelodeon Magazine mentioned in its first sentence? That’s cool. Also I feel like the man himself might’ve written his own Wikipedia article. The lack of citations and the way it’s written like the “About Me” page for a blog gives me that kind of vibe. If so, thanks for remembering us, Greg!

Now here’s some of that Jimmy-Timmy content I was promised! I was starting to get worried.

I find it interesting how well Jimmy and Timmy bounce off of each other, but I guess now that I think about it their shows weren’t that different really, at least in terms of subject matter, were they? In broad strokes they’re both kids with big egos whose imaginations tend to get them into trouble. And seeing those big egos clash is naturally gonna lend itself to some good comedy.

In regards to the art, I love the warm colors utilized here, it’s very cozy. The art throws me off just a smidge though. Absolutely no disrespect to Scott Roberts of course, writer and penciler behind this comic (and also creator of Patty Cake, a recurring comic for Nickelodeon Magazine that we… haven’t actually encountered yet on this blog unfortunately), he’s got some great work under his belt, and Timmy and his fairies look as to be expected here. But I do think it was a weird choice making Jimmy look like a Rugrat though. That’s not just me, right? The second page in particular has him pulling off some serious Rugrats-faces. Maybe Roberts was just doing what he knows, because he actually did tons of work on a Rugrats newspaper comic strip just a couple years before this.

Aside from that, Jimmy’s lab is a bit weird. It’s not the usual cave, instead being a regular room with windows and a checkerboard floor? And the exterior shows it to be a wooden cabin? Maybe it’s supposed to be the shack that’s built above the lab Jimmy uses as a secret entrance. Doesn’t really matter, I certainly didn’t notice as a kid, but it does make me wonder if the artist wasn’t provided that much reference material.

I love that snail comic so much like you wouldn’t believe.

Throughout the years I always managed to miss out on LEGO’s constant edgier reinventions of itself, y’know like Bionicle or that one about the ninjas. I guess it helps that I was never really into the toy itself. Unlike those previous examples though, Exo-Force here isn’t ringing any bells for me, but I do find it noteworthy how they were trying to go for a more anime/gundam vibe with this one, what with the Japanese affixed to the bottom of the logo and the faux-anime designs of all the main characters. Surprised to see this one didn’t even warrant its own cartoon, instead having its epic storyline played out through a series of commercials. And while I may like an overarching commercial narrative as much as the next guy (anyone remember those Goldfish Cracker commercials that did the same thing?), I bet you any fans of this line were sore it never got the whole TV show package like Bionicle did.

Oh right, Valentine’s Day is in February, isn’t that right? How many more years do you think that holiday has, you reckon? Nobody likes it. It’s just a reason to buy more greeting cards and do nice things for people that you probably should just be doing anyway and not need a holiday to tell you to do. Eh, still though I guess if you were in a small class at school this would be a pretty useful sheet of cards.

Skyland, huh? Can’t say it rings a bell, but it certainly looks cool. How did this slip by me? I even had this issue as a kid and watched Nicktoons, so I must have just completely tuned it out. I wonder why?

youtube

Oh, that’s interesting, it seems like it's all done with motion captured 3D animation. That’s fine, I guess, but that illustration in the magazine had me thinking it’d look a bit more like The Last Airbender. I’m impressed that they spared no expense on the story at least. This intro here can barely keep down its exposition to forty seconds!

So, does anyone remember this one? Apparently it was a French production that was licensed to different channels across the world, airing on Teletoon in Canada and CITV in the UK. I’d love to know if it was any good!

Pretty good smorgasbord of facts in this month’s calendar. And I guess a blanket theme is good as any other theme. Ooh, National Pancake Day! What a great month.

The Jimmy-Timmy quiz is fun, but I wish we could’ve gotten an interview with someone a part of the production of the episode or something. Obviously they’re not going to just interview some random part of the staff (although I’d find that interesting personally), but a voice actor would’ve been cool. I like how Jimmy’s answer considers Sheen a responsibility. Maybe all of Jimmy’s town-threatening inventions were just to distract Sheen from causing any real damage. We all know what kind of terror he’s capable of.

Wow, Bill Clinton! BC himself! Pretty impressive guest for an issue of Nickelodeon Magazine, I must say. ‘Course they got him talking about eating vegetables and exercising instead of something cool, though. It is good to know that being on the receiving end of the most widely-reported-on gobbling in the United States wasn’t enough to get you disqualified from having a spot in Nick Mag.

Another neato guest in theory, Tommy Tallarico is a pretty big name in the video game music space. He’s known for having a hand in loads of different soundtracks over the years and also allegedly being a pathological liar and taking credits for lots of other peoples’ work, which isn’t as nice as the former thing I listed. If you’re interested you can check out more info on the topic in this video here by hbomberguy, which basically runs through a lot of the lies Tallarico has told throughout the years, made as a response to him using legal pressure to get a sound effect he claims to have made removed from the online game Roblox. Oof.

But yeah, to give him some credit, this interview is better than ‘ole Clint’s was. At least Tallarico’s talking about the thing he gets paid for instead of vegetables and dieting. And that “What’s on Mario’s iPod” section is pretty good, but considering Tallirco’s track record it makes me question the legitimacy of his answers… I always thought Crash Bandicoot was more of a Dead Or Alive fan.

Oh god, not QZ again. I did not miss seeing this freak, I’ll tell you that. Why was anyone encouraging this guy with any more questions? He was getting kids names and addresses and we all sat idly by! I like how he sidesteps half the questions too, only giving a direct answer when it concerns protecting a kid from bullies. Maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all…

…Nah. Screw him.

If you remember these guys, you qualify for an Apple Jack’s discount!

I’m willing to admit as a kid I was more than willing to buy into whatever brands wound up on my TV as long as they had a funky mascot and even funkier commercials (and having a website that sported a suite of Flash games and cartoons certainly helped), but the hijinx of this Rastafarian cinnamon stick and goblin-looking apple particularly stick out to me as some rather memorable marketing. I’d say chalk it up to the distinct claymation style the commercials sported (which I’m pretty sure got replaced with 3D animation at some point, which kinda stinks). I found it funny how the character known as “Bad Apple” here eventually got redeemed and just became a friendly competitor that races Cinnamon to the bowl as opposed to the villain he’s presented as here. Did the marketing team really not see from the get-go that people might have a problem with a commercial depicting cinnamon and sugar as the good guy and apples as, well, “bad”?

Still, as much as I loved the commercials, I never actually had a single bowl of Apple Jacks as a kid. Shocking, I know, but my friends told me they sucked and I remember reading one particularly nasty long-winded online review that basically said the cereal is garbage, so I stayed away. I eventually did have a bowl or two of the stuff many years later, and… they’re alright. I will agree with this comic on one thing, Apple Jacks definitely do not “taste like apples”. In fact, they don’t really taste like anything.

And that’ll do it for this edition of Nick Mag HIghlights! Thanks for sticking around, and I hope you had a fun time going through this issue with me. It had tons of fun stuff (that article on the strange and interesting instruments and that Jimmy-Timmy Power Hour comic were my personal highlights) and hopefully some of you can get more entertainment out of all those musical interviews than I did. We even got a Billy C cameo! It doesn’t get more engaging than an old president, does it?

As well, I’d like to reiterate my apology for the time it took to bring this to you all, and I’m hopeful I can pick the pace back up and rebuild my motivation now that I’ve gotten this finished. I’m looking forward to finalizing my aforementioned new Nick Mag Side Issues post, I think that’ll be pretty interesting and add a little spice of variety to the page. Guess we’ll see!

Keep on reading, and maybe listen to your favorite song while you’re at it. I’ll catch you next time!

#nmh post #2000s #2006 #nickelodeon #magazine #jimmy neutron #the fairly oddparents

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seeksstaronmewni · 3 years

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tweet version of this post here.

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alextir-creates · 3 years

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Zutara Fankids by Tigrette-of-Fire

…Look, I’m a little embarrassed about the fact that I ship zutara, given how polarized the atla fandom can be about shipping, but I had so much fun designing Taiyin and Arnaaluk I just couldn’t resist.

In all honesty, this was more an exercise in mixing genetics and expressions of two cultures than anything else (I mean seriously, I wasn’t exactly inspiredor anything when I named them lmao). Like I said in my Sukka fankids piece, I’m a mixed-race, multi-ethnic person – and getting to design characters that are of more than one culture and thinking about how to best visually express a connection with both sides of that character’s heritage is really fun for me. Zutara fankids are a goldmine for that kind of thing.

More info and image ID under the cut!

Unlike Taiyin and Arnaaluk, these guys can’t exist in a largely LoK-compliant verse. However, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would’ve changed on the cultural sensitivity front in LoK, and honestly if I’m going to put the time and effort into doing that… I’m going to be self-indulgent and add my preferred ships, even though – and I cannot stress this enough – shipping has no bearing on why I dislike LoK.

So, welcome to the Hijack!Verse, I guess (which is to say the AU where I hijack the AtLA post-canon and do what I want); it’s completely self-indulgent and I’m sorry in advance. Taiyin and Arnaaluk absolutely exist in this verse too – and tbqh, most of the content I plan to make for them will be Hijack!Verse, not LoK compliant. Sorry again.

In any case, onto the Zutara kids! Let me give you a short run-down.

Kya (pictured at 16 in this drawing), Crown Princess of the Fire Nation and firebender, is the eldest. She’s outspoken, cheerful, and is a touch more mischievous than she perhaps should be (all in good fun or in the name of fucking with bigots, of course – she and her cousin Taiyin are two peas in a pod about this. I already have ideas about a Fire Boomerang Incident in mind when it comes to the two of them putting their heads together). Izumi (pictured at 15 in this drawing), is the second child. She’s likely a non-bender, and trains to mastery both with a spear in the Southern Water Tribe’s style and with a bow and arrows under the Yuyan Archers. On the more introverted end of things and fond of organization (Izumi is definitely on the autism spectrum), she likely grows up to be Kya’s Minister of Finance. Lu Ten (pictured at 13 in this drawing) is the baby of the family – on the shy end and emotionally intuitive. He’s a waterbender and chooses healing as his focus. As an adult, Lu Ten probably moves to the Southern Water Tribe pretty much full time – though, of course, he makes time to visit his sisters and vice versa.

I uh, honestly have more planned, but this is getting really long so I’ll save that for another time. I do want to say though that Kya, Izumi, and Lu Ten split their time growing up between the Fire Nation and the South Pole. It’s really important to me that they get to have equal connection to the Southern Water Tribe and its culture as they do to the Fire Nation – and frankly, there’s no way Katara wouldn’t make sure that they did. (This also means that Katara – and to a lesser degree, Zuko, given his responsibilities as Fire Lord – is splitting her time as well. There will be no cutting Katara off from her homeland OR stymying her drive to interact with the world/be a major global figure in this verse, no siree.

Art © Me

[Image ID: Neck up headshots of three teenagers. The teen to the top right, labelled “Kya,” has light-to-medium brown skin, black hair, and blue eyes. She’s smiling widely enough that you can see her teeth, and is drawn at a three-quarter view facing the viewer’s left. She has two looped braids hanging from each of her temples, which are each secured with dark blue ties with gold trim. The rest of her hair is pulled up into a topknot, on which she is wearing a crown consisting of a red band and two stylized gold flames – the same hairpiece Avatar Roku is depicted wearing. To the lower right of her is a stylized drawing of the Fire Nation’s pre-imperial insignia, drawn in red.

The teen to the middle left, labelled “Izumi,” has light-to-medium brown skin, dark brown hair, and gold eyes. She is also drawn at a three-quarter view but is facing to the viewer’s right. Her expression is somewhere between concerned and amused, and her mouth is open as if to comment on whatever is causing that reaction. She sports the same “hair loopies” Katara does in the series – each adorned with a pale blue bead. The rest of her hair (and where the ends of the ‘hair loopies” are secured) is in a high ponytail (in universe called a phoenix plume) reminiscent of Zuko’s pre-banishment hairstyle. Her phoenix plume is secured by a red ribbon and has a small hairpiece shaped like a flame (similar to the crown we see Azula wear) in front of the tie. The motion of her hair implies that she is turning to look in the viewer’s direction.

The teen to the bottom right, labelled “Lu Ten,” has light brown skin, dark brown hair, and gold eyes. His expression looks vaguely surprised. He is also drawn at a three-quarter view, facing to the viewer’s left. His hair is shoulder length, with the top portion tied back into a warrior’s wolf-tail. His wolf-tail is decorated with the same, flame-shaped hairpiece Izumi wears. He is wearing an cream colored necklace akin to the one Sokka wears in the series. To the immediate right of him is the Southern Water Tribe crest, drawn in pale blue.

All of these headshots are circumscribed by a purple rectangular “frame.” The artist’s signature, reading “AlexTir” is in the bottom right corner

End ID]

#atla #fanart #digital art #captioned #my art #cartooning #original character #fandom ocs #my ocs #fanchildren #let me know if I should tag as lok critical

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momsopposed2theoccult · 3 years

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Not Alone

So I wrote a thing. It’s Tokka-ish but could be interpreted as romantic or platonic. I’m currently waiting on an Ao3 invite so I’ll probably post it on there as well once I receive my invite, but for now I figured I would post it on here because I’m excited to share it with you all! Oh and here’s a friendly reminder that Post Plus is bullshit and you will never, ever have to pay to read my writing. Writing is something I do for fun, and I post it on Tumblr because I want other people who love these characters as much as I do to be able to share that experience with me. Not to mention that I’m not looking to get sued by Nickelodeon.

The first time that Sokka noticed there was something wrong with Toph, she had been six months pregnant.

The two of them were lounging around her living room, Sokka stretched out across the couch with his left arm dangling off the side and Toph relaxing in an oversized armchair, her swollen feet perched on the ottoman in front of her and one hand resting on her rounded stomach. It was an unusually hot summer’s day, and the two old friends had happily retreated into the sweet relief of Toph’s newly installed air conditioning.

“Sokka, do you think I’ll be an okay mother?”

Sokka was taken aback by his friend’s blunt question.

“Well, just as long as you pay better attention to the kid than you did to Appa, I think you’ll be golden,” he joked, reflecting back briefly on the memory from their war days.

The then-tiny girl had tried with all her might to prevent Wan Shi Tong’s library from collapsing under the weight of Sokka’s own impulsive curiosity, all while trying to rescue their beloved sky bison from his captors. He would never forget the look on her face after it happened, nor would he forget the months she spent perfecting her sandbending afterwards, determined that she would never make such a mistake again.

Perhaps that had been the wrong thing to say.

Toph’s eyebrows scrunched together in a look of concern as she rubbed absentminded circles on the curve of her stomach with a flat palm.

“Sokka, I’m serious. Do you think I’ll be an okay mother?,” she repeated, some anxiety creeping into her voice.

“Well, yeah. Sure. Why wouldn’t you be?,” Sokka replied, although he couldn’t ignore the uncertainty in his own voice as he attempted to soothe his best friend’s anxieties surrounding the tiny life growing inside of her.

Toph exhibited many admirable qualities, but she wasn’t exactly nurturing. He couldn’t help but recall all the plants she had failed to keep alive over the years, or the way Katara was constantly scolding her for swearing in front of Bumi and Kya, or the way she tensed up around babies, as if she were afraid she might break them.

Toph sighed, blowing her sweaty bangs out of her face.

“I don’t know, I’m just… not great with babies. I never know what to do with them, y’know? They’re just so tiny, I always feel like I’m gonna break them in half or something equally barbaric.”

“No, no, I’m sure you won’t-,” Sokka began to reply, but Toph had not yet finished lamenting.

“And most kids get to have their dad there, but, y’know, any hope this kid has of ever meeting that lousy excuse for a man is long gone,” she huffed angrily.

“Daddy’s an asshole, isn’t he! Just a big ‘ole deadbeat loser!,” she said in a mocking babyish tone, giving her swollen belly a little pat.

Sokka rolled his eyes at his friend’s dramatics, but he couldn’t help agreeing.

The guy’s name was Kanto. He had been a bartender at one of Sokka and Toph’s mutual favourite dives, and an okay enough guy depending on who you asked, but as far as Sokka was concerned, he was the scum of Toph’s beloved earth.

The two of them had been getting a drink together like they always did on Friday nights, when Toph had caught the bartender’s eye. And honestly, Sokka couldn’t blame him. He certainly couldn’t deny that she was no longer the grubby twelve year old he had met all those years ago. He wasn’t going to pretend like he didn’t notice the curve of her hips or the way her tank top rode up her waist exposing a sliver of stomach. And he couldn’t ignore the way that other men checked her out nor how weird he felt about it when they did. Kanto had been one of those men. After a round of free drinks and a disgusting amount of quite frankly obnoxious eyebrow waggling, Kanto had somehow convinced Toph to come home with him, much to Sokka’s disdain. The rest was history.

The two of them had been an item for a couple of months. Toph claimed that she was happy with him, but Sokka didn’t need his friend’s talents as a human polygraph machine to figure out that she was lying.

He wasn’t all bad, he really wasn’t. He never laid a hand on her or anything like that. But Sokka couldn’t help noticing the subtle comments he made about her weight or her outfit or how she spoke just a little louder than he thought a woman should, nor could he miss all the changes she made to her beautiful, wonderful, perfect self just to fit his mold.

Sokka hated that Toph’s signature confidence could crumble so easily under the will of a man like that. It made his blood boil.

Toph began to fall apart when he finally left. Then when she found out that she was pregnant, she broke, and Sokka had been there to help pick up the pieces.

So yeah, not exactly Sokka’s favourite guy.

“You know you don’t need him, right?” He assured her.

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” she replied, brushing him off with a faint smile that she didn’t quite put her heart into.

Picking up on his friend’s feeble attempt to mask her obvious worry, Sokka got up from the couch and walked over to where Toph was sitting. He placed one hand firmly in hers and the other gingerly on her stomach.

“Toph, you’re the strongest person I know. Believe me when I say that if anybody can do this on their own, you can. But you won’t have to do it alone, because I’m going to be here for you every step of the way. Do you understand me?” He assured her.

She nodded in reply.

“Yeah, I understand. And thank you.”

But he could tell she didn’t really believe it.

____________

The second time that Sokka noticed something was wrong with Toph had been two weeks after Lin’s birth. Four old friends had gathered on Air Temple Island for a belated celebration of the new mother and child. Aang had cooked noodles, one of Toph’s favourites, but Sokka couldn’t help noticing that the latter had hardly touched hers.

“What’s wrong, Toph? Normally you gobble this stuff up in under five minutes,” Aang asked, voicing Sokka’s thoughts exactly.

The earthbender continued to absentmindedly twirl a piece of noodle around her chopstick, never bringing it to her mouth.

“I’m fine. Just not that hungry,” she assured them.

Sokka caught Aang’s eye and they shared a skeptical look. Katara looked at Toph with concern and a vague familiarity, as if something had suddenly dawned on her.

“You know, if something’s bothering you, you can always talk to us about it, right? I know that this is a new experience for you, and I understand if you’re feeling a little lost-,” Katara started, but was cut off by her friend’s inevitable defensive reaction.

“Oh, so you think this has to do with Lin? You think there’s something wrong with me? You think I’m not fit to be a mother? Well guess what? Lin and I are doing just fine on our own!,” Toph yelled in response to her friend’s gentle attempt to help her.

“Toph, I don’t think that’s what she meant. What she was trying to say is that being a new parent is stressful enough as it is, and I can’t imagine having to do it alone. We’re here for you if you need our help or advice,” Aang tried to reason with his angry friend, but to no avail.

“You know what, Aang? You can take your ‘advice’ and shove it up your ass. I don’t need your help, I don’t need anybody’s help. I’m a great mother!,” she shot back in response.

Sokka sighed. There was no reasoning with Toph when she got like this. Her fits of defensiveness and anger usually masked deeper fears and insecurities that could be difficult, nearing impossible to coax out of her at first. It was usually best to give her time to herself to blow off some steam, and only then could she be convinced to admit the truth about what was bothering her.

“I’m gonna go take a nap. That is, unless Sokka here has some unsolicited advice for me too,” she voiced in a warning tone implying that if Sokka did happen to have any comments to make, he better keep his mouth shut about them.

Sokka threw up his hands defensively.

“No, no, by all means, go take a nap.”

“Great, at least one of my friends doesn’t fancy himself a shrink.”

Toph stormed off in a huff to the guest bedroom, and although her fit of anger concerned him, Sokka was glad to see her getting some much-needed rest. The dark circles under her clouded eyes implying sleepless nights as of late hadn’t escaped him.

“What was that all about?,” Aang wondered aloud. “I’ve never seen her get that angry over nothing. We were just asking if she was okay.”

“I dunno. She hasn’t really been herself recently, has she?,” Sokka replied.

“I mean, she called me Aang. Just Aang. She only does that when she’s really upset.”

“Well, it is your name,” Sokka reminded him, although he too couldn’t help noting with concern that Toph had neglected to make use of her favourite choice nickname for their airbending friend.

“You know, right after I had Bumi I didn’t feel like myself either,” Katara shared. “It was like, before that moment, all I had to take care of was me. But then all of a sudden there was this tiny little human being who relied on me to survive, and I wasn’t sure if I could do it. I felt like my heart was walking around outside my body, and if I made even the slightest mistake I would destroy it forever. I doubted myself a lot. Everything was just so new and overwhelming, and some days I didn’t even want to get out of bed.”

“So you’re saying that you’re pretty sure that’s how Toph feels about Lin?,” Sokka asked tentatively as realization dawned on him.

Katara nodded.

“I do. Sokka, I think you should be the one to talk to her. She always listens to you. I’m not sure how you do it,” Katara remarked.

Sokka couldn’t deny the truth of the statement. In their twenty years of friendship, he and Toph had sought comfort in each other’s presence countless times. They had a mutual understanding that the other members of their group had often tried to imitate but could never quite replicate. Sokka went to Toph, and Toph went to Sokka. It was an unspoken agreement.

“Don’t worry, I will. I just think we should give her a little time to cool down first.”

“Good idea. You don’t want her to bite your head off,” Aang chimed in with a laugh.

____________

About an hour later, Sokka made the journey down the hallway to the guest bedroom to check on Toph and hopefully coax her out of her mood. He opened up the door to find the room dark and Toph laying on her side on the bed. She was trying to feign sleep, but Sokka could tell she was wide awake. Baby Lin was in her crib whimpering, supposedly for her mother. Sokka picked her up in his arms and rocked her back and forth, cooing softly.

“Here we go, Linny. It’s okay, Uncle Sokka is here.”

The child began to cry. She didn’t want her uncle, she wanted her mom.

“No, no Linny, don’t cry. Shhhh, Mama’s right here, see?”

Sokka carried Lin over to the bed where Toph was lying and tried to shake her awake, but was met with Toph’s hand slapping him away and an irritated growl.

“Go away, Sokka.”

“Toph, I just wanna talk,” he tried.

“Don’t you understand the meaning of ‘go away,’ dumbass?” She snarked.

“You’re really going to swear in front of the baby?”

“Great. Now you think I’m a terrible mother too. It’s fine, join the party,” she said in a sarcastic, vaguely accusatory tone, followed by her best attempt at rolling her sightless eyes.

“Toph, nobody is calling you a bad mother. We know you’re perfectly capable of raising Lin on your own. All we’re asking is that you let us help you. You’re not invincible, Toph, despite what you may have led yourself to believe.”

Toph paused, letting Sokka’s comment sink in.

“I- I’m sorry,” she began. “I know I was being kind of a bitc- a jerk back there. And I know you don’t actually believe I’m a bad mother but, but I’m not sure if I believe it. I’m so scared, Sokka. I don’t think I can actually do this alone. I- I know I said I could, but- but I think I was just lying to you, and to myself,” she choked out as tears began to cascade down her face.

Sokka raised his eyebrows in alarm at his toughest friend’s unexpected breakdown. He pulled her close to his chest and began to rub her back.

“No, no, Toph, don’t think that. You can do it, you can. But you don’t have to, because we’re going to be here for you every step of the way. I’m going to be here for you every step of the way. You don’t have to do this alone, you hear me?”

“Yeah- yeah I do. I do hear you,” she replied with newfound confidence, wiping her tears on his shirt. “And- and you know I’m blind, right? Not deaf. Of course I hear you,” she joked with a familiar smirk.

Sokka chuckled, glad to see that he finally had his best friend back. He pulled her closer to his chest and just sat there for a minute, planting a kiss on the top of her head and burying his face in her hair. Their moment of peaceful rest was broken by Lin’s frantic crying.

“It’s alright baby girl, it’s alright. Mama’s here,” Toph assured Lin as she picked her up and cradled her in her arms. As she carried her sleepy child back to her crib for some much-needed rest, whispering to her in soothing tones the entire time, Sokka couldn’t help noticing how at home she looked all of a sudden. How safe and comfortable she was with her baby in her arms.

She was going to be just fine.

#fanfic rec #tokka #nora speaks #nora writes

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