Flounder costume

The discussion about Tzigane/Errante makes me think ... we all know that Serenade, Jewels, Agon or Apollo are masterpieces. But what is your favorite minor Balanchine? Meaning, it'd never be considered a masterpiece, but you enjoy it nonetheless?
I have quite a few:

1. La Sonnambula - with the right ballerina, this can be a strangely haunting, touching affair. Still remember how Sterling Hyltin used to come out with her curly blond hair a total mess, like she was literally the crazy aunt in the attic!
2. Union Jack - this sendup of British culture offended a lot of Brits, but I find it fun. One British critic said, "by English standards is pretty detestable. ... Strong men in the audience were uttering cries of disbelief as it happened; others were walking out. ... Outside his chosen area ‐ dancers with expressionless faces and minimal costumes making movements to illuminate classical music Balanchine flounders.”
3. Ballo della Regina - again, not a major work, but I love the virtuoso variations for both the leads and the four demis
4. Harlequinade - they don't do this nearly as much as they should. Charming tribute to the Petipa ballet, and for my money I enjoyed this version more than the Ratmansky version.
5. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue - I love this! I love Balanchine's tribute to Broadway and tap, and the fact that decades before Bob Fosse, Balanchine was using the jazz hands. Sara Mearns does a great Stripper.

Hey, Reddit-never thought I’d be here like this. Asking the internet for life advice, but why not? Maybe someone knows what to do… (Btw this is my first post so I’m not sure where to post this?) So long story short I need help deciding how to start turning my hobbies into a career. I have no idea what I’m doing, I don’t know how to navigate algorithms or social media. I’m autistic and networking does NOT come easy to me… I have no idea how to get my work out there, what’s the best way to promote things, how to inventory to break even or profit rather than flounder and overstock, what cons I need to avoid if trying to work the circuit, how to talk to girls without being creepy, where to find the best deals on art and photography supplies, so much help with so many things… I know it sounds jumbled but I’m trying to apply my art and photography passion to cosplay and crafts and cons so that I can combine my eclectic love for travel and anime and cosplay and photography and art and cons will all combine together. It sounds unrealistic probably bc I want to complete several manga that I’m developing, take cool photographs of cosplayers, create sets and props and stuff, make cute clothes and costumes, artwork and figures and chibi-charms and whatnot, so all my time would be filled with production and development and insanity and I dunno when I would have time for it all but if it was able to somehow cover my living expenses (realistically about 3k a month if stationary-including con travel) I would spend every waking second filled with joy and happiness I’ve never been accustomed to… how do I make this a reality? Am I delulu??? Someone out there has to have experience with something like this right? Anyone? Okay well. This is my first post so I hope I didn’t mess it up. Thanks for reading this if you did.

Hi everyone! I definitely love historical and time travel elements, and I grew up on the classic Twilight Zone (ETA: the social commentary and time travel episodes, not the scary / horror ones) but I’m not entirely sure what I like in period drama television. Maybe you can help point me in the right direction?
Shows I’ve loved:
Anne with an E Super cost feel good coming of age story. I loved this one so much I rewatched it, which is rare for me!
Miss Fisher’s Murder MysteriesThe best costumes Jvs ever seen on tv, good plots, and a fantastic lead actress! (I did not lie the 1960’s sequel one bit though!)
Pan AmI love the 60’s and this had it all, highly stylized and fun Very much something for everyone, historical events, spies, great locations, drama, mystery, adventure.
Bridgerton So fun, quirky, and intriguing, this was easy to watch!
Life on Mars 1970’s England and a Time Travel Mystery! This should probably be in my likes, but with that premise, I have to bump it up!
Shows I Liked:
North & South I’ll be honest that this probably was not my cup of tea, and I initially found it to be a slog to get through, but I was rooting for the main characters by the end! I don’t think I’d watch it again though.
Sanditon I really enjoyed the first season, but as they were working with an unfinished source material, the second season just seemed to flounder. If it had gone on the same as season one, this would be in my loves section.
Lost in Austen I saw this ages ago and then rewatched it during the pandemic. I didn’t like it as much the second time, but it’s still very clever and the plot was incredibly fun!
Midnight At Pera Palace Turkish show with subtitles, such a great story idea, but it did drag a touch. Still great, and I hope they’ll do an english adaptation!
Shows I Couldn’t Get Into:
Z: The Beginning of Everything I can’t remember why, possibly too much volitile relationships
Good Girls Revolt On paper, this should have been the show I loved. It’s set in the 60’s in NYC, but I thought it just fell flat and everything about it seemed forced.
The Gilded Age Bad writing, the plot went nowhere, so dull I fell asleep multiple times an epsiode, and I finished the whole first season and don’t remember a single character’s name. The plot felt very forced in this one too.
ETA: Thank you for all of the wonderful recommendations!

Alright, here we go. No turning back now.
For the first time ever, I’ll also be doing the shorts categories this year. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to touch upon them every year, but this year’s field has been unusually notable and so I figured that I could take some time to delve upon those as well.
Also, quick note: of all the major contenders, as of now I am yet to see The Zone Of Interest, All Of Us Strangers, The Iron Claw, Society Of The Snow, Nyad, Saltburn, Priscilla, and Origin, among others.
BEST PICTURE

1. Oppenheimer (Universal)
2. The Holdovers (Focus Features)
3. Barbie (Warner Bros.)
4. Poor Things (Searchlight)
5. Killers Of The Flower Moon (Apple/Paramount)
6. Anatomy Of A Fall (Neon)
7. American Fiction (MGM/Amazon)
8. Maestro (Netflix)
9. The Zone Of Interest (A24)
10. Past Lives (A24)

(Alt: The Color Purple (Warner Bros.))
The ten here seem so locked that I’m scared of what could potentially leave the lineup.
As a movie that most consider challenging, I had expected Zone Of Interest to hit more snags, but that hasn’t really happened at all: Golden Globes and the PGA somehow both went for it, even as most were predicting more populist contenders to show up in those places.
I think that the film most at risk here is, unfortunately, Past Lives: it’s looking to get into Oscar morning with only a Screenplay nomination to bolster its Picture package. Plenty of films have gotten in on screenplay noms alone, but since all the other films here are on track to get at least two above-the-line nominations, having only one puts Past Lives in a precarious spot. It’s probably still not enough to take it out of the lineup, but it’s definitely cause for concern in such a crowded year.
Which brings me to what the alternatives could be. So many of the movies that could sneak in seem just as likely to be left out of the Oscars entirely, and even if they’re solid bets in one category - May December in screenplay, for example - they’re floundering in all the other categories that one would need to get a Picture nom. It’s to the point where picking an alternative isn’t so much about what would be the most likely to get in, as much as it is about picking what’s least likely to be snubbed entirely here.
I can’t get a hold on what in the world is going on with Color Purple - the ways in which it keeps missing and underperforming this awards season should be studied for years to come - but it’s still a solid bet for a Supporting Actress nom, it has plenty of ways to sneak into other categories, and even though its box office has been underwhelming, it’s still made way more money than most of the contenders here. If there had to be an alternative to this 10, it would still probably be Color Purple by default, even despite the near-historic underperformance. Still, the Academy could give a last-second, Phantom Thread-esque surge to one of the other contenders, though given the sheer amount of other options and the unpredictability of such a situation, there’s almost no use guessing which movie could fill that void. Best to keep a pin in on this one, just in case it isn’t the established ten.
BEST DIRECTOR

1. Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
2. Martin Scorsesse, Killers Of The Flower Moon
3. Jonathan Glazer, The Zone Of Interest
4. Alexander Payne, The Holdovers
5. Justine Triet, Anatomy Of A Fall

(Alt: Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things)
The only two secure, no-chance-of-missing locks here are Nolan and Scorcese. Both have the respect and recognition to guarantee their nominations here, while most of the other directors have one but not the other amongst the directing branch.
For the next two spots, the general international bent of this branch and the exceptional acclaim of the two international films this year all across the board have led me to believe that both Glazer and Triet will get in here. I think Glazer will have the edge within the branch since the all-encompassing and uncompromising approach to his direction in Zone Of Interest sounds right up their alley, though Triet and her film have been respected enough by the European branch to get plenty of nominations and several wins at each of their precursors, such as the BAFTAs and the European Film Awards.
Payne will likely get the final spot, particularly after a surprising BAFTA mention, though I can definitely see arguments for Lanthimos and Gerwig taking that slot. Either way, I think this will be the rare year that matches only 3 out of 5 with the DGA, though I’m not ruling out the possibility that Triet gets left out for one of the other two choices here.
BEST ACTOR

1. Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
2. Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
3. Bradley Cooper, Maestro
4. Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
5. Colman Domingo, Rustin

(Alt: Leonardo Dicaprio, Killers Of The Flower Moon)
The top 4 seem solid here, and with Dicaprio campaigning mainly for Gladstone instead of himself, that leaves open a spot for one of the non-BP contenders here. For the final spot, Domingo has all the precursors necessary to round out the category, plus a slight edge in awareness with his other role in The Color Purple. However, Andrew Scott still remains a possibility despite his BAFTA miss, and the spot could also still just go to Dicaprio, if only for his name recognition and his general status as one of the great actors of our time.
BEST ACTRESS

1. Emma Stone, Poor Things
2. Lily Gladstone, Killers Of The Flower Moon
3. Sandra Hüller, Anatomy Of A Fall
4. Margot Robbie, Barbie
5. Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple

(Alt: Carey Mulligan, Maestro)
Yeah, yeah, yeah: I’m still on the “Carey Mulligan gets snubbed” train. Almost every year, there’s at least one performance that makes all of the precursors - GG, CC, SAG, and BAFTA - and still misses despite all the acclaim. Most have Robbie pinned as that possibility, but with Mulligan stuck playing second banana to Cooper for most of Maestro, I think this fits the bill perfectly for the sort of “shock snub” that we seem to get every Oscar morning, and I think this category is just as fine a place as any to stake a “no guts, no glory” pick on. (For the record, I do still think Maestro is firmly in place for a BP nomination, and that it will still get a sizable nomination haul even if it misses here.)
What’s more, a lot of the acting nominees don’t end up coming from BP films - in the past 10 years, there have been almost as many nominees that have come from non-BP films, as there are nominees from BP films. Because of that, I refuse to believe that most of the acting categories this year will consist entirely of performances from Best Picture films, and to that end, I’m going with Fantasia in Color Purple for that final slot: Her appearance at BAFTA, particularly over Gladstone, gives me faith that her performance can be recognized here, even if her film as a whole gets otherwise overlooked.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
2. Ryan Gosling, Barbie
3. Robert De Niro, Killers Of The Flower Moon
4. Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
5. Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers

(Alt: Willem Dafoe, Poor Things)
I expect that Poor Things will have a decent nomination day, but not a perfect one, and it’s in this category where I expect this to be the most felt. There doesn’t really seem to be a consensus over whether Ruffalo or Dafoe - or even both - will make the final five on nomination morning, and it’s because of this that I propose another possibility: that neither make the final five, like what happened at BAFTA. This doesn’t seem like what happened to Belfast and The Fabelmans, where the widely expected pick ends up getting upstaged by their co-star; here, there doesn’t seem to be any consensus over whether Ruffalo or Dafoe has the upper hand at this point.
If the Academy can’t decide which of the two gets in, then I think there’s a genuine chance that both get left in the dust at the end of the day. If I had to say which one has the better shot, I think Dafoe has an edge here with the SAG nom, but with so much competition, I can see a world where he could be left out entirely, along with Ruffalo.
As for the other nominees, a Sterling K. Brown nom means that the category will still go 4 out of 5 with SAG, while Sessa seems like the sort of “newcomer” nom that gets given out every once in a while - though Melton could also be that if the Academy isn’t as allergic to May December as I expect them to be at this point.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
2. Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
3. Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
4. Jodie Foster, Nyad
5. America Ferrara, Barbie

(Alt: Taraji P. Henson, The Color Purple)
Randolph is almost guaranteed for the win - I might as well put in a bunch of empty spaces between #1 and #2 just to convey how much she’s in the lead - but the last couple spots do still provide a bit of interesting suspense here.
I will say that America Ferrara has a chance to get in here, no matter how badly the rest of this sub wants to see her out. In both the times that I saw Barbie in theaters, people applauded after her monologue, and everything that I’ve heard says that that’s the case in industry screenings as well. Even if the rest of the role may be underwritten, having such a big showcase may be able to get her a nom just by itself, especially when the movie is a rock-solid bet for a Picture nomination. Besides, when Jamie Lee Curtis won for such a small role just last season, Ferrara having both similar industry goodwill and a slightly larger role could work wonders for her.
To me, this is also the only category that really seems open enough for the sort of double nomination that’s been happening these past few years, and while a month ago I would’ve said that Color Purple was an easy guarantee for double noms, the film’s wild underperformance across almost every precursor has put that possibility in doubt. Still, this stat has been so persistent these past few years that even a film like Judas & The Black Messiah can sneak in a sudden, shocking LaKeith Stanfield mention to go along with its expected nom for Daniel Kaluuya - that alone is enough reason to keep Taraji in as an alternate, no matter how many other ways this category could end up.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. The Holdovers
2. Anatomy Of A Fall
3. Past Lives
4. May December
5. Maestro

(Alt: The Boy & The Heron)
With its general underperformance in the acting categories thus far, it seems as though May December is destined to be our yearly “sole screenplay” nominee - though I worry that Past Lives could also end up being that if its Picture chances don’t quite align.
With criticism over Maestro’s screenplay being widespread enough among critics, pundits, and viewers to be notable, I do wonder what the alternate here could be - everything’s in place for the writers to do a shock inclusion here if they really wanted to single out a particular film - but there’s just as much of a chance for the writers to go for the expected five as there is for them to take a big swerve. Of all the possibilities for what a surprise nominee could be, I’ll take a flyer on The Boy & The Heron getting in here - there hasn’t really been a chance until now for a non-Animated branch to properly recognize Miyazaki, and I can see the ambition of the simultaneously autobiographical and metaphorical script seriously impressing some writers - but even I’d be (joyously) surprised if that ends up actually making the cut.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Barbie
2. American Fiction
3. Oppenheimer
4. Poor Things
5. Killers Of The Flower Moon

(Alt: All Of Us Strangers)
The top five here seems ironclad, with All Of Us Strangers being the spoiler by default. The BAFTA miss puts Killers at the bottom of the five by default, though with the pedigree involved there, it’d still be a curveball if that ended up missing.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
2. The Boy & The Heron
3. Elemental
4. Nimona
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

(Alt: Robot Dreams)
I want to see a Suzume nom here so, so badly, but with it and Robot Dreams competing for even just the chance to sneak into that fifth slot, I’m not going to get my hopes up here. As far as winners go, I think the overall popularity and general renown of Spider-Verse will be enough to give it the win, though I could see Boy & The Heron also winning, particularly if the writer’s branch decides, with Miyazaki’s auteur status, to throw him the final slot in Original Screenplay out of nowhere.
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1. The Zone Of Interest (UK)
2. Society Of The Snow (Spain)
3. 20 Days In Mariupol (Ukraine)
4. Fallen Leaves (Finland)
5. Perfect Days (Japan)

(Alt: The Taste of Things (France))
This feels like Zone of Interest’s to lose, unless one of the other contenders can establish itself as a more uplifting frontrunner. It’s a crowded game for those last four spots, though: of all the movies in the shortlist, only Armenia’s Amerikatsi and Morocco’s The Mother of All Lies feel as though they don’t have any chance of making the final list. I’ve landed on Society because of Netflix’s influence, 20 Days in Mariupol as a means of showing support for Ukraine, and Perfect Days and Fallen Leaves because of their strong festival runs, but any number of other films, such as The Taste Of Things, Io Capitano, Godland, Totem, and Four Daughters could all conceivably sneak in here. Prepare for a surprise here, then, just in case.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. Beyond Utopia
2. 20 Days In Mariupol
3. Four Daughters
4. Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
5. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

(Alt: Stamped From The Beginning)
This branch is usually not kind to popularly known docs based on famous figures, so my first instinct was to leave out any film that seemed to follow that template faithfully. However, it looks as though at least one of Still or American Symphony will make it, based on both movies getting necessary precursors for the doc award. Of these, I’m going with Still, mainly because its earlier release seems to have kept it more low-profile at this point compared to American Symphony.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. Oppenheimer
2. Killers Of The Flower Moon
3. Maestro
4. Poor Things
5. The Zone Of Interest

(Alt: The Color Purple)
This is likely Oppenheimer’s to lose, and the rest of the field seems pretty locked up here as well. Maybe something like El Conde or Saltburn could surprise, particularly after both movies got cinematography precursors, but then again: which of these five would they even replace here?
BEST FILM EDITING

1. Oppenheimer
2. Barbie
3. Killers Of The Flower Moon
4. The Holdovers
5. Anatomy Of A Fall

(Alt: Poor Things)
We’ve got a real Whoppenheimer sweep coming up… although, if all the talk about Barbie winning BP actually does hold water, maybe that could play spoiler?
BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1. Poor Things
2. Barbie
3. Killers Of The Flower Moon
4. Napoleon
5. The Color Purple

(Alt: Maestro)
I have doubts about Barbie winning here because of the contemporary nature of the designs - that’s not something that the Academy usually gives the win to, and while there is a fantasy element to it as well, I still don’t think there’s enough of that to really call Barbie a lock for the win at all. With both the period details and fantasy stylizations that this branch loves, Poor Things strikes me as a solid bet for the win here.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1. Barbie
2. Poor Things
3. Oppenheimer
4. Killers Of The Flower Moon
5. Asteroid City

(Alt: The Zone Of Interest)
A Poor Things/Barbie split in these categories seems to make the most sense here, with Barbie taking the win here with some of the most distinct and culturally omnipresent sets of the year.
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

1. Maestro
2. Oppenheimer
3. Poor Things
4. Napoleon
5. Society Of The Snow

(Alt: Beau Is Afraid)
This is Maestro’s award in the same way that this was Vice’s award - even if it doesn’t win Best Actor, the overall makeup job is still impressive enough to almost automatically give the movie the win here. That all being said, all the notable omissions and surprises in the shortlist should at least make those last couple of slots interesting.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1. Oppenheimer
2. Killers Of The Flower Moon
3. Spider-Man: Across The Spider Verse
4. Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny
5. Poor Things

(Alt: American Fiction)
Dread it, run from it: John Williams still arrives.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1. “I’m Just Ken”, Barbie (Mark Ronson)
2. “What Was I Made For”, Barbie (Billie Eilish)
3. “The Fire Inside”, Flamin’ Hot (Diane Warren)
4. “Keep It Movin’”, The Color Purple (Halle Bailey)
5. “It Never Went Away”, American Symphony (Jon Batiste)

(Alt: “Road To Freedom”, Rustin (Lenny Kravitz))
Recent winner Jon Batiste may prove himself to be a branch favorite if he gets in again this year, although there are plenty of other options available if the branch wants to take a different kind of swerve here.
BEST SOUND

1. Oppenheimer
2. The Zone Of Interest
3. Maestro
4. Barbie
5. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part 1

(Alt: Napoleon)
This looks like a year where the lineup is mainly Best Picture films, though since this branch usually likes to put at least one non-BP blockbuster in each year, something like Mission Impossible can easily make its way into the lineup even if it doesn’t get traction in other categories.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1. The Creator
2. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
3. Godzilla: Minus One
4. Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny
5. Napoleon

(Alt: Spider Man: Across The Spider-Verse)
Some people have Poor Things in here, but I think that’s mainly a Shape Of Water situation: despite the film’s acclaim and the frequent effects throughout, the VFX still isn’t “in-depth” enough for the branch to bite. I doubt this year will have any BP contenders in the category, particularly since Oppenheimer got left out of the fray here. Lacking that, the win will probably go to the movie that the Academy considers to have the most innovative effects, and while one can - and probably should - make the argument that Spider-Verse has the most creative work here, I suspect that the Academy’s infamous anti-animation bias will strike once again. That leaves The Creator: despite a rather muted reception overall, the movie should still win here for having effects that were not only extensive and well-integrated, but thoroughly economic as well.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT

1. War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
2. Pete
3. Letter To A Pig
4. 27
5. Ninety-Five Senses

(Alt: Pachyderme)
In a year where Disney fatigue seems to be at an all-time high, I have a hard time believing that a hagiographic advertisement for the company will be anywhere close to making the cut. That’s not to say that the studio’s influence won’t be felt, however: War Is Over!, Pete, and I’m Hip can all be nominated here by leveraging the craft and pedigree of the current and former Disney animators that made them.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

1. The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar
2. Knight Of Fortune
3. The After
4. Invincible
5. Red, White and Blue

(Alt: The Anne Frank Gift Shop)
This branch has been trying desperately to keep this category a space for up-and-coming filmmakers, but an increase in celebrity-backed submissions has made that difficult. As such, it’s hard to predict a lineup this year that doesn’t have any famous people attached to it, with the likes of David Oyelowo, Ben Whishaw, Brittany Snow, and even John Travolta each appearing in a different short. I suspect that this branch will make an effort to still have some relatively unknown filmmakers in the mix here, but even then, it’s hard to picture that this year’s lineup will be entirely free of stars.
There’s a question over whether the two big directors here, Wes Anderson and Pedro Aldomovar, can make it in here, particularly after the branch snubbed the latter’s previous short a couple years ago. Anderson’s lack of an Oscar may keep him from being blanked here - even if the branch is fully aware that letting him in means that he will likely win in a landslide, they may still consider him enough of a truly notable auteur to let this slide, just this once.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1. If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis
2. Camp Courage
3. The Last Repair Shop
4. Island In Between
5. Wings Of Dust

(Alt: The Barber Of Little Rock)
This branch tends to do a mix between regularly nominated favorites and newish voices, instead of spotlighting only one or the other, so it’s probably good to do a balance of the two here. If Dreams Were Lightning is directed by Ramin Bahrani, who in 2021 was nominated in Adapted Screenplay for his film The White Tiger, and The Last Repair Shop was made by previous nominee Kris Bowers and previous winner Ben Proudfoot; both of those strike me as having the sort of pedigree that the branch won’t turn their noses up at this year. I also expect the one Netflix-backed contender, Camp Courage, to make it in through the streamer’s reach and general campaigning know-how.
As for what could take the last two spots, two choices stood out to me here: Island In Between seems like the sort of potent mix between lyrical filmmaking and informational storytelling that can make an impression on the branch, while Wings Of Dust strikes me as the sort of journalistic piece that really puts the “documentary” in documentary short. Still, the truth is that there can always be a swerve in this category, so I’m keeping an eye on some of the more independent shorts, such as The Barber Of Little Rock and Oasis, to surprise here.
Total Predicted Nominations (BP nominees in bold):
12 noms - Oppenheimer
11 noms - Barbie
10 noms - Killers Of The Flower Moon
8 noms - Poor Things
7 noms - The Holdovers
6 noms - Maestro
5 noms - Anatomy Of A Fall, The Zone Of Interest
4 noms - American Fiction, The Color Purple
3 noms - Napoleon
2 noms - Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny, Past Lives, Society Of The Snow, Spider Man: Across The Spider-Verse, 20 Days In Mariupol
1 nom - All of the shorts, American Symphony, Asteroid City, Beyond Utopia, The Boy & The Heron, The Creator, Elemental, Fallen Leaves, Flamin’ Hot, Four Daughters, Godzilla: Minus One, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, May December, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part 1, Nimona, Nyad, Perfect Days, Rustin, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

I started sewing as a teenager, went to college for fashion design. I used to make stuff that was really good. I was talented, confident, I had time and resources.
When I graduated I struggled for months to find the first job I possibly could while the food bank kept me from starving. My dad had been supporting me, and he died. I found a seasonal job in a warehouse. After that, I got a job at Starbucks. I simply didn't have the option to hold out for something in my field. Even then, I made some dresses and sold them in a boutique downtown.
I got to travel for a while. I'm not saying I'm not lucky, though I worked long and hard to save that cash. I came home to my mom's house in my hometown and tried to pick up where I left off. I've floundered ever since then. I spent a year and a half absolutely miserable in the suburbs, in my mom's house, surviving a job at Panera. Finally I moved into the city and got a job at a fabric store. I'm proud of my job. It's a hundred year old business where I help designers, costumers, artists and home sewers every day. They respect me and trust my knowledge. I've been there five years now.
I know HOW to sew, I know HOW to design clothing. But in execution, something in me just can't do it properly. It's been 12 years now since college and I feel so out of touch with fashion trends. I've taken a step back and am just sewing for fun right now. But I fucking suck at it. I can't seem to make a garment that fits without using a premade pattern. Fine for some, but this was my fucking degree. And my dream. When something doesn't turn out right, all I feel is anger and dispair, I can't bring myself to figure out how to fix it. I spent my long weekend making an apron, from a pattern I traced from a friend's apron. The back doesn't lay flat. Redoing it would take another entire day if I even had the materials. I can't even make an apron properly. I fucking hate myself.

DC Next presents:

NEW GOTHAM KNIGHTS

In The Flying Fox
Issue Two: The Free Bird
Written by GemlinTheGremlin
Edited by AdamantAce, ClaraEclair & VoidKiller826
 
Next Issue > Coming February 2024
 
 
The air was still in the Batwing headquarters, its namesake having stormed out as a result of an unmasked Jace Fox. Those that remained sat in uncomfortable silence, unsure of what to say to each other - if there even was anything to say. Harper leaned back in her chair, stretching her back, before breaking the tense silence.
“Jace,” she started, sighing, “You’re one of the Reawakened.”
Jace shrugged, but replied, “If that’s what they’re calling us.”
“What was it like - your Earth?”
Jace seemed to stare at Harper as she asked this, but there was something off in his eyes - he wasn’t lost in thought or wistful, but instead he seemed to be staring daggers into her. Whether it was a disdain for Harper’s question or for Harper herself she wasn’t sure, but either way she shuffled uncomfortably in her chair.
“You don’t have to answer that.”
Suddenly, Jace’s expression shifted, as if he had snapped out of a trance. His face softened slightly, shifting his gaze to the floor. “Hm. No, it’s fine.” He rubbed his hands together. “Well, it’s a lot like yours, from what I’ve seen of it. At least in terms of geography. Gotham’s still… well, Gotham - and the Narrows are still just about ignored by the rest of the city.”
“Sounds right,” Duke added. Harper ground her teeth together slightly in silent agreement.
“What was it like being Batman?”
Jace nodded; the past tense seemed to catch him off guard. “A nightmare. A dream. Having to step into the shoes of such a huge symbol for the community… It was a lot.”
“I can imagine,” Duke sympathised. “I mean, being a local hero is hard enough without having to be the Batman.”
Jace smiled, then scowled. “Guess I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
Another silence followed. As Duke shuffled forward in his chair, Jace seemed to relax slightly. Harper couldn’t help but make a note of this - it seemed like no matter what she did, Jace seemed to have some kind of aversion to her, but not to Duke. A curious thought entered her mind; perhaps on his Earth, Batman and Bluebird had a rivalry of some kind, and perhaps The Signal played a role in it all too.
“So what about us?” Duke asked. “Me, Harper, Luke. What are we up to on your Earth?”
“Yeah,” Harper added, curious to test her hypothesis. It was as if Duke had read her mind. “What are Bluebird and the Signal up to? And Batwing, of course.”
Jace smiled at Duke. “My brother - he never wanted to be like me. Maybe it was seeing how much hard work it was, or maybe it was the cushy job my dad lined up for him once he finished school. He helped me occasionally - very occasionally - with little tweaks to my tech, but for the most part he was Luke Fox - son and right hand man of one of the most influential businessmen in the US.”
Duke sighed in surprise. “Woah.”
“Yeah. Was a hell of a shock when I saw him all suited up just now. Can’t imagine what it would’ve been like for him to see me, of course.”
Harper caught his eye, and as they looked at each other for a moment, Jace sighed. “I… can’t say I’ve ever encountered a Bluebird in my time as Batman.”
“What about a Harper Row?”
Jace thought for a minute, frozen in place. “There’s not a lot I can say. Sorry, Harper.”
Harper shrugged. She was disappointed with his answer - certain there was more to it than that - but she opted to let it go for now.
“And as for you, Duke… well, I already messed up by calling you ‘Robin’ when you first ran into me.”
“Is it true? Am I Robin on your Earth?”
“Hell yeah, it is,” Jace beamed.
“Wait, but… when we met - when you called me Robin - I was wearing my Signal suit.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I was… listening for a little while before I revealed myself to you - waiting for the right moment to strike. Gnomon’s smart, Duke; if I jumped in too early, I could’ve put you in danger. But as I was waiting, I recognised your voice. And not just that, you said ‘Dad’.”
“You knew?” Duke asked, shocked.
“I know a lot about you, Duke. Well, a lot about that version of you, at least.” Jace replied, taking a brief pause. “Jeez, it’s hard to wrap my head around.” He chuckled to break the tension, but there was a clear sadness in his voice; a mourning for the world he left behind.
“This version of Gnomon that’s turned up here - he’s from your Earth, isn’t he?” Duke spoke slowly, the puzzle coming together.
“That’s right. Or rather, all signs point to yes. Same costume, same weird booming voice, same bravado.”
Duke looked down for a moment, reflecting on everything Gnomon had said to him. “So, was it true that he was a hero?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Duke saw Jace frown. “A hero?”
“He told me… that he was a hero. People on his Earth loved him, and that I… or rather, his son… was gone. I always thought Gnomon meant that he’d died, but now you’re telling me I was Robin?” Duke looked up at Jace, his eyes glistening. “I trust you. I just wanna know how much of what he told me was actually true.”
Jace’s frown turned into gritted teeth. Even though he didn’t say anything out loud, the fire in his eyes said all that Duke needed to know.
 
🔵⚫️🦇⚫️🔵
 
Luke’s footsteps fell so heavy against the pavement that it almost hurt his feet. It was as though he couldn’t help but stomp; he’d never experienced rage like this before in his life, and it felt like it was pouring out of him. If he didn’t stomp his feet, it would be huffing, and if it wasn’t huffing he was sure he would resort to screaming.
He tapped the side of his helmet, launching an application that allowed him to review and edit any blueprints or models he had made, namely of the trio’s suits. He hoped some thorough planning would help distract him somewhat. He tapped and swiped and clicked and dragged, altering tiny details and changing measurements slightly - and yet, he could still feel the clomping of his feet, the rage balled up inside him.
He grunted. Suddenly the app wasn’t working like it was supposed to - it stopped responding to some of his inputs, his measurements stopped being consistent, and the tiny details in need of tweaking suddenly seemed huge. He felt a wave of frustration wash over him as he thumped his hand against his helmet again, dismissing the application.
Luke silently admitted how he was feeling to himself. He felt annoyed - hopeless - tired. Fighting alongside Harper and Duke full time was exhilarating - it was freeing and exciting to work alongside friends - but being a suit designer and tech support on top was proving to be a difficult balance. On top of it all, it wasn’t as if there was a clear choice for what to sacrifice; either the team went without their high tech suits, or the team dropped back down to a duo. But it could wait until later, Luke concluded. He had enough to deal with between the lingering threat of Gnomon and the sudden appearance of his brother Tim - or, rather, Jace. Besides, the team was coping fine as it was, what was a couple of sleepless nights in the grand scheme of things?
A serene hum echoed through the air, and Luke stopped dead. It was odd, he thought - the Narrows weren’t known for their ambience, and yet there seemed to be a calmness descending upon the neighbourhood. Luke soon noticed a soft glow emanating from a nearby street, seemingly the source of the humming sound, and as he turned to follow it, his communicator vibrated. As he looked down, the display showed a map with two dots, connected by a line; Luke quickly deduced that this was his current location - marked by one dot - and a location within the glowing street - marked by another. Luke found this equal parts alarming and curious. He hadn’t programmed any tracker of this kind into his communicator, and yet…
Luke’s curiosity took over him, and as he clicked a button on his shoulder, his wings whirred in response.
 
🔵⚫️🦇⚫️🔵
 
“Gnomon’s more sly than I gave him credit for,” Jace muttered, standing from his seat. “I’ll be real, I thought he was just a guy with a shiny suit and delusions of grandeur. Turns out he’s willing to lie to and manipulate.”
“And he’s not just manipulating any random person, either,” Harper added. “We’re talking about his own son - or someone who looks and acts just like his own son. You heard Duke, he told such a story about how his son had died or whatever, how he loved him and missed him, but then the second he’s reunited with him he tries to control him.”
“Gnomon doesn’t think of what he’s doing as control, he thinks this is love. It’s what he did on my Earth - why Duke became my Robin.” Duke looked at Jace with intrigue and fear. Jace continued. “He told me all about it - how his dad always wanted him to manifest his powers. How his dad pushed him so hard and trained him every day, trying to make him better, and how it was never enough for him. I think the fact that his son never got powers, no matter how hard he pushed him, tipped him over the edge. That’s when I showed up.”
Duke stirred uncomfortably. “So when he saw me and my powers, he saw a second chance.”
Jace nodded sadly.
Harper was moved by this; she folded her arms and huffed. “But now he knows he’s lost Duke’s support, and not only that, Batman’s followed him to this world. He could be setting his sights elsewhere - finding someone else with powers to be his sidekick.”
“What did you do with him, Jace? After you told me to run?”
Jace rubbed the back of his neck. “I subdued him, and a colleague of mine is holding him, but it won’t be enough in the long run. It’s like Harper said - he’s burned his bridge with Duke, who knows what he’ll do next.”
“Jace… just know that whatever happens, I’ll plead your case to Luke.” Duke smiled warmly at him. “I know I’m not your Robin, but I’ve still got your back.”
“I appreciate it, but you saw how he reacted. It’s gonna take more than your word to convince him.”
Duke nodded. “I know. It sounds like he had a rough time with his brother. But you’re not his brother, just like Gnomon isn’t my dad, and I think he needs to know that.”
Harper felt her communicator vibrate, and as she looked down at it, a notification blinked on the screen. It was from Luke - ‘Pinging coordinates. Urgent.’
“Duke. Luke needs us downtown right now. Jace, you should probably stay here, all things considered.”
“No,” Jace shook his head, holding his helmet. “I can’t just sit around when someone needs help. It’s not in my nature.”
Harper’s eyes were locked on her communicator, her face falling pale. “Actually, yeah, probably a good idea.” She broke into a sprint, launching towards the door. The two men followed her, feeling her panic. As Duke looked down at his own communicator, the notification flashed a single word at him - one that made his breath catch in his throat.
‘GNOMON.’
 
🔵⚫️🦇⚫️🔵
 
”Where is my son?” Gnomon’s voice boomed, a metallic ring hissing through his words. He hovered a foot above the ground, his helmet firing a harsh white beam of light down at the suited man before him.
Batwing stood firm, his hands balled at his sides. He looked around at Gnomon’s feet - three men wielding golden staffs, with rounded, shimmering helmets covering their faces; the same as the men he and Duke had fought earlier today. “He’s not here.”
”There is no use protecting him, villain. Either you tell me where he is, or I raze all of Gotham to find him.”
“Y’know, I’ve faced a lot of people like you. They make such big claims, they talk about tearing Gotham down, but it’s still here.” Batwing tilted his head. “I think it’s out of fear. You talk a big game because you’re floundering.”
”You impudent fool,” Gnomon roared. Through his suit, Luke felt the light beam growing hotter. ”I will show you just how ‘afraid’ of you I truly am.”
The light swelled, a low whirring sounding out through the air. The beam grew brighter and brighter, hotter and hotter, until Luke had to screw his eyes shut. The metal around him grew from warm to hot, his skin starting to ache. His suit beeped in his ears, a warning he had implemented for if his suit began to overheat. Then suddenly, all was cool; even through his closed eyes, Luke could tell the light was dissipating, and the beeping stopped. He took a moment, taking a deep breath, before opening an eye.
The beam of light seemed to stop short of him, seemingly blocked by an invisible wall. Flickers of light bounced off of this barrier, the pure strength of the attack evident. Slowly, another faint glow seemed to grow in the absent space - a soft yellow energy in the shape of a small sphere, around chest height. Luke’s eyes widened with recognition.
Before Batwing could speak, a flash of shadow struck Gnomon, knocking him off balance enough for him to depower his attack. The shadow stood, revealing itself to be Jace, clad in his Batman attire, his hands clasped around Gnomon’s shoulders. The ball of energy in front of Luke flickered and sputtered until the figure of the Signal materialised in front of him, the shimmering centre of his suit glowing with energy.
As Duke looked up at Gnomon, the energy crackling against his skin, he grinned.
 
 
Next: The truth comes to light in New Gotham Knights #3 - Coming 7th February

It's funny that y'all think I'm mad over this. Heh. Far from it. My inlaws made a fatal mistake by purchasing that particular bubble costume for me. Well, two fatal mistakes, really. One, I already own several bubble costumes, including the one they sent me. Heh. Checkmate, chuds. Y'all wasted your pension money on a gag gift for me but the joke's on you! And two, they're in for the lecture of their lives this Saturday. I'm going to blindside them in our bimonthly Zoom call with wastewater graphs, peer reviewed papers from 2020 and 2021, and I might even break out "old pfaithful" if I still can't get through to them. Yes, that's right. I will use... THE SEATBELT ANALOGY.
I will sit back, fold my arms and smirk beneath my N95s as they flounder and flail under the awesome intellectual might of my gargantuan wrinkle-brain and my impenetrable, irrefutable, and inarguable logic. I am RELENTLESSLY logical. I do not let emotions control me. I am Sheldon Cooper on steroids. My brain has more wrinkles than Joe Biden's ballsack. My media literacy skills are insane: mm-hm, that's right, sweetie, I do love and appreciate subversive masterpieces such as The Last Jedi and The Last Of Us Part 2. Heh. I can hear the chuds crying out right now. Their fear and outrage is delicious. DELICIOUS. Y'all just don't get it, do you? You're not supposed to enjoy them.
Now, with all that stuff about me being a relentlessly logical, emotionless tinman in mind, let's finally have that grown-up, adult conversation about COVID... OMFG WHY WON'T YOU FUCKING CUNTS JUST WEAR A MASK AND GET THE JAB!?!?!? PEOPLE ARE LITERALLY FUCKING DYING AND YOU ASSHOLES ARE LAUGHING. THE WASTEWATER IN MAINE IS EXPLODING LIKE ONE OF QLON MUSKRAT'S SHITTY SPACE ROCKETS AND Y'ALL DON'T EVEN CARE!! I AM LITERALLY SHAKING AND IT'S NOT FROM THE BOOSTERS, FUCK YOU!!

It's funny that y'all think I'm mad over this. Heh. Far from it. My inlaws made a fatal mistake by purchasing that particular bubble costume for me. Well, two fatal mistakes, really. One, I already own several bubble costumes, including the one they sent me. Heh. Checkmate, chuds. Y'all wasted your pension money on a gag gift for me but the joke's on you! And two, they're in for the lecture of their lives this Saturday. I'm going to blindside them in our bimonthly Zoom call with wastewater graphs, peer reviewed papers from 2020 and 2021, and I might even break out "old pfaithful" if I still can't get through to them. Yes, that's right. I will use... THE SEATBELT ANALOGY.
I will sit back, fold my arms and smirk beneath my N95s as they flounder and flail under the awesome intellectual might of my gargantuan wrinkle-brain and my impenetrable, irrefutable, and inarguable logic. I am RELENTLESSLY logical. I do not let emotions control me. I am Sheldon Cooper on steroids. My brain has more wrinkles than Joe Biden's ballsack. My media literacy skills are insane: mm-hm, that's right, sweetie, I do love and appreciate subversive masterpieces such as The Last Jedi and The Last Of Us Part 2. Heh. I can hear the chuds crying out right now. Their fear and outrage is delicious. DELICIOUS. Y'all just don't get it, do you? You're not supposed to enjoy them.
Now, with all that stuff about me being a relentlessly logical, emotionless tinman in mind, let's finally have that grown-up, adult conversation about COVID... OMFG WHY WON'T YOU FUCKING CUNTS JUST WEAR A MASK AND GET THE JAB!?!?!? PEOPLE ARE LITERALLY FUCKING DYING AND YOU ASSHOLES ARE LAUGHING. THE WASTEWATER IN MAINE IS EXPLODING LIKE ONE OF QLON MUSKRAT'S SHITTY SPACE ROCKETS AND Y'ALL DON'T EVEN CARE!! I AM LITERALLY SHAKING AND IT'S NOT FROM THE BOOSTERS, FUCK YOU!!

Was re-reading Deathly Hallows for the nth time and couldn't help but notice the various ways Lord Voldemort has been portrayed as more "human like" (not in the horcrux sense) as compared to the movies wherein he was more of a larger than life figure...
There are many more vivid descriptions of the Dark Lord feeling fury, rage, joy, dejection, even pain (described in how he felt after the Avada Kedavra rebounded and 'broke' him instead) etc. in the book- although the book portrayal is good as well...
For instance when Voldemort flies to Godric's Hollow upon Nagini's near capture of Harry, he's described as having flashbacks of his first major failure, he's described to be floundered in memories of how he "glides along" to the potters, considers killing the kid who complimented his costume, and barges into the potters' home to kill them ...
Most powerful of all is his death scene - in the book it's described as his body falling with a thud on the stone floor - I feel people seeing the mortal remains, the corpse of the man who has so terrorized the wizarding world - would've been extremely impactful. The movie scene, whole cinematically impressive, doesn't convey the sense of victory and relief in the same way in my opinion.
What do you guys think, any other instances?

Hi, I'd really appreciate any feedback! I'm willing to critique swap with any genre (although I mainly read sci-fi, historical and literary fiction so may be more helpful there).
Blurb
David dreams of becoming an accomplished writer, until an arranged marriage designed to reclaim his family's fortune sends him spiralling down a dark path of lust and loss. As the reality of his place in society comes into full focus, he must contend with demons from his past while attempting to forge a future he wants to live in.
Other Stuff
There are several explicit sex scenes and there are issues of consent related to one in particular, so just a warning if that is triggering for anyone.
Without giving away too much of the plot, a significant portion of the book is from the viewpoint of a woman and I'd really like input from a woman on the handling of some specific scenes and theme. Of course, I'd be grateful if anyone would read, but a woman's perspective would be greatly appreciated.
​
Chapter 1
"Here she is, oh she's just arrived; come quick, hurry. She's ever so beautiful, you must be pleased, David."
His heart hummed; excited expectations. Of his twelve previous years, today would be the most significant of the rest of his forever; he was to meet his fancy new fiancee. Feelings barely contained, he let himself be led by his proud progenitor to the bathroom. Giving him a quick once over in front of the mirror to ensure her son's appearance was acceptable, David's mother combed his uncouth hair and gently pushed him forwards out of the bathroom, guiding him towards his future.
Visions of her ensuing visage vacillated rapidly through David's mind. He was still too young to understand what beauty truly meant and tried conjuring images of the women he knew: His mother, Eliza, that girl from the next house over, Mary and her sister, teachers at school, Carrie. Too old, his sister, too short, too annoying, too strict, just Carrie. All those of the opposite sex in his life failed to fit his abstract and juvenile idea of beauty. David hoped his partner would provide an answer to his problem, otherwise he might never find out. Arriving abruptly at the door to the living room, now mere metres from her, his mother warned him one final time.
"David, my dear, that dowry your Dad desired is on our doorstep, don't destroy our chances here. Be on your best behaviour."
A nascent nod communicated his affirmation and his mother opened the door to reveal her who would be his. She was clad in a cumbersome costume of silk, hundreds of folds creating an illusion of volume and grace. Behind her, a man and woman, presumably her parents, stood, sternly staring at David. His chere's eyes engaged with his own. Flecks of starlight danced ethereally, encircling her emerald eyelets; they seemed to trap the radiance of the room within, gleaming with an illumination infrequently encountered by David. He was hypnotised; haplessly, heavenly, hellishly hypnotised by her.
"David?" His mother mothered.
Roused from his ruminations, he noticed the ache of his neck. For the mesmerised young man had been looking up at her. She was a fair five foot five, whereas he was only just over five feet flat. Circling his collar round clockwise to relieve the pain, he remembered the ramblings of his mother on how to introduce himself. A smirk turned smile snaked along his face.
"M'lady." The demi-dignified David directed toward her.
She offered her hand towards him, squatting slightly. As instructed, he bowed his head towards her dainty digits, took her hand in his, and kissed her ever so kindly. Her skin was surprisingly soft to the lad's lips and he found he enjoyed the embrace much more than when he had practised with his mother to prepare in the days prior. After rising from the greeting, he was able to admire her appearance to its full extent. Dark eyelashes and eyebrows framed her eyes, enticing him to look further into her soul. Her nymphetic nose nonchalantly nestled between her eyes and drew David's gaze gratefully towards her luscious lips. A rosy red rouge ran across them, contrasting greatly with her colourless complexion. So far, he foolishly felt her face to be flawless. Meticulously mounted atop her head, sat her dark hair. It seemed to spiral up and up, giving her even more inches of height. From Eliza's far-too-frequent ramblings, he could imagine the time required to style the hair so stylishly. It suited her face well. It was as though everything was made purely for her; David and his mother, their house, the oceans, the sky, all of it was there for her to exist in.
A cough quietly erupted from her clavicle, drawing his attention to her corpse and clothes. Her slender neck was bare, bar the bright diamond necklace beaded along its circumference. The gems caught and refracted the light in a spectacular way, attesting to the jewel's quality. Daringly draped mere inches above her budding breasts, his bride's dress dazzled. Its uranian blue hue complemented her eyes and necklace perfectly. Tightening at her waist, the garment gentrified her hourglass figure before ballooning out over her hips and legs, ending at her ankles. It was terrifically tailored, with painted, pale pink peonies prettifying the dress silhouette down to the hemline.
She was absurdly beautiful. As sure as he had ever been, David could no longer deny that he lacked a definition for the word, for she certainly exemplified the aesthetics required. And she would be his forever. Suddenly, his cheeks flushed a crimson common to children. Not just at the fact that he had been admiring her figure for far too long, but at his own inadequacies; he was an average Adam by all accounts, yet he was to be married to someone who’s beauty shone brighter than the sun. Would she ever desire David as David desired her?
"Why don't we leave the young couple to get acquainted?" David's soon-to-be father-in-law said.
"And the adults can discuss the matter of the dowry." His mother replied.
David accompanied her up the stairs to his room, switching between holding her hand to help her up and withdrawing it in embarrassment. After struggling (that damned dress) to sit her on his bed, he sat opposite her, on Eliza's. A floundering fledgling failing to formulate a sentence, it was she that started the skirmish.
"What are these?"
"What?"
"The papers on your desk."
"Ah yes, those. It's poetry."
"Oh I do love poetry, Poe is my favourite. I must say I'm jealous of your collection, I have none to my name. Father says it’s not befitting of a girl my age."
"These are actually all my own work, although I do enjoy Poe too."
Her eyes widened ever so slightly, breaking her aura of unconcern.
"That’s wonderful, I'd be in your debt If you could show them to me, perhaps even recite one out loud.”
"O-o-of course."
David often liked to think of himself as a poet, yet was deathly afraid of sharing his stanzas with anyone aside from his closest companions. In the euphoria of effort, he delighted in dictating the verses vaulting through his mind, yet after the act, he regarded his work as antiquated and amateur, a stain upon the literary tradition. But, in front of his fiancee, he couldn't let his frustrations show, as his father had taught him, so he plucked up the courage to read one of them aloud. Quickly crossing from one couch to the next, he crouched next to her. Perfume puncturing his junctures, he perused the paper, hands trembling, until finding one that agreed with him.
"It's okay if you don't want to."
"No, it’s alright. I've found one you might like. I wrote this last year."
She nodded her head, signalling for him to start.
"You built a nest for me,
all I did was take
and left a tomb for thee
I wish I could make
it all back up to you
instead we no longer
communicate, too
And I further anger."
Heart hurrahing at his heroism, flushing his face, David finished the recital and turned to face her.
"That was very touching, my dear."
No-one had ever called him that before. A sigh of relief broke free from his chest. It was his first time showing this particular piece to anyone, not even those at school.
"Have you given the poem a name yet?"
"No, I don't care to name my writing, after all, it will never be published."
"Then would you allow me? As an engagement present of sorts."
"Yes, I'd be incredibly grateful."
"How about… A Son’s Love."
It was an apt appellation, but how had she picked up that it was about his father?
"It's perfect, thank you. I'll treasure your gift forever."
"Forever is a long, long time." She said in a light laughter..
"I know, it’s how long we’ll be together."
"Are you sure you're twelve, you sure do talk big."
"I’m almost thirteen! One day I’ll be bigger than you and my height will match my musings. Anyways, let me return the gift."
"Ah-"
"Allow me to write you a poem. A poem for you, about you. And I'll name it myself too."
Her green eyes gleamed and David’s heart soared.
"I'd be delighted, David."
That was the first time she ever said his name. A warm red filled his face, betraying his naive attempts at stoicism.
"You must have it ready for the next time we meet then, I'm looking forward to it."
"Your wish is my command."
Her laugh flashed a fantastic set of ivory teeth at him. Emboldened by her praise and lavish looks, he leaned in towards her; an infantile intimation of a kiss. Eyes closed, he waited for her to respond in kind.
"You know, we just met. It's improper to kiss a lady so early on in a courtship. At least that’s what mother says."
He opened his eyes, embarrassed by his own ignorance and over-excitement, only to see her leaning in towards him. They joined for a mere moment. It was little more than a peck, yet it stirred something unknown deep inside him.
"But I'll make an exception for my fiancee." She whispered as she withdrew, her breath tickling his ears.
Beet red and bothered, he looked up, catching her eyes again. They gleamed even greater than before, bewitching him. She was rather more composed than him, only the faintest bit flushed.
"I-"
She raised a slender finger to his lips, silencing him, and smiled.
"That was simply an advance for the poem."
Their parents called the two of them down. Still too stunned to react, she grabbed his hand, and led him down his own stairs. It was soft and supple and warm.
“That’s that then. Thank you for your time.”
Her father turned towards them, glancing quickly over David and then at his daughter.
“Come along then.”
As the three figures departed, she turned back to look at him, her handsome eyes stared directly at David inviting him to do something only she was aware of. All he could do was gaze back, etching the sight of her into all of his being.
Shoot me a DM or comment if interested and many thanks in advance :)

1983. The particulars don’t matter, particularly.
“This man is Hans Gruber.”
The face in the photograph belonged to a man in his early forties; somewhat thin and pale, chin rounded; forehead broad, narrowed in either focus or annoyance between the eyebrows. Eyes themselves, light brown and soulless.
The secret agent holding the file itself and inspecting this photograph was quite another story. Once he had been a slim, black-haired man who put people in mind of Hoagy Carmichael. Though he still had his cruel mouth and the scar on his right cheek, the secret agent was no longer precisely slim, the hair was touched with grey and losing a little ground to bare scalp. Such is life, the secret agent found himself thinking, usually whenever he crossed paths with a mirror. Presently, his wandering attentions were jolted back on track by the nagging voice of M, the Head of the Secret Service.
“Listening, double-oh-seven? Good. Gruber’s a German, but educated on our own green shores. Fell in at some point with some sort of socialist radical group, the Volksfrei. Take their marching orders from the Stasi, naturally, but recently it seems Gruber doesn’t.”
“Someone made him a better offer? No honor among terrorists these days,” the secret agent quipped. The woman in charge of his psychological evaluations had told him this was a defense mechanism, which in his opinion was a hell of a thing to say to a man post-coitus.
“Right on the money,” M said. “Quite literally in this case. Our best intelligence tells us the latest little care package to the Volksfrei, from Mielke with love, was meant to be picked up in a safehouse in Oberlemnitz, then smuggled across the border into Bavaria. When authorities discovered the safehouse, there was nothing inside but six dead men, and no package was anywhere to be seen. We didn’t intercept it. The Americans assure us they haven’t, and so does our Uncle Waverly. It’s simply vanished. Along with the money meant to pay for it and the man intended to oversee its transportation.”
“Gruber.”
M spread his hands. No other confirmation was required.
“So what became of the package, and what was inside?”
“As for the second question: we haven’t the foggiest. It can’t have been anything heavy. Apparently the smuggling was done by hot air balloon, if you can believe it. But we have a fairly good idea of where it may have ended up.” M pulled another sheaf from a bundle of files and passed it to the agent. It appeared to be a brochure, courtesy of the Yugoslavian Tourism Board, depicting a rather foreboding looking castle.
“That,” M went on, “is Cisarovna Castle, in the Dinaric Alps. Inhabited by the Cisarovna family for centuries, until they were evicted during the Tito regime, and now back in their hands again. The last surviving member of the family married an industrialist by the name of DeCobray and pulled some strings. We believe this is Gruber’s sanctuary.”
“I’m a bit inexperienced with besieging castles, I’m afraid. I don’t suppose there’s a secret opening?”
“Here’s your opening.”
M handed over another picture. This one showed an austere-looking but beautiful woman with long black hair, peering dispassionately over a pair of spectacles.
“The current Baroness Cisarovna. Recently possessed once more of her family’s estate, and even more recently widowed. Likely Gruber’s contact, and representing whoever it is he’s stolen the package for. As it happens, said estate is to host a somewhat extravagant state function within the next week. If Gruber or the package is there, that will be the ideal time to locate them. Which means you, double-oh-seven, shall go to the ball.”
The secret agent examined the Baroness’ picture once more. Somehow there was always a beautiful woman. Maybe it was his imagination, but fewer of them nowadays seemed to favor stage names appropriated from a phone directory of Vegas showgirls. Somehow he found himself longing for a Rosa Budd or Anita Richard.
He shrugged. “Once more unto the breach, then.”
“I knew we could count on you. Q, show him what the armory’s got for him.”
The secret agent stood, trying to convince himself that wasn’t a popping sensation he felt in his knees as he did so. This is what I wanted, isn’t it? I came out of retirement, after all. Twice.
***
“Now pay attention, double-oh-seven!” said the Quartermaster. The agent, in the spirit of compromise, half-paid attention.
“Now,” Q said, a touch of pride in his voice. “This wristwatch contains poison darts, garrote wire, a powerful electromagnet, a communication device, a plastic toothpick-”
Absurdity. The though rose unbidden in the agent’s mind. Surely we didn’t have THAT many complicated toys in the good old days. Must have started with that newer fellow. The tools of the trade kept changing, rapidly, like steps in a frenzied dance. Woe to those who couldn’t maintain the footing.
Q’s presentation went through a panoply of other contraptions fit to make a Swiss soldier look at his pocketknife and blush. The agent barely heard any of it. Even the improvements made to the Bentley didn’t interest him. Mostly his mind was on Gruber.
That was something else that was changing these days. There used to be real masterminds, back when he was starting out. The kind who’d spend an anatomy class listing their ideas for improvements while everyone else just took notes. There’d been that Chinese with the metal hands. Mister Gold, or whatever his name had been. And that chap with the cat. To the agent’s thinking, Gruber was distinctly lacking in flair by comparison.
That’s what passes for a mastermind nowadays. Just run of the mill terrorists, the odd drug kingpin. Mixed in with the occasional lunatic who had a gimmick but took it to the point of obsession. There were stories about costumed lunatics in New York City that made him shake his head.
“There. Any questions?” Q was wrapping up. The agent, taken unawares, shook his head absently. Q looked like a schoolteacher suspecting a pupil was passing notes.
Something was wrong. He felt unfocused. Off his game. In his mind, the past kept intruding on the present. Why? The awful but obvious answer was because there was just so much more of past than future for him, now. He was old. Too old for this. He’d already retired, been replaced even. Twice. What was he doing here?
Get ahold of yourself. You wanted this. You came back. And the mission requires you to focus.
That was it. Focus. It was a mission like any other, and he had done many others. Replaced, hah. As if they could ever. Old? Old age was for survivors. Usually he was unflappable; he’d faced down men with steel teeth, voodoo sorcerers, even a mutated octopus. But at the moment his nerves were simply shot. The agent had a sneaking suspicion he knew the cause.
He reached into a breast pocket, brushed his Walther, groped for his cigarette case and lighter (three gadgets whose reliability he had never found cause to question); in moments he was puffing on a comfortingly familiar triple-banded Morland. Q interrupted his speech to look disdainful.
“Those things could be the death of you, you realize.”
The agent shrugged. “Well. You only live thrice.”
Old is for survivors. That’s the spirit. I’ll die some other day.
***
The agent was, broadly speaking, correct. He died only two days later.
***
“My GOD, Humphrey,” said the least important Minister of Her Majesty’s Cabinet. “Have you seen this?”
The Minister’s Permanent Secretary, having only just walked into the Minister’s office, smiled faintly. This was not done to express good humour. It was something the Permanent Secretary had trained himself to do automatically whenever he felt the impulse to grimace. That tone of voice always meant the Minister had gotten it into his head to do something. Ministers, doing things. What was the world coming to?
I'd have thought he was too busy obsessing over his latest televised dithering session ("Can you confirm these rumours?" "Well, no." "Then you deny them?" "Well, no, I don't deny them either." "So, you neither confirm nor deny them?" "Oh, I wouldn't go that far") for anything else. Ah, well.
“What is it, Minister?”
From behind his desk, the Minister gestured emphatically at an official-looking piece of paper.
“This here, look! ‘Blown Up Abroad.’ A British subject! Killed in the line of duty!”
The civil servant’s eyebrows went up a fraction of a millimeter. “A soldier?”
“Well… no, apparently, a sales representative, for some company called Universal Exports. But still! This is an absolutely appalling state of affairs-”
“I apologize, Minister. What was this gentleman’s name?”
The Minister floundered a bit. “Ah. Let me see… seems it was Bond. James Bond.”
The Permanent Secretary nodded reassuringly. “It’s alright, Minister. It isn’t what it seems at all.”
A frown crossed the Minister’s face. “No?”
“Definitely not. He was simply an MI6 agent.”
The Minister began to nod understandingly before his brain fully processed his Permanent Secretary’s words, and the nod became a double take.
“A… Humphrey, you must be joking.”
“I had thought word would have reached you by now, Minister. He’s quite a frequent subject of insouciant bavardage among we of the civil service.”
The Minister decided not to let himself get distracted by ‘insouciant bavardage.’ “The civil service? Knows the identity of a, some sort of of MI6 man?”
“Well, most of them, I should imagine. Certainly the Permanent Secretaries, and the reception staff. Perhaps one or two of the Ministers, and all their chauffeurs. And a few members of the American and Russian foreign ministries, come to think of it. At least that’s what Jumbo tells me. Sir James Bond, one of the most famous covert operatives in Her Majesty’s extremely secret service.”
A brow creased beneath a delicately-hidden receding hairline. “A famous covert operative? Whose name everyone already knows? Ridiculous!”
“That would make him an overt operative,” quipped the Secretary’s secretary.
“Thank You, Bernard.” the Minister and Permanent Secretary said in unison, with equal measures of sternness and dismissiveness. The junior civil servant, sensing disapproval, lowered his head. Humphrey continued:
“As I was saying, Minister, Sir James has been one of MI6’s top men in the double-oh section for, well, for a considerable amount of time-”
“Double-oh section?”
“Special diplomatic negotiation.”
“Meaning what, precisely?”
“Assassination. Licence to kill, and all that. Quite a few successful outings, so I’m given to understand. Really his death’s caused a bit of a stir. We’re all quite shaken.”
“So how on Earth did one of our top government assassins end up being blown up in Florida?”
“Because he’d been on assignment in Yugoslavia, Minister.”
“Oh, I see. That clears things up.”
The civil servant plowed on, undeterred. “From what little I could gather, it appears our man Sir James had been assigned to pursue a German terrorist to a castle in the southern Alps, seeking some sort of stolen intelligence- nuclear launch codes or some-such, nothing of great importance, I assure you- when his quarry gave chase through a series of exciting and dangerous encounters in quite exotic locations, sports car chases and so on, terminating quite predictably in an extremely desirable vacation spot in Florida. Regrettably Sir James found himself captured at this juncture and the German, being of apparently unsportsmanlike character, opted to simply shoot him rather than offer him a chance at escape. Beyond that, I’m afraid I really don’t know much.”
The enormity of it all finally sank in for the Minister. “I can barely get my head around it,” he breathed.
“Yes, Minister. I feel quite the same way, you know. Sir James’ sacrifice will serve as an example to us all. Such a shame to go that way. Done in by a defalcating terrorist-”
“Humphrey! There’s no call to be so vulgar-”
“Defalcating, Minister.”
“Oh. Oh, yes.”
The Minister was amazed to hear a note of completely un-ironic patriotic pride in his Secretary’s voice. He realized on some level that Humphrey considered Sir James a kindred spirit. Yes, I see it now. A government employee with carte blanche to waste untold quantities of taxpayer pounds and operate above the law so long as it was done quietly and discreetly, all for the good of queen and country. He must have been like a god to the civil service.
Presently, the Minister sighed. “It’s just… ‘James Bond.’ Hardly a good name of a secret agent, I’d have thought. Sounds more like some dusty old birdwatcher.”
“Quite an appropriate name for a secret agent, then. Hopefully his successor wears it with pride.”
Wait a moment. “I beg your pardon? His successor wear his name?”
“Oh, I should say so!” The Secretary said, looking as though it should have gone without saying. “James Bond cannot be allowed to simply stop existing simply because he happens to be a trifle dead.”
A blank look told the Permanent Secretary that this information was not finding its way to the receptive part of the Minister’s brain, so he continued, in patient tones.
“It’s really quite simple. The name, the very identity of James Bond, is far too important to the Service for it to simply stop. It has taken on a kind of mythic quality- it is spoken of in tones of hushed reverence by the superstitious and cowardly- and that kind of fame preceding an agent can have value far in excess of anonymity. An individual life is after all guaranteed its end- omnes una manet nox, as Horace has it- but reputation is, naturally, a monumentum aere perennius.”
The Minister gave up. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“The fallen shall rise again.”
Bernard decided to pitch in again, foolishly. “Technically, the fallen can’t rise again, at least not if he’s only fallen once, because prior to falling he was merely up, rather than having risen from anything.”
“Thank you, Bernard. What I mean, Minister, is that MI6 will simply find someone else to assume the name and role of James Bond. It’s quite a simple affair, I understand. In fact, they’ve done it twice already.”
The Minister was mystified. “Have they, by God?”
The Secretary nodded. “Yes, Minister. Sir James had settled into retirement after the unfortunate passing of his wife, or so I’m given to understand, and his post was taken over by some Australian drill sergeant they found modeling for chocolate advertisements. After that didn’t work out, they pawned the title off on some other fellow, a reformed thief by the name of Templar, I believe. Probably give it back to him until someone else is found, I shouldn’t wonder.”
It was all a bit much for the Minister.
“But, surely, I mean, someone must notice the difference. There’s simply no way to pass as someone else after he’s dead without someone catching on.”
The Secretary shrugged. “I’m given to understand the training is rather in-depth.”
***
​

Hey all,
My wife and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary on a Disney Cruise this October. It's going to be a Halloween on the High Seas sailing and I'd love to come up with some fun costumes for the family to wear.
I've done some googling but most group costumes seem to be aimed at families with at least one little girl. We've got a 5 and 2 year old boys so I'm hoping you all might have some ideas.
I'm also not the most adept at costume creation so it would be great if the costume components were things I could buy off the shelf with minimal need to modify them ( I can sew on patches or do some basic hemming but that's about the end of my skill set).
For context we've got the 2 boys (ages 2 and 5) and my wife and I (35F and 34M respectively).
Some ideas I've seen/thought of:

• Up (Carl, Russell, Dug, Kevin) - now sure how easy some of those costumes could be and not sure my wife would be excited to be Carl or Kevin.
• The Incredibles (Mr. I, Mrs. I, Dash, Jack-Jack) - Not sure my wife loves the idea of Mrs. I's costume given how tight it often is but we could maybe find a workaround for that.
• Chimney Sweeps/Leeries from Mary Poppins - Seems generic enough to be semi easy to execute
• Frozen (Anna, Kristof, Sven, Olaf)
• Little Mermaid (Ariel, Eric, Flounder, Sebastian or Scuttle)
• Marvel (something like Capitan Marvel, Thor (maybe Dad Thor?), Spider-Man, and Cap)

Any other ideas that could be fun? Any suggestions on how to piece all this together?
Thanks!
​

Before I start, I just want to thank everyone who participated in the polls. Rest assured, I could not have made a Deathswap this good without you.
That being said, this is a long post.
Everything was going great with Fritzbear's and Jr's in the late 70s, at least, that is how it seemed. However, one of the company's founders, William Afton, had been taking a serious mental toll. He has worked himself far harder than he should have, and tried to drown the mental fatigue with alcohol. However, one day, his coping mechanism caught up with him, and he collapsed at the local pub. He died shortly afterward, leaving his dismayed wife with only his silver wristwatch.
Lucille was now all alone, with only her two children and William's brother to support her. Clarissa, Henry's wife, was suddenly stricken with a horrible idea. She would try to push Lucille over the edge, in order to take her claims to the restaurants. In order to achieve her plan, she drove to Fritzbear's one night to find Lucille's older son, Evan, standing outside. He was found dead the next day, with Marionette, the restaurant's new animatronics, slumped over him.
Unfortunately, this damaged the brand far more than Clarissa had hoped, and Henry, Clarissa, Lucille, and William's brother moved to New York to start over. There, William's Brother married Henry's sister Jennifer. He raised both Jennifer's daughter Susan, and their own daughter Elizabeth. Henry, Clarissa, and Lucille also opened the restaurant Fredbear's, and the Franchise "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza" after recruiting local talent Edwin Murray. One day, while repairing Fredbear's jaw, Henry's nephew Andres accidentally bumped into a work table, which caused Fredbear's jaw to activate, mortally wounding Henry. This moment gave Andres horrible nightmares about Fredbear. Clarissa, upon finding Henry, riskily applied what she had observed in Marionette to try to revive Henry as a robot. It miraculously worked.
Business had picked back up at Fredbear's, until another incident occurred. Mike, now a teen, attempted to use the Springbonnie costume to help keep a party going. Unfortunately, a child spilled their drink on him, causing the springlocks to fail. Clarissa decided to "make up for" her actions toward Evan by using the method she used Earlier to revive Mike as well.
This method would be used just one more time. In early 1985, Clarissa approached Jennifer (Henry's sister), and offered to perform the procedure on Elizabeth, in order to make sure she would always be safe. Jennifer agreed, and for the final time, the Fredbear Suit was used.
However, Clarissa wasn't about to end her story as a giver of life. Desperate to refine her methods and study Remnant, she decided to kill five children at the flagship Freddy's restaurant, and stuff them into robotic suits. Her plan went perfectly, except for two issues. Firstly, she found that an old Animatronic made by Edwin was watching her the whole time. Second, this animatronic, named "Mimic", couldn't fit a child inside. With no other options, Clarissa shoved the fifth child into a Pizza Oven, and cremated to body.
With this research complete, Clarissa desired to further her studies, and build some assistance. She and Henry constructed a new animatronic, named circus Freddy. Clarissa slipped in some deadly features, namely an opening chest cavity and a miniature harpoon. Henry only noticed these changes the day before the animatronic was set to be showcased, and couldn't remove them. Instead, he told his daughter Charlie to stay away from Freddy, which she didn't. All alone with Circus Freddy, Charlie was speard by the internal harpoon, and her neck was broken by the force of being crammed into a space designed for a far younger child.
Henry and Clarissa were devastated. Henry attempted to extract Charlie's Remnant to bring her back, but was never happy with his work. Some of Charlie's memories were missing, and her personality had become less outgoing. Clarissa, however, was even worse off. She planned a massacre at the new and improved Freddy's, to bring the pain to other parents that she had felt. Using a Bonnie costume, she convinced four children to stay after-hours, with the full plan of killing them. After locking the doors, she managed to massacre all four children. However, she also found that Jennifer was in the restaurant with her, and had arrived with a handgun. When Henry came to the restaurant the next day, he found six corpses.
With only one robotic body ready, Henry realized that he could only save one person this time. He chose his sister. Clarissa was gone for good. Freddy's was forced to downsize to a smaller location, with a smaller staff. Even Jennifer, who had become more involved with the company, had to take night security. Often, she would bring one of the kids with her, at their urging, to spend the night with her. However, one day, something went wrong. The animatronics, restless and confused, caught Jennifer's daughter Susan while she was wandering the restaurant, and killer her with a spare Freddy Suit. While Jennifer was able to use Clarissa's method to save her daughter, she could never look at Freddy's the same way again.
After Freddy's closed, Mike went back to the restaurant to try and free the children's souls. However, the souls of the children were not grateful. Simply seeing Mike as an evil adult, they scared him into wearing the Springbonnie suit, where he would be trapped for 30 years.
As the last Freddy's began to flounder, Henry constructed a new rental business, featuring Circus Freddy, Shroomy (a revision of one of Edwin's characters), Funtime Chica, and Funtime Foxy. He had based then off of his closest circle of friends, that is, his daughter, William, Jennifer, and William's brother respectively. However, eventually, he realized that his creations were not at rest. Freddy was still haunted by the real Charlie's restless soul. Shroomy had become possessed by William when Henry had given the animatronic William's watch. And worst of all, due to him reusing parts from the toys, Funtime Chica and Foxy had become infected by his Wife's energy. Henry attempted to take a technician job there to free the spirits, but he failed. Freddy, Chica, and Foxy all escaped the facility, running off into the New York Woods. Shroomy, however, had more malicious plans. He lured Henry over to the scooping room, and used the scooper to sneak out with Henry's body.
When Henry came to, he was face first on the concrete, bald, and with purple skin. Worse, he had not saved anyone. Ashamed, Henry began to live in the shadows, and was presumed dead.
In the coming years, Lucille would eventually suffer a heart attack, leaving only Jennifer, her kids, Charlie, and William's Brother in charge of Fazbear Entertainment. However, the company received a boost in popularity when several college kids led by Fazbear SuperFan Dwayne Kaminski announced a new horror attraction. Henry, now living under the fake name "Fritz Smith", decided to join the team, and even gave Dwayne information on the safe rooms. That is how they found Mike again. However, Henry was again unable to free someone, as Mike wandered off after a fire broke out.
Jennifer decided to capitalize on this success by bringing back the Franchise. One day, she ran into Henry, and invited him back into the company. She arranged for him to create a pizzeria lure in order to free the last few souls. Henry was able to invite several possessed robots into his little pizzeria, including Dark Springtrap, Circus Freddy, Shroomy, an amalgam of Ft. Foxy and Chica, and even Marionette. At Jennifer's signal, Henry lit the underground maze on fire and escaped through a ladder.
However, the fire did not destroy everything. After the springlock suit burned off, Mike climbed out of the rubble of the wreckage, and joined up with the rest of his family. And they lived happily ever after. At least, until the day Mimic came back, but that's another story.

Last night before I went to bed I thought I'd watched the 2 pilot episodes of a Jim Henson series with the collaboration with Disney based on one of my childhood movies that's prior to events of the movie it's self. I'm talking about Little Mermaid's Island not the new live action movie that just came out,Which I saw as you already know and I saw the 2019 live show for the 30th anniversary of the original and it's not that either.
Well anyway apparently with the success of the original 1989 animated movie and the Jim Henson company collaborating with Disney and they decided to make a live action Little Mermaid puppet show,The show was planned to air on Disney Channel and have 25-minute episodes for a pre-school audience. This show was was a project proposed by Jim Henson on 1990 during talks with The Walt Disney Company, as a spin-off of Disney's animated film The Little Mermaid which is spirited blend of live-action actors and puppetry. Henson's studio made the puppets, including a stiff rendition of Sebastian, Ursula's snickering eels (Despite Ursula herself not being in this series) and Scuttle the nutty seagull. Two episodes were shot, but never aired on television which are "Sebastian's Birthday" and "Tell the Truth." "
The point of this series is taking spirited blend of live-action actors and puppetry. ing, considering the limited special effects, Little Mermaid's Island transpires in a sort of limbo, a time before Prince Eric charms Ariel away from her oceanic home. Basically a vehicle for side stories starring everyone's favorite mermaid, the show had the same "bonus content" vibe as some of the animated direct to video Disney sequels it preceded. (Think 1994's The Return of Jafar.),In this version, Ariel has her own little island sanctuary, a technicolor playground she can roam without human legs.
It's the site of small-stakes adventures and catchy songs with moral lessons, populated with faces both familiar and not. Flounder is here, or at least a puffy, fake-ish version of him, but so is his previously-unseen twin sister, Sandy.
Stranger still is the appearance of a green dragon named Scales, Performed by Michael Thompson and voiced by legendary voice actor Jim Cummings who, in the pilot, can't seem to stop popping balloons with his namesake. And then there are the human actors one of them is Grimsby (Clive Revill) who went from Prince Eric's royal advisor in the movie to a jolly old sea captain who is friends with Ariel and the others (Which is weird cause in the movie merfolk weren't supposed to interact with humans cause of King Triton's rule,Despite him not being in this series either.) They're trying their best to interact with the puppets on a similar level, but due to the dated blue screen they don't really feel as though they belong in the same world. Not even Ariel (Marietta DePrima) is safe — though DePrima does a nice job with the role, the limitations of her costume make it difficult for her to interact with her surroundings. In short, Henson's absence is sorely felt. Still, the two almost-lost episodes are still available for viewing on YouTube.
Also missing from this cast is six of Ariel's older sisters.
After the pilot episodes were produced, the show’s eventual premiere in late 1990 or early 1991 was made public.
“Kids who couldn’t get enough of Disney’s The Little Mermaid will have plenty of new mermaid adventure stories and music to look forward to.” — Stacy Smith, Los Angeles Times, February 1990
An edition of TV Guide also previewed the show before its premiere.
Overall, the pilots had good voice acting and catchy songs, especially from Sebastian, who was easily one of the stronger characters. Ariel was the moral compass of the show, and Scuttle provided consistent comic relief. The lively puppets were Muppet quality, even the unique designs of the eels. The show as a whole, however, was not up to Jim Henson’s standards.
He was not satisfied with the two pilots. On May 16, 1990, Jim Henson died unexpectedly, about two months after the pilots for Little Mermaid’s Island were filmed. The merger between Disney and Henson’s production company had not yet been finalized, and the contracts would remain unsigned.
Following Henson’s death, Disney did not have access to Henson’s team once they completed existing commitments. Little Mermaid’s Island, which was one of the final productions Henson had a hand in, was abandoned. Only the two pilots were filmed, and the episodes never aired (Which probably disappointed at lot people),With Henson being disappointed in the results, he likely would’ve made adjustments to it. What the final product would have looked like is unknown.
But hope was not lost Disney moved forward with other Little Mermaid projects, notably the Disney Channel TV series of the same name (Which is one of the best cartoon series I grew up watching) and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid stage show at Disney-MGM Studios, both of which debuted in 1992.
Disney released a Little Mermaid children’s book collection in the early ‘90s called The Little Mermaid’s Treasure Chest series was loosely based on the show, featuring Sandy and Scales from the unaired pilots,(I'm gonna look for those books at Goodwill, Yard Sales,Flea Markets and Thrift stores to add to my collection.)
One of the sets from the abandoned project was used in a 1993 episode of Dinosaurs for a passing Little Mermaid spoof of shellfish singing a song called “Under the Water.”
Perhaps the only official Jim Henson and Little Mermaid connection we’re left with is a small Kermit the Frog Easter egg in The Little Mermaid.
My finally thoughts I imagined if this show aired it would get negative reviews,Also I like how most of the puppets looked especially the ones of the characters from the original film like Flounder, Sebastian,Scuttle and Floatsom and Jetsam and how Buddy Hackett and Samuel E. Wright reprised there roles as Scuttle and Sebastian from the original movie (May they rest in peace). Also I noticed Ariel's outfit in this series didn't look the same as in other Disney Little Mermaid media guess they wanted to toned it down since this series target audience was suppose to be young children,I wish they made her top purple like in the original movie, Also I wished they done better with the title sequences from the beginning to the end at least do a montage of clips from the show with the intro instead of showing the title and the background of the set of the island and added the credits at the end.
Anyway here are the links to the only 2 pilot episodes of this series you can check them out if you want to or not and tell me what your opinions on this lost series is.
https://youtu.be/B48Uu16llB8
https://youtu.be/qbLWNpoq9Hs

Ladies I just saw the Little Mermaid with Halle Bailey (phenomenal) and it was absolutely gorgeous and lovable film I was so impressed, even flounder was so adorable. I just had to share some love for it on here, perfection with the hair, costume design and representation, it didn’t seem boring it flows nicely into songs. Definitely going on the list up there with the iconic Brandy’s Cinderella with Whitney Houston💙) my future kids are watching this movie with me is all else I’m gonna say. 😄🩵👸🏾🧜🏽‍♀️

New character (Sebastian, Scuttle, Flounder, Halle Bailey's Ariel), character upgrades, skin/costume or even a talisman? Anything ?!
Or did I miss it?

For as good as the movie and cast are there are some aspects I would have love to seen or wish would have been changed.

1. Removing ‘Daughters of Triton’. Considering the well diverse casting for the sisters it would have been a perfect opportunity to alter the song and give each sister a line or two.
   
2. Atlantica felt empty and lackluster. I understand they wanted a more ‘natural’ appearance but the golden castle is beyond iconic.
   
3. Giving the Coral Moon a purpose and not just to be the scape goat for not wanting to animate Triton’s celebration. What’s the point of creating a new plot device if it’s not offering anything to the greater story.
   
4. Firmly state that Ursula is responsible for the hurricanes and storms. It seems pretty evident by the subtext that Ursula’s meddling with humans and merfolk is related to the storms and shipwrecks both sides mention. All she needed a line or two stating that fact.
   
5. Ariel’s lack of costumes. In the 1989 film Ariel has several outfits/design changes. Each look is iconic from her shipwrecked garb to her sparkling transformation dress when emerging from the waters and in to Eric’s arms. You can’t tell me that Disney didn’t have the budget for various costumes.
   
6. Changing the lyrics of ‘Kiss the Girl’ and the ending from Ariel and Eric getting married. I don’t think either change was necessarily bad. Today’s social climate emphasizes ideas surrounding consent and that’s great. The lyrical changes don’t alter the song any. However, if the point of the change was to emphasize consent then why is Eric 21 and Ariel only 15? Regarding the wedding, and age gap aside, I think an epilogue of ‘A few years later’ or something would have sufficed. It’s a princess fairy tale and Ariel’s 80’s inspired look is iconic.
   
7. The lack of background vocals. During ‘Under the Sea’ there are no additional voices to Sebastian besides Ariel. This not only makes the scene and song feel empty but negates the lyrics. Where is the large band? Why aren’t any of the fish singing? During ‘Kiss the Girl’ the lack of a chorus also makes the song dull and nearly lifeless. Sure, at least Flounder and Scuttle are there but… why? Why couldn’t they take the time and effort to properly animate and cast the scene?
   
8. Not opening with ‘Fathoms Below.’ It’s iconic. The placement in the 2023 film isn’t bad but I don’t think it’s better.
   
9. The mermaid figure subplot. What did it add to the film? Nothing. Pointless.
   
10. Ursula’s safety clause. I feel like Disney covered up their first plot hole (why couldn’t Ariel just write her name?) with another one. Why does it matter if she does or doesn’t remember she only has 3 days to have Eric kiss her? Ariel needed the kiss, yeah, but she wasn’t hustling for it?
    
11. Lastly, some of the lighting effects really threw off my ability to enjoy what was happening. At the end when Ariel and Eric are fighting Ursula I would have loved to see more of her facial details and body alterations.
    

I will continue to update this post as the score changes.

	Score	Number of Reviews	Average Rating
Verified Audience	95%	5,000+	4.7/5
All Audience	56%	25,000+	3.1/5

Verified Audience Score History:

• 84% (4.3/5) at <50
• 85% (4.3/5) at <50
• 88% (4.5/5) at 50+
• 91% (4.5/5) at 100+
• 93% (4.6/5) at 100+
• 94% (4.7/5) at 250+
• 95% (4.7/5) at 500+
• 95% (4.7/5) at 1,000+
• 95% (4.7/5) at 2,500+
• 95% (4.7/5) at 5,000+

Rotten Tomatoes
Critics Consensus: With Halle Bailey making a major splash in the title role, Disney's live-action Little Mermaid ranks among the studio's most enjoyable reimaginings.

	Score	Number of Reviews	Average Rating
All Critics	68%	264	6.40/10
Top Critics	47%	62	6.00/10

Metacritic: 59 (52 Reviews)
SYNOPSIS:
“The Little Mermaid” is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.
CAST:

• Halle Bailey as Ariel
• Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric
• Daveed Diggs as Sebastian
• Awkwafina as Scuttle
• Jacob Tremblay as Flounder
• Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina
• Javier Bardem as King Triton
• Melissa McCarthy as Ursula

DIRECTED BY: Rob Marshall
SCREENPLAY BY: David Magee
PRODUCED BY: Marc Platt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John DeLuca, Rob Marshall
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jeffrey Silver
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Dion Beebe
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: John Myhre
EDITED BY: Wyatt Smith
COSTUME DESIGNER: Colleen Atwood
SCORE BY: Alan Menken
SONGS, MUSIC BY: Alan Menken
LYRICS BY: Howard Ashman
NEW LYRICS BY: Lin-Manuel Miranda
MUSIC SUPERVISED AND PRODUCED BY: Mike Higham
RUNTIME: 135 Minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2023

The Little Mermaid (2023)

• Rotten Tomatoes: 70% (104 Reviews)

With Halle Bailey making a major splash in the title role, Disney's live-action Little Mermaid ranks among the studio's most enjoyable reimaginings.

• Metacritic: 59 (33 Reviews)

Reviews
The Hollywood Reporter:

A ho-hum adaptation buoyed by a lovely lead turn.

Deadline:

Marshall has made a movie with all the magic required to pull it off and, if not replace the original in our hearts, at least has made a movie that can stand next to that one to also become a memorable part of our cinematic world.

Variety:

Halle Bailey is all the reason that any audience should need to justify Disney revisiting this classic.

Entertainment Weekly (A-):

With Halle Bailey, life under the sea is better than anything Disney live-action has done in nearly a decade.

Indiewire (C-):

For now, “The Little Mermaid” exists outside of the very world it so wants to be a part of, one already so lovingly rendered in its predecessor, “real” or not.

Guardian (2/5):

Bailey is both the finished film’s only unmitigated triumph and the best argument for this whole live action remake enterprise in one shimmering mermaidcore package.

Independent (UK) (2/5):

There’s a real stink of obligation to everything that exists around Bailey and her star-making turn.

Associated Press (2/4):

For all its pizazz, everything about this Little Mermaid is just more muted. Miranda’s new songs are odd, too, and don’t seem to fit.

USA Today (2.5/4):

While not everything goes swimmingly, Halle Bailey splendidly buoys this "Mermaid" as the naive underwater youngster with dreams of exploring the surface.

AV Club (C+):

Its most iconic moments are borrowed and copied wholesale, serving as little more than a reminder of simpler days watching clamshell VHS tapes released from the Disney Vault. Maybe that’s enough for some people. But maybe, like Ariel, we should want more.

Globe and Mail:

A thoroughly pointless cash grab of a thing, this new Little Mermaid is one of the most uninspired films to slither out of Disney since the company started raiding its own vault...

Mashable

As The Little Mermaid crawls by at a snail's pace, the wondrous moments are weighed down by wasted opportunities for spectacle, emotion, and unapologetic bombast.

Empire (3/5):

Another ‘live-action’ remake that’s darker and less compelling than the animated original, but it’s saved by Bailey’s charming performance, McCarthy’s sass and the story’s own eternal magic.

Vulture:

As the studio has done with other live-action remakes, Disney betrays its own lack of imagination and an essential misreading of what made its original children’s fare such a joy to audiences in the first place.

Observer (3/4):

The Little Mermaid, despite a few misfires, is one of Disney’s best live-action reimaginings to date.

New York Post (2/4):

Despite real actors, CGI and brand new material, “Mermaid” is the studio’s latest flesh-and-blood cash grab that’s more lifeless than far better two-dimensional painted drawings.

Inverse:

The Little Mermaid is arguably the best live-action Disney remake since Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella. The splendor is there; the romance is crafted with care — but something’s still missing.

Los Angeles Times:

What’s on-screen too often feels like wan, second-rate imitation, and the few differences seem motivated less by a spirit of imagination than one of joyless anxiety.

Slashfilm (7.5/10):

"The Little Mermaid" is a live-action remake done well.

Screen Rant:

Led by a pitch-perfect Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid is bolstered by deeper characterization and a grand scope, even as it grapples with flaws.

Polygon:

What makes The Little Mermaid isn’t whether the fish look good, or what exactly fuels Triton and Ursula’s feud. It all comes back to Ariel and her journey, which is fueled by the central romance between her and Eric.

IGN (7/10):

What works best are the elements it takes from the original... While this version doesn’t always find its sea legs, there’s enough of those original ideas recreated here that it can’t go too far wrong.

San Francisco Chronicle (2/4):

“The Little Mermaid” origin story lacks room for this more feminist take. It simply is not deep enough.

Vox:

The remake’s main sin... is that it’s visually confusing, if not altogether aesthetically unappealing.

CNN

Thanks largely to star Halle Bailey, the lavish musical holds up nicely under the weight of those expectations, preserving the original’s essence while updating undernourished aspects of it and riding a warm, hard-to-resist wave of nostalgia.

Synopsis:

“The Little Mermaid” is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.

Cast:

• Halle Bailey as Ariel
  
• Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric
  
• Daveed Diggs as Sebastian
  
• Awkwafina as Scuttle
  
• Jacob Tremblay as Flounder
  
• Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina
  
• Javier Bardem as King Triton
  
• Melissa McCarthy as Ursala
  

Directed by: Rob Marshall
Screenplay by: David Magee
Story by: Dan Mazeau, Justin Lin, Zach Dean
Produced by: Marc Platt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John DeLuca, Rob Marshallbaum, Samantha Vincent
Executive producer: Jeffrey Silver
Director of photography: Dion Beebe
Production designer: John Myhre
Edited by: Wyatt Smith
Costume designer: Colleen Atwood
Score by: Alan Menken
Songs, Music by: Alan Menken
Lyrics by: Howard Ashman
New Lyrics by: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Music supervised and produced by: Mike Higham
Runtime: 135 Minutes
Release date: May 26, 2023