2023 Inktober 18 - Perry Mason

Mason's name did originate from Perry Mason, a show of which my parents have been fond for years and Mom still watches it every night. Now I can't hear the character's name anymore without thinking of my Mason. Mason James Wiles would be a fantastic lawyer, one of the rare upright ones.

Plus, a mason is someone who specializes in building with stones or bricks, which makes my character's name all the more appropriate. He becomes famous (and beloved) for getting his kingdom out of the mud and making it even better than it was before, albeit with a tremendous load of outside help.

Most people shunned him because of his family name, holding him accountable for things his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents did. It got so bad that the Wiles were even more vilified than Beowulf was. His father-in-law wanted nothing to do with him because he was a Wiles, and that was essentially his logic, "He's a Wiles. He's scum. What more is there to say?"

Nero even let his irrational hatred override his love for his own daughter. It was enough to make some of Mason's naysayers say, "Well, that's a little harsh."

However, Mason proved everybody wrong and made the name "Wiles" desirable once more. Again, he couldn't have done it without help, but all that help would have been useless without his initiative in the beginning. He's so devoted to Reid and to Cecily because neither of them gave up on him, and he'll be forever grateful to two of Cecily's three siblings for going out of their way to help him when they owed him nothing. They helped him just as much for his sake as for their sister's sake, leaving Nero with a hefty meal of humble pie.

Years down the road, Mason's son falls in love with Reid's daughter, and when it turns out she feels the same way, their parents are more than happy to grant their blessings. Even Adela only wants her grandson to be happy, whatever he decides, and she's as amazed as anyone that her wish has come true after all. She got to join the Lactantius family tree when she wasn't forcing it so much.

Reid and Mason are blessed with many grandchildren, four of which they get to share with each other, and they get to retire when they're good and ready and they both live to a ripe old age. All's indeed well that ends well.

As for the TV show, I'd personally recommend it. I'm more partial to the Raymond Burr version; the latest version, the one that's darker and edgier, not so much.

Some episodes are better than others, and it may not be a 100% accurate portrayal of what happens in a courtroom, but they do a pretty good job at making you wonder who the perpetrator is, how all the puzzle pieces come together, how Perry Mason will crack this case. Almost like a 1950s Sherlock Holmes. And you'll never, ever forget the theme song. Theme songs are forever. 

2023 Inktober 8 - Terence Meets Ariel

Terence has a lot in common with Ariel. They're both fantasy creatures, they're both impetuous (though Terence is a bit more cautious and not quite as gullible) and they both fall in love with a human. 

Both lost their mothers at a young age, and both their fathers harbor an understandable if excessive hatred toward humans. Humans were even responsible for the deaths of their mothers.

By unicorn standards, Terence is the equivalent of a 19-year-old, so he would only have a few years over Ariel. That's why I often refer to him as "the white-haired youth."

And even though Terence doesn't live in the water, he'll take any advantage of getting good and wet. He can never resist the opportunity for a swim in unicorn or human form. Furthermore, it's because of the merfolk in his world that he got access to those special shells that let you breathe underwater for as long as you like. He becomes a very talented singer, too.

Small world, innit? Or in this case, small ocean. 

2023 Inktober 7 - Tyrell's Disney Moment

With all the fanfare that surrounds Tyrell, "Prince Ali" from Aladdin would suit him best. Everybody claims he's all that, and he seems to actually believe it and revel in it.

 

But the truth is, he feels as much like a fraud as Aladdin does. He knows people don't really care about him, the lonely boy inside the glamorous prince, and he harbors a legitimate fear that his parents are the same way. When the party's over, what's left? What's he actually good for? Who would bother to keep company with him under different circumstances?

 

This is why he's so horrible to Reid, even if it doesn't justify him by any means. While he appears to have it all, Reid's the one who actually has more, who has the very things that Tyrell pines after. I like to compare the two boys to toys. Tyrell would be that rare toy that's kept in pristine condition in its box, while Reid would be that simpler toy that actually gets played with.

 

And it's no wonder Tyrell snaps after he's thrown out, like he's worthless after all. He was so unprepared for the real world, for harsh reality, that he virtually exploded like a stick of dynamite, and everybody was caught in the radius of his blast. He may not be as gigantic as Genie when Jafar gets his hands on the lamp, but people are in for the most unpleasant surprise of their lives when he returns. Not even Tallis and Ann can see the boy they once knew, adored, and pampered so much anymore. He's so frightening that he makes Beowulf cower, and the only reason Reid doesn't run from him is because Reid has also reached the end of his rope and is prepared to fight fire with fire.

 

To me, this is what makes Tyrell such a tragic character. He has plenty of potential to be good, but the things he was taught were so erroneous that he was woefully warped out of shape and truly didn't know any other way.

 

Goes to show, like Aladdin, there's a whole lot more to a person than meets the eye. We may not know much of Jafar's backstory, but I'll bet you anything something happened to steer him down that path of darkness and he was the one to maintain that dark path for the rest of his life. 

 

Then again, Aladdin goes through a lot of grief and still manages to be sweet, honorable, and heroic, learning well from his mistakes and becoming more and more polished until he truly shines.

2023 Inktober 6 - Reid's Disney Moment

"Look at me,
I will never pass for a perfect prince
Or a perfect son
Can it be
I'm not meant to play this part?
Now I see
That if I were truly to be myself,
I would break my family's heart."

Mulan had a lot of influence on Reid's character and his story, so this is all too fitting. He tries so hard to fit in, and yet he has a special knack for royally screwing things up. He tries to be no one but himself, and yet (almost) everybody treats him like he should be somebody else altogether, including his parents. Even the Windwillows take a while to accept him the way he is.

In the end, being himself makes all the difference in the world. In the end, his reflection indeed shows who he is inside. Like the blossom that blooms in adversity, he's "the most rare and beautiful of all." 

2023 Inktober 5 - Mason's Disney Moment

I can't think of anything more charming than Mason and Cecily playing out "A Jolly Holiday" from Mary Poppins. Cecily would look beautiful in a dress like that, Mason develops a nice singing talent, and they just make such a pretty pair. It would be perfect.

I may prefer romance on the sidelines of a story, but everything about Mason and Cecily's romantic relationship makes me smile. Each is a wonderful, woefully underappreciated person with a few unpleasant parental issues, and when they come together, each brings out the best in the other and then some. Cecily has the courage to stand up to her parents and show them what she's made of, whereas Mason is more motivated to pick himself up and put his broken kingdom back together, if not make it better than it once was.

Thanks to Cecily's influence, the public starts to go easy on Mason. Mason also understands for the first time how it feels to love a woman in the romantic sense; as much as he and Tracy care about each other, anything between them is strictly platonic. With Cecily, Mason is absolutely smitten, and what's better, she wants to be with him. They're not doing this to appease their parents or society. They just want each other, that's it.

Not only does their kingdom become more splendid than before, not only do their reputations improve, but they end up with four beautiful children, who get the kind of upbringing they deserve.

Best of all, they find a lovely balance between work and fun. When they're not busy with their royal duties or doing their fair share of parenting, they take advantage of an outing whenever possible. They go for a walk together, they share a cup of tea together, and of course, their most favorite activity of all is swimming. Mason may get the wettest, but Cecily won't say no to a refreshing dip here and there. Mason constructs a special private pool at home; it's not as big or fancy as Reid's pool, but it's good enough for practice at any time, and everyone looks forward to any trip to Cecily's childhood home by the ocean. Sometimes Mason will join Cecily on a magnificent ship, and other times Cecily will join Mason under the waves.

Even when they're simply side by side in the same room, they can seldom resist holding hands or touching each other in some affectionate way. At all times, he's a perfect gentleman while she's a perfect lady.

That's not to say they don't have a disagreement on occasion, but those are exceedingly few and far between. Cecily can count on one hand the number of times she's ever heard Mason raise his voice, and Mason can do the same for Cecily. In fact, seeing Mason lose his temper was the biggest contributor to old Nero controlling his terrible temper once and for all. Nero didn't shout that often but he could really bellow when he wanted to. Upon hearing Mason bellow, however, Nero and Sabina were so shaken that they could only say, "I've never heard Mason Wiles yell before. I don't think I ever want to hear him yell again."

Cecily is every bit as even-tempered, so sweet and cuddly that other children besides her own just have to give her a big hug. Sara, her youngest daughter, calls her "Mama" and continues to do so long after she grows up, and she always calls Mason "Daddy."

On the whole, you could say Mason and Cecily are practically perfect in every way. 

2023 Inktober 4 - Malachi's Disney Moment

Most fauns are known to be fantastic singers, musicians, and dancers; some say it's impossible to outshine a faun in dancing, while others say it's always fun to try. One of the superstitions about fauns was that they used their musical talent to enchant you, lure you into a trap, just like how a unicorn's wonderful beauty was only a ruse to get you to lower your guard.

 

Then again, fauns are known to make terrifying noises when they're angry or frightened. They can really raise the roof and scare you to pieces when they want to, and it would take someone pretty strong or exceptionally clever to beat a faun in a physical tussle. Most people who try to pick a fight with a faun will only land themselves in the hospital before they know what hit them, and that's assuming the faun goes easy on them.

 

For the less superstitious folk, they find fauns genuinely entertaining. And Malachi Ephraim Windwillow was among the first fauns to really make it big in show biz.

 

Before he was finished with school, some big show biz people came along and talked him into auditioning for a few plays and possibly a moving picture. This was about the time that moving pictures (or movies, as we'd call them) came out and became huge by themselves, so for anyone to get into one at all, even if it was just a brief cameo appearance, was definitely bragworthy. Malachi's parents believed school was his top priority, but Malachi was talked into it and he ended up auditioning behind his parents' backs.

 

Not only did he make it in, but he was on his way to stardom in no time at all. He was making enough money to where he quit school altogether, much to his parents' disappointment and anger. They didn't really have anything against the entertainment industry, but they found themselves frowning more and more on their son's increasingly less savory roles, on top of his growing criminal behavior outside work. Some of his costars had a list of crimes as long as your arm, but as long as they kept a low profile, they believed nobody could touch them and nothing could happen to them. Malachi rubbing elbows with royalty (it was his grandfather who first ignited the friendship with the Lactantiuses) also came in his favor, or so he thought.

 

In Malachi's defense, his parents were hardly around anyway. He wouldn't admit it, but he wished they would spend more time with him and his brother and sister. It often hurt him to see other children playing with their parents in the park, or children simply hugging their mothers and riding around on their fathers' shoulders.

 

In his parents' defense, they were trying to give their children a good life, with plenty of luxuries. They were trying just as hard to prove themselves as high-standing politicians (Silas became a senator for a time) as Malachi was trying to prove himself as a big star. But Grandfather Miles was deeply concerned to see his son and daughter-in-law focus more on providing their children with money than with actual attention and affection. As busy as Miles often was with his own medical career, he was never too busy for his family.

 

It didn't help that the few times Malachi did see his parents face to face, all they did was snap at each other. Instead of reaching out to their son in love and understanding, Silas and Tabitha only reacted with anger and pushed him further away.

 

While most of their fights were Malachi's fault, his parents handled the situation like pouring oil onto a fire instead of water. This was something Miles gently rebuked them for a few times, and they saw the unpleasant toll this was taking on Jubal.

 

To make a long story short, Silas and Tabitha resolved to do better, or at least try, but then Malachi came home one morning to hear from his heartbroken grandfather's lips that they had both died in a terrible accident the night before. A drunk carriage driver ran them both over, and they died before they made it to the hospital. Fauns aren't killed easily; they even have an incredible tolerance to pain, including the does, so it had to be very bad to kill two fauns almost instantly. The driver survived, but was immediately arrested, for this and for three other cases of manslaughter.

 

After the funeral, Malachi dropped his acting career like a brick, along with his criminal activity and his so-called friends. No one could fire him because he'd already quit. Any bribes to make him come back or threats to his future prospects fell on deaf ears. He just plain didn't care anymore. If not for his grandfather, if not for his belief that it was an undeserved easy way out, he would have committed suicide.

 

After he found solace and a renewed purpose for living in the Christian church, he was still at a loss for what he could do for an occupation. He had enough money for his needs but he felt the need to make something useful of himself. He couldn't just mope around a cave, a forest, or a church all day.

 

Miles gently encouraged his grandson to give acting another try, but to aim for more wholesome roles this time. Luckily for Malachi, he still had a few friends in the entertainment industry who were kind enough to put in a good word for him and help him get back on his hooves.

 

His big comeback was Dancing in the Snow. A few people couldn't believe this was the same actor from Five Hundred Shades of Fur, and some were even disappointed. But the majority of the crowd absolutely adored him, and the moving picture was an explosive hit. Malachi easily made more money and received more glowing reviews than he'd ever seen from 500 Shades. Best of all, this was a role he actually enjoyed, one he can say he's proud of to this day.

 

He went on to have a long, successful career, though he maintained a much healthier ego and put his money to better use. He was huge on charity, of course, and he was able to send his own children to great schools. Caleb was among the first fauns to graduate from one of the most prestigious universities with perfect marks.

 

Jonathan had no trouble providing for Herminia, who loved him for more than just his money. For that matter, most people expected Jonathan to become an entertainer, too, since he can also sing and dance quite well and he's been in a few plays and moving pictures.

 

Sometimes Joanna got to perform with Malachi, and she was good enough to where a few people will still ask for her autograph or listen closely when she's singing.

 

Long after Malachi retires, he still enjoys an occasional performance for old times' sake and his reputation even comes in his favor when dealing with prejudice in the Church. When a murderous mob gangs up on him, plenty of people are outraged on his behalf and it would have been ugly for the perpetrators if Malachi had died. Some feel Beowulf went way too easy on them.

 

So, getting to the point of this picture, I thought it would be fun to show Malachi giving a lively, worldly performance, and it was "Friend Like Me" that first sprang to mind. The Robin Williams version, mind you. 

 

2023 Inktober 3 - Tallis's Disney Moment

Next to "Perfect Isn't Easy" and "Why Should I Worry" from Oliver and Company, "You're Welcome" from Moana would suit Tallis perfectly.

 

He acts like he's so great and pretends to be modest, when really, his one true accomplishment is standing around and looking pretty. Half his people like him because he's lighthearted and fun, more so than his dad ever was. The other half prefers Romulus because he's a lot more practical, capturing that balance between fun and serious business. Both Tallis and Trent serve as fine examples of extremes.

 

If it weren't for his brother and several others, Tallis would have been sunk a long time ago.

 

Ironically enough, behind that haughty smile lurks a boatload of self-doubt and pain. Like Maui, Tallis tries to convince himself more than anyone else that he is that great, or that he's worth something. Maui's own parents didn't want him, so that would be a killing blow to anyone's self-esteem, even if they did become a demigod. Tallis's childhood was a real mess, to say the least, and he tries to take the "Hakuna Matata" approach, which does everyone more harm than good, himself most of all.

 

In a nutshell, he loves his job as King when it makes him look good, and hates it when it doesn't. When he tries to pull the victim card yet again, Romulus is kind enough to remind him that he had no trouble with all the perks of the job, and that he can only blame dear old Dad so much for all his problems.

 

After all, Trent was Romulus's dad, too, and Romulus chose to learn from Trent's mistakes and make the most of what he did have. Even if Romulus was robbed of his birthright, he still conducted himself like a member of royalty as much as he could, and he didn't turn up his nose at becoming Tallis's top advisor. He still tried to do whatever he could to help his people as well as his family. And he was truly grateful that he got to taste love with Kyla, a woman who actually deserved him, and have three children with a happier, healthier upbringing. Plus, he got a splendid nephew whom he was more than happy to take under his wing.

 

All Tallis does is feel sorry for himself and try to make everybody else feel sorry for him, which only works so well for so long. Sooner or later, he'll run out of excuses and karma will be waiting for him.

 

Likewise, Maui learns a painful lesson about how "Freudian Excuse is No Excuse" and becomes a lot humbler. Something tells me he and Tallis would get along beautifully.

 

Movies That Surprised Me: The Super Mario Bros. Movie

When it comes to movies and TV, my expectations are never high. These days, there's hardly anything out there that's original, not so cluttered up with sex and gore and politically correct rubbish. Not so "woke" as my sister likes to say. 

That said, I love it when a movie surprises me and turns out to be a genuine delight. And today, I received a most delightful surprise from the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie. 

(All images property of their respective owners.)

For as long as I can remember, I've been a pretty big Nintendo nut. I played a few games often enough, mostly on N64, and I still have a Nintendo DS in my possession today.

I also vaguely remember a Mario cartoon show that was pretty good. Enough to keep a young kid entertained, at any rate.

So, it's safe to say I'm a fairly die-hard fan of Mario. I even drew him and dressed up as him for FanX last year.

But when I heard of Mario coming to the big screen, I wasn't so sure. 

I wasn't too thrilled about the recent movies involving Pikachu or Sonic the Hedgehog, and I was further turned off upon hearing that Charles Martinet, Mario's original voice actor in the games, wouldn't be providing his voice this time. I actually asked, "How can you have Mario without Charles Martinet?"

In good time, however, I began to reconsider.

I wasn't able to see it in theaters, but I was absolutely blown away at how well it did in the box office. It beat all the Disney movies out of the ballpark, including The Lion King and Frozen. I couldn't help feeling a perverse pleasure in this, due to my growing disenchantment with Disney.

By the time it came out on video, I relented enough to buy a digital copy on Amazon Prime, and when my birthday came along, I told Mom I wouldn't say no to the DVD for a present. 

So, that's what she got me and we watched it today. 

I was not disappointed at all. 

It was absolutely fantastic. 

It kept me entertained the whole time, and I loved all those little "Easter eggs" they scattered all over the place. There was a little nod to Mario Kart here, a little nod to Luigi's Mansion there; there were even a few shout-outs to Donkey Kong 64, which I also played to pieces. 

The visual effects alone are incredible, to say the least. I mean, seriously!  

As much as I yearn for the good old days of hand-drawn animation, this movie made me say, "Whoa!" out loud more than once.

Furthermore, I very much appreciated how Princess Peach was able to take care of herself most of the time without going out of her way to be tough, if you know what I mean.

She still has her vulnerable moments, she's genuinely sweet and kind, she's funny on occasion, and the romance between her and Mario is very downplayed. 

It's obvious enough that they're falling in love, but the primary focus stays on the relationship between Mario and Luigi. Mario starts out trying to help his brother, and then he ends up helping Peach in the process.

Which leads us to the movie's crown jewel: the bond between brothers.

Some of my most favorite stories are about familial love. I like stories that explore the relationship between parent/grandparent and child, or between siblings. 

That's one thing I'll say in favor of Frozen. All excessive hype aside, the relationship between Anna and Elsa was nicely done, and I admired that "legal loophole" about sisterly love saving the day, although I maintain to this day that one movie was enough.

Mario and Luigi are just precious in this one. They've always got each other's backs, no matter what's going on, and while Mario starts out protecting Luigi the most, there inevitably comes a time when Luigi gets to repay the favor. 

No one can seem to get enough of that big hug they share toward the climax, or that "forehead bump." I can't.

Since the title is The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it gives both brothers a chance to shine. 

And I, for one, think it was done absolutely brilliantly. 

There should be more movies like this out there. So many, many more. 

But for the time being, I'm well satisfied. This birthday present is a definite keeper, and it's only a matter of time before I watch this anew. 

The only true downside was trying to keep my younger siblings quiet the whole time. I understand they mean well, but they still got a little disruptively excited more than once. So, next time will most likely be by myself, on my own private device, since I did buy a digital copy on the side.

Come on, Mario, Luigi, let's-a go again!