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. 

Disney Musical May 25 - Once Upon a Dream

I know you
I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you
That gleam in your eyes
Is so familiar a gleam

Yet I know it's true
That visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you,
I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
The way you did once upon a dream

My family practically worships this movie, although my older sister was scared to death of Maleficent for years. I think that had something to do with the way Dad told us the story once at bedtime, and he made Maleficent sound a little too scary.

Then there was the movie itself, where Maleficent definitely came off as unsettlingly creepy. That scene in the darkened fireplace still gives me the shivers to this day.

But overall, we all adore this movie, myself included. I got a ton of inspiration for Terence's story from Sleeping Beauty by itself.

Aurora's relationship with Philip was fair for its day, as TV Tropes would say. They take a little more time to get to know each other than Cinderella and Snow White do with their princes, although all three of them are still quite superior to the original fairy tales. In the fairy tales, Prince Charming shows up out of the pure blue, doing nothing more than standing there and looking pretty, and Cupid's arrow scores a solid bull's-eye then and there.

At the very least, the Disney movies give all the Princes a little more to do, which is nice. It makes sense that Philip gets more screentime, because the animation department was a lot more fine-tuned by then. They say it was around the 1950s that Disney "could animate anything, and beautifully."

On top of that, Sleeping Beauty was one of the first major movies driven almost purely by women. Yeah, Aurora doesn't do much (she's not called "Sleeping Beauty" for nothing) but there's still the Three Good Fairies, who easily carry the lion's share of the story by themselves, and even the villain is female. While we get a good chunk of action from Philip, he wouldn't have got that far without the Fairies' help. So, it's women who both save the day and provide the primary conflict.

You can tell they went the extra mile with the animation, too. They took the time and money to make everything look extra nice, and it shows. Despite being a financial failure, it's now heralded as one of the Disney movies. Almost everybody can find something to say in its favor.

If I had a list of top 10 favorite Disney films, this one will be on it for sure. It might even make the top 5.

Disney Musical May 24 - One Song

Now that I've found you,
Hear what I have to say 

One song
I have but one song
One song
Only for you

 One heart
Tenderly beating
Ever entreating
Constant and true 

One love
That has possessed me
One love
Thrilling me through

 One song
My heart keeps singing
Of one love
Only for you 

I may prefer romance on the sidelines of a story, but I am a sucker for a well-done romantic moment and a lovely love song on occasion.

Admittedly, the love story between Snow White and the Prince is a little weak. But then again, this was only Disney's first movie, and I say it's good for a start. It's definitely a step above the original fairy tale, where the Prince pretty much shows up out of nowhere at the very, very end.

Everyone's got to start somewhere, right?

This is how I imagine my Jonathan and Herminia meeting with each other. Herminia sings out loud while tending to chores, and Jonathan hears her while he's out and about and decides to further investigate. I can very easily hear Jonathan singing something like this as they get to know each other better, with Herminia every bit as hopelessly smitten as he is.

Some people call this pure mush. But Reid is one of the few to find it genuinely charming and sweet.

All a matter of point of view.

Inktober 2018 - Day 23

Twenty-three entries down; eight to go!

"Inktober" 23: Muddy. Drew this in five minutes flat. That is one happy little piggy, eh?

"Disney Inktober" 23: Romantic Couple. This was a tough decision. I love Disney and I'm a hopeless romantic, so naturally, I like more than one Disney couple! There is something soothing and mesmerizing about this song, and dancing under the stars...you don't get much more romantic than that.

"Fantasytober" 23: Chimera. I got just one word for this: RUN!!!

"Inktober" Challenge - Day 17

Holy smokes, I'm more than half-done with "Inktober" already! Time does indeed fly when you're having fun, and this challenge has been a lot of fun. Some sketches turn out better than others, obviously, but overall, I'm enjoying the challenge and learning to "loosen up" as an artist. I'm learning that not everything I post has to be absolutely perfect or even particularly good. Of course, striving for high quality is always commendable for anybody, but no one needs to be so OCD all the time, you know?

Okay, here we go. Theme 17: "Graceful."

A genuine scene from my novel-in-progress. I'm a hopeless romantic and this is where I pour the romance in by the bagful. Terence and Rhiella are both wonderful dancers; they'd fare very well on Dancing With the Stars.

Definitely a picture I'll have to draw again...eventually.

Disney theme 17: "Aladdin."

No words, mates. No words.

Rhiella

Of course, I had to invent a human girl who would win Terence's heart when he became human. While Terence has encountered plenty of women as a unicorn (unicorns have always had a strange attraction to human females), something sets Rhiella apart from the others.

Being a princess, Rhiella has also met with a number of royal suitors, all of which turned out to be abysmal failures. But when she meets Terence, something just clicks.

Much as I love Disney and fairy tales, I don't believe in rushing a relationship. I don't believe in marrying someone you've only known for one day, or a few days, or even a month. This means that while Terence and Rhiella do notice each other at the first, they take their time to build up their relationship. Terence doesn't speak to Rhiella or give her a whole lot of thought; he just acknowledges her presence and moves on. After a few more meetings, when they do start talking and getting to know each other better, that's when he warms up to her and you can guess the rest of the story.

Some people may view Rhiella as one-dimensional, as another typical rebellious princess. That's not quite the case; at least, I'm working my hardest not to make it so. She does have a rebellious streak, a knack for doing things not considered fitting for a princess. She can ride a horse, shoot an arrow, and wield a sword as well as any man, and while she honestly needs help now and then, for the most part she can look after herself just fine. Half the time, she's saving Terence's life.

When she's not fighting or caught up in her royal duties, she loves to swim. She essentially taught herself to swim and takes to water like a fish; if she were living in our time, she would really get off on snorkeling and scuba diving. (So would Terence.)

While generally sweet and even-tempered, Rhiella can blast through the roof when she gets angry. She's not afraid to speak her mind and can get brutally frank even with Terence. While Terence adores Rhiella and would never lay a finger on her, he still has his moments when he lets her have it, too. It's a little joke of mine that you know you're an official couple when you argue like a couple. Despite the flowers, the candy, the hugs and kisses, and the overall goo-goo feelings, it's the first legitimate argument that seals the deal.

People view Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey as legitimate love stories. Well, I'll show 'em! With Terence and Rhiella, I'll prove what real, honest-to-goodness love is. Just you wait, mates. Just you wait.

I'm half-tempted to say in my advertisement, "Everything that 'Twilight' and 'Fifty Shades' are NOT." But that probably wouldn't be a very good marketing strategy. Or would it?