SparkFLAME Announced By Scrapnik Island Writer Daniel Barnes

Unique special team animations when Mario & Sonic characters team up in Olympics 2016 on Wii U. 

Footage courtesy of Zephiel810

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INKtober 2024-Fight 👊💀

GOLDEN BAT vs. FRANKENSTEIN!!

The ultimate old-school monster throw-down!! The evil Dr. Nazo revives the legendary Frankenstein Monster; giving him the promise of the reanimation of his beloved bride, if in return, he serves Nazo as his minion and destroy the scientist’s sworn enemy: Golden Bat!! Can the legendary super-mummy defeat Frankenstein and save the wayward monster and his bride from becoming pawns in Dr. Nazo’s devious schemes!?…

(I know I’m not the first to have thought of this but, this is my version!)

Chaos control trend 🫡

The Golden Bat is Here (紙芝居昭和史 黄金バットがやって来る) [Lost 1972 Film] : Toho Studios : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

A 1972 Toho “comedy” film, long considered lost, that depicts the rise and fall of the kamishibai (paper theatre) storytellers that were popular throughout Japan.  Unfortunately, kamishibai was done in by the advent of television, although a few practitioners still keep the art form alive to this day.

The story of Golden Bat, arguably kamishibai’s biggest star, is interwoven amongst the tale of the men who wandered the streets entertaining children.

This film was previously considered lost, in that no copies seemed to exist outside of Toho’s vaults.  For whatever reason, the film has never been released on home video.

Luckily, last month (February, 2025) Maxwell Breese released a copy he found on the Lost Media Wiki site, and now we can all watch it ourselves.

It helps if you’re fluent in Japanese, though, as the film is not dubbed or subtitled.

Here’s a quick snippet featuring my man, Golden Bat, as he originally appeared, battling his arch nemesis Nazo:

https://youtu.be/mPhpdQGy36E?si=w4BR774WgPhLJcAf

22 Storytelling Tips from Pixar

Waaay back in the olden days (2012) Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats gave some amazing writing tips. I love these and have read them dozens of times.

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.

#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.

#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

#17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.

#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d'you rearrange them into what you DO like?

#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

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Hope you liked these!

Flash PSA

fuck it i'm sharing gundam super omega from a comic i never plan to finish lmao

I just caved and got undertale. I’ll play it soon.

the real challenge of adulthood that no one tells you about in advance is how many goddamn pieces of paper you have to keep up with that are never important until they are suddenly VERY important