UPDATING OCCASIONALLY (FOR NOW)

9 thoughts on “558 – Cotton Clad Calamity”

  1. Raznaak

    Yup, he’s a bastard XD

  2. Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)

    Are those pajamas available in XXXL in the gift shop?

  3. Otaku

    It’s been a while, so let me ask: Did we get a reason for him to WANT Susie dead? Not to backseat, but if we didn’t, I’m worried were about to move into “Stupid Evil” territory. Now, stupid happens, don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad storytelling for that to be the case here.

    You’ve just done a good job NOT having that be a driving factor, so the “Kill off the stars of my successful reality TV show.” seems shortsighted, otherwise. Oh, I guess I could be mistaken about the in-story reality TV show’s success. Like, if the company behind them is losing money, or they think a change in management at the ranch would make the whole thing more popular/profitable, then I can see the above scenario happening as well.

    I REALLY think I’m just forgetting something important, but that I don’t have time to deep dive to remind me of, hence the comment. >_<

    1. Deoxy

      It certainly has been stretched out over quite a while, but there have definitely been hints from quite near the beginning that whoever is running the reality TV show definitely wants her dead.

      But I certainly don’t recall any reason why.

      1. Clint

        Yeah it’s fair to not remember since it’s been a hot minute (many, many minutes) but if you feel like a refresher the most relevant bits would be the beginning of Episode 8 and the end of Episode 15. We haven’t explicitly spelled out exactly what The Exec means by his “side hustle” or who was on the other end of that phone call, though.

        I’m hoping that when the whole thing is eventually available it will make sense, or at least enough sense to have hung this narrative on.

        1. Otaku

          Thanks for the replies, Deoxy and Clint. Yeah, I’d totally forgotten about those things. Good to know!

  4. Evervigilant

    Seems about time for the two people who aren’t there to make a surprise entrance as the ace Susie didn’t even know she had.

  5. Scarsdale

    There’s still 3-5 people on her side that might be planning something. This guy is a megalomaniac with a god complex, so letting him think he’s the sharpest tool in the shed sets him up for a fall. Everything depends on those cameras, and I suspect their little stop over by the charging coffins had something to do with her actual plan, not the one the a-hole thinks it is.

  6. lyra

    Really enjoyed the opening of Zombie Ranch. I like the combination of the western setting with the zombie concept, it gives the story a really distinctive atmosphere. I’m a freelance illustrator and animator, and I’d be interested in seeing how some of these scenes could translate into motion, especially as a short animated teaser or character scene.

    If you’re ever interested in something like that, you can reach me here:

    IG: eve_verse_
    Email: [contact.lilaclines@gmail.com](mailto:contact.lilaclines@gmail.com)
    Discord: Lyralilac_

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558 – Cotton Clad Calamity
Posted on August 26, 2026 by Dawn

What would you call this? Armchair assassination? Merk-from-home?

Well, Suzie ain't dead (or undead) quite yet, so we'll just have to see if his gloating is justifiable.

Let’s talk about Judy (and Nick)

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Clint

So I caught a showing of Disney’s Zootopia this past weekend, and really, really liked it. I wanted to see it based on the world-building alone, but then it blew away my expectations. I’ll be unpacking everything this movie made me think and feel for awhile, and while I’m not alone in that, a lot of the thinkpieces and reviews so far have been focused on the racial or feminist metaphors. But in the midst of all of that (and a great, entertaining story), there was an aspect of the film even more special to me. Spoilers may follow, sort of…

Zootopia is a buddy cop movie featuring intergender buddies.

zootopia

Technically, I suppose Nick and Judy (pictured above) are interspecies buddies, but there we are with the metaphors again. These are an identifiably male and female character who by the film’s end have bonded and shared intimate moments — but only intimate in the pure platonic sense that they have chosen to share otherwise private details of their lives. Though there is a brief exchange where the word “love” is used, it’s used without any romantic weight to it, the tone played as banter between friends. It’s more Murtaugh and Riggs than Anna and Kristoff.

That’s my interpretation, anyhow, which I believe is shared by the filmmakers — and I highly appreciate it seeing an example of it in a movie for kids. Not that I have anything against romance per se, but in a movie with themes examining preconceptions and prejudices, forgive me if I’m happy that it happens to feature two adults that happen to be different genders who can hug and cry on each other’s shoulders without it leading necessarily to kissy kiss — and even more importantly without it being a big deal.

Yeah, we’re talking an animated rabbit and fox here so maybe imagining a romance between them is the weirder option, but again — this is metaphor time, fable time — where these characters are stand-ins for humans and human issues. And one of the human issues I find personally frustrating is the ingrained cultural idea that male and female relationships are defined first and foremost by a biological imperative to “bump uglies”, as it were. That left to their own devices, an unsupervised man and woman will swiftly get down to screwin’ regardless of whether either or both are already in committed relationships with others or maybe even just don’t feel like it.

I was lucky enough to have the example of my father who did have a long-term friendship — and never anything more than that — with a (married) woman who wasn’t my mom. I myself was quite platonic best friends with a woman for several years, who in fact ended up being my best (wo)man at my wedding to Dawn. It can happen.

But I’m aware there are a distressing amount of people out there who don’t believe it can. Ever. A married man or woman meeting someone of the opposite gender for lunch? Even a business associate? This will inevitably lead to them having an affair. Maintaining cross-gender friendships while in a relationship? No! They must be renounced or your love is in danger!

Now are there people who cheat on their relationships? Certainly. But chalking that up to biological inevitability is problematic in more ways than one — not the least of which is, say, a message to girls that the only reason a boy would ever want to hang around with them is because that boy desires them sexually.  And how does all this conventional wisdom factor in boys who are attracted to boys, girls attracted to girls, etc.? Doesn’t this idea of gender separation based on romantic urges start to seriously fall apart at that point?

The parable of Nick and Judy in Zootopia stops short of showing them having a platonic partnership while also committed romantically to outside parties — which I’m fine with, I have Agent Carter for that — but it’s still nice to see Hollywood acknowledging that the “heterosexual life partner” aesthetic has the potential to exist even when the heterosexuals in question happen to be a man and a woman, and communicating that message in a mass market, all-ages film.

Nick and Judy’s friendship isn’t perfect, and goes through some rough spots as even their own prejudices aren’t so easy to shake in moments of stress or inattention, but in the end a deep bond, trust and mutual respect has developed that ends not in a wedding scene but a car chase. You can still “ship” ’em if that’s your bag, but leaving that aspect up to us to interpret is a big step forwards for me. And Disney of all sources — the very home of the Princesses and the Love Songs and the Happily Ever Afters — is the one who took it.