It Is Recommendsday, My Dudes #112 · 8:53pm May 10th, 2023
So a little bit ago, I had a quick blog on buying my first merch to celebrate the 500 follows milestone. So that leads into today's connecting topic: toys! And their stories. Real ones, in fact.
We lead with A Toy's Story by Bluebastard.
Cheerilee isn't much. She knows that. She's not special or pretty or valuable. She's a little chunk of plastic from a Happy Meal, manufactured in China and abandoned at a country club pool. It isn't clear how long ago that was, but she's remained: left out in the sun to bleach; tossed into the chorine-heavy pool water; thrown around and abused by a parade of random children before they leave her in the pool's chest of assorted toys. (They put her back if she's lucky that day.) And she wishes silently that just once before she's destroyed by abuse and weathering, that she'll feel loved one more time.
I'm a total sucker for this kind of story, bluntly. It's bittersweet and cute as poor Cheerilee has hit the point of utter despair but she still has just that little speck of pure hope in wanting to be a good toy. I mean, goddamn, it's heartbreaking and so satisfying as her story develops. That the events are... loosely based in real life just adds to the punch behind it.
BlueBastard does a great job at making the whole thing work, too. Cheerilee's emotions really come across in the visceral reality of her situation, leading well into the ups and downs of story's turning point meeting. And the ending is just chef's kiss right: the little pep talk and the justifications about why Cheerilee's special is just... mm! Absolutely love it.
At worst (and I rate it far more highly) this is a great Toy Story-esque tale with a pony spin to it. Totally worth the read.
Matching that comes back to one of my favorite authors, Mica and A Fable of the Rainbow Dash of Mount Sutro.
The fable opens in telling us about a pony plush named Rainbow Dash. She was bought at the close-out sale of a Toys-R-Us and spent a number of years being taken by her Caretaker around San Francisco and gazing at the wonder of the cities and the skyscrapers. Of the distant sky. She stays with her Caretaker as his life progresses - sticking with him as times get worse. Until he - and she - reach what would become her final place. The old stump of a eucalyptus on the side of Mount Sutro. Where years later, the author would find her.
This one's a lot darker than the last - behind the plush, it's a tragedy for the Caretaker as his life disintegrates and reaches a climax at the stump as the two part. It's a tragedy you can easily get, too - we've almost all seen similar in real life, or at least have heard about someone you know going that way. Familiar but terrible.
The plush, this time, is less of a character than Cheerilee was in the last story. Still, Mica does a great job of giving Rainbow just enough for you to feel (or at least imply) her part in this tragedy. She's in almost the same seat as us, watching as things fall apart. Hers is just a bit closer to the action, so to speak.
It's a dark short that's a bit too real and too close to home, ending in a rough moment that is still not surprising. A good, somber tragedy.
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Those look amazing but there's no way I can read them and maintain my mental health. Like, if I think about how much I anthropomorphized my toys when I was a kid I get sad.
Fuck I should dig my halo figs they probably miss me.
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