scapegoated-if

[scapegoated-if]

Weird question, but if your characters had to pick actors from our time to play them in a biopic, who would they choose?

Ooo... this is tricky, and I would love to hear everyone else's thoughts, but these are my instinctive ones.

For Léon: Sam Reid would be a popular social media fan-cast, but Leon would go for a Broadway darling like Jonathan Groff (but age appropriate), put them in a blond wig and call showtime. Drew Starkey would get a call-back and a screen test that leaks to FilmUpdates on Twitter.

For Fleur: she would go for one of the daughter's of her industry friends, even though Carey Mulligan and Lily Collins would have been listlessly fan-casted as her during the 2010s.

For Shiloh: Luka Shabbat without a shadow of a doubt.

For Lesley: he wouldn't want a biopic made about him.

For Phillip: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II because he's [redacted].

For Phyllis: Ayo Edebiri would charm her way into P's good graces and be the clear frontrunner.

For Vincent: none of the white boy of the months would make the cut (especially not Jacob Elordi).

For K: unknown Indigenous actors in both cases.

For Penn: put Kyle Allen or Malik Elassal in a ring and make them fight it out. The loser gets the role.

Sorry I didn't include reference photographs in some cases. I think this is pretty accurate!

[scapegoated-if]

much as i love me a delicious bowl of "good luck, babe!"-flavored sapphic angst, i don't really get that vibe from Dorinda? she might be afraid of entering a closeted lesbian relationship due to the prejudices of the time, but she doesn't strike me as someone in denial of her sexuality or desperately trying to be something she's not (straight). she strikes me as somebody too comfortable in her own skin to fall into a relationship she doesn't want just to be "normal". plus, while i haven't played up to that part without having a prior situationship with her, i'm assuming she still shacks back up with Shiloh as part of the plot even if nothing happened between you before? which means she must have a reason for getting back with him that has nothing at all to do with you, at least, and if she just needed a beard she coulda picked anyone.

if i had to guess (and i suppose this is me putting in my guess, lol), i think she's a bisexual woman who's more attracted to the MC than the man she's dating but is too daunted by the difficulties of being with a woman when her sexuality is compatible with other options. which, y'know, is terribly unfair, but that's the reality of the times. not to say that being openly queer nowadays is easy (not at all), but in the 60s? and then being interracial on top of that? yeah i could never blame Dorinda for getting cold feet and wanting to pursue something more conventional when she has the choice. plus i'm intrigued by the particularly tangled emotional knot of a lesbian MC with a bisexual Dorinda, who is saddled with the unfairness of not being chosen and does not have the same "luxury" of other viable options for romantic happiness. does make me wonder what will end up happening in her route to make her decide that the MC is worth the risk. tho, ig seeing the woman you love get stalked by a serial killer would probably do something to rearrange your priorities...

More Dorinda-Shiloh-MC theories to get the brain ticking that I will not be contributing to! But, by all means, feast everyone!

[scapegoated-if]

abt what ull write when this story is done have u ever thought about staying in the same universe? or like hypothetically what would u want to expand on if u could?

I have spoken about a potential Prequel I would love to write someday, warranted I have the time--this came up on the topic of extra content on a hypothetical Patreon or Ko-Fi that I have yet to make. The thought of taking your money feels icky because I am just doing this for fun (and mostly for my love of this story in general, but everyone else's investment in Scapegoated has been a substantially added bonus).

But I may stick to a '70s universe in general and focus on a new fictional MC with one in a blue moon Scapegoated cameos. The possibilities are endless and fun to think about!

[scapegoated-if]

i’m rereading and i just had to express my love for this bit of dialogue, no matter how many times i read this part the thought of it cracks me up:

[Ritchie] tilts his head and says, "Upstairs won't go for that."

"I think God would take communication over an angry mob any day, Ritch," Shiloh says, with no indication of humour.

Ritchie's expression sobers, "Try the second floor down."

and earlier in the conversation when Shiloh calls Leon’s freudian slip a “freudian fart,” that makes me laugh out loud every time, without fail 😭 your characterization of Shiloh is simply fantastic and i love him!! and i love the rest of the writing and characters too, you’re truly so talented!!!

throwing myself in a fire, throwing up, throwing it back

many emotions

thank you anon😪

[scapegoated-if]

Update! I did watch "Becoming Led Zeppelin" and I do recommend it to those of you that have no knowledge of them as a band. It only discusses the first two albums. But I do think there are gaps in the social aspects of their career that I think were heavily prominent throughout. That being said, I am the kind of person that when they think of Led Zeppelin, my mind goes to Lori Mattix before it goes to "Stairway to Heaven".

SPEAKING OF: Please listen to this 30 minute podcast episode about Lori Mattix with an interview from Lori Mattix instead. GROUPIES CAN BE VICTIMS!

please do give us documentary recommendations, that sounds so fun (even if the content itself isnt necessarily fun, like about Ireland and the Troubles and etc). by far my favorite way to learn history is through video-formats, so, yes please, whatever resources you recommend sounds baller as hell

As you wish!

Imperative General Contexts from Documentaries:

The Queen

Poor Little Rich Girl

Paris is Burning

Town Bloody Hall

The Celluloid Closet

The Vietnam War (Extremely long and at times, greatly distressing)

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

I Am Not Your Negro

Abducted in Plain Sight

Conversations with a Killer: Ted Bundy Tapes

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields

This is the Zodiac Speaking

Books I've Read (Fiction and Non-Fiction) That Have Been Insightful:

I'm With The Band (Pamela Des Barres)

Howl and Other Poems (Allen Ginsberg)

Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Most of Joan Didion really)

Slow Days, Fast Company (Eve Babitz)

The Girls (by Emma Cline)

The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin)

Junky (William S. Burroughs)

In Watermelon Sugar (Richard Brautigan)

George Harrison on George Harrison (Ashley Kahn)

The list proceeds to get long with music documentary recommendations... I'm warning you now.

In terms of music...

For real life icons, documentaries I've seen that have aided my knowledge while shaping my portrayal of them respectively are:

Janis: Little Girl Blue

Shake! Otis at Monterey

Jimi Plays Monterey

The Stones and Brian Jones

The Beach Boys

Donyale Luna: Supermodel

Fanny: The Right to Rock

Gimme Shelter

Eat the Document

Joni Mitchell: Woman of Heart and Mind

Karen Dalton: In My Own Time

The Velvet Underground

Little Richard: I Am Everything

Amazing Grace

The Beatles: Get Back

Jackson Browne: Going Home

The Andy Warhol Diaries

Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train a Comin'

Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg

Twiggy

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

When You're Strange (This is about The Doors)

George Harrison: Living in the Material World (This is a 3 part doc, but it is directed by Martin Scorsese, so rest assured that is well done)

Chuck Berry - Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll

You've Got A Friend: The Carole King Story

Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

In terms of '60s and '70s general music contexts...

Documentaries:

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Disco Demolition: The Real Story

Woodstock (The General Concert Film)

The Last Waltz

Beatles '64

Groupies

The Disappearance of Shere Hite

Laurel Canyon

Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold

Sound City

Interviews I've listened to:

Lost Notes: Groupies (Podcast - Click to listen in full on Youtube. It's so good!)

The Ultimate Collected Spoken Words 1967-1970 (Jim Morrison CD you can listen to on Streaming Platforms with loads of Interviews)

The Doors - The Lost Interview Tapes Featuring Jim Morrison - Volume One

Boston Garden Backstage Interview with Jimi Hendrix - Live 11/16/68

Joni Mitchell, Jefferson Airplane and David Crosby Discuss Woodstock Festival - Link (This is my personal favourite)

Neil Young - The Lost Toronto Interview (November, 1968)

I can't think of anything else, but I'll update you if anything striking comes up. I have been meaning to see that new Led Zeppelin Doc "Becoming Led Zeppelin", so when I do, I'll let you know if it's worth the watch.

[scapegoated-if]

Hi! I noticed there was an update on August 1st and I wanted to ask if it was a new chapter release or just a general update. I'm really enjoying Scapegoated and just wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything new. Thank you! 💙

No new chapter release yet, just tiresome extremely overdue additions and editing. Sorry about the false alarm! And no, thank you for reading and reaching out.

[scapegoated-if]

hey, would it be possible for the post-Fleur scene with Vince to better take into account being in a strictly platonic relationship with him? i was redoing a lesbian playthrough as another bisexual playthrough (i wanted to get the scene with Dorinda where she questions you about Neil Young, and anyway i already conceptualized my MC as bisexual/homoromantic even if the game wouldn't make that distinction), but i rather liked the platonic lesbian version of the post-Fleur scene with Vince that didn't have any of that awkward romantic tension, so i tried to stick with being strictly platonic toward him again. yet, despite that, the scene still played out exactly as if we did have something going on? like i was sitting there going "since when did our relationship have any kind of sexual or romantic intent to it for Vince to get twisted up about"? hell, i got -1% romantic interest out of it. i don't think that's supposed to happen?

Hey! I gave the coding a read-over in case this issue is a victim of my one-week-editing-the-Prologue, and I have concluded it isn't... I think for now I'm going to leave it as it is so I can focus on finishing Chapter 2, but I will come back to it when I need a breather from the new chapter which is likely imminent!

Thank you for letting me know, though! I really do hate the coding in that scene because it was my first experience coding at all and I am haunted by and immensely thankful for the blunt constructive criticism I received on ChoiceScript from the experts. It's the kind of coding that could be immensely simplified, but it would take so much work.

When I initially wrote that scene, I had meant for it to be like a vague worry rather than romantic tension, so I'll try to rewrite in mind of the former soon! Thank you for again, my love!

Stay groovy!

[scapegoated-if]

Not related to your story but you like tennis?? I did not know that!! Tell me your faves pls 🥺🤲

LOVE tennis! The only notifications I have turned on on my phone, with zero exaggeration, is for the TNNS Live app... My favourite player currently, like many others, is Carlos Alcaraz. I'm constantly rooting for him.

My front runners for the US Open (in the sense that I want them to win the most): for ATP it's Andrey Rublev and for WTA it's Mirra Andreeva. For mixed doubles, I'm rooting for Alcaraz/Raducanu or NEWLY (because what in the world) Badosa/Draper.

In my heart of hearts, I have so much faith in Jack Draper and Daniil Medvedev, and I couldn't tell you why. In terms of WTA, the same courtesy extends itself to Maya Joint, Alycia Parks and Emma Raducanu for me; I have so much faith in them for some reason... Emma's 13+ places jump in rankings does speak for itself--we won't talk about Maya though.

And then Miss Gauff, Miss Swiatek and Mr Tiafoe OBVIOUSLY.

Also, I have a huge crush on Matteo Berrettini... and I find that embarrassing. That's all! What about you?

[scapegoated-if]

Kiki you're back and you're just trickling asks and you're driving me crazy, let me at your inbox 👹👹👹

In all seriousness, welcome and pls take your time ofc. This is just one of my favorite ifs and I've been a bit deprived, no biggie.

"no biggie"

[scapegoated-if]

Hi ✨

first; love your writing! The demo so far had me feeling all the feelings!

second; re the playlists suggestion ideas for penn and dori, i would find it interesting to head what songs make you think of them as characters.

(or for penn, the soundtrack they’d make for their bioflick?)

Thank you for sending in this anon because it couldn't be more well-timed! I have made two playlists: Dorinda's playlist encapsulates the romantic arc with her; and Penn's playlist encapsulates the romantic arc with him.

Disclaimer: There are approx. two songs in Penn's playlist that are more so about his character actually. I put them at the beginning! And with Dorinda's playlist in particular, "Luscious Lady" by Darondo is what I equate to be Shiloh and Dorinda's rekindling-cute.

I'm pretty proud of these playlists, honestly. It took so much thinking time... I hope you like them!

[scapegoated-if]

Hi i absolutely love your writing but this sentence is twisting my brain:

"You see a semblance of something you can't read on his face."

What... does it mean?

It’s a very convoluted phrasing of “an unreadable expression on one’s face”… my bad… When I tell you sometimes the more I write, the less English looks and sounds like English

[scapegoated-if]

are you planning on making a playlist for the other ROs? would LOVE one for penn and dorinda 🤲🏾

Hey! I can by all means! What kind of playlist do you have in mind? Anyone can opt in for this by the way, doesn't have to be this anon in particular. Would you prefer music they would listen to or songs that you think encapsulate their romance and character arc.

Vince was easiest to make a playlist for, because I made it in mind of his vocal and songwriting style, but Penn and Dori are not musical people to say the least haha

[scapegoated-if]

Vince's Very Chill reaction to finding out the MC hooked up with Neil Young totally didnt bother me at all hahhaa.....

Is he just that good at pretending or will this romance really burn this slow? TT

YOU THINK THIS IS A SLOW BURN?

[scapegoated-if]

Hypothetically what is a genre you hopefully would want to work on if you were to finish Scapegoated? And what would the story be about? Would you make it kinda like Scapegoat where you'd get to interact with real life people as well or would it be full on fictional characters?

Fun question! Scapegoated is a crossover of three genres and themes that I'm obsessed with already: music, film and horror. Thus, it's pretty hard to say and something I find hard to even think that far ahead about. I really love tennis--diabolically, actually. But I don't want to write a pro-tennis IF, strictly because it will never be as good as @collegetennisoriginstory (thank you, @allieebobo).

Two other likely potentials: science fiction, time travel; and the monarchy in a Princess Diaries, the Prince and Me trope way (I have a lot of ideas about how that could go in terms of ROs and etc).

Scapegoated is definitely one of a kind in terms of paying homage to real people, strictly because I see this as more of a love letter to the '60s-'70s scene. But, all in all, a fun possibility!

[scapegoated-if]

Hey everyone! I have made some brief, next to unnoticeable, edits to the Prologue and Chapter 1, so any saves progress you may have will no longer be there--apologies in advance. It has been months, so I figured now is the best time to make the edits and upload them. I do think there will be some new coding errors as a result, so a warning in advance for that as well...

That is all! (Returning to writing Chapter 2 now.)

Stay groovy!

[scapegoated-if]

what would be penn’s hypothetical letterboxd top 4? post-60s movies allowed 🙂‍↕️

He would definitely be the kind to accidentally go overboard during those red carpet interviews and give more than 4 films, and I feel like these films in particular have Penn written all over them.

The King of Comedy (1982) dir. Martin Scorsese Night of the Living Dead (1968) dir. George A. Romero Vortex (2021) dir. Gaspar Noé The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) dir. Robert Wiene Being There (1979) dir. Hal Ashby C'mon C'mon (2021) dir. Mike Mills Braindead (1992) dir. Peter Jackson An American Werewolf in London (1981) dir. John Landis

(Someone commented with After Hours, and I would even go as far as replacing Braindead with that to be honest, so thank you guys for understanding my characters so well!)

[scapegoated-if]

I'm so in awe of your art style every time... I'M IN LOVE!

smol doodle for my favourite fictional people because I've just finished reading the demo (again) <3

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Characters belong to Kiki's @scapegoated-if ! (except for Alice-the girlie)