#and the conductor and engineer are dating and really stupid about it

[1863-project]

[cleanlenins]

Social Engineer- We have been trying to contact you about your car’s extended warranty? 👀

Lol, so this one I don't have much more than a Summary, but when I get back into writing I will be very excited about it.

It's part of my A Different Direction series, where the overarching plot is that Sam's Dad, Jeremy Manson, is running against Vlad for Mayor.

This story has an A plot and a B plot.

A plot: A villain is making targetted scam calls to different people town, and hypnotizes them into emptying their bank accounts, and then dropping the mind control, leaving people to deal with the fallout. It's not known at first if it is a ghost, but Amity Park has all kinds of infographics warning of scam calls, the school even requiring students to watch cheesy dated videos on internet and phone safety. The Mansons would be one of the targets for this, and they would lose a sizable amount of money before Sam can jump in to stop them.

Where the A plot goes from there would depend on WHO I made the villain. I am tempted to do a Freakshow return, as it fits the story really well. And why would a ghost need money? But also, I love the idea of making a stereotypical sleazy Con Artist Ghost, but mix them with a train conductor imagery to get a Social Engineer. Because its a nice pun. But I am concerned that people might not enjoy an OC Villain as much.

Either way, with Freakshow OR OC villain, I am gonna use train imagery. However, I also have quite a few very silly phone call transcripts in mind for how people are going to get scammed. Very much based on all the stupid scam calls we get nowadays. Either way, I plan to make Sam the main person to figure the Scam Artist out.

B plot: It's gonna deal with the overarching election plot. There is a...specific character that Sam won't really trust, but Tucker and Danny think she is being too harsh. That said character is not as bad of a person that Sam thinks they are. Sam has a tendency in the show to be highly suspicious of people. Sam is going to go out of her way to prove that said character is bad, but it is going to keep blowing up in her face. Because there is NO EVIDENCE. And everytime Sam tries, it just makes SAM look bad. However, once the main A Plot is resolved, Sam is going to come to the revelation that Danny and Tucker are probably right and she is being too harsh. She will, reluctantly apologize. Said character will accept the apology gracefully, only to laugh in Sam's face because Sam IS correct and Character cannot be trusted. But now, no one will believe Sam. She dug her hole too deep. And anything Sam says won't even convince Danny and Tucker. Which is exactly what said character wanted.

Anyway, the fic would end on a slightly bitter tone. Because Sam won a great victory in against Big Villain, but may have lost more than she bargained for against a subtler one.

Can't say which character it is, though, because it would kinda ruin the surprise.

But it could be anyone.

[ducktracy]

123. page miss glory (1936)

release date: march 7th, 1936

series: merrie melodies

director: tex avery

starring: the varsity three (singing waiters), tommy bond (abner), bernice hansen (miss glory)

for the first time since 1934, someone other than friz freleng is directing a merrie melody—our good pal tex. throughout 1936 and 1937, tex would do both merrie melodies and looney tunes shorts, but eventually shifted over to doing a bulk of the merrie melodies, especially with freleng’s departure around 1938. he’d only do a handful of (strictly) looney tunes shorts after 1937, those being the haunted mouse and porky’s preview, both 1941. also notice how there’s no credits on the title card—according to tex avery, leon schlesinger was dating leadora congdon at the time, an artist from chicago. an art deco inspired cartoon, bellhop abner falls asleep on the job and dreams of what the esteemed miss glory’s arrival to the local hotel will be like.

welcome to hicksville, a remote, rural, hayseed little town. towns people prepare a banner that proudly reads “HICKSVILLE WELCOMES MISS GLORY”. the local hotel is also preparing for her arrival, a forest of flowers covering the front desk. the manager orders abner, a gangly, young, air-headed bellhop you hurry up and prepare for the big event. abner spots an advertisement for cigarettes, the bellhop on the flyer (a reference to the bellhop mascot for philip morris cigarettes) controlled and admirable. determined, abner imitates the bellhop’s pose, puffing oit his chest and marching around with his spindly legs, bellowing “all for miss glooooryyyyy!” i love his design (i love a LOT of the designs), the buck teeth, skinny legs and giant shoes convey a strong sense of lovable stupidity.

abner marches over to a bench and waits patiently... until, unprompted, he zips back to where he was and douses himself in some perfume for good measure. the sound of a car horn approaches, and eagerly does abner spring up, only to find two geese honking at each other. a long, drawn out horn has GOT to be miss glory. or not. a cow strolls by, even looking inside as if to say “nice try!” the set up and timing is fresh and amusing, and the backgrounds are exquisitely painted.

time marches on, literally. a cuckoo clock springs open and a bird blares a fanfare, declaring “time marches on!” (a gag that would be similarly used in porky’s romance, albeit under the guise of “time munches on!”) abner’s now asleep on the bench, and his surroundings dissolve around him into an art deco paradise. even his own design changes, like a reverse buddy transformation—going from buddy’s 1935 look back to his 1933 look.

the hotel grows into a beautiful high rise in the city, a sign out front donning it as the cosmopolitan hotel. a cheery underscore of “lullaby of broadway” welcomes the barrage of esteemed visitors—a long limousine produces a lanky woman in a red dress and blonde hair, whose face we do not see. there’s a great walk cycle of an old man parking his snazzy red car out front, appearing prim and proper as ever... until he waddles inside with a ridiculously entertaining walk cycle, carrying flowers.

he approaches abner, who’s still asleep on the bench. a few rings of the desktop bell wakes him up in a jiffy, and the man orders him to page miss glory. immediately, abner is surrounded by a gang of men waving their arms and ordering him to page miss glory. dutifully, abner salutes, once more marching away and declaring “all for miss glooooorrryyyyyy!” he passes a waiter, and they swap contents—abner now carries a bottle of beer and a shot glass on his tiny plate. he corrects the contents once more as he passes another waiter, the alcohol rightfully returned. a great, subtle gag as the pompous waiter passes by a plant. once he comes out the other end, the bottle is empty, his nose is red, his pace much slower than before.

look at those designs (well, abner covers up one of em)! i love them! my love of art deco is ignited in this cartoon. the three waiters bob around and sing “page miss glory”, vocals contributed by abner as well. i really like tommy bond as a voice actor. obviously he plays beans, and has lended his voice to a handful of merrie melodies, most memorably owl jolson in i love to singa. looking at this headshot from his little rascals days as butch, you wouldn’t figure him to be a great singer. he isn’t (the kid wasn’t even 10 years old here), but he’s very endearing and likable.

lovely art deco styled bottles frame a man placing ice cubes into shot glasses like chimes—the borders of the scene black wjth bright green, flat, bottles. two men shake cocktail shakers within an iris. great detail as we go back to the chorus of waiters and abner, wine glasses carelessly strewn about, some empty, some half full. back to the two shakers, who pour the cocktail into a flute. the flute widens into a small, wide glass instead of the stereotypical tall, skinny champagne flute. wonderfully creative as the drink is poured into the iris, now red. we see a tongue and some teeth appear as the drink flows right towards us, the iris mouth hiccuping and a hand gingerly covering the mouth.

champagne bottles are popped to the beat of the music, except one, which refuses to open. the music stops and all we hear is awkward fizzing as the man squeezes the bottle like a toothpaste tube. the bottle finally pops and the chorus resumes as normal, fun and creative. two orange/cherry garnishes dance over some cocktails with their toothpick legs, toppling into the drink. the chorus is finished out by the waiters once more, a hefty pile of wine glasses covering their faces as they sway around and wave their glasses in the air.

a pompous old woman in a striking yellow dress makes her presence known, strutting around. abner mistakes her for miss glory—she turns around and continues to march on. unfortunately, abner accidentally has his foot on her dress, and the dress tears. she gasps “oh!”, and grabs two palm fans to cover herself. thus launches an elaborate, entertaining dance sequence as she twirls around, poking her head out of the fans and giving an incongruous old lady laugh. an absolutely wonderful scene, animated by bob clampett. yesterday i had implied the entire scene was his, and looking back i doubt that’s true, so... my mistake! the half where she does the dance is definitely clampett. unfortunately, i’m unsure as to who does the first half. he turns her back to the audience... until realizing that her back is exposed (she’s wearing a slip, don’t worry). she does a take, whips around and covers herself bashfully. a great scene full of tex avery humor—making the sophisticated as unsophisticated and unceremonious as possible.

a rather rotund man demands he wants service, to which abner calls for said service. a waiter salutes, sticking out his leg and knocking over all of the other waiters next to him like dominoes. they scramble to throw a feast before the man, great timing as the whirlwind of food dies down and a waiter plucks a tiny cherry on top. even better as the waiter forces his hand through the tower of goods as we watch with bated breath. he pulls out a tiny little olive on a fork, a closeup of him taking a tiny, delicate little bite. he placed the fork down, dabs his mouth, and leaves. incongruity is strong, striking, and hilarious. i’d be willing to bet money that tex avery modeled for that character.

suddenly, a man announces over an intercom that miss glory is here. come to see america’s sweetheart. none of the guests need further invitation, including a decrepit old man in a wheelchair with a bandaged foot, who scrambles out of his chair and whirls forward (accompanied by the sound of a jet engine warming up), exclaiming “hot diggity dog!” food is dropped, newspapers are dropped, decorum is dropped as everyone rushes to the elevator.

abner attempts to dive in, too, but the doors slam in front of him. he tries again, and is booted out once more. the charade continues, faster and faster as abner is carelessly thrown about, trying his damnest to get in. eventually, he resorts to pulling back the arrow on the indicator and hopping inside. the elevator boy marches out just in time to hang up a sign that says “OUT TO LUNCH”.

an armada of men rush towards the screen, and we get a lovely transition to see the real miss glory—the blonde woman in red we caught a quick glimpse of at the beginning. the waiters sing another chorus of “page miss glory”, chimes contributed by abner who is furiously pressing every single button on the elevator to get it to work. a distance shot of the hotel and a lone elevator slingshotting up and down at great speeds. the perspective on the miss glory scenes are lovely, men walking right in front of the screen and even an overhead view. the elevator continues to zig zag to the music.

finally, the elevator rises to the correct floor. great perspective as abner makes a break for it, yet the doors slamming him back inside. the malfunctioning elevator slingshots around once more, the force so strong it breaks the roof. abner is propelled into the air and prepares to meet his demise. a ringing bell sound tricks us into thinking he’s breathed his last breath, but not at all—a train conductor is angrily ringing his bell to get abner out of the road (lovely visuals as the skyscraper seems to extend further into the ground behind him).

the real abner wakes up to find his hayseed hotel manager ringing the desk bell. miss glory has finally arrived, for real this time. a crowd gathers around an expensive limo, eagerly awaiting her arrival. abner opens the door for his esteemed guest...

and a cute little blonde marches out with a lollipop, an oversized sash bearing the title “MISS GLORY” nearly covering her entire body. abner contorts his lanky body just to get a good look, exclaiming “miss glory!” bernice hansen works her baby voice magic as miss glory giggles “that’s me, big boy!” the shock is too much for abner, who faints right into her arms. miss glory doesn’t mind, instead saying “boy, do i slay em!” a few happy licks of her lollipop, and she orders “play, don!” (a reference to radio personality jack benny). sure enough, an orchestral close and an iris out bring the cartoon to a close.

what a BEAUTIFUL cartoon! tex’s first merrie melody hits the ground running. the visuals are fresh, new, and exciting, from the backgrounds to the people to the props. tex works his magic and adds his own humor so the cartoon isn’t too much of an ode to promoting the song (which i haven’t found a commercial recording of)—making the pompous as un-pompous as possible. at times, the cartoon does feel a little convoluted, as if tex is juggling and trying to find a balance between humor, style, and song. i wonder if leadora congdon’s input serves as any detriment to tex’s working style. i believe i read where he said he didn’t care for this cartoon in his later years, which i can understand. that’s the thing about these reviews: you have to look at them with the eye of a viewer in 1936 (which i know i don’t at all, constantly making connections to future cartoons). it’s not at all tex’s best work, but considering what we’ve seen up until this point in time, it’s phenomenal. absolutely worth watching. the visuals are stunning and that ending is just fantastic.

link!

[argonapricot]

All of them

pearl: if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Right now? Japan. Just. You know. Because

sails: describe your perfect partner.

Someone with nice and positive energy, who is not super dependent on me but also values me a lot. Someone who has passions and hobbies! I’m usually attracted to how people animate themselves, rather than individual features? A violist musician, maybe. Someone who will listen to classical music with me, and share awesome non-classical jams with me! Someone who likes cats. Someone whose name starts with U.

lighthouse: how much makeup do you wear?

On average, none. For special events, or events that I am very anxious about, I might put on concealer/foundation. I kind of use the two interchangeably. And then maybe a Bit of eyeshadow and maybe a Bit of brown eyeliner, if I’m really feeling fancy. 

shells: would you prefer to be a vampire or a werewolf?

A vampire? Seems easier to control. And also potentially less painful. And hotter. Also I wouldn’t get my period anymore because I’d be undead sign me up.

mermaid: most embarrassing moment?

Once upon a time my school orchestra was corralled into the most mortifying gig on a radio show recording session to ever happen. I don’t think we were even invited, our conductor just made us show up. Only only half the orchestra did and it was the worst. thing. to ever happen.

turquoise: weirdest dream you’ve ever had?

Oh god, I’ve had a lot of weird dreams. I feel like I’m currently blanking on the weirdest. Surely I’ve already told you some good ones?

waves: favourite season and why?

FALL because the weather is nice and the breeze is nice and the smell is nostalgic and the trees are beautiful and aaaa there’s nothing like an autumn breeze

breakers: would you ever consider getting married?

I mean. Yeah.

seafoam: describe your ideal summer vacation.

You, me, the squad, a beach. Ideally featuring me beating Hannah at something.

rain: if it were possible, what exotic animal would you keep as a pet?

I mean possible as in “safe” or “legal” or “practical”? Like. Snow leopards are gorgeous and big cats can be pretty catlike but I don’t think they’d be very happy in closed quarters.

sunlight: least favourite song?

Clarissa’s stupid bear song on the piano

marine: would you ever consider plastic surgery?

I don’t think I’d ever go through with it? Sometimes I’m just like “wow my skin sucks imagine getting fake skin that wouldn’t betray me like this”, but idk if that’s even possible. Other than that I’m… actually pretty happy with my facial features.

sea glass: what do you consider to be your best physical feature?

I’ve been told that I have an Adorable Nose. I’ve also been complimented on my eyebrows, and also sometimes my eyes, but uh. I think the most Compelling part of my physical appearance is just like. The way I emote. Idk. Anyone care to cast a vote?

storm: do you like piercings and tattoos? Why or why not?

As in… on myself? On other people? In the context of sexual attraction? I have my ears pierced, and other piercings can look really good on other people. So can tattoos! But I don’t really think I’m likely to get either.

boardwalk: who is your favourite fictional couple?

Caslyn/Haven

coral: if you had to describe your personality as a food, what would you be and why?

Um. I would be… a cream puff. Because I deflate easily.

nymph: old-fashioned or modern decor?

I like both! For a living space of my own, maybe modern.

seawater: scariest movie you’ve ever watched?

The opening sequence to the Uzuki Files

siren: in a fantasy setting, would you be a warrior, rogue or mage?

Why can’t I be a rogue warrior mage tho. 

tropic: what is your least favourite thing about your appearance?

My skin! If it could just  be clear, all the time, I would feel honestly so much better about myself.

aquamarine: describe your dream date.

Oh gee, I don’t know. Nice weather, and maybe some nice pastries, and maybe outdoors somewhere with some nice conversation? And maybe some handholding or cuddling or little cheek kisses.

brine: gold or silver?

Depends on the application! But my Inner Aesthetic dictates silver.

tidal: what is a colour that best describes your personality?

Uh. I mean I think that depends on the mood my personality is filtered through. 

azure: what is something that you do that makes you happy?

You! Also, elves. Also, nice weather.

fog: describe where you think you’ll be in five years.

Uhh. Living in an apartment in Massachussetts with you and Emma while you two get graduate degrees in engineering and biology or somethings. I will be freelancing art and graphic design even though I will have been able to major in neither. Idk.

coastline: what is your favourite flower?

Azaleas!

shallows: what is your typical Starbucks order?

Tall iced mocha with whipped cream. 

voyage: what are your favourite names?

We made a giant ass spreadsheet of our favorite names, I don’t know which to select for the purpose of this ask meme! Um. Nikolai, obviously. And……. I’ve always loved the name Lyla. 

shipwreck: do you have an OC? If so, describe them.

mkay so we have:

Riava - a wreck, a mess, stammers a bunch, very timid and wishy washy in the face of death and torture, has no legs,  a badass girlfriend who you hate. Possibly also in a relationship with the badass girlfriend’s twin brother Randy.

Ayra - a Badass Amazing CalmTM paladin knight lady with an overprotective streak and a lot of Really Cool Skillz. She works very hard and takes things very seriously, and doesn’t have time for boys. That aren’t her brother/adopted puppy Destian.

Caslyn - A lot more capable and level-headed than Riava, but also kind of a mess? Does magic and ships. Basically married to a lovey competent ship’s captain. Probably going to end up kicking Hannah’s crying rear-end.

Steph - a de-armadillo’d armadillo person who is good at quests and swords and Inner Conflict. Passed up an amazing and gr8 and not-evil sword Silverlight for the alternatively Super Evil And Powerful/Super Clueless And Convinced Tat My Mom Is Pregnant Darklight. What a wild ride

cerulean: do you believe in true love?

As in like, a predestined perfect love that happens automatically and sustains itself without effort? Nnnnah. All relationships take work and attention and trust. I believe in very complete, genuine love, but that doesn’t mean infallible or inevitable.

shoreline: if you could become fluent in another language, which would you pick and why?

Either french, because it sounds Good and Nice and kind of already know my way around the language a little, or Korean because I spend a lot of time listening to people speak Korean and the rhythm is really different from English and the idea of being able to understand it is really attractive.

Or yknow. Elf languages.

tsunami: describe a dream outfit of yours.

A spandex kilt over purple overalls, idk????? I don’t know how Fashion.

riptide: are you introverted or extroverted? Are you happy with this?

Introverted all the way. Which like. I wouldn’t say always makes me happy, because I suffer a lot, but I’m… kinda proud of it. Tis the way of my family.

hurricane: describe a strange habit of yours.

Sometimes I eat raisins and pretend that the raisin box is a pack of cigarettes, and I’m, uh… smoking? Them? Eating some drugs? Don’t ask me how that works, I’m too lame.