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zaprlcorn · 4 years ago

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Venus Rx and Fated Relationships

Is it possible you could meet your future spouse during a retrograde?

A retrograde is when a planet reverses its motion—it moves backwards. Depending on the planet, retrogrades can last anywhere from 30 days to ~6 months. Venus goes retrograde approx every 18 months. Venus is the closest planet to Earth. In a world filled with hopeless romantics and love being the goal of life, when Venus goes retrograde, the effects are felt heavily.

Venus retrograde is a time when we are called to reassess ourselves in terms of “Venusian” things. These “things” revolve around love (internal or external), relationships, values, finances, pleasures, etc.

Because Venus is widely known as the planet of “love” it is no surprise that many people get into relationships when the planet goes retrograde. We’ve heard of exes coming back during Mercury retrograde to get closure (revising communication), but what about going back to people from past lives? Because retrogrades revisit the path a planet was once on, we do the same here on Earth. During this time, many people find themselves in relationships—specifically, “fated” relationships.

At the most basic level, our goal on this Earth is to procreate, carry on our lineage, and achieve happiness in some shape or form. The primary way of life goes: fall in love, have kids, and strengthen our family line. You hear songs about love on the radio, you see it in movies, shows, books, poetry; Love has been an emotion untouched since the beginning of time, so much that the idea of a “soulmate” is popular in pop culture and worldwide. Since astrology has gained popularity over the years, so has the term “twin flame”. A twin flame is essentially the idea that you are the half of somebody else’s soul, resulting in a star crossed lovers tale like Romeo and Juliet (with or without the suicide). In astrology, it has been proven that you can see karmic connections via synastry between two individuals—whether that’s two friends, an employee and boss, or a mother and child. However, in this post, I want to focus on the karmic connection between two people in the romantic aspect.

NOTE: I do NOT condone or support concept of twin flames for many reasons. This post is in no way shape or form about twin flames, saying the persons in this post are twin flames, or saying that you will meet your twin flame during Venus Rx.

Over the years, I have noticed that many people find a long-term partner, or even their spouse during Venus retrograde, in this thread I want to focus on one couple, in particular, that seems to prove the theory to be true:

Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid.

August 9th, 2015

Venus, Uranus, and Jupiter were all trine each other at this time. Indicating an abundance of out of the blue fated connections and relationships.

There’s no denying that Zayn and Gigi are pretty much in “soulmate” territory. Despite breaks and breakups, they’ve amounted a total of 5 years together. Five years ago, when Zayn and Gigi first met, the planet Venus was in retrograde, which Zayn actually mentions in his song cruel:

Venus in converse, you put a spell on me

Converse: a situation, object, or statement that is the reverse of another or corresponds to it but with certain terms transposed.

Zayn and Gigi met at Kylie Jenner’s birthday party, on August 9th, 2015. The song Cruel is about meeting somebody at a party and feeling a spark. Put two and two together.

When looking at Gigi’s chart, Jupiter was transiting her 5th house with a pretty tight conjunction to Venus (3 degrees separation) in the sign of Leo meaning that Venus and Jupiter were in an exact conjunction that Summer.

Leo is ruled by the Sun, the center of our universe, the Sun shines down on humanity and makes everything beautiful. Leo is home to the 5th house.

The 5th house is the house of relationships, sex, children, parties, creativity, and joys. Speaking of Joys—Venus’ joy is in the 5th house, meaning that this is an extremely favourable place for Venus to be (side note, Zayn had a planetary joy transit himself during this time. His moon was transiting his 3rd house and 3H Moon represents the Goddess.) She enjoys being in the 5th house, as she can utilize everything on the table in that room of the house.

Moreover, Jupiter, at the utmost basic level, has to deal with abundance. Jupiter being in the 5th house is favorable because the sign Jupiter rules (Pisces) is the sign Venus is exalted in. That said, Venus conjunct Jupiter in the sign of Leo equals an overflowing abundance of Venusian energy. It should also be noted that Jupiter rules a woman's husband in the birth chart. At this time, Gigi was in a VERY FAVORABLE position to meet her potential spouse. Moreover, when Jupiter crosses one’s 5th house, this indicates that a woman could meet her husband.

“Whenever Jupiter and the lord of 7th house transits the first or ninth house this is more indicative of things like Marriage commitment, deeper and strong relationships. And if Venus or Jupiter itself rule these houses then it is a double significant of relationships.“

Lord of Gigi’s 7H: Mars & Pluto

Mars was transiting her 4H, ready to cross over to her 5th

Pluto was transiting her 9H

“The seventh house represents connecting with others in a physical bonding and 9th house represents long term relationship.”

Now, remember when I said the Moon was transiting Zayn’s third house? The Moon changes signs every 2-2.5 days, so this transit came and went, but it was extremely fitting for the moment. The Moon was in Gemini, the sign of communication.

The 5th house is the house of relationships, sex, children, parties, creativity, and joys.

Where did Zayn and Gigi meet? What happens at parties?

Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury (Gemini’s planetary ruler) were in a nice conjunction during this time. The Moon was also making a few aspects to Zayn’s natal Moon that day.

Moon in aspect with his Venus in the 1st house (opposite of the seventh house, house of long term relationships) within 1 degree of each other. Venus signifies ones girlfriend or wife in the natal chart.

Moon in aspect with his Jupiter in the 7th house (opposite of first house, house of self and the physical body)

“The ascendant represents the body in the individual of the person who wants the relationship.”

Another thing to note is the planet Uranus. Uranus is an outer planet known for causing upheaval and out-of-the-blue events. During this time, Uranus was transiting Zayn’s 1st house of self. Another thing to consider is his natal 7H Jupiter sextiling Uranus transiting his 1H, which means positive, but abrupt change in relationships.

“This is a good time to tackle difficult tasks that have caused frustration or limitations in the past.” Venus Rx tends to bring people into your life who you’ve had a “past life” connection with.

Because of Uranus’ influence, Zayn’s life was a bit all over the place, so he found himself in a more adventurous state. Because his 11H (the 11H is responsible for social circles) Sun and transiting 1H Uranus were in a square aspect within 2 degrees, That said, Zayn was meeting new people and doing new things with said new people.

We got such a spiritual connection...

Zayn and Gigi are a great example of proving Venus Rx to be a time for cuffing szn. Despite having breaks and breakups, they’ve always found their way back to each other.

I’ve spoken to many other people to have met their partners during Venus retrograde, and almost all of them say it’s like a spark. They feel an automatic deep sense of familiarity with their partner, saying it’s like a spiritual connection.

Zayn is always singing about Gigi and him having this spiritual, fated, and past life connection:

I been feeling high when I touch your body That's how I feel the soul inside her body

— Flight of the Stars (2018)

Think I'm from space, my soul fell down I found the Earth, not leaving now I know your face, think you fell too And ain't no place now, if I got you

— If I Got You (2018)

We got such a spiritual connection, Don't you know you're fuckin' beautiful?

— Common (2018)

I found my life in between shots and getting high The cage I was in fell away when she asked me to dance again I found my life in between a first kiss and a last goodbye

— BRIGHT (2016)

Girl we'd still make it If the planets all faded away

— Imprint (2018)

I know I seen your face In different times and places

....

We can be Something divine, planets align where we should be

— Talk to Me (2018)

With all being said, I think it’s safe to say if you’re looking for love, lookout for the next Venus retrograde (or look for 5th, 7th, or 9th house transits). Sometimes the universe throws somebody in your path and it’s fated. While Zayn and Gigi are an example in the media, I’ve seen it happen numerous times with everyday people. While some find their exes coming back around for a second try, or end up in murky karmic relationships, for the most part: Venus Rx seems to be a good place to start if you’re looking.

Venus retrograde does not always mean things will work out because retrogrades are here to reassess things we did not master in the past. But love is all about taking chances. So take your chance, and have fun. Soul mates do exist, and you may end up finding the one.

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lost-in-the-80s · 4 years ago

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You Don’t Want My Love - Chapter 7

Pairing: Duff McKagan x reader

Words: 3,899k

Summary: Guns n Roses hires a new tour assistant, but nobody thought that Duff would fall for her.

In this chapter: Late night talks on the bus can sometimes be your best friend. The band goes to a Scottish pub, but what happens when you mix love with beer?

A/N: The only thing I can say after finishing this chapter is that I want Duff McKagan in my life! Enjoy… (new chapters every Tuesday)

Tag list: @roger-taylors-car @ladieswttda @teasid @metalheartofgold @ginny-rose-sixx @rumoured-whispers @vinylvintage @metalupyourash add yourself to my tag list :)

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

“Where’s my vodka?” Duff asked, searching inside the cabinets in the dressing room.

“Duff, don’t you think you’ve had enough for a day?” Y/N asked, concerned, he had drank a bottle already.

“Relax, sweetheart, I’ll be fine, I just want to ease my nerves....” He opened the last door, grinning widely. “Here it is!”

He placed the bottle on the top of the table, searching for a new plastic glass.

Y/N reached forward, grabbing the bottle just when Duff placed a glass beside it.

“Y/N, let go of the vodka, please.” He looked into her eyes, his tone was serious but his eyes had a glimpse that she couldn’t quite identify.

“No.” She took the bottle away from the table.

“Y/N…” He prolonged her name. “You don’t want me to go there and pick it, right?” He smirked, the glimpse in his eyes getting intensified, allowing her to identify it - mischief.

He started walking slowly towards her, while she started backing off.

“Y/N…” He said it again but she sprinted off the room, running through the corridors with him chasing her.

At some points he almost got her, but there was always someone passing by that could be used as an obstacle.

She grinned seeing the exit door at the end of the hallway. Pushing the door open, she met with bright sunshine. Looking back she couldn’t see Duff, she started moving backward slowly, facing the door trying to see any sight of the blonde.

Y/N abruptly stopped when her back hit against something, or better, someone.

Turning around slowly she found Duff, he moved his arms and she closed her eyes by instinct, opening them when she felt him circling her waist and pulling her closer.

He pressed his lips against hers, in a sweet and slow kiss. Forgetting completely about the bottle, she reached behind his neck with her arms, dropping the bottle beside her and pulling him even closer.

The crackling sound made him smile in the kiss, before he slowly pulled away from her.

“You good?” He looked down to see if she hadn’t cut herself.

---

A strong glow accompanied by a deafening crash woke Y/N. Looking out of the window she could see the rays covering the sky as heavy rain hit the road.

Great, we're under a storm. She thought to herself.

Hitting her head against the pillow, she grunted, running her hands over her face. Obviously it was a dream, Y/N.

She even tried to sleep, but she never liked storms, even when she was a child, they always made her scared and alert, two things that made it impossible for her to fall asleep.

Looking for her slippers on the floor, she got up, walking slowly to the common area of the bus, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with both hands.

Opening the door, her eyes locked on Duff’s. He was sitting in one corner of the couch with an acoustic guitar on his lap, the radio was turned on at a low volume, playing some band that she had never heard before.

They stared at each other for a few seconds under the bad lighting generated by the red emergency lamps on the bus, and her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she recalled the dream she had just had, internally hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Can't you sleep?"

"I don't like storms very much." She headed for the small kitchen on the bus, turning on the lamp in the wall cabinet. "I came to make tea to see if it helps."

"It's been raining for a while, but the lightning started a little ago."

"Haven't you gone to sleep yet?" She looked at the clock on the bus, 4:10 am.

"I wasn’t sleepy, too many thoughts in my head."

"I know how it is." She murmured. "Do you want tea?"

"No, thank you."

Silence washed over the room, and she turned to face the electric kettle, waiting for the water to boil.

Focusing on the ambient sounds, the beat of the music enveloped her ears and she realized that Duff was playing the same song on the guitar, but on notes so soft they could hardly be heard in the rain.

"Which band is this?" She turned to him.

“Ramones. They are from New York. ” He stopped playing, looking into her eyes.

"It looks like a movie soundtrack ... of those that play before an adventure scene."

He smiled at her words. “It’s a tape I made, they are my favorite songs of theirs. This is I Wanna Be Sedated.”

"It's a good song." She turned, taking the boiling water to finish her tea.

"Now you can't say that you've never heard anything punk." He said remembering the conversation they had had at the record store a few months ago.

"Is that punk?" She opened her eyes wide. "I thought it would be something worth scaring little children." She laughed a little.

"No, it's not like that." He giggled. “They were the first band, you know? They arrived at the label with this tape with several 2-minute songs and ended up revolutionizing rock ”

She smiled when she saw the sparkle in his eyes when he spoke.

"Do You Wanna Dance?" He said calmly and she choked on the tea.

"What!?"

He laughed. "The music." He pointed to the radio, she hadn't even noticed that another song was playing. "This is the last one of the tape."

"Well, I don't know if I would listen to them willingly, but they are good!" She sat on the same couch as him, leaving some space between them.

"I figured you’d like it." He smiled putting the guitar on the floor.

"Yeah, but you're not always right."

"What you mean?"

"Those Dead Kennedys suck!" She said laughing.

"Oh no!" He touched his chest. "You’re hurting me, Y/N!"

“Like… Drug Me? What song is that!?”

"Yeah, maybe I gave you the wrong band." He laughed, leaning his head against the wooden panel that blocked the bus ladder.

The tape came to an end and the bus went silent again, only the noise of rain and wind being noticeable.

"What now?" She pointed with her thumb at the radio.

"I'll let you choose something."

Standing up and adjusting her knit shorts, she walked over to the radio, turning the station knob until she found a song she liked, playing at a local station.

"Scorpions?" He frowned.

"Is that their name?" She asked laughing, returning to sit next to him, this time closer.

He laughed as he shook his head. "I think I'm going to have to give you some rock lessons."

"Only if I give you some pop lessons!" Y/N smiled.

He pursed his lips. "That makes it difficult."

She laughed at his response, but then I Want To Know What Love Is started playing and she went silent with embarrassment, afraid that Duff would realize that the song represented exactly how she felt.

“So, where are you from?” She looked at him, trying desperately to initiate some conversation that could take her mind away from the song.

“Seattle. Born and raised there.” He smiled.

“Just you or you have siblings?”

“I have seven older siblings.”

“Wow! God bless your mom!” She widened her eyes.

“She’s a good woman. She would like you.”

Y/N looked down, trying to cover the smile that formed on her lips.

“What about you? Any siblings?”

“I have one brother. He’s five years younger.”

“The two of you get along well?”

She yawned, the tea finally bringing sleep back to her. "Most of the time. He's a good boy. Started in college last year. ” A small smile formed on her lips.

“What’s his name?”

"Kevin." She placed the cup on the coffee table, resting her head against the back of the couch. "The nickname is Kenny." She closed her eyes, trying to fight sleep.

"I bet he’s very proud to be your brother." Duff said, looking at her closely and realizing that she was almost asleep.

"Yeah, maybe." She murmured.

After a few seconds of not moving, Duff called her name, but got no answer. She had slept.

He laughed softly, stretching his long legs on the coffee table, pulling Y/N to lie against his chest. She looked so small in that big sweater.

She moved a little while still sleeping, finding a comfortable position for her head right over his heart.

Duff wrapped his arms around her, gently kissing the top of her head. "Good night, Y/N."

And the sleep that had disappeared, finally came, if the cause of it was the sun coming up or the smell of her perfume? He couldn't say. But he closed his eyes, sighing deeply, allowing himself to sleep.

---

"Awn, look at them!" Steven said excitedly.

"Shut up, you're going to wake them up!" Axl replied.

"And isn't that the intention, idiot?" Slash asked, slapping the back of Axl's head.

Slowly, Duff started to open his eyes, all four were standing in front of him. Looking down, Duff saw her sleeping, she looked so peaceful, her hand was on his chest and her lips were slightly parted.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Izzy said, smirking.

Looking at the watch, he saw that it was 9:30 in the morning.

"We stopped for breakfast." Axl said, throwing a leather jacket over his shoulder before getting off the bus, being accompanied by Izzy.

"You guys look so cute together!" Steven exclaimed and Y/N moved a little.

Slash started pushing Steven lightly by the shoulders off the bus, leaving Duff and Y/N there.

She started to open her eyes slowly and Duff removed some hair from her face.

"Hey, good morning." He said in a soft voice.

Hearing Duff's voice she got up quickly, sitting on the couch and looking around, finally realizing that she had slept with him, or on him.

"My goodness! I'm sorry, Duff! Wow, I fucked up big this time!” She ran her hands through her hair, trying to untangle it, avoiding looking him in the eye.

"It's alright."

She kept looking ahead, so he touched her chin, gently turning her face to him. "It's alright." He smiled gently.

Slowly, Y/N nodded.

"Axl said we stopped for breakfast."

"Oh my God, did he see me like that?" She covered her mouth with her hand.

"Everyone saw it, but relax, they don't care." He smiled trying to comfort her.

"You coming?" He asked getting up, ducking his head so he wouldn't hit the ceiling.

“I'm going to change first. I'll be there in a few minutes. ” She smiled slightly.

Duff nodded and left the bus.

"Oh. My. God." She said slowly. The thought of spending the night in Duff's arms made a smile come over her lips as she slowly walked over to her suitcase, still not believing what had happened.

Wearing the first jeans she found, she kept her sweater on, brushing her teeth quickly and heading toward the cafe.

Sitting next to Slash and Axl, she asked for coffee with pancakes, avoiding the look in the boys' eyes.

"So Duff, did you sleep well?" Axl asked, smirking, making Slash nudge him.

"Yes, I did." Duff tried to be casual, but there was no way to make the situation any less embarrassing.

"Y/N." Izzy's voice made her look at him, hoping it wasn't another joke. "The driver said that we’ll get to Edinburgh in the early afternoon, do we have anything to do today?"

She breathed a sigh of relief. "No, today is a free day."

Izzy nodded, turning his attention to the coffee.

"I want to go to a pub tonight." Slash announced.

"Hell yeah!" Duff agreed, high fiving the friend over the table.

"You know what, I'm going with you!" Axl announced, leaning against the chair.

“I think we could all use a night of fun. Izzy? Y/N? What do you say? ” Steven said, his eyes sparkling with the idea.

"Maybe." Izzy said without taking his eyes off the newspaper he was reading.

Steven looked at her hopefully.

"Why not?" She brought a piece of the pancake to her mouth.

"I think the night is going to be good!" Slash said smiling.

“8 o'clock, in the hotel lobby? What do you say?" Axl asked, receiving confirmation from each of them.

---

For the rest of the day she found a book in her suitcase, sitting near the bus window and listening to a tape of The Rolling Stones that Izzy had loaned her.

As much as her eyes were on the book, her mind wandered freely about the night before. Recalling how his skin glowed with the thin red light, how relaxed he looked and how soft his voice was when he spoke to her.

He had become the first good memory during a storm. And to be honest, she had even forgotten that it was raining when she was with him.

Around two in the afternoon they arrived in Edinburgh. Checking in and choosing a coat, she went out for lunch, meeting Slash in the hotel lobby, the two of them decided to have lunch together, walking quietly through the city streets.

“How was your night, Y/N? Sleep well?" Slash asked, smirking.

"Oh no! You too!?" She crossed her arms.

"Relax, I'm just bugging you." He laughed. "But you were so cute cuddling together this morning." He smiled, mocking her.

She pushed him lightly by the shoulder. "You will never let me forget this, will you?"

"Nope!" He smiled proudly and she rolled her eyes, not holding herself and giving a small smile.

After placing their orders, the two sat at a table by the window.

Looking at the gray sky and the cold wind that hit the streets, she sighed. "I wanted to go with a skirt tonight, but I think it's too cold for that."

“We are going to drink! You won't even know what's cold after the third beer.”

She pursed her lips, making them a thin line. "Yeah, that worries me too."

"Why?"

"Let's say I get drunk very quickly." She gave a nasal laugh as she remembered the last Christmas party, when she had a few glasses of punch she ended up sleeping in the middle of the party.

“Relax, we'll be with you. We take care of each other. ” He offered her a smile and then the two started eating, remaining in comfortable silence, except for some comments about the food here and there.

After returning to the hotel, Y/N found herself without much to do. She reorganized her bags, watched MTV and even danced when some music she liked was playing on television.

When the clock struck 7, she took a shower, drying her hair with the hotel dryer and applying light makeup. Searching among her clothes she chose a white and black skirt that she combined with a black long-sleeved blouse and long black boots. Wearing a long black coat and applying perfume, she left the room, heading for the lobby.

After a few minutes, everyone arrived and together they took two taxis towards a famous pub in the city.

Sitting at a table at the back of the establishment, “Beer Night” began, as Axl decided to call it.

The place was poorly lit, there were dark wooden tables matching chairs with red upholstery. The walls were exposed brick and there were some decorative pictures scattered around.

To her right, Y/N could see a tall counter, behind it were several craft beer machines, as well as a variety of other drinks like whiskey and liquor on shelves on the wall.

Choosing a round table in the corner of the establishment, Y/N sat down between Duff and Axl, widening his eyes when a big glass mug full of beer was placed in front of her.

"Am I supposed to drink all of this?" She pointed to the mug, looking at the boys.

"Relax, there's food to go with it." Axl told her, and then two servings of appetizers were placed in the center of the table.

When the second round of beer arrived, Y/N was already more than dizzy, she found everything funny, while the boys started talking louder and louder.

"Tell her how you broke your hand, Popcorn!" Duff said laughing, his arm was supported on the back of her chair.

"Oh no!" He ran a hand over his face, shaking his head.

"Come on! I want to know!!" She prolonged the last word by making puppy eyes.

“Okay… It was just a few weeks before the tour started, I was leaving this bar and a guy and I got into a fistfight. As you can imagine, I was not very sober, I tried to punch the guy, ended up slipping and hitting my fist against a street lamp.”

Everyone at the table laughed at the incident, Axl even put his hand on his belly to try to relieve the pain that formed in his abdomen thanks to his laughter.

Two mugs and many excuses to go to the bathroom later, they decided to go to the hotel. To be fair they didn’t decide to go to the hotel, in fact, the owner of the pub expelled them saying that it was closing time.

It was funny to see the man getting mad, none of the six were used to the Scottish accent, understanding what he was saying became even more difficult with all the beer they had had.

The last thing Y/N heard was the man growling "Fucking cunts!" before slamming the door behind them.

To be fair, it took them 15 minutes to get out of there, drinking the rest of the beer from the mugs and laughing at his accent. So she understood why he was so angry.

Stumbling to get into a taxi with Duff and Izzy, Y/N found herself leaning against the blonde's side, who put his arm over her shoulders.

"Your hair is so beautiful." She laughed, touching his hair.

"You are beautiful." He replied smiling.

She laughed again, laying her head on his shoulder, rubbing her nose against the skin of the blonde's neck. "I love your smell." She whispered and it was the last thing she saw before everything became black.

"Y/N! ... Y/N, we're here!" She opened her eyes, realizing that the taxi had parked in front of the hotel, Izzy had already left and Duff was waiting for her.

"Hum? Are we here yet? ” Her voice was drunk, skidding on every word.

"Yes, love." He smiled, getting out of the car and waiting for her.

Stumbling on the sidewalk step, Duff caught her, laughing.

"Damn boots!" She murmured, breaking free of Duff's arms and sitting on the floor in the middle of the sidewalk.

"What is she doing?" Slash asked in a slurred voice.

"Taking off her boots." Duff said. The two looked at each other and started laughing.

Trying to get up, she realized that it was a more difficult task than she imagined, as she fell down sitting again.

"Ouch ... I can't get up." She complained.

Rolling his eyes, Axl pulled her by the hands, helping her to her feet.

Analyzing the situation from the outside, it was clear that Axl and Duff were the two most sober people there, as far as possible, of course.

"Where's Izzy?" Axl asked Duff.

"He's already in." He pointed to the hotel door.

"Okay, take the lady “I can't stand up” to her room while I take care of these two."

Duff nodded, putting an arm around her waist, guiding her into the hotel.

Standing in front of the elevators, Y/N looked at Steven, he was already looking at her.

"What?" She asked.

"What?" He frowned and they both started laughing again.

Duff's elevator opened the doors and he entered, taking the girl with him.

"Good night boys. I love you!" She said in her slurred voice, but the doors closed before she could receive an answer.

Stopping in front of her bedroom door, she took a few seconds to find the lock, turning around abruptly before opening the door, facing Duff.

One of his arms was propped against the doorframe, making him only inches away from her.

“Can’t you open it? ” He asked.

"I already opened it." She smiled victoriously, leaning her head against the door and tilting her chin to stare into his eyes.

"What is it then?"

"I want you to kiss me." She whispered, moving her face close to his.

"Y/N." He prolonged her name in a warning tone.

"Please." She sighed, standing on her tiptoes.

Slowly, Duff leaned his head down and she closed her eyes, waiting for the kiss, but it never came.

Opening her eyes again, she found two brownish-green orbs staring at her.

"Not like this, you’re drunk." He said in a low voice. "Can you handle yourself or do you need help with anything else?" He pulled away from her, clearing his throat.

"I can handle it." She said looking down, unable to hide her disappointment. "Good night Duff." Entering the room she closed the door before he could respond to her words.

---

The next morning, Y/N woke up to a loud noise echoing in the room. Opening her eyes, it took her several seconds to realize it was the phone.

She frowned when a severe headache hit her as soon as she stepped out of bed.

"Hello?" Her voice was slurred with sleep.

"Good morning Y/N." It was Tom, he had traveled the week before. The initial plans were for him to accompany the band for at least three months, but an unforeseen event with a band in the United States made him rush back.

"Good morning, Tom." She rubbed her eyes, lying back on the bed.

"How is it going?"

“Everything is going ok. The boys are behaving, just the usual delays and problems” She said referring to drugs and drinking.

"Good to know, because I’ll need you to take care of everything for a few more weeks."

"What happened?"

“It is difficult to explain over the phone, many things have not gone as planned and they are about to lose their contract. I will have to stay longer. ”

"Ah, yes ... I understand."

"Call me if something serious happens, and if they start to get out of control let me know and I'll get someone to help you."

"Alright, and don’t worry, I’ll warn you if something happens. ”

"Right." She could hear the sound of something metallic falling on the floor. “Sorry, I have to go. Take care, Y/N. ”

"You too, Tom." She hung up the phone, realizing it was 11 am, the soundcheck would start in a few hours.

Closing her eyes, flashes from last night hit her, fast like lightning. A dark-haired man yelling at them, Duff waking her up in the taxi and her taking off her boots on the sidewalk.

She couldn't remember entering the hotel, much less arriving in her room. Looking around she saw her clothes from the night before scattered on the floor, all except the shirt she was wearing. Her hair smelled like a mixture of cigarettes, shampoo and beer and she noticed that she had broken a nail.

"What the hell happened last night?"

#harley writes #you don't want my love #duff mckagan #duff mckagan fic #duff mckagan fanfic #duff mckagan imagine #duff mckagan x reader #guns n roses #guns n roses fanfic #guns n roses fic #guns n roses imagine #guns n roses x reader #gnr #gnr imagine #classic rock #classic rock imagine

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20xbetterthanu · 4 years ago

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Photograph

Blaine hasn't seen Kurt since they broke up when they were twenty. When they see one another again ten years later at a New Directions reunion party, Blaine can't help but fall in love with Kurt all over again.

Read on AO3 here

——

Blaine watched from across the room. He watched Kurt dance with Rachel, watched him dance with Mercedes. He wasn’t looking in Blaine’s direction—either he didn’t know he was there or he was avoiding him. Everyone was surrounding him, hugging him, kissing him, dancing with him. Blaine silently watched it in a corner, sipping from his drink.

He hadn’t seen Kurt in person in about ten years. But he saw him everyday on magazines and billboards, on television. He could listen to him on Spotify, if he wanted to. None of that compared to finally seeing him in person, though.

He looked stronger—like he’d been working out. His hair was longer. He was more confident, his every move sure and certain. He looked happy.

Blaine was still watching him when suddenly Kurt looked up and locked eyes with him. Blaine’s immediate impulse was to avert his eyes, but he forced himself to hold his gaze. Kurt’s lips turned up in an infinitesimal smile. Blaine raised his hand to give a little wave. Kurt waved back and then turned to talk to Rachel.

The night continued, Tina pulling Blaine onto the dance floor for a few dances and polite conversation about how everyone was doing. Rachel had won her fifth Tony. Puck had been stationed in Japan for a year. Tina had starred in a movie that Artie had directed. Sam had lead the New Directions to their sixth Nationals win. Santana was a successful publicist.

Blaine hadn’t been unsuccessful. He went back to college, studied musical therapy. He worked with children at the University Hospital where he lived. But it still stung to hear everyone else’s success, in what they all had actually wanted to do. It was never Blaine’s plan to be a therapist—his dreams didn’t come true.

He pushed that thought to the back of his head as he was surrounded with old friends. Not the time to be bitter. It wouldn’t help anything.

He made his way to his corner again, content to watch rather than participate. Watch Kurt in particular.

He didn’t know why the man had all of his attention. He’d dated since Kurt. He had been in a relationship with a guy named Matthew for two years before they ended up breaking up. Blaine had wanted kids—something they disagreed on. So they broke it off.

But Kurt—he looked like a movie star…his voice was smoother than Blaine remembered.

Blaine began to say his goodbyes—he didn’t really want to stay much longer. He was tired and sad and just really wanted to lay down and watch Grey’s Anatomy.

There was a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, expecting Mike or Sam, but instead was greeted with Kurt. “You weren’t planning on leaving without dancing with me, were you?” Blaine just stared. Kurt poked his shoulder gently. “Blaine?”

Blaine swallowed thickly. “Okay,” he said quietly. Kurt held out his hand. Blaine took it with shaking fingers.

They swayed slowly to the music, even though it was a moderately fast tempo song. “So how have you been?” Kurt asked.

Blaine thought about what he wanted to say. He decided on the truth. “I’ve been alright, I guess. I work at the hospital now.”

“You’re a doctor?”

Blaine’s lips quirked up into what he hoped was a smile. “Not exactly—I’m a musical therapist. I work with little kids,” he explained. Kurt smiled.

“That’s great,” he said. “You were always great with kids.”

Blaine’s heart fluttered at the compliment. He hated it. “Thank you,” he said.

“Dancing like this reminds me of prom,” Kurt said suddenly. He pulled Blaine a little closer. “I miss it sometimes.”

Blaine didn’t say anything in response, he just let Kurt pull him forward. He took that as his chance to breathe in his scent—against his better judgement. Somehow, after all those years, he managed to still smell he same. Blaine rested his head on Kurt’s shoulder.

The song ended and they pulled apart. “You’ve aged well,” Kurt said.

“So have you,” Blaine breathed. He looked around the room awkwardly. “I guess I’m gonna go now.”

Kurt nodded. “Okay.” Blaine turned to gather his bag and his coat. He was halfway to the exit when he heard Kurt call his name. He turned around.

“Meet me for lunch tomorrow?”

Blaine hated himself for the smile that placed itself on his lips. “I—um—sure.”

Kurt smiled. “Do you still have the same number?”

Blaine fished his phone out of his pocket. “No—it’s changed…here.”

He gave Kurt his new number and then quickly made his way out of the building—finally.

By the time he got to his apartment he was exhausted. He pushed his door open and forced his way to the bed before falling down on it face first. “You fucking idiot—why did you say yes?”

The last time Blaine saw Kurt he was crying. He was really crying, and he was angry. He was so angry—at Kurt, for breaking up with him. At their circumstances. But he was really angry at himself for letting himself get hurt. For not seeing the signs.

Fuck it, he thought to himself. Just fuck it.

-----

The next morning Blaine woke up and quite literally rolled out of bed, not at all eager to start his day. He took a shower and washed and blow dried his hair, and combed his curls. He’d stopped putting gel in his it about four years prior—he’d just started working at the hospital and one of the children said his hair looked stupid. Ever since then he’d gone without the product—and his hair was no longer called stupid by the youths he worked with.

He got dressed, a red polo and black pants, with a striped bowtie. He glanced at himself in the mirror before grabbing his bag and leaving for work.

Blaine was in shock at how quickly his day had passed. Before he realized, it was 1:30 and Kurt was texting him the location. He begrudgingly clocked out for the day and made his way to the restaurant.

Blaine hadn’t been there before—it never caught his eye—so he didn’t really know what to expect. He walked into the restaurant, looking around for Kurt.

“Over here,” he heard, and his eyes followed the voice—and saw Kurt sitting in a corner. He was wearing a blue button down and glasses. Blaine was shocked to see him dressed like that—so casual, loose almost. Ten years ago Kurt was always so put together, so exact and formal when it came to how he looked. But now he looked relax, completely comfortable in himself, and it sort of made Blaine smile. He sat in the seat across from Kurt, glancing at the menu in the process.

“Hi,” Kurt said.

“Hello,” Blaine responded.

It was quiet, then. Heavily so.

Kurt kept looking at Blaine with an expression Blaine couldn’t place. “So, how have you been?”

“I’ve been alright,” Blaine said.

Apparently this answer was not enough for Kurt. “Just alright? What have you been up to?”

Blaine tried his best not to roll his eyes. He must have failed, because Kurt frowned. “Sorry—It’s been a long day.” A lie. It had been an obnoxiously short day. But it seemed to satisfy Kurt. “Well—I’ve been working at the hospital,” Blaine said. Kurt looked at him funny. “What?”

“That’s all?”

“What else am I supposed to be doing?” he asked. Blaine felt like he knew where this conversation was going and he didn’t like it.

“I don’t know—have you been playing anywhere? Performing?”

Blaine took a sip from his drink. “Nope.”

The waitress came and brought them their food, then. Blaine was thankful for the distraction. It didn’t last long.

“Have you been dating?”

Blaine almost choked on his first bite. “Um.”

“What?”

Blaine was starting to become agitated. How could Kurt sit there like that—like the last time they saw each other wasn’t traumatic and disastrous. Like they hadn’t screamed and cried and Blaine wasn’t packing up his things. How could Kurt sit there and pretend like nothing was wrong?

Blaine didn’t say anything, just took another bite of his food. “Blaine?”

Blaine looked up from his plate slowly. “Are we just going to pretend here, Kurt?”

Kurt dropped his gaze. “Are we just going to pretend that the last time we saw one another we weren’t screaming? That you weren’t breaking me into little pieces with every word?”

“Blaine—”

Blaine kept talking. “And now you’re here, and you’re so happy with your big Broadway career and your Tonys and your perfect fucking life, just rubbing it in my face—and you make me dance with you and you look so amazing and ask me to lunch and you expect me not to—”

Blaine stopped talking. He shoved his plate away and stood up to leave, fishing a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket and setting it on the table to cover his portion. “I have to go—fuck, I have to go.”

“Blaine!”

But he was practically running out of the door and outside—racing to his car. But so was Kurt. “Blaine!”

“Can’t you just leave me alone? Leave me alone, Kurt!”

“Blaine, wait!”

“No. I’m going home where I won’t see you or hear you or smell you. I’m going home where you can’t fuck with my head, Kurt—you don’t get to do this. I’ve worked so hard to get over you and then you just come back—it’s not fair…it’s not fair you don’t get to—”

Lips, then. A hand on the back of his head, fingers twisting into his hair. Green eyes stared into blue ones, both of them wide in shock and then there’s pulling away and Blaine was in his car and on his way home and he was crying the entire way.

———

When it rained, it poured.

From: Wes

Why are you on this Broadway Gossip Website? (link attached)

YOU KISSED HIM??

Blaine.

Blaine????

Blaine opened his computer and used the link Wes sent.

“Oh, fuck.”

“Oh fuck,” Blaine said again. He looked at the headline.

BROADWAY STAR KURT HUMMEL SEEN KISSING MYSTER MAN

He closed his computer, shoved his face into a pillow, and screamed.

———

The next day went by excruciatingly slow. Blaine was working with a particularly difficult child who never stopped crying, resulting in a pounding headache. After his time with her was up he went and found a corner sit in and attempt to just close his eyes and relax. Of course, this didn’t happen—a co-worker came and gave him a stack of paperwork he was yet to fill out. The only good part of the day was that no one cared about Broadway enough to check the gossip blogs.

By the time Blaine made it home, he was exhausted. He took his clothes off at the door and trudged to his bedroom. He was asleep within seconds.

He woke up to the sound of pounding on his door. He quickly put on a pair of sleeping pants and went to answer it. “Who is it?”

“Kurt.”

Oh, my fucking God. “Go away. How are you even here? Go away.”

“No.”

“Please go away.”

It wasn’t fair. Kurt showed up. He showed up with all his success and then had the audacity to dance with Blaine. Then ask him to lunch. Then fucking kiss him—plastering Blaine’s face all over shitty Broadway Blogs. Now he’s at Blaine’s door. No. He wasn’t going to break Blaine’s heart all over again. That’s how this was going to end. Kurt was going to make Blaine fall in love with him all over again. And then he was going to shatter him all over again.

“Blaine, let me in.”

“No.”

Blaine left him there on the outside of his door. Kurt began banging on his door again. “Sweet Jesus,” he murmured. He tried to ignore for as long as he could, eventually he gave in and made his way back to the door. “What do you want?”

The banging stopped. “I want to apologize.”

Blaine opened the door. Kurt looked disheveled. His hair wasn’t styled to perfection like it usually was, instead it was thrown in every direction—and he was wearing sweats. “I’m listening.”

Blaine didn’t miss how Kurt’s eyes raked over his bare torso. “I’m sorry—”

“Okay, thank you,” Blaine cut him off and moved to close the door, but Kurt stuck his foot in the way.

“Blaine.”

“I really don’t want you to be here, Kurt,” he said.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you.” He pushed the door, and Blaine pushed back. “Ow—are we really fighting over the door right now?”

“Yes. Go away.”

Kurt was never one to listen. Eventually Blaine gave up and let him in. He stood in front of Blaine, breathing heavily, not saying anything. “I’m sorry.”

Blaine looked at him blankly. “You already said that.”

Kurt ran a hand through his hair. “No—I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for what happened between us—I was stupid and young and I shouldn’t have treated you like that.” He looked around, searching for something. What it was, Blaine didn’t know. “God, Blaine—I don’t know how to tell you how sorry I am.”

Blaine looked at him. “I’m not going to let you just waltz back into my life and ruin everything for me,” he said. “I’m not going to let you break me again, Kurt. I couldn’t sing, or play, or even get out of bed some mornings. I’m not going to let you do that again.” I’m not going to fall in love with you again, no matter how much I may want to.

Kurt nodded. “I understand.”

They looked at one another for a long time. Blaine was shaking.

Finally Kurt looked away. “I—I should go.”

Blaine was torn. If he let Kurt leave, he knew he’d never see him again. If he let Kurt stay, there was a chance of failure and picking himself up again. There wasn’t time to think—just time to act. To decide—what did he really want? Did he want Kurt to stay?

“Okay,” Blaine said. “I guess this is goodbye.” Stay.

Kurt touched the doorknob. Turned and looked at Blaine one last time before leaving. Stay.

Blaine looked at the closed door for about ten seconds before throwing it open. “Kurt!”

Kurt turned around, eyes wide. He started walking in Blaine’s direction. By the time he reached Blaine he was visibly shaking. Blaine pulled him back inside and shut the door. “I don’t want you to leave,” he said. It was so rushed it sounded like it was just one word. “I don’t want you to leave—I want you to stay.”

“But you said—”

But Kurt didn’t get to finish because his mouth was pre-occupied.

They kissed like that for minutes, or hours, or days. Blaine didn’t know. All he knew was that it felt the same as it did the first time. Like it was always supposed to happen. Kurt opened his mouth and let Blaine in, arms wrapped around Blaine’s shoulders. “God, Kurt,” he murmured. He pressed his body into Kurt’s until the only thing keeping them separated was Kurt’s shirt.

Blaine’s lips traveled lower, attaching themselves to Kurt’s neck, nibbling and biting and pulling sounds out of Kurt that Blaine hadn’t heard in a decade. And then Kurt was pulling at his own shirt, pulling it up and over his head and throwing it to the side. Blaine moaned, kissing at the skin of his collarbones.

Blaine knew he very well could end up regretting what they were doing. He knew that Kurt could break his heart again. But he wanted this—he needed this. He’d been alone for so long—he’d been lying to himself for so long.

So when they somehow stumbled into his bedroom and fell on the bed, legs entangled and hands traveling, Blaine didn’t think about it. He put the fear away and let himself be loved, feel loved.

———

After, he kept looking over at Kurt, who was dozing next to him. He still looked the same when he was sleeping, despite the time that had passed. He was hardly hidden under the blankets, so Blaine’s eyes kept running over his form, relearning his body. He knew Kurt had gotten larger since they’d been together, but he could really see it right then. The swell of his arms, the muscles in his back.

He grabbed his phone off of the night stand. He snapped a photo. “I bet the blogs are never going to see this one,” he whispered.

He found himself falling asleep after that, exhausted even though the day had hardly even begun.

When he woke up, Kurt was staring at him. “Hey,” he mumbled.

“Hi,” Kurt said. He didn’t sound happy. Fear began to pull at Blaine again, twisting his stomach into knots.

“What’s wrong?” How could you have been so stupid? Why did you let him stay? He’s just going to leave again—fucking idiot.

“Nothing,” Kurt said. He was lying—Blaine could see it in his face. He sat up, trying to get away. “Where are you going?”

Blaine looked at him, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “I was stupid to let you stay here—oh God why did I let you stay?” He ran a hand through his hair. “You’re just going to leave—you’re going to leave and I’m going to be here. I’m going to be here, alone, picking up my pieces all over again. You’re just going to say goodbye all over again.”

Kurt sat up and reached over to touch Blaine. “Do you remember what I said to you when I left Dalton?” Blaine just looked at him. “I’m never saying goodbye to you.”

Blaine shook his head and looked away. “I don’t believe you,” he said quietly.

Kurt leaned over and kissed Blaine’s shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered. “I want to be with you.”

Blaine looked over at Kurt, then. “How can you say that? You have everything you could ever want—”

Kurt cut him off with a quick kiss. “I don’t have you,” he said. Blaine kissed him again, pushing him back until he was laying on the bed again.

“Don’t leave me,” he whispered.

Kurt simply pulled Blaine on top of him, hooking a leg around his waist. “I won’t.”

———

Blaine knew that eventually Kurt would have to go back to New York.

That didn’t mean that Blaine hadn’t put it in the back of his mind—opting roll around in bed and forget that they both had actual lives. But about four days later, Kurt finally brought it up.

They had been kissing, Blaine straddling Kurt on the couch. Kurt broke the kiss and pushed Blaine away gently. “What’s wrong?”

Kurt patted Blaine’s hip. “I have to go back to New York soon,” he said quietly.

Blaine sighed. “I know.” He climbed off of Kurt and sat next to him instead, crossing his legs. “I’m using up all my vacation days.”

Kurt leaned over and kissed Blaine on the forehead. “The children at the hospital need you,” he said.

Blaine rolled his eyes. “Some of them don’t even like me.”

Kurt looked over at him, unconvinced. “You love your job.”

Blaine nodded in defeat. It hadn’t been what he’d dreamed of, but he really did like his job. He loved his kids and he loved working with them. He loved helping making them better. “I do,” he said. “I want you to stay, though.”

Kurt ran a hand through his already mussed up hair. “I know.” He took Blaine’s hand. “But I have to go.”

Blaine didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was afraid of Kurt leaving, that Kurt wouldn’t come back. He wiped away a tear that had welled up. Kurt cupped his Blaine’s face in his hands. “Hey,” he said. “I’m not letting you go. Blaine—please look at me.”

“I’m scared, Kurt,” he whispered.

“I know,” Kurt said. “You could always come with me.”

Blaine stilled.

“What?”

Blaine chewed his lip. “I’m grateful that you’d even consider that,” he said. “But—I need to know that this is real—that we’re going to last this time. I think if we can manage a small amount of time apart, but still remain loyal—I’ll come with you. But I can’t just abandon everything I’ve had for ten years for something that’s only lasted four days.”

Kurt nodded. “I understand.” He looked disappointed.

“A few months,” Blaine said reassuringly. “That’s all.”

“Okay.”

And then Blaine kissed him, and that was that for the rest of the night.

———

The day had come for Kurt to leave a few days later.

“You could still come with me, you know,” Kurt said, kissing the top of Blaine’s head.

“I know…It’s just—I need to stay here a little bit longer.”

Kurt watched his face for a long time, Blaine knew he was searching for doubt. But for the first time in a very long time, there was none. He knew what he wanted. So he lifted his head and kissed Kurt gently on the lips. “Text me when you land?”

Kurt’s lips twist up into an almost invisible smile. “Okay.” He kisses Blaine again and then walks into the airport, turning to look back at Blaine one more time before disappearing into the sea of people.

Blaine kept looking into the crowd, even though he couldn’t see Kurt anymore. And then he turned and went home, waiting until he knew Kurt was on the plane to send him the photo he’d been looking at every day since he’d taken it.

To: Kurt

I love you. I’ll be there soon.

[ATTATCHED IMAGE]

Read on AO3 here

#klaine fanfiction #blaine anderson #kurt hummel #klaine #fanfiction #archive of our own

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plush-anon · 3 years ago

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SCOOB! Stream of Consciousness Review

Here we are folks - I finally review the originally cinematic, fully CGI animated Scooby Doo Movie (one year later... I did not queue this as I thought I had last June - damn you, Tumblr. I’m not changing much here, so enjoy as it was intended).

Created by a team who have professed their affection for this mystery team and their meddling dog too, will this be a lush experience fit to satisfy any Hanna-Barbera fan? Or will it be a hot garbage cash-grab, littered with Easter eggs and references that do nothing to hide a meatless mess of outdated memes and shallow character development?

LET’S

FIND

OUT

Below this cut is my entire stream-of-consciousness review on the SCOOB! Movie, as experienced. SPOILER warning here - I’m digging into everything, no plot points spared.

Here we go~

And we start off with a decent shot of the California coastline (looks like the kids backstory is front and center), some 90s hip-hop synthwave song about California, and OH SWEET JESUS THESE MODELS LOOK TERRIBLE

Ahem

Yeah, this is a problem right off the bat - some of these people in the opening shots look remarkably unfinished - think three shades above “Rapsittie Kids: Believe in Santa” level - and the animation on them is less than stellar.

On the plus side, we do see a fantastic variety of ages, sizes, and races - there’s a brief blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Sikh man on roller skates playing a sitar - but when the designs look rushed in the opening shots, it’s not a fantastic sign. At least they’re brief, but it’s hard to see if this is a lower level of the film’s style due to rushed animation, or if they didn’t care to polish it up as much, given that it’s maybe a 30 second scene.

Still, kudos to actually going for variety in the crowd shots. Minus kudos to making most of the clothes look like Play-doh draped over a Barbie doll. I’m not even kidding on that one, the clothes are super basic and barely have any sign of texture or creasing or even fabric/cut variety. Almost reminds me of the first Toy Story movie’s design for human clothes, yeesh.

----

Ahh, our first introduction to Scooby Doo at a Greek gyro food stand. That’s foreshadowing right there folks! 😉

Sadly, he is really weirdly animated in his run sequence - he looks out of proportion as he’s running on his hind legs, and the human animation has really bad consistency - some background characters are really janky, while others actually move really nicely. The characters we immediately focus on seem to be pretty smooth at least, but that’s still very strange.

On a side note: Ruby and Spears Sub Sandwich shop. Nice 😁

----

They are reaaaally pushing the super over-the-top dramatic music for a bike cop chasing a dog that stole gyro meat

Why

It’s not even interesting chase music, just generic super-hyped-up chase music

----

And now we finally get to see a young Shaggy, standing next to a tie-dye food stand called Casey’s Confections that… sells meat. Hm. Guess WB hasn’t learned after all these years 🙄

Unfortunately, I’m not a huge fan of the kid they got to play him, Iain Armitage. He’s not a bad voice actor by any means, but he just doesn’t sound right for Shaggy. I know that as a kid he’d be much less likely to have a cracking/squeaky voice, but he sounds… it’s hard to pin down a word, but - precocious? Darling? Either way it doesn’t quite match, especially given how Shaggy sounds when he grows up via Will Forte. Just… no connection there.

I tie it down to the particular vocal twangs and nuances the gang usually has. I’ll touch base on that note later I think, once we hit the teenage versions of the gang, but for now I’m just not feeling it.

----

On the one hand, I empathize deeply with Shaggy and his Spotify’s unsettling ability to pinpoint his insecurities with song choices, and also deeply enjoy that one small gesture where his fingers kind of shake & tighten around his phone while he takes a deep breath to calm himself- it’s a very nice, subtle sign of frustration

On the other hand we just passed two guys with no nipples and an unerring likeness to a Ken doll in those Barbie movies, so I’m distracted by that now

(between this and Fred’s no-nipples in Happy Halloween SD!, is WB just terrified of giving men nipples in animated movies now? what gives?)

Also distracted by the thrifty lesbians who bought those two shirts that come together to make a heart in the middle, on the store’s 2 for 1 day

happy pride y’all!

---

Finally got context for the two sand piles!

Very, very sad context, but still! Progress!

Basically Shaggy’s practicing talking to people in order to learn how to make friends, since he either has no idea how, or has never had a friend before. So he’s trying to learn the right way to do it since his own attempts have failed

And him talking to these sand piles not only counts as practice, but he’s using them so that his mom thinks he’s spending time with friends like he told her

Ow :)

---

So ketchup leather is apparently a thing that exists

I’m learning so much today!

---

Given that Shaggy has no friends at this stage, but he’s still called Shaggy, I’m kind of wondering if that was a mean nickname that everyone called him, but he was just grateful for the interaction/pretended it was from friends, so he kept it 🤔

Actually, take it back, his mother is calling him that. Family nickname, maybe…?

----

Shaggy has Blue Falcon (classic) and Dynomutt funko pops

noice

---

Oof, you can reaaaaally hear the age in Frank Welker’s Scooby voice. Can we get Scott Innes back? He sounds almost identical to his performance 20+ years ago :/

Also talking waaaay too much - even SDMI Scooby wasn’t this wordy, and he NEVER shut the hell up

----

Okay wait

So Shaggy met Scooby on Halloween day - then met the rest of the gang hours later?

Huh. And here I was thinking it would have been a few weeks minimum

Although I have to say there is a lot here to work with, if it paces out how I think it does

Shaggy meets Scooby. Bare hours later, he buys him a collar (instead of his mom? weird) and asks him to stay with him, despite not really knowing him. Then, only a couple hours after that, he finally makes some friends… but only when Scooby is with him.

Given that it looks like the gang are all around the same age in the same neighborhood, there’s a solid chance that they’ve taken classes together at the same school. If none of them met/knew/made friends with Shaggy then, but only did so AFTER Scooby came into the picture, that might lead to the argument we know about later when they split up; afterwards, S&SD go to the bowling alley, then get abducted by the Blue Falcon, plot continues. This could make it seem like they were only friends with him at the start because he had a dog.

And the brief scene earlier with the music device shows that he tries to tamp down on his anger/doesn’t really address it - could lead to something more later

hmmmm 🤔

---

Wait what

These two kid bullies just came out of nowhere, stole Shaggy’s candy… and then started on about how Halloween is only a marketing ploy to get companies to rot your teeth and go to the dentist more, before throwing the bag through a window and telling the two that ‘your blood sugar will thank us for it!’

Are - are these the brainwashed children of a Karen? Is that what I’m seeing?

I mean we could have had a Red Herring cameo, but apparently informing children about candy conspiracy theories is more important :/

----

Daphne: It’s Halloween - no one should go home without their candy

FD&V: *none of them have candy/candy bags*

???????

(Wouldn’t it make more sense if the bullies had stolen their candy too? What the hey man)

----

I do find it neat that we actually get to SEE the wires the ‘ghost’ uses to fly in full effect - that’s actually pretty cool, and not really something we get to see up close in older Scooby shows. Most of those just have the bad guy randomly flying about, and the wires revealed after the fact

---

Actually, given how FD&V react to this ghost almost immediately… have they already been solving mysteries? It seems like it, given how smoothly they move together to capture him

That’s kind of odd in kids. Like, even in PNSD they weren’t perfectly in-sync on stuff

This then leads to the gang solving mysteries together… in spite of the fact that all Shag and Scoob did was hide in the wardrobe that had the stolen goods, while FD&V captured the dude

Granted, they do ask Shag and Scoob if they wanna join in and say yes, but that seems like an strange jump after what could have been a one-time deal

I just find that a touch odd - esp when they could have had a five minute scene or so of them wandering around the house, touching on some old SDWAY traits. Heck, show that they’re SCARED in some way, and don’t immediately move to tackle what looks like a murderous spirit at age 8-9 or so. Even just showing the kids learning about each other would be enough, but what do I know. I’ve only watched Scooby Doo everything since I was 4 🙄

---

Ahhhh, and now for the updated rendition of the theme song

Where they’re all still kids doing everything the teenage gang did in the theme song

It doesn’t look as good as the OG, though - kind of like a computer game simulating the SDWAY intro using the PNSD kids in CGI. It’s honestly strange to see, and a little jarring - especially when we then transition to the older teenage gang right in the middle

Like, we don’t get to see you guys age through the song as you’re chased by/catch different monsters? That could have been pretty neat honestly - shows how long they’ve been doing this

Tho I gotta admit, seeing the Spooky Space Kook with his OG sound effects is pretty awesome, brief as it waoH MY GOD FRED WHY ARE YOU HAVING A ROMANTIC BEACHSIDE DATE WITH THE MYSTERY MACHINE

THAT WASN’T IN THE ORIGINAL AND NO ONE ELSE GETS A CHARACTER INSIGHT SHOT LIKE THIS

WHY

----

Huh, looks like Ruby & Spears gave up their subway sandwich shop for a coffee shop

That apparently the gang goes to in order to eat malt shop food

okay?

----

Ah, and here’s where we finally look at the voice acting of the older teenage gang. Buckle up folks, cause I gotta lot to say

We’ll start with Fred, bc honestly? I think Efron actually fits him pretty dang well. He’s got a different cadence from Welker, true, but as far as an update goes? I think he’s a solid fit. Very much in line with the all-American kid that Fred’s kind of been slated as for the past 50 years or so, but updated more for the modern perspective. I call it solid (and possibly a replacement for whenever Welker decides to retire).

Next? Oof. Velma is, IMHO, the weakest casting. Velma, no matter her voice actress, has ALWAYS had some form of nasal twang to her voice - that’s part of what makes her Velma to begin with, and helps her stand out. Nicole Jaffe, Pat Stevens, BJ Ward, Christina Lange (PNSD), Mindy Cohn, Kate Micucci, Linda Cardellini -heck, even Haley Kiyoko from ‘The Mystery Begins’ and Sarah Gilman from the ‘Daphne and Velma’ movie understood this! They all had that nasal twang to their voice - differing between actresses, of course, but still recognizable as Velma. Gina Rodriguez though? Honestly, it just sounds like she’s acting it straight. Not bad acting at all, by any means - she just doesn’t sound like Velma, and doesn’t seem to be trying to. (Honestly wondering if she was only hired bc she voices Carmen Sandiego in the reboot cartoon for the lolz fun reference! type connection)

Daphne is sort of similar in voices, but hers is more of a pitch her voice hits - Heather North, Mary Kay Bergman, and Grey Delisle Griffin all have that pitch they hit naturally when speaking. Amanda Seyfried? Does not - in fact, her voice is actually deeper than I was expecting - but it’s not quite as big a difference as it is for Velma. It fits her character type okay, and she does well with it overall.

And finally, the most controversial one: Will Forte’s Shaggy.

I’ll go ahead and say this: he’s not Scott Menville levels of bad Shaggy voice acting. If I were to place him on a list, I’d probably put him around Billy West level - kind of sounds similar via vocal tics (voice cracking, likes and zoinks, etc), but his own voice just overtakes the impression he’s seeking to hit. When I hear him speak, I don’t really hear Shaggy; I just hear Will Forte trying to do an impression of Shaggy.

In comparison: when Scott Innes took over for Shaggy, it was like Casey Kasem’s, just a touch more of a twang to his voice and just a dash over-the-top - but it was still Shaggy, and you didn’t doubt that for a minute.

Same thing for Lillard, but maybe moreso - he was pretty much the most perfect casting for a live-action Shaggy there could be at the time Scooby Doo (2002) was made. Him taking over for Kasem from there made perfect sense: he was honestly the best cast Mystery Inc member of the live-actions, and a lot more recognizable to the general public as Shaggy than Scott Innes was. He could also do different emotions with Shaggy that not a lot of the other voice actors had the chance to do (mainly bc script), so for future stuff they have that flexibility, if they wanted to play around a little more.

With any luck Forte will get better over the course of the movie, but honestly the casting could have been so much better with Matt Lillard and Kate Micucci.

----

Shaggy Rogers, evading taxes since 2020

----

siMON COWELL??!?

WHAT THE

WHY?!?!?

ALSO HIS CHARACTER DESIGN STYLE IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE GANG WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON?!!?

IS HE SUPPOSED TO BE THE SD CELEBRITY CAMEO

IF YOU WERE GOING TO DO A CAMEO FROM AMERICAN IDOL WHY NOT RYAN SEACREST

HE TOOK OVER FOR CASEY KASEM ON THE AMERICAN TOP 40 WOULDN’T THAT MAKE MORE SENSE

aaauuuggghhh

---

Also he’s there as a potential investor in Mystery Inc as a detective agency

A music industry professional… is interested in funding a detective agency.

Like… did he miss out on Josie & the Pussycats? Is that why he’s here?

----

Wait a minute

Oh noooooo

I know why he’s here

I remember this spoiler

Shit

-----

And once again, here is your reminder to tell Simon Cowell a great big fcuk you

Only this time it’s for making Shaggy and Scooby feel worthless and saying that friendship is worthless and cannot be counted on for anything worthwhile

Simon Cowell: Professional Dickhead

---

Welp, at least this gives a solid reason why they leave: Simon Cowell was being a professional dickhead, and the gang didn’t really say anything against him or interrupt him on his whole ‘Shag and Scoob are worthless spiel’

Or, well... Daphne stepped up some, but more to say ‘they’re our friends!’ rather than ‘that’s entirely wrong, our friends aren’t worthless!’ Better than nothing, but yeesh

----

Ahhh, Takamoto Bowling - the emptiest bowling alley in the evenings this side of Coolsville

(no seriously, the past few times my dad has taken my sister and me bowling pre-pandemic, no matter the day or time? it’s ALWAYS got more than 6 lanes of people there, what the heck)

Also Scooby wears three bowling shoes, which honestly makes more sense than I thought it would - that pup goes spinning and sliding every which way on a normal floor, bowling alley floors would be like ten times worse

----

here’s a nice little detail - when Scooby sees one of the bowling pins peek out with red eyes and he yells that to Shaggy, Shaggy actually squints and walks closer to see if it actually does have eyes

aww

----

Huh, okay

Panicked Will Forte Shaggy actually sounds more like a good Shaggy voice than normal talking Will Forte Shaggy

I can dig it

---

Still kind of underwhelmed by the Shag and Scoob disguise scene - wouldn’t it make more sense to have them like, dish up hot sauce or something on a plate that nonsensically makes the robots overheat before they discover their ruse?

Idk, maybe they’re off their game after Simon ‘Dickhead’ Cowell

---

Carlton Way - must be named after Fred’s only other voice actor, Carlton Stevens of PNSD

Also Hanna’s Barber Shop is next to Barbera’s Pizza! Cute.

And… Pitstop’s Pink Perfume ad. Wait, who is that? *assorted googling noises*

...ahhh, Penelope Pitstop from Wacky Races! Who, according to Wikipedia, was revealed to have Greek ancestry in the 2016 Wacky Raceland comic book, having been born on the island of Aegina

Now I’m wondering if we’ll see her in this too, given Cerberus...

----

Honestly kind of fascinating to see the gang with a police radio in their van

Also fascinating to see that only main characters are allowed clothing variety and texture/creases/folds

---

it’s actually really sweet to see Fred, upon hearing that Shag and Scoob are likely in danger, immediately makes a 90 degree turn in traffic

---

It looks like they changes Dee Dee’s name a hair - now it’s Dee Dee Skyes, instead of Sykes

It works well for the Falcon aesthetic, so that’s cool

----

Shaggy, after Dee Dee tells them that Dastardly’s trying to kill them: Scoob, someone thinks we’re important enough to *mimes slitting throat*!

Scooby: It’s nice to be wanted.

Excellent! This movie has captured Shag and Scoob’s blasé attitude towards death! Now we’re onto a solid Scooby film :D

Dee Dee: Hmm, I hear that!

And they even have a friend to share in their attitude! Splendid!

----

Christ, I can work photoshop better than Blue Falcon can, and I don’t even know how to use photoshop

I will give major kudos on his costume tho - it maintains the important elements of the OG Falcon, while still updating it with more bird-related aesthetic, like the feathered appearance of parts of his costume, the split cape resembling the tail feathers, and the talon gauntlets & boots. neat!

---

Yooo, Dynomutt, I thought secret identities were still a thing with Superheroes, what the hey are you doing giving it out to a duo you literally just picked up behind a bowling alley

Ngl, I’m kinda hoping we get some scenes where Dynomutt messes up a little like in the OG cartoon - this one feels really serious, which is kind of strange

---

Okay now I want to see older!Blue Falcon come in for a cameo

Mainly bc I’m getting the feeling that this one is a major dumbass, and not in the fun and friendly himbo kind of way 😑

---

Wait, THAT’S our first look at Dastardly? That’s a bit abrupt, isn’t it?

Also his ship must be pumping thousands of gallons of toxins into the air, that smoke cloud looks hideous. Forget logging into his mom’s Netflix account like the trailer said, EPA should probably be hunting him for sport with a laser cannon, jesus fcuking christ

---

Honestly kinda want a plane you can pilot like a motorbike now

---

Welp, it looks like we have a fun, mustache-twirly, puns-aplenty, loves-to-be-bad kind of villain on our hands folks! This is gonna be FUN AS HECK

---

Eurgh, this scene - the super-stiff-but-stretched-out ‘yeeurgh’ faces really squick me for some reason, but I can’t really pinpoint why

---

I have decided I highly dislike the Brian Blue Falcon, or Brian Falcon for short, and would like to see Dastardly tie him to some railroad tracks

---

North St for Heather North, and… wait… Funland Carnival? Like where Charlie the Robot hung out?

Apparently that’s in Romania.

A very yellow-greenfilter Romania at that.

Like, I’ve seen blue washes on movies trying to portray evening in the middle of the day so they don’t actually have to shoot at night, but yellow? That’s normally used for deserts and hot days and uhhh

NOT for evenings in a country with landscape like THIS

odd

(I mean I guess they got the mountains and trees right, but still. Yellow filters make a place look arid, which Romania is Not, to my knowledge)

----

Dude, Brian Falcon is such an idiot even Shaggy and Scooby, commonly portrayed as the idiots of Mystery Inc, look at him like he’s a moron.

(They are Not Amused.)

Also Brian Falcon is an absolute coward. That’s new. Even Shaggy and Scooby face off against the robots directly in a Whack-a-Mole game and destroy some. Dude, get your head in the fcuking game already, yikes

Woah, Laff-a-Lympics, Wacky Races, Hex Girls, The Banana Splits, Penelope Pitstop, Space Stars, Posse Impossible, and Hong Kong Phooey easter eggs in one shot

Geezus

---

Another nice moment: when cornered by Dastardly, Shaggy moves to stand in front of Scooby to protect him

---

Dastardly (to Shaggy): I don’t care about YOU. You’re not REMOTELY important!

*proceeds to shoot Shaggy THROUGH the ceiling and up into the highest car on a Ferris Wheel where Brian Falcon is hiding like a man baby*

Welp, so much for a fun and zany villain. Time for this Plush Anon to kill a bitch *cocks shotgun*

I will, too - kudos to the animators for hurting me so badly with the face Shaggy made right before being shot because

---

Ehehehhehe, yess, the infamous ‘Dick’ scene

Dastardly: No, I’m a DICK. With a D!

You sure are, you sack of dildos with a D!

This scene had to be put in on purpose - if this had been released in theaters, I just know the adults would be dying in laughter 🤣🤣🤣

----

Shaggy: Brian, do something!

Brian Falcon: Like what?

Shaggy: Like, drop some F-Bombs!

love it 😂

---

Is it like movie law now, that if there’s an action scene with a Ferris Wheel in the background, it has to fall off and roll down a mild incline like a wheel? Because it kinda feels like it

---

Aha! Dastardly said his drats! Perfection.

Now to shoot him through a ceiling to make them matter even more :D

---

OOF.

Well that hurt.

Poor Shaggy - basically internalizing now that he’s the worthless one and weak link of the group now that Scooby is considered more important

---

Holy fcuk I’m crying

Shaggy just broke Brian Falcon down to his deepest insecurities without even trying while talking to him

He even used the words ‘imposter syndrome’

Shaggy hon, you’re the best

----

Oh hey, Fred, Daphne, and Velma! It’s been a while since we saw you guys again, what are you doing?

Arguing about the metric system and realizing that Shaggy and Scooby reminding them to eat periodically helped them keep a clearer head...

And using the word ‘hangry’.

But then looking through a ridiculously cute photo album of the two and a video the gang took together (the video is honestly really heckin’ cute, 10000/10 would recommend)...

And then getting pulled over so Fred can have a brief ‘oo-la-la’ montage about the pretty blonde cop who honest-to-gods looks like a Barbie doll.

Where Daphne then describes how ugly Dastardly is...

Right before the petite blonde cop who’s maybe like 5’7” at best rips off her outfit to reveal it was Dick Dastardly this entire time, all 7ish feet of him.

And then kidnaps them all along with the Mystery Machine while he makes terribly fun dorky puns

…

...SO BACK TO SCOOBY AND SHAGGY...

---

...where Scooby is making kissy faces in the mirror while wearing his Blue Falcon uniform

Hrm, that’s not really better is it

We actually see Shaggy reading (OG) Blue Falcon’s autobiography, and making hurt but snide comments about Scooby’s ego

Which are actually pretty clever tbh

-----

Cooooooongratulations, Fred Jones! You are now officially a full-on himbo!

----

Alas, poor Daphne. While your knowledge of the tropes of your show might have served you well in other places, this was to be a theatrical release once upon a time, and so such knowledge falls to ruin.

----

You know, I just realized - we’re never really told HOW the Cerberus skulls work, both in how each skull can be used to find the others, and, presumably, in releasing Cerberus itself. We’re given a brief glance-over of Scooby’s ancestry (and I mean REALLY damn brief), and a quick mention that these are supposed to be Cerberus’ skulls being stolen, but… that’s it. Nothing else is given.

Now, I read the first few chapters of my SCOOB! Junior Novelization, and it actually went into further detail about the skulls themselves and what Dastardly’s initial plan was early in the book - open the gates of Hades and obtain the seas of treasure therein. It acted as an introduction both to the climatic endgame we’ll face at the end of the movie, and to Dastardly, who uses the same disguise trick he used as the Barbie cop when he stole the first one in South America.

(They actually DID plan to use this as Dastardly’s intro, but cut this… 3 minute scene for time. Yeah. See below video for the details - honestly think they should have kept it in. Saves time later and definitely more show than tell, compared to what we got)

youtube

I feel like that would be a better introduction to him than the one we got - hell, it would have fit in quite neatly after the revamped theme song montage. They could have the scene with Dastardly finding/stealing the first skull as an introduction (as above), then have him answer a call or something. Exposit openly “You found the key! Excellent! Now where are we going next?”

THEN cut to the diner/coffee shop scene we had earlier. We still wouldn’t know exactly what the key was/entailed off the bat, and they could still have FD&V find out on their own - maybe by hacking the little robot instead? IDK.

---

The final skull is on Messick Mountain.

Cute.

On a side note, I do love how Dastardly’s ship interior looks - very dieselpunk

---

Velma just hacked into Dynomutt… somehow, and I finally get my wacky Dynomutt shenanigans! Hazoo!

...sadly that was really dang brief. Realistic, yes, but still too brief.

---

Eyyyy, we finally get the whys of why Scooby is needed! … really dang fast.

Also Fred says Jinkies.

----

Hey, Muttley popped up! In a shrine… to his demise… that we find out he reached when Dastardly pushed him forward into the Underworld to steal the treasure of Alexander the Great in a portal he rigged up… only for both of them to find out it was a one-way deal unless they used the key to be able to come back. The key, of course, being Scooby Doo, descendent of Peritas, Alexander’s dog.

Eh, workable enough-ish. It’s interesting to see that Dastardly, despite how much he disliked Muttley in the older cartoons, still cares about him to a certain extent.

---

Pfff, Fred’s a poor man’s Hemsworth XD

---

Sweet, we’re in ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ now!

---

O W W W

You guys really had to do the ‘me or them’ thing with Shaggy and Scooby… and tHeN hAvE sCoObY cHoOsE tHe FaLcONs?!? Just because they said he was important as “the key” and gave him a spandex costume.

Over at least 7 years of friendship.

Booooooooooooo

---

actually no I’m Not Done Yet

This whole scene is a mess.

Shaggy’s turn was really dang fast… but I can still see how he gets to it. It’s at least a day between Scooby being chosen as a pseudo-sidekick and the island arrival, during which Shaggy’s talk with the main adult (who has taken up the mantle of his favorite superhero) essentially confirms his feelings of worthlessness and leaves him to stew for HOURS on end (on top of another adult, Dastardly, who also calls him “not even REMOTELY important” at the carnival before freaKING SHOOTING HIM THROUGH THE CEILING NO I AM NOT OVER THIS). Tie that to a teenager who also believes his only friends have come to think he’s meaningless baggage, and suddenly his entire support system is vanishing underneath him to one of his former idols without ANY sign of hesitation from Scooby’s part (with the exception of the collar scene, but I don’t think that that means the same to Scooby, given how quickly he bounces back)

Scooby tho… hrm. It could be that he’s clinging to the good feelings Brian Falcon inspires in him (by choosing him as the next possible Dynomutt), as a way to overpower how FD&V hurt him, while also building on how he came to love the duo because SHAGGY loved them so much. But the movie doesn’t frame that up… at all?? At least compared to Shaggy.

Idk, maybe I’m missing something, but this scene is a mess through and through

Boooooo

----

Scooby: *tries to leap into Brian Falcon’s arms like he did with Shaggy but falls*

Brian: Uh, what are you doing?

Scooby: Rhaggy never missed.

Damn straight he didn’t

---

oh hey, it’s Captain Caveman

I was wondering when we’d see him.

---

AAAUUGGHH

It’s that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene from the trailers I sobbed over - the one with Shaggy holding Scooby’s collar

Fun fact it actuALLY FADES INTO THE FLASHBACK

THAT WAS NOT A TRAILER THING THAT’S ACTUALLY HERE IN THE MOVIE

---

Oh No

Fred is here, alone, after that whole scene with Dastardly saying he had a use for Fred

...while that’s likely Dastardly in a Fred suit (that sounds creepy just typing it), I’m still going to enjoy this brief but absolutely lovely hug Shaggy and Fred share...

(seriously tho, look at this, it’s a genuinely close, squish-your-lungs-out kind of hug, I love it)

...as well as Shaggy, who's still hurt from his fight with Scooby, immediately gearing up to go help him after hearing Dastardly’s trying to kidnap him.

----

Brian Falcon and Scooby Doo now have to take on Captain Caveman in gladiatorial combat in order to claim the final skull of Cerberus

I love cartoons sometimes

----

Captain Caveman just put the smackdown on Brian Falcon and punched him into the ground up to his CHEST

Then smacked him so far into a wall he cracked the stone around him!

GodDAMN is this satisfying 😆 altho minor question here: how did he gain the rank of Captain? Do cavepeople have a naval force?

---

He just whirled Scooby around his head, then spun him so fast his costume broke off

I may have to look into some Captain Caveman stuff now, that’s fantastic

---

Shaggy and Fred - sorry, “Fred” - just smashed through to the colosseum in the Mystery Machine

And Dynomutt just fired missiles at Captain Caveman to smash him into an Amigara-shaped hole of himself

I REALLY love cartoons sometimes

---

Oh No

Just as Shaggy starts trying to apologize, “Fred” kicks him in the back, rips off his disguise to normal Dastardly self, and kidnaps Scooby atop the skull, before revealing he destroyed the Falcon Fury jet

New tagline for this movie? Shaggy Rogers and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day

...at least the rest of the gang is back together?

---

Brian Falcon: *Immediately tries to blame Shaggy for inadvertently leading Dastardly to them, while storming up to get in his face*

Fred: *upon realizing BrianF is blaming Shaggy for everything, without a SINGLE moment’s hesitation, immediately leaps in to defend Shaggy and physically push back Brian Falcon several feet*

We stan one Himbo, theydies and gentlethem

Also?

Velma (sneering): What kind of hero blames other people for his problems? *Walks over to comfort Shaggy with Daphne, while Shaggy looks dumbfounded they’re defending him bc he also blames himself for Scooby’s kidnapping*

This. This right here, is the kind of Mystery gang content I wanna see.

I don’t care how the rest of this movie goes now, this scene right here is ambrosia to the Scooby fan’s soul, and therefore makes this entire movie worth it, outdated memes, lingo, and all

---

Cackling rn - Fred and Brian Falcon are in a point-off a la the Spiderman meme 😂

or, more specifically, the post-credits sequence of Spiderverse where they’re arguing about who started pointing first

It gets better when Velma and Daphne try to pull each other off of their pushing fight, and Velma grumbles “Toxic Masculinity” I’m crying

---

WOAH

More super Shaggy stuff here (apart from being flung through a building roof without a scratch) - he pushes apart both groups effortless, and even knocks them back several feet

If we estimate Dynomutt as… we’ll say 450 since he’s made of metal, Falcon at 220, Dee Dee at 160, that’s about 830 lbs on one side

Then Fred, Daphne and Velma on the other (hmm, 180, 150, 130?) would be around 460 lbs

Dang boi

---

Oh honey no, it’s not your fault

But dang if he didn’t get a good message from it, one I’ve done my best to transcribe here:

“I was afraid that... things were gonna change. And they did change. But like, that’s okay! People can grow. But it doesn’t mean that we’re growing apart. Because the one thing that will never change is that Scooby Doo is my best friend! Ten years ago, a little boy made a promise to a stray puppy that he’d never leave him no matter what. And I’m gonna keep that promise! Now it’s time we stopped that mustachioed menace from opening the gates to the {underworld} and letting loose that fearsome {Cerberus}. So what do you say we get out {of here}, and go get my always-snacking, never-lacking, often-napping dog back? Who’s with me?”

Honestly not a bad message for kids. Things will change, people will change, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop being friends. (Obvs real life exceptions apply, but that’s not a bad note honestly)

...shame that that conclusion comes right the FUCK outta nowhere

How, exactly, did he come to this conclusion? WHEN? What inspired him to realize this, what was the impetus for this specific line of thought, that it’s okay for friends to change?

It kinda feels like this should have been either the happy ending speech given after they’ve saved the world, or one at the start of the third act, like if Shaggy arrives when Scooby thinks he’s chased him away and ruined everything, and Shaggy & the gang still save him. And Scooby asks him why he did that - when Scooby tried to change himself to fit what Brian Falcon wanted, instead of treasuring the friend he still had, or maybe why Shaggy reacted the way he did. THEN Shaggy gives the speech we hear, a la:

“I yelled at you because… like, because I was scared. I was scared that... things were gonna change. And they did change. But like, that’s okay! People can grow. But it doesn’t mean that we’re growing apart. Because the one thing that will never change is that YOU’RE my best friend! Ten years ago, a little boy made a promise to a stray puppy that he’d never leave him no matter what. And I mean to keep it!”

At least that would make a little more sense to me. Again, not a bad speech, but a little rearranging would help to really hit home.

---

Okay, now we’re back with Dastardly in Greece, and suddenly the background people all look MILES better than the ones at the start of the movie. Did they just forget to polish the first two minutes of film, what the heck?

Also, Dastardly’s ship is literally the entire length of the Greek ruins presented o_O

---

HOLY SHIT THE SKULLS TURNED BACK TIME AND MADE THE RUINS INTO AN ENTIRELY RESTORED PALACE WITH THE GATES OF THE UNDERWORLD BEFORE THEM

They’re also colored a very atmospheric neon arrangement that’s surprisingly quite tasteful ^.^

----

The Mystery Machine can fly now!!! eeheeheeeheeheeheeheeee

----

And so we finally see Cerberus, a massive, towering figure with sharp teeth and pffffffhahahhahaa why are all three heads wearing Spartan helmets

To its credit, they’re also wearing basic body armor, wrist guards, tail spikes, etc, but the helmets are killing me 🤣 who thought to stick that onto the dog? Did Hades forget to remove the armor after winning the Gods’ Pet Costume Contest, or was it like that horse in the ATV costume - it felt safer so it didn’t let anyone take it off?

Or was this a precaution against Herakles coming back? These are questions - hilarious, hilarious questions 😁

---

Awww. Scooby immediately runs to the battered Mystery Machine to rip the doors open for the gang!

And… wait. THIS is where that wonderful hug was in the trailers? I thought that was at the end of the movie when everyone was safe!

This now does not bode well. But we’ll worry about that later. Time to enjoy this gorgeous wonderful hug of the entire gang, and Shag and Scoob apologizing to each other for fighting 🥰

Yet another scene to make the rest of this movie worth the rest

(halfway wanna frame this shit and put it on the wall, it’s that lovely)

----

Fantastic! Dastardly is now in Hell, where I’ve been wishing him this entire movie! :D

And dang… he actually apologizes to what he believes is a dead Muttley. Who is, naturally, snickering at all of this. The two bicker predictably, but eventually hug and make up, too happy to see each other to resort to old habits. Honestly a nice little scene, all-in-all.

---

Back to the gang and they’re doing the glowy eyes in the dark bit! I actually haven’t seen that in a Scooby movie forever, it’s neat.

Also Fred is now going full Liam Neeson over his van, war paint and all, using the tire cover as a shield and… holy shit.

HOLY SHIT

THE ASCOT IS BAAAnnnnnd it’s gone. Boy, that was… short.

Fred just ran full-tilt at Cerberus, screaming like a mad man, before getting flicked away by its big toe, and losing the ascot and makeshift shield. It punched so hard his facepaint came off

It was fun while it lasted y’all

---

Heyyy, Shag and Scoob just came up with the plan, and it’s actually solid! I’m so proud, and so is the rest of the gang! Also willingly going to distract Cerberus while the rest figure out how to close the gate and stuff Cerberus back in

I love my boys 😊

---

Annnnd there goes Brian Falcon like the coward he is

To… call his dad? And admit he isn’t a hero.

Only for Dynomutt to point out Shaggy and Scooby are taking him on and are terrified.

This then cuts to Shaggy and Scooby running around in a chariot and gladiator wear, running back and forth a la the door gag from Cerberus to the OG SDWAY theme

I think I love this movie

(although they’re hinting at Dynomutt being resentful of OG Blue Falcon essentially abandoning him to his incompetent son, and I really wish it had been touched upon more

that’s actually rather heartbreaking, when you stop to think about it, and there’s a lot that could be done with an additional two minutes of screentime)

---

Huh, another good message for kids: it’s okay to fail and be scared, so long as you keep going and try to do what’s right.

Two good messages for kids in one movie. Not too shabby, on the whole.

---

Brian Falcon just flew in and punched the three-headed dog, then jumped into its mouth as it tried to eat Scooby, resisted the MASSIVE JAW STRENGTH, and got them out of there safe and sound

Finally, something heroic!

I was wondering where Dastardly and Muttley got off to - apparently they’re off to take a money bath.

Aight

---

Shag and Scoob have now convinced the Rotten Robots to turn into bowling balls to knock Cerberus off their feet a la the classic marbles pratfall back into the underworld

That is a sentence I just wrote

----

OH FCUK NO

ABSOLUTELY NOT NO

YOU ARE TELLING US THAT AFTER ALL OF THIS - ALL OF THIS - ONE OF THEM HAS TO STAY IN THE UNDERWORLD TO LOCK THE GATE

THAT OCTOBER LEAKER WAS RIGHT WHAT THE HELL

LITERALLY SO

I mean i know its a kids film specifically Scooby Doo so happy ending but what the literal FUCK

---

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGHHH

SHAGGY NOOOO

“Buddy, back when we were kids, you saved me. Now, it’s my turn.”

and he dOES THIS WHILE HOLDING SCOOBY’S HEAD TENDERLY IN HIS HANDS

AND WHEN EVERYTHING REVERTS IT’S JUST RUBBLE AND RUIN AND SCOOBY’S LEFT SOBBING OPENLY AT NOTHING

AND THE GANG ALL COME TO CLING AT HIM AND CRY OVER THEIR FRIEND WHO THOUGHT HE WAS WORTHLESS MOST OF THE MOVIE AND THOUGH THAT THE GANG THOUGHT THE SAME ABOUT HIM

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH

---

WELP, TIME TO COPE WITH INAPPROPRIATE HUMOR

Shaggy: I yelled at my dog, got him kidnapped, and ended up helping the bad guy to open the gates to Hell. Guess I’ll die.

Dee Dee: Well actually, this is more Dastardly’s fault because -

Shaggy, yelling as he slams his hand against the lock: GUESS I’LL DIE!!!

----

Ah, so the writers wrote themselves into a corner, and the only way out was a Deus Ex Machina (at least, I think I’m using that term correctly…)

Because to get Shaggy back, a giant statue of Alexander the Great and Peritas appears out of nowhere - literally, since it definitely wasn’t there before - with an inscription Scooby has to read to get Shaggy back.

This would have been a lot more effective if we’d seen it when Dastardly arrived in Greece - maybe even as the marker for where the gate to the Underworld was. Have Alexander facing one way, and Peritas facing the other. You open the gate on Alexander’s side, and come home on Peritas’ side. Having this unfold into the gate gives it more purpose than “magically appears right the fcuk outta nowehere” and you could have a pun with the “backdoor” escape. Everybody wins!

And if that’s too good for ya, how about a brief lingering shot by it at some point as Dastardly flies into Greece, behind where the gate materializes, or directly across from it on the plaza? Maybe have one of the gang kick it after Shaggy leaves, and say ‘This is all your fault! Why would you make something like this?’

It’d still be a magical contrivance, but at least it would make some fcuking SENSE.

(Granted it DID lead to this hilariously ominous shot, so maybe I shouldn’t complain:)

---

Velma: I finally figured out what you guys are! You’re the heart of Mystery Inc.

Me: YEAH BABY! *flips over table* I’VE BEEN SAYING THAT SHIT FOR YEARS AND NOW, I’M FCUKING VALIDATED AT LAAAAAAAAST!

----

Shaggy: *rips off Dastardly’s face to reveal…*

ALL: SIMON COWELL??!?

Me, choking on food: I’m sorry WHAT?!?!?

Velma: *takes off mask again to reveal*

ALL: DICK DASTARDLY?!?

Dastardly: Drat! No one ever goes for the double unmasking.

So I was right all along - Simon Cowell truly was a Dick this entire time.

-----

And so we close on the gang unveiling a Mystery Machine paint job on their official detective agency building, Brian Falcon living the good life as the DJ at their party, the Falcon team gifting a sleek new Mystery Machine to the gang (which honestly looks pretty unique - it’s not the classic, but it is something new that isn’t awful, so kudos there), and the gang on their way to another mystery.

So, at the end of the day is this a good Scooby movie?

Meh? *waves hand in meh motion* But it definitely had its moments.

This Scooby film is flawed as heck, no doubt about it - the plot has a MAJOR problem with telling instead of showing, some parts feeling out of order or WAY too short, and of course the deus ex machina ending. I honestly would have loved some more time for their first mystery as kids, where we actually got more character moments/bonding from Fred, Daphne, and Velma as they solved it the more traditional route, as well as not framing FD&V as super duper mystery solvers right off the bat???

The stuff with Blue Falcon isn’t AWFUL, per se, but it is ridiculously satisfying to see him get smacked around. Captain Caveman was honestly one of the funniest bits in the movie, same with Dynomutt.

As far as the character stuff? It all felt fairly natural, progression-wise. Shag and Scoob don’t have this big break-up with the gang - they’re hurt by the literal Dickhead’s comments the gang don’t speak up against, and go to blow off some steam together. Shag and Scoob don’t have this giant blow-up argument - it builds over the film into a hurt spat they both recognize they overreacted to almost immediately. The gang (FDV) go looking for them almost as soon as they leave, and, upon hearing they’re in danger, turn and head towards them to save them, realizing how important the two are to Mystery Inc along the way. They defend each other, help each other, have some of the Best Dang Animated Mystery Inc hugs I ever did see - THIS feels more like the Gang I’ve been waiting for forever to come back to DTV (and in a rough sense, did). While I do wish we’d gotten more screen time of FD&V, what we got wasn’t too bad.

Weirdly enough, at the end of the day, I’ve actually grown more accustomed to Forte’s Shaggy - it feels like it fits this different style a touch more than I originally thought, and holy hell if I didn’t come close to tears at that ending gate scene, he knocked that one out of the park. Velma still doesn’t feel much like Velma, but I did get used to it by the end. I kept cracking up at Efron’s Fred, and no complaints on Seyfried’s Daphne.

Jason Isaacs as Dick Dastardly absolutely killed it. Blue Falcon Crew was okay (excepting Mark “The Racist” Wahlburg - it was just him talking, no real effort. You could recognize Wahlburg right off the bat, acting as a goofy douche) and freaking Captain Caveman was awesome. Apparently they combined both Billy West and Don Messick’s recordings for Muttley (awesome!!!), so this may very well be Don Messick’s final role in a Scooby Doo film.

It got off to a rough start, but ended well enough. The animation was solid, the writing has some unexpectedly clever and funny moments sprinkled throughout, with some pretty fun action sequences on the side. Watching this, I really do believe that the people working on it love Scooby Doo and all things Hanna-Barbera… at least in their own way.

I ended up buying this instead of just renting it ($5 more, why not) and I am honestly glad I did so. Despite its flaws, it has some great moments with the gang as friends, and I have been Craving That Shit for DECADES

And if these writers/directors ever did another Scooby film? I think I’d be up for giving them a chance - at least so long as we got some more absolutely BEAUTIFUL hugs with the gang

I hope you enjoyed this stream-of-consciousness reaction to SCOOB! (2020)... a whole ass year LATER, admittedly (I didn’t switch my Save Post to Queue, curse my hubris), but hopefully y’all’ve been entertained. Good night everybody!

#scoob!#scoob 2020 #scoob #scooby doo #plush reviews: final thoughts #note to self: never use queue for the big posts

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nerianasims · 4 years ago

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Billboard #1s 1980

Under the cut.

KC & The Sunshine Band -- "Please Don't Go" -- January 5, 1980

Is that falsetto in the opening or merely an attempt at it? KC & The Sunshine Band trying to do a sincere, sad ballad does not work. Now I have the dance remix by KWS that was a hit in the 90s (and apparently plagiarized from a Euro-dance group) in my head.

Michael Jackson -- "Rock With You" -- January 18, 1980

I thought I had never heard this song before until I heard the chorus. Oh yeah, this one. I don't know if Michael Jackson singing a sex jam would have worked for me before, well, all the child molestation coming to light. Now it really doesn't. There's only so much "separate the art from the artist" I'm capable of, though I am in favor of it. On another note, in the video, he's wearing the sparkliest outfit I have ever seen.

The Captain & Tennille -- "Do That To Me One More Time" -- February 16, 1980

I don't want to think about The Captain doing it even once. That is the problem with this song. Other than that, I think it's a perfectly acceptable cheesy love song. Well, except for the... plastic flute? I don't know what that is, but I'm not fond of it.

On a kind of strange note, I scrolled ahead, and starting here, I recognize almost all the songs for the next couple years on this list. Maybe they were played more on the oldies stations? At clubs? Restaurants? Maybe I came to musical consciousnous at three and a half years old?

Queen -- "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" -- February 23, 1980

This is not a top tier Queen song, but Freddie Mercury belching would be better music than anything Barry Gibb did. Not top tier, but still very fun. And it's always great hearing Freddie Mercury do whatever the hell he wants to do with his voice. Here, he has fun doing a little bit of Elvis, but not too much. It's a rockability track by Queen. So it's great.

Pink Floyd -- "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" -- March 22, 1980

We don't need no education. This is a song about the horrible British teachers who used withering sarcasm and cruelty against the children under their care. (Like Snape, basically.) I think it's about boarding schools, since the teachers apparently have control over whether or not the kids get pudding. British boarding schools were terrible. British boarding schools are terrible, though they seem to be trying to be better. We'll see. They have hundreds of years' practice at bricking kids' psyches up in walls, and I don't trust them to change. Um, anyway, it's a good song, but not one I'd choose to listen to separate from the entire album.

Blondie -- "Call Me" -- April 19, 1980

This song actually does start with "Color me your color, baby." Or I suppose "colour" since Blondie are Brits. But it's not like the lyrics are deep -- if you can understand "Call me," you get it. I guess it's technically a love song, but since Debbie Harry sings in such an intentionally icy manner, it's anything but passionate. It's still fun and light and musically interesting.

Lipps, Inc. -- "Funkytown" -- May 31, 1980

This song is about moving out of a town that's stifling and to a town that's right for you -- "Funkytown." It could be any big city with a music scene. It's a dance song with very few lyrics, and yet the lyrics are important. The singer has "talked about it talked about it talked about it," but is determined to finally do it. It's a good funky disco song, and a good send-off for the genre's dominance.

Paul McCartney and theWings -- "Coming Up (Live At Glasgow)" -- June 28, 1980

It sounds a little bit like McCartney trying to do Philly soul, horns included. But lighter, because Paul McCartney. I can't remember the lyrics even just after I heard them, but it's a love song. Quite boring.

Billy Joel -- "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" -- July 19, 1980

I love a lot of Billy Joel songs. I don't really love this one. I like the sentiment -- "Oh, it doesn't matter what they say in the papers/ 'Cause it's always been the same old scene/ There's a new band in town but you can't get the sound/ From a story in a magazine/ Aimed at your average teen." He also criticizes the 80s' roaring materialism, which hadn't even hit its nadir yet. But I dunno. Maybe it's a little slow? It needs something.

Olivia Newton-John -- "Magic" -- August 2, 1980

I had never heard of the movie Xanadu until about a decade ago. It's a staple of bad movie sites. Its plot is bonkers, and some very 1980 blockhead is the male lead. The story would have made more sense and the movie been far better if Olivia Newton-John's character had gotten together with Gene Kelly, who's also in the movie, instead. Anyway, this love song is from the movie's soundtrack. It's got a little bit of that mystical vibe that Stevie Nicks did so well, and that always appeals to me. I can't pretend this is a great song, or even necessarily a good one. But it speaks to the 12-year old in me.

Christopher Cross -- "Sailing" -- August 30, 1980

This is the most Florida song ever. Because it doesn't sound like he really has a boat. "Fantasy, it gets the best of me/ When I'm sailing/ All caught up in the reverie, every word is a symphony/ Won't you believe me?" Musically, it sounds like it would go well with a sailboat. But almost none of us have sailboats. We have fantasies. It's a nice-sounding song, and if you think about it enough, it becomes more complex than it seems.

Diana Ross -- "Upside Down" -- September 6, 1980

I'm going to have to face up to the fact that I usually don't like how Diana Ross sings. She's too slick and detached for me, without lyrics that go with that. I cannot believe this woman was ever turned "upside down" by love. And of course the guy she's singing this to is cheating. But she's okay with it, because of course she is, he's just so awesome that she's singing to him "respectfully." I like this song musically, except for Diana Ross' emotionally distant singing, but I hate the lyrics, and I am extremely sick of this no-maintenance schtick.

Queen -- "Another One Bites the Dust" -- October 4, 1980

This might be the only Queen song I don't like. I'm not saying it's bad. It's probably very good. But I have heard the chorus way too much. Otoh, I've heard "We Will Rock You" even more, and I still like that. Maybe there's too much... stuff in this one? I don't know. It's definitely too repetitive. It's no "Don't Stop Me Now," that's for sure. Queen's best songs never reached #1 in the U.S., and I don't know if any came near until "Bohemian Rhapsody" hit #2 when I was in high school. But reaching the charts is a very bad sign of whether or not music is actually good.

Barbra Streisand -- "Woman in Love" -- October 25, 1980

I'm not going to go back to check, but I think Barbra Streisand has exactly the same pose and expression on the covers of all her singles. This one was written by Barry Gibb, oh joy. I wondered if this would be an additive or a multiplicative factor in how bad the song (which I had never heard) was. Something happened that I didn't expect: It made the song so boring it slips out of my head while I’m listening to it. There's the line "no truth is ever a lie." Brilliant, Barry, what a lyricist. Also, that line is not true. Barry Gibb was apparently not familiar with Othello. Anyway, since I'm just bored, I guess Streisand and Gibb together is actually better than them separately. Still bad, though.

Kenny Rogers -- "Lady" -- November 15, 1980

It's a love song in which the narrator sings that he's your knight in shining armor. That sentiment should be surrounded by more interesting music in some way. Something operatic, or mystical, or country, something. Kenny Rogers was never one of my favorites, but he's capable of something. This song is nothing. Lionel Richie wrote it, so of course.

John Lennon -- "(Just Like) Starting Over" -- December 27, 1980

This song hit #1 just after Lennon was murdered. I was 4 years old, but I actually remember when John Lennon was murdered -- I was in the car with one or more parental units (I don't remember who), and it came on the radio. I was upset. I knew Beatles music, my parents played it all the time, and I knew who John Lennon was. I'm still extremely sad about his death today. This song is about how happy he was with Yoko, all settled down and looking forward to a nice, calm, loving future together. Ugh I'm gonna cry.

BEST OF 1980 -- "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen. WORST OF 1980 -- "Please Don't Go" by KC & The Sunshine Band

#billboard number ones

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elinakazan · 4 years ago

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( ANNIE MURPHY + CIS FEMALE ) — Have you seen ELINA KAZAN? This THIRTY-FOUR year old is an ART CURATOR who resides in BROOKLYN. SHE has been living in NYC for FOUR MONTHS, and is known to be CREATIVE and CAREFREE, but can also be QUIXOTIC and DRAMATIC, if you cross them. People tend to associate them with HIGHLIGHTED PASSAGES IN A BOOK and PAINT-SPLATTERED CLOTHES | @codstarters

hiya! my name’s ella. i’m SO excited to be here and bring elina to this amazing roleplay. i can’t wait to interact with all of you! so please hmu if you’d like to plot!

. basic information

NAME: elina thisbe kazan

NICKNAME: el, ellie, lina

GENDER: cis female

PLACE OF BIRTH: victoria, british columbia, canada

HOMETOWN: birmingham, england

DATE OF BIRTH: april 26, 1986

AGE: thirty-four

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual

OCCUPATION: art curator at the moma

BOROUGH: brooklyn

. background

tw: cheating

Not much is known about Elina's biological parents. Her story is no much different than those of many children in the foster system: parents who were too young to raise a kid. She was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Although she still retains her Canadian citizenship, she does not remember much of her birthplace.

She was six months old when she was adopted by the Kazans. Both of them had immigrated to Canada ten years earlier. Her father, Estevan Kazan was a Greek citizen who moved to Canada to work on his Master's degree and her mother, Katina Trusova moved from Russia seeking a better life. By the time she was adopted, her parents had been married for five years and after several failed attempts to conceive, they decided to adopt. She does speak Greek and Russian fluently.

The Kazans lived in Vancouver for three years before Estevan was offered a job in Birmingham. The whole family relocated to England and a year later her parents adopted a baby boy and two years later a baby girl completed the family.

A happy and reckless child, Elina gave her parents several headaches. She had enough energy to light a city and no matter the number of extracurricular activities her parents enrolled her in, she simply couldn't stay still. Regardless of her endless vitality, Elina often gave nothing but satisfactions to her parents. The kind and bubbly girl turned over the years in a clever, outgoing and creative woman.

Elina never really had a plan, most of the time she just went along with the flow. One day she wanted to be an Olympic athlete and the next day she wanted to be a doctor. Her life aspirations were ever-changing. However, the only constant in her life was her love and passion for art, any kind of art. A dreamer per nature, Elina found solace in paintings, songs, films and books. They allowed her to travel to a different world and in the tough moments, art has always been there for her.

Loyal to her capricious nature, Elina tied the knot when she was just 18 years old. Harry Vandenberg was not a random choice. In fact, aside from art, he'd been the other constant in her life. Best friends since she moved to England, Elina swears that she knew she was going to marry him even at the tender age of three. It took years to go from strangers to friends to boyfriend and girlfriend and finally to husband and wife.

Elina started university shortly after the wedding. She decided to take a double program and she graduated with a Bachelor in History of Art and Classics from Oxford. While her academic life kept her busy, she often felt alone. Being in the army, Harry was often away. At first, she didn't mind the loneliness, but soon it started to take a toll on their relationship.

Throughout most of her life, Elina aimed to have a marriage like the one her parents had. In her eyes, they were the perfect couple until she found out it all had been a lie. Her parents divorce came out of nowhere but soon enough her mother explained everything. Her father had been cheating on her for the past fifteen years. Elina's whole world crumbled down upon hearing that and just like that her trust in those close to her was gone.

No one could be trusted. That was all she had taken from her parents' divorce and unfortunately she brought it into her marriage. Elina started to question Harry's faithfulness. Nothing he did or say could change her mind that her husband was not cheating. Without evidence she continued to accuse him and despite his best efforts to prove his innocence, their marriage came to and end. All those false allegations became a reality. She had pushed him away and turned him into a cheater.

Her heartache was enhanced when she saw Harry's face all over the news after his relationship with the princess came out. When it came to settle the divorce, Elina decided she didn't want anything, she just signed it and moved to Italy where she lived until four months ago.

Six months ago, she was offered her dream job: museum curator at the MOMA. She hesitated to take it since she knew Harry lived there and the last thing she wanted was to make everyone think that she was moving there for him but in the end, she couldn't deter her own dreams because of him. So, she took the job and relocated to New York four months ago. She got a nice place in Brooklyn and she hopes that the city is big enough to avoid running into her ex-husband.

. personality

Elina worships her freedom. She loves travel, adventure, meeting new people, and she longs to experience all of life. If she hates something in life that is routine. She doesn't want to lead a humdrum life and she is often doing a bunch of things as she is not tied down to one task. Her upbeat personality helps her to make friends easily and she often attracts people from all walks of life. She has a way with words and an uncanny ability to motivate others, she also loves to make people laugh and tends to be very sarcastic almost cynical. Honesty and loyalty are sacred to her and that can make her feel wary. She doesn't trust easily and chooses very careful who to trust. Elina is also an idealistic and a daydreamer. She is always in her own little world and she tends to get distracted easily.

. potential connections

siblings: she has two siblings, a brother (30) and a sister (28). they are also adopted (so the fc could be anyone). i imagine they have a good relationship, although maybe she could have had a fallout with one of them because they decided to take their father’s side in the divorce.

close friends: could be friends she made in england, italy or here in new york. she has plenty friends but this group is special because she trusts them which is a hard thing for her to do.

partner in crime: so elina is very spontaneous, they kind of person who rarely says no to adventure. unfortunately, not many people are like that but this person is just like her and they always say yes to all her plans.

art lovers: they run into each other at art galleries, exhibitions, open mics, museums, screenings, concerts, anything that involves art. so obviously they have the same interests, so they are each other art buddy.

university classmates/friends: she attended oxford for four years, then the royal academy of art and right now she’s doing a master’s at nyu.

before sunset plot: okay so she traveled a lot after her divorce, so i’d love a plot like the one in the movie, ya know, they met on a train and talked for hours, they walked around the cities and talked some more. there was a connection but then their ways had to be split.

unlikely friends: despite their differences they are friends. elina is very outgoing, reckless and impulsive while your character is the opposite of that.

fwb: since her divorce, elina hasn’t been in a serious relationship, however, this is the closest she has to one. they just fall in tune with the other. it’s easy, no strings attached. (m/f)

ex-flings: she probably has hooked up with a few people, it’s casual. (m/f)

tinder date: yeah she fell into the online dating world and let’s say it did NOT go well. it was akward but in a fun way. everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. it’s a fond memory but obviously there wasn’t a second date.

neighbours: people who live either in brooklyn or in her apartment complex.

OOOF ! okay, that’s all i have for now. i didn’t proofread this so excuse the lazy english but it’s 3 am here so my brain is dead. anyway, enough rambling. i’d loooove to plot with y’all so please like this or come and hit me up with plots. tumblr messages or discord, i’m game for anything!!! :D

#codintro #what a novel!#but plot with us pls #tw cheating

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stormears · 5 years ago

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FF7R Fanfic Exvacation - Trends of the Times PART 1

Welcome to my ECOLOGICAL SURVEY OF FF.NET’S FF7 ARCHIVE.

I’m scrolling through (most of) the 36 thousand English FF7 fanfics on FF.net. I’m mostly a new fan because of the remake (know some spoilers now tho) and got curious what the fanfic culture of years ago was like...of FFN specifically. Because that’s what I know and used for many years. I’ll go up till shortly after Remake’s release date, I think.

PART 1, YOU ARE HERE! // Part 2: May - Dec 2005 // Part 3: Jan - Jul 2006

I had 1458 pages to go through at the start. Got through 30 of them before deciding I would, uh, take liberties and skip a few pages sometimes. Sometimes 2, sometimes up to 4. Because while I liked this project, I also want to eventually, actually READ some fics for this new fandom of mine. And the oldest ones don’t often...have that high-quality writing. Or they’re about late-game plot deets that I, a newbie fool, don’t know or want to read about yet! (Note 3 months later, I kind of regret this and may go back and read more deeply about the 1999-2004 fics. Future posts of mine don’t skip nearly this much.)

SOME FINDS AND FACTS:

- July 23, 1999: first English language FF7 fic posted

- February 2000: First mention of Aerith, instead of original translation Aeris

- Dec 3, 2000: First Sephiroth/Cloud fanfic posted, refers to the pairing as “shounen-ai”. Did not see the pairing being called “yaoi” till later, in fics published June 2001 and after.

- GENERAL: a lot of poems and songfics. Often mournful fics with son lyrics set in between every few paragraphs, from popular bands of the early 2000s (Metallica, Creed, Weird Al Yankovic, Avril Lavigne) or just the song with FF names and words plugged in

- GENERAL: Humor or light-hearted crackfic is the most popular genre, followed by romance. By mid-2001, TifaxCloud and AerithxCloud seem about neck-and-neck in popularity.

- June 14, 2001: First Tifa hate fic I came across. It’s written in script style, about the characters having fun and drinking at a house party. Author says in opening AN: “I truly think she is a slut.”

- GENERAL: My knowledge of what happens after the Remake is spotty but I didn’t expect there to be more than 10 AerithxRufus fanfics and there’s been...at least 10?

- GENERAL: One story has just 1 chapter, and the summary invites readers to go to the author’s Geocities page to read the rest! May 31, 2002.

- January 2, 2003: a “fic” that is a group of haikus about the Turks, that was neat. Points for uniqueness.

- One summary: “Not yaoi - you ought to read it just for that!” Although M/M pairings and/or self-declared yaoi makes up 10 - 15% of everything I’ve scrolled through so far. “Crazy yaoi fangirls” doesn’t appear to be a popular demographic here yet.

- 1999-2002 fics often had very short, poorly written and meta-factual (?) summaries. Not detailed, more like facts about the story you might write on a sticky note, and poor grammar. One might be like: This is a story from Aeriths perspective. Its about her talking to thhe planet.....I wrote this in math class btw. Thanks for helping me Ashley R&R! (In 2003 to 2004 times, this is really tapering off and legit summaries get more common.)

- 2004 sampler platter of fics: 1) Aeris (not “th”) watches an irl Australian tennis player’s match on TV, goes to his house and kills his girlfriend, is sentenced to death by chocobo pecking 2) Sephiroth is a vampire looking for a mate and sets his sights on Tifa, also a vampire; they meet in a seedy/dangerous bar 3) After President Shinra is killed, the Shinra grunts discuss how they like Rufus much more because he doesn’t view himself as too good for dirty/dangerous work and isn’t afraid to be on the front lines with the grunts

- First mention of the Advent Children in a modern AU crackfic about child Sephiroth and his “little brothers” posted July 24, 2004. But google says the movie didn’t come out till September 2005? Idk. And yet a later, unrelated fic posted on February 20, 2005 mentions “the upcoming movie Advent Children.”

- 2004 and 2005 have a lot of Yuffie representation. I haven’t seen the word “Yuffentine” since I last seriously used/surfed DeviantART in 2012.

- We are at May 2005, I’ve skimmed and simplified almost 6 years of fanfic.

I’m going to put the brakes on my liberal skipping policy. There’s 1144 pages left as of this time of writing, April 24, 2020. I will only skip 2 pages max if I want to “hurry,” so I will view at absolute minimum 644 more pages of fanfic before I’m done. Again, I’ll probably go up to the day of Remake’s release (I’m more concerned with the PAST trends here) or maybe just a bit after its release for better comparison of the very old and very new.

This is taking a long time, and obviously eating into time I could use for my own fanfics or anything else in life, but damn it’s fun.

(Note August 2, 2020: I SWEAR I’m gonna update this post soonish with more ‘99 - ‘04 fics :/ )

#FF7R #fanfiction #Cloti #Clerith #Sefikura #I want people to SEE #FF7 #Final Fantasy #But I recall your post only shows up in the search for the first 5 tags you use the rest are just for the OP's benefit #FF7 Fic Excavation #Finished post on the 24th waited a few days for...the chance of getting 2-4 more notes maybe #But if still no one looks I'm not stopping. I do what I want here on tumblr dot com.

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liskantope · 4 years ago

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Some not-so-brief reactions to major Disney films 1968-1988

A little while ago I wrote another collection of quick commentaries on major Disney films (which I’m watching one by one through Disney+) from their inception with Snow White in 1937 to The Jungle Book in 1967. I was planning to round off my next collection at another 30-year mark, but the little mini-reviews I’ve been writing are beginning to look so long-winded in aggregate that tonight I decided maybe I should stop at this point. Also, last time, without fully being aware of it, I stopped at the end of what is considered Disney’s Silver Age (coming after Disney’s Golden Age, also included in the last set of commentaries), and apparently 1968 to 1988 is considered Disney’s (Bronze and/or) Dark Age (the Disney Renaissance kicking off with The Little Mermaid in 1989), so there’s another reason it makes sense to cut it off here.

I’ll keep watching the major Disney features, one a day, through the 90′s works, but whether I’ll find time to keep writing about my impressions of each film I watch, I can’t guarantee anything.

The Aristocats, 1970

This is a beloved favorite of mine. I got the video in later childhood, having previously admired the main number “Everybody Wants To Be a Cat” (still the highlight of the movie, from my adult point of view) and having read the story in a Disney book. After seeing it many times in childhood, I rewatched it only a few years ago when it showed up on Netflix. Around that time (or maybe just afterwards), I noticed that my favorite cartoon/Disney reviewer YouTuber Phantom Strider occasionally mentions that he dislikes The Aristocats -- he doesn’t put it on his top 10 worst Disney movie list or anything, but he’s made some disparaging remarks without going into detail. Watching it once again this month on Disney+, my verdict is that, yeah, it’s subpar in quite a few ways, but my more critical adult sensibilities will never override the fond feelings I have for this movie.

Since this is the next movie on the list after The Jungle Book, I couldn’t help constantly comparing the two, and I did see some parallels. In both cases, the story is pretty weak: this time, a family of cats gets kidnapped and stranded far from home by the greedy butler villain and have to pass through several adventures to get back to their owner. In both cases, the plot is a very linear one involving small adventures and minor characters having little bearing on the overall arc (this is perhaps slightly less the case with The Aristocats, where the new acquaintance Thomas O’Malley stays with them the whole time, and at least Scat Cat’s gang makes a return at the end -- minus the unfortunate and entirely unnecessary character of the Chinese cat -- to fight for the protagonists). In both cases, the voice acting is great and includes Phil Harris and Sterling Holloway. In both cases, the villain’s motives are rather flimsily stated -- the butler villain is more comical and slightly more rounded out, and the fact that his motive doesn’t make a lot of sense is perhaps meant to be part of the comedy. The Aristocats has far more filler material, including a useless but somewhat amusing and ultra-cartoonish sideplot about our butler villain losing his hat and umbrella and having to return to the countryside to get them (it’s more amusing than it sounds, trust me).

The Aristocats is simply weaker in almost every way than The Jungle Book. Although I like all the music, including “Scales and Arpeggios” which I only just learned was written by the Sherman Brothers and I appreciated a lot as a kid who practiced the piano every day, the only truly memorable song was “Everybody Wants To Be a Cat” (not written by the Sherman Brothers), whereas in The Jungle Book there are multiple numbers of that caliber written by the Sherman Brothers at nearly the top of their form. This film can also be compared to One Hundred and One Dalmatians and again comes out looking worse -- Dalmations sort of perfected the whole “animals coordinating a rescue” type plot, and The Aristocats only seems to make a feeble attempt at it.

One interesting thing about the pacing of the film that as an adult I’m a bit taken aback by is how quickly the ending of the movie runs. I was shocked when I rewatched this for the first time as an adult on Netflix, got to the ending of “Everybody Wants To Be a Cat”, and saw that there were only 15 minutes of running time left: that includes the late-night discussion between the romantic leads, the arrival at their home, Edgar re-kidnapping them, Roquefort going for help and nearly getting himself killed by Scat Cat’s gang, the whole action sequence of the actual rescue, a final scene with Madame welcoming O’Malley and rewriting the will, and the final song. We don’t even get to see Madame’s reaction at seeing her beloved cats alive and well, which is one of the ways this movie compares unfavorably with Dalmatians. There is some real artistry in The Aristocats, but the amount of effort put in is clearly not up to the standard of Disney’s finest.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks, 1971

I mainly knew this movie through the song “Beautiful Briny Sea” growing up. Eventually I did watch the film one time; I also read the book it was based on (I can’t remember which came first). I remembered very little outside of that one song, the fact that the characters travel in a bed, and David Tomlinson (who I knew well as Mr. Banks) being in it as an jarringly un-Banks-like character. I had entirely forgotten the fact that the story takes place during World War II and that this is crucial to the plot. I knew this as the Disney movie that tried to be Mary Poppins and failed to be anywhere near as exciting or resonant. However, I was still very curious to rediscover, two decades later, what the movie was really all about.

The story is really quite good on a level that appeals to grownups as well as children -- not as deeply as Mary Poppins, mind you, but distinctive and captivating. (I think this has something to do with the story being as much to do with the adult characters as with the children.) The acting is also solid. It only increased my respect for David Tomlinson’s versatility as an actor, in fact, and it was fun to see the likeness of the dignified and proper George Banks display so much awkward vulnerability and eventually get himself into so many slapstick situations. Unfortunately, the only memorable song is “Beautiful Briny Sea” -- I mean that quite literally, as sitting down to write this a couple of weeks after watching, I’m finding it hard to remember much about any of the other songs.

Also unfortunately, the song “Beautiful Briny Sea” is sort of a beacon in a murky area as, halfway through the film when we switch to the animated portion, the movie suddenly gets... quite bad. The live-animation hybrid is consistently done to weak effect, first of all. For some reason, only Mary Poppins made this effect believable, ahead of its time. Secondly, I understand that we have to suspend our disbelief to enjoy a children’s fantasy film, but having the group plunged into water without themselves or their book appearing wet or having any issue breathing is pushing this a bit far. Thirdly, the writing gets rather silly. As soon as they come across an animated codfish who welcomes them to the area, the oldest kid Charles (always the skeptic) says, “Now I’m hearing things! Fish don’t talk.” Nor do fish “walk” along the bottom of the sea with a cane while fully clothed and smoking a cigar, Charlie, so what was your first clue that you’re in a story where things you thought impossible are happening?

The whole crew later gets up onto the animated island of Naboombu, where Mr. Banks Professor Browne is forced to referee a soccer game between teams of anthropomorphic animals as part of his efforts (somehow) to get his hands on the lanyard of the island’s arrogant monarch (who rather resembles Prince John from the next film on this list) which winds up evaporating as soon as they get back to their own world anyway. The ensuing soccer match is by far the most bizarre part of the film, or of any of these films really -- it feels much more like some wacky Saturday morning cartoon than Disney animation. Browne the referee winds up getting (literally) dragged into the game; the live/animation hybrid is done especially poorly here. Once the characters get back to the “real” world, however, the movie becomes good again, with a fantastic climactic conclusion that left me smiling at the overall effect of the film despite its weaknesses.

Robin Hood, 1973

This was a Disney classic that we owned from the time I was fairly small, and that I watched more times than almost any other one, with Alice in Wonderland being the only possible rival I can think of. I went what was probably close to a twenty-year period without seeing it or missing it until a couple of years ago, on a transatlantic flight when it was one of the movie options on the plane. I was taken aback on that rewatching by the fact that... Robin Hood just isn’t that good. When I later saw my parents (I think this was on the way to visiting them), I told them of this revelation, and they told me, “We never thought it was that good either, but you seemed to like it.” I guess I can see some of the appeal to my much younger self, but less easily than I can see the appeal of the some of the other so-so films like The Aristocats -- there is something about Robin Hood that is eye-catching on the superficial level but ultimately shallow. At the same time, I’ll always have to feel a bit sentimental about this one because of the role it played in an early period of my life, introducing me to words like outlaw and in-law and taxes (I vividly remember thinking in early watchings that Taxes was just the name of the unpleasant wolf character), helping to develop my understanding of what poverty looks like, and also introducing me to the concept of political satire (under an anti-free-speech monarchy no less. The scene shown in the video just linked is my favorite scene of the movie, by the way.)

I think my main criticism of Disney’s Robin Hood could be summarized by saying it oversimplifies what could have been a nuanced story, way more than it needs to. This shows most starkly in its clearly-marked division between good characters and evil characters. Naive Good-vs.-Evil plots are very much part of the Disney brand, but I can’t think of any of their other films which takes that aspect to this much of an extreme in developing the characters, so that the entire cast is very openly divided between the white caps and the black caps and (this is the most important part) to the detriment of individuation between the characters. The personalities of all the characters on the Good Side seem pretty much interchangeable throughout the film. Oh sure, Robin Hood has Plucky Hero stamped on him with Designated Sidekick Little John, and Maid Marian has Love Interest stamped on her, and so on. They get into different situations because they all play different roles in the community. But there are no deeper differences between them. Friar Tuck, for instance, is the local religious leader, and you think he might present a more thoughtful, pacifistic, and spiritual point of view to his comrades and enemies. But no, he shouts at the Sheriff and chest-bumps him out of the church and engages him in physical combat just like all the other characters do. All of the people on the Good Side are in complete lockstep throughout, and this makes their part of the story deeply uninteresting.

King Richard is never developed as a character; he is a faraway abstract entity throughout the film, which makes his sudden appearance at the end (which is what really saves Nottingham and finishes the story) very ineffective. (Let’s not get into the fact that he’s described as heroic for going off to participate in the Crusades -- “While bonny good King Richard leads the great crusade he’s on” -- talk about sugarcoating history!) This is part of what I mean about oversimplifying: they could have injected some complexity into the political story beyond “usurper taxes all the money out of the people because of his personal greed until the real king returns and makes everything lovely again”. I strongly believe it is possible to present real issues in a way that is both mature and engaging to children and that it has been done even in other Disney features. Disney didn’t try very hard to do it here.

I’ll give the writers credit in that the three main bad guys, Prince John, Sir Hiss, and the Sheriff of Nottingham, are somewhat individuated, partly I think out of necessity because the Bad Side of any story has to consist of people who quarrel amongst themselves. Prince John is actually well enough developed as an insecure, petulant child with no idea what it means to lead a country that I enjoy watching him even as an adult. The parallels between him and President Trump are unmistakable, and I’m surprised that I haven’t seen more memes about this. Still, by the end of the film, even he was starting to wear on me.

Another aspect of the movie that bypassed my attention as a child but bothers me as an adult is its blatant American-ness in retelling a very old, extremely British story. As in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, all of the accents, except for those of two of the main bad guys, are American. The rooster narrator of the story sounds particularly American and plays folk music throughout of a style that strikes me as the epitome of American.

The way the script and animation deal with bodies and obesity is particularly interesting in this one. Four of the characters I can think of are portrayed as fat, including one of the main bad guys (the Sheriff “Old Bushel-Britches” of Nottingham) but also three of the good guys. Minor quips are made about this by some of the characters, but overall it could arguably be considered a rather positive, good-natured treatment of this issue for its time. It is the source of some physical humor, and some of the body-related physical humor in general slightly raises my eyebrows as an adult -- there is a boob grab, for instance (well, fake boobs as part of a disguise, but still).

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, 1977

I had avoided watching any Disney rendition of Pooh for a long time before watching this one last week. I got to see a lot of Pooh in earlier childhood because of videos given as gifts by other kids’ parents, which my mom (who loves the original books by Milne and hates Disney’s interpretation of them) let me watch only with great reluctance. I soured to the Disney Pooh franchise as I got older and remember in high school getting sick of how many things were decorated with animated Pooh characters, and how few people knew the original books.

Starting to watch this film, I had no idea which of the Pooh stories would be included or whether I would remember seeing them before. As it turned out, I remembered almost none of it: I knew the theme song well and was slightly familiar with the early song about Pooh climbing the honey tree (it must have been on one of the Disney Sing-Along videos) but didn’t remember anything else until vaguely recalling some of the later Tigger stuff (I remembered, before it happened, that Tigger escapes from the tree by sliding down a paragraph of text in the book, one of many instances of extreme fourth-wall-breaking that runs as a theme throughout). As it happens, although The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh seems to go along pretty smoothly given that it makes no pretense of having a unified story arc -- something I give it credit for -- it is actually composed of four short films produced throughout the decade beforehand. This explains why I only remembered the Tigger stuff near the end: we must have had the quarter-length film Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too at my house for a while, but not the other three. (What I actually watched the most, I think, was a video of TV episodes called “Newfound Friends”, which I’ll look up on Disney+ out of curiosity but probably won’t include in this list.)

I remain anti-Pooh[Disney_version], but this anthology film wasn’t as bad as I had thought it might be. The first story about Pooh and the honey tree was actually pretty good. I am not opposed to Sterling Hollaway’s portrayal of the title character. Eeyore’s voice is way too flat, but otherwise most of the characters are portrayed okay. I distinctly remember reading Rabbit as a female character as a kid, and on hearing his voice again I suppose I can understand why. Tigger is the most offensively adapted: he is one-dimensional in a very obnoxious, not-so-amusing slapstick way. His portrayal would have come off better if they had given him more of a child’s voice, which is more appropriate to the book version of his character anyway. The gopher character is pretty annoying as well; he’s rather useless and unnecessary given that he’s not in the books (he even has a fourth-wall-breaking line about not being in the book). Some of the stories from the book are meshed together in a way that does a disservice to each of them, and the movie might have been better if it had committed to adapting fewer of Milne’s chapters. The story about Pooh getting stuck in Rabbit’s front door is done in a distasteful way, with Rabbit turning the back half of his body into part of the upholstery (an idea that Walt Disney had himself when he first read the book!). The songs weren’t great, and I wish that some of Pooh’s poetry from the books had been adapted to song instead.

Leaving those details aside, this is an earnest attempt at turning Pooh into an animated feature which turned out to be not too terrible given my low expectations.

The Rescuers, 1977

I remember watching this once as a kid and almost nothing sticking with me apart from the fact that the main villain (who I remembered nothing about, not even really the gender) had two pet crocodiles. I watched it a second time on Netflix a few years ago, I think within the same week of watching The Aristocats on Netflix.

I have one word for this Disney animated classic: weak. The story is not all that interesting. Having watched Dalmatians and The Aristocats in the few weeks before hand, coordinated animal rescue plots were starting to wear on me. There is no music except for a few forgettable songs not sung by the characters. Eva Gabor makes Ms. Bianca a beguiling character, but the rest of the characters are completely forgettable. The main male character, Bernard, has the blandest voice ever. Even the little girl being rescued, while sympathetic, is not very unique or interesting. (There is something subtly heavy and haunting about having her teddy bear as her best friend through most of the film, though.) At the time of writing, I’ve already halfway forgotten what the villain’s sidekick was like. There are a bunch of other animals who are fun to watch in animation but don’t stick in my mind, apart from Pat Buttram’s drunken rat character (because it wouldn’t be a Disney film of the 40′s-80′s without some alcoholism in it).

The villain, Medusa, is a particular fail here. She is basically a lame Cruella de Vil 2.0: modern, non-fairy-tale-ish, greedy and materialistic, drives like a lunatic, etc. After watching, I found out that the story writers initially thought of simply bringing Cruella back as the villain in this movie, but decided against the idea of it being in any way a sequel to Dalmatians (remember that at this point no Disney sequel had ever been done -- the 1990 sequel to this film was the very first!). I think they should have gone with that idea: bring back one of the most celebrated Disney villains, rather than come up with a new one who is a lot like her but with subtly less pizazz.

Random observation: this has to be one of the only classic Disney stories where the animals can talk to exactly one sympathetic human (the girl) but no other human. If I remember right, I don’t think even Cinderella can understand the words of her mouse friends.

Anyway. Some people say the sequel is much better than the original here. I haven’t seen The Rescuers Down Under yet, but I hope it’s true.

Pete’s Dragon, 1977

This is the first movie on this whole journey that is so obscure that I don’t think I’d even heard of before, let alone seen, and that’s despite the fact that there was a remake in 2016. (The one thing that rang a bell for me while watching was the idea of a dragon playing tic-tac-toe on its belly, an image I possibly saw in an isolated context.) I questioned whether I should watch yet another 1977 Disney film at all, when it would be mostly live-action and was obviously so obscure. In the end, I’m glad I watched this, partly because the story did grip me on some level, but mostly because this film is so very entertaining in how badly done it is.

Pete’s Dragon, in almost every way, is bad -- hilariously bad -- the sweet spot of Bad: the kind of bad that’s actually interesting to examine and yet also shallow enough to make for good Bad Movie Night watching. It’s hard to know where even to begin. The consistently terrible acting of almost everyone, especially in every single line of the boy protagonist (I hate to trash a child actor like this, and part of it was probably bad direction: for instance, someone should have taught him to go easy on the pointy finger). Almost none of the right emotional notes are hit at the right time in what is a very heartfelt story. Only Helen Reddy as the female lead and Jim Dale as the charlatan doctor strike me as good actors doing the best they can with a terrible script and bad acting around them. Then there are the cheesy, poorly-written, often poorly-sung songs. (Did I mention that in one song, each of Pete’s main abusive guardians continue to sing, each in an unperturbed, full-throated voice while being flung in the air by an invisible dragon and plunged into the water?) The awkward choreography. The weak visual effects (as with Bedknobs and Broomsticks, they really didn’t know how to pull of hybrid animation well. I’d go easier on them for this if Mary Poppins hadn’t nailed it 13 years earlier.) I could go on and on.

It made a lot of sense to me when I read afterwards that Pete’s Dragon was originally written as a stage musical, because there is something unusually stage-musical-ish about how the songs are written (for instance, having subsets of the ensemble throw out response lines in unison) and the way the choreography is done. I’ll say as someone who has been in stage musicals that these elements can feel a bit awkward even on the stage; they look to me more awkward in the medium of film; and they’re especially awkward when the songs, choreography, etc. is as poorly written as it is in this film -- someone who hates musicals wanting to teach a friend to hate them too might well choose to show their friend this movie and pretend that it’s a representative example.

Even through all this, I was able to appreciate that the story is pretty good, and I came to care for the sympathetic characters, however badly acted they were. I also enjoyed the atmosphere of a small coastal village in northeast US (called Passammaquoddy, apparently a real bay in Maine). So, by the time I was partly through watching this (fairly long) movie, I felt very committed to continuing, enjoying it as I was just as much for its entertaining badness as for anything else.

I want to end by mentioning one musical scene in the movie that took me by surprise because it was actually good, and funny and catchy and overall entertaining. It’s our introduction to the charlatan Dr. Terminus, and so it’s self-contained. If you want a taste of a part of the movie that I think is head and shoulders better than the rest while reflecting exactly what I mean by a stage-musical-style musical number (not making any claims about how good in absolute terms this scene is, though), here is a YouTube video of it (the song “Passammaquoddy”) (warning: mildly off-color taste on body type and disability stuff). I would actually enjoy leading a song like this in a musical.

The Fox and the Hound, 1981

These more obscure Disney films are getting more and more interesting. I distinctly remember knowing about this one as a kid, seeing VHS boxes of it at friends’ houses, etc., but I never had much interest in actually seeing it. I watched it for the first time on Disney+ with great curiosity, coming in knowing literally nothing about what the story would be about except “a fox and a hound are friends”. I was pleasantly taken aback by the new setting of backwoods American farmland and by unusually quiet, low-key tone.

The main thing I can say about this movie is that it’s far and away the least Disney-ish of the animated ones I’ve seen so far. If nobody had told me which company made this movie, it would never even occur to me that it was done by Disney, except for the presence of Disney icon Pat Buttram’s very recognizable twangy voice (perfect for this movie, not really appropriate for the setting of Robin Hood). It’s hard to explain just why I feel this way. Maybe it’s something to do with the pacing and the sort of quiet story. Or maybe it’s the fact that none of the animals seem to be drawn in the traditional Disney fashion (that is, we’ve seen fox and owl characters before in Disney, and for some reason their counterparts in The Fox and the Hound aren’t recognizable to me.) Or maybe it was the almost complete lack of songs. Honestly, trying to write this, I can’t quite pin down what made this a slightly offputting Disney-watching experience.

Despite feeling affection for the characters from the get-go, I actually found myself rather bored throughout the first half of the slowly-progressing movie. Then I perked up in the middle, actually thinking there might be a death, and of a rather morally ambiguous character too (this didn’t feel like a Disney film, so it might break the rules?). After that I felt enthralled to the point of breaking down and finishing it after having previously decided to leave a bit left over for the next day. I’m really not used to not having any idea how stories will end when going through Disney movies, and I guess I couldn’t handle even that small bit of suspense.

In the end, I thought the story, and how the story was rendered, was pretty good -- not stellar, but genuine. I don’t know about how overly-neatly everything was wrapped up with the main antagonist Amos Slade doing a complete 180 at the end, but after all this is Disney even if it doesn’t particularly feel like it and I shouldn’t be surprised at a happy ending.

Random side note: I wonder if Big Mama (the owl character) could be criticized as sort of an African-American stereotype and thus what Disney+ would call an “outdated cultural depiction”, or if it will be in another ten years.

The Black Cauldron, 1985

We continue with our sequence of more obscure Disney flicks. I guess this era is called the Dark Age of Disney for a reason, and one could say that this movie epitomizes such an era both in its role in the evolution of Disney and in its actual content. I don’t recall even hearing about this one as a child. I’ve heard it referred to as an adult only in the context of its successor being advertised as fun to provide a contrast with the overly-dark box office failure that had just come out, so I came in expecting a not-very-worthwhile movie that would be uncharacteristically dark and un-fun.

All I can say is, wow! The Black Cauldron, while indeed uncharacteristically dark (in ambiance at least, less so in subject matter), is genuinely, seriously good!

Within literally the first two seconds of the film, I knew that I was in a Medieval setting (not having known anything whatsoever about the story prior to watching) both from the music and from the backdrop. This remained the case throughout the movie. Everything in its style is boldly, wholeheartedly Medieval, not like some other Disney movies where the Medieval setting is watered-down and phony *cough*swordinthestone*cough*robinhood*hack. The only other movie on this list so far which comes close to succeeding at this was Sleeping Beauty, but that is such a different type of film, with such a different animation style, that comparing the two is like comparing apples to oranges. Honestly, I don’t think that the flavor is so thick even in Sleeping Beauty. The art of The Black Cauldron actually feels closer to that of Magic the Gathering than anything else I can think of from Disney. The effects of the animation are absolutely gorgeous -- in a rather dark way, mind you, not bright and colorful like what is usually associated with Disney.

The story is complex by Disney standards and I had zero familiarity with it beforehand, so for the first time I actually had to check myself to make sure I was paying attention. The characters are reasonably developed with engaging dialog (though slightly hesitant and sparse, with unusually little humor). It was a little jarring to hear “the Forbidden Forest” mentioned by one of the characters and remember that Harry Potter wouldn’t be around for over a decade. The main villain is one of the scariest ones of Disney and I would imagine may have been somewhat influenced by Ian McDiarmid’s Emperor, who had made his debut only a couple of years earlier.

I said that the last film on this list seemed distinctly un-Disney-ish, and I can say the same about this one in its own way -- maybe this was an experimental trend at Disney studios during the first half of the 80′s. The Black Cauldron has even less music in it than The Fox and the Hound and may be the only animated feature I’ve seen here with nothing resembling a song at all. One strong impression I got throughout, especially when the dungeon sequence started and the princess was introduced -- and this isn’t exactly a compliment -- is that something about the pacing, dialog, body movements, etc. seriously makes this movie feel like I’m watching a video game. (For personal context, I’ve never been a gamer, and most of my exposure to video games comes from watching college roommates play during the late 00′s.) I can’t justify exactly where I get this feeling. Also, the princess is strangely voiced and feels particularly like a non-player (video game) character somehow. I’m now curious as to whether there have ever been any games based on this movie or whether it had faded too much into oblivion by the time gaming reached the right level of progress.

Anyway, The Black Cauldron may not be especially fun or enjoyable to kids, but for an older person in the mood for some spooky Medieval fantasy animated entertainment, I recommend it as a fine movie.

(Fun trivia: I had believed that the successor on this list was the first animated feature to use computers to assist in animation, in the clock/gear sequence, but apparently this one actually was. Also, to date it was the most expensive animated film created.)

The Great Mouse Detective, 1986

Now for a classic that I had been greatly looking forward to. We didn’t have The Great Mouse Detective at my home growing up, but I know I saw it a number of times and later remembered liking it so much that on a whim in college, around the time I revisited Mary Poppins, I borrowed it from the local Blockbuster. I distinctly remembering feeling a little sheepish checking it out, but the young guy at the register actually said something like, “Yeah, that’s one of the best ones.” Years later, one of my best friends during graduate school was hanging out at my place and the conversation went to us agreeing on how excellent The Great Mouse Detective is and musing over the fact that nobody ever seems to talk about it, and we decided to watch it together as it was on Netflix at the time. We didn’t bother to log out of my roommate’s Netflix account to watch it, and he was later very irritated at me about the fact that Netflix was now constantly offering him children’s animated features. Anyway, it seems I’m far from the only one who has often viewed this one as perhaps the most underrated Disney classic of all time. (Further evidence: it comes second in WatchMojo’s list, with their winner being its predecessor!)

The Great Mouse Detective was billed as “All new! All fun!” to assure audiences that it would be a departure from the heavy seriousness of its predecessor, and in this it generously delivers all the way through. It’s based on the just-silly-enough-to-be-delightful premise that in late Victorian London there was a mouse version of Queen Victoria living in Buckingham Palace and a mouse version of Sherlock Holmes (our title character) living under the human Holmes’ flat in Baker Street. Our villain, the dastardly Ratigan, is hatching a plan to take over all of Mousedom via a plot which is incredibly silly, but the movie, which is consistent in its unpretentiousness, is able to pull this off just fine. All of the characters are nicely fleshed out (there’s a case to be made about Fidget’s character reflecting ableism but let’s leave that aside). Ratigan is the juiciest villain we’ve seen since Cruella de Vil. The plot is actually pretty complex, not at all like the predictable fairy tale / fantasy type plots we’ve often seen, yet not so complicated that it would lose the audience (or if it loses some kids, they will still be entertained by the great voicing, music, and animation). The action is, bar none, the very best I’ve seen so far on the animated movies of this list, and the movie is somehow packed with action -- every single sequence of it is superb, and the climactic scene inside of Big Ben is a revolutionary masterpiece of animation (by the standards that existed at the time). The abrupt transition to that scene, beginning in near-silence, is one of the more delightfully, deliciously chilling Disney moments for me.

This is not one of the great Disney musicals, but all three of its three musical numbers are still very enjoyable. I remember learning in college that the same person wrote “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind” and “Goodbye So Soon”, but I only just now internalized that the composer was Henry Mancini who I love from The Pink Panther and Victor Victoria. There is a certain type of wit and humor in the lyrics of both of those songs which I don’t know how to characterize in words except to say that it’s sprinkled with phrases either containing self-contradictons (“You’re the best of the worst around”, “You’re more evil than even you”) or redundancy (“No one can doubt what we know you can do”) or just plain wordplay (“Even meaner? You mean it?”, “With time so short I’ll say so long”). None of it makes a pretense of being extremely witty or anything; it’s just mildly dry. I don’t know what to call this kind of humor and can’t think of another example of it, but it consciously (though subtly) influenced the vibe I was going for with the section headings in certain of my earlier Wordpress essays.

Perhaps Lady and the Tramp can make a case for winning the Most Underrated Disney Animated Feature prize, as it seems more mature and elegant, but I’m not ashamed to say that I find The Great Mouse Detective every bit as enjoyable and that I still have enough inner child in me that I can rewatch the movie in my early 30′s and come out of it smiling broadly.

Oliver and Company, 1988

The first major Disney feature that came out in my lifetime! As with The Fox and the Hound, I always knew about this one growing up but was never really interested enough to watch it (even despite the fact that it was somehow loosely based on Oliver Twist, whose musical adaptation I was raised on pretty heavily) -- at least, I don’t think I ever saw any of it until one day in my young adulthood cable days when I caught it on TV. By “caught it on TV”, of course I mean that I probably didn’t see all of it, and it was interrupted by commercials and I was probably doing something else at the same time and not paying much attention. Literally the only thing I could remember was the line “Don’t want to mix with the riffraff?”

It’s just as well because in the grander progression of Disney creations, Oliver and Company turns out to be pretty skipable. Now I will say that I appreciate the variety of locations and cultural backdrops in Disney films and the amount of effort the creators put into carrying them out (something that was mostly lost on me as a kid). In this case, we are transported for the first time to contemporary New York, and it’s clear that the writers, voice actors, and animators went full throttle on making everything seem as in-your-face New-York-ish as possible. I don’t fault them for doing this, but it’s all done in a slightly brash way that doesn’t at all attract me to late-80′s New York culture.

I was struck in the first few minutes by a change I don’t quite know how to describe in words, except to say that the animation and even more the music feel palpably distinctly more modern than anything I’ve visited so far. The animation is simpler and more generic (luckily I have a fondness for kittens and they do succeed in making Oliver look adorable, but otherwise the visuals left me cold), and the music is a sharp reminder of the blander forms of pop music I remember growing up hearing. “Why Should I Worry?” triggered a recognition of the song that I had long forgotten -- apparently I used to know it very well but I’m not entirely sure how. The other songs are forgettable enough that I’ve already forgotten them. Interesting to find out that the principal voices were done mainly by Billy Joel and Bette Midler, marking another step on Disney’s road towards featuring more big-time celebrities in their voice acting (culminating in Robin Williams’ role in Aladdin several years later).

The story is very watered down compared to either the book or the musical version of Oliver -- understandable, I suppose, but I didn’t find it very interesting. The characters were lackluster, and the main villain Sykes managed to be even more forgettable than What’s-her-name from The Rescuers. This movie normalizes hitting on women by making catcalling noises, as done by two of the non-evil characters -- I wonder if this was put in because it’s considered a distinctive feature of New York culture, but either way I found its presence in the film obnoxious. I will say that the character of Georgette (played by Midler) stood out as very funny, and I enjoyed all of her scenes, but I don’t have much else positively positive to say about this one.

#disney films #the aristocats #bedknobs and broomsticks #robin hood #body issues #winnie the pooh #the rescuers #the black cauldron #Harry Potter #episode vi #the great mouse detective #ableism #oliver twist #catcalling #Our Current president #alcoholism

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ramblingqueenfangirl · 5 years ago

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Who gave them the right!!!!!????

Freddie Mercury, an immigrant boy from Zanzibar who had arguably one of the best singing voices ever just naturally like it belonged there as much as the blood in his veins. He could write #1 worldwide hits in less than an hour and if he took longer, would write what some in the music business have called the greatest rock song of all time. Had an ear for music that is so finely honed he can hear a song once, sit at a piano and play it and most likely even improve upon it. Who only had piano lessons for just a few years in school as a kid, and sang in the school choir at 7 and never again had any training in music or anything that it entails, yet sang better than the most trained vocalist ever. Who had one of the most exotic, recognizable, and in my opinion, sexiest looks along with the charisma of a thousand stars in one man. He could play genius melodies on a piano and secretly played insanely unique and awesome rhythm guitar. He had the talent of at least ten of the best musicians the world could produce, and was generous and funny, and just an all around good person and could control an audience of hundreds of thousands with absolutely no effort who were all in sync better than the back ups in a Jane Fonda work out video, with merely one finger. Who even though was very particular and perfectionist about his music worked so hard that not one person who ever made music with him left feeling he wasn’t the best. Who didn’t know the meaning of the word moderation and lived a life filled with more fun in just 45 years than most humans that live to be 100. Would give interviews with some of the most perfect answers just off the top of his head that are still quoted by many almost 30 years after his death. Who was the most generous celebrity ever, and was loved by most of his contemporaries even when they wanted to be jealous of him. Who sang opera that he WROTE, with one of the best opera singers that has ever breathed air, and had her in awe of his ability while fighting an unknown, excruciatingly painful, and deadly disease. A pairing that came about from one short interview in the diva’s home country and started a enormous and lasting trend of rock musicians singing opera and trying to copy the success that he created on a whim, and all others have failed to live up to miserably. A man whose instinctual movements to the music that poured out of his very soul from every pore, were so graceful, odd, and completely unplanned and awesome that it made him one of the best entertainers that ever stepped onto a stage. Who found true love even with every single obstacle stacked against it and managed to have a relationship that though not perfect was so beautiful no fairy tale could match it. Who never slept alone a day in his life and even when penniless lived like the greatest star that ever lived. Who even though a small man, who weighed nothing and wasn’t extremely tall, managed to be appealing to both men and women and personified the word sexy. Who never once in his entire life lost the beat of, both a life lived completely fully every day, or the timeless and completely inspired music he created with absolutely no effort. Who was so naturally gifted that it’s hard to believe he was actually human. A man that had a long and successful career but only took one 20 minute performance to become the most legendary performer in more than a century, all while sick with a throat infection which he refused to let stop his performance of some of rock’s hardest songs ever sung. Who when he shared a stage with the most popular and beloved artists ever and with no lights or costumes, made them all look like amateurs. Who 60 percent of 1.6 billion people voted as the most iconic and great live music performance that has ever been. Who many people believe is one of the greatest singers and frontman that did and will ever exist. When he died the grief never stopped or wanrd in intensity. Who set records in music,and then over 25 years later set a movie industry record with over 900 million dollars spent to see a biopic about his life.

Brian May, not only can use his fingers to make sounds on a guitar that a guitar shouldn’t be able to make, but was so determined to learn guitar he and his father built one from left over fireplace parts. As a child, learned and studied astronomy and physics well enough to get his masters in the subjects and later a doctorate. Has the most recognizable hair of any rock and roll musician ever naturally growing from his head, and while attaining all this education, mastered the art of guitar playing at the same time. Who has a singing voice good enough to front his own band but finds the perfect band mates by complete coincidence and become sone of the best guitar players ever and played in one of the biggest rock bands ever and be a genuinely nice and kind person as well. Taught school while his band was still finding their fame and even at 70 is still one of the coolest and most recognizable musicians on the planet. Who plays the same guitar over half a century later that he built with his dad from fireplace parts and which no one can ever completely replicate and is still the most legendary guitar in music history and he still plays all over the world and who no one has ever been able to compete with that cost less than 50 British pounds to construct.

Roger Taylor, with his baby blue eyes and long blonde hair who was too pretty to be a guy and can play drums with the best ever. He can sing in perfect range to be in harmony with his amazingly gifted lead singer while drumming at break neck speed. Who was the one who met Freddie first and introduced him to his band mate and friend Brian May and cemented one of the greatest music destinies ever. Who got more women than Casanova and could play drums and sing perfectly even when still drunk or hungover. Who has a bit of an ego, but is also humble and kind to fans. Who is the soul mate of one of the best singers that rock ever knew. Not only did they understand each other’s souls but their voices complemented each other so well only the angels in heaven could harmonize better. He could lead sing in and did, lead his own band where he played guitar yet another talent he possesses in spades. Who was made to be a rock star from the minute he decide he wanted to be. A man who could with very little time be certified as a dentist and studied biology with remarkable grades finishing his degree even though he knew he didn’t have to.

John Deacon, a man who is the definition of the word winning, in human form. A guy who on the outside seemed regular and average but was actually one of the most extraordinary musicians that ever picked up an instrument. A human disco ball who not only played bass guitar better than probably anyone but did it while dancing and writing some of the biggest selling songs of his legendary band without being able to even sing. A man who found himself near a dumpster one day and took scraps and built a custom made amp that would define the sound of his band, an amp that he himself invented and no one has been able to exactly duplicate even now. A man who got married young to the only woman he wanted and then had six children while touring and playing with one of the biggest most popular bands in history. Who can do math so well,he did, and still does, the financial business of the multimillion dollar business that his band became. A man so amazing he just left the entire music industry forever without one regret after losing the lead singer, best friend and surrogate big brother from a heart breaking disease because it just wasn’t worth it without him. A man who’s baselines are so epic and well played that his skill is hard for anyone to imitate. He was told as a prank by his fellow band mate he would need a double bass for a song and went home and learned how to play it in a matter of hours. Played not only the bass guitar with unbelievable skill and precision but any instrument. He wrote some of the most famous songs in rock that are universally loved even now more than 25 years later. He had so much integrity that even after doing the lion’s share of the writing of a song insisted his band mate who would sing the songs, take writing credits even when that singer didn’t really want to. Who was the very definition of loyalty to a lost friend who he saw as irreplaceable and refused to continue playing music without him while the others carried on. He seemed quiet, shy and unassuming but when he wanted to do something didn’t care what ANYONE thought including his band mates even during one recording session for an album picked up his stuff and went to Bali with his family on a whim leaving only a small note behind. Who came up with one of the most recognizable bass lines ever in an impromptu jam session with another artist, went out for pizza with his band mates and completely forgot said bass line then when reminded made the bass line so legendary it’s immediately recognizable from the first four notes. He wrote a song that Michael Jackson the king of pop pestered the other members to release it as a single when they were completely against it and after the single debuted became one of the best selling singles of his multi million album selling band. Who has mastered the art of being a hermit yet also being one of the coolest and most extraordinary humans that ever strapped on an instrument. Who has become the best player of hide and seek that ever was and was happy leaving it behind never once looking back.

Every single one of these guys could have been unbelievable and legendary all by themselves, but chose and found three other equally god-like humans to form a band who would become the most prolific band that ever recorded music and has multi-platinum records in every country on 6 continents in the world that are still as popular and relevant today as they were when they started 50 years ago.

WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT to be so amazing?!Individually, they could be Greek mythical heroes as accomplished and great as Achilles or Hercules, but when put together were more epic than any Greek mythology could even imagine, and changed the world, and music forever!

Who gave them the right?!!!!

#freddiemercury #queen #johndeacon #rogertaylor #brianmay #jimhutton #gardenlodge

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lovemesomesurveys · 5 years ago

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.・゜゜・. Holy Cow A Survey .・゜゜・. by junkie_dreams 1. What made you pick up the last book you started reading? It was the next one in a series that I’ve been into, so of course I had to see what happens. 2. Have you received any bad or troubling news lately? Just the ongoing bad news we’ve been receiving this year so far. 3. When was the last time you were relieved about something? I was glad that my doctor said I could do my next two, possibly three, appointments over the phone. 4. What about your life concerns you the most? A lot of things, such as my health related issues. 5. Is there a common thing most people seem to do without trouble, but it scares you (talking on the phone, driving, interviews, etc)? When was the last time you had to do one of these kinds of things? Talking on the phone/making phone calls is definitely one of them. There’s a lot of things, though. I’m a big baby.

6. Is a pen pal something you would enjoy? If so, what kinds of little things would you send your pen friends? In 3rd grade my class had pen pals and then at the end of the year we got to meet them in person during a field trip and ate lunch together. It was fun then, but no that’s not something I’d be interested in now. 7. Describe a time when you were there for a friend? I don’t have any friends, but I try to be there for my family. 8. When was the last time you went somewhere for the first time? One of the restaurants at Disneyland earlier this year. 9. What is a situation that makes you feel especially confident? Confidence? Don’t know her. 10. What was the subject of your most recent conversation? My brother and I were watching this documentary last night on the ID channel about Jeffrey Dahmer and were discussing about it. 11. Hypothetically and generally speaking, how would you go about breaking up with someone? Is there anything you would make sure to say, or perhaps not say? I did that once. I just had to be honest and tell them how I felt. I was nervous about it and felt horrible, but I knew it wasn’t fair for either of us to keep things going if I wasn’t happy or all the way in. 12. Are you more of a night person or a day person? What is it about the night/day that you favor? Night. I like my night routine of eating ramen, watching YouTube videos, listening to ASMR, scrolling through Tumblr, and doing surveys. 13. What do you find particularly offensive? Would you say you're easy or difficult to offend? I don’t think I’m easily offended. 14. Is there a belief you have that most others around you don't have? Do you share this belief with others, or do you tend to keep it to yourself? Have you ever offended anyone with this belief? I tend to keep a lot of my opinions to myself. 15. Do you consider internet friendships as important as offline friendships, or do you view them differently? I’ve had really close online friends in the past. I felt closer to them than my “real life” friends at the time. 16. When was the last time you visited relatives or friends of the family? Is visiting family something you enjoy? I haven’t been to anyone’s house in several months. 17. What did you do for the last holiday or event you celebrated? For Easter my family and I had a nice Easter dinner and watched a movie. 18. If you've moved out from home, what was the scariest thing about it? What was/is your favorite thing about it? I’m still living at home with my family. 19. Are there any fictional characters you like even though they're "bad" or "evil?" What qualities draw you to a character? Yeah. The villains in movies/TV shows can be so badass and just... so villain-y. hahah. I don’t know. And sometimes really hot, like Eric Northman in True Blood (played by the gorgeous Alexander Skarsgard). 20. What are your thoughts on "forgiving" murderers, rapists, attackers, etc? Do you think it's even possible to forgive these people? Forgiving doesn’t mean what they did was okay, it just means that you’re not allowing them to have a hold over your life and fill you with anger and hatred. Even still, I can’t imagine being able to say I forgive someone like that. Like, I couldn’t say those words. 21. What was the last series you finished watching? Do you have any plans to begin another? I’m about to finish Defending Jacob; there’s only one episode left. I’ve also been binge watching The Gilmore Girls and I’m almost done with season 5 and there’s only 2 seasons left. 22. What is one way in which you are different from a year ago? What is one way in which you are still the same? I don’t feel like I’ve changed since last year. There’s definitely a lot I need to work on and change, but I really don’t see that happening this year. I’ve been saying that each passing year the past few years, though... :/ 23. When was the last time you had to walk somewhere in the rain? How about the snow? Years ago in the rain. I’ve never had to walk anywhere in the snow. 24. Are there any types of survey questions you dread or don't like answering for whatever reason? What kinds of questions do you like best? Basic questions get annoying, stuff about relationships, sex, marriage, and children, and ones that ask my opinion on controversial stuff. Listing stuff like favorite scents gets really annoying, too. I’ve listed them SO many times. 25. If you could learn about anything without the stress of grades or cost, what kind of classes would you take? I don’t want to take anymore classes. I like reading up on/learning about stuff on my own at my own pace in my own time. 26. What was the last item of clothing you purchased? Do you wear it often? I just ordered a couple shirts. I haven’t received them, yet. 27. Has anything made you feel nostalgic lately? My mom was going through some stuff last night and came across a few of my baby photos. D: 28. What was the last chore you completed? I straightened up my room a bit. 29. Name a song you've listened to today? I haven’t listened to any music so far today. 30. Is there anything you've promised yourself you'll never do again? Yeah. Some I did again, though.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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lildishsoap · 5 years ago

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50 questions you’ve never been asked before

Thank you sm for tagging me @satans-helper ! 💕

1. what is the colour of your hairbrush?

Light brown

2. a food you never eat?

Blue cheese *gag*

3. are you typically too warm or too cold?

Despite living in a tropical country, cold lol

4. what were you doing 45 minutes ago?

Concentrating my hardest on not throwing up while I decluttered my phone to distract me.

5. what is your favourite candy bar?

I’m not that much of a candy bar girl

6. have you ever been to a professional sports event?

Not that I can remember

7. what is the last thing you said out loud?

“Sí” @ my dad asking if I wanted him to lock my door on the way out bc he was sweet enough to get me a pillow that makes it so that I can sleep upright and not be as nauseous

8. what is your favourite ice cream?

Chocolate Coconut Bliss ice cream is pretty damn good

9. what was the last thing you had to drink?

A sip of water

10. do you like your wallet?

Yep, it has a lot if pockets and that is something I appreciate in both wallets and clothing

11. what was the last thing you ate?

Like 7 quinoa puffs (that’s like a tablespoon of cereal lol) to try and calm my stomach down a little

12. did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

I have not gone shopping in a very long time

13. the last sporting event you watched?

Maybe the last summer Olympics? I’m not big on sports as you can tell lol

14. what is your favourite flavour of popcorn?

Regular movie popcorn is good

15. who is the last person you sent a text message to?

An artist friend of mine

16. ever go camping?

Yes! I love camping, despite the fact that I’ve only gone twice and the first time I went camping the tent broke bc of the intensity of the wind and crushed me. It would crash down and crush me every time a gust of wind came. I looked over and one of the people I was camping with had just crawled into their sleeping bag completely, as if it were a cocoon and proceeded to sleep as if nothing was happening. Unfortunately I did not have a sleeping bag, so I could not do the same lol

17. do you take vitamins?

Yes, I take a liquid multivitamin and I try and have these magnesium capsules some nights to help me sleep even better. However, I SUCK at swallowing capsules. If y’all have any tips on how to swallow pills I’d appreciate it :)

18. do you go to church every sunday?

Sometimes (Bc of my parents, not my own beliefs)

19. do you have a tan?

Nope, I don’t tan, I just turn into a tomato.

20. do you prefer chinese food or pizza?

Pizza

21. do you drink your soda with a straw?

I don’t drink soda

22. what colour socks do you usually wear?

Black

23. do you ever drive above the speed limit?

I’m a newbie to driving so I go at a snail’s pace lol

24. what terrifies you?

The thought of looking back on my life and not having achieved anything

25. look to your left, what do you see?

An open door

26. what chore do you hate?

Washing the dishes is the worst. I love vacuuming.

27. what do you think of when you hear an Australian accent?

A YouTuber I watch was the first to come to mind

28. what’s your favourite soda?

I don’t drink soda. I guess the least terrible soda would be 7up. Sometimes I’d drink it when I was younger to ease stomach discomfort since it’s carbonated.

29. do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive-thru?

I don’t eat fast food.

30. who’s the last person you talked to?

Some time has passed since I started this so as of now, it is my mom.

31. favourite cut of beef?

I don’t eat beef, and even when I did, I was not knowledgeable enough to know the difference between cuts 😅

32. last song you listened to?

My neighbors are playing “Mr. Brightside” rn

33. last book you read?

Last book I finished was The Great Gatsby

34. favourite day of the week?

I don’t think I have one

35. can you say the alphabet backwards?

I legit just go “z....” and it takes me a million years to think of the next letter, so no, lol

36. how do you like your coffee?

I’m more of a tea person

37. favourite pair of shoes?

I love my Docs to death

38. at what time do you normally go to bed?

The latest I like to go to sleep is 10:30, but since quarantine started I’ve been going to sleep a little later. But to be a properly functioning human being I need to get a sufficient amount of sleep and wake up early

39. at what time do you normally get up?

Around 7:00 since quarantine started. But when I went to school I usually woke up at 6:00

40. what do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets?

I love both too much to pick 🥺

41. how many blankets are on your bed?

42. describe your kitchen plates?

White with red and grey detailing

43. do you have a favourite alcoholic beverage?

I’m not legal yet, but I’ve tried little bits of some and I’ve hated most alcoholic beverages but coquito is *chef’s kiss*. It is a little too sweet though.

44. do you play cards?

I’m not sure what type of cards this question is referring to. I like to play spoons and I used to be into Magic: the gathering lol

45. what colour is your car?

A very dark greenish blue that almost looks black. I love her, she sounds like she’s going to fall apart at any given moment and she’s as old as me but I am beyond grateful to have my Chona.

46. can you change a tire?

Yes, actually! Well if I remember how to do it, but we were taught how to change a tire last year at school (for once I was taught something practical at school lol)

47. what is your favourite state/province?

From the ones I’ve visited (I’m not from the US), California

48. favourite job you’ve ever had?

I haven’t had any paid jobs, but I gave fellow high school students art classes as a job experience for one semester. That was nice :)

49. how did you get your biggest scar?

It’s not really big but my most notable scar is because I used to have a small patch of warts on one of my knees and the dude who got rid of it did it incorrectly and butchered up my knee. No matter what, children always point out that scar lol 🙃

50. what did you do today that made someone else happy?

I don’t know 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m tagging @tymeconsuming @yoooooooooooboiiiiiiiiiiiiii @anothermultifandomblogkk @jimmypagesandbrianmayshair @satingrass-maidensfair

#btw im still getting to know y’all #so if there’s any of you that does not like getting tagged #let me know :)

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starfish-sims · 6 years ago

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GET TO KNOW ME TAG

Rules: Post a picture of your simself with your traits and answer the questions!

I saw others do this and thought it was a cool idea! Granted, my husband said that something about my Sim Self’s face wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t tell me what, so for now, she’ll have to do!

I tag anyone who wants to try this! :-D

1. What is your full name: Michelle P.D.

2. What’s your nickname: Michi (my chosen name in Japanese) or Seb (my former gamertag)

3. Birthday: 22nd of July, 1993.

4. What is your favorite book series? The Ranger’s Apprentice!! It is my comfort food book series.

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? I definitely believe in aliens. I believe it conceited to think that we’re the only intelligent life the universe could come up with. Ghosts, I’m not so sure...

6. Who is your favorite author? John Flanagan (writer of the Ranger’s Apprentice-series.)

7. What is your favorite radio station? I don’t listen to radio, but I am a radio host at my grandmother’s radio station, so I’ll pick that one, lol.

8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? Coconut – I have a coconut moisturizing cream. It’s delish.

9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? Awesome or Great? I’m boring like that, lol. In Japanese, I really like using 最高 (saikou).

10. What is your current favorite song? Power of Dream by LOL (the newest opening of Fairy Tail).

11. What is your favorite word? ‘Phantasmagoria’ for English’, ‘きっかけ’ for Japanese. (kikkakke)

12. What was the last song you listened to? Not sure... Definitely a K-pop song, but I was listening to the playlist while driving, so I stopped listening for the individual songs at some point, lol.

13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? Doctor Who or Haikyuu!!

14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? I don’t watch movies... Except Marvel movies, in which case, I’d choose Doctor Strange, but that’s just because it’s my favourite.

15. Do you play video games? Yes!! SO MANY VIDEO GAMES!! My favorite genres are JRPGs, and my favorite video game series are Mass Effect and the Atelier-franchise.

16. What is your biggest fear? Living life without anyone thinking they’re happy I’m here.

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? My honesty. I’m honest to a fault, something which my family often complains about, but I’d like to think it’s one of my better qualities. (Fun event; when my sister and I were little, we went to buy candy at the local mart. My sister put huge marshmallow dolphins into a bag. They’re about 30 cent a piece, but the shopkeep weighed them like normal candy, so she got all three of them for like 45 cent or something. I was livid, and kept bugging her to go back and pay full price, lol.)

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? My inability to cope with criticism. I don’t get particularly defensive, most of the time, because I know that criticism is someone’s way of telling me that something needs to be improved. What I do find difficult, however, is keeping in mind that the criticism isn’t directed at my person, but at the piece of work I am performing.

19. Do you like cats or dogs better? CATS. I AM SO SAD. MY HUSBAND IS ALLERGIC. THERE’S A VOID IN MY LIFE.

20. What is your favorite season? Early spring.

21. Are you in a relationship? Yes. (see question 19)

22. What is something you miss from your childhood? My cat, Kit. I found her as a kitten when I was 12 years old, and she died from cancer when I started University.

23. Who is your best friend? My childhood friend, Simone.

24. What is your eye color? Blue-ish Gray, I think.

25. What is your hair color? We call it liver paste in Denmark, lol. In Japan, it’s blonde.

26. Who is someone you love? My husband, my best friend and my biological younger siblings.

27. Who is someone you trust? (I read this as someone you can tell anything and everything) My husband and my best friend.

28. Who is someone you think about often? My mother and my grandmother. They don’t talk to each other, and I often worry about them, hoping they can patch it up before my grandparents are gone...

29. Are you currently excited about/for something? Oh yes! I am going on my second internship at the end of January! I can’t wait. (Also, the release of Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists in March <3 )

30. What is your biggest obsession? Writing stories. I am really bad at it, though. #Writer’sBlocks

31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? Winx Club, lol. I still like it a lot.

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? My husband.

33. Are you superstitious? I don’t believe I am, no.

34. Do you have any unusual phobias? Cygnophobia, a fear of swans. When I was three years old, me, my grandmother and my baby sister (who was 1 at the time) were chased through the local park by a swan. It was nesting season. I don’t remember it, but I’ve always been terrified of the bird.

35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? Behind it – I hate my smile/teeth.

36. What is your favorite hobby? Writing stories and playing video games.

37. What was the last book you read? School books – probably ‘The Bible, the Torah and the Quran’.

38. What was the last movie you watched? Fantastic Beasts – the Crimes of Grindelwald.

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? None, but I used to play the Organ.

40. What is your favorite animal? Cats or Snakes.

41. What are your top 5 favorite tumblr blogs that you follow? @goneril-capp, @racingllama, @calisimgirl, @gerbits and @storylegacysims.

42. What superpower do you wish you had? Teleportation. As a commuter, travel times are killer.

43. When and where do you feel most at peace? When I’m alone at home.

44. What makes you smile? Working with children, and rewatching my favorite episodes of TV series.

45. What sports do you play, if any? None. I really like to swim though.

46. What is your favorite drink? Coconut Lemonade or Pinã Colada.

47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? Last week? I use pen and notebook in school, so I often write small notes to my classmates.

48. Are you afraid of heights? If I can look straight down, then yes. I don’t mind standing on a balcony and looking out over a city, but rides that throw you straight down, or looking down from a window terrifies me.

49. What is your biggest pet peeve? When someone leaves the TV on while doing something else -___- IT’S SO ANNOYING. If you watch TV, you watch TV, you don’t run around the house doing other stuff. Using the TV for music is fine, but leaving on a the TV and going back and forth between that and something else is so annoying to me.

50. Have you ever been to a concert? Once or twice. I went to a WINNER concert when I was in Japan. It was an amazing experience!

51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? Nope.

52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? An archaeologist or astronaut.

53. What fictional world would you like to live in? I’m not sure if it counts, but I’d love to live in the world of Doctor Who. It’s basically just our world but with a time traveling alien jumping around saving the world on a frequent basis.

54. What is something you worry about? Economy. All the time.

55. Are you scared of the dark? Not particularly.

56. Do you like to sing? I love it!

57. Have you ever skipped school? I skipped every Sports Day in grade school, and I’ve skipped school a couple of times when some new video games I really wanted came out.

58. What is your favorite place on the planet? Japan, definitely.

59. Where would you like to live? Denmark, for economical and cultural reasons.

60. Do you have any pets? No. I REALLY WANT A CAT. But once my husband and I move into a house in a few years’ time, we’ve agreed to get dogs.

61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? Definitely a night owl. There’s (almost) nothing I hate more than waking up early.

62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? Sunsets.

63. Do you know how to drive? No. I don’t trust myself nearly enough to drive a car responsibly, so I’ll leave that to my husband.

64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? Headphones.

65. Have you ever had braces? No... But now that I’m older, I wish I had.

66. What is your favorite genre of music? Kpop all day, every day. And if that fails, then Jazz.

67. Who is your hero? Hmm... Fictional or Real? If Fictional, then the Doctor. If not, then Stephen Fry, which is basically the same thing, really, lol.

68. Do you read comic books? Occasionally.

69. What makes you the most angry? Racists, Xenophobes, Homophobes and generally, people who live in their own little piece of the world and believes that that is how everyone should live.

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? Electronic Device. I’m very forgetful, so I always end up placing real books somewhere I’ll never find them again.

71. What is your favorite subject in school? Currently? English or History. Among all the subjects I’ve ever had? Japanese Conversation Classes.

72. Do you have any siblings? I have two biological, one half, four step and one adopted.

73. What was the last thing you bought? A bottle of Marzipan shots. Delicious.

74. How tall are you? 169 centimeters.

75. Can you cook? HA! I can burn water.

76. What are three things that you love? Smoothies, Dreams and my Duvet.

77. What are three things that you hate? Racists, Politicians and Parmesan Cheese.

78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? Equal, I think? Maybe slightly more male?

79. What is your sexual orientation? Heterosexual.

80. Where do you currently live? Randers, Denmark.

81. Who was the last person you texted? My husband.

82. When was the last time you cried? Two days ago.

83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? Plenty of different ones: Outside Xbox, Outside Xtra, TearofGrace, ChristopherOdd, SimSupply and Simlicy are my current tops.

84. Do you like to take selfies? Absolutely not.

85. What is your favorite app? Tumblr or Otome Amino.

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? I have no relationship with the man who donated the sperm that eventually became me. My relationship with my mom and my dad (her new husband) is great, although a bit rocky at times because of my intense honesty, lol.

87. What is your favorite foreign accent? … I don’t like accents, lol. I like dialects a lot! I like the Southern dialect of American English, and the Kansai dialect of Japanese.

88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? The Valley of Kings in Egypt and China.

89. What is your favorite number? 7.

90. Can you juggle? Lol, nope.

91. Are you religious? I believe there is something we can’t explain or see or fathom, but I don’t particularly care about what it is, and I don’t buy into any of the current world religions. I find religions hella fascinating though!

92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? Outer Space. I’m afraid of the deep ocean, lol.

93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? Not even close.

94. Are you allergic to anything? No.

95. Can you curl your tongue? Don’t know what this means, lol.

96. Can you wiggle your ears? That I cannot.

97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? Depends. I don’t like admitting I was wrong when arguing with my baby brother, but with everyone else, I usually fess up once I’ve calmed down a bit.

98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? The beach.

99. What is your favourite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? I don’t think I was given the advice rather than figuring out for myself that that was how I wanted to live my life, but John Barrowman once said something that really struck a chord with me: “Never apologize for being nerdy, because unnerdy people never apologize for being assholes.”

100. Are you a good liar? I suppose I’m good at white lies? But I never think they’re lies, lol. It’s like, my husband will ask ‘did you do the dishes’, and I’ll instinctively answer ‘yes’ because I thought I did it, and then I’ll realize I’m not done yet, and I’ll rectify myself.

101. What is your hogwarts house? Hufflepuff Forever!!

102. Do you talk to yourself? In a manner of speaking. If I’m alone, I like to walk around and talk out stories I’m planning like I’m in a play. Like, I’ll imagine I’m in a part of the story I haven’t planned yet, and then talk out what the characters are saying to see if I can get the story to move forward.

103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Hmm... Don’t know?? I used to be an extreme introvert, but when I started University I decided that I wanted to talk more with my classmates, and now I’m sort of in the middle, I think??

104. Do you keep a journal/diary? Nope. Used to though.

105. Do you believe in second chances? Absolutely.

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Find the owner – if that doesn’t work, hand it in at the police station.

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? Definitely.

108. Are you ticklish? Very much so. My husband likes to cuddle, but I frequently push him away, because his cuddles tickle me... It’s a struggle.

109. Have you ever been on a plane? Yes, close to ten times, I think.

110. Do you have any piercings? Just my ears.

111. What fictional character do you wish was real? The Doctor. I myself hate humanity at the best of times, so watching a timeless alien who sees the best in our race despite all of our failings is very inspiring.

112. Do you have any tattoos? Yes, I have a sibling tattoo with my two biological siblings. It’s three arrows over cross, that point to each of our birth years.

113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? Getting interested in Anime back when I was 12 years old, I think. It led to me meeting my best friend at the age of 14, learning one of the coolest languages in the world, meeting my husband, going on exchange to Kobe for the best four months of my life and making tons of friends I’d never have met otherwise.

114. Do you believe in karma? Yes.

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Nope, my vision is perfect for the moment.

116. Do you want children? Absolutely, and as soon as possible too.

117. Who is the smartest person you know? Depends on the subject matter? We’re all pretty smart with our own things, I believe. I’m the best in my class when it comes to Grammar, for instance, while the others are great at other parts of our classes.

118. What is your most embarrassing memory? Getting my first scooter at the age of 16 and driving straight into the side of car after leaving the dealer’s. I’ve never ridden another automatic vehicle since then.

119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? Oh yes, so many times.

120. What color are most of you clothes? Greys and blacks.

121. Do you like adventures? Reading about them? Definitely. Going on them? Nope.

122. Have you ever been on TV? Yes. Me and a classmate of mine were interviewed in high school because we were two of the first students to take Chinese as an elective subject at the school.

123. How old are you? 25 years old.

124. What is your favorite quote? “Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway” – the Third Doctor, “Planet of the Daleks”, 1973.

125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? SWEET. I have such a sweet tooth, half of it would be enough.

#non sims #get to know me #simself

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gocatboygo · 6 years ago

Note

1-50 for Rosa

I’m Love You.

1) What is your OC’s favorite color?

maybe red? could also be brown, but like probably red

2) Does your OC collect anything? What do they collect?

bad christian romance novels from pre-war. cass gives her most of them. twilight is included in this but its by no means her favorite like she thought it was just ok

3) What kind of things is your OC allergic to?

nothing comes to mind

4) What kind of clothing does your OC wear?

in public she almost always wears a mask, usually either the legion recruit mask or the ncr ranger mask. also construction gloves. spends most of the beginning of the game in a sherrif’s duster & then from there she just wears whatever covers most of her and supports her gear, if it’s really hot out she’ll wear the wasteland surgeon armor

5) What is your OC’s first memory?

she still has her memories from before the bullet so probably something from her childhood

6) What’s your OC’s favorite animal? Least favorite?

she really fucking loves horses. like she’s a Horse Girl TM. least favorite is like,, djfdsfjs cazadores idfk

7) What element would your OC be?

definitely earth!

8) What is your OC’s theme song?

probably a mitski song lmfao. either that or everybody wants to rule the world by tears for fears

8) Do you have a faceclaim/voiceclaim for your OC?

bold of you to assume i have anything for this oc / i just realized i fucked up the numbering here so enjoy that sdkfjdsk

9) What deadly sin would best represent your OC?

after she gets pretty deep into the game, maybe after the sierra madre? greed. i can see her going a little out of control after she has to give all that gold up (even though she could bring 1 bar back bc She Big) and just kind of. taking everything

10) What are your OC’s hobbies?

she’s a courier at heart so delivering packages dsjkflsjdw. farming, solitaire, reading those bad novels i previously mentioned, knitting, gecko hunting… watching holotape movies on her pipboy… getting terminally bored and taking med-x ksdjfkds

11) How patient is your OC? How hot-headed are they?

she’s fairly patient, the only time she really gets hot-headed is at fortification hill when she goes to meet with lanius (caesar dies of his cancer p early in her canon). also probably at the tops, she doesnt like bein in there

12) What is your OC’s gender / sexuality / race / species / etc.?

cis woman / bi / mexican / human / etc.

13) What foods does your OC like to eat? What are their least favorite foods?

uhh she learned how to cook from home-grown ingredients and in lasting bulk so she mostly eats stew and potatoes. every time she goes to freeside she gets that “mystery meat” from the stand in front of the gate despite the fact that its transparently radroach meat. she doesnt like the meat from the ultraluxe (even before she finds out it might be people, its fancy and garnished and she dont trust like that) but she loves their brahmin cheesecakes so she like, settles kdsjfksd

14) If your OC could have any pet, what would they choose? Why?

rex. rex. rex. rex. r (she also has like 2 brahmin at some point ksdjfksdf)

15) What does your OC smell like?

that’s ! a wildin question huh! probably gunpowder and old leather

16) How do they make a living? What kind of job do they want / not want? What is their dream job? What do they think of their current job?

she works for house, owns a small farm (after a while, in spring of 2282), and does various quests around the mojave for money. she was a courier for 8-9 years and she loved it, so id say thats her ideal job, but she’s past it. she’s very happy with where she is in all 3 of those jobs !

17) What are your OC’s greatest fears? Weaknesses? Strengths?

her biggest fears would probably be claustrophobia and getting buried alive (because benny). she has nightmares abt it, like 2 the point where every so often she wakes up and just Has A Good Sob. she has very low charisma (1) and very high endurance (9), her strength is also pretty good

18) What kind of music do they listen to? Do they have a favorite song?

she thinks truly madly deeply by cascada is the best love song ever written. she also listens to radio new vegas & a holotape cass gave her that’s mostly feminist anthems from the 20th century and 2 instances of mad about the boy

19) If they came from their world to ours (if not already in our’s) how would they react? What would they do?

oh god she would fucking hate the pre-war world. she would probably just go find a horse tbh sdfjsdkf what else is there to do!

20) What personal problems/issues do they have? Pet peeves?

she has brain damage from the bullet. it didnt affect her intelligence or (for the most part) her memory, but she does have, like. chronic headaches, brain fog, dizzy spells, things like that. like i said before, she also has nightmares & claustrophobia from the same incident. as for pet peeves, she hates people who talk a lot without saying anything or try to sound smart for no reason. she has no problem with talkers as long as they like,, Say Something dsfdksfj

21) What kind of student were they/would they be in high school?

she grew up in a very small (very catholic) village, so im not sure if she exactly went to high school?? but she did attend school. she was sort of a loner, she had a single mother w no siblings & shes like 6 feet tall so both of those things made her a little bit outcast ksdjfksd. i mean she. She Was A Horse Girl what else do i have to say

22) What is a random fact about your OC?

god i dont know!! uh… oh omg she thinks astrology is something vulpes made up and when she hears arcade talking about it she out of bodies

23) What is their outlook on life? What is their philosophy / what do they think in general about living?

rosa’s a very simple person, she mostly just wants a good life for herself. stable work and a stable life make her happy. a lot of her philosophy throughout the game is based on the fact that she’ll do (almost) whatever her employer asks her to, thus her being a house courier. most of her relationships are based almost entirely on trust, which is another major philosophy of hers

24) What inspired you to create them / how did you create them? Were they originally a fancharacter? What was their personality / design like when you first made them?

honestly??? i read so many fics (especially f!courier/vulpes) where the courier was a Relateable Pretty Girl TM that i probably just wanted to make a female courier who had actual substance and weight. rosa is married to (ex-legion) vulpes so she rlly does largely serve to subvert the genre in fnv fic

25) Who is the most important person in their life? Why? Who is the least important to them (that still has an impact and why?

i mean. her husband probably skdfjkdfs. she’s been travelling with vulpes for a long time and she’s had to put her life in his hands a lot of times because of that, so he’s grown to be very important to her. mr house is a close runner up. i hate to say this but arcade is probably her least Impactful TM companion skjfdkds she barely travels w him

26) What kind of childhood did your character have?

i say some of this in the other questions but like heres all of her backstory in one i guess kdsjfsd. rosa was raised in small catholic village somewhere outside nevada, i havent decided on what state its in bc im fucking dumb as hell. her family (like great grandmother type shit not her personally) & a few others came up from mexico years ago to get away from raiders, made a village and Kabaam. her mother had her, and then a second baby who was stillborn, and her father disappeared a few months after this happened. her mother raised her there until she was 20 and she signed on with the mojave express as a courier in an attempt to get out of her village and find Something To Do With Herself TM. she was a little outcast growing up, not totally isolated but certainly not very popular, and it caused her to be a very independent person later in life.

27) What kind of nervous habits do they have? Do they stim? Do they have any kinds of addictions?

she fidgets sometimes but i wouldn’t say she stims. clenches her fists when she’s nervous. she likes to smoke and chew tobacco (especially when she’s stressed out) but it’s only a minor addiction

28) If they could choose their epitaph for their grave, what would they choose?

honestly?? “Forgive Me Mama” bc that’s what it says on her helmet sfjdsfhd

29) Do they want to get married? Why or why not? Would they ever want kids? Do they have kids? Why?

apparently bc she fuckin did! she wants stability and someone to take care of her, and she likes the idea of being a unit with someone a lot more than she likes the idea of just dating them, so i guess thats how vulpes Happened ™. she actually can’t have kids bc she got irradiated pretty bad while she was looting searchlight :/ but she doesn’t want kids because 1) she’s travelling a lot for her work and 2) she doesn’t want to have to shape her life around a child. god knows vulpes cant interact w children, but he still wants them in theory because he wants a legacy

30) What is their most traumatic memory/experience? What is their favorite memory?

ring-a-ding-ding! it’s getting shot. her favorite memory is probably either like, easter when she was a child, or some time she swam in a river with vulpes, she’s fuckin basic

31) If they could have one thing in the world, what would it be?

a horse. i wanted to answer this differently but it really is just a horse

32) Would they ever kill someone? What would someone have to do to push them to kill someone? If they would kill someone, why?

she’s killed! if she’s provoked or if her employer asks her to, she will absolutely kill someone. destroying the bos bunker was hard for her though :/ i like to pretend she didnt do it even though shes house ksdjfklsdhg

33) What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually?

maybe its just the fact that its 2am and i have poor reading comprehension but i have no fucking clue what this means

34) How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories?

her imagination is pretty good! i wouldnt call it excellent but it’s pretty good. she usually only daydreams before she falls asleep or gets up in the morning (or if she’s just like rlly chilled out skdfjds). she doesn’t worry much.

35) What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain?

i have no idea how to answer this one, which is a tragedy. maybe ill come back and answer it someday lmao

36) What’s something that your character does, that other people don’t normally do?

The House Always Wins I-VIII

37) What would your character do with a million dollars?

in all seriousness she’d probably just stop having any financial restraint and start buying whatever she wants whenever it comes to mind. also she’d buy vulpes like 100,000 gambling chips from gomorrah and tell him to lose his mind skdfhjldksg

38) What is in your characters refrigerator right now? On their bedroom floor? Nightstand? Garbage can?

fridge at her farmhouse: vegetables, gecko meat, some seasonings, leftovers, beans, cram / fridge at the 38: An Entire Pot Of Stew ™, leftover tops restaurant takeout, a cheesecake, crispy squirrel bits, a post-it note from veronica saying they’re out of shampoo / bedroom floor: ;) / garbage can: empty cans, vulpes, plastic wrappers

39) Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What do they wear? Who will they be with?

first thing that came to mind was to gomorrah, in her Fancy Riot Gear and ranger’s helmet, with raul. no idea why but like have a fun night bb sdkfjdslkf

40) What does your character do when they’re angry? Why?

depends on why she’s angry, but usually she’ll either start ranting at whoever she’s mad at (which never lasts long) or just go silent and tense up. she’ll also grumble. i mentioned this before but fortification hill was probably the only time she was so mad she was just yelling at everyone skfjkdsf

41) Does your character have any scars? Where did they get them from?

she has a lot of scars! the most visible one is a cobweb-shaped scar on her forehead from when benny shot her. she also has another less prominent scar on the side of her face from Some Shit. various scars on her torso and arms from various sources, another bullet scar on her arm from raiders, maybe more. there’s a particularly bad scar across her ribs from being slashed w a knife (raiders again)

42) What was the most offensive thing your character had ever said?

she hates the irish

43) How does your character react/ accept criticism?

i dont know if she really cares? shes still a little bitter abt some insults she took as a kid but like arent we all. it makes her more angry than insecure

44) If your character was given a slice of pineapple pizza and they HAD to eat it (or something bad would happen), how would they react? Do they even LIKE pineapple pizza?

under normal circumstances, she’d throw it in the fucking trash. if she HAD to eat it she’d be fine skjfsd she just wouldnt like it

45) Your character is given a voodoo doll of themself. What do they do with it? Do they see if it actually works?

yeah, she probably puts a needle in its shoulder or something to see if it works. shes so used to being end 9 she doesnt consider the fact that She Will Lose Her Shoulder

46) Can your character draw? What do they like to draw? Do they doodle?

she can’t draw slkdfjsd. she probably has like… some warrior cats type drawings from when she was a kid and thats it

47) What were their parents like? How has that affected how they are as an adult?

her father dipped when she was maybe 1-2 years old, a few months after her brother was stillborn.

48) Does your character like candy? Do they get sugar rushes? What are they like when they get a rush?

she likes a little bit of candy, mostly lollipops. i cant see her getting a sugar rush

(i know i fucked up the numbering) 50) If your character was presented with imminent and unavoidable death/fatality, how would they react? Would they try to avoid death anyways? Would they try to make their last days count?

this,, could actually very easily happen because of her brain damage, ive explored that concept before. she would probably spend a lot of time alone or with the people she’s closest to reflecting on her life and trying to die in peace. if she had enough time she’d go see her mother again, but it’s still unlikely

————

jesus fucking christ thats long, rip mobile users. tysm for sending me this!! i didnt realize how much 50 questions was dksjfkds. yall can keep sending me these (like 1-10 at a time skdfjdg) for other couriers if you want but like i understand if ur tired of hearing me Fucking Talk after this

#long post #fallout new vegas #fnv #courier 6 #rosa #dare i litter vulpes's tag w this.........................#vulpes inculta #haaaaaa suffer assholes

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thesimparrot · 6 years ago

Text

57 facts tag

I was tagged by the lovely @tealetta! Thank you so much for thinking about me! I tried to go easy but ended up sharing a lot so, I hope you’ll find some things interesting. I’ll put the facts under the cut, you know what to do if you’re curious! ;)

1. I live in France, near Paris

2. I’m a librarian for children (and proud!)

3. Before going for librarian I wanted to be a scriptwriter

4. but I got to scared by the movie industry

5. I’m afraid of cats (yeah I know)

6. I have a big sister who’s 10 years older than me

7. She’s my model in life

8. I cried when I learned that at her eighteenth birthday the first thing she was happy with was to know that if our parents died for some reason she was in age to take care of me

9. She has two kids that are so marvelous

10. I met my boyfriend on an online Harry Potter roleplay

11. It’s been almost 7 years that we’re dating now

12. When I was in middleschood and highschool I had big troubles with myself

13. I’m proud to feel better now

14. I don’t like leaving my home and travelling

15. I don’t like meeting new people

16. I often don’t like having help with something cause it gave me the impression I didn’t do it at all

17. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is my favorite show in the whole world (thanks to my sister)

18. My favorite character is Chandler

19. I like to think that I look like him on so many level

20. That’s probably the best way to define myself

21. I laugh at every episode of that show and probably at the same moment every time

22. even though I know a lot of them by heart

23. I’m always rewatching it

24. I’m currently at S6E20 : The One With Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.

25. I had to give up on sodas and candies due to teeth problems

26. I also have issues with acne and can’t seem to get rid of it

27. The worst is the scars it leaves, specially on my back and chest

28. Until I was 20 I couldn’t show my back or my neck, neither on class or anywhere really

29. Now it’s still there but I’m not as complex as before

30. I have my drinving licence but don’t like to drive

31. The last movie I saw was To All the Boys I've Loved Before and IT WAS AMAZING!

32. What To Say Next by Julie Buxbaum just went out in France and I’m so mad at the back cover

33. cause I’ve read it before in english and loved it and they didn’t get the story right, apparently

34. Hufflepuff and proud!!

35. and my patronus is a hare (but not exactly the same as Luna)

36. My favorite character is Pomona Sprout

37. I’m currently waiting for her Funko Pop to came out!

38. I’m very shy and intimidated with people I just met

39. after that, well, I’m a little goofier

40. My favorite song is Stand By Me by Ben E. King

41. I also love the version made by Florence + The Machine

42. My favorite band is the Arctic Monkeys (should I say “are” or “is” ??)

43. Yeah, I still have problems expressing myself in english

44. My favorite superhero is Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat from X-Men

45. and my favorite actress in the whole world is Ellen Page (how convenient)

46. Thanks to her I assumed my small size (1,54 m)

47. I LOVE ROLLER DERBY!!

48. Three or five years ago I wanted to join a team

49. but I chickened out so I just put them on sometimes

50. I even had my name : Spicy Canary!! (yeah….)

51. I can get really mad at pretty futile things and yet so calm at big ones

52. Due to a dark phase during middle school I can’t stand wearing black now

53. I love true/green cardamom in tea

54. I'm happy to have started writing again thanks to this blog!

55. but I have a tendency to leave my stories so I really hoped to go far with this one

56. Congratulation if you manage to read me that far!!

57. and I love you all (yeah I cheated a little on the end huhu)

I’m not gonna tag anyone because it’s pretty long and I can understand that not everyone wants to share stuff. But! They’re so many people that follow me that I would like to know better, even if it’s futile things like what you like to eat at breakfast. So if you’re interested in doing it, considered yourself tagged! Cause I already know that I’m gonna like it :) Anyway, have a good day/night! Love you all ♡

#non sims #personal stuff #it was harder than i thought #i didn't manage to share only random stuff #but in the end it feels pretty good to share with someone #tag stuff

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meefling · 7 years ago

Text

Thomas’ Dream - Chapter 1

some of you may remember waaay long ago when i wrote this short drabble based on a prompt i read here on tumblr, well i’ve since taken that story and spruced it up a bit and want to develop it into a fuller story!

so here is chapter one on ao3, or u can read it below!

“… Hmm. I suppose that concludes our class today.” Logan said tiredly as his lecture was cut short by the school bell. Not that high schoolers cared, their bags were already packed by the time the bell sounded, and were out the door within a minute.

The rest of his day followed as normal. Logan remained at school to finish grading essays until around 4:00, after which he headed home. He prepared his regular dinner, and continued to relax for the evening with an astrology book he’d borrowed from the library days ago. He was in bed at precisely 10:30pm, and his breathing exercises put him to sleep in minutes...

A man sat several feet away from him in a chair. His legs were spread so he could comfortably rest his elbows on his knees, and his head down in his hands.

Logan frowned and walked towards him at a regular pace, although in dreamspace it took him much longer to reach his target. Logan felt like it took four steps to travel the distance of one. He didn't allow his frustration dominate him. That man… He needed to help that man.

Once he was finally standing in front of him, Logan tried to say something to catch his attention.

The man didn’t hear his voice. To his slight alarm, Logan didn't hear it either. He tried several more times to speak, but all attempts came up fruitless. He gave up speaking after several minutes, or maybe hours, and tried to place a hand on the man’s shoulder.

He jerked and looked up at Logan, his face confused. His soft features then relaxed, although he was clearly stressed. Why was he stressed? Logan felt the need to pick apart this man’s brain...

“Logic...”

Logan was back in his room just then, sitting up with a loud gasp which, consequently, sent him into an unrefined coughing fit. Once he recovered he held his head in his hands, almost mirroring the defeated position of the man in his dream.

Logan shook his head and gently slapped his face. He could think of the stranger in his dream later, it was probably nonsense anyhow. He still made a mental note to check out a book on dreams and the subconscious mind on his next library visit.

The teacher checked the time. He had an hour he could sleep, or he could get up and take a long cold shower.

After just a moment’s deliberation, he decided on the latter.

OoOoO

“Thanks again for helping to organize this,” the event coordinator said graciously. Roman shook his head at the praise and beamed.

“No worries at all, my friend,” he replied. “This idea of decorating flying drones as dragons to be hunted was brilliant, however accidental its creation was.” The coordinator laughed.

“Yes, that incident at the Russian medieval festival really started something great,” he said heartily, and Roman nodded.

“Well now that everything is packed away, perhaps it’s time to take my leave.” He said.

“Of course, thanks for your help with all of this, Roman.” He reached out to shake Roman’s hand.

“It was a pleasure.” Roman assured, accepting the hand shake.

Once Roman returned home for the night, he felt exhausted. Being a medieval reenactor wasn’t easy, as fun as it may be. In his youth he could have guessed that being in character all day would be a dreamy and energizing experience. His younger self wasn't quite wrong, but Roman could never have anticipated being so drained at the end of each day.

He chose tonight to unwind with a bath, using one of his rose-scented fizzing bath bombs, and watched a classic Disney movie to further relax before he hopped into bed. He fell asleep with his phone in his hand, in the middle of scrolling through Facebook for photos of his event.

A beautiful singing voice welcomed him in his dreams. The sweet voice was deep and rich, but somehow also airy and delicate. The high notes were high, the low notes were low…

Roman found himself compelled to find the source of such a beautiful, apparently aimless melody.

The reenactor found that his surroundings were not unlike that of some RPG game, and ever the one to take up a character, Prince Roman searched high and low, stepping into empty houses, lifting pots and openin gtreasure chests, walking across grassy fields, even climbing halfway up a mountain to follow the voice. He had to have been on this journey for days, weeks even.

Finally he came across a small, simple home atop a cliff, and he felt it within him that this was the place, the man with the beautiful voice was inside.

Roman marched up to the house and opened the front door, stepping quickly inside to see a man standing alone in the structure. The man turned from facing the left wall to look at the Prince, voice cutting out as he stared at Roman with wide surprised eyes. Then he smiled wide and walked forward, arms open for a hug.

“Creativity!”

Roman woke to his alarm, jerking slightly and opening his eyes. He groaned and blinked a few times, and rubbed his eyes of sleep gunk.

He had work today.

OoOoO

“Alright now, kiddos, it’s time for bed.” Patton said cheerfully, betraying his exhaustion.

“Dad, it’s only 8.” His son said, trying to make it sound like that wasn’t his bedtime. He yawned shortly after though and betrayed his own exhaustion. His daughter yawned too, which thus prompted himself to yawn.

“And that is your bed time, young man.” Patton smiled wearily, and his daughter seemed to pick up on how tired her father was. She slowly got up and closed her 3DS, plugging it in to charge overnight in the living room and going over to her brother, steps heavy as sleep called out to her.

“Steven, let’s go.” She prompted, playfully tugging his sleeve. He did not budge however. “Steven. We have school, it's a school night.”

Steven did not move still. “Connieeee,” he complained, even as he closed his sketchbook. He slumped in his seat. Connie wrinkled her nose.

“Steveeen,” she retorted and grabbed his whole arm, tugging him up off the couch and sluggishly taking him up the stairs. Patton chuckled at his childrens’ antics, proud of their maturity, and followed them up, requesting that they brush their teeth and get into their pajamas.

“I can't wait to be a teenager.” Steven said as he got his toothbrush out, squeezing some toothpaste out onto its’ bristles.

“Because you can stay up later?” Connie asked, rolling her eyes a little bit. Steven looked sheepish, eyes focusing on running the toothbrush under the tap briefly.

“No.” He protested. Connie followed his lead, picking her brush up and squeezing out some toothpaste.

“Then why?” She asked. Steven just shoved his brush in his mouth and scrubbed his teeth clean. Connie snorted. “You just don't want to admit I'm right!” Steven groaned, and Connie laughed drowsily as she too brushed her teeth, giving her brother a gentle shove.

Patton only grinned at their banter, allowing them to fantasize their big grown up lives. He only hoped they'd still enjoy their youth around all those big dreams.

Once the children were tucked in, kissed goodnight, and he had gotten himself sorted out for bed, he watched a little TV and did some work on the computer. He got a good bit done before midnight, after which he fell asleep, propped up by two pillows against his headboard, TV on and laptop hot in his lap.

He found himself in his car, on his way to pick up his kids from their mother. She had had them for the week, and today was Sunday, so as agreed, the children would come stay with him for the following week.

He almost anxiously tapped his fingers on the wheel as he was stopped at a red light, feeling like something was off. He checked the time, even pulled his phone out to check the date. Everything seemed good to him. Some deep part of him tried to comfort him by reminding him he was asleep, and his subconscious self accepted this and moved on once the light turned green.

He arrived shortly at his childrens’ mother’s house, and took a moment in his car to breathe before he adjusted his glasses and put on his best Dad Smile. He hopped out of the car and up the porch steps, then knocked on the door, awaiting the deep barks of Bonnie and Abby.

The father’s stomach twisted when no such barking was heard and he wondered for just a second if the family was on a walk. He almost turned around to go back to his car, when the door swung open and a man in his twenties was looking back at him. Patton blinked several times in astoundment, before the man in front of him lit up with childlike excitement.

“Morality!”

Patton’s sleep was cut off when four loud knocks on his door woke him, and he made an undignified noise as he was pulled from his dream.

“Dad, it’s 7:30 in the morning! We want breakfast!” He heard Steven call through the door like he was an adult. Connie followed the statement with a childlike “yeah!”, and another four knocks at his door.

“Alright, alright, daddy’s awake,” he called back to them, throwing a little laugh at the end. He stretched and his stiff back popped. “Go downstairs to the table and I'll be down in a minute!”

Connie and Steven’s feet both sounded their exit. He could hear their careless footsteps all the way down the stairs of their house.

Patton sighed, grabbed the remote to turn off the TV, closed the lid of his laptop, and got out of bed to begin his day.

OoOoO

Virgil remained in his classroom for several minutes after the others in his class had left, still putting away his notebooks and other things he’d used to distract himself from school. He’d learned early in the school year that rushing didn't get him anywhere any faster, in fact it only lead to mistakes. Virgil found it more worth it to awkwardly take his time than to speed through his end of day process.

He made sure to put his headphones on and turn to a good song before he actually left the classroom, allowing his music to remove him from reality as he left the school building. As usual, his walk home lead him past a pizzeria in the plaza by the school. His stomach growled but he just pretended not to notice, keeping his eyes on his feet. He has the self control not to go in, not because he was broke or not hungry, but exclusively because he had had enough social interaction today, he just wanted to go home.

Virgil did get home in good time, and he turned his music up louder as his mom and mother tried to greet him. He muttered a “hey”, and the women quickly got the idea that their son was not having a social day today. Virgil silently thanked them as they allowed him to go right to his room and shut the door.

With a long breath, he collapsed into his computer chair and waited for the song to finish before unplugging the headphones and replugging them into his computer. He swiftly got to work on one of the many projects he’d started this year, with a passion to finally get this work finished today. A few hours later, he drifted into a restless sleep, leant back in his chair.

There was a man standing behind him. Virgil didn't know how he knew; he couldn't hear breathing, couldn't feel anything, and hadn't turned to check if someone was really there. But somehow, he just knew, a man was standing right there behind him. Virgil just stared ahead at a half-circle-shaped light far ahead of him, not unlike an end of a tunnel would look like.

Neither person moved for several moments, before the man behind Virgil made a sudden jerk forward.

He broke into a run then, heart going from regular heartbeats to alarmed pounding in his chest, feeling breathless immediately but still sprinting regardless. The man chasing him began to shout, but Virgil’s breath and heartbeat in his own eardrums was too loud for him to make out what the other was saying. That light at the end of the tunnel was approaching fast, he was going to make it out of here.

At least, he’d thought he was going to make it out. It wasn't long after he thought he’d secured freedom, several feet from the tunnel, before Virgil was caught. A hand gripped his shoulder hard and he was spun around.

The man now in front of him looked possibly more terrified than he felt, it jarred him so badly he almost didn't hear what the man had been shouting at him.

“Anxiety!”

Virgil shot up in shock, propelling him backwards far enough that he fell right out of his chair and onto the floor. Pain shot up his back not only from the break in stiffness, but also due to whatever he’s landed on. He grit his teeth and regretted minutely that his floor wasn’t clean, as he got up to inspect whatever he’d fallen on for damage.

The soft knock at his door shouldn't have made him yelp but it did, and he needed a second to breathe before he responded. “Yeah?”

“Your mom ordered a pizza for dinner.” His mother said through the door, and Virgil blinked in surprise. Usually mom was up for cooking a meal. He worried maybe she wasn't feeling well, perhaps a patient of hers brought her down. Maybe it was something he did.

“Down in a minute.” Virgil replied, as he peeled himself up from the ground. Nothing he landed on appeared damaged, and he did a small spin around his room as if checking that he was alone in the space, before he went to his door and left the safety of his bedroom.

He ducked his head to avoid his mother’s smile as she and him traveled down to the dining room to meet his mom and a box of pizza.

OoOoO

There was something incorporeal linking an overworked professor, an exhausted thespian, a divorced father, and an adopted teen together. It was a force none of them understood, especially seeing as none of them had ever even met before that day.

The room they met in was mostly empty, consisting of few decorations and four chairs set up in front of a desk with only a few papers and pens adorning it. Atop the desk was also a flower in a vase, and a framed photograph that was visible just to whoever sat at the desk. There was a square piece of Bristol board leaned up against the wall beside the desk.

Logan was the first into the room, and he really wasn't sure what to make of this. His first thought had been that this was perhaps an anonymous interview. But as soon as Roman entered, he wondered if this was some kind of joint interview situation.

As this second man sat down, Logan immediately observed that he was dressed far too gayly to be here for the same reason as himself.

“Hello.” Roman greeted, looking Logan up and down. There was not a chance they were here for the same purpose.

“Greetings.” Logan said, calmly, as he rode his gaze from Roman’s fancy shoes to his face. “I believe you may have the wrong room.”

Roman looked confused. “Really?” He pulled out his phone and swiped to his emails, checking his most recent one. “Room 6.18?”

“Oh, huh.” Logan adjusted his glasses. “No, that is this room. How peculiar.”

“Excuse me?” Roman inquired, tilting his head as he pocketed the device.

“Well it's just that,” Logan paused, to think of a good phrasing for this. “You already seem so wildly different from myself.”

Roman frowned. “Is that a bad thing?” He sounded defensive and Logan winced.

“No, not at all. I just had this theory…” he sighed. “Never mind that.” He offered his hand. “My name is Logan.”

Roman accepted the hand, giving it a firm shake. “Roman.”

It was at this point that Patton entered, with a slight skip to his step. He immediately noticed the other two.

“Oh!” He exclaimed, causing Logan to jump and Roman to merely look over at the doorway. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn't realize I would have company!”

Roman and Logan looked at each other, before Patton came over and sat beside the pair. “My name is Patton, pleased to meet you! What are your names?”

Roman cleared his throat, matching the father’s bright smile with one of his own. “Hello, my name is Roman! This is Logan.”

“I can speak for myself.” Logan muttered, to nobody’s attention. Patton beamed and nodded.

“My, my, I wonder what this could be about!” He pondered aloud. Logan’s eyes widened.

“You mean you aren't sure?” He clarified, leaning forward to look past Roman at the man. Roman made a sound of confusion.

“You neither?” He asked, looking between the two. Logan shook his head.

“I only got an email telling me I must come to this location at this time.” He said.

“Hey, me too!” Patton said, then gasped. “Oh, do you think maybe we should wait outside for the interviewer?” He stood again.

“I don’t think so,” Roman said, shaking his head. “Why would the door have been open if the guy didn't want us to come in?”

Patton looked in awe. “Oh, I guess that's true.” He glanced to his side, where there was one more chair set up. “Say, are we expecting one more person?”

Logan leaned a little more forward to see the fourth chair. “Maybe so. This all seems awfully planned out.” He leaned back and turned to glance over his shoulder at the door.

He immediately met eyes with a teen, whose gaze moved to the sign on the door, Room 6.18, before it fell to the floor and he walked inside with an air of uncertainty, taking his seat beside Patton.

The father right away noticed him enter, and smiled brightly. “Well hello there, kiddo! My name is Patton, pleasure to meet you!”

“They let a kid be part of whatever this is?” Roman asked, looking from Virgil to Logan. “What could this possibly be?”

“I have to be honest, I don't know.” He admitted, as he watched Patton try to speak to Virgil, seeming to pick up on the fact Virgil didn't want to be spoken to. “I see no commonalities between us other than perhaps our sex. We are not the same ages, body types, professions, or anything of the sort.”

“That's no help.” Roman purses his lips. Logan scoffed.

“How about we just be patient until the man who summoned us here shows himself?” Logan suggested. “Your guess is as good as mine as to why we are here.”

“May I ask you a question?” Roman sad, going on before Logan could answer. “How come you followed that email? Didn't it seem suspicious when you first got it?”

Logan opened his mouth to respond but closed it again,conflicted. He hadn't marked it off as spam, but neither did the rest of these people…

All conversation was halted by a clearing of a throat behind them, and all four heads turned to look at the man in the doorway. He smiled broadly and walked inside, headed for the desk.

“Hi everyone, glad to know you all made it here in one piece!” he greeted, smiling. “My name is Dr. Emile Picani, and…” his voice dropped low, his face serious, as he sat in his chair. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I brought you here today.”

Tension filled the air quicker than a speeding bullet. Virgil wanted to run out of here, he’d seen movies enough to know this was suspicious from the start. Patton looked confused, nodding a little to Emile’s statement. Roman immediately glanced over to Logan, then over to Patton and to Virgil, then back at Emile, conflict filling him. Logan’s entire body went stiff, he had to hold back a gasp when Emile’s demeanour changed and his mind raced with theories fuelled by confusion and skepticism.

Emile laughed.

“Sorry, I’ve just always wanted to say that.”

The tension deflated from the room like a popped balloon. Virgil growled a bit and pulled the hood of his hoodie up, trying to battle his now extra heightened nerves. Patton made a small “oh” sound and followed up with a laugh and a smile as bright as the Doctor’s. Roman sputtered and looked again at each occupant in the room, before looking back at Emile in disbelief. Logan’s brain almost shut down and he released a breath he didn't know he was holding, all theories rushing out of his mind.

“Aha, no, but seriously,” Emile cleared his throat again. “Thank you all for coming. I am so relieved that you all could trust my word to come here and meet with me.”

“Why have you summoned us all here?” Logan blurted, wanting to get to the point and quell his wild mind from running away with its’ conspiracy theories. “We all appear to have nothing in common with each other, or with you.” He stated bluntly.

“Yeah, what Bifocals said,” Roman followed up, leaning forward in his seat. Logan gave a look.

“Bifocals?” He murmured, having not been called such a nickname in a very long time. He subconsciously adjusted his glasses.

Emile’s smile softened.

“I am a somnologist, I study sleep cycles and dreams.” He stated, sensing the impatience in his patients. “And I have reason to believe the four of you are dreaming of one particular person.”

“What?” Virgil said suddenly, for a moment confusing everyone but Emile, for this was the first time he’d spoken yet. “How the hell do you know about that?”

Patton bristled. “Language, kiddo.” He said instinctively, and although a second after saying it realizing Virgil wasn't his child, he stood by his statement, even when Virgil sputtered beside him. Emile laughed good-heartedly.

“No need to get excited, I have my ways.” He said, before he reached to the piece of Bristol board leaned against the wall. “I must ask that you all remain seated and calm when I present this to you.”

“What?!” Virgil blurted out again. “What's on the poster board?!”

“Is this disturbing subject matter??” Patton asked, taking a glance to the teenager beside him.

“That just makes me want to not stay calm!” Roman said, eyes wide as he stared at Emile.

“Just cut to the point already!” Logan rose his voice uncharacteristically.

“Gentlemen, all of you, please settle!” Emile requested, standing from his seat and resting the Bristol board on his desk, blank side up. “Please be calm and then I can show you why I've brought you here.”

A feeling of dread rose individually in each of the four men before Dr. Picani, and he waited another few seconds after their silence and all eyes were on him before he lifted the board and turned the printed side towards them.

On the board appeared to be a photocopy of a realistic sketch, featuring a soft-looking man with slightly ruffled brown hair, a slender face, tired but joyful eyes, and a pleasant smile. At the sight of the sketch, Logan, Roman, Patton, and Virgil all froze totally.

Their reactions confirmed to Emile one solid fact.

“You are all familiar with the face of Thomas Sanders.”

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #thatsthat24 #fanfiction #thomas' dream #meef's art #yknow it counts

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