#hey Ladies and Others ;-)

[carrotsofthepirabbean]

bttf au where they send Jennifer (criminally underused) to retrieve the sports almanac to avoid the tremendous problem of Marty accidentally meeting himself, which instead causes some tremendous other problems

[cultivating-wildflowers]

ladies, I need to wander despondently across a foggy moor asap

[proxycrit]

Part 1 / Part 2

Emmet remembers when he and Ingo first brought Elesa to explore Celestial Tower, back when they were fourteen and thought they were immortal.

“Allegedly, the bell chime will bring ghosts home”, ingo had told emmet with the pompous knowing energy of a child who read way too much brochures. “It’s culturally significant! We must ring it.”

“Hmmm,” emmet had responded suspiciously. “Brother. The bell is at the top of the tower.” The implication stands: Ingo, there are thirty flights of stairs between here and the top, and no elevator to speak of.

Don’t be a coward, Litwick had told Emmet with the blaise tone of somebody who’s going to be piggy backing off of somebody else. Go ring the bell. Tynamo, sensing a litten fight, floated towards a loitering blitzle.

Ingo turns his lilipup eyes on Elesa, who’s squinting at the carved stone faces of the front door.

“Elesa? What do you think?”

Elesa thinks. She shrugs. “We already made our way here,” she said in accented galarian. “Might as well make it the rest of the way. Ganbatte!”

Emmet sighs. “This is a mistake,” he tells the two in exhaustive patience, but lets himself be dragged into the building.

Last time the twins were here, Ingo caught litwick— but not before she managed to nab a good chunk of Emmet’s soul. It’s not terrible; he felt fatigued for a week and bounced back pretty quickly, but it was the principle of the whole situation— celestial tower’s a pain in the ass and Emmet will stand by that until the day he dies.

Like right now.

The map isn’t working. Emmet checked it once. He’s checked it twice. He’s taken out his pen and written on it, which he would usually never do but desperate times call for desperate measures. The compass he brought spins useless circles. It’s like chargestone cave up here, but worse because instead if electric pokemon it’s all ghosts.

“We’re lost, yyup yup!” He announced to the crew. “I vote we eat Ingo first.”

“I love you too,” Ingo told Emmet placidly. “But we all know between the two of us, you’re the tastier one.” Litwick gives Emmet a thumbs up. Emmet gasps in mock affront.

“Elesa, help!”

Elesa gives the two of them a wary look. It took two floors for her to realize this is not just a weird temple with strange rocks, but a full out graveyard. She’s not very happy about that development.

“Don’t drag me into this,” she tells them. “Teme wa urusaii.”

“I will take that as a compliment,” Ingo reports back.

Emmet, who’s cheerfully struggles with Galarian on a good day, simply gives her a thumbs up.

The three painstakingly crawl their way up. And up. If all else fails, Emmet told himself, at least they can orient themselves towards high ground.

“We’re like pidoves,” Ingo gasps. He has fallen behind them on the stairs, with Emmet taking the lead through sheer spite despite his legs going numb on floor twenty two. “We, hah, we are attracted by the magnet of the bell, like, like probopass-“

“I am emmet! You are not making, sense!” Emmet called back. Elesa, who’s stuck between them and looking two steps from perpetual collapse, giggles.

“No, no hear me out, Ingo wheezes. “What if the bell’s a magnetic pole? And that’s why your compass doesn’t wo, woo, hahh, work.”

Emmet stops to rest, just because Ingo is using precious breathing air to infodump. Elesa gratefully slumps against the railing. Tynamo and litwick, lazy in their still small size, have settled on a weary blitzle and look very smug doing so. (Emmet is not jealous, he tells himself. Emmet is also lying.)

“The bell’s important,” Ingo had repeated.

“Okay,” Elesa responds. “If it’s important to you, then it’s important to us.”

And Emmet finds that he agrees with Elesa. Partially because they crawled up twenty fucking three flights of stairs, but also because Ingo thinks this is important, so it is.

And here’s the thing—

— emmet doesn’t remember much after that.

The rest of that trip was a blur of exhausted groaning and burning legs, and by the time the trio managed to breach floor thirty, people’s brains have all but dribbled out their ears. Emmet remembers being disgustingly sweaty. He remembers blitzle almost tripping to death and litwick’s swearing. He remembers tynamo sticking to his neck like a damp towel. He remembers Ingo’s excited sneasel smile, and the way the sunset bounced off of Elesa’s hair.

He remembers the brassy ring of the Celestial bell. It sounded like victory.

But it was Elesa’s cackle turned scream as Ingo swiped cold hands down her neck that sounded like home.

—-

So when the conductor at thirty one, lost and disoriented in the Impossible Place, heard the sound of a familiar bell, ringing over and over and over-

-the sound of laughter-

-EMMET! Elesa cried-

-like a homing pidove, the conductor, thinks nonsensically as something in him perks up.

(Emmet had always liked winning, more than anything else, and the sound of victory calls him home.)

—

Elesa catches lightning in a bottle. Elesa, arms outstretched, finds purchase in her brother, and does not let go.

Emmet is so, so cold, Elesa thinks as the wind steals air from her lungs. (That’s okay. She’s already breathless from a terrible business called hope.)

Emmet stares back. His hands flap against Elesa’s jacket. Elesa desperately drinks in his wan face and too wide eyes and his frost bitten lips. In a tiny, meek voice, almost lost to the wind, he asks:

“Are you real?”

Elesa lets out an ugly sob. Her tears whip away in the wind as they fall. Emmet’s frightened countenance turns immediately to alarm. His shaky grasp becomes a solid grip as they spin through the air, cushioned by chandelure’s psychic.

“I think so??” Elesa warbles. She sees Emmet’s eyes dart to her mouth. He’s reading mirroring her, she realizes with giddy delight— it’s such an Emmet thing to do, to read lips, and-

“I am Emmet,” Emmet breathes. His eyes have started to water. “Yyou are Elesa- Oh dragons, Elesa!?“

Elesa reaches. Hesitates.

Emmet grabs elesa by the lapels and crushes her tight against him. Elesa holds on, and the grief and relief in her accumulates into a wet sopping mess. She’s ruining his jacket, she mourns, but its okay because he’s dripping all over hers.

She can’t hear what he’s saying into her shoulder, can’t read what he says, but everything’s okay because every part of her is chiming

You came back

You’re here

I’m not alone anymore.

Around them, the air distorts as Chandelure’s psychic wavers, flutters, and solidifies. Gravity reverses its call as they settle gently on the ground, dust billowing in all directions.

The ghost pokemon drops next to them, shaking so hard the musical clang of glass makes Elesa flinch.

You fucks, Chandelure gasps. DON’T GO LEAPING OFF BUILDINGS, I AM NOT YOUR EMERGENCY PARACHUTE.

“I’m sorry,” Elesa gasps, still giddy from the adrenaline.

AND YOU! Chandelure howls, whirling on Emmet, who’s still staring at the ghost with huge eyes. He’s gripping on to solid ground with the energy of a man who realized he could have been a splat on the ground.

YOU LEFT!

Emmet winces.

You- You left us, you left me-

Ah, ah no, Elesa thinks as golden globules of light shed from Chandelure. This is what a ghost looks like crying.

Emmet holds out his arms. Chandelure drifts into his embrace, and shakes, and shakes, and shakes.

You left me, the ghost pokemon whispers. How dare you. How could you.

“I didn’t mean to,” Emmet whispers. “I’m sorry.”

Stop doing this to me, Chandelure demands. Golden brine joins human tears, like drops of sun trapped in wet glass. Stop going where I can not follow.

And Emmet holds his tongue, because he knows he can not promise staying. Not while Ingo and Eelektross are still in Hisui.

(In the back of Emmet’s hurt and shattered mind is a spark. Synapses connect. The cold breach of the Distortion does nothing to drown out the sudden flare of hope in Emmet’s chest, so great he can not breathe, so strong he can not feel, because there’s a path. A difficult, painful path through the Space that Can Not Be, but a path all the same.)

“Elesa, Chandelure-“ Emmet’s voice breaks. He wants to tell them about Eelektross. He wants to tell them about the terrible past that is Hisui. He wants to explain how the last five months were filled with horror and wonder and fear and hope.

Hope, he thinks. So he says this:

“I know how to get Ingo home.”

NOTES:

AAAAAND THAT’S ALL FOR THIS DRABBLE. ITS OUT NOW. I CAN FINALLY GO BACK TO POSTING HAPPY SHENANIGANS! (Now you know the shape of their story.)

Thanks for reading this monster of a post!

[turtleblogatlast]

Something I really like about Raph and Leo’s relationship is that Raph noticeably doesn’t hold back with Leo nearly as much as he does with Donnie and Mikey, and it’s really nice to see that from him.

Leo too would frequently fall into a natural strategist and second-in-command role of sorts, often actually giving his worries and thoughts to Raph where he wouldn’t normally.

Then the Shredder happens and this dynamic is thrown into a loop where they both stay solidly in their own camps of “we’re heroes, it’s our duty” and “we’re teens, who cares?” And during this, Raph not holding back from Leo is cranked up to an eleven and Leo flips around to mask more with Raph than he ever had before and deliberately riles Raph up so that fights are all but guaranteed.

Post-invasion, it’s clear they’re (mostly) back to how they were before for the most part, with an added level of respect and maturity (and trauma) there too, and it’s great to see because they’re an amazing duo when they’re on the same wavelength.

[see-arcane]

Bloofer Lucy: "Of course I love, and hold all of my suitors in my fang- I mean in my non beating heart equally! There is 💕Arthur💕... Jake? Quanxi?"

Lucy, complete with 100+ layers of natural and heavily trained-in politeness: "I love Arthur so much but I hate that I broke anyone else's heart in turning them down for him. I'd marry them too if I could so nobody's feelings were hurt :c"

Bloofer Lady, has 99.99% of those layers sandblasted off with nothing but pure vampiric id impulse left, chucking an entire human child like a used juice box: "It's Arthur! Hi, Arthur! Want to get undead with me right now this second so we can spoon in the tomb? c: ...oh and hey, uh, leftovers. Quiche and...Jimmy? I want to say Jimmy. And the guy with the garlic flower crowns. Whatever. Hi, Arthur! 💕💕💕"

[vickyvicarious]

"Faugh! Mina is a woman, and they have naught in common! They are Devils of the Pit!"

:)

First time reading: aww, his love for Mina won't allow him to even categorize them as 'women', because she's a woman and she would Never.

Rereading: ...ah. Oh dear. About that.

I do love the foreshadowing in this line. Mina never quite becomes one of these women, but she comes scarily close. They are eager to welcome her, and call her one of them. Jonathan himself is fully willing to change his tune too - should Mina become a devil of the Pit, he'll follow her, rather than the rejection implied here.

Of course it's not full dramatic irony. That would have to be reserved for some kind of Bad End AU where Mina's too far along and ends up joining the vampire ladies/probably killing Van Helsing, but Dracula gets killed too. Then you could actually have a potential end with Jonathan "alone in the castle with those awful women" - but by his own choice this time. The line is still pretty great though.

[faestorian]

yt reccomended kept giving me witcher analysis videos today, so after work i decided to doodle the grumpy old people for the first time in a good while.

i promise you, maiilys and roche usually are NOT this lovey dovey but. tonight, self-indulgent fluff won.

[givehimthemedicine]

@whyantm ENHANCE

el honey why are you cartoon strutting into the hospital

they cut away on the EXACT frame that would've really made it well visible but it is definitely happening

that's some real eagle eye spotting ty for your service whee1erz

[popcorn-plots]

long rant incoming, I'm just fed up with a certain person right now

OH MY GOODNESS is it too much to ask for just a LITTLE respect?? I drive this girl to and from school, every day. I'm going to call her Laura. Laura is an only child and the only reason I'm taking her to school is because she refuses to bike to mile and a half from her place to the school in the cold. Which is fine. The arrangement was that I drive her and she pays gas money. The problem is, she's been super annoying about it. Every morning for about a month, she would text me "are you picking me up today". every single morning. Until I snapped one day and told her that I have been picking her up every morning for the past month, of course I'm picking her up. not my proudest moment, but it works. Now, however, I have to text her every time I'm at her house and she still takes maybe 4 minutes to get out the door. Which, okay, I can understand the texting thing, but I would like her to be ready. and then every afternoon, she tells me that she can't find my car, so I have to tell her where I parked it in the morning. or she won't text anything and I'm sitting in my car for five or ten minutes after I text her for a response that's lik "oh I was with friends" or "I thought you were still in the school, I'm coming out now" which. okay. I understand, I like talking to my friends, but we all leave pretty quickly because no senior wants to stay at school longer than they have to. But there have been more than a few times where I'm sitting in my car for OVER HALF AN HOUR waiting for her to text back with "oh btw I forgot to tell you, I have a club meeting" or "i went home with a friend" or some bs. So every day I have to text her "do you need a ride home" because I'm waiting, in my car, for 15 minutes after school, waiting for this girl. And today, I'm sitting there for 25 minutes. and I'm like, okay I can wait, because I have some fics to catch up on. But then I'm finished with my fics

and I text her because she's still not there and it takes another five minutes for her to respond, word for word, "oh, sorry, I thought you would text me when you got to your car" after I've REPEATEDLY said that I typically leave school as soon as I can. I'm willing to wait for her, but I'm usually gone within five minutes of the bell. I waited half an hour for her to tell me that she was waiting for me to text her, informing her of my location, after I've told her that I'm always at my car. I even text her when I have something going on! Club meeting? I pick her up and before we get to school "I can't drive you home because I have a club meeting." If I have somewhere to be, or if I have to stay after school, I tell her before school or during lunch. Every single time, without fail.

not to mention the fact that the original arrangement was that she would pay me 10 dollars every 2 weeks for gas. I've only gotten 20 dollars in the past three and a half months. she keeps asking if I have venmo, and then never bringing up payment when I say that I don't. and she always complains about being too broke to afford anything, then goes and buys pizza and donughts during lunch. she's been flaky for everything else, too and it's so annoying. I've been trying to be a nice friend, because I didn't have friends, let alone kind friends growing up, and I've becoming known as the rich friend who's always willing to help in my friend group. I try to set boundaries, but then people stop talking to me the moment I do. and this has gone on throughout my entire life. Laura's behavior is even what happened in all of my previous relationships, I'd be giving 100 percent and they're giving 50, at best, until I wear myself out just trying to spend time with them and make it work, including talks where I set my boundaries and tell them, literally say "I would like it if you could just do this". If you could just get work off for a single evening or just look away from the computer for half an hour during lunch so we can have an actually conversation, then they never even try and don't understand when I'm all out of juice and can't keep going, then are confused when I stop giving my all

it's infuriating and I hate it. I really want to set boundaries, but guess what. I was raised to walk on eggshells around my mom and let people walk all over me because that's the only way that I would ever get attention from my PARENTS. because I was told to shut up and do what I'm told so that my siblings could get the help that they needed.

[elithesia-autem-danguarde]

Chapters: 16/30 Fandom: Pokemon Legends: Arceus (Video Game), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions, Pocket Monsters: Black 2 & White 2 | Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 Versions Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Kudari | Emmet & Nobori | Ingo, Kudari | Emmet & Shou | Akari, Nobori | Ingo & Shou | Akari, Nobori | Ingo & Tsubaki | Melli, Kudari | Emmet & Tsubaki | Melli, Nobori | Ingo & Queen Ohnyula | Lady Sneasler, Kudari | Emmet & Hisuian Zoroark Characters: Nobori | Ingo, Kudari | Emmet, Shou | Akari, Seki | Adaman, Kai | Irida, Volo (Pokemon), Yone | Mai (Pokemon Legends: Arceus), Tsubaki | Melli, Hinatsu | Arezu, Susuki | Iscan, Wasabi | Sabi (Pokemon), Kikui | Lian (Pokemon Legends: Arceus), Yuugao | Calaba, Garana | Palina, Hamarenge | Gaeric, Teru | Rei, Perilla | Zisu, Shimaboshi | Cyllene, Original Female Character(s), Kamitsure | Elesa, Shaga | Drayden, Taro | Lacey Additional Tags: Legends Arceus AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Living in Hisui, emmet in hisui, warden emmet, Ingo Emmet and Akari all connecting, Friendship, Misunderstandings, I mean like LOTS of misunderstandings, poor communication kills, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Ingo really hating his amnesia, Eventual Happy Ending, Brotherly Love, Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, No real shipping in this fic, The Unova characters don't appear until like the last three chapters, But I'm tagging them anyway because they're still important, actions have consequences, This fic is as long as it is because no one knows how to communicate properly, Emotions, Big Sister Elesa, Uncle Drayden, Ingo Emmet and Akari are all autistic, Hikari | Dawn and Shou | Akari are Different People, Siblings, The Ride Pokemon are Considered Nobles Summary:

The Pearl Clan witnesses Ingo mourning the memories he just can't seem to recall. The Diamond Clan witnesses Emmet concealing the past that he fears would alienate him. Both groups are aware that something is suspicious, but don't know how to approach it when considering all of the other strange things currently occurring within Hisui and the interests of their individual clans.

Akari forms separate bonds with both brothers as she investigates who they are and what they mean to each other, but will it be too late to bring them back together after months of secrecy and poor communication? Or can Ingo and Emmet's brotherly bond endure even through hardships beyond what they ever could have imagined before?

[seefasters]

now i want to know which mash episodes pass the bechdel test

[redbean-nom]

watched the first 2 episodes of acolyte and so far i like every character except for the main one lol. (also is her name osha as in occupational safety and health administration??)

[tittyinfinity]

It's really nice having a free housekeeping service thru my Medicaid but ever since my regular housekeeper that I had for a year (now friend) got promoted in March it's like every other person I've had fuckin hates disabled people

[surveillance-0011]

Galeem and Dharkon head canons: Redux

Remake of an old post. Dharkon and HCs for their dynamics with each other and the smashers below the cut for length

Galeem

any, tends to default to he/they but is totally partial to whatever

maverique , pan + aroaspec. only very rarely experiences attraction.

Wishes to change the world into one that suits his likeness out of a sense of entitlement and superiority. He thinks the world as it is now is dull and overcomplicated and wishes for one revolving around himself, drenched in light

A very selfish and prideful individual, out of touch for sure.

Presents itself as elegant, sophisticated sort of deity. Cares a lot about presentation and any attack on his ego will be met with an eternal grudge.

They get very humiliated when they are proven wrong and when their facade of coolness breaks. Because it does. A bit more often than Galeem would like too.

They try to act unaffected but they get very emotional. Galeem is always at the extremes when they're upset or even happy.

Genuinely scared of the dark to an extent. He's very glad he glows.

Doesn't really need to eat or drink but can do so and sometimes feels the drive to. Likes cute lil pastries and fruit. Not huge on chocolate though and won't each much of anything else.

Doesn't like most of the smashers but has grown to respect most over time. Likes Kirby the most now that the burning rage has faded and kirby sneaks him bites of cake when he can is nice enough

Also has some bias over the more light-aligned smashers esp Palutena and Pit

Giving the Hands the cold shoulder still. Mocks them behind their backs. Sort of teases MH about being able to control the guy but MH is like "shush you lost you can give it up it's not my first rodeo". though MH is totally still bothered.

Likes classical and very cinematic sort of music.

Loves sunny days, dislikes stormy weathers. That being said, he enjoys snow.

Dharkon

any, defaults to she/he/it in no particular order but as w/ galeem it doesn't matter all that much

genderfluid sapphic/trixic. Greyro? sad little girlboy-boygirlthing

Can change its voice to sound more fem, masc or even in between. Sometimes it does so because of a change in mentality as well (vulnerable,strong,angry, friendly) Its voice is often deep, raspy and rumbling.

This also means he can mimic voices with a lil bit of time and effort. Totally uses this to taunt people.

Wants to plunge the world into darkness out of hatred and apathy for virtually all life. Wishes to be alone with only like individuals in a world of gloomy anarchy.

Certainly very selfish but he's got like. Reverse superiority-inferiority complex. Self loathing but also so hateful of everything else that he decided his way was still the better option. like does that make sense. doomer blackpilled nihilist reddit core.

Not unlike ridley he's smart but sees no need to communicate this. Clever but from a rougher school of thought and can't be assed to talk to people he doesn't respect.

Same as Galeem, doesn't need to eat food in the traditional sense but will do so out of boredom or cravings. Likes rich chocolate and hearty meaty foods. Great spice tolerance also. Eats much more than Galeem 2 fill the void.

Sensitive to light, especially in its weakened spirit form. This keeps him inside, when he is allowed to go out he stays in the shade or waits until twilight and night. Fond of rainstorms and cloudier weather.

Has also warmed up to Kirby somewhat. Still holding a grudge but she's starting to see the humor in being beat by a lil pink puffball, too tired to be angry about it anymore. Not to mention how Kirby is extending an olive branch

More fond of the villains. Has probably talked to Ridley, Seph and Ganon if they approach him.

Also thinks Sonic is kind of cool. Dharkon is Guy Who Only Listens To Sonic Soundtrack ig. That's the sorta person she is.

Likes rock and metal.

Drilled into the Hands for not being able to protect the smashers. Master Hand might've cried a lil about it. ok he totally did. But Dharkon has warmed up a little to Crazy Hand but hasn't been able to reconcile

Slowly starting to be less misanthropic but could still benefit from therapy and some prozac.

Together

Kept under pretty high security with lots of limitations, but allowed some freedom to keep them from being totally miserable.

Allowed to roam around every now and then.

Though it may seem rather odd to not really punish them strongly, the beatdown they've faced and permanent servitude as spirits alongside Typical Smash antics are punishment enough in the Hands' eyes (erm, lack thereof?). And, considering they did what they did out of greed and dissatisfaction, keeping them relatively happy now that their egos are in check seems like the right thing to do.

Clowned on 24/7. The fighters that feel comfortable enough to approach them tend to be teasing or will outright use them for pranks and whatnot.

Kirby is sternly kind to them, willing to turn the other cheek as long as they don't turn back to their old ways. Would totally wipe the floor with them if need be.

For others, the water is not under the bridge. Many want nothing to do with them. Some like Villager, the Ice Climbers and Duck Hunt Duo are terrified of them. Others are hostile. Oddly enough, the pikmin of all folks fall under this latter group and are extremely aggressive towards Galeem and Dharkon. In turn, these forces of light and dark have learned to fear them. Olimar is almost apologetic about it but above all else he just doesn't want his pikmin getting wiped off the face of the earth. Alph gets a little bit of a kick out of it.

Mario isn't having any bullshit. He's very cautious about the whole ordeal and will even admonish the more mischievous individuals that go out of their way to try and rile the two up. Palutena, Rosalina, Peach, Link and Samus are also very, very cautious and keep a close eye out.

Some of the villains are curious about their power, namely Ganon and Sephy. They'd like to harness their powers probably. Ridley is also curious, moreso about Dharkon but it's more like he's sizing them up for revenge.

Wario is still figuring out a way to make a quick buck off of 'em. He almost got Galeem into a mlm scheme that one time. Bowser is more cautious and cares less about trying to win them over and more about trying to avoid them bc he's mad abt his kids being hurt.

Mewtwo is also cautiously curious.

They're enemies but. Sometimes they seem a little. hm. maybe you should just kiss abt it. or something. frolic in the fields. hit each other with squeaky hammers. don't actually stab each other. thanks.

if they could stop arguing they'd be a cool evil couple. They'd be great partners in crime because they do bounce off of each other well on the occasion that they're on the same wavelength. Even when they clash, there is beauty in the way they work off of each other.

The two were kind of friends once upon a time. Whatever happened to them? No one knows, and they won't speak.

They kinda sorta apologized about WOL to each other but it's like. The spongebob scene where they're like "id hate you even if i didn't hate you" that's them 24/7 still. And they're always getting into petty disagreements.

They haven't formally apologized about it to the smashers though.

Dharkon enjoys challenging Galeem and is usually the instigator of their conflicts, but Galeem also angers Dharkon a lot through his smug behavior. Neither apologizes or forgives easily. Galeem can be bribed or buttered up, but Dharkon needs time for sure. And a valid apology.

It's very can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em, tried both. They really cannot imagine life without each other.

[futturmangamez]

my josh junior isnt so junior;)

well technically...its wolf's junior...

or senior🧍‍♂️

[carolinanadeau]

In Praise of Sally Ann Howes

As I've made it one of the purposes of my blog to share photos and songs and general positivity about the wonderful English actress Sally Ann Howes, I thought I'd make a post to talk in much more detail about all the great things about her and why I adore her so much!

This classy English beauty possessed a highly expressive face and eyes, an astonishingly powerful soprano, a great sense of humor, and the world's most charming laugh. One thing I cannot stop saying about Sally Ann is that she did not and does not get nearly enough credit and recognition for her immense talent and prolific career, and it's precisely for that reason that I'm here to do my part in giving it to her!

This overlong rambling post is a combination of biographical information and my personal fawning over her performances... whatever I felt I most wanted to put out there in the world and what I'd like people less familiar with her to know.

Click on Keep Reading and I'll take you on a journey!

As she preferred to work on the stage and didn't really pursue a film career, the catalog of Sally Ann's work that can still be viewed today is unfortunately small - though you can find almost all of her early films on the internet if you look hard! In her early film days, mostly made before she was able to pursue her true passion of musical theatre, her extraordinary singing talents weren't utilized by the producers at all.

However, we were fortunately blessed with exactly one musical film role from her, and it's an iconic one: the aptly-named role of Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), the golden-haired, golden-hearted candy heiress who falls in love with and eventually marries Dick van Dyke's character Caractacus Potts after joining him and his children on a madcap adventure. She's a sweet, intelligent ingenue with hidden depths and one of my favorite sorts of character arcs - the uptight, lonely woman who becomes more and more warm and open as she discovers newfound freedom and joy in life and falls in love.

There is something about Sally Ann that just glows in every scene of Chitty, and it's not only that bright blonde hair! The way she widens her eyes sometimes, the way she raises her eyebrows, her gentle and soft presence in the happiest scenes, and the particular airy lilt she has to her speaking voice are all so distinctive and appealing, and I can't take my eyes off her. And her smile! When I say she glows it's barely even a metaphor, the woman just emits light. 

(Funnily enough, I started to realize that many of the laudatory quotes I've found about her also refer to her in this way, like this quote from a 1965 TV Guide article, from playwright Sidney Kingsley: "She's luminous as an actress. I mean that literally. In Brigadoon she really lit up the stage.")

For me, I'm weak for any actress who can do the defrosted-ice-queen trope so incredibly well. Truly starts out as closed-off and prim, and nearly reverts to that state when she and Caractacus have a Big Misunderstanding near the end, but in the scenes where she's happy and carefree, the warmth just radiates off of her.

She also has the most adorable chemistry with Dick van Dyke in an annoyances-to-friends-to-lovers relationship that absolutely shaped my young brain. Whenever Sally Ann and Dick glance at each other, whether with irritation and frustration early in the film or with warmth and affection later on, their chemistry is obvious and natural, and there's so much expressed in each one of those glances. One has no difficulty believing that these characters are going to be very happily married.

(Here's a cute on-set interview where she talks about, among other things, how easily she and van Dyke clicked.)

While I acknowledge that the character of Caractacus Potts was absolutely originally planned to be an actual Englishman, Dick van Dyke played him with an American accent, and to me they will always be an adorable English-American couple. It's a whole part of the charm of this pairing to me!

Sally Ann also had a great relationship with child actors Adrian Hall and Heather Ripley who played Jeremy and Jemima Potts, and did her best to help make them more comfortable and happy during the many very long days on set. Having been a child film star herself, she knew a great deal about how difficult and alienating it could be. The genuine affection the three of them shared is obvious in their scenes together, especially in the extremely adorable "Truly Scrumptious" number, and it really makes the developing mother-child relationship between the characters so believable.

The beach scene, where so much of the relationship between Truly and Caractacus and the Potts children is developed, is incredibly cute and heartwarming, and a lot of that rides on Sally Ann's performance and how her previously prim-and-proper character shows herself to be warm and loving, once she (literally) lets her hair down. We've already seen how happy the Potts family is together; now we see how Truly fits in perfectly and makes them all even happier.

Look at her! Literally glowing!

(One thing I should mention: I think both the plot and the love story of CCBB are greatly improved if one just treats the "dream sequence" as real events, which was possibly the original intention anyway, so just note that is always the perspective I'm coming from here. It's the only way to make some things make sense and for the characters and their relationships to fully develop.)

"Lovely, Lonely Man" is Truly's big solo moment, and was probably the least comprehensible part of the movie to me as a kid (lol), but is now indisputably one of the very best parts to me as an adult. It's an exquisitely beautiful love song, especially the bridge, and I somehow love it more and more every time I rewatch it. Sally Ann's dreamy, graceful movements and the way the whole scene is shot make her look like a princess, and the slow build of the song is masterfully done. She has this distinctive crisp way of articulating her words while singing, especially the closing consonants like N and M, that I just love to listen to. The string section and the building countermelodies are so beautiful it makes me want to weep. Everyone involved in creating this scene and song deserved an award, I'm being so serious. While it's not the highest of soprano songs and doesn't fully show off Sally Ann's astonishing range, she shows an incredible amount of vocal control here through the many diminuendos and crescendos, and she's mesmerizing to watch and listen to. One of her "glowiest" scenes, for sure!

While I've seen people call this song irrelevant to the plot, I strongly disagree - the romance is part of the plot, of course, and while I didn't fully understand the meaning as a kid, this song establishes how much Truly's outlook on life and hopes for the future have already changed since meeting Caractacus, and how much happier she is with the poor Potts family than she's ever been in her life of luxury. Plus, now we know for certain that she's head over heels for Caractacus, but he doesn't know... increasing the dramatic irony of the pining and yearning to follow!

In the reprise of "Hushabye Mountain", which was sung in a much earlier scene by Dick van Dyke alone, Caractacus loses the will to continue the song because he's overwhelmed with emotion thinking of his children being held captive. Truly comes in to aid him with the final verse - another pivotal moment in the developing romance - and Sally Ann's singing here is nothing short of breathtaking.

And of course, I can't neglect to mention the "Doll on a Music Box" number, where Sally Ann, who was not a trained dancer and in fact considered herself to be "appalling" at it, performs an incredibly precise, incredibly impressive clockwork song-and-dance number while on a spinning turntable! She practiced it so well that she managed to successfully complete the shot in a single take, prompting the stage full of extras to burst into applause.

This is another important character moment for Truly, though it's disguised in a diegetic performance: though it's another thing that went over my head as a child who only got to see the movie once, the lyrics about being trapped up on a music box and longing to be freed by love pretty clearly symbolize how trapped the real Truly's high-society life makes her feel, and how she yearns to break free from class restrictions and live happily-ever-after with Caractacus, as it's only with him and his family that she really feels free.

Then there's that incredibly warm romantic look that Truly and Caractacus share at the end of the song when she silently acknowledges the love confession he's just made while singing in counterpoint with her, though they're still in a dangerous situation and can't give themselves away by appearing too human and breaking their disguises... sadly this vital moment is cut off on all the Youtube videos of the scene I can find, because none of the people who clipped it understand that that's the whole point of it all, apparently. But here's a gif!

The character of Truly doesn't exist at all in the original (quite different) book by James Bond author Ian Fleming - surprising, I know, given her name! - and, honestly, the fact that Truly and the romantic subplot of this movie exist are why it had such a strong impact on me as a child, and very much why I fell in love with it again as an adult. Even though the score is wonderful anyway and the story is charming and magical, I can confidently say that I would not have become as completely enchanted or had such a strong desire to revisit it again and again if there'd been no Truly and no love story. The fact that Sally Ann's performance makes Truly so loveable is, obviously, a pretty crucial factor there.

Sally Ann's delivery of "Well, Mr. Potts... now you'll have to marry me!" after Caractacus kisses Truly... that slide from prim mock-outrage to the playful, warm, you-can-hear-the-smile-in her-voice conclusion is flawless. Not even exaggerating when I say that this was the moment that made me into a hopeless romantic as a 9-year-old child. Sure, this wasn't the first movie I'd seen where two people fall in love and live happily ever after, but I distinctly remember that this was the first romance story that had me in a giggling, kicking-my-feet, "I ship it so hard" state of mind. And after revisiting it as an adult for the first time last year, I have confirmed that yes, child me already had great taste in fictional romances!

Oh, I could say so much about the difference in her body language between the two scenes where Caractacus carries Truly out of her car that's become stuck in a pond. The first time, Truly is affronted and extremely embarrassed by the situation, holding herself so stiffly and awkwardly to avoid an accidental embrace that she causes him to nearly lose his balance and drop her. The second time, when they're in love and they know it, she snuggles right up into his arms without hesitation and it's the cutest thing ever. Sally Ann was 5'6" but looks so tiny in that scene!

(And that kiss! Maybe I'm getting off-topic here in terms of strictly focusing on Sally Ann's contributions, because Dick van Dyke deserves tons of credit for making this kiss so good... but wow, the kiss. Several times I have called it "the Most Kiss they could have gotten away with in a children's movie." Again, giggling, kicking my feet etc.)

While Truly's costumes and hairstyling are rarely historically accurate (the film is set around 1910), the stylized nature of her fashion is iconic and memorable in itself. Sally Ann also completely pulls off playing a fresh-faced ingenue who is 12+ years younger than her actual age - and I do wonder if the aging-down of Sally Ann is at least part of the reason why Truly wears her hair loose throughout most of the movie! Either way, it works perfectly and I was shocked when I first learned how much older she was than her character. (If you watch her in The Admirable Crichton, where she is also in Edwardian costume and was closer to Truly's actual age, she really doesn't look all that much different. If anything, I think she looks even more glowingly beautiful in Chitty!)

Also, as for Truly wearing her hair down... it may just have been an intentionally anachronistic stylistic choice, but in-story, I think it actually contributes to her character by showing a willingness to flout convention and pursue whatever will make her happy instead of what's expected of her, which happens to be a key theme of her character arc.

Another thing that led me to adore Sally Ann as a person as I learned more about her over the last year: in the 1960s, she appeared as a panelist in quite a few episodes of the game show To Tell the Truth (as well as a few episodes of Password), and these can be found on Youtube. I really adore how her personality shines through - she's unfailingly bubbly, witty, self-deprecating, and a bit quirky. Just listening to her speak is a delight and she has one of the best laughs I've ever heard. Here is one of my favorite little moments that I clipped. 

By all accounts, she was a delightful person to know and work with, witty and clever, very professional, and very serious about her craft. She also always maintained a great affection for and pride in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and her role as Truly, which is always a wonderful thing to know about an actor in a beloved role.

Another bonus: here is a super charming interview with her after a backstage disaster at What Makes Sammy Run? on Broadway.

She was also, along with Twiggy and Diahann Carroll (as Julia Baker), one of the first three celebrities to have her likeness made into a Barbie doll.

Two of her earlier films I recommend are the comedies Fools Rush In (1949) and The Admirable Crichton (1957), if you can find them (hint-hint, you can.) You may also be able to find the 1966 TV movie of her reprising her Tony-nominated role of Fiona in Brigadoon with Robert Goulet, and although I feel like the oddly close-up way the film was shot kinda does a disservice to the actors at times, it's still amazing to be able to see and hear her in a role she performed on Broadway.

Richard Rodgers once called Sally Ann "the greatest singer who ever sang on the American musical stage." Now, I don't quote this to claim this superlative as some kind of objective fact. If you know anything about me, I am very, very strongly opposed to pitting women against each other and all the Golden Age sopranos are absolute queens who deserve crowns, no matter how much mainstream success or present-day name-recognition they have/had. I just think it's phenomenal that she received such high praise from a man who worked with many of the best musical theatre singers who ever lived... and to think, many people today have never even heard her voice. Without her performance as Truly Scrumptious, it's possible almost nobody would in the future! I am so glad that Sally Ann's lasting legacy was ensured by such a beloved film role.

Sadly for us, many of the theatrical roles which she originated (and thus, for which cast albums featuring her exist) were in shows that either flopped quickly or at least did not enter the theatrical canon, so she never achieved the level of mainstream recognition she clearly deserves. But Sally Ann also played such legendary and challenging roles as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Fiona MacLaren in Brigadoon (for which she received a Tony nomination), Maria Rainer von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Anna Leonowens in The King and I, and, much later, Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. She received great acclaim for all of these performances and, judging by what we know of her process on My Fair Lady, was excellent at making roles distinctly her own and never merely imitating another performer.

Even in her iconic original role of Truly Scrumptious, you don't get to hear the true full power of Sally Ann's extraordinary soprano. For that, I highly recommend listening to "Another Time, Another Place" from Kwamina (1961), and "Something to Live For" from What Makes Sammy Run? (1964). I'm always sad that we don't have any recordings of her in her "fiery" star turn as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, but you can at least hear her do a Cockney accent, be silly, and sing "With a Little Bit of Luck" with Bing Crosby here!

If it weren't for the enduring success of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, few people might have even heard of Sally Ann Howes today, and that would be a terrible loss. I cannot overstate that I am so grateful that we all know who she is because she played this role and we get to see her give this radiant performance of a character that's all her own. Maybe this sounds strange, but I think the fact that this was Sally Ann's only musical film role (and the ONLY role most people will ever see her in) makes it even more precious, and makes everything she brings to the character that much more distinctive and unique and special.

Both for all of the talent and charm she brings to the role itself, and everything else that I and many other fans have been able to learn of so much of her otherwise-obscure work because of it, the world is incredibly lucky to have the lovely Sally Ann Howes immortalized as our Truly Scrumptious, and I wouldn't have it any other way 💖