#The point is. The world does not ever need another movie about Willy Wonka | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

septembercfawkes · 4 years

Text

The Hero's Journey Explained: The Beginning

The Hero's Journey is one of the most popular story structures. Last year, I shared my personal hybrid story structure that I like to use when evaluating narratives (which is pretty comprehensive, I think), and in it, I argued that despite there being various "story structures" to choose from, they are pretty much saying the same thing, in different ways with different approaches--they simply slice and dice story differently.

With that said, it can still be very beneficial to familiarize yourself with all of the major structures, so you can find which one connects best with you, and also, so you can refine and troubleshoot your own manuscript when writing. Have you ever just needed to hear a different perspective to solve a problem? Or needed another perspective to grasp a concept? Learning all the major story structures can help with just that and give you new insights.

So what is the Hero's Journey structure, and how is it different? The Hero's Journey came into the writing world from a famous book titled The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, but in reality, the structure is much, much older. Campbell was a mythologist who looked at and studied stories across all cultures and noted what patterns they had in common. This became the Hero's Journey. In the 90s another book titled The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler took Campbell's work (which was rather labyrinthine and scholarly I'm told) and made it more accessible and practical for writers today, in part by applying it to contemporary works.

Vogler's updated approach is slightly different than Campbell's, but the patterns are the same.

For this series, I will be using Vogler's version.

Personally, I feel the Hero's Journey approach has both strengths and weaknesses. This structure puts more focus on the protagonist's experiences and growth than perhaps any of the other popular guides, which also means that it's probably better at addressing theme than many others as well. But as a result, I feel it downplays antagonistic forces, which could be problematic to some writers. While the terminology is vivid, bringing to mind mythic moments, I also think it can be misleading, which can lead to confusion. The main thing with the terminology, is that the actual terms are often more specific than what they are defining, which can feel a little backwards to me. The best way to probably deal with that though, is to take them all more metaphorically and less literally.

Another difference worth noting is that traditionally the Hero's Journey is in the shape of a circle, not a triangle. The circle emphasizes a typical journey, where you leave home, go somewhere new, and come back having gained more experience. But you could just as easily diagram this as a triangle, really. It's just emphasis and preference.

But it could just as easily translate into a triangle.

Like the other structures, there can of course be variations and some parts may bleed into other parts. That's okay as long as it serves the story.

And one more thing, I'm going to be referencing Into the Spider-verse again (in short (and along with others)). You might be thinking, woah, you must really like that movie! But in reality, I'm using it again to show you how the same story actually fits multiple plot structures, a sign that really, it is all about how you like to slice and dice it. (And I wish I understood that long ago.)

But this story structure is great! And it definitely has an archetypal tone, which can be fun to work with. So let's get started.

Ordinary World

At the beginning of the Hero's Journey, the protagonist starts in an "Ordinary World." I use quotations because the term is relative to the story and hero. It's ordinary compared to what is going to come later. Or it's ordinary to the character. It might not necessarily be ordinary from an outside perspective. It's important to realize that, because I think it can trip some writers up.

In Harry Potter, Harry literally starts in an ordinary world (in fact, you can't get much more ordinary than the Dursleys). Later, he'll go to a magical world that exists within our own.

In the movie Enchanted, Giselle begins in a world that is ordinary to her. Later she'll go to New York, which is not ordinary to her.

In The Hobbit, Bilbo begins in Hobbiton, which is ordinary to him (though not to us).

This is true even of non-fantasy stories. It may not be literally a world, but it's a state or lifestyle that is ordinary to the character or ordinary compared to what is going to happen later. It might be a business-woman who is too busy to fall in love. Business life is her ordinary.

The Ordinary World is the setup section of the story. Who is this story about? Where does it start? When does it take place? In the Ordinary World, you are essentially grounding the audience in the story. You are establishing a sense of normalcy (ordinary world). The setup will introduce us to the main character's arc and the theme topic as well.

In Spider-verse

In Into the Spider-verse, Miles starts in an ordinary world compared to what will happen later. This can be confusing to some people, because at the starting of the story, Miles has just recently started attending a new school. But it's very ordinary compared to what will happen later.

We get the setup--who Miles is, where this takes place (New York), when this takes place (present day), and a look at what he has going on in a typical day. We get a sense of his thematic arc and some foreshadowing.

The Call to Adventure

The Call to Adventure is what others may consider the "inciting incident," if you are familiar with that term (though this structure breaks the next part down into more specific pieces). It's a moment that challenges the normalcy we established in the Ordinary World and propels the protagonist in a new direction.

In a lot of traditional Hero's Journey breakdowns, this comes from someone else--a herald. It's Hagrid revealing to Harry he's a wizard. It's Gandalf telling Bilbo he's looking for someone to share an adventure. The herald may not be human. It might be the chocolate bar that has a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Or it might even come from someone dangerous.

The Call to Adventure can also be an event--Primrose Everdeen having her name drawn out for the Hunger Games. It can be a temptation--the promise of riches if the hero joins a ship's crew. It can even be a stirring within the protagonist, a desire for something more. Maybe the hero is just sick of the way things are in her community.

In Spider-verse

This is the moment where Miles is bitten by the radioactive spider. It changes the sense of normalcy establish in the opening.

Refusal of the Call

A Call to Adventure can be a little scary, or at least risky. Often the first thing the hero does is refuse or deny it. Even characters who want to go on the adventure may take a moment to consider what this means, because as Gandalf once said to Bilbo, if you come back, you may not be the same. Typically, they will at least have a second thought.

In Harry Potter, Harry immediately denies this: "I can't be a wizard. I'm just Harry." In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie says he wants to sell the ticket for money for his family. In The Hunger Games, Katniss thinks, "There must have been a mistake. This can't be happening!" And in The Hobbit, Bilbo turns Gandalf down.

In some cases, if the Call to Adventure is something rather negative . . . say . . . a chance to cheat on your significant other, then the Refusal of the Call may be seen as a positive choice.

In Spider-verse

The morning after being bitten, Miles refuses to believe there is something legitimately different about himself, telling himself over and over again that he's just going through puberty. He's in denial. Even when he goes back to find the dead spider, he tells himself "It's just an ordinary spider."

Meeting the Mentor

At this point the hero usually needs more help, more information, or more encouragement. This is where the mentor comes in. Sure, the mentor may be a set, obvious character: Gandalf meets with Bilbo over tea. It may be a temporary mentor, like Hagrid helping Harry prepare to go to a wizarding school. But sometimes it's helpful to think of the mentor as more of a function rather than a character. The function is that something or someone provides the hero with additional information, supplies, wisdom--whatever they need, maybe even a kick out the door--to get going. In this sense, it can be a map the protagonist looks at, a loved one explaining why they need to answer the Call, or a library book that has historical facts that foreshadow the future of the world. The mentor function may even be fulfilled by an enemy or rival.

Mentors provide or donate some sort of "gift," literal or figurative. Sure, it might be wise advice, but it also might be a magical pendant that will light up any darkness or a breastplate that a dragon can never pierce. It might even be something the protagonist doesn't like or want.

In Spider-verse

Right after finding the dead spider, Miles runs into the real Spider-man, who is battling bad guys at the collider. During this, Peter Parker speaks with Miles, asking and encouraging him to be a Spider-man, offering to mentor him, and giving him valuable information about the collider. He insists that he needs Miles's help--kicking Miles out the door (figuratively speaking), so that he can answer the Call.

. . . next week I’ll be back with the middle.

#Writing tips #writing tips and tricks #writeblr #writblr #fanfic #writing advice #writing reference #writing help #writing helps #story structure #hero's journey #Harry Potter #The Hobbit

292 notes · View notes

charmed-asylum · 4 years

Text

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓷𝓮𝓻𝓼

ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀʀᴛɴᴇʀꜱ, ᴘᴀʀᴛ 3

Summary: Finn Cox had everything boy would ever dream of a hot cheerleader girlfriend, loved by everyone, and caption of his hockey team. So why is since Camille Dawson step into his life he starts to have second thoughts about everything

FYI: You know what sucks being sick during the holidays. Anyway, we about to get into the good stuff. Sorry not sorry but you might go through an emotional roller coaster Lets CHAT Come get a tag or Whatnot. If you are new catch up :)

✨ The Partners: Ch. 1 / Ch. 2 ✨

𝓉𝒶𝑔𝑔𝑒𝒹: @weapinggwillowss @nottherightseason @strangerfictions @thewolfswriting @ hauntors

Nikkei was piss he could not be at her cheerleading practice. Something he just didn’t care for and had time to fake it.

“ Look I’m sorry Nic. Things have been crazy with my mom” Finn said walking beside her down the hallway. She was shuggle under his arms wrap like a ribbon around a pretty Christmas present. “How do I look, Finn Cox. WE are captains not being together. Is just unheard of. Me alone with no public PDA. You nowhere to be found. Sometimes I feel you don’t care about my needs. Just yours. You know that selfish “ Nikkei said with hatred. He remands quite just mumble yes dear. Camille was walking swiftly down the hallway carrying too many books coming in the opposite direction. “ See you in class Cam” Finn shout out to her. She smiled nodded yes and continue on her way almost tripping on her shoelace. Nikkei stop and yanked him close to a window. “Another thing. Don’t do that with her when I’m with you. Knowledge her like that. It’s belittling Finn. Better yet do not do it at all in school. People were talking and not good stuff. Stop it or else by 12 periods you be nothing” Nikkei said with her arms cross. He rolled his eyes. Said the girl who cheats on daily tripping on a friendship. “ Nikkei she nothing but a partner for a class you heard Kev. She a golden ticket so I’m playing nice. Freakin chill. You have nothing to worry about “ Finn said holding her tight. He started to kiss her lifting her against the glass window. Making sure all those worries were wrong.

He just missed the bell after a full-blown makeout session with Nikkei. “ Your late” the teacher said tapping at the desk. Finn sat in the back tried his best to pay attention but all he could think about was what Nikkei said. Camille was just a friend. Yeah, he thought about her a lot and stuff but was it more. Nah. He needs a break to talk it over with someone. Raising his hand he quickly rushes to the bathroom.

Camille sneaked into the boy's bathroom flustered at him. “ We gotta make up a schedule Finno. I was in class. Yeah, we were watching a movie -” she stopped and looked at him. “ We should probably not be in the boy's bathroom “she said looking around. He grabbed her hand and walk into a nearby empty classroom.

“ I just wanna tell you things might come around on something I said and it’s not true” Finn said. "Willy Wonka" Camille said standing by the bookshelf. He got closer and stood in front of her confused. “What does that mean” Finn said a bit irritated. Camille walk around him and walks towards the back of the classroom creating some space. “ Golden ticket. I’m not stupid. I was aware of what your intentions were. Nikkei probably acting like any girl would. I’m sure I add a few punches this week” Camille said moving her hair behind her ear and grinned. She looked up at him through her natural thick black lashes. “ How you know” Finn said growing close to her. She wiggles her shoulders a bit at the question. “ Isn’t that what you want to say... Is it your mom" Camille said holding onto his forearm. Finn looks down at her hand. It was like a gentle touch. She brushed her thumb against his bicep smoothing him. A touch he didn't want to let go. Still, he did not move it away. “ No. she fine. She has doctor appointments today. What should I do with Nikkei” Finn asked? Camille sighed. “She looks like a person that’s a big show me. You should take her out. Somewhere where she can get all dolled up but also a place you people go too. Alright, Cox" Camille said a bit chipper. “When did you become my bro, “ Finn said with a chuckle. Camille walk towards the door looks back towards him. “ Maybe your just my sista. Tonight take her out. I have your back with your parents” Camille said leaving. Finn nods and started to laugh. “ I already sent you a link. The private plane ride got a coupon and good to take pics “ Camille said poking her head inside before going.

Finn rushed back and made an excuse. While anyone wasn’t looking he put everything together and sent Nikkei a text to meet up after school. He waited for her by the gym entrance after practice. Nikkei walk out with her hair perfectly straight down with a middle part a white blouse with a big black bow and a short plaid skirt that went above her knees all in red pumps. Completely different from what she was wearing this morning. Then again making your friends give up their lockers to you can probably do that. He held on to a dozen on red roses. Nikkei took them and hand it to her friend. “ What the big surprise “ Nikkei asked. Finn grabs her hand and walks her to his car. “ It’s a surprise" Finn said excitedly. She said nothing just text on her phone. Finn looks over and tried to start a conversation with her. Nothing. Pulling out his phone he texts Camille for pointers.

Cam😇: Probably not txt the girl she had a problem 😛 w/ & say her makeup look hot makes me wanna kiss you lol

Finn clears his throat. “ You know Nic you're looking hella fine those lips so juicy I can’t wait to kiss them, “Finn said trying to sound cool. Nikkei look up from her phone and beamed. “Really because I been using this makeup that cost $200 the bare minimum. Where we going “ Nikkei asks eagerly. Finn tried not to sweat. “ Somewhere special for my lady” Finn said. He pulled into a runway he and parks by a plane. “ I want to show you the world so I decided to start with this. Private half-hour ride" Finn gesturing to the plane. Nikkei smile and took her phone out. “ Oh, my gosh those salty bitches gonna be so jealous “ Nikkei said recording what was happening. Finn rushes his hands through his hair. “ Probably talk too” Finn mumbled. She was paying him no mind the whole time live streaming and took selfies. Finn hated it. He just looks out the whole time wishing he was somewhere else.

Nikkei was thrilled and delighted after the ride. Happy and not talking crazy like before. She clings to him the whole ride home calling anyone who answers and brag.

He lends against the door waiting for Camille. It was crunch time two more weeks then presentations were starting. Yo, what up for BDay 🤢🍺Kevin text. He started to text back when Camille came walking down the hallway with her hair bouncing around one side to another.“ Smile" Camille said holding up her very old camera. Finn knocks it to the side and walks in with her. “ What up with the Father Time over here” Finn asked holding the camera. He went to take a picture of Camille till she stops him waving her hand to cover her face. “ Didn’t your parents tell you gotta warn a girl before taking a picture? “ Camille said muttering through her hands. Finn giggle. "Okay" he said laughing at her. Peaking through her fingers Camille looks at him,” How was yesterday “. Finn sat back in the seat and took pictures of random things. “ It was alright” Finn said. Camille let her hands down and look at him. She said nothing just look at him. She always knew. “ I enjoy it though. How do you find out about that place” Finn asks? “ My uncle took me when I first came here and no anything else you gotta wait until after we gets work done or buy the audiobook ” Camille said. “Alright ALRIGHT. Cam I was thinking we can get a few people tonight before the game and some today during class” Finn said pulling at his notebook. “ Ready when you are” Camille said getting up.

She was writing down some notes a curl drop down in front of her forehead. “ You owe me a game” Finn said lending against the desk. She stopped and chuckled to herself. “ Yeah. Been there done that. I’m good. Thanks “ Camille said. He looked at her then around holding his hands to scream. "HEY GUESS WHAT" Finn started to shout. Camille pulled at his arms down giggling. “ Okay. Okay. But we gotta get some shots so do good” Camille said getting up to leave. “ YES DEAR” Finn shout out. She turns around and puts her pinky up at him and walks away.

His mom and dad decided to come after finding out their new buddy was coming. It was an important game very important. One of those you win it really can mean something. Nikkei's ex-team was their biggest rival. He stood tall putting on his gear when she walks in baby blue jeans Bon Jovi vintage tour t-shirt and a big brown jacket camera swinging side to side. Flash “ You can’t be here. Dawson" coach said before she got to him. She peaks over his broad shoulders to look at Finn. Looking back down bashful, "I’m sorry coach Jackson. Thought it was the girl locker. While I’m here can I take a few pictures for the yearbook” He nods and point towards the opposite direction Finn was. He wanted to laugh he could only imagine her in the boy's locker room again.

“Alright but make it February girls get sappy for that love shit” Kevin said walking over. Throwing his jersey on his approached Finn. “ Man you got a piece of that attention” Kevin said pointing at where he just came from. Finn looked over once more. “ What action you talking about. Get your mind right” Finn said closing his locker. Kevin wave his hands and points towards where Camille was. “ Nothing. Bro. Look your partner over there taking pics of us. Said it can be a calendar good. Imagine tons of tens shut even fives under me in their beds. Touching themselves in their bedrooms holding a fucking teddy ” Kevin said laughing.

Finn got up and walk off. He was a bit conflicted. Yeah, she was a friend but a part of him didn’t get why she was talking to others. By the time he walked over no one but the team manager was there cleaning. “ Where the girl ” Finn asked. “ Cox. She left but hey I got a picture she said might be good for February “ he said. Finn kicked a ball and walk off. “ Say cheese buck a roo” Camille said sitting down by his locker. He sighs and walks pass towards his bag. She followed behind. “ What up with you talking to the guys" Finn asked throwing things into his bag. She took off her glass and look at him her big brown Bambi eyes sparkle against the tacky ceiling lights. “ Look at me. I had to make a reason why I am in the guy's locker room. I did get in trouble last time I bust in here. Do you want me to get in trouble? Finn” she said putting them back on. He stops throwing things in. STUPID “ Oh. Yeah, I knew that. So a calendar” Finn said. Lending against the locker beside his.” Yeah, I actually might make a calendar now. Kinda feel bad for lying. I can probably put it together by the final game if you win today. Oh, wait my uncle said good luck “ she said pulling at the camera straps blushing. He never saw he blush like that. Of course, she gets bashful but she always looks away or coughs in her oversize sleeves. Finn smiled and starts to say something. “ Cox Dawson. You gotta go” Coach said. Camille nodded and left. Finn watches as she left. Thanks, Cam Cam

He walked out with the rest of the team. This was it his home safe place. Something about playing made him excited thrill happy pump everything. He looks out to Nikkei with her friends. Then in the far center, Camille was sitting by his mom. Will on the other end next to his dad cheering out loud waving foam fingers. Both his dad and Will was wearing the team color paint on their face waving their beer in the air. Camille smiled was so bright that it was could be brighter than the sun. She waved at him and pointed so his mom can see him. He looked back at the ice and took a deep breath in, GAME TIME.

The sweat rushes down his face as he made the winning shot as the bell rings. Finn drops to the ground and screams out loud with excitement. The floor started to shake as everyone stomp and scream filled the whole arena. Tears flow down his cheeks mixing with the sweat and blood from a busted lip. Everyone jumped on top of him yelling. Flash He looked over to see Camille at the corner of his eye taking a picture of him with the team. His mom came over to her and talk to her for a second before walking back together where they came from. He slaps everyone hand and got lost in the win.

His parents waited for him by the parking lot. Waving signs rooting for their boy. Dad playfully patted his back and mess his hair. “Good game kid. Like how you listen to me about those shots you took and D” dad said rubbing his back. “ Yea dad” Finn responded looking around for Camille. Mom taps his side. “ Don’t worry she be coming soon. You ask her out yet “ mom said with a big smile. She liked Camille a lot. “ No. I got a girlfriend ma. Camillie just a friend “Finn said rolling his eyes. He spotted Will walking over on the phone. No Camille. “ Yo Will over here” Finn said waving him to come over. Will wave okay and finish his call. “Any plans with the team “ mom asked holding dad's hands. “ Coach invited the team for pizza so we doing that I guess" Finn said looking around for Camille. Where was she at she was fine a minute ago.

Will wave at everyone and walk over. “ Yeah, I know. I don’t know baby alright. I talk later” Will said rattled. “ Where Camille “ mom asked worriedly. Finn looks at her then at Will waiting for an answer. “ Huh, she alright. Girl stuff. You know that time of the month. She said she was sorry. Good game Finno” Will said rubbing his hands. Finn looks over by where the high school entrance then again at Will. “ Can you tell her I call later if that’s okay with you just to check on her ” Finn asked. Will frown a bit and nodded okay. He spoke to his parents to the side even inviting them to his yacht to celebrate the win when he comes back from a business trip.

It was loud a lot of cheering. In good sport coach invited the other team. Surprisingly they show. It was probably the free food and trash talk. He tried enjoying himself but all he could do was think just what changes in those minutes. Maybe it was something he did. “ Yo to Finn Da Cox sucker. Great win bro” Kevin said raising his drink. Everyone rooting him on. “ Thanks, K “ Finn said spotting Nikkei walking in with her ex. Crushing the red cup in his hand he gave her a look. Nikkei wave goodbye and walk over to Finn and the guys. “ What up with that. Really at my celebration Nikkei “ Finn said pissed. She clings onto his jacket and pushes him to stop. “We were just chatting and smoking babe. You know everyone jealous of you and me. Mostly me” Nikkei said kissing him on the lips. He looks at her ex and walks back over to the party with Nikkei. She sat on his lap as they all celebrate. Time to be Finn all love and envy.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned, letting out a big cold breath out of air. He looks out. He was on her road just sitting on the hood of his car. What happened those moments. Nikkei was extra nice. He had to get his mind right he won so why it feels like he didn’t. He looks again at his phone. A bike road up down the road. Camille came closer to him in a pair of sweatpants covered by a huge black Santa Cruz shroom dot spider dye hoodie. Swinging over the seat she hopped off and walk to him. Her hair blew with the wind. It was silent just noise of nature but in his mind, it sounds like a track of his life went off as she got closer. “And why couldn’t you just come to my house and do this. I’m in my PJ” Camille said pointing at herself. Finn sigh. “ Sorry. I was worried about you. Will was acting strange and you. You were fine then your sick out of nowhere" Finn stated. It was dark yet he could look like a dream. “No no. I’m sorry. How was the part-tay" Camille asked amusingly ignoring his concern? He got closer to her. She walks back a little so she was still a dream imagined. “ It was good. You should have come. Nikkei was extra nice" Finn said putting his hands into his back pockets. She said nothing just look at him. A car passes by making her face clear to see. She had a few bruises busted lip and cut across the face. Finn got close and touch her. He didn't know why but it felt where his hands had to be. Protecting her comforting her. She closes her eyes and smile hold onto his hand and moves it down. “ I’m fine” she said holding his sweaty hand. He knocks it back up and tried to wipe some of the blood away. “What happened” Finn said concern. Her eyes widened and she just looks at him. “ Nothing. Finn, it’s not for me to say. I’m fine it’s just war paint. It’s late. You should probably stay sleep in a guest room. Will got clothes and stuff that should fit you” Camille said bringing her bike over to his car. Breathtaking.

She gave him some towels and a change of clothes for tomorrow. “I will never hurt you, Camille. I just wanna let you know. Never” Finn said. Camille stopped in the doorway and look back at him. “It’s not good to make promises we can’t keep. Good night Finn. You did well today. I'm proud of you“ Camille said. Finn got up shook his head no and squeezed her arm tight. “Never” he said seriously. She nods and touches his cheek and whispered in his ear good night. He lay in bed and thought about her and this time she was just a few feet away.

The smell of fresh cinnamon rolls covers the whole house. He walks into the kitchen still trying to wake up. She was putting the breakfast out for the two. Her glasses tilt down a bit as she was singing. If he never saw the state she was in yesterday he would never think she was a nasty fall. Grabbing a biscuit he sits down. “Your uncle not gotta kill me is he” Finn asked. She holds up the coffee then the orange juice. He nods at the juice then points at the coffee. She sat across from him her feet cross in the chair. “ I guess we will have to see. He is a good shooter... No, he left this morning before you woke up meeting in Canada or was it Calfoina” she said eating some pineapple slices. Finn looks around. “ So they are usually gone all the time like this for real. My parents are so different always there. But still, I feel alone. Guess I should count my blessings" Finn said. Camille pushes back then forward in her chair and nods yes. “ Don’t get any ideas, Finn. It’s a bit of isolation in a land of quiet but I enjoy it. Like the jogs I take. Skills I learn. Oh, that reminds me” Camille said getting up. Finn leaned back to see what she was doing. She walks back with something in her hands. “ What this” Finn asks while drinking coffee. She sat on the table. “ I’m taking the bus to school. So here are the keys for you to lock up” Camille said swaying a key on a Hello Kitty and moon keychain. “Let me take us in” Finn said stopping her. She looks at him then bit her bottom lip. She looks back down then up at him. “You won’t let me go only if I say yes. Then okay but you let me out a block from the school. Don’t want the right people getting the wrong idea. Right “ Camille asked a hand on her hip. “Yeah” he said letting go. She sat back down and look at him before finishing her fruit.

He stops her a block from school just like she asked. Something happened. Last night. Something that she was keeping hidden and probably Nikkei was trying to keep it that way. He wouldn’t have thought that way. Yet it what Camille kept saying and not saying. The looks though that was the keyhole. Nikkei and Kevin waited for him by his locker talking to one another. “ So bro what happened to you. Tried to call you last night” Kevin said greeting Finn. “ Nah nothing. So you heard about the finals” Finn said. They look at each other. “ It’s next Monday. So it’s like what two days after your birthday. No-fuss bro” Kevin said excitedly. “ I got so many ideas for your birthday. We discussed what I like for you to do at lunch okay “ Nikkei said then walked off. Finn looked down at the ground. He completely forgot about his birthday. He has been so busy with classes, his mom, and hockey it didn’t leave him room to be a kid.

They got their assign days, Friday. Camille text him as soon as it went up. They finished thanks to her quick thinking but all left was the actual interviews that they had to do during class. Finn asks a few of his friends and Camille asks a few from class and her group. She was set up in the empty art room. “ What up what are we doing” Finn said walking into the plastic on the floor. Camille looks up in her overalls and crop top. “ Setting up. Finn, you forgot “ Camille said wiping her hands on her overalls.

Stroking his hand through his hair he laughs. The surprise. He looks at her as he was about to say something when people start to come in. It was a genius pure genius perfect IQ smart. Wiping her face she threw a towel at Finn. “ We still gotta film each other part. Look into the bag” Camille said sitting on the stool. Finn look at her then reaches in. It was evening dress, tiara, stash, and his Boy Scout uniform. “ No, I’m not doing that. Mamma boy I’m doing that “ Finn said laughing. Camille flips off her sweat jacket. “ No, I remember you making me do mine and you doing yours it’s in the paper. You know the one we already gave last week. Come on. I go first “ Camille said holding onto her stuff. “ Where you even get this stuff. Cam God damn" Finn said. She smiled and point for him to turn around. He turns around in his stool and pops some music in his ears. After a few minutes, he turns around to see if she was done. Camille was bent pulling up her dress. He watches as she was getting ready. God Kevin was right. Her skin was smooth and tight even her birthmark was cute. Zipping up she flips her hair a bit and turns around. He tried to relax before he did anything else. Cursing at his pants as they grew tight. Camille walks over and sets up her camera for the interview. He watches her. He wanted to smile but he knew he couldn’t. She was the partner just a friend. “Your too cute” Camille said standing beside him. “ What” Finn asked jumping off his stool. “ The uniform it’s cute. So we did the voice-overs now we just gotta have fun with it. Any ideas" Camille said playing with her tiara. “ I got a few” Finn said with a smile.

She said no one will see it till Friday. Not even him. Nikkei was having extra fun planning his birthday bash. Kevin was talking up all the chicks he was inviting. “ I don’t know where we gonna have it at. I got into trouble for the last party. I guess breaking all grandma old crap wasn’t right “ Kevin said eating his apple. Nikkei rolls her eyes and giggle. “ I mean I can see if daddy gonna be home or out with his sugar baby. What about Saturday “ Nikkei asked. Finn looks out at the grass. She was on his mind. “ Yeah do whatever. My parents are having a thing Friday though" Finn said getting up. Nikkei look at Kevin then at Finn. “ Where are you going“ Nikkei says upset. “ Bathroom" Finn answered. He looks deep into the mirror and rushes cold water onto his face. Sitting on the floor he sighs and holds tight. Breathing slowly he slaps himself a few times. Ding Getting up he quickly bumped into someone. He grabs a few of the books and hands it to the person. “ Thanks” Camille said. Finn smiled and nod. “ Yeah welcome. Gotta go” Finn said and dart to his next class. Was it strange, yes but he couldn’t help himself he didn’t know what it was or wasn’t? Or probably it was the fact this year was ending and what would that mean for their friendship.

“ So plans for your birthday. Honey “ mom said folding clothes. Finn tosses his bag on the ground and hops on the king-size bed. She sat beside him and move his head onto her lap. “ You should not be doing this ma. Let me or dad do it “ Finn said. His mom rubs his back a bit. “ I promise myself something, Finn. When it’s time for me to go. I go on my time. No matter the pain. I wanna go when I’m ready. So plans” mom said rubbing his head now. He turns around and looks at her. “ I want to spend it with you. I guess maybe dad can come too” Finn said. His mom smiles and looks at him. He knew what she wanted. “ Surprise then it is" mom said. He smiled and got up to help fold things. Dad came a bit later from work then Finn went off to his room. He swings in his chair as he finished up his homework.

There was a knock waking Finn up from a nap he wasn’t planning on having. “You up. Finn “ a voice said from the other side. Finn slowly got up and wipe his mouth. “ No. Just finished up with homework “ Finn said opening a book to a random page. Dad walks in and looks around. “ Good work out there and around the house. Just wanna make sure alright “ Dad said looking at the trophies. Finn turned his chair around and look at him. “ Thanks, sir” Finn said standing up. He nods in agreement. His dad was a different strong one with no words. That when he speaks all you heard was pride strength and a bit beer. Looking back at a picture of the two he nodded again and walk out. Dad man of few words but always carry the world on his back.

Finn made it clear to himself he wasn’t going to tell Camille about his birthday. “ You got any plans this summer” Finn asked Camille as they sat watching a group. Camille glance at him then back at the group. “ Don’t know. Probably be sent off somewhere like any time I’m not in school. For the summer last year I was feeding and building houses for third world countries. You” Camille said softly. He got a bit closer to her and rest his head on the desk. “Summer practice . Hang with the boys make out with Nikkei. I and my two brothers and my dad go camping at the end of the summer. Summer is supposed to be fun Cam Cam” Finn said nudging his shoulder to hers. She got low and closer to him. “ What I have fun. I went to every museum in this state thank you. I know fun” Camille said with a smile. Finn turns to her shock as if what she said was the biggest nasty secret he ever heard. She rolled her eyes and toss a cookie. “How you know I’m hungry. Food whisper" Finn whispers into her ear. “Maybe I’m just the Finn whisper. You have lunch before me and you are always hungry. Now hush eats your cookies before we get into trouble “ she said tickling him. After class, he waited a bit for her. “ They were good today. We should probably practice. My house after practice. I can take you home after again if you want” Finn asked walking beside her. “ No. That’s alright. I meet you at your house. But I would like it if you drop me home though please “ Camille asked. He grabs at his backpack straps and nod yes. She gently touches his shoulder “Thank you “ she said and walk off. He was worried truly worried his time with her was ending whining down. He wasn't ready for that.

“ So I was thinking probably party. Few kegs, DJ like that techno kid, and lots of chics for your party" Kevin said tossing a ball up in the air. “ We should do something different. Oh, I got it. Bubble machine and I can wear the cute bikini I got. Good idea Finn” Nikkei said to him. Finn looks out to the rest of the classmates than to Nikkei. “ I wanna keep it open to the whole class. We always have the same people the same thing “ Finn said bored. “We look into that Becky" Nikkei said looking at Kevin. Finn sat back slowly mellowing out. Watching everyone put together his birthday party without really thinking. Is this what he wanted. All this time he didn’t want to tell Camille and now he wished she was the only one that knew.

Camille was right in the kitchen cooking and helping mom like so many times before. His dad in his same spot drinking a beer while watching sports. Holding her hand laughing and talking about whatever girly thing mom never was able to talk to with Finn. “Finn come you have to try this. Camille taught me a new dish” mom said to bring over a plate. Finn took it and ate the small nugget side treat. “ Good what is it” Finn said wiping his hands on his sleeve. “ I call it the Alaska roll. She wanted something new so I gave it to her. Your dad loves them “ Camille said pointing at the plate by dad. He smiled and grabbed her hand. “ Ma we got work to do. Do you mind if I take her for a little? Promise I bring her back in one piece“ Finn said walking out with Camille before she could answer.

They sat together on the bed facing each other. She probably is the only girl he never made out or had the attention to do anyway besides his mom in his room. Her posher was tall with strength and pride. She had a sweet floral scent. “ They were good today. I know we are going to be good just” Finn said trying not to pay attention to her scent. She nods in agreement. Unaware of the battle boy beside her was fighting. “ Your right we can practice but we should do something different. What about an audience. I think I see two lucky ones in the living room” Camille said with a gentle elegant smile. “I don’t know. I do sports in front of them but school stuff not sure. Cam” Finn said. Camille got closer and pat his back. “ Finn I’m being serious now. Your amazing it’s time you show them that. Can I tell you something “ Camille asked? He looks up at her and nods. “ I’m scared too. But your family is your family they love and will support you. If you can go in front of a crowd every so night plays a sport you love. In front of your friends your foes strangers. You can do this. I believe that and I guess you” Camille said still rubbing his back. He looks into her eyes and just smiled. “ Can we see the video” Finn asked. Getting up she held his hands. “ They can you maybe" Camille said then went off to ask them.

They were laying down watching a doctor show. “ Can we go over something with you mom and sir?” Finn asked. Camille slowly walks behind him and stood holding on to her computer and sheet. Mom coughs a bit. “ Yes” mom said standing up a bit. Finn looks back at her then at his mom. Camille passed out the paper as Finn started. She decided not to show him but both his parents were more than please, even his dad almost smiled. “ It was so good. Finn” mom said with a big smile looking at the work video. “It’s great. You did great Finn” dad said taking a sip of his beer. Cam looks at Finn then at his dad. Glancing at his watch Finn made an excuse to get out of there. Camille stops before getting out. “ So you know. You're great. Have to give yourself more credit. I hope you realize that. Finn. I hate being the only one. Well besides your family and Will “ Camille said with a smile. “ Same to you“ Finn said before turning back to the road. He stops before driving off. “ I wanna just tell you.... huh. Never mind good night” Finn said. She looks at him. She always could tell. Always.

It was finally the day. The day that took them weeks to prep. He couldn’t believe it was only weeks ago she wasn’t in his life. A time he barely can remember. Without her. Next to him. He wanted to focus on thinking about the future but now he could one thing to do.

Finn paces back and forth outside. Camille wasn’t nervous which made him more nervous. Don’t worry Finn! When all the things he could do was to worry. Games people anything but this. Was it the whole speaking in front of a class thing or the fact he wanted to do good for her. Camille walks up with ripped jeans and a plastic bag. “ Here tiger for you check them out” Camille said pulling one out. Finn dropped his bag and open up the shirt. It was a white t with #TruUBeU, their title of there subject. She waved her finger for him to turn it, his name. She pulled out another box. “What that “ Finn asked. Camille put it down. “ It’s for later. Ready to blow some socks off” Camille said walking in. They were last. Finn was nervous as they set up. Camille thought it is nice maybe even different if they set things different then it usually is done. He watches as she introduces them interacting with the class. Her space. She spoke in a way that made everyone feel special like it was only you and her. It works like lyrics to a song. All working together so perfectly. People were invested. Even the teacher was at the end of the seat. Then the video all brought everything together. By the end the whole class chant and clap their hands. Finn looks at her then at class. His hand intertwined with hers. Proud wasn’t the word he felt important. She left for the next class but not before she gave him the box.

Sitting on the hood of his car he took out the box. It was school colors with a fancy bow with a little card: 𝒯𝑜 𝐹𝒾𝓃𝓃𝑜. 𝒯𝑜𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒶 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓌𝑒, 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒, 𝒸𝑒𝓁𝑒𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁 𝒹𝒶𝓎. 𝐻𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓎 𝐵𝒾𝓇𝓉𝒽𝒹𝒶𝓎 - 𝒞𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝑒 𝒟𝒶𝓌𝓈𝑜𝓃

Inside was a jersey with Cox’s Ice Devils and a photo frame of him and his parents from the game. That night he celebrated with his parents everything was perfect. They enjoyed each other's company, gave gifts, and watch all the family videos from when he was young.

Dad and mom had a doctor's visit early Saturday which left the party that night. Everyone was hyped excited. Nikkei even text a few pictures of bikinis she was choosing to wear. By the time he arrived at the party, it had already started music bang from ear to ear. Drinks everywhere. Everyone having a good time. Everyone but him. He already got into another fight with Nikkei about her kissing some guy plus all his friends were drunk showing around the calendar. He sat down and watch everyone. Buzz buzz Grabbing his keys he left his party behind for some real fun.

“ Hey, you wanna hang today. Got somewhere fun I wanna take you” Finn asked Camille. She let her hand out the window and flow with the breeze. “ So where are we going, “ Camille asked looking out. He looks at her and smiled. “ You see” Finn said. They pulled up to a festival fair. Camille looks out at aw. “ I go every year. Well use to with my dad” Finn said opening the door for Camille. “ It’s cool. I wish I can say I have been before. Didn't you have a party or something tonight? Don’t you think they miss you” Camille asked? Looking at his phone he turns it off and tosses it into the car. “ Now I’m here with you and all these crazy rides and treats” Finn said taking Camille's hand and running inside.

They walk around to all the attractions and play games against each other. “ How long did you know" Finn said eating popcorn. Camille gave him some cotton candy for some popcorn. “ Your mom told me a few weeks ago. If you wanted to tell me I’m sure you would of“ Camille answered walking beside him. He smiled. “Can I ask you something?" Finn asked. Camille stops and looks at him. Her hair flow with the breeze. “ These weeks have been amazing. Like if I can spend every day like this I want to. Tell me there an after for us. After this. I’m hoping we can still be after this “ Finn said looking into her brown chocolate eyes. “ Yeah. You mean. We can still be friends... Wanna do the photo booth” Camille asked with a giggle going inside.

Finn sat beside her looking into her eyes. Today beginning to feel like the best day he ever had. “ No. I mean more. What if I want more. I did not want to say before but every day I feel like giving up. I felt everything was useless. But with you huh I get butterflies I feel there meaning” Finn said looking at her as he put money in. CLICK She was silent and look at the camera to smile. They started taking pictures smiling till he looks at her once again and stops. Bring his hand to hold her cheeks in each hand he reaches in and kisses her on the lips. CLICK Camille hold his face and kiss back deeper with a little tongue. It tastes like heaven felt like paradise. They drift off playing off with each other mouth with one another. “ Camille” he said muon into her mouth. CLICK She looked at him then move back coming off high that was their kiss. Breathing heavy. “ I shouldn’t you are. But" she said touching her lips looking away. Finn reaches closer and moves her hair to the side. “ Since the day she said your name. I knew. I know you feel it too. Tell me I’m wrong. AND I would never bring it up again. I’m not with her anymore. I don’t care. Cam. I think I want this with you” Finn said combing his fingers through her curls. She was speechless but her eyes answered. The doubt. “ I promise I won’t hurt you” Finn said kissing her again this time a bit more rough hungry. CLICK “ I promise Camille I won't ever leave you. You will never have to alone” Finn said with his forehead touching hers. He looks up into her eyes his hands never leaving her hair.

They hold hands as they rode the Ferris Wheels. Like they finally gave in all the tension that has been building up for weeks. Talking about plans they were gonna do over the summer together. Weeks they spend at each other house. Finn bringing her with him to the camp trip at the end of the summer. Her inviting him to Miami for a week with her. The future. Everything and then nothing. He was happy. More than that he was at peace. Their fingers intertwined with each other as they walk around the grounds. Other holding a few plush animals he won her. He never felt this with any girl before. She was light warmth his heart been missing. Camille stop and glance at her phone. She slowly let go of his hand and called someone. She whispers to the phone then look at Finn. “ We have to go” was all she said. Finn looks at her eyes they were full of joy and were now cold and silent like the dead of winter.

They got to the hospital just in time. Finn rushes past everyone and leaving Camille behind fighting back her tears. Praying they made it just in time. Finn sat by his mom's tears rolled down his face. “ I want to go knowing my baby happy. I know that I can leave you and you will be alright. I don’t want to be in pain anymore. I love you, Finn Edwards Cox. My boy my sun and my moon. I love you” she said holding tight to his hand. Finn wouldn’t leave her side even as the minutes roll to one.

With each call text, Finn stayed away. Alone to himself. Even when it came to the funeral he asks for Camille not to come. He couldn’t he won’t. In class, he wouldn’t answer her just pretend she wasn’t there. All he wanted was to be numb to forget.

It was the championship and he was different. Not the same as he was before. Was that for the better or worse. The locker room was empty just him and his thoughts. “ Did you hear we got an A. Best in the class. It was perfect. All thanks to you. How are you?” a soft voice said by the entrance. Finn pays the voice no mind. Camille walks in and stood in front of him. Her eyes were gentle. While he was raw full of anger and an unsettling mist. She went to grab his hand but he moves away. “ What do you want!” Finn snaps at her. Camille looks around then at him startled.“ I tried calling you. I tried everything. You shut me out. I promise we can make through this Finn. I can show you. Like I did when I lost my parents” Camille said trying to look at him. He pushed her away from this time firm. Making her almost fall back onto the ground. “Don’t you get it. Why are you so…” he stops and grabs at his hair “It was nothing. We are nothing you are fucking nothing...Your nothing. NOTHING but a fucking pathetic bastard of a joke. I mean how fucked up are you your parents had to die to leave you. God sends you back because he doesn’t want you either. Your only family rather be anywhere but with you. NOTHING but a GODLESS BITCH“ Finn shout out to her.

He turns his face from her. He couldn’t see it but he felt the pain. Standing right behind him she started to laugh. “ You not worthy. Oh yeah, say the words I see on my face every day. I was the one you went to Finn. You came to me. You told me how I made ... Freakin kiss me. Your looks can fade your friends are leeches those skills you hold so highly can’t be the answer all the time. But I show you a magic trick. Something so worthy. You won't ever see it coming. I disappear vanished you can look right at me but not see a thing. My name would be of gibberish ” she said softy holding back any emotion. He turns and she was gone. The crowd cheered out for him. He stops and looks once more than went out to the lights.

8 notes · View notes

rawiswhore · 5 years

Text

Triple H x Fem Reader- “Bubblegum Bitch”

It's 2003.

The former WWF is now known as the WWE, all thanks to the World Wildlife Foundation.

And the WWF, as in the World Wrestling Federation's infamous Attitude era is done with.

But it's remnants are still there.

It's still okay for wrestlers to shed lots of blood and will still be okay for wrestlers to shed bookoos of blood, it's still okay for Divas to be extremely oversexualized and dressed in thongs, and even still have some shock value here and there (Katie Vick, anyone?).

And a certain Attitude era icon, Triple H, has made a dubious return after an injury.

That's not the only thing about him.

From 2003 to about 2005, his Reign of Terror begins, where he buries so many talents, and he's ended up winning more belts than people who were even more popular than him (i.e. Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock).

And his gimmick this year, he now is dressed in long sleeved button down shirts and dress pants you can buy at JC Penny's, having his own little clique with an elderly legend (Ric Flair) and two newcomers (Randy Orton and Batista).

But enough about that.

One thing you've noticed about Triple H this year, especially in that awful Booker T promo, is he's chewing and smacking gum like Violet Beauregard in both versions of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", although Triple H has smacked gum in promos before, during the Attitude Era.

And Trips isn't the only wrestler to smack gum (Shawn Michaels, anyone?).

And today was a lucky day.

He's smacking gum!

You had an idea.

Trips was sitting in his dressing room, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, not his typical JC Penny's suits he wore in 2003, chewing and smacking Trident gum.

You sat in a leather loveseat, the couch was built for two people to sit in.

Guess that's why they call it a loveseat, and speaking of love....

"Hey Trips" you said.

He turned his head to you. "What?" he asked.

"I've been noticing something about you" you replied. "You've been chewing and smacking gum a lot lately".

"Yeah, and?" he replied. "I've chewed gum before".

"I have an idea" you said, a naughty look on your face.

Oh God, what does she want? he thought.

"What?" he asked.

"Sit with me" you said, patting the empty seat on the leather couch with your hand a few times.

He rolled his eyes, but was trying to hide being annoyed at you.

You've done some crazy stuff with him and even Shawn Michaels before, sometimes with both of them, but what you wanted to do with Triple H today wasn't really that crazy.

He sat on the couch with you.

"What?" he asked, looking at you.

"I've been noticing you chewing gum lately, even though you've done it before" you said. "You ever see 'Lady and the Tramp'? The Disney movie?"

"Yeah" he replied.

Does she want gum in her mouth and my mouth and it pulls us together in a kiss?

"And you remember that infamous 'spaghetti kiss' scene?" you asked.

Say no more, he thought.

"Yeah" he replied.

May as well ask her now.

"You want to make out with me with gum in my mouth?" he asked. "Like you have gum in your mouth, I have gum in my mouth, and the gum pulls us together in a kiss?".

"Yes" you said, nodding your head and chuckling at the same.

You said "yes" to him so he could understand you want this.

Even he couldn't help but chuckle at this, and Trips has a wonderful, underrated, memorable, unique and infectious laugh.

Better than Eddie Murphy and Chanel West Coast from MTV's "Ridiculousness".

Your laugh was contagious to Triple H's laugh.

To be honest, he thought you would say something really crazy, but what you revealed wasn't as crazy as what he thought you'd say.

It's not even a bad idea.

Wonder if she used to make out with boys with gum in her mouth as a teenager?

And you wonder the same thing about Trips, but with girls instead of boys.

Although, there was that infamous line where Trips said "I'm many things that are bi, but lingual isn't one of them"...

Enough about that.

"Are you going to agree with me?" you asked him, looking at him.

"Actually, I like your idea...a lot" he replied. "I was expecting you to say something crazy, but I like your idea".

Although, you have some drawbacks with kissing him with gum in your mouth.

You moved yourself a few inches closer to him.

Moving his hand up to his mouth, he put the gum he was chewing in between his two rows of teeth and, with his index finger and thumb, pulled and stretched the gum to your lips.

White gum.

It must be Trident gum or something.

God, you hope the gum doesn't break.

You opened your mouth and bit the gum Trips was holding between his two fingers, the end of the gum was now in between your two rows of teeth.

And again, hopefully the gum doesn't break.

Even though this is kinda nasty since you're basically having someone's already chewed gum in your mouth, the two of yours tongues have wrestled ("pun" intended) in each others mouths, he's had his tongue on and in your pussy, you've had your lips and tongue on his cock, his dick has been in your mouth.

The gum itself tasted pretty stale and dull, but that's what happens with gum, especially gum that's been chewed up several times.

And pee comes out your pussy and out his cock, and blood has came out of your pussy.

You even had anal sex with him once (although, luckily he was wearing a condom).

You then pulled your face in closer to his face, and he pulled his face closer to your face.

While you did this, your eyes slowly shut, your eyelids covering the whites in your eyes as you pulled your face closer to his face, the same happened with Triple H.

The gum became shorter and scrunched up when your faces were connecting.

You put your hand behind his long, dishwater blond hair, your fingers laced in his hair like a comb through someone's hair.

His hair felt quite frizzy, it looked frizzy that year!

Once your lips met, your lips and his lips crashed into each other, your lips atop his lips, fitting together like 2 puzzle pieces.

The gum went from being stretched out like taffy to two pieces smashed together to form a wad of gum.

His mouth was hovering over your lips, the gum was in your mouth.

You then snuck the gum in Trips' teeth under your tongue and held it under your tongue.

Trips suddenly noticed your gum wasn't in his mouth anymore.

You then reached your fingers in your mouth and grabbed the gum under your tongue, then pulled your fingers out of your mouth and tossed the gum away.

Even though his mouth met your mouth in just a second, you could taste his breath.

It smelled very fresh and clean, must've been the gum he was chewing.

Triple H could feel your fingers digging around in your mouth for that gum.

The gum landed on the carpeted floor and stuck there, but you will eventually pick the gum off the floor (if it doesn't stick on the floor!).

Trips pulled his face away from your face, your lips breaking apart and making a lip smacking noise when they parted, his eyes suddenly opening and the tone of his face being angry.

"Why'd you pull the gum out of your mouth?" he asked.

You opened your eyes.

"I need to be honest" you confessed "I'm scared we'll pass it around in our mouths, one of us will swallow it and we'll choke".

That is what you were worried about when kissing him with gum.

Your tongue was holding down the gum under your tongue (that rhymed) so you won't choke.

Trips never really thought of that.

"Then why did you want to kiss me with gum in your mouth and my mouth?" he asked.

"It was just an idea!" you quipped.

Trips rolled his eyes.

"Maybe it isn't the best idea for me to kiss you with gum in our mouths" you said. "Not just because we might pass it around and choke, but also I have your chewed up gum in my mouth!".

You pointed to him when you said "your".

"Though I've eaten your pussy" he said. "and your pussy has had pee and blood come out of it".

"And I've sucked your cock" you said. "And swallowed your cum. And our tongues have touched each other".

"So do you want to continue kissing or not?" he asked.

"I do, yes" you replied.

"What about that gum over there?" he asked, pointing to the gum on the floor.

"Ehhhhhhh" you answered, a look of disgust on your face. "I guess so".

You got off the couch and picked the gum on the floor, crouching your knees down a bit and picking the gum up with your hand.

Hopefully the gum isn't gonna stick to the carpet.

And luckily, it didn't.

You walked to the little wastebasket next to the door and dumped the gum there, where the gum now stuck to the wastebasket's plastic.

You walked back to the couch and sat where you sat before.

"Now, where were we?" you asked playfully, looking coyly and cute.

You knew where you were, you were just saying that to be cute.

The two of you then pulled your faces into each other and crashed your lips towards one another, your mouth fitting atop of his mouth like 2 puzzle pieces.

While you did this, your eyes were closed and so were his.

You then stretched your tongue out into his mouth, your tongue creeping into his mouth.

He felt and noticed your tongue in his mouth, and put his tongue atop your tongue.

Soon, the two of yours tongues began twisting and turning in each other's mouths, licking each other.

His tongue was flicking and swirling atop of your tongue, under your tongue, to the sides of your tongue, and so was yours.

Your tongues were basically, well, wrestling!

Ba-dum-tsssh.

You put your hand behind his head, your fingers woven through his frizzy, dirty blond locks.

The two of yours lips made lip smacking noises when they broke apart, only for the two of yours lips to join together again, fitting on top of each others mouths.

He put his hand behind your head, holding your head in the palm of his hand and weaving his fingers in your hair.

This would be so much sexier if you had gum in your mouth, but you don't want one of the two of you to choke, or swallow your gum.

Not to mention, Shawn Michaels, he chews and smacks gum sometimes too.

Maybe next time you see Shawn, you and Shawn can make out, maybe even make out with gum pulling the two of you in together in a kiss, like that spaghetti kiss scene in "Lady and the Tramp".

And watching Triple H's infamous March 2003 promo where he said some very racist and awful things towards Booker T, even though Trips DIDN'T deserve to say that to Booker, goddamn it, how hot did Trips look?

If only you could've made out with Trips then when he was smacking his gum.

And Trips used to smack gum sometimes during the late 90's Attitude era.

If only you could've made out with Trips with chewing gum during the late 90's Attitude era, Shawn Michaels too.

You could’ve even made out with Trips with gum during the mid 90′s New Generation Era when he was Hunter Hearst Helmsley, of course, when Trips WASN’T in character as a classy gentleman, but behind the scenes!

#triple h #triple h x fem reader #2003 #2000s #00s #wwe #ruthless aggression #ruthless aggression era

10 notes · View notes

notmyatari · 4 years

Text

Not A Real Tommy Tallarico Interview

Do you think the couch co-op market is being ignored? As you've mentioned board game sales have been on the rise. What does Amico offer to those who already have family/friend game nights to put away the physical boards?

You'll see when our AWESOME MARKETING actually kicks off! The AtariAge people aren't our real market! All the haters are gonna be so jealous!! And with amigo, you don't have to worry about parental controls, because we will only have a few games and they won't go online or do anything! WINNING!! You should see our focus tests, they're OFF THE CHARTS and nobody wants Nintendo Switch because it's full of bestiality and full genitalia in like every game and even if you gave one to my mom for FREE she wouldn't play it. We have the DATA and it's INSULTING to suggest that we don't know what we're doing, because we have SIX HUNDRED YEARS of experience with this stuff and I'm kind of a big deal, did you know I have worked with most of the BIG NAMES in industry since millennial moms have been alive, and they're a target market?

The price of Amico has gone up around $100 since originally announced. Do you think the current price of $250 will scare people off? Do you think the higher price will make people compare it to the likes of Switch which is in a similar price range, has AAA games, but also has small indie games at value price?

it's still really early, we were going to show 22 games at e3 in 2019 but we wanted to tighten up the graphics in level 3 and make it EVEN BETTER but now the HATERS are shutting down my communication with you because they are LOOKING for GOTCHA (which they will never find) because they want us to fail and that will make the victory even sweeter, ask yourself why that is? They don't realize that everything I say here is a conversation and subject to change until it's been confirmed but anything can happen with this virus and we are the little guy which everyone loves and I am a super sleeper that works 20 hours a day

You always mention that you are a vegan. Do you think foods that are artifically flavored, or vegetable burgers are just a vegan and vegetarians way of saying we know meat is so good we have to imitate it? I've never seen someone try and take a meat product and try to convince themselves it was a vegetable.

It's just that I care SO MUCH about animals and my wife who is a millennial but not a mom because I'm so passionate about Amico and we have a deal that I will only put 20 hours of full time effort into one thing at a time and my cousin is Steven Tyler of Aerosmith so you could say it's in my blood. You can eat what you want my family is East Coast Italian American and we sure like to eat but I will always choose vegan and I want to live forever because I have so many great things I want to do for the world that only I can do and I know that everyone is SO THRILLED that Intellivision is back and I have the DATA from lots of OFF THE HOOK research that we have done with TOP FIRMS which I will not name here because the haters want to bring us down. That doesn't really matter because we are going to dominate even though we are the little guys and the coronavirus but we will overcome and also six hundred years of experience next question please I only have three hours tonight.

If such an animal lover, why do you hate on trolls so much?

The trolls like PlaysWithPenis and DJconman and Fuckyoumojo just want us to fail and they are waiting for a Gotcha moment which will never arrive because I am a slippery little eel who does not take responsibility for my words or actions. Be sure to send us money for the VIP console (it's BROWN) because supplies will be limited and you definitely want to be first on your block having a Sideswipers party!

Are you afraid your wife not being part of the demographic doesn't understand why you are spending more time on this console than with her?

My wife likes horses more than me but she's a HUGE fan of the AWESOME music shows we do! She isn't a SUPER SLEEPER like me so she misses out on seeing the maestro (ME) at work with my awesome videos and blogs and Spider-man collection. I think she's pretty neat! Even though she's just a girl.

When you say data are you talking about Google or is there empirical research?

Google doesn't do research NEARLY as good as the BEST EVER focus group research company we used! We spare no expense, they got moms and kids to come in and play Amico all day long! Nice work if you can get it. We watched them from behind a mirror and they ate our gourmet sandwiches (I PAID, just like in the OVER THE TOP videos you have seen of our IN PROGRESS games) and then we asked them if they would buy these things and they said sure! Then the focus group company gave every participants two hundred dollars in cash (that's like ONE tank of premium for my Ferrari, not much at all) and EVERY SINGLE ONE of them said they would be willing to come back and play more Amico! I think they might have seen my interviews on Electric Playground. Hey did you know that Prince Charles has corona? He's a close personal friend of mine and I might need to go out there so we can play some Evel Knievel.

Do you think you could help yourself with 'gotcha' moments if you talked less? or maybe hired a community outreach manager who was more organized with their interactions? You've had to take back some of the things you've posted on forums. Do you think going that route would cause less misinformation being sent out by Intellivision Entertainment?

I am the face of Intellivision, it's important to me, and I work tirelessly with no drugs or alcohol or meat or sex for 20 hours a day 7 days a week and I am the one responsible for ALL the sound design and ALL the music in ALL of our great games and you are going to LOVE them unless you are a hater in which case you should die painfully UNLESS you love me and that would be fine. So I don't trust just anyone to get the story right, these games are SUPER intuitive and built for non gamers so if just anyone explains them it will be a mess so ONLY I have the right dramatic flair to say "faster and slower and faster and slower" for our OFF THE HOOK games like SideSwipers which you are going to LOVE.

I'm sorry who is Evel Knievel?

Evel Knievel is like Intellivision itself, it's an OFF THE CHAIN important part of our shared history, our family history, like when I was with my cousin Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and we were on the couch and he asked if I wanted some herion and I JUST SAID NO and Evel was a really cool motorcycle guy on television and I got to meet his family and we are all close personal friends now. So haters and trolls say the Evel game is a just a mobile port but as you can see from the video which is totally NOT the same as the promo from 2015 but the developers came to us to make this into the game they really wanted to play. NO ONE has ever done a motorcycle jumping game on ANY platform so this is REALLY important that we were able to give the developer a bunch of extra cash from our SUPER cool backers so they could put another six months into tightening up the graphics on level three and really using the UNIQUE aspects of the Amico controller, which has 64 different directions and there's really nothing else like it! Also with the touch screen you can do lots of amazing things that you couldn't do on mobile because we put a lot of money into it so you could have what's called a capacitive screen, that follows your finger wherever it goes. We are planning on showing more Evel at e3 2021, it's not quite where I want it to be yet but we will be doing another preorder soon so you can be part of funding it and making it happen and we have backing already but this is to make sure we make the right number and you can get what you really want which is Amico. NAILED IT

Is that why you are so passionate about the Amico? As a non-gamer who doesn't know great old classics like Star Raiders, are you looking for a way to be more than just a music guy?

I'm a busy guy, I have partners all over the WORLD and they are the BEST at what they do and I don't always have time for lengthy hardcore video games, especially something as violent as that sounds. I will have my people look into it and see if it's something we would want to invest in. But ASTROSMASH is really what the people want, we have TONS of data about moms and families who come up to me after shows and say, "hey Tommy, thanks for signing my CD, but when are you going to make a game?" And that's what we're going to do at Intellivision, with the most PASSION you can imagine because did you know that the biggest retailer in the world is Walmart? And we are going to make a thing that you can buy there. The BIGGEST retailer in the WORLD. Awesome!

Why do you feel being part of the gaming crash is a vital point in Intellivision's history?

You call it a crash and that's your opinion, but I couldn't disagree with you more. It's actually called SideSwipers and it's a lot of fun, the idea is to not crash your car, and you use the touchscreen with 64 points of contact and there's a magnet and it's so simple that even a little kid, like a girl, could play it. At the Intellivision factory which I think is like Willy Wonka, I have all these people I call Oompa Loompas making games for the Intellivision fans. And did you know, I am close friends with the MikeTV from the Willy Wonka movie? It's kind of a passion project for me and I love stuff from the seventies and I wish it were the seventies and my dad and I could play Intellivision on the couch again so that's why I'm making this which will show ALL the bullies what Tommy can do because I'm smart and I earned this and the haters can't take it away from me and when I win it will be the best feeling ever!

#intellivision #Intellivision amico #Tommy tallarico #parody #not real #don't sue #dead on arrival

1 note · View note

lovelylunarwriting · 6 years

Text

Lucas Prince!AU

Living in the Wong Nation sometimes feels like… living in the wrong nation.

Not that there’s many problems with the country itself! The only issue you’d call out is that the nation has such a focus on developing communication and technologies related to communicating information and media that there’s not much development of anything else...

Flat screen TV’s in every house? Hells yeah. Any means of transportation other than walking and carriages if you’re wealthy enough? N o p e

Mostly it’s just that the royalty has such odd habits, in particular- Prince Lucas.

He’s not necessarily problematic, the people love him and you do as well, it’s just he has weird tendencies that make you go “huh???”

Friends would tell stories of “Oh well my great aunt’s cousin Berta said that Prince Lucas made up a secret handshake with every single guard in the palace”, and “well, my best friend’s boyfriend’s sister who is one of the maids in the palace says that he always eats icecream at 3am every Saturday”

Not your usual royal gossip, just him being this odd fellow. Your friends always say that “he’s wasting his time/when will he grow up” but honestly if you were in his shoes, why the hell wouldn’t you have icecream at 3am every Saturday?? Like you’re royalty, dude, do whatever the hell you want.

After having your friends over to chat and drink tea, you grab whatever is in your mailbox and plop it on your kitchen table.

The Wong Nation has always prided itself on it’s thorough communication and unique methods of communicating, whether that be via their one-day mail system, or even the Horsemen-For-Hire organization that’ll have your letter/package anywhere you want to send it within the country within a matter of hours (on horseback of course because apparently we aren’t importing cars?? But that’s none of my business).

Naturally, as a proud member of this country, you take your mail seriously, even going through and opening the most dull looking spam letters.

About half way through your stack of mail, you open what seems to be a normal boring spam letter, but there’s a glittering gold ticket inside, along with a letter written in gold colored ink.

The letter reads as so, “Dear recipient of this letter, if you’re reading this, that means you’ve taken the time and care to open every letter, even the dreary ones, that you’ve received. Although this may appear like a scam, I assure you it is neither. The purpose behind this letter is to find me a suitable life partner- someone who assesses even the most trivial of things with care and grace. You, evidently, by opening this seemingly meaningless letter, have earned a special reward. One date with me, Prince of the Wong Nation. The ticket included in this letter is redeemable at any time, even in times of war! -Much love, Prince Lucas xoxo”

As soon as you finish reading the beautiful and ridiculous words of the letter, it falls out of your too-tight grip and drifts to the floor.

This has to be a joke. A silly prank from one of your friends, who probably slipped it into your mailbox on their way out.

…but what if it wasn’t a prank at all? Prince Lucas has been known to do strange things, and this is definitely one of the strangest things you’ve encountered in a long time. Maybe ever.

Picking the letter back up off the floor, dusting it off and then carefully placing it back in the average looking envelope, you pick up and analyze the golden ticket.

Who the fuck does he think he is- Willy Wonka?

The only difference between the Willy Wonka’s infamous golden ticket and the “prince’s” golden ticket is that the prince one has a fuckboy-like photo of him plastered across the front.

Yeah, this has to be a joke.

You stick the ticket in your bag and don’t think of it again until a few days later.

Over the past few days, things have been going your way and resulting in your favor instead of the usual practice of life saying “fuck you” and messing everything up.

But like?? Nothing bad has happened all week.

Ever since you got that ticket.

It’s been in your bag ever since you’d shoved it in there originally, so maybe it’s become some kind of good luck charm.

The whole thing has weirded you out though, because even with all the nagging in the world, your friends won’t confess to them pulling this joke on you. All they had to say was “who the hell opens their spam letters instead of throwing them out”

Which is a fair point, but still.

While making your way into town to get a few necessities, you casually ask each vendor and fellow customer you run into if they’ve ever heard of this whole ticket thing.

And apparently no- they haven’t. Which makes this situation all the more crazy.

If no civilians know about this, whether it be real or a prank, maybe someone at the castle will.

And that someone you have in mind is your childhood best friend, Yuta, who works as a guard at the front gate.

Making the leisurely stroll from the town market to the palace, Yuta notices you before you notice him, but his frantic flailing to greet you is all you need to spot your best friend.

Making your way over to him, the other guards on duty greet you as well. Checking in on Yuta and bringing him snacks during his shift is something you end up doing at least three times a week, so most of the guards on this rotation are familiar with you.

You greet everyone and then turn to Yuta to talk a little more privately.

After explaining that you got this sketchy ass golden ticket in the mail and before you can even get into the fact that it’s probably someone with a crap sense of humor playing a trick on you, he gasps audibly and grabs you by the shoulders.

Yuta: “Do you have it with you?”, he asks, his no-nonsense tone leaving you taken aback.

You: “Uh, well… yeah I do, but it’s just a prank right? There’s no way this is a real thing”, you try to reason while you fumble through the contents of your bag.

Yuta: “Hell yeah it’s real, Prince Lucas has been sending these out for about a month now and no one has ever actually opened the letter. Well that is until now, I guess”

You: “That explains why all the townspeople think I’m crazy for even bringing it up. Ah, here it is!”, you say, handing over the smooth paper.

Yuta: “Oh my gosh, this is real! And kind of tragic- what was he thinking with that photo?”

You: “Honestly, who puts their own face on a ticket like this?? And on that note, what kind of person even does this?”

Yuta: “He is the prince, sweetie. He can’t exactly date like a normal person. But that’s not important right now, I’ve got to take you to him!”

You: “You’ve got to w h a t”

Yuta: “He’s already been waiting a month, don’t make him wait any longer!”

You comply because you know that trying to talk him out of something as exciting as this would be impossible.

He announces to the rest of the guards at his station that “Y/N found the golden ticket! My best friend is going to marry the p r i n c e!”, to which you tell him to shut up and shove him through the gate before he can say anything else outlandish to his colleagues.

The whispering of the guards to one another about you and the ticket is all you hear as you make your way inside the palace with Yuta.

And much to your confusion, he then leads you outside the palace to the grounds in the back.

“Is he going to kill me in the woods for this stupid ass yellow piece of paper so that he can marry the prince”, is the only thought running through your head.

That and “is this prince even worth all this trouble”.

But that’s when you see him. And oh boy is he quite the sight.

Turns out that no, Yuta did not lead you outside with the goal of murdering you and leaving your body in the woods, he led you to the archery practice field where you both find Prince Lucas aiming an arrow straight at the target several feet in front of him.

Yuta confidently struts over to him while you walk more timidly behind him, still skeptical of the whole situation.

He nods to Yuta in acknowledgement, who holds up the golden ticket with a smirk and drags you out from behind him.

Prince Lucas, whose bow is still drawn tight, lets go in pure shock. The arrow misses the bull’s eye completely and wedges itself into a tree stump to the right of the target.

Eyes lit up like the fireworks, he drops his hand-crafted longbow (like it’s not one the the most expensive things in the palace) and bounds over to you.

By the way he’s looking at you, you’d think someone had told him he’s won the lottery.

He’s a little too close for comfort, especially the way he’s dressed, with nothing more than a loose tank top covering his torso.

When he was aiming that bow, you and Yuta had received a special viewing of The Gun Show™ ft. The Back Muscles of a God, which you have to admit is doing quite the toll on your rapidly increasing heart rate.

Lucas: “Hello! I’m Prince Lucas. Are you the one who found this ticket?”

You: “Yes?? And I’m Y/N?”

Suddenly his attention is on Yuta again.

Lucas: “Yuta, you’re dismissed. Thank you for bringing them to me”

Yuta: “Anything to help, your highness”, he says with a suggestive tone of voice that you just hope the prince doesn’t pick up on.

Lucas: “Since you took the time to appreciate even the most mundane form of communication, snail mail, you have earned exactly one date with yours truly! And as a bonus for being so cute, I'll even let you pick what we do”

You: “That’s nice and all, and you seem like an okay guy but I don't really know you?? Can’t I just get store credit or something?”

Lucas: “...what kind of store credit would you expect to gain from royalty”

You: “I mean I'm okay with cash, too. You do have to admit that this whole thing is kind of crazy. A golden ticket?? Who do you think you are, Willy Wonka?”

Lucas: “Who?”

You: “Willy Wonka. The chocolate factory guy. Have you not seen that movie??”

Lucas: “Uhh,,,, I guess not. Is it popular amongst the common people?”

You: “Of course, I loved that movie as a kid! Okay- for this ‘date’, we’re gonna watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. You have to understand the uncanny context of this situation”

Lucas: “I don't know if I was clear before- you can pick anything. Renting out an entire amusement park for the day, going to a five star restaurant, literally a n y t h i n g”

You: “Yeah, I got that”

Lucas: “And you want to watch an old movie”

You: “Yes. You haven't seen it!”

Lucas: “...”

You: “What??”

Lucas: “That’s pretty adorable if I’m being honest”, he says and looks at you with actual hearts in his eyes.

Your goal in coming hear wasn’t to win over the Prince’s heart, but it sure looks like you have.

The two of you stroll around the archery field, the Prince pointing out all of the things he’s accidentally shot.

The billowing trees and tall grass are all beautiful, but the most radiant thing under the setting sun is by far, Prince Lucas.

At first you thought he was a bit goofy, and he definitely is, but he’s also very sweet and charming in a way that you can’t help but be drawn to.

Also, amazingly easy to get along with??? When meeting a prince, you thought he’d be snobby or something but he’s a really chill guy and so easily excited by everything. Honestly, he’s kind of like a big puppy.

All the while, though, you try to keep from getting your hopes up. He’s not just some random guy you met in town, he’s the prince for goodness sake.

Lucas: “Y/N??”, he says, stopping all of a sudden.

You: “Hmm? Yes? Sorry, I was... thinking about things”

Lucas: “It’s fine, I was just letting you know that I don’t think we have that movie in the castle so I’d have to go buy it somewhere”

You: “I have it. I swear,,,, this is a very common movie, how are you so in the dark about it??”

Lucas: “I,,,, I don’t know?? I’ve been a bit busy running the country, if you haven’t noticed”

You: “...that’s a good excuse I guess, so I’ll accept it for now”

Noticing the familiar path you’d been dragged down earlier by Jennie, you realize that he’s leading you to the front gates. You can’t help but feel a little disappointed that your time with such a lively person, prince title or not, has been so limited.

Fairy tales don’t always come true, you figure.

Lucas: “As far as the movie goes, how about you bring it with you when you come back next?”

You: “You want me to come back?”, you ask, somehow still not believing that you’d be going on a date with the prince of all people.

Lucas: “Of course! I owe you a date but also,,,, I already miss you and you haven’t even left yet, so.... you should come back and visit me”, he says and looks away, but you can still see the blush on his cheeks even with the sun setting behind you.

Exploding with The Feels™ on the inside and trying to desperately not show on the outside how much those words make your heart sing, you settle for a nod and staring at the ground.

He reaches out and gently lifts up your chin to meet his gaze, and oh boy. Staring into those gorgeous eyes is the final thing your mind needed to know that you’re completely whipped for this boy.

“Come back tomorrow, okay? I’ll be waiting”, he whispers into your ear, sending chills down your spine, and then places a quick peck on your cheek before walking off towards the castle.

…

Did that just actually happen…

Stumbling out the front gates, in a sort of happy-daze, you barely even notice when Yuta comes running up to you.

Yuta: “Y/N!! What happened with Prince Lucas??”, he asks as the two of you walk into town.

You: “Don’t you have a post you’re supposed to be manning right now?”

Yuta: “The other guys and gals can handle it. Plus there’s not much to do, just standing around all day. I’m pretty sure Ten is sleeping standing up right now”

You: “That’s both unprofessional and impressive”

Yuta: “Stop avoiding the elephant in the room- what happened with the prince??? Do you like him? Do you think he likes you? I can ask him if you-”

You: “Don’t ask him!! This isn’t middle school!”

Yuta: “,,,,okay but doesn’t it feel like it at least a little?”

You: “I really like him, and I hope he likes me but,,,, he’s a prince and I’m just,,,, me. There’s no real shot of anything happening, I shouldn’t kid myself…”

Yuta: “Bullshit”

You: “Excuse me?”

Yuta: “Y/N, let yourself fall! Can’t you see this was meant to be? You’ve got your literal ticket to his heart, you better use it!”

With those words, Yuta and you part, with him running back to his post and you making the brief walk back to your house.

Yuta’s advice and the Prince’s parting words ring through your mind, no matter how much you try to focus on your other tasks.

Before the night comes to an end, you dig through your old DVD collection and pull out the copy of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, feeling confident enough to go back to the castle tomorrow.

When morning comes though, worries sink in because now you have to actually,,,, go do it.

You step outside of your little cottage intending to make the walk up to the castle, but the sight of an elegant carriage stops you in your tracks.

A man in guard’s uniform is sat in the rider’s seat with his legs crossed over the footboard and his helmet haphazardly over his eyes.

Standing there awkwardly, not sure if you should say something, you luckily don’t have to because Yuta pops out of the carriage side door, scaring the absolute hell out of you.

Yuta: “You’re finally up! We’ve been waiting”

You: “Waiting for what?! To give me a heart attack?”

Yuta: “No silly, to take you on your date with Prince Lucas!”

You: “I feel like you’re more excited about this than I am”

Yuta: “Hey, if you marry rich then I never have to work another day in my life”

You: “And who says I’d financially support you?”

Yuta: “Oh my gosh you like him, don’t you? The Y/N that I know would’ve immediately denied anything about marrying him, but you do want to marry him, don’t you??”

Before you can think of anything snarky to say back to cover up how embarrassingly accurate Yuta’s assessment of your feelings are, the mystery driver of the carriage yells at Yuta.

“We came here to bring them to the castle, not tease them about this stupid date”, he shouts to Yuta, who grumbles to you about how “Ten’s being pissy that he doesn’t get to marry rich like you do”, and then helps you into the carriage.

Yuta and Ten bicker and make stupid jokes so much that you tell Yuta he should go sit up their in the driver’s seat with him instead of shouting inappropriate jokes out the window.

To which he actually does,,,, and climbs right out of the window and into the driver’s seat, vehicle still in motion, all the while saying “Don’t worry, I’ve done this before!”

That isn’t very calming, but you take what you can get.

When you finally arrive at the castle, you anticipate some stuffy old steward to greet you, but the hand that helps you out of the carriage belongs to the prince himself.

And he doesn’t seem keen on letting go, dragging you through the gate and up the steps of the castle, like an excited puppy tugging on it’s leash.

You barely have time to admire the towering walls and high ceilings, because Prince Lucas is extremely determined to get to wherever he’s going, pulling you along with him just as quickly.

You’d say something but,,,, you don’t trust yourself to not fumble over your words quite yet. Or your feet, for that matter.

“Here we are!”, he announces with a certain amount of pride in his voice that makes the corners of your mouth turn up into a smile without even being conscious of it.

Now that this power-walk has come to a stop, you can finally take a look around and see where he was so hellbent on delivering you.

In front of you lies a dimly lit room with the far-facing wall covered by a massive, red curtain. Almost like one you’d see in a theatre.

“Welcome to the royal family’s home theater!”, Lucas says, gesturing to the curtain, which as if on cue pulls back in both directions, revealing the biggest television screen you’ve ever seen.

Well that would explain the theatre vibe you’re getting from this place.

You take a few steps forward as Prince Lucas runs past you and belly flops onto the sofa in the center of the room. Compared to the stupidly big screen, the couch looks like something plucked out of a doll house, especially with the prince’s long figure sprawled across it.

Lucas: “Come on, take a seat!”, he says, after readjusting and patting the couch cushion next to him.

Hesitantly, you make you way over and sit next to him, your body stiff as a board with nerves.

Evidently, he notices this, because his normal sheepish grin disappears and a pouty frown replaces it.

Lucas: “Is something wrong? You don’t have to hang out with me if you don’t want to, I would never force you to stay just because I’m the prince- I hope you know that”

You: “No, it’s not that! I’m just,,,,, I live in a cottage in the woods just outside of the little village so this is all a little overwhelming for me, that’s all”

Lucas: “It doesn’t feel very homey, does it? I think I can fix that”

He gets up, presumably to set up the movie, and all the while tells you stories of his childhood and growing up in the castle.

These stories range from “that’s where I accidentally threw my sword into the wall when I tried to unsheath it but it got stuck” to “this is the couch where I have icecream every Saturday at 3am and watch cartoons”

You’re like “!!! I’ve heard that from my gossipy friends! I thought they were making it up!”, and he’s like “No, that’s true. My mother told me that I needed to create a weekly routine and that’s the first thing I wrote in my planner”

After talking to him for a while, the castle and the prince himself feel much more familiar and comfortable.

You find yourself leaning back into the plush couch, and like clockwork, Lucas has the movie playing and plops himself down next to you.

Close enough for you to notice, but not too close for comfort.

Throughout the movie, you find yourself not really paying attention to the screen and more spacing out and thinking about Prince Lucas.

And then feeling dumb about thinking about him when he’s,,,, right next to you but heY sometimes you gotta think out your feelings and now is one of those times.

You came into this whole weird situation with the goal of going home to your peaceful life and hoping that Yuta wouldn’t give you too much shit about going on a date with the prince but now you find yourself not wanting to go home.

If you’re being honest, Lucas feels a lot more like home than that little cottage in the woods ever did.

No one has ever gone so out of their way to try and make you happy and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t falling for him. Hard.

Snapping out of your trance and hoping it’s not too obvious that you’re not really watching the movie, you sneak a glance over to Lucas to find that he’s not paying attention to the screen either.

His focus is definitely on you instead.

As soon as you make eye contact though, his head snaps up to the movie and you notice his body stiffen, probably out of embarrassment.

Feeling a sudden rush of bravery, you reach over and clasp his hand in yours.

He looks at you with the most Shooketh™ look and it’s all you can do to keep from laughing.

Lucas: “I really like you, you know”, he blurts.

You: “I…. I like you, too. So you don’t have to worry about me leaving or anything. I want to be here with you-”, you start but get interrupted by him tackling you in a hug.

Lucas: “I’m sorry, I’m just really happy about this”, he says into the crook of your neck, where’s he’s nuzzled his face.

You: “Aren’t you supposed to be a super professional royal or something?”, you laugh and he pulls away, resting on his arms on either side of you.

Lucas: “I told you that I have it scheduled out when I eat icecream. Do I seem like I’m trying to be very professional to you?”

You: “What flavor icecream?”

Lucas: “Chocolate, of course”

You: “Okay, good. I won’t have to move to the Lee Kingdom, then”

Lucas: “I’m way better than any of their princes, I’ll have you know”

You: “I don’t know,,,, the entire way here Ten was talking about how Prince Taeyong is a ‘hottie with a body’...”

Lucas: “This is treachery”, he declares, mostly joking.

...mostly (watch out Ten,,,,)

The rest of the movie you spend with his lanky limbs tangled with yours, warm and comfy embracing one another.

Afterwards he’s like “okay that guy totally stole my golden ticket idea” and you’re like “,,,,,this movie was made before you were born,,,, idk how to break this to you”

Lucas: “Before I was born?? I thought there was a fairly recent version”

You: “I mean yeah, there is, but it’s not the one we watched. That’s a different movie”

Lucas: “...”

You: “...you wanna watch that one, don’t you”

Lucas: “Yes please!!”

The entire day ends up being spent watching random movies and snuggling on the couch which is honestly better than anything else you’d normally do (like chores, oof).

When the evening comes to a close, you find yourself reluctant to leave. But all good things must come to an end, you suppose.

You say your farewells to one another at the gate, but before you can get in to the carriage that Prince Lucas was gracious enough to provide, he says something that makes you freeze and spin around.

Lucas: “Call me Lucas, alright? Not ‘Prince’”

You: “You want me to what”

Lucas: “Fine, I’ll call you ‘Their Royal Highness’. Then we’ll be even”

You: “But I’m not?? That’s not how-”

Lucas: “Pretty please?”

You: “I- okay fine. I’ll see you soon Lucas”, you give in, causing a girlish squeal of excitement to come out of the future ruler of this country.

Maybe dating this wonderfully weird prince is something you could get used to...

Before the Wong Kingdom always just felt like the place where you happen to live, but now it’s a place you never want to leave (even if Prince Taeyong is indeed a hottie with a body)

290 notes · View notes

ghostmartyr · 5 years

Text

Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 3]

With some interesting carnage leading us through it, the second badge has been earned. Better yet, we got a TM for a Special Poison move, so Caspet can now be a little more secure in her help.

Team as of the moment:

Stella (Poliwhirl)

Caspet (Gastly)

Okay then.

New routes please.

Hey me.

I have been invited to Pokestar Studios. It’s like Hollywood. Roxie’s dad ran off there to be a movie star. Roxie’s now running off there to talk him out of it. We’re going to run off there and have a terrible time with movies.

I don’t know why I remember the movie place. I think there was either some achievement or plot barrier there, and I hated the process but perfectionism insisted on trying again and... idk. Hopefully that distaste won’t be part of this run.

Can I please just be allowed to catch a third party member.

Is there any grass here. Please.

Stop dragging me to movies.

Stop dragging me to terrible movies.

Like there’s clearly some Emotions going on with Roxie’s father, but oh my gosh I do not play these games for becoming a movie star. ;-; Free me. ;-;

I have control of myself again, so I don’t know if I actually have to shoot a movie, but I feel like Roxie and her dad might require me to, and in any case, one won’t hurt too badly. I guess.

Wait, was it a medal thing? Is that why I made myself nuts over this?

Movie shot, script followed, yay, leaving.

Ahoy, plot!

Sequel Team Plasma is so very open about wanting to take over the world. How refreshing. They’ve gone from knights to pirates. Most excellent.

Pop Roxie is back to captaining, so it’s time to run off to Castelia and find another darn teammate.

And our first act of being in Castelia is a clown giving us a bicycle. Rocking.

A boat takes us to Liberty Garden. I think this is where Victini is if Victini is activated, but I’m not sure if that will be the case with this version. The important question is... does it also have other grass.

Fuckdamn it doesn’t.

Yay, entering random buildings in Castelia gave me an Exp. Share.

In keeping with me doing stupid things, I go to the Game Freak building and chat up some of the trainers who are not nearly as strong as they are post-game, thank goodness.

I really.

Really.

Would like.

More than two pokemon in my party.

I also finally gave in and talked to the medal guy in the Pokemon Center.

My achievement hunting tendencies are going to be the largest obstacle between me and any progress ever.

-whispers-

I want all of them.

Other conversations gave me an Eviolite, so that goes to Stella. ...Wait, no, Caspet. Uggggggh.

Burgh is missing from his Gym, which is fine, since I don’t think I’m ready for another round. I’m just walking around trying to check off whatever plot stuff I can that will let me catch something else.

Oh hey, I think talking to Iris opens up the sewers! I think that means I can catch something down there! !!!!

Pleeeeeease give me something.

Please, ominous guise of darkness.

Oh no.

Russell’s partnering with us, so. Uh. What’s the rule for this? I have to catch the first thing I see, but as long as I’m in a duo, I won’t be able to throw a ball very easily...

Fuuuuuuck.

Okay. We took out Panpour.

I have the ability to throw a ball, which means.

This is my catch option for the route.

Haaaa. And Russell’s Dewott is using Fury Cutter. Its damage will keep going up. I think I have two tries to catch it.

Yeehaw.

Try one is a bust.

Oh hey that’s neat! The Dewott used Razor Shell on Stella, because Stella has Water Absorb and had taken damage! That’s smarter than I expected from the partner AI.

And that means I can spare a turn or two trying to put Serperior to sleep. Since Stella still has Hypnosis.

Yo, it hit! And Dewott heals me again!

But. I need Serperior to be more damaged. I shouldn’t risk attacking. ...I’ll just keep throwing balls and wait for Dewott to hurt it a little more.

HECK YEAH WHO’S DA MAN.

Hot damn that was stressful.

Now I gotta give this girl a name.

Sylarana, wanna rock?

Also, now having Russell with me is a good thing, because this squad could use some levels.

What are you like, Syl?

She’s Careful and proud of her power.

Yeah, pride looks good on that sprite.

I don’t know what Serperior’s stats are with a neutral nature. That takes some stress off, since I’ll just go with the flow, but I prefer to know what I’m getting into, usually. Either way, Defense is stronger than Attack, and that’s just fine.

Female Nidoran are down here, too.

This is working out well enough. Yay for buddy healing. I almost don’t want it to ever end. It’s so convenient.

I shouldn’t do this forever, though. That would get boring fast.

My starter breathing. Also cool pirate outfits in Pokemon Go.

Mooks dispatched.

Gym Leader located!

Look at Burgh being all artsy with his tour of the sewers.

Huh, and Russell just hands us Strength. Because all our pals are true bros in this gen.

Then a dude with anime hair walks out of the hole in the wall.

YO NEW ROUTE.

‘ello there.

...I am possibly not going to be able to catch you due to lack of poke balls and you being remarkably stubborn.

Hey, there we go!

What to name you... what to name you... A magnificent sea serpent with a rainbow tail...

Nessy!

Without Russell healing us every fight, we can’t stick around. Back out of the sewers we go, to receive happy words from Iris. Well. Sort of happy words. She worries about Russell and tells us to challenge the Gym.

I, being a compliant sort, walk back into the sewers after healing.

Okay I guess it’s a cave. Sylarana out front, Nessy with Exp. Share while I contemplate what the heck this team does against a Bug Gym.

Ooooh, Forretress.

...

Is. is there anywhere I can go that can pave the way to me getting a Fire pokemon?

You know what, I don’t like things that blow themselves up at me. Guh, this is taking forever. I might need to buy a few Repels just so I can explore the cave properly... I believe there’s grass somewhere past the sewers, and if I could have a slightly more diverse team going into the next whatever, I’d like it.

Oh, and before I forget, Nessy!

She is Quirky and mischievous. She and Stella have half their personalities in common. Delightful. Marvel Scale is also a neat ability to have. Not one I can utilize properly because I’m a competitive failure, but still cool.

Neat, there’s Pidgeot down here.

Looks like there’s not much of the cave to explore at this point in the game. Ah well. Back to the sewers.

Hm. Would the desert north of Castelia be open to me yet? That could prove useful. Heck, is anywhere outside of this city open? I just need a little patch of grass somewhere new.

Bridge still being inspected.

A wild Bianca appears!

Dowsing Machine get!

Hello, this is new.

But there’s still spots of desert.

OH MY GOSH LOOK AT IT.

Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh.

Caught!

Your new name is Itsy, and you are much beloved!

Itsy is Modest and somewhat vain, and ouch that is not a nature I think I like for this little one, but adorableness beats everything, so we’re good.

Butterfree is also in the desert. Oooo Pawniard. Back to the sewers, though. Easier training fodder.

Grass located!

...And if I were a better trainer, I would go back and buy poke balls before exploring, but I have the impulse control of a toddler. Oh, and it’s dark grass vs. light grass...

Decision will be made by rapidly running between the two and seeing what triggers an encounter first.

Dark grass it is!

Aaaaaaaa fuck off.

I love Lapras so much. So so so so so so so so much. But I have two Water pokemon already, as well as an Ice one. I. can’t focus on catching the Lapras. It would be a bad idea.

You have never seen anyone so sad to encounter a Dratini during a Nuzlocke.

The wild Lapras fainted.

Oh fucking hell the Dratini knows Dragon Rage and both my pokemon are under 40 HP. Caspet’s turn on healing Caspet, Sylarana’s turn on getting her out of there.

Okay. Confused and slept.

Now I just. catch it. With four poke balls and two great balls left.

...Three poke balls, and guess who woke up.

Great ball. C’mon great ball.

..One great ball left.

Also if Dratini hurts itself in confusion one more time it is dead.

FORTUNE SMILES ON THE CRIMINALLY STUPID.

Now let’s run everyone back through the sewers and--

Did. did I really hit the no nickname option.

Ffs.

Okay, run back through the sewers, hit the Pokemon Center, and then name the critter. The Name Rater’s somewhere in the city, I think.

Heh. The guy in the alleyway still gives us Flash.

Congratulations, Puff! You are now eligible for activity!

Puff is Quiet and alert to sounds. An adorable addition to our squad. He’s going to be temporarily up front thanks to Dragon Rage. The Game Freak fights are once a day, and it’s been a day, so!

I believe in you, Puff!

Dragon Rage is so op this early. Dreamor agrees. But Puff’s ours, so that makes it okay.

Hm. I have six now. They could keep each other out of trouble.

There are so many areas in these sewers I can’t get to. Or maybe I can, it just involves more maze work than I’m expecting. ...Yeah, it’s looking like that side. Hey, a nurse guy! Yay for less walking up to the Pokemon Center.

Oh, and Poison... might be super effective against Bug? I think the whatsit thing he has is Bug/Grass, so that isn’t actually much of a confirmation. Eh, I’ll find out soon enough.

I’ve found a room full of Zweilous. That’s a safe grinding area, right? Itsy’s got Ice and everything. Vullaby and Dwebble are also here.

Heeeeeey, Caspet’s evolving!

And wants to learn another physical Ghost move.

Bye Lick.

Okay, Gym it is.

...Wow Burgh. Really went full Art on the place, huh? Did trainers complain that you were forcing them to walk through honey before letting them fight you?

Puff’s up first. I don’t have much type advantage here, so it’s just going to be hitting things until they break.

Burgh.

Hey Burgh.

This Gym is creepy.

The cocoons just suck you in and zoom you up. Only think Willy Wonka style.

Mooks have level 20s, so this should be a little uncomfortable for a few of the younger members, but Caspet, Stella, and Sylarana should be fine. For now, Puff’s still in front and Dragon Raging all the things.

And we’re going to the Pokemon Center after every fight, but hey. Baby steps in all things. Puff is on one of the slower exp tracks, so every little bit helps.

...Burgh. Buddy.

You want to talk?

This Gym feels like a cry for help.

In true shounen protagonist style, I will settle your troubled emotions through battle! Even if none of the dialogue will admit to how concerning the aesthetics of your chosen arena are!

Everything is hitting critical hits.

...Oh wait, I’m supposed to narrate these fights, aren’t I?

Uh. Swadloon down, Dwebble down, Leavanny left, Leavanny’s level 24. Caspet’s out to deal with it after Puff handled Swadloon and Nessy handled Dwebble.

Caspet one-shots it like a champ, and on we go.

Burgh, this trinket in no way makes me less concerned for you.

Still, though! Everyone’s alive, and we have a team full of six! Nice work, ladies and Puff. Five more badges to go! Let’s hope they go well!

#Pokemon #Nuzlocke Challenge

5 notes · View notes

atleastputinsomeeffortinuroc · 6 years

Text

Rant/Review: Ready Player One --aka-- Just Watch Wrinkle in Time Instead...

I don’t usually hate movies.

I know that seems backwards considering that this blog is me complaining and ranting incoherently about movies I don’t like, but very few movies leave me seething. Even all of the Detective Conan movies, which are mostly terrible pieces of garbage, I don’t necessarily hate. Red Crimson Letters is a terrible waste of time and energy, but I wasn’t insulted or felt talked down to. It was just a really bad movie I wanted to talk about.

In my life, there have only been three movies who have truly enraged me. “Batman v Superman,” “Joy,” and “War for the Planet of the Apes.”

Objectively, there are aspects that are genuinely good in all of them and are definitely better than I probably give them credit for...but I doubt it, but they just flare up an anger in me for one reason or another. They’re permanently on my “fuck that movie” list. And now…now there’s another entrant to that prestigious list.

Ready Player One.

My GOD. THIS was the book everyone’s been talking about? THIS is supposed to be the fucking bible of pop culture?! THIS MOVIE?! THE ONE THAT UNIRONICALLY HAS THE PHRASE SPOKEN BY HUMAN VOCAL CHORDS “FANBOYS ALWAYS KNOW A HATER?!!” ARE YOU GUYS--…ok. Ok, I need to calm down.

There are several, several, SEVERAL parts about this movie that don’t work, and I could go into a lot of the problems, but instead I’m going to try to talk about three aspects of the film. And for the sake of me not swearing up and down, we’re not going to talk about that godawful dialogue. Just know that it sucks.)

1) The ham-fisted arc

2) The protagonist and his trophy waifu

3) References over content

There are spoilers ahead, and I’m going to write this with the assumption that you’ve already seen the movie. If you haven’t, you’ve been warned. Anywho, let’s get started. Put on some “a-ha,” break your nostalgia goggles and join me as we go down this road where I collectively shit over Spielberg’s attempt to adapt a supposed “beloved classic.” (CAN YOU TELL I’M MAD?!)

1) The arc

Here’s the thing with arcs in narratives, and more specifically films.

They need to feel earned.

Your central character has gone through a life-altering change or point of view since the beginning of the film due to the adventures and trials had throughout the film. Good examples include “Mad Max: Fury Road” where Max finally lets others into his life and sees the value in not going through life alone as described by the part where he donates his own blood and tells Furiosa his name. Another good example is actually from the Oscar nominee Spielberg had LITERALLY LAST YEAR, “The Post.” In it, Kay Graham finally put her foot down and shows authority by stepping out of her comfort zone to release the Pentagon Papers—damn what the powers that be say. This is important to any narrative because it shows the flaws of your characters through their insecurities and hesitations to make them human rather than movie characters. Even if you have paragon characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, or Batman, they still have to overcome some kind of personal issue that is keeping them from achieving what they’ve wanted.

Now, if you look over to the main character, you can see that his arc was…what is it that was his arc?

He’s…he’s the same at the beginning as he was at the end.

“OH BUT HE HAS A PENTHOUSE AT THE END,” yeah that’s not a change. One could argue that the (even though the catalyst for change has no fucking relation to it) arc is about unplugging and enjoying the real world. The bits at the end with Easter Egg man where he starts going on and on and on about how he missed reality or something, and the VERY BRIEF bits at the beginning where you see people all over the VR systems, one of which is the mother neglecting a fire in the house and one where an Asian man almost commits suicide after losing all of his stuff in the game (it’s played for comedy, so THAT’S also pretty fun, because it’s not like Japanese suicide rates are a serious issue or anything OH WAIT.) So it’s about being close to reality and unplugging. Ok. Coolio.

But here’s the thing, similar to “War for the Planet of the Apes”…YOU HAVEN’T EARNED IT. There are brief moments where it kind of alludes to it (see the middle challenge with ‘oh yes, I should have kissed the girl during the Shining’ and the small bit at the middle where the main two are sitting there and the main dude has ONE HALF-ASSED LINE about how “it’s nice here. It’s slower,”) but that’s IT. It doesn’t actually give you a reason to think that staying in the Oasis and avoiding reality is a BAD thing. Sure you have abusive father obsessed with getting high scores but he’s just one dimensional asshole dad who dies and you don’t give a shit about it one second later after his parental figures are killed.

There are no real CONSEQUENCES to spending too much time in the Oasis, it’s just because he’s good at the game. And if there are, they sure as hell aren’t focused on in favor of mindless spectacle (which looks REALLY BAD by the way. I know it’s supposed to look fake because video game, but do the main characters have to use the ugliest models in existence?!) As such, the ending and central arc of learning is lost.

So what’s the arc? Well…there is none. Nothing is really learned, nothing is really gained that MATTERS aside from the keys to Willy Wonka’s goddamn chocolate factory.

Z or Perzival or Wade or generic-white-gamer-boy learns all of fucking NOTHING by the end. (As such, it makes the ending where he says “EVERYONE HAS TO BE OFF ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS” come off as BULLshit.)

But no, this is clearly the Spielberg classic. It’s not like Indiana Jones learned anything in the Last Crusade as a character only he totally fucking DID, HE LEARNED TO RESPECT AND LOVE HIS FATHER WHO HE PREVIOUSLY DESPISED AND THE IMPORTANCE OF—sorry. Sorry I’m getting a bit mad again.

Anywho, due to a lack of a real arc, it makes you think that the entire fucking plot was pointless. It was just inevitable that the good guy win because…well he’s the main character. He doesn’t say anything about anything but is instead dumb fluff, which would be fine…but here’s the thing. It also affects the main characters. And it affects them HARD.

2) Tweedledee and Tweedledumbass

The two main characters have no personality or character due to this lack of an arc.

The main man, Wade, his personality is…what exactly? He’s just generic hero-boy who is obsessed with the 80s. “He’s like a regular Star-Lord!” I hear you say, only he totally fucking isn’t. Starlord has baggage, has character has points and instances that stretch BEYOND just quoting 80’s movie and saying the actual phrase that a screenwriter actually wrote down and didn’t immediately delete that went “FANBOYS ALWAYS KNOW A HATER” NO I AM NOT OVER IT.

...Point is, the references don’t make Star-Lord who he is, it’s the character of Peter Quill himself. Cocky, brash, and in many ways, a child running from his past.

As for Wade, he’s got nothing. I’ve looked over this sometimes, depending on the writing or the situation, so maybe it wouldn’t bother me so much, but the actor who plays him isn’t doing a good job. I know I don’t talk about acting a lot, but the man…the man is just whining through his lines. He comes off as insufferable with his needless 80’s knowledge that I was genuinely rooting for the one-dimensional villain to kill that fucking brat.

Then we have Artemis or Samantha or Sam or its-the-pixie-cut-rebel-chick.

There are several scenes that are etched into my brain now (including a FUCKING NUT-SHOT AND A PASSWORD FOR A HUMAN ADULT THAT IS “B055MAN69.” IN A SPIELBERG MOVIE. THE MAN WHO MADE INDIANA JONES AND SCHINDLER’S LIST.), but one of the big ones is the final image of the film in which the main character in his 80’s man-boy cave spins around with his beautiful woman sitting in his lap as they suck face as the line “reality is pretty awesome anyway” or something like that. Aside from the main character not earning that statement as previously stated…fucking let’s look at it for what it is.

The man just won a real-life walking-talking waifu. A trophy wife that he wins at the end of the game.

She’s what probably made me see through the movie the most honestly. She makes this big fucking deal about “oh, but I’m not who you think I am on the outside, I’m not pretty” and then when you go outside to the real world, of course she’s the fucking gorgeous Hollywood white girl—she just has a goddamn birthmark on her eye to be her “blemish.”

“Oh but she’s insecure about it,” I hear you say--I’m sorry, but you mean to tell me NOBODY told her she’s fine and beautiful with the eye-mark BEFORE Wade? You mean to tell me she’s insecure, but not insecure enough to feel the need to buy fucking MAKE-UP!? I’m not saying that she needs it, I’m saying that the character’s central flaw is the WEAKEST FUCKIN FLAW I HAVE EVER SEEN. YOU WANNA CHANGE THE GAME, QUASIMODO THAT SHIT.

THEN, and this part was just fucking HILARIOUS to me, she mentions about how the ioi company fucking KILLED HER FATHER in a workshop and she has to stop him for revenge…and then it’s totally dropped. Like it’s never mentioned by the end. At all. She chucks a grenade into Mechagodzilla to kill the bossman but fuck me if it ain’t satisfying and adds physically NOTHING to her character.

Her character exists for one purpose. She is the love interest who sets the main character off on his journey. Nothing more. And I say that, because SHE’S THE CATALYST FOR HIM FINDING THE FIRST KEY. She tells him something that reminds him of something that solves the puzzle. And what’s more, I am willing to bet that THAT’S the reason they kept her Hollywood pretty. Because you need to have an attractive romantic love interest to keep the audience pleased.

Now apparently, she does more in the movie than she does in the book. And that’s great. That’s super. She’s the one breaking in to destroy the d20 of doom. Hell yeah I guess. But I also don’t care. You wanna know why? BECAUSE I AM NOT READING THE BOOK. Superficial changes that improve certain aspects doesn’t make the movie better than it is. It’s like polishing a fucking turd. Yeah, it’s nicer than what you had, but you are still making me hold this piece of dogshit.

They don’t have characters. They don’t have chemistry BECAUSE they don’t have characters. It’s a fucking wash.

3) Drowning in References

But now we talk about the big one. The big fucking thing that everyone and their mother is obsessing about this movie over. And the thing that has gotten me from not liking this movie to fucking DESPISING it.

The references.

To quote from people who will be seeing the movie in the theater *ahem*...

“OHMYGOD IS THAT TRACER?! OH AND IT’S HARLEY AND THE JOKER! OH! OH! OH! IRON GIANT! HALO! BORDERLANDS! BACK TO THE FUTURE! BATMAN—FUCKING IT’S THE BATMAN! THEY MENTIONED THRILLER! THAT’S PRINCE! STREET FIGHTER! MECHA-GODZILLA FIGHTING GUNDAM! MINECRAFT! NINJA TURTLES! FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH! STAR TREK! FIREFLY! THE SHINING! IT’S FUCKING CHUCKY!!!”

…Ok? So what?

Not to be a snob, but seriously—so what? Why does it matter?

Listen, I like crossovers too. I remember the Avengers and what a big goddamn deal it was, and how it made everyone’s jaw drop to the ground, and how in some ways, it still does. But whereas with those it felt organic, Ready Player One with its ninety thousand references felt…empty.

I’m going to bring out two comparisons to the table that do the same thing that Ready Player One did, “Who Framed Rodger Rabbit?” and “Wreck-It Ralph.” Both had pop-culture icons throughout them. One had all of the classic cartoons all spliced together—where you saw Daffy Duck and Donald Duck in the same shot having a dual piano-off. One of them had all of these video game characters that you loved and embraced since you were a kid, running around and hanging out ala “Toy Story.” These big names are all in the background, just like Ready Player One, but they’re clearly different in terms of execution. Why is that?

Well it’s because the movies weren’t reliant on them. Sure, Rodger Rabbit had fun moments with these big names, but if you took them out and animated totally new characters with similar personalities, what would you lose? Nothing. The plot is the same, the dynamics are the same, and it can still be seen as a salute to the classic animations from back in the day to also an allegory for the Jim Crowe era just as the book intentionally was. Same goes for Wreck-it Ralph, the character goes through a fundamental change that has him accepting who he is and how “there’s nobody else I’d rather be, than me” ALL THE WHILE paying respects to classic arcade video games.

The same can’t be said for Ready Player One. The instant you take away the pop-culture references, the movie loses its protective suit of armor to reveal it’s about…nothing.

It is.

Nothing.

The generic quest, the generic corporate baddie, the generic love interest, the main character has nothing to say, and the conflict is revealed to be flat—nothing about it sticks out or makes an impression.

And if you fail to make an impression without a fucking suit pop-culture references then, well, if I may use a pop-culture quote myself...“If you’re nothing without the suit, then you shouldn’t have it.”

Plain and simple.

But then…there’s the one thing I can’t really debate.

“It’s just fun though, right?”

Yeah sure. I’ll admit around that third act, even though it was long overdrawn, I had fun watching the violence and references I understood while they blasted “We’re Not Gonna Take It” in the background.

But y’know what? It was just about as enjoyable as seeing someone adapt a piece of shitty fanfiction, because both have one thing in common for everything that they do: It’s just there for fan service. If you make the statement “well the Oasis is cool,” then you’ve clearly missed the point because you don’t like the movie, you like it’s gimmick. And it’s gimmick exists—it’s called VR Chat.

Meanwhile, screenwriters of different backgrounds, ethnicities, genders and religions from everywhere across the world are actually putting EFFORT into their screenwriting and directing. And while their action scenes for their blockbuster idea may not be perfect, they at least tried and did something new with it.

I went to see “Wrinkle in Time” today after I’d seen Ready Player One yesterday, needing to see literally anything good. And yeah, it’s not perfect. It’s got some stilted dialogue and some questionable acting on nearly all fronts at points and the conflict can be about as cliched as you can imagine, but the visuals, the costume design—you could tell everyone cared and put a goddamn effort into everything put forth. It’s much more gorgeous than the downright UGLY CG that was in the Oasis world in Ready Player One, and I guarantee you nobody had the phrase “B055MAN69” anywhere. It didn’t pander to kids or guys who wanted to feel validated for knowing a couple references. It wanted to tell the story of fighting back evil and hatred by embracing love. It’s cheesy and sappy…but fuck me, if it didn’t try to say something while having fun.

But fuck that movie right? We have Iron Giant fighting Mechagodzilla.

If you have that, then why bother putting in effort?

That’s what kills me. It’s lazy and people praise it because it just stuck pop-culture words in a fucking blender. Don’t call it innovative. Don’t call it original. Don’t call it anything than what it is.

80’s. Prepubescent. Fucking. Fanfiction.

You can love it and enjoy it if you want, I mean I don’t like not liking movies. It sucks. And in some aspects, I can see why you can if you turn your brain off but…I’m not gonna lie, to see this get away with murder insults me.

Listen, I love Spielberg. There is nobody I respect more in the business. His work in AI, and the reason why he did so to keep a dying friend’s vision alive will always keep him as one of my personal heroes but…sometimes you gotta call people out when they make shit. And I am.

I don’t care what anyone says, don’t see Ready Player One. Watch something worthwhile. Go to Netflix and watch “Stranger Things” if you’ve got that need for an 80′s kick, or hell--”Blade Runner 2049″ is a visual goddamn MARVEL. Go see “The Post” or “Jaws” if you want some good Spielberg. Just PLEASE! Go see something that isn’t just a bunch of references that almost feel as though it’s a remake of “ctrl+alt+del.”

(Random aside, people have told me to read the original book...but if that fucking thing is ANYTHING like this movie, I’d rather BURN IT than let it get one inch into my house. So no, I’m not going to read the book even if there are claims that it’s “better.” (Even though I believe that it’s impossible to say a book is better than it’s adaptation or vice versa because it’s two different mediums and as such it’s hardly fair, but that’s a whole other thing.) Point is, I’ve never been more turned off to a book in my godddamned life and I ain’t gonna bother.)

62 notes · View notes

milanmatens-blog · 6 years

Text

Film: Ready Player One

Never, ever underestimate Steven Spielberg. That’s the biggest takeaway from “Ready Player One,” an immersive sci-fi spectacle about a future overrun by virtual reality gaming, and the world’s most famous commercial director has transformed it into a mesmerizing blockbuster steeped in callbacks to the best of them. It runs too long and drags a bunch in its final third, but make no mistake: This is Spielberg’s biggest crowdpleaser in years, a CGI ride that wields the technology with an eye for payoff. It’s also his most stylized movie since “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence,” though a lot more fun, with a cavalcade of visuals leaving the impression that he watched a bunch of Luc Besson movies and decided he could outdo them all. The result is an astonishing sci-fi spectacle and a relentless nostalgia trip at once.

Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel compensated for its literary shortcomings with a phenomenal premise, a precise futuristic vision just familiar enough to seem viable. In the year 2045, while much of the world lies in poor shape and the bulk of humanity wastes its days in the Oasis, a massive virtual reality designed by the late billionaire tech genius James Halliday (Mark Rylance, seen in flashbacks under an unkempt wig and a strange American accent) and his business partner (Simon Pegg). Diehard players wear avatars of their choosing as they roam through the Oasis’ sprawling galaxies, engaging with a plethora of pop-culture reference points (Batman! Transformers! “Back to the Future”!) that inspired geeky Hallidan, an ’80s kid who probably grew up on Spielberg movies, too. The premise is ideally suited for a pricey studio production: The bulk of its scenes unfold in a digital world, opening the floodgates for an overwhelming CGI pileup that steals from revered big-budget movies because that’s what the players do, too.

Spielberg and screenwriter Zak Penn are faithful to the book’s protagonist, disgruntled Ohio orphan Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) who escapes a drab routine with his aunt and her abusive boyfriend by living in a trailer nearby. Most of the time, he’s buried in his VR headset and wandering the Oasis as Parzival, who looks like a cheap Final Fantasy knockoff, and hangs with his best pal Aech (Lena Waithe). The friends have never met in real life, but they don’t really need to — their entire social lives exist within the confines of the Oasis, where they join an endless stream of players in following the breadcrumbs Halliday left when he died: Find all the clues leading to a series of hidden keys in his world, and his company’s stock belongs to you.

This futuristic Willy Wonka setup leads players to engage in a trepidatious online racetrack populated by a hilarious range of threats, from King Kong to a T.rex straight out of “Jurassic Park” (one of the few times Spielberg references one of his own credits). Wade’s an expert gamer, but nobody gets past Kong — not even Ar3mis (Olivia Cook), the pink-haired speed demon with whom Wade’s utterly smitten. There’s nothing particularly unique about Wade, but the movie’s throwbacks extend to its live-action scenes as well: He’s the typical white kid ready to rule the world, a Spielberg staple since “E.T.”, and through perseverance he finally cracks the code to get to the first key. Intrigued (and possibly a little smitten herself), Ar3mis joins forces with Wade/Parzival and Aech in a quest to find the other keys.

This prolonged setup inevitably leads to some major complications courtesy of the movie’s central villain, corporate overlord Nolan (Ben Mendelsohn), who employs an entire army to find the keys before Wade and his pals. Aided by a gothic monster henchman named i-R0k (who talks like Skeletor and sounds, hilariously, like T.J. Miller), Nolan concocts an evil scheme to take control of the Oasis before those annoying kids nab the prize. From there, “Ready Player One” trips over its exciting momentum, tumbling into a series of flashy battle sequences and rapid-fire strategy sessions until it finally winds back to a satisfying conclusion.

Nevertheless, the first hour marks some of the most viscerally engaging filmmaking Spielberg has ever done, starting with the moment Wade speeds through a virtual racetrack in a DeLorean time machine (Robert Zemeckis gets more than one nod) and continuing into a holographic showdown that pitches into the real world.

In Cline’s book, a lethal twist leads the character into a bleak, solitary chapter of his life that Spielberg’s too earnest to touch; instead, the movie becomes a triumphant tale of gamers taking charge on the battlefield. “Ready Player One” wants to make people who love its references celebrate them all over again. While it lacks edge, subtlety, or the genuine dread to explore life in a complete technocracy, it does find the Iron Giant battling Mechagodzilla while a rock-heavy soundtrack featuring everything from Blondie to the Bee Gees underscores the mayhem.

Penn’s screenplay (co-credited to Kline) lands on a few enticing moments outside the Oasis, most of which revolve around Mendolsohn’s character, a wonderful caricature of an executive eager to exploit his product even as he knows nothing about it. (When Wade challenges Nolan with trivia about John Hughes movies, Nolan shoots back with help from a lackey whispering the answers in his ear.)

“You think I’m just a corporate asshole,” Nolan says, and Spielberg may as well be saying the same thing to a skeptical audience: On paper, “Ready Player One” certainly looks like another ill-conceived Hollywood product, but this 71-year-old Hollywood veteran is determined to make something better than that. The movie’s greatest sequence is a prolonged homage to Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” too rich with details to spoil here, but needless to say, this is not a brainless blockbuster so much as an attempt to elevate the blockbuster form in its own language.

Once “Ready Player One” winds down, it can’t match the ecstatic contact high of encountering the movie’s trickery from the outset. The bulk of the live-action scenes lack the crisp energy of the Oasis, and Spielberg can’t match the forward momentum with character depth to spare. Wade and his pals have backstories, but they mostly just dangle in the background. This should come as no surprise in a movie that fetishizes its technological polish. As one savvy player puts it, “Reality is a bummer.”

Eventually, “Ready Player One” becomes the very thing its characters admire, a preponderance of commercial entertainment smashed together into singular blockbuster chaos. Spielberg’s roving digital camera (for the first time, this celluloid fetishist has reason to abandon ship) is aided by effective motion-capture performances and ever-changing landscapes. None of that changes the retrograde gender politics: This is a typical boy’s movie that will strike younger audiences as being out of sync with the current moment (just imagine what might happen if Waithe and Sheridan traded places), but then, so’s the nostalgia-laden Oasis.

“Ready Player One” is one of the more clever excuses to run wild with special effects. Of course, that outcome makes sense from a filmmaker whose entire legacy has been steeped in showmanship. As it cycles through dozens of references to past achievements, “Ready Player One” amounts to a frenetic attempt at remaking the past 30-odd years of popular culture by one of its greatest architects. Without seeing the movie, it’s hard to imagine anyone could turn it into a satisfying product; by the end, it’s clear that only Steven Spielberg can.

Eric Kohn

Mening:

Als eerste wil ik meegeven dat deze film mij vanaf het moment dat ik erover wist aansprak. Steven Spielberg is met deze film dan ook gericht op een specifieke doelgroep.

Vooral het eerste uur zit de film vol met CGI. Ik ben akkoord met het feit dat dit Spielbergs meest aantrekkelijke film is om te kijken. Je fantasie slaat op hol bij het kijken van al de mogelijkheden die ‘The Oasis’ te bieden heeft. Steven laat duidelijk zien hoe creatief hij kan zijn en trekt hiermee veel mensen van mijn leeftijd aan.

Trouwe gamers zullen veel van de ontelbare referenties in de film zonder enige twijfel hebben opgemerkt. Ik persoonlijk heb redelijk wat personages gezien van games die ik zelf speel of ken. Dit was een groot pluspunt voor mij en waarschijnlijk ook voor vele anderen. Mensen die niet gekend zijn met de gamewereld zullen zich niet thuis voelen in deze film. Zoals Eric Kohn zegt: Het is een echte jongensfilm.

Jammer genoeg ben ik ook akkoord met het tekort aan diepgang van de personages. Het eerste uur vol CGI laat je met teleurstelling wachten in het tweede uur. Het hoofdpersonage en zijn vrienden net als de slechteriken hebben amper tot geen achtergrondverhaal. Het contrast van actie in ‘The Oasis’ en van in de echte wereld is te groot waardoor alles wat er in werkelijkheid gebeurd ronduit saai is.

De humor in het verhaal is zwak en vaak zelfs misplaatst wat de scène en de identiteit of het karakter van het personage in kwestie verpest. Het plot is ook wat teveel zwart wit naar mijn mening. Het cliché ‘Het goede verliest altijd van het kwade’ komt teveel tot uiting.

Al bij al was de film aangenaam om te kijken. Steven Spielberg is de geknipte persoon om een evenwicht tussen inhoud en beeld te zoeken. Ook al was het alles behalve perfect, niemand had het beter gekund. Het acteren was zeker meer dan ok. Tye Sheridan paste perfect bij zijn personage als Wade. Ik had hoge verwachtingen die niet volledig werden voldaan maar het is niet je alledaagse blockbuster.

1 note · View note

justanothercinemaniac · 7 years

Text

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #128 - The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Spoilers below.

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: Blu-ray

1) This film is a classic of American cinema. If you ever want to learn how to tell a slick story, watch this film. Because outside of one or two musical numbers, there is nothing in here that doesn’t need to be. It is all entertaining and slick.

2) Judy Garland’s iconic performance as Dorothy Gale.

In the original tale Dorothy was a pre-adolescent eight year old, where as Garland was 16 upon playing Dorothy. They had to have her in a tight corset to keep her boobs under wraps. Now that I’ve said that fun anecdote...

Garland is pretty great as Dorothy. She is able to perfectly capture her childlike wonder, heart, and innocence in a way which makes the audience feel like a kid. It brings us into this world of youth and fairytales through a compelling and fun character. Dorothy comes off as compassionate and loyal, and while a bit of a damsel towards the end we understand that she is just a child who is thrust into this world and desperately is trying to get back home. Garland is perfect in the role and the film needs her to be as iconic as it is.

3) The decision to have various characters and lines (“Well your head ain’t made of straw you know!”) be echoed in Oz gives the film a sense of magical realism (a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction). I would not go far enough to call the film an example of that genre, but it definitely has some of those elements.

4) “Over the Rainbow”

Without a doubt THE most iconic song in the film. In my opinion there are two songs from cinema which perfectly capture a child’s imagination: “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and “Over the Rainbow” from this film. The song was almost cut from the film, with studio heads fearing it would bore kids! Can you even imagine? The film’s light melody and childlike innocence is what truly carries it. It connects with anyone who has ever longed for someplace better, for a far off land filled with adventure and intrigue. Garland’s vocals do the beautiful composition amazing justice, making the two inseparable. Honestly, it’s THE moment from the film and the movie hasn’t even gone to color yet!

5) The relationship with Dorothy and Toto is wonderfully strong. I wonder if there’s a backstory to that. Like maybe Toto was a gift to her from her late parents or something like that. Either way, any dog lover will appreciate it.

6) The fact that Professor Marvel (played by Frank Morgan, who later plays the titular Wizard) is a total phony doesn’t have so much weight the first time you watch this film. It does however become wildly important after the film’s end. Also the fact that Dorothy is so quick to believe speaks wildly to her youthful innocence.

7) It took me a while to realize why Dorothy is so desperate to return home when she has a whole song about wanting to be elsewhere, and only recently did I realize why. She thinks her Auntie Em is sick! Professor Marvel told her that her running away made her sick and heartbroken, and it is this belief and love for her family which drives her through the rest of the film.

8) Dorothy looking out the window in the middle of the twister has some wonderful sight gags.

youtube

9) The transition from a sepia tone world to a color one is remarkably seamless. Credit to the director, cinematographer, and editor(s?) who worked on this film for that. Bravo.

10) One of the reasons the film is such a classic is largely because of its wonderful imagery. All of Oz is wonderful fantasy, using the brightness of technicolor to its full advantage and creating a storybook world that appeals to the eyes of children and adults everywhere. The entire color palette is like that of a rainbow, something very fitting considering the main song of this film.

11)

Glinda [upon meeting Dorothy]: “Are you a good which, or a bad witch?”

Oh, if only it were that simple.

12)

Glinda [after she hears Dorothy’s opinion that all witches are ugly]: “Only bad witches are ugly.”

Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, dude.

13) While watching this film I kinda thought Glinda was being a little TOO chipper, and that the ready celebration of death was a bit odd. Then I remembered a fan theory which painted the supposed Good Witch of the North as the villain. Read at your own risk of childhood ruining.

14) I don’t love this film as much as others, although I do admit its pretty damn great. So it’s at risk of offending the purists out there that I say I think the whole Munchkinland song goes on a little too long. Also some of the Munchkins - probably because of their costumes - freak me out. Mainly the Lollipop Guild.

15) THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST!!!!

She’s so freaking evil, I love it! The Wicked Witch of the West is one of the most iconic film villains of all time, possibly even more iconic than some legends as Darth Vader. Margaret Hamilton plays the Witch with DELIGHTFUL villainy! You can tell she’s having a lot of fun in the part and we as the audience are having fun because of it. The Witch is simultaneously both in line with the stories we hear as children while at times being truly threatening. Even as an adult there are times I go, “holy cow, this woman is EVIL!!!!!!” That is amazing to me. Hamilton was a fan of the books and was delighted to hear she was being considered for a part, and that enthusiasm just infects ever green skin cell of this baddie. Some stories are only as good as their villain, and The Wizard of Oz has an INCREDIBLE villain.

16) The Ruby Slippers.

In the original story the slippers were silver, but the filmmakers changed it to ruby in order to take full advantage of the technicolor process. These days the ruby slippers are such an iconic piece of film that there’s a pair in the Smithsonian institute. Just like everything else in Oz, it captures our imaginations totally and completely.

17) Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

Okay, but what happens if you follow the Red Brick Road? Am I the only one curious about that? Where does the Red Brick Road lead? Wonderland? Neverland? Cleveland? CAN WE GET A SPINOFF ANSWERING THIS QUESTION PLEASE!?!?!?

18) The Scarecrow.

(Let’s all take a moment to realize how relevant and awesome that line is in 2017.)

Out of the trio, the Scarecrow may well be my favorite. He is just so sweet and kind, despite of (or because of?) his naivety. Some fun slapstick comes about from his character, and...I don’t know what else. For some undefinable reason he’s just my favorite of the bunch!

19) This film does have some nice humor.

Dorothy [after interpreting the rusted Tin Man’s words]: “He said oil can.”

Scarecrow: “Oil can what?”

20) According to IMDb:

Ray Bolger was originally cast as the Tin Man. However, he insisted that he would rather play the Scarecrow--his childhood idol Fred Stone had originated that role on stage in 1902. Buddy Ebsen had been cast as the Scarecrow, and now switched roles with Bolger. Unbeknownst to him, however, the make-up for the Tin Man contained aluminum dust, which ended up coating Ebsen's lungs. He also had an allergic reaction to it. One day he was physically unable to breathe and had to be rushed to hospital. The part was immediately recast and MGM gave no public reason why Ebsen was being replaced. The actor considered this the biggest humiliation he ever endured and a personal affront. When Jack Haley took over the part of the Tin Man, he wasn't told why Ebsen had dropped out (and in the meantime, the Tin Man make-up was changed from aluminum dust to aluminum paste as one of its key components). However, his vocals remain whenever the song "We're off to see the Wizard" is played. Jack Haley's vocals were never used during the song, but were used for "If I Only Had a Heart" and "If I Only Had the Nerve." Ebsen's vocals are also heard in the extended version of "If I were King of the Forest," though the spoken segment has Jack Haley. Although no Ebsen footage from the film has ever been released, surviving still photos show him taking part in the Wicked Witch's castle sequence.

21) The various reprises of “If I Only Had _____” (A Brain/A Heart/The Nerve) are some of my favorite songs in the film. Not only is the tune itself sweet and memorable, but they each serve as slick simple introductions to each character’s core conflict.

22) Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! I don’t have anything to say about that line I just wanted to include it in my recap post.

23) Although the Scarecrow is probably my favorite of the trio, the Cowardly Lion is the funniest I think.

The idea of his cowardice allows for a great amount of physical humor and humor in his dialogue. He’s the comic relief in an already very funny and sweet cast.

24) Apparently the actors playing the trio of characters would often show boat and try to steal the scenes from one another, to the point where the director (or whichever director was working that day, as this film had a lot) had to shout at them to let Judy Garland be the star because it was her story.

25) Man, these guys get to the poppy field WAY sooner than I remember!

I also didn’t remember that it got resolved by ��Deus Ex Glinda” just casting a magical spell to kill all the poppies with snow. Which is weird considering it should be one of the most memorable scenes in the film.

26) Frank Morgan - the actor who played The Wizard and Professor Marvel - also plays the sentry in Emerald City, the coach driver in the city, and a third guard in the city. Now that we know of The Wizard’s tricky ways, I wonder if all three of these are not meant to be the same character.

27) There are parts in the Emerald City sequence I find a little on the lengthy side, a little superfluous. The songs where all of Dorothy’s squad is getting treated well is fine, it’s short enough. But I totally forget about the entire “King of the Forrest” number any time I watch the film and honestly don’t think the film needs it. But that’s just me.

28) I think part of the Witch’s truly threatening nature is through the strong visuals this film uses. “Surrender Dorothy” is a particularly memorable sight, as black ash fills the sky of an otherwise happy place.

29) I will say though, even though I find the whole “King of the Forrest” song a bit pointless, it does have this nice bit:

Lion: What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage!

30) Probably the time the Lion is at his funniest is when the group is approaching The Wizard.

youtube

Also The Wizard is kind of a jerk.

31) Dude, there’s a door just a few feet away. You DON’T need to go through the window!

youtube

32) Where the heck did the Scarecrow get a gun? Where’d the Tin Man get a giant wrench?

This movie is weird. I love that.

33) The Flying Monkeys!

Another example of incredible imaginative imagery.

34) Okay so...why does the Witch want the slippers? I mean we have theories in all OTHER forms of Wizard of Oz media. They belonged to her sister, they have the power to jump worlds, she wants a little color in her wardrobe, but the film itself never gives a reason. She just WANTS them.

35) I always really appreciated the devotion the three friends had when going to rescue Dorothy. I don’t know, it just sort of moves me the friendship they were able to craft in such a short time.

36) So this scene with the guards singing:

youtube

I did a production of Our Town YEARS ago and there was this girl in the cast who said she grew up thinking these guys were chanting, “Oreo! O-RE-o!” Which, you know, makes sense. That was funny enough on it’s own. Then Wreck-It Ralph came out...

youtube

37) For some reason “Night on Bald Mountain” plays as Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man go to rescue Dorothy from the which. Because why not, I guess.

38) The fact that water melts the witch - while iconic - sort of comes from nowhere. Was there something earlier in the film that was supposed to foreshadow this? It’s very Deus Ex Machina.

39) The Wizard revealed!

A for effort dude.

40) The scene where The Wizard is handing out the gifts for everyone (a diploma for Scarecrow which works as a brain, the “heart” for Tin Man, a medal for lion) is very funny. Frank Morgan benefits from his fast talking yet sincere nature.

Scarecrow [after receiving his gift]: “How can I ever thank you enough?”

The Wizard: “Well, you can’t.”

And then I love this too.

Dorothy [after The Wizard talks about getting here in a runaway hot air balloon]: “Weren’t you frightened?”

The Wizard: “Frightened? Child, you're talking to a man who's laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe... I was petrified.”

41) I either don’t understand the lesson here or I do and I dislike it. Dorothy has this line of how if she ever wants something again, she’ll just look in her backyard because “there’s no place like home.” While I appreciate the sentiment of, “There’s no place like home,” the idea of home is not defined by the place you grow up in. It’s the place where you feel the most safe, the most comfortable, the place you miss when you’re not there. It’s usually defined by people, not location. Good people who treat you well. So while Dorothy does have that back in Kansas, the line about her backyard throws me.

The Wizard of Oz is a classic and for good reason. It’s colorful and vibrant imagery will stick with children of all ages, and through all its parts combined it just captures the imagination of childhood perfectly. It’s mostly pure, innocent, but not in a naive or babyish way. It’s an entertaining treat everyone should see at least once.

#The Wizard of Oz #Judy Garland #Margaret Hamilton #Frank Morgan #Wizard of Oz #Epic Movie (Re)Watch #Movie #Film #GIF

5 notes · View notes

lovemesomesurveys · 7 years

Text

when was the last time you ate fast food? I had a breakfast burrito from a fast food place on Monday.

do you get annoyed when people don’t text back straight away? Depends. If we’re in the middle of a conversation, or I’m waiting for an answer, yes. Particularly when talking to certain people.

what was the last thing you had to drink? Dr. Pepper.

do you listen to a variety of music, or do you tend to stick to one genre? I listen to a variety, usually. I just put my playlist on shuffle. Some days I might listen to a certain genre; though, depending on my mood.

do you find it easier to study alone, or with other people? Study alone. I would get distracted enough on my own as it is, let alone with someone else.

did you enjoy the last book you read for fun? what was it? Yes. It was, Back to Yesterday by Whitney Barbetti. It was book two in a series (Bleeding Hearts).

how long does it take you to get out of bed in the morning? Like forty minutes to an hour.

when you’re going to be at home all day, do you bother to get out of your pajamas? No. That’s how I spend a vast majority of my days. I see no point in getting dressed just to lie around in bed.

before an exam or test, how do you deal with the nerves? I always got really bad test anxiety. I’d have to take my anxiety medication beforehand.

given the choice, would you rather drink juice or soda? Soda. Yep, I’m a soda drinker. I feel like the only one sometimes on here. I don’t like juice.

how many piercings do you have? are there any more that you want? Just two, one in each earlobe.

do you believe a song can change your life? explain: I wouldn’t say all that. A song can affect me in some way if it’s something I can really relate to, but it’s not “life changing.”

what’s your favourite television show that’s no longer on air? Roseanne. It’s on air, but syndicated.

do you speak on the phone or text people more? Out of the two, I text more. I really don’t do much of that either, though.

do you watch reality tv, or do you prefer other shows? I do.

which internet browser do you prefer? I use Firefox. Chrome was giving me issues.

are you capable of fixing your computer if it breaks? Nope. Two years ago my laptop went kaput and that was the end of that.

do you wear actual pajamas to bed, or do you just wear any old thing? Pajamas, but for me pajamas can also be leggings and a baggy shirt. For the past month I’ve been living in long sleeves and sweatshirts cause it’s so damn cold.

do you read or watch tv before you go to sleep, or just lie there and think until you fall asleep? I have the TV on, but I usually listen to ASMR videos until I fall asleep.

how old is too old to sleep with stuffed animals, in your opinion? Do what you want. I have two that sit on my bed.

what was the last movie you watched at home? did you enjoy it? I was watching, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days earlier.

do you prefer to spend your free time alone or with other people? Depends on my mood. I like spending time with my family, but I also need my alone time.

do you play angry birds? Nope. Never have.

do you tend to get hungry late at night? Yes.

how often do you need to charge your phone (on average)? I charge it at night when I go to bed.

do you find that your laptop (if you have one) tends to overheat a lot? Nope.

what time do you generally prefer to wake up in the mornings? My body wakes up around 7ish. It’s not what I prefer, it’s just how it happens.

if someone offered you an all-expenses paid trip to london, where would you go and what would you see? Everythinggg. I’d love that and enjoy it to its full potential doing anything and everything I can.

what type of soda do you prefer? if you don’t drink soda, what’s your favourite fruit juice? I like Dr. Pepper, Coke, Pepsi, and the cherry varieties of each of those. Every once in a great while I’ll have a Mountain Dew. It’s been a long time since I’ve had it.

have you ever slept through your alarm and missed an important appointment? Not appointment, but school.

do you tend to snack when you’re on the computer? I’m on all the time, so it’s bound to happen at some point.

how often do you stay up on the computer and completely forget the time? That’s how my days go pretty much. Except for when my dash is dead.

sometimes do you wish you lived in a fantasy world? I do whenever I read.

has anything annoyed you tremendously lately? Yes. It doesn’t take a whole lot.

do you like candy as much as willy wonka? No.

do you tend to get turned off when someone you start dating seems too interested too soon? Yes. My first and only actual boyfriend back in high school was saying he loved me after a week or two. :O

what kind of sunglasses do you have? I don’t wear sunglasses. I wear glasses.

do you know anyone who drinks tea a lot? No.

is your sexual orientation a big deal to some people? I don’t think anyone cares.

what would you say if the ex who hurt you the most told you they hated you? I’d be hurt and shocked because I don’t know what the heck I did to cause such intense feelings.

have you ever had boston cream pie toaster strudels? Nope.

do you think you’ve done a lot of surveys? I know that I have. I’ve been doing them for yearsss.

have you ever not been able to swallow pills? I can’t swallow pills. I have to crush mine, blech.

have you ever said you hated someone you didn’t know? I probably have said that at some point, but I didn’t mean it. Hate is a strong word.

who was the last person that told you they had a confession to make? I have no idea.

when was the last time you talked to an ex of yours?

Last July.

has any of your friends dated an ex/previous crush of yours?

One of my friends dated my ex in high school. I was like, “oh yeah sure that’s cool go for it” but I really wasn’t that cool with it.

when was the last time you had a sleepless night? Quite often.

do you know anyone who participates in novembeard?

I know it as Noshavember, but no.

One word to describe the last person you kissed?

Immature.

What was the last thing you spent money on? A few things at Wal-Mart the other day.

Has anyone ever cheated on their boyfriend/girlfriend with you? No.

When is the last time you fell asleep watching a movie? Not sure.

What is on your mind? Everything that always is, which is a lot of things.

Are you counting down for anything? Kind of.

If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? I could use a vacation. I’ve been wanting to see the snow.

Does your hair have layers? Yes.

Are your nails done? Nope.

Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My mom.

Do you own anything that is tiedyed? No.

Do you call it fall or autumn? I say both.

What is something you are not looking forward to? My weekly Thursday doctor appointments. Blah.

Are you feeling guilty about anything right now? Yes. I’ve been feeling that way for awhile about a lot of things.

Who/what is the last thing you kicked? Nothing.

What was the last thing put in your mouth? Lasagna.

Are you wearing any clothes that don’t belong to you? Nope.

Do you like where you live? I hate the city, but like the state.

What do you have pierced on you? Just my ears.

Do you blow dry your hair? Nope.

Who was the last person you cried in front of? My mom.

Do you straighten your hair? It’s been monthssss since I’ve straightened my hair.

Has a good friendship ended recently that you wish had not? I don’t think they’ve ended... yet..., but I’ve drifted apart from all my friends this past year. I feel like they’ve finally given up on me. I don’t blame them. They deserve a much better friend. :/

Does anyone call you babe or baby? Nope.

Was today a good day? It was just another day in my life.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

2 notes · View notes

ecotone99 · 4 years

Text

[FN] Man in a Box - LUDIMΔGIK

I guess I'm as good a place to start as any. When I say "I" I don't mean the guy who was just speaking to you in the Introduction. I'm Chance, King of Queens. Is my name really Chance? Yes, but I’m not a rapper. Am I really a king? Yes, of the Queens of Kings. I don't want to tell you my real name. Where I’m from, everyone knows me as Chance. And by everyone I mean by you. Not "you," you but yeah, well, you. You from another time and dimension. You in another time and dimension know me—in another time and dimension. BUT before you roll your eyes and return to Facebook or Twitter, or, I don't know, TMZ? (Do people still use Gawker at this point? I'm still getting acclimated.), I know what I said sounds crazy. I know. And, while I do acknowledge that this might put this little story in the "fantasy" genre of your mind, I do encourage you to bear with me, because— because—actually, screw it! Ha! I can see already that most of you barely made it through the last guy's ramblings. Now this?! Well I'll have you know that I did not exactly ask to be in this position either, but here we are, with me in your hands! If you want to close me like a window, then do it! I was already out the door anyhow! But if you close that window, and I close that door, with me on the other side of it, we could be trapped! As I don't think we'll make much use of that hole in the wall, like with Pyramus and Thisbe, one of us would ruin this love affair!

Excuse me. I—I lost myself for a moment there. I think it knew I was talking to you. Whatever “it” is. That seems to be happening, ever since I got here. For one, I don’t mix metaphors. Often. And who the heck is Primus von Frisbee?

I’ll be honest. It’s exhausting. Did it work on you? The reverse psychology? The scare tactic? It got me before. You could stop, you know. You could stop reading. Possibly it’ll be too much. Possibly it’ll be too confusing. I can’t though. I’m stuck here. There’s no turning back. Is the desperation evident? I. am. thirsty. Burning up. You see, I'm really not used to this. Where I'm from, I'm a star. Like, I don't know. I can't say who I'm like because I'm just me. It'd be like if George Clooney suddenly said, "Who am I? I'm like Bradley Cooper." We'd all be like, "Um, what are you talking about, George Clooney? Are you okay? You're both very essential, incredibly sexy, talented m—theatre par excellence—you—" okay maybe this isn't the best example. But you get it. You got it, right? Ugh. It'd be like if Meryl Streep said, "I'm like Leo Messi!" (Though, come to think, she probably could play Leo in a movie on or on the field, the woman can do anything. Good point. Well, a point. Okay, focus! Me, Chance. I'm like...who am I like?) So I guess, in a way, where I’m from I'm like Andy Warhol, but more awkward? Or maybe more like a not-so-genius Leonardo da Vinci? Without the impeccable charisma, smoking body and that whole Renaissance-man quality that he was known for. Wow! Really not selling this well here. I’m like—I’m like an innovative Norman effing Rockwell, okay! Just—kind of commenting on and changing the times through painting, you know? I’m me! Just me. Imagine you, famous, and you’ll more or less get me. Does that make sense? Yes? No? Anyone?

Gah! It's so hard! You see, how can I explain to you that you already like me? Most of you, anyway. How can I explain that others before you, your ancestors, already have? (Some, not so much.) I guess I really can't, can I? I'll just have to show you. I'll just have to tell you about what happened in my dimension. How it's differed from yours.

In my dimension, the tension…the tension is very different. Kind of funny but, in my dimension Twitter banned Donald Trump from using the site during the middle of his presidential campaign (for obvious reasons) and he lost. But not because of being banned from Twitter. He wasn’t even a contender. I’m not going to go into all the details now, but the history of the USA during the last twenty years has been immensely different, because in the year 2000 of my dimension George W. Bush suffered a serious heart attack on Election Day and did not move to halt the recounting of Florida’s votes in the Supreme Court, which ultimately secured Al Gore the electoral college votes needed for victory.

For the past several years we’ve been turning methane released from livestock into renewable energy. Which sounds like some wacky Willy Wonka nonsense, I know, but US scientists collaborated with researchers in Argentina who had already developed a similar technology on a smaller scale, and together they made a device capable of extracting the gas out of the atmosphere. The federal government actually incentivized farmers to use the technology to make money. And there’s a lot of new building going on, even skyscrapers covered in plants. Companies also extracting carbon from the atmosphere. Landfills which double as power plants but are treated so they don’t release toxic chemicals…that triple as city attractions and tourist destinations. All of that is barely happening here, if at all. It’s kind of surreal to witness your world; it’s almost the opposite of mine. Partly due to Gore convincing one conservative billionaire (whom I’ll not name) that the future could and should be green, and that the moment was the optimal time to invest. Of course, it was the story of it that made any difference. The headline was enough to freeze the country’s broken, partisaned ice and allow politicians and private interest to skate to greener pastures, or whatever. I should add, by the way, that I’m not even some big environmentalist nerd. I mean, I care! I’m just telling you how it’s different in my place and time.

Regarding the small stuff, I really don't need to spend paragraphs describing it. Celebrity gossip is all kind of the same, isn’t it? You’re probably more curious as to how I got here, from another dimension. Or why? Lean close to the screen, let me tell you a secret. (I’m not doing that.) The secret is: I have no effin’ idea! Like, did I die? I passed out one night and I woke up in another version of me. How would you feel if you woke up in your body, but it wasn’t yours, and you couldn’t even talk or control it? You just sit there and watch this…buffoon of yourself go about all day mucking just about everything up. Barely getting a word in. I feel like I’m stuck inside a copy of myself here, is what I’m saying, a version of me in serious need of an upgrade. I feel like I’m on layaway. I’m half-convinced I’m dreaming. I’m struggling more than a bit, truth be told. You can probably tell, I don’t have a lot of answers. Really, very few. I’m kind of just rolling with it? Low-key losing my mind a bit but in a really controlled way. Maybe I just have to do something here, then I can go. Complete some task. I don’t know. What I do know is that one tiny BIG difference between your dimension and mine is me. Why does that matter? I think part of what's brought me here is the same thing that brought you to where you are now, that which brings us such joy yet so often gets in our way of passions pursued and unrealized alike. Any guesses as to what it is? I'll give you two hints. It doesn't grow on trees and it makes the world go round.

You guessed it! Love! You can't buy it, ya know. (Oh, and the money was a bit of a problem, too.) You see, in your dimension, a battle never occurred. A king was taken prisoner, in a sense, before it could. The me who used to inhabit this body solely, before I arrived. I guess I should give him a name, shouldn't I? To make this easier. We'll call the pre-Me me "Alex." Yeah. I like that. Alexander! It sounds honorable enough. Alex, he was a good guy. Is, I should say. I mean he's not gone. I’m Alex. I’m Alex from another dimension, one in which he had a lot less problems and did a lot more painting. He’s here. I, Chance, am an altogether different Alex, an Alex he could have been if he had gotten the...well, hopefully you're starting to get it. I don't know what to tell ya. Go back and reread, or I don't know, ask a friend. As for Alex, that cruel, blind love struck him at his core, just once in his life (his faulty tortoise shell never was very thick). Boy, did it mess with his brain. By the time it was finished with him, he was writhing on unable to get on his feet again and finish the race.

Because of love, because of a card in the deck remained blank. A king card was missing, never entered a battle. It was reshuffled, reshuffled, from one relationship to the next, one job to the next, one drink to the next. One joint, one cigarette. Then reshuffled some more. And yea I feel I should make it clear that when I say shuffle I mean drink, drink...drunk. Alex’s dream of being a novelist

Unfortunately, for Alex—let's see. How can I phrase this with self-compassion? We're a mixed bag. The roller-coaster ride was fun before it coasted right off the tracks. Or maybe it was that at a certain point Alex "forgot" to pull the safety bar down tight enough. And maybe the ride safety inspector was careless, carefully so. In the realm of looks, let's just say we’re kind of handsome and kind of ugly. In the realm of personality, a real fly guy and hella awkward. Brains? Smart enough to be writing this and dumb enough to be writing this. (And don't forget the dose of crazy!) What else? Virtue? Check +! In the realm of physical prowess? We’re the crouching tiger and the hidden dragon, caged at the zoo. We’re part beauty, part beast. Finally found, but so lost here. Y'all, there's giant wave about to lurch out of this great big length of ocean, and we’re just as liable to get carried away with it as you are. How do you see us, though? That strange, magical interplay between your mind, body and soul: how does it reflect us back to you?

Maybe if I let Alex explain it will help. OH. But first there's an important detail I'm leaving out. These "dream battles"—Rounds—in our story affect the real world in real ways, all too real. You know how you go to sleep and dream about the events and people of the past? Maybe about your problems, worries, sexual repressions...the subconscious is a jungle and the machete that is your conscious allows very limited access to it, for most of us. It's different with the Players in our story. Whereas most of us dream with little control over our actions in them, the outcome of their dreams, which they navigate with lucidity, can affect our culture, our politics, our every day to day. Success for these stars in the Ludimagik realm translates to success in the real world.

But Alex? Poor Alex. He never stood a chance. It’s almost as if the Universe said, what an infant, he’ll never grow up, and so it set about making him cry. Of course, he didn’t exactly make anything easier on himself, either. Let me ask you: How often do you remember your dreams if you get hammered, if that's an occurrence for you at all? Much less know that you're dreaming and control the dream? How much do you think your brain is developing, as it does throughout our twenties, when it's constantly being drenched in booze and beer? We're here to tell you: not as much as if you're living right, not by a long shot. For the longest time he had no clue that he could dream with any lucidity. And he’s still doesn’t have the full picture.

See, without saying too much yet, what I can tell you is that a good deal of people know a lot more about Alex than he does. They have been trying to orchestrate his fate, manipulating him into playing their games. Exploit what he doesn’t know. Or maybe they think he’s a bad guy. I don’t know. It’s pretty messed up when you think about all he’s been through. But hey—power corrupts! Someone’s got to have it.

In his defense, had the “demon” of alcoholism not gotten to him, things would be different. I’m proof of that. It’s hard to fight something you can’t see. The point is that drinking, getting drunk, every day, for years, up until the point when he nearly died, afforded him no second thoughts about dreaming. He’s getting there, though. Soon, he’ll play Ludimagik. Soon, he’ll be just aware, as soon you will be, of what he is capable of building, of creating.

Shall we meet Alex? Just be warned: he’s a little—what’s that word we heard the other day?—”extra.” But that’s just me. Here, decide for yourself.

Continue reading here.

See the previous section, the Introduction, here.

Please share and subscribe if you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

submitted by /u/nick_boatwright [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/2QOZbvu

#Blogger #Story

0 notes

ramialkarmi · 7 years

Text

Mind Candy's CEO explained how the company wants to make a 'Pokémon Go'-style comeback

"Moshi Monsters" maker Mind Candy was once one of London's top startups but recently avoided bankruptcy with a £1.2 million funding round

The company is launching "Moshi Monsters Egg Hunt" on mobile next month and the beta has around 500,000 downloads, according to CEO Ian Chambers

Chambers said the company has sold 40,000 books from new franchise Petlandia at £19.99 each, bringing in around £800,000 in sales

Mind Candy was once one of London's most successful startups. It created hit game "Moshi Monsters," and was reportedly valued at £125 million in 2011.

During the early 2000s, Mind Candy was cited as an appealing British success story. Its colourful founder, Michael Acton Smith, was often characterised in the press as a Willy Wonka-type figure, like in this April 2014 article from The Telegraph. In that profile, Acton Smith likened himself to Walt Disney and said he wanted to build "the greatest entertainment company in the world."

It seemed like it could be possible. Mind Candy went on the Disney-like path of licensing deals, physical merchandise, and there was even a movie.

But within months of that Telegraph profile, the company's public image shifted.

Acton Smith stepped down as CEO in July 2014 to take a more creative role in the business. The Financial Times noted that sales had slowed, and that Mind Candy was late to bring "Moshi Monsters" to mobile.

Later that year, Acton Smith spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt to reveal just how bad it was. He revealed that 2013 had been a tough year, and that the company's staff had halved to 100. Revenues in 2013 were "not good," he said.

It turns out "Moshi Monsters" was successful on desktop, and had 80 million registered users in 2013. But Mind Candy only released "Moshi Monster" apps in early 2014. As a comparison, Rovio's hit mobile game "Angry Birds" came out in 2009. And as Acton Smith subsequently admitted: "The mobile games haven't taken off successfully."

It looked like "Moshi Monsters" wasn't going to be as successful on mobile as it was on desktop, and Mind Candy would need to come up with new games and new strategies to kickstart its growth again.

At the time, Acton Smith teased a new game called "World of Warriors," a mobile fantasy game that would potentially appeal to a broader market than just young children.

Two years later, in an interview with Business Insider, Acton Smith said "World of Warriors" "didn't resonate."

"It's going," he said. "But it's not a huge cash generator."

That's probably a good description for Mind Candy as it is now.

Mind Candy's current CEO, Ian Chambers, joined the company in February 2016 to turn the company's fortunes around. He's a gaming veteran who previously worked at EA and Ubisoft.

Chambers said Mind Candy could be massive once again, and said Moshi Monsters could undergo similar revivals to franchises like Pokémon with "Pokémon Go" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" with its 2014 cinematic reboot, which was critically panned but financially successful.

"I love a challenge," he told Business Insider at Mind Candy's colourful offices in East London.

That's just as well, because Mind Candy warned in October that it might go bust. Last month, the company raised £1.2 million from its existing backers Accel and LocalGlobe, and renegotiated a crucial loan agreement with lenders TriplePoint Capital.

Mind Candy wants to make money from lots of different ideas

Mind Candy had several problems — "Moshi Monsters" was its only smash hit, and it was slow on the uptake to smartphones.

It also relied on subscriptions to make money.

According to IHS Markit analyst Jack Kent, that model "hasn't yet translated to mobile games — which are usually monetised by in-app purchases or advertising."

And while Mind Candy could build games with in-app purchases, Kent pointed to "negative publicity" for other games where children racked up huge bills from in-game purchases, like one child who spent $6,000 (£4,600) on "Jurassic World" purchases.

Chambers' solution to these problems is to create a kind of ideas factory.

This is how Mind Candy's creative team now works: the company comes up with a brand new, imaginary world like "Moshi Monsters," and creates a map. They then think about how that world will spin off into digital and physical products, and content.

You can see the maps dotted around Mind Candy's offices.

"We put this ecosystem in place," said Chambers. "All the IP we create, I want to flow through this ecosystem."

The first new idea to come from this is Petlandia, which turns your real-life pet into an online avatar. The product spin-off is a personalised storybook which stars your pet, and costs £19.99. According to Bloomberg, Mind Candy has received 40,000 book orders, equating to about £800,000 in revenue.

Mind Candy is seeing its first year on year revenue growth since 2013, Chambers added, driven by Petlandia's success over Christmas.

As for "World of Warriors," Chambers doesn't share Acton Smith's pessimism. He said: "I wouldn't [describe] anything that has almost 10 million downloads, millions in revenue, as 'not working'.

"But ... it didn't meet the very high expectations that were set on day one ... there's still a wonderful IP there that I'll work with and build."

'Moshi Monsters' has relaunched for younger kids

"Moshi Monsters" is also relaunching on mobile as "Moshi Monsters Egg Hunt," and is targeted at younger users. A beta version is already out on iOS and Android, and Chambers said there's been 500,000 downloads. A full version will launch in May. Like Petlandia, players can create their own personalised monster, and books and physical merchandise will follow from there. That means Mind Candy won't have to rely on that in-game subscription model so heavily.

Why does Mind Candy think it can do better with this version of "Moshi Monsters"? Pure ego, according to Chambers.

"The core difference between 'Moshi Monsters' web and 'Moshi Monsters Egg Hunt' is this character you've invested time into making yourself," Chambers said.

Half a million downloads doesn't sound like much, but then the game may not need massive numbers to bring in revenue. "Mind Candy doesn’t need a mass market mobile games hit to achieve a successful result on mobile," said Kent. "At the peak of its success it reported £47 million annual revenues — the top mobile games can generate over $1 billion per year so even a modest performance would help its current position."

But, he added, casual gaming is hugely competitive.

Both Chambers and Bruce Golden, the Accel partner who invested in Mind Candy, made the comparison between "Moshi Monsters" and Pokémon. "There's a lot of similarities, in the sense of being a collectible, character-based world," said Chambers.

Golden added that Mind Candy could be bigger than it ever was. "There have been lots of examples of IP that have gone down, then been resurrected and came back in a bigger way. Our own thesis is if we can get the formula to work at scale, we can drive new bodies of IP."

Mind Candy's trial by fire

When Business Insider spoke to Acton Smith earlier this year, he appeared to regret not selling Mind Candy at its peak, describing the kids' entertainment market as "fickle." He's still involved creatively with Mind Candy.

But Accel's Golden said the company shouldn't be dismissed. "It's easy to say, 'That thing, that was interesting five years ago, why is it interesting now?'" he said. "It's often the right decision to back teams that have gone through trial by fire, and helped build the business even if it wasn't straight up from the beginning."

Chambers said the team's stability was another positive sign. Chief creative officer Steve Cleverley, who co-created "Moshi Monsters" with Acton Smith, is still at the company, and the board has mostly remained stable. Former CFO Divinia Knowles left in 2015.

He also said there had been no further redundancies and that other investors were interested in Mind Candy after its most recent £1.2 million round. "I'm going to evaluate that," said Chambers. "We'll assess our capital needs." For now, he said, that round was all the company needed.

Chambers knows what a trouble business looks like — he was appointed chief digital officer of Game after it went into administration, then helped take the company public. "I believe in Mind Candy," he said.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: SCOTT GALLOWAY: Why you should worry about a company if its CEO is in a fashion magazine

#Tech Insider #Arab #Entrepreneurship #sillicon alley insider

0 notes

atypical60 · 7 years

Text

I know. I’m late to the party. But the sad truth is, I’ve been sick since Sunday evening with the worst stomach bug of all time. Ugh. I only got to watch some of the Grammy’s because I was in the bathroom most of the night.

The only thing getting cuddled in Chateau Bonaparte was my stomach and the ceramic throne in the bathroom!

Honestly, it felt so good to kneel on the tiled floor and hug the cold ceramic of my toilet bowl when I wasn’t sitting on it. That outta give you an idea of how I spent the past couple of days!

Anyway, I just got back from the doctor. Bonaparte literally forced me to go. I think it was because he was tired of hearing me moan “Ohhhhhh. My stomach. I hope this isn’t serious!”

I mean that literally and figuratively!

Honest to God. The thought of eating is making me more ill thank I am, but the good doctor gave me a prescription to ward off the nausea so that I could keep something in my gut. And the only food item I want right now is Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. It’s been my “sick” comfort food since I was a child.

I’m eating this as I write..

I’m getting off track here.

This is about Grammy. And not my Grammy.

My real-life Grammy. In her wedding dress. Beyonce could have worn my grandmother’s wedding headpiece and would have looked much better!

It’s about the Grammy Awards, which, in my opinion, could very well be the reason I was so sick!

Ugh. I believe that watching E!’s “On the Red Carpet” made me ill from the get go. Kriss Jenner and that dumb butch hairdo of hers! And that dress–it is absolutely awful! Why does Ryan Seacrest insist on having this doyenne of bad taste hosting a red carpet event? Brad Goreski–I’m appalled that you would wear such a hideous jacket. And Kristin Cavallari–one false move and your girls are going to escape big time!

OK—so the music industry has a bit more creativity than, say the film or TV industries. And I guess that’s why people who attend feel as though they have to dress a bit more eccentric or differently.

I get that. I really do. But there is a fine line between dressing differently or more creatively and coming off as looking downright silly. It’s about fit. It’s about what looks good or even great on you.

So, let’s just take a look at some of the fashions I happened to see when I wasn’t in the bathroom!

I had just exited the bathroom and Bonaparte was cleaning my glasses when Beyonce was doing her number. I swear from far away I thought I was watching a Novena to the Blessed Mother. I knelt down before the TV and started chanting “Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”. Then Bonaparte gave me my glasses and I realized Queen Bee just wanted to look like the old-school Christmas tree toppers we had when we were kids! Who wore it best? Why the cute little pug on the right! And speaking of JLo…

…she needs to come up with a new signature pose. I’m sick and tired of that dopey “come hither” look her face makes in every single pose. And you may want to change it up from the Angelina Jolie pose. I swear JLo will be a wrinkly 80 year old with lips that sag down to her chest and she’ll still pose with that dopey face!

Shoes notwithstanding, Heidi Klum gets my vote for best dressed. Had two inches been added to the hem, and had she worn silver pointy-toed stilettos with toe cleavage, this would be my favorite red carpet look of all time! I love the simple cut of the dress and I LOVE the length of the sleeves.Her earrings and makeup! She rocked it!

Laverne Cox almost got it right! The dress is a weird length. It should have been shorter. Just at the knees. She has great legs! And the cut-out sides give the dress a very rocker type vibe while still maintaining fashionable taste! Her eye makeup is great too! I love Laverne!

I was born in 1955. In the early to mid-1960’s we practically lived on these Funny Face drinks. That’s probably one of the reasons I lost most of my hair. Anyway, all I could think of when I saw Taraji P. Henson in that getup was Goofy Grape! Henson is cute as a button and she could have gone with something a little edgy without looking ridiculous. The dress doesn’t even fit! The fabric looks sloppy. When will these celebrities ever learn?

Rihanna. RiRi. You are one of the most beautiful women in the world. You can wear just about anything. So then, can you explain just why you put on something that wore YOU? I’ll admit, the black and orange put me in a very sentimental mood for those wax whistles that we used to get at Halloweeen time! That skirt looks like the umbrella you sang about!

I actually loved the simple and streamlined cut of the suit that Chance the Rapper wore. But–did your mother ever tell you it was not proper to wear a hat indoors? Well, I’m telling you now. Get rid of the hat when you are inside a building!!!

I have no idea who this young woman is. But she has my vote as one of the Grammy Best Dressed! Her gown is fresh and youthful and the color is gorgeous on her. In fact, if she was cross-eyed, she would remind me of a young ME! I can’t get enough of this dress! The dropped waist is so flattering! And she’s a bit modest on top without looking fundie! Most of the celebrities at the Grammy’s could take a lesson from her! Absolutely perfect!

Why did Beyonce and Jay Z take their daughter to the Grammy Awards! I KNOW! I KNOW! They didn’t want Solange to be their plus-one at the after parties so by bringing Blue Ivy, they had a great excuse for Solange to babysit! Poor Blue Ivy! Mommy and Daddy should have dressed you in a blue suit..that pink looks like Pepto Bismol! Props to Mr. Carter for the way he looks so lovingly at his daughter! It’s so sweet!

…speaking of Solange…she looked like….

The Golden Ticket from Willie Wonka!

Carrie Underwood needs a new stylist. NOW! It was bad enough she looked like chewed up bubble gum at the Golden Globes, but now she has a dress that not only looks like a newly used tampon, it is an old lady bar mitzvah dress. I don’t even think Joan Rivers would have worn it…

This is red done right! Faith Hill nailed another “Best Dressed”. It is a beautiful shade of red. The lines are simple and even with the little cut out, it was discreet. And the shoes! Oh God–I can’t even! I WANT those shoes! Well done Ms. Hill!

She may be “zuh gret-ess singuhr” but Ms. Dion is far from the greatest dresser. She’s only 48. She’s young. She looks older than me–and I’m old! She needs to wear her hair down and layered to soften her angular structure. The dress. It’s too low-cut for a flat-chested woman. What is WITH these low cut dresses anyway? And while I’m at it–what’s with the ankle strap shoes. Faith Hill is the only one to rock those ankle straps..Celine Dion looks more like a…

…glittery St. Patrick’s Day hat! Save that shade o’ green for March 17th!

I love Adele. And this pea-soup green frock did nothing to enhance her beautiful curves. That waistband makes her titties look supersized and saggy. She needs a princess cut. Slightly fitted. She needs boning in the chest area to hold those ta-ta’s up. The dress is too long–it looks sloppy. Adele was meant for black dresses. She needs a simple dress because that voice of her’s is what draws attention! I”m glad she swept the Grammys!

Chrissy Teigen. No. This isn’t working. SHE is someone who needs to show a bit more skin! But not the way this dress shows it. She looks like an extra from a vampire movie! I’m kind of surprised because she usually gets it right. Her makeup looks horrible too. What happened Chrissy? You better look more like your fashionable self at the Oscars!

I’m guessing Cee Lo was channeling his inner Pussy Galore from Goldfinger. And this one in the middle. Wearing 45’s slogan? WTF? THAT was what really made me sick. Who is this Girl Crush on the far right? That dress! How the hell did she sit down or go to the bathroom? Well, I can honestly say she has more balls than Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan!

What’s with the unbottoned shirt? What’s with the ill-fitting pj bottoms? What’s with the awful sleeves? I think this one was trying to channel her inner…

…..Sick Pense look! Same color of blue. Same lousy fit!

I need to say something about this Tom Ford dress that Katy Perry wore. I KNOW this dress did not get a lot of love. However, if you want to be edgy and different without looking clownish, THIS is the way to do it. Naturally, I have a bit of commentary on this dress. *Sigh* sometimes I wish gay designers would be more in touch with their feminine sides. Why? I’ll show you…

Katy Perry has the best set of Ta-ta’s on earth. In fact, if I ever hit it big in the lottery, I’m taking a photo of her in a low-cut dress to a plastic surgeon. I’m going to tell him that I want HER ta-tas! They are spectacular and they are real! Anyway, back to the dress. I would give her a ballet scooped neckline so that her cleavage would be a focal point. Then I would cut the sleeves to a long short sleeve. Tom–are you listening? Thank you! Might I also add, Katy Perry ALWAYS has THE best made-up face! Her makeup is never less than perfect!

This is NOT good cleavage. At all. Lady Gaga looks like she wore the wrong sized bra and reached up to a top shelf to grab something. Girls–hasn’t that happened to you? You know. You reach for something and your bra rides up in the front? Even for Lady Gaga who can basically get away with anything outrageous, the bottom tit look is just ugly!

Katy Perry sure knows how to show bosom! They are the envy of us all! Even though this suit DID remind me of piano keys!

That’s about it. I ended up falling asleep because I was so violently ill. I couldn’t even make it out of bed yesterday to write this so I know I’m getting much better!

Did you watch the Grammy Awards? Did you have a favorite look? Did you have a look that you thought was just awful. Tell me!!

And…. HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

One of my favorite songs about love. John Mayer with Katy Perry “Who You Love”. (I hope they get back together!!!)

Atypical60 Takes a Look at Grammy Fashions! I know. I’m late to the party. But the sad truth is, I’ve been sick since Sunday evening with…

#Fashion #Grammy Awards #Humor

0 notes

ecotone99 · 4 years

Text

[FN] LUDIMΔGIK - Man in a Box

Shall we meet Alex? Just be warned: he’s a little—what’s that word we heard the other day?—”extra.” But that’s just me. Here, decide for yourself.

Continue reading here.

See the previous section, the Introduction, here.

Please share and subscribe if you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

submitted by /u/nick_boatwright [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/2Noqo6m

#Blogger #Story

0 notes

ecotone99 · 4 years

Text

[FN] LUDIMΔGIK -- "One: Introductions"

Shall we meet Alex? Just be warned: he’s a little—what’s that word we heard the other day?—”extra.” But that’s just me. Here, decide for yourself.

Continue reading here.

See the previous section, the Introduction, here.

submitted by /u/nick_boatwright [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/2R9B89z

#Blogger #Story

0 notes