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shirohige-pirates · 19 days

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Hey Doll

CisFem Reader x Thatch

CW: toxic parents, manipulation, The Plan™, smut, mdni, I'll add as we go I'm kind of fly by the seat of my pants on this one.

tag list: @mfreedomstuff @harahettania @clumsyraccoon

Chapter 11: Shoulders

A/N: This chapter contains detailed trauma responses. Please proceed carefully.

You stare at the phone for a long moment, unsure if you even want to touch it. You could say you never saw it. You wanted to have never seen it. But decades of fear, and conditioning, have you reaching for it regardless.

You pull the rubber band off as your stomach twists and knots.

Dear Doll,

You nearly hurl, putting your hand up to your mouth just in case. It’s rare your parents addressed you as anything other than Doll, but since Thatch started calling you by that name you didn’t really want to hear it from anyone else.

Send a text to your phone when you’re alone. We don’t expect that will be for some days, so don’t panic. You’re doing such a good job, don’t let us down.

You know how important the plan is.

You crumple up the paper and suppress the urge to scream. You want to cry, but if your face swells then Thatch will notice, and you don’t want to worry him.

You were so certain, so hopeful, that when they’d been run out of Newgate’s home they had screwed up their precious plan all on their own. That you’d be done with it. Done with them. Free of it.

You should’ve known. The moment your mother was kind to you when you’d gone back home to get your things, you should’ve known. The fact that they hadn’t trashed the house in anger and frustration should’ve been enough for you to know.

You could almost feel their hands on your shoulders.

“Don’t worry about the details, Doll. Just do as you’re told. There’s too many moving parts to the plan for you to keep up with it anyway.”

“- he might not be able to sway things in our favor enough, we have to make sure that wretch is flawless or, - hey, hey! What are you doing up? Get back to sleep!”

“Just do as you’re told. If you can’t think well enough on your own, just follow directions, and it’ll be fine.”

“Ugh, gods, don’t smile like that. C’mere, we’re going to practice. By the seas you can’t learn anything. You better put in some effort, this plan is important and we need you to step up, Doll.”

“What do I do?” You whisper the words, barely hearing them yourself with the music playing. If you defied your parents and they had some catch in The Plan™ to account for that, you’d be punished. If you told Thatch they could make sure you were thrown in prison, or abandoned.

If you didn’t say anything, you’d be betraying Thatch.

But if they hurt him -.

Tears spilled down your cheeks and you panicked, not wanting to cry. “No, stop, stop. Shhh, shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay. You’re a doll, just a doll.” You wipe your eyes and hug yourself, rocking back and forth a little to soothe your heartbeat. “Dolls don’t cry, they don’t worry, they just do what they’re told. It’s okay, it’s okay.”

You wouldn’t say anything. You wouldn’t think about it, you wouldn’t let it bother you. You didn’t know what to do and so you’d do nothing. It was how things worked. You were just a doll, all you had to do was move when moved, and speak when spoken to. There was no way Thatch knew about the phone or the note, or he would’ve said something.

He was far too easy to read. There wasn’t any duplicity in him, and he would move you. All you had to do was let him lead you and he’d get you through the weekend.

You were used to shouldering the burden, you could handle it.

In the time it took you to put everything away you’d managed to calm down completely. You even stepped across the hall and into the bathroom. Bringing in the stuff Izou had packed, you set it up in your new space, and took the time to check your face and make sure there weren’t any troubling signs left there.

Thatch’s humming hadn’t stopped, but from the sounds of things he was done prepping.

Putting on your well-practiced smile you make your way into the kitchen. Thatch was in the middle of cleaning up, sink full of suds, sleeves rolled up. He turns to see you and gives you a smile before nodding to the side.

“Have a seat, I’m almost done.”

You sit down, looking over the area a little more closely than you had when you’d first arrived. It was fairly spartan, but not completely bare. There was an eclectic collection of books on the bookshelves in the living room. Plenty of movies and you recognized two gaming consoles from advertisements that you’d seen before.

Most of the books looked like they were cookbooks, at least from this distance, but that wouldn’t be surprising. Thatch had a real passion for cooking. Anyone would be able to learn that about him within just a few minutes of knowing him.

Thatch dries his hands and rolls his sleeves back down before starting to make some coffee and tea. “You alright?” He questions, not even glancing over at you when he asks.

You flinch, but nod your head. “Yeah. A… little overwhelmed, I think.”

“It’s a lot of stuff changing all at once, it’s alright.” He says, sounding a little more subdued than he did earlier. “Aw crap. I don’t have any herbal tea here.”

“Oh, uh, water’s fine, really.” You assure him even as his shoulders slump. He’s so big, but the motion is still pretty exaggerated.

“We’ll add it to the list then. Bah, it might be worth heading out today, if that’s the case.” He grumbles to himself.

You muster as much of a smile as you can and look up at him. “I promise, it’s okay. I can survive on water today. I appreciate it though.”

“It’s coming up on 9,” he says as the coffee percolates and he hands you a glass of water. “If you wanted to, you can take a nice long shower and change. I know you’ve been stuck in those clothes for a couple days now.”

Your smile’s a little more genuine and a little embarrassed. “That… is a good idea.” You admit, suddenly very aware of how much time had gone by. “I apologize, I must look quite the fright.”

“Ah, no, I didn’t - augh.” Thatch puts a hand to his face and sighs. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say I could tell from your appearance.” He lowers his hand, eyes shifting away after a second. “You look cute- er, fine, I mean… I just meant it’s been a couple of days and you’d probably feel better after a hot bath and a fresh change of clothes.”

Not a drop of duplicity, you muse internally, feeling a terrible twist at your heart at your own secrets.

You nod at his idea and drink most of the water. “I’ll do that then, thank you.” Getting up you hear Thatch make a noise and pause, looking over at him.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he says. “I promise.”

Your smile falters, and for some reason you let it. You’re hiding enough, and it doesn’t feel right to feign your emotions around someone like Thatch. Even if he wasn’t your match. You can’t bring yourself to say anything, but you nod before walking away and getting ready to take your shower.

Thatch leans against the kitchen counter as you head down the hall. He lets out a slow breath, doing his best not to sigh loudly. There’s already enough weight on your shoulders, you shouldn’t have to worry about what’s on his. The conversation he’d had with his father and brothers kicks around in his head as he looks at the ceiling, wondering what to do next.

“You’re going to have to be patient, Thatch, if you want things to work.” Pops had said, after Thatch had put you into the guest bed. “She nearly caved to her parents desires even with me standing there. The conditioning is deep. You can’t take anything personal, especially if it involves her parents.”

Pops set the journal down that Izou had found in her bedroom, and everyone had looked at it like it was going to just ooze poison or something. Considering what was written in it, it wasn’t too much of a stretch.

“With that we have a better idea of what she’s gone through, but…” Pops sighed. “I’m worried about the repeated mentions of this plan, whatever it is.”

“That pressure of perfection too,” Izou’s voice was heavy with anger. “Burying people like that in the garden would’ve poisoned the flowers.”

“They kept her in the dark though, didn’t they?” Marco hums, hooded gaze on the journal before he looked at Thatch. He was relieved to see his brothers and father on your side, the fire in Marco’s unassuming gaze was hard for Thatch to miss. “Literally, and figuratively. Poor bird probably doesn’t know anything.”

Pops grunts. “If she knew that their first step was to try an’ sell her I don’t think she’da been so docile.”

Thatch’s fists clench at the thought. They had that night too. He rarely ever even raised his voice, never mind getting truly angry, but he’d wanted to strike her parents.

“But, and I hate to say this-.” Marco started.

“Then don’t.”

“Thatch,” Izou said carefully. “You need to consider it.”

“The hells I do!”

“Keep yer voice down, lad.” Pops commanded. His voice was stern, and it silenced all three of them. “Your brothers are right. The compatibility might be fabricated.” There’s a heavy silence and Thatch wasn’t sure what to say. “Not that anyone needs to know about it.”

He looked up and his dad shrugged. “All things considered, you’re both getting along fine. I don’t see any reason to ruin that. If things change we’ll worry about it then.”

It was all going to take time. All he could do was deal with what was in front of him. He hears the shower kick on and goes over the checklist in his mind. New phone, herbal tea, maybe you could just wander around the mall. Worry about the budget and stuff Sunday.

After the budget on Sunday if the weather held out the two of you could go to a park, or maybe even just back to the manor.

What he wanted to do was spoil you. He wanted to take you to dinner at fancy restaurants and buy tickets to operas he wouldn’t even be able to understand. He wanted to buy dresses and jewels for you and tell you how beautiful you were. He wanted to wake up next to you and admire how cute your cheek squished against the pillow while you slept.

But the words of that journal kicked around in his head, and before he could do any of that he needed to give you space. Your parents had made all your decisions, from your hobbies to your clothes to your schedule. You read what they wanted, watched what they wanted, learned what they wanted. They had taught you only to please, to never complain, to never want.

If Thatch showered you with his desires, you could end up just tailoring yourself to what he liked, and you’d never end up learning who you were. He wanted to know who you were, and wanted you to know who you were too.

His fist tightens again, even as he takes a deep breath to try and calm himself. He wished Izou had never found that damnable journal, but at the same time he was grateful for it. He wouldn’t have caught onto how bad things were in time otherwise.

Hearing the shower turn off, he shotguns the coffee he meant to drink slowly, and heads to his own bathroom to freshen up and brush his teeth. He does his hair into the pompadour he usually wears, the actions almost automatic. Pops said it always made him look more approachable and friendly, and he was willing to do everything he could to make things easier for you.

There’d be a time for heavy conversations and bad news later. You deserved a break, a moment to breathe, time for introspection without your parents whispering into your ear. He’d keep the secret of your journal for now, even if it was nearly eating him alive to not admit to having read it.

His shoulders were big enough to carry both your burdens for now, he could handle it.

#x reader #reader insert #thatch one piece #modern au #Hey Doll #mdni

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fairykukla · 3 months

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My girlies are back from the Salon!!!

First of all, I'm glad I waited til today to open this box. Yesterday was like, the longest day of my life and I was exhausted from all the stuff I had to do. This was like getting a whole box of presents!!!

Starting with my beloved Sea Wees. I sent @imreadydollparts the absolute worst of my collection, featuring one doll from each release wave.

Coral is a first wave Sea Wee. They had the worst hair imaginable, and Coral's tends to be more brittle and fragile than the others. I don't have many of these; my original Shelly snapped off at the neck and was thrown away. This is a miraculous restoration. The hair feels exactly like it would have straight off the card. It's been trimmed neatly and is a very presentable example (paint rubs notwithstanding.)

Next: sea wees and babies:

Breezy has a little molded plastic (or rubber?) baby Blew, and of the "sea wees and babies" series, she tends to age poorly. Her hair came curled, which was probably a mistake for such shitty fiber. These were marketed as bath toys; why give them hair like this!?! My poor Breezy is faded, rubbed, and her hair was a disaster.

But OH MY EARS AND WHISKERS look at her darling updo!!!! This is simply PRECIOUS and she's going to get a starring spot in my display.

I know that the paper towel is to keep the hair tidy in transport, but I kept seeing them as blindfolds. I decided that this is one of those makeover shows where the recipient doesn't see anything until the end. Camille is from the Tropi-gals series where they had a mermaid, a baby, and a sea pet. This Camille is my worst one, both in terms of paint loss and hair issues, and now she's just lovely! I will repaint her just so that she can live up to that lovely hair! Her bangs were a complete disaster, so I'm thrilled with how she looks now.

The 4th wave was called "Icy-gals" which always seemed weird to me, but the Sea Wees got a makeover with action poses and molded-on furry jackets. Their hair was slightly less shitty, but this Shelly was totally trashed. Look how smooth and lovely her hair is now!

I happen to have duplicates of the Icy-gals because I caught them cheap on eBay back in the late 90s, and I used them as ornaments on a white Christmas tree. I wanted a Mermaid tree, and I was a damn grown up living on my own so I did what I wanted.

I haven't displayed my Sea Wees in many years. I'm going to find a place to get them out and appreciate them.

#2024 #so very happy #sea wees #sea wees restoration #doll hair restoration #kenner sea wees #mermaid dolls

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twelvegate-blog · 10 months

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Twelve, Willel and newspapers (Part II)

The two articles about Richard Brenner are different from the others in the show

They’re the only ones that have sentences repeated and paragraphs duplicated

I think it's intentional, a hint at a timeline split, maybe, but also... twin imagery.

We only see Richard Brenner’s name twice in the show. In 1x03 and in 1x08.

1x03

(also, mention of six subjects... They keep mentioning that number, especially in S1)

1x08

Dr Richard Brenner, paragraphs duplicated, and we see 1971 twice, the year Will and El were born.

But this article is also interesting because of this scene.

Hopper is reading about Terry

but in the next shot, the words are different

No sentences repeated, HERE, but we SEE them again in The boy who came back to life article (written by the same journalist). And this time it’s Joyce’s story.

The same exact words.

The allegation comes amidst ...igation into the hidden... and its elaborate... in perusal of mind... detailed in the first...

I think this means that Terry’s story IS Joyce’s story. And the paragraphs duplicated and the two 71 are our “twins” reference. In the S2 version of the article there is a 11.

So, we know that Will and El were born in 1971. That can’t change, even if there are multiple timelines/a time loop. At least I hope. Different birthdays would make things a bit complicated.

In S1 they say that Jane is 12, but in S2 El finds this article and... Terry’s baby was born in the mid-70s? (so 1974-76)

But if El is Terry’s daughter, that would mean that in one timeline she is 12, and in another is 8-9. But like I said, I don’t think they would change the kids’ age. So maybe that means that El is not Terry’s daughter.

There are three dolls (babies) in Jane’s room. A boy and a girl. Twins. And a doll on the chair. Imo, another hint that El and Jane are two different people.

They kinda remind me of this doll

And the ones on Suzie’s bed. By the way, in this scene she mentions Dustin’s birthday.

And speaking of three. In S2 there’s another reference to a third mysterious person, like the third doll in Jane’s room. The third hunter who went missing after Will. But in S1 they say it was just Dale and... Henry. So that’s interesting.

And in S4 there are hints that El was also born on March 22. So, I don’t know, maybe it can work, but I think it would feel a bit weird if Will and El are not twins but were born on the same day, but in some timelines El was born in 1971, and in others a few years later.

Plus: March 22.86, 2:36 PM (2+3+6= 11) Eleven's birthday, on March 22?

#twelvegate #birthdaygate #willel twins #willel literal twins #will byers #el hopper #st theory #stranger things

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a-queenoffairys · 5 months

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Ok so there's been some confusion around the new Mini Brands Fashion (series 3) and I'm here to share my discoveries. The videos and photos I've seen from American collectors show a collection with 60+ minis to collect, whereas the ones I bought yesterday here in Australia have 80+ to collect. The thing the American ones are missing? Shoes. One pair in every capsule.

Honestly the shoes really make this set for me, they all look really nice. Some are made of plastic (similar to most Barbie shoes) with real laces, some are a leather-like material with plastic soles, and the strappy heels have different materials like fuzzy fabric, ribbon or tulle added to them.

And they're pretty suitable for Barbie dolls. I tried them on an original MTM body and a curvy MTM, and they're a bit loose on the original but fit quite well on the curvy! Which is cool, since curvy-sized shoes are kinda hard to come by where I live. Here are some comparison photos, the leg on the left is original body, the one on the right is curvy.

Out of all the shoes I got, the exception to that was the red leather boots (pictured further below with the red bag), which have thicker fabric around the top. I found it hard to get them on and off an original body, and couldn't get the curvy foot in there without risking damaging the shoe.

Some of the shoes balance well enough for the doll to stand alone, particularly the flat shoes or ones with shorter heels. I tried some on Rainbow High and Monster High G3 and they were too small. They fit the newer Miraculous Ladybug dolls but they're a bit loose.

Another thing is how the sets are sometimes colour co-ordinated. Like with previous series, the accessories aren't random; depending on the bag you get, there are different set combinations of accessories that will go with it. And in the capsules I opened, a lot of the accessories were picked to match the colour of the bag. That made them a lot of fun to open up.

I got 16 capsules and 1 was a duplicate. Here are the photos!

So if you're looking to collect series 3 and you want the shoes, keep an eye out for the capsules that say 80+ instead of 60+ to collect.

More information and observations under the cut.

I didn't get a photo of the capsule before I opened them all, but I got mine for $10 each from Kmart, which is the same price as the previous series (usually $12 at other stores but I've only seen series 3 at Kmart so far). They were displayed in boxes of 12 which didn't have a sample collectable displayed in a little window.

The American ones I've seen seem to have a sheet of press-on nails in every capsule, and I assumed that was how they were going to replace the stickers from series 1 and 2 but still keep the price down. But for the capsules I opened, the thing you got in every one was a pair of shoes. A single shoe seems to count for one of the five surprises, so each capsule contains one bag, two shoes and two other accessories (a pair of earrings counts as one).

I guess my main issue with some of them is that the leg part is on a bit of an angle instead of pointing straight up, so you get a bit of stretching/wrinkling if you try to stand the doll straight.

Oh and some of them don't have as much detail as they do in the photos from the collector's guide (like the thigh-highs and short tan boots) but I'm not too bothered by it.

I'm also not game to try and thread the straps on the blue fuzzy heels through the buckle, the hole looks very small and I feel like I'd strip off some of the fluff trying to squeeze it through. So I'm not sure how that one would go, even as a collectable for display instead of as a doll accessory.

The pink flats in the last photo aren't a great fit on Barbie, they're very long compared to the doll's foot. The strap is supposed to fold up and wrap around the ankle, which was a bit awkward to try and do right.

#zuru mini brands #mini brands fashion #mini fashion #doll accessories #dollblr

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dollsonmain · 19 days

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I got up at 4:30 am to have some peace and quiet to work on boring administrative tasks that I need peace and quiet to work on because these tasks confuse me, and Son was up as soon as I was.

Noisy.

Still trying to think how to handle tagging receipts for things like when I buy big lots of dolls and then split them up into other lots, etc.

This is doll line, name, date photographed (not date arrived...) and receipt number.

I guess this works for things I know the ID of and intend to fix and either keep or sell individually, though these folder names are getting goofy. I just need to figure out how to shorthand the digital receipts. AliExpress can easily be AE, Goodwill physical store could be GW, and online auction GWA.... eBay EB, etc.

Doing it this way makes sure I don't have multiple duplicates of receipts stored on my already too full hard drive.

Can you see a problem I always have with sorting and organizing, though? Sub-sub-sub-sub compartmentalizing and trying to put too much info in weird places? This happens every time.

As for giant piles of dolls I don't want to ID, though...

I don't know. These probably are going to be fixed up and tossed in a lot box, though I know I'm going to behead "Barbie 003" and toss her body in my already overflowing stash of articulated bodies and then putting this head on whatever body I swap that head to this body and... Which I also don't know how to keep paperwork for. It's probably not even that difficult I'm just having the BRAIN GO NYOOM through all options and possible outcomes and being overwhelmed thing happening.

I guess in those cases I can just be like "Nope, I don't have a receipt for that. Oh well."

Also, this photo setup isn't going to work for dolls without moving a lot of stuff in the setup and I don't want to do that. They're too tall on the cake stand and if I put them on the floor, their legs are cut off. It'll probably be fine for smaller dolls, if at a weird angle. Which doesn't matter except for individual sales photos because the feet should be shown. I guess I could put them on the stand upside down to photograph their feet. That's kind of weird.

This hobby sure is a lot of work.

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artist-emerald · 5 months

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Trolls Artificial Invasion, Final Draft pt 1

Had to split this up because tumblr has a character limit now.

movie opens with scrapbook story, narrated by Cloud Guy, of a Troll who lived back when all the tribes lived together, before the separation of the strings

the Troll was capable of playing any instrument under the sun or moon, but deep down, was very unhappy as they were unable to sing and dance like all the other trolls

when the strings were separated, this Troll disappeared. never to be seen again

or at least, that's what the Trolls thought. but clouds can see just about everything from up here, and that Troll has been around this entire time...plotting

the camera pans down to a dark, foggy swamp, where Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" can faintly be heard coming from a run down sheet metal shack with an eerie green light shines through the cracks an windows

Inside, large and complicated machinery is moving, clunking, and steaming to the tune of the song. Conveyor belts carrying original wishing troll dolls without hair, moving them through machines

At the end of the line, the silhouette of a familiar pink troll steps out as an ominous and gruff voice asks this artificial troll who they

They respond with broken pronunciation, "I'm Queen Poppy."

Camera fades to Pop Village where we see Branch and Poppy sitting cozy in Poppy's hut, watching as rain falls outside

They reminisce about their adventures, what they've gone through, and where there are in that moment

As the rain begins to stop, and the sun begins to shine through, the start to sing and dance with everyone around them joining in

Through the song, there cut off points where different Trolls ask Branch and Poppy separately when they plan on proposing to the other, to which they nervously laugh off each time

As the song ends, a familiar voice continues to sing off-key in the distance, which gets everyone's attention

From the brush emerges a duplicate Poppy, but with a paler color pallette and red eye color

Everyone is immediately suspicious and freaked out about this

The fake Poppy introduces herself, with sparatic unnunciation as her voice rises and drops

Immediately the camera pans over to Peppy as everyone expects him to have an answer, to which he says he's as surprised as they are

Poppy slowly approaches the doppelganger and greets her with her normal cheery demeanor, with some awkwardness as the fake Poppy shakes her hand

Camera swipe to inside a Funk Troll ufo where some Funk Trolls are running tests on the fake Poppy, who is happily sitting and humming on an examination table

Lead scientist explains that the fake Poppy isn't a normal Troll, but is a copy made up of special clay found only in a specific area

They also find a note tangled up in the fake Poppy's hair

Note reads, "If found, please return to Professor Treble in the Bassoon Bogs"

Poppy, Branch, Viva, and the Snack Pack hold a private meeting to discuss what to do next. All the while, the fake Poppy continues to grin and stare in Poppy's direction

Poppy thinks it would be kind and neighborly to return the fake Poppy home, but, to also use that opportunity to find out what's going on because she says that the situation doesn't sit right with her

The surprises the group as Poppy is usually so cheery

Poppy gives the Snack Pack their own little missions to keep everyone calm about the current situation

Branch agrees to go with Poppy to the bogs

Viva is left in charge while they are gone, and Smidge chooses to stick with Viva to help out

Branch, Poppy, and fake Poppy set out on their journey, waving everyone goodbye and good luck

Montage of the group going through different environments, reprise of the Trolls 1 scene where Poppy leaves for Bergen Town

The group meets different traveling Trolls along the way, each making Poppy or Branch think about their future together (marriage, kids, growing old together)

All the while, fake Poppy is still grinning and staring at Poppy, as her colors grow more and more

Fake Poppy's mannerisms begin to match Poppy's as well. Speech and singing more fine tuned. Like she's learning

Cut back to Viva speeding through the village, making sure everyone is good, having fun, and living their day as normal. Smidge doing her best to keep up

They talk about the possibility that Poppy could give up being queen and surrender the crown to Viva

Smidge does her best to comfort and reassure Viva

Cut back to the traveling group at the edge of the bogs

They are dark, cold, damp, and very quite

Poppy decides to strike up conversation with fake Poppy

Fake Poppy explains that she was made as a celebratory present for Poppy to help with queenly responsibilities, but she wandered off too early before she was ready

Branch asks fake Poppy more questions about the professor and if there are other artificial Trolls like her

Fake Poppy explains the professor is old, but nice if a bit goofy, and that as far as she knows there aren't other Trolls like her

As they make their way through the bog, Poppy slips on a mossy log and almost falls in, but Branch catches her with his hair. They hug, Poppy thanks her boyfriend, and he says he'll always be there to catch her

Branch notices at this time that fake Poppy is unable to use her hair like actual Trolls can, making him suspicious

The group finds the shack from the beginning of the film

They ring the large doorbell that plays an ominous melody

The door opens to reveal and elderly male Pop Troll in a tattered suit

He introduces himself as Professor Treble and invites them all in, seeming very happy to see the return of fake Poppy

He leads them through the shack to a dining room where a large table is set up for lunch

He invites Poppy and Branch to sit and join him for lunch while he returns fake Poppy to her room

As fake Poppy leaves the room, the professor whispers into her ear "get the others"

The old Troll returns and asks Poppy and Branch if they mind if he plays some music while they eat

They say they don't mind, Poppy being her cheery self, but Branch always the cautious one

The old Troll pulls out an old but fancy looking ukulele,and begins to play a small melody

As he plays, he begins to appear younger. His skin, unwrinkling. His hair turning from white to black. His back, straightening.

Poppy and Branch looking back at each other in both awe and worry

After the scene, Treble snaps his fingers, and fake Poppy, accompanied by a fake Branch, appear from the shadows and grab the real Poppy and Branch

They struggle but are thrown into a large cage on wheels and moved through the large factory making artificial Trolls

The scared Trolls begin to question Treble as to what is going on

Treble begins to monologue about how he plans to take his revenge on all of Troll kind once and for all by replacing them all with artificial Trolls, and then use their power to take over the world

Branch and Poppy watch as the machines around them produce more and more artificial Trolls

Branch reassuring Poppy that everything will be OK as long as they have each other

Treble responds in disgust as he alerts his aways from the couple, wondering how any creature survives with that kind of attitude

Branch gets mad, and demands answers as to why a Troll would ever turn on their own

Treble turns and glares at them with a look of malice in his eyes. Then explains that he may look like a Troll, but he isn't one. He doesn't sing or dance like Trolls can, he doesn't feel happiness or affection.

But he then explains he knows how powerful Trolls can really be, if done properly

#trolls #dreamworks trolls #trolls 4 #trolls artificial invasion #broppy #branch x poppy #trolls poppy #trolls branch #trolls viva #trolls smidge #trolls peppy #script #long post #idea #brianstorm

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v-e-l-v-e-t-g-o-l-d-m-i-n-e · 2 years

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Lestat, Claudia and their relationship in the books

She was simply unlike Lestat and me to such an extent I couldn't comprehend her; for little child she was, but also fierce killer now capable of the ruthless pursuit of blood with all a child's demanding. And though Lestat still threatened me with danger to her, he did not threaten her at all but was loving to her, proud of her beauty, anxious to teach her that we must kill to live and that we ourselves could never die. - Interview WIth The Vampire

Lestat played with her as if she were a magnificent doll, and I played with her as if she were a magnificent doll; and it was her pleading that forced me to give up my rusty black for dandy jackets and silk ties and soft gray coats and gloves and black capes. Lestat thought the best color at all times for vampires was black, possibly the only aesthetic principle he steadfastly maintained, but he wasn't opposed to anything which smacked of style and excess. He loved the great figure we cut, the three of us in our box at the new French Opera House or the Theatre d'Orleans, to which we went as often as possible, Lestat having a passion for Shakespeare which surprised me, though he often dozed through the operas and woke just in time to invite some lovely lady to midnight supper, where he would use all his skill to make her love him totally, then dispatch her violently to heaven or hell and come home with her diamond ring to give to Claudia. - Interview With The Vampire

And I cannot say even now that I regret Claudia, that I wish I had never seen her, nor held her, nor whispered secrets to her, nor heard her laughter echoing through the shadowy gaslighted rooms of that all too human town house in which we moved amid the lacquered furniture and the darkening oil paintings and the brass flowerpots as living beings should. Claudia was my dark child, my love, evil of my evil. Claudia broke my heart. - The Vampire Lestat

Of course, he gave me a doll as usual, the replica of me, which as always wears a duplicate of my newest dress. To France he sends for these dolls, he wants me to know. And what should I do with it? Play with it as if I were really a child? “Is there a message here, my beloved father?” I asked him this evening. “That I shall be a doll forever myself?” He has given me thirty such dolls over the years if recollection serves me. And recollection never does anything else. Each doll has been exactly like the rest. They would crowd me out of my bedroom if I kept them. But I do not keep them. I burn them, sooner or later. I smash their china faces with the poker. I watch the fire eat their hair. I can’t say that I like doing this. After all, the dolls are beautiful. And they do resemble me. Yet, it becomes the appropriate gesture. The doll expects it. So do I. And now he has brought me another, and he stands in my doorway staring at me afterwards, as if my question cut him. And the expression on his face is so dark suddenly, I think, this cannot be my Lestat. I wish that I could hate him. I wish that I could hate them both. But they defeat me not with their strength but with their weakness. They are so loving! And so pleasing to look at. Mon Dieu, how the women go after them! As he stood there watching me, watching me examine this doll he had given me, I asked him sharply: “Do you like what you see?” “You don’t want them anymore, do you?” he whispered. “Would you want them,” I asked, “if you were me?” The expression on his face grew even darker. Never have I seen him the way he looked. A scorching heat came into his face, and it seemed he blinked to clear his vision. His perfect vision. He left me and went into the parlor. I went after him. In truth, I couldn’t bear to see him the way he was, yet I pursued him. “Would you like them,” I asked, “if you were me?” - Excerpt from Claudia's diary, The Queen of the Damned

"Well, of course, you pick the voices that scold you. You always have, in the same manner in which you pick those who will turn on you and stick the knife right into your heart." He meant Claudia, but he couldn't bear to speak her name. I knew I could hurt him if I said it, like flinging a curse in his face. I wanted to say, You had a hand in it! You were there when I made her, and there when she lifted the knife! - The Tale of the Body Thief

"You're not sorry! You've never been sorry! Say it. Say the truth! You deserved the knife when I put it through your heart, and you know it, you've always known it!" "No!" Something in me broke as I stared down at her, at the exquisite face in its frame of finespun hair. I lifted her, and rose, placing her in the chair before me and I dropped to my knees at her feet. "Claudia, listen to me. I didn't begin it. I didn't make the world! It was always there, this evil. It was in the shadows, and it caught me, and made me part of it, and I did what I felt I must. Don't laugh at me, please, don't turn your head away. I didn't make evil! I didn't make myself!" How perplexed she was, staring at me, watching me, and then her small full mouth spread beautifully in a smile. "It wasn't all anguish," I said, my fingers digging into her little shoulders. "It wasn't hell. Tell me it wasn't. Tell me there was happiness. Can devils be happy? Dear God, I don't understand." "You don't understand, but you always do something, don't you?" "Yes, and I'm not sorry. I'm not. I would roar it from the rooftops right up into the dome of heaven. Claudia, I would do it again!" A great sigh passed out of me. I repeated the words, my voice growing louder. "I would do it again!" Stillness in the room. Her calm remained unbroken. Was she enraged? Surprised? Impossible to know as I looked into her expressionless eyes."Oh you are evil, my father," she said in a soft voice. "How can you abide it?" - The Tale of the Body Thief

We were in the hotel room again in old New Orleans, and Claudia sat quietly on the chair. Outside, the little city winked here and there with its dull lamps. How dark and heavy the sky overhead, with no hint of the great aurora of the cities to come.

"I told you I would do it again," I said to Claudia.

"Why do you bother to explain to me," she asked. "You know perfectly well that I never asked you any questions about it. I've been dead for years and years." - The Tale of the Body Thief

[,,,] when they first set up their studios, it was not for us."

"For us?"

"David, it had to be done in daylight, don't you see? The first photographs belonged to mortals alone."

"Of course, I didn't even think of it."

"She hated it," he said. He looked again at the image. "And one night, unbeknownst to me, she broke the lock of one of the new studios—and there were many of them—and she stole all the pictures she could find. She broke them, smashed them in a fury. She said it was ghastly that we couldn't have our pictures made. 'Yes, we see ourselves in mirrors, and old tales would have it not,' she screamed at me. 'But what about this mirror? Is this not some threat of judgment?' I told her absolutely it was not.

"I remember Lestat laughed at her. He said she was greedy and foolish and ought to be happy with what she had. She was past all tolerance of him, and didn't even answer him. That's when he had the miniature painted of her for his locket, the locket you found for him in a Talamasca vault."

"I see," I answered. "Lestat never told me such a story." "Lestat forgets many things," he said thoughtfully and without judgment. "He had other portraits of her painted after that. There was a large one here, very beautiful. We took it with us to Europe. We took trunks of our belongings, but that time I don't want to remember. I don't want to remember how she tried to hurt Lestat." - Merrick

"Louis will do as I wish, even unto the very destruction of Lestat, which I plan in every detail. Whereas Lestat would never cooperate with my designs upon Louis. So there my loyalty lies, under the guise of love even in my own heart.

"What mysteries we are, human, vampire, monster, mortal, that we can love and hate simultaneously, and that emotions of all sorts might not parade for what they are not. I look at Louis and I despise him totally for the making of me, and yet I do love him. But then I love Lestat every bit as well.

"Perhaps in the court of my heart, I hold Louis far more accountable for my present state than ever I could blame my impulsive and simple Lestat. The fact is, one must die for this or the pain in me will never be scaled off, and immortality is but a monstrous measurement of what I shall suffer till the world revolves to its ultimate end. One must die so that the other will become ever more dependent upon me, ever more completely my slave. I would travel the world afterwards; I would travel the world afterwards; I would have my way; I cannot endure either one of them unless that one becomes my servant in thought, word, and deed.- Claudia’s diary, Merrick

Louis was sitting there. Calm, and collected, as they say, arms folded on his chest, very much clear of the sticky marble table, and his mellow green eyes fixed on me. “Now why the Hell do you want me, of all people,” he asked, “to come with you to France?” [...]“You know why,” I said turning my head and looking at the nearby crowds. Street performers were out there, dancing, singing, bringing big soft explosions of approval from the crowds. “You know damned good and well why. Because you were there when I was just Born to Darkness. You were there when I stumbled onto these shores and sought to find a companion, and found you; and you were there when we lived all those decades together, you and me and Claudia, and you are the only one living who remembers the sound of her happy voice, her young voice, or the ring of her laugh. And you were there when I almost died at her hands, and when the pair of you fought me again and left me in the flames. And you were there when I was humiliated and ruined at the Théâtre des Vampires, and they murdered her due to my crimes, my weakness, my blunder, my ignorance, my failure to steer one fragile little bark in the right direction [...] You were there when all these streets ran with mud and river water, and when you and I went to see Macbeth onstage, and I couldn’t stop dancing under the streetlamps afterwards reciting the words, ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,’ and Claudia thought I was so handsome and so witty and so clever, and we would all of us always be safe, you were there.” - Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

“My coffin,” I said, “put me in my coffin!” When had I said those words before. “Put me in my coffin!” And Louis had not done it, and Claudia had not done it. In came the knife. - Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

So this is the Court to which I returned, in which some six hundred blood drinkers were lodging, and a place in which I felt at home as I’d never felt anywhere in my entire existence except perhaps, perhaps, in my old flat in the Rue Royale in the nineteenth century, when Louis sat in an armchair by the fire reading the French newspapers and Claudia, in her puff-sleeved dress of white gauze, played the sprightly joyful music of Mozart on the pianoforte. - Blood Communion

#long post #Vampire Chronicles #the vampire chronicles #Lestat de Lioncourt #Claudia #Claudia de Lioncourt #Claudia de Pointe du Lac #anne rice #book quotes #vampire chronicles spoilers #it wasn't all anguish. tell me it wasn't. tell me there was happiness #anyway their relationship. it kills me #girls who are exactly like her fathers and this is their curse etc etc

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nellie-elizabeth · 6 months

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Doctor Who: The Giggle (2023 Special 3)

Well... I'm having some feelings!

Cons:

Last week's special was about as perfect an episode as I could have imagined, so some of my complaints about this one are just in how it compares with the last one. I thought the tension and threat to Donna and the Doctor was so expertly portrayed in the last episode, that in this one, when once again there's a beat where the bad guy separates them to subject them to separate psychological tortures, it felt like a less-good retread of what we saw last time.

In general, I think this episode might have been served better with an entirely original bad guy instead of a callback to old-school Doctor Who. Maybe that's not very in keeping with the spirit of things, I know this is a show with a long history and it's fun to do callbacks, but the episode had to sit there and explain why we should be afraid of the Toymaker, and that felt like it undercut the threat. I shouldn't need to have exposition explain to me that this bad guy is super bad, more bad than most of the badness we have to face. I should just be able to feel that. And I did, with the concept of the creepy doll with the arpeggio laugh. It's almost like the episode would have worked without a puppet master behind it at all?

The moment where I was especially like... "huh" was when the Doctor, fairly early on in the episode, is like "what am I without all the gadgets and confidence..." it felt so unearned, since we don't have this longstanding history with him and the Toymaker to understand why he's so shaken by this.

I liked the little recap that the Toymaker did of the things that the Doctor has been through since the last time he was with Donna, but I was also pretty irritated by it for a couple reasons. One, you can't just cut Rory out and only mention Amy, that's fuckin' rude. And two, the emphasis of the pattern here, that the Doctor meets a young woman and then something tragic happens to her and he's forced to move on, just made me angry at Moffat all over again? It felt pointed and strange that the Thirteenth Doctor's companions, all of whom went on to live full and happy lives after knowing her, don't get mentioned. I get why the Toymaker wouldn't mention them, because he's making a point about all the loss the Doctor has suffered. But why don't they get a mention later on? Why doesn't the Doctor tell Donna: not every goodbye has been an abjectly miserable one, some of them have been a gentler sort of sadness? It felt strange not to give everyone their due, if you're going to mention so many of the companions in a row like that.

I don't mind the bi-generation thing, I have a lot of positive things to say about our new Doctor and his first moments on screen, but I think being able to duplicate the TARDIS felt a little... cheap to me. Kind of a "have your cake and eat it too" situation. I know it would have been repetitive to have a David Tennant Doctor retire with a companion after losing all his Doctor-ness, like what happened with TenToo, but something a little more similar to that would have made more sense? Like, maybe he's still the Doctor but he doesn't have his time machine, and that's sad, but there's the potential that future Doctors might come by and visit. As it is, even in the little epilogue moment we see that he's romping around having adventures again, and it undercuts the retirement idea just a lil bit.

I don't know where to put this so I guess it's going in "cons", but Mel being in the story didn't really seem to add anything? I liked the one moment where Donna was like "you never talk about her, is that what you do, you just keep moving on and on and on and never talking about the past?" but it felt like it could have been accomplished without bringing in an old companion. Again, this is just a modern-Who-watcher's perspective, I'm sure it was a lot of fun for people who had familiarity with that character. I didn't have a problem with her being there precisely, it just didn't really add a ton!

Pros:

I really liked the basic conceit of the threat in this one. Basically an ear worm that gets into all of humanity that makes them belligerent, makes them believe that their opinions are the truth and that nobody else's input matters. This is a little on the nose, not the most complex of messages, but this is a family show, and I think the lesson is an apt one. The internet allows people to be anonymous, and also allows for immediate, reactive connection all across the world. There are huge gifts that this offers, but also huge problems. I really liked the moment when Kate Stewart is taken over by the effect briefly and ends up being really ableist to Shirley, basically accusing her of faking her disability because "I've seen her stand up before!!" It's so important and so rare to see a character on TV who is using a mobility aid but isn't fully paralyzed; that's true of most people using mobility aids, actually, and there's a fundamental misunderstanding about this. When under the effects of the giggle, Kate's mind takes her to the most uncharitable possible explanation, turning something that she probably just doesn't understand or hasn't been taught, into fear and mistrust. That's a really important thing for people to be on the lookout for!

On that note, it was fun to see Shirley again, and Kate, and just be there with the UNIT team. I love any time that the Doctor has to grapple with his... organizational authority, if that makes sense? When he's on Earth, he has this position of command with UNIT that he would never truly choose for himself but that he is in fact very good at, in a way that's almost sinister. That beat where he gives them permission to take down a foreign satellite is chilling, because the Doctor is in fact a literal alien from another planet who has authority over a group of humans who have the capacity to cause international incidents if they want or need to. I felt like this episode did a lot with a little, in honoring the gravity of that.

I would also be remiss not to point out that Neil Patrick Harris did seem to be having a TON of fun as the Toymaker and despite my problems thematically with this character's inclusion, I still had a blast watching him. The imagery of him with the marionette strings, the creepy puppets that Donna had to fight, the repeated echo of "oh, well that's alright then," when the Doctor insisted that his companions were not technically dead, or that their deaths were bearable for some reason... I loved all of that. Also the petulance of the ending, his insistence on trying to wiggle around his own rules... all very fun and over the top. The creepy puppets in general just added a ton to this episode.

So... here's the thing. I've seen the bi-generation aspect, the fact that Ncuti Gatwa's regeneration went down the way it did, getting a lot of negative feedback from people. I want to leave room for that very legitimate negative feedback. I totally see the argument. This regeneration into the Fifteenth Doctor breaks the pattern in all sorts of ways. He has to share the screen with the Doctor he's supposed to be taking over from, he has to spend his first few minutes as the character not as the sole focus. He doesn't get the traditional alone-on-screen celebration/freak-out as he tries to figure out who he's going to be next. I could definitely see someone feeling really irritated that this new Doctor's first major character beat is comforting the other Doctor on screen, instead of getting to take the stage on his own, so to speak.

I get it, I do. I even said above that I wish the two Doctors thing had been a little less of a copout, with Fourteen getting to keep the TARDIS and all that. But, that being said... I want to offer a counterargument. Yes, Gatwa's first scenes as the Doctor break the tradition of other regenerations, but they break the traditions in such a way that we actually get to know him a little bit at the end of the previous Doctor's goodbye? This is smart for two reasons. One, we already did the big sad sendoff of David Tennant's Doctor and I can still hear his sad little "I don't wanna go" echoing in my heart when I go to sleep at night, thank you so much. So we don't actually need to watch this man's face turn into someone else's again. Breaking the pattern was a welcome idea. And two...

This man is about to be the Doctor for hopefully a fair few seasons of television, and let me tell you, I'm already SO excited about it. I love his energy, I love the way he calls people pet names, I love his confidence and I love his compassion. This episode isn't for him, it's for the Fourteenth Doctor. Same way every other regeneration episode has been about saying goodbye to the current iteration and giving a teasing cameo of the new. Right? So the fact that we get to see what we do of Fifteen, and the one big character moment we're given for him is him turning to Fourteen, turning to himself, and pulling him into a big, comforting hug?

Do you understand what a sigh of relief I let out? After Capaldi and Whittaker and then Tennant (Round 2), we've had a lot of very angry and/or traumatized Doctors on our screen. This character has been through the wringer lately, and I know that will always be a part of his journey, absolutely. But this exuberance, this joy, and most importantly, this compassion for the self, is such a glorious, much-needed element in the story right now. We have this neat trick where because the Doctor is going to retire with Donna now, his grieving and processing will get to happen. We honor the need for this person to get some rest and try and figure out next steps. And at the same time, we now know that we have a Doctor who is not filled with self-loathing, who can honor his grief but also continue on and have adventures and meet new people and continue on the legacy of this show. It's a wonderful introduction to Gatwa's version of the Doctor. It gives me so much more to go on than the typical one minute long cameo we get at the end of a regeneration episode.

So like, I get the complaint, I understand that maybe it feels like it's undercutting Ncuti Gatwa's big introductory moment. But honestly, I think in breaking the mold and doing something totally different, I'm going to be remembering his first few minutes as the Doctor WAY more than I remember anybody else's. I don't remember the first things that Matt Smith's or Peter Capaldi's Doctors got up to, honestly. But here, we have our new Doctor immediately connecting with/playing off of characters we're already emotionally invested in. It works remarkably well and felt like a much more solid bridge between the current iteration and the next! I get sad when one version of the Doctor leaves and a new one shows up, because even if I like the new iteration, it feels like a show has ended and a new one has started. That's both a good and a bad thing when it comes to the legacy and longevity of this show. This felt more like the Eccleston to Tennant regeneration, where the show's continuity carried straight on in a seamless line. And I for one was a fan of it!

It's objectively very funny that Russell T. Davies is so in love with his own characters that he gets too sad about separating them and therefore hands out David Tennants to them just to make it all okay... like, Rose has TenToo and now Donna gets to keep the Doctor, ostensibly for the rest of her life? She gets the thing that no companion before her has ever gotten, to stay the dear and constant friend of the Doctor and not have to look back wistfully on the years of adventure that are now over? Donna, Donna, the companion who got THE most tragic ending of any companion in all of contemporary Doctor Who, and she gets to have this? I don't care if it's cheesy, and despite my earlier complaints that maybe it's a little too neat and tidy, I'm honestly floating on cloud nine about it over here. What a beautiful story.

That final scene of the Doctor surrounded by family, getting to be a part of Donna's family, getting to rest, sneaking his niece off on fun (safe) adventures, it's so healing. This is a fun show, about wacky adventures, but the trauma of the Doctor's nature, his immortality, the constant fluctuations in his identity and personality while his memory carries on, it adds a dark element that can never be totally erased. So to give us the continuation of the fun adventures with our brand new Doctor, who we'll all be excited to meet more fully in the Christmas Special, while also saying: hey, some heavy stuff has gone down. It's okay to rest. To process. And to show the Doctor, not bored or restless or dissatisfied with a quieter life, but happy? Genuinely, no holds barred, happy, with his best friend in the whole world?

Anyway I'm getting weepy just thinking about it.

This wasn't my favorite of the three specials, that has to be last week's astonishing outing. But as a farewell for David Tennant and Donna, and an intro for our Fifteenth Doctor, I'm honestly overwhelmingly pleased! Sometimes it's okay to give the characters on your family sci-fi adventure show a soft epilogue. They've suffered so much, and they deserve it.

8/10

#review #doctor who #doctor who review #dw #doctor who special

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awwishfulthinking · 7 months

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Went to a really nice gachapon/gashapon shop yesterday and got some neat stuff!

There weren't a whole lot of anime series there that I was interested in, but they had some SpyxFamily stuff so I gave two of them a go.

In hindsight I wish I had gotten more of the sitting figures because that Yor is so cute and her paint job is really good! (She can apparently hold really teeny things in her arms too.) The Anya is… she's okay. What's with the pose (lol)?

I ended up spending the most cash on these CCS figures, which was surprising to me since I hadn't expected to be so drawn in by CCS merch. I got Tomoyo first, then the Kero/Spinel figure, and did one last try to at least get one of the Sakuras (there were four different types in the set). Might have tried for a Syaoran too but I didn't want to push my luck and potentially get a duplicate, haha. Looking closer at them today, the quality isn't the best and the stands are really flimsy and made of awfully cut plastic pieces. However I got all of these for $4 each so I can't complain.

Sylvanian Families mini toys! I got two because I really wanted the one of the ones with the little house case (I got the car set first). These would make good doll props. I just wish I could fit everything in the house case but the car and grass piece are unfortunately too big to fit in AND keep the plastic case closed.

The sole Sailor Moon gashapon machine in the store had mostly the outer senshi, along with Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, Chibi Moon, and a random Sailor Jupitor(???). I wanted Sailor Saturn but got Neptune, which is fine. This is a really nice-sized and nice looking figure for a gashapon machine--it's just a shame about the random paint smudges on her face D:

This was from a $1 machine so I had to give it a go.

Inside the egg is a Transformers-esque My Little Pony toy. The novelty and the awkwardness of this toy is worth more than the $1 I spent on it. But why do I keep getting Twilight Sparkle from blind bags/boxes???

The shop also had claw machines filled with more toys and plushies (mostly pokemon stuff). I managed to get the Sylveon on my first try ($1), but I felt bad about leaving the Umbreon since it was the only plush left in the machine. Umbreon was. Significantly harder for me to grab but I managed it after five tries (plus some free tries from the shop owner who I guess felt bad for me and reset the plush two times). These are cute but they don't sit very well as their heads are so heavy compared to their bodies. Plus I think the Umbreon is missing the keychain attachment from its head (these are probably meant to be keychain plushies), but whatever.

The shop also sold Re-ment blind boxes and other fancier figures. I saw this and had to grab it:

A 50th Jump Anniversary Taikoubou (Houshin Engi) figure!!! I never expected to find a figure for such an old/obscure series in a random figure shop, so I immediately bought it.

I ended up spending around $85 in total (Taikoubou figure included). A little more than I expected to spend, but for what I got I think it was a good deal overall.

#ari's post about stuff

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