#I’ve used the same traits song for a different ask meme a while back. i just like the song that much
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I was tagged by @punkluvr to share three songs I love at the moment! Thank you!
I tag @italiangothicwriteblr @chishiio and @laufire !
#tag meme#kraftwerk#xiu xiu#Adam ant#George Harrison#traitrs#the adverts#I’ve used the same traits song for a different ask meme a while back. i just like the song that much
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SCOOB! Stream of Consciousness Review
Here we are folks - I finally review the originally cinematic, fully CGI animated Scooby Doo Movie (one year later... I did not queue this as I thought I had last June - damn you, Tumblr. I’m not changing much here, so enjoy as it was intended).
Created by a team who have professed their affection for this mystery team and their meddling dog too, will this be a lush experience fit to satisfy any Hanna-Barbera fan? Or will it be a hot garbage cash-grab, littered with Easter eggs and references that do nothing to hide a meatless mess of outdated memes and shallow character development?
LET’S
FIND
OUT
Below this cut is my entire stream-of-consciousness review on the SCOOB! Movie, as experienced. SPOILER warning here - I’m digging into everything, no plot points spared.
Here we go~
And we start off with a decent shot of the California coastline (looks like the kids backstory is front and center), some 90s hip-hop synthwave song about California, and OH SWEET JESUS THESE MODELS LOOK TERRIBLE
Ahem
Yeah, this is a problem right off the bat - some of these people in the opening shots look remarkably unfinished - think three shades above “Rapsittie Kids: Believe in Santa” level - and the animation on them is less than stellar.
On the plus side, we do see a fantastic variety of ages, sizes, and races - there’s a brief blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Sikh man on roller skates playing a sitar - but when the designs look rushed in the opening shots, it’s not a fantastic sign. At least they’re brief, but it’s hard to see if this is a lower level of the film’s style due to rushed animation, or if they didn’t care to polish it up as much, given that it’s maybe a 30 second scene.
Still, kudos to actually going for variety in the crowd shots. Minus kudos to making most of the clothes look like Play-doh draped over a Barbie doll. I’m not even kidding on that one, the clothes are super basic and barely have any sign of texture or creasing or even fabric/cut variety. Almost reminds me of the first Toy Story movie’s design for human clothes, yeesh.
----
Ahh, our first introduction to Scooby Doo at a Greek gyro food stand. That’s foreshadowing right there folks! 😉
Sadly, he is really weirdly animated in his run sequence - he looks out of proportion as he’s running on his hind legs, and the human animation has really bad consistency - some background characters are really janky, while others actually move really nicely. The characters we immediately focus on seem to be pretty smooth at least, but that’s still very strange.
On a side note: Ruby and Spears Sub Sandwich shop. Nice 😁
----
They are reaaaally pushing the super over-the-top dramatic music for a bike cop chasing a dog that stole gyro meat
Why
It’s not even interesting chase music, just generic super-hyped-up chase music
----
And now we finally get to see a young Shaggy, standing next to a tie-dye food stand called Casey’s Confections that… sells meat. Hm. Guess WB hasn’t learned after all these years 🙄
Unfortunately, I’m not a huge fan of the kid they got to play him, Iain Armitage. He’s not a bad voice actor by any means, but he just doesn’t sound right for Shaggy. I know that as a kid he’d be much less likely to have a cracking/squeaky voice, but he sounds… it’s hard to pin down a word, but - precocious? Darling? Either way it doesn’t quite match, especially given how Shaggy sounds when he grows up via Will Forte. Just… no connection there.
I tie it down to the particular vocal twangs and nuances the gang usually has. I’ll touch base on that note later I think, once we hit the teenage versions of the gang, but for now I’m just not feeling it.
----
On the one hand, I empathize deeply with Shaggy and his Spotify’s unsettling ability to pinpoint his insecurities with song choices, and also deeply enjoy that one small gesture where his fingers kind of shake & tighten around his phone while he takes a deep breath to calm himself- it’s a very nice, subtle sign of frustration
On the other hand we just passed two guys with no nipples and an unerring likeness to a Ken doll in those Barbie movies, so I’m distracted by that now
(between this and Fred’s no-nipples in Happy Halloween SD!, is WB just terrified of giving men nipples in animated movies now? what gives?)
Also distracted by the thrifty lesbians who bought those two shirts that come together to make a heart in the middle, on the store’s 2 for 1 day
happy pride y’all!
---
Finally got context for the two sand piles!
Very, very sad context, but still! Progress!
Basically Shaggy’s practicing talking to people in order to learn how to make friends, since he either has no idea how, or has never had a friend before. So he’s trying to learn the right way to do it since his own attempts have failed
And him talking to these sand piles not only counts as practice, but he’s using them so that his mom thinks he’s spending time with friends like he told her
Ow :)
---
So ketchup leather is apparently a thing that exists
I’m learning so much today!
---
Given that Shaggy has no friends at this stage, but he’s still called Shaggy, I’m kind of wondering if that was a mean nickname that everyone called him, but he was just grateful for the interaction/pretended it was from friends, so he kept it 🤔
Actually, take it back, his mother is calling him that. Family nickname, maybe…?
----
Shaggy has Blue Falcon (classic) and Dynomutt funko pops
noice
---
Oof, you can reaaaaally hear the age in Frank Welker’s Scooby voice. Can we get Scott Innes back? He sounds almost identical to his performance 20+ years ago :/
Also talking waaaay too much - even SDMI Scooby wasn’t this wordy, and he NEVER shut the hell up
----
Okay wait
So Shaggy met Scooby on Halloween day - then met the rest of the gang hours later?
Huh. And here I was thinking it would have been a few weeks minimum
Although I have to say there is a lot here to work with, if it paces out how I think it does
Shaggy meets Scooby. Bare hours later, he buys him a collar (instead of his mom? weird) and asks him to stay with him, despite not really knowing him. Then, only a couple hours after that, he finally makes some friends… but only when Scooby is with him.
Given that it looks like the gang are all around the same age in the same neighborhood, there’s a solid chance that they’ve taken classes together at the same school. If none of them met/knew/made friends with Shaggy then, but only did so AFTER Scooby came into the picture, that might lead to the argument we know about later when they split up; afterwards, S&SD go to the bowling alley, then get abducted by the Blue Falcon, plot continues. This could make it seem like they were only friends with him at the start because he had a dog.
And the brief scene earlier with the music device shows that he tries to tamp down on his anger/doesn’t really address it - could lead to something more later
hmmmm 🤔
---
Wait what
These two kid bullies just came out of nowhere, stole Shaggy’s candy… and then started on about how Halloween is only a marketing ploy to get companies to rot your teeth and go to the dentist more, before throwing the bag through a window and telling the two that ‘your blood sugar will thank us for it!’
Are - are these the brainwashed children of a Karen? Is that what I’m seeing?
I mean we could have had a Red Herring cameo, but apparently informing children about candy conspiracy theories is more important :/
----
Daphne: It’s Halloween - no one should go home without their candy
FD&V: *none of them have candy/candy bags*
???????
(Wouldn’t it make more sense if the bullies had stolen their candy too? What the hey man)
----
I do find it neat that we actually get to SEE the wires the ‘ghost’ uses to fly in full effect - that’s actually pretty cool, and not really something we get to see up close in older Scooby shows. Most of those just have the bad guy randomly flying about, and the wires revealed after the fact
---
Actually, given how FD&V react to this ghost almost immediately… have they already been solving mysteries? It seems like it, given how smoothly they move together to capture him
That’s kind of odd in kids. Like, even in PNSD they weren’t perfectly in-sync on stuff
This then leads to the gang solving mysteries together… in spite of the fact that all Shag and Scoob did was hide in the wardrobe that had the stolen goods, while FD&V captured the dude
Granted, they do ask Shag and Scoob if they wanna join in and say yes, but that seems like an strange jump after what could have been a one-time deal
I just find that a touch odd - esp when they could have had a five minute scene or so of them wandering around the house, touching on some old SDWAY traits. Heck, show that they’re SCARED in some way, and don’t immediately move to tackle what looks like a murderous spirit at age 8-9 or so. Even just showing the kids learning about each other would be enough, but what do I know. I’ve only watched Scooby Doo everything since I was 4 🙄
---
Ahhhh, and now for the updated rendition of the theme song
Where they’re all still kids doing everything the teenage gang did in the theme song
It doesn’t look as good as the OG, though - kind of like a computer game simulating the SDWAY intro using the PNSD kids in CGI. It’s honestly strange to see, and a little jarring - especially when we then transition to the older teenage gang right in the middle
Like, we don’t get to see you guys age through the song as you’re chased by/catch different monsters? That could have been pretty neat honestly - shows how long they’ve been doing this
Tho I gotta admit, seeing the Spooky Space Kook with his OG sound effects is pretty awesome, brief as it waoH MY GOD FRED WHY ARE YOU HAVING A ROMANTIC BEACHSIDE DATE WITH THE MYSTERY MACHINE
THAT WASN’T IN THE ORIGINAL AND NO ONE ELSE GETS A CHARACTER INSIGHT SHOT LIKE THIS
WHY
----
Huh, looks like Ruby & Spears gave up their subway sandwich shop for a coffee shop
That apparently the gang goes to in order to eat malt shop food
okay?
----
Ah, and here’s where we finally look at the voice acting of the older teenage gang. Buckle up folks, cause I gotta lot to say
We’ll start with Fred, bc honestly? I think Efron actually fits him pretty dang well. He’s got a different cadence from Welker, true, but as far as an update goes? I think he’s a solid fit. Very much in line with the all-American kid that Fred’s kind of been slated as for the past 50 years or so, but updated more for the modern perspective. I call it solid (and possibly a replacement for whenever Welker decides to retire).
Next? Oof. Velma is, IMHO, the weakest casting. Velma, no matter her voice actress, has ALWAYS had some form of nasal twang to her voice - that’s part of what makes her Velma to begin with, and helps her stand out. Nicole Jaffe, Pat Stevens, BJ Ward, Christina Lange (PNSD), Mindy Cohn, Kate Micucci, Linda Cardellini -heck, even Haley Kiyoko from ‘The Mystery Begins’ and Sarah Gilman from the ‘Daphne and Velma’ movie understood this! They all had that nasal twang to their voice - differing between actresses, of course, but still recognizable as Velma. Gina Rodriguez though? Honestly, it just sounds like she’s acting it straight. Not bad acting at all, by any means - she just doesn’t sound like Velma, and doesn’t seem to be trying to. (Honestly wondering if she was only hired bc she voices Carmen Sandiego in the reboot cartoon for the lolz fun reference! type connection)
Daphne is sort of similar in voices, but hers is more of a pitch her voice hits - Heather North, Mary Kay Bergman, and Grey Delisle Griffin all have that pitch they hit naturally when speaking. Amanda Seyfried? Does not - in fact, her voice is actually deeper than I was expecting - but it’s not quite as big a difference as it is for Velma. It fits her character type okay, and she does well with it overall.
And finally, the most controversial one: Will Forte’s Shaggy.
I’ll go ahead and say this: he’s not Scott Menville levels of bad Shaggy voice acting. If I were to place him on a list, I’d probably put him around Billy West level - kind of sounds similar via vocal tics (voice cracking, likes and zoinks, etc), but his own voice just overtakes the impression he’s seeking to hit. When I hear him speak, I don’t really hear Shaggy; I just hear Will Forte trying to do an impression of Shaggy.
In comparison: when Scott Innes took over for Shaggy, it was like Casey Kasem’s, just a touch more of a twang to his voice and just a dash over-the-top - but it was still Shaggy, and you didn’t doubt that for a minute.
Same thing for Lillard, but maybe moreso - he was pretty much the most perfect casting for a live-action Shaggy there could be at the time Scooby Doo (2002) was made. Him taking over for Kasem from there made perfect sense: he was honestly the best cast Mystery Inc member of the live-actions, and a lot more recognizable to the general public as Shaggy than Scott Innes was. He could also do different emotions with Shaggy that not a lot of the other voice actors had the chance to do (mainly bc script), so for future stuff they have that flexibility, if they wanted to play around a little more.
With any luck Forte will get better over the course of the movie, but honestly the casting could have been so much better with Matt Lillard and Kate Micucci.
----
Shaggy Rogers, evading taxes since 2020
----
siMON COWELL??!?
WHAT THE
WHY?!?!?
ALSO HIS CHARACTER DESIGN STYLE IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE GANG WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON?!!?
IS HE SUPPOSED TO BE THE SD CELEBRITY CAMEO
LIKE
IF YOU WERE GOING TO DO A CAMEO FROM AMERICAN IDOL WHY NOT RYAN SEACREST
HE TOOK OVER FOR CASEY KASEM ON THE AMERICAN TOP 40 WOULDN’T THAT MAKE MORE SENSE
aaauuuggghhh
---
Also he’s there as a potential investor in Mystery Inc as a detective agency
A music industry professional… is interested in funding a detective agency.
Like… did he miss out on Josie & the Pussycats? Is that why he’s here?
----
Wait a minute
Oh noooooo
I know why he’s here
I remember this spoiler
Shit
-----
And once again, here is your reminder to tell Simon Cowell a great big fcuk you
Only this time it’s for making Shaggy and Scooby feel worthless and saying that friendship is worthless and cannot be counted on for anything worthwhile
Simon Cowell: Professional Dickhead
---
Welp, at least this gives a solid reason why they leave: Simon Cowell was being a professional dickhead, and the gang didn’t really say anything against him or interrupt him on his whole ‘Shag and Scoob are worthless spiel’
Or, well... Daphne stepped up some, but more to say ‘they’re our friends!’ rather than ‘that’s entirely wrong, our friends aren’t worthless!’ Better than nothing, but yeesh
----
Ahhh, Takamoto Bowling - the emptiest bowling alley in the evenings this side of Coolsville
(no seriously, the past few times my dad has taken my sister and me bowling pre-pandemic, no matter the day or time? it’s ALWAYS got more than 6 lanes of people there, what the heck)
Also Scooby wears three bowling shoes, which honestly makes more sense than I thought it would - that pup goes spinning and sliding every which way on a normal floor, bowling alley floors would be like ten times worse
----
here’s a nice little detail - when Scooby sees one of the bowling pins peek out with red eyes and he yells that to Shaggy, Shaggy actually squints and walks closer to see if it actually does have eyes
aww
----
Huh, okay
Panicked Will Forte Shaggy actually sounds more like a good Shaggy voice than normal talking Will Forte Shaggy
I can dig it
---
Still kind of underwhelmed by the Shag and Scoob disguise scene - wouldn’t it make more sense to have them like, dish up hot sauce or something on a plate that nonsensically makes the robots overheat before they discover their ruse?
Idk, maybe they’re off their game after Simon ‘Dickhead’ Cowell
---
Carlton Way - must be named after Fred’s only other voice actor, Carlton Stevens of PNSD
Also Hanna’s Barber Shop is next to Barbera’s Pizza! Cute.
And… Pitstop’s Pink Perfume ad. Wait, who is that? *assorted googling noises*
...ahhh, Penelope Pitstop from Wacky Races! Who, according to Wikipedia, was revealed to have Greek ancestry in the 2016 Wacky Raceland comic book, having been born on the island of Aegina
Now I’m wondering if we’ll see her in this too, given Cerberus...
----
Honestly kind of fascinating to see the gang with a police radio in their van
Also fascinating to see that only main characters are allowed clothing variety and texture/creases/folds
---
it’s actually really sweet to see Fred, upon hearing that Shag and Scoob are likely in danger, immediately makes a 90 degree turn in traffic
---
It looks like they changes Dee Dee’s name a hair - now it’s Dee Dee Skyes, instead of Sykes
It works well for the Falcon aesthetic, so that’s cool
----
Shaggy, after Dee Dee tells them that Dastardly’s trying to kill them: Scoob, someone thinks we’re important enough to *mimes slitting throat*!
Scooby: It’s nice to be wanted.
Excellent! This movie has captured Shag and Scoob’s blasé attitude towards death! Now we’re onto a solid Scooby film :D
Dee Dee: Hmm, I hear that!
And they even have a friend to share in their attitude! Splendid!
----
Christ, I can work photoshop better than Blue Falcon can, and I don’t even know how to use photoshop
I will give major kudos on his costume tho - it maintains the important elements of the OG Falcon, while still updating it with more bird-related aesthetic, like the feathered appearance of parts of his costume, the split cape resembling the tail feathers, and the talon gauntlets & boots. neat!
---
Yooo, Dynomutt, I thought secret identities were still a thing with Superheroes, what the hey are you doing giving it out to a duo you literally just picked up behind a bowling alley
Ngl, I’m kinda hoping we get some scenes where Dynomutt messes up a little like in the OG cartoon - this one feels really serious, which is kind of strange
---
Okay now I want to see older!Blue Falcon come in for a cameo
Mainly bc I’m getting the feeling that this one is a major dumbass, and not in the fun and friendly himbo kind of way 😑
---
Wait, THAT’S our first look at Dastardly? That’s a bit abrupt, isn’t it?
Also his ship must be pumping thousands of gallons of toxins into the air, that smoke cloud looks hideous. Forget logging into his mom’s Netflix account like the trailer said, EPA should probably be hunting him for sport with a laser cannon, jesus fcuking christ
---
Honestly kinda want a plane you can pilot like a motorbike now
---
Welp, it looks like we have a fun, mustache-twirly, puns-aplenty, loves-to-be-bad kind of villain on our hands folks! This is gonna be FUN AS HECK
---
Eurgh, this scene - the super-stiff-but-stretched-out ‘yeeurgh’ faces really squick me for some reason, but I can’t really pinpoint why
---
I have decided I highly dislike the Brian Blue Falcon, or Brian Falcon for short, and would like to see Dastardly tie him to some railroad tracks
---
North St for Heather North, and… wait… Funland Carnival? Like where Charlie the Robot hung out?
Apparently that’s in Romania.
A very yellow-greenfilter Romania at that.
Like, I’ve seen blue washes on movies trying to portray evening in the middle of the day so they don’t actually have to shoot at night, but yellow? That’s normally used for deserts and hot days and uhhh
NOT for evenings in a country with landscape like THIS
odd
(I mean I guess they got the mountains and trees right, but still. Yellow filters make a place look arid, which Romania is Not, to my knowledge)
----
Dude, Brian Falcon is such an idiot even Shaggy and Scooby, commonly portrayed as the idiots of Mystery Inc, look at him like he’s a moron.
(They are Not Amused.)
Also Brian Falcon is an absolute coward. That’s new. Even Shaggy and Scooby face off against the robots directly in a Whack-a-Mole game and destroy some. Dude, get your head in the fcuking game already, yikes
--
Woah, Laff-a-Lympics, Wacky Races, Hex Girls, The Banana Splits, Penelope Pitstop, Space Stars, Posse Impossible, and Hong Kong Phooey easter eggs in one shot
Geezus
---
Another nice moment: when cornered by Dastardly, Shaggy moves to stand in front of Scooby to protect him
---
Dastardly (to Shaggy): I don’t care about YOU. You’re not REMOTELY important!
*proceeds to shoot Shaggy THROUGH the ceiling and up into the highest car on a Ferris Wheel where Brian Falcon is hiding like a man baby*
Welp, so much for a fun and zany villain. Time for this Plush Anon to kill a bitch *cocks shotgun*
I will, too - kudos to the animators for hurting me so badly with the face Shaggy made right before being shot because
OW
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Ehehehhehe, yess, the infamous ‘Dick’ scene
Dastardly: No, I’m a DICK. With a D!
You sure are, you sack of dildos with a D!
This scene had to be put in on purpose - if this had been released in theaters, I just know the adults would be dying in laughter 🤣🤣🤣
----
Shaggy: Brian, do something!
Brian Falcon: Like what?
Shaggy: Like, drop some F-Bombs!
love it 😂
---
Is it like movie law now, that if there’s an action scene with a Ferris Wheel in the background, it has to fall off and roll down a mild incline like a wheel? Because it kinda feels like it
---
Aha! Dastardly said his drats! Perfection.
Now to shoot him through a ceiling to make them matter even more :D
---
OOF.
Well that hurt.
Poor Shaggy - basically internalizing now that he’s the worthless one and weak link of the group now that Scooby is considered more important
---
Holy fcuk I’m crying
Shaggy just broke Brian Falcon down to his deepest insecurities without even trying while talking to him
He even used the words ‘imposter syndrome’
Shaggy hon, you’re the best
----
Oh hey, Fred, Daphne, and Velma! It’s been a while since we saw you guys again, what are you doing?
Arguing about the metric system and realizing that Shaggy and Scooby reminding them to eat periodically helped them keep a clearer head...
And using the word ‘hangry’.
But then looking through a ridiculously cute photo album of the two and a video the gang took together (the video is honestly really heckin’ cute, 10000/10 would recommend)...
And then getting pulled over so Fred can have a brief ‘oo-la-la’ montage about the pretty blonde cop who honest-to-gods looks like a Barbie doll.
Where Daphne then describes how ugly Dastardly is...
Right before the petite blonde cop who’s maybe like 5’7” at best rips off her outfit to reveal it was Dick Dastardly this entire time, all 7ish feet of him.
And then kidnaps them all along with the Mystery Machine while he makes terribly fun dorky puns
…
...SO BACK TO SCOOBY AND SHAGGY...
---
...where Scooby is making kissy faces in the mirror while wearing his Blue Falcon uniform
Hrm, that’s not really better is it
We actually see Shaggy reading (OG) Blue Falcon’s autobiography, and making hurt but snide comments about Scooby’s ego
Which are actually pretty clever tbh
-----
Cooooooongratulations, Fred Jones! You are now officially a full-on himbo!
----
Alas, poor Daphne. While your knowledge of the tropes of your show might have served you well in other places, this was to be a theatrical release once upon a time, and so such knowledge falls to ruin.
----
You know, I just realized - we’re never really told HOW the Cerberus skulls work, both in how each skull can be used to find the others, and, presumably, in releasing Cerberus itself. We’re given a brief glance-over of Scooby’s ancestry (and I mean REALLY damn brief), and a quick mention that these are supposed to be Cerberus’ skulls being stolen, but… that’s it. Nothing else is given.
Now, I read the first few chapters of my SCOOB! Junior Novelization, and it actually went into further detail about the skulls themselves and what Dastardly’s initial plan was early in the book - open the gates of Hades and obtain the seas of treasure therein. It acted as an introduction both to the climatic endgame we’ll face at the end of the movie, and to Dastardly, who uses the same disguise trick he used as the Barbie cop when he stole the first one in South America.
(They actually DID plan to use this as Dastardly’s intro, but cut this… 3 minute scene for time. Yeah. See below video for the details - honestly think they should have kept it in. Saves time later and definitely more show than tell, compared to what we got)
youtube
I feel like that would be a better introduction to him than the one we got - hell, it would have fit in quite neatly after the revamped theme song montage. They could have the scene with Dastardly finding/stealing the first skull as an introduction (as above), then have him answer a call or something. Exposit openly “You found the key! Excellent! Now where are we going next?”
THEN cut to the diner/coffee shop scene we had earlier. We still wouldn’t know exactly what the key was/entailed off the bat, and they could still have FD&V find out on their own - maybe by hacking the little robot instead? IDK.
---
The final skull is on Messick Mountain.
Cute.
On a side note, I do love how Dastardly’s ship interior looks - very dieselpunk
---
Velma just hacked into Dynomutt… somehow, and I finally get my wacky Dynomutt shenanigans! Hazoo!
...sadly that was really dang brief. Realistic, yes, but still too brief.
---
Eyyyy, we finally get the whys of why Scooby is needed! … really dang fast.
Also Fred says Jinkies.
----
Hey, Muttley popped up! In a shrine… to his demise… that we find out he reached when Dastardly pushed him forward into the Underworld to steal the treasure of Alexander the Great in a portal he rigged up… only for both of them to find out it was a one-way deal unless they used the key to be able to come back. The key, of course, being Scooby Doo, descendent of Peritas, Alexander’s dog.
Eh, workable enough-ish. It’s interesting to see that Dastardly, despite how much he disliked Muttley in the older cartoons, still cares about him to a certain extent.
---
Pfff, Fred’s a poor man’s Hemsworth XD
---
Sweet, we’re in ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ now!
---
Um
O W W W
You guys really had to do the ‘me or them’ thing with Shaggy and Scooby… and tHeN hAvE sCoObY cHoOsE tHe FaLcONs?!? Just because they said he was important as “the key” and gave him a spandex costume.
Over at least 7 years of friendship.
Booooooooooooo
---
actually no I’m Not Done Yet
This whole scene is a mess.
Like
Shaggy’s turn was really dang fast… but I can still see how he gets to it. It’s at least a day between Scooby being chosen as a pseudo-sidekick and the island arrival, during which Shaggy’s talk with the main adult (who has taken up the mantle of his favorite superhero) essentially confirms his feelings of worthlessness and leaves him to stew for HOURS on end (on top of another adult, Dastardly, who also calls him “not even REMOTELY important” at the carnival before freaKING SHOOTING HIM THROUGH THE CEILING NO I AM NOT OVER THIS). Tie that to a teenager who also believes his only friends have come to think he’s meaningless baggage, and suddenly his entire support system is vanishing underneath him to one of his former idols without ANY sign of hesitation from Scooby’s part (with the exception of the collar scene, but I don’t think that that means the same to Scooby, given how quickly he bounces back)
Scooby tho… hrm. It could be that he’s clinging to the good feelings Brian Falcon inspires in him (by choosing him as the next possible Dynomutt), as a way to overpower how FD&V hurt him, while also building on how he came to love the duo because SHAGGY loved them so much. But the movie doesn’t frame that up… at all?? At least compared to Shaggy.
Idk, maybe I’m missing something, but this scene is a mess through and through
Boooooo
----
Scooby: *tries to leap into Brian Falcon’s arms like he did with Shaggy but falls*
Brian: Uh, what are you doing?
Scooby: Rhaggy never missed.
Damn straight he didn’t
---
oh hey, it’s Captain Caveman
I was wondering when we’d see him.
---
AAAUUGGHH
It’s that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene from the trailers I sobbed over - the one with Shaggy holding Scooby’s collar
Fun fact it actuALLY FADES INTO THE FLASHBACK
THAT WAS NOT A TRAILER THING THAT’S ACTUALLY HERE IN THE MOVIE
OW
---
Oh No
Fred is here, alone, after that whole scene with Dastardly saying he had a use for Fred
...while that’s likely Dastardly in a Fred suit (that sounds creepy just typing it), I’m still going to enjoy this brief but absolutely lovely hug Shaggy and Fred share...
(seriously tho, look at this, it’s a genuinely close, squish-your-lungs-out kind of hug, I love it)
...as well as Shaggy, who's still hurt from his fight with Scooby, immediately gearing up to go help him after hearing Dastardly’s trying to kidnap him.
----
Brian Falcon and Scooby Doo now have to take on Captain Caveman in gladiatorial combat in order to claim the final skull of Cerberus
I love cartoons sometimes
----
Captain Caveman just put the smackdown on Brian Falcon and punched him into the ground up to his CHEST
Then smacked him so far into a wall he cracked the stone around him!
GodDAMN is this satisfying 😆 altho minor question here: how did he gain the rank of Captain? Do cavepeople have a naval force?
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He just whirled Scooby around his head, then spun him so fast his costume broke off
I may have to look into some Captain Caveman stuff now, that’s fantastic
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Shaggy and Fred - sorry, “Fred” - just smashed through to the colosseum in the Mystery Machine
And Dynomutt just fired missiles at Captain Caveman to smash him into an Amigara-shaped hole of himself
I REALLY love cartoons sometimes
---
Oh No
Just as Shaggy starts trying to apologize, “Fred” kicks him in the back, rips off his disguise to normal Dastardly self, and kidnaps Scooby atop the skull, before revealing he destroyed the Falcon Fury jet
New tagline for this movie? Shaggy Rogers and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day
...at least the rest of the gang is back together?
---
Brian Falcon: *Immediately tries to blame Shaggy for inadvertently leading Dastardly to them, while storming up to get in his face*
Fred: *upon realizing BrianF is blaming Shaggy for everything, without a SINGLE moment’s hesitation, immediately leaps in to defend Shaggy and physically push back Brian Falcon several feet*
We stan one Himbo, theydies and gentlethem
Also?
Velma (sneering): What kind of hero blames other people for his problems? *Walks over to comfort Shaggy with Daphne, while Shaggy looks dumbfounded they’re defending him bc he also blames himself for Scooby’s kidnapping*
This. This right here, is the kind of Mystery gang content I wanna see.
I don’t care how the rest of this movie goes now, this scene right here is ambrosia to the Scooby fan’s soul, and therefore makes this entire movie worth it, outdated memes, lingo, and all
---
Cackling rn - Fred and Brian Falcon are in a point-off a la the Spiderman meme 😂
or, more specifically, the post-credits sequence of Spiderverse where they’re arguing about who started pointing first
It gets better when Velma and Daphne try to pull each other off of their pushing fight, and Velma grumbles “Toxic Masculinity” I’m crying
---
WOAH
More super Shaggy stuff here (apart from being flung through a building roof without a scratch) - he pushes apart both groups effortless, and even knocks them back several feet
If we estimate Dynomutt as… we’ll say 450 since he’s made of metal, Falcon at 220, Dee Dee at 160, that’s about 830 lbs on one side
Then Fred, Daphne and Velma on the other (hmm, 180, 150, 130?) would be around 460 lbs
Dang boi
---
Oh honey no, it’s not your fault
But dang if he didn’t get a good message from it, one I’ve done my best to transcribe here:
“I was afraid that... things were gonna change. And they did change. But like, that’s okay! People can grow. But it doesn’t mean that we’re growing apart. Because the one thing that will never change is that Scooby Doo is my best friend! Ten years ago, a little boy made a promise to a stray puppy that he’d never leave him no matter what. And I’m gonna keep that promise! Now it’s time we stopped that mustachioed menace from opening the gates to the {underworld} and letting loose that fearsome {Cerberus}. So what do you say we get out {of here}, and go get my always-snacking, never-lacking, often-napping dog back? Who’s with me?”
Honestly not a bad message for kids. Things will change, people will change, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop being friends. (Obvs real life exceptions apply, but that’s not a bad note honestly)
...shame that that conclusion comes right the FUCK outta nowhere
Like
How, exactly, did he come to this conclusion? WHEN? What inspired him to realize this, what was the impetus for this specific line of thought, that it’s okay for friends to change?
It kinda feels like this should have been either the happy ending speech given after they’ve saved the world, or one at the start of the third act, like if Shaggy arrives when Scooby thinks he’s chased him away and ruined everything, and Shaggy & the gang still save him. And Scooby asks him why he did that - when Scooby tried to change himself to fit what Brian Falcon wanted, instead of treasuring the friend he still had, or maybe why Shaggy reacted the way he did. THEN Shaggy gives the speech we hear, a la:
“I yelled at you because… like, because I was scared. I was scared that... things were gonna change. And they did change. But like, that’s okay! People can grow. But it doesn’t mean that we’re growing apart. Because the one thing that will never change is that YOU’RE my best friend! Ten years ago, a little boy made a promise to a stray puppy that he’d never leave him no matter what. And I mean to keep it!”
At least that would make a little more sense to me. Again, not a bad speech, but a little rearranging would help to really hit home.
---
Okay, now we’re back with Dastardly in Greece, and suddenly the background people all look MILES better than the ones at the start of the movie. Did they just forget to polish the first two minutes of film, what the heck?
Also, Dastardly’s ship is literally the entire length of the Greek ruins presented o_O
---
HOLY SHIT THE SKULLS TURNED BACK TIME AND MADE THE RUINS INTO AN ENTIRELY RESTORED PALACE WITH THE GATES OF THE UNDERWORLD BEFORE THEM
They’re also colored a very atmospheric neon arrangement that’s surprisingly quite tasteful ^.^
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The Mystery Machine can fly now!!! eeheeheeeheeheeheeheeee
----
And so we finally see Cerberus, a massive, towering figure with sharp teeth and pffffffhahahhahaa why are all three heads wearing Spartan helmets
To its credit, they’re also wearing basic body armor, wrist guards, tail spikes, etc, but the helmets are killing me 🤣 who thought to stick that onto the dog? Did Hades forget to remove the armor after winning the Gods’ Pet Costume Contest, or was it like that horse in the ATV costume - it felt safer so it didn’t let anyone take it off?
Or was this a precaution against Herakles coming back? These are questions - hilarious, hilarious questions 😁
---
Awww. Scooby immediately runs to the battered Mystery Machine to rip the doors open for the gang!
And… wait. THIS is where that wonderful hug was in the trailers? I thought that was at the end of the movie when everyone was safe!
This now does not bode well. But we’ll worry about that later. Time to enjoy this gorgeous wonderful hug of the entire gang, and Shag and Scoob apologizing to each other for fighting 🥰
Yet another scene to make the rest of this movie worth the rest
(halfway wanna frame this shit and put it on the wall, it’s that lovely)
----
Fantastic! Dastardly is now in Hell, where I’ve been wishing him this entire movie! :D
And dang… he actually apologizes to what he believes is a dead Muttley. Who is, naturally, snickering at all of this. The two bicker predictably, but eventually hug and make up, too happy to see each other to resort to old habits. Honestly a nice little scene, all-in-all.
---
Back to the gang and they’re doing the glowy eyes in the dark bit! I actually haven’t seen that in a Scooby movie forever, it’s neat.
Also Fred is now going full Liam Neeson over his van, war paint and all, using the tire cover as a shield and… holy shit.
HOLY SHIT
THE ASCOT IS BAAAnnnnnd it’s gone. Boy, that was… short.
Fred just ran full-tilt at Cerberus, screaming like a mad man, before getting flicked away by its big toe, and losing the ascot and makeshift shield. It punched so hard his facepaint came off
It was fun while it lasted y’all
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Heyyy, Shag and Scoob just came up with the plan, and it’s actually solid! I’m so proud, and so is the rest of the gang! Also willingly going to distract Cerberus while the rest figure out how to close the gate and stuff Cerberus back in
I love my boys 😊
---
Annnnd there goes Brian Falcon like the coward he is
To… call his dad? And admit he isn’t a hero.
Only for Dynomutt to point out Shaggy and Scooby are taking him on and are terrified.
This then cuts to Shaggy and Scooby running around in a chariot and gladiator wear, running back and forth a la the door gag from Cerberus to the OG SDWAY theme
I think I love this movie
(although they’re hinting at Dynomutt being resentful of OG Blue Falcon essentially abandoning him to his incompetent son, and I really wish it had been touched upon more
that’s actually rather heartbreaking, when you stop to think about it, and there’s a lot that could be done with an additional two minutes of screentime)
---
Huh, another good message for kids: it’s okay to fail and be scared, so long as you keep going and try to do what’s right.
Two good messages for kids in one movie. Not too shabby, on the whole.
---
Brian Falcon just flew in and punched the three-headed dog, then jumped into its mouth as it tried to eat Scooby, resisted the MASSIVE JAW STRENGTH, and got them out of there safe and sound
Finally, something heroic!
--
I was wondering where Dastardly and Muttley got off to - apparently they’re off to take a money bath.
Aight
---
Shag and Scoob have now convinced the Rotten Robots to turn into bowling balls to knock Cerberus off their feet a la the classic marbles pratfall back into the underworld
That is a sentence I just wrote
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OH FCUK NO
NO
ABSOLUTELY NOT NO
YOU ARE TELLING US THAT AFTER ALL OF THIS - ALL OF THIS - ONE OF THEM HAS TO STAY IN THE UNDERWORLD TO LOCK THE GATE
THAT OCTOBER LEAKER WAS RIGHT WHAT THE HELL
LITERALLY SO
I mean i know its a kids film specifically Scooby Doo so happy ending but what the literal FUCK
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WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGHHH
SHAGGY NOOOO
“Buddy, back when we were kids, you saved me. Now, it’s my turn.”
and he dOES THIS WHILE HOLDING SCOOBY’S HEAD TENDERLY IN HIS HANDS
AND WHEN EVERYTHING REVERTS IT’S JUST RUBBLE AND RUIN AND SCOOBY’S LEFT SOBBING OPENLY AT NOTHING
AND THE GANG ALL COME TO CLING AT HIM AND CRY OVER THEIR FRIEND WHO THOUGHT HE WAS WORTHLESS MOST OF THE MOVIE AND THOUGH THAT THE GANG THOUGHT THE SAME ABOUT HIM
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH
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WELP, TIME TO COPE WITH INAPPROPRIATE HUMOR
Shaggy: I yelled at my dog, got him kidnapped, and ended up helping the bad guy to open the gates to Hell. Guess I’ll die.
Dee Dee: Well actually, this is more Dastardly’s fault because -
Shaggy, yelling as he slams his hand against the lock: GUESS I’LL DIE!!!
----
Ah, so the writers wrote themselves into a corner, and the only way out was a Deus Ex Machina (at least, I think I’m using that term correctly…)
Because to get Shaggy back, a giant statue of Alexander the Great and Peritas appears out of nowhere - literally, since it definitely wasn’t there before - with an inscription Scooby has to read to get Shaggy back.
This would have been a lot more effective if we’d seen it when Dastardly arrived in Greece - maybe even as the marker for where the gate to the Underworld was. Have Alexander facing one way, and Peritas facing the other. You open the gate on Alexander’s side, and come home on Peritas’ side. Having this unfold into the gate gives it more purpose than “magically appears right the fcuk outta nowehere” and you could have a pun with the “backdoor” escape. Everybody wins!
And if that’s too good for ya, how about a brief lingering shot by it at some point as Dastardly flies into Greece, behind where the gate materializes, or directly across from it on the plaza? Maybe have one of the gang kick it after Shaggy leaves, and say ‘This is all your fault! Why would you make something like this?’
It’d still be a magical contrivance, but at least it would make some fcuking SENSE.
(Granted it DID lead to this hilariously ominous shot, so maybe I shouldn’t complain:)
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Velma: I finally figured out what you guys are! You’re the heart of Mystery Inc.
Me: YEAH BABY! *flips over table* I’VE BEEN SAYING THAT SHIT FOR YEARS AND NOW, I’M FCUKING VALIDATED AT LAAAAAAAAST!
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Shaggy: *rips off Dastardly’s face to reveal…*
ALL: SIMON COWELL??!?
Me, choking on food: I’m sorry WHAT?!?!?
Velma: *takes off mask again to reveal*
ALL: DICK DASTARDLY?!?
Dastardly: Drat! No one ever goes for the double unmasking.
So I was right all along - Simon Cowell truly was a Dick this entire time.
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And so we close on the gang unveiling a Mystery Machine paint job on their official detective agency building, Brian Falcon living the good life as the DJ at their party, the Falcon team gifting a sleek new Mystery Machine to the gang (which honestly looks pretty unique - it’s not the classic, but it is something new that isn’t awful, so kudos there), and the gang on their way to another mystery.
So, at the end of the day is this a good Scooby movie?
Meh? *waves hand in meh motion* But it definitely had its moments.
This Scooby film is flawed as heck, no doubt about it - the plot has a MAJOR problem with telling instead of showing, some parts feeling out of order or WAY too short, and of course the deus ex machina ending. I honestly would have loved some more time for their first mystery as kids, where we actually got more character moments/bonding from Fred, Daphne, and Velma as they solved it the more traditional route, as well as not framing FD&V as super duper mystery solvers right off the bat???
The stuff with Blue Falcon isn’t AWFUL, per se, but it is ridiculously satisfying to see him get smacked around. Captain Caveman was honestly one of the funniest bits in the movie, same with Dynomutt.
As far as the character stuff? It all felt fairly natural, progression-wise. Shag and Scoob don’t have this big break-up with the gang - they’re hurt by the literal Dickhead’s comments the gang don’t speak up against, and go to blow off some steam together. Shag and Scoob don’t have this giant blow-up argument - it builds over the film into a hurt spat they both recognize they overreacted to almost immediately. The gang (FDV) go looking for them almost as soon as they leave, and, upon hearing they’re in danger, turn and head towards them to save them, realizing how important the two are to Mystery Inc along the way. They defend each other, help each other, have some of the Best Dang Animated Mystery Inc hugs I ever did see - THIS feels more like the Gang I’ve been waiting for forever to come back to DTV (and in a rough sense, did). While I do wish we’d gotten more screen time of FD&V, what we got wasn’t too bad.
Weirdly enough, at the end of the day, I’ve actually grown more accustomed to Forte’s Shaggy - it feels like it fits this different style a touch more than I originally thought, and holy hell if I didn’t come close to tears at that ending gate scene, he knocked that one out of the park. Velma still doesn’t feel much like Velma, but I did get used to it by the end. I kept cracking up at Efron’s Fred, and no complaints on Seyfried’s Daphne.
Jason Isaacs as Dick Dastardly absolutely killed it. Blue Falcon Crew was okay (excepting Mark “The Racist” Wahlburg - it was just him talking, no real effort. You could recognize Wahlburg right off the bat, acting as a goofy douche) and freaking Captain Caveman was awesome. Apparently they combined both Billy West and Don Messick’s recordings for Muttley (awesome!!!), so this may very well be Don Messick’s final role in a Scooby Doo film.
It got off to a rough start, but ended well enough. The animation was solid, the writing has some unexpectedly clever and funny moments sprinkled throughout, with some pretty fun action sequences on the side. Watching this, I really do believe that the people working on it love Scooby Doo and all things Hanna-Barbera… at least in their own way.
I ended up buying this instead of just renting it ($5 more, why not) and I am honestly glad I did so. Despite its flaws, it has some great moments with the gang as friends, and I have been Craving That Shit for DECADES
And if these writers/directors ever did another Scooby film? I think I’d be up for giving them a chance - at least so long as we got some more absolutely BEAUTIFUL hugs with the gang
I hope you enjoyed this stream-of-consciousness reaction to SCOOB! (2020)... a whole ass year LATER, admittedly (I didn’t switch my Save Post to Queue, curse my hubris), but hopefully y’all’ve been entertained. Good night everybody!
#scoob!#scoob 2020#scoob#scooby doo#plush reviews: final thoughts#note to self: never use queue for the big posts
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Realm of the Elderlings Ask Meme Thing
Created by @hermitknut and brought back by @elderling-magic
Thanks @blackandwhitemotley for tagging me :) this is gonna be unnecessarily long because I’m a messy bitch with too many feelings and not enough brain cells
Favourite RotE Book: God it’s impossible to choose properly so let’s just go with the one that always gives me flashbacks when I see it on my bookshelf: Golden Fool
Why: I was already deeply obsessed at this point and had laughed, cried and panicked countless times throughout the series BUT Golden Fool stands out because of the Fitz/Fool confrontation which all but gave me a panic attack. Sure, I’ve been overly invested in book characters my whole life but the fact I was like physically fuckin sweating just because these guys were having a verbal fight, which had nothing to do with the actual plot, is fuckin wild my dude. Also despite my distress I was thrilled in a way because I never expected Robin to address the homoerotic tension in the actual text - and I was even more impressed that she makes the Fool the winner in this fight. You feel for him (ouch!!!!!!!!) but he gets the last word and the whole time you’re on his side and wishing Fitz would just keep his goddamn mouth shut (unless he’s gonna use it to kiss the Fool). She makes you empathise with the Fool without compromising his dignity, without making him a pathetic pining gay stereotype. He is hurt, he is human, but Fitz is the fool in this exchange (forgive the unintentional pun). It’s crazy how this one scene defines this whole huge book for me but it overwhelmingly does. Man it fucked me up.
Top Three Favourite Characters: I’m excluding Fitz, the Fool and Nighteyes cos that’s just a given honestly and there are too many incredible characters to choose from. Also I’m going to choose three characters I think are exceptional on a technical level since that’s the easiest way for me to pick a few out.
1. Burrich - Forever fascinating to me because I disagree with him probably more often than not AND YET I love him so much. It’s seriously like I have the same relationship with him that Fitz does - and/or the same relationship many of us have with father figures. That weird thing where you can fundamentally disagree on some pretty important stuff, and he makes a lot of mistakes and probably irrevocably fucked you up in a lot of ways but you can’t help but love him because you know he’s not doing anything from a place of malice or pettiness or selfishness. He simply knows what he believes and is righteous to a fault. He’s always doing his best - whatever that looks like to him. There are so many things he says or does that make me amazed that I don’t hate him. I think in another series he is the kind of character I would hate. The fact that Robin makes me love him - and conflicted about that love - is a marvel.
2. Malta - I won’t harp on about this too much because we all know the deal. Malta’s early POVs were a tween nightmare. I had to skim them because they were so viscerally irritating. I guess it’s a huge testament to the writing that it really did feel like you were stuck in a tween girl’s head; the problem is that is the worst hell imaginable. It’s an even greater testament to the writing that, through some of the most masterful character development I have ever witnessed, you actually end up loving this girl.
3. Kennit - He’s such a monster that I hate actually saying he’s one of my favourite characters but it’s true. Especially from a writing perspective; it’s fucking witchcraft how Robin has you judging everyone around Kennit for falling for his charms even while you are in some way charmed by him. He’s intelligent, charismatic, enigmatic. You know he’s not a good person yet you enjoy spending time with him, you’re kind of rooting for him just because he’s interesting and you want to see what he’s going to do next. You even know - the narration straight up tells you - that most of his successes are down to pure dumb luck yet we still kind of buy into this persona of his. Absolutely brilliant writing. Not to mention his backstory, which is so tragic and compelling, and manages to explain his actions without excusing them. Without a doubt one of my top five favourite villains of all time.
Top Three Least Favourite Characters: Okay so again going for the writing angle; characters I just felt weren’t handled all that well on a technical level. Keep in mind that this is suuuuuper subjective. Also I can only think of two.
1. Molly - I’ve seen a lot of people assume that people who dislike her feel that way because she “gets in the way” of Fitz/Fool but that’s not true for me. I’ll try and keep this shortish because I have way too many feelings about this topic lol. Having read the whole series I wouldn’t change anything, but for a long time I really felt like the story would have been better if she wasn’t in it, or especially if she had not come back after Assassin’s Quest. Maybe that’s harsh, but I honestly just generally dislike the whole “first love, last love” trope (and in my personal experience have found it v toxic). I never found her character particularly engaging, but by the end of Farseer I had made my peace with her role in Fitz’s story; the way I saw it, she represented the life Fitz wanted but could never have. Of course you could argue then that it makes sense for Fitz to get her back once he is allowed to have a window of normal life - and that would be true EXCEPT the whole reason I saw her as a symbol and not a real love interest was because their relationship was TERRIBLE. It was seriously toxic and literally based on lies. I really felt what would have been healthy for Fitz at the end of Tawny Man would have been to find peace in realising that Molly was his past, not his future, and that what they’d had was teenage lust and not the stuff of soulmates. I don’t like the implication that Fitz was right to idealise this tumultuous, dishonest, immature relationship he had as a teenager all these years. Honestly this is why I was FURIOUS when I finished Fool’s Fate lol, even though I knew this wasn’t the ultimate ending. Now that I know where Robin went with this and that Fitz wasn’t really fulfilled in his life with Molly I don’t mind it as much but I still don’t love it. There was never enough of an honest, genuine, selfless connection established between the two of them for it to feel like anything other than an unhealthy fixation that Fitz projected all his unattainable fantasies onto. He never seemed to see Molly as a fully realised person which made it hard for me to do so. Also seriously, if I had been pining after my high school fling for the last ten years everyone would agree that the best thing for me would be to move on, not get back together with them. I’m not saying Fitz didn’t deserve his little bracket of peaceful years, but it just didn’t have to be with Molly. Sometimes not getting what you thought you wanted is the happy ending - I guess it’s just really jarring in a series that’s generally so subversive to get a standard fantasy trope like this. I really truly was shocked when Fitz got his feelings back from the stone dragon and his realisation was not “Molly is kind of just a girl I used to know a long time ago and our paths have long since diverged” but “yes no actually that girl I haven’t talked to in over a decade is my soulmate” like, wig in the worst way. ALSO SHE WAS FUCKING HIS DAD ALL THAT TIME. SHE BORE HIS DAD CHILDREN. HIS DAD HAD TO DIE SO THEY COULD BE TOGETHER. BRUH. Seriously it did feel like Burrich was sacrificed solely so these two little shits could get back together, and again, that was so infuriating and so not like these books. This and Burrich not being canonically in love w Chivalry are the only two points I actually get riled up about from a writing/critical perspective lol, every other flaw and quirk in this series I will absolutely pardon but for some reason these just get to me dude.
2. Starling - Promise this one is simpler lol. I always found Starling quite irritating “as a person” but didn’t mind her as a character. What I didn’t love was the way her lifestyle (promiscuity, independence, nomadic etc.) was kind of justified when it didn’t need to be, with the typical explanation that she’s only like this because she can’t have kids. It just felt really unnecessary, and it was even worse when she did get pregnant and basically just became a completely different person. But I’m generally touchy when it comes to female characters and fertility/pregnancy storylines as I just feel like they’re rarely done well. And I just really don’t like it when infertility is implied as a justification for character traits (usually traditionally male traits) that don’t need justifying.
Favourite Ship (of the floating kind): Paragon of course, we love a problematic fave.
Top Three Favourite Ships (of the people kind): Fitz/Fool, Sedric/Carson, Althea/Brashen (the only heteros whomst deserve rights)
Would you rather be Witted or Skilled: Honestly wouldn’t want either but if I had to choose I guess the Wit? I’d much rather be inside an animal’s head than another human’s no thanks bb
If you were Witted, what animal would you bond with?: If I’m still living in my current situation in this hypothetical then I guess a house cat. If I really get to go wild then I am absolutely bonding with a big cat, like a tiger or a panther IMAGINE THE SNUGGLES.
Would you rather live in the Outislands, the Mountain Kingdom, the Six Duchies, Bingtown, the Rain Wilds, Kelsingra, Jamaillia, the Pirate Isles, or Fool’s Homeland?: Dude I am so bad at visualising locations so idk lol, I guess queer utopia Kelsingra although obviously it has its drawbacks.
How were you introduced to the books? My mum had been telling me for years that if I liked A Song of Ice and Fire I would like Realm of the Elderlings. I was putting it off because there are so many books and I also knew how much she loved them so I was worried I wouldn’t like them and she’d be let down. But I eventually got so close to rereading ASOIAF (which I swore I wouldn’t do til Winds of Winter is released) that I decided to finally give RotE a go in its stead.
Share a quote you love: I don’t have a book on me rn but that part in Fool’s Errand when Fitz is talking about how the Fool has wandered into the place he’s been living for years and immediately, effortlessly made it a home is TENDERNESS BEYOND COMPARE ARE YOU KIDDING.
Tagging: if you see this and haven’t done it yet, consider yourself tagged!
Take the thing, copy and paste it into your own post, tag it “elderlings” and then tag as many people as you can that you know in the fandom.
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Let’s read Hiveswap Friendsim - volume 15!
Just to clear up a misconception - this is Hiveswap Friendsim, not to be confused with Hiveswap proper, which is a point and click adventure game spinoff of Homestuck, of which so far only one volume has been released. So Friendsim is basically a spinoff of a spinoff!
The characters in Friendsim are apparently set to feature in Hiveswap volume 2, although the actual events of Friendsim may not have happened exactly as portrayed. It’s impressionistic, or something.
I suspect this explanation may be more confusing than clarifying.
This volume is called Of Creatives, Conventional and Otherwise.
Charun looks like some kinda gardener, and Wanshi evidently has a book (the title of which seems to be ‘DIARY [of a] CULLABLE WIGGLER’).
Charun
Charun is by Kieran Miranda, who previously wrote Azdaja (the DBZ guy) and Stelsa (Tyzias’s gf with the pink coat).
The protag begins this arc by questioning their entire character trait!
They’re having a day in due to depression.
Unfortunately, we can’t sleep for long. Someone is crawling about in our ceiling!
...or not in our ceiling, but in the edge of our room, anyway. We poke our head out of some kind of telescope- or camera-hole. And meet...
This person! Pizzicato strings (hey I know some music words). This piece is actually by Toby Fox, of Undertale fame, who also did music for Tegiri, Lynera and Galekh. Huh.
The protagonist grumpily asks if they’re here to move in or something, and Charun says some words at last.
It turns out they were here to take this strange lens thing. But now they’re stuck.
The narration uses ‘they’ pronouns, which we haven’t seen since Cirava, so that’s nice :)
Their quirk is speaking very slowly, with lots of pauses, marked by ‘..’ - just two dots - on either side.
Apparently the reason they want it is ..............................art.
We get our first choice. Interesting or weird? I’m inclined to be nice. Let’s say interesting. Kind of damning with faint praise there though, I guess.
Charun picks up on our like... noncommittal use of ‘interesting’. They say...
And that’s pretty much shot our chances of friendship.
Well, let’s be more engaged. Sounds weird, ya weirdo, etc.? Engaged.
‘Haha.. yeah..’ is about what we get for that.
There’s a dig at the format.
Instead, our choice is...
Mmmm.
Let’s go with... two dots?
They’re apparently too tired to lug this lens back down the tower. We get another set of options (guessing .. vs .... was a fakeout)
Let’s carry it! I want to see what they do with it.
We make our way out, and get the long shot of our watchtower again.
Charun, it turns out, lives in a cave just down the road from our watchtower. We get a very detailed background.
Back to back, the difference between this background - lineart, cel-shaded - and the previous one - painted, kind of impressionistic - is striking.
Notably, there seems to be a troll back there, looking out from over a pile of stuff. Also is that like... bug thingy Charun’s lusus?
Charun inquires as to our opinion of their art. We flounder.
Charun calls us on having no idea what we’re talking about. But this prompts the protag to decide this would be a great time to learn how to make art.
We get some wisdom... “All art.. is dicking around..” True words.
But apparently we’re overthinking it. Our second attempt...
Soon enough, they decide to join in. We collaborate...
I’ve seen that episode of The Get Down.
Our results seem to be worth it.
The narrator celebrates.
I’m actually kind of put in mind of some words by Porpentine here.
Build the shittiest thing possible. Build out of trash because all i have is trash. Trash materials, trash bodies, trash brain syndrome. Build in the gaps between storms of chronic pain. Build inside the storms.
And this masterpiece created...
Well I guess we go for a joyride? That seems entirely unrelated to what happened in the episode, but what do you know.
So now let’s propose finding some more portable trash, I guess. Which is another colourful background...
Apparently the background artist for this episode is Phil Gibson. This is a river which is accumulating a pile of rubbish on the bank.
After extracting a promise not to share this secret location, we get to work.
They get us to install instaGram.. uh...
PincerSpam. We check out their aesthetic...
Apparently they’re friends with Cirava. That’s cool :)
At that point, we stumble on some familiar faces in a cave. Awkward segue, but what ho.
What sort of lethal shenanigans are these two up to today? Apparently their quarry is expected to be somewhere in this dump. Uh-oh... hope it’s not our new dear friend Charun.
Charun, meanwhile, has found some kind of gadget with a satellite dish. The protag figures it probably belongs to whoever Azdaja and Konyyl are tracking, and Charun asks us to distract them while they run away with it. Before we can refuse, they’re off.
And that’s that. Meanwhile, Azdaja and Konyyl seem to be tending blackromwards so... yeah. That’s a thing.
Wanshi
Now for a very small troll. Wanshi is written by Lalo Hunt, who wrote Tagora, Tyzias and Galekh. Really likes to write the nerds, huh.
We decide to spontaneously pop down to the library.
The narrator makes the same observation as me about the shelves...
It turns out this shoe is on a troll, hiding inside this shelf to read ‘Scribblejournal of a Cullable Wiggler’. Guess they changed ‘Diary’ to ‘Scribblejournal’ during production at some point.
Wanshi’s theme has soft piano music. It’s titled ‘idk man you name it i’m tired’. Oh, that James Roach and his wacky song names!
We decide to butt in on her reading.
On realising how young Wanshi is, the protagonist muses that they’ve managed to befriend a few other kids, and we get a very interesting bit of narration...
So our protagonist dreams about the failure branches? Given the connection between dreams, death and the Furthest Ring, that fits.
Since she’s a Jadeblood, she’d likely know Bronya, right. I’m very curious about this brain room. Let’s go there first.
Her quirk, apart from the little bookending []s, is capital Ws and lowercase everything else. She’s five and a half sweeps old, which is almost the age of the Homestuck cast when we first encounter them (so she’s about 12 in human terms).
We wonder why she’s wandering outside the caverns. She explains...
We make our way to the brain room. She asks us what a ‘brain’ is - because of course Trolls say ‘thinkpan’.
Considering that there’s no reason for Alternian and English to be the same, I kind of half suspect Doc Scratch has just been fucking with us all this time.
Unfortunately, we can’t enter the thinkpan room, and there’s a scary looking guard there. So we move on. Apparently the reason she was escaping was to go to ‘beastcon’.
Oh god have we found a troll furry.
Apparently she writes ‘soldier purrbeasts’ fanfic. Hmm... not sure what that is. It could be this series of YA books?
We hear what the Jades have been saying about us.
Aww.
I’m not sure what it is we know, except for occasionally being able to give out fairly good relationship advice, but who knows? Our reputation precedes us.
She asks us to take her to the con.
I want to see this con. We make a hurried escape from the library as the guard approaches.
Of course the anime nerds would go.
We head off, guided by Gorgle Maps, and Wanshi excitedly observes the world outside the brooding caverns.
Alas, on the way to the con, we find a dead troll.
For once, we’re with someone who isn’t utterly desensitised to brutal violence.
Indeed...
Indeed.
She shakes it off relatively soon, and we reach the con.
Honestly I’m not exactly sure what this is a parody of, if anything specific. ‘Anime con and renaissance faire’ indeed.
Apparently the attractions include cholerbear riding and a... ‘coslay competition’. Which is entirely different, we soon learn, to ‘cosplay’. We consider calling Bronya to pick her up, when...
a rampaging bear interrupts the conversation.
Whoops. Not exactly a place for kids. We throw her in a bush and... grab a katana? That’s just lying around? Yeah good luck with that...
We fucking stab a bear with a katana to protect a small child we met less than an hour ago. Alternia must be getting to us.
Unfortunately, sheer guts doesn’t save us. We get crushed under the bear.
That’s one way to go out, huh. Well, I guess Wanshi learned way more about death than she bargained on.
OK, side branches. First, asking if Bronya is around instead of taking her to see the brain room.
Snitches get stitches.
Well, the kind you get from running, anyhow. Wanshi’s out.
OK, now to actually befriend her and survive the process. We’ll pretend to take her to the con instead of actually going.
The narrator tries to figure out how to refuse her request.
We narrowly escape from the guard - which Wanshi terms ‘bonding hijinks’ - and take her on a roundabout route home. She gets to enjoy the sights.
The protag is so endeared that they decide to take her to see their crashed spaceship. This reminds them that Vikare exists and they haven’t texted in ages.
I guess Vikare isn’t just forgettable to the readers!
Anyway, after pocketing a few of the remaining bits, Wanshi asks us to get a move on to get her to the con.
So we fess up.
She’s not pleased.
We have a slump. There’s an allusion to that ‘bitch of an Earth’ line that didn’t quite make it from ‘popular Tumblr post’ to ‘meme’.
Though she’s still pissed, she appreciates our honesty. Some Social Commentary...
At that point, we get some texts from Tegiri and Polypa, respectively telling us to come to the con and stay far away. Seems the whole cholerbear incident does happen in both branches this time.
This, at least, cheers Wanshi up a bit.
Anyway, though she didn’t get the chance to make friends at the con, she’s got us. We get invited to RP with her...
...as cats.
She’d get on well with Nepeta, huh.
We learn a little about Soldier Purrbeasts.
So...
Warriors is a series of novels published by HarperCollins.
It is written by authors Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Tui Sutherland, with the plot developed by editor Victoria Holmes, who collectively use the pseudonym Erin Hunter. The series follows the adventures of four, later five, clans of wild cats—ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, RiverClan, and SkyClan, who will not be introduced into the territories until "A Vision of Shadows" —in their forest and lake homes, who look up to StarClan, the spirits of their warriors ancestors, who guide the four clans. They also follow the warrior code, a set of rules established in order to keep the clans as civil factions.
...sounds like I was write to guess it was a parody of this franchise?
The narrator kind of struggles to get it.
But with some prodding from Wanshi, we purple up our prose and find our way to suitably overblown dialogue. Even if it’s ‘not really a starcaste approach’.
Eventually, we get back to the Jade caverns, and find Lynera at a full five knives.
Luckily, our presence calms her down somewhat - as low as two knives! But before we can leave them to sort things out, Wanshi has a gift...
That says ‘Soldiers’. So yeah, definitely a parody of Warriors. These books were first released around 2003, roughly contemporary with books like Mortal Engines, The Edge Chronicles, Artemis Fowl, Alex Rider, and Maximum Ride. Given that, I’m honestly surprised I never read them! Maybe it was more of an American thing.
And like that, we’ve made a friend. uwu
We’re in the endgame now. Expecting I’ll finish this... probably not tomorrow, but likely Friday.
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180907 NYLON Interview
Cai xukun’s emergence catches the attention of people; he carries with him the innocence of a youth, yet at the same time he carries maturity rarely seen in others his age. After officially debuting, he chose to ‘settle down’ and put all of his focus into making music, proving himself with his works.
“Life is an endless learning journey, I hope to become better by constantly improving myself. Moving forward on the path I’m passionate about, first I have to put in time, then enjoy every second on stage.”
The morning of the photoshoot, cai xukun appeared in beijing 798’s bee hive center for contemporary art wearing a navy shirt. The first thing he did after arriving was head to the filming area and discuss the plans for the day with the crew. While observing the site and the style of the clothes, he thought over on how he should express this photoshoot with his own style later on. After changing into his first outfit, he quickly came to an agreement with the photographer; and without needing too much guidance, he immersed himself in the switching of poses in front of the camera.
It seemed cai xukun only adjusted himself to a state of relaxation after going into the resting room, selecting music to play on his phone. Ever since returning from overseas he’s been constantly preparing for his new album, while flying to different cities and countries. But other than the occasional yawns, you couldn’t see any sigs of tiredness coming from him.
“1”: From nothing to something
We met cai xukun just a week before his 20th birthday. Before this, he never really specially prepared for his birthdays, usually just having a simple meal with his family But this being his first birthday after debuting, turning 20 holds a huge significance to him. He says: “This might be one of the most important birthdays in my life. Because of this album, my 20th birthday has been endowed with significance of many different levels. It’s like a homework I want to hand in to myself, and is also a reciprocation to the long period of accompaniment ikuns have given me. I think the best present I can gift to them are my works. This album will be released for free, (as a gift) to my fans.”
On the 2nd of august, under the anticipation of many, he achieved first place on various music charts with his new original EP《1》. The title of the album holds his experiences and journey thus far, holding the meaning of starting from zero, from having nothing to having something. And the number ‘1’ is special to cai xukun, symbolising a new era as well as his brand new style of music. But cai xukun’s ambitions towards music will not cease after《1》, he says: “《1》will continue to include my original works in the future, and slowly accumulate to become a full and diverse album. I will work hard to express my personal style from its visual, audio to performance presentations.” You can find his traces in every song of his - in its lyrics, style, and tone colour, even each breath was specially designed.
On the day of cai xukun’s birthday, he took first place on sina weibo’s influencing celebrities chart with a high score of 98.51. And before this, he’d already maintained this placing for a long record of 13 weeks straight. It’s because of these high numbers and being the talk of the town that cai xukun has been named as a prime representation of ‘new generation idols’. Facing these endless achievements, cai xukun’s understanding towards the label of ‘new generation idol’ is simple, he says: “I feel that as an idol, the first thing that should be done is to spread positive energy, bring to fans a ‘(hardworking/motivating/)self-improving’ attitude through the stage. Secondly it is to concentrate on your career (the things you are good at), focus on training and learning, and to not be disturbed by the external voices. For myself, this career would be music. I am very willing to obtain knowledge in this aspect (music) and try new styles.”
Throughout the interview, you can easily feel his love and passion for music, towards this, he doesn’t hide anything at all: “I truly enjoy every ‘state’ (that he is in when) at work, whether it is a photoshoot, being on stage or behind-the-scene productions, I am willing to participate in everything. The sense of achievement I receive from the process of participating in all these lets me feel enriched.” Even when he hardly has any time for himself, as long as he is able to squeeze out that little bit of time among his busy schedules, he will use it on composing music. When inspiration suddenly hits, he will immediately record the melody and lyrics on his phone. To him, no matter where he is, the best state to be in when composing is to keep a rash and passionate heart towards music.
The ability of forgetting oneself on stage
The cai xukun on stage perfectly expresses the arrogant aura of a Leo. He carries a trait of being born for the stage, a combination of stability and ‘explosive force’. Unlike having to play out another person’s life when acting, on stage is where he can express his most authentic side, and in his heart the stage is also the place with the most freedom.
In the subject of performing on stage, cai xukun is no doubt an outstanding student with full marks. Every time he performs he is just like a ‘model textbook’, from his movements to the tiny changes in his expressions, it is hard to pick out flaws. This model performance student’s achievements comes from his hard work and practice - it is only through endlessly practicing in the dance studio to engrave every movement in his muscle, can one then shine on stage freely. He admits he is someone with strict expectations of himself, persevering on his own ideas when at work. He has a (measuring) scale in his heart, only deciding what’s most suitable for himself after taking in the different opinions from people around him. After the end of every performance, cai xukun never gives up on any opportunity to review himself, through re-watching his performances repeatedly, he uses the scale in his heart to seek for areas of improvement, to create an even better performance for the next time he stands on stage.
Just like the lyrics cai xukun wrote in <you can be my girlfriend>, “rumours and gossips are just playthings in my eyes” - what can be truly ‘taken into sight’ by him is only music. On his path of becoming a singer, cai xukun has never thought of giving up. Even when he’s asked a hypothetical question of ‘if he can’t sing, what would he do?’, he only smiles and shakes his head, saying: “No, there wouldn’t be a day where I won’t sing.” About how one can stay focused, he shows maturity above that of his age: “I feel you have to ‘settle’ your heart down to learn, life is an endless learning journey. I hope to become better by constantly improving myself. Moving forward on the path I’m passionate about, first I have to put int time, then enjoy every second on stage.” The confidence and charms he exudes now are the best requites from putting in hard work.
Under the influence of his mother and grandfather, cai xukun has started yearning for the stage since he was small, and naturally stepped onto the path of chasing his dreams. On his 10th birthday he once made a wish: “I want to become a singer, and make my own album.” Ten years later today, he fulfilled his childhood dream. Except that, maybe the him back then didn’t expect himself to cause such an uproar with the fulfilment of this dream. (Then what is your next wish?) “I hope to fulfil this dream even better. Other than publishing works, I have to publish good works. I don’t wish to make music following the (current) trends just to ‘be welcomed’ by the (general) ‘market’.” After he debuted, various comments and judgements came with his popularity. Towards this cai xukun chose the best method of responding, and that is to let his works speak for him.
In the eyes of others, perhaps cai xukun’s name blew up overnight, yet this supposed ‘one night’ costed a span ten years. Before the fame, he spent day after day practicing, waiting for an opportunity that belongs to him. When this opportunity arrived, cai xukun calmly gathered all of the lights on stage and created for himself a unique halo of his own, making people unable to ignore his existence anymore.
In this ten years of chasing his music dreams, his journey was not smooth-sailing. But whether it be when he felt lost or faced difficulties, cai xukun’s motivation never extinguished. He turns the strong energy in his heart into chances for himself to improve, and even thank the heavens for the experiences he’s been given. “All the difficulties that I’ve been through while chasing my music dreams are my wealth, they’ve given me a lot of help and even inspiration.” Keeping himself grounded over the years, waiting for that moment to go on stage. His experiences perfectly confirms the old saying: one minute of performance on stage, ten years of hard work off-stage.
“Keeping one’s heart grounded in a world of temptations”, cai xukun’s motto will accompany him on his career for the next ten years, eventually arriving at the ‘other side of the shore’ acknowledged in his heart.
He carries a trait of being born for the stage, a combination of stability and ‘explosive force’. Unlike having to play out another person’s life when acting, on stage is where he can express his most authentic side, and in his heart the stage is also the place with the most freedom.
Q & A
Q What did you eat for breakfast today?
A I didn’t eat breakfast today.
Q How many hours of sleep did you get this week?
A It depends, when I’m busy I get about 5 hours of sleep per day.
Q What do you do when you feel stressed?
A Eat.
Q Your favourite colour?
A I like all colours.
Q The meme you use most often?
A (thinks for a few seconds) I actually don’t really use memes.
Q Do you prefer typing or voice-chatting on wechat?
A Typing.
Q Your pinned contact in wechat?
A I don’t have any pinned contacts right now.
Q The last person you sent a wechat message to?
A My family.
Q What trait of yours do you think is most like a leo?
A It should be when I’m on stage.
Q How do you plan to spend your 20th birthday?
A Play with music with my ikuns.
Q A song you want to do a cover of the most?
A Actually I’ve been preparing a song recently, when it’s done I’ll share it with everyone.
Q The one thing you will definitely do before and after you go on stage?
A Before going on stage I will find a corner to let myself be ‘quiet’ for a bit, after coming off stage I’ll find time to watch my performance.
Q If you could collaborate with one person (regardless of time periods and countries), who do you hope to work with and how?
A I’d want to work with film master charlie chaplin and act in a movie.
Q If you can only eat one dish for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A Stir-fried beef with celery.
Q A body part of yours you’re most satisfied with?
A Eyes.
Original article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/tZn0gyYp55mh8rdq1ZYoCA
Full Translations: @02m1lk
Do NOT repost, please take out WITH credits.
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may i kindly ask you all the oc questions?
Yes, yes you may.
Quick note: A few OCsI won’t mention by name and a few answers will be vague just as to not spoilanything. I have an entire fanversegoing on here.
-50 OC Asks-
Quick reference: Meri is the Hero of Kvatch. Arrais a Breton mage in Skyrim. Dreyns is a Dunmer assassin. Vitiais the Dragonborn. Sannit is an old, former Ashlander. Veabris is an Ayleid who’saround back before the First Era. Jaka is the Nerevarine. Estor isNot a Thalmor ™. Stigr is a proud Nord boi. La’Mihr is a smart kitty. One-Who-Knowsis yearning for the suburban Skyrim dream.
1. “Your first OCever?”
That would be proto Meri. She was really the first that grew into an actual character. She was also supposed to star in an Oblivionrewrite/webcomic/fanfic thing I drew like one page of years ago.
2. “Do you have a personal favouriteamong your OCs?”
I like different ones for different reasons! Arra’s dialogue and one-liners, Dreyns’swhole ark of getting old, Vitia’s philosophy, etc. etc.
3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?
Nope. And I’d neverconsider them mine. I handcraft them andbake them one-of-a-kind each time. Butmore seriously, the most I could take is an idea for a character, because Ialways like to twist things on their head and really make it my own. I don’t enjoy writing NPCs for thisreason. I can’t get in their head and myheadcanons get a bit much, so I’d rather just write for those I know.
4. “A character you rarely talk about?”
Tactus Gavros Sigilis! An inspector/investigator for the Empirein Skyrim.
5. “If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?”
I think that’s not really up to me. I can’t decide who fans will latch onto. I know who’s the most well-liked at thistime, but that’s no indicator of who would be well-loved by a much wideraudience. I’ll leave this one to my fans!
6. “Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?”
I do my best to give everyone unique looks andclothing/color schemes, but! There’sthree that got based on each other and aren’t the same but even I’m confusednow. I’ll make a separate post to breakit down.
7. “Are your OCs part of any story or stories?”
None of them exist outside of the Elder Scrolls universe,and I have yet to write fanfiction.
8. “Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!”
Currently Arra, Sannit, and Veabris. Though I think I’m game to RPing any of them,I already have a few more that I want to add to my RPing blog! (btw, if you like the idea of RPing with me,all you have to do is ask.)
9. “Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?”
No. Not give, nevergive. But that doesn’t mean they can’tappear in your writing/meta/art, just that it’s a crossover, you don’t own themjust like I don’t own yours when I allude to them in RPs. (Did I ever post that here?)
10. “Introduce an OC with a complicated design?”
All the ones I don’t draw, lol
Okay, more seriously…no, that’s pretty much why.
11. “Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a ‘sunshine’?”
100% Arra
12. “Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot”
Can I say all of them? My favorites are the ones who are woven into the lore and pre-existingcharacters, and ones that feel like real people and not just “ArgonainDragonborn #76”. I like the ones whotake it as seriously as me, and as I see people do, I feel more confident totalk about and expand them.
13. “Do you have any troublemaker OCs?”
Actually, not really. Dreyns, Jaka and Stigr can all be at times, though.
14. “Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory”
I want to legit change that to one without tragedy in theirbackstory because they’re all tragic…
15. “Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?”
Sometimes! But I trynot to go overboard because I’m not sure if people like it.
16. “Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?”
My Daedric biologist, I would imagine.
17. “Any OC OTPs?”
I’m not much of a shipper, honestly. And I really can’t think of any at themoment.
18. “Any OC crackships?”
Read 17.
19. “Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)”
I’ll pass on this one only because my answer would start gettingtoo personal for this ask.
20. “Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details(headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?”
Veabris has a beautiful singing voice that would sound agood deal like Annie Lennox. Actually,just listen to “Into the West” and you’re good to good. But you’ll never hear it because Vea is superself-conscious and private about singing.
21. “Your most artistic OC?”
You know, I think I overlook making them artistic justbecause I am. It would be too obvious. But let’s say Stigr and La’Mihr are.
22. “Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?”
In world or OOC? That’s a really important distinction! But Veabris’s intentions are usually misinterpreted.
23. “Introduce an OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what thecharacter would be like?”
Most of them! I workon them for a while until I feel they’re ready to be revealed. 24. “If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?”
Don’t do this to me!!!! Ahhhh I don’t know I love them all! But Jaka would probably be the most fun to hang out with? Then again, a day out with Sannit would begreat.
25. “The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, sharedlike/dislike for something etc?)”
Meri.
26. “Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about themagainst your will?”
Arra and yes, I’m still bitter about it. I won’t get into it because I’d rather notmake posts like that, but if anyone would like to know feel free to message me.
27. “Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?”
Nah, they come about and the songs fit them after.
28. “Your most dangerous OC?”
Okay! So we haveMankar Camoran’s kid, Molag Bal’s Undying Champion, a lesser Daedric Prince anda double-memoried Godkiller. Have funwith that battle royal!
29. “Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at nightwithout telling anyone they’re going?”
Tactus Gavros Sigilis, it’s his literal job. Wait it’s Estor’s too. …And kinda Veabris’s. Well!
30. “Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animalcollection?”
It’s Dreyns. It’s soDreyns.
31. “Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like(what they reblog, layout, anything really)”
Sannit treats it like a regular website blog and only postsstories from his life or answers to asks. No reblogs and he doesn’t follow anyone.
Meri posts advanced DYI stuff and martial technique.
32. “Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonistand why?”
I don’t play horror games but I’m thinking Estor in creepy,culty fan theory version of Rorikstead. (Should I write this?)
33. “Your shyest OC?”
She’s so shy she won’t let me talk about her.
34. “Do you have any twin characters?”
Not yet!
35. “Any sibling characters?”
Yes but I won’t say just now. Spoilers!
36. “Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else(siblings, lovers, friends etc)?”
Not currently, but I’m not against doing it.
37. “Introduce an OC who is not quite human”
The Argonian, One-Who-Knows! He’s saving up money to buy a new fancy hat right now. Rock on, scaly bro!
38. “Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?”
I feel like it would be Vitia for some reason.
39. “Introduce any character you want!”
THESE QUESTIONS ARE TOO VAGUE AGHHHH!!
40. “Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!”
Writing “Arra’s Story” (An RP post). The power and emotion of it and the approvingly,emotionally shocked reactions of my fellow players made me realize I couldactually write good.
41. “Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or twohere (remember sources & permissions!)”
Here and here 😊
42. “Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?”
Daedric biologist person would be!
43. “Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend tofavour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess!”
We already found out I like investigators, is that my type?
44. “Something you like about your OCs in general”
I like how they all have gotten their own personality andidentity. It’s taken a lot of work, but Idon’t feel like personalities repeat anymore.
45. “A character you no longer use?”
I have a few in limbo. I’m not sure if they’re coming back or they’re
46. “Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?”
No. Only because Ihaven’t told them about all the bad things I’ve done to them in the first place.
47. “Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?”
Not yet, there’s still time.
48. “OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure?”
I think they call this a “hot take”, but in my opinion everyperson has flaws and depicting them otherwise is bad character writing. Like sure, they can be nice and all, but theystill topple the board over when they’re losing Risk (or Axis & Allies). Showing only one side of a character seriously,(not if it’s just for laughs) is boring to me. Where’s the growth? They don’teven need to have “flaws” per se. Whatif the “One True Hero to Save the World” is balled up on the floor crying tothemselves because they don’t think they’re strong enough? Hot take over and it’s probably little kidDreyns. (Which breaks hearts because hegrows up into something not pure.)
49. “Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes”
Arra would love meme songs like “SEAGULLS! (Stop ItNow)“He-man singing “What’s up?”, and “mmm whatcha say”. And Jaka would love reaction gifs and objectlabeling memes.
50. “Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want”
I wanna talk about how long it took to fill this out and howmany characters I resurrected from the darkest depths of my mind to completeit. You’re welcome. ♥
#answering asks#henantier#ily laurel thank you for supporting whatever it is I do here#sorry bout the wait#I didn't realize just how long 50 of something is#Arra#Meri Rendil#Dreyns Nelvayn#Stigr and Estor#sannit#tactus gs#Jaka Rul
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DANG I AM SO LATE thank you @felicja-j for reminding me that @kyuhu tagged me in this meme! >:3
Three fandoms:
hetalia
Uhhhhh asoiaf ??? i’m not really into the /fandom/ but it’s like the only thing i’m invested in atm, other than hetalia.
UUUUHHHHHHHH hh i was talking as far as past fandoms go about harry potter and h*mest*ck JUST YESTERDAY but if i had to reveal my indulgences, i’d rather pick HP
The first character you loved:
RUSSIA! back in 2010, when i first got into hetalia, he immediately caught my attention.
arya because i can relate a lot of my childhood experiences to her.
i guess my first favorite character was ron, and he has kind of remained one of my favorites all along. :>
The character you never expected to love so much:
switzerland, to be honest... i came into the fandom feeling “meh” about him and now i love my horrible milka man so much
SANSA i started the books being so, so irritated by sansa but now she’s become one of my absolute favorite characters.
i don’t know man, but while i was so very lukewarm about cedric when i first read the books, now i do like him. not “so much”, but he went from “meeehhh” to “actually, this is a good guy?? damn”
The character you relate to the most:
if you follow me and didn’t know i’d answer POLAND in A HEARTBEAT WYD
i can’t really say i relate to ONE character, not really... they’re all such wildly different people with different traits i relate to. i’d love to say i would pick arya, but to be honest, i’m finding that the more i read the more i find myself relating to sansa out of all the pov characters, her extreme idealism and love for stories, songs, romance... i also have to say tho that ser loras is gay goals
I MEAN i’m a luna lovegood man i relate to her so much because i was always the odd person ever since i was a child... i wanted so desperately to believe in something that no one else could see or know, and i have always loved magic and the supernatural so much... that said one big reason why i’m a ron man is that i also relate to that feel when low self esteem and always feeling out of place and awkward.
The characters you’d slap:
oh blease there are so many characters in all of those who could use a (METAPHORICAL) good slap sometimes
Three favourite characters:
Poland, Lithuania, IT’S A TIE BETWEEN BELARUS, UKRAINE AND HUNGARY y’all cannot ask me to choose like this it’s cruel
daenerys, ser loras and sansa... i am basic i know shoosh
luna, ron and hermione are my 3 big ones lol
Character you liked at first, but don’t like anymore:
i mean it’s not like i don’t like him but i used to be really into aph america and rusame and now i guess i just don’t care as much as i used to! i still think america is a good old sport tho
MMmmMmMmMm i’ve mentioned that my first fave was arya and i still do like her a lot but the more i read the more her story is taking a course i don’t 100% enjoy... although i guess i started the first book liking ned and catelyn stark a lot as some sort of righteous chivalrous medieval power couple (i’m a stark man HAS ANYONE NOTICED YET LOL) but as i went on reading they both fell flat for me.
eeeehhh if we wanna go #deep i used to be a huge fan of tonks when she was first introduced. i HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE what jkr has done to her, she wasted her character potential so much, if you like the remus/tonks storyline you do you but personally i just felt bitter and really pissed off about it and about jkr fitting every and any female character in her stupid books into a “wife and mother endgame” storyline but that’s none of my biz
Character you didn’t like at first, but do now:
wasn’t i asked the same question above fdhgjfhd i guess..
prussia, surprisingly, it’s not like i like, him, but,
on the same line tyrion is still :// but i now enjoy his chapters way more than i did at first, when i was just tempted to skip loll
cho chang because i always thought the romantic subplot in gof/ootp was TERRIBLE and terribly executed, AND now that i am an Adult i still think her plot was terrible HOWEVER i can see the depth in her character and i believe she deserved so much more than the shallow teenage crush/love interest role that jkr gave her. i still think harry/cho endgame would have been a much, much more interesting choice than harry/ginny endgame which was an even worse and more rushed romance subplot. at least would’ve given us a chance to know more about cho’s personality, passions, struggles, seeing a couple of teenagers OVERCOME something like the death of a dear friend instead of sweeping it under the rug or reaching a breaking point but wyd.
Anyway cho chang deserved better 2k18
Three OTPs:
LIETPOL hunukr rombela my holy trinity
i don’t really do asoiaf shipping tbh but... i did (SPOILERS) hope for loras and renly to be gay king and his gay knight for a hot moment... and i do enjoy FOR NOW margaery tyrell and sansa’s interactions a lot... pls @ grrm let them be gay (spoiler i know they won’t be gay but a gay can dream)
also as a completely crack ship i’d love to see cersei and catelyn lol just because they’re such polar opposites and yet so similar it owuld be really interesting to see them interact
ron/harry is my otp, and we were robbed, we were so robbed,
luna/hermione and luna/ginny are my other big ships in this fandom but for all these 3 otps there’s like zero GOOD fan content and i die all the time. y’all and your drarry ARE WEAK!!!!!
i tag whoever wants to do this tbh :0
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11 Questions for Tagged Folks Ask Meme Thing
The rules are:
post the rules
answer the questions given to you by the tagger
write eleven questions of your own
tag eleven people (lol, or try to)
Thank you @gelos, I love these ask thingies. <3
11 Questions to Answer
1. You are to move in to a deserted island somehow (don’t question this just go with it ahah), and you can only bring an album and a movie with you. Which album and movie would you bring?
The Wombats - This Modern Glitch, because I can listen to these songs over and over again and not get sick of it.
Doctor Strange, because I’ve seen it 30+ times already and then I’ll also have some very pretty men and women to look at.
2. If you could choose a place from anywhere in the world, where would you live and why?
Almost everywhere and then move every few years? England, because I love the people, the culture, I don’t like hot weather, I can happily live without monstrous spiders and the like, Im not good at learning languages and I already speak english, I love tea, I could go on.
3. Imagine colonies on Mars are now a thing: would you want to go and live there? Why?
Can I come back after a few years? Because exploring and living on a different planet? HELL YEAH, but I think it could fuck you up mentally after a while, because you’re completely removed from “normal” earth life.
4. Coffee or Tea?
Tea. And Coffee when I feel like falling asleep standing up.
5. Do you have a favourite band?
I guess you could say The Wombats, but I listen to pretty much everything.
6. What is your favourite book?
I don’t have one, but When Breath Becomes Air was a bit life changing to read and I would recommend it to anyone.
7. Would you rather be able to teleport anywhere or be able to read minds?
Teleport, because I love travelling and reading minds would probably make me paranoid.
8. Would you like to learn to play an instrument? Which one?
THE VIOLIN. And when I have enough money to spend extra, I’m going to.
9. If you could know the absolute and total truth to one question, what question would you ask?
“Will I ever meet Ben C?” No kidding (or not), but this question is impossible to answer. I think knowing when humanity is going to erase itself would be interesting. Or will we ever get to a Start Trek kind of point. Couldn’t I technically ask “How do I cure every form of cancer?” or “What are the next lottery numbers?”, see impossible.
10. What is your go to song when you feel sad and want to cheer up?
Can I cheat and say that I like to watch The Intouchables, because that always cheers me up. If I’m sad I usually listen to sad songs and have a really good ugly cry.
11. Which fictional character would you love to meet and hang out with?
The Doctor? John Watson? Sherlock Holme? Although he would probably not want to hang out with me, lol. Peter Bishop, or Jim Kirk. Too many men, OH Mrs. Hudson for sure, or Rose Tyler. I have no idea, but let’s say The Tenth Doctor.
11 Questions for Tagged Folks
1. If you had to eat the same thing for dinner for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
2. If forced, would you go live 100 years in the past or future?
3. What single event has had the biggest impact on who you are?
4. What is one song that can always make you cry?
5. How would a perfect day for you look like?
6. Is there something you read/saw that significantly changed your opinion/view on something?
7. Would you rather go to jail for 5 years for something you didn’t do or get away with something horrible you did but always live in fear of being caught?
8. What fictional universe would you like to live in?
9. Are there any conspiracies you believe in?
10. Which of your personality traits has been the most useful?
11. What’s your favourite drinking/party game?
@morgendaemmerung89 @one-lost-at-sea @depth-of-loyalty-and-love @kittiekatthings @minxchester @tabea-johnlocked @ligeiasand
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1-96, just because :P
-cracks knuckles- OH BOY alright, let’s do this
full meme under the cut
(1) Do You Sleep With Your Closet Doors Open Or Closed?
my closet doesn’t have a door!
(2) Do You Have Freckles?
YEA but they’re really faint unless i’ve been hanging out in the sun for a while
(3) Can You Whistle?
NO and I’m bitter
(4) Last Song You Listened To.
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
(5) What Is Your Favourite Colour?
atm it’s blue, but it changes often
(6) Relationship Status.
single and kind of ready to mingle i’m not really sure just gonna see how things go
(7) What Is The Temperature Right Now?
66 degrees F
(8) Did You Wake Up Cranky?
nope
(9) How Many Followers?
208
(10) Zodiac Sign.
Libra!!
(11) What Is Your Eye Colour?
Hazel I think,,
(12) Take A Vitamin Daily?
if you’re talking abt a daily multivitamin and not medication then NO that’s a level of health I am Not At
(13) Do You Sing In The Shower?
ofc, i’ve figured out how to balance my phone on the shower ledge w/o it getting wet so i can sing to songs lmao
(14) What Books Are You Reading?
none atm
(15) Grab The Book Nearest To You, Turn To Page 64, Give Me Line 14.
Ferahgo watched him intently and commented, “What’s that noise? Has one of your teeth broken? Oh look, it’s fallen out. (...)”
(16) Favourite Anime?
Lupin III
(17) Last Person You Cried In Front Of?
my mom
(18) Do You Collect Anything?
Vinyls!
(19) What Did You Have For Lunch?
Crackers that may have been sitting in our pantry for ~4 months now
(20) Do You Dance In The Car?
nah, but i’ll sing
(21) Favourite Animal?
Lynx
(22) Do You Watch The Olympics?
YEA I love the Olympics!
(23) What Time Do You Usually Go To Bed?
1 AM - 3 AM
(24) Are You Wearing Makeup Right Now?
ye
(25) Do You Prefer To Swim In A Pool Or The Ocean?
Ocean
(26) Favourite Tumblr Blog?
all of my mutuals tbh.....
(27) Bottled Water Or Tap Water?
Bottled
(28) What Makes You Happy?
Music
(30) Do You Study Better With Or Without Music?
with, but it’s gotta be classical or smooth jazz or Chill Anime Beats 24/7 or something
(31) Dogs Or Cats?
b o t h
(32) If You Were A Crayon What Colour Would You Be?
Orange
(33) PlayStation Or Xbox.
used to be team Xbox, i’m PS now bc i’m a traitor
(34) Would You Swim In The Lake Or Ocean?
Lake
(35) Do You Believe In Magic?
depends what kind!
(36) What Colour Shirt Are You Wearing?
gray
(37) Can You Curl Your Tongue?
ye
(38) Do You Save Money Or Spend It?
try to save it as best i can!
(39) Is There Anything Pink Within 10 Feet Of You?
no
(40) Do You Have Any Obsessions Right Now?
I’m back on my Bloodborne bullshit rn but besides that I’m really getting into Kings of Convenience as a band and i’m digging their music??
(41) Have You Ever Caught A Butterfly?
YEA kid me used to chase them around, keep them for a little bit, then release them
(42) Are You Easily Influenced By Other People?
ye, please be aware i’m gonna copy personality traits if i’m around the same person for a while
(43) Do You Have Strange Dreams?
lately yeah?? but i can’t ever remember them tbh
(44) Do You Like Going On Airplanes?
ye
(45) Name One Movie That Made You Cry.
Good Will Hunting
(46) Peanuts Or Sunflower Seeds?
Peanuts
(47) If I Handed You A Concert Ticket Right Now, Who Would You Want The Performer To Be?
honestly I still wanna see Fleet Foxes live but i’m ~salty~ because they just came to detroit @ a venue i’ve been at before and really liked and i was busy the day of their concert
(48) Are You A Picky Eater?
not rly unless it comes to texture
(49) Are You A Heavy Sleeper?
tbh an atomic war could happen and if I was sleeping i’d be none the wiser
(50) Do You Fear Thunder / Lightning?
every time a thunderstorm happens i get 100% stronger
(51) Do You Like To Read / Write?
yea if i’m in the mood for it!
(52) Do You Like Your Music Loud?
also depends on my mood
(53) Would You Rather Carve Pumpkins Or Wrap Presents?
Carve pumpkins
(54) Put Your Music On Shuffle, What Is The First Song That Came Up?
The Growlers - Love Test
(55) What Season Are You In Right Now? (Weather)
Summer still, but it’s starting to feel like Fall in the evenings
(56)What Are You Craving Right Now?
Pizza
(58) What Is Your Gender?
Cis girl
(59) Coffee Or Tea?
Tea all the way
(60) Do You Have Any Homework Right Now? If So, What Is It About?
No thank goodness
(61) What Is Your Sexuality?
Super Ace
(62) Do You Make Your Bed In The Morning?
I wish;;
(63) Favourite Pokemon?
Entei/ Aggron
(64) Favourite Social Media?
This hellsite
(65) What’s Your Opinion On Instagram Stories?
They’re cool, never use them though
(66) Do You Get Homesick?
All the time
(67) Are You A Virgin?
Ye
(68) What Shampoo And Conditioner Are You Using Right Now?
Idk i think it’s like “Maui moisture” or somethin, i just picked it bc it smelled pretty good
(69) If You Were Far From Home And Needed To Sleep For The Night, Would You Choose To Rent A Crappy Motel Room For $60 Or Sleep In Your Car For Free?
Sleep in my car, i’m a huge germaphobe abt motels/hotels in general
(70) Are Both Of Your Blood Parents Still In Your Life?
yes, thankfully
(71) Whats The Next Movie You Want To See In Theaters?
idk, the last one I wanted to see was Baby Driver but i don’t think it’s in theaters anymore?
(72) Do You Miss Your Ex?
i only have one(1) ex from like...... grade school. lmao. i completely forgot about him ‘till this question
(73) What Is Your Favourite Quote Right Now?
this
(74) What Eye Colour Do You Find Sexiest?
Brown eyes are VERY underrated
(75) Did You Like Swinging As A Child? Do You Still Get Excited When You See A Swing Set?
YEAH
(76) What Was The Last Thing You Ate?
Tuna + Peaches
(77) What Games Do You Have On Your Phone?
i have Fallout Shelter but i’m thiiiiiis close to deleting it because it’s stressful af and i get way too attached to my dwellers
(78) Would You Give A Homeless Person CPR If They Were Dying? Why Or Why Not?
yea of course lmao I can’t see a reason why anyone wouldn’t???????
(79) Been On The Computer For 5 Hours Straight?
I used to pull internet marathons like that when I was in high school but I’m kinda over it
(80) Stalked Someone On A Social Network?
never in a creepy way, but i follow a ton of bands i like on instagram and i get unreasonably exited when one of them posts something to their story
(81) Do You Like Meeting New People?
Yea!
(82) Do You Wear Rings? If You Do, Take A Picture Of Them.
Not often
(83) Do You Sleep With Your Bedroom Door Open Or Closed?
Closed
(84) What Are Three Things You Did Today?
got in touch w a friend i hadn’t talked to in a while, did some laundry, drew a bit!
(85) What Do You Wear To Bed?
usually pj shorts and a t shirt
(86) List All Of Your Different Beauty Products You Have Right Now.
I have a ton of lipstick from Colourpop, a bunch o’ e.l.f. stuff, and some other misc things
(87) Are You A Day Or Night Person?
Night
(88) List All Of Your Video Games On Your Phone, Console Etc.
there’s......... so many tbh
(90) Favourite Soda Drink?
Cream Soda
(91) What Sounds Are Your Favourite?
Rain on the window, cars passing on the road outside, running water
(92) Do You Wear Jeans Or Sweats More?
Jeans
(93) How Do You Look Right Now?
probably Bad, just chillin in my pjs
(94) Name Something That Relaxes You.
Reading
(95) What Tattoo Do You Want?
Okay I’d love to get something in the traditional style but I’m also one of those people who would prefer a tattoo w meaning and I don’t really know of anything I’d put on my body permanently yet?? Might change down the road idk
(96) Favourite YouTuber?
I’m only rly on YouTube for the music
thanks for the asks :)
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.... answer... all of the herbs and spices👀💓
@stalk-softly also asked: would it be awful if i were to just… request that you answer all your own questions in the ask meme… i feel like i am again, robbing your fans of the opportunity to ask you things… but you could maybe also answer this ask last?
sorry it took me a while to get back to you guys here you go my faithful darlings, i never cease to be amazed that you guys want to know these obscure things.
mint - what is your favourite herb?
thyme
oregano - write a sentence about yourself that starts with the title of the last song you listened to.
Stuck on the puzzle but it’s okay cause it’s soothing me all the same.
cumin - what’s your earliest memory?
hanging upside-down from the bar of the swings on a playground near my childhood home. I was wearing a t-shirt with butterflies on it and the grass was very green. I think I was 4?
caraway seeds - in what type of environment do you feel most safe?
deciduous forests or orchards.
coriander - what character trait most holds you in thrall in others?
answered previously
turmeric - what is your favourite spice?
either cinnamon or smoked paprika
dried ginger - how often do you think about stars?
at least once every few hours
cinnamon - you live in a world where you can get tattoos that project 3d hologram around you - what do you get?
answered previously
nutmeg - what was the most recent dream you remember having?
I think I dreamed something about an angry mob last night but i really can’t remember specifics
allspice - what’s your opinion on ABBA?
its a love-hate relationship
aniseed - what would you be most likely to buy from an antiques shop?
answered previously
thai basil - are you very different when you’re alone to when you’re with other people? if so, what are the main differences?
I think so. I don’t mean to be but I tend to be trying much harder to exist either more visibly or less visibly than is entirely natural to me. when I’m alone i let myself exist to an appropriate extent more easily
basil - if you could get a one-way trip ticket anywhere, where would you go?
Tokyo. then I’d make my way in a general westerly direction from there and see what happens.
bay leaf - finish the meme: what in ______?
answered previously
cardamom - do you believe in determinism?
answered previously
cayenne - which of your senses would you most willingly give up?
answered previously
clove - if you were someone’s muse, what type of thing would you inspire?
tears? eh I would hope maybe something like haunting piano melodies or ice ukulele tunes or something.
curry leaf - have you ever encountered any mythical creatures in a dream? if so, what?
a talking fox was a character in a recurring dream i had as a child but more recently I’m pretty sure i had a dream with charybdis in it
dill - if you were a type of alcohol, what would you be (or tag a friend and say what they would be)?
methanol.
kaffir lime leaf - is there any phrase/lyric that always gives you goosebumps? what?
so goddamn many but right now this phrase is dangling its legs over a balcony above my brain:
and then I felt chills in my bones
the breath i saw was not my own
i knew my skin that wrapped my frame
wasn’t made to play this game
and then i saw him, torch in hand
he laid it out, what he had planned
@twentyonequasars I’m curious what yours is
lemon verbena - what scent shower gel/shampoo do you use?
lavender body wash, argan oil shampoo, conditioner depends on what there is in the shower cause mine always gets used up by everyone else quickly so I just use theirs.
smoked paprika - are you a drunk texter?
nopppe
lemongrass - what way do you face in the shower?
towards. the. water. (guys I’ll be real the only reason I made this ask is so that I could spread this question because it doesn’t get asked often enough)
mustard seed - If you could get away with a single crime, what would you do and why?
fuck, i don’t want to get political with this one. shit. but like. maybe overthrow the dictatorship in North Korea? or else um.. well i don’t want mike pence to be president so fuckety fuck this shit I’m out.
sweet paprika - how do you show affection?
answered previously but it has become apparent in the meantime that the way I actually show affection is through a montage where we teach each other survival skills and dissociate peacefully together.
parsley - if you came back as some form of the undead, what would it be (e.g. ghost, vampire, zombie etc)?
answered previously
pepper - what’s your personal theory on why cartoon animal characters wear gloves?
answered previously and i recommend you think about this one carefully because its a deeply philosophical topic.
rosemary - what’s a specific image of situation you associate with a specific song?
Taxi Cab is associated with driving through the desert at night for me, despite the fact that i’ve never actually done that.
rue - tag a mutual and say what mythical/fairytale creature they remind you of.
@noahcantsleep you’re an imp, a pixie, mothman or thunderbird. I can’t quite decide. @acadjonne you’re a dragon or a siren that’s all for now folks contact me if you want to know yours
saffron - if your life took place in shades and tones of a single colour, what colour would that be?
hmm I want to say grey so it’s just a greyscale world then but something is pulling me towards yellow despite the fact that I dislike the colour yellow. I’ve probably just got mustard on the brain and I’m wishing for some golden sunsets or something. Although pink would be interesting too I guess.
sage - how old do you want to get?
Ask me again in 40 years but for now I’m saying 80.
szechuan pepper - if you were a member of a pantheon of gods, who would you be in which pantheon?
so first off I absolutely loved the Norse pantheon and Norse mythology as a kid so that one’s special to me but I love the concept of shakti from Hinduism. I don’t think I’m quite as empowered as she is though. So then going back to Norse Skadi is super cool and badass but also kind of rude and standoffish and prefers her wolves to people but again I felt she was too Accomplished and Together, so I’m going with half born Hel cause I always vibed with her.
thyme - do you want to be buried/cremated/something else etc?
I don’t really want to remain anywhere? you know like if I’m cremated I want my ashes to be scattered. Viking funeral if the apocalypse happens before I die and that kind of thing becomes acceptable again. If not I probably want to me used as forest fertiliser or something. I like trees.
vanilla - what position do you sleep in?
on my stomach mostly, fetal sometimes. depending on how many cats there are around, i may have no choice because they like to lie on me and i am a slave to their will-
zaatar - what would you love to have the freedom to do without repercussions of any kind?
previously answered
#'fans'#nice one christiana#you know full well we prefer the term 'pride of rabid vaguely homicidal humanoid beings'#ask
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asa “ace” ryder // biotic // pathfinder
under the read more is the me:a 30 day countdown ryder meme that i meant to do over the actual days oops, just to introduce you to my new child and some of her family!! not all of the prompts are answered, i’ll gradually be answering them eventually.
30 Days: Will you play SisRyder or BroRyder first? Why? How does your Ryder define their gender?
sisryder bc i most always play feminine characters. i’ve taken that opportunity every chance i’ve gotten since pokemon crystal back when i was a kid. ace identifies as feminine.
29 Days: What is your Ryder’s name? Why did you pick this name - is there a meaning or origin story behind it? Do they go by any nicknames? What would you name their sibling, father and mother if you were able to choose?
asa “ace” ryder. i really liked the of “ace ryder,” so from there i just had to figure out a name that could actually have that nickname (opposed to just being called that bc of some reason or another). i happened upon asa and loved it. her one and only nickname is ace.
28 Days: Are you going to use the default appearance or create a custom Ryder? If custom, describe your Ryder’s physical appearance (hair color, eye color, skin color, height, weight, facial features, any scars or tattoos, racial origin, etc). If you have art and/or a face-claim, feel free to add them here.
definitely custom, i always go custom when it comes to appearances. ace’s face has dark green eyes and is full of freckles. she’s about 5′10″ with a plump, pear shaped figure. her most notable feature is her dark brown curls, which she leaves them be, as they tend to behave better that way. as for the tattoos, she has the constellation of the phoenix under her right breast. her face claim is lauren johnson.
27 Days: Are you going to use the default appearance for Ryder’s sibling or customize them? Describe your ideas for their sibling’s and father’s physical appearance.
i’m definitely going to be changing them (ace’s fam ain’t white lmao). her brother is very much a military guy, with close cropped black hair and a generally stern face. he has freckles sporadically peppered on his face, but not nearly as many as his sister. he has dark hazel eyes, loooooong eyelashes, and is the same skin color as ace. his form, while possessing some muscles from military training, is rather lanky. his fc is evan ross. their father looks strangely unlike them, as both of the ryder siblings take after their mother. he is bald (by his own volition, he swears) with light brown eyes and darker brown skin than his children.
26 Days: Do you have a specific class profile or mix of class profiles in mind for Ryder?
ace is a biotic, so she’s going to be mostly an adept with a few soldier skills.
25 Days: Describe Ryder’s favorite combat style. Bioware call Peebee a “gunslinger” and describe Liam as a “close-range fighter” - how would you describe Ryder’s combat role/strengths? What are some of their favorite biotic/tech/other abilities?
ace’s fighting style could be termed “going-with-the-flow” as she tends to fill any of the pockets that her squad mates lack. long-range? singularity. mid-range? shockwave. close up? biotic charge. basically, ace has thought of ways in which to use her biotics at any position, and in this way, she’s very much a support fighter and quite well-rounded. her absolute favorite ability is shockwave.
24 Days: Which squadmates do you think will best compliment Ryder’s combat style? Alternatively, who do you plan to take out most in the field?
with asa, since she has biotics handled, she’ll be aking more tech and soldier based squad mates out. this’ll probably include drack, jaal, liam, and vetra (bc vetra).
23 Days: Which weapons or category of weapons will Ryder prefer? Describe their favorite loadout.
anything relatively easy to wield and load quickly is good to ace. that being said, an assault rifle or pistol will be the two she gravitates toward.
22 Days: Will Ryder craft? What are you most excited about crafting? Do you have any names in mind already for weapons?
so ace isn’t particularly savvy when it comes to tech stuff (that’s more of her brother’s thing), but she’d love to learn how to craft things!! she’s gonna be asking liam so many questions, i feel bad for him lmao
21 Days: What are Ryder’s personality traits? Describe 5 strengths and 5 flaws.
strengths:
optimistic
friendly
compassionate
sociable
friendly
flaws:
intense
dramatic
disorganized
absentminded
erratic
20 Days: What first impressions does Ryder tend to give people? Do they have any ‘odd’ or specific mannerisms, habits or other quirks? How do they present and carry themselves?
asa is a very optimistic and joyous person. she prefers to try to think of the positives rather than get bogged down by negative feelings. she also displays her emotions quite...loudly. her brother calls her a drama queen, but she prefers the term “emotionally adept.” she’s no good at stealth missions due to her face being a canvas of emotions, but she tries (oh how she tries). also, asa (suffering from adhd) tends to skip over things in conversation. and by skip over things, i mean she thinks she’s said them already, because she’s gone over them in her head, but hasn’t said them aloud. her mind is a fast moving place and her mouth can rarely keep up.
19 Days: Where would Ryder fall in the classic Paragon/Renegade morality system? What would their D&D alignment be? If you know their personality type in any personality typing systems (such as MBTI and Enneagram - you can find various type descriptions and tests using Google), feel free to add and discuss them here.
ace is definitely more paragon, but as she lets her emotions define her, she can have her renegade moments as well. her alignment would lean toward neutral good.
18 Days: What qualities does Ryder like and dislike in other people? Are there any things they particularly appreciate or can’t stand?
ace tends to gravitate toward people in general; she will talk to anyone. but the people she most enjoys interacting with and those who eventually become her good friends are often interesting and don’t mind a bit of fun. but honestly, asa has friends who are outrageously different. it doesn’t much matter to her as long as they’re not actively mean to others, haughty, or have a “better than thou” attitude.
17 Days: List some of Ryder’s favorite things - colors, food, music, etc. Is there anything of this nature that they hate? Do they have any hobbies or skills outside of combat?
asa isn’t pick about food whatsoever, she’ll pretty much eat anything. but she LOVES baked goods, especially cupcakes.
16 Days: How would Ryder define their sexuality?
ace’s a lesbian bc girls. no but seriously, she’s never been attracted to guys in a romantic or sexual way. she’s been in one realtionship with a guy, and it turned out that they were both totally not into each other’s genders. they ended the relationship as friends, and were still in contact with each other when ace left for the andromeda mission.
15 Days: Delve into the Ryder family background - how is/was their relationship with their father, sibling and mother? Do they get along, hero worship, close twin connection, sibling rivalry, was it strained, was it distant, etc.
14 Days: Describe some important or formative events in Ryder’s history. How did these impact and shape them?
13 Days: Why did Ryder join the Alliance military? Later on, what were Ryder’s reasons for signing up to the Andromeda Initiative? Were they seeking adventure (or glory, or a challenge), wanting a new start, running from something, following their family, trying to secure a future for humanity, did they simply feel railroaded into it, etc.
12 Days: How will Ryder feel upon waking up from cryo? Relieved, excited, scared, impatient to get going, lost, etc.
11 Days: Once in Andromeda, what are Ryder’s goals? What drives them?
10 Days: Will Ryder ever miss the Milky Way? What things and places will they miss most?
9 Days: Did Ryder have any notable friends or connections in the Milky Way? How about past relationships? Which friendship or relationship was the most significant to them?
8 Days: How does Ryder feel about aliens? Are they uncomfortable, wary, intrigued, curious, intimidated, not bothered, etc? In the Milky Way, where did they stand on humanity’s place in galactic society - Earth first, Terra Firma, human superiority, peaceful cooperation, pro-galactic integration & unity, etc? How will they feel upon discovering that there are sentient alien races in Andromeda?
7 Days: Ryder’s father gave the twins informal N7 training in the past. How did Ryder feel about this (pressured, resentful, grateful, motivated, overworked, excited, etc)? What are their feelings on “N7” as a symbol? How do they relate to it, if at all?
6 Days: Does your Ryder know your Shepard? What do they think of Shepard? Would they get along? What would Shepard think of Ryder?
5 Days: Out of the squadmates, Tempest crewmembers and other characters shown so far, who do you think Ryder will get along well with? Who do you think they will get along best with? Why?
4 Days: Out of the squadmates, Tempest crewmembers and other characters shown so far, is there anyone you think Ryder won’t gel so greatly with, dislike or otherwise come into conflict with? Why?
3 Days: Do you plan on romancing anyone with Ryder? If so, who? Why? What qualities would Ryder find attractive in a partner (if applicable)?
2 Days: Provide a “famous quote” from Ryder that sums them up as a character (like the ones for the squadmates in their official character profiles).
1 Day: Which song/songs would be “theme songs” for Ryder? Are there any symbols you associate with Ryder? If you’ve created a moodboard for them, share it here. If not, what sorts of things would be on their moodboard? Describe their aesthetic. What Hogwarts house would they be sorted into? If you’ve written fanfic involving Ryder already, share it here. [you don’t need to do all of these, they’re merely intended as creative exercises]
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Yet another meme. I crossed some I didn’t like.
1) Put your iTunes on shuffle. Give me the first 6 songs that pop up.
Thetawaves - System of a Down
The Sacrifice - Michael Nyman
Donde Estas, Yolanda? - Pink Martini
First Aid Kit - Wolf
Sarabande from J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1
Russian Dance - Trepak, from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite.
2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?
Colin O’Donoghue.
3) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.
From Kevin Brooks’ YA novel “Being”
Damn it, page 23 has only 9 lines. From page 24 then,
“I jabbed the gun against Ryan’s head.”
4) What do you think about most?
Exactly what my blog is about.
5) What does your latest text message from someone else say?
The payment code I sent to my roomate so that she could pay the electricity bill.
6) Do you sleep with or without clothes on?
Clothes on.
7) What's your strangest talent?
I don’t think I have talents... just some practiced skills.
8)
9) Ever had a poem or song written about you?
Not about me, but once I gave my late uncle’s lyrics (that he had asked me to put into music or have someone do it) to a composer friend to write a piece on it.
10) When is the last time you played the air guitar?
Yesterday, I think, in the tune of Sweet Child o’ Mine.
11) Do you have any strange phobias?
That electricity may strike me if I wash the dishes while the boiler is on.
12) Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?
None that I can recall.
13) What's your religion?
Agnostic.
14) If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?
Walking towards somewhere, listening to music.
15) Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?
Both.
16) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?
It is complex indeed. If I had to choose one I’d go with Blackmore’s Night.
17) What was the last lie you told?
I can’t recall. I don’t lie easily, or convincingly.
18) Do you believe in karma?
Maybe?
19) What does your URL mean?
It’s a combination of the words lilly (incorrect, I know, but I didn’t back then when I chose that url) and pond.
20) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?
Lack of self-confidence/I actually think I’ve got a lot of stuff figured out in comparison to other people of my age.
21) Who is your celebrity crush?
Colin O’Donoghue, some three years now.
22) Have you ever gone skinny dipping?
No, but I would be sort of interested to. I never felt comfortable in a bikini.
23) How do you vent your anger?
Lol. I don’t, I guess. It just pents up.
24) Do you have a collection of anything?
When I travel, I like to keep all the booklets, the tickets, the receipts from things I bought, some coins...
25) Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?
Video chatting, if it’s possible.
26) Are you happy with the person you've become?
I’m yet to evolve and I hope I can get better at some parts.
27) What's a sound you hate; sound you love?
Drilling machines/ My cat’s purr.
28) What's your biggest "what if"?
What if I was born a man? Seriously. I don’t think I’m gender--fluid, but I’ve thought many times how different I might have been if I were a guy.
29) Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?
Ghosts, no. Aliens, sure, it’s just that we can’t sense or see them.
30) Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.
Right arm, a Nutella jar. Left arm, a tea light candle.
31) Smell the air. What do you smell?
Nothing. There’s a small sense of my cat’s scent around.
32) What's the worst place you have ever been to?
Public restrooms at the Greek borders to FYROM. I hadn’t peed in hours (we were having a road trip) but I kept it in for a few more because oh. my. God.
33) Choose East Coast or West Coast?
Don’t know the difference.
34) Most attractive singer of your opposite gender?
Colin O’Donoghue.
35) To you, what is the meaning of life?
Do things and leave them better than you found them.
36) Define Art.
Creation, messages, beauty either in the inside or the outside.
37) Do you believe in luck?
Yep, and I actually think I’ve got lots.
38) What's the weather like right now?
Slightly raining.
39) What time is it?
12:20 am
40)
41) What was the last book you read?
I haven’t actually read a book in years. Headhunters by Jo Nesbo was the last one.
42) Do you like the smell of gasoline?
Nope.
43) Do you have any nicknames?
Duni or Duduna, for the way I used to mispronounce my name when I was very little.
44) What was the last movie you saw?
Moana.
45) What's the worst injury you've ever had?
I split my forehead open while playing in kindergarten and had a few stitches. I still have the scar.
46) Have you ever caught a butterfly?
No. But I have touched one’s wings once. I think I must have killed it back then.
47) Do you have any obsessions right now?
OUAT. With the way I’m all about it, it is an obsession.
48) What's your sexual orientation?
Mostly grey asexual.
49) Ever had a rumor spread about you?
About me specifically, none that I can recall.
50) Do you believe in magic?
I used to.
51) Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?
Oh boy, that is ALL me. It’s one of the reasons I sympathized with Hook.
52) What is your astrological sign?
Cancer.
53) Do you save money or spend it?
I try to save it. I don’t spend that much besides basic needs (and chocolate).
54) What's the last thing you purchased?
That Nutella jar I mentioned above.
55) Love or lust?
Why not both.
56) In a relationship?
Nope.
57) How many relationships have you had?
None.
58) Can you touch your nose with your tongue?
Nope.
59) Where were you yesterday?
Home, visited the beach, attended a mini concert of a fellow student, back home.
60) Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?
My eye pencil sharpener, a water bottle cap, the toes of my socks (those are light pink).
61) Are you wearing socks right now?
Lol I didn’t even read that question before answering the above! Yes, apparently.
62) What's your favorite animal?
CATS ^.^
63) What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?
Lol. Honesty?
64) Where is your best friend?
Outside with another friend. I didn’t have the mood to join.
65) -- I don’t know why that one is missing.
66) What is your heritage?
What is that supposed to mean? I think I’m too young to have one yet.
67) What were you doing last night at 12 AM?
I’m not sure but I probably was here again.
68) What do you think is Satan's last name?
He doesn’t have one.
70) Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?
At the moment, probably yes because we would give each other a lot of time to spend alone.
71) You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?
Get wet and then fired. But I would have tried to make the circumstances so that I wouldn’t have been late before that.
72)
73) You can only have one of these things; trust or love.
Trust. Without trust, there is no love.
74) What's a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?
Dernière Danse by Indila.
75) What are the last four digits in your cell phone number?
6234.
76) In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?
Trust, building each other up, humor, lots.
77) How can I win your heart?
By having the above traits.
78) Can insanity bring on more creativity?
Of course.
79) What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?
Probably come here to study music.
80) What size shoes do you wear?
I say 39. In UK that’s 6, in the US it’s 8.5, in Japan it’s 25.
81)
82) What is your favorite word?
I don’t think I can choose one, but I like ones that have lots of L’s in them.
83) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.
Red.
84) What is a saying you say a lot?
The one I’m looking for is, apparently, Haste makes waste in English. Though the literal translation from Greek is Whoever hurries, stumbles. So it’s more like someone telling the one who hurried “You had it coming”
85) What's the last song you listened to?
Listening right now: District 12 Ruins by James Newton Howard from the soundtrack of Mockingjay: Part 1.
86)
87) What is your current desktop picture?
This picture.
88) If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?
Drumpf.
89) What would be a question you'd be afraid to tell the truth on?
Offline, how much time I’ve spent analyzing and fangirling over Captain Swan.
90)
91) You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what's even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?
Healing.
92) You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?
If I could relive moments from my infanthood, I would go back and see my grandmother who died when I was 1. If not, that time that I saw Circle of Life performed live.
93) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?
Erase the memory or erase the thing happening? If it’s the latter, I’ve got some things, but for the former, erase a really nasty arguing I had with my mother once.
94)
95) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?
Rovaniemi, Finland.
96) Do you have any relatives in jail?
None that I know of.
97) Have you ever thrown up in the car?
I have a very weak stomach when it comes to motion sickness, and when I was little they didn’t give me medication for some reason, so yes.
98) Ever been on a plane?
12 times.
99) If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?
Just fucking love each other for fuck’s sake.
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identity ask meme : 1, 11, 21, 24, 26, 30 have fun!
Alright so this one required lots of thought and I’m sorry it took awhile BUT. Here we go.
1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?
My first instinct is The Hobbit (the book), but I think that’s kind of because it’s my most favorite book and I think you can learn a lot about someone by knowing their favorite book. Every time I read the first few lines, I just feel calm settling over me. But I love the adventure in it. The sense of someone who never thought of themselves as adventurous going out and realizing that they can be brave, and they can be strong, and they can be kind. And they can do all of these things and still go home to simple comforts at the end of the day. And that an ordinary person can face down something as big as a dragon and still come out the other side. I just love the adventure. I think it goes hand in hand, but they should probably watch Lord of the Rings too, because it has some of the same themes. Normal people’s kindness and goodness being the thing that saves the world.
As for listening, I have a ridiculously large spotify library and I’m in a different mood every day of my life. But I love the song “Rest My Bones” by The Northern Empty, if only for the lyrics:
Can we slow it down?
Finally got your feet back on the ground
You were lost when I met you
The things that you've been through
Don't let it drag you down
11. describe your ideal day.
This is a tough one with a couple variations. Sometimes it’s a warm summer afternoon. Sun is bright. I have a hammock and a dog and probably a book. My pup usually falls asleep under the hammock while I read, and more often than not I fall asleep too. I like the way the wind rustles in the trees in my backyard because it really does sound like the ocean, and it’s quiet enough that it feels cut off from the rest of the world.
Or today, when the first big fat snowflakes of the year were falling. This time last year, my friend and I were driving through mountains in Lake Placid on our road trip, and we saw the first snowfall and it was absolutely magical. But that is usually best enjoyed under a warm blanket with tea and candles. I like when the world just feels quiet.
And every once in awhile, I love a day where I do fun adventurous things that are scary and I’ve never done before. Like the time I went skydiving! Just completely exhilarating and made me feel like I was part of a real adventure.
21. do you love easily?
I get enamored easily, which I think is different. I get very fond of certain things about people or the idea of people. Which is never what the actually are. And that’s not their fault because everyone is their own person! But I sometimes form these quick, sort of shallow admirations in a split second, which is bad. I like almost everyone I meet until they give me reason not to, but I don’t often feel actually romantically attached. I have a hard time actually getting super close to people.
24. have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone?
Uuuh yes so. I have one very close friend from college and we just always understand each other somehow? Even when one of us is being VERY bad at communicating or explaining things which is often because we are a little bit socially challenged lmao. But it’s okay because we always make sense to each other. She’s my greatest support system and I am so grateful for her.
And also! I have a brother who is six years older than me and we are typically on the exact same page.
26. how would you describe your gender/sexuality?
Like this: ??? ?!? ? ???
Okay not really. In terms of gender I’m definitely female. Once I came to terms with the fact that not every girl needs to have 100% feminine traits 100% of the time, I realized that I’m completely comfortable with she/her and always have been. Just because I have certain traits or like things that are considered masculine doesn’t change that. So that’s something I’m very comfortable with.
As far as everything else. I’m preeeetty sure I’m romantically interested in men, but I don’t know if I’m sexually interested in anybody. Maybe if I really was close with someone I would be? But I’m never like. Seeing a hot stranger and going “oh yeah I’d mess around with them”. So it’s a work in progress.
30. pick one of your favorite quotes.
Yeah this was the hardest question so maybe I’ll give a few.
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” - JRR Tolkien
“When people say impossible, they usually mean improbable.” - Leigh Bardugo
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How to Make Memes for Your Business and Use Them Effectively
I mean, really, who doesn’t love a good meme? After all, most people use social media for entertainment. B2C marketers (business-to-customer) and business owners will do well to remember this and use their social media channels accordingly. And to that end, a good meme definitely offers fun and laughs. In fact, memes are one of the most likely forms of social media elements (along with funny videos) to go viral. And why not? They integrate and lend themselves extremely well to just about every social media platform. And the concise nature of expressive pictures associated with brief text makes them ideal for the incredibly fast-feeding frenzy that is social media today.
They are a big part of the fun on social media, and we all like to participate. Therefore, any digital marketing company worth its salt will always be asking how to generate viral memes to help engage people and drive more traffic.
So if you’re wanting a fun and creative way to engage and connect with people then maybe you should explore how to create and leverage memes for your social media marketing. And this guide will provide you with several practical tips on how to use memes more effectively.
Table of Contents:
How to Use Memes Effectively
Curate Memes for Your Keywords
Inspiration for Memes
Re-Purpose an Existing Meme
What about Copyright Infringement?
Inspirational and Motivational Memes
How to Make a Meme
Branding Your Memes
Memes Can Dramatically Improve Social Signals for Your Brand
The Key Takeaway
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How to Use Memes Effectively
Memes should reflect the voice and tone of your business.
Let’s start with this. As a business, it’s best not to overuse memes. For some of my customers, I’ll use one per week. Others will use less, depending on the tone and voice of the business itself. Of course, you do realize that your business creates its own voice and tone, right? For example, my tendency is to try to offer insight and some humor. And that’s based upon who I am as a person and what my career has looked like. I’ve been a presenter and instructor through most of my adult life and I value humor, so I intentionally shape my social media and blogging around those traits. Some will like it, some will not. The same goes for you. Your voice and personality should resonate throughout your social channels and your blog. Anyway, on to our subject!
Your humor and your values should resonate in your memes. Some memes offer content that is inappropriate for a business–any business! Others may not be inappropriate from a social or ethical perspective, but they may not fit your business. It’s best to find those that are best suited for your voice and values.
Curate Memes for Your Keywords
I curate the vast majority of my memes. I simply run a Google search on the keyword for which I want to find a meme, then I add a qualifier like “meme”, “jokes”, or “humor”. So the search may look like this, “social media marketing memes” or “blogging jokes”. Occasionally this turns up other sources that may inspire me to create my own meme. More on that in a moment.
On some social media business accounts that I manage, I will occasionally just tell a joke that my search turns up and see if people respond. In fact, a joke told with no picture attached, often gets some of the best interactions on a page. And on Facebook, this is pure gold. So don’t be afraid to tell a joke or share a funny story, and sometimes without a picture. This may seem counterintuitive since everything in social media is so picture and video-based. And you will undoubtedly read some writers who say you should always use graphics. However, I have found that the occasional simple post with no graphics, written in a personal way, garners some of the best results on a page. Just remember to use this practice in moderation, simply because social media is image and video-centric.
Inspiration for Memes
If you have ever wondered how to make niche memes, here’s an example. As mentioned above, sometimes I find inspiration for a meme while curating or reading jokes. Just this morning, inspiration came another way. (DISCLAIMER: In the following example I am not advocating any political position on gun legislation. It is simply an instance of inspiration, so please do not take offense.) I was reading through my Facebook feed and one of my friends, a military veteran, wrote a post about guns and how he doesn’t believe guns are good or bad. When I read that, I heard in my mind for some creative and bizarre reason (since that’s what my mind is like) the words of the old song by Dave Mason, “We Just Disagree.” This is what ran through my mind: “There ain’t no good guns. There ain’t no bad guns. There’s only you and me and we just disagree.” Boom, baby! That’s meme fodder, right there. And that’s how inspiration works. So when you get, just go with it. At the end of your creative process, try to evaluate honestly whether it’s good or not-so-much.
This is an example of creating a niche meme that will get a lot of shares.
So what did I do next? What’s the process? Well, first I thought of who might best represent this sentiment in a meme? I thought of the military (like my friend). Nope. Not quite right. Perhaps someone older who would fit the age of the song reference. Yes, good idea. Maybe a gunslinger hero? Bingo. Tough guy? Definitely. Maybe a likable cowboy? Hmm…Sam Elliott? Touchdown! There have been lots of memes created with actor Sam Elliott in them. So I looked for a meme template by searching,“Sam Elliott blank memes”. I found the following pic and added the words, and I now have an original meme with a hot topic that will be very shareable.
And even though it doesn’t really fit my brand well, I will still use it just because it does have the potential to get shared. In fact, I’ve already decided how I’ll use it in a way that fits my business type. I will use it in a series of posts about creating memes that link back to this article. So you see, even though a meme may not exactly fit your brand, you can sometimes use them in a creative way and get some good social signals from it. (More about social signals later in the post…)
Re-purpose an Existing Meme
This funny pic was one that I came across in my Facebook feed. I had recently watched a video about clarity in marketing and it occurred to me that the picture in this was perfect for that theme. And as an added bonus, there was no copyright displayed, plus, there was plenty of negative space at the bottom so I was able to simply add the phrase, “Be clear in your marketing”.
This example is from a very common meme that I have seen quite a bit. However, I now have a roofer whose social media I manage, so I saw this from a different perspective. I recently wrote a blog article about soffit and fascia for him, so when I saw this meme, guess what caught my attention? Right. Browsing through all those roofing images and pictures of fascia suddenly paid off in a different way.
So you can sometimes see a meme or funny picture from a different perspective and re-purpose and reframe it to that new point of view. And it this case, the different perspective is what actually creates the humor. BTW, it’s also good to include the new keywords in the title. The title and description of this image use the words “fascia board” and “meme”.
Share it on the right social media channel, but put your own spin on it.
Another good practice is to simply share existing memes and put your own spin on it in your comments. The massively popular grumpy cat meme has offered me several such opportunities. The one that says, “Had fun once. Hated it.” has given me a lot to work with. For example, add a comment like, “Warning: This is my mode every Monday” or “every morning before coffee.” These things personalize the existing meme and add your voice to it. This is why it is a very good practice to comment on nearly anything you share, even if it’s only a simple “LOL” or “So true” comment. And if you can’t come up with a salient comment to add, just use something simple and then add an emoji or gif.
Another note of importance here is that every meme you use may not fit every social media channel. For example, what works well on Facebook sometimes won’t work nearly as well on LinkedIn due to the vast difference in those two channels. So consider the SM channel and whether the meme fits in with the ambiance.
But what about copyright infringement?
Great question! Strictly speaking, you can assume that any meme that is popular has been copyrighted. So if you don’t find it in a Creative Commons search or website, or if it isn’t public domain, then you had better realize that you don’t own the right to freely share it. But, that being said, with literally millions of memes being created and shared on a daily basis, sharing on social media is a bit of a different critter. If you stick with the most popular memes, licensed meme generating software sites, or simply sharing and commenting, the preponderance of anecdotal evidence (millions of memes created and shared daily) tells us that we really need not worry. Here is a helpful article from Northeastern University that explores the legalities and disposition in which courts view memes.
Inspirational and Motivational Memes
Brainy Quote offers a good source of intelligent inspirational and motivational quotes. This pic was from their Top Ten list. (Click the image to visit the website.)
Both of these genres can be helpful in your social media content curation and planning. Some of the businesses I work with will specifically request more motivational or inspirational posts, while others lean more toward current events or humor. I personally advocate a blend of all of these. Here are a good experiment and analysis. Simply observe your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram feed for two or three days and take note of the memes that gain the most traction and popularity among your friends. Rule out any that come from pages that you follow, and simply observe what your friends (or followers) share. This will give you an anecdotal sampling of what is resonating with what kinds of people.
Now consider, what demographics are you targeting in your social media? If you don’t have many that fit this avatar in your personal Facebook feed, then join a group where these folks hang out. You will be able to observe them there. This can help you determine what mix or style of meme content you want to post on your social media. And remember, just because you may like your memes funny, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that is what appeals best to everyone else. Be open to using motivational or inspirational memes since they are very popular. And conversely, if you tend to gravitate toward the more serious memes, don’t be afraid to lighten it up and use some joke memes. I guarantee that some of your readers will appreciate it.
How to Make a Meme
An example of a meme to provoke conversation on social media.
Perhaps the easiest way to make your own memes is to use an online meme generator such as imgflip.com or makeameme.org. There are free versions of various sites where you can browse the images and create your text very simply. These will typically be watermarked or branded by the software. To create versions of these without watermarks, which I recommend, you can usually get a paid “pro” version of the more popular meme generators which is very inexpensive. I just paid $2.95 for one month in imageflip and made this meme. Plus, if you’re concerned about copyrights, this may be the best avenue for you.
For those who are more DIYers, rather than using an online meme maker you may prefer to use your own editing software (I highly recommend Affinity Photo) or online graphics sites like Canva.com are the usual choices.
Branding Your Memes
It’s a good practice to brand a meme that you have created so long as you intend to use it as a promotional feature. It’s akin to wearing a tee-shirt with your company name or sporting a window cling with your business name in your car. I do it on business-relevant memes or on memes that I create that I think may have a chance of going viral. Even so, I don’t brand most of the existing popular memes I use, mainly because everyone knows that’s a “rip-off” and in my humble opinion it cheapens the feel of your brand and has a bit of a greasy uber-salesman vibe to it.
When you do brand, the standard practice is to place your logo and/or name (I personally prefer the printed name version of my logo) somewhere on the meme with some transparency so it is not glaring and detracting from the overall effect. It has become more common of late to place your brand somewhere inside the image rather than at the extreme bottom. This way, it’s not as easy for others to rip-off…um, excuse me…borrow your meme and replace your logo with theirs.
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Memes can dramatically improve Social Signals for your brand.
Many people who aren’t involved with SEO tactics are unfamiliar with social signals. In short, they are all the interactions and link follows you get from social channels. These all eventually drip out to all the various search engines as signals that your brand and your website have popularity and relevance. This means that every share, like, pin, view, and vote matters. In fact, they matter a great deal.
You see, search engines interpret your social signals as legitimate evidence that your brand is being seen and shared by consumers. This, then, translates into an improvement in your website or social channel’s SERP (Search Engine Page Rank). And that’s because social signals you’re receiving are interpreted as trusted recommendations for your brand from consumers. You should not underestimate the significant importance of social signals for your brand marketing. And just think, memes, when used effectively, can help with that!
The Key Takeaway
Due to the transient and fickle nature of social mood, popular and relevant themes will ebb and flow. Still, we believe that memes are now a permanent part of social sharing. These little jewels are simple to make and even easier for people to share, so from a marketing perspective, the ROI is great considering their explosive potential of going viral.
That being said, you must still give due diligence to your keywords, meme content, your target demographic and how it integrates with your brand. But wow, when the stars align for you, your meme could expand your brand like never before!
Like this? Please share it!
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
Share on reddit
Share on email
The post How to Make Memes for Your Business and Use Them Effectively appeared first on Ozark Web Design.
from Ozark Web Design https://ozarkwebdesign.com/how-to-make-memes-for-your-business-and-use-them-effectively/
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Text
How to Make Memes for Your Business and Use Them Effectively
I mean, really, who doesn’t love a good meme? After all, most people use social media for entertainment. B2C marketers (business-to-customer) and business owners will do well to remember this and use their social media channels accordingly. And to that end, a good meme definitely offers fun and laughs. In fact, memes are one of the most likely forms of social media elements (along with funny videos) to go viral. And why not? They integrate and lend themselves extremely well to just about every social media platform. And the concise nature of expressive pictures associated with brief text makes them ideal for the incredibly fast-feeding frenzy that is social media today.
They are a big part of the fun on social media, and we all like to participate. Therefore, any digital marketing company worth its salt will always be asking how to generate viral memes to help engage people and drive more traffic.
So if you’re wanting a fun and creative way to engage and connect with people then maybe you should explore how to create and leverage memes for your social media marketing. And this guide will provide you with several practical tips on how to use memes more effectively.
Table of Contents:
How to Use Memes Effectively
Curate Memes for Your Keywords
Inspiration for Memes
Re-Purpose an Existing Meme
What about Copyright Infringement?
Inspirational and Motivational Memes
How to Make a Meme
Branding Your Memes
Memes Can Dramatically Improve Social Signals for Your Brand
The Key Takeaway
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How to Use Memes Effectively
Memes should reflect the voice and tone of your business.
Let’s start with this. As a business, it’s best not to overuse memes. For some of my customers, I’ll use one per week. Others will use less, depending on the tone and voice of the business itself. Of course, you do realize that your business creates its own voice and tone, right? For example, my tendency is to try to offer insight and some humor. And that’s based upon who I am as a person and what my career has looked like. I’ve been a presenter and instructor through most of my adult life and I value humor, so I intentionally shape my social media and blogging around those traits. Some will like it, some will not. The same goes for you. Your voice and personality should resonate throughout your social channels and your blog. Anyway, on to our subject!
Your humor and your values should resonate in your memes. Some memes offer content that is inappropriate for a business–any business! Others may not be inappropriate from a social or ethical perspective, but they may not fit your business. It’s best to find those that are best suited for your voice and values.
Curate Memes for Your Keywords
I curate the vast majority of my memes. I simply run a Google search on the keyword for which I want to find a meme, then I add a qualifier like “meme”, “jokes”, or “humor”. So the search may look like this, “social media marketing memes” or “blogging jokes”. Occasionally this turns up other sources that may inspire me to create my own meme. More on that in a moment.
On some social media business accounts that I manage, I will occasionally just tell a joke that my search turns up and see if people respond. In fact, a joke told with no picture attached, often gets some of the best interactions on a page. And on Facebook, this is pure gold. So don’t be afraid to tell a joke or share a funny story, and sometimes without a picture. This may seem counterintuitive since everything in social media is so picture and video-based. And you will undoubtedly read some writers who say you should always use graphics. However, I have found that the occasional simple post with no graphics, written in a personal way, garners some of the best results on a page. Just remember to use this practice in moderation, simply because social media is image and video-centric.
Inspiration for Memes
If you have ever wondered how to make niche memes, here’s an example. As mentioned above, sometimes I find inspiration for a meme while curating or reading jokes. Just this morning, inspiration came another way. (DISCLAIMER: In the following example I am not advocating any political position on gun legislation. It is simply an instance of inspiration, so please do not take offense.) I was reading through my Facebook feed and one of my friends, a military veteran, wrote a post about guns and how he doesn’t believe guns are good or bad. When I read that, I heard in my mind for some creative and bizarre reason (since that’s what my mind is like) the words of the old song by Dave Mason, “We Just Disagree.” This is what ran through my mind: “There ain’t no good guns. There ain’t no bad guns. There’s only you and me and we just disagree.” Boom, baby! That’s meme fodder, right there. And that’s how inspiration works. So when you get, just go with it. At the end of your creative process, try to evaluate honestly whether it’s good or not-so-much.
This is an example of creating a niche meme that will get a lot of shares.
So what did I do next? What’s the process? Well, first I thought of who might best represent this sentiment in a meme? I thought of the military (like my friend). Nope. Not quite right. Perhaps someone older who would fit the age of the song reference. Yes, good idea. Maybe a gunslinger hero? Bingo. Tough guy? Definitely. Maybe a likable cowboy? Hmm…Sam Elliott? Touchdown! There have been lots of memes created with actor Sam Elliott in them. So I looked for a meme template by searching,“Sam Elliott blank memes”. I found the following pic and added the words, and I now have an original meme with a hot topic that will be very shareable.
And even though it doesn’t really fit my brand well, I will still use it just because it does have the potential to get shared. In fact, I’ve already decided how I’ll use it in a way that fits my business type. I will use it in a series of posts about creating memes that link back to this article. So you see, even though a meme may not exactly fit your brand, you can sometimes use them in a creative way and get some good social signals from it. (More about social signals later in the post…)
Re-purpose an Existing Meme
This funny pic was one that I came across in my Facebook feed. I had recently watched a video about clarity in marketing and it occurred to me that the picture in this was perfect for that theme. And as an added bonus, there was no copyright displayed, plus, there was plenty of negative space at the bottom so I was able to simply add the phrase, “Be clear in your marketing”.
This example is from a very common meme that I have seen quite a bit. However, I now have a roofer whose social media I manage, so I saw this from a different perspective. I recently wrote a blog article about soffit and fascia for him, so when I saw this meme, guess what caught my attention? Right. Browsing through all those roofing images and pictures of fascia suddenly paid off in a different way.
So you can sometimes see a meme or funny picture from a different perspective and re-purpose and reframe it to that new point of view. And it this case, the different perspective is what actually creates the humor. BTW, it’s also good to include the new keywords in the title. The title and description of this image use the words “fascia board” and “meme”.
Share it on the right social media channel, but put your own spin on it.
Another good practice is to simply share existing memes and put your own spin on it in your comments. The massively popular grumpy cat meme has offered me several such opportunities. The one that says, “Had fun once. Hated it.” has given me a lot to work with. For example, add a comment like, “Warning: This is my mode every Monday” or “every morning before coffee.” These things personalize the existing meme and add your voice to it. This is why it is a very good practice to comment on nearly anything you share, even if it’s only a simple “LOL” or “So true” comment. And if you can’t come up with a salient comment to add, just use something simple and then add an emoji or gif.
Another note of importance here is that every meme you use may not fit every social media channel. For example, what works well on Facebook sometimes won’t work nearly as well on LinkedIn due to the vast difference in those two channels. So consider the SM channel and whether the meme fits in with the ambiance.
But what about copyright infringement?
Great question! Strictly speaking, you can assume that any meme that is popular has been copyrighted. So if you don’t find it in a Creative Commons search or website, or if it isn’t public domain, then you had better realize that you don’t own the right to freely share it. But, that being said, with literally millions of memes being created and shared on a daily basis, sharing on social media is a bit of a different critter. If you stick with the most popular memes, licensed meme generating software sites, or simply sharing and commenting, the preponderance of anecdotal evidence (millions of memes created and shared daily) tells us that we really need not worry. Here is a helpful article from Northeastern University that explores the legalities and disposition in which courts view memes.
Inspirational and Motivational Memes
Brainy Quote offers a good source of intelligent inspirational and motivational quotes. This pic was from their Top Ten list. (Click the image to visit the website.)
Both of these genres can be helpful in your social media content curation and planning. Some of the businesses I work with will specifically request more motivational or inspirational posts, while others lean more toward current events or humor. I personally advocate a blend of all of these. Here are a good experiment and analysis. Simply observe your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram feed for two or three days and take note of the memes that gain the most traction and popularity among your friends. Rule out any that come from pages that you follow, and simply observe what your friends (or followers) share. This will give you an anecdotal sampling of what is resonating with what kinds of people.
Now consider, what demographics are you targeting in your social media? If you don’t have many that fit this avatar in your personal Facebook feed, then join a group where these folks hang out. You will be able to observe them there. This can help you determine what mix or style of meme content you want to post on your social media. And remember, just because you may like your memes funny, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that is what appeals best to everyone else. Be open to using motivational or inspirational memes since they are very popular. And conversely, if you tend to gravitate toward the more serious memes, don’t be afraid to lighten it up and use some joke memes. I guarantee that some of your readers will appreciate it.
How to Make a Meme
An example of a meme to provoke conversation on social media.
Perhaps the easiest way to make your own memes is to use an online meme generator such as imgflip.com or makeameme.org. There are free versions of various sites where you can browse the images and create your text very simply. These will typically be watermarked or branded by the software. To create versions of these without watermarks, which I recommend, you can usually get a paid “pro” version of the more popular meme generators which is very inexpensive. I just paid $2.95 for one month in imageflip and made this meme. Plus, if you’re concerned about copyrights, this may be the best avenue for you.
For those who are more DIYers, rather than using an online meme maker you may prefer to use your own editing software (I highly recommend Affinity Photo) or online graphics sites like Canva.com are the usual choices.
Branding Your Memes
It’s a good practice to brand a meme that you have created so long as you intend to use it as a promotional feature. It’s akin to wearing a tee-shirt with your company name or sporting a window cling with your business name in your car. I do it on business-relevant memes or on memes that I create that I think may have a chance of going viral. Even so, I don’t brand most of the existing popular memes I use, mainly because everyone knows that’s a “rip-off” and in my humble opinion it cheapens the feel of your brand and has a bit of a greasy uber-salesman vibe to it.
When you do brand, the standard practice is to place your logo and/or name (I personally prefer the printed name version of my logo) somewhere on the meme with some transparency so it is not glaring and detracting from the overall effect. It has become more common of late to place your brand somewhere inside the image rather than at the extreme bottom. This way, it’s not as easy for others to rip-off…um, excuse me…borrow your meme and replace your logo with theirs.
Are you missing out on your social media's potential for outreach?
Get professional social media management now.
Let's Get Started!
Memes can dramatically improve Social Signals for your brand.
Many people who aren’t involved with SEO tactics are unfamiliar with social signals. In short, they are all the interactions and link follows you get from social channels. These all eventually drip out to all the various search engines as signals that your brand and your website have popularity and relevance. This means that every share, like, pin, view, and vote matters. In fact, they matter a great deal.
You see, search engines interpret your social signals as legitimate evidence that your brand is being seen and shared by consumers. This, then, translates into an improvement in your website or social channel’s SERP (Search Engine Page Rank). And that’s because social signals you’re receiving are interpreted as trusted recommendations for your brand from consumers. You should not underestimate the significant importance of social signals for your brand marketing. And just think, memes, when used effectively, can help with that!
The Key Takeaway
Due to the transient and fickle nature of social mood, popular and relevant themes will ebb and flow. Still, we believe that memes are now a permanent part of social sharing. These little jewels are simple to make and even easier for people to share, so from a marketing perspective, the ROI is great considering their explosive potential of going viral.
That being said, you must still give due diligence to your keywords, meme content, your target demographic and how it integrates with your brand. But wow, when the stars align for you, your meme could expand your brand like never before!
Like this? Please share it!
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
Share on reddit
Share on email
The post How to Make Memes for Your Business and Use Them Effectively appeared first on Ozark Web Design.
source https://ozarkwebdesign.com/how-to-make-memes-for-your-business-and-use-them-effectively/
from Ozark Web Design https://ozarkwebdesign1.blogspot.com/2019/10/how-to-make-memes-for-your-business-and.html
0 notes
Text
How to Make Memes for Your Business and Use Them Effectively
I mean, really, who doesn’t love a good meme? After all, most people use social media for entertainment. B2C marketers (business-to-customer) and business owners will do well to remember this and use their social media channels accordingly. And to that end, a good meme definitely offers fun and laughs. In fact, memes are one of the most likely forms of social media elements (along with funny videos) to go viral. And why not? They integrate and lend themselves extremely well to just about every social media platform. And the concise nature of expressive pictures associated with brief text makes them ideal for the incredibly fast-feeding frenzy that is social media today.
They are a big part of the fun on social media, and we all like to participate. Therefore, any digital marketing company worth its salt will always be asking how to generate viral memes to help engage people and drive more traffic.
So if you’re wanting a fun and creative way to engage and connect with people then maybe you should explore how to create and leverage memes for your social media marketing. And this guide will provide you with several practical tips on how to use memes more effectively.
Table of Contents:
How to Use Memes Effectively
Curate Memes for Your Keywords
Inspiration for Memes
Re-Purpose an Existing Meme
What about Copyright Infringement?
Inspirational and Motivational Memes
How to Make a Meme
Branding Your Memes
Memes Can Dramatically Improve Social Signals for Your Brand
The Key Takeaway
Why SEO Marketing is So Effective for Local Small Businesses
September 17, 2019 No Comments
If you are a small business owner or doing a startup business, or even a micro business or side-hustle, the
Read More »
Increase Post Engagement with Personal Happenings
September 25, 2017 No Comments
A sure-fire way to boost post engagement on Facebook is to occasionally post a “personal happening” – maybe once or
Read More »
Optimize SEO with Google Plus
November 21, 2017 No Comments
Optimize Your Social Media It is sometimes difficult, I know, just to keep up with posting to one’s own Facebook
Read More »
How to Use Memes Effectively
Memes should reflect the voice and tone of your business.
Let’s start with this. As a business, it’s best not to overuse memes. For some of my customers, I’ll use one per week. Others will use less, depending on the tone and voice of the business itself. Of course, you do realize that your business creates its own voice and tone, right? For example, my tendency is to try to offer insight and some humor. And that’s based upon who I am as a person and what my career has looked like. I’ve been a presenter and instructor through most of my adult life and I value humor, so I intentionally shape my social media and blogging around those traits. Some will like it, some will not. The same goes for you. Your voice and personality should resonate throughout your social channels and your blog. Anyway, on to our subject!
Your humor and your values should resonate in your memes. Some memes offer content that is inappropriate for a business–any business! Others may not be inappropriate from a social or ethical perspective, but they may not fit your business. It’s best to find those that are best suited for your voice and values.
Curate Memes for Your Keywords
I curate the vast majority of my memes. I simply run a Google search on the keyword for which I want to find a meme, then I add a qualifier like “meme”, “jokes”, or “humor”. So the search may look like this, “social media marketing memes” or “blogging jokes”. Occasionally this turns up other sources that may inspire me to create my own meme. More on that in a moment.
On some social media business accounts that I manage, I will occasionally just tell a joke that my search turns up and see if people respond. In fact, a joke told with no picture attached, often gets some of the best interactions on a page. And on Facebook, this is pure gold. So don’t be afraid to tell a joke or share a funny story, and sometimes without a picture. This may seem counterintuitive since everything in social media is so picture and video-based. And you will undoubtedly read some writers who say you should always use graphics. However, I have found that the occasional simple post with no graphics, written in a personal way, garners some of the best results on a page. Just remember to use this practice in moderation, simply because social media is image and video-centric.
Inspiration for Memes
If you have ever wondered how to make niche memes, here’s an example. As mentioned above, sometimes I find inspiration for a meme while curating or reading jokes. Just this morning, inspiration came another way. (DISCLAIMER: In the following example I am not advocating any political position on gun legislation. It is simply an instance of inspiration, so please do not take offense.) I was reading through my Facebook feed and one of my friends, a military veteran, wrote a post about guns and how he doesn’t believe guns are good or bad. When I read that, I heard in my mind for some creative and bizarre reason (since that’s what my mind is like) the words of the old song by Dave Mason, “We Just Disagree.” This is what ran through my mind: “There ain’t no good guns. There ain’t no bad guns. There’s only you and me and we just disagree.” Boom, baby! That’s meme fodder, right there. And that’s how inspiration works. So when you get, just go with it. At the end of your creative process, try to evaluate honestly whether it’s good or not-so-much.
This is an example of creating a niche meme that will get a lot of shares.
So what did I do next? What’s the process? Well, first I thought of who might best represent this sentiment in a meme? I thought of the military (like my friend). Nope. Not quite right. Perhaps someone older who would fit the age of the song reference. Yes, good idea. Maybe a gunslinger hero? Bingo. Tough guy? Definitely. Maybe a likable cowboy? Hmm…Sam Elliott? Touchdown! There have been lots of memes created with actor Sam Elliott in them. So I looked for a meme template by searching,“Sam Elliott blank memes”. I found the following pic and added the words, and I now have an original meme with a hot topic that will be very shareable.
And even though it doesn’t really fit my brand well, I will still use it just because it does have the potential to get shared. In fact, I’ve already decided how I’ll use it in a way that fits my business type. I will use it in a series of posts about creating memes that link back to this article. So you see, even though a meme may not exactly fit your brand, you can sometimes use them in a creative way and get some good social signals from it. (More about social signals later in the post…)
Re-purpose an Existing Meme
This funny pic was one that I came across in my Facebook feed. I had recently watched a video about clarity in marketing and it occurred to me that the picture in this was perfect for that theme. And as an added bonus, there was no copyright displayed, plus, there was plenty of negative space at the bottom so I was able to simply add the phrase, “Be clear in your marketing”.
This example is from a very common meme that I have seen quite a bit. However, I now have a roofer whose social media I manage, so I saw this from a different perspective. I recently wrote a blog article about soffit and fascia for him, so when I saw this meme, guess what caught my attention? Right. Browsing through all those roofing images and pictures of fascia suddenly paid off in a different way.
So you can sometimes see a meme or funny picture from a different perspective and re-purpose and reframe it to that new point of view. And it this case, the different perspective is what actually creates the humor. BTW, it’s also good to include the new keywords in the title. The title and description of this image use the words “fascia board” and “meme”.
Share it on the right social media channel, but put your own spin on it.
Another good practice is to simply share existing memes and put your own spin on it in your comments. The massively popular grumpy cat meme has offered me several such opportunities. The one that says, “Had fun once. Hated it.” has given me a lot to work with. For example, add a comment like, “Warning: This is my mode every Monday” or “every morning before coffee.” These things personalize the existing meme and add your voice to it. This is why it is a very good practice to comment on nearly anything you share, even if it’s only a simple “LOL” or “So true” comment. And if you can’t come up with a salient comment to add, just use something simple and then add an emoji or gif.
Another note of importance here is that every meme you use may not fit every social media channel. For example, what works well on Facebook sometimes won’t work nearly as well on LinkedIn due to the vast difference in those two channels. So consider the SM channel and whether the meme fits in with the ambiance.
But what about copyright infringement?
Great question! Strictly speaking, you can assume that any meme that is popular has been copyrighted. So if you don’t find it in a Creative Commons search or website, or if it isn’t public domain, then you had better realize that you don’t own the right to freely share it. But, that being said, with literally millions of memes being created and shared on a daily basis, sharing on social media is a bit of a different critter. If you stick with the most popular memes, licensed meme generating software sites, or simply sharing and commenting, the preponderance of anecdotal evidence (millions of memes created and shared daily) tells us that we really need not worry. Here is a helpful article from Northeastern University that explores the legalities and disposition in which courts view memes.
Inspirational and Motivational Memes
Brainy Quote offers a good source of intelligent inspirational and motivational quotes. This pic was from their Top Ten list. (Click the image to visit the website.)
Both of these genres can be helpful in your social media content curation and planning. Some of the businesses I work with will specifically request more motivational or inspirational posts, while others lean more toward current events or humor. I personally advocate a blend of all of these. Here are a good experiment and analysis. Simply observe your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram feed for two or three days and take note of the memes that gain the most traction and popularity among your friends. Rule out any that come from pages that you follow, and simply observe what your friends (or followers) share. This will give you an anecdotal sampling of what is resonating with what kinds of people.
Now consider, what demographics are you targeting in your social media? If you don’t have many that fit this avatar in your personal Facebook feed, then join a group where these folks hang out. You will be able to observe them there. This can help you determine what mix or style of meme content you want to post on your social media. And remember, just because you may like your memes funny, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that is what appeals best to everyone else. Be open to using motivational or inspirational memes since they are very popular. And conversely, if you tend to gravitate toward the more serious memes, don’t be afraid to lighten it up and use some joke memes. I guarantee that some of your readers will appreciate it.
How to Make a Meme
An example of a meme to provoke conversation on social media.
Perhaps the easiest way to make your own memes is to use an online meme generator such as imgflip.com or makeameme.org. There are free versions of various sites where you can browse the images and create your text very simply. These will typically be watermarked or branded by the software. To create versions of these without watermarks, which I recommend, you can usually get a paid “pro” version of the more popular meme generators which is very inexpensive. I just paid $2.95 for one month in imageflip and made this meme. Plus, if you’re concerned about copyrights, this may be the best avenue for you.
For those who are more DIYers, rather than using an online meme maker you may prefer to use your own editing software (I highly recommend Affinity Photo) or online graphics sites like Canva.com are the usual choices.
Branding Your Memes
It’s a good practice to brand a meme that you have created so long as you intend to use it as a promotional feature. It’s akin to wearing a tee-shirt with your company name or sporting a window cling with your business name in your car. I do it on business-relevant memes or on memes that I create that I think may have a chance of going viral. Even so, I don’t brand most of the existing popular memes I use, mainly because everyone knows that’s a “rip-off” and in my humble opinion it cheapens the feel of your brand and has a bit of a greasy uber-salesman vibe to it.
When you do brand, the standard practice is to place your logo and/or name (I personally prefer the printed name version of my logo) somewhere on the meme with some transparency so it is not glaring and detracting from the overall effect. It has become more common of late to place your brand somewhere inside the image rather than at the extreme bottom. This way, it’s not as easy for others to rip-off…um, excuse me…borrow your meme and replace your logo with theirs.
Are you missing out on your social media's potential for outreach?
Get professional social media management now.
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Memes can dramatically improve Social Signals for your brand.
Many people who aren’t involved with SEO tactics are unfamiliar with social signals. In short, they are all the interactions and link follows you get from social channels. These all eventually drip out to all the various search engines as signals that your brand and your website have popularity and relevance. This means that every share, like, pin, view, and vote matters. In fact, they matter a great deal.
You see, search engines interpret your social signals as legitimate evidence that your brand is being seen and shared by consumers. This, then, translates into an improvement in your website or social channel’s SERP (Search Engine Page Rank). And that’s because social signals you’re receiving are interpreted as trusted recommendations for your brand from consumers. You should not underestimate the significant importance of social signals for your brand marketing. And just think, memes, when used effectively, can help with that!
The Key Takeaway
Due to the transient and fickle nature of social mood, popular and relevant themes will ebb and flow. Still, we believe that memes are now a permanent part of social sharing. These little jewels are simple to make and even easier for people to share, so from a marketing perspective, the ROI is great considering their explosive potential of going viral.
That being said, you must still give due diligence to your keywords, meme content, your target demographic and how it integrates with your brand. But wow, when the stars align for you, your meme could expand your brand like never before!
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The post How to Make Memes for Your Business and Use Them Effectively appeared first on Ozark Web Design.
source https://ozarkwebdesign.com/how-to-make-memes-for-your-business-and-use-them-effectively/
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