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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 4 years

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Is It Really THAT Bad?

Dr. Seuss is no stranger to cinematic adaptations, and even less of a stranger to animation. And whenever Seuss gets animated, you can typically expect good things, as opposed to when his work is live action, in which case you can expect…

Yeah…

Anyway, imagine the excitement people must have felt when the creative team behind Despicable Me and the writing team behind the underrated gem Horton Hears a Who got together to do a fresh new take on The Lorax! This was in Illumination’s heyday, before they ended up showcasing that they’re more interested in churning out cheap products for maximum profit, so there was plenty of hope that this could be good. Then came all the commercial tie-ins.

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Now, this alone shouldn’t be indicative of the final product. Maybe stuff like this is just a bunch of suits horribly missing the point of the original story! Maybe the actual film will be better! Well… while the film was no flop, and while it certainly got a better reception than most of the films I’ve talked about here, the film was derided by many for being an extremely shallow and lacking adaptation that adds unneeded junk to a story that didn’t need it in such a way that ultimately dilutes the message. It turns a story that operated on shades of gray and turned it into a cartoonish spectacle that would make even Captain Planet blush. Not helping was the rabid fanbase on Tumblr who shipped the Once-ler with… himself… or Jack Frost… forever tainting the film in the eyes of those on the internet.

Things got so bad eventually even the [REDACTED] Critic reviewed the film in his usual over-the-top, accentuate the negative style, and as some people still treat his word as gospel, this has most likely colored the perception of the film. So while it’s certainly not to the same level of infamy as the usual subjects of Is It Really THAT Bad? I still wanted to put this movie on here and ask one simple question:

How ba-ah-ah-ad can it be?

THE GOOD

So let me just get it out of the way: the movie’s villain song, “How Bad Can I Be,” legitimately is awesome and is frankly one of the best villain songs ever. No, I’m not kidding. It’s just a fun, rocking number with some neat visuals, and while it’s a shame the cut rock opera-esque “Biggering” is probably the better song, this one is definitely more fun and meme-worthy. Shake that bottom line!

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Now, the casting is, for the most part, pretty fantastic. Minor characters like the grandma played by Betty White are a lot of fun, but really, the main piece of awesome casting is Danny DeVito as the titular Seuss creation. DeVito as the Lorax is just so incredible, perfect, and inspired that it boggles the mind how anyone could possibly come up with such amazing casting.

As far as antagonizing forces in the film go, the Once-ler’s awful, vile family are enjoyable in a “love to hate” sort of way. While it’s certainly kind of iffy that they felt the need to give the Once-ler more of an excuse for his actions beyond just simple greed, it isn’t so bad that what they came up with was familial pressure. In fact, they’re actually much better at antagonists than O’Hare, the actual villain of the film, and the fact the movie give him so much focus despite having such fascinating characters that would have had a really great thematic purpose; hell, they should have been the rulers of Thneedville instead og O’Hare! There’s so much untapped potential with these, quite frankly, very interesting characters.

I guess I should say the Once-ler is a pretty decent character in and of himself, but he very much suffers from the same problem the Jim Carrey Grinch does – he’s a good, enjoyable character in his own right, but he’s not a very good Once-ler. In fact, he at points borders on “in name only” territory. Still, he does have a pretty solid arc, and that villain song slaps, so… I think he’s solid, and Ed Helms does a good job voicing him.

THE BAD

Jon Lajoie, while in character as his misogynistic moron rapper MC Vagina, said this:

When I first heard this lyric, I didn’t understand it… but his words were a prophecy, because that is, in all honesty, the plot of this film. Our flavorless protagonist Ted really just wants to get the Truffula trees back so he can get into the pants of the local smoking hot redhead hippie, Audrey. It gets to the point where Ted’s motivations are so boring and shallow that Audrey actually would have made a far more interesting and compelling protagonist, seeing as she already has an inexplicable knowledge of the trees and cares about nature. When they already changed so much in the story I don’t see why they couldn’t just make the protagonist a girl while they were at it. As it is, she barely has any presence and feels like a waste, which becomes all the more awful when you know she’s being played by a stunt casted Taylor Swift instead of an actual voice actor or even an actor period. At least Ted is Zac Efron, an actual actor, though he doesn’t do a particularly good job himself.

Then we have our villain, O’Hare. O’Hare has all the subtlety of a Captain Planet villain but none of the cheesy goodness and fun. Sure, Rob Riggle does some good delivery and gives O’Hare some memetastic moments, and sure, his selling of canned air is oddly prescient of things that happened in real life in India (though technically President Skroob Spaceballs beat him to the punch by a few decades) but it doesn’t really redeem O’Hare from being an excessively weak villain who is shoehorned into the plot solely to turn the story into a black and white morality tale. It… doesn’t work at all. What also doesn’t help is that O’Hare has an absolutely repugnant character design, looking like if Edna Mode got mangled by a sixteen wheeler and left in a ditch on the side of the road.

Finally, this movie just doesn’t really respect the story to any great degree. As mentioned above, it waters down a story that presented arguments from both sides and, while still ultimately showing the Once-ler to be wrong and shortsighted, did have him make some valid points. Here, the story is presented as there being a clear cut good and evil in a horrendously unsubtle and unpalatable way. Yes, we get that extreme deforestation and overuse of resources is bad, you don’t need to beat us over the head with it. It doesn’t help that the film also crams in a bunch of cringeworthy pop culture humor that really doesn’t add much to the story; say what you will about the anime scene from Horton, at least there was a bit of substance and reason for it. Having characters sing the Mission: Impossible theme is just making a reference for the sake of making a reference.

Is It Really THAT Bad?

So I’m gonna say that I don’t particularly find this movie to be good, per se. It’s very dumbed down and more than a little undermined by the various brand tie ins. It is a poorly executed black and white morality tale that was crafted from a very deep and engaging piece of children’s literature, and on that level, I don’t think this movie works even a little bit. Still, there’s some enjoyment that can be mined from this, particularly from some of the more so bad it’s good moments, as well as DeVito’s performance and some actual good moments of story and character. There’s some stuff to like here if you dig a bit, but really, I don’t think you really should have to do a deep dig into The Lorax to get some enjoyment.

Overall, I wouldn’t really say this movie is totally bad, but it’s definitely not good, either; it veers more into the territory of “so bad it’s good,” which is a shame but also kind of refreshing. It’s definitely an interesting film to talk about, and there are a few things about it that work, but ultimately it’s not enough to really raise the film to the level of the classic animated Seuss adaptations or even to the level of Horton. At its best, it’s okay, and at its worst, it actively undermines its own messages. I think the 6.4 it has is pretty fair… maybe a bit too fair, if I’m being honest. I’d give it something like a 5.7 or 5.8.

Again, it’s not the worst thing ever like some might tell you; hell, the adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas Illumination would go on to make is probably a worse movie. But it still doesn’t really do anything that adds to the story its telling, and it ultimately comes off as saccharine, forgettable childish fluff. It’s really a harmless movie, but it’s still probably gonna grate on anyone who holds the original story in high esteem. The {REDACTED] Critic was a bit hyperbolic in his review, but I do think he was right in principle. This movie feels like a calculated, corporate adaptation meant to be as inoffensive and marketable as possible much like every Illumination film post-Despicable Me. And if there’s one thing The Lorax shouldn’t be, it’s “inoffensive and marketable.”

#Is it really that bad?#IIRTB #review #movie review #The Lorax #Dr. Seuss #animation #animated movie #Illumination

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anip-art · 7 years

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Hello! After so so long I’m finally posting another story! This story was co-written with my friend @tomatofox-ship, and beta’ed by @wishfulina and @flautist4ever! Hope you guys enjoy!

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USERNAMES (In order of appearance) Lila Rossi: ItsPastaBedtime/WhosThatFoxyLady Chloe Bourgeois: Queen Bourgeois (Admin)/Whatever Chloe's Username Is (Admin) Adrien Agreste: Under Agreste (Co-Admin)/Meow or Never (Co-Admin) Alix Kubdel: LesBeansOnWheels Rose Lavillant: Smells Just as Sweet Nino Lahiffee: DropTheBass Marinette Dupain-Cheng : Bringing DuPAIN/TheOneWhoRisesforMemes Nathanael Kurtzberg: Redheaded Retrospect Max Kante: Max-ium Velocity Sabrina Raincomprix: RainySkies Alya Cesaire: Ladyblogger/All'a'y'all Le Chien Kim: French Dog/Kim-chi Juleka Couffaine: Purple Haired Pansexual Ivan Bruel: RockHard Johnson Mylene Haprele: #whyiseveryonesnameapun

As soon as Nathanael got home from school, he slid into his computer desk and pulled up Skype. The chat was just starting to pick up since this morning, which was fair since they had all been in school. He pulled out his sketchbook, which he had been doodling in during Chemistry, and started talking to his Internet Friends™ while he kept working on one of the designs inside.

When he started doing fashion and design, he hadn’t been thinking of it as fashion design. Fashion design, as most boys his age tended to think, was frilly dresses and girl things. No, he’d stuck his toe in the water by drawing a few costumes for superheroes. Even now, his designs tended to have that flair and extravagance, like something a hero might wear as a civilian. He’d never dare show it to anyone at school--they all thought fashion design was ‘a girl’s job,’ and ‘only gay men would do fashion design.’ Which was preposterous, considering one of the global fashion icons was a very-much-straight (or at least bi or pan, but who knew but him?) man. But he’d stumbled upon this group chat--Central European Time Zone Fashion Club--filled with teens his age talking about fashion. He’d been quiet at first, as usual, but one day daringly sent a few pictures of his superhero costumes. The chat went wild after that, and quickly pulled him into their circle. They were basically the only friends he really had.

He had loved that chat. He loved it even more after Lila Rossi joined. She was a super bold outgoing girl who doesn't take any crap from anyone. She had awesome designs that looked like the stuff that millionaires would wear. Everyone loved her work except Chloe--but she hates everyone's work. Chloe made it difficult to feel welcome sometimes, but it's impossible to kick the maker of the chat out so they just dealt with it. It was hard for Nathanael at first, but eventually he found her rants about his work hilarious. Most of the time.

ItsPastaBedtime: what’s up French Nerds

ItsPastaBedtime: hon hon hon la baguette

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): oh go back to eating pasta in your gondola

ItsPastaBedtime: yeah sure lemme shove some down your throat first

(Chloe Bourgeois ( Queen Bourgeois ) kicked Lila Rossi ( ItsPastaBedtime ) out of the chat)

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): finally

(Adrien Agreste ( Under Agreste ) added Lila Rossi ( ItsPastaBedtime ) back into the chat)

ItsPastaBedtime: i’m back bitches

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): dammit

LesBeansOnWheels: now now Madame Bourgeois, the daughter of the mayor shouldn’t use that kind of language.

Queen Bourgeois: shut it, Alix

Smells Just As Sweet: can we get along for more than three minutes ever?

DropTheBass: no

Under Agreste (Co-Admin): wow thanks Nino

DropTheBass: just telling it how it is, broham

Bringing DuPAIN: back from school

RedHeadedRetrospect: oh hey same

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): see the name of this group chat?

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): that means we all live in the same time zone

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): therefore, we all get off school at the same time

Max-imum Velocity: well technically

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): quit announcing your back from school or else I’ll kick you

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): shut up Max

Bringing DuPAIN: yeah and Adrien will just add us back

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): ugh you’re right

Under Agreste (Co-Admin): you bet

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): i need someone to be co-admin who’ll lay down the law

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): someone i can trust

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): Sabrina you’re co-admin now

RainySkies: YAY

Ladyblogger: you do realize literally anyone can add people back right

ItsPastaBedtime: I was about to say that

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): shit

LesbeansOnWheels: screenshotted

LesbeansOnWheels: lets see you try to trip me again, Bourgeois

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): doubleshit

French Dog: I leave you guys alone for five minutes

French Dog: and there’s already Discourse

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): go eat your fucking kinchi kim

French Dog changed their name to Kim-chi

Under Agreste (Co-Admin): so did anyone do any actual designing today??

Under Agreste (Co-Admin): because I may or may not have snuck some pics from Father’s photoshoot to show you

Bringing DuPAIN: OOH GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMME

Under Agreste (Co-Admin): but only if someone actually practiced at all today

PurpleHairedPansexual sent five photos

Max-imum Velocity sent two photos

Nathanael sighed and took a deep breath. Everyone else was sharing their work. He took a glance at his sketchbook. None of them were all that great, but he was quite fond of one of his sketches--a suit set that came with a nice cloak. He snapped a photo and sent it before he could convince himself otherwise.

Redheaded Retrospect sent a photo

Bringing DuPAIN sent 10 photos

Under Agreste (Co-Admin): woah mari chill alright I'm sending it

Under Agreste sent 21 photos

Bringing DuPAIN: AAAAA ADRIEN THOSE ARE AWESOME

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): its just what one would expect from THE Gabriel Agreste

ItsPastaBedtime: stfu Chloe he can't hear you stop kissing his ass

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): maybe I just have respect for high quality fashion and their designer unlike some Italians in this chat

DropTheBass: Could you guys chill for once in your life's honesty

Nathanael agreed, they could get out of hand, but he wasn't about to say anything. When those two got to arguing, it was usually best to just stay out of the way.

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): oh my god

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): I just saw all of those designs you sent in and they’re absolutely pitiful

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): I mean just look at Nathanael’s

Bringing DuPAIN: hey shut up, you haven’t sent anything in a month

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): just absolutely trash

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): who would actually wear that anywhere outside of some dumb comic convention

Under Agreste (Co-Admin): um

Under Agreste (Co-Admin): me

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): it looks fake guys i mean come on

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): no one in their right mind would wear something like that in public

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): and that’s the first thing you’ve sent in a week, and that’s what you send?

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): keep at those dumb comics because you clearly won’t get anywhere in fashion

Nathanael sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked at the computer screen. Another glance at his sketchbook, and all of his fears were found to be true. He‘d drawn five little doodles that day, and had sent the best one out of the bunch, and it wasn’t even that great. It wasn’t practical, and it looked horrible. Too many damn stripes, why did he always go for stripes. And the weird green color was just horrible, all of his designs were horrible. He was about to take a pen and scratch out every single dumb doodle in that book when his computer pinged with yet another notification.

ItsPastaBedtime: stfu Chloe. His design is great and I love it and it looks totally great and maybe the color just needs a small tiny bit of adjusting but it’s freaking beautiful you ignorant musk ox how dare you go on insulting everyone's hard work like that. This chat was supposed to be to support each other while we design, yet here you are trying to bring everyone down. At least we’re working. What have you sent in the past month? Nothing.

RockHard Johnson: that was mean Chloe

ItsPastaBedTime: everyone’s designs have been great. Meanwhile the, what, five you send all look like little triangle dresses that a three year old would draw. You think you’re better than everyone else just because you’re the daughter of the mayor of Paris. Well i’m out of your jurisdiction so your dumb pettiness has no effect on me. You bring others down to make yourself feel better, but all it does is show what a bully you are

RainySkies: whoa whoa whoa Chloe isn’t a bully

ItsPastaBedtime: plus I’ve seen pictures of you online. You wouldn’t know fashion if it jumped from the ceiling and hit you in your pretty little face with a folding chair. Your face is all you’ve got, your face and your father’s dumb political corruption. I haven’t even met you face to face but i can already tell you’re despicable. You suck.

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): yeah well so’s your face

(Chloe Bourgeois ( Queen Bourgeois ) kicked Lila Rossi ( ItsPastaBedtime ) out of the group chat)

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): nobody add her back

To say he was touched by what Lila had done was definitely an understatement. Sure, she and Chloe had fought before, countless times even. But usually, when Chloe started railing on him about his designs and his worth as a fashion designer, people stayed quiet. Maybe a few ‘hey that was mean’ messages, or a weak attempt to change the topic. But no one had gone as far as Lila had just then. Sure, it could be said, she had gone a bit too far. Too far, however, was the most he had ever gotten, and sure felt a lot better than silence, or not far enoughs.

He usually wasn’t one to add people back to the chat. He’d wait for someone else to do it first. Adrien tended to take the task onto himself. If he failed to, and no one else did, he’d usually wait until night to re-invite them. This time, though, as soon as he realized Lila had been booted yet again, he typed the quick command to add her back.

(Nathanael Kurtzberg ( Redheaded Retrospect ) added Lila Rossi ( ItsPastaBedtime ) back to the chat)

Queen Bourgeois (Admin): DAMMIT NATHANAEL

Redheaded Retrospect: thank you

Redheaded Retrospect: for standing up for me

Bringing DuPAIN: yeah go Lila!

After that the conversation kinda simmered down and people left to do homework. Nathanael did most his in class today so he tried to design, but ended up drawing her. He's only seen two pictures of Lila but he still draws her and using it as reference. He wishes he could meet her. Her, Rose, and Juleka were his best and only friends. He's never even seen any of them face to face. On this thought he made a bold move.

He turned back to his computer and started a new conversation. A private conversation between himself and her.

Lila looked away from her homework to see she had three new notifications on her phone, which had caused it to buzz on her desk. Homework could wait a few moments.

Nathanael Kurtzberg ( Redheaded Retrospect ) started a new conversation with you

Nathanael Kurtzberg ( Redheaded Retrospect ) renamed the conversation New Conversation to What DOES the Fox Say?

Redheaded Retrospect: hey. I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for me back in the big chat.

Lila smiled softly and typed back a response.

ItsPastaBedtime : of course. I was sick and tired of her going after you all the time.

Redheaded Retrospect : me specifically?

ItsPastaBedtime ; well, I hate her going after everyone

ItsPastaBedtime : but she seems cruelest to you.Can’t stand it. Not like you ever did anything to her.

ItsPastaBedtime : i think she just doesn’t want to admit your designs are better than hers.

RedHeadedRetrospect: : well that’s debatable, really. Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder

ItsPastaBedtime ; some things are obvious

ItsPastaBedtime : imagine a bright neon green and fluorescent orange jump suit. That’s clearly not a good idea right? Nobody would wear that.

RedHeadedRetrospect: : well, there’s joggers.

Lila let out a laugh at the message. It reminded her of her weird neighbor, who went out every morning, right when people were getting up and getting ready for work, and jogged laps around the neighborhood in fluorescent sweatshirts, sweatpants, gym shorts--she’d never seen him wearing anything that wasn’t an eye-searing color. She was mildly surprised he hadn’t painted his house neon yellow or something. She was pretty sure the only thing holding him back was the neighborhood rules on Exterior Decorations.

ItsPastaBedtime: That’s true. Joggers are a plague to the eyes.

ItsPastaBedtime: Didn’t Gabe come with a sportswear line? If it weren’t so expensive I bet they’d wear that instead.

Redheaded Retrospect: wait oh my god did you just call Gabriel Agreste GABE?!

ItsPastaBedtime: you bet I did. We're besties me and him. Hang all the all time.

Redheaded Retrospect: haha of course.

This is when Nathanael started freaking out. The conversation was awkward and lulling. He wanted to become better friends with Lila or maybe more, but he can barely think of words to say.

ItsPastaBedtime: well, I’ve got homework to do.

ItsPastaBedtime: see you later

Nathanael sighed but typed back his response. He wasn’t sure if she actually had homework, or if she was getting tired of him, and there was really no way of telling.

Redheaded Retrospect: alright, see you

Even after she had finished her homework and eaten dinner with her family, she still couldn’t get that design out of her mind. Nathanael’s design really was amazing, at least she thought so. And she hadn’t announced it to the group yet, but her father was flying to Paris in a few weeks for business and had invited her along. Maybe, with a few minor color modifications, and cashing in a favor or two with her friend who actually owned a sewing machine…

“Who are you texting?”

Nathanael looked up from his phone and turned to his desk mate. Today it was a nosy girl named Alice, who was currently leaning over to look at where he’d been holding his phone under the table. She had been awfully loud with her question as well--luckily the math teacher was half-deaf, otherwise his phone would have been taken.

“It’s none of your business. And be quiet.” he sighed. She didn’t seem to listen to his request.

“Ooooh do you have a girlfriend, Nathanael?” she asked. Nathanael felt his face heat up.

“None of your business!”

“Does Nathanael have a crushy-crush?!”

“Shut up!” he growled. But it was too late. Mr. Bunting turned around, eyes aflame with fury.

“Alice and Nathanael! Both of you, detention, after school!”

Nathanael groaned and let his head fall onto the desk. He wasn’t getting his phone taken, at least, but now he was stuck at school for an extra hour and a half.

It turned out to be quick and painless. The teacher was just talking, and he was chatting with Lila and the gang. Sharing designs and listening to Chloe's nonsense while Alice read over his shoulder. It was kinda nice. It felt like he belonged.

It was about a week or two later when Lila popped into the group chat with a big announcement

WhosThatFoxyLady: yo guys guess what?

Whatever Chloe’s username is: did you finally decide to quit fashion?

WhosThatFoxyLady: ha you wish

WhosThatFoxyLady: My dad’s coming to Paris for a business trip or some shit next weekend, we’re going to stay for like three or four days

Mr.TomatoHead: oh my god what

TheOneWhoRisesforMemes: oh my god no way you’re coming to Paris?!

All’a’y’all: Girl, we’ve gotta meet up to show you around!

Meow or Never: I’ll see if I can clear up my schedule enough to come see you!

Mr.TomatoHead: oh my god WHAT

#whyiseveryonesnameapun: look like someone’s excited. ; -)

To be fair, Nathanael was excited. He had been dreaming of seeing Lila in person for awhile now, but he’d never thought it would happen until they were much older. Now his wish was coming true, and in a week.

Shit. one week. He had to get his hair cut, pick a good outfit, plan what they would do, oh lord, it was going to be a mess.

Those thoughts were replaced with new ones as soon as they came though, because he realized the likelihood of him seeing her was low. Painfully low. Like might-as-well-not-be-in-the-same-city painful low. Which made it so much more painful. Not only was Lila in the country, she was in the city! Lila, his Lila Rossi was gonna potentially be a walk away. There was only one thing that could fix this. He's just gonna casually message her in a normal way.

Mr.TomatoHead: hey foxy

WhosThatFoxyLady: hello my tomato boy.

WhosThatFoxyLady: we are we today?

Mr.TomatoHead: im great. just wondering where youll be.

WhosThatFoxyLady: in your heart hopefully ;)

WhosThatFoxyLady: you meant in Paris

WhosThatFoxyLady: yeah sorry I have no clue

Mr.TomatoHead: you're always in my heart Lila

She didn't reply after that. They saw each other in group chat but other that they hadn't spoken. Nathanael was miserable , to say the least, panicked thoughts rushing through his head. Had he gone too fast? Had he made things awkward? Gosh, that was no way to confess a crush; over IM, really?! He could do better!

The next day, Marinette and Alya had worked together to create a list of the best places in Paris to visit. They discussed it over the group chat, when and where to meet up so they could all greet Lila and show her their beloved city.

Nathanael breathed a sigh of relief. The two girls, it seemed, had already solved the problem of not being able to see her. Now everyone was discussing gifts to give Lila, so she would remember them and Paris. He mulled over her favorite things in his head. Foxes, the color orange, olives, fashion… what was he going to get her…?

Lila grinned at the group chat as everyone excitedly chatted about where to go and what to bring. She had been hoping she’d be able to see her friends in the city; now it was near guaranteed. Thank God. All that work she’d put into her outfits would have gone to waste otherwise. Especially one she was certainly fond of...

The alarm blared beside him, waking him up with a groan. He ran a hand through his horrendous bed head as he stared at the dark window trying to figure out just why the hell he had set his alarm to wake him so goddamn early in the morning.

Then he remembered. Lila Rossi was probably boarding a flight any moment now, and then she’d be checking into a hotel room and meeting up with them--the entire Fashion Group Chat (or the Meme Green Fashion Team, as Adrien had renamed it)--by the Louvre for a day seeing everything Paris has to offer. He was going to get to meet her-- in person. He’d woken up early so he’d have time to freak out.

After pacing the room and panicking for a full thirty minutes, the sun was rising and he was feeling a bit better. Just a little bit. Enough to focus on doing his hair and grabbing a small breakfast.

Now, the outfit. What would he wear?! He looked good in black and white stripes, but also purple, but also orange?!?! Should he go for casual, formal, preppy, lazy--what was he going to do?! He decided that since none of them know how he normally dresses it wouldn't be weird if he dressed to impress. he looked through his closet for something believably casual, but also would make him look good. He ended up in a weather appropriate blazer jeans combo that wore way too often but whatever he gets compliments on it almost all the time.

Oh God, his nerves were weak as hell today. He’d felt full before, but now he was hungry again, he was burning so much energy through worrying. He was going to need some more toast.

She was listening to her music and sketching out some designs in her sketchbook when her father tapped her shoulder from beside her.

“We’re here, hun,” he said quietly, gesturing to everyone else on the plane gathering their things and getting off. She quickly tossed her things into her carry-on bag and waited until her father was ready, rocking on the balls of her feet. He grinned as he watched her waiting impatiently. “Excited?”

“Yeah, duh, dad! I get to see my friends--and Chloe,” she stuck out her tongue in disgust at the thought of seeing the blonde.

“And that redhead?”

Lila’s cheeks felt like they were on fire when her father waggled his eyebrows at her. “A-And Nathanael--stop looking at me like that!”

“I sure hope you two won’t be up to any trouble while I’m in my business meetings, hm?”

“We’ll be fine, Dad!! We need to check into the hotel now!”

“Well, you’re in quite the hurry,” he said jokingly, but took his briefcase and headed towards the exit.

As soon as they were in the terminal, she sent a text in the group chat.

WhosThatFoxyLady: Guess who just landed in Paris!

Bringing DuPAIN: Oh shit I gotta get ready or I’m gonna be late!

All’a’y’all: But you’re always late.

Bringing DuPAIN: but this is a special occasion!

Lila grinned. Hell yeah, it was a special occasion! Lila Rossi was here to see the sights and kiss redheads--and her hotel already had a view of Paris.

They got their bags and headed out front to catch the shuttle to their hotel. The ride wasn’t long, at least not unbearably so, because her pent-up excitement was making the time fly by.

Nathanael wasn't the first one there; Rose and Kim were already there. It was strange because Kim was was so big it was scary and Rose had the eyes of an anime character. As they got there he noticed those “things” about each of them. Those defining things. Like for Mylene it was her height and colorful hair. Max it was his stereotypical nerd outfit. Ivan was big, bigger than Kim. Sabrina had giant glasses and cute orange hair; the definition of a ginger. Alix had pink hair with one half in a pig tail. Adrien was a model boy, clearly, the damn kid practically glowed. For Chloe most people noticed the hair or the “rich girl” aura but Nathanael was focusing on her weirdly thin lips and her face--she looked like Barbie. Nino’s was his red cap and headphones; he was able to spot him from across the plaza. Juleka was a perfect stereotypical goth. Alya was the definition of “strong independent woman” in the best way. Marinette looked tired like she hadn't gotten a full night's rest in a year. And Lila...

Was wearing his design.

Nathanael’s heart thundered in his chest when he saw the taxi pull up to the plaza, and it damn-near stopped when Lila stepped out, whisking her cape out the car behind her. She’d modified the outfit a little--it was more of an olive-green than the strange lime his color pencil pack had provided him--and had added a pair of brown heels to match. But she looked gorgeous, stunning, amazing…

“Oh my God, Lila! Hi!” Rose squealed, running up.

“Is that Nathan’s design?! You look amazing!” Alya added, following Rose.

“Is that Nathanael's design? Ugh of course you would pick his to wear.” Chloe said, trying to hide a grin as Sabrina shadowed her, openly smiling.

“Good to see you too Chloe.” Lila said. “It's good to see all of you face to face!” She finished as Rose let her go from a hug that Lila pulled her back into as everyone else piled into a giant hug. Some people were crying.

Eventually they let go and started wandering the city all of them saying things about various buildings that they had connections with, sometimes taking breaks because a lot of the girls were in heels. It was perfect except for Nathanael hanging in the back. She wanted to talk to him alone. She needed to talk to him alone. It's all she could really think about that this might be her only chance to see him and he has hardly spoken.

She let herself fall back in the group until she was close, then leaned over. “Hey,” she greeted. Nathanael’s face erupted into a mad blush and he quickly looked away.

“H-Hey,” he stammered out.

“Oh, not as charming in person as you are over text, are you?” she teased. He blushed more before grinning.

“I-I mean, do you want me to be?”

“You’re just… you’re being quiet. For a second I thought you weren’t excited to see--”

“O-Of course I’m excited to see you! I just--I am--I was--well, I’m--shy.”

“I can see,” she said with a giggle. He pouted a moment before hesitating.

“...you really liked that design, didn’t you? To wear it here in the middle of Paris.” he asked quietly, brushing a bit of hair from his eyes. She smiled.

“Of course. I loved it. It may not be Chloe’s style, but her designer wear can be a bit plain. I like my clothes to have a bit of flair, if I weren’t too shy.”

Nathanael laughed a bit. “You? Shy?”

“Hey, I’m not as shy as you are, tomato, but this fox is still a bit shy. I can’t exactly wear a cape and heels to school.” she grinned, flourishing her cape.

“So… it’s what you would wear, if people didn’t judge so much, and you had the money and budget and confidence to do so?”

“...yeah. Like that.”

Nathanael smiles. “Well, this was really a nice surprise. I’m really glad you’re here, foxy.”

“Me too, tomato boy,” she looked up as they reached the Eiffel Tower, smiling as she took the red-head’s hand in her on before kissing him on the cheek. “Me too.”

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