Figured out the trivia bit! (I think.)

[essbeejay]

Unbeknownst to many (save for an elite, select few of you), I try to sneak in as many references into TEF as I can. There's the more readily recognizable bits (like pop songs and TV shows), there's the show-specific references, and then there's the stuff that I don't really expect anyone to get unless they're hardcore geeks for anything even remotely related to the show/its origins/etc.

And then there's just random shit I feel like mentioning. I guess this plays out more like DVD commentary, except... for fic?

So TEF Trivia Tuesday is going to be all about calling out my nerddom for all to see! (I know, it's not really anything new.)

“Those things were advertising shoes? I thought they were advertising wet dreams.”
(My personal favorite line from ch1 ♥)

• Let's roll. (entry title) - A geeky nod on my part to Blossom's favorite action phrase.
• Alright, this isn't really a reference, but the opening scene underwent a significant overhaul to get the story moving quicker. THIS COUNTS AS TRIVIA, SHUT UP.
• “You don’t count. You make friends with rocks and trees, Pocahontas.” - Obvious.
• “What are you two fighting about now?” Blossom interrupted, just as Bubbles caught Robin’s eye and waved. - If you don't know who Robin is, you haven't seen enough of the show.
• “Girls!” Ms. Naylor squeaked. “Office, please?!” - A nod to a former character designer for the show!
• “Your new schedules,” Ms. Keane said, and the girls immediately snapped their heads up. “In order for us to keep tabs on the boys at all times, we’ve readjusted your schedules-” - TEF's Townsville High has block scheduling, FYI.
• “We respectfully decline.” Buttercup’s voice suddenly cut through the air, twisting like a knife in Blossom’s gut. - This was totally unintentional, but every time I go back over Buttercup's line I think of PotC.
• “Hey, Junior Lieut.” Blossom looked up as Alicia, the Major, joined her. “You're looking far, far away this morning.” - If you're curious about the officer hierarchy in the Dance Company, it's 2 Junior Lieutenants, 2 Senior Lieutenants, and the Dance Major.
• The guys fell into line. That was more like it. - The group of Buttercup's former friends that Butch joins for lunch are all characters from the series: Floyd and Lloyd Floydjoydsen, Harry Pitt, Mike Believe (who bloomed very nicely!), and, the most obvious of the group, Mitch Mitchelson.
• “Plus I’ve heard rumor her secret power is in her tongue,” Lloyd said solemnly. - Go watch Nuthin' Special from s6.
• He landed in the driveway, startling the three man band in the midst of settling into practice. One at the drums, one clutching a P-Bass, and the other cradling a Squier… Boomer cocked his head and squinted at the guitar. “Squier Telecaster.” He nodded good-naturedly, trying to mask his pride at his own. “Not a bad instrument.” - This took some research; luckily I have the internet and my s.o. is a bit of a guitar nerd. Squier Telecaster is a lower-end guitar, while the Fender P-Bass and Gibson SG are pretty high-end instruments for high schoolers to be playing. (I never stated here who's in the band besides Mitch; it's the twins. Harry, idk, manages them or something, w/e. Hey, Slurpees don't buy themselves.) There's some insignificant implications about income based on the boys' instruments; how Mitch afforded a P-Bass is not-explicitly-explained later in the chapter.
• Besides, Boomer was here on serious business. And in turn, Mitch could not take any job application lightly. There were important matters to discuss. - If you're a fan of classical rock, or into music in general, you're likely to recognize most if not all of the names and song titles Boomer throws at Mitch.
• “CHICKEN’S ALMOST READY.” Blossom announced louder than necessary, and resumed looking livid. - It occurs to me that given TEF!Blossom's lack of kitchen talent, the chicken probably should've burst into flame upon her making eye contact with it or something. Oh well. Que sera, sera.
• “He doesn’t need to be perverted to be a jackass,” Blossom grumbled, yanking open cabinets and taking down plates. - I let Blossom curse! (I got really sloppy with her character in this scene, haha.) This was one of the earliest scenes I'd written...
• “Former friends,” Bubbles corrected as she tried desperately to concentrate on her Algebra II homework. “I don't get this conic section stuff.” - Thank God for mathkid. I remember none of my math; originally Bubbles was confused about the quadratic formula, which I only remember because the word quadratic is oh-so-pretty to me!
• Bubbles scoffed. “You should hear the girls in Choir go on about Brick. Judy has English with him, and can't stop talking about how 'dark and mysterious' he is.” - I actually meant for this to be Julie Bean from the show, but fucked up the name. I fail as a fan!
• “Oh,” she said lightly, trying to keep the surprise from her voice. “I didn’t realize No Neck Joe was still performing-” - No Neck Joe is a reference to McCracken's first series of animated shorts; they became a staple of the now-defunct Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation. When these shorts came on (usually interspersed in between the other shorts), the entire audience would scream "NO! NECK! JOE!" It was a pretty awesome experience the two times I went XD
• The stage suddenly exploded into a wave of sound, one that blew across the atrium and dropped everyone’s jaw at once, save for Brick’s. - Not really that relevant, but the song playing in my head whenever I hit this scene is Weezer's Perfect Situation, one of the few Weezer songs that I actually like. (It used to be Fountains of Wayne's Denise, but the guitar playing in that song isn't as interesting.)
• The bass she’d given him his last birthday. - The origin of Mitch's expensive bass guitar, explained.
• Eventually her sisters would stop and ask her exactly what she found so delightful about them arguing the virtues of Koyaanisqatsi vs. Nightmare on Elm Street. - Art film vs. horror film. Thought it fit Blossom and Buttercup, respectively.
• “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said in lofty tones, “my Bug-Eyed Freak Shield is clearly on the fritz today.” - The insult hails from the movie.
• “Of you not being extraordinary enough for my party?” Princess finished, and at the look she gave her group, they politely snickered. “And realizing that? And also realizing that you and your sisters actually owe me, so the idea that you’re the one asking a favor is absolutely preposterous?” - So Princess got over wanting to be a Powerpuff Girl, but didn't get over the rejection associated with not getting to be a Powerpuff Girl, so now she excludes the Girls out of everything forever and ever, amen!
• Bubbles took it and nodded. “Pleased to meet you! I’m Bubbles. You just came from France? Comment allez vous?” - If you're at all curious, the exchange between Bubbles and Mrs. Morbucks translates to this: Formal "How are you?" "You speak French?" "You can also speak Spanish?" "Yes, for ten years, more or less. It's one of my special talents (powers)." "How many languages do you speak?" "Well, I can speak English of course, and Spanish, French, Japanese-" "You speak Japanese?!" "Yes, I speak a little." "Can you speak (Mandarin) Chinese?"
• “Um, she’s fluent in Cantonese and teaching herself Mandarin now-” - In the ep Little Miss Interprets Blossom spoke Cantonese (pretty poorly, but hey).
• “Where is your Fedora?” Bubbles mumbled, ignoring her sister. “Blossom! Where is your Fedora?” - I just fucking love Fedoras.
• “Huh?” Butch said distractedly, eyes glued to the television as he played GTA. - Grand Theft Auto; if you don't know that you probably live under a rock or just don't play video games or watch TV or - okay, you definitely live under a rock.
• “I wish you’d listened to her too,” the Professor groaned, then squinted in his rearview. “Hey!” He stuck his head out of the window and shook his fist at the car behind him. “Kill your brights! Are you trying to blind me?!” - I can't help it; I was thinking of Weird Al's Stuck in the Drive-Thru when I wrote this line.
• There were several areas clearly designated for partygoers-batting cages outside, a garden maze in the back, a cinema downstairs in the east wing, a dance floor in the basement of the west, and the huge main kitchen leading from the grand hall, where most of the socializing was taking place. - Totally can't vouch for anything here but the movie theater, which shows up in the ep Super Friends.
• He groaned. “You come up with that on your own? They should give you an Emmy for that one,” he said brusquely, and started for the back door. - In case you didn't know, the show's been nominated for five Emmys and won two.
• Above it all, Boomer’s voice suddenly rang out, “Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated-” - EVERYONE CAN SING ALONG TO THIS SONG, DON'T PRETEND THAT YOU CAN'T!
• “Now how many of you know ‘So Yesterday?!’” - REALLY, STOP TRYING SO HARD TO BE COOL, YOU'RE NOT FOOLING ANYONE
• “Can you tell me what contra body movement is?” he said evenly, not budging. - Not gonna lie, dance terminology required a considerable amount of research on my part. HURRAY FOR FAKING IT. b@u@d
• ‘Much better,’ he thought to himself, and settled back to enjoy his drink. - Random fact: early on I had some very dim plans to make Brick a Coke (MEANING SODA YOU GUYS) addict, but it never came up naturally while I was writing the story. Oddly enough, though, TEF!Brick began to gravitate towards breakfast cereal...
• Princess’ Manor had a batting cage. And there was Buttercup, rolling her shoulders back and swinging a bat back and forth, ready for another ball. - I just love the image of Buttercup swinging a baseball bat around. ♥.
• With a defeated sigh, Blossom sank onto an empty chaise lounge in the hall. - For some reason I picture a lot of fainting couches in the halls of rich people's houses. (Personally, I'd love one myself. It'd be like the perfect writing spot for me!)
• “Come on, Leader Girl,” Robin pressed, surprisingly resilient as she turned a corner and descended a dark staircase with Blossom in tow. - "We need a plan, Leader Girl!" Oh, Buttercup, ilu!
• He could practically hear her blushing. “Um, I’m Cindy.” - I originally named her Cathy, in honor of Blossom's VA, but thought that was being too obvious. Also, for some reason, when she was named Cathy she was a serious Butt Monkey, and became a lot less of one when I changed her name to Cindy. IDK what's up with me, there. You can interpret Cindy's name as a nod to a former writer/board artist for the series, as well as some PpG picture books.
• “An officer, huh,” he mused. “And an older woman, albeit one who’s been eavesdropping.” - I can't help but think of this as Brick's "DROP YOUR PANTIES" line whenever I read this, I am sorry, loling now.
• Cindy stared at him a moment, a smile slowly spreading on her face. She stood and extended a hand to him, eyes glittering in the direction of the dance floor as a particularly fast, upbeat song started up. “Show me.” - This is probably my favorite end bit to a segment in ch1. IDK, THIS IS ALL JUST AN EXCUSE FOR ME TO EGO-STROKE FOR A BIT.
• “Alright, class.” Miss Maybury clapped her hands. “We're having a gesture drawing session, and will be visiting the Dance III class today for it-” - Art talk! I love the body in movement; for those of us who've taken an art class you probably recognized a lot of the yammering in this whole section about lines of action and different pencil leads. (For the record, like Brick and Bubbles, I prefer softer leads, and I adore charcoal.)
• “Girls! Come on! I thought I told you to work on your 6-step last class!” - Breaking out (HA, see what I did there) the hip hop terminology; thank God I have a friend involved in that scene. Eight counts are pretty standard; you're probably familiar with hearing people count off "5, 6, 7, 8..."
• Bubbles shifted. “I like acrylics, myself. I noticed, you do all your sketches in charcoal.” - I see Bubbles more as a painter and Brick more as a sketch artist, idk why. BECAUSE. Probably because Brick ultimately doesn't have the patience to fuck around with paint day in and day out; pencils/charcoal are quicker and more efficient. Also, this is pretty much my favorite God damn scene in the entire chapter and has set me on the road to becoming a pretty enthusiastic Brick/Bubbles shipper.
• A quick, steady beat began pulsing from the speakers, gradually growing louder, and, out of habit now, Brick's eyes were drawn to Cindy and Mel, their heads down. - The song that used to go through my head during this scene was Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape. Listening to it now it goes waaaaaay too slow for a hip hop dance to me.

There it is! My super-self-indulgent powers activated for one egomaniacal day! Thank you, August Tuesdays.