Back in business, baby!

[essbeejay]

The return is bittersweet, as today the internet delivered the devastating news to me that my favorite anime director died of cancer. His work is so visually striking and layered with meaning. I'm literally heartsick and teary-eyed. R.I.P., Satoshi Kon.

On to happier news, today, you guys get more TEF trivia! (Translation: you get to indulge in my self-indulgence.)

Something I totally forgot about in the last trivia post-the chapter titles! The majority of the chapter titles for TEF are song lyrics. Ch1's titles come from two of my favorite Third Eye Blind songs, no joke, I love them to pieces. Blinded and A Good Man, respectively.

Ch2 trivia! Let's go!

“Okay, yeah, we got the memo,” Brick said, silencing his brother with a hand. “Flowers fucking stars fucking Earth."
Favorite line from ch2.

• The chapter titles here are from Solid Gold Easy Action by The Fratellis and Kiss with a Fist by Florence and the Machine, respectively.
• “Stella! You have to see this!” “Charlie? What's the matter-” - The regular English teacher, Charlie Bean, is named for a former writer/board artist for the show.
• Blossom shook her head, fuming, and snapped, “You're such a despicable person! You aren't even in any of my classes yet, and I'm already sick of you-” - Just calling myself out on this-the second half of Blossom's line here is almost exactly what Buttercup said to Boomer when he walked into the cafeteria in ch1. It bugs the shit out of me and I really wish I'd caught it earlier >:C
• Butch blinked slowly, stunned. “What the hell just happened?” - I think of the opening scene from the South Park ep “You Got F'ed in the A” every time I read Butch's line. The beat and Kyle's tone when he says it is just spot on hilarious. Sorry, Matt and Trey.
• It didn't leave a lot of room for Boomer to shine; he was too... easygoing, too laid back. Kind of a clown, but nobody really needed a joker around. Jokers always got chucked out of the deck. - I really like this metaphor here. I think it says a lot about TEF!Boomer and his anxieties without stating them outright.
• “Hi, Haley,” he addressed her, and the rest of the room Oohed. - Haley was originally the name of the school secretary (Ms. Haley, who wound up becoming Ms. Naylor). I just really wound up loving it as a first name and spelled this particular way. The reason it's spelled slightly unconventionally is to pay homage to Jennifer Hale, who voiced Ms. Keane, Princess, and Sedusa.
• “But to give you all a real idea of the sorts of discussions Plato's works were based on, I thought we could have our own Socratic dialogue, right here in class,” she stated with a mischievous grin. - This Socratic dialogue thing gave me so much fucking grief guys, you have no idea. Definitely a case where having betas helped. A lot. I mean, the only way I could've made a Socratic dialogue sound natural would've been to stage it with someone else, but then the dialogue doesn't come out in Brick's or Blossom's voice. My first attempt was me basically arguing with myself, and it made no sense and sounded awful, ugh. I considered axing it but was persuaded by mathkid and juxtaposie to give it another go, and I'm very pleased with the end result (Brick and Blossom forgoing the dialogue entirely and simply snapping at each other). I plan to do a Why I Love My Betas post at some point, and this section will definitely feature in it.
• A girl seated next to Brick spoke up. “What is love?” “Baby, don't hurt me,” someone called out, and everyone laughed. - For the record, I really hate this song.
• For Blossom, the discovery that there was no Santa could not surpass the blow of realizing that her golden touch ceased to exist the second she set foot in any kitchen. - Freak87 from ff.net was the only person who called me out on Santa really existing in the PpG universe (high fives for Freak87, everyone)! I actually left Santa out on purpose; I just loved the story behind Blossom discovering her complete lack of cooking talent so much that I couldn't let it go.
• Brick sneezed as he got out of the shower. - Not that this really matters, but Brick sneezes because Bubbles, Buttercup, and the Professor were just talking about him. Blame it on all the manga I've read. (You can blame a lot on that, actually.) Also, as I noted to fellow Brick aficionado philosophicwax, I write Brick in the shower a lot. I like to be coy and feign ignorance as to why I do it, but really it's because I tend to do a lot of thinking in the shower myself, and I also think it's more interesting to have him thinking in the shower than it is to have him just sitting in his room doing the same thing.
• He muttered unintelligibly to himself as he toweled off his hair and pulled it into a low ponytail. - I made mathkid sad upon revealing that Brick had long hair (and probably many more of you, too, considering how popular the Boys' new hairdos were when they returned). FWIW, I prefer him with short hair myself.
• Boomer nicked the guy's wallet as he came up, excusing himself so he could weasel past into their apartment. - I love Boomer being a little dick here. Up until this point I hadn't shown him doing much of anything that would lump him in with his brothers, and this little scene is close to my heart for that exact reason.
• “Any of these got pineapple on 'em?” - I also love this scene, and especially this exchange between the boys for further establishing their relationship in TEF. Butch is derisive to Boomer for his taste but doesn't call Brick out on his, Boomer basically gets the short end of the stick in both instances but seems relatively good-natured about it, and Brick just isn't willing to put up with anyone's shit. There's also some really telling character points that just come out, like Butch getting all uppity about Boomer's popularity and Brick's comment about being gods. Erfgh, I'm sorry if I sound like I'm tooting my own horn too much here, but I really do love this scene, and it is that close to being my favorite for the chapter.
• Kim planted her elbows on the table and sighed wistfully. - Kim and Mary are both in the show. Mary pops up a few times (yes, she is the overweight girl who sports that very fashionable muumuu), Kim I only recall specifically from the ep “Mojo Jonesin.'”
• “Look, we didn't say this before because we were afraid of hurting your feelings, Bubbles, but Kim's right. Your friends on the cheer squad are kinda bitches,” Mary affirmed, nodding apologetically. - For the record, it does bug me that I wound up going the stereotypical all Cheerleaders are bitches route.
• “Surely, though, you’ve been keeping up with what Nikola Motors has been working on-” - I've mentioned it previously, but the Nikola Coil is based on the Tesla Roadster. I still get stupidly smug about the not-so- TERRIBLY CLEVER NAME. If you're at all curious, this car is priced at $109,000, before you add all the bells and whistles. In my head of secret secrets, Brick's payment was definitely way higher than Blossom's, even after factoring in the amount Mrs. Morbucks gives the school.
• “...I had to take mine in from a size sixteen and it still doesn't fit.” - Time to get personal! I was given a size 16 when I first started in HS choir. Based on that dress scale, at the time I was a size 2. It worked out and I managed to get another dress, but the look on my mother's face when I brought that dress home still makes me laugh to this day. (FWIW, I don't really picture Bubbles as a size 2. Maybe a 5.)
• Bubbles leapt to her feet and began to perform the Heimlich on their father. - I'm sorry, but this bit makes me laugh every single time I read it over. Just... Bubbles doesn't say anything, she just gets up and does it, and her sisters barely bat an eyelash; they know she's got it.
• “That thing's worth more than this house!” the Professor cried. - Actually, if Townsville is the PpG!universe's equivalent of Los Angeles, I'm pretty sure their house is worth significantly more than $109,000 + bells and whistles.
• She saw Bubbles suddenly perk up and threw her a warning look. “Don't take that as an invitation, vegan hippie...” - It's stated in the show that Bubbles is a vegetarian (I think in Collect Her?), and considering her character, I expect she'd progress to full-fledged veganism come adolescence.
• “I believe you're familiar with him-Reccardi?” - Named for a former writer/board artist on the show.
• “I've got conditions,” Blossom announced, making sure to keep her distance from Brick as she stared at Mrs. Morbucks and Jim, their choreographer. - This entire scene didn't exist until one of my betas mentioned wanting to see their first practice. It wound up working great.
• “You're standing too close,” Blossom complained. “You're standing too stiff,” Brick groused. - My favorite exchange ♥
• “You are both too stiff and neither of you are close enough,” Jim griped, grabbing them both by the arm and maneuvering Brick's around her waist (he recoiled) and Blossom's around Brick's shoulder (she gagged). - Named for the show's composer.
• “There you are!” Kim greeted Bubbles with a hug as soon as she landed. “No Will?” - This whole karaoke scene was one of the first scenes I wrote for TEF. You can tell it's an early scene because Boomer sings Queen rather than Avril.
• Bubbles’ eyes flickered to Mike (Number 24 on the Varsity Team) as he chattered with the rest of the group. - I learned from the s.o. that numbers on a football team hold some significance as to what position they're likely to play. I'm sorry to say I've completely forgotten the significance of Mike's number. Sorry :(
• Mary responded by grabbing the bottle and chucking it in the trash. - I really wish Mary had recycled that bottle. (I'm a stickler for that sort of thing irl.)
• “Mariah!” “Yes!” Several people high-fived one another. Bubbles gawked at them. - In my head, Bubbles sings “We Belong Together” at karaoke night. FORESHADOWING?!
• “I’m in love,” Boomer announced as he flung open the door. - Favorite opening line to a section, especially considering the ending to the section that came just before.
• Butch was indicating the infamous shoe ad depicting a stiletto-heeled Blossom from the neck down, the fabric of her white blouse and A-line skirt hugging her slender form like a desperate lover. - You guys have seen the awesome fanart that Vi did of the girls' shoe ads, yes? BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME. Vi e-mailed me waaaaay back when, like in my ASfSE days. I'm still floored that she did this for me. ♥.
• “Cute, yeah! But clearly you are missing the whole Blossom setting the world’s loins ablaze with the perfection that is her body-” “Until she opens the imperfection that is her mouth,” Brick interrupted shortly. - NGL. Cracks me up.
• “What does your brother want with my sister?” she demanded. - Honestly, every time I look this scene over I feel like it was entirely unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, I needed a reaction from Blossom to Boomer's very vocal and public interest in Bubble. I just wish I'd managed to integrate it more gracefully into an existing scene than create one that just kinda fumbles awkwardly on its own.
• Based on the force with which Will had thrown the ball, any normal student would’ve been out cold. Boomer, whose head had barely twitched forward, turned around, brow knit in confusion as he scanned the air and swatted dubiously at an imaginary fly. - I admittedly have a lot of favorite moments in this chapter. This is one of them.
• “I will not wait a minute!” she screeched, and several students slapped their hands over their ears as her piercing voice reverberated in the air. - Not-so-explicitly stated, but Bubbles is so upset that some of her supersonic screaming power leaks out here when she's yelling at Boomer.
• She glimpsed Brick disappearing into the crowd and was slightly disappointed he didn't stay to mediate. - Again, I like the Brick/Bubbles moments. For some reason they really stick out to me. I love their dynamic in TEF, which was totally unplanned and unexpected on my part and in turn made it a really happy surprise. Anyway, this particular moment... I just like that even this early in the story Bubbles kinda considers Brick a friend, or at the very least sees him as someone she can potentially depend on. I tend to see Bubbles as the type who could find something to like in everyone. Like I said, I'm still really surprised (but very pleasantly so) that she found something in Brick.
• “I don't care what you think as long as it's about me,” he sang in a low voice as the coach fired his cap gun into the air. - I love this song by Fall Out Boy. It's on my Fight playlist for the boys and everything. I don't care. Hate on.
• “First off, The Prince is on the required reading list for any high school English class,” Brick said shortly. “Second, it is a college level course we’re both in, so you’d think this type of discussion wouldn’t be discouraged between students who are presumably intellectually superior to the average high school student-” - This was another scene that I wrote early on, and back when I was going over it prior to its first beta round I had to tone down Brick's vocab significantly. He still sounds a bit too eloquent at times.
• “What the hell is that racket?” Buttercup grumbled, trying to muscle her way through the mass of stock still students. “People! Seriously! Move it!”/“What the shit is going on? Could you maybe get the fuck out of my way?!” Butch shoved an entire line of students to the wall and scoffed. “Fuck, man.” - If you hadn't noticed by now, I do this sort of juxtaposition between the counterparts a lot, especially with the Reds and Greens. I like showing them approaching/dealing with situations in a similar manner, with slight differences in their quirks. Considering that it's kinda my whole basis for their characterizations, it's pretty popular with me.
• One of the twins mouthed an apology at the kids on the floor. - I love this detail. (I was so happy when philosophicwax pointed it out! ♥)
• “You annoying little bitch!” Brick snarled, and suddenly Buttercup’s eyes flashed and she whirled on him, shoving him back. - Okay, just, there's a lot I love about this chapter, okay? I love this whole confrontation that happens between all the boys and girls. It's the first time they've all been in the same "room" at once since the introduction, and everybody's emotions are running high (some much more obviously charged than others) and everybody's talking to everybody else - the tension shifts from Blossom and Brick to Buttercup and Brick, Boomer and Bubbles both try to pacify things (Bubbles a little more aggressively/openly than Boomer), then the tension shifts back to Brick and Blossom, then back to Buttercup and Brick, AND THEN it does a dramatic shift to Buttercup and Butch, and later on it shifts to Butch and Brick, and at the end, finally, back to Blossom and Brick. Uh. Yeah, I'm, kinda, um, still in love with how this turned out. Sorry for going on.
• “Well, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, guess what? I call it a duck,” Blossom said loftily. “What about a confused swan?” Boomer said a little anxiously. “I hear that happens, sometimes. Maybe once.” - YOU MAY NOT KNOW IT BUT I AM VERY PROUD OF THIS JOKE YOU GUYS SO JUST HUMOR ME AND LAUGH AT IT
• Buttercup shrank back a bit as Blossom stiffly replied, “Fifteen city blocks torn up, damage to the largest public parking structure in the area, all the windows of one office building floor shattered to bits-plus whatever data they lost in the process-” - Had to do a little bit of research for this, which basically amounted to googling for flood damages incurred by burst water mains and personal knowledge (a friend does IT consulting for business, including data recovery).

In essence, there's a lot I love about this chapter. It's not because I'm trying to be boastful, but I am genuinely proud of a lot of TEF, and this chapter in particular I feel is really strong. I love looking back over ch2; I think (moreso than the others) it has a genuine build up to the fight scene that is the climax at the end of the chapter and also fleshes out a lot of the conflict that arises between each respective "pairing." What I'm especially happy with is that none of the conflict so far is romance-related or driven (arguably Boomer's, but it's not central nor does it play a big role in the chapter) and also that it doesn't just exist between the counterparts. I loved what happened when I put Buttercup and Brick together, I loved what happened when I put Buttercup and Blossom together, Brick and Butch, the three boys, the girls at the dinner table with the Professor. It was only marginally planned on my part, barely outlined; I mostly just let my mind go for a lot of those scenes and I'm still floored by what happened.

If it isn't obvious, my favorite scene is the Greens' fight scene. I listened to NIN's "Closer" for three hours straight (thank juxtaposie forever for the song rec) and parked myself on the couch for longer to marathon-write that scene. I was worn out by the end of it. But I was pretty damn fucking proud of the end result.