Expiration Date

[ladyamberjo]

All in all it was hilarious. It was adorable. The amount of attention paid to different characters was a little unbalanced (Sniper and Pyro in particular got shafted in terms of screentime), but what there was of every character was fanatastic, and I've never loved Scout or Spy more

Comments

[insaneladybug]

LOL. I just came from watching it! That was way cute and amusing. I love reading your observations on it, particularly about Spy wanting to spend his last days helping the others' wishes come true. Awww. And everyone pitching in to help with Scout's lesson.

Spy motivating Scout and then observing the date is so squeeable. I'll need to watch it again to catch all the little Sniper scenes you mentioned. It wasn't always easy to keep track of him. Pity they didn't let him talk!

A giant bread monster with teeth is a hilarious adversary. I couldn't stop laughing. And "I TELEPORTED BREAD!!!!1111" ROTFLOL.

I'm also getting way too much of a giggle out of Spy looking at Scout's weird pictures near the beginning, particularly the Eiffel Towel having stink lines. **headdesk.** Loved Scout coming to apologize.

Pauline is certainly a unique individual with unique interests.

[ladyamberjo]

How convenient; I just got home from work! I like how Tumblr's been awash in everyone reevaluating how evil Spy is lately. Scout hasn't been treated quite as kindly. I DON'T CARE EVERYONE IS PRECIOUS I LOVE THEM ALL. Scout usually gets written as the merc all the others hate, so it was nice to see the others caring about him

[insaneladybug]

Yes, that's awesome that the fanbase is reevaluating their image of Spy! Pity Scout isn't being treated as kindly. He is definitely cared about by the other characters.

Hmmm. That's a good question. I'm honestly not sure.

ROTFLOL. That makes me think of my supervillain The Toastinator, which is either a giant sentient piece of toast or a guy dressed up like one, depending on my mood and the fandom he's in at the time.

LOL. Yes, I can imagine Tumblr is filled with artists who wanted to illustrate.

Ha! I hadn't thought of that comparison. Makes sense, though.

[ladyamberjo]

I'm hoping to see fewer Evil Rapist Spy fics in the future. And THANK YOU, it seems so obvious, but a lot of people apparently operate under the idea that if THEY hate a character, all of the other characters hate them, too.

Well...here's the Meet the Sniper video, if you're curious: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZDwZbyDus. The very first TF2 video I ever saw, way back. *nostalgic sigh*. It's a little bloodier than Expiration Date, but not super-gory, or anything. And Sniper DOES have a pleasant voice to listen to.

A guy dressed up as toast sounds hilarious...does he make lots and lots of bread puns?

Most of them are more hilarious and less obscene. But one must always remember the stink-lines.

I feel like I need to draw Charles and Miss Pauling going to a gun expo together, or something. Or Charles supplying the Klokateers with Mann Co. weaponry.

[insaneladybug]

Yes, it's so exasperating when some fans have such attitudes!

Ahh, that is a nice voice indeed.

LOL. If I remember right, he does sometimes, but not a lot. One of his weapons is a toaster that shoots toast.

**snerk.**

Those would be very amusing pictures!

[ladyamberjo]

I seriously do not understand the amount of hate Scout gets. But then, I never understood the amount of hate Jounouchi got, either.

It's so much deeper than I expected him to sound. And his game lines while he's scoped are all halfway between a whisper and a growl and...yeah, he's nice to listen to.

*gasp* He needs Ninja Death Toast!...and I need to see if I can find that clip again.

Or if not pictures, fic. Charles is classy and suited and appreciates bladed weaponry and expensive liquor...he could've been a spy, at some point.

[insaneladybug]

Yeah, it's weird. Regarding the Jou hate, was that in large part directed towards the dub version? Or is it any version?

He's slightly hard to understand sometimes, but Aussie accents are a very good thing!

LOL. That sounds hilarious.

Oooh, intriguing.

[ladyamberjo]

I suspect the dub DID have something to do with it...the dub did him no favors at all. But it seemed like even among people who HAD watched the original version disliked him it were indifferent. I remember at least one person saying they didn't like him because he "wasn't attractive enough." *headdesks*

I guess I'm so used to Steve Irwin that Sniper's a walk in the park. XD; Which part tripped you up?

A character got hit in the eye by a piece of thrown toast and was stuck wearing an eyepatch for days. His son noticed, and decided toast made an excellent weapon. He cut it into triangles and starting slinging it around the house, declaring it Ninja Death Toast.

...now I'm imagining an over-the-top French accent with Charles's verbal tics and giggling like an idiot.

[insaneladybug]

Very strange. And ugh, so annoying when someone bases character value on physically attractibility! **headdesk.** For me, it's generally personality that gets me going. Once I like something about the personality, then I find the character physically attractive, whether or not most others would agree.

It was a part near the end, but after replaying it over a couple of times I managed to get it.

LOL.

**snerk.** I am having a difficult time picturing anyone speaking in a French accent and managing Charles' deadpan delivery at the same time.

[ladyamberjo]

That's really the way to do it...what's attractive to one person can totally repulse another, physically speaking. And anyway, I'm much happier fangirling interesting characters than trying to flesh out pretty ones with really generic character traits.

The "be polite, be efficient" bit, or the "put Mum on the phone" bit?

He would be the least flouncey spy in the history of spies.

[insaneladybug]

**pokes thing cautiously.** Is it really going to let me reply this time?!

Yeah, true. Although what makes characters interesting or generic is also in the eye of the beholder; I love both Alister and Marik, while I believe I remember you find them generic?

Neither; the "beating the wife with a golf trophy" bit.

LOL.

[ladyamberjo]

I guess Frank finally filled up on wires?

I did find a lot of the Doom arc in general to be kind of...awkwardly formulaic, I guess, but my Malik issues were a different animal.

Ah, the terrible Sniper-grammar. Painful for the parts of me that passed grade school English, but a surprising amount of fun to write.

[insaneladybug]

LOL.

Ahh. I was sure I remembered you saying, maybe on Side7, that you felt Marik was the standard anime pretty boy with issues or some such thing.

**snerk.** I feel the same way about bad grammar when I have to write it for Lou or Ginger. Luckily, they usually seem to use good grammar.

[ladyamberjo]

Well, I did find his redemption sort of disappointing in the grand scheme of things...not so much that he WAS redeemed, as the way it was handled. It felt like there was a lot of missed opportunity.

Sometimes it's fun to write awful grammar for a little while...character voices are a lot of fun. And then sometimes, it's just nice to write for a character whose speech is super-formal and flowery just because you don't have to worry about whether or not you've written things incorrectly enough.

[insaneladybug]

Ahh. I liked it, mainly because of the sibling squee, but I imagine there's definitely things that could have been done differently. How did you feel it should have been handled?

LOL. It's fun writing Ginger's slips into bad grammar sometimes. But I really love writing in a more formal manner. Maybe because that's a lot like I type.

[ladyamberjo]

Well, see, you've got a character who's simultaneously very deprived (of just about anything resembling a normal life) and very spoiled (Rashid and Isis clearly doted on him, not necessarily surprisingly and certainly understandably given the circumstances), and then you throw a couple of major traumatic events at him, grow him to a teenager, and give him magic that bends people to his will. He behaved very very believably like what you'd expect from a traumatized, spoiled kid with a deeply messed up home life...dangerous, rage-filled, and really kind of a brat, and it was fantastic (I always cite the moment he turned on Jounouchi during the mind-controlled duel against Yuugi...he was angrier at Jounouchi for not doing what Malik wanted him to do than he was at Yuugi, his apparent reason (or at least vessel for said reason) for going to these lengths in the first place. He's a kid who's had no real control over his life, wanted control, and got it in the worst form possible for someone coming from that kind of background, and he