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carolinanadeau · 26 days

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In Praise of Sally Ann Howes

As I've made it one of the purposes of my blog to share photos and songs and general positivity about the wonderful English actress Sally Ann Howes, I thought I'd make a post to talk in much more detail about all the great things about her and why I adore her so much!

This classy English beauty possessed a highly expressive face and eyes, an astonishingly powerful soprano, a great sense of humor, and the world's most charming laugh. One thing I cannot stop saying about Sally Ann is that she did not and does not get nearly enough credit and recognition for her immense talent and prolific career, and it's precisely for that reason that I'm here to do my part in giving it to her!

This overlong rambling post is a combination of biographical information and my personal fawning over her performances... whatever I felt I most wanted to put out there in the world and what I'd like people less familiar with her to know.

Click on Keep Reading and I'll take you on a journey!

As she preferred to work on the stage and didn't really pursue a film career, the catalog of Sally Ann's work that can still be viewed today is unfortunately small - though you can find almost all of her early films on the internet if you look hard! In her early film days, mostly made before she was able to pursue her true passion of musical theatre, her extraordinary singing talents weren't utilized by the producers at all.

However, we were fortunately blessed with exactly one musical film role from her, and it's an iconic one: the aptly-named role of Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), the golden-haired, golden-hearted candy heiress who falls in love with and eventually marries Dick van Dyke's character Caractacus Potts after joining him and his children on a madcap adventure. She's a sweet, intelligent ingenue with hidden depths and one of my favorite sorts of character arcs - the uptight, lonely woman who becomes more and more warm and open as she discovers newfound freedom and joy in life and falls in love.

There is something about Sally Ann that just glows in every scene of Chitty, and it's not only that bright blonde hair! The way she widens her eyes sometimes, the way she raises her eyebrows, her gentle and soft presence in the happiest scenes, and the particular airy lilt she has to her speaking voice are all so distinctive and appealing, and I can't take my eyes off her. And her smile! When I say she glows it's barely even a metaphor, the woman just emits light.

(Funnily enough, I started to realize that many of the laudatory quotes I've found about her also refer to her in this way, like this quote from a 1965 TV Guide article, from playwright Sidney Kingsley: "She's luminous as an actress. I mean that literally. In Brigadoon she really lit up the stage.")

For me, I'm weak for any actress who can do the defrosted-ice-queen trope so incredibly well. Truly starts out as closed-off and prim, and nearly reverts to that state when she and Caractacus have a Big Misunderstanding near the end, but in the scenes where she's happy and carefree, the warmth just radiates off of her.

She also has the most adorable chemistry with Dick van Dyke in an annoyances-to-friends-to-lovers relationship that absolutely shaped my young brain. Whenever Sally Ann and Dick glance at each other, whether with irritation and frustration early in the film or with warmth and affection later on, their chemistry is obvious and natural, and there's so much expressed in each one of those glances. One has no difficulty believing that these characters are going to be very happily married.

(Here's a cute on-set interview where she talks about, among other things, how easily she and van Dyke clicked.)

While I acknowledge that the character of Caractacus Potts was absolutely originally planned to be an actual Englishman, Dick van Dyke played him with an American accent, and to me they will always be an adorable English-American couple. It's a whole part of the charm of this pairing to me!

Sally Ann also had a great relationship with child actors Adrian Hall and Heather Ripley who played Jeremy and Jemima Potts, and did her best to help make them more comfortable and happy during the many very long days on set. Having been a child film star herself, she knew a great deal about how difficult and alienating it could be. The genuine affection the three of them shared is obvious in their scenes together, especially in the extremely adorable "Truly Scrumptious" number, and it really makes the developing mother-child relationship between the characters so believable.

The beach scene, where so much of the relationship between Truly and Caractacus and the Potts children is developed, is incredibly cute and heartwarming, and a lot of that rides on Sally Ann's performance and how her previously prim-and-proper character shows herself to be warm and loving, once she (literally) lets her hair down. We've already seen how happy the Potts family is together; now we see how Truly fits in perfectly and makes them all even happier.

Look at her! Literally glowing!

(One thing I should mention: I think both the plot and the love story of CCBB are greatly improved if one just treats the "dream sequence" as real events, which was possibly the original intention anyway, so just note that is always the perspective I'm coming from here. It's the only way to make some things make sense and for the characters and their relationships to fully develop.)

"Lovely, Lonely Man" is Truly's big solo moment, and was probably the least comprehensible part of the movie to me as a kid (lol), but is now indisputably one of the very best parts to me as an adult. It's an exquisitely beautiful love song, especially the bridge, and I somehow love it more and more every time I rewatch it. Sally Ann's dreamy, graceful movements and the way the whole scene is shot make her look like a princess, and the slow build of the song is masterfully done. She has this distinctive crisp way of articulating her words while singing, especially the closing consonants like N and M, that I just love to listen to. The string section and the building countermelodies are so beautiful it makes me want to weep. Everyone involved in creating this scene and song deserved an award, I'm being so serious. While it's not the highest of soprano songs and doesn't fully show off Sally Ann's astonishing range, she shows an incredible amount of vocal control here through the many diminuendos and crescendos, and she's mesmerizing to watch and listen to. One of her "glowiest" scenes, for sure!

While I've seen people call this song irrelevant to the plot, I strongly disagree - the romance is part of the plot, of course, and while I didn't fully understand the meaning as a kid, this song establishes how much Truly's outlook on life and hopes for the future have already changed since meeting Caractacus, and how much happier she is with the poor Potts family than she's ever been in her life of luxury. Plus, now we know for certain that she's head over heels for Caractacus, but he doesn't know... increasing the dramatic irony of the pining and yearning to follow!

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In the reprise of "Hushabye Mountain", which was sung in a much earlier scene by Dick van Dyke alone, Caractacus loses the will to continue the song because he's overwhelmed with emotion thinking of his children being held captive. Truly comes in to aid him with the final verse - another pivotal moment in the developing romance - and Sally Ann's singing here is nothing short of breathtaking.

And of course, I can't neglect to mention the "Doll on a Music Box" number, where Sally Ann, who was not a trained dancer and in fact considered herself to be "appalling" at it, performs an incredibly precise, incredibly impressive clockwork song-and-dance number while on a spinning turntable! She practiced it so well that she managed to successfully complete the shot in a single take, prompting the stage full of extras to burst into applause.

This is another important character moment for Truly, though it's disguised in a diegetic performance: though it's another thing that went over my head as a child who only got to see the movie once, the lyrics about being trapped up on a music box and longing to be freed by love pretty clearly symbolize how trapped the real Truly's high-society life makes her feel, and how she yearns to break free from class restrictions and live happily-ever-after with Caractacus, as it's only with him and his family that she really feels free.

Then there's that incredibly warm romantic look that Truly and Caractacus share at the end of the song when she silently acknowledges the love confession he's just made while singing in counterpoint with her, though they're still in a dangerous situation and can't give themselves away by appearing too human and breaking their disguises... sadly this vital moment is cut off on all the Youtube videos of the scene I can find, because none of the people who clipped it understand that that's the whole point of it all, apparently. But here's a gif!

The character of Truly doesn't exist at all in the original (quite different) book by James Bond author Ian Fleming - surprising, I know, given her name! - and, honestly, the fact that Truly and the romantic subplot of this movie exist are why it had such a strong impact on me as a child, and very much why I fell in love with it again as an adult. Even though the score is wonderful anyway and the story is charming and magical, I can confidently say that I would not have become as completely enchanted or had such a strong desire to revisit it again and again if there'd been no Truly and no love story. The fact that Sally Ann's performance makes Truly so loveable is, obviously, a pretty crucial factor there.

Sally Ann's delivery of "Well, Mr. Potts... now you'll have to marry me!" after Caractacus kisses Truly... that slide from prim mock-outrage to the playful, warm, you-can-hear-the-smile-in her-voice conclusion is flawless. Not even exaggerating when I say that this was the moment that made me into a hopeless romantic as a 9-year-old child. Sure, this wasn't the first movie I'd seen where two people fall in love and live happily ever after, but I distinctly remember that this was the first romance story that had me in a giggling, kicking-my-feet, "I ship it so hard" state of mind. And after revisiting it as an adult for the first time last year, I have confirmed that yes, child me already had great taste in fictional romances!

Oh, I could say so much about the difference in her body language between the two scenes where Caractacus carries Truly out of her car that's become stuck in a pond. The first time, Truly is affronted and extremely embarrassed by the situation, holding herself so stiffly and awkwardly to avoid an accidental embrace that she causes him to nearly lose his balance and drop her. The second time, when they're in love and they know it, she snuggles right up into his arms without hesitation and it's the cutest thing ever. Sally Ann was 5'6" but looks so tiny in that scene!

(And that kiss! Maybe I'm getting off-topic here in terms of strictly focusing on Sally Ann's contributions, because Dick van Dyke deserves tons of credit for making this kiss so good... but wow, the kiss. Several times I have called it "the Most Kiss they could have gotten away with in a children's movie." Again, giggling, kicking my feet etc.)

While Truly's costumes and hairstyling are rarely historically accurate (the film is set around 1910), the stylized nature of her fashion is iconic and memorable in itself. Sally Ann also completely pulls off playing a fresh-faced ingenue who is 12+ years younger than her actual age - and I do wonder if the aging-down of Sally Ann is at least part of the reason why Truly wears her hair loose throughout most of the movie! Either way, it works perfectly and I was shocked when I first learned how much older she was than her character. (If you watch her in The Admirable Crichton, where she is also in Edwardian costume and was closer to Truly's actual age, she really doesn't look all that much different. If anything, I think she looks even more glowingly beautiful in Chitty!)

Also, as for Truly wearing her hair down... it may just have been an intentionally anachronistic stylistic choice, but in-story, I think it actually contributes to her character by showing a willingness to flout convention and pursue whatever will make her happy instead of what's expected of her, which happens to be a key theme of her character arc.

Another thing that led me to adore Sally Ann as a person as I learned more about her over the last year: in the 1960s, she appeared as a panelist in quite a few episodes of the game show To Tell the Truth (as well as a few episodes of Password), and these can be found on Youtube. I really adore how her personality shines through - she's unfailingly bubbly, witty, self-deprecating, and a bit quirky. Just listening to her speak is a delight and she has one of the best laughs I've ever heard. Here is one of my favorite little moments that I clipped.

By all accounts, she was a delightful person to know and work with, witty and clever, very professional, and very serious about her craft. She also always maintained a great affection for and pride in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and her role as Truly, which is always a wonderful thing to know about an actor in a beloved role.

Another bonus: here is a super charming interview with her after a backstage disaster at What Makes Sammy Run? on Broadway.

She was also, along with Twiggy and Diahann Carroll (as Julia Baker), one of the first three celebrities to have her likeness made into a Barbie doll.

Two of her earlier films I recommend are the comedies Fools Rush In (1949) and The Admirable Crichton (1957), if you can find them (hint-hint, you can.) You may also be able to find the 1966 TV movie of her reprising her Tony-nominated role of Fiona in Brigadoon with Robert Goulet, and although I feel like the oddly close-up way the film was shot kinda does a disservice to the actors at times, it's still amazing to be able to see and hear her in a role she performed on Broadway.

Richard Rodgers once called Sally Ann "the greatest singer who ever sang on the American musical stage." Now, I don't quote this to claim this superlative as some kind of objective fact. If you know anything about me, I am very, very strongly opposed to pitting women against each other and all the Golden Age sopranos are absolute queens who deserve crowns, no matter how much mainstream success or present-day name-recognition they have/had. I just think it's phenomenal that she received such high praise from a man who worked with many of the best musical theatre singers who ever lived... and to think, many people today have never even heard her voice. Without her performance as Truly Scrumptious, it's possible almost nobody would in the future! I am so glad that Sally Ann's lasting legacy was ensured by such a beloved film role.

Sadly for us, many of the theatrical roles which she originated (and thus, for which cast albums featuring her exist) were in shows that either flopped quickly or at least did not enter the theatrical canon, so she never achieved the level of mainstream recognition she clearly deserves. But Sally Ann also played such legendary and challenging roles as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Fiona MacLaren in Brigadoon (for which she received a Tony nomination), Maria Rainer von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Anna Leonowens in The King and I, and, much later, Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. She received great acclaim for all of these performances and, judging by what we know of her process on My Fair Lady, was excellent at making roles distinctly her own and never merely imitating another performer.

Even in her iconic original role of Truly Scrumptious, you don't get to hear the true full power of Sally Ann's extraordinary soprano. For that, I highly recommend listening to "Another Time, Another Place" from Kwamina (1961), and "Something to Live For" from What Makes Sammy Run? (1964). I'm always sad that we don't have any recordings of her in her "fiery" star turn as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, but you can at least hear her do a Cockney accent, be silly, and sing "With a Little Bit of Luck" with Bing Crosby here!

If it weren't for the enduring success of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, few people might have even heard of Sally Ann Howes today, and that would be a terrible loss. I cannot overstate that I am so grateful that we all know who she is because she played this role and we get to see her give this radiant performance of a character that's all her own. Maybe this sounds strange, but I think the fact that this was Sally Ann's only musical film role (and the ONLY role most people will ever see her in) makes it even more precious, and makes everything she brings to the character that much more distinctive and unique and special.

Both for all of the talent and charm she brings to the role itself, and everything else that I and many other fans have been able to learn of so much of her otherwise-obscure work because of it, the world is incredibly lucky to have the lovely Sally Ann Howes immortalized as our Truly Scrumptious, and I wouldn't have it any other way 💖

#*mic drop*#sally ann howes #chitty chitty bang bang #and that's why you should vote for... wait there's no poll involved? I may have gotten carried away ;)#ok so I doubt anyone will even pay attention to this post but if you are going to tag or comment on this BE KIND AND POSITIVE ABOUT HER #like this is obviously a labor of love on my part here... don't be weird or backhanded. I don't need to hear how you disagree or whatever #and no pitting women against each other on my posts I am so serious #this is a fan post! this is a stan post! this is a celebration! do not derail!#I feel like I need to sprinkle holy water on this post before I release it out into the world #oh Sally Ann we're really in it now #also parts of this are poorly written I know. it's literally just an infodump about my Special Interest English Lady what do you expect lol #the switches between formal tone and informal fangirling are intentional btw #this is what I'm using my degree for apparently #I know I mixed in a lot of character/story analysis here and maybe that's slightly off-topic from lauding her performance but hey #it's not like I'm getting graded on this. and I mean you can see these things in her character BECAUSE of her performance #take my hand. love her with me. life could be a dream #you know the lyric in Hamilton - 'I wrote my way out'? that's what this was for me. I wrote my way out of a mental health crisis with this #when I came up with this idea I was going to save it for her birthday but that is sooo far away. so I'll post now and reblog it then!#I'm shocked tumblr can even handle whatever I'm trying to do here #I wouldn't have put SO many photos except that I needed to use multiples so I could make them smaller!!#my original post #long post

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that-was-anticlimactic · 1 year

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guys. i just saw a post about an autism swag tournament and that made me think. i kind of want to do a ts tournament lol like ik it would prolly just be me and the moots but i thunk it'd be funny silly fun times for me personally... i may... i may make one just for funsies...

#i keep seeing a bunch of poll tournaments for nd characters and i have yet to see one for ts so my brain was like WAIT #like none of them are canon:/ but like. it's Fine.#ik it's just like. my personal headcanons but... funsies...#idk for some reason a part of me feels bad about wanting to make one??? idk why i wish i understand the way my brains works???#like my brain is like 'everyone is going to think that you're just copying autism and being mean' which is??? objectively not true??? there #are So many poll tournaments out there??? or maybe my brain is just like 'well no one will do it lol' which is also??? hello???#idk brains are me i think #sorry for the rant in the tags lol i am. tired ioufdxcfg

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six-demon-bag · 7 months

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deeply amusing to me how fast my squick feelings rise if someone even passingly suggests i self insert into a fic or with a character considering all the grade A squick material (according to other people) I write

#me!! you think I want to be in any way involved in this story or with these characters!!#excuse me no #do not touch me #do not think about me #I am not part of this #literally do not care if anyone else does it though obviously go wild have fun #I cheer you on with my eyes closed #but plsss don’t bring me into it #this is why I so urgently block all self insert tags lol #it is possibly one of the worst feelings to me and so I rant here #good fences (filters and block lists) makes for good (fandom) neighbors #the rant happens now bc it has been suggested Too Many times in the past day in ways I cannot filter #probably delete later #but it’s my houseblog and I must scream #sixdemon nonsense

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toytulini · 2 months

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why is it so common for aita submitters to give ppl in their asshole scenarios Letters. can you just make up a fake name. please god?

#toy txt post #griping about harmless nonproblems lol #'aita for how i punched my friend in the face? okay so i have 3 friends #we'll call them A(23F) B(25NB) and C(20M) and-'#let me stop you right there. yta for attempting to make me read your many paragraphs referring multiple ppl by singular letters #(JOKE!)#but fr i see the letters and am immediately like i aint reading all that. congrats or sorry that happened #i similarly struggle with the untamed fandom posts for this reason i think? yall are KILLING me with the initials and for them i #often try to struggle through cos like. im invested in the characters but man. its a Struggle. killing me. u writin all that meta posting #and u cant spell out their names for me?#again. griping about harmless non-problems. old man shaking fist at cloud etc #funnier than that tho are the ppl who clearly feel similarly annoyed by some aita submissions but instead of scrolling they take the time #out of their day to try to? start shit in the replies or askbox about it? fascinating. you have this much spare energy? just scroll bud #go gripe in the group chat or make ur own post and yell excessively in the tags like me lol #why are you demanding the mod enforce hard rules about it. just scroll bud

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sodascribbles · 1 year

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KICKS DOOR IN IM HERE FOR RTTM HEADCANONS FOR MY SELF INDULGENT FIC UNIVERSE. PRIMARILY TEAM BLUE BC THEYRE THE ONLY ONES IVE SEEN <<33 this is also mostly me bullshitting bc it has been a while since ive seen all of it but!! ill come back and retcon as needed heart emoji

below the cut bc they're long <<33

chache and snake are clones created by The Aliens™️ which i think is canon to mtm but dont quote me on that it's been a while. amy is not- the 33 in her name is an unlucky coincidence.

i cant decide if i wanna be gbu-adjacent (/ij and/or /ref) and have squid be a former blood god or if he is just The Blood God. but either way he is the Kraken as per lovely world lore

stampys immortal and has ✨ magic powers ✨ but rarely uses them. hes skilled in the same kind of wizardry that keen and heinous use, and frequently sends them letters still

snakedoctor1 was just kind of a Normal Dude who got kidnapped by aliens and cloned a lot. .....probably. i dont think about snake lore very often i only know him from mtm and squiddy sundays

superchache1 however was a... nether prince of a sort. he escaped the aliens via being summoned somewhere else, and rumor has it that he's still out there vibing

chache- our chache, 39, and every chache before that- were very firmly told that 1 was dead (he was frequently made an example of as a matter of fact)

chache and snake weren't aware of the aliens plans before the race to the moon ending, and once theyd learned it was the classic theyd grown so attached they rebelled against their creators

ok enough of clone shenanigans ill spoil the plot

amy and squid arent bio family but they grew up together and consider each other siblings <3

stampy has a twin brother, who we simply know as stampylongpants- that's not his real name, obviously, just a long convoluted joke w the familia

this twin brother has. three whole children, two of which are traumatized and adopted unintentionally and the other is probably traumatized and adopted intentionally

stampy is a great-uncle and has a dragon grandniece and at least one robot grandnephew and i will not be elaborating (.....yet)

stampy and squid are qpps sorry not sorry

chache can float. he says it's the hat. nobody believes him

KINDNESS IS REAL

i have no intent of touching shady oaks again though. so who knows how canon-adjacent shell wind up. but my girl WILL be appearing and she WILL be a sassy talking sword

squid is in fact a glowsquid

stampy is the best airship pilot of the three of them its bc he stole The Birdy

chache is vaguely technopathic but has no idea how to properly harness it so will occasionally just panic and like the jukebox will start playing or the quarry will stop/start

if you startle stampy theres like a 25% chance he bursts into flame

he does have a more human form (like squid does) but he rarely ever uses it

squid tends to flip-flop between human and squid on legs. he went full glowsquid once when him and stampy were bickering in the river below their mountain and. swam away

chache technically has a more Creachur-like form but again he has No Idea how to Use It

snake is supposed to be a creeper. something went wrong when the aliens were synthesizing but supposedly theyve since fixed it

stampy is like an 8th warden on his mother's side. usually this manifests in what he likes to call the Lay in Moss Instinct (it's exactly what it sounds like) and protectiveness over his friends

he was a normal dude at first i think but then he got cursed with furry immortality and it's been so long now that he really doesnt remember who he used to be. netty got cursed trying to reverse his curse before they decided they liked being cats better

squiashey is simply stampy's pen pal rn but dw theyll meet and date and get married even if i dont touch on it know it happened

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disneynerdpumpkin · 7 months

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it's Friday the 13th, so what better day to make a Nightmare post?

Absolutely love this poster for the 3D release!

Everyone is so in character and I love it

#disneynerdpumpkin #disney #the nightmare before christmas #jack skellington #Why is it so in character for Sally to be stealing other ppls popcorn tho #Jack looks so cute with those glasses!#Why it look like Oogie is flexing in the background #This is amazing #Disney why u not make posters like dis anymore #Behemoth looking amazed at the movie they're watching #I need to know what movie they're watching!!!#I'm pretty sure they're watching their own movie lol #Zero looks like he's starving bruh give the poor dog some popcorn!#How is Fink sitting in the movie seats if he has a wheelchair #Did Jewel take him out of the wheelchair and then put him in the seat?#Either that or Fink can actually walk and he just walk when nobody's watching #Why am I making so many tags on this?!#This poster is so full of things to look at it's so entertaining tho #Everyone is in character except for Mayor #Cuz if he was he'd be paranoid

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godsfavoritescientist · 1 year

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the unexpected aspec experience of opening up a word document to write more pages for an ~adult~ fic, happily writing a little bit, and then suddenly being completely uninterested in the subject material anymore. 0/10 very inconvenient, finishing this fic will take forever at this rate

#[pensive emoji]#this is why ~adult~ fics that include other stuff in them too are more consistently engaging to me #like. the logistics of an eldritch being being involved is interesting regardless of if I'm interested in the main focus of the fic or not #another example of other stuff that makes it always interesting to read is the character interactions on an emotional level #it can be fun and interesting to read even when I'm not actually interested in seeking out an ~adult~ fic if it reveals character stuff #or shows things about the dynamic between two characters. or shows something about their issues and insecurities and perspectives #adult times as a way of showing anything from manipulation to adoration to endless trust to longing for a closeness that isnt there...#theres so many interesting things that can be shown and explored. especially when its such an inherently vulnerable thing.#me when characters are put in an emotionally vulnerable situation: >:) yes ha ha ha yes #idk I'm just documenting an aspec experience here because it's interesting to figure out how to put my thoughts into words here #and explaining that 'yes it really Can serve more purposes to be put in fics than just being Into It' feels worthwhile #gotta throw my aspec perspective out there into the void #but yeah this post is about a spicy ford fic im writing that has no plot. which is why its being posted here lol #ive also mentioned aspec stuff on this blog before so it feels relevant enough to me #the community tag feels so dramatic i am sorry for any disappointment caused by this post not having anything in it beyond mentioning a WIP #but 🤷‍♂️ its technically the topic of the post i guess

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nrth-wind-a · 2 years

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[skrael is so so so slowly coming back sljfk so... what if i just dropped him into the d.c u.niverse and said ‘good luck’]

#[both to him and to whoever has to deal with him]#[for some quick rundowns on his character: ancient ice mage as old as the earth itself (or at least mine is)]#[he's part of an order that prioritizes the balance of man and magic]#[he is ridiculously arrogant and extremely powerful BUT. he is also very stupid and (literally) topheavy]#[he will make ice cream 4 u if u ask nicely sldjfksl]#[his name is skrael and he was my first tumblr muse also he is this blog's namesake]#[aaaand his wiki is trash do not trust it none of it is backed up with actual fact from the show]#[oh he's from tales of arc.adia]#[if there is any interest i could make him an actual quick facts post? essentially everythign someone might need to know to crossover w him?#[please let me hurl this 5 foot ice gremlin at ur dc muses i promise it'll be fun]#[lol at the very least the humor of some guy going 'i am a GOD-- why aren't you scared? ....you do this all the time? how many gods #do you know?' is like always funny]#[skrael thinks he's hot shit but i think zatanna could give him a run for his money real quick]#[and god i mean superman could punt him all the way around the world]#[and lsjdfks skrael vs any speedster would be truly amazing bc he is an ice powered villain so that could be very interesting to see]#[ANYWAY]#[i've rambled in these tags enough lsjdk hmu if you'd like to!]#{ooc}

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solarshadow · 2 years

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I was tagged by @astralx to show off nine of my favorite characters! Thanks for the tag! owo Here are my children. I have adopted all of them lol:

From left to right going in order:

Joker (He will always be Akira in my heart) | Persona 5

Corrin | Fire Emblem Fates

Zagreus | Hades

San | Princess Mononoke

Kazuha | Genshin Impact

Roxas | Kingdom Hearts

Noé Archiviste | The Case Study of Vanitas

Shion | No.6

Khun Aguero Agnis | Tower of God

I will tag like 4 people and anyone else who wants to do this, please feel free: @immortaldarkpassion @from-a-distant-end @inebubble @yoikami

#tag game #....Upon doing this #I realized there are a lot of white haired/red eyes characters here #Noe's eyes glow red when he uses his vampiric abilities #Clearly I have a type xD #oops lol #I struggled so hard with this for some reason lol #Like I have so many characters I love #but when I am asked about them my mind blanks #Why am I like this #ALSO HETEROCHROMIA IS MY WEAKNESS #IF A CHARACTER HAS THAT #RIP TO ME

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that-was-anticlimactic · 1 year

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actually, no. you know what? i am so sick of this “marinette is just a friend” bs. okay. cool. adrien said she was just a friend a few times. whatever. it’s not that big of a deal and everyone in the mlb fandom like. hyperfixates on that??? idc if it’s a “just a joke” because it’s utterly ridiculous at this point. i have literally seen people go on heated rants about how stupid or clueless adrien was during the umbrella scene because he called mari just a friend. are you kidding me??? y’all are really going to take away that moment for him? he just made like his first ever friend in nino and when he called her a friend, he looked so excited because this boy has only ever had one friend before. of course he’s going to call mari just a friend because he just met her and the only time she’s actually spoken to him outside of the suit at this point is to yell at him like... y’all...

and this is not me hating on mari because i love her so so so much. i just hate how passionate and heated fans get about this. i mean... y’all... adrien didn’t even think mari liked him??? like, in puppeteer two, he is literally upset because he came to the conclusion that mari hates him. also, of course he’s not like in love with or crushing on her when she’s barely spoken actual sentences to him! again, not me hating on mari and her nerves because like i get it, it’s hard. and also this is like adrien’s first time interacting with people as peers, so 1. of course romance is not his main priority 2. he doesn’t understand social cues or situations very well At All which is made abundantly clear in the show 3. i don’t... i don’t think adrien knows what affection is??? i mean, he’s definitely learned some over the course of the show, but he’s used to a neglectful / abusive father, his stoic assistant, his bodyguard who doesn’t really talk like at all, chloé being chloé, and hoards of fans declaring that they’re in love with him, hanging all over him, acting like he’s a shiny thing rather than a person, etc... so like. how is adrien supposed to actually comprehend that mari likes him???

and okay no my last point: so so so sick of the double standard. i have seen countless people rant and rave and scream and shout about how stupid adrien is for not returning mari’s feelings or knowing he has a crush on her and then these same people will turn around and berate chat noir and say things like “gosh ladybug isn’t obligated to return his feelings:/” like... hELLO??? why is ladybug not obligated while adrien is??? it’s ridiculous and disgusting and i’m so so so tired of “just a friend” jokes on tumblr, in art, in fics, in youtube compilations... like... can’t we be normal about this? and i don’t mean normal as in “casually enjoy” i mean normal as in can we stop being so aggressive and harsh and hostile towards literal fourteen year olds my God they’re children they’re allowed to make mistakes and mess up and my God the way y’all talk about lila is disgusting, too like i hate her but i don’t want her tortured and killed??? and the way people characterize the classmates as physically and verbally assaulting mari because of lila??? like... my God they would never??? they would all honestly side with mari chameleon is a bad episode and is poorly written and everyone is out of character please use your critical thinking skills and understand that chat noir is not harassing ladybug anymore than mari may be harassing adrien (aka they are not harassing each other at all my God) and stop insulting and demonizing fourteen year olds so your otp can get together thanks

#i have. feelings.#sorry y'all #this may be harsh but i am so beyond sick of it #i've been going through the classmates tag on ao3 and filtered out all the s.alt fics for all the characters and the majority of the fics #i'm seeing are aggressive lila takedown fics or like unproperly tagged s.alt fics #where the classmates are still rude and aggressive and bully mari when even lila doesn't really bully mari that badly??? like yes it is #awful that she tried to get her expelled and lied a bit about her but lila has never been physical nor tried to kill mari and nor would any #of the classmates actually turn against her like. they may disagree with her or think she may be acting on her crush and yes lila did #threaten mari in the bathroom but like... what has she done since then? try to get her expelled and then... nothing. like. this is Not me #saying not to take bullying seriously but people take it to the extreme with lila and how she treats mari in fics and i am so so so sick of #it!!! i just want to read mlb classmate fics where they're all silly and being teenagers without mari being unreasonably and uncanonically #bullied and without the tags 'alya/adrien/classmate redemption' HELLO??? WHY DO THEY NEED TO BE REDEEMED??? THEY AREN'T VILLAINS??? THEY ARE #FOURTEEN??? as a rule of thumb i refuse to read fics with those tags like sorry but if you tag fics like that then you obviously don't know #the characters. i'm sorry if this sounds mean or harsh it's just exhausting trying to find fun or sweet or found family mlb fics because so #many of them are so negative and ooc and involve like extreme hatred towards fourteen year old fictional children... like... how do we not #see the problem with that??? like... am i overreacting??? please someone tell me they agree with me!!! i've been working on this really #stressful assignment that determines whether i graduate my future career and also costs three hundred dollars to take so i've been really #stressed and every time i try and take an mb fic break i end up more stressed because the fandom is so cruel to children ahhhhhhhh #okay i am. done. maybe i'll delete this later... i just need to see if someone agrees with me because i am. :))) on the verge of losing it #lol #mlb

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helium-fox · 2 years

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one thing i feel that’s missing from the people saying ‘i don’t like this genre bc of x’ and people responding ‘read better books, they’re not all like that’ is that often times those people are TRYING to read better books

but it’s not like you can go to the library and go to the “sci-fi without racism and sexism” section or “fantasy with good queer rep” section. especially with a culture that doesn’t want to “spoil” anything

#this rant brought to you by the fact that i read yet ANOTHER book that i thought was a romcom #but turned out to be a coming of age type story #i remember reading a post once #about someone wishing there were romance books where the characters ended up single #and like. i have read that book. so. many. times...#i actually hate it #i just want to pretend people can fall in love and live happily ever after for 1 freaking minute #but i am continuously disappointed #especially disappointed this time cuz it was a book with good queer rep #but my other point still stands #the barrier to finding good sci-fi and other books is hard #and i don't blame people who can't find books they like #even on those lists people make of good queer books to read #i like less than 20% of those books #so i get why people complain about there not being good books out there #cause it is ridiculously hard #this is a lot of tags #congrats to anyone that read all this lol

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worstcharacterpoll · 1 year

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[Image description: A tournament bracket of 32 contenders, labeled "Tumblr's most hated." The matchups on the left are Vriska vs. Pearl from SU; Rex from Victorious vs. Rick Sanchez; Ansem the Wise vs. Gul Dukat; Kylo Ren vs. Kokichi Ouma; Scrappy Doo vs. Sheldon Cooper; Pierre from Stardew vs. Mort from Madagascar; Seraphine from League vs. Heimskr; and Jurgen Leitner vs. Andre Glacier. The matchups on the right are Walter White vs. Light Yagami; Buck Cluck vs. Ross Geller; Bramblestar vs. Starlight Glimmer; Goro Akechi vs. Pariston Hill; Katsuki Bakugo vs. Berdly; Angel Dust vs. the Impostor; Olaf from Frozen vs. Hooty; and Zenos viator Galvus vs. Tony Stark. The bracket is red on a black background. End ID]

Here is the official bracket for the most Hated Character on Tumblr! Each round will last 24 hours, with a 12 hour break in between. Round 1 should start Feb 9, 2023 at 9:00 AM CST.

As a reminder, this tournament is for the characters that you hate the most, so always vote for your least favorite of the two options. The winner will be publicly executed.

FAQ under cut:

Q: Why did you put in x character and not y character? Aren't there more hateable characters from that franchise?

A: I wanted to keep the competition light-hearted, funny, and interesting. I intentionally avoided most shitty parent characters, dictators, characters who were meant to be hated, etc., as well as characters heavily associated with bigotry and sexual assault, and gravitated towards characters that were more divisive in fandom. Exceptions were only made for characters I am familiar enough with and can use my own judgement for. Using Zenos as an example: He is a villain who is very evil and meant to be hated, which I mostly avoided when taking suggestions for things I wasn't familiar with myself. However, he's very divisive between people who think he's a good interesting villain, people who don't think he's a good villain and don't like him in the story at all, and people who want him carnally. Walter White is also meant to be hated, but he has a meme status, and as a villain protagonist I think he's more interesting than most "meant to be hated" characters. Also, there are certain franchises that I simply didn't want to include. If JK Rowling wasn't such a real and horrible political presence, owing all her influence to Harry Potter, I would've definitely put Snape on the poll. As it stands, I don't really want to give HP any attention. TL;DR answer: Because it's funnier that way

Q: But I LIKE that character :(

A: As mentioned before, I specifically gravitated more towards characters who are more divisive rather than universally hated. They are usually more interesting, and there is more variety with those types of characters - you don't have shitty dad character #1 vs. shitty dad character #2. I actually looked for "anti-(character)" tags and discourse about that character when making decisions about who to include. lol If you actually like some of these characters (uh, my condolences), vote against them in their respective matchups.

Q: Is it too late to suggest a replacement?

A: Yes.

Q: Why are you doing this?

A: I feed off of hatred and violence. I want to see who tumblr users REALLY hate.

Q: Why Pearl?

A: It was quite a while ago now so I get it if people don't remember, but Pearl discourse used to be a big thing and people argued that she was irredeemable for many of the things she did early on in the show. If you remember the "Pearl hates the Irish" meme, that was a parody of how much people hated her

Q: Why Hooty?

A: I haven't seen the Owl House but I'm told many people think he's annoying. Also he's voiced by Alex Hirsch and fuck that guy he did my boy Ford so dirty I'm still mad about this

Q: Why Starlight Glimmer?

A: MLP:FiM is another show I didn't really watch but she was a villain who got redeemed and became a main character and a lot of people think her redemption arc was rushed and botched and she actually made a lot of people quit watching the show. One of my close friends really really really hates her and I don't think that's an isolated incident

Q: Why Berdly?

A: Annoying. Personally I think his arc of becoming less annoying was pretty fun but a lot of people still hate him.

Q: Why Bakugo (instead of Mineta)?

A: I actually debated this a lot and held a preliminary poll which Mineta actually won. But then I decided democracy is dead because Mineta really wouldn't be as interesting as Bakugo in this tournament because he's basically universally hated. Bakugo is more interesting because people who hate him REALLY hate him, while people who love him REALLY love him. Kind of like Vriska. I think. I never read Homestuck and I don't plan on ever doing so.

Q: Why Tony Stark?

A: He's a heavily divisive character because he's a war profiteer billionaire with a superiority complex, but the narrative treats him as a morally pure hero. Also, he's MCU Spider-Man's mentor and most of MCU Spider-Man is basically defined by Tony Stark and he's not allowed to be his own character. There's a bunch of other stuff but I didn't watch and I don't care about most of the MCU. Personally I'm a really big Spider-Man fan and I despise him for what he did to Peter Parker but I shall refrain from making this a long rant.

Q: Why did you include characters that you're not familiar with?

A: I didn't want to exclusively have characters from my interests. I wanted a bit of variety. Before the poll started, I accepted submissions for candidates, and basically trusted submitters to send in decent characters. Some of the characters I ended up with may go against the vague guidelines I set for myself, which kind of sucks, but that's how it is now.

Q: This bracket sucks.

A: Make your own tournament then. I'm just some guy making a tournament on tumblr dot com for free. Don't take it too seriously.

#polls #worst character poll

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