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limethefirst · 6 months ago

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im sorry i but i have to get in on this sonic movie s shadow train i love this movie so much as well! And ive been dieing for some movie shadow x readers to pop up. Is it alright if i request something? Can we have a shadow the hedgehog x reader where you also are living in the g.u.n base maria and shadow were? Your father or mother being on of the scientists and one day maria and shadow find you alone in a corner of the base writing music or playing with toys something (your marias age). Thrn they introuce themselfs and maybe you become part of their gaggle of fraggles to always being with them to the point your mother and gerald agree for you and maria both to share a room. With you shadow and maria being so close in time till your all like siblings? Idk this just sounded so cute. Thank you of your able to write this!

Birds of a Feather

pairings: Shadow the Hedgehog x reader x Maria Robotnik (platonic)

warnings: none!!!

summary: after being brought to work with your mother, Maria and Shadow stumble upon you, deciding to invite you to join their little group, from then on the three of you became inseparable

a/n: this is such a cute request! I was gonna end it with both Maria and the reader dying but I think Shadow has been traumatized enough for now…

“You stay put! I have work to do in the lab okay?” Your mother’s voice was stern; being a single mother was tough, especially because she had no one to take care of you while she did her work. You gave her a small nod, acknowledging her request.

A slight sigh escaped her lips as she lightly caressed your cheek, “Just, behave for me please,” was the last thing she told you before she walked into the door to your right, the words ‘Laboratory’ in bright white above the area.

You slowly sat down on the floor, she’d asked you to not leave and you really wanted to respect her decision, even as a child you knew her life was harder than she’d let on.

Unfortunately you were a child with a small attention span. You dug into your pockets and found a small notebook with equations, probably from your mom and a small pencil. Since there was nothing better to do maybe it was best to just draw a little bit, maybe some flowers and animals you liked.

Sitting there, you slightly hunched over, trying your hardest to draw the most beautiful roses and some bees and landscape you could. Suddenly a voice rang out from above you, “What are you doing here?” Your head snapped up, meeting the eyes of a small blonde girl and a strange black and red hedgehog.

“Uhm my mom works here..” you nervously answered her, “What are you doing here?” You asked her exact question but back at her.

“My grandfather works here!” She proudly exclaimed. The hedgehog looked between the both of you, he stood covered behind her, he had a mean face but you could tell he was more curious than anything.

The girl taking note of the awkward silence decided to introduce herself, “I’m Maria! And this is Shadow! What’s your name?”

You looked between the two, taking in who they were before you quietly responded with your name, Maria let out a big grin and Shadow silently repeated it to himself, “What are you drawing?” Maria asked, looking at the small notebook in your hand. You looked down at it and turned it over so the two could see; it looked like a small rabbit with butterflies and flowers around it, “Woah that looks really cool!”

Shadow silently nodded, agreeing with her. You thanked the two of them, fidgeting with your pencil. As Maria continued to talk you took notice of her outfit, she wore a pastel rainbow long sleeve shirt and loose pants with skates on her feet instead of shoes. She must’ve noticed you staring at them as she suddenly asked, “Do you wanna try them!?”

You hesitantly shook your head, as much as you wanted to you didn’t really know her and if she would even be okay with that. Maria reassured you that it was fine and actually really fun, before you could tell her a definite no she’d already taken them off, placing them in front of you, “Try them! Shadow can pull you around,”

Shadow looked between the both of you, clearly not having agreed but Maria nodded her head yes, leaving Shadow to only agree. Surely your mom wouldn’t notice if you were gone for a quick second.

Once you were geared up and Maria found a rope to tie onto Shadow and for you to hold, she grabbed her timer, “Ready, set, go!!” Before you had time to really brace yourself Shadow had already set off, he ran through the base, his face held a small smile as he checked back a few times to check if you were still holding on.

He saw the wide smile you had, your laughter was echoing throughout the hall filled with the other agents. Quickly you already finished the lap and had made your way back to Maria, but unfortunately you didn’t exactly know how to stop, so as Shadow had slowed down you still held a generally fast speed. Too fast actually, causing you to trip and fall face first; thankfully the fast hedgehog was able to grab you and hold you up before you fell and ate concrete.

Maria ran over to check and make sure you were okay, feeling guilt if she somehow made you upset from almost falling. As you stood up, you turned back to look at the two, your extremely wide smile shocking them both, it was almost contagious as Maria started to smile and laugh and Shadow breathed a sigh of relief but you could see the small twitch in his lips making them quirk up.

Suddenly you heard your name coming from beside you, turning you saw your mom as well as her boss Professor Gerald Robotnik looking at the three of you, “I thought I told you to stay put!” Her expression wasn’t one of anger, more a mix of stress and lack of sleep.

“Mom! I’m sorry I just met Maria and Shadow and they’re really fun and I thought it was okay, we didn’t cause any trouble-“ You started to ramble feeling immense guilt for betraying your own mother, but you were suddenly cut off.

“Now now, I think it’s quite alright, you see Maria is my granddaughter, and I trust her and your child doesn’t seem bad” The professor interrupted and explained to your mother, “I actually think it’s good for the kids to hangout and get along” he advocated for you.

All three of you nodded your head, even Shadow was agreeing! Your mom reluctantly nodded her head, agreeing that he was right.

And so you came daily, until your mom had to start working 24/7 and so Gerald let you stay in Maria’s room, even getting you guys a bunk bed. It was nice, the three of you became like the three musketeers, you’d never see each other alone anymore.

Sometimes Maria would play music and you three would all dance and jump around together. At some point you even got your own pair of skates so that you three could race, although Shadow always won.

Life was fun, everyday was like an endless sleepover, sometimes the three of you would sneak out and watch the stars, even falling asleep under the moonlight. It wasn’t bad, not at all.

These were the best days of your life, just you and your two best friends.

#Sonic 3 #sonic 3 x reader #shadow the hedgehog #shadow #Sonic #sonic brainrot #shadow x reader #Maria x reader #platonic #sonic movie 3 #x reader #happy little family #sonic the hedgehog

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pushovermediacritic · 8 days ago

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The Land Before Time Liveblog 12

The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers

Last Time:

Littlefoot was small. Cera's dad met an old flame. Fraggle genocide.

This Time: Starting with this movie, I'm entering unexplored territory. If you don't count the TV show, which I might not cover, I haven't seen anything coming up, three whole movies I'm completely unfamiliar with.

I've heard dire portents of 13, but basically nothing about 12 and 14. Just based on the title of this one, I'm expecting Petrie focus.

The Universal logo is still not Pangaea.

Still pretty disappointing to me that they never play with the Universal logo, like it would be so cool if they-

Wait, what's happening?

YES!!! This running gag finally paid off! And they didn't just have the Universal logo be Pangaea from the start, they did a FAKE-OUT, having the Universal logo start normal and then reverse time INTO Pangaea!! That's SO GOOD!!!

I bet all of you who knew this was coming were just WAITING for this moment! Well, I can say this did not disappoint! I love when movies mess with the opening credits and logos, you're so used to just ignoring them that it's always jarring in a fun way.

I hope they re-use this opening for every future movie but I totally understand if they don't, because it would get repetitive and the fake-out wouldn't be surprising anymore.

Of course, this intro has to have the narrator talk. He talks about how the Earth has changed in dramatic ways, continents moving, becoming burning hot and freezing cold, species flourishing and dying.

Narrator: "Yes, the Earth is very different than it was in the days of the dinosaurs! But one thing that has remained the same since the time of the dinosaurs is the fact that everything is always changing."

From here, we transition to Littlefoot, Ducky, and Spike gazing up at the sky. They're searching for something in particular, but the movie isn't letting the audience in on what it is.

Ducky thinks she sees something, and Spike gets excited and bumps her off the ledge! Littlefoot stretches his neck down to catch her and when he pulls her up, she scolds Spike for scaring her and making her lose sight of what she was looking at. Littlefoot wonders where Cera is.

Littlefoot is voiced in this movie by Nick Price. I'm not familiar with any of the other things he's in. I haven't even seen that particular Peanuts cartoon where he played Schroeder. He hasn't gotten a lot of dialogue yet but so far, he seems to be doing a better job than Aaron Spann did last movie. Also, this is the first Land Before Time movie to be widescreen.

With Cera, she's glaring at an egg. Tria is also there and nuzzles it. Topsy (yup, I'm still using that name until "Topps" is actually mentioned by literally any character in-universe) walks in.

Tria wonders whether the baby will look more like her or him, and the two adults agree that they hope it looks more like Tria while giggling (odd that they'd agree on that, since Tria went on and on last movie about how handsome Topsy is).

Cera: *clears throat* "Is it okay if go meet Littlefoot and the others? We want to watch Petrie practice for the Day of the Flyers. ...I said 'I'm gonna go find my friends'!"

Tria: "Do you think it's cold? Do you think it needs more grass on top?"

Topsy: "No, it's fine!"

Tria: *sigh* "I think it's cold, c'mon!"

She leans over to rip up some grass and put it on top.

Topsy: "Tria, I don't-

Tria: "Topsy. Did you lay this egg?"

Topsy: "Um-mum-mum, nooo, but I was-"

Tria: "Than hush up and help me!" *Topsy grumbles but does it*

Cera: "So bye! I'm heading out to the Mysterious Beyond to see if I can get eaten by a Sharptooth!"

Topsy: "Okay, don't be late!"

Tria: "Have fun!"

Cera walks off, pouting, and now Tria thinks it's too warm.

Time-out! Topsy "married" Tria?! And got BIZAY! I was wondering if they were going to skirt around the implications, but no, they straight-up had Tria imply that she laid that egg. Props for going there. Hopefully whenever the egg hatches, the baby triceratops isn't as annoying as Dana and Dinah were.

Cera joins the others and she didn't miss anything. Right as she arrives, they see Petrie practicing. He's flying in a V-formation with 8 other young Pteranodons.

In case you can't recognize him, he's the one in the middle-right. They do some swoops and turns, Petrie following along perfectly, until he notices his friends watching and waves to them, which slows him down and makes him bump into the kid behind him! He flies forward and bumps into the Flyer in front of him, then falls onto the blue one, ultimately causing a huge pile-up and all 9 of them fall out of the sky!

They all crash to the ground, in various trees and bushes! One falls onto Ducky's mom's face. Petrie falls into a bush and has to yell to keep Mr. Clubtail from eating him with some leaves. Mr. Clubtail walks away grumbling, with another one landed on his tail. The Gang arrive as the group of Flyer kids gather, all glaring at Petrie. Petrie's mom flies in and the other Flyer kids are eager for the chewing out he's gonna get. But she's not mad, just disappointed. Which hurts even worse! Recognizing the situation has become awkward, The Gang leave.

That night, Littlefoot tells his Grandpa that Petrie was practicing with his brothers and sisters earlier, and Grandpa already heard about it from Mr. Clubtail. Wait, those ALL were Petrie's siblings? I assumed some of them were other Flyer's kids, Petrie usually has 4-5 siblings, not 8!

Littlefoot asks Grandpa why the Day of the Flyers is important. Grandpa explains that every herd has its own traditions, and the Day of the Flyers is a significant event because it marks a developmental milestone for young Flyers, showing they can fly with the herd. So it's a rite of passage, like a bar mitzvah. Littlefoot stomps his foot and says that it's not fair, Petrie can fly fine alone, his siblings just make him nervous. Grandpa reassures him that Petrie will do fine.

Over in Petrie's nest, his siblings are ganging up on him and shit-talking his flying abilities, saying that he does the opposite of what they do and he's hopeless. Seems inaccurate, he only messed up today because he got distracted waving to The Gang. Their mom comes over to break it up.

She makes them leave so she can talk to Petrie alone. She asks what the problem is, and Petrie doesn't know. She then asks Petrie if he'll be ready for the Day of the Flyers, and all he can promise is that he'll try his best. She reassures him that he always does, and bids him good-night. But after she leaves, Petrie's still in a sour mood.

Petrie: "They think me never do nothing right! Sometimes me wish me had a whole 'nother family..."

On that thought, Petrie goes to sleep while the camera ominously zooms out and music eerily reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings "Ring Theme" plays. Creepy.

Over with Cera, Topsy is kicking in his sleep, and Tria's too focused on the egg to sleep. Tria pokes Topsy to wake him up and demands that he move over so he doesn't roll over on the egg. Topsy protests, but does so, and Tria makes him scoot over further. Cera tells them good night, but they ignore her and Tria keeps telling him to move over even further and further. Topsy does and he falls off a ledge, to which Tria whispers "perfect".

Well. That's weird. Tria was a pretty thoughtful and kind character last movie, but with last scene and this one, her characterization has shifted dramatically. She's obviously being written as obsessed with making sure the egg is okay, but even with that excuse, she's just being written as straight-up mean. The last scene and this one feel like the writers watched some sitcoms and decided "nagging mean tiger mom with a put-upon emotionally detached husband" was a good dynamic to draw inspiration from.

Also, it's just inaccurate. We've literally found fossils of T-Rexs curled up around their eggs, we know that dinosaurs had the same instinct most other animals do to not roll over on their babies in their sleep. It's just a natural instinct. And the scene doesn't even make sense, Tria and Topsy were sleeping next to each other with the egg in front of them. It would be impossible for Topsy to roll over onto the egg.

The next day, Petrie is complaining to The Gang about what his siblings said to him last night. Ducky and Littlefoot assert that he IS a good Flyer, just by himself. Again, I don't know where they're getting this from, the problem earlier was him getting distracted, not flying in a group. They did a poor job establishing this.

Petrie: "That just it! Me good alone! N-Not so good with family..."

Cera: "Join the club... Huh?"

Okay, these faces are great, but I think they're a little bit of an overreaction. Like, what Cera said wasn't THAT dramatic. It reminds me of the group reaction shot in 2, but those faces were in response to Cera saying her dad told her not to play with other species. That's more of an appropriate reaction.

Littlefoot switches gears back to Petrie and tells him that the next time he's flying with them, he should remember how good at flying he is and that he can do anything! Petrie gets all hyped up on the idea that he can do anything, before deflating again with the admission that he hates flying through "sky puffies" (clouds), and isn't good at flying in the wind. Littlefoot points out that today is pretty windy, so Petrie should practice! Petrie takes off and makes some headway before being launched backward into some tall grass.

The others chase after him, but then hear a scream, which isn't Petrie! They poke their heads through some tall grass and Petrie runs out, petrified and pointing his finger forward, shivering uncontrollably! Ducky asks if it's a Sharptooth and Petrie shakes his head while still pointing. Grandpa and some other adults walk over, having heard the scream. The music builds to a dramatic crescendo as they all lean in to see whatever is hiding in the grass!

It's... it's... a weird little green bird-guy.

He's a Microraptor, which I actually mentioned last review as one of the smallest real dinosaurs, next to Aquilops. But unfortunately, he doesn't have one of the most iconic features of the Microraptor, that being their four wings.

Yup, Microraptors had wings on their back legs, too, and they were just as functional for flying.

The Microraptor walks out and timidly apologizes for scaring them. This only makes everyone more confused. He continues.

Microraptor: *clears throat* "Okay, I um, I guess you're all wondering why I asked you here, huh? Aheeee- hehe- well you're all wondering..." *he grins awkwardly*

Topsy: *walks in* "Alright, who's making all the racket? Huuuh?!"

Microraptor: "Ah, yeah that would be me, hi! I'm really sorry if you were disturbed. Eh, not that anyone's saying you're disturbed, least of all me! I mean, uh, you know, in the sense of being, uh, not all there you're- you're obviously all there, I mean just look at you, you're uh, hehehehe, ooo..." (he grins awkwardly)

Topsy: "I don't know who, or what, you are. But we don't like noise around here. Some of us are trying to hatch eggs!"

Microraptor: "OH!" *whispering* "I mean 'oh', I'm sorry lady, I didn't realize!"

Topsy: "Grrrrrr, not me!"

At that, Ducky cracks up laughing, but Cera glares at her and she shuts it. Topsy walks away, and the Microraptor warns him not to go that way. He ignores the warning and slides down a hill into a mud puddle. At this, EVERYONE starts laughing!

Ducky briefly stops out of fear, but resumes laughing when she sees Cera guffawing, too. Topsy gets up and glares at the Microraptor, growling. The Microraptor jumps into the mud on his own!

Topsy: "Just what we need: another weirdo!" *he leaves*

Grandpa: *walking away* "Ha ha ha ha! i just wish Grandma were here to see it!"

Damn, roasted his ass! That line of Grandpa's was clearly added late in development, too, since while he's saying that, his mouth isn't moving.

The Microraptor climbs out of the mud and Littlefoot asks why he did that.

Microraptor: "Saved him the trouble of pushing me in."

He shakes off the mud and asks where he is. Littlefoot answers the Great Valley and asks where he's from. He's not sure, he just kind of woke up here. And he's not sure how he got here, either. He says "they" call him Guido, but he's not sure who "they" are. And he doesn't have a herd, he's the only one like himself he's ever seen! Well, obviously because he has amnesia. Also, goodie, an amnesia plot...

The Gang are enamored with the concept of being the only one of your kind, especially Petrie. This leads into song 1 of the movie: One of a Kind.

But before I get into that, there's something I NEED to address about Guido. Just based on this one scene, I can tell that Guido's whole shtick is drawing from a VERY specific comedic stereotype. That being the "dweeby and nervous Jewish chatterbox". You know, like Mort in Family Guy or Kyle Schwartz from South Park. Guido doesn't have the accent, but the voice and mannerisms are an exact match. And if you know anything about those shows, you'd know that those characters aren't exactly a FAVORABLE comparison to make! As a Jew myself, I'm a little offended by Guido!!

Alright, that little rant out of the way, let's listen to One of a Kind.

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It's kinda bad. I do like the structure of the song. It starts with Petrie and Cera complaining about their plots, then Littlefoot and Ducky reassure them, then Guido complains about being lonely, then The Gang accept Guido. However, it's poorly executed. The singing, lyrics, and musical flow are pretty annoying, actually.

And it has issues with canon. They're now fully and completely retconning Cera's siblings out of continuity. She had siblings in the first and second movies, but ever since movie 3, she suddenly became an only child. Except then 6 had an off-screen sibling who was old enough to have kids of their own and Cera had to babysit them, but that whole situation has never been referenced since.

And in this song, she complains about the new egg and wishes she could go back to being a single child, when it was literally a plot point in the first movie that Littlefoot was the only single child in the group. Even Spike got adopted into Ducky's family.

Also, the animation and choreography is really weird. Like, the faces are REALLY off-model in those shots where they're walking toward the camera, and the lip-synch varies from great to bad, sometimes even in the same verse! The song is lacking in creative or compelling visuals, Cera's verse is the only one that has anything interesting going on with the reflection and her on the rock. The last verse is just a copy of the "walking around the new kid" bit from You're One of Us Now.

Also, I'm not sure how old Guido is. He's got amnesia, so even he's probably not sure. And he's a Microraptor, he's supposed to be tiny. But it doesn't feel like he's written as a child, he feels like he's written as an adult. Specifically, as an adult stand-up comedian, and that makes his new friendship with The Gang feel weird. I wonder if they meant to get a famous guest voice actor for him, like Doc, Pterano, Thicknose, Bron, and Big Daddy had. But they couldn't get one, so they just said "fuck it, give him to Spike's VA" (yeah yeah, I know Rob Paulsen is a legend in his own right, but he's not a guest, he's voiced Spike in every movie but 1 and 6 and he also did Mo).

After One of a Kind, Littlefoot suggests that Guido might not be the only one. He's got kind of a long neck like Littlefoot and a sharp beak like Petrie, and maybe the weird stickly things on his head could fan out like Cera's frill. They take him to go see if anyone in the Great Valley is like him.

They talk in this scene like they've never seen anything like Guido and his feathers before, but they literally have. Remember Ichy from 4? Yeah, Guido is only a few steps removed from Ichy on the evolutionary tree. More bad continuity.

Later, Guido is on Grandpa's head and Grandpa explains they have long necks to eat the tenderest tree stars at the top of the trees (I thought it was to save the world during a solar eclipse?) Guido bites a leaf and tries to pull it off (I was doubting the "neurotic Jewish stereotype" read for a second, but he literally pulls while going "guuuuuu"). He pulls it off and flies backward down Grandpa's back and off his tail! Then he chokes on the leaf until Grandma whacks him on the back to make him cough it up! He is not a Longneck.

They try talking to Mr. Clubtail, who explains that he's got a bopper on his tail. When Guido asks what that is, he thwacks Guido with it!

They walk toward Topsy.

Topsy: "Don't even think about it."

They turn around and walk away from Topsy. Some good jokes here!

At the lake, Ducky shows him how to swim in the shallow end.

Guido: "Eh, oogh, I gotta tell ya, I got a real problem with swimming where I drink, yehh. Eh, I- it just doesn't seem right!"

Ducky: "Give it a try! You will be fine, yep yep yep!" *she leads him into the water*

Guido: "Ehhh, eh ehhh... Wait, wait! And you're sure there's nothing in there that bites?"

Ducky: "I am pretty sure."

Guido: *a shadow swims up next to Guido* "Bad answer! Nyehh-ehh-ehh-yee!"

He runs out of the water as the shadow surfaces, revealing a confused turtle. He runs into Spike and falls back, deciding that he's not a Swimmer.

I was finding it funny, but now I'm IMMEDIATELY getting sick of this bit. When Guido isn't talking or he's suffering slapstick, he's tolerable, but when he starts talking, it grates on my ears. This whole sequence is like a lamer version of the kids showing Chomper their specialties in You're One of Us Now, but where Chomper was cute and innocent, Guido is annoying and offensive!

From his position looking up, Guido sees Petrie practicing with his siblings in the V-formation. Petrie follows along fine, but then the leader decides to fly through a cloud and he panics, asking if they can just go around and then freaking out, yelling "roll" when they reach it! They collide with each other in the cloud, then all fall out!

Random Parasaurolophus: "Strange weather we're having today!"

This movie was written like a sitcom. Straight-up. It feels like it should have a laugh track.

Later, Petrie's sitting on a rock on a hill and Guido walks up to him, gasping and wheezing and panting the whole way. He's this close 🤏 to whining about needing his inhaler for his asthma (which shouldn't be something to laugh at, but it is a running gag with Kyle Schwartz in South Park). Guido says that everyone's looking for Petrie.

Petrie: "Me not know why. Me mess up everything! Me worst Flyer in Valley."

Guido: "Hey, come ooooon! Don't say things like that about yourself!"

Petrie: "Me not say it, brothers and sisters did!"

They're REALLY mad at him.

Guido: "Yeah. Eh, well, I thought that roll you did up there was really good! You know, I me- I mean, it was, it was excellent, beautiful, eve- spectacular!"

Petrie: "Good if me alone, maybe! But whole point of Day of Flyers is to fit in with others!"

WHAT ROLL?!?! Petrie yelled "roll" before he hit the cloud, but he didn't actually DO a roll, he just stalled in mid-air and the others crashed into him! Again, what they're saying happened and what ACTUALLY HAPPENED are completely different! Both times, Petrie has been told his issue is that he flies independently, but both times, the real issue was him getting distracted!

I swear, it's like the writers and animators are not on the same page here!

Petrie and Guido bond over not fitting in, and Petrie invites Guido to live with him. Not because he's a Flyer, no (it's not like the last feathered creature we met was a Flyer...), but just because they're both outsiders and could be friends over that. Then Littlefoot walks up and tells them that Tria's egg is about to hatch!

The entire Great Valley gathers for this special occasion! They didn't do that when a bunch of eggs hatched in 2, but every movie since then has ignored that happened. The egg hatches into a beautiful healthy (pink) baby Triceratops girl!

Tria and Topsy shed a few tears at how precious she is, and Tria introduces her to Cera, her sister. We see from the baby's POV as her eyes adjust for the first time and Cera smiling is the first face she sees clearly! Cera seems to like her, but then when the baby falls over, Tria and Topsy start cooing and fawning over her and Cera gets jealous again, walking away. Petrie calls the baby cute and Cera snaps at him!

Later, Petrie's mom is handing out berries to her kids for dinner. Petrie flies in.

Petrie's mom: "Well? Is it true? Does the Threehorn family have a new addition?"

Petrie: "Yeeeeaap! And uh, so do we!"

Petrie's mom (stunned): "Uh-huh. Petrie, I'm usually the one who makes that announcement."

Petrie: "Not this time! Everybody, meet Guidooooo!"

Lol at Petrie's mom's line.

Guido laboriously climbs up the wall into the nest, gasping and panting. Petrie's siblings are confused and surround him. They comment that he looks like a bunch of flowers, but doesn't smell like one. They painfully pluck a feather and ask what it is, and their mom tells them to quit crowding their guest. They walk over to Petrie.

Petrie's siblings (angry): "We've been wanting to talk to you, Petrie!" "Yeah, about what happened today!" "Yeah, you messed up again, Petrie!" "Yeah!" "Yeah, like you always do!" "Yeah, what's your problem, Petrie?!" "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Yeah!"

Guido: "Hey hey, fellas, c'mon, give him a break! I mean, uh, of course he gets confused when he flies with you! Your rear ends look just like your faces so, uh, h-how can he tell which way to go?"

After a second of stunned silence, they all burst out laughing. Even mom laughs a bit before telling them to go to bed. One says that Guido's alright and slaps him on the back! Mom tells them to go to sleep, and that they're glad Guido could come visit (notice this is the second time she's firmly asserted that Guido is NOT a permanent resident, just a very welcome guest). Petrie and Guido lie down, and Guido promises to help Petrie practice before they go to sleep.

They DEFINITELY wrote this movie under the impression that Guido would be played by a celebrity comedian, like Adam Sandler. He keeps getting these weird stand-up comedy bits, and this one resolving the conflict between Petrie and his siblings felt particularly pander-y. Except they couldn't get a comedian to voice him so it's not pandering, it's just weird.

The next day, Tria is cooing at the baby, named Tricia (pronounced "Trisha"). Tria asks Cera if she can watch the baby while she leaves for a bit. Cera claims the cute shtick won't work on her, but when Tricia manages to stand up and looks all proud of herself, she wins Cera over. Tricia runs off into the grass, but Cera catches up to her and picks her up by her horn to carry her back. Tricia accidentally pokes Cera in the eye with her own horn!

Tria returns and Cera explains the situation, but Tria completely ignores Cera and focuses on praising Tricia for being able to run. While Cera's rubbing her eye, Topsy returns and they both start cooing over Tricia for running. Cera stomps off, angry, and Tricia watches her leave with concern.

Littlefoot and Ducky are eating leaves off a bush and talking about Guido's decision to live with Petrie. Ducky doesn't get why you'd choose to be a Flyer over a Swimmer, and while she's distracted, Spike walks up and eats the cluster of leaves in front of her. She gets mad at him (add it to the list), but then the ground starts shaking! It's just Cera, who runs in like a bat out of hell, trampling the bush! She asks where Ducky is, but Ducky's pinned under the bush. Littlefoot asks what's wrong and Cera starts ranting and stomping about her parents ignoring her, then Ducky asks her to move. She does.

Littlefoot: "Hey, listen. At least your dad's with you! And Tria seems really nice."

Good reference to Bron (interesting that Littlefoot seems to have some resentment there). Cera admits that's true, and that transitions into song 2 of the movie: Things Change.

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Sorry about the audio issue in the last third, that's not in the movie.

Aw man, I want to like this song. The singing is good, the lyrics are decent, and the message is great. Change is inevitable, it changes you without knowing it, and sometimes change is good. The visual metaphors are also good, with the dandelion, cloud shadow, reflection, frog family, and the butterflies emerging.

But oof, that animation. They STILL haven't gotten the hang of that walking-forward singing animation in a way that doesn't look fucked up. The dandelion blowing away looks terrible. Cera's eyes are BLUE for a section, and overall the art is weird and off. The animation issues are really distracting and actually hurt my overall score. Not too much, they drop the song from an 8/10 to a 7/10. But still.

At night, Guido is massaging Petrie's shoulders and hyping him up.

Guido: "Okay, now remember Petrie, you can do anything they can do, alright? I-its just a matter of doing it at the same time!"

Petrie: "Uh, yeah, same time."

Guido: "So, so just keep telling yourself, eh... ooh ooh: 'I fly along with all the rest, I'm going to pass my flying test!' Go- go ahead and say it!"

Petrie: "Me fly along with all the rest, me gonna pass the Flyer test! Like that?"

Guido: "Ehh, yeah, close enough."

Guido pats Petrie's head and his siblings set off. Petrie joins them in formation and Guido and Petrie's mom both let out one single tear of pride (okay, that's a good bit of visual comedy). They fly in formation without issue while triumphant "air force" music plays.

Then we get a montage of time passing. At night, Cera's family is sleeping, and she looks fondly at her baby sister. In daytime, Petrie's family are resting to eat in a tree, and Petrie throws a leaf down to Guido. He tries to bite the leaf, but then spits it out. Then he sees a worm on the leaf and eats that happily, grossing out some of Petrie's siblings. Cera plays with Tricia and bonds with her, then when Tria comes over, Cera hides behind a log. Everyone watches Petrie practicing and Guido runs over him before crashing into a log. Night, Tria wakes up and briefly panics when Tricia is gone, only to see her and Cera sleeping together.

I'm surprised the worm thing hadn't come up yet, Guido's a Microraptor, he's technically a Sharptooth.

The montage ends with Petrie and his siblings coming in for a landing, all in synch, one-by-one. They all celebrate what a good job they all did, including Petrie. The Day of the Flyers is tomorrow, so their mom tells them to get some sleep for the big day. Guido, feeling like he has nothing more to offer, stays behind, but some of the kids run back to pull him with them.

That night, everyone is sleeping in the nest, but Guido stands up and starts sleepwalking. He steps on Petrie, waking him up, and then sleepwalks out of the nest. Worried, Petrie runs to the edge but then is surprised to see Guido walking far away from the nest, not splatted on the ground at the base.

Petrie flies after Guido and starts following and calling for him. Littlefoot overhears Petrie's calls and wakes up to follow them. He asks Petrie what's happening and freaks Petrie out. They lose track of Guido briefly and then see him much further away, over a ledge.

Ducky wakes up from Spike's tossing, but then she gasps!

Good visual comedy, a dramatic shot of Guido walking forward menacingly over Spike's back, framed by the moon. I feel like this is a reference to some alien movie, but I can't quite remember which. Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind?

So, sleepwalking is definitely how Guido got to the Great Valley, though his amnesia is still in question.

Guido steps on Ducky's head to move on and then Petrie and Littlefoot walk up and tell her what's going on. Ducky is eager to go, and she wakes up Spike. Apparently Spike usually wakes up around this time of night anyway for a midnight snack (really? that hasn't been in any of the other movies). As they follow, Ducky explains her eagerness.

Ducky: "I know all about sleepwalking. My auntie sleepswims, and my momma says 'do not ever, never wake her up when she is doing it'."

Littlefoot: "Why not?"

Ducky: "That I do not know. But my momma is always right."

Littlefoot: "Then I guess we better not let him wake up."

Ducky: *gasp* "I will go get Cera! If we have an adventure and she is not here, she will be SO mad! And I do not like it when Cera gets mad, no no no!"

Ducky peels off from the group. A few things to note here, funny they're acknowledging Cera not liking when she's left out of an adventure, that was a big part of 10. We've never met Ducky's aunt, but I kinda want to. Also, there are a bunch of old folk tales about why you shouldn't wake sleepwalkers, that they could have a heart attack or suffer brain damage. That's all nonsense. You still shouldn't wake them, but it's just because they'll be very startled, maybe lashing out or tripping and faling over. Basically like waking up a person normally, but upright.

Later, Cera has joined them, and she's annoyed Ducky woke her up just to walk all over the Valley watching Guido walk all over the Valley. Guido sleepwalks toward a creek, and to prevent him from drowning, The Gang line up in the water for him to walk across them.

Guido walks toward a lava pit, but The Gang line up so that he walks up Littlefoot's tail, off Littlefoot's head to Cera's tail, then off Cera's head to Spike's tail, then off Spike's head, successfully... diverting him slightly to the right, around the lava pit. Seems like they could have just made him turn around. Guido keeps sleepwalking upward and Cera asks Ducky what will happen if they wake him up. Ducky's not sure, just something terrible.

Guido reaches the top of the mountain and there's a ravine on the other side. Littlefoot sees a huge fallen tree and directs The Gang to push it to make a bridge to cross, but it's covered in long branches, meaning they can only push it, not roll it. It starts rolling and scoops up all the kids in the branches before flying through the air off a ramp and landing conveniently in the exact right place of the ravine for Guido to walk across. After Guido passes, Petrie flies up to keep an eye on him while the rest try to climb up.

The Gang struggle to climb up, but their movement destabilizes the tree and it starts sinking! The kids scramble to cross before it falls and Littlefoot needs to do a big slow-motion leap to reach the edge as it falls out from under him! They pull him up and collapse in a heap, panting for air.

I wonder if this is the same ravine they easily jumped over at the start of 2.

Petrie: "Okay, you guys lie around enough already, Guido still walkin'!"

Cera: "One more word and you won't be walking! Not for a long time!

Petrie (nervous): "Hehehe, me only kidding! Take your time! 'Sides, me think he pretty safe now!"

Petrie looks over and screams, Guido has turned around and is sleepwalking back to the cliff! He clambers and flies forward, trying to catch him, but he's too late, Guido falls. And then something that should have been obvious but they seriously play as a huge twist happens. Guido spreads his wings and starts sleep-flying!

He flies up over them and they gaze upward, awestruck.

Cera: "Hey, you know what I just realized?"

Littlefoot: "What?"

Cera (angry): "We didn't have to do that whole tree thing after all!"

Littlefoot: "Hehe, sorry."

Petrie notices that Guido's flying over the Great Wall into the Mysterious Beyond. He wants to go after him, but Littlefoot reminds him that The Day of the Flyers is tomorrow, he might not make it in time. Petrie thinks it over, but decides saving a friend is most important.

Littlefoot: "We'll be right behind you!"

Cera: "We will?" *he glares at her* "Okay, okay, we will."

I feel like the series has been pretty inconsistent on Littlefoot and Cera's early characterization of "Littlefoot hesitates to start things and then has determination to finish them" and "Cera rushes into things but then hesitates when things get tough" recently, but this is a decent moment to show that. If we're counting this as "the point things get tough".

Guido glides into the Mysterious Beyond and crashes, then wakes up. He asks what's going on, and assumes this is a prank. Apparently there were no terrible consequences for Guido waking up while sleepwalking, so this whole thing was pointless. Then the "ground" starts shaking. Then it stands up.

Oh, cool, a Spinosaurus! Not anywhere near the water, so clearly this 2006 movie hadn't quite gotten the memo on them being semi-aquatic, like crocodiles. But still, one of my all-time favorite dinosaurs getting focus is nice!

Guido falls off and tries to run but then the Spinosaurus bites down! Okay, it ate him, adventure's over, Guido's dead, let's go back home! No, obviously he's not dead. He is inside the Spino's mouth, though, and he tickles its mouth from the inside with a feather, making the Spino laugh until he can jump out.

That was really fucking stupid.

Guido tries to shake off the saliva then runs for it, and the Spinosaurus gives chase! It's just about to catch him when Petrie swoops in to save him, grabbing Guido and flying up with him!

That's impressive, Petrie has consistently struggled to carry Ducky, and Guido's bigger than her. Then again, Petrie has also gotten a LOT of flying exercise recently, and Guido's probably built light, since he's a Flyer, too. Petrie mentions that he's surprisingly heavy, and Guido attributes it to being soaking wet with Sharptooth spit.

The Spino keeps chasing them, and Guido's too heavy for Petrie to get enough height to get out of reach! Petrie's getting tired bobbing and weaving! The rest of The Gang crest the mountain and hear a roar, then look down at the scene.

There's a front-on chasing shot (a lot of those recently), with really bad compositing, they mess up the Petrie and Guido layers, putting Guido's head behind Petrie's legs when Petrie's carrying him by his nape. Petrie asks Guido why he's not flying himself, and Guido retorts that he can't fly! Spike slips and collides with the other kids, knocking them down into the valley! The Spino shifts attention to chase the bigger kids! Petrie bonks the Sharptooth on its head with Guido to try and distract it, but that fails!

Littlefoot leads the gang through a pair of interlacing rocks. Petrie tells Guido to hold out his arms and leg! Wait, and legs? is Guido actually supposed to have the Microraptor's leg-wings, and they just forgot to include them in his design? The Spino roars at them before a bite, and its breath hits Guido's wings, pushing them forward through the rocks and getting the Spino stuck in them!

Petrie lands, exhausted. Littlefoot tells him those rocks won't last forever, and Petrie walks over to rest on his head. There's a weird comedy bit where Guido freaks out at a jaw of sharp teeth but it's actually a Sharptooth skeleton and he apologizes to it for getting mixed up. Cera picks him up, and the Gang run away while the Spino struggles with the rocks and roars in frustration.

Back at the nest, Petrie's mom wakes up and tells her kids to wake up for the big day. While stretching, they notice that Petrie is missing. The Gang have crossed over the Great Wall and are on their way back. Petrie's worried he'll be late, but Littlefoot reassures him that he's got time. Cera tells him to rest up.

Guido: "Oh, this is all my fault! Hey, if you hadn't come to rescue me you'd be home and rested and- and- and ready to go! And I STILL don't understand how I even got there!"

Littlefoot, Petrie, Cera, and Ducky: "YOU CAN FLY!"

Guido: "What? In my sleep?! Okay, how weird do you guys think I am?!"

Cera: "Don't get me started..."

Petrie's siblings are worried what they're going to do without Petrie, and their mom says they'll have to go without him. The Gang have reached the lava pool on the way back, and Petrie thinks it might be better this way if he misses it. Cera insists he's a great Flyer, and Ducky says he flies like nobody else. Petrie points out that's the problem, repeating that the whole point of the Day of Flyers is to be like everybody else. Guido chimes in.

Guido: "But but but-but maybe that's not the problem, m-maybe it's the solution! Eh look, if there's one thing I've had to learn it's that you can't worry about being like everybody else! You just have to be yourself. Just be Petrie, and you'll be fine!"

Where did this revelation come from? Guido was asleep most of the previous scenes, he hasn't even flown yet. The last time he was conscious, he was cheering and celebrating Petrie successfully flying in formation!

Petrie agrees, and they hear a screech. The three judges are flying in, meaning it's just about to start! Littlefoot tells Petrie to go now, they'll catch up in time to cheer for him.

Why are there judges? I thought this was like a bar mitzvah or quinceañera, not a competition.

Tricia also hears the judges screech and she follows them, while Tria and Topsy are still asleep. They take positions on a cliff and Petrie's mom talks to her kids about how they'll have to make due without Petrie. Petrie flies in, demanding to know who said he's not here! His siblings ask where he was and then impress the importance of flying like them. He says that he'll fly like him, and their mom seems intrigued before asserting he'll do fine. The sun rises, and with it, tons of young Flyers in the Valley take to the air.

I didn't know there were that many Flyers in the Great Valley. Usually, when we see crowd shots, it's just Petrie's family and one or two others.

Petrie's family takes off, too, and take formation. The Gang trudge back, very sleepy, but then they see all the Flyers in the sky and wonder which one's Petrie. The Gang cross the creek from before over some rocks, while Tricia plays nearby, staring upward. She trips on a root and almost starts crying, but then a dragonfly distracts her and she chases it.

Petrie's mom watches her children fly in formation with concern, as the judges look on.

I like their designs.

Petrie chants to himself.

Petrie (nervously): "Me fly along with all the rest, me gonna pass the flying test." *he gets more confident* "Me fly real good, me fly okay, me gonna do it Petrie's way!" *more confident* "Me fly real good, me fly okay, me gonna do it Petrie's way!!"

He flies out of formation high above the rest, doing a spin, then returns to the group without hitting them. They're still annoyed at him for messing around. Their mom wonders what he's up to. Littlefoot sees him and Ducky wonders what he's doing. He's doing figure-8 loops around the front of the V-formation, before returning to it seamlessly! Guido climbs up on a tree for a closer look.

When Petrie returns, his antics inspire one of his siblings to break from the group, too. They fly up and spin around like a top, and Petrie praises them when they return. Petrie does another loop, and one-by-one, each of Petrie's siblings break from formation to do one little trick, then return to their spot in formation, keeping the practiced synchronicity while adding spontaneity in controlled bursts! This leads into song 3 of the movie: Flip, Flap, and Fly.

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...goddammit, I am not immune to big showstopper musical numbers. This song rules! The closest comparison point I can think of is You Can't Stop The Beat from Hairspray, and that's high praise. In contrast to Things Change, the animation here is absolutely ridiculously good, constantly moving and shifting and escalating to the big finale!

The lyrics are a little repetitive, but there are enough breaks and solos to keep it feeling fresh. Especially with the judges, I'm so glad the judges weren't sticks in the mud, they're actually fun and encouraging. Which makes sense, they "judge" a children's rite of passage ceremony. It's not a serious competition, and it makes sense they'd be friendly and good with kids.

And the singing is great. Especially with the judges adding low and high pitched elements, they really add depth to the song's soundscape. And the message is great, Guido and the judges especially do a good job with their verses.

I was a bit concerned for the egg, but the song kept coming back to it as a throughline and the resolution there was pretty great with it hatching mid-song.

I'm not really a fan of Mo and the Tinysauruses, and while their cameos are short and fun, they're also confusing. The path from the Great Valley to Big Water involved like two waterfalls and a huge rock, how is Mo here? Also, a huge plot point of the last movie was that the Tinysaurus cave system was destroyed, how were they able to fly through it?

Whatever, that's a nitpick, the song is still fantastic.

As you can see, the song ends on Tricia. She's entranced by all the pretty Flyers in the sky. So entranced, that she doesn't look where she's going and falls into the river! She cries and screams as the current takes her downhill! Her cries wake up Tria and Topsy, who are still asleep even though they were clearly awake and watching during the song (bad continuity). The Gang hear her crying too, and Cera recognizes her little sister's voice and run off.

From his perch in the tree, Guido can see Tricia in the river. He wishes there was something he could do! He flashes back to everyone yelling at him that he can fly, and decides there's only one way to find out, before jumping out of the tree! He flails wildly before the wind catches his wings and he starts gliding. Petrie also hears Tricia crying and splits off from the group to dive down, not caring about finishing the show!

Guido dives down and grabs Tricia out of the water!... using his arms. Which have his wings on them that he needs to fly (a shame he doesn't have wings on his legs like a Microraptor should). He and Tricia immediately fall back in the water! They're being pulled by the current toward a massive waterfall! Guido tries to paddle with one arm, but it's not enough!

Right as they go over the ledge, Petrie dives down and grabs Guido's arm! He's strong enough to fly with both of them! Just barely! And he's slowly descending! So not quite strong enough! He yells for help and his siblings fly down to help, grabbing onto his wings in a V-formation and pulling up together!

You know, I think it'd be more effective if they were just grabbing different parts of Guido and Tricia and lifting, instead of putting all that stress on Petrie's shoulders.

Littlefoot and Cera run up to the bank of the river, and Tricia is so excited to see Cera that she accidentally wriggles out of Guido's arm! She falls, screaming, as Tria and Topsy also run up and gasp in horror! Cera manages to catch her on her face!

Tria celebrates that Tricia is safe and Topsy celebrates that Cera is a hero. Guido, Petrie, and all of Petrie's siblings float down to a satisfied and tired heap on the ground. Topsy thanks Petrie and Guido for saving Tricia. Guido puts his foot in his mouth.

Guido: "Well and-and thank you very much eh-huh, big guy! Eh, I mean, eh, I don't mean that you're, you know, like fat big, I mean that you're big, you're tall, I mean, well of course anybody is taller than me, you in particular, I mean hey, hey you got a nosebleed 'cause look how big you are, I mean ah-heh-heh, I- I really think I'd better go away, buh-bye, big gu- sir, oh!"

Guido exits stage right. Littlefoot points out that Petrie and his family didn't finish the Day of the Flyers, meaning they'll have to do it again. They're okay with that, since it was fun. Petrie's mom comes down and Petrie apologizes, but she's proud of them for knowing what's really important. And then she says that the Day of the Flyers will never be the same again, as the camera pulls back on a huge cloud of Flyer kids playing and swooping around in the sky!

Tricia gets distracted by a butterfly and follows it for a little bit before walking straight up to Cera.

Tricia: "Cewa!"

Her big sister and parents gasps with joy, and Cera nuzzles her.

The camera pulls out as the narrator explains that many changes occurred today and many more would come. Change is a part of life.

The end credits song is just an instrumental version of Flip, Flap, and Fly, not particularly noteworthy.

This was a bad movie that could have been great if it had a few more writing passes.

Like, I can't believe the Spinosaurus didn't come back, especially after Littlefoot literally said it would get out. And then the climax is based around Tricia being washed down a river and Spinosaurus is semi-aquatic, that should literally write itself!

The Spinosaurus is the most nothing Sharptooth encounter in the whole franchise. More nothing than the Sharptooth in 8, at least that Sharptooth got multiple scenes. This just gets one. Absolute waste of a Spinosaurus!

Similar to 11 and 8, this is a film where a huge part of the premise just DOESN'T WORK. Specifically, here it's no-one realizing Guido is a Flyer even though they've met Ichy before.

The whole "Guido sleepwalking" thing, despite being foreshadowed with his first appearance, feels like a cheap plot device to pad for time. It takes up 20 whole minutes of the film and accomplishes very little aside from filling the "adventure, crossing a chasm, Mysterious Beyond, and Sharptooth" quota. And they never answer the question of Guido's amnesia, they never go into his backstory. He just sleepflew here one day and that's it.

Overall, Guido is annoying, shallow, and offensive in the Jewish stereotype he embodies. If he wasn't a stereotype, he'd still be really annoying with how they obviously meant to cast a famous stand-up comedian to play him but couldn't get anyone. But because he's a walking stereotype, that makes him so much worse. He has good moments but they're few and far between, outweighed heavily by his bad and cringey moments.

On the other hand, the other new character: Tricia, is great. She's not NEARLY as annoying as Dana and Dinah. She occasionally gets into trouble, but it's usually very mild trouble, she doesn't mean to, and she's sensitive to when others are angry. She's also genuinely adorable, Nika Futterman did a fantastic job with the baby noises, and that little "Cewa" warmed my heart. Cera barely tolerated Dana and Dinah, but you can feel how much she loves Tricia.

Something I was disappointed by: they didn't even MENTION Pterano! With how Petrie-focused this film is, they should have at least mentioned him, considering how close he and Petrie were. Like maybe have Petrie's mom make a comment that Petrie is very similar to Pterano, they're both individualists who stand out from the crowd, and Pterano had issues with his Day of the Flyers, too. Something like that.

Pros: The Universal logo fake-out. One song is good, another is fantastic. Tricia is great. Petrie and Cera were both great in their own plots.

Cons: Guido offends me. Guido is unfunny, despite constantly making jokes. Guido's sleepwalking wasted 20 minutes. What Petrie's issue is, exactly, is inconsistent. Very bad continuity. Terrible Sharptooth, waste of a Spinosaurus. One song is bad. The writing for the first half is hackneyed and sitcom-y. The climax is tacked-on.

Score: This is a movie with highs and lows. But, frankly, it's a lot more lows than highs. And while some highs are REALLY high, some lows are REALLY low. I'm giving this one a 3/10, with a huge asterisk that it has some genuine 8-9/10 high moments.

The Land Before Time: 8/10 (hypothetical uncut version: 9/10)

The Great Valley Adventure: 8/10

The Time of the Great Giving: 7/10

Journey Through The Mists: 7/10

The Mysterious Island: 9/10

The Secret of Saurus Rock: 2/10

The Stone of Cold Fire: 10/10

The Big Freeze: 6/10

Journey To Big Water: 4/10

The Great Longneck Migration: 9/10

Invasion of the Tinysauruses: 2/10

The Great Day of the Flyers: 3/10

#the land before time #PMC watches TLBT #the land before time xii: the great day of the flyers #land before time

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secretaryofpuppetry · 3 months ago

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OKOK, I've been cooking up a BIG OL’ post all about my a very first Eltingville Club OC, Jonesy Jabbor! Below is a CRAP ton of different information about them, but I'll keep the basics up here. Thank you so ANYONE that takes the time to read; I've grown extremely passionate and attached towards this character, so I always love talking about her!

FULL NAME: Jonesy Jett Jabbor

FAN AFFILIATION: Eltingville Comic Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror And Role-Playing Club Member

MEMBER #006

Secretary of Puppetry

FAVORITE SHIT:

The Muppets, Fanfiction, Leather Face, Jim Henson, Care Bears, Unicorns, Slasher Flicks, Miffy, Fraggle Rock, C-3PO, Tom & Jerry, The Dark Crystal, Kirby, Marvin The Martian, Animaniacs, Blind Box Toys, Harley Quinn, Plush Collectibles, Folk Punk, Fairies

DOB: 03/03/1983 ♓

QUEER FACTS: genderfuild, pansexual/panromantic, they/she pronouns

FAV COLOR: pink

FAV FOODS: loaded nachos, jalapeno poppers, smoothies, boba tea, ice cream, chocolate chip cookies

FAV SEASON: summer

FAV MOVIE: The Muppets Take Manhattan

FAV VIDEO GAME: Yoshi's Island

FAV MUSICAN/BAND: Harley Poe

FAV FLOWERS: Peonies, Forget-Me-Nots, Baby's Breath, & Daffodils

• Jonesy is a student at Eltingville High School, works part-time at a local bakery, and is the official 6th member of the Eltingville Comic Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror And Role-Playing Club: they act as the club’s Secretary of Puppetry.

• Jonesy's bread n' butter in terms of fandom interests is any media that uses puppetry! They have consumed any and all media relating to The Muppets, along with Jim Henson's others works, and will actively seek out any media with puppetry. (even if it's geared towards a younger demographic). This has caused them to become a walking muppets encyclopedia of sorts, and will take any opportunity to discuss those talking pigs and frogs. Their favorite Muppet movie is The Muppets Take Manhattan, and their favorite muppet is Rowlf the Dog.

• Besides puppetry media, Jonesy also has a wide interest of other nerdy media. They mainly have a fondness for cartoons (either cutesy media like Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, or more classic slapstick cartoons such as Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry) and horror films (mainly slasher flicks such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Child's Play). Jonesy also really enjoys Batman related media, animated fantasy films (The Last Unicorn, most Studio Ghibli films), and is already very familiar with the Star Wars franchise (it's her brother's special interest) - so they are able to connect and click with the other members of the club just from shared interests to start.

• Jonesy first met the club members while they were attending middle school as preteens - it begun when Jonesy first became official lab partners with Jerry in science class, and they both found out they had a shared interest with Studio Ghibli and other niche interests. Jonesy then proceeded to seat themselves at the lunch table Jerry shared with Bill, Josh, Pete, and Rex (a friend’s eltingville club OC), since she had no one else to sit with at lunch. Bill relented on kicking this friend of Jerry’s out from theie table when Jonesy offered their full box of cosmic brownies to the group, and promised they would say out of their game of MTG.

• Jonesy was able to secure their spot as a secretary of puppetry for a multitude of reasons; almost unlimited discounted/leftover pastries from their job, a consistent flow of their own money they could use for any of the clubs endeavors, playing on the shared interests of the other other members just to get on their sides. But what ultimately landed their spot was winning a trivia-off between themself and Pete (he was randomly selected from the boys literally drawings straws). Jonesy lucked out since she was already knowledgeable on horror related trivia, so their fight went back and forth about facts mainly related to horror, along with pops of other somewhat obscure fandom lores.

• Jonesy fought her way to the nail into becoming a club member once she had realized the boys had formed their own club surrounding fandom together; Jonesy barely had any other friends outside of the five boys, and her need to strengthen the friendship with them bordered on desperation. That meant they would pull out ALL the stops just to get in. And ultimately... her plan worked.

• What was the question that made Pete stumble you may ask? “Who was the first Muppet to become popular nationwide?” - Pete answered with an overly confident ‘Kermit the Frog...’ when it was actually Rowlf the Dog. Cue the hilarious embarrassment and rage from both Bill and Pete respectively.

• Afterwards, Jonesy continues to be a very active member in the Eltingville Club, which ultimately leads to them bonding and forming a friendship with the rest of the club. Jonesy doesn't really care to make any other friends outside of the guys; despite all the toxicity and chaos within the group, Jonesy genuinely feels an earnest connection between all of them, and deeply treasures the moments of peace and camaraderie among all six of them.

• Jonesy lives in an apartment with her single mother (Sandy), and elder brother (Phillip). Jonesy and Phillip's father (Eric) is not in the picture, as their parents got a divorce when they were both toddlers. They used to visit their father every other weekend, but stopped during their preteen years due to Eric's explosive behavior from excessive drinking/alcoholism. Jonesy's home life it's not the most stable environment. They get into constant fights with her mother, as Sandy is also an alcoholic and constantly has drinking/smoking (of the Mary Jane variety) buddies over for hangouts that can turn into parties at the drop of a dime. Jonesy does have a slightly better and closer relationship with Phil; they bond over Star Wars, cartoons, movies and comics.

• In terms of Jonesy's academics, the subject is something they've always struggled with. They are a special ed student and has a resource class, as they have been officially diagnosed with a learning disability. Jonesy mainly struggles with reading, spelling, and mathematics, but otherwise is a decent enough student. Their grades are mostly Bs and Cs, along with the occasionally A (mainly either from English or Art classes), but they often fail science or history classes. They also have a bad habit of procrastinating, failing to show their mom her report card, and getting into trouble due to not turning in homework or larger projects. Overall, school is mainly stressful for Jonesy, and they only look forward to it due to favorite classes and being able to see the club members during lunch and other classes.

• Jonesy was able to pick up a job at a small, local bakery due with some help from their mom, as Sandy is close friends with the owner of the establishment. Jonesy mainly works under the customer service side of things; working as a cashier, speaking directly to customers, and giving the customers their goods. They'll also help with baking larger goods in the back such as cookies or breads. Jonesy normally work 3 days a week (Mon, Wednes, and Fri after school), and normally picks up extra shifts during the holidays or busier weeks. They're able to keep all the money they make it to themselves... but struggle with saving, as most teenagers do. Normally Jonesy will end up blowing their paycheck on snacks, fandom related collectibles, or lending their friends money for club or hang out related shenanigans.

• Jonesy is the type of person to feel their emotions very quickly and deeply; making her come across as someone that can be rather eccentric and intense when they're not being shy. Around those she trust, Jonesy often comes across rather ditzy but curious, very bubbly and affectionate, occasionally rowdy and boisterous, and even nurturing and gentler during quieter moments. Jonesy also has people pleaser tendencies, so they often want to be helpful, keep some semblance of peace during squabbles, and DEEPLY treasures any compliments or recognition they get from loved ones (aka the club members). Jonesy can also be very sensitive and has the tendencies to take things personally when deeply hurt, hold grudges and has difficulty forgiving people. But when you gain Jonesy's admiration and trust, it'll take A LOT for them to fully become upset with you, and she can often come across as clingy and almost obsessive when having intense feelings (romantic and/or platonic) for someone; especially if plans get canceled they go too long without seeing any of her friends.

• Jonesy is a very artistic and crafty person; they naturally enjoy doing more artistic hobbies where they can let their ideas bloom and form. Their most unique skill under the types of art they engage in is puppet making; they've created several Muppet centric puppets out of felt, foam, and a variety of other materials to experiment with shapes, colors, and expressions. Jonesy also enjoys drawing, coloring books, sticker collecting, scrapbooking, journaling, and occasionally writing and poetry. They also love getting creative in the kitchen; mainly preferring to bake as a teenager and making different types of cookies and cupcakes.

Relationships w/ Club Members:

• Bill: Despite the constant bickering and obnoxious back and forth between the two, Jonesy does deeply care about Bill just as much as the other club members. Honestly, they actually hold a lot of sympathy towards Bill due to them both coming from broken and dysfunctional homes with alcoholic parents. They have been several occasions where Jonesy has let Bill stay at their place if he got into a nasty spat with his mom, and in turn, Bill eventually returns the favor by offering the same refuge for Jonesy. Overall, Bill is secretly happy he allowed Jonesy to be a member of the club in the first place; he'll never admit how secure and safe of Jonesy can make him feel, but keeping her around despite all of their little fights says enough.

• Josh: Jonesy would consider Josh her best friend, and they share the closest relationship with him out of all the other members of the club. They hold a lot of sympathy, understanding, and respect towards Josh; often taking his side if Bill or the others are going to far with the bullying or teasing, ESPECIALLY towards his weight. Jonesy also holds a crush towards Josh after only a year of knowing him, but chooses not to act on those feelings for the time being; mainly due to nervousness and inexperience towards the fields of dating. Josh also has feelings for Jonesy, but has a fear of rejection and believes his feelings would not be reciprocated. Thankfully, the two of them still get along very well and will often hang out with each other one on one outside of the club (mainly movie marathons at Josh's house where they can binge Star Trek and show each other their different collections, and usually fall asleep... cuddling...). But to put it bluntly, these two are very attached to each other without a doubt. Josh has been very protective and kind towards Jonesy since day one, and can't really imagine his life without her during his teenage years.

• Pete: Jonesy and Pete get along extremely well with one another; both in terms of shared interests and having the same amount of high energy on their good days. Even when they argue, they'll patch things up rather quickly. They both listen to ICP together and will borrow each other's ICP CDs (along with some other music, mainly different genres of rock and metal), and Jonesy has a surprisingly high tolerance towards gore and violence, so Pete has someone to watch more gnarly horror flicks with who won't get squeamish. Outside of that, Jonesy is very caring and helpful towards Pete and always keeping an eye out for him, since they know it can be rough for him at home. In turn, Pete is extremely protective towards Jonesy and won't hesitate to sucker punch someone if someone even gives Jonesy a slight glare. They both also have feelings towards each other, but of course, they're both too nervous to act upon them.

• Jerry: Jonesy vibes very well with Jerry, as he was the first member of the club they met before meeting the rest of them. The both clicked right away just in science class alone and work well with each other in terms of completing tasks and projects (whether it's school work, cooking, planning on ideas for campaigns, ect). They both also love watching Studio Ghibli films together, and Jerry likes having someone that won't judge, and actually encourages, him for the couple plushies he does own. Jonesy has no qualms with calling out Jerry for his own negative behaviors, but they do appreciate how he attempts to be more the sensible one in the group, and just wishes he had a bigger backbone. Jerry deeply respects Jonesy and is always surprised as someone as funny, witty, and dare he think... beautiful as them would even bother hanging out with him and the rest of the club in the first place.

• Rex: These two are like two peas in a pod! Jonesy and Rex are able to easily goof off and bounce off each other, while also knowing how to keep things somewhat stable and calm within the group. They've also hung out with each other outside of the group on multiple occasions; often watching anime together, cook up recipes they want to try, have lingy discussions about reptiles and other animals, or even confide in each other over their crushes... They both balance each other very nicely. Jonesy is able to pull Rex back a bit if his energy or anxiety is too high, while Rex can do vice versa to Jonesy AND encourage them to crack out of her shell a little bit. Jonesy adores Rex to bits, and is happy to have a friend they can be physically affectionate with. Rex honestly feels the same way; the two of them being very protective and supportive of each other.

Extra Facts, Quriks, n’ Gags:

there are two ways to know if Jonesy is in a room. hearing the jingling and clacking of multiple keychains, or suddenly smelling a heavy, bold scent of strawberries; either sugared strawberries, or strawberry shortcake

stutters when they're nervous or overly excited

bites on their nails when bored or nervous

has a Jim Henson shrine in their bedroom

ALSO get swirly eyes like Josh does whenever they feel extreme emotions

has a shopping addiction, especially towards blind box figures/toys

they have a habit of falling asleep very easily; if they're over any of the club members’ bedrooms and on their bed, they're out like a light

spins and twirls around as a stim when they're happy and/or just listening to music

has a mini first aid kit on them at ALL times

they listen to their music extremely loudly. you can hear whatever they're listening to even while they're wearing their headphones

has a habit of snapping their fingers over and over when trying to think of or remember something

if you get a REALLY good laugh out of them, wheezing and snorting will be involved

sings in the shower AND when they believe they're alone; if they're listening to music while in the kitchen, they're probably also pacing around and dancing (gets EXTREMELY embarrassed if caught)

loves walking and walks everywhere; their habit of going on short 10 to 15 minute walks multiple times a day has gotten them compared to a dog

addicted to maple syrup, honey, and sweets in general; they keep a bottle of honey in their nightstand

(credit to @chernobylchan for the artwork used in the mood board! full pieces below, n’ what I would consider to be Pre Epilogue Jonesy's official reference for design/colors<3)

#the eltingville club #welcome to eltingville #eltingville club #eltingville oc

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