Dialogue Smarts [Dollshe Arsene, Bernard, Saint mod]

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Gailan: "That's the chapter done. Ready for your test?"

Lysander: "..."

Gailan: "... Ly. You're zoning out again."





Lysander: "'Zoning out', 'in the zone'... what's the difference, really?"





Lysander: "I mean, what is 'ready', anyway? Are we ever truly 'ready'?"

Gailan: "..."





Lysander: "It's like--look at this. Empty. Spent. Exhausted. Is it 'ready' for something, or is it just content, fulfilled by just drifting with the wind..."

Gailan: "... dum-dum."

Lysander: "... what?"





Gailan: "Dum-Dum?





Lysander: "You know what? Everyone says you're nice. You're not nice."





Gailan: "Just trying to help."

Lysander: *sigh* "I know, I know... one more wrong step and it's a one-way ticket back to podunk, 'eh'."





Lysander: "I might as well be from Mars when every book is like a different language... I dunno if I belong here, G. I really don't."

Gailan: "You do realize who you're talking to. The 'patron saint' of sore thumbs, as you put it."





Lysander: "Bah, it's one thing to be lame at a party. It's another to waste tens of thousands of dollars 'finding myself'. Everyone back home knows what I shipped off to 'find', and it'd make Grandma Rosie's hair curl."

Gailan: "Well, you've enjoyed your share of extracurriculars, and now you're a sophomore, and it's time to buckle in. I promised to help you, Ly, and so I shall."





Gailan: "All I need you to do is focus."

Lysander: "... How can I be expected to focus..."





Lysander: "With this schmucknutt taking the absolute piss? Tabarnak, 'Riah, at least look the part!"

Gailan: "He's listening to a lecture."

Lysander: "He's listening to Led Zeppelin, are you deaf?"





Gailan: "He's also a senior. I'd advise against comparing GPAs with anyone at this point, Ly. Sit down."

 

Lysander: "Tsschh..."

Gailan: "Just finish the page to demonstrate your understanding of the concept."

Lysander: "Yeah, yeah..."





Lysander: "..."

Gailan: "You may find your brain function improved if you stop holding your breath."

Lysander: "SHH."





Lysander: "18, 19, 20, carry the two..."

Gailan: "... You should not be carrying any twos."

Lysander: *nervous groan*





♫ "... Try to tell you baby, what you tryin' to do? Tryin' to love me, baby... and love some other men too, bring it on home..." ♫





Lysander: "Done! I did it!"

Gailan: "So you have."





Lysander: "So simple. I just tapped into my inner genius. Huh. Maybe I'm good at math after all. Maybe I should change my major."

Gailan: "First things first."





Gailan: "Smarties for smarties."

Lysander: "Ha-HAH!"

 

Lysander: "Ahhh, the fruit of my labour--chocorifical! None for you, 'Riah, sorry."

Gailan: "... hmm."





Lysander: "Hold on, what the flap? These aren't Smarties."

Uriah: *grunt?*





Lysander: "H-hey, you can't just-- he didn't even--!"





Gailan: "There you are. 20%. Nothing to be ashamed of, but we're starting over. Let's go. For another roll."

Lysander: "Of sour chalk? No! America sucks! You can't even get candy right!"

Gailan: *sigh* "Dum-dums or Airheads, then, whatever you feel suits best."





Lysander: "But what's the point if he gets one too? If I can't lord it over him, why even--"

Gailan: "I didn't want to do this, Ly... but Uriah finished this class with a 97%."





Lysander: "Whaaaat? NO! I'll say it again--you are not nice!"

Gailan: "I told you you'd regret making this about him."





Lysander: *groan*

Gailan: "There, there. A promise is a promise. You'll graduate even if someone must die."

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THE END​

 

@ChilmarkGryphon I tried to go for 'movie', I'm so glad you think so. I put a filter over everything thinking it might help. The rules I keep in the back of my head are to try to change angles for every shot unless it's an intentional comparison of two, get the camera at or below the dolls' eye level just like you'd talk to a real person, and zoom in/crop as much as I possibly can without losing information (which then forces me to be cognizant of sight lines...) These and a change of pose in every shot, even if it's minor, helps to the realism, I think... but I am still learning constantly and if I can improve 0.3% with each chapter then I am THRILLED, lol. For some future installments I'll need to play to a more dreamy and indistinct feeling and I'm still trying to figure out how best to do that.

@JL_The_Lion Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment!

@Quiet and Insane Happy to have made you feel nostalgic. Sounds like you have a lot of great memories. It's a pretty unique season of life. Whenever my husband and I get to talking about school and friends, we conclude it's good we didn't know each other in person back in, say, high school, because we would have hated each other. He was a slacker and a jerk to everyone and slept and drank in class and destroyed everything he touched, and I was just coming off being homeschooled so I was an extremely socially self-conscious little cinnamon roll hyperfixed on pleasing my teachers. We were pen pals back then, though, and, well, now I'm rambling... nostalgia is a hell of a drug. I love to hear stories from peoples' school days, so don't hold back.

The thing about the eyes is that now I've started doing it, there's no way I could stop. The effect is nice but it does mean I spend a lot of time futzing with wigs.

Aww, thank you, @kelpie! It was nice to get Gailan out again now that he has more clothes. I'm sure my dialogue sounds odd to native English speakers too, don't worry. Lysander especially is supposed to come across as tangential and scattered.

The story behind the textbooks is that I searched "textbook cover scans" and printed whatever came up, but that one seemed too topical not to display, yes.

Yes, all the sweets are real brands. However, in the USA 'Smarties' are small chalky pastel sugar disks, and in Canada 'Smarties' are candy-coated chocolate like M&Ms. American 'Smarties' are sold as 'Rockets' in Canada, same packaging except for the text... miniature culture shocks for Ly, I suppose, for something as nostalgic as childhood candy. Something, something about explaining a joke... but there you have it.

 

@Rosslyn Thank you so much!

@Kidotomy Your comment means a lot and encourages me to do more of these. Have to make the most of the summer weather.

@Errantry Thank you for such high praise. It's super kind of you. Toward the end of the shoot the mosquitos were INSANE, and because I wrote most of this on the fly (lol), I was scrambling for a final shot. That one just worked.

Wow, that is bizarre and kinda sketchy. I have so many questions about that donor. I too would have liked to see that meeting and the looks on peoples' faces.

Clinical Parapsychology does have a nice ring, doesn't it? I had some fun with that one myself. Also, thank you for sending me down the grimy musical rabbithole of heavy swamp blues and giving me the gift that is Justin Johnson. As my fingers are now inconsolably itchy, I am off to make twangly noises on my own guitar.