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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Aug 27, 2016 13:07:26 GMT -5
July 15th, 2016
The calm evening in Void City was briefly punctuated as large crowd filed out of the theater. Many patrons talked amongst themselves, some with excitement, some with contempt, some just lax or mildly amused. As many made their way to their cars or down the street, two moviegoers in particular shuffled along the sidewalk and into the thick of the city in relative silence.
One of those moviegoers was Patrick Rooke, his hands in the pockets of his custom-made Ghostbusters jumpsuit, his eyes on the ground as he trudged homeward with an oddly blank expression. His usual enthusiasm was nowhere to be found, but it wasn't necessarily replaced with anything either. He wasn't disappointed, he wasn't angry, but he certainly wasn't happy or gushing either. He just looked... okay.
Needless to say, even he was confused by his lack of response to what he had just seen.
Um... Pat? It didn't take long for the voices in his head to address this emptiness, starting with a blunt yet surprisingly honest question from Ray. You alright there?
Patrick just shrugged.
Well... Van mulled over his own thoughts for a bit before asking in a lighthearted tone, What did you think?
Again, Patrick could only shrug. It wasn't that he didn't know what to think. It was that he didn't know how to describe what he thought.
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Aug 27, 2016 13:32:40 GMT -5
Walking alongside him was Ace Spade, clad in the pink Ghostbusters tee-shirt that Patrick had given her not long ago. Though she too was walking in silence with her hands in her pockets, Ace's gaze continuously shifted between the road ahead and her boyfriend next to her. She kept shooting him a smile in the hopes that his plucky persona would come to light, but he never looked up at her, leaving her disappointed and increasingly concerned.
She had to wonder what was going on in that head of his, Van and Ray's. Ace was well aware of what a Ghostbusters fanatic Patrick was, but ever since the announcement of the remake, Patrick's feelings had become difficult to pin down. In the months leading up to its release, there had been days where the hype left him confused, frustrated, angry, excited, anxious and completely floored, sometimes all at once. Now that they had finally sat down and watched the movie, to see him have virtually no reaction was absolutely the last thing Ace had expected.
It was only a matter of time before Patrick started babbling about it. At least, that was what anyone who knew him best would've anticipated. So for the sake of breaking the tension, Ace decided that now was as good a time as any to express their thoughts.
"Ahem... Well, uh... That was... something..." she chuckled, staring down at Patrick with an awkward grin. "I dunno. What did you think?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Aug 27, 2016 14:27:38 GMT -5
Finally, Patrick met Ace's eyes, though his hollow expression hardly changed otherwise. He raised his shoulders to shrug again, only pause the motion halfway until his finally slumped forward with a heavy sigh. He had a lot on his mind and he had to start somewhere. Ace surely understood that. She was used to his ramblings.
"It was... okay."
Van and Ray were completely blown away by this stunning and no doubt controversial reaction. OKAY?
"I mean I... didn't hate it, but it was nothing spectacular," Patrick warily explained, waving his hands around as he fumbled for the right words. "There were a decent number of funny jokes, though there were some bad ones too and none really worth quoting. I thought the action scenes were cool and I honestly didn't mind the CGI. Heck, I thought the leading ladies were pretty good, in all fairness. I can honestly say that I got a few good laughs from Patty and Holtzmann. But none of the other characters really stood out, not even the villain. I mean, who even WAS the villain? As far as I can tell, he was just some douchebag. Definitely not as cool as Gozer! And is it just me, or was every dude in that movie either an idiot, a jerk, or both? I have NO IDEA what Chris Hemsworth was going for with that role, but... Odin bless him, I guess he was trying. And then the cameos from the original cast... Okay, not gonna lie, Slimer's cameo was pretty great and I did laugh when Dan Akyroyd quoted his class five full-roaming vapor line , but Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson had nothing to do and... yeah, there was a statue of Harold Ramis, but...!
"Okay... I'm confused about something! Ghostbusters 3 never happened because Bill Murray was never satisfied with the script. I get it, but I always wished that wasn't the case. I wanted a new Ghostbusters movie! I was even on board with the idea of a new generation of Ghostbusters! Like, maybe they could've been trained by the original cast or were just inspired by them after the original Ghostbusters' business went bust or something, I dunno! Sure, I was confused at first, but I don't care that they made the main characters all women! But it felt like the movie wasn't sure if it wanted to stand on its own or be a true spiritual successor! On one hand, they never establish that the original Ghostbusters existed in this universe, but on the other, they go to great lengths to make all these wink-wink nudge-nudge callbacks to the original, and that alone was especially hit or miss! I don't get where this movie fits in with the mythos or even if it's supposed to, and the more I think about it, the more it feels like yet another instance of Hollywood trying to cash in on an established and beloved property!
"WITH THAT SAID, AND I REPEAT, I DID NOT HATE THIS MOVIE. I had fun with it! The things that I enjoyed, I genuinely enjoyed. It didn't feel completely soulless like a lot of Hollywood reboots these days. I can tell that they were trying to make something good, and there were times where it really did work. But for all their effort, the original Ghostbusters is just something that can't be replicated. I love that movie to bits, but it is sort of a product of its time in that it came out at just the right moment, its lead actors were in their prime, and it was a concept no one had ever really done like that before. There was no way they were going to recapture that lightning in a bottle that was the original. Still, for what it is, I feel like they did a decent job with this one. It had its high and low points. It could've been better, but it could've been WAY worse. By no means does it live up to its predecessor, but it's not a total spit in the face of the franchise either. I can see people loving or hating it. But me? I thought... IT WAS JUST... OKAY!"
Having said his peace, Patrick stopped walking and caught his breath, all the while casting a dejected gaze at the pavement.
Wow, Ray murmured. That was way too many words in a row, Pat. You're lucky our brain didn't fry.
Ray...
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Aug 27, 2016 14:44:27 GMT -5
Having expected such a lengthy explanation, Ace kept quiet during Patrick's review, only nodding along every now and then. She certainly wasn't shocked by his reaction to the movie. If anything, it was not at all dissimilar to his conflicted feelings going into it. He had some good points, both from the perspective of a casual moviegoer and hardcore fan, and she found herself agreeing with him wholeheartedly.
By the time he finished talking, they had both slowed to a halt while Patrick regained his composure, giving Ace the opportunity to give her own abridged thoughts as well. "Yeah, man, I getcha. The first movie was hilarious. You've even got me quoting it now and then, ya goof." She chuckled a bit at how much her boyfriend's antics had rubbed off on her.
"But yeah, I thought it was funny in terms of a modern-day comedy. Not laugh-out-loud hilarious, but decently humorous. But the story was very sub-par and... there were a lot of scenes that felt to me like they were either cut down far too much or completely unnecessary. And yeah, I did notice that about the guys. Sure, everyone's up in arms about the female Ghostbusters, like you're either betraying the original or a misogynist, but news flash: sexism goes both ways."
She shrugged and added with a smile. "Regardless, I thought it was okay too. Glad I saw it, but it's definitely not something I'll be clamoring to watch again."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Aug 27, 2016 14:54:36 GMT -5
"I-I mean..." Patrick stammered, immediately resuming his speech once Ace had finished hers. "I don't know. I've never felt this conflicted about a Ghostbusters product. Ghostbusters w- a-and Magic School Bus were practically my childhood! (Granted, my actual childhood was spent in a magical school on a floating island in a black and white pocket dimension, but you know what I mean.) It feels weird to have such a MEH reaction to something so close to my heart!"
This is a "meh" reaction? Ray questioned flatly. Van did not argue.
"Sure, fans and critics were divided by Ghostbusters 2, but for all its flaws, I still really like that one! All the cartoons, the games, the... everything! I love it! But now THIS happens and... RGH...! So many people just took to immediately hating it before it even came out! I didn't wanna do that! Yes, so much about the early production worried me, but I WANTED to LIKE it! IT'S GHOSTBUSTERS, for Zuul's sake! And it's just... OKAY! I don't know how to take that!"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Aug 27, 2016 15:03:47 GMT -5
"Patrick, calm down," Ace snickered with an awkward smirk and a pat in the shoulder. "You sound like all those morons on the internet who refuse to believe there's a middle ground. There's nothing wrong with thinking that something's just okay, even if that something is part of a beloved franchise. A series that runs that long is bound to have a few weak links. I mean... look at Star Wars. But you said it yourself, at least it wasn't terrible. At least the original movie's reputation hasn't been tarnished. I'm sure there's someone out there who would disagree with me, but I say that being sup-par is infinitely better than being wholly awful."
She leaned over slightly so she was at eye-level with the short mage. "You know what might make you feel better? What might recapture that magic?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Aug 27, 2016 15:11:22 GMT -5
Patrick took a deep breath and relaxed at Ace's touch. She was right, of course. He did say that it could've been worse. No sense in getting worked up over simple mediocrity. He might as well appreciate the good that the movie had to offer.
Hearing her next question, Patrick looked her in the eyes and innocently responded, "An Ecto-Cooler ice cream float?"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Aug 27, 2016 20:09:07 GMT -5
Ace had to giggle at Patrick's response. Riled up and passionate one minute, innocent and childlike the next. Adorable. "If you wanna get some ice cream, I'm all for that. But I was thinking... what if we did a little ghost hunting? There are plenty of spooky places around here. Wouldn't be particularly surprising if at least one of them was haunted. And hey, you're already suited up! Whadya say?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Aug 27, 2016 20:18:20 GMT -5
"Y-You... You wanna... do a little ghost busting?" Patrick softly asked, a glimmer in his eyes and a smile slowly growing on his face. "Oh man, that'd be so freakin' fun!"
Oh dear... Patrick, don't do anything irrational, Van insisted. The last thing we need is to cause a scene.
Ah, lighten up, Ray muttered. After sitting through that groaner, I could use some excitement.
"Yeah! LET'S DO IT!" Patrick cheered. "But I'm not fully equipped yet! Uno momento!"
Patrick then spread his arms out, a conjuration circle igniting beneath his feet. The light gathered at his back, pulling something from another plane and into theirs. That something, unsurprisingly, was his authentic, fully operational proton pack, which strapped itself onto his back, and soon thereafter, the magical energy dissipated.
"Ready!!!"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Aug 27, 2016 20:25:20 GMT -5
"Whew boy..." Ace laughed at Patrick's getup. He was probably expecting more than she was out of this adventure, a fact that should've been a bit more alarming, but she was doing this for kicks and giggles anyway. It wasn't like this over-the-top behavior was out of character for Patrick.
"Alright then, Dr. Rooke. Let's go bust some heads! In a spiritual sense, of course."
And with that, Ace charged ahead, ready to examine every nook and cranny of this city.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Aug 27, 2016 20:36:47 GMT -5
"BOOYEAH!" Patrick raced after her, pumped up and ready to bust. "THOSE GHOSTBUSTERS CAME IN CLEANIN' UP THE TOWN!"
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"Uuuuuuuuuugh... I always forget how heavy this thing iiiiiiiiiis..."
Having scoured the streets for a good half hour, examining every building that even looked remotely decrepit or sketchy, Patrick sluggishly trudged through the Plaza, weighed down by his proton pack and his disappointment at the lack of progress. He didn't even care about the odd looks people gave him, not that they ever bothered him to begin with. After all that hype, he just wanted something to happen.
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Aug 27, 2016 20:47:41 GMT -5
Ace had traveled up and down those streets and in and out of those buildings every step of the way with Patrick. For what it was worth, she was having fun. It was like a big roleplaying scenario or a romp through a haunted house attraction to her, where she was simply enjoying the thrill of anticipation for the spooks and scares they made up in their heads. For all the make-believe antics, though, Ace did have her limits, and buildings full of mold, dumpsters, and in this case, public restrooms were those limits.
"Bleck... Nothing haunting those stalls except Chipotle," she groaned as she stormed out of the women's restroom to regroup with Patrick. "And... also some lipstick smears on a mirror, which... not sure what that's about, but who cares? We might as well keep going. There's gotta be a few empty shops around here worth snooping."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Aug 27, 2016 20:58:04 GMT -5
"Yeah... Maybe..." Patrick muttered, his tone making it unclear if he was just tired from the strain of carrying an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back or frustrated that they hadn't found any ghosts.
Patrick, don't get so distraught, Van offered in an attempt at comfort. You've barely been searching for a half hour. And while some of your scouting locations have worried me some, I am genuinely willing to bet there are some specters or ghosts inhabiting this island.
Yeah, so pick yourself up, bucko, Ray insisted. At least it's mildly amusing when you act like an excited puppy.
"Meh..."
Again with the meh...
Perhaps it would shed some light on your quest if I cast a detection spell? Van meekly asked.
"Oh, actually, that might be a good idea!" Patrick responded, perking up slightly and casting Ace a small grin. "Wanna have Van track some ghosts down? That oughta speed up the search."
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Aug 27, 2016 21:02:46 GMT -5
"Oh...!" The thought had never occurred to Ace to have Van track down a ghost. After all, she was just treating this as a fun little romp. But if it satiated Patrick's fantasies, then she saw no problem in complying, even if it did cut their adventure short. "Uh, yeah, sure. Go right ahead."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Aug 27, 2016 21:20:54 GMT -5
"Cool cool! Van, you're up, buddy!"
Once Patrick surrendered control, Van immediately took over their shared body, pausing briefly to shake himself off and adjust to being in control again. As well as to scowl down at his attire. "Huh... I can't help but feel ridiculous in this costume."
Oh, nuh-uh! You did not just diss the jumpsuit! Patrick protested in a sassy tone. Gimme our body back!
Hey, you want him to find us a ghost or not? Ray retorted.
Oh yes. Sorries.
"No matter..." Van sighed as he sat down on a nearby bench and closed his eyes. "Now let's see what we can find."
Divination magic gathered around him in little yellow glimmers, extending his consciousness beyond his immediate area and fine-tuning his foresight specifically for undead beings. The search lasted for quite a while, almost five minutes, although it probably wouldn't have taken as long had Patrick not been distracting Van with questions all the while. Eventually, though, he broke the spell and opened his eyes again.
"Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I found very little leads in regards to any spectral beings," Van stated. "The closest one I found is somewhere deep in the residential districts, and even that one was surrounded in a lot of proverbial question marks."
The residential districts?! Patrick repeated. But that's like... one... two... five... lots of miles from here!
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