Friendships Face The Future

The Pike twins and their sweethearts do a conference call.  

Tanner: Are you in Grandpa Mace's room, Whitney?  He's got the same ugly wall. 

Finnick:  That's how lame you are.  Your girlfriend would rather hang with your grandpa. 

Whitney: I'm in the laundry room.  Was gonna use the kitchen table, but Wendy is distracting Wilma in there.  Teaching her to make cookies.  (Changing the subject)  Get a load of this.  My dad wants me to major in mass media and work for him. 

Nakoma:  After his Wilma attitude?  I hope you told him where to stick his cameras and printing press.

Tanner: Hey, now.  He kind of apologized for that. 

Whitney: Only kind of.  But I did tell him I'd think about it.  I wasn't even going to go to college but then I got that scholarship.  Right now I'm majoring in Undecided and getting all the basic stuff done.

Finnick:  Albus got us enrolled for trade school even before graduation.  He's more excited about it than we are.  Said he was beginnning to think he'd have to live forever to keep the rides going.  

Nakoma: Did you hear Four and Tris are already planning a wedding?  The ink's barely dry on our diplomas!  Neither of them is going to college or anything! 

Tanner: He's got a job lined up.  Doing tattoos.  And Tris says flipping burgers is a step up from anything her parents expected her to do.  They'll be all right.  

Nakoma: Oh, yeah, I forgot he apprenticed with his uncle. 

Finnick: His grandpa.  But yeah, they're good to go.  Us?  We got a few years before any serious planning should begin.  All four of us, right, Tanner? 

Tanner: We could talk in general.  Vague stuff.  Like, maybe we should have a double wedding? 

*****

Taylor is out on the deck, getting the gossip from Gabriella.

Gabriella: I may not make it to high school.  Might murder my aunt before then. 

Taylor: Oh, lord.  What's Charlotte doing now?

Gabriella: Well, you know Alex has been wanting to dye her hair since her dad started dating Nova, but her mom had a cow?  She got her mom to promise that if she got straight As all through middle school, she could do anything she wanted with her hair. She got a green mohawk. 

Taylor:  I saw the selfie.  It looks really cute.  But what's that got to do with Aunt Hagface? 

Gabriella: She straight-up forbade me to do anything like that.  In front of my parents. 

Taylor: Did your dad scalp her?

Gabriella (laughing):  I don't think Navajos scalp people, you racist.  

Taylor: Did someone at least slap her?  Cuss her out?

Gabriella: I don't even know.  I came up to our room.  Stayed here until Charlotte left and then I got a lecture about being rude to an adult. 

Taylor: She was rude to you and to your parents.  But you got in trouble. 

Gabriella: Just the lecture, which I've heard about ten million times since she came to town.  Dad did tell me that it's my hair, to do with as I please, but he'd prefer that I keep it the natural color.  (Changing the subject)  I decided to take the college prep courses.  And not just because you are.

Taylor: I told you, it'll be easier than not taking them and then deciding you want to go to college.  

Gabriella: That, and Mom found one of those free on-line courses about the Navajo.  It's really interesting and it blows my mind how little Dad knows of his own heritage.  

****

Nikki is doing the same, but in her room and on a laptop.  

Claudia: I see my little buddy there behind you. 

Nikki: My turn with the babies.  Everyone else is watching some chainsaw murder marathon.  Gross. 

Claudia: Says the zombie show addict.  (Laughs)  Grandma's finally convinced Ben to let me come home on Sunday.  We've been butting heads even worse than normal.

Nikki:  Well, yeah.  She's 500 years old and you've been stuck with her forever. 

Claudia: 500 years old I can deal with.  She's got some really amazing stories.  But the woman is a hermit, Nikki, and she wants me to be a hermit, too! 

Nikki:  I wish you could've stayed here but we already had too many people here.  It never felt like it before, because we're hardly ever all at home, but now it gets really crowded around here.  

Claudia: I'm jealous.  But I'll be home next week, where I can at least wave at people through the window.  I'd be willing to hang with that crybaby Ricky Eaton right now.  

Nikki: Oh, lord, you must be desperate. 

Let The Carnage Begin

WARNING: DOLL CARNAGE AND NUDITY AHEAD

TURN BACK NOW OR SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE

I've had my eye on these gals for a while.  For the articulation, frankly, but more on that in a bit.  This is my COVID-19 splurge.  The rest is going to bills, I swear!  Okay, most of the rest...

The single pack Comfy Princesses do not have knees.  Not even click knees.  So I had to buy the double packs, which gave me a couple of extra gals.  

Most Disney Princess dolls suffer from a severe case of Vapid Face, so my intent from the start was to do some head-swapping.  I bought three princesses of color for the best match to Nikki, Courtney, and Gabriella.  I hoped the extras would match Wendy and Alex.  

Skin tone match isn't perfect, since the noggins are Mattel and the bodies are Hasbro, but I can work with it.

Here Nikki and her body donor compare how well they can hold a phone.  Neither can put it to her face, but at least Tiana can FaceTime.  Whoever Nikki is talking to is looking over there!

Nikki only has click knees, which is an improvement over no knees at all.  But only a slight one.

No, this isn't cannibalism.  

Boiling water softens the heads so they can be easily removed and minimizes the chances of neck pegs breakage.  We don't want the pegs stuck in there because then the new peg might be too big.  Wendy and Alex were already off their bodies.

I'm not so nice to the noggins I don't plan to keep.  This way the neck pegs are intact and not even bent.  You'll notice only four heads when I said I was rebodying five gals.  The Alex head didn't match any of the skin tones at all.

So I'm just going to recast her with one of these two.  Comparing them to Alex's father and sister, Aurora seems to fit in best.  (I guess my dark-haired Alex is gonna get a makeover.)  Not sure yet who Rapunzel will end up being.    

UPDATE: Alex will be the fashionista with the green mohawk on whichever body matches best.  There was an issue with my delivery and Amazon gave me a credit on my account, as an apology.  I chose to get a different noggin for Alex!  Neither of these big-eyed blondes were Alex for me. 

And here they are!  

Wendy Darling, Courtney Montez, Gabriella Montez, and Nikki Pike 

Debuting working elbows and improved knees!

They do have a slight case of bobble-head but that's all right.  

Jeremiah, the younger Eaton boys, and most of the children are jealous.  

They don't even have click knees.

That will be my next project.

Graduation

Every other parking space in the Barbieville Schools lot has a car in it.  Families are gathered in, on, and around each car.  At least one member of each family is wearing the teal or purple graduation gown.   

Rose-Grace: Welcome, everyone, to possibly the strangest graduation in Barbieville history.  Please remember to stay in your designated parking spaces, just as you would your seats at a normal graduation.  Let's also take a moment to be grateful for the lovely weather today.  (Scattering of applause from the families.)  Each of our graduating seniors has overcome unique struggles to be here today, celebrating with us, but we can't let everyone make a speech.  I give you our valedictorian, Whitney Darling, and salutatorian Edward Dean Junior.  

Whitney: Unlike many of my peers, I didn't grow up in this school system.  Coming to Barbieville Schools was a revelation for me - this is a place where education is valued above all else.  Barbieville does have to meet governmental standards, but they don't do it through rote memorization as my previous school did.  My critical thinking skills were challenged here, often, and the faces in the history books became people to me.  I don't think I've met a student who didn't feel valued by the faculty here.  There's a lot wrong with the world, but I'm confident that everyone taking home a diploma today is prepared to make it a better place.

Frodo's cap blows off in the wind.  He sets it on the table before him, on top of the stack of diplomas, before addressing the crowd.  

Frodo: I came up in the Barbieville system, so the stories I hear about public schools seem like science fiction to me.  Some of that dystopian stuff.  Not to say we're perfect, but we pretty much are. (laughter and applause from crowd)  We all have hopes and dreams, and not all of us will succeed in reaching them, but that's okay.  We're human and that happens.  The important thing is that we are prepared to make the attempt.  Look out, world, Barbieville class of 2020 is coming for you!

The graduates are called to the stage one at a time, where they pick up their diploma from the stack.  The mayor bows slightly to them to acknowledge their achievement.  Since this happens in alphabetical order, it's easy for Finnick Pike to rush back onstage when his twin comes out and they hug the mayor. 

Rose-Grace (laughing but annoyed):  Boys!  I told you not to do that!  We have to set an example! 

Finnick (into the microphone):  She's our stepmom, y'all.  We live in the same house.

****

After.

Fred: Kin I see your no-more-school paper? 

Tanner: It's called a diploma, and we still have school to do.  Trade school or college, so we can get good paying jobs and spoil our little brother.  

Fred: But you know how to trade.  You traded me toast for an egg this morning.

Tanner: Trade means job in this case.  We're going to learn how to build and fix machines, like the Windigo.  My ugly brother wants to marry into the amusement park industry, ya know. 

Finnick: I'm still bummed over no prom.  

Tanner (scoffs): Prom.  Maybe you're my ugly sister. 

The extended family makes a conference call to celebrate with the twins.  

Morgan: Candy, you are looking buff.  We're gonna have to start working out together when you're in town.  

Candy: That would be great.  

Pike: Hey, we're supposed to be here for the boys, not a hen party. 

Morgan: Well, the boys aren't here yet.  Should we just sit here and stare at each other until they show up?  (To Candy)  Do you feel old yet?  With your babies graduating?

Candy: Nah, we started young.  I'll feel old when it's Fred up there. 

Pike: I felt old as hell watching them graduate.  I just wish they could've had the giant party they wanted.  It would've been nice to sit with my family, too, but I managed to nab a spot near them.  

Lee: It'll be a funny story to tell their grandkids someday.  Better than getting shipped off to war for your senior trip.  

McG: I'm calling on the land line to find out what's keeping them.  (The boys log in as she rises.) 

****

Whitney's been getting calls all day from unfamiliar numbers.  Distant relatives, mostly, but one in particular stands out.

William: I bet I'm the last person you want to see, but I had to call.  Valedictorian!  That's a big deal even without...  

Whitney (a note of warning in her tone): Without also being a working mom? 

William: I've never been happier to be proven wrong, Whitney.  I won't keep you long, I'm sure you're busy, but I wanted to tell you that.  

Whitney: Wow.  Thanks, Dad.

****

Zenobia sneaks into the break room even though she is still on the clock.

Tris (annoyed): Stop checking up on me.  I'm fine.

Zenobia: Your parents didn't show up for your graduation.  How can you be fine? 

Tris: The only parents I need were there.  Marcus and Esmeralda.  (takes Zenobia's hand)  Honestly, I swear, I'm good.  And I will let you know if I stupidly start missing those xenophobic Bible-thumping losers. 

Zenobia (not really convinced): Okay.  Did you get the text from Midna about when we reopen Sunburst?  

Tris: Yes.  Now get back to work and let me eat in peace.