#Claire Enders

[grantgoddard]

Welcome to the terrordome : 2006 : Enders Analysis at Denton Wilde Sapte, City of London

 The first of April proved not such an innocuous date on which to have started my new job. Within weeks, I began to wonder if I was the fool to take on a position as ‘media analyst’ that I had never known existed, let alone submitted a job application. The previous year, I had been minding my own business, providing a steady stream of stories as uncredited news editor to weekly print publication ‘The Radio Magazine’, when an e-mail arrived from (unknown to me) Claire Enders asking if I wanted to write an analysis of Britain’s largest commercial radio owner ‘GCap Media plc’. Having tabulated radio industry data for myself since 1980, I was happy to pen six pages demonstrating that this group had already hit the rocks, ending my report:

“Someone should have done [GCap chief executive Ralph] Bernard a big favour and bought him a sign that Christmas to hang in his office that said: ‘It’s all about the content, stupid!’”

Published by ‘Enders Analysis’ that November, I was left to presume the response to my critical analysis had been positive because I was asked if I desired a full-time office position writing similar reports about the media industries. My employment would replace radio industry veteran Phil Riley who had anonymously freelanced occasional radio reports for the company until then. It was an offer too good to refuse as the salary for working in a comfy central London office was considerably greater than my pay from American public corporation ‘Metromedia International Inc’ had been a decade earlier for having schlepped around Russia, Hungary, Latvia, Berlin and Prague for several years. Persuasion proved unnecessary as funds were required for my daughter attending a London university.

Having agreed the April start date, the prior month I started to receive emails from Enders Analysis requesting my help with radio industry information it needed for a tribunal case it had taken on. I thought this was rather cheeky but, not wanting to appear unenthusiastic about the job I had yet to start, I responded helpfully. Then I received a further message from Claire Enders asking me to drive to the office for a library of legal documents concerning the tribunal to take home, read and analyse. I had to apologise that this task was not possible … but only much later did I realise this request as a harbinger of things to come.

Why my refusal? Firstly, I was still employed full-time (in addition to my freelance work for ‘The Radio Magazine’) by ‘Laser Broadcasting Ltd’, managing applications to regulator Ofcom for local commercial radio licences, a job from which I had given notice but which did not terminate until the end of March. Secondly, my rented semi-detached London home lacked a spare room in which to store a document library. Finally, I did not own a vehicle, let alone one large enough to transport thousands of documents. Only months later, once the tribunal was in session and its documents could be seen filling an entire wall of a courtroom did I realise an assumption might have been made earlier that I too resided in some inherited multi-bedroom castle, country pile or stately home … and owned a truck.

Come April, I started work in Enders Analysis’ cramped Mayfair office but was soon assigned full-time to the tribunal project which occupied me until the end of that year. During those long months, I continued to follow radio industry developments in order to write weekly news stories for ‘The Radio Magazine’ though, disappointingly, there was no opportunity for me to pen a single radio analysis for publication by my new employer. I joined a subset of Enders’s dozen staff deployed to work on the tribunal case from conference room 9.16 at the City offices of law firm ‘Denton Wilde Sapte’ (established 1785) that was representing Enders’ client in the tribunal. For several months, I hardly visited the Mayfair office, instead commuting to the lawyers on a direct rail route from home.

I had been diverted into this project once Claire Enders discovered I understood the complex system of payments made by UK commercial radio stations for playing music within their programmes, as well as the multiple agreements that had applied since the broadcast sector’s launch in 1973. At ‘Metro Radio’ in Newcastle, my work responsibilities had included ensuring accurate reports were submitted regularly to music royalty collection agencies PPL, PRS and MCPS. A decade later, planning the launch of ‘KISS FM’ in London, I had created the entire music reporting system and hired personnel to collate and submit the required paperwork in an era before usage could be tracked digitally.

The Denton Wilde Sapte lawyers with whom we worked were courteous, professional and demanding because they needed to understand how these systems functioned both theoretically and in reality. I was the only person there with experience of having been responsible for their administration or of having worked in commercial radio, requiring me to respond to multiple queries and to analyse radio industry data and documentation that I had collected during the previous two decades of my career. Those lawyers would have been earning more in a single day than I was being paid in a month, sending me emails at all hours of the day and night requesting data, but there was never any friction as they had been steeped in ‘client service’.

Although the Enders team in the conference room were contributing to a common project, it quickly became apparent that ‘teamwork’ was a somewhat alien concept. Had there been a ubiquitous whiteboard in that room, it might have shown the clear hierarchy between Claire Enders and each employee, but nothing between members of our group. Not only was there no apparent camaraderie but, at times, it appeared that some colleagues believed they were in competition with each other for the attention and approval of their boss. It felt like some kind of video wargame where the objective is to crush your opponent, where the individual is ‘king’ and where ‘collaboration’ has been outlawed. This atmosphere was worsened by Enders’ tendency to bark orders verbally to her staff, rather than negotiate tasks with them to guarantee they remained ‘onside’.

Until then, I had not realised that projects in which I had been involved and previous jobs I had performed had all required productive teamwork, without which they would have failed. Whether it was a student newspaper, a student union, a commercial radio station, a community radio station or a magazine, all had forced those of us involved to discuss, agree and focus jointly on common objectives to be achieved. Yes, I had come across the odd team member who had not prioritised the group’s success above their own. Yes, I could cite examples of projects I watched fail because of the selfishness of a manager who had pursued purely egotistical objectives. However, this was the first occasion that I felt like a complete outsider to my ‘colleagues’ who seemed happy functioning as individuals.

Whilst enjoying the work I was being asked to do because it tapped into my specialist knowledge, I disliked the working environment into which I had been dropped. Everyone else present seemed to view it as perfectly normal. I did not. I could not complain. I was the ‘new boy’ amongst men who viewed themselves differently from me, something they had communicated on my first day, interrogating as to which private school I had attended three decades earlier. Er, none. Now, each morning, I was having to steel myself to go to the office. I had never had a job at which I hated arriving as much as this one. It was a struggle to get through the day. At lunchtime, a local sandwich shop would provide respite to sit alone in a less febrile environment.

At the end of the day, I would rush down to ‘City Thameslink’ railway station in the basement of the law firm’s tower block, sit on an uncomfortable wooden bench on the southbound platform and cry, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for half an hour. Trains regularly came and went, though I stayed put until I knew I could make the journey home, crammed like sardines against fellow commuters, without sobbing uncontrollably. Sat there in that barely lit underground world, nobody approached to ask if I was okay, a forty-eight-year-old suited man in tears. Perhaps other commuters felt the same way about their workplaces but dared not let their emotions escape. Perhaps they assumed I had just lost my job. Whatever it was, I was always left alone on that bench.

I needed to arrive home in one piece. Occasionally, on the final leg, I would walk the route from the station down my suburban street with tears on my cheeks, but these had to be wiped away before I entered the front door. Nobody needed to know what I felt. There were bills to pay. We hoped to purchase our first home. I would get up at six each weekday morning and check ‘Google News’ for radio stories before heading to work. Often, I would not return home until late evening, after which I would eat and go to bed. I spent Sunday writing up news stories for submission to ‘The Radio Magazine’ on Monday morning. It did not feel much of a life but I convinced myself it must be better than the years I had spent unemployed.

It was a huge personal disappointment to feel this way about my new job. The office environment at Denton Wilde Sapte was pristine and its staff were courteous. Their ‘tea lady’ pushed a glimmering trolley around the office suites, freely offering an expanse of snacks such as salmon sandwiches and hot drinks ‘silver service’ style on exquisite porcelain crockery with immaculately polished cutlery. Many evenings after work, the firm hosted drinks receptions to celebrate a ‘win’ or an internal promotion or to welcome a new client. As portrayed in American television legal dramas, a short speech by one of the firm’s partners would be followed by wine and delicate snacks offered generously to all present on the floor, including us visitors. Some evenings, I would partake and sit on the building’s fire escape staircase, sipping my drink and looking down on London landmarks like St Paul’s Cathedral’s illuminated dome. It might have seemed an idyllic existence “but I know that this will never be mine.”

During the tribunal’s early stages, Claire Enders expressed concern that our number was insufficient to sort the huge volume of legal documents into a coherent filing system we could then reference. I thought I was being helpful by suggesting that her personal assistant could be drafted in to provide an additional pair of hands. Next moment, I was ordered to meet the assistant at London’s Victoria railway station and bring her to the lawyers’ office by Tube. Strangely, the assistant only ever worked for Enders from her own home in Brighton and, meeting me for the first time, appeared unhappy to be suddenly relocated to London for several days. I was henceforth blamed for this inconvenience, ensuring our relationship remained frosty during the years I had to communicate with her.

Why this assistant could not have travelled by Tube from Victoria to 1 Fleet Place on her own initiative I had no comprehension. A pattern later became apparent whereby Claire Enders seemed to regard us analysts as her London ‘help’ who could be dispatched at the drop of a hat for errands such as picking up prescriptions from her doctor or buying a birthday present for her daughter. Was our status that much different from her parallel household staff in Scotland who could be ordered to collect and drive her home to the family seat? Evidently, we were all 'Parker’s, ready to be summoned by a tinkling bell. “Yes, m’lady?”

Working at the lawyers’ office one Friday, I sent an email to Enders Analysis colleague Ian Maude, asking him to write something for submission to our boss by an urgent deadline we had been given. Over the weekend, having received no response from him, I presumed this task was in hand. Until … Monday morning when Claire Enders stormed into our conference room and immediately tore a strip of me in front of the others for not having informed Maude to complete this work. Once the shouting ended, she stormed out without even asking my version of events or giving me space to respond. I realised how easy the ‘new boy’ must have been to blame for my colleague having missed our deadline.

Later that day, Maude unusually suggested the two of us go for “a drink” after work, implying he wished to recompense my betrayal. I refused. I was still furious. Never before in any job had I been addressed so disrespectfully by a boss for a wrong that was not even mine. Never before had I felt what it must be like to be employed in servitude to the privileged elite. During the following months, Maude regularly repeated his invitation. I always refused. I had learnt that it was ‘every man for himself’ in this workplace.

Months later, after another sub-group of Enders Analysis staff had completed a different project for ‘HMV Records’, it was suggested we go for a celebratory drink after work. Although by now I was wary of some of my co-workers, I felt it would appear anti-social to refuse. We stood together outside a busy bar in a pedestrianised alleyway off Park Lane. Ian Maude offered to buy the first round. I requested a ‘Bacardi & Coke’. When it arrived, my first sip tasted strange. I had favoured this drink since 1976 when the girls in my summer job workplace ‘Associated Examining Board’ had taken me one lunchtime to a huge darkened basement bar in Aldershot and insisted I drink the same as them at our trestle table. Three decades later, stood in Mayfair, after my second sip had made me unexpectedly dizzy, I realised my drink had likely been spiked.

“Some will eat and drink with you …”

[first published at https://peoplelikeyoudontworkinradio.blogspot.com/2024/05/welcome-to-terrordome-2006-enders.html ]

[pupsmailbox]

HALLOWEEN ID PACK

NAMES︰ abraham. abraxas. adam. adrian. adrienne. alaric. alfred. alistair. amity. ann. annabelle. apple. arawn. ash. avaric. azazel. azrael. azriel. barnabas. belladonna. berry. blair. blaize. blake. blanche. boq. brain. bram. bridgette. bronwen. burton. candi. candy. caradoc. carmilla. carrie. casper. cassia. castor. choco. claire. clarice. claudia. cole. coraline. corbin. crimson. cuthbert. damien. damon. daphne. dark. debra. dexter. draco. dracula. drake. duncan. ebony. edgar. elena. eli. elphaba. elvira. ember. estelle. eve. eye. fable. fang. fergus. finn. fiyero. frankenstein. freddie. freddy. frederick. george. ghost. ghoul. giles. glinda. griffin. grimm. gummy. hades. hallorann. hallow. hawthorne. heath. heathcliff. hecate. hekate. hela. hemlock. henry. ichabod. igor. ike. ivan. jack. jason. jasper. josette. knox. layla. lazarus. lenore. lester. licorice. lilith. lolly. lucinda. luella. luna. lunette. mab. malcolm. marnie. mary. matilda. mike. mikey. mina. morgan. morgana. mortimer. nancy. neoma. nessarose. nimue. norman. obsidian. onyx. orenda. orion. osiris. othello. pandora. payne. peach. perdita. poe. poison. pumpkin. radcliff. raven. reese. remus. renwick. requiem. rhiannon. romero. rosalie. rosemary. ross. ruby. rune. ruth. saber. sabrina. sage. salem. sally. sam. samhain. scarlett. sebastian. semyazza. seth. sibyl. sid. sirius. stella. stephen. sylvia. tabitha. thackery. trick. twila. twilight. udolpho. vamp. vampire. vanellope. vespera. victor. victoria. viktor. vincent. vlad. voltaire. wanda. wednesday. wendy. werewolf. wes. wesley. wilhelmina. willow. winifred. winter. wolf. wren. xander. zelda.

PRONOUNS︰ attic/attic. bat/bat. bell/bell. black/black. blood/blood. bone/bone. boo/boo. cabre/macabre. candle/candle. candy/bar. candy/candy. candybar/candybar. carve/carve. cavity/cavity. cem/cemetery. chaos/chaos. choco/chocola. claw/claw. co/coffin. costume/costume. crim/crimson. cry/crypt. dark/dark. darkroom/darkroom. demon/demon. devil/devil. dread/dreadful. end/ender. eve/eve. fair/fair. fang/fang. fest/festival. flick/flick. ghost/ghost. ghoul/ghoul. grem/gremlin. grim/grim. grue/gruesome. hallo/ween. hallow/hallow. hallow/halloween. halloween/halloween. haunt/haunt. haunted/haunted. hay/hayride. hex/hex. hide/hide. howl/howl. imp/imp. mis/mischeif. mon/monster. monster/monster. myst/mystery. para/normal. poi/poison. poison/poison. polter/geist. prank/prank. pum/pumpkin. pump/kin. pump/pumpkin. pumpkin/pumpkin. scare/crow. scream/scream. shriek/shriek. skel/skeleton. skeleton/skeleton. skull/skull. so/soul. spider/spider. spirit/spirit. spook/spook. spooky/spooky. static/static. sweet/sweet. tale/tale. thrill/thriller. tomb/tomb. treat/treat. tri/trick. trick/treat. trick/trick. trickster/trickster. vamp/vamp. vamp/vampire. vampire/vampire. venom/venom. voi/void. web/web. werewolf/werewolf. witch/witch. wolf/wolf. zomb/zomb. zombie/zombie. ⚰️. 🍁. 🍂. 🍫. 🍬. 🍭. 🎃. 👻. 💀. 💚. 💜. 🕯. 🕷. 🕷️. 🕸. 🖤. 🦇. 🦴. 🧡.

[thepalerimitation]

Let Me See Some Hands:

Why SydCarmy is the most controversial dish served on the Bear

When the Bear came out, I didn’t watch it. The most I heard, it was a show about line cooks and it had the guy from Shameless. I wasn’t interested, I’m a self proclaimed cooking snob and wanted to see a tv show that had a little more flair in cooking.

But then it was 9 pm, and I was bored.

BAM!

I watched both seasons in a week.

I was obsessed, I was absorbed, and I was deeply and truly in love. The show captured everything gritty and everything beautiful with both hands and threw them into a pan to sear at high heat. It was sexy, it was hideous, and it was mind blowing.

Then the age old question.

What’s going on with those two?

Sydney Adamu, the raw ambition and talent to Carmy Berzatto’s genius and finesse. They’re well matched in the nonstop heat of the kitchen, with an easy dynamic that snags on their jagged edges like fabric on a nail.

In the first season, they’re awkward and magnetic, drifting together and falling apart, shattering and putting the pieces back together. By the second season, they’re starting to click. They dress the same, they finish each other’s sentences, and they argue like people who have known each other for twenty years.

So yes, I did pose that particularly debase question.

Can men and women be friends?

It’s a question that gets thrown in front of the runaway train. It’s the conversation-ender and argument-starter. It’s dynamite. It’s catnip.

The warning signs were there. Shots that focused for a beat too long on him looking at her, or her looking at him. Her embarrassingly admitting he made her favorite dish of all time. Their sign language communication. The season two conflict as a girlfriend was thrown in the mix with Sydney flatly saying “I need your focus, I can’t share, I’m sorry.” I’ll admit, I’ve made more out of less.

But what’s the counter argument?

Well, for one, the girlfriend. Claire (no last name), a nurse and childhood friend who approaches him at a grocery store. She asks for his number, he gives her a fake one. She finds his number anyways and calls him.

Yeah…

There’s some moral arguments. As coworkers, a romantic relationship would be inappropriate. As partners in the restaurants, a romantic relationship could fracture the Bear. Then there’s the purist argument. It’s a cooking show about found family! Let it be that. Romance doesn’t have to be in everything.

“Well gee, which do you think people are pro or anti SydCarmy?”

Well I can tell you why I’m pro.

To me, romance doesn’t demand satisfaction. There’s no need for boyfriend/girlfriend hand holding and playful arguments about doing the dishes. I’d like a kiss, but I’ll take a heated conversation in the walk-in and longing glance.

They’re young and crazy, and HR violations can shove it.

But I also think romance has killed some excellent plots.

Platonic representation is important, especially male-female relationships. I think a lot of platonic relationships are fetishized in media or misinterpreted to add intrigue or interest to audiences.

But can Syd and Carmy be friends?

The short answer?

Who Cares?

The long answer?

Whatever Storer’s design for the show, whether he moves forward in the unclear relationship between Syd and Carmy or buckles down on either platonic or romantic, he’s definitely won.

The show has buzz. It’s got attention and heat.

You hate the romance, so you watch it to prove it’s not there. You love the romance, so you watch it to prove it IS there. You’re curious because every news site talks about it, so you just have to watch it.

Even I’ll admit, I’ve rewatched it and stayed hooked to prove my little delusion. (And because it’s beautifully acted, but who cares about that).

So whether you’re pro or against, just remember:

There is no controversy that wasn’t first stirred up by a clever strategist.

[alwaysrunningoutoftime]

the bear sydcarmy thoughts (season 3 spoilers)

I have never felt so dead inside and empty. I ended the season literally burning up. Perhaps I got my hopes up too much which wasn’t a lot tbh. I expected with sydcarmy the s3 ender was gonna be like a fight because of a reveal of her opportunity and maybe maybe a realization of feelings. But wow not that at all, in fact there was nothing really resolved.

I was expecting the angst and to be pissed off at Camry but but we’ve never been so immeasurably down and I have to say I don’t know how I feel about sydcarmy now.

What I notice is these two really took a nosedive this season. We went so downhill. In prior seasons we can usually expect by the end for some resolution to happen between the two, syd comes back, or we get like the lovely table scene. This season it’s like they got progressively farther and father apart.

We started off so strong with the EMP scene. Like I couldn’t fucking believe we actually got that scene, i shot up out of my seat it was so surreal.

And then as we continue to go, there’s barely any moments between the two together. And when there is, they’re always cut short. And you’re kind of just left short, wanting more. And i guess that was on purpose to show them so out of sync and their biggest weakness, communication. They really became just two coworkers, so unfamiliar with each other. And I was truly hoping we’d get something from the Ever scenes but no carmy is just so isolated.

And again I guess that’s the point. Carmy is so in his head, so haunted by Claire and David, so focused on the restaurant that he’s not trying at all to form a connection with syd (platonic nor romantic). He’s so focused on his past and carrying the weight of things left unsaid that as the al anon meeting says, it just digs deeper and deeper with him. Because he never bothers to resolve his issues, go to therapy and apologize to Claire.

So here’s the thing about Claire. It’s obvious he needed to resolve what happened with her. But what was really jarring to me was the amount of Claire scenes we got. In season 2 Claire is depicted as a distraction, there is always this constant clock running in the background with her. Carmy doesn’t even know exactly what Claire is to him, “a girl that’s a friend or a girlfriend.” Their relationship is so surface level. And then we start getting these s3 scenes and it feels like they’re retconning their relationship because this isn’t the claire and carmy from season 2. And if they were so great together why wouldn’t you show us then! Where are all these scenes coming from. But okay let’s say storer did hear people’s complaints and chose to give more to clairecarmy, then I feel so horribly fucked as a sydcarmy shipper cause why would you give us such obvious editing and juxtaposition between Sydney and Claire in s2 and turn around and do this. It feels like a betrayal. And worse of all the whole “Claire is your peace” THATS NOT WHAT THE PANIC ATTACK SCENE SAID IN S2, syd is the one who calmed him down. And despite seeing all these clairecarmy scenes they cannot measure up to the substance, the complexity of sydcarmy. And worse of all they didn’t even resolve the clairecarmy bs. And if they’ve spent so much time shoving these two in our face and I meant to believe those two are endgame, that they are meant to be together. god I’m gonna throw up, I feel so played.

But then my hope, perhaps my delusional is the EMP meal scene. It tells me that there will always be this invisible string between sydcarmy and as Chris storer said himself it’s about “finding the right people when you’re supposed to find them.”

Syd is right at the end of episode 1, is it supposed to indicate she is the endgame.

What worries me though is if they take this in a platonic direction, the platonic soulmates bs and continue on with clairecarmy.

So anyway back on carmy, and him keeping everything in and avoiding his problems. That is the reason why this season is so angsty. Carmy regresses severely and he is so lonely, you really feel it at the end of the season as everyone shares their story and he is too focused on David to connect with anyone. And then when he finally confronts David, he realizes nothing he says to this man matters. His words don’t mean shit. And it feels especially poignant because he’s been holding onto this for years, all this anger and hatred. He even follows in David’s footsteps with his own restaurant: “the greatest mistake is working for a bad boss, what it unlocks in you is the culture that you choose to create.” And they juxtapose David with Claire. And again is this the clairecarmy agenda being pushed. Or I also see it as him finally having confronted David, he now needs to resolve whatever the fuck he needs to with Claire.

Okay so onto Terry. Terry says: “i got to do all the things i wanted to do the way i wanted to do with the people i wanted to do it with.” And this is the thing carmy has to strive for, to create that good culture again. To make connections again. I mean correct me if I’m wrong but the only person he really connects with is Marcus (his actual mentee) he doesn’t really talk to Sydney, doesn’t resolve anything with Richie, I think he doesn’t even really talk to Sugar. And I’m realizing now, throughout the season there were so many people connecting with different people (off the top of my head: Marcus and Tina, Tina and Nat, Nat and Richie, Richie and Sydney, Sydney and Marcus). There’s so many more and different duos going on, and carmys barely a part of any of it. And then with Sydney’s party, while everyone’s celebrating and carmys just on his own.

We really emphasize his loneliness. There’s also the Sydney and Luca conversation about siblings, and then Sydney’s loneliness and her experiencing everything on her own and being used to dealing with things on her alone. And we see that in her panic attack scene, and she has no anchor (as someone else pointed out), no one there to comfort her. And it ending on this loneliness that follows both sydney and carmy around and that’s another thing that ties them together.

I don’t really know how to end this. I don’t know how I feel about sydcarmy right now, what the show is trying to tell me. Should I have faith in their invisible string, in them being tied together by loneliness. I understand this was the angst season and carmy really regressed, and he was focused on David and Claire. Is this season pivoting and telling me clairecarmy are endgame, or is it carmy being haunted by the still unresolved things between them? I can accept the added romance to their relationship, I mean she is his first real gf, there has to be good there. Does this necessarily mean their endgame or is she just a stepping stone, a first gf someone he is meant to learn lessons from, to then have his endgame with Sydney? (I think of new girl and the various good relationships nick and jess went through before getting endgame.)

THEY COULDNT RESOLVE ONE FUCKING THING!

And then the “to be continued” sign. Is this what people felt when they watched Across the Spiderverse, but like we were actually building towards something there. All I’m left with is dread with the bear.

Lastly I am so conflicted by this partnership. I have no idea what I want syd to choose. There will be a big show of loyalty if Sydney chooses to stick with carmy, I mean I also have to respect the loyalty in her also choosing the crew, her family (like Marcus and Tina and Nat). But we also see how far Sydney and carmy drifted from each other and we see the loss of their collocation and their synchronization. The way Carmy rebuffs all her suggestions. So im like “yeah fuck carmy, go off on your own syd.” And if she were to choose to stay that would be such a big sign of something more to me because now she’s choosing to believe in his potential, which is a big fucking deal.

But then I also think about the growth carmy experienced from learning at all these places. And how Sydney deserves that too. And also carmys speech about the chefs and learning from each other and branching out on their own. And maybe it’s that too, Sydney spreading her wings. But then no, I’m selfishly like no I don’t want her to leave.

But then maybe it’s meant to show growth in carmy, he was the one who left before. Now he has to trust in syd to leave and come back again. Idk.

Or yeah maybe syd just deserves to fuck off, become successful and fuck over this man.

I also think about that one twt post where the bear is about “Carmy falling in love with Sydney. And Sydney falling out with carmy” and god that would fuck me up so bad.

Am I meant to hold out hope, like this is rock bottom and there’s only up from here. Or is this them extinguishing the fire of sydcarmy for us? I understand we always have fan fiction and canons not everything, but the way camry and Sydney’s relationship, even platonically, was handled this season left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Idk where I’m going with this. I don’t even know how I feel about sydcarmy anymore, I want to read a fic to soothe me but I don’t even think carmy deserves to be happy with Sydney right now. Idk let me know your thoughts, maybe my fellow sydcarmys can pull me out.

Also if there’s a discord I would love to join because I don’t think I can deal with this on my own right now 😭.

[fluidstatick]

I'm rewatching Sophie's day 3 stream of blsmp and I just got smacked in the face with an offhand bit of lore that I don't think anyone else spotted. I can't find a discord channel or subreddit or anything else specific to dump my thought process into, so I'm just chucking it here. Spoilers for Balloon SMP - particularly Team E - and a wild stab at conjecture, under the cut.

Socks finds Team E's base after wandering around for three hours, and while everyone is making plans and trading information Sophie asks about the Globber, the Enyyts, and the hands. Socks says she saw "A bunch of hands hopping around near a crafting table, and one of them pointed in [team E's] direction." She followed the pointing and ended up at Claire's fishing spot.

The hands helped Socks make it to Team E as early as day two. On day one, they only started attacking Team E when Milk Ape and Bailey attacked first, and they never showed up at Team E's base after that. Sure, they tried to get into the house, but what if they hadn't been attacked? Maybe they were a welcoming committee, helping hands; they dropped very tasty food, and material for a wet shovel, which would have been very useful for underwater digging. Would the hands have defended the house if they were welcomed peacefully? Did they want to help the teams navigate to each other? We may never know.

Speaking of day one - I'm still sad about The Globber. It didn't attack anyone, only the birds did; Its HP bar was white. It looked like a deshelled raw lobster tail shrouded in runes. In real life, whale corpses that wash ashore are called globsters. The rune birds ate it slowly. If it had been left alone, maybe the rune birds would've eaten enough of it to become corporeal, and maybe helpful? There were fish near where it landed that were also runes, and Claire could catch them, but they only dropped rotten flesh. If she didn't catch them, and the globber had landed in the river to become whale fall, maybe they would have been beneficial too.

The Enyyts' HP bars were white, and their balloons were floating up and away from the Caldera, not toward it. When shot down, they didn't defend themselves, just sat in the water and drowned. Nobody's figured out what the Critical Mass can do - one of them is a coffee table now - but if the Ennyts had been dropped on land and left alone, could they have defended players from hostile mobs somehow? That big cyclops eye reminded me of an Ender eye; I'm wondering if they could stare down and attract Endermen, so players could farm ender pearls for Ender chests.

After those first couple of days, the balloons only brought vanilla mobs, and very rarely hostile ones - mostly edible animals, villagers, occasionally hostile mobs at night. When Bailey was revived the first time, a cloud of red balloons met them in the sky, not far from Sophie's body, carrying fish - were the balloons welcoming Bailey back to the living? Were the red balloons collecting hellium to keep the blue balloon at bay, and keep the server safe? When Gibson nuked the Caldera, the sky turned red, and several people suggested they were inside a balloon - Could that have been the souls of the Caldera rushing to protect the teams from the gaze of the blue balloon?

When a player dies, there's a hole in the sky. I forget who, but someone (Kuu? RenoBee?) told Holly that at one point, while they were dead, they flew up into the hole in the sky and saw what was really going on. Holly didn't stick around to find out what they meant by that,

Now that Sophie's sacrificed herself to the Hellium, the sky is blue. Gibson and Bailey commented on how much they wish Sophie could see it. At one point during Gibson's day 25 stream, I noticed two giant eyes in the sky instead of just one.

When Katy and Gibson held an impromptu meeting at an intersection on the nether highway, Kuu interjected at one point, insisting that Sophie isn't dead. Katy said she thinks the comment was just Cope, but Kuu has been several different colors now. I haven't watched his streams yet, but that guy's got secrets, and maybe even more than vague old Gandalf.

On day 14, Holly mentioned that "Shelly says the win condition may have changed." It's not about the End anymore. I think it's about finding and destroying the blue balloon, so the red balloons don't have to deflate more mobs to keep it at bay.

I also don't think the white whales clustering all over the SMP map is an Alex's Mobs glitch. I've run that mod before, and did so for almost a year. I saw a white whale listed in the encyclopedia, but none ever spawned on my map. I think the obscene number of white whales are a message. I think something is trying to tell everyone -- This could have been a peaceful and prosperous world, but you chose fear and violence, and now your luck is a cancer that will destroy you.

When Sophie fell into the Hellium and met The Mother, she saw herself with massive black wings, spotted with the Eyes of Tragedy. I think it's a hint. The Mother said "you will all be reborn." Gandalf hasn't said a word against the balloons. Neither has Serpy. Everyone on the server has seen or experienced something that they can't express effectively, and I think it all goes back to the note Bailey gave to Sophie on day seven - Follow the Blue Balloon - and what her doppelganger said at the end of that day: We came out of the sky.

I don't think the doppelgangers were meant to read as a threat. I think they were trying to explain to people that they're friendly. Bailey's doppelganger only started to howl and screech and chase Sophie when she threatened it on day seven, and on day eight it screamed when it saw her It stretched terribly, like it was being pulled tight. I think something was trying to snatch Fake Bailey into the sky before it could befriend Sophie. I think the reason it possessed her later on - "what's wrong? what's wrong?" - was that it wanted to make peace and explain itself, and it knew that Team E trusts Bailey's judgement.

I think the real villain of this SMP isn't the balloons, red or blue, yellow or otherwise. I think it's communication failure.

I think the Hellium has been improperly labeled. I wonder if it's actually Healium.

[cannondisabledcharacters]

Accepted Characters 4/26/2024

Shannon from Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling

Fethry Duck from the Donald Duck

unnamed doll from Miniland

Gent from The Ballad of Lucy Whipple

Carrie Waylan from Black Box

Adam from How To Speak Dolphin

Ogden from N.O.A.H Files

Lily from ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights

Princess Gulltopp (Sonja) from Reisen til Julestjernen

Joshua Spin from Leverage

Ida Manson from Danny Phantom

Cyan from Leif & Thorn

Ned McNulty from Monster Pulse

Ozzy Dieter from Monster Pulse

Sigma Klim from the Zero Escape series

Abel Flores from Monster Pulse

Claire from Monster Pulse

2091 Requests Remain

[multiversal-sluts]

For Pokemon Gen 1-9, which girls are known as the NNN challenge enders in their region?

1: Sabrina

2: Clair, Whitney, Lyra

3: Shelly and Glacia

4: Gardenia, Cynthia, and Candice

5: Lenora, Skyla, Hilda, and Bianca

6: Korrina and Diantha

7: Mallow and Plumeria

8: Klara, Cogita, and Melony

9: Carmine and Nemona

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

The Umbrella Academy season 4 episode 5

YEAH ONE?!

HOW LONG ARE THEY TRAPPED HERE

*heavy sigh* from the freaking moment in the dinner in episode 1 I had a fucking FEELING they were trying to build something with these to and I fucking hate that im going to be proven right. Why. Literally *why*

YEAR *THREE*

YEAR FUCKING *FIVE*

SIX

Alright, six years in a survival situation with only one other person is gonna cause a weird dynamic. Doesn't mean I have to *like* it

Oh Klaus :(

You can see the freaking camera in the back season of their car oh my god

Hes trying to *save* you, Ben

Diego is having the time of his life

Oh my god Diego

This is clearly a filing department

Luther's got his priorities

Diego, buddy, you are so delusional

OH MY GOD HE CAN SEE ANIMAL GHOSTS

Fuck em up Allison!

Claire!

Don't be like 3 divorce guy Diego

*heavy heavy sigh*

Im not a fan of this

Oh my god Luther

Oh shit, Five's boss is one of these end of the world people

Luther, you're gonna need to Captain America your way out of this elevator, have fun, good luck

HIS PANTS WERE TEARAWAY OH MY GOD LUTHER

OH MY GODDDDD IM LAUGHING SO HARD

Luther ily

I both really don't like this and find Five to be very sweet rn

"Okay, love" how long have they been in this timeline? They were going between realities for 6 years 5 months and 2 days, but this has been longer than a day I guarantee that

FIVE. FIVE IF YOU HIDE THIS ALL BECAUSE YOU WANT TO STAY WITH LILA, YOUR BROTHERS *WIFE*...

Damnit Five

Allison and Claire are buddy! Just hold on!

HUG!!!!

HES HAD THAT FOR FIVE MONTHS?!

HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN LIVING HERE? probably six months and 28 days...

Hitting five repeatedly with a shovel

Oh he is so out of line here

Oh my god tell me Hargreeves dies here

SHIT, VIKTOR

Jfc, is everyone in this reality one of these world enders???

OH SHIT HES AN ALIEN LIKE HARGREEVES

FUCKING ABIGAL??? HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO SEE THAT COMING

WHAT THE FUCK

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

YOU CANT TRUST THE NORMAL SEEMING ONES

I KNEW SHE WAS OFF

GIRL DID YOU JUST BODY SNATCH HIM

Song?

[butchedgarfrog]

lgbt+ was coined from the breakfast club

cLaire standish

the Green one

john "Ball is life"ender

Transdrew clark

allison + reynolds

[grantgoddard]

The media analyst in the cupboard : 2006-2009 : Claire Enders, Enders Analysis

 “CRUELLA DE VIL”, our teacher had chalked onto the blackboard at the front of our classroom hut. We had been reading aloud excerpts from the 1956 children’s novel ‘The Hundred and One Dalmatians’ and were completing our lesson with content analysis for ten-year olds.

“What does her name sound like if you say it quickly?”, asked our teacher. I stuck my hand in the air.

“Cruel devil,” I blurted.

“Correct, Grant,” she replied, “and we have seen how that could be a description of the way she behaved in the story.”

Our teacher’s message for the adult lives ahead of us might have been: beware of wealthy women bearing gifts! They might end up bearing down on YOU before you know it … and skin you for their own ends. I vowed to file away that advice for the future. The year was 1968.

Four decades later, a work colleague returned to the office to recount what he considered an entertaining encounter earlier that day with a client:

“When I met her, she said ‘YOU must be Grant Goddard. I am so pleased to meet you at last’ and then she seemed disappointed when I told her that I wasn’t him.”

My young colleagues laughed aloud at this case of mistaken identity. I did not. This was not the first occasion that one of them had been dispatched to meet Carolyn McCall, the 45-year-old chief executive of ‘Guardian Media Group’ [GMG] that employed 7,200 staff with £700m turnover … and where a similar conversation had ensued. For me, it was another humiliation, not some kind of ‘Famous Five’ jape.

I had previously spent several weeks researching and designing a 48-page PowerPoint that analysed the state of the UK commercial radio industry for presentation to a conference hall of GMG’s radio staff organised by McCall in Manchester. My boss, Claire Enders, had asked me to accompany her by train there where she would present my work. Although I would not be on stage, nonetheless I was looking forward to meeting McCall and some of her radio team. One dark, cold November morning, wearing my best suit and tie, I caught the train to our central London office, sufficiently early for me and my boss to travel north together.

“I have decided to take the intern with me to Manchester instead of you,” Enders announced to me in front of my colleagues, before the two of them rushed out the door to an awaiting taxi. Evidently, the intern had known to arrive early that day.

No forewarning. No explanation. No apology. I was baffled … but not surprised. This was the latest in the succession of humiliations I had encountered since joining this, er, unusual workplace nineteen months ago. I decided to pass the rest of that day sat at my desk wearing headphones, listening to my music and purposefully doing absolutely no work, a silent (and wholly unacknowledged) protest at my treatment. I felt even more humiliated than usual because the office’s parade of ‘interns’ were, in reality, merely the pampered offspring of posh media bosses whom Enders had befriended. Sat at a spare desk in our office, their mere presence would look good on CV’s already boasting a private education, despite their evident disinterest in our work.

On a separate occasion, an initial meeting had been arranged with the new chief executive of the UK’s largest commercial radio group, Global Radio, whose wealthy father had financed its acquisition, following his offspring’s lack of success securing a significant role within the industry. I was to accompany Claire Enders to meet Ashley Tabor at his office and had prepared a list of questions to ask about his plans to resuscitate the sector’s recent dismal performance. We travelled together from our office by taxi and, only once our destination was reached, did Enders turn to me and say:

“I think this meeting should be millionaire-to-millionaire so you should return to the office.”

Not only was I humiliated to have to make the return journey back across London but I had to pay the bemused taxi driver for the privilege. Although I was employed as the analyst specialising in the radio sector, Enders never debriefed me on what had been discussed at this or her other meetings with senior radio industry personnel. There seemed to be no notion of teamwork in this workplace. I was forced to gather my own intelligence about the industry whilst not meeting its bosses. It was reminiscent of some kind of ‘gentlemen’s club’ where entry was denied to those of us without wealth or influence. Meetings of the privileged elite appeared as much social events and opportunities to propagate gossip as they were business discussions.

On another occasion, I was required to produce a company presentation for the management team of Disney whom I met, accompanying Claire Enders, in the boardroom of its Hammersmith office. Disney was considering launching a national sports radio station in Britain and seemed to believe it could achieve this objective without concern for Ofcom’s regulatory regime that prescribed every commercial radio station’s format and content. I was required to be the harbinger of disappointing news to Disney’s highly paid, but seemingly oblivious, managers that it would prove necessary to proceed within Britain’s media ownership regulations, regardless of how much cash might be on the table.

After the meeting closed, Claire Enders and I adjourned to a side office with the female Disney executive who had invited us to make the presentation. I anticipated that we would be discussing further the regulatory issues I had raised. How wrong I was! For the next half-hour, I sat there while Enders suggested multiple routes for the young woman to bag a wealthy man, proposing potential candidates. Not for the first time, I felt akin to a servant whose presence could be safely ignored because ‘the help’ were paid expressly to turn a blind eye to the intimacies of their masters and mistresses. Neither woman displayed the slightest embarrassment in discussing such personal matters in front of a silent middle-aged man who self-evidently was not of their breeding or status. I was as good as invisible. For me, it merely offered an insight into Enders’ modus operandi.

On a different occasion, I recall a weird taxi ride across London to a client meeting, accompanied by Claire Enders alone, during which she just kept repeating the phrases “I’m a self-made woman” and “I am, you know” to nobody in particular. I stared out the window and remained silent. I had no idea what had prompted this line of monologue. It felt somewhat like it might to be locked in a tiny room with a tragic escapee from a mental health facility.

During that journey, I was reminded of the occasion sixteen years prior when I had attended a public meeting concerning the award of the commercial television franchise for south and southeast England that had been operated by ‘TVS’ for the last decade. Contributions were made by a succession of those seated within the tiered lecture theatre, before an American woman in the back row behind me stood to unleash a loud stream of consciousness that seemed to leave the audience baffled. An audible gap followed, as might occur after an outburst by a wordy aunt on speed at a family Christmas dinner, before the debate resumed in earnest. Afterwards, I pondered whether I might cross paths with that woman again. TVS lost its franchise the following year.

Shortly before I discovered my time working at Enders Analysis was finally up, I was invited to make a presentation to the ‘2008 European Radio Symposium�� to be held in Portugal. I spent two months creating a 39-page PowerPoint and had booked my flights and accommodation when, a few days beforehand, Claire Enders insisted that I undertake an unrelated project, unconcerned with radio but with an immediate deadline. I was forced to explain to the conference organisers that I had become unexpectedly unavailable and then pass my work to a colleague who knew nothing about radio to travel to Portugal instead to make my presentation.

I have never understood how ‘humiliation’ could be perceived as a productive means of managing personnel within a business. Given how my colleagues at Enders Analysis appeared accepting of this situation, I can only guess that their experiences attending private schools might have conditioned them to regard such treatment as ‘normal’. For state-school-educated me, it was as abnormal as any workplace behaviour I had ever witnessed. There were times when I wondered if my own mental health might be damaged by the experience of working within that environment. It had been such a long, long time since my great grandparents had lived and worked as servants in a ‘big house’. I had no desire to emulate their lives.

Following my abrupt exit from Enders Analysis after almost three years, I applied for every ‘media analyst’ vacancy I found, for none of which I was called to interview. After rejection by one small analyst business beside Charing Cross station, I requested a meeting with its chief executive to explore freelance opportunities. I showed him my published work and the regular coverage it had attracted on radio, television and in the press. He listened and then told me:

“Even if we were to hire you, you would have to take a backroom position. We could not send you out to meet clients.”

After that damning verdict, I gave up applying for jobs as an analyst. Apparently, it was evident to employers that I lacked whatever was ‘the right stuff’ necessary to be in the presence of the posh masters commanding Britain’s media industry.

I never did get to meet Carolyn McCall.

[cassiefisherdrake]

@jalopeura

Check out "Tocatta" by OVERWERK for spooky dancy, "The World Ender" by Lord Huron for world-ending undead revenge, and "My Love Will Never Die" by AG & Claire Wyndham for an immortal couple who are probably both obsessive and maybe also causing the apocalypse!

@viiridiangreen

"High Tide" by brothertiger for 'my life kinda sucks but eh. I'll be fine. I'm just chillin'" floating in bog water vibes, but not so creepy. "77-76" by Royal Canoe for a little more haunting. "My Love Will Never Die" is also a good one if you wanna get a little Creature From the Black Lagoon about it.

"Cypress Queen" by the Last Bison is also very swampy/boggy but not so chill, more terrified/desperate to live.

[cruentu-s]

Greatheart, Clair's trustiest Dragonite, lights down with a lumbering thump at the mouth of Red's cozy hideout, a small, battered satchel hanging around his neck.

The gentle dragon shivers in the mountain cold and bows his head guiltily towards the exile before taking a tentative step inside. (Clair's special delivery is a full day late this year, and Greatheart feels awful about it. He's never ever been late before--but Silver's weather was one hell of a streak-ender. Oh well.)

Greatheart mumbles a bashful greeting down at Pikachu before presenting Red with the loaded pack. It's filled to the brim with colorful hard candies, a fully-stocked first aid kit from the Goldenrod Dept. Store, and a small wooden box stuffed with Blackthorn's finest teabag selections. Laying on the bottom of the bag is a glossy, autographed trading card--Clair's trading card, sporting a very grumpy dragon tamer trapped within its holographic frame--and a small, crumpled note.

Happy birthday, you big dummy. Somehow you've made it another year while barely following any of my advice. You're lucky I care so much.

The League got inspired by Galar and made us pose for these stupid cards. You now have the only autographed copy of mine, ever. You're welcome. It's going to be worth a lot some day.

Be up to visit in person soon. Stay safe, and at least try to clean up that smelly cave you call home. Tell Greatheart if you need anything and I'll bring it next time. - Clair.

「 ❄ "I am pretty lucky you care so much, aren't I."

Tea is on. The trading card is tucked very, very carefully in his wallet. Red takes one final look at the card and decides to pocket it safely in his duffle bag, too.

[ub-sessed]

My favourite books over the past year:

The Murderbot Diaries series, by Martha Wells

The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin

The Crossing, by Cormac McCarthy

The English Understand Wool, by Helen Dewitt

Dodger, by Terry Pratchett

The Cat's Table, by Michael Ondaatje

Something to Do with Paying Attention, by David Foster Wallace

Books I read over the past year+ that I enjoyed less (arranged from "really not bad" to "omg I wish I hadn't read this"):

Mort, by Terry Pratchett

The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski

The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud

The Twisted Ones, by T. Kingfisher

All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy

Cities of the Plain, by Cormac McCarthy

A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway

The Lost Man, by Jane Harper

Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski

Sword of Destiny, by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Time of Contempt, by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, by Hank Green

Books I tried to read over the past year but didn't like enough to bother finishing (in alphabetical order by author):

Another Country, by James Baldwin

A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers

Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline

White Noise, by Don DeLillo

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James

Beyond, by Mercedes Lackey

Foundation, by Mercedes Lackey

The Diviners, by Margaret Laurence

Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie

Circe, by Madeline Miller

Runaway, by Alice Munro

Autonomous, by Annalee Newitz

Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir

Tempests and Slaughter, by Tamora Pierce

Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater

Dracula, by Bram Stoker

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History, by Cassia St. Clair

Strange the Dreamer, by Laini Taylor

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner

The Way of Shadows, by Brent Weeks

The Martian, by Andy Weir

The Cloud Roads, by Martha Wells

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe, by Alex White

A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England, by Sue Wilkes

[cutiecatsub]

Okay, seeing Speaker For The Dead on there (lol, speaking of authors who are garbage people) shocked the shit out of me, especially when you mention it in the same breath as Les Mis haha. Criminally underrated IMO. Ender's Game is great for what it is, but SFTD is a masterpiece and has some of the most interesting explorations of ethics I've ever read.

One day I'll write something on that level! And hopefully not be a shit person while doing so 😹

Favorite TV/film adaptation of a book/series?

I read SftD in one night and bawled my eyes out over it like I had its predecessor. I need to re-read bc I honestly can’t tell you much about the plot, I mainly remember the emotional effect it had on me. It was really pivotal in my understanding of empathy and felt just really…profound to me. It’s very rare that something has moved me that much.

which makes it weird that the author is as shitty as he is. I added the note about Wilson and not about Card bc Wilson isn’t as well known and it just feels different when you’ve been in the same room lol. DAMMIT I FORGOT DICKENS I am the biggest slut for tale of two cities and Little Dorrit WHICH DOES NOT GET ENOUGH LOVE. honestly if we’re talking about *the best* book to screen adaptations I’m gonna say for honorable mention Little Dorrit with Claire whatserface and YALL ANDY SERKIS IS MASTERFUL IN THAT SERIES ok I just got it on dvd and I need to rewatch it. Pride and Prejudice ‘95 and Brideshead Revisited with Jeremy Irons are tied for best imo.

[ulkaralakbarova]

A veteran actress comes face-to-face with an uncomfortable reflection of herself when she agrees to take part in a revival of the play that launched her career 20 years earlier. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Maria Enders: Juliette Binoche Valentine: Kristen Stewart Jo-Ann Ellis: Chloë Grace Moretz Klaus Diesterweg: Lars Eidinger Christopher Giles: Johnny Flynn Rosa Melchior: Angela Winkler Henryk Wald: Hanns Zischler Actress in Sci-Fi movie: Nora Waldstätten Piers Roaldson: Brady Corbet Urs Kobler: Aljoscha Stadelmann Maria’s London assistant: Claire Tran Maria’s agent: Stuart Manashil Journalist in Zürich: Péter Farkas Journalist in London: Ben Posener Talk show host: Ricardia Bramley Urs’ assistant: Luise Berndt Mayor of Zürich: Gilles Tschudi Berndt: Benoit Peverelli Chanel PR: Caroline De Maigret Waldhaus concierge: Arnold Gramara London theater assistant: Sean McDonagh Wilhelm Melchior: Valery Bukreev Dorothea von Duisburg: Katrin Schmidt Cello player (concert at the Waldhaus): Phoebe Lin Violin player (concert at the Waldhaus): Katarzyna Nawrotek Oboe player (concert at the Waldhaus): David Seghezzo Harpsichord player (concert at the Waldhaus): Claire-Anne Piguet Journalist (uncredited): Jerry Kwarteng Jo-Ann’s Manager (uncredited): Jakob Köhn Journalist (uncredited): Steffen Mennekes Paparazzo (uncredited): Wilhelm J. Reitzenstein Kellnerin (uncredited): Rosa Schrehardt Film Crew: Writer: Olivier Assayas Costume Design: Jürgen Doering Co-Producer: Rémi Burah Art Direction: Gabriella Ausonio Co-Producer: Jean-Louis Porchet Editor: Marion Monnier Co-Producer: Karl Baumgartner Co-Producer: Thanassis Karathanos Co-Producer: Gérard Ruey Director of Photography: Yorick Le Saux Production Design: François-Renaud Labarthe Producer: Charles Gillibert Associate Producer: Antoun Sehnaoui Set Decoration: Gabriele Wolff Line Producer: Martin Hampel Co-Producer: Sylvie Barthet Casting Director: Antoinette Boulat Sound: Daniel Sobrino Script Supervisor: Christelle Meaux Sound: Nicolas Moreau Casting Director: Anja Dihrberg First Assistant Director: Dominique Delany Producer: Frédérique Dumas-Zajdela Musician: Phoebe Lin Musician: Katarzyna Nawrotek Musician: David Seghezzo Musician: Claire-Anne Piguet Movie Reviews: Reno: **The actors and their generation difference, evolution of cinema and the beauty of nature.** This is about a middle aged actress who spends in the Swiss Alps with her personal assistant while preparing for the upcoming project. During that time, she receives a news that the author of the book which was adapted for the screen 20 years ago where she play a main role and now in its remake, she’s doing another part, while a young sensation playing the main part. This is more like the evolution of cinema. The 20 years is too soon for her, while the cinema and its trend advanced rapidly. Precisely to say, the commercial films and young actors taking over the art films and true artists’ places respectively. If you at least 30 years old, you would get this film more than others. Because while I was growing up in the 90s, the cinema was so different. I’m not talking about the technology like computer graphics, but the story and how it was narrated for the screen. Now the science- fiction and dystopian themes taking over with the young audience and social media support. I think it was a quite meaningful film, particularly if you adore films like the recent evolution in cinema was so faster than ever. The negatives were, the film was too long, slow pace and too simple drama. The positives were, the actors and their performances, the locations, theme and some of the dialogues. Directed by a French filmmaker, this is an international project with a few guest appearances. Most of the film was set in the Alps. Totally different than what I was anticipating, but I still like, except in a few parts where I got bored for its weak development. So this is for the selected audience, that mean it will be appreciated by a very few and I’m kind of neutral with mostly in its favour. _6/10_ M...

[lotusofhope]

Its wild that you can tell which era of writer it is by the ending of a doctor who arc

The end of the special reminds me of early New Who - everyone gets to go home and be happy literally every season ender

But the toymaker literally mocked the endings of the era immediately afterwards - everyone dies* but something makes it slightly better lmao

Personally even though the episode that "killed" amy and rory was horrendously written, I liked their ending.

Claire's ending felt "acceptable" but a little cheap

Bill Pott's ending.... Really? Really?

Why make it incredibly dark if you're only going to cheat it not once but twice? Lmao?

And Bill's season was really good, too.