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irondad-creator-awards · 5 months ago

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Writer Spotlight - KitCat992

This week we're hearing from @kitcat992, the author of the Identity Saga of which Identity Theft won The All-Time Favorite Award in 2023

Summary:

It's been months since the events of Civil War, and the Avengers are doing their best to remain a team, having promised to forgive and forget. Unfortunately for them, Tony Stark's latest invention has been stolen and recovering it causes tension to reappear. Meanwhile, in Queens, Peter Parker has two main priorities on his plate — complete his midterm finals, and track down a fishbowl wearing criminal that may or may not lead him right into the hands of the Avengers. Somehow between all of this, Spider-Man's identity is revealed to the Avengers, Steve and Tony's friendship may permanently be damaged due to continued hidden secrets, and Happy struggles to buy a youth-sized casket for Peter's funeral. Things were a lot easier when they were fighting over Bucky Barnes. (Or: The Avengers welcome Peter into their crazy superhero family and will do anything to protect him.)

How did you get into Irondad?

The MCU definitely did the trick for me! It was Infinity War specifically that actually drew me in. I’ve been a Spidey fan since I was a young girl, dating back into the late-late 90’s. So by the time Civil War came out, I was a jaded adult watching the film with a lot of feelings of disrespect when seeing Tony’s (at the time perceived) forced hand into Peter’s story. I’ve actually been open in talking about this before, because in hindsight it’s hilarious. I laugh quite often looking back on this. It was Homecoming that completely changed my perspective. It made me feel like there may be an opportunity for something new and totally fresh with Spider-Man, after seeing the same origin story told over and over and over again. Both on film and in the comics. Things got stale and boring, and the MCU gave light to something that could’ve been really original and new. I fell head-over-heels for a teenage Peter Parker, because as a huge Ultimate Spider-Man fan here, they already won me over with that one. And just like the Ultimate Comics, I loved the idea of Peter being guided into Superhero-ism by all those that came before him, while still branching out and doing his own thing. It ticked all my boxes. I was excited. With Infinity War, something just pulled me right in. Suddenly the idea of Tony having a hand in Peter Parker’s story was enthralling to me. As someone who has always gravitated towards pseudo father/son relationships in fandoms (along with a hearty aspect of team-as-a-family trope) I immediately consumed all tiny little bread crumbs we got in that movie. Retrospect gave me an even deeper love for Homecoming, having re-watched it with brand new eyes. And here we are today, where I’m still writing the two as if it were 2018. The MCU never panned out, unfortunately. It went in all the wrong directions and makes me wonder if we’re living in the “bad timeline”, as they say. But I still hold onto that “what could’ve been.” I hold onto it because I’ve never forgotten that first feeling of how special these two felt. How the concept, the idea, the what-could’ve-been — it all felt so original, so different, so unique. Everything with Superheroes had gotten stale and boring, repetitive and the same. This wasn’t that. We never saw it flesh out the way it should’ve been on film, but that feeling of uniqueness of what they could’ve been stays with me today, and it’s why I still enjoy writing them both as much as I do. Long story short, Irondad is every single box of mine ticked off.

☑ Spider-Man ☑ Iron man ☑ Pseudo father/son relationship ☑ Peter Parker as a teenager ☑ Peter Parker as a teenager AND growing into an adult guided by someone who came before him ☑ Basically the Ultimate Comics on film ☑ Tony Stark developing further as a character ☑ Tony Stark being a mentor and/or being emotionally attached to a pseudo son ☑ Tony Stark. Duh

What’s your favorite Irondad scene?

“Pete, you gotta let go — I’m going to catch you.” When did you start writing and what made you sit down and write that first story?

I was 9 years old when I began writing. It was when fanfic.net had just popped into the realm of things, and fanfiction grabbed my interest far more than any of the fiction books at the library. It’s always ticked something for me, to read more about characters I’ve already become established with. And because of that, the first ever story I wrote was a fanfiction, specially for the 2002 Spider-Man movie. It was not good. But I’ve been writing ever since! Here and there and everywhere. Sprinkled throughout fandoms, always under a different alias, it seemed. KitCat has been my longest venture so far, and that’s entirely thanks to the Identity Saga. I’ve decided that if I ever take off for another alias from here, it’ll be on the published side of things. Not because I want to make any sort of money off writing (ha! It’s truly not a profitable source of income) but rather because I really friggin love telling stories. It’s fun. What do you like about writing most?

Seriously, it’s FUN. Being able to bring the scenes that are stuck in my head to life in written word? It’s a challenge, it’s a pain in the ass, it’s frustrating as hell, and it’s fun. I’ve been practicing writing since I was a kid, and while I’m absolutely no professional at it, I love that I’ve sharpened my skill set well enough that I can re-read my own work and feel as if I’m watching something happen in live-action. I’ve always been a person of heavy imagination, which in turn created a sort-of “cinematic” writing style. Because I’m far too poor to ever make a movie, writing is the next best thing to free all the stories that run rampant in my head. It’s fun, I really enjoy it. Which of your stories is your favorite and why?

It’s not a singular story, but I’m incredibly proud of the Identity Saga. What started as a far fetched dream to actually complete a lengthy series has somehow, beyond my understanding, become reality. I started with the intent of just completing the first installment, and only creating enough cliff-hanging plot threads that wouldn’t ruin the story if I weren’t able to execute the concept in its entirety. It’s taken years, and will take a handful more, but the finish line is up ahead and having that concept executed with so many people interested in its completion…well, I just think that’s real nifty. What’s your favorite trope to write?

Found family, and whump. And many times, found family AND whump. What inspired the story?

Comic books. Simple as that. I grew up on comic books, with many being a monthly subscription I’d get mailed to me — after much begging to my parents. I’ve always loved the tropey, corny, dramatic, fun, whimsical and fictional aspect of comic books, especially with superheroes. I’m sure there’s an answer behind that of which a therapist would love, but I simply allow myself to enjoy what I enjoy. :-P I had been in and out of the MCU fandom since the first Iron Man movie but dropped out when Civil War turned me off to the direction they had taken the characters — that being, the Avenger’s never actually being a team. I re-entered the fandom with Infinity War, because I had an intense false hope we’d seen an Avenger re-banding. You’re talking to someone who is all about the Avengers as a team, as friends, like the heyday of the cartoons. Anyhow, re-entering the fandom has immediately introduced me to Irondad, and sparked the flames from there. See: What got me into Irondad. As far as to what “inspired” the story, I really have no answer for that. I have a wild imagination, thanks to the aforementioned love of comic books. After seeing Infinity War, I had many daydreams that led into the concept of the Identity Saga. All I wanted to do was write this comic-booky, jambalaya of ideas story that made me happy. I wanted to see Irondad fleshed out in its entirety, I wanted to see Tony evolve into that Irondad-character the fandom saw potential for, and loved so much. I wanted to see Peter grow into Spider-Man, guided by his mentor and heroes he looked up to (seriously, Homecoming laid down groundwork for SO much and I’ll never see it any other way) I just wanted to see everything I’ve written so far, and everything I’ve yet to write, come to life. Words were the best way to do that. And to everyone who has drawn fan art for it along the way — you’ve made a girls dream come true. Can you tell us a little about the experience of writing it — did anything stand out or was there a particular person that helped more than others?

The experience of writing this story is a blur. It’s attached to momentum moments in my life that have gotten me where I am today. It’s literally a part of me in so many ways I can’t describe, and that’s weird. Ultimately though, I’m just proud of it. Sure, it’s faulty, sometimes clunky, definitely a show of work to the progress I’ve made in my writing. It has spelling errors that I’ve still ye to catch to this day. Paragraphs I’d like to re-word better, but still love for what it was. At the end of the day, it’s truly a display of the passion I’ve always had for these characters, and always will. How did you feel to be a winner of the Awards last year?

I’m very touched to be a winner, because to me that means many people have read and loved this story, and once again — I think that’s real nifty. The story is just my ideas and imagination put to words. How you read it, and how you perceive it…every person out there has their own vision of it, and I love knowing so many visions exist. It keeps Irondad alive.

Thank you so much for answering out questions, KitCat, and thank you for being a part of the 2023 Awards.

Nominations for the 2024 Awards will open July 1st so starting narrowing down your favorites.

#irondad creator awards #irondad #spider-man #iron man #fandom awards #irondad and spiderson #spider son #fanfic #writers #Irondad Creator Awards 2024

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addictedtostorytelling · 4 days ago

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Hi! I’ve got a CSI question. Have you ever written about how, exactly, Sara & Grissom managed to keep their relationship secret for *two entire years*?

I mean, on one hand, neither seem to socialise with the team out-of-hours that much - so Grissom being weird and secretive is just Grissom, Sara spending a lot of time ‘alone’ is just Sara.

But I keep coming back to all the little things that the rest of the team of actual trained investigators should’ve noticed! Because IME you definitely notice when two people are sleeping together - little things like smelling like the same soap, or mentioning having watched the same movies, showing up to work at the same time, or both being suspiciously ‘busy’ at the same time. Two entire years, and not Catherine, Warrick, Nick, or Greg picked up on this?

(Also, they must’ve really had to go to an effort to cover it up, which brings up all sorts of questions about them feeling guilty about ‘lying’ to the team - though I’m personally of the view that, until Sara’s kidnapping, they hadn’t really spoken about what they ‘were going to do’ about their relationship re: lab policy and team dynamics, and were just kind of basking in the honeymoon phase, but your take on that might be different.)

But again - I’m more fascinated by the actual day-to-day nature of keeping it secret. I mean, it’s not like they can go away for a relaxing weekend - due to the nature of their jobs they’re nearly always on call, so it would’ve been very hard to not somehow get ‘caught out’. Just something I ponder, and was wondering what your perspective might be.

hi, anon!

so i have actually written a multichapter fic about the logistics of the gsr "secret dating" era (explored within the context of an s7 double-homicide investigation), which you can read here, if you're interested.

otherwise, in response to your question:

in theory, there should be a thousand-and-one different potential tells for team graveyard grissom and sara are a couple over the course of the two-plus odd years they are secretly together.

in theory, grissom and sara should in time start to smell the same, because they use the same laundry detergent and eat the same foods and sleep in the same bed.

in theory, they should always use the same sort of brought-from-home brands on the job, to the degree their doing so is potentially noticeable—the same water bottles and sunscreen in the field and the same silverware and tupperware containers for their lunches.

in theory, they should both have the same short, roan and white dog hairs covering their clothes.

in theory, grissom should sometimes have long, brown sara hairs covering his clothes, too.

in theory, sara should screw up at some point and call grissom gil or gilbert within earshot of a team member.

grissom does screw up and call sara "my dear" in front of super dave and a couple of uniform cops in episode 07x24 "living doll."

in theory, grissom should once or twice arrive for a callout with lipstick in sara's shade smeared on his shirt collar.

in theory, catherine should someday turn up at grissom's condo uninvited, looking to get his signature on some overtime approvals he neglected before the month runs out, only to recognize sara's car in grissom's lot—but not in the visitors' section.

in theory, sara should at least once, unbeknownst to grissom, during her off-hours, take a work-related call from nick or warrick or greg, only to have grissom walk into the room, already in the process of talking to her ("darlin', i was gonna run to the store. did you want me to pick up—?"), and the person on the other end of the line should recognize his voice.

in theory, one or the other of them should perhaps accidentally answer the other person's cell as they're both fumbling around in the dark, in the blear of sleep, hurrying to catch an emergency call.

in theory, they should use each other's mannerisms and turns of phrase too often to blame on coincidence.

in theory, they should at least once, by the law of probability, because vegas is not actually such a very big city, accidentally run into a teammate someplace during their off-hours—in circumstances where it's clear they are on a date or else doing household errands together.

in theory, someone should realize for as rarely as either one of them takes pto, whenever one of them does do so, it always happens to coincide with the other person's scheduled days off.

in theory, since the department provides their cell phones, someone in the accounting office should look over their records and notice they call and text each other five times as often as they do any of their other teammates—and at odd, non-working hours.

in theory, warrick should raise an eyebrow at grissom bringing sara lunch in episode 07x01 "built to kill" pt. i.

in theory, any one of their teammates should question why sara knows where in his office grissom keeps his secret keys in episode 07x13 "redrum."

in theory, since grissom seems to be in the habit of having his personal post sent to the lab, at some point, junk mail jointly addressed to him and sara should be delivered to his desk, and someone should see it.

in theory, one or the other of them should inadvertently leave some personal item in the other person's car, only for another teammate to discover it there on a ride-along ("hey sara, how come grissom's checkbook is on your dashboard?").

in theory, there is no way, even for as clever and motivated as they both are, grissom and sara should be able to keep up their ruse for as long as they do without anybody being the wiser—and especially not considering they eventually do live together.

in theory, someone should at some point clock them.

—but there's "theory" and then there's "practice."

and for however unrealistic it may be, "in practice," the show suggests grissom and sara do a fairly good job of keeping their secret for the two+ years they're together prior to when natalie davis abducts sara.

so our question then becomes, "how?"

—and i think the answer to that question is twofold: i.e., "very carefully" and "because they get lucky."

more discussion after the "keep reading," if you're interested.

so i, like you, tend to believe grissom and sara don't really have an "extraction plan" when it comes to their secret relationship—meaning i don't think they have ever set a hard deadline for when they might come clean to the team or how they might manage to do so without imploding their whole lifestyle.

to my mind, they never directly discuss those eventualities because a) as you posit, to do so would make them feel guilty about the depth and scope of their deception; and b) to do so would require them to discuss their probable future together, which is a subject they're both scared to broach, given they aren't 100% certain the other person is as "in it to win it" as they are themselves.

that said, i do nevertheless think they have "rules of engagement" regarding how they conduct their secret relationship itself.

in fact, i think they would have to, just given the very intricate nature of the thing they're attempting to do.

preventing a team of trained observers from noticing the fact two amongst their number are engaged in a long-term illicit intimate relationship is not the kind of deception one can just successfully maintain on the fly—and especially not when the two people in question eventually move in together and start blending their private lives.

there would have to be some game-planning involved. some strategy. some active maintenance of the moving parts of the whole delicate machine.

as i discuss in the post linked above, i think their rules more or less boil down to three main things.

firstly, i think they are both opposed to actively lying about being together. though they will lie by omission (i.e., by simply failing to disclose the fact of their relationship to anyone and by allowing others to draw incorrect inferences about their love lives that they then themselves fail to correct), they’re not going to look anyone in the eyes and say “i’m single right now” or “i’m dating [fill in the name of some imaginary person]” or “god, i could never date grissom” or “i can’t stand sara.” they’re just going to keep quiet about being together rather than loudly protesting they’re not or pretending to be in relationships with other people.

secondly, i believe they are of a mind not to drastically alter their behavior in each other’s presence for the purpose of “throwing others off of their trail.” while they’re not going to hold hands, kiss, or embrace each other in public, they’re also not going to avoid each other or completely refrain from touching, standing close to, and/or showing affection to each other, either. hence why, for instance, grissom will bring sara lunch, never mind that warrick is right there (see episode 07x01 “built to kill” pt. i)—because his mo is to always treat her like his romantic partner, even if he’s not explicitly acknowledging she is. if these overt displays of affection lead to someone realizing they’re together, then so be it; they’re not about to pretend they’re not in love with each other, though. thankfully, by the time they actually start officially dating, they’ve already been acting like a couple for long enough otherwise, their coworkers just expect them to be “like that,” meaning nobody really raises an eyebrow when grissom calls sara “dear” or sara knows where grissom keeps things hidden in his office. by that point, it’s just kind of par for the course with them as far as the rest of the team is concerned, you know? it’s just how they’ve always been.

finally, i think they have a kind of understanding between them if anyone ever figures out their secret, they’re going to come clean, not just to whomever it is who finds them out but to everyone; at that point, the jig is up, and they’re not going to pretend anymore.

of course, they also undoubtedly have an even more practical set of rules related to how they conduct themselves (and safeguard their relationship) on a daily basis.

more on those rules in a minute.

even so, as discussed above, since even the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and there are such things as accidents and quirks of circumstance no one, however careful, can anticipate or account for before they happen, i also believe for as much as grissom and sara do take very deliberate precautions, their long-standing success in perpetrating their ruse is also just as much the result of good luck as it is any actions performed on their parts.

they get away with what they're doing not just because they're cautious but because they have the good fortune never to have a coworker glimpse anything incriminating.

however improbably, no one ever walks in on them at the wrong time and sees or hears the wrong thing. there must never be any accidents. no confluences of events which conspire to drag their secret out into the light.

the universe itself must help them perpetrate their deception—

—at least until it doesn't anymore and natalie davis is able to figure them out in a way none of their teammates ever has.

but just sticking to the teammates.

i have a longer post here on the subject, but i think they remain so oblivious to what's going on right under their noses when it comes to grissom and sara largely due to confirmation bias.

basically, they see what they are already disposed to see, where grissom and sara are concerned.

remember in episode 02x09 "and then there were none" when grissom tells brass that anecdote about the basketball game and the gorilla suit?

he says a harvard professor once conducted a study in which he asked test subjects to count the number of times the ball was passed during the game. then he had someone dressed in a gorilla suit run across the court mid-game. afterward, he asked the subjects if they noticed the gorilla, and fifty percent of them responded, "what gorilla?"

his point in telling the story is people often develop "situational blindness" and focus on the wrong details when they don't know what they're looking at.

the same principle can be applied to team graveyard and grissom and sara's secret relationship.

each member of team graveyard has their own conceptions of both grissom and sara as individuals and of what their relationship dynamics with each other are, and those conceptions color the ways they interpret grissom and sara's interactions during the secret dating period.

honestly, very few members of the team view grissom as someone who has much of a social life at all, let alone as someone who might ever be in a long-term romantic relationship.

however, even if they were to picture him dating someone, they would probably either imagine that someone as a more peer-aged woman in an adjacent professional field to his (such as teri miller the forensic anthropologist and/or jane gilbert the president of the gilbert college for the deaf) OR as someone completely "left field" (such as lady heather kessler the dominatrix).

since most of the team views grissom as above all being highly devoted to his work and protective of the lab and its interests, not many of them would ever imagine he would engage in any romantic relationship which might go against lab policy and especially not that he would be so unprofessional as to sleep with his years-younger subordinate.

nick in particular probably recalls how hard grissom came down on him for the whole kristy hopkins debacle in s1 and so would never imagine grissom would himself be such a hypocrite as to endanger the lab and its work for the sake of his own sex life.

in fact, the only person on the team who might possibly even consider grissom might be capable of doing such a thing is catherine, whose personal opinions about the male libido and how sex-motivated people tend to be in general, plus her perceptions of both grissom and sara individually, dispose her to such views.

—however, she just so happens to be of the belief grissom and sara were in a sexual relationship years ago, which culminated in explosive fashion shortly after sara moved to vegas*, and so is not in the right headspace to recognize their current sexual relationship for what it actually is.

* and who knows? she could be right.

she believes they're ancient history—emphasis on the ancient part.

meanwhile, while certain team members (such as warrick and possibly greg) may be more aware of sara's attraction to grissom, most of them nevertheless would see it as being more of a one-sided thing and have no expectation it would ever lead to a real relationship between grissom and sara.

they also might not recognize just how persistent her attraction to grissom is, continuing past her first few years in vegas, especially after she dates hank peddigrew in s2/s3; some of them might erroneously believe though sara starts out "hot for teacher," she eventually gets over her crush on grissom and develops more of an interest in guys her own age (and especially in meathead guys who might be easier for her to boss around).

looking at grissom and sara's dynamic itself at large, they might be similarly confused.

first of all, the fact grissom and sara have always, since day #1, been markedly weird around each other probably serves as some very effective camouflage for their relationship once they become a couple.

as i talk about in this post,

those two geeks have been standing way too close to each other, finishing each other’s sentences, staging uncomfortably intense staring contests, lobbing strange innuendos, having weirdly charged tiffs, being way too openly defensive of each other, etc., etc., since the very first day sara walked through the door to the las vegas crime lab. and maybe initially their teammates wonder if anything ~more~ is going on between them than just “friendship,” but then over time that bizarre intensity between them just becomes a baseline. while particular interactions might temporarily resurrect old suspicions for various team members, nothing to definitively overturn the “it’s just platonic weirdness” assumption ever occurs. so eventually, everyone becomes inured to gsr.

essentially, since they've always acted kind of like they're in a romantic relationship since even before they're actually in a romantic relationship, no one really bats an eye when they do finally become a couple, because their dynamic doesn't really change.

—and especially not because, while there are certainly plenty of instances over the years which might suggest attraction between grissom and sara (mutual or not), depending on if one is inclined to see things that way, there are also just as many instances which might suggest frustration between them or even outright annoyance.

yes, they often act strangely couple-y, but they also often come to loggerheads in highly public ways, enough so as to potentially throw off anyone's sense of their deeper feelings for each other.

for every one time grissom rushes a case for sara (see episode 01x16 "too tough to die") or sara makes a fool of herself grubbing for grissom's approval (see episode 01x17 "face lift"), there is another time when he publicly chews her out over some case (see episode 04x07 "invisible evidence") or when she gets visibly pissed at him for what she views as his mismanagement of her/the team (see episode 04x08 "after the show")—so it's not like all of the available evidence necessarily points toward them being in love.

and especially not when they have both to their teammates' knowledge showed more obvious, uncomplicated romantic interest in and dated other people in the time since sara first moved to vegas (grissom teri miller and potentially heather kessler in s1-s3, and sara hank peddigrew in s2-s3).

so given their preconceived notions of grissom and sara and of grissom and sara's relationship dynamic, it's not necessarily surprising the members of team graveyard don't recognize any evidence they may encounter of grissom and sara's secret romantic relationship with each other for what it is.

their views of the situation as participants are much more limited than are ours as outside observers, after all.

they don't get access to the totality of the information available in the same ways we do. not only do they not get to see the close-up shots or hear the nondiegetic music cues we do as viewers, but they also aren't privy to the overarching story beats. none of them has seen or heard as much as we have overall, nor in the same condensed format.

remember: lots of time elapses within the universe of the show between individual episodes, so whereas to us it might seem like the events of episodes 02x15 "burden of proof" and 02x16 "primum non nocere" take place in fairly short order, for the characters themselves, nearly three full weeks pass between those two cases, which means any connections between grissom's treatment of sara in the earlier episode and his actions toward her throughout the second might be much less obvious to them than they are to us, say.

and, then, of course, there is the fact, in addition to whatever confirmation bias might help to cover over the truth of grissom and sara's relationship, grissom and sara are, within the universe of the show, in the business of actively trying to deceive their teammates regarding what's going on between them.

which brings us to the part of this post where we talk about all of the ridiculous lengths they must go to in order to keep their secret secret.

first of all, while i do believe grissom and sara try to avoid outright lying as much as they possibly can, there are some lies they simply have to tell in order to make this whole complicated situation work.

though they might try to avoid more egregious and forward-facing falsehoods, like pretending to their teammates they're in relationships with people than each other or feigning like they loath each other to conceal the fact they are in love, the fact is, they almost certainly end up not only lying by omission but also occasionally lying more outrightly (especially where hr is concerned).

since neither grissom nor sara is very social outside of work and never has been, they're likely able to take advantage of that fact, when it comes to avoiding coworkers outside of work hours.

however, since during the early seasons of the show, teammates—and especially catherine—do seem to turn up on grissom's doorstep unannounced from time to time, i suspect once grissom and sara move in together, they actually have to take some actively evasive maneuvers.

as i talk about in this post, once they decide to make the whole "living together" thing official, they likely move to a completely new condo somewhere slightly out of the way of the lab. grissom then likely makes a point never to invite anyone over or to advertise where it is he is living.

moreover, he and sara probably choose to move into a condo with no public access, meaning only people who have keys can get into the building past the lobby and all nonresidents must check in with the doorman. they probably give said doorman instructions not to confirm their address to anyone without their permission, citing safety issues related to their work in law enforcement.

meanwhile, sara probably has to keep the lease and continue paying rent on her old apartment even after she stops officially living there and most probably can't sign on the lease of her and grissom's new shared place and/or put her name on any potential mortgage contract there.

maybe she sublets her old place.

she also may or may not rent a po box to receive official mail from the lab, separate from the address she shares with grissom.

she likely also maintains a separate bank account from grissom, even if they somehow split the cost of living otherwise (e.g., buying groceries together, paying for hank's care, divvying up their rent or mortgage payments, etc.), which means she may end up cutting grissom monthly checks to reimburse him for shared expenses.

she probably has to have calls from her home phone number—which, remember, was a usual thing for a person to have in the early 00s—forwarded either to her cell or to a designated alternative landline at her and grissom's shared place (which only she is allowed to answer).

both she and grissom also probably choose to keep their numbers and addresses unlisted from public record.

which is not necessarily an unusual thing for law enforcement officials just generally, but in this case is especially expedient for more than just the usual "we don't want criminals we've helped to prosecute to find out where we live" reasons, as they are also trying to ward off their friends.

coming and going to work, they likely have to make a point to stagger their departure and arrival times and to drive different routes (sara always being sure to come from the direction of her old apartment, even if she has to make a big out-of-the-way loop to keep up that appearance).

if either one of them is on call, they probably also have to drive separately to anyplace they might go out together, in case that person has to leave.

when they answer work phone calls at home, they likely have to signal to each other verbally when they are going to do so, especially if the other person is in a different room when the call comes through, so no one makes the mistake of talking within earshot of where they might be overheard by the other person on the end of the line ("honey, i'm getting a call from nick! don't talk for a second, okay?").

sometimes, when they receive simultaneous calls, one of them might even have to rush outside to answer their phone, so they're not occupying shared space while one of them is talking to catherine and the other person is talking to greg or what have you.

they probably have to avoid areas of town where they know their coworkers live during their off-hours, and when they go on dates, stay away from any of the kind of common places where they might be likely to run into someone they know. they may even occasionally use sara's old police scanner to avoid areas where there might be active crime scenes or heavy police presence so they don't accidentally bump into anyone from the department.

maybe they go as far as getting unscented detergents and cleaning products to avoid having their clothing smell the same.

grissom already doesn't wear cologne (see episode 01x03 "crate n' burial") and probably also uses unscented deodorant, and maybe sara takes to doing so, as well.

they probably have to be meticulous about using a lint brush on their clothes before heading to work so as not to show up covered in hank fur. ditto for checking they don't leave identifiable marks on each other after they've been intimate—so no lipstick on the collar or visible hickeys with noticeable diastema bruise patterns in them.

obviously, only one of them would be able to bring leftovers from home to work for lunch, and they'd have to be careful not to show up with matching tupperware.

as supervisor, grissom couldn't, no matter how badly he might want to, schedule himself and sara to have too many of the same nights off, meaning there would be plenty of times when one or the other of them would end up stuck home alone for hours on end while the other person still had to work.

they also couldn't afford to always go to the same conferences.

they would have to be judicious about using their pto at the same times and have airtight cover stories for if they ever did happen to be absent from work at the same times (which is something we know canonically probably occurs at least once, based on what nick says in episode 07x11 "leaving las vegas").

though doing so in the early 00s would definitely be easier than is the case nowadays, they still probably have to be careful about curating their online presences. they almost certainly use a vpn on one or both of their laptops so they don't show up using the same ip address while doing work-related online tasks. moreover, while neither one of them probably has any social media profiles to speak of (as not only was social media not as ubiquitous from 2005-2007 as it is today but also, again, grissom and sara would personally be unlikely to be on a site like facebook, just given their jobs in law enforcement), they also probably eschew conducting business online, as well, preferring to do things like banking and paying rent in person, so as to avoid accidentally getting their wires crossed with each other on the web.

in theory, someone could maybe trace them both logging onto the same bank account online.

tragically, they probably cannot risk naming each other directly as their ice contacts. however, they may designate some kind of mutual nonwork friend or neighbor as such and then give whoever it is instructions they are to contact the other person, if the other person is not already apprised of the situation ("if anything happens to me, call sara").

for sara in particular, she probably has to be very careful about how she refers to grissom at work, as it would seem she is in the habit of calling him gil or gilbert at home, though doing so is not her norm when they are on the clock (and, indeed, would be an unusual thing coming from any one of grissom's younger subordinates).

of course, grissom also probably has to be equally careful not to call sara by any endearments when they're working, as he seems to be quite liberal in his use of them when they are in private.

he also probably has to be judicious about how he handles sara's evaluations at work, being sure to mix in criticisms with his praise.

sara likely has to resign herself to never seeking any kinds of promotions or negotiating pay raises, either.

still.

even with all of these precautions in place, there are undoubtedly still times when grissom and sara do have some close calls or even slip up in small ways (which thankfully don't tip anybody off but do probably give them both momentary small heart attacks).

—which is why i say, ultimately, they also need just some good, old-fashioned luck to get away with their whole secret dating arrangement for as long as they do.

try as they may to use all of their genius-level intellect to outsmart their teammates, the fact is, there's no way they're able to account for everything, so at the end of the day, they just have to hold their breaths, hope for the best, and see how much they can get away with before the jig eventually comes up.

turns out, they manage to get away with quite a lot for quite some time.

—at least until natalie davis, with her outsider's perspective, is able to recognize the proverbial gorilla on the court for what it is.

anyway.

i've rambled a lot now.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

#answered #anon #asks: csi #**#my meta #meta: csi #meta: gsr #csiverse #let's talk shop

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autisticempathydaemon · 4 months ago

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(I’m re-typing this because I forgot some key information and I apologize in advance for any typos or confusion, I’m bad at typing)

Hi, idk if you still answer these but it looked fun to try! I hope you’ve had a good day/night, may your dreams be pleasant and your crops watered for the ✨harvest✨

* What song are you fixated on at the moment? What lyric or verse, and why?

I don’t currently have one favorite but “Never Coming Back” from Violet Evergarden, “The Road Not Taken” by Hoyo-Mix, “Smooth Operator” by Sade and “Control” by Loveless are currently the top 4 for the day (honorable mention to “Kapp’n Song” from ACNH) I don’t really have a reason and it’s kinda just what my brain chemistry currently likes

* What is your Enneagram type?

9?? I think, I’m not entirely sure sense I got confused trying to figure it out X~X

* Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays, and if so, which is your favorite and why?

ABSOLUTELY!! I’m not sure if I have a reason? Maybe it’s because I can just sit and listen to something I’m interested in for a long time and just relax and focus on one thing?? I also like to listen to livestreams and other long videos, I tend to watch/listen to “AthenaP”, “EIsSocial” and a Persona 4 analysis from “Hiding in Private”.

* Tell me about your childhood imaginary friend.

My brain didn’t cook one up

* What is your go-to way to fall asleep?

Rotating like a rotisserie chicken, Comforter/Blanket on, Hugging a Plushie (usually this Peep I’ve had sense 2018 or my Wolf Build-A-Bear) and one earbud in either playing music, a rp audio (currently redacted) or an analysis video ive heard about 20 times

* If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? (In tandem, if you have changed your name, why did you pick that one?)

I’ve been through a lot of names online due to my indecisive-ness but currently I was thinking KC/Kayce. I have a lot of memories associated with the name and I like how it sounds <3

* What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why?

The Smash Tournament with the Shaw Pack, Sam Healing you after the Fight with the Two Vampires (or honestly any Sam Audio), and the Gameboi’s Anthology. I think it’s the comforting/close/intimate (in a way?not sussy intimate tho) nature of the audios

* What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? Like, not the one you hate but the one who you don’t get the hype for. (I won’t judge, I promise.)

I haven’t listened to most of the boys/stories and I tend to cater my listening to what I know I already like with little to no experimentation; so I don’t really have a boy(s) in mind that doesn’t appeal to me as of right now

* Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to.

either “Yuri! On Ice” or “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”. I watched both of these shows WAYY to many times to the point it’s concerning!! YOI which reminded me of my love of figure skating (watching and ice skating in general) and then I got into MLPFIM when the Season 2 final (Canterlot Wedding) aired and was obsessed after that for like 6yrs and still have moments of fixation for a couple days.

* Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? Like- forget dating, which dude do you want to be your best friend?

Probably Huxley, Lasko and/or Caelum.. and like all of the Shaw Pack (I’m indecisive)

* Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? (For example, my boyfriend knows I’m ready to sleep when I start talking about space.)

If I still have energy to talk/think, Pokémon. Tired, Half-Asleep, My Own Funeral or Given the Opportunity, I will become the Yap King for about 3hrs!! Once I get my Communication Skills under wraps it’s over for Everyone! >:D

* Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo.

I don’t go to the gas station more than like 3 times a year, but probably a carbonated drink.. or lemonade if available. I’m a self-proclaimed slut for lemonade 24/7, 365.

* Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment.

If you mean the Redactedverse, then Sam, Porter (I made my own sense there isn’t an official one as of typing this) and Gamboi’s. But if you Music, then a playlist I made called “more tunes” and it has all my Emotion-Filled, Loud and Auditor-ally Stimulating Songs like “Enter Sandman” by Metallica, “Control” by Loveless and like 1/4 of 6arleyhumans Discography to listen to when I’m Under-stimulated or just Bored

* What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why?

Idk if I have a “Guilty Pleasure” but I have a “Angry Pleasure” and that’s Miraculous Ladybug. I waited 8yrs real time for some of the stuff that goes down and in their time it’s been like 9 months. I’m gonna cut myself off before I rant but damn do I have a love-hate relationship with this show

* And whatever else you think tells me about who you are!

I’m an INFP, I’m the Middle Child of 3, I have Psychological Parental Problems, I love the Stars and Anything Outer-Space themed/related, My favorite color is Blue, I’m more of a Listener then a Talker, I tend to think about my Past, I’m probably Mentally Ill (specifically, I think I have Depression, Anxiety, Autism and MAYBE BPD/Borderline Personality Disorder. gotta love multi-wielding these issues), Love the Mystery Genre and specifically I’m always down for a Murder Mystery at a Mansion, People Pleaser™, I like the Rain and Cold Weather, I prefer to binge rather than one at a time otherwise I’m probably never finishing the media in question, I own 2/3 cats (it’s complicated, their names are Lucifer, Hazel and Marbles <3), My favorite food is Ice Cream (yes it’s a food, fight me.) I’m pretty sure I gave up my dream to be a professional figure skater and go to the Olympics but I hope to ice skate more when I get the opportunity, and finally “It’s not the Heat, it’s the Humidity”.

Thank you for your time <3 (platonic heart for existing)

This was a hard one for me because I have an inkling that the boy I’m picking for you, you haven’t listened to. Ollie isn’t the most narratively interesting playlist on the channel, but I do think he’d be the most perfect for you.

First and foremost, Ollie is an openly communicative, affectionate, and supportive partner; these are really good traits when dating a Type Nine who are characterized by a desire for peace and harmony, the people pleasers of the Enneagram. When his Baby signs up for too much work or has family issues, he’s right there helping you however he can, uplifting you. Next, Ollie is definitely also an introvert, and I love that for y’all, that the home you made together is where you go to recharge. It’s a good home and a good life- no Inversion, no covert, just comfort and safety and fun.

Like, Ollie’s no werewolf, vampire, or daemon obvs. He’s just a guy, but he’s a guy who’d love your cats and introduce you to his own. He’d buy you a telescope and put it in his office so you could look at the stars together. He’d watch Yuri on Ice and Miraculous Ladybug for the first time with you because he wants to engage with your interests and is curious about what the person he loves loves. I don’t think he can figure skate for shit, but he goes with you all the time anyway no matter how many times he falls on his butt. What he is good at is games, and he hosts a murder mystery party for your birthday every year.

Song:

Hey, hey, hey, lover (hey-hey)/ You don't have to be a star/ Hey, hey, hey, lover (hey-hey)/ I love you just the way you are/ For love is just the same/ Without fortune or fame/ Just give me/ True love and understanding

This, to me, is the quintessential Ollie song, I think of him whenever I hear it. It’s cute, and the backing tracks are layered in a way I find so satisfying and I hope you find auditorily stimulating. I can imagine this playing through a shared set of earbuds or a little Bluetooth speaker while you hold his hands and help him stay upright on ice skates.

Runner-ups:

Camelopardalis is a really cute runner-up for you, because he’d be such a supportive presence for someone who identifies as a people pleaser. I also like pairing d(a)emons with people who love space, because it’s so cute to imagine them pointing out their constellation to you. Your other runner-up is, of course, Xavier who could make you an ice skating rink whenever he wants and happily would.

Note: I think you modified and submitted your entry a couple of times, so I picked the one that I felt gave me the most information to work with.

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

#redactedasmr #redactedverse #redacted asmr #redactedaudio #redacted audio #redacted #busybee matches

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pipsqueakparker · 2 months ago

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throwing out some of my hc re: millie & blitzø - i really hope we get more of their backstory soon but until then here’s what my heart says:

idk where this originated from actually, but my nibling presented this to me and i’ve adopted it into my M&B belief system: millie & blitz first met when someone put a hit on her & blitz couldn’t do it, she was too fuckin good & beat him & he was impressed. that was when he decided to shift his business to hits in the living world, and ofc hired millie

blitzø is closest with millie bc her flavor of love & affection is aggressive & feels familiar (add that to the fact that she probably could have killed him & didn’t if we’re taking bullet one into account, Bonding)

actually millie is just really good at reading people and can tailor herself to fit the situation, she knows blitz won’t respond to anything too soft or vulnerable-sounding so she wraps all of her affection & care in nails so he’ll swallow it down

like, if we’re comparing I.M.P on an emotional availability scale, millie is the middle ground between moxxie & blitz

PME (pre-moxxie era), millie was the first person blitz would call if he was “bored”, aka in need of support but unable to admit/recognize that - they spent many a night getting shit faced in his apartment & watching movies while they bitched about their latest terrible dates or whatever bullshit they’d encountered throughout their days

literally they were ride or die besties pre-moxx & the only reason any of that may have changed was bc blitz saw millie genuinely happy & in love & distanced himself just enough to still be there and be friends, but also not get as hurt when she inevitably left him

on a lighter note, blitz was absolutely part of the m&m’s wedding party (i think he was moxxie’s best man, but millie almost argued to have him as a bridesmaid)

millie was the babysitter blitz references when he met moxxie - she & loona just hung out while blitz was off doing some dumb shit, they didnt even know what was going on until he pulled back up w this lil twink by his side the next day

i 100% believe he introduced m&m to each other, and he feels a weird mixture of pride in helping two people he cares about find love but also jealousy bc uhm excuse me you were my friends first what the fuck

the jealousy only wins out late at night when he’s already too tired and he can’t stop the intrusive thoughts and they just tumble down into feeling alone and like people are moving on without him - he went on a bender right after their wedding but ofc led everyone to believe it was unrelated (ok the note got dark again soz)

millie & blitz have a weekly coffee date where she manages to get him to actually talk about some of the shit on his mind, she’s the one that convinced him to see a therapist to begin with. millie fucking loves him and just wants him to be happy.

millie’s the only one that knows about a lot of stuff bc she just knows to follow up if blitz makes any weird comments

i just think millie knows how to pull info out of blitz even when he doesn’t wanna talk, she recognizes the walls and has figured out how to dig her way under them - but even she knows she’s only getting a small percentage of whatever is really going on with him

i hope the next episode will give us more on that, bc i feel like maybe blitz has been letting a rift open between them, especially since Ozzie’s, and maybe their relationship can be addressed/expanded on cause i wanna know more i love them sm

#helluva boss #blitzø #helluva millie #millie knolastname #moxxillie #headcanon #helluva boss headcanon #i almost just did a full blitz hc but that got real sad real quick

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writeyourdarlings · 12 hours ago

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officially turning 25 today! wohooo😊 thought i’d re-introduce myself here.

hi! my name is aya. i live somewhere in southeast asia. when i’m not busy with real life and responsibilities, i like to draw, read fictional books (preferrably mystery, romance and everything set in the ww2 era), and i also love writing short poems on my phone.

i’ve always loved watching movies and series, but what always stands out for me is the instrumental scores. those kind of music that always capture so much emotions without words, i love it!!!💖 some of my favourites are Agape from If Beale Street Could Talk, Just Us from Soul, and September Song from Big Little Lies.

i’m also someone who tends to worry a lot, and going out by myself has always been a HUGE challenge, so i envy those my age who can travel abroad and be fearless with themselves. although i’m scared of going alone, one thing i’ve found comfort in is going to concerts while being surrounded by strangers. there’s something about singing together that feels reassuring, like even though our individual experiences are different, the song creates a safe space where we can all connect our feelings.

i can't, like seriously can not function in the morning without drinking a cup of tea. i have a Legally Blonde the musical made by a high school production saved in my laptop, and i like to watch it when i'm in a bad mood. i'm unhealthily obsessed with niki and steve rogers, i guess?🤭

AHH this feels like i’m oversharing already😆. hope you know me a little better than before though:). thanks for sticking with me on tumblr. now have fun and go treat yourself.✨

xo💖

#aya speaks

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shutupholden · 6 months ago

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What’s On My Shelf? #1: Stop Making Sense (1984)

David Byrne in Stop Making Sense.

The year is 2024, and streaming services are dominating the film and TV industry. They’re also collecting other streaming services like Infinity Stones and calling it “bundling”. What a time to be alive!

A lot of people out there think that physical media is dying. If your name is Best Buy, you apparently think it’s already dead. But it’s still very much alive and there’s still a market for it. I currently have over 200 titles sitting on my shelf and that number will absolutely continue to grow because I love physical media.

That brings me to the point of this post—and the potential series of posts to come.

A few weeks ago I had a random idea for a podcast called What’s On My Shelf?, which would involve me choosing a film in my collection at random and talking about it. Because I hate the sound of my own voice and do a better job writing my thoughts down than actually verbalizing them, I scratched the podcast idea and opted for the same thing but in blog form.

Today the randomizer, which pulls films from my Letterboxd lists that I use to digitally catalog my collection, chose 1984’s Stop Making Sense.

Conceived for the stage by Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and directed by Jonathan Demme, Stop Making Sense captures the iconic band as they take the stage at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. Shot over four nights and featuring hits like “Burning Down the House” and “Once in a Lifetime”, as well as the now infamous “Big Suit”, it is considered one of the greatest concert films of all time.

David Byrne in True Stories (1986).

I first got into David Byrne and the Talking Heads sometime in 2021. I became particularly obsessed with “Once in a Lifetime” and had it on repeat. That same year I watched David Byrne’s first and only directorial effort, True Stories (1986), which had a killer soundtrack. Sometime after that, I watched David Byrne’s American Utopia on HBO, which is a Spike Lee-directed recording of Byrne’s Broadway show of the same name. I loved the music so much and listened to it everyday for months.

Flash forward to 2023 when A24 announces that they’ll be re-releasing Stop Making Sense in IMAX. I was so excited that I went and bought a copy of the film, which in hindsight was a painfully unnecessary purchase but I had never seen it before and I wanted to as soon as I possibly could.

David Byrne and Chris Frantz in Stop Making Sense.

The film blew my mind when I watched it alone in my room, so when the time finally came for it to hit IMAX screens, I was ready. I picked up a buddy of mine (who lived an hour and a half away) and drove to the closest AMC that was screening the film (which was another hour away), and had my mind blown all over again. A24’s remaster looked and sounded INCREDIBLE in IMAX and was worth the drive. The underwhelmingly brief live-streamed Q&A afterwards… not so much.

The collector's edition of Stop Making Sense, released by A24.

Earlier this year, A24 finally announced a physical release of the film on 4K UHD, which I pre-ordered immediately despite already owning a copy of the film on Blu-ray… and not having the kind of income to just drop $60 on a movie like that. After months of waiting it finally arrived in the mail this week. I have yet to open it at this point, but I’m excited to watch it again!

There’s a reason Stop Making Sense is considered one of the greatest concert films of all time. The music, the staging, the choreography, the decision to have the band members and set pieces come in one by one—it’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. To quote my own Letterboxd review: “Just good vibes all around. Big Suit.”

#film #movies #music #talking heads #stop making sense #a24 #what's on my shelf

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twilightknight17 · 8 months ago

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Last night on P3R: middle-school SEES, struggling with my social calendar, the Abyss of Time, questionable movie choices, and oh god we finished Sunset and now I’m hitting sad stuff in everything else I’m playing/watching too.

I’m still in Tartarus from last time, so I can knock out a few more floors before we go home. I’ve been introduced to a new thing, though, and it’s a Big Hand!

I kind of love how goofy the hands are. They do a little dance and sometimes it syncs up with the music. ^_^

After that, it’s time for the next gatekeeper floor! And it’s--

...oh. Oh god. Is this it? I’m not ready for this. I’ve got Mitsuru with me, but oh man. Not the Table.

……

...false alarm. This is a Terminal Table, not a Crying Table. We’re safe for a little longer.

That wasn’t so bad.

Also, I got a weapon for Shinji as a quest reward, and it’s a crossing sign from in front of a school. It’s so silly.

I rolled through the next set of floors pretty quick, but I don’t think anyone’s quite prepared to take on another gatekeeper. Everyone is pretty drained in terms of SP. So we’re gonna head home for the night, and go learn some more nonsense from school tomorrow.

...all right, actually an acceptable discussion related to the book we’re reading. But hey, sometimes your soulmate can be your rival! Seven years from now, two rival soulmates are gonna be climbing through a cognitive space station!

This is not a fair discussion when Minato’s soulmate still isn’t here for another month and a half.

Anyway, Mitsuru is very worried about Shinji. He wants to extend his leave of absence from school again even though he’s come back to the dorm. So I guess he’s been absent for two years now? She really wants him to re-enroll, though. She, Akihiko, and Shinji were the only three members of SEES originally, back when the three of them were in middle school.

Apparently they could barely handle the first floor of the tower, which… They were children, so I’m not surprised. No adult supervision, either, and Mitsuru only had minor navi powers. I’m surprised none of them got killed. At least Ken has all of us who’ve already learned to fight to keep him safe.

They promised that they’d all graduate high school together, which explains why Mitsuru is so invested. She clearly cares about both of them a lot.

You can hand over the extension form here, but there’s also the option to hold onto them and go find Shinji to talk again. So… I guess you can literally just end the events there if you choose to not take the form back and go pry.

...there’s nothing we can do?

And any miracles I can make will come too late. If only my sister was here… It’s just a cruel twist of fate that which twin survives the car accident determines whether Shinji can live ten years later.

He says he’s happy to spend time with me, though.

This isn’t fair, you can’t hit me like this after the fic Jade and I finished and the end of MGS4 and the fic my other friend is writing AND--

God. And he doesn’t want to tell anyone.

At least Junpei is happy. He really, really likes Chidori. But he’s willing to go at her pace on everything.

Good for you, my guy.

Let’s go upstairs and check on Ken. He’s banging something around in his room, so probably good to make sure that he hasn’t dropped a box on his head or something.

He’s fine, but he does ask me to come in, because he wants to ask for a favor. Turns out, he’s got a pet hamster!

...you’re gonna be fine, Ken. But okay. What’s the little guy’s name?

……amazing. Yes, I will take care of Hamburger, but I’m also not gonna let anything happen to you. Everyone here is going to take care of you. You’ve noticed, right?

Because you’re the youngest and you’re our collective baby brother/kid. No one wants you to get hurt, and it’s unnerving how you talk like you don’t matter, and like you’re not planning to make it through all this alive.

Maybe school will be less depressing. It’s a good day to go to art club. Apparently Keisuke’s dad is very enthusiastic about him studying art abroad! And he says he’s going to go! But then he immediately says he’s not excited about it, so… Keisuke, seriously. What do you want to do?

Ah, well, I’m sure he’ll figure it out.

And then a box falls on Minato’s head, and everything goes dark.

Keisuke gets Mina to the nurse’s office, and after he wakes up, checks him over. Apparently Minato has dodged a concussion. He blames himself, because apparently he’s the one who put the box on the shelf. He’s not used to cleaning, because the maid does all of that at home.

Right. Sure. Careless at cleaning because of the maid. Cool.

He really seems to like the idea of being a doctor, and he’s afraid that if he goes to become an artist, that’s it, he can never be a doctor.

So… sounds like you made a decision, dude.

Keisuke. What. Do. You. Want. For fuck’s sake.

Anyway. So people have been talking about the culture festival all week. There’s gonna be a haunted house. There’s gonna be fried food. The archery club was gonna do a maid cafe, which I know because Yukari was so mad she was gonna have to wear a maid dress.

But, a typhoon is rolling in, so the festival is canceled, and isn’t gonna be rescheduled despite Mitsuru’s efforts. And after school on Friday, we head straight home, because the wind is starting to really kick up.

But… there’s still one person wandering around Port Island Station.

He’s not worried about the oncoming storm. He wants to talk, specifically about Chidori. He asked if she was okay. If we were taking care of her. If she was being a problem.

...no, you dumb asshole.

He also wants to bitch at me again about how we want to stop the Dark Hour.

Apathy? Maybe if you’d caught me six months ago. I have people I like now, and a reason to care. Meanwhile, you’re sitting there talking about how I don’t understand the ‘true value’ of my powers. What value is that? Wandering around at midnight killing people, like you do?

Minato is drenched by the time we get back to the dorm, because the downpour has kicked in and the typhoon has properly arrived. Everyone is a little cranky about missing the festival (except Yukari), and Minato’s got chills and fatigue from getting soaked, so he opts to go to bed early because he’s not feeling well.

…uh. Hi? Is the elevator about to crash?

Igor says that he hasn’t called me in my dreams in a while, and wants to open up some more special fusions for me to do. Which is great and all, but like… I am trying to sleep because I am sick. Can we do this any other time?

I see. Well, that’s… vague? Are you talking about like… the other Full Moon Shadows? The Clockwork God? Do you know what’s about to happen and won’t tell me? Although I guess you can’t help it, considering who made you.

Even if he wasn’t always like that.

Well, let’s get a good night’s sleep and see how we feel in the morni--

Minato. Mina. Darling. It’s MONDAY. You slept for TWO DAYS?

So, according to Q, Minato was feeling well enough that the team went to Tartarus last night. And Igor left the Velvet Room at some point, making it unstable enough to crash the elevator into the Abyss of Time. Apparently it’s not just the Abyss that no one remembers. They don’t seem to remember the instigating trip to Tartarus either.

Weird. But understandable I guess.

Anyway I missed two days of possibly playing my MMO all day. You could have at least showed me my teammates checking on me!

I guess I’ll spend my vacation hanging out with Shinji. Senpaiiii, teach me to cook!

...senpai is mean. XD

But apparently I’m a menace in the kitchen, so maybe I deserve it.

Let’s go to the movies, too!

Yes, we’re seeing this. It’s a movie about cute animals!

…….oh fuck me this is Watership Down isn’t it

Shinjiro-senpai I’m so sorry.

He sounds like he’s about to cry. X’’’’D

I thought it was a nice movie!!!!

Well, now someone has wandered into Tartarus again, so let’s head back, and check in with the Velvet Room about those new fusions. I’m not a high enough level for them yet, but it can’t hurt to look.

...why does it get its own fire attack. Why does it inflict charm.

WHY IS ITS LEVEL UP ITEM ITS HEAD. WHAT HEAD.

God.

After buying everyone new weapons and fusing some more personas, we’re probably going to be in Tartarus for a while. Because, well…

I’m broke.

So next time, yeah, we’re gonna save people, but also, time to look for so much money.

#Li plays P3Re

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meraki-yao · 1 year ago

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I feel like there’s something wrong with me - I don’t love the RWRB book as much as the wider fandom does and sometimes I feel like I’m being shamed for enjoying the movie more. I just can’t find the same passion in the book like I do for the movie. I tried a few times to get into it - tried to see what about it was so magical. There are a few lines I like, though that’s about it. I’ve read essays and replies and pieces that give it so much praise. What am I missing???

I know the book means a lot to so many people and nothing would be here without Casey….it just puts me off to know there’s such a vehement hatred against the movie adaptation. 😓 I try to avoid the negative stuff in the tags and online but sometimes it pops up and it gets so draining. I don’t want it to taint my experience of the movie because it really came out at a time when I desperately needed joy and love and hope.

I’m glad to follow people like you and others in this fandom who have a deep appreciation and love for what Matthew, Nick, Taylor and co. have given us ❤️ They put so much love and care into the story and i’ll always have a place for it in my heart.

Thanks for listening - hope this isn’t too much to unload on you.

Firstly thank you for viewing my blog as a safe space to tell me this. It means a lot that you trust me. 💜

There is nothing wrong with you for not enjoying the book. Books, movies, and shows are complicated things: We often see consensus in opinions because of the shared experience and taught moralistic values the majority of society shares, but at the end of the day, our perception is our own, influenced by our individual personality, experiences and thoughts. As long as your opinions are genuine (as in you really feel that way, you tried seeing the other side and still couldn't agree with it, and you're not disagreeing for the sake of hurting others and disagreeing), it's okay to have them. They are valid, and you are still a valid part of this fandom.

Just to put in my two cents, while I do love both the book and the movie, and I'm able to view them as equal but alternate tellings of the story like two parallel universes, I do find myself going back to the movie more. There are parts of the book I like more, and there are parts of the movie I like more. But mostly I think because I'm more drawn to older, more mature portrayals, I rewatch the movie more than I re-read the book. So if you're saying you like the movie much more, I do understand. Sometimes a book sticks, sometimes it doesn't. It's just part of the reading process. The fact that you acknowledge that the book means a lot to people and that it's the start of everything and can appreciate that despite not feeling the same way is actually really respectful and nice of you. I appreciate that.

I think a lot of the hate towards the movie is the common adaptation hate. Whenever a book is adapted into visual media, every book fan already has their own idea of what it would look like because they visualize the scenes in their head while reading, and they want the book to come to life page by page, word by word. So when that media goes against what they wanted, they get tend to get upset. Taylor himself talked about understanding the judgment that automatically comes with a book adaptation because he remembered feeling disappointed watching the first Harry Potter movie and realized that one of his favourite characters wasn't in it. The truth is, and I emphasise this a lot, that visual media has a lot more constraints that a book doesn't have, therefore adjustments and changes have to be made. In my opinion, as long as the changes make sense and are consistent, and the core of the story is still present and strong, we should learn to understand the changes. Unfortunately, a lot of people can't look past that.

There was a lot of negative stuff in the tags that I kept seeing when the movie first came out. But please remember that this is your space, and if you just want to have a good time, just block the blogs that write shit about the movie. I blocked a lot during the early days, and I was only using Tumblr for like two weeks at that point. There's a fine line between keeping your peace and staying in an information bubble for confirmation bias, but I think in this case, avoiding it would be the best thing. You're here to enjoy RWRB after all.

As for the tags, honestly, the way I do it is that I follow the tags, but I rarely if ever go look into the tags. See if that's something you wanna consider doing.

As much as you can tone it down and block a lot of it out, negativity unfortunately happens in one way or another. I've experienced it in this fandom. But ultimately the good far outweighs the bad, and if the bad seems overwhelming, I do think it would be a good idea to take a step back from RWRB for a few days and come back when the impact of the negativity dies down.

Again, it's completely okay for you to not enjoy the book, and try to make your experience as happy as you can make it. Thank you again for reaching out to me, I'm glad my love for this movie and everyone involved can make you a bit happier. If there's anything else you want to rant about please feel free to reach out to me again! 💜

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #rwrb thoughts #anon ask #answered

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strideofpride · 1 year ago

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anything you’ve been watching/reading lately that you’d recommend? i think you have stellar taste in media (aka it often matches mine lol) so am curious! hope you feel better soon 💖

Ummmm yes, love this ask!!! (Also I’m so flattered 🥰 you have great taste as well btw)

Books:

Mo Ryan’s Burn It Down! If you’re at all interested in the entertainment industry and how it all gets made, this is basically required reading

the Succession script books (pricey but personally worth it)

I just finished Jill Gutowitz’s Girls Can Kiss Now and felt very seen, a wee bit too relatable

And I’m currently also reading Ann Patchett’s This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, which is a great book for my fellow writers to read

Substack:

I’m a paid subscriber to Hunter Harris’ Hung Up newsletter and I’ve never once regretted it lol

Gotta shout out Dracula Daily as well as the one podcast I listen to rn, re: Dracula (I listen and read at the same time which is perfect for me lol)

Gilmore Women - a Gilmore Girls recap newsletter that talks about everything wrong with each episode lol. I sped through the first six seasons and now I’m depressed that I’m caught up lol

TV:

Minx s2 - it is on Starz which I know most people don’t have but this season has been EXCELLENT

Only Murders in the Building s3 - it’s like a comfort show for me at this point, despite being about murder it makes me feel so cozy. Nora Ephron vibes

The Bear s2 - everyone’s been talking about it already but I just finished and god it was GOOD

The Sopranos - everyone should be doing # Sopranos Sunday with me!!! It’s so fun!! This show is soooo good, really living up to the hype for me

Acapulco - really cute show, makes me wish I was still on vacation in Mexico

Poker Face - bring back standalone episodes like this!!! Bring back character actors doing incredible guest star roles!!!

The Other Two - just. It was the funniest show on TV. It really was. 30 Rock’s spiritual successor which is pretty much the highest praise I can give it

Movies:

Red Eye - I rewatched it after Oppenheimer and it really holds up. Fun, tight thriller that is only like an hour 20 lol. Also Brian Cox aka Logan Roy is in it (and Jayma Mays my beloved)

Theater Camp - as a Jewish theater kid who went to and/or worked at a summer camp every year of her life from ages 4-20, there was no way I wasn’t gonna like this

Mamma Mia series - obviously everyone on tumblr knows about these already but I made my family watch them with me for the Fourth of July and god if I could live in the world of any movie it’d be this one ❤️

Man Up - very cute & fun British rom com I first discovered in college and rewatched this summer. Everyone has incredible comedic chemistry in this, and Lake Bell & Simon Pegg have great sexual chemistry as well (quite a lot of British faces who were nobodies when this was made who’ve gone on to bigger things - most notably Phoebe Waller-Bridge who’s only in a single scene)

X-Men: First Class - my favorite superhero movie ❤️

Indiana Jones series - I rewatched the whole series and saw the new one in theaters this summer. The first and third are literal masterpieces. Second one is mean spirited and racist. Fourth actually has quite a bit of charm, but then it fell apart in the back half. The new one…woof. Nobody but Steven Spielberg should be allowed to direct Indy movies.

Asteroid City - the longer it’s been since I saw it, the more and more I think it might be Wes’ masterpiece

Past Lives - incredible. But I know you already know that one lol

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret - perfect, perfect film.

The Other Guys - we need Adam McKay and Will Ferrell to get back together, the fate of studio comedies hangs on this (anyway this movie is hilarious - but also if hell is real Marky Mark is obviously gonna burn for all eternity)

Comedy:

John Mulaney: Baby J - I saw him do this special live when he was touring it and I’m mad he cut the FBI bit but he’s still got it

#thank you!#areseebee #strideofprideanswers

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shakyhandz · 5 months ago

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The Dead Three’s Chosen - Re-Animator Style

Okay so, big thoughts are happening.

I would like to propose this quaint imagine. Please suspend your disbelief for some out of character ness that may occur in this scenario.

We’ll start with Doctor Herbert West, Chosen of Bhaal, wizard interested in the re-animated living - necromancy. He would be an unwilling chosen from the start. Not because he’s adverse to murder, really he doesn’t mind, but because the blood of Bhaal makes him a bit more impulsive, and he ends up killing his test subjects before he can progress his research. It’s all very inconvenient, you see.

I feel like Bhaal would like West as a chosen, for the most part. I don’t see him as a murderous beast, lusting for blood, and committing murder sprees. But I do see him killing people and using their corpses to kill more people. And being a bhaalspawn, I’m sure there’s a dark urge that drives his curiosity to disassemble bodies and put them back together. I imagine his lab looking a bit like Balthazar’s lab.

Bhaal himself can animate the dead and talk through them, and I just have this bit in my head of Bhaal possessing some of the corpses West re animates so that he can talk to West, as West isn’t going to pray/commune with him anytime soon. The dynamic is like a rebellious son ignoring his father, “stop ignoring me, son” Bhaal would say, and it would piss West off every time.

While I’ve seen it be said that Bhaal hates necromancy, as it’s giving life to something already dead, I’d argue that Bhaal would see the necromancy as a good thing as long as it was a means to more death. “Life is strength if it means you can use it to end more lives” - Bhaal, probably. And we know that West has no problem mixing murder with his necromancy.

But that’s the thing, West doesn’t want his re-animated corpses to be mindless murder zombies, he wants to actually perfect the art of necromancy, create actual life. And it drives his father absolutely mad. The deity painfully hand sculpted this man to make him his perfect murderous son, only for him to become obsessed with the one thing he’ll never grasp for long - the living.

Enter, Doctor Daniel Cain, Death Cleric and Chosen of Myrkul. Cain didn’t start out as a Myrkul worshipper, he first was a life cleric of Kelemvor. However, a particularly traumatic event (perhaps a girlfriend dies, driving him to madness. or maybe he starts to dabble in magic that Kelemvor doesn't approve of and causes something horrible to happen) leads him to switch his faith. Those who turn to Myrkul usually experience a lot of death in their lives. It has to be something very upsetting for him to switch like that.

If you have other ideas as to how he came to be Myrkul’s chosen, feel free to share.

Those who worship Myrkul typically have these views - death is inevitable, natural, and should be embraced, but also respected- feared.

Perhaps Cain is fueling his faith for Myrkul due to a personal fear of death that he holds. More so for the fear for others. Or perhaps Cain seeks a way to extend the life of other people through Myrkul, I know the deity is all about the acceptance of death, but the deity has been known to extend lives of the living if it suits his cause.

I can’t really think of a solid reason as to why Cain would choose to worship Myrkul, at least not before all the events that go down in the movie, LOL, he’s a lot more jaded after.

It is also said that worshippers seek to give comfortable deaths to people, so perhaps in this scenario instead of Cain being a “healing” doctor, he’s more of a “quality of life” doctor. He’s going to manage your pain levels, sit “death-watch” beside you in your last hours, and make you as comfortable as you can be for when you inevitably pass.

Perhaps he finds an odd peace helping others in this way, easing the suffering and burdens that many carry to their end.

Next, we have Doctor Carl Hill, Chosen of Bane, a paladin who has broken his hippocratic oath, LOL (idea was given by a commenter on a previous post.)

Hill actively chooses to worship his god. He’s a powerful hypnotist and specializes in matters of the brain (idk what people of Faerûn would consider a “brain doctor” but he’s that.) He’s controlling, conniving, and holds political clout inside of Baldur’s gate.

If we are following the story of the game, I’m imagining him coming up with the idea to enslave the elder brain instead of the durge. Or maybe he does peek at West’s notes and steals some of his ideas about it. I’m also thinking about the brains that are hooked up to the steel watch, very Dr. Hill coded.

Now, when the summons for these three chosen are issued by their gods, West is very keen on ignoring the call. Perhaps West also has a butler in this scenario that desperately tries to convince him to work with the other chosen, but West really isn’t interested.

So the ever diligent butler takes it upon himself to go knocking on the doors of the other chosen (spawning into their abodes unannounced) and, agonizingly, asks them to seek out West themselves.

Hill will think himself above such a task, more concerned with his work than for that sorry excuse of a chosen, at least by his standards. Really, does Bane not consider him powerful enough to do this on his own? Ridiculous.

Cain, on the other hand, agrees to fetch West. He could seek him out for many reasons, maybe he doesn’t like the idea of working with Hill and wants to see what this other guy is all about. Maybe he knows about West already, or has heard about his research. And then they meet.

I’m thinking they meet while West is animating one of those hairless cats, maybe many of them, and it’s running around, bouncing off the laboratory walls, and Cain kills it dead with a spell. And West gets so pissed and upset at this absolute nobody coming in and crushing one of his experiments. And Cain’s all like “oh sorry, I thought you were in trouble, here” and revives the dead cat again for him. But West is like “No! It’s not the same! There’s a better way” or whatever because I assume Myrkul’s magic isn’t gonna do what West wants. Myrkul’s magic is more about bringing back the body rather than the mind, if that makes sense.

So Cain is like “oh, better? For real?” Because Cain got into the whole Myrkul business (I assume) to bring back a loved one or something along those lines, so he’s like “tell me more.” And so West goes “okay” and then he kills the cat again. And then shows Cain some of his experiments. And well, I’m sure it doesn’t take long to become “roommates” again.

Let’s bring it back to Dr. Hill. In this scenario there is no Orin to throw a wrench in everyone’s perfect plans. Hill is our Orin. If we are going straight off of the game events, He’s going to be the one to go after West and try to off him. He’s going to steal all his research and leave him for dead. Whether or not he loses his memories, I’ll leave that for you all to decide in your own imagines.

I’m also thinking, if West gets wormed and tossed aside, Cain is gonna have some inner turmoil. To combat the loneliness or whatever, I’d say Cain brings Megan back to life, sorta like Isobel. During this time of West being M.I.A, Hill steals her away, leaving Cain seething mad and grief stricken all over again. That’s the emotional state Cain is in when West encounters him again.

If West doesn’t remember Cain, I feel like Cain would lay it all out for him. And tell him what Hill did. And so West is ofc going to seek revenge, and Cain is all for it.

If West does remember all the events upon meeting Cain again, I feel like he would be a bit miffed that Cain decided to turn to Megan instead of looking for West’s dead body and re animating him instead. I doubt he’d tell Cain that but I feel like, deep down, he’d be a bit jealous of his dead girlfriend. And so ofc he’s going to want to kill Hill, but also, he’ll probably plot to get rid of Megan too lol.

And that’s it! Those are my thoughts on the topic for now. Ofc I have little mini scenarios in my head about everything but that’s rough idea as a whole. Personally, for this scenario, idk if I would have it follow the game story line, I like to imagine these three on the set of a morbid rom-com doctor show where they run the most diabolical hospital in the name of the dead three LMAO.

Anyway, as always I’d love to hear your thoughts and input. If it inspires you to create your own art or stories, regardless if it follows this imagine, I’d really like to see because I’m so into this crossover.

#re animator #reanimator meme #reanimator #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #herbert west #dan cain #bg3 bhaalspawn #reanimator imagine #bg3 imagine #imagine #daniel cain #text post #reanimator text post #bg3 text post

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agirlnherfandoms · 1 year ago

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Omg same though, i was all about zutara growing up! Recently, my bf saw atla for the first time, and I was watching it with him (its been years, it was so fun!)

I guess back then I was kinda using katara as a self insert?? Haha I just had the biggest crush on zuko 😭

But watching it again recently idk I found this new appreciation for kataang, and aang especially! I just think aangs so charming and cute? 🥴

Like the headband episode? I mean, come on! Gahhh that episode made a kataang stan (the near kiss, and the way they look at each other at the end of the dance 🥺). Also that last atla comic had such a cute art style, and the kataang stuff was adorable!

AND LET ME TELL YOU! WHEN👏🏼 I 👏🏼 FOUND 👏🏼 OUT 👏🏼 WE'RE 👏🏼GETTING 👏🏼 AN 👏🏼 ATLA 👏🏼 MOVIE 👏🏼 WITH 👏🏼 ADULT 👏🏼 KATAANG 👏🏼 / GAANG 👏🏼 🤯🤯 (and katara and aang as the lead characters, I CANT WAIT!)

Also one thing I hated about shipping zutara was all the aang slander that came with it by other zutara fans, I couldn't stand it 😭😭

Hi anon!! 😊

Yay love seeing people relate to the post I posted about becoming a Kataang shipper during my re-watch of ATLA 😘 (you can read it here if you haven’t already).

Firstly, yesss, watching ATLA is still fun after years. Ngl I think when I was younger (mostly because Netflix wasn’t really big), I watched Avatar but not thoroughly. It was more like, if the episode is on the TV, I’m going to watch it. I might have missed an episode or I’d have to wait till next week to see the next episode. This is compared to when I got older and I could do a full binge watch of the whole thing on Netflix (which I recommend 😉).

Secondly, haha I soooo relate to crushing on Zuko. Honestly, still do lol (literally have you seen what he looks like in the comics!?! I didn’t know his hair could get better than season 3 but 😍). And yeah, definitely understand using Katara as a self-insert for the Zuko love 😂. Love an enemies to lovers!!!

(The above two are from The Promise)

(…and these two are from The Search)

Aww yes, I don’t think I paid much attention to Aang when I was younger (other than him being the main character lol) because of how much I loved Zuko. But truly, every single character is so amazing that they all deserve the same amount of love and attention 🥹.

THAT DANCE!! I don’t know what’s in the air at the Fire Nation but Aang was too smooth. After watching that episode, my standards went up by 5000%. I feel like that might have been the episode on my rewatch that made me think a bit differently about Kataang. I think prior to that I was still fully on the Zxtara (going to x the ship name out again in case shippers don’t want to see this xx) train but then that episode happened and I thought this is fricking cuteeee (then of course proceeded to rewatch again).

I’m so happy they’re giving us more adult Gaang content!! So so excited for that movie 😍 and all the Kataang content to come.

Yeah, and on your final point, I do remember lots of Aang hate from some shippers (I do think there might still be some even now). Definitely not saying all Zxtara shippers hate Aang (and definitely don’t think that was what anon was implying)!!! I do think it was a small minority who were probably just trying to find an excuse to hate Aang but I have seen many Zxtara shippers who absolutely adore Aang which always makes me happy because he is a sweet sunshine who deserves all the love and appreciation ☺️.

(This above picture still forever makes me soft 🥹)

Disclaimer just in case you didn’t read the post anon’s replying too / you don’t want to read it lol: I still ship Zxtara and this isn’t Zxtara hate. I just found that rewatching ATLA has made me ship Kataang as well. Perfectly fine if you favour one ship over the other! I’ve just found love for both :)

Love hearing opinions because none of my friends or family want to talk about fandoms with me so please keep them coming 🥺.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #kataang #atla katara #atla aang #aang #katara

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emotionalsupportaudino · 11 months ago

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So I started an actual blog???

I wanted to be able to put thoughts out into the word and Tumblr is my funtime space where I reblog shit and don't say anything, so you can find it here: https://battletoasters.wordpress.com/

However I do want to note that I want to say shit about my first posts because they were about the best bits of 2023, so if you're interested here's my best book, best movie and best album of 2023 I'll post them here!

But there was a LOT more in these posts, including why I love Another 2001, how Scott Pilgrim Takes Off shattered and surpassed all my expectations, and how Anne of Cleves from SIX is probably the hottest character I have ever seen in a musical lmao.

Best Book of 2023: Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

It arrived to my address on release day. And it sat next to my bed for several days, staring at me. It dared me to read it. I couldn’t. What if Straight was a fluke? What if this story rejected me? What if it told me I wasn’t enough–wasn’t queer enough, wasn’t neurodivergent enough, wasn’t traumatized enough by my history in a fundamentalist cult? Or worse, what if its horror was rooted in re-traumatizing folks who had already been through the cruelty of fundamentalist Christianity’s intolerance? What if Chuck Tingle didn’t get it? This story was so personal to me, as a queer kid who grew up drowning deep in conservativism, who came out of it realizing that I wasn’t neurotypical, and who had taken more than a decade to recover enough to not physically recoil from street proselytizing. I spent a week giving the book a wide berth. And then I picked it up. Within two pages, I had called my partner to read out passages. Within 20 pages, I had to put it down, not because I was scared, but because I was all but reading my own story. I had annotated this book to hell and back, each color tab representing something else. “Oh, I’ve felt this in my queer experience!” “Oh, this hits very close to home for my religious experience…” “Oh, damn, I didn’t know that about root beer.” One scene sticks with me, especially: Rose watching a commercial for the conversion camp, the titular Camp Damascus, and thinking about how cool it would be to go there. I was instantly teleported to being 14 years old and begging my parents to let me go on a retreat, because it would be so cool to get closer to god. In reality, it was a weekend of love bombing and berating, over and over, in turn. It was a weekend that broke my spirit, made me feel like I was the lowest form of life, and that I could only be loved if I was in the church. But I thought it was so cool back then. I wanted to scream at Rose, I wanted to tell her what it was really like, wanted to fight every adult in her life, wanted to shake her and tell her how dumb she was to think that. But more than anything, I wanted to hug her, and tell her she was worth so much more, because maybe if this fictional kid could understand that, I could reach back to my teenage self and save her from the hell she was about to go through.

Best Film of 2023: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse

Everyone has talked about this film to hell and back, but there are some things that I really want to talk about that I didn’t see getting discussed a lot. First and foremost? I would die for Pavitr Prabhakar. I get why Hobie is the fan favorite. Love that guy, too. But PAV. And it’s not just because he’s hilarious and charismatic. There is a line in the Mumbattan scene that I think about a lot. “I can do both.” Pav hits us with the point of the movie in a throwaway line. While everyone else in the film (short of Hobie and Miles) believes in the importance of canon events and that you can’t save everyone, Pav is like Miles. He believes he can do it all. He’s wrong–but not for the reasons that Miguel thinks. Pav is wrong because he can’t do it all. But when he works together with Miles, Hobie and Gwen, they can do both. They don’t have to suffer, they don’t have to sit back and let the bad things happen. Does Mumbattan grow unstable after? Yes. But Spot was right there messing with the tech. It’s not Miles or Pav’s fault. It would have happened even if he’d let Inspector Singh die. (By the way, as someone whose partner’s dad is almost impossible to read, the “I’ve never seen him so emotional” line ruins me every single time.)

Best Album of the Year: So Much (For) Stardust by Fall Out Boy

The way I JUMPED out of bed the day this album released is not even funny. And I messaged everyone I knew who was even kind of into Fall Out Boy that they made a real FOB album. It’s an album I can’t listen to with anyone else in my apartment because I am compelled to sing and dance to it. There is not a single song on this album that I will skip over. (Song specifically, I don’t count “The Pink Seashell”.) The album has some range, but it doesn’t feel like the last three. It feels like they remembered what they loved about pop punk. With that they reminded me of what I loved about pop punk. This was my #1 album on Spotify this year, and I don’t even feel slightly bad about that. For months my discord status was “The stars are the same as ever, I don’t have the guts to keep it together.” If you ever liked Fall Out Boy, please come back for So Much (For) Stardust. You will not regret it. Also this year FOB released an updated version of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” that encompasses literally my entire lifetime. That was a surreal experience to say the least.

I talk more about stuff, so if you want to read it check it out. Like and subscribe?? I guess??? lmao.

#2023 in review #chuck tingle #camp damascus #spider man across the spider verse #so much for stardust #fall out boy

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wahbegan · 2 years ago

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Skinamarink (Re-Appraisal)

Okay, so this is the first time i’ve ever done this for a movie, but i couldn’t get this one out of my head. As y’all may remember, i spent my initial review mainly talking about the issues i had with it and then sending it off with a mediocre score and a lukewarm recommendation if you’re into arthouse shit.

But, for whatever reason, i couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I found myself liking the movie more and more the more distance I had from actually watching it, and the more i was just researching the (very sparse) lore and looking at tumblr posts and shit. Which seemed super weird to me, and idk that i should recommend a movie based on how it makes you feel AFTER you’re done watching it

So i watched it again last night

This time, i really thoroughly enjoyed myself. I knew what I was in for, I could follow the plot, I was prepared for the weird way it was shot so it wasn’t distracting, and the nature of the scares meant that they actually stayed pretty effective the second time around as well.

It was MUCH more emotionally effective. It made me anxious, it made me incredibly fucking depressed, it made me feel a little bit sick to tell you the truth. It actually succeeded in just about everything it set out to do.

I also didn’t realize the first time around how...not irrelevant the visuals are, but secondary. A lot of the movie is told through sound alone, and the sound quality really is incredible and very fucking creepy. I caught myself at times wondering if you could just listen to this entire movie and still get what was going on. You couldn’t, and the visuals are important and very striking sometimes, but almost. Either way, it’s very interesting.

I would highly recommend this movie, based on my second viewing of it, but therein lies the catch

Okay, my praise out of the way, here’s where i’m gonna start dumping all over it

Skinamarink is kinda like hypnosis. It only works if you let it. You can’t watch it like a normal movie. You have to really immerse yourself in it, i mean, in a sense you have to almost actively TRY to enjoy it, or at least try to engage with and understand it. There’s a whole section of people i know who just read that and went “Oh, well that alone makes it a shit movie.”

Which is a valid take, and you’ll fucking hate Skinamarink.

But if you let yourself get totally immersed, watch it alone in the dark with like some very nice quality headphones and pay very close to attention to everything you see and hear (because many of the infamous static shots of random ceiling corners and shit are actually giving you some kind of information), you’ll have a really great....great’s probably the wrong word, a really tense and uncomfortable and horrifying experience.

Also, this is almost the opposite of one of those blockbuster Marvel movies where they don’t even want the actors to know what’s going on lest something be spoiled, i would honestly highly recommend going into Skinamarink already knowing the basic beats of the plot. Not y’know a scene-by-scene breakdown, but just knowing what pretty much happens greatly improved my enjoyment of it the second time.

What happens being, essentially, that a kid playing with some imaginary friend seems to fall down the stairs and hit his head. They get home from the hospital later that night and the dad goes to bed. The sister gets up later to find the dad has disappeared into thin air, along with all their house’s doors and windows. From there, it’s largely just the story of these two kids trying to make sense of and survive their situation while they’re fucked with in gradually and then very fucking dramatically escalating ways by what appears to be an omnipotent entity. Think I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream starring two kids just barely too old to be called toddlers, and no motivation or backstory is given for AM and you’ll start to understand what it’s going for.

In terms of technique, it’s shot in a deliberately frustrating and disorienting way that is often supposed to be mimicking a child’s perspective. You don’t get a good look at anyone’s face, ever. The two main characters are exclusively shot from the waist down, usually the knees down. Once in a blue moon you get the back of someone’s head.

Characters are usually completely off-screen, and so is the action. I don’t just mean the gore and scary shit. I mean almost literally everything that happens happens off-screen while the camera is pointed somewhere else. If you’re lucky, you’ll see an object get dragged on or off-screen, but that’s about it.

The dialogue that is there, and there’s not a lot, is almost entirely whispered and almost unintelligible, to the point that about half the lines are subtitled by the movie itself. It’s...not easy to follow.

Again, if that description turns you off, you’re gonna wanna give it a miss

Finally, i’d watch the director’s short film “Heck” first, it’s on youtube for free and it’s only half an hour. It’s not the same story, but it’s a very similar one with a very similar style, and serves as a very nice litmus test for your ability to put up with Skinamarink’s.....idiosyncracies.

So yes, i would recommend the movie. With a lot of fucking qualifiers. If it’s not worth the trouble to you, it’s not worth the trouble to you, and that’s fine. I don’t think i’d call it y’know the BEST horror movie of the year based on just how limited the appeal is. But i do believe for a select group of weirdos and art hoes (myself included) it’s one of the most bleak, disturbing, and anxiety-provoking horror films in a while and highly enjoyable.

TL;DR My first review remains true in that if you love arthouse pretentious shit you should give it a go and if you hate arthouse pretentious shit you should give it a miss and if you’re unsure you should read the long version and use your own discretion, but i actually really liked it. Eventually. I had to warm up to it

#Skinamarink #reviews

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