#a c crispin

[eco-lite]

Some fun things in Sarek by A.C. Crispin:

Spock apparently goes with Kirk to visit his nephew. Very sweet.

There’s nothing better than a well-done metatextual joke.

Not only does Spock constantly exude supreme bitch energy in this book, he also exudes character growth!

Klingons continue to claim Shakespeare.

And finally, I love how Kirk found himself in the middle of this probably intensely awkward family dinner and said “alright, better turn the charm up to 11.” Also, Amanda knows what’s up.

[kittenwivfangs]

Just spent the past hour telling someone the plot of the Han Solo triology 1997-1998 :/ autism wins .....

[josebarrmageddon]

9(2009) 15th Anniversary

My hype for this movie was through the roof. On top of it already looking unique compared to other movies coming out at the time, I saw it was produced by Tim Burton, who I was obsessed with growing up. I was 12 and my best friend, Kal, and I went to see it after school on opening day. It was also the first time I went to the movies without an adult, which my Parents were hesitant about before agreeing to let me see it. Kal and I walked out really liking it, but I became obsessed with it. I loved the characters, voice acting, backstory, visual designs, and world building.

Over the years, I’ve heard some complaints, like the plot being too simple and having little to no character depth, but I think because I saw it at the right time, I was able to fill in those blanks and just appreciated the things it did right. While now, its kind of quaint, I do remember feeling it was more mature and creepy and I liked it. I categorized it under gateway horror, as around the same time, I started delving more into classic horror and monster movies. It’s not necessarily aimed at mature adults, it’s aimed at the kids who are ready to see something a little bit more scary. That’s why the plot is easy to follow and the visuals and tone are intense. Director Shane Acker has talked about making more dark animated movies like this, but nothing’s happened. I know he’s still around working on visual effects for movies and making shorts, but I’d really love to see another feature from him. Hard to believe it’s been 15 years, but It’s still nice to see the 9 fandom occasionally pop up and remind me of simpler times.

- Jose Barr (9/9/24)

[zhsocial]

My personal headcanon VAs for the BB Elite Four:

Crispin- Amanda C. Miller

Amarys- Sydney Mikayla

Lacey- Xanthe Huynh

Drayton- Zeno Robinson

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[vintagewarhol]

[liyazaki]

July 10th is Nikola Tesla’s birthday 🎉

join me in my yearly tradition of watching the most important 6-minute Tesla documentary in existence (Drunk History):

key excerpts:

“he died in a hotel, completely broke & alone- in love with a pigeon.”

“Tesla was the electric Jesus.”

[coupleofdays]

A while ago, I was in a Discord chat discussing (ahem) what kind of underwear different fictional characters might wear. It made me recall the old Star Wars book The Paradise Snare, written by Ann C. Crispin, and specifically the section at the beginning of the book where the author thanks various people who helped her when she wrote it. Among the thanks, there's this one:

For those of you who don't know, West End Games were the publishers of the original Star Wars tabletop roleplaying game, a classic in the genre.

You might ask yourself, "why did she ask the roleplaying guys about Han's underwear?" But to me, it makes perfect sense. If you have a question about some minor, esoteric, seemingly insignificant detail about a fictional setting, the people making a roleplaying game about that setting are the ideal people to ask. Because you never know what kind of crazy stunts the people playing a tabletop roleplaying game might decide to try, or what seemingly insignificant object might become important to them. A good gamemaster has to be ready for anything, either through improvisation or through having anticipated it ahead of time. And presumably, most RPG creators have had some experince with being gamemasters.

I can totally imagine the players going "Okay, so our plan to sneak past those stormtroopers involves our underwear. What kind of underwear are we wearing?"

And the GM will think "Shit, I never thought about that. What kind of underwear would exist in this setting?"

[duranduratulsa]

Up next on my 90's Fest Movie 🎬 🎞 🎥 🎦 📽 marathon...What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993) on classic DVD 📀! ##movie ##movies #drama #whatseatinggilbertgrape #johnnydepp #leonardodicaprio #darlenecates #juliettelewis #marykateschellenhardt #MarySteenburgen #johncreilly #lauraharrington #crispinglover #KevinTighe #AdrienneKing #dvd #90s #90sfest #durandurantulsas4thannual90sfest

[eco-lite]

Time for another Star Trek book review! This time: Sarek by A.C. Crispin.

When I picked up this book at my local used book store, I figured it was going to be "Daddy Issues: The Book." And frankly, that's what I wanted it to be. I have a deep need to read about Spock confronting Sarek for all the bullshit he put Spock through, his refusal to connect with Spock on a level they can both understand, his inability to have a suitably emotional reaction to Amanda's death, etc. And there was some of that--just not as much as I was expecting.

Likewise, I expected Amanda's death to be the focal point of this story--the event that becomes the catalyst for Spock and Sarek's further division and perhaps eventual reconciliation. However, all of that is the side plot. The main plot centers around a Romulan scheme to sow xenophobia and division amongst the Federation using non-consensual telepathic suggestion carried out by kidnapped Vulcans. And only Sarek is uniquely suited to foil their plan! Yeah... Don't get me wrong, it was a very interesting plot; it just came out of nowhere.

Author A.C. Crispin has a lot of interesting ideas about inter-planetary politics and diplomacy, which is a bit of a double-edged sword. While it was great to see multiple different perspectives of this political conflict--Federation, Romulan, and Klingon--the story became a bit bogged down by the shear number of POV characters and story lines going on at the same time. I never thought half of this book about Sarek would be from the perspective of Kirk's nephew Peter, but that's what we got. (Peter kind of sucks, but Valdyr is great. Read this book for Valdyr.)

You know who I wish had gotten more time dedicated to her? Amanda! She is a very important character in this story, yet we get very limited moments of her perspective in the events leading up to her death--although her death was handled very well. After her death, we still get to see her point of view as Sarek reads her journals she left behind. I thought these journals were a great plot device to keep Amanda present in the story, but she really gets lost in the middle when all the action and drama with the Klingons and Romulans is going down. It's a shame because I felt Crispin writes for Amanda very well. I wanted more!

Crispin actually does a great job capturing the family dynamics between Spock, Amanda, and Sarek very well. Each character's thoughts and actions feel very true to canon, drawing especially from the TOS episode "Journey to Babel" (my favorite episode). The interplay between these three was the best part of the book. And it was nice to see an author develop Sarek and Amanda's relationship further, and posit what their lives together had been like. Again, I wish there was more of it!

Overall--while not what I was expecting--this was quite an enjoyable read with an interesting (though messy) plot and nice character details. I also like how it bridges some of the gap between the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and the TNG episode "Unification." Pretty good job, A.C. Crispin.

[beasanfi1997]

9 the cartoon movie was the dark version of Toy Story and Transformers by Michael Bay because the Dolls came Life and fighting against the machines

[that-dinopunk-guy]

I've also started rebuilding my collection of Star Wars novels.

So far I'm just sticking to the ones I remember enjoying (plus the Lando novels, which I have not read but sound fun).

...And these four which I have not yet read and know nothing about, because Timothy Zahn writes good Star Wars and come on, why would I not read a Star Wars story from the Expanse guys:

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[wellgreathereiam]

Which book is the from?!

Sweet moment 🥹

[streamondemand]

Renée Zellweger is 'Nurse Betty' on Peacock

Renée Zellweger is a soap-struck innocent who starts to believe her TV fantasy world and Morgan Freeman is the world weary hitman who falls in love with her as he chases her trail from Kansas to L.A. in Nurse Betty (2000). Like a modern take on The Wizard of Oz, Zellweger’s Betty Sizemore is a Dorothy in a small town Kansas coffee shop. She’s perky, pretty, and sweetly sociable, but has checked…

[frimleyblogger]

Swan Song

An "impossible" murder and murder plots that go wrong, biting satire and humorous writing, this piece of #CrimeFiction from Edmund Crispin has it all. Wonderful #amreading

A review of Swan Song by Edmund Crispin Many moons ago I used to share a flat with someone whose antidote to a hangover was to play Wagner at full volume. As we hit the electric sauce rather often back then, the strains of the controversial German composer could often be heard floating across the backwaters of Camberwell. Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is the backdrop to the very…