#and absentia

[renegadesstuff]

SHE IS GONNA BE BACK ON MY SCREEN 🥹🥹😍😍😍

[theminecraftbee]

Before they'd started, this time, Scott had confidently asserted: "You know, if this time we're going to be drawing wild cards, I'll learn to count them. If it's going to be a game, may as well learn to give myself a guarantee, right?"

He'd said it like it was obvious. Easy. If he just practiced enough, he'd win every time. Skizz sometimes thinks that's how Scott thinks of the world, or maybe how Grian does, or Martyn. If he just tries this time, he'll win, a certainty that's only stopped by the fact he isn't trying the same way he might have in the past. Skizz thinks about that sometimes. He doesn't say anything, because he's not a rude asshole, but he thinks about it.

Skizz thinks about what it says about a man, to be so certain he could simply be the last one to survive if he wanted to, then to--not.

Skizz thinks about what it says about a man, to assert he's going to learn to count cards for the sake of a prize that he doesn't seem to actually want.

It's none of Skizz's business, really, and as he said, he's not a rude asshole. He's here to have a good time, or if not a good time a time, or if not that, to at least help his friends have some kind of time. He's not bothered, not really, by hearing Martyn or Scott make plans to circumvent or play into the game as to best win. He'll care if they get all stabby-backstabby but he's not teamed with them so it doesn't matter anyway. He is teamed with Grian? But Grian's way of "counting cards" never really involves that much backstabbing, just a lot of emotional avoidance, so.

Anyway, he tries to forget about it right up until Mumbo, nervously, says: "You know, maybe I should, er. Learn to count wild cards. Metaphorically, I mean. Just so that no one--"

"That's not how it works," Skizz finally says.

"Well that's a bit rude," Mumbo says.

"Sorry, sorry," Skizz says. "People just keep making references and that's not how that works! It doesn't even guarantee you win even if we were playing blackjack!"

"Really?" Mumbo asks.

"Yeah, it's like... you learn how many cards are in the deck, and you wait until the deck is mostly high cards, and you bet and stuff. Or, well, it's more complicated than that, but you don't know what cards are coming next for sure even if you do count. You just, uh, have a bit of an advantage over the house? Like, a 1-2%? And it adds up over time but you still lose. A lot."

"Oh," Mumbo says.

"I don't know," Skizz says. "I just... I know how this stuff works and it just really grinds my gears the way they talk about it sometimes. There's still a lot of random chance, you know! You can't guarantee things! It's still random! And the house could change the rules on you any moment and then counting wouldn't be worth it at all anymore!"

"Huh," Mumbo says. He's quiet for only a moment. "You know, I think we've lost track of the metaphor a bit here? I mostly meant to try to steal the cards from Grian while he wasn't looking. So we can, er, figure out the wild card before anyone else."

"Oh," Skizz says. "Well that's just cheating!"

Mumbo squints at him. "And counting cards isn't?"

"No!" Skizz says.

"Alright, if you say so," Mumbo says. "I mean, I guess our advantage is that we know that. Seems awfully silly now, the way people were talking about it before."

"Yeah, well, love the guys, love them, but I thought that anyway. Without the metaphor," Skizz says, and he thinks of the empty look in Scott's eyes as he said it. It's not that he wouldn't be an advantage player if he could be, Skizz thinks. It's not that he wouldn't try to beat the house. It's just...

Well. It's just something that isn't Skizz's problem right now, really. He just wants better than that for Mumbo. For him. For Grian too, once he comes back. There are better ways to have fun in a casino than to sit and wait for the count to be high, after all.

[alcrego]

(Future) Absentee ⏸

[flanaganfilm]

howdy!! do you rewatch your own work? if so, how often? im wondering if it has the same "artist just sees faults with what they create" thing, or if youre able to appreciate past projects the way they deserve

I don't, typically... usually, by the time we're finished with post production, I've seen the thing so many times that I'm thrilled to stop watching it. I'm either sick of it, or just feeling like it doesn't belong to me anymore. There are other reasons, too - Hill House was a traumatic production for me, for example, I have a lot of complicated emotions woven into it, so I haven't felt ready to rewatch that one since before it aired. Maybe in a few more years.

Somewhat recently, I've revisited a few of the older movies with my eldest son, who is 13 now. He's basically as old as my career itself. We've watched Oculus, Hush, The Midnight Club (which he LOVED, proving it worked for our target audience) and Ouija: OOE together, and each of those screenings was a really cool experience. His reactions and questions were really fascinating, and I felt like I was able to see those movies anew through his eyes. That's the closest I've come to feeling like I was really seeing them, and that's only because so much time has gone by for those. I watched the Director's Cut of Doctor Sleep a few years back at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park Colorado. It was part of a live NoSleep Podcast event, and that was the first time I'd seen that movie since it was released. It was also the first and only time I'd ever seen the Director's Cut with an audience. That was a really special screening and it meant a lot to me.

I haven't yet had the guts to revisit any of the TV series other than Midnight Club. As my kids get older, I'm sure I'll watch them all with them. The one I'm most excited to see is Midnight Mass, which remains my favorite of the shows. I haven't seen it since before it came out - I remember the last day of post on that show, watching down each episode with final mix and color. That's a series I wish I could actually watch like a viewer at home, and while I'll never truly be able to do that, I look forward to looking at it with some real distance.

There are a few of the older projects I'd be curious to watch now. I wonder how Absentia holds up - I was such a baby when we made that movie, and it's been so long. I imagine I could watch that today and have a really trippy experience. I also haven't revisited Before I Wake in a very long time, and I always really loved that script. The movie was a rough road, and my feelings were mixed by the time it finally found its finish line (Relativity Media really beat that one up), but that could also be a really interesting viewing experience at this stage of my career.

But generally, each of these movies is a journey, and once the journey is over it's tough to ever really go back. There's little point, and moving forward feels like a matter of survival. The "finished product" is only the tip of a large, deep, labyrinthian iceberg for me. It's impossible to only see what's on the surface, no matter how hard I try.

(Interesting side-note: The only exception I've found to this rule is The Life of Chuck. We just finished post production on the movie, and I've watched it dozens and dozens of times now - but I've never grown tired of it, not even a little bit. That movie is something special, and I am eager to watch it again - and again - and again. I don't know that I'll ever want distance from that one; in fact, watching it brings me a sense of joy, comfort, and safety.)

[darlingofdots]

you can tell that the government still didn't understand Laurence and Temeraire even by the end of League of Dragons, because if they had agreed to be sent to Halifax, Canada would have been an independent Indigenous nation within 5 years maximum and they'd have had to try them for treason again

[cowbell-ghuleh]

31 days of Ghost, part 5.

Favourite Song rom Meilora.

Deus in Absentia

"The world is on fire, and you are here to stay and burn with me."

I completely effed up the original line art for the background... so replaced it with a quick digitally painted one, which resulted in me colouring Terzo too...

IDK why I gave Terzo a tail and wings, it just seemed to fit with the drawing. I did try horns too but I couldn't get a shape I was happy with.

[weepylucifer]

i watch people react to the lotr movies on youtube sometimes - just for my personal relaxation - and this one guy just said "maybe this is presumptuous but why can't they just make a new, even stronger ring that controls all the other ones plus the one ring?" and, holy shit. why don't they just keep making even stronger rings. apart from all the lore and storytelling reasons for why that's not possible under those specific circumstances, i wanna send a complete stranger the wikipedia article for "arms race" so so so fucking badly 😂

[katherinehoughtoncastle47]

STANA KATIC - IG POST

[zuppizup]

“Calm yourself, mage,” Aaravos spoke from the shadows, emerging into the dim light a moment later.

Callum frowned, trying to figure out what was going on. He looked down, seeing his own body before him, marvelling at how his fingers responded to his will…

“Don’t get too excited,” Aaravos continued. “This is merely another prison.”

Getting to his feet, Callum glared at the imposing Startouch. “Where am I?!”

“Nowhere really.” Aaravos chuckled, circling Callum. “The dark recesses of your mind, shall we say.”

“Let me go.” Callum tried to reach out, to feel his connection to the Sky or the Ocean but all he found was endless darkness and nothing.

A wee snippet from an up-coming chapter of In Absentia.

Callum is showing up again!

… or is he?

[autocorrection]

relistening to taz grad!!

[alcrego]

(Future) Absentee ▶️🔊

[slutforpringles]

Despite being very much aware that this is nothing more than Kym engagement farming off of Daniel's popularity, that tiny hopeful delulu part of my brain that just can't help itself from wanting to see Daniel in an F1 car again goes pleaaaaaase 👀🙏🏻

[flanaganhorror]

ABSENTIA (2011) dir. Mike Flanagan

[forlorn-crows]

what if the ministry had a sibling+ghoul choir 🥺🥺😭😭

[whetstonefires]

As I'm doing my leisurely line annotation of mdzs I'm impressed by many things and one of them is how thoroughly it's spelled out that Wei Wuxian is, by nature and personal inclination, an incredibly difficult person to piss off. He just does not care about most insults.

Like. Wen Ning thought he was going to be mad at him, the day they met in Qishan, because Wei Wuxian stood up to a bully for him and then Wen Ning's nerves made Wei Wuxian look like a fool in front of all their peers, which while unworthy would actually be a fairly normal reaction. But in fact this never even occurred to him; he doesn't care about that kind of thing. He doesn't get mad on his own account and once the cut heals he forgets it was even made (idiomatic expression but also in his case possibly literal), these are defining attributes.

So the fact that two definitive chapters of his life wound up getting defined by his taking brutal revenge really serves to underline the level of provocation he was subjected to.

Also there's something there about him going off on Jin Zixuan the way he did back at Cloud Recesses. Because that was, actually, somewhat uncharacteristic behavior! He is not generally a punching first kind of guy!

Just about every other time we see him start a fight, or try to, he's either the one doing the shit-talking or there's someone there in immediate need of protection.

He punched that guy in the face not in the moment for being rude about Jiang Yanli, and not I think even for insulting Jiang Fengmian or treading on Wei Wuxian's own sensitive places, but because he hit on the statement that would be most painful to Jiang Cheng.

[flanaganfilm]

hai mike ^^ just saw absentia last night. really really solid!!! i loved it all so much & its so impressive for a budget of just $70k. and god the scares are so amazing too. i wonder how that filmmaking process went and how you managed to get it made in the first place?

I was about to write a long post about this, but it occurred to me that this is a great chance to share this little retrospective documentary I put together many years ago about making Absentia, and I actually found a link to it on YouTube! Hope you enjoy!