#and intentional storytelling

[deadnatura11]

I think we need to deconstruct the 'Risky Business' scene and take a step back -

I just watched a video where someone put Ryan's dancing and the actual scene with Tom Cruise side by side for comparison and it was... pretty spot on. Like maybe a 95% accuracy rate.

Now from a production perspective, we write this off as a fun homage and reference to an older movie that was probably pretty popular with the writer's room, which tracks given what we know about the bts workers for the show.

However, if we think about it from a story perspective -

Why would Eddie, in his first allowed moment of actualized joy, recreate the Risky Business dance scene?

On its face, Eddie has probably never lived alone in his life. He went from his childhood home to the army to then sharing a house with his wife and child to then only his child. That man has never had an actual moment of privacy. Here he is essentially 'alone' and he is learning how to be by himself, how to be okay with being alone, which he would have had to learn how to do anyway once Chris goes to college. Chris being in Texas is making Eddie reckon with this much earlier. And in doing so he is learning how to take care of himself and his needs. Circling back to the airplane disaster earlier this season, he needs to put his own mask on before he can help anyone else with theirs. He can't be a good parent to Chris without working on himself. And part of that is giving himself the space to be alone in his house, dancing in his underwear, naked. He is learning to let go of his shame, which we see happen by not even bothering to put pants on when he sees Buck. Usually, when this scene was recreated in other shows, the person "caught" dancing in their underwear feels immediately embarrassed and tries to walk it back. Eddie did no such thing. This is a step in the right direction.

Furthermore, Risky Business was a movie that came out in 1983 (and also was the catalyst for Tom Cruise's long-standing rumors that he was a gay man, which I won't get into here, discuss the validity of these claims, nor how it also relates to Eddie's journey). Given what we know about Eddie, he is a 90s baby. He was born a decade AFTER this movie came out. So by the time he saw it, it was not at the height of its popularity.

Like I've mentioned, this scene has been recreated throughout media since its debut, so there were many opportunities for him to learn about the movie on his own.

But the choice of pulling a Risky Business allows us to infer:

- dancing around is something he has wanted to do

- dancing the Risky Business dance was something he has wanted to do for a long time

Furthermore, the step by step recreation means that Eddie has had to have watched the movie, watched that scene, hundreds of times to do it so flawlessly.

Now imagine a young Eddie Diaz... sitting in front of his living room tv... late at night... the movie muted... rewinding the tape in his VHS to watch Tom Cruise dance around in his underwear and wondering why he can't stop watching and why it makes him happy.

I'll end by including this link to an OUT article about the cultural significance of Tom Cruise in 'Risky Business' to the queer community.

Tl;dr - Eddie saying he is straight means nothing as he was able to flawlessly recreate the 'Risky Business' dance scene from memory.

[anne-is-confused]

Captain Francis Crozier, at Furthest North.

[peachcott]

letters, unread. ✉

[icyblueroses]

My favorite detail in the Fionna and Cake finale? In the original flashback when Simon and Betty get together, he spins her and she lands on the step below Simon

And when Simon tries to change the past by offering to go with Betty instead, this time when he spins her she lands on the same step

[veerbles]

the end of ck is like, if you are a protagonist whose main character arc is being haunted by your dead brother and your friend has just recently developed powers allowing her to raise people from the dead, is it really a coincidence or is it just the doomed narrative coming for you?

[myrmica]

its so funny that all minute—the guy who once upon a time hoped to redeem zam—'s team has accomplished is getting him to consider giving up his remaining honor in order to match the level they're playing on ?

[canisalbus]

Look, I know it's supposed to end badly. But I need to admit that in my head, they declared a mutual "fuck this shit" to the world and society. Packed all the stuff they could one late night and escaped to a remote open plain in the middle of some thick woods where they spent the rest of their lives healing and living freely in nature.

I've been having a lot of intense feelings about them as well. The tragical elements are so baked in to their story and setting, it's hard to imagine a happy ending for them. But every now and then I find myself thinking of scenarios and AUs where they both live and grow old together. For coping purposes, I suppose.

[stay-funky-ponyboy]

One day I will make a video because the parallels, themes, etc of dorym need to be in a compilation and I would love to see it all in one place

[lynzishell]

Prev // Next

Transcript below the cut:

Spencer: Where’s Asses? Asher: Spence, I know you know how to say ‘Atlas’. Spencer: Uh-uh. Asses!

Asher: [laughs] Well, Atlas had to stay home and work. Spencer: Will he come over soon? Asher: Not today, kiddo. Maybe you should ask him to come visit you next weekend. Ask your mom to help you call him.

Spencer: MOMMY!! Asher: Not right now, goofball. Tonight. After dinner. Do you know how to ask him in French? Spencer: [nods] viens me rendre visite!

Asher: I’ll take your word for it. Don’t forget to say please. Spencer: s'il te plait. Asher: Right. Ask him just like that. [winks]

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Lockjaw

YA horror

set in a small town, where a boy died tragically in an old abandoned mill

a group of 11yos on bikes are determined to find the monster and hunt it down - while facing the monsters and prejudices haunting their small town

and some teens, including one of the kids’ sister, a genderqueer guy who tried to get out of town but was drawn back, a homeless trans guy and his dog, and the police captain’s son who get drawn into the web of it all against their will

shifting timelines and perspectives from various kids and residents of the town (plus the dog)

[tubbytarchia]

Dear anonymous. I talk about characters. I'm not hating on Pearl and I'm very much not hating on Pearl the CC. Her POV literally just hurts me on a deeply emotional level because I'm invested in her character. I thought I made that clear

[knockknockitsnickels]

For Equality (#Women), here's a Princess tierlist (already did a voices one). I was hesitant to make one bc all of the princesses are different facets of my beautiful wife whom I adore, but I also love to yap so let's do it. Full disclosure I like all of them a lot for different reasons so these rankings are based almost entirely on vibes. For the sake of brevity I'm gonna be counting unique chapter 3s alongside their respective chapter 2s and counting the shared chapter 3s separately. I know that makes no sense but c'mon there's like 22 of these ladies

EDIT: I completely missed Razor!!! 😭 I'm sorry babygirl. Updated to add her.

Spectre/Princess and the Dragon: Spectre my beloved. My most anticipated route after playing the demo, and she met all of my expectations. The themes of forgiveness in her route are wonderful, I love how reluctant she is to hurt you, even when you deliberately antagonize her. Princess and the Dragon was also great - getting to see from her perspective feels so fitting I'm surprised it wasn't in the original game, and the moment of quiet you get just chatting with her was a delight.

Nightmare/Moment of Clarity: One of the most tragic characters in the game. I adore the way Shifty's description of her completely recontextualizes the route, taking Nightmare from a quirked up lil villain to just a sad person trying to find a connection after being rejected. Another wrinkle is that no matter what route you take - whether you get Wraith, M.O.C, or set Nightmare free - there's not really a way to give her the connection she wants. I got M.O.C for the first time via choosing to stay with Nightmare, not wanting to release her after she admitted to wanting to destroy the world, but recognizing she just wanted a friend. After the vision she shows us, I felt bad for what I chose - I wanted to apologize to her, but there were no options left.

Prisoner/Cage: First princess I ever got, hence subject to first-princess bias. I've already talked a lot about how much I love her in another post so I won't repeat myself, but she truly is the 3rd best Princess in the game.

Fury: My babygirl It's really hard to write about why I love this girl so much. I've talked about it a bit before, but there's a special kind of horror in how you destroy Fury's original sense of identity (whether you got there via Adversary or Tower), and how upset she is by what she becomes. I think she also ties in really well with the overarching themes of the game. Her insistence that you are not your body and her desperation for you to understand her (in one route destroying herself in the process) remind me a lot of what Shifty has to say in the final fight.

Adversary/Eye of the Needle: My lovely wife whom I adore, my bestest friend. Adversary is such a fun and underrated character, her respect and genuine care for the player is so good AND she's hot. Eye of the Needle is also extremely underrated, her dialogue during the Shifting Mound fight - especially the variation when you free her - honestly gets me a lil emotional.

Wraith: A star, she's done nothing wrong, she is a girlboss and she is slaying. I've already written a bit about how tragic her route is & how I think she's one of the best shared chapter 3s in how she changes depending on the context, so instead i will say: banger design.

Witch/Thorn: Yeah im basic. Thorn was something I was hoping for basically as soon as I realized I couldn't get through the game without hurting the Princess, and it really met my expectations. Witch is a fascinating character - she's so desperate for revenge she'll end up destroying herself in the process, yet despite reveling in how awful she believes the two of you are, her chapter 3s show there's a part of her which wants to reconcile with you.

Damsel/Happily Ever After: Damsel on her own I found to be a pretty funny route - Smitten's dialogue, her happily agreeing to end the world, & Narrator suffering throughout the whole route makes it a lot of fun. Honestly even the more unsettling moments like the deconstructed Damsel are kind of funny - like OK I think it's fascinating thematically (we're trying to help her by asking what she wants but in questioning the only desire she knows we strip her personhood away), but also her turning into an anime doodle is hilarious I'm sorry. Despite that, there is this underlying, deeply uncomfortable horror to the whole route which comes to the surface in HEA and Burned Grey (we'll get to her). HEA is genuinely the most tense I've ever felt playing this game lmao. I think she adds a lot to Damsel - she gives her another dimension of personhood, and whether you choose to pursue it or not, I think the route feels incomplete without it.

Razor: Hilarious, showstopping, spectacular. Her route is a lot more lighthearted than the others, which helps her stand out and can be a nice break on some of the rougher playthroughs. It's hilarious that she was originally going to be a bit more sinister - I'm glad BTG made the best decision anyone has ever made and changed her to her current version. There's also some interesting stuff going on with her thematically, esp in how she parallels Stranger she stole Stranger's ch 3 that's why she's the only route with 4 chapters and how she kind of flips the script on the player and so the slain becomes the slayer. Also, I just love the concept behind her design - her exploding into the perfect woman a knife monster is something I will never forget. She probably has some of the same problems with linearity as some of the routes I talk about later (you're always going to see almost the exact same 4 chapters, after all) but there's enough variation in dialogue and outcome to make me always happy visiting my dear friend Razor.

Stranger: I love her but she's probably one of the routes I replay the least, just because it always plays out the same. Either way, I love the lil peak behind the curtain her chapter gives us, and I love getting to reunite with her & having a real conversation for the first time if you get her as the heart princess.

Tower/Apotheosis: God forbid women do anything. Pristine cut really did wonders for her - honestly in hindsight I think part of the response to her might have had to do with how brief both of her Ch 3s could be. Getting a chance to see (both via Apotheosis & Fury) how much she clings to to her divinity adds a lot to her character.

Wild: Wild really hits different after all of the tension in Beast & Witch. I'm not sure how intentional this was, but I like how both of the no-knife princesses (Beast & Witch) have ch 3s where there's an option to reconcile. I'm guessing the devs knew players would probably eventually be forced to backstab the princess & wanted to give them a chance to make things right? Either way, I love she. The dissonance between the peaceful atmosphere of this route & her desperation to stay together makes this one of the most anxiety-inducing routes in the game.

Drowned Grey: Extremely cool design, extremely cool environment, I love the whole "widow/bride" thing the two greys have going on, unfortunately her route is extremely short & linear. I think part of my trouble with the greys is I don't entirely understand how anyone would get them naturally lol. You stabbed the prisoner? Jail for you. Jail for 100 years.

Burned Grey: My thoughts on her are basically identical to my thoughts on the Drowned Grey but she's lower because I think Drowned Grey looks cooler. Sorry bestie.

Beast/Den: She's one of the most horrifying princesses to me, which is probably part of why I try to avoid getting her route, lol. The themes of dehumanization & the way she's reduced to a base instinct of wanting to consume you just so she can be "whole" again freaks me out. Also the part where she rips you in half & is like "lol oops" is so funny. Legend.

[not-poignant]

Me, reading this : "Like, my intention in amongst the hurt/comfort isn’t for things to feel easy or nice all the time, I am absolutely challenging the reader by introducing things that feel uncomfortable.". AH... I see. Here's Pia's dom personality XD Much love! Please keep challenging us forever!

Aha, it is weird sometimes to think that like, this is something that all writers are generally doing, and then it's like 'yeah no that's... introducing conflict means ideally you feel it too, that's... that's what makes the resolution feel so good' - like that's the job.

Tbh, this is why when folks are like 'omg I can't believe they KILLED that character' or 'I can't believe THIS HORRIBLE THING HAPPENED WHY' it's like well, they wanted you to feel this way. That's why. They did it on purpose. Outside of shitty tropes like 'burying your gays' etc. when folks are genuinely bemoaning why a show has made them miserable the answer is nearly 100% of the time - they wanted you to feel miserable.

They wanted you to have the awful experience of a tragic ending. They wanted you to feel the conflict at the end of a season so that you'd be driven to the catharsis of resolution in the next season. It's an intentional move to create emotional response, catharsis, expression, frustration and resonance, to lead you through a journey that is more than just cerebral.

And when it works, it's incredible, and it's my favourite part of storytelling.

[jessamine-rose]

*lovingly tackles Aine*

Read my Yandere! Pierro longfics first ♪( ´▽｀)

Last week, my beloved mutual @ainescribe surprised me with Savior! Darling fan art and AHAI9232@2-!/! CRYING SCREAMING I WANT TO LOOK AT THIS ART AND WORSHIP YOUR VERSION OF SAVIOR THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BLESSING ME WITH YOUR ART—

*clears throat* Anyway, now that I finally have the time to properly sit down and comment on the fan art, I’ll do just that. Feedback will be in the tags and it will be unhinged. Once again, thank you so much to Aine for drawing this <3

[hannahssimblr]

Hey, sorry that I haven't responded to your email from last Wednesday. I was hiking with some friends and had no reception.

You asked about the room. It is free from August. So that should go well with your move. I'm assuming that you can't come and see it in person beforehand. I've attached a few photos for you so you have a rough idea of ​​what the apartment looks like. Sorry for the poor quality, my camera is quite old and I'm not exactly the best photographer.

Unfortunately, the bedroom is still pretty chaotic at the moment. When Marie moves out next month, everything will of course be cleaned. Please let us know if you're still interested!

Thank you for telling me a little bit about yourself. I'm also really into sports and music. I'm actually in the gym almost every day and I also really enjoy bouldering and hiking. Otherwise, I like to go to parties or my friends and I hang out here. If that's not your thing, the shared apartment probably wouldn't be for you...

Please let us know if you would prefer us to write in English. I don't speak fluently but my English is ok.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you,

Jonas Osterhaus

Hello Jonas, 

Thank you for your email. The apartment is nice, and I would like to take it.

How can I send you the money? Please send your bank details.

I can pay in August, because that is when I will sell my car. 

It is good that you like sports and music. I am okay with your friends coming to the apartment. I like meeting new people and spending time with them.

I hope camping was fun. 

Jude. 

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[sarcasticratsims]

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