#and then the director and the editors pick the ones they like

[girlbob-boypants]

I know we consistently go over "people don't understand how video games are made" in various aspects but the fact that people are harassing Ada's new VA for the remake for "doing a bad job" really goes to show how little people know about the making of video games

[punkitt-is-here]

Read These Frequently Asked Questions Before You Send An Ask!

Patreon | Ko-Fi | Youtube

Heyo! I get a TON of asks each day, so I'm making this post so that folks know what's already been asked so my followers don't have to see the same stuff over and over, haha.

Hi! I'm Punkitt! I'm a game developer, artist, editor, director, and a bunch of other stuff! I'm working on an RPG called Astral Guard, a platformer called Susan Taxpayer, and I have a couple more fun projects in my pocket like Happup and Super Mario Death Row.

Did you know you look like weird al?

YES jesus fucking christ i get told this every day. if u send me a message in my inbox saying i look like weird al im killing you with like wizard spells and shit.

Why do you have so many hats? Do you know you have that many hats?

ye i like hats. :) free tumblr badges for one pea i like one piece and took as many as i could. free.

Where can I find your art/game development/horsecomix?

Great question! Everything I make that's my own and not a reblog is under "my posts", every bit of art I do is under "my art", any game development I do is under "gamedev", you can find all my MLP art under "mlp, my art" or "horsecomix" for the best stuff. I also have an "animations" tag and a "shitposts" tab. I also properly tag all my asks to be asks and write out the asker's name, so if you don't wanna see those just mute the ask tag.

Do you have a Patreon or a Ko-Fi?

I do have a ko-fi here! I also JUST launched a Patreon, which you can find here :)

What do you use for your art?

I use FireAlpaca and Paint.net for misc. effects!

What are you using to make your games?

I use FireAlpaca do make my assets! Astral Guard, Happup, and any other top-down RPG games I make are all made in RPGMaker 2003. Susan Taxpayer is made in SMBX2 Beta 4, a Mario fangame engine with lua support!

Why are you using a 2-decade-plus engine to make games?

It's fun!

Do you have a sideblog or something for your art?

Not right now! What you see is what you get. I do have a sideblog for Astral Guard though, if you want to follow that game specifically! @astral-guard

Can I make an OC based on your work? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!! THATS THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!! LET ME KNOW IF YOU DO!!!! I WANNA SEE!!!!

Can I do dubs/redraws of your comics? As long as you credit me! I get a ton of notifs each day, so if you wanna show me (and PLEASE i so do wanna see fun dubs and redraws!!!) tag me or DM me!

Can I use your art as a PFP? Sure! Just credit me somewhere. :D

Are you the one who trapped her coworkers in a room and made them listen to TF2 lore?

Yep! Everyone had a blast actually. :]

Did you make that comic where Fluttershy eats the weed brownie/Rainbow Dash has a male living space/someone has a cutie mark that says they'll kill Ronald Reagan?

Yep! That's me.

Where are you in MLP right now?

Currently just finished Season 7! Haven't watched the movie yet.

Have you watched Equestria Girls?

Yep! Thought it was super cute. I watched up to Rainbow Rocks and plan on watching more.

What's your opinion on MLP so far?

I love it! I think it's cute. I really don't agree that there was some sort of huge quality drop after season 2 or whatever.

What do you think of G5?

Not my style! I don't really like either animation types and it just seems like I'm not in the audience anymore. That's totally chill, but it just doesn't grab me!

Have you watched any other MLP stuff from previous generations?

Nope! But I did see a compilation called Minty Being Autistic for Six Minutes Straight that I loved. she's perfect.

Favorite pony?

Don't got one, I love all the Mane Six a LOT, but I'm particularly fond of Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity!

Favorite episode/season?

I'm so bad at picking favorites! But any season past Season 1 I have a blast with because I feel like it's just more my style. I don't have a favorite episode, but the most recent one I can remember LOVING is the one where Starlight bottles up her emotions because it was REALLY funny.

Do you like Pony.mov?

Nope! And stop saying my stuff reminds you of it, it's a lil annoying!

Have you watched the Mentally Advanced Series/Friendship is Witchcraft/Other fandom vids?

Probably not! My interaction with the MLP fandom prior to last year was pretty minimal, so I'm making my way through the show first!

What do you think of Fallout: Equestria?

I think it's super weird but really fun because of that. I've never properly read any of it but it's very fascinating to me.

Are you transgender?

Yep! I go by she/her, I'm a trans woman. Have been for many years, but I only recently came out online!

Are you a lesbian?

Nah, I'm bisexual!

Can I commission you?

Yeah! I only have my commissions available on my Ko-Fi at certain times though, so keep an eye out! I usually announce slots being open at least 12 hours beforehand. Slots are usually first come first serve, but we'll see.

Can I use your art as a Discord emote?

Yeah man i'm not scouring every discord on the planet to find stickers of my work. i think it owns if people take my stuff and make it stupid injoke emotes between friends that makes me very happy.

Can I send you an ask inquiring about gender dysphoria?

I feel like this is beyond my capabilities of advice! I'm actually very comfortable with my body and I have been for many years, so I don't know if I can give any good or helpful advice on that front. Apologies, but there are many resources out there where you can ask about those things if you look for them, like Discord channels!

Favorite Color?

I'm a sucker for blue!

Favorite coffee?

Can't drink coffee, my stomach is cringe.

Favorite tea?

I'm lame and can't drink most tea but I love this one orange-flavored tea a lot. I also LOVE ice tea.

Can I say you're horsegender/punkittgender/a little gender goblin void thing?

Well, I can't stop you, but I'm kind of beyond that phase now! I really am a boring ol' plain she/her girl, and I like it that way. It's not much, but it's honest gender.

What's your favorite game series?

Mother, Kingdom Hearts, Mario, and I USED to say Fallout, but I found out I'm really only a big Fallout New Vegas fan.

Favorite game from those?

Mother 3 is one of my fave games of all time! I love KHII, and I'm tied for SMB3 and SMW. Also Fallout New Vegas fucks hard.

Any other favs?

Bug Fables, SLARPG, and TF2!

Favorite Movie?

Everything Everywhere All At Once, no question.

Oh, are you going to college?

Yep! I'm a film/theater major.

Do you have a YouTube channel?

Yeah! Click right here for it, I stream there and upload footage of my games/animations/my film projects + other stuff.

What is that little orange creature I see?

That's bweenop, my little persona that I use when I'm feeling a little scrunkly.

Do you have a ponysona?

Yep! Her name is Star Magnolia, you can search her on the blog to see art of her.

When will Susan Taxpayer/Astral Guard/etc. be out?

No clue! I take things slow, that's just how I am.

How do you work on so many things at once?

I make small, satisfying amounts of progress! I never try to complete one giant thing all at once, I just like doing small bursts of fun stuff. I got ADHD, so I learn to work with it.

Did you know you look like Weird Al?

Im going to run you over with a clown car watch out

WHY do you work on so many things at once?

Fun! I like learning, I like making cool stuff, and I like showing it to people :)

Do you need any help with your projects?

Potentially! I'll probably put out a post asking for help if I need it.

If you could be a horse, would you?

You kidding me? Several ton beasts with the frailty of a sickly Victorian boy; my clumsy ass would never survive.

Are you some sort of...furry?

yeag

Why do you reblog so much?

Brother I LOVE posting. that's just how it is.

Fav music artists?

It changes literally ALL the time but I will recommend ANYTHING by Vylet Pony, its music is incredible and probably the reason I'm a weird niche microcelebrity now.

Why are you like this?

theater kid + having a lot of fun on the internet makes you a bit silly hehe hoo

SUSAN TAXPAYER QUESTIONS

Is it out? Not yet! But hopefully sometime in the next year. I dunno! I take things at my own pace and keep stuff fun. :)

What are you using to make it? SMBX2! It's a free fangame engine for Mario episodes, but it's incredibly versatile and has a wonderful community, so I decided to make Susan Taxpayer in it.

Is there a demo? You betcha! You can find it right here. I'll also probably put it up on my itch.io.

How do I install it? I made a post here about how to run the SAGE '23 demo!

[ghostofhyuck]

NCT Dream when you starred in their music video!

AN: Think of this like NCT U's Without You or Stray Kids' Mixtape: On Track. Secret relationship btw

Mark Lee

HE IS SO EXCITED SHUT UPPPP. Like the moment you told him that news, he's just like, "can't wait to see you on the set babe," He just lights up the moment you walked into the set but shifted immediately before he gets teased by his members. Once he turns professional, listening to the director, he only nods and you just find your boyfriend so, so cool. When you two aren't being filmed, you'll find Mark approaching you like you're a magnet or something. Probably talks to you but he wants to hug you at the same time, he has to be wary of his surroundings. 

Huang Renjun

He is such a good boyfriend and co-actor! Like!! He makes sure that you're very comfortable on the set, or before the camera started rolling. When you two have scene, you two tend to talk out what you two should do. He ignores the way the members are teasing him for having red ears, but he has to be professional even though his girlfriend is right in front of him. Probably gives you high fives after your scene is done, and behind the scenes, he would still approach you and talks to you casually, ignoring if ever the camera would caught you two. 

Lee Jeno

You two are the main star of the show! So he's very professional with how the storyline will work and how your scenes will be filmed. He would even discuss it thoroughly with the director while you just stood there and listen to your boyfriend's comments. He always give you an assuring smile before the director shouts, "action!" and you two would immediately shift to actor mode. But once the the director shouts, "cut!" your boyfriend will return to his usual puppy mode, even patting your back as a good job. 

Lee Donghyuck

Haechan's also very VERY professional with work. You two have a scene where he confesses to you and you rejected him by walking away but he pulls you. You guys did that thrice so that the director can just pick which one's the best. Lightly massages your arms after because he felt bad because the last scene, he tugged your arm more harshly, was probably pouting hard but you didn't mind because it's just all acting. He doesn't mind if the camera caught you two having a moment behind the scenes, he's assured that the editor will blur you two out lol. 

Na Jaemin

He is so caring like!! He makes sure that you're being taken care of, he'll ask the director to take care of you and the director just finds it sweet of him to his co-actor lol. Once you two filmed the scene, he will give you a thumbs up to ask if you're okay and you will only nod, replying him with a smile and thumbs up too. Also!! I feel like he's very casual to you as if you're just a co-actor, he would give you food behind the scenes and would talked to you while you two sat there and eat. Everyone thinks that Jaemin's just being his sweet usual self. 

Zhong Chenle

Chenle complains that you only have a few scenes with him and in those scenes, he's with his other members. So he finds the opportunity to be with you behind the scenes! While the camera is rolling, filming his other members, he will approach you and just talks to you. You can hear from his tone that he's sulky because he doesn't get to have moment with you. You would chuckle, not minding if others will question what relationship you two have. Probably would ask for a hug before he go back to the set. (You two hugged quickly lol.)

Park Jisung

IS A BLUSHING MESS. You being their female lead will be the death of him, not only because you get to have some sweet moments with his members, but because he's just not used to being close to you in front of other people. (despite being in a secret relationship.) Your scene with him is you running away with him, like he just reaches out his hand, you take it and you two ran away! It was a cute scene but you two had to film it a few times because the Dreamies were being too loud and teasing behind the scenes. (They knew that you two are together.) Probably cringes because he was so so flustered! 

[thedensworld]

Post Magazine | K.Mg

Pairing: Photograper!Mingyu x Actress!Reader

Genre: fluff

Words Count: ±700

Summary: It was an honor for Mingyu to collaborate with a well-known magazine. But this job made him realize that love at first sight is real.

Mingyu's got a face that screams "bad boy," and he's given up trying to argue otherwise. He's got that classic playboy look, and an occupation of playboy, a photographer, no less! So, when he tries to convince people he's got an old soul and a sentimental side, they just give him the side-eye. Mingyu's decided to let his looks do the talking, after all, it's all about that first impression, right?

He's snapped shots of so many celebrities, and they all ooze glamour and charisma. Last time, he was working with Cha Eunwoo, an idol-actor who's now a buddy thanks to being the same age. But there's been zero post-work chit-chat with any of his models, except for Eunwoo. So, it raised an eyebrow when he waltzed up to the editor asking for your digits.

"I'll pass along her management's info," the editor said, conveniently hiding the fact that he's got a bit of a soft spot for you after that last shoot. Okay, maybe it's not just a "bit" anymore, it's a full-blown crush.

It started when Mingyu gets the call that he's in charge of the photo shoot for a rising starlet, Jang Y/n. It's your first time gracing a big-time magazine, so Mingyu tries to do some sleuthing about you. Mostly cast as a villain or a bit unhinged, your online pics aren't exactly flattering. Mingyu's scratching his head trying to figure out what style you'd vibe with.

When the big day approached, Mingyu's armed with a couple of style ideas for your shoot, hoping they'll match your vibe and brand. He's deep in discussion with the editor when your manager shows up.

"Y/n has those magnetic and charismatic aura that makes people think she's a tough . But she's really a soft and timid person," your manager spills the beans, enlightening Mingyu and the editor.

"It'll be good to show the side that people hasn't known about. Let's roll with these," the editor picks out two mood boards, going for dark academia and chic stylings.

And your manager wasn't kidding. You're like a total 180 from the roles you usually play. You're not some evil assassin, psycho girlfriend, or creepy stalker. If Mingyu could describe it, you're just radiant. You step into the studio with a grin plastered on your face, and your hair's practically glowing. Mingyu swears, your eyes are like a novel waiting to be read, and he's itching to turn the pages.

Just the night before, Mingyu decided to check out one of your films - the one where you played the mad stalker. He was blown away by your acting skills, even if you looked more like a scruffy vagabond. And now here you are, dressed to the nines, portraying a powerhouse career woman in front of him. As soon as Mingyu looks through the viewfinder, he sees his future. Love at first sight might be pushing it, but let's just say he's smitten.

"Could you lean in a bit, Y/n?" Mingyu asks, second-guessing if that was the smartest move ever. You lean towards the camera with this sly grin, and Mingyu's heart does somersaults.

Mingyu lets out a dramatic sigh, "Let's call it a wrap." He mumbles and dashes over to the monitor, trying to cool off his racing heart. And this is just the first outfit; there are four more to go.

"Is everything alright?" You ask the crew as you step onto the set with your last outfit. "I've never worn something like this before," you admit. Mingyu shoots you a reassuring smile, "You look stunning, absolutely stunning," he assures you.

The rest of the crew is in awe, and you playfully cover your face as if you're blushing. But Mingyu, with his photographer's eye, spots a genuine flush of pink on your cheeks and ears. Maybe he's got a touch of it too, but he's too busy being in awe of your beauty to care.

"It would be amazing if you could strike a pose like Ma Jooahn," the assistant director suggests, referring to one of your past roles as a ruthless assassin. You slip right into character. Your eyes shoot daggers, your smile vanishes, and you look ready to take on the world.

"I'll just pretend there's a pesky fly to squash right here," you mutter while turning to your right, earning a laugh from the crew.

"I wanna be that fly," one of the crew members chimes in, making you burst into laughter and breaking character. Mingyu shakes his head, looking at the monitor beside him; his weakness is a woman with wit and grace. You seem to have both in spades.

*

"You're absolutely smitten, buddy." Eunwoo clinked his can against Mingyu's, chuckling at his friend's infatuation with you. For almost an hour, Mingyu's gaze hadn't strayed from your portrait.

"Come on, focus on your work," Eunwoo urged, playfully nudging Mingyu, who seemed a bit unsteady.

"I am!" Mingyu retorted, gesturing to his laptop, where he was diligently editing photos from your previous shoot. "Staring is also part of my job," he added with a smirk.

Eunwoo let out a dramatic sigh. "There's something you should know about her," he began, catching Mingyu's attention.

Mingyu's brow raised, then quickly furrowed. "What?" he inquired.

"Does she have a boyfriend?" Mingyu interjected, curiosity evident in his voice.

Eunwoo shrugged. "I'm not certain," he admitted. "But there's some gossip that floating around the actors."

Mingyu fixed Eunwoo with a steady gaze, silently urging him to continue.

"She's a mom," Eunwoo dropped the bombshell.

Mingyu's head drooped, disappointment evident on his face. "So what if she's a mom? Is she a widow? That just makes her even hotter, honestly! Ack—" Mingyu began to enthuse before Eunwoo playfully smacked his head.

"Come on! Seriously! I personally haven't worked with her, but some actors say she has a kid, or that she's often busy taking care of them, which might be why she hasn't taken on lead roles. But, i'm not sure either," Eunwoo explained, offering the tidbits he'd gathered.

Mingyu scoffed, "If you're not sure, don't spread it around."

Eunwoo rolled his eyes, a little surprised by Mingyu's strong reaction.

"You've got it bad, my friend," he teased, shaking his head.

*

After a few weeks, what was once a rumor turned into a nightmare for Kim Mingyu. Dispatch, a popular Korean media outlet, released photos of you with your daughter. Some of the pictures were taken in front of a daycare, park, and even a hospital. Mingyu isn't happy seeing your privacy violated by the media, especially as you're gaining more fame. But what Mingyu despises the most is that the pictures are real, with zero editing.

There are two possibilities:

1. You have a secret husband.

2. You're a widow with a child.

Mingyu is perfectly fine with the second possibility. He believes he's good with kids and loves the idea of being around them. But the first possibility? Dang, It hits Mingyu like a punch in the gut. After nearly a month of being your biggest fan, he can't believe he has to remain just a fan. He hasn't even mustered the courage to call you. His heart shattered before he could offer it to you.

Didn't Mingyu mention he's a very sentimental person? Oh yes, he certainly did.

"I'm sorry. Did I hear you correctly?" Mingyu asked during a phone call to the other person.

"We noticed you worked with Y/n on her last photoshoot sessions, so she might be comfortable with you," the other person, a representative from your management, explained to him.

Mingyu shook his head, "No, I mean... Did I hear... So, Y/n wants me to be the photographer for her release?"

"Yes, Mingyu. She believes in you for this release, and we want the best for her and her daughter."

Mingyu was left speechless after receiving the phone call. He immediately cleared his schedule for you after the call ended. He still remembered the tone of your management team as they stated, "We want to release a statement regarding the spreading rumors about our artist, Jang Y/n. She personally recommended you as the photographer. You know, the rumor is pretty sensitive for her, and the last thing we want is to make her uncomfortable during the photoshoot."

Mingyu couldn't stop smiling once he saw you arrive at the studio with your daughter in your arms. Mingyu guessed she might be 3 to 4 years old. Putting the rumor aside, your daughter is the cutest little human in the world.

"Thank you so much for accepting the request. It means a lot to me, Mr. Kim," you approached Mingyu after putting Jihan, your daughter's name, down.

Mingyu bowed, "No, it's an honor. Thank you so much for trusting me. And you can call me Mingyu, please be casual with me. No formality needed," he said to you and gave you a reassuring smile. Deep inside, he was the one who needed reassurance here, as his heart pounded like crazy.

"We're here today to shoot a beautiful portrait and video for our release. Be careful not to hurt yourself, let's work together for us," the director gave a brief direction before the photoshoot started.

Mingyu took beautiful pictures of you and Jihan. He stood behind the camera as they shot a video of you talking about Jihan, clearing up the misunderstandings.

"Jihan was almost three years old when I adopted her. I used to volunteer at the foster home when I met her, and she was so little. I found out that she's suffering from a physical disability due to harmful substances during her pregnancy."

"There's a long process in adopting her. I had to run a few tests to make sure I was an appropriate adopter, and I was so grateful that it didn't take longer time for me to finally have her."

"I actually didn't want to break this news, but the news broke itself, right? I just want to say that there's nothing wrong with having a kid, whether you're married or not. Everyone has a reason. Doing this interview is also hard for me, but I want to encourage all parents, single parents out there, that having a kid is not a sin but a blessing. And I'm very blessed to have Jihan."

Mingyu smiled as he saw Jihan, who was sitting behind you, playing with Legos. She now approached you to show you her Lego creation. "That's amazing, baby." His heart melted once he heard you compliment your daughter, completely distracted from the shoot and focusing on Jihan, which spoke volumes about your personality.

Maybe Mingyu's weaknesses boil down to three things: witty women, graceful women, and you.

He'll start by making a move toward Jihan. She mentioned his height earlier, expressing a desire to be held by him. He's all in! If Jihan wants to call him "dad" immediately, he's a goner.

He's definitely going to ask you out after this.

[anotherfcknschlattsimp]

Kinktober Day 8

power imbalance

charlie doesnt really do anything? i asked three people what i should do for him and the only conclusion was something parasocial or editor related

let's go

schlatt

his dad owns (a share of) the company, remember?

so you better get on your knees like a good bitch

if you tell anyone, youre fired

runs his thumb over your lips, smearing your lipstick as he talks down to you

“gonna be a good li’l whore for me, doll? gonna let me take advantage of that mouth so you can keep your job, toots?”

calls you into his office every morning and every night before one of you leaves

Fluff-

takes you on one-on-one work lunches (dates but he doesnt want to weird you out and have you quit so he just keeps fucking you as his assistant instead of his lover)

gets you flowers and chocolates randomly as a “thank you”

drives you home every night and picks you up every morning

sneaks out of his office to make you a cup of coffee when he had to give you more work than usual as an apology

will never let you know that he’s in love with you, he totally just wants to fuck you all the time. Nothing more. We’ll go with that.

ted

director and photographer, ted nivison

there was no better choice for your brand new merch line

you dropped a set of cute and comfy undies, meant to be worn under a boyfriend hoodie

but you didnt have a boyfriend to steal the hoodie of for the photo sets

that’s his in

he offers you *his* hoodie, fresh off his back

it’s warm and smells really good and it takes you a moment to move cause youre just so enveloped in the comfiness of the cloth

has you repay him after the shoot when you come by to return the hoodie

somehow rizzes you up even though he stumbles through everything but kept talking so confidently about himself

calls you his “perfect lil model”

takes very high quality pictures (uses his personal ancient polaroid camera) of his cum leaking out of you

Fluff-

writes “first date” and your phone number on the back

finds a reason to talk to you everytime he spots you

brings breakfast to your room every morning to wake you up

he’d usually have an assistant doing it for him but, and he wont tell you this so i will, he wants to be the one to see your smile as you process the beautiful breakfast he made (read: bought and plated) for you everyday

charlie

you were so excited for your new job as an editor for the slimecicle channel

that excitement didnt exactly wear off as the time passed

you had been editing for him for about 2-3 months when you get a text

“hey, we need to talk” the five words you’ve been dreading might come

you did your best on all the projects he gave you, you really did, but you guess he didnt feel the same way

you ask what’s wrong, and he tells you not to worry, he just had a new proposition for you

In exchange for keeping your job and earning a raise, you just had to do whatever he told you whenever he told you

that sounded innocent enough to you, you thought that was what you were doing

until he offered to fly you out for a “special assignment”

said special assignment was to be his personal sex toy for the next week but of course he left that part out

slowly works up to it

ssks to hold your hand, then a kiss, then he holds your job over your head as he politely but firmly requests a blowjob

and so on and so forth

Fluff-

takes you to breakfast and dinner everyday while you’re there

really just wants to have you be his partner for the week but what if that was too far? what if you decided that was the line and you were gonna quit and tell the world about what he did to you? those worries only lasted as long as his poor cock could handle jerking off to secretly recorded voice chats and your instagram posts while he sniffed one of your shirts that you just assumed you didnt pack

so not very long

offers/asks for cuddles everyday, whenever youre both free, but not the same way he “asks” for sexual favors

you can say no to the casual physical affection (even though it would break his little heart)

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Are You Sure?! - Episode 2 Observations

10/10 ☆

I can't believe I've actually procrastinated so much that it's the evening before the third episode of AYS and I still haven't written a thing about the second! And it was also the one I liked best. But when I thought about it, what to pick from it, I found it difficult because almost all their activities and moments are worthy of discussion. But at the same time, I'm not really in the mood here to dissect everything. I've seen so many good posts in the last week that I feel like I don't have anything else to say that hasn't been analyzed from every angle.

I've also started to focus more on the crime shows (the Yorkshire Ripper is now playing on my tv) because I really need to channel my attention somewhere else for the next three weeks. Which also means I can't promise whatsoever that I'll be doing a more lengthy writing about the upcoming episodes. I'm not saying no completely, but from my position right now it's not looking that much fun, but I'll keep an open mind.

Right, let me just write about whatever comes to mind and apologies for this lazy attempt.

A friend asked about the favorite moments so far and I instantly thought of the second evening Jimin and Jungkook spent at that house. Actually, it started before during their trip to the store when they decided that pasta's on the menu that night. Jungkook losing focus because of twinkies, Jimin being just a tiny bit exasperated but also clearly used to all of that.

He might have been wondering about, but that was when Jungkook became laser focused on cooking the most authentic carbonara for Jimin so he gets a gold star. No, actually let's say he gets 10 out of 10 Baby Star Candies for it.

🐥🐰

Back at the house, it is among the few moments in the show in which the staff/camera people managed the "incredible" task of not showing up in the frame, but also making the presence of the camera somehow even more visible than in other situations because of this specific context. I'll explain. (I find the BH staff extremely incompetent from a skill perspective and I do admit that what I might choose to interpret as formal choices might as well be nothing. But I'm working with images here and what is ultimately presented).

During their stay at the house, there was this illusion created that they indeed might be alone there in the kitchen, cooking together and then having drinks. And despite knowing that they had go pros and cameras positioned around the house, there was a third element there. One that in some shots, it created this illusion of complete intimacy, as if there was this move from variety content in the form of reality tv style, to something that suddently almost looked like a film sequence. A couple and their routine.

It was also the part that made me feel like a voyeur for the first time, which is something that I've encountered before with Jikook. This time, it was due to a very particular shot and framing.

We as an audience, are positioned intently to look at them through the window. We're allowed to take a peak at what's happening inside that kitchen. We are made to feel part of the environment when we see the shots from inside the house, from the cameras set up to catch multiple angles and the cameras used by jikook themselves. They are making their audience part of it.

But then, for a few seconds, we are pulled back, literally outside looking in. Is this just a way to have a diversity in the shots used at editing? Most likely. But editing always tells a story, whether there's intent or not. It can tell the story the editor/director wants, but it can also tell a story that the viewer ends up picking upon and analyze.

I see that shot as a reminder of my position as an outsider to their story. A reminder that by standing outside, looking in, we are missing so many things that are out of frame. A reminder that perhaps we should not act as the all-knowing fans, as if we have a crystal ball. Or more than that, to judge and micro-analyze every gesture and every word in order to deconstruct something, more often than not in order to dispute even the level of friendship/closeness.

We have always seen a relationship between these two people through mediated sources. That involve editing. That also involves omissions and white lies even in unedited livestreams. That situation should make us think more and to actually understand that there's an actual, more complex life shared there. We see glimpses of it, from gestures, tones, touches and they paint a particular picture, but that shouldn't turn into a way in which we have to look for more proof either in order to confirm suspicions or what has become more clear lately, proof to disprove everything there is to them.

And isn't that a waste of energy? When we could witness such a lovely evening that perhaps only cemented even more that caring for one another has so many forms. And that being vocal about the appreciation for another is so important to be verbalized. It shows people that they are loved (I think Jimin said it to Jungkook many years ago during a game they had when Jungkook had to prank Jimin by complimenting him. Jungkook now doesn't need excuses anymore).

[power-chords]

Jodie Tillen (season one costume designer): I was a creative tool for Michael, and he was right [in his choices].

We coordinated the clothing colors with the locations: If a restaurant’s walls were peach, you made sure the costumes weren’t peach.

The lead characters had to dress and look like the people they were after. The hot and humid Miami weather — and Michael — dictated the colors. He said, “No earth tones, no red.” The show changed the way men who were fearful of wearing pastels dressed. It gave them permission to wear them. Initially, Don was uncomfortable in pastels. He thought that wasn’t who the character was. But any pushback I got from him, Michael cleared up.

The characters had to wear guns and shoulder holsters, so jackets needed to be fitted to accommodate that and not blatantly reveal they were carrying a gun. We didn’t have enough time to custom-fit costumes, because I had to come up with at least 75 for a new show every seven days. We needed many multiples since we had to dress the stunt people, and also the costumes would get sweaty and dirty.

Michael Mann: The music was my concept, with help from a number of people who picked some of it. Tony also had an appreciation for the type of music needed. But the final selection was mine. We had a couple of soundtrack albums that topped the charts.

Jan Hammer (theme composer): Michael said he didn’t want the theme music to be generic TV drama music, so I pulled out a cassette and played him things I had done on my own. One — a high-energy, driving piece — ended up being the theme. Michael was known for being a control freak, but he was the total opposite with me. When we found out we were getting picked up, he told me I had total artistic freedom.

Philip Michael Thomas: In the episode “The Maze,” I sang the title song of my album, Living the Book of My Life. I added it a cappella when I was undercover walking into a building and up the stairs.

David Rosenbloom (pilot editor): [Director] Thomas Carter came up with the idea of using the Phil Collins song “In the Air Tonight” when Don calls his wife from a phone booth on the highway, with this neon sign in back that says “Bernay’s Café.” It was almost surreal. It captured most of what the series might become. That song went on to be the one most associated with the show.

Excerpted from Miami Vice at 40: An Oral History

[prolix-yuy]

The Booth (and All its Misuses)

Pairing: Dieter Bravo x F!Reader Editor "Murch"

Summary: Dieter is pushing boundaries with the roles he takes. And with you.

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: Explicit, 18+ MINORS DNI, descriptions of male and female bodies, heavy fantasizing including oral sex (m and f receiving) and allusions to PiV sex, exhibitionism, dirty talk like whoa, male masturbation, allusions to female masturbation, Dieter's voice is a weapon.

Notes: That fucking cat show waltzed on in here and made me imagine Dieter recording those ridiculous lines and here we are. It's such a role for him I couldn't resist. This Dieter and Murch are from my series Best Laid Plans, and this story takes place before the events of The Plan. I also have to thank @boliv-jenta for being part of the inspiration for this fic with her hilarious Claude story that I've been giggling over for a couple days now.

Cross-posted on AO3

Best Laid Plans Series Masterlist

“What stupid thing did you sign me up for?”

Dieter’s agent blows a sigh into the phone that makes him wince. He’s still a little hungover despite the IV service he ordered this morning, the grease-laden breakfast sandwich, and the lazy handjob he gave himself in the shower. He thought today was a light day, maybe a press junket in the afternoon he could roll into once the edges of his vision cleared. But instead he’s ushered into a Mercedes and finds himself on the way to a studio to record…

“The voice of a bald horny street cat?” he asks, flipping through the short script. 

“It sounded up your alley…cat,” she quips back, and despite the low ache in the base of his skull he has to admit he enjoys the over-the-top dialogue. A little slutty, artistic, dramatic? Yeah, his agent’s got him pegged well.

His thoughts drift for a moment at the suggestive wording. He should really call Mitsy for another night in.

By the time he exits the car his head has cleared a little, aided by the coffee he whined to pick up and a few more minutes of shuteye. It looks like it’ll be a quick read, only a few pages of dialogue. He sweeps in, heavy brown cardigan flapping behind as he greets the audio tech and director. Their handshakes are straightforward, professional. The tech settles him in the sound booth, testing levels and microphones as the director walks Dieter through the scenes. It’s exactly how it sounds; a lascivious street cat wooing a plump pink hairless counterpart. He’s scrungly but smooth, devilish but dashing. Dieter raises an eyebrow at some of this - are people supposed to be horny for the cats? - but makes no comment.

The read is pretty fun for a one-off job. He leans into the ridiculousness to the director’s delight, and ad libs a few responses. The “follicle divergent” line was a favorite addition. He even turns on the bedroom voice for a few takes. If some classic Dieter filth gets him on their good side, maybe he’ll score something less ridiculous next time. Connections, connections, connections as his agent always says. 

As he finishes up the final page, a door opens on the other side of the glass. His eyes flick up briefly before the words slog to a stop in his mouth.

What are you doing here?

“Problem, Dieter?” the tech asks through Dieter’s headset. It sounds further away than before, like a string between two tin cans instead of Sennheisers. You lean over to address the director, his quick nod dismissing you to sit on a chair in a darkened corner. Dieter swallows hard, shaking off the stumble.

“How do you want me to pronounce ‘gordita’? Throw more accent on it?” he asks, directing their attention away enough to sneak a look at you. Your phone screen illuminates your face, harsh blue light carving your pretty features into something sharp and focused. 

He wants you to look up so he can give you a little nonchalant wave, like it’s no big deal the cute girl who keeps showing up on his movie set and making him laugh is here when he’s reading for a syphilitic cartoon cat. He tries to think up a good line to shoot you when he exits the booth - so this is where you hang out when you’re not on my set, Murch? - but even that falls flat in his head. Plus there’s something about calling you Murch in front of people who don’t know you that makes him cringe. You’ve got enough working against you in Hollywood, you don’t need him tossing out pet names that could lessen their respect for you. He respects the hell out of you in the first place; how hard you work, how everyone likes interacting with you, the trust people have in you to do your job well. Murch is just between the two of you, its own sign of respect. 

He can admit to himself it’s also a sign of a little more than that. Only for him.

He throws himself into the last fifteen minutes of the recording, flourishing his vocals for peak laughs. He wishes you had some headphones on so he could make you roll your eyes or snicker with him, but you’re tapping on your phone up until the tech ends the recording. Dieter gathers himself and feigns casual energy as he exits the booth.

“Need any more takes? We’re running early on my schedule,” he says breezily, letting his gaze fall to you almost by mistake. “Oh, hey, didn’t see you come in. Elias doesn’t have you working today?” He offers a friendly smile, the most professional he’s even been with you. 

“Running drives today,” you say simply, hovering next to the tech while he transfers the audio to a slim hard drive. “The DIT has my footage until 6, so I’m sneaking some extra hours in.” 

Right, you’re still “working your way” in the business, putting in hard days for not enough pay and expected to be happy about it. He’s seen you with lunch orders on set, filling in for a PA or making calls in the home office when shoots are delayed. You’re happiest behind your computer, hands fast on the keyboard and eyes darting over a timeline as you help massage a masterpiece out of the mess. But you’re still working towards that being all you have to do to survive in Hollywood. Maybe after this film you’ll be able to breathe easier. Maybe he could win an Oscar for it and you could be an award-winning editor. It would be nice to win an Oscar for you.

Not for you. For himself. That would just be some icing on the cake, to give you a leg up in the industry where he can. That’s all. 

“That’s all Dieter, you’re wrapped. Sean, take off, you can still make your kid’s game,” the director says, the tech smiling gratefully as he snatches up his bag. A little flash of an idea, born out of wandering thoughts and attraction and foolhardiness, crosses Dieter’s lips.

“Hey, could I use the booth for a little while longer? I’ve got some pickups I need to record for an audiobook and I forgot to book a space,” he asks, silently hoping this moment of assholery might work out. The tech sighs loudly, rubbing a hand over his face, before you chime in.

“I can wait around, I’ve seen Sean do this enough I can figure it out. And I’ll lock up as we leave,” you say, sunny expression lightening the dour mood. It only takes a moment of shuffling for the others to leave, Sean waving a thanks to you as the door swings shut. 

Shit, he only planned this far, now what?

“Well you better hop back in, you’ve only got…17 minutes,” you say, settling into the swivel chair and pulling the huge headphones over your ears. 

“Not even a, ‘hey Di, nice to see you, thank you for brightening up my day with your dramatic cat-acting’? …Cacting? Ooh, I like that,” he says, leaning in the door frame. You smirk and roll your eyes.

“Hi Di, it’s always a pleasure to see your shining face, and whatever you rolled out of bed into. That’s a comfy looking sweater,” you smirk back, redirecting your attention to the soundboard. “Now can you get in there and do your lines so I’m not late getting back?” you say.

“Yes ma’am, thanks again,” he says, shutting the door behind him. A little smile settles on his face that she liked his cardigan, actively dashing it off before he pulls over a chair to the microphone stand. He’s got a reputation to uphold, and getting gooey over a compliment isn’t part of his brand. Settling back into the seat, he pantomimes opening his phone and placing it on the stand in front of him. 

There’s no script, it’s just a ploy, something to get you to stick around and talk to him more. He always enjoys the handful of minutes he gets with you on sets as you wait for dailies or a script revision to bring back to post-production. He wishes you were one of the actors sometimes, stranded on set while the crew reset or shuffled you around, leaving time to chat and open up. He wants to ask you what your favorite memories were, discuss a new art exhibit at length, pop a few edibles and get high enough that your minds could melt into each other, followed by your bodies. But you’re always moving, a skip in your gait like you’re worried about being a step behind. He dreads the day Hollywood tries to beat that drive out of you, make you step on something precious to get ahead. He wants to put his hands on your shoulders and tell you it’s okay to slow down, to walk instead of run, that you don’t deserve to fall into bed exhausted every day just to get up and do it all over again. 

“Do you need me to keep an ear on your recording?” you say, hand hovering over the button as you look at Dieter through the glass. He twists a crooked smile onto his face, his improvisation skills helping him navigate the conversation.

“It’s an erotic audiobook, so I’ll leave that up to you Murch,” he says, winking. You roll your eyes again, hitting record before reaching to mute yourself. “Wait, before you do that, how’s your day been?” he asks, slouching into his chair with spread thighs. He likes to see if you’ll look, give him any hint that you may be as interested in him as he finds you.

“Not too bad, Di, living the dream,” you say, leaning forward on your elbows with a smile. “Post’s coming along good, you’re getting better at not spitting every time you shout at Alé.”

“They keep asking me to drink during that scene, it gets me all drooly!” he retorts, the tinny laugh coming through his headset warming his chest. He really likes the way your eyes scrunch up when he gets a good giggle out of you, that you’ll laugh with your whole body if he gets it right. 

“Besides that, nothing special. You looking forward to the scenes you get to shoot in Rome?”

“Looking forward to being told I can’t have any pasta. What else are you supposed to eat in the city of love?” You laugh again, goosebumps tingling along Dieter’s neck at how intimate the sound is coming through his headphones.

“I’m pretty sure that’s Paris.”

“Tell me you’ve never fallen in love with a pasta alla vodka.”

“You eat all the things you love, Bravo?”

“Some of them,” he purrs, dropping his voice down an octave and tilting his head. You shake yours with an exasperated sigh, but he thinks he sees your eyelashes flutter. He’s about to elaborate - I do love pussy, and not just the weird cat I’ve been reading for - when the glow of your phone directs your eyes down.

“Shit, I’m blowing up,” you curse, scrolling quickly. “Are you good to go?”

Dieter nods his head, squaring up his chair and adjusting the microphone stand down to his level.

“I’ve got it Murch, you take care of business. Thanks for doing me a favor,” he says, trying not to let the disappointment bleed into his voice. You shoot him a tight smile before muting yourself, red light blinking in his view. You watch the screen for a moment before taking off your headphones and diving back into your phone, alternating typing and scrolling.

The silence of the room lays heavy on his shoulders, the warmth of your voice slowly fading. He feigns opening up something on his phone, a blank webpage all that actually stares back at him. Wetting his lips, he wonders what the hell to say to make it look like he’s not just dicking around in here.

“Hey Murch,” he finally settles on, keeping his eyes glued to his phone, now dark enough to reflect his face back at him, your blurry silhouette in the corner of his eye.

“It’s nice to see you today. You haven’t been on set in a bit. Things must be ramping up in your edit bay. They’re keeping you busy, that’s for sure. Or you’re keeping yourself busy. Because you know, you work really hard. I see it. Everyone does.” He clears his throat briefly, eyes snapping up to you. You flick your own up, a question on your face, but he just thumbs-ups you. 

“What would you do if you got a break? What does the lovely Murch do on a day off?” he says, his throat catching a little on lovely. “I think you like a big breakfast, something with fruit in it. You like…mangos, right? I’m pretty sure you said that once. Or peaches.” The phantom flavors drift along his tongue. “And then I’d bet you’d want to do something outside, especially if it’s nice out. Get out of that dark basement. Wear something light and breezy.”

It occurs to Dieter he’s never seen you in anything more than jeans and a t-shirt. What would you look like with your shoulders bare, legs on display, breasts scooped into a flattering neckline and ass swishing along? Did you even like pretty summer dresses? God he hoped you did. You would look fucking delicious.

A tightening in his groin alerts Dieter to a path his brain probably shouldn’t go down, but it’s the Wizard of Oz in there and his libido is following the yellow brick road. He licks his lips at the thought of you turning to wait for him, a flirty hemline skimming along your thighs. If a little breeze kicked up the skirt would flutter just a little too high for your liking, making you smooth it back down. And he’d be helpless to stop from falling to his knees and ducking his head under it.

His cock is at full attention now, straining against his slacks. He tries to shake off this train of thought, redirect to something that will refocus him, but every time he glances up to take in your features, your attention elsewhere, only hardens him more. 

“Fuck, you’d look good in something like that. You look good all the time.” Dieter’s hand clenches on his thigh, dangerously close to crossing a line. An irrelevant notification lights up his screen - ten more minutes of studio time. He squeezes his eyes shut, worrying at his lower lip with his teeth.

He shouldn’t. You’d be grossed out if he did, violated. Probably scream at him, call him a filthy little slut. 

Fuck, his pesky degradation kink’s not helping.

“Shit, Murch, you got me hard in a fucking sound booth. I can’t even get this hard this fast watching porn. What the fuck have you done to me?” he husks out, running a hand over his face. His cock bobs in his pants, the mistake of even alluding to porn in the same breath as your name furthering his thoughts. Because now that he’s said it, all the little scenarios he lies to himself about jacking off to come to the forefront unbidden.

The way the slip of your tongue over your lower lip makes him want to follow it with the head of his cock, fat and weeping at your hot breath. 

How your hands moving along a keyboard make him wonder how they’d look wrapped around his shaft, pulling him to the brink expertly before easing him back.

The fact that there’s a couch in that dark little room you work in that calls for him to fuck you on it over and over again.

You put down your phone right as he’s spiraling, imagining how you’d look spread on your back on that beat-up monstrosity as he hovers over you, and slip your headphones back on. He coughs once, hoping his face isn’t too red.

“You doing okay Di?” you ask, a note of concern coming through.

Busted. 

He shifts in his chair, his erection thankfully hidden by his low seat and the little stand his phone rests on. 

“Hah, yeah, just…getting through some of this dialogue.”

You smirk, chin in your hand.

“What, a little too spicy for THE Dieter Bravo?” you say, and have the audacity to pull the corner of your lip between your teeth. 

Well never mind then. He was going to be the gentleman and suffer in silence. But if you were going to insist on egging him on when he was just imagining how sweet your cunt would taste, then he’s going to play a little dirty.

“You can be the judge of that,” he says airily, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

“I’ve read my fair share of romance novels. I don’t think you’ll surprise me.”

Oh, it’s really on now.

“Then listen in. Maybe you’ll learn something new.”

You settle back into your chair, motioning for Dieter to begin. He rolls his shoulders, putting both hands on the stand and pulling focus to his phone. His grayscale reflection is remarkably confident for how rippling his insides feel. Pulling from memories of early gigs that were a hair shy of softcore pornos and his own racing thoughts, he writes you a story.

“I fucking want you. Keep telling myself no but I fucking want you,” he growls, puffing hard out his nose. Your reaction is immediate; your eyes snap wide, mouth parting. He wants to look you in the eyes as he improvises a scene but doing that and trying to keep his composure above the waist is proving too much. His lips brush hard against the microphone, his whiskers scraping along the sensitive instrument.

“I’d make it so good for you, make you mine so many times you’d have to spend the night. Would you like that? For me to take care of you so fully, so completely, you wouldn’t be able to walk out after? Because I want you like that every. Single. Day. Let me make you feel so fucking good, baby.”

You’re trying to keep a neutral face but he can see it. The tremble of your lower lip. The rigidness of your posture. He would bet his summer house you were squeezing your thighs under the control table. God, he wants to be on the other side of the glass and saying these things in your ear, lips brushing against your skin. Filthier things too, like how he wants you to cum so hard it drips down your legs for him to lick up. That he’ll stretch you so good on his cock, make you drunk with pleasure every moment you let him. 

“Because you deserve to feel like a goddess. You do so much for me, baby, let me give you even an ounce of that back to you. I’ll be so good for you, sweetheart, treat you better than that goddamn shithead of an ex that was never worth your time.”

Dieter’s running his mouth as close to the truth as he thinks he can get away with, sneaking glances up to see how you react. Your arms are folded in a picture of ease, but he can see how your fingers dig into your bicep. He drops his voice into a lower register, rumbling deep but with a gentle quality he enjoys utilizing for narration.

“He lets her ride his buttery slick thighs, buried so deep he can’t tell where her pleasure ends and his begins. He doesn’t care as long as she keeps throwing her head back like that and crying his name. If his heart gave out now he’d die happy with the musk of her on his lips and her velvet walls clenched around him. Even though she’s already cum twice he urges her into a third with his clever thumb and a grin when she shatters.” Dieter’s half impressed at himself for thinking on his feet, the words quickening the rise and fall of your chest. Your cunt must be on fire from this, he hopes he’s not the only one aching. You can’t be unaffected, not with the way you can’t look away, gaze tight on his face when he looks up. He’s got one more tiny idea that could get him in trouble, or make the tension thread between you finally snap. Leaning forward, he looks through his lashes at you. You’re holding your breath.

“Be a good girl for me, baby.”

Your reaction is instant. Blinking hard and flaring your nostrils, your grip gets even tighter. Your skin must be blazing hot, the heat between your thighs unbearable. He wants to soothe it with his tongue, quench it with his fingers as you fist his hair and tell him how good he’s making you feel. His cock is hard to the point of exploding in his pants, the telltale tingle in his hips warning him that it’s all too possible. 

A question hangs on the tip of his tongue, one he’s so prepared to ask:

Want some help with that Murch?

You jump suddenly, the faint clanging of an alarm on the other side of the glass a shock to his own system.

MotherFUCKER.

“Sorry Di, time’s up. I gotta get moving,” you stammer, shakily pressing buttons to stop the recording and transfer the data. He tosses the headphones off quickly, taking the briefest of moments to wrap his cardigan around his middle to hide the prominence of his erection. He saunters back into the room with a smug smile.

“Now who’s gotten all flustered?” he teases, hopeful you won’t bolt from his sight. The balance is precarious now, a tiny nudge in the direction he desires setting everything off balance. Thankfully you chuckle and shake your head.

“That’s really paying your bills? I swear I’ve read better online for free,” you say, sticking in a loose USB stick and transferring the “audiobook” over for him. Dieter hovers in case you open the file, but you only hand him the drive with an overly bright smile. He takes it from you, searching your face for any hint of the titillation he caught earlier.

“You’ll have to send me your favorites, I’ll record them for a good price,” he drawls, leaning on one hand in your space. It’s a dance he’s done with you in the past, but never with so much charge in the air. He can almost taste the electricity between you, and when you meet his eyes there’s a flash of something deeper, something you won’t let come to the surface so you tamp it down with a dramatic sigh.

“Why would I want my scorching hot erotica in your voice?” you joke, his hands coming up in mock hurt before he winks at you. You shake your head and put the hard drive you came here for in your bag. 

“See you on set?” he asks, and god he sounds pitiful to his own ears but you tilt your head and smile, hand on the knob to leave.

“I’ll be around,” you say before leaving him in the booth in silence and his own tangle of thoughts.

A bolt of arousal claws down his spine, a filthy moan falling from his lips.

“Sweetheart, I’m so goddamn hard for you. I need you to look at me. Look at me and I’ll cum so hard. Just fucking look at me. See me. See what you do to me?” His hand moves faster, fingers catching along the thick ridge of his head, the need almost painful as his mind conjures the image. Your lips pursed, eyes still cast down as he whimpers into a microphone.

“Want you to put those talented fingers inside your panties and rub your clit on the other side of this window. Let me whisper all the fucking depraved shit I want to do to you, how I want to lick and finger and fuck every hole until you beg me to stop. I’ll be…such a…good boy for you.” He’s on the knife’s edge, looking down into the chasm, heavy breaths making it harder to hide. “Let me…be your good boy, sweetheart. Please, look at me.” 

And in the moment before he cums, you look up and catch his eye. 

It’s a livewire to his cock, and he empties onto his stomach with ragged cries. He’s begging it to hurry up, be as fleeting of an orgasm as when he pumps it into some starlet wanting a night with his publicity, but it keeps rolling and rolling over him, shuddering breaths and clamping legs. Tears come to his eyes because even with how fucking good it feels, he knows it could be so much better. He knows a night with you would be a million fucking times better than his hand and his phone next to his ear playing the soft laughs he coaxed out of you. That you’d make him cum, but you’d also make him smile, and preen, and maybe even glow.

Shame burns along his chest at how fucking sad this must look, legendary playboy Dieter Bravo, who could open his hotel room door and have anyone on his cock that he pleases, covered in his own cum while your voice tells him Paris is the city of love. 

Stopping the recording, he flops an arm over his face. He’s gotta get you out of his system, invite you to one of his parties for one really good fuck then send you on your happy little way. You could brag about bedding him, about how many orgasms he gave you and how much he’s ruined you for other men. And he could scratch the itch buried between his shoulders that flares when you trade good-natured barbs. Clear his head of this weird little infatuation he hasn’t experienced since he was 25 and drunk off his first love. 

That’s it, he’ll do what he always does. Make you feel like the center of his world for a night and part happy and satiated. It might finally ease the giddiness you bring with the swing of your hips. Maybe it will finally feed the emptiness inside him when the drugs peter off and his skin feels too tight and all he wants to do is find the next high or low to distract him.

But first, he’s gotta get you to accept his invitation.

END

[bunnytalksf1]

bunny! love you and thanks for your work and talent ;)

could you please clarify for me why Drive to Survive is unreliable thing about F1? i get that it's speculated a lot but still want to understand more, thank you

<3

Hi, thank you <3

Writing this on my phone so please excuse any mistakes!

The unreliability of documentary as a media form is inherent, because in order to produce documentary, the director must construct a narrative. This narrative is taken from reality, but it is also inherently biased to what the director sees, what editors see, etc. Even if I was a fan of DtS, I would have this criticism of it. Documentary CANNOT BE RELIABLE. It’s in the nature of the format.

But specifically for Drive To Survive:

The most glaring issue with this series is that it is commissioned by Liberty Media, who are responsible for the sport’s promotion. It was taken to Netflix in 2017 and has continued since. This means that they can’t really show anything unsavoury, or things that might disillusion people from watching the sport. That’s an extra level of bias.

Additionally:

In the first season, the producers had VERY limited access to the top teams. Both Mercedes and Ferrari wanted nothing to do with the camera crews, given they had a lot more to lose. RBR was the only top team willing to be in the show, and at the time they were kind of averaging third-fastest over the course of a season. The lack of insight into the top teams’ mechanics is frustrating to me in those episodes.

It also requires some sort of foresight, which is impossible. The way DtS is produced means that they have to guess who will have a Big Weekend, since they are embedded into teams from Wednesday to Sunday. And some race weeks, they aren’t there at all. If they have no footage of something, they can’t weave it into the narrative they’re constructing, so it gets left out. In the 2023 season, towards the back-end, one of the biggest narratives amongst fans was the emerging rivalry between Norris and Piastri, phenom rookie, who won a race before him in Qatar, and the emergence, too, of a very fast McLaren in the back end of the season. These were almost entirely left out of DtS because Netflix was not at Qatar.

Qatar was a big weekend for Mercedes too, because Russell and Hamilton crashed into each other, and there was a lot of noise over the public apology Hamilton gave etc. It got left out, though.

The main issue that the drivers and teams have is that its largely sensationalised and designed to create tension that simply isn’t there during the season. Verstappen was particularly vocal about this, and he suffers a fair bit: he was villainised in 2018 vs. Ricciardo, and then again in 2021 vs. Hamilton.

DtS also has its “main characters” in Ricciardo, Sainz, Alpine, and Haas (Geunter Steiner) etc, who let the DtS crews have more access than the average driver, like perhaps Verstappen or Leclerc (and Ferrari). Relying on personal footage means that DtS picks its main characters before we know who the main characters of the Actual Season are, which limits their ability to roll with the punches and represent the sport accurately.

It tips the balance of footage towards personal lives, with a lot of footage being taken from off the track / outside race weekends, which I personally don’t think is necessary, and also opens up drivers to parasocial relationships from fans (some drivers suffer a lot more than others, i.e. Norris, Leclerc, Sainz).

I think my main criticisms of DtS come from a) the format (its completely non-chronological, and hops from team to team which means that inter-team conflicts are minimised in favour for intra-team ones) and b) it is a behind-the-scenes of the drivers, not the sport. I’d prefer to see most of, if not all of, the footage taken from race weekends, and for the series to be a peek behind the curtain at the sport itself, but Netflix is (or was, at the time) not allowed access because there is A LOT that these teams want to keep secret from camera crews, and this doesn’t just go for DtS: it also goes for the actual media present in the day-to-day of the sport.

A lot of this is My Opinion, but I share a lot of these sentiments with F1 fans. I watch DtS as a fun little bingo thing at the end of the year, rather than a replacement for the season.

That being said, the positive about DtS is that it gives an overview from 2018 onwards and allows new fans to learn enough quite quickly to interact with other fans, who have their own takes and thoughts and can even out the bias DtS presents us with. It gives a decent baseline understanding of the sport, even if Will Buxton has become somewhat of a meme because of it.

Hope that helps:) DtS is also NOT the only docuseries on f1 - theres the Brawn GP doc (v good) and Leclerc and Verstappen each have stuff produced about them by Canal+ and Viaplay respectively.

[shannendoherty-fans]

September 1991 - Shannen Doherty, Luke Perry, Jaqson Priestley and all the "Beverly Hills, 90210" gang at the US magazine.

THE FALL ENTERTAINMENT PREVIEW

For everything, there is an entertainment season. You may want to take it all in or turn, turn, turn it all off, but one thing's for sure, you can't avoid it. So kick back, look at what's in store and take your pick. • The networks' experimental phase seems to be over (for now). Sitcoms are flourishing, with very few hour-long dramas on the schedule. Pfeiffer, Pacino and Moore are all going to be visiting a theater near you. Mariah Carey and Barbra Streisand will try to fill the void left by the lack of the long-awaited Bruce Springsteen album. But what makes entertainment so exciting are the inevitable surprises. After all, who would have picked a rotund guy named Schwarzkopf to be the star of last year's fall season? Only in America.

FAST TIMES AT TEEN ANGST HIGH

Take a handful of beautiful babes and Doherty. After he demands refreshments, extra bedding and hunks, toss in some smart story lines, add a liberal dose of adolescent hor- mones, give it time to simmer and what have you got? TV's coolest prime-time hit: 'Beverly Hills, 90210'.

By Karen Schoemer, Photographs by Timothy White.

BARE-CHESTED AND GRINNING, LUKE PERRY stands on the Beverly Hills, 90210 soundstage, prepping for a scene. Two women from the crew hover over him: One lightly dabs his face with a makeup sponge, and the other fastidiously wraps his lean torso in a cotton bandage to signify the broken ribs Perry's character, Dylan McKay, has sustained in a surfing accident. Perry holds his arms above his head and chats merrily about his "studly" physique and "the large shadows cast by my chest," before he dons a white T-shirt through which the bandages poke sympathetically. Preparations complete, he takes a quick drag or two from a Marlboro Light and saunters onto the set. Time to go to work. Time for a make-out scene.

Perry lies down on a couch in the Walsh family living room. With his arm draped luxuriously over the sofa's back and his head cushioned by piles of pillows, he suggests nothing so much as a Roman aristocrat waiting for his grapes to be peeled. In fact, this particular episode has the recuperating Dylan being waited on hand and foot by ex-girlfriend Brenda Walsh, played by Shannen reading material, Brenda stands before him and says with more than a hint of sarcasm, "Anything else?" "Just one more thing," whispers Dylan seductively. "You." Brenda falls on top of him, and the two share a passionate reconciliatory smooch.

"We're trying to keep the set clear," says the assistant director with attempted delicacy. The remark would probably be lost on Perry, who isn't the least bit shy about his vocational duties. "It beats other jobs I've had," Perry says later. "Kissing girls for a living is not a bad way to go.'

Perry has every reason to be enjoying life right now: Beverly Hills, 90210, airing Thursday nights on Fox, is one of the hottest shows on television, and its cast - especially Perry, Doherty, and Jason Priestley, who plays the show's leading man, Brandon Walsh have become some of the most talked-about young actors in Hollywood. Set in a ritzy Beverly Hills high school, 90210 looks at such teen issues as pregnancy, drunk driving, peer pressure and AIDS through the eyes of the Walsh kids, two transplanted Minnesotans. Like a pubescent thirtysomething, 90210 truly excels at melodrama; a single hour of the show packs enough teen angst to fill a year's worth of scrawled diary entries.

Also like thirtysomething, 90210 works on a deceptively simple formula: quality writers, quality directors, and a creative team that balances youthful enthusiasm with years of TV experience. The husband-and-wife team of Steve Wasserman and Jessica Klein, the series' story editors, have written for CBS's smart smash, Northern Exposure. Writer and executive producer Charles Rosin produced several made-for-TV movies and was the supervising producer at Northern Exposure last season. Episode directors have included movie folk like Tim Hunter (The River's Edge) and such cuttingedge TV directors as Charles Braverman (The Brotherhood of Justice). Rounding out the team are 30-year-old creator/ writer/supervising producer Darren Star, a newcomer whose 90210 pilot was the first he'd ever written, and TV production legend Aaron Spelling (his long career includes megahits like Dynasty, The Love Boat, The Mod Squad and Charlie's Angels) whose company produces the show.

Not exactly known for his small-screen depictions of teenagers, Spelling came to the show after Star had sold his pilot to Fox. "Fox called and said, 'Would you like to do a high school show?' and I said, 'Not particularly," Spelling recalls. "I said that I don't know how to do Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Parker Lewis Can't Lose. They said, 'No, no, we'd like to do a show in Beverly Hills, with strangers from a foreign land like Minnesota coming to it.' I said, 'That's intriguing.' I really got excited." (Later, Spelling's 18-year-old daughter, Tori, auditioned behind her father's back and was cast in a supporting role.)

DESPITE THE STRONG CREATIVE TEAM, Fox obviously didn't know what it had: 90210 debuted in the fall of 1990 with no fanfare, no hype, no colossal marketing schemes and no ratings. Although many of the cast members had worked in television before ─ Priestley in the sitcom Sister Kate, Doherty in the series Our House, Perry in the daytime soap Loving ─ certainly none had much name recognition with the viewing public. By December, the show was slogging along in the bowels of the ratings, while its cast and crew grew increasingly frustrated. "We were so marginal for so long," says Charles Rosin. "We went into the [Fox] network and said, 'Listen, unless you start promoting us, no one's going to know we're here.'

Fox agreed and went into promotional overdrive, with immediate results: The ratings began to rise once teen America got a look at Priestley and his young cohorts. (Incidentally, most of the cast won't reveal their real ages ─ they are rumored to be well into their 20s ─ for fear that it will ruin the illusion of them as high school students.) By the end of February, the show was in the Number Two position behind Cheers for its time slot; by April, Priestley was being hailed as the new teen heartthrob; and by the season's end in May, Perry was being hailed as the newer teen heartthrob, and 90210 was approaching the Nielsen Top 40.

  Then Fox unveiled a revolutionary strategy: Instead of the normal three-month hiatus, 90210 would go back to work and prepare seven new episodes to air during the summer, in addition to the standard twenty-three episodes for the regular season. "Thirty shows!" says Spelling. "It's a gamble, but I'll tell you, they've got guts.' (And smarts: The first summer episode rocketed the series into the Top 20.) Like Fox's previous youth smash, 21 Jump Street, 90210's success could be attributed to its gorgeous cast, hot topics and sympathetic characters. Then again, the most important ingredient may be the series' uncondescending view of the problems of preadulthood. As Darren Star notes, "Teenagers take themselves very seriously and really see their lives in terms of high dramatics, and I think the show represents that very well." Jessica Klein agrees: "The show is very honest, and the characters don't always do the right thing, which is, I think, terrific."

Around the set, happiness make that rampant, untethered giddiness ─ is the primary mode for most of the cast and crew. Call it climbing ratings, but the atmosphere on 90210 is phenomenally joyous. The actors joke and giggle with one another between takes; everybody walks around hugging and kissing each other; and director Braverman never once raises his voice. With the actors' spirits still high at ten o'clock on a Friday night, Braverman quips, "All right, guys, tense up!" as if all this relaxed fun is starting to get to him.

Mixed with the cast members' obvious enthusiasm, however, is a feeling of nervous edginess, an anxiety that the show's massive popularity might interfere with a formula that has worked up until now. "We're at a time that could really make or break the show," says Gabrielle Carteris, who plays school newspaper editor Andrea Zuckerman. "I think everybody thinks that we've made it, because we're in our second season and there's so much response. And it's exciting and it's scary because it's new for all of us." "When you have a lot of hype around a show, it puts a lot of pressure on," adds James Eckhouse. "I just hope this show will be allowed to have its own life." Not everyone on the show has such a philosophical outlook. After the first four weeks of shooting, during which the press was present nearly every day, Priestley demanded that the set be cleared while he was working and refused to do any more interviews with other cast members present. Some actors with secondary roles were squabbling over receiving inadequate press coverage. By mid-June, Jennie Garth, who plays Kelly Taylor, was showing signs of stress and, after almost collapsing on the set, was taken to the hospital (and quickly released).

In other words, the cast is being forced to deal with the consequences of their own popularity. And while most of the pressures are external, there does seem to be one internal source of tension on the set.

SHANNEN DOHERTY STANDS AT THE front of a classroom, looking anxious. She wears one of her trademark Brenda Walsh outfits: chocolate-colored stretch top, tan chinos, black boots. Her brown hair lies perfectly across her back as if it were carved out of stone; her round, graceful features look brittle and pinched.

Even though it's a hot June afternoon, school's in session for the cast of 90210, and actors, crew and extras are crowded into an airless room in an abandoned hospital building in Encino. The plot line has several of the characters ─ Brenda (Doherty), Andrea (Carteris), Donna (Tori Spelling) and freshman David Silver (Brian Austin Green) enrolled in a summer drama class, and today's topic is Shakespeare. Sixteenth-century England, it would seem, is a long way from twentieth-century prime time.

"I f---ed up, Chuck," says Doherty slowly, tragically, to Braverman.

She has just fumbled her lines for the fifth time. She walks over to the script supervisor, studies the speech and returns to her mark. She runs through the speech again and sits down.

"Cut," says Braverman, putting his hand to his forehead. This time, Doherty has left off the final line of her speech. "Let's try it again."

But the actress remains seated, her head down. Carteris and Tori Spelling quickly cluster around, as if trying to console her. Abruptly, Doherty gets up and runs out of the room, crying. There is a long, dead silence. Spelling gives a nonplussed shrug. Around the 90210 set, Doherty ─ an acting veteran who's appeared in everything from Little House on the Prairie to the cult teen movie Heathers ─ is usually described as “difficult.” Her mood swings are becoming the stuff of set legend; by the end of this particular afternoon, after returning to the set and completing her scene, she is gamboling through the classroom like a child on her birthday, giggling with costar Spelling, hugging Braverman and sitting in his lap. Between scenes on other days, she shuts the door of her dressing room and blares death-rock at ear-searing volume. Even Aaron Spelling admits, "She does some strange things.'

Braverman, who is jokingly referred to as "Shannen's director," tends to indulge her: He gently coaxes and has huddled one-on-one discussions with the actress. "Shannen and I have become closer and closer on each show," he says. "She's a very strong-willed woman. She used to disagree with me more when I would make a suggestion. Now she listens to me and, more often than not, she'll take it. One of the things I've done with Shannen is try to soften her character and make her more vulnerable. I think it's because I'm really crazy about her, and I don't want her to be the bad girl of 90210."

Doherty pulls up at the studio the following day in great spirits. She climbs out of her black BMW holding a shopping bag. "My house was so cold this morning I live in Malibu," she later explains, flashing a friendly smile. "I bought clothes so I could bundle up."

She steps lightly into the hair and makeup trailer to prepare for that day's scenes. "It was the Shakespeare," she says confidently when asked about the preceding day's difficulties. "I always know my lines, I never ─ I was in front of a crowd performing something I wasn't very familiar with. I've read Shakespeare, but I've never actually performed it before. So it's all very new to me. I got hot in there and I just got very nervous and then I couldn't get it straight. Also, when I screw up I get really mad at myself. So it was like a whole emotional breakdown that happened."

Doherty's makeup girl begins massaging her face with an electronic appliance that makes a sound like a bug zapper. "It takes out all the bacteria that's in your skin," Doherty explains. "Anyway, Chuck is very understanding. When I did start having this breakdown, he didn't really pressure me and was just like, 'Take your time, go slow, don't worry about it.' She moves down to the hair chair, reflecting on the show's growing success. "I just hope that the popularity doesn't change us in any way. Because we all want to be popular, and we all want the show to really take off, because it is a really good show. Give us a couple of years and let us establish our audience, and I think we will easily be in the Top 20. So it's good; it's just you can't let it affect you. In some ways it does change, the popularity does change it, but you can't all of a sudden think you can go out and do anything you want because you're a little bit famous."

The hair stylist holds up a lock of Doherty's eyebrow-length bangs and asks if she can trim them. "No," says Doherty flatly. She scrutinizes her face in the mirror. "I'm flying out to be in a celebrity softball tournament this weekend. A whole bunch of guys ─ a whole bunch of athletes ─ are going to be there."

LUKE PERRY IS CRYING. HE LIES curled up and trembling on a couch in the beach cabana set, located in a dif- ferent wing of the vacant hospital build- ing. A single candle, placed next to an old- fashioned photo cube, flickers light onto his face; around him the crew is frozen motionless, and the room's thick, heavy silence is broken only by Perry's barely audible sobs. The scene being filmed has Dylan returning to the bungalow where he used to spend summers with his family as a child; seeing the place much as he remembered it, he's overcome by difficult memories, and as the camera creeps clos- er to Perry's face, his performance becomes more vulnerable. All his earlier bravado has vanished. "Cut," whispers Braverman, as if reluctant to break the mood. "One more time."

Priestley, on set waiting to shoot the fol- lowing scene, decides to crack a joke. "Luke, can you get this right?" he calls out. "I don't want to be here all day."

Perry walks towards him, wiping his eyes. "You're being so mysterious," teas- es Priestley, affecting a lisp. "It's all so covert and dark."

Obviously in no mood for antics, Perry manages to respond, "Gotta get sensitive when the camera gets in there."

Priestley seems to take nothing seri- ously except the exact moment of execu- tion; when he's on the set, he yuks it up, yet as soon as the camera rolls he's com- pletely focused and seems to get impa- tient if he can't nail his scenes in two or three takes. “With Jason it's very easy and cool almost all the time," says Braverman.

"Jason's been our quarterback, keeping everybody on an even keel," raves Aaron Spelling, who also offers an opinion on his star's popularity. "I think Jason is the date that every girl would like to have. He's very attractive, he's sensitive, and he seems safe. That's why we brought in Luke Perry, because we thought we need- ed a character who was a little more off- center, who has a little James Dean."

The ploy has worked, perhaps too well: In the second season, Dylan seems to be overshadowing Brandon, the show's Richie Cunningham-style nice guy and all-around do-gooder, as the character with the most interesting emotional situ- ations. (Even Priestley seems to recognize certain limitations in the role: "Brandon," he says with something close to a sneer. "What is there to say about Brandon?")

Perry's fan mail is now coming in at a rate of some 500 letters a week, and he's only recently begun to grapple with the reality of his growing popularity. Earlier in the summer, a low-key promotional appearance in a Seattle area mall turned into a riot when some 5,000 screaming fans showed up instead of the expected turnout of a couple hundred. (Perry had to be hustled out in a laundry hamper.)

After he finishes his scene, Perry walks outside into the parking lot and sits down for a cigarette. "This particular scene was about a kid who was neglected by his father," he says. "[In real life] my rela- tionship with my father was very strained, and that kind of gives me a lot to draw on. You can never escape your past as an actor, because you always have to keep churning it up. I find that real dangerous."

Perry takes a look around the lot. "I used to make parking lots," he says suddenly, as if the irony of his situation has just hit him. "We'd pour the asphalt, paint the lines, make the curb, paint the stencils. The only thing I know how to do besides act is phys- ical labor. I was a paver, I was a cook, I drove people around in their Mercedes, I worked in a video store, I sold shoes, I worked in a hotel, made a lot of beds myself." He takes a drag and shakes his head. "When I think of the alternatives... my alternatives are not pleasant."

Priestley emerges from the building and invites himself into the conversation. "We get along because we come from the same school," he says loudly, grabbing Perry's cigarette.

"We're very similar," agrees Perry with an abrupt change of mood. "Know what you're doing, don't let anyone tell you anything different, have fun, and when the time comes, do your job ─”

"The work is very serious, and other than that─”

"Nothing is!" finishes Perry, and the pair lapse into an extended bout of male bond- ing and locker-room humor, all the pres- sures, demands and realities of their fast careers once again banished from their young skulls, at least temporarily.

[sparrow-and-seed-scrawls]

Had a question

Do you know how to right scripts?

I kinda need some advice on that since I'm trying to finish a series I haven't been working on for quite some time 😅

If you do pls tell me :D

Thank you ❤️🫵🏿😁

Tips for Writing Screenplays

(from a writer of ~10 years)

Funny story that we don’t have time for today, I have written a few scripts! I’m not a professional, but I have some tips for you.

There are several forms of script writing—plays/theatre, film, advertising, etc. For this post I’m going to focus on film scripts, or screenwriting.

If you’re used to writing prose or poetry, screenwriting is going to take time to pick up on. However, I’m your friendly neighborhood writer, and I’m here to help you traverse the writing trail.

I’ve made a character specifically for this post. Her name is Sasha Smithsonian II, but we’ll just call her Sasha. She’s a fast food chain manager who recently won Nation’s Best Bananagrams Player and now must figure out how to win the World title.

1.) Learn Screenwriting Form

Writing scripts is much different than writing prose or poetry, but it’s not unapproachable! Story forms aren’t kept in story jail, that’s not a thing. You can learn multiple writing forms! 🚨🚨

Got it?

Great.

This format is from studiobinder.com:

The basics of script formatting are as follows:

- 12-point Courier font size

- 1.5 inch margin on the left of the page

- 1 inch margin on the right of the page

- 1 inch on the of the top and bottom of the page

- Each page should have approximately 55 lines

- The dialogue block starts 2.5 inches from the left side of the page

- Character names must have uppercase letters and be positioned starting 3.7 inches from the left side of the page

- Page numbers are positioned in the top right corner with a 0.5 inch margin from the top of the page. The first page shall not be numbered, and each number is followed by a period.

So, using that format, here’s an example (in tumblr font and margins, not centered since I’m on mobile). In this scene snippet, Sasha has just won the title of Nation’s Best Bananagrams Player.

INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYM - NOON

WE OPEN on a high school gym set up as a Bananagrams Championship Arena. Folding tables and chairs are scattered around the room, and at one sits SASHA SMITHSONIAN II (20s), the newly crowned Bananagrams National Champion. She is tall, average, lets her southern roots lead.

SASHA:

(to news crew)

My Ma used to say I had a knack for words. Apparently I still do. It’s kinda like sugar in tea—it’s just natural.

So that’s the basis of a scene. Leave some room for the director, actors, production designers, and others to make some creative decisions. As a screenwriter, you’ll give basics like setting, plot, and character, but you won’t write down every single detail. Continue to explore screenwriting tools online, at your library, or from professionals!

2.) Treat Screenwriting Differently than Prose Writing

Screenwriting and prose writing are not the same, but that’s okay. It’s kinda like coffee and tea— they’re both drinks, but they’re different, and they have different uses.

Screenwriting is for movies, short films, television, etc. Because of that, scripts must be more compact than novels—usually 90-120 pages for a movie, 40 pages for a television show. You’re going to have more people working on the script, revising it, changing it.

Prose, on the other hand, is for novels, novellas, and short stories. They can be longer and delve further into description and movement. However, you won’t have as many people working on a novel. Usually yourself, the editors, and the publishing company (if you go that route).

Don’t try to write screenplays like novels. 90% of the time, it doesn’t work. Your metaphors and flowery language don’t fit in a screenplay like they would in a novel. And, similarly, your transitions and set-up don’t work in a novel like they would in a screenplay. But you can take tools from both forms to improve the other.

For example, in a novel I could spend a few chapters describing Sasha’s youth, her time training for the Youth Bananagrams Competition, and her years learning words from the dictionary. However, I most likely don’t have time to do this in a screenplay. Instead, I might have a short montage showing her training, or even a flashback. But I don’t have twenty-thirty minutes for this when I could be moving the plot further along. So I’m going to use different techniques.

The biggest things to remember if you’re transitioning from prose to screenwriting is story structure. Story structure is incredibly important for any form of creative writing—without it, you aren’t going to have strong character arcs, plot, and movement. But, you can’t put as much into a screenplay as you would into a book. So outline! Find an outline you enjoy!

Don’t wing it.

Please.

Seriously please.

Here are a few outlines to get you started!

Save the Cat

The Snowflake Method

The Eight Sequence Structure

And those are a few basics on how to write scripts from someone who has a bit of experience! Don’t stress about being perfect, because you can’t be perfect. But you can get better, so continue to write, learn, and have fun!

Best,

Sparrow

[inkedroplets]

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

📚 Do you read your own fic?

I'm here to force you to feel proud😌

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

A little snippet from my Peggy Carter fic “Alex doesn’t know that I’m the test subject, does she?” It was even less than a rhetorical question and maybe that was why Fury didn’t seem at all in a hurry to supply her with an answer. “If she did, she would have refused,” Kara reasoned. Even now with their relationship as frosty as it was, Kara was sure of that. A lot may have changed between them, everything may have changed but not that. 

“You lied when you told me that the DEO wanted me to be the one to test the portal between our earths. Why?” “SHIELD and the DEO are collaborating on this endeavor,” he explained, hands folded neatly in front of him. “Which means that what SHIELD wants is what the DEO wants and vice versa.” “Oh that is such a load of—” “But,” he said, hand preemptively raised to her objection. “I neglected to inform Director Danvers about my choice of test subject. Something I plan to rectify when I give her my report.” “She’s not going to like that. Being kept out of the loop…” Who would? she thought and found her thoughts inexorably turn to Lena 

“Oh, I know,” Fury said, sounding wholly unworried. “And I’m sure she won’t have any problem letting me know either. But before you get angrier, maybe you’d like me to handoff the data you gathered before you accidentally crush it.”

Kara let out a loud exhale before she made a show of stowing the drive in one of her pockets instead of handing it over to him. The act didn’t seem to surprise him at all, on the contrary he almost seemed to expect as much because he gave a little nod as he sat up a little straighter in his seat.  “Why me?” Kara asked. “Did you pick my name out of a hat or did you just consider me expendable?

“You were never in that kind of danger,” he explained. For the first time he sounded almost contrite, or maybe more human. “But I will admit that it wasn't exactly risk free either.”

“You didn't want to risk one of your people? Is that it?"

“I thought you were tough enough to weather any possible hiccups in the experiment,” he said as if he hoped Kara would take it as a compliment.

“You don’t have anyone as tough as me on your earth?”

“Oh, I do, but she’s off planet and I know enough not to owe her a favor unless I absolutely need to,” he said smoothly. "You'd like her."

“So I was your only option?” Kara considered this for a brief moment before shaking her head. “No. You knew…” She took a deep breath, hoping that might quell some of the anger she could feel building in her chest. “You knew I would want to see Lena again.” She fully expected him to deny it, hoping that he would try so that she could call him out on it. She waited for his gaze to drop or for his eyes to flick up and away but he did neither.

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

I've actually finished a handful of fics recently that I haven't shared yet. They're a bit different than my usual output so I'm going to sit on them a bit but I'm always happy to finish a story even if I don't end up sharing it. One is maybe too angsty to share and the other is a bit smutty so I'm hesitant to share that one as well.

📚 Do you read your own fic? I do read my own fic. I hope that doesn't sound conceited. In all honesty, I am writing for myself. I get an idea that intrigues me and I always love exploring it. But it's usually so specific and out there that I'm shocked whenever someone ends up enjoying it. I like to go back and revisit older fics and I'm almost always pleasantly surprised to find a bit of dialogue or snippet that I really like and ask myself "Did I really write this?" That's fun. There is also the editor in me that eviscerates everything and the urge to edit or change something is hard to ignore. There's always room for another polish, I think.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

fixed it

* * * *

THE HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN HAS FLIPPED THE SCRIPT

TCinLA

Aug 16, 2024

HARRIS HAS FLIPPED THE SCRIPT

Now that we are less than three months away from election day, some consensus is forming in the polls. As a reminder, state-level polling has some variabilities and inconsistencies, but polling today might be better than months ago. All the same challenges still exist, so take it with a grain of salt.

The one big consistency across all polls is voter movement toward Kamala Harris. A wave of battleground state polls shows Harris leading Trump in critical states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada, and tied in Georgia.

This week, the Cook Political Report found Harris’ success in closing the gap is driven by her consolidation of the Democratic base, and increased support among independent voters.

In May, in the five-way horserace including third party candidates, just 82% of the voters who supported Biden in 2020 were committed to voting for him this November. Harris is now getting 91% of those voters. Among independent voters, Harris leads Trump 48% to 40% in the 2-way head-to-head. In May, Trump led Biden among independent voters by three points - 41% to 38%.

The script has been flipped.

Even though Harris is the sitting incumbent, she is unburdened by what has been.

56% of battleground state voters say she represents a chance to “turn the page of the Trump/Biden era;” 59% see her as representing a “new generation of leadership.” Even though she may serve as Biden’s vice president, she’s winning Biden-Trump “double haters” by 30 points - 54% to 24%.

Harris’ ability to quickly and decisively win over those double haters is a reminder that the 2020 Biden coalition was more anti-Trump than pro-Biden.

The corporate media is big mad at Vice President Kamala Harris because she isn’t letting them define her before she can define herself to the voters. She’s only been too busy to play obsequious with the media and they are not happy.

The elite corporate media is used to calling the shots, being the ones who choose the candidate who “wins” a debate. They are used to being the gatekeepers and the referees, with all of the power.

But not anymore.

When CNN’s Jim Acosta asked Harris-Walz communications director Michael Tyler when they will commit to a press conference, Tyler said they were crisscrossing the country with rallies and their priority is engaging voters. He said Harris would sit down before the end of the month, but when pressed to commit to this week: "We will commit to directly engage with the voters. They're actually going to decide this election."

The media just got put in their place by the Harris-Walz. The campaign’s priority is speaking directly to the voters, not through an intermediary. And certainly not through a bad intermediary with an agenda who has their thumb on the scale to advance the interests of their owners.

Six days ago, Donald Trump held an hour-long "press conference" in which he lied 162 times - better than two lies a minute.. The media would very much like it if the Democrats would now put on a show. Perform! Entertain! For them. Not for the voters. They don’t care what’s going on in rallies they won’t cover, because the rallies aren’t about them.

The media wants a certain kind of press conference and interview. One they can pick apart and lord over. One that gives them their power back.

But if there is value in a press conference or a moral imperative to hold them, that obligation is two sided. The candidate holds a press conference to submit to a time-honored tradition of being asked questions by the media for the purpose of helping voters get to know the candidate for the greater purpose of democracy.

Today, the legacy media is comprised of the self-centric New York Times, owned by the Sulzberger family’s DNA failure, and the Washington Post, led by a Murdoch-trained executive editor.

Politico is now owned by a far right German tabloid owner who has a decades-long record of bending journalistic ethics for right-wing causes, and asked his executives to “pray for Donald Trump” in 2020.

When Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zaslav - who controls CNN - was asked who he supported for president, he wouldn’t say; but he did say that he wanted a president who would allow him to engage in more consolidation by lessening regulations - in other words a president who would do basically the opposite of what President Biden has done.

Much local media is owned by hedge-funds. A huge swath of local TV stations are owned by far right Sinclair Media. Then there’s Faux Snooze, the actual Murdoch owned media destroying this country.

These media only don’t care about democracy, they consider democracy an obstacle for them. So when they behave like they are pro-fascism, believe them.

When Kamala did make herself available for questions from the press gaggle after a campaign rally in Arizona, the first - and only - question was how did she feel about Trump mispronouncing her name.

That kind of shallow stupidity is why she isn’t kowtowing to these otherwise-unemployable morons.

There is no pro-democracy argument for Kamala Harris to do an interview with this media. In fact, there is every reason to suspect that doing it would only hurt the pro-democracy movement.

The script has been flipped, and the corporate media doesn’t understand what happened.

Commenting on Morning Joe today, GOP pollster Frank Luntz said of Republican women in his focus groups who now plan to vote for Kamal Harris, "Harris reminds some men of their first wife. Donald Trump reminds women of their first husband's divorce lawyer.”

In the meantime, “Fat Elvis impersonator” Donald Trump may be getting the old band from 2016 back together to revive the past glory from his first – and only successful – presidential campaign.

Amid reports that Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita - the nominal heads of the 2024 Trump campaign - suspect longtime adviser Kellyanne Conway might be making a play to take over, Trump brought back his 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski today.

Lewandowski was removed from a top post with a pro-Trump super PAC in 2021 after a donor's wife, Trashelle Odom, accused him of making unwanted sexual advances towards her at a Las Vegas charity dinner; he was later charged with a misdemeanor.

Tara Palmeri, senior political correspondent for Puck News, reported today that "Lewandowski told allies over the weekend that he was coming back as a campaign chairman essentially a layer above Wiles and LaCivita. This comes as Trump, superstitious and nostalgic, wants the team that helped him win in 2016 back."

Other Trump aides and allies who are joining the campaign include Tim Murtaugh, communications director for Trump’s 2020 campaign, along with Alex Pfeiffer and Alex Bruesewitz, a pair of top officials with the MAGA Inc. super PAC, whose leader Taylor Budowich already left to join the campaign in a senior capacity.

“As we head into the home stretch of this election, we are continuing to add to our impressive campaign team,” said Trump co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita in a statement. “Corey Lewandowski, Taylor Budowich, Alex Pfeiffer, Alex Bruesewitz, and Tim Murtaugh are all veterans of prior Trump campaigns and their unmatched experience will help President Trump prosecute the case against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the most radical ticket in American history.”

They’re whistling past the graveyard of those who ever believed Donald Trump is not the monster he is.

Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman reports many former Trump backers are bewildered by the way he's conducting himself, and they believe it seems like he's trying to deliberately lose the 2024 presidential race. Others, however, believe Trump cannot get over the fact that President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and that he now has to face off against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump's allies have had an impossible time warning him against making self-destructive attacks on Harris. "Trump’s advisers have implored him to launch policy attacks on Harris instead of using juvenile nicknames like Laffin Kamala and Kamabla," Sherman writes.

Even longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone is among those who want Trump to change tactics. He told Sherman, “I do think it’s counterproductive to call her stupid.” Trump has rejected his team’s advice. According to the Republican close to the campaign, Trump tells his advisers: 'I know what I’m doing.'"

In the course of yesterday and today, Trump attempted to hold “press conferences” about economic issues, and in both events went off into whining about having to run against Harris and how the 2020 election was stolen from him. He demonstrated his complete lack of political self-awareness by holding a conference about food people can no longer afford to buy at his country club in Bedminster, a location none of the people he claimed he was worried for would ever be able to show up at. During 90 minutes in his fake Rose Garden at Bedminster, America got to watch Trump deteriorate in real-time as he went so far off the rails that he spent 15 minutes ranting about the criminal cases against him at a press conference that was supposed to be about economic issues. These press conference disasters are campaign ads for Kamala Harris.

In the meantime, Trump’s VP running mate, Corporal Six Months In An Air-Conditioned Trailer, has now posted polling negatives that exceed those of Sarah Palin in 2008, posting a net negative 9.3% today.

The good news in all the MAGA nostalgia for a past that never was is that a significant proportion of the MAGA Baby Boomer dolts, dweebs, morons and idiots we had to put up with in high school 60 years ago, who only continued their downward trajectories in all the years since we left them behind, are no longer around to lower the national IQ as they did in 2016 and 2020. I read recently that something around half of the Class of ‘62 are no longer here.

[TCinLA]

[thispatternismine]

OMG so the Watership Down film is getting a fancy restoration including a 4K version & with a bunch of special features?? Fuck yeah!

Newly recorded audio commentary by film and animation experts Catherine Lester and Sam Summers

Vintage audio commentary by director Martin Rosen and writer and filmmaker Chris Gore (2003)

Defining a Style (2005): short featurette about the film’s aesthetic

A Conversation with the Filmmakers (2005, 17 mins): Archive featurette in which director Martin Rosen and editor Terry Rawlings discuss the production history of the film

Storyboard comparison (2005, 15 mins): a look at four sequences from the film

Super 8 version of the film (20 mins)

Humberstone Super 8 footage (3 mins): Footage shot by Arthur Humberstone, one of the senior animators on Watership Down

Designing Watership Down (2024, 5 mins): a gallery containing some of the materials related to Watership Down courtesy of The Arthur Humberstone Animation Archive

Once We Were Four (1942, 9 mins): a bunny quartet face an onslaught of badgers, bombs and birds of prey in this black comedy masquerading as a nature film, directed by Mary Field

Rabbits or Profits? (1969, 15 mins): public information film providing a potted history of rabbits in the UK

Bolly in A Space Adventure (1968, 5 mins): a short Halas & Batchelor animation about the adventures of Bolly and his friends on imaginary planets, featuring animation by Tony Guy, animation director on Watership Down

Make Believe (1948, 17 mins): Anson Dyer tells 'The Tale of Ronnie Rabbit' in this documentary showing the various stages of making a cartoon bunny

And there's a poster, postcards & a booklet! Ooh & apparently an enamel pin badge if you order direct from the BFI? I was gonna get it from HMV because I stumbled on this rerelease while browsing their website & I like being able to go into physical shops to pick stuff up, but I just checked the BFI's site to see if they had additional info & ooooh badge!

I need it!

EDIT: I notice they've also bumped up the rating. Yeah that was never gonna get a U certificate nowadays lol

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

Storer and Calo make each other better at this

S3 was imbalanced.

It was all Storer no Calo -or very little Calo-. She was not as involved in the writing as in S2.

She focused mostly on her EP duty.

Maybe it's because she’s involved in the pre-prod of other Disney projects right now, which started right after award season 2023.

So she had a lot on her plate, she had to prioritize, and writing + producing was too time-consuming so she picked EP. Plus EP is better paid than writing. Let’s be real. She chose wisely, I guess…

But it wasn’t just her that deserted the WR. I’m 100% sure the writers’ team changed from S2.

And you can tell the lack of Caloness. It’s all Storer’s sadism. No balance.

You can call it softness + intensity, or two fires with different levels of ignition, as Ayo said about her character and Jeremy’s. The point is that Calo balanced Storer out.

Without her he’s a 3 y.o. with too many fucking crayons, Uncle Jimmy would say.

She brought in the romantic element.

Storer, the intensity and the chaos.

She was the red string that connected Sydcarmy.

Storer and Calo S&C, btw are like Syd and Carmy.

They make each other better at this.

When they are disconnected, so are Carmy and Syd and they are not as good apart as they are when they are together.

I checked and most eps lack the WRITTEN by xxxx or SCREENPLAY by xxxx credit. Most of them just mentioned the Director and EP or one or the other, but we have no idea who was really responsible for that script, which is shady and kinda backs up my idea that the WR is 100% different now, they let in a bunch of writers that were not there before and have 0 knowledge of the mythology of the show and the characters. No idea about the vibe and the subtext that were there in S1 and 2. So they watched the show a couple of times and started writing for these characters from scratch. AND YOU CAN TELL! The characters didn’t sound like themselves in some scenes, they sounded OOC, especially my man, Carmy! And even Syd sometimes. IT WAS THE NEW WRITERS ON THE BLOCK’S FAULT! I’M TELLING YOU! They shoulda made NO CHANGES, the same WR they had in S2 shoulda have remained untouched. Identical. They fucked up big time, changing that and then the Editors fully fucked it, bc they coulda soften the blow, but didn’t. All of this was signed off by Storer and Calo. Storer is not the same Storer without her. And Calo was otherwise engaged.

I expected better, I expected the winning team to remain the same but they changed it and Disney is probably to blame for that. It was a self-boycot, sure. But not Storer’s. It was ultimately Disney’s because the network saw a Golden Team and decided to make them multitask and diversify, and they got greedy. They wanted them to make a lot of BEARS for them. And they couldn’t. Then again, those were nothing but my own expectations.

Now, if I detach myself from those and analyze this season objectively, like I have on some previous occasions, if I remove my own expectations from the equation, I can easily identify amazing stuff such as the constant battle between man and beast that Storer wants to portray. I mentioned time and time again how Carmy is 100% not based on a chef friend of his, as he said in several interviews, no way. Carmy is Storer and Storer is Carmy and that’s the best guarantee that we, truthers have, of Carmy having a happy ending. I’m sure that happiness will definitely include Sydney. So, summing up, we’re cool. Let’s just be patient and don’t let this sadist fuck with our patience. In the meantime let’s focus on the great things this season had.

Let’s choose to let it go and be positive, as Cousin would say.

This show constantly inspires me to take a good hard look at art as a whole and my own relationship with it. I mean, art in any form. I’m not an artist per se, but I certainly am an avid art consumer and fully believe that life would have no meaning without it. So, having said that Storer’s art is always inviting me to broaden my perspective because whether I like it or not how he does it, he usually pushes the boundaries of writing, storytelling, and cinematography, and also tells a story through music in a very personal way, etc, One of the things I loved the most this season was the cinematography and noticing he found inspo in paintings, painters, etc. I mentioned this season was Carmy’s blue period, like Picasso’s, etc… Storer does that, and last but not least, he put front and center a topic that is often not well depicted on TV, which is MENTAL HEALTH and indirectly, COMPASSION, EMPATHY, LOVE but from a non-romantic perspective. From a human perspective. Not platonic, bigger than that, human. S3 was also about SOLIDARITY if you think about it. And that, in and of itself, is something beautiful.

So, thank you, Storer.

[brionysea]

tbh i'm also so intrigued by the Mike Chrissy parallel of some food related issues going on. Mike's been not eating when stressed since s1, but it's so much more in focus in s4 than unusual which is also the season Chrissy gets introduced (got reminded of it recently when i rewatched s4). Mike clearly just can't eat when he's stressed/is anxious but he's stressed so much in s4 that he just doesn't get to eat at all despite having an unserious amount of opportunities to do so

it's still wild to me that people ignore it because they think "Finn just didn't feel like actually eating the gross set food" as if 1) the directors and editors just wouldn't notice and let it slide 2) as if he was this unprofessional 3) that bitch isn't even pretending to eat, the fork stays glued to the plate, with the only exception being him picking it up to very obviously shove the food around and stab it. not even trying to make it look like he's using it to eat or moving it to his mouth the way Millie does a lot

just fascinated that people are more willing to believe that Finn, professional actor, forgot to even pick up, no less use a fork, in two table food scenes back to back, than that Mike canonically just doesn't eat when he's anxious which we've seen happen since s1

thank you for bringing me news of these insane takes and filtering them through your evident common sense so i don't have to see them with my own two eyes

anyway, i tend to put it being noticed more (or at all) in season 4 down to who he's with. the byers are amazing so of course they see what he's doing and worry about him, and the extended-byers who get included in the group like murray and argyle are clearly concerned too. argyle makes an entire pizza for mike and tag teams with el to make sure he eats some of it

meanwhile there's a scene in season 1 where dustin, lucas and mike all aren't eating so they can give their food to el, and karen asks if anything's wrong with it, and mike's the only one who doesn't have to make an excuse. and no one calls him on that. in his own house.

when i say the wheelers don't deserve mike this is the kind of stuff i'm talking about. give him to the byers IMMEDIATELY