#i do have more thought-out dynamics for everyone

[asksonicverse]

How did Emerald and Shade end up rooming together?

Were they just the two leftover? Otherwise I would have thought that Shade would pick Eight since they‘ve worked together during the metal virus arc.

Is Shade embarrassed that he got turned? Does he feel cringe now? Is he aggressively dodging that 'I told you so'? Is that what this is?

[ Creator Special! ]

Okay: first note! Sorry for the lack of updates the last two days :D I’m working on ironing out a few bits to Paradox and Prisms story and I’ve been a bit busy with life things! In the meantime: behind the scenes!

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Emerald and Shade ended up together because, yes to all of your reasons.

They were the final ones left and while I did briefly consider putting Eight and Shade together, I decided against it because while Sonic and Shadow don’t hate eachother in IDW, I wouldn’t call them close enough yet to share.

Going to be real, I don’t think Shade and Emerald really talk. They just mutually agree “ok, pillow wall, you get that side I’ll get this one” they sleep, wake up, and leave the tent.

also I loved how you worded this ask it was hilarious: short answer yes

Same thing for Eight and Bandi, except Eight is curled up all the way on the far side of the tent and their pillow wall is twice as tall.

I wish I could do a bit more with Eights touch adverseness and show it but he’s been ASLEEP.

Also no one rooming with boost was very mutual with all.

Everyone saw an extra tent and was like “uhh boost you can have that one dude” (he kicks in his sleep)

I will reply DAMN YOU!!!! /lh

But yes!! Don’t worry my friends, I won’t ONLY focus on Paradox and Prism. I will do little mini comics of dynamic development between all the others.

I also want to start doing more Shadow and Shadow and Sonic and Sonic’s interactions. I feel like right now I mostly have Shadows and Sonic’s just interacting with their versions and I’m like?? Make friends guys!!

Okay so the way I’m approaching this:

The only Sonics in the same “timeline” are Classic and Emerald.

While Emerald (and other sonics and shadows) have experienced the same/similar events, doesn’t mean he was there for those versions. That might not make sense idk it’s 1 am.

So like, for SATBK, he does recognize Lancelot, but it’s not the Lancelot he knew.

For our SATBK story, it’s the exact same, except King Arthur and everyone had some weird magic spell cast on them that made them weird, Arthur has memory loss, game events happen, memory back, peace restored! Yay.

So yeah, they could have a good chat about it but still different.

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[utilitycaster]

So I am someone who hasnt been on Tumblr very much since C2 ended. I followed a group of story analyzers who were more or less very fond of C2, and of the critiques they had; most were minor or “matter of opinion differences”. This changed a lot with C3, where many of that same group have issues relating to the themes, character and worldbuilding of C3 in terms of Divinity, Empathy, Power Dynamics, “The Status Quo”, and Responsibility. Where the conclusions the story draws clash with a previous understanding of the world and its themes in a way that appears incoherent to many of these Analyzers.

Personally I found most of these analyzers to be very intelligent, so when most all of them view the bells hells and their actions, as them being a selfish and destructive, even possibly evil, force on the world. But the cast and matt frame it as “they are the heroes” how is there such a disconnect that doesn’t lead to “wow if only matt and the cast were smarter” type conclusions.

Matt and crew nailed a lot of C1/C2, and these same analyzers praised both campaigns, so why is this campaign, the one where so many fans here and the cast view the world, characters and the themes so tremendously radically different? What possible reasons exist to explain these divergences? And are these things that could rear their head again in C4?

(I kept this non-anon to show good-faith)

I can only speak for myself, and I suspect a desire to avoid a barrage of anon hate and accusations of arrogance is why no one has said this in so many words but as someone who doesn’t give a fuck if people think I’m arrogant, because I am and it’s justified, actually yeah I do think the cast should have been smarter, or at least more thoughtful, in this specific work. In discussing this with mutuals who are also meta writers, one of them pointed out that the structural critique is, ultimately, us saying to the cast "you should have been smarter about crafting this aspect of the plot/themes/narrative." It’s not phrased as such, but it’s the obvious implication.

As for what’s different: it is a campaign that has a much more narrowly focused plot, which required a stronger DM hand on the reins than in Campaign 1 and 2 (and did not have that). It is much more centered around one specific PC leading the entire time, which is different than Campaign 1 and 2, which had more balance and I think led to bolder decisions. It’s that Campaign 1 was crafted around the characters the cast made, and campaign 2 was a dialogue between characters made for the intended plot and setting and said plot, and campaign 3 had a vast disconnect that was never addressed due to poor planning in the earliest stages. And as for the lack of consequences, I honestly cannot tell, but I think it’s that it’s a combination of the characters being so reluctant to make choices that you sort of had to shuffle them forward without consequence in order to actually make any plot happen; and that was the big wrap up of a trilogy and Matt is, to put it tactfully, a rather more sentimental person than I am and his desire to grant everyone a happy ending won over a desire to tell a good story. I really do understand that actual play as story involves a unique and difficult dimension of people feeling very attached to their PCs, but if a DM and players are dedicated to a happy ending that fails to feel earned by the narrative, that will be a detriment to the quality of that narrative. And if you are someone who analyzes, it will fail to hold up to analysis and feel very empty and unsatisfying. This serves as perhaps an alternate interpretation for those who find it hard to stomach the statement of "the cast should have been smarter," namely "the cast should have been more willing to make risky choices and kill their darlings."

As for a Campaign 4: a narrative with similar problems could very well emerge. I think the general informal consensus among meta writers is that it feels like Matt is (understandably, but again, to the detriment of storytelling) overly precious at this point with Exandria, at least with the “modern” era and the C1-C3 characters, but a fresh start far in the future or in a new setting feels like it would mitigate the problem. But yeah it’s 100% possible this could be a problem in the future. I’m hoping this was just a “it’s our tenth anniversary and the last longform campaign of my imagined trilogy, let’s give everyone a happy ending” problem that won’t carry over to future works, but it could be a turn towards general self-indulgent fluff. Wouldn’t be the first time someone started out strong and ultimately became a coward who sanded off all the edges, for various reasons. But because of the strength of, frankly, everything but campaign 3 CR has put out, including concurrent works, my attitude is that I’m still here for a hypothetical campaign 4. It is however undeniably true that the vast stores of goodwill I had at the end of C2 are much smaller now, having been drawn on extensively to carry me through C3, and I’ll be less patient with any potential flaws in a hypothetical C4, particularly if they follow a similar pattern.

I guess to end this: if you are someone who follows me or other meta writers or people you consider smart, first off thanks, second off you are allowed to enjoy a story that I think is not very good. I think defending this story as structurally and thematically sound is a bad idea and I have yet to see a coherent argument in that vein, but there is no counterargument, no matter how intelligent or insightful the writer, to someone else’s “well I liked it.” You can like and dislike what you want, and that’s the end of it, and honestly my issue with so many of Campaign 3’s loudest advocates is that they demonstrated a bizarre incapacity to understand the difference between media analysis and personal opinion, and took all criticism of something they loved as personal attack whether or not it was. Speaking only for myself, if you look at my meta and your response is “well I had a good time,” I respect that (and most of us even agree, even if the good time was had more in the analysis than the watching). But if your response is to say “no, you’re wrong, this is narratively well-crafted,” well then you best come correct.

[randomfoggytiger]

The Truth Is Out There: Dispelling the Lingering Mysteries behind Chris Carter

OBSERVATIONS

To better understand the dynamics behind-the-scenes of The X-Files set, I invested in a six-part book series, the first of which is "The Truth Is Out There, The Official Guide to The X-Files" (written by Brian Lowry.) Well. More accurately, I wanted to delve deeper into the motivations of Chris Carter.

Even more particularly, I wanted answers to a few remaining questions. What was the point CC lost interest in and passion for The X-Files (because his perfectionistic, hyper-focused, workaholic drive drifted away from his first love to greater and grander things.) How could a man so woo the studios that he was given unparalleled control, without question, for nearly eight years? And how was this same man so beloved by everyone he came across, yet turned his own fans (and Nic Lea and Gillian Anderson) against him? If you want the answers to those, skip to the CARTER’S PHILOSOPHY, AND GUARDING THE VISION and FINAL THOUGHTS AND ANALYSIS sections.

**Note**: Most of this post will be directly quoting the book-- cutting out all but the most necessary context, of course (go read it)-- and, thus, will be fonted in italics.

ONCE UPON A TIME: CARTER’S JOURNEY UPWARD

Context: Lowry's book was written while "The Blessing Way" was being filmed.

As with most Hollywood success stories that don’t involve flat-out nepotism, the labyrinthine journey that resulted in The X-Files is almost as twisted as an X-File itself….

Carter began dating his wife, Dori Pierson, four years after leaving college…. Pierson prodded Carter to write movies, and his work caught the attention of Jeffrey Katzenberg, then Disney Studios chairman, who signed Carter to a writing deal. There he was put to work writing such Disney TV movies as "B.R.A.T. Patrol" and "Meet the Munceys". 

A pickup softball game in Brentwood, California, provided another inning in Carter’s career, since that was where the writer met Brandon Tartikoff, the president of NBC Entertainment…. After Tartikoff had a chance to read some of Carter’s work he brought him over to NBC, where Carter developed a number of pilots. “Chris wrote a good script,” Tartikoff says, adding that, to a degree, he was victim of NBC’s success, since the network was riding high at the time and didn’t have a need for a family series. 

…Tartikoff left NBC to become chairman of Paramount Pictures and says he tried to bring Carter there, but it wasn’t to be. In recent years, the relationship has been mainly of a social nature, and as Tartikoff puts it, “He’s too busy to play softball now.” 

Still, Tartikoff wasn’t Carter’s only admirer. His writing also impressed Peter Roth, the president of Stephen J. Cannell Productions. …”I loved his feel for dialogue,” Roth remembers, shortly thereafter trying to bring Carter in as writer-producer on a CBS drama series called Palace Guard. 

That show was canceled, but Roth kept Carter in mind when he moved from Cannell to Twentieth Century Fox as president of TV production. In 1992, he took a chance by signing a few relatively unknown producers, among them Carter….

Despite his association with comedies and family-oriented Disney fare, Carter had been kicking around for years a darker concept stemming from his childhood love of programs like "The Twilight Zone", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", and, in particular, "The Night Stalker"…. 

Roth expressed some enthusiasm for that notion, indicating that vampires, which were at the heart of the original movie, might indeed be hot given that a big-screen incarnation of Interview with a Vampire was in the works at the time. Carter wasn’t interested in vampires per se, saying his vision had more to do with UFOs and, more broadly, the paranormal. 

…Various ideas were batted around, but Roth and Carter felt they were on the right track in trying to do a contemporary variation on "The Night Stalker". “It was just something that had been lying there sort of dormant since I was a kid,” Carter says…. 

In retrospect, Carter clearly sensed a void-- and thus a window of opportunity-- in the crowded primetime marketplace…. “You look at the TV schedule,” he told Roth as they munched on their entrees, “and there’s nothing scary on television.” 

…Carter didn’t remember many specifics about "The Night Stalker", other than how the show made him feel as a teenager. “I just knew that I couldn’t get enough,” he says. When he revisited the show he realized that it had a confiding premise: Carl Kolchak, an unlucky newspaper reporter, kept stumbling upon vampires, werewolves, and zombies. Starring as Kolchak was Darren McGavin, who Carter considered to play Mulder’s father in homage to the series, but schedules couldn’t be worked out.  

…The Oscar-winning movie The Silence of the Lambs had just been released, which helped spur the idea of using the FBI as a natural means of entry into this world of the paranormal. 

With some further modification and research, Carter had his foundation-- namely, that there must be somebody at the FBI investigating unexplained cases. The show, then, would focus on two FBI agents-- one a believer, the other a skeptic-- investigating cases involving paranormal phenomena. One of the main characters would be driven by personal experience, having witnessed the abduction of his younger sister, Samantha, when he was 12 years old. 

The cherry on top for Carter came when a friend who happened to be a research psychiatrist at Yale showed him a Roper Organization survey saying, essentially, that three percent of the U.S. population believes they’ve been abducted by aliens. Whether those results were valid or not, Carter felt he’d found a potential well-spring of interest in a topic getting short shrift elsewhere. “I thought, ‘This is too good to be true,’” he recalls. 

…Delving into his own skeptical nature, Carter also planted seeds for what was to become an integral part of the show….

CARTER’S FOCUS FOR THE SHOW

Though he was still a teenager at the time of the Watergate hearings, those events clearly left their mark on Carter, who admits that coverage of the scandal and President Richard Nixon’s subsequent resignation was “the most formative event of my youth.” Small wonder that he named a key character Deep Throat after the Watergate reporters’ shadowy source, and that he came up with lines like “Trust no one” (“My personal philosophy,” he says with a laugh), “I want to believe,” “Deny everything,” and “The truth is out there”-- the last in that series a double entendre, he suggests, nicely summing up the atmosphere he wanted the show to convey. Given his acumen for sloganeering, Carter muses, “I guess I’ve got a bit of the advertising man in me.” 

THE PITCHING PROCESS 

According to Greenblatt [Fox’s vice president of dramatic series development], those initial meetings in late summer and fall of 1992 were somewhat awkward because "The X-Files" concept was so difficult to pitch verbally. Roth also remembers Carter being somewhat uncomfortable during the pitching phase, network and studio executives second-guessed the elements within each show. “Chris and I mixed it up pretty good during that process,” Roth adds.

…”I pitched it once and they said, ‘No thank you,’” Carter recalls. “I pitched it again and they finally said, ‘Okay, we’ll buy it, leave us alone.’” 

…Carter didn’t quit there, becoming, as he puts it, “my own public-relations agency.” He created visual aids-- charts that looked like little TV screens-- as a means of selling Fox executives on the show. 

Certain frustrations nevertheless continued to dog Carter, among them questions as to just how “real” the show was going to be. Reality programming like "Cops", "Unsolved Mysteries", and "Rescue 911" was popular…. “Everyone thought this has got to be as real as possible,” Carter says. “No one could understand why someone would want to watch a show if it weren’t true.” 

…According to Greenblatt, the fact that the production company is also part of Fox probably helped the network make the decision to take a gamble with the show, even if there was still considerable doubt regarding its viability. “It’s easier to take a flier with your sister company,” he admits. 

CASTING CHALLENGES AND PRODUCTION HURDLES

…As is usually the case, various actors read for each part before the field was whittled down to a few contenders. The decision on Mulder came down to David Duchovny…. And one other actor. The alternative was “cooler, and a little more tortured” than Duchovny’s take on the character, says Carter. Though Fox officials maintain Duchovny pretty much walked away with the role thanks to his wry sense of humor, which came across in the audition and meeting, Carter says he had to steer them a bit toward his preferred choice. 

A more rigorous wrestling match ensued over Scully. …If some Fox officials were looking for the equivalent of Baywatch’s Pamela Anderson, however, Carter and Twentieth Television’s casting chief, Randy Stone, immediately locked in on Gillian Anderson…. 

“When she came into the room, I just knew she was Scully,” Carter says. “I just felt it…. She had an intensity about her: intensity always translates across the screen.” 

Anderson had her own misgivings about doing television but circumstances had softened her reluctance-- having found film work scarce and her bank account dwindling. The actress hoped a few weeks working on a television show might increase her profile, at least, when she next came calling for film roles. 

What Anderson didn’t fully realize was the battle taking place behind the scenes over casting her. Carter maintain that he “had to put my career on the line to put Gillian in the show,” still taking some delight in “proving the naysayers wrong.” 

“They didn't see the package,” Carter says. “There was one actress who did an okay job, but she wasn’t, in my mind, Dana Scully.” Finally, Carter recalls saying, “‘Look, this is the person I want. This is Dana Scully.’ And everybody looked at me and said, ‘Okay.’” 

Even so, there was still some head-shaking, and Carter clearly felt as if it were “me versus the world” in that room. Millions of dollars were at stake, and at this point the pilot was only days away from shooting….

Still, doubts about Anderson didn’t end with her casting. Even as footage started to come back from the pilot filming there was, Roth says, “tremendous negativity toward Gilliam” from some quarters-- questions as to whether the character was too cold, or if she was likable enough. Carter remembers hearing qualms about Anderson, in fact, even after the pilot was completed.  

Another point of contention involved the nature of the relationship between the leads. Carter insisted that they stay clearly platonic despite those urging him to establish more sexual chemistry. 

Filming began in March 1993, and the first scene… involved the sequence where Dana Scully first meets Fox Mulder…. The actors had only been able to rehearse at what’s called a table reading, not on the set, and Carter knew those first dailies… would be closely scrutinized-- in part because of the haggling that preceded Anderson’s casting, in part because the nature of the actors’ relationship would be central to whether the show itself would work. 

That first meeting, Carter says, was “all-important” to not just the show but to the future of the project….

The actors, however, had an immediate rapport (Anderson has joked that Duchovny has a pretty good rapport with most women…) despite difficult conditions. Duchovny, in fact, was taken with Anderson’s grit and determination as they filmed on scene in the face of freezing rain….

The two-week shoot completed, Fox received the pilot that spring just as dozens of other contenders streamed in hoping for a slot on the primetime lineup…. Postproduction, which includes adding music, sound effects and editing, wasn’t completed until early May….“Each step of the way,” Carter says, “until that day in May when the pilot was seen by Rupert Murdoch and the Fox brass, they really did not know what they had.” In fact, when the rough cut came in, someone at Fox who’d seen it told Roth simply, “Nice try.”  

…During the screening for Fox executives, [Greenblatt] recalls, “There was some nervous laughter in the room, and I though, ‘Oh, we’re dead.’” The conclusion, however, was met with applause-- a rare occurrence…. 

…Hands shot up immediately when he asked what everyone thought. People spoke over each other to get their opinion in, which was unusual in such sessions. 

…when Fox saw how the audience responded to "The X-Files", the network quickly increased promotion for the show, which lagged at the outset….

…Fox was equally pleased to discover "The X-Files" could play as more than just a one-note concept. “The first year we analyzed the show a lot,” says Greenblatt. “We didn’t want to become ‘The UFO Show.’” 

By the second season that issue [lack of closure], at least, had almost entirely subsided, as the network began to realize that the cryptic, spooky endings served as an integral part of the show’s appeal…. 

Carter did agree to come conciliatory modifications… and even he says some of those changes have been for the better. The idea of a Scully voice-over while typing up her field report notes, for example, was tacked on to the first regular episode, “Deep Throat,” to mollify Fox’s desire to provide resolution to the story-- “bringing closure,” as Carter puts it, “to a non-closed case.” While he resisted the idea initially, Scully’s narration “became a kind of a staple through the first season,” he says, “and I think it actually added to the show.” 

Carter also notes that the Cigarette-Smoking Man was a mysterious figure in the pilot and was supposed to remain that way. “I never anticipated that he would be speaking as much as he is,” the producer notes, “but I don’t care who you are, you can’t think that far ahead. The show takes on a life of its own, and you sort of have to be true to it and ride it into the sunset…” 

Indeed, any casual glance at the Nielsen standings provides a misleading appraisal of the show’s first-season performance. "The X-Files" finished the 1993-1994 season ranked 113 out of 132 primetime series broadcast in terms of the number of homes tuning in; however, that ignore the fact that she show aired Friday-- a night when fewer people in general, and younger viewers in particular, are apt to be home watching television…. 

CARTER LEARNS TO DOMESTICATE THE SHOW… ON HIS OWN TERMS

Another unplanned event in the show’s evolution involved Anderson’s real-life pregnancy, which came at a critical time in the show’s cycle and sent panic running through executive suites in regard to what it might mean for the series’s production schedule, particularly on such a two-character concept. “As an executive, if you weren’t concerned about that then you didn’t have a pulse,” Grushow laughs. “At the time, the real question was how do we turn a potential liability into first, a non-liability, and second, a possible asset.”

“I think we were all very upset,” says Roth, noting that various scenarios were tossed around-- down to having Scully give birth to an alien baby-- before settling on the story arc, told in the memorable episodes “Duane Barry,” “Ascension,” and “On Breath.” 

The actress herself feared that she might be dropped from the show, first confiding in Duchovny about her condition, then Carter. Whatever angry rhetoric might have greeted the news from executive suites, replacing her, apparently, was never seriously considered, though her pregnancy was kept secret from the crew and press for several months….

Ultimately, Anderson’s grit and dedication impressed everyone involved, with Roth calling her “a real trouper,” in the old-time show-business sense of the word, as she filmed up to and just six days after the birth of her daughter, Piper….

Again, Carter admits he didn’t initially intend to head down that path [Scully being abducted, resulting in emotional resonance between the lead characters.] “I think it actually forced us to make choices that helped the show,” he says. “It proved to us that people wanted shows about characters and their lives. 

���It was a way for me to do what I had resisted doing, which was to domesticate the show. I don’t want to know what Mulder does with his softball team. I don’t want to know what Scully does with her friends. It’s just of no interest to me.” Their breakup and reunion at the start of the second season, he says, provided “an interesting way to explore the characters that I hadn’t anticipated doing.” 

Fox immediately renewed the show for a second season….. Certain episodes actually drew bigger audiences for repeat airings than their first showing, and that snowball effect was evident in the second-season premiere: a 10/3 rating (which translates to more than 9.8 million households) and 19 percent of the audience, a 17 percent jump over the season finale. Still nervous about Anderson’s status, Fox breathed a sigh of relief, as "The X-Files" had clearly established its credentials as a bona fide hit. 

…To its credit, Fox’s patience allowed the program to reach that plateau, and Carter says he “never got a sense that there was any fear” about the show’s ratings, even at its Nielsen nadir…. “I always said that we would have to create an audience on Friday nights, not steal one, and that I think that’s what we have done,” Carter notes. 

CARTER’S PHILOSOPHY, AND GUARDING HIS VISION

Not surprisingly, the arduous trek that took "The X-Files" from his boyhood memories to the television screen has made Carter both protective of his vision and secure in his belief that he knows what’s best for it. Asked about maintaining the quality of the special effects, he says, “Part of the job-- and I’ve learned this in the process-- is never accepting ‘No’ for an answer. There will be a final ‘No’ if the answer is ‘No,’, but ‘No’ is always the first answer you get, and you’ve got to make sure that the final answer you get is ‘Yes.’ That’s really the way I proceed.” 

…”I was really the lone voice saying we cannot have these people romantically involved. There cannot be real TV sexual tension here or else the show won’t work. As soon as you have them looking googly-eyed at each other, they’re not going to want to go out and chase these aliens. The relationship will supplant or subvert what’s going to make the show great, which is the pursuit of these cases.” 

…Even so, Fox still harbored various creative concerns, not the least of them being the issue of closure, or how completely and neatly the episodes would be resolved. Carter remembers having a shouting match with a Fox programming executive who wanted the endings to be more explicit, helping the audience make sense of what happened. “There’s no sense to make!” Carter told him angrily. “You make the sense yourself.” 

…”I feel like Lewis and Clark: I know where I’m going, but I don’t know what the hills and valleys and streams that I have to cross are.” 

The producer has no qualms about letting his star [Duchovny] in on that [contributing] process. “He’s got good ideas for the show,” notes Carter. “Why not use them?” 

“Everything else I do past this is a big question mark to me,” he says thoughtfully. “I don’t know if it’ll be a hit or miss. It’s a business of failure mostly. While I’ve got this garden growing, I want to make sure that I tend it and that it represents my best efforts.” 

Carter, for his part, remains vigilant regarding over-exposure while still submerged in the series itself, spending about 12 days each month in Vancouver during production. Although some executive producers create a series and then segue in the second or this season to new projects, Carter has stated that he made a commitment to the actors to stay with the program as long as they do…. 

…“You can lay on really thick if you lay on a good scientific foundation,” notes Carter. “The show’s only as scary as it is believable. Everything has to take place within the realm of extreme possibility.” 

Carter himself takes pride in "The X-Files" never settling for routine, even as he tries to manage the equivalent of juggling and tap-dancing at the same time. As for his attention to even the smallest elements in each episode, Carter-- his desk awash in material from past and future episodes-- simply considers that a responsibility that comes with the territory. “If you don’t know what every frame is going to look like,” he says, “you’re not doing your job.” 

Carter’s role is not unlike the side-show act of spinning plates, a task that requires keeping an eye on various objects simultaneously, lest one of them spin out of control. “You’ve got five shows going at once,” he explains. “You’re writing a show, prepping a show, shooting a show, editing a show, and adding the sound and music to the show.” In fact, he adds, the show runner (a Hollywood term that applies to the main executive producer) really has to have his head in seven shows at the same time. 

Seven shows and at least two places, since Carter, the writing staff and selected crew members spend most of their time in Los Angeles while production takes place nearly 1300 miles away in Vancouver. The L.A. contingent includes a visual effects supervisor Mat Beck and postproduction whiz Paul Rabwin, who oversees the sound, editing, Mark Snow’s evocative music composition, and other measures required before raw footage can achieve broadcast quality.

A DAY-IN-THE-LIFE, ON THE SET: ULTIMATE FREEDOM

I decided to include this section to give a broader scope of CC "at work"-- another link in the chain of repeated compliments his friends, cast, crew, coworkers, and overhead gave him over the years.

…The Los Angeles office, housed in its own bungalow, is nicely appointed but relatively spare. 

The [Los Angeles] office itself is bustling this particularly morning, as writers move in and out--- occasionally invading the space of researcher/officer manager Mary Astadourian, where various drawers full of research material are kept. In there, the scribes will find literature on the paranormal, diseases, viruses, and various monsters, with folders that carry labels like “Roswell” or “Loch Ness.” 

…Part of the morning is devoted to the regularly scheduled writers’ meeting, with the entire staff… assembling to go over that week’s script, blocking out the teaser and all four acts….

The other writers question each nuance, throwing out suggestions to refine the story and make sure it’s clear…. Despite the need for exposition, Carter also stresses not letting the pace drag, wanting to spread action within the hour (or more precisely, 44 minutes or so minus commercials) allotted them. “Make sure you keep it hoppin’,” he says. 

…Eventually, it’s suggested they shift some action from the second act into the first in order to achieve the proper sense of pacing. The move requires some reconfiguration of other plot elements, but once those are blocked out the producer and other writers seem content. “That works for me,” says Carter, sending the show’s writer off to do another rewrite. 

Carter’s daily schedule, however, is just beginning. The writers’ session is followed by what’s known as a concept meeting-- a teleconference with the staff in Vancouver to grapple with various production issues before the begin filming a new episode…. 

Other issues involve the number of extras they can use….

Because money is always an issue, and time a luxury the crew usually doesn’t have, compromise and ingenuity remain key….

The producers also pride themselves on finding means of scavenging resources, then developing different ways to capitalize upon them. A prime case involves the crew getting access to a Canadian Navy destroyer that was then used in three different episodes, including “Dod Kalm”... and “End Game”.... “It’s fun,” Carter says, “to make something out of nothing.” 

Episodes must be plotted down to the most minute details-- in part because Carter is a perfectionist, and in part because the show is under a microscope now, with fans picking and nitpicking every conceivable aspect. Issues raised include what sort of garb Native Americans depicted should wear, with an emphasis on being as faithful as possible to tribal customs. (A Navajo group has complained because a character wore his hair down, something the elders in that tribe wouldn’t normally do, in the episode entitled “Anasazi.” Carter subsequently visited a Navajo reservation and attended one of their ceremonies.) 

From a more practical standpoint, the Vancouver team wants to know whether they can wardrobe the actors in blue jeans because some postproduction special effects shots use blue-screen, which essentially eliminates that color. 

The L.A. staffers are also assured that a shoot-out sequence will be top-notch, with bullet hits and ricochets plus a movie-style car explosion. Can it be done? “The answer’s yes… with disclaimers,” quips Beck good-naturedly adding, “One big disclaimer: How much money you got?” 

…The crew clearly takes enormous pride in the series, which presents them with such challenges on almost a daily basis and allows them to put their skills to the fullest possible use. Some freely admit, in fact, that they’ve been spoiled by their involvement with "The X-Files" and would have a hard time working elsewhere. “They’d have to drag me kicking and screaming off this show,” Gauthier says. 

The same goes for makeup special effects supervisor Toby Lindala…. Still, Lindala has proven up to most any task, with the Flukeman-- a costume his crew created in 10 days that had to weather water and other shooting ordeals-- still his proudest accomplishment. “That was probably the most insane undertaking for a time period,” says Lindala, who worked a 28-and 28-hour day during that stretch to get the suit ready in time. Even so, Lindala grew up watching monster movies and isn’t complaining, relishing the opportunities the show has provided to fool around with such projects. “I love making ‘em,” he says. 

Goodwin, a veteran producer who has worked on such series as "Life Goes On" and "Mancuso FBI", now tries to provide more lead time to prepare such major undertakings, but in most instances Lindala and his team (four people, including Lindala, work full time in that area) have just seven days’ notice to put a makeup effect together, and his services are needed in virtually every episode. 

…Careful planning remains the main hedge against both cost and time crunches, with Goodwin pointing out that in television time essentially translates directly into money. “The quicker you have to do it, the more it costs,” he says, adding that while some in the industry are tempted to cut corners, “My motto is, ‘Quality, whether they want it or not.’” 

…Kim Manners, also one of the show’s pool of directors, lauds Carter for treating each installment like a mini-movie. The process gives the individual directors-- who in episodic television, which is dominated by executive producers, are often viewed as transient guns for hire-- the opportunity to truly ply their trade. “He insists that you go out and be a filmmaker,” Manners says. “He doesn’t want you just go out and be a traffic cop.” Because of that freedom, he adds, the show is “the zenith of my career.” 

…Unlike most television shows that shoot on location, on "The X-Files" whoever scripted that particular episode goes to Vancouver to scout out locations and do other preparatory work. “To make sure,” as story editor Frank Spotnitz puts it, “everything is in sync with what the writer had in mind,” from casting to production design. In the cryptic vernacular of the show, the process stems from commitment to “purity control.” 

…For the episode in question, that means co-executive producer Howard Gordon, the only member of the writing staff other than creator Chris Carter who has been with the show virtually since the beginning, has made the sojourn to Vancouver. “As a writer, you don’t get that experience on any other show,” says Gordon. 

…Other matters have also arisen, some remarkable in their degree of minutia. Gordon’s script for the episode being prepared, for example, contains a seemingly innocuous reference to being “in the mood for some Quarter Pounders,” and Fox’s legal department wants them to clear the wording with McDonald’s…. “That’s a great line,” says an only slightly exasperated Manners…. Hours later, it’s decided to change to a more generic term rather than hassle the legal issue. 

…A later shot involves disposing of the [dead] cow, and Gordon-- a city kid from New York-- has actually researched the matter…. …But in light of McDonald’s headache, Carter has another suggestion. “How ‘bout if we just have a truck with golden arches on the side?” he jokes, spurring laughs from everyone in the room. 

…The attention to detail, again, proves remarkable, driven by Carter’s commitment to perfection. 

The entire process involved in shooting an episode of "The X-Files", from the first day of preparation to the last day of postproduction, usually takes six to eight weeks, with the seven days of preparation key to ensuring that the eight days of production that follow go smoothly-- though even the enormous effort that goes into planning can never account for every detail that can delay filming and raise blood pressure rates all around. In the middle of the season, as time grows shorter, there’s occasionally been as little as five weeks from prep to air. 

Just two days before shooting is to begin, Manners, Gordon, Carter, and co-executive producer R.W. Goodwin cram into a small audition room, where they’re scheduled to see more than 20 actors in just over an hour….

Manners, Gordon, and about 15 crew members, including special effects ace Dave Gauthier, production designer Graeme Murray, and others from various departments, later embark on a technical survey. They pile into an air-conditioned bus to scout out all the locations that will be involved in the upcoming shoot, usually a six-to-eight hour pilgrimage. “And this is the easy part,” laughs set decorator Shirley Inget. 

Carter follows the group to the door but has too much work at the office to come along. “I’m gonna miss this one, you guys,” he tells them, which is met with a collective “Aw” from the bus. 

…The bunch straggles back to the studio around 7:30 P.M., almost eight hours after their departure. On a near-by soundstage, meanwhile, Bowman is directing stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, trying to keep the level of enthusiasm up with another long night of work to do. Shooting is frequently a tedious process, with long lapses between the action as shots are set up. The two stars carry out an emotional scene in front of an elevator that isn’t really an elevator, with a crew member behind the soundstage wall sliding a wooden door closed to approximate the effect. “I love it!” Bowman proclaims as the scene ends, watching the shot through a monitor and lauding his star as “One-take Duchovny.” 

Outside, Anderson’s baby, Piper… plays with various staff members as well as her father, assistant art director Clyde Klotz, who’s just returned from the technical survey. Piper shows off her mother’s piercing eyes and frolics later with Duchovny’s dog, Blue (his constant companion on the set), both seemingly fascinated with and a bit perplexed by the other. "The X-Files" is, indeed, a family affair, underscored when Goodwin brings his 10-year-old son and a friend into the production office the next morning, the latter collecting autographs from everyone on that week’s script. 

A short time later Duchovny and Anderson arrive, enjoying a few quiet moments while Piper plays nearby in a small red tub, watched carefully by her nanny. …Though he isn’t shooting that day, actor Mitch Pileggi (who seems to create quite a stir among the female office staff) also pops by to look over dailies, or raw footage, of a fight sequence featuring him shot earlier in the week.  

…Bowman has to deal with five actors (Anderson, Duchovny, and Gunmen Dean Haglund, Bruce Harwood, and Braidwood) in a relatively confined space, so the staging will be critical. After Bowman aligns them one way, Duchovny suggests an alternative in handling the shot, and various configurations are tried. As they begin rehearsing, everyone still seems a bit punchy, and the mood is light. Haglund keeps wanting to call a Nazi scientist “Kempler” instead of “Klemper”, and Duchovny has a hard time not laughing each time Braidwood (who comes up roughly to the actor’s chin) approaches him, with Frohike supposed to act relieved to see Mulder alive after the events that closed the second season. “Did you ever see the Star Trek where Spock thought that Kirk died?” Duchovny tells him with his trademark deadpan delivery. ‘That’s what you want to be doing.” 

Production ultimately won’t conclude until near 2 A.M. that morning…. 

FINAL THOUGHTS AND ANALYSIS

A few key points stand out.

Chris Carter miraculously won the trust of Fox, and maintained that trust (and an ability to be creatively liberated, by and large) until Season 8 (upper-left corner of the screenshot here.)

Carter has a perfectionistic, remembers-every-detail brain: he was, in essence, the show bible. ...Unfortunately, his memory (like anyone's) is faulty; and that began the slow, gradual collision that marked later mytharc entries.

Chris was at his best when he was hyper-focused on and passionate for the show. As Brian Lowry notes, Although some executive producers create a series and then segue in the second or this season to new projects, Carter has stated that he made a commitment to the actors to stay with the program as long as they do…. The problem became: his aspirations towards a movie franchise turned his focus away from "The X-Files"; and that, along with compounding projects (i.e. Millennium and The Lone Gunmen), further scattered his attention. By the time Season 7 rolled around, there was no mytharc, no movie franchise, and no other successful venture that was equaling the show's former height.

CC learned that 'No' is not the concluding answer in show business. Like Lowry wrote earlier: Not surprisingly, the arduous trek... has made Carter both protective of his vision and secure in his belief that he knows what’s best for it. Asked about maintaining the quality... he says, “Part of the job-- and I’ve learned this in the process-- is never accepting ‘No’ for an answer. There will be a final ‘No’ if the answer is ‘No,’, but ‘No’ is always the first answer you get, and you’ve got to make sure that the final answer you get is ‘Yes.’ That’s really the way I proceed.” To Carter, the initial 'No' often proves to be a first, but not final, hurdle (which explains his self-righteous anger at Gillian Anderson post Revival.)

Chris Carter had an idea where the show was going-- the feeling he wanted it to evoke, the journey he wanted to take himself and others on-- but not the important markings along the way. Mulder and Scully were created to have unspoken chemistry (we'll get to that), Scully was coded to have a maternal interest (we'll get to that), and Mulder and Scully's final coming together (a kiss) was planned for the last scene of the series.

CC planned MSR from the beginning (post here) but on his OWN terms.

Chris thought that character exploration was "domestication"-- that exploring Mulder's life outside of work or Scully's friends or motherhood aspirations in any depth would distract from the show. Why?

Carter always envisioned Scully as someone who wants children (noting in the Pilot's script The hour closes with Mulder calling Scully after the evidence relating to their case has disappeared, saying he’ll see her the next day. As the description in Carter’s original script eloquently puts it, “...there’s no doubt from the unsettled tone in her voice that it is much more than work. It will become the defining event of her life. Nothing that comes now-- religion, motherhood, anything-- will not pass through the filter of this experience"; and bringing back her interest in "a normal life" and families and dogs repeatedly throughout the show, i.e. [The Jersey Devil] subplot shows Scully trying to balance having some semblance of a personal life against the dedication (bordering on obsession) that Mulder has toward his work. She meets with a married friend, Ellen, who has a child and asks her if Mulder is someone with whom Scully might get romantically involved. Though she does go on a date, Scully opts to pursue cases with Mulder instead of that path. The purpose of those scenes, Carter says, was “to show the life she’s passing on. I just wanted to open up Scully a little bit for the audience.”)

However, he envisioned that "domestication" in the same realm as her and Mulder's romance: a hypothetical, post-series conclusion-- the happy ending as both leads ride away from the files and into the sunset. "The X-Files", to him, does not coincide with "domestication"-- therefore, Mulder and Scully must be free of it in order to have their happy ending.

However, again: CC is easily distracted.

These are my four key takeaways:

Chris Carter consciously linked Mulder and Scully as a couple from the start-- giving him a transitional goal (finding his sister) and her an end goal (settling down and enjoying a "normal" life) for their journey. He tied up the possibility of a relationship and the conclusion of their hopes in the files-- which were to take precedent over the accomplishment of each character's aspirations-- and used "the work" as the vehicle (and sole focus) to "reach" those "happy endings". In effect, the show is wired around "the truth" because it is the ultimate tease: we are teased about Mulder and Scully's relationship, we are teased about Samantha's return, we are teased about Scully's hopes to be a mother, and we are teased about a resolved mytharc and final ending.

Chris Carter is easily distracted from his own vision. He'll try anything once, then backtrack to his original "vibe". He remembers how he felt, as a boy, watching "The Night Stalker", but not the details of how bad the plot sometimes was. He remembers that Mulder and Scully became partners in the rain, that Mulder lost a sister, that Scully was abducted and returned; but not that Samantha's abduction story changed, not that you can't give Scully a daughter on a show that eschews domestication, and not that Mulder and Scully can't kiss until the last episode of his show (especially when his crew tempts him to have a big, grand, once-in-a-century kiss on-screen.) He then projects that distraction onto others, and scolds those others for bringing up abandoned plot threads and character arc trails.

Chris Carter doesn't believe in anyone-- he quite literally trusts no one-- not their praise, and not their "no". So many times in Hollywood, 'No' is the default until backs are scratched and concessions made; and when Gillian Anderson said "No" after Season 10, then changed her mind and did Season 11, he saw that as just another stepping stone to a "Yes" after Season 11. She had, many times, changed her mind in the past-- signing on for Season 9 after his wheedling, for example-- and he (assumed (wrongfully) that this would be exactly like other "No"s. When GA publicly flamed his finale episode, that shocked, angered, and mortified him, because--

Chris Carter is chronically afraid of failure. As he says: “Everything else I do past this is a big question mark to me. I don’t know if it’ll be a hit or miss. It’s a business of failure mostly. While I’ve got this garden growing, I want to make sure that I tend it and that it represents my best efforts." When that garden begins to fall apart (due to neglect), he panics, and rushes back to rehydrate, prune, and fertilize it. When it wilts and dies, he blames other sources-- Fox (who gave him unlimited creative freedom, within reasonable limits), the fans (who "didn't understand" his vision), and Gillian Anderson (who publicly pronounced My Struggle IV as a failure.) Anyone who forces him to face reality-- boiled down: the reality of his failures-- causes Chris to protectively lash out, blame others, and shift goal posts to distract himself from facing that fear.

CONCLUSION

It's hard to dislike the guy when you read about his sacrifices, easy nature, and complete dedication. But that history and those qualities and my charitability are, unfortunately, then consumed by Chris's most recent escapades-- a shame, that his past isn't his lasting legacy.

Still, one question remains: at what point, exactly, did CC lose interest in The X-Files?

Final note: this took an absurdly long time to type (and there are more parts still coming), so future installments won't be as... extensive. But it was important to lay the foundation, here; and so, it's been done.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[aithusarosekiller]

Extremely Toxic Canon-adjacent Jegulus 🙏 bc realistically they'd be catastrophic and we need more of it

(this is not a relationship guide, if you relate pls call the police or a hotline thank you and have a nice day)

They're together for ages but they probably shouldn't be because they're always trying to one up each other on things. Three years in they're still fighting like cats all the time. 'Your dad is sick? Who fucking cares, I hexed a kid yesterday to make sure my friends think I'm a worthy member of the team then denied it to the boy's face.'

Nobody knows about them and they use it against each other. They'd probably use each other's sexuality against each other too tbf, they're pretty nasty, have you seen the way James treats people he doesn't like? They truly match each other's evil. The mental torment and constant 'is he actually gonna tell anyone?' Is kinda thrilling to them, it keeps it all alive and dynamic

The hate part has nothing to do with morals either, it's just because they're petty and aggressive and selfish. They're possessive over each other but also can't stand each other. Truly 'if I can't have you nobody can- so I'm keeping you locked to my side constantly '

If they're playing a match against each other they try twice as hard to win and most people think it's just the two teams having a house rivalry

They don't take part in too much physical affection but they do spit out an aggressive 'I love you' 'I love you too' every so often, usually after a petty argument as they're leaving to get to wherever they need to be

The only nice things they do for each other are gifts. Because they don't have to interact to give them. On birthdays or Christmas they never act differently around each other but they'll arrange for a gift to arrive at breakfast or on the end of their bed overnight and it'll be the most beautiful, thoughtful gift that shows their soul-deep love and understanding for each other....and then they NEVER. EVER. Talk about it.

They fight academically too. Not just for grades but also in any sort of intellectual hobby. They'll give a book to the other to read just so they can have a petty fight over who has the most intelligent interpretation.

In a no-war world they ofc go on to get married (assuming wizards make it legal sooner) and everyone is expecting a total disaster of fighting and disorganisation and things going off track at the altar due to bickering but it's the sweetest, most beautiful ceremony ever. The speeches and a bit of the vows are mean ofc but they're smiling and melting through it all

[multiverseworm]

Why I think Tim Drake finds himself identified with the plot of The Breakfast Club.

(This is a follow up on my previous post about the Batfamily Letterboxd reviews)

I do believe Tim would not only find the film to be boring at first when Steph suggests that the family should watch it during their famous family nights, but he would also find himself unable to accept the emotional wreckage he would just have experienced after finishing it.

Let me explain.

It could be argued that the Batfamily dynamics, most specifically, the siblings ones could be represented by the characters in the movie, as well as their personalities and experiences.

However, I would like to take this a step further and say that each member of The Breakfast Club, the struggles, masks, and both personal and interpersonal relationships represent a stage of what Tim has got to go through in his life. Let’s go through each:

• Claire Standish (The Princess):

Claire comes from a wealthy family and is part of the popular crowd. She is used to being admired but also feels isolated because of the pressures that come with her social status. Underneath, she is insecure and deeply unhappy. She also feels like she is only valued for her looks and status.

Stage> Tim’s pre-Robin life.

Tim came from a wealthy family, but he wasn’t spoiled or arrogant. His parents were often away on business, which left him feeling emotionally neglected. He had money, but not much real connection with others. Making him feel unhappy and unfulfilled.

• Allison Reynolds (The Basket Case):

Allison is an outsider who has no real friends and is used to being ignored. She suffers from extreme loneliness and neglect since her parents completely ignore her. She has no sense of identity and feels invisible. She doesn’t actually have a reason to be in detention, she just showed up because she had nothing better to do. Throughout the movie, Allison opens up to the others and shows a more vulnerable side. Claire gives her a makeover, which symbolizes her desire to be noticed.

Stage> Tim decides to be Robin.

Tim had always been a very intelligent and observant child, regardless of his lack of interaction with others, he could study them quite well. When this trait helps him find who Batman and Nightwing are, and uses that same skill to find them and make himself heard despite this being something he is not used to doing. The mantle of Robin becomes his makeover.

• Brian Johnson (The Brain):

Brian is a top student, likely in advanced classes. He’s an overachiever who is socially awkward and desperate for approval. He wants to fit in but doesn’t know how. His self-worth is entirely tied to his grades and academic success. His parents pressure him to be perfect, and he feels like a failure when he falls short. He was given detention for bringing a flare gun to school after failing shop class, his first real academic failure. This hints at unaliving thoughts, as he implies he considered using the gun on himself. Over the course of the movie, Brian opens up about the intense pressure he faces.

Stage> Tim faces the pressure of being Robin after Jason.

Tim quickly realized the importance and heaviness of the mantle he had been passed down. All of this, mixed with the constant struggle of having to pull Bruce out of the shadows that grief was causing on him, made him feel the need of having to live up to the image of someone he knew the bat had chosen himself. This led him to have an immense lack of self confidence, now needing to prove to Bruce, Dick, and everyone else involved that he was not Jason, nor he wanted to be. He wanted to be better, but into the eyes of a grieving man, he always fell short.

• Andrew Clark (The Athlete):

Andrew’s father pushes him to be the best, and he feels obligated to live up to that expectation. He is confident and friendly but deeply insecure. His biggest fear is disappointing his father, who only values him for his athletic success. Throughout the movie, Andrew realizes that his self-worth shouldn’t come from his father’s approval.

Stage> Being valued for who he is by Batman.

By this point, Tim had faced many challenges as both himself and as Robin. He was not accepted as Robin at first by Bruce, but eventually, he earned his trust with determination and skills. Batman had to push him, in ways that were completely different from the previous Robins. The detective potential, the strategic nature, the methodical approach. Tim was a natural that Bruce was ultimately proud had found his way to him. And Tim learned not to depend on whatever he was similar or not with the past people who’ve had held the mantle before.

• John Bender (The Criminal):

Sarcastic, rebellious, and aggressive on the outside, but vulnerable and deeply hurt underneath. He uses his tough-guy persona as a shield to protect himself.

He hates authority figures because they remind him of his father. He believes he is destined to fail, as he has never been given a chance to succeed. Over the course of the movie, Bender goes from being hostile and defensive to showing his vulnerability. He shares a heartbreaking story about his father burning him with a cigar, which helps the others understand why he acts the way he does. At the end, as he walks across the football field and raises his fist in the air, it symbolizes his defiance but also his newfound sense of hope.

Stage> Red-Robin era, post-Bruce’s alleged death.

After Bruce was presumed dead and Dick had to assume the mantle of Batman for a while, it began one of the most difficult times for Tim. He not only was disregarded by his own family when he firmly believed that Bruce was still alive, but he was left with a sense of betrayal once Dick decided to take Damian Wayne under his wing as his Robin, removing a mantle he had earned through sweat and tears. He rebelled and went solo, beating people to near death in hopes of finding the truth about what he believed has been a lie, and that Bruce would be found.

Tim doesn’t stay in that dark state of mind permanently, but he struggles with it on and off depending on the circumstances. And just like Bender, once he has been able to let himself show vulnerability despite his family’s troubled relationship, he finds himself receiving support from a new found family in the teams he’s led: Young Justice and the Teen Titans.

[chaifootsteps]

Hello, Chai! A few weeks ago, I mentioned coming into your inbox to ask you several questions about your allegations and just getting your side of the story. I will be honest, when I read the call out(s) about you.

I overall thought “yeah, I don’t blame anyone for being uncomfortable regarding your interests.” I personally don’t think you are a zoophile especially with looking at your art and your likes.

1. Are you a proshipper (many think you are that’s why I’m asking)?

2. When I searched your name on Tumblr, I noticed a few people being disgusted and weirded out you found Valentino attractive and liked ValAngel, using it as a “gotcha moment” against you and I think that’s dumb. I personally don’t ship it but I do find the ship interesting. I never cared if adults shipped Valentino/Angel Dust.

3. Thoughts on this? Is this No NSFW outdated for the Dutch angel dragon community? If you have screenshots I would love to see them.

4. Thoughts on this?

5. Thoughts on this?

6. Anonymous user accused you of being creepy towards other critics and talking about non pro shipper’s abrasively. In my comment section you mentioned criticizing pro-shippers, do you have any screenshots of that.

7. Context behind this? The user who made this post mentioned you apologized to them.

(I’ll come back cuz with more stuff).

I don't blame anyone for being uncomfortable with my interests either! You like what you like and you don't like what you don't like, and I'm a die hard monsterfucker and horror aficionado with a very firm policy on fiction vs. reality. If that's not to anyone's comfort level, no hard feelings.

That said!

1. I don't call myself a proshipper anymore because proshipper means wildly different things to different people and I was tired of fighting for a term instead of the concept that people should be allowed to explore things they wouldn't be okay with in real life in the safety of their imaginations. That being the case, I've got people who call themselves antis in my audience and in my server. My blog's open to anyone and everyone who wants to be here and talk about these things.

2. Of course I used to like Valentino and ValAngel, it was a fascinating ship and some of the fandubs for Valentino were hot as hell! Shipping something doesn't necessarily mean I want them to be together forever, just that I found their dynamic worth exploring.

It used to be that everyone was unanimous in their agreement that Val was the scum of the earth, and ever since that's changed and the fandom has started blaming Angel for "being ungrateful," I've fallen out of love with them, but my problem still isn't with anyone who likes ValAngel -- it's with the way Viv herself treats the ship and the way she Trojan Horsed it into the show and belittled survivors who were uncomfortable.

3. This one's especially funny because I guarantee you the Viv standom, who never heard of Dutch Angel Dragons before they learned about mine, care more about this than the actual mods do. NSFW Dutches actually are disallowed, and it will get you banned from Dutch spaces, but that's all. My little group has actually talked to Ino herself about it; one of the rules of my Dutch Rebel server is that you're allowed to do whatever you like with your own character, but absolutely no NSFW of OCs whose owners have said they're not comfortable with that.

As for "they all have the intelligence of children!" that's ridiculous. The mods themselves have Dutches who curse, wield guns, and like Satellite, grapple with their war trauma. This differs from character to character depending on preference, and Satellite's a fully grown adult with the mind of a grown adult.

4. This one's a patented DJ Blitz Crazy Take! It's a South Park reference.

5. I maintain that "drawn CP" shouldn't be a term because CP is a real, absolutely reprehensible crime, which is why the word has such a gutpunch visceral effect. I think it's absolutely crucial that it keep that gutpunch effect; alarm fatigue is a real and extremely dangerous thing. Drawings of say, Gravity Falls characters, whatever your stance on that, are their own thing and we need to talk about them as their own thing.

6. Sure do! I know I've talked quite about about how the Twitter proship community is a completely different animal, and absolutely batshit insane. People were coming over with horror stories and because I'm mostly on tumblr, I had no idea.

I've also called out people for shipping ships I actually like in ways that I consider dangerous. One notable example is some rando who defended a ship by saying "14 is on the cusp of womanhood" and yeah, someone check that guy's hard drive, please.

7. Yeah, anyone claiming Andre and Stella's dynamic (read: making repeated sexual comments to your sibling, unwanted touching) is normal sibling banter raises ten kinds of alarm bells, but it wasn't my intention to genuinely freak this person out and I actually did apologize in private.

If you've got any more questions, feel free to send them and I'd be happy to answer!

[callmebeav]

Mouthwashing x Scrubs AU

I've already posted this on TikTok, but I wanted to share it here as well. A few days ago, I had an epiphany, so, if there are any Mouthwashing and Scrubs fans out there, please I need y'all to hear me out on this AU.

I want to preface by saying that this AU is meant to be specifically for Anya, to fit her dream to become a doctor. I wanted more than anything to make an AU where she's happy and has a normal life.

Since it's a Scrubs AU, it's also meant to be more comedic and light-hearted than the og game. So, for the sake of my sanity, I had to put aside the angst and the most gut wretching side of MW, but please follow me.

🌘ANYA🌔

Starting with Anya, she would be the focus and "main character" of this AU. As JD in the TV series, she's a medical intern, and later resident, with her everyday struggles as she navigates the hardship of her job as a doctor and finding her place.

Her personality is kinda the same as we see her before the crash: she's kind, intelligent, self assured, determined and passionate about her job. She can get quite competitive at times, especially during board game nights. I wanted to add some of JD traits, like his daydreams and a bit of social awkwardness.

In this AU, Anya has her own group of friends, which would consist in mostly ocs that I didn't think about yet (this is still a work in progress). But she would have her own Turk, Carla and Elliot. And yes, in this AU Anya is a lesbian.

Anya also have her own version of Dr. Cox as a mentor as well. I thought it would be interesting to see her navigating that kind of rocky dynamic.

🪓SWANSEA🪓

Next is Swansea. I thought he could be a senior medical technician, with a lot of years of experience in his job and all the knowledge (and tiredness) that comes with it. His years on the medical field made him grumpy, cynic, abrasive and rude, often complaining about the interns who work under him.

Despite his tough exterior, he still cares a lot about his job, and enough for him to keep taking interns under him and teaching them (one of this intern would be Daisuke, who would be introduced later in the story). I imagined him to have some similarities with Dr. Cox as well.

🌸DAISUKE🌸

Continuing with Daisuke, he'll be an intern, specializing as a medical technician under Swansea's supervision. He's introduced later in the story, when Anya has already been a resident physician for a couple of years, since he's a few years younger than her.

As both Anya and Swansea, Daisuke would maintain his personality from the game. He's optimistic, sociable, easy going, enthusiastic, but still rather naive and inexperienced, resulting in him being a bit clumsy at times. He seeks the approval of his superior.

Despite him trying to maintain a peppy exterior, he's still insecure about his future, as he struggles to find his way into adulthood. Since his family pressured him to choose the medical career, he's still not sure if that is actually what he wants to do in his life.

🪓SWANSEA AND DAISUKE DYNAMIC🌸

I've pictured their dynamic to be similar to the one between JD and Dr. Cox. Swansea is initially really annoyed by Daisuke naivety and cheerfulness, treating him rather rudely, but then he finally sees his actual potential and starts to mentor him (in his own Swansea way).

On the other hand, Daisuke sees a mentor figure in Swansea and seeks his approval, working hard and trying to improve himself despite his clumsiness and inexperience.

🌘ANYA AND DAISUKE DYNAMIC🌸

Since Anya is already a few years ahead of Daisuke, he sees her as a successful doctor, and looks up to her, asking her for advice.

On the other hand, Anya sees herself in Daisuke's struggles, especially since they both have to deal with reluctant and abrasive mentors.

🌔ANYA AND SWANSEA DYNAMIC🪓

Anya had a rough relationship with Swansea when she began to work as an intern, since he was rather abrasive with her (as he is with mostly everyone). At one point, they had a few heated disagreements, but they eventually ended up being on good terms, as they mutually respect each other.

💊CURLY AND JIMMY DYNAMIC🔪

Now, coming to Curly and Jimmy, I initially thought about making them both surgeons, with Curly being a highly regarded and praised one, and Jimmy living in his shadow, being his friend and rival, consumed by bitterness and envy.

But I still wanted to make Jimmy kinda incompetent, so I thought it wouldn't work that well.

So I opted to make them paramedics. In this way, I maintained the driving/piloting aspects (them driving an ambulance), and the idea of them having to work together and to rely on each other a lot.

Their relationship would still be similar to the one in game, with them being friends and Curly covering up for Jimmy, beside him being an awful person. While their dynamic would be more comedic, I don't want to water it down too much.

🔪JIMMY🔪

Jimmy is still a spiteful and envious person, prone to anger and acting impulsively. He's not reliable, and Curly often cover for his mistakes on the job.

Jimmy comes from a difficult past and wants to have some control over his life, but always ends with self sabotaging himself, continuing the same cycle.

He's envious of Curly's position, and wants to have the same recognition by his colleagues, but he refuses to actually improve himself. When he makes mistakes (either for lack of care or for his own incompetence), he blames others for his own faults, not taking responsibility.

It's important to note that there won't be any SA in this AU, mostly because I want it to be chill and funny, and I want Anya to be happy.

But despite the fact that Jimmy's character would be a bit more comedic for AU's themes sake, he would still be an awful person.

💊CURLY💊

Curly is an highly regarded and praised paramedic, having studied hard to get where he is, and with a lot of years of honorable work and experience. He's a high achiever and ambitious, but he's grown disconted with his job, as he wonders if that's all he'll ever be.

He's a people pleaser at heart, wanting to see the best in everyone and ignoring incovenient details, focusing instead on the bigger picture. He wants everything to go smoothly and without any conflict, and that's why he usually covers up for Jimmy's mistakes.

He's supportive and caring, trying to be the responsible one, but he can also be way too lenient with Jimmy, as he wants to help him.

OVERALL GROUP DYNAMIC

Despite not working as closely as in the game, the main cast will still know each other, since they're working in the same hospital. Though, there are a few dynamics that I haven't thought out fully yet.

IN CONCLUSION

So, for now this is all I've come up with. I didn't do a lot of research on medical jobs and environment, this is all kinda rushed. I still didn't dive too deep into the plot, the characters and their developments either. But I had fun writing this, and I wanted to share my thoughts.

I want to make it clear that this AU is mostly for fun and a bit of coping, and it was essentially created for Anya to have a chance to actually do the job she dreamt to do.

[whirlingstarz]

OK SO: ahem

• Shadow and Stone would so obsess over Motorbikes together while Robotnik is ranting about how much he hates motorbikes and how dangerous they are (he’s so not worried, why would he be?? It’s just Stone and a stupid hedgehog) (he’s so worried) I feel like Stone would try to ease his worries while Shadow would just be like “yeah that’s why I like them?”

• Stone would so make little family portraits with latte art, it would start normal then he’d go wackier and wackier with the poses (yk those hilariously bad family photos?? Like those) Shadow would definitely hate it at first but it would grow on him (not that he’d let that show) and Robotnik would give suggestions for the next ones, it gets to the point where they are printing out pictures and hanging them on the walls

• There would be weekly movie nights on Thursdays (why Thursday’s? Friday is overrated) it would be touchy for Shadow because of his movie days with Maria and there would be a lot of deep conversations about that (with Stone ofc, Rob would not handle that well) and it turning into more of a NEW thing not a replacement or different version of what he had with Maria (I love found family GAWD) they would take turns on who chose what they watched (before Stone set the rule every movie night was practically a bloodbath) there still would be small arguments (mainly between Shadow and Rob) about the turn system but overall they respected it.

• Shadow would be embarrassed by them for sure kinda like a kid seen with his totally embarrassing parents (very awesome parents that he loves)

• Stone would be the ‘strict’ parent, Robotnik would be the ‘fun’ one (but it depends on the situation ofc, I mean staying up til 3am explaining the specifics of coffee making is definitely acceptable and necessary)

• If Stobotnik wasn’t together by then Shadow would so ship them so hard but also be so confused like “wait they aren’t married??” (He thought they were, he was 100% sure)

• Shadow and Robotnik’s dynamic is so hard to pin point tbh) cause they would definitely bond emotionally but on the surface they’d pretend they didn’t care about each other bc they think they don’t bc they’re both emotionally REPRESSED (it drives Stone INSANE)

• Robotnik would definitely make sure Shadow knows Quantum Psychics bc no kid of Doctor Ivo Robotnik (adopted or not) would NOT know Quantum Psychics?? (It’s so easy it’s basic level! Right?)

• Despite the family’s appearance (A bald, evil, mad scientist, a normal guy??, and a “WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT” (anthropomorphic emo hedgehog)) any town they lived in would adore them for sure. Stone would do odd jobs around the town and everyone would love him, Robotnik would just kinda exist (but hey he’s the nice man that saved the world! So nice of him), and Shadow would be the idol of any kid in town and would be considered the coolest being in the universe

• I have a few AUs for them. I mean ofc we have:

• Shadow saving Robotnik and they find Stone and the shenanigans from there, kinda becoming a little weird villain family

• Stone and Shadow stick together after the events of S3 then Robotnik shows up (how did he survive? Idk? Bro is Robotnik, he just does, don’t question it)

These HCs can be in any of em tho

(These are my main ones since they stick to canon)

ANYWAYS I HAVE MORE BUT I FIGURED I’D START OUT SMALL *grins and blinks*

I have so many hcs for Shadow with Stone/Robotnik being his adoptive dads....

[wewerebornsextuplets]

for no good reason i fought for my fucking LIFE on this oh my god. oh my god dude. but its DONE

also while we're here i'm gonna clarify something about choro and keiko's dynamic under the cut since theres a LOT more to their connections but i was unable to fit it on the chart

SO. keiko and choro actually have like, insane online beef with one another; both are fans of a lot of the same series, but have wildly differing opinions on the contents of them [whether it be characters, ships, etc.] and butt heads a lot on social media over this. they havent blocked each other yet, because they really like arguing with one another and making each other mad. and on choro's side of things, he actually really enjoys keiko's artwork [since she DOES draw doujins in her spare time]

the caveat here? neither one of them knows that they know each other in real life, purely by circumstance. keiko doesnt really like to talk about her hobbies much to people she knows IRL, and she hasn't really gotten a chance to speak to choromatsu in person one-on-one, so they just know that they both like the same genres of anime and manga. its a bubble just WAITING to pop

[pagesofkenna]

it's basically the same explanation as in the manga, but the anime has made it easier for me to understand what Kabru's beef is with the Touden siblings, and I think that explanation was really well done

[loopdile]

transcription under the cut!

The worst ship chart ever.

Ship name: Loopdile

[insert very tiny math] Ages: 43 and 31? Age difference: 8?

Portrait of Odile with an eyebrow raised saying "I'm not telling." Name: Odile. Gender: trans woman (maybe nb but idrc rn). Sexuality: Aro lesbian.

Portrait of Loop with a finger raised saying "I'm not telling~" Name: Loop. Gender: Nonbinary (??? what is identity). Sexuality: Ace bi

General sliders. "Relationship starts quickly vs the slowest burn you can possibly imagine" is marked fairly close to slowly and trails off towards slow burn. "They'll be together forever vs They'll break up after 2 months tops" has two marks, one at 2 months and one really close to forever. "Cute couple vs dear god they're ugly" is marked a quarter slider away from cute. "Reasonably healthy and normal relationship vs They're dying and getting killed and hurt man" has a wide mark all the way from the halfway point to a quarter away from healthy. "Extremely popular ship vs literally no one ships this but me" is marked fairly close to no one.

Specific sliders. "Giddy and happy to be in love vs they just killed themselves 40 times in their head at the idea of being in love" has loop at died and odile fairly close to died. "The madoka vs the homura" has loop at homura and odile a third of the slider away. "Telling anyone who will listen about their partner vs rarely brings up that they're in a relationship" has loop a quarter away from telling anyone and odile fairly close to rarely. "eats and/or encourages a healthy diet vs eats dry instant noodles only" has loop at noodles and odile a third away from healthy. "crazy ass vs truck freak" has loop at crazy ass and odile fairly close to truck freak.

Tell me why your ship is interesting... go!

What draws them together? Odile is the only motherfucker that can handle them; Loop is weird and intriguing.

What stands in the way? Poor communication skills; Loop is clingy but Odile often needs space; Loop lashes out and self-isolates.

What are their good traits? They're both hilarious and dedicated to the bit; they're both devoted to their loved ones.

What makes them hopeless at romance? Odile is aro-spec and uninterested in romance; Loop both hates/fears and craves romance; Luckily they can just be something stranger!

Describe them with one trope: found family, deadpan x emotional, secret third thing, I'll protect you from yourself.

[the-stove-is-divorced]

Glad we both enjoy hating omg.

AND YES! Istg the second that video dropped I watched it eagerly, I am such a Batman fan, ugh, if you're ever interested in him specifically, I'd heavily recommend Batman Animated Series, yearnful sigh. I miss when he's written well. And thank you! I appreciate this, I'm bound for a rewatch of this video, hehehe.

NO FR? Istg one of my BIGGEST pet peeves for lazy ass shipping is when OTHER characters have to comment on the relationship, as if it is in any way, shape, or form been properly conveyed as obvious to the audience. IT'S SO LAZY RAHHHHHH. Like you might as while have everyone calling them a couple and them blushing and saying NUH UH, and then never proceed to actually write them interested in each other, outside of predictable, boring commentary, WHICH IS OUT OF LEFT FIELD.

Rex and Eve are legit sm more interesting since they're supposed to be friends for years, then got together, and went through the same shit together. I'd legit rather than them than this. Why did Rex cheat? Why not explore any of these dynamics? Did Kate feel sidelined so she believed Eve and Rex were on a break? How shaky was their relationship?

Get this man in ethics, philosophy, therapy, and pysche classes istg. He truly needs college istg, bro needs education and awarenes. I do not believe he thought he actually thought of Eve, out of anything but guilt, if at ALL. This show feels like it's ACTIVELY trying to lie to me and it's not even doing it WELL? HELLO?

The villain opening was so dumb to me istg. Cecil's stuff I get why, but when it went back to why and justified why Cecil did what he did I wanted to roll my eyes. Like. I can assume why. I don't really need to see why. they're useful, and there's an unspoken GoG absence, yes? I get why Mark is opposed, sure, whatever. Can we use this time for anything else? If this show had more episodes and took things s l o w e r for once, it'd be more fitting to me. Otherwise? I don't care. Speaking of Oliver, they way he's better at fighting than Mark, like this is embarrassing. Mark lock in. Mark do better. Mark why is a child showing you up. WHY ARE EXPLICITLY SHOWN MARK IMPROVING AND THEN HE ACTS JUST AS SUCCESSFUL AS S1? HELLO?

I thought the fight against the underground monsters would be a great opportunity for him to be particularly lethal, like Omni-Man and actually show off some proper skills, and introduce Darkwing + Robots helping heros escape while he's distracted. Still can have Mark freak out, but people get reminded whose son he is. Casually shake off blood. Which we get later on (I wish it was cooler so bad, it's still my fav but with a hint of begrudging admittance), but I say why can't we have more feral Mark scenes? Why stop at one battle parallel with Nolan? Have him particularly lethal with monsters since he'll freak out over people, thinking of Angstrom! Let him mimic Nolan's efficiency and like casually dive through a monster's brain. Him freaking out when someone he cares about gets hurt is so dull to me, also? Did the venom work from the centipede????

GoG's breakup was truly so funny because none of these mfs have been meaningfully explored enough to make me shaken up that they're breaking up, or what that even means because their hero ecosystem isn't explored either! What's the stakes here? I don't get to see more dynamics I never got to see? I'm truly heart broken. Oh no. Also Immortal stay annoying me because bro truly invited himself, told everybody to stfu and get out to a team he decided he'd join back up again, and you're so correct he'd make a mf grovel to get back? Immortal don't be insufferable challenge.

Nolan being endeared to her because she's not afraid makes too much sense, omg. He's so baffled he's enraptured, and Debbie truly thinks he is not special for being capable of killing him, people could die randomly, asshole, get in line. I'd love to see how they got together if the show had time, and the potential dynamics from a "take no shit" Debbie and still learning about humanity, and flirting, Nolan.

REAL ASF THO. Like Invincible could be SO far if it was good. Shows where I'm already invested after it outright refuses to live up to it's potential are like catnip to me, I cannot shut up about it. I'm infuriated and enraptured and endeared. Begging everyone to watch this show, no I don't think it's incredible, watch it all anyway.

Please write the mentor Cecil fic of my dreams, if I can get some oneshots done I'd love to write it myself if I can think of some scenes. There's something so interesting about Cecil becoming an incidental (perhaps Mark opens up and Cecil Realizes: Oh, I can Use This) and then intentional mentor figure, (or again Mark insisting he needs to earn Immortal's approval to prove he's not his Dad fr). Like? Thefun extra wound of betrayal if Cecil still uses the whole scream thing! Maybe Robot/Rudy does a scan of him and finds it, and Mark has to conceptualize what it's for, or it's outright used to against him. I believe in Mark being put through the emotional ringer. Dad issues AND Dad-like mentor issues. Stack 'em.

GDA not have any contingencies or hidden plans is so baffling, like aren't you a paranoid department dealing with something as unstable and dangerous as supes? LIKE NO MEDICAL CHECK UP IS INSANE. Purposeful ignorance is so funny omg, they're actively make it difficult for them to pursue education lmao. But the way I would think they'd make Mark + Oliver binge every morality debate, philosophy, even skeezy therapy where the therapist is just snitching to what their mental states actually are. Enforcing Mark to understand how to fight mentally, and not following the same colonizer BS mindset. GIVE ME PARANOID GDA THINGS. Like if Mark went to college, does GDA have agent pretend to be a student to follow him?

While I'm not too familiar with the DCU- your batfam meta posts are intiguing- so in transfering some of the broader strokes from them- I think you tackling a 'Mark isn't Nolan's biological son' fic would be fascinating. Sort of a step to the side of the 'what if Mark never got his powers' fic that sometimes pop up in the fandom

OOOOOO chewing on this currently, hm, the much a distinct flavor of exactly what you’re talking about, but the potential for more family drama depending on WHO knows. Does Mark know?? Is he waiting every day only to be crushed? Does he confused non-Debbie features with Nolan’s? I suppose I’m not the most enthusiastic about non-power AUs, but I think there’s something very fun to explore about Mark having to settle with, if he knows all his life, he will never have powers? I think the trajectory of his dreams will obviously shift, I can see him still having that distinct fatherly idolization, but perhaps embraces being useful to the GDA? Cecil’s number one intern—only intern—curtesy of nepotism, ha! There is something tickling me about Mark taking the Robin Route/Role for the Teen Team in terms of having no powers, just insane skills, BUT there’s something way more delicious about intern Mark when s1e01 happens and Mark tries snooping around to find out the truth about what happened to his Dad.

I wonder if, with Mark having a whole another father, if they’re more or less distant relationship, depending on WHEN Nolan entered Mark’s life? Like if Debbie met Nolan later for this, or just for fun, they dated once, separated (Mark being born during then), then they happened to stumble into each others lives again and Mark’s already been born, anywhere from tween to teenager so there’s a gap in how close they are. I feel like one important aspect of the whole Family Drama is how close they’re supposed to be, a functional, loving family turned upside down? So I wonder what more distance does. I wonder how Nolan copes when his family is entirely human and he can’t project onto Mark.

I love thinking about these, omg.

[ctl-yuejie]

ramblings on Li Ming (and Heart) and homosexuality

moonlight chicken has so many things to offer in terms of technical beauty and interesting themes but what i cannot stop thinking about is the different ways they approach homosexuality in the story.

we have Wen who has a rainbow flag on his desk and pictures of him and Alan on the wall. Wen, who openly flirts with Jim and has no qualms talking openly about his one night stand. Wen, whose step father knows about his sexuality and is close enough with him to discuss his love life.

Kaipa we don’t know too much about. But his mom knows and is supportive and some of the vendors and the chicken family seem to know. But if anyone was questioning in what reality this show is set with all the class discussion and corona featuring, his part of the story shows that homophobia exists and he is worried about how he fits in with his own family, the expectations of his mother and possible the awareness that he makes the family he has “different”.

Jim is arguably even more visibly gay than Wen in terms of what we see throughout the show. He opened the shop with his ex, they prayed at the temple together and even though he objected due to proprities sake eventually they loudly declared their love to each other and the whole neighbourhood knows. Wen somehow feels like he is living in the remnants of a bubble: his circle of friends seems very queer, his closest friend and the whole gym seem to be all part of that as well. This only might change now with him questioning his work and breaking up with Alan: some gatherings he won’t attend anymore apparently.

And finally, we have Li Ming. At school he doesn’t seem to open up to his classmates on most things and additionally is in the closet. While there wasn’t anything alluding to homophobic rethoric being spread at school we can see how the heteronormativity gets to him and feel that there must be good reason as to why no one knows. And it could just be how Li Ming is judging the situation based on vibes, we don’t know. His mother is or at least was homophobic but at the same time he is raised by his gay uncle who is surrounded by other gay people. And I love how it feels like this might have given him enough security to be comfortable with his own sexuality but how it also isn’t enough to shield him from the world at large.

With so many great shows coming out of Thailand and most of them getting more and more political it just feels so real and 2023 to me that Li Ming is part of a generation that knows who they are but still have to battle with the shadow that homophobia has cast way before they were born.

[termagax]

re: "good girl" i think they say it once randomly as a joke and its just one of those things that gets him wayyy more than they expected it would. so now its their secret weapon and they use it very sparingly and every single time he gets super embarrassed about it but it works ill tell you what.

[hornedavies]

real autism havers when they watch the scottish woman on tv:

[serialgirlposter]

Things that make me insane: this line justice says about testament.

The idea of testament really thinking this would make their father happy in some twisted way....

Justice saying that the reason she (or he? In the og guilty gear i think he him is used which i also noticed on rewatch) didn't have complete control over testament was because of their love for their father....