#mehlsbells

[theserpentsadvocate]

@mehlsbells: In terms of the main 'why did he end up doing time for a lesser charge' - could California's "three-strikes" law have had something to do with it? Pleading down might have lessened the overall effect an assault conviction had on his record but still resulted in jail time as it added to his aggregate?

Based on what I've seen, I don't think so? The main sticking point is that I don't think he could have hit three strikes between becoming a legal adult and graduating, since we know he turns eighteen sometime in S1, and doesn't miss any 'arrested for a felony' amounts of school in S2. (And I'm reasonably confident his juvenile offenses wouldn't carry over, at least not that way, although maybe lodessa can set me straight if I'm wrong.)

Although, god, that law! Especially back then! It's not like I had illusions about the American carceral system before I started doing research for all the fics I'm writing, but now? Jesus Christ. Marijuana is a Schedule One drug??? What are they DOING down there??

@lodessa: It’s possible he never cleared his probation from when he was a minor (which we can assume he did have given Keith talking about him getting picked up starting at twelve or whatever and having worked with a lot of kids in that situation what you have to do to get off probation is way more demanding than to not get in it to begin with) and that it converted to adult parole (which does happen sometimes) as a result that probably was in the process of being dropped but isn’t after his arrest.

Okay, I am using this, it is possibly the only thing that makes everything make sense, you are a godsend.

And I do think that makes sense - he must be making some kind of effort to stay out of (legal) trouble in the first half of S2, because while he's definitely committing crimes, he doesn't appear to be getting arrested (presumably he's being careful because he's now an adult), so I can see him being about to get out from under the carry-over when he gets arrested for murder and then it's so much for that.

(Also, when you said it was hard to get off probation all I could think about was reading 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU in high school and how Rob wouldn't date Jess for the whole series because she was too young and he was on probation and then in the final book it turns out he just broke into the swimming pool after hours.)

@skwire696: did you settle on a retcon for your story(ies)? i feel your frustration. research makes you feel crazy with the inconsistencies!

Well, the, um, 'good' news is I have so many in the works that I can try out a bunch of options. I'm definitely stealing lodessa's suggestion for at least one, and I'm probably going to throw option three at my Jade/Eli series because they deserve nice things for once, he can not have a felony rap in that one. There are two where I probably will keep option two, because the felony is useful for character or plot reasons, but if it gets in the way or gets too depressing I reserve the right to scrap that part. :)

And I do have one AU where things diverge between S2 and S3 while he's still in prison, so for that one I'm going to go with canon Veronica not having paid a lot of attention, because the divergence results in AU Veronica being way more involved in the details of his life. And then they kiss.

Although technically the shipping is just a mechanism for her to be involved in Ophelia's life. I swear.

Anyway, I guess that means the solution I found is to kind of glare at Rob Thomas and go ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ , but, like, really aggressively.

So I’ve been doing a lot of research (or, more accurately, I’ve been doing cursory research fairly often) for the seventy-million Veronica Mars fanfics I’m currently writing, and I’ve run into a… difficulty. The fic that actually prompted this post wasn’t even related to the Thumper thing even peripherally, like it doesn’t even happen in it, but what can you do.

Here’s the thing: under California law, assault is the attempt to hurt or cause harm to someone by an individual with the capacity to actually cause that harm (e.g. throwing a rock at someone and missing, trying to punch someone who dodges). Actually harming someone is battery (e.g. you knock someone out and hide their drug money inside their motorcycle).

Now we, the audience, know that whatever someone might feel morally*, Weevil isn’t legally guilty of murder – he committed battery, and that’s probably all Lamb can prove, because he has witnesses to that part. But he has witnesses. He should have Weevil over a barrel on the battery charge at least.

But here’s the sticking point (or one of them): Veronica says, canonically, that Weevil ‘pled down to assault’ (and he seems to agree with her). So… why did he end up doing time for a lesser charge?

Answer One: The writers messed up.

Okay, so this is a very unsatisfying answer, and I’m rolling my eyes at myself about it. But still: it’s very common for the general public to gloss ‘assault and battery’ as one thing, or to use ‘assault’ to refer to battery charges, doubly so since, in a non-legal sense, the word ‘assault’ does include (legal) battery. Probably whoever wrote that line assumed that they knew what ‘assault’ was and just didn’t double-check.

(And they also didn’t bother to brush up on the difference between a felony and a misdemeanour and whether you can be on parole for a misdemeanour (answer: no), but I’ll get to that.)

But that doesn’t help square everything up with canon (unless you’re the kind of person who can say stuff like ‘that line doesn’t make sense so I’m ignoring it’, which I… am not, generally speaking), so more productively –

Answer Two: Veronica messed up

Veronica’s attitude toward Weevil isn’t always great in season three, trending towards dismissive on several occasions, and she is, technically, a member of the general public, so maybe she just said assault and meant battery, and he did go to prison for battery and not assault. This would track with him still being on parole – well, at all, but notably about halfway through season three, when Veronica wants to meet with the PCHers – and mentioning his parole officer multiple times. (Simple assault is a misdemeanour and has a maximum sentence of six months; parole, unless there is a glaring hole in my Googling, is only for felonies. Nothing he does to Thumper, as far as I can tell, would qualify as felony assault – he doesn’t use caustic chemicals or a deadly weapon, and he definitely doesn’t throw anything at a moving vehicle.)

Misdemeanour battery, on the other hand, appears to have a maximum sentence of a year, and a battery charge would leave the possibility of a felony open: aggravated battery, or battery causing serious bodily harm, is a ‘wobbler’, which means it can be filed as a misdemeanour or a felony, depending on the circumstances, and ‘serious bodily harm’ includes loss of consciousness. (This would also mean he very well could be a convicted felon, which of course has implications for the rest of his life beyond just having a record. I don’t actually want this for him, obviously, but if you want the felony for fic reasons, or to explain the repeated parole references, that versatility is there.)

The only problem is, Veronica is not a very likely person to make this particular mistake. Her dad spent most of her life in law enforcement and she’s very well-acquainted with most law enforcement (and much legal) procedure, she regularly interacts with the sheriff’s department, and she commits enough illegal and dubiously legal acts herself that it’s in her best interest to be familiar with these kinds of distinctions. (Although she’s still very much protected by being a middle-class white woman – she can do things like tasing obnoxious frat bros in The Rapes of Graff without worrying overmuch that she’ll be arrested on misdemeanour battery charges, even though it would absolutely qualify.)  Also, she clearly made the effort to look into how his case played out, since she’s the one who brings all this up, and she appears to have tracked him down at the car wash deliberately, so it would be kind of bizarre if she then got the offence wrong. This one is convenient, but in the end it’s a hard sell and I don’t think I buy it.

Answer Three: Weevil didn’t plead down from murder to assault, he pled down from battery to assault.

Lamb’s case for murder probably isn’t all that great. It makes for terrific oomph when you are deliberately arresting someone two minutes before he’s supposed to graduate, like an absolute monster, but what does he have, really? Two kids who saw Weevil knock Thumper out with… a cloth? Or something? and take a bag of… something. (And leave.)

So this proves battery, it strongly implies robbery, and given Thumper showing up under the ruins of Shark Stadium it certainly suggests murder, but that’s not going to stand up in court. Assuming the autopsy can conclusively determine which ones are from the stadium collapse and which aren’t (admittedly a big if), Thumper’s likely to have injuries from the beating the Fitzpatricks gave him that Weevil is (per the prosecution’s own witnesses) not responsible for and which were incurred after his attack on Thumper. The kids also saw him leave Thumper’s unconscious body and walk away with the bag of money, so – dead to rights on battery, but iffy on murder. The other PCHers can testify that he had motive to kill Thumper, but they might well not be willing to, for a whole host of reasons. Weevil is absolutely smart enough to establish himself an alibi for the entirety of the time after his attack on Thumper, and that would make Lamb’s case very difficult, as does that fact that Weevil literally didn’t kill Thumper, and so there’s very little forensic evidence to be found that would be damaging to him.

(Honestly, even if the charge was murder, and he pled down to assault or to battery, the fact that they offered him that also suggests the case was flimsy. Rich, white, even-more-innocent-of-the-actual-murder Logan only got offered manslaughter in the plea deal for Felix’s murder.)

So if this is it? That is a ton of reasonable doubt. And that’s before Cliff gets up there and points out that Eduardo Orozco was a known gang member and drug dealer and had all kinds of opportunities to make the kind of enemies who might have chained him up in that stadium (which is not only true but also… basically what did actually happen). In fact, typing this all up, I’m kind of pissed Weevil did any time at all.

Add to that the fact that both eyewitnesses are kids, who are notoriously unreliable on the stand… Yeah, I can easily see the DA deciding a murder charge won’t stick. But they have him on battery! …Wiiiith most of the proof being those notoriously unreliable child witnesses. So maybe they drop the murder charges, get him on battery, and then offer him a deal. On their side, they don’t have to worry about those kids holding up in court; on his side, well, if they threatened to file the aggravated battery charge as a felony, he’s looking at the difference between a year at most in prison and a possible four-year term with all the attendant miseries of being a convicted felon for the rest of his life. And he definitely can’t afford a better lawyer than whoever’s available from the public defender’s office. So it’s reasonable to decide that going to court is too much of a gamble, and just take the deal. This also explains how he’s out so quickly, since it cannot be more than three months since he was arrested when season three starts – but if he pled right away and got a light sentence (since it’s his first adult conviction), that might make sense.

The main problem with this one, even though I really like it, is that, well, there are the repeated references to him being on parole. Weevil himself could just be glossing probation as parole, I suppose – ‘don’t tell my parole officer’ makes a better joke than ‘don’t tell my probation officer’ – but Veronica also says he’s on parole in President Evil, which is an unlikely mistake for her to make if he’s not on parole, for all the reasons outlined in Answer Two, especially in what is literally a presentation for her criminology class. (Of course, in that same presentation she refers to him ‘assaulting’ Thumper, so who knows.) Most damning is the entire B-plot of Wichita Linebacker, which makes it clear he is indeed on parole, since if he doesn’t get another job he’ll go back to prison.

(And I suppose ‘pled down to assault’ is kind of a weird way for Veronica to phrase it in this case – but not utterly bizarre, and she’d be unlikely to spell it all out like that, since she doesn’t know she’s on TV and that line is supposed to be letting the audience know why he’s not in prison.)

Answer Four: Veronica was just guessing

I’ve always read the scene in Wichita Linebacker as her finding him on purpose, especially since she doesn’t actually stick around to get her car washed, which is why I also tend to assume that she’s either recently looked up his case or been following it from the beginning and would know what the charge is. (She doesn’t appear to be surprised to see him, either.) I also just… like to think that she’d care enough to follow up on him.

But it’s also possible that she really is just at the carwash for carwash-related reasons, and she’s just… guessing about the reasons he’s out already. In this case, she might have said assault, and he acknowledges this as correct even though the actual charge was battery, because he figures it’s close enough, and she’s got the general idea, anyway.

This covers more bases than anything else, although it still doesn’t explain why she implies he’s on parole for an assault charge during the criminology presentation, at which point she would definitely have done the background to know it was battery and not assault, but mostly I don’t love it for character reasons.

Anyway. If anyone wants to hit their heads repeatedly into this particular wall with me, I would love to hear your thoughts.

*and I’m inclined, personally, to say that the moral responsibility for Thumper’s death is pretty much on the Fitzpatricks, and it’s not like he didn’t know who he was getting into business with

[mehlsbells]

Sometimes I review films here.

And sometimes I write snarky paragraphs about movies I saw somewhere between 1 month and 10 years ago.

But if you’re into that sort of thing, Letterboxd is pretty rad, give a look.

[draft-zero]

DZ-78: Interweaving Timelines 1 - Destroyer

How does interweaving two timelines change how the audience feel?

Stu and Chas are joined by Mel Killingsworth to dissect interweaving timelines. Not anthology films. Not Cloud Atlas. But films where two plot lines featuring the same characters, but from different timelines, are woven together.

How do you manage stakes when you know a character’s future? What questions does this prompt in the viewer? And how the hell do you orient the reader?

To answer these questions, it will take three episodes. In this Part 1, our intrepid team (and Mel’s 42 pages of homework) tackle the 2018 film DESTROYER directed by Karen Kusama, written by Hay & Manfredi and starring Nicole Kidman.

Meanwhile, Part 2 will cover THE SOCIAL NETWORK and Part 3 will compare the 1994 Gillian Armstrong version with 2019 Greta Gerwig version of LITTLE WOMEN. Whew.

Stay tuned! SPOILERS ABOUND!

Audio quotations used for educational purposes only. Timestamps indicated below. Chapter markers included in the mp3.

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

RUNNING ORDER

00:00:10 Intro

00:01:46 Interweaving Timelines?

00:14:54 Destroyer & Timelines

00:35:28 Indicating Timelines

00:39:21 Ordering the Key Events

00:51:50 Theme & Timelines

01:06:44 Questions prompted by the ending

01:20:58 Key Learnings & Wrap Up

01:37:37 Backmatter

EPISODE LINKS

WATCH: Destroyer (2018)

FOLLOW: Melanie Killingsworth – @mehlsbells on twitter

READ: "A Game Designer’s Analysis Of QAnon"

RELATED EPISODES

DZ-05: Shifting audience point of view and heightened emotions

DZ-46: Structure & Point of View

This episode brought to you by ScriptUp - https://www.scriptupstudio.com - use promo code DZ10 to get 10% off.

Many thanks to all our patrons but particularly to Randy, Garrett, Bjorn, Jack, Khrob, and Sandra. They’re good humans.

Please considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners. We are @stuwillis and @chasffisher on twitter. And you can find @draft_zero on Instagram and Twitter.

Check out this new episode of Draft Zero

[adelaidefcblog]

Favorite tweets

Brilliant desperation to save that goal. #WeFlyAsOne #AFLWCrowsBlues

— Mel Killingsworth (@mehlsbells) March 3, 2018

from http://twitter.com/mehlsbells via IFTTT

[fotzepolitic]

Thanks, @drmelfi <3 I hope you’re well

Favorite color: usually black but lately all the shades of blue have been calling to me

Currently reading: Oscar Wilde by Matthew Sturgis - it’s very good and also keeping my spirits less forlorn this season.

Last song: let me promote my recent mixtape Cold Heaven and say “Kiss The Stars” by Bizou. But really it was “Isola” by Thore Pfeiffer from the recommended Kompakt release Pop Ambient 2022.

Last series: for books it’s Wandering Son by Shimura Takako; if it’s television then I’m still in the middle of Yellowjackets and the classic anime Rose of Versailles.

Sweet, savory, or spicy: Sweet!

Currently working on: I just finished my favorite albums of 2021 list! But now I’m trying to watch some movies from Arrow, 88 Films, and Vinegar Syndrome that were gifts. I also want to write something for the 30th anniversary of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and re-watch if not the pilot and The Return then the whole series.

I will tag @bonewhiteglory , @robotpixels , @darksister89 , @begottencobaltdream , @mehlsbells

Tag 9 people you want to get to know better!

thank you for the tag @ayrusss <3

favorite color: black and purple

currently reading: re-reading Let The Devil In by @acourtofsnakes because it’s on my miiiiind

last song: Swim by Chase Atlantic

last series: Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Sweet, savory or spice: all three, in that exact order.

Currently working on: some wips and my book.

np tags: @doin-stuff @solomons-finest-rum @acourtofsnakes @anaaaispunk @toomanystoriessolittletime @mandocrasis @novemberrain221 @floraandfrost

[crocodalerock]

vunderbarh still isn't used to the #forevercyclesync problem-solving matrix. mehlsbells

[fotzepolitic]

mehlsbells replied to your post:I really underestimated Tegan and Sara’s album...

I was underwhelmed / unimpressed by Sainthood, and so I wasn’t expecting much with Heartthrob. But it’s *phenomenal.* It even makes me like Sainthood more, because I realize it was a half-step between something like So Jealous and Heartthrob.

Now that's interesting. I didn't even know about Sainthood. I thought Heartthrob was the follow-up to The Con. Anyway, this one left me underwhelmed despite the first single and people who told me it was good. On this round, I was writing so my senses were up and I couldn't help noticing the lyrics. I was impressed so I listened to the album again and liked it just as much. Phenomenal is so the right word, yes. Off to Sainthood then.

[cake-emu]

Your commentary on my bias piece is concise and smart (even though OF COURSE I would say that) and gave me a new book to hunt down and read. Thanks!

Ahh, thank you! As I understand it, the book is mostly a collection of reviews from Dolan’s blog, The Feminist Spectator, so you may find it worthwhile to check there first but it’s still nice to be able to walk around with a print copy to dip into :-)

(response to mehlsbells)

[mehlsbells]

Shot Zero: Wynonna Earp

This sort of scene transition may or may not be scripted.

Despite seeming simple, takes LOTS of planning & detail:

- Cut comes before shattered glass settles; broom sweeps into camera move.

- Table/bar lighting & DOF similar.

- Sound mix adds final piece.

(doing 365 daily #ShotZero studies on Twitter - https://twitter.com/mehlsbells )

[draft-zero]

DZ-66: The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker - Audience Knowledge vs Character Motivation

How does audience knowledge affect your character’s motivations?

Chas and Stu are joined by special guest - filmmaker Mel Killingsworth - to talk all things Star Wars. Well. Focusing on The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker and wherever else our tangents take us.

Our primary lens is look at how both shows handle “fan service” — but really its about how you handle character motivations when your audience has more knowledge than your characters, especially knowledge from outside the show itself. To that end, we discuss the characters of Poe, Rey, Kylo, and Palpatine in depth. We also discuss the Watchmen TV Show, Mind-hunter, Jojo Rabbit, Snowtown and Zodiac.

SPOILERS ABOUND. Excerpts used for educational purposes. Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

RUNNING ORDER

Introduction: Fanservice

Poe's Backstory (@ 4:03)

The Mandalorian (@ 11:40)

The Rise of Skywalker (@ 23:01)

Rey Palpatine (@ 24:24)

Palpatine's Plan (@ 38:27)

Rey Skywalker (@ 46:05)

Ben Solo - Depressive Demon Nightmare Boy (@ 52:12)

Palpatine's Return & Watchmen (@ 01:07:27)

Rose Tico (@ 01:15:54)

Fake-Outs (@ 01:19:15)

The Mandalorian (Revisited) (@ 1:26:08)

Wrap Up & Key Learnings (@ 1:30:38)

EPISODE LINKS:

READ: Wikipedia - Fan Service

READ: “The Rise of Skywalker: Memorabilia without Memory, a Misunderstanding of Hope” by Jeanette Ng

READ: “The Force Belongs To Us: THE LAST JEDI’s Beautiful Refocusing of Star Wars” by Film Crit Hulk

LISTEN: Fatman Beyond http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FatManOnBatman/~3/grl4sApz4cE/271-the-rise-of-skywalker-spoiler-show

FOLLOW: Mel Killingsworth https://twitter.com/mehlsbells?s=20

WATCH: https://www.b-windmedia.com/

DZ RELATED EPISODES:

DZ-29: Showdowns & Scene Structure

DZ-47: Backmatter – A Lost Jedi

DZ-55: Character Motivations (Part 1)

DZ-56: Character Motivations (Part 2)

lease considering rating or subscribing to us on Apple Podcasts! or sharing us on the Social Medias! We like finding new listeners. We are @stuwillis and @chasffisher on twitter. And you can find @draft_zero on Instagram and Twitter.

Many thanks to all our patrons but particularly to Theis, Jesse, Jack, Chris, Khrob, Sandra, Nick, and Matteo. They’re good humans.

BUY DRAFT ZERO MERCH via TeePublic

Check out this new episode of Draft Zero

[adelaidefcblog]

Favorite tweets

@Adelaide_FC @mehlsbells Best.Gif.Ever.

— Cat Fay (@cat_fay) February 11, 2017

from http://twitter.com/cat_fay via IFTTT

[adelaidefcblog]

Favorite tweets

@Adelaide_FC #lifesaver #amazinggifisamazing #thankyou!

— Mel Killingsworth (@mehlsbells) February 11, 2017

from http://twitter.com/mehlsbells via IFTTT

[mehlsbells]

The 100: Season 03, Episode 02, Wanheda Part 2

#The100 3.02 Wanheda, Part 2 #review. Now with more Weirdly Specific Modern Backpack Sighting!

The very opening scene has an almost-throwaway bit which sums up a big developing theme. Bellamy wants to move out of the tank, but Kane objects. It’s not until Indra asserts “the boy is right” that Kane acquiesces, because Kane still only listens when other ‘adults’ speak. (If not his messiah complex, it’s this implicit bias that is going to get him killed.) This is a recurring theme: the…

[crocodalerock]

mehlsbells, y'all.

[mehlsbells]

Proud to announce my first short The Lilith Necklace (aka my baby) has been accepted to its first festival.

Watch the Trailer

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