#weir is a whole another case
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
yellow-the-monster-girl · 5 months ago
Text
whyyyy is no one talking about the replicators???
there's literally so much stuff that I feel like it could be explored, I mean, I don't like fifth that much either but like. the struggle of feeling for the first time. the struggle of feeling differently than your "family" and being seen as weaker for it. the struggle of feeling at all and it still not being enough for the Good Guys to see you as human. the struggle of knowing you're Different. too human for the machines and too machine for the humans. you know???
and repliCarter, no I didn't forget her, like girl has all the memories of regular carter right? imagine there's another you. imagine asking the other you for help even if it's just a ploy to kill fifth and make your bug siblings immune to Destroy Beam and they say if it doesn't work they'll just destroy you. imagine knowing, every second that you stay there, that everyone knows you're not Like Them. you're something Other. like, I'm well aware she's evil and stuff, the point she had to feel something while at the site alpha.
same goes for reese with the horrifying bonus that she basically had the mind of a child. like, imagine those evil dangerous things are your toys. they were supposed to protect you. you never wanted to hurt anyone. imagine you're the Other, you're not human, you're a machine to them, except you're also a child.
and I could go on and on about the asurans and elizabeth weir but that would be a whole another post in itself
tldr: give replicators some love please. and some fanfics. especially the fanfics.
21 notes · View notes
puppethistoryhive · 2 months ago
Text
just a girl
Tumblr media
benny week, day four: cheerleader
relationship: betty weir | benny weir/rory keaner, betty weir | benny weir & ethan morgan
rating: teen
word count: 939
summary: Dressing up as a cheerleader and being flirted with by Rory awakens some things in Benny. (transfem benny weir)
read on ao3 or below the cut
Benny wasn't sure what Jane had done to them, but he liked it. He almost felt bad though, because he could tell it was making Ethan somewhat dysphoric. However, Benny actually felt really good. He liked the feeling of the longer hair, and the makeup felt foreign but right somehow. He felt pretty. He must've been pretty too, considering the way Rory bounded up to him and started flirting with him. Benny wasn't gay- he knew he wasn't gay. So why did the way Rory looked at him give him butterflies? He needed to talk to Ethan- tomorrow though. It had been a long day.
It wasn't until they cracked the case that Benny was able to find time to talk to Ethan. By then he had realized he was in a lot deeper than he first anticipated. The additional days of flirting and makeup had really done him in. It also affirmed his feelings about everything that was swirling through his head. Him and Ethan were playing video games in his room when he finally worked up the courage to bring everything up to his best friend.
“Hey Ethan, can I talk to you about something?” Ethan paused the game, and turned his attention to Benny.
“Yeah, B, what's up?”
“You know how we had to pretend to be Betty and Veronica?”
“Yeah…?”
“I sort of… liked it? Like the whole dressing up.”
“Okay, just the dressing up part?”
“I’m not even sure, honestly.”
“That's fine! Do you think maybe you'd want to try out she/her pronouns?”
“Maybe?”
“You don't have to rush into anything! Does being called he/him make you dysphoric?”
“No, I don't think so?”
“That's fine! Is there anything else?”
“I didn't hate when Rory was flirting with me?”
“Wait- what?” Benny just shrugged in response, “ so, not only are you maybe a girl, but you might also be into Rory?”
“Basically,”
“Wow I never thought I'd see the day a girl was into Rory,” that made Benny laugh. It also made his- her heart flutter. Ethan called her a girl, and it felt amazing. They continued their night like usual after that, and that also felt good. It felt normal and right. Someone knew, and the world spun like usual.
Now she just had to figure out how to tell the others. Especially Rory. She wrote him that letter to hopefully stop him from talking about Betty anymore until she figured out what she wanted to do. It was cheesy, but wasn't exactly that far from the truth either. It took her a few more days, but she worked up the courage to leave another note in the vampires locker, this time just telling him to meet her in the gym hallway after school, so they could talk
Betty was sweating bullets as she paced the hallway back and forth. Her mind was swirling with thoughts. What if Rory is upset at her for lying? What if he won't see her as a girl? Will he even want to be her friend? Just when she was starting to think this was a bad idea, she heard the all too familiar voice.
“Benny? What are you doing here? I'm waiting for Betty, so I hope you don't plan on sticking around too long,” She cringed internally at that. She knew she had to get out what she wanted to say before she lost her courage.
“Rory, I'm Betty.” Rory's face morphed into confusion.
“Um no you're not? Betty is blonde. And a girl, duh,”
“No Ror, me and Ethan dressed up as Betty and Veronica to keep an eye on Erica, then to deal with the whole witch cheerleader stuff,”
“I'm so confused. So Betty isn't real?” His voice sounded so vulnerable, and Betty’s heart broke in guilt. She took one step closer to Rory, small and barely noticeable.
“Yes, and no? She wasn't at first. But I think Betty feels more real than Benny at this point. I don't know,” Rory's face was still one of confusion, and a faint glimpse of hurt, “but, I do know that I like you.”
“Wait- what?” Rory's face was still one of disbelief, but the hurt was replaced by hope.
“I didn't know how to tell you, but surprise?”
“You're Betty, but actually- and you like me?”
“Yeah?”
“This is awesome!” Betty felt physically relieved. Rory wasn't upset. She should've known he wouldn't be shitty about this, especially because he knows about Ethan. But it was good to be sure that she was worried for no reason.
“It is?” Rory just looked at her like she was crazy.
“Uh yeah? I mean it's still a little weird that you're actually Betty, but not in a bad way! Wait, does this mean I can take you out on a date?” Betty shouldn't have been surprised by his bluntness, but it made her flustered regardless
“Yeah, it does,” she smiled at him. He returned the soft look.
“We can have dinner at my place, so you can dress however you want without others around, if that's what you'd prefer,” he looked uncharacteristically shy. Betty took his hand. She was sure vampires couldn't blush, but she wasn't sure if something like that has ever stopped him.
“That sounds perfect, Ror.”
44 notes · View notes
thethirdromana · 9 days ago
Text
Books I read for the first time this year - 2024 edition
I did this last year, and even though no one read it, it was fun so I'm doing it again.
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins I loved The Woman in White so much that I had to have more Wilkie Collins right away. It is aggressively of its time, but very readable and gripping all the same. And I found the ending deeply satisfying. I should read more Wilkie Collins.
Julia by Sandra Newman This is the story of 1984 retold from Julia's perspective, with extra bleakness and a somewhat odd take on the ending. I think this would have benefitted from me having read 1984 more recently. I'm glad I read it; I don't think I will ever read it again.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells I merely liked this, and feel oddly guilty for not loving it as much as the rest of tumblr seems to. Possibly this would have benefitted from me bingeing the series instead of stopping at one.
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen In the spring I decided it was time to read the two Austen novels I hadn't read before. I enjoyed Mansfield Park, though it's not destined to replace Sense and Sensibility as my favourite Austen novel. This is because Edmund, unfortunately, is a drip.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro I loved Remains of the Day so much that I thought I should read more Ishiguro. There's the usual unreliable narrator and glimpses of hidden darkness that you'd expect from Ishiguro in Klara and the Sun, but it's a lighter read overall, which is to say it didn't devastate me in the way that the Remains of the Day did.
Persuasion by Jane Austen One of these novels that's so totemic it feels weird to review it. It's like saying I quite liked the ocean; the ocean doesn't care.
I quite liked it, though.
The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik The first of several recommendations from tumblr. I read the whole series one after another without a break. The amount that I enjoyed each novel was directly proportional to how much it was the Aubreyad with dragons - so the first and final books were my favourites.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Lots of people have this as their favourite Andy Weir novel but I am not among them. It was just a little bit too cuddly for me, I think, and I was also well into Time To Orbit: Unknown at this point (a web serial, so I've not included it on this list), which is in a similar style but better. The title pun is great, though.
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume This is an early detective novel from before people had really figured out how the genre should work. An interesting read but not a particularly satisfying one.
The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin An incredible book, but I found myself wishing I could have read the version of it that Le Guin might have written later on in her career, when she came to focus less on male characters.
The Riverside Trilogy by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman This was another tumblr recommendation and I loved these, with the sole exception of the ending of the Fall of Kings. Queer love, sword-fighting and some of the most lavish and enticing descriptions of food that I've ever read - this is a significant percentage of I want in a novel.
The Documents in the Case by Dorothy Sayers and Robert Eustace I can't believe I hadn't read this earlier. I love Dorothy Sayers, I love the way she observes people, and I particularly love the way this novel brings a slice of the 1920s bohemian world to life. This means I have now read all of Dorothy Sayers' novels and should probably getting cracking on the short stories.
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland Another tumblr recommendation! This felt a lot like reading fanfic - the tropes (enemies to lovers!), the writing style, the way the characters bounced off each other. I enjoyed it, though I did find myself wondering how readers who weren't used to fanfic norms would feel about it.
Spirit Level by Richy Craven This was a debut novel by someone who I've followed on Twitter (and subsequently Bluesky) for ages. It's a comedy novel about a man who can only see the ghost of his dead friend when he's drunk. I found it more sweet than funny.
Jeeves and the King of Clubs by Ben Schott Jeeves and Wooster fanfiction, but with an official licence! Entirely readable, but the best of AO3 is better.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller A gorgeous retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus. The prose is lovely; the ending, a little wobbly.
Tall and Dark by Suzannah Rowntree Sometimes I download novels onto my Kindle, forget any of the context, and pick them up without any prior info. Usually that's great, but it served Tall and Dark badly. I thought that it was going to be the kind of novel that the opening made it seem (a governess who can see spirits fakes being a medium in a non-fantasy setting) instead of what it was (a romp with fantastical monsters). The monster romp was fun, but I'd probably have enjoyed it more if I'd read the blurb and been prepared for what to expect.
The Night Raven by Sarah Painter More women who can see ghosts, but this time in an urban fantasy context. I was not really in the mood for urban fantasy when I read this, which did a disservice to another readable book.
A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro This was Ishiguro's first novel, where he hadn't quite figured out the fine line between an unreliable narrator who hides things from the reader, and just not telling you what the fuck is going on.
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro I did not finish this, but I got about two-thirds of the way through before giving up, so it's going on the list. This is where I went from "I like Kazuo Ishiguro" to "I like some of Kazuo Ishiguro's novels". Amazing that it's possible to make an Arthurian romp set in the early Middle Ages (two of my favourite things!) so dull.
On the Beach by Nevil Shute This was the best novel I read all year. It's the story of a small group of people in Australia, waiting for a cloud of nuclear radiation that has already killed the rest of humanity to reach them. Other writers might have shown people having crazed reactions to the end of the world; Nevil Shute shows ordinary people responding in dignified and quiet ways. It was utterly devastating.
So Disdained by Nevil Shute This was a lot lighter than On the Beach and generally fun, though the heroic role played in it by Italian fascists was uncomfortable.
Circe by Madeline Miller Good, if a little bit less well-constructed than The Song of Achilles, though some of that has to be down to the source material.
The Autobiography of Mr Spock by Una McCormack It's a truly impressive feat to synthesise the assorted contradictory Spock lore into something that makes coherent sense. Una McCormack sees the world of Star Trek as a darker place than I prefer to, and as a dedicated Spirk shipper, maybe I was never going to be entirely happy with this. It's very well-written but perhaps not quite for me.
The Anglo-Saxons by Marc Morris I realised I'd got to nearly the end of the year without reading any non-fiction. This was a great way to address that. I already knew a fair bit about the Anglo-Saxon period but this was a very enjoyable way to fill in the gaps.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir I gave in to the need to know what everyone on tumblr seemed to be raving about. Lesbian necromancers in space was always going to be a winner with me, though at times it was a bit Warhammer 40k-esque (mountains of skulls! rivers of blood!) for my tastes.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Overtly feminist fiction is usually my bag, but I didn't vibe with this. It's patronising towards its autistic-coded protagonist, and I wish it didn't spend quite so much time emphasising how hot she is. I could have done without the sapient dog, too.
Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue Lesbian historical fiction featuring Anne Lister? Obviously on to a great start. The plot was a little constrained by the messiness of historical events, and there were a couple of bizarre modern references that threw me out of immersion when I reached them, which was particularly odd given how meticulous most of the research was. But I'm nitpicking: this was a gorgeous novel overall.
16 notes · View notes
parhelios · 2 months ago
Text
part two of the stargate atlantis animorphs au where john sheppard used to be tobias! this will hopefully get turned into a full fic at some point but i like telling ppl about my fic ideas its fun
an important part of this au is that at least once on atlantis people have started reminiscing about favorite foods on earth they miss and when john was asked what he missed the most, he just blinks and says "burgers" and everyone gives him shit about his basic ass answer but little do they know the real answer is fresh mouse
part one here
he never really realized just how much he missed truly flying on his own wings until he did it for the first time in too many years, circling over the spires of atlantis and relishing the feeling of thermals under his spread wings. he can’t help but chuckle as on the way to rodney’s lab later in the day, he spots some of the biologists in their lab losing their minds. he does make a note to be a little less conspicuous though. john makes another note to let chaya know that if she ever needs anything, he’s her man, for the rest of time. he’s never been more grateful for anything.
(meanwhile, rodney and less so elizabeth, have been tinhatting about john since kolya's invasion of atlantis. john was weird enough they decided they needed to investigate him more and found that large swaths of his childhood and teen years are redacted to hell and back. they can't even figure out when he was born, exactly. it's WEIRD, and the fact that not even weir has clearance makes it all the more disturbing. rodney tries his best to find an unredacted version--surely it must be somewhere in the files sent on the atlantis expedition, in case of emergency--but not even that works. the thing is, by this point, john is their friend, and though they are definitely concerned and more than a little weirded out, they trust him. they trust that if it becomes necessary, he'll trust them too.)
missions go for the most part as normal, but whenever john can get the free time, he spends it flying. eventually, ar-1 gets sent out on a recon mission to a new gate location, a supposedly uninhabited planet which they believe might serve as a potential alpha site for atlantis in case of wraith incursion
as they begin their expedition, the group moves through the brush, ears and eyes sharp for any darts or wraith patrols. they walk for some time, having chosen to head in the direction of what looks to be a plume of smoke in the sky--perhaps a sign of civilization? certainly an anomaly worth checking out. when they reach the source of it, all four come to the same conclusion. a ship has crashed here. small fires still burn in the trees and brush at the edge of the clearing from its crash landing, but for the most part it looks only superficially damaged. however, not one of them save john recognize the design, and john keeps his mouth shut.
it is an andalite blade ship, and john wonders wildly about what it could be doing so far from home as he leads rodney, teyla, and ronon towards the entrance. he's able to keep his reaction to himself pretty easily, years of having to think about his face and his words coming in very handy for deception. rodney and the rest recognize it as being like nothing they've ever seen before--an egg-like pod with a tail curving above it, ending in a sharp point facing the front of the ship, two small, stubby wings curving off of the side. rodney starts to lose it with excitement at another spacefaring race which they have not encountered before, and john has to keep his mouth shut. after the war with the yeerks, the andalites and the humans had come up with a plan to deal with the yeerks, which none of the animorphs had been privvy to, except that once they were dealt with, the andalites would return to their part of the galaxy under seerow's kindness (their prime directive) and not contact the humans again. they took ax, the one andalite who had joined the animorphs and fought alongside them for the whole war, and they took the morphing cube, and they'd said that earth could keep the animorphs and any remaining technology left behind by the andalites or yeerks on earth. what they were doing here, he had no answers for, and he knew that rodney would be inevitably disappointed when he learned that they were all major assholes who wanted nothing to do with earth and had avoided aiding them until the eleventh hour.
when they get inside, john notes no signs of the pilot, and tunes out rodney's excitement at the pilot's chair clearly designed for a quadraped, and heads straight for the console, to try and find out all he can while the team is distracted examining the ship itself. his knowledge of andalite is ingrained, still sitting in the back of his mind from when elfangor gave him his knowledge. from what he can tell, this was an experimental blade ship designed for long-range travel through z-space, featuring a prototype andalite hyperdrive, which apparently worked a little too well. after poking around some, the team determines they should get as much data as they can for themselves from the ship and head back to the gate to pass the info on to weir and return with a bigger science team to study the ship itself. john makes a private note to hold a briefing. this requires a bit of an update in clearance for everyone involved.
of course, the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley, and as they leave the ship they are promptly ambushed and captured by a wraith patrol.
while the rest are thrown in a cell, john is taken to the wraith queen, who interrogates him on the crashed ship and though he protests ignorance, she decides to drain him until he breaks. she seems to believe it is some new trick by the atlanteans, but john catches something she likely did not mean to slip to him. she references a prisoner, and from what little she reveals, it sounds like the andalite pilot. john refuses to give up any information to her, and so the queen decides, drained as he is, that he is best used as an example for the rest of his friends, to... encourage them to cooperate. she drains him practically to the point of death, and has him dragged back to the cell, throwing him to the dirty floor at the feet of his friends.
he can feel himself dying, as he lays in the cell, every bone screaming as his team surrounds him, and he feels tears dripping onto his face, which he knows without looking is withered and aged from the feeding. and john knows in that moment that there is one way that this will go, unless he changes. he mumbles out an apology, tells them not to worry about him, and not to freak out. and then he begins the change.
for those unaware, morphing is a process which tends to be extremely unpleasant to watch, unless the morpher is an estreen who can control the process of the morph. john is very much not an estreen, despite his deep familiarity with being a hawk, and he knows exactly what this looks like as the shift megins and he takes in the horror on the faces of rodney, teyla, and ronon. he’d seen people shift birds, and the first time he'd done it, he'd watched himself in a mirror, out of pure curiosity.
the eyes went first, turning big and yellow. you could hear the crunch and grind of bones as they shrunk and molded into each other, the mass folding into z-space and condensing as his fingers merged and feet split, limbs and body shrinking into itself. feathers began to burst from the skin, starting as strange mottled patterns on the skin before lifting themselves up. the corners of his mouth stretched up as the bones of his face shifted and the skin receded over his elongating beak, leaving yellow keratin behind.
the morph felt the same as always, but alongside the grinding of bones and the odd crushing feeling that always came with a smaller morph, john could feel the strength returning to his body the closer he got to hawk-shape. as the morph finishes, he reaches out with thought-speak to the others, trying to get them to stop freaking out as he wriggles free of his shirt and vest, ruffling his wings.
rodney immediately goes "I FUCKING KNEW IT-okay not the bird thing i did not see that one coming but SOMETHING was going on--" but john's thought-speak very quickly shuts him up, and he takes the initiative of rodney's dropped jaw to come up with a quick plan and hop out of the cell through one of the holes in the wraith netting. the wraith probably think he’s dead already, and john is happy to keep it that way—he’s got an escape to make.
15 notes · View notes
dr-futbol-blog · 7 months ago
Text
Sanctuary, Pt. 9
Elsewhere, McKay is trying to rationalize his feelings and intuition as concern. And unlike Sheppard, Weir appears to be taking his concerns seriously (of course, it was never that Sheppard didn't trust his judgement or take his concerns seriously, it's that he made a different call and just failed to communicate it to McKay because he saw what he wanted to see). They have a walk and talk:
Weir: Where are we at? McKay: Well, either she knows where the weapon is and she's playing us, or else she has no idea, in which case, we are wasting our time. Weir: So what do you suggest? McKay: Take another team back in the jumper, scan the planet for energy signatures. Chaya's people won't have a clue what we're doing from orbit, unless they're a technically advanced race that are pretending not to be… which has happened before.
Tumblr media
Neither of them have fond memories of the Genii, so caution is warranted. She's with him on that one.
Weir is asking the questions, McKay is providing her with answers and options. What notable is that while they have to have this discussion using words, Sheppard got this very same information from McKay without having to ask, just reading it off of him:
Weir: And there's no way this could be a natural phenomenon? McKay: A perfectly timed, directional energy burst that only affected the Wraith ships? Weir: That's a no? McKay: That's a no.
And again, it's not that Sheppard didn't believe him or disagreed, it's that he's using the information provided by McKay to try to gain access to this weapon. He's one step ahead of them, not trying to ascertain whether there is a weapon but to secure a means of using it. He trusts McKay's reading of the events that much.
I want to also point out the fact that McKay looks really good, here. Like he's showered and changed, was really making an effort as a representative of the welcoming committee. And in contrast, Sheppard is still in his fatigues, does not appear to have showered while waiting for the medical examination to be completed, and his hair is even mussier than usual. He looks almost haggard, at least compared to his usual countenance. Can't imagine he's smelling very fresh, either.
Sheppard is guiding her through the hallways, showing her around. While he's trying to work her over, she's gathering intel.
Chaya: How many of you are there? Sheppard: Counting all the Athosians on the mainland, you might get a couple of hundred, which leaves a very large, empty city. Right now, we're living in one section, because we don't have the power to spread out more than that.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
His torso is not turned toward her like it often is when he's walking and talking with McKay. He also doesn't look at her very much outside of trying to gauge her reactions, to get a read on her. This isn't a man breathlessly admiring someone's beauty, this is a man trying to figure out whether he's having an effect on her:
Tumblr media
He communicates to her that there are not that many of them (for her people to take in), and in spite of having considerable resources that might be worth bartering for, they are in need. All things that are designed to make her want to help them out. He decides to test her to see where they stand now:
Sheppard: What do you think so far? Chaya: I think it's wondrous… But ultimately, the decision is up to Athar.
He's not pleased to hear this. The woman is either more religious than he thought and deprogramming someone from a religion he knows nothing about is going to be difficult, or she's too simple-minded to be socially engineered. Either way, he needs to find a new angle. You can actually visually see his mood change by the lighting in the scene:
Tumblr media
As much as he has been leading her on, his frustration in getting nowhere with her is visible enough for her to make note of it. You can tell by his reaction here that the whole time leading up to this, he has not been nice just to be nice or because he just finds her so lovely, but has been doing it to get something from her. And it does not seem like it's working.
Tumblr media
He decides to try one last thing, the truth. This is the actual first time since meeting her that he has taken the mask off, letting her see him as he is. He drops the pretense.
Sheppard: Look, Chaya… I respect that you believe. Look, I can't talk to Athar; I can only talk to you, so let me ask you this: what if the shoe was on the other foot? What if your people were in trouble and we could help you? Would you just take no for an answer?
This is where she must have realized what he was doing. That he was not going to take no for an answer. That all of this had but one goal and that he would keep digging until he arrived at the truth that she had never intended to share with them. She watches him silently for a moment. And then she touches him.
Tumblr media
I mentioned the rule of three at the beginning of the episode. Twice now we have seen someone express concern to her (Abbot worried about her leaving, Beckett suspicious about their perfect health) and she touched them only to have this worry suddenly vanish into thin air. The supernatural nature of this touch was underlined by the breeze coming from behind her when she touched the Abbot.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
If she put the whammy on the Abbot and Beckett, she's really doing something to Sheppard here. There's an actual wooshing sound in the soundtrack. She holds onto him for quite a while. Symbolically, we see her guide him through a doorway and only then release him. Sheppard is a new man on the other side of the door, his earlier upset suddenly entirely forgotten.
Tumblr media
And just as suddenly, not only does Sheppard's worry seem to dissipate, he's also honest with her.
Chaya: It must have been very hard to live your entire life under the shadow of the Wraith. Sheppard: Don't misunderstand me. Teyla and her people have known the Wraith forever, but when I say we're new, I mean we just got here. We're from another galaxy. A planet called Earth. Chaya: Earth? Sheppard: It's very far away. You know those clusters of stars you see in the night sky? Some of them are called galaxies, and they're even further away from you than the stars. Earth is in one of those galaxies. Chaya: You came through the Stargate. Sheppard: That's right. Chaya: And can you not simply return? Sheppard: Well, not simply. We knew going into it that it was probably going to be a one-way trip, but we thought what we would find here would be worth the risk.
He's telling her things he would not have told her under normal circumstances. He's putting Earth in jeopardy by revealing things to her that she has no reason or need to know. He doesn't just tell her they're newcomers from Earth, he basically gives her the home address. He's doing tactically unsound things. After he walks out of that door, something has definitely changed.
It's now that he actually starts behaving the way McKay thought he was behaving all along, her presence overriding his reason. But it's not because he's thinking with his dick, it's because she did something to alter his mind, likely shutting down some mechanisms of discernment.
But not all the way. I've discussed previously how Sheppard's strong ATA gene makes him mentally different. Even here, you can tell that he can tell something isn't right. Like the face he makes when he hears himself saying 'Earth':
Tumblr media
That is not something Sheppard would normally have done. That's something he shouldn't have done. He seems frankly confused as to why he's telling her all of these things.
Tumblr media
Truth be told, all of this is much much too subtle for a casual viewer to notice (and hence, they had to spell it out later using, not accidentally, Lucius Lavin with his lax approach to the concept of consent to do it). The casual viewer will get the romancing of the alien priestess story. And yet, this is supported by set design, lighting, sound, direction, acting, dialogue. It's there. A beautiful Ancient is trying to seduce John Sheppard. And between you and me, it's not all that great.
Continued in Pt. 10
13 notes · View notes
norcalbruja · 11 months ago
Text
Minor surgery tomorrow, plus I seem to have bad luck with cervid spirits
Copied from my main blog: I've got laser eye surgery scheduled for V-day tomorrow to help with some retina issues that have been going on for a few years. The folks at the clinic said it was a same-day operation and I should be covered by my insurance monetarily, BUT I've been trying to figure out what's actually in store for the next couple weeks and it's so confusing without asking the actual doctor. Like could they at least have gotten me a handout for "what to expect for minor/moderate procedures?" :/ Anyway, in case I have issues with one eye tomorrow, this is the reason.
--
As for spirit-issues, last night the Water-Spirit sent out a call for help because Most Of The Anito Still Aren't Here, annnnnnnnnnnnd guess what answered this time?
ANOTHER ELK/MOOSE!
But not just any elk, it was a freaky one! Behind the cut for yet more "pop" culture paganism, in the form of... "The Ritual (2017)."
This is behind the cut not for (lengthy/explicit???) scariness, because while it got solved fairly quickly, it was a REALLY unpleasant two or three minutes of me screaming in horror until Hypnos just... sent the Not-Elk away.
--
So here's me and the Water-Spirit in the Otherworld forest, and he is formally calling for help with like, my whole life again... and here comes this elk/human chimera thing lumbering out from the trees, which immediately made me think of Moder from The Ritual (2017). I haven't seen the movie myself, but I sure don't WANT to see it. I'm such a baby with wilderness horror, lmao.
Anyway, cue my screaming for like, two or three minutes because this enormous Not-An-Elk spirit has a fucking HUMAN FACE almost swallowed between two gigantic moose/elk antlers, and she had HUMAN HANDS instead of front legs, and sometimes she's got white human skin, but sometimes she's got masses of dark moose fur. IT'S NOT A GOOD MIX.
She was clearly not like Moder in personality, since she just reached out with a (really fucking long) arm, and the Water-Spirit didn't react like she was a THREAT, so much as a SURPRISE. While I was screaming and flailing, he just held on to me and asked the creature, "OH LORD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! GO AWAY! NO, DON'T TRY TO TOUCH HER, SHE'S SCARED!!!"
I have no idea what the Not-An-Elk was actually trying to do, but I sort of recovered my wits enough to yell for actual help from the Morrigan.
Hypnos of all people just rolled up and told Not-An-Elk, "NO. GO AWAY."
And now here comes a Full Metal Alchemist moment, because this Not-An-Elk can talk (in human languages???), just not WELL. Not-An-Elk cleared her throat and said to Hypnos in a very strained voice, "She... asked... me."
And Hypnos went, "No, honey, no she didn't. Her husband asked for like, anyone to help, and you're the one who heard him just now. You're scaring her. Please leave."
"Yes. I come back... later." So, Not-An-Elk didn't seem to hold anything against me (or the Water-Spirit), and she left.
The Morrigan AND Dionysus heard me screaming, so everyone waited for me to calm down. By then I felt really self-conscious and I was wondering if I was acting too much like a "hysterical useless woman" after running into two unexpected deer spirits.
And Dionysus was like, "Hysterical? You think you were hysterical? Babe, the Megaloceros tried to run you over. And how do you THINK other mortals would react if they see a chimera walking through the forest in the middle of the night?"
Hypnos told the Water-Spirit, "Buddy, you gotta be careful with asking for help. You're already a squid, and that's not like people at all."
And I was like "But like, I know what squid are. We fry the little ones or we eat them in soup. I don't know what... Moder is!"
MEANWHILE, the Water-Spirit went, "And that is forgetting how I'm not a squid anymore!"
And Hypnos went, "Yeah, but the abyss is still inside you. She sees it when she looks at your face. Everyone feels it when you're nearby. Weird shit is gonna home in on you because you just can't help it, and the only thing weirder than the abyss is the depths of the earth."
--
While the spirits were talking about Weird Land Creatures versus Weird Sea Creatures, Loki came up and was thrilled to see that one of his fictional "children" showed up. He called her back over, patted her hump, and he was like "THAT'S MY GIRL! BAHAHAHAHA."
And I'm like "Fucking hell, Loki. Why don't I ever have good luck with deer??? Cernunnos looks like a deer walking upright half the time. Then comes the Irish Elk trying to bludgeon me. THEN comes something that clearly wants to look like your stage-daughter from a horror movie."
And he was like, "Humans forgot a lot of shit about deer, Cyborg. They're creatures of the wilderness, like other forest beasts. They do not have your morals, or your society. DO. NOT. PISS. THEM. OFF."
I went, "Loki, I'm not TRYING to piss off the deer! They just... come around and then shit happens!"
And he laughed and went, "HAHAHAHAHA, THAT'S THE WILDERNESS!" in much the same way as he said, "that's my girl."
And I'll talk more about Cernunnos being a "deer walking on two legs" later, but needless to say, I told everyone but Hypnos and the Water-Spirit to PLEASE leave the meditation so I could fucking sleep.
1 note · View note
walkingintheamm · 3 years ago
Text
really sorry for what’s about to follow, but I’m way too anxious right now and I need to rant in the tags
#so this week as been.... intense™#there was something very anxiety inducing happening everyday and I'm at my breaking point right now#also it does not help that I'm pmsing#so this whole thing is seaming even more intense#basically a lot of new stuff happen this week#happened*#I've had internship interviews before so that isn't new#but for this one the whole process has been so quick#that I basically did not have any time to digest any of it#and knowing that I could already have an answer tomorrow isn't helping one bit#because either being a yes or a no is going to take a tool on me#if it's a no it's gonna suck that it is another internship that I couldn't get#but if it's a yes it's going to bring back a problem that has happened in a past internship application#and was the reason I could not do the intership in that place#so if this time I pass all the interviews but still can't get a supervisor it's to be almost like a double failure#because it's another thing I could not get#but after making the instituition go through all the recruitment work I will have to let them down and do all the recruitment work again#because this is all being so fast#I don't even know if they have other applicants they can turn to in case I can't take it#it's actually really weirs that an instituion that does the kind of work that they do don't have another psychologist that could serve#has a supervisor#idk I just feel like if they don't have a supervisor on hand it makes me question if the intern would be the only psychologist available#at the instituiton#and given the type of work they do it honestly doesn't even feel right to not have someone on site to turn to#in case a really complicated case appears and there is no way for it to be discussed with a supervisor as soon as possible and having to#wait for the supervision meetings#Idk... I also feel like I wouldn't be feeling like this if I had prior experience in this type of work#which I don't#like if it was any similar to the type of stuff I did during my internship in the maternity or to do with kids like when I was giving class#also I feel like I'm walking this very fine line of seaming borderline ungrateful for the opportunity
0 notes
tomesandrosebud · 2 years ago
Text
Chapter 2: DANCES WITH WOLVES! My Babysitter’s A Vampire (MBAV)! Fanfic!
Tumblr media
Courtney told Grandma Weir all about how today was her birthday and she just turned 16 years old, much like she had expected from what the book had said. Courtney told her about what she was told from her mother about how tonight was to be her first transformation and about how the last memory she had was that of being put in the cage right before the full moon was supposed to hit.
It wasn’t a lot of information that she could give them, but it definitely gave enough of an idea of what could’ve happened to her. The only part grandma didn’t understand was that of her hair color change. Courtney was telling her that before she woke up her hair had been dark like the color of Ethan or Benny’s but now looking at her it’s a bright blue color. Almost looks like it grew straight out of her head that way. But just based on the story it sounds like Courtney transitioned and being that for the first time she wasn’t so easily able to control herself as the wolf form probably completely took over and did some stuff until she eventually showed up here…They just needed to be able to figure out where she’d been and what she’d done to have arrived here, where was she from. But when asked, it seems Courtney didn’t even know that information either. Since all she knew of her life was living in that cave with her pack.
“Okay, well if that is all the information we can gather for right now, you stay here for the night, tomorrow I will have to leave a bit early to take a little bit of a trip to try to get some new herbs.” Grandma spoke, getting off the bed and starting to pack up some supplies in her case.
“Ethan,” she asked, turning her attention to the group of teens.
“You said you saw her over a body?” Ethan nods.
“Okay, there’s a potion I can make to help her get her memories back, and then we can figure out what happened.”
“Ms. Weir, not to question your judgment or anything, but are you sure you can just trust letting her stay here? Sounds like she could’ve killed someone...”
Upon hearing this coming from Sarah, Courtney looked down worryingly and also feeling pretty guilty, playing with the dead skin on her fingers and nail bed and wondering, praying to God that it wasn’t true. That wasn’t her...she wouldn’t hurt anyone she swears...but can she really if something happened that she couldn’t control? The tears threatened to fall again and then when she looked up they were all just looking at her again.
“I appreciate your concern Sarah, but I have a good feeling about her, I will take my chances, but if it makes you all feel better...” And then Grandma approaches Courtney. Reaching to grab another small vial next to the bedside, she sprinkles a little of the blue colored potion dust over the young girl's head. “There, now she is unable to change again until the next full moon. Happy?” She asked the group, to which they all nodded, and Rory was still with everything just looking at her with the biggest lovey dovey eyes ever like he just felt something radiating off her energy, he didn’t care if their kinds normally hated each other.
“Now Benny, get the poor girl something else comfortable to wear.” Ms. Weir ordered her grandson.
And yeah, Courtney didn’t realize just how dirty her clothes were until she was looking in the mirror and down at her arms, apparently her whole body. 
“Come with me dear, I will show you where you can get cleaned up.” 
“I mean can’t I just lick myself clean?” Yeah, really shows she was raised by a group of dogs.
“Oh no, your majesty, you are going to surely need a shower, I’ll show you.” Rory excitedly volunteered only for Ethan to grab him by the back of his shirt and pull him back to sitting on his butt, 
“Stay.” Ethan pointed down at the disappointed and pouting blonde.
***
Ethan, Rory, and Sarah had each gone home now whilst Benny’s grandmother led her to the bathroom and introduced her to the shower and all the hygienic supplies, they had for her to use to get herself cleaned up. Grandma showed Courtney what each item was and how she was to use it. Courtney observed with cautious interest. She demonstrated how to turn on and adjust the shower temperature, allowing Courtney to test the water before she stepped out so that the young girl could get undressed. 
She then stepped under the water and almost howled at just how nice it felt on her skin and she watched as the dirt, mud, and what she hoped wasn’t actually blood. It all just fell away in the water to the drain. She let out a growl of uncertainty, but she did have to admit that this was heaven compared to how the pack communally bathed each other. The unfamiliarity still made her feel tense.
She was also definitely still scared and found herself crying when she was left alone, crying over how she didn’t know what she’d done and that was a terrifying thought in itself but just also being so lost and missing her family. But she knew she had to be strong as well in case anything turned negatively in her favor.
She tried and wanted to be appreciative of the hospitality she was being treated with but also, they didn’t know what they’d find when the potion would be used on her. Trying to shake it off she got cleaned up and struggled a little but eventually got the shower off. Stepping out she saw exposed patches of her reflection looking back at her from the wall, Curiosity getting the better and just wanting to see more Courtney starts wiping off the mirror as she found that to be one positivity to all this. Nobody knew what it meant yet and that could be scary but just looks wise she didn’t hate the blue, it just took her off guard at first, but just looking at it wise, it looked good on her and especially with her new purple eyes.
Courtney plotted the water with the towel from off her body, she fisted the material to wrap it snugly around her frame while her other hand played with and inspected her new color. She’d only ever really seen her reflection before in puddles during rainy days or after storms where rainwater would get on the cave floor. And for clothes there were only a few options she’d ever had, scavenged for her by packmates while they got to go out. 
Speaking about this is when Benny lightly knocked on the bathroom door. After hearing the small tapping sound Courtney slightly struggled to open the door. Trying her best to keep most of her body hidden from his sight in the case her towel could slip and trying not to really look at his face either after all their interactions so far have not been the most positive. And really, he wasn’t trying to really look at her either, as much of a flirt that Benny could be he didn’t want to see her body without her real consent, so he mostly just kept turning away as he held out his arm with a couple clean clothing items sitting on it for her to take.
So, it was a bit of an awkward but thankfully quick exchange as she opened the door, quickly snatched the items from him, and then closed it back up so that she could drop the towel and get dressed.
There were 3 items that Benny had chosen. Of course, one of his striped polos, really the only type of shirt he ever even seemed to own, and then a pair of baggy boy shorts style underwear that seemed just a little bit concerning to have her share, and then finally a baggy pair of boy’s gym shorts.
Benny stood still on the other side of the door in case she were to possibly need anything else and so he heard a little snort come from the other side.
“Oh yeah, I swear the underwear are new. I didn’t know what else would be any more comfortable.” He couldn’t see but on the other side Courtney took a sigh at this, His reassurance made her snort softly, though her guarded demeanor remained intact. she shrugged knowing there isn’t really anything else for her to possibly lose and with a hesitant chuckle to herself she pulled the polo over her head.
“Are you okay?” He stood and asked not having heard anything else come from her yet.
“Yeah, I’m coming out.” She’d softly replied.
Courtney went to open the door with Benny patiently waiting on the other side. Benny didn’t exactly know what to think of her thus far; on one hand Benny has this big thing for Della, going as far as to bring her dog back from the dead, and yes. he realized he might still have to deal with some consequences there later but ignored that for the moment. Yeah, he still had this thing for Della still and yes, he also kinda did have some questions and concerns with this girl, kind of in the same vein as his friends. But he also had to admit that just like Rory he also found her attractive, but in a different way. For Benny he saw her looks, yes. But also just he felt something with the energy she gave off and how she interacted with his grandma, thought it might be a mistake on his part, but he just couldn’t imagine that she could actually be really dangerous.
At least not intentionally and it almost gave him a pull to want to help her even though the two yet haven’t even really looked each other fully in the eyes yet. Speaking of which..
The door opened slowly as she stumbled a little bit, Courtney first looking down really focusing on the knob. And Benny couldn’t help but gulp at taking in the sight below him and admitting to himself about just how it felt for him seeing a girl in an outfit completely made of his clothes. Benny tried to remind himself to snap out of it and actually say words and not just awkwardly stare at her though he was kinda failing at a loss for something to say. Was he making her uncomfortable? 
Stepping out, she found herself in close proximity to Benny, her instincts causing her to slightly bare her teeth in a snarl, a reflexive sign of warning. Benny's gaze and words both showed concern, but her mind was still grappling with the overwhelming changes she was facing.
Pinching himself he stumbled but managed to get the words out. “You look great, do you feel okay?”
But it turns out Courtney was pretty equally at a loss as she didn’t answer right away and just seemed in her own little trance. Though Benny didn’t take it as having anything to do with himself and figuring it was probably her having been so overwhelmed with everything going on.
But on Courtney’s end things were definitely a little bit different than that.
For the entire duration of time that Courtney was even in the bathroom all that plagued her mind was just a feeling of dread for her whole situation. She felt thankful for the people around her being seemingly nice and helpful but that she knows she cannot stay. This is not where she belongs. She is a werewolf and a werewolf belongs with their pack and she’s got a destiny to uphold, it’s something that’s been buried into her mind for her entire life practically. Does she want it, maybe not but that’s not how it works. She has to go back. Besides, even if these people have been nice to her, well so far technically it was really only the grandma so far as the rest of the group seemed to have hated her from the start just because they are a group of Vampires. And to be fair with good reason as she knows she is meant to hate them too. So, all she could think about is how mixed up and complicated her feelings are...she’s out of the cave, that feeling alone is very overwhelming.
But trying to ignore that and take everything one small step at a time, she moves to go to the door slowly and carefully comes to step out and close it behind her slowly and hopefully, quietly. Once she hears it click to signify that it shut successfully, she turns back around slowly to see that she and the grandson of the group, she thinks she’d heard her calling him “Benny”? are pretty close, almost too close, face to face.
First, she’s just feeling the nerves considering he’s a stranger to her, but then she looks up slightly and they are looking face to face for the very first time.
“Do you feel okay?”  Benny asked, his cautious approach evident.
Courtney hears it and she’s looking up at him, Benny sees she’s looking him straight in the eyes but it’s almost as if she’s not there. To him she looks kinda stunned and out of it and so he starts to worry a little bit. What does he do? It doesn’t help either of their feelings that the two of them are physically so close to each other without having meant to be, but then before too long she seems to be fine. Courtney shakes her head a little, completely snapping out of whatever held her attention for the moment there and is back to looking and seeing Benny, albeit looking just a little concerned.
“Oh yeah, Yeah, I’m fine.” She holds her hand to her temple and just shakes her head around a little bit. She starts moving to put a little distance between themselves as she goes back to the makeshift bed in the living room area. Sitting down on it and fiddling with the blanket and pillow.
“Are they comfortable enough?” Benny asks although she isn’t really looking at him. Did he do something wrong.
“What?”
“The clothes.” She looks up at him but not in the eyes.
“Oh yeah, yeah they work alright.”
“Okay.”
Benny kind of feels the awkwardness of the air of the situation and turns around to go back to his bedroom for the night and leave her out here. But then he remembers and stops.
“Oh, do you need anything else? Have you eaten in a while?”
“Oh, I don’t really remember that either I guess, uhm… I guess I can get myself some water if I need it later, right?”
“Do you know how?” Benny asks nervous but honestly.
“If it’s like the shower I think I can get it.” She responds.
“Here.” Benny goes over to the sink and grabs a glass from the cabinet above, filling it with some ice water, giving it to her and then without saying anything he seems to remember something that should be in the fridge, he goes to check and sees a piece of steak still remains, he pulls it out. Heats it up after switching the plate and then grabbing some silverware he brings it out and hands the plate to Courtney and extends the fork out with his hand.
Courtney kinda takes him off guard though when she just immediately without even seeming to have thought. She grabs the piece of meat off the dish and just scarfs the food down. Making some pretty gnarly dog type eating sounds. Benny doesn’t know whether to be shocked or completely disgusted when he takes the plate back and throws all the dishware back into the sink.
“Okay, you should be good, you know where the bathroom is so, I guess I’m going to go to bed so goodnight,”
Benny starts to walk away again when he sees the light switch and hits it.
“Wait Benny, can you leave it on?”
To which he keeps the lights off but turns the dial back a little bit so it’s not nearly as dark as it was, compromise.
“Is this okay?”
“Yeah, thanks. Goodnight.”
And so Courtney just lay alone in the mostly dark room, under the covers but too uncomfortable to sleep for a while, just staring at the ceiling as her mind went a mile a minute. She’d heard of “Imprinting” before, they all had really but she’d never seen it herself and she didn’t think really anyone else of their group had either with the way they’d talked about it. It was always talked about to be this really rare phenomenon but it happened with Shape-Shifters. Though as rare as it was supposed to be she’d heard it talked about in such detail that she couldn’t think of this possibly being anything else but it. And also, just the fact that Benny was somebody she didn’t even know and somehow had this huge feeling come over her with, the first time that they’d ever truly looked up each other. So, she really couldn’t find any other explanation to the point that it was truly getting under her skin and stopping her as she tried so desperately to fall asleep as comfortable as the bed was.
It got to the point that she just got out of the bed out of frustration, just pacing back and forth, talking to herself trying to stay light in her volume as she tried to think this through and find an answer and also thinking about what exactly had happened and what she’d seen.
OMG! And was Benny a vampire?
No, he didn’t seem to have the teeth for that, or could they hide them?
What had happened she went over again.
Benny and herself looked each other in the eyes for the very first time and a sudden excess feeling of heat entered into her body, all the way from her head to her feeling it all in her fingertips and even to her feet a little bit, and then she kinda just completely zoned out and started seeing nothing but these images of herself and him intertwined…
She tried to remind herself that these images could definitely be fantasy, that definitely has happened. The way the feeling always sounds in the stories is how it’s supposed to be completely one sided.
Imprinting normally is supposed to be this gravitational pull that the imprinter feels for the imprinted. A need to do anything to please and protect a “soulmate.” But it’s always supposed to happen way later than the first transition?...like it could happen now, but it normally doesn’t this early ... Courtney never felt this need for a partner before but now is she being told Benny is meant to be her “Soulmate?” And she knew that Soulmate could mean a lot of things, but it was always introduced to her as how it was supposed to be in a romantic sense…
And then the thought came to her.
“If Benny’s my soulmate, then I can’t go home…”
If she were to leave her soulmate it would cause her to go crazy until she was to mentally off herself...Courtney was going to have to stay in White Chapel…
Courtney couldn’t take this mental battle anymore, the other two had to be fully asleep by now, she couldn’t hear anything coming out of Benny’s bedroom and she needed answers, and there were tons of witchy type sorcery supplies here...there’s got to be a book or something that could help her. She assumed, telling herself that it would be okay and so Courtney went to the little knob on the wall that Benny had used earlier and she’d turned it up, in the same way she’d seen him use it, just a little bit more until she could see much better and then she started looking on the table.
And she didn’t have to look too long, thankfully for her, the book that Grandma Weir was looking at earlier was still out on the counter and pretty much open to a spread of pages about were-creatures, wolves pretty specifically being they are normally the most common type.
On the first page wasn’t the information she’d been looking for, she had to flip through a few pages about their claws, hair, there was some information on her transition that would be much more helpful once she got her memories fully back. Now though she was more scared than ever, what if she did do something truly horrible and these people rejected her and would separate her from her soulmate. That just couldn’t happen.
But finally, after a few flips through she found something that looked like it might be able to help her….
“Find what we’re looking for?”
The voice totally caught her off guard and made her jump pretty high with a snarl as she turned around to see it was only Benny’s grandma. How long had she been awake with this? it only felt like 20 minutes maybe.
“I’m sorry, I know I should be asleep, or should’ve at least asked but...” Courtney didn’t really know how to finish the sentence as she held the book in her arms feeling pretty guilty doing so.
“Nonsense.” Grandma dismissed, waving it off. “You’re curious about your heritage, it's perfectly normal to want to find out more information. Now where are we?”
She grabbed her glasses from the table, putting them on her face, and took the book from the blue haired girl.
“Imprinting, what’s this?”
The earth priestess went ahead and read the little passage of what little the author of the book knew of the rare phenomenon. While Courtney stood off to the side quietly not really knowing what to say.
“Imprinting, now why would you care about this? It says here that it happens so rarely unless…”
Grandma Weir kinda picked up very quickly what was happening here as she peeked up to look at Courtney as they spoke and noticed the way the girl was sat back down and picking at her nails followed by the blush on her cheeks.
“You imprinted on someone?”
Courtney shrugged, not knowing really how else to respond.
Grandma read over the page one more time to make sure the information really sticks and then she closed the book and just rested it on her lap as she sat with the girl and looked over her.
“Well seems between this and your hair you are one special shape-shifter, you’ll have to tell me about him. Unless well, you didn’t imprint on Rory, did you?”
“Rory?” Courtney didn’t yet recognize the name.
“You know the little blonde one, got in your face, tried to kiss you, made you scream. He’s a sweet buy but can really be a lot, and he’s a vampire you know...” Grandma started to ramble, and Courtney had to stop her and shake her head.
“Wow, yeah I'm sure he’s great but no, not him.”
“Oh well that’s too bad, he seemed pretty smitten with you, you’ll have to let him down pretty easily..” Courtney just sat their kind of awkwardly nodding, cringing at the idea of having to tell the kind, older woman that she’d imprinted on her grandson…
“So who is he?” She just looked at her fingers again and did not say anything.
“Or a she? Perhaps?”
Courtney shook her head but still didn’t look up or say anything.
“Well, you’re going to have to tell me about him if you want me to help you.” Courtney just looked up at her awkwardly, dang Grandma was definitely good at this.
And with the look she was receiving, Ms. Weir put two and two together pretty easily.
“Oh, I see, okay well then. Seems, that means you won’t be going anywhere for a while then?”
As much as she’d really wanted to go back for her family and her people, this didn’t really work that way and her plans were now going to have to shift pretty drastically and pretty quickly. She would find them, but she'd have to explain the situation to them and then maybe someone else might have to take her spot as leader, which she was kind of conflicted about currently. Her parents would be so disappointed but also they’d have to understand it’s the way of the imprint!
Courtney nodded in response to Ms. Weir’s question.
“Okay then, I will get you those herbs so we can see what’s happened to you and where you’ve come from, and you will stay here until we find your people?”
“Yes, thank you!”
“Okay, tonight we will make some better sleeping arrangements here.” She started digging into her pocket and pulled out a small wad that she handed to the young girl.
“If you're going to stay here you’re going to need some of your own stuff. While I’m gone I’ll leave a note for Benny to take you to town and you can get some of your own clothes, don’t need you walking around looking like whatever this is.” Grandma said and laughed at how Benny’s clothes looked and fit on her body.
“Thank you so much!”
“And you are welcome, Call me Grandma, I figure someday you will anyways so might as well start now. And then starting tomorrow I will help you figure out how to control your powers. Now I have to get going or I’ll be late, get some sleep deary!”
3 notes · View notes
samnyangie · 4 years ago
Text
Perhaps everyone already know it but me(or even I might had seen it before;;), but I’ve found a rsl interview on the dead poets society (https://rsl-daily.livejournal.com/140836.html), he talked about the behind the scenes in great detail and I thought it’d be an interesting read to those who are just fan of the film.
To those who haven’t read this before… enjoy!
____________________________________________________________
unknown: from script to screen
The Collaborative Art of Filmmaking
by Linda Seger and Edward Jay Whetmore
From Script to Screen
unknown
Robert Sean Leonard on Dead Poets' Society
All seven of us boys arrived a week before shooting. We were told that the week was reserved for haircuts and learning how to play soccer. It turned out to, be a week of getting to know each other. The first morning we went through the script as it was, and the following mornings were basically improvisations.
Once Peter Weir directed us to get up one by one and give a speech in character. He would do silly things, like he would pretend he was a teacher putting together a Christmas pageant and we were all supposed to be in it. Some of us formed a human sleigh and the rest of us had to be reindeer. Maybe it was silly but it got us in touch with our characters and the feeling of the script. And it also helped us get to know each other.
The Cave Scene
Right away Peter told us that the poetry scene, the first scene of the boys in the cave, would be the hardest scene to pull off in this movie. The audience has to believe that there are seven young guys in this cave that are having a good time reading poetry. They don't want to leave. And Peter said if we could make that scene work, the movie would work.
In the original script, that first cave scene had problems. It was just us reading poetry. One of us had a line like "Isn't this fun?" or "How great." Finally Peter said to us, "I just don't believe it. I don't believe that these guys would sit in a cave at midnight and just read poetry."
And then he said something I'll always remember because it was wonderful. He said, "I don't know what happened that night in the cave, but you all do. That's why I hired you. I met you and I knew from talking to you that you were all there. You know what went on that night and I need you to tell me." So we all went home like fiends and wrote seven different scenes on our own, and we worked together, and improvised a lot of ideas.
Late at night somebody would knock on my door and say, "I have an idea about this," and then we'd discuss it. Then he'd disappear and we'd keep writing. It was incredibly collaborative and fun. We came up with things like the food and the ghost stories and the Playboy magazine. We thought of how we would sulk around at school and rag on our teachers.These were things that we honestly thought would occur. We'd bring them to Peter and he'd say, "You're right, do it."
Up on the Roof
There was always a kind of freedom. He would take in all of our ideas, keep some, throw some out, and then have Tom rewrite scenes. Like in the final version there's the scene where Ethan [Hawke] and I throw the desk set off the roof. Ethan and I had done the original version of that scene together for Peter when we had auditioned. Ethan says, "It's my birthday." I ask him what he got-was it the same thing his parents got him last year? And he says yes.
In the original version he goes on about his family and says, "I used to think that all parents just automatically loved their children and now I know it's not true. Because my parents certainly don't love me, or at least not as much as they love my brother." And then he walks away and I sort of look after him with concern.
We shot the scene at three in the morning and Peter said, "I don't think this is right. I think we already know all this. We're overstating it. The audience knows this by now. It's in the performance, it doesn't need to be said. I'd rather this scene be more about friendship than about a confession or exposition on the boys' problems. I want it to be more active, I want something to happen."
So he put it in our hands, and we went off and decided to destroy the desk set. Peter said it was a good idea but he wanted us to throw it off the roof because we only had three desk sets to work with. So the three of us wrote the scene on the spot. Half of it was improvised in front of the camera. It was great.
Another scene that got changed was where I perform in the play. Originally my character's father walks onstage in the middle of the performance and drags me off in front of all the other actors and the audience. Peter wanted me to complete the performance, to see the people cheering. And that's what we did.
The Big Sleep
My character's suicide was obviously a major scene in the film, and it kind of hung over everything. At the beginning of filming Peter explained, "I want you to put that scene out of your mind, I don't want you playing it like this boy is doomed. I want you to pretend that he goes on to become a doctor or lawyer, there's nothing wrong." He didn't want to give the audience any clues. He wanted it to be one of those cases where everyone says, "My God, he would be the last person I would ever have thought would have done that!"
We shot it toward the end of production. Much of my preparation was subconscious. A lot of it involved the love I felt for all the boys, and for Peter and Robin. I just adored Kurt Smith who played my father. When you're surrounded by people that you're comfortable with and that support you, the difficult scenes become a lot easier.
I did read a lot about teen suicides and quotes from people who had attempted it. I found that a lot of teenage suicides happen because their world is smaller and it's much easier to feel trapped, especially somewhere like that school. They don't know the world beyond the school. Their parents and teachers are their whole universe.
Neil was like a child who had his candy taken away. His father takes acting away and tells him he's going to go tomilitary school, there's no choice in the matter. It's the end of everything he knows and loves.
When you're that young, you don't feel that there are any options. That's where the trapped feeling comes from. No future. And I don't think Neil thinks it out too much. For him it's a romantic, passionate decision.
Working with Robin Williams
There's a scene with Robin in the schoolroom where I lie to him and tell him that my father gave me permission to be in the play. He says, "Did you tell your father? What did he say?" and I say, "It will be fine." The scene was only about five lines and then I was to get up and leave.
But when the camera was on me, instead of letting me leave, Robin repeats the questions again, "Really, you really told him?" In my mind I'm thinking, why aren't we cutting? What's happening here? We're completely off the script and why aren't we cutting? Robin says it again, "Really, you told him what you told me?" And he looks in my eyes, and I'm terrified. I say, "Well, he wasn't happy," and then I mumble something, which I don't think makes any sense, like "He'll be in Chicago, so it won't really matter." I totally made that up as the camera was rolling. Robin just tortured me. He kept repeating all the questions, and I had to improvise different answers. I'm totally on the spot. And of course it comes across wonderfully that I'm lying.
Peter said, "Cut" and "Perfect," and that was the take that was used.
Robin made that scene work, and that was his strength. He's incredible on his feet. We were all very young and impressionable, and I would never have had the nerve to go completely off book with Robin Williams. But it was his place to do that, since he was the star. And he did. He treated us as equals. He was a joy to work with.
130 notes · View notes
darklingichor · 3 years ago
Text
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir **MAJOR SPOILERS**
So, this is a first, I've never written a revisit this fast.
I do often read or listen to an especially good book, again, right after I finish it. Usually because I can't get into another book until I do.
I did it with Lamb, and I did it with the Martian.
This one is going to be chock full of spoilers, I really want to analyze the main characters in this book, and I can't do that without going into details. This is why I marked the hell out of this.
Project Hail Mary is even better the second time around. This is often the case. Books are like soup. The leftovers from the fridge are often even better than when you had it the first time.
*SPOILERS* *SERIOUSLY SPOILERS TURN BACK NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THIS BOOK* *SPOILERS* *THE REST OF THIS RAMBLE WILL RUIN THE BOOK* *SPOILERS*
Okay, so run down.
The book opens with our main character waking up to an annoying computer asking him basic math questions. This is detecting cognitive function, that's my guess anyway.
Our character quickly discovers a few things. First, he's in a room with robot arms tending to him, including unhooking him from various life support systems as it figures out that he is awake and functioning. He's not alone in the room, there are two others, but they are long dead. And he has no idea, who he is, where he is, or why he's there.
What follows for a little while is what I would call a psychological screwball comedy. It takes him several days to work out that his name is Ryland Grace and he is a microbiologist PhD who had a falling out with the academic community and found his calling as a Jr. High science teacher. Though exploration, experiments, and memory flashes, he works out that he is on a spaceship, the corpses were his crewmates, and he is on a mission to Tau Ceti to save earth from an alien algae like creature, called Astropgage, that is dimming the sun and setting earth on the course to an ice age that will begin to wipe out humanity in 30 years. Tau Ceti, which is 12 light years away from earth, is resistant to this energy sucking algae.
We get all the backstory of how he became a crew member aboard the ship Hail Mary, in flashbacks as his memories return. A big memory that returns? Project Hail Mary is a suicide mission, he will not be going home.
In the meantime, he is slowly trying to figure out how to save earth, while he does this, he sees a very weird spaceship and meets an intelligent alien being. This being (Grace calls him Rocky) comes from a world (Earid) that is in the same situation as Earth. Together, Grace and Rocky have to work out how to save both of their home worlds.
Ryland Grace is a complex character, he’s very very different from Mark Watney (I haven't read Artimis so I can't make comparisons to those characters).
The Martian points out that Astronauts are inherently noble, willing to risk their lives for science and a good cause.
Grace is not an astronaut. That's not to say that he isn't a good person, just that he is an average person. He can be all at once self-sacrificing and selfish.
Early on he is drafted into the research team on what would be called Astropgage as a science expert by Eva Strat, a woman in charge of figuring out what is going on and how to stop it.
Once he was released from his part in this research, he goes back to teaching, only to be struck by the fact that his students would be in their early forties when all hell breaks loose, and that they might die. He then goes back to Strat and demands to be part of the research again.
This back and forth happens a few times in the story. In fact, it becomes a big part of it. See, the crew of the Hail Mary were put into comas to ensure that they would not go nuts and kill each other on the 12 light-year (four years from their perspective) journey, a medical company discovered that 1 in 7000 people have the genes to survive long comas and still function when they wake up. Grace is one of those people, but he is not volunteering for this mission. It's not that he doesn't care, or even that he doesn't want to help, it's that he's scared. And who wouldn't be? But honestly? I think Grace has imposture syndrome and is generally very sensitive. He realized that his kids would suffer, after starting to teach a class, that speed him to become a part of Strat's team again. Events happen that lead him to being the only logical candidate for the science expert aboard the Hail Mary. He refused, Strat basically kidnaps him, sets the computer induce amnesia in only Grace and plunks him on board.
Before she does this, she harshly calls Grace out.
“Do you think I don’t know you, Dr. Grace?!” she yelled. “You’re a coward and you always have been. You abandoned a promising scientific career because people didn’t like a paper you wrote. You retreated to the safety of children who worship you for being the cool teacher. You don’t have a romantic partner in your life because that would mean you might suffer heartbreak. You avoid risk like the plague.” (pg. 392 Kindle Edition)
This all seems to be true, but we don't know Grace's full story. Other than a mention of one girlfriend in college, and brief mentions of friends, There is nothing in the book about his life before he started teaching. This could be because the amnesia has left those things fuzzy, but in my head, it's because he doesn't want to think about it. Maybe he had a bad family life, maybe he had *no* family life, maybe he had an early tragedy. Maybe he realized his short comings and that, no matter his talent, he just didn't have the temperament for acidemia.
He does like being the cool teacher, he does say he likes being looked up to, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. He's a *good* teacher.
I had cool teachers before I switched to home school. They weren't all good. I had one that would literally just let us mess around during class because they didn't want to actually grade papers. Cool to a kid? Absolutely! Good for education? Not on your life.
Grace isn't like that, he loves science, he loves teaching, and the kids are learning.
He doesn't like animal testing, he's emotional at the fragility of humanity. In short, in his quiet way he loves life.
He leaves his comfort zone to be a part of Strat's team because he knows he's good at what he does and he couldn't look at his students and knowing they could die when he could help prevent it. That doesn't mean he thinks he will be Earth's savior, just that he can help.
He's unwilling to die.
Usually in books and movies, this translates to coward, but really? It's not. Most people wouldn't volunteer for a suicide mission, especially one this pressure filled. "So, we need you to go into a coma, go to a different solar system, save your whole species, and then kill yourselves so you won't starve to death. We good? Cool."
You can't fault a living being for wanting to live. Plus, the other crew members had time to think it through, really decide, make peace with the decision and *then* carry through with the training. Grace? He was given the training, but Strat always said it was for the science of the mission. She was a little like Dumbledore, in that she was training him in case he had to go, but never told him it was a possibility. When it became clear that he was the choice for the vacant spot, he was given less than five hours to decide, and then was told he had no choice.
He makes noble choices throughout the book, but that one choice was not his own, because Strat was given absolute power and used it absolutely.
I can't say that Strat is a villain, either. She was elected to save earth and given the power to cut through any red tape. Handed all this authority, she doesn't become corrupt, she uses this power ruthlessly, but always with the only goal being Save Earth, full stop, that's it. And even as Grace, understandably terrified, yells at her she tells him that she likes him, that she knows that he is a good man, that he will give this  his all. She doesn't *want* to send this unwilling and scared man on a suicide mission. She *has* to. Strat is also complex, she is not nonsense and is committed to her role in saving humanity. I like the reason she gives as to why, toward the end of the book. She got her undergrad degree in history. She takes to heart the old saying that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
The climate scientists and their models assumed survival based on the idea that all countries will work together for the common goal. However, Strat points out that history shows that that ideal scenario, is not likely to work. She says that most wars, up until very recently, were fought over food, and resulting in famine.  As the sun loses energy and crops fail, there will be wars, and they will be over food. And that is what she is desperately trying to avoid – the horror of history brought to the modern day.
I started as a history major, and history is interwoven into anthropology – I understand this perspective.
I am not going to get into politics, but I’ve experienced the agonizing frustration of watching history repeat itself, more than once in the last couple of years. Guessing at how something will probably go due to how something lines up with a similar event in the past and knowing that if someone in power would just listen it might turn out different, or that the eventual problems could at least be prepared for, and watch it happen anyway and everyone act surprised. It’s enough to make you pull your hair out.
Strat has the knowledge and the authority to act on it, I can’t say, that in her position I wouldn’t act the same way.
That is the major difference between Grace and Strat: viewpoint. By necessity of her position and by virtue of her education, she sees the big picture clearly, Grace, however, doesn’t. He’s a microbiologist, his entire career and education is looking closely at the small things and how they would translate to big things. He studies the universe by studying the smallest things in it. It is no surprise that he would need the smaller things to make the bigger things to snap into focus. When he was forced to start research on astrophage, it wasn’t until he was faced with the small scale (his kids could suffer) to make him see his part in the grand scheme of things. Strat is right, he does avoid risk, because he’s avoiding pain, he doesn’t let things in because he feels too much. Yes, the realization about the kids, puts steel in his spine, but not before he narrowly avoids a break down. For Grace, seeing Strat’s point of view, without being able to work it though to his scale, is like yelling at someone standing too close to a mountain for not being able to see the peak. It just can’t be done from where they are.
It makes me wonder, had Strat been up front with Grace, would he have willingly gone? It takes him a while to come around to the idea of helping the project in the first place. If he were told sooner, given some time, had been able to go home, and think, I feel like he would have gone. Something would have set him on the course. Maybe it would have been one of his former students, telling him about their plans for trying out for high school track, or going to college,  maybe he would have gone to his usual cafe for breakfast and found out that one of the waitresses had just gotten engaged, maybe he would be told these things and see the fear and desperate need to keep life as normal as possible in the person's eyes, and then he would decide, if, on the off chance  no one else could go, he would. Until he remembers his refusal, nearly at the end of the book, he accepts quickly that he volunteered for the mission. Of course, that could have been simply because he couldn't imagine someone forcing someone into something like that, but even as his memories and sense of self come back to him, he doesn't have a sense of terror or blind panic at the fact that he's not going home. I would think that if his unwillingness were something hard wired into his personality, he would know soon after remembering who he is, that he would have never considered being a part of the voyage.
So, I think, had Strat told Grace early on that he had the coma resistant genes and that there was a small possibility that he may have to be the backup for the backup, and then allowed him to come to terms with it, he would have gone without the drama. Don’t get me wrong, there is the possibility that he would have run off and had to have been hunted down, but I think, just like when he went to his class and saw his students, something would have made his conscious kick in, and he would have come back.
That might have been interesting, him running scared for a little while and then coming back? Might have given a little more background into why he is the way he is. But that’s not really what this book is about, I think it’s a forgone about conclusion that Grace would have helped, but what’s really interesting is how Grace and Rocky work together.
Rocky is cool! I love that Weir didn’t go the easy route with the creation of an alien character. Rocky is no Roswell gray with a humanoid form. No no, for our sympathetic alien, we have a spider like creature with liquid mercury for blood who “sees” with echolocation and speaks in musical notes. And it works!!
Rocky is expressive and funny and is great with Grace. It’s hilarious, other than the Russian scientist on Project Hail Mary, he doesn’t get along with anyone as well as he does with Rocky, out of everyone in the book, Grace connects most with a spider shaped rock being, he has to make a computer program to speak with.
Rocky is a tad steadier than Grace, but that makes sense simply because of the two, Rocky knew what he was getting into, and Eridens not only have more time before their star dims to the point of causing a problem, but also, they live a long long time, so, Rocky knows he is going home. But the steadiness is also built into his personality. He and Grace are both analytical problem solvers, but seeing that Rocky is an engineer, his focus is to fix things. A problem arises, and his first reaction is “I will fix that.” He won’t be dissuaded until he has all avenues exhausted.
Grace has a habit, early on, of moping for a little while before rallying and getting to work. His interaction with Rocky brings that pouting time down a bit, and he even pulls Rocky out of a slump a time or two.
The relationship between these two is interesting because Grace says flat out that he is not a social person, he feels awkward in groups with people. But he easily communicates with his students, and he easily communicates with Rocky. Rocky is not childlike, but he does have something in common with the students, Grace, like any teacher, teaches his students, and learns from them. Grace teaches Rocky and learns from him. Grace is comfortable with this sort of interaction; with his students this is where the relationship stops. With Rocky, it doesn’t have that boundary. By virtue of the fact that both are alone in space and crave interaction, they talk a lot. Also, activities that Grace is use to doing alone, Rocky’s culture requires to be done in pairs. The biggest: Sleeping.
Eridens do not sleep without another person watching them. So, he insists that he watch Grace sleep and that Grace watches him. It is not expressly said what other things Eridens don’t do alone, but it is implied (at least to me) that they work better in pairs or in groups. This is true of humans as well, but Grace in particular is a loner, even as he complains that science doesn’t happen with one scientist doing the work (and he’s right) but he does work alone even when the astrophage project opened up to more people, the feeling I get is that he still does most of his work alone unless asked to teach others, or forced to come along by Strat.
Grace quickly becomes acclimated to Rocky’s way of doing things, in an odd way, Grace is more comfortable being Eriden, than he is being human. And I really think that this is the crux of their relationship.
I read somewhere recently that family isn’t necessarily blood, but who you would bleed for.
I feel that Rocky and Grace would sacrifice themselves for their respective home worlds, but they will bleed for each other. Grace must go to a different star system to find family, which is actually really cool to me, because the story manages to have Grace have a story of growth and even a quiet redemption arc all with the background noise of a potential double Armageddon, and we manage not to lose sight of any of these elements. Add to this that the book will make you laugh, cry and think all at once. I love the Martian, but I honestly think this one is better!
24 notes · View notes
letterboxd · 4 years ago
Photo
Tumblr media
In Focus: The Truman Show.
Inspired by Letterboxd data that revealed it to be a lockdown favorite, editor-at-large Dominic Corry looks at the ever-evolving importance of contemporary masterpiece The Truman Show.
It has long been apparent that The Truman Show is an unnervingly prescient film. The story of a man who becomes aware that his superficially idyllic life is, in fact, a live-streamed television show has gone from being high-concept to every-day.
Thanks to the three Ps—the prevalence of mass urban surveillance, the proliferation of reality television and the pervasiveness of video in social media—the notion of cameras filming our every move is no longer a paranoid fantasy, but real life. The twist being that, for the most part, we all willingly signed up for it, and did all the filming ourselves. As Yi Jian saliently observes in his review: “Not to get all ‘we live in a society’ on Letterboxd but I know a person or two in real life that would actually give anything to trade lives with Truman, it do be like that sometimes”. It indeed do, Yi Jian.
Tumblr media
So it’s something of a cliché at this stage to point out how we are all living in some version of the The Truman Show, and you don’t have to be a member of the royal family to feel that way. Yet, somehow, the film has become even more pertinent over the last eighteen months. And it’s a pertinence reflected in the massive uptick in viewership for the film as seen in Letterboxd activity.
During the month of February 2020, the last moment of the Before Times, The Truman Show had a modest 1,235 diary entries. That number tripled in April of that year, by which time the seriousness of the pandemic had become clear. And by July, deep in the worst of the pandemic, Truman fervor peaked, with a further 178 percent leap over April’s numbers, firmly placing it in the top 200 films watched by our members in a year of lockdown. (By the way, ‘diary entries’ mean activity where the member has added a watched date; many thousands more also marked Truman as ‘watched’ in those dark months, but didn’t specify a date.)
It’s not difficult to imagine why we might become more interested in revisiting this eminently re-visitable film. During lockdown, social media—including Letterboxd—took on a greater presence in terms of how we communicated with each other. We got used to seeing footage of faces more than actual faces. We were all the stars of our own ‘Truman Show’, and simultaneously the audience of everyone else’s ‘Truman Show’.
Tumblr media
Christian Torres boiled it down effectively when he wrote: “Now every movie I see seems to be related to my life in quarantine. I am Truman and I want to escape.” And Sonya Sandra eloquently captured the film’s increased contemporary significance in her review: “This is a real-life daylight horror film. The best kind. Even more relevant in 2021 than ever. We are all Truman, we all want to find what is real in our fake lives filled with media, capitalism and ideology. And it’s our job to fight the storm and get to the truth of it all. Nothing is real, everything is for profit, and everyone is selfish. Go out and find what is real, because it’s definitely not here.”
With its deft, dazzling blending of the profound and the humorous, the optimistic and the cynical, it’s difficult to think of anything released since The Truman Show that comes as close as it does to being a modern-day Frank Capra movie. It’s hopeful, but has its eyes wide open. There’s a darkness in the themes of the film that is never replicated in the colors on display.
While everyone involved delivers career-best work, we must principally credit the triumvirate of talent at the center of the film: director Peter Weir, screenwriter Andrew Niccol and star Jim Carrey.
Tumblr media
Star Jim Carrey and director Peter Weir on the set of ‘The Truman Show’ (1998).
Weir is a director who inspires much online love whenever his name is mentioned, but he isn’t really mentioned all that often. Or at least as often as he should be. The Australian filmmaker has delivered masterpieces across multiple genres, and it’s extremely sad that he hasn’t directed a movie since 2010’s not-quite-true World War II drama The Way Back, arguably one of his lesser works. That’s also, insanely, one of only two movies he’s made since Truman, the other being Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the wide and rabid affection for which regularly kicks up on Twitter (not to mention demand for a sequel).
Weir doesn’t do many interviews, and while this 2018 Vanity Fair article marking Truman’s twentieth anniversary has many quotes about the film’s modern relevance, Weir doesn’t offer any commentary to that effect, presumably preferring to let the work speak for itself—though in this 1998 interview he did talk about the relationship between the media, the general public and the people we become fascinated with, as a “complex situation”.
The Vanity Fair article does, however, reveal a fascinating ‘what if’ scenario relating to Christof, the god-like director of the in-movie TV show played by Ed Harris, who offers up a pile of pretentious auteur clichés: mononymous, beret, etc. (beyond the whole god thing, that is). When Dennis Hopper, originally cast in the role, wasn’t working out, Weir considered playing the role himself, which would’ve added yet another meta layer. It brings to mind how George Miller styled Immortan Joe (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne) after himself in Mad Max: Fury Road, or how Christopher Nolan’s haircut shows up in most of his films.
Tumblr media
Ed Harris as Christof in ‘The Truman Show’ (1998).
And, at one point, it could have gone mega-meta. Weir, in the 1998 interview, talked about a “crazy idea” he had, a technical impossibility back then but easily achievable with live-streaming now. “I would have loved to have had a video camera installed in every theater the film was to be seen [in]. At one point, the projectionist would … cut to the viewers in the cinema and then back to the movie. But I thought it was best to leave that idea untested.” Imagine.
Weir also played a role in helping to shape the originally much more overtly dark screenplay into the cheerier (on the surface at least) shooting script, which is solely credited to fellow antipodean, New Zealand-born Niccol, also a producer on the film. Both men have done the majority of their work in America, but it’s tempting to credit the film’s tone-perfect sense of heightened Americana to the degree of separation offered by their foreign provenance. In any case, it’s clear that open-air mall designers were paying attention.
Niccol’s original screenplay made his name in Hollywood, and revealed a storyteller excited by big ideas. He moved into directing with the smaller-scale Gattaca, released a year prior to Truman (itself delayed to meet Carrey’s availability). Niccol’s subsequent filmography includes several legit bangers (Lord of War hive step up!), and his endearing dedication to lofty allegories in a genre setting makes him an increasingly rare breed in Hollywood.
Like Weir, he is not the greatest fan of giving interviews, but the Vanity Fair piece quotes him making an interesting point: “When you know there is a camera, there is no reality,” thereby making Truman “the only genuine reality star.”
Tumblr media
It’s a sentiment echoed by MusicMoviesMe, who writes that “‘Truman Show’ beats all other reality shows out there like Bachelors, Survivors and Kardashians. Come on, when you know there’s a camera at your tail, there’s no reality. So yes, Truman beats all reality shows out there bar none!”
The role was perfectly suited to Jim Carrey’s affected mannerisms, and his status as one of the world’s biggest stars meant he could relate to Truman more than most people. Then, at least. Nowadays, of course, we are all Truman.
“It is always incredible to see how far The Truman Show was ahead of [its] time,” observes The Closer79. “In a world where celebs are monitored 24/7 and we are showered with unnecessary private information on the web, where talent-free wannabes become famous and where you sometimes [wonder] what kind of surreal show society you are in—Truman and his fake show life cleverly have anticipated all of this. Only Truman knew nothing of his luck and he was granted an escape from his glass prison. We don’t really have this possibility… Aren’t we all Truman? Sometimes even voluntarily…”
Austin Burke concurs: “I have always known that I really enjoyed this film, but I had no clue that it would hold up so well years later… Could this be because the strange world that he finds himself in is far more similar to our world today? Possibly, but the idea and themes are so much more relevant now compared to when this originally released.” And while DallasFrance is conscious of piling on about the film’s prescience, his review highlights how there really is no limit to the film’s meta qualities:
“Instead of writing a review about how this film predicted social media, or how we’re all Truman, or yadda yadda yadda, I’ll instead fixate on the miraculous fact that two absolute legends were cast as primary viewers of the Truman Show:
1. The old lady from The Running Man who starts betting on Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger). ‘He’s one bad motherf*cker!’
2. The villain from The Karate Kid Part II:
‘Live or die, man?!’ ‘Die!’ ‘Wrong!’ *hooooonnnkkk*
I’ve never seen either of these actors in any other roles. With the second one, I felt like I was watching a character from my childhood watch a character from his childhood come to realizations about the characters in his childhood. So actually… the movie’s really about me.”
Never change, LB membership.
We are all generally pretty aware of how ahead of its time The Truman Show was, but that doesn’t lessen its impact. Maddie’s review shows that there’s always some new angle to consider: “Imagine being an extra in this movie… You would be an extra, playing an actor, playing an extra. Think about that long enough and tell me that doesn’t make you want to walk into the ocean.”
Tumblr media
Kev goes even further: “Watching other people watch somebody else while also watching that person while also watching the person watching over that person is a great reminder that watching is weird, and to be watched is to not own yourself. Don’t watch, don’t try to be watched. Just live.”
Or perhaps Will encapsulates the film’s ability to present an ever-evolving message best, writing that, “clearly, this is video proof that we live in a simulation.” Beyond mere prescience, The Truman Show is a telling mirror to whatever era it is viewed in. Its message will continue to evolve.
Now that we’re finally (touch wood) emerging from the pandemic, it will be fascinating to see what The Truman Show has to say about its audience and the world they live in, in years to come. Rest assured, it will be well-documented by you, the Letterboxd audience.
Also: can Peter Weir please make another movie? Like, seriously.
Related content
A Meta-Reality: Robert’s list of layers of film in life and life in film
Follow Dom on Letterboxd
40 notes · View notes
kinetic-elaboration · 3 years ago
Text
August 28: 3x05 Is There In Truth No Beauty?
Several days later, coming back to write up these Star Trek notes. I feel like I never got to talk this episode through properly, or even think through it properly by myself, because mom went right into watching AHS on Thursday, and I was too tired to even sort through my thoughts and when we talked yesterday, it was… entirely about other things.
So, here at least are my liveblog thoughts, and maybe I’ll remember some more as I write.
Right off the bat, this is such a cool concept: the friendly alien Ambassador who no one can look at because his form is not fit for human eyes.
Love Spock’s silly looking little visor. Not sure I get why he’s wearing it right now, when the Ambassador is in his box, but okay.
Dr. Jones is so beautiful. I love her dress.
I’m sure Spock is thinking “If only all Ambassadors could be put into little boxes like this.”
Okay, Ambassador’s coming! Everybody quarantine!
Right, I JUST remembered the significance of the dress.
Spock has experience with mind links with other creatures—a lot of experience that ho. Is he thinking about the pleasure of connecting to Kirk, that “dynamic individual”?
“My life is here.” With the Captain???
I feel like this episode is implying, all but stating outright, that Spock is very good at mindlinking. Like maybe even more so than the average Vulcan. Which makes sense because he does it so often. And yet he still messes up with AOS!Kirk.
I love the effects for the Ambassador. I’m not even being sarcastic; I think they get across the experience of looking at him quite effectively.
Hmmm, some non-touch telepathy. I know Spock has a little of that. I guess it’s mostly him reacting to Miranda, though.
Gotta get a dig in at Dr. McCoy before he leaves lol. Spock, so predictable.
Kirk’s flirting is off the charts today omg. Tone it down man.
SCOTTY IN A KILT aw yeah.
She learned from the Vulcans how not to read thoughts. Exactly!! Their telepathy is such an underrated part of the whole Vulcan thing, including why they remain ‘emotionless.’
She’s so jealous of Spock.
Honestly this whole scene… there’s a lot going on here! I’m trying to pay attention to the Vulcan telepath stuff but the men won’t stop flirting at 11. Especially McCoy, laying it on extra thick.
She does hold her own very well, though.
A preference for beauty—one of our last prejudices.
“Sleep well.” So cute. (I’ve already forgotten but I’m pretty sure this is Kirk.)
“We’re all vulnerable in one way or another.” KIRK SHUT UP I LOVE YOU.
Girls don’t like guys, girls like Medusan ambassadors.
This guy is so jealous. I barely know who he is lol; this comes out of nowhere.
Interesting angle on the hallway shot. I feel like there are a lot of those in this ep, like these weirdly long shots of the hallways… Maybe I’m just not used to seeing them with one or no people in them.
Kirk and the squad. Work work fashion baby.
“Larry? Marvick? Why?” Okay that is some real Shatnerian inflection there.
SCOTTY FIGHT SCENE.
*Ship veers obviously*
And look at this weird-ass view of the bridge. Like what the hell, where is the camera? On the lift? It’s so disorienting!
Spock needs to fix some stuff, calls for his protégé Chekov, of course.
And this funky music. So bizarre.
WE’LL BE SAFE AT THE BOUNADIRES OF THE UNIVERSE. Drama queen
This is a nutty view, this “unknown void.” Like one would think beyond space there’s… just more space, not a Windows 98 screensaver.
Space time continuum?? They didn’t time travel (again), did they?
“He just simply died.” How convenient.
“An entertaining suggestion, Mr. Chekov, but not very helpful.” Honestly, I do think he’s entertained. Spock has grown so much over the course of the show.. like I know there was controversy with his IC-ness this season but in this case, I really do think it is growth. Compare this to the Corbomite Maneuver, where he had a sense of humor but it was… a little mean, a little arch. There’s a certain warmth to him now.
Her mind must be so engaged that she doesn’t notice the plan for Spock to meld with the Ambassador = Kirk will seduce her. Lol. Of course. Everyone’s favorite honeypot.
He has absolutely NO shame.
The man sure does love his flowers, though.
She’s never been to Earth. So she’s a human born on a colony, I guess? That’s such a throwaway line, but so interesting. Could that be part of how she’s telepathic?
Oh no! A thorn!
“Violent emotion is a kind of insanity.” Can I steal this?
Too ugly to bear or too beautiful to bear?
Let me spell it out for you: this is romantic. (Again, I’ve forgotten what this refers to, but I’m going to assume it’s something Kirk said.)
Lol Bones just dropping truth bombs. How did he know she was blind? Did he recognize the dress or does he have access to her files as the ship’s doctor?
And Kirk accepts it immediately. “Of course! It’s the only reasonable explanation as to why you weren’t attracted to me.”
The Ambassador is brought to the bridge and placed behind a covid wall, I mean, protective barrier.
And now, we meet the Ambassador for real.
“THAT’s Spock!” Bones is so happy. He’s really not comfortable with Spock being all… smiley and flirty. Or rather, someone in Spock’s body, I should say.
Kollos is VERY flirty. And he and Miranda have chemistry for sure. It’s weird, because I don’t get any sense of that between her and Spock (rightly so) but Spock as the Ambassador and it comes right out.
I love the characterization of him. The idea that the Medusans’ thoughts are supposed to be particularly nice to engage with…. I really see how that would be. He’s so soothing.
Kollos is enjoying his time in a human body, I think. Mostly. Not all of it. (I got a little teary at the part about loneliness, ngl.)
Time to go back? So soon?
Noooo the shield! It’s like forgetting your mask when you enter a building.
[Spock wails]
Honestly, even seeing the steps to the upper level of the bridge is really weir. Like, I’ve always known there are steps there… but I’ve never thought about what they look like.
Kirk is so skeptical about all of this. Spock is in danger and his brain immediately goes to the pessimistic scenarios—very unlike him!
He’s freaking out nervous.
“Are we supposed to wake him with a kiss?” Idk, it’s worth a try. Why doesn’t Kirk give it a go?
Does Kirk have a game plan with Miranda here, or is he just honestly freaking out?
…The answer is honestly freaking out, which is rather a disappointment.
Trippy.
Spock has a necklace version of the IDIC symbol this time.
Everyone’s exchanging all these highly formulaic, formal goodbyes and Kirk’s like “Peace.” Wow, really trying hard with that one. Still rattled, I guess.
Also speaking of these formulaic exchanges—this fits very well with the HAICG-verse. Just saying.
This episode was really good! I loved Miranda, I am a huge fan of the underlying sci fi concept, and I though the Spock characterization and the hints of Vulcan culture were very interesting (and very in keeping with my own characterization and world building, imo).
The only thing I didn’t like was Kirk’s characterization. He felt like a stereotype, like who AOS thought TOS Kirk was, rather than himself—the over the top flirting, the dramatic rage, how he didn’t really seem in control of anything or on his game at all.
But, even though he’s my fave, the interesting Spock characterization made up for that, and I really appreciated these insights into him, interacting with someone who, while not Vulcan herself, had a Vulcan cultural background, someone he approached similarly to how he would one of his own people. It was very polite but with a lot of unsaid beneath the surface, which is how I imagine Vulcans are.
The introduction of IDIC truly was pretty random! I did like the idea of Spock trying to compliment her and not really landing it, because that’s just the awkward nerd sort of thing he would do. But it’s weird that the phrase has never been introduced before, and also that even within this episode, it’s only obliquely explained.
I’m not actually sure if I’ve seen the next ep or not. I don’t think so, but it’s possible I did and just don’t remember it very well…
7 notes · View notes
365days365movies · 4 years ago
Text
May 6, 2021: The Martian (2015) (Recap: Part One)
We’re leaving lo-fi sci-fi, people. Kind of.
Tumblr media
I mentioned before that films like Her are what I define as “lo-fi sci-fi”, which is a category that I’ve kind of made up. Basically, it’s the science fiction version of low fantasy, meaning it contains science fiction themes contained within an otherwise contemporary setting. In the case of Her, Joaquin Phoenix’s character, along with many others, live in a world and setting basically like ours, but with technology advanced enough to generate AIs (like Siri) that are intelligent enough to actually ascend our reality. Because we live in a society.
Tumblr media
You give me Joaquin Phoenix, I’m gonna make a Joker reference; it’s in the contract of my existence. Anyway, that is admittedly kind of broad, right? I mean, that has the capability of crossing over with a BUNCH of sci-fi genres and themes. And, considering that we’ve already seen magic, speculative technology, time travel, monsters, and artificial intelligence, we’ve already touched on quite a bit.
And with science fiction, the sky’s the limit. Literally. So, I think it behooves us to re-examine lo-fi sci-fi a little bit. Specifically, we should note that it can also be defined as an extension of currently existing technologies and possibilities. Writers would call this “speculative sci-fi”, assuming in this case that it’s set within the present or a near and attainable future. Her definitely fits in this category, as does Westworld. But, let’s crossover to another genre by speculating upon another possibility. And it begins with this man. Probably.
Tumblr media
Hey, Elon, what’s up? Now, Mr. Musk here is a...controversial figure, for COMPLETELY understandable reasons. Instead of touch upon the man himself, I feel like touching upon one of his recent focuses: space travel. With SpaceX and the various upcoming space trips and journeys that they’re planning, Musk has made it clear that he plans to shoot to the Moon. Again, literally.
In fact, this full plan is to go even further than that, and to fuel potential commercial space flights in the future, which is admittedly very cool. And of course, if you’re going to shoot for the Moon...
Tumblr media
Guys...guys, that’s Mars. THAT’S FUCKING MARS
Is that not amazing? We have sound and pictures from FUCKING MARS! THAT’S A DIFFERENT PLANET, GODDAMN IT! It’s cooler than I have the ability to properly express, but it IS goddamn cool. And this means that, easily within my lifetime, we could (and likely will) land on Mars. Which is amazing. God, I really want to see that happen.
And so, landing on Mars is BARELY science fiction, but since we haven’t yet done so...yeah, it’s fictional at the moment. And so, any film about landing on Mars falls within this category. Well...to an extent.
Tumblr media
2000′s Mission to Mars, for example, was a Disney-funded film (to my IMMENSE surprise; and it’s based off of an old Disney World ride, WHAT), and a movie that I saw a LOT when I was a kid. I also barely remember it, to be honest. But that film is straight-up science fiction because of, well...aliens. The idea of Martians is, as far as we know it, fictional. And most fiction involving Mars includes these aliens somehow. Whether it’s DC Comics’ entire civilization of Martians, as seen in Justice League, Supergirl, or Young Justice...
Tumblr media
...Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s heavily mythologized civilization, as seen in the Barsoom series of novels (and another Disney film)...
Tumblr media
...Or one of the best Looney Tunes characters.
Tumblr media
Mmm. Yes. Isn’t that lovely?
But, yeah, Mars and aliens go hand-in-hand in our media. So, to properly look at lo-fi science and speculative science fiction in relation to the Red Planet, we’ll need a movie that goes to the planet, and doesn’t touch upon the concept of aliens AT ALL.
Enter...Ridley Scott?
Tumblr media
Yeah, the director of Legend, Alien, Thelma and Louise, Blade Runner, Gladiator. Also the director of Kingdom of Heaven, Prometheus, Exodus: Gods and Kings, and...ugh, 1492: Conquest of Paradise. I’ve talked about his mixed record before, in my Recap of Legend right here.
In 2014, he was brought on to adapt a book by Andy Weir called The Martian, which is a great book! I’ve listened to the audio book, and I whole-heartedly recommend doing that. And because of that, I am VERY MUCH looking forward to watching this film, especially seeing as it’s often called one of the best science fiction films made during that year, and was critically acclaimed then and now. It got seven Oscar nominations (although it won none of them), amongst other awards. So, enough navel-gazing, huh? The Martian!
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Recap (1/2)
Tumblr media
On Acidalia Plantitia, at the landing site of the Ares III mission, a group of scientists are gathering samples. These scientists are commander and geologist Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), pilot Rick Martinez (Michael Pena), systems operator Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara), surgeon Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan), German chemist Alex Vogel (Aksel Hennie), and overly talkative botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon). 
Tumblr media
The group seems to have a good dynamic, but that dynamic is interrupted by a massive dust storm, which is large enough to cause the entire crew to evacuate. However, in the chaos of the dust storm, Mark is hit by debris and lost in the shuffle. Although Lewis goes back to find him, she can’t get to him before they need to leave, and Mark is believed dead. This is reported (pretty callously) by NASA Director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) to the press soon afterwards.
Tumblr media
But of course, that wouldn’t be much of a movie, now would it? Mark’s alive! And Mark’s alone. With his suit damaged, and low on oxygen, he trudges back to headquarters, which is intact and still contains breathable oxygen. He gets inside, and realizes that he’s been stabbed in the abdomen by some debris. He removes it, and stitches up his own wound. Which is...god, it’s fucking BRUTAL just to think about, nevertheless watch.
Once he’s finished, he records a log for the future, if he doesn’t make it. It’s day 19 of the 31-day mission at this point, and Mark’s basically screwed. He needs lasting oxygen, water, and food, and he might need that for 4 years, when the next manned mission can come to the red planet. Additionally, he has absolutely no way to contact NASA, leaving him completely stranded. Another dust storm rolls in that night, and Mark looks over the belongings of his colleagues, packing them up for their eventual return. It’s somber, to say the least. However, Mark affirms that he’s determined not to die on the planet.
Tumblr media
After doing the math, Mark should have enough food to last him for about 300 days, especially if he rations it. Until then, he’ll need to figure out how to grow his own food, on a planet where nothing grows. Which is, of course, going to be a difficult feat to accomplish. But Mark Watney’s a botanist with botany powers, and he’s gonna do it.
It’s day 31, and Mark’s brought in dirt from the outside, and uses the bio-waste from the crew’s stay there for a form of compost. After 5 days, mostly full of him watching Happy Days on TV and trying to farm, he realizes that he needs water, both for himself and for the soil. To do that, he goes chemical and decides to use hydrogen-laden rocket fuel, wood from Martinez’s belongings, and good old-fashioned fire to make water! And since hydrogen + oxygen = water, it should work. With a minor side-effect.
Tumblr media
So, yeah, he blew himself up. As as he records a video log, the sound mixing makes itself impressively known by subtly and realistically generating a tinnitus sound. It’s VERY well-done, holy shit. Anyway, he makes a stable fire, and the place is soon covered in condensation, moistening the room and the soil successfully.
We get to day 54, and Mark’s planted leftover potatoes from the crew in order to grow them. And while he’s being mourned at a funeral on Earth, and in NASA, he’s seeing the fruits (or shoots) of his efforts.
Tumblr media
Back on Earth, Mars Mission Director Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is trying to convince Director Teddy to let him lobby for another Ares mission, despite the risk of bad press for the callousness of the proximity to Watney’s death. Meanwhile, satellite technician Mindy Park (Mackenzie Davis) looks down at the Ares III site, and realizes that the site has changed visually, meaning that Mark may actually be alive.
Shocked by this, she tells Kapoor, Teddy, and media director Annie Montrose (Kristen Wiig) about this, and they realize the absolute clusterfuck that this whole thing is. They can’t tell the other members of the Ares III crew about it, because it’d devastate them for the 10 months they have to get back to Earth, at the VERY least. They can’t tell the WORLD about this, because they just had a funeral for the guy, and they’d reveal that they left him stranded on Mars accidentally, destroying faith in the Mars Missions Program. And they can’t save Mark, who they’re sure will starve eventually. It’s a mess. And Kapoor also wonders what’s happening to Mark psychologically through all of this.
Tumblr media
And yet, they reveal this to the world regardless, causing the clusterfuck reaction that they think it’s going to cause. But Mark’s busy on Mars, figuring out how to get to the site of the next Ares IV mission in 4 years, at the Schiaparelli crater about 50 days travel away. This is a struggle, as his Rover has only so much power and fuel, and he can only get more power by cutting out the heater is risking death by freezing. So, problems. However, he figures out a potential solution: radioactive isotopes! In a move that is, let’s face it, COMPLETELY INSANE, he digs up a radioactive generator from the ship in order to heat the ship.
On Earth, they try to figure out Mark’s moves, as well as how to resupply Ares IV sooner for Mark’s benefit. This is with the director of JPL, Bruce Ng (Benedict Wong), and the flight director of the ship Hermes, Mitch Henderson (Sean Bean), who insists that they tell the Ares II crew. They continue to monitor Mark, and note that he’s been travelling for 17 days in his Rover towards something. Kapoor figures it out, and flies to California.
Tumblr media
See, Mark needs a way to contact NASA, and he believes that the way to do so is through Pathfinder, the first probe ever sent to Mars in 1997, lasting for 9 months since landing until they lost contact. Mark digs it up, and the people at JPL in California start their own efforts for contact. And despite communication being extremely rudimentary, initially limited to yes/no questions that use a still-frame camera, it fucking WORKS! WHOO!
To boost this communication hurdle, the two camps figure out a hexadecimal system for communication, allowing them to communicate using a circular table of numbers that represent an alphabet. That allows them to teach Mark to hack into the Rover, allowing it to piggyback off of its broadcast signal and send them messages via keyboard. Nice! Now that communication is reasonably possible, Mark’s able to ask how the crew is handling his death. But upon learning that they haven’t told him. He’s understandably a little goddamn enraged. And so, they FINALLY tell the Ares III crew about this.
Tumblr media
The news breaks the crew, even though Mark continues to stress that he’s all right, and that it wasn’t their fault. Meanwhile, Mark’s able to survive for 912 days with his potato plants, and things improve with the help of technicians on Earth. They plan to launch a supply rocket to him in the next year, and things are looking fine! Unless, of course...something goes horribly HORRIBLY wrong.
Tumblr media
Well...fuck. Good place to pause for Part Two, then?
13 notes · View notes
glowyjellyfish · 3 years ago
Text
Progress report:
I downloaded many medieval things from many sites. Still need to install most of them. The big problem was attempting to download literally everything from Almighty Hat--I was planning to mainly just go for objects at this point, but there was so. much. hair. and medieval undergarments! different ones from the other Almighty Hat ones I already had! ...so eventually I bookmarked the hair pages I thought I didn’t have, and promised myself to do a hair run later. That means it feels like I only have PBK left to scour for objects, without counting things like GOS gift sets as I don’t even know how to begin searching through that without literally looking at everything.
The CEP seemed to solve the blue on the medieval wood set... until I loaded a lot where I had already placed them. Then the blue was back, would not depart, and any new attempts at placing also came with blue. This is after emptying my cache AND clearing all the thumbnails, you understand. I guess placing the blue objects was a bad idea as now the lots have re-cursed the objects with blue? Should I just sell and replace the cursed objects with different ones, or do I need to do another re-download, or what? I will have to see.
Anyway, today I built a beekeeping farm for the Patels that turned out pretty great. Try as I might, I could not make the lot be worth $35,000 as yeoman lots should be, but it’s fine. There’s only so much decor I could cram in there anyway.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
I forgot to position the camera correctly to see the ceiling, but trust me it has one. Oh, probably I left the game set on an upper floor after taking the outside picture. Mea culpa!
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Bush clipping in from outside, might have to deal with that. I found I like clustering the fridge, sink, and tub next to each other in my medieval kitchens in an effort to imply that they are sharing a small water supply rather than having the whole house full of plumbing wherever.
Tumblr media
Second floor! I have finally figured out to put roof walls above interior walls. This room is currently a vague nursery, and has loads of space for more children as needed. 
Tumblr media
The bed looks a little overly fancy, but it wasn’t expensive. I’m just going to pretend a relative carved it all nice for them.
Tumblr media
The yard! Little outhouse, five beehives ready to be filled, a honey press, four apple trees and one each pear and persimmon for variety, and a row of blackberry bushes.
Tumblr media
Rows of herbs and berry bushes, and in the distance a slightly overgrown cluster of shrubs and wildflowers for the bees to enjoy!
Tumblr media
Looking back at the house from within a patch of wildflowers.
Tumblr media
And a small market stand out front to sell their herbs, fruit, and honey. Maybe someday, they’ll add a fully indoor home store to sell out of, but right now I love this house too much to change it. It’s that glamorous yellow plaster-and-timber exterior, I am sure. I’m a little concerned I made it too nice for yeomen, but it has the correct number of rooms and furniture (plus some decor and one extra side table for the scroll phone), and they didn’t even fill out the standard pre-garden yeomen budget of $35,000, so it’s probably fine.
And I am getting very close to finishing the makeovers of Desiderata Valley, after which will be everyone’s favorite, Pleasantview!
The second yeoman family of Desiderata Valley, after the Ottomases, is the Jocque family.
Tumblr media
Sophia Jocque. I try to match the colors of each sim’s original outfit unless I find something else I like better, and I made a point of giving her long, soft hair to counteract her very square jaw. I think she came out looking really nice!
Tumblr media
Marcel Jocque. Nothing special, but I’ve been trying that hair on lots of men and am pleased I finally found one for whom it worked!
Tumblr media
Violet Jocque, now with one long braid instead of two short ones!
Next we have the Bells, the only merchant family of Desiderata Valley.
Tumblr media
Hannah Bell. Although I usually vaguely aim in the direction of whatever texture a sim’s original hair is, in this case I didn’t think it was particularly sensible to give Hannah and Sharon straight hair. No straighteners in the medieval megahood! Besides, she looks much nicer with those braids.
Tumblr media
...and Sharon looks amazing with this short curly mop. She’s a tad rebellious anyway, and I didn’t want to repeat my longer curly hairs this early.
Tumblr media
Isaac Bell. It was kinda tough finding him an outfit that reflected his colors without being too high or low class, and without simply repeating what I’ve put on other yeomen. As you can see, I didn’t quite nail it (his original outfit is pink and grey), but this works; he looks like he’s got a bucket of charisma.
Tumblr media
And Daniel Bell, sneaking in one last use of the TV before everything goes full medieval.
Finally, the gentry of Desiderata Valley, Lady Natasha Una.
Tumblr media
...she’s still obsessed with grilled cheese. I might change that, but then again I might not. She’s one of the highest ranking available adult women, so she probably won’t stay single for long. Her best prospects are currently Duke Armand DeBateau, Lord Nervous Subject/Specter (I’ll probably change his last name to Specter, Subject is his... hostage name), or, failing either of those, Lord Geoff Rutherford, Lord Connor Weir, Lord Kent Capp, or Lord Frances J. Worthington III. Kent Capp is less likely, as I want to prioritize him for ladies that need to keep their names and positions, but he’s definitely an option, and they have hit it off before in other, non-medieval megahoods I’ve played. 
I just have to makeover the Aspir family, and then I’ll be on to the peasants of Pleasantview. Also, I have decided that I need to finish making over all the playable sims (including the college sims) before I can start actually playing, in addition to completing all lot construction and remodeling in Belladonna Cove. I... am not sure yet whether it’s a great or terrible idea to start actually playing before I finish Everything, but it at least makes a nice smaller goal to shoot for.
1 note · View note
dr-futbol-blog · 8 months ago
Text
The Storm/The Eye, Pt. 2
They start prepping for the coming storm.
Sheppard continues to have perfect trust in McKay. Again note that he's masking it in flippancy; when ever he talks about McKay to other people (and he seems to do that a lot; when you have a crush on someone you naturally want to mention them by name all the time because you are thinking about them all the time, but you try to be smooth about it like it's no big deal), he's downplaying it, he gives off the impression that he both cares for and regards McKay as less than he actually does. He tells Weir: "You know McKay'll come up with something. He's just setting himself up to be a hero."
I discussed McKay's brand of heroism and Sheppard's view of McKay as a hero previously in connection with Hide and Seek (S01E03). Sheppard does actually view McKay as a Big Damn Hero, and while here, talking with Elizabeth, he's making it sound like he's ribbing on McKay and his big ego, he does actually honestly believe those two things: that McKay will save them, and that he is a hero.
The episode lampshades this later:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
McKay is frustrated by the fact that everyone seems to be placing finding the solution to the problem squarely on his shoulders which is a lot of pressure to put on one person, no matter how brilliant they may be. He attempts to communicate this, and makes a reference to Superman.
Sheppard is a comic book geek. I mean, we actually see him reading comics in his room multiple times. He, of course, just has to comment on that. He flippantly questions McKay's comment and his tone of voice, again, indicates that he thinks McKay is about as far from Superman as one can be. This sentiment echoes around the room:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
The thing is, not only does Sheppard not think that McKay is not a hero, McKay is very much a hero to him. He's just not Superman.
Later on, in Irresponsible (S03E13), an episode that hearkens back to this particular episode as this is where Kolya is introduced and that is where he is killed, the topic of heroes again comes up. Sheppard -- not McKay -- brings up the fact that McKay's hero is Batman:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Like, he brings this up completely unprompted, just throwing out another fact that he just happens to know about McKay. So clearly they've had a conversation about the superheroes of the DCEU at some point (and we do see them discuss Batman in particular a bunch of times). They have a lot of discussions about their shared geeky interests, so that tracks.
So. Sheppard isn't saying that McKay is not a hero here, he's saying that choosing Superman to describe him makes no sense. If he was a DCEU superhero, he'd be Batman. But Sheppard actually thinks that he's more like Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four from Marvel Comics.
Tumblr media
Yes, in First Strike (S03E20) Sheppard describes himself as Mr. Fantastic but that is a classic case of projection. Nothing about him is Mr. Fantastic. He even says that McKay is not really like the Human Torch as Teyla complains that she's not invisible (it's actually Sheppard, the person who discovered the cloaking technology of the jumpers and is able to cloak a whole ass city, that is the Invisible Woman).
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Mr. Fantastic is a scientist who holds multiple PhDs and frequently uses his mind to save the day, so even if McKay hadn't literally been wearing a Mr. Fantastic T-shirt (in the SG-1 episode Moebius), he would still resemble the character much better than Sheppard ever could. Also, they are having this discussion, initiated by Sheppard, during the bombardment of Atlantis so clearly "situations of certain doom" are exactly the kinds of times that Sheppard wants to debate comic book characters.
So, he's not saying McKay is not a hero, he's wanting to debate comic books because a Batman vs. Superman discussion would be a whole lot less stressful than what they're actually facing right then. He also very obviously noticed that McKay was upset when he first walked in the room, so the intent was probably to cheer him up and lighten the mood by playful teasing. And everyone else's reactions, including Rodney himself who takes offense at this because he has terrible self-esteem, just shows us how differently Sheppard views McKay from everyone else. This very thing is also lampshaded in the episode:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Granted, Zelenka does seem to be on the receiving end of a lot of the more charming sides of McKay's personality, deep down he does have a lot of respect for his colleague and is just airing out some frustration here. But this is not at all true of McKay, even if he actually agrees here that he can be a pretty horrible person.
He is not always like this. With Sheppard, in the past several episodes, we've seen him both want to and try to be a better man.
Tumblr media
And it is not that Sheppard doesn't also see this side of him. Even by this episode, we've seen Sheppard hurt by things McKay has said multiple times, even if he didn't really mean it or do it on purpose. Sheppard just accepts the bad with the good.
Ever since Hide and Seek Sheppard has been observing McKay with such a keen eye that he has a pretty good idea of what he's like. It's just that... by this time, he's in love. With the guy that he fully believes should use his brain, not his brawn, to save the day.
Tumblr media
Continued in Pt. 3
15 notes · View notes
freezeriafan · 4 years ago
Note
please tell me more abt how allan is nonbinary... i wanna know everything - amii
YOUVE INVOKED MY WRATH .... PREPARE FOR PARAGRAPHS ...
omgggggggggg ummmmmmm uh uh uh uh . idk i just know . one time i was in the car with my brother and he said smth to the effect of "but i mean obviously allan is nonbinary like we can all see that." and i was like "oh ya of course" but make no mistake my wig was snatched . it made perfect sense of course it was like finding a missing puzzle piece .
ummmmm . lol . k . So . uuuumm . Definitely think that this is related to his autism somehow . Not implying that being autistic makes u nonbinary but in this specific case it's related . like ok this is my interpretation of allan so it fits in line w my way of character creation or whatever . and ive been encountering this lately w ocs , autism and gender shit and the way they intersect . So ive just been thinking of that a lot lately .
HONESTLY I know it's bc i saw a tumblr post a year ago of someone saying how they feel that their autism directly affects their gender identity, or even is their gender identity. Of course someone else came up like "Thats stupid and not how things work," but the original poster held their ground. And you know me i have libra in certain places and so that evidently esoteric interpretation of the self really stuck out to me.
And so like here's my brainspace on this one this is where i am ... I have this one character who's autistic and completely soundly binary male and would honestly say that in no way is his gender influenced by his autism what is wrong w you why would you even imply that ? Like that just makes no sense. amd i have another character who is nonbinary and autistic and the latter technically affects the former in the way that it's all related to his own unique feeling of detachment from society, but trying to say that would be the same as saying "he's himself bc he's himself"; it's a moot point. Yet another oc is nobinary and autistic and those truly are unrelated points, only related in the way that they are both her . YET ANOTHER oc is nonbinary and autistc and he will honestly let you know that he very much feels like those two things are connected, in a very specific way that only has meaning to him but is relevant nonetheless . not mentioned here is the combination of being strictly binary and also feeling like your autism is related to that somehow , i just dont have an oc example of that .
K ysee what im playing w here ? You see my hand of cards . That's like where my brain is rn that's how im thinking .
allan is noninary bc I know this . I know this bc look at him .
i dont think he takes any issue w being referred to as a man however , i think that if it were a different time he'd be 99% comfortable with living his whole life taking possession and ownership of the male label bc he's allan and he loves to have a little fun . He'd never take issue w it . You could argue that at that point it doesn't matter and trying to call him nonbinary isn't worth the effort, but that's just no fun ... he's allan and i wanna talk abt him.
You know wat i mean .. he's allan he walks around as a self-actualized hollywood greaser with a reservoir of real and tough oniontown street skills , famous hockey player , always trying to be kind and always looking for a laugh and smth worth a thought . He's proud to call himself a man, proud to honor the distinction bt him and women when it's relevant and respectful, never thinking twice about it ; but he and i and you cannot deny that his idea of a man is not himself . There is a a layer of detachment like the layer of air on a hydrophobic surface submerged in water . It's not "off" or "crooked" as much as it is like taking a step backwards in linear space. And it's not a big deal .
It's not a big deal and could easily be read by you or me or him as an imposter syndrome type feeling , wrought by prominent childhood bullying and being made to feel that he is just weird or different , true. But now im gonna suggest something: does that distinction actually matter w this ? Sometimes more introspection and action is needed, but other times there's nothing you can do and this is just how a mf feels. I mean I am just so sure that he's nonbinary, fuck w labels if u want idgaf ... demiboy idc . Whatever it is it's not fluid . Whatever it is it's not cis and it's not binary in any preconceived direction .
I think Allan hanging w the right crowd would find the language and attitude to be proud and open abt his autism and to let it color his self-image, let it be relevant when he chooses and let it be relevant bc he is relevant; and in a similarly right crowd he would be able to do the same w not being cis.
Again you could argue that it's hardly worth mentioning bc it hardly affects his life it seems, but i mean . It's Allan . Lookat him
Tumblr media
he's nonbinary i dont care <3 i dont caare . Thanks for sending this ask in . Thus concludes freezeriafan's weekly rant . make sure to like and subscribe . stay safe guys
3 notes · View notes