#but the mismatch was driving me nuts

[whetstonefires]

So op of that post that went 'sick of hearing about cis women's trauma' -> 'we need to cultivate compassion for men to help them escape toxic masculinity' has blocked me, which is fair, but it's frustrating because I should have redrafted that reblog a few times, to better and more thoughtfully express the point I was trying to make.

Especially since op isn't the one who advanced the argument about how compassion for the group you've got resentment toward is the true way to universal justice, and may not actually feel this is how the issue of toxic masculinity etc should be addressed.

And my comment sort of treated everyone in the reblog chain as being agreed on this latter point, which made op's original take ironic and frustrating because it's the exact opposite vibe.

A response which if I were op I would also find intolerable.

But my underlying point, that the sentiment about cis women needing to shut up about their gender-related trauma because it's obnoxious in the face of trans people's experiences is coming from the same place as the misandry that was being discussed further down the thread, and they have to be understood as reflections of the same set of impulses with a similar range of reaction options, that stands. I just should have said it differently.

Like I said, op has every right to be sick of dealing with that in their specific life context and to set a boundary about dealing with it, but it's the same thing. It has the same logic structure.

I go absolutely crazy listening to these kinds of conversations and seeing people try to arbitrarily tag certain groups as like. Too oppressed to be capable of harming others, so adopting exactly the same patterns as their oppressors could never turn them into someone else's oppressor.

That's how you get the abusive forms of feminism! That is the underlying assumption of the radfem! It's never true. You are always capable of harm.

You will get the same result no matter what groups you plug in there, because everyone is still people!

You can't just...externalize the harmful consequences of acting within this conceptual framework onto a 'bad group' like men or white people or cis people or religious people or whatever like there's some inherent corruption that makes it turn out like this, and expect the same ideas to work out differently because you aren't Bad Group. It's the same! It's just people!

The less power you have, the smaller the scope of consequences is likely to be, but everybody can find a situation where they have power over somebody, and if you just replicate the same bullshit you've been subjected to what do you think is going to happen?

The same damn damage.

So no matter who you are, you have to keep an eye on yourself for whether you are sliding into this way of thinking.

I just got really frustrated about it in this case because the arguments advocated by the end of the thread (i.e. society can only be healed through patient understanding, not judging entire demographics wholesale, and giving people space to heal from influences encouraging them to be shitty) were ludicrously ill-matched to the beginning of the original post, in terms of underlying principle.

And so often when I see that, it's because people are actively being terrible hypocrites.

But op wasn't responsible for the entire reblog chain, wasn't even speaking in such general terms, and couldn't be held accountable to the direction other people went with their original thought, and I should have done better at making that distinction instead of treating it as an inconsistency in a single argument.

That wasn't fair. And I apologize for being fucking annoying.

[zvmz]

Rating how clean EAH characters side of the dorm would be on a regular basis

Raven- 5/10 I think she’d have a habit of just tossing all of her clothes on the floor, on her bed, everywhere. And probably old forgotten homework, unorganized makeup and magical trinkets scattered around that she has zero motivation to clean up. The only reason it doesn’t get too bad is because apple tidys things up for her frequently

Apple- 10/10, days her dorm should reflect her hard-working and organized personality. Theres not even a speck of dust anywhere. Raven suspects there might be a spell cast on her furniture or something because there’s no way she can keep up with that

Maddie- 5/10, there’s gotta be lots of clutter everywhere, but she somehow knows exactly where everything is

Kitty- 4/10 too lazy to clean, but doesn’t own a lot of stuff, not enough to actually make much of a mess

Ashlynn- 9/10. cmon. She’s the future Cinderella. She probably started doing her own laundry and dishes at like 4 years old. Only took a point off because animals keep finding their way into her room and making a mess

Briar- 6/10 tries to keep it clean but keeps getting distracted by things she finds or falling asleep

Cedar- 7/10 idk she seems the type to just keep things tidy just out of habit, she probably did a lot of that at home, cleaning up her house to help her dad out any way she could

Cerise- 2/10 lol nah. She’s messy and dirty. Probably trash and dirty laundry in every corner. Also has made her bed maybe like twice in her life.

Lizzie- 5/10 keeps it clean as in no trash or dust, but always has things from her latest fashion project along with mismatched cards and chess pieces lying around. Thinks if her bed is made that makes the rest of her room look clean. (It doesn’t)

Duchess- 9/10 clean freak!!!! Hates a messy room and Lizzie’s side of the dorm drives her nuts. I only give duchess a 9 because sometimes she’s just too exhausted from dance to clean up

Dexter- 8/10 he just give clean vibes to me idk maybe it’s the housewife energy

Daring- 6/10 kind of messy and smells like boy but he cleans every one of his mirrors every day. He doesn’t like the place to get too dirty because what if he has a date over?

Darling- 6/10 cleaning doesn’t come very naturally to her but she seems like she would understand the effect a clean environment can have on your mental and physical health so would make some effort to pick up

[cellarspider]

Spider's Big Prometheus Thing: Index Post

Being a list of all the posts produced in the course of this inexplicable project of mine. This post will be updated as more entries are added, on days when I remember I made an index for these.

All entries will have at least a minimum level of citations for where to start looking for more facts on a subject. Be aware that there's also hidden rambling and bonus facts in the image alt text.

0. Introduction

Setting the scene, including my background, my intent, and where this movie is going.

1. Opening

Expectations, landscapes, and aliens.

Rambles: DNA, whether aliens would have it, and why it doesn't look like a pale bacon ladder.

Alt-text rambles: nano-bubbles.

2. Discovery

The Isle of Skye is gorgeous, the movie attempts to establish its themes, and why it had already got my hackles up. Rambles: how cool ancient and pre-modern peoples were, the implications of humanoid figures in European cave paintings, and misplaced lions. Alt-text rambles: seriously, Skye is just so cool. Erich von Däniken and modern publishing royalties are not.

3. David

We meet the loneliest android, and his fandom of choice. Rambles: I go nuts for a paragraph over Proto-Indo-European. Alt-text rambles: Help me remember a dude's name, that time Ron Perlman saw Sigourney Weaver do something so cool he forgot to act, and a Coronation Street conspiracy theory.

4. Humans (Derogatory)

We meet the human crew, and analyze why they're a mismatch to the movie's established expectations, and what subgenre they fit in most. It isn't the one the movie seems to be aiming for. Rambles: 50s B-movies and their Men Of Science, modern movies and their quietly suffering scientists. Alt-text rambles: inconsistently moist characters, Idris Elba's christmas tree decorations.

5. Pseudoarchaeology (Extremely Derogatory)

We meet Old Man Capitalism, poor logistics, and how the movie began to really lose me through dropping in some racist pseudoscience tropes. Rambles: more logistics (of alien bioengineering), historical art styles, what the world was getting up to in the 600s CE Alt-text rambles: Linguistics, more ranting, the life and extraordinarily ornate death of Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal. Rants: the existence of writing, people who don't look like you can still think, stargazing and how conspiracy theorists don't understand it.

6. Roads

Poor firearm safety with Chekhov's Gun, when movies move too fast, atmospheric chemistry, and the moment I began to yearn for blood. Rambles: First contact protocols, why 3% CO₂ won't kill you but it will make you weird, my personal experience digging up a Roman road. Alt-text rambles: the logistics of securing items in moving craft, linguistics, atmospheric science, colorblind-friendly diagram design, swearing about orology, and cursing the crew for their fictional crimes against archaeology. Rants: Why they should've stayed in orbit, and my impassioned defense of historically significant transportation infrastructure.

7. Masking

The bit that made most people realize these characters were idiots. Featuring an attempt at themes. Rambles: NASA's policies on biological contaminants Alt-text rambles: Benedict Wong having nothing to do, helmet design, driving on dusty track, the tiny overlap between archaeological horrors and Minecraft, the CDC's excellent captions on men sneezing. Rants: Nominating a man for the Heinrich Schliemann Archaeology Award, all these people are catching space covid

8. Ghosts

Comparing the Engineers to their series antecedents, and I develop a slight soft spot for the geologist. Rambles: Set design in Alien, how carbon dating works. Alt-text rambles: Adventure games, GET DOWN MISTER PRESIDENT, I get very excited for Dune: Part Two, the archival devotion of people with rare blorbos.

9. Dignity

Personal, professional, social, and media context for the treatment of people's remains. Rambles: Personal experiences around the archaeological discovery of human skeletons, professional codes of ethics, movies that handle dead bodies better by being more crass about it. Alt-text rambles: None, the main text gets full focus this time.

10. Atmosphere

How intertextual imagery is overused, how the one major character arc is developing, and a whole grab bag of miscellaneous shambolic events. Rambles: How tourist-breath can destroy artifacts, and a deleted scene Alt-text rambles: Whether explaining mysteries is always the wrong decision in fantasy, the usefulness of helmets, Mass Effect's loading screens, please someone give me more recommendations for things where Giger creatures aren't all bad, and how cultural variation in gestures can make you look like an asshole. Rants: they aren't done desecrating the dead oh boy it's just gonna get worse

11. Decontamination

How to present an audience with events that make no sense, how to do it eerily, and how Prometheus does this by accident. Rambles: NASA's Apollo 11 quarantine policies Alt-text rambles: How 2001: A Space Odyssey put on a cosmic lightshow, how traditions are faked for political and social power in Midsommar, confusing lab equipment, robot arm safety, the use of camper vans in space exploration, umarell behavior, and robot horror movies. Bonus text rambles: pressurized gas cylinder safety, and how the cargo of one truck apparently tried to join Roscosmos. Rants: Laboratory safety

12. Shocking

Mary Shelly would not be proud of them. Rambles: Which home electrical appliances their tomfoolery is equivalent to. Alt-text rambles: Semiotics and Alien, reuse of props and art department equipment, the cast's inability to look at things, how the first chestburster scene intelligently incorporated spontaneity, and I completely lose my mind over a single computer readout, finding out in the process that the Engineers are close cousins to the common house mouse. Rants: I didn't think that "don't stick electrical plugs in people's ears" would be something that needed to be said, but here we are.

13. Family Tree

A soothing ramble about some of the cool bits of my job. Rambles: How evolution has made some vertebrate blood white or green, how genomes are sequenced, and how to determine the relatedness of species. And more. A lot more. I love my job. It's so cool. Alt-text rambles: How Nickelodeon slime was made, how hecking tiny molecules are, why blue-tongued skinks have blue tongues, my review of Dune: Part Two, how hard I worked to not turn Gene Wilder into a jumpscare, lots of enthusiastic explanations of DNA sequencing techniques, the aesthetics of the machines wot do that for you, how "snip" no longer sounds like a verb to me, and how I started out as a computational scientist.

14. Cheers

David poisons a man, and how his character arc ties into christian-influenced existential dread. Rambles: series continuity, gnostic theology, Ridley Scott's beliefs. Alt-text rambles: How to ruin petri dishes, Vickers' questionably carbon-based existence, the game of Operation, hand doubles in filming, how the funniest possible misidentification of an early church figure is wandering around the internet, the cool genders of suit actors, gnostic Archons, and the Engineers as Sophia. Rants: Holloway seems unaware that archaeologists study dead people, Ridley Scott is his own biggest problem.

15. Unworthy

The movie does something I'm not going to joke about. Don't read this if you're having a bad day. Big content warning for Holocaust imagery.

16. Intimacy

Your asexual commentator grapples with Hollywood's terrible track record on romantic and sexual chemistry. Rambles: Why we don't say an archaic-looking species is "older" than another, how religious scientists do what they do Alt-text rambles: the human family tree, Abbott and Costello, pitcher plant cultivars, the creative possibilities of a Buddhist version of this movie, and Stephen Still's lack of accordions. Rants: I've never been a boyfriend but I'm pretty sure that's not how you do it

17. Threat

Prometheus takes a hard turn into old slasher movie tropes. Rambles: A movie trailer that gave Wee Spider the screaming heebies Alt-text rambles: The age rating of Prometheus, a spontaneous X-Files crossover AU, Pitch Black, how likely it may or may not be that the images in the post will get flagged, critter behavior, insufficient EVA suit design, and the content balancing I take into account when selecting screenshots. Rants: This movie does not seem to know what it is. Alt-text rants: Ditto, focusing on characterization.

18. Flames

"Mac wants the flamethrower!" Rambles: I wandered off in the middle to watch a 40k comedy video, does that count? Alt-text rambles: More content-balancing, what kind of very English critter David appears to be, dune buggy design, Star Wars: The Old Republic is worth your time, Dune: Part Two is worth your time, an extremely long ramble about integration of CG background elements, and Oblivion memes. Alt-text rants: Movie color grading and lighting, undercutting scares.

19. Stars

The movie shows how good it can be when no dialog is involved. Rambles: The movie Contact and how Prometheus could've learned from it. Alt-text rambles: How I estimate large numbers from a still image, a brief Baldur's Gate 3 appearance, the set design and staging of a room made for giants with squishy computers, the use of color to make a cohesive scene, facts about Uranus, visual intimation of threat, VFX wizardry, practical FX wizardry, Michael Fassbender's wordless acting.

20. Expectant

The movie shows how good it can be when character choice is removed from the horror. Rambles: the inspiration and place of chestbursting in Alien movies, the continuing religious symbolism in the movie, the clunky dialog, how to build or undermine tension, and the good blending of practical and CG effects, and how tiny creatures of the ocean manage to be more uncanny than horror critters. Alt-text rambles: reading details the prop department never meant for you to see. Alt-text Rants: the return of the head-exploder and the first sight of actual PPE, slowly mangling a plot point's name until it has been thoroughly folded, spindled, and mutilated.

21. Underdelivered

The movie shows how terrible it can be when horror doesn't build tension. Rambles: Contortionists in horror, hillbilly horror/hixploitation movies. Alt-text rambles: Resident Evil 7, Dead Space and "strategic dismemberment"

22. Hubris

The movie tries to do some themes again Rambles: my ineffable desire to genetically sequence ditch weeds, Left Behind Alt-text rambles: Brad Dourif's commitment to the bit in The Two Towers, nigh-invisible wheelchair product placement, the Fallout series in general and the upcoming show in particular, praise for an epic-length critique of Left Behind, Robert Zemeckis' bizarre quest to mocap everything Rants: This movie does a terrible job representing both religiosity and atheism

23. Informed

Exposition is delivered, and plot points try to knit together. Rambles: The Silent Hill movie, Pacific Rim Alt-text rambles: Pyramid Head's secret unclothed backside, demanding environmental enrichment for scientists, greebling, Tumblr's favorite shitty copper merchant Rants: What could've been done instead of an exposition dump and daddy issues Alt-text rants: these people and their interior design are tempting fate and testing my patience

24. Inscribed

I go rogue and ramble about constructed languages and cuneiform for an entire post. Guest appearances from Klingon pop music and a delightfully eccentric Assyriologist. Rambles: All of it. Alt-text rambles: the self-awareness of conlangers, fingernail length, Schleischer's Fable as a warm-up for the next section, my primary conlang derangement, speculation about whether cuneiform was legible for the blind, my beef with the cowards at Lucasfilm for refusing to use Star Wars' coolest letters, my love for Warframe's Grineer, going into far too much detail about redesigning Prometheus' Engineer script, and finally, the many crocodiles of ancient egyptian hieroglyphs. Rants: None/all of it

25. Judgement

We discuss some of what the movie doesn't. Rambles: Fiction and morality, Blade Runner, biblical allusions the story could've made and doesn't Alt-text rambles: Lance Henriksen's insane career, the paintings of John Martin and a surprise George Washington, Rutger Hauer's effect on Blade Runner, my tentative plans for the next essay series. Rants: Germs, old man makeup. Alt-text Rants: The characters are reading ahead in the script again, the half-assed Engineer writing system continues to hurt me

26. Awoken

I go bananas over PIE. Rambles: fix-it fic for this damned movie, PIE, how to avoid PIE, how to analyze PIE, and my personal alternative to PIE. Alt-text rambles: calculating how long the Engineer's overslept, their potential spiritual kinship to Moominpapa, behind the scenes photos of the suit actors, Prometheus rants in the days of LiveJournal, the game Hades, how hard it personally is to get PIE right, the linguistics nerdery of the Hittite empire, and watermarks. Rants: how the movie fails its premise and hurts my soul with linguistics

27. Shortcomings

The characters, and movie, fail to get their message across to someone bent on their destruction. Rambles: David's confused religious symbolism, Star Trek Alt-text rambles: My desire for fanfic, behind the scenes photos, what other critters the Engineer's suit actor has played, the naming of Australopithecines, crash-proofing a movie set, alien gender, Gandahar and how French animated SF in the 80s was awesome, Scorn and its expert consultation from a cenobite, and Doctor Strangelove. Rants: the assumptions of the human characters, I go from trying to be measured to actively spiting the writer for his take on thoughtful SF Alt-text Rants: Del Toro is the only one who gets me, the movie has forgotten its main character just had a major surgery, one last rant about how terribly unsafe the Prometheus was as a ship, before it becomes definitively not a ship.

28. Momentum

It's the bit where she doesn't turn. Rambles: How to fix the dumbest thing we've seen in a hot minute, Edge of Tomorrow and feeling Tom Cruise's fear, how the dead thing is never really dead in horror. Alt-text rambles: How hard it is to find the most catchy song in We Love Katamari, more behind the scenes pictures of my blorbos, Friday the 13th Part IV, bad braille, and trilobites. Rants: I mean how can you not when the movie forgets how space works? Like, the idea of 3D space as a concept? Also, a particular rock earns my ire, and my ranting about interior designs on ships finally pays off.

29. Dissonance

The ending of the movie, and its tonal incoherency. Rambles: Protagonist-centric morality and lack thereof Alt-text rambles: Star Trek TNG, green blood, caecilian teeth. Rants: shallow christian themes, sequels that could have been, Shaw's confusingly deployed robo-racism Alt-text rants: sequel disappointments, inadvisable post-caesarian activities, how the hell do you fit that much 'burster into one chest, biological plausibility in alien extend-o-mouths

30. Justification

A breakdown of a post-release interview with Ridley Scott, explaining some missing details. Rambles: Gnosticism again, Mesoamerican and European human sacrifice and the exoticization of shared cultural practices, and a hearty book recommendation. Alt-text rambles: Icelandic volcanoes, The Collector (2009), Stephen Speilberg's War of the Worlds and how scaring the shit out of someone isn't necessarily the job of a horror film, the Tollund Man, unique cultural practices, Hello Future Me, and my opinions on what we've seen of Alien: Romulus. Rants: Ancient peoples weren't stupid, an unexamined christian-centric worldview, an unexamined christian-centric worldview, I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGh

[theprincelyking]

TADC Headcanons (Mostly about their memories)

I’ve been thinking of headcounts for the circus. Just tiny parts of their lives that shine through in one form or another. If you want me to expand more on the specifics, let me know.

I think subconsciously they do retain some vague glimmer of their memories, which contributes to their personalities. And that small things can trigger something primal and unknown within them, for example:

…

Pom: “Ugh, we really are gonna be stuck here forever.” Jax: “Glad you managed to figure that out toots! After all, you gotta get used to the next how many years we’re gonna be in here.” Pom: “I’m gonna be old enough to be someone’s grandma.”

She looked over to see Jax’s eyes welling with tears, that threatened to spill out

Pom: “Ahh! Are you okay? Did I upset you?” Jax: “Ugh, right. Fair warning. Random words can set us off. For some reason, my body starts bugging out everytime I hear the word, "grandma". Tried to get Caine to fix it, but no luck.” . . .

But it can also be wholesome I betcha …

Ragatha was sitting at the table bored. Seemingly unimpressed with her plate of digital food

Pom: “…Are…Are you going to eat that?”

She slides it over to Pomni and she gingerly eats it

Pom: “Uhh…This place sure has…well food.” Rag: “Yeah. Nothing too interesting.” Pom: “True. I wish they had something more diverse…Like something seasoned, or something like desert. Ohh, I could really go for some beans.”

She smiles warmly at that

Rag: “I don’t know why, but everytime I hear the word "beans’" I feel weirdly happy. It’s almost nostalgic.” Pom: “Do you like beans?” Rag: “I don’t know. But I like that word a lot.” . . .

And some can be just plain weird …

Zooble was walking back to their room while Pomni followed

Pom: “So…What’s it like having…A body like that?” Zoo: “Hard to keep track of when your roommate keeps using your hand as a back scratcher. Also walking was a NIGHTMARE when I first got here.” Pom: “I can only imagine. It looks like a lot.” Zoo: “Yeah. It’s so annoying.”

Pomni nodded

Pom: “Well, maybe we could do something to get away from the others.” Zoo: “Not interested.” Pom: “Oh, that’s okay. Uhh, I guess I just wanted to forget about the whole…In a video game thing.” Zoo: “sigh I know it’s hard. But I’m not really the person you wanna hang out with.” Pom: “I’m sure your not a drag or anything. Ehh…I guess if you need me, I’ll be outside the tent. I think I saw a bunch of weird stuff outside. Balls, Board games. I think I even saw a pair of skates-”

Zooble immediately bursted out with laughter, almost falling to the floor, beating their mismatched feet on the ground as they wheezed hard at the word

Zooble: [censored] [censored] [censored]- Oh [censored], don’t say that word around me. It drives me nuts.” Pom: “Huh? Skates?” Zoo: WHEEZE . . .

And some are just…Completely out of left field … Pom: “Marco!” Rag: “Polo!”

They were in the digital lake, going on another one of Caine’s adventures. Thankfully today was rather simple. A pool party in the digital lake. Nothing more.

Pom: “Marco!” Jax: “Polo.”

Jax was using a giant rubber ducky to swim away from her immediately after that

Rag: “Hey! That’s not fair!” Jax: “Oh please, she’ll be fine.” Pom: “Marco!” Gang: “…Help?”

Pomni unblindfolded herself and could see Gangle, sort of stuck to the surface of the water…It didn’t seem like she could move. Pomni picked her up and she wrapped herself around her head, sort of creating a cute little bow on her head

Gang: “Oh that’s better, so cold…” Rag: “I was wondering where she was.” Jax: “I wasn’t.”

Pomni akwardly patted her mask and put back on the blindfold. She drifted in the water a bit before yelling out again

Pomni: “Marco!” Kinger: “I’ll have the Neapolitan cappuccino, More Cappa than Chino. Make sure it's got no more than 4oz of milk, The beans won't have the right texture otherwise-“

He explained in disturbing detail a very lengthy coffee order, which completely stopped the game.

Pom: “…Okay, maybe we should take a break.” Zoo: “I agree, especially since Jax is using my FACE AS A F[censored]G FOOTREST!”

Looks like Zooble also came apart in the water. And was not happy about it.

Rag: “I got your arm!” King: “…Oh!”

He paddles over with their torso, using it as a board to propel himself across

King: “Here you go!” Zoo: “…Gee. Thanks.”

They sneered a bit

[drpeppertummy]

teenyteeny tinytiny silly little thing

[mild hunger & stuffing, tummy noises]

Sunny lay happily on his belly with his chin in his arms, his mismatched-sock-feet swinging idly in the air as he watched Laurie draw. Laurie wasn't shy about drawing, and she never seemed to mind being watched while she worked. Sunny, incidentally, absolutely adored watching her draw. He found it very soothing, and he was always astonished at the apparent ease with which she sketched things that would have taken him months to even come close to. Occasionally he would draw alongside her, scrawling out silly doodles while she worked on lifelike landscapes, but for the most part, he simply enjoyed watching.

While Sunny was enjoying himself, Laurie, on this particular afternoon, was not. Her brow furrowed as another hungry growl broke both the silence and her concentration. Sunny's stomach had been growling all morning, and for once in his life, he was in no big rush to do anything about it.

"Why don't you go eat something?"

"Don't wanna," he said, entirely oblivious to her irritation. She rolled her eyes.

"You're obviously hungry," she said, looking down at him.

"I don't feel like getting up," he protested. "I like watchin' you." Laurie rolled her eyes and went back to work. When his belly rumbled again, though, she set down her pencil with a huff.

"You are driving me straight up the wall, Sunshine," she snapped. He flinched, surprised.

"What'd I do?" He looked up at her, his big dark eyes wide with confusion.

"I can't focus with your stomach making all that noise! Come on, you're eating." She stood up from the floor and all but yanked him upright as well, then took him by the arm and pulled him into the kitchen. Wanting to get back to her sketchbook before she lost momentum, she dumped a can of soup into a bowl and stuck it in the microwave. Two minutes later, she passed it back to Sunny.

"Aw, gee, thanks, Laurie!"

"Shut up and eat."

Obediently, Sunny sat down at the table and ate his soup while Laurie returned to her drawing. Not wanting to be left out, Sunny ate quickly, and it wasn't long before the bowl was empty and his belly was full. It had been a big can, and between that and the amount of air he'd swallowed in his rush to eat it, his stomach felt taut and bloated, but not terribly uncomfortable. He let out a burp, followed by a sigh of relief, then got up to wash the bowl.

Sunny came back and tried to return to his original position, but found that he was too full to lay on his belly, at least on the hard floor. He shifted awkwardly to his side, his tummy sloshing as he did, and propped his head up with one hand. Laurie glanced up at him for a moment, then back at her sketchbook as she carried on with her work. The room was quiet for all of ten seconds before Sunny's full belly let out a grumbling gurgle. Laurie ignored it, but when it gurgled again, she paused, glancing back at him. He looked innocently up at her. Their eyes remained locked for a moment, then, slowly, Laurie began drawing again. When the third gurgle came, she suddenly grabbed a pillow and whacked him with it.

"God dammit all to hell, Sunny, you're driving me nuts!"

[cosmereplay]

KOWT PREVIEW CHAPTER

Call me a silly sod for wanting to talk about relationship therapy stuff but this Jaswit chapter is a great example of Gottman's solvable vs perpetual problems, and why either of those kinds of problems can be relationship breakers.

For some reason, the dealbreaker isn't the one people seem to think.

So in this preview chapter, Jasnah and Wit have two relationship problems: 1) they have mismatched sex drives, and 2) Wit has been lying to her by omission.

This is the problem that some think is the dealbreaker. Having mismatched sex drives is a perpetual problem - it will always exist as long as they're together. Jasnah herself is troubled by Wit being weird about it, but it's not a dealbreaker for her. In fact, every relationship has perpetual problems, and mismatched sex drives is a common one, even in allo/allo or ace/ace relationships! And they got the benefit of knowing that right from the beginning. To me, that shows that they both believe that they can adapt, or at least there are other things about the relationship that make it worth the ongoing mismatch. Again I cannot stress enough that every long-term relationship, friendship, family relationship, etc has perpetual problems that they have to work around.

Wit's dishonesty is the problem that causes Jasnah to feel like something has broken in her. She knew Wit would keep secrets, but she asked him to specifically share information he had about Odium, and he agreed and then withheld that information from her. This is a solvable problem! He could solve the problem by giving her the information she wants and being honest with her going forward. Or trying to negotiate a different level of secrecy. However, he will likely choose to keep lying because he's a bastard man. That's the dealbreaker for her, and quite rightly in my opinion!

In conclusion, Wit busting his nut isn't the dealbreaker, it's the fact that he's not busting his balls to say his next Ideal. And he's going to have to get honest fast if he's going to stay in this relationship. Jasnah deserves better!

[yuhi-san]

Some darius head canons cause why not

Before joining the abomination coven darius did also some healing magic

He was and still is fairly good with potions

While he has quite the knowledge about beasts and beast keeping he has very little talent for the spells (and also no real desire to actually deal with most beasts)

While at hexside he was not sure if he was jealous of alador and odalias building romance and if so of whom he was actually jealous of

Turns out he is aromantic and was just frustrated with aladors obliviousness

He thought adrian might be worth having a crush on when he first saw him. It lasted exactly as long as it took adrian to open his mouth in darius proximity

He sees adrian as a pathetic wannabe. Don't ever suggest they are anything alike

(Darius mentor was greatly amused by his following rant)

He never participated in the bonesborough brawl because he thinks everyone can brawl and it shows little about ones skill

Darius grew up with his singel mom for the most part and she only remarried in his mid teens

He gets along well with his step dad for the most part but does not really see him as his dad. More like a confidant or a guardian he is close to

It's kinda what he tries to go for with hunter later

Darius is a abomination prodigy and had the choice to either train under the abomination coven head or the golden guard who took an interest in him

His decision came down to snot (literally). He initially was going to turn the golden guard down

Back at hexside he, raine, odalia, lilith and some other started a drama club

Darius used to admire odalias drive and cunningness before it went downhill with her and he started being mentored by the golden guard

Both things strongly contributed to his and aladors falling out

Darius will act aloof and all but cares about the wellbeing of people, especially children. But he is terrible at interacting with kids, especially babies

On that note darius cannot handle people crying. Babies? His mom watching some drama? Friends crying from happiness? Doesn't matter. Darius flight instinct is triggered immediatelly and he is like 'titan help me'

He likes to pretend he is above it and too mature for causing trouble like eda does but the truth is he is just very good in not getting caught (unlike eda who loves to brag)

He also acts like he is too good for aladors stupid experiments but alador would rope him in 9/10 anyways

Before coming to bonesborough he lived in latissa where beast speak is a lot more common

Him and lilith went to grom together once out of convinience but he ditched her halfway through anyway

Darius is not a very good staff flyer

He tries not to think about how the few people he lets close do a lot of stuff that drives him nuts either on purpose or unintentionally

His most cringeworthy memory is being stuck in a hut durung the boiling rain with eda and raine (during their are they dating or not? No one knows, not even them phase) and odalia and alador (with him oblivious to her by then painfully direct advances)

He generally hates crimes against fashion but especially mismatched socks

Darius figured out his mentor and hunter were grimwalkers some time after his mentors death. He suspects there were more but he does not know the extent of it

His mentor very much did NOT want darius to get involved once he did learn more of who belos really was

Darius is very good at faking, lying and pretending on the spot

On contrast he struggles to comfort others because he often is blunt and comes across as harsh

Darius was and still is very direct but during his time with the golden guard he got to understand politics better and got a good feeling on when to bite his tongue or be more subtle

It's not so much that he hasn't a temper and more that he does have a pretty good grip on it usually. But man you do not want him to be mad at you

He reads rulers reach (or tries to anyway) when he learnd hunter is a fan of the book so he knows what the kid likes. He thinks it's absolutelly horrendous

Upon learning king is a titan, darius takes one look at him and goes 'i do not subscribe to this reality' and that's that

At least once he had one of his abominations hose eberwolf down when he tried to climb on him while covered in mud (and got sprinkled with watery mud in turn once eber shook his fur)

He would judge philipp wittebanes fashion so much

While darius obviously would never harm a kid, he absolutely will throw hands with them if they push the right buttons

He is very impressed (if still a little miffed) with willow for fearlessly attacking him when she thought it would come down to a fight

Eber still makes fun of him for not just telling them he will drop them at hexside. Darius justification is that he wanted to scare them because when do kids ever listen to what you tell them?

He gets slangry (it's like hangry but you get cranky if tired)

Darius has pretty good people reading skills

He tends to get hung up on little flaws or habits of other people

[catmaidetho]

crow's danger days au design party

hi! to celebrate reaching 200 followers, i'm hosting a design party for my life series danger days au!

what's that mean? beneath the readmore on this post will be a set of written descriptions for the cast of the au. anyone who wants can then draw what they think those characters look like!

do i have to draw all of them? nope! only do the ones you want!

is there a time-limit on this? also no! whenever you've got the time to do it, go for it!

what even is danger days? IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED! danger days is the 4th (and final) studio album by american rock band my chemical romance! it was a concept album, which can be seen in the music videos for nanana and sing. there's also a tie-in comic book series, danger days california. so if you're struggling for inspiration, i suggest watching those music videos or taking a look at the aesthetic of the comic!

if you're participating, please @ me in your finished pieces! :D

characters

these are the main characters featured in my current wip---the extended cast (as well as some picrews/art i've done of some of them) are in this google drive here. go nuts!! :D

Etho (they/them) Etho is a tall, lanky androgyne, and the tallest in their crew. They have unnaturally white hair with dirty blond roots that they keep longer on the top and shaved close on the sides. Their eyes are an unsettlingly dark shade of brown, bordering on black. They wear a black tank top, dark gray camo-patterned cargo pants (the pockets are full of wires and plastic scrap), well-worn black combat boots, and a heavy green jacket that reaches their thighs. They also wear fingerless leather gloves, protective goggles, and a tool belt that their raygun and other extra tools hang from. They wear a black gas mask on the bottom half of their face nearly 24/7.

Small Beans (he/him) Small Beans is considerably shorter than Etho, and the shortest in his crew. He has half-brown, half-green hair that is unkempt at best and a rat's nest at worst. His eyes are a dull green. He wears a black bleach-dyed t-shirt, ill-fitting and ripped light-wash blue jeans, brown work boots with yellow laces, and a vibrant pink leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders and a myriad of patches. He often steals Etho's leather gloves when they aren't looking, although does own a pair of their own fingerless gloves that have been painted with hand bones.

The Scar (he/him) The Scar is slightly shorter than Etho, and somehow manages to be quite buff. He has well-kept, short brown hair. His eyes are deep green. He has more scars on his skin than can be counted, mostly healed sunburns and raygun shots. Before he joined Etho's crew, he was often seen wearing burgundy slacks and a white, short-sleeved button up shirt. After joining Etho's crew, his outfit completely changed to a skin-tight, short-sleeve black shirt with a triangle cut-out on his chest, black leather pants, surprisingly well kept black boots with mismatched orange and teal laces, and a half-orange-half-teal windbreaker. He is the only member of the crew to never lose his sunglasses.

Pesky Bird (he/she) Pesky Bird is somewhat taller than Small Beans. He has a decently-kept mop of blond hair. Her eyes are rich, chocolate brown. He wears a white t-shirt, straight-fit blue jeans, boots that may have been black once but are heavily faded by the sun and wear, and a bright red leather motorcross jacket with a large patch on the back of parrot wings. She also has a matching biker helmet.

the extended cast can be found in this google drive!

[gamerbearmira]

"Who the hell are you all supposed to be?" Soul Queen Alma asked with her head slightly tilted as she glared down at the large group of humans in front of her, although some didn't look quite human.

"Oh this is interesting. I haven't met another version of me that's not baseline human before. Hello nice to meet you. This is a gathering of the universes it seems. We're all different versions of you and the family." Cocooned Alma said smiling welcoming at the group of very mismatched people.

"Is that what Abuela would look like if she were a human like Tia?" Isabela asked staring curiously at the different Alma's. Cocooned and Protective both gave her bright smiled and they were both cooing over how adorable their children and grandchildren were in the Mario verse.

"I only have one question for you." Protective said to Koopa Alma who raised an eyebrow as little Antonio hid behind her skirt even though Mirabel bravely charged forward to meet the others.

"Which is more important to you, your family or power and image?" Protective asked coldly and Koopa snorted slightly.

"Family of course. What kind of stupid question is that?" Koopa asked and she noticed how three other Alma's winced.

"Good you're on our side then. Those three broke or lost their families for either driving them to run away into the woods because they're part animal, being horrible enough Isabela stepped up to be the mama of the younger ones before all the grandkids ran away, or being disowned by the grandkids because she couldn't accept that they were Mermaids and instead called them sea devils." Protective said motioning to the other three Alma's in turn as she spoke and making them each wince.

Koopa Alma's aura flared around her for a moment as she turned furious eyes on the three but she took a deep breath and then reached down to pick up her three children and all of the grandchildren that she could reach. Which meant she now had three adults and five of the children in her arms since Mirabel was playing happily with the other little ones in the room.

"They come near any of you, go nuts. I don't want people like that around you nine. Mirabel, Dolores, if they try to touch you or if they say something mean set them on fire. Isa, Luisa use your shells. Tonito and Camilo either hide and mess with them or hide and get me. Triplets...go nuts." Alma gave the family their orders and earned nods and noises of agreement from them as she sat and cuddled the family members, a few brave members of the other universe running over to meet them and climb all over the ten feet tall Alma.

MADAME SOUL AA FOR THE WIN ❤❤❤

You know only calmed herself so she wouldn't accidentally set Casita on fire or burn one of the nicer family members. Trust me, she would have attacked them, if given the chance ☠️☠️

Also, tiny continuation <3

_____

Koopa Alma was sitting next to Protective Alma, cradling little butterfly Mirabel. She was making conversation with Cocooned and Protective Alma, mostly talking about their lives back in their universe and what not.

The children, mainly those under the age of 12, scaled the larger Alma. She towered over everyone in the room, proving to be the tallest and arguably most powerful Alma by far, even when sitting down.

"Abuela Soul?" The mentioned woman looked over to her shoulder and saw a 4 year old Luisa climbing onto her shell.

"Yes?" She said warmly.

"Um, how come your so warm? I mean, Abuela is super warm too, but you feel like a warm blanket," She hugged her neck, cuddling into it. "I like it."

Soul Alma hummed. "Ah. It's because my body is always warm, so I can breath fire whenever I want," she released steam from her mouth as she smiled.

As soon as she finished her sentence, all of the toddlers ran over and gasped.

"You can breath fire?!" The youngest Camilo said, hanging off one of the spikes on her shell.

"Indeed, I can." She said, a hint of pride in her voice.

"Its super cool!" Bomb Mirabel exclaimed, flopping onto her Abuela's lap. "Me and Dolores can too, but Abuela's fire is wayyy hotter and thiiiiisssss big," she held her arms out wide, try to best describe her Abuela's ability.

"Can you show us?" Antonio smiled, jumping in place slightly.

Koopa Alma thought for a moment before nodding. "I suppose I can." Carefully setting those in her lap onto the floor, she stood up, walking to the center of the courtyard, where the sky could be seen.

The other 3 Alma's stood a little ways away from her, flinching where he sharp eyes glared at them for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she turned towards the sky and released a large flame from her mouth, the heat being felt by most of those in the room.

Once she was finished, the kids flocked over to her, proceeding to bombard her with compliments or attempt to climb her again.

"Can you fly too?" Toddler Isabela gasped.

"No, I can not," Koopa Alma chuckled. "But, Pedro can."

"Can he show us?" chameleon Camilo asked.

"I don't see why not. Before I call him, I advise those with...er, sensitive ears to cover them." Immediately, the Wild family covered their ears, along with all but 2 Dolores'.

"Pedro!" Koopa Alma's voice boomed, reverbing off the walls; some of the tiles even rattled. Once she her mouth closed, the lights and candles in the house (save for the miracle,) went out. Any candles that re lit were now purple.

"Its cold," One of children shivered. Koopa Alma bent down and picked up the younger ones, easily caring 10 of them while the others simply stood next to her.

"Where is he?" Wild Isabela asked, ears listening for new movement.

"Right here," everyone's eyes turned to a man floating to the floor. He wore dress clothes, and a crown top with a glowing gem. "King of Boos, Pedro. I was called? Oh, Alma!" Pedro kissed his wife, smiling.

"This, is mine amor, Ped-" Koopa Alma was cut off by children screaming. Alma thought it was out of fear; her Pedro was a 11, almost 12 foot tall ghost after all. But she was pleasantly surprised when she saw many of the kids rush towards him, clutching his translucent legs.

"He's so cool!"

"Look at his crown!"

"Can you go invisible?"

"How tall are you?"

Pedro chuckled as he bent down to ruffle the children's hair, smiling as he did. They continued to ask him questions, which he answered happily, laughing when one of the children phased through him.

_____

Hope you like this 👹👹 AU by @canadasflowercrown

Anyway, onto request!! Just one this time :))

thecoldestanimeartist asks:

"I saw snippet anons angry Bowser Alma post, and I love it! Since we have angry Alma, can we get mad King Boo Pedro? 👀👀 Maybe based off this photo?:"

And this was the photo sent:

Have fun ✧*｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*｡

I'll answer more once I get home, I started this one this morning and finished just now, so I'll try and post this one :) but mobile data is being weird and I'll be lucky if even this even posts before I get home in like an hour ☠️☠️

[sadisthetic]

Dude your Jaya hanahakai au is everything. If you're not gonna write that uhhhh can I???? 'Cause it's so creative and intricate. Utter genius bro

Also I really love the unrequited/stay friends ending and the requieted ending. They're both just so good and so well thought out (i also dont want jay to die lmao). Also YES!!! GIVING NYA AGENCY!! You put so much consideration into her feelings and it's making me bark like a feral little dog. Like the worst thing about skybound is how it treats Nya as a character and I just shhdjdjd. This is driving me insane. Ninjago's writing makes me ill but yours has me on my knees.

THANK YOU.............. DRAMATICALLY FALLS TO MY HANDS AND KNEES..... SWEET FEEDBACK AND BOOST TO MY EGO.... i was insane while writing that entire au too.

ALSO ITS FUNNY... I WROTE SO MUCH ABOUT NYAS FEELINGS IN THIS AU BECAUSE IT WAS ENTIRELY NECESSARY. LIKE. I HAD TO. especially for requited end. i knew when i got to that point in the story where i had to address i knew it in my heart that this was like. the most important part. nyas feelings are so important in this au.... and i knew without proper explanation/justification of nyas feelings of why she falls in love with jay again the au Simply Would Not Work. all that consideration is me doing the intense relationship math (math? i dunno. its a process of some sort.) TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO MAKE THEM WORK. because if anything. jaya should is a relationship that requires work. not effortless in the slightest.

i love jaya. its technically a terrible romance. fucking absolutely wretched and tormented by obligatory heterosexual writing. it only exists because straight writers Have to write het tax into their shows for some goddamn reason. but also. its the ship of all time. its because im delusional and have thought about it so much and put so much thought into how their relationship should BE and also wrote so much meta and shit to fill in the massive gaps in their relationship that canon doesnt address or skips over. YOU SEE JAYA IS ACTUALLY SO FUCKING INTERESTING AS A RELATIONSHIP. ITS SO INTERESTING BECAUSE ITS A FUCKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THEY ACTUALLY HAVE VERY LITTLE CHEMISTRY AS COUPLE. AND YET AND YET AND YET. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. THEY GET TOGETHER ON SUPERFICIAL TERMS. THEY BREAK UP. THEY GET TOGETHER AGAIN. BECAUSE THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. in my eyes they arent a perfect match for each other. actually. thats literally canon. jay isnt nyas perfect match (god i think about s3 so fucking much i hate it) but they love each other anyways and end up together in the end despite the things theyve gone through. i think theres something real about that. love that is mismatched and tried but they Work through it anyways. thats romance baby. theres something very romantic about love that takes effort (is the guy who is putting all the effort into the ship) (very delusional) (but very self aware about it)

jaya is like. a brain teaser. its like a fun puzzle for my brain to solve (fix) because its such a travesty in canon. the gordians knot of ninjago ships. i love thinking about it so much. i thought about it so much ive tricked myself into becoming a massive shipper who screams whenever they do something cute together

oh fuck im sorry i forgot to answer your question bc i got so fucking heated about jaya. its because im insane about them. it just happened. fuck. jaya............................ i love divorce...... anyways

YES you can write my au. because i certainly dont have the stamina to do it myself. i would like if you credited me for the idea tho if youre gonna use my plot beats. but otherwise? Feel Free. go nuts. i love fanfiction. i always think of my stories as fanfic anyways and man i sure do wish i could read my own au as a fic. but i lack the capacity to write this beast of an au in full. so like. someone else might as well. if you do. have fun

[power-chords]

The thing that really drives me nuts is that the hair and eyebrows/eyelashes are so mismatched. I don't object to darker, ashier eyebrows and eyelashes! Because bleaching an actor's eyebrows and eyelashes is insane and dangerous! But there's NONE of that color integration within the wigs sitting on top of their heads. So it's that much more incongruous to look at.

[keeper-of-all-the-random-things]

Hold On

CW: emotional whump, cuts and blood from broken glass. I seriously cannot think of the word right now, it's driving me nuts, but when someone repeatedly tells you that you can't do things on your own (someone please tell me, because I know I know it)

"That's it, the finishing touch." Mo places the last dishes on the shelf and stands back to admire his handiwork. He finally unpacked all his belongings in his new apartment. Sunlight illuminates the cozy yellow kitchen.

"Alright," he says to himself, "first order of business as an independent adult is to find sustenance." He hums a nameless tune as he picks out leftovers and mismatched dishes. His hand hovers over a new glass a friend gave him as a housewarming present, but he sticks to his trusty chipped mug he received for his ninth birthday. BEST SON it reads in big block letters. "Hell yeah I am. Ha! Never mind I'm the only son."

Too bad.

Mo quickly shuts down the voice in his head, unwilling to let that or the nagging homesickness ruin his moment. This was his home now, and he'd done it all on his own.

We'll see how long that lasts.

"No. Nope, we're not going to do that. No negative thoughts in this kitchen." He takes a long sip from his mug as a distraction. The jagged rim catches his lip, giving his water a metallic tang. He sucks on the cut for a moment then spins the mug around to drink from the smooth edge.

When he finishes, he leaves his dishes by the sink and busies himself with small tasks. He keeps up a steady stream of chatter, narrating his activities like a sports announcer and giving pep talks to ward off the Voice.

His parents call midday. He lets it ring and focuses deeply on getting the streaks out of all the windows.

And suddenly there is nothing left to do. The smell of pine-sol and bleach mix and linger in the air. Evening had long since slid into night, and Mo can see his reflection in his dazzlingly clean front window. He nods sagely to himself then lays on his living room floor, exhausted.

You can't avoid us forever.

Mo ignores the Voice and counts the cracks in the ceiling.

You think you're all grownup now, don't you? Mo cleaned his room like a big boy.

He groans, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palms.

Are you going to cry now? Little Mo, afraid of a little criticism.

TAKE IT EASY ON HIM.

Mo curls up on his side as a second voice cuts in.

HE'S JUST NOT READY YET.

Of course, he's not. Look at him... Look at you.

Mo breaths long slow breaths and rolls onto his hands and knees. He stumbles when he tries to stand.

You're like a baby. Can't even walk properly.

COME BACK TO US. WE CAN TAKE CARE OF YOU.

Ha! Take care of. Yeah.

"Stop it. Just...stop." Mo staggers through the rooms of his new home, searching for something he can't find.

IT'S OKAY. WE'LL TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER.

You can't do this.

"Yes, I can. I can!"

YOU'RE NOT READY TO BE ALONE.

"No, that's y - "

You'll mess this up, too.

"No, I - "

WE NEED YOU HERE.

You ruined us.

"No!"

Mo doesn't notice what he's done until the glass shatters against the wall.

Regret hits him immediately. He sinks to the ground, collecting the pieces in his hand. What is left of his mug stares up at him accusingly. B T SON. Sharp edges cut into his palms.

He tries to gather all the pieces, but some are too small to see, and others are lost in dust and dark corners.

Time freezes.

Mo stays kneeling on the floor, hitching sharp breaths as his tears mix with the glass he holds in his broken palms.

Look at you. Can't clean up your own messes.

He closes his hand around the shards and watches the blood drip between his fingers.

THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU'D STAYED WITH US.

His breathing slows, still unsteady, but no longer wracking his whole body. He eyes the shards lying in front of him, gleaming and sharp. SON. He picks up the largest piece. It sits slick in his hand.

You'll ruin yourself just like you did us.

Something arises in him. Quietly at first and then growing until the voices are fighting to be heard.

Coward.

The feeling rushes in his ears and starts to poke at the empty spaces inside him. Vaguely, he is aware of the grey light appearing though the windows. He slowly uncurls his hands. The glass clinks softly as hit hits the ground. Mo closes his eyes, face turned to the ceiling.

You'll never make it.

Deep breath, eyes open.

"Watch me."

[thesummerstorms]

Did my Pathfinder character who I made approximately two days ago, have no campaign or fic for, and who no one cares about NEED an apartment built in Sims 4? No.

Did I build by Elven Magus scholar a garret/attic apartment anyway? Yes.

The mismatched wood tones and patterns are driving me nuts, but what can you do? Also, I definitely need to install a lighting mod.

It doesn’t feel elf-y enough for me either, but in my defense, Morwenna is a lot more focused on magical scholarship + archery + finding new trashy novels than she is fashion or aesthetics.

[misspelled-url]

a little while ago i talked to my dad about cultural identity.

context: he's argentinian, my mum is german, i was (not born, but) raised in germany. my german is better than my spanish, but when i speak spanish i am fluent and have no accent. people in buenos aires actually tend to assume that i'm from córdoba, specifically. however, i often make little grammar or vocabulary mistakes.

(e.g. sometimes i mess up traer/llevar or ir/venir because in german 'bringing' or 'coming'/'going' is not related to the speaker's location, but in spanish it is. it drives me nuts and my dad always makes fun of me for it. also the condicional is a pain in the ass, and the subjuntivo de imperfecto, too. 'hubiese'? get out of here. anyways)

so recently i've been asking myself how 'argentinian' i really am. because above all, i am german. i feel very european, i look very european. i understand all the german unwritten social rules, they are what's most familiar to me. in germany i've never felt like i'm 'half-half', or that i stand out in any way. i fit in 100%.

however, when i went to argentina on my own at 18 - not just to visit family like before, but to live there for a few months, - i suddenly felt so much YEARNING. for a long time, my argentinian dad, my family from córdoba and my bilingual upbringing had just seemed like fun facts sprinkled on top. trivia about me, nothing more. but suddenly, i wanted nothing more than to BELONG. it already started on the plane: my flight from madrid to buenos aires was obviously full of argentinians, and hearing them speak in the accents most familiar to me made my heart burst with an emotion i couldn't describe. in buenos aires, i took so much pride in people telling me that culturally, i seemed 'more argentinian' than some german friends i met there. that i fit in better than them. that after a weekend of visiting my family in córdoba, my local accent seemed even stronger. that i was basically somewhat argentinian, too.

but i hadn't grown up in argentina, and i didn't know the unwritten social rules. people there assumed i knew those rules, because i sounded so local. but i didn't, not really, so i seemed weird a lot, especially if people didn't know about my background. i was too direct, or impolite without meaning to, or i used outdated slang terms and didn't know new ones. (does anyone under the age of 40 still say 'la pucha'?) i used curse words that were too strong or too weak for the situation. i was completely out of touch with youth culture, music or politics, and i assume that overall i seemed just a little off to people.

so i talked to my dad about that. he has now spent more than half of his life living abroad. he told me this:

'look. in germany, you can play a waltz on the piano, like everyone else. in argentina, your german friends play a tango on that piano, and that's fine. but you can play the tango on an accordion, like the other argentinians - just maybe with a little less practice.'

it was a silly, slightly oversimplified metaphor, but it made a lot of sense to me.

i live in germany, and my accordion is lying in the attic, unused. i yearn to play it though, and i am overjoyed if i get the chance to. i still don't know how 'argentinian' i am, and maybe i never will. maybe i'm not really argentinian at all. that's okay though. i can play two instruments, and two music styles, and isn't a weird, mismatched orchestra the most beautiful thing?

[gifsbysimplysonia]

Checked with my brother to make sure he saw what I saw and I wasn't crazy. Didn't say shizz as he watched, then he rewound and went back to most of the stuff I thought wasn't right and told me why he didn't think it looked right either. So cool, it wasn't just me. BUUUUUUUT 🤣

The way I was SURE this motherfather's entire performance was green screened in cuz the whole scene is shot in a way that it looks FAKE!!!!!

Via Marco on Instagram who posted a whole bunch of BtS pics of him ON THE SET of Ghosted

Might not be crazy but I was TOTALLY WRONG and it is SENDING me!

Idk why tf they used so much blue screen for this movie but that PLUS the mismatched lighting in his scene makes it look SO BADLY SHOT.

GIF by @thetrashstache

Chris's TEETH ARE BLUE as they are driving along (go back and watch, I swear I'm not nuts lol), GIF by @angela-bassetts

and see how the lighting on them in the front don't match the lighting on him in the back? You can see here in the blooper even how the lighting changes when CE leans forward

Different days on set I'm guessing which makes sense. If I'm proven to be wrong though I'll be fine with it 😄 But like

My Brother said blue screen and mismatched lighting make it hard on a VFX crew so maybe this was a rush job? I'm baffled and I don't know why my brain is STUCK on this whole scene.

Plus, it's not him who breaks the Leopard's neck and is laid out on the hood of the car, I stand by those statements lol

👀

This movie, man. What an interesting project it was. I'm gonna be thinking about it for longer than I want to (too late). And my brother is mad that Apple TV says "Watch again?" on it cuz we went back like 3 times to it to fast forward and watch certain stuff 🤣

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Rain. 

David Cox phones.  He has to run an errand and says he will drop off my check for the Carnegie gig.  David put an extraordinary effort for the job. (He’s the only person I can think of that have a set of four timpani in his apartment [!].)  I too put in some hours.  One of the pieces (by Amirov) keeps bouncing around in my head.  

Re the Carnegie gig...there is no escaping the fact that young Mr. Markov’s finale with the electric violin was an abomination (of course the crowd loved it).  It brought to mind the antics of Nigel Kennedy (who performed under the name Nigel).  Wonder where Nigel (his trademark mismatched socks) is these days.  

It stops raining.  Kenichi, having made yet another long drive, is safely home.  Though he is fifty I still worry about him.  

Note: Still thinking about how easy Thanksgiving was without the presence of the mentally ill aunt.  Always a drama with her.  The weeping and all that.  

Monday, November 28, 2022

Kayne West is described as a musician.  He must be quite successful though I don’t know anything he’s done.  His infamous tweet...something about “death con 3 for Jewish people” is still, for me (the unhip, uninitiated) shrouded in mystery.  His dinner guest, Fuentes, looks like a young businessman.  Clean cut. What does he do when he’s not hating being an anti-Semite?  Trump is making feeble comment about the dinner...that  Kayne said he wanted to run for president (are all of these people nuts?)...that he didn’t know Fuentes, didn’t invite him, etc.  Jewish donors (though DJT is still said to be Israel’s friend) are quietly stepping away.  

Note: Knoxville’s own Cormac McCarthy, though nearing ninety years of age, has churned out two more novels.  Amazing.  

to be continued