#threads: mick dantes

[cyberneticatoms]

WHERE: The Hidden Marigold WHO:  Poppy Sarasa (@miketroplex)

"Ok so be honest, is it too spicy or too bland?" Mick asked as he set a bowl of salsa in front of Poppy along with a basket of chips. "Spicy challenges are back in style so we were thinking of doing like a scale thing. This is suppose to be level 3 of 10, so if it's already too spicy I'm gonna have to rework the scale."

[fromthedeskofthecaptain]

For anyone who would like to know the contents of the Ghosts Empire Spoiler Special, I’ve summarized the discussion below.

There are two episodes, both centered on series 2, excluding the Christmas special. The first is Martha, Ben and Larry and the second is with Matt and Jim (and is better in terms of how deep they go into characterization and the writing process). I’ll skip the bits that are just chatter.

I’m not going to transcribe it all, but I’ll spend a few posts talking about the key points. I’ll do the second one first, because it’s the richest.

Writing process-

Storylining is done half a series at a time as a big group and then who writes each episode depends on availability and not being engaged on other projects. People will often write an episode because the plot was their idea, but it can work out that they write up an episode based on someone else’s outline.

They knew they wanted to show characters going against type - angry Pat and vulnerable Captain - and that they wanted to explore love between the Ghosts. They wanted to show humanity, add complexity and depth to characters and allow a range of movement into the present and the past. It was harder to write than Yonderland because there isn’t a new character with an “adventure of the week”.

Episode 1 -

The original idea for Pat’s DJ spot was that he would give an intro to Dexy’s Midnight Runners “Come on Eileen” and hum the first few bars, but it turned out to be £1000s to obtain the rights. Jim was so thrilled that it got such a laugh in rehearsal he considered paying himself. They tried a few others (2,4, 6, 8 Motorway) and then Jim improvised “Chicken and Chips” thinking he’d have a lot more tries, but Tom Kingsley moved them on before he could.

(Btw, they had no problems getting Kylie to agree to use of “I Should be so Lucky” because she loves the show! Music Club presented the same problem of having to ask for clearance and pay. Apparently there’s no standardized system so they had to think of something and ask, rather than picking from options with a price list.)

Episode 2 -

They came up with Dante’s plot to give Alison some way of moving through the house and interacting with everyone. They went with the Ghosts natural reactions to partying. Pat was conflicted between fun and the right thing. The plague ghosts and Mick giving everyone the plague was based on a play Matt was in years ago about a village where this happened.

They structured the episode by using the principle “what’s the worst thing that could happen next?” a la Curb Your Enthusiasm and thought the answer was the plague ghosts coming upstairs and there had to be a cause of that. The archaeologist was a good person to deal with the question of how is it they’ve just found out what Mick did.

Mary x Robin came from them thinking someone would end up having some intimacy with someone in hundreds of years without much stimulation or any other people, or even things, to touch. They joked about everyone having had ghost sex(!!) with everyone else at one point. (Editor’s note: I can’t really see this. Kitty doesn’t know what it is, Cap and Fanny are too uncomfortable with it so that leaves Julian, Thomas, Humphrey and Pat, who I suspect is too loyal to his wife).

Episode 4 - The Thomas Thorne Affair

There was an awareness that Thomas’s character could become a “one note joke” with no capacity for development. Jim described him as potentially like Pepe Le Pew. Matt asked Charlotte how she felt about the sameness of some of their interactions. They thought about having Alison just lay down the law as it were, but that would change who he was too much. They needed to “play the same tune with a different dynamic” in Thomas’s arc. They considered making his character a peeping Tom, but thought that would bore everyone quickly.

Episode 4’s plot structure came about because they wanted to promote the unreliable narrator idea. They knew some ghosts would have witnessed Thomas’s death and that, plus familiarity with characters, let them play with the format. Matt didn’t want to have the flashbacks to deaths to be done the same way each time. Pat’s in series 1 was obvious because he “wears his death” (Jim). Jim did an improv of Pat’s death in the writer’s room when they first had the idea of how he died. It worked because although it’s quite horrific, the audience knows he’s ok, in a sense, afterwards, so it can be comedic too.

Matt felt a bit guilty about being front and centre of the story he wrote. The unifying thread was Mike and Alison’s issues with truth / perspective. His death also establishes that some ghosts are present at others deaths.

They developed Thomas by writing about why he is as he is. Matt thinks that because Thomas died “heartbroken and fixated” Mary’s observation that “you stays how you dies” is psychologically true, too. They always knew he died in a duel over a woman, but elaborated it to include dying thinking he’d been abandoned. He transferred this state of unrequited obsession onto Alison. Thomas can’t cope with Robin’s point, re monogamy, about what would he do if both Isobel and Alison were alive.

They still aren’t sure if he’s a good poet - they wrote it so we know it’s bad BUT he can believe it’s good and the audience within the show are a bit confused about whether it’s just confidently delivered rubbish or not. They think he’s capable of good work but gets too caught up in his fixed ideas of what being a good poet is and tries too hard (the implication being that this blocks genuine creativity/ originality). His vulnerability is quite charming (Matt).

The idea of the cousin betrayal was thought up once they started. The first idea was just that Thomas tells a story and others interject to say it wasn’t like that and Kitty would tell her version which the audience would know to be true because she has no guile. The contrast was originally just in Thomas’s grand passion cruelly interrupted story versus the actuality of a not very good poet being deluded about a random woman who barely knew who he was. The twist of the cousin was a spark in the writers room that everyone was immediately excited about and that matches Thomas’s sense of the melodramatic.

(As an aside, they always knew there were different groups of people in the house before the Buttons and intended to use that to explore other stories and characters throughout history.)

Matt is a bit embarrassed that they didn’t really have space to give Francis a proper motivation for orchestrating his cousin’s death. They put in a bit about him appreciating Button House and added a line from Thomas - “don’t embarrass me, cousin” - to suggest perhaps Thomas bullied him a bit. They thought about giving Francis lines about having gambling debts to create an urgent need to marry into money, but that made it too obvious that Francis was a bad guy.

To be continued...

[cyberneticatoms]

WHERE: Remi's Place WHO: Remi Cerulli (@feastonkings)

"Special delivery," Mick said cheerfully holding up two takeout bags full of containers. "Was supposed to just be lunch for you and me, but mama went wild when Minnie and me filled her in. But hey you can share with roomies right?" he said giving them a sheepish grin. He'd been more than a bit anxious about his friend and may have agreed with his mom on the extra food.

[cyberneticatoms]

"How very dare you, I drink my respect woman juice three times a day like a good lil lesbian's platonic life partner should," Mick said, the grin on his face growing as he tried to keep from laughing. Taking a second to look out while wrapping his arms around her shoulders, a fake wistful expression, "A whole soccer team, but I can let you borrow 3 of em to teach em how to run management." He gave her another squeeze and kiss on the cheek, "But that's for the future, tonight is you, me and our third best friend tequila."

Minnie shot him a grin. "Hey, you're laughing now, but I know how you menfolk can get when you're caught up in that good, good sex haze," she argued, reaching up to poke Mick in the cheek. She rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly. "And duh, of course you're my favourite. We both know that it's gonna take a minor miracle for me to meet someone who actually wants commitment. But it's fine, I'm just gonna move in above your garage and be the cool wine aunt to your future soccer team of children."

[cyberneticatoms]

Mick laughed swinging an arm around Minnie's shoulders and pulling her close, not caring how sweaty she was. "Same," he hollered at the bar tender before giving her a playful kiss on the side of her head. For whatever reason he felt like it been a while since they'd seen each other, even if he'd seen her that morning. "Am I wing manning tonight or you actually got time for me before your groupies show up?"

LOCATION: In Shambles FOR: Open

Minnie was extremely hot and sweaty by the time that she made it off the stage and toward the bar. Pushing her way through, she leaned against the counter and flashed the bartender a grin, brown strands of hair sticking to her face. "I'll have a vodka red bull and whatever they want as well," she said, gesturing to the person next to her.

[cyberneticatoms]

There were really only two people Mick ever felt 100 percent relaxed with. The first was obviously Minnie, but the second was Karma. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders watching the way the ice in her drink spun around the edges. "Is this like we need to set up an intervention kind of situation?" He asked curiously, "Or do you think something's going on at home." Considering who all he knew, he was way too used to things going on behind closed doors.

LOCATION: Mick's and Minnie's Place FOR: Mick Dantes ( @cyberneticatoms )

As much as Karma enjoyed the benefits part of her friends with benefits relationship with Mick, it was the friend part that had become truly, genuinely important to her. She was almost always out chasing the next thrill, causing chaos and wreaking havoc along the way, and there weren't a lot of people that she could stop and talk about her feelings with. Mick was one of the few that she could sit still with and be comfortable. "I'm worried about Yag," she confessed, spinning her drink in her hands as she leaned against him. "Something is... Off. He knows it, and I'm starting to feel it too."

[cyberneticatoms]

Mick barked out a laugh as he pulled Minnie in closer to his side, pressing another kiss to the top of her head. "Jesus fucking christ," he said in between giggles as his shoulder shook, "I promise no amount head, great or otherwise is every going to knock you out of your spot." His stomach was hurting from laughing, "But hey same goes for you, I see you getting the doki dokis, I better still be your favorite."

"As long as you get yourself a matching little jingly hat, you fucking nerd," Minnie replied, unable to stop the fondness from seeping into her tone. She wrapped her arm around Mick's waist and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I better always be your favourite. I've put way too much work into maintaining that spot for someone to come in and expect to suddenly be number one just because they give great head."

[cyberneticatoms]

"Course you are, babe, a real court jester," Mick said grinning, "I'll get you a little jingly hat for your birthday." Sipping idly at his drink he shook his head, "And that's why you will always be my favorite. No one's cutting the line," he said. Even if he was joking there was truth to his words, the #1 slot in his life would always be Minnie.

Minnie gave her brother an indignant look. "Fuck you, I'm fucking hilarious," she shot back, rolling her eyes before having a sip of her own drink. She wasn't really offended, but she did like to be dramatic about it sometimes. "Nu-uh, just fulfilling my duties as your favourite person," she quipped back, grinned from behind the rim of her glass. "But if you got talked into a night of Karma-level partying then I understand the need to take it easy. I'll stock up on painkillers for your inevitable hangover from hell."

[cyberneticatoms]

Mick rolled his eyes in turn clinking his own glass against Minnie's. Half tempted to make a quip that maybe she should just to avoid the eventual heartbreaks that came from Minnie's taste in girls. He gave her an amused grin, "I will when you say something funny," he said cheerfully before taking a long sip. Thinking it over he glanced around the bar before giving a small shrug. "Trying to get rid of me?" He playfully teased, "Got talked into a Karma bar hop trip, not sure I got the energy for anyone tonight."

"I would have to change my taste in women for me to be at any risk of becoming a U-Haul lesbian," Minnie quipped back, turning to thank the bartender when they returned with their drinks. Rolling her eyes, she picked hers up and clinked it with Mick's. "Yes, I know that, but if I had to add that whole explanation about Poppy being my friend too, it would have ruined the joke. Just let me be funny." She sipped her drink and grinned happily. "But I accept your apology in the form of you confirming my status as prettiest brunette. Now... Anyone here who's caught your attention? I can wingman you."

[cyberneticatoms]

"Yeah you do, listen long as you don't try to Uhaul lesbian away from me anytime soon," Mick quipped. He gave her a small squeeze before laughing and shaking his head. "Hey at least one of those is friends with both of us, think Poppy be annoyed you said he's just mine," he replied. Leaning down to kiss the side of her head again he added, "Yeah, yeah, you are indeed the fairest of them all."

( continued from here with @cyberneticatoms )

Minnie leaned into her brother—and best friend, and platonic soulmate, and Person with a capital P—and wrapped her arm around his back. She laughed and rolled her eyes. "I don't have groupies," she insisted, leaning her head against him. "And I always have time for you. Do you have time for little old me or will you be whisked away by one of your pretty brunettes? Well, another one of your brunettes. I'm still the prettiest."

[cyberneticatoms]

Mick had a fond grin on his face as he looked at Poppy, it was hard to be even the slightest bit upset over being dragged around by him and Karma. Even if sometimes he wished they at least wait till his shift ended. Choking on his drink he jumped, banging his knee on the table with a curse. Rubbing at it he glanced back them before grinning. "We can grab some, get a matching one for Karma. Can even go super Texan for the State Fair," he said.

Poppy Sarasa

"Oh yeah, she told me about that one. More like both of us will be dragging you, I'm always down for a party. And for clothes shopping, hell yeah." Poppy rested her hand on her chin. "I've been wanting to look for some more masc stuff, so we can both shop in the same sectio-" He cut himself off with a gasp, his hands hitting the table with a thud. "Mick! Mick. Hear me out... matching shirts." She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

[cyberneticatoms]

Mick groaned, "Damn well that sucks, sounds like they're just gonna keep rolling them out at that rate," he complained with a sigh. He chuckled watching him eat with a little more aggression that actually necessary. "Alright we can make a day of it, might even need your help to get a new party shirt. Karma wants to drag us to some weekend party," he said shaking his head but he had an amused smile on his face, "Think I need something that can at least pass for a little fancier."

"Oh, no, it was absolutely worth it on a cash-grabbing level. So many people are still paying to see it anyway. Just cause it's creatively bankrupt doesn't mean it doesn't get butts in seats." Poppy pinched a chip with both hands and snapped it in half, pretending it was an exec's arm or something. "Anyway, you should take me when you go. DVD hunting sounds fun, and it's always cool to see what other kind of stuff they have."

[cyberneticatoms]

Mick snickered, grabbing his own chip to try the salsa, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Yeah say that's probably a 3-4 for people who don't do spice regularly." Munching on a few more chips before shaking his head, "So what you're saying, is it wasn't worth the cash grab," he grumbled with a sigh. Setting his elbow on the table he leaned his face against his hand, "Might have to check out the bazaar see if they got any of those DVDs still floating around for something good to watch."

"Ooh, thank you." Poppy accepted the soda and took a simultaneous sip with Mick. At the mention of Disney he rolled his eyes hard enough that his head moved too. "Ugh, 'new' is a bold word to use. That movie wasn't that good the first two times, I don't know why they thought it needed ANOTHER remake. The plot twist gets even more mind-numbing when you see the third version of it for the umpteenth time." She set the glass bottle on the table with a thud. "The kids and adults are all so bored and underwhelmed that they're leaving the theaters a mess and getting mad at everyone."

[cyberneticatoms]

Mick was watching his reaction before grabbing a napkin and wiping the corner of his mouth. Setting it down he shrugged, "I meant normal people but a 2 for you works for the scale then. Call it even and say it's between a 3-4," he mused out loud. Taking a second to go grab them both some Mexican sodas before sitting across from her. Popping the caps off on the table, he took a sip, "How was that new Disney movie? Surprised you survived having all those kids over the weekend."

Poppy snagged a chip from the basket before Mick had even finished putting it down. He scooped a large heap of salsa and chewed thoughtfully. "Hmmm… well-" she swallowed, "-are we talking normal people spicy, or did you choose me specifically? 'Cause this is more like a 2 or 2.5 to me, but. Y'know." He took another chipful. "It might be edging into the mid-4's for the uninitiated."