#sheets dvd commentary

[daswarschonkaputt]

so the ending of between the sheets just left me gasping. literally! like it was so fucking powerful?! especially the last line. i was reading it at 3am in complete darkness and it was quite an experience.

i particularly love this part from your end notes for chapter 8:

This is Khun Korn's final miscalculation: Porsche isn’t a pawn, or a queen. Porsche is the player on the other side of the board.

so i was wondering if you would ever continue this with a sequel or maybe a oneshot set in the universe? or will you wait for s2 and see what happens?

either way, ill be cherishing this fic for a long long time. i can't wait to read your abo fic! especially cause porsche has a HUGE leverage over korn so the game has to end if korn wants a grandchild.

i get this question a lot, lol.

as of current, there are no plans for a sequel to sheets. i'm enjoying that it's finished, and i don't want to start another massive wip yet. if there is a season 2, and it inspires me, there might be a sheets sequel. but. we'll see.

but i've been thinking lately about what would go into a between the sheets sequel, even if it wasn't about porsche's war game with korn. so here are a few things i've been playing with in my head:

the wik fandom freaks out about their idol's injuries (bandaged hand, and cut on forehead) which is how chay finds out that kim and porsche had a Chat

chay goes to porsche about it, prepared to yell at him for beating up his boyfriend, only to be shocked to discover that porsche seems to get on with kim??? and is trying to get kim and kinn to make up????

chay's life is very hard

speaking of chay, i want an inevitable showdown between chay and macau where chay runs into him at a function and is an incredibly petty bitch to him, because if porsche can figure it out, chay can too

the other chay scene i want is chay learning self defence with chan and arm, because he doesn't want to be a liability to porsche. he keeps this a secret from porsche, though

meanwhile, kinn and porsche are incredibly in love, and incredibly steady

i think khun korn probably tries to test their devotion a few times, and kinn and porsche don't even flinch. they are committed to this and to each other.

porsche spends probably the next few months after sheets establishing himself as a credible threat, and also as kinn's man. porsche and kinn are a very good combined force -- porsche has a lot of the soft people skills that kinn lacks. people like and respect him. people fear and respect kinn.

one scene in particular i want to have is porsche talking to chay about the fact that kinn wants him to go back to university. porsche's degree was in hospitality and management, and kinn wants him to convert it into a straight up business degree, which isn't insane, there's a fair bit of overlap of the classes, but porsche is uncertain. it would help him from a reputation perspective, in the theerapanyakul business, but... as difficult as porsche found the adjustment, porsche has excelled as kinn's bodyguard in a way he never did at university. chay points out that porsche has never been able to prioritise his studies before. chay tells porsche it's up to him, but he thinks porsche should do it.

i think porsche probably does in the end, and i think he turns out to be better at it than he thought he'd be. it probably helps that kinn proofreads his assignments for him.

the other thing i have definitive thoughts about is the huge main family vs. minor family showdown, but that ties into the vague plans i have for vegas/pete in this universe

without going into too much detail, pete forms a connection with vegas that's basically vegas being literally tied to a chair as pete spits straight facts about vegas's mental state and childhood to him

vegas: you think i'm scared of you? my own father's done worse to me than you have!

pete: have you considered... your father's a piece of shit?

vegas: shockedpikachu.jpg

i think the reversal of the dynamics from canon would be interesting, because pete would have a more dominant role in the relationship. i think pete's feelings towards vegas become less about empathy and connection than they do... i guess protective? he feels responsible for vegas, like it's on him to take care of him. i also think pete would be less tolerant of vegas hurting him.

i think vegas tells pete a lot of things to try and incite pete into hitting him, or hurting him, because that would put the situation back into something he's familiar with and knows how to handle

vegas telling pete that he drugged and assaulted porsche is one of these things

pete's very placid and nonreactive during most of these, just sort of takes what vegas says and doesn't react much, even if he thinks the shit that's coming out of vegas's mouth is awful in the extreme

much like pete would have preferred to be torturing people, i think vegas would have preferred to be tortured

he doesn't know what to do with this

he doesn't know how to handle someone who listens to his worst actions and doesn't flinch

he doesn't know if he can keep believing the lies he's told himself his entire life, about what he's worth, and how his father treats him, when it turns out that he's almost living a better life as the main family's captive than he did as his father's heir

i think the romantic/sexual part of their relationship probably hangs in a tortured limbo, a bit

because i think vegas would definitely try to kiss pete, and start something, even chained to a table, just to try and provoke a reaction out of him

because pete has a position of absolute power over his life at this moment

and nothing vegas does has any effect

and he gets desperate, he needs to have something he can do, some leverage he can have over pete

and i think pete would not be... unaffected, but that he would misread this a little, and see it as evidence for the way he has completely and entirely shattered vegas's world, and forced himself into a position of absolute focus there

i think vegas tries to leverage the fact that they kissed and pete kissed back to try and escalate things further, maybe imply that chan won't like to hear about it and pete's just plain, "i already informed him about it."

the other small thing i want to have in this section is pete, as like, a reward for good behaviour to vegas, taking news of vegas to macau, and macau trying to kill him. (he doesn't get that far.)

i do think lines get crossed, a little. i don't think it's entirely about the interrogation, at times, for pete. i think a lot of the compassion is genuine -- one abuse victim reaching out to another.

just as this fucks with vegas's head, it fucks with pete's, too.

okay MEANWHILE, porsche and kinn have been ruminating over the minor family issue, because with vegas in their captivity, the instability is getting worse

gun's barely holding onto the reins.

so porsche is like, "we need your father to fake his death."

so that's what they do.

the attack goes down a little differently in canon, because the main family are fully prepared. big's with chay, in a safehouse outside the city. chan and porsche are commanding the troops, so to speak.

during the attack, the cells where vegas is being kept are breached, and they break him out. on his way out, he runs into pete, who has a gun, and they point their guns at each other. and then vegas lowers his, and walks until pete's gun is touching his forehead. he dares pete to kill him.

pete can't.

vegas kisses him, sticks his hands in his pants, they get a bit frisky, but then someone calls out for vegas, and he goes.

pete sits there, clothes a mess, gun in hand, and he sobs. and then he gets up and does his job.

anyway, that's about all i have. gun probably dies, and korn would have even more reason than in canon to offer porsche the minor family ring (probably as like an engagement gift or some manipulative shit), pete definitely resigns, but the casualties are almost certainly lower. tankhun and chay are almost certainly not in the compound.

most of this is very up in the air, to be honest. shit like this i wouldn't know fully until i wrote it. so, you know. take it all with a pinch of salt. but those are my very messy and incomplete thoughts about an immediate sequel for sheets.

#fic: between the sheets #asked and answered #sheets dvd commentary #the sequel question #i get this so often guys #please let me enjoy it being DONE for a bit #canon typical content warnings apply #including consent issues #but now in a new flavour! #consent issues cw #torture cw #nothing graphic it's just bullet points

[masterfuldoodler]

wait guys actually! I have a great idea! Instead of feeling bad for reblogging our own art why don't we do a thing where we reblog older pieces/art that didn't get much attention/whatever you want and give commentary on it! Talk about what was fun to draw, what was hard, any interesting stories surrounding the making of it! Behind the scenes! pls guys that would be so fun to read I would LOVE to see that let's do it!

#like the commentary section in the extras on a dvd #*taking you by the shoulders very gently* i want to see the art. i want to see the art you're thinking about #the art you want to remind your followers about. i want to hear the secret lore about your art #i want to see you point out the details you added. i want to see process pictures #i want to see that enjoyed making the thing #i want your art to take up space on my dash. in the world. in my mind #whats the point of tidy art tucked in a corner where its convenient. how will people see it. how will it reached who it needs to #dont put a sheet over it. thats what they do when the house is abandoned and being sold! you're still living here! #your love of art. your joy will infect other people. its not annoying it's not too much #i guess this is my new campaign. my very own soap box #text #august rambles

[purplealmonds]

Continuing to fire on all cylinders to make this Sky 🤝Mononoke collab a reality! 🐲⚖️🌊

Process GIFs and artist commentary below the cut. ⬇️

Left: Process GIF Middle: Just the background, cos I really like how it looks! Right: Illustration without the collab logo

And here are my notes on my inspirations and references. There's a lot of 'em, so instead of embedding relevant images one by one I put them in a callout sheet! For accessibility, I also included transcript (with bonus ramblings) below each sheet.

Ofuda circle modeled in Google Sketchup 2017, then lightly transformed in Photoshop to flare out. I tried my best to hand-draw these, but it the results came out really clunky and stiff. I figured if Mononoke shamelessly utilizes 3D in their show, I can too!

Krill and sky kid composition roughly inspired by the Ayakashi DVD cover illustration. On the surface level, the krill's black-and-red color scheme mirrored that of the bake-neko. Not to mention, in the world of Sky, the krill would be the best fit of a mononoke-like entity. The red background is also a nod to the red skies seen during a shard eruption in Sky.

Sky kid gesture based on the Festival Spin Dancer's Tier 3 poses and the Medicine Seller's iconic pose in the Zakishiwarahi episode as inspiration. This was the idea which springboarded this illustration into existence. I wanted to do my take of the Medicine Seller's pose, but in a more dynamic manner: rotate the pose to a profile position and set the ofuda in a diagonal, flared out arrangement.

Cape inspired by tenbin design featured in the 2024 Mononoke movie. This one's an interesting one - I wanted the cape to be a stiff material that doesn't "flap" when in flight - similar to the Aurora wing capes. It ended up looking like a kite of sorts, which I'm not entirely opposed to! I haven't had the opportunity to showcase the back view of this cape design, but I envision it having some mechanical aspects to it - the "wing" which are flared out in this illustration fold in like moth wings, and a little bell is attached to the "tail" part and it jingles a little whenever the sky kid flaps!

Bandana is based on the Scaredy Cadet's hairstyle from the Season of Assembly. Mask design utilizes the 2023 Days of Style mask and the Nintendo Pack mask as bases. Pretty self-explanatory. I basically went onto the Sky wiki and found the cosmetics that most closely matched what I was looking for. Then if necessary, I went to the Office space to do photoshoots to get the appropriate camera angles for them all.

Seasonal pendant inspired by the classic Medicine Seller's necklace and the eye motif featured in the 2024 Mononoke movie. Possibly the only one-to-one homage to the classic Medicine Seller design here, but his garnet necklace was too good of a match to the seasonal pendant. A side tangent: does the new Medicine Seller possess a necklace, let alone a mirror? So far all the shots of him don't feature it. Fascinating.

Dark dragon krill anatomy references a custom figurine crafted by @/escaflowne_n07 on Twitter. Until I found this, I was honestly at a loss finding reference for this - be it on the internet or during in-game photoshoots. The lighting on the krill in-game focused on its menacing silhouette rather than its structure. And not to mention, getting a close-up shot almost always set off the dark creature's aggro. I have no idea how this guy found the references to put this model together - well done!

Mantas, elder constellations, and sun dog references murals in the Cave of Prophecy. Krill aside, the overall illustration was leaning a little too much towards Mononoke so I tried finding opportunities to insert more Sky into it. Added bonus is that now there's storytelling in the background: during a shard eruption, a giant krill rises from the frothing waves of dark water to hunt down a flock of mantas.

Clouds behind the sun dog reference the ones featuring heavily in the Umibozu episode. This illustration has a lot of ocean theming, so I figured this would be appropriate.

Rendering style of the background is lightly inspired by the 2007 Mononoke illustration. Mainly having a 2D inked style to contrast with the more polished render of the sky kid. Funnily enough, this was a tertiary inspiration, which lead to the discovery in the next point!

Dark water waves and sun dog composition heavily references Hokusai's "The Great Wave". The waves were modified to be bottle-green of the Golden Wasteland's dark waters. The sun dog is in the spot where Mt. Fuji is in the original composition. these were all hand-drawn by the way! I merely emulated the style of the source material. As a side note, I also borrowed the spotted sea spray rendering for the krill's red spotlight.

Background pattern taken from the ofuda design featured in the 2024 Mononoke movie poster. Mainly to add some gritty texture to the sky. I worked pretty hard to replicate this ofuda design as a high-res asset so I wanted to use it more!

#モノノ怪 #mononoke 2024 #mononoke 2007 #kusuriuri #medicine seller #thatskygame #sky cotl #sky children of the light #thatgamecompany #thatskygame fanart #sky cotl fanart #crossover #purplealmonds #2023

[gargoyleandgremlinpress]

Freedom's Just Another Word by Synecdochic

This was a great opportunity for some nostalgia revisiting a fandom! Freedom's Just Another Word (For Nothing Left to Lose) is a Stargate: Atlantis canon-divergent future fic where Rodney comes back to earth alone, and is about grief, regret, and coming to terms.

Blobby little flower on the spine is to cover a paint smudge. Endpapers are scavenged from my wife's gel plate printing experiments, and the cover and spine are stenciled on with acrylic paint. Cover pattern is on cotton cloth sent through the printer and is left over from another project.

The gate symbol text dividers read "hope."

I did the typeset for this one as part of the @renegadepublishing 2022 exchange, and made two versions for my recipient, @rhipidurafan. This little quarto (quarter of a letter-size sheet of paper) is the full text of the story, and a full half-letter version includes a second copy with Synedochic's DVD commentary version. (So many text boxes… so many…) You can see a screencap of that below here.

True fact: I dropped it on the floor right after taking pictures, and now I need to glue it back into the case on one side. I cut the cloth the wrong way when making the case, and the pull on the covers from the grain direction is definitely visible. I am pretty happy with it regardless!

This was one of my Binderary books in February. I'm glad to have it finished on my shelf!

#fanbinding #ficbinding #gargoyle & gremlin press #stargate atlantis #sga fic #freedom's just another word (for nothing left to lose) #synecdochic #quarto sized books #binderary 2023 #renegade bindery typeset exchange 2022

[punkmush]

writing down my favorite parts of the Saw (2004) DVD commentary with Leigh and James PT.2 (rest will be under the 🪚 tag)

•James was (and probably is) a huge fan of Shawnee Smith and had a crush on her.

•Every scene with Shawnee was shot in one day.

•The scenes during the reverse bear trap where they closed in on Amandas hands going through the guts and getting ready to stab the guy; was actually Leigh’s hands.

•After she gets the trap off, when Billy shows up it’s actually James behind him puppeting him.

•Leigh was too nervous to stay in the screening area during Sundance.

•They describe Adam as “an angry young man.”

•The scene where Zep is peeking from the closet was inspired by Black Christmas

•In the script, Leigh wrote that during the scene where Zep is holding Alison and Diana hostage; Zep was supposed to take Alison’s underwear and put it on. (wtf leigh…)

•The scene where Tapp and Lawrence are talking in the car, that scene was actually filmed indoors.

•The car chase scene at the end was also indoors.

•Leigh says for anybody who wants to be filmmakers, “Use your budget as an aesthetic.”

•Stygian St is named after a short film that James worked on.

•The scene where Tapp and Sing find a man in a trap in John’s hideout was Leigh’s favorite to write and James least favorite to film.

•They used too much fog for when John comes out of the elevator that Tobin Bell came out coughing and James described it as “One of the funniest things he’s ever seen.”

•The cloak for jigsaw was supposed to be all red, but they flipped it inside out.

•When Sing walks through the tripwire that’s actually Leigh’s legs and when the shotguns go off it’s Leigh’s body falling over.

•Instead of the shotguns going off, it was written to be two iron cocoons coming out of the wall to wrap around Sing, and crush him into a box.

•The X thats supposedly “glow in the dark” was actually just a light with a black sheet cut out in front of it.

•The phone that was in the box behind the wall is fake and the number on it is painted on.

•It was written that the scene where Lawrence is telling Adam to fake being hurt by the cigarette, they were to turn off the lights and cut the pipes to talk to each other through them. Although it was shot, it never made it in.

#saw 2004 #saw franchise #sawposting #saw movies #adam stanheight #saw #lawrence gordon #shawnee smith #amanda young #james wan #leigh whannell #cary elwes #🪚 #tobin bell #jigsaw #john kramer #dvd commentary

[fuckmeyer]

Ok I’m on my phone so I have no idea what 500 words looks like but I’d love to hear some more on this section from CN:

“No.” The cold left my body. The groan of falling furniture fluttered my eyelids. I twisted in the sheets. “Come no closer. You won’t take her from me.”

“Hush. Let’s not wake Isabella.” Over the low growl, in a coo as calm and lilting as a low tide washing in, the other man said, “I’m not here to take her away. It’s all right. I won’t take her away. I am here only because—”

“I won’t hunt. She needs me. I won’t leave her. You won’t take her. You won’t trick me. Who told you I was here? Alice?”

A silence had the familiar voice snarling something under his breath.

“It took me some time,” said the calm male voice. “Her directions weren’t exactly specific. Luckily, you picked quite the lavish vacation home to commit a misdemeanor.”

“But now you’re here and you’ve come to take her away,” said the other uneven voice. “You won’t. She’s mine. She’s not going. Not without me. You won’t take her. She’s mine.” After a pregnant pause, he inhaled raggedly. “I am not delusional.”

“I don’t think that.”

“Don’t lie.”

“You know what we say about first thoughts.”

“We,” he spat. “How dare you invoke his spirit.”

I shook with sweat. Where did the cold go?

“May I ask when the last time you fed was?”

“No.” A pause. Hesitation. “I—I don’t know. A while.”

“How long is a while?”

“I don’t know,” he stressed. “Rio. Texas. I don’t know.”

The words came slow and careful: “I suspect…in light of this fact…you may be under the misapprehension that I am not real.”

“I-I— well, it—it’s— No, I don’t need to hunt, for god’s sake, stop thinking it!”

“You are a danger to her in this state.”

“You’re the danger!”

“Shh…”

I called out for the cold. It came to me.

“Can't have her. You can't have her. Mine. Mine.”

“Edward. Control your breath. You will frenzy.”

“I know. It’s bad. I know. I’m fine. I am. I’m not the danger, it’s—it’s— It’s bad. Isn’t it. She’s got—it.” Fear trembled the young man’s whisper. “Don’t lie. You smell it on her.”

“I do.”

“Then you know. I can’t leave. I can’t hunt. She’ll die. You’ll take her. You can’t have her. She’s mine. I won’t let her go. I won’t make the same mistake. I can’t.”

“You are referring to…” Beat. “Edward. You must know the circumstances are entirely different. Your mother contracted the influenza a century ago during the height of the pandemic. We did not have the resources and technology to treat her as we do with Isabella. It will be all right.”

“I can’t risk it. Not while she’s fevered. I can’t leave her side. I won’t. I can’t make the same mistake. This…is a test…and if...I leave…again…” Words dissolved into uneven breaths.

“Shh. Okay. It’s okay. It’s all right. I understand. Breathe slowly. We don’t have to go anywhere. We can stay right here. Open the window. Keep breathing. Do you mind very much if I wait with you? I won’t take her away. I promise. I’ve only missed you so.” A creaky floorboard near me groaned; the young man snarled. “All right. Shh. I won’t get close. She is yours.”

“Mine.”

“Yours. Yes. And so, I will sit here, on the other end of the room. —Is this okay? Over here?”

A deep growl soft as a whisper came in response.

COME NIGHTFALL CHAPTER 30: 03:00 - DVD COMMENTARY

“No.” The cold left my body. The groan of falling furniture fluttered my eyelids. I twisted in the sheets. “Come no closer. You won’t take her from me.”

“Hush. Let’s not wake Isabella.” Over the low growl, in a coo as calm and lilting as a low tide washing in, the other man said, “I’m not here to take her away. It’s all right. I won’t take her away. I am here only because—” ["YOU NEED TO HUNT"]

“I won’t hunt. She needs me. I won’t leave her. You won’t take her. You won’t trick me. Who told you I was here? Alice?”

[yes. Carlisle arrives at 3AM. the earliest they would have left is 3PM CET, or ~8AM PST. so, as soon as they touched down in Italy, Alice was making calls asking them to follow. she had solid enough visions on the flight that someone was going to get out of there, though she didn't know who. THE GIRL WAS MAKING MOVES]

A silence had the familiar voice snarling something under his breath.

“It took me some time,” said the calm male voice. “Her directions weren’t exactly specific. Luckily, you picked quite the lavish vacation home to commit a misdemeanor.” [outskirts of Florence]

“But now you’re here and you’ve come to take her away,” said the other uneven voice. “You won’t. She’s mine. She’s not going. Not without me. You won’t take her. She’s mine.” After a pregnant pause, he inhaled raggedly. ["The delusions are worsening. Or, rather—"] “I am not delusional.”

“I don’t think that.”

“Don’t lie.”

“You know what we say about first thoughts.” [Edward used to fly off the handle a lot in his newborn days, especially in reaction to others' thoughts. Carlisle always used to tell him that first thoughts are the product of social conditioning, while second thoughts determine a person's true character. (That is, first thoughts are impulse and don't matter, but second thoughts are calculated and *do*.) Carlisle means to say that while he doesn't think Edward is delusional, he does think Edward is starving enough not to process their meeting coherently.]

“We,” he spat. “How dare you invoke his spirit.” [ok calm down buddy]

I shook with sweat. Where did the cold go? [literally i modeled this scene after the stupid tent scene in Eclipse. if smeyer is allowed to have a conscious unconscious Isabella who can hear conversations, dammit, so am i!!!!!!!!]

“May I ask when the last time you fed was?”

“No.” A pause. Hesitation. “I—I don’t know. A while.” ["HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SEVENTEEN???"]

“How long is a while?”

“I don’t know,” he stressed. “Rio. Texas. I don’t know.” [Rio. ate rats in the slums before starving himself in his apartment]

The words came slow and careful: “I suspect…in light of this fact…you may be under the misapprehension that I am not real.”

[in Chapter 27: Volterra, Aro says : "Perhaps Carlisle has not disclosed to you his firsthand experience with nervous consumption, but the delusions become quite vivid…" Nervous consumption is the archaic 17th-century term for anorexia nervosa. even before leaving the Volturi, Carlisle 'experimented' with starving himself with the intent of 'recording vampire physiology.' per canon lore, a vampire can't starve themselves to death; in this universe, their minds produce vivid hallucinations as their bodies waste away.]

“I-I— well, it—it’s— ["He needs to hunt."] No, I don’t need to hunt, for god’s sake, stop thinking it!”

“You are a danger to her in this state.”

“You’re the danger!” [Edward thinks Carlisle is an angel sent to take Bells to heaven aslklaksl idiot]

“Shh…”

I called out for the cold. It came to me.

“Can't have her. You can't have her. Mine. Mine.” [it's at this moment Carlisle realizes Edward is using the verbal and physical language of a mated vampire. (Though E&B have been using this language since Chapter 24: The Angel in In the Afterlight.)]

[still, Carlisle isn't sure where the line of "mate" ends and where the line of "prey" begins.] “Edward. Control your breath. You will frenzy.”

“I know. It’s bad. I know. I’m fine. I am. I’m not the danger, it’s—it’s— It’s bad. Isn’t it. She’s got—it.” ["I do not know to what you are referring."] Fear trembled the young man’s whisper. “Don’t lie. You smell it on her.”

["Illness?"] “I do.” ["I do not deny she is sick, Edward."]

“Then you know. I can’t leave. I can’t hunt. She’ll die. You’ll take her. You can’t have her. She’s mine. I won’t let her go. I won’t make the same mistake. I can’t.”

“You are referring to…” ["...the death of your mother?"] Beat. “Edward. You must know the circumstances are entirely different. Your mother contracted the influenza a century ago during the height of the pandemic. We did not have the resources and technology to treat her as we do with Isabella. It will be all right.”

“I can’t risk it. Not while she’s fevered. I can’t leave her side. I won’t. I can’t make the same mistake. This…is a test…and if...I leave…again…” Words dissolved into uneven breaths.

[For a long time, Edward felt guilty for being away from his mother's deathbed when she passed (though she purposefully sent him away so he wouldn't watch her die). this is one of many transgressions Edward is being "punished" for by god.

he talks about it in Chapter 27: Volterra: “I’ll admit, trapping me in a small enclosure with my flu-stricken singer is a rather genius way to punish me for my sins: leaving Bells in Forks just like I left Elizabeth in the hospital..."

he goes into more detail re: the death in Chapter 10: Theories of By Starlight: “Four days after she was admitted, she told me to run home and fetch her favorite Indian comb. She said she was feeling better and wanted to leave that afternoon— Lord forbid she leave without her hair braided and pinned. When I came back, her bed was empty. The sheets were already changed. I never said goodbye.”]

“Shh. Okay. It’s okay. It’s all right. I understand. Breathe slowly. We don’t have to go anywhere. We can stay right here. Open the window. Keep breathing. Do you mind very much if I wait with you? I won’t take her away. I promise. I’ve only missed you so.” [Carlisle steps closer to Edward and Bella.] A creaky floorboard near me groaned; the young man snarled. “All right. Shh. I won’t get close. She is yours.” [he utilizes Edward's possessive nature to show submission to Edward in order to stay longer (and ultimately convince him to go).]

“Mine.”

“Yours. Yes. And so, I will sit here, on the other end of the room. —Is this okay? Over here?”

A deep growl soft as a whisper came in response.

send me 500 words of my fanfic & i will give you the equivalent of a DVD commentary on that snippet

#ok this was really fun tbh #thank you anon!!! #asks #come nightfall #fanfic DVD commentary

[amadwinter]

Making of Monday - Tracking Word Counts

On Making of Monday, we share behind the scenes of one of our works past, present, or future. All the little things that would fit into a DVD bonus content section: cut scenes, outlines, director's writer's commentary, or basically any thing that didn't make it into the final version. Send me an ask if you're interested in knowing little details about any particular fic!

This week, I decided to show my word count spreadsheet that I've been meticulously using and crafting for coming up on two years now. It wasn't built in a day, and I'm almost constantly tweaking it to make it look nice and functional as I keep writing.

Uh, fair warning. This is not a very exciting post. Unless you like numbers and data, like I do.

For the sake of my own sanity, I started a new Excel document for the new year. This is my Summary page for the year 2024. I have pages created already for each month but hide them when it isn't that month. I'll show the Overview page next after I've explained what you're looking at.

So what you see here is my monthly and annual writing totals. This only takes into account new words written, although the start number at the top of each yearly column includes my running word count. Each month's number is automatically updated from the corresponding month's page, and added up in the total column.

On the side, I have fun projections. So if I wanted to write x number of words per year, not counting the words I have already written, I would need to write y number of words per month with an average of z number of words per day. It's not something I pay too much attention to, just for fun. Below that is a projection of if I write the NaNoWriMo daily count (1667 words per day) or 1000 words per day, how much that would add up to at the end of the year.

This is the Overview page from last year (2023) plus December 2022 which is when I switched over from my previous Google Sheets document. Additionally at the bottom you can see the different monthly pages that are not hidden (I color coded them because I was bored one day).

This page keeps track of my daily totals in the form of a color gradient, linked to the monthly pages to get the totals.

Solid Red = 0

Solid Yellow = 1000

Solid Green = 1667 (NaNoWriMo Daily; 50,000 words in a 30 day month)

Originally, the idea was to be able to look at it and see if there were time periods that I wasn't writing as well due to being busy for various reasons, so I could be able to predict in the future what conditions weren't great for writing. But an interesting side effect is it's also able to track my good days and my bad days for health reasons.

That random number you see on the right side is my highest daily word count. I was curious about it, but I couldn't figure out a way to make it look pretty and fit in with everything else.

This is my month page, divided by each individual project. Y is series or event with multiple fics involved, Z is one-shots, two-shots, or very short fics. The greyed out ones at the top are ones I'm not actively working on, the ones in green are fics that I am either actively working on or trying to work on.

Also at the top are the new words added each month (which is the cell used in other pages to keep track of the monthly number), the total words in all my documents, and the daily average for the month.

The color gradient at the top for each day follows the same pattern as before; Solid Red = 0, Solid Yellow = 1000, Solid Green = 1667+

I keep track of the word count for each chapter, add the total, subtract it from the previous day, and boom, that's my daily total. If there are times where I delete things, I throw it into a document called "Binned" to balance the numbers. That way, I never subtract from the amount of words I've written, only add.

While it may look like a very simple sheet, it is very messy with formulas, conditional formatting, etc. If I were more skilled at Excel, I could probably improve it even more, but at this point, there's very little maintenance needed to keep it going and I can focus on actually writing.

In theory.

#making of monday #writing process #no i didn't almost forget to post this #what are you talking about? #this might only make sense in my own brain

[catnipster69]

Taking Advantage of Cyber Monday

Sam didn’t think he’d ever go Christmas shopping anywhere but at a gas station. But here he was in his settled dotage coming up with his Christmas list. It wasn’t as if he was going to wait until Christmas; he just wanted to take advantage of the “Black Friday” sales, or “Cyber Monday” or whatever.

The plan was they’d both make lists and share them, and then Sam would do the actual buying. It was—almost like a real Christmas.

Sunday night after dinner, they settled in the library with a couple of beers and Sam’s computer. Sam turned the screen to show Dean his list. It was categorized by site first, and then by cost, with pictures and URLs for each item. Dean nodded his head as he read down the list.

“Yeah, I approve of the new soundbar.” Dean pointed at the screen.

Sam knew Dean would focus on that, because it was actually for Dean.

Dean continued, “Only you would buy yourself socks for Christmas, though.” He sat back, finished with his commentary.

Sam shrugged. No one had ever bought him socks for Christmas. “Where’s your list?”

Dean grinned and handed Sam a sheaf of loose papers.

Sam started leafing through. They were not in any apparent order, and he’d have to look at the headers for the actual URLs. Each and every printout was sex related: sex toys, porn magazines, hardcore DVDs, fetish clothing. Dean’s grin seemed to grow with each sheet Sam turned to.

“Huh,” Sam said, finally. “This is—quite the collection. You want the hot pink one?” He pointed to an anal vibrator.

Dean said, “I’m not picky. You decide.”

Sam straightened up the stack and turned to his brother. He nodded and couldn’t think of anything else to say. “OK. I’ll get on it.”

“Thanks, Sammy. Oh, and one of those is for you.” Dean gestured with his head and waggled his eyebrows.

Sam blushed and stared back down at the stack. He hoped it was the nipple clamps. But then again, Dean was good at sharing.

#spn fanfic #wincest #catnipster69 drabbles #drabbles #taking advantage of cyber monday #my fic #my posts

[toburnup]

Hii, I have a question for the dvd commentary game!

In this scene from Eddie’s chapter,

«How fucking bored are you?" Eddie asks, after Steve has come in his mouth and is laying back, breathing slow.

Steve slowly opens his eyes, glazed and sleepy. Voice syrupy. "What d'you mean?”

does Eddie mean it in a “how bored are you that you’re here with me” kind of way? I basically asked with Steve when I was reading it, like wait what, what does it mean😭

ooooohohohoho, sneaky eddie asking questions to a post-orgasm steve.

in the context of the story, this is happening right after an argument. or more specifically, right after an incident where eddie feels rejected. that's a really important framing for his mindset.

in the same scene from steve's pov, this is how steve sees it:

It doesn't take long. Steve isn't sure, but it seems like Eddie's trying to last - has his fists screwed up in the sheets, one of his legs keeps twitching from where it's trapped underneath Steve's stomach - but his little pants get faster and faster.

when it's actually the exact opposite:

[Eddie's] almost too upset to enjoy it properly and he has to close his eyes and think about nothing until Steve makes him come.

so eddie asking "how fucking bored are you?" - it's a reaction to him and steve not being on the same page. he doesn't feel seen by steve. and if you think about the answer to the question - if steve had answered it - think about what would mean.

the opposite of bored? interested. engaged. excited.

"no, i'm not bored at all. i want to be here. i'm interested in you."

it's eddie's roundabout way of asking if steve is interested in him, if steve really wants to be there. because at that moment, eddie can't tell.

[fanfiction dvd commentary track]

#is your light on #ask game #vio answers #steddie #iylo meta

[rusakkowrites]

For the DVD commentary, the part of Not Quite so trifling that I just LOVE to think back on:

“But I should like to – that is, it would make me feel closer to you.” The colour in Emma’s cheeks deepened as she spoke, and she pressed his hand. “Will you not let me help you?”

What man could have resisted such a plea, when presented in such a manner? Mr Knightley, assailed by a rush of helpless fondness, was certainly not capable of it.

“Very well – if you are certain. Allow me but a moment to situate myself so that we may both be comfortable.” He shifted so that he was sitting in the middle of the bed, pulling the sheet across his legs and propping a pillow behind his back. “If you will sit here – Perry has advised me to begin from the calf and work my way upwards…”

Emma, still blushing, but with a determined look in her eyes, settled beside him. She poured a generous measure of liniment into her hand before slipping it under the sheet – but scarcely had her fingers grazed his skin when she abruptly withdrew them with a shocked squeal.

The mortification suffered by Mr Knightley at that moment can scarcely be described. It was his worst fear come true: that Emma should be disgusted by his altered appearance; that his lameness should come between them in the most intimate moments of their lives.

“I am sorry, Emma – I should not have allowed—” he began, hardly knowing what he was saying for wretched humiliation. “It is perfectly natural that you should be repulsed – the effects of my illness—”

“No,” Emma interrupted him, looking exceedingly flustered, “it is not that! Merely that I had not expected – I had not known—” She gestured towards his still-covered leg. “It is so very hairy!”

For a fraction of a moment, Mr Knightley could only stare at her in utter incomprehension. Then, as understanding dawned, he burst into hearty laughter.

“Oh, my Emma! Forgive me – I should not laugh at you” – he wiped at his eyes – “but it had not occurred to me that that would alarm you.”

“Indeed, it is very unjust of you,” replied Emma primly, looking very embarrassed but also a little affronted. “You can hardly expect me to be familiar with what gentlemen conceal under their trousers!”

“I am exceedingly glad that you are not,” replied Mr Knightley, still struggling to contain his amusement, “but I assure you that I am by no means anomalous in this regard. Men are, in general, rather hairier than women. I am sorry if you dislike it, but so it is.”

(Oh, and can I send more than one ask? 😇)

Ooh, I'm so glad you asked about this scene, because I have a lot to say! (And you're more than welcome to send more than one snippet if you want. I'm very happy to ramble on! :D)

First of all, this entire chapter risked never being written. The idea for this specific scene popped into my mind when I had already written quite a lot of the story and planned out the ending. I knew that adding this scene to my intended last chapter wouldn't really work - I wanted more of an epilogue vibe there, with some time skips and more narrative distance. Still, I really liked the idea of this scene, so eventually I decided that I would add it as a sort of bonus "missing scene".

However, I was writing Not Quite So Trifling for a multifandom event that had a deadline, and I wasn't sure if I'd have time to write this extra chapter. The fic had already grown longer than expected, as fics tend to do. It actually became one of the things that motivated me to get through some tricky parts earlier in the story: if I manage to finish everything else in time, I'll get to write the fun bonus chapter!

Now for some more detailed thoughts:

“But I should like to – that is, it would make me feel closer to you.” The colour in Emma’s cheeks deepened as she spoke, and she pressed his hand. “Will you not let me help you?”

This is a reference to canon, where Mr Knightley wants to comment on Frank Churchill's letter to Emma while he's reading it because it makes him feel he's near her. I also felt that helping Mr Knightley in this pretty intimate way would be important to Emma as a sign of partnership and trust - and because it would provide some physical closeness, of course.

What man could have resisted such a plea, when presented in such a manner? Mr Knightley, assailed by a rush of helpless fondness, was certainly not capable of it.

While Mr Knightley can be pretty critical of Emma's behaviour at times, he's definitely not immune to her charm. We also see in canon that he's ready to do a lot to make her happy and comfortable, including moving in with Mr Woodhouse, which is a pretty big sacrifice. That also helps him overcome his embarrassment in this scene.

“Very well – if you are certain. Allow me but a moment to situate myself so that we may both be comfortable.” He shifted so that he was sitting in the middle of the bed, pulling the sheet across his legs and propping a pillow behind his back. “If you will sit here – Perry has advised me to begin from the calf and work my way upwards…”

I remember thinking that I needed to give readers a clear enough picture of the scene and the positions of the characters. I didn't want to suddenly go into a lot of "he sat here, she sat there, he did this, she did that" type narration, though, so I decided to make it part of the dialogue instead. It also felt realistic that they'd have to talk a bit as they shifted around - being in love doesn't turn people into mind readers.

Emma, still blushing, but with a determined look in her eyes, settled beside him. She poured a generous measure of liniment into her hand before slipping it under the sheet – but scarcely had her fingers grazed his skin when she abruptly withdrew them with a shocked squeal.

This whole chapter is from Mr Knightley's point of view, but I wanted to try to show what Emma was feeling, too. She's pretty nervous about all that's supposed to happen during the wedding night but also more than a little curious about the new intimacy that she and Mr Knightley are suddenly allowed - and on top of that, she's trying to navigate his insecurities about his body. She's been doing really well, but now her nerves get the better of her.

The mortification suffered by Mr Knightley at that moment can scarcely be described. It was his worst fear come true: that Emma should be disgusted by his altered appearance; that his lameness should come between them in the most intimate moments of their lives.

“I am sorry, Emma – I should not have allowed—” he began, hardly knowing what he was saying for wretched humiliation. “It is perfectly natural that you should be repulsed – the effects of my illness—”

One of the things that initially got me thinking about this fic idea was the fact that Mr Knightley is, all things considered, a pretty confident suitor. He's in despair as long as he thinks Emma is in love with Frank, but after that's cleared up, he immediately puts himself out there. He doesn't seem to consider the age difference to be much of a problem, nor does Emma. This is probably partly due to the fact that bigger age differences in marriage were more common at the time, but I also think it's interesting how the narrative emphasizes Mr Knightley's good health and fitness. He's seen by himself and others as a man in his prime. I started wondering how their dynamic would change if he suffered an injury or fell ill... and this fic happened.

Of course, Emma's reaction to touching his leg is straight from Mr Knightley's worst nightmares. I think there's something to be said for the writing philosophy of picking the worst thing that could happen to a particular character, considering their background and personality, and putting them through it. I think, at this point in the story, the worst thing that could happen to Mr Knightley (at least emotionally) would be being rejected by Emma due to the changes to his body. He's struggling with his self-image and masculinity, and she seems to be confirming all his doubts.

But of course, because he's the kind and responsible Mr Knightley, he's still trying to put her feelings and comfort first. However, based on the proposal scene in canon, he seems to have a tendency to become somewhat incoherent when in the grips of strong emotion - lots of interrupted sentences and broken-up speech. I wanted to reflect that here.

“No,” Emma interrupted him, looking exceedingly flustered, “it is not that! Merely that I had not expected – I had not known—” She gestured towards his still-covered leg. “It is so very hairy!”

For a fraction of a moment, Mr Knightley could only stare at her in utter incomprehension. Then, as understanding dawned, he burst into hearty laughter.

“Oh, my Emma! Forgive me – I should not laugh at you” – he wiped at his eyes – “but it had not occurred to me that that would alarm you.”

A piece of storytelling advice I heard long ago that has stuck with me is (more or less) "include a touch of sadness in happy moments and a touch of happiness in sad ones". I feel like the same principle often works well with romance or drama and comedy. I don't really like writing scenes that are pure serious romance. I want to include something embarrassing or funny to mix things up a bit and provide contrast. That's what's happening here.

I also wanted to show how differently Emma and Mr Knightley are perceiving the situation. He's so focused on worrying about his disability that he imagines everyone else is focused on it too. Meanwhile, she's all caught up in the novelty of being in an intimate situation with a man and sees his leg as a side issue. Mr Knightley has made his bad leg into a big thing in his head. Emma, on the other hand, is thinking more about another - ahem - big thing that he's got.

The revelation that Emma was just surprised by his leg hair helps Mr Knightley snap out of it and direct his attention to reassuring his inexperienced bride. Hairiness, after all, is something that he considers perfectly normal. Maybe it's even a reminder of his continued masculinity and therefore something to be a bit proud of.

And of course this moment functions as a release of tension for the characters and (hopefully) also for readers. After all, laughing tends to put people more at ease.

“Indeed, it is very unjust of you,” replied Emma primly, looking very embarrassed but also a little affronted. “You can hardly expect me to be familiar with what gentlemen conceal under their trousers!”

“I am exceedingly glad that you are not,” replied Mr Knightley, still struggling to contain his amusement, “but I assure you that I am by no means anomalous in this regard. Men are, in general, rather hairier than women. I am sorry if you dislike it, but so it is.”

Emma is not someone who enjoys admitting that she doesn't know something. She wants to be perceived as being confident and in control. Like Mr Knightley, she's forced to show her vulnerable side here, and this puts them on more equal ground. I wanted to show them getting back on the same page and getting over the awkwardness by returning to their familiar dynamic of playful bickering and banter. Learning to be at ease together again in this new situation is key to the success of their marriage.

Thank you again for asking about this scene! <3

#ask games #my writing #wurzelbertzwerg

[villa-kulla]

Please, this painfully beautiful scene from Conviction:

“Oh hey, it’s raining,” he said as he gazed outside, the sound and smell of warm rain on asphalt beginning to fill the room. He was a tall, pale column in the shadowy room. Holding the curtains open a crack, the streetlamps from outside seemed to throw light over his skin, long and lean, and perfectly intact. Lalo’s eyes raked over him, from his firm chest to his slim hips with their shadowy grooves, wondering what would be more satisfying: to leave him shiny and pure, or ruin him fully, blot and bend that smooth skin, corrupting him from the inside out.

 

Or just fall in love for a week.

 

Howard glanced over at Lalo who was stretched in the rumpled sheets. His eyes were practically neon from the motel lights outside, skin an ivory pillar, smile curving like a soft sheet in a breeze as he turned back to watch the rain. Lalo looked down.

 

He’d leave Wardo alone, leave him exactly like this. Unblemished, and perfect. Whole. Lalo wouldn’t even hint at bringing Howard with him. Hell, even if Howard offered, Lalo would turn him down. It would be Lalo’s final gift to him. He might never fully belong to Lalo, might never give himself over to Lalo completely, but he’d still given Lalo a lot, more than most: understanding, affection, and above almost all, a good time. Don’t let anyone say Lalo Salamanca didn’t know how to show his appreciation.

 

The other half of Howard’s necktie was still laced around Lalo’s wrist. Lalo slowly pulled the end of the tie and watched it slide off his skin with a whisper and slip to the floor. He glanced back up at Howard by the window, taking one last look, filing the sight away so he could place it in the empty seat beside him on his next long drive to wherever he was told.

 

Steeling himself, Lalo let out a low whistle to catch Howard’s attention. Howard glanced over, and Lalo put his smile back on, eyes dark.

 

“Minute’s up, Wardo.”

🙏🏼

Awww thanks for the Conviction-love <3 I hadn't planned on adding anything to Shoot Your Shot, not wanting to "dilute" it too much. But the idea kept poking at me, and the chance to make it Lalo POV was what convinced me, since I wanted to do his POV all fic long. This ficlet might not have been necessary but it's a little bow on top I guess 🎀

Anyways, a lot of SYS was enjoying the opportunity to drool over Lalo - sexiest man alive - Salamanca, so much of the incentive for this scene in particular was the chance to have Howard through Lalo's eyes, and confirming the fact that he is, in fact, a gorgeous man himself lol. Commentary below the cut!

PUT A SCENE FROM ONE OF MY FICS IN MY ASK BOX AND I'LL DO THE DVD COMMENTARY <3

“Oh hey, it’s raining,” he said as he gazed outside, the sound and smell of warm rain on asphalt beginning to fill the room. He was a tall, pale column in the shadowy room. Holding the curtains open a crack, the streetlamps from outside seemed to throw light over his skin, long and lean, and perfectly intact. Lalo’s eyes raked over him, from his firm chest to his slim hips with their shadowy grooves, wondering what would be more satisfying: to leave him shiny and pure, or ruin him fully, blot and bend that smooth skin, corrupting him from the inside out.

So I definitely have a thing for the inherent romance of motel-rooms lmao which I was just mentioning in another DVD commentary. But something about the ambience is so irresistable, with cars passing, streelamps...and I think the temporary aspect of them adds to the temporariness of their arrangement here. Anyways, I think we can all agree rain instantly adds romance lol, and Lalo's eyes moving over him was the aforementioned chance to drool over Howard. And I think when Lalo debates 'ruining' or 'corrupting' him, it's not out of any kind of malice. Lalo doesn't strike me as particularly sadistic just for the hell of it. But I think the idea of being tempted to 'ruin' Howard simply comes from his narcissistic desire to see his effect on people. Theatre-major Lalo wants to be important to people, however briefly. And corrupting Howard would prove that he does have an impact on Howard, and also that Howard is something that's his <3

Or just fall in love for a week.

When his mom mentioned that earlier in the fic, I didn't plan for there to be this callback later. It was just one of those spur of the moment things, that felt like what my image of his mother in this fic might have said to him. But as soon as I wrote it I was like oh....well that's gonna feature again. 'Love' is however the reader interprets it for these two characters in this situation. But I think the line later, of "It didn’t much matter to Lalo if he was pretending to be this caught up in the romance himself, or if he really felt it. They meant the same thing to him anyways." pretty much sums up where Lalo's coming from in this affair. At this point he's having an unexpectedly great time with this side-romance of his, and it means more to him than he might admit. But there's still a shallow element to it. I don't think he really figured out just how into Howard he is, until he's bleeding out in the superlab, master plan starting to feel futile.

Howard glanced over at Lalo who was stretched in the rumpled sheets. His eyes were practically neon from the motel lights outside, skin an ivory pillar, smile curving like a soft sheet in a breeze as he turned back to watch the rain. Lalo looked down.

Howard DOES have some baby-blues, I tell ya. And the 'ivory pillar' here, and 'column' mention in the previous paragraph, continue to play with the notion that Lalo is carving him into his own personal Pygmalion. Side note, in the last part of the fic, when Howard gives a tiny smile as he says 'Conviction', I deeply regret not comparing it to 'a crack in the marble' lmao what was I thinking.

He’d leave Wardo alone, leave him exactly like this. Unblemished, and perfect. Whole. Lalo wouldn’t even hint at bringing Howard with him. Hell, even if Howard offered, Lalo would turn him down. It would be Lalo’s final gift to him. He might never fully belong to Lalo, might never give himself over to Lalo completely, but he’d still given Lalo a lot, more than most: understanding, affection, and above almost all, a good time. Don’t let anyone say Lalo Salamanca didn’t know how to show his appreciation.

Punctuation observation: I got very lazy italicizing Lalo's Spanish in SYS, as well as inconsistent in when I included the apostrophe in 'Wardo. Partly laziness, and partly to show a growing sense of familiarity between them. But in this fic, 'Wardo' is never punctuated, 'cause it's Lalo's POV. Also I love Lalo's headspace here, and the sense of him patting himself on the back a little. Like 'I'm such a stellar guy, I'm not going to bring this guy to his complete corruption and likely death' lmao. But I can see the 'cartel prince' having some courtly manners about him. Also, it sets up the scene in SYS where Lalo tries to turn Howard down at the end. Not that he tried too hard lol. He may have a streak of nobility but he also just wants to be loved.

The other half of Howard’s necktie was still laced around Lalo’s wrist. Lalo slowly pulled the end of the tie and watched it slide off his skin with a whisper and slip to the floor. He glanced back up at Howard by the window, taking one last look, filing the sight away so he could place it in the empty seat beside him on his next long drive to wherever he was told.

The necktie...is....a metaphor. Lol initially I thought it would be much more badass if Lalo worked his way out of the knots actual Houdini style, rather than just snapping the tie in half. But then realized having the tie still dangling from his wrists could provide a lot of good ~symbolism~. I wanted Howard to pull one off because that's Sexy, but left the other one hanging there so it could be highlighted in the "friendship-handshake" bit. But then, of course, as Lalo makes up his mind to let Howard go, he lets it fall. Heavy handed? Maybe lmao. But I do love the idea of Lalo just keeping one half around his wrist for the full fic, and never acknowledging it, you know, like someone with a crush

Steeling himself, Lalo let out a low whistle to catch Howard’s attention. Howard glanced over, and Lalo put his smile back on, eyes dark.

So I actually debated for quite a while whether or not to keep the 'steeling himself' bit, not sure if it was too much. Part of the challenge of writing Lalo, whether it was through Howard or Lalo's own POV, was not 'woobifying' him too much. Showing his vulnerabilities is only fun if it's balanced with his nastiness, so I never wanted to get too sugary with him. But I figured since this one was from Lalo's POV, a little more 'sweet than spice' wouldn't be out of place

“Minute’s up, Wardo.”

aka "get back here." Mannn, still not over how smitten these two turned out in this universe lol, I really had no set plan for what their vibe would be like when I stuck them together. But I liked how 'playful' their vibe was, whether it was in a sweet or snarky way. They're both smart cookies who are cut from the same cloth in many ways, so it seemed natural that when put together, they'd have a very energetic chemistry. anyway. I love them.

Thanks so much for the ask!! xo

#asks #kylos-scarf #fic commentary #laloward

[dynamoe]

My friend gave me this two months ago so I could hear the commentaries but I only just am listening to them now

The Rosey Grier Needlepoint for Men insert is the best visual reference in the season and why I finally busted out this DVD (to take a screencap for a friend who brought it up in conversation)

even the interior pages in the reverse angle? too much!

What can I learn from these commentaries and how can I use this canonical information? Let's semi-live blog...

Season 7 redesigned Billy is so ugly. I hate it... but he looks OK in some shots because the animators can't keep him consistent looking.

I'm glad the commentary calls out the very Robert Ludlum-y title construction theme they had most of the season.

--

Billy calls himself a neurogeneticist in Curse of the Haunted Problem (S07E01) which he hasn't since Are You There God? (S01E09). Where's this neurogeneticisizing happening, huh? Off camera? When do you have the time? Billy, admit you're a part-time surgeon AT BEST.

In (S07E03) Arrears in Science, Jonashead also calls Billy a neurogeneticist while requesting Billy perform surgery. Which a surgeon does, not a geneticist.

Commentary: "White, perpetual victim" "He hides during violent scenes. He's always hiding behind things." There was a scene cut that would have explained his decline into a sweaty wifebeater axe-wielding state. Jackson calls Pete's outfit a "Milli Vanilli jacket." Pete doesn't do much of anything else for the rest of the season.

Despite being the focus of The Bellicose Proxy (S07E06), neither Billy nor White have very many lines in it.

The rooftop tennis court where St. Cloud rehearses with Monarch/21— I remember seeing it from NY classroom windows but according to Doc H's commentary, it's been demolished since the episode came out

That red paintball paint would permanently stain White's jacket. Missed opportunity that it wasn't stained through the rest of the episode but it sounds this episode was a nightmare to animate as is.

Billy is way too small inside the Delta Boy/Diet Pepsi space suit. He loses like a foot of height. Was it intentional? (His height & head size is all over the place in these episodes.)

Commentary: Somewhere, there's audio a very long riff of the two ad-libbing as White/Billy describing their imagined beat down of St. Cloud. And 30 minutes of Billy riffing inside the cloud of laughing gas which Doc argued would be a great episode, even with no animation on screen. (I agree, but I'm an outlier.)

Commentary: I hadn't picked up that Killer Drone was supposed to look like a '60s Japanese sentai hero/villain, according to Doc H. (Like that would fight Ultraman or Kamen Rider, I guess.) but I see it.

Commentary: Neither of them knew the name of the Grumman Moon Suit but "The one from Life Magazine," is a pretty accurate epithet.

They didn't know the name of the Avrocar either. (The real Moon Suit prototype was 8 feet tall! A big-ass Diet Pepsi!)

---

The Forecast Manufacturer (S07E09) has too much shitting information in it. (I don't need this kind of canon, guys.)

Coffee gives Billy diarrhea. Already used that "fun fact" in this chapter.

Billy went to summer camp (where he couldn't shit) at some point.

Billy needs to read to have a shit (don't want to know this.)

What does he have to do? Bleed for you? His rectum is probably bleeding right now. (ugh)

Rusty: "Do you shave your chest?" line strikes me as coming out of nowhere. Even though Billy has stripped off in loads of episodes, this is the first time he's kickin' it underpants-only-style in front of Rusty. (Nice soft-edged blush on Billy's face here. He's less ugly in-episode than on his model sheet for this episode.)

Commentary: Jackson mentions Billy painting the rest of his arm to look like a full robot. Doc describes Billy having a latex hand cover he doesn't wear because it makes his hand look too big and bloated (I wrote Billy testing a synthetic hand cover in future chapter, now have to rewrite it so it doesn't seem like a ripoff)

The Inamorata Consequence (S07E05)

"White, perpetual victim" "He hides during violent scenes. He's always hiding behind things."

Helper kicked Billy into the pool and Hank filmed it with his watch.

None of these other episodes have Billy or White so I've lost interest.

#vbros #the venture brothers #venture bros #season 7 #The forecast manufacturer #the bellicose proxy #moon suit #grumman moon suit #curse of the haunted problem #dvd commentary #doc hammer #jackson publick

[bi-bats]

*sliding into your ask box 4hrs late with sbucks and ask game questions* heyyyyy bestie

favorite part of what are you waiting for?

and 17, 18, 19, 23 for the ask game please 💕

hey bestieeeeeee 💖

oof. favorite part of what are you waiting for? I'm not actually sure yet but I can tell you for sure that my LEAST favorite part is trying to FIGURE OUT THEIR STUPID TIME TRAVEL TIMELINE WHY WOULD I DO THAT TO MYSELF AURGRRGHRGUHGRH

okay no. no I'm normal I can be normal (<- lie). My favorite part is actually probably something that someone else pointed out to me, which is that Jason seems really young in it? Like. he actually feels like a nineteen year old. He's reckless and lost and terrified and he feels guilty and he just wants to fix this thing that he feels like he fucked up. And I just really like how he turns all of it into determination.

17. What fic are you most proud of?

It feels weird answering this question with an unfinished fic, but probably What Are You Waiting For. There's just something I really really love about the way that it flows. Honorable mention to I Know What My Brother Is, I'm really loving some of the lines I've put in that piece!!

19. Who is the easiest/hardest character for you to write about? Why?

Bruce, honestly. I can only write him as like, crack treated seriously or hurt/no comfort. I sort of feel like maybe I should challenge myself and write him as more of an in-depth character one of these days? That might actually be interesting.

23. If you had to remix one of your own fics, which would it be and how would you remix it?

OOOOH INTERESTING!! Honestly, You Hear His Voice Once and You Know It Again. I actually plan to remix it as a longer fic, but I also think it would just be super interesting from Tim's perspective!

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

adjflkads this was really fun to write out but also it got way out of hand so I'm putting it under a read more

Tim snorts. “Sorry, sorry. I’m just trying to picture Damian Wayne walking into a bodega with a sword strapped to his back, digging through his pockets for enough change to afford his morning cup.”  (Look, I love when Tim is an asshole, okay? And I love that like. He's mad at Damian, but this is the line where it goes from mocking to teasing) A smile curls across Damian’s lip, against his will. He is powerless to prevent it. (And this is the line where Damian feels that, where this gets a little bit softer again, and I love that he just can't fucking resist Tim even a LITTLE) “The owners are middle eastern. It can be nice to have a conversation in Arabic, every once in a while.”  There’s a pause before Tim answers him. “How do you take your coffee?” he asks in Arabic. (ajfkldfklas the way that Tim is like. He's just as bad as Damian, actually. He can't fucking help it. He wants to be angry SO bad, and he IS angry, but like. He can't stay mad??? He just cares about Damian too much. He keeps trying to force his walls to stay up and they just keep sliding down every time) “Black,” Damian responds in Arabic, that same feeling he always gets when he gets to rest his English. Like collapsing onto his bed after an especially long day, remembering that his comforter and sheets and pillows were waiting for him. “I didn’t know you missed speaking Arabic.”  “I didn’t know you spoke Arabic.”  “Yes, you did,” Tim snaps, abruptly switching back to English. “You knew.” (Andddddd this. I love that Tim calls Damian out on his bullshit. Someone said something to me about Tim using honesty as a weapon, and I love that he does. Like, I'm always a sucker for Nightwing/Red Hood where Red Hood is the only one who really knew Nightwing from before and I love applying it to them. I also love how like, every time they find a groove in their conversations, Damian steps on a landmine and it makes Tim snap) “…not when I would have had an occasion to use it.”  “An occasion, are you kidding me? Any time you wanted. Any time you wanted to walk into the manor and say anything to me, you know I would have listened. I would have done anything for you, don’t you get that?” (The way it's just so obvious that Tim was in love with him I'm 😭😭😭 I also love the way that Tim reminds Damian that he would have done anything for him when Damian really actively is thinking "I'll do anything for Tim" like all of the time (you know I might not have published those bits yet but it is a recurring theme in the 23k more words I have lol)) Damian sighs at himself. Why is he even doing this? Every time he thinks he feels an opening, Tim slams the door on his fingers. (aurghrgh I love this line okay I don't have anything extra it stands for itself I love it) “Yes, I know,” he breathes.  “You are infuriating to talk to, you know that?”  “Yes,” Damian answers. (LMAO the way he's so self aware) “Why are you staying on the phone with me?” “Because you—” Tim groans, and Damian feels like an intruder in the pause that follows. (not to suck my own dick but like. I think this line about how Damian feels really communicates Tim's feelings in this moment better than anything I could have written from Tim's perspective. Like. If I said he sounded frustrated or irritated or whatever it wouldn't have worked as well, because the line as it is points out specifically that the thought that Tim was going to voice was a private, personal one that he doesn't really want to share but he started to because it's true, and he's frustrated about that and he's frustrated about the thought and augrhrugrh I'm really into that line) “You always make me want more than I can have.”  (AJDSFLKAS I'M SO PROUD OF THIS LINE. Not only because it sums them up perfectly and like pinpoints EXACTLY where Tim is when it comes to Damian, but like. This line is so important to the fic. Remember it. Remember this moment. I'm not going to spoil it but fkjjka don't forget this line!!!)

wait that was actually so fun!!!! Thanks for the ask bestie!!! 💖💚💖💚💖

#🫘 this was a terrible idea #batsasks #bibatrambles #ask games #adkjfals i'm gonna answer more of these later I'm like actually tired for once!!! #this is gonna be the earliest I've gone to be in over a week #it's 230am to me

[chaoticgardenbread]

Behind the Scenes of Fic Writing: 30 Questions for Authors

5, 18, 22

Thank you for the asks! @scottxlogan I hope you've been doing well!

5. What is the perfect environment for you to write in?

It depends on the kind of writing I'm doing- if it's sketchy ideas and churning out plot haphazardly without any grammar, fact-checking, or research (at least, not just yet), it's best done lying on my bed, on my phone. Otherwise, it'll be on my laptop or tablet, in the living room or study room. Oh, bonus if I am home alone and I have music playing in the background.

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

Uh. I especially like lines/scenes that come out drenched in feelings, and whose vibes are a touch dreamy. I'll go with the scene/lines below just because it's from a fresh fic:

“Say you’ll stay,” the speedster murmurs in the twilight, just loud enough to be heard.

And Logan immediately places it, places the not belonging and the people not knowing just how much they mean. 

It’s no secret that Logan doesn’t do sentiment, doesn’t do anything as bothersome as feelings beyond pain and rage, and he’s halfway tempted to pretend to be asleep, but there’s something about the flutter of the speedster’s lashes against the crook of his jaw, of the way the surface of his skin runs hot against the coolness of the cotton sheets.

“I’ll stay. As long as you’ll let me,” Logan agrees, because nothing is constant except for change, and maybe being vulnerable with someone he trusts isn’t always going to end in a bad way.

“You know what they say, you gotta be careful what you wish for,” the speedster pretends to chide as he teases, the shape of his smile searing against the side of Logan’s neck.

Something inexplicable flares, harsh and warbling, in the pit of his belly. Logan buries it by pulling Peter just that bit tighter, and his speedster honest-to-goodness just— giggles.

Well. There’s that feeling again.

Be careful what you wish for indeed. 

22. Have you cried while writing a fic?

Can't say I have, no. It's probably a sign that I write too much fluff and soft things, oops.

#30 questions #writer's asks #scottxlogan #thanks for the asks! #wolvesilver

[adultswim2021]

Metalocalypse #35: “Dethdad” | July 14, 2008 - 12:00AM | S02E15

I mostly didn’t watch Metalocalypse this season when it was new. I fell off sometime early on and just figured I’d wait for the DVD, which I bought and also didn’t watch. This show remains one that I admire a lot, and usually wind up being glad to have watched it... BUT! I am almost never specifically in the mood for it.

I became a diligent Adult Swim recorder around this time, though, so in a bid to record everything new that aired on each block, I wound up accidentally spoiling certain episodes of certain shows for myself. This is one of them. I already knew the ending to this one. SPOILERS (we spoil stuff here, folks): I saw that guy sink like a stone.

As the tribunal puts it, every time Toki touches someone’s life with love, they wind up dying in such a way as to leave Toki with a traumatic loss. This is usually undercut with a detached, absurdist gallows-humor irreverence. This one leads up to Toki confronting his father’s death by traveling to Norway as he lie on his deathbed. He meets his father, who requests that Toki take him to die peacefully in the house he was born in.

Toki must carry his father up a mountain to get to said house, and on the last step he slips. His father falls out of his arms, and slides down the mountain and into a frozen-over lake. Toki scrambles to get to him, but now he’s slid under a thick sheet of ice. We see the life leave his father’s eyes as he sinks into the blackness of the frozen Nordic lake, all while his son watches in horror. How rude!

Seeing this moment out of context (with the sound off; I usually muted my TV when editing my recordings) is a pretty different experience. I expect the show to get dark, and that’s pretty brutal. What I wasn’t prepared for is the cartoony slip sound effect when Toki drops his dad. Hilarious! Also, the gratuitous bit at the end where Murderface throws a firecracker at the side of the mountain, causing an avalanche that crushes the house they were trying to travel to (that’s the culmination of a running gag where the band terrorizes Murderface with firecrackers).

The ending is very memorable, and it’s a great moment for the show, but this episode is maybe on the weaker side? It’s tough to say; I was influenced by sorta knowing the ending so I didn’t really get to go in fresh. The scenes on the way to the climax are hit and miss. And when you really think about it, that ending is simply too weird. Why did that guy go under the ice?? What a freakin’ weirdo. Toki’s dad is a friggin’ crackhead. May he rest in peace.

MAIL BAG

Art book time! Jackson isn't a fan of this episode either. Like you said, it's overstuffed and not the cleanest episode despite it's cool moments. But he also just really hated how the Entmann character tuned out. He wrote for John Hodgman and underwrote as a result cause he figured his delivery would balance it out, but he was busy and so got Stephen Destefano instead. He thought a Kvetchy voice would be funny but it didn't really work for the character, he never came out how he wanted him to. You can kinda tell cause after Now Museum they did nothing with him for 30 episodes before literally pissing on his grave in season 5.

Thank you for this tidbit! I really should get myself a copy of that thing. I just couldn't pull trigger on it because money is perpetually tight around here and I thought it was weird that they released that thing before the show had ended properly.

In the commentary they mentioned creating that character for a friend of theirs, but wouldn't say who, and they seemed mildly bitter about the whole thing.

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #the venture bros.

[back-and-totheleft]

Oliver Stone on the real-life basis for the character of Gardner in Platoon

"But I did freeze up myself, you know, with my first whiff of combat. I couldn't pull the detonator - the safety - on the Claymore mine and the guy next to me lost an arm and I was shot in the neck. And I swore I was dying, because a friend of mine had been killed two weeks before, and he was happy as a lark on the helicopter: you know, [the prospect of] clean white sheets, pretty nurses. He was happy - and then twenty-four hours later we heard he had died of internal injuries. You can never tell.  So I got the wound in the neck and my first impression was that, 'It doesn't feel that bad, but I'm dying.' But they didn't pay any attention to me. They just looked at me, 'Flesh wound, blah blah blah,' and the guy next to me had no arm. [He was] from Texas, a machine gunner. So that was a pretty heavy thing. And then Gardner was killed, my friend from the States. [...]  But Gardner was the only guy I came in with, so in a sense it's melancholic, yes. I lived. He died. [pause] But internal bleeding, it was called. It's a very dangerous thing, because you think you're okay, but you're not." 

DVD commentary for Heaven & Earth [48:05]

"Guys die from shock, too. Sometimes they die from internal bleeding. They're smiling when you put them on the helicopter and they're gone. [...] Charlie [playing Taylor] thinks he's dying but he's not really. The guy who's really dying is his buddy, Gardner, right here. [...] Gardner is based on a guy. The guy that I knew, Gardner, was from the South and he was smiling as we put him on the chopper and he died several hours later of internal bleeding. Nobody could believe it. Here [in this scene] he dies pretty quickly. That's sort of the way we did it sometimes [violent chest compressions]. We got carried away. You try to keep somebody alive with noise and [light] beams and stuff and they're gone. That's too bad. He was a good kid. Oh. Everyone feels bad about it in the field. Especially if they think it's that guy's [Taylor's] fault, and he's going to take the onus of the blame, which I did...and it's a hard thing to live with, too."

DVD commentary for Platoon [22:14]

#dvd commentary #platoon #heaven and earth #oliver stone #vietnam #the vietnam war #gardner #the night ambush