dont let people tell u ur attraction to fire is "abnormal" or "hazardous" prometheus doesnt have his liver eaten every day for u to ignore the allure of arson
Bro I fucking love the DB Cooper case nothing about this whole situation sounds real. None of the passengers on the plane realized they were being hijacked until the plane landed two hours after it was supposed to and the fbi showed up with suitcases full of money. The note about the bomb almost went unnoticed because the flight attendant thought she was being sexually harassed so she didn't read it. One of the main suspects was the first trans woman in Washington to have a sex change operation. A reporter who was so dead set on his suspect that he brought him to court was so upset about being wrong that he went catatonic and was treated with electroshock therapy and it WORKED. There's been multiple "I'm DB Cooper" death confessions. He never even SAID his name was DB Cooper. Either he got away with a million bucks in today's money and the most iconic and harmless crime American history or he impaled himself on a pine tree while falling a zillion miles an hour in the dark while clutching duffel bags full of cash and either option is equally hilarious. He wore a clip on tie. He committed an act of sky piracy. What in the fucking looney toons
Marvel movies have completely eliminated the concept of practical effects from the movie-watching public’s consciousness
When you see a PSAT meme you don’t understand, so you realize you got that question wrong
Just a short video of my card weaving in progress
Just in case
writers shouldn't need to go on strike – but when we do, we're funny as fuck.
some of my personal faves, taken from a longer twitter thread by jenny yang. learn more about the strike here.
Oh and quick note for writers:
One difference between this strike and the last one is that there are a lot more fellowships targeted at early career tv writers than there used to be (there have always been some, but the fellowship model is way more commonplace these days)
Studios are about to make a ton more of these opportunities and advertise them widely as a way to break into the industry, and they will be very specific about the fellowship not technically counting as a writers room or a tv job
THIS IS A TRICK TO GET YOU TO SCAB
Sharing any written content with a studio (even if they route it through a 3rd party "foundation" or development org or something) IS SCABBING
What you do in regards to the strike is your business, but the WGA has been very clear that anyone who scabs will be BANNED FROM JOINING THE UNION FOR LIFE. That means even if you get hired, that's no health & pension and no union protections for your entire career. This shit is serious
So please please double check and dig into any new submission opportunities you see in the next weeks. Playwrights especially be careful - many studios are finding their writers through play scripts these days so be very careful about how and where your work is being shared
No writing going to the studios means NO WRITING of any kind
(if you see suspicious fellowship stuff being passed around let me know, I'd love to keep an eye on that for my peeps)
If you are the child of wealthy parents, this does not make you rich: it makes you a possible client of wealthy patrons
I have encountered children of rich parents denied tuition funding bc they came out as gay. I have encountered children of rich parents forced into psychiatric confinement begging their parents on the phone every night to please let them leave. I have encountered children of rich parents accustomed to living a life of luxury, cut out of their family’s wills for their disobedient attitude, and left unsure how to live an ordinary life bc nobody taught them. I have encountered children of fabulously affluent and abusive parents who can effectively buy off judges and pay to have them hunted down if they run from home. If you don’t have discretion over your money, it is not yours; and if your “wealthy” lifestyle is subsidised with strings attached (which it always is), you are not wealthy yourself
So my problem with most ‘get to know your character’ questioneers is that they’re full of questions that just aren’t that important (what color eyes do they have) too hard to answer right away (what is their greatest fear) or are just impossible to answer (what is their favorite movie.) Like no one has one single favorite movie. And even if they do the answer changes.
If I’m doing this exercise, I want 7-10 questions to get the character feeling real in my head. So I thought I’d share the ones that get me (and my students) good results:
What is the character’s go-to drink order? (this one gets into how do they like to be publicly perceived, because there is always some level of theatricality to ordering drinks at a bar/resturant)
What is their grooming routine? (how do they treat themselves in private)
What was their most expensive purchase/where does their disposable income go? (Gets you thinking about socio-economic class, values, and how they spend their leisure time)
Do they have any scars or tattoos? (good way to get into literal backstory)
What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances? (Good way to get some *emotional* backstory in.)
Are they an oldest, middle, youngest or only child? (This one might be a me thing, because I LOVE writing/reading about family dynamics, but knowing what kinds of things were ‘normal’ for them growing up is important.)
Describe the shoes they’re wearing. (This is a big catch all, gets into money, taste, practicality, level of wear, level of repair, literally what kind of shoes they require to live their life.)
Describe the place where they sleep. (ie what does their safe space look like. How much (or how little) care / decoration / personal touch goes into it.)
What is their favorite holiday? (How do they relate to their culture/outside world. Also fun is least favorite holiday.)
What objects do they always carry around with them? (What do they need for their normal, day-to-day routine? What does ‘normal’ even look like for them.)
I fucked up making my blog 6 years ago and didn't notice, and now it's too late to fix. My actual main blog is here: mathematicalfelony
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