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ghostbustermelanieking · 3 years

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some thoughts on mag 200

i’ve been having trouble articulating this, but i wanted to get some thoughts down on mag 200, and the ending of tma as a whole, now that i’ve heard the finale twice and had some time to process it all. putting this under a cut in case people don’t wanna see it -- there’s gonna be a lot of praise here, but also some legit criticism. this is a way to sort through my feelings more than anything else.

first off, relistening to the finale, and sitting on it for a while, has made me feel a hell of a lot better about the whole thing. the episode comes off a lot better when you’re not vibrating with fear and anticipation, in my opinion. the final statement was very fitting and cool -- not my favorite ever, but i can appreciate it a lot as a final closing for the fears. and i don’t have an ear for soundscaping but the sound in that statement was cool as hell. the jonah magnus gets fucking murdered scene is incredibly satisfying. a lot of other people have said this, but i love that jon finally got his revenge, and was able to lash out against jonah for all the years of manipulation and beng used, and for tim and sasha and everything else. that was perfect. i genuinely thought we might not get a scene like this after 193 but i am so glad we did. incredibly satisfying. the girls made it out!! i am very glad that they’re ok and moving on and seem to be leaning on each other. (By God I Will Wring Found Family Out Of This Podcast If It Kills Me.) and the admiral’s okay. love that

and the jonmartin ending. oh my god. while i was never the biggest fan of the possibility of martin having to kill jon, the way it went down was so painful and good. i loved that final scene. i love the ambiguity -- that they might have died but maybe they didn’t, maybe they’re all right and happy and we can decide for ourselves -- i love that i got exactly what i wanted, that i get to have my cake and eat it too, all the angst of a jmart death and still the possibility of happiness... i am going buckwild. i love it. the longer i spend with this ending, the happier i am with it. i really really loved it

on another note... i do have some reservations about the finale and the season as a whole. i understand peoples’ irritations with the finale, and while i’m trying to focus on the things i did like, i definitely have some irritations. for one, i definitely wish the finale had been longer. i would’ve loved to see more of what wtgfs and basira were doing, and the actual lighting of the archives, etc. and while i completely understand why the scene at the panopticon went as quickly as it did -- it comes off very much as wild, frantic impulse in the heat of the moment where they’re in danger and trying to protect each other -- i do wish it had gone a little slower.

in my mind, the biggest issue in season 5 ended up being pacing. and this might be a personal preference thing -- there’s a lot of things within the show that i don’t personally vibe with, but i don’t necessarily think they’re badly written. but i do think season 5 was slow. and while slow things can certainly work in a certain context (season 4 comes off wildly slow til you listen to 160), i wish more of what actually happened in season 5 had been baked into the end game. the season felt like it had a lot of filler, which drives me mildly crazy, because the end game feels rushed and i don’t think it NEEDED to be. i liked a lot of what season 5 did -- there’s some impeccable episodes, the character interactions are weirdly lighter and softer than they have been in previous seasons, and i wouldn’t trade a lot of the things that it’s given us (all the jonmartin interactions, jon and georgie briefly rebuilding their friendship, martin and melanie friendship, wtgfs scenes and intimacy, backstory, lore, etc) for anything. but i do think it could’ve been structured and paced a little differently. i also think it could’ve given some more screentime to the character stuff we got from episodes like 161, 170, 186, 190, 191, 192, 199... i absolutely love both martin centric monologue episodes, but i hate that we didn’t get anything like that for jon. (or for melanie or georgie or basira...) the best episodes of the season, imo, are the ones that broke from traditional form of domain statement domain, and the ones that focused in hard on backstory, lore, character introspection, character interaction... i wish we had more of this.

when it comes to the jonmartin arc... i know this has been a point of contention with a lot of people, but i don’t hate it at all. maybe it’s just because i relistened to the majority of the season back in january, but a lot of the more grating moments that seemed large week to week (martin pressuring jon to smite people, the disagreements they had earlier in the season, jon using martin as bait in 176, etc etc) come off a lot more minor when you’re binging. personally, relistening to act i made those interactions come off as things they were struggling with through continued support and reassurance. there were absolutely things i wanted addressed, especially with the “kill bill arc” -- the disagreements early in the season, and how it seemed to turn on its head in the argument they have in 194. (i didn’t like martin blaming jon for the kill bill arc and i was hoping it would get brought up.) i also wanted to see a discussion of martin going with annabelle in 194 -- i wasn’t really ever mad at martin for doing it, but i did want to see them talk it out.

but! after relistening to 200, i think i have a better handle on why that couldn’t have happened. martin goes behind jon’s back to go with annabelle and they don’t talk about it; jon goes behind martin’s back to sabotage the plan everyone agrees on in order to prevent the fears from spreading. if they’d had a big talk about trust, and working through martin going off with annabelle, and then jon turned around and did the same thing, more or less... it would’ve completely soured that discussion. jon and martin needed to be in a place of discourse for this ending to work.

honestly, the more i’ve thought about this final JM arc, the better i feel about it. sure, jon and martin are in a bad place, and they’ve gone behind each other’s backs and been somewhat selfish, but i don’t think this ruins their relationship. for one, martin’s break in trust comes from a place of wanting to save jon and the world. and for another, jon genuinely feels he is doing the right thing, making a decision he can live with. (i have my own opinions as to how ethical jon’s decision was, but that’s another post. and i think the muddy ethics of this ending are on purpose -- it’s horror, a genre that often doesn’t offer ethical decisions.) their final decisions and final moments come from a place of love and protectiveness, and they change their decisions for the other. they still love each other, through all of it. i don’t think these late stage betrayals equivalate jonmartin necessarily being doomed as a couple (not that anyone has said that, but it’s worth saying). and i think it’s important to remember that this is still a relatively new relationship. it existed for approximately three weeks before the literal apocalypse, and it’s been under an immense amount of stress, as well as the constant fear that one or both of them would die. (which they did.) i’m not saying that excuses certain things they’ve said or done, but i am saying i don’t think the relationship is doomed. i think, if jon and martin have survived, they’ll need to work through things. they’ll need to talk it all out. and they’ll be able to! they’ll heal from this one way or another. the tragedy isn’t that jonmartin is doomed, or toxic. it’s that these moments of betrayal are what dooms them. and the beautiful undercurrent of it all is that they still manage to come together, and make decisions that mean they stay together. and that wherever they are, they’re still together.

all in all, i don’t think season 5 has been perfect, and i can make my peace with that. (tma’s worst is a hell of a lot better than most shows’ best.) (i also think it might be worth considering how covid could have affected certain aspects of how the season was written -- pandemics are stressful, and i can’t imagine what it’s like to finish an enormous, in the works for years project like this in the middle of that. personally, i’m impressed they’ve managed to finish the show through all of this and keep it to a similar quality.) i think critiques are valuable and worth discussing. and i think plot aspects aside, there are several other critique related things that could be brought up about this season that people have articulated much better than i ever could. but i also, personally, want to walk away from the show feeling satisfied. i tend to be weirdly positive about things i love (the x files finale was horrendous, but i managed to get to a place where i was happy with it, for example), and i think that applies here -- even more so because i really did love so many aspects of that finale. i don’t necessarily want to linger in my own mind over what i disliked, especially considering the show is over. although i did want to air out my thoughts.

i still love this show. i loved a lot of episodes this season, frustrations aside. season 5 will forever be my only live tma experience, and it got me through one of the worst years of my life, and i am very grateful for this. i genuinely did just want to air out my thoughts and get them all down on paper. these are just my opinions -- i don’t want to criticize anyone who feels differently about the finale, or the season as a whole. everyone’s opinion is their own.

i feel a lot, lot better about mag 200, to the point of genuinely loving it. i hope my appreciation only grows as i get further from that frenzied first day and have more time to sit with it. and i can’t wait to see all the art and read all of the amazing fics that are going to come out of this ending (and write some of my own). it’s been a wild ride. i’m glad i was here for it.

#tma #the magnus archives #mag 200 #tma spoilers #tma negative #not too strong i dont think but just in case #this might be completely incoherent lol but i wanted to get it down

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the-nysh · 4 years

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At what point in the story you started liking Garou as a character? What was his first impression on you and how did it changed later as the story progressed?

Oooh! What a GREAT question, I’m so glad you asked! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ (Cause yes, my perceptions of him certainly did change over time! And that’s one of the fun things I love to see happen with other opm fans too.) So let’s see…*pulls up a chair and shovel to dig thru nearly 5yrs of archives* where to begin~

It was definitely a gradual process (so buckle in, this is gonna be a looong chronological trip thru memory lane. About 3500~ words!)

First impressions

Early on (and cause I’m skeptical to most new characters who I don’t ‘know’ yet), I remember feeling kinda like ‘huh? Who the heck is this guy? This wannabe Hiruma-lookalike (recognizing some of Murata’s recycled Eyeshield 21 char design elements for him) with some silly double Vegeta hair? The hell does he think he’s doing??’ Beyond being kinda incredulous about him, I honestly didn’t really give him much passing thought or attention either, and definitely not anything on a deeper level yet. He was just kinda there (I suppose?), but also out there forcefully (cockily and somewhat annoyingly?) inserting himself as the ‘villain’ into the story at times (which wasn’t really my thing), seemingly WAY in over his head with reckless antics and overambitious about what he was claiming to be and challenging himself to do (which I thought seemed both ridiculous and ironic to set up like that when characters like Saitama exist to directly check/refute his aims).

So at the time I wasn’t fully ‘on board’ or invested much in his story/concept yet cause I hadn’t really seen him…define himself (beyond those first impressions) into his own fleshed-out character. Because he still kept reminding me too much of other characters (I even heard him with Hiruma’s voice) rather than breaking out on his own. Murata’s early art also had yet to really evolve and settle him into his own distinguishable ‘face’ for that matter too (he would though later, when he’d draw ‘Garou’ recognizable as himself and not like…‘Hiruma’s shadow’ anymore). So with all that coming in, it’s hard to ‘see’ or genuinely ‘like’ a char at first when they haven’t done much yet to distinguish themselves from others and grow into their own. (Oho, how time will tell~)

This impression of Garou hadn’t really changed much and continued all thru the Metal Bat fight, by the way. (I actually caught up to the manga around the time Murata introduced MB with the centipedes and was about to start his fight with Garou. Events which weren’t on my highest priority to see either, cause I still mostly preferred seeing Saitama + Genos interact instead.) But on a surface level, I at least knew Garou was fun/impressive to watch and his excitable/feral energy was infectious and entertaining (Murata really knew how to hype him up too), but other than that, I’d yet to really ‘like’ him on his own (enough to talk/blog about) still.

I first eased into reblogging stuff with him back in Oct 2016, which included the first reblog of his back muscles (lol) appreciating how Murata drew him facing Watchdog Man so ksjggh that part of the story (when Murata was teasing their fight) was also when Garou starting having a presence on my blog. :O

First turning point

However, I distinctly remember the first ‘aha I see now’ point in understanding him better was when I did a second reread of the webcomic. (I don’t exactly remember when that was, but probably sometime during the tournament arc when the pace was kinda dragging, so I prob reread the wc around then for fun.) It was around early-April 2017 when I later admitted that (in the tags):

I’ve come to really like Garou, a second read of the webcomic made me fond of him, of his background and ideas he wished to set out and change, his heart was in it and he had his set of morals, but he was young and brashly took the wrong path, I really want to see him return someday now that he's learned better

Cause following the big webcomic reveal at the end of his arc (when Saitama calls him out), going back thru his entire story again you could totally spot all the consistent hints and signs (from both his backstory and actions) ONE sprinkled the entire time, making everything revealed about him true, and not suddenly sprung up outta nowhere. It was finally like ‘aaah, I understand what’s up with him and can sympathize where he’s coming from. Yes that makes sense. :O’ However, this clarity/acknowledgment had yet to shift from simply ‘seeing’ or understanding a thing as knowledge, to actually feeling it (connecting on a deeper/personal level) later. That’ll remain a big distinction.

May 2017, I first started writing some early meta break downs about him, starting with his end-arc parallels in Suiryu’s despair moment and from this, there was acknowledgement how all ONE’s manga additions (up til then this was still all tournament arc stuff) were only building further context towards what’s to come much later on in the webcomic.

June 2017, I started posting stream coverage about him (vs Watchdog Man stuff when he intercepts King and Saitama.) Around this time I also admit this kinda stuff in tags ‘goodness how I love that this nerd has a soft spot for that kid (truthfully he's not monstrous at all)’ for appreciating the manga’s wholesome extra Tareo moments.

Second big turning point

Around Sept-Oct 2017 was when post content/stream coverage kinda started exploding during the whole vs A/B heroes + shed fight. This whole sequence, following the tournament arc, was the first big long-awaited return back to the wc’s script (with style!), but with significant expansions (esp to his character) never seen before. In particular, the bullet shielding moment was changed/revised from him simply standing there in the wc, to Garou protecting Tareo in the shed.

Truly awesome and moving because dang, he selflessly put his life on the line for that ‘Garou the determinator fending off the impossible while protecting a kid ;o;’ Firmly standing up to (injustices) and revealing his solid moral core, like wow, what a guy. <3

Murata’s stream output picked up significantly back then too (compared to his slower pace drawing the previous arcs), so I also admitted: ‘gosh been cheering for Murata's hard work just like Garou's in-chapter determination!’

But also cause this whole fight was like the first actual, legit demonstration (shown, not told) of Garou’s prodigious fighting skills, intelligence, tenacity, resourcefulness, perseverance, etc. Like this is what he’s actually capable of when pushed to the brink; testing the actual quality of his character (showing his true colors) and allowing those merits to shine while under unfavorable, difficult, and desperate conditions. And all impressively done in a way to make the audience both believe it and root for him (presented from his side much like a protagonist? Wild! 8D) It was extremely thrilling and badass (truly that whole shed part was brilliant, narratively and spectacle-wise. As I’ve repeatedly gone back to write about many times and again. :’D) My impressions of Garou around this time:

yoooo boi see I really like Garou, the wild prodigy determinator with a misguided goal, going all out and demonstrating his talent and prowess (even tho he gets in over his head), PROTECTING CHILDREN WHEN HE PRETENDS HE DOESN'T CARE, omfg what a softie (as Saitama would say) :'D, yaaa see he was never a 'real' monster at all, Saitama can see straight through him, and what he REALLY wants to achieve

Dec 2017, first started getting some sporadic Garou anons after the whole epic manga spectacle vs Genos + Bang + EC fight with everyone.

Jan 2018, back when Garou was captured in the MA base and then left to his own devices above ground…things started getting really interesting. Including noticing ONE’s more careful (or perhaps more transparent?) approach to writing Garou’s manga portrayal this time around. Different and more nuanced from the wc for instance, so there were many fascinating contradictions and complexities to uncover (break down meta-wise) about his convictions, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and how he applied those thru his actions and behavior (revealing decisive acts of character). This was when @gofancyninjaworld also started joining in to discuss and explore Garou’s ongoing dilemma with his goals and mindset. “His heart is in the right place, but his means are not, because at his core, he’s not a monster.” I admitted ‘Garou’s one of the most well-written characters in the story, I feel.’ And I was really looking forward to all the significant changes ONE was doing to make his manga story all the more defined and cohesive than it already was in the wc. That made things extra engaging (when there’s a desire to look deeper into things for fun and excitement for more).

Third turning point

Feb 2018 Oooh man. It was around here, (when Garou saves Tareo from the bullies and confronts RR and Bug God) that I was really starting to feel that shift happening (the impression of him turning into something more), so I had to comment on his ongoing characterization presented thus far (budding into a well-rounded, 3 dimensional character) and how ONE was (re)writing him in a more personal, sympathetic light that made him so easy to root for and genuinely likeable. I was fully AWARE of this happening and what both Murata and ONE were doing to increase his appeal. Admitting the more they revealed of him the more I was falling deeper for him, and fully welcoming it by narrative design. (Like alright let’s goooo! 8’D) Cause it was obvious how much differently and expansive he was getting portrayed vs the wc (with much less moral ambiguity). I said:

“Garou’s not simply a rogue, prodigious teen going on a spiteful rampage with an overconfident, slasher smile. Consistently, he’s been shown what really makes him tic: what gets him serious, passionate, sincere, and desperate – things that force his hand to either fight or defend against, with standards and ideals that he’d put his life on the line for. All of it is great: a variety of expressive emotions and definitive acts of character that all build towards the whole. Which we’re then left to ponder exactly what that is. Is he truly a villain or a hero? Is he really a troublemaking bad guy or actually a misguided ‘nice guy’? The answer isn’t so black and white; it’s more like a mix of ALL of the above. And I LIKE that. As ONE has presented him, Garou is Garou, and not really someone to align or classify as simply one or the other. He’s in that kind of delicious gray zone where he’s getting put to the brink to show his true colors. And it’s so GOOD and refreshing to see.”

That plus the manga showing his deeper bond with Tareo, his gruffly protective qualities (ok but that’s kinda hot?) and a more sincere showing of his morals (which he refused to budge on no matter what anyone else ordered him to do), brought on all the feels. :’)

Stream coverage + ch commentary devolved to like unintelligible screaming, with some ‘man he’s so fucking cool,’ or ‘damn protective Garou’s SOO good,’ or ‘I swear the more Murata draws of him the more I fall for him like wtf,’ or even the flat out ‘GODDAMMIT MURATA ;A;’ types of suffering reactions, ahaha.

At this point I was all ‘bring on the Garou appreciation; he deserves it; I have a mighty NEED’ but was kinda annoyed/frustrated with the fandom cause there was hardly any recent fan content of him (relevant to his current plot progression, it was all suspiciously dry or old ship-related content I wasn’t interested in cause the plot had moved on, so I was like omg where is everybody, hello?!) It was already a dry spell in between seasons so overall fan content was slow anyway, but it seemed like there were so few actual fans of him (to my confusion?!) So I started making my own content (beyond just the stream coverage and ch reactions/commentary + meta) with the expression posts appreciation.

March 2018. U-uhoh, things (and posting frequency especially) were starting to escalate. His reaction to literally getting backstabbed by the monsters and losing Tareo (his quiet but seething controlled feral rage) definitely had me feeling™ things.

Final nail in the coffin

April 2018 Oshit;; Garou forcefully storming and bulldozing his way thru the MA base, his awesome BIG DAMN HEROES moment rescuing Tareo from Royal Ripper, to his hilarious absolute tsundere™ moment denying it (before running into Rover and immediately protecting the kid again) pretty much destroyed me. This was also like the first time I’d seen ONE make a character go full tsundere mode and pull it off in a genuine comedic way (with the classic ‘it’s not like I came here to save you or anything baka’ line and all) so pfft, that was so much endearing icing on the cake. :’D

At this point someone even asked me who’s my favorite opm character, to which I was all, ‘Garou’s current manga content has been on fire so he’s been quickly skyrocketing into my favs (if he wasn’t there already)!’

But then Murata soon dropped THIS ‘protect the child’ page all with perfect timing, and I was…fucking doomed.

'sugoi ojisan' was pretty much the moment of instant death for me ;A; my constant reaction to the streams has been that gaijin 4koma meme with laser heart eyes for emphasis, and I'm pretty much losing my ability to articulate much beyond screaming at this rate

Garou’s behavior could then be summarized as ‘a very stubborn and in denial asshole tsundere little shit nerd. <3’ But there was classic ONE heartwarming irony in there too, cause Garou hadn’t fully ‘lost’ his battles either…during those critical times where he actually assumed the role of the ‘hero’ for Tareo instead. (Oho~)

basically Garou is a great character, the more you look into how ONE has built him the more meta af it gets

May 2018 (the long-awaited debut of the wc ‘scarf’ vs Rover towards Garou vs Orochi’s epic wtfshitstorm) lolwhoops~ I finally made the inevitable back muscles compilation while also writing longer, more in depth meta posts about him.

Murata delivered some of the best stream content we’ve seen of him. (Completely on FIRE, both literally and figuratively. And looking back, this was probably some of the most fun Murata’s stream sessions ever got. :’D Was awesome to be a fan tuning in during this time.)

even Murata was doodling chibis of himself freaking out in the margins XD

Delivering content from the pose of peak badassery…to dropping stream doodles of peak heartwarming/cuteness (Garou & Tareo in suits) on the fans for good measure.

bam Murata’s out to kill us with his art ...Murata can you like -maybe- chill? ABSOLUTELY NOT

Basically Murata knew exactly what he was doing, always delivering and servicing the fans (drawing the coke bottle was a fan suggestion too) yet also remaining a huge tease~

Towards S2 and beyond

June 2018, following the Orochi fight, Garou was put on a bus and absent from the manga for a while, so I went back revisiting older content again (rereading the manga for fun) and realizing/noticing/wondering stuff I hadn’t really caught about him before like…oh no why is he cute?? Was he always this way or had my eyes finally opened after everything??? (Cause aside from him being a little shit or a cool badass, he was also a complete dork and a nerd, and an oblivious dummy, and just…that was so…wtf endearing, a full package of fun to enjoy.)

But we soon got clips of Midorikawa’s voice reveal (from the opm drama cd) and all hell broke loose among the resident Garou fans. 8’D Especially cause his voice was ‘dark/smooth/mature/sexy’ as opposed to a higher-pitched, unhinged teen voice many had expected (remember that old Hiruma voice I first thought for him? So interestingly many fanboys were disappointed with this deeper voice casting). But also cause Midorikawa said “I’ll do my best to make Garou even more charming than before,” so we were excited to see Garou’s popularity spike even more cause of s2.

Aug 2018, the s2 key visual revealed with Garou prominently featured up and center and I WAS NOT PREPARED!!! I remember having like a full hyper-incoherent breakdown because of this so…yeaaaaah. 8’D I was all rationalizing,

If anything it’s all Murata and ONE’s fault that (the hype and appreciation for him) feeling’s grown even stronger. He was already a thoroughly fun walking meta source, but the manga made his softer/compassionate moments much more obvious (than in the wc). Just watch as this badass dorky nerd becomes even more hugely popular than he already is!

April 2019 was his anime debut…coincided with his post-arc WEBCOMIC DEBUT AFTER 5 FUCKING YEARS (before he even returned in the manga even) IMPECCABLE timing from ONE, holy shit people lost their minds. Including Murata, who had to draw him too! With all that and the anime airing (adding even more wholesome cute Tareo interactions not seen in the manga), fandom participation (+anons) really started to kick off.

I remember seeing the influx of new fans and how so many (who didn’t ‘know’ him yet either) would unironically label him as genuinely ‘evil’ or a ‘heinous villain’ at face value, which….uhhhhhh were the kinda takes that were hard to take seriously, but I appreciated how ONE’s writing allowed the readers to see and think for themselves as the narrative revealed more (rather than believing everything the characters said or claimed), so it’d only be a matter of time until they ‘saw’ the truth about him too. :’)

May-July 2019 the anime continued airing with fandom activity popping, until August when he finally reappeared and ‘awoke’ in the manga! ;A; After like an entire full year of him mia too. This was also the time frame when all the thirsty (and interestingly meta-hungry) Garou anons started (finding me???) regularly chiming in with fun participation. I was grateful though, cause they prompted certain takes I couldn’t have come up with on my own, and allowed me to think, examine, and explain things much more closely and thoroughly than I had ever posted before. (Yaaay~) Such as looking into just what IS it about him?!

“Garou wouldn’t be as compelling, engaging, and appealing as a character without (all) those other interesting layers and nuances to talk about too! :D It’s even better that way! Cause Murata can draw everyone looking drop-dead gorgeous and conventionally attractive, so just having a pretty face and impressive muscles isn’t enough to make him stand out in a special way from the rest of the cast. Already all those things (about him) are certainly impressive, so just what is it about him in particular? (That makes him unique.) The fact Garou has all that AND those other compassionate & interesting qualities to him just makes it the icing on the cake for a complete, well-rounded package. The fact we can know him, for all his feelings and attitude why he behaves and acts the way he does, such as when he’s contradictory, troubled and tsundere-like sometimes, to hardcore and badass other times, to softer and empathetic to fiercely righteous, protective and determined other times, and all portrayed in the way he’s capable of the range (and makes us feel) the entire spectrum of emotion too. …Like whoa (I could keep going but I’d be preaching to the choir at that point aha), all that only enhances what’s already there. In this way, I feel the Garou we’ve come to know by now is much more endearing and appealing than the one we were introduced to at the start. Because as he appeared then, he may have seemed like just another wannabe thug-of-the-week we might not have given much passing thought & attention to. But now…uhoh, you could arguably say he’s grown to the point he’s almost taken over the rest of the manga (within good reason!) by challenging our perception of who’s even the active protagonist. :O Who keeps us engaged and tuned in to see more. Buaha, just what the hell happened?! Now that’s quite the impressive feat from both ONE and Murata to create a character with a lasting impact like that!”

…So that’s what happened. :’D In my opinion, I feel Garou’s best moments where we (or really, I) got to know him better (shed scene, Elder Centipede aftermath, dine n dash, rescuing Tareo, all up towards his fights vs Rover & Orochi) mostly only happen until after s2 so… Since those were some of my absolute fav manga moments (which only enhanced my perceptions of him), those’ll be the moments I’m really looking forward to see animated in s3. But most of all, I’m hoping to witness some of that same ‘aha!’ gradual realization process happen to newer fans who come to appreciate him too. :’3

#Anonymous #replies #opm #garou #commentary #long post #(readmore pls actually work! ...i think it broke after editing it once)#anyway THIS took plenty of time to put together and relive/remember all those moments from years ago 8'D #how things certainly changed (and escalated!) but here's a breakdown of everything; enjoy~

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khantipode · 5 years

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Frequently Asked Questions

Now that I’m getting Antipode back in gear, I figured it’s high time for an FAQ. This post will be where I handle frequently asked questions from this point on. I’ll make sure to link it in the sidebar as well. So, without further delay... Q: What is Antipode? Antipode is an ongoing Kingdom Hearts AU series that asks the ever common question: What would happen if Riku became the Keybearer as fate intended? How would such a cocky, arrogant, teen with his own inner demons fare as the hero of the worlds, and where would that put Sora? While it’s a tried and true what-if scenario, my goal with Antipode was to explore the gradual snowball effect of Sora and Riku’s choices while keeping them true to their canon personalities. Notably, Sora still ends up with Kairi’s heart, while Riku still opens the door to Destiny Islands and dooms his home. While Riku ends up with Donald and Goofy, at first he sees them as little more than a convenient means to see other worlds, while Sora ends up tricked by Maleficent and her cohorts into believing they are outcasts shunned by their worlds who merely wish to save the princesses and the worlds at large. And, as time goes on, the series moves further and further away from the original KH game plots into its own direction. If you want to know more, you can find the entire series here on AO3 or here on Fanfiction.net!

Q: When does this AU diverge from canon? That... is a good question. Technically speaking, there are two main divergence points. The first is during the downfall of Radiant Garden in order to explain why Xemnas is who he is in this AU. The second is at the start of Kingdom Hearts, where Sora reaches Riku on the island much earlier, thus Riku obtains the Keyblade before he can give into the darkness. Naturally, everything from that point on starts to diverge as well. :P Birth by Sleep is more or less the same as canon, though.

Q: What Disney worlds are included in the AU? Oh, lots! The first story features all the worlds from KH1 except for Deep Jungle and Monstro- in exchange, it includes Prankster’s Paradise- called Pleasure Island in the fic, in a much darker take that is faithful to Pinocchio, donkeys and all. As the series goes on, I move toward more and more unique Disney Worlds in addition to familiar locations. Fragmented Truths includes worlds based on The Jungle Book, Sword in the Stone, and The Great Mouse Detective in addition to returning worlds like Agrabah and Halloween Town. Monstro also makes its appearance here. The Year Between features Pocahontas, Monsters Inc., Gargoyles, and Mary Poppins, as well as many, many references to the Disney Afternoon shows and other Disney material. All That’s Left is the current story and includes worlds based on Robin Hood, The Emperor’s New Groove, Wreck-it Ralph, The Incredibles, Treasure Planet, and Frozen with a few other Disney worlds planned in smaller appearances. Olympus Coliseum also has an appearance here, as will Space Paranoids. In general, Antipode is a HUGE love letter to Disney. Even in familiar worlds, like Agrabah, I try to incorporate elements from the films that were cut from the KH games like the Sultan and Rajah. But other worlds like Arendelle will also see similar treatment. Hans, for example, will actually exist in the AU outside of a five second cameo. ;) Q: What about Final Fantasy characters? Other Square Enix properties? While the Restoration Committee and Twilight Town residents return from the original games alongside Cloud, I’ve also added some more Final Fantasy cameos from time to time. Quina, Freya, Steiner, and Beatrix from FFIX make appearances, alongside Cait Sith and Barret from FF7. But perhaps the most significant new Square character is Ringabel from Bravely Default. Though he first debuts in Side Stories (Love’s Vagrant and The Burden of Failure), he has since become a recurring character, along with Grandship serving as a sort of mobile Traverse Town. In the future, I’d like to maybe include characters from The World Ends With You and Chrono Trigger, but that’ll probably have to wait ‘til the next fic.

Q: If Riku’s the Keybearer, does that mean he has a Nobody? Is there a Sora Replica? Does Xion even exist? Since Sora still had Kairi’s heart, ultimately, he still ends up with a Nobody. However, this universe’s Roxas does not wield a Keyblade, initially still keeps the name Sora, and has a set of fake memories shared with Riku’s Replica. He, Riku Replica, and Namine form what I like to call the mirror trio. Riku Replica does later go by the name Xiruk, but that’s mostly so he can match Roxas and stick it to the Organization. As for Xion, she exists with drastically different origins, as she was created by DiZ rather than the Organization. You can learn more about her in The Year Between!

Q: What’s the deal with Kairi? Kairi, while starting off in a similar postion as canon, has a much larger role in this AU! Instead of staying behind, she joins Riku, Donald, and Goofy on their journey and becomes a competent fighter in her own right. A damsel she is not, so if you’re looking for a story that gives Kairi time to shine, you’ve come to the right place. :)

Q: How come Heartless Sora looks like Anti-Form? And why is Ven with him? The key difference with Sora’s Heartless form in this story is that Ansem had told him ahead of time what would happen if he released Kairi’s heart and urged him to embrace the darkness... purely out of curiosity for what would happen if someone so kind dove right in. Sora taking that plunge while clinging to his sense of self, coupled with Ven’s heart sticking with him allowed him to maintain a stronger Heartless form. In this form, he looks similar to Anti-Form but with a more expressive face and sharp teeth. Only those with connections to darkness can hear him speak.

Q: If Ven’s heart is with Sora, why does Roxas still look like him? Due to the shared connection between Sora and Ven, he still looks similar as a side effect.

Q: How come Zexion has so much authority? According to the Days Ultimania, Zexion was slated to be second in command until Axel killed him in Chain of Memories to cut a path to the top for Saix. This did not happen here, so Zexion has a lot more power and authority in the Organization. Saix is still near the top, though, as is Xigbar.

Q: How do you handle Chain of Memories? What about 358/2 Days? Kingdom Hearts II? Simply put, I don’t. While the first story is very close to the original Kingdom Hearts in structure, all the subsequent fics are more of their own stories, borrowing elements from the other games where appropriate. For example, Fragmented Truths takes the Riku Replica and Namine from Chain of Memories as well as elements of the memory plot, but it still features adventures across different worlds as well as the start of the Organization’s meddling in the worlds. The Year Between features elements of 358/2 Days and Coded as well as KH2′s prologue, but spun in a brand new way to suit the story. All That’s Left is thematically the KH2 of the story, but like the other sequels, it’s not a direct adaptation. After all, I’m pretty sure Kingdom Hearts 2 doesn’t have Aqua running around with the heroes. :P

Q: Does your AU include anything from Dream Drop Distance? Sort of. Ultimately, Antipode does acknowledge that Xehanort did want to gather thirteen Seekers of Darkness to battle seven Guardians of Light to do battle and form the χ-blade. However! Antipode’s Xemnas has zero interest in fulfilling this plan, and as a result, the only characters to have been implanted with seeds of Xehanort’s heart are Xigbar and Saix. Young Xehanort is lurking around, and I have plans for him eventually, but suffice it to say, the Xehanort plan introduced in KH3D has been significantly derailed. Thanks, Xemnas.

Q: Hey! How come Xemnas is [SPOILER]? Because Antipode started developing well before Kingdom Hearts 3D came out, and I had Xemnas’ whole schtick carefully planned out. I didn’t want to retcon the entire arc I had planned for him, so I stuck to my guns and decided to simply include an in-universe explanation for why he isn’t out trying to make more Xehanorts. You’ll just have to stay tuned for the full story on that detail. ;)

Q: Will you incorporate the new canon from Kingdom Hearts 3? What about the mobile game? There are many things in Kingdom Hearts 3 that I legit can’t incorporate. For example, the Guardian’s identity goes against some plans I’ve had in place for years, and my backstory with Isa and Lea differs. Keep in mind, this series has been going on since 2012, so I can’t be canon compliant with every new bit of information. I do have some... ideas involving certain reveals from KH-UX, though. We’ll see if I get to ‘em. Q: Will this AU have any ships? Antipode is a story much more focused on friendships and adventure than romance. That being said, there is some extremely slow burn Kairi/Riku and Riku Replica/Namine that’s been developing over the course of several stories. I realize these ain’t the most popular pairings, but I really want to stress that Antipode ain’t about the ships, so even if they aren’t to your liking, I hope that you’ll give these stories a chance! Sora remains extremely important to his friends as well, so no worries about the spiky-haired dork being left out. :) He may not be having a romance with Kairi in this fic, but their friendship remains ever strong. Addendum: ...I guess this is also the part where I admit that years of denial have finally made me crack. Ringabel and Aqua’s chemistry is just too good in this AU. Like the other ships, though, it ain’t a focal point. VenSo is kinda implied, too, if you squint. Both of these were purely by accident.

Q: What’s with the rewrites? To make a long story short, a lot of the earlier works in Antipode were... fairly rushed. While I had a beta or two, I didn’t have a super thorough editor to point out all the plot inconsistencies and issues like I do now. Because my editor pointed out all these faults with the fics, I saw fit to go back and fix them for the sake of my own satisfaction and out of a desire to make the series overall stronger. I have provided changelogs for those who read as the stories originally released, which you can find here.

Q: When do you update? Whenever I have the time and inspiration. I do want to try to get updates out at a more regular basis- at least once a month, but we’ll see what the future holds. I do work a job, and I have my Undertale comic @invertedfate, but Antipode is my baby and I want to see it through to the end. Got another question? Please feel free to send an ask!

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts au #kh au #kh antipode #faq

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100percentdirtball · 7 years

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the delightful @possumpossumpossum asked me th’other day about my time at camp, and i just started writing to her, and in the end i’d written a fuckin’ novel, and i know some other folks have been curious, so... here’s this thing.

content mentions: csa, drug abuse, suicide, a whole lot of love

the camp is called camp grounded and there are eight rules: no digital technology of any kind; no telling time equipment or using time; no talking about work, including what it is that you do; no age talk, age doesn't matter; no drugs or alcohol, cigarettes are ok but only in like one little zone; no glow sticks or blinky lights; explicit consent is needed for any kind of physical contact; leave your name behind, use a new name of your choice until the closing ceremony. there were like 350ish ppl there, at this camp in the middle of fuckin nowhere in the redwoods.

it's been a really really huge part of my mom's life, and she billed it like it was going to be this whole big transformative thing for literally anyone, and i thought it sounded a little goofy, my attitude basically was like-- it'll be dope to not have to answer phone calls and see some trees for a couple days. right away tho like right away, it's just... well, once ppl start showing up, you get together with your village. everyone is in a particular village of 20-30 ppl, a little subgroup, if it's a tent village everyone pitches their tents in the same zone, cabin villages are all in the same cabins. i was in jackrabbit which was a tent village and so camp starts with a getting together with your new village and doing some like, silly icebreaker games but also like... pair off randomly by a silly method and make eye contact with your new partner and just like, get intimate for a minute. we talked about how we picked our camp names, what we wanted to get out of the weekend, and... idk, already i just was feeling really good about these ppl

on the bus ride up i was sitting with splash and sunshine who were from philly and we bonded a little bc i'd been there ever, and princess proton and lulu who knew each other from previous camps and this guy pickles was sitting next to me who was kind of a weird dude from colorado and it was his first camp also and after we talked a little it turned out he had gone to a rehab thing in this part of the country so we bonded over bein sober buds

the first jackrabbity ppeople i met were bee bee sting who gave me this AMAZING nametag thing to replace my very bad nametag and the counselor ladybug who like is basically a perfect human??? one of the things we did in the group thing was go over the rules, and talk about why those rules are the rules, and about setting a like intention, a what we hope ot get out of the weekend, and by this time i had been with camp folx for like six hours so i was starting to Feel It&tm and i said my intention was that like

what i do in my life is say no. and saying yes to everything is a ridiculous goal, but my intention was to say no deliberately instead of reflexively, to see if maybe there was a yes hidden in the no.

THIS WILL BE RELEVANT LATER

like, that's the thruline, like i am going to tell you more about camp, but... there were only like two or three times the whole weekend where someone offered connection or activity or whatever and i said no, and it wasn't actually even because of my resolution most of the time?? i said yes bc i felt safe and loved and accepted the whole time, the whole whole time.

like, i don't know that i can describe what it's like to be in a place where at any time, with any person, even a stranger you're passing on one of the trails, you make eye contact and you smile and you say hi and it's a real actual connection, even if it's just for a moment, it's a real being acknowledged as another human spirit, nothing rote or formality about it

it was so easy!@!!! i don't talk to people, like i don't do that, but i was standing in line to get breakfast and the guy in front of me was looking a little like he didn't have anyone to talk to and i didn't so i was just like, hey what's up? it was the last day of camp and i just asked him like, what's one thing you're going to take home with you? and we had like 20m of conversation, and we got into some real deep stuff. and it felt as easy as breathing. his name was sparkle.

i feel like i'm skipping from one place to the other, like there isn't a cohesive narrative here, and that's something i'm always wanted about, but i just don't know how to describe it, i don't know how to show you what it felt like so i just keep pulling little trinkets out of my bag and putting them next to the growing pile and hope if i pull out enough the shape will make sense

there was a talent show, and i think it speaks volumes about how open and inviting the community is that out of like 350 ppl 55 people signed up for the talent show, including a lot of ppl who had literally never been on a stage before. there were people who were, speaking from a critical standpoint, not super good at the thing they were doing, and also legit professional performers, and the crowd!!! responded in exactly the same way for each extreme!!!! and it didnt' feel forced at all

i found out after camp was being broken down that the talent show started at 9 pm, and went 'til almost 3am. it moved from one stage to a smaller stage, and i was like third from last, and still there were thirty or so people in the audience. i closed the stage out, i wanted to be there to the end. at first i was upset about going on so late but it was so perfect, the audience was in just the right place to receive me and i was in just the right place to tell a bummer fuckin story about my shitty granddad. two spots before me a woman named fulfilled got on stage and worked her way slowly and faltering through the story of forgiving her brother for molesting her and her family for covering it up, then a guy named happy feet who did a dance and stream of consciousness about, i don't know, maybe taking too much ecstasy and just wanting to stay high forever, and then me, and then an opera singer, and sprinkle lifestyle talking about his ex-best friend blaming him for her husband’s death, and then a man named rabbi doing a guided meditation about finding your perfect self and becoming it

i cried so much, i already cry a lot but i cried so much, and i cried in front of other people, and i didn't wipe my tears i just let them fall and let myself be red and smeary and blurry and people joined me

at the 90's themed dance they played a song one of my old friends who committed suicide used to play, and bee bee walked me away from camp and just held me and then took me to the typewriter village and i wrote him a letter and then i went back into the place and danced to nirvana

there was a tea spot, a yurt where there were tea tastings and people ended up falling over each other, and i met a woman named scoby and she said "can i put my head on your shoulder" and we watched scarecrow, real name john craigie, and then the set ended and we started walking and she curled her arm around mine and we took the long way and i said, "our eyes will adjust, thank god for the moon" and we sang rent and talked about how we ended up in kind of the same place but by different routes, how she was poly and working on not falling in love so easily, and how i was just starting to allow myself to want intimacy again, and we slept together in her tent all tangled up, we talked about how we really definitely wanted to fuck, but also really didn't want to do that and i looked for her in the morning but she had already left

i was saving the last picture on my disposable camera for a picture of her but she had gone so i took a picture of myself instead, i hadn't taken any of myself

i read tarot, i read for myself and i read for a bunch of other people, and there was a tarot workshop, and i did that and we sat together in a circle and passed decks around and i cried and cried and cried when i pulled the queen of cups. i've seen the queen of cups a lot of times in reading for myself and it's always been someone else, some external force, but in that moment it was me. i had brought my deck, and it was the first time anyone other than me had touched it, and i could feel the hum of the camp in the cardstock when i read for superman later in the day, and justice jumped out of the deck, and i sat with him and his wife danger and we puzzled over the cards and then i laughed and laughed and laughed because he chose to call himself superman and we couldn't figure out what justice was supposed to mean

in the hotel last night i cried for an hour, by myself, walking from the bathroom to collapse on the bed to shuffle back towards the taps, ,how can i leave all that behind? how can i be in the real world again? how can i go back to being closed off, go back to being jack instead of dizzy?

when rabbi walked us through a field holding fallen stars, each one of them a crystal-encased version of ourselves, a past or present or future that could be, and he asked us to find our perfect self, what i saw was how i looked in that moment, i saw the me at camp, the me who everyone says couldn't stop smiling, the me who speaks soft and true, who reads cards and holds hands and says yes instead of no and has a shoulder that looks like a good place for your cheek

#camp grounded #trash can of emotions #i just wanna fuckin live in the redwoods and throw my phone in the ocean

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vitalimallette-blog · 6 years

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New Post has been published on Vitality Male

New Post has been published on http://www.vitalitymale.com/male-health-news/this-is-what-happens-when-they-film-porn-in-your-house.html

This Is What Happens When They Film Porn In Your House

We know what you’re usually thinking about when you watch pornography, but have you ever wondered about those homes they’re shot in? If they’re not soundstages, then who allows strangers to have sex on their actual furniture? And how can you ever sit on that couch the same way again? To find out, we talked to Greg and Laura, who own a SoCal house which they rent to movie productions, most of which are porn. They told us …

You Can Make Real Money Renting Out Your Home For Porn (If It Qualifies)

There’s a name the movie industry came up with to describe a certain nook in Los Angeles County: Silicone Valley. At one time, this San Fernando neighborhood was where almost all American pornography was filmed, and though that’s no longer quite the case (we now have infinite porn produced everywhere, thanks to webcams and the internet), it’s still the adult entertainment industry’s favorite shooting location. A decade ago, Greg and Laura had a house there. And they needed money.

It was 2009, the housing market had tanked, and the couple were hoping to rent out a suite from their McMansion deluxe. Airbnb was still years away, so Greg turned to Craigslist. “They were looking for houses to be used for ‘movie and entertainment purposes,'” he says, and while that may sound kind of shady, it turned out to be a legit company. A legit porn company, which worked out fine, because their house was perfect for porn.

“We checked every box in a what-house-makes-the-best-porno list,” says Laura. It was spacious. Lots of parking. Neutral colors. Clean. And it had a basement (a rarity in California), something porn directors apparently love. “They like pretending the house is in the Midwest,” Greg would learn, which meant sprinkling fake snow outside the windows and having the muscular stepson or horny maid enter the scene climbing basement steps. The company had checked out a dozen houses before theirs, and this was definitely the one they wanted.

The first shoot came a week after the couple signed the papers. Then word spread. “The big companies called us out of the blue and asked,” says Greg, “and soon we needed to keep our own calendar.” Sometimes, porn is shot in places TV shows have used, and other times they sneakily shoot in rentals without permission. But when they find the perfect porn house, they stick to it. “I know they liked us,” says Laura. “They come again and again!”

That last part, Laura claims, was not meant to be a pun.

Yes, Stuff Gets Dirty (But They’re Careful About Body Fluids)

Laura and Greg are adamant that the majority of productions do a good job of scrubbing the place after the camera stops. But even once the cleaners have finished their routine of “Whoa, semen splash, eight o’clock! More towels here, stat!” you still know how icky the place got, and that’s a burden you must live with.

“I don’t know how many people have had sex on our couches,” says Laura, so they toss slip covers on the furniture before every shoot. The crew cleans any stains that land on the covers, spending ten minutes on a single spill until absolutely no sign remains. Then when they’re gone, Greg and Laura stow the covers away and sit on a couch that was hopefully doubly protected. As for the possibility of bodily fluids penetrating the covers, well, if it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. “We don’t use a black light,” says Greg.

Crews can be a little less diligent about mopping other sorts of messes. “Semen they’ll clean fast,” says Greg. “Wine, not as urgent.” And then one time, the couple thought everything had been swept up OK, but then some friends came over and their young son spotted something under the DVD shelf. “They have Muno toys!” he said. Muno is a character from the kids’ show Yo Gabba Gabba!

Nickelodeon ProductionsThis bastard child of Satan and chewing gum.

Laura walked over, thinking maybe a pen or comb had fallen there. Then she looked closer. The boy was reaching for a discarded French tickler, a particularly advanced kind of ribbed condom:

California ExoticsThis little guy, who currently doesn’t have any children’s shows in North America.

She grabbed the monstrosity and tossed it in the trash, narrowly saving the boy from a lifetime of issues. Though then she had to explain what the mystery item was. “I said it was a dog toy,” she recalls, “from when a dog came over.” We guess that might have been the truth, depending on exactly what kind of porn it was used in.

Neighbors Can Be REALLY Against Having Porn Shot Near Them

Some folks aren’t huge fans of adult entertainment, or at least of seeing gaffers juggling dildos during their morning jog. So though most people living near Greg and Laura are cool with the whole situation (some merely ask the crew to stay clear of their driveway), one neighbor declared war.

Let’s call her Mrs. Lovejoy. Early on, she’d phone and whine. Then one day, there was a knock at the door, and it was the police. What did I do? wondered Laura. It was Mrs. Lovejoy’s doing — she’d dug up something from the city bylaws and called the cops, thinking she’d kick the pornographers out once and for all. Unfortunately for Mrs. Lovejoy, she didn’t know the city code as well as she thought. Not as well as the porn companies, anyway. Or as well as Laura, who’s a lawyer. The shoot was entirely legal, and the police left without taking any action.

A couple months later, another officer stopped by. Same story. A couple months after that, yet another came. A year after the first visit, officers were still knocking, and Laura would now open the door, see them, and think, Ugh. It’s her again. Finally, one more police car arrived, and this time, it stopped at the Lovejoy house. They were there to tell her to stop with the baseless complaints. “It’s filth!” she yelled at them as Greg watched from his lawn. “They’re shooting filth in this neighborhood, and you’re doing nothing about it!”

Yes, they’d do nothing about it. Today, Mrs. Lovejoy refuses to speak to Greg and Laura. When they tell film people about her, no one is surprised. Every one of them grins and says, “There’s always one.”

Lease Your Home For Porn, And It’s Never Again Your Own

The couple set ground rules early on to preserve their home’s sanctity in at least some small way. The crew could film on the ground floor, out back, or in the basement, but upstairs was off-limits. Greg and Laura took refuge up there during shoots, wanting to hover somewhat nearby so the crew wouldn’t loot the whole place. They tried to get some stuff done on their computers and forget what was going on below. This was not easy.

“Hearing faint moans from downstairs can distract you,” says Laura. “I never got used to it.” Blaring saxophone riffs would have been a blessing, but the house got none, because porn music is not added until post-production. There was nothing but silence punctuated by sex noises. And Greg and Laura couldn’t play any music of their own or make any loud sounds, lest they ruin a shot and some future viewer’s orgasm.

In time, they learned to trust crews (so far, none have been thieves pulling off a nude heist), and they’ve taken to vacating the premises entirely until a text says it’s safe to return. They can’t come back early and open the front door, of course, unless they want to find themselves as extras in Sperminator: Genisex, so they schedule work shifts around shoots. And those shoots run long sometimes. A director may turn out to be a Terrence Malick type, and the cameras keep rolling ’til midnight.

“If they are shooting when I pull in, that sometimes means my driveway is blocked and I need to park outside until they’ve left,” says Greg. “If they’re filming outside, then that means I can’t grill tonight or use the patio.” That’s a shame, because think of all the missed sausage puns.

Visitors Recognize Your House From Porn They’ve Watched

On the Fourth of July a few years ago, Laura and Greg invited friends over. Most guests offered the usual vague compliments you give when visiting a house. It really is a normal, nice house, if maybe a little more sterile than most — the couple have never done much to decorate downstairs, keeping it a studio that crews can easily slip into. The only personal touches are a few photos of them, which the prop master considerately puts away before filming.

Two party guests, both guys, lingered in the living room, looking like they had deja vu. They finally took Greg aside and asked, “So, um, do you have movies shot here?” Yes, said Greg. “What kind?” they asked. Indies, said Greg (not a lie, some non-porn films shoot there too). One of the guys said, “Um, don’t tell Laura we saw this, but we noticed that your house looks a lot like this Playboy movie.”

Laura’s secretary, who knew plenty about the shoots but less about discretion, happened to catch this last line. “Oh yeah!” she said. “Happens all the time.” The two guys went red. They then apologized to Laura, for unclear reasons.

Another time, it was a pizza delivery guy, of all people, who made the connection. It was the night of the Office finale, and when they opened the door, the pizza guy did a double take and said, “I think I saw your house in a movie.” Greg said that, yes, crews film there sometimes. “He smiled to himself,” says Greg, “and when I paid, he said, ‘I liked it in …’ and named this Penthouse movie. He knew. He knew.”

And then he left. But we’ve seen enough films shot at Greg and Laura’s to know how encounters like that truly end.

Evan V. Symon is a journalist and interview finder guy for the Personal Experiences section at Cracked. Have an awesome job or experience you’d like to see in an article? Then post us up here or here!

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