#cic rambles

[animutate]

the way some people on here post about real life celebrities/youtubers/whatever is so odd to me.they are alive and breathing and can read you calling them your little meow meow why are u treating a real guy like your favorite pokemon

#this isnt about anyone in particular i was just thinking about. how people on here treat gerard way and neil cic #or used to idk. i havent listened to ld in like 2 years #like how weird would it be if they treated another musician who wasnt hashtag tumblr quirkycore that that. #what if they were making and posting catboy fanart of Sascha Konietzko #its the same shit its weird #idk im rambling

[prettyhighforawhiteguyblog]

Let me into your echo chambers. Please.

Introduce me to your friends.

I need out of my echo chamber and so do you.

So don't just like. Share it with your friends.

If you liked it don't you think your mutuals might be interested in it too?

Then take 30 sec to check out the OP's blog and see if they are worth a follow.

Tumbler's UI is shit and I ramble, so I apologize that this will be a scroll.

==================

I am a rambler when I write. And for a blogging site, Tumblr is pretty shit for blogging. Almost like it was on purpose...

But anyway, since I ramble, I write to help skimming. I highlight important points you might want to pay attention to and then you can go back to read a bit more context on that point.

So don't be intimidated.

I give every art I see at least a like. Maybe a comment. Because I love to see people express themselves and put themselves out there. And I want to encourage you. And maybe interact a bit. And maybe I was high.

And when I write, I tend to ramble. But I promise that my writing and content is worth the effort and time.

But whenever I see something unique or special or meaningful or especially lovely or just plain weird, I hit that share button.

So, follower beware: I reblog a whole lot and it is part of my content. And my created content might take a bit to read.

And it's not that I'm particularly trying to get your attention. I just play around on here when high.

I just think a wider view of the diversity in this world is better for everyone to have. But more importantly I believe it is necessary to hear from the weirdos.

I find weirdos and I amplify them.

Like and subscribe!

Because you fuckers need to meet each other and see each other's shit. Especially the shit that is different.

We need to see the world outside Normies' Big Media Capitalist curated News world.

I love you fuckers. All so unconventional and weird and whatnot. Most of us keep it together in the outside world.

But we have to find the other weirdos to be weird with. Normies are great friends and I love all my lambs, but the weirdos are my people and we can be ourselves together.

There's a lot of normies that try to be weird to build a fun persona and I'm kind of impressed with you. It takes a lot of guts in this society to pick a fun way of living and stick to it against the tide. You do you.

Just like all the other lovely normies out there. They try so hard to find themselves.

It's due to all having shared interests and hobbies. They all have same politics, same worldview, same income, same race, same shared media and experiences, education, upbringing, and desires and cares, wants, and needs. They just need to feel loved. Like us.

Shalom.

But otherwise normies only want comfort and conformity to get acceptance. So they go along with everything,

and only go to water parks, the mall, and DisneyWorld, eat shitty imitation of Popeyes weekly for Jesus's sake, and do all the Applebee restaurants and dabble in exotic local eateries. They watch sports and play golf or bowl or "manly" shit together and talk sports, women, politics, and work. They look for normal jobs and the normal White/cic-masking BIPOC at work or church count for diversity and as their "many" Black "friends." They go to big well funded fancy museums filtered through capitalism and Western academia and that society.

All of it with a fuck ton of asshole Aristocrats and Billionaire meddling,

bankers picking and choosing, America bullshit, Capitalism and grants making us beg like dogs for centrifuge tubes or explain why my research required fucking printer ink while we rely on desperate and idealistic kids to do all the work basically for free.

The normies just go along with it all and live in the normal Aristocratic-lite society, do normal stuff, watch normal media, and love Disney. The normies just eat that Disney shit up.

They go those normal museums for culture. And while they are there, they look at magnificent art, technological achievements, architecture, poetry, and toys with wheels by ancient civilizations that made ours look shitty and all they see is pretty or weird.

I see before me strange weird things someone saw as common place and wonder how they would have regarded it.

I try to do that with weirdos too.

Weirdos show me a whole new world without the Disney bullshit.

While Aristocrats pump us full of Big Media, Disney, Education Systems, fake high society, fake Masters fake educated Geniuses flown to prominence by their privilege, and fake Comedic Geniuses.

(Van Gough & a few Divincci's and Einstein' or Jim Carrey' excluded)

Fake everything. And once in a while a true weirdo leaks out. And once in a while that weirdo shows up in public.

And that wonderful weirdo is seen as freak of nature. Abnormal by the normies narrow Diversity Standards.

Excluding us even more. Driving our personalities under cover just to get a seat at the table or make a good damn friend. I hate those smug fuckers making us act like them just to get a fucking job a "friend" who won't let you be yourself.

Sometimes I hate them. Most of the time I'm just tired of them.

They just are so boring. I'm so lucky to be faculty at a shitty school. It's filled with weirdos.

You fuckers must be drowning in normies

That's what made elementary, middle, and high school so bad. All the conformity. It was an exqisitely painful narrow kind of homogenous environment dominated by the few rich families in the neighborhood who ruled the school dress code. You wore what they were or you were Out. Outtened of interacting with Their society. You talked what they talked. You laughed at their jokes and only told similar kinds. You can't be too different. Just flavorful enough to get noticed if you're brave. You were "goodlooking" like them. White Sons and daughters of modern inbred high society modern day slavers and over titled middle management. All waspy rich brats. With a few diversity hires being "normal" for dear life.

How is your society now? Is it different now? I'd assume there's a definite ruling society. Who runs it? What kind of people have a seat?

Not the weirdos.

Not us.

We're below notice.

Like these words I write on this backwater shitty blog. Which is one of the few places that let us be weird together in long form and media for free.

So I figure a fake name should be enough to keep my Uber White Evangelical well-educated over-paid middle-manager Christo-fascist trustees running my shitty school from ever finding this page. I doubt they'd even thinking of looking here. Not without a Google hit for my Christian name.

So I'm just me here. And most of you are just you here. And that's refreshing.

There's a lot of normies still on here for fun, but bit most were driven away by the shitty UI, search features, lack of toggles and filters, oversaturation of ads and general derision for the user experience to the point that I think they are doing it on purpose.

You know a similar thing happened at another social media that brings truly diverse people together on more egalitarian grounds. Twitter got fucked up like Tumblr. Elon over paid just so he could be the one to destroy our communities.

(and drive the site Upulie loves to play on into the worst possible version of itself and then into a long depressing death spiral.)

This is Capitalism after all. And who controls Capitalism sanctioned social media? "Geniuses" ™️ like Elon Musk. And his tech bro fanboys and billionaires. No Aristocrat or Aristocrat-lite or their sycophant wannabes wants our shit out there in normies Big Media world.

So they drove the normies and play-actor normies and well-connected away. There's no fame or money here. You can't even go viral. There's just other weirdos without connections. And Will Wheaton. Who is also a weirdo.

I love you all just because. But I especially adore you because you are so fucking weird. But you still love others. Mostly. You are my kind of people. You don't fit in society. You beautiful, magnificent bastards.

And it's killing you acting like a fucking normie all day. It's itchy.

When you're stressed it gets impossible to mask and that gets scary.

I'm lucky to be surrounded by such loving weirdos at work. But they aren't weird weird if you get my drift. They are all conventional in most of their education experiences, interests, religion, Big Media consumption, background, White, and mostly men.

And I'm...? I've never fit in with any society.

Never enough to be even exotic normal for them.

And I've been in some weird societies. I'm just able to conform enough to get by with a buddy or two at work and not freak my friends, family, therapist, or the wife out.

I just want to be me. And that's hard when everyone just wants to be boring and do Capitalism bullshit and preferably do it the luxury way.

They just can't accept my personality being uniquely weird. And they will never recognize my uniquely weird genius languishing in this Tumblr prison of an echo chamber.

But if you are still reading, know that I amplify weirdos and important shit.

This might be a fucking tiny echo chamber Tumblr stuck you all in with me. This might be a really tiny sub chamber just for me. Mine is like the same fucking 10 people in my mentions. But I'm starting to leak out a bit.

Thank you for noticing me.

I hope you like my shit, but I don't give a shit if you don't care for it. (I very much do give a shit. Why don't you like me?! )

Anyway I think seeing the world from the non-normies is important. Knowing more foreigners and strangers and poor and lower SES is important to see the whole world. But you are still mostly seeing the Aristocracy's world. But the real world. To know the real world, you need to hear from the weirdos. We live outside the normie world. We see it from the outside looking in. We observe it. And we live a unique experience that gives us a unique world to share with others and a unique take on our shared world.

Knowing more people who live in totally other worlds is a wise thing to do

And you should all be amplifying whatever is weird or beautiful. But also the more unpleasant important things and local news.

Help us see this world.

The world beneath.

To help us see takes that are truly unique and not rehash of corporate plants and cherry picked normie viral sensations.

Giving us unique understandings of this beautiful world, synthesing the experiences of some truly beautiful people in some really weird or unusual, under represented, or shitty circumstances.

Big Message : Learn from each other, enjoy each other, amplify each other to help us escape these echo chambers. And follow me so I can escape with you.

#a proper education includes a lot of useless shit #you need useless weird shit #but I'm just as happy without #it's up to you to decide what to make of it all and what to do with it #that is the other reason they want to kill liberal education #cut out the sources of new ideas and other narratives #cut out useless information that might take root into curiosity or change their world views #just slavery training #it's all part of a cunning plan. #you will read my crazy writings and like some ideas. #you might hate some ideas and that's fine too. #my ideas are seeds #my words are spores #they've already taken root and cannot be dug out of your brain #or your heart #and you'll think of them later #and think deeply on them #and find them helpful and true #and then you'll spread those ideas around and do all the shitty work if dealing with going viral #just give me some credit #and share some of that Nobel money #but I'm pretty damn happy without money or notoriety #so just let my little fledgling ideas fly out into the wider world #maybe make a better world for my kids granddaughter #ph4wg original #ph4wg #the ph4wg tag is on every original post if you get curious #tumbler is purposefully anti user-friendly in every aspect #I love Tumblr's little pop up at 30 tags #“You did it. You reached 30 tags”

[n7punk]

I posted 2,747 times in 2022

373 posts created (14%) - 2,374 posts reblogged (86%)

Blogs I reblogged the most: I'm not pestering people with tags. turtle-ly, metalesbo, bugsongs, clarenecessities, & johannas-motivational-insults.

I tagged 2,745 of my posts in 2022

Top tags: 1. #she ra - 1,694 posts, 2. #catra - 1,309 posts, 3. #adora - 1,101 posts, 4. #catradora - 843 posts, 5. #text postage - 237 posts, 6. #ask - 229 posts, 7. #anon - 206 posts, 8. #fic rambling - 90 posts, 9. #ficmeta - 82 posts, 10. #glimmer - 75 posts.

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5: does anyone have a link to personal (aka no special machine needed) bookbinding/bookmaking resources? i’ll probably just research it on my own but i KNOW there’s a perfectly written out tumblr post on it or a great aggregate of resource links 141 notes - Posted May 3, 2022

#4: of course ao3 went down yesterday RIGHT when i noticed a major error in a fic that has been posted for five months and so i had to wait overnight before i was able to fix it 157 notes - Posted June 13, 2022

#3: "play the fun cat game" they said "YOULL BE ABLE TO KEEP FUNCTIONING AFTERWARD" THEY SAID 175 notes - Posted July 22, 2022

#2: an image post that took up way too much room I couldn’t leave it in so have a link: R&B Catra. 270 notes - Posted March 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022:

one thing i love about mass effect (1) is that it starts with this shot where you just barely see your shepard’s reflection in the window and then a long tracking shot of their back as they walk through the CIC, and then the music swells as it swings around to reveal their face, like the big introduction to the main character at the start of the movie… only you just spent twenty minutes customizing your shepard and looking at them from all angles as you selected their backstory, so theres absolutely no reveal to it 5,616 notes - Posted October 30, 2022

(yeah this one blew up but i’m only incidental to why it Actually Did)

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #deleted my longest tag because it was literally just me talking about Something idk even what it cut off #tried to cut some of this down so it wasn't so long and annoying #mylife

[bellumcatilina]

Anyone: hey how’s lockdown going?

Me:

#j rambles #help #tagamemnon #cicero #cic. rosc. am. 29 if ur inch rested

[theoriginalladya]

Dinosaur Brain

I have the most amazing friends, I swear!

The following ficlet evolved out of conversations about Rhys Shepard and Grunt and dinosaurs ... and then it had to have some commissioned ART, too!  Fabulous art by @thepixelagora��� who somehow managed to take my incoherent ramblings about this and turn it into the absolutely most perfect picture of events!!!!  Thank you so much for lending me your talents!!  

There is more to this story, but it wasn’t quite working how I wanted, so the rest will come later.  In the meantime, have the madness that started it all!!!

The story can also be found on AO3 here.

~~~

Rhys drops into an empty seat and starts eating immediately, his focus less on the food and more on the datapad in his hand. Across from him, a chair squeaks and shadows flicker in his peripheral vision.  Still, he pays little heed to the disruption until…

“You going all dinosaur brain?”

He would prefer to flat out ignore the question, but there are times that’s worse than responding to it.  Rhys doesn’t bother to look up from the pad.  “Not this again.”

Kaidan’s chuckle of amusement drifts across the table. “What?”

“You know what.”

Kaidan leans over and stabs a piece of Rhys’ meal, retreating quickly.  He chews with a thoughtful look in his eye, then swallows.  “Tell me honestly, when have you never been thinking about them?”

“What’s a dinosaur?”

The table wobbles as Grunt slams his tray down and sits next to Rhys.  This time, it’s Kaidan who is taken aback and Rhys whose interest perks up.  “You want to know what dinosaurs are?”

“Here we go,” Kaidan mutters, rolling his eyes and reaching for his coffee.

Rhys ignores him and turns to face Grunt. “O’Keer never imprinted them on you?”

Grunt shakes his massive head back and forth. “What are they?”

Rhys peeks over at Kaidan, his blue eyes sparkling with delight.  “Translated from the Latin, the word means ‘terrible lizard,’” he explains.  “They are creatures that lived millions of years ago on Earth.”  He grabs his datapad, pointedly ignoring the sputter of choked laughter from Kaidan, and scrolls to the end of the device before passing it over to Grunt.  “This is a Triceratops.  About eight meters long and three meters tall.  They are known for having three horns on their head; one long one above each eye and a smaller one over its nose, as well as a large frill made out of bone.”

Grunt examines the picture on the datapad then glances back over at Rhys.  “Looks like a mighty warrior,” he concludes with a sage nod.

Rhys grins.  “Actually, they weren’t the fighters.  Not unless they were attacked, of course.” He takes back the datapad and sets it aside.  “The real fighters were the Velociraptors and Tyrannosaurus Rex.”

“You know,” Kaidan muses as he sits back in his seat, “I’m going to tell Wrex you’re calling him a tyrant again.”

“Oh, shut up!” Rhys hisses over at him.  He spends the next several minutes explaining about the two different dinosaurs to Grunt before he reaches into his pocket and nabs the Deinonychus claw he always carries with him.  “This is from a much smaller dinosaur, similar to the Velociraptor, called Deinonychus.  I found this on our family’s ranch when I was a kid.”  

Grunt takes the claw and squints at it, holding it up to the light and tilting his head.  “Doesn’t look very dangerous.”

Rhys chuckles.  Pushing his chair back, he stands and lifts a hand to about chest level, just above his elbow.  “They were only this tall when adults,” he explains.  “A smaller version of the Velociraptor, if you will, but older.  They were also very bird-like.”

“You know, Shepard,” Garrus comments from down the table, “if you keep making references like that, I’m going to start taking it personally.”

Kaidan almost spits out his coffee.  Rhys just grins as he retakes his seat.  

Grunt, however, stares at the datapad.  “So, what did you do with them?”

Kaidan starts to laugh uncontrollably.  Rhys kicks his leg beneath the table.  “We didn’t do anything to them.  They died out over time, long before humans were around.  We’ve spent centuries searching for their bones, fossilized in the earth.”  

The krogan sets the datapad down.  “Too bad.  I would have liked to go up against one of them.”

 ~

 A week later, while on duty in the CIC with his attention focused on planets, minerals, and potential prothean ruins, Grunt comes thundering his way through. “Shepard!”

Caught in the middle of running a scan, Rhys cannot give the krogan his full attention, and calls back over his shoulder, “Yes?”

Grunt makes some sort of disgruntled sound. “Shepard, what’s a ‘shark?’”

With his fingers flying over the haptic keyboard, Rhys’ reply comes automatically.  “Water dinosaur.”  A heartbeat passes, and he thinks about what he said before turning around to find the krogan standing there, a piece of paper in his hand.  It is an image of a Great White shark.

Kaidan is just exiting the cockpit and happens by during the conversation.  Giving Rhys a bemused look, he replies, “Really?”

Rhys shrugs back at him, but Grunt grins, a spark of delight in his eyes, and turns back toward the lift, chuckling in his usual, deep, rumbly manner.  It’s quite adorable, even if it does leave both men scratching their heads.

 ~

 Late in the Collector mission

Stops at the Citadel are opportunities Rhys never ignores.  This time around, however, he isn’t tracking down prothean specialists at the university or the archives, but shopping.  He returns to the Normandy a few hours before required, not surprised to find the CIC nearly empty as he walks through, bags in hand.  What does surprise him, however, is when the lift doors open and Kaidan steps out.  The other man sizes up the current situation and his hand shoots back out to hold the doors open for Rhys.  “What are those?” he asks, nodding at the bags Rhys carries.

Hopping inside, Rhys shrugs.  “Books.”  

Kaidan chuckles.  “Obviously.”  He reaches into a bag and tugs one free.

Sighing and rolling his eyes, Rhys clarifies.  “On dinosaurs.”

The switch from amusement to… well, whatever the look in his eyes is now – half bemusement, half irritation? – is instantaneous.  Kaidan drops the book back into the bag without looking at it and slams his hand on the buttons.  “You need a fucking lab, I swear.”

Rhys chuckles.  “I tried, but Mordin won’t share.”  He’s the first one through the doors when the lift stops outside of Kaidan’s cabin.  The new arrangement works out better than expected, at least until this topic comes up in discussion.  “Besides, these aren’t for me.”

“No?”  Kaidan swipes his hand over the door’s interface.  “Who?”

“Grunt.”

Almost as if he’s listening in to their conversation, a soft, “Hehehehehe,” whispers through the walls of the ship as they enter the room.  

 ~

 2186, Citadel, during the Reaper War

While Kaidan heads off to do Spectre things, Rhys makes his way to Huerta Memorial Hospital.  After the incident on Mars and his time spent there, the desire to visit isn’t exactly thrumming inside of him, but Grunt is now a patient there, and it’s more important to check on how the krogan is doing.  Wrex’s assurances that Grunt is fine aside, Rhys decides to check in on him anyway, just to be sure.  Kaidan promises to meet up with him as soon as his responsibilities are taken care of, hopefully in time to visit the krogan as well.  

Entering the critical care ward, Rhys notices not much has changed in the weeks since his departure.  In many ways, it reminds him of the rest of the Presidium at the moment; hiding the true nature of what is happening in the Galaxy outside of the Serpent Nebula behind common, everyday things like Blasto movies, home redecoration conventions, and the latest varren races.  Nothing like sticking their collective heads in the sand.

Rhys enters to find Grunt sitting up in bed.  There are makings of a few scars – two across his face, another on his upper left arm, and one more across the broad expanse of his chest – but he appears greatly improved since receiving his injuries on Utukku.  As Rhys enters, Grunt slowly turns his bandaged head in his direction.  His voice is on the weak side, but there is an urgency to it that confuses Rhys at first.  “Shepard.”

Rhys takes that as permission to enter, removing his cowboy hat in the process.  “Hey, Grunt. How’re you doing?”

Grunt ignores the question.  “Shepard, what’s a kakliosaur?”

Startled, it takes Rhys a minute to digest the full question.  In the space between, he pulls over a chair and takes a seat.  “It’s… a krogan dinosaur, I guess,” he replies after a time. “Remember the Triceratops? Akin to that, I guess you could say.”

An added spark of life brightens the krogan’s blue eyes.  “Krogan had dinosaurs?”

Rhys chuckles but nods.  “I would point out that krogan are dinosaurs, but yeah. They had creatures very similar to Earth’s dinosaurs.”

Lying back, Grunt’s eyes close, but he manages a small laugh as he drifts back off to sleep.  “Hehehehehe.”  Rhys takes his leave a few minutes later.

After catching up with one another, Rhys and Kaidan reboard the Normandy.  Halfway through the CIC, Rhys announces, “We have a mission.”

They’re just passing Traynor’s station and she hands Kaidan several datapads.  Absently, he replies, “I know.”

Rhys sighs.  “A new one, I mean.”

That, apparently, is enough to catch the man’s attention, and he glances up.  “What?”

Using his chin to point to the galaxy map, Rhys continues, “We need to go to the Phoenix System.  It’s… important.”

Kaidan frowns.  “What the hell are you talking about?”

A grin slips across Rhys’ face.  He can’t help it.  “We are going dinosaur hunting.  Krogan dinosaur hunting, to be specific.”

The blank look in Kaidan’s eyes as he blinks owlishly at him makes it clear he has no idea what Rhys is talking about.  Either that or he thinks Rhys has lost his mind. Maybe both.  “Check your messages.”

There is a hint of apprehension in his steps as Kaidan walks over to his terminal and retrieves them.  “Shit!”

Rhys tips his hat just a bit and turns toward the elevator.  “See? Told you.  Anyway, let me know when we get there.  I know the director of the museum.”

He’s just stepped onto the lift and pressed the button for the cabin when Kaidan calls over, “Have I mentioned you’re a menace?”

Rhys’ grin widens and he winks at him.  “Not this week…”

#Dinosaur Brain #ladya writes #mshenko #Rhys Shepard #Kaidan Alenko #Grunt #dinosaurs #OTP: The Music Lives On #Mass Effect #Cowboy Shepard #canon divergent #thepixelagora #Dinosaurs and Grunt #match made in heaven

[trainwreckgenerator]

its 8 am i have not slept and i think mullet with butterfly wings is my new favourtie song?????

#rambles #neil cic

[betweentheracks]

can you tell us what your credentials are and what sort of studies/coursework did you have to take up to get to your position? and, if not too personal, what your day to day work life might look life in and out awards seasons or other big ticket events your clients might need styled for?

This is long and rambling, I do apologize. 

Regarding coursework and education routes into becoming a pro stylist, the thing is that there isn’t necessarily a need for a specific type of education. You could literally drop school and strive for success by the grit of your teeth and iron will alone if you really want and still could gain great acclaim. It isn’t exactly common but it does happen if you strike upon fortunate circumstances and garner experience wherever possible to form the base of your portfolio and profile which will later shape your reputation. 

As it is, most studios and clients do tend to give more consideration to those that come from an academic qualifications and learning. While experience if the foreground on which all stylists (and any other set of industry workers) tread, having the support and security of studying styles and fashion and marketing and all manner of related blather gives a sense of merit and provides opportunities for your to be selected for a job despite a lack of reputation or experience. The best stylists fall from both trees and the worst do as well; there is no guaranteed recipe for success in this field as fashion itself is too fluid in expression to be quantified. 

As for what I did; I had hands in both pots and have the educational background that assures I know what I am doing in terms of textual/technical understanding as well as experience from moments of pure luck compounded by my audacious efforts. I have a Bachelor’s compromised of fashion merchandising, fashion retailing, marketing, and visual arts. I took side courses at a fashion technical institute with a more tailored program that catered to the fundamentals of fit, body (and measurements) assessment, design and trends, media styling, and fashion industry principles. Additionally I did half a semester of social skills in a business. From there I went on to snatch up an internship and spent a bit more than a year being a shadow of the stylists for the company I work for before grasping a golden chance to become notable and step beyond that restricted role. I also have the certifications of AICI CIC and AICI CIP with hopes to one day finally snag the coveted AICI CIM (respectively; certified image consultant, certified image professional, certified image master).

I had friends that have worked in and out of this end of the industry and knew from the jump that I wanted to pad my portfolio with the safety net provided by academia and use it to bridge the gaps in my experience early on. I figured if I had the knowledge of how to deal with the business side of things as well as the styling side then I was a bit more valuable and, worst case, could go be a consultant or advisor for retailers or big wig company heads. As it is, the only reason I have any clout to my name at all is due to my internship - it paved over all the potholes in the road I was on and has been very favorable, but not everyone is as fortunate as I have been and this is not an easy path to undertake and forge into a career with any real sense of stability or security. Freelance stylists have a completely different struggle despite the majority coming from similar backgrounds as myself. 

Now, onto the daily scope and specs of wardrobe styling ~

Please take into consideration that I am an admitted workaholic/perfectionist/overachiever within the boundaries of my work. I’m quite lazy in almost every other sense of living and make existing seem like a wreck and I’m the one driving the struggle-bus that caused it, but for the job I have I am a supremely different breed (though still a lunatic). So yeah, I do a lot more than most would in my position and it is actually something that my company head both loves and hates and is rumored to be writing a clause for all employees regarding allowable working methodology due to the sheer amount of paperwork I alone generate. I am the hazard of our company, but I am also an asset. 

Anyway, I start most of my days with a lot of reading through emails that range from client comments and commands to vendors looking to use my company or clientele to bolster their credibility, to brands extending offers of product usage for marketing and campaigning reasons, and a variety of back and forths between me and the PAs or clerks of photographers, other studios, and fashion houses. Next comes hours of phone calls and reviewing schedules to ensure there is no intersections between client-oriented event slots. For one photoshoot I typically spend 3-4 weeks on the semantics of lighting quality and set features and then the rest of the time is dedicated to wardrobe and piecing out however many styles are called for, and then usually adding in at least 2 extras just for good measure. There's so many meetings my butt goes numb and touching base with the other members of my glam teams to reaffirm that we are all working on tandem and on the same page as far as vision goes. I sometimes have a turn in taking care of a new trainee or intern that is wandering our workplace like a fawn on clumsy legs and have questionable instincts.

When it comes to pulling apparel to make up sets, I have been known to be in the rack rooms and show rooms and fashion archives for over 7 hours a day. Our archivists know me as personally as I know my assistants and friends from how often I am in there territory and have to rely on their hardwork and favor. I spend days doing this until I have what I need and then dedicate every bit of my attention designing and creating looks which is another 5+ hours of one day, over the course of many. I have had days where I have been at work for 16 or 17 hours before I realize it, which is why I am such a thorn in my boss’ ass and often told to take a day off or get sent home midway through the morning - my hours alone could have business bureaus raising their eyebrows at the legality of my working hours. (This is cranked to max when shows and events are in the schedule; Awards Season is a nightmare and tours are the bastard offspring of Hell actually. The amount of hours put in are truly horrific). 

Also worth mentioning for the sake of perspective is that my job is as expansive as my clients allow; if they request me for one of their various activities in the public eye or in media, if available, I am obligated to prioritize their needs above the projects that my company has assigned to me as per our contract and am expected to either find a replacement or delegate to my assistant and apprentice when possible. The opposite is also true: if my clients have a light workload or are on break from their careers, I am typically doing the busy work of in-studio tasks or tracking rising trends and other features of the fashion forecast. I also host a multitude of temporary contracts with all manner of clientele from brand ambassadors to photographers to celebrities to commercial shoots & services. These jobs come upon official requests made through the company and then negotiated into the terms of how short the working schedule will be, what work I will be undertaking, and an assessment of skills vs revenue to maintain a balance of my time as a professional being properly valued within the sad decline of styling budgets before it will be officially taken on in my name. For these I tend to make better use of my status and hand off most of the project unless I am specifically needed. I make appearances as necessary but am mostly an advisor rather than the producer, instead focusing on my exclusive clients all while staying keyed in so that the work isn't below standard. This is all a badly kept secret of my company and myself - the clients do typically know and accept this is how I handle things in general and are aware that they are paying for an absent role of by way of my name/credentials unless they specify otherwise. There have been times when a side job like this has more prestige than all the years of my experiences combined could generate which ostensibly is treated with much more care and most of my other work pauses in deference to this. 

Being a stylist, especially a wardrobe AND fashion stylist, is just so much I don't think I could fully capture the scale of it for a proper index of what we do. 

In short, I don't have routine days. I have days that are at the beck and call of a workload that changes at the drop of a pin or the half digit uptick that dictates the emergence of a new trend or the downwind of when a trend skews into becoming mainstream. I can be paced out and looking at a light day at my desk and suddenly be crammed into a pitch meeting or called out to a set. I've also spent many days lounging on the sofa in a client's dressing room playing on my phone and cracking jokes with the glam team as we wait for our client to return between performance takes. And then there are days when I only go into work for our weekly meeting and review before heading back home. It's constant and consuming and sometimes I can't catch my breath before I'm shoved into the show room under a daunting time crunch because an entire ensemble has been misplaced or ruined. Just a matter of days before I was felled by COVID-19 I was having a nap during a photoshoot which I had already fulfilled my purpose and had no further need to participate in.

The reality is that I spend the majority of my time carving out a balance of my work life not superseding my time dedicated to being with my son and making sure he knows no matter what, he is above my hectic career always.

#racks asks

[kanraandchrome]

Coucou toi, voila beaucoup de questions, réponds uniquement à celles que tu veux et des gros poutou sur ton petit nez. En VF, pck la VF c'est plus glam ♥ 5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of? 8+9 Which character(s) do you find easiest to write? The most difficult to write? 12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about 8(°w°)8 !!! 26. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try ? 35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want! ---- ♥♥♥

Aaaaanw merci tellement *^* pleins de bisous sur tes tites joues et celles de Myst ! Je vais répondre à tout, c’est BAGUETTE TIME ! 

5. La fic dont je suis le plus fier. 

Après l’automne... une fanfic sur Ethan et Eloise après qu’Ivan soit parti du manoir. Je l’aime beaucoup parce que c’est un de mes plus longs projets publiés et celle que j’ai le plus relue donc d’après moi la plus cohérente et aboutie ? Mais surtout j’ai adoré pouvoir distiller tous mes headcanons dedans (les fléchettes, le fait qu’il parte à la recherche de son passé, ...) et rendre le tout soft après la route d’Ivan qui nous aura tous mis en PLS et c’est pas un compliment. Et puis : ETHAN. 

8 & 9. Quels personnages sont les plus faciles à écrire/les plus durs. 

 Je dirais que c’est facile pour moi d’écrire des jeunes adultes en perdition ou angoissés parce que tout leur file entre les doigts et qui se sentent de trop, comme c’est un sentiment que je connais bien ? J’aime beaucoup pouvoir explorer cet état d’esprit pour ouvrir le champ des possibles, sûrement pour ça que beaucoup de mes personnages se retrouvent dans des mondes dont ils ne connaissent rien pour tout découvrir et se révéler... 

Par contre je GALÈRE à écrire des personnages optimistes ou qui enjolivent la réalité. Que ce soit des enfants ou autre je n’arrive pas à ne pas les rendre hyper renseigné sur ce qu’il se passe ou avec une certaine dose de pessimisme ou... faut vraiment que je travaille ça, arrêter un peu d’être un darkos pour faire des personnages avec de réels espoirs qui seront brisés un jour mais qui y croient xD

12. Un WIP qui te hype. 

J’en ai TELLEMENT. Mais je peux parler de ce que je suis en train d’écrire pour @crowdust et @echtach-messy-place. 

Un de mes personnages persuadé d’être sans espoir ni avenir se retrouve dans un univers nouveau dont il est terrifié. Dans sa fuite, il entre dans le pire endroit possible pour finalement découvrir que même dans le pire, on peut trouver du mieux voir du meilleur. C’est un angst qui évolue fluff et bébou Cic m’a tellement hypé sur son univers et ses personnages que j’espère pouvoir lui rendre justice. 

Pour Ech, c’est un WIP de personnage. J’en ai déjà créé un (plus qu’à définir une évolution par des péripéties, mais certains faits sont déjà actés), mais là je m’attaque à son foil, un rival qui lui sera en tout point semblable et différent. C’est assez dur de garger la cohérence entre les deux (même avec les deux fiches ouvertes) mais j’espère qu’Hosio sera à la hauteur du potentiel d”Erasde !

26. Quelque chose que je veux écrire mais que j’ai peur d’écrire. 

Tout ce qui est AU me fait peur, parce que j’adore coller au lore le plus possible pour m’en servir de terreau, mais dans un AU j’ai l’impression d’avoir moins de grain à moudre pour développer, je peux moins m’appuyer sur mes acquis et ;w; ! Mais j’ai réussi à écrire un Far-West AU pour ML assez satisfaisant (un gros merci à @leafirefly pour l’idée et tout, le développement vraiment, ces échanges sont précieux), des petits trucs pour un AU colonie de vacances... et ce Coffeeshop AU qui un jour sera publié. UN JOUR. COURAGE MOI-MÊME.

35. Blabla time !

Waaaaaaaaah alors bonne question ? J’adore, mais vraiment j’adore quand on me demande de l’aide pour un OC ou une scène ou n’importe quoi. Le genre de conversation qui consistent en “et là il se passe ÇA !!” et que l’autre personne répond “HAN du coup ça veut dire que ça, c’est un foreshadowing de ...” “MAIS OUI !!” “HAAAAAAA !”. Parfois ça ne sera jamais écrit ou diffusé, mais franchement ça fait du bien de s’entre-hyper et bond sur ce genre de sujets -w- ♥

#baguette #Birb talks #fanfiction #writing #Kouhai-chan know me best

[cicfics]

Hi cic, I've been re reading some WK snippets and began to wonder- do you have a process for writing in era specific imagery and world building? Do you watch a lot of movies or read non-fiction about the era? Or is there no pattern at all? I hear that's a common thing among creatives?!? I'm essentially asking for a look into the creative power house that is cic, if you're okay with sharing!

Hi Anon! I hope you are well and safe during these hard times, and thanks for the question! I am sorry I waited for Covid Days to answer it, but I ramble, y’know. Ramble on with me if you’re so inclined.

Naaah, no process as such, which is funny for a person so personally rigid in her habits she times her tea’s steeping (it’s worth it okay). I don’t do a lot of specific research because, frankly, I cheat to serve my own purposes. If my, say, 1950s dollhouse has an 80s neon light fixture, it can and will, because this is all for fun and hobbying!

I do incorporate factual stuff when it suits my purposes, though. The NHI part where Han and Leia watch the baby movie and she buries Han in TV dinners was inspired by some flabbergastingly sexist 50s educational films I watched on YouTube. I wanted to write Leia frustrated and a bit scared of the whole thing, what it means to her and to a woman of the era to take on such a delineated female experience as pregnancy and childbirth, and how that leads her to occasionally resent Han’s freedom in some inchoate and impersonal way. Not resenting him, she loves him. But his bodily autonomy, his social flexibility? And Han is such a physical dude too, right? That must have been irritating to Leia when she was all hormonal and ungainly and confronted with notions of “the ideal housewife” everywhere she went. But I don’t want the whole damn story to be about that stuff either, you know? You need some story, some H/L, otherwise the fic is just a tract of my personal ideologies and that’d get boring real quick. (I have already explained the importance of timed tea, okay, which along with socialised medicine is paramount to society’s survival and development.)

Whiskey Knot is mostly my UST Dollhouse, though it delves a lot into male/female dynamics too. So all details serve that heartbeat of UST rather than adherence to whether women of the time wore hoop skirts or not. But there’s no real date in WK so I can dress ‘em in whatever I want based on a metric of how fun I think it is. Han gets suspenders and rolled-up sleeves and shaves with a straight razor because I think the accouterments of masculinity are sexy. Leia gets suede trousers because her competence and nerve are sexy, and a sprigged calico dress because I think it’s sexy to send Han’s crooked lips wandering from flower to flower when she’s under him in a hayfield. Y’know, Cic has lofty standards like that. ;) I do look up stuff like how do you harvest by hand? just to get the picture in my head. Or the piece of a woodstove to break. But I try not to put details in too much because, like my politics, I would rather just tell the story and hope the world Han and Leia live in and how they feel about it comes across organically. Can you really cook a turkey in gauze, outside? No idea! Don’t care if you can’t! In the WK UST Dollhouse you can, because I want H/L to be outside together, at night, solving practical problems even as they work their way through the emotional ones, back to each other. 

Pictures help, too. The ones the generous and wonderful @scruffyssweetheart just tagged me in I hadn’t seen before and YES! Amazing grist to the imagination.

Anyway. I’m so sorry, this is a useless ramble. I guess what any personal process of mine comes down to is: I love Han and Leia; I read a lot and widely; I’ve always been nearly obsessively interested in clothing; I like to watch documentaries, and not at all least, I have great, great, *great* readers, and beloved fandom pals who inspire me beyond words with their opinions, insights, pictures, headcanons, meta, you name it. All that combines in the dollhouses in my head. When it comes to generating the actual scenes, what I do is make playlists of music, and walk my doggo, listening and letting my mind wander. For NHI it was mostly 50s music, but for The Rules and Whiskey Knot it’s simply music from any era that has a feel I want. When I hit on The Song, I listen to it while I play the scene out in my head on walks, and listen to it while I write it down. I try to have at least one The Song a chapter.  Feel, to me, will always be more important than fact when it comes to fic writing.

Thank you so much for your interest, and for reaching out to me. It means the world to me, and please stay healthy, anon. Thinking of you out there. Xo!

[xemudupuno]

El color de la ambicion (1991)

  EL COLOR DE LA AMBICION (1991) >> DOWNLOAD LINK vk.cc/c7jKeU

  EL COLOR DE LA AMBICION (1991) >> READ ONLINE bit.do/fSmfG

        rambling rose online rambling rose cast rambling rose (1991) true colors movie 2018 rambling rose (film)true colors movie 2019 true colors movie trailer

  True Colors: Directed by Herbert Ross. With John Cusack, James Spader, Imogen Stubbs, Mandy Patinkin. Best friends from law school to election night, El color de la ambición 1991 FilmAffinity ~ El color de la ambición es una película dirigida por Herbert Ross con John Cusack, James Spader, Imogen Stubbs, True Colors. 6.31 h 50 min199113+. While Tim dreamed of working in the Justice Department, Peter aspired to be a high-powered political player - at any cost True Colors is a 1991 American drama film written by Kevin Wade, directed by Herbert Ross, and starring John Cusack, James Spader, Imogen Stubbs and Richard Buy VHS Movies. El color de la ambicion - herbert ross - john cusack , james spader - cic 1991. Lot 172405669.

https://voremacibu.tumblr.com/post/667913397761933312/stanley-fatmax-powerit-1000a-manual, https://kisocedipad.tumblr.com/post/667935300157358080/cios-alpha-mobile-c-arm-operator-manual, https://porihovij.tumblr.com/post/667909730849685504/la-grande-vadrouil, https://fogixakokini.tumblr.com/post/667904675136389120/the-pencil-henry-petroski-pdf, https://papuxisemi.tumblr.com/post/667917405172940800/remote-office-not-required-pdf.

[thunderheadfred]

OC Asks 26, 36, 46, 50 for Jane Shepard of Red Streak! Thank you! :D

WELL DANG! Thank you for all the great questions!

26. Who is the most important person in their life? Why? Who is the least important to them (that still has an impact and why?The whole story and Shep’s characterization is inevitably shaped by her relationship with her adopted turian father, so that’s maybe a little too obvious, but yeah. I mean… yeah. Absolutely. Her dead alien dad, Albacus. Haha. She’s constantly guided by this suppressed memory of him, this constant strain of trying to live up to a legacy that may or may not have ever existed. She always wants to do right by him, and ironically, has done quite a bit of wrong as a result (looking forward to exploring this in the danged sequel, lol)

Least important person? UMMMMM. IDK. ACTUALLY. NO. WAIT. I DO KNOW. It’s probably Lady Benezia. But I’m not going to say anything else about that because spoilers.

36. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain?She wants to feel useful, helpful, effective. She goes crazy sitting still. If she feels she can make an impact, she will, often without thinking it through. Any red tape that gets in the way of that (particularly politics) can be an emotional burden for her, but she’s learned to bury that all deep down after discovering the hard way that the ends rarely justify the means. When she was younger, she would have sacrificed almost everything (and pretty much did) to accomplish what she personally felt was “right.” As the Commander of the Normandy, she understands her own personal goals and moral compass are far from the only cardinal directions, but sometimes she takes that newfound dedication to diplomacy too far, kind of a devil’s Paragon.And I’m rambling.

46. Your character is given a voodoo doll of themself. What do they do with it? Do they see if it actually works?

Meeting Joker’s eyes, Shepard took five long strides to the port-side airlock, threw the doll inside, and evacuated the air. Ten seconds of violent suction, then the doll ricocheted into black vacuum, tumbling end over end, dimly visible on one of the view screens as it cartwheeled into eternity. Quickly and clumsily, it disappeared into absolute darkness.

The Commander took a cleansing breath. Somehow, she frowned even deeper. 

“Mmm. Refreshing.” Point made, she stomped off to the CIC to eject more detritus - kicking Kryik off the galaxy map.

Joker turned to a silent, open-mouthed Garrus (who was taking a ten minute respite on the starboard console) and whispered, “You know, I think she appreciated the gesture.” 

50. If your character was presented with imminent and unavoidable death/fatality, how would they react? Would they try to avoid death anyways? Would they try to make their last days count? 

I think this chunk from Chapter 11 sums up her attitude pretty well:

Shepard wasn’t proud. As death rushed up to meet her like a bat out of hell, she clutched the steering column and tearfully remembered sleeping in her pari’s arms… Then she breathed in deep and screamed her lungs bloody. If this was curtains, she was going to fucking announce herself all the way offstage.

#red streak #natsora #fred answers

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: FEATURE: Final 2020 Awards Tracker

FINAL 2020 AWARDS TRACKER

Welcome to the ninth year of Every Movie Has a Lesson’s “Awards Tracker.”  My goal every year is simple: Help each and every one of you win your Oscar pools. As a member of three recognized awards-voting bodies of film critics (OFCS, OFTA, and Chicago Indie Critics), it’s a pleasure and honor to see my own picks made it into the award season discussion. Here’s how this little page of my personal interest works.  I find value in tracking the trends and following the tea leaves of the all the minor lead-up awards before the Oscars.  I chart the winners of each category with listed winners and comments on the surrounding buzz. 

FINAL TAKE: Prediction-wise, I was a so-so 16 of 24. Not great, but not bad. I’ll take being wrong to watch a night of history honoring women and international film!

BEST MOTION PICTURE

FINAL TAKE:  Folks, in another year of #OscarsSoWhite and questionable gender appreciation, the 92nd Academy Awards dropped (or was it raised, LOL) a microphone of history in favor of diversity. Say it out loud. Parasite is first foreign language film to win Best Picture. Boom! What a boom!

WINNERS:  

26- Parasite (ATL, Cannes, NYO, SEA, PCC, CIC, NC, FCC, Chicago, BO, CO, DC, DET, HOU, LA, NSFC, SE, UT, VAN, AUS, EDA, GA, GAL, OFTA, Online, London, Oscar)

10- Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood (OK, STL, LV, SAT, Globe, CC, SF, IA, HI, ND)

7- 1917 (KC, Globe, DFW, PGA, DEN, HC, BAFTA)

6- The Irishman (HFA, NBR, NY, SD, NT, NM)5- Marriage Story (GI, IN, NV, GW, DUB)

2- Knives Out (CIC, PHI)2- Little Women (Boston, WC)1- The Farewell (Spirit)

OTHERS: 1- Joker (PHX), 1- Jojo Rabbit (TIFF), 1- Ford v Ferrari (SAT), 1- Portrait of a Lady on Fire (FL), 1- The Nightingale (ACT), 1- Avengers: Endgame (PC), 1- Us (AA), 1- Dolemite is My Name (BF), 1- The Last Black Man in San Francisco (AA), 1- The Souvenir (Sight & Sound), 1- Clemency (Sundance), 1- Wild Rose (BAS), 1- For Sama (BI), 1- The Composer (GSA)

BEST DIRECTOR

FINAL TAKE:  We all thought the WOW and WHOA of Parasite ended here. Man, were we surprised. Keep multiplying the history and reverence!

WINNERS:  

27- Bong Joon-Ho for Parasite (ATL, NYO, SEA, Boston, PCC, CIC, NC, FCC, IN, Chicago, BO, CO, DC, GW, HOU, LA, VAN, AUS, CC, EDA, GA, GAL, SF, OFTA, Online, ND, London, Oscar)

10- Sam Mendes for 1917 (KC, Globe, DFW, NT, UT, DGA, CC, DEN, PHX, BAFTA)

7- Martin Scorsese for The Irishman (OK, BF, DET, PHI, SE, DUB, NM)5- Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood (NBR, STL, LV, IA, HI)3- Josh and Benny Sadfie for Uncut Gems (NY, SD, Spirit)

2- Greta Gerwig for Little Women (CIC, NSFC)

2- James Mangold for Ford V. Ferrari (HFA, SAT)

2- Noam Baumbach for Marriage Story (NV, HC)

OTHERS: 1- Olivia Wilde for Booksmart (HC), 1- Celine Sciamma for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (FL), 1- Kasi Lemmons for Harriet (BF), 1- Jordan Peele for Us (AA), 1- Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert for American Factory (DGA), 1- Jennifer Kent for The Nightingale (ACT), 1- Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Young Ahmed (Cannes), 1- Matt Pinder for Murder Case (BAS), 1- Jon S. Baird for Stan & Ollie (BAS)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

FINAL TAKE:  This may have been Adam Driver’s year and arguably his decade, but this made for a platform win for Joaquin. Moved and motivated, his late awards season surge culminated all the way to the biggest stage and microphone.

WINNERS:  

29- Adam Driver for Marriage Story (GI, ATL, SEA, KC, PCC, SD, CIC, NC, FCC, IN, NV, Chicago, CO, DC, DFW, DET, FL, GW, HOU, PHI, SE, UT, VAN, DUB, EDA, GA, WC, Online, OFTA)

14- Joaquin Phoenix for Joker (NYO, SD, Globe, NT, CC, DEN, SAG, PHX, HC, IA, HI, ND, BAFTA, London, Oscar)

8- Adam Sandler for Uncut Gems (NBR, OK, STL, Boston, LV, BO, AUS, Spirit)

7- Antonio Banderas for Pain and Glory (HFA, NY, Cannes, LA, NSFC, SF, GAL)

2- Eddie Murphy for Dolemite is My Name (BF, AA)

2- Taron Egerton for Rocketman (SAT, Globe)

OTHERS: 1- Levan Gelbakhiani for And Then We Danced (NM), 1- Christian Bale for Ford v Ferrari (SAT), 1- Josh O’Connor for Only You (BI), 1- Damon Herriman for Judy and Punch (ACT), 1- Lorn MacDonald for Beats (BAS)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

FINAL TAKE:  Rambling speech or not, Renee peaked at the right time, even in an underseen movie. She joins a very exclusive list of multiple Oscar-winning women. Someday like Adam, Scarlett is going to get that make-up award for a late career success that harks back to her growth in Marriage Story.

WINNERS:  

26- Lupita Nyong’o for Us (NY, NYO, SEA, OK, KC, PCC, SD, CIC, NC, FCC, IN, BF, Chicago, AA, BO, CO, DC, PHI, AUS, EDA, GA, WC, SF, Online, HC, OFTA)

16- Renee Zellweger for Judy (HFA, BI, ATL, NBR, LV, Globe, HOU, SE, CC, SAG, PHX, IA, Spirit, BAFTA, GAL, London)

12- Scarlett Johansson for Marriage Story (STL, FCC, NV, SAT, DFW, DET, FL, GW, UT, VAN, DEN, DUB)

4- Awkwafina for The Farewell (GI, Globe, SAT, HI)

2- Mary Kay Place for Diane (LA, NSFC)

2- Charlize Theron for Bombshell (NV, NT)

OTHERS: 1- Adele Haenel for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (NM), 1- Florence Pugh for Midsommar (ND), 1- Cynthia Erivo for Harriet (WC), 1- Saoirse Ronan for Little Women (Boston), 1- Jessie Buckley for Wild Rose (BAS), 1- Aisling Franciosi for The Nightingale (ACT), 1- Emily Beechem for Little Joe (Cannes)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

FINAL TAKE:  The show led off with lasting popular history. Pitt was the acting lock of the night and the moment did him right. Bravo!

WINNERS:  

29- Brad Pitt for Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood (ATL, NBR, OK, STL, Boston, Globe, CIC, BF, Chicago, BO, DC, DFW, HOU, NSFC, PHI, SE, VAN, AUS, CC, DEN, EDA, SAG, SF, PHX, Online, IA, OFTA, HI, BAFTA, NM)

13- Joe Pesci for The Irishman (NY, NYO, KC, SD, NV, DET, FL, GW, PHI, UT, GA, HC, London)

7- Willem Dafoe for The Lighthouse (SEA, LV, IN, SAT, CO, Spirit, ND)

4- Song Kang-Ho for Parasite (PCC, CIC, LA, GAL)

OTHERS: 1- Tom Hanks for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (NT), 1- Jamie Foxx for Just Mercy (AA), 1- Shia LeBeouf for Honey Boy (FCC), 1- Al Pacino for The Irishman (HFA), 1- Joel Edgerton for The King (ACT), 1- Hugh Laurie for The Personal History of David Copperfield (BI)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

FINAL TAKE:  As of this award, the acting prizes went pretty chalk with odds and trends. Laura Dern prevents a Marriage Story shut-out.

WINNERS:  

21- Laura Dern for Marriage Story (HFA, ATL, NY, NY, Globe, DFW, DET, FL, NSFC, SE, VAN, CC, DEN, SAG, PHX, IA, ND, HI, BAFTA, Oscar, London)

14- Jennifer Lopez for Hustlers (SEA, OK, FCC, IN, NV, SAT, DC, LA, AUS, SF, Online, HC, OFTA, GAL)

9- Florence Pugh for Little Women (NC, Chicago, BO, CO, GW, PHI, UT, EDA, GA)

5- Zhao Shuzhen for The Farewell (SD, CIC, HOU, NT, Spirit)

3- Da’Vine Joy Randolph for Dolemite is My Name (KC, BF, AA)

2- Margot Robbie for Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood/Bombshell (STL, LV)

OTHERS: 1- Yeo-Jeong Jo for Parasite (NM), 1- Thomasin McKenzie for Jojo Rabbit (PCC), 1- Kathy Bates for Richard Jewell (NBR), 1- Magnolia Maymuru for The Nightingale (ACT), 1- Ruthxjiah Bellenea for The Last Tree (BI)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

FINAL TAKE:  Bong Hive! I was in the #AnyoneButQuentin camp of one, but this category didn’t become about preferences. This was a win for international cinema. It’s extremely rare for the scene to have attention, let alone victory, in these top categories.

WINNERS:  

21- Bong Joon-Ho and Han Jin-Won for Parasite (ATL, NYO, SEA, NC, Chicago, AA, CO, NSFC, SE, UT, AUS, EDA, GA, SF, Online, HC, OFTA, GAL, BAFTA, WGA, Oscar)15- Noah Baumbach for Marriage Story (GI, STL, SD, FCC, IN, SAT, DC, DFW, DET, GW, LA, VAN, DUB, Spirit, London)

9- Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood (NY, STL, Boston, LV, Globe, NV, BO, CC, HI, ND)

8- Rian Johnson for Knives Out (OK, KC, CIC, PCC, HOU, PHI, DEN, PHX)

2- Josh Sadfie, Benny Sadfie, and Ronald Bronstein for Uncut Gems (NBR, FL)

OTHERS: 1- Robert Eggers and Max Eggers for The Lighthouse (NM), 1- Lena Waithe for Queen & Slim (BF), 1- Nicole Taylor for Wild Rose (BAS), 1- Jennifer Kent for The Nightingale (ACT), 1- Celine Sciamma for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Cannes)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

FINAL TAKE:  This was quite a late season surge for Waititi. He is beloved and someday Greta Gerwig will get hers. It’s a matter of time.

WINNERS:  

16- Greta Gerwig for Little Women (KC, CIC, NC, IN, Chicago, CO, SAT, DC, FL, UT, USC, AUS, CC, DEN, EDA, OFTA)

9- Steve Zaillian for The Irishman (NBR, OK, BF, GW, SE, GA, Online, HI, NM)

8- Taika Waititi for Jojo Rabbit (FCC, NV, SF, PHX, HC, BAFTA, Oscar, WGA)

OTHERS: 1- Todd Phillips and Scott Silver for Joker (SAT), 1- Anthony McCarten for The Two Popes (HFA, LV), 1- J.C. Lee and Julius Onah for Luce (SD)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

FINAL TAKE:  This was the forgone conclusion spot, despite some staunch competition. Go see the other nominees and you’ll find some lovely works.

WINNERS:  

32- Toy Story 4 (HFA, ATL, SEA, OK, KC, STL, PCC, NC, FCC, NV, Chicago, BO, CO, DC, DFW, DET, GW, HOU, NT, PHI, SE, PGA, CC, DEN, GA, PHX, Online, HC, OFTA, IA, HI, Oscar)

14- I Lost My Body (Cannes, NY, NYO, Boston, SD, CIC, BF, FL, LA, UT, Annie, AUS, EDA, SF, ND)

2- Missing Link (LV, Globe)

2- How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (NBR, IN)

2- Abominable (GSA, AA)2- Klaus (Annie, BAFTA)1- Weathering With You (NM)

OTHERS: 1- The Lion King (SAT), 1- Love, Death, & Robots – Helping Hand (BAS)

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

FINAL TAKE:  An excellent winner with a Chicago connection in its director Matthew A. Cherry.

WINNERS:  1- Hair Love (Oscar)

OTHERS: 1- Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days (Annie), 1- Grandad Was a Romantic (BAFTA)

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

FINAL TAKE:  I didn’t know this category well, but I loved the Zack Gottshagen appearance as the presenter. That made my night.

WINNERS:  

1- The Neighbor’s Window (Oscar)

OTHERS: 1- The Distance Between Us and the Sky (Cannes), 1- The Devil’s Harmony (London) 1- Anna (BI), 1- The Joke That Isn’t Funny Anymore (BAS)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

FINAL TAKE:  There was no Obama shout-out or red carpet appearance, but the love was there. I’m still going to be pissed for years for omitting Apollo 13.

WINNERS:  

34- Apollo 11 (CCD, ATL, NYO, SEA, KC, STL, PCC, LV, CIC, NC, FCC, NV, Chicago, BO, CO, DC, DFW, DET, FL, GW, HOU, NT, PHI, SE, UT, AUS, DUB, EDA, GA, SF, Online, HC, IA, OFTA)

8- Honeyland (NY, Boston, NSFC, Sundance, VAN, DEN, ND, GAL)

6- American Factory (GI, OK, LA, EYE, Spirit, Oscar)

6- For Sama (BI, Cannes, IN, IDA, BAFTA, London)

3- One Child Nation (SD, Sundance, PHX)

OTHERS: 1- Diego Maradona (NM), 1- Varda by Agnes (WC), 1- The Black Godfather (AA), 1- Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (BF), 1- 63 Up (SAT), 1- Amazing Grace (KC), 1- Maiden (NBR), 1- The Cordillera of Dreams (Cannes), 1- Real Kashmir F.C. (BAS)

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

FINAL TAKE:  Let this be a lesson to me to always follow the IDA Award winner in my picks.

WINNERS:  

3- Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl)  (IDA, BAFTA, Oscar)

1- Period. End of Sentence. (CCD)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

FINAL TAKE:  This was a no-doubter and the minimum of the top prizes Parasite was thought to win tonight.

WINNERS:  46- Parasite (BI, ATL, NBR, NY, SEA, OK, KC, STL, Boston, PCC, SD, LV, Globe, CIC, NC, IN, BF, Chicago, AA, BO, CO, DC, DFW, GW, HOU, NT, PHI, SE, VAN, AUS, CC, DEN, EDA, GA, SF, PHX, Online, HC, Spirit, HI, BAFTA, ND, NM, GAL, OFTA, Oscar)

4- Portrait of a Lady On Fire (NYO, FL, WC, London)1- Pain and Glory (LA)

OTHERS: 1- Truth and Justice (SAT), 1- The Souvenir (Sundance), 1- Monos (Sundance)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

FINAL TAKE:  The GOAT maintains his GOAT status. Speaking of locks, the technical/artistic lock of the night stayed the lock of the night.

WINNERS:  36- Roger Deakins for 1917 (ATL, NBR, NYO, SEA, KC, STL, PCC, LV, CIC, NC, FCC, NV, SAT, BF, Chicago, CO, DC, DFW, FL, HOU, NT, SE, UT, ASC, AUS, CC, EDA, GA, SF, PHX, Online, HC, HI, OFTA, BAFTA, Oscar)

5- Claire Mathon for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (NY, Boston, GW, LA, NSFC)

5- Jarin Blaschke for The Lighthouse (SD, PHI, Spirit, ND, NM)

2- Robert Richardson for Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood (OK, BO)

OTHERS: 1- Hoyte van Hoytema for Ad Astra (DUB), 1- Adam Arkapow for The Nightingale (ACT), 1- Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma for Honeyland (ASC), 1- Mihai Malaimare Jr. for Jojo Rabbit (HFA), 1- Benjamin Kracun for Beats (BI)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN/ART DIRECTION

FINAL TAKE:  I may have been a big fan of the massive work in 1917 and not a huge Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood lover, but I cannot argue with the artistic brilliance on display here. All the neon, the dinge, the sets-within-the-sets, and the period architecture were worth this.

WINNERS:  

15- Barbara Ling for Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood (SEA, STL, LV, NV, Chicago, DC, FL, LA, CC, SF, ND, London, ADG, Oscar, NM)

5- Dennis Gassner for 1917 (SD, GA, PHX, BAFTA, Online)

4- Ha-Jun Lee for Parasite (Online, HI, ADG, OFTA)

OTHERS: 1- Charles Wood for Avengers: Endgame (ADG), 1- David Crank for Knives Out (CIC), 1- Ra Vincent for Jojo Rabbit (HFA), 1- Beth Mickle and Michael Ahern for Motherless Brooklyn (SAT), 1- Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton for The King (ACT), 1- Bob Pauley for Toy Story 4 (ADG), 1- Cristina Casali for The Personal History of David Copperfield (BI)

BEST FILM EDITING

FINAL TAKE:  While Ford v Ferrari was the awards season leader going in, the editing work was not the entering favorite. However, this was a superior technical win, which I’ll always respect and enjoy.

WINNERS:  

7- Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland for Ford v Ferrari (HFA, SD, LV, SAT, DC, BAFTA, Oscar)

6- Thelma Schoonmaker for The Irishman (Boston, Chicago, BO, EDA, HP, NM)

4- Lee Smith for 1917 (CIC, CC, PHX, HC)

4- Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie for Uncut Gems (SEA, GW, AUS, Spirit)

3- Jimno Yang for Parasite (ACE, Online, OFTA)

2- Fred Raskin for Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood (STL, HI)

2- Todd Douglas Miller for Apollo 11 (LA, UT)

OTHERS: 1- Louise Ford for The Lighthouse (ND), 1- Tom Eagles for Jojo Rabbit (ACE), 1- Axel Geddes for Toy Story 4 (ACE), 1- Todd Douglas Miller for Apollo 11 (ACE), 1- Bob Ducsay for Knives Out (CO), 1- Peter McNulty and Anthony Maras for Hotel Mumbai (ACT), 1- Chloe Lambourne and Simon McMahon for For Sama (BI)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

FINAL TAKE:  When in doubt, pick the period piece. This stood as the single consolation spot for all things Little Women.

WINNERS:  

7- Ruth E. Carter for Dolemite is My Name (SD, LV, CIC, SAT, BF, CC, OFTA)

4- Jacqueline Durran for Little Women (Chicago, BAFTA, OFTA, Oscar)

3- Julian Day for Rocketman (PHX, HC, HI)

OTHERS: 1- Jenny Eagan for Knives Out (CDG), 1- Mayes C. Rubeo for Jojo Rabbit (CDG), 1- Ellen Mirojnick for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (CDG), 1- Anna Mary Scott Robbins for Downton Abbey (HFA), 1- Jan Petrie for The King (ACT), 1- Suzie Harman and Robert Worley for The Personal History of David Copperfield (BI)

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR-STYLING

FINAL TAKE:  Much like The Darkest Hour, flashy individuals beats volume and that’s perfectly OK. Great to see the wealth spread.

WINNERS:  

6- Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, and Anne Morgan for Bombshell (CIC, CC, MH, HC, OFTA, Oscar)

2- Nikki Ledermanm, Tania Ribalow, and Sunday Englis for Joker (MH, HI)

OTHERS: 1- Lizzie Yianni-Georgiou, Tapio Salmi, and Barrie Gower for Rocketman (HFA), 1- Jeremy Woodhead for Judy (BI), 1- Zeljka Stanin, Paul Pattison, and Cheryl Williams for Lambs of God (ACT)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

FINAL TAKE:  1917 entered the night a big favorite, but this was not a spot it was favored, making this a very cool win. I was in the #AnythingButTheIrishman mosh pit of one.

WINNERS:  

8- Dan Deleeuw, Matt Aitken, Russell Earl, and Dan Sudick for Avengers: Endgame (STL, LV, NC, NV, CC, PHX, HC, OFTA)

5- Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, and Dominic Touhy for 1917 (CIC, HOU, DEN, BAFTA, Oscar)

4- Allen Maris, Jedediah Smith, Guillaume Rocheron, and Scott R.Fisher for Ad Astra (SEA, SD, Chicago, Online)

3- Joe Letteri and Eric Saindon for Alita: Battle Angel (SAT, FL, HI)

2- Robert Legato, Andrew R. Jones; Adam Valdez, Elliot Newman, and Audrey Ferrara for The Lion King (HP, VES)

2- Pablo Helman for The Irishman (HFA, VES)

OTHERS: 1- Brad Schiff, Travis Knight, Steve Emerson, and Benoit Dubac for Missing Link (VES), 1- Benjamin Fiske, Alex Moaveni, Jesse Erickson, Dimitre Berberov, and Kee Nam Suong for Frozen 2 (Annie), 1- Brendan Seals, Michael Perdew, Andrew Zink, and Adam Gailey for Spider-Man: Far From Home (ACT), 1- Howard Jones for A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (BI)

BEST SOUND EDITING

FINAL TAKE:  Excellent and correct technical win and not a Best Picture sweeper. Well done!

WINNERS:  

4- Donald Sylvester, Paul Massey, David Giammarco, and Steven A. Morrow for Ford v Ferrari (HFA, SAT, HI, Oscar)

2- Oliver Tarney and Rachel Tate for 1917 (BAFTA, OFTA)

OTHERS: 1- Tim LeBlanc, Tom Ozanich, Erik Aadahl, Nancy Nugent, and Jason W. Jennings for Godzilla: King of the Monsters (HP), 1- David Bowtle-McMillan, Joakim Sundstrom, and Robert Farr for Beats (BI), 1- Liam Egan for Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (ACT)

BEST SOUND MIXING

FINAL TAKE:  The technical skill of 1917 is fitting for this position. It was going to be between this and the editing winner Ford v Ferrari. This boosted totals nicely.

WINNERS:  

3- Donald Sylvester, Paul Massey, David Giammarco, and Steven A. Morrow for Ford V. Ferrari (HFA, SAT, CAS, HI)

3- Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson for 1917 (BAFTA, OFTA, Oscar)

OTHERS: 1- Doc Kane, Vince Caro, Michael Semanick, Nathan Nance, David Boucher, and Scott Curtis for Toy Story 4 (CAS), 1- David J. Turner, Tom Myers, David Blanck, and Frank Rinella for Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (CAS), 1- David Bowtle-McMillan, Joakim Sundstrom, and Robert Farr for Beats (BI)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

FINAL TAKE:  I love this moment of history for Hildur and her speech was fitting and matching of the moment. Joker haters, be damned.

WINNERS:

11- Hildur Gudnadottir for Joker (PCC, LV, Globe, SAT, CC, DEN, HC, HI, ND, BAFTA, Oscar)

8- Thomas Newman for 1917 (ATL, STL, DFW, AUS, GA, PHX, IA, OFTA)

5- Michael Abels for Us (CIC, IN, CO, DC, Online)

4- Daniel Lopatin for Uncut Gems (SEA, OK, BO, FL)

2- Alexandre Desplat for Little Women (Boston, Chicago)

2- Randy Newman for Marriage Story (HFA, GW)

OTHERS: 1- James Newton Howard for A Hidden Life (NM), 1- Emile Nommensen for The Last Black Man in San Francisco (SF), 1- Matt Morton for Apollo 11 (UT), 1- Dan Levy for I Lost My Body (LA), 1- Matthew Margeson for Rocketman (NYO), 1- Alberto Iglesias for Pain and Glory (Cannes), 1- Francois Tetaz for Judy and Punch (ACT), 1- Jack Arnold for Wild Rose (BI)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

FINAL TAKE:  The legend won in the spot where legends win. I would have loved Cynthia Erivo, but who can argue with Elton John.

WINNERS:  

6- “Glasgow (No Place Like Home)” from Wild Rose (HOU, CC, DEN, GA, HC, ND)

6- “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman (Globe, SAT, CC, HI, OFTA, Oscar)

OTHERS: 1- “Swan Song” from Alita: Battle Angel (NM), 1- “I Punched Keanu Reeves” from Always Be My Maybe (CIC), 1- “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from Toy Story 4 (IA), 1- “Into the Unknown” from Frozen 2 (PHX), 1- “Letter to My Grandfather” from The Black Godfather (HFA), 1- “Stand Up” from Harriet (LV)

ACRONYM KEY FOR AWARD GROUPS

African-American Film Critics Association (AA), ACE Eddie Awards (ACE), Art Directors Guild Awards (ADG), Annie Awards (Annie), American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), Atlanta Film Critics Circle (ATL), Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (ACT), Austin Film Critics Association (AUS), British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), BAFTA Scottland (BAS), Black Film Critics Circle (BF), British Independent Film Awards (BI), Boston Society of Film Critics (Boston), Boston Online Film Critics Association (BO), Cannes Film Festival (Cannes), Cinema Audio Society (CAS), Costume Designers Guild (CDG), Chicago Film Critics Association (Chicago), Chicago Indie Critics (CIC), Broadcast Film Critics Association/Critics Choice Awards (CC), Critics Choice Documentary Awards (CCD), Columbus/Central Ohio Film Critics Associations (CO), Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association (DC), Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association (DFW), Denver Film Critics Society (DEN), Detroit Film Critics Society (DET), Directors Guild of America (DGA), Dublin Film Critics Circle (DUB), Alliance of Women Film Journalists/EDA Awards (EDA), Cinema Eye Awards (EYE), Online Association of Female Film Critics (FFC), Florida Film Critics Circle (FL), Georgia Film Critics Association (GA), Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association/Dorian Awards (GAL), Gotham Independent Film Awards (GI), Golden Screen Awards (GSA), Greater Western New York Film Critics Association (GW), Hollywood Critics Association (HC), Hawaii Film Critics Society (HI), Hollywood Foreign Press Association/Golden Globes (Globe), Hollywood Film Awards (HFA), Houston Film Critics Society (HOU), Hollywood Professionals Association (HP), Iowa Film Critics Association (IA), International Documentary Association (IDA), Indiana Film Journalist Associations (IN), Kansas City Film Critics Circle (KC), Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LA), London Film Critics Circle (London), Las Vegas Film Critics Association/Sierra Winners (LV), Makeup and Hair-Styling Guild (MH), National Board of Review (NBR), North Carolina Film Critics Association (NC), North Dakota Film Critics Society (ND), National Society of Film Critics (NSFC), New Mexico Film Critics (NM), North Texas Film Critics Association (NT), Nevada Film Critics Society (NV), New York Film Critics Circle (NY), New York Online Film Critics Association (NYO), Online Film and Television Awards (OFTA), Oklahoma Film Critics Circle (OK), Online Film Critics Society (Online), The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences/Academy Awards (Oscar), People’s Choice Awards (PC), Producers Guild of America (PGA), Philadelphia Film Critics Circle (PHI), Phoenix Critic Circle (PCC), Phoenix Film Critics Society (PHX), Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG), International Press Academy/Satellite Awards (SAT), San Diego Film Critics Society (SD), Southeastern Film Critics Association (SE), Seattle Film Critics Society (SEA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SF),  Independent Spirit Awards (Spirit), St. Louis Film Critics (STL), Sundance Film Festival (Sundance), Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), USC Libraries Scripter Award (USC), Utah Film Critics Association (UT), Vancouver Critics Circle (VAN), Visual Effects Society Awards (VES), Women Film Critics Circle (WC), Writers Guild of America (WGA)

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED

Permalink

from REVIEW BLOG – Every Movie Has a Lesson https://ift.tt/38bW9rG via IFTTT

from WordPress https://ift.tt/38fdGPF via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress #CIFCC #film critics #movies #film #Chicago

[ohlawsons]

the things that matter.

SUMMARY. Commander Natalie Shepard has a bit of a history with her flight lieutenant, but they've long since worked through any lingering awkwardness. Mostly. When she and Kaidan go on a double date with Joker and his girlfriend, it leaves them all thinking about the past, what-ifs, and all the things that are most important. Inspired by a double date prompt. NOTES. nat belongs to @reagans-ramblings! thank you for letting me write about your beautiful bi shepard i love her so much now with an ao3 link! LINKS. [ AO3 ] [ FFN ]

Thinking back, Joker wasn’t sure exactly whose idea it had been.

Setting up an elaborate double date between three of the galaxy’s busiest people and a woman whose job required her to be virtually impossible to track down was, strictly speaking, a terrible idea. Maybe Cal had suggested it, because she loved social shit like that. Or maybe he had, because social shit like that was a surefire way to convince Cal to take some shore leave on the Citadel. There was a pretty decent chance it had been Kaidan, for no other reason than Joker was more than willing to put some good-natured blame on the major. Hell, it might’ve even been EDI who’d brought it up, and in that case he was just glad he wasn’t on his way to meet her and Sam.

Although, awkward as EDI could be, a double date with her and the comm specialist could potentially be less awkward than a double date with Major Alenko and Commander Shepard — the now very pregnant Commander Shepard, who he’d once dated, and who his current girlfriend was definitely a little bit into.

Yeah, he’d rather take his chances with EDI and Sam.

But then his omni-tool chimed with a message from Kaidan saying they were running a few minutes late, and Joker typed up a reply that Cal was still MIA, and it was officially too late to back out. He fidgeted with his suit — again; it was only at the insistence of both Cal and Kaidan that he’d even agreed to wear it in the first place — and opened a vid call to Cal. “Any chance you’re still in another system? Running tragically late and we’ll have to miss dinner?”

She laughed. “Just landed, unfortunately. I’m on my way over.”

“Alright. See you then.” Not leaving the crew quarters just yet, Joker glanced reflexively over to where EDI’s display had once been. “EDI, let me know when Cal gets here.”

“Of course, Jeff. I can also alert the Commander with an updated estimation of your arrival, if you’d like.”

He groaned in response.

Fortunately for Joker, the Normandy was blissfully empty given that they were finally getting a rare bit of shore leave. Adams was still down in engineering, and he was pretty sure Tali and Traynor were both around somewhere, but with EDI’s help it had been easy enough to avoid them all evening. This whole ordeal — dressing up and looking presentable and going out to a fancy restaurant — was certainly not high on his list of ways he typically preferred to spend his time on the Citadel, and the last thing he wanted was to have to deal with comments from the rest of the crew.

But by the time he’d met Cal down in the CIC, he’d almost changed his mind about dressing up and going out; her short hair was combed back into its usual style, and she wore simple heels and a fitted suit with a black jacket and a crisp white shirt left partially unbuttoned, and she was quite possibly the best damned thing he’d seen since the start of the war. Or ever.

Joker pointed to her shirt. “You missed one,” he said, clearing his throat as he tried to find his voice.

“I prefer to think of it as giving you a head start, you know, for later, but I can always—” Cal moved to fasten another of the buttons, and he quickly retracted his statement.

“Actually, on second thought, it looks great.” He paused, not bothering to hide how his eyes roamed across her figure. “You look great,” he added, voice filled with sincerity, and emphasized the statement with a kiss, just a light brush of his lips against Cal’s.

“I look fucking fantastic,” she shot back, stealing a quick kiss of her own, “and you’re not so bad yourself. But I was promised dinner, and company that I haven’t spent the last four months with.”

He took her hand as she led him out through the main airlock and towards the skycar she’d brought. “Is it that bad?” Joker frowned; Alliance special ops weren’t easy during the best of times, but with the war, Cal’s N7 training had been pushed to the limits. He knew it had been draining her, but the level of exhaustion in her voice was still unexpected.

She gave little more than a shrug in answer, climbing into the skycar and not surrendering Joker’s hand even as she keyed in the location of the restaurant. “War sucks and everything’s classified.” Despite her words, Cal launched into a vague explanation of her most recent mission, detailing the soldiers she’d lost and the relative lack of success they’d had against the reapers. Joker chimed in where he could, adding sarcasm or supportive comments as needed., and Cal’s mood had nearly lifted by the time they reached the restaurant.

They were the first ones there, and a quick message to Kaidan confirmed that it wouldn’t be a long wait. The reservation was under Natalie’s name, and apparently being Commander Shepard meant no waiting in lines, because Joker and Cal were almost immediately led to a relatively secluded table near the back. The second couple joined them before they’d even ordered drinks, and Joker wasn’t sure whether he or Cal was being more obvious about their staring; he’d long since accepted that Kaidan would always manage to look unfairly handsome — and it didn’t hurt that his suit actually looked like it fit — but it had been a long time since he’d seen Nat out of uniform and she was practically glowing, with her hair pulled up into an elegant bun and the contrast of the deep green of her dress against her warm brown skin.

“Calliope Olson.” Cal stood, just a bit too quickly, and held out a hand first to Kaidan, then to Nat. “Joker talks about you all the time.”

Nat raised one perfectly arched eyebrow as she sat across from Cal. “Does he?”

It had been years since they were together — they were just kids on Arcturus, back then — but damn if it wasn’t suddenly very, very awkward. Repressing the sudden urge to get up and head straight for the bar, Joker shrugged. “What can I say? Cal’s a longtime fan of yours, and I aim to please.” Cal snorted at that, and Nat gave her a pointed, knowing stare; the urge to leave grew, and was accompanied by a rush of heat to his face.

“No, he’s right,” Cal admitted as she recovered from her laughter. “I’ve been following your career since Elysium. You caught my eye after Eden Prime,” she continued, turning towards Kaidan. “The only biotic originally on board, and with the woman who would become the first human Spectre? Of course I was interested.”

The two shared a sidelong glance; Kaidan looked a bit overwhelmed, but Nat seemed to be thoroughly unimpressed. She got recognized far too often for Cal to even phase her. Joker, who was fairly certain that his attempt to disappear into his chair was not working, was nearly prepared to intervene — as much as he loved how excitable Cal could be about everything from Nat to sniper rifles to wheat fields, this was not a good time — but was saved by a waiter bringing their drinks. The conversation lulled, and after a moment Kaidan set down his whiskey and cleared his throat. “So, Calliope, how’d the two of you meet?”

“He doesn’t shut up about you,” Nat interjected, sipping at her water, “but none of us ever really paid attention. ‘I’ve got a girlfriend, she’s just involved with top secret Alliance missions and she’s really hard to get a hold of’ isn’t exactly the most credible story.”

“Just Cal. And well, it was… actually…” She trailed off, giving Joker a look that clearly said help; it was never easy to bring up the two years Nat had been gone, especially for those who hadn’t actually discussed it with her before.

“It was while I was grounded,” he offered, knowing Nat would catch his meaning. “We were at a bar, she asked me to dance, I told her I didn’t feel like breaking a femur.” He shrugged. “Typical meet-cute. You know.”

If Kaidan was shaken by the mention of Nat’s death, he didn’t show it. “Somehow, I don’t have too hard of a time imagining that,” he said dryly, not quite rolling his eyes.

“What about you?” Cal asked, pausing to take a drink of whatever bright pink concoction she’d ordered. “How’d the two of you meet?”

Nat gave a flat, “My father,” at the same time that Kaidan said, “A tech issue.” They both laughed, and Nat explained, “My dad handpicked the original Normandy crew. He chose Kaidan specifically for his biotics, and Joker specifically to piss me off,” she added with a mock glare in his direction. “But actually met face to face? That… yeah, I guess that’s what it was. I had an issue with my omni-tool and Kaidan helped me work it out.”

“That’s so much better than ‘we saved the galaxy and they hooked up.’” Cal emphasized the words with air quotes, tossing a teasing grin in Joker’s direction.

“In my defense, I did try my best to stay out of their way.”

With dinner out of the way — which, if Kaidan were being honest, hadn’t gone as badly as he’d feared it might — the four of them began walking back towards Nat’s apartment. It wasn’t far, and the streets were quiet enough that there wasn’t a need to get a cab. They were in no particular hurry to get back, and Kaidan walked with an arm around Nat’s waist as they made their way through the Strip.

The bright spot of the evening, he thought, had been getting to spend so much time talking and reminiscing about their time on the SR-1, before things had gotten so damn complicated. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as it were.

He watched as Cal and Joker walked a ways in front of them, hand in hand, laughter occasionally ringing out into the night. Kaidan had known that Nat and Joker had been together, before, but their double date had piqued his curiosity — less about the two of them, and more about Natalie, and how she’d been when she was younger. He wondered if she’d laughed more, back on Arcturus, back before she’d fought her way to hell and back and returned triumphant. Before life had hardened her, before all the scars that he knew so well — the ones he’d once learned and re-learned, after Alchera, and the cybernetics from Cerberus that still sometimes flared up.

Kaidan wouldn’t ever give up the woman Nat had become, but sometimes he still wondered.

“You’re quiet tonight,” Nat observed with a tilt of her head, eyes searching his face.

“Just thinking,” he assured her.

“About?”

“You.” He leaned over to place a light kiss on her forehead, right above her eyebrow, where he knew the bright lights of the Strip hid the soft glow of her cybernetics.

Nat gave a quiet laugh. “You’ve already got me, Kaidan, you don’t have to butter me up.”

“Mm. Let me enjoy it.” He fell silent for a moment, attempting to collect his thoughts; in front of them, Cal stripped off her jacket and tossed it at Joker, following it up with a less-than-subtle innuendo and laughter at his half-hearted protests. She wobbled a bit as she slid out of her heels, tucking them under one arm and falling back into stride with Joker. “It’s just— Do you remember being that… carefree, I guess?”

“No.” Her answer was automatic and unhesitant, but after a few moments she amended, “More than now, maybe, but never entirely. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone without some sort of weight on my shoulders.”

Kaidan’s only response was a thoughtful hmm as he considered all the things that had weighed her down over the years — himself included. He was under no illusion that the state of the galaxy was in any way his fault, but things could’ve perhaps been different if he’d been the one to receive the vision from the beacon on Eden Prime, all those years ago, instead of Nat stepping in because she’d wanted to save him.

But maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe it would always be complicated, and what mattered was being at Nat’s side when those complications arose.

#cal shepard #nat shepard #shenko #shoker #reagans ramblings #brooke writes things #fic: cal #otp: cal/joker #i still need a Real Name for them lmao #also like.... everyone in this fic is bi #all of them #except my beautiful lesbian wife traynor

[theoriginalladya]

WIP Wednesday

Woke up the other day to Kristofer Shepard's muse mumbling at me. He'd finally starting to take shape now. Hopefully, that means his story will too...

Setting: ME1, boarding the Normandy for the first time.

~~~

The hustle and bustle of a docking bay is nothing new to Commander Kristofer Shepard. Having grown up on ships and space stations, having visited many a human colony and other planets since birth, it was something familiar, comforting. Today is no different as he stands at the docking tube leading onto the SSV Normandy SR1. But today is also something… more. He senses it, like a shiver waiting to ripple across the skin. The prototype deep scout frigate is the first of its kind and a joint venture between the humans and turians. Its sleek design and advances in technology are as inviting as a large cup of hot cocoa on a cold day, and if there is one thing he truly enjoys, it's a good, hot cup of cocoa. That, and, well, he cannot wait to get his hands on this ship.

So, what’s stopping you?

Huffing softly, Kris hefts his duffle over his shoulder and heads down the docking tube toward the hatch. He’s a bit surprised to find it unguarded, but initiates the decontamination procedures on his own. It’s been a few years since he last saw Captain Anderson. To say he was a bit surprised to be chosen as the man’s XO for this mission is an understatement, but he certainly isn’t going to complain about it. Not when he gets to have a first look at the new IES stealth system. No, sir, it's like Christmas morning. He just needs to get the wrapping off the present.

The hatch pops open and he steps inside, taking a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darker ship interior. Inhaling deeply, he savors the typical smells, hums, and rattles of an Alliance ship. It’s been a few years since he last served aboard one, but this… this is coming home for him.

He pauses a moment and frowns. Home. Well, maybe, except that the captain isn’t here waiting for him. Odd for a man who warned him he was going to stand on ceremony just so Kris would have to suffer with him.

Voices to his left catch his attention, and he peeks into the bridge. A lieutenant sitting in the pilot’s seat – presumably the pilot – mutters something about ‘positional drift’ to himself, and Kris bites back a laugh. He’s known many a pilot over the years, and to a person each one is unique. It seems that isn’t about to change on this ship. Good.

“Have you seen Captain Anderson?” Kris asks, cutting the man's ramblings off.

The pilot doesn’t turn, apparently too involved in what he’s working on. “Last I heard he was heading down to his cabin on the crew deck.”

“Thanks.” It’s more than enough information for Kris – he’s been studying the schematics of the ship since Anderson sent them to him three months ago. Turning towards the CIC, he only makes it a few more steps before he runs into a familiar face. At last. “Adams! I wondered if Anderson had tapped you for this mission.”

The chief engineer stops short, pulls his gaze from a datapad in his hand, and immediately salutes, a wide grin crossing his face. “Commander! Good to see you, sir!” He chuckles easily and takes the hand Kris offers in greeting. “Yes, sir, he did. You’re going to love the Normandy, let me tell you!”

A soft thunk behind Kris followed immediately by a hissed, “Ouch!” has him glancing back over his shoulder in concern. The pilot is now standing, leaning heavily against his seat, beside another man Kristofer hadn’t seen – staff lieutenant, by the look of his uniform – who rubs his forehead as if in pain.

Both men stare back with wide eyes, obviously startled, and Kristofer sighs, nodding a simple greeting at them. He can hear Sofia chiding him already. Barely on board and you're already causing problems. He makes a mental note to apologize to the staff lieutenant later as he turns his attention back to Adams...

#WIP Wednesday #ladya writes #Kristofer Shepard #mshenko #I gave you the end of ME3 last time #here's the beginning of ME1 #snippet

[fangzeronos]

After The End

The war was over. THe Reapers had been destroyed. Most of the Mass Relays were beyond repair, and even if they did start working again, who knew how long it'd be before the next conflict broke out. The crew of the Normandy, led at the moment by Dr. Liara T'soni, stood in front of the rememberance wall in the crew deck, the Asari doctor holding Commander Shepard's plaque in her hands.

She looked at the wall and sighed, closing her eyes and remembering the last conversation she'd had with Shepard. "I love you, Shepard." she'd whispered, standing close to the people she'd formed such a deep bond with over the years. She tightened her hand on the plaque and looked at the wall.

"She isn't dead," she whispered. "I'd know it. Joker, how quickly can you have the Normandy running again?"

"Couple days with everyone's help," Joker said, looking at Liara. "Why?"

"We're going back to Earth," Liara said. "To the site of the Crucible wreckage."

After helping get the ship in working order, the Normandy took off from the lush jungle world they'd landed on after the Relay's exploded, beginning the long journey back to Earth. Several weeks later, the Normandy docked in a slowly rebuilding London, Liara and Garrus leading the way off of the ship. Liara made her way through the docking bay, heading for the head of security.

"Excuse me!" she hollered, catching the head before he walked off. "I'm sorry, I'm looking for some information. What happened to the rubble that was cleared from the Cruicible and Citadel, and where there any survivors?"

"The rubble was cleared off and taken around the world for disposal," the security head said, looking at his omnitool and scrolling through a list of people. "THere was one survivor. Shepard, J. Commander of the Normandy SR-2. She was taken to Westworld Memorial, other side of the city."

"Thank you," Liara said, looking at Garrus. "I knew she was alive, Garrus."

"Then go," the Turian said with a smile. "Move it, Doctor."

Liara nodded, running out and hailing a cab, heading for the hospital. Upon arriving, she demanded to know where SHepard's room was, but was turned away. Getting angry, Liara slammed her hand down on the desk hard enough that it made the hallway fall silent.

"LIsten to me, you little bitch," the Asari doctor snarled, grabbing the nurse by the scrubs and getting in her face. "You tell me where Jane Shepard, Commander of the Normandy SR-2, and the WOMAN THAT SAVED THE DAMNED UNIVERSE is or I will rip you apart one molecule at a time until I'm told!"

"Floor eighteen! Room thirty-seven!" the nurse finally admitted, getting dropped down into her chair again.

"Thank you," Liara said, running down to catch the elevator. She hit the button for the eighteenth floor, tapping her fist nervously against the wall as she waited for the elevator to reach the room. After what felt like an eternity--not an easy feat for an Asari--the elevator finally dinged and Liara stepped out, jogging down the hall. "Commander Shepard's room, please." She got directed to the room, walking down the hall and rubbing her arms before she knocked on the door, seeing Shepard sleeping. She walked over and sat beside the bed, reaching out and taking her hand. "You asshole...don't ever do that again..."

Shepard opened her eyes softly, having felt Liara's hand in hers. "Love you too, Liara," she whispered, blinking away the blurry vision and smiling softly. She sat up softly, adjusting the pillow to be behind her back. "They took the breathing tube out a week ago. Still won't let me leave. Say I'm not ready yet. Bullshit. I feel fine."

"Shepard, you had the Crucible fall on top of you. There was a dead Reaper on top of it," Liara said. She sighed softly, looking at Shepard. "What happened? After you sent Javik and me onto the ship. When the explosion happened."

Shepard sighed, looking out of the window. "When the explosion happened, I got knocked back pretty hard. Everything hurt. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to just limp my ass forward. I could barely lift my gun. I made it to the beam...wound up on the Citadel. Anderson was there in a different part and we met up near the console. I tried to activate it but at the time it wasn't working. The Illusive Man came in, started rambling about how the Reapers were going to save everything, how he was going to control them. But....he was different. Remember how when we were caught in the archive vault Brooks said he was Indoctrinated? I didn't want to believe it at the time but she was right. He was starting to look like a Husk," she said. She looked back at Liara and leaned her head back. "To prove a point, i guess, he ended up shooting Anderson in the stomach. I managed to convince him to focus on what he was doing, and when he saw what was going on, he shot himself in the head. I wanted to do that." She stopped talking, her hands clenched.

"Shepard," Liara whispered, putting her hand on Shepard's. "What happened next?"

Shepard sighed and looked at Liara. "Anderson died. I was talking to him and next thing I know he's not answering me anymore. I checked for a pulse and he wasn't there anymore. I forced myself up, trying to find a way to activate the Crucible but it didn't start. Next thing I knew I was in a room with three options for how to end the war with this little shit of a hologram that took the look of a kid I couldn't save when the first Reaper hit Earth. He said I had to choose. Destroy the Reapers and synthetics, Control them, or Sythesize organics and synthetics," she said. She bit her lip and sighed softly, staring down again. "I limped my ass to the far side where I could destroy them. I knew that...by choosing that option I was also killing EDI, and God did that thought hurt. I thought about turning around so many times and going to one of the other platforms. But then I thought of everyone that's been killed by those things and everything else in the last years. The Protheans, Thessia, Zaeed, Jack, the Geth, Legion, the Rachni, Mordin...I started shooting the console, knowing it was the only way to stop everything. When it exploded, the blast sent me flying. I don't remember anything that happened after that until I woke up under the rubble."

Liara nodded softly. "When the Crucible was destroyed by the blast, Joker pushed the Normandy as hard as he could to outrun the blast that was destroying all of the Relays. We ended up on a jungle planet. Shepard, it was beautiful. We didn't know about EDI until after going back inside and starting to clean up. Tali found her under some broken beams and part of the Galaxy Map console in the CIC," she said.

"He'll probably hate me after I explain this," Shepard said.

"I don't think he will," Liara said. "He's been with you the longest, hasn't he? If you explain what happened, he'll understand, Shepard."

A week later, Shepard was released from the hospital and went right back to the Normandy where she got swarmed by nearly everyone in one shot, Tali and Garrus being the foremost of the crowd. After recounting the story for everyone in one shot around the table in the mess hall, Shepard watched Joker walk out, feeling her heart sink into her stomach. She got up and walked after him, catching him in the observation deck.

"Joker?" she asked.

"Did you even think about how doing that would effect us around here, Shepard? How it'd feel to lose EDI? Christ, she was our friend. She might have been Cerberus, but she was still part of the Normandy and part of the crew," Joker said, looking at Shepard over his shoulder. "If it had have been me, I wouldn't have caused you to lose the person you'd loved, Shepard."

"Joker--"

"Save it. Just leave me alone," Joker said, staring out at the city.

Shepard nodded softly, walking out and heading to hte elevator, going up to the Captain's Cabin and shutting the door, sitting on her bed. She looked over at a picture on the table beside the bed, picking it up and sighing softly. "The last time we were all together," she muttered. "After the bullshit with my clone...Goddamn it!" She flung the picture and started throwing whatever she could, shattering the glass on her desk and overturning the bed before she finally sank to the floor, her hands shaking.

Liara sighed as she walked into Shepard's room, seeing the mess around the room, Shepard sitting against the empty fish tank with cut and bloody hands and looking depressed and angry all at once. "Come on," she said, walking over and taking Shepard's hands, standing her up. She led Shepard out of the room and back downstairs, heading for her room near the main battery. "Tomorrow, we're leaving. You need to get away, and you can't distance yourself from this by sitting on the Normandy." She pushed Shepard down onto her bed lightly, grabbing a medigel and applying it to Shepard's hands, sitting beside her girlfriend. "Just give it time. PLease?"

Shepard nodded, sighing as she leaned against Liara. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You don't have to apologize for anything," Liara whispered, wrapping her arms around Shepard and kissing her cheek softly. "You did what you thought was right, Shepard. Please don't apologize." _________________________

As time went on, Shepard slowly started forgetting about the Reapers and the war as most people on the streets stopped coming up to her and wanting details and information all the time. As everyone moved on with their now war-less lives, Shepard and Liara settled down on Thessia to try and live semi-normal lives.

She walked out of the house and leaned against the wall, watching the sun rising over the city. Shepard sighed to herself as she folded her arms, smiling a bit. "It's peaceful. I like that," she said. "Now if only I didn't have to go in and work today."

"You could always say you're sick and stay home," Liara said as she walked up behind Shepard, wrapping her arms around her wife's waist, resting her chin on her shoulder. "Besides, I thought I tired you out last night?"

Shepard laughed softly, putting her hand on Liara's. "You did. But as much as I'd rather stay home today, I can't. I've got that class on weapon handling at the Academy, remember? And you've got to go in and finish working on the updates for Glyph to get that line ready for shipping, remember?"

"You take the fun out of life," Liara said with a smile, kissing Shepard softly. "But I love you anyway. Don't forget that we're going to the cliffs tonight for the meteor shower."

"I didn't forget," Shepard said with a smile. "And next week we're going to Rannoch for Tali and Garrus' wedding."

"I'm looking forward to it," Liara said. "Come on, Shepard. Let's start our day right."

"What, one more romp before we have to go to work?" Shepard asked with a smirk.

"Perhaps," Liara said, pulling away from Shepard and walking back into the house with a grin on her face.

"You'll be the death of me," Shepard laughed, walking back in and shutting the door.

Shepard knew that the nightmares would stop and the war would be forgotten. She just had to keep looking on the brightside of things and hope for the best as time went on, and with Liara at her side, she knew it'd be easier to do.

#Mass Effect #Commander Shepard #Dr. Liara T'soni #FemShep #Been working on this one for a while #the ending's cheesy as fuck but I don't care

[snowcrashotherworlds]

Snow Crash Summary

Snow Crash is a 1992 science fiction novel by Neal Stephenson. Dystopic in nature, the novel features many areas of study including language, history, religion, computer science, and mythology. The novel takes place in a future that seems foreign and familiar all at the same time. Distribution of wealth is a problem within the novel, and only a very thin veil stands between the wealthy controlling the rest of the population. That veil is language and the novel focuses on how important language can be.

Hiro Protagonist is a pizza delivery driver in Los Angeles in the 21st century. Los Angeles is no longer a part of the United States. Everything is mostly controlled by singular wealthy individuals. Hiro delivers pizza for the American Mafia, which has been corporatized. He is also a hacker and good with a sword. Although he is arguably a genius, he has difficulties with the social aspect of life, therefore he must work as a pizza delivery driver to get by.

One day, one of Hiro’s deliveries goes awry, where he meets Y.T., which is short for Yours Truly, who is a skateboarding courier. Together they escape into Mr. Lee’s Greater Hong Kong and encounter a Rat Thing. Rat Things are cybernetic security devices engineered from pit bulls. Y.T. helps Hiro complete his delivery and they decide to partner up. The two decide to work together to gather intel for profit for the CIC (the merger of the CIA and Library of Congress) in reality and the Metaverse. The Metaverse is what the internet ultimately evolved into. It is a virtual reality-based internet that resembles a multiple player online game.

There is a new drug available on the Metaverse and in real life known as Snow Crash. Hiro is offered the drug. His friend Da5id looks at the file, which involved naked avatars unrolling scrolls that had binary code on them. It causes his system to crash, and he develops brain damage in real life. Hiro meets with his ex-girlfriend Juanita who rambles almost incoherently about Sumerian culture. She hands him her database of research and disappears.

Y.T. becomes a personal pet project for the head Mafia boss named Uncle Enzo. From the information Y.T. gathers through her new relationship, and Juanita’s research that Hiro possesses, a dangerous truth is discovered. The ancient Sumerian language allowed the human brain to be programmed. Priests used to gather the masses and turn them mindless and compliant.

Ultimately, a god called Enki created a counter-virus against the controlling words. The counter-virus included stopping Sumerian being processed by the brain and the development of new languages. This is where the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel originated. The myth dictated that humans used to all speak one language, until the tower was built too close to heaven, so God had to make different languages and spread the world apart.

A rich media magnate named L. Bob Rife begun collecting Sumerian artifacts and created the drug. He wants to the be the one in control of the populace. He began spreading the drug on the Metaverse and in real life. Snow Crash takes the form of an addictive drug and is spread through blood. The Metaverse version is especially harmful to hackers, who have programmed their brains to respond to code.

Hiro decides to head north up the West Coast, as he wants to head for the Raft, where Juanita might be. Due to the mega inflation that has taken place, many Asian countries have become bankrupt. Many refugees try to get to the United States via Raft and there is a large collection of them approaching the West Coast. Rife has been using the Raft to indoctrinate the refugees with Snow Crash before they make it to the United States. Y.T. has been kidnapped and taken to the Raft due to her connection to Uncle Enzo.

Hiro makes a deal with the Mafia and they gain him access to the Raft so he can rescue Y.T. But the Raft is not too terrible for Y.T., as she is being romanced by an assassin for Rife, named Raven. Hiro’s attempt to get on the Raft is a violent one. He discovers that Juanita has infiltrated the Raft. Y.T. has discovered the counter-virus.  She delivers the counter-virus to Hiro. By working together, Juanita and Hiro are able to read the counter virus out loud, saving the refugees from Snow Crash.

Rife escapes the Raft, taking Raven and Y.T. with him. The plan is to use the virtual Snow Crash at a large concert within the Metaverse. Hiro defuses the threat in time and Y.T. escapes. Rife then must face the Mafia, including Uncle Enzo. Rife is also confronted by a Rat Thing that used to be the dog Fido, who Y.T. had previously saved. Fido launches himself into the engine of Rife’s private jet, killing him and destroying the virus. Raven and Enzo fight, both becoming wounded. Hiro and Juanita reconcile and Y.T. can work on her relationship with her mother, which has been strained.