Where Hugo, I Go...

Where Hugo, I Go...

Rewatched for the umpteenth time, the lovely film, Hugo (2011). If you haven't seen it, nor read the book by Brian Selznick upon which it is based, please consider a look and a read.

We rewatch films for a variety of reasons, just as we often do for books. Always something new and different to see, to hear, to learn, to experience.

But that wasn't why I put this film on the blog. With the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes, now more than ever, the Martin Scorsese directed piece seems relevant. Here we have the young orphan, Hugo Cabret, living in the train station and maintaining the clocks; the timepieces that make the trains, and presumably society, run on time. Those horological machines are human made and what time represents in the lives of humans is a constant tick tock, tick tock. With every beat of our heart, every breath taken, time passes.

Hugo senses this, as does his young friend, Isabelle. At one point in the film, Isabelle questions the future and what her purpose in life is to be. Hugo thinks for a moment and remarks:

"I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too."

And during their conversation, Hugo also states:

"Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do… Maybe it's the same with people. If you lose your purpose… it's like you're broken."

Turning that scene over in my mind and thinking about the plot (w/o spoiling too much, it is a wonderful homage to humans and art and film and history and human connections) and the ongoing strikes...but...

How is it that we humans have so readily turned the machines into the masters and the humans who created them into the extra parts?

This marvelous film would be nothing without the humans who dreamed and created and built and moved and loved it into being along with the original work upon which it was based. The humans aren't broken, the system is. The studios/corporations must recognize the labor that gives purpose to our lives and place the technology in the place wherein it serves the greater good before time runs out.

I could contemplate this film and its themes for a long time, it is a real gem to view and think about in the context of the past, the present, and the future. Hats off to all involved.

1000 plus followers is awesome!

Hello, my dear ones! Thank u +1k followers who arrived here, in my madly little corner, multifandom and completely unpretentious! Some of you sure came because my hyperfixation for Andrew Garfield. And some even turned mutuals, with which I exchange ideas and hysterical outbreaks (usually for Andy 😬) THANK U for the companies , y'all are very important, because I share with you things that I don’t share with anyone else, nowhere else or social network.

Cosmo's Moonstruck (Strike)

I simply cannot picture AI ever coming up with the delightful original screenplay (written by John Patrick Shanley) for the film Moonstruck (1987). Perhaps those in the AMPTP can heed Loretta Castorini's words and change the way they do things. What the WGA and the SAG-AFTRA are asking is not unreasonable. But then again, Loretta inherited her wisdom from her mother and Rose Castorini was a smart cookie...

Cosmo Castorini: I have no money.

Rose Castorini: You're as rich as Roosevelt. You're just cheap, Cosmo.

Hear that studio executives?

I hope the AMPTP won't wait until the moon is full and bright to make up. Even in darkness, the path forward is quite clear: compensation and safe treatment assist creativity and productivity and everyone benefits.

To those that say well, the studios could use AI and then have a writer polish it up:

Here's a reminder to myself that the WIPs I have sitting in a folder have until August 31 to dust off the sand, fold the umbrella, and arise fully finished in time for the leaves to start changing colors. Oh, wait, did somebody say gin and tonics by the pool?

WICKED'S SUMMER FESTIVAL

A writing event based on summer as its main theme!

Hello! I’m hosting a little writing event to bring some inspiration to those who may want to write something new!

Here's a little FAQ if you aren't familiar with writing events (or at least mine!):

What’s it about?

For a lot of people, summer is almost there! Try to write something with what can be considered a "summer topic." EX.: the beach, a vacation, sundresses, swimsuits, a date in warm and sunny weather and so on.

Are AUs allowed?

Yes! Though of course they aren’t mandatory. Mob AU, Modern AU, Royal AU… whatever fits best the narrative you’re looking to do! Here are a couple I’m able to think of right now:

Coffee shop AU

Flower/tattoo shop AU

College AU

Historical AU

Fairy tale AU

Roommates AU

Dystopian AU

Modern AU

Some more questions you may have…

“Event time?”

From June 1st to August 31st! It’s summer where I live during that time and it made me want to organise a fun challenge for fic writers all around to participate in.

“Can I write about any fandom?”

Of course! I am tagging some fandoms though it is obviously not limited to only these!

“One shot or multiple parts?”

That is up to you and where your imagination takes you! I think the event time is long enough to do multiple parts should you want, but a one shot is already wonderful! You can even do multiple one shots if a couple of subjects interest you!

“SFW or NSFW?”

Both can be done! though not mandatory. You can write the fluffiest fluff, the smuttiest smut, or both at once! Even angst if you feel inspired!

Here’s a list of tropes, situations and even quotes that may inspire you along with the summer theme!

Tropes:

Friends to lovers

Enemies to lovers

mutual pining

rivals

Arranged marriage

crossover

fake relationship

Hanahaki disease

Sex pollen

Fake dating

Situations:

“there is only one bed and neither wants to let the other sleep on the ground”

“now is clearly not the right time to express their feelings but they both feel like they’ll never do it otherwise”

“saw the other in a swimsuit/specific outfit they never wore before and they are currently slowly losing it”

“person A invited B to a festival, fair, crowded event and using it as an excuse to hold their hands as to not lose them in the crowd”

“person B asks to go swimsuit shopping to A and A is feeling blood rush somewhere from person B modeling swimsuits to them”

“There’s a firework show going on but person A is looking a person B instead”

Quotes:

“Gimme a sec I’m not drunk enough to listen to this”

“Take another step, and I can’t be held responsible for my actions”

“After all this do you really think I don’t love you?”

“Look at how far I would go in fear of losing you”

“I thought I lost you”

“Let me show you how much I love you”

“I wasn’t sure which flowers you liked so I got one of everything they had”

“Is there a special reason as to why you’re wearing my shirt?”

“I have a name, and it’s not sweetheart”

“I’ll do it. If you do something for me.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep”

“I can’t help it, you’re fun to mess with.”

“If I could, I’d kiss away all your scars”

“prove it.”

“Do I look like I’m messing around? Do I look like I won’t punish you?”

“Show me how much you missed me.”

“What makes you think I’m going to fuck you?”

“Shall we put that mouth to better use?” I hope this brings you some inspiration! you can use #Wicked's summer festival 2023 and I shall reblog (or at least try to) your fics here!

Taglist: @moonyslove78 @rae-gar-targaryen @papaya-047 @drew-garfi @fallensilencefics @petcr3 @squiddtheekidd @albatrossandivys @mortwig @withahappyrefrain @lilacvine

Putting up "WELCOME TO OHOWDYO" billboards in western Ohio to add a different perspective to the dialogue.

@prometheusascendant

putting up “HELL IS FAKE” billboards in ohio to start a dialogue

Chuck Dickens Has His Day In The Sun

It was the best of times...

It was the worst of times...

And somewhere on a sun-scorched L.A. sidewalk, I really hope there is a card carrying guild writer who is not suffering from heat stroke and manages to consider a modern day tale of two cities movies set amidst the strife and sorrow of modern day life and the class struggles and the gender struggles, and the race struggles that continue to exist. Wherein Chuck Dickens, producer, stepping outside in the scorching sun; runs across his old pal Carton. Carton, (whose nickname derives from his current state of homelessness), can barely recall what life was like before and during the year of the strike when the answers seemed so obvious and yet "it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness." While Dickens buys him lunch and they chat, and Carton thinks of one on his own: it was the age of conspicuous cruelty.

Is the tale I just constructed obscenely obvious (as to its origin) and didactic in its manner? Yep. But that's because I'm not the talent; the writers are. The artists are. Not the machines, but the humans. The ones who come up with the stories that make us laugh and cry and rage and wonder and most importantly: think, consider, imagine the possibilities.

I cannot imagine life without the tapestry of human experiences that continue to be woven as we speak. Pay the humans who help us discover perspectives, who help provide services and goods that improve our lives, and whose labor and efforts have value beyond numbers and machines. The choice to have done the better thing is sometimes made too late and the Age of Regret begins.