video: un; an.observer

[thisislife]

[Lexi's on her couch, Mewnos and Nosferatmew snoozing on the couch with her]

Okay, this is probably the dumbest question ever, but what stupid things do you miss from home?

Personally, I miss 'Doomsday Preppers' the most. I usually don't like reality TV, but that show is funny as hell. All of those people buying out Costco and building bunkers and assembling arsenals of guns which would make Neo go 'yeah, I think you have enough,' 'cause they thought the government or aliens or Captain Trips or the Illuminati were out to get them.

This one lady was coating eggs in mineral oil 'cause she said that would make the eggs stay fresh for a year. And she had literally dozens of cartons of eggs all covered with mineral oil. This other one accidentally shot his own thumb off while showing his little kids how to handle guns safely. That was hilarious.

Also, Dorothea left me a kitten last month. A normal kitten, not a batcat. I'm kind of not sure what to name her, but I know I'd like to stick to the whole insert shitty movie here plus 'mew.' I first though of going with The Mewm, but that kind of rhymes with womb and no. [she sits and thinks a moment, a crease forming between her eyes] Maybe 'Mewdemic?" Do you think that would work?

Comments

[bankvault]

Optimus Cat. Bumblemew. Galvakitten.

[He can't make too many suggestions, he doesn't know all of them, but he knows a couple!]

Though I guess that one might not work once it grows up a bit..

[thisislife]

Actually, Bumblemew sounds perfect! He's little and cute and it will work when he grows into his [movie announcer voice] true cat form!

[bankvault]

And now you can test to see if anyone recognizes the name.

[thisislife]

Exactly! Nerds only need apply! [a pause] Though, I own a used bookstore and a comic book store, so the me being a nerd is probably glaringly obvious?

[bankvault]

[Lexi now has Yoichi's complete an undivided attention.]

You have those here, or back home?

[thisislife]

Here! It's called The Satellite of Love Used Books and Comics.

[bankvault]

[...]

What titles do you have? Actually, I think I'll just drop in sometime, where is your shop located?

[thisislife]

A little bit of everything, including manga volumes! Every time one of the trade ships dock, I'm waiting with a fuckton of trade merch in case I need it. They honestly don't seem to understand why what they have is valuable, so I usually make a killing.

[bankvault]

I admit this place doesn't seem to be very interested in entertainment at all except for that recent party. Their loss, I'm going to have to come browse, I have a few titles I was pursuing before .. uh. Everything.

[There's one of those gestures that could mean back home or the entirety of Trench or both.]

Though I don't carry American money. I.. .. don't actually think I have any money at all. .. Do you accept seafood as payment?

[thisislife]

Yeah. There's so much weird shit going on, it's difficult to nail down a time and place where you're sure that it won't interrupt things. That's why I try to stay in my bookstore as much as I can. If something chases me there, it's on my terms.

But on a much lighter subject, I'd love for you to come over! There really is a little bit of everything.

[which means a little something from everyone's worlds. not enough to 'spoil' them for events back home, but enough to be recognizable]

Yeah! I love seafood, I eat it all the time even when I'm not here.

[bankvault]

That sounds like a win for both of us then, I'll see what I can find and then see about finding your comic shop. It's been a while since I could hunt new titles.

[thisislife]

Great! I've tried really hard to put together a good collection, not just your standard super-hero stuff.

[bankvault]

Oh good! I admit I prefer the hero stories, authors seem to write better with them, but if the plot's good it's still worth a read no matter who or what the protagonist is.

[thisislife]

Yeah, I really love a lot of what used to be DC's Vertigo line, but yeah, there are certain super-heroes I follow religiously.

[bankvault]

...Oh, Sandman and Punisher, right? Anti-heros are more your speed, or a more 'realistic' touch?

[There's a pause.]

Speaking of antiheros I may have sent someone looking for your shop that really doesn't seem to be into the Superman-esque sorts of All American Hero type comics. I suggested The Watchmen, but you might know more appealing offerings. He seems nice.

[thisislife]

Well, I dunno if I'd call my interests 'realistic.' I mean, Sandman is pretty trippy and Fables isn't what I'd call realistic, either. And I sure hope that Preacher isn't realistic!

The Watchmen is a good place to start if you're looking for something outside of the standard super-hero fare. Despite being kind of about super-humans. And than you for the recommendation of us, I really appreciate it!

[bankvault]

But Sandman is more ... oh, how would it be put better than realistic. 'Gritty and dark' than say, almost any Fantastic Four title that doesn't revolve around Doom's motives. Not so overflowing with hope, redemption stories and feel-good moments, I guess?

[He preferred the lighter stories, but he's not looking for what he likes at the moment, but guessed-at likes for the unnamed Shigaraki.]

More people would like comics I think, if they realized many of them aren't really for kids.

[thisislife]

Yeah, most of the stories...the endings are bittersweet at best. Which is fine, not everything has to be puppies and rainbows. Life itself sure isn't.

[thanks to a rather dysfunctional childhood (and the rest of her life), she gravitates towards the bittersweet or the hard-won victories]

I know, right? It's like 'oh, super-heroes are an adolescent male power fantasy,' neglecting the fact that despite usually ridiculous costumes, the women fall into the female power fantasy. And romance doesn't hurt, like Gambit and Rogue or Batman and Catwoman.

[bankvault]

Yes, that's exactly the sort of thing I think this person will enjoy. It's not escapism, it's ... maybe searching for something to relate to, or resonates as familiar. I prefer my entertainment to be entertainment, but if people didn't have different tastes we wouldn't have thousands of titles to pick from.

[He's fine with hard struggles.. but the hero better win in the end. Justice must prevail!]

The downside of a romance in a comic though is as soon as they change writers they dissolve the romance so the new writers can do their own thing.

[thisislife]

...yeah. I think I understand. And I've got some other stuff in mind, too, not just stuff from one of the major publishers. We've got a decent amount of indie graphic novels, too. [a laugh] It was hard to not keep them all for myself!

[Lexi feels the same way]

Ugh, don't remind me. That's why I like fanfic. The fanfic writers usually seem to care more about the characters and their dynamics than sets of new creative teams ever do.

[bankvault]

Great. I won't tell him ahead of time so he can be more pleasantly surprised. I hope, anyway. It's a great medium to follow, especially here where it seems movies and games are going to be the rarity.

[Fanfics. There's something he's.. never actually encountered! From the sound of things, if the writers are writing better stories, he needs to expand his authorship a bit more.]

I don't think I've encountered those. Are they like the stories in fanzines?

[thisislife]

Yeah, movies and games are hard to come by. Other than bad movies, I can usually find a decent amount of so bad it's good types of movies.

[she may or may not have grown up with the stuff. unwittingly reading fanfic written her sister's friend, Kat, on tumblr among other things]

Yeah, kinda? There are entire archives of fanfic out there, with like. Every obscure medium and pairings you can imagine. It's kind of amazing.

[bankvault]

...Are these archives here or do I have to wait to return to somewhere with a more global internet access and hope I can find them?

[Who knows, there could be an archive here. Or maybe he just can't actually reach the broader internet yet and other people COULD..]

[thisislife]

They're here! Hard to find but here. I can send you the search criteria I used?

[because the works of Alfred Hitchcock? David Lynch? no hablo good movies. everything Rifftrax has ever done? here in spades]

[bankvault]

Please do!

[If nothing else, it'll keep him occupied a while, and that's never a bad thing.]

..And if you have any special recomendations, I'll take those too. Always good to start in recommended fiction.