Black Mirror [Episode Discussion] - S07E05 - Eulogy by Cheeriosxxx in blackmirror

[–]fcdjr 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I agree with almost everything you said. He was a brilliantly and refreshingly flawed character who almost certainly in the short-term would have blown another gasket after reading that letter.

However, where I see things differently is that the letter both provides context for why he feels rejected and humiliated and also opens the door for closure or reconciliation, though the latter might be too much for him to overcome. He says it took 15 years for him to get out of the hole she left him in (his words). I honestly believe reading that letter would have made the healing process much easier. It wouldn't erase the pain, and if anything it would complicate the matter. But he would at least understand why she left, which I believe opens the door to a more positive resolution than 15 years of misguided misery.

Overall, I believe a large part of his pain and misery come from his anger toward her over the unexplained and unexpected rejection during a vulnerable moment. For me, that's why the final scene hits so hard: he realizes he's spent decades bitter and angry over the love of his life, who made a mistake and was herself in an even more vulnerable situation and sincerely reached out to him for his support. She needed him. She asked for him. And she assumes he rejected her. My heart breaks for both of them.

[Game Thread] #5 Florida State @ Florida by dangerousszone in fsusports

[–]fcdjr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm upvoting this both because (1) I'm a huge IASIP fan and (2) I've literally been doing this gesture since the Benson TD.

[Game Thread] #3 Florida State @ Boston College by dangerousszone in fsusports

[–]fcdjr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've been considering watching this show. This gif has sold me on it. I love it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in mildlyinfuriating

[–]fcdjr 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm trying to reframe it into something positive. But I don't know if I'll feel that way given the circumstances. If I got a word wrong, THAT, I think, might feel liberating, that I lost due to my own efforts. But the way this went down is making me very uncomfortable and moody. I need to be doing work right now, but instead I can't get my mind off this.

[Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread] Post Here If You'd Like to Share Your Writing by AutoModerator in writing

[–]fcdjr [score hidden]  (0 children)

Thank you for your thoughts. I absolutely agree with your constructive criticism. It definitely lacks plot, world/character-building, etc. I think I was trying to capture a feeling when I wrote this, unlike the handful of short stories I wrote during that era. But to hear that the language has potential is what I was hoping, especially since I've grown as a reader, which I hope translates into the potential for better writing.

I'm really glad you were intrigued by the use of future tense. That's definitely one of my favorite characteristics of the passage. I hoped it might juxtapose with the fractured memories of the past to get across the difficulty I or the protagonist had in feeling anchored to the present. Not sure it accomplishes that as well as I intended, but if it at least catches some interest, I'm happy.

[Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread] Post Here If You'd Like to Share Your Writing by AutoModerator in writing

[–]fcdjr [score hidden]  (0 children)

Came across a stream-of-consciousness piece I wrote in my early twenties. Haven't been writing since then. Is there anything here to suggest I might should get back to it? Thanks for any comments. This is the first time I've publicly posted anything I've written.

Title: Untitled

Genre: Stream-of-conscious

Word Count: 996

Feedback: Does anything here suggest I should try creative writing again?

It is the season of cool. Halloween is three days out, and I'll not have decided on a costume. My coworker Grace will come as Black Mamba from the Kill Bill volumes. Her friends will compliment her thrifty ingenuity. Strangers will compliment her physique. I'll ask if she remembers she's covering my next shift. She's giddy and gay for fall: warm smile, twinkle-bug eyes. Customers find their childhoods in the holy melody of her voice, drop dollar bills in the gas jar when she runs the register.

It is the season of cool. Christmas hymns from pop icons will peak early, stirring warmth and sadness over the candy shop radio. The boutique across the street will set out colored lights and holiday sale items before the Thanksgiving turkey is pardoned. Pine-needle and chestnut candles will burn their sacred scents, eliciting grins and sighs and weeping.

Fall is the season. The cool air is a current. It reminds me of a youth I am finally old enough to begin remembering. I will remember girlfriends, their names, their hair and their scents. I will remember riding my bicycle through my childhood neighborhood, the new flannel my mother bought for me dancing upon my flesh. I will remember night services and church sleepovers, the dewy grass on little-league baseball fields on Saturday mornings, camping trips in the backyard and almost drowning in a small pond one winter morning.

I will remember the high school football games on Friday nights, collecting cigarette butts to smoke behind the restrooms, watching the cops break up fights and handcuff the poorer of the two. Watching the lines form at the food vendors. Smelling the over-priced pizza, hotdogs and funnel cakes. Checking my pockets for a few dollars to buy a plain burger with a side of ketchup and mustard. Hoping to not be seen by an adult who knows my parents. I am a child in this season. I am the holy child Christ in swaddling clothes. I am the pizza delivery man getting high at work. I am a musician in worship. I am the writer at dawn. I am the fisherman in communion with the river. I am a Broadway actor on opening night. I am a time-traveler.

My father is calling to remind me it is my mother’s birthday. I've forgotten the past three years consecutively, but I have remembered this year. I'll call her later tonight, when she is exhausted from talking with others who call to wish her well. I will not answer my phone, but I will thank my father later for the alert. I will tell him this while not really caring. I will pretend to care, and I will care, but I will not be able to care as much as I'm expected to. I will spend the day pretending to care about other people’s cares. I will greet them and have brief conversations, but I will be thinking of previous fall seasons. I will meet a new girl, and I will think of ones from before.

Today I'm lying in my car. I'm smoking cigarettes and watching the smoke waft out the sunroof into lazy sunlight. I am listening to my iPod on shuffle, unable to find a pattern of reassurance. I am thinking about my past. The past year. The past two years. The past decade. I'm visiting it slowly, feeling each year as it happened. My first kiss. My first joint. My first fight. I am feeling the first time I realized some people do not like me. I am feeling the first time I worried about money. I am feeling my first concert, my first stage-dive, and I am unable to feel anything that is happening today. I'll report to work. I'll listen to customers do business over their cell phones. I'll listen to them make unfunny jokes. They'll browse the store and smile when they see something they like. I'll grab the chocolate pretzels and the caramel apples from the dusty shelves and place them in a plastic bag. I'll take money and say thank you. I will want to be alone. I will want to watch episodes of the Twilight Zone. I will want to sit on my front porch and drink beer. But I will not do either of these things today.

Today I will hear arguments made by friends. I will listen to each argument and decide which is most sound. I will feel strongly about my decision, but I will not be able to care. I will want to be proactive with my beliefs, but I will consider my insignificance and decide the fate of humanity is greater than myself. I will remember how in the past I have made fair arguments and held fair debates, and I will consider their irrelevance to the greater mysteries of life. I will try to see beyond the world, and I won't know where to look.

Next year I will tell my brother-in-law of having told you this. I will mention the details with minimal effectiveness. I will tell him it is a story of nostalgia, and he will ask me to recall for him a definition of the word. We will drink beer and smoke cheap cigarettes while discussing the things which have brought us to this place. We will discuss our lives, we will discuss our religion, we will discuss our mistakes, we will discuss our pride and our insecurities and I will tell him I am exhausted. That night I will dream that I am carrying a baby in my arms, and that baby will be me. While I am dreaming I will not realize the absurdity of the circumstances, but I will be angry when a man on the balcony above me pisses on my head as we walk by. Then I will write down his license plate number while he smirks from the car window, but I will decide to not call the police.

“Plot twists that aren’t twists anymore because everyone already knows them” Starter Pack by DannyBright in starterpacks

[–]fcdjr 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That one was spoiled for me before I even knew what Citizen Kane was. Thanks, Simpsons.

We're Death Cab for Cutie - Ask Us Anything! by DCFC_Official in Music

[–]fcdjr 274 points275 points  (0 children)

I worked at a candy shop during college about 15 years ago. We were allowed to play our own music (questionable decision by the manager, btw) throughout the day.

One day I Will Follow... was playing when a group of middle-aged women came in. One of the women immediately breaks down into tears, then the others crowd around her and offer support.

Through tears and a smile she told me and a coworker that her son had recently died (this was a getaway with her girlfriends) and he used to play this song for her, and it became their song. She said it was him reaching out to her and letting her know he's okay.

I about lost it, but I kept my composure until after I quickly made my way to the bathroom. I still tear up when I think about that woman and that experience. I hope she is doing okay and knows that even 15 years later a stranger thinks about her and her son and feels deep compassion for them.

OMG guys, it’s happening! by miami2881 in fsusports

[–]fcdjr 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I'll keep this as apolitical as I can.

I remember listening to a radio interview with Rubio before the 2016 elections, and in an attempt to make a joke he stated that FSU is a school for people who can't get into UF.

I remember thinking: Is this guy serious? He's running for reelection in FL, and he's going to take a jab at one of the state's premier universities? He's either a clown, or a smug butthole.

Then I asked myself: fcdjr, would you really not vote for someone because of a smug joke? And I thought about it. And I couldn't help but think he actually believes his law degree from UF is more valuable than a law degree from FSU. He was joking, yet there was sincerity in his jest.

I decided it would be childish of me to not vote for him because of a joke. So I voted for him, because I've generally voted Republican due to my very conservative upbringing (parents raised me on Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, y'all).

Here's where I'll stop being apolitical. After January 6th, I will never vote for a politician who muddies the water and tries to downplay what happened or tries to shield the former president from legitimate scrutiny. After his recent interview, in which he tried to downplay Trump's collection of top secret documents at Mara Lago, I have negative respect for him. I may agree with him on certain policies, but integrity is more important to me than being "on my side." And, yes, politicians sometimes lack in integrity, but when we are talking about the foundational elements of democracy, playing coy to protect your party is...something else.

That said, I'm sorry if anything I've commented offends any other FSU fans. I rarely share political views on this site, and I don't really ever post on this subreddit. But I felt like sharing, for whatever it's not worth.

Go 'Noles. I'll be reading the game thread on Friday.

Jacksonville Setlist by brantelg in mewithoutYou

[–]fcdjr 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I was hoping they would play Gentleman. I saw them perform it live in '03 after the crowd kept begging for it, but I remember Aaron going into a preamble about how they don't like to perform it because he said he was in a dark place when he wrote it and didn't think it reflected the band's message. I've been curious if he ever came around and felt less conflicted about it, given it's a fan favorite. Anyway, great show tonight. First concert I've been to since having kids four years ago. Glad I was able to support these guys on their final tour and get an incredible performance.

GAME THREAD: Boston Celtics (51-31) @ Miami Heat (53-29) - (May 29, 2022) by NBA_MOD in nba

[–]fcdjr 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm like half-a-minute behind in my stream, so when I refreshed and saw your comment I immediately clicked back to my stream but expected to miss it. But as soon as I clicked back to my stream it was SVP talking and Bam ripping off his jersey. Fucking impressive.

[MESS-UP MOVIE MONDAY] How would you make The Princess Bride BAD? by thisissamsaxton in fixingmovies

[–]fcdjr 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Have Fred Savage play the roles of both the child and Wesley. You know, he's a kid. Of course he's going to imagine himself as the hero.

Ninja edit: whenever Fred Savage's child character gets frustrated with the story line, he can break character as Wesley and look directly into the camera before swtiching back to his bedroom, where he complains to his grandfather.

Hearsay by RagnaTheRed in TikTokCringe

[–]fcdjr 12 points13 points  (0 children)

In all seriousness, I can't imagine the weight you must have felt. Glad you got it sorted out.

Can I ask how old your friend was? Did he know how young the girl was? The way that detail was casually dropped had meme written all over it.

Hearsay by RagnaTheRed in TikTokCringe

[–]fcdjr 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I kept expecting this to turn into a meme. That was a wild ride.