Inbox for duplicitynet.

[purpler]

Comments

[purpler]

...you know what? fair point
i was about to defend that like it's a normal first thought to have
but actually i think i've just been here too long

[westcoasts]

that raises so many questions but there's not a damned chance I'm gonna ask any of them.

[purpler]

i'm cool with that

so why are you venturing into content creation??

[westcoasts]

the city ( ... ) disagrees with my current hobbies

[purpler]

and they gave you a video assignment over it?

[westcoasts]

that's a nice way of spelling 'forced participation in propaganda'

[purpler]

sure, it's not ideal
but it's doable without maximum loss of personal dignity
do you get to pick the song?

[westcoasts]

...yeah, which actually doesn't make me feel especially comforted.
I don't want to have lingering associations of dancing to a song I like while trying to pretend like I believe the city DOES actually have our best interests at heart.

[purpler]

that's only if you go 100% straight with it
but it could be completely satirical
or you could pick a song that suuuucks but it's still just decent enough to not be obvious sabotage

[westcoasts]

not convinced that's not how people choose songs for these things anyway.

[purpler]

then we're on the right track!

[westcoasts]

how long do you think you can keep that optimism up? barnes has to do this too.

last time he was familiar with the word "trendy", the mills brothers were number one.

[purpler]

oh, indefinitely
i'm really only counting on natasha for star power
you two just have to make her look good and a lot of the work is already done for you

[westcoasts]

nat doesn't need anyone's help to look good, kate.

except in this, she might need telling what to do.

[purpler]

yeah, that's what i meant
she's the last person i'm worried about, if i'm worried about anyone
no offense

anyway, send me any other parameters the city laid out
i need to start story boarding

[westcoasts]

if you're trying to imply you're more worried about me than barnes, we're gonna have words

"trendy challenges"
"catchy choreography"
each video's gotta get 10 likes?

...officially we're promoting city security, but I kinda figure that's neither here nor there.

[purpler]

i would never imply that
at least you can pose for a picture without looking like you're still trying to figure out how they shrunk the camera down to fit in your palm

hey, that's not too high of a bar!
a video of a burrito spinning in a microwave could get 10 likes
the message might be a tad divisive but it's all in the delivery

tone-wise, i'm between straight satire and the kind of surreal vibe you'd expect from a short that airs at 3:16AM on adult swim and makes you genuinely wonder if you're still asleep

[westcoasts]

that's written like you mean it as a compliment but it SOUNDS like an insult.

eh, the message is the message. yet to meet anyone stuck here who takes dictatorship-approving messages seriously.

( wait, speaking of— )

did you know we can become sin guards?

( it's not relevant to anything, just one of those vague thoughts that occurs in a COULD IT BE USEFUL? kind of way. )

I don't care how it looks or sounds, kate.
I just need to make the thing.

[purpler]

maybe it sounds like that because you were expecting an insult

i know it's technically possible but i've yet to meet anyone who's taken them up on the offer

just because it's a sucky situation doesn't mean you can't have any fun with it
have you really never passed the time making silly videos with your friends?

[westcoasts]

heard of one person through the grape vine when I first arrived.

( ... )

( ... )

just call me old if you wanna call me old, kate. I don't want to try and work out how old I was when I bought my first phone that could record video.

[purpler]

let me guess: they're long gone now?

i was getting at pretty much the exact opposite, actually
you just strike me as someone who would've had a profound appreciation for mtv's jackass

[westcoasts]

by all accounts.

well.

that's a very different accusation
and luckily
we didn't have a wealth of video recording equipment available at carson's.

( you don't need to be right, kate. )

[purpler]

was carson's the circus?
or carnival?
are those two interchangeable or is there a significant difference between a circus and a carnival?

[westcoasts]

technically, it was carson's traveling circus.

the differences are subtle enough and most everyone doesn't care for what they are.
I don't even care for what they are.

[purpler]

so you moved around a lot?