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oddarin · 4 years

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It is one of the most meaningless thing I’ve done in time - all least-to-most ranks and just characters’ fact answers (those that with no pictures) from oficial Ask Arcana gathered in one place. Have no idea what that information could be used for and if it even useful but it kept me occupied and distracted from some life shit for a while, so let it be.

who is most to least likely to enjoy the movie Frozen? Lucio, Portia, Julian, Asra, Muriel, Nadia

Out of the cast, who is the most to least likely to be the jealous type? Portia, Lucio, Muriel & Nadia (tied), Julian, Asra

would you like to rank the characters from who cries most to least ugly? like from sniveling to shoujo manga tears? Muriel, Lucio, Julian, Portia, Asra, Nadia

who is the most to least superstitious Portia, Julian, Nadia, Lucio, Asra, Muriel

most to least excited to be at a WWE event Portia, Lucio, Asra, Julian, Nadia, Muriel

From worst to best at handling children Nadia, Lucio, Muriel, Asra, Portia, Julian

From worst to best for alcohol tolerance Muriel, Asra, Lucio, Julian, Portia, Nadia

Character ranking from best at keeping secrets to loose-liped gossip? Asra, Muriel, Nadia, Lucio, Portia, Julian

best to worst dancers? Asra, Portia, Julian, Nadia, Lucio, Muriel

Most to Least likely to slap you for stealing a mcnugget Nadia, Lucio, Asra, Portia, Julian, Muriel

Least to most likely to eat something weird (read: probably shouldn't be eaten) because of a dare? Nadia, Julian, Muriel, Lucio, Portia, Asra and not even on a dare

how old are each of the revealed characters? everyone is old, but in order of least old to most old: Asra, Portia, Muriel, Julian, Lucio, Nadia

Who's the best kisser? Who's the worst? Best kisser: Faust (good snake smooches) Worst kissers: Mercedes and Melchior (too much cronch)

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If the main 6 played MTG what color decks would they play? Asra: Blue Nadia: White Julian: Black (Portia made his for him) Portia: White/Green Muriel: Green Lucio: Red

How did cast look as babies? Nadia: The best baby, perfect in form and function Asra: A cute baby, always looking around Julian: Not the most handsome baby, a little gangly Portia: Round, squealing delightful baby Lucio: Red-faced screaming awful baby Muriel: Sturdy and well insulated for the long winter

Of the main six characters, which ones are capable of juggling and which ones would absolutely love doing needlepoint? capable of juggling: Portia, Asra, Muriel absolutely love doing needlepoint: Nadia, Julian incapable of juggling/ absolutely hate doing needlepoint: Lucio

what would the cast choose as their job in the mmo final Fantasy XIV? Julian: Dragoon Asra: Astrologian Lucio: Ninja, but he messes up the mudras Nadia: Machinist Portia: Summoner Muriel: Paladin

What would be the favorite attractions/rides of the cast at Disney? Julian: Pirates of the Caribbean Asra: Astro Orbiter Lucio: Tower of Terror (RIP) Muriel: Matterhorn Portia: California Screamin' Nadia: Carousel of Progress

What do the rest of the cast smell like? Nadia: Les Larmes Sacree Du Thebes by Baccarat Asra: Lord of Misrule Lush Shower Cream Julian: Leather seats in a rental car Portia: Cocoa butter and laundry soap Lucio: Fireball, Axe body spray & ass Muriel: myrrh

What board game would The Arcana gang be? Nadia: Clue Asra: Twister Julian: Sorry! Portia: Mouse Trap Lucio: Monopoly Muriel: Guess Who

Who do all the cast main in over watch? Nadia: Ana Asra: Sombra Julian: Reaper Portia: Zarya Muriel: Bastion Lucio: Genji

If everyone participated in a Winter Olympic sport, which one would they be in? Nadia: figure skate (singles) Asra: snowboarding Julian: alpine ski Portia: freestyle ski Muriel: luge Lucio: ice hockey

Main casts Starbucks orders? Julian: Black coffee and he flirts with the barista until it’s ready. Nadia: London Fog Latte. She comes in at exactly 8 every morning. Asra: Matcha latte unless there’s a new radioactive-looking Frappuccino flavor and then he gets that. Muriel: Waiting outside in the car, asks Asra to get him a water. Asra comes back with a hot chocolate and a cake pop. Muriel grumbles but accepts them every time. Lucio: Salted Caramel Mocha extra whip extra sprinkles nonfat no foam soy upside down actually coconut milk instead and then he yells at you if you get it wrong. Portia: Pink Drink and all the baristas get excited when she walks in because they love her and she always tips.

The cast as Kanye songs Nadia: Power Lucio: No Church in the Wild Asra: Love Lockdown Julian: Heartless Portia: Paranoid Muriel: Coldest Winter

Which characters would be in the fire, water, earth, and air nations? Slightly different from what you asked, but: Asra - waterbender Nadia - airbender Julian & Portia - non-benders Muriel - Earthbender Lucio - Firebender

What kind of parents are the cast at their child’s soccer game? Nadia: standing on the sidelines in sunglasses and heels biting her thumbnail and watching every move on the field because she doesnt trust the ref Asra: cheers whenever anything happens, takes as many kids as can fit in the car out for ice cream but doesn’t check with the parents Julian: chats up the other parents relentlessly and isn’t watching when his kid gets hit in the face with the ball Portia: “cmon cmon cmon cmon cmon cmon cmon AW WHAT WAS THAT” Muriel: watching from the parking lot inside the car Lucio: yelling on the phone the whole time, spills all 24 oz of his salted caramel mocha on the bench and doesn’t do anything about it

Which Disney movie is the favorite of each of the cast? Nadia: Fantasia 2000 Asra: The Emperor’s New Groove Julian: Muppet Treasure Island Portia: Muppet Treasure Island Muriel: The Fox and the Hound Lucio: Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True

what kind of youtube channel would each character have (letsplay, cooking, craft, etc)? Asra: very unstructured mostly-cooking channel that also features videos of him just eating weird things, and videos of Faust existing and being cute Nadia: beauty guru with very polished high-end editing Julian: doesn’t know how to use youtube but Portia made an account for him and uploads her shaky/blurry phone videos of his jazz performances Portia: likes and comments on all of Nadia’s videos while occasionally posting cute cat vids Muriel: does not have an internet connection Lucio: extremely loud letsplayer, mostly FPS

What would the cast be as animal crossing villagers? Muriel: Cranky Bear Julian: Smug Eagle Portia: Uchi Cat Nadia: Snooty Ostrich Asra: Lazy Wolf Lucio: Jock Goat

What Fire Emblem Fates' classes would each character be? Asra - Diviner Nadia - Priestess Julian - Adventurer Portia - Maid Muriel - Wolfskin Lucio - Berserker

if the arcana cast were naruto characters, which ones would they be Portia: Naruto Muriel: Gaara Lucio: Orochimaru Julian: Itachi Asra: Kakashi Nadia: Fancy Shikamaru

If the characters of arcana watched rupaul's drag race who would be their faves? Nadia: bebe, raja, peppermint Asra: yara, aja, adore Julian: nina bo’nina, sasha, raven Portia: chichi, bob, ginger Lucio: willam, kimora, mimi imfurst Muriel: Latrice Royale

WHAT ARE THE CHARAS PREFERRED FLAVOR OF ICE CREAM? Nadia: Lavender Lemon Asra: Rainbow Sorbet Julian: Pistachio Portia: Cookie Dough Muriel: Rocky Road Lucio: Red Velvet

Please please arcana cast as mcr songs Lucio: It’s Not a Fashion Statement, It’s a Deathwish Julian: Thank You For The Venom Asra: Welcome To The Black Parade Muriel: House of Wolves Nadia: You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison Portia: Give Em Hell Kid

What are the characters going to be for Halloween? Asra - glow-in-the-dark mermaid Nadia - [elegant ballgown interpretation of] a swan Julian - tortured vampire/werewolf hybrid Muriel - sheet ghost Portia - ninja turtle Lucio - slutty angel Faust - a very long hot dog

If you had to assign the characters from the Arcana to characters from Labyrinth who would they be? Nadia: Jareth Asra: Sara Julian: Sir Didymus Portia: Hoggle Muriel: Ludo Lucio: The Chilly Down birds

What's each character's favourite fruits? Nadia: Concord Grape Asra: Blue Raspberry Julian: Fig Portia: Banana Muriel: Lemon Lucio: Pomegranate

what's everyone's favorite season? Asra - spring Nadia - summer Julian - autumn Muriel - winter Portia - spring Lucio - summer

Who would the Arcana cast be in a cliche Noir Film? Nadia: boss with kinetic ball bearing desk ornament and brandy in the drawer Asra: first love turned old flame that you run into halfway around the world Julian: haggard scientist with an unbuttoned shirt scribbling on the walls Portia: wisecracking secretary who takes a bus a train and a ferry to work Muriel: ominous farmer that lets people use the phone after a car breaks down Lucio: raging starlet shattering a vase after being blacklisted by every studio

The Arcana cast as Michael Jackson songs? Nadia: Man in the Mirror Asra: You Are Not Alone Julian: Smooth Criminal Portia: Will You Be There Muriel: Ben Lucio: Bad

What would each character be in cats? This probably wasn’t supposed to be Cats the musical but if you think i’m gonna pass this up Nadia: None they’re all awful/ Munkustrap Asra: Mister Mistoffelees Julian: Macavity Portia: Jennyanydots Lucio: Rum Tum Tugger Muriel: Grizabella

what would their favorite emojis be? Asra: 🌚 Nadia: 🍷 Julian: 🎷 Portia: 👀 Muriel: 👁 Lucio: 💃💸😏👑

What panic at the disco songs describe each character best? Julian: Death of a Bachelor Asra: I Write Sins Not Tragedies Portia: She’s a Handsome Woman Nadia: Northern Downpour Lucio: Victorious Muriel: From a Mountain in the Middle of the Cabins

What stereotypes for a super cliché highschool do the characters fall into? Nadia: Valedictorian who has been doing independent study and hasn’t set foot in the building for the past two years Asra: Shows up late every class with loud ass Sunchips, does homework in glow in the dark gel pen Julian: Eats lunch with his teacher so they can keep talking about mitochondria Portia: Gets really hype about dances, always ends up fighting at dances Muriel: Puts away all the folding chairs that everyone left behind Lucio: Gets on the intercom to talk shit about the teacher who gave him a D+ on his plagiarized essay

What sports would the characters play? And would they be any good at those sports? Muriel: Any solitary sport. He likes track and shotput. Nadia: Swimming. She isn’t on a team, she just likes the water. Portia: Wrestling. She’s got a few championship belts. Julian: Grandma Devorak forced him to take One Sport in high school, and he chose long-distance running. Asra: Beach volleyball and snowboarding. He’s just there to have a good time. Lucio: Ice hockey, but he spends it mostly punching other players.

what dragons from books/movies/games match each character best, would you say? As for dragons, one of our writers plays Flight Rising obsessively so here’s every character as a Flight Rising breed. Asra: Fae Nadia: Imperial Lucio: Wildclaw Muriel: Guardian Julian: Skydancer Portia: Snapper

What is each character most likely to do with the mc when they're feeling 'unusually affectionate'? Nadia: feed them champagne grapes and engage them in conversation so she can watch them try to talk with their mouth full Asra: stare at them and stop acknowledging anyone or anything else Julian: preen and spoil them to the point of being a public embarrassment Portia: constant cuddly contact Muriel: follow them at a respectable distance Lucio: belt out an aria at the sight of them

What's everyone favorite manga if they read any in this world? Nadia: Rose of Versailles Asra: Yugioh Julian: Blackjack Portia: Ranma ½ Muriel: Hunter x Hunter Lucio: Berserk

how much does faust like all the characters? like, who does she like the most/least? does she like the main character at all? Faust adores the main character almost as much as she loves Asra. But if she had to choose from the rest: Most good smelling: Nadia Most fun to squeeze: Julian Most too big to eat: Muriel Most hard to hide from: Portia Most attackable: Lucio

what kind of drunk is everybody? Nadia: capable, professional drunk on the move. Never in the same room twice Asra: touchy-feely but won’t leave the couch, still somehow manages to catch on fire Julian: morphs into The Storyteller, everyone in earshot ends up caught in a dramatic reenactment of his life story waiting for him to take a breath but he never does Portia: makes 6 new friends in the bathroom line Muriel: moody, talks to no one, keeps taking everybody’s empty bottles out to the trash Lucio: the loudest, the drama, the legend, the first to dip out when the cops show up

Of the Characters: Who tells a dirty joke? Who doesn't understand it? Who is disgusted? Who laughs? Who hides a smile? Who gets annoyed? Lucio: tells a dirty joke Muriel: doesn’t understand it Julian: is disgusted Asra: laughs Portia: hides a smile Nadia: gets annoyed

What are the characters usual reactions when subbing their toes? Nadia: It Does Not Happen Asra: hops it off Julian: hissing, closes his eyes while he savors the pain Portia: (string of curses) “ok………. i’m fine” Muriel: doesn’t notice because his toes are too far away Lucio: shrieks, revenge kicks the wall, shrieks harder

what you think everyones deadly sin would be? the deadly cliches: Nadia - Pride Asra - Lust Julian - Wrath Portia - Envy Muriel - Sloth Lucio - Gluttony

On a scale of good to bad, who sings karaoke? Nadia has a silky voice with impeccable vibrato. But she only sings karaoke alone in the bath. Asra has an airy, intimate voice. He’s the worst at karaoke because he doesn’t even get up off the couch. Julian has very limited singing ability, but he will talk sing the whole way through if he has to. He’s great at duets, somehow. Portia has a throaty, powerful voice. She brings the house down with Heart and Bonnie Tyler ballads, even if she squeaks on the high notes. Muriel has a gravelly grumble that he is convinced is useless for singing and if you hand him the microphone he’ll drop it and go stand in the corner. Lucio has an overdone musical theater voice but he is tone deaf. He will shout out the high notes and power through the rest and if you try to skip his song there will be hell to pay

which social media platform which each character Prefer™ ? Asra - twitter (RTs a lot of memes and shitposts, posts incomprehensible dril-like tweets at 3am) Nadia - instagram (flawless makeup and aesthetic™) Julian - yahoo answers Portia - snapchat Muriel - what is social media Lucio - LinkedIn (you will NEVER stop getting email notifications from him)

what dnd classes would the cast be (like mage, assassin, cleric etc)? Nadia: Paladin Asra: Warlock Julian: Rogue Portia: Bard Muriel: Fighter Lucio: Barbarian

what would each characters spice girl name be Asra: Mystery Spice Nadia: Boss Spice Julian: Suffering Spice Portia: Sassy Spice Muriel: Surly Spice Lucio: Spicy Spice

how complicated is each character's personal hygiene routine? Nadia’s personal hygiene routine: an exact science and takes a practiced team of servants to execute. Julian’s personal hygiene routine: splashing his face 5-7 times and gargling with his famous mint vodka peroxide formula Asra’s personal hygiene routine: sticking his head underwater until he’s awake Portia’s personal hygiene routine: putting her hair in a bun and scrubbing herself with a cloth and bucket down by the frog pond Lucio’s personal hygiene routine: milk and caviar bath every 13 hours Muriel’s personal hygiene routine: standing in the pouring rain

What's everyone's favorite alcoholic drinks? Asra - St Germain, tequila, blue curaçao, lime juice, hibiscus syrup (serve in a champagne flute or martini glass, garnished with a wildflower or tiny umbrella) Julian - whiskey, Kahlua, Grand Marnier, lemon juice (serve in a highball glass) Nadia - Chambord, white wine, seltzer (serve in a wine glass, chilled or on the rocks) Portia - beer & apple cider with a shot of rum (serve in a lowball glass) Muriel - Baileys, butterscotch schnapps, hot chocolate (serve warm, in your coziest mug) Lucio - Jägermeister & Goldschläger topped with overproof rum (serve as a flaming shot)

what would be each of the characters' favorite genre of music? Asra: Bossa Nova and EDM Nadia: Obscure Opera and Calming beach sounds Julian: 20 minute tracks of Quality Jazz Portia: Reggae and dad rock Muriel: New wave and white noise Lucio: Top 40 and Dark Funky Disco

who would the arcana characters be from mean girls?? Asra: the guy who asked what day it was Nadia: cady Julian: gretchen weiners Portia: janis Lucio: regina george Muriel: damian

Which Hogwarts house would each of the Main Cast belong in? Asra & Julian - Ravenclaw Nadia - Slytherin Portia & Muriel - Hufflepuff Lucio - Gryffindor

What would the characters modern!au job/career of choice be? Lucio owns and manages several nightclubs and has a trashy daytime talk show Asra does really low-budget magic shows at kids’ birthday parties by day, and DJs at one of Lucio’s clubs at night Nadia is the city mayor, an international chess champion, and concert pianist Portia works at Home Depot (used to be a waitress at Red Lobster but the tips were terrible), but she wants to be a zookeeper Julian is a doctor at an underfunded hospital with lots of drama Muriel lives off the grid in a broken-down van in the woods

Just due to mild curiosity what would be the casts favorite musicals? Asra - Legally Blonde: The Musical Nadia - Chicago Julian - Les Mis Muriel - Wicked Portia - Cats! Lucio - Phantom of the Opera / Kinky Boots (it’s a tie)

what cryptid is every character Asra = Chupacabra Julian = Mothman Nadia = Nessie Portia = Loveland Frog Muriel = Bigfoot Lucio = Jersey Devil

how would the game's characters celebrate the MC's birthday with them?? Asra would take them on a long journey without telling them where they were going (but would keep them entertained with riddles) to a scenic oasis, where he would pretend to drown so MC has to dive into the water and at the bottom is a magic flute that can summon a swarm of bees (their favorite!) Nadia would throw a tastefully brief festival in their honor. MC would be lavished with pampering (by professional pamperers) from dawn to dusk and when the clock struck midnight, they would be presented with seven bejeweled eagles (one for every day of the week) Julian would meet them for dinner in a shady tavern, bring them heaping plates of food and offer unsolicited advice for the coming year. About halfway through the meal he would have to scramble out the back door because law enforcement arrived on the scene but he’d put it an order in the kitchen to bring them something for dessert Lucio would declare the day a holiday and call it Day of the Beloved One of Lucio. They would have to sit uncomfortably still while a master artiste painted their portrait and a mile-long line of peasants laid gifts at their feet. Muriel doesn’t celebrate birthdays because time is a human construct Portia would throw a big loud party with a barbecue :D

Since it is soon, what would the characters do for Valentines day with us (the MC)? Nadia would take you on an elegant river cruise stocked with 130 varieties of tiny cake and a private crooner hired to serenade you but she would end up throwing them overboard for not hitting the high notes Asra would take you to the mall and splurge on all the stuff you both can’t afford but wait way too long to get lunch so you get into a fight and he proposes in the food court Julian would show up on the 15th after with all the candy he scored at 75% off, pretend it was on purpose that he got the day wrong, and wake you up at 3 am to come clean because the guilt was eating him alive Muriel would light some scented candles, cook up a sensual meal and throw a bearskin rug in front of the fireplace for you to enjoy alone while he escapes into the woods Portia would pack a picnic of chicken and tortilla chips, take you to the beach where you could splash around until the sun goes down and lull you to sleep on the sandy blanket with her acoustic guitar Lucio would have servants fill your room with floor to ceiling flowers while you sleep and wait impatiently for you to wake up like

Would you roommate with any of the characters? it’s hard to decide, so here are some pros and cons Asra - pro: never home / con: leaves dishes in the sink for weeks Nadia - pro: your home will be spotless / con: it’s spotless because she orders you to clean it for her Julian - pro: medical professional / con: half of your apartment is now this

rate the characters on how #extra they are Muriel: 4/10 Lucio: 13/10 Everyone else: 10/10

Which character could be best described as "tender"?? "Spicy"??? “tender”: Muriel “tender”/“Spicy”: Asra, Portia “Spicy”/”tender”: Julian, Nadia “Spicy”: Lucio

what the favorite Pokemon of all the characters were. Asra - Ekans, Delphox, Espeon Nadia - Noctowl, Gardevoir, Musharna Julian - Absol, Bisharp, Murkrow Portia - Chansey, Politoed, Hoothoot Muriel - Pangoro, Aggron, Wigglytuff Lucio - Houndoom, Pyroar, Skarmory

#what I spend my life on #the arcana #the arcana game #asra alnazar #nadia satrinava #julian devorak #muriel #portia devorak #count lucio #asra the magician #the arcana muriel #ask arcana #I just like to organize information too much

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aliveandfullofjoy · 3 years

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So I was reading about the first Oscars ceremony, and it had a division between Outstanding Picture and Best Unique & Artistic Film, where Unique & Artistic was apparently meant to be an equal to Outstanding Picture but dedicated more for prestige artistic works. The next year, the two categories became one from then on, and Outstanding Picture was the only top prize. (If any of that is wrong, blame wikipedia.)

If the split had remained, and there was a more commercial-y movie top prize and a prestige art top prize, what are some notable movies that suddenly pick up wins?

okay wait........ this is a brilliant question and i am ashamed to say i’ve never really given it much thought until now.

idk if you’ve seen wings and sunrise but they’re both pretty great and they do represent wildly different kinds of filmmaking. while it’s safe to say Wings is the more commercial film, it has great craftsmanship behind it and it very clearly created the template for accessible, capital-i Important, and well-made best picture winners to come.

and, full transparency, sunrise is one of my, like, top 15 favorite movies, so i’m hella biased, but that movie is a gorgeous and strange and thrilling piece of work. the title “unique and artistic film” is impossibly vague, but watching sunrise makes it very, very clear that it fits that bill for that category. and while we’ll, of course, never know what might have happened if that category had continued, it’s tempting to think that all the winners in unique and artistic film would be of sunrise’s calibre, but knowing the oscars... that’s clearly a fantasy, lol. while sunrise is a wildly inventive and artistic film, it’s important to remember that it was fully on the academy’s radar -- janet gaynor won best actress in part for her performance in the film, and it also won best cinematography. so while it’s tempting to think the academy would always recognize a truly unique and artistic achievement every year, in all likelihood, they probably wouldn’t stray too far from the movies that were already on their radar.

so for this thought experiment!!

it’s probably safe to assume every best picture winner has to go in one of the two categories. there are only a handful of winners that stick out as maybe missing out on the big win in this new system, but only a handful.

so uh. this is way more than you asked but i got hooked. here’s what i think might have happened if the two best picture categories had stuck around. as i was working through the years, it became clear to me that, unfortunately, in a lot of years, the unique and artistic film would likely end up going to the more overtly “prestigious” films, such as the song of bernadette or the life of emile zola, while their far better and more commercially viable rivals (casablanca for bernadette, the awful truth for zola) would win outstanding picture. the actual best picture winners have an asterisk next to them. what’s also interesting to consider is the importance of the best director category: most of the time, a split in picture and director will tell you what’s clearly the runner-up. those years, usually, give you a good sense of how the two awards would shake out.

Outstanding Picture / Unique and Artistic Film

1929: The Broadway Melody*; The Divine Lady

1930: The Big House; All Quiet on the Western Front*

1931: Cimarron*; Morocco

1932: Grand Hotel*; Bad Girl

1933: Little Women; Cavalcade*

1934: It Happened One Night*; One Night of Love

1935: The Informer; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (** this is one of the few years i think the actual BP winner, Mutiny on the Bounty, would miss out; The Informer was clearly the runner-up for BP with wins in director, actor, and screenplay, while Midsummer was seen as THE artistic triumph of the year, and with its historic write-in cinematography win, there was clearly a lot of passion for it)

1936: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town; The Great Ziegfeld*

1937: The Awful Truth; The Life of Emile Zola*

1938: You Can’t Take It With You*; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Grand Illusion (** this one’s tough... Grand Illusion made history as the first non-english movie nominated for BP, and it clearly had a lot of support, but Snow White was such a monumental moment in Hollywood, and the academy clearly acknowledged that with its honorary award)

1939: Gone with the Wind*; The Wizard of Oz (** this is one of the first years with a clear runaway favorite for best picture, which makes guessing the way the other award would go very difficult! i’m leaning towards Oz purely because of its technical achievements, but i’m not confident about that choice at all.)

1940: Rebecca*; The Grapes of Wrath

1941: How Green Was My Valley*; Citizen Kane

1942: Yankee Doodle Dandy; Mrs. Miniver*

1943: Casablanca*; The Song of Bernadette

1944: Going My Way*; Wilson

1945: The Bells of St. Mary’s; The Lost Weekend*

1946: The Best Years of Our Lives*; Henry V

1947: Gentleman’s Agreement*; A Double Life

1948: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; Hamlet*

1949: All the King’s Men*; The Heiress

1950: All About Eve*; Sunset Boulevard

1951: A Place in the Sun; An American in Paris*

1952: The Greatest Show on Earth*; The Quiet Man

1953: Roman Holiday; From Here to Eternity*

1954: The Country Girl; On the Waterfront*

1955: Marty*; Picnic

1956: Around the World in 80 Days*; Giant

1957: Peyton Place; The Bridge on the River Kwai

1958: The Defiant Ones; Gigi*

1959: The Diary of Anne Frank; Ben-Hur*

1960: Elmer Gantry; The Apartment*

1961: West Side Story*; Judgment at Nuremberg

1962: To Kill a Mockingbird; Lawrence of Arabia*

1963: Tom Jones*; 8½

1964: Mary Poppins; My Fair Lady*

1965: The Sound of Music*; Doctor Zhivago

1966: A Man for All Seasons*; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1967: In the Heat of the Night*; The Graduate

1968: Oliver!*; 2001: A Space Odyssey

1969: Midnight Cowboy; Z

1970: Airport; Patton*

1971: The French Connection*; The Last Picture Show

1972: The Godfather; Cabaret

1973: The Sting*; The Exorcist

1974: Chinatown; The Godfather, Part II

1975: Jaws; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest*

1976: Rocky*; Network

1977: Star Wars; Annie Hall*

1978: Coming Home; The Deer Hunter*

1979: Kramer vs. Kramer*; All That Jazz

1980: Ordinary People*; Raging Bull

1981: Chariots of Fire*; Reds

1982: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; Gandhi*

1983: Terms of Endearment*; Fanny and Alexander

1984: Amadeus*; The Killing Fields

1985: Out of Africa*; Ran

1986: Platoon*; Blue Velvet

1987: Moonstruck; The Last Emperor*

1988: Rain Man*; Who Framed Roger Rabbit

1989: Driving Miss Daisy*; Born on the Fourth of July

1990: Ghost; Dances with Wolves*

1991: The Silence of the Lambs*; JFK

1992: Unforgiven*; Howards End

1993: Schindler’s List*; The Piano

1994: Forrest Gump*; Three Colors: Red

1995: Braveheart*; Toy Story

1996: Jerry Maguire; The English Patient*

1997: Titanic*; L.A. Confidential

1998: Shakespeare in Love*; Saving Private Ryan

1999: The Cider House Rules; American Beauty*

2000: Traffic; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (** this is another year where i think the actual BP winner, Gladiator, might have missed out. it was a tight three-way race going into oscar night, and if there were two BP awards, i think this consensus might have settled, leaving Gladiator to go home with just actor and some tech awards.)

2001: A Beautiful Mind*; Mulholland Drive

2002: Chicago*; The Pianist

2003: Mystic River; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King*

2004: Million Dollar Baby*; The Aviator

2005: Crash*; Brokeback Mountain

2006: The Departed*; Babel

2007: No Country for Old Men*; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2008: The Dark Knight; Slumdog Millionaire*

2009: The Hurt Locker*; Avatar

2010: The King’s Speech*; The Social Network

2011: The Artist*; The Tree of Life

2012: Argo*; Life of Pi

2013: 12 Years a Slave*; Gravity

2014: Birdman*; Boyhood

2015: Spotlight*; The Revenant

2016: La La Land; Moonlight*

2017: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; The Shape of Water*

2018: Black Panther; Roma (** again, i think Green Book gets bumped out in this scenario, i think Black Panther is precisely the kind of movie that benefits from an award that’s seemingly more ~populist~ while Roma easily snags the unique & artistic prize)

2019: 1917; Parasite*

2020: The Father; Nomadland*

but of course i have no idea at all, and most of these are just my gut reactions lol. what a fun question!

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wyattvsmusic · 4 years

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Joell Ortiz & KXNG Crooked - H.A.R.D. EP REVIEW

Royce Da 5′9″ rapped “If that day should come that we should ever part ways / It'll just be an excuse for us to reunite at Coachella” on SayDatThen, off House Rules, a mixtape by Slaughterhouse that was supposed to be the prelude to their 3rd album, Glass House which didn’t end up coming out because the group disbanded. It’s a big shame because I was a huge Slaughterhouse fan when they were active as a group and I’m a fan of all 4 members as solo artists as well. What’s so crazy about the time that has passed is that all 4 members started putting out their best works since the last Slaughterhouse release so if they reunited, just imagine how great it would be. Anyway, the announcement of Joell Ortiz & KXNG Crooked collab project surprised the shit out of me similar to the way the Slaughterhouse-minus Joe Budden reunion happened on I Will from Eminem’s latest album. KXNG Crooked had a very productive 2019 with the revival of his legendary Weeklys series. He also started Crook’s Corner, a really dope webseries where he has interviewed legends such as Rakim, Black Thought and Eminem. Joell Ortiz is coming off of a winning streak of some of the best albums of his career including Mona Lisa and Monday. Mona Lisa was fully produced by Apollo Brown, who produced Catchin Bodies off this new EP. Apollo Brown also produced two songs on Monday, as did Heatmakerz and J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League who produced a handful of the tracks on H.A.R.D. as well. Other producers on H.A.R.D. include Erick Sermon and !llmind, who Ortiz did an album with in 2015. H.A.R.D. stands for Housing Authority Rap District but this EP goes super hard. The way it starts is so amazing. Before the drums even come in, KXNG Crooked does something I don’t think I’ve heard a rapper do ever which is rap around the producer tag and use it in the lyrics. That’s such a genius yet simple thing to do that I’m amazed that no one prior had come up with (to my knowledge). Things like this are what set Crooked and Joell apart from a lot of their “lyrical rap” peers. The beat produced by Heatmakerz is perfect too. I’ve criticized both Crooked and Joell’s earlier albums because of the beats they picked and I love now at this stage in their careers, they are picking better beats, which make for better songs which make their albums that much more enjoyable. Both Crooked and Joell are super creative when it comes to dope schemes. Crooked had a jazz line where he said, ““Execs never act alone, take turns butt-fucking their artist with a saxophone / Damn that's a cold train.” Joell had a dope scheme about magazines of guns and reading magazines where he said “Give you this whole magazine, until you sick with the lord / You know the vibes, XXL shells hittin' the source.” Probably my favorite scheme on the whole project is Joell’s Star Wars scheme where he said “ “Lay your princess in the sky like she Luke partner / One hand solo out the window, here’s something for you to Chewbacca.” What I love is that they don’t just bar us to death, they give us some content to and tell some stories. We also get solo songs from each of them about Long Beach where Crook is from and Brooklyn where Joell is from on Caddy Bump (LBC) and Wolves (BKLYN). Dope bars are to be expected when you listen to Joell and Crooked and I’m gonna finish this review by dropping some of my favorite punchlines from this EP:

“Bitches know, they wave when I smash past / Try to flag me down like the Star-Spangle at half-mast.”

“I got on my grizzly then go get the honey / Wanted more than the bare necessities”

“Got the amphetamines from a Blood / That's red and meth”

“I hold the stick high like I'm conducting a symphony”

“See some artist request love, I just blacken my thoughts”

“I rap circles around him like a basketball for Christmas”

Fav Tracks: H.A.R.D., Get Ya Money, Catchin Bodies, Memorial Day

#Joell Ortiz #KXNG Crooked #Crooked I #H.A.R.D.#Mello Music Group #Slaughterhouse #Heatmakerz #!llmind #Apollo Brown #Erick Sermon #Justice League

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jeaneybean · 6 years

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Storming castle werewolf

with a lot less storming and a lot more ‘how do I manipulate everyone and not get ourselves killed’

Entering town Wolf-Wolf paws at his nose and is unable to follow the scent anymore. While Nitahn takes Wolf Wolf around the marketplace to see if he can catch any scents while Vera and Oz find a room for the night and board the donkeys. After Nitahn doesn’t find anything he finds the inn, where Vera and Oz have found out that there’s been a lot of travelers in the area, and that there’s been a lot of activity at the castle. The group has dinner (Vera nearly losing her hand to offering Wolf Wolf some meat) and they head to bed.

The next morning they again get out around town, heading to the church for a bit. Nothing evil there, but they slightly interupt service when they bring in a wolf and a fucking horse (since Steve has again hidden his horn) into the building. After Nitahn makes sure there’s not a wedding ceremony happneing because oz has him so paranoid he just leaves. After a bit more searching the town and asking about Nitahn’s ‘brother’ they head up to the castle to try and get an audience. A man comes from the castle to ask them their business, to which Vera replies that they’re there to pay respect to the family on their way through the area, and that they have family business to discuss. After he leaves after promising to pass along the information Vera feins that she’s made a faux paus and didn’t ask for his name. He’s Hanz the younger, the younger sibling of the Schwarzesholz family. Vera introduces the party as the Isha group, earning herself ‘We ain’t never heard no Isha clan’ “Then I’m doing my job right.”.

They head to the inn for the night, and the next day Oz starts annotating the letter from Vera’s husband and realizes that he’s kind of written a reply. He asks her if he can write her husband and Vera says of course he can. Her husband is brilliant, but he doesn’t make friends easily and he’d enjoy someone to talk magic with. She starts trying to teach Wolf-Wolf to ‘take it nice’ when it comes to eating food, but doesn’t get much headway. After patting his ears she tells him his fur is weird, then remarks to Oz that she doesn’t really have much experience with animals. Her husband has a cat that’s 28 years old, though. Oz scores a good knowledge nature roll to know that’s unreasonably old for a cat. That, with the additional information from the letter that focused on Necromany questions and how Vera both fears undead and has an interest in anything creepy/vampire skeletons, Oz has a suspicious that her husband is a necromancer.

A letter comes for the party, and when Vera realizes it’s gibberish she hands it over to Nitahn, who can read it for traveler’s cant. It’s from Fyodora, and she says that there’s a back pathway into the castle and if they come after dark she’ll be able to meet with them, because she’s up in the keep. So the party gets ready, Nitahn taking a bath to make himself nice and Vera harassing him while he’s taking the bath. “Are we friends, Havilah?” “not right now we’re not!”

After asking Steve if he wants to come to the party sets out, going along a quiet cliffside path until they get to a dead end. Nitahn knocks a few times, and a footman opens the door. He leads them through the castle, Steve following after. The group passes by a corridor that smells heavily of death and decay. The Footman explains that’s where they keep the remains of those who don’t take the change. It gives a somber sort of feel as the group follows in the castle.

At a point the footman leaves them, giving direction on where to go from there. Vera asks him if he’ll be okay, and the footman says he’ll be fine if no one catches him. Vera advises him to go back to Steve if he’s in danger, as Steve had to hang back in a more narrow passage. They continue towards where they were told to go, Nitahn’s enlightened ring fading when they’re almost at the wall. So in pitch darkness they push forward, Nitahn knocking on the wall.

A hidden passage opened and there’s Vlad staring out at the group unimpressed. Vera leans to the side and gives him a shit eating grin at the sight of his eye, which while still there now has a scar over it. “Hey.” She says and Vlad grunts unhappily. After a moment though Fyodora is there and Nitahn squeezes past Vlad to check in on her. She’s fine, dressed well. Vlad’s also dressed a lot better.

Surprisngly blows don’t happen and the group is willing to listen to Vlad and Fyodora to learn what’s happened. Vlad had been sent to grab Fyodora and bring her south, because the head of the clan is trying to consolodate power and build up forces in the wake of rumors of Von Rothrine strength waning. Juno, previousy married into the Vodyvolk clan, sent her son Vlad north to find a specific halfblood. Bastard daughter to the pack leader of the Vodyvolk, a girl who’d been passed on after birth to a group of Travelers. Fyodora is Vlad’s half sister. Due to her high status and worth, Juno has yet to marry her off like she has several others. The ones that possesed the ability to slightly control their wolf form when they were infected were inducted into the family, and all that didn’t posses the ability to change are in the cellars.

Vlad pops an additional prerequesite to the plan: there are six others waiting for the full moon to be infected and face the change. He wants them all out, because traveling with Fyodora and getting to know her has helped him realize that this plan is a horrible plan. Vera asks if he’ll face reprecussions for this and he’s basically like ‘if I’m caught, yeah’ because being the son of the effective ruler of the pack doesn’t mean a lot if you betray the pack. Vera’s like ‘well, we’ll have to get you out too then’. They have some banter, with Vera being like ‘Hi, daddy issues. I’m also daddy issues.” which earns a laugh from Vlad.

They (and I mean Vera, Oz has started to harass Nitahn) as Vlad various questions about the family. What Juno’s goals are, what’s the proper terms of address, how to adress the family, what subjects to avoid. That kind of thing. And Vera starts getting a plan to cover up the old one that she can’t use anymore (She was going to blame Vlad for everything and point out what a security risk he was for kidnapping a girl from Von Rothrine territory, dragging her through the territory, getting into a fight in town, all that jazz. That won’t work.) because she’s wants to get some use out of Anton Bellek and his fuckery.

They say their goodbyes to Fyodora and Vlad and head back out the way they came. Once they get back to the catacombs however, when they pass the smelly hallway they all hear a noise. Vera doesn’t detect any evil, but they keep hearing a sort of wet meat smacking noise, like something’s moving. Instead of investigating that they get the fuck out of dodge and head back to the inn.

Fyodora sends a second letter that starts out readable by anyone as ‘I don’t want to see you again Havilah’ but he can read (after the initial shock) that she’s still safe and that an invite to the castle for dinner should come in the next few days. And, indeed, Hanz the younger comes himself to the inn to extend the invitation, asking for any dietary concerns like a proper polite host. They exchange plesantries and are told to dress nice if they’re able before Hanz leaves. The eldest barmaid is like ‘Well, that sounds interesting!’ and Vera’s like ‘oh, doesn’t it?”

Oz takes to the wagon to edit the dress Nitahn bought Vera to fit her and edit a set of armitage’s dress clothes to fit himself while Nitahn heads into town to buy something to cover up his smell on advice of Vlad. He buys two vials of perfume and after Wolf-Wolf leads him to a soap vendor and is like ‘hey i found that scent we were looking for!!!!’ Nitahn buys him a treat. The party gets ready and Oz i able to tell that the cologne Nitahn bought is based in fox urine. He doesn’t tell him and Nitahn douses himself liberally with it. Without their armor but with their silvered weapons the party heads to the castle after a last minute stop to buy a cask of whiskey to offer as a gift.

Vlad had warned them that there would likely be a large number of people in the hall for dinner as a show of force, because Juno has been making a lot of family members. Vera steps foward and adresses the family: first Deidric the clan head, then she adresses Juno as the countes of the vodyvolk wilds (which earns an eyebrow raise, thanks for the in Vlad) and when Hanz arrives a bit late she addresses him as proper. Juno looks to Vlad and he gives a sharp shake of his head; she’s asking if they’re the ones who nearly killed him a few days prevously. (He’s got a gnarly scar on his abdomen, Vera apologized for nearly bisecting him)

Plesantries are made and Vera explains that they’ve been in the country long enough that if you play meek and skirt under the lords of the land then you’re a target, so visiting the family to pay them duty due is only proper. She also alludes to having an interest in finding like minds against the Von Rothrines, citing the town of Hora that the group met in four months ago that was filled with kind people and then very abruptly wasn’t from the thirst. “Revenge, or justice?” “Justice, on a grand scale.”

Having piqued the interest of the countess they settle in to dinner. Nitahn sits by Deidric and gets talked to about hunting for a bit, and Juno calls in the wolves. Literally. Like 30 wolves come ito the room and start picking on the scraps. Questions start coming Nitahn’s way, like “So, where are you from?” “oh, all over, I’m a traveler.” “Traveler, huh? So, dragonport, dormond, rusk?” “All of the above!” “you’re pretty hairy.” “Yeah....” “That’s a nice wolf you got there. Few steps from wild, huh?” “Yeah, I found him, he’s a stray.” “You have a good connection with him? Like, almost understand him?” “Well, I’m working on it, he doesn’t understand me the best.” And he lets them down by not being a werewolf, but shortly after gains some points when someone else asks “So how’d he lose the ear?” and Nitahn awkwardly is like “He bit me. So i bit him back.” leading to anyone listening to burst into laughter and appreciaction. One asks him why he smells like fox piss, to which Nitahn looks betrayed at Oz. Oz doesn’t know why nitahn is looking at him but he smirks down the table.

Oz is across from an older woman who’s got her eyes set on a sweet little young thing and seductivley eats a chunk of meat. Oz politely smiles and makes small talk with Hanz.

Meanwhile Vera’s doing her best to deal with the beast herself. She explains they’ve traveled the north and when Juno asks about it’s status, she tells her about Anton Bellek and his silver mine ran by humans. Getting a steady supply of silver into the hands of humans aligned with them (or wolves in human form) could be useful. lAs well as having a vampire ally, one who killed his master. Vera expresses distaste and how she’s unable to work for him due to her code of ethics, and Juno remarks how there’s no good or evil. (Which sounds like something someone evil would say). Juno presses Vera to know what she’s after and Vera tries simpering away, to mixed sucess. Juno does allow her to back down, stating that it’s soemthing to go over at another time. She also makes a bit of small talk, asking her how far along she is. Here the mask slips when Vera does the math, and, oh fuck she’s six months along.

Juno has the cask of whiskey they brought brought out, and suggests that Wolf-Wolf take the first drink because they’re far less likely to have given him protection from poison. The poor boy doesn’t like whiskey, with Nitahn apologizing and explaing they’ve only given him beer before. Booze is offered to the two men, with none offered to Vera because Juno’s been pregnant, she’s not going to make a pregnant woman drink. She also extends an invitation to stay at the keep, which Vera says she’ll get her companion’s opinion on before accepting or denying the genrous gesture.

Deidric puts an arm around NItahn and invites him out to a hunt, with Vlad interjecting and being like ‘oh, uncle, he’s probably tired’ and getting him out of hunting what probalby would be humans. Vlad also compliments him on the fox piss cologne, they’ll be smelling it for weeks when it rains. Nitahn is less enthused about this entire thing. The three gather and talk for a quick moment, Nitahn vetoing that idea and being like ‘blame it on me, say I’m not used to being in places like this beccause I’m a traveler.’ They have a bit of banter, with Oz bringing up to Nitahn whas would happen to Vera if she’s bitten. She’s a paladin, but what about the baby? To which Vera immedently gets a sour face and is like ‘I don’t- no. You know what? You need to remind me to ask Nik what happens, becuase I’m not thinking about this. if he didn’t want to get these letters he wouldn’t have pulled me out of the canals as a child’ and explains to them that she’d been trying to swim to the tarrasque. Nitahn knows that it’s basically monster godzilla and is like ‘whyyyyy’.

They make polite exit and head back to the inn for the night, finding that Steve had gotten baked with the stable boy and probalby has punked him a few times with the horn. They go to bed, and Vera dreams. There’s a bear or maybe she’s the bear, she knows what her name used to mean. And she’s running, and there’s wolves, but is she running away from the wolves or are the wolves running from her? Then it changes and the bear is running to the wolves, rearing up on it’s hind feet and it stands tall and powerful above them.

She wakes up and is like ‘I blame you’ to her stomach before doing her usual prayers. And when she opens her eyes at the end there’s a bear there. She knows what it is and why it’s there, and all she can do is reach out and grab it’s nose and start crying.

oz hears the sound of her crying through the door and gets Nitahn, hwo opens the door to find Vera on her knees and sobbing, reaching up to cradle the bear’s head. He closes the door and asks oz ‘Was there a bear in there when you left?” to Oz’s stunned response of no. Nitahn opens the door again and is like ‘Vera, where’d that bear come from?’ and Vera responsd in high pitched sobbing.

Eventually she calms down enough to be understood, saying ‘He’s too big to fit through the door’ “Well, how’d he get through the door?” ‘he didn’t’ “...How did he get through the window?” ‘he didn’t?’ Nitahn looks at the intact walls, ceiling, and floor, before looking back at her. “How did he get in here?”

“He’s mine. I thought if I fell any night it’d be last night, but he’s here and he’s mine.” And with that Oz can make his knowledge religion check to guess that this is Vera’s paladin mount, a magic creature gifted to her by her goddess. And it’s a bear.

Vera is later displeased at the realiziation that the bear comes with a saddle and she’s expected to ride it.

#The idiots do a adventure

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colleenmurphy · 6 years

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&& 49, 55, 62, 95, 98 ♡

Yay! Another! Thank you so much @lebratprincess I’m having entirely too much fun answering these but shh! Don’t tell the Mun! :-D

49. What saying or quote do you live by?

“Always try to be a little kinder than is necessary.” - JM Barrie

My mother often read Barrie’s works to me when I was small and instilled in me this very quote. I’ve found that a little kindness to others goes a very very long way and it’s always nice to make someone smile. You might be the only person to spread a little cheer to them and lord knows that’s what people need these days.

55. Favorite fairy tale?

Oh my! I’ve got many but if we’re talking traditional fairy stories I drove my mother insane each night begging her to read Little Red Riding Hood to me. I knew it by heart but that didn't stop me from trying to will Little Red not to talk to that big bad wolf. It was only when I was older and married for the first time that I learned that not all wolves are hairy on the outside. It’s the wolves masquerading as humans that you've got watch out for but that’s a story for a different time.

62. Seven characters you relate to?

Oh my. Here’s the list off the top of my head.

1. Rosaleen from Angela Carter’s The Company of Wolves - We were both dreamers until we met wolves masquerading as men. Her tale ended a bit better than mine did.

2. Sarah from Labyrinth - Another dreamer that found the world unfair until she had her world shaken about. She came out changed and so did I, we grew up a bit for the better. I've been told I look quite a bit like her. Don’t you think? ;-D

3. Wendy from Peter Pan - Yet another girl that resisted trying to grow up but found herself taking on larger more adult roles. She was also my favorite character from Peter Pan when I was a child.

4. Morgan Le Fey from the Legend of King Arthur - A strong self assured woman that held great power. A woman I found myself playing the part of when I played out in the woods back home.

5. Sally Bowles from Cabaret - I always liked Sally. She had a tough go of things and she partially inspired me to travel and make the world my own. Be bold, be unapologetic, be yourself. I’m also a sucker for the song Cabaret or Mein Herr both of which I've been known to sing when drunk. Just ask Helene. :-D

6. Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz - Ah! Another dreamer! I've been in Dorothy’s shoes just wishing I could go home. ( I even tried clicking my heels sadly it didn't work ) but she persevered and with a little help from her friends she made it through and found the will to fight the Wicked Witch and she even made it home in one piece.

7. Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby - To me, she had everything. She lived life in a guiled cage and ended up with nothing. She’s more of a cautionary tale for me because she’s what I would have become had I stayed with Frank Flannery.

95. Favorite app on your phone?

Oh man! I’m forever taking photos of everything and everyone and not to mention my travels and I freaking love the app FreePrints. It’s a photo service that lets you have the photos on your phone printed up and sent to you in the post. All you pay is shipping. For a sentimental scrap booking fool like me it’s perfect.

98. Favorite historical era?

Oh my...how do I choose?! I’d say the 20′s. I've always had an affinity for the Jazz Age. To me it’s all about freedom and fun. Something I lacked greatly in my life with Frank. My Granny was also born in 1920 so there’s that. :-D

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retphienix · 2 years

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This feels pretty damn good to knock off the list to be honest :)

So I finished Bloodmoon... as far as I care to at least (sorry to say!)

This expansion, in addition to some misc quests (which I did most if not all of), and the main quest (which I took the human path on), also has a pretty decently sized Town questline where you make a town.

That's usually my jam, but I've actually watched someone do that questline before and it kinda isn't- I probably wouldn't find too much wrong with it being the constant back and forth that it is but having seen it done I didn't feel too interested in doing it for myself this time around.

ANYWHO!

Blood moon thoughts?

It's like 50x better than Tribunal lmao.

It's not some magnificent perfectly crafted expansion, but it's just way better than Tribunal's "Go to the sewers!" format.

Solstheim is a pretty decent location that is genuinely just enjoyable to explore.

The main quest is a 100x better than Tribunal in terms of what you do- there's a lot of variety in what you do tbh.

And the main quest is pretty cool in story too with a lot more to find interesting than Tribunal- you help a struggling fort only for it to get attacked by werewolves, you help the local people and learn of their ways which is cool, you can become a werewolf and do stuff from their side of the fence instead, and the ultimate enemy- while a bit backloaded as Hircine doesn't hog the spotlight for the human route until the end- he's a good villain, he's a daedric prince and all that jazz, good stuff.

There's still some flaws, or at least imperfections.

Not a ton of variety in enemies- or at least it really feels it. You fight like 100 berserks and witches, 200 goblin guys, and some wolves and bears, then the expansion ends. It's a decent chunk of variety on paper (which I won't list here) but it doesn't feel it when you just fight berserkers and goblins all day.

And while Tribunal had the dreaded sewers that you explore a hundred times, Bloodmoon has a hundred little crypts which are all the exact same layout.

There's More, just like how Tribunal has More- but it's kinda funny how you explore 1 dungeon a hundred times in Tribunal, and there are a hundred dungeons all with the same layout in Bloodmoon lmao.

I honestly prefer BM's format on that tbh. But it's two cut corner design formats either way, regardless of reason, I'm just annoyed with Tribunals sewers and unphased by the crypt spam in BM. Personal preference.

But yeah! Now I can say I've at least played through both expansions and the base game of Morrowind.

My take away of the WHOLE deal in as few words as I can?

Tribunal can be skipped tbh. Kinda boring. You do get to kill a living god though which is neat, and there's some good loot, but really the best thing it gives ya is a good Power which restores 25 to all stats- a godsend for those "Fucking lord, what curse or drain spell hit me?" moments. Also the final boss is harder BEFORE the final encounter, which is a fun challenge to do for fun :)

Bloodmoon is pretty cool! I hate werewolf and vampire transformation in bethesda games so that part is entirely moot, but the land, quests, fights, all pretty cool! Didn't really give me any memorable loot tbh, got a big mace with great damage but I ain't using that. Also they clearly had bias, there are a lot of cutscenes in this expansion- I didn't see ANY of them until I used the dev ring, because all of them but the final one are werewolf exclusive, lmao.

Morrowind?

I fucking really like morrowind :)

Mostly the early game though, tbh. The early game where you're pathetic and trash and death is around every corner while you struggle to find so much as a shoulder pad? I LOVE how that feels in this. The rest is good too, but man does early game Morrowind stand out as an experience- one I'd gladly revisit. End game is a bit too easy, you get strong fast. I could rectify that with adjusting the difficulty but that's a band aid I wasn't willing to bother with.

Amazing game, I like Morrowind a lot, probably my favorite TES game. Nice stuff :)

#RetPlays #Morrowind #TES #The Elder Scrolls #Bloodmoon

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vieuxnoyesrp · 7 years

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Isa. Elijah Mikaelson is an incredibly difficult character to nail; as the ethical backbone of his family, he is often charged with not only acting as his siblings’ moral compass, but also with damage control for the chaos they leave in their wake. On top of that are Elijah’s own emotional complexities and vulnerabilities, which are often at odds with the aloof and austere exterior he likes to exude. We were wowed by you attention to detail in this application, and the way you managed to tiptoe the line Elijah walks between disapproval and condescension, careful not to tip too far in the direction of superciliousness and superiority. It was clear to us that you had done an incredible amount of research in preparation for this application and we couldn’t be more honored or pleased to welcome you to Vieux Noyés RP.

Isa, thank you very much for applying. As for Elijah…

⚜ ~ WELCOME TO VIEUX NOYÉS!!! ~ ⚜

Wondering what to do next? Click here and let the good times roll!

⤜ Name/alias: Isa.

⤜ Pronouns: She/her.

⤜ Age: 21.

⤜ Timezone: AEST/UTC +10.

⤜ Activity: I’m on uni break from now until February, so I’d say around 7 with work.

⤜ Best form of contact: Tumblr.

⤜ Any triggers? Nope, but thank you.

⤜ How did you find Vieux Noyés? From memory, I think it was a supernatural related RPG tag.

⤜ What drew you to the RP? I adore the shows and books this roleplay is inspired by and I have a huge respect for design… Vieux Noyés stood out immediately because it was so beautifully put together, then I read the plot and was hooked! The Appreciation Blog was also really encouraging to browse through! It seems like a wonderful group of people collaborate here.

⤜ What is one subplot/element from the Plot page that you are particularly looking forward to seeing in this roleplay? I’m watching (binging?) The Originals for the first time and the tension between supernatural species has me on the edge of my seat—it’s clear this is just as prevalent in the roleplay. I especially love that the VN plot incorporates the Salem witch cult to the mix. To see just how much pressure the NOLA coven can withstand, and how many shifts in magical balance their home can endure is exciting. A power struggle between the Originals and Marcel won’t matter if the city crumbles! How the wares, psychics, hunters and humans contribute to that war will also be undoubtedly epic (so basically all the elements, I’m terrible).

⤜ Desired character? The one and only Elijah Mikaelson.

⤜ Why do you want this character? I’ve always gravitated toward influential types who are strong willed and intrinsic to other’s development (I love to plot!). I’ve written as sadistic business moguls, security heads in dystopian angelic societies and warlock gang lords from the 1920s… I’m fascinated by prominent figures in history and the effect power has over an individual’s actions and sentiments, so I like characters that are dealt immense responsibility. I’m equally intrigued by their inherent weaknesses and the blurry line that separates honour and evil. The noble stag, the ripper of hearts, the eldest living Original vampire epitomises both extremes. Elijah’s Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator states that as an Architect, he presents as a paradox to most observers, and that he lives by glaring contradictions that nonetheless make perfect sense from a rational perspective. His sense of morality is unparalleled among vampires, but simultaneously he is one of the most dangerous and unpredictable of them all—I can’t wait to explore that synergy.

⤜ What are your future plans for this character? The Mikaelson siblings haven’t had a lot of fortune in the ol’ love department. Elijah particularly struggles to avert his attention from Klaus long enough to establish deep connections outside his family. It doesn’t help that on the extraordinarily rare occasion his focus has been elsewhere, tragedy has struck: first Tatia, then Celeste. There’s a quote from TO when Elijah says to his brother, “I have forsaken every single one of my desires in the name of your ridiculous redemption. No more. If I want something, I’ll take it. And nothing, nothing will stand in my way.” In the RP, I want Elijah to be pushed to this degree if he develops a romantic interest, triggering irrevocable consequences for his relationships and those inhabiting New Orleans.

⤜ Put yourself in your character’s shoes. Give us a few lines to describe a day in the life of your character… where do they live? Where and how do they spend their time? As Klaus expertly manipulates those in the French Quarter like pawns in a wicked game of chess, Elijah is close by to collect the pieces, regardless of how damaged they may be. While his dedication to his family is relentless, he finds peace in the Tulane University library or at Rousseau’s on nights featuring live entertainment. Further spare moments are spent playing the piano or writing in his journals which are kept in his offices at the Plantation House: a sanctuary for his business in the quarter and a beloved, albeit temporary home.

⤜ Give us three headcanons regarding your character of choice:

For a millennia, Elijah’s driving priority has been to protect his brothers and sister from their father, overconfident rivals, and each other. Elijah places family above all, even at the expense of his own happiness, but when they aren’t faced with imminent threats he utilises rare moments of peace to explore lands abroad; his favourite destination being Denmark where he lived with Klaus and Rebekah in the 1500s. Not sharing his sibling’s contempt for humans, Elijah has made many illustrious friends in his travels such as Caravaggio, Hemingway, and Ellington. Back in NOLA, Elijah continues to orchestrate alliances, believing unity is a necessary requirement for success.

After fleeing Mikael in the 11th century, Elijah settled with his family in Southern France. To assimilate into noble society, and for their true nature to remain undetected as they discovered the extent of their affliction, it was necessary to adopt local customs. This meant learning aristocratic manners and studying the arts. As his brothers found solace in paint or the blood of the townspeople, Elijah read every piece of literature he could get his hands on—discovering that strength came, not only from family, but from knowledge. This early exposure to formal education piqued a relentless curiosity that developed into something more sinister over the centuries. Elijah’s intellect is now his greatest asset, supernatural abilities aside. His penchant for establishing contingencies has proven invaluable and in battle, his strategic and calm demeanour only heightens his physical prowess making him near unbeatable (note: it’s always wise to carry a pocket handkerchief, just in case there’s a mess).

Elijah exudes elegance and is renowned for possessing an unfaltering gentlemanly demeanour. He values virtue over narcissism, but over a thousand years of life, an unparalleled encyclopaedic understanding of the world, and the inability to be killed has made the vampire supremely confident. He has no qualms reminding those that have forgotten that his niceties are a curtesy, not a given. Sassy Elijah is inevitable.

⤜ What are some plots you’d like to explore with your character?

As it mentions in the Plot Teasers section of Elijah’s biography, his future is entwined with his brother’s role in creating more hybrids, which will test loyalty. Furthermore, how will this impact his relationship with the Crescent Wolves and Hayley?

I’d love to do some flashbacks exploring the Originals’ historical ties to the city. There’s a great book I picked up after starting this application called “Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans” and the recounts from the early twentieth century in particular are magnificent.

I want to see Elijah’s investment in Gia Talwar’s training and plot how he will respond to her tenacious spirit. I imagine he’ll be a bit overprotective too.

Will Elijah intercede between Elena Gilbert and Klaus if they meet again? Can Elijah ignore the doppelgänger’s intoxicating familiarity?

I’m sure the unknown whereabouts of Finn has Elijah on edge, tracking him down may become something of a priority.

⤜ Para sample: Inspired by events and quotes: x

RFP

⤜ Would you like to be considered for another character if not accepted as your primary choice? Ooh probably Rebekah Mikaelson. Keep it in the family ;)

⤜ Have you read the rules? Thoroughly.

⤜ Anything else? Thank you for taking the time to read this application. Elijah is a considerably complex fellow and a beloved canon character, so I hope I’ve done him justice!

#elijah mikaelson rp #literate rpg #the originals roleplay #to rp #crossover rp #accepted

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genjasolstice · 5 years

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Resurfacing a piece gifted to Genevieve and Sunja following their wedding day a year ago. Happy Anniversary to the both of you.

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We were due for a Genja Solstice.

I remember meeting the both of you for the first time. Genevieve, popping up near my desk, new from New York and more professional and tenured than the entire GREYSF staff put together (...we’d find out ...sorry, MJ), and Sunja coming to meet us in those first few days, hanging out near the window at work, catching up in the light of the sun and on whatever drama that particular day served up. I remember the friendship growing, mostly through G at work. And by way of being her work wife, falling in love with Sunja in parallel. You cannot hear the way G talks about Sunja and not - the depth of her caring is so evident in how she speaks of him. We have unbelievable memories from those first 2 years; from 2am pitch nights to 2am hamburgers.

I also remember Genevieve's feeble attempt at conniption fit over a New Years Eve - just wanting a proposal, a ring - to be Sunja’s wife. Pouting outside of the Make Out room trying to make a point - I’m laughing right now recalling it. I remember feeling that Sunja’s greatest art was his romance to Genevieve - the art pieces, the jean jackets, the hours toiling at night in secrecy to bring these things to life - and asking him to push a deadline up on the most precious form of romance and commitment - a proposal - would go against every fiber of his creativity. Good things take time.

Well thank the Lord you did it Sunja, and made way for us to have a front row seat to what would be one of the most iconic weddings I’ve attended in my lifetime.

Genja Solstice was the first break in the hiatus of weddings I’ve experienced for the last 4 years. I’ve never been able to complain about how many weddings/ showers/ bachelorettes I’ve got to juggle physically and financially for the summer – I just don’t have enough close friends. I’m okay with it. This past weekend in Dripping, though .... was a hell of a falling off the wagon.

I love you, Genevieve, and I love Sunja. Both magical in your existence, unapologetically yourselves, and unsparing in doling out your love for each other in personal, non-flashy ways. It feels so real. In Talib’s foreword, I registered with the notion of G being “scared to introduce her friends to Sunja… out of fear they would like him more.” He is a fresh thing, untarnished by the outside world, blossoming and loving and gentle. He is so damned likeable. And, as previously mentioned, he will forever be my Burger King - the only man I’ve truly ever eaten in non-tensioned silence with - peeling off to a relic burger joint two doors down while the rest of our friends partied for a birthday.

Genevieve, you command any room you enter, squinty-eyed as you hone focus on your next victim (you refuse to wear glasses whaaaaaat whyyyyyyy),** let laughs escape from deep in your soul, and are forward and open and strong in your convictions. I have once, rather famously said “To Genevieve, fact and opinion are the same.” Genevieve, if you were a professional athlete, I whole heartedly believe you’d play scrappy ... for the sheer fun of it.

Your bachelorette was the event I began to believe in humanity again. Before I touch on the supernaturality of the friend group, do know that I am a generally fear-laced, anxiety-prone human. I need alone time. I need sleep. I need deep and constant hydration. I need to talk about these things with whoever will listen. The love and fun of G’s friends that weekend taught me I might not need any of those things if I am enjoying myself and the company I keep, enough. The group of friends should be studied closely, appreciated for the individual traits and how they contribute to the ecosystem of the group. I felt like I was on safari, but if you got to hang out with the animals close up and they give you lots of compliments. People in the crew do what they want when they want to do it, with the team behind them cheering them on - usually with a “FUCK ME UP!”. They make decisions, and laugh together at the wrong ones, and prefer anything that makes for a better story.

G’s friends are family. There are actual real-life family units within this chosen family, but the sibling connection you feel and the peace a loving one provides is palpable. It contributes to the strength of the tribe. There is no competition. If there are big feelings, the words associated with them are released immediately - unsavory sentiments do not stay trapped within this group. I could speak on their beauty and palate of ethnicities and skin tones and hand movements and hair textures that I am absolutely mesmerized by; how they speak so freely, handle their business and work, and never seem tired. About how every conversation is a deep one. How intelligent each of them is - another thread of similarity none of them seem acknowledge but all just know. They understand life is for living, and they lean into experiences with reckless abandon. I learned this weekend they all said yes to moving to New York some years ago while rolling to Boyz Noize. They actually did it. I’m still shaken up.

The wedding weekend started slowly for me, at my weekend cottage, so beautiful and out in the open that I felt as though I was checking into rehab. I could have stayed there for 3 months of summer, easily. Doing nothing and losing my edge. There is a bench swing attached to an oak tree that I will bring my morning coffee to and swing for about an hour. After a stint of getting unreasonably lost with Uber (Does this story belong here? Probably not), I make way to the event, excited to see everyone but somehow overwhelmed by anxiety. Bird, my guardian angel, pulls me aside for a conversation that becomes something much bigger. About my thoughts holding me back, what I have to offer to this world, and how to tap into strength and be my own source of abundance, acceptance and love. It will trigger me to go home that night, stay up 3 hours listening to The Women Who Run with Wolves (completing the book by the end of the weekend), and decide I am going to make some cataclysmic changes in my life to direct it where it needs to go. Weirdly, I’m realizing, the weekend does become a rehab.

Saturday is a day and night out in Austin with new friends. I am out eating lunch alone, in one place, in all of Texas, and I see them outside. I had been texting with Amber and we had planned to meet up later, but by some stroke of luck, mid-bite of brisket, they materialized in front of me. Of all the restaurants, of all the cities, of all the people. They were only outside because Rachel wanted to buy a homeless woman food. The day was more good conversations, sugary shots from the bartender at Jackalopes Scates took $120 from the night prior, which would turn to me playing dice with Scates and 5 beautiful, dangerous, dirty, tattooed men (I thought Austin was going to have more cowboys?), bars bars bars, vegan bowls and drinks and dancing at gay bars. We become part of a block party on 6th Street while walking and eating pizza and checking out some snakes.

We find out the next day Courtney will much later lock herself out of her hotel room in the middle of the night while naked, and have to yank down a common area curtain to go speak to the concierge. You cannot repeat this story unless she brings it up because I don’t even think I am supposed to know it. In any event, Genevieve has more wonderful friends who I also want to be friends with for as long as they’ll let me.

Saturday is the wedding. G, despite it being your fucking wedding weekend, you make it a point to think of me, text me how much I mean to you on Friday night, and graciously extend an invite for me to come whenever. So, beyond thoughtful. I take up the opportunity after lunch in Drippings with Courtney, Rachel and Sarah, who got rear ended an hour before by a 16 year old named Luke Harrison Ford who was late for his summer lifeguarding job… truly. We do make-up to Staple Sisters, people have wine to kill the nerves that hangovers have generously exacerbated, and we head out. I head down to the area G had toured me the night before with her sick ass pony, to have my breath taken away by the backdrop of the ceremony and the weight of realizing... it’s here. Baby’s breath peppers the alter that will frame the ceremony of two people I love, and behind them, a crystal clear creek with cattails, sweet little frogs, and ciccaedas chirping. We have a warm breeze (is there anything better in this life?), and New York style park jazz playing for us.

Sarah and I keep looking around (why? we still don’t know). We are talking to each other but neither of us are listening. And then the moment is here. The xx plays, and lithe, beautiful Talib appears, his shoulders back and down, gliding along the white rose petals, to the archway he will officiate from. He is the perfect entity to accept and deliver the responsibility of officiating a wedding and a lifetime of love together. He professes on the subject of Love. It sounds metaphorical, it is not. You could register for one of his courses. For this - it couldn’t be more meaningful. Sunja surfaces in a suit that makes me want a suit - mauve crush velvet. His skin is glowing. Next is Mona and Austin, followed by Bella and Jared, Sunja’s siblings, and the Plahey girls. When Ajinder and Parmeet surface, I have goosebumps. For most of this 95 degree event, I will be showing anyone who will give me the time of fucking day, that I have goosebumps. Women are so beautiful and powerful, and knowing the heart of the bride is in both these girls hands and safe forever. I think of the secrets and stories and laughter they have shared in this lifetime. These are the girls. They sit down in front of Sarah and I, with their thick, tousled hair, in their blush chiffons, fanning themselves in the heat and air that is rich with love.

After what felt like eternity, escorted on each side by her loving parents, Genevieve emerges.

I do not plan on crying at this wedding but will end up crying violently at this wedding. It is not me, watching Genevieve walk down the aisle and imagining myself – something that triggers crying so often for people. No. This is me, seeing Genevieve, the bride who is so beautiful and has wanted this since she was itty bitty and embodied what it means to be a good partner whole heartedly. She is walking down that aisle and passing the threshold, no matter her fears and hurts and worries that day or that lifetime has served up to her, knowing she can handle it and that her marriage will continue to conquer these hurdles that she is challenged with, and she will chose to show up anyways. Knowing how important this day was and her friendships were there, did it for me. It was at this wedding that I got it.

The vows are beautiful – and I refuse to say which was better even though I know Genevieve is reading this hoping I will reveal it. I will not. It was Sunja’s.

In all seriousness, the vows were exactly what we hoped for and what we needed. Each were laced with words that spoke as much to the person reciting them a as the person they were meant for. And when the you both faced us and acknowledged the crowd, something I had never seen before, it felt so, so meaningful. I was absolutely honored to be there.

And when it was time, Talib, whose cadence and low voice guided us so eloquently and calmly through the ceremony, announced you both life partners. I was deeply moved.

There are moments in a wedding that you feel that what you are watching is some kind of a movie, show, or form of entertainment. The bride is with you but mentally on to the next table, conversation, or portion of the evening, playing out everything in her head, the angles for the camera, making sure nothing about the evening is out of place or captured incorrectly. There is a high alert. It feels like you are observing a celebrity amongst common folks. There are outfits, customs and traditions that are reserved for weddings that don’t make much sense outside of them (or in them for that matter), but this wedding had none of that. There was a moment, where myself, on the other side of the room, waiving at G, and honestly dumbfounded when I saw her wave back at me. How was she even noticing me right now? So beautiful and glowing and in the spotlight. But GENEVIEVE ALWAYS NOTICES. And I know it would have been so easy to embody the alternative, I appreciate Genevieve so much during this wedding for stepping outside of the standard bride role and being who we came to support all along – her.

We have a bit of well-timed southern summer rain, some wine, some more excellent music choices. Grimes??? I’m shaken. And the dances. In a very moving moment, Sunja’s mother joins him standing, and supported by him, for a single song. I can only imagine what this meant to each of them. I look at Amber, a table over, who is crying into the sky. You cannot prepare for how these moments will take you away.

We have incredible food and BBQ from the famed Salt Lick. This also leads me to my next tangent - almost everything that has been served up to me, from the locations of these bachelorette and wedding events, to the food and experiences at them, WAS STUFF I WOULD HAVE GONE LOOKING FOR ON MY OWN. It felt like you guys were truly looking out for our best interests and offering experiences you we would enjoy doing. It was such a gift.

The speeches delivered from Adela, Parmeet and Ajinder were windows into G’s former adolescent and collegiate life. Each breathed to life with the personality of the story teller, including Parmeet’s impressive 6-page narrative, which allegedly when confirmed by the wedding coordinator, Genevieve approved with negative hesitation.

As one may expect, once the dance floor opened up we about blew the roof off the place. Most of us were busting at the seams waiting for gen pop to get the okay to infiltrate. I danced with Joe, I danced with Jake, I danced with Talib and almost died from cardiac arrest in the process of keeping up. Sometimes it was all too much for my little heart to handle that I had to face on the goddamn window to settle myself the hell down. Everyone at that event held their own. Everyone at that event realizes their power as individuals is as important as their power as a group. No place is as telling as this as a dance floor. It was the most beautiful way to share the evening with people.

On that note, I want to thank both you and Sunja for this window into your life and love beyond what I already knew. Outside of the wedding itself, which I would lift directly and replicate for myself if I could, you are living out a truth in love that is honoring you as individuals as much as it is as you as partners. I want that. It was clear as day to me that my current path was not this, and I guess Ajinder felt it too, because we both went home and broke up with the people we were seeing. When it’s real, it’s real.

At the end of the weekend it was very clear to me what was important in this life - it is the relationships those who you surround yourself with on this journey. You are truly blessed if you get to laugh with them, which we both know, YOU ARE. You have not only incredible friends, Genevieve, but the most incredible best-friend to call your husband. I am honored to have witnessed this evening, considering it a pivoting moment in my own realization for the life I want to lead, and look forward to seeing the rest of your story unfold.

May we dance on many more floors together.

Love you both,

6.22.19

**((update here G came over last night and now she wears very cool, very hip tortoise shell glasses)

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garden-ghoul · 7 years

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appendix blog, part 3

“working out... is.... good?”

Hey so I’m skipping Eorl, I already blogged him, or at least I read him. I don’t conceptually separate those processes any more, thanks fiends. I, uh, I meant to type friends there but let’s call it a Freudian typo.

Ah fuck yes after the list of Rohirrim kings it’s time for DURIN’S FOLK

So “Durin is the name that the Dwarves used for the eldest of the Seven Fathers of their race.” Are we ever going to hear about the other six fathers, or is it one of those things where dwarves are extremely close-mouthed about it and only Durin, who they cannot ever shut up about, is ever mentioned near other races?

Durin “slept alone” until the awakening of his people. Did all dwarves sleep alone? Is this a gem kindergarten situation? Please say yes. Please say there is a Durin-shaped hole somewhere that is only known to dwarves and they like, sometimes try to fit themselves into it. The one who is the same size and shape as the original Durin becomes Durin the N+1th. “This hole was made for me,” he declares, and fits himself into it. Everyone cheers, and then they fish him out with a hook before he can slide too far into the mountain. Anyway during the time of Durin VI the dwarves, who are in an absolutely defensible position but are too bored to stop mining, wake up a balrog and have to flee. Durin VI’s son Nain goes to Erebor and finds a very nice rock; most of the Khazad-dum dwarves go to the Grey Mountains in the north, because exploring is fun and profitable! Unfortunately north of the mountain everything is full of dragons. “At last Dáin I, together with Frór his second son, was slain at the door of his hall by a great cold-drake.” I really like the implication I just made up, that the north is full of dragons because they migrated from Angband.

BTW Dain’s other sons are Thror and Gror. Apparently there’s something absolutely essential about the fabric of Ea that makes all peoples independently name their kids dumb themed names. Someone during the Song of Songs or w/e they’re calling it these days accidentally kept repeating one of their trills and it became a line of code essential to the nature of life. Fuck this.

Thror goes to Erebor again, and he makes lots of friendly alliances with other dwarf clans and the humans who live near Erebor (’northmen’). UNFORTUNATELY you cannot have a great and extremely wealthy time around here without a dragon hearing about it, so Smaug the Golden comes to say hi. Thrain II and his dad Thror (original flavor) flee in secret, and then Thror goes into Khazad-dum (possibly it was a suggestion of his Ring). Thror’s bff creeps over to the doors of Khazad-dum and a bunch of orcs are hiding behind the doorframe with Thror’s corpse, presumably working his jaw like a puppet, and laughing their asses off. Written on Thror’s face is the word AZOG. He is king of Khazad-dum now. Thror’s bff tries to take his body for burial, but the orcs throw a sack of small change at his head. It sounds pretty funny to me, but for Nar it’s probably a horrifying parody of a weregild, and an insult. When he looks back, the orcs are hacking up Thror’s body to feed to the local crows. Omg I hope orcs and crows are friends.

Thrain and Nar muster a ton of dwarves to fight, because this will not be borne. They cut through most of the orc strongholds like butter BUT Azog has been saving his strength in Khazad-dum. “So began the Battle of Azanulbizar, at the memory of which the Orcs still shudder and the Dwarves weep.” I LOVE. The fact that absolutely everyone who was involved with this battle in any way has inherited trauma about it. War is no good for anyone at all! Azog has a jolly old time doing murders, until he realizes that HIS guys are actually getting more murdered! He kills Nain and laughs at him, but Nain’s son Dain unexpectedly kills him. It’s accounted extremely heroic, because Dain is like, 16 in dwarf years. It says that “long life and many battles lay before him, until old but unbowed he fell at last in the War of the Ring.” Wait um. Do you mean... the one that takes place in Lord of the Rings? Were dwarves fighting in that?? This is taking place WAY after the Last Alliance isn’t it?? No okay I looked at the end and found the answer, which is that the War of the Ring actually was like 100 years long but relatively low-intensity for most of it.

Anyway,

When at last the battle was won the Dwarves that were left gathered in Azanulbizar. They took the head of Azog and thrust into its mouth the purse of small money, and then they set it on a stake. But no feast nor song was there that night; for their dead were beyond the count of grief. Barely half of their number, it is said, could still stand or had hope of healing.

Half of everyone is dead or dying, and the dwarf alliance still uses their last bit of energy to be petty. Iconic.

Thrain wants to claim Khazad-dum and live there, but everyone else flat-out refuses. Still a balrog in there, dude! I mean, it didn’t bother the orcs, though. I don’t think balrogs really discriminate between orcs and other sorts of dudes, so maybe they could sneak up and kill it in its sleep! But Dain says that the world must change and some other power come before Durin’s folk will live again in Moria. That was Gandalf, right? He did slay the balrog. I hope the dwarves can come back now in the fourth age!! It’s going to take so much fixing up but like... it still exists, mostly intact. A chance to reclaim their heritage.

Thrain and his son Thorin go into exile with the few people who will still follow him--almost everyone is pissed that he got their entire families killed and they can’t even go get treasure in Khazad-dum. So Thrain and co settle in the east of Ered Luin. There’s a bit here about how the Seven Rings turned out to be totally pointless for Sauron because you simply Cannot enslave dwarves. “They were made from their beginning of a kind to resist most steadfastly any domination. Though they could be slain or broken, they could not be reduced to shadows enslaved to another will.” I love the implication that because dwarves were sculpted--note that we never hear AFAIK what elves or humans are made of!--they are more substantial and solid. Mmm I think they have a super solid connection to Arda, and just as even Arda Marred is still largely influenced by the Valar dwarves cannot be wholly corrupted. IDK it’s just the,,, shadow vs stone thing. Sauron enslaves people and it destroys their substance. Dwarves are too substantial? Someone help me out here.

Thrain is still influenced by the Ring, though, driven to go in search of Erebor and its treasure again.

As soon as he was abroad with few companions he was hunted by the emissaries of Sauron. Wolves pursued him, Orcs waylaid him, evil birds shadowed his path, and the more he strove to go north the more misfortunes opposed him. There came a dark night when he and his companions were wandering in the land beyond Anduin, and they were driven by a black rain to take shelter under the eaves of Mirkwood. In the morning he was gone from the camp, and his companions called him in vain...

I love how fairy-tale-ish this passage is. Wolves pursued him! Evil birds shadowed his path! He vanished utterly into air! Sauron was the boojum all along! I’m jazzed about this. Less jazzed about the following explanation: he was kidnapped and tortured in Dol Guldur. Whatever, I guess.

Meanwhile Thorin, who is now king, hammers away on his anvil. It will keep his arm strong. Hella.

Thorin meets Gandalf by accident in an inn in Bree and is like “hey I have been having dreams about you, that’s pretty weird right?” “No no,” says Gandalf, “actually I have been dreaming about you too.” And THAT is how The Hobbit happened.

Wait omg it says here Fili and Kili are Thorin’s “sister-sons.” THIS IMPLIES THE EXISTENCE OF A SECOND DWARF GENDER... WTF... don’t fucking toy with my heart like this Johnald. AH--

Dís was the daughter of Thráin II. She is the only dwarf-woman named in these histories. It was said by Gimli that there are few dwarf-women, probably no more than a third of the whole people. They seldom walk abroad except at great need. They are in voice and appearance, and in garb if they must go on a journey, so like to the dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of other peoples cannot tell them apart. This has given rise to the foolish opinion among Men that there are no dwarf-women, and that the Dwarves 'grow out of stone'.

It is because of the fewness of women among them that the kind of the Dwarves increases slowly, and is in peril when they have no secure dwellings. For Dwarves take only one wife or husband each in their lives, and are jealous, as in all matters of their rights. The number of dwarf-men that marry is actually less than one-third. For not all the women take husbands: some desire none; some desire one that they cannot get, and so will have no other.

Why did they even mention Dis? She doesn’t do anything. I’m retconning, this, obviously. Dwarves just have a super low fertility rate, and woman gender is one of those things that like... doesn’t translate well. There’s no woman gender, because dwarves haven’t invented gender. There’s just dwarves who are currently capable of bearing children. I can’t remember if I got this from Pratchett or not, but it’s a good chance. I just really like the idea that dwarves kind of nod and smile uncertainly when asked to understand a culture that has genders. “Humans really do have an exceptionally high fertility rate,” murmurs one to another. “A lot of ‘women.’” “One just can’t keep track of them,” sighs the other. This is kind of incoherent because Tolkien is actively trying to ruin it, but whatever. Moving on.

After the fall of Sauron, Gimli brought south a part of the Dwarf-folk of Erebor, and he became Lord of the Glittering Caves. He and his people did great works in Gondor and Rohan. For Minas Tirith they forged gates of mithril and steel to replace those broken by the Witch-king. Legolas his friend also brought south Elves out of Greenwood, and they dwelt in Ithilien, and it became once again the fairest country in all the westlands.

Nice! Gay! Also holy shit, mithril gates. Where the hell did they get all that. Hey maybe Sauron had a huge stockpile of mithril and some people went to sift thru the wreckage of Mordor and reclaim it. Radical.

We have heard tell that Legolas took Gimli Glóin's son with him because of their great friendship, greater than any that has been between Elf and Dwarf. If this is true, then it is strange indeed: that a Dwarf should be willing to leave Middle-earth for any love, or that the Eldar should receive him, or that the Lords of the West should permit it.

Hey. Hey. That’s gay.

#blog of the rings

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netherwar-rpg-blog · 8 years

Photo

Welcome to the Wardens, Bo! Your application for ROGUE OC has been accepted with an Emilia Clarke FC.

I think we can all honestly say that we are super excited to have a Rogue/Bard in the group! I love how Belladonna is this clever, creative but sly woman - a celebrity in some ways! - and she is as dangerous as she is talented in her cunning ways. There is definitely a playful side to her I think, especially in the RP sample, which will be so interesting to see with the other Wardens! I think her talents with knowing the noble circles and the political pressures in Highwing will be called upon frequently by the Wardens, so she will become an essential source of information at times. She’s wonderfuly described and written; I can’t wait to see how she evolves during the hardships and battles the Wardens will have to endure!

The application can be found under the cut. You have 48 hours to create a roleplay account (cannot be a sideblog) for your character and we will be updating our opening date soon!

O O C - I N F O

Name: Bo

Age: 21

Timezone: CST

Activity Level: On a scale of 1-10, I can be about a 6. With my RPH and my schoolwork, I’m fairly busy. Sometimes there will be times where I’ll have to be gone for a whole day for maybe a jazz band concert or when the play I’m putting on is going on.

Extra: Any flashing gifs? Not necessarily a trigger, but I would prefer them tagged!

C H A R A C T E R - I N F O

T H E - B A S I C S

Name: Belladonna Tabris

Gender: Female

Age: 30

Class: Rogue; Bard

Faceclaim: Emilia Clarke

C H A R A C T E R - D E T A I L S

Nationality: Northern Regions (Siften)

Appearance:

Belladonna is a very aristocratic looking woman. Despite her humble beginnings, she was blessed with clear skin. However, she did have a bit of back acne, so she’s got a few acne scars on her back. As far as scars go, she’s got a small scar on her eyebrow from a stray rock when she was 10, and she’s got a larger scar on her stomach from an assassination attempt later in life. Despite Emilia’s frame, Belladonna is a bit chunkier than Emilia though not by much. She’s not itty bitty, but she’s not as large as her mother.

Personality:

Positive: Clever, Freethinking, Imaginative, Virtuoso, Principled, Realistic (though sometimes pessimistic), Youthful, Undogmatic Negative: Conceited, Criminal, Demanding, Domineering, Haughty, Irritable, Power-hungry, Sly

C H A R A C T E R - B A C K G R O U N D

History:

From the beginning of her life, Belladonna loved to sing. She adored the act of singing, hearing, and learning music just like her own mother. Often, she would sit in taverns with her mother and listen to her sing to the patrons and occasionally steal the coin purses right off of their belts.

Bell’s mother was a bard, and often she would sell secrets to lords and ladies of courts and places where she played. Bell’s mother taught Bell these tricks in due time through her life starting from age 5 (where she would wait for her mother to seduce men so Bell could slip behind them and cut their purses) to age 18 when her mother finally passed away. She taught Bell to woo a man or woman to get information and how to properly eavesdrop in a room full of patrons in a tavern. Many of Bell’s talents are thanks to her lovely mother, someone she still thinks of fondly of today.

Throughout her teenage years, she grew closer to her mother in the small village they lived in. Bell rarely talked to people in her village, opting instead to speak to travelers in the taverns where they would stop to resupply. Most of them told stories of the capital—Sorvin of its beauty. But the place she truly desired to be was Highwing. More than anything in the world, Bell desired to go to Highwing and sing for the King and Queen of Eldris. Her mother would always frown at Bell’s mention of this and move on from whatever they were talking about. Her mother was very vocally against Bell ever doing anything in Highwing or anything away form their small village in Siften. Never meeting her father, Bell assumed it was because her father was from Highwing. Her mother’s wary looks when a traveler would speak to Bell was proof enough. Bell was sure her father had broken her mother’s heart. But, she never learned the truth of that.

One fateful day (on her 18th birthday in fact), her mother was caught stealing and murdered by the man she stole from. Later on that night, Belladonna killed her first man, taking revenge for her mother’s death. When the guard came for her, she left Siften. She ran as far away as she could, all the way to Highwing, dodging the guard to the Siften border and then stealing to eat and live after that. She only got caught a few times when she just starting out, but by the time she got to Highwing, she was getting so much better. She’d leeched talents with her learned observing nature. Her mother taught her from the beginning to watch and learn and then watch and learn again.

She started off singing in local taverns, begging at some, and eventually got discovered by a young noble’s son who was in one of the upper class taverns with his father. She almost didn’t score that gig that night, almost getting flat out rejected for her appearance before she sang for the owner. The young noble demanded his father buy Belladonna for his use and singing, and for the low low price of 7 gold marks. The price of a person can be so fickle sometimes. Desperately in need of money, Bella took the gig, and for 5 years, she sang and tangled with the handsome young noble.

She was free to do as she wished when she wasn’t singing, so she explored the city as much as she could. She had money now, more money than she could believe. She had a salary! She had money to buy real clothes! She experienced a taste of a good life, and she never wanted to let it go. When she had money to actually live, she never wanted to be poor again, and she never wanted to feel helpless again. So, she made connections. She made friends. She got connections between sets, and she became quite the underground hit with most of the nobles. Before she knew it, other nobles were asking to hire her for a few nights (hiring her obviously through her current employers). She was happy, and she was popular.

When her young lord got married, she refused to “sing” for him anymore and used the connections she made over time and began to sing for the Highwing opera house. She sang; she danced. She became quite the soprano. By the time she was 28, she was one of the most sought out singer in the capital. She sang for a whole slew of people, poor and rich. Her face was on every poster and the like. And for 2 years, she was living in the lap of luxury. Golden silks and jewelry dangling from every surface. She was loving it. Until reports of the undead began to surface.

Then, she got worried. Her way of life was threatened! And when the opera house started to decline due to the political climate and the lowered financial glory, Bella knew she had to do something. So, she took the training she’d honed over the years, her roguish ways with a lock and key and headed for a group she knew would be able to help stop the wave of terror that would inevitably reach the capital—The Wardens. So, she headed as fast as she could to where they were rumored to be—Miwor Town—to join up, and she refused to leave until she was accepted. She was, in fact, so insistent that Sally Derry nearly kicked her out for sheer impertinence. But, she was accepted with reluctant gusto.

Reason for joining the Wardens:

Ever the gray area, Belladonna thinks the Wardens can help. If they can fix the whole “undead” thing, then she’s in. She wants to feel safe again, and she wants her life back again where she can just sing and be happy and rich. She’d never been rich before, and she wants that back. With the opera house closing for the time being, she wants to feel safe again, and she knows she can’t without defeating the big evil she used to only sing about.

Desired Connections:

The Stalker: Belladonna met The Stalker on her trip to Highwing, and they rescued her from an attack of wolves. She vaguely remembers them, but by the time she woke up the next morning, they were gone. She regrets never being able to say thank you.

The Leader: Belladonna has seen the Leader at various noble events in the capital. They know of eachother and Belladonna was as surprised

R O L E P L A Y - S A M P L E

Screams and shouts rouse your character from an afternoon nap in the busy town. A rough looking thief is dashing through the crowds, huddling a bag of jewels to his chest, and the soldiers are too far to act. What does your character do?

…Sitting in her dressing room, Bell stared out of the window and out at the streets of Highwing. She yawned quietly and sipped quietly at her tea. It was cold by now, but she didn’t mind, waking from blissful sleep to hear the sounds of the city around her. She gazed out with vibrant and bright eyes towards the streets where she saw a man ducking and running through the streets with a thick sack of gold and such. A few gold crowns slipped from the bag as he bumped into a very large man walking down the marketplace. He muttered a quick apology and continued to run while guards, bringing up the rear, chased after him. Thoroughly interested, she left her room to move through the crowd after him. She followed behind enough to see him actually give the guards the slip. So, he turned towards home, or what he called a home. She watched him finally slip inside and lock the door behind him. Bell glanced around to notice where she was in Highwing and grinned to herself, turning around and marching back to her dressing room.

She pulled her hair up out of her face, tying it back with a leather tie. She pulled her hood up to disguise her unique white gold hair and adjusted the black leather bodice she wore. A black silk scarf hid her face as she slipped out into the night where the silent marketplace hung in suspense. Her feet were light as a feather, dancing against the cobblestone of the street all the way to the thief’s house.

Slipping past guards to avoid suspicion (all persons in all black were inevitably found suspicious), Bell made it back to the thief’s house. It was easy to slip inside. Bell made quick work of the lock and slipped inside, tiptoeing across the dirt floor towards the sleeping thief. He looked so peaceful. She grabbed parchment and scribbled out a brief note before searching through nook and cranny for that bag of jewels.

Beneath a pile of hay, she found the sack, filled with rubies and amethysts and emeralds (her favorite). She snatched the bag, leaving one gold crown on the note she’d written.

‘You make a poor thief.

xoxo, a better thief’

She crept over a guard, eyes half lidded from lack of sleep. Two bags in her hand, she dropped on at his feet before disappearing into the night. The other bag, she tied to her belt, carrying it back to her dressing room. She’d be damned if she gave up those emeralds to the law. And a few gold crowns… And maybe one or two rubies. The rest, well, she’d return that stolen property. But, she always had her finder’s fee. Besides, the emeralds would look better on her.

#accepted #admin notice

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pokemon-fighter · 8 years

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Damien crashes the party!

The Aether Foundation’s Clefairy Moon Charity Ball.

An event that was created to “celebrate” the accomplishments of the Aether Foundation with their “efforts” in saving endangered Pokemon. A night of dancing, joy, and other such things.

And yet, it had nothing about giving respect to a certain Champion.

For Damien, it made him sick. The same foundation that had captured him and his Pokemon for the sake of freezing them, only because it could. Granted, Lusamine, one of Damien’s greatest enemies, was ousted from the foundation, it still didn’t excuse his hatred for Aether as a whole.

With Gladion as the new President, it made him hate the organization even more. An enforcer for Team Skull didn’t deserve to be in that level of power, and Damien became more and more furious as he continued to think about it.

He did the only thing a champ would do. Make his presence known and crash the party.

Taking a rental boat to the island of Aether Paradise, Damien decided to forgo the crowded freighters that were shuttling the other guests to the facility. He didn’t want to give people a forewarning that he would show up, aside from his professional RSVP letter to Gladion.

Jamming a hand into his pocket, he took out a CD, containing one of his favorite tracks that he considered his theme song. A track that always psyched him up before a fight.

His objective? Blare it on the company’s loudspeakers in the ball room, and kick the door down. All eyes would be on him at that point.

Just as Damien liked it.

The Fighter opened up a Pokeball, sending out Hypno. He realized that he wouldn’t just simply walk in and tamper with the sound system. He’d have to coax the Aether employees to let him do so.

As usual, people didn’t give Damien enough credit. For a smash-mouth brawler, he was smart. Too smart, at times.

He found the lift to the reception area. As it ascended, he stopped to the two receptionist desks. Sending his Hypno to one of the front desk, he stopped at the other.

“Can I help you, sir?” She asked.

“I’m here for the stupid ball that the idiot Edge-Lord is holding.” Damien said.

The employee blinked. “...Excuse me, sir?”

“I’m Damien. Geez, did you idiots not read the letter? I’m here for the ball.”

The employee shut her eyes. “Oh yes. You. Hold on a moment.” She checked the guest list, and saw that the Kanto Champion’s name was indeed written on there. “Yes, Damien. We have you listed on the guest list.”

“It’s ‘Guest-of-Honor’, you moron.” Damien spat. “And yes, I should be listed on there. I deserve to be in this ball, because I’m a champion. You know what that is?”

The employee squinted at him. “Please enjoy your time here.” She said, a twinge of sarcasm in her voice.

“Tch.” Damien scoffed and walked away. “Come on, Hypno. We’ve got an entrance to make.” Hypno sauntered over to his trainer, waving his pendulum in anticipation.

Pulling out his Pokedex, he checked the map of the facility. It looked like the entrance was just up ahead from the reception area. Off to the side, a man was walking just beside Damien. He had a badge on him that said he was a DJ.

This was perfect.

“Hey!” Damien called out to the man. “You the DJ for this thing?”

The man turned around. “Yeah, I am.” He said. “Was there something you needed?”

“Yeah.” Damien pulled out the CD he was carrying, carrying his song. “Can you play this the moment you walk in?”

The DJ shook his head. “Sorry, man. I’m only allowed to play the music President Gladion has for me. I’m not allowed to do that.”

Damien shook his head, sighing. “That’s too bad. Because you’re still going to, whether Edge-Lord likes it or not.” He snapped his fingers, and Hypno ambled over, in front of the DJ.

“Hypno.” Damien called out. “Hypnotize this idiot.”

The psychic Pokemon waved his pendulum, as the DJ looked down in bemusement.

“Hypno... “Hypno... “Hypno... “

The DJ’s eyes were then glazed over as Hypno chanted his name repeatedly, as he was focused on the pendulum, waving back and forth, to and fro.

Damien tapped his finger on the DJ’s shoulder. “Now, you’re going to play this as the next song the moment you take your place on the DJ table. You got it?”

The DJ took the CD, and slowly nodded.

“Good. Now get in there.”

The DJ turned and walked back into the Ballroom.

Damien grabbed his five remaining Pokeballs and stuck them in between his fingers. He knew that there may be a crowd that wanted the Fighter’s head, but his Pokemon would no doubt be effective security.

The was silence for a moment, before the soft jazz was replaced by a harsh, guitar riff.

DUN-NUN-NUN-NUN DUN-NUN-NUN-NUN

...

DUN-NUN-NUN-NUN DUN-NUN-NUN-NUN

The bass drum and guitar riff picked up in intensity as Damien stood in front of the door. Just as the music picked up at the twelve second mark...

Damien kicked down the door, as they swung open, revealing the fighter in the same attire he was always in, sticking out from the crowd that was dressed in formal garb.

Damien wasn’t dressed for a ball. He was dressed to fight.

The music was now blaring, and all eyes were now on the champion, just as he had liked it. Many of those eyes were shocked, bewildered, and even angry upon seeing the Exiled Champion.

Smiling as his music continued to play, Damien threw all five of his Poke Balls, sending out his remaining team, as Inciniroar, Delphox, Golem, Primeape, and Machamp joined Hypno as they formed a phalanx near their Trainer.

Like a pack of hungry wolves, they walked into the ballroom, keeping close to each other as his Pokemon watched his flanks.

Damien was here.

And he was ready to make this party his.

#clefairymoonball #DAMIEN IS HERE #THIS IS GONNA GET UGLY

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artdjgblog · 8 years

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Picture Show (or, The OOPSCARS)

I derive from an area of rural Missouri (The Show Me State) where some still refer to going to see a movie at the theater as, “Going to the SHOW.”

Other than the last few World Series outcomes and the Super Bowl a few weeks prior, off the top of my head the 89th Academy Awards Best Picture envelope mix-up is the most bizarre thing I’ve seen unfold on live television. What a show! I won’t add much more as there are plenty of articles, social media swaps, insider commentary and “think pieces” on La La Land passing the Oscar to Moonlight.

However, it has me thinking of my own playful “Oops! We messed up! The real winner is ACTUALLY ... “ results with the Academy’s top prize. Or, simply the films that have stuck far more to me than others over the years. Many of the top winners are fine films, but I prefer others. And in some cases there’s a tie. In the end, awards don’t matter as we like what we like surrounded by much larger fish to fry in the oil pan of life. But, to further my self-serving at the culture buffet, there are many times the Academy nailed it (even in cases where I shamefully didn’t see all respective nominees).

For the record, extensive research and reminders would be far too exhaustive an attempt to highlight all the films I fantasy-feel should have made the Best Picture nomination cut in a given year. (That would be for another opinionated and elongated discussion.) Therefore, I’ll just stick to those picks that are stuck in true time. Also, I won’t span the entirety of the 89 awards, rather the last 50. I guess this also reveals I have catching up to do with many pictures prior to the 1970s. Not to mention a good chunk sprinkled throughout the years of this little exercise.

I’m declaring myself ineligible for the years I’ve barely seen any Best Picture nominated films or, gulp, none at all. (And from what I understand not seeing all films nominated doesn’t stop actual Oscar voters. Which, is a little weird to me.) There are even a handful of the big winners I’ve yet to see. What kind of film fan am I? (Confession: Moonlight ... I wanted to see you for months but it never worked out. Sorry. Congrats, though!) So, really, why am I doing this? Because it’s fun! It’s hard to see or remember them all, so this may help me fill in the gaps. I’m not in it for an argument. Does the “O” in OSCAR stand for OPINION or OOPS?

Motion Pictures by Neil Young, 1974

BOLD = My Vote(s) / NA = My Idiot Eyes Unseen

1967 (40th) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER ONLY SEEING 2 FILMS! In the Heat of the Night (NA) Bonnie and Clyde Doctor Dolittle (NA) The Graduate (SHOULD HAVE NAILED IT!) Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (NA)

1968 (41st) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER NOT SEEING ANY FILMS! Oliver! (NA) Funny Girl (NA) The Lion in Winter (NA) Rachel, Rachel (NA) Romeo and Juliet (NA)

1969 (42nd) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER ONLY SEEING 2 FILMS! Midnight Cowboy Anne of the Thousand Days (NA) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Hello, Dolly! (NA) Z (NA) 1970 (43rd) Patton Airport (NA) Five Easy Pieces Love Story (NA) M*A*S*H 1971 (44th) The French Connection (NA) A Clockwork Orange Fiddler on the Roof The Last Picture Show Nicholas and Alexandra (NA) 1972 (45th) - NAILED IT! The Godfather Cabaret Deliverance The Emigrants (NA) Sounder (NA) 1973 (46th) The Sting American Graffiti Cries and Whispers (NA) The Exorcist A Touch of Class (NA) 1974 (47th) The Godfather Part II Chinatown The Conversation Lenny The Towering Inferno (NA) 1975 (48th) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Barry Lyndon Dog Day Afternoon Jaws Nashville 1976 (49th) Rocky All the President's Men Bound for Glory (NA) Network Taxi Driver 1977 (50th) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER ONLY SEEING 2 FILMS! Annie Hall The Goodbye Girl (NA) Julia (NA) Star Wars (SHOULD HAVE NAILED IT!) The Turning Point (NA) 1978 (51st) - NAILED IT! The Deer Hunter Coming Home Heaven Can Wait (NA) Midnight Express An Unmarried Woman (NA) 1979 (52nd) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER ONLY SEEING 1 FILM! Kramer vs. Kramer (NA) All That Jazz (NA) Apocalypse Now (SHOULD HAVE NAILED IT!) Breaking Away (NA) Norma Rae (NA) 1980 (53rd) Ordinary People Coal Miner's Daughter (NA) The Elephant Man Raging Bull Tess (NA) 1981 (54th) Chariots of Fire (NA) Atlantic City On Golden Pond Raiders of the Lost Ark Reds (NA) 1982 (55th) Gandhi E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Missing (NA) Tootsie The Verdict (NA) 1983 (56th) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER ONLY SEEING 1 FILM! Terms of Endearment The Big Chill (NA) The Dresser (NA) The Right Stuff (NA) Tender Mercies (NA) 1984 (57th) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER NOT SEEING ANY FILMS! Amadeus (NA) The Killing Fields (NA) A Passage to India (NA) Places in the Heart (NA) A Soldier's Story (NA) 1985 (58th) Out of Africa (NA) The Color Purple Kiss of the Spider Woman (NA) Prizzi's Honor Witness 1986 (59th) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER ONLY SEEING 2 FILMS! Platoon Children of a Lesser God (NA) Hannah and Her Sisters The Mission (NA) A Room with a View (NA) 1987 (60th) - NAILED IT! The Last Emperor Broadcast News Fatal Attraction Hope and Glory (NA) Moonstruck 1988 (61st) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER ONLY SEEING 2 FILMS! Rain Man The Accidental Tourist (NA) Dangerous Liaisons (NA) Mississippi Burning Working Girl (NA) 1989 (62nd) Driving Miss Daisy Born on the Fourth of July Dead Poets Society Field of Dreams My Left Foot 1990 (63rd) - NAILED IT! / DEMANDS A TIE! Dances with Wolves Awakenings Ghost The Godfather Part III (NA) Goodfellas 1991 (64th) - NAILED IT! The Silence of the Lambs Beauty and the Beast Bugsy (NA) JFK The Prince of Tides (NA) 1992 (65th) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER ONLY SEEING 1 FILM! Unforgiven (NAILED IT ANYWAY!) The Crying Game (NA) A Few Good Men (NA) Howard's End (NA) Scent of a Woman (NA) 1993 (66th) - INELIGIBLE TO VOTE PER ONLY SEEING 2 FILMS! Schindler's List (NAILED IT ANYWAY!) The Fugitive In the Name of the Father (NA) The Piano (NA) The Remains of the Day (NA) 1994 (67th) Forrest Gump Four Weddings and a Funeral (NA) Pulp Fiction Quiz Show The Shawshank Redemption 1995 (68th) - NAILED IT! / DEMANDS A TIE! Braveheart Apollo 13 Babe Il Postino: The Postman Sense and Sensibility (NA) 1996 (69th) The English Patient Fargo Jerry Maguire Secrets & Lies (NA) Shine 1997 (70th) Titanic As Good as It Gets The Full Monty (NA) Good Will Hunting L.A. Confidential (NA) 1998 (71st) Shakespeare in Love Elizabeth (NA) Life Is Beautiful Saving Private Ryan The Thin Red Line 1999 (72nd) American Beauty The Cider House Rules The Green Mile (NA) The Insider The Sixth Sense 2000 (73rd) Gladiator Chocolat Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Erin Brockovich Traffic 2001 (74th) A Beautiful Mind Gosford Park (NA) In the Bedroom The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Moulin Rouge! 2002 (75th) - NAILED IT! / DEMANDS A TIE! Chicago Gangs of New York The Hours (NA) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Pianist 2003 (76th) - NAILED IT! / DEMANDS A TIE! The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Lost in Translation Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (NA) Mystic River Seabiscuit (NA) 2004 (77th) - NAILED IT! / DEMANDS A TIE! Million Dollar Baby The Aviator Finding Neverland Ray Sideways 2005 (78th) Crash Brokeback Mountain Capote Good Night, and Good Luck Munich 2006 (79th) - NAILED IT! The Departed Babel Letters from Iwo Jima Little Miss Sunshine The Queen (NA) 2007 (80th) - NAILED IT! / DEMANDS A TIE! No Country for Old Men Atonement (NA) Juno Michael Clayton (NA) There Will Be Blood 2008 (81st) - NAILED IT! Slumdog Millionaire The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Frost/Nixon Milk The Reader 2009 (82nd) - DEMANDS A TIE! The Hurt Locker Avatar The Blind Side District 9 An Education Inglourious Basterds Precious (NA) A Serious Man Up Up in the Air 2010 (83rd) - DEMANDS A TIE! The King's Speech 127 Hours Black Swan The Fighter Inception The Social Network Toy Story 3 True Grit Winter's Bone 2011 (84th) - DEMANDS A TIE! The Artist The Descendants Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (NA) The Help Hugo Midnight in Paris Moneyball The Tree of Life War Horse 2012 (85th) - DEMANDS A TIE! Argo Amour Beasts of the Southern Wild Django Unchained Les Misérables (NA) Life of Pi Lincoln Silver Linings Playbook Zero Dark Thirty 2013 (86th) - DEMANDS A TIE! 12 Years a Slave American Hustle Captain Phillips (NA) Dallas Buyers Club Gravity Her Nebraska Philomena The Wolf of Wall Street 2014 (87th) - NAILED IT! / DEMANDS A TIE! Birdman American Sniper Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything Whiplash 2015 (88th) - DEMANDS A TIE! Spotlight The Big Short Bridge of Spies Brooklyn Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant Room

-djg

#oscars #academyawards #movies #films #awards #notesonculture

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rcsportstalk-blog · 6 years

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NBA Season Preview ’19 (Pt.1)

By Anwar Jones

What. is. GOOOOD!?!?! It’s October and you already know what that means. The NBA Season is upon us and its about to get crazy. You thought last year was wild??? Check yo self, we got our Annual ‘NBA Season Preview’ below!

Be sure to hit us with your comments & subscribe to our Full Episodes at rosecitysportstalk.com

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Pacific Division

Golden State Warriors

So this off-season the Warriors mimicked Thanos in Infinty War to take it’s reign over the league to another level, while the other teams got their Star Lord on, allowing GS to obtain the last Infinity Stone, also known as Demarcus Cousins. Just like fans wanted to slap Star Lord, we should challenge our favorite teams’ GM to a duel for just sitting idle while the Dubs signed Boogie for the mid-level exception. It’s not hyperbole to say this is the best starting five ever. We may only witness this collection of stars for one season, with the rumblings of a KD departure and the inability to give a max contract to Cousins under league rules, this reign could be over with a snap of the finger. If that fate comes to fruition, the damage will already be done, as the Dubs will more than likely win their 4th title in 5 years and cement themselves as one of the top dynasties the NBA has ever seen.

Player to Watch - Can KD win a MVP on this stacked squad Record - 63-19

Los Angeles Lakers

The Magic Man has been dropping dimes in La La Land for almost 40 years, so it’s only fitting he assisted the Lakers in escaping basketball purgatory. Magic has brought Lebron James aka Maximus to battle in the Staples Center Colosseum. As if Laker Nation wasn’t already entertained by past Gladiators, like the great Black Mamba, the Big Aristotle, or the Goliath known as Wilt the Stilt, Maximus is here to restore past Showtime glory. To earn his freedom he must win the crowd and raise another banner to the rafters. King James will rely on some fiery young fighters looking to make a name for themselves in Ball, Kuzma, Ingram and Hart. He will seek wisdom from another gladiator, Rajon Rondo to help in his journey, but it will be up to Magic to bring in another established soldier to help the true King bring the trophy back to the Roman Laker Nation in the near future. It is why we are here.

Player to Watch - Which Youngblood with be Lebron’s right hand man Record 53-29

Los Angles Clippers

Jerry West is the Professor X of the NBA, the behind the scene orchestrator of multiple dynastic teams. But he will need to tap into his cerebral vortex to make the Clippers a champs. The Logo will find a way to rebuild this team quickly, his reputation speaks for itself. It’s safe to either rookie Shai Gilegous-Alexander or Jerome Robinson, if not both, will be steals in the draft because West always finds gems. They have set themselves for the future with the space for two max contracts and tradable assets like Tobias Harris, Sweet Lou and Patrick Beverly to land a disgruntled star. The Clippers window to jack the city from the Lakers came and went, so they might as well just head north to Seattle, bring back the Sonics and establish a new where they will be loved and embraced forever. Can’t be a side piece forever.

Player to watch - Will Shai Gileous-Alexander be the best point guard of the draft class Record- 34-48

Phoenix Suns

GM Ryan McDonough caught the Jim Buss Holy Ghost during the off-season. His grand scheme of paying 35 million for the combo of Trevor Ariza and Ryan Anderson to help lead them to the playoffs was just delusional. It’s reminiscent of the Infamous summer of 16 and the tragedy that was the Deng and Mosgov. Trading an unprotected 1 st to move up 6 spots into the mid lottery is borderline criminal. The Suns won the lottery and added some solid young buildings blocks in Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Eli Okobo and Deanthony Melton, but Robert Sarver had enough. The fact that McDonough once had too many talented point guards to make happy a few years back to not having a starting caliber lead guard was too much to overcome. Sarver should’ve done it weeks ago so he focus on partying at the country club. Luckily Phoenix has a human bucket machine in Devin Booker, that they can convert to the point and hopefully create James Harden 2.0

Player to Watch - Can Ayton justify being the 1 st of the draft from day one Record 24-48

Sacramento Kings

This is the dawn of the post apocalyptic season for the Kings faithful and they can look no further than the self proclaimed Vladefather. He is literally out here making offers teams can’t refuse, like giving up an unprotected 1 st rounder for the opportunity to sign Rajon Rondo, Wes Matthews or Monta Ellis. That’s insanity. Clearly Vlade’s favorite of the Godfather trilogy was the third rendition and he’s using his platform to create his own spoof. Yet again the Kings failed to add the necessary talent to even sniff the playoffs so it’s all about development this season. They have a little bit of hope with sleeper prospect Harry Giles. If he can stay healthy and continues to build off his promising performance during summer league they may have stumbled upon a gold mine. Fox has a nice future and Marvin Bagley should be able to score with ease considering his skill set. It’s not all bad for the Kings from a talent perspective but remember they are by far the worst team in the West and don’t have their pick. The Vlad-Father better avoid the desert.

Player to Watch – Will Marvin Bagley’s collegiate dominance translate to the pro game Record 20-62

Northwest Division

Utah Jazz

The meteoric rise of Donovan Mitchell was one of the highlights of the 2017-18 season. Watching Spida Mitchell during his rookie campaign was eerily similar to Peter Parker testing out his web slinging potential, as he gradually realized he was a problem for the league. His coming out party came during a surprise upset against the Thunder in the 1 st round, where he looked virtually unstoppable. Now that he’s knows he has great powers, he has the responsibility of building on the momentum and lead the Jazz even further in the postseason. When Rudy Gobert is healthy, Utah is the most menacing defensive in the NBA, so as long as he stays on the court they will be successful. The Jazz had a quiet offseason, so they are clearly banking on their young talent taking a leap. We will see if one of the best coaches in the league, Quinn Snyder will help lead them to the next level.

Player to Watch - Is Donovan Mitchell at the superstar level yet Record 52-30

OKC Thunder

Russell Westbrook isn’t human, he’s not a mutant either, but he is Wolverine. He’s virtually indestructible and although will miss the start of the year no one is overly concerned considering he is made out of adamantium steel. Even Wolverine needs time to regenerate. Year 2 of the Westbrook and PG13 duo will be drastically different and more successful than the first. Now that their roles will be more defined, Russ and George should thrive and play off each other more effectively in the half court without the task of sharing shots with Hoodie Melo. Defensively, this team could be a juggernaut once Andre Robertson gets into the fold, but even without him they can still be great. The addition of Dennis Schroeder was a sneaky move that will no doubt ease the burden of Westbrook and allow him to attack off ball and be able to score more freely. OKC is a sleeper WCF contender.

Player to Watch - Dennis Schroeder can be the third scorer this has desperately needed Record 47-35

Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers are wasting the prime years of Dame Lillard. The second round is this team’s ceiling and it shouldn’t be that way. It’s absolute travesty that Neil Olshey has failed to add the necessary pieces to help out his star studded backcourt. Portland needs a third star, but Olshey refuses to go all in to add one. Cough, Jimmy Butler, cough? The roster has an odd mix of players either ready for prime time or years a way from contributing. Portland needs 3 and D wings, but Olshey fails to address that gaping hole. The roster has taken a set back in a conference that is becoming increasingly more difficult to stay afloat. Maybe Mystique can warn Olshey the sentinels are coming to take Lillard to brighter lights and alter the fate of Portland. Otherwise the writing is on the wall. A miracle needs to happen for Blazers’ fans quickly or their future days are going to be spent reminiscing about the past dominance of Dame Time.

Player to Watch - Can CJ McCollum become an All Star Record 47-35

Denver Nuggets

The Joker is the main reason why we should all take the the Nuggets playoff hopes so serious. Jokic flipped a switch and just blew up last season showing off his unique point-center skill set, reminiscent of another great international center, Arvydas Sabonis. Now it’s up to his backcourt, Jamal Murray and Gary Harris to take this team to the next level. Murray has the ability to be the go to scorer but he has to bring it every night. Denver have a plethora of young players that can get buckets, but they need to buckle down on defense. Coach Malone gained notoriety for his defensive philosophy, so it’s time for him to step up and earn that rep if this squad wants to be a serious contender in the West.

Player to Watch – The Rise of Jamal Murray Record 44-38

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Jimmy Butler saga has wrecked the Wolves’ season before it even started. When Butler exposed Towns and Wiggins for being shook ones, halfway crooks, scared to death, scared to look, it was a wrap. The stakes were already high for KAT coming off his disappearing act in his first playoff appearance but his reputation as an upcoming superstar is on the line. Is he minor or major, a true star or just a stat stuffer are the questions that will be answered by seasons’ end. Thibs is undoubtedly stubborn but he has pull the trigger on a Butler deal before he loses all the leverage for the All NBA performer. Thibs will more than likely going lose his job after the season and so next just ride or die with Jimmy and disregard the future. If that happens it will this will be a lost year for the Wolves. If KAT and Wiggins have any heart they better show it now or the will never shake the soft label.

Player to Watch - Make or break year for Andrew Wiggins Record 37-45

Southwest Division

Houston Rockets

Daryl Morey, why not just bring it back, rewind, pon de replay on a roster that was a CP3 injury away from knocking off the evil empire. This was a confusing off-season for the Rockets, by letting Ariza and Mbah a Moute walk, they lost the defensive switch abilities that made them so special. Adding T.R.O.Y Olympic Melo would’ve been perfect if they maintained there defensive prowess but without it, the squad has taken an unnecessary step back. They will still be in the top 2 or 3 record wise in the West but their championship hopes have dwindled significantly. Morey is a wizard with trades, so it’s a possibility the Rockets still have a chance. I highly doubt Houston will stand pat, the question is will whatever move they make be enough to get one of those rings and things they sing about.

Player to Watch - Can Cp3 avoid his injury playoff curse Record 59-23

New Orleans Pelicans

The theme song for the Pelicans is Biggie’s “One More Chance” but the writing may already be on the wall. Even if the Brow plays at a historic level, New Orleans won’t even make the WCF. Shunning Boogie during free agency was a head scratcher because he was the only chance of pairing the Brow with an elite talent, even with his recent injury history, they had to bring him back. While they were successful without Cousins by playing at the fastest pace in the league and added a perfect compliment to that style of ball in the summer in Julius Randle, it’s just not enough to put them in chip contention. The holes at the wing position and the lack of a second guard will be this squad’s downfall. This season is shaping up to be a long kiss goodnight for the Pellies (turrrbile nickname) with AD signing with Klutch Sports, the rumblings off a Showtime Introduction with the Brow singing “I’m going, going, back, back to Cali, Cali” is on deck.

Player to Watch – Is Playoff Jrue the real Jrue Holiday Record 45-37

San Antonio Spurs

The death of a dynasty is upon us all. Jay-Z once said “It’s a secret society, all we ask is trust,”and within a season we saw that trust erode in San Antonio, thus tarnishing what is known as the Spurs Way in the process. Acquiring the somehow grossly undervalued bucket getter Demar Derozen for a disgruntled Kawhi Leonard was actually a great pickup during the summer. Ask Thibs if he would take that now. The problem that the Spurs have is surprisingly identity. With Kawhi, Parker, Ginobli, and the long gone Duncan, the framework of the championship blueprint is now absent. Pop is looking around the locker room like Will in the last episode of Fresh Prince. The injuries to Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker, and Derrick White couldn’t have came at a worst time, leaving them scary thin of playmakers on the roster. The Spurs 21 year playoff run is officially in serious jeopardy. I’ll never count out Popovich, but he needs to find a point guard ASAP to salvage this season.

Player to Watch - Demar Derozen Revenge Tour Record 44-38

Memphis Grizzlies

Running out this Grizzlies team is like churning out another Fast & Furious, we just roll are eyesand say to ourselves “ Really, another one.” The Grit n Grind crew still has familiar faces on the cast, but the culture is gone and it was replace with nothing but random pieces. The biggest flaw with this teamhas been outside shooting which still hasn’t been addressed which is a Tyrese-like head scratcher. Their best bet is to flip Gasol and Conley so they can get value for their aging stars. The West is so stacked, Memphis would have to play out of their minds to sniff the playoffs. Going out on a limb here but the Slow Mo and Garrett Temple acquisitions just don’t seem like enough to do it.

Player to Watch - Jaren Jackson Jr looks like the real deal Record 30-52

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs are trying to reboot their success with another international phenom after 20 plus years of the same mega star. Dirk was the Dark Knight of European prospects and nothing will top his epic trilogy. Luka Doncic will have to mimic Bain’s childhood rise from the prison to even challenge the reign of his predecessor. There’s a ton of hype surrounding Luka, but Dallas will be satisfied if he is just a Michael Keaton type of Bruce Wayne, but if he is on that Ben Aflek level, the Mavericks are in trouble. Deandre Jordan finally escaped the barricaded door of the Clippers franchise but it’s couple years too late from him to have a major impact. Dallas has good talent on the roster, the Doncic nd Smith Jr will be fun to watch, but a playoff birth is wishful thinking.

Player to Watch - Will Luka Doncic be the transcendent player his pegged to be Record 30-52

That’s a wrap for the Western Conference Preview, be sure to check back for Pt. 2, the Eastern Conference Preview, and do us a solid and share this article!

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