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dndeed · 5 years ago

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Critical Role Miniature Rollout: C2E89

With Andrew Harshman

An archive and review of the minis used on Critical Role.

To be clear, I think this episode is fantastic. I think the map and miniature compositions look great on camera. At a distance, on film, all the chosen minis look good. However, when closely examined, some are better looking than others. The criticism I level at some of the models is directed at the manufacturers of said models. I am not criticizing Critical Role.

In most campaigns, a random underground fighting pit encounter could be very boring. With little impact on the characters or plot. The CR cast is so talented and entertaining however that even a simple side quest unrelated to the main plot is super engaging. Mighty fine stuff.

Place ya bets, place ya bets, it’s time for Critical Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 2 Episode 89!

The List

Dungeons and Dragons Condition Markers by thelukec

Dwarven Forge City Builder

Dwarven Forge City Builder LED Lighted Walls Add-On Pack

Dwarven Forge Dungeons

Dwarven Forge Castle Stairs Pack

Dwarven Forge Dungeon of Doom Cages

Dungeon Lair Chairs

Rusty Dragon Inn Dressing: Table

Steamforged Games Critical Role Miniatures

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #039 Lord Victoro

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #005a Noble

Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes Set 8 Rivani Human Psychic

Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes Set 8 Aric Human Noble

Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes Set 8 Meligaster Halfling Mesmerist

Tomb of Annihilation #021b Tabaxi Hunter

Storm King’s Thunder #015 Bandit

Storm King's Thunder #007 Crag Ungart

Kingmaker #021 Tristian, Human Cleric

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #012a Dragonborn Draconic Sorcerer

Baldur's Gate Descent Into Avernus #034 Sylvira Savikas

Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica #017 Blood Drinker Vampire

Kingmaker #010 Shadow Rogue

Giants of Legend #09 Aramil, Adventurer

Elemental Evil #015 Gold Dwarf Guard

Dungeons of Dread #35 Human Fighter

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #011 Human Sun Soul Monk

Assorted Miniature Furniture

The Clones

Time for another conspiramini conspiracy theory. Just seven episodes ago these members of the crowd were seen in the Halas cloning lab. The presence of these figures makes me a little uneasy. What is Halas planning with his clone army of blood sport serial gamblers? Again, obligatory disclaimer, I’m not especially serious about or invested in this idea. But who knows how I’ll feel after two or three more Halas sightings.

The Nonplayer Characters

Baldur's Gate Descent Into Avernus #034 Sylvira Savikas

I’m not familiar with this Descent Into Avernus NPC, but she must be important to have warranted such a quality miniature. Good detail work on the clothing paint, neatly painted eyes, a dandy little translucent effect on the orb accessory. The best thing about this miniature is the core concept. A tiefling noble woman? Amazing. Exactly what my NPC collection needed.

Kingmaker #021 Tristian, Human Cleric and Storm King's Thunder #007 Crag Ungart

Two miniatures with terrible faces. NPC minis in noncombat poses are inherently useful and somewhat uncommon, so these are not a total write-off. At least Tristain has a pretty sleek outfit. A white tone cleric outfit that reminds one of Saturday Night Fever. Clergy Knight Fever, if you will.

Crag Ungart looks like a character equipped with a disastrous combination of Skyrim mods. Such an awkward character design. This dude’s head is almost perfectly spherical, just like his armor. Not to mention, what kind a name is Crag? It’s like the dwarven equivalent of Craig. I assumed this model was of some canon D&D NPC, but I can’t find any information on him. It’s like Wizards of the Coast made him up, ordered the manufacturing of this mini, and just lost interested. I can’t blame ‘em, this is a wholly uninteresting character.

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #012a Dragonborn Draconic Sorcerer

So I think this is a decent pose. But I’m distracted by the awful Icon of the Realms orange dragonborn scale color. Has anyone ever played an orange dragonborn? Wizkids must be sitting on a surplus of VLC Media Player Orange. Really no other reason to use this pigment.

I am totally here for akimbo spellcaster minis. But this sculpt is just a tad too awkward. And these spellcasting focuses are lame looking. They could have done better than a hiking stick and an oversized wishbone. I really like the outfit though.

Kingmaker #010 Shadow Rogue and Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica #017 Blood Drinker Vampire Blood Drinker Vampire image sourced from minisgallery.com

Shadow Rouge, is a great name for a cosmetic product. Shadow Rogue on the other hand is an almost great miniature. The sculpt detail on everything but the face and hands is tight. It is unclear whether the model itself lacks finger and face definition or if the definition is being obscured by caked on paint. Unfortunate. Unrelated, crop top is my new favorite rogue subclass.

Blood Drinker Vampire is another quality noncombat NPC. Also another mini with rough face and hand detail. The paint is messy, the sculpt is blobby and ill-defined. I can’t help but like it though. This pose and costuming are very amusing. MC Hammer pants and Hammer Horror collar. I’m very into beverage consuming minis in general. For all its flaws, I still recommend this figure.

Giants of Legend #09 Aramil, Adventurer

This miniature was included in a 3.5 basic boxed set, released in D&D Miniatures Game booster packs, and later recast and repainted in the 4E Player’s Handbook Heroes series. It’s good. The detail in the sculpting is very impressive. But the flat paint lets down those details. A little highlight and drybrush work would go a long way.

Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes Set 8 Meligaster Halfling Mesmerist

I like this hombre. I like his hat. I like the fun patterns on his cloak. I like that the Pathfinder wiki is informing me that the thing in his right hand is a sword cane. That’s rad.

Elemental Evil #015 Gold Dwarf Guard Gold Dwarf Guard image sourced from minisgallery.com

An incredibly boring dwarf. Messy paint, wonky base, forgettable character design. The fight club champion deserves a better mini. As for this mini, let’s not talk about it. On an unrelated note, how’d Yasha’s sword handle get bent?

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #011 Human Sun Soul Monk

Quality beard, quality dreads, quality pose. If Khary Payton’s Walking Dead character was a monk, he’d look like this mini. The paint is about as sloppy and flat as Gold Dwarf Guard. But the face looks way better and the colors are bright and vibrant, making for a far more attractive model. The mold line is rough, but forgivable given all the miniature’s strengths.

Dungeons of Dread #35 Human Fighter

This dude has some tiny feet, distractingly so. Maybe it’s some sort of stealth feet feat? The sculpt and paint conveys numerous textures quite effectively. The scaly metal, the flowy cloth, the leathery gloves and boots. This is a very crisp model with magnificent sculpt resolution. Looking at the back of the miniature you can see the fighter’s individual fingers grasping the sword handle. Since this is an older miniature, we know that these digits were physically sculpted and not 3D modeled. Wildly impressive.

Closing Thoughts and Predictions

Next session I am anticipating some sort of random travel encounter. Possibly in the form of a teleportation mishap or a Xhorhasian countryside monster battle. Very glad the break is almost over, eager to see whether the Mighty Nein can facilitate a peace deal.

#criticalroleminiaturerollout

#criticalroleminiaturerollout #critrole #cr #crspoilers #criticalrole

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offshoresoul · 5 years ago

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The Most Beautiful Lord of the Rings filming locations in New Zealand

>h2>Facts about your trip Heading south, you leave Auckland, cross the Bombay Hills and enter the valley of the Waikato River. The longest river in New Zealand runs through one of the most agriculturally productive areas on earth. On your journey you will make a stopover in Matamata. During a 2-hour guided tour you will discover the true Middle-earth here and visit the film set of the "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" triologies, which you might better know as "Shire". During your tour you will see the Hobbit Caves, "The Green Dragon Inn", the "Party Tree" and many other highlights.

Travel prices:

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Here are the fields of the Pelennor, where the biggest war scene of the Lord of the Rings trilogy took place.

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During a 40-minute hike through the outer floodplain you will see, among other things, the film location where the 4 Hobbits have to flee from the road to escape the Nazgul.the foot of the Ngauruhoe there is the Mangatepopo Car Park where you can park your car.

Afterwards you drive on to Christchurch, the biggest city of the South Island.

Meanwhile a thrush flies to the Lonely Mountain and hits a stone according to an old prophecy which promises the favourable return of the dwarves to their old empire.

>> On the horizon, the mountains of fog rise up into the sky, to which the old dwarf songs bear witness. The sheer power of the rocks gives this place a mythical charge.

In the morning you will board the Interislander ferry to the South Island, including your rental car. Via the Cook Waterway and the famous Marlborough Sounds you reach the small harbour town of Picton. The Maori call the gorge "Ghost Valley", behind which the gate to the dwarf world Moria is hidden in the "Lord of the Rings" movies. This is also where the great decisive battle was filmed on the edge of the Dragon Hoard, the last "Hobbit" film is about.

#hobbit new zealand travel

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fuforthought · 6 years ago

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Unlike Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen has never been afraid to play a villain. In fact, one of his more notable early roles was against Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China 2. But earlier that same year, he starred in this film; the insane wuxia classic, New Dragon Gate Inn. Oh and he plays a eunuch. The film also stars Maggie Cheung (who would later star in Hero with Donnie, though the two never shared a scene) and Brigitte Lin and, in my opinion, is one of the finest kung fu films of that crazy, wire-filled 90′s era. Just watch this fight. It’s amazing. Great swordplay, an amazing backdrop, some really enjoyable gore... It’s everything brilliant about 90′s kung fu cinema in a nutshell.

Sadly, the film isn’t streaming right now (you might find a poor quality version on YouTube) but the UK DVD can be bought, used, for next to nothing here. There was a beautiful, limited edition Blu Ray released in China earlier this year but I hear it goes for over $100 now. Shame.

Anyway, if you want to dip your toe in wuxia or even martial arts movies in general, you could do much worse than this film.

#New Dragon Gate Inn #Donnie Yen #Maggie Cheung #Wuxia #Kung fu cinema #Brigitte Lin #Eunuch #Villain #Martial arts #Desert #Fight scene

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lilacmoon83 · 5 years ago

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Dreaming Out Loud

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 121: Heroes and Villains

"Mom...do you know what realm they're talking about?" Snow asked.

"I'm afraid so, snowdrop. It's a place called the Land of Untold Stories. Time does not move there," Persephone revealed.

"Does this group have a name? Beside the Home Office?" Emma questioned. They nodded.

"They call themselves the Order of the Jackal. Anubis is kind of a mascot of sorts," Annie answered.

"And who is this leader?" David asked. Annie and Adrian exchanged a glance.

"Dr. Henry Jekyll…" they answered.

"Whoa...like Jekyll and Hyde?" Emma asked.

"Like exactly that. However, his story is quite different than the one known to the Land Without Magic," Annie replied.

"So he doesn't become Mr. Hyde part of the time?" Snow asked.

"Oh no...he does. He's quite obsessed with exploring dark and light. Good versus evil...it's probably too much to get into now. But trust me, with him as Author, that would be extremely terrifying," Adrian answered.

"Yeah...like his own story, his story lines would be classified in the horror genre," Annie shuddered.

"Okay...well maybe you can tell us more on the way. Right now, it's time to confront Greg and his detective friend," David said.

"Do we know if the Dragon has a way to get back into Storybrooke? I mean, surely he wouldn't have left unless he had a contingency plan," Snow said.

"She's right...I'm going to go talk to Circe," Hades replied.

"She'll never tell us anything, but we have to try," Persephone agreed, as they joined hands.

"We'll meet you at Granny's later," Hades said, as they used one of his invisi-portals and stepped through. The rest of them did the same and they found themselves in Storybrooke in front of Granny's. David stormed in and scanned the diner, but was disappointed that he didn't find Greg.

"I guess it makes sense that we never see him here. They are probably have been eating at odd hours so as not to run into us," Emma reasoned.

"I really hope so, Em...or I'm losing my touch," he complained. She scoffed.

"Dad...you just got chosen by Prometheus' flame and held Excalibur. I doubt you're losing your touch," she reminded. Snow smiled and slipped her arms around him.

"She's right...they've probably been going to great lengths to move in the shadows. Plus, it's not like we haven't been busy," his wife reminded him. He nodded.

"Let's see if they're in their rooms," he suggested, as they went over to the Inn side.

"Granny...can we look at your bookings?" Snow asked. She shrugged and handed over the book.

"They're not here…" Snow said in confusion.

"Surely they haven't been tenting it in the woods for three years," Emma said.

"No...maybe they're not staying in Storybrooke," David suggested.

"Because most of the real estate is owned by Mr. Gold and Granny would have told us if Greg was hanging around her Inn," Emma surmised. He nodded.

"Then they could be staying in any number of Kingdoms. All the hotels and Inns are modernized now," Snow realized.

"And most of the homes for rent too," Emma added.

"Damn...finding them might be harder than we thought," David said. Emma smirked, as she got an idea.

"Or maybe not," she said, as they looked at her.

"The Author...Annie said that they've been recording footage of magic for the last three years. So...let's give them something to record and use a little of their own technology against them by setting up cameras right on Main street," Emma said. They smiled at her.

"What did you have in mind?" David asked. Their daughter smiled.

"Follow me," he said, as they followed her with the double stroller in tow and the babies.

"Our daughter is genius," Snow said to him. He smiled.

"Like her mother," he agreed.

~*~

Arthur stormed into his castle, still livid and seething about what had just occurred at the most recent Council meeting.

"I can't believe this!" he hissed, as he paced his Throne room.

"Sire...just say the word and we will rally Camelot's army if you wish to declare war on Misthaven," Sir Gawain stated.

"Yes...we stand with you, my King," Sir Tristan added.

"Then you'd be going into sure defeat!" Arthur hissed.

"Weren't you paying attention?" he raged.

"King David now holds a sword that was reforged by the Promethean flame. It now rivals Excalibur, if not surpasses its power," he said.

"But no other mortal weapon can defeat Excalibur," Gawain said, horrified by the possibility.

"One can when Excalibur is not complete," Arthur reminded, as he looked at his broken sword.

"Not to mention that he has the backing of the Gods," he added.

"My love...perhaps we do nothing. King David seems reluctant to go to war with us," Guinevere said.

"But he will. He thinks my rule is unjust and that our people need freed from me," he reminded.

"That's absurd...the people of Camelot will not stand for it," Tristan offered.

"He's right...Camelot stands with you, my King," Gawain added. And thanks to the sands of Avalon, that was true. But now that the flame had chosen David and his daughter, who happened to be the illustrious Savior, he knew that they had the power to discover how to release his people from the effects of the sands. They hadn't discovered how yet, but he knew they would come here when they did. And that was why he had to stop them.

"No...we must find a way to reforge Excalibur. We must force King David or his beloved daughter to use the Promethean flame for our benefit," Arthur said.

"How do we do that?" Guinevere asked.

"He already refused to reforge Excalibur at the cost of the Dark One's life," she added.

"Yes...but if he was forced to choose between them, say the life of one of his young children or his wife, he would choose them over the Dark One. Any good husband and father would," Arthur said.

"Arthur...not a child," Guinevere admonished in horror.

"I will not resort to that unless I am forced. But he would choose his beloved wife over anyone else. He gave her half his own heart, after all," Arthur said.

"But she is the daughter of Persephone. Such a plot will not be easy to enact," Gawain replied.

"No...it will not. We will need help from other magical sources. It may be time to make some new alliances," Arthur said, as he gazed out the window over his Kingdom.

"And with the right help and resources...we can and will succeed. I will not be denied my birthright and our research will continue," he said.

"We will find the answers we seek," he added, as they followed him to do just that, leaving Guinevere to watch him leave her side again in one of his endless quests.

~*~

Greg popped into the small house they had been renting in a small Misthaven village for the past three years.

"What are you doing?" he asked his roommate, as he saw Landon packing up his camera.

"Haven't you heard? I guess there's a Dragon terrorizing Storybrooke. This will make for some great footage," he said. Greg sighed.

"You have enough footage. Have your heard from your friend at the bureau?" Greg asked.

"Yeah...the coordinates we gave them naturally show that it's in the middle of the Maine wilderness. So they're not believing there's any town here. Unless we can present them a suspect in front of them, they're not going to come. Unless...we show them that there's something here. Thus why we need as much footage possible," Landon reasoned.

"They're never going to believe it's real footage," Greg said.

"Maybe not at first, but they'll get their best people on it and they will determine that it's not fabricated. Then they'll want to talk," Landon replied. Greg sighed.

"You better be right...I've waited too long for justice," he snapped, as they left the house and headed for Storybrooke.

~*~

The guard unlocked the cell block door, letting Persephone and Hades through the gate. The pair approached their intended destination and looked on through the cell at Circe herself.

"Well, well...it's not every day that I get visitors. Let alone visitors from such high and mighty rulers," she drawled.

"We're here to talk to you about something very important," Persephone said sternly.

"Oh my...the Supreme Goddess wants to speak to little old me?" Circe mocked.

"This is a waste of time," Hades said, having little patience for this woman's antics. But his wife put a hand up and continued.

"Your father has apparently been quite busy in the outside world, but then you know that, don't you?" she questioned. She hummed.

"He might have mentioned it here and there," she answered flippantly.

"If your father has left Storybrooke...then he would not have done so without having a way back in. You need to tell us how he is getting back into Storybrooke and who is he bringing with him," Persephone demanded.

"I'm not telling you anything unless I get something out of it," Circe responded.

"You're not getting out of here. That's not even on the table," Hades refuted.

"Well, then I guess you'll have to chase down dear old dad yourselves," Circe said, as she laid back on her cot and gave them a smug glare. Persephone pursed her lips and contemplated their options, until she felt her husband's hand on her arm.

"We don't need her to figure this out. I think I might have another idea," he said, as he glared back at her. Persephone gave her one last stern look, before they walked away. Letting Circe go free was not an option, no matter what she might know. They would have to explore other avenues to get the information they were seeking.

~*~

The dragon roared and David rolled away from the fire being breathed down upon him. Snow fired a few arrows, but they failed to make any kind of impact, as she dodged the dragon's tail.

"We need to lure her away from town," Emma said.

"Great idea...but not really sure how to do that, Em. She clearly wants to destroy the town," David replied.

"Unreal…" Landon said, as he filmed the footage from the alleyway near the square.

"When this goes viral...I'm going to be rich," he said and Greg rolled his eyes.

"If anyone believes this is real, which they won't," he reminded.

"Not true...all the footage I've collected is irrefutable and soon these woods will be crawling with law enforcement and civilians alike. And when I let people in, you can get the cops to arrest the woman that killed your father and I can charge admission to all the curious civilians," he boasted.

"That's going to be pretty hard to do from inside a prison cell," a voice said, as they froze and then looked behind them, finding Snow White there with an arrow trained on them.

"What?" Landon said in confusion, as they watched the dragon disappear in a puff of magenta smoke and a woman reappear in place of the dragon. David sheathed his sword, as Lancelot moved into cuff both Greg and Landon.

"Thanks for helping with the ruse," Snow said to Maleficent.

"We all have children to protect and neither of us welcomes the idea of outsiders," the dragon Queen said, as Regina sided up to her.

"You…" Greg hissed.

"You should have just left town when you had the chance three years ago," Regina stated.

"You killed my father!" Greg cried, as he struggled against the cuffs.

"You're going to lock me up while she walks free?!" he shouted.

"That's exactly what they're going to do, but they won't get away with it. You have no legal reason to put me away. I haven't done anything," Landon challenged.

"You're a threat to my family...to every family here. The author told us what you've been doing, but we're not going to let you release any of that footage to the world," David refuted. Landon smirked.

"Too late, chisel chin. It's already done," he goaded, as he showed him his phone.

"All my footage, the reports, and information I've gathered just went live," he boasted. David grabbed his phone and smashed it on the ground. The former detective rolled his eyes.

"Smashing it isn't going to change that," Landon said derisively.

"Maybe not, but we're not going to let you do anymore damage," David retorted.

"Most aren't going to believe any of that footage is real. I know what people are like in the Land Without Magic. Unless it's smacking them in the face, they'll never believe in magic. And even then, it would be questionable," Emma said. He shrugged.

"Maybe...maybe not. But the FBI has identified the remains of Greg's father and the lure of closing the case might draw them here," Landon warned.

"Doesn't matter…they can't get in," Emma refuted, as she cuffed him.

"You hope," he leered, as she marched him and David followed her with Greg in tow.

"I can't believe this! You go on about justice and yet my father's murderer walks free!" he yelled.

"Regina may not have served time in prison, but she has paid for her crimes in other ways. She's come a long way in repenting for those crimes," Snow declared.

"Oh save your hope speeches, princess!" Greg snapped and David whipped him around, grabbing him by the collar.

"She is Queen of Misthaven and Storybrooke. Show some respect," David said.

"Fat chance of that happening," Greg snapped in return.

"Look...I actually do understand where you're coming from. Captain Hook killed my father, but he gave up his revenge and became a better man. I was able to forgive him and I can tell you that it lifted a huge weight off me once I did," David advised.

"Thanks for the advice, but you got your father back. I didn't," Greg reminded.

"You have everything...literally everything. We have nothing in common. You have it all!" he raged.

"You're right...I do have it all. I have an amazing and stunningly beautiful wife, true love, children...everything. But that does not mean you cannot have the same things. But you won't have them with revenge in your heart," David warned.

"Oh but it does!" he said, as he looked around at everyone that the spectacle had drawn and his eyes noticed the author and her brother.

"I've read Henry's book and what does it say, author?" he questioned, but she didn't answer, because she knew he was being rhetorical.

"It says that villains don't get happy endings! VILLIANS!" he shouted.

"Except that everyone standing here knows that's a load of crap!" he continued.

"Because the villains DO get happy endings!" he called.

"The Evil Queen...Rumpelstiltskin...Captain Hook. They all got their happy endings. They killed probably hundreds and committed just as many other atrocities, but yet they found true love. They have children and happiness now and live in lavish castles!" he ranted.

"Villains do get happy endings!" he announced.

"Even Maleficent and your evil twin brother got happy endings," Greg spat at him.

"And they got their happy endings, because of your so-called heroes, people!" he shouted.

"They didn't really give up their revenge! No...they just conceded to these heroes, because they knew it would get them what they wanted!" he continued.

"They told Snow White and Prince Charming that they were sorry and these two ate it up like cake," he said, as David glared at him and they heard commotion spreading through the gathered crowd at his words.

"The villains learned that if they repented to the heroes that all the doors would open for them and it worked. So the book is wrong! Villains do get happy endings! They have fooled these heroes and fooled you! Because people don't really change...least of all the Evil Queen or Rumpelstiltskin!" he hissed.

"You're wrong…" Snow refuted.

"No I'm not, Your Majesty," he snapped.

"Even Hades himself got a happy ending! Your beloved Snow White forgave his atrocities as well!" he announced, furthering riling up the crowd.

"He has changed! They all have and they earned their happy endings!" Snow shouted back, but the crowd seemed too riled by Greg Mendell's speech.

"Your sentiments are endearing, Queen Snow...sweet even. But like you, they are a fairy tale. Because villains do get happy endings. You should change the book, author," he said, looking at Annie, who looked none too pleased by his words either.

"But do you know who doesn't get happy endings?" he shouted to the crowd.

"Us!" he cried.

"The normal people! The peons! The background players that no one pays any mind to!" he called.

"Because we're too busy getting screwed over by the heroes and villains alike!" he shouted.

"That's enough from you," David growled, as he started marching him toward the station.

"You all know I'm right!" he called.

"We're just bit players. I can't wield Excalibur or the Promethean flame like our valiant Prince Charming here," he said.

"I'm not the child of Persephone or the Savior born from the truest love in all the lands!" he continued to rant.

"We're peons...we don't get happy endings, because we're barely blips on the radar in that book," he added.

"You could have found happiness. That's the difference between you and Regina. She let go of revenge and then found love. You could have too," David told him.

"Keep telling yourself that, handsome. Just don't compare us again. Because I'm not Prince Charming...you are. You'll lock me up and be hailed as a hero. Then you'll return to that beautiful wife and those precious children and that perfect little family. And I'll rot in a prison cell for trying to prove my father's murder. That's real justice," he said sarcastically, as he and Landon were led to jail.

But as Snow, Regina, and the others looked around, they wondered if his words truly had an impact. There would always be some dissension, but if people truly started to believe they didn't matter, then Snow worried about her people.

"He made a lot of good points, as much as I hate to admit it," Regina whispered to her. She swallowed thickly.

"I don't believe that…" she refuted.

"Snow…" Regina started to admonish.

"I don't...I won't. You've changed and not because you conceded to us. You did it, because it was right. You did it for family and Henry, but most importantly...yourself," Snow said, hoping she was loud enough for most to hear, even as they had all started to disperse with weary looks upon them in passing.

"We just have to make them see that Greg is wrong," she added.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Maleficent questioned.

"Because at the end of the day...you're Snow White and we're still the Evil Queen and Maleficent to many of them. Greg Mendell's words didn't just plant these thoughts in the dissenters. He doesn't have that kind of power or presence," the dragon Queen continued.

"His words only awakened thoughts that were already in anyone that agrees with him," she concluded.

"Maybe so...but we'll find a way. We always do and we'll always have critics. We know that, but he's wrong. People do change," she said.

"And those that want to see it will," she added.

"And for those that don't...we'll always be what we are. Villains," Maleficent said, as she disappeared in a puff of smoke before Snow could say anything else.

"Don't mind her...she's naturally leery of most people," Regina said.

"Quite the crowd," Hades mentioned, as he and Persephone arrived. Snow hurried to them and hugged them both.

"Oh…" Persephone said in surprise, but then hugged her daughter tightly. Hades did as well, while Eli approached, having been there to witness the spectacle as well.

"What is it, snowdrop?" Persephone asked, as Hades hugged her tightly. Snow shook her head.

"I let Greg Mendell get under my skin and I shouldn't have," she said. Persephone looked at her ex and he nodded.

"Greg Mendell and his friend made quite a spectacle. You can watch the whole thing, I'm sure. People were recording it on their phones," Eli said.

"And worse...his friend claimed that he leaked all his footage and information before David smashed his phone. Supposedly, it's all out there on the Internet. There's no telling what kind of ramifications it's going to have," Regina added. Hades rolled his eyes.

"No one believes in anything in this land. They'll think it's some amateurishly made movie or something," Hades said.

"That's what Emma said...but apparently, they sent Kurt Flynn's remains to the FBI lab and they have been positively identified. We might soon have the woods crawling with law enforcement and civilians alike," Emma said, as she and David returned. Snow went to him and he hugged her tightly, as he pressed a kiss to her hair.

"But...they can't get into Storybrooke, right?" Henry asked, as he arrived with James and Regina put her arm around him.

"I'm hoping the answer is no. Did you get anything from that witch?" Regina asked. Persephone shook her head.

"She'll only talk if we set her free and we cannot do that under any circumstance. But Mushu is out there and he's as slippery as his serpent form would suggest," the Goddess said.

"She's right...he wouldn't have left Storybrooke if he didn't have a way to get back in. I'm almost certain of it," Hades agreed.

"Then there's no telling who he could let in. We really could have buses driving down Main Street soon or worse," David said.

"Yes...but I think I might know how to prevent that," Hades replied.

"How?" Eli asked.

"We don't wait for them to come to us. We go to them," Hades replied.

"You mean...out there?" James questioned. He nodded.

"We find Mushu and this Order of the Jackal. We go to them," Hades said, as he looked to the author.

"Do you know where their base of operations is?" he asked. Annie and Adrian nodded.

"We do...but you have to understand that the pen has absolutely no power to change or fix anything that happens in the Land Without Magic," she warned. He nodded.

"We understand. But I think you all misunderstand. I don't want to go to the Land Without Magic, at least not yet," he said and they looked confused.

"I want to go straight to the man himself, before we go to the base out there. We're going to find a way to the Land of Untold Stories. It's time I have a chat with Dr. Jekyll himself," Hades added.

"Going to the head of it...that makes sense. He's the main head of this Hydra so to speak," Persephone agreed.

"Just so you know...I don't have any power in the Land of Untold Stories either. People go there to pause their stories indefinitely. I'm expressly forbidden to meddle there," Annie warned again.

"We understand," Hades assured.

"Okay...so we get a bean from Anton and be on our way," Emma said.

"It's not that simple," Persephone said, with a wince.

"What do you mean?" David asked.

"She means that you can't portal into the Land of Untold Stories. Only with one of the rare keys to it can you enter," Hades answered.

"Okay...so how do we find one of these keys?" Emma asked.

"I may know where one is…" Hades revealed, as they listened closely.

~*~

The Land of Untold Stories

The tall, dark skinned man stormed through the barracks in the asylum. He was used to the moaning and screaming of the asylum's unwell patients and if he was affected by their screams and moans of sheer misery and insanity, he did not show it.

Upon entering his Master's lab, he witnessed a familiar scene. Dr. Jekyll was in the middle of another painstaking experiment and his current test subject struggled with the restraints, as they struggled to get free. But he had fastened those restraints himself and knew there was no give.

"Easy...there is nothing to fear," Jekyll assured, as he mixed his potion and added the new ingredient he had acquired. It turned the desired color that he wanted and he swirled the vial.

"Excellent...perhaps this is the one. Now to test it," he said, as he motioned to Mr. Poole, who came forward and held the victim's head still, allowing the doctor to pour the liquid down the man's throat. They stepped back then and watched the man convulse and squeal in painful agony, as he started to separate.

"Yes…" Jekyll said, as his eyes gleamed with a twisted glee behind his thin rimmed glasses. The convulsions and spasms became violent and the man threw up blood, as the machine monitoring his heart beeped wildly. The man then collapsed to the table, as he flat lined and the doctor slammed his fists on the table.

"Dammit…" he growled, as he experienced yet another failure.

"What am I missing?" he lamented, as Mr. Poole covered the body with a sheet and proceeded to wheel the unfortunate victim out. He rubbed his temples. Another headache was coming on and he was no closer to a solution once more. But he would continue his search and his quest for knowledge...

#Snowing #SnowxCharming #Charming family #Swanfire #Rumbelle #AU #HadesxPersephone #Greek Mythology meets fairy tales #romance #adventure #family #Dreaming out loud

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chernobog13 · 4 years ago

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A masterful film by a master filmmaker. I don’t normally go for dramas (I’m more of a genre guy), but this stars two of my favorite Hong Kong stars: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Maggie Cheung.

Up until seeing this film in the theatre I had only seen these two in HK action flicks. Two of Tony Leung’s most famous (out of dozens upon dozens upon dozens of films he’s made) are Hard Boiled and Infernal Affairs (the film that Martin Scorsese remade as The Departed). He should not be confused with another HK actor named Tony Leung (Tony Leung Kai-Fai) who is also a phenomenal actor (Ashes of Time, New Dragon Gate Inn, Once Upon a Time in China, Election - just to name a few of the films he’s been in).

Maggie Cheung is well known as Jackie Chan’s long-suffering girlfriend, May, in the Police Story series, among her many, many roles, including one of The Heroic Trio (with Anita Mui and Michelle Yeoh), Green Snake, Twin Dragons, Hero. Or for something completely different, see Irma Vep, wherein Maggie speaks in her perfect British accent (she was raised in England and Hong Kong).

If you’re only familiar with these stars from their action flicks (like I was) you owe it to yourself to see this film. Not only is it an intriguing story and gorgeously shot, but these two have some very serious acting chops.

Plus, and this is my inner caveman speaking, Maggie Cheung is so beautiful that I would sit in a theatre and watch a film of her just reading a newspaper for two hours.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000) dir. Wong Kar-wai

#In the Mood for Love #Tony Leung Chiu-Wai #Maggie Cheung #Wong Kar-Wai #excellent films

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cinemaemasmovies · 3 years ago

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Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate (2011)

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate picks up three years after the infamous Dragon Inn was burnt down in the desert when its innkeeper Jade vanished. A new gang of marauders had taken over – innkeepers by day and treasure hunters by night. The inn is the rumoured location of a lost city buried under the desert, and its hidden treasure would only be revealed by a gigantic storm every 60 years. The gang used the inn as a front to locate the lost treasure.

Trailer film Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate (2011)

source https://185.217.95.233/flying-swords-of-dragon-gate-2011/

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filmstruck · 7 years ago

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The Warrior Heroes of Wuxia: Part 2 by Susan Doll

In my celebration of the four wuxia films currently streaming on FilmStruck, I approached the series in reverse chronological order. Last week, I focused on Zhang Yimou’s HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS from 2004, which represents the contemporary revitalization of this unique martial-arts genre by China’s Fifth Generation directors. (See also He Ping’s WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH [’03]). Earlier examples of wuxia include the ground-breaking A TOUCH OF ZEN (’71) and DRAGON INN (’67) by King Hu.

Hu, however, directed his films outside Mainland China, because of the politics of the era. The wuxia protagonist is a warrior hero of the mythic past, a mercenary with a moral code who is skilled in the martial arts. During the 1930s, Chiang Kai-shek banned films featuring martial arts and magic in China, accusing them of looking backward instead of forward into a modern era. After the Communist Revolution, when Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan and China belonged to Mao, the Chinese film industry stopped producing martial-arts films altogether.

In the late 1940s, a steady stream of refugees from the Mainland ended up in Hong Kong, while personnel from the Shanghai and Taiwanese film industries found it less restrictive to work there. The result was a resurgence of Mandarin cinema in this tiny but heavily populated British colony.

By the 1960s, the Shaw Studio, led by Run Run and Runme Shaw, was the largest producer of films in the Hong Kong industry. The Shaws became successful by producing films in Mandarin Chinese for a population in exile. The content and genres produced in Mandarin were often nostalgic or set in the old homeland, including wuxia films. Chang Cheh, who directed over 100 films for Shaw Studio, updated the genre, adding new archetypes and motifs. Cheh introduced the wuxia warrior with a handicap in ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (’67), the story of a martial artist who loses his arm after defeating a master’s daughter in a fair fight. Despite his loss, he manages to learn the undiscovered art of one-armed swordplay. Influenced by Hollywood Westerns and Japanese samurai films, Cheh established the conventions for this wave of wuxia. Protagonists hailed from the lower classes and achieved their consummate skill through diligent practice. Wuxia warriors often banded together and dedicated themselves to protecting the weak and innocent. Eventually, the swordplay of wuxia was mixed with the legwork of kung fu.

King Hu would surpass Cheh as an innovator of wuxia films, because he brought a new level of technical artistry and a bit of Buddhist philosophy to the genre. Like Cheh, Hu drew on samurai movies and American Westerns, but he was interested in the visual techniques of those genres as well as their narrative conventions. He was also influenced by the Beijing Opera, which is evident in the ballet-like staging of his fight scenes. In COME DRINK WITH ME (’66), Hu cast dancer Cheng Pei-pei as the female protagonist who sets out to rescue her brothers from bandits. COME DRINK WITH ME established Pei-pei as an action star, at least until she went to America in the 1970s to get married. Over 30 years later, Ang Lee would cast Pei-pei as the evil mentor to the wuxia heroine played by Zhang Ziyi in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (’00) as an homage to Hu. One of my favorite characteristics of wuxia is the use of women warriors who participate in the fight scenes with the skill and vigor of their male counterparts. Hu built on this convention with his female characters, who stand morally and physically above the crowd. They are strong-willed and determined, yet graceful and feminine. They don’t sacrifice their identities as women in their determination and duty.

Hu got his start as a director with the Shaw Brothers, but he left their studio in 1966 to move to Taiwan, where he made DRAGON INN and his masterwork A TOUCH OF ZEN. The former takes place in in an inn, one of Hu’s favorite settings. For Hu, the inn is a kind of mythical, mystical place where the laws of physics are suspended. Likewise, A TOUCH OF ZEN is set in the heart of a small village, where a haunted residence confounds the shy, young painter who lives next door with his mother. Equally as vexing to the unsuccessful painter is the enigmatic Yang (Hsu Feng), a fugitive noblewoman in disguise.

A TOUCH OF ZEN reveals King Hu to be a visually driven director. He suggests the haunted quality of the setting by focusing on long shots of the tall grass moving in the wind, and the fog eerily snaking through the village. Those tall grasses with white, bushy tops were not native to the area where the film was shot. The grasses were transported from another part of the national park in Taiwan where many of the scenes were shot because of the way they gently swayed in the wind. Hu, who was quite knowledgeable about Chinese history and culture, translated certain characteristics of Chinese painting into the medium of film. The mist and the treetops are obvious, but the connection between his horizontal tracking shots and Chinese scroll paintings is subtle. In a long shot of characters walking through the wilderness, the camera tracks with them from a distance. The take is long in duration as the camera keeps the characters center frame. Only the background scenery changes as the characters move screen left. The effect is like looking at a horizontal scroll in which your eyes move from one section of the scroll to the next.

The first fight scene between Yang and a corrupt general is a long time coming, but the graceful wirework as the combatants effortlessly glide over the rooftops and summersault through the air makes the wait worthwhile. Hu’s crisp editing and moving camera accentuate the choreography of the fight scenes, anticipating Zhang Yimou’s HERO (’02) decades later. The female protagonist, the wirework combined with martial arts and the mystical quality of nature found in A TOUCH OF ZEN became the conventions of the wuxia genre during the 1960s. The film was an international success and won the Golden Palm at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival.

King Hu returned to Hong Kong in the early 1970s. He was persuaded to direct films for Raymond Chow, who opened Golden Harvest studio in 1970. Chow had served as production chief for the Shaw Studio. When he decided to break out on his own, he snatched up some of the Shaw Brothers’ talent. Hu organized his own small production company but released his films through Golden Harvest.

During the 1970s, the martial arts film moved in a different direction. The fantasy elements, mythic-historical settings and female warriors were replaced by contemporary stories of cops and combatants who were experts in kung fu. Their feet were firmly planted on earth as they kicked, jabbed and jumped their way through tightly choreographed fight scenes. As wuxia films receded from the spotlight, King Hu could not sustain the momentum generated by A TOUCH OF ZEN, though he continued to direct films for the next 20 years. Still, DRAGON INN (aka DRAGON GATE INN) and A TOUCH OF ZEN were essential to the development of a genre, making King Hu a significant figure in film history. In that way, they are comparable to the early Westerns of John Ford or the English thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock.

#FilmStruck #A Touch of Zen #Hu Chin-chuan #Hsu Feng #Wuxia #StreamLine Blog #Susan Doll

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