#filming will begin in 2 days afaik

[morweneledhwen]

Two updates on Painted Skin: The Resurrection (月鳞绮纪 | Yue Lin Qi Ji) by Guo Jingming:

- the official English title has been changed to Veil of Shadows

- Guo Jingming has posted a teaser of the costume designs for the different characters in the drama on his Weibo account, and they look absolutely gorgeous

[queen-of-obsessing]

Why The Stranger Is Actually Saruman

A Deep Dive because I've been thinking about it Too Much TM

I need to get this off my chest because the Reddit bros saying that the Stranger is either a random blue wizard or Gandalf are driving me crazy, because from my perspective, they're so obviously wrong, and here's a compilation of all the clues and hints we've been given in Seasons 1-2 that prove why!! (Quick disclaimer: I've watched the PJ LOTR movies over 5 times, and have it pretty much memorized, so I'm coming from mainly a movie perspective - which the ROP showrunners have said they want the show to remain connected to, as shown by how they reference the films every chance they get. But I've googled the backstory of relevant characters from the sacred texts/lore to familiarize myself with it.) (Also spoilers for everything up to 2x06.)

The "Blatantly Obvious" Gandalf Clues (and why they're not that obvious)

The Stranger has a relationship with Harfoots -> Saruman was also familiar with Hobbits. "Your love of the Halflings' leaf has clearly slowed your mind", and his Isengard cellar is filled with Hobbit weed. He's also shown to have a dislike for them (perhaps if he was betrayed by Nori in later seasons).

"Grand-elf", "gand", "follow your nose" -> it's not hard to believe that these are surface level red herrings, they're barely of any plot consequence and are more like random remarks thrown in to throw you off the scent. If the Stranger is Saruman these would make sense, since Saruman was Gandalf's mentor, and the films bait-and-switched them before (see: the Gandalf the white scene where he literally had Christopher Lee's voice)

"They all but confirmed it at the end of Season 1" -> then why is there still a mystery in Season 2? The writers clearly want you to keep guessing who he is. If he was Gandalf, they would've just said he was.

Aaaand, that's about it on Gandalf evidence. Not a lot, is it? No, precious, not at all, the Reddit bros lied to us.

Now let's get into the Saruman theory, starting with the four big things that Gandalf doesn't have, that the Stranger does: Rhun, Sauron, Ents, and Palantirs.

1. Rhun

Gandalf never went to Rhun. (From the wiki: "Unlike Saruman, Olórin never took up permanent residence, and never went to the east, apparently restricting his activities to the Westlands of Middle-earth[.]") He has no business being there. For the writers to send him there would be a giant canon departure, and kind of pointless. But Saruman did! In his early days, he travelled to Rhun, stayed there awhile and then returned. The Stranger travelling to Rhun was the first dead giveaway.

2. Sauron

"Is it my task to stop the fire? Is it my task to face Sauron??" (2x04) Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm 99% sure Gandalf was never destined to face Sauron. In the films, he faced a Balrog and won, which already was an intense fight that killed him, and Gandalf indirectly facilitated Sauron's destruction by guiding Frodo, but he never directly confronted him, afaik. (Again, I might be wrong and missing lore info.) But we know Saruman was more powerful than Gandalf, and he was supposed to face Sauron, but ultimately ended up aligning with him. But in the show, the Stranger is supposed to face him, and if he was Gandalf, this would be a bizarre departure.

3. Ents, nature & trees

The Stranger is heavily associated with nature, but the biggest dead giveaway that he's Saruman was the scene in 2x04 where he's following the star map to a tree branch, and tries to break it off when the tree retaliates and sucks him in (very similar to what happened to Merry and Pippin in the films, with Tom Bombadil saying exactly what Treebeard said to free them, although that line was originally Tom's to begin with). But because of this scene, they're directly linking the Stranger to Ents & Fangorn. Which is fascinating, because Saruman, before he was evil in the TA, used to walk among the trees and befriended the Ents. In the films, his betrayal of Treebeard by cutting down the trees for his army is one of the key emotional moments of the film ("a wizard should know better!!"), and is what causes the destruction of Isengard. And in that scene, Stranger/Saruman tried to harm the tree, and the tree attacked him. Seems like foreshadowing to me.

4. Palantirs

Now, even though the Stranger hasn't been linked to Palantirs and Seeing Stones in the show, we know they're there, and characters have used them many times. We also know that Saruman has one in Isengard, and would make sense if ROP showed us how he got it. Gandalf never had a Palantir.

Some other theories and notes others have made:

The Stranger is established to have darkness in him and the potential for evil. The fireflies die, "I'm peril", having to remind himself that he's good. The opening line of the entire show is "Nothing is evil in the beginning."

An emphasis on names and the importance/power of a name -> naming the Stranger as Saruman will change our whole perspective of him. The writers want us to see him as good and loveable before putting that name burden on him. (Another show I love, The Chosen, did that for the character of Judas, a notoriously infamous traitor, calling him 'the Apprentice' for an entire episode before officially naming him.)

The Stranger's magic is super powerful. The conjuring of the sandstorm reminded me of Saruman's conjuring the snowstorm over the pass of Caradhras, in FOTR.

There's a moment where the Stranger's staff dissolves when he uses his magic, similar to the scene where Gandalf dissolves Saruman's staff in his hand.

The two towers theory: introducing Sauron at the end of Season 1, Saruman at the end of Season 2, so now both heads of the towers are in play.

"i can’t shake the feeling that the actor’s intonation is pretty much the midpoint of Ian McKellen’s Gandalf and Christopher Lee’s Saruman" (ntraumintraum on Reddit)

Daniel Wayman did an Irish lilt in his voice, that Gandalf doesn't have.

Saruman has a fascinating, tragic journey of going from good to evil, while Gandalf remains good through it all. The former is more compelling for a show like ROP that's built around tragic fates + Saruman's story is still mostly untold and mysterious.

In conclusion, if he is Gandalf, I'll be very disappointed, but can live with it. It would just be a huge missed opportunity, but as of now, I'm pretty convinced that the Stranger is Saruman, and the dark wizard is a bad blue wizard.

So in further conclusion:

Update from 2x06: that Bombadil quote is kinda killing my theory here. ("some that die deserve life") it's such a famous Gandalf quote, but at this point it's so obvious that it feels like it's even more of a red herring. Ugh. idk. i'm confused. I'm starting to think the Stranger is actually Gandalf which is pissing me the fuck off. Dumbest choice ever made on the show 😭💀

Final update: I HATE BEING WRONG. JD & PATRICK YOU'VE BRUISED MY PRIDE AND HURT MY FEELINGS. I accept it, but i'm highly offended by it.

[thosch3i]

Zeng Shunxi’s Goodbye Post to Wu Xie and Ultimate Note [ENG TRANSLATION]

Zeng Shunxi posted on Weibo last night saying goodbye to his character, with a video (of his time during filming, no actual talking IIRC) that you can watch here. Translation below the cut.

Hello, Wu Xie. I remember this was the first line I said to myself when I got the "Ultimate Note" script.

As actors, we will wander between different characters, meeting and saying goodbye again and again. This time, I was fortunate enough to meet--Wu Xie.

On that day, May 9, 2019, the section of this journey that belonged to me and Wu Xie began.

As for the Wu Xie in my mind at this stage, he is kind, cute, stubborn, a little childish, but very loyal. He innocent and pure (1), tianzhen Wu Xie (2). His experiences--from the very beginning, he was forced to walk into this period of his life--let me understand more deeply the fate that he is burdened with and his confusion. This story is the beginning of Wu Xie's turning point in life. At that time, he was inexperienced, ignorant, a little flippant, had his own principles, and was unaware of the huge changes soon to come in his life. On his journey to find the "Ultimate", he gradually discovered secrets, saw through people's hearts, and watched with his own eyes his former companions reaching different bitter ends, while remaining utterly powerless to save them. As a result, he gradually matured and transformed from a "pure and refined young man, like a fragile lotus flower breaking the water's surface (3)", grew to understand the "mandate of heaven", shouldered heavy responsibilities, and finally put on a mask, bidding farewell to his innocence (4), and moving towards becoming an evil emperor (5).

The predestined bonds between individuals are truly marvelous; similar people will always attract each other. During [Wu Xie's] journey, he met his two most important friends in this life; he was no longer alone on his journey to explore dangers and unveil mysteries.

Zhang Qiling, Wu Xie's most important Xiaoge, is likely closer than his family. In this world, everyone has someone in their heart who they want to protect. Where Xiaoge came from and where he will go, perhaps we will never know, but Wu Xie very firmly knows in his heart that he wants to give Xiaoge a "home". Even if he falls into darkness, they must hold hands and move forward. Xiaoge, thank you for the countless times you have pulled Wu Xie out of danger, and thank you for always guarding Wu Xie and standing by his side. How lucky, because of you (6).

Wang Pangzi--we call him Pang-ge in private--handles the atmosphere of the Iron Triangle. It is because of him that this journey has had so much laughter. He loves money, but he attaches more importance to love and friendship. Though he normally doesn't behave properly or have good manners, he was the first to see Wu Xie's simple and pure heart, calling him "Tianzhen" and saying that he "really is innocent and pure". Pang-ge is definitely the best choice for Wu Xie's sworn friend through life and death. Pang-ge, thank you for your unfailing companionship. Furthermore, thank you to the Iron Triangle for meeting and protecting each other.

The 36 episodes of "Ultimate Note" are composed of four books: "Snake Marsh Ghost City", "Yin Mountains Ancient Building", "Qionglong Stone Shadows (7)" and "Mysterious Sea Homecoming". Xishuangbanna, Qujing, Tulin, Yinchuan, Wuxi, Hengdian...we traversed the mysterious sea of a rainforest and the Gobi Desert. We walked a long path, up the mountain and into the sea, to explore the mysteries of the past. From under the ocean-like tree canopies in May to the scorching sun in August, we have filmed through the most sweltering weather of the year. As for Wu Xie--Seven Star Lu Palace, Xisha Undersea Tomb, Qinling, Heavenly Palace in The Clouds, the desert and Snake Marsh, the Nation of the Queen Mother of the West, Zhang Family Ancient Mansion, Banai's Siguniang Mountain...for the sake of his friends and the truth, what he has experienced is still beyond what I can reach.

This was a journey of 103 days and nights with 546 personnel. Thanks to iQIYI, thanks to Linghe Culture (8), thanks to producer Yingzi-jie and the team, thanks to producer Bai Yicong-laoshi, thanks to the three directors, thanks to every diligent staff member working behind the scenes. Everyone has worked ardently and with devotion to their own roles, personally dedicating their time and sincerity to turn this brilliant story from a dream into reality. Also thanks to every actor in the show and their sincere work; only because of all of you, "Ultimate Note" can have its perfect ending today.

Xiao San-ye, I have to bid farewell to you now; I am grateful for your company. Xiao San-ye, I hope you will ultimately bring Xiaoge home, as you wish. Life is a vast, perplexing ocean; don't forget your innocence [tianzhen].

Xiaoge, the mountains never change, and the rivers continue flowing (9).

Goodbye, Tianzhen.

------

Notes:

(1) idiom, 天真无邪/tianzhen (innocent) wuxie (lit. "without evil" aka pure)

(2) 天真吴邪: a pun on Wu Xie's name, since his surname 吴 sounds the same as 无 (without)

(3) involves idiom 出水芙蓉 (lit. lotus flower breaking water's surface), often used to describe beautiful works of art or beautiful young women. Pangzi says that quoted part about Wu Xie in Zang Hai Hua chapter 22.

(4) 天真/tianzhen

(5) 邪帝/xie-di: the 邪 is from Wu Xie's name and literally means "evil", and Sha Hai Wu Xie has often been referred to as 邪帝, in contrast with the early main story "tianzhen Wu Xie".

(6) 多幸运，因为你: a line from Wu Xie's character song in Ultimate Note that's sung by Zeng Shunxi. Links to watch the official MV can be found here.

(7) Translations of the book titles are hard. Could not figure out what Qionglong meant, but someone on Baidu Knows said it referred to the cave with Miluotuo where the Iron Triangle was trapped.

(8) Media company name

(9) Supposedly a line from a poem called "Departure (离别)". The full line AFAIK is "The mountains never change, the rivers continue flowing, we will meet again some day." (青山不改，绿水长流，后会有期。)

[smutember]

The prompts for Smutember 2020 have arrived!

There they are! Ready to make 2020 a bit smuttier. As you probably have noticed, at least some prompts above are related to the Miraculous fandom, from which Smutember (AFAIK) originated, but as I’ve mentioned before - this event is most certainly a cross-fandom one, so don’t be discouraged. Anything can be smuttified, rule34 applies. Oh, and speaking of rules:

Rules

All posts have to be tagged with either smutember or smutember2020 hashtag (preferably both). Be aware that ns fw tag is shadowed, and posts with it are not visible in the tags. I personally suggest the revived old lemon tag. it wouldn’t hurt to @ this blog, so that your post won’t be missed, especially if your blog is new and still not shown in the tag.

No minor/underage content.

All submissions have to be at least somewhat smutty/naughty. We don’t require hard Explcit rating, a Mature one is fine too.

If you are planning on posting suggestive pics/drawings, remember that tumblr still has the ridiculous p0rn filter, so I suggest cropping the pic and adding links to external sites.

If your work contain kinks that may offend some, please tag them either in the tags, or in the body of the work.

Prompts are merely suggestions - at the end of the day, you are the one who chooses how to interpret the prompt. You can also completely ignore the prompts and have your own 30-day challenge, we’re not gonna call the internet police on you.

And in case they weren’t clear, here is a list of prompts with explanations and some propositions:

1. Dirty Talk - Let’s start with some naughty words~. Possible prompts: dirty talk, sexting, writic erotic fics for each other, etc. 2. Foreplay - Self-explanatory: anything related to the heat before the main event. Kissing, petting, grinding against each other, body worship, etc. 3. Striptease - The fun is not just in the destination, but also the journey… of removing clothes. Lap dances, pole dancing, striptease, erotic lingerie, etc. 4. Oral - French love for the win! Blowjobs, cunnilingus, deepthroat, 69, swallowing, rimming - anything related to making love with your mouth and tongue. 5. First Time - It’s supposed to be magical, it’s usually awkward, so let’s make it magical again. First intercourse, first time trying something new, first time in a specific place, etc. There are lots of possible “firsts” 6. Swap! - Switching places is fun. But how about switching roles, or bodies? Possible kinks include: bodyswap, dom/sub swap, or maybe crossdressing/clothes swap. 7. Sweet Treats - Fresh from the bakery, but reheated in microwave counts too. General food play, sex in kitchen/restaurant, etc. 8. Long Distance - Sometimes you can’t be in the same room, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. Prompt includes: sexting, spicy letters, sex through phone/webcams, but also telepathic/portal sex, etc. 9. Fantasy - We all have them, and it turns out our characters have them as well. Prompt includes: dreams, daydreams, acting out a fantasy, but also possible incorporation of AUs. 10. Masturbation - Sometimes you gotta take matters into your own hands… literally. Prompt Includes: masturbation, single or mutual.   11. Costumes - Naked bodies are fun and all, but the real pleasure is imagining what hides underneath fancy clothing. Prompt includes: sex in costumes/fancy clothing, crossdressing and anything related to that. 12. The Morning After - You wake up and the memories of the previous night start flooding in… Morning after intercourse/performing specific kinks for the first time, etc. 13. Messy - There’s a reason you should be keeping a box of tissues on a night stand. Cumshots, facials, bukakke, creampies, but also body paint or messy food play. Anything related to the messier aspect of sex. 14. Moonlight - The most romantic of times, especially when the Moon is enormous on the sky. Sex at night, in the moonlight, late night cuddles. 15. Naked Photo Shoot - Opportunity is right there: a naked model, and an artist, starving for… well, some art in this case. Prompts may include: nude photography, drawing acts, nudism, being filmed, making erotic videos, etc. 16. Caught in the Act - GASPEST OF GASPS. They have found us! But what were you doing? Kissing, groping, having sex…? Or have they caught you moments before/after the main event…? 17. Roleplay - We like to imagine our characters doing new stuff, but turns out they have minds and ideas of their own. Prompt includes: roleplaying, acting any scenarios and anything related to that. 18. Teeth and Claw Marks - We have those to make sure out partners won’t forget the nights… Biting, scratching, leaving hickeys, marking partner, blood play (remember to tag), etc. 19. Yo-yo and The Baton - Toys galore! And they are not for kids. All the usage of sex toys, or mundane objects that suddenly become deeply erotic with some creativity. 20. Adrenaline Rush - So, your hearts are pumping and you are out of breath… Perfect moment for sex, right? Includes: sex after workout/exercise/fight/adventure, glad-to-be-alive sex, but also sex in dangerous place, on a risky day, etc. 21. The Water is Just Fine - So let’s jump right in! Sex in a bath tub/hot springs/shower, beach date, skinny dipping, underwater sex or maybe even some shenanigans involving those who live in the depths of the sea… 22. Who Watches the Watchmen? - Peeping Toms, that’s who. Voyeurism, exhibitionism, sex in public/indecent places, anything related to sex in places where one can be seen, either accidentally or deliberately, nudism, etc. 23. Clothes Stay On - Either because we don’t have time to disrobe, or maybe it’s sexier that way. 24. You can touch, but you can’t look - Anything related to sensory deprivation - blindfolds, sex in the dark, etc,. 25. Three isn’t a crowd - It’s only a beginning. Orgy galore! Have an OTP? Turn it into OT3 for a night. Already have an OT3? OT4 then! And generally, for any OTn, have an OTm, for m>n… Threesomes, moresomes, orgy, multiple partners, double/triple/multiple penetration. The more the merrier. 26. Heat - Love is in the air…! Quite literally sometimes. Prompt includes: Animalistic tendencies, sex pollen, ABO, heat/mating seasons. 27. Try Everything - You gotta stay open minded and do something more than missionary of cowgirl… new positions, new kinks, or just anything new that would spice up the night life. 28. 1+1=3 - Just like we enjoy making OCs, so does out OTPs… Except for real. Pregnancy, pregnant sex, impregnation, accidental or deliberate, breeding, mating, as kink or for real - anything related to securing the future goes here. 29. Ecstasy - Ever wanted to write a scene where earth shakes upon having an orgasm? This prompt is for you. Prompt includes: passionate/exhaustive sex, sex marathon, explosive/multiple orgasms, etc. 30. Free day - Didn’t enjoy the prompts? Or have you enjoyed them too much and have more ideas? Use this as a wildcard to express your creativity. Anything goes here, as long as you tag it. Thanks to @noblesnook, @thatguywiththefaceog, billythesquid and several anons for sending prompts propositions!

Also, here’s a list of prompts people submitted:

blindfolds, skinny dipping, bodyswap, double penetration, rimjob, facials, titjob striptease/lapdance, hot tub, crossdressing, food Breeding or M/M/F voyeur, exhibitionism, pregnant Beach, Moonlight morning or evening cuddles partner swap, live show Body worship, Lazy Morning sex, exhibitionism body paint “I walked in on you by accident but you didn’t notice, how do I act normal from now on? ” Workout/Exercise favorite position being filmed bet glory hole nudism

[piracytheorist]

Blog Tag

Tagged by the sweetest @kwistowee!

1. Why did you choose your url? Finally, I can answer this with more confidence! See what a blog name change can do? Anyway, it’s obviously a pun, from the term conspiracy theorist; I’m not one for conspiracies, but I love pirates, and I also love the idea behind making your own anarchist community, so it’s that. “Theorizing” about pirate communities and how they could stand. I mean, that’s not what I actually do here, but it’s a reflection of my own thoughts.

2. Any side blogs? Most are inactive. I have a whump blog (enter at your own risk - I’m serious) @justsomewhump, a OUAT out of context blog @outofcontextonceuponatime, a Monkey Island-centered blog @you-fight-like-a-cow, and my old ouat sideblog @andheyfordavyjones, where I’ve mostly migrated from and never post.

3. How long have you been on Tumblr? I joined on late summer of 2014, though I started posting on a steady rhythm a few months after that.

4. Do you have a queue tag? “a pirate’s queue for me”! Arrr, matey!

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place? At the very beginning, it was to look around for OUAT meta, make silly OUAT memes and talk in length about Killian Jones’ costumes and stuff. It developed into me writing actually serious meta on the show, and slowly dipping my toes into GIF making.

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp? I love Douxie, and I love Archie, and it’s a sweet moment between wizard and dragon-cat familiar and it’s a comforting hug. If you asked me last year when I put it on, if I’d thought I’d still have it now I doubt I would’ve said yes, but things still suck, I’m still in need of a hug so it’s comforting to look at! ... Heh.

7. Why did you choose your header? I love KnightRook. This moment where Killian holds his baby daughter and sings to her is the top Killian Jones moment for me (for feels alone the “Don’t you know, Emma? It’s you” scene is a tie), and even though OUAT is well over and my blog is mostly centered on Colin O’Donoghue stuff, and he has moved on from the show too, it’s just a BIG moment for me and I don’t currently have the heart to take it off my header. Plus I’m never creative with headers, and this has been very fitting since the time I put it on, so it’s an easy choice to stay at.

8. What’s your post with the most notes? By far this edit of Pantalaimon from the BBC His Dark Materials series. It’s got nearly twice the notes than any other post of mine, and I just find it funny how it just sticks out like that.

9. How many mutuals do you have? I... actually had to look on my “following” list to count them. It’s around 16, though there’s also a few that I’m a mutual with “in spirit”, as in, I can’t really follow their blogs because of the content they post, but in my heart we’re mutuals.

10. How many followers do you have? 1494. It’ll take a bit up and down until I reach 1.5k for sure, though!

11. How many people do you follow? 94. 26 are inactive or near-inactive, and 7 are my own sideblogs, so my dash is pretty quiet - as I want it.

12. How often do you use Tumblr each day? I’ve tried to limit my time on Tumblr. Deleting the app from my phone has definitely helped. I’d say I spend at most 2 hours in total every day, though most of the time less than an hour total.

13. Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? ... Yes. It got so bad that the other person blocked me, and I soft-blocked them back. But luckily it all stayed private and afaik no-one else actually realized how bad things had gotten between us, and I don’t wish to disclose any names and situations.

14. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts? I don’t need to reblog anything. This is a place for fun and escape from harsh reality, not guilt-tripping and moral judgement. There’s enough of that in the harsh reality we come here to escape from.

15. Do you like tag games? I love them! I usually fail at bringing an interesting result, but I love playing nevertheless XD

16. Do you like ask games? Yes! Tag me in all of them, please!

17. Which of your mutuals do you think is Tumblr famous? I know that if you type in the search bar the name of a certain film Colin has been in, gοοgle suggests a question people often ask about it, and @killian-whump‘s post answering that very question pops up first in the results, so I’d say she’s Tumblr famous, whether she likes it or not.

18. Do you have a crush on a mutual? Listen bro I’m aromantic asexual I couldn’t even begin to realize what having a crush is like, last time I had one it took me a solid month to realize I was actually crushing on a guy, for all I know I could be in love with someone and dismiss it as simply enjoying that person’s company, anyway feelings are weird but short answer is no.

Tagging @carpedzem, @jollysailorswan, @chronicroc, @priscilla9993, @theonceoverthinker, @ankewehner, @justanother-unluckysoul and if you wanna do it yourself, do it and say I tagged you because I AM. RIGHT NOW. I’M TAGGING YOU. DO IT. DO IT. DO IT.

[betweendoctorsanddetectives]

when do you think s5 is going to air? do you think they'll be able to to cover up that they're even shooting it so well that it will drop as a complete surprise? or how do you think it's going to happen?

i’ve spoken about the airing of s5 before here and this is relevant to what i’m about to say now

and i’m putting the reply under the cut because once again i talk a lot

i don’t really have a clue at this point - any predictions i’ve had are made pretty irrelevant by the pandemic. i think that filming around restrictions would be so limiting* that they’ll wait until all the cast and crew can be vaccinated, which can’t really be planned or relied upon at this point with this government, though i’d hope it would happen by easter

*there are arguments that part of the ~wrongness~ in s4 is a result of weird blocking techniques, such as in the beginning of tfp where characters are having a conversation but the actors could have been filming it alone independently and edited together

that’s not to say it would film this year post-vaccine rollout because a) that presumes they were wanting to have it ready for next year or at the latest the year after - the turnaround is often within one year for sherlock and b) the filming locations may be more problematic because there will be places reluctant or unable to reopen and i imagine nothing can be booked at this point 

the idea of the cover up is complicated because obviously there’s things that they’ve managed to keep under wraps before & there’s the fact that some scenes were filmed throughout the shooting for previous series so it may be the case that some of that will appear in s5 and therefore reduce the amount of filming left to be done. also of course any studio work, such as in the cardiff studios for scenes in 221b, would be very easy to keep under wraps

that said, i think covering up filming will be a hell of a lot easier right now that it ever has been - nobody is really expecting the main cast to be working on anything at this moment in time because so much of the entertainment industry has been disrupted this year, so the availability of actors and the problematic scheduling should, to my understanding, not be so much of an obstacle. even with other committments presumably being rescheduled i feel like its safe to assume that any international projects will be a lot further off into the future

also there would surely be a lack of fans for setlock. one reason being that the avid fanbase is, as we know, a lot smaller these days, and i’m not sure how many reliable setlockers are still out there. on top of this, among those reliable setlockers who document and post things for us, i’m not sure how many would be able to be in london with all the restrictions regionally and nationally and internationally. though obviously things would have to be relaxed to a certain extent for the filming to happen anyway

i think dropping it as a big surprise is unlikely for a few reasons

1) advertising is really important and i don’t think they would sacrifice the viewers who would miss it live if it dropped so suddenly

2) afaik this would be completely unprecedented in at least british tv history, particularly within the bbc

3) i don’t see why dropping it as a surprise would be advantageous - having millions tuned in, as is the custom for sherlock, is surely the best way to deliver the ending, and as per my first point i don’t see how such a large simultaneous viewership would be possible if it dropped without warning

[dumbdancemomssideblog]

S1E1: The Competition Begins

okie dokie first ever episode of dance moms rewatch starts now :0 i actually remember watching this the very first time it aired on lifetime because i was channel surfing and saw a commercial for it earlier that day. that was the summer between 8th and 9th grade. ah memories... i didnt know what to expect because i did dance when i was a kid but not on a competition team and it was mostly ballet so i was pretty unfamiliar with this whole world. 

anyway lets begin. this is probably gonna be a longer post than what i’ll end up writing for the other episodes in season 1 bc the first episode introduces so much info, just a heads up

Act 1: (aside: yes its insufferable to divide this into “acts” when its really just like “segments separated by commercial breaks” but thats how they’re called in actual tv scripts so im just going with that cuz i cant think of a better/easier way uwu)

god this is so fucking early 2010s lmao

i miss these days where they were just talented nobodies from pittsburgh on a low budget reality tv show that nobody even knew would be successful. and the bad hair and makeup but idk if that was also just a 2011 thing lol

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES GREEN SCREEN INTROS IM DYING

the chalkboard !!!! they werent doing the pyramid on the mirror yet 

(apparently abby never did anything similar to the pyramid thing but the producers made her and it became a whole Thing on the show and thats why the moms were like wtf is this bullshit the first week)

mackenzie looks like a toddler. chloe is so tiny. theyre the 2 who changed the most physically over the course of the show

i remember watching this for the first time being used to ballet lyrical and jazz but never having done or really seen acro/gymnastics in dance choreo and being SO flabbergasted. i was thinking “a chin stand is not dancing what the actual hell” and yknow what? i was right

melissa: “my boyfriend knows how much i spend on dance because he signs the checks...............hermehhemrherrmehermh” (the most awkward laugh omg)

maddie is wearing a fucking bumpit in her hair i cannot

melissa deadass just said out loud “im here for my daughter im not here to make friends” ok everybody mark that one off on your catty women’s reality tv show bingo card!

camera man accidentally getting in the shot filming right in front of the huge wall-mirror.... what is this, amateur hour? i’ll let it slide since its the first day of filming rehearsal but step it up, boys

aw i forgot about maddie getting sick and crying :/ poor kid

melissa saying “i cant stand a chid that’s sick” sounds so edited like the intonation made it seem to me like they just cut her off mid-sentence i love lifetime

oh this was still when they were wearing normal stuff to class/rehearsal like black leotards bc they werent getting sent a trillion crazy 2-piece dancewear outfits for free yet bc they werent famous, man those were the days

Act 2:

[obligatory b-roll footage of downtown pittsburgh] 

the maddie chloe paige trio !!!! this is making me feel so nostalgic

“knees together, paige. you’re bow-legged, you need to fix that”

“you’re tall, you’re skinny, you’re a beautiful girl, you can do better than this. FOCUS” shes like 10 abby what the hell

“people think im tough and i guess i am but i would rather be the one to make your kid cry in the privacy of my studio than at an open-call audition in front of hundreds of people”

okay unpopular opinion alert: i agree with a lot of what abby says about stuff like this but her delivery is flawed, to but it euphemistically, that being said i think the production team of the show and the fame inflating her ego changed all of this somewhere over the course of the second season and its really sad to see :/ i can expand on that thought later tho

aw paige crying bc abby correcting her (but not saying anything personal or out of line, just technique corrections (at based on what we were shown, we dont know everything she said oop)) shes a sensitive kid she never should have been put on this show :( 

paige looks exactly like her mom i didnt realize that before

nia and holly were done so dirty throughout the whole series in terms of the narrative the producers set up about nia being the weakest link :/ 

Act 3:

cathy’s entire involvement in the show from the very beginning was so painfully obviously scripted (or at least heavily staged) 

vivi was also done dirty by the show’s narrative and she was only 6 and they presented her as like the butt of the joke bc her mom’s “character” was crazy and also she wasnt good at dance. i wonder how she feels about the show now that shes a teenager hmm. she really seemed not to give a fuck about dance for better or for worse when she was a kid tho so maybe she doesnt care ?

in what universe would an owner of another competitive dance studio bring her own kid to another studio more than an hour’s drive away, AND be under the impression that she could compete with them in a week, especially when they showed the kids’ and moms’ shocked reaction at the start of the episode to having to learn a dance in a week and compete it? like really what is the point of cathy and vivi being a part of this show im so ????

Act 4: 

THE MINISTER DAWN OUTBURST HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THIS

this fight is about 50% of what got them a full season 1 and then things took off from there tbh. the other 50% was the electricity dance but thats a point for next episode..... :)

“you’re a minister act like one” “YOU’RE RIGHT I AM A MINISTER! LET’S PLAY THE BIBLE GAME ABBY, WHEN JESUS SAW THINGS THAT WERE WRONG HE WENT AFTER THEM, AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO DO THIS TO MY KID” ma’am i think the wrongs jesus addressed were of slightly more importance than a preteen being told she cant take a dance class if shes violating the studio’s dress code

this is so good bc it wasnt staged afaik and there are regular students all throughout the building just STARING at them like lmao what even is going on, so im pretty sure this is real???

regardless, yeah dont wear socks and a tshirt to an acrobatics class, thats common fucking sense

another cameraman-in-mirror sighting, but its hard to think about angles when filming spontaneous drama like this, so i wont count it against them

“you called me fat” (i remember that being in the episode but thats not on the episode available through lifetime on demand that im watching from my moms tv hmmmmmm) “i told you to close and tuck in your two-piece costume, theres a big difference. HOW CAN YOU REMEMBER THAT BUT YOU CAN’T REMEMBER TO TURN YOUR FEET OUT” uh scream

she really called the police on this woman i cannot handle this. can you imagine being a police officer responding to this call? 

“we have a parent thats out of control. pardon? no shes doesnt have weapons, just her mouth” iconic

im sorry im still not over the hair and makeup. the flat hair with the side bangs. the black pencil eyeliner applied all the way around the eye. why did any of us think this was a look :( why did we do this :(

Act 5:

they went all the way to phoenix to compete 3 numbers, only 2 of which are shown in the episode.

i think this is the only time they ever went to west coast dance explosion because its an actual competition and they wouldnt allow filming after this lol i think they did go to wcde one weekend in addition to a competition where they were filming but it wasnt shown or mentioned at all

abby not wanting brooke and paige to have a french manicure on stage if theyre the only ones in the group with the french tips is perfectly valid idk why it was framed as some crazy micromanaging shit

i also am really not a fan of the whole “high functioning alcoholic wine mom/crazy stage mom” schtick they were pushing for the first few episodes of this show

in retrospect i feel like so many of the quips in this episode were intentionally fucking crazy just to get the audience engaged enough to want to watch more episodes...

“see those girls down there, those girls with the legs? thats who you’re up against, so step it up”

abby warning them that its dangerous for their little party hats to slip when they’re doing aerials and pirouettes and stuff: “what if you were at radio city music hall and they had the ice rink out and you were doing a side aerial and fell 13 stories down and died, huh?” fantastic point abby thank you for saying that to 5 girls ages 8-12 less than 5 minutes before they went on stage. perfect time for a teaching moment like that :)

i forgot how bad the camera work was in the first few episodes for footage of their performances. like they really didnt think the show’s audience would actually want to watch the kids dance, the producers and editors thought we just wanted to see stage mothers yelling at each other lol

also the mic feed over the music of abby talking to herself giving them corrections while watching them dance on stage.... im so glad they quit doing that. i dont remember them doing it like that for any other episode, i hope im right

this choreo is very basic and its a cute dance i guess but its very cringe in some places and for the first episode this is such a forgettable group routine

their scandalized reaction to placing third and the sad piano music is so funny honestly

and maddies reaction in the interview which was almost definitely fed to her by the producers where shes like “i win all the time i dont really know what its like to LOSE i always win or get runner up” so many of maddies lines from season 1 interviews sound so fake and she was probably too naive to know they were getting her to say that stuff so they could paint her as a conceited brat (she was EIGHT)

the trio costume was so ugly im sorry (is it supposed to be like a 50s pinup bathing suit?) (and the headband thing looks so bad) and also the music is bad but they had no real authority over that bc of copyright stuff

chloe’s headpiece coming forward and the ensuing drama was another moment in the episode that really solidified public interest in the show imho.... 

“YOU’RE IN THE BAR HAVING A DRINK AND YOUR KID’S HEADPIECE IS FALLING OFF” “it did not FALL OFF it CAME FORWARD it was FINE!!!”

“mistakes happen, we’re human.” “YOU are. mistakes like that dont happen to me”

and then the “next time on dance moms” with the WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE electricity dance, of course. genuinely that was really smart of the producers in terms of structuring things to generate intrigue lol. and obviously it ended up working....

[traincat]

since you're such a vocal advocate of fant4stic (2015), i was wondering if you could offer some insight re the versions of the movie that never saw the light of day- from what i understand, slater wrote a version of the script that drew heavily on the 616 early ff canon, then kinberg entirely rewrote the script & trank made a darker version of the movie, then execs forced extensive reshoots to make the more upbeat ending that we saw in theaters?? 1/2

is that understanding correct? is there anywhere you know of where we can read the original slater script? anywhere we can see the cut scenes from the original trank movie? i’m dying here, i literally just watched this movie for the first time and i thought the first half was really promising and then everything after the “1 yr later” title card was a disaster. i want to know the truth!!! where’s the hidden #content? 2/2

The things I would do for the deleted scenes from this movie or a tell-all book. There exists! Somewhere! The original cut! Just give it to me and like the ten other people who want it!

From what I understand, Trank’s version of the film was originally much darker and more violent – I don’t know if it’s true that test audiences thought it was too dark, but that’s definitely a thing I’ve heard, and considering the movie we got, and the scenes that were re-shot, I can believe it. You can easily track a lot of what was re-shot by Sue’s hair, btw:

Natural hair:

The wig used in the reshoots because Kate Mara had cut or dyed her hair or something:

The original movie was definitely going to feature the Mole Man. I was robbed. The character’s still kind of present – Harvey Elder became Harvey Allan. (I also suspect this was never supposed to be a movie with Doom as the villain – the costume design when Doom comes back, the connection to the “Planet Zero” which is clearly the Negative Zone, the ruler of the realm thing all lead me to suspect the villain of the piece was originally intended to be Annihilus. I think the temptation to have Doom as the villain was just too great, though.)

If you look even at the later trailers, there’s a lot of stuff used that didn’t make it into the movie. Reed’s stepdad talking to him at the beginning there (I do think it’s interesting that they went out of their way to establish its his stepdad, leaving room for a movie featuring time traveling biodad Nathaniel to show up down the line), the shot of Ben being dropped onto what looks like some kind of compound, the bullets bouncing off him, a shot of Sue crying over Johnny. The framing of the trailer certainly makes it look like a differently paced movie. (afaik, everything before “One Year Later” is from the original cut.)

Also I’m almost positive Ben/Sue happened in one version of this movie. My evidence is an article alleging the love story was “unexpected” ie, not ReedSue. As much as I joke that this movie is Trank’s BenReed fanfic, this possible love story was more likely Ultimate Fantastic Four’s endgame romance, BenSue. (That they kept Miles Teller’s facial scars uncovered initially made me nervous when images started being released, since Evil Ultimate Reed has a notable scar, and that seemed like a lot for an origin movie.) Jamie Bell also tweeted this:

He and Kate Mara are married now, so maybe it was completely unrelated. But the timing fits, if you want to go conspiracy wall on it. (Thanks to my Fant4stic friends for replying “what does this mean” to this like at least once every six months.)

If I could do this movie over – and I would, because I love it, but I can fix your problems, movie – I wouldn’t have done the timeskip but instead focused on the Four acclimating to their powers in captivity, with the growing suspicion that the military is not acting in their best interests and an eventual jailbreak masterminded by Reed and Sue. (The military as the bad guy is already in the movie before they conveniently had Victor blow everything up and oh now these military guys are cooperative.) I think I’d keep ecoterrorist Victor as an ally for the first installment. 

There’s A LOT of behind the scenes trivia talking about what happened available on IMDB. Apparently the music in one of the trailers is also the theme to Broadchurch, which is interesting to probably just me, but anyway, this is my favorite part:

[deweyfinn21]

Cinemark MCU Week

If you can get to a Cinemark theater that is doing this promotion, (which from the info on the site seems like it's only in the USA AFAIK) starting Friday, August 25th and ending Thursday August 31st, they will be showing 4 MCU films a day on their XD screens for $5 a ticket. (They're only showing 11 out of 16. No Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, or Spider-Man Homecoming) They aren't going in order and every day it's a different collection of films. Also from what I can tell every theater is showing the same films at the same time. Friday is Origins Day with Iron Man at 1 pm, Guardians of the Galaxy at 4, Ant-Man at 7, and Doctor Strange at 10. This is the only chance to see Ant-Man. Saturday is Cosmic Day with Thor at 1 pm, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 at 4, Avengers at 7, and Doctor Strange at 10. This is the last chance to see Doctor Strange. Sunday is Fan Favorites Day with Iron Man at 1 pm, Avengers at 4, Guardians of the Galaxy at 7, and Captain America: Civil War at 10. Monday is Cap's Best Of Day with Captain America: The First Avenger at 1 pm, Avengers at 4, Captain America: The Winter Soldier at 7, and Captain America: Civil War at 10. This is your only chance to see Winter Soldier. Tuesday is First Avengers Day with Captain America: The First Avenger at 1 pm, Thor at 4, Avengers at 7 and Iron Man at 10. This is your last chance to see Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man. Wednesday is Team Ups Day with Guardians of The Galaxy at 1 pm, Captain America: Civil War at 4, Avengers at 7, and Avengers: Age of Ultron at 10. This is your only chance to see Age of Ultron. This is your last chance to see Civil War and Avengers Thursday is Guardians Day with Guardians of the Galaxy at 1 pm, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 at 4 pm. This is your last chance to partake in this event. And as a bonus, the last day is also the day that Inhumans begins its IMAX run at 7 pm. So, if you're like me, you'll be spending a lot of time at a theater/multiple theaters. A list of participating theaters can be found at https://www.cinemark.com/marvel-xd-week