#the costume department ATE

[likeimurloverr]

I will never stop thinking about how in How Could I Ever Forget says diana was wearing a blue night gown and a black coat and when we see natalie in Why stay/A promise, she is wearing a blue dress and a black coat

[duchezss]

I just noticed that in the first scene we ever see George in he’s wearing pink. Pink shirt, and a pinkish-redish flannel, but he’s wearing orange pants. In every scene after that he’s always wearing orange, it’s his color, but tbh I think it’s more than that. To me orange represents his shield, he had like a half a shield with Lockwood, but once Lucy came in it dialed all the way up. Now keeping in mind all of this, the only time we see him with zero orange is the very last scene in the kitchen. He’s wearing a pink shirt, salmon flannel, and blue jeans. I think this signifies how he trusts both of them completely, that and he now truthfully believes he belongs. 

When Lucy goes to portland row she is wearing all blue with her signature blue jacket. Throughout the entire series she’s always in blue. Blue to me represents her hesitation to change. She left everything to come to London, and she is holding onto the one thing she still has. Now once again comes the final scene. Here she’s wearing a blue, orange, and black cardigan. It’s the first time she really wore Lockwood or George’s colors, and to me it signifies growth. She knows she still might be out of her element, that everyday could bring new impossible changes, but that now she has her friends, her family to stand by her side and have her back. 

Lockwood is a little different. He’s the only one to basically wear one outfit the entire time. He’s always wearing black pants, a white button down, a tie, and a long coat. To me this feels like his desire for consistency and routine shining through. I also can’t help but feel he dresses this way in an attempt to show maturity and command respect. His color is black, and I think it represents all the pain he still carries with him. It’s nagging and always with him. Now cut to the last scene once more. He’s wearing a grey shirt and jeans, but black isn’t absent. He’s arm is in a black sling. I think this shows that his pain will always be there, threatening him with darkness, but now Lucy and George will be there to guide him back to the light. 

[nifflering]

Safety sign by @poison-free-noise through Safety Sign Generator, edited by me

[ryan-golds]

so who else needs a group hug after watching Love Between Fairy and Devil

[gggoldfinch]

never let a historical costumer write within a historical context, everyone will suffer for it

[lialacleaf]

A Touch Too Personal

Chapter 1

Simon Riley x Reader

Summary: You had a crush on Ghost since you started working for Price in communications, but the gruff, reserved Lieutenant only acknowledged your existence on the job. That starts to change with a simple, thoughtful gift.

Warnings: Fluff, Simon is bad at processing emotions, past trauma

Chapter 2

You cared deeply about every single one of your teammates. It didn’t matter that you were sitting in an office talking to them over the radio, you were still providing them with intel and directions that kept them alive.

They were like a second family, and so Task Force 141 slowly began to feel like having a lot of older brothers.

Johnny was your go to partner in crime when it came to making mischief, and you knew he was always down for a good prank.

Kyle on the other hand was good for having deep conversations and was the one you always went to for advice.

Ghost…well ghost was a bit different. Your feelings towards him weren’t exactly that of a sibling. Maybe it was because he was more reserved than the others, a mystery or puzzle that you couldn’t quite figure out, but you couldn’t help but feel warm inside on the rare occasion that his intense gaze did linger on you.

Which lead to your current dilemma.

Every time you went home, you made sure to bring one of the boys a gift when you returned to base.

Being that Price was like a father figure, you brought him a handcrafted mug from your hometown’s local pottery festival. Soap had gotten a pocket knife with his call sign engraved on it, and Gaz had received a baseball cap with a hand stitched 141 on the side in his favorite color.

However, now it was Ghost’s turn, and you were at a loss. What would he even like to have? You knew he had an array of tactical gear, you’d seen him knit pick through it on occasion, but you didn’t know enough about working in the field to know kind of tools he’d like. He had so many knives already, that it felt redundant to get him another.

What on earth were you supposed to give this man?

“Maybe you could make this Ghost fella something yourself?” Your mother suggested as you sat in your parents living room to ponder the issue.

Your mother liked Ghost’s nickname, and laughed whenever you brought it up. You could only assume she was picturing a little boy in a Scream costume, and you had to admit that was a little funny. Ghost was the only one to not have shared his real name with you, and thus always ended up being teased by your family, not that he was aware of that.

“Like what?” You asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m stopping by the craft store, how about you come with me instead of sulking in the living room?”

~

You watched your mother peruse through the holiday decorations and shook your head. That woman was amassing quite the Christmas village collection.

You wandered through the store with dwindling hope until you saw it. It was in the fabric section that you found the most perfect pattern for your Lieutenant.

The fabric had a black background, with white Ghosts all over it. You picked up the roll with a brilliant smile on your face, and ran over to one of the fabric department employees.

“I need some of this,” you said, giddy and bouncing on the balls of your feet.

“How much do you want?” The woman asked, preparing her scissors.

Ghost was a pretty large man, and you took a moment to think about just how much fabric you were going to need.

“Uhhh, a lot.”

~

“Lass! How was the family?” Johnny asked, pulling you in for a tight hug as you pulled your luggage into your room on base.

“It was good, ate a lot, took my cousins shooting, family stuff,” you said with a grin. “I gotta show you something,” you insisted, pulling him inside your room.

“Oh? What’s that?” He asked curiously.

“You know how I always bring back a surprise?” You began, a grin on your face.

“Who’s the lucky winner?” He chucked.

“You tell me.” You beamed at him as you pulled out the larger than life knot-tie blanket you’d made, and Johnny’s jaw dropped.

“You did not!” He gasped, chuckling at he inspected it. One side was the Ghost fabric you’d found, and the other was made from the softest army green material you could find. In the top corner. You’d stitched in a small British Flag patch, and each corner has a sandbag sewn in.“You made him a bloody weighted blanket? What gave you that idea?” He asked.

“We’ll I couldn’t find anything I thought he’d like at first, but then I saw the fabric and it just fell together so perfectly!”

“Oh man, I would kill to see his reaction to this,” Johnny said, giving you a pat on the shoulder.

“You say that like we ever get to see his reaction to anything,” you stated. You’d never actually seen him without some sort of face covering.

Johnny tisked softly and shrugged. “Alright, you got me there,” he admitted. “He’s in his room now, probably as good a time as any.”

You couldn’t help but grin broadly. “Perfect.”

~

You felt a lump form in your throat as you approached Ghost’s door. You knew it was just the nerves that came along with your little crush on the Lieutenant, but it still made the task at hand a little daunting.

You took a deep breath, knocking softly on the door. Maybe you should have wrapped it for him. What if he didn’t like it? How were you supposed to react if he just brushed you off.

The door opened before you could rethink your decision. It always came as a shock how large Ghost was, no matter how many times you stood mask to face.

“You’re back.”

You felt your heart rate spike. He had noticed you were gone? Had noticed you? Of course he had noticed, it was his job to notice, it didn’t mean anything.

“Yeah,” you said, waiting for him to ask how your trip was, or if you were glad to be back. He didn’t.

“I got you something!” You said suddenly, holding the folded blanket out to him, and his entire body seemed to freeze. He stared at it for a moment or two, as if he were slowly processing the object.

“What is it?”

Your smile faltered. “It’s a weighted blanket,” you said as he inspected it as if it were some kind of trick. “It’s a weighted blanket,” you said as he took it carefully from your hands.

“Where’d you get it?”

Shit, he hates it.

“I- Uhm. I made it,” you admitted, your cheeks blazing. This was stupid. You were stupid.

He looked between you and the blanket in his hands, and nodded. “Thanks,” he said before stepping back into his room and closing the door.

You pressed your lips together firmly in an attempt to not start bawling. You walked off on shaky legs, taking deep breaths. At least he hadn’t told you he didn’t want it.

~

Simon sat on his bed, his thumb brushed over the small flag patched into the corner of the blanket. The fact that you had made him a gift by hand had his stomach in knots. He knew about your little gift tradition with the rest of 141, but he hadn’t expected to be included, nor did he expected you’d go to such trouble. The two of you weren’t even very close.

He swallowed thickly as tears pricked his eyes. This was the nicest thing any teammate had ever given him.

He brought the fabric to his face and gave it a deep whiff. It smelled fresh, like laundry detergent. You must have washed it before you gave it to him.

Simon spread the blanket carefully over his cot, admiring how the fabric felt against his hands. It didn’t catch on his calloused fingers, and wasn’t too fluffy.

It was large too, as if you’d taken his massive size into account. He was certain he could easily caving himself in it. His bottom lip wobbled slightly, and it was an effort to hold his tears at bay.

That night, Simon slept soundly, wrapped in your carefully crafted gift, and you were the only thing on his mind.

AN: Let me know if you'd like to be tagged!

[dilf-c0nn0isseur]

costume department knew they ate down putting logan in those cunty ass bootcut jeans

[chocolatechubby]

Maybe it was the glass of heavy cream and dozen gingerbread men I ate just before bedtime. Or maybe it was the fact that it was Christmas Eve, and the residue of waiting up for Santa Claus hadn’t diminished in the 23 years since I was six years old. Maybe it was the hard on that wouldn’t go away if I thought about growing fat and round. Whatever it was, I couldn’t sleep. I reluctantly pulled my bloated body from my warm bed to take a piss and a crap in the bathroom. On the way to the john, I passed the Christmas tree in the living room. The shiny packages underneath danced with the reflections of twinkling lights. I’d made quite a haul this year. I was pretty sure the small neatly wrapped package in the front was an Ipod from my mom. And I was pretty sure that the envelope from my ex-partner was a membership to a gym. My gaining sixty pounds had a lot to do with our break-up. It was nice that we were still friends. “Funny…” I thought. “The thing I REALLY want Santa to bring me won’t fit under a tree.”

When I had finished in the bathroom, I took a long look at myself in the mirror. The 160lb gym rat was gone. There in front of me was a 220lb jock-gone-soft. Since I had continued to go to the gym, I was thick and solid. The roundness of my face was beginning to cut away my cheek definition. The beginnings of a double chin made my cock jump. The definition in my arms was beginning to fade: I loved putting on sleeveless shirts and seeing the thick round guns that were once defined biceps and triceps stretching through. My legs were growing huge. The size 38 pants were straining to keep my thighs in. And I had a real belly. Not the beginning gut I was so proud of in college, but a thick waist protruding over my jeans and a noticeable round mound that jutted out from my plump tits and curved forward six inches. It had gotten a number of rubs and stares from my co-workers over the past few weeks. I thought my pecker was going to fall off from all the jerking off I did in the office restrooms after each “Woah! When’s the baby due?” or “You’d better lay off the holiday food Chris!” But it wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I wanted to look like all of those fellas that I admired online. I wanted people to move out of the way when I walked down the street. I wanted to look in the mirror and be awed by my girth. I reached down in my shorts and began massaging my cock. I imagined what it would be like to have to work pass mounds of belly fat just to touch it. I could feel my hard on growing, and my dick was responding to both my touch and my fantasy. It wouldn’t be long now—at least not for the explosion from my balls. The weight gain would take more time.

As I was going for climax, I heard a sound. Not from me but coming from the living room. At first faint, it grew louder—a slow and steady rise and fall. A snore? It sounded like someone snoring. Maybe somehow the air conditioner had turned itself on. I listened a little more intently. No, this was a HUMAN sound. Someone had broken into my apartment! I pulled up my shorts, looked around for a blunt object, grabbed the toilet brush, and headed towards the sound. As I rounded the corner, I was not prepared for what I saw. There in my leather armchair next to the Christmas tree, snoring to high heaven was Santa Claus.

Only it wasn’t Santa Claus. I mean he was dressed in a beautiful red suit—far superior to all those costumed Santas that you see in department stores. This suit looked like it had been tailored for him: luxurious and warm—trimmed in ermine and leather. It fit his big round frame to a “t.” He had to weigh 350, if a pound, and his thick beard was close-cropped, neatly trimmed, and a deep auburn like the wavy hair that curled from under his fur cap. This guy couldn’t have been more than thirty-five years old. And he was gorgeous. During my whole relationship with my ex, Zach, I had never cheated. But I will admit—especially towards the end when he started nagging more about the weight—I had serious fantasies about dudes like the one asleep in my easy chair, but they never included being robbed by them.

Next to him on the floor was a big, empty red velvet sack. I had to admit: this guy had class. I’d read stories in the newspaper about thieves breaking into houses dressed as Santa Claus and taking people’s presents. I never thought it would happen to me. Pictures of the Grinch stuffing Cindy Lou Who’s Christmas tree in his sack crowded my brain. Well this sucker wasn’t getting MY Ipod without a fight!

I tiptoed over to where the hot thief was snoring, and I kicked his engineer boot and stepped back—toilet bowl brush held high. “Hey you!” I shouted. The guy stirred. I gave him my best grimace and said: “What the hell do you think you’re doing in my place?!” He opened one eye and peered up at my brush and me. He grinned (and of course he had a killer smile) and said, “What are you going to do? Tidy Bowl me to death?”

I wasn’t quite ready for such a laid-back attitude. It took me aback for a moment. “No, smart ass…” I answered finally. “… I’m going to call the police and have you hauled off to spend Christmas in jail—that’s what I’m going to do!!!” I bellowed triumphantly. “Oh, and for future reference: Santa has a WHITE beard—not red! You are NO Kris Kringle.”

“Actually, his beard isn’t white. It’s silver. And you’re right…I’m not Kris Kringle. He’s my dad. I’m KARL Kringle—his youngest son.”

Of all the responses in all the scenarios that I could imagine, not one of them included that particular statement. I stood in shock with my mouth open. He fumbled around for a bit and spoke: “This is what I get for breaking the first rule of Christmas Delivery: Don’t Fall Asleep. It’s just that it’s been a long night and seeing as this is my Last Stop and all, I couldn’t help myself.” He yawned and started hauling his big belly out of my chair “Look, don’t set off your loaded brush—I’m just looking for my wallet.” He was even more appealing standing. He was a fireplug: about my height (which made him somewhat short), he reminded me of Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee in “The Lord of the Rings”: much bigger, but as cute as he could be. He patted himself down, searching around his big gut and barrel chest for a bulge. “Ahh, here it is!” He pulled out a simple leather wallet and flipped it open. “See.” He said.

I slowly inched forward and took the wallet out of his chubby hand. There he was, smiling with rosy cheeks. NORTH POLE DMV: Driver’s Permit was printed in white at the top of a red and green card. “May operate cars, trucks, motorcycles, snow skis and High-Capacity Sleighs” was prominently placed in the lower right hand corner.

“Real cute” I smirked. “So you’re a clever bandit. I’m sure your cell mate will get a real kick out of your sense of humor.”

“Man, some things don’t change, do they?” He smiled. “You’re still a closet believer posing as a skeptic aren’t you? I remember when you were six years old and wanted ‘Dream Date Ken’. You said to yourself, ‘I’ll believe in Santa if he brings me Ken.’ When you didn’t see it under the tree that Christmas morning, you were really sad, but you said, ‘I knew he wasn’t real.’ Boy were you surprised when you found it…”

“Hidden in your stocking!”

“Hidden in my stocking!”

We said it at the exact same time. My mouth was agape. “How did you know that?” I uttered. “Because I asked Dad if I could put it there.” Karl said. “I was twelve. Dad had been training me to take a route of my own. I had been coming with him since you were a baby—watching you grow up. I wanted you to work harder to trust your beliefs.”

I stumbled to my couch and sat down. This was incredible! So it was true: Santa really DID exist. “Yup.” Karl said, as if he’d read my mind. “Only the doubters have got part of the story right: he DOESN’T circle the world and deliver toys in one night. He hasn’t done that in a few hundred years. He has help from his sons.”

“Sons” I gasped, with emphasis on the “s.” “You mean there’s more of you?”

“Oh yeah” said Karl. “It's the family business. There’s Kris Jr., Kevin, Kurt, Klaus, Kyle, Keith, and Kwame.”

“Kwame?” I asked.

“Yeah, a little incident with dad and an African Queen a few years back…we don’t talk about that.” He whispered.

“So we divide up the earth and each take a chunk. Dad spends most of his time these days with the kids that need him most. He took India and New Orleans this year.”

“I see…” I said. “And you got my area.”

“Well, not so much GOT, as CHOSE your area. I told you. I’ve been watching you for many years. I’ve been waiting for that jerk of a boyfriend of yours to exit the picture. I’ve been crushing on you for a while now. I happen to be gay.”

“Oh.” My dick was jumping at regular intervals now. “Are all of you uh…?”

“Gay?” He said. “I doubt it. Nobody’s talking so we don’t really know. I’m pretty sure Kwame is. He keeps picking San Francisco as one of his stops. Listen, do you mind if I make myself comfortable?” he asked. “Uh…no.” I stammered, still trying to make sense of the fact that I had a big, bearded Santa Claus in my living room that was hot for me. “Great” he said and proceeded to undo his belt and buttons. His velvet coat fell to the floor, revealing the magnificent fat physique bulging from his white undershirt. His big, gorgeous arms were covered with a layer of soft red fur, and I could see tendrils of the same curling from under the neckline of his t. He began playing with his nipples as he slowly moved his ball belly towards me. “Listen,” he said again. “…do you mind if I make YOU more comfortable?”

“Uh…no.” was my startled reply.

We stood face to face. The heat between us was more intense than anything I’d ever felt before. He smelled of smoldering fires and apples and cinnamon. He leaned in, and I felt his cock. “So THAT’S what’s meant by Christmas Sausage! “I thought. He pulled me into him and whispered, “I’ve been waiting 29 years for this” and moved his tongue over my lips and into my mouth. He tasted like warm cocoa. His belly met mine and I moaned at the solid thickness of his girth. Our tongues swirled together in a hot dance that left me weak and energized at the same time. I could have stayed like that forever.

Karl ran his thick hands over my nipples, slightly squeezing them between his fingers. He slowly traveled down to my belly and began massaging it with both hands. I was in heaven. “Such a beautiful starter belly. I was so hot for you when you started putting on weight that I had to stop working in the toyshop—couldn’t concentrate. Kept making Barbie dolls with penises!”

“Oh.” I mumbled—trying to get his tongue back in my mouth.

“And now I’m with you” he said, caressing my cheek. “And we’ve got all night. He leaned over and kissed my gut. “I’m going to give you that present that won’t fit under the tree.”

For a moment I was stirred from my reverie. Had he really the power to know what my deepest desires were? I tested him. “Oh yes? “I whispered in his ear. “What might that be.”

“Don’t be coy Chris” he smiled. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. By dawn, you will be fed, fucked, and fat as a house. Are you ready to get started?”

TO BE CONTINUED

[base0h]

Hello,

Heard you’re looking for ideas so…

Here’s a crack one: The Straw hats working in a department store

Would they become employee of the month? Would they be fired immediately?

a/n - IM WHEEZING AT THIS— you are GENIUS bro holy crap 😭🫶 dude luffy would get fired so fast it’s insane— and imma just add everyone bc why not 😂

Warnings ⚠️ - MAJOR crack, multiple characters, I’m kinda dumb and might’ve forgotten people

they didn’t even make it past the interview 💀

.✩ kidd (tried killing the interviewer for asking him why he wanted to work there “I really am passionate about restocking— MF IM BROKE.”), buggy, bonney, paulie (did the same thing as kidd plus he parked in the manager’s parking spot)

literally within the first few seconds of the interview they’re hired | “My name is—“ “Can you start within the next few seconds?”

.✩ jimbei, koby, sabo, koala, izou, kaku, vivi

got fired the same day they started

.✩ luffy (ate the entire produce section and then asked the manager “is there more stuff in the back?”), corazon (he accidentally burnt the place down 😀), sanji (confessed his love and asked several female customers to marry him at his cash register), brook (asked for some poor random woman’s underwear 💀)

employee of the month every single month

.✩ jimbei, koby (old people always say how sweet he is to the manager bc he always helps them get the things they can’t reach 😭🫶), tashigi (kids hate her bc she catches them and scolds them if they take an extra candy/sticker from the cashier jar), vivi (accidentally gave herself this title when she’s the manager 💀)

the manager of the store

.✩ nami (steals money from the safe sometimes), aokiji (he literally never shows up to work on time and doesn’t give a shit what the employees do), akainu, fujitora, shanks (bro also does not care and comes to work hungover), dragon (has not shown up once since the interview), sengoku, garp, dadan, vivi, magellan

the sale sign flipper guy

.✩ zoro (if he manages to actually find his way to the store), bepo, ace, shachi, penguin, queen (you legit can’t miss him as you’re driving by 💀), yamato, oden, cat viper, bon clay, ivankov

they work solely in the back to avoid human interaction as much as possible

.✩ mihawk, law, smoker (he’s the guy that mans the big crane machine that moves huge boxes), hawkins, king, katakuri, smoker, lucci

they’re the CEOs of companies that are partners with the store and provide goods for the store to sell

.✩ crocodile (provides gut/immune supporting, healthy, all organic animal/pet food), doflamingo, kaido, big mom, whitebeard, moria (sells and produces copious amounts of Halloween costumes and other decorations)

actually decent employees

.✩ usopp, benn, x drake, robin, nojiko, baby 5, monet, vergo, franky, icebarg, bellamy (SHADOW FROM SK8 PLS TELL ME YALL SEE IT), hachi, killer

they start tweaking because they asked a customer how they were and they ignored them

.✩ shirahoshi (sobbing), bepo, sanji (asked a girl who had her headphones on), Uta (will get so pressed that they ignored her when in reality they just had headphones on)

they’re the reason why the store’s still in business | they’re basically the mascot

.✩ chopper, bepo, carrot, cat viper, dog storm

the dude everyone goes to for questions/help | “Idk go ask ___”

.✩ franky (has beef with cash register 4 bc it stops working for no reason only during his lunch break and never when he’s not doing anything), icebarg, kaku, usopp, lucci, jack, king, robin, jimbei

they’re the reason why no one likes to shop there | they have several weird allegations or felonies of some sort

.✩ trebol, caesar, diamante, dellinger, pica (he drives this mini car and always somehow fits inside it and takes up two spots in the parking lot), absalom, hogback (people have gone missing in the parking lot it’s scary), moria (would you wanna shop if you saw bro? Ik I wouldn’t 😭)

jobless for life ✌️

.✩ rayleigh (he slays idc), roger, yasopp

a/n - I think i forgot people but eh 💀 the one piece brainrot is so back 🙏

[bengiyo]

My Love Mix Up Ep 1 Stray Thoughts

Before we begin, a disclaimer: I watched Kieta Hatsukoi in 2021, and I read the source material for this project last year. I will be reacting to this project as an adaptation and my commentary will carry elements of comparative analysis. There will most certainly be spoilers. Read at your own risk.

With that out of the way, let’s see if GMMTV can adapt another TV Asahi project with a branded pair.

Chokun has decent resemblance to Suzuki Jin, they both resemble Aida, and it feels like he got that character pretty easily. Casting directors ate twice.

I am glad the costuming and hair departments understood that adapted manga characters requires you to pay attention to some of their key physical characteristics, especially when there will be jokes around changing them.

I’m glad they kept Atom’s overdramatic imaginary fantasies.

I feel bad for the boys having to film on the rooftop. Rooftop scenes are important in a lot of the J-BL, so they have to mimic that part of the experience. Unfortunately, it’s so hot in Thailand.

I like Kongthap/Ida every time. He’s very considerate of others, and I like the setup encouraging Atom to understand why someone might like Kongthap.

Weak extension on that arm, Atom!!

Goddamn there are a lot of sponsors on this show.

I’m okay with them swapping volleyball for basketball. It’s still a team sport.

Aungpao spotted! His skin looks great.

He’s not wrong. Kongthap does look sick.

Okay, I really hope we get to meet the Thai version of Half’s family. That would be a real treat.

I do like when they make athletic boys pretend they’re bad at sports.

I feel like this veggies joke was written about Fourth and Gemini specifically.

I hope the teacher is aware of the crushes and actively trolling. I know I would assign students together when I knew about their crushes.

I guess Kongthap won’t have a dog in this version.

Okay, but Atom really did look like he was about to fling himself off the roof.

Kieta Hatsukoi really feels like the beginning of the “let me think about it” era.

I don’t remember a cat being involve originally in the manga, so someone else can comment on that. I was surprised by how little of the base plot they got through this episode, and that they already added in the whole PE bit. I don’t know that making Fourth and Gemini fight their instincts was necessarily the right call. Aoki is a high-energy, over-expressive character, and I think Gemini would have been more suited to Atom than Fourth. Fourth showed real drama chops in Moonlight Chicken, and would have been better suited to the seriousness that Kongthap/Ida has to carry. It’s tough, because it meant that this episode felt a little flat, which is not a feeling I associate with this series. Hopefully it picks up speed next week.

[kitkatcarkeys]

Really embarrassing moments for Y/n and how the boys handled them (minific) - Bakugou

Bakugou:

You had an indestructibility quirk. The only things that weren’t completely indestructible were your hair and nails (thank goodness). They were still ridiculously, insanely strong, but it wasn’t impossible to cut them (with enough time, energy and force).

Bakugou was a surprisingly clingy boyfriend. Grumpy as he was, he liked to be near you, and if he had something to do, he wanted you with him. Training, he wanted to do it together. Studying, together. Cooking, together. Shopping, together. The list went on and on. He still had his own life, and his own hobbies and you each enjoyed your hours of private time, but he never understood why roughly every two weeks, you would disappear for the day, locked in your room and refusing all guests.

You wouldn’t even tell him what it was for. Rude as he was, Bakugou still respected your boundaries, even if he’d still question or complain about them. So he was frustrated that you would keep him from seeing you those days with zero explanation.

Then the day you had dreaded came. Your equipment, specialised for your body and your room – broke. You had simply worn it out.

Looking at it in dismay, you came to the realisation that you would have to go to the support department for a new one. Like most people, you only had to cut your hair every few months. Near indestructible hair didn’t really have much in the way of breakage. Or any breakage, actually. You had to book a particular hero with particular abilities to cut it, and thankfully said hero was an old friend of your parents. It still took about 12 hours by itself, and was cut one strand at a time. Heck, it was what your hero costume was made out of and could withstand fire, pressure, radiation, et cetera, just like you.

It was your nails you needed more time for. And the diamond-based, super-strong, super-fast grinder you had in your dorm had just broke. You even had a special exhaust system to remove the airborne filings so they wouldn’t get stuck in everything like hell’s fibreglass. Heck, you wore a specialised onesie that covered your whole head just so the stuff wouldn’t get on your clothes and hair. Only your hands and feet were uncovered. You looked like a bizarre space baby sitting with your toes or hands against a grinder. The suit was soundproof, and you were usually watching movies or listening to music, podcasts, et cetera to pass the time, and had snacks stuffed inside your suit to amuse yourself and make sure you ate during this long, boring time.

This was the embarrassing reality and price of indestructibility that you didn’t want your boyfriend to see. You loved your quirk. You loved being able to protect your friends, to take the hits others couldn’t, to go into places others would die in, and to focus on offence with your defence taken care of. But the grinder was so loud, your room had to be heavily soundproofed to prevent your grooming from disturbing the whole building.

And now you had to leave to get a new one.

After the air had been suitably cleaned and you were able to take off the goofy suit, you left your room and made your way towards the exit, passing through the common room area of the dorm.

Kirishima and Bakugou were in the middle of cooking, your boyfriend bossing around the chatty redhead as they worked. He stopped mid-sentence upon seeing you come in.

“Hey y/n!” Kirishima called, waving a potato peeler at you.

You waved back, smiling. Bakugou was staring at you, confused. You never left your room on these days you demanded privacy. He knew you were able to move the days around if you absolutely had to, but he still had no idea what you did on them. And he was curious.

“Kirishima, when you’re done peeling those, chop them into quarters and put them in the slow cooker!” he said, already pulling off his apron. “Add the other shit we measured, then turn it onto hot, then leave it alone! Set the timer for eight hours!”

“Huh? You trust me with this-?” Kirishima asked, looking pleasantly surprised.

“Of course I do, just don’t fuck it up!” he barked, pulling on his shoes to follow you out the door.

---------

You tried to convince him not to come, but it was like trying to convince a dropped brick not to fall.

“I’m just going to the support department.” you insisted. “You’ll be bored.”

“I’ll decide when I’m bored!” he argued back.

When you walked in to find Hatsume and showed her photos of the grinder without letting Bakugou see, she quickly threw all subtley out the window.

“Oh, your super-strong, super-durable, diamond grade nail grinder wheel Hercules3000 finally broke! That’s great!” she said, loudly enough for the whole room, plus those down the hall, to hear.

Bakugou stared at you, and you felt your face burning.

“Yes, my nail file-” you started.

“Don’t worry! My new baby Hercules5000 will be perfect! And all I needed was somewhere to install him!” Hatsume cried happily, rivalling only Bakugou’s volume, the blond boy silent for once.

“I left the other one in the room so the cleaning system would look after it-” you started, trying to convince yourself that Bakugou wasn’t bug-eyed and staring at you from three feet away.

“Oh, yes, yes!” Hatsume verbally bulldozed over you, “I don’t know anyone else who has toenails filings that can generate the kind of damage only pyroclastic flow can! If I ever decide to make biological weapons that cause purely physical damage, I’ll come to you for raw materials!” She cackled at the thought.

You were mortified.

“...You’ve been ignoring me for entire days to trim your fuckin’ nails?” Bakugou asked in disbelief.

You could only hide your face in your hands.

“Oh, it’s a very complicated system-” Hatsume started, “She has to grind them with specialised equipment, plus extract out the deadly dust to prevent injuring people with-”

“Nooo~!” you cried, embarrassed beyond belief.

“I figured it out, no worries! Hercules5000 has an in-built power-washing system to remove everything in half the time!” the support item specialist assured. “I finally figured out a pipe material that-”

“It all fuckin’ makes sense now.” Bakugou said, eyes narrowing at you. “You don’t get calluses, your skin is perfect, your hair doesn’t need any masks, I never got what the hell your “maintenance days” were supposed to be! You don’t even need sunscreen!”

“Oh, and Hercules5000 can shave hair as well, of course (if you want that) just like his older brother! And I’ve got a new suit-”

“Hatsume, please!” you begged, “Talking to you about it is fine, but I’m embarrassed with-!” You looked helplessly in Bakugou’s direction.

“The hell is embarrassing about that?” Bakugou demanded, irritated now. “Everyone needs grooming! It’s-”

Hatsume whipped out your specialised super-onesie and Bakugou paused, staring.

After a beat of silence he spoke quietly, but firmly. “Make me one too.”

Your jaw dropped, staring at him in disbelief.

Hatsume was more than happy to, and actually had a spare lying around. Adding footies and gloves to cover all of Bakugou was easy.

He had to argue to convince you to let him use it, but the two were even radio-linked to so you and Bakugou could talk during the self-care sessions. It was definitely easier for you to pass the time. Sometimes you hung out, sometimes you had your alone time. But Bakugou loved you for giving him the option. Not that he’d admit it to your face.

[daceydeath]

A Work Proposal (Part 6)

Pairing: Seungmin x Reader

Word Count: 2.9K

Genre: Smut

Warnings: 18+, minors dni, unprotected sex (don't be stupid), creampie, Sir kink, soft bondage, use of pet names, praise kink, oral sex (m receiving)

You had been working with Stray Kids for a while now and after a long day at work turns into a very unexpected but intriguing proposal. Will this change your world or end your career?

Things had once again become almost too busy for you to handle, almost, you had finally gotten somewhere with the legal case finding it had in fact been antis that had started the disgusting rumors about Han and Hyunjin, so with official statements and lawsuits being filed that was over with as far as your job was concerned but you did have a friend in the legal department that was willing to keep you in the loop. You had another set of costuming, fittings, set design and rehearsals to get fully under control as the end of the year approached with at least 4 awards shows and music shows that the kids were booked for and each performance needed to be massive and different. It was exhausting but you had found that your schedule always, albeit suspiciously, had time slots in the day where you would be somehow slotted into the kids time tables. Walking back into the dance studio you were once again hit the smell of food making your stomach grumble loudly.

"Sit down pretty it's lunch time" Han sang as you put your bag and tablet next to the sound system.

"Hannie" you giggled "I don't have time I have a meeting in 20 minutes with the set guys for your showcase".

"Yeah that has been rescheduled" Chan smirked tapping away on his phone "you now have an hour"

"Chan you can't just move my schedule around like that for things that are not important" you huffed slightly annoyed that you would now need to stay later tonight to finish things up.

"You taking care of yourself is important Jagi" Felix pouted making you walk to him and kiss his cheek lightly.

"I can do both but thank you for taking care of me" you relented as Minho patted a space on the couch between him and Seungmin.

"Kitten, you need to still eat otherwise how will you take care of us" Minho teased and Seungmin handed you a bowl of rice and meat that they were all eating.

"Thank you Seungmin" you whispered picking up your chopsticks. "I will also need to drop in later with the confirmed set so that you can go over it with your choreography teacher"

"No work right now baby, this is just us hanging out" Chan smiled softly at you making you roll your eyes. You ate while you listened to them make jokes, tease each other and talk about whatever crazy amount of things Felix and Jeongin had bought lately when it hit you. They were actively trying to include you in their lives not just their working lives but their private ones too. Yes you agreed to have sex with them but that was all it was meant to be sex, no relationship, no feelings just physical release to help them function. But they had given you pet names that each of them used separately, they made sure you ate and Felix had even taken to sending you goodnight texts when he was able to, there were far more feelings involved than you actually realized.

"Are you alright princess?" Hyunjin's voice brought you back from your thoughts.

"Yes Jinnie I'm fine I just a bit tired" you reassured him softly taking in the troubled look on his face "Showcase organizing is tiring, not as much as it would be for you but it's a lot of stuff to plan in a short time".

"How long have you been sleeping for?" Chan asked surveying you as you continued to eat.

"um probably 3 or 4 hours a night" you sighed answering him honestly "that's why I look 10 years older this week" you joked trying to lighten his mood.

"Baby" he chastised you as soon as you finished your sentence.

"It's not all the time just during very busy periods I still overall sleep far more than you do Channie" you rolled your eyes again taking another mouthful of rice.

"So question time sweets" Changbin announced smiling at the interaction between you and his leader. "what is your favorite food, movie, book and video game?" making you think as you chewed your lunch.

"Mandu I am a dumpling fiend, I like most movies except horror, I prefer fantasy books and I play RGP video games if I ever get the chance to play, which is almost never since I took this job" you smiled humoring Changbin checking off each thing he had asked on your fingers.

"What's your favorite dessert?" Felix asked cutely

"Chocolate anything" you grinned back.

"Night out or night in?" Jeongin added looking at you curiously

"Night in, I'm nervous around strangers" you admitted.

"How many serious relationships have you had?" Minho smirked his face teasingly daring you to answer him.

"one" you mumbled scratching your arm embarrassed

"One?!" Han yelped looking at you slightly alarmed.

"Minho said serious not boyfriends so only one" you blinked explaining your answer.

"How many boyfriends then?" Minho rolled his eyes exasperatedly

"None of your damn business" you smirked back making him chuckle.

"Did you always want to work in entertainment?" Chan asked thoughtfully.

"No, I had no interest whatsoever but turns out I'm pretty good at my job so I stayed" you confessed "Can I ask a question in return?"

"Of course" Chan grinned.

"What is with the twenty questions?" you raised an eyebrow at them while you popped in another mouthful of food and waiting patiently as they paused before answering you.

"We were talking and realized we know pretty much nothing about you" Seungmin answered bluntly making Jeongin cough on his food.

"Please don't kill Jeongin that would be more paperwork than I want to do in a whole month" you sighed watching him take a mouthful of water.

"Do you usually care if you know about the people involved in your agreements? Wouldn't it be easier if you didn't?" you continued to sound as unbothered as possible by it all.

"No but we would like to know you. Your fun, you always fight for us and you care how we are that is more than most people have ever done for us" Hyunjin smiling

"Bullshit Hyunjin" you sighed beginning to pack away the garbage from the now finished lunch.

"Nope" Felix giggled then wrapped his arms around you pulling you back so you were seated between his legs with your arms pinned "Hannie lost he has to clean up and you are not helping him"

"Felix!" you squeaked as he squeezed you only for your phone to ring "Ok lunch is over then back to it" you smiled as Felix let you go and you stood.

"Aww noooo don't leave us" Han wailed

"Thanks for lunch boys" you smirked blowing a overdramatized kiss to them and answering you call from the costume designer.

A day later you found yourself sitting in the dressing room of the boys while they came and went in different versions of costumes for the first end of year showcase performance. They all looked incredibly good in their outfits which you only hid your obvious appreciation of them when someone else was in the room, which had made Chan and Changbin blush and inflated Jeongin and Seungmin's ego.

"Like what you see" Seungmin teased making you blink at him and pretend you had no idea what he was talking about, but with his hair swept back and the dark colors on him making him look divine you knew he would see through you.

The others continued to come and go but Seungmin stayed behind, you assumed because he had received final approval for his look, once you were alone again he leant closer to you.

"I asked you a question doll" he whispered into your ear making you visibly shiver at his words "and I want you to answer it" your breath hitched in your throat.

"Yes Seungmin I like what I see" you answered breathily.

"Good girl" he purred against the shell of your ear one of his fingers trailing down the column of your neck "Once we have finished here we are going back to the dorm and the others are going out understood"

"Yes Seungmin" you almost whined at the teasing contact he was making with your skin.

"Not Seungmin doll, Sir" he lowly growled pressing a kiss to your neck.

"Yes, sir" you breathed.

"Good girl, now I want you to think a safe word for me, so if anything makes you uncomfortable you can say it and I will stop no questions asked, can you do that?"

"Yes, sir" you repeated feeling him grin against your hair before he pulled himself back from you and sat in on of the make up chairs on the other side of the room. Leaving you a flustered mess as your tried desperately to regain your composure before the others come back.

"Ok were all done, everyone has been approved for the performance next week" Chan grinned relieved that it was finalized so that they just needed to get the choreography perfect and they were set.

"So we ready to head out?" Minho asked looking at your blank stare "Are you alright?"

"Yes absolutely, now that the costuming is done its just your actual performance since the set was finalized yesterday" you recovered seamlessly.

"Can we drop you somewhere on the way?" Chan teased knowing full well that Seungmin had asked his dorm to clear out for the first part of the night at least, you instantly caught his tone and knew they all knew so why bother hiding it.

"You already know the answer to that Chan" you smirked following them all out and to the vans.

Once Seungmin and you were alone again in the safety of the dorm you could tell that the mood had shifted, he was very obviously interested in what he wanted to do but instead of pouncing on you the way the other guys had he lead you to the couch to sit down before sitting himself across from you looking very serious.

"I know you said you weren't very experienced before you agreed to this but I want to go over some things first to make everything easier, more enjoyable" he smiled sweetly looking every bit the heart throb idol that girls around the world loved.

"Alright Seungmin, where would you like to start?" you tried not to look nervous as he watched you so carefully.

"I like some things that are considered fairly vanilla and I like some things that aren't. I need to know where you are comfortable currently and if you would be alright with experimenting as the agreement goes on" he explained smoothly as you nodded for him to continue. "I would like you to call me sir, I would like you to do exactly as you're told and eventually I would like to do a few things like spanking you, choking you, pulling your hair, tying you up if you would be alright with that".

"I've never tried that sort of thing before" you admitted quietly "but I can call you sir and do what you tell me to and as long as you aren't too intense you can choke me. I've never been spanked or tied up before".

"That is why we set up ground rules first doll" he grinned "It's fun if its safe and we both know what is consented to and what isn't, I will not doing anything that we haven't talked about first and it you want me to stop for any reason you say the safe word, use the traffic light system or tap my three times on my arm or leg".

"Traffic light system?" you tilted your head while still looking at him.

"Green means yes I want to continue, yellow is I'm hitting my limit slow down and red is stop I don't want to do this" he explained.

"Oh that seems easy can we use that?" you asked feeling more excited that Seungmin was really wanting you to be comfortable.

"Fuck yes we can doll" He beamed pleased with your answer "you ready to start then?"

"Yes sir" you smirked as he got to his feet immediately and stalked towards you pulling you to your feet to kiss you passionately his tongue sliding against the seam of your lips to gain entrance which you were eager to give.

"Now be a good girl and strip" he breathed against your lips before letting you go and sitting on the couch you had previously been sitting on his hands ghosting down your sides.

"Yes sir" you murmured lifting your sweater and shirt over your head and dropping it to the floor beside you as gracefully as you could then undoing your jeans sliding them down to your ankles and stepping out of them "everything off sir?" you asked softly

"Such a good girl for asking" he purred making you heat up, you never realized you like being praised but Seungmin seemed to just know what made you want him more "take it all off then I want you on your knees bubby". Sliding your underwear down your legs and slipping you bra off you happily complied with his instructions lowering yourself to the carpet between his legs. He carded his fingers through your hair tucking errant strands behind your ear so he could see your face fully.

"Now my little good girl, you're going to undo my jeans and suck my cock until I tell you to stop" he smirked his hand moving to cup your cheek, his thumb rubbing along your bottom lip.

"yes sir?" you purred sliding your hands slowly up his thighs to the button of his jeans popping it open and dragging his zipper down teasingly slow making him groan at the contact of your hand on his clothed erection.

You stared up at him, maintaining eye contact while you carefully pulled his hard member from his boxers and gently pumped him a few times, your thumb smearing his precum down his shaft listening to his low grunts as he continued to stare at you with hooded eyes. Leaning forward you dragged your tongue un the underside of his dick, making him muffle a gasp above you, before swirling around the tip and taking him fully into your mouth. His hands held your head as you bobbed up and down a few times not forcing you just holding you hair in place so he could see your face.

"Just like that doll" he moaned loudly letting his head fall back against the back of the couch "Hyung said you were amazing with that pretty mouth and fuck you are". Hearing him so pleased with you made you wetter than you anticipated, his melodic voice moaning was causing you to clench your thighs together to control yourself. Hollowing out your cheeks you took him further into your mouth until his tip was brushing the back of your throat, humming whenever he made a noise for you.

"Fuck, you going to swallow my cum like a good girl?" he whined as his hips began thrusting gently to meet your mouth, you moaned in response to let him know you were ok with taking him down your throat. Within a minute you felt him swell on your tongue before he let out a guttural groan emptying himself in your throat and you sucked him clean swallowing everything he gave you.

"Such a good fucking girl" he grinned pulling you up into his lap to kiss you and slip his fingers between your thighs his fingers finding your clit and began drawing slow circles on it making you arch against him.

"Ah, sir" you gasped his movements and pressure on your clit giving you exactly what you needed.

"So wet, did you really like sucking my cock that much doll?" he chuckled darkly as you squirmed in his lap mewling softly.

"Yes sir" you whined as he speed his fingers up.

"You going to let me fuck you full of my cum?" he smirked as your eyes rolled back into your head you were so close to orgasm now that you struggled to get the words out.

"yes...sir....yes...please sir" you pouted whining again when his ministrations stopped leaving you unsatisfied but you disappointment was quickly replaced by ecstasy as he easily lined himself up and impaled you fully on his cock making you throw your head back as you came hard around him your walls clamping down on him. Groaning he quickly began thrusting up into you holding you in place against his chest as you legs struggled to meet his movements.

"I'm going to fill you up doll if you can be good for me" he panted thrusting even harder into your spent body.

"I'm a good girl sir, your good girl" you mewled feeling more and more fucked out with each thrust of his hard dick against your tender walls.

"That's right doll your mine, my good girl" he moaned his hips stuttering as he emptied himself inside you, keeping you pressed tightly against him so you could catch your breath as you slumped in his arms.

"You ok doll?" he asked gently helping to lift you from his lap to sit beside him on the couch "I think I should run you a bath"

"I'm ok and I don't want to take up all your night Seung" you breathed still panting slightly.

"You aren't and come on let me take care of you" he whispered softly helping you to your feet and feeling you wobble on your legs. "Yeah a bath and you can stay here tonight, I can't let you go home like this"

"I'll be fine" you protested bending to get your clothes and nearly overbalancing.

"Nope, I'll let Felix know he has a cuddle buddy for the night" he giggled leading you down the hall to the bathroom.

A/N: As always I adore all of you who spend your precious time reading something I wrote, any comments, reblogs or like are appreciated xx

Taglist (open): @christopher-bangnaldoskzz, @symptoms-of-moonlight, @septicrebel, @ayoitschannie, @krishatumblernow, @tangerminie, @elizalabs3, @armystay89, @septemberkisses, @stay-bi, @seolaflare, @damnyouficc, @eastleighsblog, @wohaku

[novelmonger]

I'm continuing on to the next LotR audio commentary. This one is with the design team, and there's a lot more people talking in this one! Including:

Grant Major (production designer), Ngila Dickson (costume designer), Richard Taylor (Weta Workshop creative supervisor), Alan Lee (conceptual designer), John Howe (conceptual designer), Dan Hennah (supervising art director/set decorator), Chris Hennah (art department manager), and Tania Rodger (Weta Workshop manager)

So here are some highlights of things that are new to me (after avidly watching all the BTS documentaries multiple times over the years) from FotR:

The guy who made the One Ring originally didn't want to do it because he didn't like fantasy, but then his sons badgered him until he agreed to do it - kind of a similar story to Viggo Mortensen, I think. He ended up contracting cancer and dying during the production of the first movie.

Alan Lee storyboarded a potential sequence for showing how Bilbo got the Ring. They would show Gollum grabbing a fish, taking off the Ring while he ate, and then it would roll away until Bilbo found it.

Some of Ngila Dickson's phrases and diction are pinging really loudly in my sense of deja vu - like, I remember hearing those exact phrases before. But I even went and watched the costume design portion of the Appendices, and none of it was a repeat. Have I actually heard this commentary before and then forgot all about it? @_@

The guy (the primary guy? I can't imagine it was only one person) they put writing on all the scrolls and things worked in a bank and had a hobby doing calligraphy. They hired him to do just a few things at first, putting writing on some props, but then it got to the point where he actually had to quit his job at the bank and start working full-time for LotR, and then continued to do stuff for merchandise for New Line. I do wonder what he did once the movies were all made and over with....

I always forget how they had to have two scales of everything. Not just stuff like Gandalf's staff or the sets, but they had to have two scales of all the props like cups and books and things. They even had to have two different sizes of horses, depending on the scene!

Lawrence Makoare, who played Lurtz, would have to start getting into makeup at 10 p.m. the night before he had a scene, so that he would be ready at 8 a.m. the next day @_@

Most of the horses used in the movies were Andalusian horses imported from Australia.

When they would film outside in nature, like in the forest where they shot on-location scenes for Rivendell, they would have to remove the native plants that were there, keep them in a greenhouse, plant whatever plants and other things they needed for the movie, then take them out again and put the original plants back. This would actually leave the area better than the way they found it, because they would remove weeds and things like that.

John Howe commented on how difficult it is to do hair in something like this that's meant to be kind of "historical," even though it's fantasy. Hairstyle is one of the things that is quickly outdated, so if you do it wrong, it can be jarring to watch the movie in later decades. He said, "I wonder how it will look 20 years from now." It's twenty years later, John. It looks every bit as good as it did in 2001 :')

Okay, I feel like this had to have been in the BTS documentary, but I don't remember it. For the moment where Bilbo goes Gollum-esque for a second when Frodo puts the Ring away, they morphed between his face and a puppet they made of Ian Holm looking deranged. Ian Holm was thrilled with the puppet and had several photos taken of himself with it, and then when it was time for him to leave New Zealand, they made a bronze version of the puppet and gave it to him as a memento! XD

For the shots of the Fellowship bursting out of the snow after the avalanche, they went to the Mt. Hart ski field, which was closed because of a blizzard. They were allowed to go out on the ski field, make snow caves, and film the actors bursting out into the open. The Hobbits wore Ugg boots over their hobbit feet in the snow when their feet wouldn't be in the shot XD Apparently, Richard Taylor actually asked Peter Jackson if there could be a scene of the Hobbits wrapping their feet in bandages or something, just so the actors could protect their feet a bit more in harsh terrain like that, but PJ said no, because the Hobbits' feet would be tough enough to be able to withstand all of that. Poor guys! x.x

Huh. I always assumed that they made the effect of ithildin by putting little glowing lights on the doors of Moria, or else maybe added it in post. But actually, they put some kind of reflective material on the design, and then shone a light from behind the camera, so it would reflect on the design and make it look like it was glowing! I feel like, if this movie were made today, they would totally have just done it with CG, but this makes it so much more realistic. Also, they had to paint the doors, but obviously couldn't paint over the reflective material, so they put plasticine over the design, then painted it, then took the doors to the site. They were still taking the plasticine off the doors when the whole crew and the actors turned up and started rehearsing the scene! So apparently, if you look hard enough, you can actually see a few small parts of the design on the door that are missing, because they accidentally left some of the plasticine on!

Okay, we all know about the crazy amount of attention to detail in these movies, but this story just takes the cake. In the room with Balin's tomb, there's all this Khuzdul writing on the walls. Someone wrote out all the text and had their in-house translator translate it into Dwarvish runes that they then carved into the walls. During one of the days they were shooting the cave troll battle, they had invited a Tolkien language scholar to visit the set, and he stormed out in an outrage, saying that someone had written something like "Joe was here" on the walls, which was disrespectful to Tolkien's legacy, etc. etc. Horrified to hear this, the art department got their translator to go over the set with a fine-tooth comb, trying to find the "graffiti" this guy had seen, because they'd already filmed a lot of shots of this scene, and they knew that there would be fans who would freeze-frame the scene and translate what's written on the walls. But they couldn't find it anywhere! So eventually they cornered the Tolkien scholar and asked him where he'd seen it, and it turned out that it was just some guy on the crew who'd told him that. Apparently, the Tolkien scholar was so uptight and serious about everything, this guy was just poking fun at him, and it snowballed from there. So they ended up wasting a lot of time looking for a mistake that wasn't even there, because that's how dedicated everyone was to getting every detail of this movie right.

The Moria orcs were originally designed to have pale, almost translucent skin (inspired by an axolotl! O.O), but when they saw footage of it on the first day, they realized the contrast with all the darkness in Moria was too much, and it made the orcs look like they were glowing, so they had to make them darker.

The eyes of the Moria orcs were enlarged after the fact, so when they made the prosthetics, they had to make the eyeholes extra big so the eyes would look like they fit after they were enlarged.

Originally, there was an idea that the Balrog would burst out from a wall somewhere while they're trying to jump across the gap in the stairs, and just generally make that scene even more tense and exciting, but then they realized that to do so would basically eat up half their budget, so they decided to do it the way it is in the final version XD

The boats' design was based on a leaf of a lemon tree. If you drop a lemon leaf in the water, it will look like a tiny version of the Elven boats! 8D

Ohhhh, so the scene where the Fellowship gets attacked by Orcs along the way down the Anduin was going to be a sequence at Sarn Gebir, where there are dangerous rapids, so the Fellowship has to land on the shore and carry their boats past. But then Orcs attack, there's a whole action scene, and they have to hurry back onto the water and navigate the rapids. But they never shot it, because right after they'd built the set and got all ready, they were hit with a lot of rain and flooding, and the water level in the lake where they were filming rose five meters and completely washed away the set. So that whole sequence got permanently canceled.

While working on Amon Hen, Alan Lee fell off the stone seat (kind of like Frodo!) and broke his wrist. Thankfully, it was his left wrist, so he could keep drawing.

The Uruk-Hai's hair was horsehair that they had to import because they needed it in such large quantities. In the location where they shot the battle at Amon Hen, the ground was covered with prickly bracken of some kind, so every time an Uruk fell on the ground and then got up for the next take, they would have to carefully pluck all the bits of bracken out of their hair @_@

The fletching on the Uruk arrows is supposed to be, not feathers, but Warg hair O.O

Okay, I knew they made a silicone dummy of Boromir for when his body goes over the falls, but they only had four days to make it?! :O

In the final scene, where Frodo and Sam are looking out over Mordor, what Sean and Elijah were actually looking at was a ski resort with cabins and a ski lift. "The one place in all Middle-Earth we don't want to see," indeed! XD

[takincareofbusiness]

From Me'n Elvis by Charlie Hodge,

"Elvis never liked to talk too seriously during a meal if it might lead to an argument. One night in Hollywood, Elvis and I got into a little spat at supper. He got up and walked out. When he came back to finish eating, he said, "Charlie, let's don't ever argue like that again when we're eating. I just went back there and lost what I ate." When Elvis got a little bored with making Clambake. I walked out on the set one morning. It was the original Phantom of the Opera movie set. A bucket of water hit me from way up on one of the high catwalks. I looked up and another bucket hit me. My shirt was soaked. I took it off and neatly placed it in front of a heater to dry out. Then I went to the wardrobe department and got a dry shirt to put on. Every 20 minutes or so, I'd go back and feel my shirt to see if it was getting dry. It felt as wet as ever. I couldn't understand it. At the end of the day, I checked it again. Still soaking wet! I walked away from it, then sneaked back and peered around the corner. There was Elvis, sraying it with a fire extinguisher. He had been doing that all day long. As soon as I felt it, he'd come back and spray it again. Then Elvis came out of his dressing room to do a scene, Richard Davis, his valet, hit him from the same catwalk with a ballon filled with water. Elvis looked up and said quietly, without anger, "I'll get you for that." Elvis went back into his dressing room and came back out a few minutes later in a dry costume and did his scene. Then he found a heavy fire hose, and blasted Richard off the catwalk. The movie director, Arthur Nadel, had been hit by firecrackers so much that he started coming to the set wearing an old Nazi helmet. In one scene, Elvis goes to answer the phone, he says, "Hello." Just Then Nadel lit a huge round firecracker and rolled it across the set floor at him. He dropped the phone and yelled, "Oh he#$, and fled. In another scene Bill Bixby was acting in front of the camera and Elvis simply walked up to him and pushed a cream pie in his face. Pies started flying everywhere. Everybody came in for our practical jokes, from the director on down to the coffee man. Movie crews loved to work with Elvis and they asked to. Everyday was different from the last one and you never knew what to expect when you got up in the morning. With Elvis, life was great."

[hughgrants]

We took our Carol trip!

December 10, 2023, my good friend Sarah and I piled in my small Kia and made the 1 hr 40 min trip from Indianapolis, IN to see Cincinnati and Chevoit, Ohio shooting locations from 2015's "Carol." It's the only winter movie that matters to me. Here are some of the key locations we visited.

Tagging: @belivet, @pacinos, @lesbin

Shillito Center and art deco exteriors in Cincinnati.

Shillito Center was a department store with art deco features including the beautiful clock pictured above. This was the exterior of Frankenberg's in the film. The Shillito's department store has closed but the beautiful building has been turned into luxury loft apartments!

The other buildings of note were the Bell Telephone Company's "Cincinnati Bell" building--my friend noticed that the decorative border on the building is comprised of a stone pattern of old rotary telephones! The exterior of the now-Hilton Cincinnati is another Carol shooting site, which doubled as New York City's Drake hotel.

This is the exquisite Hilton Cincinnati at Netherland Plaza. As you can see, the art deco influence is strong and the rooms are gorgeous and grand. We were hungry and wanted to have lunch but the only available menu was the Dickens breakfast buffet, priced at a formidable $89! So we enjoyed a drink and a bowl of peanuts at the bar. A quartet of professional singers in Victorian costumes sang Christmas Carols beautifully in the background. The bartender was dressed like they used to dress, in a beautiful tailored slacks, shirt, and vest uniform. He did not work at the Hilton in 2014-2015 but was delighted by our quest. The entryway to the hotel is known as the "Hall of Mirrors," inspired by Versailles.

This is the stone bathroom structure at Eden Park, which was the setting for the Christmas tree farm impromptu photography session. My friend watched Carol to prepare (she called it "fun homework") and I prepared by finding a tam o shanter hat at a thrift store. My parents had the scarf, blonde fur coat, faux fur hat, as part of their repository of items from doing over 25 years of community theater together. The rest of my clothing items are a regular part of my wardrobe. I vacillate between eras but I love 40s, 50s, and 60s best of all. I also think it's likely they filmed the scene of Therese and Richard on bicycle going through a park at Eden Park as well, but can't be totally sure.

Finally, Maury's Tiny Cove Restaurant in Chevoit, Cincinnati is the setting of the first lunch between Carol and Therese. The booth they used for shooting has been preserved and I reserved it ahead of time, although surrounding booths also have pictures from filming hanging over them. It's been long enough that the server didn't know much about the film but told us that a group of excited college students ate there once and requested the same meal Carol and Therese ordered in the movie. I had lasagna as we had not eaten much all day, and a Santa Cosmopolitan from their holiday menu. The food was wonderful and it was obvious a lot of people are regulars. We noted that there are glass windows over the booths now, unlike in the movie, probably added during the height of Covid.

Bonus, but a disappointment:

Carol & Rindy's beautiful house at Grandin Rd has been completely re-done and now looks nothing like in the movie:

And, "that's that"! A truly special and memorable experience.

Here is a link to a Google Drive with all of the unedited photos and videos we took if you want to see anything in original quality/detail. We shot video of the photography scene but it was mostly goofy and unusable haha.

We talked about the movie some and Sarah asked me which character was the best fit for my personality. Hands down, Abby. I was wide-eyed Therese once, never glam enough for Carol, but Abby will tell you the truth and not blush from it. My hero!

[mirasmirages]

Fall In Line - Ten - Hero

First Previous

Contains: Superhero fight, fire, left for dead

Nadir had lived in Hereswell for three months now. When he first told his mother where he was going, he thought she was going to faint, and he couldn't blame her. Hereswell had a reputation, and not without reason.

Few things were as illegal as being an unregistered hero. It made sense. Heroes were dangerous, after all. It was like allowing people to keep unregistered weapons on them at all times. When a person developed powers, they were expected to get registered and tested, and then the agency would decide what to do with them. The young ones went to the Institute to learn to control their powers. The adults were offered jobs in the military, if their powers were useful. It was rare to hear about someone who turned the offer down. Nadir had never met a registered powered person who chose to live a normal life.

Superpowers came with certain side effects. Strength, stamina, speed. Hunger. Nadir ate more now than he did at the height of his growth spurt. And then there was the urge to do something. To get his adrenaline pumping until his body was tingling. To drive faster and climb higher and take bigger risks. He had hoped becoming a firefighter would help, but it only increased his tolerance. He needed more. As a child he had wondered why heroes who tried so hard to stay hidden would still go out to fight. Now he wondered how anyone had the strength not to.

When the opportunity appeared to transfer to the Hereswell Fire Department, he jumped on it. If there was one place that needed more people that could handle a disaster, it was Hereswell. Hereswell had an unusual amount of powered activities. Heroes. Villains. Recently they even had a supervillain who kept coming back. As long as Nadir kept his head down, who would have the time to look for him? No one would care if he climbed a few buildings or stopped a robbery at night. He would be careful. He just needed this itching under his skin to stop.

He should have known it wouldn't work.

He had kept his head down, picked up extra shifts at the station and not gone out to fight. There was enough to do, both with moving in and at work. He had only been there for two weeks when he got to see his first supervillain attack. He had been at work, and the fight had dissolved quickly once police cars started arriving, but even the few seconds Nadir had seen had been awe-inspiring. The villain had been strong - easily throwing cars around - but the heroes had kept him in check, and had managed to keep civilians from being seriously hurt. That, Nadir thought, was the kind of hero he wanted to be.

A few weeks later he got his chance.

Nadir often spent his days off walking around town, familiarizing himself with the area. It would be useful if he ever needed to get around quickly. Under his clothes he wore his makeshift costume of black wool that was, if not entirely fireproof, not going to melt into his skin if it got exposed to heat. He also wore a black scarf he could tie around his face as a mask.

A crowd had gathered outside the library.

"What's going on?" he asked an old woman.

"Mass Destruction just went inside."

Mass Destruction. The villain who was terrorizing the city.

The doors to the library was closed, but Nadir found an open window on the side of the building. He hid his clothes in an alley, wrapped his scarf around his head, and climbed through the window.

He landed in an office, and had to find his way to the villain. That was easy once he got into the main hall. People were standing around petrified and Mass Destruction's voice echoed off the halls.

"...you feel safe? Do you believe your little heroes will come save you?"

Nadir put a finger to his lips so no one would tell on him as he moved closer.

"They will never defeat me. You will never see the end of me. Tell me. Do you want to live?"

Nadir turned a corner to see Mass Destruction talking to an old man standing with a young boy. The man nodded.

"Tell me why."

"I- I have a family. Grandchildren."

The villain turned his attention to the boy.

"Stop!" Nadir said when Mass Destruction reached out to grab the boy. "Don't touch him!"

The villain turned, a harsh smile on his face. "A hero! How exciting. Are you here to play?"

He grabbed a book off the shelf and threw it at Nadir, who ducked it with relative ease. The villain threw a few more.

"Come on now. Aren't you gonna attack me? Be a hero and kill the big bad villain?"

Somehow, Nadir had expected... more. Something crueler, something spectacular like the fight he had witnessed. Instead, Mass Destruction threw books.

"Is that what you want me to do?" Nadir asked. Some people were moving for the exit. "You want me to fight you?" Say yes, he thought. He was itching for a fight. "I won't. If you leave these people alone, I won't hurt you."

"Weak. I was hoping you'd be more fun."

Mass Destruction grabbed the boy by the neck, and Nadir's hands produced a burst of fire, grabbing the villain's attention and - fuck - hitting the books closest to him.

The fire was small. It could still be put out. But Mass Destruction reached for his gun. Nadir stayed still, watching him.

"Let the boy go."

Mass Destruction held the boy in front of him like a shield.

"No."

"I will burn you," Nadir warned.

"Then you'll burn him." He aimed the gun.

The fire was spreading through the bookshelves, from a small one to something dangerous. Sprinklers started showering them with water, and people were trying to get out.

Nadir grabbed the nearest bookshelf and pulled it down, shielding him from the shots. Mass Destruction fired at him. He could hear the boy struggling and the old man yelling. Nadir sent fire along the floor, under the shelf that was leaning diagonally on the next row.

"Let the boy go!" he yelled.

More shots. Nadir stayed behind the bookshelf.

"Come out so I can kill you," Mass Destruction yelled.

"I'll come out if you let him go," Nadir yelled back. The bookcase was burning rapidly and would soon have very little protection to offer.

"Come out now or I'm killing the boy!"

"Don't!" Nadir stood, still half crouched behind the burning bookcase. He kept his hands out in front of him in a placating way, showing he didn't have any weapons. At least - no weapons other than his hands.

Mass Destruction put the boy down, gun still aimed at Nadir.

The boy and the old man hurried towards the exit, and Mass Destruction fired a shot.

Nadir moved to the side, but not fast enough. The bullet hit him in the shoulder.

In a second, his arms were aflame, burning through his sleeves, feeding the fire around him. Mass Destruction took a step back. He looked scared.

Nadir aimed a hand at him in warning. Mass Destruction fired more shots. Nadir could feel them whistling past his head, and he let his power flow through his body and out his hands, not holding back.

Mass Destruction stumbled back, and Nadir followed him, burning him. The stench of melted plastic and charred skin added to the smoke. Nadir wanted to gag. This was not what he wanted. He wanted to be a hero, not - not this. Not a murderer. But Mass Destruction had taken so many lives. Maybe this was for the best.

Too late now, anyway. Nadir looked down at the lifeless body in front of him. Mass Destruction's costume was melted into his skin, his face twisted in pain. Should he help him? That was the right thing to do. No one deserved to be left inside a burning building like this, no matter who they were. But Mass Destruction's injuries were beyond saving, and there were more people in there that needed help.

Nadir turned away.