#the entire 6am ending sequence ???

[biblically-accurate-dca]

these are all kind of Bad but this was the best of the bunch so i am posting it :p

i've been trying to draw vanessa more... she is so important to me... sun is here too i guess

[jonathankatwhatever]

It’s 20 Dec 2024. My stomach hurts. I found some movements yesterday that got deep into the core of the twist. One was with a cable extending from below: step away and let the weight of it pull you as though you are trying to pull it with that one arm. Rotate through your shoulder’s movement so you twist until you are aligned to do a biceps curls so the movement goes directly over your face as you twist again, this time to extend your arm as though you’ve thrown your arm and the object attached directly over your own body.

I want to translate something. Here’s an open tab: the Pockhammer symbol, which is apparently something having do with rising and falling factorials, which are what? Look up. So it’s x(x+1) up to x(x+(n-1), so up to the End generated at n-1, which means focus on what’s in that enclosure, what comes to that End, which becomes finite because we’ve labeled not n but n-1, where 1 attaches to infinity, and thus we count to and within Ends, have subtotals, because Attachment Theory describes the relationship of any Thing with any other, and that of course must be visible in the act of counting, in the methods of mathematics.

This does what? It makes a square of x times that bigger version of x, or at more at the level I need is a square and a count of x’s, so at each x, there’s a square and a count of x’s, and that is true up to whatever n-1 you count. I’m putting aside n is infinite because we’re counting back from that by using the n-1 concept. I don’t feel comfortable turning that into notation because it’s a basic method used everywhere. The shift from the infinite to the finite occurs in the construction of D3-4Space. Are you having trouble accepting that in some way or are you not entirely awake? A core concept is that grid squares are finite because Things generate within D-structure. That’s another way of talking about the space. You can’t expect to pull up with ease each one in each ordering you stumble on. That’s unfair to us. And you can substitute any answer for the word one because Attachment Theory really is that good.

That was fairly eloquent for not 6AM. You’re in my head.

So that’s rising for the +. The falling is x(x-1)…x(x-(n-1)). What does that do? Makes an area of any x and takes away, at least as an operation, that n-1 count of the x at that level. In gs, that would be the same drawing with a CM1 of the x as a square, and all the x with one layer showing the addition of n times x and the other showing the removal of n times x from that CM1. So rising is over CM1 and falling is within CM1.

That’s actually an interesting example of the idea: I was drawn to the idea of translating this form of factorial, left the tab open, so it was available when I happened by a few days ago, which pushed it to the forefront because it was useful and not closed. That all occurs within the n-1 End’s identification. Whatever x you got, right? Then you can make a mountain out of a molehill or a molehill out of a mountain, meaning you can maximize or minimize. And you can see in it the betting, the cost of odds, the payoffs and exchanges.

So the symbol is the label for the algebra which sums all the levels of the sequence for each n-1. Okay.

The math of imperfections.

[softsky-daily]

8/25/2023

I was thinking about how the sky might look nice as a gradient of all the possible colors it can be and then I remembered that's literally one of the biggest Tumblr memes of all time.

Positive thing: I got to do some fun things for myself today. Also I finished Yakuza 7.

Not gonna lie, it is almost 6am now since I stayed up late to finish that game (you can't save throughout the entire ending sequence which takes a few hours in and of itself) and it's all I can think about right now.

Why did [spoiler] have to end up [spoiler]?? Not to mention [more spoilers]. I don't know what I'm gonna play now.

[three--rings]

Hey, so many of my very favorite video games are super on sale right now on Steam, so please allow me to speak at you for a moment.

The sale is a Spike Chunsoft sale, so it includes series like Danganronpa and Stein’s Gate and others. 

But SPECIFICALLY I adore the games of Kotaro Uchikoshi, the Zero Escape series and the AI:The Somnian Files series. 

The Zero Escape games are some of my ALL TIME very favorite video games.  You can get all the games in the series for $25 right now, 75% off. 

Uchikoshi’s games are typically part visual novel, part puzzles, though later games are fully voiced visual novels.  (Actually I 100% forget the steam version of 999 is highly voiced now too...because it wasn’t voiced AT ALL when I played it the first...IDK 4 times.)

Uchikoshi does amazing things with narrative and tells stories that only work in the video game format.  The stories are entirely WILD and often veer from ridiculous to character moments that make you sob. 

The games definitely have horror/violent elements, so some content warning apply.  Like they are NOT playing around and WILL hurt you, but god is it worth it.  The games take a LOT of time to play, and they all have multiple endings/routes with one of them being the “real” or “goal” ending.  But again, WORTH it. 

I have bought MULTIPLE entire game systems to play these games, and the fact you can just BUY them so cheap now is kinda wild to me.  (Also hey, you aren’t going to deal with the game-breaking bug on the 2nd Zero Escape game on the 3DS where I lost 60 hours of progress.)

So yeah, take this as a kick in the butt, if this is at all your kind of thing.

I just finished the first AI game and am buying the second in this game, but I really enjoyed the first. 

(I also love Danganronpa and if you like one series you WILL enjoy the other.  It’s a similar level of Messed Up and Also Deep.)

The sale is going on through the 19th. 

ETA: I wrote this at 6AM so pardon me, but I forgot the series were labeled weird on Steam.  The Nonary Games is a collection of the first two Zero Escape Games.  So one purchase ($12 right now????!!!!!) and you get two full games with each something like 100 hours in it.  (999 depends a lot on decisions how long it takes.  ZE2 is super long to complete.)

The first Zero Escape game, 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors is a mystery set on a sinking replica (?) of the Titanic, in which a cast of 9 people have to find their way through the ship to the last door to escape before it sinks.  But that’s only the surface level of what’s actually going on...

The second ZE game is Virtue’s Last Reward, a direct sequel to the first, but that’s not immediately obvious.  It’s a little more sci-fi, a little more out there, with more twisty paths and wild surprises.  But in some ways the quintessential Zero Escape (though NOTHING will beat 999 in my mind).  These two are included in the one Nonary Games package.

Zero Time Dilemma is the completion(?) of the trilogy which we thought for years we wouldn’t get and then we did.  Opinions are mixed on this one, and it dials up the horror and violence and Saw-esque aspects a lot, but it’s extremely memorable and unique.  Utterly terrified me the first time I played it BTW (but like I have anxiety and don’t do horror games.)

AI: The Somnian Files is an unrelated series from the same writer/director.  A sci-fi police detective mystery, in which a police detective who can use secret tech to experience people’s dreams tries to solve a serial killer case.   Very weird, very wild, but honestly even more impressive on a second play/watch because the writing is super clever.  Great voice acting and character work.  Very silly (easy) action sequences.  There’s also a direct sequel that just released in June.

Pretty much all of them have trigger warnings for dark content, death, suicide, sexism, child abuse...but USUALLY stuff is handled well for anime-genre media, with the exception of some anime-typical sexism.

[lee-scribbles-and-doodles]

S3 ep5

Current emotional status: FEAR

Cthulu Max has been on the rampage for a whole week!?

Ew, the narrator

Oh man, are they sending the airforce after him?

I really like Cthulu Max's design

Momma Bosco 💗

Oh hey, Norrington and Papierwaite are alive.

Superball are you saying you tried to send the Maimtrons up Max's--

Also he's acting president while Max is... deposed of.

Superball is only giving Sam until 6am :(

Featherly!

"Wandering around the moleman tunnels is no fun without Max."

"You got it all wrong, we're trying to help Max." "We will help him... to a generous serving of ass whooping."

"That is one rabbit who will be multiplied... into 2,000 smoldering pieces."

Carol ran off with Blustet

"I only want her to be happy, is all." Aw, Curt

Superball just admitted to having separation anxiety from Max

Ok Momma can't come but Papierwaite and Norringron can.

I like Norrington :)

GASP

Is it?

It is!

SYBIL!!!!

RETURN OF THE QUEEN

Oh, she is very pregnant

She was a wizard at one point?

She's gonna help!

Superball there's no such thing as acceptable losses

Abe has his body back

"Four score and seven tons of raw power"

HE CAN FLY NOW!?

Sybil, I love you, but why did you mod someone else's car???

Grandpa Stinky I love you

Oh, he just handed us the recipe for once.

Asdfff the spore maxes swarming Grandpa

They stole Grandpa's hotdogs

"We must feed the host! Piglets and sphinkters make us stronger!" "We regret nothing!"

Grandpa hasn't slept in three years

Sam just casually taking the last of Grandpa's corndogs

The spores are trying to get it

Lol Sam slapped them

Sal's alive!

He's hiding from Sam :(

Lol we can control Cthulu Max with Corndogs

Ew, the cornstarch got mixed in with the giant puddle 🤢 Looks gross

Love how Sybil completely ignores the Flaming Max head

Also the look of disappointment on the spore's face made me laugh

Fifth trimester???

The way the one Max spore by Grandpa's truck is bobbing in circles with his mouth open is making me laugh.

Sam showing concern for Sybil because she’s preggers 🥺

Her being pregnant with Abe's child implies that statues have working genital in this universe

She put a weiner scented airfreshener in the desoto

At least Sam and a Max spore seem to like that (of course they do)

"Sybil you're the best!" Hell yeah she is!

Sam's mind went to the color bar codes to prevent being traumatized by Sybil's oversharing

We drowned the desoto

Asdfgh Sam just botched slapped one of the spores for trying to say "that's none of your damn buisness."

Ew, Max's spine is pointing out

Oh hey, Satan and Jurgen

Why is Jurgen wearing his old fashioned clothes instead of his emo clothes?

Lol Sam snuck into frame to shout "Go Mets! New York rules!"

"--besides it's just a good and noble thing to do." "You're not familiar with my previous work, are you?"

"Sam, what happened to you to make you so cynical?" Gee, Jurgen, I wonder what could have possibly happened.

Oh so the water tower counts as vegetable oil because Momma did something to it

Pfft we can replace Satan's microphone with a corndog

Omg they jumped off the building to avoid Max

Oh, they're fine, and the oil is in the giant puddle.

I'm thankful to Featherly for giving us an egg but I'd have preferred not to watch him lay it. Granted it was just in a cartoon way but he still made weird noises

Also TRANS FEATHERLY 2021

"I desperately wanted to see that, sir. Ask him if he'll lay another one."

Oh hey, the Flaming Max heads helped heat up the giant desoto corndog

Since I'm playing this in 2021 the Maimtron's song references are super dated, which defeats Superball's efforts

Oooh! A unique opening sequence???

Oh this music is jazzy af

Sam really doesn't like the Max spores

Sam how do you already know what Max's insides look like???

"Even when he's not a collasal monster Max's food comas can last for weeks."

Ok we wake Max up with the coffee beans, right?

Yup!

The gi Max spore is so sad he doesn't get to come 😢

"But I'm a horrible monster!"

"I suppose Max's brain always looks like a living room?" "Well, Max is host to all kinds of weird parasites, and he likes to he a good host!" WHAT

No really, this brings up so many questions about lagomorphs. Are they some kind of Symbiote or something?

And a previous episode confirmed Max is amphibious

Max has tumors!!!

It shocked Sam!

"Eugh! Get away fake Max!" "Do you find my warmth... alarming, Sam?"

"What do nightmares taste like, anyway?" "Pepsi"

Max wants to be author 💗

He also writes fanfiction about Flint 🤣

I'd unironically read his books.

Tina Belcher voice: Friend fiction

Max has an experimental fusion jazz band???

"He just killed a great white shark--"

Max being completely unable to describe a woman is very gay of him. Good for him.

Max's brain teleported everyone to different parts of the body.

Found Sybil in the gym/legs

The brain is broadcasting Sam's thoughts???

Sam couldn't think of a joke for the medicine balls :(

"Wow Max is looking pretty buff. Would it be too weird if I asked him to turn around?"

Sam! Stop thinking bad things about Sybil's pregnancy she can hear you you putz!

She's upset with him now

"Can you believe this guy?" "I find the entire situation to be very contrived and misogynistic." Same spore Max, same.

Sam stop being so mean omg!

"I changed Sybil, I totally get the whole parenthood thing now." "Really now?" "Tax deductions."

In Max's inventory now

Y'know, I never really thought about it as a storage house

Hit The Road reference :3

Baby roach hatched in

"Pa..papa?" "Now I am little champion, now I am!"

Max has a Maximus shrine

Sam turned into a roomba!

Aw, he named it Sam Jr 🥺

We won Sybil back through his love of Sam Jr

Found the conjoined twins

Huh, Max lost as eye. Does that mean he has a glass one, or do lagomorphs have regenerative abilities?

Pfft we have to play twister to control his arma

The brain is messing with things again

Oh, we need a roach to operate the game because of radiation

Well, let's kidnap Sal

Oh, poor Girl Stinky. She's really going through it

Aw, Sal feels bad

Sal?

Honey, are alright?

He's dying???

He's not immune to irradiation!?

Oh no, he's gone

I'm so sad 😞

Gotta pick up Sam Jr. Before I control Max

They mad Max do a magical girl pose

Ugh the narrator is back

Wait, what?

He's Max's brain??? SUPEREGO???

WHAT

"I was always ignored" Yo if my super ego was as pretentious as you I 'd ignore it too 😤

He wants to kill himself and Max???

I know Max had a self loathing complex but holy shit

The super ego is perfectly fine with destroying half the east coast what a jerk

Just noticed Sam's tie is red. Had no idea about this while drawing PI!Sam lol

We have to help Max get his memories back to use the ASTRO projector

Skunkapes has three Sam clones imprisoned

Sam had canon ocd?

Gasp Gordon???

No, it's Sammun Mak

I love him, little child tyrant

Just make him a mobile brain in a jar and let Sam and Max adopt him

Why is Grandpa here?

He isn't talking like Stinky

Too polite

Sam sees it too

He's a space gorilla

They switched brains?

Found the cloning g chamber

Let's go to Momma's first

CONE OF SHAME CONE OF SHAME CONE OF SHAME

Superball is "wracked with guilt"

"Keep it together Superball. Sam will be able to save the day. He always does."

Ok, let's go to the cloning facility

I'm still thinking about poor Sal yo

FLIIIIIINT!

He's punching space apes!

Girl Stinky really playing up the evil Mistress role

The doggleganger has a bomb on him!!!

Wait so Girl really is a mermaid??? I thought that was just her aestetic

God I love Flint

Haha we tricked Skunkape with scooby doo villain tactics

Got the robot

Her water broke... and it was pennies

Max wants to save Sybil! 😭🥺💕

Super Ego is here

Oh now he wants to save Max

The only thing here are those records

Super Ego waved goodbye

Cthulu Max is cute when he cries

Wait What?

His head is on fire!

The maimtron hit him!

He waved goodbye... and teleported away.

He exploaded!!!!

He promised he'd take Sam with him and he didn't!!!!

AAAAAAH

I thought the dead Max thing was popular angst fanon fic thingy!

We're cloning Max?

It didn't work 😭😭😭😭😭

Superball ran off crying

Oh God the credits are just Sam walking sadly what the hell

He's not even stopping to fight any crime 😢

💔💔💔

God the way he's clinging to himself

What?

The elevator???

MAAAAX

he's back???

Past Max???

He blew his Sam up???

Wait hold on I'm glad they're together again but this doesn't fix anything

There's so much trauma from this season

All the horrible things that happened during 301-304 happened in like 3 days tops, then Sam had to deal with Max being a monster for a week before watching him die!

And the new (?) Max had BLOW HIS SAM UP!!!

And they left the franchise like that for a decade????

What the hell?

I want to be happy but this shit is going to consume my brain for the next week at least what the hell

Aaaaaaah!

Like maybe they really do just brush it off but it feels unlikely

I know Max has a connection with his other selves so it'll be easier for him to adjust but certainly Sam is going to notice the discrepancies since he doesn't get the same deal

Someone told me there were multiple endings hold on

Aw, they walked off into the sunrise together

But still

AAAAAAAAH

[monikea]

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy

[Disclaimer: this is not a review. I’m not a reviewer and have no idea how to write these; this is just a note to myself that I will be able to read when I’m 60 years old and which I share here, as paper might burn but the Internet never forgets :D]

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy, The Shed, NYC, 12-19 May 2019

New scene

Enter Ben Whishaw as Norma Jeane Baker

I’m not sure what to focus on here – the play or the fact that I FINALLY WENT TO NEW YORK. This past week was so full of, well, everything to me. I always dreamt of leaving Europe for a trip, but only recently managed to save money for that. I have been tremendously sad not to be able to see Ben in ‘The Crucible’, to the point that during the last show I sat on a beach in Spain and couldn’t focus on how lucky I was to be on a beach in Spain – all I wanted was to be in the Walter Kerr Theatre.

The funny thing is, if I were now to choose between ‘The Crucible’ (I saw a recording of it in NY Public Library last week) and NJBoT, I’d choose Norma Jeane without thinking twice. I saw this play 7 times in a row which, I think, speaks for itself.

In the end, I was so lucky as to go to NYC for 10 days with my Ben family, as I like to think of them, people who I know from Ben’s Facebook fan group. I will never take it for granted and it wouldn’t have been the same without them. To go to New York, for over a week, with my best friends, to see Ben Whishaw 7 times in a mind-blowing play – I still don’t know what I did to deserve it. I won’t name them here, as I’m not sure they wish to be mentioned, but one of them kindly offered to host some of us, and I was even more lucky to stay in a real Manhattan flat. In all fairness, this is what made the entire trip possible – or at least what made seeing Ben 7 times in a row from up close possible!

The pace was rather insane. Last time I slept so little was 10 years ago when I went on a summer camp to Portugal, where I was going to sleep at 6am and waking up at 8am to go to work. Just being in New York didn’t allow me to rest. Finally, after so many years of hoping, I was in the city of my dreams, a city where I could name all the buildings and streets without ever being there, just because everyone does know them right? After all, we are being bombarded with images of New York through different movies, series, songs, books. And this place actually does exist and is not just a Hollywood creation. We started every day bright and early (thanks to the time difference it felt like waking up at 12pm) and went off to see the city. Then, every night, we took subway 7 to Hudson Yards to go to The Shed. The only night we didn’t do it was Monday, when there were simply no performances – but trust me I’d have gone if they took place.

That’s enough about Fritz Lang and the city.

The first time we saw the play (12 May) I sat very far, I believe it was the 4th row from the back. Since I then saw it 6 more times, it wasn’t a massive loss, but overall I’d say two things: 1/this play had to be seen from close up, as the lightning was so dim, otherwise you wouldn’t see what happened on the stage and 2/ this play had to be seen multiple times. I truly believe seeing it just once wasn’t enough. It wasn’t like Shakespeare that everyone kind of knows and knows what to expect. I like to compare this play to Hamilton, which is my obsession number 2 (after Ben), where the text is so rich and full of references and innuendos, that it is actually best to come see the show already knowing the lyrics and backstory from listening to the soundtrack. Same happened here, the language or the text worked alongside the actors and I think if you just saw the play once, it wouldn’t make much sense and you’d miss a lot of its beauty. I was already familiar with the story of Marilyn before seeing it (although I did some extra research, read Euripides’ ‘Helen’ etc.), but I heard some people didn’t even know that Marilyn’s real name was Norma Jeane – good luck with that! Anyway, I digress. As we sat very far, I remember I had to lean forward and really strain my eyes to see what was happening. I could barely notice Ben painting his fingernails (it was more that I already heard he was doing it, which made me notice – otherwise it was too dark to see!) or couldn’t get the details of his lingerie or dance. The sound wasn’t bad, but I’d say in this play the visuals are equally important and I completely missed that part. So I spent the first performance pretty much hoping that the next one – where I was supposed to sit closer – would already come.

About 30 minutes after the show has finished, we spotted Ben coming down the escalator. We actually chose deliberately to go on that day (12 May) as that’s when we expected (and weren’t wrong 😉) that he’d win a BAFTA for his performance as Norman Scott (Norma, Norman… his best roles, trust me) in A Very English Scandal. He was alone and about to leave the theatre, but had a while for us – we congratulated him on the BAFTA, to which he just said ‘thank you’ (I’m quite sure he himself got to know about it only minutes beforehand) and then I talked to him about NJBoT, which was the first time that I managed to talk to him about the show at hand. All the previous times I met Ben, I was talking to him about his previous shows or just telling him general thanks. I don’t remember exactly what I said that Sunday, but it surprised me that I managed to say something about Norma. Most importantly, I asked if I can hug him and he just said ‘sure’ and my biggest dream came true and I hugged Ben for a while . He is the sweetest, kindest human being and has so much patience for his fans.

For the second performance, in the end with my friend we decided to exchange seats for even closer ones, as we didn’t want to go through the pain of seeing so little again. Oh Greek gods, what a difference did it make. I finally saw what was happening on stage! On Tuesday it still wasn’t the 1st or 2nd row, so couldn’t see Ben’s face very well, but oh my. I suppose here I will start my general thoughts about the play, irrespective of the day I saw it, as from Wednesday onwards I was sitting pretty much always in the 2nd or 1st row (just once – will get back to that). If I were to describe all remaining 6 performances in detail, this would become a book, not a Tumblr note and not sure anyone would even read it!

This play was everything my poor heart could hope for. Ben finally plays the main role (which is even more prominent since there are only 2 actors on the stage) and there is nothing to take your attention away from him. Renée only emphasizes his powerful presence on stage and in fact one of my impressions after seeing the play and having read it was that they both play the same person. After all, Norma says ‘I am my own chorus’ – and Renée was her chorus. Reflecting her/his thoughts (I will continue using the pronoun ‘his’ as in the text the character is designated as Norma Jeane, but on stage I think Ben played a male playwright, who only gradually becomes Norma), never negating anything, but giving him new ideas, as if they were formed in his brain and took a tangible form as Renée. I think there can be many interpretations here, but I particularly like this one, also because in the text of the play only one character is mentioned – Norma Jeane. Renée’s character isn’t mentioned anywhere in the text and was obviously added just to make it more stage friendly. It was really hard for me to take my eyes away from Ben throughout the play, but when I finally managed to do it, it was amazing to see how they exchanged looks and this interplay of emotions was what made it even more amazing.

The play tells a story of a playwright who creates a replica of Marilyn Monroe out of himself – both visually and mentally. He is mourning her and hires a scribe to write down his stream of consciousness about Norma Jeane. He gradually drops his own male clothes to put on the entire Marilyn attire, which is a beautiful… replica of what was worn back in the 50s (the longline peach corselette and matching panty girdle – not for the faint hearted!) together with Marilyn’s white fluffy mule heels, later on changed to her Seven Year Itch strappy sandals and the iconic white dress (there is an additional layer of white underwear that Ben puts on the girdle); ultimately he wears also the platinum white Marilyn wig. On the mental side, he gradually descends into the depths of Hades and ultimately kills himself, like Marilyn did. In the meantime, he plays ukulele (just like Marilyn), has numerous mental breakdowns, perfectly imitates her delicate dreamy voice (and that of Truman Capote), mocks Arthur Miller’s dimpled white buttocks and dances the entire sequence from ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’ (see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOkv4jV1-Bo) – more about that dance later on. One remark here – this play spoke so much to me because since I remember I always took style inspiration from my favourite bands and later on actors – even now I proudly wear my black Kanken, inspired by Ben. So yes, I completely understand Ben’s character here. He also adds the breasts, hips and bum padding underneath his lingerie (and moves like a ballerina) and here I must brag, but a kind message to all people who LAUGHED mockingly at it – please go back to primary school and… just stay there. There are two actors, who, in case you don’t realise are real people and laughing off at what they do onstage is just horrible. In case you laughed out of embarrassment, fine, I get that not everyone has to be comfortable with Ben Whishaw applying fake butt under his undies, but for god’s sake, please express it differently than by laughing and commenting. Or laugh internally. Or I don’t know. Good lord. And no, that wasn’t a moment which was supposed to make you laugh, like for example Ben imitating Capote’s voice.

There is this beautiful moment, about 30 mins after the show begins when Ben plays the ukulele and sings ‘I am that Persephone, Who played with her darlings in Sicily, Against a background of social security. Oh what a glorious time we had. Or had we not? They said it was sad. I was born good, grown bad.And isn’t that how it always starts, this myth that ends with the girl ‘grown bad’?, and Renée continues: ‘She’s in a meadow gathering flowers twirling her own small sunny hours’. (I might be a barbarian, but I truly don’t understand people who were like – wow, he dared sing on the same stage as Renée Fleming! – I am a newborn Renée Fleming fan, but come on people. He’s Ben Goddamn Whishaw :D). Suddenly the mood changes dramatically, when everything becomes dark and Ben says in a sinister voice ‘When up rides a man on black horses. Up rides a man in a black hat. Up rides a man with a black letter to deliver’… I don’t know how he does it but in this moment I see Hades in a black robe (yet Ben is still in his peach corset) who came to do something unforgivable. The entire story changes then, when Renée exclaims ‘rape’. ‘Rape is the story of Helen, Persephone, Norma Jeane, Troy’ they continue. Renée then sings ‘War is the context and God is a boy. Oh my darlings, they tell you you’re born with a precious pearl. Truth is, it’s a disaster to be a girl. Up came the black horses and the dark King. And the harsh sunshine was as if it had never been. In the halls of Hades they said I was queen’. That’s what they always say, isn’t it?

She sings it again just at the end of the play when Ben’s Norma Jeane dies and at that point I wasn’t crying, I was ejecting bodily fluids. Apologies to those sitting around me.

Back to Ben’s dance. This play is full of what in Polish I’d call ‘smaczki’ – little flavours that make this play the most tasty dish ever served. Ben’s voice changes, whenever he imitates someone; Renée’s gorgeous singing; the music which was composed uniquely of Renée’s mixed voice; the funny moments, which can so suddenly and unexpectedly turn into the most frightening scene, when in the middle of mocking Arthur of New York and Sparta, a phone rings and everyone is terrified. There’s an enormous amount of language play (language is a third actor on the stage, with gorgeous explanations of the etymology of Greek words – in fact, Ben has an English-Greek dictionary on the desk), there’s Ben playing ukulele and singing, there’s putting on makeup, there’s changing clothes, there’s shouting and throwing things around and then there’s the dance.

My god what Ben can do. WHAT THIS MAN CAN DO. He is so ethereal, lithe, yet with well-toned muscles and he suddenly starts to give this beautiful coy dance, where throughout he hides his face in charming embarrassment and smiles sweetly to Renée. This is one of the moments when I am almost angry that I have to translate my soul, as it would be so much easier to find perfect words for this in Polish, but at least my head is full of them. Writing about this dance (or this play) is anyway as futile as dancing about architecture. Ben looks perfect then, he is just perfection personified. With his little smile, his peach corselette (some other note here on Tumblr said that ‘Ben Whishaw should just exist in this corset’ and yes, he should), his bottle green male pants and the fluffy heels (the connection of the female corselette and the male suit pants is just… send firemen). On top of that, Renée sings like an angel and my brain is so overstimulated from listening to all those language games and being in New York to actually experience it that… (where are the firemen?!)…

But the thing is – and that’s why this play is so amazing – that when you actually find the superhuman power in yourself not to focus on Ben’s dance only, but to also listen to the song they play to it, your brain suddenly registers that something doesn’t fully stick – the music is super cheerful (note: it is not the same music as the one in Marilyn’s video from ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’) – it’s a typical 50s song with blurred voices, but the text is rather morose and it goes like ‘Dirt is matter out of place, matter out of place. A poached egg on your plate at breakfast is not dirt. The poached egg on page 202 of the Greek lexicon in the library of the British Museum is dirt. Dirt is something that has crossed a boundary it ought not to have crossed. Dirt confuses categories and mixes up form’ (I researched a bit and there’s an entire book on this topic, ‘Purity and Danger’ by Mary Douglas, where the main point being analysed is that what is regarded as dirt in a given spot is any matter out of place. What was considered clean in Sparta, wasn’t clean in Troy and vice versa. That’s the gist. Anne Carson I love you.)

Noone cries like Ben Whishaw. It really hurts all parts of my body to watch this. And it is so beautiful to watch Renée being concerned about him and the state he found himself in. One of the most beautiful scenes in the play is when Ben sits down at his desk and Renée very delicately takes his head in her hand and applies the fake eyelashes to his eyes, singing in a way that makes my heart break. There is so much love in this scene and acceptance and will of help and saying: I’m here for you and I will go with you on this journey.

And then suddenly you see he starts to take the pills and swallowing them with the fake theatre champagne and that’s when I start ejecting bodily fluids again. Renée comes back with her ‘Up came the black horses and the dark King. And the harsh sunshine was as if it had never been. In the halls of Hades they said I was queen’.

I suppose this text I wrote now will never be finished as memories and new realisations will keep on coming back to me and that’s where the beauty of this play lies – it’s an endless fishing ground for references and innuendos, interpretations and new things to be understood. But, enough for now.

I talked to Ben 3 more times after the play, on 14, 17 and 19 May. I now barely remember what I said precisely, but on Tuesday I told him how utterly enchanted I am by this play and that it talks about so many important things to me and doesn’t seem strange at all. Sunday was mad, as one can expect after the end of a run, with a long queue of fans (I gave Ben bright red roses, thanked him for the umpteenth time and complimented his new shirt, which he bought on Friday – don’t ask how I know it, I’m just a very careful observer LOL. He is my style guru, so I had to haha). With my friend we even managed to chat to the CEO of The Shed, Alex Poots, who was so amazed that we saw Norma Jeane 7 times, that he took out his iPhone and asked us to record a video where we recommend the show (bit late for that on the last night, but he can rest assured that I will be back!).

But Friday was just something else. Perhaps it was the power of red wine or the fact that Ben was going home alone and not with Mark or friends, but we approached him together with quite a few other fans and I swear to god, we had the funniest ever chat with him. To put it briefly, Ben was surrounded by around 10-15 fans and chatting to us in a very lovely, cheeky way (I love his sense of humour. I love everything about him, but that night it was just too much). Like imagine it. Someone asked him ‘Ben, what is the perfume that you wear?’ and he goes ‘Oh, it’s this, wait, I’ll show you’ and he took the perfume out of his tote bag and demonstrated it to everyone, gaining a round of ‘Awwwwwwww’. I still can’t believe it happened haha. One of my friends asked if he saw and liked Bjork and they chatted a bit about it and then Ben asked us if we did see her too, to which I replied ‘no, because we saw ANOTHER SHOW’. I could see that he was thinking and then suddenly it clicked, but I guess by that time he was perfectly aware that some of us saw it 7 times haha. He also told us ‘Don’t sit again in the first row, I can see you all’ (that’s what I meant when I said I will get back to the issue of sitting in the 1st row :D). Sweet lord. Best week of my life.

Exeunt omnes singing.

[stalwartsandall]

Spuffy Fic Recs

Am in a streamline-y, KonMari mood, so I decided to pull all my fic recs together into one post. So, forty Spuffy fics that spark joy...

Short(er) Fics

Not My Boyfriend by allmadinhere - Gorgeous, compact nugget of a story concept that ticks along with the perfect blend of tension and humour.

Closer by TheHouseKeeper - Poetic, awkward and beautiful post-NFA reunion story. It's Spuffy all growed up.

The Sharing Game by stuffandnonsense - Our post-series heroes teeter on the precipice between friends and lovers. My favourite kind of fic: rafts of wonderful dialogue with deep, insightful dives into character and relationship history.

Spike's Demon vs. Pants by ChryshCn - A delicious confection of a story - funny, sweet and smutty. Utterly edible. Also, if there exists a more perfect Spuffy fic title, I haven't heard it.

Something New by joycometh - Spike has a post Something Blue ponder. And an erection. A poke at Spike's season four psyche with clever turns of phrase, evocative description and lovely character insight.

Still Point by kalima - My favourite take on the Chosen fade to black scene. Pithy, pointed and properly good.

Ketchup Blood by kalima - Reiterating my point above re the proper goodness of kalima's writing. Divine post-coital chat set in season six. At Denny's.

Encapsulated by BillieLiar - Decidedly yummy take on the forced-to-share-a-hotel-room trope.

Daybreak by Sigyn - Gorgeous bit of writing. Intimate and specific and leaves one wanting to hug Spike until his bones creak.

Awake by betty crachit - Glaringly fab take on Spike (equal parts stoic, stumbling and smarty-pants in the face of adversity) with reams of crunchy, clever language. That the story also has a rock solid plot and a dollop of gorgeous smut is just plain showing off in my opinion.

New Year by Sigyn - A tender little season seven moment that digs into the nuances of Spike's soul. Plus there's cribbage.

Phone Call by anaross - Heart-smoosher of a oneshot that speaks to my nagging suspicion that Buffy would not ever really let herself love Spike.

The Day the World Turning Day-Glo by stuffandnonsense - Spike’s ex-girlfriends have a chat. It’s exactly and entirely as wonderful as it sounds.

6am by acekoomboom - Buffy mourns Spike. Unflinching and punch packing.

In Such a Night by Dactylgirl - Exquisite, aching, body-cinching UST.

Comfort & Joy by Dactylgirl - Yet more exquisite UST (plus bonus lovely Giles and charming Scoobies).

Mr Talky Mouth by kalima - Luscious, lascivious, languid, lubricious—just all the L words really—little oneshot.

Cold by Sigyn - The filthiest, grittiest, prettiest language in Spuffidom.

Gunning for Buffy by the_moonmoth - Season five bite-y perfection.

Black Hole Confessions by OffYourBird - For anyone who watches the morning after scene in Wrecked and habitually hears the mental 'Good God, The Writers Arsed Up The Destroyed House Metaphor' klaxon... this story is the perfect fix-it. Metaphor (and character) done right.

Left for Yesterday by the_moonmoth - This WIP is just a wee, chapter-long nugget of setup but the_moonmoth is so flinging-flanging good that I don't begin to care. Her writing, dialogue and character-work are all shot through with charm, wit and warmth. Oh, and she swears thoroughly, properly and creatively.

You Came Back by FlightsofFancy - This story is just a lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely (repeat ad nauseam) continuation of the Hell's Bells scene. It perfectly captures and builds on the soft (green) glow of the pair in the moment.

Reciprocal by the_moonmoth - Divine smut and such deft timeline-manipulation that builds and maintains tension with fierce precision.

Long(er) Fics

Uncontrollable by sweetprincipale - Spike replaces Riley in the spiritually-compelled-to-boink-room during Where the Wild Things Are. Fuck or Die trope to the nth-iest of delicious nth degrees.

Indigo Overture by Rikki-oko - Beautifully paced and punchy romance with skilfully crafted characters. AH enemies to lovers trope done so, so right!

The Ewer of Enheduanna by the_moonmoth - Entirely different story, but I can echo my praise for Reciprocal - divine smut and such deft timeline-manipulation that builds and maintains tension with fierce precision. Also, it's just sodding wonderful.

Rules of The Road by Gort - Roadtrip-y, slow burn-y, build-of-affection-and-trust WIP. A story that takes the end of season five in a different direction but still feels wholly true to character.

College is Awesome by dampersandspoons - This AH story captures perfectly the clumsy, all-consuming teen desire for sex, connection and acceptance. It's also one of the funniest fics I've ever read. It's also loveable-sexy-nerd-William fic. It's also a rare example of a story in which the male romantic lead is cautious, clever and kind rather than masterful, all knowing and presuming. And, also, the smut is wonderful.

In For a Penny by bewildered and the_moonmoth - Spike time travels back to season four and good lordy does that make me happy. A WIP with lashings of snarky Giles and fabulously put-upon Spike.

Monsters by betty cratchit - A perfect UST-laden season four caper by an author with the most melodious and charming writer's voice ever in ever.  Perma WIP.

Beyond the Pale by FlightsofFancy - The most intriguing Initiative plot I've ever read. Conflict aplenty and top shelf character voices. The fab action sequences are just the icing on this WIP cake.

Books and Their Covers by JustTiff - A delectable AH take on Spike in a story with a beautifully calibrated slow, cinching, flirty build-up.

Ex Magic by bookishy - Deft writing, rock solid character voices, and a season seven plot that just bellows with interesting/clever/smutty potential. It’s the WIP I’m most excited to see continued.

In Heat by Nautibitz - This fic was my intro to both fanfic and smut. Even if it were shite, I'd still be sentimentally attached and rec the stuffing out of it. But it's not shite, not even close; it is, in fact, sublime.

Thursday's Child by Zabjade - Trauma and ensemble-y interaction and gender dynamics and gentle domesticity and high drama and moral complexity and slow build affection. Read it! Read it, I say!

Care by Sigyn - Good god this is a good premise: the Something Blue spell doesn't break and Buffy & Spike marry. What this is not is a breezy story making use of Spuffy's convenient canon engagement to make 'em bone ad infinitum. (Not that there's anything wrong with those stories; I personal eat those stories up with a spoon). But what Sigyn creates here is something more complex, clever and considered. She ducks none of the couple's flaws/impediments/limitations and ultimately she earns the bejesus outta the couple's happy ending.

Ever Sun, Ever Moon by St Ephiny - This WIP is absolutely laced was fraught, palpable tension and it's just heart-thumpingly good. St Ephiny is such a fabulous storyteller—handling character, timelines, dialogue and action with such aplomb—that she's able to push the characters to emotional extremes and still have them feel entirely grounded, believable and true.

My Life Closed Twice by anaross - The most delicious, articulate, nuanced, moral, tough, bitchy, swoon-inducing iteration of Spike in fanfic.

Ketchup and the Crocodile by yellowb - Post resurrection, Buffy runs away to New York. A beautiful, subtle and deliciously genuine story.

Crash and Burn by Nautibitz – AH. Brat meets brat. Fun and funny and fucking hot.

[comicteaparty]

July 8th-July 14th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from July 8th, 2019 to July 14th, 2019.  The chat focused on Court of Roses by Kelsey Peterson.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Court of Roses by Kelsey Peterson~! (http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until July 14th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What do you think is the story behind Merlow’s bad dreams? What demons is Merlow fighting exactly, and why do some of those “demons” want him to hurt others? What does it have to do with Merlow being triggered by Nocturne?

khkddn

1) hmm visually speaking I think my fave scene is when Diana shoots all those arrows http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/117/ it just looks so cool

But I also liked when merlow bonded with the kiddos who were curious about his bagpipes, that was a cute moment

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. What do you think is the cause of Nocturne’s unfortunate circumstances that he mentions having to make due with? What might this have to do with his poor amount of stamina or immense magical gifts?

RebelVampire

1) Probably the scene where Nocturne and Merlow sleep in an alley under the rain. I am a sucker for rain, and I liked seeing Merlow's acknowledgement that he was kind of a dick but that Nocturne was still able to forgive him. Plus, the atmosphere the rain added was too perfect. Somehow a spot of warmth among the cold and bleak. 2) I see this going in one of two ways in terms of my current theories. Way 1 is that Merlow's dad wasn't just an elf, but like, ultra evil wizard elf. And his dad is trying to control Merlow and use him as a beautiful and dangerous pawn. Way 2 is that Merlow got possessed by a literal demon and that fighting the demon from taking control is a daily battle. I think in regards to hurting others, asides it just being that's what evil things do, having Merlow hurt others is a pretty quick way to break his spirit and just have him cave to the dark side. Nocturne kind of looks demon-y so there could be that connection. Or maybe whatever Merlow has within him just hates Nocturne's species since that seems to be a common theme in the world.

3) Nocturne. Nocturne is classy, powerful, but has that cute smidgen of vulnerability that makes him endearing. Also very classy, and how can you not like classy people? 4) Nocturne maybe had a fight that did not end well due to overconfidence maybe. And this left him permanently weakened with poor stamina. I also get the sense that there is some deeper emotional trauma hidden in this. Like the person that caused his weak stamina was someone super close who probably betrayed him. Cause every story needs a good betrayal? XD Alternatively, maybe he just had a poor dice roll to begin with for the game.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

Those theories with Merlow and Nocturne are really cool, Rebel! aaaaa it's so neat to see people speculating this stuff.

That alley scene came out so nice too, I was happy with it. My own favorite scene so far... it's hard to pick, but I think it was the whole sequence of the main bards fighting the bandits that stormed the festival. Getting to let everyone show off, from Sven's muscle, to Feliks' conjuring madness, to Diana's enchanted tidinit, to Nocturne's mysterious power saving Merlow.(edited)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What do you think the background stories are for Feliks and Sven? How might Merlow’s pre-established friendship with Feliks affect his interactions with the rest of the bards given they have more history?

Attila Polyák

I like had no time the entire week and could only read till the page where we see Sung from a distance. I didn't want to comment before I catch up, but now that I found a bit of time I get a server not found error. My luck is horrible. :( That said I do feel like my favourite scene will be the bit where Merlow performed and the cats came to listen. That was soo hear warming, but I'd like to read the rest before saying anything.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

Ugh, sorry, comicfury just, goes down sonetimes...

khkddn

3) merlow is my favorite character, he just seems so nice and sunshine-y! Diana is also cool too though, and I also like Feliks... decisions is Hard

ErinPtah (Leif & Thorn | BICP)

I don't feel like I know any of the characters well enough to have a favorite yet! I know how they act on the surface -- so far Merlow is the most entertaining and Nocturne is the most aww-inducing -- but we haven't gotten into the depths yet. Anyone could become my official favorite with the right reveal.

Was Merlow actually "triggered" by Nocturne, or just upset? Important difference there! I took it as the standard fantasy trope of "these two species have a history of antagonism, but after fighting on the same side for a while they'll develop an Unlikely Bond, and discover that they are Not So Different After All."

Favorite scene so far, hands-down, this page. Perfect cinematic smash-cut, makes me laugh every time. http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/22

...no elaborate backstory theories from me, pretty sure Guilded Age permanently ruined me for theorizing about fantasy comics. Just looking forward to seeing where things go.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

That's a really popular page lol!!!

keii4ii

I have yet to catch up with the archive, but omg that is an awesome-tastic page (and now I wish Discord had a horrible bleeding music note emote to go with this)

snuffysam

real talk? my favorite scene in the comic was this: http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/ not even technically a scene, but the two panels side by side of merlow drinking alone, followed by merlow having a good time with all his friends, just got me right there in the feelings instantly. and the way the panels link to the first and latest page respectively is a stroke of genius. instant hook.

besides that, my favorite scene is the one of diana, sven, and feliks banding together to stop the bandits. these three were at each others' throats a second ago, but having to fight off those attackers brought them closer together. and we got to see them performing as a band while doing it. really makes me look forward to more things to come with the protagonist quintet working together.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

That makes me so, so happy, Sam, I was really excited to make those and code them properly, and I'm happy they have such an impact. :3

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Do you think Merlow will ever meet his father or open up regarding the subject? What about Diana and her mother? Will something regarding Diana’s enchanted instrument and the history behind it come to play in the story?

RebelVampire

5) Favorite illustration is definitely this place. http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/135/ I adore the particle effects, the change in colors and tone, and everything just works really well together. It's super awe inspiring to see Nocturne get a moment of badassery. <3 6) Feliks probably got banished for too many shenanigans. Since I'm pretty sure Feliks is a bit too comfy with spending nights in jail. As for Sven, I don't know. Maybe he's the one without some sort of tragic back story. Or maybe Sven has a tragic backstory but the tragedy of it all just flew over his head and he didn't notice. I do think there's gotta be at least something bad that drove his desire for justice. Like maybe he had a hero who died tragically or something. I don't know. But I do think Merlow and Feliks' past relationship is gonna drive some wedges. Cause Feliks seems like the type to go "well I've known Merlow longer than all you have" so ya know, everyone will be mad cause it can mean nothing while also being still true and itll just make everything awkward. And Merlow will make adorable faces and try to peace keep.

7) Merlow and Nocturne. They're both really different in terms of their relationship with being bards (or w/e Nocturne wants to call himself). And I think that their different viewpoints really bring out different sides to them that we wouldnt normally get to see. And theres no like bitter conflict either. Just two ppl filled with warm fuzzies trying to get to know each other and navigate the world. 8) Yes to both. The latter because I think he'll have to explain his past more in detail at some point, and that probably means telling everyone the circumstances of his birth. The former because wishful thinking cause there's nothing like meeting your long lost dad who went to get some milk and never came back. Diana too, of course, will probably have to talk about her mother who probably died tragically or, at the very least, when Diana was least prepared for it. I do think Diana's instrument will create conflict. In that someone will go, "Let's steal that enchanted weapon." And then it gets stolen and Diana freaks and everyone does bard battles to get it back for her.

Copper Mouflon

Been reading the comic and so far I'm really enjoying it! Didn't expect to as it's not what I usually read, but hey you kept me hooked and going for the next page! Absolutely loved http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/118/ made me laugh out lout. There's obviously a lot of backstory in these characters and I'm curious to see where this will go!

Copper Mouflon

NNNooooo! I reached the end! Job well done! It only gets better as the story goes along, by the way, Nocturne is BAD ASS, but most of all I love who they all seem rather normal (in the context of the story) yet they all turn out to ... well be so awesome.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

:D!!!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Besides getting hired for a murder investigation, what other consequences do you foresee for the group in regards to what happened at Saung? Will it gain them notoriety, or will it be swept under the rug?

RebelVampire

9) Honestly the detail I'm addicted to is Merlow's hair. Like I like the thought that goes into that colored bit of it, cause that seems like it'd be annoying to remember to include all the time. But more than that, I like seeing the fact that Merlow will actually undo the braid http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/70/ . Like there's several scenes like this where theres recognition that hair isn't plastic and displaces and people don't wear their more elaborate styles to bed usually. It's a nice realistic depiction of how hair works in everyday life. 10) I 100% think they're gonna have some notoriety from it. Cause what makes a better story than some bards who beat up bad guys at a festival. Plus, I'm sure other important people will sing their praises as well. Of course, this notoriety doesn't always mean good. Like sure maybe the king's 2nd cousin's butler will hire them for a job, but now bandit dude's secret twin brother can come and exact revenge on them. It's gonna be a dual edged sword where benefit and trouble will both come looking for them all.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Who do you think murdered the count and for what reason? Was there any specific reason the murder took place during the festival? Do you ultimately feel Merlow and company will be able to help?

Attila Polyák

Okay, so questions, yummy! 1, Definitely playing for the cats in the alley, buut the beginning of the bard festival was pretty cool as well. That said, I just feel like that scene grabs the essence of performance so well. I really liked it. 2, I feel like his demons are literal demons and they cause his nightmare, tho I have no idea how he met/got posessed by them. Connection to Nocturne? Probably looks, he is an infernal after all. 3, Torn between Merlow and Nocturne. Merlow is just an ultimate positive dude even tho his demons seem to be rather messed up and Nocturne. Well... He's just plain awesome. 4, I think Nocturne is in this state mostly because of his own decisions. While we do not know much about him, we do know that he is: Not a bard, Someone used to having money around but not in any fear of not being able to use it, Fond of music, Is, magically speaking, rather powerful, In general a sophisticated person, In possession of some rather unusual items. While these circumstances could mean a lot of things, my guess is that he's kindof an alchemist and he somehow traded his stamina for magical capabilities in pursue of another, probably greater, goal. 5, I think my favorite illustration is the middle panel on http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/comics/134/ but really anything on this and the next to pages are. Just. Pure. Awesome. 6, I don't think Merlow's earlier friendship will influence the rest of his relationships as he seems to be generally friendly with almost literally everyone. 7, Merlow and Nocturne. I just find it to be a cool friendship, even though there are quite a few hints that there should be some friction between them for very real and serious reasons. Also Merlow "fanboying" about cool music is just adorable to see. 8, For Merlow... Yes, and I wouldn't be surprised if the topic was very eeply connected to his demons. Diana and her mother... I donno, maybe, but I'm more leaning towards no right now, but it could still happen.

10, I think that being part of the murder investigation will literally mean that they will be doing less bard stuff, which is obvious, but considering that they specifically came to town for the bard contest, it's still a shame. Now... beating the bandits already started them on an inevitable ride to notority, and being involved in the investigaton of such an inportant murder case. That will also boost them on their personal hype trains'. 11, Imo the greatest strength of the comic is the simple fact that even though a lot of not so great things happen to the characters (being thrown out to the streets for night, a murder case, bandit raid, inner demons, etc...) both the characters and the general tone of the story manages to be very positive. That's kinda odd, because this should be like... a bit of a dissonance. But the positive tone is just, simply there. I'd attribute that mostly to how Merlow reacts to everyone around him, but still since we see the story mostly from his perspective it just shines through a lot. Even when he is in pain, literally at times, he just somehow manages to feel positive. 12, I'm really unsure about the murderer, but I kinda feel like it's somehow directly connected to Merlow. Thus I ultimately think that the party will be able to help, one way or another, but the entire situation still feels a bit hazy.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Overall, do you think the new troupe of bards will be able to get along? What obstacles do you think there will be in them learning to cooperate with one another?

RebelVampire

11) While there are a lot of strengths, the one that stood out to me the most was the character designs. They're all so individualistic, yet each one is very specifically tailored to the character's personality. Like the minute I saw Merlow I was like "this is just a nice dude who maybe is a bit sensitive." and thats exactly what i feel like i got. and i always appreciate when the writing and visual design go hand in hand. 12) I think the count was murdered because nice counts disrupt the order of corruption and makes all the other nobles look back. As for the festival, yes. I actually think someone is trying to pin it on a bard. Especially if that bard's name is Merlow cause Merlow seems to have shitty luck. As for helping, I mean, I'm sure Merlow and company can find something. Although I personally feel like investigative wise Feliks and Nocturne are probably the best suited for the task. But hey the others can provide moral support?

13) I'm looking forward to just finding more out about Nocturne and why people seem to hate Nocturne's species. But just more Nocturne being fancy and classy is fine too. 14) I think the group will get along, but I think some relationships will fair better than others. Like I don't think Feliks and Sven are gonna become best pals anytime soon. And I kind of feel like Sven is gonna struggle fitting in cause he seems a lot more high energy than a lot of them can handle. Outside of that obstacle, I do also think that the biggest obstacle for them will be secrets. Cause they all seem to have something they want to hide, and hiding things from people who are supposed to be your allies can lead to bitter feelings. as everyone wonders why they arent trustworthy etc. etc. so i guess a better way to put it is trust will be their biggest obstacle, and that theyll have to accept a certain level of vulnerability.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Court of Roses this week! Please also give a special thank you to Kelsey Peterson for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Court of Roses, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/

Kelsey’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kelseynuttyp

Kelsey’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/kelseynutty

Kelsey’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/CourtofRosesCmc

[peachybeancinema]

Pre-Production

After our last pitch to the panel for the last trimester, we had that time and the quick break before a new trimester to collect props, ensure we had the air bnb and try to find a new production designer. I had originally wanted colourful paediatric scrubs made by a designer friend but that fell through at the last minute, but the saving grace was the new production designer.

While the editor asked me for some more inspiration, he also had to figure out what computer/system he would bring to set for data wrangling on the shoot. Meanwhile the assistant editor was pretty excited for some colour grading ideas- as that was the original plan for colour grading- this job was later handed to our DOP.

Our first production designer very much fell through- with only a small handful of props to dress the ENTIRE set- but also came into contact with positive covid cases and quarantined. The role ended up falling onto Darryl and myself- Darryl got our scrubs sorted and took custody of the old set dressing, while I planned to take down half of my own home decorations for the set.

We ran a few makeup and camera tests which obviously helped the makeup artist understand what I was looking for and got to explain that the makeup should be done in layers to show time passing, while our DOP and camera assistant got to work on using the dolly and trialled green screen and special effects to wrinkle out any kinks that could’ve come with the time sped up sequence- this camera/editing practice also meant that when on the actual set without a green screen, a solution was found instantly.

Reflecting back, some things I would like to have done differently (whether stunted by covid OR human error) would have been more one on one sessions with the actors throughout the weeks. In past films I have met up multiple times and got to know them, how they work, they hear my vision or we develop a vision together for scenes, but that unfortunately did not take place and I feel like for time reasons on the shoot days, we suffered for that. I would have also liked to have been able to give Alexis’ character that bit more personality and colour by having her scrubs handmade like originally planned, however as the friend who also had other commissions and a breakup afoot, we missed that opportunity but I would have really liked to see how that changed the overall tone.

Production

The shoot went over two days, an entire day left to pack up and put the house back to how we found it. The first day after setting up felt it ran a little rough as we all tried to fall into our roles, environment and establish our safety rules, and I felt like my anxiety and self doubt was betraying me those first hours. We had to set up fairy lights, had an Arsenal or blankets going, a smoke machine to set up and glass bottles laying all over the table. Darryl was incredible with setting up fast and listening to where I wanted props and decorations, which was a relief after the failed production designer.

Eventually a rhythm was found and things began to run a lot smoother, the first AD would tell us there was plenty of time but I know myself and my producer didn’t want to get too comfortable with the ‘plenty of time’.

I felt like despite not getting nearly any time to get to know my actors before the shoot, I managed to build a comfortable setting to where we could all laugh and joke, and I had repeated check in conversations with our actress about her comfortability in scenes where our actor would make contact with her. We breaked for food (made and brought in by our wonderful producer’s even more lovely mother), found out the air bnb had birdseed for the fancy birds begging on the porch during our takes, resumed and wrapped for the day.

Here comes the regrets… staying up watching Final Destination and Bo Burnham’s new special as a crew, and allowing me to dance around a crowded floor at night. I ended up falling backwards and spraining my wrist in the process- a little fall that landed me in the ER nearby set at 6am- BUT that did not stop me, and the show went on. No sleep that whole night after the first day of shooting was torture, and the pain was the only thing keeping my eyes wide open. I was back to set before most were even awake and then we continued.

The second day had more hiccups than the first, and there was vital information about a scene that was missing a vital piece of equipment, and wasn’t told until right before the take. It threw me off, I felt undermined and stupid because without that information I couldn’t tell my actors what was happening for the scene, so it ended with a slightly warm conversation outside among the head of departments. It was sorted, the first AD directed one scene as I collected my pathetic self together and then the rest of the shoot went ahead.

While the makeup artist did take longer than she and we had anticipated for every makeup touch up, I was ultimately so chuffed with how the makeup appeared on screen.

Post-Production

The post production for this film has been the most challenging and irritable I have ever experienced- from covid restrictions stopping director/editor sessions, to the mental health issues nearly everyone on the crew suffered from at one point or another. I feel like the film's final result could have been far sleeker and chilling had our time been used in the ways we wanted to. However, despite the challenges and all the ‘boo-hoo regrets’, I’m incredibly proud of my crew and the result regardless. I think it’s impossible for me to not be cruel about my own film that I wrote and directed, but it is definitely not a reflection on how my team worked or what they produced- only on my own inward cruelty.

I am mainly dissatisfied with the lack of that cgi fly that I kept in the script till the end. I wish covid and travelling hadn’t stopped editing suit sessions, and while I appreciate every pixelated and muffled zoom session to get those edits done, they lacked what we really needed. Considering covid will probably be around for a very very long time to come, learning how to communicate articulately and concisely in online edits would be a great value to me.

I felt like communication with the sound department was really great and fluid at the start and in production, but towards the end of our post-production communication really started to slide. I had been dealing with a hard family issue and know that I lost communication from peers, teachers and friends for just over a week, and when I returned I found my messages going unread by the head of my sound department. These times have been really dark and debilitating for so many, and I find with this trimester and the last, it’s nearly impossible to hold people to blame for a falter in a task.

This film was my baby- my last hoorah from uni, and I do really love it, but I think had the sun been shining on the world a little kinder of late, then maybe it could have been- or will be- the film I’ve dreamed.

Reflecting back as well, I wish that I had reached out more to those crew members suffering from mental health issues to help redistribute some of the work way earlier on, rather than having faith that it was getting done but they just couldn’t summon messaging back to update.

In the near future, I’d like to see this in festivals- or even just have a festival plan, which means I would like to work on it further in the future. I think more cgi and colour grading is needed- a new title screen and intro credits, a darker tone to the overall sound- VIDEO GAMES HAVE MUSIC- it’s essentially his perspective as soon as she walks down the stairs, there would be a low deep rumble from menu and background music while in player, and I know I had said that before- referencing Ari Asters work with sound. This film feels like it’s on the brink of being what I dreamed it- it just needed more time and a stronger hand. I plan on taking a break before commencing my last elective for uni, and I am hoping that while I take this time to focus on myself, I can finally be calm and with no time restraints to make a plan for all the tiny pieces to add to this film before reaching out to old classmates, new friends, etc.

[konicichan-blog]

5am thoughts: theory: Story Of Light

is it called the Story of Light because its Shinee telling us and the whole entire world that they will no longer grief in sadness and that they've moved on and accepted what has happened? I'm sure we all know Shinee may still be sad (and maybe more than that) but what if this whole album is telling us that shinee, that all the members, Minho, Onew, Key, and Taemin are ready to have a new beginning? Like, they're ready to let all the sadness go and accept what has happened and that they will continue to work and grow.

What if You&I was about them talking about Jonghyun? Like, what if this song is about them trying to talk to Jonghyun? And theyre all trying to tell him that its hard when he's gone like they dont know what to do. "I’m the only one hurting, I may look fine I’m not easy, my feelings aren’t for decoration" And like they're all reminiscing their memories with him. All those good times that they're not ready to let go of. "A handful of memories, I laugh and remember every day" (okay the lyrics arent in order but JJJJust lemme finish and fyi, its gonna be a lOoong one). "There are countless stars in my heart, there’s one star that shines painfully I don’t want to grab it but I don’t want it to go out" okay in this part i think they maybe talking about Jonghyun. Maybe the stars represent people and "theres one star that shines painfully" might be Jonghyun. A star... someone really special to them... is hurting deep inside. Maybe Shinee is trying to tell us that although a celebrity or ANY person in general who may seem happy in front of the cameras or may seem happy in the outside in general is actually in deep pain inside. Dealing with self doubt, depression and all that and we just dont know :( "The things I can’t throw away make me smile" this is kinda self explanatory. Jonghyun, someone they love, someone they deeply cherish, someone they can't simply just let go of, someone who can always make them smile. You know? "I know that you’re being honest when you wish me well I’ll let you go easy, don’t think that you’re stepping on me" this is kinda hard to explain haha ahm.. maybe as time passes by, Jonghyun's absence is telling them to let go and move on and maybe they're mad with what he did? I DONT KNOW I DONT MEAN IT LIKE THAT! like mad, like?? how do i explain?? like maybe frustrated?? thats the best word i can think of right now riwjkrs they're frustrated but theyre not gonna blame it on him. like the good friends and brothers they are they will let it go easily.. UGH do i make sense? anyway. "I’ve let myself go to the wind and the rain that’s falling cooly But my feelings aren’t for decoration" okay so this is the part theyve told themselves that they really need yo accept what has happened. and maybe "my feelings arent for decoration" means that whatever they are feeling and whatever they are going through shouldnt be joked about in social media since its a serious matter and well ive seen some haters and some "new kpop fans" talk shit about this issue and honestly 😤 it makes me want to slap a bitch

Anyway

next song > UNDERCOVER

so the lyrics:

"I’m paddling my feet as busily underneath the surface with a calm expression on my face, You don’t know"

have u seen swans? how they paddle their legs under the water to move but above the water they seem so calm? like ballerinas, how their arms and body are always so graceful but their legs do all the work and stuff ¿¿?? okay im comparing the lyrics to swans and ballerinas because what if the boys are trying to tell us Jonghyun's situation and maybe also their's and other people who is suffering the same way? We don't always know what happens when we turn around. We don't always know when they're hurting. It's actually pretty easy to lie and fake a smile now a days so we always have to be careful with our loved ones. we dont always know what they're dealing with and one wrong move can cause a bomb to explode.

"Before the curtains rise, I’m always busy but when I’m standing before you I’m Acting cool"

Maybe theyre telling us that behind the scenes, theyre also suffering with personal or family issues. like every other person, celebrities have problems that they deal with too. they also have feelings. maybe on stage theyre smiling and having so much fun but backstage, theyre suffering? they cant breathe, they're overworked, theyre tired. sometimes they're forced to do things. Honestly for me, the kpop industry is so pressuring. you have to be this or that and if you cant you get criticized for it.

"I can’t let you know the things that are secretly happening now, now is not the time. I wait for the right moment, so that when you’ve realized it it’s too late."

Obviously most idols worry about their fans. Theyre worried when theyre fans are worried. its like a family thing we idol and fans have for each other yknow and maybe thats why sometimes they cant always speak up about whats really going on inside their mind. They cant always talk about it to the public bc sometimes people are so rude and so insensitive and leave comments like, "youre not depressed! youre just overthinking" bullshit, barbara. "you just need to hang out more" hMMmM :// ANYWAY thats why they dont really speak up alot. sometimes they cant even go to a psychiatrist privately because the media is always watching and once its on display, BOOm haters here and there talking bs and obviously WE wouldnt realize unless its TOO LATE!

"Like a black shadow is absorbed into the night, the night I dig deep beyond the consciousness, inside of you I’m Undercover"

I dont know how to begin with this.. its like once theyve hit rock bottom and they feel like nothing is gonna get better amd everything is just dark and gloomy. Maybe this is like the moving on part?? like the beginning of moving on. the depressive episode. And at first theyre just trying to hide everything. Just being undercover.

WAIT OMG OKAY SO MAYBE UNDERCOVER BEFORE YOU&I

so they got depressed over what happened and theyre trying to hide from everybody that theyre okay but theyre not and theyre just undercover. in you&i thats when they start reminiscing about jonghyun and talking to him. telling him they miss him and that for him, they're ready to accept and let go.

OKOK SO THE NEXT SONGS ARE WHEN THEY START BEING POSITIVE AGAIN !! YES GO SHINEE !! OUR STRONG KINGS !!!

so i dont really know the sequence i mean its already fucked up in the beginning so lets just go with whatever !!!

So in GOODEVENING!

"The cozy darkness is lingering far away"

so the 'darkness' or those gloomy days and toxic vibes theyve been surrounding themselves has been slwoly disappearing. they're starting to feel a little better again. <3

"At the tip of the sunset that hangs on the buildings I think of you"

i cant explain this one and note: i havent slept and its 6am but im still trying to make this work. but i think fjksjfks ok sunsets means like the day is "ending" and like before the day ends, they remember their sufferings while they were depressed and all those sad times with Jonghyun, like those times of grief.. they remember it all before starting a new day ¿¿ I DONT KNOW im trying my best to explain it. Its like theyre finally accepting what has happened and is ready to start a new happy day

"Spill out the darkness

Open the night

I wanna see you more, right now, oh"

So the sunsets and the night has come and theyve already accepted whats happend but they want to see Jonghyun in a different light. They want to see their bestfriend and brother as someone who was happy and made others happy. They want to remember Jonghyun as someone who made his parents and everyone around him proud.

"The moonlight is rising

I’m going to you before it’s too late

I’m going to get you

Imagining how surprised you’ll be, I’m going to you

Going to you

Going to you

Without a reason, going to you"

okay this part is like giving someone a hug before they leave for their flight. Like even when hes gone hes not alone and shinee is not alone. like theyre always together. theyll always be together. "imagining how surprised you will be" nrkanfks im thinkg on how to write thus part wo sounding sarcastic. knowing what jonghyun has been through, he might have thought that he was and always will be alone... but the members are there to guide him in his travel to heaven with their prayers and theyre all hoping to surprise him ¿¿ AAAA im sorry if this sounds sarcastic or offensive i REALLY didnt mean it to be that way >·<

literally,for me anway, the whole song is about how theyll always be there for each other. even when the other is far away, it will never stop them from what they are doing. and thats why i love Shinee so much💓

In jump im not gonna add a lot of lyrics since im getting lazier. (lmao you can see my effort fading from you&i until here)

in Jump the song is about them trying to put their pieces together again. They've been broken and torn apart but they're ready to pick theirselves up again.

"I shake my head, brush it off and adjust my heart

I solidly protect my space again"

no one can recover quickly so i guess in this part, they're trying to take things slow. not too fast or anything or else they might make a wrong move and fall back to square one.

"Keep on enduring it

Just close my eyes when it feels futile for no reason"

in this part, theyre still not that strong enough so theyre telling themselves that they should just endure the pain or sadness. if it feels impossible, just close your eyes, believe and trust in yourself. theyve made it this far, why should they quit now?

"Higher, rise higher, fly

There’s the ground beneath your feet

When I travel between the two

Oh yes I feel the freedom

I jump on you, jump on you"

when they finally overcome the fear and sadness and EVERYTHING! they feel the weight lift from their shoulders and finally they feel freedom. overjoyed, they celebrate by jumping¿¿ i guess?? lmAO

"I’m not falling

I’m not wilting

It’s just changes

I turn different

And keep going forward"

this is when they realize that: nothing is going bad. everything is going just fine and everything is great. maybe they havent fully recovered yet but all those depression and pain is finally gone and theyre happy. They're different now and they realize they can finally keep moving forward without feeling to fall back down again.

"Why is that hard Why did I hesitate for such a long time Following my heart away From other people’s eyes I free the feet that were bound I let my imagination loose after a long time The wind is blowing Now I open my eyes and breathe in"

the first 2 lines is probably them asking themsleves, why didnt we do this earlier? they finally followed what their heart wanted instead of being trapped in their own mind and they finally can breathe again. they feel free and loose. they dont feel the heavy chains hanging on their shoulder anymore !

Now I can open my eyes and breathe in.

this is honestly a HUGE step for them. and im so proud?? ugh..

last song: All Day All Night

"All the moments I met you were highlight I don’t regret it, it’s just beautiful"

Theyre remembering Jonghyun more with their happy memories. How his existence highlighted mostly everything in their past. Jonghyun was such a big part of their lives and even if he was gone, they were still happy that he was able to be part of their lives and they were thankful to be a part of his.

"I start to see the world differently Yeah it’s all for you Time starts to emit a light Yeah it’s all for you Our very painful tears The joy that fills ourh hearts All for you, all for you, all for you"

Theyre doing all these wonderful things all for Jonghyun and maybe also for us too and for themselves. "Time starts to emit light" its pretty self explanatory. theyre beginning to see things in a positive way again !! So all of this, this is all for Jonghyun.

"Leave it alone, hold me and my painful scars All of it is the control"

theyre telling us to maybe accept it and move on too. To move on with them. We're all in this together and everything is in control.

So YAAS thats my theory or whatever you call it for SHINEEs album. I really do think the message hidden behind this album is deep and amazing and VERY important. I'm glad SHINEE is able to see things in a new light. Let's just keep loving and supporting them, okay??! So that's it.

The Story Of Light.

The End.

[teresatellstales]

Morning Snow

Inspired by several true stories, none of which happened all together.

When I had gone to bed, a winter storm was in full swing. The wind rushed, rattling windows, while heavy snow dropped to the ground. It was still very early, nearing 6am, when our Old Man Pup decided he needed to venture out to do his morning business. Being a senior pup and a 92lb mix of Australian Shepherd and Woolly Mammoth, his joints aren’t what they used to be and he requires assistance with our home’s many stairs. I heard him scrabbling to get up and decided I would guide him down, allowing my husband to stay-toasty warm under the covers.

I should have known something was wrong before I opened the bedroom door. A chilly slice of air attacked my ankles before I could turn the knob, and I was greeted by the bitter cold that would have been expected if I were opening a door to the outside rather than one leading to a hallway. Our Old Man Pup fluffed the air with his nose and pulled back in obvious confusion.

When we got to the landing, the smaller of our spry cats dashed up to greet us with an excited mew and hurried back down. The Old Man Pup settled on the floor and glanced at me as if to say, “I’ll wait right here while you go check it out.” In the span of a few steps, my mind danced with possibilities, its favorite being a branch came down through a window. By the time I reached the ground floor, meaning only a few seconds later, I was convinced I’d encounter shattered glass. What’s more, I imagined the troublemaker sibling of the excited cat balancing on the branch and in desperate danger of encountering a sharp shard. I’d have to wrangle both cats, sweep glass, pull a heavy limb back to the outside, and staple a tarp over the damaged window. All in the bitter cold while being shoeless. All while our senior pup held in whatever he wanted to let out in the yard.

The reality of the situation was quite different.

A door had blown open.

Let me explain a little about the doors in our house. None of them latch without extra attention. They look closed, but they are always teetering on the edge of open. The deadbolts turn just enough to appear in place, when they are really resting in an indentation rather than the proper slot to engage the lock. When the house is closed up for the night, it’s customary to tug on all the swinging doors to check for stability, curse at the ones that open, and repeat the dance until the damn thing is solidly locked. This early morning, I was taught that sometimes even that sequence of steps aren’t enough to ensure we are locked up tight for the night.

It was the mudroom’s door that had opened, one of the few without the added feature of a storm door. The wind had blown a good two to three inches of snow into the room. The smaller cat sat at the threshold connecting the mudroom to the interior of the house, her tail curled around her paws and her yellow eyes watching the snow show. Her brother stood on a nearby cabinet, body and tail stretched into a runners stance with one paw raised and curled in anticipation of the race to the begin. The Old Man Pup woofed a light reminder that he was waiting patiently and that his bladder wasn’t as reliable as it used to be.

If you’ve ever seen snow blown into your home, you know that it’s deeper by the door and slowly peters out further in. My eyes focused on the thicker of the layer until the cat on the cabinet dropped lower into his crouch. I tracked his sight into the mudroom. That was when I first spied the paw prints in the shallow end of the snow. They were traveling inward and not shaped correctly to be of the feline variety. Beyond the blanket of snow lay holiday packages of cookies and bread that were set to be mailed when the morning was a little older. Two boxes were torn open and a gaze of raccoons were enjoying the holiday treats meant for human consumption. The four had liberated a loaf of sourdough, a pan of cinnamon rolls, and too many cookies to count. I blinked at the furry family feasting on their holiday banquet while warm(er) and cozy in the corner of their new den. The presence of the cats were not enough to deter them, and the scene was too foreign for either feline to formulate a plan of defense. The smaller cat looked up at me as if to say, “we’re outnumbered.”

From the doorway, I couldn’t reach my boots, but my fingers could just graze the handle of an umbrella. I reached lower to grasp the canopy. No sooner did my fingers close around the fabric, the entire umbrella fell open. While I intended to open it to scare the animals, I wanted to be in control of the surprise. The four critters stopped chewing long enough to take notice of me and the cats, but they agreed with our smaller cat’s assessment: despite me towering over them and the possible weapon in my hand, there were still more of them.

The Old Man Pup woofed again, this time with some urgency. The raccoons silently conferred, reassessing their options. It seemed that two cats and an armed giant in the doorway were fine, but the woofing of a mysterious fourth threat was deemed too much. They stuffed as much of my kitchen labor into their mouths and waddled one by one in a straight line to the door.

The final and smallest of the raccoons stopped half way and came up on its hind legs, looking back at the treats. A raccoon that had already left stuck its head back in to urge the last one on, finally turning and leaving in disgust that its friend wasn’t listening. The interloper spun around and grabbed the remnants of the sourdough loaf. It made a break for it on its hind legs, slipping and sliding over the slick tile, and at one point running in place like a cartoon, never letting go of the bread. I pulled the umbrella closed, flipped the tip to face me, and used the hook of the handle to guide the cartoon wannabe out.

Both cats crept into the mudroom and stretched their necks to sniff where our holiday house guests had been. Still curious, as cats are, they tiptoed toward the open door, only to recoil in horror as their paws touched the snow. “Some help you are,” I said to them. They only returned a wide-eyed look in my direction and sauntered off to warmer parts of the house.

Still barefoot, it was my turn to tiptoe around the frosty fluff. After securing my feet in cold boots, I grabbed the shovel and scraped snow off the tile and out the door. The raccoons didn’t get very far. They stood in a valley of snowdrifts, watching me put the outside back where it belonged. The little one was still on its hind legs, clutching the bread and nibbling on its edge. I turned to look at the destroyed boxes and cookie crumbs, then back at my visitors. I gathered the remaining treats back into an open box and set it outside. “Happy holidays,” I said and shut the door.

I returned to the staircase to help the Old Man Pup down, but he wasn’t on the landing. I climbed back up and found the bedroom door ajar. I stuck my head in and squinted. He was back on his bed, curled up, his chest rising and falling with the deep, even breaths of sleep. I wondered for a moment if the Old Man Pup had heard the raccoons and only got up to investigate.

Though I was now fully awake, I slipped back into bed. My husband stirred and turned, draping an arm over me and mumbling some kind of thanks for taking care of the dog. I wanted to put my half frozen toes on his nice, warm legs, but decided that would ruin the story I’d surely tell to disbelieving folks for years to come.

[kazliin]

idk if anyone has already asked but top 10 yuuri and phichit moments in collage or in general??

I’m going to make this top 10 Yuuri and Phichit moments in college because Yuuri and Phichit’scollege misadventures is my lifeblood

Top 10 Yuuri and Phichit Moments In College:

10) Yuuri is a complete night owl. He works best at aboutabout midnight and runs almost entirely on coffee during early morningpractices. Phichit on the other hand is that one unfairly perfect person who enjoys getting up at6am to take aesthetic photos of the sunrise and has never touched coffee before. Yuuri has never been more envious of another person in his life

9) Once, they mutually decided that it would be fun to try and re-enact the skating sequences from ‘The King and The Skater’. Phichit already knew them off by heart so Yuuri learned them for Phichit in a day and theymanaged to skate the whole thing pretty much flawlessly, in-character and all.Phichit still considers it one of their greatest achievements and it’s one ofhis most liked posts on Instagram to date. The actors of the film evencommented on it and he printed out the comments to frame on his wall.

8) One year Yuuri had a terrible professor who refused to cut himany slack even though he was a professional athlete with some serious additional commitments. The teacher scheduled a test the day Yuuri arrived back from acompetition when he knew he would be way too exhausted to be able to concentrate properly.Phichit knew how nervous Yuuri was about the whole thing so just before thetest began he burst into the room yelling at the top of his lungs that there had been a skating emergency andYuuri had to leave immediately. He acted it out so well, tearsand all, that the teacher let Yuuri go out of pure confusion and worry, givingYuuri an extra day to prepare.

7) They got drunk for the first time together. Yuuri boughtthe alcohol and they spent the night laughing hysterically over films andtrying to drunk make pizza at three in the morning. They also went out drinkingfor the first time together and woke up the next day with mutual hangovers andabout a million selfies of them and people they had never met before from theclub on Phichit’s phone. Both they considered excellent nights.

6) Speaking of drinking, while they usually go out together, when they don’t they are each other’s sober contacts to call if the other needshelp home. Yuuri has rescued Phichit from trying to drunk demonstrate one of hisroutines on roller-skates in a car park at two in the morning (it’s along story) and Phichit managed to talk Yuuri down from pole dancing on a lamppostand carried him home.

5) They are usually both pretty good at doing their work ontime but during the competitive season sometimes deadlines get forgotten, meaning they have both been the person from this vine before when remembering an essayis due last minute

4) In reference to my top ten list of pranks they played oneach other, there was an epic extended prank war when they were both in college that went on for about twoyears and only ended when Celestino finally banned it in exasperation

3) They had both been learning bits of Japanese/Thai foryears for each other but when they got older they both made a concentrated effort to become more fluent, bothbecause it was a nice gesture and also to be able to talk shit about people theydidn’t like to each other in public places without anyone else being able to understand

2) In reference to my top ten about Yuuri being a greatfriend to Phichit, Phichit was dating a cute exchange student for a year buteventually the student had to go back home and they both decided long distance wasnever going to work and split up amicably. Phichit was still really upset about it though and so Yuuri bundled him up in asmany blankets as he could find and fed Phichit ice cream and watched films together until he felt better

1) Yuuri’s family couldn’t make it to his graduation whichYuuri was a little down about. Phichit knew and made it his mission to fill in and soduring Yuuri’s graduation ceremony he cheered loudly enough for four, recordedthe whole thing while sobbing about how they grow up so fast and dragged Yuuriout to celebrate afterwards for the best party he had ever thrown

[technologyinfosec]

Arjun Kapoor, Kriti Sanon go back in time in Panipat

Like other period films that suffered the same fate, the Arjun Kapoor-Kriti Sanon starrer Panipat has come under fire even before its release. A descendant of Peshwa Bajirao who objected to a certain dialogue of Kriti's, served notices to the film's producers and its director Ashutosh Gowariker. Also, the trailer of Panipat has drawn inevitable comparisons to Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani, with some saying that the film looked too much like its predecessor. However there's no denying that anticipation surrounding the release of Panipat is high, with the trailer having had over 41 million views so far and the film's stars going on a promotional blitz, undaunted by comparisons or controversies. In a recent phone conversation with City Times, both Arjun Kapoor and Kriti Sanon admitted that they didn't know much about the historical events upon which Panipat is based, before they took on the roles of Sadashiv Rao Bhau (leader of the Maratha army at the third battle of Panipat) and Parvatibai (Sadashiv's wife) respectively, but said they came away from the cinematic experience a whole lot richer. We chatted with the stars about their approach to their characters, what they wanted the audience to take away from Panipat, releasing this weekend in the UAE, and what role women played in this seemingly male-dominated battlefield. The third battle of Panipat dates back to the 18th century and was fought between the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali's Afghan army. How much did you know about this period in history before you took on your roles in Panipat? Arjun: Like any child who is inquisitive about history, we are all aware of the fact that there were three battles of Panipat; I was aware of the location of the third one and the fact that it was a huge battle that led to an unprecedented loss of life but not many other details. I think Ashutosh himself is an encylopedia and his narration wasn't just for the film - it was for me to understand the time, emotions, politics, personalities, the upheavals, the tasks, every single thing. It was a big learning. I understood that this battle is not just an anecdote in a history book but something that changed the course of our country's history forever. Kriti: I'm someone who used to give the history exam and then forget what I've done! So, my history wasn't that great - I knew about Parvatibai but not all the details. I also feel that when you search online there's not many details you can possibly get, as much as you can when you're watching a film like this. I feel the visual medium makes you feel a lot more for every character. We've always known the beginning and the end of this battle, but the journey, the obstacles they went through and what betrayals those involved have had - that is something that many of us don't know. What can you tell us about your characters? Arjun: I play Sadashiv Rao Bhau, who was the leader of the Maratha army at that point in time. He was loved by his armed forces, but he was also very stern and stubborn. He was someone who heard everyone out but did what he wanted to do. He was also very vulnerable - with his family, with his friends, and always cared about his people. He had a layer that you could not see when he was in front of the army. He was someone who was very sure about what he was doing. He never doubted that the intent had to be right, and then the result would come. That goes for any soldier or any warrior I guess. He  always believed he's meant for only one thing - being a warrior. But at the same time there's a side to him that makes you see that he could have been a fantastic leader of the Maratha empire also. Because his decision making was very stark, very solid and came from a very organic and logical place. Kriti: I'm very proud of how the Marathas had fought this war, and I also love how Ashutosh has given so much strength to Parvatibai's character, because I feel like he's someone who cannot see his female characters weak. He always makes them very strong figures, and very independent. I feel like his characters are very contemporary. Parvatibai is shown to be a vaidya (physician). At that time I don't know how many women actually worked. Ashutosh said, 'Parvatibai is a vaidya, she's someone who knows sword-fighting and she's someone who can defend her people if the need arises.' There's a point in the film where she steps up and helps the Marathas in a very important way, during the journey of the war. At the same time she is someone who is very vocal about her love for Sadashiv, which is not something we expect from women of that time. We always expect them to be coy and keep their feelings inside. And when required she's a very strong personality who can emotionally and physically be like a pillar. When I heard all of that I just felt like this is a character I'd had no idea about, and this is a character that I'd love to show the world. The battle scenes are very gripping. What was it like filming those - did you have to learn any particular skills, like sword fighting? Arjun: I learned horse riding, sword fighting, javelin throwing, all three skill sets were imperative. But horse riding was the biggest challenge because I had to wake up at 6am to go to the racecourse; it was too much but felt worth it eventually when I was on set and could shoot an entire sequence with the horse. I connected with the animal, so for me it was a new experience. To shoot the battle itself was very difficult because we shot it in May (why we did that, don't ask!) Also, the armour weighed about 18 kilos, and we needed four people to put it on! A lot of the action movements were changed when the armour came on because of mobility getting restricted. The war takes up quite a bit of the film, so shooting a lot of it every single day you feel a bit confused, as to where are you going with this (you're not the director, so you don't know the end product, you just know the shots that are taken). So it's sometimes mentally draining because you're not sure how it's going to pan out with the VFX and the way it will look. You're going with the conviction of one man, and eventually when you see it you realise it looks special. The film also stars veteran actresses like Padmini Kolhapure and Zeenat Aman. What role do the women play in this seemingly male-dominated tale of battle? Arjun: They figure very heavily, you have to see the film to realise this. Unfortunately I would not say it was on an equal footing because women could not take certain decisions that men could take on their behalf. But the decision to go with the men for the battle was the decision the women took. That's something that I don't think has ever been seen on the big screen - where you have women coming along for the journey in a war. It creates a very interesting dynamic because the men took their families along and therefore in moments of vulnerability they had somebody to hold on to. So there are very strong female characters and they all have their moments in the film; each character has a say in the way the plot unfolds. What was it like working with each other for the first time? Kriti: I had bumped into Arjun a couple of times at parties; we also interacted through messages. Many times we were on the verge of signing a film together but something used to happen - my dates were an issue or his dates were an issue and we ended up doing those films with other people, or the film got shelved. So when Panipat happened I remember he messaged me that 'oh, finally, we're working together, after so long'. He's a very chilled out co-star who has a great sense of humour. Through this film I've spent a lot of time with him and we've spoken about things other than work. I realise that he is a great friend to have. I was very glad that this (the film) happened. Kriti goes from Punjabi to Marathi for Panipat Kriti says, "A lot of research has been done to put my traditional look in Panipat together, whether it's the saris, the colours, or the fabrics. We tied the nauvari sari in the most authentic way possible. Also, the jewellery, the khopa (hairstyle), the nath (nose ring) - all of this makes the Marathi peshwai look. Before that I couldn't really imagine myself looking like a Marathi, because I'm a Punjabi from Delhi! When I saw myself for the first time in that look, it just made me feel like I was from that time. Even with jewellery, I feel like Neeta Lulla has paid so much attention to the the details! She gave me a lot of hair pins made of gold which had birds on them, there were birds on earrings, there were some peacock tails - that was her touch, that was what she felt about my character (Parvatibai). The way people would dress was very elaborate, and grand and when you get to wear all that and look at yourself, you love it. That's definitely one of the perks of being in a period film! Sanjay Dutt is amazing, says Arjun Kapoor On what it was like starring alongside Sanjay Dutt (he plays Ahmad Shah Abdali) for the first time, Arjun says, "He's an amazing person to interact with because he completely disarms you with his normalcy. He has the demeanor of a man who's lived a life that deserves a biopic. He's the epitome of a 'manchild' because he's a man who has been through hell and back but when you sit with him you realise he's just like a child and when he's talking about stuff you forget he's Sanjay Dutt. I really enjoyed working with him, he's somebody who never let it become a big deal that he's such a big star and personality - it never came to the forefront with the way we conducted ourselves on camera." Read the full article

[femininenachos]

Ok so you know how Lexa does the twirly thing with her sword, does Lexa do it with her racket too? Idk if that's even possible but why not? She doesn't seem too arrogant or one to show boat but maybe it's like her going in for the kill "I've got you now" death twirl? Also, does she have any superstitions or rituals before a match? Like meditation surrounded by candles or a walk through the woods/park to clear her head or hitting an exact number of balls or eating a weird smoothie or something?

I mean, she spins her racket a couple of times while she’s waiting to receive a serve but not like canon!Lexa did with her sword against Roan haha.

Lexa certainly has some extra AF rituals so, yes, I think it’s entirely possible she would meditate surrounded by candles—lavender-scented, to calm her nerves and aid sleep quality—the night before her next game. But after she inadvertently sets off the fire alarm at her hotel on one occasion, Titus insists she switch to using aromatherapy oils with a diffuser instead.

She maybe wouldn’t go as far as to, idk, sleep with her favourite racket but only because Anya wouldn’t let her hear the end of it if she found out.

She has a signed photo of Serena Williams she carries around in her racket bag like a talisman. Lexa met her as a teenager during a training camp. It was probably the greatest moment of her young life to meet and exchange a few words with her idol. She shook like a leaf the entire time. She’s since met Serena several times at events and is still totally starstruck by her. Before every game Lexa fishes that photo out, gazes at it reverently, and reminds herself of how far she’s come and how far she has to go.

She has a morning routine that she never deviates from unless she’s travelling. Gets up at 6am for her daily 5k run. Breakfast consists of scrambled egg whites and a kale, banana, and almond milk smoothie. (Clarke gets woken up by the whirr of the blender without fail whenever she stays over. She grumbles and pulls the sheets over her head.)

On match days Lexa takes a bracingly cold shower an hour before the match begins. She has a specific order to getting ready. Puts her clothes on in the exact same sequence every time. The left shoe always goes on before the right. Wears the same hair tie throughout the tournament. She carries five rackets onto court although she never needs that many. Is meticulous about how her rackets are strung for the optimal tension and torque. She wraps the tape grip on her rackets herself, clockwise. Has to test three balls and bounces the chosen one three times before she serves. She also avoids walking on the court lines.

While Clarke finds these superstitions and rituals a bit ridiculous, she also understands it’s all part of the mental preparation. She knows athletes. She gets it. So she doesn’t roll her eyes too much.

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

Hey, I assume you're having kind of a shitty birthday going by your posts so I thought now would be a good time to write this to hopefully make you maybe a lil bit happier? I stumbled upon your blog a few years ago when I really struggled with my sexuality (Im bi) and you posting positive stuff about being bisexual really helped me come to terms with myself. You seem like a really amazing person and I hope you can always remember there are people who care about you lots

Thanks buddy, I started the day sleep deprived and under the impression the family had entirely forgotten again (they recalled last year so it was a shock to think they hadn’t this year, there was like a 5year streak though)... but to be fair, they went away on the weekend and birthdays are low priority (”just a day”) around here... so I knew it might happen.

Try not to psyche yourself up... it makes good things more exciting, and bad things less annoying. [Also I was playing OVerwatch most of the night, trying to get better at Mercy in Total Mayhem and 9 times out of 10 I’d get a team that would NOT protect me at all and I died so many times, or they demanded solo res all the time when we were taking a point like... and I missed out on like ten quadruple-resurrections bc of it... for some reason it was incredibly demoralising? Left you feeling heavy and useless. Also it was freezing and 6am, I don't know why I did it, just couldn’t sleep]Parental Unit didn’t say anything; Sibling picked fights.

I made plans to buy like 2 cakes out of spite...

[Camiluna27 surprised me with an art gift, at half past midnight on my bday though, so that was a plus, I was amazed and delighted???]

then fell asleep on the couch watching TROLLS for half the day after the massive shopping trip (it was like 90mins round trip but it was like the fucking journey to mordor I was so tired) which was classy. it went round twice before I saw both the beginning and end bits in sequence... that is such a good, pure movie even if it is about, basically, kinkshaming the Burgen/Bergens(?) for their vore fetish... with a good soundtrack.

But then, I played Overwatch after the nap and improved; it’s sad to say that kicked my mood up a notch but I got POTG as MErcy and that’s NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE (it wasn’t even a resurrection, I just shot a dude and saved two team mates). Then people came home, and they had gifts??? Really thoughtful useful ones?? Pyjamas? A big-ass nice rug bc it’s freezing in my area in winter (and Ned Stark knows it’s coming)?? And a little blue handbag bc apparently adults can’t use harry potter shoulder bags all the time?? And bubble wands?? And something nice for dinner? 

I was like ?????????????????? holy fuck?

Also there was an ice-cream cake... so now there’s 3 cakes... oh my god. I greeted them in my passive-aggressive Happy Birthday banner draped over me...  so that was either going to be hilarious or accusatory, but it was good. 

A really fancy card from the  parental unit? It’s fabulous

And one from the sibling that has a ninja hamster that plays Kung Fu Fighting when you open it???

I dunno, it really changed the whole day (well night at this point) around???Sorry to give you this massive story but it was just such a weird rollercoaster of a day and I legit achieved nothing except being delighted my existence was remembered...

- - - - 

Thank you for telling me, I am very proud of you for working through the complexity that is orientation. Aussie, Bi and ready to fry (bc we live next to the SUN) try... and help whoever needs it. 

And thank you, for being so adorable and positive.

[disneygeekcom]

Editor’s Note: This first section is spoiler free and includes a general description & my thoughts/observations.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is the signature attraction of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.  The Walt Disney World version at Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened on December 5, 2019 and the Disneyland version opens January 17, 2020.    The attraction is an immersive experience featuring several components and ride systems.   The Imagineers have pulled out all the stops and utilized most of the tricks in their playbook for this experience.

The back story is the Resistance have set up an outpost on Batuu to hide from the First Order.  You are a new resistance recruit.  You are briefed by Rey and BB-8 on a plan and then set off in a Intersystem Transport Ship (I-TS) to a secret location.  While traveling something goes wrong and you are captured by the First Order and are taken prisoner on a First Order Star Destroyer.   You need to escape the Star Destroyer and return to Batuu without giving up the secret location.

For this attraction the Imagineers blend the queue, preshow and ride systems to create a comprehensive experience.   Here is an attempt to describe it spoiler free, below I have more detail with spoilers if this makes zero sense to you — This includes a traditional queue that is similar in detail to Indiana Jones at Disneyland and then a briefing/preshow type room.  Followed by a standing ride on a transport ship.  Then a walkthrough of sorts and another preshow type room before finally reaching a ride vehicle.  The ride vehicles are trackless (similar to Mystic Manor, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, or Ratatouille) and you move quickly through two stories of a Star Destroyer with large sets, tight spaces, audio animatronic figures, projections, and special effects.  Also there are lifts and a drop sequence.  The attraction ends with a sort simulator type experience.

Due to the complexity of this attraction and the demand Disney is using a virtual queue using boarding groups to manage the wait times and experiences.   In a nutshell to use this system you enter the park, call up the App or visit a kiosk, and register for a group (if one is available).  Throughout the day groups are called. Once your group is called you receive a push notification and have two hours to return.    For more details on this I have another post detailing my experience with boarding groups for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Walt Disney World.

  My Experiences/Thoughts:

I was able to experience Star Wars: The Rise of the Resistance three times during my December 2019 Walt Disney World Trip.    I found the overall experience to be one of the best Walt Disney Imagineering has ever created.  I think this will be a new high water mark for theme park attractions.  The integration of the queue, preshow and ride systems worked to create a great experience.   I have always been a fan of longer, immersive experiences vs quick thrill ride type attractions.   Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion are at the top of my all-time attraction lists.   You are immersed in the story and the experience just keeps building as you go through it.  You are given time to adjust to the Star Wars Universe and then several “wow moments” are used to build up to the finale.   Like any great attraction the level of detail is extensive and each ride through you pick up on elements you missed the previous time.   The trackless ride system allows for some flexibility and variation and there are two primary paths through the attraction that offer slightly different experiences.   I am looking forward to visiting again.

Frequently Asked Questions: Since experiencing the attraction I have received several common questions via email, Twitter or in person from friends and family.  If you have a question feel free to ask away and I will share my experience and two cents:

Q: How long is the ride? A: This is a tough question to answer.  The entire experience from the first briefing room through exiting the attraction took me about 30 minutes.     Time on the trackless transport is about 5 minutes.  With the boarding groups it took about an hour total time from entering queue to exiting.

Q: How bad is the drop? A: I am not one for drops.. my limit is Pirates of the Caribbean.  Anything more and I avoid it.   The sequence in this attraction is very quick and the sensation did not seem that bad to me.  I was apprehensive the first time but the subsequent rides were doable.

Q: How is the simulator portion if I have motion sickness? A:  This is harder to judge.  One member of my family is prone to motion sickness.  They do not enjoy Star Tours or even the Circlevision 360 films.   They had no problems with Rise of the Resistance and actually went a second time with me even.   The movement during the simulator portion seemed more fluid and less range of motion than Star Tours.  It is more than say Smugglers Run though.

Q: How is the attraction for non Star Wars fans? A:  Your mileage will vary on this one, but I think any Disney Parks or theme park attraction fan will be impressed with the attraction.  As a point of reference, no one in my immediate group during the December trip to WDW were die hard Star Wars Fans. A couple had seen a couple of the films but do not really know the universe or stories.   They were not impressed with Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. They got nothing out of piloting the Falcon and once was enough for them, they have passed on it since that first ride and would rather relax or go see something else.    They walked out of this attraction impressed and wowed by it and were willing to get up at 6am on vacation to go a second time.

Editor’s Note:  This last section includes spoilers.  So if you are planning to experience Rise of the Resistance soon or just do not want to know details you should avoid this next section.

Extended Ride Experience Description with my Thoughts/Observations: Below is an extended description of the attraction experience combined with my thoughts and observations from my first three times through it.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Queue Entrance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

The queue: You enter the queue under a gun turret and proceed through a series of caves and hidden bunkers that make up the secret resistance base.  There is an extended outdoor portion of the stand by queue that looks like it could be quite miserable in the heat of summer. There was little shade, only some fans.  You enter a series of caves, think Indiana Jones queue at Disneyland, that feature several rooms with props.  You can use the PlayDisneyParks app to interact with the queue, but I found this to be spotty at best and more frustrating than fun.  It also drained my cell phone battery incredibly quick.   I did not see any interactive elements.  There was some seating available and drinking fountains in a couple spots.  There were also cast members stationed along the queue that could help you out if you needed to leave the line to use the restroom or some other issue.   Luckily with the boarding group process my average wait was less than 30 minutes and for the most part you kept moving.  At that pace it worked well.  We stopped a couple times due to issues and I could not imagine being stuck in that queue for hours if it were a traditional standby/FastPass setup.     For the boarding groups the stand by line was being utilized only.   If you returned because of a breakdown it appeared they were sending those guests through the FastPass Return queue, which I understand to be a similar set of caves/walkways just much shorter.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Briefing Room

Briefing Room:

You eventually reach a room where cast members break the queue into groups.  This is the merge point with the FastPass queue.   You wait and then enter a briefing room.   Here you meet BB-8 and Rey briefs you via hologram projection.  Poe and others address you via video screen.   There are two briefing rooms and they are mirrors of each other.  With the set on the outside, so things appear flipped to you if you get to see both.   The projection of Rey is really well done and BB-8 is great.   You are not here long, just over a minute for the actual briefing.  You are introduced to Lieutenant Bek who will be with you.  He is a Mon Calamari Resistance officer.

Move to Transport Ship: After the briefing you are ushered outside and members of the Resistance guide you across the courtyard to a waiting Intersystem Transport Ship (I-TS).  You walk by Poe’s X-Wing with BB-8 onboard that is preparing to take off.   And move toward a full scale spaceship.  You enter through a door in the middle of the ship.  The amount of time you are outside can vary slightly but it is very short, around 30 seconds seemed to be the average.  Just enough time to get a glimpse around then you are rushed onto the transport ship.

I thought the detail to transfer from the secrete base to a spaceship was great.  The extra detail/expense of seeing a full size X-Wing and then board a full size ship were worth it.  It helps to build the excitement and sense of anticipation for the attraction.   They could have very easily just built a hallway or something that went straight into a ship without the large scale outdoor set.  From a story perspective it would have worked but the impact would have been nowhere near as great as what was created.  I was able to experience this both during the day and night.  At night the lighting added a little more to it.    I am curious how this is in a big Orlando thunderstorm.  It is mostly covered but depending on the wind direction it seems like the potential is there to get quite wet.

Intersystem Transport Ship (I-TS): You board the ship through a door in the center of the ship.  The interior of the ship reminds me of a subway or even the airport shuttle at MCO. There are poles/handholds to steady yourself.  At the front of the ship are several screens and an audio animatronic figure of Lieutenant Bek.  The back of the ship has more small screens and a large central screen that looks out the back.    The door closes and you take off. There is some mild movement, shaking, rumbling.   You can move around if you wish during the transport.  Seeing the AA figure up front is interesting as is the view out the back as you leave Batuu. Speaking of which they do have different video for day/night.    Total transport time is just over 2.5 minutes.  As you are flying your ship encounters the First Order and you are pulled into a Star Destroyer hanger.   Your ship is boarded by the First order and you exit out the same door that entered.    I thought this scene was well done.  You are given time to explore the ship the ship and the detail of having an AA figure plus several screens again shows the level of detail and execution.  They could have chosen to do everything via projection but opted to have an AA figure which really adds to the wow factor and overall experience.

  #gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Star Destroyer Hanger

As you exit the Transport you enter the large hanger you have seen in many of the promotional photos leading up to opening. There are 50 stormtroopers assembled to greet you.  There is a fleet transport vehicle parked on one side as well a full size tie fighter.  If you look back you see your full ship in the hanger too.  Cast Members playing the first order role explain that you are now a prisoner and you are told to exit the ship into the hanger.  At this point there can be some variance.  One time there was a large queue that wrapped formed. Another time they just had us line up against the rail. Then the third time we were told to pass through the hanger.   I preferred being able to spend some time and admire the large hanger.  The opposite side from where you exit the ship is looking out into space via a very large projection screen. You can see other ships and things fly by.  Having some time to linger in the reveals more details. Such as some of the stormtroopers move slightly.  Or you can take a photo in the transport.  The Cast Members playing the first order roles were really into it and this added to the experience.  You do not see the typical Disney smile.. instead they are stern faced and more authoritative with their instructions.   I thought the time they just had us walk through (which of course was the time I was taking video) was a less than ideal experience.  You get the initial wow of the room but you do not really get to appreciate it.  On the other end the spectrum the time the line wrapped and paused in there for several minutes seemed on the long side.  It seemed as if they were still experimenting with the timing.  I was surprised they kept bringing shuttles full of guests in.  Seeing the next shuttle offload without landing does break the immersion.  Most did not care as they were observing the details of the room and not thinking about how people were exiting from the ship you were just on and they were not…

Interrogation Separation

At this point you file down a hallway and then are broken up into groups of four groups of four for each jail cell. They story is they are separating you out for interrogation.  You see stormtroopers and a large number of first order cast members here.   You are assigned a color and quizzed on the color as you wait in the central hallway under the supervision of your captors.   These colors are important later as it tells you which row you are to board on the transport.  The hallway features several doors that look the same and groups are lined up and moved around the hallway to enter the active jail cells.   The cast members playing the First Order roles here were great the three times I went through.  They were really enjoying their roles and playing the parts perfectly.  It was interesting to watch the interactions and reactions of others. Since most guests it was their first time they were a little unsure of the situation and people were quiet for the most part and just watching and listening.  A very different mood than most attractions.  The level of detail in this space was great as you would expect.  Having the Stormtrooper figures at the watch position added to the overall experience.   There are two lines to choose in the hallway. Both lead to exactly the same spot and the cast members forming the groups call from both so there is no difference in experience to which you choose.  It comes down to which side of the hallway do you want to see.   The amount of time here varied slightly with some pauses or a smooth pace over the three times I went through.

Holding Cell

Your group of 16 guests is moved into a holding cell. You will want to move in far enough to see back over the door.   On the second floor above the door you entered there is a projection screen that features your captors.  Kylo Ren stops by and threatens/questions the group. They warn of the interrogations to come.   He is called to the bridge and you are left unwatched for a few moments.   During this time a glow starts on one side of the room and a hole is cut in the wall.  The wall is opened and members of the Resistance explain they are there to break you out.  The effect reminds me of the magic mirror at Enchanted Tales with Belle.   You are rush you onto one of two waiting First Order Fleet Transport piloted by a reprogrammed R5-series astromech droid.   These are the trackless ride vehicles for the finale of the attraction.  You board the row with your color and buckle in.  Your seat belts are checked. While this is happening on the video screens you are brought up to speed on the place. The transport is programmed to take you to an escape pod to get off the Star Destroyer and return to Batuu.  You are in the holding cell for about a minute only.  It is a very quick scene.   I found the projections hard to see depending on where you were in the room but you could hear and get a glimpse so it still worked.  The break out effect is well done and was great to see.  The cast members breaking you out were really into their role again during my visits and it was fun to see.

First Order Fleet Transports – Star Destroyer Escape

Your transport sets off into the Star Destroyer.   As you travel along of course things do not go as planned.  You are identified as resistance and a battle ensues.  There are laser blasts and other effects as you encounter storm troopers and other droids.  Your transport tries multiple paths going forward and backwards.   You move quickly through several spaces and end up in a hanger with two full size AT-AT walkers.  You move around their feet dodging blaster fire.  You catch a glimpse of Finn helping you escape.  At this point your transport locks into one of two lifts.   One brings you up the second floor eye level with the head of an AT-AT. The other up to the second floor from the side.

Once on the second floor you continue looking for a path to escape.  You end up on the bridge and encounter an audio animatronic Kylo Ren.  You escape from there and continue moving toward the escape pods.  Kylo Ren is hot on your trail at this point and at one point uses his light saber to cut into the room you are in from above.  This is another great effect!   You escape that room and pass through a series of turboblaster canons fighting your rescue party outside.

The music starts to change at this point as the Star Wars theme is more prevalent with the resistance gaining the upper hand.  You encounter a second Kylo Ren figure who threatens you.  At this moment that portion of the ship is hit and you quickly make your move to the near by escape pod.  Your transport ship locks into the pod and you are ejected from the ship.     During the escape sequence your transport moves forward, backwards, sideways through the ship.  You see the second transport as you move from scene to scene and battle your way off the ship.  The trackless ride system allows for a lot of movement and directional changes.  The effects throughout with blasters, ship damage, etc.. add to the experience.   The full size AT-ATs are impressive as is the turbo lift that quickly takes you up to the second floor while allowing you to see the full scene around you.      You encounter AA figures and projections that are mixed.  The mix of projection and physical sets is extremely well done. It reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean in Shanghai.

Once you are locked in the escape pod the door closes and this is where the drop happens.   You quickly return to ground level and the simulator portion of the experience begins.  If you watch the screen in front of you, right before the drop you see the other escape pod which hints at what you will see.  Then the drop leads right into a 20 second simulator experience as your escape pod hurls back toward Batuu.  You come in for a rough landing but you survived the experience.  You are thanked for helping the resistance and see the other escape pods before being dropped off at the unload station which is in a large open space that is partially outside (there is no front and the walls on the side stop short of the ground so you are outside but covered/protected from the weather).   Here you disembark and wrap up your experience.

The drop and simulator finale are the last set of tricks the Imagineers employ in this experience to bring your great escape to a fitting finale.  The movement and sensations seem appropriate for the overall experience. They bring a thrill to it but hopefully will not be limiting for a lot of guests.  I for one had no problem with it and I do not go on coasters and drop type thrill rides.

Conclusion

I always get asked what my favorite attraction is or where an attraction ranks. It is always hard and I usually give a non-answer answer that spins in circles.   Many call Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance the best attraction ever. I did find the overall experience to be among the best.  Would I put it at the top of the list I am not sure.  I need to experience it more and see how it ages.    I definitely think it is at the top of anything built in recent years in a stateside park. I would have no problem saying it is the best attraction since Radiator Springs Racers or Indiana Jones in Anaheim.  At WDW I would put it at the top of the list of currently operating/versions of attractions.    Where it sits looking world wide is a bit more challenging.    Bottom line is it is a great attraction and well worth visiting.  With the boarding group process you do not have to invest half your day in line which makes it that much better in my opinion. You are able to experience the queue and then all the attraction elements at a reasonable pace and time (assuming nothing breaks).

Final note:  Like any new attraction there are kinks to work out. Ranging from cast member interaction and timing to technical ones. This attraction involves a lot of technology that requires nearly exact timing and execution or it will have a degraded experience and may stop.   This has led to a lot of downtime and capacity limitations.   Over time this will work itself out but for now daily capacity is extremely limited.  Over the month plus of operation the Walt Disney World version has had more good days than bad recently but challenges still exist.   I would expect Disneyland to have the same rocky launch.  So bring your patience and if you want to experience the attraction be sure to keep up with the current boarding group changes and processes as Disney continues to tweak them.

Related Posts:

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – Boarding Group Experiences @ Disney’s Hollywood Studios

WDW Pictures: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

WDW Pictures: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Queue

Disneyland – Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Construction Pictures

Disney News Releases

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Invites Guests into an Immersive Adventure of Galactic Proportions

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Makes Debuts @ Walt Disney World

#StarWars: #RiseOfTheResistance - My Experience/Attraction Overview from December @ #WaltDisneyWorld Editor’s Note: This first section is spoiler free and includes a general description & my thoughts/observations.