#these photos aren’t colour edited

[velveteenbard]

[inkyvendingmachine]

Mobs and Stalkers Season 4, Episode 3

💀 Call of Cthulhu: Haunted Hijinx Masterpost 💀 Call of Cthulhu Season Four Masterpost (Coming Soon)

Warning: This campaign is an edited version of  a Call of Cthulhu scenario from the Tales of the Crescent City book. While a lot has been changed, there IS spoilers for it throughout these posts.

Who is this guy and why is he following us? Why are we following him?? Why are we interreacting with mobs again??? How does this keep happening to us?????

Art Credit: @inkdemonapologist : sketching + inking @inkyvendingmachine : concept + colouring

IT IS THE NEXT MORNING. EVERYONE WAKES UP AND NOBODY (who slept over at JDS) IS MISSING, OR DEAD.

THAT’S GREAT.

Bendy even slept on top of Jack during their slumber party, trying to give the same comfort as an Beans might give. It might’ve been weird otherwise, but after all the hectic nonsense going on and not being able to feel safe going home, in this case it was welcome.

Joey slept on his research notes. 

But it is a work day (at least it’s friday,,,) so the cots are shuffled away before people start coming in and questioning the group about the spontaneous night in. And foreseeing this might be a future issue if stuff goes haywire and they have to hide out at JDS more, Joey takes the holiday opportunity to get everyone out of the office for a while.  Enjoy New Years Eve off, go party! Also New Years, to recover from the party. And also… the day AFTER New Years, to do all the things you meant to do on New Years but you were recovering from the party!! Look how nice Joey Drew is, giving so many thoughtful days off. Nobody come back until Thursday or else.

While everyone else is getting some work done, Joey checks in on Norman who didn’t even call in. He seems fine, but he’s still adamant about staying at home. Okay you do you.

(Joey sends Susie to hang out with Norman, as his inside woman and also because the Norman vs. Susie perception of the world will be nice when more things just. C h a n g e.)

The team has two big leads for trying to find Alan Leroy: Chandler Kreel and Amanda Cornish. Both of them are apparently good friends with him, and with addresses in hand, they split up to try and track down the danged clarinetist that they probably need to get to.

Jack and Sammy drive downtown to a bunch of law offices with apartments above, searching for Amanda. They’re able to get to her door pretty easily, but Amanda isn’t the one who answers. Her sister does! Luckily Jack’s there to run introductions because otherwise Sam’s scowling face probably would have just been turned away at that point. Sitting in the waiting room, Amanda soon joins them and admits that the last time she saw Alan was at a christmas party they went to… but seems to be kind of standoffish about any other information.

After some more charming by Jack, it’s revealed that she thinks he might be in trouble with the mob, and uh, Sammy… looking the way he does……. Maybe made her think they were the mob?? But with confirmation that, no, they super aren’t the mob and in fact are trying to find Alan before he possibly gets in trouble with a mob or two, she’s a bit more relaxed. Something weird is happening, because Alan really doesn’t seem like the type to be in trouble with the mob. And the last weird thing she remembers happening with Alan was… well, he got freaked out over some book she gave him for the holidays!

What’s so scary about a book? It was a pretty interesting read, here she’ll go grab it for ya!!!

Sammy is looking away Sammy is looking away Sammy refuses to look in any direction near Amanda as she, indeed, brings out a little black book with the Yellow Sign on it. 

Jack immediately feels it wiggle into his head. But at least he’s able to wrap up the conversation with her in a… semi-normal manner? While Sammy’s eyes, darting anywhere else, find a photo on the mantelpiece that features Alan Leroy and friends, hanging out at a party scrawled with the note: Skinner Place, May, 1934… and Sammy is CERTAIN he recognises the man.

Oddly, his clarinet in the photo is missing one of the extensions he'd expect for a professional player...…….

Joey and Henry take the brown Mercedes to check out Chandler Kreel, who luckily lives in a nice part of the city that feels like a Mercedes might be somewhat… less… easily noticeable. 

He answers the door but seems extremely nervous, like Amanda was. Leroy is great! So good at clarinet you wouldn’t even know he was down a finger!! Also totally a swell guy who shouldn’t be in any trouble so why are you heeerree?? 

Through Joey’s uh, storytelling skills, and Henry's good calming daditude, they get the idea he’s a loyal friend who wants to make sure he’s helping his buddy and not handing over information to the mob or any other parties that might be after Alan… Which means, he probably has information on where Alan is. Since it’d be suspicious to just plain ask, Joey goes the heartfelt “please reach out to us we’re here to help,” direction and hands off contact information. 

While returning to the car, Henry and Joey find someone oogling over it… and this time it’s not some girl trying to declare herself Henry’s lifelong love, but the pale-faced man in a black suit that’s been seen everywhere recently. Their conversation is short, as the man mentions looking for a “wandering player” that needs to be returned to his place, and he walks off after some vague threats about what happens if you are in his way. Or if you lie to him, don’t do that either.

His mask-like face doesn’t move while communicating any of this.

Henry tells Joey once they’re alone that he thinks that guy is Fowler. He has the same nervous fidget Fowler used to…

Jack and Sammy go to stop by Norman’s on the way back, and find that… his place is apparently a block down from where it used to be!! 

GREAT!!!!

When he answers the door and is immediately and frantically questioned about this, he takes a look around and confirms, shrugging and simply stating “it seems like I’ve moved.” 

He invites them in for a housewarming party.

Susie and Norman have been playing cards. There’s no updates on Avadon. Jack and Sammy update them about the few tidbits of information they’ve found, and Norman finds a piece of junk mail to hand off to Jack before they head out. Since… the address on there seems to have changed too, so if Norman ends up moving again, well… they’ll know where he is!

The four of them meet back up at JDS to exchange information about Alan Leroy, and also eject the yellow sign from Jack’s head asap. Sammy's still worked up about this clarinetist's missing E flat extension, but Joey dismisses this as old news -- obviously; he's missing a finger. Keep up, Sammy. Peter has kind of also met back up with them, leaving a message on Joey’s phone talking about sightings of the masked man going through some magic shops in the city. And the fact that despite all his digging, he really can’t find anything about where this Leroy guy came from…

Joey tries to call Peter back by memory and it doesn’t work. We’re not going to talk about the fact that Joey has Peter’s number memorized. Pulling out his phone book, indeed, Peter’s number on paper has changed and that one DOES work. 

Before they get much of a conversation going at all, Joey hangs up on Peter to try something. Instead of dialing a number in, or looking one up… he just wills himself to dial a number in to call Alan Leroy.

It kiiiindaaa works.

Joey manages to call Alan Leroy’s phone, but the same servant picks up and insists that Alan hasn’t returned home. Joey hangs up on him. 

Peter gets a call back. Okay so there’s those Magic Shops he wants to check out, and also he has a lead on the gangster guy who shot the gun during the charity event. To keep Peter from doing nonsense alone and probably being abducted to Carcosa, Jack and Joey decide to go with him to investigate magic shops, while Sammy and Henry uneasily go to the bar to find info on the gangster guy, once Sammy is reassured that this won’t be like last time and all he has to do is eavesdrop. This surely will only go well.

At the bar, Henry casually brings up the charity dinner shooting while trying to fish for information, and maybe he talks a little too much, because suddenly all eyes are on him. What! Sammy wasn’t doing any talking so Henry was just trying to… do….what Joey would do? Henry trying to do what Joey would do has never gone wrong before…

Sammy and Henry are in a mob car, only kind of against their will. They are escorted to a restaurant, where they meet the extremely average looking Italian mob boss, Johnny Nero, who wants to know what they know about this pale masked man. At first it seems like they’ve made another great terrible get-yourselves-kidnapped-by-a-mob mistake, but the boss seems surprisingly rattled, and after some grilling from Sammy, Nero admits that… he’s seen some stuff that shouldn’t be…

… and Sammy hits the nail on the head when he asks, have you seen the y͟el͜l͘ow sig̵n?

Henry steps in and decides to offer to help him… to get him on our side, and understand that we are not a threat to him, we’re simply trying to remove the same thing from the city. After some pressure, Nero is convinced, and goes through the extremely normal process of Henry writing eldritch symbols with his own blood to remove the sign from him. After the nightmare has been yeeted from his brain, Nero turns out to be a wee bit nicer: he gives us all the info he has, but insists that if we find whatever the pallid mask guy is looking for, to give it to him so he can use it to get the guy gone.

And then he kicks them out without even offering them a ride back to their car at the bar.

Wrow.

What an extremely average super not classy even mob boss. 

That’s gonna get you a terrible review on yellowp my dude.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, it’s time for

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*SHOPPING✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*~~!!

The first store is called Cool Jewel Skull. It has cool jewels and skulls. Surely that’s exactly what it says in the book, because it’s extremely not a legit shop, and Jack spends the entire walk to the next shop dunking on it to keep Joey's spirits up. They did find out that not just the Phantom but Leroy had been through it though!

The next stop is an apothecary, and it does seem a lot more actually occult stuff. The guy recognizes a photo of Leroy and confirms he came through looking for protective charms, but when he went to buy one, he dropped it upon touching it and immediately left?? Then the Pallid Mask guy came through later… Not much info on him, except that he was creepy, but we already knew that. The interesting thing is though, the charm that Leroy dropped? It has the same symbol on it that Henry uses to expel the yellow sign from people’s heads. So… weird that he didn’t take it with him…. And seemed allergic to it as well.

The three leave and try to go to the last shop on the list… but the address is missing from the paper now. Like… completely gone. Joey gets the great idea to try his “I'm going to will myself there” trick and closes his eyes, imagining a route to this store he’d never been to before, and giving Jack directions to drive there. Suddenly Jack slams on the brakes and manages to keep from completely smashing into… a man in a suit… and a pale mask…. There’s definitely a dent in the bumper now though, because Jack wasn’t that quick, and apparently a moving car is not more solid than this thing is. 

Joey immediately starts cursing him out, but he insists that Joey called him?? before going around to the side of the car and opening the back seat door… where Peter is sitting. Not having this AT ALL, Joey tries to beat him out of the car with his cane, only to be thrown back against the dashboard. 

With Jack frozen in terror and Peter having an oddly difficult time moving to even the other side of the car away from this pale jerk, Joey immediately decides he cAN AND WILL RIP THIS ASSHOLE OUT OF EXISTENCE. 

And… somehow, it works.

It sure tears something into him alright, and manages to boot him out of the car, giving enough time for Joey to demand Jack step on it. And Jack, panic stricken, somehow manages to follow the command and at least not run into anything else as they drive off into the night – But just as he’s hit the gas pedal, he does feel the cold of both glass shards and … something else, as  he gets touched by a hand smashing through the window in the last second. 

Luckily Jack bought the first car on the market in the US that had safety glass so he’s not going to be fucked up much from this in the physical department, except for his wallet maybe.

Mentally though? Memories flood in… 

memories of a time he visited a dream with his eyes closed, and almost had his head removed.

After they’re at a safe distance, a shaken Peter manages to pull the door closed. 

And thank them.

[astarionposting]

I’m at work right now, but I feel like doing gifs/portraits of tavs tonight once I get home… if anyone wants to allow me to borrow their tav/oc to make some gifs and portraits, send me a dm and/or ask into my inbox!! <3

I’ll need all the info for their mods and all the customization stuff so I can apply it into my game. Also an idea of what kind of scene/theme you would like + colour palette (since some may want it different from what I usually do)

If you play on console and maybe are missing out on mods (but have an idea of what your modded tav would look like), I’m happy to do so as well ! 😊

EDIT: forgot to add, the photos will be 4K and I can email the original PNG files to you as well for higher quality downloading. The gifs quality aren’t guaranteed to be suuuper amazing because it honestly depends on the length/colour complexity of the gif, but I can also export a higher quality (over 10mb) gif and send it by email if you wish.

ANOTHER EDIT: A lot of people are concerned about if there are a limited number of slots. I have no limit as of right now and will be taking every request that is sent to me until I impose a limit (which I probably won’t). If I receive a lot, it will just be first come, first serve and MAY take like 2-3 days MAX. I pretty much do nothing with my life except play games, sleep and go to work lol.

Thought i'd do a template to make it easier if you aren't sure what I need to know:

Picture of your tav/oc

DETAILS

Name: Race: Head: Body type: Skintone: Scar: Skin details: Eyes: Body art: Piercings: Makeup: Eyes- Lips- Hairstyle: Haircolour:

CLOTHING LIST

head: neck: body: hands: shoes:

MOD LIST

(links to your mods)

THEME

(what kind of scene/theme did you have in mind?)

COLOUR PALETTE

(a general colour palette, e.g. cool tones, focus on blue hues, dark and gloomy or warm tones, focusing on orange/yellow tones, bright and cozy)

[galaxia-art]

[image description: promotional photos of various prints and stickers. in order there is:

An assortment of holographic stickers with eyes that sa “eye motif appreciantion club”

A set of fantasy cat stickers with the colour palette of pride flags

skeleton stickers with a flag (one nonbinary one trans) with the text “the difference between sex and gender is that i didnt have gender with your mother”

various stickers of a person wrapped in a pride flag blanket with the words “gender is a performance and todays show is cancelled due to lack of interest”.

3 stickers of different cat people with flames in the background and various firestarting devices titled “catboy arson, catgirl arson, and nyanbinary arson”

an a5 print of various all for one holders from my hero academia, all holding hands as if passing a torch.

3 a6 prints of mha characters, specifically, uraraka, iida, and tsuyu

an a6 print of a rat with the caption “gender is a cage and i’m the rat that chewed through the bars”

4 different stickers titled “i [heart] mens tits”, each with their own body type

an a6 print titled “top 3 tattoo ideas for if i lose my nipples after top surgery” end id]

Finally opened my etsy account!! it’s here!!

Would greatly appreciate if people took the time to check it out, as it would mean a lot!

also unfortunatly i’m currently only able to ship inside the uk, as I’m trying to get used to selling before i’m able to ship overseas. I dont know how tarrifs and customs work and trying to check made me want to cry. EDIT: shipping internationally now so can send wherever royal mail will take it to!

If you’re looking at any of these but aren’t in the uk, i still have a redbubble!! here that is

lastly if anyone here is near Birmingham next sunday (21st may, 2023), I’m going to be at a queer pop up market at The Flapper, and I’ll have all of this there!

[buckevantommy]

Red, White & Royal Blue: comprehensive watchnotes + review

i want to start by saying we need more queer rep across all genres, especially romcoms because they're lighthearted and fun and depict (queer) relationships in a positive way and the world (especially america) is in dire need of that right now.

as someone who hasn't read the book, i've been enjoying the general hype for this movie. i'd love to know how much the movie differs from the book but for now i'm just going to judge the movie based on its own merits.

in this post i will share my thoughts for key moments (edit: actually it's a bit of a play-by-play and gets a little long, sorry!) as the narrative unfolds and progresses, and then end by highlighting the main hits and misses of the production.

runtime: 1 hr 58 mins

amazon prime content rating: mature 13+ (australia) [link]

plot score out of 6: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

production score out of 6: ⭐⭐⭐⭐   

overall score out of 6: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  

is it worth watching? yes. is it worth rewatching? yes.

note: please read all the way through my watchnotes; my opinion changes as the movie progresses. these are first-impressions so i'm at the whim of the narrative as it plays out and my closing thoughts differ from my opening thoughts.

here we go! screencaps + thoughts below the cut.. 

we start with a reporter voiceover; it's a nice easy way to set the scene and introduce us to each character, i really like this simple but effective storytelling technique.

full disclosure: i didn't love the scene in the car; it's the first time we hear alex speak and see him up close and it reads as a little too camp for the vibe that's been set so far.

i'm surprised the lighting/filters/editing is so muted; i expected more vibrance and richness of colour to the royal setting, it all feels a bit flat.

the line greeting is a fun little scene: we get a decent intro into alex's personality and learn that he and henry aren't strangers but don't like each other - a classic trope, a fun take on enemies to lovers.

we get a peek into henry's character too: his viewpoint on royal weddings being ostentatious - soon to be echoed by alex - reflects very real concerns in present-day uk, the wasteful and luxurious lifestyles of royals while their people struggle to put food on the table.

the cake scene could've been more fun but it seems to kick off a more upbeat narrative; bad reputation is the perfect song choice and the overlay of newspaper headlines and social media snapshots in the intro credits relates well to the modern era; i'm curious whether social media posts were a significant plot-driver in the book.

president uma therman?! with a southern accent?! what a treat.

zahra and alex's dynamic is fun; shahi is perfect in this role.

as alex is sent back to the uk we're now moving away from the almost stuffy introduction scenes with more lively characters and better pacing.

the frenemies setup between alex and henry is great: we start off with them being at odds and will likely see them slowly but surely get to know and like each other (probably with a few bumps along the way). it's like watching a fanfic come to life bc these tropes and characterisations are the bread and butter of fic (and honestly media with hetero pairings don't know how to use them properly). i'm excited to watch their dynamic shift and their relationship grow. 

the photo op handshake scene, the push-pull of it all, henry calling alex 'sweetheart' in jest: the snark between them is so much fun. and this kind of faux affectionate namecalling is actually quite common in hetero romcoms and i enjoy seeing moments like these bridge the gap between hetero and queer pairings; i think if people paid more attention to the common ground of characterisation and character development we would see less worry about showcasing queer relationships, or at least see less plots that focus too much on being queer instead of focusing more on fun plot.  

the underhanded swipes and passive aggressive smiles during the interview should've been more fun than they were; i enjoyed the scene but i'm having trouble attuning to the score music - it sounds like it should be backing a fast-paced kitchen scene, it just doesn't match the vibe of what the story and the actors are trying to do and it feels like stock music (which is what you get in made-for-tv and hallmark movies, bland and interchangeable, without identity).

the children's hospital scene starts out kinda cute then jumps into a minor tense situation quite suddenly without much breathing room; they're shoved into a closet (ha) and proceed to have a heart2heart and clear the air; alex brings a little levity to the moment with his pouting, henry's eloquence is a bit stilted in the dialogue but it's helping to highlight the difference in their education/upbringing; the vulnerability they both exhibit with each other for the first time signifies a turning point in their relationship from squabbling to allies perhaps.

their parting scene (for now) hints at what's to come: a NYE party in the usa. henry gets a little flustered as he shakes alex's hand (the second show of possible attraction after the closet scene; i know nothing of their sexuality at this stage but i'm going to guess henry knows he's gay) - it's a little hard to see, and feels letdown by lack of a closeup shot (the cinematography in this movie isn't great; we should be getting lots of close-ups to get a better sense of their mindsets and to capture the emotional nuances between them; some movies do well without close-ups but this one definitely needs more of them).

we're 20mins in and I'm going to make a guess based on pacing so far: we'll see them hookup soon, then move from friends to love, or friends with benefits to love. personally i prefer stretching out the will-they-won't-they a bit, but this is a movie and a romcom not a 100k fic or a several seasons-long tv show. i'm excited to see their dynamic shift and their relationship develop no matter which route they take, and i'm pleased with the plot so far; i can see so many of these scenes on the pages of a book and being excited to see them brought to life on the big screen, i just hope fans of the book aren't disappointed by the movie. i'm looking forward to delving into their backstories a little more.

miguel is definitely flirting with alex and even hints they have a history which makes alex a little nervous; when it comes to sexuality this makes me think alex has at least experimented with guys even if he hasn't accepted that he's queer - but i don't know what his deal is yet and i appreciate the narrative leaving things open for now bc too many movies and tv shows hit their audience over the head with the (specific) queerness of their characters and reveal it too soon so there's no room to wonder or anticipate.

it's montage time: the use of a text-chain is relevant and fun (graphics) as we follow their correspondence inc. commentary on each others lives as viewed by the public. their (flirty) banter is so cute. i'm not a fan of them voicing their texts as it's mixed with voiceovers and feels a bit busy, but it is engaging; the scene melds are a little confusing at first but i appreciate the visual storytelling meant to bridge the distance between them by putting them in the same room - it's clever and feels fresh in an otherwise stale directional effort, and it means we get more scenes of our boys together despite physically being worlds apart.

it's partytime: no matter what side characters surround them, alex and henry steal every scene, as they should since we haven't established any side pairing or even friendship yet (this could be good or bad depending on how the plot progresses, but i prefer the focus to be on our boys so no complaints here). get low being the song of alex's childhood is hilarious especially as henry points out the explicit lyrics; the visual slow-mo of the crowd getting low leaving henry and alex to stare at each other is a great direction and editing choice! it's little moments like these peppered throughout a good romcom that make it memorable and worthwhile because it's not just going through the motions it's inviting you to enjoy every scene, and i'm so happy to see that in a mlm love story.

here comes the first kiss: i wasn't expecting it in this moment, i thought henry was going to storm off but this works too - unfortunately both covered angles of the kiss are obscured and once again i'm grabbing a megaphone to yell 'we need a closeup!' at the director. it's pretty disappointing to not get a better view and see their facial journeys but at least i know we'll be getting many more kisses - which is maybe why this one wasn't given Thee Big Kiss screen moment, i just hope the camera catches the next ones better.

30mins in and we're over with act 1: their dynamic has shifted.

with henry giving alex radio silence after their impromptu kiss at nye, alex confides in his friend nora - it's the first time we've seen them together in a conversation since the limo at the start and the first time we see them actually talk at length and get a sense of their dynamic and nora's personality; i like her, i want to see more of her and more of their friendship. i'd like to see more from the various supporting characters and i trust the plot can do that without taking focus off our boys, the question is: will it?

we also get more explicit talk, specifically reference to the dom/sub undertones of their kiss, and nora saying alex wants henry to 'dick him down' - outstanding; the same level of sexual chatter is seen often with hetero pairings but with queer pairings you seem to get either g-rated fluff or x-rated drama (that usually ends with them dying or breaking up). i wasn't expecting this kind of language and i'm so pleasantly surprised that they went there.

we get more info on alex's sexuality: he's cool with being 'low-level into guys' but is confounded by his apparent attraction to henry, and when nora enquires about how many male partners he's had the scene is conveniently interrupted - classic - but we get our answer: he's been with 2 guys including miguel. alex knows he's queer but is still hesitant about being with more guys and specifically what to do about henry. 

things start happening: another kiss at a fancy party, another member of their inner circle finding out, sexual banter, their first time together (bj) - a cut-scene, as is appropriate and expected. alex tells henry he's bisexual - it seems like this is the first time he's saying it out loud, perhaps even settling on the term in the moment, and while it might be nice to get a little more insight i'm glad they don't dwell on it - so many queer love stories fixate on the label thing and provide you with a sort of queer identity origin story, and while that's fine for a coming-of-age flik or something with less plot or more angst it's simply not necessary for every queer love story; every flavour of queer rep is yummy but it's a good thing to see media moving away from characters having to explain themselves instead of just being.

henry reciprocates by saying he's gay. it's nicely done, poignant but not stealing focus from the various other plot pieces at play; it's rare to see a coming out that doesn't get heavy so kudos to the writers and the boys here.

we get another insight into their private lives: alex wears the key to his austin home around his neck - texas ie. the state up for grabs in the president's reelection, which may recieve help from alex's proposal (this has been a recurring mention and i look forward to seeing what unfolds); henry has never owned a key which is so telling of a controlled life where he doesn't really own anything.

the bittersweet note of henry regrettably marking their dalliance as 'casual'; you can see they both want more but alex was not expecting nora's words of the closeted prince to thwart this thing between them; they both agree to friends with benefits but ofc they're falling for each other. the little addition of henry nervously fiddling with his ring is a nice character detail.

i like that whenever they make plans to see each other again the plot doesn't dither with B-plots - i don't think we've had a single scene where one or both of them weren't present and they've always been centre-stage. plans for another date are followed immediately by that date: the scene switches between a fast-paced polo match and a rendezvous in an equipment shed. we're getting as many stolen moments - sexy or sweet - as the runtime can fit and again that's so remeniscent of fanfic.

paris: 'prince henry belongs to britain. henry fox has to belong to himself or else he'll vanish' this tugs at my heartstrings and the light angst of it paired with denying alex the chance to comfort him in semi-public is the kind of understated writing that makes an angsty emotional impact without being loud about it.

there hasn't been many good cinematography shots but the europe settings are giving the directors (or b-roll archives?) something pretty to insert with parisian cafes and palace gardens.

henry @ alex: don't fall in love with me, we can't be together but we can have fun. also henry @ alex: 'we should make love tonight, here in paris'. the discussion of who will be doing what is handled with nuance instead of stuffed dialogue; you can do it either way depending on the story but they found the best way to touch on the topic without overdoing it. learning alex has never fully been with a guy is another moment of vulnerability and it should be said they both play these moments well, but even in intimate moments like this we see them being themselves in some measure of levity, reminding each other that they were friends first and remain friends still, that they can be themselves, that there's care and familiarity between them, they're safe. the direction improves during this sequence with close-ups of bare skin - but that intimacy is undercut by switching to mid-shots; the softness of the scene is handled well enough but the lingering mid-shots would be better as short close-ups.

one visual reminds me of that Kill Your Darlings sex scene: 

the sex scene is oddly slow, like the boys are moving in slow-motion, and the movements are a little awkward - an easy fix for this would've been to reduce the lighting in the room; it's very bright so we lose those intimate shadows and the mystery that goes with them.

the golden lit opulence is something that's been done before with gay sex scenes, notably Interview With The Vampire (2022) and True Blood. below you can see the similarities in composition and setting, and how rwrb could've used more shadow and less light for contrast to help heighten the intimacy (they could've still kept it bright if they took inspiration from the Cruel Intentions sex scene): 

as they lay together in the afterglow the wide camera angle catches two condom wrappers on the floor by the bed - a small but mighty detail in both depicting safe sex and stating in no uncertain terms that these two guys had penetrative intercourse.

it's inferred that henry doesn't want to be a royal, doesn't want to live in the spotlight. on the flipside alex loves the opportunity to help people and to be a role model for people like him to look up to.

unfortunately there's a lot of dead air in their d+m pillowtalk scene and it's not the first time this has happened; it comes down to 1 of 4 things: direction, editing, music, acting. the boys play the scene well but their emotion and vulnerability is lost in the wide angle shots - moments like this highlight how poor the direction is, but even bad direction can be helped along by editing and music, but in this scene (and many more) that's simply not what happened; the easiest post-production fix would be to add a musical score to drown out the too-long silence that just reads as awkward; adding some rainsounds and distant thunder would've also worked. but even without a soundtrack this scene could've been improved during filming: it's begging for close-ups and better contrast lighting (everything is still too bright, it looks overly lit like a soundstage not a hotel room).

we end on a hopeful but very dark scene of alex flying home: shots like this need color or light; if i saw this scene out of context i wouldn't guess it was from a happy moment in a romcom (alex's black-gray wardrobe also does nothing to highlight the hope and love he's feeling).

we're just about at the 1hr mark: i want to take a moment to highlight some important plot points about the boys' separate storylines which i'm loving not just for the depth it adds to their characters but for the important subject matter in the present-day: alex's family history, background and ethnicity and what it means both to him and to his country, as well as his passion for wanting to be more involved in politics in order to help people is uplifting. we haven't seen henry's passion explained just yet but the childrens hospital visits and condemning exorbitant royal spending show that he has a heart, conscience and sense. 

we're finally getting some politico plot: president uma, the sneaky flirty journalist miguel, alex's plan to help turn texan voters - yes this is a romcom but i've been hoping they would delve into political matters on both sides of the pond and now here we are; it doesn't come out of nowhere, these narrative threads have been woven in from the start, but it's taken an hour for us to get a dedicted scene (the partial scenes with miguel were overshadowed by his flirting and imho skeevy vibes so i'm glad we're getting other characters in on this plotline).

rather than draw out the drama of mother vs son the plot chooses to skip over the filler and go right to a resolution via mom believing in her son; alex is off to texas to implement his campaign strategy. adventures surely await.

1hr mark: we're halfway done and onto act 2 (3? we're in a new act).

points for the cinematography: the landscape shots are striking and gorgeous and they ground the visuals in a way that the fake snow (nye party), greenscreen DC skyline (white house balcony), and greenscreen paris skyline (through a hotel window) simply didn't. real locations, even pretty b-roll, have been lacking. the campaign office feels real not staged - it may seem like a small thing but it's actually crucial to aid believability, which is also helped along by a backing score and voiceovers from the boys reading their emails to each other (it's almost too busy but they forgo the graphic overlays so it works).

montage time: campaign office and real locations backed by a somewhat rousing musical score and email voiceovers - which seem to overlap towards the end but something is off with the sound layers because one is almost too soft to hear while the other one stays loud. we get a bunch more locations and scenes outside with real sky and sunshine which helps the believability; all the scenes in the white house feel fake so real locations are a win at every turn.

i don't like miguel. his first interaction with alex was kinda fun and intriguing but the more scenes he's in the more i wish screentime was being made for other characters; i don't know if it's the character or the actor or both but i'm just not digging his vibe. if he turns out to be a dbag then it works, but if the plot intends to turn him into a friend i hope his vibe is tweaked moving forward.

alex storms off and henry is suddenly there - the movie has so many shots that linger too long and feature dead air, but it also has a lot of these scenes that aren't given room to breathe; alex should've run into henry in an outer room instead of a prince walking into a crowded bar and claiming 'skullduggery' - it's poor planning and poor direction, but if it was like this in the book it definitely should've been altered slightly for believability, even if only to move them away from the main entrance and many prying eyes. alex basically whisper-shouts that he needs to get henry in his room 'right now' and whether it's sexually loaded or meant to conceal him it fails to be covert on both accounts.

another cut-off sex scene and more post-coital chatting; alex asks henry a bunch of personal things and we learn henry isn't allowed to vote - which relates to alex's campaigning and the fact he (somehow) got 1million voters to register (in an undetermined timeframe). their not-so-casual affair has reached the point of more people finding out: miguel obviously suspects, and now zahra finds herself in the know. we get a butt! and a frantic search by zahra for the 'rando girl'; fun subtext when she finds henry in the closet. there's mention of a percy and i have no idea who that is, and henry confesses he told his sister about them which gets an 'aww' from alex - which is at odds with the whole 'just casual' thing they agreed on earlier; ofc they're both developing feelings but to say them out loud (like in the emails as well) undercuts that nice little angsty moment of when the whole lust-not-love agreement was made after their first time together; did it play out this way in the book? bc right now their relationship reads like a secret romance instead of a secret fling which is fine but it contradicts what they said; pick a relationship and stick with it instead of saying one thing and doing the opposite.

oof, okay: while i love zahra's stresshead freakout i take issue with comments about who tops and bottoms - it's fine to discuss between the boys and anyone else who knows the specifics (maybe nora?) but to have a character with no proof state that she knows (by belittling alex, mind you) is not cool, not cool zahra. alex is quick to say he won't stop seeing henry and again it's playing like a romance not a fling - the least they could do here is focus on henry's reaction but we're not given the chance as the camera follows zahra as she leaves. kudos for zahra giving us 'little lord fuckleroy' and her witty rant but the scene misses several opportunities for close-ups once again.

the next scene takes place in the oval office: it feels like a scene or two are missing; alex comes out to his mom and ellen (literally just realised her name was ellen thanks to the subtitles; i thought the ellen on the posters in texas were for her representative since there were no visuals of her. she's not the only supporting character whose name i don't know) supporting alex. the couch cuddle is an awkward angle and looks more like a cougar cradling her boytoy but points for the president mentioning various queer identities as well as specific safe gay sex practice - has this ever been done? this feels groundbreaking.

it's getaway time: alex's dad, nora, henry, and henry's friend (who we met at nye and whose name i can't rememeber) make up the group. the roadtrip visuals are sad - the wideshot of the desert is drab and looks like greenscreen, there's no sunshine and no fun roadtrip vibes, then we get a road-level driving view of a dusty road with no car in sight (stock footage?) - it's mismatched especially with the greenery surrounding the modern minimalist house they arrive at. alex's email voiceovers are starting to annoy me: his tone is that of a highschool drama student or disney channel energy - it sounds fake. oh, percy is henry's friend from nye.

this is the first i'm hearing of ellen having published a book: fiction or non-fiction? autobiography? this is relevent since henry voiced wanting to be a writer so they may find some common ground when they get to know each other.

another montage: their first day inc. henry showing off his ball skills to alex's dad and them all playing volleyball - it's a pity the weather is drab because sunshine would help lift these scenes particularly bc the production crews haven't bothered adding any filters. we were robbed of alex talking henry through the family photos on display as he leans down to look and the scene cuts away - i wish we were give more of these moments. the club pop isn't what i would've chosen for the montage sequence; there's a difference between eclectic and giving a movie its own musical identity - rwrb doesn't have one, it's a bit of a mess. it is nice to see the boys sharing a hammock in their shorts with hairy legs on display - body hair is not common in young queer media.

the bar sequence has a few odd moments: their entrance vibes make them all look like vamps on the prowl and henry is the new baby vamp; alex's comment about henry being excited for karaoke has no reference point in the narrative so far - all we know is he named his dog after david bowie and now he proceeds to sing queen - and he can sing! and does alex catch a faux kiss from henry on stage? the audio fade as alex gets all mooney-eyed could do with more switches to henry, maybe with their eyes locking - there's just so many scenes that beg for better direction and editing. we get a bit of decent set dressing, blocking, lighting and symbolism - like the shot of henry singing onstage between an american flag and bull skull in blue [re:gay] lighting with shirt to match; bisexual lighting could also be argued with the pink-purple hue or it could be ascribed to love.

i like alex and his father's dynamic, i wish we'd seen more of them together before now. 'patron saint of gender-neutral bathrooms in austin' is another win for positive queer rep especially in america's political climate right now. i'm confused over his father's advice relating to his own relationship: alex hasn't told him about henry or his bisexuality yet(?) so the purpose of 'your mom and i were a stupid idea too' is unclear.

the shots of the wooden platform on the lake: reminds me of the queer coming of age movie jongens. i wonder if it's a nod:

the shot of henry escaping alex's love confession and finding solace in the lakewater is another rare, well done cinematography moment.

alex truly is smitten and it's adorable. henry is more reserved in his affections. we've seen a lot of alex's life and family and heard about his backstory and ambitions, meanwhile henry's side is all but unexplored: 'i can take you around to all the places i grew up and you can get to understand my life a little more' - two points here: 1) i think we've seen enough of alex's life and journey; i hope the narrative shifts to the uk for a bit so we can see henry's side of things but i get the feeling we're going to be focused on alex's journey and i'm worried bc atm the narrative feels unbalanced. 2) it's painfully clear that alex sees them as a couple and i think that's about to blow up in his face bc henry isn't ready for that (as he already stated).

henry cuts alex's love confession short and we finally get a moving backing score (even though it was a little late in the scene). i do love how the story has progressed: henry instigated things at nye, then told alex not to fall in love with him, and now alex is in love with henry and thinking henry loves him too. the next few scene progressions are odd bc we get henry sad alone in bed wallowing presumably about not being able to have a public relationship, then he's sneaking off with his bags in the night - alex's shirtless state suggests they were together one last time but that feels a little underhanded for alex's sake.

we're about 2/3 of the way through at 117mins: alex's personal story had a nice arc to it and now with the boys' separation we move onto henry's personal arc which will likely carry us through to the end of the movie or at least keep focus for a decent while.

we follow henry on the plane and to his home: he's trying to swallow down his pain and move on but still obviously pining for alex. i'm keen to see his side of things and his relationship with his family and royal duties. the soft bittersweet alt-folk lovesong playing in the background is a good choice for mood and lyrics and the plane is better lit than the earlier shot of alex - we even get a pretty sunset through the window; the two scenes stand in opposite: alex was in love but in the dark, and here henry is bathed in the light of riches and a setting sun and is miserable - if that was intentional then kudos bc i love visual meta, but it doesn't immediately read that way and alex's scene still deserves more lighting and colour.

more real locations and natural light: english gardens and sunshine as henry strolls and confides in his sister. alex is fun, but he's a very different vibe to henry and i prefer henry's emotional expression more. i'm glad we're finally getting henry's side, starting with not wanting to break alex's heart, not wanting the king to find out, and resenting the presence of royalty and doubting their need in the 21st century - again relating well to the times, and bringing things back to how alex has inspired him: henry doesn't believe the work royals do has meaningful impact on peoples' lives, whereas alex is out there making a real difference.

the bittersweet lovesong from before resumes over footage of henry playing the piano: missed opportunity to have henry's playing set the melancholy tone over the montage of royal meetings and tea while reading an online article about alex's bright future in politics.

we see nora comforting alex but not percy comforting henry despite mention of him; we didn't even get anything from percy during the getaway and i'm annoyed bc he's almost a non-character, a wasted supporting role.

alex flies to henry: instead of being a grand romantic gesture it's undercut by angst which is a nice change of mood - the storm outside and a rain-drenched alex are perfect.

the palace setting is opulent and looks real even if it isn't, so well done on the location scouts or set designers. the lighting is also really good here. the angsty emotional confrontation is well-scripted but again we lose so much visual impact as the camera just loiters on alex in a mid-shot instead of giving us close-ups of his face and switching over to henry's reception and back to alex. 'my life is the crown and yours is politics and i will not trade one prison for another' - this sounds like a book quote, i love it; we learn that not only does he not want to be a royal but he doesn't want to be with alex bc of the spotlight that he lives in. henry tells alex he doesn't know the real him - fitting for a narrative that has heavily favoured alex's story up til now, the audience doesn't really know henry either; we've seen glimpses but nothing substantial. this scene is a confession, confrontation, venting, resigned acceptance, and fight for love - once again a segment lifted right out of fanfic; it's a little cringey but it's heartfelt, delivered well, and for once the setting feels real - the colors are rich, the lighting contrast is spot-on, and there's a gentle hopeful musical score in the background. this is the sort of love confession scene usually reserved for near the end of movies but we have over 30mins left - i hope they fill that time with alex in henry's world.

sometimes a closeted prince sneaks off to a museum in the dead of night to take in all the naked male statues - am i the only one seeing this and trying not to laugh? it's supposed to be sombre and beautiful but they put two queer characters circling naked male statues and i can only take so much! also: does henry just have a key to the museum? they slowdance to a modern version of can't help falling in love with you - it should be melancholy and romantic but again the lighting fails the narrative, it's too well lit and lacks contrast. henry asks for patience and makes a promise to be brave - this feels like a goodbye (for now).

on the tarmac there's a trading of personal affects: we don't know what henry's ring means (maybe we'll learn?) but it's basically a promise ring in this moment and we've seen it be something of a comfort to his nerves, and we know alex's key is his home - which is where the heart is. 

1hr 30mins: we're onto the final act.

the fade to black after the boys part ways is a very odd choice considering it doesn't happen at any other point in the movie; fades are usually reserved for final scenes so it's a weird fit as we have almost 30mins left.

henry wakes to a scandal: their emails have been hacked and shared with the media, photos of their museum haunt have leaked too but are not shown. who is to blame? a montage of news segments referencing their relationship inc. an interview with miguel which insinuates his involvement - confirming suspicions of him being a dbag.

alex's press conference becomes voiceover to henry facing the music while a gentle piano music track plays - scenes like this out of context could fool viewers into thinking the production quality is better than it is. his speech is overlain with unseen moments of their romance and ends on a hopeful note despite the interspersed scenes of henry looking miserable; this is noteworthy bc while alex is allowed to speak his truth at a press conference henry is shown with people at a table speaking for him and his brother berating him, he has no chance to speak for himself, no freedom.

zahra is supportive but still a comically semi-dramatic stresshead; she's a gem that we haven't seen enough of - and is apparently in a sexual relationship with henry's not-butler; she helps put alex in contact with henry calling them 'lovesick homosexuals' (affectionate). at last we get henry playing the piano and it seems to match the score recently played, but i have a new theory of why his music wasn't used as the backing track: bc not doing so plays into his story of living a controlled life not being allowed any expression of self beit in word or song. alex calls henry 'baby' for the first time on the phone and i wish we'd gotten it sooner.

alex flies to henry to comfort him, support him: the stairwell hug is a little awkward but sweet and one of few good direction choices. henry plays piano for alex, expressing himself freely in his own home - they even play a few notes together of my country tis of thee, expressing their love freely.

king stephen fry as i live and breathe! they cast an iconic, out and proud gay man to play the king and he plays the role so well. in fact this entire scene is so well done not just in how the plot plays out but in the direction: the room is opulent and real and suits wide-shots but we also get close-ups, and switches between the various characters in ways we haven't seen for the majority of the movie; perhaps such a turnaround is a visual choice: to see people individually and up close as henry is freed - but it's a flimsy excuse for the otherwise poor direction we've been subject to. 

henry watches as alex fiddles nervously with henry's ring he now wears; it's a reminder of their shared promise and how close they are to being together no matter what happens. 

crowds gather in the streets: queer identities have gained a lot of ground on equality in the past few decades but they still experience backlash and hate both in the uk and america. to see thousands of people turn out in support of their queer prince, rainbow flags flying, as the king himself tries to bumble through the indefensible claim that only traditional values will be welcome by the people.. what a sight to behold. 'starting today the world will know me for who i am, not who you want me to be'.

back to usa: texas is the turning state that ends up winning ellen reelection. in her victory speech she talks of representing everyone from 'auto workers to transgender students', another win for queer rep. the entire election sequence is directed well and edited well - with inserts of news footage and ellen's voiceover with nothing getting muddied; production is stepping up their game for the home stretch.

alex and henry visit alex's austin home using the key henry now wears; the camera shot of the street is striking and more proof that the crew can give us decent visuals when they try. 'we won' is the shared sentiment as they enter the house - tbh i'm not clear on why: do they plan to live there? is it a matter of sharing more of alex's roots, or the simple symbolism of home is where the heart is? the key ties it together but the meaning is lost, it feels like an odd place to end. the shooting star above the house is cliche but perhaps it has a simple meaning too: wishes do come true. 

the end!

that's it for my watchnotes. below i'm going to talk a bit about plot and production highlights and drawbacks.

the trailer: i didn't watch the trailer before i watched the movie and i think doing so would've heightnened my expectations. it's really well made, sets the mood for a heartfelt romcom, and the song choice of lil nas x is perfect and the whole thing feels like a high quality fanvid - which honestly is what i want in queer trailers because it means the focus and tone is where we want it. but it does spoil a few key moments that i wish were omitted, so i'm glad they weren't ruined for me.

overall plot impressions: i've mentioned a few times that rwrb plays like a fanfic and i stand by that. i think most viewers will see the plot progression and know it's a book adaptation - it has a flow and a busyness that almost doesn't work but they handled the pacing really well. i enjoyed the story! the romance and cute humour balanced well and all the plot points were resolved. i particularly liked that the book didn't make alex a bitter politico baby but instead excited to use his platform to help people - and we see that wish reflected in henry's bitterness and misery over his royal standing bc he also wants to help people. their characterisations and relationship was engaging enough to want to know what happens next, and production failings aside, taking a step back from my messy scene-by scene commentary i think it's a story worth watching. it's not perfect (again, production issues) but it's worthwhile.

things i would change: i mention in my watchnotes that i like the focus being on the boys and not giving us filler scenes with other characters, but as the story progresses it feels like it's missing the inclusion of other characters to help round out the narrative; scenes like talking with friends and family - and not just about their relationship or sexuality but about their lives - i want to see more of the side characters bc they have potential for supportive and tangential plot and could've enriched the story a little more. 

we get barely a taste of other interpersonal relationships with alex helping with the presidential campaign, but next to nothing on henry's side; i was expecting a conversation with someone about the royals' role in modern society instead of just venting to his sister - it feels like a missed opportunity. i also would've liked to see more of henry's life. i'm glad the narrative shifted to give us his side towards the end but i would've liked to see more of his journey.

there's so many elements of henry's story we could've known more about: the hospital visit was so sweet and he usually goes without cameras so it's a personal investment - might he be interested in doing more nonprofit work? we know he can sing, play piano, loves Byron, and wants to be a writer - he's a creative boy, explore that! and what about his relationship with his mother, and when his father was alive? the plot could've switched between the boys during their correspondance showing henry's royal duties and mindset and given more insight into his character instead of focusing solely on alex. alex's story is nicely fleshed out but henry remains something of a mystery and it leaves the story feeling lopsided - time may be the issue so again, perhaps a mini series would've been better, but if it was a choice to keep henry's side unexplored compared to alex's i get it but i wanted more of him. 

i mentioned my confusion over alex's key and henry's ring. i would've liked them to be touched on a little more: is henry's ring of royal lineage significance or from his father? I think his brother was wearing the same one on his finger. on that note, i would've liked to learn more about henry's father: he was an actor, so why not tell us something about his films, have henry or alex rewatching one of his films together over the phone or at least show us a family photo.

for a minute i wished we'd gotten more international relations but that doesn't really suit for adolescent princes; if it was a king and a president or heir prince and president/senator it would've called for that. the political stuff we got was a nice enough amount and I'm glad it was part of the plot. 

more overlay graphics and social media inserts would've been fun - relatable for the modern era. i'm guessing they weren't prevalent in the book otherwise we might have gotten more, or it could've been a budget thing. they weren't necessary for the plot but the styling reminded you this movie is a romcom. 

the main characters: alex and henry are likeable in their respective senses, but it's interesting to note that while alex occupies the majority of screentime and plot, henry [nicholas] is the one who steals every scene; he's mysterious [re:reserved] and vulnerable leaving the viewer wanting to know more about him. alex is fun and charming and vibrant and he brings henry to life, while henry shines in the more tender intimate moments. the development of their relationship works for pacing and there's enough time spent together that the viewer can witness them falling in love.

from a technical standpoint: the movie is lacking. my main issue is with the direction: the lack of close-up shots makes it seem like they didn't have the equipment - but this is fucking amazon! they can afford it! so either they didn't want to spend the money on a queer romcom - which is insane considering the times we live in and how queer rep in media is gaining traction and speed - or the director was so unskilled that they didn't think to utilise close-ups. sadly, the direction is lazy and uninspired for much of the movie with far too many mid-shots when the scenes call for close-ups; it also needs more switching between characters to capture reactions rather than just focus on one person while they monolgue (this could also be a script issue). 

note: when i was skimming through a second time for screencaps i didn't have any issue with the direction; from faraway or if you're not really paying attention the direction and soundtrack are fine. it's when you're hanging on every scene that you feel letdown by the repeated missteps. 

the script was a little clunky. there's a lot of monolgues - fine for a book but they come off a little cliche on-screen and often feel like a stage production. but these instances were made worse by the poor direction and editing teams. however the boys' banter and conversations are always good. 

the overlay of graphics, the scene meldings where they're in the same room, and inset scene segments, are all visually appealing - but aren't consistent throughout the movie. i was expecting more social media and correspondance visuals but they get replaced by voiceovers and montages which don't have as much impact (although the execution of this style is done well). 

the lighting needs work: most of the night scenes feel overlit and fake, lacking shadows for intimacy and just feel all around uncaring and drab. i swear some scenes look like they didn't see the editing room - lots of dead air, which can also be attributed to a directing issue ie. not getting enough shots. high budget romcoms are brighter and have more contrast, use better lighting and filters - and sometimes are too bright and feel too fake - but the overlighting and lack of richness in rwrb leaves it feeling drab; the plot and characters are begging for more colour, more contrast! giving the story what it needs wouldn't have adversely altered the vibe, it would have elevated it to what it deserved to be.

there was a problem with the soundtrack: the score was messy when present, but absent more than present. sometimes the score was too fast or too slow and had no discernible vibe - honestly it sounds like stock music, and while i do understand that romcoms don't need a signature sound they do deserve their musical needs met. there was a lack of musical score in many scenes which resulted in dead air between dialogue; it feels like the music track is missing, and without that atmospheric element the characters are left hanging and the vibe is awkward and unfinished. and the chosen licensed songs are fine on their own but when you cobble them together you get a lack of cohesion, no unified vibe or atmospheres that compliment one another, it feels mismatched rather than eclectic.

when these seemingly small issues pile up and are recurring it affects the quality of the movie and can lower the overall reception; people can tell that it wasn't given the care or money it deserved and then they start to ask why - and you better hope you have a good answer.

the runtime is considerably long: 2hrs is long for a romcom. it makes sense given that it's a streamer debut and not in theatres, and they make good use of the time in progressing the plot and letting love bloom, but while the focus on the boys and their relationship is what audiences are tuning in for there could've been more room for the supporting characters. you don't need side characters to make a good romcom but when the production quality is lacking like it is for rwrb side characters can help add dimension and believability - it's the actors that make up for the failings of production.

i think they could've done a 3-part mini series instead: flesh out their personal arcs more - especially henry - and give the side characters more screentime - nora, percy, henry's sister, zahra, the not-butler, alex's parents; the plot calls for more of them but they're not given the chance which results in the boys feeling somewhat isolated no matter how supportive their family and friends are.

content rating: american content ratings are strange because it skips from pg-13 to 17yo with a guardian? but here in australia rwrb is rated m13+ on the amazon prime app. teens and young adults are the target audience and going by the language used and lack of nudity it makes sense it wasn't given a more mature rating because the content doesn't call for it. basically there's nothing to be censored - which is good in a way, bc it proves you can depict a queer romance with sex without it coming off like a porno. hopefully rwrb will motivate more queer productions and invite audiences to read the book and to seek out more queer fiction.

as for the actors: it's nice to see some fresh faces - i didn't recognise anyone except uma and fry. the diverse casting is also a win with most of the side characters being poc, and a biracial poc in the queer main pairing is a double win.

alex aka. taylor, is the charmer, the enigmatic one of the pair and real easy on the eyes. at times it felt like he was falling back on his good looks, and other times his line delivery was almost farcical and reads as over the top or awkward - but this is something that should've been mitigated by better directing, better editing; it takes a village, as they say. but taylor also gives more than he gets from everyone around him - with the exceptions of henry and nora - which is a shame. i can't help but think taylor would've been better suited to a brighter more energetic vibe for rwrb - the production around him falls flat including most of the side characters (with a few exceptions) who did nothing to brighten the atmosphere let alone elevate it to a standard that shows how much love and care should've gone into creating rwrb.

henry aka. nicholas, may play the more reserved character but he doesn't shy away from taking us on an emotional journey. he has greater emotional range and knows how to use his face and body to convey those emotions whether they be small and private or an outburst of passion. imho nicholas was the shining star of this movie despite getting less screentime; he brought his a-game to almost every scene and i'm sad this was a romcom not a dramedy or drama bc from what he shows us he would do wonders in genres with more angst.

other characters: hilson was great - we didn't get anywhere near enough of her and her friendship with alex; i would've loved to see her own character fleshed out a little if rwrb were a mini series, and i was actually hoping for a friendship or fling/romance between her and henry's sister. shahi's character was a well-placed addition and she tried so hard to nail the comedic timing and tone despite letdowns from the director - and again, we didn't get enough of her. uma was perfect casting in a power postion but she was a little stiff in the motherly role, namely the physical aspects - maybe she's like that in the book but for on-screen it was a little awkward. as for the other side characters we barely saw - percy, shauun, alex's bodyguard and henry's redheaded sister whose roles were so minimal i don't even remember their name - they all held potential for relationships with our boys and their own storylines and are another vote in favor of rwrb being better suited to a mini series.

overall closing thoughts: this one is a winner. is it a masterpiece? no. the biggest letdown is the production quality, but the story and leading men perservere well enough and deliver a decent, fun queer romcom. it plays out like a book in the sense that the narrative is layered and the plot is full, which makes it different to the average romcom which barely has plot let alone good plot. rwrb might not seem like groundbreaking content but a feature-length queer-focused romcom is, even in 2023 - you'd think we'd have more by now but maybe this is the start, maybe rwrb will prove to producers and streamers that the viewership is here and hungry for more. i know there are always issues with adapting books for the screen but with so many quality queer books out there we might be in for an era of queer reads making it onto the big screen and i for one am here for that, across all genres.

[orlafilmblog]

Some extra thoughts...

I have some random extra details I would like to talk about that aren’t worth a blog post each, so here are some fun little details that I have been thinking about!

INT vs EXT

An interesting aspect of the script and the location was the contrast between the vast beautiful expanse of the outdoors and the cramped closeness of the caravan. One of the main reasons for suggesting to Katie that we set the film on a group holiday was because of this ‘trapped together’ sense that is created when you are away with your friends, and I really want to lean into this. There should be a distinct contrast between this feeling of freedom and openness and this crushing close proximity. This also comes into play with the confrontation scene being set in the woods.

The best way to describe this in terms of scenes is that as the night grows slightly darker in tone, and then after the assault happens, we move from exterior to interior locations, trapping Phoebe. We then move to the forest for the confrontation scene. This resembles Phoebe’s attempt to escape back to the freedom from before, however she cannot do this until she has faced Harry and let her hurt be known to him. She then has to face Sara inside the caravan once more before she can reach the true freedom of the loch, where we return to wider shots and vast spaces.

Shifting from Memory to Reality

Something I want to explore in Saint Catherines is how to effectively shift quite drastically in tone, whilst keeping a consistent style. I see the film in two halves, pre-assault and post-assault. Pre-assault, the film should have a memory-like feel to it, specifically Scene 2 and 3. There should be an almost dream-like quality to the free-flowing nature of these scenes. They should not be linear, and should just be montages of individual moments, in the same wat one remembers fond holiday memories. The colours should be warmer and more saturated, and the sounds should follow the edit in their free-flowing nature and fast paced fullness.

The shift in tone should he felt at first between Scene 3 and 4, but only slightly, and should be felt strongly between 4 and 5. Scene 4 is when the film follows a more linear pattern again, and lighting should return to a less saturated ‘normal’, and the sound should level out and calm down, focusing more on specifics. Scene 5 will complete the tonal shift by being just one shot of an isolated Phoebe, surrounded by silence and darkness. This move over these few scenes from fast paced energy and fun to a single quiet shot should hopefully communicate to the audience where the film is going from this point on.

To keep a consistent style, I plan on ensuring that the film still has a naturalistic feel to it, primarily through having every shot handheld. Through the cinematography remaining consistent, it allows for a drastic shift in tone without losing the primary style of the film.

Also, the help me visualise this idea of memory, I looked through my own photos of fun times with my friends to create a sort of 'vibes folder'. It was more of just a fun way to wast time but oh well!

360-Degree Set

I was listening to an interview with Mia McKenna Bruce talking about her experiences filming How to Have Sex (our fave inspiration film) and she mentioned a concept I hadn’t really heard of before: a 360-degree set. She explained that a lot of the rooms and spaces the girls were in were fully dressed sets, with props and things to interact with hidden in cupboards and placed all over the set. This meant during takes, the actors could interact with any part of the room that felt natural. There was mascara wands in the drawers, empty noodle pots in the sink. I loved this idea, and thought it would be great to try and incorporate into Saint Catherines to aid the actors with their performances. Lucky for us, the caravan we are filming in is already full of stuff for us to use, it is a natural 360-degree set!

( the 360-degree set in use)

[bung0u-pr3sch00l]

hey, ik this is kinda dumb but i was trying to make a stimboard account of my own but i can't work out how to arrange the gifs and stuff :( do i do it on mobile or pc?

Hi! Thank you for asking!!! Your question isn’t dumb at all

I do all my stimboard making on my phone!

I use only Pinterest, CapCut and of course, Tumblr!

Here’s a step-by-step guide to how I make stimboards!

I start off on Pinterest. I search using colours and stims that I wanna search for and add ‘stim gif’ to the end, or sometimes just ‘gif’ if I’m looking for gifs of characters or from shows! (Sometimes if I can’t find the result I’m looking for, I result to using Google)

When I find a gif I like, I click the 3 dots in the corner of the gif and download it!

After that, if I find one of the images isn’t a perfect square, just so that the result is more neat, I go to CapCut to correct it! (Tumblr does automatically set your images to similar sizes but it can make the images more rectangular if the sizes aren’t all right and I prefer having perfect squares but it’s up to you!

This is a visual guide to how I do the CapCut editing

I actually forgot to do it here but remember to remove the CapCut watermark at the end! I really hope that visual guide made sense, I really should make a whole separate post for that lol

For the uploading to Tumblr, what I do is pretty easy! I usually add the top caption first but then I go on a separate line and select all 9 gifs that I decided to use! I usually try to visualise what order they’ll be in as I select them (the first thing you select will be top left, fifth will be middle and last will be bottom right) but you can always reorganise them! I find that trickier though… But Tumblr should automatically put everything into a nice, square, stimboard shape!

After that, I add the sub-caption and anything else I want to say!

I then finish it off with my banner thingy and the tags I wanna use (I usually use my usual agere tags followed by stimboard and theme tags!)

Then my stimboard is off and posted!

(For moodboards I do a similar thing but instead of using ‘stim gif’ at the end, I usually use ‘aesthetic’, and I search for ‘deco pacifier’ pics on Pinterest and such! I also just use my photo gallery to edit all the pics into squares since CapCut isn’t needed)

I hope this made sense, sorry it took so long ❤️

[oh-my-damn]

Racism isn’t a human flaw, it’s a behaviour that’s learned from the people around you and the media you consume. Babies aren’t born hating people because of their skin colour, religion, sexuality or gender identity. They learn it from their family, the people their parents choose to spend time with, the types of tv show and movies they let their children watch. People can unlearn that behaviour but it’s always hard to unlearn something and it takes commitment, something Alba clearly doesn’t have. She basically abandoned her career once Chris finally agreed to be seen in public with her and she even photoshopped a yoga teacher certificate cos she was too lazy to actually do the course.

If Chris does marry Alba, he’s basically saying he’s happy for his children to grow up to be racist, fat-shaming anti-semites. And god knows what body image issues his children might have when their mother constantly edits their photos to make them look more aesthetically pleasing. Especially if they aren’t naturally thin, considering Uncle Justin will be fat shaming them.

I don’t know why people make excuses for a 42 year old man who is clearly having a public midlife crisis. One who’s clearly been coddled all his life by his mother and his overly involved best friend. One who clearly needs to see a good therapist to sort his shit out and cut out the toxic people in his life. But it won’t happen, because he surrounds himself with yes people who never call him on his bullshit because they want to stay at his house in Vermont and fly first class to Las Vegas.

[bymerlinsgreattits]

kay, so i was starring at glass onion posters for a while while sick, as one does, and now i kinda wanna say something?

based on this photo alone, we can kinda tell who our dear benoit blanc is interested in and stuff? i’ll elaborate later.

Green: these bitches (non-derogatory?) can’t see miles at all. Birdys hat is so big, she’d have trouble seeing him even if she was turned towards him. And Whiskey? She’s so leaned back and relaxed, she’d break her neck if she tried looking at him, even then, Blanc would be in the way.

Yellow: they aren’t turned away that much, but does that change much? Peg would, much like Whiskey, have to look through Blanc to see miles, plus, she’s only here because of Birdy. Our politician lady, who’s name i totally recall, is sitting so close to this rich dude i can practically smell the lobbying, but also isn’t turned towards miles completely. 

Orange: now, Duke is interesting. He is turned more towards Whiskey than miles, BUT! he could easily look past Blanc to look at the guy.

Red: of cause they know what’s up. their upper bodies are turned toward Miles soooo so much, though ‘Andi’ is almost pointing at him, even. compared to her, Blanc is just vaguely here (which he is, but still). ‘Andi’ is the one with direct beef with miles, after all.

Miles: i did not colour him in, as it seems he tried to colour himself out. he practically blends into his environment, accept for his head. he is uncomfortable and he deserves worse. 

the doc is there.

all in all, great poster, good storytelling from the picture alone. can’t wait to see the spring and winter editions.

[meguemii]

hii!! I have a question. the theme on your profile is so cool, do you possibly have a tut on how to do a similar thing like that? because mine only appears on my computer but i can see it clearly on others profiles on my phone

hii anonymous!! I’m really glad you like the theme of my profile. I’m not 100% how to give a tutorial but I’ll try my best ‼️

I designed my profile on my phone so I hope this helps.

The Entire Rundown of Creating a Tumblr Profile— With Screenshots

Part One. Editing Appearance

Find two photos you choose to make your header and your profile picture I try to colour match mine as much as possible, you’ll see they have a pink tint to them.

You’ll go to your profile and pick the little paint palette which’ll bring you to editing it. On the second photo I colour coded it (just incase) purple is what changes the background and your accent colour changes your bio and blog’s colour.

┊┊❁ཻུ۪۪♡ ͎. ｡˚ 　　°

Part two. Ask Page

The you can go to settings and find your ask page title (I can only see it on my computer as well but it’s there on your phone I promise, it was really confusing for me as well because I could see it on other peoples blogs just not my own. If you look at the very first picture you can see it’s not there)

Make sure you have everything allowed minus allow others to blaze or show top post because they aren’t associated with your ask page

┊┊❁ཻུ۪۪♡ ͎. ｡˚ 　　°

Part three. Inbox

Your inbox is in settings as well, which is where you’ll see your asks or you can see them from your notifications. Have fun designing a profile you’ll love!!

I hope I answered your question right and if I did but you’re still having troubles or want ideas feel free to DM me (this goes out for everyone), I’d love to help you out since I wish someone could have helped me when I first made my blog❣️

BYE BYE

[simfluencer-network]

updated links:

@notjustabooksims cc archive: here

jumper (compressed package): here

More information and previews ▼

Hello everyone! So yeah – another piece of CC. Have I lost my ability to type stories and take pictures? Maybe. A bit. Or maybe I’m just on a bit of a CC roll and I can’t stop making new items. This time, I bring you a cozy jumper, named for cardamom. It puts me in mind of spicy chai and autumn and I hope you’ll enjoy it. Let’s have a look at it. 🙂

About the Jumper

New mesh by yours truly!

For young adult/adult females.

Custom CAS/Launcher thumbnail.

Shows up as a top under everyday and career.

Disabled for random.

Fully recolourable with three channels: the blouse itself, the sleeves, and the cuffs.

Comes with three presets, as pictured: one textured green, one striped plain-textured, and a textured dark brown.

8,900 polys = VERY HIGH. Recommended for photos, not gameplay.

Has morph states.

Presets

Channels

Known Issues

It has some shadows in CAS, but these aren’t visible in game.

It may clip with certain bottoms, as pictured. (Lol, these trousers clip with everything).

There is some wonky bone assignment under one arm. I just couldn’t find a way to fix it, but since it’s fairly small and easy to edit out as well as only present in rather extreme cases, I left it. (Remember, this IS only intended for photo-taking, not gameplay!)

The top looks better in the textured variety (1st and 3rd preset) or with patterns and in darker colours rather than light. Plain versions… they’re just not the best for this one. The chunky knit is how it was intended, really. 🙂

(Not really an “issue” as such, but I regret adding darts at the boobs. It’s a jumper, not a fitted top wtf is wrong with me?! Maybe some day I’ll make a better jumper, but I think this can still have some use).

Credits

Software: Blender, GIMP, TSR Workshop, Milkshape, PhotoScape, Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer.

Chunky knit texture: Tiling Textures

Ribbing knit texture: Tiling Textures

Download | Cardamom Jumper

Yay! So, this one isn’t perfect - far from it - but I still think it’s a cute, cozy jumper. It features a boat neck and a chunky knit texture that I think is super cute. :)

You can download it at ma bloggy blog.

[f0point5]

I do like simple suits as well, maybe a pop of dark colour generally. But not at the MET. This one time of the year, I'd really love to see some insane creations in men's fashion as well.

But yeah I do agree on the rest. And I have no idea how much time is given to the designers, like when is the theme revealed. But I just often get the impression they're not even trying. And I often get the vibe that most men are kind scared to do something flashy and scandalous because that would reflect bad on them? But the met to me always felt like a glorified dress up party, so you could wear whatever you wanted and I still wouldn't think that oh so Hugh Jackman is gay because he wore that to the met ya know?

Yeah that’s totally valid. I just think most of the time when I see what is considered creative in men’s fashion I have trouble appreciating it as art rather than kind of assessing how much it would irk me if my boyfriend wore that outfit. It’s like the girl version of the male gaze for me idk 😂 but I do get that considering these men are the invitees and not just the plus ones that they should be making more of an effort to stay on theme considering how women get roasted for not trying.

I feel like sometimes with designers, especially the commercial ones, there’s an element of them wanting to advertise themselves and that becomes more important than staying on theme. Like Jennie Kim, she was just a walking Alaia advert, her dress was literally just what was on the runway at fashion week. And same with the guests, especially those who aren’t “A list”. They’re concerned with avoiding the worst dressed lists etc.. I think the ones who really go all out are the designer/celebrity combinations that appreciate fashion as art form, and they’re normally the celebrities who reflect that in general. Like Zendaya has always been really into fashion and her styling has always reflected that. Same with Gwendolyn Christie.

I low-key wish they would do away with themes for the gala and just have a regular black tie dinner because the outfits have been disappointing since like 2017. Then they could a special edition photo book to coincide with the exhibition and include guests of the gala but choose their outfits for them and work with designers who understand the theme and curate outfits. It seems pointless to just keep demanding people stick to a theme when they’re clearly more interested in self promotion.

And I think the thing with men ties into that. The men invited, or at least the ones I often see on the carpet, are very often relevant or up and coming stars, eg. Josh from Challengers (forget his last name), or Jonathan Bailey. They’re just making names for themselves, they can’t really afford to be introduced to a new audience wearing a something that looks like it was thrifted from Louis XIV when they have to appeal to an often female audience. And that’s not to say anyone would genuinely be questioning their sexuality, I think most of us are more evolved than that, but you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression on your audience or even the people you meet at the gala networking. I think they probably feel the need to project as much of an “Everyman” vibe as possible. Which I do get.

As I said, I think the theme idea is nice but it’s not inspiring the outfits in the way it once was.

[gadgetsboy]

Tech News Roundup: OnePlus AI, Pixel 8a Leaks, and Goodbye Google Podcasts

It's been a busy week for tech news - while some news days might seem slower than others, there's always a tasty tidbit of information lurking just around the corner. With that in mind, we're recapping some of the biggest updates and announcements from the tech landscape this week - everything from smartphones, software, and more. In case you missed them, here are some notable updates this past week. OnePlus Unveils its own AI Editing Software OnePlus recently announced that it was moving forward with its plans to integrate generative AI software into its smartphones, and as such recently announced its new "AI Eraser" feature. Simply put, it's OnePlus' own take on features like Google's very own Magic Eraser, which lets users remove unwanted visual elements from the background of their photos. According to OnePlus, the AI Eraser feature will begin to arrive for OnePlus devices globally starting from April. Several phones including the OnePlus 12, OnePlus 12R, OnePlus 11 and OnePlus Open will be compatible with the feature, while handsets for users in Europe will begin to receive these features later in Q2 2024. Google Bids Farewell to its Podcasts App In a move that has once again revived talks of the dreaded "Google Graveyard," the Google Podcasts App has finally been shut down. It should be noted that this has been a long time coming, with Google announcing several months back that the small user base was a key point of consideration in shutting down the podcasts app. Part of the announcement reads: "Looking forward to 2024, we’ll be increasing our investment in the podcast experience on YouTube Music... as part of this process, we’ll be discontinuing Google Podcasts. As part of this process, we’ll be helping Google Podcasts users move over to Podcasts in YouTube Music." The Pixel 8a Gets Leaked... Again Google can't seem to get things right when it comes to leaks. Time and time again, its various Pixel phones have appeared on the internet way before the intended launch date, and the same goes for the Pixel 8a. Most recently, the phone appeared in a Google Fi ad, at least according to a user which managed to save the image and share it online. The ad shows the Pixel 8a in two different colours, including a blue variant and what appears to be a white model. Upon closer inspection, it's clear that the phones in the ad aren't the Pixel 8, due to the lack of a microphone between the camera lenses, as well as the flatter camera bar. Mobvoi Updates Several TicWatch Models In a recent announcement, smart wearable brand Mobvoi stated that it will provide a new software update for several of its smartwatches, which include the TicWatch E3, TicWatch Pro 3 GPS and TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS. The updates come with version numbers RMRB.240228.002 and RMKB.240228.004, so TicWatch owners might want to keep an eye on their devices for the new update. In addition to the latest security patches, the updates also come with an option to pick a desired shortcut for the secondary function key (which somehow disappeared in a previous update), as well as a fix for problems with Bluetooth calling functionality. The Star Wars KOTOR Remake is Still Alive A few years back, it was announced that a remake of the highly-popular Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic RPG was in development, with developer Aspyr set to handle production on the game. Eventually, the task was handed over to Saber Interactive, although not much has been heard about the game's status in recent years. With that being said, Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch finally revealed that the KOTOR remake is still under production over at Saber Interactive, following the latter's split from Embracer Group. Karch states: "It's clear and it's obivous that we're working on this... It's been in the press numerous times. What I will say is that the game is alive and well, and we're dedicated to making sure we exceed consumer expectations." Read the full article

[tmblrpicsjusthaveavibe]

These new porn blogs they just don’t get it like babes what the fuck COME ON stop posting pictures (uncredited by the way) of CHILDREN (18,19,20yo). There are hairy daddies RIPE for the picking.

Things we need less of:

Abs. Get rid of it. We’re doing dad bods (ACTUAL dad bods) now, catch on or delete yourself.

Men who won the genetic lottery and do fuck all but get so much unnecessary attention.

Broccoli haired boys

Conventionally attractive men just existing.

Tiktoks of guys smouldering at the camera or squeezing fruit - I am going to vomit, pick up a trade for fuck sake.

Size queens and photoshopped dicks. I am going to go feral if I see one more of you cunts edit a picture to enlarge the penis of a man WHOM WE ALL KNOW has a tiny dick. Leave his dicklet alone.

AI photos. self explanatory. I’m single but even my life isn’t so pathetic that I need to use AI to generate an image of a photogenic man.

Things we need more of

Real men, average, not fit, not hung, not conventionally attractive, TRANS MEN. Fuck off with your “it’s just a preference I want masc for m” throw yourself face first into setting concrete.

Varying degrees of hairy men, including patchy beards

Men of colour - not in fetish or dedicated blogs. If you still in this day post pictures (that aren’t yours) of WHITE jocks, you are too old to be using this website.

COLOUR photos. You are not hoscos. Stop the greyscale, unless the original photo is like that.

Sourcing. Put the name of the photographer and subject(s) in the CAPTION (not just the tags). Some of us use the tumblr feature called filters. It lets us avoid seeing posts of things we don’t want to see. Contrary to minority belief, this includes the men you think are attractive. And if you happen to find a tumblr man, reblog his picture. Don’t save it :) don’t fucking save it and post it without tagging him.

You need to physically recoil, and gag, when you see the instafit, twitter gay, tumblr gay hot, “no fats no asians no whatever tf else they say” men. Let them know that toxicity is not gonna fly. Starve them of their OF income.

And! One last thing. If you, a grown ass man, think shirtless tiktok teens (the broccoli hair boys) are hot, and you think posting pictures of them is totes harmless and uwu fine, PLEASE, give us your full name, date of birth, and full address, and why not a selfie while you’re at it. I super duper pinky promise we won’t report you to the authorities.

TLDR: Just put a little more effort into your wank bank and be a better person allllllllllll round.

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

Piracy update! I made sleeves and labels for my DVDs, so now they can look super cool and pretty while living on my shelf.

I made different covers for all of them, with pictures of some of my favourite moments from the episodes that are inside. I'm super proud of how they turned out. The blending especially on the fronts of the first and second cover went really well I think, also some of these pics are Aaron's official bts photos and they so good. The mermaid picture was honestly a bit of a dick about blending, but it's The Mermaid Moment, I couldn't make a cover for this episode and not have The Mermaid Moment on it. Several other things were a given as well. The Ed on the third cover is my favourite pic of him, look how happy and at peace he looks. Also gotta have cursed suit Stede (kudos to @sherlockig for both of those, they are some of the few pics where I'm sure who uploaded and edited them, and they're the best).

I splurged on glossy photo paper for printing these out, and that was a great decision, the quality is so much better than anticipated. Looks super professional, really dark black, deep colours, super shiny. I'm so happy with them.

Here's a look at the spines. All of my piracy projects sitting next to each other on the shelf where they belong! Next to the one official fave show physical media I was able to buy lol. (Good Omens S2 DVD project post here.)

If you do something, may as well go all out: Disc labels!

Designing them was a blast. I reused the design with the ship I did for the on-screen menus, put the episode titles, and then added little Stedes and Eds. (Like with all the designs, I followed the rule that the pics on anything have to be from the episodes that are inside.) Look at the first case, they're looking at each other! In the second case they are not looking at each other, because this is the sad part where they aren't together. Little Ed is drinking. :( But in the third case they are together again! On disc five they are a united front against the drama lesbians, and yeah, I knew what my disc six pic of them was gonna be the moment I saw it first. They may have cut it from the show, but it'll be on my disc forever.

Printing the labels was a fucking nightmare. I had a few pages of premade disc labels (sticker paper with perforated circles of the right sizes, so no cutting, yay). Already printing the sleeves took a good amount of test prints and template tweaking; I don’t know why printing exactly to scale is still so difficult in 2024. I think Crowley was involved in designing printers. The things are definitely haunted. Printing a rectangle to scale? Difficult, but okay. Printing two circles to scale, in the exact correct position? Oh god I cursed so much. But look at them, aren’t they beautiful? Definitely worth all the sweat and tears.

It's home cinema manufacturing time! 🏴‍☠️ Gonna put my pirate show on my shelf! (I'm doing an Arts and Crafts Project and I'm making it everyone's problem.)

After seeing how much they cost, I abandoned the idea of getting a Blu-ray writer for now. For the time being, good old DVDs is what it's going to be! My TV is old and not very big, so DVD resolution is gonna be fine.

It's been ages since I last burned a DVD. For the full experience, I'm gonna create nice menus and pretty sleeves for the boxes. Graphic design is my passion! Um.

Well. First needed to find a program to do stuff with. I'm a Linux guy, so I'm using Devede. (Which is free, btw. In case someone else wants to do a low cost spot of putting pirate show on the shelf.)

DVDs fit a maximum of 120 minutes of video. So, four episodes, I thought. But after a quick attempt, the program refused to do more than three (maybe because of the menu also taking up space, and four episodes cutting pretty close to the 120 min mark?). Anyway, three episodes per disc it is. It's a pretty nice runtime for watching the entire disc, IMO. An hour and a half, and then you can return to reality to realise you should probably eat something, or go to bed because it's midnight.

OFMD with its current two seasons has a total of eighteen episodes, which is divisible by three. You get the following setup:

Disc 1: Pilot, A Damned Man, The Gentleman Pirate - That's pretty good, Stede's introduction to piracy all on one disc!

Disc 2: Discomfort in a Married State, The Best Revenge is Dressing Well, The Art of Fuckery - All bangers. Great to watch together, our boys meet and shenanigans happen!

Disc 3: This is Happening, We Gull Way Back, Act of Grace - Many romantic moments, lots of great scenes, shit hits the fan at the end there. Alright!

Disc 4: Wherever you go, there you are, Impossible Birds, Red Flags - ... Pain and angst! What have I done!?! The disc of horrors. Gotta make sure to have tissues at hand when I watch this. But hey, it also has messy bun Ed! Small mercies.

Disc 5: The Innkeeper, Fun and Games, The Curse of the Seafaring Life. - Another disc with all winners. I love all these episodes so much! (You can watch this disc to recover from the trauma of the previous one!) But seriously, this one slaps.

Disc 6: Calypso's Birthday, Man on Fire, Mermen - Great combination again. Season finale! Love and excitement!

... Honestly, except for the psychological damage of putting all the most painful episodes together, this is coming out pretty cool. Says a lot about how good the show is. I actually really love all the episodes (yes even the painful angsty episodes of massive depression). Thinking about this little project really reminded me how much I love this entire show.

So, we got a tracklist, now menus, then we can burn this stuff!

I did the menu backgrounds in GIMP. Realised I have a big folder full of screenshots I took myself, screenshots someone else took and posted on Tumblr, official promo pics for the show, and I have no idea anymore where most of them are from, because I named the files according to what's on them. Which is useful for when you want to find pics (Need a picture of cursed suit Stede? I have files named that, easy peasy!), but not so great if you wanted to give credit to whoever took a given pic you used. (It's probably @sherlockig or @ofmd-ann or @blakbonnet. Please feel credited, your beautiful screens and gifs brighten my day, and some of them are now probably part of my DVD menus. Shrunk down and cropped, but, yeah.)

I originally wanted to structure my menus as having the title of an episode, then some pics from it, then the next episode, then pics from that, and so forth, but I couldn't convince the program to give me the necessary padding between the menu items, so I ended up just putting the episode images below the menu. Still like it.

Anyway, DVD menus can also play sound! Behold a crappy video of my beautiful creation (provided entirely for sound):

It plays Gnossienne N°5!

More crappy pics of my other disc menus:

Gonna make them some nice sleeves next. Some day. Gotta make sure they all work properly first. So. I'll be on my sofa, watching my DVDs. With menus!

[processandenquiryemmamilligan]

3D development using Digital Editing

- I decided to try and edit some of the images I took of the sculpture I made as I found certain areas of them quite interesting. The images themselves aren’t the best but the details with the emergency blanket and the reflections were really fun to manipulate digitally. Even though the images didn’t end up looking the way that I had hoped the ones against the plain white background did as it created some shadows that made the images look atmospheric.

- When editing the images, I decided to increase the saturation as using colour is one thing I constantly aim to do. Along with increasing the saturation I also played around with the colour hues and the opacity of the images as I found that the emergency blanket just made the photos look too dense.