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novelmonger · 4 months ago

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I wasn't expecting it to take this long, but after a million distractions, I'm back to going through the LotR audio commentaries and taking note of any interesting tidbits I haven't heard before.

Please enjoy my notes on the RotK design team commentary with Richard Taylor, Tania Rodger, Grant Major, Alan Lee, John Howe, Dan Hennah, and Chris Hennah:

They had to make Deagol's ears out of waterproof gelatin rather than latex because he was going to fall in the water, and the normal latex ears would have come off. I guess they must have done the same any other time a Hobbit got submerged, but they didn't say that.

The fish that Gollum eats at the beginning is made from some kind of edible gelatin so he could actually bite into it. They also had another prop fish that wasn't edible that they gave Andy Serkis to keep at the end XD

The little stone hollow thing where Frodo and Sam are sleeping for their first scene in the movie was a set they built with a removable back wall so they could get a camera in to shoot it from the back as well as the front. Why did I never think of that before?

There were a couple of extra shots they needed of Orthanc in the background to finish up the movie, but they hadn't managed to get the footage from the miniatures (and I guess the miniatures were gone by that point? idk). So they took one of the model collectibles Weta had made and took some photos of it out in the parking lot XD

Whoooooaaaa! Okay, so Alan Lee talks about how, in legends, they say that you have to kill a wizard three times for him to stay dead. And Saruman dies "three times" - first he's stabbed, then he's impaled, then he's drowned. So Saruman is dead dead. Dare I say it? This is...I think this is a better death than the one in the book ._.

They even put carvings on the crossbeams underneath the seats of the chairs in Edoras! You are never ever going to see them, but that was their dedication to making everything feel authentic. That's what sets this apart from so many fantasy movies and shows made these days.

Red in the costumes is meant to suggest royalty. That's why Aragorn, Boromir, Theoden, and Theodred all have red in their costumes - as well as Bilbo and Frodo! You're meant to look at someone wearing red and unconsciously think, "there's something regal about them."

John Howe points out that you probably wouldn't ever reforge a sword like they do with Narsil, at least not in the sense of putting the pieces back together, because it wouldn't be as strong as it was originally. (You could melt it down and start over again, of course.) But, he reminds us, these are the Elves, and it's more of a symbolic thing anyway.

The great hall in Minas Tirith was inspired by Charlemagne's chapel (and Byzantine architecture was one of the main influences on the design of Gondor in general).

The statue of the king in Ithilien was made out of polystyrene, which you would think would be pretty light, but it was so huge it was actually very heavy. They had to transport it to the location in three pieces: the base, the body, and the head. And to lift one on top of each other, they had to rig a sort of pulley system over the limb of a tree, using a four-wheel drive truck to pull it. But they discovered that the first truck wasn't getting enough traction, so they hooked a second truck up to it, and ended up pulling the first truck up into the air along with the statue!

They created fourteen new weapons just to put in the background of the armory in the scene where the Witch-King is getting ready for battle @_@

John Howe said that his inspiration for Minas Morgul was...getting his wisdom teeth pulled??? He describes a metal clamp digging into the perfectly healthy enamel of his tooth to pull it out, and draws a parallel to the metal pieces the orcs fitted to the top of the pristine white parapets, staining and violating them. Um...thanks, I could've done without that visual, John.

I can't believe I never thought about this before, but there's a little wooden roof over the pile of wood for the beacon that Pippin lights. The reasoning behind that is you need some kind of cover to keep the wood more or less dry for when it needs to be lit in an emergency. The beacon will burn away the wooden roof, but it can be replaced easily enough, and it's worth it to be able to quickly light the beacon.

A lot of the saddles they used were ordered from the Indian military, because they had a good, old-fashioned sort of look to them. Then they would add onto the saddles with things that would make them look distinctly Rohirric, rather than Indian.

Alan Lee's daughter worked on some of the figures in the doors of Minas Tirith!

John Howe goes off on this whole tangent about how there's no religion or religious structures in Middle-Earth, and why that might be, but the whole time I was just sitting there going, "...have you never read The Silmarillion????"

Because they had to make over a hundred suits of Gondorian armor, other than the hero suits, they couldn't make each one exactly the right size for the man who would wear it, so the casting department had to only get actors within a certain range of size. They also built the suits of armor with sliding pieces, so they could be somewhat fitted to different sizes.

The horses started out as being part of the art department's responsibility, but as time went on, there were just so many horses they had to keep track of (and the various liveries they would have to be fitted out with) that they had to make a separate horse department to oversee it all.

Because so much of the movie was filmed on-location, in some very remote locations, they had to make a sort of caravan of mobile repair stations that they could take with them. They had all the tools and crew necessary on hand wherever they went so they could repair broken props or ripped costumes, reapply makeup for gore and injuries, take nicks out of the edge of weapons.... It was really like moving an army around!

For the dream where the Evenstar breaks, they made a version of it that was five times bigger than normal, out of a very brittle resin. Then they made an oversized section of the floor and dropped it from a great height so it would completely shatter in a dramatic way like that.

Anduril was John Howe's design. He based it on a sword belonging to a friend of his in Germany, which to him is the ideal sword, the most beautiful sword. He also talked a bit about how Men were taller and bigger in the First and Second Ages, so their swords would have been longer.

John Howe: "Why do people criticize Tolkien for not developing his characters sufficiently? I cannot fathom that kind of criticism. I think it's done by people who don't read between the lines."

Richard Taylor said they had a lot of fun gathering up all the skulls after each take in the Paths of the Dead to put back up at the top so they could be poured down again. Apparently Viggo liked to gather them up and try to throw them at the crew members! "Many hours of skullduggery was to be had," as Richard put it XD

Apparently, they'd made dozens of really finely detailed silicone heads to be lobbed over the wall of Minas Tirith, but then all but one of them were stolen! So they had to quickly put together some crude latex ones to use in the shoot instead (one of which the mayor of Wellington threw). They didn't talk about this, but I'm assuming the one good head that was left is the one that gets a close-up. You have to wonder who out there was sitting around with a bunch of highly realistic latex severed heads in his basement or something....

While most of the siege towers are miniatures or CG, they built the top third of one and put it on tracks so they could move it up against the wall. They built the set with breakable ramparts for when the little drawbridge thing crashes down.

They had the same trouble in Minas Tirith that they did in Helm's Deep, with the battering ram being too heavy for the stunties to lift. But they never actually explained how they got around that problem, if it was the same solution or not :/ All they said was that they had replaceable panels in the doors, in case they were damaged by the battering ram.

In order to make Shelob's webs, they had to heat up two polymers and mix them together to make the stringy, sticky material. In order to mix them, they had to be heated up to 220 degrees C, but if they got up to 228 degrees, they would burst into flame @_@ After they were heated and mixed, they would dribble the mixture on top of a vat of water, where it would cool in spiderweb-like shapes. Then they would lift it out on a frame, and they could carefully place it on the set. One time, the polymers did burst into flame, and they were running out of fire extinguishers to put it out! O.O Eventually, they did call the fire department, who said they'd done everything the fire department would have done. They got the fire put out, but it was a nerve-wracking moment, because the room where they were making the webs was connected to the studio, so it could have been disastrous D:

Bernard Shaw apparently got the idea to do that whole bit where he knocks his sword against the row of spears when he saw the collection of spears all lined up in a row in the art department.

The "oil" that Denethor pours over himself and Faramir is a mixture of glycerin and water. (I always wonder about these things, so I'm really glad they mentioned it.)

When they were filming the pyre scene, they had a silicone dummy for Faramir on the burning pyre. Apparently somebody on the crew brought "David Wenham" a cup of coffee over because they thought he'd fallen asleep on the side of the set, only to discover that it was a dummy! XD

The horse rig they made for close-up work of people on horseback got affectionately nicknamed "the Phony Pony." The first day they brought it on set, Peter Jackson got up on it and "rode" the horse, making the whole crew laugh XD

One of the ideas that Peter Jackson came up with for the mumakil in a brainstorming session (which Richard Taylor says he's still not sure if PJ was serious about or not) was that they could suck up several riders in its trunk and then fire them out like bullets. I'm...really glad they didn't go with that, whether PJ was serious or not <_<

Alan Lee says that the first time he saw the dead mumakil that Weta made for the set, the body was hollow, and some of the crew had set up a TV inside it and were watching a rugby game XD

The last miniature they built for LotR was the Minas Tirith docks where the Corsair ships come in. It kept getting put off until almost the end of the shoot, so they only had five days to put it together! @_@

All of the dead horses are fake, of course, so Weta had to make them all. They were made of lightweight material, so each day you'd see the set dressers just kind of casually carrying in a whole dead horse and then picking one up from the battlefield afterwards like it's no big deal. They had to do a lot of repairs to the dead horses, because the legs and ears kept falling off or getting bent the wrong way XD

The stone Watchers in Cirith Ungol have Maori influence in their design. I wish they'd talked about that in more detail, but it was just mentioned in passing.

They were concerned about the various copies of the One Ring being stolen, so they kept it in a lunchbox that was labeled "Screws."

The scene where Frodo and Sam join the orc convoy was filmed on location up on a mountain, so they had to deal with a whole bunch of extras in extensive prosthetics and armor, which would make them sweat while they were moving around, but then when the camera wasn't rolling, it would be a challenge to keep them warm. The way they did most of the orcs was that they wore a rubber mask and then a helmet, and they would need to take them off at regular intervals so the actors could get some air. So in between takes, after the director called, "Cut!" there would also be a cry of, "Heads off!" That meant the dressers would have to rush into the crowd and quickly take off the extras' helmets and masks XD

Because the crew was committed to not damaging any of the flora and fauna in the places where they were filming, even in the location that became the plains of Mordor that Frodo and Sam struggle across, there were little flowers and moss that they wanted to protect (and it was a national park). So they would lay down carpets on the ground for people to walk on, so they wouldn't damage the plant life. I'm sure that made for a strange sight, Frodo and Sam struggling in tattered clothing over rocks and boulders, surrounded by perfectly ordinary rugs XD

To do the decapitation of the Mouth of Sauron, they had a headless dummy sitting there, and Viggo would swipe his sword where the head should be. Then Weta Digital put in the head afterwards.

The lava in Mount Doom was mostly a miniature (except for the set where Sean and Elijah did their part), made from methyl cellulose and other things to make it look like lava. They set it up on a table that they would tilt so it would flow down around the model boulders made from urethane.

Richard Taylor said that, at that time, no one had really done a very good CG bird, so he was especially pleased at how the eagles turned out.

There were about 400 people working in the art department total, and most of them had never worked in the film industry before! @_@

Ngila Dickson's philosophy for the Elves was that none of their "crowns" or headpieces would go upwards, but would fit close around their heads and then go down. That's one of those things I've subconsciously noticed all these years, but never really thought about before.

Apparently, a little bit of the graphite used on Aragorn's armor in the coronation scene kind of puffed out when he and Arwen go in for their kiss, and got on Arwen's dress D: And some well-meaning person tried to rub it off, but only succeeded in spreading it around further, thus ruining the dress. And most of the female characters only had one copy of each costume, because all except for Eowyn don't see battle and thus don't need different versions with varying amounts of wear and tear. They're just made to wear in one or two scenes of them looking pretty and walking through a room. But alas, that lovely green dress was ruined.

They didn't have much time with Sir Ian Holm, so they only had a week to get a mold of his face and make the old-age prosthetics for the Grey Havens. But then word came down that he didn't want to have prosthetics, so they were to just make him look old with makeup. They were really disappointed, but then on the day, Ian Holm saw the prosthetics sitting off in the corner and asked what it was. When they explained, he said it wasn't true, and insisted on them putting the prosthetics on instead.

One thing that was really impressed upon me during this whole commentary (over all three movies) was just how much love and joy all of the crew had for the project. Sometimes you watch a movie or read a book that really means a lot to you, that's changed your life, and you wonder if the people who made it fully grasp what a beautiful thing they've created. These people know. They were fully aware, from start to finish, that they were making something truly great and worthy of praise. And I think that's beautiful.

#lord of the rings #lotr #return of the king

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reds-skull · 2 months ago

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The frames of the video from the comic in the previous post. I experimented a lot with this, it was really fun to work with this chunky brush I found. Also the first time I draw the Reaper of Destruction as it was before Lumity!

More comments under the cut+a frame I ended up scrapping!

I'll go by order of appearance, because it's basically a chronological retelling of the events of part 1.

So the first frame is the least fancy because it was the first and I didn't nail down a style for this yet lol. It shows Ghost and Soap's first true meeting, in chapter 1, where Ghost helps Soap when he gets impaled by a rebar.

The second frame jumps to chapter 8, when Ghost first put Soap in Limbo. The triangle around them was a later addition, taken from the next frame. I love this scene, it's so fun to see it drawn out now :)

The third frame was the most important one to nail the style. I painted a whole frame, only to come back to it the next day and restart from almost 0.

This is the original third frame

They both show the same event - chapter 21, the second time Soap is thrown into Limbo. The difference is, one shows a more literal image of what happened, and the other is more symbolic.

And by now I think you know how much I love symbolism lol

What also bothered me with the scraped painting is that the composition isn't central, and the entire pose, while more dynamic, isn't fitting the mural feel the rest has.

There's an even earlier version of the scrapped painting, with Soap's face, but nowhere else there are faces in these series, so I went wild with it and covered it with flames. He had them behind him already, as the description of this scene in the fic says Soap had a helo of fire behind him.

(also hated how Limbo's victims looked in the scrapped version like... ew lol)

There wasn't a real reason to add the circles around Soap. I just wanted to lean more heavily into the mural style. But I took that circle motif to the end, after that, and added it to Ghost as well, hence the triangle.

Soap has one skeletal hand, and one palm. That one is on purpose, to show he's hanging in between life and death.

The fourth frame is pretty self-explanatory, it shows the part in chapter 21 where Soap gets the dark marks on his forearm. If the colors look weird in that one, it's because I messed with them so much I couldn't tell if they look good anymore on not

The fifth frame shows another favorite moment of mine, the moment Ghost gets his marks, the white tear tracks, when he finally notices Soap fighting in the void.

The sixth frame is my favorite of the bunch. Soap and Ghost, the triangle and circle combined. The moment they killed Graves, Ghost in full control of his subjects, Soap with his sword of white fire and army of burning moths. They look so scary in this one I love them

The seventh frame shows Void and Destruction. Void was straight forward, I've drawn it a few times before, but I had to make a more detailed design for Destruction, and I only had the very first sketches I made for Revenant AU to go off of, as well as Lumity's design. Idk why I designed Lumity before Destruction, but that's how it is. I wanted Destruction melting, like it can't handle its own heat.

The eighth frame is of Void and Destruction combining. In the fic they had in-between states, it didn't look like this, but for the sake of the video I thought it'd be nicer to have a clear frame of them combining.

The ninth and last frame is of our beloved Lumity. Their design is a little more detailed than the drawing I made a while back. This frame is also the only one that interacts with the foreground, aka Makarov. I think he was jump-scared, don't know how much that comes across.

Damn I had a lot to write. Well, when given the opportunity to ramble...

#call of duty modern warfare 2 #cod mw2 #cod ghost #cod soap #john soap mactavish #simon ghost riley #call of duty modern warfare #revenant au #cod fanart #...fanart of my own au for the most part but oh well #ty for reading whoever did <3

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depressedraisin · 6 months ago

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here's how armand can still be bengali

why do i think so? no other good reason than i am bengali myself and i want armand to be. (also assad zaman's family is from bangladesh. bengali solidarity!!!)

bengal: the region in south asia comprising present-day bangladesh and the indian states of west bengal, odisha, assam and parts of bihar.

armand said in the season one finale, that takes place in 2022, he is a 514 year old vampire. is it 514 years including or excluding his human years? let's go with including. that means armand would have been born in 1508.

now what was going on in india and bengal in 1508? well, the mughals hadn't come to india yet; it's still about two decades before babur makes his way here. delhi was under the rule of the lodi dynasty, the delhi sultanate was in its dying days. most of north india, mainly uttar pradesh and bihar was under the jaunpur sultanate. bengal was still it's own independent kingdom, called the bengal sultanate. alauddin hussain shah had just seized power and become the sultan of bengal in 1494, beginning the hussain shahi dynasty (they ruled in bengal till 1538 when the mughals captured the region).

india as a country did not exist yet. even it's conception would be a few centuries away still. the subcontinent was a collection of big and small kingdoms and sultanates, constantly warring amongst themselves, some ruled by hindu rulers others by muslims, each with their own distinct histories and cultures. bengal was one of the most prosperous and thriving among them. the bangla language and bengali culture was just beginning to develop.

vasco da gama had arrived in india in 1498, landing at kozhikode on the malabar coast. this began the arrival of the portugese in india, and soon other european colonialists followed. they soon set up their capital in goa, built forts all along the western coast and established trade through obtaining licenses and exclusive permits from local rulers. they first made their way to the bay of bengal region around 1516, with the first portugese representative- a guy called joao coelho- coming to chittagong (present day bangladesh). the first factory was set up in chittagong the next year.

the portugese traded in spices and cotton and fruits and muslin and also slaves. the european indian ocean slave trade began with the coming of the portugese in the early 16th century. slavery in south asian societies had obviously existed long before, and it was a deeply complex and diverse system of dependency and regimes of slavery. slavery of youth and children was also pretty prevalent: it would not be uncommon for poor, farming families to sell away themselves or their children to zamindars (landlords) and colonial overlords in desperation. there were many, many cases of young children being forced to get onboard ships where they'd be held agains their will and taken to europe, the americas or south-east asia. goa and lisbon were the two cities that linked the movement of goods and people between the indian and atlantic oceans, but goa wasn't the only place where enslaved children were traded in portugese india nor lisbon the only european they were taken to.

one of those kids might as well have been arun.

i know the brief glimpse at the talamasca files showed armand's origin to be in delhi but in this particular scene he clearly says that he was sent *to* delhi, thinking he was going to work on a merchant boat.

this is just a theory i have btw. armand could've been from maharastra or the deccan as well idk. anyway.

armand is a monster, a vicious, villanious creature of unfathomable powers and ferocity. but he is also so deeply tragic. he had been forcibly torn away from his people and his land. he has no memory of his family or his humanity. he has lived for over half a millenium. the india he might've known hasn't existed for centuries, and he never got to know the one that exists today. the bangla he might've spoken no one remembers anymore. he has nothing left of the human he was except that name.

further readings (STRONGLY SUGGESTED!!!):

#interview with the vampire #amc iwtv #iwtv s2 #armand #the vampire armand

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treviso-nights · 24 days ago

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can you elaborate more on your thought process here?

“in a shocking and completely predictable turn of events, felassan is actually the revolutionary solas thinks he is”

yes! (forewarning: so many ppl on here are actual analytic geniuses and i am 10000% no such thing.)

so, to me, solas thinks of himself as an anti-hero when i would say he's an anti-villain. he reads himself as "tragic" but ultimately thinks of his goal as "good", and will proselytize even the most uninterested party (such as varric, sera, and iron bull) in demeaning and often racist ways (for example, see solas repeatedly calling the qunari "savages" and "brutes" to iron bull's face).

he is quick to abandon, betray, and kill anyone as long as he deems it necessary, and imo, there is a profound lack of loyalty and integrity "true" abolitionists/revolutionary leaders need to possess. after all, despite a lot of people ignoring epler telling us that solas abandoned his army of freed elves (and fine, that's fair since this is all fiction anwyay) bc he realized he wasn't "management material", i personally think it's a perfect characterization of who solas actually is—that of a distorted, warped spirit who no longer resembles his original ideal but attempts to convince himself and those around him that his ultimate purposes are still that ideal... which is why i think felassan is such a nice counterpart to this idea—

bc in veilguard, when we see flashbacks of felassan's growing alarm of solas's disregard for the lives of their soldiers, he is unwilling to part with his friend out of a sense of loyalty and general hope that the ends will justify the means. ironically, i think felassan was saved from corruption by solas entering uthenera because this could've easily led to him forever excusing away solas's actions, just as solas did for mythal for thousands of years.

so now we have felassan, wandering the world and watching it evolve first-hand in a way which the ancient elves did not get a chance to do. idk if we ever got confirmation that he also entered uthenera at some point (if we did, i missed it), but in time, he got to bond with the "modern" elves in an authentic manner which solas decided was counterintuitive after waking (although how he ever thought walking up to a dalish clan and pronouncing his godhood was EVER a good idea is beyond me, tho i forget if that was actually the case or if i'm making that shit up), leading him to come to the conclusion that the elves are actually people after all, which solas could not do without help from the inquisition.

i could keep going, but basically, felassan's capacity to form and experience real friendships (and not rely on abandonment, manipulation, or outright murder as a foundation or last resort for those friendships), TEACH (not convince) those willing to learn (instead of proselytizing), and evolve his own personal perspectives (and then stay ACCOUNTABLE to those perspectives and act in alignment with them), are all antithetical to the actions we see solas take in inquisition, trespasser, and veilguard. only when you trick him in veilguard's ending scene does he begin to understand his own foolishness (tho i have no doubt he will never understand the depth of that foolishness unless he sheds his mortal body and somehow regains his true essence) because even if you choose to redeem him, he ignores rook's/the inquisitor's pleas to just stop until mythal comes out to "release him" from his service. (which i'm sure he would also use to excuse his actions.)

to me, felassan is the archetype of the empathetic, considerate, loyal, and steadfast revolutionary. not solas. his ability to learn, trust others, and take responsibility for his actions are what makes me think so. and i wish we got to see more of him in veilguard :(

#solas #felassan #veilguard #datv #so yeah! ty for asking!#there's just so much to say about it honestly #felassan is a good boi. not the BEST lol bc he helped solas sacrifice soldiers but better than most of the ancient elves #datv spoilers #veilguard spoilers #answered #Anonymous #character analysis

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sunlit-mess · 4 months ago

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do you have any backstory theory for Alastor and do you think he'd have any sort of personality disorder or disorder in general?

I always thought about his last breath LOL

Not that I'm implying he does have a personality disorder, but his behaviors (and even mentality) are close to Schizoids.

+ (from an old convo with Munnie talking about Amir saying 'There's a surprise in Alastor's backstory') And I just hoped, ' Dear season 2, let it be an unexplained scene or cut, and I'll die of happiness.'

yk- a cinematic scene even- would he turn as he saw something as if time freezes and he didn't have the chance to react/dodge.

Whatever! Something unexpected to have but like also expected??? idk how to explain it properly...well, ELEMENT OF SURPRISE DUH-- uhh leaves the audience like 'hUH? What was that? WHO WAS THAT? whAT???'

So... Sticking to the origin of Alastor, I dwell on his death along with the idea: that maybe he wasn't mistakenly shot, but instead hunted. A plot twist is that the hunter is likely someone he knows/had bad blood with at that time. Then what if in his last moment (referencing the storyboard) he sees this- entity looming over him. Til' maybe even in between life/death, he meets the same entity in which it possibly offered him a deal...?? Then you connect that to the 'seven years absence' by seeing that entity again, but we would know nothing much about it, but why does he keep seeing it? or What was his connection to it?

You're basically dealing open book at this point. However, you're faced with encrypted letters.

Chat, this is what you get when you spotlight a mysterious character.

#messyr #i relate to al in some ways (mysterious perception/etc) but it's nothing compared to how i kin luci sm 🤍🤍🖤#hazbin hotel

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bodegadulac · 16 days ago

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What did you think of the first phase of the WCU?

Hmmm, you know what. I'm reviewing it.

First of all Dragon from 2008, the movie that started it all.

I liked:

●Seeing her origin, how newfoundland fell and her sheer sense of powerlessness before triggering.

●The evolution from her first crude suit to a more regined dragon armor.

●I liked RDJ as Collin, i was very happed they picked up his stinger for the sequel.

●Teacher was a pretty good villain, hapoy they didn't kill him off.

What i didn't like:

●Gwynnet Paltrow's character was unnecesary, why would dragon need a secretary???

●It doesn't get how to make you feel stakes when the protag is an IA

●Terrence Howard as Rennick is just there, and how they changed the actor in the next film left a sour taste.

7/10

Then you have Lung: Dragon of Kyushu.

What can i say that hasn't been said yet? I was skeptic for them reimagining Lung as a hero but it just works.

I like how it set up Leviathan as the overarching villain of the phase, i like how it has that runaway vibe with Kenta running from the Yangban.

The CGI of his fight against Seven was pasable, and the post credit scene with Zero planning to hunt him down went nowhere. But idc, it was overall pretty good. 9/10

I would have killed for another Lung movie.

The ugly duckling of Phase 1, Dragon 2.

I honestly liked it more than the first one, Saint and the dragon slayers are an actual threat that works.

Dragons own issues with her nature are explored in a neat way.

I liked the teacher plot twist at the end, that he had been manipulating saint.

And please tell me the scene of Dragon and Armsmaster killing the Dragonslayers didn't fuck.

8/10, fun watch.

Theo my beloved. Golem fucked so much man.

A coming of age story about a young man leaving his nazi family behind.

It kind of gets completely interrumpted by the Slaughterhouse nine tbh.

Like i get you are building up a cinematic universe but having some guy show up, say "i will come back on a couple years and kill everybody and thats on you" and fuck off wasn't terribly great.

But the final fight against Hookwolf as a middlepoint between the nazi family subplot and the slaughterhouse 9 subplot worked.

6/10

I don't like flashback movies in big cinematic universes. Sometimes they feel like they don't mean a thing on the long term because most characters are dead so they won't affect that comes later.

Miss Millitia: the first ward shutted me up.

Hanah is a fucking great protagonist, all of the first wards are great.

I loved her bromance with mouse protector, i cried when she died.

What the fuck is Hugo Weaving playing Allfather????

Overall i feel like this is the best out of the Phase.

10/10

It all came to it. Protectorate from 2012.

Leviathan was pretty built up from Lung and Dragon so it felt like it worked. Jack felt pretty tacked on tbh.

I like how it sets up Scion as this cameo total force of good that can't affect the plot. Wonder what they will do with him.

I didn't like that Collin set a fucking nuke towards new york. I hope there are consecuences for this in the future.

Liked how director Armstrong got to assemble the tram through the movies.

I don't know how to feel about Blue Flechette, apparently her first costume in the comics was like that? Idk.

Scarlett Johansen as Queen aka Emily Piggot from the PRT was cool.

Honestly that what Protectorate is. Cool.

Even if that bastard Jack escaped at the end of the movie.

8/10

#wormblr #worm #wormposting #parahumans #worm web serial #dragon #armsmaster #colin wallis #theo anders #golem #miss militia #lung #unreality #bodega meme #wcu

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zeropro · 2 months ago

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What are your thoughts on transformers prime and transformers one?

TL:DR I liked both! TFP was my first Transformers show that I watched all the way through and TF1 was a lot of fun! Opinions on Starscream under the break pfpfpfpfpfpf

Prime was literally my first Transformers experience (Okay that's not true, I did see the first Bay movie when it came out but lets not talk about that). It's really good! My favorite character was Ratchet, I loved that he's just a tired, grumpy, racist old man and he's a doctor. Knock Out was the best thing to come out of TFP and he really should be in more stuff. Really would have loved a fourth season but it wouldn't have been the same without the children around. I liked what we got!

Prime has an excellent Starscream, Steve Blume does an amazing performance with both his deep conniving gravel and his high pitched terrified sputtering. So much character in his animation too, especially in later seasons, and an incredibly compelling character arc. Prime Starscream is not a good person, but I would burn the world for him, and I like the small moments in the show that hint at something in his character that could be turned to good, but circumstance always works against him in that regard. He's just so pathetic, but also competent and dangerous, all the best qualities of a Starscream and a very unique design!

Transformers One was quite good, I was worried because of the trailers but I was surprised by how well executed it all was. None of the characters were annoying, and making Optimus Prime originally one of the oppressed class alongside Megatron was a good move. The scene where Orion gives Dee the sticker is so cute, I simply cannot. The ending felt a bit rushed but what can you do, it wasnt so bad that it's a problem for me.

I would have loved just a little more Starscream in the movie! Like, I knew he wasn't really gonna be in the movie much so i was prepared for it to be little more than a glorified cameo, but I loved a lot of what we did get and I feel like it was missing just a little bit more! Like, the whole High Guard turned rogue backstory he has is great, implies some honor to his character since he didnt keep serving Sentinal when the guy turned Cybertron over to the Quintissance. I think it's hilarious that Starscream is so much older than Megatron. Like, they gave us a lot of food to make headcanons out of, but then the rushed ending kind of left me with no real reason given for him and the rest of the High Guard to go with Megatron without a fight. Like, I think the reason given was that, because Megatron beat him up that one time, and then killed Sentinal, and since the High Guard became a might makes right society and hates Sentinal, I guess thats why they are loyal to him now. And I guess the one line where Starscream is like "all hail megatron" is supposed to indicate he's 100% behind Megatron now and not just a spur of the moment thing. And I guess them following his command to destroy the city is why theyre being banished. But like...idk, every other plot point was well established and properly played out, and the whole decepticons thing just didnt really feel like enough, and i kind of feel like it should have been more clearly communicated considering its an entire one side of a two sided war? I feel like we werent shown the high guard doing anything egregiously bad besides attacking people because megatron told them to.

Like, there's nothing in the movie to suggest that Starscream and the High Guard arent still loyal to the Primes. So when Orion comes back as a prime, like a proper prime, with the matrix and everything, which everyone knows will make the energon flow again, I'm surprised Starscream didnt at least try to make excuses or worm his way into avoiding banishment? My headcanon is he wanted to kill Sentinal as bad as Megatron and so when Megatron finally does what he failed to do for 50 cycles, he's like aite im ride or die for this guy. Maybe 50 cycles of living in the wilderness doing nothing but scout and pit fight all day changes a guy and they dont wanna live in a society anymore. Why dont they accept Optimus as the new prime? They helped him and Elita save their friends, and unlike Sentinal Optimus has the actual Matrix this time. Idk mang. Woulda liked a bit more.

Transformers One, not my favorite design for Starscream. The head vents going wide at the bottom look weird to me, and his legs are so long and flat.

Thems my opinions!

#transformers #yes i mainly just have opinions on starscream

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couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name · 1 month ago

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okay disjointed thoughts about the wicked movie 1 day after watching it lets go

-first of all, my movie theater put speakers outside and was just blasting the entire soundtrack on repeat. we could hear it down the street as we were driving up. that's just simply insane

-the opening establishing shots of the land were great but honestly. the very clearly animated dorothy and gang really annoyed me lmfao like I'm sorry it cannot have possibly been too hard to get a few extras to stand in front of a screen for point 5 seconds lol. it was so fast that I Know I'm being dramatic about it but they looked more cartoon than the flying monkey's did

-baby elphie and baby nessa are the cutest things I've ever seen in my life...

-I kinda...like the more human/animal hybrids that the stage show and the original movie had. sorry. like I Get they were only like that bc you can't make a real life goat sing and dance but they're just more interesting to look at than normal-looking animals who happen to talk!

-jeff goldblum's face being hidden every time he had a dance number...I have a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't really dancing lmfao

-whoever decided to bleach ariana's eyebrows deserves jail time

-when jonathan bailey first showed up on screen my mother leaned over to me and whispered 'he's HANDSOME...'

-when cynthia finished the 'wizard and I' I had to actually stop myself from applauding. it felt so weird and rude for there to be dead silence after that performance my GOD.

-also omg the part where she's singing about the wizard de-green-ifying her and the colors in the suncatchers were canceling out the green so she looked normal....inspired!

-madame morrible had these HUGE crystal ball looking rings and I just want them so much lmao

-glinda's friends were really funny the bit were she was like 'I need to lie down' and they immediately picked her up like a plank of wood and carried her off while the one was screaming 'WE NEED A PASTRY!!! IT'S AN EMERGENCY WE NEED A PASTRY!!!' had me cackling

-I wish there was more time between them moving in and 'what is this feeling' starting? like I wanted more time to see them bickering and then also more time seeing them getting along after the ball??

-'dancing through life' was BEAUTIFUL however two complaints 1) why would they cut the line 'what's the most swankified place around?' I Quote That Often and 2) at the end when glinda and elphie dance together like...it's beautiful and everything but from what I remember after their solo moment fieryo joins them?? and they have a cute three way dance moment??? and I'm very pro "they're all in love with each other" so I missed that lol

-also just in general would of liked to see more of fieryo with the girls! like it felt like ball->lion cub->emerald city, in the course of a couple days, and idk I just feel like they could have slowed it down a bit?? especially since they broke it into two movies?? like I don't think that Actually all happened in the span of a week, but they didn't do a good enough job establishing how much time was passing so it Felt like it. which is dumb bc then it just doesn't seem realistic that elphie and glinda are THAT attached to each other by defying gravity like it feels like not enough time has passed for them to really know each other

-boq felt very mild tbh I know ethan can be more unhinged than that

-would've liked to see glinda in magic class!!

-I was a little underwhelmed by elphaba's costumes? like there were clearly patterns on the material but it was all the same shade of black so you couldn't make anything out. it felt a bit flat. and I love the idea behind the freckles I agree with freckles I am pro freckles HOWEVER her's looked very obviously drawn on. like, I have seen way more realistic fake freckles before. so that was a bit annoying

-other than the lunchmeat dress glinda's costumes were good! especially loved the flower shaped one she wore to the ball

-the whole trying to escape in the hot air ballon scene was cool as hell but as the flaming remains of it fell to the ground I couldn't help but be like wow...she really just killed all those guards huh!

-also lmfao the bit in the woods with the lion club and fieryo has like a scratch on his temple. genuinely thought to myself 'is that his lobotomy scar' lmfao

-still trying to get over the part in dancing through life where people were dancing on the spinning gears in the clock tower...bitch

-the flying monkeys were correctly horrifying

-when I saw the broomstick I was like 'won't that be really uncomfortable between your legs' but then she just held it next to her like they do in the stage show and I was like....okay I guess you win that one? lmfao like I don't mind it for when she's hovering but when they had her like supersonic zooming on the broom it was weird that she wasn't actually riding it

-overall I just don't understand how it's an adaptation of act 1 but it's the length of the entire stage show?? lmao like I wish they took advantage of the split and added so much more but really really it was still just such a solid great movie. 5 stars. I can't keep talking about it right now I'm gonna start screaming.

#wicked #wicked movie #wicked 2024 #musicals #molly mumbles

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homunculus-argument · 11 months ago

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Your post a couple days ago about reading things you acknowledge as silly nonsense and not the Height Of Intellectual Literature, and letting yourself enjoy it anyway, unearthed a memory for me that I just. I'm sorry, I just need to share this.

So, there was a phase I had, years ago now, where I for some reason ended up somewhat regularly reading James Bond books whenever I was in the mood for something light and kinda dumb but entertaining to read (I was reading Outlander and A Song of Ice and Fire at the time as well, never finished either of those series tho, so I kinda ended up reading lighter stuff in between those long books to relax and let my brain take a breather if that makes sense). I honestly couldn't tell you which books I read, and it wasn't in any particular order, it was sort of like, starting with whatever my dad had in the shelf and then continuing with whatever the library happened to have. Some of what I read were the original ones written by Ian Fleming, some were by later authors. Idk, point is, it was light spy-adventure nonsense I read when I didn't have the energy to think too deep about what I was reading.

Sorry about how long I took to get to the point, but, anyway. There was this one James Bond book I picked up mostly because hehe suomi mainittu. Not by Fleming, one of the later authors, I remember neither the author name nor the book name and can't be assed to google it rn. Anyway, a fair amount of the plot of that book took place in Finland. I could not say for the life of me what the actual plot of it was, just that part of it was set here. I remember like exactly two details about it, and both of those I only remember because I thought they were funny back when I was reading it.

One of those details was that there was a bit of Bond's internal monologue at some point that was just him basically being a whiny bitch about the fact that he thought the sort of thick winter clothes you need for Finnish winters didn't make him look sexy

The other is that there was a scene where the baddies tried to kill him by ??? crushing his car (while he was driving on some little road somewhere in the middle of nowhere) between two lumiauras??? like i just. that seems like a highly impractical way to attempt to kill anyone, but sure (ja sori siitä et mä en ny suoraan muista et mikä helvetti lumiaura on englanniks, mut sä ny puhut suomee kuiteski)

Idk you talking about silly stuff in books just unearthed this memory for me, no idea why, and i just needed to share it with someone

It's a snow plough. The english word for lumiaura is snow plough. Also that mental image is hilarious.

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th3-c0rps3-r0gu3 · 2 months ago

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Knights honour

Knight Natasha X fem peasant reader

Warnings: swearing. There is a make out scene that I would consider heavy but knowing you smut readers it may be on the lower level. Idk. Natasha pining for a woman she can't have. Natasha pining for a different woman than y/n. Y/n is a bit neive. Shitty Princess

A/n: sorry this has such a late release I originally wrote it at 3 am and then came back realised it was shit and rewrote it. Chapter five of arranged marriage is nearly done just editing it. Now buckle up cos we got some Cinderella shit to get through.

Natasha thoughts

Y/n thoughts

Natasha speech

Y/n speech

Princess speech (not that she matters)

Natasha had been a knight for five years. She'd been training to be a knight for as long as she could remember. Natasha was brought up around the princess. Mainly so Natasha wouldn't hate the princess when she inevitably received the throne. But it was clear that Natasha was born to be a knight. Not because of the training or because that's all she knew. But because she was a natural even as a child.

Natasha's reputation exceeded her. Kingdoms knew of her loyalty and dedication to the now Queen. And none of it was false either. Natasha was a natural with a sword. To the point she trained with both hands just to give herself a challenge. Not that that lasted long. But nevertheless it worked out. No assassin had made it to the queen when Natasha was in the job. To the point where Natasha was assigned to be the princesses personal knight. Though Natasha had suspicions that was always the goal due to the whole childhood spent together bit.

And Natasha loved her job. She loved the sword fights and training. She loved walking the cobbled streets of the palace gardens when the princess went for walks. Though not for the garden. Natasha's feelings for the princess weren't obvious but they were there. They were there when Natasha went out of her way to give the princess flowers every morning. They were there when Natasha used up all her spare time with the princess. Even when she didn't have to.

But when the princess finally introduced her boyfriend Natasha was... Devastated to say the least. She had thought it was obvious that she was interested in the princess. But then again Natasha knew the princess would always have to marry a man. She had hoped... Natasha didn't know what she had hoped. She wasn't in the mood to hope anymore. All Natasha knew was the princess. So when she was out of reach Natasha was.. lost.

Natasha pov

"damn it. I let my emotions get the better of me again. Get a grip Natasha. You knew this was coming. She's a princess. She wouldn't love you."

I silently cursed myself out as i walk along the streets of the town square. Bards played by the fountain. People seeking wares and goods were surrounding me. Just my luck to go for a walk on market day.

"damn it Natasha. You can't even get the dates right. This is why she doesn't love you."

I keep up the self deprecating thoughts. They didn't help but I need to yell at someone and I didn't know anyone other than the princess. And I was not going to yell at royalty. I hold my head up as I glance around the market. It is busy today. Not unusual but not normal either. That's until I spot a crowd around a voice selling breads and pastries.

"what's up over here. There's nothing that exciting about bread. It's literally just wheat."

I think to myself as I walk over. Pushing through the crowd only to stop dead in my tracks. I nearly choke as I see her. She's absolutely gorgeous. A woman in an apron with a messy bun and y/h/c and clear bright y/e/c. I never thought I'd see a woman more beautiful than the princess. But apparently I'm very very wrong. I catch the woman's eyes for a moment and she smiles at me. And gods that smile. If I could I would capture it and put it in a painting for me to see every day. I understand the crowd now.

"get a grip Natasha you can't drool all over the first pretty woman you see just because you got heartbroken."

I snap out of my trance and swiftly move away. Going as far as I can. Eventually I find a hidden alley where I shouldn't be disturbed and I lean against it to catch my breath and comprehend what I saw. She was magnificent. A masterpiece. No painter in the world could capture her beauty in its proper form. Why am I so frazzled by this woman. I don't even know her. I bury my hands in my face. I need a better grip on my emotions if that's how I react to every woman I see now.

Y/n pov

"I wonder why she's in such a hurry? Perhaps she forgot something or is sick.. should I check on her?"

I wonder to myself as I watch the red head flee my stall. She went red in the face and suddenly bolted. Perhaps she is ill. I frown slightly as I watch her go. Was it me? All I did was smile. I turn my attention back to my current customers. I can't linger on a fleeing sick woman. But I feel bad nevertheless.

It's cleared up by my stall. My sister has come to take over.

"I should check in on that woman from before. If she is sick she may need help."

I think to myself as I walk through the crowded market. Things have been busy this year. A good thing but it means we are running out of supplies. Mama will have to find more suppliers. I wander the cobbled streets for a bit. Looking at stalls and sellers. A lot of fake jewellery being sold this year. A ball is coming I'm pretty sure. Open to all.

"how nice of the royal family. It's been a while since I've dressed up."

I think as I pass by another jewellery stall. Eventually I see her. The woman who ran red in the face. She seems ok now. Was it me? I hope not. I walk over and gently tap the woman's shoulder. Waiting for her to turn and face me before speaking.

"hey are you ok? You ran from my stall rather red in the face. I just wanted to check you aren't sick."

I ask the woman calmly. I smile gently at her just in case she gets frightened that I sought her out. I hope I don't come across as a creep.

Natasha pov

I feel a tap on my shoulder suddenly. Not something I'm used to. I turn around and there stands the woman from before. A light smile on her lips and a gentle expression. I think I may die. Especially as she speaks. Her voice is as sweet as honey and as smooth as the finest silks.

"oh you've gone red again. Are you ok!?"

The woman asks yet again as she steps back. Grabbing a handkerchief and handing it to me. I pause realising I must have blushed. Then again who wouldn't. I can see men staring at her. Yet the woman either doesn't notice or doesn't care. I pause before hesitantly responding.

"it's ok. I go red in the face sometimes. It's... A medical condition. Nothing is wrong."

I respond carefully. The woman doesn't seem to know what blush is. Then again she doesn't seem to know a lot of things. Or she's just concerned. I can see a bit of relief on the woman's face as I reassure her. I feel a bit bad for lying but seeing the woman less worried makes me feel better.

"well that's a relief. I thought it was me or something."

The woman chuckles. And once again I'm gobsmacked. If I thought her smile was beautiful her laugh is heavenly. If I could I would bottle up the sound and get drunk on it every damn night. Then the woman smiles again and turns to leave. I don't want her to. I want her to stay and talk to me. But I have no reason to want this.

"wait. There's a ball upcoming for everyone. Go with me?"

Perhaps it was pure determination to see her again or pure stupidity that made me ask the woman this question. Fuck I don't even know her name. I don't care. I have - no need to see this woman again. She turns to me and tilts her head in a curious manner. I may swoon right here and now. She then smiles with a glint in her eyes and now I am swooning.

"sure. I'm y/n. I'll be near the food court."

The woman responds. Not even asking my name before she leaves. Vanishing into the crowd. Y/m was her name.

"I will hold the name close and dear to me. Even if this goes nowhere."

I think to myself. I turn and return to the castle. I have plans to make and a princess to guard. Realising this now I have come to the conclusion that for the first time in my life I wasn't thinking about the princess. But instead this mystery woman.

The night of the ball

Y/n pov

I stand near the food court eating whatever I can. None of it tastes as good as the stuff mama makes. But then again I have an acquired taste for her food.

"this is good. People everywhere, rich and poor. The royals are up in their pedestals as per normal. An enjoyable evening indeed."

I think to myself as I survey my surroundings. Though I am missing my partner. That woman from the market. Who I now know is Natasha romanoff. The princesses personal guard. Who knew she of all people would ask me out. Not that I'm not pretty. I am. I can tell by all the heads I turn as I walk through the streets. And then I see her. She's in a tux. A good one too. I can see her glancing around for me. And our eyes meet.

"hmm she finally spotted me. Took her a minute. I said I'd be by the food court."

I muse to myself as Natasha approaches. I smile as Natasha comes over. Her own smile is small but present. I never knew she could smile. It's... Nice. Suddenly I feel my own face pull Natasha's condition.

"you found me."

I tease gently. Munching on a quiche. These are brilliant. Still not as good as Mama's though. I'm still biased.

"the food court's placing was moved last minute."

Natasha responds. Gently leaning over me to grab an apple tart. But I don't focus on that. I'm focused on how this is a clear ploy to make me attracted to her. And be damned if it isn't working.

"oh? You work here to know?"

I ask. Still playing the innocent woman from the street. But Natasha just grins. If I wasn't attracted to her before I am now. Fuck is she hot.

"don't play dumb miss y/n. I know you're faking. I asked about you around the streets. Caught a few of your friends."

Natasha responds. Standing beside me. She's so close. I can feel her body heat. It's nice. Especially since I wore this stupidly cold dress. It looks thick but it's not.

"stalker."

I tease back rolling my eyes. I lean against Natasha. I can feel her stiffen before she relaxes and slips a hand around my waist. This feels nice.

"it's not stalking. It's.. doing a background check. I'm a knight. It's mandatory to know if who I'm seeing is trustworthy."

Natasha responds. I roll my eyes. Smiling as I look up at Natasha. She's about a foot taller than me. Yet she's the same age as me. Curious. Not that I care or it matters.

"don't be defensive I'm kidding."

I respond with a laugh. I glance at the dancers on the ball room floor. I am always jealous of how people can move like water. As if they don't truly belong on this plane and simply walk through it like mist.

Natasha pov

I can see y/n eyeing the dance floor. I pause before taking her hand and stepping out before her. Smiling sincerely this time. I bow before her and kiss y/n's knuckles.

"may I have this dance?"

I ask raising an eyebrow. I can see y/n mirroring the look and then huffing as she realises what I did. She chuckles and nods. I stand up and grasp her waist. Taking y/n out into the ball room floor to dance with the others.

As if I couldn't get more attracted to this woman she does this. Y/n is like a damn natural dancer. Moving smoother than some professionals I've seen at plays. I smile as I hold y/n. How on earth I managed to snag her I don't know. But I'm grateful. I am certainly spending more time with y/n.

I eventually glance up at the princess as the royal dance begins and the woman I crushed over for years steps into her boyfriend's arms. Yet I'm not mad or upset. My heart isn't aching. And as I glance back at y/n who is also watching the princess I realise I don't need the princess. Not when I already have one in my arms. I turn back to the royal dance. But as it goes on I realise the princess is staring at me. Me and y/n. She looks mad almost. Y/n frowns slightly.

"is she watching us?"

Y/n asks gently. Pulling herself into me. I frown slightly but nod slowly. This isn't normal. The princess never spared me a second glance like I did. Why is she upset about me with another woman.

"it seems like she is."

I respond under my breath. I hold y/n just a bit tighter until the dance finishes and me and y/n can continue our own dance

It's only a few moments later that I feel a tug on my arm and y/n tense up. I balance behind me and there is a furious princess. I frown and step away.

"I'll be back in a second y/n"

I speak to the woman I was just dancing with gently. The princess then silently grabs me and yanks me to the edge of the ball. She seems so angry.

"why is she so pissed. I did nothing wrong. Doesn't she have her own boyfriend to deal with?"

I think to myself as we both finally stop walking. I glance down at the princess about to speak before she interrupts me

"what are you doing dancing with some peasant!"

The princess snaps at me. I'm taken aback. Why would the princess be upset by that. She's never looked down on her subjects before. I step away from her.

"hey calm down. She's just my partner to the ball. There's nothing else."

I respond. Lying through my teeth. I definitely feel more. But I won't tell the princess that considering how much she seems to be upset at the prospect of me knowing any one other than her.

"does that matter! You shouldn't be with her at all! You're meant to love me!"

The princess snaps back again. I freeze. I'm... Meant to love her!? What cruel trick is this. Did the princess just want me to love her so she could have someone longing for her endlessly!?

"I'm sorry what!?"

I scowl stepping forward. I can't harm the princess. But gods do I want to. She can't make me love her. And right now I don't feel any love for the princess. And she knows it by the way her face has dropped and she's sputtering.

"forget it. Leave me alone."

I speak coldly as I return to y/n. Ignoring the small wait I hear the princess call out after me. I won't wait for someone who toyed with my emotions for years. Y/n seems concerned when I return but she doesn't ask questions which I'm grateful for. We continue our dance. The princess returns bitterly to her boyfriend and the night continues.

Y/n pov

It's been an hour since the dance. Natasha hasn't been in the best mood since the whole deal with the princess. And I honestly don't blame her. I don't know what happened but Natasha seems hurt.

"do you wanna talk about it?"

I ask gently as me and Natasha walk through the woods out the back of the castle. Natasha tenses but sighs and runs a hand through her fiery red locks. I want to do the same but now is not the time.

"she was toying with me for years. I crushed on her and she knew.. but just let me. Didn't tell me she was straight. Just let me believe I had a chance. Then she got a boyfriend and I was upset but still in love.. but now I found you and I'm moving in she's upset. She wanted me to keep longing for her so she could feel wanted."

Natasha speaks bitterly. I can understand why she's upset. No woman deserves to have her emotions played. And the princess did Natasha dirty. Trying to deny her happiness.

"she sounds entitled and a bit like an ass."

I respond smiling gently. Natasha cracks a small smile at that. A small one but it falls quickly. She sighs again. I should start counting how many times she does that.

"two sighs thus far."

"she is an entitled ass. I just didn't see it because I was blind."

Natasha responds. She looks away and I take her chin and make Natasha look at me. We have only known each other for a fleeting moment at the market. A small conversation after the market and this ball. I feel like Cinderella all of a sudden. But I get on my tip toes and I kiss Natasha.

Natasha is shocked at first. But she melts quickly and gods this is the best kiss I've ever had. Natasha bites my bottom lip demanding entrance and I give it immediately. Her tongue invades my mouth and before I know it I'm against a tree as Natasha fights against my corset. Her mouth attached to mine.

Natasha pov

I help y/n redress gently. Her hair is a mess. I love it. Her hand is in my own hair. I don't understand her fascination with it but I don't mind. I gently begin helping y/n out the woods and back towards the castle so we can catch a carriage back to the village. I'll take y/n home before going back to the palace.

"you signed sixteen times."

Y/n says softly. She's drowsy. So am I to be fair. We both need to bathe and be proper but the woods aren't a good place to do that.

"what?"

I respond chuckling slightly. Raising an eyebrow as I watch y/n lean against me. My arm around her waist. Her hand in my other.

"I decided to count how many times you sighed. And you sighed sixteen times."

Y/n responds smiling at me. I think I may like y/ns tired smile more than her normal one. She's too perfect It's insane.

"I would ask why but I think we are both too tired to question things."

I shoot back. Helping y/n into a carriage. I follow. Letting y/n pretty much fall asleep on-top of me. I smile as I watch her. Y/n drowsily gives the driver directions before promptly falling asleep. I smile and thread my fingers through her hair.

The ride is swift. Y/n lives almost in the heart of the town. Her home is attached to a bakery. I carry y/n inside since she's still mostly asleep. Her sister is dead asleep on the couch. I assume she tried to stay awake to greet y/n but oh well. We had fun at least. I take y/n down to the bathroom and run a warm bath. Undressing y/n as she groggily wakes and tries to help. I stop her and finish the job myself. Slipping y/n's body into the water. I undressing myself and slipping in with her.

After the bath I get us both out and dressed in fresh clothes. Best hope y/n's sister isn't too attached to her cotton button up and pants. I lay y/n on what I assume is her bed. Its the only vacant one and it had her clothes in the basket nearby. I'm about to leave myself before y/n grabs my arm.

"stay... Please.."

She mumbles. I crumble immediately and slip into bed with her. Y/n crawls over and into my arms. I wrap my arms around her and just hold y/n. Tonight has been the best I could've imagined. Other than the hiccup with the princess but y/n made up even more for that.

After that Natasha went to the queen and got herself reassigned to the army. Rising swiftly to general. Much to the princesses dismay. Not that Natasha cared. It wasn't her concern for the princess anymore. Natasha was fine with that. And her new position led to many benefits. Including a better horse. And a better more free schedule. One Natasha enjoyed greatly. For more reasons than one.

Natasha began properly courting y/n aswell. Causing the bakery to blow up because the general was often behind the counter watching her girlfriend covered in flour do her job. And she got free pastries and bread so a win win for Natasha. She got to watch her hot gf and got free food.

The end

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha x you #black widow #natasha romanoff x fem!reader #natasha x y/n #black widow x reader #natasha romanoff x fem reader #black widow x y/n #black widow x female reader #black widow x you

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spaceorphan18 · 5 months ago

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Ranking Bridgerton Season 3 Episodes

After sitting with this season the past month, I kind of wanted to see how a ranking would go (and those of you who know me, know I love a good ranking). These are 100% subjective opinions, and I don't expect anyone else to agree. More so did it out of the fun of it. :)

8. Forces of Nature (Episode 3)

I don't actually think there is a bad episode of this season. Truly. After really sitting with this season, thinking it over, even agreeing that there isn't enough Polin and some of the subplots could have been stronger (or not existed at all), I think all of these episodes are pretty stellar. But one of them had to be placed last, and after combing through all of them, it's episode 3.

There is actually a lot I like in this episode - Colin spending the whole episode pining for Pen, the ridiculous and romantic dream fantasy, the awkwardly cute willow scene, the angsty cake scene, Colin asking his mother for advice and awkwardly trying to figure his shit out, loved it. I also really enjoyed Debling and the development of that story as an alternative option for Pen.

What really bogs this episode down, and consequently pushes it to the bottom, is that it's also the culprit for braiding in all of the seemingly many subplots. I don't necessarily think any of them are bad on their own, but it feels like so much that it's too much at times.

We get Lord Kilmartin's introduction (yes, great), Lord Anderson (yeah, okay), Lady Tilly (ooff, fine), The Mondrichs (why are they here again?), the stuff with the Queen (this was just weak in general), and development of Cressida (it works in conjunction with LW, but idk if it holds up on rewatches?). It's just a lot and the main characters (unfortunately, especially Colin) get pushed a little to the side.

7. Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Episode 6)

This is the episode that when I first watched it, I straight up thought it wasn't that good. I've honestly changed my opinion on it a lot, but I do understand why I originally felt that way.

I love LOVE the first half of this episode. We get to have Pen and Colin in a little bit of a honeymoon stage -- the engagement ring scene is brilliant, everything at the church is brilliant, even the stuff at the Mondrich ball... It's truly delicious. And I love Colin just being soft with his sister and at the Mondrich bar scene. And then I do love the Lady Whistledown aspect of it -- Pen dealing with whether or not she wants to continue. There's some great Eloise stuff in here, too. And even Cressida pretending to be Whistledown was handled decently.

But, like episode 3, this episode was saddled with a ton of side plots, where the scenes just go on and on and on because they're the meat of some of these side plots. I don't know if they needed to be balanced better or parceled out better, I don't know. But the long stretches without any Polin, or much Pen or Colin in general in the second half is why this episode ended up lower.

I think the only reason it's moved up a spot is that I do love the Polin we do get more than what's in episode 3. Also, the last few moments of Colin discovering Pen is Lady Whistledown is an excellent cliffhanger.

6. Out of the Shadows (Episode 1)

I do think the season opener is solidly good! I actually really love Pen getting her transformation and the ridiculous of Colin (attempting) swagger as he comes back into town. I love that we don't beat around the bush, and the two of them really get to the heart of their issues right off the bat and it sets up the entire season really nicely. Plus, their dynamic as never sparkled any better -- it's truly a treat to see the two of them back on screen.

The rest of the episode works pretty well, too. The tension between Pen and Eloise is great -- and kicks off one of my favorite arcs of the season. Francesca's (re-)introduction is wonderful. There's some truly brilliant Bridgerton sibling stuff, as well as Anthony and Kate being on the top of their game. It's also got some breathing room as we haven't established the nineteen other plot lines going on this season (though the Mondrich stuff feels a little sluggish).

The only reason this episode is as low as it is -- is because I just like everything else more.

5. Joining of Hands (Episode 7)

It pains me to have this episode as low as it is because I love so much of it. The Polin stuff in this episode is just delicious. I love the tension after Colin finds out that Pen is Lady Whistledown. I love the brutalness of the first argument and the angst, longing, and actually working through some of their shit (as well as the spiciness) of their argument outside the Modeste.

I love that they still get married despite having unresolved conflict, and that their love transcend set backs. And that wedding dance is absolutely gorgeous.

Plus - we get some great Bridgerton in general stuff -- Eloise and Pen are on their way to repairing their relationship, Colin and Eloise get some great moments, Benedict is adorable at the 'bachelor' party, and Anthony and Kate are amazing in everything that they do (I love LOVE the scene with Kate, Anthony, and Colin).

The episode does have some weaker aspects - I don't care all that much about Violet and Lord Anderson nor Benedict and Lady Tilly (even if I'm all here for Benedict's bisexual awakening). But the subplots don't really weigh everything down as much, and it's a solidly good Polin episode.

4. Into the Light (Episode 8)

The Season Finale! I honestly toggled between episodes 7 and 8 and where they went, and I think maybe on a different day I could be persuaded to switch them, but I think what really sells me is everything from the Butterfly Ball onward. The ending is gorgeous, Pen's story wraps up brilliantly, Colin's grand speech was beautiful, the epilogue was pitch perfect, and all of the storylines work out in a great way, setting up threads for future seasons (obviously, Benedict is next but Eloise and Francesca are getting some good stuff, too.)

My only issue with the end of Pen and Colin's story is that I wanted more resolution to their story. The twenty seconds of make-up sex felt like not enough, and I do hope that they rectify this in Season 4. (Which I have a feeling they will.)

There are some really great things leading up to the ending as well -- I love that Pen and her mother kind of come to terms with each other and finally that relationship is being restored, as well as the Featherington sisters blooming into decent people. I also LOVE the reconciliation of Pen and Eloise. And while the blackmail plot could have been a little stronger (Cressida's whimper out was a little weak) I honestly love Colin's scene with Cressida. (As well as the hilarity of Portia, Eloise, and Colin being the ones to try to help Pen deal with it all.)

It's not perfect episode -- there's the seemingly never ending threeway with Benedict (as well as the fact that Benedict desperately needs next season because his character feels aimless at this point), and Francesca's wedding, while sweet, felt like it pushed Pen and Colin a little out of the limelight for a little too long in the middle. But pacing might have been the biggest issue of the episode. It's otherwise a great episode and a solid ending.

3. Old Friends (Episode 4)

So here's the thing. Here is the thing I've been really thinking about while putting this together. It's a testament to the carriage scene and, honestly, everything from the last twenty-ish minutes of this episode because without it, I'm not sure this episode would be that high. Pen and Colin get ZERO screen time together until the end (and I suppose that's somewhat intentional) you really start to feel it as the episode goes on.

But the tension of this episode is fantastic. Pen bonding with Debling, beginning to accept that this is her best option with pressure from Portia... Colin dealing with his own feelings and downward spiraling (though I do wish we had gotten more of him). It's really, really well done. And then the last twenty minutes is just solidly amazing. All of it. Fantastic. It's just captivating.

And then, of course, the carriage scene -- one of the best (possibly the best??) scenes of the entire show. I could wax poetic about the carriage scene for days...

This is another episode that does feel like it's saddled with too many subplots, and pacing issues, because they're withholding the Polin stuff until the very end and it almost feels like a trudge to get there at points. But it's well worth the wait -- and enough of an amazing payoff that I have this episode so high.

2. How Bright the Moon (Episode 2)

I just fucking adore this episode. Like so much. It is a romantic comedy at its finest with one of the most beautiful first kiss sequences I've ever seen. I love everything this episode chooses to be.

First of all, there's just so MUCH content for Pen and Colin, and we really get to see their FREINDSHIP at play here. (As well as Nicola Coughlan's amazing comedic chops - she shines in every scene here.) Everything between the two of them is brilliant and hilarious and awkward and funny and really, I could have watched a whole season of just this ridiculous rom-com trope-y stuff. Because they're both so good at it. Because it's just so delicious and wonderful.

We also get some of the best comedy of the show in the scene with Portia explaining sex to the Featherington sisters. And some truly great moments with Eloise, too. The rest of the side plots don't feel as heavy as they don't over shadow what's going on with Pen and Colin.

And then that last scene, the beautiful, fairy tale, fantasty-esque, shot like an Old Hollywood film first kiss that is truly breathtaking. This episode just wins all the things.

1. Tick Tock (Episode 5)

Like it was going to be anything else ;)

But no, here's my thing. It's not just the awkwardly beautiful ten minute sex scene of this episode that has me placing it on top. No, really, even if I think the mirror scene is incredible and breathtaking in it's own right.

This episode is solidly for Pen and Colin. And in a season that sometimes struggles to find good balance, this episode (and episode 2 really) are the only ones that really feel like the fully feature Pen and Colin, so it's no coincidence they end up taking the top spots.

The first half of the episode is just a continuation of the amazingness that is the ending of episode 4. The engagement announcement, the hilariously wonderful ABC Bros scene, Colin telling off Portia, Pen and Colin being so soft and sweet with each other during sex, the aftercare cuddling on the satee, the carriage ride.... it's all so, so good, I love it so much.

There's also some great stuff going on around Polin -- Kate and Anthony are back, Eloise has some great stuff, the Cressida plot is hitting its stride, the Queen is adding tension, the Lady Whistledown plot is getting turned up to eleven...

The second half of the episode is also incredibly strong, as it mostly takes place during the engagement party and the tension during that whole sequence is fantastic. All the little plot threads are getting pulled at in a way that works well being woven in together. It's GREAT drama and it really pushes this episode to be the season's finest hour.

This episode just works all the way through. It's got such lush, romantic Pen and Colin that I keep coming back to, some crazy tension built in to ramp up the drama, the characters all just so much fun to watch. This episode is amazing, and truly deserves to be at the top of the list.

And that's my list!! Thanks for reading!! :)

#bridgerton #polin #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington #penelope bridgerton #colin x penelope #polination #we're not going to talk about how late I stayed up to write this #but i had a lot of fun!

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gothicbarbie · 1 year ago

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MY TOP 10 BEST BL COUPLES OF 2023

So I guess I'm a little late considering it's now 2024 in most places, but well, better late than never. I tried and failed to rank top 20 or even 10 kisses... I just couldn't remember them all or even choose... but most of my top couples have some pretty great kisses, so at least there's that! I can, however, rank my favorite BL pairings from 2023, so... let's do it! I will be ranking these from least favorite to favorite because I think it's more fun that way... Also I credited all the gif makers at the bottom but I did list the tumblr user for each specific gif underneath. If someone wants me to remove their gif, please let me know and I will so! I just wanted to pretty up the post a bit.

Also, to clarify, any couple on a show that is currently airing and not complete yet is not eligible to be on the list for 2023. Trust me, there were many I wanted to include!

Honorary Mentions:

Tinn & Gun | My School President

So, spoiler, a different GeminiFourth pairing will be on the actual top 10 so I didn't really want to include both pairings on the list, but I really did love the two of them in My School President. G/F just have such a wonderful and natural chemistry. The way they always look at each other just feels so pure and sweet. I really like pairings where one is secretly pining for the other, but Tinn/Gun also sorta had a hate/love ISH thing going for a little while. The progression of their relationship to actual boyfriends was just so fun to watch and really well done.

Dong Wook & Do Hyun | A Breeze of Love

I watched this BL so quickly that it didn't really resonate with me as well as some other series, which is why these two didn't make the top 10, however, I really enjoyed their relationship on the show. I love hate to love pairings and I found their backstory scenes really sweet as well. I also thought they had a really nice chemistry and there were some strong kissing moments for a kbl.

Jihan & Jaejun | City Boy Log

I didn't include these two on the main list for two reasons, one: the show is not over yet... i don't think? and two: this technically isn't a BL drama? IDK anymore, but regardless I love this series and this couple so dang much! I love the realness of them filming themselves and how their relationship is portrayed so subtly until their feelings just sort of emerge. They have some really wonderful and special scenes or moments together that we don't typically get on other series. I am anxious to see where the rest of the story goes and I hope the actors get another opportunity to work together. The side pairing is great too!

Top 10!

#10. Ai & Songkhram | Destiny Seeker

These two were so damn fun to watch, I really loved the hate to love thing at the start that quickly turned into love (Or I guess always sort of was???). The actors had such a great chemistry together and they had so many fun little moments and bantery scenes together. While the rest of the series felt a little flat for me, their connection continuously kept me interested.

#09. Ze Rui & Zong Yi | Kiseki Dear to Me

Honestly don't even know what to write about these two or how to explain why I like them, because there wasn't anything particularly special about their dynamic that typically draws me in, but I just really enjoyed the actors chemistry together and I really liked the progression of their relationship and how well they meshed together. Their kissing was extremely natural too.

#08. King & Eua | Bed Friend

Firstly, these two are HOT AF, and I really loved the friends with benefits storyline between these two, but more than that, we have a perfect character imo with King, who was continuously there for Eua and always trying to help him and make him understand how much he really cared. The show could be very dark at times but I love that King was always sort of the shining light for Eua.

#07. Segaski & Yoh | My Personal Weatherman

I can admit that the big draw to this show for me originally was the sexy scenes and moments, and while I do think the series could have done with some more scenery changes and better storylines, considering the time frame, I enjoyed watching the relationship between the two characters develop. It's nice to get a friends with benefits type of relationship and see how it progresses into more than that. And for a JBL it was nice to see some high heat with a happy ending.

#06. Su Yu & Wu Bi | Stay With Me

SIGH. THESE TWO. So I mean, I understand the criticism of this show and their relationship. So many things are implied but personally I felt like the end half made it pretty clear that these two were 100% a romantic couple. (just wish it was clarified when that change happened) But the progression of their relationship from hate to love was so beautiful to watch. Even if it was just a friendship it was worth it imo to see how close they got. Fair warning, the finale episode is not the best lmao, but I hope we get a second season to sort of fix it? Fingers crossed on that one.

#05. Wan & Ki Tae | Our Dating Sim

This was definitely one of the cutest BL's of the year and this couple falls into that category well too. I really loved seeing them re-connect. I love that they were old best friends (with feelings) that had a lot of issues to sort through and we saw some adorable flashback scenes as well as current scenes. I also love that they got together and were mostly happy instead of having a lot of intense drama.

#04. Li Ming & Heart | Moonlight Chicken

These two... so much to say about them and yet I don't really know where to start. Gemini and Fourth just work so well together and I felt like this duo was even deeper than in MSP. They started out on bad terms but quickly became close and I really loved the progression of their relationship and then I adored how we also got to see them together as a couple too. My favorite thing about them was how hard Li Ming worked to try to understand Heart and how he learned sign language for him and encouraged him to get to know others like him and to put himself out there. They also had such a fun banter with playful moments and scenes. It was just so damn pure and sweet to watch with no unnecessary or stupid fillery drama.

#03. Jae Won and Ji Hyun | The Eighth Sense

Something about this pairing just felt so much different than the typical KBL pairing. The show itself was so much deeper and had a more serious tone than we typically get, which was amazing. The actors nailed the roles and you could really feel the tension and longing between them right from the beginning. I loved their storyline so much and the actors seemed so comfortable together.

#02. Yamato & Kakeru | I Cannot Reach You

This was one of my favorite BL's of the year and their relationship was a huge part of it. I thought I was more into hate to love, but clearly, based on this list, that isn't always the case. There is something so sweet and adorable about best friends turned to lovers. I really love too when we see one side pining for the other, so this couple was extremely enjoyable to watch!

#01. Chen Yi & Ai Di | Kiseki Dear To Me

Good Lord these two... they had the perfect formula for my favorite type of pairing. Hate to love, drama, tension, angst, one-sided pining... it was so painful to have to wait every week for more. But god, it was worth the wait and their chemistry was just so good, their kisses were phenomenal too. Def. a memorable pair and a show I will be rewatching very soon!

THANK YOU to all these wonderful humans for making the most amazing gifs that I used in this post!

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