#yes this was my actual fit at the cinema

[lexennko]

i love cute outfits!!! also did anyone else go see it or was it just me

[winterdeepelegy]

Vanilla Gpose Tips

I get asked occasionally how I make my screenshots if I'm not using shaders or mods. The short answer: Patience. Gpose's suite of tools is a lot more robust than it used to be when it was first released. But if you want a screenshot to really shine without using third party add-ons, it's not something you can just go into gpose, take a printscreen and get back out. You might capture a moment with nice lighting that way, but it takes more than that. 1. Choosing a location and time of day is job one. What kind of mood are you trying to convey? Does your intended screenshot have a theme (or a prompt?) or are you just looking at your new glam and marveling at how fine your character looks in it? Does a lighter or darker setting suit the character better? Setting, time of day, and weather can affect this. 2. You can stop time and weather from changing. I keep this on by default because it can take upwards of 30 minutes IRL to fine tune a screenshot. The middle button below. Make sure it's highlighted.

3. Toggle battle effects on/off. It's the button right next to the time/weather stop, the icon of the guy holding the sword. If the icon is highlighted as it is in the screenshot, your battle effects are on. If you want to capture pure motion and not worry about battle effects, turn this off. 4. Wet effect. Use it, use it, use it. It doesn't just make clothes look wet and make skin glossy, it actually helps to bring out texture and detail on the character's outfit. Especially since the graphics updates in 7.1. I've found it also adds shine to hair and can help the eyes stand out more.

5. Sticker Mode. Yes, there are oodles of cute minion stickers, flags, and numbers, but there are also some great effects to be found in the Decorations category! Sparkles and twinkles, lens flare, among other things can help enhance metallic points on a glamour, AND they can be resized! So if you want a more subtle twinkle on the edge of your spectacles or earrings, you can tilt and downsize your desired sparkle. There are also cute flowers and hearts. 6. Quick Keys. If you're playing on a keyboard, the 1 on your top number row freezes the screenshot. This is extremely helpful if you're trying to catch a battle emote right at a specific moment. If you miss it, keep trying because emotes will continue to cycle until you change them. R and Scroll Lock will both hide/unhide the gpose controls. X will turn on lighting. Space Bar will toggle your character to stop them from facing the camera and vice versa. 7. Lighting Intensity is Dependent on Distance. The closer you're zoomed in on your character, the brighter the light is going to be when you turn it on. Try adjusting your zoom in or out and toggling the light to see if the illumination is to your liking. You can also adjust the RGB on the lights to fit the mood/environment. I also recommend turning on Manual Brightness. 8. Color Filter and Screen Effect. These two features, in my opinion, require the most patience. Not every color filter and screen effect will work well together in every scenario. Click through and preview all of them in your screenshots and see if some SE's work better with your preferred CF. You might find an unexpected combination that you love. Trailer and Echo color filters are great for flashbacks (no one uses Aetherometer, it's an eye bleeder). Use the Pencil or one of the monochrome CFs and Noise 2 SE to create a nice black and white film or photo effect. 9. Frames. Frames are one of the more limited features and not always needed in order to capture a great screenshot. Action poses benefit from the Cinema frames, however, while more lighthearted moments play well with the photo options.

10. Emotes. Before you enter Gpose, be sure to /groundsit to clear your most recent emotes. Summoning mounts and minions also count as emotes for the sake of Gpose. By the same token, you can use battle abilities before entering Gpose, and this is what it will cycle through. You can't activate a battle ability while IN Gpose. You will have access to all of your non-battle emotes and facial expressions, though. You can combine any emote with any facial expression by choosing the action first, and expression second, so you can /prettyplease and /awe at the same time to make your character look hilariously horrified. If you enter Gpose with an active battle ability, you can still apply a facial expression to it from within the tool. 11. Bits and Bobs. Enable Manual Focus and Depth of Field will help bring out the details of the background more, and will help to make a more cohesive screenshot. Manual Focus is great if you want your character in the frame, but you want to shift the focus elsewhere, to an object or another person in the background for example. In the same menu where you'll find emotes, click the second eye button to "Track Camera". Your character's eyes will follow the position of the camera. Lastly, again, have patience. Allow yourself time to play with all the tools Gpose has to offer. You're probably not going to get the winning screenshot after clicking Printscreen just one time, you should take multiple shots from different angles with different lighting and effects, then compare them all and pick the ones you like best. And remember, even if it's the true endgame, it's not a competition. Your screenshots are not "worse" or "boring" just because you're not using third party tools. I look forward to seeing what you create, and you should too.

[fuck-customers]

The other day, these boys (they weren't even teenagers) cane in to the cinema the other day and were trying to buy Deadpool tickets. They obviously didn't have IDs, so they were trying to get other people to buy it for them.

First, they said the guy in line behind them was their uncle and he was gonna watch it with him, only for the guy to butt in with "I don't even know you guys"

Then they were just standing next to the line and letting people go ahead of them in line and asking every single one of them, and eventually, one of them said yes. So my boss sauntered over to the guy as he was trying to buy them tickets and had this conversation:

Boss: "So... you're the parental figure?"

Man: "Yes."

Boss: "You know these boys?"

Man: "Obviously."

Boss: "So the boys are going to sit right next to you? And you understand that if they misbehave and have to be asked to leave, you'll have to leave with them, since you're responsible for them?"

Man: "... sorry guys, never mind."

And then he gave them their money back and went to watch his movie. Like, based on past experience and the way the boys were acting, we're all pretty sure they weren't going to behave during the movie (mostly because they couldn't even behave in the lobby where there's a bunch of employees watching them because it was a very slow day and they were being loud.)

Oh, and the youngest boy could not have been older than 10, at the absolute most, and he had a fucking vape hanging on a lanyard around his neck. Like, kid, you don't need to be fucking up your lungs and developing an addiction when you haven't even started puberty yet. Okay, my grandfather was smoking by age 10, but they also thought cigarettes were good for treating asthma back then. These days, we know better. (Obviously, I don't care if adults smoke or vape, as long as they aren't doing it in the building or too close to me. I do have severe respiratory problems and I like being able to breathe as much clean air as my lungs will allow. But 10, or however old this kid, is waaaay too fucking young. I know laws don't actually determine morals, but smoking/vaping under the age of 18 is illegal here too).

Also, I had not one but two groups of parents argue and throw a fit because I had to tell them they couldn't bring their newborn babies into R rates movies. Like, one of them was just reaching the stage where she was starting to look like a proper baby, but the other one was so young that he was still in the stage where he looks more like an alien than a baby. Like, the girl was maybe a month old, but the boy was maaaaybe two weeks. Yes, I understand that your tiny, tiny infants are probably not going to be traumatized by the new Alien movie. Newborns are extremely nearsighted, so they probably couldn't even see the screen. But you know what babies *do* do? Cry. And people buy tickets to a movie that is Age Restricted (which is what the R in Rated R stands for: Age Restricted 17 and Up) buy tickets with the reasonable expectation that there isn't going to be a screaming child in there. That's why company policy is that we don't allow kids under 6 to Age Restricted films, even with parents. Because if your baby is crying the whole time, people want their money back and we have to give refunds. Corporate doesn't give a shit if you're bad parents or not for traumatizing your 4-year old by dragging him to a Saw movie or whatever (and no, he can't just "play on his iPad the whole time", you're not allowed to have those out either because it's also disruptive to other guests). This has been company policy since around the time the first Saw movie came out, actually. It's not new.

The parents of the little boy were even like "he won't cry, he loves loud noises!" Like, he's two weeks old, he's barely popped out of the womb, you cannot possibly know him well enough to know how he's going to react to being at the movies for the first time (I see parents bringing their 3 to 6 year olds in for their first movie at the cinema, like multiple times a week, and they don't even know how the kid will react most of the time), and frankly at this point, I'm not sure I trust you to make the decisions that are best for your child rather than yourself, since that's a newborn fucking baby, there's a massive COVID surge right now, and the theater is very crowded. I *just* got back to work after catching COVID at the fucking urgent care when I had a concussion, and they had hospital-grade ozone air filters, and both I and the person in the waiting room who had COVID were wearing masks (AND I'm fully up to date on my vaccines). Your baby can absolutely catch COVID if you're going to be sitting in a packed room with a hundred or more other people for several hours, especially since none of you are masking. He can't even have been vaccinated for chickenpox or whooping cough yet.

Your baby in no way benefits from being here, but he could easily catch an illness and die. You know how many toddlers I see that are constantly coughing and don't understand to cover their mouths yet? So fucking many. At least be honest; you're here because you want to watch the new movie, and you're not willing to wait until you can get a babysitter for a few hours. You're not here because your newborn baby "likes loud noises"; if that's really the case, you can take him for a walk near a construction site or something, which is free and less likely to give him a potentially fatal illness. Or, you know, put something on the phone or the TV on for him. I know that being cooped up at home sucks, I really do, but even if you're willing to risk the health of your baby that's still fresh out of the oven, we as a business still do not allow him to be in here for that movie. You can pick one that's not Adults-Only if you really really want to watch a movie right now. Or you could hire a babysitter, or leave him with Grandma for a few hours, or something.

Not to mention the fact that our sound system is good enough to shake things through the sound-dampening walls; it's got to be fucking torture on sensitive newborn eardrums. I have a video of a time when a specific movie was playing right next to the bathroom and some of the sound effects hit just the right pitch that the fucking stall doors were unlocking themselves from the vibrations. (And yes, the sound-dampening walls do work, and we do actually replace the panels when they wear out, but they can only do so much. They're sound dampening, not sound-proof, and audio mixing in films has been all over the place for the last however many years. Movies are often much louder, or at least have a wider range of volume levels across the whole feature, than they did when this place was built decades ago.)

Sorry to get preach-y but have some fucking sense and learn to accept that you can't just do anything and everything you want. I don't even make the fucking rules, but it's going to be on my head if I let you bring him in there and we have to give out hundreds of dollars in refunds because he's screaming.

Also, sorry that this is an Ask and not a Submission. I didn't notice until I was done typing, and it won't let me copy and paste the whole thing since I'm on mobile, only one paragraph at a time.

Posted by admin Rodney

[babyseraphim]

A little list of silly Charles headcanons!

Charles collects beanie babies. He has a ton of them in his bag of tricks, and he always tells Edwin that they’re increasing in value, so he’s just collecting them as a means of trade/payment

Every time Edwin suggests he try and use any of them to trade, Charles always finds something else to trade instead

His favorite is a panther named Mercury (after Freddy Mercury), as well as a cat that he named after Edwin (he even made a little bow tie for it out of scraps of cloth)

"You ought to stop giving them names. If you keep personalizing them, they will become even more difficult to part with. Farmers and ranchers often employ the same practice with their livestock."

"Well, I can't just leave them nameless, can I? Everyone deserves a name, and the ones on their tags are always a bit daft."

"They are not people, Charles. They are sacks of cloth filled with beans."

"Oi! Be nice, yeah? They’ve never done anything to you."

“...You’re incorrigible.”

Given that he was alive in the 80’s, I think it’s plausible that Charles’s chosen mode of transportation is skateboarding!

I can just picture him hanging out at skate parks all weekend to avoid going home (I know he’s at boarding school, but maybe before he was sent there or on holidays), smoking cigarettes he isn’t supposed to have and falling on his face trying to learn how to do tricks

"Where did this scar on your elbow come from?"

"Oh, that one? Tried and failed to do a kickflip once. I was always rubbish at tricks, but it was fun trying."

"What on Earth is a 'kickflip'?"

"It's a skateboard trick, one of the more popular ones."

"..."

"Right, I knew I kept a spare board in my bag for a reason. Come on, I'm sure we can find a deserted skate park fit for some ghost...boarding. Skate ghosting? Eh, I'll workshop it."

"Please don't."

Also because he was an 80’s teen and needed some place to be that wasn’t home, I think he also spent a lot of time at arcades

I bet he would be super into pinball, mostly because they're really satisfying and stimmy. Plus, they’re kind of a test of fast reflexes, and we all know Charles has stellar reflexes

He held the high score in Pac Man at his local arcade up until after his death, and will sometimes visit after closing to try and reclaim the high score

"Charles."

"Uh-huh."

"Charles."

"Uhhh-huh."

"CHARLES!"

"What? Oh, sorry, mate. This machine is mint, I can't believe the quality of its cut scenes. It's like I'm actually at the cinema!"

"We are here to finish solving a case, yes? The Case of the Pinball Poltergeist, as you so aptly named it. We can revisit these games afterwards, though I admittedly cannot understand your fondness for a machine that produces such a terribly loud noise."

"Not a fan of pinball, ay? I bet you'd be aces at Tetris."

"Is that a game? It sounds like a contagious disease."

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Freudian Symbolism: Sauron x Galadriel in Season 1 of "Rings of Power"

There are no sex scenes in “Rings of Power” and never will be. But there’s a lot of sexual symbolism happening. And, as I’ve mentioned in my original post, Freudian symbolism has been widely used by cinema to covey sexual acts, especially in productions that can’t or won’t straight out show it to the viewer.

These sexual acts are taking place within in the narrative. The characters are interacting sexually. But the scenes aren’t graphic in nature, like we are use to nowadays. These narratives devices were very common in past decades, when cinema couldn't show explicit sexual content and the studios had to be creative. So these sex symbols have been widely used, and are recognizable.

Yes, I’m going down this rabbit hole, again, inspired by @princessfantaghiro and @rey-jake-therapist. Might do a post on Season 2, as well.

I’m like Sauron: rubbing symbolically Haladriel sex in Galadriel’s your face(s).

I’ve already discussed the Freudian symbolism of this gesture, several times, and it’s very obvious, too. It is penetrative sex: a crown (clitoral symbol) penetrating a sword (phallic symbol).

I would like to revisit and elaborate on my original post about this subject:

Enduring Headcanons

To get this topic out of the way: if you are still holding on to “Elven sex culture” or “Elvish sex magic” because the Tolkien fandom keeps neglecting context, Tolkien letters and Christopher Tolkien notes, you can find a explanation here.

In short, the “Concerning the "Laws and Customs among the Eldar” chapter in "Morgoth's Ring” is not how Elves actually behave sexually in the legendarium. There is no “magical bound” happening between Elves when they have sex; the “union of souls” the fandom keeps talking about is creating children (not the actual sex act); and for the Noldor sex doesn’t equal marriage, they need more than that to recognize a wedding took place (a tribute, usually a jewel); Ósanwë has nothing to do with sex, it’s telepathy. These are fanon, not actual “Tolkien canon”. By all means have all the headcanons you want, just don’t come crying about it on my posts.

So, yes, it’s entirely possible for Galadriel to have had sex with Halbrand-Sauron in Season 1, without it “breaking the lore”.

Galadriel the Virgin

Just before Galadriel runs into Halbrand-Sauron in the Sundering Seas, she’s evocative of Joan of Arc.

Which is very fitting for her character at the beginning of Season 1: Joan of Arc was put on trial because of blasphemy (wearing men’s clothes), acting upon demonic visions and refusing to submit to the authority of the Church. Galadriel is shipped off to Valinor because of her endless pursuit for Sauron (acting upon demonic visions), and her continuous disobedience of High King Gil-galad’s commands. And like Joan of Arc, we also see her wearing armor (men’s clothes).

Joan of Arc also took a vow of chastity and pledged her life to expel the enemies of France. This also mirrors Galadriel’s husband being presumed dead ever since the end of the War of Wrath, and her vowing to hunt down Sauron (the enemy of Middle-earth).

And now we enter theological territory: virginity (in women, because men are allowed everything, but that’s a question for another time) has spiritual power in many religions. In Catholic-Christian, a virgin body is considered the most sacred shrine of God’s earth, because it has the gift of creation. Joan of Arc was a virgin but she had her virginity questioned and put on trial, too, and was examined twice.

Joan of Arc was burned at the stake (fire) and her ashes where thrown at the river (water). In “Rings of Power”, it appears the Elves enter Valinor through the Sun itself (fire), but Galadriel jumps off ship into the sea (water). This is, yet, another connection between Galadriel’s character and Joan of Arc, only in Galadriel’s case represents rebirth.

Sexual Awakening

In Freudian symbolism, water imagery is, indeed, connected to birth, rebirth, renewal, and transformative experiences in general. Whatever happens to Galadriel next will be a life-changing situation.

Water is also symbolically of wish fulfillment, especially connected to sexual deviation and/or repressed sexual desire. Which is very interesting in Galadriel’s case, because she jumps off ship to continue her hunt for Sauron, but the words that echoed on her mind before her final decision are her brother’s, Finrod: “sometimes we cannot know until he have touched the darkness”. Interestingly enough, ships are also considered clitorical symbols.

"It's me. The object of all of your sexual nightmares.”

In Freudian symbolism, pulling someone out of the water, is meant to illustrate a hypothetical parent, usually mother-child relationship, and, curiously enough the first character who helps Galadriel get into the raft is a woman, but she also rejects her next. Symbolically, this scene is also rejecting this angle of symbolical interpretation. We'll have this meaning later on with Elendil and Galadriel, when he even compares her with his own children.

Who truly “fishes” Galadriel out of the sea is Sauron himself. The object of her obsession, which caused her to be condemned to be “burned at the stake” aka thrown into the sun (return to Valinor), by her “Church” authority, the Noldor. The scene is embracing the sexual deviation interpretation, as we'll see in a moment.

To analyze the Freudian symbolism of the sea we have to go to a philosopher whose work inspired Freud himself: Friedrich Nietzsche. Especially since we are working with the themes of sexual deviance and repression of sexual desire in this scene. And here’s your explanation for Sauron’s unhinged predatory expression when he takes Galadriel out of the water. 

There is also a lot of phallic imagery in this raft design; symbolically Galadriel is also entering Sauron’s sexual domain, here. And she, literally, finds herself surrounded with symbolic penises.

Nietzsche uses the open sea as a metaphor for the unknown and the unexplored, where the traditional molds of morality are abandoned. The open sea is an invitation to embark on a journey into unchartered moral waters: a place where "right" or "wrong" don't exist, a moral grey area, and a breeding ground for moral decay.

For Nietzsche, the open sea represents a Godless world. Which is very fitting for a demon such as Sauron, who turned his back on God (Eru Ilúvatar) and sided with Melkor/Morgoth (Satan), and, at this point of his character arc, is seeking for redemption. In short, the open sea symbolizes infinite freedom and potential depravity; which are characteristics often associated with the Christian Devil (Morgoth), whom Sauron serves. 

The open sea it’s textbook “live dangerously”, where all sort of morally questionable and reprehensible actions can happen. And this idea of the “open sea as a grey moral area” isn’t exclusive to Nietzsche or Freud, we also find it in female poets like Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson; where the ocean is a symbol for moral and sexual exploration.

There’s also a storm in these scenes: in Freudian symbolism, storms are representative of emotional repression. Storms, heavy rain and thunder indicate feelings of sexual frustration, anger and sadness. Heavy rain is also associated with renewal, while thunderstorms reflect emotional conflict.  

Galadriel reaches out to Sauron in this scene. What does this mean? Symbolically, she wants to him to take her out her sexual “dry spell” existence. She’s sexually frustrated. and he’s in the same situation. Which makes sense with her unvoluntary chastity vow (Joan of Arc), and him being trapped in a cave being goo for hundreds of years. And he “accepts her plea” and jump into the ocean to rescue her, signaling he shares her want.

All of this symbolism will also echo in Season 1 finale, when Sauron “returns” Galadriel to the raft to pitch his proposal to make her a queen. What Sauron is truly offering Galadriel, on a symbolic level, is infinite freedom of self and raw sexuality.

She refuses his offer and says she “should have left him on the sea”. Galadriel is expressing regret over her own sexual impulses and returning to her chastity vow. Then, we have all of this splashing water around them, framed in a very different way from the scenes in 1x02.  Splashing water has been used as a device/symbol for fulfilled sexual activity in cinema for decades, now. So, yes, they most likely did it. Sauron-Halbrand and Galadriel had sex in Season 1.

"He really seduced her" (Charlotte Brändström)

Galadriel was reborn after she emerged from the sea. She was “fished” out of the ocean by Sauron, a symbol of sexual depravity whose sexual repression mirrors her own (open sea). She enters his sexual domain (raft). Halfway through their interactions, Galadriel reaches out to him, consumed by her own sexual frustration, but she’s conflicted about her feelings (storm). He shares her emotions and is willingly to give her what she needs (saves her from drowning). After the storm comes a calm: they have reached an understanding.

Interestingly enough this symbolic understanding of their mutual sexual desire and needs (clear skies) is them lying down on the raft:

Now, the seduction begins.

And Sauron initiates it by handing Galadriel a bowl of food. This is what Freud called “oral gratification”, connected to his theory about the psychosexual stages of development. Here pleasure is the core theme, associated with emotional and sexual nourishment. Sauron offers food, and Galadriel is emotionally hungry for it, and accepts with no hesitation.  

And he grins. Sauron is pleased with himself because Galadriel accepted his sexual invitation. And also, in Freudian symbolism the mouth is a symbol for the female genitals, while the spoon is a phallic symbol. The act of eating symbolizes sexual intercourse (= interaction between male and female symbols). He’s fantasizing all kind of sexual scenarios here.

In Freudian Symbolism, knifes/daggers/lances/swords (any object resembling the penis in shape or that can be used to penetrate the body and cause injury) are phallic symbols. Meaning, they represent the penis. An erection (in which the penis raises itself against the force of gravity) is usually represented in connection with an air element (it can be ballons, airplanes, missiles, rockets, flying, snakes, etc.).

Symbolically, this is the first sexual interaction between Galadriel and Halbrand/Sauron. He has an erection, and she is touching it.

That's symbolic handjob, for you.

In the same episode, the Númenórean smiths tease Sauron, and ask how close is he with the "she-elf". This Maia is eating ("sexual intercourse") clams, here. Worldwide, the clam is a clitoral symbol, meaning it represents the female genitalia. What does this means? Eating Galadriel out is, probably, what Sauron wants. 

In 1x05, after some flirtation happening between Galadriel and Sauron, she’s handling a bunch of swords (phallic symbols) right in front of him. Literally. She’s training the Númenoreans and is surrounded by men eager to… learn from her, and at awe by her. She’s very skilled with those swords.

Sauron decides to peacock and assert his dominance in this scene: the only “sword” Galadriel will be handling around here is his, and he’s the best at it, too. 

Speaking of objects representative of genitals: the roles are reversed in Galadriel and Sauron’s characters in Season 1. Galadriel is the one who carries the phallic symbol (dagger), while Sauron carries the clitoral symbol (pouch). But they do exchange these objects a few times throughout the season. In Freudian symbolism, the interaction of male and female symbols represent sexual acts.

“Come with me to Middle-earth and I’ll give you this… pouch.”

In 1x05, they are back to the ocean, aboard of a clitoral symbol (ship). And Galadriel climbs stairs to reach Halbrand. Staircases are one of those classic and universal cinematic devices to signal female sex appeal. Every man on board is at awe of her, but she only has eyes for Halbrand-Sauron.

But stairs, especially climbing, also have a well-established sexual meaning in cinema: they represent the sexual act.

However, we aren’t shown any interactions between these two characters on the ship, on a voyage that lasted from 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the weather conditions.

The only “clue” we got is that they were, at one point, awake at the same time, and that Galadriel has been up for at least one hour, as she tells Isildur, in 1x06. Sauron doesn’t need to sleep, but Galadriel does (even though not as much as if she belonged to the race of Men).

Galadriel has her hair braided, which is the first time we see this hairstyle on her in “Rings of Power”, because in 1x01 she had her hair down. Indeed a braid is more practical for battle, but braids also have Freudian symbolism attached to them. Braids are a phallic symbol, and Galadriel on a clitoral symbol (ship), meaning we have two sex symbols interacting, indicating sexual intercourse.

The next scene Galadriel and Sauron share together is their chasing after Adar, when they prevent each other from killing him. We know that Galadriel has some darkness within her since 1x01, but Adar tells her something interesting, that resonates with other lines in Season 1:

Halbrand (1x05): “What do you know of darkness?” Adar (1x06): “It would seem I'm not the only Elf alive who has been transformed by darkness.” Sauron-Finrod (1x08): “Touch the darkness once more”.

Is this an indication that Galadriel got “transformed” by the “darkness” (Sauron) somewhere in the middle of these events?

Because, as @rey-jake-therapist correctly pointed out, we underestimate the importance of the “touch the darkness once more”. This implies Galadriel has already “touched the darkness” and Sauron is asking her to do it again.

Back to 1x06, after the Adar business, we have the “I’ve felt it too” scene, where Sauron expressed his desire to bind them together. And if we remove the “fighting” (which is also be a symbol for sexual intercourse), Sauron’s quote sounds very intimate and romantic: “at your side, I... I felt... If I could just hold on to that feeling, keep it with me always, bind it to my very being, then I...”

But after Halbrand-Sauron is summoned by Queen Míriel, Galadriel has an intriguing scene all by herself. She cleans the black blood (Adar’s) from her dagger, and looks ashamed and guilty doing it. And she does this after saying "I've felt it too".

The subtext of this act can be very sexual, especially if we take into account her previous invocation of Joan of Arc (virgin), the black blood/seed (the same color as Sauron’s) and the symbolic penis (dagger). Symbolically, this can indicate she’s attempting to keep her sexual rendezvous with Halbrand-Sauron a secret. A dirty secret she’s deeply ashamed of.

And for my Half-Maia Celebrían enthusiasts out there: after the volcano eruption, in 2x07, the first place of her body Galadriel touches is her lower stomach, her womb. Why?

When she’s finally able to get up, she searches for Halbrand. And we also see her acting maternal with the angsty kid in town, Theo, next. After an episode where Adar mentioned “Halbrand’s” “woman” and “child”. You all know I’m not a believer in Half-Maia Celebrían theory but there are some intriguing clues on both Season 1 and Season 2. 

Next, Sauron pretends to be injured and Galadriel takes him to Eregion. In my opinion, the injury wasn’t fatal. I think he really wanted to be near Galadriel, even though he didn’t know for sure she would take him to Eregion and Celebrimbor, because Sauron doesn’t have the gift of foresight. Anyway, it was clear Sauron indented to forge two wedding rings, one for himself and the other for Galadriel.

On my original post I made the case for “sexy time” happening for the first time at Eregion, but now I’m convinced it might have been sooner. Sauron was there for three weeks, as that’s the time Gil-galad gives Celebrimbor in 1x08. Galadriel became suspicious of him the day after their arrival, probably. While something might have happened there, too, from the symbolism we got, it might have happened sooner than expected.  

[saucerfulofsins]

I haven’t seen any posts comparing Buck’s coming out to Eddie and Tommy breaking up with Buck, which is a shame because the similarities drive me insane.

Or well. I say similarities, but that’s wrong. What I should be saying is: these scenes mirror each other. This post is more about the highlights than shot by shot comparisons – for that, I’d recommend you watch them side by side yourself.

Let’s start with the first and most obvious structural parallel: both scenes happen around 32 minutes into their respective episodes/between two-thirds to three-quarters in.

Now, for the scenes themselves. They follow the same basic outline, which I’ll discuss one by one. I’m following the same structure throughout: I discuss the coming out scene, then the breakup, and then give some analysis. At the end, I’ve included a section on further things of note that I couldn’t neatly fit into this structure and my final thoughts. Is this the first time I’m using the media analysis I was taught during my minor in Arts, Culture and Media with a focus on film in 2019? Yes, yes it is.

Buckle up, because this meta/essay is nearly 3k. For that reason (i.e. accessibility/readability and the amount of work I put in), this entire piece has been cross-post to AO3 (CLICK FOR LINK).

Opening shots

Seating 1.0

Buck in the kitchen

Seating 2.0

POV shots (both perspectives)

Eddie and Tommy leaving

Miscellany

Final thoughts

Analysis under the cut:

1. Opening shots

This part includes some of the most noticeable differences between the scenes, which explains why they feel different – at least at first.

CO: Eddie’s phone comes into view first – this is his chat conversation with Marisol, which the first part of the CO scene is about (note how this mirrors the gym scene, where Buck intended to come out before the conversation lingered on Eddie and Marisol). Eddie is also closest to the door during this part of the scene – which is where he will remain throughout.

BU: The first shot is of a closed door, which Buck opens for Tommy, i.e. Tommy certainly has no keys to Buck’s place, and this might well be a callback to doors as a recurrent theme. They greet with the briefest kiss possible. I rewatched this several times to make sure it really happened – it happens immediately after a cut and it’s filmed in such a way this could easily have been an air kiss lmao. (No seriously, I had to watch this screen by screen to properly catch it, and the audio is a lot more obvious than the visual). They make small talk about the movies and Tommy having ordered an uber (clearly a throwback to 7x05), and they switch positions so Buck is actually closest to the door.

As for clear similarities: Eddie and Tommy are standing up and remain mostly in the same place; Buck is moving around the loft – it’s an expression of his nervous energy, and the major changes in these scenes are about Buck, not Eddie or Tommy.

2. Sitting down

I made this a separate point for one reason, and one reason only: In CO, Eddie takes his own initiative to sit down, while saying he should go home and Buck offering him a beer, so clearly he won’t be leaving to go home any time soon(ilu Eddie but I’m begging you, stop putting yourself and also us through this 😭). In BU, Buck tells Tommy to sit down... which is in part to signal they need a more serious talk than can be done on the way to the cinema, but also shows a massive contrast in terms of familiarity and comfort, regardless of what Buck tries to tell Tommy later.

Both Eddie and Tommy sit down on the leftmost stool (closest to the door, i.e. it’s easiest for them to leave and Buck can’t get between them).

3. Buck in the kitchen

Fun fact! Before writing this post, I checked the scene where Buck confesses to Taylor that he kissed Lucy. During that scene, Buck is sitting down at the kitchen island, while Taylor lingers in the kitchen proper (i.e. with the island between them). She has moved in at that point – kitchens represent ‘being at home’ – but there’s a physical barrier between her and Buck, and it doesn’t actually keep from her leaving (even while saying she has nowhere to go).

CO: The camera uses a dolly shot to follow Buck throughout the kitchen – to the fridge and then back to the head of the kitchen island. He’s attentively listening to Eddie complain about Marisol and God watching him have sex (cursing God while sluttily drinking his beer).

BU: Buck walks out of view of the camera, through the kitchen, and there’s a dolly shot to the right to focus on Buck finding his place on the head of the kitchen island. He leans on the counter at this point. He does have a pretty open posture (identical to CO); Tommy sits with his hands/fingers folded together but he’s turned to Buck i.e. paying attention.

This is the position Buck has when he comes clear to Tommy about having dated Abby in the past; it’s also when his phone comes into the picture. Well. Pictures. Of Buck and Abby.

4. Seating 2.0

This is the longest section of analysis, and contains the part that makes me SCREAM but let’s start at the beginning. From the moment Buck sits down, the conversation turns serious in both scenes. This dialogue consists of mostly POV shots (which I will discuss next), and these medium shots that show Buck and Eddie, and Buck and Tommy.

CO: Buck sits down while Eddie says, “You and Tommy have the right idea, stay single.” This very clearly introduces a new section of the scene. Overall, the lighting of the loft is muted besides the yellow for visual interest and gay Eddie, thank you for your hard work Buddie colour theorists. Buck’s dining table is unlit and barely visible, so the space really takes a back seat and allows us to focus on Buck and Eddie. Please take note of the chair between them – this serves as a physical barrier, where someone is getting between them (a place for Marisol and Tommy, respectively).

BU: Here, the segway happens right after Buck’s come clear about being Abby’s ex 2.0. He sits down on the middle chair, but it’s quite obvious he’s shoved it away from Tommy. In fact, compared to CO, Buck is almost at the same distance from Tommy as he is from Eddie. There’s a barrier between Buck and Eddie, but there’s space between him and Tommy. This is emphasized by the lit dining table, which draws even more attention because of the white decorations: the loft is a space to be distracted by, focus on or even flee into.

Now. This is what kickstarted my obsession with these scenes, especially the coming out scene. The chair between them? Buck reaches out to Eddie, leans his arm onto it and in the process drawing attention to it. He actually leaves his arm there for an extended period, throughout several of the following shots, and only seems to pull back when he says he and Tommy were on a date.

The following shots – of Buck’s coming out and Eddie’s initial response – are back and forth POV shots. The first shot from medium distance, is this:

Do you see it. DO YOU SEE IT. Do you see what drives me crazy! Eddie is mirroring Buck’s earlier posture – also this is immediately after Buck says Tommy left him on the curb (i.e. Eddie realizes there’s no Tommy getting between them). Eddie’s not just opened up, he’s reaching out, extending his arm back onto that empty chair between them. And again, like Buck, he leaves it there for several shots. It’s still there when he tells Buck to call Tommy, although he briefly vaguely gestures to himself during the “He’ll love you! We all do!” It’s not clear when he takes his arm away; no shots show it and then he’s getting up.

This just. This drives me insane.

For comparison, Buck doesn’t reach out to Tommy during the BU scene. And, compare Tommy to Eddie:

5. POV shots

Okay, the section header is a bit of a misnomer because the scene consists mostly of dialogue and therefore has POV shots. Like I said, there’s also overlap between the POV shots and the wider establishing shots I used in section 4. The bulk of this part of the scene, however, shows a lot of over the shoulder close ups with quick POV switches. In both cases, this is where the subject at the heart of the scene is discussed.

Now, these differences are pretty small and they could be a consequence of these episodes having different directors. However, there’s zero doubt in my mind that Chad Lowe closely studied the CO scene for its sheer number of cinematographic parallels and therefore it might be entirely on purpose too YAY.

There’s some variation in the distance of these shots, but the most intimate ones look like this:

(Still not over that face he’s pulling here, dear Lord). Buck takes up most of the screen – his shoulders are visible, but the top of his head isn’t. I guess this is technically still an over the shoulder shot, but barely. Eddie is out of focus, just enough there to be a blurry ear. These shots are intimate. This is almost what Eddie is seeing – and actually these shots make it feel like they’re sitting a lot closer than they actually are.

"Until now.” Buck’s entire face (including hair) is in the shot, and we can see Tommy’s shirt. This is the closest/most intimate we get to see him (and Tommy, in reverse). For both sides, they’re very clear over the shoulder shots. Yes, this is intimate – but it is not intimate. A quarter to a third of the screen (esp as the conversation moves on) is dedicated to the other person. Buck is more visually interesting too. He has more colour in his face and his background is more clearly white than in CO, whereas Tommy blends in more with the brown coat rack background (shout-out to @sparklespiff for pointing out that difference while I was trying to figure out why Buck felt more noticeable, btw).

SIDENOTE: I know some posts have already been made about the pictures on Buck’s fridge and Eddie’s mantelpiece, like they seem thematically relevant (or perhaps not yet, but soon). Buck’s walls in general have more pictures on them in S8, which is evident both in Buck’s background and Tommy’s. I am nowhere near talented enough to identify them, but going by their general colour and composition, I believe all of Buck’s wall art pieces are that, art, not family photos.

6. Eddie and Tommy leaving

These scenes have some of the clearest parallels, and of course an incredibly clear difference in how Eddie and Tommy are leaving Buck.

CO: Eddie leaves not because of Buck (well, not technically), but because he has to go do something: “I gotta go talk to Marisol.” Buck is smiling while Eddie gets up and is on his way out. Of course, this is when Eddie stops, turns around, and Buck looks up. In fact, Eddie says “Come here” but he’s the one to walk up to Buck to give him a hug. Buck just stands up from the chair. During the hug, we get shots of both Eddie’s and Buck’s faces, and of course Eddie holding Buck’s shoulder. When Eddie leaves, we hear the door open and shut – the focus stays on Buck.

Again, when Tommy leaves, we only hear the door while the camera cuts to Buck. The show then picks up his response (with the same expression) during his arrival at Eddie’s, where Eddie lets him into his home.

BU: Of course, Tommy has nowhere he needs to go to (hello, return of the failed cinema date) – when he says “I should go” it is because of his conversation with Buck. There’s a medium wide shot of him getting up while Buck looks confused, looking like he’s about to reach out for Tommy – the first time during their conversation. The camera uses a slow dolly to the left, which is when Buck calls back Tommy to ask for clarification: “Did you just break up with me?” Tommy says, “Yeah, I guess I just did.” This has been pointed out before, but they’re clearly not sure. Tommy also says, “Believe me, I didn’t see it coming either.” (Was LFJ speaking from Tommy’s perspective in that interview?). That line is fascinating, actually, because only moments ago, he was incredibly adamant about being Buck’s first, not his last. This feels like a throwback to “Enjoy it while it lasts,” leaving them both overwhelmed/confused.

Look at how similar these shots are! Also, the reason I was adamant about calling these scenes mirrors and not parallels is because Buck and Tommy greet each other with a moment of physical affection (which, as I mentioned before, is incredibly short and barely visible). Eddie wouldn’t have ordinarily but feels it’s important to hug Buck to show him nothing has changed. In terms of meaning and cinematography, their interaction is a lot more substantial and reciprocal. They’re also making sure to leave on good terms – whereas Buck and Tommy meet on good terms, but part essentially as strangers. Buck and Tommy ending the scene like truly feels like an end. Buck and Eddie’s scene feels like a significant shift in their relationship, and for me part of that is a result of Eddie hugging Buck, and shaking up their routine.

7. Miscellany

Just some bits and bobs I couldn’t fit elsewhere in the analysis!

“I like him too. Just not the same way as you.” 7x05 was truly out there foreshadowing 8x06’s “I am not gay.” (I want to do a full 7x04 + 7x05 parallels post at some point, but that’s going to be a fuckload of work and possibly even larger than this post).

Like I pointed out, Buck and Eddie drink beer during their scene (which they often do during their conversations). Buck and Tommy are breaking up without accoutrements. Of course, we know Buck brings over beer to Eddie after the breakup. Because the scenes mirror each other so closely in every other aspect, it feels incredibly poignant: Eddie again fills a role in Buck’s life Tommy should have had. I also figured I’d check their fake brands, and they are different labels. I would assume Buck brought a new flavour, considering Eddie’s looks.

Speaking of continuity, Buck opening the door to Tommy in a sense mirrors Eddie opening the door to Buck at the end of 8x06. The key differences in their cinematography is that during BU, the establishing shot of the entire scene is of the closed door without a peephole shot. When Eddie opens the door, it follows his Risky Business tribute so the door takes up less presence, and even when it’s closed, Buck is clearly visible through the peephole.

Phones clearly are connected to (past) female love interests; Eddie is interacting with Marisol but it’s through text and impersonal – we don’t see the messages, we just hear Eddie complain. On the other hand, Buck is out of contact with Abby but he still treasures that relationship – otherwise he wouldn’t still have those pictures on his phone after 7 years. I guess that’s kind of cute? Idk, I never really liked Abby or how she treated Buck, but Tommy’s speech has turned me into an Abby defender lol

Like Buck, Maddie also stands at the head of the kitchen island during her conversation with Chimney. Chimney’s in the kitchen proper, though, and Maddie walks up to him so they can actually stand face to face and be happy about the new pregnancy together! (I genuinely missed that scene the first time I watched the episode, I was so caught up in the bones of it all SORRY MADNEY I LOVE YOU FOREVER).

8. Final thoughts

I mean. Are we really surprised? I’m not! Actually that’s a lie. I saw the similarities but was shocked at just how close these scenes are in full. However,I do think this scene in particular does a lot to show just how deliberate these parallels between S7 and S8 are (and between S8 and previous seasons in general – we’ve seen similar/near identical cinematography a couple of times now), and how deliberate the parallels are between Eddie and Tommy (who are literally taking up the same position in these two scenes).

And just. The fact it’s the coming out scene between Buck and Eddie, which was about opening up & telling the truth, and it doesn’t change anything (allegedly), versus Buck and Tommy, which is about opening up & telling the truth, which changes everything... it reaffirms how I feel about the coming out scene – this is a major moment of change, and that change is deeply entwined with their respective romantic relationships. AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

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! (Edit: here are!)

[deweyduck]

@pscentral​​ event 21: growth

↳ HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY FROZEN ❄️ 27 November, 2013

The PSCentral event theme being growth the month of the Frozen 10th Anniversary is so fitting for me in so many ways. (I know the theme this month was literally my idea but I promise I didn't even think of giffing Frozen until after I suggested it)

There's the obvious growth of the characters and their relationships in the movie itself, which I highlighted in this gifset. But there's also the growth I experienced myself in the 10 years since the film's release.

I was 15 when Frozen came out. Honestly before I even watched the movie I knew I would love it. I was so hyped the moment Disney announced it, and when I did see it the weekend it came out in the cinemas, it was everything I needed. A story that focused on two unique women and the complexities both of their individual characters and their relationship with each other. A story where the message was non-romantic love can be just as important and powerful as romantic love.

When I first watched the movie as a teenager, I always related to Anna but now as an adult, I related more to Elsa. Over the 10 years since Frozen's release, I have changed but my unwavering love for it has not. I am just able to connect to and see parts of myself in different aspects.

Something else very appropriate with this month's theme is that Frozen is actually the reason I got into gifmaking. Yes, extremely low quality gifs that I made on GIMP (not even Photoshop!) as a teenager in the early 2010s is my gifmaker origin story. I've come so far as a gifmaker since those days. But I'm not linking any of those early gifsets I've moved blogs twice since then for a reason just trust me when I say I've improved. I love making gifs and the community of people I've formed through this hobby. I've learned so many techniques and skills over the years and Frozen really is the biggest reason for that.

I am so grateful to have been able to grow up with Anna and Elsa this past decade. Thank you, Anna and Elsa. Thank you, Frozen, for being my favourite movie.

[kabuki-draws]

I watched Ridley Scott's NAPOLEON yesterday and it was a complete Waterloo.

Yes, I am a big history nerd with a giant heart for movie adaptation of historical topics. But when I watched NAPOLEON I sat there... and tried not to laugh. It was not only so historical inaccurate, that I wanted to cry, at the same time it was filled with cringe dialogues, red flags and terrible color grading. This whole movie made me so sad yet so angry, that I HAVE to write this review:

(Disclaimer: This review is based on my own opinion. If you enjoyed the movie, it's completely fine. Btw. in that case or if you agree with me, feel free to tell me your opinion. I would love to know!)

First of all: Don't get me wrong, the medium film has its own rules and you can't put as much historical accuracy into a big scale movie as you would into a documentary - sometimes the story needs to be altered to be a good movie. And that is fine. Even if Gladiator is a complete fictional story set in the Roman Empire, I can still enjoy this movie for what it is: A good-written story with great characters, a beautiful score and iconic scenes. With Kingdom of Heaven it's kind of the same - and while the movie cut was very inconsistent, I still kind of liked it. But then the Directors Cut made it a a masterpiece for me.

Funny enough, both of these movies are made by the same person: Ridley Scott. So naturally I thought: Well, Napoleon won't be a historical accurate film, but I surely will enjoy it anyways. Well, ...no. It is not only historical incorrect, it's also a bad movie overall.

To start it short: NAPOLEON clearly lost itself in all the various topics it wanted to tell within a runtime of two and a half hours. It made the whole storytelling very weird and inconsistent, causing the problem, that the audience even loses itself in the questions of when and where. Where is that scene located? When did that happen? And then comes the question: Why is this even happening?

Ridley Scott wants to depict Napoleon as a lover, a military genius, a big political figure, a revolutionary and more. But in the end he tells all of this in the most shallow way possible, which waters down Napoleons personality traits and achievements to a series of small scenes. You never get a glimpse of the "true" Napoleon, who was described as a highly intelligent and charismatic man. In fact, you never really feel ANYTHING about him except that he was a cringe red flag in front of his wife. He just stands there, stares and has very limited dialogue scenes to get a picture of that man. What are his overall motivations? Only Josephine? If so, why is this motivation only vaguely explored?

The whole love story between him and Josephine feels so unnatural and got to the brink of being disgusting. This is particularly sad because I deeply respect Vanessa Kirby and Joaquin Phoenix, they're both stunning actors. I don't know if they just couldn't fit the role or if it was rather a problem of the script (the last one is my guess). Yet whenever I saw Josephine and Napoleon on screen, I felt like acted very stiff and forced. Napoleon seemed more obsessed with her than actual love and that can be a character trait, but there wasn't a chance to explore that deeper. Before the movie entered the cinema, the lovestory between these two was marketed as intense, obsessive, deeper than you could imagine. What the audience got was a few scenes without real conversation, much staring and a bunch of cringeworthy s-scenes. And seriously, these "sexy" scene were the worst. I was so disgusted by them because they were SO DAMN WEIRD. There are no scenes that undermine ANY deep love between Josephine and Napoleon. It felt therefore so off, when they still longed for each other after their divorce.

And let's not start to ramble about the fact that they depicted Josephine ONLY in a somehow sexual way. Yeah, there is that scene where she says to Napoleon, that he is nothing without her. BUT SHOW, DON´T TELL! You never see her doing something instead of sitting there, talking with others or when the plot needs her to have sexy time with someone (not only Napoleon). As a woman myself this makes me so freaking furious, you have no idea. I don't need a marvel-coded super-strong woman with unlimited talents - I just need a female character that is written GOOD and plausible! Make me CARE for her plot and for the plot of Napoleon! Both of them don't even feel like normal human beings because they're like blank pieces of paper with their names written on it!

And don´t make me start to talk about the historical inaccuracies. At first I didn't want to draw that card. Actually, I don't need a historical movie to present 100% facts. If the movie is still enjoyable, it's okey. But even if many people say that the war scenes were awesome, I can only partly agree. Yeah, we have that cool ice-lake Austerlitz battle, but it took me a couple of minutes and a better look on the uniforms to know that Napoleon is now at war with Austria! You get nearly ZERO context to Napoleons battles. Yeah, nice, the scenes look cool - but there is nothing more to it? Is that all you need to show for the audience to care? For me at least, I just didn't care at all and I was very happy when I got out of the cinema. Overall this movie is full of messy non-sense choices that don't contribute to the story. Many moments just confused me and it left me with the question why Scott couldn't simply hire some historians to put together a consistent story. Everyone who read about Napoleons life knows that there are so much cinema worthy moments in his career that would've been so much better than what we now got.

I could ramble about that movie for hours if I´m honest, but I hope this little TED talk was enough to make my statement clear.

In the end, it just makes me sad. I wanted to like this movie, I wanted it to be good. For months I hyped myself up to this, read books about Napoleon, watched the trailer all over and over and talked with friends about how great this movie will be. Now I am just disappointed and frustrated. Oppenheimer was such a great biopic of a historical person that became a great success at the box office - even without great battle scenes. I hoped that Napoleon would push a cinema revolution, that shows people want big scaled films about historical personalities and history topics. But now I just want to forget this Napoleon movie to be honest.

[velvet4510]

I guess I’m one of those weirdos who so deeply feels the essence of an instrumental leitmotif from a film score associated with a particular character or couple, that I start associating said leitmotifs in my head with ANOTHER character from an entirely different film/book/series. And I’ve built up a whole library of leitmotifs for LOTR characters even though I ADORE Howard Shore’s original score for the trilogy. I consider these leitmotifs to be add-ons, NOT replacements.

Nor do I intend to completely disassociate all of these themes from their intended films/characters; some of them are perfect fits for the films they were written for. It’s just my mind going wild like usual. (But I admit, in some cases, the pieces are from films I dislike, and thus I would rather see these great songs associated with something of LOTR quality rather than what they were actually stuck with, especially when the lack of lyrics gives you the freedom to let the melody take you wherever it takes you, personally.)

In the case of Silmarillion characters and relationships, well, it’s a different story - it really is my attempt to cobble together what could be a hypothetical score, if it were brought to the screen. Obviously it’d never be this exactly, but I would hope a composer for a potential screen adaptation of The Silmarillion might be inspired by themes like these.

In some cases, the characters these themes were originally written for don’t resemble the corresponding LOTR characters very much, or at all. Also some of them have titles that by themselves could not be more different from and unfitting for Tolkien’s world. It’s just the melodies on their own, without context or even name, performed by these gorgeous orchestras, that have come to remind me of particular Tolkien figure(s).

I also have found lots of ���love themes”, both romantic and platonic, for character relationships, as you’ll see. I’ve included romantic themes for canonical couples, as well as for pairings that I personally ship. I know Shore already gave Aragorn and Arwen a theme, but as I said, these are all extra additions and not replacements.

And yes I have a lot of Star Wars stuff in here, because I love Star Wars…but I love Tolkien more.

For the heck of it I’ll share some of these, with links to each song on YT. It’s hard to explain why I made these choices/associations, but maybe you’ll get it if you listen to some of them.

CHARACTER THEMES

The Valar = “Guardians of the Whills Suite” by Michael Giacchino

Lúthien Tinúviel = “Once Upon a Time in the West” by Ennio Morricone

Túrin Turambar = “Anakin’s Theme” by John Williams

Nienor Níniel = “Helena’s Theme” by John Williams

Frodo Baggins = “Romeo” by Nino Rota

Sam Gamgee = “Rey’s Theme” by John Williams

Aragorn = “The John Dunbar Theme” by John Barry

Gandalf = “Yoda’s Theme” by John Williams

Legolas = “Rose Tico” by John Williams

Éowyn = “Marion’s Theme” by John Williams

THEMES FOR LANDS/LOCATIONS

The Undying Lands = “Out of Africa” by John Barry

ROMANTIC LOVE THEMES

Frodo x Sam = “Love Theme from Ben-Hur” by Miklos Rozsa

Beren x Lúthien = “Love Theme from The Godfather” by Nino Rota

Faramir x Éowyn = “Han Solo and the Princess” by John Williams

Aragorn x Arwen = “Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso” by Ennio Morricone

Sam x Rosie = “Love Theme from Dances with Wolves” by John Barry

Bilbo x Thorin = “Andante Cantabile” by Bernard Herrmann

Thingol x Melian = “Indecent Proposal” by John Barry

Fingon x Maedhros = “Wuthering Heights” by Alfred Newman

Galadriel x Celeborn = “Central Park” by James Newton Howard

Finrod x Bëor = “Somewhere in Time” by John Barry

Aegnor x Andreth = “Love Theme from The Scarlet Letter” by John Barry

Finduilas x Gwindor = “Deborah’s Theme” by Ennio Morricone

Túrin x Beleg = “Midnight Cowboy” by John Barry

Mablung x Nienor = “Wanda and Vision” by Christophe Beck

Tuor x Idril = “Conversation Piece” by Bernard Herrmann

Eärendil x Elwing = “Tennessee” by Hans Zimmer

Elrond x Celebrían = “And Then I Kissed Him” by Hans Zimmer

Pippin x Diamond = “Love Theme from East of Eden” by Leonard Rosenman

Merry x Estella = “Love Theme from Rebel Without a Cause” by Leonard Rosenman

Elanor x Fastred = “Theme from A Summer Place” by Max Steiner (arranged by Percy Faith)

PLATONIC RELATIONSHIP THEMES

Elrond & Elros = “Brothers” by Hans Zimmer

Merry & Pippin = “Flying” by John Williams

Legolas & Gimli = “Rain Man” by Hans Zimmer

Boromir & Faramir = “Luke and Leia” by John Williams

Bilbo & Frodo* = “The Mother’s Love” by Miklos Rozsa

Sam & Elanor = “The Ludlows” by James Horner

I may add to this as I think of more, or even replace certain songs entirely if I come across a better match. Always return to the pinned post here to see the most recently updated list.

* Bilbo & Frodo’s melody is heard in the first minute of the linked track, 0:00–1:01, and again at 1:48. Also, the love theme I associate with Frodo & Sam starts playing at 1:03, making this whole thing fit all the hobbits even better.

[skzdedgf]

" And you are ? " pt. 1

Next

𝙨𝙠𝙯𝙙𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙛 ©

ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ: nonidol!Lee know , Suggestive? so mdni! , Lee know x fem!reader , They are in college , Lee know is mean (other members as well).

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ! : Cursing , Name calling (bitch, asshole, dumbass, etc.) Drinking, Crying , Mentions of oral (m receiving), Mentions of drug use, Bullying?. Let me know if I missed anything!! Not proof read!

WC: 1k

A.N Undercut.

this is my very first fic ! please enjoy and let me know anything I can improve !

'Ughhh' You let out a groan as you realize you forgot your textbook for english, you had spent all night studying in it that you overslept and here you are, mid class with no way to keep up with the lesson.

"Hey" whispered a sweet voice behind you, your lecture room is big almost like a cinema room so when you groaned it echoed

"Can you be quiet.. I'm trying to focus." You were too frustrated to notice the boy until *𝘵𝘢𝘱 𝘵𝘢𝘱 𝘵𝘢𝘱* A pencil taps your head, you turn your head to be met with a sweet freckled boy with soft blond hair.

"Oh hi.." You say awkwardly.

"Yea hey can you shut up? you echo out and its kinda annoying.."

You clench your jaw and slowly turn back around, pink flushing your ears from embarrassment. You zone out a bit..

gosh are people in this class always mean..?,, he looks very familiar though.. but what was that name,, it was something with lee god what was it,,, you thought

"Felix! Yes what do you believe happened to Edgar Allen Poe to create such horror filled stories?"

You snapped back to reality. 'Hm.. Felix' you mumbled as the Blondie now known as Felix stands behind you. *RINGGGG

"What the fuck I was just gonna answer..!" Felix said dramatically with a hint of annoyance in his voice, The professor chuckles as he packs up and gets to heading out as everyone else does. You start packing up and heading out back to your dorm to collect more textbooks and your laptop for your next class.

*ding

your phone goes off, it's your older sister Genesis

-Genni ! : Hey I heard there's gonna be a frat party at 10pm, y/n please go out with me this once, you haven't since your highschool years please y/nnie ~ :-*

-y/n : Genni.. You know I hate frats.. It's just a bunch of guys looking for a blow and or some molly, girls with 2 string as a shirt, I don't even have anything for a frat!!

-Genni ! : y/n, your actually killing me. You fit in my clothes, you don't have to go all out, no one is gonna make you give a guy head, no one is gonna let you have molly, your fine with me! Cmonnn you will let losseeee

'sigh' you read that text and start to wonder ,, hm.. I haven't been to a frat actually,, maybe one with my sister will be fine,,

-y/n : fine.

-Genni ! : YESS TYTYTYTYY I LOVE YOU SM COME TO MY DORM! ITS 8:30 WE HAVE TO GET READY ASAP

You smile at the text while walking to your own dorm then you get a whiff of something and hear.. coughing? Finally looking up from your phone you see a group of guys standing in front of your dorm room smoking some strong weed.. , luckily you have an outdoor campus so they weren't killing people with the stench.

"Oh look guys it's that chick I was saying was fucking loud all the time always making some time of noise knowing how much the class echoes" Felix says annoyed. A black haired guy with a beanie and chrome hearts hoodie steps forward and says "No way your Genni's sister! You look just like her!" He says in a thick Aussie accent "I'm Chris, Genni's good friend, Are you a bitch like her too ??" He says poking is tongue into his cheek with a small grin

"Hey you know not-" You we're cut off by another guy with a slim figure with daring eyes and washed out purple hair "Wait,, and you are?" You clenched your teeth and took a deep breath in smelling the reek of weed "First off back up you smell like shit.." a scattered 'ouu' comes out the other 5 boys you don't know "Second off let me get to my dorm" pointing to your door that's being leaned on by a chubby cheeked boy with fluffy hair "And lastly I'm y/n."

You heard a couple scoffs come out and the boy in front of your door says "C'mon lee know this bitch IS annoying.. Felix wasn't lying." Lee know scoffs and flicks ash from his blunt down at your shoes making you jump back. He lets out a small giggle while walking towards the rest of the group. "Let's go then Han" Lee know says, all the boys walk down the hall.

You storm into your dorm room slaming the door feeling embarrassed and you look down at your freshly bought shoes.. ,,fuck theres a burn mark,, you lean down to try to wipe it off the ash but realize they are burned bad, so much so that there's a small hole at the top. You let out a frustrated groan, you had been holding in all your frustration that you broke into a quiet sob.

*ding

you took a small breather and check your phone [9:05] was the time you see your sister texted you again

-Genni ! : baby sisss, come over

-y/n : okay omw.

10 minutes later

"Y/NNNN" your sister hugs you tightly. "Hi Gen-" she covers your mouth "shhh, get ready. Now." You let out a small giggle and start getting ready

[10:25pm] you and your sister put your small heels on, you can a black star shaped top with a black denim washed out skirt and strappy heels letting your spider hip tattoo show. You and your sister headed out.

"Let's fuck it up y/n" she lets out a small squeal when pulling up to the frat party, it was a huge party with a shit ton of freshman college students you included. "Yea let's fuck it up Genni" you let out a loud laugh and quickly get out the car with her, walking in you can tell people were hotboxing already and definitely not sober, a guy with bright red hair yells towards you and Genni as everyone was pretty loud "WELCOME TO THE FRAT BABES!!" you cringed at the name and at the fact his shirt said "hotter than your ex, better than your next"

The red head boy stepped closer towards you almost making you bump into other people while reeking of alcohol, weed, and sweat. You lose sight of your sister. "Your.. Y/N! The girl that said lee know smelled like shit!!" He clapped his hands while laughing hysterically, he pulls you closer "Your kinda.. Hot.. I'm Hyunjin" You move away quickly "And I'm not interested." Your so anxious you bump into someone making Hyunjin laugh again, you turn and saw a familiar figure..

"What the fuck Dumbass?!" Lee know says obviously not sober and now very pissed. You spilled some type of dark liquid on his shirt which was a white button down tucked into dark mudwash jeans with small stars at the bottom and a star buckle on his belt. "Who the fuck invited you." Lee know said sternly. You try to muster up the words but are unsuccessful. He grabs your wrist tightly making you wince he pulled you through the party basically dragging you to a bathroom.

You freeze when he starts to stare at you, his pupils were blown out and his eyes were very red. "What the fuck are you looking at ?? Are you gonna help clean me up by the mess you caused??" You quickly nodded almost pathetically making lee know scoff. "You really are a dumbass. Helping a random guy out who you don't even know what is capable of in a frat party's bathroom, really.?" You thought ,,fuck he's right,, "I-I don't know.." You look down somewhat embarrassed and slightly annoyed

"whatever bro.." Lee know starts running water in the sink trying to wash the drink out obviously not doing it right, you think ,,damn maybe he's the dumbass,, you lean over and turn the water hot to help actually wash it out making Lee know give you an upset, confused yet thankful look.

"Your the dumbass actually.." You let out a small giggle

A.N : Yes I know weird pt.1 I was thinking this can be a small 3-5 PT series! Lee know is rude but it's okay guys TT Please do not upload my works anywhere else this is my only acc and only app I will share my works on.

Like, repost and comment will be greatly appreciated! Thank you !

Taglist: @kissesmellow21

cmmt to be added to taglist!

[nikonladyz4]

Is it JK’s eye in the Screen? / Is WHO LGBTQ Coded?

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A post shared by 지국🖤🤍국민 (@jikookitaly)

So Fake Love by BTS was about love that was destined but ended up being fake. I think WHO is a similar concept.

Jimin is singing about Who is the Love has his heart, but has yet to find her. However, with all the hints, clues and symbolism of the LGTBQ community, I believe he is saying society, fans etc,. expect him to find a woman, but he has already found the love of his life in JK. He gives a subtle nod with the billboard screen that fell that showed his eyes. Also the phrase Keep Going on the screen coupled with the led screen for JK’s Coming Soon for Cinema has similarities. Is there a correlation?

OT7 and vmin say the eyes are Tae. But there is no mole. I think they are JK and Jimin has subtly done what he and JK wanted to do; show they are in love, they are partners, they are each other’s ride and die!

They enlisted together and they vacation together. They mentioned GCFT and they talk about we will see the real JM and JK. Will it be bro-code? Yes, but their chemistry and togetherness will come through!

Love these two and Jimin has a brilliant album that talks about being in love.

**************

After watching the video multiple times and reading analysis with others, I have come up with more clues. I left this comment on a post on some site.

If you go back and watch the video, it appears most of it is in a dream state or parallel world. At the very beginning you actually hear all the sounds the ambient sounds such as the car driving by, car horns, people walking. Then he starts singing and all the ambient sounds go away. There are mechanics working in the background and you don’t hear any of that. They are ignoring all the dancers. Then the next sound you hear is the billboard dropping with JK’s eye (Tae has a mole under his eye). Then back to this alternate/parallel world with no ambient noise. There are glitches in the video, you have fake tornado’s and fireworks that you don’t hear. Cars turning over. No sound. Then after his last verse, who is my heart waiting for, he is walking and you hear all the ambient noise again. His footsteps, the cars, sirens. Back to reality. He is walking that red line that JK walked in Standing Next to You. I believe he is singing about what society expects of him regarding a relationship. Being with a girl. However, the whole promo and album is lgbtq coded. All the other songs are love songs as if he is already in love with someone. Jimin through his music, paintings, photo books has been telling us he supports and/or is part of the community. Many believe JM and JK have been in a relationship for years. There are plenty of clues from the promo as well. Muse is about what inspired Jimin to find love. He clearly sings about it. He co-wrote all the songs except WHO. He told the writer what he wanted to convey. Jimin and JK are doing as much as they can get away with confirming who they are and what they mean to each other. In the song Who, he never identifies a women who has his heart. He walks away. This song is so coded, but for those who don’t want to see or can’t see, the song fits his pop persona where people of all genders love his songs and can relate. No different than Ricky Martin, George Micheal singing to and about women. But we all know they eventually came out. Yet, they would still sing love songs between men and women. Sam Smith and Troy Sivoan went the route of singing about gay love  As we know, both JK and JM love them both, especially Troy.

[ashleyrowanthewriter]

Worries for the Future - Life and Times of Ashley the Crow (Crow HRT 2)

Previous/Next

*************

That day Arja visited me for a study date since we had some exams to retake. Nothing we shouldn’t handle. In fact we had to study history, which I would always get into once I started digging really deep. But this time it was obvious that I was not concentrating as much as I could. And Arja really noticed that I wasn’t in the best mood.

“What is going on, birdie?” Arja asked me.

“There’s just a lot on my mind,” I said. “I’m worried about our future. Whenever I read the news I feel like our progress is regressing.”

“What do you mean?” asked Arja.

“I just want people not to look down on us,” I said. “But there has been so much stuff going on recently. You know that scammer pretending to be a monkey recently?”

“Yeah, that was a strange story,” said Arja.

“But wouldn’t it have unforeseen consequences? Our country is already so otherkinphobic that somebody might see it as the last straw.”

“Maybe, but I bet people will forget it soon,” said Arja. “That’s just our little zeitgeist.”

“And have you heard about that scandal with that boxer at the World Pet Fair?” I asked about one more story.

“But she isn’t even otherkin,” said Arja.

“Exactly,” I said. “And if she isn’t then why people won’t even try to find out what dog they are protesting against?”

“Some people just don’t touch grass,” Arja said.

“I don’t think it’s even possible to encourage them to,” I said, sighing.

“I guess we should just focus on the positive, huh?” said Arja.

I tried finding a story I could mention that seemed fitting.

“Hey, there actually is an otherkin tortoise in the World Parapet Fair!” I remembered.

We both celebrated the revelation. But then I relapsed back into doomthoughts.

“I don't know whether I should cheer for her or against,” I said. “I want people to understand that at some point the difference disappears. And for that to happen we need to show that we are playing on equal footing. And does that mean we should just constantly lose?”

“Birdie…,” Arja tried to stop my rambling.

“It just feels rotten that this whole thing revolves so much around gambling and trying to keep things fair so that bets would be interesting…,” I continued.

“Birdie, what did you promise yourself recently?” Arja said suddenly.

I knew exactly what promise Arja was talking about. “That I shall stop worrying about stuff I can’t change with my voting rights.”

“People are always gonna get angry about sports,” said Arja. “About everything. Just enjoy the show and root for your favorites!”

“You know what? You may be right!” I said. “I am gonna root for the tutel!”

“Heck yeah! We’re gonna root for the tutel!” said Arja. “Anything else on your mind?”

There was one more thing worrying me. But that was a bit personal and I didn’t think it was worth sharing.

“Um… Yes, but… This is going to be a little bit silly…,” I said.

“That’s fine, go on,” said Arja.

“Well… There’s that remake of The Raven coming to the cinemas soon,” I said. “The original was kind of my egg cracker and I just really want the remake to be good. But the vox populi is already calling it bird crap.”

“Yeah, that was silly,” said Arja. “I guess there’s only one way to find out if people are right and that is to wait.”

“Hey, you wouldn’t want to get a bad sequel to How to Raise a Dragon, would you?” I noted how Arja might find herself in a situation similar to mine.

Arja opened her eyes more wide than I’d ever suspect her dragon body would let her. “True,” she said and we both laughed.

Maybe laughter is the best weapon against bad news from the world?

*************

Yeah, the recent stuff around the Olympics made me worried. Same with that remake of The Crow. But I guess sports and movies are about enjoying the show. So yeah, remember to cheer for Valentina Petrillo in the 400m T12 run!

[finniestoncrane]

Hi Finnie, Fin-Fin, my dearest, one my most beloved friends in the history of forever. Very excited to watch a movie in your cinema so yes I am ready to purchase a ticket, for the back rows please.

And yes that IS the scarecrow (arkham) next to me, he’s watching the movie with me. We wanna watch a drama for a change. And we want some beer, and slaw with ranch, thank you so very much 🧡

gus gus ;-; you are such a sweet friend, such a precious guy ;-; your date looks so excited! i can see that smile on his papery lips lmao 💚🩷 cw: hurt/comfort, angst, fluff 🔞minors dni🔞 send a request • masterlist • kofi link • tag: finnie2k (to follow or to block)

i think jonathan could have been fixed by a hug if you'd got to him early enough

for who he is now, there's so much behind it that explains it

maybe not excuses it, but i can see the trajectory, and there wasn't many other places for him to go

and while i think he's too far gone to properly repent at this stage

having someone there to understand him, and to offer him the comfort that he's never received but needed so badly

might just be enough to get him to cool it for a while

might be enough to get him to show remorse, or to open up

"i didn't mean it... it was an accident"

because he didn't actually mean to become the scarecrow

not like this anyway

he didn't mean for fear to consume him, to be his every waking thought and his goals

especially not when it was his own fears

he wanted to conquer fear, he wanted to own it, to control it

the same way he wanted to conquer batman

none of that's going to happen now, so all he can really hope for is someone who can soothe the pains he lives with

someone who'll see his scars, who'll take the time to hold him, to stroke them, who won't ignore them

who will help to heal them

who will see them as his history as a victim, not just as a criminal

and who can make him feel safe enough to forget the nightmares, to forget the vision of batman that looms over him, night and day

and who can make him feel safe enough to finally sleep, albeit it fitful, nervous rest

[marimbles]

Ey I forgot to post this here but! I wrote a lil ladrien fic!

Word count: 3.2k

Summary:

Ladybug sniffed. “I saw through you right away. You look just like a celebrity trying to sneak past the paparazzi.”

Adrien frowned. “Well, I think I blend in better than you do. What are you supposed to be, a film noir detective on holiday?”

Or, Incognito Adrien runs into I'm-Not-Here Ladybug on the bus.

Mr. Perfect Disguise

13:38

adrienagrestbrand

HALLELUJAH! My shoot was canceled!

lahiffesbeats

oh sweet!

wait the one with Lila?

adrienagrestbrand

Yes!!!

Apparently she caught the flu

lahiffesbeats

uhh why are you so excited that lila’s sick. that’s not cool man

adrienagrestbrand

Oh um I’m not excited that she’s sick! I’m just glad to have some extra time.

One of my mom’s movies is playing at this indie cinema downtown. Want to go see it with me?

lahiffesbeats

aw man, i cant :( im watching chris

adrienagrestbrand

Maybe you could bring him?

lahiffesbeats

nah, he can’t sit still during a movie lol

maybe alya is free?

adrienagrestbrand

Uh, you don’t think that would be a bit awkward?

lahiffesbeats

why

adrienagrestbrand

I mean, Alya is great, but we never hang out with just the two of us.

lahiffesbeats

ok so ask marinette

adrienagrestbrand

I don’t think Marinette would want to go with me 😅 Last time we went to the movies together, Gorizilla showed up and it was kind of a disaster.

I think I’ll just go on my own. I’m not sure the movie would be that interesting to any of you anyway, haha.

lahiffesbeats

well i know for a fact that marinette would be 3000% down to go to literally any movie with u but ok lmao

adrienagrestbrand

What do you mean? How do you know for a fact?

lahiffesbeats

nvm

have fun dude!

adrienagrestbrand

Sorry, but would you mind covering for me? I told Gorilla I was going to study with you.

lahiffesbeats

sure thing bro. i’m honored to protect your scandalous sneaky ways

i’m proud. honestly i might tear up

adrienagrestbrand

Thanks

And shut up

Gorilla will drop me off in a few, OK? Then when the coast is clear I’ll head over to the theater

lahiffesbeats

How are you gonna get there

adrienagrestbrand

I’ll take the bus

lahiffesbeats

the bus?

mr. famous rich boy teenage heartthrob model adrien agreste is gonna take the bus

adrienagrestbrand

Yes

And shut up

lahiffesbeats

bro i hate to ask but have you ever been on a bus

like do you know how it works

adrienagrestbrand

Yes!!!!

No

But how hard can it be? You just get on and pay the driver and ride it, right?

Wait, do they give change back for 100€?

lahiffesbeats

probably not lol

just take my travel pass

adrienagrestbrand

Really? You’d do that?

lahiffesbeats

ofc. i’m very invested in your teenage rebellion

u can give it back tmw

adrienagrestbrand

Thanks, Nino!! You’re the best

lahiffesbeats

yeah, yeah. i know

just have ur bodydude drop u off here and i will help u turn on Incognito Mode. for maximum stealth

i will make you a kit

adrienagrestbrand

A kit?

lahiffesbeats

yee

for Operation Teenage Rebellion

just trust me

see u in a few

adrienagrestbrand

See you

— — —

“Uh, Nino, are you sure about this?”

Adrien frowned down at his outfit. Nino’s “Incognito Mode” had turned out to be a pair of sunglasses, his signature red hat, and an old denim jacket with a mysterious stain on it, which he insisted Adrien wear to hide the fact that his shirt “cost literally a million Euros, dude.” He’d even made Adrien swap out his orange Agreste-brand sneakers for pair of Nino’s old Nike slides, which were the only thing small enough to fit him.

“Have I ever led you wrong?” Nino grinned. “Just trust me.”

Adrien opened his mouth to name a time or two when Nino had, maybe, actually, led him wrong, but before he could say anything, Nino was nudging him out the door.

“Sorry, man, I really gotta get back to Chris. And you gotta get to the bus.” He shoved a plastic sack into Adrien’s hands. “Later! Keep me posted.”

The door clicked shut behind him.

Adrien peered into the bag. It contained a neon yellow sports drink, a pack of American crisps with a cartoon cheetah on them, and a plastic blue card, which he assumed was Nino’s transit pass.

The bus would arrive in just a few minutes. Adrien hurried down the steps of Nino’s building and jogged to the corner to wait.

Soon, the bus rolled to a stop in front of him. He climbed aboard, pulling Nino’s hat lower over his eyes. The woman in front of him drew a ticket from her pocket.

“Oh—shoot.” Adrien reached into the bag and grabbed the blue card. The plastic rustled loudly. Blushing, he tapped the plastic card on the reader with a beep.

There was photo of Nino on the back of the card. Adrien’s hand shot back. He glanced up nervously at the bus driver, who was busy adjusting his mirror. Adrien’s muscles relaxed.

He followed the woman into the aisle. At this time of day, it was a crowded ride—standing room only. He squeezed through to an empty space next to a girl in a sunhat, pulling out his phone.

adrienagrestbrand

Why didn’t you tell me your transit card is also an ID??

lahiffesbeats

eh, they never check

how is operation teenage rebellion going

adrienagrestbrand

Well, I’m on the bus, at least.

lahiffesbeats

:’) proud of you, bud. my little rebel bro. breaking the law and everything

adrienagrestbrand

Wait, using someone else’s travel pass is illegal???

Before Adrien had a chance to fixate on the horror of his father bailing him out of jail (in this outfit), the bus took off with a lurch. He stumbled forward, nearly dropping his phone and treading on the toes of the girl in the hat.

“Sorry,” he said with a wince. So much for staying inconspicuous. He reached out and gripped one of the metal handlebars, tucking his other hand into his pocket. His fingers found his Marinette lucky charm, rolling the beads between his fingers.

“Oh, um, it’s fine!” The girl ducked her head. “It’s not a problem.”

Adrien blinked. There was something familiar about her. And something strange. Maybe it was the dark trenchcoat, which looked too heavy for the mild weather. Or maybe it was her wide-brimmed hat, more suitable for a beach than a crowded city bus.

He glanced down at her black leather gloves. If he didn���t know any better, he’d think she was trying to hide, just like him.

The bus rounded a corner, and despite his hold on the bar, Adrien staggered to the side. His free hand was thrown out wildly to try to keep his balance, and he nearly hit the girl on the nose.

“Sorry! Sorry,” he said quickly, scrambling back into place. His neck burned underneath the collar of his jacket.

“Don’t worry about it,” the girl mumbled.

Adrien shoved his hand back into his pocket and froze. His lucky charm was missing.

He scanned the floor and spotted it next to the girl’s boot.

“Um, excuse me, miss,” he said. “Would you mind handing me that? I dropped it.”

The girl peered down where he was pointing, face still hidden from view. Then she seemed to stiffen, frozen in place as she stared at the charm.

“Um, miss?”

She scooped it up and held it out to him, head bowed. “Here you go.”

“Thank y—” he started to say, but the words got lost on their way out. The girl’s hand was still outstretched, and he stared at the gap between her sleeve and her glove.

It was bright red, with a black spot.

The bus hissed to a stop. People clamored to their feet.

“Ladybug?” he whispered.

Her head snapped up. He caught a glimpse of her wide eyes through a pair of oversized sunglasses. Then she shot to her feet and pushed past him.

“Wait!” he called. He stumbled after her, down the steps and out the door. “Wait, please!”

She didn’t turn around. Just strode quickly down the street, the brim of her hat flopping with each step.

He broke into a jog and to catch up with her. “Ladybug!”

“I’m not—uh—who’s Ladybug?” She let out a breathless laugh. “Or, I mean, of course I’m not Ladybug. Why would you think that?”

“I, uh, saw your suit. Could you stop for a second?”

“No! I have to ca—I have … important business to attend to.”

“Um, before you do that, would you mind giving me back my lucky charm?”

She came to a halt, and he almost ran into her.

“Right,” she said quickly. “Here you go.”

She shoved the charm at him—he had to fumble not to drop it—and kept walking. But Adrien wasn’t willing to lose her that fast.

“What kind of business?” he asked quickly, dropping the charm into his plastic sack.

“Superhero business. Top secret.”

“Well, if it’s superhero stuff, then, um … why isn’t Chat Noir here too?”

“Because! It’s not—he isn’t—” She let out a little huff. “Because he wouldn’t get it. I have to do this alone.”

“I don’t think you ever have to do anything alone,” Adrien said. “Maybe he would get it if you explained.”

Finally, she stopped. Even with the double layer of her mask and her sunglasses, he could feel the weight of her gaze. “Why are you following me, Adrien?”

He blinked. “I … I didn’t realize you’d recognized me.”

“Well, um, that disguise isn’t very good.”

“It’s not?” He glanced down, suddenly feeling very self-conscious of the stained jacket and open-toed shoes. There was even a hole in the toe of his sock—Plagg kept stealing all of his good ones, and he always forgot to ask Nathalie for more.

Ladybug sniffed. “Not for me, anyway. I saw through you right away. You look just like a celebrity trying to sneak past the paparazzi.”

Adrien frowned. “Well, I think I blend in better than you do. What are you supposed to be, a film noir detective on holiday?”

Ladybug stiffened, and Adrien’s stomach dropped. He’d done it again. He’d let a stupid joke fall out of his stupid mouth, and now his lady was upset with him—this time, with Adrien him.

But Ladybug didn’t scoff, or cross her arms, or do any of the things she usually did when she didn’t like his jokes. Instead, she groaned, flattening the sides of her big, floppy hat to her head.

“This is so embarrassing,” she muttered. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“It’s—it’s not that bad,” Adrien tried, but Ladybug just buried her face in her hands.

“Ugh! This stupid suit!” Her head snapped up. “If you have any better suggestions, Mr. Perfect Disguise, I’m all ears.”

“You could just … detransform?”

She froze again, and before she could say anything, he went on in a rush.

“I mean, if you don’t want to be noticed, couldn’t you just take the bus as, like, yourself? And then just transform when you get to wherever you’re going? That would draw less attention. Unless, by chance, you daylight as a circus clown.”

He laughed awkwardly, mentally kicking himself for cracking another bad joke. But to his surprise, she laughed too.

“Nope,” she said. “That’s Chat Noir’s civilian identity. I’m just a normal girl with a normal life.”

He clung to the echo of her laugh, letting it fill him up with a hesitant sort of confidence he couldn’t resist testing.

“Aw, come on, mila—Ladybug,” he dared to say. “I’m sure there is nothing about you that isn’t special. Spots or no spots.”

“You’re wrong. I’m super normal. The normalest.”

“No way.

“Yes way! I bet—” She seemed to hesitate. “I bet I could sit behind you at school and you wouldn’t even notice me.”

“Lies,” Adrien said. “I would definitely notice.”

“Right. Well … um, wow, would you look at the time!” She let out a nervous laugh, glancing down at an invisible watch on her wrist. “I’d better be off. It was nice to love you, Adrien—I mean, nice to see you. Bug out!”

She spun on her heel, and without his permission, his hand shot out to stop her.

“Um,” he said, “do you—I mean … well, I still don’t get why you’re in disguise. Do you need help with something?”

“No! I mean, thanks, that’s okay, but I really need to … oh.” Her voice trailed off, mouth falling open.

“What is it?”

“I was going somewhere, but I guess now I don’t … need to.”

“What do you mean?”

She held his gaze, biting her lip, and then released a breath, her words spilling out in a rush. “I heard you and Lila were gonna have a photoshoot today, so I was going over there to, like, stake it out and stop her from whatever terrible thing she was planning. But I was worried that if I wasn’t suited up already I’d have to find a place to transform and that could take forever because do you even know how hard it is to find a decent hiding place in one of the biggest cities in Europe?”

“Well—”

“And by the time I hid and transformed and got back, who knows what kind of damage she could’ve done? So I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll just have to suit up beforehand so I’m ready for action at a moment’s notice.’ But there really isn’t much that can cover a whole supersuit, so I stole—borrowed—my mom’s coat and the hat she bought for her trip to Côte d'Azur last year because, I mean, she literally never wears it, and I was gonna put it right back when I was done, and I couldn’t use any of my hats because they don’t have a big enough brim to hide my mask. Because, like, even with sunglasses on you can still see it, so I thought I could just kind of, like, bow my head and it would be fine—”

“Ladybug—”

“—and of course Tik—my friend told me it wasn’t a good idea, but I just couldn’t let anything happen because I’m the only one who knows what Lila’s capable of. So I’m the only one who can stop her.”

At last, Ladybug paused, breathing heavily, looking flushed beneath her mask.

“This is about Lila?” Adrien asked. “What were you afraid she was gonna do?”

She was definitely blushing now, pink spilling out from under all her layers of disguise. “Well—I don’t know! She would think of something! She’s a liar. Or—I mean …” She breathed in, closing her eyes briefly. “She is at high risk for akumatization. Or getting others akumatized.”

Adrien nodded. “I know.”

“You—you do?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I thought you did, at one point, but then you started doing all these photoshoots with her, and you guys seem pretty … friendly.” She made a face at the word, like it was something slimy and poisonous. “I mean, like, being all cuddly and couple-y and—like, if you’re dating Lila, that’s … that’s fine, I just have to, um, warn you that—”

“We’re not dating,” Adrien cut in. “We’re not even friends.”

“You’re not?”

“No,” he said firmly. “The photoshoots are my father’s idea, and I kind of let Lila do what she wants with them because, well, I made a deal with her.”

Ladybug frowned. “What kind of deal?”

“I told her I would do the shoots with her if she’d leave my friend Marinette alone. Lila got her expelled from school temporarily. She almost got her akumatized. It was terrible.”

“You … you did that?” Ladybug asked, sounding strangely distant. “You did that for Marinette?”

Adrien nodded. “She’s really important to me. I couldn’t let anything else happen to her. I mean, I hate having to hang around Lila and pretend to be her friend, but”—he shrugged—“it’s worth it. To keep Marinette safe.”

Ladybug appeared to be in some kind of daze. She wandered to the edge of the walkway, sinking down onto a bench.

“Is something wrong?” Adrien asked.

She shook her head slowly, taking in a deep breath. “That’s, um, really nice of you, Adrien.” A pause. “You’re a good friend.”

He sat down beside her. “You know Marinette, right?”

“Yeah,” Ladybug said. “Yeah, I know her.”

“Then please don’t tell her about this. I don’t want her to feel guilty or anything. She has enough on her plate already. She does so much, and she cares about people more than anyone I know, and I don’t want this to be one more thing for her to worry about, you know?”

“Right.”

Adrien pulled his lucky charm from the sack. “She’s the one who gave this to me. Maybe it’s silly, but I feel like it brings me good luck. I always carry it with me wherever I go. My Marinette lucky charm.”

“That’s …” She looked down, hiding her face under the brim of her hat. “That’s really sweet.”

“Maybe … maybe this is what made me run into you today. At least, I feel like it’s good luck to see you.” He paused, smile faltering. “But maybe it wasn’t so lucky for you that I, like, chased you down. Sorry about that.”

She raised her head. “No! I’m really glad we ran into each other. Maybe that thing is lucky after all.”

“But you don’t need luck anyway, huh? You’re Ladybug.”

She laughed, and for the first time, she leaned her head back, lifting her face to the sky. “Trust me. I need all the luck I can get.”

For a moment, they just sat there, watching the people passing by. It was strange, to sit side by side like this with Ladybug—exactly like he’d done a thousand times before, but nothing was the same. A bench instead of a rooftop. The street instead of the sky. And Paris, bustling all around them, instead of twinkling from below.

He liked it like this. (He liked it any way, with her.)

“So,” she said, “were you not actually supposed to have a photoshoot today?”

“I was, but it was canceled.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Because Lila has a huge zit.”

Ladybug’s eyes widened, and then she snorted as her face crumpled with laughter.

“I’m serious,” Adrien went on. “It’s enormous. Like, a category 5 disaster event.”

“You’re lying! They’d just cover it with makeup.”

“You can’t cover a geographical landmark with makeup,” Adrien said gravely.

Ladybug doubled over, clutching her sides as she howled. He laughed with her, feeling almost weightless with the thrill of it. He was laughing with his lady, without his mask. He’d made her laugh, and she knew it was him, and when she lifted her head again, the smile on her face (big, bright, beautiful, brilliant) was for him, Adrien Agreste, and no one else.

Finally, Ladybug straightened, nudging her sunglasses up on her nose to wipe at her eye.

“Wanna go out with me?” Adrien blurted.

She froze. “What?”

“I mean—sorry!” Adrien shook his head quickly. “I was on my way to a movie. And since you’re free now, and you’ve already got your disguise, I thought maybe you’d want to … come with me? Or—or not! I don’t mean to presume any—”

“Yes,” she said.

“Wait. Really?”

“Yes, I’d, um …” She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’d love to go with you.”

Warmth shot through him like a firecracker, and he felt his face split into a grin. “Great. I’ve always wanted to see a movie with Beach Vibes Sherlock Holmes.”

She laughed. “Lead the way, Mr. Perfect Disguise.”

[c3rnunnos]

Watched Transformers One yesterday with some friends. Had a really good time. Thoughts under the cut WITH SPOILERS. There are a ton of those in here. Please don't click the read more if you haven't watched the movie. I will not be held responsible if you click and then get mad.

Initial thoughts and some disclaimers

First of all, I watched it in Italian cause that's what I speak and that's the only language that was available in the cinema, and I have something to say about the voices. Elita's voice was pretty much perfect for her, a good match for the original, and the va was a big part of why I ended up liking her a lot. Bee's voice was very high and pitchy, but it made sense with how he moved and interacted with the world, and honestly I also tend to go really high pitched when talking about something enthusiastically so it was nice. Orion's voice was pretty good, not as deep as I was expecting it to be, but it fit rather well with the rest of the voice cast. D-16's voice... It was alright. It fit rather well in the first part of the movie, but when we got to the violent revolution part, ah... There wasn't enough of a shift to make me think "ah, yes, this is Megatron". He sounded like a guy being mad he was stuck in traffic. Though, there were certain scenes where the VA gave a brilliant performance.

Second thing, I watched it with a couple of friends, one of which only knows Transformers from my unhinged rants and one who came along to watch a movie he had no knowledge of high, and it was a fantastic experience. Friend A gave me some comments after the movie about Sentinel that I couldn't help but agree with, and Friend B locked in when watching the Iacon infrastructure and mining environments (as he is quite good at planning infrastructures, and was going insane over how weird it was). Bringing both of them with me was great, especially for certain specific scenes I'll get into later. I watched the movie while also watching for their reactions, and it was a very good time to see people I loved have fun like me - but as my attention was a bit split, I might be misremembering stuff.

Actual thoughts on the movie itself

Alright, so.

The entire thing with a working class that had their t-cogs removed was insanely interesting in my opinion. The fact that the propaganda and grueling work hours kept the masses low and entertained while bots with cogs enjoyed their races and lives was interesting. It felt like a facet of Functionism came through with that - and while the bots who could transform were (I believe) free to do whatever, the cogless were stuck working as part of a production machine for Sentinel. I loved seeing how the panem et circense wasn't enough for all of them - how Orion yet thirsted for knowledge and for a life he could live away from the mines.

Which, I enjoyed how D-16 was the one that acted as a buffer for Orion's bullshit (and I say this lovingly, I adored Orion in the movie), and how he was so... Complacent in the abuse he was undergoing. He loved Sentinel as a symbol, he was glad for his job, he didn't want to see that a society that treats people as objects to discard maybe wasn't good. He had a place to sleep, he had fuel, and he had Orion, and that was enough. Maybe that's why his speech hit different, when he got to the breaking point.

Thoughts on Orion later cause they tie into different stuff.

Elita was also very real - someone who desperately is trying to claw her way out of a horrible situation through hard work and discipline, who doesn't want to take any chances lest she falls down back into the pit she crawled out of. I liked how she was decisive and how she used her knowledge of train routes to do 9/11 on Sentinel's office. Go girl. Also I am weak for two wheelers and she was so fucking cool when she fought and transformed.

B-127. Ohhh Bee. He is my favorite ever, I have three figures of him plus the lego Bumblebee, and I love him dearly. I didn't know what to think of him when I saw the trailer, but then I saw the state he had been living in and yea, the isolation would drive someone insane to that point. I liked how he was ride or die for people he had just met. He was so lonely and needed to talk so much after forever spent in unknown levels. His excitement over being able to transform and simply help was amazing. He has knife hands! Good for him! A bit insane but good for him!

Also, as mentioned before, since I watched it in a different language everything had to be adapted, including the important speeches and the jokes. Unfortunately, there was no cool "DECEPTICONS RISE UP", and there was no cool "TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT", but there was Bee exclaiming "Nice! I get to be a government employee!" which was fantastic to hear in Italian, especially with the view we tend to have of government employees. Overall, the jokes had to be rewritten or adapted carefully, but they still made me chortle more than a few times. A few even got my friends, which was great.

Now... Speaking a bit of the plot and environments... For they are tied by the narration.

The environments were... Insane??? Holy fucking shit? Cybertron was teeming with life, it was shifting and alive and colorful. The colors were bright and saturated, felt like a fever dream. The surface was a wide expanse of possibilities, the auroras were delicate dashes of color in the sunset, the rock surfaces transformed like Primus himself was quietly stirring. Cybertron is techno-organic in the way that you would define a rusted over and overgrown metal building techno-organic, and I would bet good money that the organic components of the surface were brought in by the Quintesson occupation.

Which, the Quintessons. Disgusting critters. Insects with hard carapaces, laser guns, and enough of a population to be a swarm. Their ships are the definition of megalophobia. Their relentless search for cybernetic lifeforms to shatter and take was terrifying. The moment they first appeared, the genre shifted to survival horror. And then, we learn why they're still here, through Alpha Trion's powers.

Sentinel. Sentinel Sentinel Sentinel. He's horrible. I need him carnally. He was a fake through and through, and yet he compelled me. Its difficult to find villains that are villains cause they suck nowadays, they always have to have a sad backstory. Sentinel was simply... Ambitious. Ambitious to the point of it being detrimental to himself, in the long run, and whole he created an incredible ruse and fooled an entire society for millenia, that ambition still got him killed in the end. Seeing the scene of his betrayal in the cave with Alpha Trion was amazing - watching him beg for more time with the Quintessons, hating them despite knowing he has dug his own grave was compelling. Seeing him crawl away from Megatron at the end was incredible. Seeing him die changed my brain chemistry (and look! His frame greyed out in the end! What a detail!). (Also, nice callback to Jazz's death in Transfomers 2007.)

And, D-16. Megatron. It was quite a tonal shift, to watch him rave about wanting to kill Sentinel to Orion, Elita and Bee in the cave. There was no music, only a droning sound. You could feel the rage in his words. You could see that he would go through with it, even if he had to destroy himself in the process. His shift from a cowering kissass to a mech with nothing to lose but his chains was a delight spiral into villainy. He took to the Elite Guard's way of the strong like a fish to water. He got a taste of power, and then he let himself be drowned in it - despite the efforts Orion put in trying to stay with him, trying to help.

And here we also go with the Orion thoughts. Orion himself was a favorite. He went from a bit annoying but fun and capable, someone who wanted desperately to be able to live a life that was more than the mines, that wanted his friends to be considered more than meets the eye, to someone who was almost desperately trying to keep D-16 together as everything they had worked towards spiraled out of control. The way he got more quiet (somber) and desperate as the movie went on was very, very good. Yes, he was big and bright and bold. Yes, he went back to the mines to get the help of his friends. Yes, he didn't want Dee to kill Sentinel because he didn't want him to fall to that level. Yes, I think Sentinel should've died too, but... Orion was trying to expose the mech. Public opinion would've scalped him anyways, after the stunt they managed to pull. And Megatron committed a crime a passion under the guise of revolution. He strayed from the path of revolution the moment he shot through Orion. Gosh.

When Megatron shot Orion, my god. I was jittery with excitement. My friends were horrified and stuck staring at the screen. And then, "I'm not saving you anymore", and letting him go, and just. Gosh. The betrayal was expected. It still hurt.

The fall into the center of Cybertron, the way that Megatron ended up killing Sentinel, the Matrix choosing and rebuilding Optimus, Megatron rallying the people to destroy. Optimus' return. Their fight. The banishment. This was such a bad breakup for them. God.

A couple of things I wish would've been different

I wish the runtime for the later part of the movie was longer. I would've loved for the Elite Guard (the soon to be Decepticons, really) to have had more of a role in the movie. I love Shockwave dearly, and Soundwave was quite cool, but I wish they had a more relevant part in D-16's fall towards being Megatron.

Starscream, gosh. Always trying to rule, isn't he? Bet he didn't expect a miner to be able to beat his ass. Bet he didn't expect to have his vocalizer crushed into malfunctioning. And yet, I wish he had a more relevant role. I wish we got to know the disgraced members of the Elite Guard.

I wish we got to know the miners, the Autobots, the poor unknowing slaves that Orion wanted more for. I wish Jazz got to stab someone. I am weak to murder psy op fiend Jazz.

Jazz was cute! He was really cute. I liked how he flicked his wings at the end. He was... also voiced by a youtuber I used to watch when I was 13 and that immediately made me want to commit a crime! Like I love that guy but that was NOT the voice to give the Jazzmech. They whitewashed my mans (joke)

Also, severe lack of every Autobot and Decepticon outside of group shots. But that's ok cause this is a movie that doesn't reach 2 hours and not a full series. But gosh what I wouldn't give for a full animated series in this setting.

And that's a wrap!

I've spat all my thoughts on here. Might add more later. My brain is fused. I hope I didn't make many grammar mistakes and typos. Have a good day.