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thefanficmonster · 2 months

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Do you do NSFW? If so, may I request a Markiplier NSFW alphabet?

Hi dear! Usually I struggle greatly when writing anything NSFW for RPF but I shall do my best. Baby steps lol Hope you enjoy <3

Pairing: Markiplier x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: !!NSFW content below the cut!!

A= Aftercare (What they're like after the act)

Mark is the absolute sweetest and most attentive lover before, during and after the act.

After he's made sure you're alright, he'd go grab you a bottle of water, a snack and a towel to clean you up. You can bet on a long cuddle sesh after the act, filled with intimacy and romance, periodically interrupted by jokes he'd crack to make you laugh.

B= Body Part (Favorite body part of their own or on their lover)

He's pretty damn proud of his hands. Years of gaming have made them particularly skillful in many ways and he knows how to utilize them just right *wink* *wink*

Oh, and also his back. He's been influenced to love it by you more so than on his own accord but still.

On you, he loves your legs and thighs. Count on him constantly having his hands all over them in both innocent and explicit instances. And when you wrap your legs around his waist....consider him a goner.

C= Cum (anything that has to do with it)

Inside, no questions asked.

Before you got to the point of being comfortable enough for that, however, he found just as much pleasure in painting either your chest, thighs or face.

D= Dirty Secret (Pretty self-explanatory)

Nothing helps him excel at a game quite like under-the-desk head while recording. Bonus points if it's a live stream.

E= Experience (do they know what they're doing)

Mark has had decent amount of experience, enough to be versed into how things work textbook-wise. Every skill he exhibits, however, is something he improvised at some point. But don't take that the wrong way - this man knows exactly what he's doing

F= Favorite Position

Mark is simple man and his favorite position reflects that - Doggy style (closely followed by cowgirl)

G= Goofy (how serious are they)

Oh this man is a majore league goof in general and during sex. That's not to say he can't get into character and dawn a serious and attractively intimidating front when the atmosphere of the night calls for it.

He's a perfect balance between goofy and serious, occasionally leaning far left or far right depending on the moment.

H= Hair (grooming habits)

He takes care of his hygiene rather meticulously. He keeps everything neat, trimmed and clean.

I= Intimacy (how are they in the moment)

There's never a shortage of intimacy between you and Mark during the act. Regardless of if the night calls for making love or having rough sex, there's never a lack of intimacy and closeness between you two.

That being said, I'd again say it's perfectly balanced. Whatever the night calls for is how Mark responds - be it slow, romantic lovemaking or rough and dirty sex.

J= Jerk-off (do they masturbate and how often)

He used to do it a lot more frequently before you started dating. Now, nothing can compare to the real thing. He can't find much satisfaction in masturbating but he still turns to it as a resort of release when either of you is away on a trip

K= Kink (kinks they might have)

Dear God, please forgive me for this...

Choking, spanking, hair-pulling, dom/sub dynamics, daddy kink, light bondage, praising/degrading (depending on what the situation calls for). Feel free to share your thoughts on this topic in the comments

L= Location (where they're down to get it on)

Every single surface in the house is game in Mark's eyes. Especially the kitchen counter and the nicely spacious shower

M= Motivation (what gets them going)

You, in any context you can think of. You don't even need to be dressed provocatively in any way shape or form. This man is just so head over heels for you, he can't help it.

Apart from that, a good ol' rage game will raise his blood pressure just right and he'll proceed to blow off some steam with you. The same works the other way around - when he's high on the success of completing a game and he celebrates with you

N= No (what they're strictly against and wouldn't try)

Anything with violent and hostile connotations that could bring you harm in any way, be it physical or emotional. He loves you more than words can describe and just the thought of hurting you fills him with dread. You both like dabbling into the occasional impact play but nothing more than that, and never without a safe word.

O= Oral (are they more of a giver or receiver)

Mark is a big fan of receiving but he enjoys giving so much more. He does it for his own pleasure just as much as he does it to bring you satisfaction. He loves every aspect of it - your taste, the tangling of your hands in his hair, the sounds you make, the bucking of your hips. It's his own personal high. He could do it for hours if you'd let him.

P= Pace (what's their pace during the act)

Again, the speed setting Mark operates on depends on the atmosphere of the night. On the regular, he likes to take it slow, prolong the experience and uphold this bubble of intimacy around the two of you for as long as he can.

Q= Quickie (are they a fan of quickies)

Nope.

The Devil is into details and so is Mark. And it's difficult to appreciate the details when working with a small time frame. He likes to take his time, worshipping you the way you deserve in the most meticulous and intimate manner.

R= Risk (how risky are they/do they like trying new things)

Oh he loves a good unconventional and borderline public location where there's a chance at getting caught. Although he prefers the comfort of your shared house it doesn't cancel out his love for the thrill of some public fun.

As for trying new things, he's down to try everything at least once - unless it falls in the No criteria I mentioned earlier. All you have to do is bring it up and you can automatically consider him signed up and strapped in, ready to try it.

S= Stamina (how long they last in bed)

The speed may or may not directly relate to how long he lasts. He can get at least two rounds - a solid hour/hour and a half - under his belt before breaking a sweat.

T= Toys (do they own and and are they down to experiment with them)

I have a feeling there is a box, hidden in a dark corner of a closer or under his bed, containing a small collection of sex toys. If you're game to use him, he'd love nothing more than take them out to play.

U= Unfair (are they a tease)

To an infuriating degree. He'd even mock you when you whine, beg or get frustrated with his teasing.

It's music to his ears.

V= Volume (how loud are they during sex)

Mark is vocal but not loud.

He exhibits his satisfaction and pleasure with mainly sighs and groans, all at a pretty low volume. But he's also very expressive during sex - praising/degrading you accordingly or dirty talking you over the edge. All in a whispered or hushed tone that makes it all the hotter.

W= Wild Card

Remember how I said he's not a big fan of masterbating? Well, when he has to resort to it he has a certain way of making it much more pleasurable...

Photos and videos you two have taken during the act or right afterwards in your disheveled states.

It's his personal collection, safely tucked away in a dark hidden corner of his computer memory.

X= X-Ray (what are they packing)

I'm sorry, I can't. I just can't. I've sinned enough tonight LMAOO

Y= Yearning (sex drive level)

Name: Mark

Status: Permanently horny

Z= Zzzz (*yawn*)

I already mentioned a cuddle sesh earlier and I will now add onto it to say that, although he tries his best not to, he does fall asleep rather quickly and deeply. How could he not when he feels so much comfort with his arms wrapped around you. When he falls asleep to the sound of your breathing and heartbeat, it's the most peaceful slumber he's ever had.

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luxintrus · 4 months

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Two sides of the same coin (4/?)

The canvas of this world used to be so full of colour. So many shades of beliefs, seemingly forgotten, cast aside for harsher and ever so more contrasting ideas, until the gap between the hues are so large that no bridge can ever be built between them anymore. One second, Lux and RAT were catching up at the Log Cabin after his.. improvised exile, and then the other... "Lux! Drink your fucking invis potion!" RAT shouts hurriedly at her, "They- someone took Astron! They went through the portal, hurry!".

The two rush into the Nether, lowering their tone to near silence as to not alert the kidnappers of their presence. Lux can already recognize the signs of this being the overconfident planning of her two past allies. The invisible & armored kidnappers raise their voice at Astron, demanding them to get into a boat that's on the icy highway leading to the Nether spawn. "They're gonna speed off if we don't tail them", Lux whispers to RAT. "Yeah, no shit Sherlock", RAT replies as the two start booking it onto the highway, dashing through the air and ricocheting off the blood crimson walls, barely keeping up with the kidnappers. They follow the kidnappers back into the overworld, arriving at Smiley's, Blake Winsweep's restaurant. Nox's and Winsweep's invisibility finally runs out, as they take Astron to the basement of the restaurant. Lux and RAT quietly follow them from a safe distance, chugging down their last invisibility potions. They trace the same path Nox and Blake are taking, past an "Employees Only" door leading to an elevator shaft. Nox and Winsweep climb down the elevator shaft, with Astron between the two, getting to the bottom floor of the Restaurant. There's a small intersection, with multiple long hallways, all but one seemingly caved in. The atmosphere is dark and damp, and the area is more reminiscent of a crude mineshaft rather than the basement of a restaurant. At the end of the hallway and past two turns, Nox, Blake and Astron arrive to a room with a table and and a few old chairs, all wooden. A single redstone lamp among many broken ones lights up the room, hanging chains casting shadows on the floor. "Astron, I need you to tell us everything you know about the End Portals" Winsweep demands, "We know how close you are to RAT, he must've told you something about them." Lux and RAT are sneaking right around the corner, listening in to the interrogation. "Why are they questioning Astron about the End Portals? RAT broke them all years ago", Lux thinks to herself. "I've only got 2 minutes of invisibility left", RAT whispers to Lux. She checks her own time, realizing she's about to run out in less then a minute. Nox feels a shiver down their spine as if they sense someone watching them, urging Winsweep to stop talking. "Shit, Lux what did you do?!" RAT whispers to Lux. "Nothing! I didn't make a sou-" Lux trips on a small rock as she's backing up and falls onto the ground. Nox immediately picks up on the thud they heard, and start checking the hallway's every wall and corner. "Get up, we need to run!" RAT urges Lux as he starts sprinting towards the intersection and up the elevator shaft. The sound of Nox's blade dragging along the stone floor echoes throughout the hallway as Lux gets up and starts running to the exit. She might be invisible, but one thing she can't get rid of are the frantic footsteps left behind, exposing her exact location to Nox. "Caught you", Nox thinks to themselves as they dash straight towards Lux. Lux hurriedly tries getting off the hallway, rushing off the side of it into an opening to a large dripstone cave, as Nox catches her by her leg, making Lux trip as her invisibility runs out. She's now hanging upside down, facing several dripstone spikes fifty meters below her, and Nox's grip on her leg being the only thing preventing her from falling. They share no dialogue, but the looks on their eyes communicate their feelings better than any words would in that moment. Nox tries dragging Lux's body back onto the platform with all their force, but Lux takes out her crossbow and shoots an arrow at Nox's arms. The arrow misses, but Nox flinches, letting go of her in the process. As she's falling, Nox can't help but watch in horror as they see Lux picking her own demise over being caught by Nox ever again. Moments later, Lux respawns at the Log Cabin, with a deep and sharp pain in her chest. Nox feels the pain all the same, their subconscious finally realizing how much the two have strayed away from eachother.

#csmp lore #luxintrus #noxintrus #astronyu #doctor4t #winsweep #content smp #takes place during the portal investigation #i hit the character limit so i had to stop colouring the names midway ;-;

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airlocksandaviaries · 1 year

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So, You Want to Write a Sword Fight.

Welcome to Your Local Sword Girlboy’s crash course on how to write a sword fight! We’re going to cover all the basics, from understanding context, to pacing, even some good ways to research! So buckle up gays, and let’s learn How to Sword.

First, what kind of sword are you wielding? There are so many different swords and forms and they’re all very different. But not only in the way you might think. Obviously the way the swords are held and wielded and the weight they have makes a difference how you write the battles, but even more so than that is TYPE OF FIGHT. Sabers, Epées, and Foils all have specific ways their bouts are set up and executed, and it has to do with a highly important cultural system of honor. Is this an honorable bout? Or a fight for survival? Or a fight for revenge? How much do these characters respect each other and how desperate are they?

This will affect the setup of the fight more than you think. For example, the target area. Or other weapons involved. If it is an honorable fight between two parties that respect each other, they will only hit on the front area of each others’ target, and will only make contact with their blades on each other. If it is a fight for survival, however, all bets are off. Any area on each others’ bodies is valid target area, and they might be more inventive while fighting, like slamming each other with the hilt, or using another improvised weapon nearby to win. It’s important to consider.

Now let’s talk about types of swords specifically. Sabers, Epées, and Foils are all incredibly light and whippy, and are held with one hand. They can be maneuvered very fast and can perform some very fast actions, and are GREAT for feinting (more on this later). They can change direction quickly with a whip of the fingers, and are usually used in very honorable bouts. Foils and Epées are for stabbing, while Sabers are for slashing opponents. All of these swords, though, use VERY small and quick movements. The fighter wielding one of these even makes themself smaller with a squatting stance and only one side facing the opponent. Everything is quick and precise. Footwork is key.

Rapiers and cutlasses are heavier, but still operated with one hand. These are favored by pirate types, and are used for slashing and sometimes stabbing. Another detail is that these can also be accompanied by a parrying dagger, held in the opposite hand as the Rapier and used for blocking the opponent’s blade out of the way.

Now the one you’ve been waiting for, longswords and broadswords (and lightsabers as well). These are usually two handed weapons, but can be one-or-two handed. They are heavier, and take more strength to control, but believe me when I say they are NOT clunky or slow. You CAN perform a feint with a longsword. I HAVE done it before (not successfully, but that’s just a skill issue on my part, let’s not dwell on it). The way these swords are maneuvered are with wider swings, for cutting OR slashing, and to protect the whole body. Footwork is important as well, but it’s terrible on the knees if you run too much with these (because they’re so goddamn heavy) so it’s not like you can run a marathon with a longsword like you can with a foil or saber. (of course if it’s a lightsaber all bets are off bc that thing is made of light and it's wielded by a space wizard so whatever).

Alright next. Let’s get GRANULAR. Let’s talk about very specific types of attacks and blocks and how to phrase this. Now, don’t worry, you don’t have to be a fencing expert to talk about the specific moves, because the audience will understand what you’re saying. It’s just about being specific enough to where you can paint a picture in their heads but not too specific to where the fight loses its suspense.

So, first, let’s talk about attacks and blocks, and what to call them. For any sword, extending the blade is holding it out in front of you. Thrusting is when you make a jabbing attack with the blade. And finally, lunging is when you throw your body forward with the attack, specifically throwing out your front leg and leaning into it, while keeping your body level with the floor to keep balance and make it easy to recover into a guard position.

Now for blocks. Pushing the blade out to block the opponent’s blade is called a parry. When you attack your opponent back immediately after taking their blade in a parry, it’s called a riposte. You don’t need to use this word, though, because I’ve found that just saying something like “They parried her blade and then thrusted towards her chest,” works quite well.

SIDE NOTE: if both of your opponents have the same pronoun set, I’m so fucking sorry. It doesn’t get any easier. It’s the Gay Fanfiction Dilemma, I’m afraid. But if you’re already versed in that, use the same workarounds for pronouns and titles for fighting as you do for fucking, it works pretty much the same way ;). (But PLEASE don’t be afraid to use their names. I promise nobody is going to kill you if you say the characters' names twice in a single paragraph. It’s MUCH better than having to read “the blond” or “the tall one” or “the younger woman.”) Basically, just use their names a lot. It’s quicker and I promise you it works.

Now where were we? Ah yes. Attacks and blocks. I already covered those, but surprise, there’s a secret third thing, and it’s my very favorite move. Feinting. It’s quite simple really, it’s an extension of the blade, a faked attack, to get your opponent to try to parry or block or move their blade, only to switch your movement to avoid their blade and attack them back. It’s fun and can be extremely effective, and it also can be used in many different types of ways. Any way you can get your opponent to try to parry your blade in one place, like a high or a low attack, expect where their blade is going to be, and then avoiding it works as a feint. Or you could engage the blade, and move it around with your own blade to get it away from your target area and slide in for a riposte. This is my specialty. And it makes a KILLER shiiiiiiing sound as well. It sounds confusing, but it can actually be written quite simply. Let’s give an example:

“A thrusted out their blade in a feint. But just as B’s blade leaped for it, A withdrew their arm and took B’s blade up in a quick engagement. They swung it around and metal scraped against metal as A pushed B’s blade away from pointing at their chest to a harmless position beside their thigh. Then, in the same flowing movement, blades still locked, A pushed their blade back up for a deadly thrust at B’s chest.”

Not bad, if I do say so myself. Although this comes from having executed that maneuver a hundred times personally. There’s still hope for you though, as a non-fencing sword writer, I promise! You just gotta research and read a bit. But more on that later.

Next let’s talk about footwork. It’s not the most important part of the fight, but it is worth mentioning every once in a while in your scene, just to give the audience a sense of space for where your characters are, especially if they’re in a precarious position like a mountain or a pirate ship. Remember that swordfighting requires a LOT of backwards and forwards movement on both parties’ parts, so give your characters lots of room!

That brings us to our next point. Pacing. Now, here’s something you NEED to know about real life sword fights. They are MUCH faster than you think they are. Most of the fight is pacing back and forth, trying to gain right of way (if you’re in foil), and testing your opponent to see where they’ll go. Just a few seconds of blade engagement, and then it’s back to pacing back and forth to see who’s going to jump first. Also some testing to see how trigger happy your opponent is but thrusting towards them and seeing if they’ll attack back or retreat. Basically, irl sword fights are just 70% foreplay and 20% actual stabby stab.

But this is not great for fun sword fight scenes! Remember it’s okay to stretch the truth, and focus on the swordplay actions, stretch them out as much as necessary. Especially if your characters are superhuman. Just consider throwing in a few moments of pacing and sussing each other out, I promise it’s worth it. Not just to break up the constant fighting, which can get tiresome, but also because characters get tired too! Superhuman or not, fighting is exhausting on all parties. It’s not unusual for two sword fighting individuals to suddenly break and have a moment of analysis, slowly circling each other. I promise it won’t break your tension, if anything it will just increase it.

Now let’s talk about how to ACTUALLY get better and writing these scenes. And no, I’m not going to say ‘practice.’ Because while practice is important, so is RESEARCH and OBSERVATION.

There’s many ways you can research and observe as a non-sword individual! First I recommend watching clips of actual sword fighting, specifically women’s olympic foil (because they have the most technique out of all the other swords and categories). Also, watching sword fighting scenes in movies is good. It’s a dramatized version, of course, but that’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve in writing. It’s good to watch the character’s perspectives as they fight, and how the action washes over us as an audience.

Finally, I recommend actually reading sword fights in stories. The best author for fantasy sword fights, hands down, is R.A. Salvatore. His books are super cool D&D fantasy quest stories centered around a badass but also cute and compelling Drow character who gets into sword fights ALL THE TIME. And nobody writes a sword fight like Salvatore. Reading his work has probably helped me more in writing sword fights than my actual knowledge of how to sword fight.

I hope this has helped somewhat! Or was just fun to read. Either way, I enjoyed writing it. I love writing sword fights and I love sword fighting and I love helping, so I was happy to make this. Also, I have lots more technical knowledge I would love to share on this subject, so if you have anything you want to know about how swords or sword fights work or how to write something, I’m open for asks! Even if I don’t know you! Feel free to reach out with a question or a comment, I’ll geek out about swords any day.

Anyway that’s it my writer friends and fellow sword enthusiasts, good luck and happy writing! <3

@veradragonjedi

#sword fights #writing tips #writers on tumblr #how to write a sword fight #fencing #foil #epee #saber #longsword #broadsword #airlocks writes #writing tutorial #long post

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grazieschillivera · 8 months

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Longing curses 3/5

-His path-

Chapter summary: After showing you that you and Tom share some values, he invites you to a party at the Slytherin common room, after all he plans his future with you and for that you need to know your future enviroment and he needs to show the rest of the school who you belong to.

word count: ca 3000

Warning/tags: smut, manipulation

,,I thought you liked music'' Tom said before you were about to enter the Slytherin common room. He had sensed your tension during the entire way. Despite your polite refusal he insisted to pick you up from your dorm. Tom wanted make sure no one else would accompany you or try to change your mind.

,,Of course I do. But partying is something different, I tend to get shy. Besides I hope they tolerate me'' you said still remembering the discussion at the duelling club.

,,They will.You'll be fine, trust me'' Tom said confidently as usual. The way he gently pressed your hand in his grip before leading you inside, still felt foreign to you. But in an exciting way you figured. It made your heart ache in a bittersweet way and only Tom could mend this pain away it seems. So you found yourself following him more and more despite this strange feeling. Only in the most distant corners of your mind remained the concious that this urge within you might become your peril.

✧ ⊹ I ✧ ⊹

Indeed you felt some shyness once you had entered the common room. Everything is just a bit more vulgar and open at the way the Slytherins party, occasionally it makes you even blush.

If it weren't for Toms ambition to make you feel comfortable you would have felt like an outsider during this night.You only recognised your one friend from Ravenclaw who you had studied in the libary last week.

Once you got intruduced to some friends of Tom properly and you started to get along you felt more at ease. You created a rather big circle and drank some fire whisky and chatted a bit, onyl Abraxas Malfoy gave you a rather bitter look. When you wouldn't look at him, you had the impression he watched you. Tom noticed this as well and made sure that Abraxas would stop that, a daring look was enough.

Eventually Tom encouraged some nice girls of the group to take you dancing with them and off you went, sharing a last smile with Tom.

Tom watched you from the distance. Much to his pride you started to get along with everyone who mattered, you even seemed to have some fun at last. His friends are you company now, they would make you laugh and look after you, when he wasn't around. While you were distracted he made someone throw your Ravenclaw friend outside. Cutting off the last annoying strings.

When you needed a little break you stood beside the improvised dance field and slowly swang to the music.

Your gaze flew across the crowd and you realized how the person you just had thought about came closer to you, almost when it was too late.

Tom approached you like a predator with some smooth steps, when your eyes met you had to chuckle shyly.

,,Oh no Tom'' you said when he offered his hand for you to join him. Everyone would see you both, together. Eventually you took it after some intense starring that showed you that he truly challanged you to overcome your last bit of shyness. He pulls you enthuastically but still smoothly against him and you had to laugh from his behavior. A proud smile crossed his face and he twirled you around as if he wanted to first show you off and then held you like he wanted to keep you all to himself.

This moment felt like a dream. All the green and white lights of the room danced around you two, while Tom swung you around the room. Everyone looked at you out of disbelieve, may it be negatively or positivley. But it didn't matter, because Tom's feeling were the only one that mattered to you.

✧ ⊹ II ✧ ⊹

Some time later you and Tom ended up in a hidden corner where you had led him to. Something inside you had reached its peak and the only thing you lpnged for was Toms attention.

,,Tom can you answer me something honestly?'' you asked with your upper body pressed against his. For a long moment you two had just hugged one another and swung slowly to the music. ,,Did your friends to something in my drink?''

,,What makes you think that?'' asked Tom the soft gaze disappeared at your words.

,,I feel kind of funny. I want... you. Are you sure your friends didn't give me some love potion?'' you asked half heartedly, laughing a bit nervous.

You couldn't know, Tom thought when you said this. He never mentioned how his parents got together.

,,I don't think you need this to feel this way Y/N, am I right? Besides alcohol has its his own special effects'' Tom said while caressing your cheek, suppressing his dark secrets and the harsh feelings that followed them. Instead his lips twisted into a shy smile, you were so close. He could feel how he was about to finally win you.

Your face reddens and you hid it in his hand.

He took your hand in his and brought it to your heart.

,,You can feel it too now, dont you? We're meant to be together'' he says, luring you into his beliefs. You nodded.

,,Tom... I want you. Don't mind my tipsiness, the alcohol just makes me say things I'm too shy to admit usually'' your words sounded like a phrase Tom just wanted you to say. They were so desperate and their purpose was to only get him. And like you dind't had this sleepy thought in the back of your mind your pressed yourself further into his body, searching for more. He was right.

Thats when you let your last doubts fall into sleep and allowed yourself to get yourself what you truely longed for. And Tom watched this little show with his undivided attention.

The shyness in your eyes turned slowly to desire as you attempted to reach out for your needs that laid on Toms lips, for the beginning.

Carefully to cross the distance between your lips and his you got on your tiptoes, his height forced you to.

Embarrassement rushed through you, as Tom turned his face away from yours, denying your wish.

With a challenging smile Tom leaned back, not giving in. Softly his fingers had twisted around your necklace and pushed you on your feet again. Back, underneath him.

Little did you know that this wasn't an act to embarrase you, in fact Tom was very pleased right now. If you weren't so tipsy, that view and your pleading words would be enough for Tom to finally ruin you. The goal he had set for you was almost reached, and for the last steps he wanted you to crawl. Love could be so demanding, Tom had to learn it. Enduring so many restless nights only due to those cursed feelings for you.

His free hand pulled your hair to one side, exposing your neck where he took a gentle hold of it to face him. First you hoped he would kiss you. But then his lips met your neck, first softly enough to savour the feeling of your soft skin but then strong enough to give you a taste of what was to come, when you stayed with him.

The fires in the corridor threw your shadows against the wall and while your head got gently shoved to the side by Toms lips. His huge shadow devoured yours. You were one.

How frightning this relfection was didn't cross your mind, instead your eyes rolled back from the sensation when Toms lips moved to the other side, now hiding your shadows from your sight.

The plan was to make this pleasurable for you but Tom couldn't hold back and pulled you closer to him with one smooth motion around you middle and it only made his lips move with more hunger over your skin. Even though the loud music covered your moans Tom could feel them against his lips. The possesive grip around you wasn't necessary your body arched against his own like you begged for more.

,,You're almost too good at making me lose my own mind'' Tom cursed between some more hot kisses behind your ear, his voice was so close you thought he was in your mind.

With glassy eyes you looked up to him when he withdrawed from you, his other hand still layed around your middle, otherwise you would have stumbled.

,,This should do the trick. Remind others that you belong to someone for now on. But I want to hear it from you again when you are sober'' he said after pressing his lips together like he wanted to have the taste of your skin again. You felt a sting at your neck when his fingers traced around it.Before you could answer Tom took you by the hand and led you back to the party, otherwise you would still be frozen at your spot.

With a proud smile Tom entered the common room with you again, now with a different feeling inside him. And a different version of you it seemed. He almost had pity for you, when everyone could see how flustered and outspaced you were. But the fact that this was all because of him made him proud, hell it even turned him on. Finally everyone could clearly see what Tom had all this time, that you were his. His love, his pride his treasure. Tom finally understoof why people gave their partner silly names.

,,Go get some water and have some fun. I have to talk about something with some friends'' said Tom and left you behind, knowing that you wouldn't walk away from him anymore.

The remaing evening lasted an internity. You would sometimes join Toms little group where he still talked with his friends. Even though he liked the idea of not only being surrended by his minions but also by his love, he wanted to keep you away from his dark plans. He would encourage you to just go back to his other friends while staying a bit cold infront of the others.

Finally Tom came back and declared the end of the party for you two. Your mind was clearer again but nothing had changed about the way you felt. A comforting warmness crossed your bare arms when Tom almost hid you with his dark jacket he wore as his arm kept you softly by his side, guiding you to his room.

✧ ⊹ III ✧ ⊹

,,You have stayed very patient. You understand I wanted our first... real engagement to be special.'' he said after he had pushed the door close and leaned against it while facing you. With one swift motion he cast a spell on the door. His dorm mates would have to sleep somewhere else tonight. There was no way back outside, for the both of you.

You didn't say a word, instead you just watched him approaching you. It all felt like a dream.

,,I would have kissed you sober or drunk. You have something I really like about you, I can't just name it'' you said eventually as you realized that Tom seemed to wait for a reaction, despite his confident smile, that grew wider due to your words.

,,Maybe the fact that we share some values - like hard work. It took some perserverance to show you how much I adore you'' he said, your joined hands came up to your cheek. At first you thought it was meant to be a half hearted joke, but Toms face stood serious so you suppressed your nervous laughter.

,,You bewitched me Y/N'' Tom admitted honestly, with no string of a hidden plan attached as he felt deep down.

You were speechless again.

,,Why not show me how you feel about me?'' he suggested eventually. Little shivers of excitment flew through your body when Tom had said those words. His hands slowly took hold of your body.

Using his grip around your middle Tom pulled you against him to finally lay his lips and yours. They melted softly together and savoured one another's taste.

All the frustration of the waiting he had to endure crushed down on him.Even though Tom knew you, this felt so foreign. Feeling someone else- and yet it was like he drug tom him. His tongue stroke across yours lips before tasting more of you, he hushed your little sounds of nervousness helping you to relaxe more by softly massaging your sides he still held so possessively.

He would never let you go. Not after all those words and actions, not when you felt this good.

At some point Tom and you realized that they still needed to breath. You heart beat loud inside your ears and you pressed your body closer against his chest to calm yourself down. Tom took that as a sign to give you more and softly bend you down on the bed.

A strange feeling run through your body as you carefully crawled further onto the matress while keeping your eyes locked with Toms. One second later you kissed again and despite your need for him Tom seemed to have more of that for you.

His lips started to wander across your cheeks then neck and chest. You couldn't help but moan when his hands tried to decide where to touch you first and eventually pressed your hips against his own like an instinct and was the sweetest sound Tom could hear from you. Everything he did from now on was to squeeze those sounds again and again from out of you.

,,Wait what about your dorm mates?'' you asked when they crossed your mind.

,,You really think about such things when we are doing this?'' Tom asked in a mixture of annoyance and amusement and sucked on that sweet spot on your neck he just had found earning him another moan from you.

,, Just focus on me Y/N. The others don't have to bother you. You're mine after all, right?'' Tom asked in a bare whispher against your lips. You nodded shyly and eargerly.

,,How was that about you wanting me? Tell me about it'' Tom said. His hot breath crossed the skin of your lips when he waited for your answer while his hands roamed over your body. Once you had found your voice his eyes were fixed on your face, already pleased with the way you twisted under his touch.

It was hard to admit your feelings properly to him but Tom helped you.

,,Love is about taking and giving right? Give me an answer and you shall recieve more it that my love'' said Tom ever so confident, a smirk laid on his lips when he reminded you of your own words. He gave you everything when you said everything he wanted to hear. Like how much you needed him, that he was right all the time and that it you were meant to be his. By every right answer Tom undressed you futher and kissed the new parts of your skin he revealed him to.

By the time Tom let lose of you, you were a mess underneath him.Tom looked proudly down at his achievement.

Your gaze was dark and earger, your breath hollow like you didn't dare to be too loud. All you wanted was him.

,,Good Y/N. You're letting go for me dont you? I can see more and more who you really are and you look so perfect like it.You're doing so good'' Tom said to calm you down and kissed your hand lovingly. But it seemed it had quite the opposite effect. In unsteady movements your hips pushed upside against his own, to search for more, while your eyes met his. Tom suppressed a moan while his teeth catched the delicate skin of the back of your hand. You would be his ending when he wouldn't stay careful.

Now you could see Tom truthfully. He wasn't as cunning and cold hearted like so many thought. He was able to love someone, to really crave something. And this thing was you, it must have been so you thought by the picture before your eyes.

,,Let me show you how much I adore you Y/N. I want to make you feel good.'', Tom said softly.

His fingers traced around your bare thighs and hip. ,,You're teasing'' you chuckled when you found the courage to speak. ,,I'm enjoying properly'' Tom said not letting him get out of his pace. Eventually you could feel his fingers between your legs and the uprising courage left you again. You felt so different underneath him, with him still clothed and with you being under his control.

Tom would lie when he said he wasn't nervous as well, but at least he was good at hiding it. All he wanted was you to submitt more and more to him, to show himself that you were his indeed. And he could get lost in the view he got offered when his fingers stretched you out for the first time. Having people under his mercy was always something he enjoyed but it was in such a new way, and much more addicting.

,,Is everything alright? You look so pretty like this. Let me make you do that sound again. You're so good for me, doing so good'' He encourages you, watching you hungryly being on the edge of also getting lost in your excitement.

,,Does this feel good little witch?'' he asked between his trusts or when he curled his fingers a certain way, even though the answer was obvious. Something had changed within him, he was focused again and was now playing with you instead of testing the waters, now that he was certain you liked this.

Your moans weren't enough for him he wanted to hear you say it out loud and when you couldn't answer quick enough. Tom would trust harder into you, reminding you who was in charge when you thought you needn't to answer him or smimply couldnt due to the pleasure.

Your head bend to the side when you came closer but Toms fingers griped you by your chin to guide your gaze back on him. ,,You look at me when you come.'', Tom said sternly.

For second you witnessed a strange moment. While you felt the pleasure run through you it was as if you would look into a mirror, when you watched Tom who felt just as euphoric as you. With glassy eyes he pumped stronger inside you having you cry out higher, almost mimicing your lust and nervousness.

With a broken cry you came down from your high, your thighs still shivered from it while your neck was still gently pressed in the pillow. His eyes were still locked with yours when he brought his fingers to his lips tasting the fruits of his victory. You carefully came up and helped him out of his sweater and shirt, you felt so small against him when you eyed him up.

,,Tom I want to make you feel good as well'' you said still out of breath searching for his gaze when Tom laid himself next to you. ,,What you make me feel now is enough, for now. I lust for something far better at another time. Now let me taste you again'' he said and pushed you down again.

It sounded almost like you were in pain when Tom kept you on the edge, always denying your high despite your pleading moans. Lowkey giving you a taste of your own medicin, he had to wait so long for this moment. Now you were the one who had to be nice and patient for him.

Your hands had reached for his hair to get more friction, but Tom was quicker and pushed them down, giving you a warning by sucking hard on your clit making you whimper. He explained that you must use your words if you wanted something from him.

,,Don't get shy on me. We're partners now, there is nothing you can't tell me. Say what you want'' Tom said like an intimate secret giving you one long lick that made you shiver again searching for more.

The more you found the courage to tell him what you wanted and how badly you needed him the more Tom gave into your pleas. When Tom decided to have heared enough for now he let you have your final release in which he could get lost just like your sweet sounds. With weak arms you brought yourself into the embrace Tom offered you and rested. He whispered sweet nothings into your ear, telling you how well you did until your sleepiness overwhelmed you.

#tom riddle #tom riddle imagine #tom riddle x y/n #tom riddle x you #tom riddle x reader

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varvuska · 4 months

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WIP Wednesday!

Heya! Since I've seen others take part in it, figured I might as well. So WIP Wednesday it is! Showcasing what I've worked on during the week and talking about art as a process. It's both to help fight perfectionism and to help myself see that, even when I feel like I haven't got anything done, I'm still doing something!

So first things first! This week, on Monday, I finished a piece that I already posted (also on Monday).

In general, I think I'm very happy with this piece! I've been figuring out how to best get the shape of a creature's face right when all you have to work off of is side profiles, really. And I think I'm learning. Something that helps a bunch is using shapes to figure out where everything goes before starting to mold the actual face.

I feel like I could have gotten a bit more experimental with the shading, but I'll leave that for another piece ig!

I also worked on the lines for this on Monday!

It's a personal piece of my fursona that I've been slowly working on on the side of commissions as warmup! Generally I'm just starting to be really happy with he design of it, though I'm still debating about the exact shades of color to use in the palette. Hence why it's still a work in progress.

I slapped the colors on on Tuesday as placeholders.

This one I'm feeling the most uncertain of. it's a commission piece that is a small file size for reasons that are obvious considering the use of it, but the pixelation does bother me. I think I might just make it bigger to start off and then scale it back down again in the end, but it feels like wasted effort considering how far I already got. But oh well.

Lastly, there's this!

A sketch for a commission piece on Flight Rising! Ridgebacks are funky creatures for sure, and another case of only really having side profiles on site. So this was a lot of improvising.

I'm pretty satisfied with it personally, but I'll still be contacting the person who this is for about whether they like this angle or not. If given the green light, I'll start sketching all the apparel on top. :3

So yeah! That's my progress report from the week so far, I suppose! Happy to have a nice drive for art again, December was ROUGH. And obviously I've been doing a lot of writing on the side as well thanks to a certain roleplay server, hehe (thank you to the people in it, so happy to be a part of the community!). <3

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qqueenofhades · 1 year

Note

re an ask that you got earlier, how much do you think ivan acrually even knows about the darkling's secret history?

Prior to the events of 1x08, I think it's most likely that Ivan knows a good deal more about Kirigan's plans than the rest of the Grisha, but by no means all of it, and it's not clear whether that extends to Kirigan/Aleksander's true identity. What we do know in canon/semi-canon about Ivan's character and beliefs includes the following:

In 1x02, during the carriage scene, it's clear that Ivan deeply feels/resents the historical persecution of Grisha, since he tells Alina that the Little Palace has walls to protect them because it used to be a death sentence to be one, and Kirigan has now made them powerful, respected, and feared.

In 1x03, in the "why are you eATiNg fIgS????" scene that makes me laugh every time, Ivan clearly thinks that Alina's main mission/purpose in being at the Little Palace and harnessing her power is to tear down the Fold. This indicates that as far as he knows/Kirigan has told him, that's what she's supposed to do. Kirigan himself isn't there, so there's no reason for Ivan to pretend otherwise/say anything other than what he thinks.

In 1x06, when Ivan interrogates the Conductor about the plot to steal Alina out of the Little Palace, that's probably both when Aleksander's overall plans began to change and Ivan became aware of it. Maybe it was first the plan to let Alina explore her power, fall in love with Aleksander, and willingly lend him her light so they could control the Fold/rule Ravka together etc, but after she ran off, Aleksander had to improvise on the fly and accelerate his plans to find the stag/bind himself to Alina. This is most likely when he tells Ivan that they need to get the amplifier and put it on her no matter what, and Ivan agrees. Still, however, thinking that this is so Kirigan can use her power to tear down the Fold.

In 1x07, while David is the one who actually puts the collar/amplifier on Alina and Aleksander, Ivan is the one who holds Alina in place while David does so. This point in the books is also where he tells her that all the male members of his family (father, uncle, two brothers) have died in Ravka's wars against Fjerda, and that's the reason he trusts the Darkling as the only person who can protect Ravka strongly enough and/or stop the fighting once and for all. Simon also mentioned a deleted scene referencing Ivan's backstory, which is probably this scene/happens in this episode, but they cut it.

Also in 1x07: Ivan is present when Alina angrily asks Kirigan if "Aleksander is a fake name too." It's possible that this tips him off to the fact that there's more to Kirigan than it appears/confirms any suspicions he might have had that "Kirigan" isn't who he really is. But this isn't clear.

By 1x08, when Ivan goes into the Fold with Aleksander and Alina and acts as Kirigan's bodyguard/killer of everyone else while the shenaniganry goes on, it's clear that he's decided no matter what, it's still his job to serve Kirigan as his loyal second-in-command and trust that he knows what he's doing. Ivan's last line in s1 before getting yeeted off the skiff by Jesper is to Alina, as he's Heartrending/trying to incapacitate her: "How dare you [turn on Aleksander]? He gave you everything!"

So overall, even if Ivan didn't explicitly realize until 1x08 what Kirigan was really doing, he stayed loyal while it was happening, or at least until the point he was chucked off into the Fold and we don't know yet what happened to him after that. HOWEVER, if it's Word of God that both Ivan and Fedyor survived both s1 and s2, we don't know why Ivan didn't choose to come back to Aleksander and continue to fight with him. Maybe his mind was changed by Fedyor, he was upset about Aleksander leaving him behind to die even after he had helped him carry out the Fold plan, he was otherwise occupied, etc etc. But leaving it at "he was just detained and couldn't get back in time" doesn't seem likely, since even if Simon himself was too busy to come back for s2 and they decided to move Fivan to s3, they need to come up with a compelling in-universe reason for it.

Simon's headcanons for Ivan are a) that he's possibly part Fjerdan and/or has Fjerdan ancestry (since the Fjerdans are Scandinavian and Simon is Danish), which might have led him to often get his loyalty to Ravka questioned and made him very touchy about it, b) Ivan is actually quite fragile and that's why he acts so tough and standoffish, and c) his one weak spot/soft point is Fedyor and their relationship. I don't know how much the writers have or will explicitly incorporate any of this, but hey, that's what Simon thinks.

They could go with Ivan being ancestrally Fjerdan if Fivan ends up at the Ice Court in time for the s3 Crows heist (especially since Fedyor was the one who forced Nina to turn Matthias in and the druskelle might want revenge on them). Or maybe he or Fedyor got mixed up with jurda in Ketterdam, or maybe Ivan will be the leader of the Cult of the Starless Saint and the political opposition to Alina as the new queen of Ravka/leader of the Grisha. Because they're considerably off book by now and have leeway to basically invent further Fivan storyline as they please (since Fedyor and Ivan obviously aren't supposed to survive past Siege and Storm, but I SHALL TAKE IT), we don't know.

Just give me more Ivan/Fedyor otp and Ivan/Jesper foetp. Please and thank you.

#anonymous #ask #ivan kaminsky #fivan #sab spoilers

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breakerwhiskey · 10 months

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004 - FOUR

Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.

Transcript under the cut.

[click, static]

Alright, different channel today. Different channel and different state. I have made my way into West Virginia. And good lord, is it beautiful. I’m definitely avoiding all the flat just the way I wanted, but I am a little worried now that the mountains are going to make these signals even less likely to reach anyone.

I’m keeping my eye out for a better antenna, something I could boost the signal with. I don’t know much about this thing–radios aren’t my specialty–but I’ve always been good at tinkering with things and I pick stuff up quick. It’s why I got into the line of work I did. You need to be able to improvise, figure things out fast, and you’ve gotta be good with your hands.

I like discovering the way things work. In that sense, I bet you’d think this whole situation these past years has been my paradise. How do you improvise when the power’s out and the water stops being clean and you can’t get emergency services for shit because there might not be any kind of services at all anymore? I mean, sounds like a fun fair to me.

The reality got old fast. But I think I was able to build a pretty decent existence. It’s why I think I can do it again. I take comfort in the knowledge that if this car breaks down, I can fix it, and if it really breaks down, I can get another one going. There’s certainly enough of them scattered around.

Though not as many as I thought there’d be. I also expected the stores to be a lot more picked over. The gas stations, yeah, are mostly empty, but I think my odds of getting a stronger antenna are actually pretty good. I dropped into a hardware store late yesterday to get a tire gauge and air pump and the place felt…if not fully stocked, partly. And it’s not like I’m in the middle of absolutely nowhere, I’m still on a major highway. So why isn’t everything completely picked over?

[click, static]

I have seen a couple of lights on here or there, which I can’t make any sense of. One of them was a roadside burger joint–their neon ‘open’ sign was glowing like it was new. So I went in and…well, I didn’t expect to see anyone, I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I thought maybe…maybe there’d be a phone that still worked or a water heater or a working gas line.

It was the strangest thing. The neon sign was on. And the jukebox. And one of the lights over the counter. But nothing else. The phone was dead, none of the light switches seemed to do anything.

I did try playing a tune on the jukebox but…I don’t have any quarters. Why would I? I haven’t used money for anything in years.

But anyway, it all got me thinking…if I could find a working radio tower, could I boost this signal? As it stands, I’ve just got to keep driving round and round and round until I get lucky enough to come into range with another CB. But if parts of the grid are still working, then maybe—

[click, static]

Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe it wouldn’t make a difference because maybe there is no one to find. And I’ll just keep tuning into a new frequency every single day and talking to the air.

[click, static]

But I think it’s…helping. Even if I’m not talking to anybody.

[click, static]

Maybe because I’m not talking to anybody. If no one can hear me, there’s no consequence to anything I say. And talking to yourself isn’t embarrassing or sad if no one knows it’s happening. Right?

So, who knows, maybe I’ll keep going on this no matter what happens. I’ve got nothing to lose.

Signing off.

[click, static]

[beep]

#breaker whiskey #audio drama #episode #transcript #Spotify

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man-down-in-hatchet-town · 7 months

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Celebrity Skin

AHHHHHHHH!

Spoilers for Episode 10 of The Case of the Greater Gatsby under the cut!

GUYS THIS WAS THE BEST EPISODE! I don’t think I’ve laughed out loud so consistently while listening to a podcast in years. Obviously, the Persauds should be proud of everything they’ve written, but they should be extra proud of this complete and utter gem of a farce.

But let’s start with the bad news. As much as No Cop, No Cop absolutely exceeded my expectations, I don’t think Ford felt the same. It might be awhile before we get him in on another caper. Also, ironically after what I wrote last week, Cliff has already blithely broken up with his contractor. Must be nice to have so much money that you can build all those bathrooms for nothing and then not even be upset about it. But while much poorer than Cliff, I too am resilient and apparently inconstant, because I’ve already jumped right on board the good ship Cliff/Rex (Riff? Callowhistle? Punchaway?) and am ready to sail!

Meanwhile, we can unsurprisingly cross Zelda off the murder suspect list and add Willie, Cliff, and Leery to the guest list at Mel’s party the night Fitzy died. And I’m pretty sure Ford and I are on the same page as to the location of the missing tapes (they HAVE to be behind Zelda’s painting at Sheila’s place, right?). Dash setting fire to Bixby's does feed into the plot thread of the bar's potential financial troubles (if those are even real), though whether the pyrotechnics will make the problems worse or the insurance will make them better remains to be seen. It would be kinda' hilarious if the answer to Bixby's money woes ends up being Dash-with-a-fan.

The part of me that is forever living in the opening performance of Eugene and Ramona Trousers' delightfully inane but extremely plot-relevant The History of Sleepy Hollow really wanted to scan this episode's improvised travesty for potential clues, but unless Fitzy's murderer got into his house by disguising themself as a chaise lounge (tragically unlikely), I really don't think there's anything there.

But it wouldn't be a Brooke-rambles-about-GG post without at least one bit of wild theorizing so we go: Eugene Punchwhistle is the Hinge Highway Man. I'm not saying I believe this, but I am saying that we have two completely tertiary mysteries, and it would be kinda' funny if they ended up simply answering each other. And I don't know who else Eugene could possibly be.

So yeah! What a fantastic episode! Grip Holdstuff might be my new favorite gag in all of Shipwrecked history! Clark Baxtresser's voice coming from a character that was just described as short might be my new favorite unintentional gag in all of Shipwrecked history! AND we got to hear Clark sing Cole Porter (😍😍😍😍😍😍😍)!! What a high-light! Good news, indeed!

Excited to hopefully get those tapes next episode. And when are we gonna check in on Donald Ogden Stewart?

#fig and ford #shipwrecked comedy #the case of the greater gatsby #clark baxstresser #ford phillips #fig wineshine #cliff calloway #rex punchwhistle #WHAT AN EPISODE

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bitletsanddrabbles · 3 months

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Why: The Question Fans Love To Ask, But Don't Actually Care About

Imagine the following:

We're on the set of Today's Hot Period Drama. To say the atmosphere is tense is an understatement. This is the last possible day to shoot. After this the film absolutely has to go to the editors or the episode will not be ready to air next week. Yesterday, everything went wrong, so they're behind schedule. Really, really behind schedule. Today, everything has to go right and if it doesn't, oh well. It is what it is, and if that means it's the worst episode in the history of THPD, so be it.

The pressure, as they say, is on.

The director looks over the scene and makes absolutely certain that the furniture is in place, the lighting is suitable, and that the family's beloved dog shows no sign of getting up from his afternoon nap and interrupting the scene. Content that all is as it should be and with one last prayer that the respectable old canine is not hit by a burst of youthful enthusiasm, the director calls for the actors to take their places. From just off the set, there's the sound of footsteps, punctuated by a shuffling noise, a kind of hopping sound, an oath, a crash, and what can only be described as a dignified, masculine shriek of absolute agony.

Spinning around, the director finds the lead actor, Handsome McHottypants sprawled on the floor in a tangle of lighting wires, clutching his foot while his costar, Beauty Splendiferus, stands over him fussing in a horrified manner. At first glance, Handsome's ankle does not look like it should be bending that way. The second and third glance don't help matters. It is pretty obvious to anyone with eyes that the lead man has just broken something and will not be standing for…well, longer than really bares thinking about if you have to get a program out on a weekly schedule. Of course, in future episodes you can make something work. Come up with a canon reason for Lord Moneybags to be limping around with a walking stick or something. But this episode has to be done right now, no options!

What to do, what to do?

Of course in the Golden Age of Hollywood they'd have just chucked a couple of morphine tablets down the actor's throat and called it a day. But this is the 21st Century! You can't just get your lead actor high on illegal substances! You don't have the budget to pay off the police like that! Some over the counter ibuprofen will have to do. It's determined that with that Handsome McHottypants can grit his teeth and get his lines out (although it likely won't be his best performance), but he absolutely Can Not stand.

This isn't good. This is a well researched, accurate period drama! Men do not sit in the presence of a lady! But there's nothing for it. Three people help Handsome McHottypants over to the sofa - resulting in a heart stopping moment when Fido opens his eyes, raises his head, and looks like he might be considering getting up, but instead goes mercifully going back to sleep - and get him seated. The filming starts. Lady Bountyland walks in and, seeing Lord Moneybags seated on the sofa, graciously says "No, no need to get up", and on they go with the shoot. They finish the take and, despite a couple of minor issues, the director declares it a wrap. They have two other scenes to get done, due to yesterday's shit storm, and Handsome's ankle is not going to get better on its own. So, with a congratulations to Beauty for improvising the "No need to get up" line, the director rushes off to get ready for the next scene and everyone packs Handsome off to the hospital.

Then the episode is released.

The audience's reaction is immediate and uncompromising:

"Why is he sitting? No man in that era would sit in the presence of a lady."

"He's always stood before. LOL I guess the director just forgot about manners!"

"I thought this was supposed to be an accurate period drama!"

"This is a sure sign that THPD is going down hill."

The only break in the condemnation of the production team is from the people who think Lord Moneybags is useless scum and take the fact he couldn't be bothered to stand for Lady Bountyland as proof of his worthlessness as a human being.

Much later, when Handsome McHottypants reveals in an interview that the reason Lord Moneybags remained seated (and mysteriously broke his leg in a riding accident between episodes) was because he'd tripped on wires and broken his ankle in real life, the audience pauses in their stone casting to go "Oh no! Poor Mr McHottypants! That sounds so horrible!"

….and then go right back to pitching stones at the production team for their 'error'.

… …

I swear, this is what happens every time film viewers - be it TV or movies - see something that does not immediately make sense to them or seems out of character or anything. I mean, yes, errors are made in filming. Handcuffs that aren't actually latched come apart, but it's so hard to see on film that everyone misses the fact that - well - you can see it on film if you look hard enough. Costumes rip, but the rip is only visible for one frame, so the only people who ever see it are the people who go through everything frame by frame looking for subliminal messaging. The actor trips coming across the stage, but you're already past the wire and can't do another shoot, so you play it off as a charming bumble.

I once read about an incident where it came time to shoot an episode of a TV show and they didn't have a script. Seriously, everything the script writer had tried had failed the sounding board stage. The actors had to straight up improvise the entire episode. As you can imagine, the end result was apparently not great.

The point is, it doesn't matter if these things are accidents or not. Whether Lord Moneybags stays seated because Handsome McHottypants broke his ankle or because the production team wanted to show Lord Moneybags for the uncaring scumbag he is, huge quantities of the audience (except the Lord Moneybags haters) will respond the exact same way:

They will ask "why did that happen?" and rather than trying to come up with any sort of rational explanation, they will pull out their bag of stones and start throwing them, all the while declaring that the production team makes dog shit look like Albert Einstein.

And why? What do people get out of it?

It doesn't actually make them smarter than the production team. Someone breaking their ankle or having a prop bust or tripping isn't a matter of intelligence and attention to detail. And what if something was done on purpose? What if all the people yelling "Lord Moneybags is SCUM!" are right and that's why he doesn't stand up? Then you really aren't smarter than the production team - or the Moneybags antis, for that matter - because you missed the point.

"Why are the Happy Couple living in Cottage B when at the end of last season they were planning on moving into Cottage A? Guess the writers forgot where their characters were moving!" …or maybe something came up and they couldn't rent Cottage A this season.

"Why did they go through all of that effort to set introduce the Sweet Side Couple in the last episode if they weren't going to capitalize on it in the movie? That makes no sense!" …unless they hadn't known the movie was going to happen when they filmed the last episode and then couldn't get one of the actors back for the movie.

"Why did Character 1's bedroom go from that lovely blue-green combo from last season to that horrible purple and cream scheme? She's supposed to have good taste! Did they just forget that?" …more likely the person whose house they were renting as the set redid the wallpaper and the production team didn't have much say in the matter because HEY! Not their house!

There are very few dismissive "why" scenarios I've seen people come up with that I've not been able to immediately come up with at least three, very solid, potential real world reasons for, ranging from 'technical issues' to 'you missed the point'. Even when I can't come up with those, I don't assign the Epic Fail badge to the production team, because normally someone else comes along and gives me a solid real world reason for it. And yet even the people who acknowledge "Well, yeah, that's a pretty solid reason" have this nasty habit of following it up with "but you know that's not what happened."

WHAT? HOW DO I KNOW THAT? I'm not a mind reader! You're not a mind reader! Neither of us are part of the production team! The only way anyone knows what actually happened is if the writer or director or one of the actors or, heck, the key grip says in an interview "Yeah, this is what happened." Until that happens you're just as clueless as I am.

Assuming the worst of every perceived error does not make you superior. Judging the production team for not flawlessly correcting for every hitch does not make them incompetent, it just makes you intolerant. Proclaiming every point that doesn't make immediate sense to you to be a failure on the writer's part may just prove that you're unperceptive. Even if you happen to be right and people just screwed up, as a human being you screw up too.

What you do with that observation is, of course, up to you.

But think about it.

#film industry #film production #fandom #period dramas #and everything else really #but i'm a fan of #downton abbey #the gilded age #etc. so that's who i'm dealing with #philosophy

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pagiecakewritesstuff · 1 year

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11. MORPHEUS|DREAM OF THE ENDLESS X READER/OC

SERIES MASTERLIST

Past the rampage outside the palace, the cellar was eerily quiet, not even the screams of the dreamfolk could penetrate the thick underground walls. The damp air clung to my hair and clothes, as my cloak dragged after me, heavily on the floor. The two gods wrecking the gardens above ground escaped a while ago and declared their rule over the Dreaming, throwing its rightful ruler into the dungeons. I was inclined to ignore the situation for a while, hoping that Morpheus has everything in his grip, but alas, he was still too young. I had no doubt in his capabilities, but governing a realm was completely different to protecting it. This was a steep learning curve. I came to see him, though bound by ancient laws I wasn’t about to help him, but I had to know if he still had the spirit to fight on.

There was only one cell. It's not often that someone has to be imprisoned in the Dreaming, and there are far better methods for holding someone. Yet they still decided to simply shut him behind bars. How beast-like.

He huddled in the corner, a fuming pile of black fabrics and chains. He was immensely angry and scared, but the ice of his desperation broke as soon as he caught sight of me. He leapt towards the door, a cuffed hand reaching through the iron bars. On the wall behind him, I noticed signs of the Endless, scratched into the stone. An ankh, a sword, a heart, a ring, a flower. He improvised a gallery for himself, unable to access his own. He tried to call his siblings.

“You came at last.” Even at a few thousand years old he still retained some of his boyish charm from before the time of his first love. Only now deep lines of loss and heartbreak grooved his elegant face.

“I’m not here to help.” His hopeful expression dropped and suddenly I realized that I don’t remember the last time I saw him. “You know I can’t.”

“Of course. Neither can my siblings.”

“Have you tried all of them?”

He shamefully looked away.

“Not Desire.”

There was bad blood between Dream and Desire, I had no need to ask why he didn’t call on his sister-brother sooner.

“You have to put aside your disagreements, otherwise you will rot in this cell for an eternity.”

“Or…”

“Again, I’m not about to break the rules.”

His hand fell limply to his side.

“Why you came then?”

“I felt like I have to be here. It's been a while since I saw you too.”

The thousands of stars in his eyes flickered then died down. He pulled his tattered regal attire tighter around himself, the fabric making a tearing sound in protest.

“You felt like you have to be here? Did Destiny set this up after he was unable to answer my call?”

“No. We’ve been distant, he has a lot to do. It’s based on pure instinct that I’m here.”

He quietly mulled over what I said, then returned to the corner of his cell, looking at the cravings that the etched into the wall longingly.

“Tell me, will I ever get out of here?”

“I believe so, though I cannot say for sure. The future is not mine to know.” I leaned closer to the bars, so I could link my sight with his. “But the lesson you will learn from this is important, never forget it. You might need it in the future. Call Desire.”

To my surprise, my personal room in the Dreaming is still intact. It’s a time capsule now, buried in the castle, collecting dust. I was free to leave and find it, the daemons don’t care much where I am as long as I don’t travel between planes. Invisibly the collar still clutches my neck and from time to time a strong hand yanks on it, checking if I’m still in line.

I grab the duvet and pull it off the mattress, creating a swirl of dust that gently dances towards the floor in the light streaming through the window that I just opened recently. The air is heavy in here with the musky traces of loneliness and tears. Did he ever come here to think about me? It’s strange that he didn’t order Mervyn to demolish it after I went missing.

Even my writing desk is here, tucked into a safe corner, away from the sounds and wonders of the Dreaming so I could concentrate. I should work now, but I can’t bring myself to do it. My mind is elsewhere, far, far away. Giving up I set my pen down, so it’s there as a reminder to do my job. But I will deal with it later.

Suddenly through the keyhole, a tiny dancing flame skips into the room, not bigger than the tip of my finger. It’s curiously bright, and only now do I realize that the sun had dipped below the horizon. The flying cluster of flames beckons and I follow without a question. It takes me through a labyrinth of hallways, big and small ones alike, adorned with framed artworks and delicate wooden inlays. I know where we are going, and we stop in front of the exact door I was expecting. The flame dissipates.

My hand hovers above the handle before I push it down the lock clicks open as a wave of darkness pours over the sill. This shadow of the night sky envelopes me as I enter.

He stands by his bed, his back turned to me, like a column of stars and bright galaxies in space. This is his personal chamber, one I’ve visited many times before. It looks the same as the day he escaped his captivity. He didn’t even make the bed since, the wrinkles outline our forms tangled into each other on his first free day.

“You called me.” For a moment I wish he wouldn’t turn so that I don’t have to face his blazing eyes, but then he does. His pupils are two effervescent pits, muddled with anger, yet there is so much pain that he tries to cover, but it bubbles to the surface. Over his hazy eyes, his eyelids flutter, fighting an escaping tear. His chin dips before he looks up again. I weather his silence.

“A year.” He speaks finally. “More than that.”

I step over to the bed.

“I would apologise, but that would only incite your rage.” As I pick up the blankets his hand lashes out, but he retracts it almost immediately.

“Death knew.”

“She found it out by an accident. And I didn’t tell her the whole truth.”

His timbre is a searing whisper that slithers across the floor and bites at my heels.

“So what is the truth?”

Tentatively I let the magic that hides my chains go. Wearing it after all these months I feel bare without it, overly exposed, but this is nothing compared to what he had to endure, I remind myself. His lips part in shock and I take this moment to make the bed and smooth out our past outlines. He observes without a word.

“I never meant to hurt you, Morpheus. I know I did, but I wish I wouldn’t have.”

“Who did this?” I feel his looming breath tickling the nape of my neck. It melts away the touch of the iron collar in an instant.

“The past Hell Lord, Lucifer Morningstar.” I turn, our faces inches away from each other. “There is no way to reach them now. We all know what happened.”

“And your leash? Who holds it now?”

“Azazel. Your hospitality demands that you don’t hurt him while he resides within your walls.” His closeness is encapsulating, and all of a sudden the room evaporates around us, bringing back similar memories from the past. His breath hitches in his throat and he bows his head, hands fisting by his side.

“May I touch you?” Softly my words travel into his ears and Morpheus shudders.

“Yes.” He speaks to the floor. “You may.”

I gingerly place my fingers on either side of his jaw and almost immediately he leans into my palms, putting some of his weight onto me. His chest heaves as his heart crash against his ribcage with every beat. I’m no different.

“Look at me please.” Reluctantly he raises his chin, clouded eyes staring into my soul and I can see the stars twinkling in them. “Can you forgive me for the pain I have caused?”

“Only if you can forgive me for ever doubting you.” A tear trails down his cheek freely as we inhale each other's essence. His is dark, like burnt pine on a summer evening when the wind carries wildflowers across the valleys, but something more ethereal than that. His body is pressing against mine now, arms finding their way around my waist, and he just holds me, soaks me in. Due to him leaning against me my legs press against the bedframe. Morpheus is all pleading, a resonating shout bouncing around his soul, asking for what he couldn’t have until now. I offer him what he wants by angling myself in a way that he barely has to move to take it and against all of his desires he turns into a statue of disbelief. Shocked he pulls away, then comes back, testing me, eyebrows drawn together in a perplexed frown. His quick breaths skim over my lips and I can already taste his mouth on mine. I press my forehead against his, our skins burning up.

His kiss is tentative at first, barely a touch before he breaks it, franticly searching for my eyes. I know he understands when his lashes flutter as he cups my face between his elegant, long fingers and pulls me in, flush against his torso. A low moan sounds deep from his throat as he takes my lips again, gently, needly. I embrace him and we fall on the bed, he is over me, still soaking in every bit of contact he can, afraid that I can evaporate from his hold in any given second. He has to stop for air, his cheeks flushed, overflowing emotions radiating from him in waves.

“My Dream Lord.” Combing his hair back with my fingers I start to feel his weight over me. “I’m so sorry. I was so blind.”

“Say that again.” He rasps, his words bursting with desire to belong to someone. “Say that I’m yours.”

“My Dream Lord.” I pepper kisses along his jawline, repeating this sentence. “My Dream Lord, would you let me love you when all of this is over?”

Doubting, he pushes himself up again, but I grab onto his coat, stopping him before he can get too far.

“Love of mine,” his arms tremble. “My kiss should be the only answer you need.”

And as he kisses me again it’s like velvet flowing over my body, light, gentle when he pulls me up on the mattress, laying me against the pillows, all without his lips leaving mine. My fingertips trace his spine, kneading through his back muscles and he tenses up a bit before his body goes limp. He doesn’t pry, he doesn’t initiate anything more, he is just content to be touched. And there is a certain comfort in him draping over me, like a layer of protection between me and my captors. As his cold palm soothes the burning inflicted by my collar I sigh into his lips and feel a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth.

“Stay with me tonight.” He asks. “I’ve been lonely for so long.”

I guide him next to me so that he rests on the pillow next to me.

“If you wish me to do that. I want to make you feel loved, I’ve been a fool not doing that before. But not tonight.” He tilts his head so he can look me in the eye. “Not while I have a leash.”

“I’m content even if I can only hold you.” Using his midnight black cape he covers both of us. “I will need time.”

“Understandably so.”

“Not how you think.” The stars dancing in his iris dim, and some start blinking as he is thinking back. “I haven’t shown myself to anyone since my escape.”

“I see.”

“I feel tied to this form, but I find it hard not to hate it.” His nostrils flare when he sharply draws in air. His heart is still beating fast. I draw him in so his head rests comfortably in the crook of my neck.

“Such things are hard to unlearn, but I will never ask you to do anything that you are not ready for.”

“I know.”

Of course, he does. He always did…

Taglist:

@sayumiht @intothesoul

#assorodus #the sandman x reader #morpheus x reader #morpheus x oc #masterlist #the sandman #fic:assorodus #dream x reader #dream x oc #the sandman x oc #x reader

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rplayford02 · 11 days

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KEEPER: Production

The shoot ran fairly smoothly. Here’s a run down day by day!

Friday - Changing Rooms

The prep we did during the tech recce really helped here. I was able to tell Tom exactly where he should boom from without having to consult camera. We did eventually need to consult camera to check exact edge of frame, but the prep definitely streamlined our communication.

Saturday - day off!

Talked about the shoot with Ben.

Sunday - Will’s Bedroom

A lot of time spent basking in the sun on the decking at Jake’s, waiting for the light to change. It was an indoor location where we had full control so it was fairly easy for sound. Only challenge was space. The room wasn’t very large and we (Tom and I) had to hide in a corner behind camera. When I wasn’t soaking up the sun, I was hiding in a cupboard next to an unnerving pillow of Jake’s face.

Monday - 1st Pitch Day

So rainy! The weather made communicating anything ten times harder, and it was our first day out on the pitch so we were still settling into the environment. To make it all just slightly more complicated, we switched around the schedule so we were basically shooting in sequence. It was necessary to move all of scene 5 onto this day to minimise continuity errors, however it did create some confusion. I hadn’t really prepped to shoot those scenes on that day so it kind of put us on the back foot. This being said, we still got everything shot and only wrapped slightly late.

Tuesday - also a day off!

Had crew dinner at Nando’s and conversations with Ben about the direction of the film so far - what beats we were already hitting, what might need adapted. With our style of shooting, there was room for some flexibility. Was also able to speak with Zoe at SAS about how sound was going. Came up with a strategy with Alex and Ben for how we would better communicate over the next two days on set.

I’ve never been able to reflect on a shoot whilst it was happening before and I was surprised at how valuable I found this day off. Such a shame that I’ll probably never have the luxury again!

Wednesday - 2nd Pitch Day

Ran much smoother. No huge issues, except that Monday’s shoot had made me ill. :((

Slightly concerned about the sound for water break 2 - the boom couldn’t be close at all and I couldn’t get LAVs on them, since it’s a continuous take from the scene before.

Tom continued to be an incredible boom op through very, very long takes in the freezing cold! I was very grateful!

Thursday - 3rd Pitch Day

Last day ever on a set in uni! People cried! Unusually, not me!

Also ran smoothly. Re-shot the walkout shot from Monday. Sound was good, probably the best of the three days. Had a chance to get some extra field tracks of the ambience.

In the end, sound wasn’t actually forced to compromise much at all. There were a lot of factors which we couldn’t always control and that was scary, for sure. The improvised dialogue, improvised movements, the loud, inconsistent, constant background noise, the weather, the broken/missing kit (two crackly radio mics and no waist bands!) - it was all against us and yet there were no real catastrophes, which shows how much my sound recording has improved in the past two years.

At times the stress got the better of us (mainly me, maybe Alex) but on the whole, the set was extremely professional and well run. I really enjoyed being able to focus entirely on sound recording, which never really seems to happen on student projects. I just loved working with this team! Everyone was firing on all cylinders and I could trust that everyone was doing their jobs amazingly and just focus on my own sound shit. I still had my overstepping, control-freak moments but they were significantly reduced.

It was so cool to see it all come together from pre-production. I’m so proud of everyone and grateful for all the work they put into this film!

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the-rewatch-rewind · 10 months

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Another new episode!

Script below the break.

Hello and welcome back to The Rewatch Rewind! My name is Jane, and this is the podcast where I count down my top 40 most frequently rewatched movies in a 20-year period. Today I will be talking about number 15 on my list: Columbia Pictures’ 1940 fast-talking comedy His Girl Friday, directed by Howard Hawks, written by Charles Lederer (and uncredited Ben Hecht and Morrie Ryskind), based on the play “The Front Page” by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, and starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy.

After a four-month absence, reporter Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) returns to the office of The Morning Post to inform her ex-husband/boss, editor Walter Burns (Cary Grant), that she is about to marry insurance agent Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy), settle down, and quit the newspaper business for good. Desperate to win her back, both professionally and romantically, Walter entices Hildy to write one last great story for the paper, while doing everything he can to sabotage her relationship with Bruce.

I don’t remember any of my first impressions of this movie, or if I had seen it before I started keeping track. I assume it was one of the many old movies I got from the library relatively early in my foray into Old Hollywood, so I might have seen it in 2002. I definitely saw it once in 2003, once in 2005, once each in 2007 through 2009, three times in 2010, three times in 2012, once in each year from 2013 through 2016, twice in 2017, once in 2018, twice in 2019, and twice in 2022. I know that in 2010, I took a class at community college called “film as literature,” in which some assignments involved picking a movie and three different aspects of filmmaking, and discussing how those three aspects enhanced the story of that particular film. The instructor advised us to watch the movie we were writing about three times, focusing on a different aspect each time, and His Girl Friday was one of the movies I wrote a paper like that about (I focused on dialogue, props, and lighting), so that explains the three times in 2010. But I can’t think of a good explanation for why I watched it three times again in 2012, aside from the fact that it’s a great movie that I always enjoy watching. It’s also one that feels particularly appropriate to include in my annual Cary Grant birthday marathon, because it happened to come out on his birthday in 1940, so that’s part of why I watch it almost every year.

By far the best and most noteworthy aspect of this movie is its rapid-fire dialogue. Yes, a lot of old movies are very dialogue-heavy with people talking pretty fast, but like, His Girl Friday takes it to a whole other level. A typical movie averages around 90 words of dialogue per minute; His Girl Friday averages around 240. Many lines were specifically written so that the beginning and the end didn’t matter, allowing the actors to talk over each other, as people do in real conversations, without preventing the audience from understanding what was going on. All the fast, overlapping talking is particularly impressive given that multi-track recording hadn’t been developed yet, so they couldn’t adjust the volumes of different speakers separately in post-production; they just turned different overhead microphones on and off so the primary speaker was louder when they were recording, with some scenes reportedly requiring up to 35 switches – shout out to that sound department. At the time, the record for fastest film dialogue was held by the 1931 version of The Front Page, and director Howard Hawks was determined to break it with this adaptation, which he later proved he had done by screening the two versions next to each other. He also encouraged the actors to improvise, which made filming take longer – as it had with his earlier Bringing Up Baby – but helped the conversations feel even more authentic. Rosalind Russell felt that Cary Grant had more good lines in the script than she did, so she hired her own writer to help enhance her dialogue. Apparently at one point, after she did something unscripted, Grant broke character and said into camera, “Is she going to do that?” which Hawks really wanted to keep in the movie, but ultimately didn’t make the final cut. But several noteworthy ad-libs remained, including at least two, possibly three, amazing inside jokes. One is when Walter says, “He looks like that fellow in the movies…Ralph Bellamy” about Bruce, who did, in fact, look exactly like Ralph Bellamy, the actor playing him. And then there’s the part when the mayor says, “You’re through,” and Walter replies with, “The last man that said that to me was Archie Leach,” in reference to Cary Grant’s birth name – yes, he had the same birth surname as me, but we’re not related as far as I know. And the third, which has not been officially confirmed as an ad-lib or intentional reference but might have been, is when Walter calls the man hiding in a desk a “mock turtle,” which was the character Grant played in the 1933 Alice in Wonderland movie.

So basically, this film was made specifically for Cary Grant fans, and that’s a big part of why I love it. Walter Burns is one of his less likable characters – he’s selfish and deceptive and manipulative – but also one of his most fun to watch. Grant nails every beat of the breakneck-paced dialogue, knowing exactly when to pull focus toward himself and when to fade back to let his scene partner shine through. He still keeps going in the background, though, which helps make this movie especially rewatchable. As you can probably tell from the mere existence of this podcast, I enjoy rewatching movies anyway, but with His Girl Friday in particular, there are so many excellent moments that I didn’t notice until I’d seen the whole film many times, and I’m still noticing new things with every rewatch. While you don’t need to hear the overlapping bits of dialogue to follow the movie, once you’re familiar with the story it’s very fun to go back and listen for the parts you missed before. And several actors – Grant in particular – make some great reaction faces in the background that are worth watching out for. So if you’ve only seen this movie once, I would highly recommend revisiting it.

And it’s not just Cary Grant – Rosalind Russell is absolutely fabulous in this movie. Hildy Johnson was a man in The Front Page, but when Howard Hawks heard his female secretary reading the lines during auditions, he thought they sounded great coming from a woman and decided to turn Hildy into Walter’s ex-wife. It would have been nice if they could have changed one of the main characters into a woman without making her automatically romantically involved with the other main character, but we can’t have everything. Many actresses were considered but ended up either turning it down or being too expensive to hire. Russell knew she was not a top choice and was apparently very insecure about that, but she had no reason to be because she was perfect. All the reporters in the movie talk ridiculously fast, but she leaves them in the dust and makes it look easy. It took me many takes just to quote part of one of her many rapid monologues at the end of last episode without tripping over my words; I don’t know how she did it. And while she’s talking a mile a minute, she’s also portraying an incredibly layered and nuanced character. The wonderful character actors playing the other reporters do a great job of conveying that they have embraced the cold, detached mindset of caring more about the scoop than the story itself. Hildy shares this to a certain extent, but she hasn’t completely lost her sense of empathy the way they have. She fits in with the guys, but she’s also better than them, both as a journalist and as a human being, without seeming too perfect to be realistic, which is an incredibly complex and difficult balance to strike, but again, Rosalind Russell nails it. Much as I love Grant’s performance, Russell is really the glue that holds the whole thing together, and she commits to that role completely.

Hildy is such a strong character that I’m always disappointed when she goes back to Walter at the end. She is clearly a much better match with him than with Bruce, whose slow, deliberate speech contrasts rather jarringly with Hildy and Walter’s snappy patter. But Walter has learned exactly zero lessons by the end of the movie, and there is no reason to believe that any of the problems with their first marriage will ever be resolved. Throughout the movie, Hildy is torn between wanting the domestic life of Bruce’s wife and the more hectic life of a newspaper reporter that still has a hold on her. When Walter tells her she can’t quit because she’s a newspaperman, she replies that that’s why she’s leaving, so she can be a woman. But as much as she complains about it, she makes it pretty clear that she does love being a reporter. I think there is a part of her that genuinely likes the idea of settling down as a housewife, but it seems like the main reason she wants to do that is because society is telling her that’s what women are supposed to do. So I’m very glad the movie doesn’t make her marry Bruce. I also recognize that at the time it was rather radical to suggest that a woman should pursue a career in something other than homemaking if she wants to, let alone suggest that she doesn’t have to completely give up the idea of having a husband to do so. In 1940 it was highly unusual to show a man wanting his wife to also have a career like Walter does. So from that perspective it is kind of nice to see them get back together. But at the same time, he treats her pretty terribly, and it kind of feels like it’s saying that a career gal should be happy with any man she can manage to get, regardless of how slimy he is. Not that Hildy doesn’t also treat Walter pretty terribly too. I guess they show their affection by hurling insults at each other, which is a type of relationship that makes no sense to me, but they seem to be on the same page about it. Still, I would love to see Hildy walk out on both Walter and Bruce like the strong, independent woman she is. At least the movie makes it clear that, despite its title, she is nobody’s assistant, or “girl Friday.”

The progressive for 1940 but doesn’t quite work now theme extends beyond feminism. Besides the Walter/Hildy/Bruce love triangle, the other main storyline in the movie involves a man named Earl Williams, played by John Qualen, who is about to be hanged for killing a policeman, despite some legitimate questions regarding his sanity. Walter wants Hildy to do one final interview with Earl to show that he definitely wasn’t responsible for his actions, and that he’s being strategically executed a few days before an election so the incumbent sheriff and mayor will look tough on crime and win. Most of the reporters don’t seem to care, asking the sheriff if he can move the execution up a few hours so it can make their morning editions. The sheriff refuses, but it is very clear that he could not care less about upholding the law, and same with the mayor, because when a messenger from the governor arrives with a reprieve, they try to bribe him to leave and come back later so they can still execute Williams and pretend the reprieve arrived too late. And it’s not just the politicians who are corrupt. Hildy bribes a prison guard twice: first to get an interview with Earl Williams, and then to find out how he managed to get a gun and escape. Then when Hildy and Walter find Williams, they hide him, not because they think he’s innocent and want to save him, but because they want to be able to turn him in after they’ve written the story of how they captured him. The movie’s statements about the way American society treats working-class people on the fringes, like Earl, and the way the criminal justice system is easily manipulated for political or financial gain, are honestly still pretty accurate, for the most part. But in a bizarre twist, Walter tells Bruce and Hildy that the policeman Earl shot was black, and that the politicians are trying to get votes from black people by executing his white killer, which is just, so completely backwards from how anything actually works that it kind of detracts from the legitimate points the movie does make. Everything about this story just screams late 1930s/early 1940s, from the characters’ world views to the costumes to the current event references, which makes sense given when the movie was made, but is completely inconsistent with the written prologue at the beginning, which states: “It all happened in the dark ages of the newspaper game – when to a reporter getting that story justified anything short of murder. Incidentally, you will see in this picture no resemblance to the men and women of the press today. Ready? Well, once upon a time—” It’s like, nice try, but in 1940 you can’t pretend this is set in a bygone era and then talk about Hitler and the European war. I don’t think they were really fooling anyone, but at least this allowed the filmmakers to get away with criticizing journalists without getting sued or censored.

Speaking of being censored, one of the few female characters in this movie, Mollie Malloy (played by Helen Mack), kind of seems like she’s supposed to be a prostitute, but of course they weren’t allowed to say that so it’s not super clear. What we do know is that she befriended Earl Williams shortly before he was arrested and has visited him in jail, and that the press has been inaccurately representing the nature of Earl and Mollie’s relationship. I don’t know if it was partly because of the Hays Code that they specifically state that Earl and Mollie haven’t slept together, but regardless of the reason, I’m always a fan of platonic male/female friendship. And the way the movie shows that they care about each other deeply in a non-sexual way, while portraying the reporters as wrong for sexualizing their relationship, feels almost like it’s saying “asexual rights” and we love to see it. We don’t really know what’s going to happen to Earl and Mollie after the events of the film, but I hope that Earl gets the mental health care he needs – he won’t because it’s 1940 but we can pretend – and that Mollie fully recovers from jumping out of the window – we know she’s alive but not how badly she’s hurt – and that they remain close friends.

While this movie touches on a lot of dark themes, overall the tone is lighthearted. It feels like it’s exposing the world for the hellscape that it is and laughing at it. And while some of its attitudes feel very outdated and problematic, that mood is still relatable. His Girl Friday is hectic and chaotic and screwball, but it manages to remain at least somewhat grounded and real. So watching it can feel like either escaping from the real world or looking into a mirror held up to the real world, depending on what the viewer chooses to focus on. This makes it an appropriate movie to watch in many different moods, which helps explain why I revisit it so often. That and the incredible fast-talking performances that I’m still in awe of. And, of course, Cary Grant’s presence always helps.

Thank you for listening to me discuss another of my most frequently rewatched movies. Next up is the fourth and longest movie I watched 22 times in 20 years, which is also from the 1940s, so stay tuned for another oldie. It is also probably the most disturbing movie on this list, just to warn anyone who may be watching along. As always, I will leave you with a quote from that next movie: “Are you suggesting that this is a knife I hold in my hand?”

#his girl friday #cary grant #rosalind russell #howard hawks #the rewatch rewind

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allfattenedup · 2 years

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You literally have I think the highest quality gainer content I've ever seen, it's practically art! Would you talk about what goes on behind the scenes in making your content?

Thank you so much! I love making gainer content and I love making it in the style that I do. I've been doing a lot of fun belly play videos and so on just on my phone lately, because people have wanted to see content that's more raw, but I assume you're talking about my more filmic videos, so I'll speak about that!

CAMERA

I shoot on a Canon dSLR at 60fps - shooting at a higher frame rate means that I can slow it down in post and get that smooth slow-motion which I feel is absolutely essential to my videos. Personally I think slow-motion makes anything look good, but especially when filming fat, there's so much you miss at full speed. The first few times I watched myself back slowed down, I couldn't believe how jiggly it all was. Parts that I never even noticed jiggling were in motion. It's all style and taste of course, but in my opinion, slow-mo is a must.

I also like to include what's called 'cutaways' - which are shots of details, like food, hands, steam, water running down glass, etc. These aren't to be used in excess but they really help build out the environment, give context, and also break up the flow of belly shot after belly shot after belly shot. You might not be watching to see a water drop run down glass or a slow pan of fries cooking, but you'll enjoy the rest of it more because of what those little details add.

I ideally like to shoot at f1.8 which gives a lovely shallow depth of field, but it's not always possible as I shoot by myself on a tripod which can make it hard to get myself in focus. I'll go as high as 2.8, but usually not above or it loses the filmic quality. I sometimes shoot tethered to my laptop so that I can see the shot, otherwise I have a shutter remote, or I just eyeball it, or put some object in the shot to stand in as me, set the focus, start rolling, then step into the same position.

LOCATION

I like to have a sort of a 'set' to work on, for a few reasons. One being that it ties the video together rather than combining disparate shots, but mostly because once I'm in whatever outfit I'm filming in, and getting more and more stuffed (eg the pampered fat boy video or whole apple pie) or bloated (my soda bloat video), moving around and setting things up once I've started filming becomes increasingly difficult. So I like to set everything up beforehand, know what I'm doing, I'll often even have a shot list, and work through it without having to move anything around or set up a new location mid-shoot.

LIGHTING

I like to use a three point lighting set up with bold accent colours. Usually my fill light and my key light are heavily saturated, contrasting colours, and my rim light is white. I improvise heavily when it comes to lighting. I don't have video lights and to be honest I don't think you need them. I have a floor lamp with smart bulbs in it that I had in my house already, like philips hue where you can change the colour and brightness from an app, and that's what I usually use for my key light. But really whatever's on hand and looks good on camera is fine. I love experimenting with lighting, you can sometimes come up with some really good results without any equipment at all. For the Feeders' Night video, I used a blue screen on my tv to set the base colour, then accented with the lamp and the torch on my phone for the rim. For the shower video, I just put a magenta gel over my ceiling light, and did the same with lamp and torch.

You don't need lots of expensive equipment to create beautiful lighting. I think the most important thing actually is the placement of the lights. I spent some time just moving a light source around my body and watching on the screen to see which light direction made my fat look best. And this can definitely change based on what you're trying to show off or even how you're positioned. I love a light from above when I'm stuffed, because it really shows the roundness of my stomach. But if I'm wanting to highlight my hang, I might want the light to sort of cup it, so have my light source below and draw the eye down with it. Or if the focus is my rolls, I'll have a light behind and to the side to wrap around them. This is usually the rim light, because that's what shapes the subject and makes it three-dimensional.

There are loads and loads of different ways you could light your videos, but here's a diagram of a very standard three point lighting set up which I use regularly.

Which results in something like:

That said, I also like to shoot in daylight! It all depends on what the video needs.

EDITING

I use Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my videos, and usually nothing more than that. I edit pretty intuitively, whichever shots flow together nicely. Sometimes I'll try to work in parallel imagery, like this:

...but let's be honest, I know what people are mostly watching for, so I don't get overly meaningful with the symbolism. I do get a kick out of these sorts of transitions but mostly I just cut it to make sure it tells the story and looks fucking hot.

For sound, I browse tracks from a few musicians I follow on youtube that post really good free for commercial use instrumentals, and then cut to that, but lately I've been incorporating my own sounds, like a sort of foley I guess - belly slaps, chair creaks, this and that. I just record these on voice memos on my phone and airdrop them to myself. The iPhone mic is perfectly good enough, but I just make sure I turn off any fans or background noise, and sometimes put down a towel to dampen any echo if I'm working on the floor. My mid-year trailer I just put out and my Feeders' Night video both have examples of that, and I find it really hot so I think I'll keep doing it.

That was long but I'm glad you asked because a lot goes into these videos which I'm sure isn't necessarily apparent from watching them! I really only scratched the surface there but I hope that gives you a little insight into the process!

#askafu

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cabezadeperro · 2 years

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codywan kiss bingo: french kiss + new year’s kiss

and!!! i made it!!! @codywankissbingo blackout lmao. bingo and the fic under the cut, you can also read it here on AO3 :) thanks to the mods for this lovely event, it was a lot of fun.

canon divergence au, kind-of fix it. established relationship. 740w.

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Pink and green bloom noiselessly in the dark night sky; someone gasps out loud in delight, and voices drift up to Obi-Wan like so many fireworks, making themselves heard despite the music and the distance. Obi-Wan leans his elbows on the railing of the balcony of his borrowed room, and stares up at the sky, the warm night air sticky-damp on his bare arms, on the back of his neck, on his face. Everything smells of hot, dry earth and the chemical tang of the nightlights, and Obi-Wan opens his mouth and lets it all coat his tongue, breathing in deep.

His room faces the garden: he can’t see the city, and he can’t see the barracks, or the improvised landing area, or the medtents. The bandage on his shoulder itches. Obi-Wan tugs at the edge and sighs, annoyed. He looks at the sky over the dark trees and lets himself forget, just for a while. He can hear his men, talking and laughing and singing, down between the trees and at his back. They sound so—young. So normal. Like the past three years never happened. Obi-Wan closes his eyes: he’s surrounded by stars, shining bright and without care. Tibanna and plastoid and bacta; caf and chocolate and processed sweets; nice wool and nicer leather and the chemical scent of wet blacks.

And then: hot metal and salty skin and Obi-Wan turns around and finds Cody, carefully closing the door at his back.

He’s out of armour and his hair is a mess, and he feels warm and loose-limbed, all dark glittering eyes. Boil is waiting for him just behind the closed door, the crackling grief that haunts him since Umbara nearly dormant.

Obi-Wan gave them all the next three days to enjoy as they will. Dooku dead, Grievous dead, the Chancellor—well. Obi-Wan decides he’s done thinking about Sheev Palpatine for the next decade, at the very least. The war’s not over: the war won’t be over for quite some time, and Obi-Wan doesn’t even know how to start to think about anything that may come later. He’s fought and he’s killed and he’s suffered more in the last three years than in the previous thirty five years of his life, and he feels like he needs at least another forty to start to understand the person he is now.

And then there’s Cody.

Obi-Wan lets himself be crowded against the balcony railing, the metal warm through his undershirt, and Cody steps between his legs like he belongs there, sure-footed and noiseless on the squeaky wooden floorboards.

He might come back later. He’ll spend the night with his brothers, laughing and drinking and singing, and he might come back later, to this room, but he also might not.

Obi-Wan ducks his head and kisses him, and feels more than hears the way Cody hums deep inside his chest. His hands are hot and slightly damp when they cradle Obi-Wan’s jaw, and he tastes sweet. His lips are sticky, fruit and alcohol and spit, and Obi-Wan licks at them, sucks on his tongue, drags him closer by the hips.

They kiss for long, long minutes and then Cody’s stepping away, flushed and bright-eyed. He opens his mouth, changes his mind and then shrugs. He lets Obi-Wan brush a kiss on his cheek, tug at his overgrown curls, and then he’s leaving again.

Obi-Wan breathes in deep. Lets it out. He closes his eyes and turns his attention back to the sky, to the fireworks, to the forest. He follows Cody while he makes his way back into his brothers’ arms, hot metal and salt and—Obi-Wan licks his lips. He laughs at himself, snickering alone in the dark, and then he turns off the light and goes to bed, and he falls asleep alone, hot pink blooming right behind his eyelids, and wakes up with the dawn, Cody cursing at Obi-Wan and at Obi-Wan’s boots, jumping on one leg and half-out of his blacks.

He knees Obi-Wan on the thigh, and Obi-Wan sighs, still half-asleep, and shifts and turns on the bed so Cody can spread his limbs to his heart’s content, one heavy arm draped over Obi-Wan’s waist and his head on Obi-Wan’s shoulder.

“Happy New Year,” he mumbles, mouth moving against Obi-Wan’s skin and breath sour. Obi-Wan rolls his eyes and clumsily places a kiss on the top of his head. He thinks he says it back before falling back asleep.

#codywan #codywan kiss bingo 2022 #commander cody #obi wan kenobi #maría writes #la madre que me parió #this was a lot of fun!!!! wish i could have been more normal about it tho

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rabbiteclair · 1 year

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actually fuck it, rambling about the plot because it's 1:30 AM and I need to wait for my hair to dry and my head to clear from the MYSTERY FUMES I was exposed to before I try to sleep, so let's fucking go

various unanswered questions as of the start of day 49 (this is gonna be like nothing but late plot spoilers so you've been warned):

what exactly is A trying to do here? You can see the general shape of what this is all about, but it still isn't clear if A is sticking to Carmen's original plan 100%, and if he is, what exact form it takes. got a Seed of Light involved, that's for sure.

even if A is following Carmen's plan to the letter, to what degree is this actually a good or helpful thing? Clearly everybody loved her, but she's mostly just shown to be charismatic and passionate. looking out over a cyberpunk hellscape where starving people are getting dragged off on meathooks for organ-harvesting and going 'what's wrong with the world is..... people don't, like, believe in things anymore, you know?' this might just be me being cynical, but everything about Carmen is filtered through A's memories so I feel a need to compensate. And even then she's shown being cool with human experimentation up until she killed a child.

is Angela in fact planning to sabotage this? I mean, on one hand, I have no reason to believe that Benjamin "If I could suck A's cock I would never brush my teeth again" McHokma was lying to A. On the other hand, it is unclear if B gave his warning at the same time we heard it happen. for all I know Angela recorded it and is playing it every loop days later as a 5D chess move. On the other other hand, at this point I would be surprised if day 50 isn't essentially Angela elbowing her way through a crowd of As like 'OKAY YOU IDIOTS HAD YOUR CHANCE, NOW IT'S MY TURN TO STRANGLE THIS BASTARD, FINALLY.' I don't even need any explanation beyond the fact that he's A

I assume that the voice in the black screens toward the end of morning cutscene times is the Bucket/CARMEN'S DISEMBODIED NERVOUS SYSTEM FLOATING IN A TANK BECAUSE A IS JUST A REAL COOL DUDE WHO MAKES GOOD DECISIONS but, like. Goddamn. okay this one isn't a question.

okay but where did Burrowing Heaven come from. Like Bloodbath and Snow Queen could both come from lots of people who were close to Carmen I guess, but I can't imagine there are many people who are like 'the innermost expression of my spirit is a monster that represents obsession with Carmen and angst over the fact that Carmen is now a DISEMBODIED NERVOUS SYSTEM FLOATING IN A TANK.' I don't actually expect this one to get answered but it's fun to think about. Since all of the weapons Gebura uses in her suppression seem to be callbacks to stuff she had when she was alive, this would also suggest that Burrowing Heaven popped up pretty soon after Carmen's death.

exactly which parts of Angela's behavior come from the Script, which parts are her improvising to fit the Script while going "for fuck's sake A, I'm not a babysitter", and which parts are actually Angela doing the things Angela wants to do? this is another one I expect no answer to but which is fun to think about.

what exactly was the thing that made B finally slink off and leave A alone? It doesn't seem to have been the whole thing with dissecting Garion's brain (while making her watch. as you dissect her brain. because A IS JUST A REAL COOL DUDE WHO MAKES GOOD DECISIONS.) B seemed to be a willing participant in that. The breaking point seems to have happened before the Sephirot were created or the time loop fun times started. but even ruling those out, there are so many cool and ethical options to choose from! Was it the decision to butcher Carmen's corpse into a DISEMBODIED NERVOUS SYSTEM FLOATING IN A TANK? was it creating Angela in Carmen's image while her corpse was still cooling and then immediately turning around and going 'WTF THIS IS JUST A MACHINE, IT'S NOT CARMEN. I HATE HER'? Was it keeping all of their friends' corpses heaped up in a closet somewhere for future use? was it the continued disastrous human experimentation while callously ignoring everyone dying around him? gosh I love A. don't at all wanna see him fall into some kind of industrial grinder.

Angela's whole thing about how A is dead and she's one of the people who killed him--I've been assured this isn't literally true, but I'm also not yet trusting that it's just a high-level 'oh well you're kinda dead because you see this time loop isn't really living' metaphor either. Oops this one also isn't a question

probably more but I should've been in bed 70 minutes ago

#lobotomy corp

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