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niftybottle · 4 years

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Hey @tulipsandsake, I’m your @bering-and-wells-exchange person. I saw you reblog D&D and Critical Role stuff, so I thought I’d do designs for Myka and Helena as D&D characters. Helena is a half-Drow multiclass Bard (College of Glamour)/Artificer (Battle Smith), while Myka is an old-school (2e/AD&D/Baldur’s Gate era) human dual Kensai->Mage. (I don’t have races/subclasses for everyone, but Artie is a college of lore bard, Claudia is an Artificer, Pete is a fighter, and I’m not sure what Leena is). Helena is very much a “seduce anything that moves” ~D&D Bard~, while Artie is very much not - he leans hard into the collection of lore/jack of all trades angle, and while he can play music very well he borders on anti-social. This is the source of some of the tension between them, with his distrust for her Drow parentage occupying most of the rest.

At this point I’m going interrupt to give a blanket apology if I explain something you already know - it’s hard to judge knowledge levels with a gift exchange without ruining the surprise, so I’m going to err on the side of explaining things just in case.

Helena is a bard to capture the importance of her novels, but novel-writing isn't the most practical in a fight or as a live performance, so I gave her an instrument. I chose the hurdy-gurdy, which is a (real) instrument with a very silly name. I picked it because it is very complex and mechanical, like something she might have invented or cobbled together. It’s kind of like an automatic violin or fiddle - rather than being plucked or bowed, a crank on the side is rotated, which moves a wheel across the strings. Rather than frets there are keys which hold the strings at certain points when pressed. There are also “drone” strings, which play a given note (that can be adjusted using a tuning peg) whenever the wheel is turned. You can technically “play” a drone string by holding a sting as if a guitar string as the wheel turns, but that isn’t traditional. Both drone and melody strings can be adjusted using tuning pegs, and apparently you can adjust the exact note the keys play. Some hurdy-gurdys (but not Helena's) also have additional strings not played by the wheel that can be played like a guitar. Hurdy-gurdys do not have much standardization, and the number/presence of all the different kinds of strings can vary.

Helena's bard college I went back and forth with - the college of glamour is about charming, as in the magic, which does suit her, but the college of lore would also be good. Ultimately I decided that college of lore would be better for Artie. Battle Smith, her artificer specialization, I kind of chose to make the character a little more practical to play - artillerist might have suited her character a touch more, but not too much more, and the battle smith's ability to use intelligence for (magic) weapon attacks/damage reduces the important stats to two (int and cha) rather than three (adding str or dex for weapon rolls). Helena's Steel Defender is Dickens the Mechanical Cat, and he can turn the crank for the hurdy-gurdy, letting her play it with one hand.

I don't have her backstory completely pinned down; I feel like her Drow parent escaped to the surface rather than being a functioning member of Drow society, if only to reduce the sketchiness of the alternative method of conception. Christina is definitely a valid "reason for adventuring", but Endless Wonder or fleeing the consequences of a lab accident or charm spell wearing off are also possibilities.

In terms of the illustration itself, I tried to balance bard flamboyance, artificer practicality with a touch of mad science, and Helena's canonical slightly Victorian elegance. I definitely needed the fancy bard hat, because I am of the firm belief that every bard needs a fancy hat. She's wearing a cute pair of overalls (and I now have "stylish overalls" in my google search history), but they got covered by Dickens :( . With the more muted browns inspired by the artificer half as well as her canon style, she was looking a little drab for a bard, so I added a little cape. In terms of skin/hair/eyes and being half-Drow my thoughts were kind of: leaning in to the purplish/blue/lavender skin thing some illustrations of Drow have, because between the inherent problems of the evil elves having black skin and wanting to stay fifty feet away from anything that might come close to being a race-bend I wasn't going to deal with having her skin be darker. I think it turned out OK? For some reason Helena's eye color is significant to me, so they stayed brown rather than Drow purple or something, though they wound up a bit brighter thanks to my attempts to add a little purple. Jaime Murray's hair is iconic, but more for its smoothness and luster than its color, so I was fine making it white as long as I kept the style. The hurdy-gurdy was a bit of a nightmare (twice over, since I had to ink it), which isn't surprising - I kind of cursed myself with that instrument choice, but it was so perfect ;_; . In general, and especially in comparison with Myka, Helena's illustration fought me the whole way down. If you watch the time-lapse, you can see some of the references I used, but far from all - I streamed so much hurdy-gurdy playing youtube is still confused, and the pose went through some shenanigans.

Now, to Myka. Thinking of her pre-med before pre-law before secret service vaguely remembered quote, I thought of the old Baldur's Gate fighter(kensai)->mage cheese build, and thought it might be a good way to capture that simultaneous indecision and discipline/intelligence.

Going very briefly into Baldur's Gate/2e: Kensai, in BG, is a Fighter kit. Kits, in BG and 2e both, are a little like specializations in 5e, in that they are a kind of further customization beyond the class itself. The difference is, not every character has a kit - there is a base class (fighter) and a kit is a set of trade-offs, taking away base class features in exchange for various benefits. So fighter, the base kit, is pretty similar to the fighter in other editions - good at using weapons and armor and attacking a lot. Can equip the best stuff, and use it well, but doesn't get a lot of bonuses apart from that of equipment. Kensai (in BG), on the other hand, trades the ability to wear armor (and use non-thrown ranged weapons) for scaling bonuses to to-hit and damage (abstracting some things for you), and a minor one-time bonus to natural armor, as well as the Kai ability, which temporarily maxes out damage on successful attacks, usable a few times a day, depending on class level. In short, they trade off the armor portions of the Fighter class for additional weapon bonuses.

In Baldur's Gate, if you want to build a dual fighter/wizard, kensai is a great pick for kit, since wizards can't cast in armor anyway, but they can cast spells to boost their AC, mitigating some of the disadvantage of the kit. Mage is a base class and basically what would be called a wizard in later editions. Mage kits, with the exception of wild mage (in BG), which is a whole thing I won't get into, are pretty much picking a school to specialize in - they get bonuses to spells of that school, but there is an "opposing" school which they can't use at all. I wouldn't be terribly interested in those specializations even if I could use them for Myka, but I couldn't, because of how dual-classing works.

Dual-classing in BG and 2e is one of two methods to have more than one class on a character. Which one you can do depends on your race (as does a lot of things in 2e). If you're human, you dual-class; if you're not, you multi-class. Multi-class characters are more what you'd expect from multi-classing in other editions - you have two classes, you gain levels in both. There are differences (exp is divided evenly between classes, rather than choosing what to level, class and combination restrictions), but most relevantly, you can't use any kits with multi-class characters. So, we want to dual-class, not multi-class, so that Myka can use the Kensai (BG) kit, which makes her human, which is fine.

Dual-classing, compared to multi-classing, is weird. Basically, you start off in one class, with a kit if you like, and level normally in that class/kit until you decide to switch, at which point you are done with the first class and can't level in it anymore. Then you *start over* in your new class (which cannot have a kit), as if you were a level one character in that class, without (effectively) the ability to use anything from the previous class (except hp). This continues until the number of levels in the second class exceeds that of the levels in the first class, at which point the character regains all the qualities and abilities of their first class. Dual classes can wind up quite powerful, but they require both planning and a willingness to be weaker for a time to be more powerful later (which I feel suit Myka well - she's a planner and has the patience and discipline to accept temporary weakness to be stronger later). So, given that we want to use the Kensai (BG) kit, Myka needs to start with it, and then switch to mage later, since the second class can't have a kit.

At this point I want to clarify why I keep specifying Baldur's Gate and/or D&D 2e for things. Turns out, Baldur's Gate does use D&D 2e as a base, but makes some modifications. One of the changes it makes, which I didn't know when I started this, is the Kensai kit itself. Kensai is not officially a 2e kit, and technically isn't in 2e at all. There is a (fighter-ish) class in the "Oriental Adventures" book for first edition, but it isn't quite the same, more it's own class that happens to share some tables with fighter. Since the end goal is character design, not creating a legal 2e character, I won't go too far into it, but I did create both a (cheated to level up) Baldur's Gate kensai -> mage and a (1e-ish)Kensai->(2e)Mage, using the rules from 2e for most things not directly in the Kensai class description (and ignoring the stat requirements for dual-classing since I didn't roll any 17s); screenshots of both should be in the supplemental reblog, in addition to a link to Helena's dndbeyond character sheet.

Fortunately for me and my lack of foresight, both BG Kensai and 1/2e Kensai have similar flavor: a heavily "eastern" inspired warrior with even more discipline and asceticism than standard fighters, focused on their weapons and unable to wear armor, with a restriction to either lawful (1/2e) or at least not chaotic (BG) alignments (if this sounds a little monk-ish WotC agrees - kensai is a monk specialization in 5e, being a monk that can use a not-monk weapon). Also fortunately for me, mage is wizard is mage, regardless of edition. Magic from book learning/intelligence. Not too complicated.

In terms of character narrative, in canon, I feel like coming to the Warehouse was a significant breakpoint in Myka's life and worldview. Not being a writer, this small essay notwithstanding, I'm going to sum it up as a break from tradition and from seeking the approval of her father. Where joining the Warehouse crew was for canon Myka, I want dualing from Kensai to Mage to be for DnD Myka, with reaching the point where she can use Kensai features again representing the peace with her past she eventually reaches at the warehouse in canon. What I'm picturing is: Myka is from an isolated and very traditional mountain village where the kensai tradition (and 2e mechanics) has been preserved. Myka is trained in this tradition, and has both the mental discipline and physical capabilities to excel. The people of this village are purists and don't believe in using magic, especially in conjunction with being a kensai. Somehow (at this point my having thought this through starts to fail) Myka gets ahold of some spellbooks, and with her love of books and curiosity, begins to read and reread them, until one day she casts some magic. This is against the rules, and she's kicked out of the village for "corrupting" their traditions, and now she has to make her way through the world with only her fledgling mage talent to rely on.

Talking about the illustration/design itself: given the heavily eastern vibe, I'm trying for a samurai/ronin style based on my recollections from my weeb phase. I wanted in particular with the robe/kimono to make something that would be in between the plain practicality of Myka's kensai kimono and the flashiness of wizard robes (if you watch the timelapse, you may spot the part where I accidentally took a left turn into fallout's vault boy coloration before tweaking it a bit). I also wanted to have her using magic, and I think the magic effect turned out well. Really, this illustration just came out really easy. I was just … drawing hands. If you watch the timelapse, I even saved a third hand for a while because it was so nice (but at the wrong angle). I don't know what happened. Really the only snags were the aforementioned Vault Boy Moment and coloring Myka's hair (although I did decide to leave her face as a sketch rather than try to ink it).

I think maybe I've babbled enough for now. I'll reblog this in a moment (since tumblr hates links) with character sheets, timelapses of the drawings, and a bonus doodle that came to me reading the artificer specializations.

#Bering and Wells #Warehouse 13 #Bering and Wells Holiday Exchange #tulipsandsake #my art #wow I sure can write when that's not the focus of what I'm doing #ask me about dnd apparently

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finefeatheredfriend · 5 years

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Vampire Science!

I just finished Vampire Science (edit: since I couldn’t post this earlier because of my trip it’s actually been a few days lol) and it was amazing. I am so so happy that I’ve had people tell me not to judge all the EDAs by how... awful the Eight Doctors is haha!

I loved this novel a lot. Sam is a delight and Eight is perfect and I just really loved all of it so much. It’s so well written! And there were so many scenes that just made me laugh out loud and grin and at times I was captivated by the action scenes (which rarely happens!) and just read through it quickly while gaping. It was so clever.

The only thing I didn’t like about this one was the absolute lack of naked Eight. It’s unacceptable that he only dressed down to his shirt and didn’t take off more of his clothes.

For some reason I was also 100% convinced Carolyn was going to die. I really liked her though! And I related to Shackle a bit too much for my liking. The UNIT general was cool too! I still haven’t really made my mind up about Joanna. But all these side characters were absolutely brilliantly written!

I did a kind of liveblog thing in my notes so I could come back later and see what exactly I liked about the book - here’s a list of my favourite liveblog bullet points:

- tall? eight? paul mcgann tall? green eyes? what

- ‘the TARDIS was the closest thing he had to a girlfriend now’ uuuh what

- Sam theorising about the Doctor’s name and joking it might be Fred aaaaah the Romana feels

- Eight is just covered in little kittens and then... ‘he shook his head carefully and the kitten on top clung on for dear life’ asdfghjkl

- we need to see Eight in just his shirtsleeves and waistcoat more often. it’s for science. vampire science

- ok no I take that last one back that was a little too much

- oh please, Doctor, do feel free to remove even more of your clothes

- and now the cravat’s gone too

- yes only a few more layers to go, go on

- ‘I was afraid I’d run out of clothing before I got to you’ and I was afraid you’d get there before all your clothes were gone and here we are, and you’re still wearing half your clothes

- ‘Welcome,’ he said, striking a dramatic half lit pose, ‘to the opera... of Doom’ ahsgahs that reminds me of ‘the ambassadors... OF DEATH’

- ‘You expect me to buy that you’re some kind of a mythical creature?’ ‘Joanna... you’re a vampire’ I’m screaming

- Fred the Eternal Snail I’m screaming ‘He was a mascot until someone stepped on him and they had to stake him with a toothpick’ agahdgah

- ‘I want you to take me. Uh, with you.’ in which Carolyn says what we’ve all been thinking all along

- oh my GOD now he’s gently running his hands through her hair to make her go to sleep aaah oh my god oh my g o d

- THE DOCTOR HAS A BUTTERFLY ROOM AAAAAH

- “I could succeed in many things, fail in many more, but as long as I've petted the cat I've done everything that really matters.” same

- ahahaha the Doctor just caught a bat in his bare hands and then talked to it in baby talk I’m screaming “Awww,' said the Doctor, scratching the bat under the chin, 'Did the big mean owd wady fwighten you?”

- love how the doctor just counts the years since his last regeneration as how old he is hahah oh wait so sam and him have been travelling for three years?? cause he met her right after san francisco and he said it’s been three years since his last regeneration OH wait sam also said he goes travelling without her for up to a year when he gets distracted so maybe that’s why

- “Real trust is as rare and precious as having a cat pay attention to you” eight is a cat person confirmed

- oh my GOD Kramer has to explain to the doctor why all the women flock around him aaah he’s such a useless baby I love him

Wow sorry I didn’t expect this to get this long ahahah

Under the cut there’s the whole liveblog/every single reaction i had to the book if you’re interested! (I’m just adding it so I have all my reactions recorded but feel free to read if you want)

I bolded the ones I liked a lot but couldn’t put in my favourites because it would have gotten too long ahaha

- ok right from the very first page I already love the writing at least 100% more than that of the eight doctors

- I somehow thought I’d seen art of Sam that had her have dark hair but she’s always described as a blonde...? Am I mixing things up?

- Sam is ‘unapologetically butch’? love that

- are they at a gay bar? I love this

- wait ok I spoke too soon I mean they might still be at a gay bar but uhh I mean I am aware this book is literally called vampire science but I wanted those two women to just be gay not one of them to kill/eat the other

- tall? eight? paul mcgann tall? green eyes? what

- for god’s sake can people please stop calling eight’s clothes a Jane Austen costume that. is. the. wrong. era!!

- STRING!! the Doctor has a ball of string in his pockets!! this takes me back to Caerdroia

- why do I have a feeling Carolyn is going to die

- it’s because she keeps talking about how she wants to join them in travelling the universe when I don’t remember hearing of any Carolyn travelling with eight

- ‘running off with a tall dark handsome mysterious stranger and a femme fatale? she wasn’t picky, she’d take either’ I love myself a disaster bi

- but she’s gonna die isn’t she

- ok why are we getting so much backstory on her if she’s gonna die anyway

- oh it’s gonna come in handy later that she’s a biochem major isn’t it

- since it’s vampire science

- how convenient they met her

- ok so maybe she won’t die after all...? it’s 20 years later and she probably has a family she doesn’t want to leave and that’s why she won’t travel with the doctor and Sam

- why is it so important to know that her partner is 5 years younger like is that important later I don’t get it

- oooh Sam’s room on the tardis belonged to another teenager before her? who???

- ‘the TARDIS was the closest thing he had to a girlfriend now’ uuuh what

- Sam theorising about the Doctor’s name and joking it might be Fred aaaaah the Romana feels

- ok. earlier I was confused because apparently his eyes are green in this book. now they’re blue? what’s going on

- aaah I can’t believe Sam has to tell the Doctor how to put on his shoes cause he can’t do it on his own ahahaha

- UNIT!!!! am I happy about this or not?

- Sam is 19, but with the right clothes and the right attitude she can sometimes pass for 20. oh Sam, you sweet summer child i love you

- I wasn’t sure about James before but he seems like a nice guy now

- please don’t let him be killed

- I really like Sam

- ‘he didn’t notice the taxi behind him, its driver mildly excited to have been asked to “follow that car!”’ asdfghjkl

- ‘the Doctor couldn’t do anything to stop what was going to happen’ oh no James really is going to die isn’t he

- aaaw when Carolyn and the Doctor meet again and she hugs him while crying... I felt that

- oh yes give me more of Eight in shirtsleeves wearing and apron while cooking breakfast - I’d like to wake up to that hehe

- oh my god and he is singing

- and... beatboxing...?

- and he tucked Carolyn into bed last night oh my heart

- ‘You have cute eyebrows’ I’m screaming

- ‘a manipulative little weirdo’ ... sounds about right but still, don’t talk like that about my baby seven, kramer

- I love Sam

- and nOW EIGHT IS PETTING A KITTEN THAT FELL INTO HIS LAP I CAN’T

- this book is full of little things that just make my heart go !! or make me laugh so much

- this just gets better and better - Eight is just covered in little kittens and then

- ‘he shook his head carefully and the kitten on top clung on for dear life’ asdfghjkl

- and one of the kittens got into his coat pocket!! ugh this scene was too cute, I wasn’t really paying attention to anything but what the kittens and eight were going to do next ahahah

- looove the little remark about Sam going to the gay rights march aaah

- Ahahah sam wanting to high five the Doctor while they’re undercover I’m screaming

- personal vamp scale I can’t

- ahaha that guy was ‘dancing vaguely at her with an angular lack of grace that suggested he’d been dead since the days of the funky chicken’ hahaha

- NO SAM NOOO

- oh Doctor my poor baby it’s not your fault

- Oh please let Sam be alright

- Aaah

- I don’t want her to die

- Out of all the characters i really didn’t think I’d relate to shackle so much

- ‘Sam Jones, the girl who’d climbed on to a roof to spray paint ‘anorexics die for business ££££’ onto a lingerie billboard’ Sam you absolute icon

- they mentioned Ace!!!

- Ahaha those two vampires haha one of them trying to dramatically recruit some young vampires and the other just interrupting him making fun of him ahahahaha

- I loooove how the Doctor just ignores that vampire

- And then he’s just so totally nonchalant when he finally speaks ugh I love him

- Nooo don’t let them turn you into a vampire James!!

- we need to see Eight in just his shirtsleeves and waistcoat more often. it’s for science. vampire science

- ok no I take that last one back that was a little too much

- oh please, Doctor, do feel free to remove even more of your clothes

- and now the cravat’s gone too

- yes only a few more layers to go, go on

- ‘I was afraid I’d run out of clothing before I got to you’ and I was afraid you’d get there before all your clothes were gone and here we are, and you’re still wearing half your clothes

- ‘Welcome,’ he said, striking a dramatic half lit pose, ‘to the opera... of Doom’ ahsgahs that reminds me of ‘the ambassadors... OF DEATH’

- now the Doctor has clear blue-grey eyes - which I suppose is closer to the blue they mentioned before than the green they mentioned before that

- but still

- agree on one eye colour PLEASE

- unless... that’s some weird time lord physiology thing? changing eye colour? could be

- could also just be the light ahah

- ‘You expect me to buy that you’re some kind of a mythical creature?’ ‘Joanna... you’re a vampire’ I’m screaming

- no Doctor don’t put your clothes back on yet

- sigh. yellowish green? his eyes really do change colour don’t they

- I swear to god if the doctor actually turned into a vampire I’m gonna just leave

- this chapter title is hurt/chocolate ,,,,, like hurt/comfort? Ahaha (I’m laughing now because I’m scared i won’t be able to later)

- the Doctor? sleeping??

- oh right. I had a little break between reading so I forgot he was badly hurt oops

- oh I need a visual for this - Kramer just picked up the Doctor and carried him into the house?? I imagined her as a small though stocky woman, but not nearly strong enough to carry a man described as tall (though we all know paul mcgann is not tall lol)

- This blood fasting thing isn’t permanent though is it

- I already love Sam and Eight’s relationship so much - the way he comforts her ugh my heart

- and now he’s hugging her while stirring the soup he prepared for her (or Carolyn?) ugh my heart (I say that a lot ahahah)

- Wait wasn’t there a vampire called spike on buffy as well

- Fred the Eternal Snail I’m screaming

- He was a mascot until someone stepped on him and they had to stake him with a toothpick agahdgah

- Oh god Carolyn asked the doctor if she can go with him... she really is going to die isn’t she

- Or the doctor says no but...

- aaaand his eyes are green again

- ‘I want you to take me. Uh, with you.’ In which Carolyn says what we’ve all been thinking all along

- ‘God, he did have cute eyebrows.’ Carolyn oh my god ahahaha

- oh my GOD now he’s gently running his hands through her hair to make her go to sleep aaah oh my god oh my g o d

- Oh Sam, no the doctor definitely wants you there!!!!

- THE DOCTOR HAS A BUTTERFLY ROOM AAAAAAH

- That room honestly sounds amazing (hills?? Millions of butterflies just flying around??)

- the Doctor just completely enjoying butterflies flying all around

- and then he just talks to sam and Carolyn while a moth is hanging from his nose ahahah

- Joanna don’t you DARE cut the Doctor’s beautiful locks I swear if you hurt one hair on his head and I mean that literally I will come to you when you’re sleeping and stake you right through the heart

- ‘Just so you can have him pass you test tubes and tell you how brilliant you are’ like in terror of the autons!!

- the doctor has a worried-daddy look hahaha

- “I could succeed in many things, fail in many more, but as long as I've petted the cat I've done everything that really matters.” same

- a Susan mention!!

- aaaah he sees himself as sam’s parent

- Oh actually her older brother okay

- “Real trust is as rare and precious as having a cat pay attention to you” eight is a cat person confirmed

- oh my GOD Kramer has to explain to the doctor why all the women flock around him aaah he’s such a useless baby I love him

- okaaaay so Joanna made some new human race - like in new earth

- “Get your ass off that car!' 'Whoah,' said the vampire. He got his ass off the car.”

- NOOOO what about the kittens????

- I’m screaming the Doctor has them all in his coat pockets ahahahahah

- We’re so close to the end now and the Doctor hasn’t been naked yet :(

- wait did the doctor drink or inject himself with the vamp-away???? (that’s an iconic name for it btw)

- aaaah the Doctor eating icecream and getting a chocolate moustache ahahahah

- I love how he always ruffles Sam’s hair

#eileen reads the edas #edas #vampire science #i love eight and sam so so so much already #not for kitty #not for abbey #edas reviews #might be a good idea to start a tag for that if i'm doing that for every eda i read

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allspark · 5 years

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Joining us in the Allspark Studios today is the strongest and wisest of all Autobots, Optimus Prime! Will he fulfill his role of protecting all the life on your toy shelves, or will he split into three autonomous modules and spend the day watching Nextflix with himself? Tune in after the break to find out!

At this point, you could basically fill a small museum with all the different versions of Optimus Prime. Each one has its own personality of design, with high points and limitations of the era within which they were created. Having been a fan of the franchise for most of my life, I have owned nearly all of them, minus G2 Go-Bot Optimus Prime, which still leaves a void in my collector’s heart. Every time I buy an Optimus figure, there has been a moment of reckoning, as I look at the new figure and compare it to the Optimus Prime in my head; the spirit of the character, as interpreted by my once 7-year-old’s mind as he watched cartoon Optimus in awe every Saturday morning in the 80’s. While each figure is essentially him, none of them have ever truly come close to glory of the cartoon aesthetic of Optimus Prime while maintaining the ability to transform. While we may be getting an official MP (and some 3P) that will do just this, finding a figure at the average collector’s budget just didn’t seem likely…then Hasbro dropped Siege Optimus on us. Let’s see how he measures up!

Vehicle Mode

There are a lot of really good things going on in this vehicle mode, even if it does not perfectly embody G1 Prime’s cab mode. It has the right basic square cab shape, clear-ish windows, tires on metal pins, and a nice amount of red, blue and silver with just a bit of white thrown in. From a bit of a distance, it comes really close to getting things on the G1 dot, but there are a few elements that break the illusion. Most of the non-slavishly G1 elements come out of looks versus function needs, and I am OK with that.

The smokestacks are not the “right” proportion, and if they were, they would get in the way of transformation and posing/play. The “overcab” light section that also contains the grill, headlights, and bumper is needed to turn a heroic torso section into a flat-faced cab front. All things considered, the only design element I find a little off-putting is the grill, which is covered in the same translucent blue plastic as the windows and lights. I would have preferred for this section to have been grey or silver, but that is easy enough to correct with some touch up paint if it really starts to bother me.

The paint ops are nice enough on this mode, with the exception that the “battle damage” was not clearly designed with this mode in mind. There is a little bit on the front just under the windshield, and the shoulder damage is still in view, but aside from that the rest of the vehicle mode is devoid of this random detail. I understand budgets come into play, and perhaps this was the best medium between all or none in both modes, but it leaves the vehicle mode with random markings that just seem out of place.

One feature of the Siege line that I love on this figure is all of the 5mm ports. Between the deluxes like Cog and Six-Gun, the Micromasters and Battlemasters, a creative young (or old) fan can turn Optimus into a veritable “battle convoy”. It is even possible for Headmasters and Titanmasters to get in on the fun, if only as pilots for the added weaponry. This is a great move on Hasbro’s part, and I think most fans will love it as much as I do.

Robot Mode

Truck Mode was great. Robot mode is where Siege Prime really shines. First off, he has the right look. Except for the wheels at his sides, the “overcab” panel (which could be looked at as a jetpack) and the panels on his forearms (which are way less obtrusive than the panels on Classics Prime), he is basically cartoon Prime. Get rid of the battle damage paint and swap most of his greys with his whites, and he’s there despite those other details, all for the cost of a voyager (local pricing policies may apply).

One of the things that really pushes this Prime to the top of my personal list is the insane amount of articulation. He has:

Ankle tilts

Knee joints

Lateral knee movement

Lateral thigh movement

Hips on rotating swivels

Waist movement

Backward shoulder swivels

Shoulders on rotating swivels

Lateral bicep movement

Elbows

Swivel fists

Swivel neck

Partially moveable head on ball joint

He can do lots of awesome poses, such as the classic scene from the ‘85 movie where he transforms and blasts Decepticons from the air as he leaps above them.

This is truly one of the most iconic Optimus Prime figures ever, especially at anywhere near an affordable price for most fans. If you throw in the added fun from all the 5mm ports and the ability to add weapons and other figures into the mix, he is well worth the cost.

Transformation

While I was able to transform this figure back and forth without the instructions, the first time through was a bit of a learning curve to get all the parts in the right place. While I enjoy a mildly challenging transformation, this might make Prime a little difficult for younger fans. Don’t be surprised if you gift him to one of the kiddoes and find yourself being asked to switch him back and forth. At least he’s not as frustrating as Car Robots were back in the day.

Recommendation

I give Siege Optimus Prime 9 blast effects out of 10! He is a packed with fun in vehicle mode, ready for action posing in robot mode, and very close to the ideal Optimus Prime with a price tag that won’t kill your wallet. While he may still need some assistance if gifted to younger fans, I still think they will love him as much as the G1 generation will. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled and pick him up as soon as you have the chance!

Firedrive

During my review of Megatron and the Wave 1 Battlemasters and Micromasters, I lamented slightly about how HasTak ditched the Japanese Targetmaster molds from Legends in favor of newly designed Battlemaster molds. Since then I have spent more time with Firedrive and Blowpipe and they have grown on me because of their designs. There is a certain amount of curve or puffiness in the techno-organic, Cybertronian style that the Legends figures just don’t have. Once you look at Firedrive’s shins and shoulders, you will see what I am talking about. There is something very classic to their look, and I am happier now that we got new figures because of it. I still wish Firedrive had a slight bit more articulation, but I will keep buying Battlemasters because they look great and come with blast effects.

Lionizer

Lionizer is a Cybertronian lion whose tail becomes a back-mounted blaster, and who can also transform into a sword/blaster (Qualta blade, #farscape). He comes with a slashing effect that also looks nice on Megatron’s sword/blaster. I think he is my favorite Battlemaster so far.

Race Car Patrol

This is a neat set of mini-figures. Both Roadhandler and Swindler maintain vehicle modes that look close to their G1 forms of a Trans-Am and a DeLorean. If that wasn’t cool enough, they have decently articulated forms for such tiny robots, and they can combine into a blaster (of sorts). The only knock I will give them is that they don’t stand very well on their own if you do much more than a vanilla standing pose.

Battle Patrol

These were the Micromasters I wanted as a kid (who was considered too old for toys by that time). Topshot and Flak are great recreations of half of the original team. There is something cool about tiny Cybertronian tanks and missile launchers, especially since they are a bit more in proportion to the city bots. Due to the way their feet are designed, the Battle Patrol is more stable in standing and action poses than their Race Car Patrol brethren. They also form a much more convincing blaster, which is almost as cool as having a DeLorean on the team.

Siege Optimus Prime

Lionizer

Firedrive

Autobot Race Car Patrol

Autobot Battle Patrol

Siege Optimus Prime, Wave 1 Autobot Micromaster and Battlemaster Gallery and Review! Joining us in the Allspark Studios today is the strongest and wisest of all Autobots, Optimus Prime!

#BattleMasters #CHUG #Classics #Firedrive #Flak #Generations #Legends #lionizer #Micromasters #Optimus #Optimus Prime #Roadhandler #Siege #Swindler #Targetmasters #Topshot

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permian-tropos · 6 years

Text

TIME TO GUSH ABOUT TLJ cause I was looking through screenshots and here’s a bunch of things I might not have mentioned before and a few that I have

1) Paige Tico!!!! PAIGE TICO! her entire time in the spotlight is such a perfectly crafted, perfectly tense scene

2) UM THE OPENING SPACE BATTLE IS SICK the bombers have such striking silhouettes and this is used for some amazing shots

3) PAIGE’S DEATH BEING PRESENTED AS TRAGEDY (and not being softened heavily with the promise of being part of something meaningful the way R1′s deaths are)

4) Captain Candy Crush’s death is given gravity too and I stan this, he’s not made sympathetic and still there’s nothing triumphant about people being blown up. war is not good

5) Finn’s pod is very flattering and angelic even though his water suit is silly. he basically has a halo and no filmmaker would accidentally give a character a halo so jot that down

6) Snoke’s throne room being utilitarian AND extravagant at the same time is impressive. also I still love the way that Snoke’s real form was made to be this exaggeratedly WASPy old man with the skin texture and wrinkles and pale tufty eyebrow hair, and you know what else? the fact that the camera favors showing the undamaged side of his face. I fucking stan the fact that Johnson took another disfigured villain and played up his old caucasian grandpa looks and made his disfigurement blend into his age. Snoke is a caricature of horrid old white men, possibly the first successful caricature of whiteness in speculative fiction. he looks like Henry Kissinger

7) Kylo Ren’s bandaid has a pattern on it. we ask ourselves. why. did he get to pick out the pattern. are there multiple patterns. are they all edgy and black. I’m now completely invested in whoever decided that they would have patterned bandaids but not make them TOO fun

8) the movie is so pretty im just. the fuckign. aesthetic. all of it. the palette seems to have been taken from a thunderstorm and it’s perfect. the use of gray is a reason I happen to think people didn’t like the film. they were like what the fuck is all this gray in star wars. star wars shouldn’t be gray. but it’s so unique, it’s not the gray of lazy color grading, it’s the gray of someone who knew that the feeling of haze and uncertainty needed some gray and rolled it in like a fog. I’m going to have to post more screenshots

9) I like the fact that the puppet porgs, as opposed to the CGI porgs, are actually kinda ugly cute

10) everything mark hamill does is perfect. every line, every facial expression, every pose. every moment from luke in tlj is unbelievably iconic. alec guinness would be so jealous

11) Luke perking up and genuinely smiling when he sees R2D2 is the purest moment I have to just

my eyes are moist

12) the architecture and set design is so amazing too? I love this shot introducing Rose, the harsh contrast that draws your eye away from her, the way she’s fading into her corner of brownish-gray, it’s so good for evoking... idk, just how the world seems too bright and too stark and made of shapes, after someone you love dies

13) I really love how much time we spend on Ahch-To, and how none of it has any campy space action. you’d expect to see some training there, but a lot of people were clearly hoping that Luke and Rey would leave the planet. but we linger so much on the setting, a setting which wholly embodies Luke’s state of mind

14) old luke is a handsome gent. i don’t see enough people with the hots for old luke. this is a big mistake

15) this shot foreshadows Kylo Ren becoming the Supreme Leader IMO. we see him surveying the war machine, watching the instruments of death be constructed, set apart from everyone -- a glimpse into Kylo’s desire for absolute power without anything being direct. maybe he’s contemplating his isolated existence, how much he doesn’t belong in the Order. or maybe he sees an allure to all this. this is what he wants to possess. it’s probably a mixture of both

16) Rey and Luke!!!!!!! everything about how the film frames them develops their relationship!! even as Luke is testy with her, we get shots like these where they’re sharing a warm sunset light and having deep heart to hearts.

and you know what you know what what what

the fact that Rey starts asking WHO her parents are after meeting Luke is uhh clearly suggesting that she’s wondering if maybe Luke is her dad. I love in this one shot how he’s slumped and she’s sitting up straighter, making him the vulnerable one. I love how the sunset light highlights Rey’s buns. I love that she keeps her buns for a while. I love that people have headcanoned she kept the buns so that her parents would recognize her, and she has the buns in the whole time she’s trying to get Luke to act like the hero she believes in. like she’s trying to get him to recognize her

Rey adopts Luke as her dad and it’s beautiful get out of my face

17) ye there’s a lot of dead children but also I hadn’t really thought about the fact that R2 watched this as well? and R2 was powered off for so long, until the end of TFA? R2 was traumatized and grieving too, and he’s seen this before, he remembers all the way back to when it was Anakin

18) hors!!!!!!!

19) what the SHIT is this why is this movie a fucking painting why does it keep outdoing itself in paintingness argh the way this film uses the day-night cycle is unbelievable, having Rey and Finn’s stories be connected by having the same time

THE HCKING MOON THOUGH

20) Ok we could talk about how the cold blue moonlight of uncertainty has become the warm orange light of companionship but we can’t forget what firelight also represents re: Kylo cough burning temple nice little double meaning, is Rey making a new friend or is she being tempted, is he going to warm her or burn her

but also I haven’t thought about how fucking awkward Kylo looks!! is he sitting on that barrel?? like since he’s not there is he just sort of compositing himself into the scene? using a convenient barrel

21) see what I mean about blue being cold. blue = asceticism, red = indulgence, the two extremes

22) Luke sinks into darkness

23) BUT HE DOES ONE THING! the thing that breaks him out of his depression. he takes the fire -- which represents the burned temple, represents Ben Solo, represents the humanity of the Dark Side -- into his own hands. we see the fire symbolizing destruction, then intimacy, then change, in such short succession

fire represents light-dark, something that is both at once. we’ll get back to this

24) you could say that balance is about making your own light in the darkness

also this is why Poe’s line about being the spark that will burn the First Order down isn’t ~too violent~ cause fire has become a symbol of change, of destruction reclaimed as something restorative, thank you very much

25) can we talk about the fact that between this being like a coffin and the way Rey is holding the saber, this actually has the heaviest resemblance to the way medieval knights were depicted atop their sarcophagi. I don’t even know what it means but maybe it hints that Rey sees herself as a martyr and a crusader in this quest to redeem Kylo and prove her valor

26) the fact that Poe isn’t the only one who gets in on the coup. because the Resistance isn’t a real military it’s a few thousand antifas gathered from all around the galaxy and their numbers are dwindling fast. people kind of put it all on Poe but Connix and Finn and Rose and this woman and this man and this alien were part of it too, and they could have told Poe to cut it out. I like how the blonde woman seems like she’s not sure what’s going on, she’s evaluating the situation

27) you know what I stan? I continue to stan aspects of how Snoke is portrayed. I stan the fact that he gets all close up in Rey’s face and grabs her cheek and it kind of mirrors the way Kylo gets in her personal space in TFA but even less so than in TFA, Rey is not framed in the way girls often are when they’re restrained and in distress. when she’s being tortured, we’re not given any tantalizing views of her body. Snoke floating her around the room has her stiff and awkward, and the close-up of her screaming in pain puts the camera behind her head so we see this from her POV, we’re not voyeuristically staring at her, we’re experiencing this indignity with her

28) Kylo Ren killing Snoke has the exact same light on his face as when he killed Han Solo. this is very very interesting

here I am in my corner of Kylo having twisted affection for Snoke as well

29) I wish I could ship this more cause I don’t need all this talk of fairy tale weddings and force pregnancies when here they are slicing up lobster boys with laser swords

30) oh but this is where he makes Rey look sad and thats where!!! you know hes gonna have to pay!!! basically everything about the scene where Kylo tears Rey’s heart out and stomps on it and then asks her to be grateful is extremely well done and it did its intended job of making me Big Mad At Kylo

also look the fire is back its Symbolic

31) you know what I can’t show in this post? the FUCKING SOUND THAT COMES AFTER THE HYPERSPEED RAM. that sound is the most glorious sound I’ve heard come out of a movie. it’s like a massive metal whale’s death scream. Star Wars has always run on sound design but literally that sound (along with the scene it’s attached to) outdoes everything that has come before it holy wow

32) Finn WHACKING Phasma. he didn’t use a lightsaber in this film, but he uses the baton he picked up the same way he used the lightsaber, and it even glows blue for good measure. and we can’t forget that this movie shows a boy holding a broom like a lightsaber, and Rey practicing saberplay with her staff, so -- objects that are not lightsabers symbolizing lightsabers is a thing

33) I didn’t think about the fact that the Supreme Leader’s throne room is designed to display a view of the outside, or be cloaked in red. possibly it could display anything it pleases. this is great fun for imagining First Order characters making it display things they want to see, like beautiful vistas, or holofilms. possibly it can recreate whole scenes, like a Star Trek holodeck

34) I don’t have to talk about how Leia is framed by the dawn on Crait do I? we already got the picture when it comes to the day-night cycle and how beautiful it is

35) BABY 8 I can’t believe this droid gets belly scritches and nuzzles from Poe

36) fucking love when Kylo finally snaps and starts throwing petty tantrums again at the end of the film like he holds back his brattiness for 12 hours and then here comes the screaming and foot stamping and flailing

I have thrown too many temper tantrums in my life to not want to see one on the big screen in its full glory. no one has pushed him to the point where he’s just ugly crying on the floor, spewing snot and tearing at his hair

I got vicarious pleasure out of Poe’s outburst on the bridge too. people being angry and not being in the right. it’s something I need for catharsis

37) miniaturized Death Star technology aka BIGGEST LIGHTSABER. Kylo stop compensating

but AU where a ginormous person uses the cannon as an actual saber

38) I’VE TALKED ABOUT HOW FINN’S MOMENT IS IN MY TOP TWO FEELS MOMENTS (top one is the hyperslice) but basically if you don’t think he was affected by seeing the slave kids on Canto Bight, what do you think he’s so angry about here, what do you think has him in a blinding rage?

why do movies have to spell everything out for people in exhaustive detail? the only new thing Finn gets from his experience with Rose, is seeing how the First Order isn’t this isolated enclave of evil. the most powerful people in the galaxy have been supporting it all along. he stops trying to run away because he realizes there is nowhere he can run that won’t have injustice. and he’s seen villagers being massacred, he’s seen the Order attack people he cares about, he’s been personally threatened and had one-on-one duels, but on his trip with Rose he sees children being beaten into submission with electric whips

can’t believe people think Finn wasn’t affected by that when it’s the one thing motivating his character growth

every time he sees civilians getting hurt -- children and families -- he sees himself and the family he’ll never know in them, and is so overwhelmed that he does something brash and radical and self-endangering every time, and his arc is about learning to live with that anger. he runs away from feeling and his angst is so beautiful

and I’m still in the camp of Finn having had a Zuko-like arc when he was a teenager because that boiling frustration at not being able to express his natural empathy is what drove Zuko to angst so hard

FINN IS THE SOLIDARITY KING! HE CARES SO FUCKING MUCH

39) fire. Luke facing his demons involves him walking through a gate of flame, out of the darkness, into the light

I will say that this is also very Buddhist imagery -- the flaming sword symbolizes wisdom, which cuts through the veil of illusion, specifically the illusion of duality

“Mañjuśrī is depicted as a male bodhisattva wielding a flaming sword in his right hand, representing the realization of transcendent wisdom which cuts down ignorance and duality”

and of course fire being the bridge between light and dark has come up before in the film. the veil is visibly burning here, Luke having fully reclaimed the image of fire, which was earlier in the film held by Kylo Ren

I mean. just. YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

40) something about this shot is extra special. everything that’s going on on the salt flats is like on this higher dimension, this spiritual plane

41) for a moment it looks like Luke and the First Order are standing against Kylo. gives you a glimpse into Kylo’s state of mind. is the Order his weapon, or his enemy? it’s both, and he’s absolutely terrified of it

also I’ve talked about how Palpatine’s Contingency plan is about getting revenge on his Empire because he hates its power as much as he revels in it, and he dedicates a good deal of time plotting ways to kill it, because he needs to prove that he is more powerful than it

being the Emperor or Supreme Leader carries with it the distinct horror of knowing that you can never be more powerful than the thing that has empowered you

42)

43) Luke achieving 100% maximum Buddhist allegory

44) the slope of the floor is the slope of the opening crawl of a Star Wars film

all right that’s all folks

#my post #star wars sequel trilogy #the last jedi #kind of a rewatch #rey of jakku #rebel finn #kylo ren #luke skywalker #finnrey #cw reylo #cw anti reylo #villain kylo #things I don't focus on as much #poe's arc (have talked about Holdo a lot)#rose (have talked about her a lot)

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fandomscraziness22 · 6 years

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Livesies Background Boys: Romeo

Boys I’ve done: Finch, Buttons, Elmer

PC to @watch-me-stand from here

Romeo

Facts:

Played by: Nico DeJesus

Spoken lines: 9

Solos: 2

Distinguishing feature: bright red and blue socks

Little Things

Starts Banner in bottom middle square

Gets a stick when all the boys gather in the middle tower

Uses his stick to stop Darcy and Katherine

Hops back onto the set on Jack’s left while Jack flirts with Kath

Puts a hand on Darcy to pull him back when Kath steps in front of him

Stick fight with Mush!!!!

Shakes his head at Tommy Boy’s tumbling

Continues to fight with Mush

Tosses his stick to someone off screen, then jumps onto Elmer’s back to keep fighting

Taps Elmer and Finch when the nuns come

Gets his food, heads to talk to Finch on the far left

Stays in front with Jack, Crutchie and Race for quartet solo thing

When they head to the circulation gate, he does big arm circles like ‘come on guys!’

Drops his head in disappointment at the headline

At Finch’s “They’re killing us with that snoozer” Romeo goes “Yeah” and points his thumb at Finch

Waves at Oscar and smiles, Oscar points a finger at him so Romeo puts his hands up and rolls his eyes (I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens often)

When they all say “brothers” Romeo punches his fist

Pounds Race’s shoulder like ‘nice try there’

Grabs his leg when Jack hits the Delanceys

Knee slides into final pose for Banner

Last in line to get papers

Waves up at the guy on top who writes the headlines, and again gives an eye roll

Jump off of Pulitzer’s desk for the set change #iconic

When Mush is going on his “sirens/the better” rant, Romeo taps Albert and says “What’s he talking about?”

At Race’s joke he waves his hand in front of his nose (like they did with the Delanceys in the beginning)

“Coronas!” he points at Race like ‘ok, good point’

Waves JoJo over to see the new price

Talks with Davey and Les in the back right before Jack comes in

Jumps into the wagon for planning the strike

Tries to tap Jack to tell him something after Crutchie’s “hit the streets while we still can”

Nods with Finch’s argument, points his thumb to Finch like ‘yeah he’s right’

Doesn’t really look concerned or excited until all the boys yell “Strike” for the first time

Stands with Crutchie after he hops out of the wagon

Jumps on the words “Down too long”

During Les’s rant at the guard Romeo looks back at Crutchie like ‘What is this kid doing?’

Sits on the table as final pose for World

Waves to Jacobi to get his water, taps Jack and lets him drink it

“Auspicious” Romeo just scrunches his eyebrows and looks at Jack like ‘do you know what that means?’

Brooklyn” He shakes his head no and looks away from Jack

Says “yeah” and nods at Finch’s “jittery”

Takes off his hat and fixes his hair when Katherine comes in

That silly chest slap for “real man”

And his joy when he says “How’d she know my name?” is so great

Talks to Race after Kath’s “front page”

Stands on the wagon at the strike

Taps Elmer to tell him about the scabs

Points at them like ‘what are they doing?’

Puts a hand on Elmer when the scabs come after Les

When everyone starts to sing Seize, Romeo clasps his hands together in pleading

Oscar yells at him during the mid-song fight, he backs up but then all the other boys step up in his defense

Ends Seize kinda hidden behind Jack by the newspapers

Throws one of the bundles of papes at the beginning of the fight

Pulls a guy on the floor

The smack by the policeman breaks my heart every time

Stays on the ground for a long time, clutching his face (there goes my heart)

Staggers off when Morris grabs Crutchie’s strike sign from his crutch

Has a bandage on around his forehead for the start of Act 2

Points to himself excitedly and smiles at the paper

After Buttons’ “tub tonight!” Romeo leans in and sniffs Buttons, then waves a hand in front of his face like he stinks

Just looks up to the sky at Race’s “erster” and rolls his eyes

After “Sheepshead races” and the paper gets stolen from him, Romeo raises his eyebrows at Katherine, who just smiles and hits him

The clapping for Race always makes me smile

Waves an arm like ‘awww’ when Kath explains “fame works quicker”

Again, part of the first group of tappers on the tables, leans down and says “hey come on” to someone close to him with the chairs

Nudges JoJo and yells with him “Spoon fight!”

Handstand walks out of King of New York

Talks with Davey and Tommy Boy during the set change between Letter and the next scene with Jack in the theater

During Brooklyn’s Here on the line “Pay us a visit” Romeo waves his pointer finger like ‘do come and see’

With Richmond at the rally

When Jack raises his hand to hit Les, Romeo yells “Hey!” and something else that I couldn’t catch

Enters in Once last, stands by Race on top

After Katherine reads the paper (Jack’s words) he talks with Race and Bill

Key change: middle left square

Jumps really high when they win

Hugs Buttons, then Albert

Looks very confused and concerned about Crutchie’s gift

Part of the amazing twirls in the curtain call

10th in bows

#newsies live #Newsies #newsies musical #newsies romeo #romeo newsies #nico dejesus #livesies background boys

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drunkonnjealousy · 7 years

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My Reputation Secret Session Experience

(an abbreviated version to keep confidentiality)

I got a DM from Taylor Nation before the London SS had happened, so I honestly had no idea what the “secret event” was. They called me and said the event was in Rhode Island, and I mean the only thing there is her house but I didn’t know what the event entailed. Knowing Taylor, I was like she’s gonna make it so fun and so detailed and so personal whatever it is.

I was not able to focus on anything for two weeks because I was just thinking about taylor and rhode island. I took a train from NYC to Rhode Island the night before. Wednesday October 18, 2017 was such a GORGEOUS day. The water was SO BLUE. THE SUN WAS SHINING. and there was a helicopter hovering in front of taylor��s house which annoyed me but yeah I’ll try to get over that. Fast forward to being at her house. First of all, her security detail is hilarious. They are so nice and funny and were cracking jokes the whole time. The very first person I talked to was none other than Scott Swift, the man the legend, wearing a striped sweater only a dad would buy and his pockets overflowing with 1989 guitar picks. I spent a good chunk of time chatting with him on the deck he’s amazing—we stan forever. Also I legit hung out and excitedly mingled in Taylor’s kitchen so long that I forgot it wasn’t normal to be in her kitchen. There was a huge spread of Chick-fil-a nuggets, pizza, chips, custom Rep cookies and M&Ms, Smart Water and Diet Coke. *side note i’m a vegetarian but if taylor would have offered me a nugget i would have forgotten my vow against meat* I was so comfortable and having so much fun that it just felt like I was at my friend’s house party, which I was. But then like every 30 minutes it would hit me that to the outside world, she was THE Taylor Swift, and I was in her kitchen… Fast forward to Andrea coming down to also hang out and mingle with us. She smelled amazing (so did the entire house). She came up to me and Sol and said hello with a huge smile on her face and then pulled us both into a tight hug at the same time and said “YOU BEAUTIFUL SOULS.” and honestly I just wanted to hug her ten more times and be like THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE MADAM PRESIDENT. Side note, the kitchen has adorable childhood pictures of Taylor and Austin and pictures of the family on the beach and its all v cute. Also I saw the mermaid, I MEAN THE MERMAID that taylor and selena posed by and i was like wow this iconic. ALSO as many of you know i’m not only a taylor stan, but a huge todrick stan, and i have been for years. so i died a little when i realized that i was leaning against the same kitchen counter that they were sitting on during thanksgiving and i was like wow its cool i’m fine we’re fine EVERYTHING IS FINE. Fast forward to Austin also coming downstairs to mingle. He’s adorable and I love him. I didn’t get to chat with him bc it was kind of crowded but he was smiling and laughing and looked genuinely happy to be there. Tree was also floating around the kitchen here and there and let me just say she’s GORGEOUS. (also she was the MVP later when I needed to pee) Okay fast forward some more and it’s time to move into the living room. There are cushions on the floor and I’m sitting with all of my friends, including several of us who are from NYC. There are people setting the room and Andrea, Scott and Austin just look so excited that we’re there and that made me so happy. After what felt like centuries of people opening doors, stomping upstairs and shutting the curtains, it was time for the queen to make her entrance. The door to my right flew open and that tall drink of water in black thigh high boots and blonde curls and a huge smile entered the room and collectively we all made noises that probably sounded non-human. She said “Hi, I’m Taylor” as she sat down in this throne of a chair and crossed her legs that are collectively longer than the great wall of china. She said “you’ve done your detective work right (my detectivey heart fell out of my detectivey ass) and you are at the Reputation Secret Sessions”

**and that’s where the cone of silence comes on and what happened for the next several hours at the secret sessions STAYS at the secret sessions.**

So after I DIED because she obviously played us every track of the album. It was time for picturesssss. As I walked in to see Taylor, I didn’t even make it to her yet before she strutted toward me and scooped me into a hug so tight that I said “hey i’m kelsea” into her hair ;askdjflskfj She pulled away and was like “yeah I know, and you spell it S-E-A right?” AND LEMME TELL YOU i’ve gone my entire 24 years of life with my name spelled wrong, even people I’ve known for years will spell it Kelsey. and I replied to Taylor, “UM YEAH” and she got so excited she fist pumped and then put her hand up for a high five and we literally had the most epic high five of my entire life I’m pretty sure they heard it in Australia. ok. At this point Sol walked in and I introduced her to Taylor too. She loved Sol so much. so so much. Then I asked Taylor if she found me on Tumblr or Twitter, and she immediately replied “Tumblr” with a nod. and then she goes “I KNOW you love TODRICK, and I LOVE that.” and I’m pretty sure that was the moment my brain short-circuited.

and i was like “OKAY well TN contacted me via Twitter and I was real confused because my handle is @ toddyownsmyass” and her face lit up, her mouth dropped open, she grabbed my hand and laughed and said “OH MY GOD HAHAHHA”.

Next I told her about our annual NYC July 9th party. I was like listen taylor, the entire reason i met sol is because we’re tumblr friends and we have this party every year at sofia’s apt in the upper west side where we stay up until 1:58 AM listening to Last Kiss and then she was like “AWWWW” and I remember her face just looking at the two of us in pure amazement. OKAY now it was time for pictures and Taylor was like “we’re gonna take a group shot first and then we’ll do individuals ok?” and during our group photo she hugged both me and Sol so tightly.

She looks at me and I put my hands together and I’m like “Okay, I want to recreate a photo you and todrick did on the couch” and she got so excited she was like “GREAT but I’m not doing the splits again” as she walks over to this gorgeous white couch. and i was like “nah girl i CANT do the splits, i wanna do that back to back one” and she was so invested it was adorable. It took us a few minutes of sitting back to back and discussing our knee placement, our hand placement, and both of us kept turning and looking over our shoulders to make sure we were matching and coordinating our bodies right. and then right before the picture taylor goes “what should we do with this hand? oh i know lets hold hands” and she grabbed my hand and held it so tightly. i’m pretty sure you can see in my facial expression how much that meant to me—i’m BEAMING. out of all forms of social interaction, hand holding is one of the most intimate,it’s not something we do with very many people if you really think about it. after the picture is taken, we are still sitting back to back on the couch, holding hands, and she turns to look at me and goes “that’s the cutest pose i’ve ever done” and i’m all “Awwww thanks!” thinking she’s just being a sweetheart. and then her expression is happy but a little more serious, and she goes “No, I’m being serious, like I’ve never done anything cuter.” and ladies that’s probably the moment I was like “HI I’M KELSEA AND I WELCOME DEATH WITH OPEN ARMS”. It was going to be time to leave because we had already taken our pictures but Taylor grabbed me and Sol again and squeezed us and gushed “you little FLOWER buttons” and at the time my brain was like ???? I thought maybe she was going to say we were flowers, and then halfway through changed her mind to buttons…well ANYWAYS she reblogged that photo of us later and clarified that she believes sol and i embody the aesthetic of tiny adorable little flower-shaped buttons and now i will no longer look at flowers nor buttons the same way and Sol and I text each other randomly “FLOWER BUTTONS” just to make each other cry it’s great. okay moving on… It was time to leave and right before i walked away, I yelled to her “TAYLOR, YOU’RE INVITED TO OUR JULY 9TH PARTY ANYTIME, UPPER WEST SIDE, NYC, SEE YOU THERE!” and i did some mix between dabbing and pointing that can only be attributed to all of the time i spent in college with frat boys. and with this big grin on her face she yelled back “THANKS! LOVE YOU GUYS!” and i stumbled out of the room to pick up the Reputation merch bag Taylor gave all of us (GET YOU A WOMAN). As her security guard let us into a van to be taken back to our car, I asked what time it was and it was so late Sofia and I had missed our train back to Manhattan. We didn’t care. We were stranded in Rhode Island but WHO CARES BC TAYLOR SWIFT LOVES US. Ali from TN was like, “you guys have friends at your hotel right? like you have somewhere to go?” so sweet i love ali– we stan her forever. Sofia and I went back to our hotel, which we had already checked out of mind you, and sat in the hallway, dazed and happy, from 2-4am. Sofia posted a photo of us on tumblr and taylor liked it and i was like wow taylor knows we’re stranded that’s hilarious i bet she’s laughing. We ended up calling a car service to pick us up in rhode island AND DRIVE US BACK TO NEW YORK CITY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. I got back to my apt on the upper east side at 5am and took a nap and then got up for work and tried to be an adult but it was a very sad attempt. This is a very abbreviated account of what happened that fateful day Taylor welcomed me into her home for 8+ hours. A lot of it has to stay secret and confidential until the album comes out on Nov 10. Even more of it will likely never leave the walls of that gorgeous house by the sea. I will cherish these memories always and I know I am forever changed as a person from the Reputation Secret Sessions.

Thank you @taylorswift for EVERYTHING. I’m so proud to call you a friend.

#reputation secret sessions #secret sessions #rhode island secret sessions #rhode island #long ass post

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virtueoso · 6 years

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Olympic Countdown Challenge: Day 1

Favourite Short Dance: Prince (16/17)

youtube

Oh boy. How do you even begin to discuss a short dance like this one? When legends return to a sport, a lot of the time they struggle to live up to previous glory. By the time Worlds rolled around, this short dance betrayed none of the nerves they must have felt about the immense pressure of returning to competition as one of the greatest ice dance teams of all time. It felt like the crowning of a homecoming champion - two legends skating to a musical legend.

Good old Charlie White said in an interview with Tessa and Scott that it felt like Prince himself composed and edited this music for them to skate to - and it’s exactly true. Every movement is timed to perfection, flowing with (but not dictated by) the music, seamlessly transitioning from one piece to the next. This is not a program strung together against a series of elements; every single step is thought through and placed exactly where it best fits the music.

Their music and choreography work to perfectly encapsulate the Blues. It’s classy and sleek, full of fun, and a little bit flirty (that one move at the beginning where she pushes his cheek away with a smirk? iconic). Doing hip-hop on tour obviously worked for them because the sharpness of their opening choreography is unbelievable. The last section of the program is almost euphoric - the timing of Tessa’s reach on the lift gives me goosebumps every single time. Facial expressions are to the MAX. Tessa’s opening smirk where she looks like she could kill a man? Here for it. Scott’s eyebrows when he dips her? Won them Worlds. Also the hair and costume is so good (but that’s a post for tomorrow).

This short dance feels like an exhibition in the best sense. They’re not trying to impress the judges, they’re just skating for the hell of it and feeding off the energy of the crowd. They feel unstoppable, and they look like legends, and honestly when I ascend to the afterlife at the end of my days, I want this short dance playing.

Honourable Mentions (under a read more to save your dash):

Sympathy For The Devil (17/18) - Although we have yet to see this program in its fully tweaked state, it’s already one of my favourites. Nobody does Latin like Tessa and Scott (looking at you, British Eurosport commentators...). The sheer amount of attack and flair they bring to the choreography, along with a genius choice of music, elevates this program head-and-shoulders above others in the field. I’m still holding out for a more defined finish to those twizzles rather than just melting into the next element, but even if that never happens, I’d be cool to rewatch this one for the rest of my life.

Dream A Little Dream (13/14) - It was a tough choice between this program and Prince for my absolute favourite SD. Watching this short dance feels like floating on a cloud; it’s so light and airy and graceful. Every single element is in keeping with the style of the dance - I love the little dip at the end of the twizzles especially, and it’s a style that just fits them to a ‘T’. I feel like they produce their best work when they’re playing characters, and the acting here is delightful. Scott reacts to every little movement she makes, and I could write an entire essay about Tessa’s arms alone. It’s as close to perfection as you could ever hope for (also let me know when anyone produces a NtMiSt better than this one).

And The Waltz Goes On (12/13) - This could be listed for the single reason that they took my least favourite pattern dance (the Yankee Polka) and turned it into something bearable. The more I watch this program, the more details I find to love about it. It builds and builds, and ok, the emotional storyline confuses me a little bit, but the overall program is a triumph. The lightness of the movements, the way the step sequence flows like silk, the placement of the twizzles to the funfair-esque music so they look like little spinning tops; it’s all gorgeous. If you’re not dead already by the end, good luck dealing with the finishing pose.

#tscountdown #t #s #was it ever going to be anything else #i could have put every single one of their short dances on this list tbh #idt they've ever done a short dance i've disliked #even schenkst du beim tango #they're godly and so is this program #anyway i wrote 700 words for day 1 so let's see how the rest of the challenge pans out

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wallpaperpainter · 4 years

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archive-03012022 · 7 years

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great comet 8/24/17 (matinee with dave malloy + blaine krauss u/s anatole)

ok so this is more for me to remember than for anyone else but here’s a song-by-song breakdown of great comet from when i saw it lol (lots about technical stuff)

i was in the top row of banquettes which is honestly the best place to sit in the entire theatre. we could see every part of the theatre (balcony and mezz included) without having to spin our heads around like owls and there was a+++ audience interaction (i’ll get to that later)

pre-show

ok so everyone literally burst out of the entrances randomly without any warning and just started talking to everyone it was great

a man with a sparkly mustache made sure we were all ok with strobe lights and if not to just deal with it and cover our eyes

i got a pierogi box thrown at my face. fun times.

theres an announcer guy that starts speaking in russian and english before just switching over to english

announcer: cameras? ensemble: NEIT!

my grandmother got super into this format and started shouting along #quality family bonding

prologue

dave malloy is a god end of story

but seriously the prologue is such a jam

before the song actually starts theres a super sad scene of natasha saying goodbye to andrey and she hands him his coat and letters and he gives her the locket (she has a hearbreaking “no!” as he starts leaving)

the lights go from basically pitch black to full blast at the line “anD THIS IS ALL IN YOUR PROGRAM”

denee benton is so beautiful

the ensemble was roaming around everywhere and came over to where we were a LOT

bolkonsky made his entrance right next to us after his costume change right before the minor characters line by screaming and jumping through a curtain with his guitar

the whole ensemble gathers on the platform by the doors for the beginning of pierre

pierre

dave malloy is a god end of story

while they’re all gathered watching pierre for the first bit of pierre, sonya is rubbing natasha’s back, reassuring and soothing her

i love the ensemble,,,,,, so much,,,,,,,,

helene conducts all the women dancing during “he is charming he has no sex”

the “good russian men” part singled out azudi and he looked so offended at pierre lol

all of the “ahhhh”s were magical

theres not much that hasn’t already been said about this song tbh?

oh and right after it’s over all the ensemble members drop out of their poses and deadpan, walking to the exits with bored expressions like “alright shows over, bye guys, our job is done”

moscow

marya? hates sonya so much?

but when they’re introducing each other natasha is super prim and proper and sonya does this awkward, lopsided bow with her little hand puff half hanging off brittain is such a dork im love her

natasha’s humming is so childish/naive i love it

“you’ll read to me while i K N I T”

marya casually roasting the audience? iconic

marya’s whole speech to natasha is honestly just great

mary walks between marya and natasha when she’s mentioned

private and intimate life of the house

draws

out

every

single

word

“people enjoy me though” got a really good laugh

gelsey bell? the godsent angel? yes, Her

B R I N G M E M Y S L I P P E R S (he finally started screaming it again)

“natasha is young and worthless and dumb” natasha literally looks so offended its great

mary picks a “suitor” from the audience and he was so confused

BOLKONSKY KISSED HIS “CHEAP FRENCH THING” ON THE LIPS FOR SUCH A LONG TIME AND HER DAUGHTER WAS LITERALLY DYING BEHIND HER

paul pinto’s servant character. that’s all.

marya plays the cowbell during the “where are my glasses” breakdown and generally looks disappointed in him the whole time

natasha and bolkonskys

there was a 12 year old boy who had no clue what was happening and kept getting in the way of them putting the stools down it was great

all of bolkonsky’s interjections are met with a really quick spot on him and idk it was just super funny to me (he also did this really weird/hilarious lip trill at the end of “i do not wish to see herrrrrRRRRR”

denee and gelseys harmonies

mary and natasha’s fake laughter

“says the mean old man in his underthings”

HOLY SHIT GUYS WAIT

WHEN MARY SAYS “AND HE LOOKED AT HER ONCE / HEAD TO TOE” BOLKONSKY MUTTERED “NOT IN MY HOUSE” AND I DIED

bolkonsky exits past marya who, once again, just sort of glared at him

no one else

the blue light change??

all of the light bulbs slowly start coming down and fading on to look like stars its gorgeous

at the “we were angels once, don’t you remember?” she said it right to this teenage girl at a table who literally grinned and turned away to be like “holy shit that just happened” it was really sweet

natasha is so innocent throughout the whole song its honestly so beautiful

andrey is shown in a blue spotlight with snow falling around him and he unwinds the red ribbon from her letters (and wraps it around his wrist like a bracelet for safe keeping) and starts reading them

when he leaves and runs into the darkness natasha steps into his spot under the snow and starts singing the “you and i”s after him

the opera

marya is such a godmother is so cute

sonya’s narration is gorgrous and i’ll never get over it

ensemble members twirl mirrors around natasha at the beginning

this song makes me think about how important it is for natasha to have people like her which makes the ending even more sad :(

helene’s entrance is honestly so her idek how else to explain it

pierre’s fist pump when he says “though i’m enjoying myself at home :D”

marya is super obvious about mentioning pierre to helene since she’s with dolokov

the curtain “rising” is shown by the lightbulbs going back into the ceiling

the opera is such a good satire

GELSEY’S GOT SOME PIPES

when the dancers are “dying” they’re making this really funny, drawn out sighing noises and its amazing

denee’s face was hilarious after the dance seen she was just like :o

anatoles entrance is so extra

with every little *bum* *bum* he moved his head in a different direction and the lights flashed

helene and anatole have this creepy little moment where they’re standing under a light bulb and anatole taps his cheek for her to kiss but turns his head so she kisses him on the lips and right as their lips touch the lightbulb goes out

the opera singers continue miming in the doorways of the balcony and it was really cool to see

the ensemble was in costumes on the stairs acting out the opera as well

not only was anatole constantly looking at natasha, so was helene,,,,,,,,,

natasha hallucinates andrey’s dead body being torn apart, holding out the ribbon that held her letters together towards her

natasha and anatole

anatole checks himself out in the mirror before entering the box (blaine was really funny in purposefully pulling down a single curl over his forhead for ~fashion~)

i feel like he sings deeper than anatole but its wayyyy smoother like damn

when he’s asking natasha to the costume tournament her little “oh (:? oh,,,, i (:” when shes feigning modesty gives me life

blaines voice holy s h i t

when he grabs her from behind its really sensual and denee moaned really loudly and i

have i mentioned i love blaine’s voice

when anatole steals her flower natasha looks so scandalized

at one point he smells it and seems so in love

helene is watching the whole thing go down (basically the whole time the two of them are “alone” together she’s watching them)

after chasing each other around the stage a bunch them sitting down next to each other was treated as a Big Moment

the duel

in between songs anatole walks to pierre’s study fist bumping and grabbing at his head like “YES! YES YES!”

at “oh dear andrey’s betrothed?” anatole did like this little so-so hand gesture that was hilarious

the strobe lighting was way more intense than i expected

i watched grace mclean grind on a riding crop and then put it between her teeth it was great

lowkey threesome up in the mezz/balcony

and the girls were essentially using the railings as stripper poles

during “just as a duck is made to swim in water, god has made me as i am” anatole moonwalks, does the chicken dance, and gets grinded on by two girls

there was just A Lot during the duel

but i was too focused on celia mae’s glow in the dark thong to notice most of it

“here’s to health of married women.... and their lovers ;D”

oh i just remembered there was girl passed out drunk over someone’s box and all the people sitting in it were howling with laughter

helene’s voice is cracking when she says “he will kill you stupid husband” and might i say,,,,,,,,,, character depth

paul pinto’s announcer voice for duel

helene screams when the gun is shot

when pierre holds out his arms to be shot but starts looking around in confusion omg

idk but i love “we live to love another day”

dust and ashes

dave’s version is honestly so gut-wrenching

i never noticed in the recording but the strings on this song are honestly so beautiful??

he acts the hell out of this song and its just so :(

during the “we are asleep until we fall in love” the ensemble lines up in the orch aisles and in front of the mezz all backlit and its just so haunting

as their “ah”s get more and more intense the lights don’t change at all and it just seems very church choir-y

sunday morning

sonya and natasha seem like they’re sneaking around in the beginning and its really cute

“everyone sees a man” is delivered so well, like she’s trying to reassure her

the whole time natasha is staring into the mirror pierre is standing right behind her looking at her through the mirror

marya still hates sonya

charming

helene enters through the double doors with her face covered by her cloak and its sort of a mystery who it is until she starts singing

natasha seems embarrassed at first (since shes basically in her underwear) but then starts fixing her garters and stuff almost like she’s trying to impress her

amber gray holy shit

since natasha is still in just her corset and garters helene gives her her cloak

“he was thinking about you, kept sighing about you” natasha literally lights up and puts her hand over her mouth and walks away like a middle schooler lol

when natasha gets her dress on first she runs around and twirls but then starts imitating helene but its still really childish

helene yanks andrey’s necklace off of natasha before giving her her own and keeping it for herself

in summary this song is Not Straight Whatsoever

the ball

all of the couples enter from the doors doing this weird little movement before going down the stairs

two girls danced in front of us together (edit: it was gelsey and katrina i only just remembered) and it made my day

all of the dancers (all through out the theatre, all the way into the balcony) are doing the same movements as anatole and natasha but since they’re in dark greens/black and anatole and natasha are in white it’s easy to not get distracting

blaine as anatole,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, yeah

the “i love another” seems a bit forced on natasha’s side like she’s just saying it out of habit rather than for real

helene is still watching them

the kiss

lasts

long

time

BUT

when you look away you see that everyone has wine glasses and are putting their fingers around the rim to make the little noise

helene has a lightbulb over her and a spot. she’s the last one to stop.

the way natasha’s little part after the kiss goes it makes her look like she’s going to choose andrey because she’s singing to the orchestra but turns to anatole to sing the “i will love youuuu” part

the ensemble is lined up on the staircase, “ahhh”ing and holding their glasses up to toast them

anatole and natasha run through the doors together

letters

the whole cast comes in through the double doors

my grandmother screamed “HEY HANDSOME” when blaine passed by wlfkjvbvjnrev

most of the cast had stuck their letters to audience members into their bras/shirts

andrey stands on the platform in front of the doors (the same place he enters pierre and andrey) and pierre speaks directly to him for his letter

at “it is NAPOLEON” the portrait of napoleon on the wall (which was right above my seat lol) lights up and pierre starts pointing the gun at him

anatole and andrey stand on walkways next to each other when natasha is writing her letter

pierre, natasha, and mary all stand in a circle around the study singing at each other and it looks really cool

ok so anatole’s love letter..............

dolokov was holding the letter

they actually made the woman passing the letter walk up on stage to pass it to natasha

blaines “just says yes”s were suuuuuuuuuuper stretched out but he was pressing his face in her chest, stomach, thighs and trailing his hand up her whole body and it was uhhhhhh way more sensual than how lucas steele plays anatole

sonya and natasha

sonya steals the letter from natasha while shes’s sleeping

their argument is honestly everything

“its seems to me i’ve loved him a hundred years............ :)” sonya is just like “what the fuck natalie”

“would you think so badly of me??” brings me back to how much natasha just wants to be loved and cared for

sonya and natasha yelling at each other is so heartbreaking

her letter to mary is all very final

sonya alone

the whole theatre is dark and theres a single lightbulb and spot on sonya as she sings

natasha makes her way up the stairs to the mezzanine (PASSES ANDREY WHO’S SITTING THERE WATCHING HER)

and wanders all the way across the mezz and back down the stairs on the other side

the whole time, sonya never takes her eyes off of her

i think we need to appreciate that in the realm of musical theatre, there are no other songs about just loving your friend? and wanting to help them?

“i know you’ve forgotten me” natasha is back in front of the stage left stairs, but a light bulb lights up over her and she stops, looking at sonya

“it’s all on me” kills me she’s so selfless shes sacrificing her friendship with her best friend just to save her and just kjvn;efvaer

preparations

pierre literally doesnt care about what anatole’s doing

theres a spot on sonya and natasha when they are mentioned

helene brings dolokov the tea

anatole shaves in front of a mirror

there was still shaving cream left on his face and dolokov had to wipe it off his face while they were arguing lol

the two of them were arguing really aggressively it was intense

i think helene was playing the drum during this whole part

balaga/the abduction

paul pinto deserved a tony

my grandmother stole egg shakers from the row in front of us

balaga runs up into the mezz and starts wreaking havoc it’s great

the musicians were all running all over the place saying hi to audience members and generally being great

anatole’s “woooooooooooo” and cape spin was a sight to behold tbh

blaine did a little “mm” noise when everyone went quiet after the big "WOOOOOOOOAHHHHHHHH”

his “gooooooooooooodbye” was so stretched out that the ensemble started swaying really slowly but then had to go the other way before starting again it was really funny

during the goodbye my gypsy lovers part marya slid on the end of the banquette seats i was in and i was freaking out so she blew me a fucking kiss and ran away

everyone dancing in a circle around the study

there was a little accordion-off

alex gibson came over and was like “WATCH ME! WATCH ME OVER HERE!” and had a dance off with a guy all the way up in the balcony

there were people dancing allllllllll over these platforms through out the theatre there was never a dull moment

alex gibson also started humping a drum next to us and banging it while he moaned

he was so into it that he didn’t realize he was blocking lauren zakrin from chucking pages of war and peace everywhere (which i caught out of the air which is pretty neat)

one of katrina’s braids was coming loose so she started helicopter-ing them in our faces

i saw helene and marya make out and it was great

all of it was so completely organized chaos that was so incredible watch i love rachel chavkin with all my heart

when anatole sat down on the banquette next to the girl he made her kiss him on the cheek and did the “stretching” to put an arm around her thing it was hilarious

the girl leaned her head on him and they just chilled out (they actually looked like a real couple tbh) for an awkwardly long time before they all ran up the stairs

marya’s entrance is just as incredible as you would imagine

anatole did like a little smile like “uhh, hi” and then sprinted down the stairs away

in my house

grace mclean deserved a nomination for best featured. seriously.

the maid servant tries to apologize to marya but she just points her back inside the doors

ok so grace kept it all super calm and contained until she exploded on natasha

she honestly plays this scene so well she’s ocnstantly jumping between concern, disappointment, and pure, unfiltered rage

natasha screaming is terrifying

when natasha “falls to the sofa” (she’s stand completely upright with her arms crossed) marya softens and becomes very calm again but when sonya tries to go to her she snaps again

natasha? still? thinks? anatoles? coming? :(

a call to pierre

the letter is followed by the light bulbs and lights under the mezz as it makes its way across the stage

paul pinto is the best

he stretches out the announcement

much

“........................................w h a t”

grace and dave have such good chemistry

the ensemble’s vocals make this scene so much more tense

“natasha and A N A T O L E K U R A G I N”

marya’s whole demeanor changes when she hears that he’s married

find anatole

pierre literally walks down to the study, back up, puts on a coat and is already wheezing its actually pretty funny

“the club” is just the ensemble along the stairs and mezz dimly lit and gathered in small groups pantomiming its really realistic

“he cant BE MARRIED!” is said in complete disbelief and heartbreak

helene sits with anatole’s head on her lap

on his way to the study anatole passes sonya who glares at him

and if looks could kill

pierre and anatole

blaine plays off anatole as faking his confidence from the very start of the scene thinking pierre will just let him off

pierre literally pins him down and almost bashes his head in with a paperweight

OH WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED

helen is watching the whole thing from the stage right staircase (she was right in front of me) as if she’s eavesdropping from the hallway or something

she flinches when pierre stars grabbing at anatole and reaches her hand out to help when he’s about to hurt him

the letters look almost exactly like the ones natasha gave to andrey #parallels

anatole sits at someone’s table pouting and covering his ears like a child throwing a tantrum

“amuse yourself with women like my wife” helene actually seemed a little surprised at pierre actually knowing about their relationship

it hit me during the show that the only reason that anatole is upset is because pierre is calling him names which is just so childish considering everything happening

natasha walks between them arguing and pours arsenic into her glass, chugging it and then lets out this guttural scream

she runs up and meets marya and sonya who rush her through a curtained exit

blaine can hit the petersburg note

natasha very ill

this song is honestly just so haunting

dolokov plays guitar in the double doors

the whole stage is dimly lit and its all very ominous

pierre and andrey

andrey enters through the same doors he left during the prologue and speaks to pierre on the opposite side of the stage before they meet in the middle platform

the “well, how are you?” seems a bit comical and sarcastic

i could write essays about how much “theres a war going on” does for the story at this point

andrey acts like he doesn’t really care about the whole ordeal and like he’s already trying to distance himself from it, almost laughing at himself

“i much regret her illness” is so cold and passive aggressive that it hurts

oh and if this scene didnt hurt enough, mary is watching the entire thing

after “dont every speak of this again” he shoves pierre. hard.

when he leaves, he passes mary who smiles and tries to hug him but he just puts his hand up and walks past her before taking his place in his father’s chair and folds in on himself

natasha and pierre

i’ve been classically conditioned to cry to these piano notes no joke

natasha comes down the stairs really slowly, relying heavily on the railing to help her

pierre tries to help but she brushes him off

she’s in a white, shapeless nightgown (she only wears white through the whole show), is barefoot, and has her hair in a braid and looks like a little girl

when she starts singing its very weak

ALL 👏 SHE 👏 WANTS 👏 IS 👏 LOVE 👏 AND 👏 TO 👏 BE 👏 FORGIVEN 👏

oh and all of the ensemble members since find anatole have taken places all over the theatre and are just. sitting. watching the ending of the show. i noticed mostly courtney basset sitting cross-legged on the walkway in the orchestra

when natasha begins to cry, its not crying. it’s loud, almost primal sobbing

pierre is just so tender towards her and :’)

when pierre tell her that she can talk to him they both look confused

right before the proposal natasha is making her way up the stairs and turns back around when pierre starts talking

dave’s delivery of the proposal is So Good

he choked on the “and for your love”

the mini pierre reprise is heartwrenching

natasha made her way really slowly back up to the doors, but seems hopeful

the great comet of 1812

ok so

the song is song in complete darkness, theres barely even a spotlight on pierre

veeeeeery slowly individual light bulbs start fading on but you cant see much

then the chandeliers start to slowly light up

but this is all super gradual and doesn’t really become notciable for a few minutes

hearing the ensemble coming in from all sides is gorgeous

then the comet prop above pierre’s study starts lowering (i think around the time its mentioned by name for the first time)

as most of the chandeliers are coming on, a tiny light on the bottom of the comet fades on and starts illuminating the larger comet

now the entire theatre is lit only by the lightbulbs, chandeliers, and the slwoly brightening comet. no table lamps, no stage lights, nothing.

as the final minute or so approaches all of the lights start to dim except for the comet until it’s the only thing remaining lit

and in 100% honesty every single one of the 1200 people in that theatre had their eyes fixed on it for the final moments of the show

then, as the song ends, the lights on the comet fade until only the tiny light on the bottom remains. pierre is collapsed in his chair looking up peacefully and the conductor raises his hands to praise it as it’s dimming until the theatre is in complete darkness

anyway this really wasnt for anyone else to read but if you made it this far? im sorry? this was a complete mess i’m still a wreck from this show

#great comet #mine

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rhina988 · 7 years

Text

Indecent Proposal - Chapter 15

Start from the beginning

Chapter 14

Jared’s POV

“Are we ready?” the minister asked me, as he was getting ready to stand in his position. I just nodded at him and fixed my collar, waiting for the music and Melody to step outside.

The ceremony and reception was planned in the house all along, with a few reporters and close number of family and friends. We wanted the word the spread out, but we couldn’t allow too big a bash. The news were already out there, and in less than 30 minutes half the world will have known about us tying the knot. I was nervous, anxious, excited, confused, happy and angry all at the same time. The amalgamation of emotions overwhelmed me the moment I set foot at the aisle and I knew this day was gonna be iconic.

The music started and a vision in white appeared at the doorstep. Melody with her bouquet, and a smile that immediately lighted up the entire backyard woke up a new and sudden feeling inside me. I was astound. She looked so divine and walked down the aisle with such grace and poise. I needed to be the better man that I was before, and now that was perfectly clear to me. I was just afraid that it might be too late for her to forgive me after what I did earlier today.

“Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today, to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony,” the minister started the ceremony and the rest was really kind of a blur. I heard him clearly when he asked if I’ll take Melody to be my wife and I answered but everything else seemed like a dream. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Melody and I just wanted to kiss her and get over with the ceremony as soon as possible. I needed to tell her I was sorry so we could live a normal and happy life together. Well, the year ahead of us anyway.

Melody’s POV

“I do,” I said with a trembling voice and shaking hands when the minister asked the question.

That was it. The first moment of our married life. I could hear the clock ticking and our year of fake love and happiness was starting to count down this very instant. I couldn’t help but think how wonderful it would be if Jared and I were actually happy to be here, but that was just my luck. Fortunately, we were both playing this better than I had expected, and it turned out I was almost as good an actress as Jared was an actor. I managed to control all my negative emotions and pose as the happiest bride in the world.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the minister said and Jared came closer to me.

His eyes sparkled like two blue sapphires, as he looked deep into my eyes. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward for this moment. For Jared to kiss me again as he did once before. He gently cupped my face and pulled me closer to his lips, as I felt my entire body fluttering with excitement. I felt like it was just the two of us in this entire world, and I couldn’t wait to feel his lips brush over mine again. His kiss was so soft, gentle and slow I instantly melted in his arms. Suddenly we were snapped out of our little moment by a loud applause of our guest, and I smiled as Jared smiled back at me, obviously feeling as caught up by the moment as me.

“Thank you very much, enjoy the rest of the reception,” I said to a woman I’ve never seen before in my life. It’s been more than an hour since the ceremony ended and now we were mingling with the guests and posing for photographers in between.

“Well, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re actually enjoying this,” I heard Jamie behind me.

“I’m actually enjoying it a lot,” I chuckled a bit and squatted in front of him., “I can’t really describe how I feel, but it’s really good. Unknown, completely, but good.”

“Honey, you’re in love,” Jamie said and took my hand.

“Cute Jamie, really cute,” I chuckled at this ridiculous statement. Sure, I was attracted to Jared, and at some point I actually started to like the guy, but being in love is something I definitely wouldn’t be able to deal with right now. Even though on some level I was falling for him, hard. And even after what Emma had told me, I still doubted Jared would even stumble a little, let alone fall for me the way I did for him.

“Deny all you want, but you know I’m right,” he tapped my hand and winked at me. “Well, it’s time for me to go back. I’ve already exceeded my time allowed here, and I am really tired.”

“Of course, I’ll come and visit you in a couple of days,” I said and hugged Jamie.

“It’s OK, you can just call me, enjoy your honeymoon,” he said and left.

The honeymoon. Wow, that was starting tomorrow, and we were supposed to go to New York first thing in the morning. God only knows how we are going to get along on the flight and when we arrive. I could only hope for the best, after that fabulous kiss earlier. Something was telling me that Jared actually felt really sorry about everything, I just didn’t have the chance to talk properly to him. We were both so caught up with the picture taking, and talking to the guests that we��ll probably see each other again later at night.

“How is my beautiful wifey,” a whisper suddenly snapped me from my thoughts. I turned around only to see Jared, with two glasses of champagne and the biggest smile in the world.

“I’m great,” I said and couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

“Enjoying the party, huh,” Jared asked me and handed me one of the glasses.

“Very much so,” I took the glass and nodded.

“I’m glad, because I wanted to say I’m ...”

“J, we need you. The reporter has a couple of questions for you,” Emma interrupted him and practically dragged him away to talk to a reporter.

“OK, I’ll talk to you later,” he said as he was walking towards the backyard where the reporter was snapping photos of the guests and the house waiting for Jared to talk to him.

The next couple of hours Jared and I have spent with the guests and while we managed to spend some time together, it was always with talking to some of the guests, and we still haven’t had the time to resolve our issues. Not that this was the perfect occasion for us to do so, but I still wanted a closure, and I needed to know if we were gonna start with a clean slate from tomorrow.

Soon the last guests left the house and we were left with the caterers, Emma and her wedding planning team who were gonna take care of all the chairs, tables and clean everything up. Suddenly I felt exhausted, and the thought of bed seemed more tempting by the second.

“Tired?” Jared said as he put his arm on my shoulder while I was sitting on the chair in the backyard, collecting my thoughts.

“Yes, actually, I just figured I really need some rest,” I said and looked up at him smiling at me.

“Well, I guess we should hit the sack then,” he said and offered me a hand to take.

“I guess we should,” I smiled, took his hand and we went to the bedroom.

First thing that came through my mind was the fact that this was our first wedding night, and how married couples were supposed to spend it. Now I was nervous and I started trembling a little. I knew Jared would never initiate that in this situation. Especially since we’ve had so many unresolved issues, but still, I couldn’t help but feel a bit shaken up.

He opened the bedroom door for me and before I had the chance to step inside he took me in his arms so he could cross the threshold with me. I didn’t expect that at all, and I have to say it was so incredibly adorable I started chuckling the moment he picked me up.

“What? You didn’t think I’d forget about this did you?” Jared asked and kissed me again. Wow, another unexpected move within 5 seconds.

“I didn’t think a thing actually,” I said through a giggle and wrapped my arms around his neck.

Jared walked inside the bedroom and closed the door with his leg. After he had put me down I looked at the bed and saw a gorgeous silk nightgown spread out for me.

“Um.. what is this?” I asked and took the nightgown when I turned to look at Jared.

“I thought you would be much more comfortable in that,” Jared said as he loosened up his bow tie.

“You want me to wear it tonight?” I asked and swallowed hard, feeling the jitters going through my body.

“That’s the idea,” Jared said and took of his jacket, “And not just tonight,” he added and winked at me.

“I see,” I said and huffed a little.

I was still holding the gown in my hands feeling the soft silk fabric. It really looked incredibly sexy, and I knew exactly why Jared had picked it out for me. A black silk nightgown, with lace seams and thin straps could only say one thing - sex.

“Um, look, I know you might want to...”

“Shhh, stop worrying so much wifey,” he came close to me and rubbed my upper arms, “All I want you to do is wear this sexy lingerie. Nothing else,” he said and kissed my shoulder sending shock waves directly to my core.

I bit my lower lip and closed my eyes releasing a silent moan, which I could only pray Jared didn’t hear.

I took the gown and went to the bathroom to take a shower. When I was done I put on the nightgown, but I also took the bathrobe and put it over it. I did want to give myself to Jared now more than any other time, but somehow I was still insecure of his true feelings. I knew he found me attractive, but was that enough for me to let him be my first. While this was the most awkward situation people could find themselves in, just the fact hat we’re “married” didn’t seem like a reason big enough for me to just let him take me.

I stepped outside the bathroom and Jared was sitting on the edge of the bed going through his e-mails.

“You can go now, I’m done,” I said walking by him and took off the bathrobe putting it on the sofa. I was in bed before Jared could see me in the nightgown, and that’s exactly what I wanted. I needed a bit of time to think what should I do if he made a move on me after his shower. I used the time he was in the bathroom to moisturize my arms and legs and it was quite soothing after this long day.

Jared got out of the bathroom after 20 minutes, almost giving the same sight to me as the one night we had our dinner date. He didn’t bother to put his bathrobe on, but instead he just wrapped a towel over his waist and walked outside looking for his PJ bottoms. The scent of his body wash was spreading all over the room, while his damp hair glistened under the dim light making me wanna run my fingers through it the moment he lied in the bed.

Jared glanced at me as he put his PJs under the towel on, and a smirk appeared on his face.

“It looks as great as I imagined it would,” he said looking at the nighty.

“Thanks,” I said and blushed a little

“Look, I’ve been trying to tell you something the whole day, but something would always get in the way,”Jared said as he lied in bed and I felt like my heart was gonna escape my chest.

“Yeah, it was a crazy day,” I said and started intertwining my fingers feeling nervous like hell.

“Yes, it was. And I need you to know that I’m really sorry for how I behaved earlier today,” he said and took my hand into his,”I never meant to hurt your feelings... “ he said and gave me a puppy eye look, “... It’s just that...”, he sighed and looked at my hand into his, “Sometimes I’m a real jerk without even knowing why. But I plan on changing that. For both of our sake,.” he finished and smiled at me, kissing my hand.

“I’m glad to hear that,” I smiled and melted under the touch of his lips on the back of my hand.

“We need to spend the next year in peace and the less we argue the faster it’ll go by,” Jared said and brushed his thumb over my hand.

“I agree,” I said and gulped a little at the warm gentle touch, “We should do our best in trying to get along.”

“Exactly. I’m glad you are not mad, because I’m truly sorry, and I’ll never be that rude again,” Jared said and smiled.

“I hope you won’t,” I said and smiled back.

“OK, we should catch some sleep. Tomorrow’s gonna be even more crazy with the New York travel and all the hustle and bustle,” Jared said and kissed my cheek.

Now I was a bit confused. Why didn’t he try to at least kiss me? Not to mention that he didn’t show any type of desire for me. Was he really that much tired, or did he not find me attractive as I thought he did? All these mixed signals made my mind race, when that’s the last thing I needed now. Well, at least we’re not mortal enemies anymore. And whether we’ll come to be passionate lovers, only the time will tell.

Chapter 16

Feel free to comment and leave feedback.

Let me know if you’d like me to tag you in the next chapters.

Hope you enjoyed it.

You can read the story on Wattpad too

https://www.wattpad.com/story/106715450-indecent-proposal

@legolasothranduilion @chris-evans-whaaat @woohooargentina-blog @nikkitasevoli @wolfgirl1074 @snewsome756 @leto-madness @iamthejaredleto @notjanelle @spaceshipteam44 @sanellv @lanfear619 @iridescxntsolitude @bradlea23 @msroxyblog @hiddelston-88 @maulapaulawaula

#jared leto #imagine jared leto #jared leto imagine #fan fiction #fanfic #fan fiction writing #fiction #celebrity imagine #celebrity fiction #love story #30 Seconds To Mars #Indecent Proposal

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westphotolukedas · 4 years

Text

Project Proposal

240120

Project Title

Visual Sound

Subject

This extension of our module challenges us to construct photographic images, which combine staging and creative lighting. In addition, the final piece is anticipated to be a series with a coherent narrative. As an amateur guitarist, I am eager to photograph a sitter responding to musical stimuli instead of verbal or psychosensory direction. Drummer Benjamin Bell from the band Brightlight City has posed for several portraits with me in the past. He has a natural and distinctive camera presence that will be captured in a studio setting.

Aims / Objectives / Concept

My objective as a photographer is to portray the essence of Ben’s likeness with the energy of rock and roll drumming. The visual vocabulary of the film Drive (2011) is the basis of my production design. Its thematic colour palette is stylised, cinematic and transferable to stills photography.

Since completion of my previous project, I have invested in a Mamiya 645 Super - a medium format analogue camera. It is now a permanent part of my imagemaking process. Coloured gels were efficacious in the piece and they will appear again to recreate the neon lighting of the film. Furthermore, I shall explore studio lighting modifiers as a means to sculpt my subject’s features. It is my aim to accentuate Ben’s physicality by highlighting the angles in his face and clothing. He has some modelling experience; therefore, my photographs shall be inclusive of fashion and lifestyle imagery. With music of his choice playing in the background, I will assist him to find poses.

The final piece will be presented as a men’s lifestyle editorial shoot. Straight photography will be the basis of the work alongside an experimental triptych. The two artists outlined below inspired my initial photographic investigation.

Research

Pennie Smith (Born 1949) is a British photographer renowned for her music reportage works in black and white. Her image of The Clash’s Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar featured on the cover of their London Calling record and it is considered one of the greatest rock and roll photographs of all time.

Born in London, Smith attended Twickenham Art School studying graphic design and fine art. Her early commissions were for Friendz Magazine - a passion project developed with Barney Bubbles and Nick Kent. However, her breakthrough work would feature Led Zeppelin on their 1970s tour. As a staff photographer for the NME, she became a cultural icon for other aspiring music photographers. Her camera lens has graced the presence of artists such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Debbie Harry, U2, The Stone Roses, Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead and The Strokes. She resides in the railway station that she bought and converted as a student and continues to freelance as a photographer.

Standing at less than six feet away from Paul Simonon at the Palladium, New York, Smith could sense that the moment was about to unfold. Simonon was in a particularly troubled mood that evening and the shutter of her 35mm camera instinctively released as hell broke loose. This abstract photograph - raw, grainy and enraged - came to define the punk rock ethics of The Clash. In 1979, Joe Strummer selected it to be the cover of London Calling, itself a masterpiece and influential to a multitude of recording artists such as Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen and the Beastie Boys. Later in Smith’s career, it was recognised by Q Magazine as the greatest rock n’ roll photograph of all time. However, she almost dismissed the shot on the technical grounds - it was out blurry and out of focus.

‘He was in a really bad mood and that wasn’t like him. You can’t really tell it’s Paul but I guess that’s the point. It wasn’t a choice to take the shot. My finger just went off. I said, ‘It’s completely out of focus, it won’t work!’ But Joe wouldn’t have it. He said, ‘That one is the photo.’ So I thought, ‘Ok I’m not going to argue. It’s your bloody album, get on with it!’ I’m pleased I took it, but it’s a bit of a weight around my neck. It keeps coming back to whack me on the back of the head - nicely in some instances, but aggravatingly in others.

The Jam stood like Englishmen - shoulder to shoulder in every photo but The Clash were tactile. They seemed more at ease and made better shapes. They’d hug each other, grab each other’s shoulders, fool around. They were slightly artsy, definitely non-conformers.’ (Walker, 2019)

Tom Andrew is a London-based photographer with a portfolio spanning music, fashion and portraiture. He has a distinctive experimental lighting style bringing together a plethora of imaging technologies. This project is named after his self-proclaimed subject matter - visual sound.

An appreciation of analogue photography started early in Andrew’s career while he worked in darkrooms and as a lighting technician. Film was a rare commodity while he was growing up and his parents encouraged him to be selective of the shots that he would take. This attention to detail is still apparent in his photography today. In order to introduce predictability, his works incorporate choreographed movement and he often references contemporary dance practitioners. This aesthetic has caught the attention of commercial clients that include Nike, Puma, Aquascutum, Warp Records and Sony.

Andrew’s lifestyle editorial shoot for Mixmag featuring producer Mura Masa is the main inspiratory piece for this assignment. The sitter is presented as a balance between lines, colours and textures, with a composition that unites the abstract and figurative. It is a comparative reinterpretation of Smith’s London Calling record cover. Swatches of light illuminate the darkened studio background. Opposing orange and blue forms represent Mura Masa’s eclectic music - clubland pop, soul, punk, folk and hardcore edits. He appears in full length and in conventional portraiture poses; however, the back of his head is included in addition to other poses that occlude his face.

‘I compose images with strong graphic forms while also looking to capture a spontaneous point of elegance, which often involves exploring colour and movement. I will meticulously plan out lighting before taking most pictures. I like my images to quite often capture things that are rarely seen in moving image or real life. My lighting facilitates this through commonly capturing movement and enhanced colours.

In Applied Composition, I wanted to take a collection of photographs where the application of line and colour compliment found compositions on the body - in some cases structuring the images with a fine balance between both these elements - to question the area of skin used or to forget the idea that the body is even present. The objective being to create images with a flow in concept, the project sits between beauty and painted art.’ (Kent-Smith, 2020)

Summary

It will be a challenge to amalgamate the platforms of music, film and photography. My voice is rather formal; therefore, the influence of each may be subtle. Smith’s iconic photograph is the aspiration for every music photographer - genre defining and timeless. The authenticity of the motion blur and soft focus are a potent combination. Although I am not a reportage photographer, I will create a scenario in the studio that allows my sitter to perform without inhibition. Music playing during the shoot will be imperative without any direction from me. Andrew’s technical lighting requires a degree of choreography. Coloured gels will be matched to reflect his palettes and the nature of my sitter’s musical preferences. There is a fluidity to a drummer’s movement that is visually satisfying. I shall attempt some shots that are rehearsed to ensure specific movements are recorded. Drive (2011) as a film has many facets and I shall analyse it in the next blog post.

Bibliography

Kent-Smith, J. (2020). Turning The Wheel - Mura Masa Is Setting Off On A Whole New Direction. Mixmag. Available from www.mixmag.net/feature/mura-masa-cover [Accessed 10/04/2020]

Walker, R. (2019). ‘We Had the Same Brain’ - How Pennie Smith Turned The Clash Into Icons. The Guardian. Available from www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/nov/11/the-clash-london-calling-pennie-smith-photography [Accessed 10/04/2020]

Pennie Smith, London Calling, 1979

Tom Andrew, Mura Masa, 2020

#theconstructedphotograph #westphoto #penniesmith #tomandrew

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