#innovations ball

[waltricia]

Regardless of whether anyone actually reads this, I need to show appreciation for the writing, blocking, and editing of the last scene of 3x03, “Forces of Nature.”

Recently, I noticed that the LW line “this author is captivated” was very specifically placed over a shot of Colin and I knew it was intentionally done to convey the double meaning of the narration being about her and him.

Since then, I’ve realized that the same thing is happening throughout that entire LW narration. And it is fucking BRILLIANT.

So, first of all, this is the transcript of the narration:

“This author believes that all of man’s greatest inventions are nothing more than a distraction from what is most natural to us. Our instincts. The innate animal impulse that is inside even the most sophisticated of us. For when all is said and done, our nature will always win out. It seems Lord Debling’s instinct has led this man of nature to the most surprising pick of the season in Miss Penelope Featherington. Suffice it to say, this author is captivated. For in the battle between man and nature, it is quite clear that the battle is in fact between man and himself.”

Now I’m going to break it down with captioned stills so that you can see which words line up with which frames and I’ll explain what I believe it all means.

“This author” - When it’s first said, it’s on Pen. The second time it’s on Colin. I think there are several meanings here. Firstly, she’s Whistledown and she’s published. He will be, assuming he publishes his travel journals or whatever. Secondly, I think it highlights how they will be united, in the Whistledown storyline along with everything else. There’s a third meaning, but I’m going to get back to it later, once we get to the second use of “this author.”

This is the Innovations Ball, so on the surface, LW is speaking about man-made technology versus the natural world. But with the introduction of “man,” the shot immediately cuts to Colin, so the second layer of the narration is about him. All of Colin’s invented personality traits are a cover, hiding his true self- his sensitivity and his feelings for Pen. Obviously, this echoes what she wrote about him in 3x01, but it’s different. The context is the same, but this time, she’s not speaking directly about him, and really, she may very well not be thinking about him at all in writing it. After all, she still doesn’t know about his feelings for her. But we know. And the feeling of what she’s saying this time is less jarring; more, fittingly, natural. Because he’s starting to confront all of it as well.

In this shot, Colin has been walking across the room to get to Pen. There were people on his right, obstructing his view of her, but as LW says “natural,” Colin passes those people and, though we cannot yet see Pen, we can tell from Colin’s face that he finally clearly can. She is what is most natural to him.

He comes up to her and says that he has a question for her. The narration starts again. But on this shot, it’s only the one word, “our.” Aside from this just being romantic, I think it highlights that the narration is about both of them. But I also think that it’s not just about them. It feels to me as if, metaphorically, it’s written by both of them. Hence, my emphasis on the importance of “this author.”

We cut to our first close-up of Colin in this particular intimate sequence of close-ups. And we’re really in his perspective now, as he’s struggling to manage his feelings.

Again, he had been masking, trying to be like the other “sophisticated” gentlemen.

But a shift is occurring within him.

And this where I really hope there is at least one other person out there paying attention because all of the elements are coming together to tell us something incredible here. We have our beloved Julie Andrews delivering the line with a profound heaviness. We have Kris Bowers’ “Call Me Simon” coming to a close, sounding like a clock striking midnight. And we have the decisive sentiment of the words themselves. I'm convinced that the words “done” and “win out” being said on Pen speak to the finality of Colin’s feelings. If there was uncertainty before, it is gone now and there is no turning back. He is in love with Pen.

But before Colin can say anything else, Debling steps in and takes Pen away to dance.

Side note: Amazingly, I can back up my theory with this shot and another one of my theories:

I had said, when the trailer came out, that when true red shows up behind Colin, that indicates his love for Pen. This is the first time we see that happen.

But anyway, back to Whistledown…

Debling is the literal “man of nature,” while Colin is the metaphoric “man of nature.” Both have picked Pen.

We’ve finally come to the second “this author” and here’s the third thing I wanted to say about it: Possibly my favorite thing about this sequence, is that it acts as a vehicle for the representation of the Polin role reversal. From one end of the Whistledown narration to the other, Pen and Colin literally and metaphorically switch places, seamlessly. They exchange their physical places in the room. She’s the wallflower, then he’s the wallflower. She’s the author, then he’s the author. In a metaphorical sense, they’re both writing this Whistledown piece. This whole sequence serves to show us how Colin and Pen have really been equal this whole time. They’re just star-crossed. It’s like what Luke has been saying in interviews, Colin and Pen keep missing each other. They have brief moments where they eclipse each other and then they slip right past until the next time they orbit around to each other again.

Ok, here’s the final stretch, and it is a fucking fascinating maneuver:

The battle isn’t between Colin and Debling. In fact, Debling doesn’t signify at all here. I’d say there are actually three other battles being referenced: Colin and himself, Pen and herself, and Colin and Pen. The first “man” of that sentence is said on Colin, while “nature” is said on Pen. So in the battle between Colin and Pen- for there is a battle, as Cressida will mention in 3x04 when she says “Eros and Psyche, battling it out”, and also there will be more blatant battling in part 2- the real battles Colin and Pen are facing are the ones within themselves.

Of course I’ve already written about Colin’s battle with himself.

The reference to Pen’s battle with herself is particularly interesting to me. At first, I didn’t see it and I didn’t understand why that bit of the narration was spoken over the Pen and Debling dance instead of over Colin. Then I realized that the second “man” of that sentence is said directly on top of this shot where, again, it’s not about Debling; it’s her face we’re seeing. Then, Debling spins her and the “himself” is on Pen too. And I know I’m right about this because the shot was in the trailer and I watched it so many times. And I noticed that Sam Phillips is very specifically looking away from the camera in this moment. I figured it was because we had to know that the moment was about her. And I was right.

Pen’s journey is her reconciliation with herself. Colin and Pen really have the same inner battles. They both need to drop their masks. That’s why the mirror scene is going to be so important- it’s about exposing and embracing the bare parts of both of them. They are already equal and united. They just need to see it.

Ok that’s it. I’m done. I got it out. And I literally can’t add any more images to this post. To anyone who will have read this fuckin novel I just wrote, thanks for sticking around. These ballroom sequences are particularly difficult for the cast and crew to do, and there is obviously so much complexity in this one, so I feel like it should all be acknowledged. Someone has to acknowledge it, and if that has to be me, I will gladly continue using up my Friday afternoons to do so.

To the cast and crew, to the captain of the season 3 ship, Jess Brownell, to the director, Andrew Ahn, and writer, Eli Wilson Pelton, to everyone’s favorite choreographer/movement director, Jack Murphy, to Luke, Nic, and Julie fuckin Andrews, I see you and I love you. Please keep doing what you’re doing. It’s all worth it. ♥️

[hetalia-iggy]

There were many a moment from this episode that one could discuss dearest reader.

Though this author would like to point to Violet Bridgerton, who was ready to welcome Penelope to her family that evening, at the Innovations Ball.

Violet can be spotted watching the entire time as Colin moved to have a moment with Penelope. She did not take her eyes off her son the entire time.

This author does hope for more Penelope and Violet interactions in part 2 as they are very similar.

That is all dearest reader.

[tangramkey]

i love my Basketbot Portal AU

[crystaldeclear]

No Rice for the derby for "a foul" that happens multiple times a game. Shades of RvP versus Barca

[rosaacicularis]

which was more culturally significant, the renaissance or hermitgang

[thevalleyisjolly]

I’m definitely not saying that the old Star Wars Legends books were all good, and I’ll be the first to criticize them for all the interesting creative decisions and sometimes questionable writing quality, but there will always be a little part of me that’s salty about how they got almost completely discarded in favour of the Mouse’s new canon hegemony.  Was Legends really that good?  Eh, not really.  So often, it was a case of ‘Cool concept, completely dropped the ball on the execution.’  Are there a lot of good things about the new canon that we wouldn’t be able to have with Legends?  Absolutely.  Is it still a shitty thing to overwrite decades worth of creative effort and collaboration for the sake of corporate marketing?  Generally, yeah.

[scrunklyshinyguy]

ngl i kinda dont give a fuck about recent(ish) anime bc all the kind of anime that i do like are from the 80s to the mid 2010's.....everything after is white noise to me sorry

[ryansjane]

Any thoughts on the current competition between Japan/Korea/Thailand when it comes to bl.

Seems like Thailand is getting steamier to differentiate themselves. Are the other 2 nations catching up? Should Gmmtv be worried? Can the others compete despite having more conservative cultures?

I'm gonna be honest, I didn't even know there a competition? like sorry but no one is on thailand's level in terms of bl, simply bc thailand is able to capitalize on popular shows & popular ships in a way korea & japan don't. the closest thing japan does is giving shows like ossan's love & cherry magic movie sequels, but that is nothing on the level on insuring longevity of a pairing like thailand does. for kbls, they're popular but don't have any legitimacy in korea & also don't capitalize their fans’ attention besides the series. also thailand has been producing bl series for the longest & has by far the most daring bl series of the 3 countries, while korean bls are only allowed to be mini series with quite simple plots & japanese bls all have the same office or high school setting. sooooo... as much as people wanna claim a competition, thailand has been unmatched so far & I doubt they will stop being so in the next few years, as they have recognized the power of bl on a global scale, and every other country hasn't.

xxx

[bazilisk]

New personal body disposal goal for my funeral: zap my inanimate corpse into an inert bone Polyhedron.

"This is the essence of what they were. The flesh and the brain and what you call the personality, distilled down into these compact shapes."

Well mine wouldn't have a personality since it would start with a corpse. But it would be efficient.

From Star Trek: The Original Series, episode 2.22: By Any Other Name

[tspultradeluxe]

Also at first I thought the chicken feet were ball jointed doll parts

[king-dra]

if there are any DBZ loreheads on this site, I want to ask: Is there any mention in canon of the saiyans being a spacefaring race prior to the frost demon empire taking them over?

because to me it seems like most if not all the tech the saiyans use in the show is taken from the freiza force. which could maybe imply that they were the ones who made the saiyans a spacefaring race

[waltricia]

Ok but the pointedness of the narration playing over this shot of Colin is incredible.

There were times in season 2 when Whistledown would be speaking about the diamond, but it would play over shots of Kate, implying that the narration was also about her.

That’s what’s happening here. And it’s soooo good because Whistledown is speaking about herself. Meaning the implication is that Colin is also Whistledown.

Lord Whistledown, I see you. Come home, honey.

💛🩵💚

[trvernans]

[foldingfittedsheets]

I always forget this wasn’t a thing everywhere but my high school had a fun and innovative way to torment us in PE. They got heart rate monitors. It was this awful strap that went under the bra line and paired to a watch. The first day was great cause we got to set our resting heart rate. We did this by laying in a dark room and napping.

But then once a week we’d have to strap on these monitors and go running. The monitors were old tech and didn’t always pick up your heartbeat, so you’d have to use cold water between it and your skin to get a better connection, gods know why. Warm water never worked. After the day our watches would be collected and our efforts recorded.

The idea was that if your heart beat too fast you were supposed to stop, and if it was too slow you’d speed up. In practice this was ridiculous, staying in the green zone all class was ridiculously difficult.

Even people like me who were stubbornly resistant to running the mile couldn’t stand the horrific constant beeping and made attempts to placate the reviled machine. It was always fairly miserable. I had PE first thing in the chilly morning, dashing cold water on my skin before running around half awake was the low point of my week.

But for some unknown reason, the teacher insisted that no play could happen on these days. We were given the freedom to run all over campus but woe betide us if we tried to make a game that actually made this enjoyable.

We’d initiate games of tag only to get yelled at for not just… running. Any kind of play was forbidden. On one memorable occasion someone got a kickball and we started an impromptu soccer game with it.

If someone’s heart rate got too high they’d drop to their knees to wait out the shrieking of their watch so an extra element was added to the game of trying to win without going too hard. I remember being absolutely delighted, the thrill of that game still lives in my heart, hoping I could score a goal before my heartbeat betrayed me to the hated watch.

When the PE teacher found us we were soundly scolded and the ball was confiscated. Our happiness burst like a soap bubble and we turned our back to the enchantment of the green field and resumed slogging along in a grey haze as expected.

[udo0stories]

Alright, everyone, you've got 30 seconds to get those jokes out before we dive into exploring a 3D-printed wooden ball polisher. The machine presented by Fraens in the video focuses more on the final polish rather than the initial shaping. It features a trio of gear motors positioned 120 degrees apart, which drive cup-shaped grinding pads. A clever triangular frame with springs maintains constant pressure on the developing sphere, ensuring it reaches the desired radius. The grinding pads, equipped with sandpaper, rotate continuously, refining the rough piece until it reaches the final diameter. The machine also supports more aggressive tooling like hole saws for rough shaping. While the 3D printing aspect is appreciated, watching the vibrations and endurance of the machine during the rough stages raises concerns. Perhaps using a circular saw jig for rough cutting and then employing this machine for the final polish could be a prudent approach. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m9Emef3yqk[/embed]

[waterbeads1993]

5 Mind-Blowing Secrets of KIOS Electric Gel Ball Blaster

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