#screen thrills illustrated

[gameraboy2]

Screen Thrills Illustrated #9 (1964)

#screen thrills illustrated #1964 #1960s #vintage #film #movie #television #zorro

[colleendoran]

Great Big Good Omens Graphic Novel Update

AKA A Visit From Bildad the Shuhite.

The past year or so has been one long visit from this guy, whereupon he smiteth my goats and burneth my crops, woe unto the woeful cartoonist.

Gaze upon the horror of Bildad the Shuhite.

You kind of have to be a Good Omens fan to get this joke, but trust me, it's hilarious.

Anyway, as a long time Good Omens novel fan, you may imagine how thrilled I was to get picked to adapt the graphic novel.

 Go me!  

This is quite a task, I have to say, especially since I was originally going to just draw (and color) it, but I ended up writing the adaptation as well. Tricky to fit a 400 page novel into a 160-ish page graphic novel, especially when so much of the humor is dependent on the language, and not necessarily on the visuals.

Not complainin', just sayin'.

Anyway, I started out the gate like a herd of turtles, because  right away I got COVID which knocked me on my butt. 

And COVID brain fog? That's a thing. I already struggle with brain fog due to autoimmune disease, and COVID made it worse.

Not complainin' just sayin'.

This set a few of the assignments on my plate back, which pushed starting Good Omens back. 

But hey, big fat lead time! No worries!

Then my computer crawled toward the grave.

My trusty MAC Pro Tower was nearly 15 years old when its sturdy heart ground to a near-halt with daily crashes. I finally got around to doing some diagnostics; some of its little brain actions were at 5% functionality. I had no reliable backups.

There are so many issues with getting a new computer when you haven't had a new computer or peripherals in nearly fifteen years and all of your software, including your Photoshop program is fifteen years old.

At the time, I was still on rural internet...which means dial-up speed.

Whatever you have for internet in the city, roll that clock back to about 2001.

That's what I had. I not only had to replace almost all of my hardware but I had to load and update all programs at dial-up speed.

Welcome to my gigabyte hell.

The entire process of replacing the equipment and programs took weeks and then I had to relearn all the software.

All of this was super expensive in terms of money and time cost.

But I was not daunted! Nosirree!

I still had a huge lead time! I can do anything! I have an iron will!

And boy, howdy, I was going to need it.

At about the same time, a big fatcat quadrillionaire client who had hired me years ago to develop a big, major transmedia project for which I was paid almost entirely in stock, went bankrupt leaving everyone holding the bag, and taking a huge chunk of my future retirement fund with it.

I wrote a very snarky almost hilarious Patreon post about it, but am not entirely in a position to speak freely because I don't want to get sued. Even though I had to go to court over it, (and I had to do that over Zoom at dial-up speed,) I'm pretty sure I'll never get anything out of this drama, and neither will anyone else involved, except millionaire dude and his buddies who all walked away with huge multi-million dollar bonuses weeks before they declared bankruptcy, all the while claiming they would not declare bankruptcy.

Even the accountant got $250,000 a month to shut down the business, while creators got nothing.

That in itself was enough drama for the year, but we were only at February by that point, and with all those months left, 2023 had a lot more to throw at me.

Fresh from my return from my Society of Illustrators show, and a lovely time at MOCCA, it was time to face practical medical issues, health updates, screening, and the like. I did my adult duty and then went back to work hoping for no news, but still had a weird feeling there would be news.

I know everyone says that, but I mean it. I had a bad feeling.

Then there was news.

I was called back for tests and more tests. This took weeks. The ubiquitous biopsy looked, even to me staring at the screen in real time, like bad news. 

It also hurt like a mofo after the anesthesia wore off. I wasn't expecting that.

Then I got the official bad news.

Cancer which runs in my family finally got me. Frankly, I was surprised I didn't get it sooner.

Stage 0, and treatment would likely be fast and complication-free. Face the peril, get it over with, and get back to work. 

I requested surgery months in the future so I could finish Good Omens first, but my doc convinced me the risk of waiting was too great. Get it done now.

"You're really healthy," my doc said. Despite an auto-immune issue which plagues me, I am way healthier than the average schmoe of late middle age. She informed me I would not even need any chemo or radiation if I took care of this now.

So I canceled my appearance at San Diego Comic Con. I did not inform the Good Omens team of my issues right away, thinking this would not interfere with my work schedule, but I did contact my agent to inform her of the issue. I also contacted a lawyer to rewrite my will and make sure the team had access to my digital files in case there were complications.

Then I got back to work, and hoped for the best.

Eff this guy.

Before I could even plant my carcass on the surgery table, I got a massive case of ocular shingles.

I didn't even know there was such a thing. 

There I was, minding my own business. I go to bed one night with a scratchy eye, and by 4 PM the next day, I was in the emergency room being told if I didn't get immediate specialist treatment, I was in big trouble.

I got transferred to another hospital and got all the scary details, with the extra horrid news that I could not possibly have cancer surgery until I was free of shingles, and if I did not follow a rather brutal treatment procedure - which meant super-painful  eye drops every half hour, twenty-four hours a day and daily hospital treatment - I could lose the eye entirely, or be blinded, or best case scenario, get permanent eye damage.

What was even funnier (yeah, hilarity) is the drops are so toxic if you don't use the medication just right, you can go blind anyway.

Hi Ho.

Ulcer is on the right. That big green blob.

I had just finished telling my cancer surgeon I did not even really care about getting cancer, was happy it was just stage zero, had no issues with scarring, wanted no reconstruction, all I cared about was my work. 

Just cut it out and get me back to work.

And now I wondered if I was going to lose my ability to work anyway.

Shingles often accompanies cancer because of the stress on the immune system, and yeah, it's not pretty. This is me looking like all heck after I started to get better.

The first couple of weeks were pretty demoralizing as I expected a straight trajectory to wellness. But it was up and down all the way. 

Some days I could not see out of either eye at all. The swelling was so bad that I had to reach around to my good eye to prop the lid open. Light sensitivity made seeing out of either eye almost impossible. Outdoors, even with sunglasses, I had to be led around by the hand.

I had an amazing doctor. I meticulously followed his instructions, and I think he was surprised I did. The treatment is really difficult, and if you don't do it just right no matter how painful it gets, you will be sorry. 

To my amazement, after about a month, my doctor informed me I had no vision loss in the eye at all. "This never happens," he said.

I'd spent a couple of weeks there trying to learn to draw in the near-dark with one eye, and in the end, I got all my sight back.

I could no longer wear contact lenses (I don't really wear them anyway, unless I'm going to the movies,) would need hard core sun protection for awhile, and the neuralgia and sun sensitivity were likely to linger. But I could get back to work.

I have never been more grateful in my life.

Neuralgia sucks, by the way, I'm still dealing with it months later.

Anyway, I decided to finally go ahead and tell the Good Omens team what was going on, especially since this was all happening around the time the Kickstarter was gearing up.

Now that I was sure I'd passed the eye peril, and my surgery for Stage 0 was going to be no big deal, I figured all was a go. I was still pretty uncomfortable and weak, and my ideal deadline was blown, but with the book not coming out for more than a year, all would be OK. I quit a bunch of jobs I had lined up to start after Good Omens, since the project was going to run far longer than I'd planned.

Everybody on the team was super-nice, and I was pretty optimistic at this time. But work was going pretty slow during, as you may imagine.

But again...lots of lead time still left, go me.

Then I finally got my surgery.

Which was not as happy an experience as I had been hoping for.

My family said the doc came out of the operating room looking like she'd been pulled backwards through a pipe, She informed them the tumor which looked tiny on the scan was "...huge and her insides are a mess."

Which was super not fun news.

Eff this guy.

The tumor was hiding behind some dense tissue and cysts. After more tests, it was determined I'd need another surgery and was going to have to get further treatments after all.

The biopsy had been really painful, but the discomfort was gone after about a week, so no biggee. The second surgery was, weirdly, not as painful as the biopsy, but the fatigue was big time.

By then, the Good Omens Kickstarter had about run its course, and the record-breaker was both gratifying and a source of immense social pressure.

I'd already turned most of my social media over to an assistant, and I'm glad I did.

But the next surgery was what really kicked me on my keister.

All in all, they took out an area the size of a baseball. It was  hard to move and wiped me out for weeks and weeks. I could not take care of myself. I'd begun losing hair by this time anyway, and finally just lopped it off since it was too heavy for me to care for myself. The cut hides the bald spots pretty well.

After about a month, I got the go-ahead to travel to my show at the San Diego Comic Con Museum (which is running until the first week of April, BTW). I was very happy I had enough energy to do it. But as soon as I got back, I had to return to treatment.

Since I live way out in the country, going into the city to various hospitals and pharmacies was a real challenge. I made more than 100 trips last year, and a drive to the compounding pharmacy which produced the specialist eye medicine I could not get anywhere else was six hours alone.

Naturally, I wasn't getting anything done during this time.

But at least my main hospital is super swank.

The oncology treatment went smoothly, until it didn't. The feels don't hit you until the end. By then I was flattened.

So flattened that I was too weak to control myself, fell over, and smashed my face into some equipment.

Nearly tore off my damn nostril.

Eff this guy.

Anyway, it was a bad year.

Here's what went right.

I have a good health insurance policy. The final tally on my health care costs ended up being about $150,000. I paid about 18% of that, including insurance. I had a high deductible and some experimental medicine insurance didn't cover. I had savings,  enough to cover the months I wasn't working, and my Patreon is also very supportive. So you didn't see me running a Gofundme or anything.

Thanks to everyone who ever bought one of my books.

No, none of that money was Good Omens Kickstarter money. I won't get most of my pay on that for months, which is just as well because it kept my taxes lower last year when I needed a break.

So, yay.

My nose is nearly healed. I opted out of plastic surgery, and it just sealed up by itself. I'll never be ready for my closeup, but who the hell cares.

I got to ring the bell.

I had a very, VERY hard time getting back to work, especially with regard to focus and concentration. My work hours dropped by over 2/3. I was so fractured and weak, time kept slipping away while I sat in the studio like a zombie. Most of the last six months were a wash.

I assumed focus issues were due (in part) to stress, so sought counseling. This seemed like a good idea at first, but when the counselor asked me to detail my issues with anxiety, I spent two weeks doing just that and getting way more anxious, which was not helpful.

After that I went EFF THIS NOISE, I want practical tools, not touchy feelies (no judgment on people who need touchy-feelies, I need a pragmatic solution and I need it now,) so tried using the body doubling focus group technique for concentration and deep work.

Within two weeks, I returned to normal work hours.

I got rural broadband, jumping me from dial up speed to 1 GB per second.

It's a miracle.

Massive doses of Vitamin D3 and K2. Yay.

The new computer works great.

The Kickstarter did so well, we got to expand the graphic novel to 200 pages. Double yay.

I'm running late, but everyone on the Good Omens team is super supportive. I don't know if I am going to make the book late or not, but if I do, well, it surely wasn't on purpose, and it won't be super late anyway. I still have months of lead time left.

I used to be something of a social media addict, but now I hardly ever even look at it, haven't been directly on some sites in over a year, and no longer miss it. It used to seem important and now doesn't.

More time for real life.

While I think the last year aged me about twenty years, I actually like me better with short hair. I'm keeping it.

OK. Rough year. 

Not complainin', just sayin'.

Back to work on The Book.

And only a day left to vote for Good Omens, Neil Gaiman, and Sandman in the Comicscene Awards. Thanks. 

#good omens graphic novel #good omens #terry pratchett #neil gaiman #dunmanifestin

[fibula-rasa]

How’d They Do That?

Special Effects & Stunts of Silent Cinema - Part 1

This is the first installment of an open-ended series where I try to highlight and illustrate the work of special effects and stunt artists of silent filmdom. Using articles from contemporary fan and trade magazines, I’ll make gifs or dig up images and/or video clips to accompany the descriptions of how the sequences were executed.

My notations will be bracketed and highlighted in a different color. Hope you all enjoy! Fair warning: this is a long read.

How They Do It! 

[from Photoplay, April 1926]

by Cal York

Millions are asking how the motion pictures are accomplishing the marvelous new effects which have been developed in the past few years. It took months of investigation to give you the answer

DO you remember how you thrilled when the Red Sea parted to let Moses and the children of Israel pass through, only to close again and swallow up Pharaoh and his pursuing warriors in C.B. De Mille's stupendous "Ten Commandments" ?

How you gasped as T. Roy Barnes fled from the burning tenement with Claire Windsor in his arms as flames and smoke spurted about them and debris crashed on all sides in "Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model"?

The destruction of Pontius Pilate's palace with the crushing of hundreds underneath the ruins in "Ben Hur"? 

The rescue of Doris Kenyon by Ronald Colman in Fitzmaurice's great picture, "A Thief in Paradise," as Miss Kenyon's runaway horse reared and stood poised on his hind legs on the very brink of a precipice? 

Conway Tearle's hair-breadth escape from the mountain of rushing water in "The Great Divide"? 

The stirring battle scenes in "The Big Parade" in which giant shells burst all around, tearing huge craters and spreading death as our boys marched on and on and on through No Man's Land. 

How Blanche Sweet carried Ronald Colman to safety as the blazing roof fell and seemed certain to bury them. This in "His Supreme Moment." 

I could go on and remind you of train wrecks which have brought you from your seats, of battles against storm and shipwrecks at sea—of thrills and hairbreadth escapes and terrific disasters.

How many times have you gone home from your motion picture theater and wondered how these things were accomplished, discussed with your family and friends what possible method could have been used to achieve the seemingly impossible?

AFTER months of investigation, I am able to give you an explanation of the thrills in the pictures I have mentioned and to explain to you the general method used in most other similar scenes. 

First, I will tell you how they parted the Red Sea. This was done by a process of double printing, worked out by Roy Pomeroy, technical director at Lasky's. But that, marvelous as it seemed, was but a simple thing compared with the miracles now being wrought on celluloid by Frank Williams, the wizard of Hollywood, who has dreamed out and perfected the moving or traveling mat process of printing, which has made possible most of the recent marvels of the screen.

[Roy Pomeroy was head technical wizard for Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount (that is to say, he was their head special-effects engineer). We only know for certain about a handful of films that Pomeroy made specific contributions to, like The Ten Commandments (1923) and Wings (1927). As with many journeymen of the silent/studio era of Hollywood, the amount of films Pomeroy worked on was likely substantial, but many technical roles went uncredited at the time.]

To part the Red Sea, Pomeroy first built, on the Lasky lot, two wooden walls about the height of the ordinary room and backed them at one end with a scenic drop to represent the Red Sea country. These walls he covered with a jelly-like substance made from silicate of soda and sulphuric acid, which shimmered and shook and photographed like water. The floor space between these two walls was made to look like sand. He then photographed this set. 

Then, with two cameras set up at the open end, he emptied thousands of gallons of water between the walls from huge water tanks behind them. One of the cameras was cranked backwards, and this showed the parting of the Red Sea. The other camera was cranked forward, and showed the waters joining together. Both were done in slow motion, which will be explained later.

The next step was taken out on the desert. 

Wire fences were built a few inches further apart than were the jelly walls built on the stage. First Moses and his followers, with their live stock, were marched between these wire fences, which were just outside the camera lines, and therefore did not show in the picture. What the fences did do, however, was to keep the goats and donkeys from poking their noses outside the camera lines, which would never have done for in the double printing process the camera lines would become the walls of water. And it would never do for a donkey to shove his head through the Red Sea. 

After Moses and his Children of Israel had passed through satisfactorily, under the grinding camera, they then photographed Pharaoh and his Egyptians madly pursuing in their chariots through the same fenced lane. And if the horses and chariots smashed out through the light wire fence, it was fine. for you will remember they were seen madly milling about before the walls of water finally obliterated them. 

THEN when they put all together, by double printing, here is what they got: 

First, a wall of water parted and left a lane of dry land in the Red Sea. (You remember the camera cranking backwards gave them the negative for this.) 

Then Moses and his band were printed in passing along the space between the walls of water. After them, came Pharaoh and his warriors in full pursuit. 

Right over these they printed the original negative of the waters rushing together, and this completely engulfed The Egyptians.

The only person to get wet in the closing of the Red Sea was Charles de Roche, who played Pharaoh. The blotting out of the King and his war chariot was not done by double printing but by trick photography, as it seemed necessary to the story of give this incident more personal drama.

The method used was this: DeRoche and his horses and chariot were placed on a treadmill. The camera was on a platform facing them. Over DeRoche's head and out of sight of the camera was a huge water tank, with a water chute projecting from it. This chute gave into a tank between DeRoche and the camera, but below the level of the camera line. While DeRoche whipped his horses like a madman on the treadmill and did all the acting necessary to being engulfed by water, the water in the tank was released and poured down in a torrent between him and the grinding camera, giving a perfect illusion. The only reason DeRoche got wet was because the water chute running above his head leaked badly. 

Does this seem wonderful to you? It should. It is. And yet I tell you that it is simplicity itself compared with the moving mat. 

Remember that in the "Ten Commandments" the double printing put the moving people into a vacancy on the film—the blank space left in the miniature between the walls of water. Also, that the double printing of the moving water over the Egyptians simply obliterated them.

READ ON BELOW the JUMP!

---

Photo caption: This great outdoor scene is made up of three parts and was made right in the studios of the Paramount Company at Astoria, L.I. It is composed of three parts: a miniature four feet high, six feet in front of the camera; the top part of the cliff, fifteen feet high, eighty feet in front of the camera; and a painted back drop, a few feet further away. In the long shots, or distant views, you see the whole in convincing reality. The close-up shots are shown in the white frame, the bottom of which indicates where the miniature ends and the larger set begins. This scene is from Gloria Swanson's new picture, "The Untamed Lady" 

[The Untamed Lady (1926) is presumed lost, but luckily, a few images of this cliff-top sequence have survived.

from Exhibitors Herald, 20 March 1926]

An amazing revelation of the latest discoveries of pictures which produce miracles before your eyes

---

But Frank Williams can put moving actors photographed in Hollywood into a moving background photographed anywhere in the world—put actual life and dramatic action into miniatures, which, during the previous years when they had worked with miniatures, seemed absolutely impossible. 

[As you can gather from this article Frank Williams was a pioneer cinematographer and special effects artist. Williams was able to patent his moving matte process (and named it the Williams process) and it was an important effects technique used in film as as varied as Ben-Hur (1925), Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1926), The Lost World (1925), and The Invisible Man (1933). All of which are extant and easily accessible! 

While it wasn’t in regular use for very long, the process was the basis for significant later developments in special effects photography, like green screening!]

Williams has made possible scenes that could never otherwise have been shot in motion pictures. It is not only that he has reduced the cost so that often he can give the producer scenes that would otherwise have been prohibitive because of building sets, etc. But he can give them scenes that couldn't be physically shot in any other way—such as a huge building crumbling and toppling in an earthquake and actually burying hundreds of people. It isn't only that he can make hairbreadth escapes without endangering the lives of actors and animals, as was sometimes done to get effects in the old days. He can make thrills that only the actual killing of animals and men would render possible—and this without the actor or animal being anywhere near the scene. 

He can build a miniature town, put real, living people into it, and have them go through any necessary dramatic action, and then he can make a miniature torrent somewhere else altogether and have it sweep away the town with its laughing, singing, dancing population and make you believe when you see it on the screen that it actually happened. 

THESE things he does by the patented process of the moving or traveling mat. It is a matter of printing, remember, more than of photography. Williams himself photographs nothing. The negatives from which he works are all shot for him, under his direction, and the miracles are performed in his laboratory. 

It hasn't been easy for Williams to attain his title of the miracle man of films. He has given to the motion picture art one of its greatest discoveries. Like all great inventors, he has been scorned, laughed at, at times almost starved, forced to work under unspeakably difficult circumstances. But, none of these things moved him. 

A big, quiet, simple fellow, only thirty-two years old. Shy, rather diffident of speech, he makes everything he does look easy. When he comes on a set, his quiet presence is scarcely noticed, and cameramen and technical experts go on spluttering and arguing, and when he is finally appealed to, he settles the problem so simply that everyone wonders why he didn't think of it himself.

WILLIAMS started as a cameraman at the old Essanay lot the year he was out of high school. He was fifteen years old and knew just enough about a camera to turn a crank. He has spent seventeen years at his work, and it was as far back as 1912 that he started work on the moving mat process.

He had no money and few would listen. He was laughed at—Ford, Edison, Marconi, Fulton, all went through the same experiences.

At one time, not so many years ago, John Considine, who is Joe Schenck's chief lieutenant, could have bought a half interest in Williams' big idea for a couple of thousand dollars. Today it is rumored in Hollywood that Williams has refused a cool half million for the same half interest. 

THE way he finally made it was this—he'd work a while as a cameraman and save a few hundred dollars, and then go back to work in his laboratory—usually the bathroom in the place he was living—until his savings were exhausted. Then back to the camera for another stake, and so on.

In 1912 he was cameraman for Mack Sennett when they had the back end of a little grocery store for a studio. During this time Williams made his first attempt to use the moving mat process. It failed, however, due to the inaccuracies of the cameras and printing machines of the time and the crude film in use.

But Williams wouldn’t let go of the idea. He kept right at it, and finally, in 1917, he again tried to perfect his process. working in a laboratory furnished by Adolph Zukor, of Paramount. But again he faced defeat, and for the same reasons—mechanical inaccuracies and improper film.

---

Photo caption: A rolling stage at studios of the Education Film Co. in Hollywood. Upside-down scenes and rolling ship scenes are easy with its use. It is possible to show ship interiors on the stage inside the cylinder which duplicates exactly the movement of a ship in a storm

[The rolling stage was used for lots of imaginative and comedic sequences in shorts and features. In the Lupino Lane short Movieland (1926), there’s a bit that shows the stage in action. Here’s a link to that specific scene, but the whole short is a lot of wacky fun and I recommend watching the full film!

Another illustration of how the rolling stage can be put to use is in When the Clouds Roll By (1919):

---

FINALLY, six years ago, his efforts were crowned with success. The Williams moving mat process was used in a Universal picture, "Wild Honey," and acknowledged commercially. Williams received a great deal of help and gives much credit for this to Elmer Sheeley, then a Universal art director, especially in the building of the miniatures. 

Through the better grade of film, a motor-cranked camera set on a solid tripod, and through his own printing machine, built according to Williams' own drawings at a cost of $18,000, one whose accuracy is to within one ten-thousandth of an inch, all the obstacles which had frustrated him so long were overcome and Williams' moving mat process came to life, as perhaps the greatest single invention in motion pictures since that of the camera itself. 

Once having demonstrated what he could do in "Wild Honey," in which he made a miniature stream appear a rushing torrent over a hundred feet high which pursued Priscilla Dean down a dry stream bed and finally engulfed her, Williams did not have much trouble getting producers to listen. This "Wild Honey" thrill was the forerunner of all big water spectacles, and when shown to C.B. DeMille gave him the idea for the parting of the Red Sea. DeMille admitted that this flood was the greatest spectacle he had ever seen up to that time.

[Unfortunately, Wild Honey (1922) is currently presumed lost and I was unable to find any depiction of Priscilla Dean fleeing from a torrent of water. As noted above however, there are quite a few extant films that also used Williams’ moving matte process.

In case you were wondering, I put $18,000 through an inflation calculator and it is equivalent to more than $315,000 in 2023 money!]

In trick photography miniatures have always been a very important part. It would hardly do to burn a huge building to have a woman carried from the blazing structure, and this the Williams process makes unnecessary. 

TAKE the thrilling rescue front the burning tenement in "Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model." A replica of a New York tenement was built in miniature at the studio where the picture was made. We will say for illustration that the scale used in erecting the miniature was one and one-half inches to a foot, or one-ninth the actual size. 

In working with miniatures there are two very important things to be considered, and these must be worked out with mathematical precision, if Williams is to be given a perfect negative on which to transpose living actors through his traveling mat. One is to make the miniature look the proper height. This is done by placing the camera the proper distance from the miniature (of course much closer than if it were a real building), and shooting from a lower level. The other is called timing. For example, if a miniature tree is to fall and the camera set-up is close enough and low enough to give the miniature the proper height when it is seen on the screen, then you must be careful of the speed with which it falls.

A little tree falls rapidly—a big tree slowly. And here is where the timing enters. Ultra speed cameras are used. The faster you crank the more pictures you get per second, and the slower the thing seems to move when you see it on the screen. You have all seen slow-motion pictures. These were made with slow-motion cameras, or what are more commonly termed ultra-speed cameras. And it is through this slow motion photography that the little tree is made to fall at the proper speed to be the big tree it represents, or the miniature stream is made to run at the proper speed for a giant river. 

And so to get back to the fire which is still threatening "Our Nell." A torch is applied to the miniature tenement. At the proper count little invisible wires tied to window sashes are pulled and burning brands crash to the street below. And all the time the cameras, driven by motors at the proper speed, placed at the right distance from the conflagration and almost flat on the floor, are grinding away and recording this great fire.

[Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model (1924) is extant, with a print located at Gosfilmofond, but the film is not readily accessible. However, a depiction of the burning building sequence appears on an advertisement for the film:

from Film Daily, 28 February 1924]

OVER on some other part of the lot, and at any time which suits the director's convenience, T. Roy Barnes, with Miss Windsor in his arms, dashes through a black velvet door and down a street backed with more black velvet. 

Two things must be remembered, however. The actors must come out of the velvet door at the right spot and at the right time or "count." This is necessary so that Williams can match up the fire negative, which is the background with action in it, with the negative of Miss Windsor and Barnes, which becomes the moving mat. 

The remainder is simple, and is done by Williams and his printing process over at his laboratory. 

On the screen you see Barnes dashing from a burning tenement with Miss Windsor in his arms while, in reality, neither of the actors has been close enough to a fire to singe a single eyelash. 

Blanche Sweet's rescue of Colman in "The Supreme Moment" was worked out in the same manner as this, as have been most other burning building thrills in pictures made in the last few years.

[His Supreme Moment (1925) is presumed lost and unfortunately I was unable to locate a depiction of the burning building rescue mentioned here.]

Now for the destruction of Pontius Pilate's palace with the struggling mass crushed beneath, in "Ben Hur." Of course the palace was done in miniature, while the people did their acting out on the lot, where the street was built with a dead white backing. Again the timing had to correspond with that in the falling of the palace. 

The throng of people was lined up and rehearsed. Two lines were drawn in the street a fixed distance apart—which represented the space where the ruins of the palace would fall, and the throng was sent dashing wildly down the street. At a fixed signal, all caught between the two marks fell flat on the ground. Those who had not reached the first line halted and registered terror. Those who had passed the second mark fled on, looking back and also registering terror. You see, those caught between the two marks were the people buried under the debris of Pilate's palace—those on either side had escaped.

Then came the trick printing with the two negatives, with considerable painting out of those who had fallen flat between the two lines, and you have the palace falling on the panic-stricken throng in the street. The accompanying drawings will help you to visualize this. 

Never Before Told 

This set of illustrations graphically explains for the first time the marvelous traveling mat process invented by Mr. Williams, which makes it possible for one cameraman to take a background in Europe, another to take the action of moving persons in Hollywood, and to combine them in one motion picture so that when it appears on the screen the action seems to take place against the background so perfectly that it cannot be detected by the human eye. 

Follow this explanation carefully, and the method will be clearly demonstrated to you. 

No. 1. This is the negative of the moving figure taken in front of a white background. In the negative, white appears black and black appears white. It is from this negative that the Williams traveling mat, which has revolutionized motion pictures, is made. 

No. 2. This is a print made from the No. 1 negative and is printed on film of extreme contrast. In this the white and black values are given their true tones. 

No. 3. This is the No. 2 film intensified in a silver nitrate solution so that it becomes a dead black silhouette, while the rest of the film is transparent. 

No. 4. This is the background negative which can be taken any place in the world or made from still photographs or from miniatures. This background negative can have put in it any motion required. 

No. 5. This shows the most important step in the Williams' moving mat process. In front you see the moving mat or drawing No. 3. In the middle is the background negative, drawing No. 4, and at the back is the unexposed film on which they are to be printed concurrently. By this double printing, you get a print of the background negative, which leaves an unexposed portion in each frame, corresponding exactly to the figure you see in drawing No. 1. 

No. 6. The result of the double printing being made in No. 5, which leaves a silhouette blank space of the moving figure, is again double printed and into the blank space is printed the real photographic action taken in the original negative. 

Thus you see that one double printing has left a blank silhouette space into which the real action is double printed in every detail.

---

The rescue of Doris Kenyon, which is also illustrated by the artist, was accomplished in this manner. One negative was shot of a very real and very steep precipice, the cameramen suspended on a platform far out over the edge to get the proper angle. Another negative was shot of Miss Kenyon's horse racing madly along what looked like a fence—but what was the inevitable white drop. Doris and the horse had to reach a certain mark at a certain count—for over at the precipice there had been rocks and dirt released at a certain count—the horse bad to rear, and Colman had to reach the frenzied beast, starting from outside the camera line, and he, too, must arrive on the right count. There could be no waiting for man or horse. They took it perhaps forty times before everything was exactly right, and then the two negatives (the precipice background and the moving mat) were ready for the printing wizard, and audiences got a great thrill.

[A Thief in Paradise (1925) is almost entirely lost. I profiled the film in my series Lost, but Not Forgotten in 2023.]

Photo caption: These two drawings explain how the runaway horse thrill in George Fitzmaurice's "A Thief in Paradise" was made. The upper drawing shows the cameraman getting his shots of a very steep and very real precipice. It also has the horse with its rider and the rescuer sketched in on the edge of the precipice where it actually appears in the picture. 

The lower drawing shows the run that was made before the dead white background, with the horse rearing and Ronald Colman coming to Doris Kenyon's rescue. 

The upper drawing was the background negative and the lower drawing the moving mat negative, and by the Williams' process the rearing horse, rider and Colman seemed to be actually placed on the brink of the precipice

---

You remember the mountain of water pursuing Conway Tearle in "The Great Divide." Of course they shot the torrent in miniature. Conway and his horse made their hairbreadth dash on a dark night and in an artificial rainstorm with nothing but a director threatening —then, although they did have quite a time making the steed climb a slippery and sloping wooden bridge, which was out on the back lot. Then up in Mr. Williams' laboratory, they finished one of the greatest thrills ever witnessed. 

[While The Great Divide (1925) is thankfully extant at Cinemateket-Svenska Filminstitutet, it’s not easily accessible and I was unable to find a depiction of the effect.]

And the marvelous battle scenes in "The Big Parade." There were the big guns tearing huge craters in No Man's Land made on one negative, and the boys marched on and on and on in the other negative, and Mr. Williams brought them together in his printing laboratory. However, it was by no means as easy as it sounds, for this was one of the hardest pieces of moving mat printing ever accomplished.

SO critical is the public that the building, photographing and printing of these miniatures must be of the very highest type of workmanship obtainable. It might be interesting to know that this work in "The Big Parade" alone cost approximately $70,000 for the background negative and the moving mat negative. The miniature battlefield was about one hundred thirty-five feet long and more than seven thousand miniature shells were fired in a period of forty seconds.

On another picture—"The Barrier"—which shows a fierce storm at sea, icebergs, and a ship caught and crushed in an ice floe, more than $85,000 have been spent to create these illusions. 

[The Barrier (1926) is unfortunately presumed lost and I wasn’t able to find a depiction of this effect.]

Mr. Waller, technical camera expert of the Famous Players Long Island Studio, had never seen a cyclone; yet he was instructed to produce one for D. W. Griffith's picture, "That Royle Girl." Mr. Waller did extensive research work on the subject, and then made one to experiment with. A scientific knowledge of the working of the law of gravity, by the way, is necessary to create this phenomenon of nature. 

[That Royle Girl (1925) is also presumed lost, and without film footage of this sequence there’s not really a way to know how the cyclone looked in the film. However, I do think the image highlighted in the advertisement below is likely from the cyclone sequence.

from Motion Picture News, 21 November 1925]

In the basement of the studio Mr. Waller connected up three vacuum cleaners. With three suctions of air and some dust, he made a tiny cyclone. This was photographed in slow motion so that the camera and technical crew might study the formation and activity of the cone. 

From his observations of the film, Mr. Waller was able to prepare the series of wash drawings which, photographed in animated cartoon fashion, represented the action of the cyclone's cone in this sequence of the picture. 

Several hundred drawings had to be made, each one depicting gradually the advance of the cone toward the Inn, which it finally demolishes. These were photographed in rotation on motion picture negative, and this negative double exposed on the 180-foot miniature scene containing the houses and trees. Thus we got a very good illusion of the cone of a cyclone advancing over a village and sweeping houses and trees out of its path. 

[I wonder if/hope that some of these drawings have survived!]

The animated cartoon idea was also used in "A Kiss for Cinderella," when the pumpkin and mice change into the coach and four. The first few feet of the sequence showed real mice and pumpkin; from then on 256 wash drawings of the gradual transformation were photographed in rotation and gave the impression of being animated.

Double exposures of one actor playing two parts is the oldest and most familiar camera trick to the fans. 

Just recently, however, has it been perfected to the point where the actor's two screen shadows can light each other's cigarettes and shake hands. 

Tom Meighan, you recall, did this in Irish Luck." 

AN invisible line from top to bottom divides each frame of the negative in half. One half at a time is exposed, photographing one half of the set. 

Tom appears as Lord Fitzhugh on the left half, and as Tom Donohue on the right half. If you remember. Tom's two shadows are sitting side by side on a divan in the instance of the cigarette lighting. Fitzhugh leans over and gets a light from Donahue's cigarette. The illusion is perfect. But the cigarette from which his lordship really got the light was tacked onto a chair just outside the line, on the half of the set not being photographed at that moment. Only the lighted end of the cigarette projects into Fitzhugh's half of the picture.

[Irish Luck (1925) is extant at Eastman House, but it’s not currently easily accessible. I wasn’t able to find a depiction of this split-screen effect.]

Then when Donahue's half of the scene was being filmed, Tom leans forward and holds his cigarette in exactly the spot where the chair had been, the lighted end being outside his half of the picture. Think of the perfect matching this requires! 

It is done this way. As Lord Fitzhugh performs on one side of the set, the director times his actions, counting the seconds out loud. He knows just where his lordship's right arm is, for instance, at the sixteenth second. When Donahue begins to perform on the other side of the set, his arm must be in a corresponding position at the sixteenth second. Tricky. 

A thrilling moment in "Aloma of the South Seas," Gilda Grey's new picture, occurs when a shark eats a sailor. If you want this thrill, you naturally have to take it synthetic. 

The shark cost $3,000. It was made of flexible rubber, and its insides consisted of a maze of electric wiring. Outside the body were several buttons which the actor could operate in his fight with the shark. It swims, wiggles its tail and bites electrically.

[Aloma of the South Seas (1926) is presumed lost and I wasn’t able to find images of the shark described here. However, as consolation, here is a photo from American Cinematographer of the film’s cinematographer Harry Fishbeck shooting on location in Puerto Rico:

from American Cinematographer, February 1926]

I guess most of the suffering for art is done by the actors who tie themselves into knots to create the illusion of paralysis, amputated legs and so on. John Gilbert is shown in the last reels of "The Big Parade" with an amputated leg. Jack Barrymore in "The Sea Beast," also does it. It is merely a painful process of strapping the foreleg back. In "The Street of Forgotten Men," with Percy Marmont, a very lucid expose of cripple fakes is shown. Marmont had his arm strapped to his back for hours at a stretch during the filming of this picture. It hurts the first fifteen minutes, Percy said. After that the arm becomes numb. 

A vigorous massage is necessary to bring it back to life, but it doesn't feel normal for weeks, Percy says. 

Lon Chaney has his tricks of deformity down so pat that they are almost painless to him now.

#1920s #1910s #1926 #classic film #classic movies #film #american film #my edits #silent film #my gifs #silent movies #silent era #silent cinema #cinema #film history #history #Roy Pomeroy #Frank Williams #Film Art #How'd They Do It #photoplay #lantern

[autismprotocol]

Sorry for the late post (I work nightshifts) but I figured I should give more info on the Hungers thing. It's a theory I've mostly seen being floated in the youtube comments or one-off tumblr posts, so I'm not sure where it originated. It's one of those "this is either the key to the whole series or a fan-created red herring that will be discredited by the end of season 1".

The primary evidence of it is the fact that for the first 5 episodes the horror has been entirely driven by a passion or desire of the statement give, and their desires have gotten more focus then their fear.

Harriet wants to see her dead husband again, even if he's come back wrong. RedCanary seems driven by the thrill of urban exploration and a desire to clear the magnus institute first. Darla has body image issues (hence why the probable flesh avatar ink5oul can get her) and thus wants to feel pretty (ink5oul also is only willing to work on her when she states a clear desire). Samuel Webber wants to be with the wife he murdered. Voilin guy from episode 4 (who tumblr user fandom-geek stipulated might be James Smithson of the Smithsonian museum) wants his musical talent to be recognized even if it costs blood (and Stranger McArtifact gives him his deepest desire rather than his worst fear). Tom the horror fan is ecstatic to get a personal screening of an obscure horror movie he's been searching for.

Again, any theory based on the first 5 episodes should be taken with a grain of salt. Needles doesn't really fit into it (I guess he wants people to be afraid of him?) and the stranger and buried's charity auction from hell in episode 7 certainly doesn't fit in (unless the "good cause" is playing ironic genie to the people the artifacts are being sold to). It's just an idea I've seen being floated around about how the powers might be different in this timeline.

Thank you so much for the extra info on the hungers/desires theory! when discussing it with my roommate we are starting to beileve that what we're seeing in this world is the birth/ creation of avatars and they had the theory that avatars (at least in protocol) are born from a strong desire I really love this idea so I'm gonna try to prove the few from the newest episode under this theory that

EP 8: Give and Take - for this one we actually can't fit that cleanly into the theory (if you have a theory about how it could fit in please leave it in the comments or send a ask :D ) we are thinking that the inccident read in the episode about the brutalist liminal spaces was a ritual, rather than the birth or the individual act of an avatar.

EP 9: Rolling with it- this avatar (Evil dice dude) was born from a desire to control his luck.

Ep 10: Saturday night: Neil Dickerson is tricky i still have no idea if he's an avatar himself or if it's just Mr Bonzo but either way Bonzo was created from Nigels desire to be famous,

I'll be interested to know if this pattern continues into future episodes. So far I see the Desire theory being a pretty strong case to explaining the origin of the esoteric inccidents the O.I.A.R files.

also just a quick update: I'm working on a Episode 10 breakdown but Its taking a while because I wanted to illustrate some scenes to add some visual flair :0 it will hopefully be out by tomorrow or monday!

-Echo

#augustus tmagp #chester tmagp #gwendolyn bouchard #jonathan sims #lena kelley #martin blackwood #norris tmagp #the magnus protocol #tmagp #tmagp theory #alice dyer #samama khalid #sam khalid #mr bonzo #nigel dickerson #gwen bouchard #jmj error #jonah magnus

[oftenwantedafton]

Vent - Steve Raglan/William Afton/Springtrap x Female Reader

Chapters 14-17

Rating - Explicit

Warning for sexual content

Also available on AO3 Chapter 14 | 15 | 16 | 17

Chapter 14 ~ enough ~

William Afton strides into Parts and Service as if nothing untoward has transpired; as if he hasn’t just had his conscience fighting to break free—not gone after all then, a sliver of his humanity still intact, the least human part the most humane, how ironic—his glasses still tucked into his shirt pocket, that shirt now damp with perspiration between his shoulder blades, beneath his arms, the carefully coiffed hair disturbed, wet tendrils tracking across his forehead. He finds you seated at the desk once more, looking a little overwhelmed, but he thinks not by the task you were given; rather, that damned animal trying to expose him, that would be the last time he let him loose, he could not be trusted, attempting to divulge his real identity; and what then, so soon after opening and already nearly revealed, what was the point of waiting so long to play the game once again only to have the pieces dashed from the board now?

“Steve?” You question him, bringing the man back from the brink of his spiraling thoughts.

Yes, Steve. That’s the role he’s playing now. Not the other. Not yet. He drags a hand through his disheveled hair, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

“Are you okay? You look…”

“Mishap in the kitchen,” he says dismissively. “How are you progressing?” He nods towards the computer screen.

“I’ve finished the first track. See what you think of this.” You play a sample for him and he calms further, coming back to himself.

“Well done. You’ll continue with the remainder of the tracks for the rest of the animatronics then.�� He hesitates. He’s neglected to close the door behind himself. He reaches out to touch your face, knuckles brushing against one cheek. His eyes fixate on your mouth. “Open,” he commands. There’s no way to explain this if anyone walks in. Maybe he likes the thrill of discovery more than he’d previously thought. You obey, lips parting, tongue slightly extended. He slides his index and middle fingers into the warm, moist space, stopping well short of testing your gag reflex, just letting you get used to the feel of being invaded. “Suck,” he commands, his eyes going a shade darker as his pupils dilate with desire. His breath is a harsh rasp as he watches your lips close around the pair of digits, enjoying the feel of the gentle suction as he’s trapped between the roof of your mouth and your tongue. He wishes you could see yourself the way he sees you at that moment. “Enough.” It’s not, not nearly, but he isn’t going to push too far this early on.

Chapter 15 ~ ink and paper ~

You’re not sure how you feel about your second day on the job as it draws to a close.

On the one hand, you’d enjoyed the actual work you’d done, undeniably proud of how well you’d performed. The time had absolutely flown by. That certainly never happened working retail.

On the other, you’re not sure what to make of the strange encounter with the yellow rabbit, or your new boss’s erratic behavior. You sit on the bottom step leading to the stage, doodling on a page in your sketchbook while you wait for the owner to finish closing the restaurant for the night, the last employees departing. Steve glances at the illustration as he flips the switches for the lights, his fingers freezing before he completes the row. You’ve been drawing without really thinking, your hands recreating the memory of the yellow rabbit from earlier: tall and ragged, shadowed eyes and twin rows of teeth set in decaying gums where the fabric of the jaw has worn away.

You hastily close the sketchbook and rise, shoving it into your backpack, then follow the older man to his car. It’s slightly warmer tonight, a teasing preview of the forthcoming spring. You sit in the vehicle and wait for Raglan to start it, glancing over when he doesn’t.

His head is tipped back against the padded cradle of the headrest. The exhaustion is finally showing, revealed now that the second part of his work day is concluded. His face turns and he looks at you silently. There is a raw ache to his eyes tonight that transcends just being tired. He’s hungry for you.

”Let me see the book you were drawing in earlier.”

You lean forward, unzipping your book bag and handing the requested item to him. You have many drawings there: things you sketch when you’re bored in class, during lunch, after school. Several months’ worth of creations, some real, some imaginary. “You draw well,” he murmurs, flipping through the pages. He pauses when he reaches the latest illustration, the mascot’s haunted features stark against the white background. “Tell me about this one.”

You hesitate. You don’t want to betray the yellow rabbit. You wonder again about his warning. “I don’t know. It’s nothing. Just something I dreamt up.”

”Nothing, you say? This is what you dream about at night?”

You shrug, watching him shut the book. You reach for it but he lifts it away from you, making your arm stretch, your body leaning against his. “You want it?”

You let your hand drop, your fingers closing over his shirt sleeve. He’s not talking about the sketchbook, and you both know it. “Yes, I want it,” you whisper, granting him permission he doesn’t need. You know he’ll take what he wants when he’s ready. A few more heartbeats and the book tumbles from his fingers, already forgotten as his body lunges towards you, his mouth covering yours. You realize you’ve been craving this all day. Only your second time and already you’re addicted to the feel of those ravenous lips. Something flares to life in your core, warm and aching.

You try and fail to put these feelings into words in your journal later on, scribbling out each attempt, the memory of his hot tongue against yours stilling the ink’s trek across the page.

Chapter 16 ~ strawberry ~

Back in the workroom two weeks later, you’re being taught how to swap out a faulty circuit. Steve’s demonstrating the correct order to sift through the complex layers of steel and wires. You want to pay attention, but you can’t help but let your gaze wander to the older man’s features instead, watching his jaw work the gum he’s chewing.

He smirks, apparently well aware of what’s going on in his peripheral vision. “You’re not paying attention.”

“No, I am. I’m sorry.”

“Repeat the last three steps.”

You inhale deeply. “Okay, so I’m lifting this component—”

“Wrong. Try again.”

“I start from this end—”

“Stop. I can see we’re not going to make any progress here if we don’t tend to…other things first.”

Your eyes dart to the door.

“It’s locked,” he says.

So he’d planned for this, then.

Raglan removes his glasses and sets them on the desk. His hand rests on the nape of your neck as he pulls your face toward his, capturing your lips. You taste the artificial strawberry flavor of the gum, accepting it when he pushes it into your mouth, chewing briefly before allowing him to collect it back again. He draws back to study your features, blowing a modest bubble and snapping it. He grins and your insides flutter. His hand slides down slowly, kneading your breast through the layers of your bra and tshirt. This was something new; he’s never touched you there before. Your nipple hardens. He abandons it, now thumbing open the fly of your pants and jerking the zipper down. Another lurch in your center. This was new, too.

“Do you ever touch yourself?”

Your pussy throbs in reply. “A little, sometimes,” you admit. You’d never had much interest in anything sexual until lately; ever since you’d started your ‘lessons’ with the older man. You return home after work each night wet and warm between your legs after your employer’s heated kisses, craving things you’ve never known.

“What do you think about when you do?”

“Ummmmm…” The sound drags out as his fingers stroke you through the crotch of your panties. It feels so much better than when you do it yourself. “Kissing you.”

He hums, enjoying your response. “Hmmm, really? What else?”

“What? I don’t know, I just…I…” You’re incoherent when he shoves his hand beneath the waistband and snakes down through your lips.

“You’re so wet already. I think you’re ready for another lesson sooner than I’d anticipated. But not just yet.” He draws small circles around the sensitive bundle of nerves and you gasp at the sensation, cheeks flushing at his words and the response your body is giving to him.

”Do you ever…do you think about me?”

”Oh yes.” His index finger pushes gently inside your entrance to the first knuckle. “I think about that sweet mouth of yours and I stroke my cock.” Your hips arch, driving the digit in a little further. “You like that, don’t you?” You’re not sure if he means the invasion into your sex or the dirty talk. Maybe both. You definitely like both. His calloused thumb swipes your clit and you gasp. “Stand up.”

The owner withdraws his hand and you comply, easing off of the swivel chair. He kneels, pulling off your sneakers and tugging your pants and underwear down, just one brisk shove and you’re bare all the way to your ankles. He tells you to sit and he finishes removing the clothing from your lower extremities.

“Open your legs.”

You hesitate, suddenly uncertain, watching the steady mastication of the man on his knees in front of you. He rests a palm on one thigh, stroking your skin gently. “You’re going to enjoy this, I promise you.”

You chew your bottom lip, slowly parting your legs.

“Scoot closer to the edge and lean back. That’s it, I’ve got you.” His hands brace your thighs as he looks at your sex and you feel yourself blushing again. “Fucking gorgeous.” He licks a stripe across your pink flesh and you moan, the sound stifled by the hand he clamps over your mouth. “Not too loud,” he cautions. You nod against his fingers and the hand relaxes. Another swipe of his tongue. You whimper this time. You’d never really allowed yourself to fantasize about something like this, but of course you should have known someone so orally fixated would love eating pussy. You wonder if you’ll taste like strawberries now or if the gum will taste like you, and then your thoughts dissipate when he begins working on your clit in earnest, the time for teasing long past, sucking and flicking his tongue over it.

There’s a feeling building inside of you, a coiling tension of pressure that needs release. “Steve, wait, it’s…I’m…” You fumble for an explanation and his hand clamps around your lips again right before your body explodes in his mouth, quaking violently against him. You cry out against the barrier of his fingers.

“You’re so delicious. So sweet,” he murmurs, kissing his way back up to your panting mouth, offering you a sample.

The gum tastes like you.

Chapter 17 ~ mentor ~

The man using the alias Steve Raglan crumples his napkin and tosses it onto the plate in front of him, collecting yours when you nod that you’re finished eating and sets the pair to one side for the diner’s server to take. He points at the textbook sitting on the padded bench beside you. “Time for Calculus.”

“I don’t see why it matters if I bring my grade up when I’m already passing. A B minus is good enough,” you protest.

“You shouldn’t settle for that. You can push yourself to do better. And it will look more favorable when you apply to college.”

“If I go.”

“When,” he corrects.

The mentoring is something that the pizzeria owner had gravitated towards unexpectedly. Maybe it’s penance for neglecting his own children’s academic pursuits. Maybe it’s an apology given in advance for what he’s planning for you tonight.

He watches you scowl but acquiesce, opening the book.

The waitress appears to collect the tableware. “You’re such a good dad, helping her with her homework,” she gushes, taking a moment to balance the soiled plates and empty cups. “I’ll be right back with that dessert,” she promises before she walks away.

The former career counselor’s eyes meet yours. “Do you think she’d have a heart attack if I leaned over and French kissed you right now?”

“Steve! You’re evil. Why didn’t you say anything?” You hiss, sounding scandalized.

“Why didn’t you?” He smirks at your silence.

Dessert arrives shortly after he’s begun guiding you through your first equation. Bitter black coffee compliments the layers of whipped cream and sliced strawberries and dense cake. He’s gotten one plate to share, holding out a forkful for you to consume even though you have your own silverware. He watches your lips part to accept the offering, your cheeks staining red.

He can’t resist dragging you against him when you reach the exit a half hour later, kissing you wet and sloppy right there in front of the waitstaff, simply because he can, because you’re his, because he wants.

***

Raglan pulls off the road seemingly at random, threading the sedan through a row of trees. He shuts off the engine and listens to your breathing, already detecting an elevated rhythm. He sees you fidget and squirm in your seat and he lets the anticipation build a little longer before he finally relents, surrendering to his own desires.

“Are you ready for your second lesson?” There’s nothing of the concerned mentor in his tone now; no trace of teasing humor. He wants your mouth on him and tonight he’s going to have it; going to teach you everything you need to know about sucking cock.

He waits for you to nod and he reaches for the fly of his pants. Your breathing quickens, a panicked deer in headlights kind of look on your features.

“You’re ready for this,” he says, attempting to reassure you. In truth he doesn’t really care if you are or not. The darker side of him will not be denied this evening.

The older man notices your eyes focused on the dashboard. The button is unfastened and the zipper’s metal teeth parted. He tugs the lever on the side of his seat so it reclines slightly, affording you more room. “Look at me,” he commands. Your eyes meet his. “Let me have a taste of that mouth.” You lean towards him. He thrusts his tongue between your lips, lapping furiously, letting a trail of saliva stretch between your mouths. His erection strains against his underwear. “See what you do to me?” He pants, grabbing one of your hands and pressing it against his crotch, trapping your fingers there. “Why don’t you take a taste?” Steve releases your hand and shoves the waistband of his briefs down.

He watches you shift, bending over, feeling your warm breath against his heated flesh. “Go ahead. I know how much you want it. I bet that cunt of yours is absolutely drenched right now.” A tentative lick across the head. A gentle kiss. It feels good but it’s not what he needs. “Take it in your mouth. Like we’ve been practicing with my fingers.” Your mouth closes over the head. “Further down. Relax, it’ll go easier.” Lips and tongue slide along the shaft in small increments. “You can do better than that.” He threads a hand through your hair, palm shoving slightly against your occipital skull, meeting some resistance. “I know there’s a lot there to take in. Imagine how good it’s going to feel when I fuck that into you one day. How deep I’m going to be able to reach.” He pushes again, firmer, more insistent this time. He knows your nostrils are flaring for oxygen even though he can’t see your face. He feels you gag but he doesn’t let you find reprieve yet. “Suck that cock.”

Suction and a flood of wetness surrounds him, thick saliva cascading down when he finally lets you up, gasping for air. He counts to sixty and then knots his fingers in your hair again. He doesn’t have to push as hard this time. Your mouth slides down and he sets a rhythm, hips lifting gently to meet your mouth. “Better. I knew you’d be a natural at this. You take to everything so quickly.” He allows another brief respite and then he repeats the process, fucking your mouth more roughly now, straining your gag reflex. The head of his cock batters the back of your throat. He groans, praising you again. “You’re doing so well. You deserve a reward, I think. Would you like me to eat you out after?” Some moans around his shaft, the words unintelligible. “Don’t talk with your mouth full, darling.”

He lets you disengage from his prick long enough to answer him properly. “Yes, I want you to eat my pussy,” you gasp. Your saliva coats him thoroughly, saturating the bunched briefs and staining your chin and cheeks and throat.

“Good girl. Make me cum now. And be sure to swallow all of it.” He shoves your mouth back down over his cock. There is no more restraint. His pelvis slams upward roughly, his dick fully engulfed. His head snaps back against the headrest, the muscles and tendons in his neck visibly straining, the fingers in your hair tightening. He curses when the orgasm hits hard, his hips hitting your mouth even harder as his seed spills inside. He can hear the sound of you swallowing that load, the absolute desperate gulp of it.

Your face looks positively wrecked, hair damp from saliva, lips swollen, lashes moist from tears that mark the straining you’ve endured. William smooths away the wet tresses that are mementos of the debauchery and cups your cheek in a manner that’s almost tender. “You did so well,” he praises you.

Ten minutes later he’s licking your own release from your entrance. Twenty more and you’re delivered back to your driveway.

He stays there, watching until he’s certain you’ve made it safely indoors. Such a concerned adult, as if there might be a monster waiting to snatch you in the shadows.

As if he, William Afton, isn’t that very monster.

He returns home and takes a long shower, eventually emerging and swiping at the steam clouding the medicine cabinet’s mirror.

The yellow rabbit does not appear.

#william afton x reader #william afton x you #steve raglan x reader #steve raglan x you #fnaf fanfic #william afton #fnaf movie #steve raglan #springtrap

[sohkrates]

Slugblaster GOTY Edition just achieved its funding goal today, securing a second printing of a new hardcover edition with Mythworks Publishing (publishers of CBR + PNK and The Wildsea).

I wanted to take some time to talk about why I love this game so much. I was lucky enough to grab a copy of the first printing and also got to do some writing and proof reading for the game.

The Premise is Sick as Hell

Mikey, the author, has thought about this game and the world a lot, and it shows. The game is lousy with style, from the writing to the layout to the art. But the premise itself is a fun and compelling sandbox where you are encouraged to push your character into taking risks, lying to your friends and parents, getting in trouble, getting hurt, and then getting better. It's everything good about coming of age stories, sci-fi tales of the multiverse, and fiction first RPGs.

Innovative Design

Slugblaster is based on the Blades in the Dark RPG rules, and does a lot to change up everything from the cycle of play to the action roll. It replicates the score-downtime-score cycle but moves and modifies the rules in ways that create thrilling and dangerous runs, heart felt downtime scenes that cannot be avoided, and natural conflict that will be resolved one way or another.

Rolling dice is easy and fun, with every playbook able to take risks and modify the rules in their favour. Not only that but each character gets a signature device, like a negafriction sword or a hardlight board, that gives them an edge when doing hoverboard tricks or fleeing creatures like math panthers.

Incredible Writing

This is hard to showcase but I'll just show the first few pages of the first example of play in the book. Mikey has a talent for writing and comedy, and absolutely everything in the book, from the rules to the playbooks to the examples and creatures, are easy to read and laugh out loud hilarious. Even if you never get a chance to play it, you won't regret owning a copy, just so you can get a smile on your face when you need it.

Amazing Art

Mikey has put together a murder's row of artists for this game. It's colourful and cartoony and does a great job of communicating the early 90's era that Slugblaster inhabits. The second edition is gonna get even more art, with maps you can use to illustrate the different worlds you'll explore.

Additional Goodies

This new second edition of the game comes with all sorts of awesome add-ons if you want 'em. Things like:

dice

stickers

a pizza box GM screen

maps

custom fingerboards

a dang skateboard

So please do check it out, spread the word, let your weird ttrpg friends know about Slugblaster.

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg #slugblaster #backerkit #crowdfunding #nineties #90s aesthetic

[cleolinda]

Weekend links

My posts

As January drags to a close, I have a shit ton of dental work coming my way. Thrilling. (I too would like to have my toenails clipped while I am there.)

Also, the Diagonal Trees may be coming down soon.

My sister added me to her Apple Arcade plan and asked me to play Hello Kitty Island Adventure with her and my nephew. I have resolved the snorkel issue but now I am despairing over a quest-dependent puzzle. “Just float with some complex touch motions over to a cave ledge on the entire other side of the screen. Then do it again.” Get absolutely fucked. 

I slap “Dear diary” on posts here that I feel are just kind of personal nattering, but I also do an actual sort of newsletter “Dear Diary” series over on Patreon, often 1000+ words. As you all know, I have no trouble running my mouth freestyle, so these are easy to write when I have nothing formally finished. This weekend on the Future Vision tier, we have “Dear diary: Liminal edition.” 

Reblogs of interest

Listen, I am reluctant to reblog things about Gaza because so many posts turn out to have an undercurrent of antisemitism that’s either obvious, or that I don’t realize until later. But this BBC article struck me as a factual analysis of the discrepancy between the stated goals of the IDF and the enormity of the damage. It doesn’t add up at all, conclusively, and I think that’s worth notice. 

With that said, we’re going to build up slowly to lighter subjects:

The Epic of Gilgamesh illustrated by Wael Tarabieh

Breakfast around the world

“There are so many ways to make moodboards, bookcovers, and icons without plagiarizing”

Gritty calligraphy

Hot Vintage Movie Stars (Male) polls, round four. People are shocked that the polls have turned out this way. I’m not. Like. James Dean is losing right now. I’m gonna guess Toshiro Mifune for the overall winner, with Vincent Price as an outside chance, because this is Tumblr. Which, I am sincerely thrilled that people here have sincere opinions about movie stars active before 1970, whether they’re “wrong” or not. I could have written a top 10 list of hot vintage actors based on what I thought people (my age or older) (in the U.S.) would expect to see; I could have written it in my sleep. This is more interesting. 

McMansion Heaven: Once again, I apologize for Alabama. But whatever you think this house is going to look like from the back, you are not ready for the scrolldown. 

Video

Thrillingly, there is a new Hugo Awards controversy. Resignations ensued. And still, no one will explain why certain nominees were disqualified. 

Everything is big and small

Sweet dreams are made of speed

A good pup is hungry

The sacred texts

“More like Pusheen the limits of lab safety”

Personal tags of the week

Definitely animal sounds and fiber art

#weekend links #odds and ends #linkspam

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (October 15-21, 2023)

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #1 is metahuman-heavy, establishing how the Titans of the Monsterverse found themselves on the same Earth as DC's finest and ending with Superman flying off to face Godzilla. It's early days, but the conveniently deserted Skull Island base the Legion of Doom storms into makes me pessimistic that any of the Monsterverse's human characters will show up. Rodan is also absent from the Titan line-up, despite appearing via flashback in the short Godzilla: Fight or Flight comic included in the Monsterverse Omnibus earlier this year. (Toho must be overcharging for Godzilla's supporting cast again.) It should be fun watching D-listers like Behemoth, Scylla, and Camazotz tangle with some of the world's most famous superheroes though.

Sales data for DC comics is effectively unavailable now, but anecdotally this one is doing gangbusters. The downside of snagging it now over waiting for the trade paperback is that DC disperses ads throughout the comic, instead of just at the end like IDW.

Toho announced a ton of U.S. Godzilla merch launching in the U.S. on November 3. Your mileage will vary, but the most interesting baubles to me are the Godzilla Minus One promo cards from UVS Games (to be sold on TCGplayer.com) and the trading cards from Surreal Entertainment (to be sold at Five Below). Very few Godzilla trading cards have been produced in either Japan or the U.S. since 2006, and most of those have been cross-promotions with Magic: The Gathering and Battle Spirits. I have a small collection of random cards from older sets (a couple of them signed), and it'll be cool to expand it a little.

Toho's Godzilla Day announcement also included some news on Godzilla Minus One's U.S. release, which I thought deserved its own section. Tickets go on sale November 3rd—including for "special Early Access Fan Event Screenings on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, in IMAX and large format theaters across the country." So Toho International has outmaneuvered Beyoncé in the competition for IMAX screens, if only for one night.

In other Minus One news, a couple new TV spots are out (and translated by the GODZILLA OFFICIAL by TOHO YouTube channel). One shows off a new Godzilla ability, if you're wary of spoilers. Its world premiere was held beneath the Godzilla Head in Shinjuku on October 18, where the incredible Godzilla Attack Truck also debuted.

IDW's Godzilla Valentine's Day Special, due January 31, dares to ask, "What if the old 'kill the monster or study the monster' argument was foreplay?" Zoe Tunnell, who I suspect is a Godzilla 2000 fan, writes, and Dani Pendergast illustrates. I'd like to thank them both for making a comic specifically for me. The logline:

Is there anything as romantic as seeing the world together? Hopping from country to country to take in the sights and splendor in the fleeting seconds before Godzilla smashes the skyline? Truly, there's nothing like the thrill of an international game of cat and mouse between an intrepid amateur kaiju researcher and a global kaiju-response lieutenant. But when you're up against Godzilla, it's hard to have a bigger "CRUSH."

SRS Cinema has picked up War of the Ninja Monsters: Jaron vs. Goura, the latest no-budget spectacular from Shinpei Hayashiya. The two monsters are basically Godzilla and Gamera, one-upping Giant Monsters Appear in Tokyo, which never showed its Godzilla and Gamera expies outside of the poster. Hopefully it'll be less headache-inducing than God Raiga vs. King Ohga: War of the Monsters. SRS is aiming to release it on Blu-ray and VHS in early 2024, with a DVD to follow later in the year.

Hoshi 35, Megumi Odaka's return to live-action film, opened in Japan on October 21. A new trailer is out too. SRS Cinemas has an existing relationship with production company 3Y, which previously made The Great Buddha Arrival and Nezura 1964, so I'd expect them to license this one too.

This Netflix ad for an online convention of sorts includes the first snippets of footage from Ultraman Rising, the Tsuburaya/ILM animated film it's distributing next year. The animation is miles above the Netflix Ultraman anime, that's for sure.

#kaiju week in review #godzilla #godzilla minus one #justice league vs. godzilla vs. kong #hoshi 35 #war of the ninja monsters jaron vs goura #ultraman rising #kaiju

[maximumspider]

[Super Mario World] : Luigi

Super Mario World: Super Mario Bros. 4 (SNES, 1990)

While Luigi is playable in the original version of Super Mario World, he’s essentially a recolor of Mario.

Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World (SNES, 1994)

In Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World, many of Luigi's sprites are redesigned to highlight his physical differences from his older brother.

The quirkiest difference in this revised set of sprites has Luigi now spitting fireballs when empowered by the Fire Flower. I don’t believe Luigi or any other character has used the Fire Flower like this since.

Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (GBA, 2001)

In the Gameboy Advance remake/reissue of Mario World, Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (who named these games?!) Luigi’s set of sprites is modified once again.

Luigi’s look in this game is like a fusion of his appearance in the original version of Mario World and its revision for the All-Stars collection. Most notably, Luigi no longer spits fire and now flutters his legs when jumping.

The latter attribute originated with Super Mario Bros. 2 and has become a staple of Luigi's repertoire ever since. And just like in SMB2, Luigi is playable in single player without any hassle.

As with many GBA games from this era, the colors look washed out. As a result, this version of SMW is much less vibrant and crisp looking.

Super Mario Maker 2 (NS, 2019)

After I finished my first version of this essay, I stumbled upon some Super Mario Maker 2 sprites and realized that Luigi's SMW sprite was updated once again.

I can't currently rip sprites and record lossless footage of Nintendo Switch games, so I'll just be posting a comparisons between all of Luigi's SMW sprites.

@DaNintendoDude on Twitter created this graphic explaining the potential process that might've been used to create Luigi's sprite for Mario Maker 2.

The Nintendo "Gigaleak" (2018)

A few years ago, there was a massive leak from Nintendo's internal servers, where among many things, prototype graphics from Super Mario World were discovered:

Interestingly enough, It appears that Nintendo may have originally intended for Luigi to get his own unique sprites in the original release of Mario World, but was then scrapped in favor of a simple palette swap of Mario.

---

[All sprites and animations were ripped, captured, edit and/or arranged by me unless otherwise noted below. Feel free to use, no credit needed!]

Media Sources: 

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) Luigi jumping animation (website: Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games) (Article: The Legacy of Super Mario Bros. 2 by Drew Mackie)

Super Mario Maker 2 (NS) Title screen (YouTube Channel: PressStartOnce) (Video: Super Mario Maker 2 Title Screen [Switch])

Super Mario Maker 2 (NS) Luigi sprites (Website: The Spriters Resource) (Section: Mario, Luigi, Toad, Toadette and Items [SMW] uploaded by Random Talking Bush)

Super Mario World (SNES) Beta sprites (Website: The Cutting Room Floor) (Section: Development, Super Mario World [SNES]/Sprites)

Super Mario Bros.: Trapped in the Perilous Pit by Jack C. Harris, Art Ellis & Kim Ellis (1989) Luigi and Mario illustration (Scanned and Tweeted by @YourDailyMario)

#pixel art #pixel gif #sprite comparisons #pixel animation #luigi #mario #super mario world #super mario all stars #super mario advance #nintendo #super nintendo #snes #game boy advance #gba #write up

[triangle-strategy-notes]

Happy Triangle Strategy 2nd Anniversary!! To celebrate, here are the translations from the foreword and the first illustration provided in the artbook.

---

Foreword translation:

GREETING

Thank you so much for picking up this book! We've put together a collection of art—a war chronicle filled with the “battles and wars” we waged to create the designs used in Triangle Strategy.

I’d like to reflect back on the beginning of Triangle Strategy's art development.  . . . I’ll recall it bit by bit.

The first time I heard about this project was several years ago, when I was working on art and design for Various Daylife and Bravely Default II on a weekly basis.

The first words I received during the early planning phase were Mr. Asano’s, “What if war came to a world like Octopath Traveler?” and Mr. Arai’s, “Salt . . .  Iron . . . ”

They were simple words, but they captured my heart and filled it with excitement. From there, I began to draw, and it was as if those feelings grew and spilled out of me.

And, as is natural, a story about war will have many characters . . .  The depth of the worldview was crucial as well. I had to add a lot of details to really get across the project’s heavy themes! I very much enjoyed the challenge. However, our time was short, and thus it was the beginning of a war for the artists. We were thrilled by the magnificent setting and plunged headlong into drawing each day.

The art team fought alongside me. This included Mr. Urushihara, an old comrade-in-arms who has a cool head, good sense, and substantial analytical and drawing ability; as well as Ms. Yoshiura (a student at the time the project started), who was positive, fun, and worked very hard on everything. Without them, I don’t think I’d have been able to do anything like this. Thank you very much!

Mr. Morimoto, who brought the characters over to neat, orderly pixel art . . .  Mr. Matsumoto, who was over the UI and worked steadfastly through trial and error . . .  Everyone at Art Dink for bringing art and design to life on the game screen and creating a wonderful world . . .  Everyone who has been involved in and supported Triangle Strategy—I apologize for not naming you all. Thank you so much! And Mr. Asano, who always provides me with new opportunities and challenges. It was a great experience for me to be entrusted with the art for this project. I’d like to thank you again! I look forward to making use of this knowledge in my future work.

For those who are interested in this project, we hope you can play the game and find your favorite character!

I hope the world of Triangle Strategy continues to expand. Best regards, and thank you for your support!

- Naoki Ikushima

---

My name is Urushihara and I was given the opportunity to serve as an assistant on this project. Thank you very much for your support!

Several years ago, Mr. Ikushima introduced me to Mr. Asano’s team, and the first project I got involved with was Triangle Strategy.

I recall that, as someone who was greatly influenced by Square's games from the SNES/PS era, the chance to work on a project that has the same feel as those classic simulation RPGs had me shaking with excitement.

I've had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects during my career, from background designs to characters, illustrations for advertisements, etc., and this project has incorporated all of my experience! It’s turned out to be a monumental work.

I hope that it will be a profoundly memorable experience for all of you.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Mr. Asano, Mr. Arai, the development teams at Square Enix and Art Dink, and above all to Mr. Ikushima for giving me this opportunity and for providing me with so much guidance every day!

We’d also like to once again thank everyone who purchased the game software and this book! We look forward to your continued support of the Asano team's works!

- Tatsuaki Urushihara

---

Translation notes, and image ids under the cut.

Translation notes:

"SNES" was actually the letters "SFC" (you can see them in the foreword text in plain English) but it was referring to the Super Famicom, which was the Japanese version of the SNES, so I decided to localize as SNES.

"Salt...... iron......." really was just like that. I'm not sure if there was some formatting/grammatical thing I missed or if Arai really did just send over two words, but. either way it's really funny to me!!

I've recently looked more into Japanese grammar and all the particles that are used, and since I'm feeling a little more confident in what things mean, I inserted more filler words than normal to help things sound more natural. For example, "something along the lines of 'a fleeting instant made up of infinite possibilities'" would probably read more directly as "something that feels like 'a fleeting moment of infinite possibilities'." It's not a huge difference, but I guess I just wanted to make a note that I've taken some liberties with the grammar and the exact phrasing.

Image ID

[Image id: The first image is a picture of the foreword (written in Japanese), which includes a small drawing of Serenoa, Roland, Frederica, and Benedict's faces. The second image is a drawing of Frederica, Benedict, and Roland standing with their backs facing Serenoa, who holds the Scales of conviction, along with the illustrator's note in Japanese. The third image is the translated illustrator's note, which reads, "Frederica, Benedict, Roland… Serenoa has to determine the path he should walk while knowing that the three of them each have their own individual desires concerning what should happen. In this picture, I wanted to illustrate a weighty moment, something along the lines of 'a fleeting instant made up of infinite possibilities.'' (Naoki Ikushima)" /end id]

#queue #triangle strategy #triangle strategy artbook #naoki ikushima #tatsuaki urushihara #I love all the illustrator's notes #they're so cool!!! and this project was so huge!!!

[goronska]

Eodum x Setia agaaaaain >:3

I am so damn thrilled, because I received a finished comm today from the one and only @emmettverse (previously @emmettnet) with my fav pairing of Eotia <3 My little blorbos, so perfect yet again. I love the expressions, the coloring, the love shining through this work and I literally hugged the screen with my cheek when I saw it. My pwetty boiz... *holds gently*

This has been commissioned as an illustration of a very pivot moment in the RP Eodum and Setia originally come from and thrive. The scene in question under the cut: TW: slightly NSFW (nakedness mentioned), intimate whump, gore ideation, manipulation.

#art commisions #eotia forever #Eodum OC #Setia OC #demigod x human #nuzzling my cheek against the screen #holds gently #Emmett draws #wtf how is this captured so well #stimming out of excitement #support the artists #my blorbos #since then Eodum got whumped hard and separated from Setia :O

[laserdiscnvhs]

Double Impact remains amongst the seminal works of action films that can be credited to the sterling prowess of Jean-Claude Van Damme. Inarguably, the film is a tour-de-force that sets a high bar for an extensive sequence of action-packed content. It successfully integrates critical elements such as choreographed combat and an orchestrated narrative to invariably result in a visual feast for action enthusiasts.

The visiting card for Van Damme’s marquee talent has always been his unparalleled martial arts skills. The film, Double Impact, is no exception to this, providing an outlet for Van Damme to truly showcase his articulate control over martial arts sequences. His performance as the twin brothers, Chad and Alex Wagner, is a remarkable specimen of his capacity to deliver comprehensively. These two character roles illustrate the wide range an actor can play within the confines of a single movie, demonstrating impressive versatility.

Chad is portrayed as a light-hearted, jovial character, while Alex, his twin brother, has a darker, sterner aura about him. Van Damme manages to give each twin a distinct personality, proving his acting mettle beyond just his physical exploits. His brilliant execution of the two disparate roles significantly enhances the film's plot and makes it a gripping journey from the start to finish.

The narrative, presented in Double Impact, is marked by an intriguing set of plot developments. Built on the classic story of revenge, it takes an interesting turn as it uses the most vintage formula of the 'long-lost twin' trope. However, the trope is employed innovatively, not allowing the narrative to be hampered by any possible accusations of cliché or triteness.

As the twins accidentally stumble upon each other and subsequently, discover their shared past, the narrative escalates into a thrilling tale of action and adventure. The clever weaving of familial relationships into the tale, ties extremely well with the mechanics of action sequences. It enables the audience to invest more deeply into the violent pursuits unfolding on the screen.

As remarkable as Van Damme's performance, the film equally capitalises on its keen vision for choreography and cinematography. The fight sequences are crafted to perfection, with a striking balance of finesse and raw power, making each moment a fascinating spectacle. The iconic scene where the two twins take on the mafia is intensely breathtaking and stands as a testament to the choreographer’s prowess.

The film’s landscape is as dynamic as its characters, marching to the exciting rhythm of an international chase. From Los Angeles to inventively replicated streets of Hong Kong, the film offers a vibrant canvas for its action-filled spectacle. This constant change of scene injects a fresh breath of vitality into every shot, keeping the viewers hooked at every turn.

The director, Sheldon Lettich, who co-wrote the film with Van Damme, plays a pivotal role in realising the visions conceived. His mastery over staging action scenes and his acute style of direction brings to life the vital elements of an action film. The narrative and the action are seamlessly blended through his proficient sense of storytelling.

On the flip side, critics could argue some scenes are over-extended and some dialogues saturated with cinematic clichés. However, even these elements contribute towards knitting the film into its chosen genre, providing an authentic action movie experience to the viewers.

Double Impact delivers on the promise of an engaging, thrilling experience, driven by the compelling storyline, unique characterisation, and superbly choreographed action sequences. These combined with Van Damme's incredible performance as the twins, Chad and Alex, make the movie a turning point in the action film genre.

Jean-Claude Van Damme, with Double Impact, has indubitably etched his standing in the timeline of action films. The movie does not merely entertain but also impresses its audience with the craft involved in making such high-octane action films. It showcases an amalgamation of bold storytelling, powerful acting, meticulous choreography and an engrossing narrative setup. This combination of skilled execution and an action-packed storyboard ensures that Double Impact leaves an imprint in the minds of the audience, even long after its credits roll.

#90s action movies #jcvd #jean claude van damme #double impact #bolo yeung #action #movie review #vhs #vhs tapes #laserdisc #vcr #1990s movies

[thehotelpod]

THE HOTEL IS BACK!

We're back starting this month on Patreon! our new bonus episode

THE CINEMA

is out RIGHT NOW for Patrons!

Our lovely postcard was done by @hatchetmode who's got a real great crispy liquid style style that pops off the screen and right into your heart. She brings a real NickelodeonGore to her work that clearly fits the show like a glove.

Look at the gore in the seats! The colors on the screen, the poses of the actors, OUR BOY IN A WEE LITTLE BASEBALL HAT oh my. 

Welcome to the collection, Hatch! Everyone make sure to check out the rest of their amazing Hotel art.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE

I can FINALLY share this big BIG BIG news: Lily '@manxmoss' Bensinger, Birdcage author and The Raven postcard artist, has joined production as an official writer!

Keeping with Hotel tradition of working with our amazing fans and watching Lily tirelessly write, illustrate, and promote Birdcage for almost a year I just HAD to break my 'don't read the fanfic' rule to see what the fuss was all about.

And wow. The hype was real. Birdcage is a fascinating and sometimes intense novel (at 370 pages it simply IS a novel) that oscillates between lining up perfectly with how I picture these characters and concepts as well as striking off into new unthought of territory with totally new perspectives and interpretations.  

After a few months of editing work and lots of conversations, well, just listen for yourself! We'll all be hearing much more from Lily as the new season unfolds and the show continues. 

As much as I try to continue as many Hotel goodies as I can I also always have my eye on how we can grow, change, and evolve into something fresh and interesting and different. Working with Lily has been wonderful and I'm thrilled to welcome her into the fold and I can't wait for all of you to hear what she's got!

This episode will be on the main feed in a few months, to listen now join the Patreon!

#The Hotel Podcast

[the-void-writes]

OC Smash Or Pass 2

Using the tag from @sergeantnarwhalwrites again because I wanted to do a option for women lovers as well lol

OC: Pedra Castillo

Credit to Brightgoat, Elena-Illustration, and WB for the picrews.

Links here: 1 | 2 | 3

Pedra (she/her, transgender, bisexual) is an immortal 18th century Spanish pirate. She’s a hopeless romantic, a thrill-seeker, and an excellent fighter.

Again, suggestive content under the cut:

Pros:

-Years of hoisting sails, lifting anchors, and sword-fighting means that she has muscles for days.

-Do you like soft guitar and candlelit dinners and walks by the sea, with the possibility of sinking an enemy ship? Your dates will never be boring.

-Her wife will attest to it: She’s got a gifted mouth, and she wants to hear you sing.

-She’s got her own boat, which means you can have all the privacy in the world.

-Pedra is all about service, and she’ll do whatever you want. She may tease you a little for it, but it’s all in good fun.

-Hot, tension-filled sparring sessions that end with someone pinned to the wall.

Cons:

-She gets into trouble with so many other pirates. You may have to pull her out of a fight, or a whole town.

-Has a habit of sacrificing her own wants for others.

-She’s a little forgetful and distracted sometimes. She’ll see you in her baggy shirt and mentally blue-screen so hard that she forgets she has the oven on.

-Is not afraid to be risqué in public. The thrill of being caught is too exciting to her.

#tag games #oc smash or pass #wip: our side of paradise

[marabarl-and-marlbara]

hi mara,

i was wondering if you have any intention to continue writing the enlove/hatecorp series or if you've already finished it, if you plan to publish it.

take care

good morning anonymous;

i:ll admit something: i was actually really thrilled to see a message about my fanfiction; anyways: no* -- there are some parts of that story that i:m not thrilled with (because they:re too-much in the realm of "simulacrum" of a scientology experience vs the story i want to tell, of my experience), but i did actually start on a prequel VN script based on Founding Sister -- because she was my favorite character (even though she was dead in the story), and was my sort-of self-insert for: how i handled relationships, my health issues, how i ignored what was happening around me.

i wrote the opening scene explaining her relationship to orcus, and a flashback scene going through her relationship with her mom (and her relationship with orcus) -- and how she ended up falling into the veritology academies + holy mother worship.

but! i dropped it; i gave myself a self-rule of writing everything with a four-line limit, to map-on-to quaternity pattern recognition, and trying to align everything 'to be written in fours,' 'to be read in fours,' left me re-writing the same few lines over-and-over for ~about a month.

i wrote a spiritual successor to this abandoned story (about orcus and 'the children of death'), & that:s finished, but in my drafts somewhere. i:ll publish it on my substack later (maybe today? it:s mostly just sitting there because i wanted to illustrate the chapter-breaks, if i ever decided to publish it (for now, if you:re really bored and wanted to read, it starts with one of the entries in my BL fanfic collections, & continues as screen-caps in this thread).

^ i might publish that alongside the first finished draft of my chirality script, because i:ve been actively working on re-writing that (for VN format), lately, since it aligns with my religious views & my mission -- and it:s "all me," versus fanfiction, and that:s what a phylactery needs.

you take care too, ok?

[jamesbondlexicon]

Was 007 really the hottest hero of the day in February 1965? Screen Thrills Illustrated seems to think so.

#james bond #magazine cover #screen thrills #sean connery #1965 #bond on the cover