Thursday, February 9, 2012

48 hidden images in "Black Swan"

I'm sure many of you who saw "Black Swan" clicked pause many times during the club scene. But did you guys know there are other times in the movie when watching it frame by frame can be quite rewarding? Since I can't exactly post all the moments of eerie laughter or flatter of the wings appearing in the background (because I don't know how to extract those, to be completely honest) - I leave it to you all to listen carefully. I can however provide you with screenshots I made today, using DVD, "e" button and movie player. Here we go:
1. In the subway scene in the beginning of the movie if you freeze frame you will see Nina is seeing herself and not Lily, although later on in the movie Lily is wearing exactly the same clothes and earrings.
2. In the underground passage scene if you watch the scene frame by frame you will notice that the girl approaching Nina is Lily...
3. ...only to change into Nina just as she passes her.
4. The club scene: Rothbart and Nina as White Swan are seen.
5. The club scene: Beth is seen between Nina and Lily.
6+7: The club scene: Thomas appears behind Nina, in the next frame he changes into Rothbart.
8,9, 10: The bizarre rash appears in various moments in the movie.
11+12: The ballerinas Nina sees during opening night all have her face. One of them even winks at her.
13+14: The club scene: Nina as Black Swan is seen in two frames.
15+16: The club scene: Black Swan's eyes
17+18: In the scene when Nina is crying in the studio and the dark figure appears when she is standing in the shadow she is Nina, but after she says "Hey" and steps closer it is Lily.
19: Thomas has skeleton Swan in his office.
20+21: In the scene where Nina trips during showing Thomas her Coda there are 4 turns - during first two we see Thomas screaming "attack it" during 3rd we see Nina looking with a smile in the door at Nina failing to dance perfectly and during 4th we see Lily in the exact same clothes entering the room.
22: The club scene: Nina in partial Black Swan make up.
23: The club scene: Butterfly wallpaper from Nina's bedroom is seen in the background.
24, 25, 26: The club scene: When Nina is looking for Lily several images happen - Nina in Black Swan make up and Nina multiplying, almost as if she was in kaleidoscope.
27+28: When Nina is late to her rehearsal after the night in the club and when she is walking to speak to Lily about her telling Thomas Nina was crying she is seen scratching her back.
29+30: When Nina is looking for her mother the face on the green painting changes - the eyes are following Nina.
31: When Nina notices it, the reflection in the mirror behind her moves faster than Nina herself.
32: Curiously the green painting is the one Nina's mother is correcting few scenes later.
33+34: The club scene: Rothbart appears several times.
35: The club scene: Lily is seen embracing him.
36+37: The Black Swan doll is the only black toy in Nna's room. Later on when she is getting rid of her stuffed animals, Black Swan falls on the ground and Nina doesn't pick him up. All the other toys end up in the trash chute.
38: The shadow of the wings.
39: White swan figurine next to Nina's bed.
40. The swan can be seen on the sponge behind Nina.
41: The club scene: In one frame there is a tiny ballerina dancing with moon on the background - it appears to be the same as Nina dancing her final performance in the ending of the movie.
42: The club scene: Right before Nina and Lily hug, they both appear to be the same person.
43: The club scene: When they hug things around them appear to become more and more creepy and distorted.
44: In the sex scene Lily turns into sinister looking Nina.
45: When Beth is stabbing herself in the face she suddenly turns into Nina with bloodshot eyes.
46: When Nina screams, ALL the paintings scream with her.
47: The club scene: Nina and Lily's hands, multiplied.
48: The club scene: Nina in various stages of despair.

99 comments:

  1. Woah. That's amazing. I have seen the film a few times but I hadn't noticed many of these images. It just goes to show what a brilliant film this was.
    Fantastic post :)

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    1. Glad I could help! I still recommend watching club scene frame by frame, pretty much every of them is altered in some way.

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  2. Simply amazing. Thanks so much for the brilliant screen captures... They seem to say a lot, despite being single frames

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  3. Fuck Me!!!! Now I think want to see that film again. The only reason I don't have it on DVD is because I'm going to wait out for a better edition. Hopefully for a future Criterion DVD release.

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    1. Oh this needs to be in Criterion collection!

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  4. Wow, this is cool. I've only seen the movie once, and I noticed some of these things, but I really want to watch it again!

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  5. this is excellent, man! good stuff

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  6. Though I think Black Swan, for me, was definitely one of the biggest disappointments I've had at the cinema in years (annoyingly, since it was the film I was looking most forward to seeing when it came out in the UK last year), this has definitely made me want to watch the club scene again at least.

    Good detective work, here!

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  7. Damn. That was awesome. I already loved this movie, but knowing how much effort went into subliminal imagery makes me appreciate it that much more.

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  8. This. Is badass. Great post! And clearly a lot of love put into it. Now I'm going to go back and check out the er...black swan in her bedroom a couple more times.

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  9. WOW! I had noticed a few of these but not as many as you have. This post is exactly the reason why I love this movie - the amount of effort put into every shot (with such a small budget) is simply AMAZING.

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    1. I'm still impressed by how they manipulated all of those shots and how Portman obviously needed to change clothes all the time between takes in order to be Lily in certain moments.

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  10. Awesome post! So many things that would never register unless you looked really carefully!

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  11. Well, this is quite mind-blowing. Thank you for this. Well done.

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  12. Wow, I really like how the swan symbol is everyone - in Nina's bathroom, bedroom, Thomas' office...thanks so much for this post!

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  13. Creeepy... this is so much better than another review that I wouldn't read! I've only seen the movie one time, but it's one of my favorites and now I just HAVE TO own the DVD!
    Actually, the creepies thing is that picture with the eyes following Nina... I never noticed it.

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  14. Great post. I had noticed several of those things, but nowhere near the amount you have here. Thank you for taking the time to put together the post. I felt this was the second best movie of all of 2010, so it was fun to see all of these extras for it.

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    1. What was your number 1 in 2010?

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    2. Toy Story 3. I explain why in my reviews at this link: http://tipsfromchip.blogspot.com/2011/02/movies-my-top-10-of-2010.html

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  15. Interesting stuff. There is one more, that I know of........when Nina is there alone at night, she goes across the stage and sees Lily and Tomas/Rothbart screwing around, Lily turns into Nina laughing at her.

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    1. You're right, but I couldn't take a shot that was clear enough and the scene goes for relatively long and features Nina reaction to it, so I figured I will focus on more obscure moments :)

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  16. <333333333333333333333333333333! -Nicole

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  17. Whoaaaah, I lisened that Natalie Portman said that the shooting has been exhausted by her, that the first thing she did when she finished the shooting was rest by first time in several months. Now I know why a shooting will be so exhausting; all this details who nobody notice is very hard-working.

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    1. I heard first thing she did was eating - poor thing lived on almonds and carrots for months.

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  18. Very nice details,I need to find my dvd and watch it again.

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  19. I just reviewed Black Swan this week. These screen shots you shared were an eye-opener, I missed a lot of those hidden visuals when I watched. Good job!

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    1. Thank you! and thanks for linking me in your review!

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  20. Wow! these images can be a part of a book analysis of the meanings of the film by iteself! Excellent job! It reminds me of The Shining, Kubrick played a lot on those added and/or distorted frames.

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    1. Thanks! Yeah, the film still generates a lot of theories and speculation.

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  21. Really interesting post, I didn't catch nearly half of these! I think Black Swan is certainly in need of a rematch, especially as I haven't seen it since it was released at the cinema

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    1. I think this is one of those movies that needs to be watched many times in order to catch everywthing.

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  22. I would've never noticed all the instances that swan's appear in this film without these frame freezes. Thanks for this.

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  23. How the fuck did I miss this when you first posted it? Jesus Christ. Brilliant, Sati. Brilliant.

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    1. Thank you! I spent hours after the movie premiered on the DVD searching for all the hidden shots finally when nobody posted all of them I figured I'll just do it myself :)

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  24. Is there a club scene frame by frame just before Nina goes dancing on the dance floor? Who are Tom and Andrew who Nina chats with?

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    1. They ar ejust two guys Lily met over the bar. I'm sure there are screencaps somewhere in the internet from the sequence.

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  25. Whoa! This is crazy. Oh how I love this film.

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  26. Thanks for compiling all of these. It's far too much for the eye to comprehend during the film.

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  27. i was watching the club scene last night, slowed down frame-by-frame
    on my cheap DVR. and was able to catch these images and a few more.
    wasn't sure if anyone else knew about ALL the cool looking hidden images
    going on during this all too awesome and all too brief club scene. thank
    you for this breakdown, it's pretty damn cool. love the Chemical Brothers
    track that is playing in the scene too!

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  28. Way to make Black Swan even more terrifying... Some of those screencaps were way too creepy for their own good. Great job on capturing them all though, even if you'll induce many nightmares.

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  29. Very informative and highly original post, you really have a great eye for seeing the smallest details.

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  30. This was a superb post! Though some of them I thought I saw on my own (the club scenes mainly) there are a lot I didn't pick up on - hello scratching her back in two scenes, so obvious but I didn't catch it! This makes me want to go back and watch the movie again to see all the hidden images. Thank you!

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    1. You're welcome! Glad you liked the post!

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  31. This is why it is awesome to go through archives.. I would have missed on this amazing post other wise!

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  32. Superb stuff, absolutely brilliant. Must have taken ages to do this. I especially love that the paintings in her room are seemingly alive. Totally missed that, but such a great detail.

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    1. Thank you! It wasn't that much work, I saw the movie so many times I practically know it by heart :)

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  33. Incredible. Simply Amazing Post. I had no idea Mr Arronofsky put that much effort into each scene, but wow. I loved this movie before, but your article made me cherish it even more.

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    1. Thank you so much! I'm glad, it is my favorite movie and I adore it when others love it too :)

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  34. This was a great post, Sati! You did a fantastic job putting al of this together. Most impressive!

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    1. Thank you! I have this compulsive thing with dissecting the movies I really love :)

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  35. Wow, must have taken quite some time to make this. Although this is my favorite movie I never noticed any of these! Thanks for making this.

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  36. Amazing post for an amazing film. Well done.

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  37. Mind. Blown. This is amazing! I will be sharing this with my followers as well. Wow. Some great work here. I have to watch this movie again!

    I really enjoyed this post immensely.

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    1. Thank you! Glad you liked the post and I'm even more glad it made you want to see this great film again ^^

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  38. This is an incredible list. I had picked up quite a few of them after having watched the film a couple of times, but I had completely missed the stuff going on in the club - great work!

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  39. Ok. Cool. But what would prompt watching ANY movie frame by frame.

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    1. It's hard to decipher your sophisticated grammar but if you are suggesting you can find these kind of hidden images in any movie, I'm looking forward to your breakdown of Dumb and Dumber and Scooby Doo.

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    2. Black Swan has religion strength for me. For the amount of times I have seen this movie it's ridiculous I didn't notice half of these images. Brav fuckin o!

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    3. Thanks! I think this movie is a gift that keeps on giving - there are so many subtle things, mysteries and innuendos hidden in it.

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  40. wow. very cool. ive watched this movie a lot, but never seen this stuff. takes two years to make a movie, right? nice to know they put a little elbow grease into it. fuckin Arronofsky. cant wait for his moses movie.

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    1. I really love how much detail Arronofsky puts in his movies, can't wait for his next films.

      Thanks for the comment!

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  41. That movie was too girly/creepy for me. The only 2 scenes worth watching are the Portman masturbating scene and the girl on girl scene with Mila Kunis.

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    1. Well I'm glad you found something to enjoy in the movie :)

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  42. The rash reminds me of the skin of a plucked bird.

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    1. I think it was actually supposed to look like the skin of a bird.

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  43. I honesty haven't watched this movie yet. I know it's been 3 years since it's release but I just hadn't gotten around to seeing it. Tonight, I've cleared all my plans so I can watch this. Super excited. This will definitely help me write my paper for film class tomorrow. :)

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    1. I hope you'll like it and good luck with the paper!

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  44. Holy Frak ! As if Aronofsky was not enough of a genius already !

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    1. He is awesome, isn't he? Definitely my favorite director working nowadays.

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  45. Too bad the movie as a whole was just a live action Perfect Blue that paled in comparison.

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    1. I thought the two were similar but not the same. I found Black Swan to be much better.

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  46. Great work Sati! Amazing how much hidden stuff Aronofsky left in the movie, it makes me really admire Black Swan so much more :D And congrats on your Reddit success!!!

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    1. Thank you! Reddit thing is hugely overwhelming :)

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  47. This was interesting, but was annoying that it wasn't in order.

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    1. I agree, I wish all the club scenes were together. However, I do think this post reveals some stuff that my mind could just barely process as "off" before they disappeared. Like I knew there was movement on one of the paintings at the beginning, but it happened so quickly that almost at the moment it appeared, it vanished. I could totally see that something unusual was going on in the club scene, but I didn't know what it was. Amazing that ALL this stuff was going on. Thanks for the post.

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  48. Just wanted to say kudos to your excellent and insightful work here - I integrated some of it into my own look at the movie, linking to this post.

    Again: really solid, thorough stuff.

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  49. Thank you! Glad you liked it.

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  50. This is very respectable research!

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  51. Thankyou so much!! Loved the movie; love you analysis. VERY INSPIRING!!!

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  52. GOOSEbumps or how to call that characteristic rush [haven't been seen before by me] is a great idea of film makers

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  53. I had noticed a few of these details but never imagined there were so many. Your post is fantastic! thanks :)

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  54. Very interesting post Sati! I really need to watch this again so I can piece all of these hidden messages together. This is one of those rare movies that is even better on the re-watch.

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    1. Thank you! It's fun picking this up when you are watching but most is blink and you miss it kind of thing :)

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  55. Creepy. As. Hell.

    Yes it is interesting and stuff, but how am I supposed to sleep at night without being haunted by these images?

    But seriously, thanks for gathering all the creepiness in one post :) It show how much effort was actually put into the making of this movie.

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  56. That is amazing all the things you picked up on and I am usually pretty good at that. I have to watch the movie again and really look for those things now. Thanks for sharing!

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  57. I love that this is still getting comments after 2 1/2 years. After seeing the stills, I watched the movie again to look for everything on here. I can honestly say I'm a little obsessed with this film.

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  58. Check this out:
    http://italkyoubored.wordpress.com/tag/swan-lake/

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  59. OMG how come I just found your blog ??
    Okay, so I have watched this movie many times, have seen quite creepy scene from Nina but had not notice these little thing such as tiny ballerina in a club, Rothbart, etc. The reason why I paused the club scene simply because I love the song played called The Chemical Brothers - Don't Think (Black Swan Remix) where I would dance to this song high on ecstasy, just like in the movie.

    Thanks to you and Darren Aronofsky, This is a movie no matter how many times you watch it you just cant get enough. AMAZING !

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  60. People who make movies like this, with all this subliminal nonsense that has to be watched frame by frame to interpret it, and/or watched several times to even begin to figure it out, is what makes people not go to watch them (I will never watch another Aronofsky film again, and this type of film making is the prime reason). And then they wonder why the general public feels that so many movies suck.

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    1. I'm sure he is devastated you won't ever watch his film again.

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  61. After the article I have watched the movie all over again and it just blew me away the first time I've observed few things but this article just completely opened up a nee viewing experience
    I have noticed few more scene
    1) when Nina and lily are in Ninas room and Nina yelling at her mom she's not 12 anymore Lily wearing a black dress hides behind Nina when she moves to her shoulder her face changes to Nina
    2) The sex scene between Lily and Thomas at backstage Lily changes to Nina and Thomas changes to Rothbart
    3) During the lesbian scene the wing tattoo on Lily's back become more prominent and the wings stretches

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  62. Black swan in one of my favourite movie ive noticed a few more like this
    1) when Nina and lily are in Nina's bedroom before Nina yells to her mom "I'm not 12 anymore" during this scene lily wearing a black slips when lily moves her head to Nina's shoulder her face changes to Nina
    2) During the sex scene between Lily and Thomas backstage Lily's face turn to Nina and Thomas turn to Rothbart
    3) During the lesbian scene Lily's Wing tattoo on her back moves and wings starts to spread on her back After the scene lily changes to Nina (giving the idea that she's hallucinating and fantasised the lesbian love making)

    "Also few things that leads to question the relationship between Nina and her mother "

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  63. the mysterious rash is actually goose flesh without feathers~(like when we get goose bumps, that's where that term came from!)

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  64. I think Nina's mother was molesting her...If I remember correctly during the lesbian sex scene didn't Lilly turn into her mom? And then she said "something like I'm ready for You"

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