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[kayviart]

Alt text: Please note repeated tags and numbered tweets indicating thread progression have been omitted. 

Twitter thread by user G’raha Tia @/graha_tia on Jan 1, 2022

RADZ-AT-HAN SCENE ANALYSIS: G'RAHA TAKES CHARGE (and makes the fans collapse into a collective sobbing heap) 

G'raha’s flight, fight, or freeze response is ‘Assume Full Command and Take Charge of the Situation’ and I think it’s the most amazing thing.

The guy is surrounded by people who are literally exploding into horrifying, rampaging monsters & the leader of those people was just devoured alive in front of him, and he kicks into high gear & gains control of everybody in under twenty seconds.

It shows his leadership experience as the Exarch, and how many crises and horrors he must have endured throughout his time during the 8th Umbral Calamity and the Flood of Light on the First. Everything about the scene is so perfectly done, too.

G'raha doesn’t just pull out his weapon and start screaming orders - he positions himself in the middle of the space so everyone can have a clear line of sight to him, and he to them. This not only makes it easier for everyone visually, but places him at a vulnerable yet defendable point of reference - everyone (including the Blasphemies) can get to him with relative ease and he, as both a healer and combatant, can get to them quickly if needed. He straightens his posture, pulls back his shoulders, tucks his chin a little, and starts speaking slowly from his chest and diaphragm-which drops his pitch half an octave, adding bass & power, and makes his voice carry without much effort and with absolute clarity over the shrieks of the Blasphemies and the sounds of fighting. 

His commands are simple & concise, which is vastly different from his normal talkative demeanor & shows his familiarity with similar situations - after all, it’s hard for people in crisis mode to listen & process anything complicated. He’s able to break things down to short, digestable phrases: “defend this point”, “run here for safety”, “REMAIN CALM,” and makes it very easy for people both panicking & fighting for their lives to understand & follow.

He has such a strong presence that everyone around just instinctively listens - not a single person questions his authority or decisions, despite most of them having no clue who he is. He establishes himself immediately as a steady rock in the middle of the (almost literal) storm, and even the people who don’t know him can feel his reliability & gravitate towards it. The entire scene is just absolutely perfect to me, from the animation & cinematography, to the superb voice acting, to the music and sound design (the cries of the Blasphemies [were] positively bone chilling)… Phenomenal, and one of my favorites from the expansion, not only because it’s G'raha. 

A visceral, horrifying experience that compounded & solidified the dire nature of the situation into players’ minds, and started a long chain of even more terrifying scenes of tragedy (because objectively the Palaka’s Stand arc was one of the most distressing). 

But despite the fear & dread the story always reminded us that even the darkest moments had light. 

Whether it was G'raha standing tall in Radz-At-Han, the WoL & twins fighting their way to Palaka’s Stand, or even dear Matsya & the teachings of his faith–it was a constant, well-executed reminder to keep the hope. 

Anyways thanks for coming to my TED talk! 

I’m so happy to have experienced such a phenomenal, thought-provoking, heartfelt story and honestly have much more to say about everything, but perhaps that’ll be for another time. <3

Attached at the end of the thread is a meme image of a man sitting at a table on a campus. The sign on the table reads “ENDWALKER IS THE BEST YOU CAN’T CHANGE MY MIND”

alt text end.

–

This thread perfectly encapsulates why this moment was so powerful! It also is so COMPLICATED, character wise, because just before he takes charge, he sighs and it sounds distorted to me, like the voices of those who are beginning to succumb.

[kayviart]

had to move back to tumblr, it’s been ages 🙂

[kayviart]

short comic

Idk had a thought in my head that Fae was just full of complicated feelings. Haircuts always helped me feel like I can let the weight of the world go and also talk to my hairstylist with no judgement whatsoever.

So here’s that 🙂