#betrayal is an inherent part of queue

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

“You’re seriously going to tell me that’s not Capricorn?”

( tagging @ledeuill for crack purposes )

[miximax-hell]

...This should have been published the 10th of January. I queued it ages ago (back when my last post was published), but Tumblr farted and decided not to post it. Which is just fantastic. It’s not the first time it decides to screw up the queue, but it’s the first time it happens to me on this blog. So annoying. This means it’s coming a few days late, but I hope you all still had a fantastic EnYaga Day!

As I prepared for True EnYaga Day back in October, I found again this old doodle of mine--the base for what would later become the final design of EnYaga. I thought it might be fun to share it and use it as an excuse to talk about this subject AGAIN, and... that was good enough for me, really.

You guys know me and there’s probably very little reason to do so, but I have never really talked about the reasons behind this miximax, have I? Well, if there is a day to indulge in that, it’s EnYaga Day, so let’s get to it!

As usual, more under the cut.

Despite Tumblr’s betrayal, this does have a perk: I get to revise this post before it’s published, which is great, because I’m happy to report that things are better now than when I first wrote it. In the original version, I mentioned that my life at the time was a little... paused, so there wasn’t really a lot to say. Among the only news worth sharing, I sent an oil painting to a friend a couple of months ago and it arrived very fast and completely safe, so that was great! It was a Professor Layton-themed painting, but now that I don’t have it at home anymore, I’m tempted to make another one... (If I do, chances are more FudoLay content will arrive here swiftly after lol) Other than that, I’d just started my classes again, but I was still desperately looking for a job. At least, classes made me feel like I wasn’t completely wasting every single day, so I was more cheerful than I was during summer. (Funny, because my group of friends at uni used to say that they could only smile during summer, but I was pretty miserable during those months. ww;)

Thankfully, though, I can say I now have a job! And it’s great!! ...The conditions aren’t so great, but at least I’m back to work as a game designer. I’m learning so much and I feel very motivated to work, even if it’s technically a collaboration and I will only get money once the game is published--in other words, when the game starts bringing money our way. This is far from ideal, but I honestly had no other options and I’m having a blast working on this, so I hope something cool will come out of it! For now, I would ask you to keep your eyes on Eskema Games and maybe check out the company’s latest game, Delta Squad? I had absolutely NOTHING to do with that game because it was released way before I joined, but supporting it supports the company I work for, which always comes in handy! It also underperformed, so it could use all the love you guys can give it.

Also, let me quickly point something out: about a year ago, an anon asked me if i was going to include Danganronpa characters in this project. The question is here, in case anyone needs a reminder: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/181991994534/hey-there-since-youre-doing-miximaxs-with-game Well, I FINALLY got my hands on the DR Trilogy for PS4, so I’ll be looking into that and seeing what I can find! If that anon is still around, I hope I can make them happy.

But let’s cut to the chase already!

As I always make sure to clarify, yes, I do massively ship Endou and Yagami. But there’s thankfully much more to EnYaga (the miximax--if I need to talk about the ship again, I’ll just call it Endou x Yagami) than just “yeah, I ship them.” In order to understand the reasons behind this combination, though, we must venture into two very different subjects: what reasons there are to choose Yagami to begin with, and the life story of yours truly. I swear both are important to get the full picture, but I’ll keep the latter as brief and free of unnecessary information as possible, even if it’s definitely the longest and most complex part. So, without any further ado, let’s see what makes this miximax valid within the logic of this project.

A big chunk of what makes EnYaga work was explained exactly three years ago, here: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/131215636268/when-the-king-enters-the-room-the-world-stops-and

The tl;dr would be that Endou plays as a goalkeeper, but also as a libero! Being such radically different positions, it’s to be expected that he would need two different miximaxes, because it would be rather difficult to find an aura that improves his field skills (shooting power, speed, etc.) and his goalkeeping abilities at the same time. Thankfully, Yagami gives him the exact abilities a good libero needs to be able to excel--especially when that libero has the pressure of being part of most of the strong hissatsus the team can pull off. So, for more info on EnYaga’s powers, please check the link above. (And note that, of course, this miximax only marginally improves Endou’s goalkeeping capabilities.)

I have also talked in length about the relationship between Endou and Yagami, but here’s a very brief summary. During the in-game events of IE2, Endou gave Yagami hope when all she wanted was to die to atone for her sins, thus saving her life in the process. In return, she wanted to give him the strength to fight when he needed it most as a way to repay his kindness towards her.

Yagami’s innate abilities and the bond they share are the more logical reasons behind this miximax. There is, however, one extra reason to include this miximax in the project.

There have always been three main rules here when it comes to choosing auras:

1. Only characters that come from universes predominantly inhabited by humans (or very human-like creatures, like Zelda’s Hylians).

2. Only one character from every franchise, unless they are Level-5 franchises. In that case, I may use up to two per franchise. Examples of this are Danball Senki/Little Battlers eXperience (with Toramaru and Megane) and Professor Layton (with Fudou and Shishido).

3. One aura coming from every single (and proper) Inazuma Eleven game on the market. Those being Inazuma Eleven, IE2: Fire, IE2: Blizzard, IE3: Spark, IE3: Bomber, IE3: Ogre, IEGO: Light, IEGO: Dark, IEGO Chrono Stone: Raimei, IEGO Chrono Stone: Neppu, IEGO Galaxy: Supernova, IEGo Galaxy: Big Bang, Inazuma Eleven Strikers, IE Strikers 2012 XTreme, and IEGO Strikers 2013. I’m not counting Everyday, SD nor unreleased titles. So far, I have 7 out of 15.

From the beginning, I have wanted Endou to have nothing but Inazuma Eleven-only miximaxes. I mean, he’s the main character and all!

Needless to say, Yagami is part of the Inazuma Eleven miximaxes--in fact, she takes the IE2 Blizzard spot, if anyone is curious about that very specific detail. She is obviously a very predominant character in that game, having a relevant impact during the final match against The Genesis and even (spoiler alert for a 10 years old game) by injuring Kazemaru earlier, because he didn’t just leave like he did in the anime--Yagami sent him to the hospital when he started matching The Genesis’s power. Since she’s a main character in that game, and considering that many of the other important characters introduced in it become part of the teams that make up this project (such as Hiroto, Midorikawa and maaaybe Saginuma), Yagami was the perfect candidate. She was also arguably the strongest among the remaining main characters of IE2, and the only midfielder. Not to mention the bond she shares with Endou, which only rounds it all up even more.

So, as a brief summary, Yagami is an Inazuma Eleven character (which is exactly what I wanted for Endou) and a very strong player, she provides Endou with everything he would need to be a good libero (incredible speed, great shooting strength, being a midfielder and the stamina that inherently comes with it, powerful hissatsus, and so on), she shares a canonical bond with Endou, the contrast between their personalities is super interesting to explore, and there are reasons why even she would want him to take her power. He can hardly have it better! It makes a lot of sense, and it’s all heavily based on canon, so I don’t need to explain much in that regard. That’s always convenient.

But there is another side to all of this. My side.

I first started working on miximaxes with the idea of only making 4 or 5. I simply meant to give extra love to some of my favourite characters to make myself and a few friends happy. This never became a full-fledged project until my good friend Heather, who used to be on Tumblr under the username @ishidoshuuji, said she wanted to be able to reblog the Seitei x Yuuichi miximax I had drawn for her. In other words, this: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/129863262149/well-it-was-about-time-i-started-using-this-blog

Before that, miximax-hell used to be a private blog: one of those you can only check out if you have the password. I never thought ANY stranger would be interested in it, so why expose myself like that? It would only make me feel bad. I could have never imagined over a hundred people would follow me here, and even less so considering that only about 10 of my friends follow this blog. So I have to thank Heather because, even if 100 isn’t a big number at all here on Tumblr, I still appreciate each and every person who stops by and it’s helped me meet some incredibly lovely people.

Back to the subject, though. This story is directly linked to MamoDai’s. The important part of it was that EnYaga’s design isn’t mine, and so isn’t MamoDai: the former is completely not mine (even if, as the sketch above suggests, the concept was first doodled by me), while the latter was only partially mine. The thing, though, is that the same person made EnYaga and “collaborated” on the creation of MamoDai, which meant I let them into this very personal solo project twice. If you want to check out the full story, though, you can read it here: https://miximax-hell.tumblr.com/post/142160652319/you-should-have-seen-this-one-coming-come-on

As I was saying, miximax-hell is a solo project. It’s something for me to enjoy, for me to think about, for me to develop, for me to improve at designing character, and for me to decide on. I set the rules and I come up with suitable matches--or what I think are suitable matches, that is. ww I’m definitely open to suggestions if anyone is willing to share their thoughts with me, and fanart is always, always, ALWAYS welcome, of course, but I don’t borrow other people’s ideas nor designs. Not because those designs and ideas aren’t fantastic, nor because I’m not allowed to, but because the point of this blog is to have fun and improve my skills. If I don’t do it myself, it’s kind of pointless, so I prefer a bad design made by me over a great design by someone else. Also, if people were to check all of these things out, I wanted it to be because of my work, not because someone super well-known was part of it and people were desperate to get more content from them.

When I first came up with this project, though, someone very close to me wanted to be part of it. Not because they found it interesting per se, but simply because it was mine. I had previously declined an offer to join one of their projects because I lacked the necessary skill, so they wanted to join mine instead. And don’t get me wrong--I appreciate the interest even now! But, again, it beat the point and I had to refuse. Looking back, I’m very glad I didn’t give in, but I felt awful back then and this person must have felt really bad too.

That’s why I made that exception and suggested, “Hey, why don’t we create a miximax together?” That’s how MamoDai was born. But while the interest in working on MamoDai seemed... scarce, this person came up with and gave me something out of their own accord: the EnYaga miximax design I still use to this day.

Now, here’s the thing: EnYaga was a proper gift that person made for me, and I always honour gifts. If it had been a random doodle, like I have received others in the past, it would have ended there. But when someone puts true effort and time into making something especifically FOR ME, regardless of what happens between us later, I still treasure it forever. And this gift came from a person who, apparently, really wanted to be part of this project when I first came up with it, which, honestly, put me in a tight spot. The least I could do was accept this design, which I loved almost as much as I loved them, and incorporate it to my lineup.

EnYaga was going to happen regardless, because I was working on it myself, but this person beat me to it (with such incredible quality, too, which I would never be able to hold a candle to) and, after what I made them go through with my continuous rejections, I had to honour them somehow. It was my way of saying, “I can’t let you do this for me, but I deeply appreciate the thought.”

This person is now out of my life, though. This means that, honestly, I could just get rid of the design. They would never know, and I would be happier with something of my own even if it sucked in comparison. They would never feel offended either--not like they would even if they knew, because it’s obvious they don’t care about me anymore. It would be easy and 100% painless for all parties involved.

But EnYaga is a token of the bond we once shared and I treasure that, even though I don’t want anything to do with that person anymore. It portrays the fun and happy times, not the sad and bitter ending. Happiness is always something worth remembering, isn’t it? And maybe, just maybe, thanks to the wonderful people I’m close to and my eternal love towards Endou x Yagami, I might one day be able to completely forgive the bad and focus on the good, so I can smile when I look at EnYaga and think of this person. I look forward to a day when there isn’t an ounce of bitterness left in my heart (although I am one revengeful and spiteful piece of poo, so it might never happen). And for that possibility alone, it might be worth it to keep making this one exception and let this miximax be someone else’s. Especially now that I have DoYaga to call my own.

So that’s it, folks: not only do Endou and Yagami make for a sick combination in theory, but it’s also a miximax with deep sentimental value for me in so many different ways. So even if it had been someone else’s idea and the two characters were a terrible match in all senses, chances are I would have still kept it. Thank goodness it wasn’t the case. ww

And all because I didn’t finish the design fast enough on my own. May that be the lesson to learn from this: hurry the heck up, self.

[inanawesomewave]

Millon’s Subtypes of ASPD: Tag Yourself

A problem I think I’ve encountered with ASPD and the public perception is that people have very fixed ideas in their heads about what a psychopath should or shouldn’t look like. Is he the slimy politician having affairs with his interns and screwing over minorities without so much as a wince? Is she the career bitch who seems to enjoy having many underpaid staff devoted to her every sadistic whim just a little bit too much? Is he the unbearably handsome compulsive liar your best mate used to fuck? You know, that guy in the suit for no reason?  And I mean, yeah. Maybe. But it’s not all as broad as that. American Psychologist Theodore Millon, in his life, did extensive work on personality disorders, specifically to do with dividing individuals diagnosed with such disorders into subtypes and fuck me if I don’t just love a good set of categories.  Technically he divided psychopathy into two separate personality disorders, one being Sadistic Personality Disorder (psychopathy) which was distinct from Antisocial Personality Disorder (sociopathy). Some say there’s a difference and some don’t - I tend to think if I fell at that far end, or even if psychopath/sociopath was/were synonymous with ASPD as some people claim, I’d be the sociopath. However, when Millon proposed that this be recognised as a PD, his proposal was rejected. Sadism is part of the dark tetrad to which most of us ASPD friends can relate here and there (a friend once called me “unnecessarily sadistic” but really, it’s a fleeting kind of trait at best), but is not its own disorder. With that said, here’s the subtypes of ASPD, as proposed by Millon: Nomadic (including schizoid and avoidant features) Think Charles Manson. Crazy bastard has spent his entire life in and out of institutions, living on the margins of society, here we have antisociality that works due to slipping between the cracks on a constant level, hard to pin down, hard to understand. Nomadic psychopaths don’t give a fuck about the Armani suit or the Rolex. They wanna grow a beard and smoke discarded cigarette butts and sure, maybe sometimes they’ll start a cult and send for the murders of high-profile celebrities, get a swastika tattooed to their forehead, just basic shit like that.  Malevolent (including sadistic and paranoid features) This is where you start to see psychopaths really behave like psychopaths. They’re belligerent, sadistic, quarrelsome, they anticipate betrayal so preemptively explode it in as loud and visually striking way they can. Where some antisocial people are the most charming and sociable creatures you’ve ever met (and so you don’t know you’ve met them), malevolent psychopaths are antisocial and asocial all at once. They don’t like you, or your friends, or your family, or your fucking dead pet dog or cat or whatever it is you keep bleating on about. Malevolent types of antisocial people want to set fire not just to your home, but to your whole street just in case you were friendly with your neighbours. Covetous (including primarily negativistic features) Incessant and directionless yearning for what they don’t have, envy, jealousy, bitterness, ruled by greed and a desire for oneupmanship, seeks pleasure in taking without giving back, and enjoys taking more than having.  Now we’re getting into Patrick Bateman territory. This kind of psychopath IS the psychopath you’ve been imagining. If he’s managed to be rich in some way, then he’s got a beautifully stylish and sickeningly expensive apartment that he fucking hates because someone else got a slightly more expensive one. If he’s not managed to become rich then he’s the used car salesman who spends his lunch break steadily poisoning his colleague Dan’s instant coffee because Dan got a better company car and that’s just fucking bullshit. Dan’s got to go.  Risk-taking (including histrionic features) Dauntless, venturesome, adrenaline junkie, heedless, fearless. This is the psychopath I’ve heard least about. She’s jumping out of planes for charity and keeping the money herself, she’s ruthless and seems to get her satisfaction not so much from slowly and insidiously working on a victim over the course of months or even years, she’s much more likely to act on a whim and take the big risk that might not pay off. She’s going to be into gambling and might be in a lot of debt but whatever, it doesn’t matter. She can always fake her own death and fuck off to St Lucia with her mysteriously disappeared ex-husband’s life-savings.  Reputation-defending (including narcissistic features) This is the WHY DON’T YOU LOVE ME psychopath, the psychopath that nobody ever wants to admit to being, but hey, someone’s got to be it, and it might as well be you. This is the psychopath who is going to get caught, the clumsy psychopath. The psychopath who thinks they’re infallible but hasn’t got anything to back it up with, because they didn’t see why they should have to try or do any legwork - people should just fear them even though they’re not frightening. This I feel is the most vulnerable psychopath at all, the one simultaneously the closest to an empath and the farthest away one can possibly get, because they have human distress that comes -- not from the covetousness or enviousness from before -- but a self-imposed greatness that is so fragile and precarious that anything at any second can threaten it to fall. And you don’t want to be there when it does. This psychopath is terrified of being thought of in any way that undermines their inherent greatness. Tell that psychopath they’re a fucking no-hoper with no friends, and they will likely brush you off and assume your rage comes from a greater envy at their formidable and indomitable power and strength. But tell that psychopath you preferred their hair before it got cut? Looks like it’s you who’s getting cut now. Interestingly enough, this is the subtype of psychopath who is least likely to know that their behaviour is psychopathic. After all. It’s not their fault. It’s yours.  So now we’ve all had fun working out which we are, take a minute to work out which one you are. Of course the examples I gave were hyped up to illustrate the point - a malevolent psychopath might just stand in line at a shop having a rapid slideshow of violent imagery of the death of the man in front of them in the queue, because the man at the shop is taking too long and eating into their time, thinking, “the selfish cunt, why should HE get to take up all that space? What makes HIM all of a sudden need all that time? Fucking state of him, you know, this is exactly what is wrong with ABSOLUTELY FUCKING EVERYTHING god I’m going to burn this place to the fucking ground, none of the families of anyone in this hell hole would ever miss them, if anything they’d be WELL RID OF THESE USELESS PIECES OF ACTUAL HUMAN SHI-- oh, hi yes can I have a pack of Marlboro Reds, please? Lovely day, isn’t it?” and the time it takes to exchange warm pleasantries with the idiot checkout girl, walk home, and have a cigarette, just so happens to be the exact same amount of time it took to cool off, calm down, and pretend like nothing ever happened. 

[jhwdrawsthings]

The Last Jedi Teaser Poster Anyalsis

Worth a Thousand Words

An Analysis of The Last Jedi Teaser Poster

Having just returned home from Star Wars Celebration: Orlando, I am filled with emotions, excitement and anticipation for the next installment of the Skywalker family saga. I was fortunately enough sit in the The Last Jedi panel, after 20 hours of sitting on a concrete floor, and an additional 10 hours before hand, queueing outside. However, that panel was worth every second of the wait time. And while most people will say the long anticipated teaser trailer stole the show, as an artist and illustrator, for me, the star of the show was the teaser poster, that was also revealed.

My jaw literally dropped as I stood in stunned silence as the crowd cheered around me. In fact, my line buddy, a member of the 501st by the name of Matt, repeatedly asked if I was okay as stood agape at the poster, amazed in it’s brilliant design as well as very clear and intentional use of visual story telling. I was flabbergasted at the bold choices made by Lucasfilm in this teaser poster, and I do believe that this is more of an indicator of the film’s story, rather than the trailer. This poster tells us, the viewer, everything we need to know about the direction of the upcoming movie, as well as helps dispel the rumors that The Last Jedi will be nothing more than a carbon clone of The Empire Strikes Back.

Before I go into detail I just want to say that it’s no secret that I ship reylo, however, for the purposes of this discussion, I am setting aside my implicit biases and talking about the facts stated in this poster, rather than fan speculation and conjecture.

First and foremost, what stood out to me is the simplicity in the poster’s design. We see only three characters, Rey, Luke and Kylo Ren. After doing extensive research, I found that this is the ONLY poster with just three characters. All previous Star Wars posters depict the main ensemble of cast members, as far back as 1979’s A New Hope. Never before has a Star Wars poster depicted only three members of the cast, and it is a clear statement that these three characters are the most important in relation to the story. There is also a not so subtle nod to Luke Skywalker in the original promotional theatrical poster for A New Hope. Both Rey and Luke are positioned in almost the same spacial area, in the same pose, with an ignited light saber raised up. For Luke, this symbolized his acceptance of his heroic journey, and the inherent power he possessed. For Rey, however, the meaning is vastly different. The sequel trilogy is very much about passing the torch from the old generation to the new, and unlike in The Force Awakens, Rey is present and accepting of that power, physically and metaphorically, in The Last Jedi, the second installment, rather than the first. Rey is our new hero, now heroine, embarking on her own heroine’s journey.

Now I know not many fans like Kylo Ren, and in fact they perceive him as a whiny emo cry baby, trying his best (and failing) to emulate Grandpa Vader, but his importance in the story cannot be overstated! He is the descendent of Darth Vader, and Leia Organa, and as much as most fans dislike him, that’s just simply a fact! The Star Wars trilogy movies are about the Skywalker family, and he is the new Skywalker of the trilogy. He is important to the cinematic universe as a whole, and characters from the The Force Awakens who easily had double the amount of screen time as him, such as Finn, were purposefully omitted from the poster in lieu of Kylo Ren. Regardless of how much fans like his character, he is going to play a very impactful role in the film to come. I know that he is not the most important character or the focal point of the poster, however, given the overly negative response he solicits from fans, I felt that it is important and necessary to make my position, and the poster’s narrative clear; even if you don’t like his character, Kylo Ren is a key player in the Skywalker family saga, and the cinematic universe as a whole.

When analyzing any piece of artwork, regardless of the the medium, the best jumping off point is the focal point. In The Last Jedi teaser poster, the viewer’s eye is immediately drawn to Rey, brought forth by the strong contrast of the blue halo of light emitting from her lightsaber. In terms of visual hierarchy and storytelling, she is the most important element to not only the poster, but in the movie it represents. Her position, in the lower center of the foreground suggests that she is the most grounded of the three characters, and thus the one that we, as the viewer, is meant to relate to the most. However, she is removed from both Luke and Kylo, positioned below them, which indicates that she was not a initially part of their conflict. And originally, she wasn’t. Rey was just a scavenger, abandoned by her parents on Jakku, struggling each day to survive. At that point, Rey didn’t know or care about the Force, Resistance or the First Order. Her primary goals and motivations were pure and simple, survival.

This coincides with the backstory indicated in not only The Force Awakens but also in Claudia Grey’s novel, Bloodline. There are no indication that either men knew who Rey was or her origins until she found BB-8 and became tangled in fight with the First Order. Luke and Kylo have a contentious and tumultuous past, filled with conflict and anger, as they stand on opposite sides of Rey’s light saber. This is a visual metaphor for the Force, and where Luke and Kylo represent the Light side, and Dark side respectively. Separating them is Rey, and the light of her saber. Although she is removed from their history, Rey has been flung into the foreground of the struggle between opposing sides of the Force. She is part of their present, and thus their future. In short, the resolution of Luke and Kylo’s conflict rests on Rey’s shoulders, both metaphorically and visually in the poster.

The struggle been Kylo Ren and Luke is an interesting and important to the story, but what is more important is what it represents! At its core, Star Wars is a fairy tail, and was intended to tell stories and teach children about the human condition and morality. Understanding every detail of Luke and Kylo’s past is less important as what their struggle represents. It is the timeless struggle of good vs. evil. If the timeline in Bloodline is to be trusted completely, and there are no extra twists and turns in the interum, Kylo Ren turned to the Dark side of the Force approximately six years prior, and has been unable to locate or confront Luke since his disappearance. What has changed in that time? Why will Kylo suddenly be able to locate his former master on Ahch-to? The answer is right in the poster, Rey!

This of course opens the doors to a whole new set of theories, such as a Force Bond, or Snoke obtains a copy of the map and so on. But there is practically no solid evidence to substantiate any of these claims, and at this point, they are pure conjecture.

I also find Rey’s placement in the middle quite interesting in the wider context of the history of the Force itself. One of the central themes Star Wars has always been finding balance. In the prequel trilogy we saw this through Anakin’s development from the heroic Jedi knight, to the Sith Lord, Darth Vader. And yes, Anakin is responsible for choosing his actions and must therefor accept the consequences of such actions, however, the biggest contributing factor to his descent into darkness was the Jedi Order and their absolute refusal to acquiesce to the basic human nature of love and attachment. In fact, one can argue that the Jedi Order is even more barbaric and cruel than the Sith. Companionship and attachment is one of the hallmarks of humanity, and by denying them, they are essentially denying being human. But the Jedi Order in both the prequel and and original trilogy was the personification of the Light side of the Force, while the Sith representing Darkness. Too much of either side’s influence causes the Force to spiral out of balance, and thus the galaxy is thrown into chaos again. This was demonstrated numerous times on both sides, such as Anakin’s betrayal, or the New Republic unknowingly creating the groundwork for the First Order.

In short, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. Both light and dark must be present in order to achieve balance, and Rey’s placement, directly between the light and dark, makes her the fulcrum, or the point of equilibrium. In essence, it is Rey who is who is going to bring about that balance.

Another interesting observation I made was that all three characters, Luke, Rey and Kylo Ren are all colored in red. I cannot stress this enough, the psychology of color is important! Specific colors invoke particular and subconscious imagery and responses. Color theory and its use in marketing and illustration is a universal language. In fact, color tells just as much, if not more, of a story as the composition! There are two primary colors in the poster, red and blue. Red is the color of darkness, evil and passion. Blue on the other hand conveys serenity and tranquility. Why is Kylo’s lightsaber red? Not because he uses the Dark side of the Force, but because the color red has a strong visual impact and the human brain automatically associates red with darkness and power. It’s no coincidence that the color red is associated with the Sith, while blue is attributed to the Jedi! Everything you see on screen or in print was designed to create a specific response from the viewer and convey as much information as possible with no words.

Further more, in both The Force Awakens and the teaser trailer for The Last Jedi, it’s made quite clear that our heroes and villain are all experiencing a crisis of faith in the Force. Rey had her entire existence turned up on its head looking for guidance and training. Luke, it is suggested, fell into despair and solitude after the death of his acolytes because his teachings and philosophies failed to save his own nephew. Kylo, who just recently murdered his own father in hopes of committing himself entirely to the darkness, felt more weak and confused than ever before (this is said nearly word for work in The Force Awakens novelization). Because the color red is frequently associated with the dark side of the Force, and I find it quite compelling that all three figures are bathed in red. To me, this suggests that the trio are all going to be struggling with their inner demons, which often implies the temptation of the dark side. In fact, the only beacon of light and hope comes from Rey’s light saber. Some have argued that the light comes from Rey herself, but when you compare her upper body to her lower body, you can observe that just like the figures above her, Rey’s form is red, and the blue reflected in her face is emanating from the lightsaber, rather than Rey herself. This coincides with Rian Johnson’s choice to make the Episode VIII title font red, and maintains visual continuity. The most logical conclusion one can extrapolate is in The Last Jedi is going to delve into much deeper and darker overtones and story lines than it’s predecessors.

The positioning of Luke and Kylo in relation to each other is another aspect to this poster that I find intriguing. Luke and Kylo’s heads are above Rey; in this poster they are literally watching over her, and her choice to accept the Skywalker lightsaber. However, they are on opposing sides of the saber, as described above, representing the light and the dark. As a viewer, this design illustrates a sense of tension and conflict in both Luke and Kylo, but also in how they view Rey, and her choices. This image is clearly setting up the overtone that Rey has to struggle between choosing accepting either Luke or Kylo. In other words, it’s another iteration of the never ending struggle between the light and the dark.

Looking back in The Force Awakens for a moment, we remember that Kylo Ren extended the offer to teach Rey, “You need a teacher. I can show you the ways of the Force!” We all know the choice Rey makes at the end of the movie, but what about Luke? Will Luke even want to teach Rey after his previous failings at reviving the old Jedi Order? The following does begin to tread into the territory of conjecture and theorizing, however I do believe there is solid evidence to back up what I am about to speculate, or else I would have omitted it form this analysis. At The Last Jedi panel, Daisy Ridley, under the watchful eye and ear of Kathleen Kennedy, did reveal some very interesting information. We, as the audience were MEANT to know this information prior to viewing the poster, or else the CEO of Lucasfilm would never have permitted that information be divulged (like the Rogue One mishap at Celebration Europe 2016). Summarized, Daisy stated that Rey indeed does meet her hero, Luke Skywalker, and like in real life, how we  (Rey) envision our heroes does not always coincide with the reality of our heroes. This very clearly sets up the idea that Rey and Luke are going to have a less than harmonious relationship in The Last Jedi. This is also backed up by some previous leaks and spoilers from MakingStarWars.net, however until we know the veracity of those rumors, I do not treat them as fact, like I do the things said directly from the people at Lucasfilm. The statements from Daisy Ridley at the panel, however, were purposeful in sparking ideas and igniting the flame of this idea that Luke and Rey will not have a peaceful mentor/mentee relationship in the same light as Yoda and Luke’s relationship.

Mentorship has always been another key themes throughout the Star Wars saga, from Anakin’s tutelage under Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, to Luke studying with Yoda. There is every indication that those reoccurring themes will continue, but in a different fashion. It’s been made pretty clear that Rey is going to struggle with Luke’s training, and we already know of Kylo Ren’s unrelenting conflict within himself, stemming from the teachings of Supreme Leader Snoke. Snoke ordered Kylo to kill his own father, an act that he did follow through with, but the novelization has proven that that act made him more conflicted than ever before. Where it should have brought him strength, instead he found weakness and doubt.

And all of this ties back to Kylo Ren’s original offer to Rey to teach her. It is my belief, based on the evidence above, that Rey is going to struggle between the teachings of Kylo Ren and Luke. You may ask “how will Rey learn from Kylo? They aren’t on the same planet?” Well even that is partially answered in Episode VII, and confirmed in tweets made by Pablo Hidalgo. Pablo definitively said that Rey learned so much so quickly at Starkiller Base because she extracted the information from Kylo Ren’s mind during the infamous interrogation scene. So in a way, Kylo has already become her first mentor.

Both the Light and the Dark are justified in their beliefs and teachings. Adam Driver previously stated in an interview that Kylo Ren vehemently believes he is and was justified in his actions, and it’s quite clear that Luke fully intended to disappear into the galaxy as a frizzled old hermit. What will happen if Luke does not agree to initially train Rey? She has all of these newly awakens powers, and no way to control them. Just like Kylo stated, she really does need a teacher. But which teacher? The Light or the Dark? Or, at what this poster suggests, something in the middle!

By placing both of Rey’s mentors above her, two Force users who are much more skilled and honed than she is, it indicates that both mentors are going to be fighting within Rey’s psyche. Luke will be teaching her one method, while Kylo and his Dark side influence will be pulling Rey in the opposite direction. This is wiring and character growth done right! The setting and characters have been established in the first film of the sequel trilogy, while the second installment places challenges and obstacles in their path. Without those challenges, characters will not grow or develop. Even more evidence for this is Rian Johnson’s prior statements that the characters in The Last Jedi are going to be tested and pushed beyond their limits. What would challenge Rey more than knowing she is can identify and relate to the person she hates the most, Kylo Ren? That would force the characters into a position where they have no choice but to adapt and evolve into something that spans beyond the juxtaposition of the Light and Dark side of the Force.

In other words, Grey Jedi!

Most likely it won’t be in so many words, but the concept behind it will remain the same. A world of Force users that are not bound by the narrow dogmatic codes of the Jedi or Sith! And while I do find both of their ideologies absolutely fascinating an an integral part of the Star Wars canonical universe, by constricting Force sensitives to Jedi/Sith, Good/Evil, Light/Dark is extremely limiting and grossly inhibits the idea of character depth, subtlety, progression and nuance. Maz Kanata and Ahsoka Tano are prime examples of Force sensitive individuals in the Star Wars universe who are canon and are Force sensitive, but do not fall into the dichotomy of Jedi and Sith. There has never been a main hero character in the films (which are the primary story telling means in the entire franchise that reaches the most viewers and has the biggest impact on mainstream pop culture). Luke Skywalker was seen as universal good, the epitome of the Joseph Campbell’s hero, who embarks on heroic journey on behalf of goodness and justice. The passing of the torch from Luke to Rey indicates a paradigm shift in the understanding of the Force for not only the characters but the viewers and fans as well.

The light saber in the poster is another piece of evidence for this! There is no partition between red (Darkness) and blue (Light). Instead there is a gradient emanating from both ends of the lightsaber, further emphasizing that this story will not be so simply as “kill the monster, save the world” but instead of dimensionality and gradation. There is middle ground to be found in the Force between the Light and the Dark, and Rey is the key to unlocking it. Or as Rey quite simply puts it in the trailer “balance.”

                                                        ********

On a personal side note, I do believe this teaser poster does further add fuel to the Reylo fire, and it makes be believe even more fervently that Reylo will eventually become canon in some iteration, but I wanted to keep my personal biases and theories out of this analysis. If anyone enjoyed reading this and would like to read my views on The Last Jedi teaser trailer and how it relates to Reylo, I’d be more than happy to comply. But I wanted and needed to get this poster off my chest first. My mind has been boiling over, wanted to put these thoughts down in some sort of organized fashion because as someone who is fluent in the language of illustrations as a medium for visual story telling, this poster blew my mind. I stood just flabbergasted at how blatantly the story implications were, but when I asked people about their thoughts they all came to different conclusions. And yes, that is the point of this poster, to get people talking and theorizing about what it all means, however visual story telling generally complies with a set of rules that are universally, albeit often subconsciously, understood by the viewer.

 Whew! I wrote this entire analysis in a single sitting. I apologize if there are any immediate grammatical errors, but I proof read this a number of times, so I am pretty sure that it’s correct.  EDIT: Thank you to @sleemo who helped me fix the grammatical errors in this!

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@ledeuill asked: " don't do that. " / from ariadna .

Don’t do what, Ariadna? What is it that you’re trying so hard to stop me from doing? Sipping from his glass, he glanced over at her, then at Helsinki, who held Mónica in his arms, gun pressed firmly to her temple. Berlin wasn’t sure if she actually cared about the other woman or if she was just afraid of seeing the aftermath, the blood spilling across the floor. No, he wasn’t going to give the order to execute her; he’d tried that once already. But she had betrayed them. Then again, was it really a betrayal if she was never truly on their side?

Yes. She had betrayed Denver. Arturo had gotten ahold of a real gun; Denver’s real gun. They couldn’t handle another mishap like that; it wouldn’t be as easy to come back from. “Ariadna.” His voice was firm, firmer than he’d intended, even, as he glanced over at her. “This woman would have caused chaos, and not the good kind of chaos. Whether you agree with my form of punishment is irrelevant.” He spoke to her as if she was a child, a child too young to understand the ways of the world. “Please, my love, sit down and be quiet.”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@ledeuill (continued from here)

The audacity was immeasurable; how could she have expected to get away with that? Andrés had been counting down the days until she would break, until she would decide she’d had enough, until her loved ones would pull her away. He wouldn’t let it happen; they’d made too many good memories together, and if everything went well she would become wife number six. “Oh, Ari...”

He let out a sigh, cold hands coming up to gently rest on her bare arms as he sat up. It wasn’t her idea... what bullshit! He didn’t believe it for a second. “Hey.” His hands stroked her skin. “Mírame.” His tone was calming yet ambiguous; after all, she deserved to be punished for her actions. “Why would you do that?” A hand reached below her chin, grilling her jaw to force her to look at him. “You tell me every day that you love me.”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@elmatriarcado asked: “You can fool everyone else, but you can’t fool me.”

He hated that she was right. He hated that he had actually grown fond of Nairobi. She was someone he truly respected, one of the only ones he knew was completely qualified for this heist. And she knew him. Berlin could hide some things from her, but certainly not everything.

Maybe it was just because they were all exhausted. Maybe it was because she was good at reading people. Or maybe — and this one scared him — maybe it was because they had grown close to each other without even knowing it. He glanced over at her, letting out a light scoff. “I was never trying to fool you, Nairobi. What are you referring to?”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@ledeuill asked: " we miss you. " / venice.

He didn’t believe her. Maybe she missed him; maybe Sergio missed him, perhaps even Nairobi. No one else would care. Andrés let out a sigh from where he was sitting on the rocking chair. Yes, he’d been ‘on vacation;’ in reality, he was with Martín. He had to say goodbye, one last time. Holding the phone up to his ear, he shrugged indifferently. “I’ll be back.”

Eventually, he would be. His flight home was tomorrow. But he wouldn’t be back for long before he was buried in the ground. Or maybe his body would be burnt. He wasn’t sure what he wanted done with his remains yet; either way, he wouldn’t be alive for much longer, and he knew it. “Tomorrow.” He reached for his wine glass. “Why did you call me, Venice?”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@ledeuill asked: ‘  i could really love you.  ’ / ari

I already do. Berlin didn’t need to speak the words; they both knew it was true. He loved her, truly and fully. Of course, there was a difference between a healthy love and an obsessive one. Ariadna was a beautiful distraction, the perfect distraction from his impending death. That was why he loved her.

“Prove it.” He smiled, letting a hand come to rest on her cheek. “Prove you could love me.”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@unsnare asked: ❛   let  him  go  or  i’ll  blow  you  away !  ❜ / from alison

Oh, the naive bravery of the star hostage. It was true; they weren’t allowed to hurt her, but hurting her family? Well, that was a different story. She could blow his head off right now with the gun she held in her hands, but by doing so, she’d be killing her family, too. “Don’t you remember our little conversation?”

He smiled, his grip on the man tightening. It was funny, how Alison thought she could save everyone with just a gun. But guns were different from power. Sergio was probably watching this right now, freaking out and calling the Mint, most likely talking with Moscow. Oh, poor Sergio… hopefully he wouldn’t have to witness the death of his older brother. But what did it matter? Andrés, the man behind Berlin’s persona, knew he wasn’t getting out of here alive. “Every single one of us knows who and where your family is. One shot, Alison, and you’re killing your family.” He chuckled lightly. “Do you really think that a seventeen year-old child can outsmart a team of experienced robbers? Put the gun down, cariña. Save yourself the loss.”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@rosefromdeath asked: “  i don’t want you here.  just go.  ” 

The disrespect would have normally resulted in punishment. But Berlin felt badly for her; he truly did — at least, that was what he told himself. “Hey.” He closed the door, leaving only the two of them in there. He unloaded his gun, putting the bullets into his pocket and letting it drop to the floor. Little did she know that he still had a small handgun on his other pocket.

“Cariña…” He took a step closer to her, keeping his hands where she could see them. He wasn’t going to hurt her — not unless she asked for it, directly or indirectly. “What’s wrong?”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@unsnare asked: " what have you done?! "/ from rosario

The decision to kill Mónica Gaztambide, a relatively innocent hostage, had not been an easy one, especially considering she was carrying a child. But what else was he supposed to do? She’d gained access to a cell phone. She could’ve put them all in jail. That act couldn’t go unpunished, or the other hostages would rebel immediately. She had to be made an example of.

“She had a cell phone,” he said firmly, standing his ground. The Professor would be pissed, but he didn’t need to know — not yet, anyway. “As the leader of this heist, I had to make a choice.” He looked Rosario in the eyes. “What would you have done differently?”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@antinousxwild asked: “ i  beg  your  pardon . ”

“Are you deaf?” Berlin asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly. “Or do you not understand English? ¿Hablas español?” He scoffed lightly, crossing his arms. “I told you to get out of my way.”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@ledeuill asked: “ you forget. we’re a team now. meaning, i watch your back, you watch mine. ” / vegas

“See, but here’s the thing.” Berlin studied Vegas carefully, slowly starting to pace around her in a circle. “El Profesor put me in charge of this heist. And where is he now, hm?” He stopped, gesturing towards the window of the building. “Out there. I’m the one who’s in here. I’m the one he trusts enough to be in charge.” Taking a step closer to her, he chuckled, looking down upon her. She was so much shorter than him; it made him feel more powerful. “We may be a team, but I’m still your boss, Las Vegas.”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@ledeuill asked: “Getting stabbed wasn’t really on my bucket list.” / vegas bc why not pal

“I’m sure it wasn’t.” He was never quite sure what to think of Vegas; she seemed to be a wild card, much like Tokyo, but he hadn’t gotten to know her as well as he’d gotten to know the so-called capital of Japan. Despite her situation, he was smiling, as if he was amused that she was injured, and he was. The audacity of the hostages still baffled him sometimes.

“Hold still.” The grin didn’t fade from his face as he unzipped her jumpsuit, pulling it down to reveal her blood-soaked t-shirt underneath. She was lucky the injury was only to her shoulder and not to her heart. “Take off your shirt,” he commanded, eyes studying the injury carefully. “How did this happen?”

[andresdefonollosa-archived]

@hcvefcith asked: What’s your problem with me?

“My problem with you?” Berlin let out an amused chuckle as he looked at her from behind the desk. “You’re not like the rest of us. You don’t fit in. You’re not Spanish; you’re hardly even a criminal.” He rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair with a smug grin. “I bet you’ve never even killed someone.”