#but!!!! i think this is a good example of why weird colours work so well

[townofcrosshollow]

Incapable of not making more BDG studies of this specific frame of this video

Comparison between the three I've done!

[taffywabbit]

idk if i'm way off the mark on this, but the way some people are responding to that Guillermo del Toro interview about the decline of studio animation is a bit frustrating to me. specifically the bit where he talks about "emoji animation" and how everything is over-animated and pushed too far and things are rarely allowed to not be ultra-cartoony (y'know, because animation always needs to be marketable to children who are never trusted to have attention spans, right?). like, i think he's generally correct about it! but some folks are taking the wrong message away from that.

i've seen people going off about how "soulless" and "corporate" various recent examples are, and talking about these pieces of media as though they're the result of some kind of personal failing or lack of skill/range on the part of the animators, and it's just like. do people realize that's the only animation you're usually allowed to DO in the industry, unless you get incredibly lucky and land yourself on a project/studio that's unusually cool?

when i was in college for animation it was literally drilled into us nonstop that everything had to be pushed more, that exaggeration was not a guideline or a sometimes-treat but a hard rule that always had to be applied regardless of what was going on, because the viewer couldn't be trusted to pick up on subtlety and we sure as hell couldn't be trusted to convey it. you ever wonder why there's such a specific vibe to a lot of self-directed student films, particularly ones that are focused on character acting/interaction or deep emotions and introspection (especially when there's minimal/no dialogue)? it's because for a lot of young animators, they haven't had the freedom to experiment with realism and subtlety up to that point and they're likely not going to have it again for a while (or at all, unless their career path leads to higher positions where they might have more creative direction over the things they work on. which also becomes a lot less likely if they're anything other than a cishet white dude, for what it's worth).

i would LOVE to see more nuanced, realistic, understated motion and acting in animation. i WANT more characters to be able to express what they're feeling through natural body language and facial cues and for scenes to allow me to breathe instead of spelling everything out in giant bold flashing text all the time. what del Toro wants to see changed in the animation industry sounds great, and i hope others join him in seeking to revamp what modern animation is allowed to be.

but as things currently stand, and as they've stood for a long while now, most artists doing the grunt work on the shows and movies you see are completely at the mercy of corporations and networks who have a vested interest in producing a very specific kind of marketable and cost-efficient media all the time. (and by extension that style is ALSO what's taught in most animation schools, because their job more than anything is to grind you down into a perfect little sweatshop worker who will bend over backwards to meet quotas and get your work approved and not question the higher-ups, even if you have little to no personal investment in the projects you're working on, so that the studios who employ you can maintain their good reputations or whatever)

anyways idk what my point was here, this really just sorta became a rant and my views have undoubtedly been coloured by my own personal experiences (this kinda shit is largely why i dropped out before my last year of animation school, for the record).

i guess just be kind to folks in the animation industry? they've had it fucking rough nonstop for well over a century (the majority of them are still not unionized and there's HUGE pushback against doing so in many places). i assure you they are doing their best to infuse the latest uninspired illumination flick or weird spinoff kids' show with literally any amount of soul they can. you don't have to like the stuff that gets produced by any means! be a hater! i'm certainly not gonna stop you. just remember where these creative decisions come from and why these conditions exist, and consider that when YOU watched something and thought "hmm that could've been done better", you can bet your ass someone actually working on it probably thought the same thing but couldn't do anything about it. these things WILL change as the industry itself improves, but in the meantime folks have to pay their rent, and that usually means doing what they're told and working in a way that will minimize revisions and meet quotas so they can keep their jobs. it sucks, but it is what it is.

[cherllyio]

The Hypocrisy/Irony of Li Jing

Li Jing is an antagonist who quite literally dresses himself up as the "Hero", and whom is a weird mix of both the Lady bone Demon and Azure Lion.

First of all his colour scheme turquoise, is a colour often related to The Celistial Realm.

Notice how in the monkie kid crews "celistial realm outfits", the only colour they all have in common is turquoise.

Not even The Jade Emperor dressed himself in that much turquoise (he didnt even wear it at all). Which just goes to show how Li Jing views himself.

He even plans to become The new Jade Emperor, and will not have ANYONE stop him. (even if they arent even trying to stop him in the first place-)

Hell, as i talked about in my theory of how he might have impriossoned Nüwa, he and the rest of Celistal Realms biggest flaw is their intense focus on order.

Nezha's intense work habit in season 3 - 4 is big example of this, mixed with how accurate Azure was about the whole celistial realm system.

But honestly Li Jing just takes it to another LEVEL.

I swear, if he starts talking to Nezha about how he has: " Left his job in the Celistial Realm for the monkie kid crew"(aka leaving his "destiny"), we can very well perspectiv it back to THE LADY BONE DEMON, and her intense focus on "ORDER".

But as @lunamikobrony2 mentioned in my theory mentioned earlier:

The villians (aka. LBD and Azure Lion), have this way of wanting a "new and perfect order".

But as we saw with espically Azure Lion: Power corrups.

Azure Lion turned so quickly from: " The Jade Emepror is a fraud" to "Kneel before your emperor", in a matter of MINUTES.

Li Jing is very clearly going to do the same thing. He might even kill things he viwes as "imperfect", if we really want to make it 100% clear, that this man is A LOT like LBD.

And thats just the Hypocrisy.

The thing that honestly first caught my attention was how ironic his characther was set up VS the actual villians of the show.

Because even though both the 9 headed demon, and the 100 eyed demon were both shown in the trailer, LI JING, was the one clearly shown as the most "villianous", or atleast "antagonistic"

He is literally shown WORSE than two DEMONS. And some demons with some quite horrifying designs too i must say.

It honestly reminds me of how Belos, from the owl house, was also set up this way.

If you dont know, The Owl House takes place in quite literally the closest thing we got to Hell.

But is the scariest monster a demon, or a powerful evil witch?

No, the scariest guy is white cishet man from the 1600, dressed in the gold, who also thinks he is quite literally the messias. But in the end he becomes quite literally "The King of Demons."

(Watch a video about Belos it here, its amazing)

But, what is my point with this post? What do i want to tell?

Well my entire point with this is to point out how their is such a faint line between good and evil in this show.

And this is just scratching the surface of it. Because if this keeps being proven right in season 5, I will make an entire analysis video about this after the new season is out.

Where I will also be looking at Wukongs journey from an anti-villian to a hero.

The Celistial Realm VS The Mortal Realm VS The Underworld.

Nezha's philosophy vs Li jings philosphy and their entire relationshsip.

And a lot of other stuff, and how this is the reason for why this show is so amazing.

[tshortik]

My random comic Recs #1

I've been reading more comics lately, so I wanted to share my love for them in the hopes that someone might give this medium a chance!

Note: I am not a fan of superhero comics, because I simply don't like that genre, so don't expect superheroes below. Gonna make these posts every now and then and they will always include 4 recs. 1.) The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

Death got demoted and sent to earth as a mortal! Some boy is going to figure out how to cheat death in the future, and our girl Death really doesn't appreciate that. The entire graphic novel is only 5 issues long, so it's VERY digestible and easy to get through.There is something so light and playful about the art style, and the vibrant colors really sell it.

For people that are completely new to comics as a medium, I imagine that this is actually an A+ book to start with for the reasons I just mentioned. The way paneling and the flow of time is done in here, is a great example as to why comics are so unique as a medium and why they should be looked at as its own art from, separate from movies or books.

2) Mécanique Céleste (Or "Mechanica Calaestium" in the German translation, or "Aster Of Pan" in the English translation)

An absolutely breathtaking French comic. Aster lives in Pan, a post-apocalyptic France where she scavenges for wreckage with her friend Wallis. After their people come under a threat by the Federation of Fortuna, they are given a choice —submit to Fortuna’s rule or beat them in a weird Hunger Games-esque version of Dodge, called “Celestial Mechanics”.

The detailed art pieces in each panel, the careful line work, the lively way the characters move and the stunning watercolors captivated me from the first page. This graphic novel (now 2 volumes) is one of a kind and truly unique!

3) Something Is Killing the Children

Note: Comic contains a lot of gore and violence!

Children are starting to disappear in Archer's Peak. The ones that come back tell impossible stories that no one seems to believe. Only one stranger trusts these tales - a mysterious girl named Erica Slaughter who seems to be able to see these creatures too. And she's here for business.

I loooove Something is Killing the Children. I haven't finished reading the ongoing volumes yet, but I am super fascinated at how well the pacing goes in this story. The rough art style with Erica's freaky large eyes is SO fun, and you start appreciating it even more the longer you read.

4) Mon Ami Pierrot ("Mein Freund Pierrot" in German, "My friend Pierrot" in English)

Another fabulous French comic! Cléa is to marry soon - a young man name of Berthier. Right before the wedding she meets the fascinating magician Pierrot though, who completely changes the course of her life. Entranced by his whimsical nature that makes her feel "free" for the first time in her life, she follows him and leaves her previous life behind. During her stay with Pierrot, questions arise, though. Who is he really? All the while her betrothed sets out to find her again.

The Ghibli influence both art- and storywise is easy to make out, and I personally really enjoyed that. I particularly love the colors and the facial expressions the characters are drawn with. Everything feels very whimsical and playful and I had a good time going through this chonker of a graphic novel!

No spoilers, but I expected toothrottingly-sweet wholesome stuff, and ended up surprised on several occasions. I think the colours and art style really help give those moments wham, because you don't expect it.

[elizais]

okay, okay , i accept tachihara bf hcs but how should i live without tecchou bf hcs😔😔

great question! don't think too hard bcs here you go!

tecchou suehiro, who does not understand flirting or how to flirt. which is a pain when you are trying to talk to him before starting a relationship together but a blessing when other girls hit on him and he doesn't realise it.

speaking of tecchou suehiro and flirting, he talks about you a lot. which shuts down anyone trying to flirt with him. for example:

"that colour looks really good on you!" .. "thank you, it's [name]'s favourite." "are you free tomorrow?" .. "no, [name] and i are watching a movie." "you're cute." .. "not as cute as [name]."

pre bf! tecchou suehiro, doesn't understand his feelings. he doesn't understand why his heart beats up faster.. his breath hitches or anything else when you walk into the room - but jouno does. and he teases him a lot for it.

tecchou suehiro, who is a gym rat. so whatever physical activity you do (walking, running, any sports) he does as well! even if he is bad at it.

tecchou suehiro, who i think LOVES walks with you. you can make the joke that he loves walks because he is a hunting dog but you might not get a laugh out of it. but he likes holding hands with you and walking through parks.

if you're ever watching a series with some sort of military in it: tecchou suehiro either says a random 'yeah' or 'no' whenever they do something. he does it subconsciously, if you ask him what he means he won't understand what he has been doing. but really, he is saying whether or not the hunting dogs do that.

tecchou suehiro, who is the type of person to go "are they a villain or a hero?" when he walks in half way through to a film you are watching.

tecchou suehiro, who is a human radiator. he is so warm. so warm. but he doesn't ever feel too warm or too cold.

tecchou suehiro, who is big on communication. even at work, when interrogating someone he will choose communication over force (canon btw! elizai does her research!!) so expect him to talk out stuff when he doesn't understand something.

tecchou suehiro, who shows you his food combinations. just know i am writing this one with a grimace on my face. this hc is a bit of an aside but his last name (tetcho) translates to iron stomach which explains a lot, presumably why he has these weird combinations.

tecchou suehiro, who knows an odd amount of facts. this comes into play of him being a bf because when you are feeling down there is a fact to cheer you up.

tecchou suehiro, who has an 8/10 cuddle game. he is mostly muscle so like whether that is a pro or con for you is down to you!! pro for me😋.

tecchou suehiro, who doesn't really use pet names. he will call you 'love', 'darling' and 'dear' and other classic ones but he is not a 'pookie bear' type of guy.

tecchou suehiro, who will melt if YOU give him a nickname. "hiro" is a fav of his.

tecchou suehiro, who should have come higher in my bsd bf poll but whatever ig

[adobe-outdesign]

could you please review steampunk pets? thank you!

It's kind of surprising that it took TNT so long to make a steampunk colour; it came out in 2018 but Moltara, a steampunk-based land, was released in 2009, leaving almost a ten-year gap between the two. Conceptually, it's a good idea; the clothing items are super unique and the base colors (primarily shades of brown) are also useful in and of themselves.

However, I tend to find the execution lacking from a conceptual standpoint, as most steampunk pets aren't really... steampunk-y (unlike Moltara, which feels like it does a decent job at the genre). I don't claim to be a steampunk expert, but I listen to enough steampunk music to get the idea: Victorian (sometimes frontier) aesthetic crossed with hypothetical steam-based mechanical technology, with focus on gears/mechanical workings and copper coloring.

Most steampunk pets, meanwhile, don't have enough of the normal Victorian-ish aesthetic and lean way too hard into the mechanical aspects, basically creating robot 2.0. For example, the steampunk Gelert, the first Steampunk pet released, looks super dystopian—no bright colors and a mostly robotic body with only a few tacked-on gears. And honestly, I wouldn't mind the aesthetics being off if the colour looked good, but a lot of the time steampunk pets are unnecessarily cluttered and very visually noisy for no good reason. Once in a while we get something good, but I'd say it's more misses than hits.

Favorite Species:

Kougra: Hey, this one's actually pretty decent! The conductor-ish outfit feels right for the genre and the mechanical aspects, such as the monocle, tail coverings, etc. aren't taken over the entire design. I do think it's a little more busy than it needed to be—things like the detailing in the boosts, wire coming off the monocle, all the watches, etc. could have been dropped—but it's pretty good overall. The sepia-toned base color is also good.

Hissi: Another pretty good one. Once again, the Victorian aspects are there and the mechanical ones are prominent without taking over the entire design. I don't know what that thing on its back is, but it looks cool and works well with the mask. There's maybe a few too many straps on the clothing and the pressure gauge by the face is a bit weird, but it's otherwise really good. The only issue is the base colour, which includes a truly stupid little...thing on the head. Why?? Now it's useless unless you manage to find a different hat to cover it up.

Techo: The Techo really nails the copper bits with some impressive shading. The overall clothing design is on point and it has goggles, which is a steampunk staple that I'm surprised more of these pets don't have. The colors are also nice, using blacks and browns in contrast with lighter cream areas. Once again, outfit's a smidge to busy and the base is ruined by the weird bolts on the neck and strange shading, but otherwise it's pretty solid.

Least Favorite Species:

Shoyru: I don't know what this is, but it's not steampunk, that's for sure. The wings sort of get there with a da Vinci-ish stitched look, but the outfit is... I don't know, almost viking-ish? It's also 200% too cluttered, and the clothing is shaded in such a way that the face looks completely out of place. At least the base is decent?

[lowpolynpixelated]

So, you don't wanna play Nintendo games

As I'm sure a lot of you lovely folks out there have seen, Nintendo recently did its most recent act of evil by suing the dev team behind both the Citra and Yuzu emulators. While I won't get into how I feel about it as a fan of media archival work and a massively passionate fan of video game history, this is despicable to say the least. What I WILL do, is get straight to the point the title says! So, you don't wanna play Nintendo games? Well do I have some games for you! I've seen a few posts like this floating around, and I absolutely adored the concept of talking about niche/lesser known titles that get overshadowed in their genre by bigger names, such as Nintendo. As an avid player of weird and wonderful games throughout my life I think I've got some good ones that I've slotted into some neat categories below. I hope you enjoy this post! And I hope you take a new favourite away as well!

(Note: All of the games listed below are available to play on very easily accessible emulators.)

So, you like 3D platformers do ya?

-My first and foremost suggestion is always the woefully underappreciated game Taz Wanted.

This wacky platformer sees you in the role of the one and only Taz, or the Tazmanian Devil for long, from the Looney Toons property. The game revolves around you entering large colourful levels filled with goofy enemies and a lovely cell shaded art style to mimic that classic cartoon look. Within those levels your job is to find and destroy a certain number of wanted posters which can take the form of just about anything. From standing signs to blimps your goal is to solve various platforming challenges, puzzles, and minigames to destroy these posters and secure an item that will assist you in getting to the next hub world. With 4 worlds to explore and each world with 3 levels and a boss fight game at the end, I'm sure any fan of 3D platforming will have a blast.

-Next up is a package deal, the first of which is a 3D platformer predating Mario64! These games are none other than the Jumping Flash! games.

The two games play identically, and are both a seriously good time. Taking place entirely in first person you take up the mantle of intergalactic space hero robot Robbit tasked with collecting a certain number of items in large playground-like levels made with tons of verticality in mind. Why you may ask? Because much like the name suggests Robbit can JUMP. The game employs a fantastically implemented camera system which forces you to look down at Robbit's feet when you use your double/tripple jump, ensuring you can see where you're landing. On top of this, the game's level design feels like a never ending barrage of jungle gyms and challenging boss fights all set to a cartoonish story with bright poppy visuals, and not to mention a soundtrack of absolute bangers

Okay, but what about the Zelda fans?

-I assure you I haven't forgotten, and my first pick here is an all time favourite of mine ever since I played it when I was like, 8 years old. Sphinx and the cursed mummy is a 3D adventure action game where you play as both the titular Sphinx and the cursed pharaoh to be, Tutankhamen .

The game is heavily inspired by Egyptian mythology and sees you battling and puzzling your way through a world of mysteries and great evils lurking just beneath the surface. Exciting battles, puzzle platforming, monster collecting, and so so much more are all front and center in this game, and I really cannot recommend it enough to anyone who wants a different adventuring experience in their life.

-The second and last one in this category I PROMISE a lot of you have heard of but I really want to drive home just HOW GOOD it is. Okami stands tall as one of the best examples of non-Zelda 3D action adventuring.

Taking place in a GORGEOUSLY rendered fantasy rendition of classical Japan, the adventures of the sun goddess Amaterasu are yours to control. I really cannot stress HOW GOOD this game still looks today, even without the HD remasters its been given. The entire game is rendered in a cell-shaded art style reminiscent of classical Japanese paintings, giving the whole world a vibrant painted aesthetic that never EVER gets old. On top of this the game provides a truly unique combat and interaction system, seeing you use a paintbrush to paint your attacks and spells into reality. There isn't much I can say about this game that hasn't been said already, and it's certainly the least niche game on this list. Go give it a shot! You won't regret it.

So we did 3D platformers, but what about 2D?

-Fear not! I've got some solid suggestions for those too! Our first one here is another bundle of 2, those being the Klonoa games.

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and its sequel, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, are two of the best 2D platformers I've ever played. Releasing on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 respectively, these games utilize a 2.5D perspective to let you run back and forth through revolving dioramas of platforming goodness. With a cheery, almost circus-like soundtrack and an adorably charming artstyle to match, I have such fond memories of discovering these games for the first time. The 3D nature of the game's assets allow for some truly impressive setpieces and boss battles, along with the aforementioned circular scrolling you partake in. Bubbling and tossing enemies at each other never seems to get old, or using the same bubbled enemies to get just a little more height to reach a secret. Definitely give these ones a shot if you're a fan of fun 2D playgrounds.

-Here's a real weird one to cap this category off (and another two pack to boot!) Loco Roco 1 and 2 are a set of puzzle platformers with a bit of an unorthodox control scheme.

Coming out on the PSP these are some WILD experiences. In the games you control a horde of blobs that sing with childrens voices to some rather catchy tunes, and tilt the entire world around them with the left and right triggers to get them over under and anything in between, and then to the exit. Did I say you play as the blobs? I meant you play as THE PLANET the blobs are on! See what I mean? These games are absolutely a delightful time though. And with such poppy mid 2000s soundtracks I can't help but love them. The tilting gameplay is tough as nails to master, and getting through a level with all your little Rocos AND the collectibles is no easy task. Give these ones a look! Or at least listen to the soundtrack.

And at last we arrive at the one's I couldn't think of more for, or couldn't think of where to place.

The next two games are just rapid fire ones that are personal non-nintendo favourites of mine, covering a variety of genres.

Ribbit King is my favourite wacky sports game ever. You play Frolf instead of Golf, Frolf being Golf but with frogs, get it? Send your frog around the bright colourful stages to gather points and be the first one to sink your frog to get the full 1000 available from the hole. Alternatively go for a FROG-IN-ONE to get 1500,

Wipeout is a series of tough as nails futuristic hover-racing games a la F-Zero. The soundtracks boast an inumerable amount of Drum and Bass/Electronic jams and the gameplay is lightning fast and smooth as all hell. Not to mention the games are just SO stylish. I'd recommend Wipeout Pure on the PSP, but all of the PlayStation consoles before the PS3 have at least one Wipeout game. Highly recommend checking them out.

SO obviously I couldn't put EVERY game I'd recommend in one post. But I really do hope this list gives you something new to play. Gaming history is so monumentally important to me, and what happened to Citra and Yuzu is nothing short of a tragedy. Always remember folks, play new games! Play old games! Hack your old hardware! Pirate new software! EMULATION IS FREE, LEGAL, AND FOR EVERYONE!

[i-willstealyourtoes]

Huh can I get uhhhh

Get uhh

Bain legally adopts a teenage reader for tax reasons and drops them off at the safehouse and Dallas essentially becomes their dad?

Also a side of them hanging out with the younger heisters (Joy Sydney Sokol) and I guess I'll be having it platonic family fluff style. Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask though.

You got it right! Hope you enjoy :) I decided not to use the colours, because I'm not sure if people actually like them haha- If you guys want them back lmk!

Adopted!Teen!Reader + the PDG

- Now, Bain did adopt you for tax reasons (I don't know how that works but we roll)

- But that doesn't mean he doesn't care about you or anything, he'll make sure you're alright

- But he's not exactly in the position to look after a kid, considering he's always busy and needs to be as private as possible

- So he usually leaves you at the safehouse, where there's always someone there

- Dallas interacts with you first, as well as some of the younger heisters

- He's always been the one to greet new members of the team, as he is kind of the leader

- So it isn't much different with you, although of course you're much younger than the people he's interacted with recently

- Forgive him if he's a little awkward

- With the younger heisters, at least he could talk about their occupation and skills, but with you? Nothing

- But he's friendly enough, letting you know he's there if you have any problems

- Every heister has a different first opinion of you

- For example, Joy and Sydney are quite nice to you immediantly

- They're closest to you in age, and therefore a bit more relatable

- Sydney will get you to do some pranks or something

- Joy will record it, occasionally helping out

- They're definitely one of the quickest to warm up to you

- If you like art or gaming, they're more than happy to talk about it with you!

- You can all play Mario Kart or something :)

- Joy will beat you guys for sure, but it's okay (you and Sydney will get her back later)

- I think at the start, Sokol would be kind of dismissive of you

- I mean, why do they have to deal with Bain's kid? The safe-house is a place for skilled heisters to plan out their next move, not some daycare

- Or at least, that's how it starts for him

- But when you ask for some pointers on how to shoot, play hockey, or maybe ask for some lessons in Russian, he'll start to warm up

- After that? He treats you like his beloved little sibling :)

- 'If anything happens to them I will kill everyone in this room and then myself' type beat

- May occasionally try to get you into the heisting career at some point. Maybe.

- Once you learn how to shoot and so on, Dallas might help you out too, but he probably won't let you do anything further

- You're still a kid, he doesn't like the idea of putting you in danger

- Although the younger heisters seem to think it as a potentially good idea

- As for the other heisters?

- Wolf would probably not talk to you in general, but the more time you spend in his presence, the more discreetly protective of you he is

- Chains is probably more like a mix of Dallas and Sokol in that he'd like having you train, but is unsure about you starting off a career in heisting

- Hoxton is originally a bit stand-offish for the same reason as Sokol, but eventually matches a bit with Sydney in that he'd encourage you to bring a little chaos in the safe-house

- Houston would be like Wolf; he wouldn't really speak to you or interact since he thinks it's weird for Bain to adopt you in the first place. Will encourage some pranks though-

- John Wick would also be in disagreement with you being adopted by Bain in the first place, but will warm up and help with training (he's definitely quite strict tho beware!!)

- Clover for sure acts as an older sister, teasing you but overall being kind and protective over you (will cheer you on during training)

- Dragan would try not interact with you really..but he might give some tips if you're training/working out. Eventually, like Wolf, he will become secretly protective of you :)

- Jacket would probably not interact very often with you, but eventually, he'll let you listen to his music or play games (kinda like Houston, he will low-key enjoy the pranks too)

- Bonnie would treat you like a little sibling and maybe try to teach you poker to scam the others with false innocence (high-fives if you do so) + if you have (romantic) relationship issues, she will encourage you to end/ruin their lives

- Jiro would definitely judge Bain for adopting you for tax reasons, and for a little bit he might be a quite distant, but as time progress, he sort of views you as a kid to look after too, maybe not like his child, but still a child for him to protect and look after

- Bodhi would for sure try get you into surfing or just sports, the others will pull you away (unless you actually enjoy it then they'll just roll their eyes or something)

- Jimmy is maybe not the greatest role model, but he's actually quite fun around you, just be aware he might pass out in the middle of a conversation with you

- Rust would probably keep his distance from you at first, thinking that it's better not to interact since he's, well, old and a criminal. But after a little while, especially once you start training and so on, he'll warm up to you! You might find yourself a new (o l d) uncle :)

- Sangres for sure will try to teach you some blade skills or Spanish words (a lot of them might be profanity). He's a lot of fun, just not the most responsible-

- Duke might not come up to talk to you much, but he doesn't mind talking to you if you come up to him, especially if it's about history and so on :)

[hannahssimblr]

After art class on Wednesday morning I purposefully take longer than everybody else does to pack away my pencils and gather up the sheets of paper I was working from, slotting them meticulously inside the hard cover of my sketchbook so that the corners won’t get crushed inside the disorganised chaos of my school bag. Evan waits by the door tentatively waiting for me in case I might want to have lunch with him again, but I wave him away, I’ll talk to him after school, and when he’s gone it’s just me and the teacher, the last ones in the room. 

Miss O’Reilly is busy organising papers on her desk. She is separating the watercolour sheets from the cartridge and stacking them into neat little piles for the paper shelf, and doesn't seem to realise I am there until I address her. 

“Miss?” 

She glances up, “Yes?” 

My fingers fidget with the zipper of my bag, pulling it open then closed again. The sound it makes is probably annoying but I can’t seem to stop myself. “Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?”

“Of course, what is it?” 

I approach her desk with caution as I enter this unfamiliar territory, reaching out to a teacher, risking vulnerability, but Miss O’Reilly doesn’t seem to think it weird that I want to speak with her. She simply leans against the front of her desk with an open expression, smiling warmly at me as if I am not the student who routinely ignores what she is saying in class, talks over her and interrupts her lessons by throwing bits of eraser into Philip Delaney’s mad ginger frizz. 

“I’ve been thinking about college, miss.”

“Well that’s good!”

“Yeah, um, I think I want to… like, do… art?” I exhale in a rush. I don’t fully understand why I am so nervous to speak, especially when, so far, she’s being nice. She doesn’t even look like she’s going to laugh, like she’s thinking about doing it soon, or even like she's holding it in so that she can do it later in the staff room with the other teachers. Still I keep my guard up, waiting for her features to twist into a sneer.

“I think that’s a fantastic idea,” Miss O’Reilly beams, and her eyes flick to that drawing I did of Michelle a couple of months ago and which she pinned up on the wall for everyone to see. She’s using it as an example to other students of the right things to do, the right way to capture a perfect likeness, and I should be flattered, but its presence embarrasses me. It is a symbol of my earnest effort, hard work, in which I am not known for, and I wish she would take it down and hide it. I don’t want others to know that I have tried. 

“Do you?”

“Yes! And I'm glad that you've said that, honestly. You’re one of the students in my classes who shows a lot of promise, and who I think could really do well in art school, and I know it’s not often a popular choice with parents, but I think there’s a lot of value in an art degree if you’re passionate about it,” She moves around to the front of her desk and begins rummaging in a drawer. “Here,” She produces a form and hands it to me, “These are the portfolio requirements for some colleges. It seems like a lot, but normally students take a year to do a portfolio course in a local college before applying to university.”

A year out? To just work on my portfolio? The thought of delaying my exit from Dublin for an extra twelve months makes me queasy, but my eyes flit over the paper in my hands anyway. It’s all about figure studies and expression, colour work, painting, charcoal, pencil…

“I don’t want to go to college in Dublin,” I manage, handing it back to her. “I want to move away. And I want to do my portfolio soon, so that I can do that as soon as I can.”

She eyes me curiously, “Alright… Well, there are heaps of options for international study...”

“Yeah, I think that’s what I want.” 

“Do you study French?” 

“No, German,” German, which I chose in first year because I am lazy and it seemed easy at first. The words were just like eccentric cousins of English ones that could all be squished together into hilariously long streams of letters that my friends and I would laugh about. Schwarzwälderkirschtorte. I’ll never forget that one, nor will I Krankenwagen, Backpfeifengesicht, Schadenfreude. All of us lazy boys who didn’t want to make the effort with French took German, whose words actually sounded the way they were written. I admire directness in people, so I expect it in languages too. French is underhanded, insincere. Why speak one that makes you work so hard? It’s absurd. 

“Well,” Miss O’Reilly goes back to her drawer for more shuffling, “Have you considered studying in Germany? Or the UK? There are lots of great universities abroad.”

“I never thought very far ahead,” I admit, “I just know I don’t want to study here.”

“Okay, well, at least that narrows it down some. Have a look at some of these in your free time,” She slots a small stack of forms into my hand, to which I stare dumbly at. The barrage of information is a visual assault with all of these bullet points and new abbreviated words, application fees this, UCAS that… 

I must look stricken as I feel, because Miss O’Reilly softens, “or you could come back to me when I have a few moments free and we can go through it all together. I know it’s a lot to take in, and usually we don’t go so much into depth with fifth years. This kind of thing is for next year, and usually we try not to overwhelm kids with too many decisions too soon.”

“I know, I just think I’d like a head start. Especially if there’s all these, um, requirements.”

“Well, as I said, a portfolio preparation course at a local college-”

“I don’t want to do that.”

She blinks, “Right.”

“I really just want to go somewhere new, miss. I’m willing to work hard at every chance I get to do it, I’ll make art all summer, I’ll have the best portfolio ever-”

She laughs, “I’m sure you will! I don’t doubt you at all, Jude, you’re a wonderful artist and I’m willing to help you with your work whenever there’s time to.”

“Well I don’t do Irish,” I say, “I’m exempt, so I have a free class every day where I usually just try and do my homework…”

“Well come to my class then, even when I’m teaching other years, you can sit down at the back of my lessons and just do your own thing, get working on those figure studies, the paintings, whatever. As long as you don’t cause trouble…” she eyes me warily, “It’s not a problem.”

“Really?” I don’t mean to sound so overwhelmingly grateful to her, as though I’m on the brink of falling to my knees and worshipping her, but truly, I am in slight disbelief at her offer. Most of my interactions with the teachers in this school have been of them snapping fingers in my face, rolling their eyes, calling me out of class so that they can berate me loudly in the hallway while my gleeful classmates crowd around listening at the glass panel in the doorway. It’s almost hard to believe that I have found one who is intent on being supportive.

“Yeah,” she says, and she’s distracted by the crowd of third years piling into the room behind me. “Come by any time between classes, I’m happy to help.”

“Thanks, miss.”

“No problem at all,” she turns to the hoard, “hello everyone! Art history today!” and they let out a collective groan as I slip out into the hallway. 

Beginning // Prev // Next

[the-cat-at-the-theatre-door]

✍️ and 🎯 for the ask game!

✍️ If you had total creative control over a production of Cats, what would you change and why?

There's a bunch of little things, but in regards to big things, from a purely aesthetic POV, I would bring back the original Broadway style structuring of the show (mixed with the Original Vienna production), and how it interconnected with its narrative more - so this includes things like the Alonzo Shadow Dance connecting with the Demeter/Alonzo subplot etc.. I'd bring back their costuming and makeup tradition as well, as that I feel was a good example of how designs can be more "muted" from a colour palette standpoint and quick and easy to do, but not look like muddy water.

Also, I'd bring back all of the cut lyrics and stanzas - honestly make the show longer, I wish for audiences to sit in confusion and fear for as long as I demand they be there - I am a believer that CATS should be palatable as little as possible, and making it unsettling and weird again is a must. That being said, I likely wouldn't bring back G**ltiger in any significant capacity (the artistry of that number is commendable, but it has so many negative connotations associated with it, that I do not believe it should be brought back in any capacity, even if re-written), but do believe that "In Una Tepida Notte" and/or "The Ballad of Billy McCaw" should be reintroduced into the show. While I love giving Gus "The Pekes and the Pollicles", I'd like it if we could reintroduce the operetta within a musical angle.

Blocking Jemima/SIllabub and Victoria together more so that it's more evident that the two of them are mutually working towards the show's concluding revelation would add more narrative cohesion leading to the final sing and touch. While I feel in theory the two roles actually being one was a better idea from a streamline standpoint, I love Jemima/Sillabub too much to do that. So that's the compromise.

Plus another thing, I'd want all the counterparts to be on stage as well with their original designs and redesigns - so Plato and Admetus, Pouncival and Carbucketty, etc., so this would be a more rather than less cast.

Also from a purely "no one cares except for me" standpoint, I want Skimbleshanks to be blocked to hang out with his friends (see: Jenny, Jelly, Asparagus, and even Bustopher if he's kept on stage). Why is he always hanging out by himself - let him sit with his friends!/j

🎯 What's a common headcanon/theory/interpretation that you don't prescribe to?

Answered this one, but another one I don't personally subscribe to is Alonzo being siblings with Victoria and Mr. Mistoffelees (whom I don't think are siblings either).

Nothing particularly personal about it, but I already struggle with keeping B&W Alonzo at the forefront of my mind as is, and this one seems to exist mainly just because they have the same colour palette. So it stands on shaky foundation for me - plus I don't think all the cats need to be blood related to one another. It's nice to explore multiple different community and familial angles from each of the generations.

[raayllum]

hi. i always see your analysis and theories in my dash and they're always so well thought and interesting and conecting a lot of things i personally would never think to conect but actually make so much sense when put like that

so hm, not to be weird online, but how does one learn to like interpret and understand what's going on on a piece of midia, yk, cause only consuming doesn't do it? Anyway

your edits are really nice

FIRST OFF this is soo nice omg thank you <333 also never worry about being weird online i'm always more unhinged, this is an unhinged space

which ironically is kind of the best way to get good at literary analysis tbh! I wrote a post about it here but that was more on how to organize thoughts / write meta > finding the things to write meta about (aka the "this feels gratuitous" draft is still in my drafts as we speak — might be time to clean it and some others up and post it).

In a lot of ways there tends to be like.... two main avenues for analysis? Which is an oversimplification but is making sense to me in the moment, and I'd specify the divide is

Treating characters like people (characterization, relationships) vs treating characters like tools (motifs, symbols, plot structure, dynamics).

Ideally, a narrative merges these two things so completely it's hard to separate, and I think TDP does an extaordinarily good job at it. I'll call this marriage Theme since its the main idea(s) of the Story/Narrative and everything should at its best be working together in service of the Theme if you want something cohesive.

I'll use Callum and Rayla as an example just cause I think they exemplify a Lot of how/why this all works and works as well as it does.

If I want to write about Callum and Rayla's internal psyches, i.e. where does Callum's temper or Rayla's gruffness come from? I'm going to look at them as people. They're going to have consistent triggers, responses, contradictory emotions or emotional reactions, etc. This is like the how you wrap a present, the colour and feel of the paper. Any character in a story can technically have any kind of personality, i.e. an assassin can be sweet and snarky (like Rayla) or stoic and rigid (Runaan). That's not all they are, of course, but the characters' personalities often times affect how and why we ship what we do, or have certain favourites, etc.

For example, Callum's primary Narrative Purpose is to be a human mage. He's there to explore the range of possibilities a human who wants/chases magic in the story can have, and we pretty closely follow his magical journey of feeling powerless, struggling and achieving primal magic, and guilt and desperation that drives him to dark magic. But absolutely none of this means that Callum needed to have a temper.

To see the way a character trait can be married to a motif (repeating symbol) let's look at Rayla. Rayla can be secretive — not telling people everything and being closed off about her emotions — and often leaves to try do things on her own, occasionally flat out disappearing. These are her personality traits (characterization), most of these psychological aspects come back to not feeling like she deserves help or not wanting to hurt people, thereby hurting her relationships. She's a person.

At the same time, these traits help us as the audience understand and grasp how the series treats the Moon and its arcanum. The Moon is a symbol, and it's all about changing faces, secrets, and illusions. We don't know whether the ideas for the Moon arcanum (which seem to be loosely taken from Tarot) or Rayla's personality came first, but it's clear that at some point they merged to reflect each other.

If I want to talk about Rayla as a person, I'll talk about how her personality/choices affect her relationships. If I want to talk about how she reflects her primal or how she choices affect the plot, I'll be talking more about structure. If I want to talk about how both of those things say, in a speculative meta about Callum connecting to the Moon arcanum as he understands Rayla (and himself) better, then I'd be talking about both simultaneously (theme).

But those are all like, examples of how you can break stuff down that you see. How do you go looking for stuff / know what to break down?

1) Pick a piece of media, ideally one you already feel very comfortable and familiar with. Book, show, whatever. This familiarity means you can focus less on the processing the plot and more about other elements of the story. Then watch or read the thing but try to pay attention to like, a few pre-chosen ideas or themes. It could be the theme of power, or — I'm thinking for something like ATLA - how the characters reflect their elements (Aang is evasive and avoidant, and air is light and breezy, etc).

For a TV show in particular, it can mean breaking things down scene by scene in an episode to see what the anchoring idea of it, i.e. 1x06 in TDP is all about Soren, Claudia, and Rayla keeping secrets. Soren and Claudia keep their secrets and isolate themselves, because isolationism in the series is usually Bad; Rayla shares her secret, because working through problems and letting people help you (being collaborative) is Good, etc. These messages are pretty consistent throughout the rest of the show as well.

If applicable, I'd recommend starting out with stories where you already know the ending and/or even better, the story itself is aware you know the ending from the beginning (i.e. in Titanic, you always know the ship is going to sink). This can help you pick up on dramatic irony (everyone emphasizing the ship won't sink) as well as setup (the movie making sure we know there's not enough boats, people making the boat go faster, the moment the ship hits the iceberg literally separating Jack and Rose from each other to set up what happens later, etc).

2) If you wanna learn how to analyze, to a certain degree you have to learn to shut down your feelings and biases. This doesn't mean that feelings can't affect how you analyze, or dictate what you want to analyze (I feel very positively towards TDP and therefore I want to deeply analyze it! same with Rayllum) but it does mean leaving "I want this thing so it has to happen" at the door — or vice versa.

The best example I can give is a hypothetical one. For example, it kind of doesn't matter if I — personally — think that Callum and Rayla have known each other that long to know each other well. (I don't, for the record, but bear with me.) In the Text of the Story, they know each other incredibly well, and more to the point, thematically, their senses of self are so incredibly intertwined that them affirming each other's senses of self is like... the only place we could be going. Rayla is "Rayla saves people," so by saving a possessed Callum she's saving herself, and if she goes to kill him, she's likewise metaphorically going to be killing herself (her own sense of identity), etc.

Or for a non-ship example, my real life feelings about monarchy don't matter. I don't like monarchy, I think most western monarchies are crap... and I'd be silly if I brought those feelings into TDP's discussion of monarchy, because they're using monarchy as a vessel to discuss things like power, responsibility, and growing up, particularly for Ezran and Janai (and how often do we see non-white monarchies in media anyway?). And if I want to engage with those themes, then I have to engage with TDP's discussion of monarchy.

It's kind of like how even if something in a story grosses you out or makes you uncomfortable, you have to be really damn sure that wasn't an Intentional writing choice on Purpose or a chance for self reflection before it's launched as a complaint.

Doing this kind of awareness and predictive work also means you'll get better at predicting where stories might be going and leaving ahead of time if something is going off the rails / not going your way (in a bad way).

3) Growing a list of common themes and symbols that stories tend to have. Birds = freedom, chains = entrapment and coercion, grief, identity (particularly in coming-of-age stories), etc. If you have a loose idea of what to look for, that means you can also start to look at the specifics of how stories use these themes/symbols. For example, Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet both feature a theme of love amongst forbidden lovers, but the first is a comedy (love conquers all, even if it makes people foolish) and the second is a tragedy (love is not always enough to conquer hate/violence/our worst impulses).

For example in TDP, although it was in the background in s1-s3, light and darkness has now become a very overt motif (repeated symbol) in both dialogue and imagery. Tracking what those things represent or how the show complicates their meaning (light isn't always good, etc) can help indicate where certain characters or plot beats are going.

This can also mean trying to notice consistent metaphors (i.e. dark magic is often consumed by the caster for spells / referenced with cannibalistic language; dark magic corruption is increasingly seen as spreading sickness/illness) and then being on the lookout for the next time(s) they show up. So much of media literacy / critical thinking is just being able to explain/figure out why you think what you think (with evidence) and it's always a skill that can be nurtured and improved

End of Blabbing

Very long winded but hopefully helpful, and always feel free to ask more questions and/or DM if you'd like! I always love talking about stuff like this and it's such a treat tbh <3

[changeling-artchive]

Reposting this here as well to have all my (can i call this analysis? Its little more than disjointed thoughts) analysis and art under the same sideblog

Im constantly thinking about the like. Aclimatization period c!alan must have had over Second and the colour quartlet.

(and what being "raised" by/with an Animator (and one with c!alans past) would mean for the color quintlet behavior/life view wise)

Like. Second's existence, (specifically them talking to him (and as such, showing their sapience) in a way he really cant denie with plausurable ignorance (like with victim, Chosen and Dark)(and god there was so many signs, so many ways c!alan could have snapped out of it (the 'ignorance') but doing so would subconciously mean he would have to come to terms with what he has Done and he was never in a position that required him to do it so he didnt (plus he wasnt very. Mature? In the beguining i think. Teenage. Anyway)) (something something we quantify animal's inteligence with how well they showcase it in a way similar to us) really was c!alan's first case of having to actually comprehend that he brought a Person to life, and coexist with it (them. them not it)

Like. That shift, from thoughtless cruelty to (a big break in anything stickfigure related to) helper and friend? That would have not been easy or seamless, i think.

(and depending on if c!alan has taken the time to comprehend + processes what he Did to Real People in the past, he would be more or less bound to fall into familiar thought processes, if never actions)

He must take its (their) opinion into consideration now. Take its (their) time with the color quartlet into consideration, Its (their) enjoyment of the art process. Give it (them) breaks, regarde them with agency, be a friend to them

[it would be so easy. So tentalizing to tame him. He'd never do it, of course, Never Again. But the instinct is (barelly) there, to reach into that uper task bar section upon entering on the art program. an extention. Stop it. Stop It! Stop thinking like that theyre a person!]

Of course with the time + experience theyre truly friends, i think. Their bond is very equal and playfull in the shorts where he appears

And all of this in just c!alans side!

Ive not even talked about Second and the colour quartlet into all of this, how their perception of autority and self-expression and conflict resolution and how the world works and how relationships works and Everything would be all but Based on themselves and c!alan behaviour! Theyve only ever known the computer and its habitants (until the discovery of sentinent (probably sapient too) life forms with minecraft (the villagers, piglins..))

(Their actions and perception of the world must be so so diferent and weird to a born/outernet-raised stick)

(^ ooh snap i derailed a bit here back to the post)

How does bondary-setting works, with something with so much control over you?

(on that vain, how much control c!alan thinks he has over the colour quintlet/gang vs how much control the colour quintlet thinks c!alan has over them vs how much control a born/outernet-raised stick thinks c!alan has over the colour quintlet is Vastly Diferent on all sides (and the conflict(?) diferences in perspective(?) Of that is so so delicious why hasnt anyone done aything with that yet))

The colour quintlet had very specific/hard rules over their existance/place in the computer (rules that have been getting laxer and less important/respected as time goes on (the light saber, and the lava parkour are good examples of harm being done to the computer, Actually). But how? When did the rules started being trespassed and met with Not-Animator Consequences, was it just the development of their bond (c!alan and the colour gang), that led to the rules being discarded? (theyre tottaly relaxed around alan. They trust him and playfight with him. (he deleted/attempted to delete them! Their first interaction was with c!alan's total dismissal of their life, how did they colectivelly reached this point!?)) What (life) lessons did they (color gang) learn on the way to now that are not normal/shared with born sticks cause of their way way diferent uprising?! (Aahhhhhh this keeps me up at night)

(i am maybe giving Too much importance to their relationship with c!alan, they most probably have learnt/lived most things solely by/with themselves as a group)

[nogenderbee]

HI I HOPE YOU'RE DOING FINE AND U ARE DRINKING ENOUGH WATER TOO AND GETTING REST CUS ILL BE COMING FOR YOUR ANKLES OTHERWISE >:(

So Could you write Mizuki , An and Shiho with an S/O that gets bullied for having Heterochromia eyes pls

If you don't know what Heterochromia is basically us when a person has a different colour in each eyes for example (left eye is blue and the other is yellow kinda like Candice from Genshin if you look at her eyes)

You are free to ignore this btw oh and PLS TAG ME IN NIGHTCORD FICS PLS

Omg no, not my ankles 😱 and I added you to TagList for all Nightcord member hehe~ anyway, of course I can write it! Honestly I absolutely loved the idea so I hope you enjoy this one as well! Funfact about me: I absolutely adore heterochromia and honestly wish I had it myself-

Shiho, An, Mizuki with heterochromic!reader who gets bullied

TagList: @bleachtheidiot @qxmmi @no1mizukifan

⊱ Shiho will take her guitar and smack the living crap out of the person that dares to make fun of you even slightly

⊱ alright but she literally doesn't understand why they're making fun of you when your eyes are literally so pretty

⊱ like she probably even wrote a song about them but she'll die faster than let anyone hear it

⊱ so when you tell her that you're getting bullied for that, she turns into her protective mode

⊱ I mean... you think all those creepy men aplroaciing Shizuku were going away because they got bored?! Pffft, Shiho secretly gave them a piece of her mind

⊱ she's literally ready to fight if it'll be necessary although looking at how many insults and good arguments she can make, they're most likely to just give up

⊱ she'll try to do it all secretly but if it's really bad then she won't be afraid of protecting your honor in front of you

⊱ but if she actually sowa it secretly and you ask her one day about it, she'll simply say that she has no idea what might be the reason

"Hm? They suddenly stopped making fun of your eyes? Well that's good, isn't it? No, it's not weird. I say you should just ignore them and live your normal life."

⊱ alright but you cannot tell me that An didn't gave you 100 compliments when she first saw you, like you didn't had to be lovers or even friends!

⊱ she thinks they're absolutely adorable and honestly, she's probably the type to stare into your eyes and then go like "Oh, sorry! I guess I got lost again~" or something alongisde that

⊱ so whens he discovers that someoen hates them, she get's hit by a confusion and then by pure annoyance

⊱ and she's up to talk with them now because no one will insult the pretties part of you which are your eyes! Not on her watch!

⊱ she's not really the type to beat up someone so she'll probably just have quite agressive chat with them and if they happen to go to Kamiyama High, then she can make sure they won't like it there anymore

⊱ if they're from another High tho, then she sitll has a lot of friends so she can try her best either way by threatning the person

⊱ if it doesn't work tho, she'll want to teach you how to respond when someone makes a comment like that

⊱ if they go as far as hurting you tho, she'll immidietly report it somewhere and obviously school or wherever she reported you is on your side yay!

⊱ of course she also gives you a lot of comfort after getting any comment and makes sure to throw some compliments here and there

"Don't worry about what they said too much... your eyes are so pretty! Of course they're unique and that's what makes them even more prettier! You think why I like to stare into your eyes so much?"

⊱ so Mizuki is quite similiar to An, they also noticed your eyes immidietly even if you two didn't knew each other but they didn't approached you

⊱ unless you noticed them, then they did just to tell you that they think they're pretty so you won't think they're secretly making fun of that

⊱ they also like to stare into your eyes but not for too long or too often and they don't make cheesy comment but smile and giggle instead

⊱ your heterochromia definitely makes it harder to pick outfit that matches perfectly for you but they also think it makes outfits look even more interesting so they absolutely love them!

⊱ so when they hear that someone maked fun of you for that, they have 3 feelings: confusion - because how can someone not notice how pretty they are?!!, sadness - because they can see how this unwelcomed comment made you feel, and anger - because how someone could insult their lover?!

⊱ they're also not the type to physically hurt someone but they surely won't mind ruining their reputation a little

⊱ and trust me when I say they're good at ruining someone's reputation in real life and even better in online if they put their heart into it

⊱ and once the person who made fun of you is no longer a danger, your lover act like nothing ever happened...

"Oh yeah! I heard some rumors about them! Strange, isn't it? Maybe that's why they were mean to you because they had their own problems! Of course it's not an excuse but I'm glad it's finally over~!"

❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉

[jmflowers]

Pls talk abt the diffs between st19 and GA. Would love to read your TV production nerd language!

Well, only took me 10 days to finally find time to get to this… my apologies, anon! I hope you're still interested.

I took notes during episodes 20x02 and 7x02 of Grey's Anatomy and Station 19 respectively to formulate my answer to this, but I should disclose that I have not been an avid watcher of Grey's Anatomy in about a decade. Despite my education in technical film and television production, anything stated here is my own opinion. Art is subjective and I absolutely do not have all the answers.

Let's start with Grey's…

So, from when Grey's first premiered in 2005 until the 10th season, the show was shot on film. That fact lends a lot to the stylistic formula of the show, which is not something you ever really want to change. (Fans arrive for a certain feel, thus a production bible is created that is adhered to for - hopefully - the entirety of a piece of work.)

I think it's most obvious in the coverage of scenes; shots are long and flowing, often moving around subjects as they converse with each other. By shooting this way, they would've protected themselves from needing to reset as frequently and it makes the editing process a lot more seamless. Also, in my experience, it just makes it easier to translate a director’s vision from set into the editing room.

(In film school, a lot of people will take a million different angles of a scene, all in little snippets, because it guarantees you'll have what you need for an interesting edit. However, if you work a bunch of continuous shots of the scene, actors get the opportunity to really immerse themselves in it - resulting in better performance - and the final edit has fewer possible iterations of what it could look like. Why don't students do this? Firstly, it's harder - more risk of having something in the background that will screw things up, more challenging to cut together if you have to remove a singular moment, harder to keep steady if you're not comfortable with stabilizing equipment or don't have any. Secondly, professors don't often encourage it because a lot of people are really terrible at camera operation if they're not trained properly.)

Anyways, all that to stay is Grey’s has this really fluid style to how they shoot. Nearly every shot is moving in some way, whether it’s a dolly, a pan, a tilt, etc. Let it be said that they are really, really good at this formula.

Another component of this is wider angle shots so that the characters can be continuously moving – think of those classic hallway walking scenes as a prime example. Allowing the actors to really move in a space helps to build tension without needing a bunch of little cuts and camera angles. This means there are some scenes in the show that only have one camera angle present before it moves onto the next scene, which isn’t super common in my experience.

Not to say that they don’t utilize closeups – Grey’s is a drama so it’d be kind of weird to not make use of closeup shots for the showing of emotion. However, the closeups seem to predominantly occur in the OR. My guess as to why that is would be in helping the audience differentiate who is who (as well as what they’re feeling), since part of their faces have to be covered during operations, but that’s pure speculation on my part.

And beyond all of that, Grey’s is visually still a drama. A lot of moments occur at night. Scenes are often darker, with more focus on backlighting than clear illumination of character faces. I find their blacks a lot stronger, which is probably something to do with their colouring.

There’s also just fewer action-packed moments, since the story often takes place with people just talking, so there doesn’t appear to be as much of an editing technique called “cutting on the action”. Which, honestly, makes sense if they’re filming longer takes. (Shoutout to my prof who constantly gave triple-take homework and made me completely ridiculous about cutting. on. action. You broke me, my dude.)

Conversely, Station 19 has a very different formula…

As an action drama, that was never shot on film, S19 adheres to a completely different bible. One that they rewrote after season 2 (I think? When did the voiceover intros stop?), you’ll probably notice, when they decided to veer a little further away from their identity as a Grey’s Anatomy spinoff.

The first thing I always notice is that a lot more of S19 scenes happen during the day, since the unspoken law of most episodes is that they begin as the team is coming onto their shift first thing in the morning and then stretches through their 24-hour. Scenes are just brighter and more illuminated – more of the sunlight streaming in windows and less of the visible nighttime cityscape you’ll notice in Grey’s. I also really love that they usually begin this time period with the characters at home, whereas Grey’s seems to have episodes finish with that.

Light is also obvious in how things are coloured on S19. Their blacks don’t seem as dark in the final colouring, which may have something to do with the navy blue of their uniforms. It also just feels like there’s more white present on their sets? But that can’t possibly be true because Grey’s literally takes place in a hospital.

Anyways, S19 fully subscribes to the shooting and editing style of an action production. Scenes have lots of coverage (they utilize over-the-shoulder shots which don’t happen as often in Grey’s), there are lots of quick cuts in the edit, and their shots are overall steadier or static with less of the flowy movement that Grey’s has. They also use a lot more closeup and tighter framing, focusing on cowboy and up – unlike the Grey’s formula of a full-body shot. (A cowboy shot covers from the middle of the thigh to the top of the head, ie. you would be able to see the cowboy’s gun in its holster… anything above that is a tighter framing.)

And S19 loves a montage. I can’t say for certain whether Grey’s still uses those, or if they ever really did, but S19 leans into a zero-dialogue montage edit for storytelling. Which I don’t find super common, as I think some people believe it’s a little too artsy or stylistic, but I think is a really effective way to get a plot point across sometimes. Do we really need to know exactly what they said or is it enough to see that they were smiling when it happened? Film and television are visual medias and fanfic writers everywhere are grateful for the gaps in the story that they get to fill in with their own headcanons. (I said what I said.)

I’m sure there’s lots more things I could probably point out on why Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 complement each other while looking like they could be from completely different universes, but that’s all I wrote down while watching them both live. Hopefully my film theory professor and my screenwriting professor are proud of me for this analysis.

Thanks for the question, anon! Always here to answer and talk nerdy if anyone ever has any more.

[dreamofmetoday]

Hi can I ask your opinion on why objectively bad idols can come up positive in some readings? I'm not going to name names to protect my peace and yours.. but there's a few idols where everyone knows they have done very problematic things or hold problematic beliefs (racism, homophobia ykwim) but still come up rather positive in readings?

Is it just bias of the readers coming through or is it that these more objective things can be hard to pick up on?

i think i'm going to do my best to explain in detail since it seems to genuinely confuse a lot of people and has become a pretty common question, but for that reason this answer might end up pretty lengthy, so i hope you don't mind reading all of it lol

the basic answer is that people are multi-faceted, meaning everyone has good and bad to them, and sometimes the bad is just something people view as objectively unforgivable. but secondly, it's important to understand that people who are homophobic or racist see themselves as being right, they don't really see what they're doing as wrong and therefore will not necessarily come up as malicious. a lot of racists or homophobes are also not actively going out and harassing gay people or who they're racist against - they just think it, talk about it amongst their friends and go about their lives as if that's not weird. so for example, a racist white person can come up as someone who loves their family, is sweet and generous to their loved ones, puts others' needs first etc. and you wouldn't even know they were racist unless you outright asked or did a dynamic (compatibility) reading with them and a person of colour (and you would see how they're prejudiced).

but another reason is definitely who is doing the reading, the main one is definitely bias but another overwhelming factor is people simply not being able to pick up on it. you know how writers are given the advice, "write what you know" well i believe the same should be applied to readers - "read what you know". in my experience, it's really hard for white people and people from homogeneous countries to pick up on racism in general since they are not experiencing it, can't see it and are racist themselves. so this all factors into how readings turn out.

lastly, it's important to put things into perspective in general. for example, when it comes to most kpop idols - they are koreans from a homogeneous country, they are all definitely some level of racist because that's just how that works, but whether they would come up as racist or not would more so depend on how purposely racist they are. them just being ignorant and uneducated will not really be that easy to pick up on (in my opinion and experience), since they don't necessarily have bad intentions. however, an idol that hates travelling overseas because they hate seeing foreign fans and mocks them behind the scenes is definitely more likely to show up as racist if you were to ask.

so to sum up your question, these things are not hard to pick up on but they may be for some people, even if they try to be unbiased. and as a side note, the most common way i see racism or homophobia coming up is inadvertently through dynamic readings (but you can really always outright ask and get your answer).

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: The Equiano Project

Published: Aug 20, 2023

“Of course, it is literally impossible not to see colour.” - Glenn Loury

Questioner: “Are you racist?”  Blind person: “No.” Questioner: “Why?” Blind person: “Because I can’t see.”

When I look at someone, most of the time, I cannot see their colour. Sometimes, I can guess. Voices, however, are not always accurate in giving away someone’s racial background. So, there are many people that I know in my life whom I have no idea what colour they are. But it is not the only thing that I do not know about them; I do not know their height nor their weight but that does not matter to me. 

For example, there is a Colombian woman whom I speak to a few times a week to help me with my Spanish. I have no idea what she looks like. I could not tell you her height, weight nor the colour of her skin. She could be white, black or something in the middle. I do not know nor do I care. 

There is also the writer Mario Vargas Llosa. I know he is from Peru but that does not tell me anything about what he looks like. However, I still know that La Guerra del Fin del Mundo is one of my favourite novels of all time. There are other writers that I admire, such as David Diop, Camille Dawood, Naguib Mahfooz; two of these men are Arab, but I have no idea what an Arab looks like. Again, it does not matter to me what they look like. They have produced great novels that I enjoy a lot. 

If I were to find out the colour of these people, it would not matter to me. All that matters to me is how great their work is. My friendships and art I enjoy are not dependent on the colour of the people who make it. My French tutor is a Moroccan man, and I have no idea what he looks like. Again, he is an Arab but it does not tell me anything. Therefore, he could be white, black, light-skinned or something completely different. 

It does not matter to me because skin colour does not matter to me. And it should not matter to you either. 

This is the colourblind principle. That is the principle that Dr Martin Luther King was affirming in his I Have a Dream speech made in 1963, when he said those famous words that you should “judge people by the content of their character, not the colour of their skin”. This speech and the colourblind humanist vision that it spawned has created tremendous gains for African Americans, like me, and for blacks across the West.

However, we are in a new age now, where a new form of antiracism is competing against the colourblind racism that has taken us very far. This form of antiracism proposes that colour ‘consciousness’ is the way to go, and that in this way, we will be able to close all the gaps that persist today among minority groups and majority groups. 

I think this vision of the world is misguided. I believe that the only way that we are going to make our diverse societies work is to keep the colourblind vision alive for it is the reason that our societies are so diverse to begin with. 

Let us take this on a micro-level: If I wanted to apply race consciousness in my life, I could. For example, I could ask all the people I described above what their race is or what colour they are, it would be weird but I bet they would oblige. However, I do not want to do that. It seems very strange to me and it would not change my opinion of them. If I found out what my Moroccan French tutor looks like, it would not change my view of him. This man has been a very great friend to me and has helped me get to where I am in French. I would not ask my Spanish teacher what her race is. I could do that but I will not. It just seems very weird for me to do that. Even if I did know what her race was, it would not change anything about our dynamic. She has been a good friend to me as well. 

And, again, that’s all that matters.

The way I treat my friends and the way I treat other people is not determined by the race of the people that I encounter. 90% of the time- probably 95%- I have no idea of the race of the people with whom I am speaking to. Sometimes, as I have said, voices can give you a clue, but it is not 100% accurate. 

But, again, this is just me and this is just at a micro-level. The critic would say, ‘what about everyone else who can see colour and make judgements and assumptions based on colour and prefer to be around those who resemble them- not just in interest or personality but physically as well?’

To the critic I would respond: this is why the colourblind vision is the best way forward for humanity because the colourblind principle teaches us not to give credence to the primitive instinct to regard people more favourably based on colour. 

Colourblindness exhorts you to aspire to something greater; to be your best self and understand our common humanity and that colour has no real value, not just extrinsically but intrinsically too. If we truly believe that race is just a social construct, then we need to not just say it as a cliché but enact it in policy. Race should not be a component into the decision of who gets what and why. That is how things were done during the bad days prior to the civil rights movement in America and in all of the previous backward civilisations that we deplore when we talk about history. 

Another objection that is made about colourblindness is that by not acknowledging colour, you are not acknowledging the consequences of colour, and therefore, you are not acknowledging the full being of that individual. To me, this is where a huge disagreement is created between the two visions. Colourblindness doesn’t see significance in colour or worth in colour, but the vision of colour consciousness does. To me, ‘black’ is just a description of what I look like. In fact, I do not even know what shade of black I am. However, it does not mean anything more. My colour does not determine politics nor my interests and tastes. My family upbringing and the culture that I live in are more determinative of who I am than my colour could ever be. 

Does it really matter what shade of black that I am?

Does it matter if I am light-skinned or dark-skinned?

To me, it does not.  It does not change anything about my attitude, my being, the ideas that I have and the way that I think about the world.

In the humanist vision, colour is only an external description of what a person looks like and nothing more. You can say, correctly, that people face problems because of their colour, but that is exactly why colourblindness is the best remedy for this. It is the best thing we can do to ensure the stability of our multi-racial democracies. To ensure the flourishing of humanity as a whole is to ensure that race does not matter and to ensure that people do not suffer negatively because of their race. This is a hard thing to ask of humanity given our biological predilections, but it is the only way out of the things that bedevil us today. 

For me, it is easy to do. I do it all the time. But for the sighted people who are reading this article, it will be a challenge. You might fail and you might stumble but I know that this principle is the only foundation upon which a good, true and noble antiracism can be built upon.

We are more similar than we are different. Our skin colour differences are not so massive that they cannot be transcended and overcome. After all, we humans live on the same rock and we have to share it amongst ourselves. To grant colour any more status and credence than it deserves is just to embolden tribalism and the darker demons of our nature.