#but that scene specifically unleashed something inside me

[clownishstarfish]

Watching Hellsing Ultimate AFTER watching the abridged is such an experience cuz I was so mad when I realized Bernadotte counting in French as he killed the policemen was only in the abridged

[simpforsolas]

A couple things to note.

First of all, when Rook pushes down the statue and Solas protects himself (and Varric) from the falling rock, he pushes AWAY from himself. He has the blade in hand, and Varric is standing right behind him. Rook is standing basically on the complete opposite side of Solas.

We see the rubble land near Rook, but then somehow in the next clip, Rook is BEHIND Solas on the stairs. Varric and the lyrium blade are nowhere to be seen. (The previous screenshot of Solas with the blade in hand is the last shot we see of him with the blade in this teaser. The next time we see him, which is the screenshot below, he doesn't have it.)

Something else I'll point out is the layout of this place. In the above screenshot, Rook is clearly at the base of the stairs. However, let's take a look at these two shots.

The one on the left is from earlier in the reveal, when Varric is talking to Solas. Pay specific attention to the Dread Wolf statue's placement here. In the second shot on the right, that same Dread Wolf statue is a landmark that gives us a clue to Rook's position. He's quite a ways off from the statue, and if you'll notice, there's a lot more wooden walkway and railings in front of him that we don't see in the first clip. He still has quite a ways to go before he can make it to the base of the stairs, where we see him in the screenshot of Solas looking down at him.

I think this is a clear enough indication that some clips from the cutscene were cut - most likely because they contain big spoilers. So that got me thinking. What are some spoilers big enough to warrant cutting? Here are some ideas I had:

Varric dying 😭 The death flags are everywhere people. Rook looks pissed off, and Solas looks... sad. When he looks up at the evanuris, he has a tear on his cheek (well, it could be a water droplet I guess but it's so perfectly placed to look like a teardrop that I don't think that's a mistake)

Solas turns to Varric for help. I think it would be too much in this little showcase to show more of Solas's moral ambiguity than we've already seen, so I could see them cutting a moment where Solas turns to Varric, gives him the lyrium blade, and tells him to KEEP IT SAFE.

The Inquisitor shows up?? I don't know how likely this is BUT it would make sense that if the inquisitor is there they wouldn't show it in the showcase. Because a) that's a HUGE moment you wouldn't want to experience without your own inquisitor and b) they'd have to pause and give a note like "this is a customizable inquisitor" which would slow down the action a lot lol.

Any other ideas of what could've happened in that cut? 👀

Second of all, at the very last second of the trailer, you can see Solas being propelled forward, into the fade through the tear he made.

If you notice in the first picture, his feet are firmly planted. If you watch the scene, the glow around the fade starts to speed up, like it's being pulled toward the rip, and then the last second you see Solas's feet lift slightly off the ground. Now I don't think he's charging or anything. He's already super close to these two so it's not like he's going to run towards them in order to attack. He's DEFINITELY going into the fade. There are two possibilities here.

Going into the fade against his will

Going into the fade on purpose

If he's going into the fade against his will, it could be that the gods who just showed up are dragging him in there, or perhaps because the ritual was disrupted it's gone wonky and is pulling him (or all three) in.

If he's going in on purpose, he could be dragging the gods into the fade with him in a last ditch effort to prevent them from being unleashed on the world, where he may try to fight them and defeat them inside the fade. IF this is the case, I could see the prediction of Solas giving Varric the lyrium blade working out quite nicely. He could realize the gods are going to be coming back, so he gives Varric the blade, tells him to keep it safe, and he's going to try to trap the returned gods inside the fade.

[whomst-art-thou-whomst-whomst]

The Artist and the Fan: Further Meta of Tiny Moments in Oh No! Here Comes Trouble

So it’s possible I did a third rewatch just because I’m convinced my favorite character is queer-coded. And that’s fine. I’ve written about Guangyan as queer-coded before. But what if it’s not just him?

Behold the first scene where Guangyan gets hit by a ball during gym class:

Before the first hit, the camera focuses on him subtly watching something as he runs around the track. What is to his left? The field where Yiyong is. Guangyan is surreptitiously eyeing Yiyong as he runs.

Right after Yiyong smacks the ball at him, the camera chooses to focus on Yiyong’s face. No comment on the expression here...EXCEPT we know later in the series that Yiyong didn’t push him down the stairs, is very gentle inside and wasn’t actually sure whether it had been Guangyan scoffing about his dreams the first time they met, so this is probably not revenge. When some kid brushes past Guangyan in the hall, he automatically thinks it’s Yiyong, meaning Yiyong pushes past him a lot. So given the comedic twists of this show, my queer little brain jumped to, eithrr he has the worst pattern of aim and walking in history, OR he is trying to get Guangyan’s attention in the dumbest “doesn’t know his own strength but maybe third times the charm” kind of way. Think about the dumb shit kids do on the playground to get someone’s attention. We’ve talked about Guangyan nursing a quintessential “of course I don’t like him, I absolutely hate him and his beautiful eyes” crush on Yiyong since high school, but a specific aspect of the rewatch made me think…maybe Yiyong, master of hiding his feelings and desires, master of expressing himself in writing and drawing, wasn’t entirely immune to Guangyan in high school either.

AND I HAVE EVIDENCE *jams tin hat on head* (although I respect that this could also just be a really solid non-romantic bond, see my note at the bottom)

Yiyong’s comic:

Literally two seconds after Yiyong (post coma 1) shuts down his comic, Guangyan (who is, as we later discover, the only reader of the comic) is frantically trying to get him to continue it.

Because it’s a cute little subplot that we know Guangyan is a fan, I got curious about what Yiyong’s art is all about, so I paused on his comic when he clicked on it shortly after waking up from coma 1; we surmise that the last time he worked on it was back when he was in high school, right before the accident.

A thank you to a translation by @betty5271 for explaining what Yiyong’s comic is supposedly about, according to the title and summary he has written for it on his page. The title is King of Flashfire, with the summary “What kind of bloody storm will a gifted high school student unleash on the campus?"

(Genres listed are battle, school life, and comedy)

Hmmmmmm. So it’s a story Yiyong wrote as a student…about a gifted student who gets into “battles”….

Now look at his two characters that are the figures from his comic. Remind you of any two people’s hairstyles and clothes?

*adjusts tin hat*

Guangyan is the only reader of the comic Yiyong has written about a stormy bond between two high school boys. A comic Yiyong wrote before ever having an actual conversation with Guangyan.

It makes this moment even more precious:

Now, to be clear: I do see this as a coded pre-romantic relationship, BUT this could also be an incredibly sweet friendship, too. Just as amazing. I would love a second season where they get their shit together, if that’s where the story is meant to go. Even if it never heads in that direction, I would still love this show so much and I can’t wait for their relationship to grow as they do. Our boys are soulmates, this comic subplot shows their coming together on the monster squad was meant to be.

(Chuying’s main meta is next if anyone has requests or thoughts on areas to cover with her)

[pulledpurplecurtains]

Your tags to the writing down tip made me curious about your writing process. How do you get ideas, and if so, what do you do with them?? (Immediately write, let it simmer, find more vibes etc) 🤔

boy oh boy okay

so i get ideas from anything and anywhere really - but that’s not specific enough nor is it exactly accurate. i don’t get ideas from music, or visual arts, but from written words and texts, whether shorter or longer and of whichever nature (tumblr posts, discord convos, literature, theoretical books etc) and also from real life situations or desires aka day dreams. that’s how the organic process goes, and another part of it is me just literally sitting and minding my own business while an idea just pops up into my head out of the literal ether of the universe or something, in which cases i also have the strongest desire out of all the above cases to actually put words on paper and make something out of my thoughts

that’s how a poem came to be last year, while i was just sitting on my couch drinking my morning coffee it just poured out of me so quickly and so suddenly i just had to use my phone’s notes (which i never do, i use hand written notes for my writing) and i quickly had a first draft of an entire poem - and i’m still baffled by the ferocity of that process

anyway, another way that works well is free writing and connotational exercises. i don’t use that method often just bc i’m not a professional writer so i don’t need to fulfil a quota of daily writing or idea generation in a set amount of time, however i did practise it last year for college and it was highly effective. so in case the terms are unfamiliar, free writing is you setting a set amount of time and literally just putting pen to paper and unleashing your genuine stream of consciousness without thinking of what you’re thinking at all. a slight variation is first selecting a theme and then recording your stream of thought regarding that. connotational writing starts with a word or idea, in brief wording, in a circle in the middle of your paper. you then follow your thought process in recording connected ideas (connotations) in adjacent circles that move outwards. once you seem to have exhausted the one particular path of connotations you return to your original thought and start another path of connected ideas, and so on.

what i usually do is much simpler: i don’t do anything 😂 i’m so bad with following through and actually writing stuff when i don’t have to or don’t have the luxury of time to. however when i do write, i usually will have jotted down my thoughts up to a point of the outline if the thoughts have come organically to me as above, and those thoughts will generate other thoughts and other thoughts, as i’m making the outline. and then eventually i’ll write it in a comprehensive continuous text i suppose lmao or i’ll start editing the poem draft that came out of that process (i only do drafts for poems, for prose i write completed texts that will only need minor edits because it’s impossible for my brain to have such an expansive “incomplete” work). fic writing has always been very different for me because i’d get a general idea and the desire to write and then extremely consciously i’d create a first draft inside my head/basic outline on paper. but then, with fic, the inspiration would come while writing and many times scenes have just completely taken a life of their own and turned out completely differently than i’d planned - or scenes have happened that i never planned at all. so fic writing is more organized and more chaotic at the same time but in different ways than original writing and poetry

i do also however have still fragments of ideas jotted down on papers on my desk that haven’t evolved into outlines of anything. and i think it’s important to consciously keep yourself in the mindset of thinking and recording your thoughts, because when i was in it i was more aware of recordable thoughts to jot down

[cara-delaney-author]

Blog post inside a blog post? It's more likely than you think!

Over on my website, I write monthly posts about the craft of writing, self-publishing, and sometimes tomatoes. For October, I've written up a little overview of my planning process - how do I go from idea to manuscript?

If you're curious, and maybe are getting a late start on your Preptober, go take a look!

Post pasted below the cut as well for your reading convience 👇

Plan a book with me!

Well. We’re here. Tomb of Heart and Shadow is finished, I’m just collection the last files I need to upload it to KDP and Ingram, and then off to the presses we go. This means that all the active parts are pretty much done, and it’s about time that I start a new project.

Plan a new project, I should say. Believe you me, I have learned my lesson, I’m not starting anything anymore without a solid plan. So why don’t you join me in my office, pour yourself a cup of tea, and let’s take a look at just how, exactly, I do all of that planning?

Step 1 – the notes That’s how every project starts – with some notes in my dump file that I keep on my desktop. At some point, when one random jumble of words stands out among the rest, I take that jumble and give it its own file. Everything goes in there. Every idea, character, setting, stuff I come up with during walks gets transferred from my notes app. I won’t use all of it, but it’s better to write something down and not need it than to wake up in the morning remembering that you had a brilliant idea at 4am but nothing else.

Step 2 – the elevator pitch This is about as classic as it gets. The dreaded two-sentence summary that distils the story down to its core concept. A mermaid and a pirate fall in love, and must work together to escape an angry ex-fiancé. A woman returns to her hometown and finds that everyone is behaving really strangely. When she starts snooping, she discovers a terrible secret. Two adventurer friends find a valuable relic, but when they take it, they accidentally unleash an ancient evil. They race against time to bottle it back up before one friend – and the entire world – becomes consumed by it. Now, this is not necessarily set in stone. If you’ve read my books, you’ll recognise the first two and notice that a lot is missing. That’s normal. This is just supposed to be a starting point. Since I’m not pitching to anyone at this stage, I don’t need it to be perfect, I just need it to be exciting to me.

Step 3 – the blurb Exactly what it says on the tin. For this step, I expand my elevator pitch into a proper blurb, like what you might find on the back of a book, or a store page. I give myself a little more space than what I would normally write as back copy, so roughly 250-300 words. Normally, I try to keep my back copy at around 150 words. This part is supposed to hit the big plot beats. That way, if I read it back and think “wow, there’s no way beat #6 would follow from beat #5”, I know that stretch of the story needs more work. But once I’ve got it all flowing smoothly and coherent, I move on to the next step.

Step 4 – the bullet point outline This is where the story really takes shape. I take the blurb, write down each beat as a bullet point, and then I start filling out the list around those beats. I don’t bother with details or any research that isn’t directly plot-relevant. For this part, I just need to get the story down on paper from start to finish. There will be lots of notes and comments here for later. If something needs foreshadowing, I will mark that. If a specific character development needs more setup, I will make sure to remind myself. If an aspect of the worldbuilding becomes relevant to the plot, I add a reminder to mention or explain that ahead of time, so as to not make it sound like I winged it in the scene. Since I write romance, I will also make sure to periodically note the relationship stage we’re in, just so I know that the progression makes sense.

Step 5 – the narrative summary This is the point at which I start writing the story. I’ll take that bullet point list and turn it into an extremely shortened version of the story. For reference, the narrative summary for my space horror is 3900 words long, the summary for my next romance project 3500. This summary allows me to get a better idea of the narrative flow and overall feel of the story. I can tinker with my bullet point outline, add and change as necessary, and incorporate all of those elements I put in the notes in step four. This process can take anywhere between a few days and a few weeks, depending on how much I’m changing, whether some aspects of the story need restructuring, and also what else I’m working on. But it’s important to me to get this right, because it will become the foundation upon which the story is built. If this is flawed, the entire construction will be lopsided. Right now, this is the step I’m at. I finished my narrative summary, and now I’ll give it a week or so to sit and simmer before I get back to it for the next step.

Step 6 – the actual outline Now this one, I’ll be experimenting with again. I do very much like chapter-by-chapter outlines, because there is something extremely satisfying about being able to see these self-contained little bits of story that I can start and finish in a day if I want to, and that look really neat when I’m done. But while this was fine with single-POV, or a dual-POV structured A-B-A-B, I’m not sure how well it works, really, for dual-POV where the chapters don’t neatly alternate. So I might shift this step from chapter-by-chapter to scene-by-scene. I don’t think it will make a huge difference in the end, but it will make it easier for me to shift scenes around, and see the overall balance of the different POVs (especially once I feed it into Atticus and start working on it in there).

And once this is done, there’s nothing left but Step 7 – writing the story.

So there it is, my current process as I go through a project from inception to writing “the end” underneath. Looks like a lot? It’s really not. Truth be told, without the majority of this prep work, the actual writing process would take so much longer. Having it all laid out and ready to go makes it so much easier not just to find flaws ahead of time (and thus avoid extensive rewrites), but to write the actual book day to day, without getting stuck in research, character development, and wondering if the entire thing hasn’t gone wildly off course forty pages ago, and I just didn’t notice yet. If you’ve never tried planning a long-form project, maybe give this method a go.

Now, if you’ve been reading this blog or following my socials for a bit, you might be wondering: It’s almost November, and she’s outlining a new manuscript, is she-

No. I’m not. There will be no NaNoWriMo for me this year, and this time, I mean it.

I haven’t missed a year since 2011. It’s time for a break. So this year, on October 31st, instead of counting down to November to get my first 1000 words in, I’ll be chilling on the couch, watching The Fall of the House of Usher, having a drink or two, and when the clock strikes midnight, I’ll think: “Maybe I should go to bed.”

And that will be all.

– Cara

[zoehennesseystyle]

Unleash Your Inner Celebrity: Why Hiring a Personal Shopper in Los Angeles Is a Game-Changer

Living in the vibrant city of Los Angeles, it's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of endless opportunities and fast-paced lifestyle. In a city where image matters, staying on top of fashion trends and looking your best is no longer a luxury reserved for celebrities and influencers. Enter the personal shopper—a fashion fairy godparent ready to make your shopping dreams come true. If you're still on the fence about hiring a personal shopper, let me walk you through the reasons why it's a game-changer for anyone in the City of Angels.

Time is Money: In a city where time is a precious commodity, a personal shopper can save you countless hours wandering through boutiques and scrolling through online stores. By understanding your style preferences and requirements, they curate a tailored selection of clothing and accessories, ensuring that every piece fits your unique personality and lifestyle. With a personal shopper by your side, you can reclaim those lost hours and redirect your energy towards what truly matters to you.

Expertise and Insider Knowledge: Los Angeles is a fashion hub, with an abundance of designer stores, hidden gems, and exclusive boutiques. Navigating this vast shopping landscape can be overwhelming, especially if you're not familiar with the best places to shop for your desired style or if you're seeking something specific. Personal shoppers possess insider knowledge of the city's fashion scene, including up-and-coming designers, sample sales, and exclusive events. Their expertise ensures you gain access to the most coveted fashion pieces and stay ahead of the trends.

Enhanced Confidence and Style: Finding the perfect outfit that aligns with your personality and flatters your body type can be a daunting task. A personal shopper becomes your style guru, providing honest and professional advice on what works best for you. They can guide you in discovering new styles, experimenting with different looks, and pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone. By boosting your confidence and helping you uncover your unique style, a personal shopper becomes your secret weapon for making a lasting impression wherever you go.

Stress-Free Shopping Experience: Let's face it, shopping can sometimes be stressful, especially during peak hours or when faced with overwhelming choices. Personal shoppers eliminate the stress by handling every aspect of the shopping experience for you. From pre-selecting items to arranging appointments, trying on outfits, and negotiating the best deals, they ensure your shopping journey is a breeze. With a personal shopper taking care of the logistics, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the thrill of discovering new fashion pieces.

Investment in Your Image: In a city where first impressions matter, your personal image can open doors and create opportunities. Hiring a personal shopper is an investment in yourself, signaling that you value your appearance and are committed to presenting your best self to the world. By curating a wardrobe that reflects your personality, a personal shopper helps you project the image you desire, whether it's for professional endeavors, social events, or simply boosting your self-confidence.

Conclusion: Los Angeles is a city that celebrates individuality and thrives on fashion and style. By hiring a personal shopper, you're not only saving time and gaining access to exclusive fashion finds but also investing in your image and boosting your confidence. Let a personal shopper be your fashion ally, guiding you through the fashion landscape and helping you unlock your full potential. So, why wait? Embrace the luxury of having a personal shopper and unleash your inner celebrity in the City of Angels.

Source From: https://zoehennessey.wordpress.com/2023/05/29/unleash-your-inner-celebrity-why-hiring-a-personal-shopper-in-los-angeles-is-a-game-changer/

[seekerpsycho]

The ACME Special

Do you enjoy derailing your DnD campaign with bonkers overpowered combos? Well let me tell you about a maneuver I created called The ACME Special, and how it worked a little TOO well in my campaign. STRAP IN! So, you’re going to need four items to pull this off: 1. A Bag of Holding 2. A heavy object no more than 500lbs which can fit in the Bag of Holding, such as a safe filled with cannonballs. 3. An intelligent creature which obeys your commands and can fly (a Homunculus is ideal. Mine is a steampunk spider-robot named Bobbert. [art pending. Bobbert substitute from “Meet The Robinsons” below])

4. A Ring of Spell Storing or lesser-powered equivalent.

Now, if you’re an Artificer, you can instantly build your own Bag of Holding and the Homunculus yourself at level 2. Getting an object of nearly 500lbs is easy enough; find a rock, or chunk of a pillar (though a safe is the best option, for comedic value). Ring of Spell Storing is trickier, but you might persuade your DM to give you the opportunity to buy one from a magic vendor or such. You don’t even need a fully functional Ring of Spell Storing as written: you just need something that can store and release a level 2 spell (specifically, Enlarge, which an Artificer can learn at level 5) (Also, the Artificer can build an equivalent Ring at level 11, but the earlier you pull this off, the more epic). Now, how do you unleash the ACME Special? 1. Put heavy thing in Bag. Heavy thing is light while in Bag. 2. Charge Ring with a casting of Enlarge. 3. Give Bag and Ring to Homunculus. 4. Instruct Homunculus to fly 200ft above target you wish to absolutely obliterate. 5. Instruct Homunculus to flip Bag inside out, ejecting the safe, 6. and as it’s falling, have the Homunculus use the Ring to cast Enlarge on the safe, doubling its size in every dimension, and more importantly OCTUPLING ITS WEIGHT, to 4000lbs! 7. Argue with the DM that as per falling damage rules, a falling hero takes 1d6 damage for every 10ft they fall, to a max of 20d6 (which I interpret as terminal velocity after falling 200ft), and surely whatever the hero hits will take equal damage, so off the bat, the falling safe will deal 20d6. BUT, I argue that heavier objects should naturally deal more damage, surely that makes sense? So let’s assume that the 5e falling damage rules were built around the “average” hero weight of, oh, let’s say, 300lbs. Given our Enlarged safe weighs 4000lbs, it should deal (rounding down) 13 times the normal damage a falling hero would, meaning that The ACME Special should deal 260d6 falling damage to whatever player, monster, or other poor unfortunate soul it lands on!!! 8. Watch target magically lose its 3rd dimension. Now, have I unleashed The ACME Special in game? Yes I have. Did the DM let it play out as I designed it? Yes, but no. So, the scene: I’m a level 7 goblin Artificer working with a band of stoned misfits on a mission to assassinate a king to stop a war. Along the way we manage to charm a giant sea serpent, which we later cast Enlarge on to basically turn it into a kaiju.

We attack the capital city, leading with the kaiju. I instruct my Homunculus Bobbert thusly: “Bobbert! Guard dog mode! Follow kaiju! If encounter Omega-level-threat, deploy... The ACME Special.” Bobbert flies off with the Ring and the Bag and hovers a comfortable 200ft above our kaiju, ready to obliterate anything that might threaten our beastie.

The kaiju wrecks merry havoc, distracting the king’s army and citizens, and we break into the castle and begin searching for the king. We run into two boss monsters, but they would quickly become irrelevant.

Outside the castle, very much in a Godzilla vs Kong type encounter, a second kaiju has emerged from the sea to challenge our kaiju. The enemy kaiju is a beast we had encountered previously, and was well established as this universe’s version of Godzilla, and this is a territory / alpha male dispute type thing. The kaiju immediately clash, with the poor city citizens caught in the crossfire. The battle is fierce and epic, so huge that it’s changing weather patterns. In any case, this definitely qualifies as an Omega-level-threat, and so Bobbert diligently unleashes The ACME Special, which I’m confident will one-shot the enemy kaiju.

As I explained the mechanics of The ACME Special to our DM, there were a couple things I did not factor in, all stemming from our DM liking my clever idea a little TOO much. I failed to factor in: 1. The DM decided the “max of 200ft” rule of terminal velocity was silly. The higher the fall, the more damage, period. 2. Unbeknownst to me (that is, my goblin, currently in the castle), Bobbert had been swept up by a tornado and lifted to the whopping height of LOW ORBIT.

Bobbert unleashes The ACME Special.

A 4000lb safe, the likes of which would make The Looney Toons themselves weep at its beauty, plummets from the sky, catching fire and melting into a molten ball of slag and kinetic death as it does so.

The DM has me roll my original damage calculation, from which he would multiply his own numbers.

834 damage.

This number is meaningless.

The safe lands; it misses both kaiju but strikes the ground between them. The shockwave manifests as both a kinetic blast and heat, knocking behemoths across the city. Buildings are obliterated. Streets buckle, shatter, and are blown away. Once nigh insurmountable defensive walls are reduced to so much gravel. The king’s castle is blasted apart as if it were made of glass.

Through a combination of accidentally taking shelter in the castle basement and plot armor, my goblin and the rest of the team survive by the skin of our teeth.

One-point-five million civilians are not so lucky. There are zero other survivors within the city limits (other than the boss monsters, who wisely surrender immediately).

Bobbert hath become death, destroyer of worlds.

My character is now a mostly-accidental terrorist who has committed a war crime of magnitude never before seen in this universe. He is trying to keep this under wraps, which is thankfully possible due to the very limited pool of surviving witnesses.

But hey! The king (and the rest of his bloodline) is dead! Mission accomplished! I guess!

So,

take with you this forbidden knowledge, the DnD blueprints for a tungsten-rod-drop. Use it wisely.

The wisest move might be to never use it at all.

[l0stinadaydream]

IWBYS music video | interpretation - pt7      ↳ cinematography

                     «Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world.»― A. Schopenhauer

First of all, this is my personal interpretation. I’m not in the director/band minds so these are just the associations I made while watching the video. Secondly, English is not my native language so... sorry for any mistakes.

______________

« Sex in every form and from every angle[..]» This is what the band wrote when they presented IWBYS and they seems to have used the freedom ( from a technical POV ) music videos allow to visually translate the message, playing with ...

➤ CAMERA ANGLES :

the close ups help creating a connection with the viewers, while the choice to film almost everything at eye level conveys the feeling of being ‘within the scene'.

The glass floor shots,on the other end, create the illusion of being beneath them, as if they 'looking down at us'.

➤ SETS :

the black background makes the subjects stand out, putting the focus on them while also giving the impression of an indefinite space, as being in a limbo ; the light background in the glass floor scenes gives the opposite feeling - they seems to be in an open space with nothing but air all around them. Free. [1]

➤ LIGHTINING :

chiaroscuro, neon lightining in various combinations (including complementary colors) = different kind of 'contrasts'.

➤ COLORS : 

vibrant tones, pastels, bold pairings ( ie pink and black) and a lot of red ( as little details or props, to illuminate their faces, as a set backdrop...) - the color of love and burning desire but also anger and danger.

➤ EFFECTS :

- the night vision camera gives the scenes a 'nightmarish' vibe that goes well with the growing sense of ‘urgency’ expressed in the song.[2]

- the fish lenses are used to play with POVs - one moment we are the ones looking, in the other it seems they are watching us. And then, for a brief moment, there is not us or them anymore because, using the double lenses, they make us look through "Damiano’s eyes".

- the rewind underlines the concept of a repeating cycle, a loop they’re trapped in.[3]

_____________

[1.] The only limit is an ‘invisible’ one and they start pressing against it, hitting it. An invite, maybe, to “break the glass ceiling”- nothing but our mind can stop us to be up there with them.

[2.] It’s like we are seeing what's deep down and how these mounting emotions linger there in the dark until we stop being scared/fighting and unleash them (= them playing with total abandon). We can see it as ‘liberation’ or as 'falling’… or both.

[3.] The band inside the lens, illuminated in red, reminded me of those led lights on cameras (think HAL 9000 from ‘2001:A Space Odissey’). They could be the ones on the opposite end of the ‘eye’ that the same band, while lying on the floor all ‘innocent’ looking, notice at the beginning of the video. As if they are watching themselves - in a loop inside the loop.

[4.]  little tidbits about the 'making of':

-- they had two versions of the video ready in case Youtube decided to censor the one they published. The ‘clean’ one was called the "disney version".

-- the idea behind the video was to use a series of images to represent the variety of sex. The director had a group chat with the band (and the team) where they shared ideas to add to a general ‘moodboard’ and, according to him, the more active and propositive was Victoria.

-- the director said that he didn’t  give specific instructions to Damiano while filming and so, what we see, is all him following his instinct. Also he revealed that, during the editing, everytime he had doubts of what to add, he looked into his scenes knowing he’d find  something interesting.

[icharchivist]

i love Sariel's complexity and it kinda bums me out how a lot of the time when people acknowledge him they like. kind of infantilize him and remove his agency? like acting like he's only loyal to Belial because he doesn't know any better. there are definitely things he doesn't understand to some extent but also one of his defining characteristics is pretty much that he doesn't really back down from doing what he feels like he should (which he only does because he learned from Belial!) and there's literally an entire scene where he is outright told that Belial is manipulating him and his response is "I don't care!", like this is a character who's defined by having agency when he was basically made and set up from the start not to, acting like he only ever does things because he doesn't know any better just because the decisions he makes are technically not very good is kind of missing the point i think

AGREED.

tbh i don't really dip much into the fanbase and the angel fanbase can be. a lot to take in, so i don't really read up this type of opinions, but *sighs* unfortunately i see exactly how they came to be and it doesn't surprise me.

I couldn't imagine thinking it's just that he doesn't know any better. Belial is just. literally the only positive figure in his life??? Like, nowadays he might grow out of that, he's getting new friends, Mole Troupe ftw, but genuinely it's not ignorance to just want to seek the one person who didn't want to hurt you??? who's kind to you when no one else is even paying attention to you??

(which is why he was so shocked when Belial attacked him in 000, and even more so upon realizing Belial did that and made himself look like the villain specifically to save Sariel's life. Like. Truly.)

Like blaming it all on Sariel's ignorance is taking the situation backward imo. It's not about Sariel being ignorant when he shows deep trust into Belial. It tells us, instead, of a side of Belial we have decided to not look at because we decided to focus fully on his bastard self and we can't comprehend that yeah characters who are rotten to the core and do everything wrong perhaps have a bit of good in them, somewhere, that has just as much value.

And it ends up being infuriating for how people even see Sariel himself on that regard.

Sariel is stubborn, but that's so interesting?? he was a primal beast forced into doing a repetitive job he hated, he was basically on autopilot doing the executions while coming back home crying just wanting to be an ant just so he could actually do repetitive things without actually having to think how much it was killing him inside, he had no drive nor passion. If Anything, Belial being so kind to him, and serving as an example (for better or for worse) was a way for Sariel to reclaim this passion, in some way.

Sariel is ignorant of a lot of things yeah, because of all the Horrors, but when it comes to Belial especially, it's not that simple. Like you said, Sariel just focus on something else completely.

I think even if Sariel knew all of the horrors Belial unleashed, absolutely all of them, and understood the weight of Belial's crimes, he still would side with Belial and support him, because Belial was kind to him and it's the only ever positive emotions Sariel was ever allowed to feel. And he's going to stubborningly cling to it.

Like, Sariel is kind of a victim of all of those schemes and everything and i think people want to also make it a shortcut in making him a victim of Belial's schemes in particular and i think that's completely missing the point of their dynamic and the fact this is, on the contrary, the one part of his life Sariel started to reclaim agency and free will for.

It's just sad man.

[unhealthyfanobsession]

I teased this in a previous post and people asked me to expand so...here’s my controversial take that Rhysand and Nesta are actually parallel characters in many ways and that they both hate each other so much because they ultimately hate themselves.

Alright ladies and gentleman, anti’s and stans, buckle your fucking seatbelts or hope off the roller coaster here because I’m about to learn you a thing or two about the most divisive characters in the ACOTAR world. 

Starting out very broadly- both characters are introduced as sort of confusing villains (Rhys is “evil” but he’s also helping Feyre. Nesta is an “awful sister”, but she also is protective of Elain and tells Feyre essentially to go and be happy), both have faced significant trauma and grapple with self-loathing and feelings of not being good enough, and both ultimately find redemption and healing with their mates who love them. They also both currently exist in a strange parallel coming out of ACOSF where Rhys is supposedly “chosen by the Cauldron” and Nesta is “blessed by the Mother”- the two sacred entities of Prythian.

Intrigued? More specifics and text analysis under the cut

Mommy (and Daddy) Issues:

Both characters were basically raised by their mother’s alone and then lost them at a young age and that had a deep impact on them. Rhysand had a far more positive experience of being raised by his mother HOWEVER I would argue that it was still “grooming” of a type since she took him away to train in Illyria specifically so that he wouldn’t be influenced by his father.

Rhys’ mother did this out of love and Nesta’s mother groomed her out of a social climbing agenda, but it had the same effect- they both lost the parent who was their primary caregiver at a young age and they were both not close with their father’s because of their mother’s actions  (again this was a good thing for Rhys, not as much for Nesta).

Parents Death: Rhys and Nesta both blame themselves for one of their parent’s death and are deeply affected by feeling like they failed someone important to them.

Rhys thinks that he is responsible for his mother and sister’s death because he gave Tamlin info

Rhys even says after this “It should have been me.”

Nesta feels that she was unable to save her father and she hates herself for it.

Rocky sibling relationship and Separation:

Rhysand and Cassian are obviously a lot further along in their sibling journey, but it’s stated that he and Cassian HATED each other and fought constantly essentially until Azriel arrived and then they decided to be “allies”.

Nesta and Feyre are also at each others throats but seem to put their differences aside in order to not upset Elain. (Even when Feyre first goes back to the human lands Nesta says NOPE NO FAE! But as soon as Elain asks her to do as Feyre says she agrees) and then Nesta states in ACOSF that she and Feyre were brought together by Elain to be allies in the war.

Rhysand and Cassian obviously grew into true brothers despite their adversarial, insulting, bitter beginning... and Nesta and Feyre after ACOSF have done the same. Obviously there’s still a lot of work to be done in that relationship, but the parallel stands (and is just strengthened by the fact that in both cases it’s the character with more power in the relationship- Nesta for being the oldest and Rhys for being the one whose family took Cassian in is then mated to the opposite sibling!)

Both have a parent who essentially separated them from their ‘siblings’ for their own benefit. Nesta’s mom isolated her as a child so that she could groom her and tell her how to maneuver her sisters when the time was right while Rhys’ father- afraid of his, Cassian, and Azriel’s combined power- separated them for 7 years through the first war to ensure they wouldn’t ally against him. Nesta was also separated from Feyre by Tamlin and tried to go to the wall to get her back but couldn’t get through- which is very reminiscent to me of the scene at the beginning of ACOWAR from the first war where Rhys is searching desperately but without hope for Cassian.

Shared Trauma and Learning to be “Evil” to protect their family:

both characters are sexual assault survivors who spend a chunk of their book (I’m counting ACOMAF as essentially Rhys’ book since that’s when we learn more about him as a character) grappling with that, coming to terms with it, and moving forward with a general attitude of “Never Again.” I would also argue that even their abusers are parallels as Rhysand was only ‘with’ Amarantha because he was trying to protect his family and Nesta was only ‘with’ Tomas because she thought his family might be able to take in and feed Elain (she says in ACOSF that she would give him whatever he wanted- her body meant nothing to her and Elain meant everything, which is essentially Rhys’ UTM mindset). In addition, both characters are able to escape their abusers out of love for Feyre. Rhys does so when Amarantha is about to kill Feyre, and Nesta does so because she realizes that Tomas would never go to the wall with her to save Feyre.

 Beyond this, both characters express that it is the lack of control over their own lives that truly haunts them. Rhys when he felt like he had no choice but to be Amarantha’s puppet and Nesta with a lot of her life, but especially when she is forced into the cauldron. Both of these are things that make them feel like failures for not protecting others. Rhys is haunted that he couldn’t protect Feyre under the mountain and Nesta is haunted that she couldn’t protect Elain from the cauldron.

This leads both characters to have a terrifying power-surge nightmare brought on by their trauma (Rhys from Amarantha; Nesta from the Cauldron) that terrifies those around them and can only be stopped by their mate.

In addition to this, they both have a “persona” that they put on and sometimes feel like they can’t shake off, a face that they made to protect themselves and their family. Rhys with his “Court of Nightmares” persona that he uses UTM, in the Hewn City, and with the other High Lords until the war. Part of his growth is letting people see beyond that ‘most powerful high lord of darkness’ mask.

For Nesta this is expressed by her “wolves” that she uses to put up a wall between her and the people who mocked her and her family, and especially Elain. And her learning to open up with Cassian and her found family was really important for her growth

HOWEVER, they both also keep that persona. Rhys has his mask polished for when anyone might threaten the people he loves and so does Nesta. Neither of them truly gave up that side of themselves, the darkness, they simply learned to stop it from consuming them. 

They also both LIKE doing this to their enemies. Rhys likes to toy with his enemies and torture those who would harm his family or betray him and so does Nesta- she revels in cutting down anyone who insults Elain and says in ACOSF that she’s felt the urge to do the same for Cassian. They both wield words like weapons and use their intelligence to ensure they are always one quip ahead of their enemies. Something that both Feyre and Cassian admire in their mates and try to emulate to a degree.

(Bonus points for the fact that in both cases their families did not ASK to be protected/sacrificed for.)

Found family and sacrifice:

Rhys calls Cassian and Azriel his “brothers” after becoming close while training and they conquer the blood rite together. Nesta calls Emerie and Gwyn her “sisters” after becoming close while training and they conquer the blood rite together. Rhys sacrifices himself to Amarantha in order to protect Cassian and Azriel (and Velaris). Nesta sacrifices herself to hold the path of Enalius to protect Emerie and Gwyn. There’s also a line in ACOMAF and a parallel line in ACOSF essentially about Nesta being willing to do anything- including “whore” herself- to protect Elain, and in order to protect his brother’s that’s exactly what Rhys did- “whore” himself to Amarantha.

Both are ‘saved by’ and feel not good enough for their mate:

I hesitate to use the word “saved by” because ultimately both characters have more agency than that, HOWEVER, both characters rely on their mate to a degree to pull them out of a very dark time and place. Feyre helps Rhys remember who he is and forgive himself for under the mountain and he even specifically calls her his “salvation.”

I don’t think I need to even say the Nesta part here, all of ACOSF is essentially Cassian helping Nesta climb out of a dark period so that they can heal together.

(Both also start connecting with their mates on a “just sex” situation.)

Both characters think that because of the things they’ve done and the darkness inside of them that they don’t deserve the people they have been mated to.

Obviously there are many differences, but the characters are similar in a lot of ways and what I think this really highlights is just how true that line is in ACOSF about Nesta being a wolf that was never allowed to learn how to be a wolf. Meanwhile Rhys is 500 years older and has always had power and agency of some kind even at his lowest point. Nesta didn’t have that power and wasn’t allowed to really unleash herself so she armed herself with a steel exterior to make up for that lack of power and control. Which is very similar to what Rhysand did when he felt he didn’t have power under the mountain- put on a cold face, not let anyone in, and act cruel in order to get through it.

Overall it’s an interesting character study because in a lot of ways these are very similar characters, but there is such a MASSIVE divide among the fandom of liking and hating one or both of them. Ultimately, I do think that a lot of the hate Nesta gets is because she’s a woman and female characters simply aren’t allowed to have the same flaws as male ones- which is kind of Nesta’s whole life story. BUT I think that Rhysand actually gets unintentionally screwed over by the narrative in one big way. Becuase my final paralell is that I think a lot of people came around on Nesta when they saw in her perspective that she knows she has problems and how much she was struggling… and I also think that Rhysand is so hated by those who dislike him because of Feyre’s ‘he can do no wrong’ perspective. I think if we saw more of Rhysand internally struggling and knowing that he made the wrong call sometimes and second guessing himself he’d be a lot more likeable character. We know he’s capable of this because when Cassian calls him out on the training roof for always thinking the worst of Nesta he just says “you’re right. I’m sorry” and he even *kinda* admits some wrong when he’s so shocked by how deep Nesta’s trauma is. Feyre and the rest of the IC constantly exalting Rhys as perfect when he so clearly isn’t and in fact has a lot of the same “flaws” as Nesta is probably the most frustrating thing about the character, which ultimately I think is kind of unfair because we know from his few perspectives that he doesn’t see himself that way.

[euovennia]

Mate

Summary: In which Carlisle finds his mate with the subtle guidance of Alice.

Pairing: fem!reader x Carlisle Cullen

Word Count: 1,860

"Slow down, Alice! There's no need to be this excited, it's just skating." Rosalie remarked with a bored expression as she and the rest of the Cullen family struggled to keep up with the tiny woman.

"Maybe it is just skating, but we haven't had a family outing like this in forever, Rose! Trust me when I say this is good for us, it'll be unforgettable." Alice spoke, a mix of mischief and excitement glimmering in her golden eyes. Jasper came towering beside her and wrapped an arm around her small frame, "Just what are you planning, darlin'?" Alice only smiled before quickly escaping his grasp and continuing bouncing her way toward the entrance of the skating rink as the small group attempted to rid themselves of the uncomfortable nagging feeling in the back of their minds.

Something was going to happen, but no one knew what.

With the door held open by Alice, the family quickly filed into the building before being dragged over to the check-out counter where an older man stood hunched over the counter as he kept his eyes trained on a small TV in the corner of the counter. His calm exterior fumbled momentarily as the sound of the entrance door slamming shut behind the rather large group snapped him out of his focus. He quickly straightened himself out as he painted a warm smile onto his face, "Well hello there folks, what can I do for you?"

At this, Alice quickly pushed a surprised Carlisle to the front of the group. Feeling awkward, he quickly clasped his hands in front of him as he looked directly at the man who was patiently awaiting a response, "Hello. My family and I were interested in doing some skating. Perhaps for an hour or two."

The man turned to look down at his wristwatch before changing his attention to Carlisle once again, "Of course, but I have to say that there's gonna be about a ten-minute wait. I can get you all situated with your skates and take you down to the observation room while you wait. If that's alright, of course."

Carlisle glanced back at his family and upon receiving one enthusiastic reply from Alice and a shrug from Edward before he turned to the man, "Yes, that'll work out fine."

With their skates in hand, the Cullen clan followed the man down a long, brightly lit hallway before reaching a set of worn-in blue metal doors. The doors let out a loud creak as they were pushed open by the man. As the group filed inside the cold room, they were met with an intensely fast-paced tune composed of numerous cellos. They glanced at one another, the uncomfortable feeling slowly beginning to blossom in their bodies further with the exception of Alice who stood there with a large, expectant grin on her pale face. Realization dawned on Rosalie as she caught sight of her sister's face and she harshly grabbed her wrist as she spoke in a low tone, "What the hell are we doing here, Alice?" Ignoring her harsh, venom-filled tone Alice only shrugged. Huffing, Rosalie returned to Emmett's side as she crossed her arms. Sensing the tension that was growing between his adoptive children, Carlisle turned to the old man who was looking out a window that was faced outward toward the skating rink. "Is there a specific reason for the music?"

The man looked back at Carlisle and wordlessly motioned him to stand by his side. Carlisle furrowed his brows together in slight confusion but walked over by the man as requested. Eyes focused on the glass window in front of him, Carlisle watched as a woman feverishly skated around the rink with a heightened sense of grace and elegance that could rival that of his own family. He found himself enthralled with the precise and quick movements coming from the mysterious woman and found himself letting out an unnecessary breath as he asked, "Who is that?"

The old man kept his eyes trained on the woman's skating figure as he answered, "I don't know much about her if I'm being honest. All I know is that she's a pro skater and that her coach is pretty strict." Carlisle reluctantly tore his gaze away from the woman and glued them to the man beside him, "Coach?" The man nodded as he turned to face Carlisle fully, "Yeah. That guy over there." He spoke as he lamely motioned to the left side of the rather large rink. Carlisle's gaze settled on a well-built man with medium brown hair that was immaculately styled with calculating and judgmental eyes that seemed to rake over every movement of the female skater.

As Carlisle's gaze went to settle on the woman once again, he was pulled from his thoughts as his adoptive children had grown an apparent interest in Carlisle's overly observant attitude. "What're you looking at, pops?" Emmett spoke loudly causing Carlisle to cringe at both the nickname and volume of his voice. "Nothing, Emmett. Just looking around the rink is all." Rosalie scoffed, "Seems to me like you were checking out something special," Her gaze quickly turned to the woman who was effortlessly gliding across the ice, "Or someone." It was at this moment where Carlisle knew that if he was still capable of blushing, his face would be on fire. "She seems to be very talented, it's eye-catching." Esme gently defended. "Well, the music is a bit obnoxious." Rosalie muttered. "A flair for the dramatics never hurt anyone." Edward mused. "Oh please, all you know how to do is be dramatic." Rosalie fired back, her annoyance growing with each passing second.

Carlisle watched the scene unfold in front of him with weariness in his eyes as he gave a small nod toward Jasper who then unleashed a subtle calming effect on everyone present. Unable to fight back the sudden wave of calmness she felt, Rosalie let out a deep breath before walking away with Emmett trailing behind her, ready to calm her down further if needed. Relaxing his posture slightly, he turned to face the old man. "I apologize. My family, unfortunately, do not see eye to eye on everything." The man simply waved off his apology. "I used to be a family man myself. No worries. Anyhow, I best be getting back to the front desk. As soon as those two get out, feel free to hop on in." He said before giving the family a departing wave and walking away.

Carlisle watched him disappear behind the rusty blue doors before directing his attention back to the now-empty ice rink. He felt his undead heart fall to the pit of his stomach as one question raced through his mind: Where did she go?

His question was quickly answered as the doors leading to the rink opened and the man and woman walked in speaking in what Carlisle could make out to be French-based on his rather limited knowledge. He watched with great interest as the man and woman went back and forth with their conversation.

"Vous vous déplacez trop lentement dans certains domaines. Vous devez l'accélérer." (tr: You move too slow in some areas. You need to speed it up.) The man spoke, his tone a bit rough and body language that gave off the impression that he was annoyed. The woman seemed a bit exasperated as she responded, "Je sais que oui, mais je me sens épuisé. Donnez-moi juste un jour de repos, c'est tout ce dont j'ai besoin. Je serai mieux après, je te le promets!" (tr: I know I do, but I feel exhausted. Just give me one rest day, that's all I need. I'll be better after, I promise!) Once finished speaking, the man turned to her and shoved a finger in her face as he spoke quickly and sternly, an annoyed expression present on his face. "Non. Vous ne vous améliorez qu'avec une pratique constante. Pas de jours de repos pour vous. Arrête de demander." (tr: No. You only get better with consistent practice. No rest days for you. Stop asking.) The woman seemed disheartened by his attitude as she crossed her arms and simply nodded. The man let out a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, "Pardon. Juste ... Habillez-vous. Nous devons partir." (tr: Sorry. Just...Get dressed. We need to leave.) The man tore his gaze from the woman in front of him and was surprised to see a large group of pale people awkwardly trying to pretend as though they weren't just eavesdropping. A light pink color dusted his cheeks as he pulled his jacket closer to his frame. "My apologies. Just a small disagreement. Have fun on the ice." He said, an awkward smile on his face as he walked out of the cold room.

With the door slamming shut behind him, the woman looked up at the family, her eyes quickly moving over the appearance of all of them, her gaze lingering on a certain blonde doctor for a second longer before speaking, "Sorry to take up all the ice. It's just that people normally don't come here." At the sound of her soft voice, Carlisle looked away from the door where the man had once gone through and fixed his eyes on the beauty in front of him.

She had dark brown hair that was thrown up to an elegantly messy bun with two fallen wisps of hair that worked to frame her face perfectly. Her eyes were a few shades lighter than her hair whereas her perfectly arched eyebrows matched her hair color perfectly. He found himself admiring her long eyelashes that beautifully fluttered with every blink and her long, slim nose that sat perfectly on her face. He admired the light pink color that stained her lips and cheeks, a glorious reminder for Carlisle of the humanity that remained within the woman before him.

"Dad!"

Carlisle looked over at Alice who had a knowing grin on her face as she motioned with her head toward the woman. He looked back at her, "I just wanted to know if you were alright. You seemed a little...Out of it."

At the sound of her melodic voice, Carlisle gave her a warm smile. "Yes. I do that sometimes. Sorry to concern you." The woman returned his smile as she spoke, "It's fine. We all have our moments." Carlisle nodded as his smile stayed painted on his face. After a few moments, the woman spoke again, "It was nice seeing you all, but I must get going. Have fun." Carlisle's face fell at her admission and he nearly reached out to stop her but restrained himself from doing so. "Of course. Have a wonderful day." With a final smile, she gave the group a nod of acknowledgment before taking her leave.

"What was that?" Jasper spoke once the doors shut behind the woman. Carlisle could feel his undead heart clench as he uttered the next two words,

"My mate."

[everybodylovesrand]

Rafe/Rosamund Q&A

Q: Will there be a second trailer?

Rafe: Yes! and longer! What’s the thing you’d like to see most in it?

--

Q: For both Rosamund and Rafe - How do the final visuals effects align with what you had in mind when reading the script/filming on location?

Rafe: Making a TV show at its best is about collaboration about seeing how your initial version for something is lifted and changed and made better by the people around you. So my favourite visuals in the show are the ones that are far better than I’d ever imagined writing the scripts.

Rosamund: It’s so important to have a living vivid world inside your imagination when you are shooting sequences that will be completed with CGI, and the production have always made sure that we had plenty of visual references for how things would look as we went along. We have never worked on a set on which at least part of the world is not built. We have always had elements of the texture and atmosphere of the finished world to work with.

--

Q: Can we get some information on the composer or the score for the show? SO excited for this! Thank you both so much for bringing this to life!

Rafe: If Amazon lets this answer go through, this is me proudly announcing that we have the most incredible composer working on the show by the name of Lorne Balfe. You’ve gotten a tiny hint of his music with the reveal of the Logo, and what he’s doing is really special.

--

Q: For Rosamund: how different is acting in a high-fantasy TV show from your previous work?

Rosamund: The biggest most important challenge with fantasy is making the stakes your own, making the concepts and ideas that are so outside our own experience feel real and immediate.

--

Q: How much of the myrddraal is practical effects?

Rafe: The Myddraal, like almost all elements in the show, is as much practical as we could manage, enhanced by VFX. I always think that gives a more disturbing and real-feeling quality than full VFX creatures.

--

Q: My question is – What do you think Moraine’s favourite food is? (2) Does she prefer coffee or tea?

Rosamund: I don’t think Moiraine cares too much about food. (Rafe thinks she likes buffalo wings). She eats to live. But don’t worry, you will only ever see her drink tea.

Rafe: Buffalo wings.

--

Q: For Rosamund: How did you feel seeing Moiraine’s powers visually for the 1st time?

Rosamund: I felt like a badass. I said to Rafe when I first saw it, “I need this video of me shooting fireballs to show to my sons again, and again.”

--

Q: What is the show going to be rated? Will people be able to watch it with their teenagers?

Rafe: People should certainly be able to watch with their teenagers.

--

Q: How have you kept this trailer under wraps so long? Omg – it is perfect.

Rosamund: Thank you. The only thing we wanted was that it made people feel.

--

Q: How were you able to come up with how the weaving of the One power looks?

Rafe:  All of the VFX teams looking at the One Power were going off documents of descriptions of it pulled straight from the books, and using that as jumping off points.

Rosamund: I needed to feel that you would believe Moiraine had this power if there were no visual effects- the most important thing for me, was that I felt connected to something greater than myself. Robert Jordan is so eloquent about what it feels like to channel, the feeling of the one power filling your veins, the risk of it, the risk of drawing too much and the necessity of respecting it and being trained to use it.

--

Q: For Rosamund: What’s your favourite Moiraine speech?

Rosamund: Moiraine can be very silent so when she speaks, we listen. In the books it’s the “Weep for Manetheren speech”. The idea that in the people of the Two Rivers, the “old blood runs deep”.

--

Q: Can you bring the release date back a bit to like tomorrow or something?

Rosamund: Ask Rafe.

Rafe: Ask Amazon.

--

Q: How excited are you to see your audience responses after such a long wait?

Rafe: This is a complicated thing, because as a fan of many epic book series, seeing them brought to life is simultaneously thrilling and a little bit sad, as it changes forever a world that you saw in your own head while reading.

Rosamund: I love how warm and welcoming the Wheel of Time fan base have been. I hope we offer escape, excitement, mystery and something to keep people inspired through the end of the year.

--

Q: Which location was your favourite to film at? Specifically, in the show and in real life!

Rosamund: The world inside the walls of Shadar Logoth is particularly affecting and eerier. our production designer created a powerful, sinister set for the abandoned city. But for me as an actor: the city of Tar Valon was so rich: it was built from the ground up with the most intricate detail. It is stunning.

--

Q: Is the scene with Egwene in the water about her One-Power / Wisdom testing?

Rafe: I can answer that question at the end of the Season.

--

Q: What’s your favourite aspect of the WoT series?

Rosamund: My Warder. (awww!)

--

Q: How much will Season 1 cover? Book 1 or spread accross several? Looks amazing!!!

Rafe: Season One will cover Book One, plus some of Book Two and even Book Three. But also not all of Book One, as some of it is in Season Two. Cryptic enough?

--

Q: How may nightmares did that flaming Fade give you?

Rafe: Not many, as I will always remember him as Dan, who was spinning in circles on his horse on a Slovenian mountain doubling the Westwood.

Rosamund: His very feminine lips, concealing rows and rows or teeth give me nightmares… And don’t get me started on the skeleton mask his horse wears.

--

Q: What excited you the most about this series?

Rosamund: The amazing cast and the bond we all have!

--

Q: For Rosamund: Is this your first time acting with CGI effects? Is it harder than expected?

Rosamund: It was great. I did a full body scan on day one and then I never had to show up!

--

Q: For Rosamund: What was it about this story that spoke to you and made you want to play such an amazing female?

Rosamund: The way women of the Aes Sedai harness the elements of the universe to unleash incredible power: that interested me a lot. Playing an amazing female is always better than playing a mediocre female.

--

Q: Which parts of the trailer are you most excited for the fans to see the full version of in the show and why?

Rafe: I’m really thrilled for fans to see more of Winternight.

Rosamund: Shadar Logoth, the city where you really feel how the dark is a material substance that chases and consumes. The visual effects and the extremity of this sequence haunts me.

--

Q: How do you expect us to work today?

Rafe: Don’t! If I’m your boss, you have the day off.

Rosamund: I expect you to focus, and do your best as always. Sincerely, headmistress.

[shadyteacup]

Helloooo, can you do headcanons on Dazai having a strong S/O (ability wise) like nearly as strong as Chuuya? Cause isn't he a literal God lol. Thank you :]

Hewo! I had a lot of fun writing this...it almost turned out to be a oneshot :p , but dw, I managed to turn it into hcs :D

Here u go~

Thunderstruck⚡

Dazai x gn!reader

Reader has a strong ability...like, rlly cool 😎 it's my dream ability

      This man is head over heels.

He loves how you scream over a cockroach but can rip people to shreds at the same time.

Since you didn’t mention any specific ability, I have gone ahead and given you a lightning ability.

Arahabaki is the god of calamity, that combined with Chuuya.

Raijin is the God of lightening. Your ability is pretty similar to His powers.

You can control the place, time and method of a lightning strike. You can also produce it on the spot and shoot it from your hands...kinda like Palpatine.

Your eyes turn arctic blue, with your hair flowing around you. You look like a literal Goddess/God.

He was mesmerised when he witnessed it in action for the first time.

You and Dazai were walking through Yokohama, observing the internal beauty of the city via small lanes and random alleyways.

Hand-in-hand, you two were chatting about how Dazai hadn’t tried the Napolitana pasta yet, despite living in a city that was rumoured to have invented the dish.

That’s when Dazai pulled you around a random corner and shielded you from the view of the road you two were originally walking on.

You knew better than to speak at such a moment and decided to observe and try to pick any signs of being followed.

Sure enough, you could hear faint footsteps come to a stop right at the corner, you two still being shielded by the corner. You both waited with bated breath, and after a while, the person went away.

Relieved, you were about to walk out of your hiding place, when a barrel placed itself on your head from behind. Your eyes widened and you froze in place. Dazai noticed the unknown presence and looked behind only to find you being held a hostage.

“Long time, Mr. Executive!”, the man holding you hostage said as he grinned at Dazai.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in prison, Ito san?”, Dazai said, offering him his own smile.

You could easily read through his façade. The smile was only a mask, covering his panic and fear. You had no experience in fighting, and Dazai was no match for this man. He had fought him earlier, but that was when he had Chuuya by his side. Dazai can come up with a spectacular and manipulative plan, and Chuuya, or his current ada partner, Kunikida, can execute it, considering their brawn. He was the brains, and his partners had always been the brawn. He can fight the occasional criminal, but Ito was a feared enemy of the mafia, who was both mentally and physically strong. He had always assumed that the mafia had caught him, and sent him to jail, thanks to the mafias feared double black, but apparently, he had gotten away, or had found a way to break out of prison.

“prison isn��t a place for a man like me; you of all people know that. So, I left! Decided to say hello to an old friend, now that I’m back.”

He moved his gun from your head, dragging it down to your chin.

“Turns out, my visit might actually kill two birds with one stone.”

Understanding the hidden meaning behind his words, Dazai tensed up. He couldn’t let him hurt you. He had to get you out f here. But how is he going to do that? There is no way out of this without either of you getting hurt. He must protect you, but what must he do?

You chuckled.

“Something funny, pretty thing?”

“Actually, yes.”, you say, “Do you know who you’re threatening?”, you smirk, your tone dangerously low and intimidating.

“You’re playing a dangerous game; Ito-san, wasn’t it?”

The man grabbed your chin, turning you to face him.

“I was going to let you go, but I suppose your naivety deserves a bullet to the head!”

You smiled, activating your ability.

A sudden jolt of electricity travelled into his body. Yelping, he let go of you. Using this window of opportunity, you kicked the gun out of his hand and pushed yourself away from him. Dazai quickly grabbed your arm, pulling you away from the man, and out of the alley. His main intention was to get you away from here. Away from danger. He hadn’t understood what had just happened, but he decided that right now, running was the best course of action.

You two turned multiple corners, crossed many junctions, and ended up at an open field. Beyond the field, a few blocks away, was a metro station. You two could head to safety from there. All you had to do was cross this abandoned field and get in the metro.

Multiple men, clad in a uniform of sorts, emerged from the shadows, circling you both.

“Thought you could run away, did you?”, Ito stepped into the circle, a proud smirk on his face.

“You will face the consequences for destroying my gang. We never broke apart, you see. All of us are back. And we will take over the mafia, defeat the ada, and control this city.”

“Good luck with that.”, you say as you let go of Dazai’s hand, ignoring his warnings to stay back. Kinda like that scene with odasaku :')

You spread your arms wide, activating your ability. Bolts of lightning shot out from your fingers, hitting a few of the men, dropping them to the ground.

The men had no time to react as you swiftly raised yourself off the ground, hovering over them, and unleashed your signature move, striking them with a large bolt of lightning from the sky.

The head of the group, Ito, activated his own ability, the ability to control metal. Multiple guns aimed themselves at you and began shooting.

You created a shield around yourself, effectively blocking the hundreds of bullets.

Meanwhile, Dazai sneaked behind the others, incapacitating them.

You continued to fight Ito, blocking his attacks, and sending a couple bolts his way, while simultaneously attacking the others. The field was a mix of bullets, sharp scraps of metal, and bolts of electricity.

At the end, Dazai sneaked up behind Ito, nullifying his ability, and knocking him out.

To say that he was surprised would be an understatement.

He had heard of an ability that controlled lightning, but this was his first time witnessing it in action.

'Heaven's Fury' was the name of your dangerous ability.

He thought it suited you very well..

You are calm and composed, but when angered, you can unleash madness upon your enemies.

You were always so elegant, and seeing you like this, using your powers and fighting atleast 20 people at once, he couldn't help but admire your majestic beauty.

Your ability gives me 'They tell me I'm a God, I'm lost in the façade, Six feet off the ground' vibes.

Dazai agrees with my opinion.

You look like a deity.

He liked the idea of protecting you, yes, but he found it so hot that you could protect yourself.

Hell, he now knows that you can not only protect yourself, but also take out an entire city on your own.

He would be much at peace now, knowing that he doesn’t quite have to worry so much about any past enemy of his taking revenge. You were stronger than almost all his enemies.

Will praise you, 24/7. He wouldn’t stop talking about it.

He wonders why you didn’t tell him, and you merely shrugged saying that he never asked.

He would brag about you to all his friends(ada members)

He would never tell anyone other than the ada members, though, as he doesn’t want anybody to do some research and find out a way to defeat you.

He prefers it to be an element of surprise and catch the enemies off-guard.

Loves watching the shocked and scared faces of those that decide to wrong you, leading to you using your formidable ability on them.

If you aren’t a part of the ada, he would definitely think that you’d be a great addition to the organization.

He would never ask you join, though. He wants you to be as safe as possible. It doesn’t matter whether or not you have a strong ability, he just wants you out of harm’s way.

Besides, using your ability can take a toll on your health too.

He just wants to see you happy and safe.

If you decide to join the ada, he will try to talk you out of it.

If you’re absolutely sure of your decision, he wouldn’t stop you.

Instead, he will accompany you on all your missions, and will ask Atsushi to come along too.

He is aware that you are extremely strong and don’t need anyone, but he will constantly worry about you, which is why he accompanies you.

Don’t get him wrong, he really loves you and trusts you, but he is just so worried.

So, don’t oppose him when he joins you, please. Poor baby is just really concerned for your health.

Will call up Chuuya and brag about you to him.

“My Belladonna is much stronger than you, chibi-kun ;p”

If you’re taller than Chuuya, Dazai will tease the hell out of poor hat man.

He'll be like,"LOL shorty XD. My s/o is both taller and stronger than you!!"

If you're not taller, it will still be hell for poor wine boy.

"I can't believe that you're weaker than my s/o! They're so much better than you, LOL"

"Shut up, bastard!"

"Pathetic chuuya.. You literally have a God inside you, and you're still weaker! LMAO"

I feel bad for chu chu :(

But, oh well, that's just them, ig :)

[gffa]

THE JEDI AS NATURAL, INSTINCTIVE TEACHERS IS A FUNDAMENTAL TO WHO THEY ARE AT THE CORE.  For @jedijune​‘s theme for Saturday, June 13th: Teaching/Learning

Taking a Closer Look at the Jedi Order in Star Wars Canon [Meta/Reference Guide]: Chapter 3: Teaching Is A Central Theme To The Jedi

Teaching is a central theme to the Jedi:     Obi-Wan:  “You’d make a good teacher.”     Anakin: “No thanks.”     Obi-Wan: “Anakin, teaching is a privilege. And it’s part of a Jedi’s responsibility to help train the next generation.” [Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie]

“Master Yoda said we never stop learning.  Perhaps the Master is meant to be as much a student as the Padawan.  I may not be the teacher that Qui-Gon was.  But I am the one that Anakin has.”  (–Obi-Wan Kenobi, Age of the Republic: Obi-Wan Kenobi #1)

Henry Gilroy and Dave Filoni on establishing Yoda as a teacher early on:      Gilroy:  "There were elements that we really wanted to explore, and that was things that were classic to Yoda, as a teacher.  We thought this was a great opportunity to show how the Jedi interact with the clones.  Specifically Yoda in a teaching role, of the clones, who were socially new, who were created to fight, and he really broadened their horizons, and helped them realize there was a great big universe out there that was bigger than just fighting and killing.“      Filoni:  "You see Yoda teaching the clones, much like he taught Luke, ‘cause that was kind of natural for them, a natural instinct to take these clones like their students. And it really allowed Yoda to have a scene that was reminiscent of a scene we both liked growing up, when he was teaching Luke.”       (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, “Ambush” commentary)

George Lucas on education (who believes it is the most fundamental issue):      “Plato didn’t teach [in the sense of drilling answers into them] people anything. All he did was ask questions.  The process was asking questions–'Why is the sky blue?’  It was purely a reverse of us feeding you all the information and [instead] teaching the kids how to learn.”       I find this is often the answer for why Yoda or the other Jedi don’t just lecture on the answers re: Force theology, because the narrative believe/creator’s belief is that it’s more important to teach how to ask a question than to drill in an answer.  A direct example is Yoda’s teachings to Ahsoka in “Teach You, I Will” getting her to think for herself and how George Lucas talks in an Empire Strikes Back documentary about Yoda’s bizarre speech patterns being about getting the audience to really stop and think about what the weird little frog man is saying.

JEDI PHILOSOPHY + TEACHINGS:

The Jedi did not see themselves as infallible or that failure was something any of them could avoid, even for their most esteemed Council members:     Depa Billaba:  "We cannot deny, Masters, that I failed you.  Failed you on a massive scale.“     Obi-Wan Kenobi:  "A lack of failure has never been a prerequisite to service, else none of us would be here.  Welcome back to the Council, Master Billaba.”  [Kanan: The Last Padawan]

The Jedi do not see themselves as a source of the light side of the Force, but rather the other way around.  In Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, Jocasta faces off against Vader and says:     “You are [Palpatine’s] tool.  Little better than a droid, set to stamp out the light side of the Force.  But this is impossible.  The Force is eternal.  It cannot be ended, it cannot be stopped, not so long as life exists.“ showing that, even if all the Jedi were dead, they knew that the light would still find its way in the galaxy, because the Force is eternal, the Force is in all life, the light is in all life, so long as that life exists.

“The Jedi can guide.  We can teach.  We can help people to help themselves.  But we are not an army.  If a people are truly determined to write themselves out of existence, there is little we can do.” [Obi-Wan & Anakin]

Questions are shown as natural and a good thing:     “A child, Anakin remains.  His path before coming to us, difficult.  His questions, natural.”  [–Yoda, Obi-Wan & Anakin]     "I have no issues with Anakin.  He is asking questions, as he should be at his age.“ [–Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan & Anakin]

It’s not just younglings that should be asking questions, but everyone:     "Answers, did you find?”     "I did.  And as often is with the Force, more questions.“     "Mmmm.  Good, questions are.  Ask them we must.  Certainty in our understanding, to arrogance it leads.  To the dark side.” [–Yoda, Qui-Gon, Age of the Republic - Qui-Gon Jinn #1]

Questions and determining your own path tend to be a big theme with the Jedi, that everyone must determine what they want for themselves, what they understand the Force has laid out their path to be and whether they want that, like with the above, and when it’s woven into the very decision that Ezra has to make, that Kanan can’t just tell him what to do on this:     “Which way is the right way?     “The wrong question, that is.”     “I’m sorry. I don’t understand. To be honest, I don’t even know what I’m doing here.”     “A better question, that is.”     “Kanan said I was gonna be tested, but he never said what for or why.”     “And your Master tell you everything, must he?”     “Well– No.”     “Your path you must decide.”  [–Ezra and Yoda, Star Wars Rebels, “Path of the Jedi”]

Obi-Wan taught Anakin that things should not be trampled just for acting according to their nature, instead (when they can) use the Force to move them along:       "These beasts are nearly mindless, Anakin.  I can feel it.  They are merely following their nature, they should not die simply because they crossed our path.  Use the Force to send them on their way.”  [Obi-Wan & Anakin]

Henry Gilroy says a similar thing with:     "Obi-Wan truly is a Jedi in that he’s like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to murder these creatures [in the Ryloth arc of The Clone Wars].  They’re starving to death.  They’ve basically been unleashed against these people as a weapon, but it’s not their fault. They’re just doing what they do.  They’re just animals who wanna eat.’  [Aggressive Negotiations Interview]

Ezra says he saw his parents and Kanan tells him what the Jedi teach:      "I saw them, Kanan. My parents. I-- I can't explain how."      "The Jedi teach that life doesn't cease at death, merely changes form in the Force. Your parents are alive inside you, Ezra. They will be. Always."  [Star Wars Rebels, "Legacy"]

JEDI AND THEIR STUDENTS:

A great emphasis is placed on teachers and students working together:  “Yoda cocked his head. ‘Adapt he must as well. Cooperation is learned not through individual effort. Only together can you progress.’” [Master and Apprentice] Yoda also says the bond between a Master and a Padawan is sacred.  [Dooku: Jedi Lost]

Jedi are never really done being students/being tested, even when they become teachers and Masters themselves, that students teach Masters just as Masters teach students, and their tests reflect this:   "But surely I should have been informed if you were testing my Padawan?“     "Who says the lesson was for him?” Bant said, smiling at her old friend.     Obi-Wan’s jaw dropped.  "You were testing me?“     "For both of you, the test was,” Yoda told him.     Mace nodded.  "A reminder that while Padawans must listen to their masters…“   "Teachers must also listen to their pupils,” Bant concluded.  [Choose Your Destiny:  Obi-Wan & Anakin]

“This is why we study.  Why we learn.  Skill is the child of patience.“  [Obi-Wan & Anakin]

"Your mission was never about [bringing back] the book.  It was about everything you did to find it.  All the challenges you had to face along the way.  And you overcame them all.”  "It was a test.“  "It was a journey, the next step in your training, and you succeeded in every way that mattered.” (–Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee, Star Wars Adventures #20)

EARLY JEDI TEACHINGS/JEDI PHILOSOPHY 101:

As an overview of what Jedi teach as the early and foundational lessons, across multiple media, we see that meditation and self-reflection are just as important as bonding with their sacred crystal and practicing with their lightsaber, which then also connects with how so much of the early teachings Kanan gives Ezra when they're just starting are just as much/more focused on connection and understanding of self.  (As detailed below this!)  [Age of the Republic: Obi-Wan Kenobi + Kanan: The Last Padawan + Obi-Wan & Anakin]

One of the very first training sessions we see Kanan giving to Ezra–and thus informing our understanding of the foundations of Jedi teachings–is to have Ezra doing a handstand and tells him to, “Focus.  Focus on letting go.”  Eventually, trying to toss objects at him to get him into letting the Force move through him, hear its whispers instead of shouting at it.  Before Kanan brings out his lightsaber to practice with, he wants Ezra to first mentally focus.  [Star Wars Rebels, “Rise of the Old Masters”]

Another one of the earliest lessons Kanan teaches Ezra, putting it as one of the foundations of Jedi teachings is how they're connected to other beings:     “Step outside of yourself. Make a connection with another being.” as he teaches Ezra to connect with a loth-cat.       “I just don’t see the point of this.”     “The point is that you’re not alone. You’re connected to every living thing in the universe.”  [Star Wars Rebels, “Empire Day”]

When Kanan first starts training Ezra, he repeats Yoda’s saying of, “Do or do not.  There is no try.”  When Ezra questions it, Kanan says that he really doesn’t understand it, either.  By the end of the episode, after Kanan realizes Luminara can’t train Ezra, that he has to commit to Ezra instead of half-assing this, he says:     "I– Ezra. I’m not gonna try to teach you anymore. If all I do is try, that means I don’t truly believe I can succeed. So from now on, I will teach you.“  [Star Wars Rebels, “Rise of the Old Masters”]

Another early lesson is that Ezra must be honest with himself to advance as a Jedi:     “Ezra, you’ll never advance as a Jedi if you can’t be honest with yourself, at least.”     “What’s that supposed to mean?”     “It means Tseebo matters to you. You do care what happens to him.” [Star Wars Rebels, “Gathering Forces”]

Which is then reaffirmed later in that same episode:     “I got news for you, kid. Everyone’s afraid, but admitting it as you just did makes you braver than most, and it’s a step forward.” [–Kanan Jarrus, Star Wars Rebels, “Gathering Forces”]

Ezra has trouble moving forward in the first season because discipline and focus are fundamental to being a Jedi:     “But you said I was a Jedi. Why else would you be training me?”     “I never said you were a Jedi. I said you had the potential to become one. But you lack discipline, focus.” [Star Wars Rebels, “Path of the Jedi”]

JEDI CULTURE:

Jedi younglings (at least the diurnal ones) wake at dawn to meditate on the three pillars–the Force, Knowledge, and Self-Discipline.  Then they go to the refectory for lunch, where Dooku always likes to sit next to Sifo-Dyas. [Dooku: Jedi Lost]

The Jedi have a strong aesthetic that echoes the deepest parts of the Force–all circles and lines.  Time and the Force and the Jedi are all connected circles and arcing lines.

“You must not grow too attached, too fond, too in love with life as it is now.  The emotions are valuable and should not be suppressed… but you must learn to rule them, Padawan, lest they rule you.“  (Kanan: The Last Padawan)

“This man is perverting our sacred teachings to prey upon a vulnerable people.  I can think of little my tongue could say better than my saber in this instance.”      “Dissolve your hostility, Padawan.  Channel your frustrations into an appropriate emotion.  Violence, as always, is a last resort.”      “Of course.  Apologies, Master.”      “A fire burns inside of you, Padawn.  That, in itself, is not inherently wrong.  It is my job to help you temper it.” [Jedi of the Republic - Mace Windu]

JEDI AND FACING THE DARK SIDE:

“The fact that everything must change and that things come and go through [Anakin’s] life and that he can’t hold onto things, which is a basic Jedi philosophy that he isn’t willing to accept emotionally.”  (George Lucas, Attack of the Clones commentary)

The Jedi test from the Rebels episode “Path of the Jedi” novelization on facing their fears/the dark side within them:      "This test was not designed solely for the apprentice.  It was also a test for the master, for facing one’s fears was a lifelong struggle.” (Ezra’s Duel with Danger)

The test is specifically designed by the Jedi–as is the same test on Ilum for the Jedi younglings that they all had to face–to face their fears, because it didn’t just happen one time, it was something they faced all their lives, younglings and Knights and Masters, all of them.  This is why Ezra has to face it in Rebels, why Luke has to face it on Dagobah, why Rey has to face it on Ahch-To, the Jedi have always had to face the darkness within themselves and work beyond it.

Kanan also says it plainly as they enter the Temple:        “In here, you’ll have to face your worst fears and overcome them.” It’s pretty obvious that’s what happening when the Temple shows him a vision of the Grand Inquisitor killing Kanan and Ezra has to pick himself back up, admit what he’s feeling so he can face the fears again, and understand that he has to let them go and then it cannot hurt him here, the Grand Inquisitor’s blade passes right through him.  It’s then Yoda’s voice calls to him and we see that Ezra letting go of those fears allow him to move forward:      “Big fears have you faced, young one.”      “Yes.”      “Hmm. For what lies ahead, ready are you?”      “I am.”      “Come. See more clearly what you could not see before.” [Star Wars Rebels, “Path of the Jedi”]

When Cal is struggling with facing his fears and needs to create a new lightsaber, Cere gives him a pep talk and they head off to Ilum, where she tells him:  “You will be tested.  I don’t mean just here [on Ilum].  Every Jedi faces the dark side.  And it’s very easy to fail.  We will always struggle.  But that is the test.  It’s the choice to keep fighting that makes us who we are."  [–Cere Junda, Jedi: Fallen Order]

THE THEME OF GEORGE LUCAS’ MOVIES:

George Lucas says, “All of my movies are about one thing.  Which is the fact that the only prison you’re in is the prison of your mind.  And if you decide to open the door and get out, you can.  There’s nothing stopping you.“ –George Lucas (American Voices, 2015)

Which is reflected in the teachings of the Jedi, which further shows they’re in line with the narrative intentions of Star Wars:   Petro:  “You-you said we would be trapped.”   Yoda:  “Not by the cave you were but by your mind. Lessons, you have learned. Find courage, you did. Hope, patience Trust, confidence, and selflessness.” (The Clone Wars, “The Gathering”)

[lovewillthaw-j]

Elsa’s powers appreciation (part 2 of 3) - Freezing

To recap, I’d like to classify Elsa’s powers into 3 categories and 3 posts - making things out of ice/snow (part 1), freezing (and melting) and movement/kinetic energy.

Before I dive into part 2 - I received some comments on the first post about Elsa’s ice decorations on Arendelle castle, which I missed out on. I would classify them as medium sized objects that she creates out of ice =)

What is the difference between part 1 and part 2? Well, I make a distinction between her creating something that was not there, versus her freezing (ie lowering the temperature of) something that is already there. Of course this is just my opinion and some are arguable, such as the snowstorms - you could say she created it or you could say she froze the weather.

1. Small-scale freezing

In the first row, she freezes window sills both as a child and as Queen: in between, she is freezing the scepter and orb before the coronation (and also during the coronation itself).

In the second row, she freezes water under her foot and discovers she can walk on water. To the right, are 2 contrasting examples of her freezing the water fountain. In the first, she physically touched the fountain; in the second, she has “levelled up” and can freeze the fountain without physical touch.

2. Freezing the room she is in + the floor of the Enchanted forest

In the first row, she freezes the floor of the great hall (and the whole hall too); next to it is the sad scene after her parents’ funeral, which she didn’t dare to attend for fear of hurting everyone in her grief; rightmost, she is freezing the room within the ice palace and causing a mini snowstorm. (for snowstorms, she also uses her kinetic powers which I will cover in the third post)

In the second row are the two times she froze the forest floor, first to stop the Northuldra and Mattias’ soldiers; second during her fight with Bruni.

3. Further lowering the temperature of an already cold place

I want to point this out cos she does it quite a lot. Her powers are just THAT awesome! In the first row, in her anguish from hurting Anna, she lowers the temperature of the already cold great hall, causing more ice to form on the already icy floor and to spread up the walls (2nd pic) Next to it, in the ice palace, as she despairs while talking to Anna, we hear the sound of ice forming and we see more ice fractals appearing in the castle walls (which are made of ice and are already cold).

In the second row, with the castle glowing red, again more ice fractals appear and icy spikes form on the walls. On the right is a screencap from the dungeon scene showing more ice forming on the walls as Elsa’s emotions cause the temperature to drop further.

4. Freezing an entire geographical area + weather

This hardly needs description. She freezes the entire fjord and causes it to snow in summer in Arendelle. 

Later on, after breaking out of the dungeon, her panic causes a massive snowstorm to form around her (again, snowstorms also involve her kinetic powers), engulfing the castle and lowering the temperature even further, such that huge spikes of ice block Olaf and Anna’s path inside the castle; also, so much snow blankets the castle that Anna is able to slide down the side of the castle safely to the ground. The storm also causes the fjord to freeze even colder; some of the ships move as a result of the warping ice and one of them topples and almost falls on Kristoff and Sven.

In the final image (post Great Thaw), Elsa has got it under control and is able to make it snow in a controlled manner and only in the castle courtyard.

Not shown is the epilogue of F2 where she has frozen the Dark Sea and gallops over it on Nokk.

5. Her hair

Haha, now for something light hearted. You can argue that this is a separate power, but I’d like to think that she froze parts of her hair in place to give her iconic hair do. Watch the progression of the screencaps - her long locks by the side of her face initially drape down, and with a sweep of her right and then left hand, they get plastered to the side of her head. Magic frozen hairspray...

6. Uniquely Olaf

Have you ever stopped to consider that the magical personal “flurry” that Elsa made for Olaf is pretty mindblowing? She literally made a mobile, perpetual freezer! ie, a localized zone of cold temperature that is cold enough to snow and keep Olaf from melting, AND follows him everywhere! To put it another way, in 1840s Arendelle, Elsa has invented a fridge! (that follows you) Wouldn’t every household want one of their own for those hot summer days?

Olaf’s permafrost is similar and a little bit frightening if you see it as Elsa “encasing” you in ice. She can permafrost all her sentient creations including Marshmallow and the snowgies now. 

7. Freezing head and heart

This is one of the darkest sides of Elsa’s powers. She is able to send her freezing powers “into” a person and if it is the head - knock the person unconscious and turn some hair white; if it is the heart, the person freezes from within and their hair will turn all white like Elsa’s, prior to becoming an immobile statue of ice. Do you know what this reminds me of? I watched a nature documentary on certain parasites which infect insects and take over their mind before killing them from within. Could Elsa control your mind? I think Evil Elsa could...and would...(Hell, if Nattmara could...why not Elsa. -FoS)

I like to think that during the fight with Weaseltown’s men, she was falling to the dark side and if that had not been arrested, she could have easily unleashed her powers and frozen the hearts of all her assailants.

BTW, I did not realize before that when she hit Anna in the head, you can see a snowflake impact Anna’s head briefly. (captured in my screencap)

In the second row, I want to point out that frozen Anna’s body was SO COLD that Hans’ sword frosted up before the sword made contact and shattered. And this brings me to the next point...

8. Freeze metal and stone to ultra low temperature that they break

So I did some research and some metals can shatter once it is colder than a specific temperature called the “ductile to brittle transition temperature”. Cheap non-alloyed steel can shatter at about -30 degrees Celsius. Alloyed steel can withstand much colder temperatures. This is important when building metal structures eg ships and rigs for use in the Arctic or Antarctic. I’m no materials scientist so I’ll let people chip in on this if they wish. 

The point is, our Queen CAN FREEZE TO COLDER THAN -30 DEGREES!!! And she sure has superhuman invulnerability to cold! Human skin sticks to cold surfaces.

In the rightmost screencap, Elsa has broken out of a solid stone dungeon! Maybe she blasted it open (we don’t know) but this too is freaking amazing! I did some brief research and this is called frost weathering or frost shattering. Essentially she could break through stone by rapidly freezing all the water in it since water expands on freezing. (again, I’m no expert)

It is my belief that in F2, she could have destroyed the dam singlehandedly. Earth Giants pffft. And she would have stopped the water at the source too.

Elsa is definitely impervious to her own cold - she hugs frozen Anna (who is cold enough to break metal) cheek to cheek and is unscathed.

Interestingly, in F2 Anna holds the ice sword that Elsa made without being hurt by the cold - perhaps Anna gained some cold tolerance after coming back from being frozen herself. And she hugs Olaf all the time too.

9. The Nokk + Magic Freezing Thighs 

Elsa is pretty fearsome in combat - I will touch more on this in the third post. Here, she figures out pretty rapidly how to stop the Nokk by freezing him. In the epilogue of F2, one of the most beautiful FX scenes - she freezes the Nokk and he willingly obliges and becomes a beautiful ice horse that can travel on land.

Have you ever wondered how Elsa stays on the Nokk “bareback”??? (bareback referring to Nokk...although Elsa’s dark sea gown is pretty bare in the back too lol) I know @super-mam-te-moc and I have! 

Look at these 3 screencaps - on the left, the Nokk is bucking and thrashing around, trying to shake Elsa off; in the middle, she is riding the Nokk at a speed faster than the tsunami of water; and on the right, the Nokk is rearing up on hind legs while Elsa makes the huge ice wall with her hands in the air. In all these situations Elsa stays firmly on the Nokk and never falls off or slides off!

Our conclusion is - she has magic freezing thighs that help her stick to the Nokk...LOL

10. Melting

Lastly, Elsa is able to melt everything she made. With the help of Anna’s great love (lovethawmode) she melted the entire fjord and Arendelle. (kinetic powers are at play here too as she makes everything float into the sky and coalesce into a giant snowflake)

In F2, she also demonstrates melting the ice floor that she froze.

What we don’t know yet is whether she can melt “natural” snow that she didn’t make herself, or whether she can reverse a natural winter and turn it into summer. Let’s wait for more out of this world powers in future shorts, movies or series!

[winter-came]

YOU ASKED AND I AM HERE TO DELIVER. For the writer ask:

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

friend, you are about to get very chaotic and half-coherent answers

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

- I don't think I have a ritual. Ritual is something you repeat right? Well, I have a random burst of writing energy between 11pm and 3am. That's the cursed part. I absolutely demolish my sleeping schedule.

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

- martyr

-gone

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

- a piece of writing 100% haunted me but you could put my hand into a fire rn and I won't tell you a quote

- and my own writing haunted me too. There are two quotes that just live rent-free in my head, you know which one I'm talking about

["take care of the world for me." & "when you look over your shoulder, what do you see? do I haunt you? to haunt. what a terrible word for missing someone."

- what does it mean for me? that no matter how loud my impostor syndrome can get, those pieces of my writing are undeniable proof I have it in me and it's GOOD.

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you to write about? What is easy?

- hard is good family dynamics, or in general writing nice/comfortable scenes [my other friend once said: you can't write about what you never experience and frankly I was speechless]

- I also can't write about romantic/sexual relationships. thas is just beyond my skills and appetite tbh

- easy is a tragedy [wink] and just pure unleashed angst

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

- friend? you are literally the first-hand witness to all of my passages and all "how it started, how it's going"

- but for someone who ISN'T...

“But why him?! He had nothing to do with it! ” tears rolled down his cheeks, glittering diamonds.

“Because it’s Hadia. Because it’s personal. All this could’ve been avoided if you just didn't lie.” Marana took out a vial with small orange beads inside of it. She unscrew a lid and reached through the bars. With a firm grip, she forced Roman’s mouth open. Emptying a bottle. “There.'' She let him go.

Roman spat out but the beads already melted. The bitter taste reminded him of cracked black pepper. “Really? A poison? You know that I am already dying!”

“Oh but that wasn't poison. It was an antidote.”

Marana looked straight into his eyes. “Death would be a mercy for you. But to live with a burden of guilt? Far better. More corrupting. Trust me, I know.” she leaned closer. “You will live out your days knowing that you cost them their lives. And for what? A bit of money. But don’t worry, I will secure that for you too.”

“You are a monster.”

“I might be. How do they call me in those rats-filled streets you call home?”

“Marana The Black.”

“Indeed, and there is a reason for it. You had a chance to not find out. And you fucking wasted it.”

this one started widely different. Roman was supposed to die because of the poison, and I held out, insisting on it for a very long time. Then I got an idea of how to keep him alive but make it worse. Marana was supposed to meet him only once and then be done with him. And it ended up looking like this. Honestly, I don't think this answer make sense but-

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

- no organization. I just have one large google doc for each story where I dump quotes, ideas, names, and written-down chapters.

-but I have also a folder in my computer with finished pdf versions

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

- hm I'm not sure what is being asked here. I don't prepare much? When I need to know something (e.g.which wood is durable but also very light) I just google it as I'm writing.

- I do think a lot about the ideas and plot connections, or how the characters move and talk and just what kind of person they are

- but in generally I sit down with very vague idea of what I want to happen in the scene and then I let the chaos reign

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

- Marcus Mercar has a cold allergy.

-Hadia has three cats - Sunny, Pumpkin, and Cleo [fun fact: I asked my very good friend to name those cats]

-Roman Bass HATES cabbage

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

- I will have to get back to you on this one.

but oof, something from the top of my head?

"I like to call myself a wound, but I will answer to a knife."

I saw this one once on Pinterest and just OUCHIE

what it means for me? just that sort of self-view that I pity myself often and think of how much I've been hurt but I fail to see myself as someone who had done damage.

BUT more often than not, it's actually reverse. That I see myself as the knife all the time [bad, cold, merciless, cruel] and refuse to see myself as the wound. ANYWAYS

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

- this bitch was sadistically obsessed with tragedy