#our faces like a mirror

[landscaping-your-mind]

cecil is most often described in how he looks like his father

[chirpsythismorning]

In film, mirrors are often used for moments of reflection, obviously, both the physical and emotional kind, but they are also used for moments of deceit, deception, dejection, juxtaposition, contrast and comparison, distortion, delusion, breaking down and breaking through.

The fact that they took the time to have Mike face his reflection in one scenario, like head on, but not in the other, despite both scenes including a mirror, feels extremely intentional.

El looking in the mirror is for the obvious reasons, as she is using it for its purpose, to look and see the physical changes and feel some way about it emotionally, based on her experiences leading her up to this point. Though for Mike, the meaning is not the same. And we see that in how they choose to film these scenes differently in regards to Mike and what is being implied in each scene.

Basically, there is a significance to them making a point to awkwardly put Mike dead center in the middle of the frame facing the mirror beside El when she looks most feminine, as it also creates this feeling of reflection for Mike, but I would argue it's also deceit/uncertainty, based on the fact that it is shot really eerily in this case.

For one thing, he's not following the rule of thirds, whereas El is. This meant the audience would feel inclined to focus on El because she is following a more common rule of framing than Mike is. And yet once you really look at it, Mike being in the middle just standing still, almost emotionless, feels like you're seeing something under the surface that is just barely within reach, hence why they filmed it the way they did.

Side note: Think of the snowball scene, where the camera has Dustin in the frame following rule of thirds, in focus, whereas Mike is smack dab in the middle not in focus. Most people were focused on Dustin, though putting Mike in the frame in the middle feels important despite that, because it's the damn middle.

A few episodes later, we get a parallel to the first pretty scene and with Mike present again, only they are alone this time. In this scenario, El looks less feminine, and in contrast to the first scene, Mike is not being forced to look in the mirror and reflect. This is because in this case there is no deception to confront since he is most attracted to El in this state and therefore he isn’t deceiving himself. This is also why he's forced to look down uncomfortably at himself, followed by overcompensating...

[arkiwii]

hello Liberi's Birdcage Tm as a fiaexu enjoyer, i would like to know, what're your thoughts on the chicken herself fiammetta? i adore her and her themes personally

u can call me kiwi or whatever (i didn't know people would call me by my blog's name LMAO)

my my, Fiammetta. she's a lot to talk about. i have, SEVERAL thoughts about her. well, I firstly got interested in her character as well as Mostima's thanks to a friend, so I'm not as much as involved as this person is, and most of what I've learned comes from our conversations. But you know, having people share about a character they like makes you Realize Things

also I hope I won't disappoint you by saying that I'm not into Fiaexu, so I won't be able to give opinions or analysis on it. like i said to someone, Fiaexu is the good ending. and man I want her to get the bad ending.

my memories of Guide Ahead are quite blury and Laterano isn't the lore I'm the most involved into, mostly because it's Complicated. I'm more of a person involved in a character's development and their mentality, and good for me, Fiammetta is full of angst and anger

what I particularly love in her? it's her "obsession" for Mostima (and Lemuen, but it's way more marked towards Mostima). i dont mean obsession as in "she likes her", i mean obsession as in This Girl Has A Problem. Her Operator Record in particular was putting an accent on it and it was delightful. Fiammetta decided to be Mostima's overseer, not because Mostima needs an overseer, but because Fiammetta was worried for Mostima. and who could blame her! Lemuen got shot down, Mostima has fallen, lost her Empathy, and is now banned from Laterano. it's only natural that Fiammetta was worried, and scared to lose someone she deeply cares about.

Turns out. Mostima is doing very fine on her own. Fiammetta thought that Mostima wouldn't be doing fine, and that's the opposite rather. so Fia puts herself through lies, convincing herself that she's here to keep an eye on Mostima, to help her, or whatever... then there's this line Patrizion says in her Operator Record. "Fia, it's not Mostima who needs you. You are the one who needs her."

that was a fucking ROCK thrown at my face i can tell you

Fiammetta always has been this one person to look cold, to look like she doesn't care about anyone, then you discover she has attachment issues. the incident with Andoiain in particular was the cataclysm. she almost lost two of her most precious friends. you BET she wants to put this man in hell. she doesn't care about anything else, this whatever ideal of Laterano he has, the Key and the Lock, whatever; she wants this man to DIE because he tried to take HER friends LIVES.

and because of this, because of her choices, she's throwing her life around. she's destroying herself. ironically, considering her thematic as a phoenix and her talent. but it's literally what is happening. she's just combusting slowly.

she could have a good life! become an Apostolic Knight! be with her adoptive dad! fight for Laterano! but no, instead, she actively decided to follow Mostima-I-Don't-Care around while telling herself a million excuses as of why she does it, "I don't want her to reveal secrets", "I need her to find Andoiain", "she needs my help"

AND of course Mostima being Mostima, her whole "I don't give a fuck about people" behavior is only worsening it, she tries to get away from Fiammetta but also can't escape her, it drags Fia to get ever more clingy... I'm pretty sure Mostima cares about Fia, deep inside, but she handles it just SO SO badly instead of just Having A Conversation

anyway, so Fiammetta? 10/10. i love this bird. i want her to get an alter where she gets better. or worse. Fiammetta the Renatus or whatever. im drooling about it

[somewhereincairparavel]

so I went to this neighborhood meet thing with my aunt, mom and cousin. they served food and stuff and while I was eating, an older woman (who was apparently a neighbor that I didn't know) came up to my mom and started talking to her since they sort of knew e/o.

i swear she just looked at me straight in the face and pointed at the side, giving me an odd look and said "um you have those weird ugly bumpy things on your face" (about my acne and acne scars)

i swear I was having a GREAT time until she just casually said that as if it wasn't a rude and uncalled for thing to tell a random girl that you don't even know?? like not even a hello?? that genuinely ruined my mood as I was feeling super happy that my acne scars were starting to fade this week. I'm already kinda struggling with a few insecurities lately and this was NOT helping.

[mallardducksaysquack]

(no matter what your answer is, I'm sending you big hugs. stay safe)

[wall-eye]

Free day! Anyone else remember the car bit they did in the ep 0s of arc 5 and 9? I do! i didnt remember it well enough to make the car a limo but heres the dm-mobile for the free day!

[sunnykeysmash]

the structure in mac and dennis break up

this is gonna be a short post tbh, I just rewatched the episode and I have a couple of thoughts.

if you need a refresher on what I think the structure is in general, I talk about it here.

I think Mac and Dennis Break Up shows us an example of Mac and Dennis (and Charlie and Frank) working properly in regards to the structure, let me explain why:

First... I don't think there's a need for me to describe the plot of the episode, we all know.

What I want to focus on, is that at one point Mac moves in with Frank and Charlie, and starts bringing his way of life to them.

At first, Frank is thrilled.

"I could use a little structure in my life here." he says.

This reminds me of dialogue from Carries a Corpse.

"Nobody admit this to Mac, but... I feel like he was carrying a ton of weight."

"That would be another one of his annoying identities... the man who could carry stuff."

He's been shown carrying Dennis, on top of generally being inclined to micromanage, take care of others so they're safe, and make decisions or at least demand to be consulted in them (like which movie to watch on movie night).

That's when Mac works best, so I assume that Mac generally brings structure (or is a man of action, as he describes it).

Later on, we see Mac take this too far, and Frank doesn't like it anymore. To me, this is because what this episode tells us is that Charlie and Frank don't work well with a set structure, the way that Mac provides. They're more free.

I think this reading is important because it shows me why The Gang Gets Romantic fundamentally fails in its objective (not as an episode god forbid, I mean in the narrative, especially for Mac and Dennis).

It applies the romcom structure to Charlie and Frank, while it doesn't to Mac and Dennis, when it should be the opposite. Throughout the episode we see that Mac and Dennis keep fitting the tropes to the romcom structure, but they refuse to follow it, and thus it crumbles. It can't work.

Here's another thing.

Dennis' back broke in the S15 finale.

That is funny, yes, but what does this mean when I say that Mac is the (his) structure, then?

Well... Carries a Corpse implies that Mac was carrying most of the weight of the corpse, and the corpse is meant to be the show... and most show meta is basically the same as Dennis meta (most meta lines seem to relate to him, whether the fact he left for north dakota and came back, or the fact he's a dad, being between life and death, breaking his back aka the structure, and so on), as I have discussed better in my other post.

Point being, Mac carries Dennis. That's what he's meant to do, and what he does best in their relationship.

This makes me think of another recent scene that I think is emblematic of their dynamic... but in an interesting way.

So, in 2020: a Year in Review, Mac and Dennis work together on a song.

They seem to be in harmony, but eventually start disagreeing and stop altogether to focus on something else. Why?

Because Dennis is working on the backup vocals, and Mac is working on the words. Which means their roles are reversed. Mac is supposed to be carrying the song, like the wind beneath his wings that he is, and Dennis, like the man of words that he is, should be responsible for the lyrics. They're doing each other's job, which means any harmony they reach is still bound to crack a bit the moment the song doesn't work for them.

Their seating position on their sofa reflects this.

Compare it to Mac and Dennis Break Up, which is supposed to be our ideal.

They're in each other's places, in 2020.

This isn't new, they've been sitting in each other's places ever since Break Up. Mac was sitting in Dennis' place in MFHP, Dennis was sitting in Mac's place in Gets Romantic.

So tl;dr... Mac and Dennis work well under structure, when Mac is the one to bring it and carry Dennis. They fit a proper couple structure after all. Charlie and Frank don't work as well under structure, since their relationship is more unique and doesn't quite abide by normal rules because of that.

This does bring me to one last consideration though...

They're back in their right spots, in season 16! Only problem is... couch is different. I would argue an inflatable couch doesn't offer the same amount of support (structure) that a normal one would...

Now that Dennis' structural essence broke, is he gonna feel what it's like when Mac is absent?

Perhaps this is why in Cursed we get Mac as the lucky one while the others as so unlucky they start to believe they're cursed (according to the synopsis...).

So the whole gang needs Mac?

Well...

In Goes To Hell pt2, when they build the human pyramid, it's both Mac and Dennis that end up at the bottom, as its structure.

So maybe... Dennis needs Mac as his structure, and the gang needs them to be in sync so they can both, together, support them (or shut the hell up about it, as both madbu and s15 would argue). Maybe this realization could be what brings the gang to work together in order to get them together. But that's getting into just speculation so imma end it here.

I like these thoughts though... Mac and Dennis being the foundation, the structure of the whole thing :)

[iniziare]

Tag drop: Jingliu

[keeps-ache]

i have my glasses now!! here are some things:

saw my mother clearly and almost cried

saw the parking lot and the sky and a tree and forgot to breath for a second

was so enamored with the Sky i tripped over a curb

the stars. oh my god the stars

[cmdonovann]

man. ive had this art in my drafts since like three dnd games ago (so, like, two months? lmao) and have been putting off finishing it because NOTHING i could draw could possibly express how fucked up this fight made me feel. immense shouts out to my DM for a) understanding my taste in symbolism and themes, and b) letting raz literally kill himself with no consequences

[natsudragneelgf]

[todayisafridaynight]

never think of ichi getting a haircut and being upset with the result while getting your own hair cut lest you also be cursed with a cut You Did Not Want

[scpwiki-official]

sigh hate being an artist while also being scared of faces

[witherfide]

im crying again

trans joy is so fucking beautiful

[genderjester]

So many of my paintings in sone way boil down to. Im a body. I am scared of not being in control of myself. I have a body. I am scared that it will betray me. I love my body. I wish i could perceive it in its entirety.

[chocolatespyro]

Uh I still think Cabby is cool. Im just tired i think