#storytelling live

[life-in-toontown]

Sure it’s soulless and only exists to be a lazy cashgrab but at least now it’s a REAL movie unlike that toddler cartoon /s

[aheavenofhell]

Aziraphale raising his wing for Crowley hits so different with the S2 context. I feel like we all looked at it as, here’s this sweet little principality, he’s kind and naive so he’ll shelter even a demon—but it wasn’t really that, was it? It wasn’t just some random act of kindness.

It was a message.

When Crowley slithered up that wall, Aziraphale was nervous. Because he gave his sword to the humans, sure—but also perhaps because he was seeing this angel again for the first time since he had fallen. He learns Crawly’s new name (Crowley never asks him for his name, he knows it already) and they have a brief exchange that was probably a lot like the ones they used to have.

Then when the thunder starts, it’s Crowley who’s first to move to him, to shuffle hopefully to his side.

I think when Aziraphale lifted his wing up, it was almost a way to say I remember who you are, I remember the kindness you gave me. I’m still here.

He wasn’t just playing umbrella. He was letting Crowley know he hadn’t been rejected by all of Heaven.

[hinamie]

congrats on your recovery n all yuuji but unfortunately for you I thought the scars were cool >:/

[bashzzey]

Performance piss color club is forming

poor Storyteller and Dancer in future </3

[shorthaltsjester]

watching the sdcc panel and i am just very :) about how sweet their answers to “what are some of the micro moments from the game that have stuck with you the most over the years?” are. taliesin saying what the fuck is up with that which was the first like The Party Gets To Know Each Other moments of c3. travis saying asking his wife if he could kiss her in campaign. marisha going way back to the cannonball competition in campaign one. ashley choosing the beauyasha date but also just the silly goat noise matt made. liam adding onto that to compliment matt roleplaying grass so well and then saying his favourite moment was writing a story for laura and reading it to her as caleb for jester. and then matt saying that was his answer, and that his favourite moments of the game are when they find ways to give gifts to each other whether tangible or not. and sam saying his favourite moments have less to do with the story and is more so when he can just. see his friends across the table from him. when marisha perches and when laura and ashley are (badly) drawing dicks and liam saying he loves when sam sneezes and ashley tells him to stop it and just. yeah. they Are an extremely popular online powerhouse, but i’m so happy that they’re also friends building a world together out of gifts to and love for one another.

like i Am so enamoured with the characters and the world of exandria but the moments when you can feel the love that those people have for each other reach out from behind the stained glass of their performances (to steal a metaphor from brennan lee mulligan) are so extremely special and i am endlessly grateful that they decided to share their silly little home game with the world.

[meg-noel-art]

Arcane is a Masterclass in visual storytelling

I hate that a lot of the discourse post Arcane has been centered around it's focus on visual storytelling. Whether this be in regards to character interactions, or plot hints, etc, it seems that the genius of Fortiche and the writers is being criticized unnecessarily. This studio accomplishes what every artist DREAMS of excelling at. It's one of the things I appreciate most about the show. It uses its medium, animation, to its absolute fullest potential. It requires analysis and multiple rewatches and study to fully appreciate it. And I wanted to break down a specific moment that really does illustrate the control Fortiche has over every SECOND of this show (and one that's been controversial) Spoilers for Arcane S2 Episode 9

There is a set up in this final scene that lets us know what will happen to Jinx before it happens. And it lasts a single frame. Your eye and subconscious will register it before your brain ever does. As Jinx throws herself at Warwick/Vander and Vi pushes herself up to reach for her, a single frame focuses on the Hextech crystal in Vi's gauntlet.

Visually the scene could have cut from Vi's face, to her reaching for Jinx. But it shows us the Hextech purposefully - because it will be relevant to the scene. This is a visual cue for "remember this is here, remember what it does? It's about to have a payoff." And it's FAST, but on PURPOSE. And we see the payoff once Jinx uses it to depower the gauntlet moments later.

We knew as the audience, something would, because there was intentionality reminding us it was there. The way Jinx was going to fall was spelled out before it happened. Simultaneously, what they DON'T show in this scene is equally as relevant.

Jinx pulls out the bomb but we never see her deploy the pin. (She clearly DOES as there is an ensuing explosion). But this is different from the moment in season 1 on the bridge during her fight with Ekko, when we see the pin and bomb roll out of her hand before Ekko's reaction shot and the explosion. In that moment they gave us the visual indication of "there is no time" and indeed, they are both caught in the explosion.

But, in the S2 finale, the visual delay in her not removing the pin for us on screen, gives her canonically more time to escape its blast. It's a subtle visual nod to "Never found the body" trope. Hey never saw her pull the pin sooo ;) winkwinkwinknudgenudge. It's a hint to her survival due to nothing more than a single action of what we DON'T see. It needs to be subtle and tricky so that we DO have trouble believing it, but that we also still have a modicum of hope that we're right... That's awesome storytelling.

The next moment we are given a visual of the explosion we see a clear (incredibly fast) offshoot her shimmer abilities (as many have already pointed out.

Finally, in the final scene, Caitlyn nor Vi say a single word about the fallout of the battle. But we are given three visual cues to piece together what happened. Our minds are still purposefully meant to be processing the 'death' of Jinx, which as viewers, occurred 60 seconds ago.

The final battle occurred at the top of the Hexgate and Cait is looking at a blueprint of its construction.

2. The next cut is to the detonated head of the bomb we saw Jinx use while falling, meaning Cait is specifically thinking of the same moment we are. The single piece of bomb she's looking at also insinuates that's the only thing they "found" of her. Another nod to the "no body, no death" trope. But what is she thinking about it?

3. It shows us exactly what she sees and is thinking. A specific location within the Hexgates (which, notably, also includes the only TEXT we can visually make out. The line above it is pure scrawl.) 'air ducts'. An escape route in the same direction we saw Jinx's shimmer line go.

Jinx is likely alive and not a single line of dialogue was needed for that speculation to make sense or be followable.

Without a relevant line of dialogue (besides Cait's memorial-esque voiceover) since the battle, we can be relatively certain of three things:

1.) Jinx escaped the blast 2.) Jinx fled Piltover/Zaun 3.) Cait/Vi know this or suspect it (I believe Vi knows but that's a whole other meta of mine)

Whether or not that is your storytelling *preference*, this show needs to be appropriately commended for it's mastery of its art form. While I think it's fine and fair to say "I wish we had a bit of dialogue" regarding this or that, or a scene that laid x,y, or z out in a different way - it's not necessary. Not with the way the studio visually has told this entire story.

Anyway I don't even know how to end this, this is just a moment that stood out to me really hard, especially because people had such mixed feelings on the ending.

This studio is so god damn inspiring as someone who's dream is to work in storytelling and animation. Standing ovation.

[etourvol]

hitting some ocs with the pmd au beam

[muffinlance]

Do you get the impression the live action is treating us like utter morons?? Like I thought that making it aimed at an older audience would open the doors for more subtle story telling, but no, they're just using monologues to tell us eveything! Like in the second episode Katara's like 'oh his power isn't that he's the avatar, it's that he ~connects~ to people'. Girl we're not idiots we can see that!! And the first episode with Aang's goddawful 'I don't want this responsibility' monologue

THIS, YES. The word that keeps coming to mind is definitely "subtlety". The show for literal children? Had it. The remake for adults? Not so much.

[evan-buck]

9-1-1 1x01 Pilot / 7x09 Ashes, Ashes

[luthienne]

Naomi Shihab Nye

[theweeklydiscourse]

Some Atla fans are deeply unwilling to engage with the fact that their beloved series may bear the marks of being written by two white men in the early 2000s. They can’t conceive that the show might’ve been anything less than perfect and that there are certain problematic elements within it that are consistently overlooked by the fandom at large.

[artist-issues]

The reason I think the song bodes so well for Mufasa is that they got Scar and Mufasa right. I was talking with @doverstar about this and so some of these thoughts are her thoughts

Mufasa, as a character, is the kind of guy who turns everything into a lesson when we meet him as Simba’s father. Even though Simba is apparently his only son. That means he’s got a reflective, old soul when he’s still a just a relatively young King—to be ready to give great fatherly lessons. And obviously we know he got that from his own father.

So in the song, to have him be the kind of guy who goes “You see that tree? Those birds are watching the world unfold!” is perfect. He points out the tree and the birds and their place in the world, their unique perspective, like it’s an exciting thing, the kind of thing any little boy should be excited about—he points it out and starts to wax philosophical the same way other ten year-old boys would point out a superhero or cool animal to their friends.

An old soul, already gleaning lessons out of the world he’s growing up in, and likes talking about them. Like he’s a young dreamer with his head in the clouds. But when Taka sings “No one looks down on me,” Mufasa responds in this patient tone, “They look down on us, brother. Some things you chase but cannot hold.”

He’s not going to let Taka change his mind, even if (from my understanding) he’s relying on Taka as his only friend right now. He’s not insecure. That sounds like the kind of strong-willed kid who could grow up to be as powerful a character as Mufasa.

And then there’s Taka.

In The Lion King, we know Scar wants everything his own way. (That’s what makes him a great foil to Simba, “we’ll-do-it-all-my-way”)

And that’s in the song. “When I am King they will do as they’re told / Those are the laws for my brother cuz I say so /“ He’s entitled, he thinks life should be ordered according to what he says.

But I think the way more interesting part of his characterization in the song is when he sings, “No one looks down on me,” and he sings that right after Mufasa says, “where they (the birds) go can’t be controlled.” Controlled. A no-brainer response, for a songwriter, would be to have the future-villainous-usurper get his feathers ruffled. The low-hanging fruit would be to have Scar respond with something about how he can control the birds because he’s going to be King, the boss, the authority.

But Lin-Manuel Miranda did not go for the low-hanging fruit. He had Scar respond, instead, with something that almost feels off-topic: “No one looks down on me!”

But it’s NOT off-topic if you know who the character, Scar, really is. Scar is all about how he’s perceived by others.

He is insecure. His life is lived hoping that others will give him everything. The throne, the food, the power, yes—but more importantly, he wants them to give him respect, idolization, adoration, and admiration. He does not want to be looked down on. That’s what’s most important to him.

He’s the total opposite of Mufasa in that way, because Mufasa gives his life for others, while Scar hopes others will give him everything.

He doesn’t lash out at Sarabi until she mentions Mufasa—specifically, until she unfavorably compares him to Mufasa. It’s all about not wanting to be looked at as less-than. Instead, the very essence of Scar is selfish narcissism. He wants everyone to treat him like he’s the best there is, like he’s worth giving up everything for.

That’s why at the beginning of the song, he says “When I am king…my brother, you’ll always take my side.” Because he believes that he should be seen as the always-right wonder child. That’s what he wants. Even when he sounds protective of Mufasa, it’s protective by association with himself. It’s sweet, but if you listen, Taka is saying Mufasa’s whole status as his “brother” is dependent on Taka’s decree that that is what he is. So if someone denies that Mufasa is his brother, they’re defying Taka’s little princely will!

Meanwhile Mufasa is all about being a vessel of lesson-sharing and selflessness. So they really got the characters right, at least in that one song. I hope the whole rest of the movie will be like that too.

[aestrologist]

you are a character stuck in limbo. play out the story and receive a tarot card from the major arcana.

tag ur results <3 https://uquiz.com/duxKE7

[erin-gilberts]

I have a firm belief that the only way Yellowjackets can end is with the death of each of the remaining survivors and [redacted] was just the first (second, really) of what will be all of them in time. "The wilderness" will reclaim them one by one because they weren't supposed to leave. But also they will be swallowed up by their own darkness in their refusal to acknowledge it and that will be the great tragedy of it. All of their deaths will be preventable, but inevitable in light of the cycles they keep on repeating.

[hoofpeet]

Re: archeops imitating voices: what if it learned to say cute things like “hello”, “wanna treat?” And “I love you”

Ough.. I feel like having a large & dumb bird be able to talk could backfire in some ways

[qsmpheadcannons]

I will never get over how much more mature Philza is in his lore than everyone else. He doesn’t have to be, he can choose his own lore, but he chooses instead for his character to always be the bigger person.

And this just goes to show how good of a storyteller he is; he knows the story requires his character to fill a supporting role and he does it without erasing his character’s complexity.

It’s not like his character is never immature, but when he is immature or lashes out, it doesn’t just affect the atmosphere, it completely changes it.

He yells at Wilbur, telling him to leave and find the eggs himself if he’s so upset about it- very much in the way an angry parent scolds a child- and for a brief moment you can feel how scared his character is, and Wilbur who was previously just confused and upset immediately becomes defensive (which benefits Wilbur’s story).

But more importantly Phil apologizes immediately after he’s calmed down, something which we don’t really see from other characters that are described as calm, cool and mature the same way he is. (being more mature isn’t a source of pride for him) It speaks volumes about who his character is, and just how long he’s been around compared to everyone else.

It shows that his character is also choosing to be the bigger person. It shows that he knows better than to wait to apologize to someone he cares about; which taken in the context of his lore can imply that he may have experience with loosing friends or allies in that way.

There’s more I could say abt this, especially with what this can imply about Wilbur and Phil’s father/son relationship, but I think that deserves its own post.