#while obviously just a deliberately mean parting shot

[lansplaining]

golden core anon again! I haven't gotten the 7s translation yet, but in the ExR translation JC "retracted the whip, but it was already too late" and (a few paragraphs later) the hit actually landed on WN, leaving a scorch mark. I don't which is more accurate, but I've always had the impression that it wasn't really obvious for WN that JC was trying to stop the fight! I'm also 90% sure that WN wasn't lurking nearby to watch the whole exchange, so he's probably working with a lot of incomplete information here (in a lot of ways lol). as for why he immediately decided to deal emotional damage, instead of restraining JC or just punching him in the face (which would've probably made more sense to everyone and also might've made JC's day somewhat better in the end)… my personal interpretation is that WN was already pretty mad at the whole golden core thing? he initially respected WWX's desire to sacrifice the golden core for his brother, went along with his plan so that JC wouldn't suspect anything, watched WWX suffer during the surgery, then watched him destroy himself in the Burial Mounds without a core… and then realized that the guy who prompted so much self-sacrifice is… maybe kind of a dick actually? who has been treating WWX with nothing but anger and resentment whenever WN was present to see it? and now he's actually attacking him? "yeah no, fuck you, no blissful ignorance for you anymore, you should know exactly how much he has done for you and maybe then you'll leave him alone". (don't get me wrong, I agree that WN wasn't exactly fair to JC during the reveal, especially if you know that JC had sacrificed his core for WWX first, but I kinda get where he's coming from emotionally)

The Seven Seas has what I quoted, and yes, Wen Ning does intercept the blow that was going to hit Wangji. I don't speak Chinese and definitely can't get into the business of comparing translations, I'm very specifically talking about the experience of reading this translation and taking it as a story/narrative experience on its own.

I'm not saying that Wen Ning doesn't have personal reasons for revealing the golden core (though imo his emotional state as described both before and after is... weird, but that's part for the course with the unreliability of the narrator re: Wen Ning specifically), and I'm not saying the scene makes no sense. I'm literally just saying it's interesting that as a writer, MXTX chose to make the golden core reveal not actually the climax of a deadly conflict, or the only possible thing that could have stopped Jiang Cheng in his tracks, or even in response to Jiang Cheng actually doing something truly egregious-- it's yet another misunderstanding and disproportionate response to a situation someone bursts into without understanding.

(There's also the irony that right after this, Wen Ning thanks/implicitly forgives Lan Wangji because he spoke up for Wen Ning and Wen Qing before they were executed... but Jiang Cheng also spoke up for them-- to say nothing of facilitating the entire Burial Mounds grace period by arranging the fake fight-- Wen Ning just wasn't there, and it (also) didn't work.)

[blusocket]

I've seen some people express some confusion about what Fortnight is about, why it opens the album, what's happening in the video, etc, so here's my attempt at an analysis. For the most part I'll be referring to the characters in the video with the names of the people playing them (Taylor and Post) but at times I'm going to be making direct reference to the events of Taylor's personal life and referring to the muses by their names (Joe and Matty) for the sake of clarity and simplicity.

The song itself uses the suburbia conceit as an extended metaphor for the beginning of her relationship with Matty (he's the neighbor she runs away to Florida with, Joe is the cheating husband.) For more eloquent and detailed thoughts on the narrative of the song you can check out Jaime @cages-boxes-hunters-foxes's post here.

The video is really dense, and I'm not 100% confident in every aspect of my interpretation, but I feel pretty sure that it's making extensive use of visual metaphor in order to tell roughly the same story as the song, just in a different setting. To start, Taylor wakes up chained to a bed in a white dress.

To me this suggests that she's been driven mad by being left at the altar, and is now trapped, surveilled and controlled, in a type of asylum. This represents the end of her relationship with Joe--waiting for a marriage that never came, feeling trapped, mentally unwell etc.

She then takes 'forget him' pills which reveal Post's tattoos on her face when she looks in the mirror.

This represents Matty (the "miracle move-on drug") and shows that he made a mark on her while she was still in the asylum--that is, still in her relationship with Joe. Additionally, in the wide shot where we see the mirror, its size and shape are very reminiscent of a one-way mirror, often seen in interrogation rooms and psychological experiments, further reinforcing the idea that Taylor is imprisoned here.

She then is able to go to the typewriter room and do her work, creating art about how she's feeling, shown by her repeatedly typing "I love you, it's ruining my life" on the typewriter. She's still in pain and feeling trapped. While there, she encounters Post and they create art together, which creates beauty and color in her life. The blue and gold obviously reference her writing about Joe, but the fact that her work is gold and Post's is blue may be a deliberate choice to draw parallels between Matty and Joe, as she does on numerous songs throughout TTPD.

The next scene, where Taylor's hair is down and she and Post are wearing the same black coat and pants, takes place inside her head (symbolized by the shape of the papers they're laying on.) She is dreaming about them being free and creating art together, represented by the papers surrounding them and book she's holding, which has the word "us" written on the cover. She's writing their story before it's begun.

She then reaches for his hand in her fantasy, accepting and asking for this relationship

Then we see that she's being studied and experimented on--the results of the lie detector test read "I love you, it's ruining my life." Her pain is an object of fascination.

Interestingly, Post is part of the group experimenting on her, but when the experiments begin to cause her pain, he liberates her.

This inspires Taylor to destroy the place where she's been trapped, which we see through her opening the filing cabinets that cover the walls and destroying the mirror. I also find the shot of her standing still while papers burn around her interesting and significant; I interpret this as Taylor destroying her own work about Joe. By choosing to leave, she is metaphorically burning--rejecting--the story she wrote about them.

Finally, Taylor and Post enter the dangerous outside world together; the rain echoes the lyric "I chose this cyclone with you" on the album's title track. While I do feel the meaning of Post being in the phone booth is somewhat ambiguous, the framing and the accompanying lyric--"I've been calling ya but you won't pick up" suggest that he's attempting to communicate with her but can't reach her. They are free of her prison, but still separated.

Then, he hangs up the phone and reaches for her hand, and she takes it. The final shot of the video is a close up on their linked hands, presenting us with a cautiously optimistic ending--they are lost and vulnerable in the middle of a storm, but they have each other.

I feel this is a somewhat less sinister, for lack of a better word, portrayal of the start of Matty and Taylor's relationship than is suggested elsewhere on the record, though I believe Post's character being part of the group experimenting on her is significant and the editing creates some ambiguity about exactly when and why she decides to break free. But I hope this clarifies how the video sets up the beginning of this story, the fallout of which is then chronicled over the course of the rest of TTPD.

[fiddler-on-the-starship]

Spoilers for Transformers One.

On the one hand, I do think Orion was right when he said "rebuilding Iacon cannot begin with an execution" (they'd just thoroughly trounced Sentinel in every way, he wasn't a threat anymore, there wasn't an immediate need to kill him beyond the desire for revenge).

On the other hand, on a purely visceral level I do not have a problem with Sentinel getting ripped in half because fuck that guy lmao. Get your revenge, Dee, you deserve it.

But on the other other hand, I do believe that Orion's actions were motivated not by any desire to save Sentinel, but by concern for Dee. (I think these posts make a good point about that; it doesn't seem that Orion was even deliberately trying to sacrifice himself when he got shot, I think he just wanted to get between Dee and Sentinel so he could talk to Dee.)

But on the other other other hand, Orion really did not choose his words well in that scene. "Don't be like Sentinel" was the WORST thing he could've possibly said, all things considered. A while ago I saw a post that described it as "telling a victim they're just as bad as their abuser" and yeah, I agree with that assessment. That probably wasn't how Orion intended that to come off, but there's no way it wouldn't have sounded like that to Dee. Maybe it wouldn't have been possible to talk Dee down from killing Sentinel in that moment, but if it had been at all possible, that was definitely not the way to do it.

However, while this leads to a horrible outcome for the characters, I'm not sure it's such a bad thing for the narrative. It's painfully realistic, actually. Sometimes, people who have nothing but good intentions will say stupid, hurtful things. Sometimes, when someone is in a state where all they can feel is pain and rage, they will lash out without thinking of the consequences, and in doing so they might hurt someone they love. Obviously in the real world this does not usually involve a giant robot shooting another giant robot with a laser cannon, but that's one of the great things about sci-fi and fantasy; a laser cannon can be a metaphor for the horrors we face in real life.

Also, based on Orion's behaviour up until that point in the movie, it's pretty in-character for him to say the worst possible thing at the worst possible time to someone who is clearly suffering. You can tell he has a lot of compassion and generally means well, but that doesn't stop him from being an insensitive dick at times. And I like that. I like it when characters have Layers. (Orion and Dee both have a lot of Layers, and I am fascinated by the way some of the same personality traits manifest very differently in each of them, but that's not what this post is about, perhaps I'll ramble about that another time.)

Basically what I'm saying is:

I think Orion was both right and wrong (right about it not being necessary to kill Sentinel, and right that a public execution was a bad fucking idea; very, very wrong in the way he expressed that to Dee),

I'm not going to say Dee did nothing wrong, but I completely understand where he is coming from (and I'd be lying if I said that when he killed Sentinel there wasn't a part of my brain screaming YEAAAAH, YOU GO GIRL, RIP THAT FUCKER APART),

I think that Optimus Prime should have flaws and fuck up sometimes, because that makes him more interesting as a character, and in the case of TF1, because having him inadvertently contribute to Dee's downward spiral adds to the tragedy of it all (and I do think this movie can rightly be called a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions),

and, above all,

FUCK Sentinel Prime. Seriously, fuck that guy SO much.

[bowtiepastabitch]

Let's talk costuming: Avaunt!

So I think we can all agree that Aziraphale looks his most traditionally angelic in the Job minisode, no? In fact, all of the angels' costuming increases in drama for this particular episode. This is, obviously, a very deliberate choice on the part of wardrobe, so let's discuss.

On a technical level, the biggest thing that stands out to me about this fabulous robe is the draping. Oh, the draping. It feels like a classic angel 'fit because on a very fundamental level, it is. A lot of what we think of as angelic draws on Renaissance artists' depictions, with flowing robes, fluffy wings, and glimmering halos. In art from this era, there is a strong attention to detail on the natural flow of fabrics that makes Renaissance sculpture so breathtaking, such as here: (The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, Bernini, 17th century CE)

It's this ability to make solid marble look like fine silk rippling with movement that leaves such a strong impression in my mind when I look at these kinds of works.

In painting, too, there is a similar effect. Something about the material culture of the Renaissance really lent itself to this style, perhaps fueled by the rise in new textile luxuries that occurred in vaguely the same period. This is seen especially strongly for angels, such as in the sculpture above, and in this painting: (The Annunciation to the Virgin, Botticelli, 15th century CE)

There's a stark contrast between the dress of the two figures. The virgin Mary is no less ornamentally or expensively dressed, but her style is rather minimalistic next to the angel's voluminous robing. It paints a very clear impression of angelic dress, and the designers for Good Omens would have been aware, in at least a small way, of the art history precedence for such a thing.

The poof of the sleeves, the tucks down the front, the little belt with the train tucked in, the gathers, the weight of the fabric, everything about this robe is constructed to carefully recreate the rather fantastical imagery of renaissance art. It's not necessarily an easy texture to nail down, given that the artists themselves had no concerns of gravity, comfort, or the way it would look in actual 3d motion, while our brave costumers were dealing with all three as well as a budget, time constraints, and the constant consideration that white fabric just gets dirty so easy.

Here's some of the other angels as well, so you can see how theirs reflect those same dramatic themes.

And then, of course, when costuming a show you have a second question: What does this mean for our character? Or rather, we know how, but WHY did they make him look so traditionally angelic?

Well, thematically, the Job minisode centers around Aziraphale's struggle with being a good angel and Crowley's struggle with being a good demon. Aziraphale is learning how to be an angel that follows along with heaven as far as we can, and he's so terribly torn up about it. He spends a lot of his time fretting about doing what's expected demanded of him, even if perhaps he doesn't believe it to be the right choice. Natural, then, that he should look the part of the perfect angel whilst sorting out these ethereal woes.

Crowley even draws attention to it himself, giggling a bit at the suggestion that Aziraphale, with his fluffy hair and flowing angelic garb, could possibly become a demon. And it is a rather silly mental image; the garment itself would be comically silly in really ANY other context at all. In the same manner, his performance of angelic archetype borders on excessive:

He's trying so desperately hard here to be the angel he wants to and is supposed to be. He's dressed the part, he's using his big scary angel voice, but deep down he's clinging to an identity that doesn't quite fit.

(You'll notice in this shot the distinct difference between his and Crowley's dress on the level of silhouette as well as color. We see this a lot from the two of them, but with the points I made above it felt worth pointing out in this particular scene)

Here at the end, as he's coming to terms with the cracks in his heaven-given identity, his robe is largely in shadow, blurring out its startling whiteness. We do not see him dressed this way again. (He continues to wear white, obviously, but from here on out his style of dress mimics the human trends of the time rather than that classical angelic imagery)

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Ikemen Villains - Harrison Gray

This is simply a fan translation and is not intended as a replacement for the game. Expect grammatical errors.

Tall man: "You're unlucky to witness our deal like this."

Kate: "Let me go!"

Round-faced man: "There's no way we can let you go after seeing everything."

Today is December 31st.

I was helping with the preparations for the countdown party at the castle. But I got lost on the way to the store and witnessed a suspicious deal involving two men.

I ended up getting caught, and now my hands and feet were tied.

(I need to escape!)

Recalling the escape method I read in a detective novel I borrowed from Harry, I subtly move my hands to gradually loosen the ropes without the two men noticing.

(I need to find an opening and get out of here!)

Round-faced man: "Hmm? Who are you people?"

Suddenly, one of the men called out to the entrance of the warehouse, and standing there was一

Kate: "Harry, Liam!?"

Liam: "Ehh!? They've got Katie!"

Harrison: "Why are you here?"

Harry and Liam, seeing me tied up and lying on the ground, widened their eyes in surprise.

Since I had just been captured a moment ago, they probably didn't even know that I’d been kidnapped.

(Did the two of them come here as part of the Crown's mission?)

(I think they were supposed to bust an illegal drug deal today. So are these guys the culprits?)

Round-faced Man: "Do you guys know this woman? If so, it'll make things easier."

One of the men pointed a gun at me.

Tall man: "If you care about her life, then drop your weapons."

Harry and Liam held their breath at the man's threat and tried to put their weapons on the ground.

Kate: "Wait!"

I quickly raised my voice to stop them.

Round-faced man: "What's with you? Do you want to get killed?"

Kate: "This gun is real. It's loaded and dangerous, so you guys could get killed!"

Round-faced man: "Ha?"

Kate: "Drop your weapons quickly! These two also have other weapons!"

Liam: "What's wrong, Katie? We obviously intended to do that."

Harrison: "I see. Got it."

After hearing my words, Harry pretended to place the gun on the ground and then shot the men.

Tall Man: "Gah! It hurts!"

With precise control, each of the two men was shot in the leg and arm.

Although it wasn't life-threatening, their injuries prevented them from fighting.

Round-faced man: "What do you think you're doing? Do you not care about this woman's life!?"

Harrison: "Sorry, but your threat won't work. That gun is fake, yeah?"

Round-faced man: "Why you...!"

Tall Guy: "Damn it! We're at a disadvantage now. Let's scram!"

The two men, protecting their injured legs and arms, fled from the warehouse through the back door, leaving me behind.

Harrison: "Are you okay?"

Harry quickly ran over and helped me up.

Kate: "Yes, thank you for helping me."

With Harry's assistance, I finally freed myself.

Liam: "I'm glad you're safe."

Liam: "But I was surprised when Harry suddenly shot those guys, even though you were being held hostage."

Harrison: "Their gun was fake."

Liam: "Huh? Does that mean..."

Kate: "Yes. Everything I said was a lie."

They couldn't really harm me, as the gun they pointed at me was fake and they didn't have any other weapons.

To convey that information, I deliberately shouted the opposite to make Harry see through the lie.

Harrison: "You didn't tell the truth to catch the opponent off guard, right? Well done."

Kate: "I didn't want to be a burden to the two of you while being captured."

Kate: "But they escaped, so we need to catch them quickly!"

Harrison: "They're injured. All we need to do is follow the bloodstains."

The blood droplets eventually split into two paths, so Liam and Harrison decided to split up and pursue each trail.

After a while, Harry and I arrived at the market.

Perhaps because it was close to midnight, the market was bustling with people eager to watch the fireworks for the New Year.

Kate: "Harry, over there!"

Amidst the crowd, we saw a tall man with an injured leg dragging himself away. Before we could even catch up, a carriage stopped at the man's side.

It didn't look like a regular public carriage but a privately arranged one.

Harrison: "So there were others in your group, huh?"

There's no way we can catch up with them if they get on the carriage.

I hurriedly looked around but could not find any other carriages.

Kate: "We can't catch up on foot. We have to give up the pursuit for now."

Harrison: "No, there's still a way."

Saying that, Harry took out his pistol and aimed it at the carriage.

Harrison: "If I aim for the wheels, it will stop."

Kate: "But shooting a gun in the middle of a street like this?"

The Crown is a secret organization under the edict of Queen Victoria.

Their existence and their evil deeds should not be noticed by the general public.

Harrison: "No one will notice. After all, it's almost time."

As if to dispel my anxiety, Harry smiled nonchalantly.

Kate: "Almost time?"

Townspeople: "10! 9! 8!"

As I was about to ask, I heard loud voices counting down.

(Could it be?)

Harrison: "3, 2, 1!"

A dull roar shook our bodies.

It wasn't the sound of Harry's gun, but the sound of fireworks being set off to celebrate the new year.

I was momentarily distracted by it, but when I looked back, I saw the carriage overturning, its wheel distorted by a bullet.

Kate: "You timed it with the New Year's fireworks!"

Timing the gunshots with the sound of fireworks made it less likely for the gunshots to be noticed. Moreover, people were looking up at the sky, making it easier to overlook what happened on the ground.

Harrison: "They say the best place to hide a tree is in a forest, but..."

Kate: "W-What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Harrison: "I just thought I turned something you were looking forward to into a bloody memory."

(Come to think of it, I did mention before that I wanted to spend the countdown with him this year.)

(I'm glad he remembered my words.)

Kate: "Hehe. It's a little disappointing, but it was a countdown I'll never forget."

Kate: "Let's make next year's countdown even more wonderful, Harry."

Harrison: "The bar has been raised, huh? Well, I guess it's fine."

Afterward, we were able to safely capture the man from the carriage and hand him over to William, who said he had things to ask the man. After having the meal prepared by Victor, we finally returned to our room and took a breather.

Kate: "The first day of the new year was quite an ordeal."

Harrison: "The season doesn't matter when it comes to our duties. But if I could wish for something, it would be to spend more time with you this year."

I widened my eyes, surprised by his unusually straightforward wish. Sensing my reaction, Harry mischievously smiled.

Harrison: "Now, was that a lie or the truth?"

Kate: "I believe it was the truth. And if those words were a lie..."

Harrison: "Yeah?"

Kate: "I will stay with you so you will feel the same way."

Kate: "I'll do my best to make sure your lies change."

Harrison: "Heh? But that effort might not be necessary."

With a few words, Harry pulled me in and kissed me.

It was a sweet kiss that proved his wish was really true, capturing me and not letting go.

[ninewheels]

So I just saw a montage video on YouTube of Amazing Shots in Furiosa, and yeah are A+ (Furiosa is an A+ looking movie) but the priority of this video is clearly on the shots that look amazing in the desktop background or tumblr gifset sense. Which is fine, I love those, and that channel can do whatever it wants, but there are many different kinds of amazing shots, and this just inspired me to talk about my personal favorite shot in the film.

First of all, this is what I think of as an Alfonso Cuarón oner (although Miller's been around longer, were the 80s Mad Maxes like this and should he have dibs?) which is to say a oner that doesn't draw attention to itself, but uses the uncut nature to create a particular feeling, and also because if your blocking set-up means you can transition smoothly from one great angle into another without cutting, why not do it?

We see Furiosa and Jack being dragged out of the V8...

And laid on the ground in front of Dementus...

Who starts making with the villainous grandstanding that is his specialty. This whole scene is about simultaneously conveying how powerful he is, but at the same time how powerful he isn't. Notice how the harsh sunlight backlighting him and his droogs amplifies the melodramatic menace; notice also how much of his monologizing is quite nihilistic, and puts more emphasis on how Furiosa and Jack fucked things up than how good it's gonna be when they punish them.

He moves camera right, and the camera keeps him in frame, but it doesn't move away from Furiosa and Jack either. They're also in the foreground here, and a little closer to center than Dementus is. (The center point is right in between Jack/Davidson and the background biker nearest to them.) Not only are they pulling the audience's focus from Dementus, they are pulling each other's focus as well. They share this tender moment ("My Jack" "My Fury"), not giving a flying fuck about whatever this asshole is saying.

(Also, pay attention to Harley's grip on Furiosa, and how he releases it to let her nuzzle up to Jack.)

"I'm chewing the bloody scenery over here, pay attention to me!"

This specific section of the shot--the camera and the characters refusing to focus on him, and then him getting pissy about it in a fourth-wall nudging fashion--was the part that I was thinking of when I decided to make this post. I'd forgotten how long the shot in its entirety was, and it's all good.

It's harder to tell with Jack, but Furiosa definitely never once looks at Dementus in this entire scene. Most of them time she's looking at Jack, but even when she isn't, she deliberately keeps her eyes off of Dementus. She knows how much he loves being looked at, and decides to not give him the satisfaction. (There's a parallel to "Witness me!", one that increased for me in Dementus's final scene with the line "Do you have it in you to make it epic?" which has strong War Boy energy to it.)

Up to this point, movement was limited, both for the characters and the camera. While the angles shifted, the camera would linger in place for longer sections, or move slowly from one to the next. And after our heroes are dragged away from the car, Dementus is the only character who crosses any distance.

Now the time for talking is over (in a tonal sense, obviously there's still more dialogue) and the time for action is here: specifically, enacting punishments for these two. All the characters are in motion now, and the camera is too, and it stays active until the end of the shot.

In a shot that is physically tracking Furiosa the whole time, these couple of seconds following Jack as he's being forced to run behind the bike are the only part where she's not in frame, not even in the background. It enforces the finality of this physical separation of the two of them. He's alone now (in the way that matters) and when the camera moves back to her, she is too.

And a more blatant follow-up to Harley's body language from earlier. He's like the camera and the audience in a way--he's been paying more attention to our heroes than to his lunatic boss's nihilist proclamations. (I've heard someone assert that he's the one who let Furiosa go, which might emotionally match what's happening, but there's no actual evidence for it, and it's so much more in-character for her to single-handedly find a way to straight-up tear her arm off at the mangled joint.*

And we end on this: Dementus is staring intently at Furiosa, and Furiosa is not looking at him, which in this case is because it'd be physically impossible for her, but the imagery is telling the story it's telling. A different film with different characters could use still this exact same blocking and framing, but create a different story by having the prisoner crane their neck to the side in vain to make some attempt to address their captor, whether to beg for mercy or tell them to go fuck themselves. Furiosa may be defeated, fully aware she's living the second worst day of her life, but she can still deny Dementus the thing he wants: her attention.

There are definite shortcomings with this screenplay, but the direction, the cinematography, and the general moment-to-moment storytelling are fucking good.

[little-cereal-draws]

We need to talk about the kids in Nimona

So kids, especially little kids, are a huge part of this movie. Nimona references them while despairing how much hate the Institute pours into people's hearts and Ballister pins a drawing a little kid did to honor Nimona up at the end of the movie. But small children were present at every single important point in the film.

At the very beginning, before the knighting ceremony, as all the people are gathering in front of the news, there's a kid who yells, "C'mon, hurry!" He is so excited to see the knights. Maybe it's for Ballister, maybe it's for Ambrosius, maybe it's just because knights are cool. Once everyone's gathered around the TV and they're doing Ballister and Ambrosius' introductions, there are multiple shots of kids in different environments/households watching the TV.

Once the knighting ceremony actually starts and they ride into the Glorodome, Bal takes a moment to look around. There are three kids hiding under the bleachers who smile at him. He smiles back at them and seems much more relaxed after that. Since the kids are hiding, it can be assumed they snuck into the Glorodome and are possibly street kids like he was. (I'm basing this idea off the deleted introduction scene where baby Bal sneaks into the stadium and watches the knights with baby Ambs.) After Ballister gets knighted, those three kids cheer so loud that they scare someone and make them drop their popcorn. They were there to support Ballister specifically. He's probably already their hero, knighted or not.

Skipping ahead, there are kids in the marketplace when they kidnap the squire. Chaos has erupted, the music is super anxious and energetic, they're being chased by the knights, and the plan has completely gone off the rails. As Ambrosius and the other knights close in on them, there's a close up of a kid dressed as a knight cheering. He's playing one of those games like they had outside of the subway where the kid sits on a little horse that moves back and forth and stabs holographic monsters. This kid in the marketplace is having the best day of his life. This is the coolest thing he has ever seen. He's watching real life knights fight the queen-killer and he is 100% cheering for Ambrosius to shoot Bal in the face. He wants them to win even if it means violence. He doesn't understand how bloody and horrible that would get; he just knows it would be cool as fuck and the "good guys" would win.

Obviously the Dragon Kwisps commercial in the subway that's advertising at kids that they'll be a hero if they kill monsters. And the little girl lifting the sword at Nimona and saying, "Monster," is so obvious that I'm not going to talk about it.

When they upload the video of the Director's confession, there are more shots of little kids watching the news. There are two deliberate shots specifically on a young boy and girl as they look through a store window at TV playing the news. They might not fully understand what's going on but they are listening, they are watching.

There's that game that's playing an ad on the billboard Nimona destroys during her "rampage" to Gloreth's sword. That's the third thing they've had in this movie that is specifically targeted at kids and promotes this hate.

There're multiple shots of parents pulling their kids along behind them as they all run from Nimona but what's interesting is after that. When Nimona looks down at Bal while he apologizes, there's a very deliberate shot of a young boy stepping out from his mother's side and looking up at Nimona. His eyes are wide but he he's not scared anymore. He's taking in this act of love and watching how it plays out.

When Nimona turns into a phoenix, there are more shots on kids watching her fly past. Their faces are full of wonder. They have never seen anything like this before. The "monster" turning into something beautiful and lifegiving and protecting them, protecting everyone, from the real danger.

At Nimona's shrine at the end, the vast majority of the drawings/cards left there look like they were done by kids. Some are younger like the one Ballister picked up but there are some that look like they were done by elementary schoolers and even middle schoolers. They were watching the whole time and they did not forget.

[bagadew]

I have FINALLY got around to watching Only Murders in the Buliding and have just caught up! I have some minor theories on what’s going on and what might be important, but I’m putting those under the cut because the first thing I’m saying about this show is series 4 spoilers:

Big (Small) Theories:

I think there were two killers. One based in the East: who told the killer Charles/Sazz was on the way, and cleared up the crime scene after the murder; and one based in the West who actually took the shot. I think they were in communication through the locked apartment ratio, which probably means the East killer has access to a means of reaching it.

I think Sazz was deliberate, either with her being the intended victim due to her investigation, or with her deliberately putting herself in Charles place to take the hit for him. Either way Sazz obviously knew more than she should have done if she was just accidental collateral. The fact that Sazz was whistling when she died seems significant, with it either being how the West killer knew it was her instead of Charles, or how the East killer realised West had shot the wrong person.

While I don’t think Christmas Guy is involved, I think there’s a reason we haven’t met him yet. The tinsel in the locked apartment suggests he had either a third way in, knew the code for some reason. Given the West killer also needed that, he could have some useful information. Personally, I think his motivations and the West Residents shifty nature has something to do with the bath pig. If it’s their lock, that could explain the code being Oh hELL.

Also, and this one’s a bit more out there and a bit less to do with this specific murder: Is there something in the cold case that was mentioned? This is the second time it’s been mentioned, so it could be important. It seems to be the case the podcast would fall back on if the trio ever run out of live murders, so could someone be pulling the strings so that the trio never get round to it? The same ‘they’ who tried to shut down the Tim Kono case back in season one?

Important stuff:

Here are some things I think are important to remember, but I don’t have any concrete theories around:

Someone has Sazz’s phone. It remains to be seen how involved they are in her death, but whoever it is clearly doesn’t want the murder investigated.

At least one of the windows in the West are painted shut, possibly they all are.

I feel like there could be something more to TAP IN, as in it could only be part of the message Sazz meant to write, or it could have an additional meaning.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 18/01/2024

MAGFest 2019: SiIvaGunner Presents - High Quality Ripping

Season 3 Featured on: MAGFest 2019

Presented by Nape Mango, Omknee, ShonicTH, Chaze the Chat, Harmony Friends, Trofflesby, Craz Xexe, Agent

Yeah, okay, this is cheating in a lot of ways - this is not on the SiIvaGunner channel, and its obviously not even a rip. But I felt it necessary to commemorate, as I mentioned briefly in Because I Love You, its finally time for MAGFest once again, and the SiIvaGunner team is to host their own panel there tomorrow! And in the spirit of that, I want to just...talk about SiIvaGunner and MAGFest, at least for a little bit. Because the first two panels in particular, the ones that marked the beginning and end of Season 3, are some of my all-time favorite videos associated with the SiIvaGunner channel.

A big part of the identity and gimmick of the channel itself, as you're likely well aware, is the bait-and-switch - to present it as a faceless entity simply uploading video game music, only to instead feature jokes, shitposts, edits, and so forth. Part of maintaining that kayfabe, then, is to intentionally obscure who makes what behind the scenes, to keep the real people under wraps for those who aren't going to dig deeper, in order to further sell the illusion of being an official VGM upload. The team does of course still give credit when its relevant, as any rip can be featured on an album be given full credits there, but just that degree of separation alone between casual fans and ones willing to download an album has probably led to a few too many people being unaware of who made their favorite rips. Back then, I typically fell somewhere in the middle - I wasn't actively using music listening software and thus missed out on listening to albums for a long time, but was still aware of some of the big names you'd see in comments sections, saw some shoutouts from Twitter, the works.

Yet with the two MAGFest panels of 2018 and 2019 respectively, it felt like the first time that the magnitude of what SiIvaGunner is and how much it means to people was revealed to me for the first time ever. The uploaded recording of the 2018 panel, posted by Chaze's own account, features a shot about seven minutes in that turns the camera to the crowd - and it's an absolutely packed-full room of nerds just like me. And even though I've never been able to go to any of these MAGFest panels due to travel costs and complications...just seeing how many people truly do care about SiivaGunner, in such a tangible way, something more than a number...it resonated with me, yknow?

Beyond that, these panels are just such fascinating pieces of history for the channel, such good time capsules in so many ways - and that's in a lot of ways why I chose to highlight the 2019 panel in particular. Rather than discussing the upbringings of the channel, it features members of the team reminiscing and going through Season 3's timeline of events in particular, going into surprising detail into the thought process and direction the various pieces of the year took - while also giving insights into the production of the Christmas Comeback Crisis, King for a Day Tournament, and more. I feel like with the turn from Season 3 to Season 4 Episode 1, you can really notice that the idea of "hype" for SiIvaGunner content becoming so much more prominent, so much more deliberately handled by the team, which is made all the more evident by the King for Another Day Tournament reveal live on stage.

Man, look, it's an hour-long panel, and there's so many small things that I still remember from it, despite last having seen it five years ago. The members talking about their favorite rips, giving a round of applause to all the rippers who couldn't come join them at the panel or on-stage, the very funny last-minute rips made to "celebrate" the channel being terminated a day earlier (one of which I've embedded as the Bandcamp link), and even some slight discussions on what SiIvaGunner as a channel means to the team, what it represents, and what their goals have been overtime. And, of course, the fucking incredible PowerPoint hijinx with Inspector Gadget, which I am 100% going to take as confirmed canon that Gadget's level of sentience and awareness of the real world is just the same as Woodman's and The Voice.

I have, of course, been told a number of times that I overanalyze SiIvaGunner, that I'm uncovering depth that's clearly not intentional, looking too much into a silly meme channel. And sure, I'd admit that I do overthink things to a degree, anyone who read Vote Responsibly!! should be able to tell you as much. Yet its stuff like these in-depth behind-the-scenes looks, these moments of getting a face and a voice to attach to the works, that really just felt super validating to me even back then - that the intentions and goals of the channel that I myself had picked up on were in fact some sort of direction that the team itself were steering toward. And though Nape Mango does indeed declare in this very panel that "Everything is a coincidence with SiIvaGunner", I'm forever in awe at just how good the team has been at lining those coincidences up into something genuinely incredible.

We SilvaGunner, We Rip.

[opalspring]

Some observations about the gay Kazui theory

A lot of people have been discussing this and it’s super interesting so I wanted to share some stuff I noticed too! Posting this before cat since it’s possible this theory will get either debunked or confirmed by then.

Lyrics from Cat

First, let’s talk about the preview of cat from the 2nd trial song previews. One thing I personally dislike from the staff’s English translation is this part:

“Devotion-love, lame, cheating”

While the first two tl choices are good imo, the third part could have been chosen better. The reason for this being, while it’s not a wrong tl per say, 化かす (bakasu) means “to confuse”, “to delude” according to my dictionary. There’s also the expression 狐と狸の化かし合い (kitsune to tanuki no bakashiai), which refers to two people outfoxing each other. 

While I get this might be for localization purposes, I feel like the word “cheating” has connotations in English that are way too different from the original in this case. What I’m trying to say is that we should probably wait for the mv itself to draw our conclusions regarding this (though it’s also possible this really is just about cheating).

These lines caught my attention too, but for another reason:

“Love + Fate = Crap”

“Disgusting playing-house + Disguise + Fake”

While at first glance, these lyrics make it look like Kazui might be a cheater (and not shy about it), I feel like this could be a case of Kazui lashing out after he spent so much time in a relationship with a woman when he’s not attracted to them in the first place. It’s possible Kazui actually saw his wife in a best friend kind of way, and that they only got married because of their families’ and society’s pressure, compulsory heterosexuality, you know. There Are a lot of suspicious things about Kazui that he needs to explain, but maybe cheating isn’t actually one of them. We’ll see, though.

Next, let’s discuss some things from the half mv. 

How Shidou and Kazui respectively visualize their partner

This next section will reference Triage, where we have a look at Shidou’s family for the first time. As a quick note, there has been some debate over the woman in the mv potentially being Shidou's sister or other family relative but I personally believe she's his lover because of this part:

Shidou (we recognize him as he has the same outfit as in the rest of the mv) has his arm around her waist so I assumed they’re romantically involved because of it.

But how does this all connect to Kazui? You guessed it, the way Shidou and Kazui visualize their partner in their respective mvs vastly differs. Let’s have a look. 

Shidou’s visual representation of his lover.

And here’s Kazui’s.

Notice anything? In my opinion, these choices were very deliberate. As various people in the fandom have pointed out, characters in mil mvs who have faces are very important to whichever story is being told (Rei in Muu’s mvs, Shidou’s lover mentioned earlier etc). So it can make one wonder, why does Kazui’s wife, who he obviously cares deeply for, not have a detailed face when we see her? 

To continue this particular point, I want you to look at these consecutive shots from half:

It’s unclear who the blonde woman on the top is, she could be someone Kazui met at the bar, or a coworker etc. It’s not really important who she is for our theory, what’s to note is that these two shots come one after the other, and that the composition in both is extremely similar. My interpretation for this is that, between a woman who is in the grand scheme of things a stranger to him, and the woman he married, Kazui makes almost no difference in the way he visualizes them (as in facial detail).  Because ultimately, if he’s gay, no matter how hard he tries, no matter the woman, he won’t be able to love them romantically. This could be what the staff was going for here.

The green apple and the pixelated person

There’s a cool detail about the two shots above. To start off, the first one’s composition is a little curious. It follows the rule of 1/3; 2/3 with Kazui in the third third of the screen, but the remaining part of the image feels strangely empty, save for the green light at the top. 

It could represent Kazui’s solitude in the theater, but a few scenes later we get the second shot, where we see the green apple on one of the seats.

A fun fact is that, if you count the seats between Kazui and the apple, you notice that 4 seats on Kazui’s right seats the apple… Which corresponds to the second leftmost seat in the first screenshot. The apple was with him the whole time, and the green light stands right in the middle of the two. Hmm. But what does this mean? Honestly I’m not sure. If anything it means the apple is so important to Kazui it was given this special place. 

But then there’s also the pixelated person in the back of the second screenshot. Who are they? They’re probably very important to the story, especially when the apple stands right between them and Kazui.

Since the mystery person isn’t in the first shot where we’re introduced to Kazui, it could mean that whoever they are/represent, Kazui would rather not acknowledge them. At least not until he has to.

Look at the lyrics that play when this scene is on screen. 

“Where did I go wrong, probably from the beginning”

And then, during the same sentence, we get this Kazui who looks like he just had a revelation.

This sentence probably refers to the fact Kazui’s relationship with his wife was bound to fail, because of his sexual orientation. And the mystery person might be a representation of men in general, who Kazui could be attracted to.

The chair and what it could represent

At certain parts during half, it seems as if Kazui is talking to this chair. Some examples:

It should be noted that both times Kazui does this, the lyrics he sings are the same. This part in particular caught my eye:

“Please tell me what I should do”

Who exactly is Kazui talking to here? He could simply be thinking of his wife here, but since there’s so much emphasis on the chair, I thought they could be symbolic for an entity or a group of people Kazui knows. I have two guesses: it might represent either his family, or maybe society in general. 

I don’t think it’s the former because Kazui seems at odds with them and possibly got disowned, so I feel like he wouldn’t value their opinion too much. As for the second option, it could be Kazui asking us what he should have done/ how he should have handled the situation (with him being gay and unable to love his wife romantically, but not wanting to hurt her feelings). It’s hard to know because we don’t have a lot of context for this part so it could be anything really.

Some parts of the lyrics that could specifically refer to homosexuality

These don’t really fit in any of the other points I talked about but if we look at them in the context of this theory they can be pretty telling:

“So many things I wish I hadn’t known, I’m just a coward”

“What I gave up a long time ago, why is it questioning me now?”

“So many things I should have known, I’m just a coward”

Kazui’s possible coming out to his wife

In my opinion, this part could be the aftermath of Kazui coming out to his wife. Let me explain. Here we have the apple (temptation/the forbidden fruit = the idea of homosexuality here?) in the background, so that’s one thing. Add to that the lyrics playing:

“All this time till now has hurt me, The scales of my heart have decided to sway”

This line could refer to the moment Kazui felt like he had to be honest with his wife, because as much as he loved her, pretending to basically be someone he wasn’t was hurting him. Hence “the scales of his heart swaying”. This scene then led to Hinako jumping from the balcony at some point, but at the moment we don’t know the details.

Hope you enjoyed!

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Steps Into Shadow"

Everything is all shaken up for Season Three, let's go.

So I know I said I really like it when shows change up the Status Quo but...

Some of the changes took a bit of getting used to in Season Three. I'll admit it.

(It's the hair, Ezra's hair took getting used to, I believe my exact reaction was, "Nooooooo not the cute shaggy shonen protagonist hair!" I'm okay with it now and it's hella easier to draw but it was a bit of a mourning period.)

So! Season Three begins six months after the end of Season Two. Everyone has had a cosmetic upgrade. They're all older. Ezra is seventeen. *cries*

Ezra had his seventeenth birthday offscreen while he and Kanan were not on speaking terms.

*sobbing forever*

Anyway we open In Media Res with the Spectres (minus Kanan) pulling off a jailbreak.

Oh it is absolutely not a coincidence that our first sight of Ezra this season has him bathed in shadow.

Sabine and Ezra casually bantering mid-mission and Ezra being seamlessly badass. <3

That cute little fond smile of Ezra's when he sees Hondo. T_T

Ohhhh I remember when people were freaking out over just how casually Ezra shoots this Stormtrooper with a blaster very obviously not set to stun. It's such a contrast from "Stealth Strike" in which he promises not to hurt any of them. He's taken some parts of Maul's words to heart, sadly, and now he's acting like a proper soldier in a war.

Ouch.

Don't mind me appreciating Ezra and Sabine's brief battle tag-teaming moment here.

As if the Luke parallels were not strong enough, Ezra's new lightsaber--after a harrowing fight against Darth Vader in which he lost his other one--is green. And sue me, I love his green lightsaber, it's my favorite.

Also a big fan of how Ezra demolishes this whole hallway of Stormtroopers by himself. He doesn't even blink.

"Is that really Ezra?" "Most of the time." The meaning behind this exchange is ambiguous and there are plural interpretations. I think Sabine is referring to how utterly serious he is, no stopping, no delays, all-business. We only really saw him banter and smile with the others when on their way in, once the reinforcements arrived it was all go time.

It really isn't Ezra's fault that Terba got killed. But Ezra's Hero Complex, Guilt Complex, and sense of hyper-responsibility are all colliding and making him take the blame on himself for not having complete 100% control of the situation, also why he snaps at Hera later for griping about just that.

Never not gonna love Ezra as leader with Sabine as his competent lieutenant. <3

The Force Theme goes creepily off-tune here. This is NOT a Jedi Mind Trick. This is Force Dominate and yes, it is a Dark Side power.

This scene is deliberately uncomfortable. It's almost like possession, like Ezra using the AT-DP pilot like a meat puppet.

Sabine looking Very Concerned as she watches what Ezra does here. :)

There's just a moment where they hold on the shots of the AT-DP's legs and Ezra's feet, juuuuuuust to give you enough time to comprehend the horror.

"When did Kanan teach you that?" There's just a smidge of discomfort in Sabine's voice here, she knows full well that's not something normal.

Ezra's "I did what I had to do." here is a bit needlessly defensive, Hera didn't offer any commentary in judgement at all, he's just instinctively already verbally flinching about it because he knows it was wrong.

We can already see the effects of Malachor on Ezra, he's angrier than usual and bristles at Hera's criticism.

"Ah the fiery spirit of youth, eh?" "It's not all bad." Hera looks so SAD here. :( There's so much unspoken sorrow. You can hear a certain frustration and helplessness.

Cut to Ezra having the expected angst session in his room. The holocron, sensing his anger, lights up, making his cadet helmet (the one Sabine painted for him, that's supposed to represent a sense of safety) look creepily demonic.

"You can see things clearly your friends cannot." Ohhhhh you absolute bitch, that specific turn of phrase is meant to dig at Ezra's guilt over Kanan's blindness isn't it? Ezra even repeats it. "They can't see..." This scene here, his speech, is the lynchpin of his entire experiment with the Dark Side; his guilt over Malachor is eating him up and like Anakin before him he's resolved to never let it happen again. So he must become stronger, more powerful. His fear of further loss--his attachment--is leading him down the same dangerous path.

It hurts so good, it's such good angst.

THERE SHE IS, MY FAVORITE FABULOUS BITCH.

She's awful. I love her. <3

The entire crew being so Done with Hondo lol.

Heeeeeeey remember how I talked about how a large part of Rebels the show is how the Ghost crew in particular helps put the Alliance together piece by piece, ship by ship?

Yeah these are the Y-wings that take part in the Battle of Yavin.

Sato promoting Ezra, awwwww. The sheer respect these two have now. Sabine and Zeb are very happy for him and Hera says Kanan would be too and ow ow ow the lined hurt in Ezra's face when he points out that Kanan is never around anymore.

The man himself has grown a Sadness!Beard and is in such inner turmoil that it's woken the Bendu, whose voice we hear calling to him.

I really feel for Hera, trying to mediate between her two Jedi, who are both hurting and both avoiding each other, the frustration and anguish she must feel.

Perhaps nudged by her words Kanan does try to pay Ezra a visit to talk... aaaaaaaand immediately discovers the open holocron.

Ohhh this conversation hurts. Ezra's so angry and hurt by Kanan seemingly abandoning him and all Kanan can think about is protecting him from the holocron's influence and he must feel like such a failure as a teacher, especially when Ezra yells about how he doesn't need Kanan.

:((((

Rebels says vehicle registrations and tolls are tyranny lol.

Right so, mistake number one: Running instead of playing cool. The Alliance does have a small amount of funds and they could easily forge a ship registration. Give the Mining Guild fake credentials, pay the fee, and they could have bought enough time to deflect suspicion for an hour maybe.

Yeah the krykna aren't any less creepy.

Hi Bendu!

The Bendu is an interesting addition to the lore. He seems in the vein of the Mortis Gods, an ancient entity in tune with the Force, though the normal rules of such don't apply to him. He's a neutral party, possibly representative of the spirit of nature, which is neither Light nor Dark it just is. His True Neutral alignment would later be challenged by Kanan but for now he seems a helpful ally, offering to assist Kanan learn how to "see" through the Force. (I do like to joke that he's trying to get all the Force noise to calm down so he can go back to sleep.)

Mixed feelings on how Kanan's blindness is handled. Would have liked to see more of a recovery/coping arc, but a lot of the little subtle hints and nods they do in later episodes are really effective at showing how he's adapted. And then there are the odd moments where Rebels writers forget he's blind entirely. So there's some room for improvement.

Also he should have been allowed to make some blind jokes. DON'T @ ME THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN HILARIOUS.

Ezra: "No witnesses! 😠" Sabine: "Dude WTF?" Love how even though his Dark Side tendencies concern and worry her she's not afraid to push back at him.

Kanan assumes the "source of unbalance" he's carrying is the Sith holocron and confesses his fears that it's corrupting Ezra. The Bendu claims, "An object cannot make you good or evil.", explaining how it's one's mindset that determines that.

Which I mean, point, buuuuuuuut this is also a fictional universe in which the traces of Sith ghosts stuck in soul jars can literally possess you sooooo...

Anyway the scenes of Bendu teaching Kanan how to "see" through the Force are amazing. 10/10 no complaints. Will comment on things as I go just to point them out.

For starters, how about the panic and fear in Kanan when Bendu destroys the sensor beacon? And his angry hopeless, "I can't see anything! Not anymore."?

MEANWHILE WITH THE IMPERIAL DOOM SQUAD:

*ANGELIC CHORUS*

Hello my favorite blue bastard.

The first hint of Kallus's changed allegiance is here with this vaguely accusatory comment about civilian deaths outnumbering insurgent deaths at Batonn, which Thrawn was promoted for. Pryce calls them "acceptable margins". Timothy Zahn would later reveal in the first new canon Thrawn book that it was her who detonated the bombs that killed everyone. For the moment I will refrain from commenting on his concerning habit of retconing things to absolve Thrawn of anything bad ever and just respond with the appropriate amount of disgust at Pryce.

Always loved the cool effect where everything except Thrawn's red eyes fade out.

Mistake number two: Not calling Hera to tell her, "Hey the Empire is scrapping the bombers literally as we speak." and asking for advice. Hera probably would have consulted Sato and the combined brainpower could have come up with a better plan than "Charge in recklessly and scoop them up against orders without further observation or research."

Even Rex, who backs Ezra up later, thinks they should tell Hera about it first.

"That's an order!" Ouch, Ezra, that is the most insensitive thing you could have said to a former clone trooper.

Ezra's need for control over every possible variant situation (to prevent himself from suffering further loss) is actively making things worse for the mission, not better. He is showing a distinct lack of trust in the command structure, and an almost possessive need to keep his team safe and under his direction.

No one comments on his bossing them around though, not even Sabine, and into the maelstrom they go.

Hi Brom Titus!

Rex still showing a very slight deathseeker tendency.

Sabine's been taking notes from Hera on flying a ship with no power, clearly, lol.

This cue right here is going to come back later in the climax of the episode. The frantic rapid percussion definitely gives off the feel of "falling".

Love Melch feigning a malfunction he fits right in with Han "slight weapons malfunction" Solo lol.

Sabine sounds tired and exasperated when she points out the fighters won't have any fuel. I can only imagine the kind of impulsive, reckless, rash leadership decisions she's had to put up with from Dark Side Depression!Ezra for the past few months.

Rex is supportive tho. <3

Bendu going through Kanan's other senses methodically to help him relearn how to navigate. <3

Kanan foresensing the danger Ezra's going to be in from across the galaxy and freaking out about it. <3

I'll be honest I don't quite understand this philosophical mumbo-jumbo but whatever it works, Kanan's got his mojo back and is going to go get his padawan.

Ohhhhhh oh I know this cue right here has been used before, dammit where was it used before?

Hang on... I think it's Kanan's theme?

*goes back to check "Stealth Strike"* No, not there. Ugh, this is gonna bug me.

*checks YouTube* It IS Kanan's theme! Holy crap.

Sabine does not have a good time of it against this Dismantler droid. Zeb's prehensile feet save the day, though. Always love when they get to use those.

Worried Ezra be worried. <3

Ezra's strained "Oh shit it's mom." tone here lol.

Recall what I said back in "Fire Across The Galaxy" about how the Rebellion will always pull your fat out of the fire even if you've been stupid? Yeah.

Hera's face when she sees Kanan sitting in the co-pilot chair. <333333

Rex, ah... may not be all mentally here I think the Dismantler droid is bringing up some unpleasant memories.

The subtle symbolism continues!

This exchange is hilarious. "Yeah, get ready for another demotion." Lol Ezra.

Ezra considers the dilemma for half a second and then chooses violence. Mistake three.

Chopper pitches a fit about getting in a Y-wing. Given that he was shot down in one, that's understandable.

This fond smile and headshake at Hondo. <3

Mistake four, not checking to see if the Y-wings had hyperdrives before taking off.

Always love it when one of the kids uses Zeb's "Karabast!" He's a bad influence on them lol.

All of Ezra's previous bad decisions culminate here, he's stranded on a collapsing station, unable to contact help, and the last thing he heard from Sabine was that the Empire was there. It's not any wonder he's practically breaking down in tears.

"This is wrong, it's all gone wrong!" Well, that's what happens when you choose all the Dark Side options, Ezra. Should have kept a save point.

:((((((

Taylor's acting here is amazing, Ezra sounds SO lost and scared and desperate and he just wants Kanan to be there.

A bold and serious "Shenanigans" cue as Phoenix Group blazes in to the rescue. <3

And there's that cue that I told y'all would be coming back. :)

This sequence is perfection. Ezra clinging to the station as it falls, Hera flying with such microprecision she misses all the debris flaking off of it, the rushing wind, the music...

Ezra's shock when he hears Kanan's voice.

KANAN BATHED IN WHITE LIGHT REACHING OUT TO EZRA AS HE AND THE STATION PLUMMET INTO THE ABYSS.

THE RETURN OF THE ARC WORDS, "I'VE GOT YOU."

THE SOUND DROPPING OUT AS THE FORCE THEME PLAYS SOFTLY AND KANAN TELLS EZRA TO LET GO.

EZRA TRUSTING KANAN, LETTING GO, AND LETTING THE WIND CARRY HIM WITHIN REACH.

Cinematic poetry. <333333333

Hera smiled at first when Kanan told her he'd gotten Ezra buuuuut she's pissed now about the Phantom lol.

Pryce's shade at Konstantine, ha ha.

Thrawn sounded so disappointed too, almost sulky. "That's not the Rebel fleet!" 😠

Major "mom grounding her rebellious teenager" vibes. Love that Zeb and Sabine stick up for him.

Dodonna namedrop!

I know some people wanted a bit more out of Ezra's flirtations with the Dark Side but personally I think it's fitting that as soon as Kanan and Ezra bury the hatchet he never touches it again. The major impetus behind his running to the holocron was Kanan's distance from him, reinforcing all the self-negative beliefs Ezra had about the whole situation--that it was his fault Kanan was blind, that Kanan blamed him, that he wasn't a worthy student, that he couldn't rely on anyone but himself to get strong enough to protect the people he cared about, that he needed the holocron and the Dark Side to get that strength.

And you'll notice he doesn't quite swear off the thing entirely, he asks after it both here and in the beginning of the next episode, a bit like an addict antsy for their next fix.

(No, fandom, Kanan's "I'll always come back." here was not secret foreshadowing that the writers failed to follow up on in Season Four, it was a straightforward sentiment in the moment.)

This is a heartwarming sight. <3

This... is my favorite of the season premieres. For obvious reasons.

Once again the main strength is the focus on Kanan and Ezra's fractured relationship as it pieces back together. The action is tightly written and every single element serves its purpose. It's funny, dramatic, heartbreaking...

I don't really have any other words, this episode is just amazing.

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Visuals - addendums and interesting BTS stuff (part 2/3)

I explained everything in the first part, go find it here. Let's keep going!

(Part 2 below the cut)

We Don't Talk About Bruno: "Also I'm pretty sure I heard from someone that Geoff's "ruana" is in fact just a regular blanket/piece of fabric draped (possibly secured/pinned) over his shoulders" - Yeah pretty much, except specifically it was tied behind his back/over his shoulders - You wanna know how Cesar just seemingly pulled that umbrella out of nowhere? Well it was hidden behind him! Or more perhaps more precisely, his behind hid it! 😂 (His glutes definitely got a workout that day!)

"(Oh and this section really was slowed down in post-production in order to make the petals (and hair flips!) look nice, and so both Ashley and Geoff were having to sing/lip-sync to sped up versions of their vocal lines!)" - Tis true! That whole section was done in basically double speed during filming, and slowed-down in post (the reverse of what Geoff did for his Monster Mash video actually), which makes the resulting footage extra impressive tbh - Also I didn't specify in my original post, but Geoff isn't just wearing the floral blouse - he's wearing the same pink shorts as Ashley as well! 😂 - Bonus fun fact: the little rat on Geoff's shoulder was remote-controlled!

Dream On: "(Also this was filmed in some old school I believe? I think maybe Cesar's old school or something?)" - Right on the first count, wrong on the second - this was Eli's former high school! (Very much no longer in use as a school though, obviously) - It was filmed in Leesburg, which is an hour away from Orlando apparently, and since there was obviously no decent part of the building to be used as a breakroom or dressing room or whatever, they brought a production coach, the same one that got used for the same purpose for the Panic Medley filming in fact! - The shirt/top that Geoff wore in the video was quite tight-fitting apparently, and he needed additional assistance from Kathy to get it fully pulled down (she helped while still filming) - Still not entirely sure what Layne is wearing on top of his shirt, but it seems to be just draped over his shoulders, idk

Running Up That Hill: - They put a lot of effort into recreating That Scene from Stranger Things, like they had pieces of paper with shots from the TV series and annotations written on it and everything! - The jacket that Geoff had tied around his waist in the video is like some black bomber jacket/letterman-style thing, and he was wearing it sometimes in between takes and ngl he looks good in it, like I almost kinda wish he had been properly wearing it in the video.

"Based on the very-fixed and very-specific shots we get of Ashley while she's "levitating", I'm guessing this was more done via clever editing and post-production work rather than anything like harnesses to actually lift her in the air" - Well, while it is true that editing trickery was favoured over harnesses, there was actually a bit more practicality involved than what I guessed/imagined. Idk how much I should reveal, but let's just say that Ashley had to use some muscles for it!

Hide And Seek (Ding Dong!): "I love the ghostly visual effects on Lauren, with the glowy ethereal outline of her silhouette, and the slight translucence on her dress!" - The effect also helps conceal the fact that she wasn't in the studio with them at all! Magic of greenscreen, just like with VoicePlay's Enemy video! In fact, Layne took a very quick flight to Nashville, Tennessee to help Lauren record her parts, before quickly flying back to Orlando, Florida (in time to beat an oncoming hurricane!)

"I have a feeling that the lighting on [Layne] is such that it makes him look like an actual Haunted Mansion/Disney Parks ride animatronic (especially when combined with deliberate movement/acting choices in the video)" - I mean yeah, maybe, but also tbh it's also just the whole makeup/costume itself - even in the BTS footage he didn't look fully "human"/"real" when in the full costume. - Fun fact: Layne also had black food colouring in his mouth to further add to the whole look! Wild!

"Absolutely loving Cesar's makeup in this one ngl (I wonder whether he coloured his face and/or hair blue for filming this or if that was just all done via editing?)" - That was all thanks to Rick Underwood! His hair and face really were that blue! (Not all his hair though, just the front section of it). - I still have questions about Geoff's makeup though - didn't get to see much of the process in the BTS video, rip. - The floating crystal ball was a practical effect, done with fishing wire and a pulley system controlled by Tony!

Golden Hour: - So the greenscreening of the heads was done a little differently to how I imagined, and Geoff's hair did in fact look just like that during the filming - it's not just the editing - This is actually the second version of the video that was created - Patrons were initially presented with a different video (which I haven't actually watched but heard about in the BTS) with a slightly different setting and alterations to the story (Layne came up with a few different ideas in fact). - Also I may be slightly colourblind, because I thought that vest was maroon, but it's actually just brown, lol rip.

Valhalla Calling: "check out the set! I like the shields in the background." - Everything other than the benches and props in the foreground was completely digital! They filmed in front of huge digital screens (and I mean HUGE) that had the pre-designed backgrounds displayed on them! - Y'know how all the guys were wearing furs and heavy layers of clothing and all that? Yeah well apparently on the day of filming, the air conditioning at Vu Studios was busted, RIP (Rick Underwood had to help blot away some of their sweat between takes!)

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3

[piglet26]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Rewatch

"This will begin to make things right" people really don't like this as the opening line. It feels suggestive, paranoid or accidental.

BB8 - I instantly love again and again.

Finn AKA FN-2187 - who is the soldier he was trying to help as they lay dying? Oh well guess we'll never know.

Poe - Why is he in this duster of a plane? Secondly, why is the resistance always broke with rusty and outdated things?! As I understand it they won the last war.

Kylo Ren has a bad ass opening between the ship, the music and the reaction to him. Obviously the stopping the shot was chef's kiss. I still can't believe this is Adam from GIRLS. I mean I can but I can't. Adam Driver is a really talented actor.

Overall, a really solid opening with great production and musicality. We establish several characters in one scene. We establish the goal of the movie - find Luke Skywalker.

Oh and fellow Reylo fans, Kylo Ren stepping foot on Jakku is basically kicking off the force within Rey. One arriving in night and the next we meet in light. Both are greeted in mask with similar outfits. From the very beginning it's establishing them as Ying and Yang.

Rey has a wonderful opening and we see and deduce so much about her without any dialogue. She lives a solitary and independent life. As the charming music sounds almost childlike giving us an indication that her life while void of much is innocent. It would've been smarter to establish her as a pilot within this sequence though. She could have easily scavenged and then flew back instead of rode a bike back. I understand the criticism that whatever skill the script has the movie just gives her.

I will add that when men have skills when conveniently needed - no one cares or ask when and where they learned them.

This is the part of the movie where I do understand it's clearly a soft reboot. "The Chosen One" runs into a lone droid in the desert that they had to rescue from thuggish creatures. It's a lazy deliberate movie - possibly due to nostalgic reasons I'm not sure. I'm also not sure why Rey wouldn't want BB8 to stay with her for the night. She could use the company. Also, why doesn't she get a pet? What pets are there in Star Wars? I'd have one.

The magically muffin that Rey cooks looks delicious! Star Wars cooking must be so easy like cooking in the fifth element. Everyone wants flying cars - I want a whole feast that you can microwave in a minute.

This dialogue exchange always makes me chuckle. hehe

Kylo Ren: Comfortable?

Poe: Not really.

It's also really helpful because apparently people don't understand the difference between this interrogation scene and the rather polite interrogation scene between Rey/Ren later.

Finn really is a great character as John Bodega plays him perfectly. He's quirky, subtly funny and brave.

Star Wars is brilliant about one syllable names Poe, Finn, Rey, Han, Luke, Ren, Ben, Ben with the most avant-garde last names.

They fly, they crash and I guess these were the sinking sands Rey referenced earlier.

Hux and Ren - This was such a great pairing and if we got a prequel episode of them I'd welcome it.

Rey finally showing some loyalty to BB8 who is absolutely smitten with her. Rey is attacked due to Unkar Plott trying to steal BB8 and clearly shows she is capable of defending herself. Jedi Master? No, but she is capable with that staff. Finn shows an instinct to help her. haha BB8 tasing him. We're 30 minutes in and so far I'm in for the ride.

The production is great and comes off as an adventure rather than danger - very star wars!

People are still mad the Millennial Falcon was just sitting there in an empty lot. I don't much care.

It makes sense why Finn and Rey would connect. They're both quirky and have the same instincts to both self-protect, but also look out for one another. They complement each other well and make a great time. They are a great duo - I'm not sure if they were meant to possibly be a thing - personally I love them as best friends/Brother&Sister.

Kylo Ren with that temper! JJ Adams now has a reputation as the franchise killer but he's got great style and the cinematography was very well thought out.

[professorsaber]

Hold on a moment. Let's consider:

Mrs. Flood, in the timeline where Ruby was eaten by the goblins, dropped her shopping bags when the TARDIS disappeared, and she looked shocked. Yet when the Doctor got back, she was sitting on her porch, like she was waiting for him, and she made an effort to draw the Doctor's attention to herself. I think that seeing the TARDIS might have awoken something in her--her memories of the Doctor?

Look closely at her in TCORR too--I think even in the No Ruby timeline she was still wearing Clara's outfit, under her jackets and such.

When Ruby went to the TARDIS, she said, "Good luck. Ruby." I immediately noticed an odd emphasis on "Ruby," and I just realized that it's like she's saying Ruby's name for the first time??? Like, she's her true self again and she's just learned the name they gave her daughter. (She didn't leave a note or anything that would've had Ruby's real name on it.)

Last time we saw Clara, she had her own TARDIS and was a walking paradox too. Anything to do with her after that is bound to be really fucking strange.

Now, we're getting to my insane personal theory, which is not only that Clara is Ruby's mother but she's ascended to godhood too (and maybe Mrs Flood is her harbinger):

Clara jumped into the Doctor's timestream, and subsequently was born and reborn across the universe, different women with the same face. Maybe the same thing happening to Susan Triad is supposed to remind us of this?

Also, something like a Goddess of Rebirth would be the perfect enemy for the God of Death. "I've lived a billion lives, bitch, you think death is gonna stop to me?"

And by the way, what happened the previous time someone jumped into the timestream? I'm talking about Rose Tyler. She saw the entirety of existence, dropped a shitton of clues across the entire universe and, oh yes, became a god. Yes, it was gonna kill Rose, but Clara would have seen her own death--that she was gonna die while she was pregnant, perhaps? Clara was in the timestream a lot longer than Rose, IIRC. She could have prepared herself so that it wouldn't kill her when she got out, and then hid it from herself and the Doctor. A caterpillar that never knew she was a butterfly.

Ruby is clearly some sort of god herself. Yes, in TLORS the Doctor made it sound like her calling the snow was due to a fixed point, but that's not any sort of fixed point any of us has seen, either the viewers or even the Doctor himself. And the one time we saw Ruby face a god, they were afraid of her. The other laws of physics meant nothing to Maestro, so why would a fixed point? You can trick a god, that's been established, but the most dangerous threat to a god is obviously another one.

Ruby looks and even dresses a lot like Clara. Her circling the TARDIS in TCORR was even shot like the way Victorian Clara circled the TARDIS. HINT. (I suppose Ruby saying, "It's smaller on the outside" might have been too obvious!) Ruby looking like Clara could be a coincidence, but RTD is a man who hired an actress because her name is Susan Twist (the twist at the end).

Hell, in "Boom" Ruby and the Doctor had the same sort of banter Clara had with Twelve. I have to wonder if RTD told Moffat, "Write Ruby like she's the lovechild of Clara and the Doctor," and left out the part where that was deliberate.

Twelve, of course, has to be the father. I mean, come on. And why didn't Fifteen--or Kate--mention Clara when he talked about a bunch of women on different planets with the same face? Perception filter. He can't realize that Ruby's his daughter before The Time Is Right™ because maybe it'd mess up the inevitable confrontation with Sutekh.

Finally, the next companion appears before we're supposed to see her? Just like Jenna Coleman (and in an episode written by Moffat to boot)? If Ruby's Twelve's daughter, presumably she can regenerate. And just like her dad, she's gonna regenerate into the form of someone she met before.

Anyway, it's 3 AM and that's my two cents. I'm tired and don't know if this makes a lick of sense, but dear god I want it to be because I wanna see Clara again and have her relationship with Twelve fully canonized dammit.

Now wait just a goddamn minute...

[guytheporn]

Homemade Porn Sites

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[apatheticlexicographer]

not to be unoriginal but seriously i'm never not thinking about the one way sign and just how gay/byler coded mike's room is in general.

like??? we only get one angle on his room, but all of the decorations except that sign are clearly tied to either his character (past or present) or the plot.

the two black and white art prints are from the basement in a previous season i believe. i haven't watched conan but from what i've heard the plot is some kind of foreshadowing for the russia plotline. pinboards are usually places to display mementos that mean a lot to you, so the couple of wills drawings that can be seen there make sense. the big tiddy dragon man is obviously a d&d thing. even the barely-visible guitar is another nod to how much mike is trying to copy eddie in this season!!!

but the one way sign??? the fuck does that represent??? it's big as hell, directly above the part of the shot you're led to focus on while watching (mike) making it easy to pick up on peripherally on a single watch, and points straight at the closet. with how deliberate literally everything else in his room is, one of the most prominent pieces of decoration being filler makes no sense.

meanwhile he has two images of very muscular male figures on his walls, one of which is dead centre of the shot and has a tiny wizard casting a fireball on it (big tiddy dragon man ilysm) AND has will's art on his corkboard despite being in a rough patch with him and just tossing el's letters away.

(side note: something about his drawings being directly next to the lamp and the recurring association of will and lamps/lights throughout the whole show, and the way the blocking places him under the light sources so frequently when he's with mike. something about his drawings being representative of mike feeling like he's lost him due to the s1 scene with the binder. something about him being mike's light even when they're so physically and emotionally distant from each other. yeah.)

and let it be said, the stranger things set designers DO NOT FUCK AROUND. there are countless instances of people noticing little pieces of set decoration that follow characters throughout the entire show, or innocuous graffiti and posters that foreshadow major story beats. one of my own personal observations from an analysis i never finished is a perfect demonstration:

a trophy in will's room in s2, and a matching one in mike's room in s1. a matching set from one of the party's science fairs, presumably.

another lamp-shaped trophy in will's s4 room...

and an exactly matching trophy from a photo shared on finn wolfhard's instagram IN DECEMBER OF 2017!!! those trophies are such a minor piece of set decoration that i couldn't even find a screencap of mike's that was clear enough to use, but it's still custom embossed. that's how hard the stranger things set design goes.

so the wealth of queercoded and will-centric imagery in mike's room??? the seemingly "random" road sign??? that's not coincidence or laziness, no matter how hard some people will argue that it's not that deep. on the contrary, it's probably substantially deeper than we'll ever know T_T