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thesherrinfordfacility · 10 months

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so i had the bright idea of rewatching s1 today whilst im working from home, now knowing what i know about s2, and so i can ruminate a little more on s1 with the additional context. ive barely made it past five minutes

im pretty sure ive gotten most of the frames accurate from this bit, and im sure it might just be a bit of demonstrative cinematography (which ya know, *chefs kiss*) but at the same time i love going into full year 9 english teacher mode about this shit, and i think there is something to comment on (which someone already might have done but w/e). in any case, this bit of dialogue is very noticeably layered with shots of crowley and aziraphale, but intercut with the shots of adam facing down the lion:

like, i can't help but feel that there is some symmetry in this and either other people have spotted it and im very behind, OR we havent spotted it and s2 spoilers have helped unlock it✨

so who is meant to be who here? for my money it would be that adam is mirroring aziraphale, and eve is mirroring crowley - in so much that at a really shallow level, aziraphale is a platoon leader, a guardian, fought in the war etc. crowley, regardless of his rank, is a starmaker, and let's face it the boy has the structural integrity of a strand of dried linguine. so we could look at it on that level (ignore the lion for the moment ill sort of explain that if it isn't already obvious)

but also we now know that this scene is not their first meeting, and that aziraphale and crowley do in fact remember each other and know that they have met, and in aziraphale's case is probably the teeniest bit shy bc damn heart eyes as an angel, heart eyes as a demon 🥵 but my point is that this is after the fall. after (as far as crowley tells it) crowley fell for 'just ask[ing] questions", and "just hung around the wrong people".

now i have my thoughts on why crowley fell: tldr because it would require another post - both reasons he gave above are bullshit and obvs conflict with each other, so i think that he doesn't actually know why he fell and has just guessed his transgressions so he can rationalise it, that god actually never had an issue with him asking questions, and instead it was actually god's plan to make him fall so he could represent the 'evil' side of free will on earth, as aziraphale's counterpart, and essentially ensure that humankind stays eternally 'in balance'

ANYWAY so the fact that in the lion sequence, 'crowley' is being shielded by 'aziraphale' against an unknown entity; but does this mirror a flashback, or is it foreshadowing? again, id put my bets on the former visually, but the latter... lyrically? idk the word but regardless take the dialogue:

"What if I did the right thing;

with the whole 'eat the apple business'?

A demon can get into a lot of trouble;

for doing the right thing."

so let's rephrase this:

"Was it the right decision to fall;

was I right to choose this for myself?

to choose the right to choose?

Because i feel like i could live to regret it."

so is crowley in essence already asking if aziraphale is on his side? is he asking if falling was the right thing, the good thing, to do (regardless of whether god gave him any choice in the matter)? But was he given the choice, first true free will? did aziraphale try to protect him during the fall, so crowley could get out in time (but ultimately fail? or at least bought Crowley enough time to find a back staircase and fall gently and peacefully, 'saunter vaguely downwards'?), and then get assigned to earth to be the 'good' side of the coin for humanity?

and is crowley asking if aziraphale will continue to be with him? in whatever romantic, platonic, acquaintance context you want - is he asking aziraphale if aziraphale will fight for him again, for them both? aziraphale made his decision, enacted his free will, in giving the humans a sword, and thus brought the concept of war and horror to earth, even if that was never his intention - so now swordless, and now only condemned to watch humanity as it strides out on its own (or was this the plan all along?👀), is aziraphale willing to do it? does he have the power, the strength, the will? would he stretch his finger over the line to fight on their side?

maybe im asking the wrong kind of questions, but all ill say is that in the above sequence? at the end of the dialogue? adam kills the lion.

i think 'their side' began in the job minisode, yes maybe, but also maybe the idea of it, the understanding of it, was planted here.

#good omens #anyway time to continue with the rest of ep1 lmao #s1 meta #crowley meta #the fall/the great war spec

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chirpsythismorning · 2 years

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Something we should definitely not overlook, because it feels relevant to birthdaygate, is the individual character posters for season 4.

There's actually even an interview with the Duffer Brothers, where they were asked about this theory:

Though, I should clarify, this interviewer got a few details wrong, as it appears Max was actually looking away from the camera, not directly at it. Not only that, but she also wasn’t the only one to do so. She was one out of four total...

Looking directly at the camera: El, Hopper, Murray, Will, Argyle, Steve, Dustin, Robin, (not shown above: Karen, Lucas, Erica, Nancy, Eddie)

Looking away from the camera, to their left: Joyce, Mike, Jonathon, Max

We could deduce that this visual choice was foreshadowing Max getting cursed by Vecna in season 4, and Matt did sort of elude to this in his response to the question, seeing as it was focused only on her. But what could this possibly mean for the other three then?

Initially, it didn’t seem like we got anything substantial enough in s4 that could have possibly paralleled Joyce, Mike and Jonathon to Max's situation, or even being cursed by Vecna like she did for that matter. Well, except—

I do find it interesting that the same episode we see Max slowly discover she has been cursed, in an episode literally titled 'Vecna's Curse', it's March 22nd, Will's birthday, and in real time we are seeing the three people who would definitely never forget Will's birthday, presumably forget.

Because undeniably, the first thing that crosses my mind when it comes to what could possibly connect these three characters with each other, is Will. He's what connects them all. But even more specifically, THIS scene below is what connects them all, a scene which, might I remind you, has a major emphasis on the word 'remember':

Joyce: Do you know what March 22nd is? It’s your birthday. YOUR birthday. When you turned 8, I gave you that huge box of crayons, do you remember that?

Jonathon: Do you remember the day dad left?

Mike: Do you remember the first day that we met?

Vecna:

Not only do I think this means that Vecna most likely took away these three's memory of Will’s birthday, I also think it means he took away this specific memory and all the memories mentioned within it.

If it's all coming full circle and everything leads back to Will, it would make sense that Vecna 'took notes' during this whole incident in 2x08. These memories and these specific people in Will's life played a role in thwarting Vecna's plans last time, so obviously, he's not going to give them the chance to do that again.

This also brings up some interesting questions:

Were those weird POV shots of the Cali gang, that looked oddly stalker-ish, meant to represent Vecna keeping a close eye on them, to make sure his plan was still in motion?

How long will this manipulation (curse) Vecna has on these three last? And to what extent? Will it all just come to a head right away in early season 5, at a moment when they're trying to save Will, but they inevitably fail because all of the relevant things that saved him last time, are now missing from their memories?

And last, but definitely not least, is it possible Mike wouldn’t have gone through with professing his love to El, the way that he did, even going as far as to say his life started the day he found her in the woods (the day Will went missing), if he had remembered already doing the exact same thing with Will…? If he had remembered the best thing he'd ever done was ask Will to be his friend? Because if this theory is correct y’all... MIKE DOESN'T REMEMBER!!!???

Well, that's all (for now)

Please be sure to check out this post if you haven't already, but even more importantly, scroll down to the bottom of that post, because there I have linked all the most incriminating evidence thus far.

And trust me, once you read all of it, it's pretty much undeniable.

I also hope this gives some validation to those of you out there who denied vehemently that Joyce, Mike or Jonathon could EVER possibly forget Will's birthday. Because you were right. Technically, they didn't. Technically it required an inter-dimensional monster for this to be possible at all. So props to ya'll and your faith in these characters! YOU WERE RIGHT!

#stranger things #will byers #stranger things meta #stranger things theory #birthdaygate #stranger things 5 #st5 headcanon #also hate to be the bitch to bring this up...#but you know how we always joked about how jonathon would be the only one to save will bc he knows his favorite song...#well.. in that scene in the shed back in s2... jonathon mentions that memory...#which means he doesn't remember #WHICH MEANS WILL IS FUCKED BASICALLY #yeah it might be good to go back and see everything they mentioned #because it's basically a free for all in terms of vecna swiping those memories right out of their brains #will byers im praying for you #that whole thing about s5 going back to s1 vibes has me scared...#but also there's a lot of foreshadowing that mike is in danger.?#so im not totally convinced he doesn't somehow mess up vecna's plan yet again...#maybe that's how him and will both end up stuck in the upside down together...#yes I will turn this around so it benefits me #what about it?

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funhouse-mirror-barbie · 5 months

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I talked a lot about Stella’s appearances previously, but I wanted to talk about her other appearance in season one—this scene:

This scene is interesting to me. I’ve seen some discussion on tumblr debating that this scene was only showing that Stolas felt guilty about cheating on Stella, not that Stolas was actually in the wrong for doing so.

And I find this logic fascinating b/c, yes if you would like to interpret it that way, you can. It’s up to you to decide how you want to interpret or engage with any work.

That said, I don’t think that competent and consistent writing would make the audience try to justify why Stella was there in hindsight. (Conversation continues below cut)

This scene is significant to me because the visual composition and direction of the animation puts Stella at the same level of importance as Octavia.

Which, in my opinion, means that this is one of the few times Helluva Boss did “Show don’t Tell” really well.

Through the visuals, the lyrics of the song, and Stolas’ reaction to Ozzie’s conjured Stella and Via, the audience is told that “these are people Stolas has both failed. He knows he has failed them and fears losing them. But he still hasn’t considered how his actions would impact them, and is now being faced with the idea of that possibility for the first time”

I specifically say that “he’s afraid of losing them” because the illusion of Octavia and Stella both turn their backs on Stolas, leaving him with just Blitzø. It’s extremely clear visual story telling—Stolas wants to be with Blitzø, but in doing so he is neglecting and will potentially lose his relationships with his wife and child.

And, at this point, because it’s before S2E1, the audience has still not been told that Stella is evil and abusive, and have no reason to think that Stolas wouldn’t care if Stella left (and again you can argue that there’s foreshadowing in hindsight but I have already gone over in depth why there isn’t enough information about Stella for the audience to see that coming)

What this part of the song is communicating to us is that Stella has at least some importance in Stolas’ life.

I think you could say that “well obviously Ozzie just didn’t know enough about Stolas’ personal life” but at the same time, what is being depicted in the show is also for the audience’s benefit.

When you are using a visual medium for your story-telling, your compositions and what you physically show the audience is important.

Like this isn’t subtext, it’s not even subtle—in a scene that is depicting Stolas’ shame, guilt, and embarrassment over his affair with Blitzø, Stella is included with Octavia because he knows he wronged her too.

(Also I almost didn’t write “Stolas’ shame, guilt etc.” b/c I was like “well wait, I can’t remember for sure that Stolas was shown as being ashamed or embarrassed about his relationship with Blitzø” so I went back to check and rewatched Ozzie’s and like.. Stolas being ashamed of his affair with Blitzø was shown even more explicitly than I remembered. Like, he straight up tries to ditch Blitzø and then hides his face after Ozzie asks him if he gave up his family to be with Blitzø ????

And Blitzø’s reaction to this shows he’s obviously hurt by this? Like. I know some people have acted like Blitzø is in the wrong for rejecting Stolas after Ozzie’s but I can’t imagine not being hurt by this reaction…)

But anyway, back to the main point—All of these visuals and the character’s reactions to what’s going on around them are meant to illicit emotions within us, but if Stella’s abuse and complete cruelty were always planned and she was always supposed to be hated, the emotional impact this scene is significantly lessened.

I know I’ve already said this, but I just can’t help thinking that the story would have been SO MUCH more interesting if Stolas was held fully accountable and actually had to reflect on his actions. There was so much potential for the plot and deep nuanced character development and change.

At the end of the day though, it’s not my story, and the writers and creative heads of HB get to tell the story they want to tell.

As a final note—I am not trying to nitpick, these are things that occur to me while I am trying to understand the story and engage with it on a deeper level.

But with every new episode, I find myself having more questions about why certain choices were made, and getting more and more confused about why characters behave the way they do. I can’t help thinking that the story was never fully planned out, and I worry that’s only going to become more obvious as time goes on.

#funhouse convo #media criticism #media critique #helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #media conversation #writing critique #stella goetia #not tagging st0las cause people will probably send me hate #please don’t send me hate I’m not trying to attack anyone and the show does not have feelings it is just media

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fandoms-and-salt · 10 months

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The main problem with Ruby gillman movie is that it sends a message that "bigotry is actually justified and your racist grandparents are right". The second, closely related problem is it's villain.

Firstly, if we look at the film without the spoiler-y marketing, Chelsea/Neressa is written as a twist villain. Like Hans Frozen type twist villain, with little foreshadowing and those "sympathetic" scenes that actually don't amount to anything and might just as well be a lie. Even with the marketing, i think the movie still tricked people into thinking that Chelsea might be a misunderstood villain or have a redemption arc or what not. And twist villains could work well, usually if their turn to villainy makes sense with their preestablished goals and personality (eg. Disney's Atlantis). Or a liar villain could work well if the audience knows of their malicious plans, but the heroes stay in the dark (eg. Scar from Lion King). In general, if the twist or reveal makes the story/conflict less interesting and/or didn't have proper foreshadowing, viewers are bound to dislike it.

Secondly, Chelsea is our only mermaid. And she is, well, evil. It would have been better if we had other good mermaid characters, but she is the only one, which, coupled with Gramamah's generous description of mermaids, makes it seem like all mermaids are as evil as she is.

Thirdly, yes, stories for young children about pure good fighting pure evil are generally fine, it teaches them right and wrong, so they can later consume media with more complex lessons. But in those stories the good guys are usually the underdogs fighting an oppressive evil. In mermaid vs kraken conflict, it's actually mermaids who are at a disadvantage. Krakens are big rulers ("protectors") of the ocean with superpowers. The characters themselves admit that Granmamah is a warlord. Mermaids are small, weak and need a magic trident to even match the power of krakens. Their only "advantage" is being popular with humans, while krakens are feared and hated, but humans have no effect on the story or the conflict. If the story was that mermaids are actually more powerful rulers of the ocean, or the kraken family were the just rules but got conquered/overthrown by evil mermaids, or if both species were of equal power ruling their own parts of the ocean and mermaids decided to go and conquer the peaceful kraken kingdom. Then the good vs evil conflict would have looked less like "how dare these evil inferior minorities challenge the rule of our superior race".

Speaking of which. Ruby's first instinct, even after finding out that "mermaids are actually evil" from her granma, is to judge Chelsea as her own person and assume that mermaids can't be actually evil. Which is, you know, a pretty fair and mature response. When she hears that mermaids suffer from terrible conditions, she actively tries to fight what she sees as injustice. But what lesson does she learn? That she should never question her elders, since they do know better. The story is fighting for the status quo to stay the same, while Ruby is punished to trying to change and improve it.

That's all i can say for now. Other complaints i have are:

humans are virtually useless to the story (including the love interest, tho he had some cute moments), they are just damsels-in-distress and trophies for Ruby to save and get approval from. This movie just as well could happen all under the sea with some minor tweaks.

The human designs are weird and uncanny. Otherwise the visuals are fine.

Ruby's arc is kind of all over the place with her main arc being the classic "believe in yourself", which she mainly gains through hanging out with Chelsea. But isn't Chelsea supposed to be the villain who "leads Ruby astray" from being a good citizen who is not skipping school, lying to her mom or ignoring her friends and crush? Make it make sense, movie.

#for the record i don't really care for Chelsea/Ruby ship (especially after that reveal)#or Chelsea having a “misunderstood mean girl” redemption arc that fandoms obsess over for some reason #sapphic fishgirls would be nice but i care about a good story more #damn that's a long post #ruby gillman teenage kraken #chelsea van der zee #ruby gillman critical #i guess #lovin rambles

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spacemagicandlaserswords · 3 months

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The Bad Batch 3.1 ‘Confined’ Recap

Image from this post by @isthereanechoinhere96

Fuck you for starting with that line

Why are the captions in a serif font?

Going heavy on the theme of freedom for the clones already in the recap. Foreshadowing?

Rex!

CODY

Meme by u/No-Needleworker5295 on Reddit

Ah fuck here we go again

Why must I be made to relive this?

Damn the music is really hitting hard and it’s only the recap

Spoilers for Season 3 below!

Mayday! *sobs*

Oh great, it’s fuck face again

Hemlock being a bastard as per usual

Poor Omega

“Prisoner? Omega, you are no such thing.” Said to the child kept in a cage.

Still not trusting and heavily side eyeing Emerie

Why do they let Omega carry around a little lunchbox? That seems like an obvious security risk. As does the cell with a window, even if it has a heavy grate on it.

LMAO Crosshair looks the saddest, wettest, most bedraggled little meow meow in existence

Who are those other clones??? I must know

Why are they taking blood samples from the top of the hand? That seems like the least useful place to take it from

“All of us serve a purpose here” Big oof

The shots and framing are making it pretty clear that the blood, and Omega's blood in particular, is important

So many commandos with the glowing visors

Oh, it’s a door scanner. I thought Omega was sitting in a cell in that shot in the trailer

Nala Se (derogatory)

Lmao that wasn’t even subtle. She just destroyed Omega’s blood sample without even hiding what she was doing

“This research, it’s not like what we did on Kamino, is it?” Pretty sure what you did on Kamino was just as horrific. Though you can’t really blame Omega for that seeing as she’s a literal child who was also probably experimented on

M-count. That’s midi-chlorians isn’t it. Lol they aren’t even being subtle about this. Force sensitive clones ahoy!

“Experiments on the specimens” Jesus H Christ

Vault? That doesn’t bode well

Everything about this episode is very eerie and sinister

Ok that is an excessive, overkill amount of security. Who the fuck is in there?

And straight into electrocuting space dogs. Great.

I knew the lunchbox was for hiding something!

Batcher? Aw, she named them after the Bad Batch

Yes, stick your arm into the cage with the aggressive space dog. That’s a good idea

Nuggies???

He was shivering T_T

Who are all of these clones??? I keep pausing the video and zooming in but I can’t see any identifying characteristics on any of them yet.

And there he is

Oh fuck Crosshair’s hand is shaking. I know most people have probably watched the clip of this already but I deliberately didn’t. Shaking hands for a sniper is Not Good. That’s his right hand too, so presumably his trigger hand/finger/whatever it’s called? Is this a physical injury inflicted on him by their experiments or PTSD or both?

I’m intrigued at how much relative freedom they’re giving Omega. She’s not being kept in a cell all the time like the other clones. Though I suppose this is part of their plan to make Nala Se cooperate.

Ok the tap dripping in Omega’s cell is definitely a visual metaphor for how repetitive, dreary, and isolating this all is

That’s 21 tally marks

Oh, she made a straw Lula. Ow

[shrieking in distance] – what shrieking? Captions, what are you going on about?

Oh fuck that’s a lot of tally marks. And a hair change. Lots of time has clearly passed. They’ve updated Omega’s model too but I think it’s a tad heavy handed as she hasn’t aged that much.

Wow, she didn’t even look at Crosshair. Is this attitude change Omega being ground down by what’s happening to her or something she’s doing deliberately to try and play along and be more cooperative so she can find out about more stuff? Also, that’s the second time she’s walked past Crosshair in the same spot at the same time of the day. That seems deliberate.

Lol could you be any more obvious with the lighting in that shot that Omega’s blood is important? It’s like the vial of her blood has a moody spotlight on it. Important plot point here!

Nooooo Batcher’s hurt 😭

Bacta sponge?

“If I get the chance to escape, I wouldn’t think twice about leaving you behind.” Hmmm, you keep telling yourself that Crosshair

“I’m not them.” T_T

“Don’t risk anything for me. I belong in here.” Oooooooooowwwwwwwww

“None of us belong in here.” Damn right

There is some really lovely cinematography and framing in this scene between Omega and Crosshair

Well that was brutal and heavy handed

A successful transfer? A successful transfer of what?

The “specimen” has a high M-count. So they’re force sensitive. Now for the speculation on who it is?

“You should not question my loyalty to science, Doctor.” LMAO bitch what?

Urgh, of course they’re killing the dog once it’s friendly

Ahahaha squished

Aw, she’s setting Batcher free but she doesn’t want to go.

“I didn’t know you were so cruel, Omega.” Oh fuck right off

Piss weak attempt to help there Emerie

Hemlock getting his evil baddie laugh moment

Clever. Omega knows why she’s here.

Urgh, of course Hemlock would threaten Crosshair to get Omega to cooperate.

Re-education?!?!?! You sick fuck

“Actions always have consequences. Sometimes not in the ways we imagine.” I am really hoping that line comes back to bite him in the ass later on

Oh fuck off with bring back the doll Emerie. That is such a bait to try and get Omega to like her and behave

That’s 164 tally marks. Omega’s been on Mount Tantiss for 5 and a half months

Aw, Batcher made it out. And that’s the crashed shuttle from earlier that she’s howling on the top of. More foreshadowing?

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dendrophalaen · 6 months

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my thoughts on godzilla minus one

tl;dr i had a religious experience (positive) and it may be my new favorite godzilla movie

i'm going to try to organize my thoughts lmao i have never done a film analysis or review

story

i went in knowing next to nothing, so i was very afraid this was going to be heavy on the imperialist propaganda and reminiscing on the "good old days" of the japanese military

however i was pleasantly surprised to see that it was quite anti-government :]

loved the delivery of the themes of "all lives being precious" and "living on for yourself as well as for the sake of others" – not hammy or blunt!

FORESHADOWING OF THE EJECTION SEAT? chef's KISS we love picking up what the movie is putting down and getting to see the payoff

speaking of foreshadowing:

dr. noda: [takes noriko's picture]

me: oh no she's going to die

i spent like the last quarter of the movie with a headache because i was clenching my teeth and holding in tears after noriko's death ("death") AND koichi planning to blow himself up and orphan akiko

and all the ex-navy guys rallying together to defeat godzilla

i am not immune to classic story beats

semi-related i thought noriko would be covered in radiation burns, but then i realized a depiction of that would probably be insensitive

also the guys measuring radiation in plastic costs? come on now i know we weren't fully educated in the risks of radiation but there must've been some sort of better ppe

characters

i enjoyed like every character which is rare for me in a godzilla film

koichi just can't catch a break. this man gained so much trauma in a short amount of time, like he doesn't have ptsd because the trauma is ONGOING. i think he's my favorite and it's very easy to root for him

his introduction is of him as a shaky baby-faced pilot and then you find out he was supposed to be a kamikaze pilot like goddamn

i liked noriko's assertiveness ("hey i'm staying in your house now :)") and her ability to see kindness in koichi and sumiko

her struggle of wanting to become independent is very relatable. you could see the bittersweetness in her eyes showing that she felt guilty yet grateful for koichi's support........

i was surprised how quickly sumiko agreed to taking care of akiko? but it makes sense since she was (is) a mother and could not bear to see another child suffer, and akiko gave her life a new purpose

i would've liked more focus on the female characters and i don't think it's fair to just blame it on the era :playdead:

i really liked the chemistry between dr. noda, captain akitsu, and mizushima

dr. noda in particular felt like a nice foil/parallel to serizawa from the 1954 movie; he's also a scientist but he's much more personable(?)/"human"

dr. serizawa was my favorite in 1954 but he was very anguished and set on making reparations by killing godzilla (and koichi could be a parallel to him in that regard)

noda focused on protecting the living, not avenging the dead

ough mizushima. being a Youth who feels useless sure hits home

i'd say tachibana is my least favorite just by comparison to everyone else, but he's honestly so valid for his whole deal

visuals and sound

very elegant color grading, costuming, and set design!

i don't know film girl help

GOOD SOUNDTRACK the music set the scenes so well

i joked about getting my eardrums blasted by godzilla but he really was that loud. as he should be

godzilla (design, abilities, etc)

SWEET JESUS THIS IS THE SCARIEST GODZILLA BY FAR

godzilla: [shows up in the first 10 minutes with blair witch shaky cam]

me: the filmmakers are not messing around they mean BUSINESS

the rampage on odo island was rightfully terrifying

i love his texture and face. the scrunkliness of heisei with the horrifying pain of shin

i think his head is a bit small for his body, like if it was 5% bigger it would be perfect

loved the visuals of his scales flaking off after getting bombed

the nuclear fallout when he used his atomic breath in tokyo was awe-inducing

great use of godzilla as a war allegory

i saw the movie in d-box so the shotgun-blast of heat ray was intense

also coolest godzilla death. sick decapitation

the plan to imprison him in bubbles and give him the bends felt a bit silly in the moment but highlighted how desperate everyone was for ANYTHING to work

really liked how godzilla was more like an animal or unstoppable force of nature without a clear motive

i mean the only emotion you could ascribe is probably RAGE

sidenote i did think it was a lil funny whenever an object was flung through the air from offscreen. there goes godzilla having another tantrum

#maybe the high will wear off and i will have more critical thoughts later lmao #dellabeatalks #godzilla #godzilla minus one #godzilla minus one spoilers #godzilla spoilers

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paradoxcase · 8 days

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Gideon the Ninth audiobook, rest of Part 1

One thing you can say for audiobooks, they go faster, especially since I'm not essentially reading everything twice now. But I don't feel like I would retain it in the same way I do when I read visually, if this were the first time through

I am getting used to the pronunciation of "Nonagesimus", as expected

More voices:

Teacher is not at all what I expected, I expected more disconcerting jollity and less creaky old person voice. The nonbinary priest I expected to be more creaky, but their voice is not creaky at all

Cytherea's voice is basically exactly what I imagined, though

Also, Teacher's pronunciation of "Naberius" doesn't match the pronunciation guide here, or the pronunciation in the Dramatis Personae, which is odd

More stuff I noticed:

Aiglamene said, when looking for a sword: "I'm looking for a blade in the style of [Ortus's] great-grandmother's." Is this the great-grandmother who owned Nonius's sword that Ortus was talking about with Abigail in Harrow the Ninth?

Gideon asks "How are you going to get Ortus back, anyway?" and Harrow has a moment where she reacts to that - originally I though this was just reluctance to break it to Gideon that she was replacing him, but I now I think it's that they have gotten the news that the shuttle exploded

Gideon makes a joke that by being Harrow's cavalier she would be responsible for aiding "Harrowhark Nonagesimus's fascist rise to power." But what historical reference does she actually have for fascist rises to power? Nobody remembers WWII anymore. Arguably the only fascist rise to power they have a reference for is John's if you want to label him that way, and certainly none of them objected to that (or, I think, even have much information about it). I don't think this universe has the historical and political depth for a character to be making a joke like this

Aiglamene tells Harrow that if she doesn't free Gideon after attaining Lyctorhood, she would consider it a betrayal, because she's trying to secure freedom for Gideon in order to get her to go along with the plan to go to Canaan House with Harrow. I think this goes a long way to explain why Aiglamene is very angry at Harrow at the end of Nona when she finds out that Gideon died

Harrow says "we're not becoming an appendix of the Third or Fifth House" when talking about why it's important to not reveal the state of the Ninth to anyone. I missed this the first time through, but it's making more sense to me now why Harrow didn't want outside help

Harrow says "I'll mix bonemeal in with your breakfast and punch my way through your gut" which I have seen other people comment on, although I can't remember if I ever said anything about it myself. But my thought is that the reason Harrow was able to conceive of and execute the soup assassination while incredibly sleep deprived was that she had already worked out and finalized the whole plan back on the Ninth when she was coming up with ways to torment Gideon. It was probably just lucky that that plan also turned out to be effective against a Lyctor

I know the sunglasses are mostly a meme, but I'm wondering now why there were sunglasses on Pluto for Gideon to find. That seems like the last place in the universe for there to be sunglasses

The description of Teacher's belt doesn't really resemble the friendship bracelets, I don't think, although it is described as being rainbow colored

The narration says "her legs ran as swiftly as her awful judgement" when Gideon is running to rescue Cytherea, which seems a bit like foreshadowing, since I think on the first readthrough the reader doesn't have a reason to find fault with her judgement here

#the locked tomb #gideon the ninth

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circlique · 1 year

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Color Theory in ATLA: Part 2

Let’s talk colors! ATLA is a colorful show! I’ve already covered color coding at a surface level here if you want to read. But how else does ATLA use color narratively? This post will cover the importance of color in the narrative, which gave us such iconic, visually striking scenes as the last agni kai.

By the way, this is actually a propaganda post for @multicolor-fandom-tournament, where you should totally go vote for ATLA in the final. As much as I love Pokemon, I wanna see someone else win a poll for once. Give ATLA some love. But mostly, it's just an analysis post about Zuko. Anyway, let’s get started.

The biggest use of color in the narrative is long and drawn out, but concludes in the most visually striking scene in the series, the last agni kai between Zuko and Azula. This showdown is foreshadowed at various points throughout the show. Despite red typically being the color of fire and characters associated with it, Azula is strongly associated with the color blue. She is the only character who bends blue fire, and one of the few who can bend lightning, which is also depicted as blue. It’s described as “the cold-blooded fire.”

As Zuko’s character progresses throughout the series, he becomes haunted by the colors red and blue. The first major instance comes after he frees Appa, a selfless act that doesn’t benefit him in any way. It apparently shocks even him so much that he becomes ill and falls into a feverish sleep, where he dreams that he is the Fire Lord sitting upon the throne. Two dragons, one red, one blue, hover nearby. The blue dragon speaks with Azula’s voice and tempts him, telling him to sleep, to rest. The red dragon speaks in Iroh’s voice. It warns him not to listen to the blue dragon and tells Zuko that he must get out of there. The scene begins to crumble, and the blue dragon lunges for him. My personal interpretation of this scene is that the blue dragon represents the royal family—Zuko’s “destiny” to return to the Fire Nation and take the throne. The blue dragon tells him to sleep, to accept his destiny, while the red one encourages him to break free of the cycle perpetuated by the royal family.

This is supported by another scene with two dragons later in the narrative. In the episode The Avatar and the Fire Lord, Zuko goes below the royal palace to the archives where the history of the royal family is stored. The episode covers the history of Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku and the background of Sozin’s imperialistic goals. We learn that Sozin and Roku were once friends, but had a falling out over Sozin’s ambitions. Despite this, Sozin returns to help Roku when the volcano on Roku’s home island erupts.

What does Sozin arrive on but a blue dragon.

The two fight the volcano together, and appear to be winning, but as they try to escape, Roku takes a blast of poisonous air to the face, and falls to his knees, begging Sozin to help him.

Sozin refuses, saying that with Roku gone, his plans will finally be possible. He flies away on his blue dragon, leaving Roku for dead. Roku’s dragon, Fang, who is red and often appears in visions to help the current Avatar, Aang, curls protectively around Roku as the hot ash consumes them.

Iroh then reveals to Zuko that, while Sozin was his great grandfather on his father’s side, so was Avatar Roku, on his mother’s side. If Zuko’s previous fever dream was any indication, he already knows he’s capable of breaking free of the cycle, but has been using his “destiny” as an excuse why he can’t. He’s destined for the throne. He’s destined to continue the cycle. But now Iroh tells him, if Sozin was a part of his destiny, then too, was the Avatar. And now, Zuko must confront the idea that he has a choice, that he always has, and that his destiny to rule and continue the cycle of violence is an idea of his own making.

When Zuko later confronts Ozai in Day of Black Sun, his choice is solidified, not just by his words as he confronts his father, but visually, as he redirects a shot of blue lightning meant to kill him.

The red and blue dragons also get one final appearance before the big showdown. Zuko finds that after joining the Avatar, his firebending is weaker, as it was once fueled by rage and anger and his drive was chasing the Avatar, which he has now lost. When Zuko and Aang go to the Sun Warriors to unlock the secrets of firebending, they must be judged by the two masters. Up until the moment of confrontation, neither Zuko nor Aang realize that “the masters” are two dragons, since the last dragons were thought to have been hunted to extinction by none other than the royal family.

When Zuko and Aang confront the dragons, they are judged for their worthiness. These two visual symbols, which have been haunting Zuko for the past season and a half, accept his change of heart and encircle Zuko and Aang in multicolored flames, colors Zuko has never seen and couldn’t even imagine. Zuko then says:

“I understand.”

This could be interpreted in a variety of ways, but mine is that Zuko still had doubts about whether or not he was doing the right thing until this moment (or else, wouldn’t his firebending still be working?). He wasn’t totally committed yet. When he sees so many colors dancing among the flames, the big “secret” he understands is harmony. His destiny is to bring harmony and balance back to the world, the red and blue dragons, the Avatar and the Fire Lord, working in tandem to accomplish it. He accepts this as his new drive and motivation, allowing him to firebend again.

By the time Zuko and Azula finally meet for their final showdown, the red/blue struggle within Zuko is long established and all but resolved. The only thing that remains is the externalization of the struggle: him, represented by red, vs. Azula, represented by blue. Zuko has accepted his change in destiny and aligned himself with the Avatar. Azula has not, and remains a representation of the royal family, of the status quo.

And then, we get the most visually striking fight in the whole series.

I really don’t know what else to tell you. This scene is so iconic because it’s been built up to with this color symbolism over the past two seasons. It’s satisfying to watch. It’s beautifully animated.

It ends with Azula getting one last shot of blue lightning, which up until now was believed to be an instant kill shot. The monarchy’s last ditch shot to bring Zuko down with it. But Zuko throws himself in front of Katara, taking it head on. It should have killed him, but Katara saves him. Azula is defeated, Zuko survives, and he lives to bring balance back to a world divided by war.

And when Zuko finally gets his own dragon, what color is it?

Red.

And there you have it, folks! There are some other scenes that could be color analyzed, but this is getting pretty long, so I’m going to end it here. Thanks for reading!

#avatar #atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #azula #fire siblings #fire nation #atla meta

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tarisilmarwen · 9 months

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Rebels Rewatch: "Jedi Night"

Right, just going to go ahead and pass around the boxes of tissues.

Live reaction version.

And here we are at last. The entire latter half of the season had already began shifting at "Rebel Assault", but here the shift becomes permanent.

From the promos and synopsis put out before this episode, the genre-savvy among us could kind of already tell what was coming. But it was still devastating.

All right, enough stalling, let's get into it.

Aww man, this is the same spot Ezra sits in the finale isn't it?

Dammit we're barely ten seconds in and I'm already sad.

The Loth-wolf theme is heavy over this scene as Kanan is bombarded with an audio portent and foreshadowing of things to come in the WBW.

"You want a ride?" "The Jedi Temple is in danger." "Kanan, you haven't gotten me a present since we met." "You can learn what it truly means to be a Jedi." "You didn't prepare me for this, Kanan." "There's something I need to tell you." "I know I can always count on you."

Kanan hears mostly himself, and the two most important people in his life--Hera and Ezra. He hears Ezra's despair at losing him, and his resolve in entrusting his life and mission to Sabine. He knows the Jedi Temple is in danger. He's connected deeply with the wolves at this point, and either knows or at least suspects what he and Ezra will be asked to do.

This is probably where those extra episodes explaining Kanan's backstory and connection to Lothal would have come in handy. As it is we get the mysterious voiceover dump and have to piece things together after the fact.

What I think makes the most sense is that the Loth-wolves stopped Kanan from going to rescue Hera last episode precisely because--connected deeply as they are in the Force, associated with the WBW--they could see ahead to the potential futures of that course of action and knew that if he went after her, he would die. No matter what he did, no matter which way he moved, one way or another, it would happen. So they warned him. They showed him why lay ahead.

If you do this, we cannot save you, they told him.

And that's why he spends so much of this episode trying to mentally prepare the others, especially Ezra, for his absence.

Because the wolves still a Jedi to save the Temple from Palpatine's evil intentions.

Kanan is resolved in his purpose: He's going to save Hera. He's resigned to his fate: He will trade his life for the chance. And he's determined in his resilience: "Then I will make it count." He won't just make his death a meaningless sacrifice. He will ensure the completion of her mission, honor her by fulfilling the end goal of her failed attack. He will save Lothal by destroying the fuel pods and bringing the factories to a halt. He will give his life for Hera's dream.

Kanan proves in the end that he understands how to love without attachment. (Also why he makes Ezra formulate the plan, because he knows his feelings are compromised when it comes to Hera.) He will not cling selfishly to her. He will free her and then let her go and then let his own life pass away. He will take his place in Hades, and then teach Ezra how to grieve. Because Ezra won't be able to save him.

Because you can't go back down into Hades to retrieve the ones you lose.

“In mythology, if you go to Hades to get them back you’re not doing it for them, you’re doing it for yourself. You’re doing it because you don’t want to give them up. You’re afraid to be without them. The key to the dark side is fear. You must be clean of fear, and fear of loss is the greatest fear. If you’re set up for fear of loss, you will do anything to keep that loss from happening, and you’re going to end up in the dark side. That’s the basic premise of Star Wars and the Jedi, and how it works."

George Lucas, Mellody Hobson George Lucas - Virtual Speaker Interview, 2021

I love this shot, Ezra entering lightsaber-first, a visual emphasis on the fact that they are Jedi, and the Force requires much of them. Much sacrifice, much compassion, much selflessness. To whom much is given, much is required. With great power comes great responsibility.

All that jazz.

Kanan is preparing Ezra for the greatest responsibility he's going to have, to be asked to do what is right regardless of what it will personally cost him. And he's about to become a very painful object lesson.

He also talks like he's been given multiple visions of the future and is arranging things specifically so that they'll fall out in a specific way. It mirrors how Ezra speaks in the finale--If Thrawn shows up too soon, then this path, if he doesn't, then this one.

Some very painful paralleling that you don't realize the first time through.

Ezra's a bit uncertain at first, but honors Kanan's request, and gets started formulating a plan to get them into the Capital.

OH HEY WOULD YOU LIKE TO DESPISE PRYCE A BIT MORE?

Conducting the interrogation personally in her own office is quite the flex.

Once again paralleling to the Season One finale, another character comes in to start the questioning, and gets awfully personal with the digs, bringing up the interrogated party's painful past and history. In this case, Thrawn has brought Hera's kalikori down from its pedastel in his office on the Chimaera--that "place of honor" he promised her--in order to rub it in how he's deciphered the cultural meaning behind it.

Really leaning in hard on those icky cultural appropriation vibes aren't we, writers? Let's be clear, it's not that Thrawn was curious about Twi'lek culture and researched what meant what on a kalikori that's so gross, it's that he did so in order to learn more about Hera specifically so that he could hurt her more personally, namely by taunting her about her dead brother. It's the context, not the curiosity.

Thrawn is an Imperial warlord and only comes into contact with these cultural relics because he's a member of the tyrannical force currently oppressing those cultures. If he really respected or cared about them as items important to the people the Empire was conquering, he should leave them in their damn place. OR, if destruction of the relics at the hand of the Empire was inevitable, he should save them from that destruction and then be finding a way to give them back to the people they belong to or the closest equivalent. Instead he hoards them in his own art gallery to dissect and study to glean more insight into the cultures, so that the Empire might better defeat them.

Yeah no, the staging parallels to the Grand Inquisitor are super 100% on purpose and deliberate.

Also! Because I like ruining people's days, would you like some more Fridge Horror that you may or may not already have seen if you've been following me?

IT-O droids monitor prisoner vitals. Heartrate, blood pressure, adrenaline, other hormones and physiological markers. Hera's already pregnant at this point. Possibly far enough along that the IT-O was able to detect it.

Thrawn and Pryce might knowingly have tortured a pregnant woman.

~You're weeeeeeeeeelcooooooooome.~

Love Sabine whacking Zeb and shushing him to not interrupt Ezra as he's meditating and sensing out.

Also this look. <3

And also the soft conspiratorial smiles between Ezra and Sabine as they vibe on the same wavelength in regards to this plan.

The Kiners go all out on the music this next scene, as we montage building the gliders and Kanan preparing to shave and cut his hair, fully reclaiming his identity as Caleb Dume, The Last Padawan, again.

Kanan's theme plays, in bright flute, with bouncy string accompaniment. It's ritualistic how he moves. Like a samurai slicing off his topknot. Luke's Theme crossfades in through his to mark the heroism of the moment, as the preparations are finished.

And thus begins a long series of hidden goodbyes.

"This is one of those times I'm glad the Force is with you." Zeb says, about how crazy the plan is, and Kanan just silently puts a hand on his shoulder, the last time the two men would ever speak.

(The animators also go all hell out, making this episode one of the most gorgeous yet put to print.)

Cut to our favorite blue asshole. And he's been summoned to Coruscant for a meeting of heads of state to quibble about budgetary proportions lol. Of all things to yank Thrawn away from Lothal, it's politics and bureaucracy, par the course. Thrawn seems offended and claims Palpatine assured him he supports the Defenders.

And while I'm sure Palpatine has paid a bit of lip service to Thrawn's face... yeah no sorry honey, Palpatine was always going to go with the Death Star thing, it's been in the works since before the Clone War broke out. The only issue is that it's sucking all the funding and resources of everything else dry because of the constant delays and problems (Krennic is apparently mismanaging to hell) so now they are considering ganking money from other various projects to feed it.

And that's just... SO like the government lol.

So exit Thrawn, straight into the Thrawn: Treason novel. And I am still SORELY disappointed that Zahn did not take full advantage of the fact that Treason was basically a Rebels tie-in in order to have Thrawn sloooooooowly losing his mind and patience over things dissolving on Lothal while he's not there so that by the time we get him back in the finale, his irritation and annoyance is peak comedy and perfect characterization follow-through.

"I was gone for ONE HOUR and you blew up my project???!??"

The gliders are telegraphed to us with a very slight sound effect, and the rigid wings. So it's amazingly effective at fooling the Troopers lol. Rukh on the other hand has probably picked up a whiff of Zeb lingering on the others so he's alert.

Aaaaaand hidden goodbye number two, frick my heart this one hurts. There's so much Kanan can't tell Ezra, lest the fear of loss cripple him and make him unable to act, drive him towards the Dark Side. Kanan needs Ezra to be able to function for this mission, so he just praises Ezra for being a good listener--a veiled admonition for him to continue listening to the will of the Force, to his instincts, to the wisdom of others, to the wolves--and tells him and Sabine, "May the Force be with you."

He entrusts their safety to the Force, and tells them to trust in it in turn.

"Ezra and Sabine have each other, they'll find their way home."

Oh boy, on this edition of "Terrible Rebels takes that make zero sense except to the perpetually offended", there were actually multiple people who complained about Hera's confession coming about as a result of the truth serum, and they were mad that her loopy state because of the truth serum was played for laughs.

To which all I will say is, shut up, Hera drunk on truth serum is hilarious. Maybe quit having such a stick up your butt about bad things happening to female characters and let them get in on the jokes and slapstick occasionally.

Heroic Main Theme here as Kanan makes his entrance.

About 90% certain the thing Hera wanted to tell Kanan here was that she was pregnant. I refuse to accept that time on the fuel pod as the first time she told Kanan she loved him. Does not make sense, rejected.

Not gonna comment much on the Kanan/Hera scenes, they're adorable and sweet and heartwarming and heartbreaking in hindsight but I will say this soft romantic cue that accompanies them is very lovely.

Pryce sounds more than a bit pissy that Hera got rescued right from under her nose. This leads directly into her recklessness later with the fuel pods.

Love Ezra and Sabine casually commandeering a gunship. "I'm the backup pilot, so I'm in the back." And the Troopers just accept that logic lol.

And the "something" Kanan needs to tell Hera is either that he knows she's pregnant (but maybe doesn't know she knows?) OR about his upcoming expiration. Too bad Rukh interferes.

Oh hey, another sad parallel, neither Jedi have their lightsaber for their moment of ultimate sacrifice.

Hgngnh watching all the pieces move into place for what I already know is coming is awful.

Still cannot get over just how polluted the streets are, look at that rust colored smog.

Lol Ezra's little fist pump, completely forgetting where he is a moment. He's so cute I love him.

Their teamwork in taking out the other Imperials is great too.

*watches the kiss, sighs with sadness*

You did not have to dig so hard into the mood whiplash guys. You really didn't.

All right, let's just... pull off the bandaid.

The animation, the music full of mournful male chorus and high siren wail, the muted soundtrack, the emphasis on Hera and Ezra, that Kanan is so deeply utterly in tune with the Force that his blindness doesn't even matter (which is what his eyes clearing up was, clumsily, attempting to convey) he can see them...

And then he's gone.

And how awful it was for Ezra, who literally just felt his bond with Kanan snap inside his head, to have to be the competent leader and shout at Sabine to, "Go! Go!". For him to have to be the one thinking clearly, because Hera is completely numb and in shock.

Sabine wiping her eyes as she flies them out of there, somehow still able to see through her tears.

And then a stark white and gray titlecard as ashen dust flickers down around the text.

:((((((((

Frick man it still hits hard. Looking back though, it was inevitable. The death flags were all there, the pieces all set up and in place. This wasn't done on a whim, this was meticulously thought out, to devastating effect.

I was never quite as emotionally attached to Kanan as a lot of other people in the fandom, and I'm also a grown adult, so Kanan's death, while incredibly saddening, was not nearly as emotionally devastating to me as it was to quite a few younger viewers. For a lot of fandom this was their first time experiencing a fictitious loss like that, of having a character, a person they had as a staple in their lives, suddenly leaving it. Leaving behind an empty hole.

And that's one of the reasons I have to respect the writers for doing it. They had a story they needed to tell--about loss, about dealing with grief, about how to pick yourself back up and continue doing the right thing, as a Jedi specifically for Ezra, and as a person for everyone else--and they knew they needed to give it the weight and gravitas it merited.

You can't cling to things forever. It's one of the core staple lessons of Star Wars, the "point of the prequels" to borrow a common if oft-misused phrase.

Loss will happen. Death will happen. Do not give into fear about it. Do not let your fear of loss drive you into darkness.

Give yourself time to process the loss. Let yourself grieve.

And then let go.

So I appreciate that the next few episodes are spent almost as if in a funk, the cloud of grief hanging over us as we process through our loss with the characters and then pick ourselves back up and return to the mission. Because the war isn't won yet, and there are still things left to do.

It is darkest before the dawn.

#star wars #star wars rebels #rebels rewatch #kanan x hera #space dad and his precious pumpkin child #and his rainbow colored cupcake #sabezra #liveblog #spoilers #this is a pro jedi blog #meta rambling #Rebels Rambles #warning: hella sad #i'm not even kidding #grand admiral thrawn #dunking on the blue bastard #ezra bridger

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suzukiblu · 6 months

Note

Something I've been thinking about since Day 9 specifically of your TimKon sugar baby AU, and more recently with how you've been talking up Kon's TTK... Does he not have a suspicion that Tim is Robin if he doesn't need to "see" him to recognize him? Would he not feel like the same person to his TTK regardless of visual disguise? Especially since you emphasized in the dressing room scene that he can 100% feel underneath clothing. Does he have other enhanced senses that could help as well? Those quick lines on day 9 about Kon saying "this better be worth it" to leave his coffee (maybe thinking Robin was pulling him for a mission?) and then apologizing for confusing Tim Drake with "someone else" when you specifically described him as wearing a medium length dark coat (that sounded reminiscent of his cape?), I just keep wondering if that was intentional. Idk if this is something you are actually trying to quietly build you don't need to respond to the ask, I don't want to ruin any foreshadowing for other people if so.

Idk, I can't decide if I like Kon actually being oblivious and falling for civilian Tim better, OR if I like Kon fully clocking Robin day one and just deciding to run with the bit while Tim is going nuts trying to be sneaky. Tim doing 5D mental chess in his mind while Kon's just watching thinking "lol, lmao, idk what the plan is here but Robin's not led me too wrong yet. And I'm getting to kiss him now! And see his eyes! And a ton of gifts! Better keep playing along, I'm sure we'll talk it all out later."

lol tbh I could get into what is/isn't a thing here buuuuut . . .

Either way, I love that your brain is ruminating on the details, it makes me very happy, hahaha.

#rintalk #anonymous

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omnitheist27 · 4 months

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The 40 - A starting point

@the-ravenclaw-werewolf and @purplemochi20055

So, after reading the fan comics created by purplemochi20055, I wanted to get my own crack at some potential future scenes in The 40 fanfic.

P.S. I'm also a cartoonist looking for work in illustration, visual storytelling, and character design by the way (although I don't really keep up my drawing skills every day)

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For this scene, Spike is currently teaching Izuku Jeet Kune Do and they had hit a snag early in the latter's training. While Izuku is a serious student and pays close attention to Spike's lessons, the problem that plagues Izuku's ability to properly learn the martial art is that he keeps subconsciously trying to fight with brute force and strength, as a way to imitate his idol and future teacher, All Might. Seeing the problem and knowing what had Izuku told him about All Might's fighting style beforehand, Spike instructs Izuku to come at him with all he's got and promptly flips the broccoli-haired teen on his back.

As Izuku's murmurs at what had happened just now and slowly gets back up, Spike critiques his tenseness compared to his calmness, and due to Izuku applying excessive force, Spike can control that force through the fluid motion. All thanks to Spike being relaxed in full body and reacting without resistance, without thought. Concluding by asking Izuku if he saw it now, like clear water, and that Jeet Kune Do isn't about relentless offense.

While Izuku does understand the principle, he admits that he's still having trouble fighting differently from All Might. In response, Spike gives Izuku two important lessons that will play a big role by the time he goes back to his own world: 1) He needs to stop comparing himself to someone whose body structure, fighting style, and personality are very much different from his and 2) Spike quoting Pablo Picasso's famous saying: "Good artists copy, great artists steal." as an indirect way for Izuku learn and gain a revelation, with the moment foreshadowing his canon counterpart learning "Shoot Style" from All Might's own indirect lesson.

----

Anyway, that's all I have drawn for the moment, and planning on doing another fan comic that'll be pretty interesting regarding the climatic and dramatic scene where The 40 witness Matsuda almost killing Light Yagami.

Hoping that the final chapter of Main Character Syndrome comes out soon!

#the_40 #cowboy bebop #my hero academia #spike spiegel #izuku midoriya #martial arts training #life lessons

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dinitride-art · 2 years

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Possessiongate and Will in S2- or Why Mike is Completely Fucked

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- OKAY so, I had the great idea to go into season two and try and see if there was anything similar about Will’s possession in relation to what we might be seeing with Mike- And oh my fucking god- you guys aren’t gonna believe this shit

First of fucking all, we’ve got ‘Loch Nora’. Y’know with the purple and yellow flowers there and just a few red ones (reocurring imagery for season 2 but I don’t have TIME for that in this post- it’ll be in the next one when I get to it I swear). Really similar to ‘Lenora’ and Mike’s flowers that he gave to El. This is also where Will has his second episode.

Look at his left eye.

Look at this absolutely horrifying level of forethought. And subtle visual storytelling. And, no, it doesn’t even stop with just this.

Like even just in this one we see Will’s left eye get scary dark. Like, this was put in here before we even knew about Vecna or before the show introduced his lore into the canon. Like??????

Now, I’m putting Mike in here because how Mike is being lit in season two is exactly how Will is being lit in season four. It is literally so wild. They’ve literally traded places. AND it makes sense for them to be lit this way because they are each others ‘light’. In season four Max’s whole plan was to hide in the light and maybe the reason that Mike and Will are being lit like this

Is because they’re trying to hide in the light to fight off Vecna (/the mind flayer)- by looking to each other

And here to, it’s more subtle- but in their backgrounds are very different. Mike’s in front of the light while Will’s in front of the dark (and in front of a blue light so that’s a point for blue lights meaning possession). I’ve done nearly a 30 part analysis of lighting in season four so I’m not gonna include any more examples of Will being in the light but trust me. He is. Exactly like Mike is here.

In the car with Bob, while talking about standing up to whatever’s bothering Will- Will’s left eye is dark. Like, this is a consistent thing that’s happening whenever the Mind Flayer comes into play. It’s also seems to be a thing for Mike too in season four- which is where I FIRST noticed the possibility that a darkened left eye could indicate possession by Vecna. And now I’m checking season 2 and ohhh it’s breaking my brain. Snapping it like a little twig- like how Jonathan snapped steve’s face in that alley in season 1.

This is just to add to the ‘Mike’s definitely being lit different in season 2′. This is consistently happening/it’s very intentional. And it’s paralleling season four so god damn hard.

Okay, so when Will stood up to the Mind Flayer- it didn’t go very well. Like, at all. But I wanted to note that this Upside Down is blue and in episode nine of season four the two colour themes are red and blue. This is just adding to the season 2 and 4 parallel list- because I think that they’re meant to parallel each other/relflect each other. I don’t for sure know why, but I’ve known that this has been happening with the plot for a few months. I have a hunch it’s got something to do with time and or the Upside Down just as like general themes-

BUT ENOUGH OF THAT. BAck to why Mike’s definitely (most likely-probably- I’m pretty sure on this one. But keeping a healthy margin of error) being possessed in season 4. Kids head is not full of rocks, just an evil man trying to steal his brain. It’s a much more forgivable offence.

There is a focus on Will’s eyes at the start of episode four. And we might be able to kinda start to see even here Will’s left eye darken/be in shadow.

AND THEN IT BEGINS.

This right here- look at his eye- look at it. I have been staring at it and I am on the floor. Who does this??? Who puts this much shit into the god damn foreshadowing?? The Duffers apparently, mad lads.

It’s a lot subtler here but you can still see the difference between Will’s right and left eye. His left eye bag is just slightly darker than the right. Well, not slightly, but it’s not really noticeable unless you’re looking for it.

This is episode five and there’s a few things that are scaring me here. First of all, that jaws poster in Will’s room. It was also there when Mike and Will were having their ‘best friends’ heart to heart- and honestly? A lot of the heart to hearts in season four are Will trying to comfort Mike. And by doing that they’re paralleling a lot of what happens with Mike and Will in season two. They’ve just traded spots. But that poster is in a different position in relation to Mike in season four. It’s directly behind him- like how it’s in line with Will if that makes sense? Who we’re meant to notice who it’s about has changed.

Also Will’s eye gets SCARY here. Like creepy af

It’s getting a lot clearer here what they’re doing with Will’s left eye but in a way that we wouldn’t of had the slightest chance of even knowing to look at it without season four. Without Vecna being introduced, there would be very little reason to look at Will’s (and Mike’s- fucking Mike. Jesus. I can’t.) left eye.

A few other thing that season 2 Will and season 4 Mike have in common;

Black shoes with white laces.

Being really fucking out of it and confused.

Blue god damn lights. There’s a lot more of these that are probably better examples, like Mike from the Monologue and Will in the Upside Down during episodes where all the lights are blue- but I just didn’t want to go searching for them.

Believing the person they love about somethin that fucks them both over/doesn’t work or go as planned

So, Michael, your head is not filled with rocks. You’ve just been trying to fend off the evil man who is trying to take over your mind. Welp.

Babygirl you’re possessed.

#possessiongate #byler #stranger things #st season 2 & 4 #mike wheeler #will byers #there is more #this is just mostly about the damn left eye parallel because that shits wild #but then ive also collected other stuff that parallel the seasons #and make this make this even weirder #and back it up kinda #because if everything else is being paralleled #then it makes a lot more sense for this to be an actual thing thats happening

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poisonheart · 1 year

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Yui doesn't care (Ep. 221)

We live in a time when a lot of people think plot twists are things that come out of nowhere, weren't foreshadowed or hinted at, because it's the cheapness we've been served by a lot of media for years now.

They feel cheated when a story properly builds and foreshadows, rewarding its audience with that delicious "aha" moment when their theories are finally confirmed.

Many people think you're not supposed to see plot twists coming. That's false. Good writers will clue you in early on so when that juicy, explosive moment finally arrives, you're rewarded for piecing it all. It's beautiful and wonderful; this was exactly that kind of episode for me.

For a very (very) long time I have said that Yui doesn't love Kousuke. Many in the fandom insisted she did—that her actions were based on twisted love. I never bought it.

She is also not just a “scorned woman” out to get revenge on her trash, unfaithful husband.

Yui is more than that; she always has been.

The moment when I knew she didn't care for Kousuke was when she invited Shin Ae (who was still a minor at that time) to his apartment on his birthday. She had planned to put Shin Ae in a revealing dress, but when that didn't work out, Yui put her in one of Kousuke’s shirts.

This wasn’t some harmless prank either. It’s how she set up Shin Ae to look—hair messy and without bottoms—that really chilled the spine. Shin Ae looked like she had just gotten out of bed after a romp and got into her lover’s shirt. That was the visual she went for.

Yui did this for her own amusement. Quimchee often says, “She’s bored” and I think people dismiss this too easily.

Yui wanted to unsettle her son for the thrill of it.

Because seeing Kousuke bothered was amusing.

Because playing with a young, vulnerable girl was amusing.

And she could get away with it. She can always get away with it. She’s lived so long doing all these terrible things and has gotten away with it every time.

Regardless of any deeper, ulterior plans she has, Yui moves while trying to maximize her amusement.

She loves playing with people.

She loves using them as personal entertainment tools.

She has spent her married life trying to break Rand’s cold facade because she wanted to see him in red. This is why Rand has tried maintaining such an indifferent attitude. If he’s unable to overcome her then at least he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of seeing him respond to her many aggressions and instances of undermining his authority (especially as a parent to Kousuke.)

All her actions throughout have shown us she doesn’t care about Kousuke. Not as a mother or even as a person. He is a tool, a toy, and a powerful blackmail piece.

This thing is her most precious, priceless pawn.

Kousuke is the key to her having power back entirely into her hands and not needing Rand. She has done everything in her power to make sure he is hers. She has purposefully isolated and manipulated him so that the only person he has to turn to is her. She makes him doubt the sincerity of every relationship to prove only she is real when she is the fakest of them all.

[I am not absolving Rand of anything, but to claim that Yui hasn't had anything to do with his deteriorated relationship to Kousuke is a huge disservice to the story and the complex layers in all their dynamics.]

Consider how even Shin Ae has been presented to him as someone who comes around for money. She went to his apartment for money, she went to the formal for money. Whatever positive opinion Kousuke can form about Shin Ae, she tries to underscore that in the end, she came into his life because of money and will stay because of money.

She even makes him doubt Hansuke, the only relative and person openly caring and worrying for him. The only one who might genuinely stand by his side through everything.

This isn’t a mother’s twisted love.

This is far worse.

And so, finally, after years of seeing so many people defend Yui in this fandom—claiming she has done everything out of love—I can say you are wrong.

You have always been wrong.

The signs were there.

You've just chosen to ignore them.

This has nothing to do with Rand's affair. Having an affair does not make a person—a mother—not love her own son.

The way she has manipulated Kousuke was there before Rand even had an affair. This has always been Yui's goal with her offspring.

[And it might be the reason why Rand was never with her again or willing to "have more kids"—putting aside the whole theory of him not being Kousuke's biological father.]

This chapter shows us that Yui is not afraid of drugging or murdering to get her way. She's not afraid of exposing perhaps the truth that he isn't Rand's son (if that turns out being true) so long as she gets to keep control of her priceless pawn.

If Rand were to show Kousuke love now, if he were to stretch out that hand in spite of Yui's threats and her only recourse was killing him or revealing he's not the father, then she will do it.

She has said it with her own mouth.

She is not on Kousuke’s side. If Rand is gone, he will have no one—because she’s not on his side, actually.

This is what Yui wants.

She wants to surround him with people loyal to her, obedient to her, and serving her interests. If not, she will cut them out. She will not allow anyone to steer Kousuke away from her agenda and she has laid the threat very plainly, once more.

This is not the first time she's given Rand an ultimatum.

The difference now is their age, perhaps their power levels being a lot more matched, and the kids being essentially adults so Rand is willing to risk more.

[We could also argue that Yui wanted Shin Ae as Kousuke's assistant because Jayce has always been Rand's man, but that's a whole other post for a different time.]

Yui has never cared.

And she’s not beyond tossing Kousuke when he’s no longer useful to whatever she needs.

The people who think "I want what's best for him" is genuine have really missed all the clues laid for us before this decisive moment.

She's always taken pleasure from Kousuke's discomfort. Back at his birthday, in those flashbacks at the park when Kousuke comes back from meeting Nol and Nessa, and even through Meg's harassment.

That she would be amused by Rand, Nol, or Shin Ae's misery wasn't surprising, but what gave her away was when she was tickled by her own son's suffering.

And now nobody can argue otherwise because episode 221 exists.

#i love yoo #non games

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